《Chaos' Heir》


 Chapter 1 - Nightmare

    mes raged everywhere. Screams resounded through the air and filled the area with pure terror.


    Buildings continued to crumble. The brittle metal that made the houses in the Slums was unable to endure the high temperatures thatnded on its surface.


    The sun was still high in the sky, but ck smoke covered the entire district and created a cloud that obscured every street.


    A peaceful day in the Slums of the city of co had transformed into a hellish scene. An azure mass had fallen from the sky, and everything had turned into the embodiment of desperation.


    Khan knew that he was dreaming. That scene had been his reurring nightmare for almost eleven years. His family had lost everything after that tragedy, and he had gained a curse that activated whenever his eyes closed. A simple trip to the Slums had turned his life upside-down.


    It was impossible to stop the nightmare. Khan had tried for many years to force those scenes out of his mind but to no avail. They came back every night and continued until the tragedy of the Second Impact reached its apex.


    ''Hurry up ande out,'' Khan thought during his dream. ''Let me wake up already!''


    An azure halo began to pierce the smoke and redness that had taken control of the scene. That light shone on the debris that covered the area and revealed the amount of destruction caused by the attack.


    Scarlet and liquefied metal ran over the charred crater at the center of the street. Remains of an alien spaceshipid on different parts of the area and released grey smoke that carried faint azure shades.


    The azure halo intensified, and a hand became visible on the edge of the crater. A humanoid creature soon came out of the hole and staggered when it tried to stand on the scorching ground.


    The creature was three meters tall. It had a smooth azure skin capable of suppressing the redness of the fire with its intense light. Two long and massive arms hung from its broad shoulders, and two thick legs supported its brawny torso.


    The creature didn''t have a neck nor hair. The base of its headid on its shoulders. It didn''t even have teeth, and its nose was nothing more than a pair of cavities ced above its mouth.


    The alien''s eyes resembled the humans'', except that the creature had three of them, with the third ced at the center of its forehead. The three organs also radiated azure light, but they were far brighter than its skin.


    Khan had read about that creature in history books. He had also seen a few perfect replicas in museums visited with his family. That creature belonged to the same alien species that had attacked Earth only five hundred years ago. The humans knew them as Nak.


    The Nak''s eyes were the most vivid detail in Khan''s dream. They carried a series of emotions that he could recognize even when his entire world had fallen apart.


    Khan saw anger, desperation, but mostly fear. The immense terror radiated by the Nak''s eyes seeped into his mind and made him feel pity. It didn''t matter how many people had died during the fall of the spaceship. Khan still felt sympathetic toward that creature.


    Warmth suddenly filled Khan''s mind. His eyes moved away from the alien to look at his chest. Arge vertical wound ran through his torso, and an azure halo covered the edges of his injury.


    The Nak began to move, attracting Khan''s attention again. The alien stretched its arms forward, and its azure halo began to morph, taking the shape of branches that ravaged the debris of its destroyed spaceship.


    When the Nak noticed that Khan was alive, it turned in his direction and pointed one of its six fingers toward him. The azure halo gathered around its hand, and the nightmare ended.


    Khan was in his bed when he opened his eyes. Sweat covered his skin and ran down his forehead, but he had long since be used to waking up in that state. He had spent almost eleven years in that condition.


    Khan grabbed the towel ced on the bedside table and cleaned himself while standing up to face the mirror in his room. He had developed a few muscles due to his work in the mines, but the azure scar that cut through his entire torso made him feel disgusted about his appearance.


    ''My face is decent at least, and I guess my height is also fine,'' Khan thought while inspecting his hair. ''Thanks, Mum.''


    A few strands of his short ck hair featured azure shades, but Khan breathed a sigh of relief when he confirmed that the color didn''t spread any further. His father had sacrificed a lot to suppress the infection, but Khan still feared it could assault his body again.


    ''Tainted once, Tainted forever,'' Khan thought while inspecting his eyes.


    Their azure color made him think about the Nak, but they didn''t radiate the same glow. They were normal human eyes.


    ''I hope these nightmares will end after I join the army,'' Khan sighed.


    Khan''s room was small, and the same went for his whole house. It was hard to gather enough sturdy materials in the Slums, so most citizens settled for tiny habitations.


    Afterpleting his daily check-up, Khan exited his room and went downstairs. The mines were waiting for him. He had to gather as much money as possible before enlisting in the Global Army.


    "Almost eleven years have passed since the Second Impact," The announcer on the holovision said. "Revolts against the Global Army have never stopped since then. Did we really defeat the Nak five hundred years ago? Are they still somewhere in the universe?"


    "Mute," Khan said once he reached the living room, and the holovision went silent.


    The stench of booze filled the room, and Khan quickly grabbed one of the nketsid on a broken couch before moving toward the dining table.


    A short man with long ck hair and dressed in rags was sleeping between his arms. A series of tools that Khan didn''t recognize filled the table, but he didn''t dare to mess with his father''s work.


    Khan limited himself to cover his father''s shoulders with the nket before picking and wearing a pair of ragged trousers and a pullover that had a few holes in it.


    "I''m off to work," Khan said as he patted his father''s shoulder and moved to leave the house.


    That was his normal routine. His father, Bret, had been in that condition for many years by then. He had once been the head of the scientific department of the Global Army, but his life had fallen apart after the Second Impact.


    Khan''s mother, Elizabeth, had died when the spaceship crashed on the Slums. Bret only had Khan left, so he had invested all his money and expertise to stabilize his condition.


    The Nak''s mana was toxic for the human body. It usually led to death, but it could also generate mutations in rare cases. Only a small number of people managed to survive the infection, and the worldbeled them as Tainted.


    Khan couldn''t feel any anger toward his father. He knew how much Bret had sacrificed to keep him alive. They previously lived past the quarters of the Global Army, inside the bustling core of co. Yet, they had been forced to move in the Slums due to the expenses for his treatment.

 Chapter 2 - Mines

    The Slums'' streets were full of people wearing ragged light clothes even if the temperatures weren''t even close to being warm. Countless small houses built with cheap metal and other random materials filled the sides of the small paths that divided that district.


    Khan walked toward the mines and nodded whenever he met a familiar face. It was still early in the morning, but everyone there was doing their best to reach their workce in time.


    The houses grew scarcer as Khan approached the mines. Some of them even featured charred marks or bullet holes. They still bore the signs of the battle against the Nak that happened almost eleven years ago.


    A few lines forced Khan to stop. Many fellow workers were waiting for their chance to enter the mines and dig a few valuable materials. Khan knew that it would take him thirty minutes to reach his destination, so his eyes began to wander.


    The mines were nothing more than the debris of the battle against the Nak. The Second Impact had caught everyone by surprise, so the Global Army didn''t have special troops ready for the fight.


    The Global Army could only send the soldiers and robots to fight the threat, butmon weapons couldn''t defeat a Nak. That alien was the embodiment of mana, and only humans able to wield that energy could kill it.


    A series of soldiers patrolled the area and handled the lines of workers. They even had a three meters tall two-legged robot that pointed its rifles toward anyone whoined or tried to cause a mess.


    "It''s the same as ever," An old man in front of Khanmented when he saw the soldiers running toward a group that had started fighting for a spot in the line. "The Global Army sees the Slums as nothing more than a free workforce. They control most of the food, and they teach the ways of the mana only to those who enlist. Is this even life?"


    "Shut up, old man," A man nearby whispered. "I''m not losing my position in the line because you felt likeining this morning."


    "We dig their metal in exchange for food," The old man sighed. "We would even clean their garbage if they asked."


    Khan ignored thoseints. The first rule of the Slums was to mind your business. They were a peaceful ce on the surface, but the soldiers intervened only in case of a real mess. Also, most of them were on the payroll of some of the mobsters of the district anyway.


    Khan had learnt how to remain indifferent to the evil that filled those streets. Truth be told, he didn''t care about the Slums or the human race in general. He only wanted to make the Nak pay for thest eleven years of nightmares he had to suffer.


    He nned to gather enough money until he became sixteen, which was the minimum age to enlist in the Global Army. Once he got his hands on the mana, he would join the toons looking for the traces of the Nak and take care of that threat forever.


    The line moved quickly, and Khan ended up entering the mine in little more than twenty minutes. The familiar pile of debris appeared in his view, and one of the soldiers near the entrance promptly handed him a shovel and a bucket.


    "The Global Army isn''t responsible for injuries, infections, and any type of-," The soldier announced, but Khan cut his line short.


    "I know how it works," Khan said. "I have been doing this for three years already."


    The soldier immediately lost interest in Khan and proceeded to focus on the next worker. Khan also stopped caring about the soldier and crossed the narrow entrance that led inside the pile of debris.


    Pieces of metal and ground had fused to create a dense alloy. The entrance was nothing more than a solid tunnel surrounded by frail materials.


    No one knew how the battle against the Nak had ended, but everyone could see how bloody it had been by the size of those mines. The workers in the Slums had dug through that pile of debris for years already. However, they had yet to reach ground zero. They had yet to uncover the crater that opened during the Second Impact.


    Khan hadmitted the many tunnels to memory. The workers had also drawn many maps throughout the years, and they had affixed them before every new branch.


    A series of artificial lights hung from the ceiling. Most of those tunnels were rtively safe since the workers had dug away all the frail materials, but their stability signaled the absence of precious metals to seize.


    Khan followed his usual path, ignoring all the workers who tried to use their shovels to pierce the dense alloy. He had found a decent digging spot a few months ago, and he couldn''t wait to return there.


    His poor luck ended up having the best of him. Khan found three middle aged men who were doing their best to erge the tunnel when he reached his usual digging spot.


    "This is our spot, kid," One of the men said when he noticed Khan.


    "It''s big enough for all of us," Khan replied before ignoring the trio and choosing a wall that seemed on the verge of falling apart.


    "I think you didn''t hear us clearly," A second man added and stopped digging to near Khan with a menacing attitude.


    However, Khan promptly lifted his pullover and revealed the blue scar on his chest. The man stopped at that sight, and even hispanions remained speechless.


    "If we go by right," Khan said, "This mine should belong to the few survivors of the Second Impact."


    The men heard Khan, but they remained frozen in ce. They didn''t dare to move, and they trembled whenever his azure eyes darted among their faces.


    "Don''t tell me that you believe that crap about the Tainted," Khan sighed while ignoring the trio and starting to work on his wall.


    The men shot a few nces in his direction before resuming their work. Yet, they appeared tense since someone who had survived a meeting with a Nak was right behind them.


    Khan dug for a few hours, inspecting all the debris captured by his shovel. All the small chunks of metal ended up in his bucket, but the wall fell before Khan could fill it.


    Khan and the three men darted backward. Tunnels could crumble whenever the workers affected the overall stability of the mine, and the four workers didn''t want to risk their lives.


    The four of them knew that the soldiers would never bother to retrieve them if the tunnel were to crumble. Still, they eventually halted their retreat when the tremors went silent.


    Khan exchanged a nce with his newfoundpanions before exploring the crumbled wall. A branch had opened on that spot, and Khan couldn''t wait to explore it.


    "Hurry up," Khan said while snapping his fingers toward the trio. "Hand me the torch."


    The men didn''t feel good having a fifteen years old boy ordering them around, but Khan was willing to explore that uncharted area, so they quickly handed him one of the electrical torches hanging from the ceiling.


    Khan moved silently, making sure that he didn''t move any of the frail materials around him. He had to use his shovel at times, but that tunnel seemed to have a clear path already.


    ''I must have uncovered another solidyer,'' Khan thought while inspecting his surroundings.


    He was ready to bet that the frail materials around him hid the dense alloy. It wouldn''t make sense for a natural tunnel to form after a wall crumbled otherwise.


    The tunnel led Khan into a familiar ce. His feet stepped on charred terrain, and arge crater soon unfolded in his vision.


    ''I found it!'' Khan eximed in his mind. ''I found the ground zero of the Second Impact!''


    A faint azure glow suddenly attracted his attention. Khan carefully crouched to seize a small pearl hidden among the ck ground, and his eyes widened when he recognized that item.


    ''This is a mana core!'' Khan eximed again. ''I wonder if it belongs to one of the enhanced soldiers or the Nak.''


    Humans didn''t have the innate ability to handle mana, but the world had found multiple ways to avoid that issue. The most popr approach consisted of the transnt of mana cores to unlock those skills.


    The Global Army granted mana cores to all its soldiers, but they had to indebt themselves to obtain them. Khan could solve that issue now that he had found one of them.


    A squeaking noise suddenly diverted Khan''s attention from the azure pearl in his hand. He quickly moved the torch into the crater and saw a pair of azure eyes staring back at him.


    Those eyes didn''t belong to a Nak, nor another person. A fifty centimeters tall rat covered in azure fur upied the center of the crater. Drool came out of the creature''s mouth, and a frenzied expression filled its face. The beast appeared hungry beyond reason.


    Khan had learnt a lot about the properties of the Nak''s mana from his father. He knew that it was easy for animals to mutate under its effects. Those creatures'' innate features would go through aplete transformation, but they would also develop intense aggression.


    ''I need to run,'' Khan concluded in less than a second before leaping backward and running through the tunnel.


    The rat quickly chased after Khan, but he was pretty nimble. He could reach the three men from before in a few seconds, and he crossed them without giving any warning about the Tainted animal.

 Chapter 3 - Threat

    Khan didn''t feel guilty for his actions. He didn''t believe himself to be a bad guy, but he wasn''t one of the good ones either. He was only one of the many kids that the environment of the Slums had forced to mature too quickly.


    That situation had even been worse for Khan. The inhabitants of the Slums had never fully epted him since his family came from the wealthy districts of co.


    The Slums rarely rewarded acts of mercy. Theck of food and work forced everyone to learn how to surpass others to survive. The mines were rtively safe due to the soldiers, but that didn''t apply in its insides.


    Khan ran as fast as he could. His father had taught him a lot about the Tainteds, so he knew exactly how dangerous they could be.


    Any living being touched by the Nak''s mana would mutate. That infection usually led to death when it came to humans, but the animals had a higher chance to survive and develop enhanced abilities.


    Moreover, Tainted creatures could infect other living beings. That risk depended on how unstable their mutation was. Of course, Khan wasn''t a threat for the others since his father had suppressed the Nak''s mana when he was nothing more than a kid.


    Many workers turned toward Khan when they heard his faint footsteps. They couldn''t guess what had happened to him, but some of them joined him in his escape anyway.


    The mines were mostly stable. Manyyers of dense alloy ran through the whole structure and limited the number of materials that could fall during andslide. Still, they had some dangerous spots, and the workers didn''t dare to take risks in those kinds of jobs.


    A scream eventually echoed through the tunnels and scared the few miners who had decided to continue their work. They didn''t even nce in the direction of those cries before standing up and running toward the exit.


    Khan soon found a few dozens of miners running behind him. He had attracted a lot of attention during his escape. Many workers had decided to follow him even before hearing the screams.


    ''The Army will seal the whole mine if they understand what is happening,'' Khan thought. ''I hope they mind their own business.''


    Screams echoed through the tunnels from time to time, but Khan didn''t let his mind wander. He only wanted to return to his father to show him the mana core.


    The group of escaping miners grew as screams filled the mines. Men and women appeared in front of Khan and forced him to slow down since the tunnels were too narrow for all of them.


    The lighting from the entrance soon overwhelmed the artificial illumination of the electric torches. Khan and the others were almost outside of the mines, but a scream turned the whole situation upside-down.


    "Help! A Tainted animal!" A man from the bottom of the tunnel shouted before screams suppressed his voice.


    Khan cursed before trying to make his way through the crowd, but the workers panicked when they understood the nature of the threat.


    The workers started to push each other in a desperate attempt to exit the mines. Khan was young and full of life, but there were many grown-up men in that group, and he inevitably fell behind.


    "Presence of a Tainted animal confirmed," A mechanical voice suddenly resounded through the mines and made the crowd even more ruthless in their attempts to exit the mines. "Sealing the entrances in three, two, one¡­."


    When the countdown reached zero, the lighting from the outside world stopped shining on the tunnels. Khan and many others gathered in the small hall in front of the entrance and begged the soldiers to open the doors, but no one answered.


    Some of the workers even tried to force the doors open, but their shovels couldn''t even leave a dent on that tough metal. The soldiers had preferred to imprison them with the Tainted creature rather than risk spreading the infection.


    "Damned Global Army! They are always the first to run away."


    "They are nothing more than filthy dogs who only care about money."


    "They always send the worst ones here. Did they forget that the Slums are also part of co?"


    The workers exploded in loudints, but Khan limited himself to crouch on a wall near the entrance. His eyes remained fixed on the end of the main tunnel. He felt that a pair of azure eyes would appear around the corner if he stopped looking.


    "Who is the idiot that called for help?"


    "One of those who remained behind."


    "Are we even sure that there is a Tainted animal back there?"


    "I don''t know. I only followed the crowd."


    "Same for me."


    "Run when you see others run. That''s my motto."


    "I actually followed the kid."


    Theints echoing through the hall ended up startling Khan awake. When he inspected his surroundings, he saw that the other workers had begun to turn toward him.


    "It was a Tainted rat," Khan exined before he could fall prey to their fears. "I saw its azure eyes."


    The workers fell silent after his revtion, but they quickly took a few steps back when they realized that the animal might have infected Khan.


    Khan decided to show his bare chest to the miners when he noticed that some of them were tightening their grasps on their shovels. He feared what that bunch of scared workers could do if they let their panic take control of their actions.


    "I can''t be infected," Khan said while showing his azure scar. "I''m a victim of the Second Impact, and my infection has stabilized ten years ago. I hope you know that you develop immunity afterward."


    That wasmon knowledge even among the Slums, but Khan wanted to repeat it to calm down the workers. He was actually scared. He couldn''t do anything if those miners decided to see him as a threat.


    ''This is why I need to enlist and get my hands on the damned mana,'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''Being so powerless is sickening. I can''t even defeat my own nightmares!''


    A scream suddenly resounded through the tunnels and diverted the group''s attention. Khan and the other workers moved their gazes to the end of the main branch, but nothing appeared there.


    "You said it was a rat, right?" One of the burly men in the hall asked.


    "Yeah. A really big rat," Khan replied, using his hands to describe the creature''s size.


    "And you also said that you are immune to the infection, right?" The same man asked, and Khan promptly jumped on his feet when he understood the meaning behind those words.


    Khan promptly grabbed one of the shovels near him and wielded it as if it were a mace. Still, his actions didn''t manage to scare away the three workers who had slowly started to walk toward him.


    "I''m not even sixteen!" Khanined. "Do you really want to throw me into the tunnel? That''s a damned Tainted animal!"


    "You either go by yourself," One of the miners threatened, "Or we throw you ourselves."


    Khan wanted toin again. He could see from the desperate look on the miners'' eyes that none of them would ever step up to protect him. Those who were nearing him even wore a crazy expression. Words couldn''t help him in that situation.


    His faint hope that the doors of the mine would open crumbled once the three miners reached him. They were all grown-ups, but they were ready to grab him and throw him into the tunnel if he began to struggle.


    "I can walk," Khan sighed before lowering his shovel and stepping toward the tunnel.


    Every worker dodged his gaze. They felt too ashamed to look at him in the eyes, but they didn''t dare to help him either. His flesh would make them gain some time even if Khan couldn''t beat the creature, maybe enough for the soldiers to reopen the mines.


    Khan walked slowly, but the trio who had forced him to move soon started to throw their shovels toward his back. Khan had to move quickly to dodge those tools, and he soon found himself at the entrance of the first branch.


    ''I killed some rats back at home,'' Khan thought before entering the new tunnel and crouching next to the wall. ''How strong can this one be? Maybe it simply grew in size without obtaining any physical enhancement. I don''t even know for how long it has lived inside the crater.''


    Khan didn''t dare to move from that spot. The workers couldn''t see him anymore, and he was safe from their shovels. He had no reason to take another step into the mines.


    Minutes felt like hours. Khan waited in silence, hoping that the soldiers would reopen the mines quickly. A scream resounded from time to time, but no sound filled the mines otherwise.


    Then, Khan instinctively nced toward the end of the tunnel. He couldn''t describe what he had felt. He only knew that something was off in that spot.


    His intuition turned out to be on point since an azure halo began to illuminate that corner. The Tainted creature was only a tunnel away from him.

 Chapter 4 - Shovel

    ''Come on, stupid brain,'' Khan cursed while the azure light intensified. ''You have made me watch the same damned scene for thest ten years. It''s your job to get us out of this situation.''


    The years spent questioning his father about the Nak shed in his mind. Bret had always stressed how impossible it was to defeat those aliens without mana, but Khan''s opponent was a simple Tainted animal.


    ''Normal weapons should be able to hurt it,'' Khan thought while slowly straightening his position. ''I can only try to gain the initiative since Ick proper weapons.''


    Khan slowly walked toward the end of the tunnel, paying extra attention to the noises his movements released in the area. He even tried to make his steps match the crawling soundsing from behind the corner.


    Once Khan reached the corner, he lifted his shovel above his head and prepared. His makeshift weapon was ready to descend as soon as the azure hair entered his vision.


    The azure lighting from the other branch intensified. Khan felt almost able to sense the Tainted animal crawling toward the corner, but he didn''t let his mind y tricks on him.


    His Tainted status didn''t give him any additional ability. Khan was a normal human who had developed an immunity to the dangerous properties of the Nak''s mana.


    A faint tremor ran through his spine, and a chunk of azure hair peeked out of the corner. Khan promptly stepped forward and rotated his body while mming the shovel on the ground.


    The shovel didn''tnd on the tough alloy. No nging noise resounded through the tunnel. A screech reached Khan''s ears before his eyes could focus on the scene, and his instincts prompted him to m his weapon again.


    Khan raised the shovel and mmed it multiple times. He used all the strength that his body could muster in the attacks, and bright red blood began to flow on the ground.


    A tinge of excitement filled Khan''s mind. He was doing it. He was killing the Tainted animal!


    His excitement fell apart when he mmed the shovel and saw its wooden shaft breaking in half. Only a small piece of metal and wood remained in his hands, and a curse inevitably escaped his mouth.


    Khan could focus on his opponent now that the frenzy of the assault had ended. His relentless offensive had torn the rat''s head into pieces. He could even see its skull among that gruesome mess.


    ''Did I kill it?'' Khan wondered, but the answer to his question arrived one instantter.


    The rat suddenly raised its maimed head and pointed its azure eyes at Khan. The creature leapt toward him before he could even begin to retreat.


    The beast headbutted Khan''s chest and flung him away. He mmed on the wall behind him, but he managed to protect his head with his free arm.


    The rat didn''t stop attacking. It jumped as soon as it touched the ground and pushed Khan back on the wall again. However, it remained attached to his chest at that time. Its ws had pierced his skin, and its teeth were digging a hole in his shoulder.


    Pain assaulted Khan''s mind and made him unable to think properly. He fell to the ground and tried to push the creature away from his chest, but his efforts only erged his injuries.


    The Tainted rat had no intention to move. It would release its grasp only when Khan''s heart stopped.


    ''Dammit! I can''t die here!'' Khan shouted in his mind, but only screams came out of his mouth. ''I promised to myself that I would hunt down the Nak! How can I even die against a mere consequence of their power?''


    Khan steeled his mind and suppressed the pain that he felt. He gritted his teeth as his free hand grabbed the creature''s head and kept it still. Meanwhile, the hand wielding the broken shovel started mming its pointy side on the exposed skull.


    An intense struggle unfolded. Khan fought against time. He had to kill the rat before its teeth and ws dug too deep into his body.


    The first impact between the skull and the shovel amounted to nothing. The second broke the sharp wooden tip and made Khan decide to use the metal handle. The third opened a crack on that white bone.


    When the shovelnded on the rat''s skull for the fourth time, the bone broke, and the creature began to shake. Convulsions filled its body before it stopped moving altogether.


    Khan quickly moved that corpse away from his chest. He was having a hard time breathing, and a pool of blood had gathered on his chest. The injury on his left shoulder was even worse off. Khan felt on the verge of fainting.


    ''I can''t close my eyes!'' Khan shouted in his mind in a desperate attempt to keep himself awake.


    His struggles didn''t even manage to dy the inevitable. His vision slowly darkened. Khan was about to lose consciousness, but his fear of ending up in the usual nightmare kept him awake long enough to find the pearl hidden in his pocket.


    ''This should contain mana, right?'' Khan thought as he raised the pearl above his head and quoted his father. ''Mana cores allow humans to take the next evolutionary step. They grant us the chance to control the mana in ways that even the Nak can''t imagine. In theory, our peak stands far above that alien species.''


    ''Do something then!'' Khan cursed in his mind, but the mana core didn''t react to his desires.


    Khan could almost sense that the pearl contained a mysterious form of energy, but he didn''t know how to control it. He wasn''t even sure that his sensations were real in that situation.


    ''Some magic items require blood to bind them,'' Khan suddenly recalled a line from his father and ced the pearl in the blood umted on his chest.


    The mana core finally reacted to his presence, but it didn''t do much. Its azure halo slightly intensified and shone on Khan, bringing him some warmth.


    ''That''s it?'' Khanined in mind. ''The core item for next evolutionary step of the human species does less than an electric torch? No wonder we survived the First Impact!''


    Khan began to sense that something was off while in the middle of his frustration. He should have fainted long ago, but his mind was slowly regaining some rity.


    His free hand wiped some of the blood and uncovered the injuries on his chest. The deep cuts dug by the rat''s ws were closing on their own. Khan could watch his skin healing right in front of his eyes.


    The same applied to the hole on his shoulder. His condition was improving quickly under the azure halo radiated by the mana core. Some liveness even returned in his limbs once all the wounds closed.


    ''Maybe you aren''t as useless as I initially thought,'' Khan sighed happily before ncing at the mana core onest time and putting it back into his pocket.


    Khan slowly stood up. A sense of weakness still filled his body, but he didn''t want to remain in that ce anymore. He wanted to see his father and question him about today''s events. He couldn''t let himself be unprepared again.


    ''I guess I will take this with me,'' Khan thought while ncing at the Tainted rat''s corpse. ''The soldiers would never believe me if I don''t show them any proof. They might even reopen the mines immediately.''


    ****


    Author''s notes: I have yet to create a schedule for the novel. I guess I can publish around this hour for the time being. I''lle up with something precise soon.

 Chapter 5 - Mess

    Khan walked back to the entrance of the mines, carrying the corpse of the Tainted rat on his shoulder. He even continued to wield his broken shovel. He didn''t want to separate himself from his weapon so soon.


    The miners screamed in panic when they saw his figure. The sight of the giant rat made them cling to the walls and punch the metal doors. They even resumed begging the soldiers to let them go.


    "Shut up!" Khan shouted while lifting the rat from its tail. "It''s dead. I killed it."


    "Move that thing away from me!"


    "He will infect all of us!"


    "Forgive us! We were only afraid!"


    Khan didn''t obtain the reaction that he desired. He didn''t want cheers from those people, but they didn''t remain silent either.


    "Can you all shut up so I can talk with the soldiers?" Khan asked, but the miners continued toin.


    Their fear for the Tainted creature made their minds go crazy. They didn''t want to risk being infected, but they had nowhere to run.


    ''The risk of getting infected by a dead Tainted animal is almost nonexistent,'' Khan sighed in his mind. ''They would need to eat its raw meat to find some leftovers of the Nak''s mana.''


    "Shut the hell up, or I throw this animal among you!" Khan shouted again while waving the dead rat through the room.


    His actions finally managed to create some silence. Khan used that chance to reach the entrance and m his hands on the tough metal door.


    "We can''t open the doors until we secure the area," The soldier on the other side replied in an annoyed tone.


    "I killed the Tainted rat," Khan promptly eximed. "It''s here with me. You can peek if you want."


    "Nice try," The soldier replied. "Wait until the enhanced troops arrive. You can show that beast to them."


    ''Damned Global Army,'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''We are in the Slums. The enhanced troops will need an entire day to receive the news of this situation.''


    The Global Army kept its best soldiers near the center of the city. It never deployed specialized troops in the Slums unless a tragedy happened. A simple Tainted animal wasn''t enough to make Khan''s situation a priority.


    ''Though, I would like to see enhanced soldiers in action,'' Khan wondered. ''Dad rarely uses his power in the Slums, so I could never understand what''s the difference between them and normal human beings.''


    Khan heaved a helpless sigh before sitting behind the entrance. The Global Army would probably force him to wait a couple of days inside the mines, so he had to save as much energy as possible.


    The miners didn''t have any food with them, but that wasn''t a problem. The citizens of the Slums could easily go a day or two without eating. The water was a problem, but Khan could use his dead friend to take a few bottles from the workers.


    ''I feel so tired already!'' Khan cursed again before rxing a bit. ''I guess I should feel lucky that I found a mana core inside the crater. Well, everyone here is lucky that I''m the one who found it.''


    Killing a Tainted rat had been hard enough. Khan didn''t dare to imagine if the mana core were to infect one of the workers. Nak''s mana was usually toxic for humans, but it was enough for one of them to survive and fall prey to the mutations to cause a mess inside the mines.


    ''I need to be more careful from now on,'' Khan thought while closing his eyes to take a nap. ''I can''t allow myself to die so soon. Myst ten years of nightmares would have been pointless otherwise.''


    As Khan''s consciousness slipped away, the images of the Second Impact reappeared in his mind. He dreamt about that tragic day again. His nightmare didn''t spare him even in his naps.


    Still, a familiar voice woke Khan up from his nightmare. He suddenly realized that someone was arguing with the soldiers on the other side of the doors. The metal didn''t make him fail to recognize his father''s voice.


    "Open this door immediately, you dumb soldier," Bret shouted. "My kid has already survived an infection. You have no reason to keep him here."


    "The regtions in the eventuality of a leak of Nak''s mana are clear," The soldier replied. "No one gets out until the enhanced troopsplete a thorough inspection."


    "I know what the damned regtions say," Bretined. "I wrote them! There is my signature on those papers! They clearly state that humans capable of resisting the infection can go home."


    "Sure, and I''m Princess Edna''s fianc¨¦e," The soldier mocked. "Go away before I force you to leave."


    Khan had straightened his position during that conversation. His family had to throw away itsst name after moving into the Slums. Bret couldn''t even use it to reveal his true identity.


    "Dad!" Khan shouted to interrupt that discussion. "It''s fine. I killed the Tainted rat. We are safe."


    A moment of silence followed his words. Both the solider and Bret didn''t know what to reply to that line.


    "Son, is that you?" Bret asked.


    "Yeah, in the flesh," Khan quickly replied.


    "How did you even kill a Tainted animal?" Bret questioned him.


    "I mmed my shovel on its head really hard," Khan exined briefly. "I repeated the process until it stopped moving."


    Bret knew his son better than anyone else in the world. The Slums had been tough on Khan, and his past as co''s citizen had always prevented him from establishing friendships with other kids.


    Khan also knew how dangerous Tainted animals were. He wouldn''t decide to fight one of them unless he had no other choice.


    Yet, Khan was a kid among grown-up men and women, and Bret found it strange that his son had been in a situation when he could kill the beast.


    "How did you end up fighting the Tainted animal?" Bret asked in a cold voice.


    Khan recognized that tone, and he nced at the miners behind him. They all wore scared expressions, but they couldn''t imagine what was about to happen. They had never seen how scary his father could be.


    "I found it," Khan lied, but his father could sense from his tone that he was hiding the truth.


    "I will open the doors now," Bret continued in his cold voice. "Move away from the entrance."


    Khan quickly stepped back while a series ofints from the soldiers reached his ears. However, choking noises soon seeped through the doors, and a loud bang eventually resounded through the whole mine.


    The miners couldn''t understand what had happened. The doors had caved in. It seemed that a massive hammer had mmed on their surface and had bent their metal.


    A second bang echoed through the mines, and the doors bent further. The screams of the soldiers apanied that sound, and Khan could only make out the word "warrior" among that noise.


    When the third bang rang through the mines, the metal doors opened, and the stench of booze filled the mines. The miners could see a short man with long ck hair standing in front of the entrance and moving his ck eyes among the group.


    "Dad, the soldiers will raid our house again now," Khanined while scratching his head.


    Bret had been the head of the scientific division of the Global Army. He knew how to use the mana, and he had also caused a few problems due to his power.


    "Who cares," Bret shouted. "We only have empty bottles anyway. Let them-!"


    Bret interrupted his line when he noticed the blood on Khan''s torn pullover. He quickly inspected his chest and shoulder, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his son was in perfect shape.


    "I told you that I''m fine," Khan said while pointing at his pocket with his eyes.


    Bret understood that secret gesture and looked at his pocket. Khan drew the mana core enough to let his father see what it was before putting it back.


    "You are fine indeed," Bret replied while arching his eyebrows. "We should go home immediately. We need to clean before the soldierse."


    Khan performed a slight nod before following his father outside of the mines. A soldier was lying on the ground near the entrance. He wanted toin when he saw the duo leaving, but Bret grabbed the rat and threw it toward him.


    The soldier started to scream, and all the other members of the army began to panic. Khan and Bret could easily leave the area while that mess unfolded.


    "Couldn''t we gain something from the Tainted animal?" Khan asked once the duo left the crowded areas. "I thought you were out of booze."


    "A true drunkard is always out of booze," Bret replied while exploding in a loudugh. "On a serious note, you have been lucky enough to find a pure Nak''s mana core, and I bet you can''t wait to test it out. I don''t think alcohol can make my hands tremble, but I don''t want to risk anything when performing the transnt on my kid."

 Chapter 6 - Soldier

    "Tell me what you know about mana cores," Bret asked while tinkering with the azure pearl retrieved in the mines.


    Bret and Khan had returned home after the events with the Tainted rat. They were both getting ready for the transnt, and Bret took that chance to instruct his son about mana.


    "Humans gain ess to mana once they obtain a mana core," Khan exined. "They gain the ability to manipte that mystical energy to enhance physical prowess and create magic."


    "Very basic and not entirely right," Bret sighed. "I guess this is my fault. I didn''t expect you to grow up so quickly. I should have taught you more long ago."


    Bret stopped studying the mana core and raised it toward the artificial light in the room. The pearl shone brighter under that glow, and an azure halo soon covered both him and Khan.


    "This is a mana core that has once belonged to a Nak," Bret exined. "Those aliens are literally filled with mana. They are the closest existence to that form of energy. They are so in tune with that power that this organ has be obsolete for them.


    "Instead, humans need it to activate their connection to the mana that fills the universe. We are an inferior species in terms of evolution, but our foundation is sturdier. Some extraordinarymanders have grown past the Nak and reached levels that those aliens have never touched."


    Khan nodded as excitement built in his mind. He had watched many shows and documentaries that exined those things, but everything felt more real when his father described it.


    "You won''t immediately gain ess to mana once the transnt ends," Bret continued. "Humans need training, and body and mind have different methods. You know I can''t say much due to the restrictions of the Global Army, so trust me for now."


    Khan nodded again. His father knew so much that the Global Army had used magic items to apply limits to his knowledge. Bret still recalled everything, but he couldn''t share certain secret topics with the world.


    Bret heaved a helpless sigh when he saw his son''s excitement, but he forced himself to continue the exnation. "The Global Army uses synthetic cores of different quality depending on your talent, rank, and so on. This mana core has lost a lot of power in thest ten years, but it''s virtually intact. You will basically gain the best core on the market."


    Khan could barely contain himself. He only wanted his father to start the surgery, but he respected his desire to exin the subject properly. After all, Bret had often stressed that power was useless without knowledge, especially for humans.


    "You said that you could sense the Tainted rat, right?" Bret asked at some point.


    Khan didn''t hide anything from his father. He had even told him about the faint sensations felt during his hunt for the rat.


    "I don''t know how to describe it," Khan said. "It felt like a tremor inside my bones."


    Bret sighed at those words. "It''s possible that you have developed a sensitivity toward mana after the Second Impact. I did my best to suppress every mutation, but you had been in that state for an entire hour before reaching myb."


    "Isn''t this mutation a good thing?" Khan asked.


    "They never are," Bret exined. "You would have naturally developed this ability with your training. Well, no point recalling those awful days. I guess you will have a few advantages during your first years in the army."


    An azure halo suddenly came out of Bret''s fingers and enveloped the pearl. The mana core absorbed that energy, and the process captivated Khan.


    "Mana gains an element once it enters your body," Bret continued to exin. "This is an innate feature, but don''t worry. Every element is strong. How you use it makes all the difference in a battle."


    "What element are you?" Khan happily asked.


    "Metal, but I''ve never been too good at magic," Bret replied. "Ipleted the first level of the warrior training, but theb was my path. I have never liked fighting."


    ''Those soldiers would say something very different,'' Khan thought before focusing on his father again.


    "I can''t understand your element without the proper tools," Bret exined. "I''m sorry, but you''ll have to wait until you reach the army for that."


    "That''s fine," Khan replied. "What''s the difference between a warrior and a mage?"


    Khan was too interested in that knowledge to care about minor dys. Moreover, he couldn''t wait to learn true magic. Having enhanced physical strength was cool, but nothing couldpare to the ability tounch a fireball or simr skills.


    "The training and the abilities," Bret said while scratching his chin covered with an unkempt beard. "Ideally, you should train both body and mind, but you''ll understand that eventually. Turn now. The core is ready."


    Khan quickly followed his father''s directives and turned. Bret kept his neck still and ced the pearl on his nape. Then, a scorching sensation reached Khan''s mind and almost made him faint.


    "Endure it, my son," Bret sighed while using his insane strength to keep Khan still. "You aren''t really burning. What you are feeling is the mana core flowing into your cerebrospinal fluid. Everything will be over soon."


    Khan screamed in pain and punched the air. Bret had smartly ced him on a chair in the middle of the room, so he couldn''t break anything during his struggles.


    Khan couldn''t even hope to escape Bret''s grasp. His father had superhuman strength, something that Khan couldn''t oppose.


    "Almost done!" Bret said, and the scorching sensation that was filling Khan''s mind slowly faded.


    Khan began to calm down. Sweat had covered his body, but he ignored it and touched his nape as soon as Bret retracted his hand.


    There was nothing unusual there. Khan only touched his nape. He couldn''t even find a burn or a piece of missing hair.


    "I''m still good after all these years," Bret eximed. "Those butchers in the army would have forced you to remain in bed for an entire week after the transnt. It must feel good to have a genius like me as your father."


    "Do I need to ask you about tonight''s food to make you stop bragging?" Khan asked, and Bret fell silent.


    Khan handled the money and the food in the house. Bret had superior resistance to hunger and simr needs due to his enhancements, but he would have died anyway if his son didn''t take care of his needs.


    "I don''t feel any different," Khan said after testing a few things.


    His thoughts didn''t move items. His eyes didn''t suddenly gain the ability to see the currents of mana in the environment. He didn''t even feel stronger than before.


    "The mana core is only the trigger," Bret exined. "I told you that you need training."


    Bret saw the disappointment in his son''s expression, and determination filled his face. He decided that he would sacrifice himself a bit to make Khan happy.


    "Close your eyes," Bret eventually said, and Khan followed his instruction. "Focus your attention on your nape. Imagine azure energy flowing toward your brain and the rest of your body. Visualize it with your imagination, and remain on that scene until you sense the same tremor you felt inside the mines."


    Khanpleted the exercise in an instant. When he focused on his neck, a tremor ran down his spine and gave him a vague idea of the foreign energy that now flowed through his body.


    Khan turned to tell the joyous news, but he saw Bret crouching on the floor and coughing blood. Worry filled his mind, but his father reassured him immediately.


    "Don''t worry," Bret exined. "I broke a small oath by teaching you this visualization technique. I can endure it with my power. You should focus on visualizing the mana inside your body now. The next step consists in moving it ording to your desires."


    Bret coughed blood again after sharing that information, and Khan begged him to stop. However, a series of loud knocks suddenly resounded from the entrance and diverted their attention.


    "I am Mark Highroot, first level warrior of the Global Army," The soldier on the other side of the door shouted. "Please, open the door, or I''ll take it down."

 Chapter 7 - Jail

    "How do we handle him?" Khan asked while helping his father to stand up.


    "Like we handled the other soldiers sent by the Global Army," Bret said while cleaning the blood on the corners of his mouth with his sleeve. "Pretend to know nothing. They won''t mind you anyway."


    Khan ced Bret on a chair before throwing a dirty towel on the dark-red spot on the floor and walking toward the entrance. When he opened the door, he saw a tall young-looking man who had short golden hair and a pair of piercing brown eyes.


    Mark was quite good-looking, but his cold expression ruined his natural beauty. He didn''t show any emotion even when Khan''s youthful face appeared in his vision.


    The soldier wore a dark-blue military uniform that featured a single white star on his right arm. Khan knew the meaning behind that symbol. It confirmed Mark''s identity as a first-level warrior.


    "What''s the reason for your visit?" Khan asked while feigning ignorance.


    "I''d rather talk about this inside," Mark replied, and Khan quickly moved aside.


    Mark didn''t hide his disgust when he inspected Khan''s home. The floor was dirty, spots filled the various tiles of metal that made the walls, and a mess of clothes covered the chairs and couch.


    "Forgive me for not performing the proper salute," Bret said while struggling to turn toward his guest. "I''m not part of the Global Army anymore. I have no right to act as your equal."


    Bret''s polite words eased Mark''s expression. The soldier didn''t like to be in the Slums, but Bret''s behavior made him believe that his mission would be over soon.


    "I''ll get right to the point," Mark announced while taking a notebook from a pocket on his chest. "The Global Army uses you of unauthorized use of your powers and attempted biological attack. Do you have anything to say on the matter?"


    Khan had already reached his father and was waiting behind him. The two of them had gone through simr situations a few times, so their act didn''t have any w.


    Bret wore a tired expression that became full of love whenever he nced at his son. Instead, Khan revealed pure shame. Tears had even umted in his eyes and were ready to fall.


    "I am guilty of being a horrible father!" Bret eximed. "I spend my days drinking while my son works in the mines. Today I had decided to stop drowning my sorrow and act like a real man, but the news of the Tainted animal caught me by surprise. I''m sure you can understand how I must have felt when I discovered that the soldiers had locked my son with that monster."


    Bret''s voice rose whenever he said "son" to improve his performance. On the other hand, Khan lowered his head and sobbed at that signal.


    The duo''s act was perfect. They had managed to send back many soldiers with it. However, Mark appeared unaffected by that scene.


    "What about the attempted biological attack?" Mark asked since Bret didn''t address that matter.


    "I don''t understand the question," Bret replied.


    "You have thrown the corpse of a Tainted animal on a fainted soldier," Mark read on his notebook. "You have threatened the safety of the entire Slums with your actions."


    Bret''s expression froze, and Khan pulled his hair to bring him back into the act. Khan could see that his father was about to explode. The thing Bret hated the most was having to deal with ipetents.


    "A dead Tainted animal threatening the safety of the Slums?" Bret asked before standing up.


    Khan took a step back and shook his head. It was toote. His father had reverted to the head of the scientific division.


    "Do you know what''s the chance of getting infected by a dead Tainted animal?" Bret asked while nearing Mark. "Less than one in a million, and that only if you actually eat the damned thing!"


    "How can you possibly know this?" Mark questioned him while breaking his cold expression.


    Truth be told, Mark was only a low-level soldier. His position in the army was even lower, which was why his higher-ups had sent him to the Slums.


    His knowledge wasn''t great. Mark only followed orders, hoping that his efforts would eventually lead to a promotion.


    "Didn''t they tell you who I am?" Bret asked. "I swear, the new generations of soldiers have be a bunch of idiots powered by synthetic mana. Did you at least study at the Global Army? Don''t tell me that you are another rich boy who wanted superpowers."


    Mark didn''t know what to say. Everything Bret had said was the truth. He had failed most of the courses in the Global Army and seeded in the first level of the warrior training only thanks to infusions of mana.


    "Dad, stop," Khan pleaded. "They will put you in jail again if you continue."


    "Who cares!" Bret shouted. "I only left the Global Army for ten years. Ten damned years! Look at these new soldiers. They don''t even know how mana works. How can they protect humankind from the next invasion?"


    Khan gave up in trying to calm down his father. Bret was a driven man who had lost his job only to save his son. He would have retained his position and lived happily otherwise.


    "It''s clear that you don''t know your ce!" Mark suddenly eximed. "You don''t understand the gravity of your actions, but maybe a bit of jail time can fix the situation. Turn and let me handcuff you. I will drag you behind bars personally!"


    Bret snorted but followed Mark''s orders. Still, he didn''t fail to impart a few lessons to his son when he turned.


    "The enlistment period this year ends in two months, but you will be sixteen in one," Bret said. "Focus on the technique I taught you today during this period, and try to enlist only when you became able to move the mana. That should give you a head-start."


    Bret coughed blood while speaking. It seemed that even that information was something that he couldn''t share with people outside of the Global Army.


    "Don''t turn like this idiot," Bret said while Mark began to drag him away. "Study a lot and keep a bnce between body and mind. Don''t focus only on one of them because it''s easier or looks cooler."


    Bret said his goodbyes when he was about to leave the house. "I wille to visit you as soon as I can. Don''t do anything stupid. Don''t trust anyone. Don''t jump into battles unless you feelpletely in control of your abilities. In short, don''t you dare to die before me!"


    Khan heaved a helpless sigh when his father and Mark disappeared from his view, but Bret''s voice suddenly resounded onest time. "And buy condoms, even if they are expensive!"


    Thest line left Khan speechless. Even if he had previously lived in co, he was a citizen of the Slums now. No girl would approach him so easily.


    Khan eventually closed the door and inspected the house. He had stashed some food to prepare for simr situations. He could always go back to the mines, but that didn''t seem proper since his birthday wasing.


    ''I can enlist once I''m sixteen,'' Khan thought while picking one of the good pillows from the couch. ''The food hidden in the house canst for six weeks. I should stop working right away and focus on the visualization technique until I can join the Global Army.''

 Chapter 8 - Training

    After the First Impact, the entire humanity had forsaken their political borders and had joined hands to create a united front against alien threats.


    The wealthiest people on the had initially maintained their influence. Still, the enhancements brought by the mana had slowly moved the power over the human race in the hands of men and women who managed to ovee the limits of their species.


    The Global Army slowly came to be after those powerful humans created an alliance and seized the monopoly over everything rted to the mana. That organization not only provided the chance to obtain power. It also developed new technologies and techniques that used that energy as their foundation.


    Khan only had a general understanding of the Global Army. The restraints ced on his father had never allowed him to spread its secrets. Khan''s knowledge mostly came from what the news said and from his few memories of the wealthy districts of co.


    ''I have so many doubts that Dad has never managed to clear,'' Khan thought as he sat on a few pillows ced on the floor.


    The Global Army''s enlistment period happened once a year, but itsted for a few months. Khan only had a few weeks left to reach the nearest training camp, but he wasn''t in a hurry.


    Khan treasured his father''s words. Bret was the smartest man he knew. Ignoring his teachings and warnings would only ce Khan at the same level as the stupid soldiers.


    Moreover, Khan had seen how threatening the Nak were. The Second Impact had shown him that those aliens could survive the crash of a spaceship and still have enough strength to fight entire toons.


    Khan didn''t want to be amon foot soldier. He had suffered too much to remain cornered in the outskirts of co, handling people who didn''t even know how mana worked.


    His reurring nightmares had made him unable to forget what he had lost during the Second Impact. The Nak had be his curse, and Khan could only think of one way to get rid of it.


    ''I need to hunt to the Nak and get rid of that damned species!'' Khan shouted in his mind to reaffirm his determination.


    Khan didn''t really hate the Nak. They were natural enemies of the human race, but he didn''t feel blinding anger controlling his thoughts. He only wanted to experience dreamless nights and grant a better life to his father.


    The Nak probably were in the way, so Khan had to fight them. He would think about what he really desired after he managed to get rid of the nightmares.


    ''Visualize the mana,'' Khan said in his mind while focusing on his nape.


    His birthday was still a few weeks away, so Khan decided to use that time to improve in the visualization technique. He would then try to move the mana once he mastered the first process.


    A faint tremor ran through Khan''s spine when he focused on his nape. He could sense that foreign energy had umted on that spot, but he had yet to see it clearly.


    As Khan maintained his attention, the mana became clearer. He slowly began to see the azure energy stored in his nape flowing toward his brain.


    The effort made Khan sweat. He didn''t know why that simple visualization technique was so tiring, but he would have to suppress his doubts until the enlistment.


    ''How can I feel so sleepy already?'' Khanined when he reopened his eyes. ''I''m also hungry. Maybe trying to visualize the mana is making me burn more energy than usual.''


    Khan went to open one of the cans in his stash. That was the only type of food avable in the Slums unless you were willing to eat the roasted rats in the street stalls.


    His eyes casually fell on the watch near the holovision when he bent to pick a can from his secret drawer. Shock filled his mind when he noticed that he had spent three whole hours deep into the visualization technique.


    ''How is this possible?'' Khan wondered while turning the holovision on and checking whether the watch was wrong.


    The watch on the holovision reported the same time. The visualization technique had onlysted for a few minutes in Khan''s mind, but he had actually spent entire hours meditating.


    ''My perception ispletely off!'' Khan eximed. ''I should be careful from now on. I know how I am. I might end up spending entire days meditating if I don''t keep track of the passage of time.''


    The reurring nightmares had made Khan''s mind quite resilient. He didn''t fear pain, and he didn''t mind exhausting himself as long as he had a purpose. His determination had already surpassed what ordinary fifteen years old kids could have.


    The discovery forced Khan to change his approach. He continued to use the visualization technique, but he set rms before entering that meditative state.


    Days passed quickly. Khan never left his home. His routine slowly adapted to his training, and he even added a few physical exercises to respect his father''s directives.


    At the end of the first week of training, Khan could visualize the mana in his nape after mere minutes spent meditating. After the second week, Khan could trigger the tremor even without closing his eyes.


    ''I guess I should try to move it now,'' Khan thought once he found himself unable to improve his performance in the visualization technique.


    Khan closed his eyes and focused on the azure energy umted in his nape, but doubts soon appeared in his mind. He had no idea how to force the mana to move.


    ''Maybe my thoughts are enough,'' Khan concluded while focusing even harder on that energy.


    Nothing happened, no matter how hard Khan pushed himself. The mana flowed normally toward his mind and body, but he had no power over that energy.


    ''Small steps first,'' Khan thought. ''The mana already moves on its own. I should try to slow down and elerate its flow before attempting to move it.''


    His new approach didn''t immediately give results, but Khan didn''t give up. He continued to go through long mediations to learn how to ovee that challenge.


    ''Come on!'' Khan cursed after hearing his rm ringing. ''I will turn sixteen in four days. Give me superpowers already!''


    Khan ignored the rm and continued to focus on the mana. A sudden tremor ran through his spine, and the energy finally began to flow faster toward the rest of his body.


    A strange sensation filled Khan''s body. A tingling feeling spread through his skin and forced him out of his meditative state.


    Khan didn''t know what had happened. The mana had triggered a reaction in his body after it began to flow faster, but it was unclear whether that was a good or a bad thing.


    ''Well, it moved at least,'' Khan epted that oue before ending his training and filling his stomach.


    Khan would have normally wanted to maintain a healthy routine. Yet, he didn''t have to work in those days, and his nightmares made him unwilling to hit the bed.


    The new achievement worsened that situation and made Khan dive even deeper into his training. He slept only two nights in the four days before his birthday. He spent the whole time alternating between meditations and physical training.


    Once his birthday arrived, Khan ate more than usual and began the preparations for his departure. He had an almost intact bag, so he stuffed it with clothes and food cans before sealing the entrance of his home as best as possible.


    Stealing someone else''s house in the Slums wasmon, but Khan''s father was rather feared. Still, Khan didn''t dare to risk leaving his home open to thieves while Bret was in jail.


    ''It''s finally time to leave,'' Khan thought while ncing at his poor-looking home.


    Khan felt slightly sad that he couldn''t say a proper goodbye to his father, but their rtionship went past those things. They would eventually see each other again.


    ''I know in which direction the training camp is,'' Khan thought while inspecting his mental map of the Slums. ''I have a bit less than a month to reach it. I wonder if the soldiers can give me a ride.''

 Chapter 9 - Truck

    "Come on," Khan pleaded. "You send trucks to the nearest training camp every day. I only need a ride. I swear I''ll shrink and be silent."


    Khan had followed his initial n to ask the soldiers in the Slums a favor. He had reached the nearest station and found people willing to listen to him, but his pleads were leading him nowhere.


    "We can''t give rides to civilians," The soldier replied. "You can walk or pay someone who owns a car."


    "We are in the Slums!" Khanined. "People barely have food here. Come on. I''m like one hundred and seventy centimeters. I can fit on yourp if I make myself really small."


    The soldier shot an angry nce toward Khan, and thetter felt forced to add something to his previous statement.


    "Of course, I''d rather not do it," Khan added while lowering his head and wearing his saddest expression.


    "Don''t try to appeal to my mercy," The soldier replied coldly. "You should go now. You might even reach the training camp in time for the enlistment period if you run for twenty days in a row."


    The soldier exploded into augh, and his colleagues did the same. They had all stopped working when they noticed that interesting conversation, and they didn''t miss the opportunity to mock Khan.


    "I didn''t want to use this," Khan sighed while a determined expression appeared on his face.


    Khan lowered his bag and pulled a can out of it. He lifted it on the soldier''s face and made sure that he could read itsbel.


    "This is spicy chicken, my most valuable asset," Khan announced while pulling back the can and holding it between his arms. "I''m willing to give it to you in exchange for the ride."


    The soldier watched Khan hugging the can with utmost care. The kid almost appeared to have feelings for that food.


    "You should go home now," The soldier sighed while massaging his temples.


    "Fine then," Khan said while pulling something else from his bag. "I''m willing to offer you two food cans! The second one is spicy soup."


    The soldier didn''t know how to answer. He almost felt pity for the kid, but he had no intention to ept the trade.


    Khan could see that his bargain wasn''t going well, but he didn''t give up. He bent to pick a third food can from his backpack, but a tremor suddenly ran down his spine, and his hand shot behind him.


    A second soldier, a tall, brawny bald man, had tried to grab Khan''s shoulder. Still, Khan had sensed him, and his hand had promptly shot toward him.


    Khan slowly turned his head. He had trapped the soldier''s wrist in his grasp, and the big man didn''t manage to free himself.


    A surprised expression appeared on the three of them. The soldiers and Khan didn''t expect that show of physical might.


    ''When did I be so strong?'' Khan wondered, but he suppressed that question for the time being.


    That sudden burst of power had given Khan the chance to use a different act. He had enough experience in that field to change his character ording to the situation.


    "You know," Khan said in a cold voice without letting the soldier go. "I''m the son of a first-level warrior, the same man who barged into the mines only a month ago."


    "That man is still in jail," The first soldier replied. "Let go of mypanion immediately before I put you in the cell next to him."


    "Do you think the jails in the Slums can contain a first-level warrior?" Khan threatened. "He has also been the head of the scientific division of the Global Army. Do you really want to displease such a man?"


    Both soldiers started to show hints of concern. Even the other men and women in the station began to ignore the conversation for fear of eventual repercussions.


    "Imagine what this man would do when he learns that his only son has lost his chance to enlist because of you," Khan continued. "I wonder how long it will take to rebuild this ce."


    The soldierspletely fell for Khan''s act. His words alone weren''t a problem, but they had both read the reports about the incident in the mines. Also, Khan appeared quite threatening in that situation.


    Khan was keeping a soldier almost twice his size locked in his grasp. Both men could only use the mana to exin his unnatural strength, which made them even more worried.


    "The next truck will depart tonight," The first soldier sighed, giving up on the matter. "You will have to sit among the provisions. Mind you. We will cut your hands if you steal anything."


    Khan quickly dropped his cold expression and revealed a smile. He also let go of the soldier behind him who didn''t know whether to punish the kid or run away.


    "You lost your chance to get two food cans," Khan said while ncing at the hesitant soldier behind him. "I was even willing to add another one!"


    The first soldier shook his head and led Khan into a waiting area, where he immediately opened one of his cans and started eating. The man didn''t want to start another discussion, so he ignored the kid and went back to work.


    ''I guess I should maximize my training time,'' Khan thought while ncing at the soldiers in the station. ''I can''t trust them, but the previous act should have scared them enough to warn me once the truck is ready.''


    Khan inspected his hands. The strength from before had left him speechless. He knew that the workout in thest month and his job in the mines weren''t enough to give him that power.


    ''The mana did something,'' Khan quickly concluded in his mind. ''The visualization technique shouldn''t have anything to do with this strength. It can only be the mana core, the forceful eleration of its flow, or both of them.''


    Khan realized how little he knew about the mana and how dangerous that energy was. He had trained for little more than a month, but he could already see significant improvements.


    ''Is it like this for everyone?'' Khan wondered. ''I might be talented or something. These fast improvements might evene from the quality of the mana core.''


    Khan eventually decided to suppress his questions and resume his training. It was pointless to waste those precious hours over doubts that he couldn''t solve. The Global Army would soon give him answers anyway.


    His focus went on his nape, and a few trails of sweat fell from his forehead while he elerated the flow of the mana. Khan had gotten the hang of that procedure in thest days, and he had even be used to the tingling sensation that followed it.


    "Hey, kid," A soldier eventually interrupted Khan''s mediation.


    Khan opened his eyes and noticed that the night had already arrived. It was time to leave the Slums, so he didn''t hesitate to follow the soldier.


    A truck was waiting in front of the station. It was one of the old models that couldn''t go higher than ten meters. It even had wheels in case the flying mechanism stopped working.


    The transport also looked quite dirty. Mud and terrain covered its wheels and front. It seemed that the truck had needed to move on the ground recently.


    ''I hope this thing doesn''t kill me before reaching the training camp,'' Khan thought before climbing on the truck''s back, where a simple fabric covered various cans and some bottles.


    ''Why do they even bring so much food back to the training ground,'' Khan wondered. ''I thought they were rich there.''


    Khan couldn''t lose himself in his thoughts because a female voice resounded from the bottom of the container and startled him.


    "Our agreement stated that I would have been alone here!" A young-looking girl with red hair and green eyes shouted.


    Khan didn''t know what to answer, but he didn''t stop climbing inside the truck either. He even moved the cans and created an ufortable chair under the livid gaze of the girl.


    "Change of ns," The soldier replied while sealing the fabric and closing Khan and the girl inside the container. "Don''t try to open this while the truck is in the air."


    Khan slowly turned toward the girl and took a can from his backpack. An honest smile appeared on his face as he handed the food to his travelpanion.


    "It''s spicy chicken," Khan said in a polite tone. "I can share it if you give me your name."


    The girl didn''t even bother to reply. She snorted before turning toward her corner of the container and falling silent.

 Chapter 10 - Enlisting

    Khan didn''t manage to make the girl talk, so he limited himself to resume his training. The mana flowed faster toward his brain and body under his attention, and the tingling sensation never stopped running through his skin.


    The ride on the truck went by quickly. The transport only took a few hours to reach its destination since it flew above the Slums. When itnded, a couple of soldiers unsealed the fabric covering the container and told Khan and the girl to jump off.


    A spectacr scenery unfolded in Khan''s vision. He had the familiar Slums on one side and a tall structure on the other. The entrance to the domain of the Global Army resembled a massive metal pce surrounded by towering walls.


    The walls were ck and protected co''s central districts. They surrounded the actual city and the various training grounds. The Slums were only dumps built around those defenses.


    ''I remember this scene,'' Khan thought while inspecting the defensive walls and the tall structure.


    Khan didn''t recall much about his life inside co, but he had often visited his father at work with his mother back then. The structures of the Global Army shared a simr style, so he could sense a certain familiarity in that scene.


    "Just enter the building and fill the forms," One of the soldiers said to Khan and the girl. "Enlisting is easy. Whates after not so much."


    The girl performed a proper military salute. She ced both arms behind her waist and straightened her back, but the soldier ignored that gesture.


    ''Her situation must be simr to mine,'' Khan guessed. ''Maybe her family still has ties with the Global Army.''


    The people in the Slums rarely joined the Global Army. That force promised power and training, but it also imposed obligations and dangers.


    The Global Army couldpel its best soldiers to defend specific outposts on distants or go to war against threatening creatures born from mana. That job had a high death ratio. Most of those who enlisted from the Slums directly refused the mana core to remain on Earth.


    Moreover, the citizens of the Slums didn''t trust the Global Army enough to put their lives in its hands. The behavior of the soldiers in those districts made them lose any desire to be part of that rotten system.


    Of course, Khan had no intention of bing one of thezy soldiers pretending to enforce order in the Slums. He wanted to travel to differents and hunt for the Nak, even if that would turn him into a ve of the army.


    The girl immediately ran toward the entrance of the tall structure, and Khan slowly followed her. He wasn''t in a hurry to enter the training ground since the enlistment period would still take a few weeks to end.


    A few soldiers stopped both of them at the entrance. They didn''t bother to ask for documents since Khan and the girl clearly came from the Slums. Still, they took their signature and registered their fingerprints before allowing them inside the building.


    "Hold on a second!" One of the soldiers suddenly said after Khan registered his fingerprints. "You are already in the system, but yourst name has been erased. You muste with me."


    Even the girl stopped to look at the scene. It wasn''t too rare for the people in the Slums to have a rtively important past, but the erasure of thest name was a serious matter.


    Khan inspected the soldier, ignoring most of her features. His focus was on her uniform. The woman had a star on both arms.


    "Have you ever heard of Bret, the previous head of the science division?" Khan asked.


    His identity wasn''t a secret. The Global Army already knew who he was, but Khan wanted to avoid wasting time. The soldiers would have to ask many authorizations to find the censored files connected to hisst name.


    The woman''s eyes lit up. She didn''t know Bret personally, and she had never met him. However, she knew the story about the scientist who lost everything after the Second Impact.


    "I''m his son," Khan added when he noticed the changes in her expression.


    The soldier wanted to add something, but the details of that story began to fill her mind. A holoscreen came out of her watch, and she pointed it at Khan while whispering a few faint words.


    The screen quickly became green, confirming Khan''s story, and the soldier let him proceed without asking further questions.


    ''I hope Dad didn''t make people too angry here,'' Khan sighed while proceeding through arge hall.


    The soldier would definitely warn the higher-ups about Khan''s arrival, but he couldn''t do much about it. His identity would havee out sooner orter anyway.


    Technology that Khan had never seen filled the hall. A dark metal almost made the entirety of the furniture, and electric torches shone on the tall ceiling. A series of desks featuring holoscreens upied half of that room, whilefortable chairs stood on the other side.


    Khan neared one of the desks andpleted his enlistment. The soldier on the other side used his watch to check Khan''s age before handing him a series of digital sheets to sign.


    After reading through those sheets, Khan signed the documents and officially became part of the army. The easy part was over. He had to go through the training camp now.


    "Follow the corridor," The soldier said once Khan hadpleted all the steps. "It will lead you to your quarters, where you can rest until the enlistment period ends. Someone will then pick you up and bring you to the training camp."


    Khan followed those instructions and quickly found a small room that featured a bed, a bathroom, a chair, and a table. That wasn''t much, but it was far better than his house in the Slums.


    ''I guess they will take care of the food,'' Khan thought while putting his bag on the ground and eating one of hisst cans.


    The door of the room closed automatically, and a series of menus appeared on its surface. Khan inspected them and discovered that the habitation offered many services to help him get through that period.


    ''They have games, food, movies, books, but nothing rted to the mana,'' Khan understood after a quick inspection of the services. ''I guess they won''t let me roam freely through the building. I''m stuck here.''


    The news didn''t bother Khan. That room was a paradisepared to how he had lived in thest eleven years. His training and the free food would make him go through the istion in a blink.


    Khan began to meditate after choosing a few tes on the menu. The food arrived thirty minutester, apanied by a new set of clothes and a series of clean towels.


    ''I bet that Dad''s cell isn''t asfortable,'' Khan thought while changing his clothes.


    His bag was pointless now. Khan could get a new one through the menus on the door. He could also obtain multiple sets of clothes for free.


    After upgrading his equipment, Khan threw himself into his training, alternating light workout to long meditations. He didn''t sleep much, but he went all-out when it came to eating.


    The enlisting period ended quickly. Khan kept track of the passage of time through the digital watch on the door-menu, so he made sure to be wholly rested on hisst day of istion.


    During the afternoon of that day, writings suddenly covered the walls of the room, and a mechanical voice soon resounded inside it.


    "The device is ready to depart," The voice announced. "Brace yourself forunch."


    The writings on the wall said the same thing, but they also had a timer that was dangerously reaching zero. Khan quickly leaned next to the bed before pressure fell on him and made him crouch on the ground.


    The pressure soon vanished. Itsted for less than an instant, but the event had been too sudden. Still, that was nothingpared to the surprise that Khan felt when part of the door became transparent and showed him what was happening in the outside world.


    ''This thing is flying!'' Khan shouted in his mind when he saw the scenery from the window.


    The whole room had set off from the tall structure and was flying toward the training camp. From his position, Khan could also see a few more rooms flying behind him.


    The travel took a few hours. Thending ended up being quite awful, but the doors finally opened afterward. A dark corridor appeared in Khan''s view. The illumination worked, but someone had purposely created a dark environment.


    Khan peeked out of the door. The girl from before and a short boy were doing the same from their respective rooms. They were all in the same ce with no idea what to do.


    A series of arrows suddenly lit up on the ground and pointed toward a side of the corridor. Khan, the girl, and the boy quickly took their belongings and exited their rooms to follow those marks.


    The arrows led the trio into arge hall that featured some more young boys and girls. There were seven of them there, and none of them seemed to go past eighteen years old.


    Khan was about to ask something to those people, but a metal door closed behind him and sealed the hall. Writings then appeared on the walls before a mechanical voice resounded through the room.


    "You will all perform a quick test now," The voice said. "You should pick some weapons. You will need them."


    Part of the walls opened when the voice finished its line. Weapons of various sizes and nature came out of them, attracting the attention of the ten in the room.

 Chapter 11 - Test

    The writings on the walls featured a one-minute countdown that started as soon as the mechanical voicepleted its line.


    The boys and girls immediately panicked, and only a few of them managed to remain calm. Khan, a short girl with long dark hair, and a tall, slender boy with short grey hair didn''t let that news alter their mood and began to study the situation.


    ''The Global Army epts everyone,'' Khan thought while inspecting the weapons. ''This test must influence part of our life in the army. Maybe its purpose is to assign us to different toons.''


    The answer to his doubts arrived after the slender boy pped his hands and imed everyone''s attention.


    "Calm down!" The boy shouted. "My name is Luke Cobsend, and my family has served in the Global Army for generations. This test will make the higher-ups understand our starting point and potential."


    His words didn''t have the expected effect. Those who had begun to panic became even more anxious. They didn''t want a surprise test to determine their entire life in the army.


    "Don''t worry," Luke continued. "As I already said, this is only for our starting point. They have to understand who knows how to fight and how they behave in front of danger. The higher-ups will decide our mandatory courses ording to our results."


    The boys and girls finally began to calm down, but the countdown had never stopped nearing zero. Luke had to do something quickly if he wanted his group to be ready.


    "There is no time to exchange names," Luke quickly exined. "Which one of you already has a mana core?"


    A few hands rose. Luke, the ck-haired girl, Khan, and the skinny boy announced that they owned a mana core.


    Evident disappointment appeared on Luke''s face, but he quickly steeled his determination.


    "That will be enough!" Luke eximed. "Those without mana core should choose long weapons or shields. The four of us must handle the frontlines. Pick swords or anything that you arefortable with."


    Khan didn''t mind following those directives. Luke seemed to know something about the test and the mana cores, so it was better to listen to him in that situation.


    Still, a problem soon appeared. Khan didn''t receive any training, and the hall didn''t offer even a single firearm.


    ''Do I have to pick a sword and improvise?'' Khan wondered until he found something familiar hidden behind a shield.


    Luke had quickly grabbed a sword and had turned to inspect hispanions. A satisfied smile appeared on his face when he saw that they had all followed his instructions, but his expression froze at some point.


    "Where did you even find a shovel?!" Luke asked when he noticed Khan in the corner of the hall.


    "It was behind this old shield," Khan exined, purposely ignoring the real meaning behind Luke''s words.


    "How do you even n to fight with that?!" Luke questioned him.


    "It''s better than picking a weapon that I can''t use," Khan replied inly. "These things are really sharp. I might end up hurting someone due to my inexperience."


    Luke remained speechless. Khan''s words made sense, but they still didn''t justify his choice in that situation.


    "Who do we have to fight?" The ck-haired girl asked while rotating her hammer.


    The scene was quite peculiar. The ck-haired girl was barely one hundred and sixty centimeters tall, but her hammer was as big as a man''s chest. Yet, she could wield it at ease.


    ''Physical enhancement!'' Khan thought while inspecting the girl. ''I guess mana cores do that for everyone.''


    Luke sighed before exining what he knew. "Our opponent should be a Tainted animal. The creature won''t be able to infect anyone, and the army must have also affected its overall aggression. No one can die in this test, but we still have to do our best."


    Luke''s words had almost made hispanions anxious again, but he had been smart enough to add thosest details. The boys and girls could finally realize that they didn''t have to fear for their lives.


    The countdown eventually hit zero, and the weapons quickly disappeared into the walls. A door opened on the side of the hall, and the writings transformed into arge picture.


    The picture depicted a tall boar with shining azure eyes. Azure fur also covered its body, and long tusks grew from the corners of its mouth.


    "It doesn''t seem dangerous!"


    "There are ten of us here! How can a simple animal defeat us?"


    "We will ace this test!"


    Cheers resounded among the group, but Khan, Luke, the ck-haired girl, and the skinny body remained silent. Khan even ended up exchanging a meaningful gaze with those three.


    ''They have also faced a Tainted animal before,'' Khan concluded in his mind.


    Only idiots would rejoice in front of a Tainted boar. Khan had seen a Tainted rat killing grown-up men with a few bites. He didn''t know what that animal would be capable of after the Nak''s mana tainted it.


    "Let''s go out!" Luke suddenly shouted. "Remember. The six of you must remain behind us and provide support. Let those who have a mana core take risks."


    The six nodded, and Luke took the group''s lead while gesturing to Khan and the other two to follow him in the frontlines.


    A green field unfolded in the group''s view once they exited the hall. The sun shone high in the sky and revealed every detail about that environment.


    A few trees upied a small spot in the distance. Everyone in the group guessed that the boar was there since they couldn''t see it in the prairie.


    "I guess that you have faced Tainted animals before," Luke whispered to his threepanions.


    Khan, the girl, and the skinny boy nodded without adding details. It was clear that they didn''t want to talk about that during the test.


    "The folks behind us will be useless," Luke continued. "It''s up to us to kill the animal. What''s the tier of your mana core? My family managed to get me a synthetic A-tier."


    Both the girl and the boy showed surprised expressions at that revtion, and Khan imitated them. He didn''t even know that mana cores had tiers, but he decided to y along.


    "Organic B-tier," The girl exined. "My grandfather died serving on Istrone, so the armypensated my family with it. I am Martha Weesso, by the way."


    "I''m Jay," The skinny body replied while tightening his grasp on his shortsword. "Synthetic C-tier."


    Luke whistled when he heard Martha, but his expression froze after Jay spoke. Khan studied the changes in his behavior and developed a theory about the differences among mana cores.


    ''Organic should be better,'' Khan concluded in his mind. ''Does mine count as organic since ites from a Nak?''


    Khan had to focus on the real world when he saw his threepanions looking in his direction.


    "I''m Khan," Khan said while wearing a na?ve smile. "I don''t really know the quality of my mana core. I had the chance to obtain it, and I didn''t refuse."


    "It must be synthetic," Luke exined. "Organic cores are quite rare, and they havepatibility issues. Maybe you had luck and got your hands on a B-tier. It will be less of a pain to upgrade it."


    Khan limited himself to nod and feign ignorance, and Luke soon lost interest in him. Instead, he gave voice to politepliments directed at Martha, but she ignored them.


    An awkward silence fell among the four in the group''s lead, and Khan almost felt saved when they reached the trees. He preferred to fight than seeing Luke hitting on Martha.


    Luke made a hand gesture that no one behind him understood. Even Khan and Jay ignored the meaning behind that, so they simply imitated him.


    "The four of us ahead," Luke eventually decided to whisper. "You follow closely but slowly."


    Everyone nodded, but a tall figure suddenly appeared among the trees. It resembled an azure shadow that was running at high speed toward the group.


    "Shields!" Luke shouted before jumping to the side.


    Khan and Jay did the same, but Martha tried to swing her hammer toward the creature. Still, the boar ignored her and crashed on the six in the backlines.

 Chapter 12 - Evaluation

    The Tainted boar didn''t hesitate to show how fast it was. It was even quite nimble for its size since it managed to avoid Martha to focus on the weaker part of the group.


    Khan turned to inspect the oue of the impact. Two of his corelesspanions were on the ground. Their shields and weapons had shattered after the sh with the boar, but they appeared to be fine. Their bodies only featured a few bruises.


    Two among the other four had dropped their weapons and were running away as fast as they could. The boar had scared them to the point that they wanted to drop out of the Global Army.


    The other two were doing their best to suppress their fear. Khan could see their fingers bing white due to their tight grasp on their weapons.


    ''How are they even alive?'' Khan wondered when he looked in the distance.


    The boar didn''t stop its charge after the impact. The beast had continued to run through the field without minding its opponents. Still, it eventually stopped and turned.


    Khan could see the Tainted boar in its entirety now. The creature was almost two meters tall. It had a massive body and wore metal cors on its tusks.


    A red light shed from those cors, and the boar squealed whenever that glow reached its eyes. The creature seemed angry at those items.


    "That''s restraining gear," Jaymented after he straightened his position. "They must control the force that it''s able to generate in the impact. I bet that they activate whenever the boar nears human skin."


    Jay''s exnation made sense. The Global Army would never put kids without training and mana cores against a Tainted animal unless it took precautions.


    "It can''t hurt us then!" Luke eximed before taking his position near Jay.


    Martha had also turned to stand next to the trio. She seemed almost excited about the fight, but a foul smell soon reached her nostrils and suppressed her feelings.


    Khan and the other three turned toward the boy lying on the ground. A wet patch had appeared on his trousers, but that didn''t seem the only thing happening in his pants.


    No one dared to joke about that event. Khan even believed it to be a normal reaction after a two-meters tall animal threatened to kill you.


    ''I wonder how strong I have be,'' Khan thought while inspecting his shovel. ''This doesn''t have wood in its structure. It won''t break so easily.''


    Khan had no idea how strong he had be after his training. That unclear feature about his own body annoyed him, so he wanted to use the boar to test himself.


    ''I killed a Tainted animal before obtaining the mana,'' Khan thought. ''How hard can it be now?''


    The Tainted boar didn''t let the group reassemble or prepare a strategy. It ran toward the two escaping kids, and Luke almost shot ahead to help them.


    "No!" Khan promptly shouted while cing the shovel on Luke''s chest to stop him. "They have decided to leave us. Let''s use this time to prepare a n."


    "But-," Luke tried to say something and push away the shovel, but Khan''s arm didn''t move.


    "They have abandoned their position and put us in danger," Khan said before Luke could continue speaking. "You don''t help those who backstab you."


    "How sure are you about the cors?" Martha asked once Luke epted Khan''s reprimand.


    "I''m rarely wrong about tech stuff," Jay said without showing any emotion.


    "Perfect," Martha replied. "You two act as baits. Khan, Luke, and Jay will focus on its legs. I''ll keep the hammer ready."


    No one dared to reject her idea. Even the two kids with no mana core soon started to m their weapons on their shields.


    The Tainted boar quickly caught up with the two fleeting opponents. The creature mmed its tusks on their back and flung them away without managing to leave severe injuries.


    Then, the beast heard the noise caused by the rest of the group and began to change in its direction.


    Having that boulder of muscles and fur running toward them didn''t cause the best feelings. However, Khan and the others didn''t let their fears take control of their minds and remained in their position.


    "Jump!" Martha shouted when the boar was about to reach the two without mana cores.


    The duo jumped on the side and dodged the charge of the animal. The boar was almost about to hit Khan and the others, but they quickly activated their n.


    Khan ducked, Jay imitated him, and Luke tried to side-step the attack. Only Martha remained still since she had to wait for her opportunity.


    Jay wasn''t fast enough. The boar mmed its tusk on his chest and flung him away. The beast also turned and hit Luke''s side with its head, but the boy managed to stab its neck before flying away.


    Khan mmed his shovel on the beast''s front leg. A massive force ran through his arms andnded on his shoulders, but Khan did his best to fight it.


    The Tainted boar was stronger than Khan, but he stabbed the shovel on the ground. The beast stumbled when its rear leg hit that tool, but it seemed about to recover its bnce in the following instant.


    ''It won''t fall like this,'' Khan thought while watching the scene from the ground.


    Khan didn''t have the time to stand up and reach the boar, but his legs were still in its range. A kicknded on the beast''s rear end and destabilized its charge other than preventing it from recovering its bnce.


    The boar mmed on the ground and slid on the terrain due to the momentum umted in its charge. Martha was waiting for the creature, and she promptly swung her hammer toward the center of its head.


    Blood immediately came out from the boar''s eyes, ears, and mouth. The creature had definitely felt that blow, and Martha gave voice to a happy cry at that sight.


    Yet, the boar suddenly moved again and tried to jump toward her chest. Martha couldn''t dodge that attack. She was too close to the beast, and her hammer was still on its head.


    Then, a sword shed in her vision and stabbed the beast in the back of its head. When Martha raised her head, she found Khan sitting on the creature and wielding Luke''s weapon.


    Khan saw blooding out of the creature''s head and tainting his trousers, but he ignored that. He quickly raised the de and stabbed the beast again.


    "Can you take away that hammer?" Khan asked before attaching a third time.


    "I think it''s dead," Martha said while pulling her weapon back.


    "I don''t take chances with the Tainted animals," Khan replied before stabbing his sword again and again.


    Khan stopped only after he felt sure that the boar had died. His clothes had transformed into a gory mess, but he felt happy about that achievement anyway.


    "Thank you," Martha said while a tinge of shame seeped into her voice.


    "No problem," Khan replied while raising the sword. "This wasn''t so hard to use in the end."


    "Killing is rather easy once you obtain the mana," An unfamiliar voice suddenly resounded through the area.


    Khan and Martha immediately turned toward the source of that voice. A hologram depicting a middle-aged man wearing the military uniform had appeared next to them.


    "I''m Lieutenant Rupert Unchai," The hologram said. "I''m here to evaluate your performance."


    A few small drones flew over the field and brought away the two who had fainted after the first attack. Jay and Luke simply stood up and reunited with Khan and Martha when they saw what was happening.


    "The two up there will get a C," Rupert announced. "Rough and bad reflexes. You don''t need a mana core to jump away from an imminent threat."


    "The two who ran away will get a D," Rupert continued. "The Global Army forbids me from giving an F in this test. They would get it otherwise."


    "You two without mana cores get an A," Rupert said after pointing at the two baits. "You are weak, but you are brave. Work hard, and you''ll be someone in the army."


    "The skinny one will get a B-plus," Rupert announced while pointing at Jay. "Nice catch on the cors, but I have never thought that someone with a mana core could be so clumsy."


    "The tall one there will get A-minus," Rupert evaluated Luke. "You did well calming down the others. You also have a good heart, but that isn''t always a good thing during wars."


    "The girl will also get an A-minus," Rupert moved on to Martha. "Nice guts, but way too reckless."


    "Now you, shovel kid," Rupert sighed while fixing his eyes on Khan. "I''m really tempted to give you a D for being stupid enough to bring a shovel into a battlefield."


    "I have a sword now," Khan announced while wearing a broad smile and waving Luke''s weapon.


    "And also a loose screw," Rupert sighed again before wearing a professional expression. "Incredible reflexes and instincts. Good decision-making in the middle of the battle. You show your worth when it matters. Time will tell whether you are a natural-born fighter or not. A-plus."

 Chapter 13 - Doctor

    "The Global Army has dormitories all around the training ground," Rupert exined while leading Khan''s group toward a structure in the distance. "You will have to share the room with other people, but you can rent entire ts if you have enough Credits."


    Khan didn''t even bother to listen to those words. He waspletely broke. He didn''t even have any food left.


    "The lessons will begin in a week," Rupert continued. "You will have theoretical subjects in the morning and physical training in the afternoon. There is also a curfew at ten pm with severe punishments for anyone who breaks it."


    Rupert went on, exining all the different features of the training camp. The canteen was in the same building as the lessons, while the other structures mostly had training purposes.


    "You will get Credits forpleting missions and simr events, but it''s too early to talk about this stuff," Rupert concluded.


    The structure resembled a warehouse that featured tall metal doors. One of them opened and revealed a series ofrge tforms that floated a few centimeters above the floor.


    "Follow me," Rupert said before jumping on the tform.


    The others imitated Rupert, and the tform began to move, leading them outside the warehouse and higher in the sky.


    Khan and the others could notice that other identical transports were flying through the sky. They all carried young boys and girls and a lieutenant toward arge series of buildings surrounded by fields that featured different environments.


    Khan saw a forest, ake, a small hill, and a in covered with tall grass. A few warehouses stood next to each environment, and the other tforms seemed toe from them.


    "This test is nothing more than a skimming process," Rupert exined. "We ce the recruits in a foreign environment and make them face a Tainted animal. The results of the tests allow us to create sses suited for your current level, but they won''t affect your grades."


    Luke and Martha turned toward Khan when Rupert mentioned the grades. He had gained an A-plus, so the Global Army believed that he was stronger than hispanions.


    Khan didn''t fail to notice those nces. He had always been a foreigner in the Slums, so he had be used to that behavior.


    ''I hope they don''t resent me,'' Khan thought while pretending to ignore the duo. ''I don''t want to have enemies inside the camp already.''


    "You can always gain ess to the superior ss if your growth is promising," Rupert continued. "Also, a few courses are mandatory for every ss. You will even gain ess to optional courses once you enter the second semester."


    The tform seemed to have a force field that blocked the wind. The transport was flying quite fast, but Khan and the others didn''t feel anything.


    The tform eventuallynded in a parking lot at the edges of the training ground. The group jumped off and continued to follow Rupert, but their eyes darted through the environment to study their new home.


    ''This is so clean,'' Khan thought while studying the training camp.


    The streets among the various structures were immacte. A few robots ran through them and took care of any spot or trash left on the ground.


    Signs and maps appeared at every crossroad. They featured detailed exnations on how to reach every building, and they even had a screen where the soldiers could call for help.


    The buildings appeared as the most futuristic structures in the world. Azure light ran among their metal tiles, andrge windows allowed to see their ample and clean insides.


    Rupert stopped once he led the group in front of the dormitories. They wererge buildings surrounded by a short metal fence and arge gate.


    Soldiers protected the gate and took care of a stand ced on its sides. Rupert pointed at them and made his group apply for a room. In a few seconds, Khan obtained a ss-like card with the number "C501" written on its surface.


    "Don''t lose your phones" Rupert gave thest instructions. "The canteen is already active, and you all have to see the doctor during this week. Your phones will notify when it''s your time to visit him."


    The Slums were so out of touch with technology that Khan had almost failed to recognize the phone. He quickly pressed his fingers on the screen, and a series of menus came out in the form of holograms.


    The phone contained information about the various courses, the time at which they urred, and they even gave a brief description of the professors.


    Khan soon discovered that he could book the training areas in the camp by paying a set number of Credits. Of course, his phone only showed the number zero when he checked his bnce.


    ''This must be one of thetest models,'' Khan thought while patting Jay''s shoulder.


    Jay turned, and Khan quickly grabbed his wrist. Then, he ced Jay''s hand on his phone, but the screen didn''t light up.


    "It has a gic scanner," Jay exined. "You could have asked."


    "I haven''t held a phone since I was five," Khan tried to justify himself.


    "The Global Army gets the good stuff," Jay replied while waving his phone. "The factories are in this area. I heard that they even have soldiers stationed outside of them."


    "Less gossip and more moving," Rupert said before pointing at the gate.


    Khan and the others quickly went toward their respective buildings. It didn''t take them much to find where their rooms were since they could check the maps on their phones.


    They were all in building C, so they walked part of the road together. Many boys and girls of a simr age or older strolled among the different structures and upied the small park next to them, but they didn''t seem to care about Khan and the others.


    The group divided once they reached building C. Khan''s room was on the fifth floor. A metal door featuring the number "01" and a small screen eventually appeared in front of him, and a simple touch made it unlock.


    ''The door also has gic scanners,'' Khan eximed in his mind. ''This ce is centuries ahead of the Slums!''


    The room didn''t match Khan''s expectations. It was small and had only three rooms. One had two bunk beds, the other was a bathroom with a toilet and shower, and thest was aundry area.


    ''Well, it''s still the army,'' Khan sighed before cing his bag on one of the bottom bunks.


    Khan didn''t care about fighting for the top bunk. He would rather give it up now and avoid discussions with his roommates.


    His phone rang as soon as he ced his bag on the bed. Khan saw that his appointment with the doctor was in half an hour, so he quickly left the dormitory to reach the medical bay.


    Khan met many young soldiers along the road. He mostly ignored them to study the camp, but they shot strange nces at him.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t have the time to shower after his fight with the Tainted boar. He didn''t even wear the clean uniforms in theundry area due to the habits gained in the Slums.


    Reaching the medical bay turned out to be easy. The staff there didn''t only feature soldiers. Men and women wearing white coats and scrubs walked through the corridors without ever looking away from their phones.


    "Who would you be?" One of the soldiers at the entrance asked, but Khan promptly showed the notification on his phone.


    The soldier apanied Khan toward one of thebs where his meeting would happen. The woman knocked on the door before opening it and gesturing to Khan to enter.


    A series of tools that Khan didn''t recognize unfolded in his view. Microscopes, scanners, and other types of machinery filled therge room.


    "Khan, right?" A middle-aged man asked from behind his desk.


    The man had short ck hair and an unkempt beard. His small sses covered his green eyes that hadrge eyebags under them.


    "Yes," Khan replied while inspecting the room.


    "You might want to start adding a "sir" at the end of your lines from now on," The doctor said. "Wee to the army. I am Doctor Ian Parket, and I will test your mana."


    "Will I discover my element today?" Khan asked as his eyes lit up.


    Doctor Parket shot a nce toward Khan, and thetter quickly gave voice to a faint "sir".


    "Not only that," Doctor Parked exined while leaving his chair. "I will also test your current max capacity and attunement. They both are important qualities for mana users."


    Khan nodded even if he didn''t know much about those topics. He only wanted to see his element as fast as possible.


    "You already have a mana core, right?" Doctor Parket asked while picking what resembled an electric thermometer.


    "Yes, sir," Khan replied.


    "Let''s see what you have then," Doctor Parket approached Khan and ced the tool on his nape.


    A series of holograms quickly appeared on the table. They depicted Khan''s nape, but the images suddenly changed as a few beeps came out of the tool.


    The holograms began to inspect the insides of the nape and illuminate the mana flowing through Khan''s body.


    "How long did you have your mana core for?" Doctor Parket asked.


    "A few months," Khan replied honestly.


    "Not bad," Doctor Parketmented before a few beeps resounded and the images changed again.


    The holograms stopped depicting Khan''s nape and made a list of qualities. A loading icon rotated next to them since the tool was still studying Khan''s mana core.


    "What?!" Doctor Parket eximed when the stats appeared on the holograms, and a mechanical voice soon listed them. "Mana core quality: Organic A-tier; Element: Chaos; Attunement: 10%; Mana capacity: error."

 Chapter 14 - Similarities

    ''It was organic A-tier then,'' Khan thought while reading the stats, but he didn''t forget to question Doctor Ian about his previous exmation.


    "Is something wrong, sir?" Khan asked while turning his gaze toward the Doctor.


    Ian wore a confused expression when he read the stats. He checked the electric thermometer and tinkered with it for a while before repeating the test. However, the holoscreen ended up showing the same results.


    Khan began to worry. He trusted his father too much to believe that he had messed up with the transnt, but Doctor Ian''s expressions made him feel that something was wrong.


    "Is my mana core ok, sir?" Khan asked.


    The stats didn''t seem to have anything wrong, except for the mana capacity. Still, Khan had already visualized and moved that energy, so he knew that he had no problem in that field.


    "Nothing is wrong," Doctor Ian eventually announced before turning Khan and inspecting his features.


    Doctor Ian paid a great deal of attention to his eyes and hair. He seemed very interested in the few azure strands on his head, and his gaze soon fell on the rest of Khan''s body.


    "I''m starting to worry," Khan said while taking a step back to leave Doctor Ian''s grasp.


    "Don''t get the wrong idea," Doctor Ian replied before switching the topic. "Are you a Tainted?"


    The question took Khan by surprise, but he felt no reason to hide that feature from the army doctor. He grabbed the cor of his sweaty uniform and lowered it to reveal part of the azure scar on his chest.


    "I''m one of the survivors of the Second Impact," Khan exined. "Did the infection affect my mana?"


    Even Bret had failed to notice that a few mutations had escaped his attention. Khan only needed to inspect Doctor Ian''s expressions to understand that the infection had affected other parts of his body.


    "It''s impossible to remainpletely unaffected by the Nak''s infection," Doctor Ian exined. "Even the great Bret can''t do miracles."


    "Do you know my father?" Khan asked as his eyes widened in surprise.


    "It''s hard to find soldiers who didn''t hear about him," Doctor Ian gave voice to a faintugh. "Good man. What happened to him was a tragedy. I still think that the Global Army has been too hard on him."


    Khan didn''t know the specifics behind his father''s retirement. He waspletely unaware of how the higher-ups of the Global Army worked, and Bret had never had the chance nor the ability to describe them.


    "Did the Nak''s mana threaten my chances of bing a mage?" Khan asked as his worries intensified.


    "Not at all," Doctor Ian quickly reassured him. "It has simply affected your nature. Your status as a Tainted exins these stats."


    "Care to exin them to me?" Khan asked, and Doctor Ian shot a cold nce toward him that made him recall the word "sir".


    "The issue is in the element," Doctor Ian exined when he saw that Khan lowered his head. "The chaos element is almost impossible to find in humans, but it''s verymon among Nak. Your Tainted status also exins why your normal body has been able to fuse with an organic A-tier core without any special training."


    Khan suddenly recalled Luke''s words about thepatibility of organic mana cores, and a cold idea formed in his mind.


    His mana core belonged to a Nak, but his body didn''t oppose the transnt. His father didn''t argue about the procedure either. The reason behind those details seemed obvious now, but Khan didn''t want to understand it.


    ''It can''t be,'' Khan thought as the images of his reurring nightmare shed in his eyes.


    "I would need to perform more tests to confirm anything," Doctor Ian continued, "But the Nak''s mana may have given you some aspects of that alien species. My machine can only test the human capacity, so it can''t give an urate stat for you."


    "Are you implying that I''m a Nak, sir?" Khan asked as a hint of coldness seeped into his voice.


    Doctor Ian failed to notice the change in his tone and continued the exnation. "You are a fully-fledged human. You only have certain mutations that make my tools not work since you have developed simrities to that species."


    Khan didn''t answer. Doctor Ian''s exnation didn''t satisfy him. The Nak had been his curse for eleven years, but he had discovered that he carried simrities with that species now. His mood had never been worse.


    Khan turned to leave. He wanted to remain alone for a while. That discovery had turned his world upside-down, but Doctor Ian stopped him before he could reach the door.


    "I have yet to exin the attunement," Doctor Ian announced, and Khan decided to suppress the awful feelings that had filled his mind for the time being to hear those teachings.


    "Mana fills the entirety of the Nak''s bodies," Doctor Ian exined. "That''s an attunement level that goes beyond one hundred percent. You must aim to do the same, but I''m sure that you''ll learn about all of this soon."


    "Can I go now, sir?" Khan asked.


    Doctor Ian could see that something was wrong with Khan, and he didn''t take much to understand the nature behind his foul mood.


    Khan had survived the Second Impact. It was normal for his feelings toward the Nak to be unpleasant, and learning about the simrities with that species wasn''t ideal.


    Of course, Doctor Ian didn''t know about Khan''s nightmares, so he underestimated the intensity of those feelings. He didn''t do anything to cheer Khan up, and his hand soon pointed toward the door.


    "Onest thing," Doctor Ian said before Khan could leave the room. "You aren''t the first human with the chaos element. The army won''t mistreat you, but I can''t say the same for the other soldiers."


    ''Even better,'' Khan eximed in his mind before ignoring that issue.


    Khan knew that he couldn''t do anything about his situation, but he couldn''t decide how to feel about it. He had to be alone and slowly ept that discovery.


    Doctor Ian didn''t stop Khan from leaving the room. Thetter walked out of the medical bay without bothering to look at his surroundings. He continued to march until he found a benchid at the side of a street.


    ''I''m not exactly a Nak,'' Khan told himself while sitting on the bench. ''I''m only simr to that species in some aspects. My element and my mana core are only tools. I bet that I will use spells meant for humans.''


    Khan was trying to lift his morale. He resented the Nak deeply, so he had to find a way out of that reasoning to avoid hating himself.


    ''Who knows?'' Khan thought. ''These mutations might even benefit me. My attunement is already at ten percent. That can''t be a bad starting point.''


    A few kids gathered around Khan while he remained immersed in his thoughts. Four boys between sixteen and seventeen years old noticed his clothes and decided to surround his bench.


    "Hey, you!" The boy in front of Khan suddenly shouted. "We have a bet in ce. My friends think that you are from the Slums, but I want to believe that you simply don''t like to clean yourself."


    Khan nced at the four boys, but he soon lowered his head again. He had gone through simr situations in the Slums, and he had no intention to fuel them during his first day in the Global Army.


    "Look at his hair," One of the boys behind Khan said. "He has a few azure strands. It can''t be simple dye."


    "Did we find a Tainted at our first try?" Another boy asked. "He must be from the Slums then. Pay up!"


    "He has yet to confirm that!" The first boyined.


    "Come on," The fourth boyughed. "There hasn''t been an infection in co in centuries. Only the Slums don''t have the equipment to deal with it."


    "The Second Impact has also happened in the Slums," The boy behind Khan added.


    "Hey, you!" The first boy shouted again while crouching toward Khan. "I''m talking to you! Are you from the Slums or co?"


    Khan continued to ignore them, but the first boy eventually grabbed his hair and forced him to raise his head.


    "You really don''t know how to leave people alone," Khan whispered.


    "I want an answer-," The first boy shouted, but Khan stabbed his fingers in his eyes before he could finish his line.


    "What are you doing?!" The boy behind the bench asked and tried to grab him, but Khan promptly stood up and kicked the blinded guy to the ground.


    The boy near Khan tried to approach him from the side, but he pushed a hand forward to block his vision.


    The boy tilted his head to see what was happening behind the hand, but a sharp pain suddenly filled his entire body. Hispanions covered their mouths when they saw that scene. Khan had used that chance to kick him in the groin.

 Chapter 15 - Fight

    "That''s fighting dirty!" One of the boys behind the bench shouted, but Khan ignored him.


    Khan used that chance to turn and take care of the blinded boy. He was still covering his eyes, so he couldn''t react to the precise kick that hit his groin.


    The two boys behind the bench covered their mouths again. They didn''t expect Khan to go after their already hurt friend, but they had to admit that his tactic worked well.


    Khan didn''t stop there. The four boys had given him the chance to vent his foul mood. Another kick fell on the blinded guy''s belly while his two friends were still trying to reach him.


    The two boys eventually reached Khan. One of them tried to grab him, but Khan swiftly took a step back and dodged his arms. However, the second kid approached him from the side and managed to throw a punch on his face.


    Pain spread on Khan''s face, but he didn''t lose his focus. He pretended to stumble on the grass near the street, and the two boys promptly tried to exploit that chance. However, their vision went dark when Khan threw a handful of dirt in their eyes.


    "Watch your balls!" Khan shouted, and the two blinded boys quickly covered their groins.


    Khan''s left fist hit one of them on the nose and made him stumble on the ground. The boy instinctively protected his head during the fall, so Khan''s kick could reach his groin without any obstruction.


    "You''ll pay for this!" The fourth boy shouted after he managed to regain his vision.


    Khan fell to the ground as the boy jumped on his back. A series of punchesnded on his face and forced him to use his arms to block them. Yet, more lies came out of his mouth.


    "Do you think that sitting on top of me is a good idea?" Khan asked, and the boy stopped his offensive to check his opponent''s legs.


    Khan''s hand promptly reached the boy''s face at that point. He used all his strength to m his opponent on the ground, and a faint cracking noise reached his ears.


    ''What?'' Khan shouted in his mind while crouching on the ground to check the boy.


    His ears didn''t lie to him. The boy had fainted after his head had mmed on the ground, and blood flowed out of his mouth. Something had broken during the impact, and Khan began to panic at that sight.


    ''This one needs a doctor,'' Khan quickly concluded and grabbed his phone.


    Khan searched through the various menus to find something that could make him call a doctor, but a faint worry made him stop his actions.


    ''Can they even expel me for this?'' Khan wondered for an instant, and his priorities soon took control of his actions.


    Khan stored his phone and began to search the fainted boy''s pockets. He quickly found a phone, and he didn''t hesitate to grab his hand to pass through the gic scanner.


    "Put your arms behind your head and lie on the ground," A metallic voice suddenly resounded behind him.


    Khan let go of the phone and followed those orders. He slowly turned before lying on the ground, and three short robots appeared in his vision.


    Those robots were identical to those in charge of cleaning the streets. They were rectangr and white, and two pairs ofrge wheels allowed them to move freely through the training camp. However, two arms hade out of their body at that time.


    The arms wielded small tasers pointed toward Khan. He had no option but to obey those orders, but he didn''t miss the chance to improve his situation.


    "That boy needs a doctor," Khan exined. "I think he fell on a rock or something."


    "We have already recorded the entire vition," One of the robots said with its usual mechanical voice. "A lieutenant is currently reviewing the tape. You all must remain in custody before the verdict."


    ''Dad would be proud of me,'' Khanughed in his mind.


    The robots put handcuffs on Khan and the four boys. Then, they activated scanners to inspect their injuries. It didn''t take much before a small drone flew above the fourth kid and lifted it in the air through a yellow light.


    Simr drones arrived above Khan and the others, but they didn''t use the same care. They maically attracted the handcuffs and forced the four to fly across the camp while hanging from their surface.


    The direction of the two groups was also different. The fourth boy flew toward the medical bay, while Khan and the others went toward the outskirts of the camp, where the ground opened to reveal arge basement.


    Four holes opened on the basement''s roof before the drones dropped their prisoners there. Khan suddenlynded in a small cell that featured metal bars covered by azure light.


    The handcuffs automatically opened once the hole in the roof closed, and tremors spread through the cells as the basement returned underground. Only the faint light of the electric torches continued to illuminate the area, but everything appeared quite dark nheless.


    ''What a beautiful first day in the army,'' Khan thought while giving voice to a faintugh.


    A warm sensation moved his attention away from the cell. Khan checked his face and discovered that a line of blood was falling from his nose. A few bruises had also appeared on his cheek and corner of his right eye, but none of them seemed serious.


    ''I''ve be quite tough,'' Khan concluded.


    The fourth boy hadnded many punches on his face, but he had endured the blows quite well. Still, thinking about his strength reminded him of the cracking noise.


    ''I should be careful,'' Khan thought while inspecting his hands. ''I don''t know how strong I am. I should avoid getting into fights until I learn to control myself.''


    Khan sighed before sitting on the bench inside his cell. The battle wasn''t his fault, but he had still let his feelings take control of his actions. He could have run away after knocking the first two boys unconscious and avoid that mess.


    ''The robots have recorded the fight,'' Khan thought. ''I should be fine unless the Global Army is as corrupted as the Slums.''


    His background was quite messy, while the boys seemed toe from co''s wealthy districts. Khan didn''t know what to think about the army, but he didn''t feel too anxious. His father would give him a hand if something unfair were to happen.


    Khan inspected the basement, but the dim light didn''t allow him to see much. Two rows of identical cells upied the sides of the building, but he couldn''t find other prisoners except for the three boys.


    His hand eventually went into his pocket. Khan drew the phone and smiled when he saw that it worked even from inside the cell. His fingers quickly tapped on the smooth screen and browsed through the menus to find the army''s regtions.


    ''The punishment for the fights inside the camp consists of a few hours of work inside one of the buildings,'' Khan read. ''That''s not bad. You can also pay a small number of Credits to avoid the work, but I can''t do much in my case.''


    The regtions described specific cases that could aggravate the punishment, and Khan read through all of them. He wanted to memorize those rules before returning to the camp.


    The three boys eventually woke up, and loudints resounded from their cells once they understood where they were. Some of them even gave voice to threats that featured their family name, but no one cared about them.


    Their attention soon fell on Khan. The three boys could see that he was quietly browsing through his phone, and their anger didn''t allow them to remain silent.


    "This is all your fault!" One of the boys shouted. "Who is so stupid to fight inside the camp?"


    "You, apparently," Khan replied without moving his eyes from the phone.


    "Where is Samuel?" Another boy asked.


    "I think the drone flew him to the doctor," Khan honestly exined.


    A second of silence followed that revtion. The boys were angry, but they didn''t forget that Khan had beaten them. The fact that their friends had ended up needing medical care made them also feel a tinge of fear toward him.


    "You just wait," The first boy whispered. "We have underestimated you today, but we still have a long time together. Be sure to watch your back, and start covering your groin."


    Khan wanted to bicker some more, but a loud snore suddenly resounded through the basement. The noise came from the other side of the building, where a table, chairs, and a series of clothes upied the area.


    A figure slowly began to move among the clothes. A tall man who wore only a pair of trousers stood up and began to browse through the pile under him.


    The man cursed and snorted whenever he failed to find what he was looking for. He went through all the uniforms in the pile of clothes, but he remained unsatisfied.


    "Sir! Sir!" The first boy shouted once the man turned toward his cell. "There has been a mistake. I''m Bloke Seylor. I''m sure you are aware of my family."


    "I can barely remember where I put my damned uniform," The man snorted before inspecting the various cells.


    "Sir! Sir!" Bloke continued. "Please, listen to me. I shouldn''t be here. We were only ying around."


    "What kind of game makes you lose a brawl in such fashion?" The man replied without bothering to stop his search. "I''ve seen the battle. I have to admit that Iughed at times."


    "Are you the Lieutenant in charge of our case, sir?" Khan asked when he heard those words.


    "I''ve already given my verdict," The man replied while approaching the other side of the basement. "You are in the clear, young man. You fought well."


    Khan wanted to thank the Lieutenant, but the Bloke spoke before him. "How could you do that? He sent Samuel to the medical bay!"


    "Who cares," The man snorted.


    "I will definitely tell my father about this!" Bloke continued. "You are only a Lieutenant. I bet that the Global Army will strip you of your rank!"


    The man ignored those words, and his eyes lit up when he found a uniform hidden in the corner of a cell. He quickly wore it, and the four boys remained shocked when they saw three stars on both shoulders.

 Chapter 16 - Trade

    Everyone in the world knew the meaning of those stars. The Global Army was so important that even the citizens of the Slums could evaluate a soldier from that feature.


    The Lieutenant had three stars on each shoulder. He was a third-level warrior and a third-level mage. He had the shape of a human, but he hid enough power to earn thebel of a monster.


    Bloke didn''t dare to speak anymore. His surprise slowly vanished to make room to regret. The boy knew how the ranks in the Global Army worked, so he had never expected that a mere Lieutenant could wield so much power.


    "You must be pretty strong," Khanmented while feigning naivety.


    "I won''t buy your act," The man snorted. "Remember that I''ve watched your fight."


    Khan smiled, but he didn''t add anything. The man could see right through him. Pretenses were useless in that situation.


    "How can you be a simple Lieutenant?" Bloke eventually asked. "You can be a Major at your level. I can''t understand how you can even ept to be a mere guard in the prisons of the camp."


    "You are too young to understand the intricacies of the politics," The man sighed. "I''m a simple soldier. Fighting is what I do best."


    "Wait a moment," Another boy said while nearing the metal bars. "I think I''ve heard about you. You are Carl Dyester, the butcher of Istrone."


    Khan limited himself to listen to that conversation. He had heard about Istrone from Martha, but he waspletely unaware of the events that involved that ce.


    "That''s impossible," Bloke replied. "I''ve also heard those stories. The crisis on Istrone happened forty years ago, and Carl Dyester had already be a Major by then. Look at him. He is too young!"


    The man was tall and burly. Khan didn''t manage to inspect his skin because the light of the electric torches was too dim. Still, he wouldn''t give the Lieutenant more than forty years from his facial features.


    "Mana can keep you young if used correctly," The man sighed. "I didn''t think kids these days could still learn stories about that mess."


    "How could we not?" The second boy asked. "You have singlehandedly suppressed a revolt. The Global Army would have lost the if it weren''t for you."


    Carl suddenly punched the door of an empty cell. A nging noise resounded through the basement as the metal bars bent and shattered under the might carried by his arm.


    Everyone fell silent at that scene, but Carl soon understood that he had gone too far. He scratched the corner of his eyes before exining his reasons. "Stories rarely are urate. I had my entire toon on Istrone. I wouldn''t have been the only survivor of the crisis if it weren''t for my troops."


    Silence spread through the basement, but a beeping noise quickly broke it. Carl took his phone and browsed through the notifications before nearing the screen to Khan''s cell.


    "You can go," Carl exined as the cell unlocked. "The others must remain here a bit longer."


    Khan left the cell, but he didn''t immediately leave the basement. A soldier who had been on others was right in front of him, and he couldn''t waste that chance to satisfy his curiosity.


    "Did you ever see a Nak?" Khan asked without bothering to add the annoying "sir".


    The sudden question took Carl by surprise, but he still shook his head to answer.


    "Do you think that they are still out there?" Khan continued to question him.


    "They must be," Carl replied while moving back to his table. "We have learnt a lot from those aliens, but there are immense nk spots in their history."


    "What do you mean?" Khan asked.


    The entirety of the human race had studied those aliens for more than five hundred years. The Global Army had also developed methods to deploy their power and surpass their peaks. It was impossible to know everything about them, but Khan still believed that there couldn''t be many doubts left.


    "The Second Impact has shown us that some of them still live," Carl exined while picking a pack of cigarettes from the pocket on his chest.


    "You didn''t mean this with your previous words," Khan replied, and Carl inspected him for a few seconds before cing a finger on the cigarette to light it up.


    "Do you promise to go away if I give you my honest opinion?" Carl asked while taking a drag off the cigarette, and Khan promptly nodded.


    "How did we defeat the Nak during the First Impact?" Carl asked. "We had rifles, bombs, and nes, but no mana. How did we win the war against those aliens?"


    The images of the mines in the Slums ran through Khan''s vision. He had seen what a single Nak could do against weapons that didn''t use on mana.


    The First Impact had theoretically involved the main force of those aliens. The entire Earth had suffered from the invasion, but humankind had won the war anyway.


    ''How did they win without mana?'' Khan wondered. ''How did I never consider this part of the story?''


    It was hard to be urate about something that had happened more than five hundred years in the past, but Khan felt stupid anyway. That aspect of the war featured a massive w that no one in the Slums had ever questioned.


    "My take on the matter is that the Nak were a suicidal bunch," Carlughed while stretching his legs on the table and tilting his chair. "Only the higher-ups know the real story, but they never reveal proper details. You might gain ess to those reports if you make it to Colonel."


    Khan respected the promise and left the basement. The sunlight still illuminated the camp, but it was clear that the day was about to end.


    ''Suicidal?'' Khan asked himself while reviewing everything that he had learnt about those aliens. ''The greatest enemy of humanity is a suicidal bunch? That can''t be.''


    Khan agreed with Carl, but he didn''t share the same opinions. The Global Army was definitely hiding a secret, but he knew too little to formte conclusions.


    ''Colonel is too far away for now,'' Khan thought while moving his reasoning on another topic. ''I don''t even know how to be a first-level warrior. I can only stick to Dad''s training until the lessons start.''


    Khan could easily find his way back to the dormitory with his phone. The machine seemed unable to exhaust its battery, so it apanied him through the entire day.


    It took Khan one hour to return to his room. The other beds were still empty, so he had the entire t to himself.


    Khan decided to take a shower and change. He even studied the instructions for theundry and tested his first cleaning. Everything went well since most of the functions were automatic.


    It was toote to visit the canteen, but Khan didn''t mind skipping a meal. Bing aware of Carl''s power had given birth to a tingling sensation in the back of his head. He wanted to be stronger quickly to enter that seemingly immense world featuring aliens, mages, and others.


    ''I could order something directly from my room if I weren''t broke,'' Khan sighed in his mind before sitting on his bed and trying to enter a meditative state.


    The mana appeared in his vision. That azure energy flowed from his nape and expanded through his entire body. Yet, a sudden noise resounded in the room and pulled Khan out of his meditative state.


    Khan opened his eyes and turned toward the source of that noise. His mouth broke into a smile when he saw the boy standing in front of the entrance of the room. A dense cream covered the left side of Samuel''s face and tried to hide his surprised expression.


    Samuel''s face had turned pale when he recognized Khan, but thetter didn''t focus too much on him. The boy had dropped his backpack, and Khan had clearly heard food cans among that noise.


    "Do you happen to have food there?" Khan asked without dropping his smile.


    Samuel seemed frozen in fear, but he still managed to perform a faint nod.


    "Let''s make a trade then!" Khan eximed. "I''ll give you the top bunk for your food."


    Samuel looked around the room. Both top bunks were empty, but Khan was still using them to take his food. However, something told him that he had to ept that trade.

 Chapter 17 - Conversation

    Life inside the training camp was quite boring before the beginning of the lessons, especially for those who didn''t have the Credits to spend on recreational activities.


    Khan spent most of his time inside his room, while Samuel often decided to leave to avoid the tension that fell whenever the two of them were together.


    Khan pretended not to notice that behavior. The most significant interaction with Samuel had been on the first night when he took his food, but the duo didn''t speak at all during the following days.


    Samuel was too scared to interact with Khan. His mandatory daily visits to the medical bay reminded him that Khan was quite strong, and the memories of the scuffle confirmed that his battle experience didn''t match his roommate.


    On the other hand, Khan didn''t care about his roommate. He spent his time training and visiting the canteen as he waited for the lessons to start. Samuel probably knew more than him when it came to mana, but Khan didn''t trust the boy enough to question him.


    The week went by quickly, and no other roommates arrived in Khan''s room. It seemed that the camp had far more dormitories than needed, and Khan could only feel happy about that extra space.


    On the night before the beginning of the lessons, Samuel returned to his room five minutes before the curfew. That was his usual routine. He wanted to limit being with Khan as much as possible, but some curiosity had eventually appeared in his mind.


    Samuel left early in the morning and came backte at night, but he always found his roommate in a meditative state. Khan woke up before him to train, and he never went to sleep before him.


    Samuel had never seen Khan sleeping in an entire week. That behavior was unnatural for a sixteen years old boy who had just arrived in an environment filled with girls of a simr age. He often held back his curiosity due to the awkwardness of the situation, but that feeling ended up exploding on the night before the beginning of the lessons.


    "Why do you work so hard?" Samuel asked when he saw Khan interrupting his meditation and opening his eyes.


    Khan''s eyes widened at that sudden question. He didn''t mind the silent awkwardness that filled the room, so he had respected Samuel''s behavior.


    Bullying Samuel would have also been easy in that situation, but Khan didn''t want to be like the scum that filled the Slums. Moreover, the regtions harshly punished theft and simr activities, so Khan preferred to stay out of trouble.


    "Have you finally stopped fearing me?" Khanughed while bending to pick one of the food cans obtained in the canteen.


    "I''m not afraid of you!" Samuel promptly shouted.


    "Sure, sure," Khan said while opening the can and slurping the cold soup contained inside it.


    "Why do you never heat it?" Samuel asked. "We have a microwave in theundry area."


    Khan simply shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat.


    "You are a strange one," Samuel sighed before climbing on the bunk bed on the other side of the room.


    Khan finished the can and nced at the boy. He also had a few doubts about Samuel''s behavior, but he hesitated to establish a peaceful rtionship with someone who bullied the citizens of the Slums.


    ''I should probably give him a chance to atone,'' Khan thought. ''He is just a kid. He has never experienced my desperation.''


    "I have the same question for you," Khan said while crossing his legs and cing his back on the wall. "I''m quite sure that you don''t train outside. Your friends don''t seem the type to care about that stuff. Do you n to remain on Earth?"


    Samuel raised his head and revealed a confused expression. He straightened his position to sit on the bed and give a in answer. "My father would kill me if I remained on Earth. I need to be a second-level warrior at least."


    "Why don''t you train then?" Khan asked. "I bet your family has taught you something beforeing here. How can you be a second-level warrior if you spend time bullying lone kids?"


    Samuel lowered his eyes in shame at that remark. It was easy to feel proud about bullying others among his friends, but the reality of his behavior became evident in front of his victims.


    "Our families are close," Samuel exined. "Hanging out with them is a political necessity. I don''t enjoy what we do to kill time."


    "I don''t care about your excuses," Khan snorted. "Don''t pretend to be a victim."


    The shame on Samuel''s face intensified, and an awkward silence fell on the room. The boy didn''t know what to answer, and Khan didn''t care enough to continue the conversation on his own.


    "You can purchase mana if you have enough Credits," Samuel said when he saw that Khan was about to enter the meditative state again. "Training is useless when you can get infusions."


    Khan had heard about mana infusions, but his father had never been able to describe their purpose. He could vaguely understand that having more mana was better, but he didn''t believe that Credits could grant power.


    "Your training raises the attunement with mana, right?" Samuel asked, and Khan decided to nod even if he weren''t sure about that.


    "You can obtain simr effects through infusions," Samuel exined. "Injecting mana into specific body parts raises the attunement with that energy."


    "My father would never teach me something useless," Khan replied.


    "The normal training has benefits," Samuel continued. "The infusions use synthetic mana, which can ruin your potential depending on its quality. The top-tier product can even cost a fortune since you can remove its impurities in a few years."


    That exnation left Khan with even more doubts. He suddenly felt curious about the whole topic, but he believed that Samuel didn''t know much. Also, his knowledge could be inurate.


    "Relying only on the mana core provides a slow but wless improvement," Samuel exined. "Yet, the process can be really slow depending on the quality of the mana core itself. It''s also overall boringpared to the simple infusions."


    "I bet your family will buy you infusions," Khanmented.


    "I already have a few ready," Samuel proudly announced. "I only need to raise my attunement with mana to twenty percent before starting the process. Bing a second-level warrior should be quite easy for me."


    "What about magic?" Khan asked.


    "The training to be a mage is far harder," Samuel sighed. "Warriors only need tough bodies and knowledge over a few martial arts. Instead, magic has no shortcuts. Even improving your mana capacity can''t help you there."


    Khan''s doubts increased again. Samuel definitely knew far more about him, but his knowledge seemed too vague to give precise details about those fields.


    "So, what do you want to do after bing a second-level warrior?" Khan asked when he saw Samuel yawning.


    "Get to a safe and try to climb the ranks there," Samuel exined while lying back on the bed.


    "Don''t you want to discover news and interact with alien species?" Khan asked.


    "What''s the point?" Samuelughed. "The war is long since over. The universe only has alien species with a weaker foundation. Humankind will eventually submit all of them even without my help. I only want to avoid being a disappointment for my family."


    Khan didn''t ask anything else. It was clear that Samuel was too different from him. Most of the soldiers probably shared the same feelings since they had never experienced any real danger in their life.


    ''Humans have bezy,'' Khan thought while crossing his legs to enter a meditative state again.


    His first lesson would start early in the morning, so he set the rm to avoid training all night. Some excitement even formed in his mind and tried to stop Khan from calming down.


    ''I have "history of mana" and "basics of mana cores" tomorrow morning,'' Khan read on his phone once his training ended and he prepared himself to sleep.


    Both subjects seemed interesting, but Khan couldn''t move his eyes from the description of his afternoon lessons. The Global Army would finally teach him how to use mana!

 Chapter 18 - Lessons

    Khan woke up early in the morning and left before Samuel. He didn''t want to see if his friends had prepared something for him, and the conversation from the previous night wasn''t enough to make him trust the boy.


    The canteen was already open by then. Only a few recruits and soldiers roamed through the building at that hour, so Khan could enjoy his breakfast alone and review his schedule.


    ''History of mana in two hours,'' Khan read on his phone. ''Basics of mana cores wille right after. Both of them are mandatory courses, so my poor knowledge shouldn''t be a problem.''


    Khan had scored A-plus in the initial test. Some of his courses differed from the other recruits since the Global Army ced his foundation above them.


    Khan had feared that his initial sess could eventually hurt his instruction, but it seemed that the Global Army had nned everything perfectly. All the courses that involved knowledge about the mana were mandatory. His good grade only affected the physical lessons.


    Waiting those two hours felt hellish to Khan. He spent the first ten minutes after his breakfast roaming around the building, but he eventually found an isted spot and entered a meditative state.


    Training was the best method to kill time. A single session couldst for hours, and Khan would barely sense it.


    Khan had obviously set the rm, but a familiar voice interrupted his training before his phone could ring.


    "What are you even doing here?" Martha Weesso asked when she saw Khan sitting cross-legged in the corner of a park near the building.


    "Long time no see," Khan scratched the corner of his eyes before standing up and revealing a broad smile.


    Martha wasn''t alone. Two girls were with her and inspected Khan from head to toe, and he could see from their expressions that they didn''t like what they saw.


    "Is he a friend of yours?" One of the girls asked.


    "Why is he sitting on the ground?" The other girl added.


    ''I guess people can understand my background even if I shower every day,'' Khan sighed in his mind. ''Well, I probably won''t need condoms.''


    "You can go ahead," Martha said without bothering to answer her friends. "He is a ssmate from the special courses. I have something to discuss with him."


    The two girls widened their eyes at those words. Only the recruits who had scored A in the initial tests had ess to the special courses. Their opinion of Khan changed immediately, and they even shot smiles toward him when they left.


    Khan waved his hand toward the girls before turning toward Martha. An honest smirk appeared on his face as he gave voice to his thoughts. "Thank you, but don''t worry. I don''t need your help."


    "You definitely do when ites to girls," Marthaughed. "Luke might be a bit pushy, but he has some charm at least."


    "Don''t I have charm?" Khanughed before wearing a serious expression and cing his hand under his chin.


    "You still have some dirt on your trousers," Marthaughed while covering her mouth.


    Khan suddenly noticed the few brown spots on his dark-blue uniform and proceeded to clean them up. Martha continued tough while she watched the boy patting his butt in the attempt to remove the dirt.


    "You are hrious," Marthamented when Khan finished cleaning himself and showed her his thumbs.


    "I guess I don''t see the need for formalities," Khanmented. "The Slums are better in that sense. They are dirty and dangerous, but you could always understand the intentions of those around you."


    "Can''t you understand mine?" Martha replied while wearing an innocent expression.


    "I have seen what you can do with hammers," Khan snorted. "And you can''t beat the master of pretense here."


    "I should perfect my art in the Slums," Martha continued. "The best training ground for actors."


    "You got that right," Khanughed.


    "Come on," Martha said while pulling Khan''s uniform. "The first lesson will start in ten minutes. I don''t want to bete on my first day. Also, give me your number. I can''t believe that I have to ask for it."


    "It''s part of my charm," Khan replied while making the previous face, but Martha simplyughed and took out her phone.


    The duo walked around the tall building. A crowd made of many young recruits had gathered around the entrance. The boys and girls chatted happily and exchanged numbers as they waited until thest second to join the lesson.


    "Why don''t they enter already?" Khan asked.


    "The first lessons have nothing important for them," Martha exined. "Most of their families have already taught them a lot. Some of them don''t even consider mana as a miracle. It''s simple normality for them."


    "Are you like them?" Khan asked, and he didn''t fail to notice the faint sadness that appeared on Martha''s face after his words.


    "My family is rtively poor," Martha exined. "I live next to the training camps, in the worst districts of co. I have my grandfather to thank for my mana core. I would have had to opt for a synthetic C-tier otherwise."


    Khan didn''t answer. Martha''s face told him that it wasn''t the time to crack jokes. He knew how important silence could be in those situations.


    A group of four boys suddenly appeared in the corner of Khan''s vision. He recognized Bloke, Samuel, and the other two who had tried to bully him one week ago, and the four also noticed him.


    Bloke revealed a cold smile, but Khan limited himself to wink at him. He even scratched his groin and turned when he saw angry expressions appearing on the group.


    "Friends of yours?" Martha asked when she noticed that interaction.


    "I''m everyone''s friend," Khanughed.


    The duo entered the building and reached the staircase near the canteen. They quickly found the room for the lesson through their phones, and arge hall filled with seats soon unfolded in their vision.


    The hall was immense. It featured a series of screens on one side and many elevated seats on the other. Khan guessed that the room could contain more than five hundred students, and the sheer size of that ce left him slightly dumbfounded.


    "Let''s take a seat," Martha said while climbing the steps that led to the rows in the back.


    "Won''t we have problems hearing the professor from there?" Khan asked.


    "The desks have many functions," Marthaughed. "Following the lesson won''t be a problem. You can even watch it on your pher on. The Global Army makes sure to put everything on itswork."


    Martha''s exnation left Khan speechless, but he quickly recovered and followed her in the back rows. Students soon began to walk inside the room, and Luke eventually appeared in the distance.


    "Mind if we join you?" Luke asked as a boy remained behind him. "He is Bruce Eerly, another recruit who scored A in the initial test."


    Bruce was shorter than Luke but taller than Khan. He had a slender physique, short ck hair, and dark eyes. He was slightly less good-looking than Luke, but a noble aura surrounded his figure.


    Martha and Khan didn''t oppose the duo, and the lesson started after they exchanged a few casual words.


    A middle-aged fat man called Andrew Conche quickly entered the room. He wore a military uniform that featured a star on both shoulders. The ss automatically activated a few functions at his arrival, and the screens behind him lit up before the beginning of the lesson.


    A series of menus suddenly appeared on Khan''s desk. He could zoom on the professor, draw headphones to listen to his words, or read from a screen that automatically transcribed his lines.


    ''This is way too perfect!'' Khan thought as he drew headphones and zoomed on the professor to make sure that he didn''t miss a single word.


    The lesson was quite boring, but Khan didn''t dare to get distracted anyway. Professor Conche described the events right after the First Impact and reviewed the initial aplishments of the humans with mana.


    ''This is quite vague,'' Khan thought while listening to the lesson. ''It doesn''t make any technical descriptions. He is basically reading a list of feats.''


    The lesson couldn''t end quickly enough. Most of the recruits had utterly given up on listening to Professor Conche by the end of the ss. Only Khan and a few students continued to pay attention for its whole duration.


    "That was incredibly boring," Luke eximed once the lesson was over. "Any reporter can do a better job in exining this stuff."


    "They already do," Bruceughed. "I''m pretty sure the professor is reading the scripts of one of the recent documentaries."


    "And we have to listen to him even for the next lesson," Martha sighed.


    The ten-minutes break went by quickly. Very few recruits left their seats, and even Professor Conche only limited himself to do a short walk outside of the room.


    The second lesson was far more interesting for Khan, even if most recruits still found it boring. Professor Conche reviewed the main differences among mana cores, a topic that most boys and girls knew thanks to their families.


    "Both synthetic and organic cores have weaknesses," Professor Conche exined. "Synthetic cores take longer to raise the attunement with mana, and they eventually break since their fusion with the human body isn''t perfect. Still, organic cores are far rarer, and a body requires specific training to ept them. The surgery with organic cores also is riskier since the fusion is tighter, so recing them can lead to longsting injuries."


    Khan felt like a sponge that absorbed every bit of knowledge that reached his ears. The second lesson was clearing most of his doubts involving the differences among mana cores.


    Satisfaction soon filled his mind. Professor Conche had confirmed that he would never need to change mana core throughout his life. Khan wouldn''t have to mind one of the greatest issues for soldiers.


    The lesson eventually ended, and the recruits quickly left to flood the canteen. Khan soon noticed that the younglings around him stared at his group in awe, and the girls even shot smiles at their passage.


    "Luke has told everyone that he made it to the special courses," Martha exined when she noticed Khan''s confused expression. "All the camp will guess that we belong to the same ss since we are with him."


    "Is it important to score A?" Khan asked. "Lieutenant Unchai said that everyone could reach the upper courses."


    "But very few do it," Bruce exined. "Most of the recruits even have to skip the initial physical lessons to recover from the transnt. Our current status says that we''ll go far in the army as long as we don''t mess up."


    ****


    Author''s notes: Do let me know if the chapters be boring or something. I''m trying to keep a quick pace, but I must slow down to build the world at times. Also, do you like this current release time?

 Chapter 19 - Basics

    Khan had been at the center of attention during his life, but for very different reasons. He had been a foreigner in the Slums, so everyone used to re at him.


    The situation in the training camp was far different. The boys would show awe and respect, and the girls tried to wear their best smiles whenever their eyes met. Luke and Martha got most of the attention, but Khan and Bruce also had their share of fans.


    ''I''ve be a celebrity!'' Khan shouted in his mind, but the unusual situation didn''t make him forget about the iing lesson.


    The Global Army would teach the practical uses of mana in the afternoon, and Khan couldn''t wait to be there. His new friends didn''t share his excitement due to their background, but they still felt slightly restless.


    "I heard that our next professor is a second-level mage and warrior," Bruce revealed while browsing through the menus of the canteen. "We got quite lucky this year."


    "I don''t think we''ll learn anything important today," Luke added. "Our attunement level is still too low. Our bodies have yet to fully develop in the end. The professor will probably show a few martial arts and a spell."


    "It''s still great to see how to deploy mana," Khanmented while devouring a chicken wing. "I''ve only seen physical enhancements for now."


    Martha and the others tried not to look at Khan, but they couldn''t avoid that after his phrase. Two empty tes stood by his side, and he was proceeding to order a fourth meal even before finishing the third.


    "How much do you even eat?" Martha asked while sipping her juice.


    "Bad habits from the Slums," Khan honestly revealed. "You must always fill your stomach since the next meal might never arrive."


    "I think the Slums made you grow a few additional stomachs," Lukemented.


    "I still can''t believe that a citizen of the Slums managed to score A," Bruce said while inspecting Khan. "Maybe that environment has given you experience in fields that we can''t even approach."


    Khan didn''t hide his background after his group sat in the canteen. He didn''t exin everything about his father and the Second Impact, but he found no point in keeping a secret that he came from the Slums.


    "I''ve learnt a few tricks," Khan replied while gulping thest piece of meat and smiling when his new order came out of the table. "Still, I think you are better off. I knew almost nothing about mana cores and soldiers a week ago."


    "But you were meditating this morning," Martha pointed out. "Who taught you that technique? How did you even find someone for the transnt in the Slums?"


    "You can find almost everything in the Slums as long as you know where to look," Khan lied while wolfing his fourth te.


    "Well, don''t refrain from contacting us whenever you have doubts," Luke announced. "We should look out for each other. It''s very likely that the army will send our entire ss on missions and simr tasks. Dealing with yourck of knowledge will benefit our group."


    Luke''s speech made sense, but Khan didn''t miss the faint flicker in Martha''s expression. There seemed to be more to the whole matter, and Khan noted in his mind to question herter.


    Khan''s group needed to wait a few hours for theirst lesson. The Global Army would take care of the sses made by recruits who had scored less than A first. That long break was a reward for the good grade, but Khan only saw it as a pointless waste of time.


    The group separated after leaving the canteen. Bruce returned to his t to take a nap, and Luke tried to hit on Martha before giving up on the matter and contacting other friends in the camp.


    Khan and Martha remained alone, and that gave him the chance to question her about her previous reaction.


    "How did you even notice that?" Martha asked.


    "Force of habit," Khan simply replied.


    The duo had stopped in a park. Both of them had decided to sit on the ground to meditate for a few hours before thest lesson, but their conversation was dying their training.


    "It''s not inherently a bad thing," Martha exined. "The Cobsend family is quite wealthy, so Luke will definitely reach high ranks in the army. A leader needs trustworthy and capable underlings, but it''s rare to find soldiers from the special courses willing to serve. They usually have a good background, so they can all aim for simr high positions."


    "The same doesn''t apply to me," Khan replied.


    "I''m usually the best these wealthy kids can strive for," Martha continued. "Poor family, but with a decent foundation. You surpass me in that field. Your foundation is even better than mine, and you have virtually no backing."


    "I''m the golden goose for rich kids who want to establish a toon," Khan summarized.


    "Exactly," Martha sighed. "Luke isn''t half-bad as a leader, and his family has a good reputation. He can be a good option once we graduate."


    "Is there a way out of this system?" Khan asked.


    "You can gain achievements in dangerouss," Martha replied. "Go there, serve for a few years, and maybe you''ll start to climb the politicaldder."


    "I just want to obtain superpowers," Khanughed before lying back on the ground.


    "You''ll get dirty again," Martha shook her head.


    "Who cares," Khan smirked. "I''m about to learn how to use mana. Nothing else matters today."


    Martha observed Khan for a few seconds, but she shook her head again when she understood that he had entered a meditative state. A faint sigh escaped her mouth as she crossed her legs and imitated her friend.


    The sound of an rm interrupted Khan and Martha''s mediation. The duo noticed that the sun had started to disappear on the horizon. Theirst lesson was about to begin.


    Khan and Martha returned inside the main building and moved toward the underground floors. Lines of recruits walked in the opposite direction to return to their dormitories, and the duo couldn''t help but notice that many of them had bruises on their arms and face.


    "Maybe we aren''t as lucky as Bruce thinks," Marthamented while inspecting the dispirited recruits that walked past her.


    Khan didn''t speak at all during the walk. He couldn''t contain his excitement anymore. His mind couldn''t even formte words since his imagination had begun to run wild as he approached the lesson.


    Their phones led them inside the third basement, which was an immense hall. A soft carpet covered the floor, and pillows reinforced the walls. The ceiling had a series of artificial torches that illuminated the entire room, but the soft fabric around them carried a menacing meaning.


    ''Can we even end up on the ceiling?'' Khan wondered while moving toward the small group that had gathered in front of arge elevated stage.


    A young woman had her back on the wall as she sat on the stage''s floor. A fuming cigarette was in her mouth, and her eyes moved among the electric torches as she waited for thest ss to gather.


    The woman was quite beautiful. She had short blonde hair and a pair of tired dark eyes. Her uniform featured two stars on each shoulder, but it seemed toorge for her slim body.


    "That''s Professor Linda Norwell," Luke whispered when he arrived behind Khan and Martha. "I heard that she obtained this job after performing a few sessful missions on Onia."


    "Isn''t that the with the Ef''i?" Martha asked while keeping her voice down.


    "Exactly," Luke exined. "My father told me that she managed to win the annual tournament against the Ef''i. This job is her reward."


    Khan''s gaze moved between Martha and Luke. Evident confusion filled his expression, and his friends eventually decided to exin the matter.


    "The Ef''i tried to fight the humans about three hundred years ago," Luke exined. "However, we soon discovered that they also hated the Nak, so the higher-ups ended up establishing an alliance. They are quite peculiar as an alien race."


    "Onia has many mines of Faswite," Bruce continued after appearing behind Luke. "It''s one of the main minerals in the creation of synthetic cores. The Ef''i like to gamble some of their mines in annual tournaments, so winning them is quite important for the army."


    Khan repeatedly nodded whenever a new piece of information reached his ears. His knowledge of the manys touched by the Global Army was basically non-existent, but he was slowly expanding his mental map of the universe.


    "I guess we are all here," Professor Norwell eximed after a few recruits entered the basement. "I''m Professor Linda Norwell, and I will take care of teaching how to deploy mana this semester. Specific courses will start in six months after all of you have met the right requirements."


    "You need an attunement with mana above twenty percent to deploy martial arts and spells," Martha promptly whispered in Khan''s ear, and thetter showed a grateful expression toward the girl.


    "I will still teach you the basics and some advanced stuff if your attunement reaches the intended percentage," Professor Norwell continued. "However, at least for today, I will limit myself to teach you a few moves and show what you can do with mana."


    Professor Norwell stood up and stomped her foot on the stage. The floor suddenly opened and revealed a metal training dummy.


    The ceiling right above the dummy opened, and a metal sphere fell on its head. The ball managed to cave in the puppet''s metal, but the damage wasn''t significant.


    "This vaguely is what a normal human can do with a weapon," Professor Norwell exined before throwing a kick on the dummy''s chest.


    The metal bent under the power released by her attack. The training dummy''s chest caved in and broke until a hole appeared on the other side.


    Professor Norwell didn''t show any satisfaction when she heard the surprised gasps of her student. She limited herself to take a drag from her cigarette while pulling her leg out of the training dummy.


    "Martial arts are quite powerful," Professor Norwell exined. "They are easier to learn than spells, and most ckers can perform them after a few infusions. These techniques also have different abilities and levels of expertise, but we''lle back to themter."


    Professor Norwell took a few steps back before pointing her hand toward the training dummy. A scarlet light slowly covered her fingers, and the air in front of them suddenly took fire.


    The mes began to rotate until they took the shape of a fiery vortex. Professor Norwell then stretched her fingers, and the attack flew toward the training dummy.

 Chapter 20 - Exchanges

    An explosion followed the impact between the fiery vortex and the training dummy. Defensive screens appeared on the edges of the stage and blocked the fuming scraps of metal and mes that flew after the detonation.


    A vent promptly appeared on the ceiling and drained the smoke and fire lingering on the stage. Khan and the others soon became able to see the state of the training dummy, and their mouths inevitably opened in surprise.


    The training dummy was no more. It initially featured only half of a human torso, but the spell had left it with a small patch of melted metal that hung from a short stick.


    ''This destructive power is incredible!'' Khan shouted in his mind.


    Only Luke and a few recruits didn''t show any surprise at the scene. They had already seen mages in action thanks to their background, so they knew how powerful spells could be.


    "I think you all can understand why bing a mage is harder and has no shortcuts," Professor Norwell announced. "Spells are far stronger than martial arts, but they have significant drawbacks. Casting these abilities requires more time, and it usually depletes far more mana."


    The exnation made sense in everyone''s mind. There had to be a higher price to pay for such a mighty ability.


    "Let''s start with the basics now," Professor Norwell shouted while jumping off the stage. "Divide yourselves into groups of two. We''ll go over a few simple moves that usually work for every martial art. Many of you have already received physical training, but it won''t hurt to review them."


    Luke immediately turned toward Martha, but she touched Khan''s shoulder before anyone could approach her.


    "Let''s see how good you are with proper techniques," Martha smiled when Khan turned, but thetter didn''t seem too excited about the matter.


    ''What do we have to learn if we can''t use mana?'' Khan wondered as Martha led him to an isted spot of the hall.


    The various couples did the same. They all separated and took ample empty areas for themselves.


    Professor Norwell nodded when she saw how swiftly her students took their ces. She eventually cleared her throat to im their attention, and a tall hologram of herself soon appeared at the center of the hall.


    "I''ll teach you footwork and attacks for the first lessons," Professor Norwell announced. "Keep in mind that these are nothing more than basic moves. Real martial arts might requireplicated forms, but it''s not bad to have these as your foundation."


    Professor Norwell bent her legs before performing a quick movement with her ankle. Her figure seemed to stretch. She left an afterimage as she slid on the floor and performed a quick side-step.


    "This is the shadow step executed with advanced proficiency," Professor Norwell exined. "This form is the most basic footwork in the army, but it can match better techniques if performed with higher proficiency."


    Professor Norwell then bent her legs again before her waist performed a sharp movement. Her right arm shot forward, and her palm released a low noise when it hit the air.


    "This is the palm force executed with advanced proficiency," Professor Norwell announced. "This attack is the same as the shadow step. It''s a very basic technique backed with high proficiency."


    The tall hologram at the center of the hall began to repeat both techniques, and menus appeared under every couple. Khan briefly yed with the various icons and discovered that they could mark where his feet had to be to perform both techniques.


    "There are four stages of proficiency for each martial art," Professor Norwell continued. "You are all novices right now since you can''t use mana. The higher proficiency levels arepetent, advanced, and expert. You can reach them by obtaining mastery over the forms and the correct flow of mana."


    ''I get it now,'' Khan summarized in his mind. ''Memorizing the forms now will give us an easier time once we be able to move mana at will. I can''t ck then.''


    The excitement that had started to vanish returned stronger than ever. Khan was ready to give his everything.


    "Don''t hold back," Martha whispered, but she quickly noticed that Khan wasn''t listening to her.


    His eyes moved between the marks on the floor and Professor Norwell''s hologram. He seemedpletely absorbed by the training. He even started to test some of the moves while listening to the exnation.


    The floor revealed a red color whenever Khan failed to perform the movement correctly. Writings that described his mistakes even appeared among that shade.


    Martha revealed a smile when she saw Khan''s serious expression, but a tinge of annoyance filled her mind when she realized that he was ignoring her.


    "You will alternate between attacking and dodging," Professor Norwell ordered. "Alternate hands and feet ording to yourpanion, and don''t hold back. Hit each other! Pain will improve your reflexes and quicken your learning experience. I''ll be your training partner if I notice any cker."


    A second of silence followed that order before Professor Norwell gave voice to a loud "begin". Khan raised his head to n the training with Martha, but a palm suddenly hit his chest and forced him to take a step back.


    Martha wore a satisfied expression when Khan raised his head. Instead, Khan had no idea why Martha had attacked him so suddenly.


    "Let''s start with the right," Martha said before Khan could question her about her previous behavior. "It''s your turn to attack."


    Khan scratched his head before quickly giving up on the matter. He inspected the hologram while studying the instructions on the floor and taking his position.


    "Ready?" Khan asked.


    "This training also focuses on enhancing our reflexes," Martha exined. "Let''s not announce our attacks. We should start as soon as our feet reach the intended position."


    Khan rotated his waist and stretched his arm as soon as Martha finished speaking. His palm hit her shoulder and made her stumble backward, but the floor still showed a red light.


    ''What did I do wrong?'' Khan wondered while reading the writings on the floor. ''Back foot didn''t rotate enough, and my arm didn''t follow the waist correctly.''


    "You definitely hold grudges," Martha snorted while standing up to resume her position.


    "I don''t know what you are talking abou-," Khan had to interrupt his line to dodge an iing palm strike.


    His body rotated and sessfully side-stepped Martha''s attack, but the floor still revealed a red light. The same happened for Martha, and both of them lowered their head to understand their mistakes.


    ''No technique at all?'' Khan read from the floor. ''I guess I just tried to dodge the attack without trying to perform the move.''


    "I won''t ignore you anymore, okay?" Khanughed when he raised his head.


    "You aren''t as dense as I thought," Marthamented while revealing a smile. "Sure. Let''s focus on the exercise."


    Martha and Khan stopped minding each other and focused entirely on their forms. They even gained speed after a few exchanges since they established a proper progression of the moves.


    Khan initially had many difficulties, especially when it came to the shadow step. He had trained his instincts in the Slums, so his body automatically tried to dodge Martha''s attacks without bothering about the actual technique.


    Martha had it easier since she had already received some training. However, her techniques were inurate and needed far more practice ording to the menus on the floor.


    Khan slowly managed to ovee his instincts and focus only on the moves. That approach allowed Martha to hit him many times, but he didn''t care about pain as long as his technique improved.


    Khan''s determination seemed to affect Martha since she also stopped running away from pain and focus on the menus'' teachings. Both of them ended up hitting each other many times in the two hours of the lesson.


    "Enough!" Professor Norwell eventually shouted, and the floor went dark.


    The hologram disappeared while Professor Norwell returned on the stage to pick a cigarette from the pack that she had left on the floor.


    "No wonder you are the special ss," Professor Norwell exined. "I had to stop after only one hour with thest recruits. All of you have also seeded in turning the floor green a few times."


    Khan and Martha exchanged a nce. He raised his hand to show four fingers while she lifted both of them to reveal six fingers. Martha had surpassed Khan when it came to the number of green lights.


    "There''s no need to keep track of today''s achievements," Professor Norwell continued. "This mandatory lesson will happen every afternoon. Your focus has to be on perfecting your moves in a short time."


    Some of the recruits showed ugly expressions. That training was hellish and painful, but Professor Norwell wanted them to do it every day.


    "Some of you will already reach twenty percent attunement with mana in the next months," Professor Norwell revealed. "I suggest you use your nights to rest or meditate to keep up with your ssmates. The Global Army will leave every cker behind. You might have families ready to back you up, but I want to remind you that they are useless on a battlefield."


    Professor Norwell then waved her hand and pointed toward the exit. "Go now. Don''t waste any more of my time."


    Martha and Khan sighed and turned toward the exit after Professor Norwell dismissed them. Luke and Bruce quickly reached them, but their eyes widened in surprise when they saw their friends.


    "What the hell happened to you?" Luke asked.


    Khan and Martha turned toward each other and noticed that their faces were full of bruises. They had also torn their uniforms in various spots during the training.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I have the first dose of the vine tomorrow. I might not feel well, so don''t panic if you see dys.

 Chapter 21 - Two Faces

    "Did you try to kill each other?" Bruce asked when he noticed Khan and Martha''s state.


    "It''s just training," Khan replied while inspecting the two boys. "What about you? Did you even try to perform the moves?"


    A faintugh escaped Martha''s mouth at thatment. Luke and Bruce had a few spots on their uniforms, but they were perfectly fine otherwise.


    "These are only basic techniques," Luke snorted. "It''s almost pointless to learn them since our future martial arts will most likely ask us to modify our habits."


    "He is right," Bruce added. "Our families have already purchased martial arts suitable for our physique, and I bet that Martha also has something simr. Learning these low-level moves is quite pointless."


    Khan turned toward Martha, and thetter nodded while revealing a helpless expression.


    "My situation is a bit different," Martha exined. "My family has a few martial arts, but they don''t really suit my height. I n to change it here."


    "Height?" Khan asked.


    "I learnt how to use hammers!" Martha released a helpless sigh. "Both men and women in my family are usually tall and burly, so those weapons are fine for them. However, I need to match it with a martial art that has exceptional footwork to use it properly."


    Martha was shorter than Khan. She was among the shortest in the special ss. Hammers usually didn''t have a good range, so her height could be an issue in a battle.


    ''I see,'' Khanmented in his mind. ''She is preparing her body for the new martial art.''


    "Where can I get one of those?" Khan asked. "I''ve never seen a martial art. I don''t even know what it should look like."


    "Martial arts usually are a series of moves that culminate into special techniques," Martha exined while the group began to leave the building. "The Global Army will provide you with a low-level one for free once your attunement with mana reaches the intended level."


    "I suggest you avoid them," Luke quickly contradicted Martha. "You will only develop bad habits. It''s better to start directly with a high-level martial art. You won''t have to force your body to forget most of your training in that way."


    "How can I even put my hands on high-level martial arts?" Khan asked.


    "There are a few ways," Martha exined. "You can purchase them from the army through Credits or merits, find masters willing to take you under their wing, or-."


    "Or you can ask me," Luke interrupted Martha. "My family has arge collection of martial arts. You shoulde to co with me when the semester ends. I''m sure I can find something suitable. You can even ask me for a loan and go in specialized shops otherwise."


    Martha pretended not to see that interaction, and Bruce also let his gaze wander through his surroundings. Khan didn''t miss their behavior, but he still pretended to bepletely overwhelmed with gratefulness.


    "That would be so great!" Khan eximed while wearing one of his brightest smiles. "I''ll definitely rely on you then. Don''t you dare to go back on your words."


    Khan and Lukeughed after that exchange of words. They both felt satisfied with that interaction.


    Luke ended up believing that Khan was already in his pocket, while thetter managed to keep that door open without establishing any deal.


    "I''ll return to my t now," Luke announced. "We have a long day tomorrow, and I''m sure that Professor Norwell''s lessons will only get harsher."


    "I''lle with you," Bruce replied. "My t is in the same direction anyway."


    Khan maintained his smile and waved his hand as his friends turned, but Luke seemed to recall something at thest second.


    "You should both visit the medical bay," Luke said. "Our bodies might be resilient, but it''s better to deal with your bruises before tomorrow''s physical lesson."


    Luke and Bruce left after that reminder, and Martha and Khan waited for them to disappear around a corner before exchanging a nce. The duo ended up exploding into augh, but they still decided to follow that advice.


    Martha and Khan chitchatted during the walk to the medical bay. It was already quitete, so they tried to hurry. Luckily for them, they found many free nurses inside the building, and they quickly applied a few cold lotions on their bruises.


    Khan didn''t get the chance to visit Doctor Ian Parket. He had a few questions about the attunement with mana, but he gave up on the matter after learning that the man had already left.


    Martha waited for Khan outside of the medical bay, which slightly surprised him. He didn''t expect her to refuse the chance to hit the bed sooner.


    "You didn''t have to wait for me," Khanughed. "It''s already nine pm. You can''t go to the canteen anymore now."


    "Only you would think about your stomach at this hour," Martha snorted.


    "I don''t need to," Khan replied while wearing a proud expression. "I already have a stash of food in my room."


    "You are helpless!" Martha shouted, but she ended up exploding into augh in front of Khan''s funny expression.


    ''I have enough time to eat, meditate, and sleep,'' Khan thought while looking in the direction of his dormitory.


    Thinking about his bed worsened Khan''s mood. His day had been fantastic, but his reurring nightmare would inevitably ruin it.


    Martha noticed the sharp change in Khan''s expression. The event left her sightly dumbfounded, especially since they were bothughing and joking just a second ago.


    "How much of you is an act?" Martha said, but she quickly covered her mouth and tried to justify her words. "I didn''t mean to do that. That had to remain in my head."


    "What do you mean?" Khan snapped back to reality and revealed a fake smile. "I''m always myself."


    Martha and Khan had yet to have a deep conversation. They had known each other for a mere week, and they had interacted for less than a day. Their friendship had barely begun.


    "I''m too blunt at times," Martha tried to dodge that topic. "You don''t have to think too much about my words."


    "You are my sparring partner," Khanughed. "I think I need to know a bit to trust you."


    Martha frowned. Khan had basically said that he didn''t trust her. She stopped caring about the politeness of her words at that point and began to speak her mind.


    "You have two faces," Martha exined. "You often are the simple boy from the Slums who can''t take anything seriously. Yet, you turn into apletely different guy whenever we talk about mana or aliens."


    "I''m just curious," Khanughed while trying to lie his way out of that topic. "You all know so much, and that''s even normal for you. How can I not pay attention when you disclose some of your knowledge?"


    Martha''s eyes sharpened. She inspected Khan, paying special attention to his gestures. She couldn''t find anything off in his behavior, but her instincts told her that something was off.


    "I''ve been your sparring partner," Martha announced. "I have seen how you handle pain. You don''t run away from it. You coldly ept it when it''s necessary."


    "Isn''t that normal?" Khanughed again.


    "What did you even experience in the Slums?" Martha sighed. "I hope you''ll trust me enough to tell me one day."


    Khan wished to say something, but Martha raised her hand while shaking her head. She didn''t want more lies. The girl even began to walk in the direction of her dormitory without caring if Khan was following her.


    ''Women are so sharp,'' Khan sighed in his mind as he watched Martha''s figure disappearing in the distance. ''I should just tell her about the Second Impact. That might keep her satisfied for a while.''


    Martha was right, and Khan knew that. Part of him had broken after spending every night of thest eleven years dreaming about the worst day of his life.


    His determination to learn how to use mana came from his desperation. Khan wanted to put an end to those dreams, but he was out of options. He had to meet the minimum requirements for the missions in the foreigns and search for the remaining Nak.


    That alien species was also incredibly strong, so Khan needed the power to hunt them. Working hard to obtain it seemedpletely normal in his mind since his sanity was on the line.


    ''I''ll try to find the right chance to reveal my Tainted status,'' Khan decided in his mind.


    Khan didn''t feel any shame about his Tainted status, but he preferred to avoid disclosing that news. The recruits were different from the citizens of the Slums, but they would still treat him differently after learning about his role in the Second Impact.


    ''I guess I only want to feel normal,'' Khanughed in his mind. ''A normal sixteen years old boy who has survived the attack of a Nak and dreams about it every night.''


    Khan ended up revealing a weak smile while starting to walk toward his dormitory. He didn''t even know how to exin his nightmares to his peers. His mind went to war every night, and he always lost.

 Chapter 22 - Attunement

    The lotions eased Khan''s bruises in a single night. He could barely see them when he inspected himself after his usual morning shower.


    The scar and the azure strands in his hair had remained the same. Khan could let go of the matter and leave the room to hit the canteen before the sses.


    It was still early in the morning, so Khan didn''t meet any of his friends. He could go to his familiar corner in the park near the main building while he waited for the lessons to start.


    Martha didn''t interrupt his meditation at that time, but he found her, Luke, and Bruce inside the first ss. She had left a chair next to her empty even after the small discussion from the other day, and Khan could only smile at that sight.


    "Don''t think too much about yesterday," Martha whispered once Khan sat. "I always end up ignoring my friends'' feelings when I get angry."


    "Will you vent during the physical lesson?" Khan asked while revealing an honest smile.


    "Definitely," Martha replied while showing her tongue, and the duo soon had to stop talking to focus on the lesson.


    Professor Conche resumed his lesson about the history of mana. He went over a few interesting topics that the documentaries often ignored. He exined how the first wealthy families came to be.


    "The Global Army had yet to establish political boundaries back then," Professor Conche exined. "It didn''t have proper backers. It was just a name that humankind had created after the First Impact."


    Luke and Bruce cracked some jokes about Professor Conche''s belly, but Khan couldn''t hear them through the headphones. Instead, Martha red at them since she didn''t want to end up in trouble.


    "Tenrgepanies had survived the First Impact," Professor Conche continued. "Earth was nothing more than a wastnd back then, and those corporations held almost all the wealth avable on the. The Global Army developed through them, and the world slowly returned to its previous splendor."


    Professor Conche picked a pen from a drawer under him before snapping his fingers. The item flew across the vast hall and hit Luke at the center of his forehead.


    "I don''t care that the Cobsend family has ties with the ten noble families," Professor Conche grunted. "You will be silent during my ss."


    A wave ofughter spread through the room, and Luke hid his face in shame. Instead, Khan reevaluated Professor Conche after that throw. The soldier was only a first-level warrior and mage, but his power was far from human.


    ''Reaching the first level must feel great,'' Khanmented in his mind while the lesson resumed.


    "The world had transformed after the First Impact," Professor Conche exined. "The mana had changed the human society to its very core. The tenpanies also had to wear a new face, so they became families. They obtained the "noble" title only after more families appeared on the."


    The lesson quickly ended after that topic, but Professor Conche remained in the hall to prepare for his next ss.


    The second lesson covered the mana cores again, and Khan could add new information to his mind. Professor Conche went over specific details about the organic and synthetic cores, and he even showed stats that exined other important matters.


    ''Wow,'' Khan eximed in his mind when he inspected the graph on his desk. ''Synthetic coresst ten years at best, but organic cores have a thirty percent chance to leave longsting injuries during an upgrade.''


    Those numbers worsened when it came to multiple transnts. A soldier who wanted to get the second upgrade of an organic core would have a fifty percent chance to remain severely injured.


    ''No wonder the army tries to push everyone toward the synthetic cores,'' Khan noted in his mind. ''The surgery is safer since they neverpletely fuse with the nape. The only problem is their cost and the slower pace in attuning a body with mana. Also, only the best A-tier canst for ten entire years.''


    In theory, Khan didn''t have to worry about mana cores. He already had the best on the market. However, it didn''t hurt to improve his knowledge in that field, especially since he could lose his mana core during battles.


    The second lesson eventually ended, and Bruce returned to his t to take his usual nap. Luke imitated him while Martha and Khan hit the park near the main building and entered a meditative state without wasting time.


    The duo moved to Professor Norwell''s lesson once their rms rang. The soldier made her ss repeat the same exercise as thest time, and Khan and Martha ended up full of bruises again.


    "You two are incredible," Lukemented after the end of the lesson when he noticed Khan and Martha''s state.


    "You didn''t even sweat," Martha snorted. "I can''t wait to see how you perform during our first mission."


    "We''ll already have ess to mana by then," Lukeughed. "Everything will be different. Training so hard will make more sense."


    "What''s your attunement level anyway?" Bruce asked. "I have been sitting at seven percent for an entire week. I guess I''m not working hard enough."


    Khan''s eyes lit up at those words. He couldn''t wait to hear what his friends had to say about that stat.


    "Eight percent," Luke revealed proudly. "My professor back in co says that my growth has slowed down the attunement, but it should pick up speed now. I should hit twenty percent in a little more than a month."


    "Ten," Martha revealed while wearing a taunting smile. "I checked it in the medical bay yesterday. I gained two whole points in a week."


    Luke and Bruce showed surprised expressions, and Khan didn''t forget to imitate them. Yet, various thoughts surged in his mind as he reviewed that conversation.


    "Having an organic core sure sounds nice," Lukemented. "It even causes fewer problems since it develops with your body."


    "Sounds like we are all going to gain ess to mana in a bit more than a month." Bruceughed. "I wonder how our ssmates are. Maybe we should socialize a bit more."


    "How did you even check your attunement yesterday?" Khan asked while interrupting that conversation and moving the attention on himself. "I thought Doctor Parket wasn''t in the medical bay."


    The trio wore helpless expressions when they heard those words. Luke even shook his head and heaved a loud sigh to express his feelings.


    "You don''t need the Doctor to check that," Martha decided to exin. "Any nurse can handle the scanner. It takes less than a minute."


    "Please, Martha, help this poor boy," Bruce said in a poetic tone. "Show him the wonders of technology. You are going to the medical bay anyway, right?"


    "I''ll lead the way," Martha sighed before leaving toward the medical bay, and Khan followed her while waving his hand toward his friends.


    "I''ll ignore the fact that you switched topic before revealing your attunement with mana," Martha said after the duo remained alone.


    "I don''t know what you are talking about," Khanughed. "You forgot about me. Your fault."


    "I was actually waiting for that," Martha smirked. "I don''t even know the quality of your mana core."


    "My pride doesn''t allow me to give up so easily," Khan sighed while cing a hand on his chest. "You hurt my little heart by ignoring me earlier."


    "I''m starting to hate you," Martha snorted. "You know that we''ll see the nurse together, right?"


    Khan''s expression froze for a second, and Marthaughed at that sight.


    "What about privacy?" Khan asked.


    "They literally scan you in a corridor," Martha continued tough.


    "I''m ashamed of my body," Khan continued.


    "You don''t have to remove your clothes," Martha could barely spell words among herughs.


    "This is definitely abuse," Khan snorted while picking his phone. "Harassment in the Global Army is a serious matter. I can read the punishments if you want."


    "What do you even have to hide?" Martha asked while taking deep breaths to suppress herughs. "You should have a decent attunement even if your core is weak. You always meditate!"


    ''That''s the issue,'' Khan said in his mind.


    Even Doctor Parket had remained surprised by his stats. Khan didn''t dare to imagine what Martha would say when she saw them. He could sense that she was still pissed at him for keeping secrets and that feeling would only intensify if his attunement turned out to be too high.


    "Just, promise me that you won''t reveal the results to anyone," Khan said in an honest tone. "I have no backing, and Luke is already trying to recruit me in his future toon. I want to keep some secrets until I know who I can trust."


    That burst of honesty left Martha stunned. She didn''t know how to react when Khan was serious. It was easy to talk with him when he acted like a sixteen-year-old boy, but she felt overwhelmed by his maturity during his stern moments.


    "Does it mean that you trust me now?" Martha asked.


    "I have confirmed that you don''t have hidden intentions toward me," Khanughed and reverted to his previous act.


    Martha felt slightly disappointed that boy-Khan had returned, but she nodded to express herpliance. The duo remained silent during the walk toward the medical bay, and Martha quickly summoned a nurse to perform the scan once they arrived.


    Khan felt slightly anxious even if he had no real reason to hide his talent. Still, the Slums had taught him that wealthy people with no protections were easy targets, and he felt like that inside the Global Army.


    Khan didn''t have money, but he was a valuable asset. Also, his nape hid an A-tier organic core. The training camp seemed peaceful, but he didn''t know if some families would try to obtain it through illegal methods.


    Truth be told, Khan knew almost nothing about co''s political environment. The camp seemed theplete opposite of the Slums, but human nature didn''t change ording to the environment.


    Bad men could exist everywhere, and Khan was all alone. His father couldn''t do much in his position, so he preferred to remain careful about his interactions with the other wealthy kids. The scuffle on the first day had been a mistake that he didn''t want to repeat.


    "There must be a problem with this device," The nurse said while reading the scanner in her hand. "I''ll take a new one and perform the scan again."


    Khan''s anxiety increased after that announcement, but Martha remained clueless about the whole situation. She simply waited for the result while wearing a curious expression.


    The nurse eventually returned and performed the scan again. She moved her device across Khan''s back, and a beeping noise finally came out of it.


    "Oh," The nurse eximed while reading the device, but she remained silent afterward.


    "What is it?" Martha asked as her curiosity was about to burst.


    "It says here that his attunement is already past fifteen percent," The nurse exined. "It should reach sixteen tomorrow at this pace."

 Chapter 23 - Revelations

    "There must be some kind of mistake," The nurse said while inspecting the scanner. "You are too young for this attunement level."


    Khan could see that the scanner disyed many details about his body, including his age. He was among the youngest inside the training camp, so his numbers were off the charts.


    The attunement with mana depended on the development of the body. Khan didn''t learn about that from the lessons. He had reached those conclusions after talking with Luke and the others.


    It made sense for a body to require more time attuning with mana when it was still growing. Yet, Khan understood to be an exception after the scan, and his mind quickly generated a lie to calm down the nurse.


    "My body has stopped growing since I was fifteen," Khan exined while wearing an honest smile. "I could start training with mana far sooner than my peers. I''m actually behind if I consider the time spent with my mana core."


    The nurse stared at Khan for a while, but she eventually fell for his lie. Her worries mostly concerned an illness rted to mana, but Doctor Parket wouldn''t have missed something like that.


    "We''ll take our leave now," Khan said while cing a hand on Martha''s shoulder and pushing her toward the exit of the medical bay. "The curfew is almost up. We have to return to our dormitories. Anyway, thank you for your time."


    The nurse wanted to say something, but Khan dragged Martha away before she could give voice to any word. The duo exited the medical bay in a blink and continued to walk until they reached an isted spot.


    The training camp still had many recruits walking through its streets. It was impossible to force boys and girls to return to their dormitories so soon, even if the curfew was approaching.


    Most of them would mostly make a run for their t to avoid punishments. Some would even decide to sneak out and hang with their friends inside the fence that encircled the buildings.


    Khan knew about all of that because he could hear noisesing outside of his t every night. His eyes revealed a tinge of sadness whenever a group of recruits entered his vision. Part of him wanted to have a normal life, but his desperation never allowed him to rest.


    "Are you ready to talk?" Khan asked when a group of recruits disappeared in the distance.


    "Are you ready to tell the truth?" Martha asked after snapping out of her astonishment.


    "Partially," Khanughed.


    "I''ll take the partial truth then," Martha sighed before walking outside of the street and sitting on the ground.


    "There is a bench just over there," Khanmented.


    "But you prefer to be in the park," Martha replied, and Khan fell silent.


    ''She actually understood that after only two days,'' Khan sighed in his mind before sitting in front of Martha.


    Silence fell among the two. Martha didn''t speak, and Khan waited for her questions. Still, various thoughts appeared in his mind due to the recent increase of his attunement with mana.


    ''Fifteen percent!'' Khan eximed in his mind. ''I gained almost six points in a mere week! Increasing the attunement with mana should be harder, but I think I can manage to reach twenty percent by the end of the week at this pace.''


    Reaching an attunement of twenty percent would unlock what Khan had desired even before his enrollment. He would be able to deploy mana for martial arts and spells. His journey as a soldier would finally begin at that point.


    "What was your starting point?" Martha eventually broke the silence. "How much did you gain in this week?"


    Martha was staring deep into Khan''s eyes. She didn''t want to lose the slightest change in his expression. She desired to learn the difference between boy-Khan and man-Khan.


    Khan tried to reveal an honest expression, but his smile slowly faded under Martha''s inspection. She had started to learn how to see through him. Simple lies and a few jokes wouldn''t get him out of that situation.


    "Ten percent," Khan revealed as a helpless sigh escaped his mouth. "I think I''m quite talented, but I know nothing about co''s political environment. I don''t want to put myself into a mess."


    "Why would your talent even cause problems for you?" Martha asked. "It would open countless possibilities at best! This isn''t a matter of Luke anymore. You might be a special soldier inside the Global Army and avoid all the families altogether."


    "Are you implying that co can''t be dangerous for a boy without backing?" Khan asked.


    Martha wanted to reply right away, but she bit her lower lip before giving false hopes to her friend. After all, she was a promising member of a poor family. Many young boys had tried to approach her romantically to establish political rtionships.


    "You still shouldn''t have anything worthy of illegal activities!" Martha tried to console Khan. "The rich families aren''tpletely decent, but they usually respect the soldiers and the Global Army as a whole."


    Khan felt that the conversation had hit a wall. He wouldn''t learn anything else unless he revealed part of his secrets. He couldn''t even confirm his worries at that point.


    Khan heaved a deep sigh and began massaging the corner of his eyes. Martha continued to inspect him, but she couldn''t understand the reason behind that behavior.


    Khan''s internal struggle eventually culminated with a question. "How much can I trust you? I''ve understood that you don''t have ill intentions in these two days, but I can''t see a reason to believe in you right away."


    Martha frowned, but she decided to suppress her annoyance. Khan seemed on the verge of lowering his barriers, and she wanted to find a way to gain his trust.


    Her desire had no hidden intentions. She was just a girl talking with her first friend in the Global Army. Khan was even her sparring partner, and their backgrounds shared many aspects.


    "I can''t prove anything," Martha exined while deciding to change her approach. "It takes time to gain trust, and we''ll probably get there after the first missions. I understand that you can''t open yourselfpletely, but you should consider an important aspect of our friendship."


    "Which is?" Khan quickly asked.


    "I''m your best bet," Martha exined while shrugging her shoulders. "You don''t know anything abouts, aliens, and soldiers. The Global Army will eventually fill those nk spots, but you need someone to help you with those matters in the meantime."


    Khan couldn''t help but widen his eyes at those words. Martha waspletely right. There was a limit to how much he could learn through lies and pretenses, and his only connection with the army had limitations that prevented him from revealing important information.


    Luke and Bruce were untrustworthy since they had hidden intentions. Their actions usually had political meanings, and Khan couldn''t bother to deal with that until he learnt more about the world.


    Martha really seemed his best option. She was direct, honest, and she didn''t belong to wealthy families. She could still betray him, but only by selling his personal information to others.


    The benefits of having a trustworthy friend who was aware of his situation and the various families far outweighed the risks. Martha could truly help Khan, and he only had to give up on his fears to ept her.


    "You actually relied on tricks to make us reach this point," Khanughed.


    "What tricks?" Martha replied while wearing a proud smile. "I''ve only understood that I couldn''t get through you with normal methods. I had to show real benefits."


    "What do you even find in me?" Khan honestly asked. "I understand trying to avoid Luke and Bruce, but there must be a better friend than me out there."


    "You make meugh," Martha revealed. "And you make me train harder. I''m using you to be a better soldier."


    "You are a bad liar," Khan smirked.


    "I''m sure I''ll learn to do that if I stick around you," Martha scoffed.


    Silence fell between the two. Khan shot a nce at his watch to see how much time they had before the curfew.


    Khan then inspected his surroundings. There didn''t seem to be anyone around them except for a small group in the distance. Still, those boys and girls seemed too focused on flirting to notice them.


    "Come closer," Khan whispered while pointing his knees on the ground and bending toward Martha.


    Martha didn''t know how to react to that sudden gesture. Khan was moving his chest toward her face, and his hand was even lowering his cor. She couldn''t help but blush at that sight, and she instinctively began to retreat.


    However, her gaze sharpened when she saw the first trace of the azure scar appearing behind Khan''s uniform. It was pretty dark outside, but she could immediately understand the meaning behind that color.

 Chapter 24 - Week

    Khan ended up revealing a few aspects of his life to Martha. She learnt about his tainted status and his role in the Second Impact. Khan also disclosed that he had a good organic mana core, but he didn''t say anything about its quality.


    Martha could understand part of Khan''s story by herself. She knew that he had lied to the nurse, so his mana core had to be quite good. She felt sure that her organ was inferior, but she never gave voice to those thoughts to maintain some secrecy.


    Martha didn''t speak anymore after those revtions, and the curfew arrived before the duo could chat some more. Still, Khan could understand that her previous annoyance toward his unclear behavior had disappeared.


    ''I hope she doesn''t change,'' Khan sighed while entering inside his t and preparing himself for a training session. ''I don''t want her to treat me as a victim.''


    Samuel was already sleeping. It seemed that the harsh physical training had disrupted his usual routine. Khan had also learnt that it was hard to wake him up. He basically had the room for himself all the time.


    ''Fifteen percent,'' Khan thought as excitement built in his mind.


    Khan was so excited about his attunement with mana that he didn''t bother to change his dirty clothes before sitting on his bed and entering a meditative state.


    He couldn''t wait to reach the point when he could deploy mana. That would mark his transition from a normal human to an actual mage and warrior. Khan didn''t expect that moment toe so soon, but he dly epted that surprise.


    ''I wonder if I reached sixteen percent already,'' Khan thought when he exited the meditative state.


    The clock on his phone signaled two am. His meditation hadsted longer than usual since his excitement didn''t allow him to stop training.


    Khan noticed his dirty bed at that point, but he ignored it andy down to sleep. He had been in far worse ces during his life. Those small patches of ground on his sheets wouldn''t disturb him at all.


    His phone rang as soon as his head hit the pillow. Khan picked the device and saw that Martha had sent him a message.


    ''I forgive your lies,'' Khan read on his phone. ''That girl sure knows how to hold a grudge. Don''t tell me that she has been awake until now thinking about my story.''


    Another message from Martha suddenly arrived on the phone. The text read "I didn''t stay awake because of you", and Khan couldn''t help but smirk when he read it.


    ''She sure is something,'' Khan thought before sending a simple "goodnight" and wearing a helpless expression. It was time to sleep. His nightmare was about to begin.


    .


    .


    .


    Khan happily noticed that Martha didn''t change her behavior toward him the following day. The duo met before Professor Conche''s lessons and spent an hour meditating before walking together toward the ss.


    Luke and Bruce were already inside, but Khan and Martha quickly noticed that something was off. Their two friends weren''t alone. A boy and a girl from the special ss were sitting next to them.


    "Meet April and Jacob," Luke exined when Martha and Khan climbed the steps to reach the back lines. "They are from the Rotston family."


    "You sure didn''t waste time," Marthamented. "I knew you wanted to know more recruits from the special ss, but I didn''t expect you to be so fast."


    "Having good social skills is mandatory for me," Lukeughed. "I actually had a few professors about this subject in co."


    "Why am I not surprised?" Martha whispered before ncing at Khan.


    Khan understood the meaning behind her gesture and sat next to Bruce, allowing Martha to have her left side on the stairs that led to the back lines. Yet, he didn''t fail to inspect the unfamiliar recruits in the process.


    April and Jacob both had red hair and green eyes. Their facial features were quite soft and shared many simrities. Khan could quickly understand that they were brother and sister or cousins.


    Jacob was slightly chubby. He wasn''t fat, but he didn''t have a slim physique either. April was the same, but she seemed to care about that feature more than her brother since she buttoned the belt of her uniform quite tight.


    ''How can she even breathe?'' Khan wondered before ignoring the matter and drawing the headphones from the desk.


    "Is he for real?" Jacob asked when he saw Khan''s action.


    "Meet Martha Weesso and Khan," Luke exined. "They are the most workaholic soldiers in the entire camp. I''m surprised they didn''t kill each other during Professor Norwell''s lessons."


    Luke, Bruce, Jacob, and April continued to talk while Martha and Khan paid attention to the lesson.


    Professor Conche didn''t talk about anything interesting. His first lesson covered the financial evolution of human society after the creation of the ten noble families. Even Khan struggled to remain focused on those topics.


    The second lesson ended up being worse than the first. Khan didn''t believe that the mana cores could be a boring topic, but Professor Conche left him speechless.


    Professor Conche threw countless numbers toward his ss. He talked about many data gathered throughout the years. His exnation involved risks and benefits of the cores, differences among their qualities, and data concerning injured soldiers.


    The lesson would have been interesting if it weren''t a mere pile of graphs. Khan did his best to study them, but it was hard tomit so many numbers to memory. He limited himself to save them on his phone to read them whenever he needed something.


    "How can he even spend two hours like that?" Lukeined once the lesson ended and the group hit the canteen. "No one cares that the new synthetic cores have gained half of a point of attunement speed. They are still inferior to the organic."


    "He has to fill those two hours with something," Brucemented. "Endure for this week. The next lessons should be more interesting."


    The group quickly moved toward the basement after they finished their lunch. Professor Norwell''s lesson proceeded as usual, and Khan and Martha ended up revisiting the medical bay once it ended.


    The schedule for the first week never changed. Khan soon became used to that routine, and every day began to resemble the previous one.


    The only differences in his days were the different topics in Professor Conche''s lessons and his conversations with Martha. Luke and Bruce managed to bring new friends from the special ss from time to time, but Khan didn''t care much about socializing during that week.


    Even some of Professor Conche''s interesting topics couldn''t distract Khan from his excitement. He would probably gain ess to mana after the end of that week, and his mind didn''t manage to think about anything else.


    Sunday eventually arrived. The camp wouldn''t have any lesson that day, but the medical bay would function as usual. Khan had even questioned the nurses beforehand, so he knew that Doctor Parket would be in the building during the morning.


    Martha decided to apany Khan to the medical bay that day, but she remained outside of Doctor Parket''s office. Khan could be alone with him, and thetter didn''t hesitate to express his confusion.


    "I don''t understand why you asked for a visit," Doctor Parket announced. "I visited you two weeks ago. You didn''t learn enough about mana to worry about specific issues connected to your status."


    "It''s about my attunement with mana, sir," Khan politely replied. "I think it''s better if you check it."


    "Any nurse can do that job," Doctor Parketined.


    "But I don''t know if the nurses respect my father enough to take care of his son, sir," Khan exined, and Doctor Parket remained speechless for a second.


    Doctor Parket scratched his beard and adjusted his small sses before heaving a helpless sigh and standing up from his chair. He grabbed a scanner from a desk in the corner of his room and proceeded to scan Khan''s attunement.


    A faint gasp resounded behind Khan. He turned to see Doctor Parket staring at the scanner with wide eyes. He didn''t seem able to believe the number disyed on the item.


    "Did it reach twenty percent?" Khan asked, and a second wave of surprise engulfed Doctor Parket.


    "Were you aware of your development?" Doctor Parket asked.


    "I found out about that only recently," Khan exined. "I figured that you could tell me how to handle my situation."


    Doctor Parket inspected Khan''s fake innocent face before heaving a deep sigh. He sat back on his desk while cing the scanner in Khan''s direction. Thetter could clearly read that his attunement with mana had reached twenty percent.


    "A Tainted boy with an A-tier organic core that belonged to a Nak," Doctor Parket sighed. "I shouldn''t even feel surprised about this. You are also a survivor of the Second Impact. I bet that you meditated like a madman in these weeks."


    Khan didn''t answer. The Doctor wasn''t really asking him anything.


    "Your improvements will slow down from now on," Doctor Parket exined. "Your body has finally epted mana as part of yourself, but the process will be harsher now. The mana has to be predominant, and that can lead to painful training sessions."


    "I don''t fear pain," Khan replied in a steady tone.


    "I bet you don''t," Doctor Parket said. "Still, your body will try to fight the mana. It will consider it like cancer taking over your flesh."


    "Can I use the same training method as before?" Khan asked.


    "Yes, but the effects will be different," Doctor Parket exined. "You probably have yet to learn about this, but your attunement has to reach fifty percent to be a first-level warrior. The process won''t be easy, and I don''t think you should rely on synthetic mana either."


    "Why is that?" Khan asked, putting in the back of his mind all the other information disclosed by the Doctor. "I heard that it has no negative effects at its best quality."


    "It would be a waste in your case," Doctor Parket exined. "Your body has the chance to hold the purest mana among the army. You might end up rejecting the synthetic mana since it doesn''t match your standards."


    Khan didn''t know what to do with those exnations for now. They definitely broadened his understanding of mana, but they didn''t tell him much about his current situation.


    "What should I do now, in your opinion?" Khan asked, hoping that Doctor Parket''s respect for Bret would force him to rmend something.


    "The Global Army will give you a martial art if you prove that your attunement has reached the intended level," Doctor Parket exined, "But I think you should avoid that for now. I''m not asking you to put your training on hold either."


    "So?" Khan continued.


    "Do you know of a man named Carl Dyester?" Doctor Parket asked. "He handles the prison of the camp."

 Chapter 25 - Istrone

    Khan came out of Doctor Parket''s office with many unanswered questions in his mind. He had learnt quite a lot from that conversation, but he still felt like a foreigner to the world of mana.


    ''That was a lot,'' Khan summarized in his mind. ''The attunement must reach fifty percent to be first-level warriors, I should avoid synthetic mana, and the meditations might be painful from now on.''


    Doctor Parket didn''t say anything about mages, but he sent Khan away before the conversation could reach that topic. Still, he had also revealed a path that didn''t involve the Global Army.


    ''Did he ask me to avoid the Global Army due to the weak martial arts?'' Khan wondered while Martha waved at him from the other end of the corridor. ''Or is there something else?''


    Khan didn''t have the answers to his doubts, but he didn''t let those thoughts distract him from his next task. He had to visit the prison of the camp, but he needed a n first.


    ''Carl Dyester might give me the chance to learn a good martial art,'' Khan thought as the memories of his short interaction with the soldier appeared in his mind.


    Khan wasn''tpletely aware of that, but he had developed a keen instinct in judging people after spending years in the Slums. He had a few theories about Carl, and none of them depicted a favorable situation.


    ''He has definitely suffered a terrible loss on Istrone,'' Khan thought. ''He even seems to despise normal recruits. I don''t know if he hates their wealth or their inexperience, but my money is on both.''


    A n slowly developed in Khan''s mind, and he sighed when he understood that no lies would work. Carl seemed the type of soldier who would respect a direct approach, but Khan had to go past that to be his disciple. He had to create a connection between their traumatic experiences.


    "Can you hear me?" Martha shouted while waving her hand in front of Khan''s face.


    "I was thinking," Khan exined after snapping back to reality. "I need to go to the prison of the camp. That might be my best chance to avoid the bad martial arts of the army."


    "Sure," Martha shrugged her shoulders. "Let''s go."


    Martha began to walk toward the exit of the medical bay, but Khan promptly grabbed her arm to stop her. The girl turned to show a confused expression, and an exnation soon reached her ears.


    "I need to see Carl Dyester," Khan whispered. "He was a Major on Istrone. That''s where your grandfather died, right? I don''t think you should be there."


    Martha froze for an instant when those words reached her ears. Khan was asking her to remain behind due to her connection with Carl. He had the chance to exploit their friendship for his benefit, but he had decided to warn her instead.


    "One more reason for me toe, right?" Martha snorted while freeing herself from Khans'' grasp and turning toward the exit. "He might get all sentimental if I''m there."


    Khan scratched his head when he saw the girl walking toward the exit. Martha sounded pissed for some reason, even if he had done the right thing. He felt unable to understand her feelings in that situation.


    Martha made sure that her back faced Khan on purpose. The sudden burst of worry of her friend had made her blush, and she didn''t want him to notice that.


    "Wait for me," Khan eventually said before running after her.


    The duo walked toward the peripheral areas of the camp. Martha used her phone to check the path, but Khan recalled where the prisons were. It took them half an hour to reach a seemingly empty spot with perfectly keptwn grass.


    "Are we sure it''s here?" Martha asked in front of the empty area.


    "It goes underground," Khan exined while knocking on the ground. "Is anybody here? Lieutenant Dyester? I have a question for you."


    "How do you know these things?" Martha asked as puzzlement appeared on her face.


    "I came here on the first day," Khan revealed. "Nothing serious. I got into a fight."


    "How can you even get imprisoned on the first day?" Marthaughed.


    "It wasn''t my fault!" Khan snorted. "Some bullies wanted to pick on me because I was from the Slums. Don''t worry. I busted their balls."


    Martha gave voice to anotherugh, unaware that Khan had been literal with his words. Meanwhile, the boy continued to knock and call for the Lieutenant.


    "Are you sure that he is here?" Martha asked after the duo spent more than five minutes in that condition. "Maybe it''s his day off."


    "He doesn''t seem the type to take breaks," Khan exined before straightening his position and starting to stomp his feet on the ground. "He''s probably sleeping."


    "And you think that waking him up is a good idea?" Marthaughed, but she went silent when she noticed that Khan had worn his man-Khan expression.


    Martha didn''t think that the matter would be so important for Khan. After all, he would eventually manage to get his hands on a good martial art with his talent. She couldn''t understand how desperate he was to start his journey as a soldier.


    Khan continued to stomp his feet until a mechanical noise resounded from under him. He quickly jumped backward, and a trapdoor slowly opened in his previous spot.


    "Just me me if something goes wrong," Khan announced before crouching to lift the trapdoor and descend a short staircase.


    Martha wore an annoyed expression before following him inside the dark basement. Curiosity soon filled her face, but her eyes eventually fell on a tall man sitting on a table at the end of the staircase.


    "What do you want, kid?" Lieutenant Dyester asked while scratching the corner of his eyes. "Why would you evene here on purpose?"


    Khan took those words as a good sign. He had clearly woken up the Lieutenant, but thetter didn''t sound pissed about it.


    "My attunement with mana has reached twenty percent," Khan went straight to the point. "I have no backing, but I don''t want to waste years training in an inferior martial art. You are strong, right? Can you teach me something?"


    "I can teach you to respect your superiors," Lieutenant Dyester snorted. "These matters usually involve money or other benefits. What do I have to gain from teaching you? Why would I even ept?"


    "Because you like me very much?" Khan asked as a broad smile appeared on his face.


    "I definitely liked watching you beating those wealthy kids," Lieutenant Dyester chuckled, "But that''s not enough."


    "What can be enough?" Khan asked.


    "A million of Credits for each lesson," Lieutenant Dyester announced before exploding into augh.


    Lieutenant Dyester then raised his head to look at Khan and enjoy his expression, but thetter disappointed him. The soldier only wanted to scare him away, but Khan''s reaction left him speechless.


    "Is that a lot?" Khan whispered while turning toward Martha, and thetter shot a helpless nce toward him before nodding.


    "How poor are you?" Lieutenant Dyester asked as disbelief filled his tone.


    "Completely broke!" Khanughed. "I don''t even recall how Credits look like. Food was the only currency in the Slums, so¡­."


    Khan shrugged his shoulders, and Martha covered her eyes in shame. Her friend waspletely hopeless.


    "Credits don''t have a form," Martha exined while keeping her voice down. "They are a digital currency epted by all thes connected to the Global Army. Even aliens know about this."


    "The aliens should try to live in the Slums," Khan snorted. "You can buy a house with twenty food cans, but you are better off stealing an empty one while the owners are working."


    Both Lieutenant Dyester and Martha didn''t know what to say. The Slums didn''t even seem to belong to their same world.


    "My answer is still no," Lieutenant Dyester eventually broke the silence. "Disciples and underlings can only cause trouble, and my days are full. I barely have free time."


    Khan and Martha turned toward the cells. They were all empty. Lieutenant Dyester could sleep all day since he didn''t have cases to review.


    "I really have no one else," Khan honestly replied while nearing the table. "My mother died during the Second Impact, and my father had to lose everything to save me. He couldn''t even teach me what he knew about the Global Army. I''ll only end up as a tool of the wealthy family if you leave me on my own."


    Khan had dropped all the acts and lies at that point. He had revealed information that even Martha ignored, and a pensive expression eventually fell on her face.


    Khan had undeniably suffered a lot. The trauma of the Second Impact alone was enough to ruin his entire life. Living in the Slums had also been hellish, but he still had the ability to smile.


    Lieutenant Dyester could see all those features in Khan''s face. Part of him even began to pity the boy, which led him to bepletely honest with the next answer.


    "I''m only a shadow of myself, kid," Lieutenant Dyester replied. "There''s only death and war in space. I can take joy in the fact that my refusal might force you to choose safe destinations in the future."


    "He won''t," Martha raised her head and joined the conversation. "The missions on the safes don''t award many merits, so he won''t go there. It doesn''t matter if his power doesn''t suit the dangerous ces."


    "Who are you?" Lieutenant Dyester asked while expressing his confusion.


    "I''m Martha Weesso," Martha revealed. "My grandfather has fought on Istrone with you."

 Chapter 26 - Favor

    Lieutenant Dyester inspected Martha for a few seconds before taking a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He drew one of them and lit it up with his forefinger before falling silent.


    Martha and Khan respected that silent moment. It was evident that the soldier was reviewing some emotional memories. Lieutenant Dyester didn''t seem able to move his eyes away from the girl, and his expression grew darker as the seconds passed.


    "Captain Abe Weesso was a good man," Lieutenant Dyester eventually said. "He followed me until the end. He even saved my life a few times. I had to hold his hand when he died."


    Khan and Martha continued to remain silent. Martha''s identity had clearly broken through Carl''s mental barrier, but they had yet to understand where that situation would lead.


    "His granddaughter is in the Global Army now," Lieutenant Dyester scoffed. "Every kid in the world can''t wait to jump in this cycle of death. Youe here thinking that war is a game."


    Lieutenant Dyester''s leg began to tap on the floor. The memories of Istrone had made him nervous, and his cigarette didn''t manage to calm him down.


    "I can still hear the screams," Khan decided to speak. "I can still recall the suffocating scent of charred flesh and the revolting images of the corpses. Don''t use your pain to insult me."


    Martha and Lieutenant Dyester shot a surprised nce toward Khan. Martha tried to pull his uniform to remind him of the reason behind that meeting, but the soldier ended up feeling ashamed when he inspected Khan''s face.


    Lieutenant Dyester could see the same pain that afflicted him in Khan''s eyes. Those azure irises didn''t belong to a boy. They created the gaze of a man who knew loss, sorrow, and death.


    "Forgive my words," Lieutenant Dyester suddenly said, and his behavior ended up stunning Martha. "I often forget that I''m not the only one in pain. It wasn''t my intention to insult you."


    Khan sighed before sitting on the steps behind him. His eyes continued to inspect Lieutenant Dyester, and thetter didn''t move his gaze away from him either.


    Martha felt out of ce. She was unfamiliar with the tension that had fallen on the basement. Part of her understood that she was the only kid in the room.


    "Weesso girl," Lieutenant Dyester eventually broke the silence. "Your rtionship with Abe can force me to grant you any favor. Are you sure that you want to waste it for this kid?"


    Khan didn''t turn toward Martha. He didn''t want to beg her nor ask for any favor. Martha had to decide that on her own.


    Martha looked down toward Khan''s hair. Her eyes went past his physical features and tried to sense the immense struggles he had to ovee to reach his current state.


    The Weesoo family was poor, but it was still inside co. Martha was incredibly richpared to every citizen inside the Slums. She only had to ovee minor political issues throughout her life, but she had never experienced actual pain.


    "Do it," Martha announced. "Use this favor for him. Take him under your wing."


    "Are you really sure about this?" Lieutenant Dyester replied. "You won''t be able to take it back once the training starts."


    "He is right," Khan asked while turning toward his friend. "I can always find another way, but this is about your family. You don''t have to use it for me."


    "What are you even saying?" Martha''s face broke into a smile. "I''m only passing his favor to you. You''ll owe me a big one from now on."


    Martha then turned toward Lieutenant Dyester and continued. "He is a tricky one. Don''t ever let him talk if you want to remain safe from his ploys."


    "I''ll make him regret this decision a few times," Lieutenant Dyester smiled.


    "Good," Martha said before turning toward Khan again. "Make sure to get as strong as him, at least. I don''t want to lose value on this investment."


    Khan didn''t know how to thank Martha for that chance, so he limited himself to say a silent "thank you" with his lips. The girl''s smile broadened as she nodded and climbed the staircase back to the surface.


    The trap door opened and let Martha out of the basement before closing again. Only Khan and the Lieutenant remained in the room, and they studied each other in silence for a while before exchanging a few words.


    "You got a nice girlfriend," Lieutenant Dyester said. "Being young sure is fun."


    "She''s only my sparring partner and a friend," Khan exined. "Also, I n to respect her words. I''ll be stronger than you and repay this favor."


    "You have been in the camp for only two weeks," The Lieutenantughed. "I bet you know nothing about warriors and mages. You would have more respect for me otherwise."


    "I''ll try not to use my mocking tone when I call you Master," Khan smirked.


    "And I''ll start to call you kid once you be a human being in my eyes," Lieutenant Dyester snorted. "You have a mere twenty percent attunement with mana. Even roaches can reach it, so that will be your new name until you improve."


    Khan didn''t reply. He didn''t care about names or titles. He continued to sit on the step, but his legs began to shake in excitement.


    "Did they teach you some moves already, Roach?" The Lieutenant asked.


    "The shadow step and the palm force," Khan exined.


    "No wonder you wanted to avoid the martial arts of the army," Lieutenant Dyester scoffed. "Did you try using them while deploying mana?"


    "I discovered my attunement only an hour ago," Khan replied.


    "Stand up then," Lieutenant Dyester said while stretching his legs on the table and tilting his chair. "Perform the palm force on the metal bars. The real training will start once you manage to bend them."


    Khan remained speechless. He didn''t even know how to deploy the mana, but Lieutenant Dyester had ordered him to bend metal bars meant to hold soldiers.


    "Go on," Lieutenant Dyester hurried Khan. "It''s still early, but the curfew will eventually arrive, and I''m giving you only one week to seed in this task. It will be pointless to teach you anything if you can''t pull it off during this period."


    "But I have to attend my lessons on the other days!" Khanined.


    "Better to start right away then," Lieutenant Dyesterughed while throwing his cigarette away.


    Khan found the request unreasonable, but he didn''t dare toin again. He stood up and walked toward the nearest cell before visualizing the move he had practiced during the past week.


    ''I still can''t use the right moves every time,'' Khan thought while bending his legs and preparing the attack. ''I can only do a perfect execution half of the time. I bet it will be even less now.''


    Khan took a deep breath before attacking. His waist rotated, and his arm followed that movement beforending directly on one of the metal bars.


    A sharp pain spread from his palm, but Khan didn''t budge. He limited himself to inspect the metal bar before repeating the technique.


    "You aren''t even trying to use mana," Lieutenant Dyester shouted at some point. "That energy won''t magicallye out. You need to move it alongside the technique."


    Khan took another deep break before focusing on his nape. He didn''t enter the meditative state, but he still managed to see the azure energy flowing through that spot. Moreover, he noticed that a few parts of his body now featured small azure lumps.


    Khan disregarded that detail to focus on the exercise. He had never tried to move the mana in a specific direction, but that seemed necessary to perform the attack.


    His mana flow started to increase as he opened his eyes and performed the palm force. His hand hit the metal bar again, but a sharp pain spread from his shoulder at that time.


    "Your arm moved too quickly," Lieutenant Dyestermented. "The mana didn''t manage to reach your palm, so it released its power in your shoulder."


    ''Mana is dangerous,'' Khan thought before closing his eyes again.


    Khan tried to test the speed of his mana. He checked how fast it could go before reopening his eyes and focusing on the palm force.


    His control over mana was stillcking. Khan understood that he couldn''t make it match the palm force''s speed. That was simply impossible at his current level.


    ''I need to make a slower version of the attack,'' Khan decided before taking his position and executing his move.


    His focus split between his body and the energy flowing from his nape. Khan moved slowly, trying to make the mana follow his waist and arm.


    A faint low noise came out of his palm when it hit the metal bar, and a tingling sensation spread through his entire arm. He had sessfully fused the flow of the mana with his technique, but his target didn''t show any damage.


    "You still need to perform the actual technique to bend the metal bar," Lieutenant Dyester exined. "A wless execution is useless if itcks power."


    Khan smiled when he heard those words. The Lieutenant had called his previous execution "wless". He had basically revealed that Khan was on the right path.


    ''I only need to make it faster now!'' Khan eximed in his mind, and the world around him disappeared as his entire focus went on the exercise.


    Hours inevitably passed. A drone brought the lunch to Lieutenant Dyester, and thetter ate while Khan continued to practice.


    The afternoon went by, but Khan was still there. His hunger didn''t make him flinch. He had never stopped trying to deploy the correct palm force, and his speed was slowly reaching the intended level.


    ''His mana capacity is top tier,'' Lieutenant Dyester thought while checking his phone. ''He has been at it for more than ten hours, but he still has mana to waste.''


    The phone marked eight fifty pm. Khan needed almost an hour to return to his dormitory at a normal pace. It was nearly time for him to stop training, and Lieutenant Dyester had also decided to send him away in the next minutes.


    However, a distinct low noise eventually spread through the basement and startled Lieutenant Dyester. The soldier saw Khan crouching on the floor and gasping for air, but he didn''t miss the smile on his face.


    Lieutenant Dyester moved his eyes to the cell at that point. A tinge of disbelief spread on his face when he noticed that one of the metal bars had slightly bent.

 Chapter 27 - Words

    Lieutenant Dyester stood up and neared the cell. One of the metal bars had clearly caved in. He couldn''t find any excuse to reprimand Khan about his technique.


    "You might actually have some talent for this," Lieutenant Dyester announced while turning toward the boy crouching under him.


    Khan gasped for breath. He felt exhausted, and his whole body was in pain. His palms had also started bleeding due to the repeated shes with the metal bar.


    Khan wore a satisfied smile, but conflicting thoughts upied his mind. On one side, he felt ecstatic about his recent sess. On the other, he knew that hisst execution of the palm force wasn''t ready for a real battle.


    ''It''s still too slow,'' Khan thought while reying the scenes of hisst attack in his mind. ''The mana haspensated for theck of speed and strength, but the technique is far fromplete. I evenmitted countless mistakes during thest hours. Only one out of four executions ended up being decent.''


    Khan had to perform a slower version of the palm force to move the mana alongside his body. Hisst attack had generated enough power to bend the metal bar, but a proper execution would have released far more energy.


    ''I''m better off throwing punches at my current level,'' Khan concluded. ''I still can''t deploy this technique in a fight.''


    "There are four levels of proficiency to each martial art," Lieutenant Dyester suddenly began to exin. "You are a novice now, the lowest level. You must be able to perform a technique without evermitting mistakes to reach thepetent level. Of course, you have to do it with mana."


    ''So much only to bepetent with one martial art,'' Khan sighed in his mind.


    The process felt hellish. Khan believed that moving mana would be easier in the future, but learning the various moves required by each martial art would remain hard.


    ''I bet a soldier won''tmit more than three martial arts to memory,'' Khan thought. ''There simply isn''t enough time to master more techniques.''


    "Hey, Rat," Lieutenant Dyester called. "What''s your element?"


    Khan arched his eyebrow when he noticed that the Lieutenant had already changed his name. He steadied his breath and coughed a few times before giving a short answer. "Chaos."


    Lieutenant Dyester whistled while expressing evident surprise with his face. Khan inspected that reaction and confirmed that Doctor Parket had been honest with him. The chaos element wasn''tmon among humans.


    "I can''t teach you magic then," Lieutenant Dyester exined. "Different elements require different thoughts to activate their power. My knowledge can''t help you there."


    "What''s your element?" Khan asked slowly.


    "Fire," Lieutenant Dyesterughed before drawing the pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "Why do you think I smoke these? Most fire masters force new mages to light them up as their first exercise. You''ll find many fire mages with this addiction."


    ''Who would force kids to smoke?'' Khan scoffed in his mind before putting that matter aside.


    "So, can you teach me anything about magic?" Khan asked. "I like martial arts and everything, but spells are cooler."


    "I''ll teach you a few mental exercises tomorrow," Lieutenant Dyester said while lighting up a cigarette. "I''ll also think about a suitable martial art. You are strong but not too tall. I''ll see what I can find."


    Khan''s eyes lit up at those words. He had been afraid that Lieutenant Dyester wouldn''t have taken the training seriously, but he felt d to discover that the soldier wasn''t holding back on his connections.


    "Come here once your daily lessons are over," Lieutenant Dyester continued. "I''ll make sure to check on you and correct your moves. Hopefully you can start earning something after the first missions if you get strong enough."


    A wave of gratefulness filled Khan. Lieutenant Dyester was perfect, and he had Martha to thank for that chance.


    "Go now," Lieutenant Dyester ordered. "Try to end up here only by choice."


    Khan nodded and quickly straightened his position. He felt tired, but he had to hurry to avoid breaking the curfew. He immediately moved toward the staircase and left the basement to begin the run for his dormitory.


    ''The chaos element for humans,'' Lieutenant Dyester thought while resuming his position on the table. ''He needs an excellent martial art topensate for this weakness. I wonder if the higher-ups still remember their debt.''


    .


    .


    .


    Khan returned to his dormitory in a hurry. He had managed to avoid breaking the curfew by mere minutes, and sweat filled his face by the time he entered his t.


    Samuel was sleeping as usual. Khan had the room for himself, but he felt drained beyond reason. His body begged him to hit the bed, but Khan wanted to try onest thing before going back to his nightmares.


    Khan didn''t bother changing nor taking a shower. He didn''t even take out his shoes before sitting on the bed and entering a meditative state.


    Azure lights shone inside his body. He still had mana avable, so he could perform his usual training and try to increase his attunement.


    The mana flowing out of his nape elerated and spread toward his mind and body, but a sharp pain suddenly appeared and forced Khan out of his meditative state.


    His back had started to scream in pain as soon as the mana had tried to expand there. His flesh had rejected that energy and had pushed it back into the nape.


    ''That''s more painful than I expected,'' Khanmented while standing up and stretching his sore spot. ''No wonder soldiers prefer to use synthetic mana. I would also try to avoid this process.''


    Khan gave voice to a helplessugh when he thought that. Doctor Parket had been clear. The synthetic mana could be toxic for his body since he had extremely high standards.


    ''I guess I can''t get benefits without epting drawbacks,'' Khan thought. ''I''m lucky enough to have reached this level and have found a master so soon. I shouldn''tin.''


    Thinking about Lieutenant Dyester reminded Khan about Martha. He quickly took his phone and sent her a simple message. He thanked her again and confirmed that the soldier had been good to him.


    "I''m d," Martha immediately replied through a message. "See you tomorrow."


    Khan set the rm and put the phone back in his pocket before lying on the bed. His body couldn''t resist anymore. He had to sleep and recover enough for tomorrow''s training.


    .


    .


    .


    The next morning, Khan tried to meditate again, but the same pain spread from his back when the mana expanded in that spot. However, he gritted his teeth and continued to force the energy to flow.


    The pain forced Khan to go in and out of his meditative state. His training was far harsher than before, but he believed that he would eventually learn how to handle those hindrances.


    The new issues with his mediations made him decide to reach the canteenter than usual. He didn''t want to train outside of his room and have sudden pains while surrounded by recruits.


    Khan found Martha, Luke, and Bruce in the canteen. A few recruits from the special ss were with them, but Khan didn''t bother to learn their names.


    The second week would feature new lessons. The Global Army used the first semester to show all the avable courses so that the recruits could consider which ones to pursue during the second part of the year.


    Khan had already decided to ignore "history of mana", and he had yet to make up his mind about "basics of mana cores". His main issue with those courses was Professor Conche since the soldier was incredibly dull to follow.


    The second week had interesting courses taught by a different professor. Her name was Carol Thogett, and she was a first-level warrior and mage.


    Professor Thogett had the appearance of a middle-aged woman with long brown hair and dark eyes. She was short but slender, and she wore a pair ofrge sses that featured thick lenses.


    Her subjects were "technology and mana" and "xenolinguistics", but they didn''t manage to appeal to Khan''s interest since his mind could only think about Lieutenant Dyester.


    Khan still tried to pay attention to those lessons, but the first one seemed quite pointless in a world of mages and warriors. Even Professor Thogett repeated multiple times that technology could only support the soldiers but never rece them.


    Instead, the second lesson was quite intriguing. Professor Thogett knew many aliennguages, including the Nak''s.


    "The Nak don''t have real words in theirnguage," Professor Thogett exined. "Even their voice is mana, so they don''t need grammar and other rules. They limit themselves to fuse their thoughts with any random sound thates out of their mouths."


    Professor Thogett opened her mouth, and an azure light flowed from her head to her throat. She then gave voice to a simple sound that the mana intensified and spread through the room.


    "Who can guess what I''ve said?" Professor Thogett asked.


    ''It felt trivial,'' Khan thought. ''Maybe "pay attention" or something along the line.''


    "No one?" Professor Thogett asked before chuckling. "You don''t have to think in terms of words. The Nak''snguage is mostly rted to emotions. I have thought about you paying attention and used mana to transmit it."

 Chapter 28 - Disk

    Khan didn''t want to delude himself. His sensitivity to mana was good even before reaching twenty percent attunement, but that alone couldn''t exin his recent feat.


    ''Was it a mixture of luck and sensitivity to mana?'' Khan wondered as his expression grew severe. ''Did I understand her words due to my simrities with the Nak?''


    Khan didn''t have the answer to his doubts, but xenolinguistics had instantly reached the top of his list after that event. The lesson was almost over now, but he promised himself to pay far more attention from that day onward.


    After the end of the morning lessons, the group hit the canteen, and Khan and Martha eventually remained alone during the break before Professor Norwell''s course.


    "You should talk with Professor Norwell once you get your martial art," Martha exined after Khan described his interaction with Lieutenant Dyester. "It''s pointless to train in those techniques if you have better ones at hand."


    "Isn''t the lesson mandatory?" Khan asked.


    "Not really," Martha continued. "The Global Army can''t force you to attend useless sses. Professor Norwell only has to confirm your attunement and your new martial art to exempt you from her lessons."


    "I will have more time to train with Lieutenant Dyester then!" Khan eximed.


    "And I will lose my sparring partner," Martha snorted. "I guess I have to search for a new one. Maybe I should pick a girl and make new friends."


    "I''m sure you''ll be fine," Khanughed. "Things should change once a few recruits hit the right attunement level anyway."


    "You have no idea!" Martha scoffed. "Girls only talk about marrying guys and other political idiocies. They even have a ranking of the boys in our ss."


    "Where am I at?" Khan quickly asked. "I shouldn''t be too low."


    "You aren''t on the list," Martha snorted. "Why would anyone go after the boy from the Slums?"


    "My poor heart will never recover from this," Khan replied while wearing a sad expression.


    "You won''t lose your mind, at least!" Martha shouted. "This is so annoying. I should get my attunement to twenty percent as soon as possible."


    "What will happen once a few of us reach that point?" Khan asked.


    "It depends," Martha exined. "Those without martial arts will get one from the Global Army and continue to train under Professor Norwell''s supervision. The others will probably rent a training room and practice there. Their Masters might alsoe from co and manage their exercises."


    "I bet the training rooms cost a lot," Khan sighed.


    "The price depends on the quality," Martha replied. "You can have simple reinforced rooms orrge halls with animated training dummies. It''s pointless for you to think about them anyway. You have no Credits at all."


    "You are always so nice to me," Khan said while wearing a wide smile.


    "Shut up," Martha snorted. "I have to spend the next weeks with a bunch of annoying girls, and it''s your fault. Don''t you dare to ck with Lieutenant Dyester."


    "You know I won''t," Khan replied honestly, and Martha heaved a helpless sigh when she saw the man-Khan face.


    "By the way," Khan eventually continued, "When can we get ess to spells?"


    "The Global Army should still provide some basic training for each element," Martha exined while wearing a pensive expression. "They will probably happen on holoscreens and simr devices, but most of the wealthy kids will summon Masters right away."


    "Do you have a Master for your element?" Khan asked.


    "The Weesso family is poor," Martha said before wearing a proud smile, "But we always get the same two elements. We already have masters ready. I even ended up with earth like my grandfather, so I can use his notes."


    ''I need to find a way to get Credits then,'' Khan thought. ''I can''t fall behind in my training as a mage.''


    Khan had revealed his problems connected to the meditations to Martha, so the duo had chosen an even more isted spot during the break.


    They began to mediate once their conversation was over, and the process ended up being far from smooth for Khan. Still, he was slowly getting the hang of it.


    Enduring pain wasn''t an issue for him. The main problem was getting in and out of the meditative state. Khan had to learn how to suppress his instincts and continue to control mana without interrupting his training, and only time could give him that expertise.


    Khan and Martha eventually attended Professor Norwell''s lesson and ended up in their usual messy state. However, Khan didn''t follow Martha to the medical bay at that time. He went straight for the prisons of the camp to see his Master.


    The trapdoor of the prisons opened as soon as Khan stepped on thewn. He quickly noticed that Lieutenant Dyester wasn''t in his usual sleepy mode. The soldier had a satisfied expression as he stood near the end of the staircase.


    "I can surprise myself at times," Lieutenant Dyester announced while gesturing to Khan to enter the basement.


    The trapdoor closed behind Khan, but he didn''t notice that noise. His eyes remained fixed on the Lieutenant. He could barely hold back his excitement now that his martial art was so close.


    "I had to pull some strings to get it," Lieutenant Dyester exined. "The crisis on Istrone has been a mess. I could have asked the army for the world, but I chose a demotion instead. The higher-ups were obviously happy that they didn''t have to spend Credits on me, so they didn''t hesitate to satisfy my request now that I''ve reappeared."


    "Did you get a good martial art for me?" Khan asked as his figure began to tremble in excitement.


    "I should exin the division among martial arts first," Lieutenant Dyester announced before clearing his throat. "Martial arts can have manybels, which mostly describe their qualities. However, they all have a set potential and a quite clear value depending on their moves."


    Khan nodded, but his body began to move alongside his head. He had basically started to jump on the same spot during the exnation.


    "The army has studied each martial art and has given them a score," Lieutenant Dyester continued. "The ranking goes from one to one hundred. Generally speaking, anything under forty points is a low-level martial art."


    "How many points does mine have?" Khan promptly asked.


    "Seventy-eight!" Lieutenant Dyester revealed before exploding into a proudugh. "It''s only two points away from being a high-level martial art. I bet that even some of the wealthy kids here won''t get something this good."


    Lieutenant seemed to take some joy from Khan''s impatient expression, and he didn''t miss the chance to brag.


    "You sure are a lucky rat," Lieutenant Dyester announced. "I checked your background, and, oh boy, you wouldn''t have gotten anywhere on your own. Instead, you get to learn a good martial art and have one of the strongest soldiers in this camp as your master."


    "I''m dying here, Master," Khan begged the Lieutenant with a weak voice, and thetter eventually suppressed hisugh to hand a small circr item.


    Khan picked the item and inspected it. Visible confusion filled his face. It resembled a tiny white disk that he could hide with a single finger.


    Lieutenant Dyester waited for his deserved praises, but Khan remained silent. The soldier then looked toward the boy again and noticed that he had begun to smell the disk.


    "What are you doing?" Lieutenant Dyester asked.


    "I don''t know what this is," Khan honestly replied, and the Lieutenant covered his face to suppress the helplessness that he felt.


    "You are a lost cause," Lieutenant Dyester sighed. "Bind the disk before inserting it in your phone."


    "Binding?" Khan asked while picking his phone. "Does this thing have an opening?"


    Lieutenant Dyester had to sit to handle the emotions running through his mind, but he still mustered enough energy to exin how to use the item. "Make a drop of blood fall on the disk to bind it. Then, ce it on your screen. The phone will do the rest."


    Khan''s eyes lit up, and he quickly looked around the basement. Lieutenant Dyester handed him a small knife while heaving another helpless sigh, and Khan even forgot to thank him.


    Khan opened a small cut on his forefinger before pressing it on the disk. A red glow suddenly covered the item, but the light vanished in a matter of seconds.


    Then, Khan ced the disk on the phone, and the item began to fuse with the smooth screen. It only took a few seconds to disappearpletely.


    Khan nced toward Lieutenant Dyester in fear, and thetter shook his head before pointing at the phone. Khan unlocked the screen to inspect the menus, and his eyes quickly fell on a newbel.


    ''Connected magic devices?'' Khan read thebel before pressing it.


    The menu opened, and a long nk list unfolded in Khan''s vision. Only the first spot had something written on it.


    ''Lightning-demon style,'' Khan read on the phone before pressing on the writing.


    A series of images immediately came out of the phone. His device created interactive holograms that depicted a short old man with a long white beard.


    The man was bald, and wrinkles filled his face. However, he had a single big star on both shoulders of his military uniform.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I''m trying to set the word count for Chaos'' Heir, which inevitably affects the cost. I was thinking about 1400-1600 words for each chapter, so 8 coins once they are premium (to give you an idea, both chapters today were 1570 words long). Let me know what you think about it.

 Chapter 29 - Holograms

    The hologram had a few options. Khan could start the first lesson immediately or watch a catalog of each different move separately. He could even use the phone to scan himself during the training to find eventual mistakes in the executions.


    The disk contained a program that went over every aspect of the Lightning-demon style. It had everything Khan could think of. It even contained information about the old man and the martial art as a whole.


    "You shouldn''t activate these training programs in the open," Lieutenant Dyester exined and forced Khan out of his amazement. "These magical items are expensive, and they require gic authorization. In theory, no one can ess what you have on your phone unless you allow it."


    "Isn''t it dangerous to have the martial art on my phone?" Khan asked. "Doesn''t it work on thework of the Global Army? The higher-ups should have ess to that."


    "Magic isn''t the same as technology," Lieutenant Dyester reassured. "The higher-ups might be able to enter your phone, but they won''t be able to activate the magical devices connected. Mana works past your idea of technology. That''s why the Global Army focuses on training soldiers instead of investing in weapons."


    Khan felt still an outsider in the world of mana. He almost couldn''t believe that the energy could affect programs and simr digital assets.


    "What if someone uses mana to hack the phone?" Khan asked. "Is it possible to go past the protections of the disk like that?"


    "In theory, yes," Lieutenant Dyester revealed. "However, mages with an element able to affect digital protections are rare, and the disk usually wipes itself clean whenever it senses a breach in its defenses."


    "Magical items sound interesting," Khan couldn''t help but exim.


    "They are a unique branch of the Global Army," Lieutenant Dyester exined. "They go past the simple fusion of technology and mana. They use mana to create special effects from almost nothing. It''s a marvelous subject, but it requires many years of study and perfect control over your power."


    ''There is so much to learn about the army,'' Khan thought while closing the holograms and the training program.


    "How should I train from now on?" Khan asked.


    His excitement about the new martial art was far from gone, but he wanted to hear Lieutenant Dyester''s opinion before diving into the holograms.


    "I actually can''t have a say on this matter," Lieutenant Dyester revealed. "It''s up to you to decide how much you want to involve me in your training."


    Lieutenant Dyester continued when he noticed Khan''s confused expression. "Our physiques are quite different, so I decided to find you a different martial art. I would have taught you my techniques and followed your training if the higher-ups were to fail me, but you have many options now."


    "Why would I not involve you in my training?" Khan asked. "I don''t even know how most of this technology works."


    "Well," Lieutenant Dyester hesitated before exining his worries. "I would gain ess to this martial art for free if you do. It''s fine now since it''s me, but you shouldn''t do that all the time. Even some of the older soldiers won''t miss the chance to learn something this valuable."


    ''I only need to watch my back then,'' Khan summarized in his mind.


    "I wouldn''t have gotten this martial art without your help," Khan eventually announced. "I even need a ce where to train. I definitely need you involved."


    Lieutenant Dyester scratched his head before nodding. He only wanted Khan to understand how dangerous it could be to share such valuable items with strangers. The soldier had no interest in the martial art.


    Khan activated the training program again when he saw Lieutenant Dyester''s reaction. The interactive holograms came out of his phone, and he quickly tried to start the first lesson.


    "Read the general overview of the martial art first," Lieutenant Dyester sighed. "Don''t jump blindly on the moves."


    "And you wanted me to do this on my own," Khan snorted.


    "You are lucky that your Master has no ill intentions," Lieutenant Dyesterined. "I hope you won''t trust hired professors and simr figures so easily in the future."


    "I hope to have enough Credits to hire them in the future," Khanughed before clicking thebel that led toward the overview of the martial art.


    "Lightning-demon style," A mechanical voice suddenly came out of the phone. "Martial art created and exined by Dean Ulluw, an evolved soldier who has opted for a secluded life."


    "Evolved?" Khan asked while turning toward Lieutenant Dyester.


    "It''s when you go past one hundred percent attunement," The lieutenant exined before the mechanical voice resumed its exnation.


    "The forms of the Lightning-demon style rely on speed and precision," The mechanical voice announced. "Ideal for shorter soldiers who don''t shine in raw physical strength. Nevertheless, being strong can help bring out the true potential of the martial art since it features overallplete techniques."


    "Most high-level martial art requires all the relevant physical features," Lieutenant Dyester added. "The program is saying that the techniques focus on speed out of choice rather than necessity."


    "The speed generated by the techniques and the precision required during their execution will force the human body to endure a lot of pressure," The program continued. "Frail physiques should avoid this style. The same goes for soldiers with poor control over their bodies."


    The overview ended after those lines. Khan felt slightly disappointed that the program didn''t tell him anything else, but it was hard to ruin his mood with the various lessons listed on the other side of the hologram.


    "I guess you don''t care about Dean Ulluw," Lieutenant Dyestermented, and Khan showed a shameless smile before skipping the description of the evolved soldier and starting the first lesson.


    The old man at the center of the hologram suddenly began to move, and a raspy voice came out of the phone as it followed his lips. "I bet that those idiots in the army told you that you only need speed and precision for this style."


    Khan and Lieutenant Dyester exchanged a nce. They didn''t know why the Global Army had decided to leave that description after such a specific introduction.


    "Okay, they might be partially right," Dean Ulluw continued. "You can perform this style by relying only on speed and precision, but that would be a waste."


    The area depicted by the hologram began to erge. The program''s point of view retreated until it managed to represent both Dean and a humanoid training dummy in the scene.


    "This is what you can do with only speed and precision," Dean announced before shooting toward the dummy and delivering a precise kick to its throat.


    Dean''s speed had been incredible. Khan barely managed to follow his movements. The hologram kept track of the stats connected to the technique, so he could read that the soldier had covered ten meters in less than a second.


    Moreover, the precise kick had ended up cutting the dummy''s head. The power generated by Dean''s momentum had transformed his movement into a threatening attack capable of severing metal.


    "Every mage and soldier would die against this attack," Dean exined while walking back to his previous spot. "You would be too fast for them to react, and defenses can''t do much against a blow backed with such speed. However, humankind has aliens as enemies."


    Something that the holograms didn''t depict reced the broken dummy with a new one. Dean then took a deep breath before disappearing from his spot.


    A loud noise came out of the phone. Dean reappeared next to the training dummy, with one foot raised toward its chest. Yet, the puppet was no more. The attack had destroyed its back and insides, leaving only a thinyer of metal intact.


    "Mana gives us the chance to ovee our physical limits," Dean exined while turning toward Khan. "In theory, I can push my speed further indefinitely. I only need to be strong enough to endure the physical strain. More power equals to more speed, which equals to even more power if deployed urately."


    Khan quickly stopped the recording to y with the buttons on the hologram for a few seconds and learn the various functions of the program. He could zoom, go forward, rewind, and save scenes at any time. He could even hide or show the different stats.


    The first and second executions seemed different techniques, but the program contradicted Khan''s opinion. Dean had performed the same move, something that the training would teachter on, but he had used different amounts of power.


    The program also kept track of the mana depleted during the activation of the technique. Khan remained speechless when he saw that Dean had used the same amount of energy in both executions. The difference between their effects came from the sheer physical strength deployed.


    Khan nced toward Lieutenant Dyester, who had a hand under his chin while he inspected those stats. He didn''t appear as amazed as Khan, but the technique had definitely caught his interest.


    "I guess this martial art has the potential to enter the high level," Lieutenant Dyester exined. "Everything depends on how much you and your body can endure without lowering your uracy. Some techniques might even require special training, but I''ll make sure to warn you about them."

 Chapter 30 - Hesitation

    Khan and Lieutenant Dyester reviewed the first lessons of the Lightning-demon style together. Both wanted to gain a general idea of the martial art before starting the actual training, and a feature eventually stood out.


    The Lightning-demon style heavily focused on footwork. The initial moves featured different techniques that only involved legs, ankles, and waist. They weren''t even attacks. Khan had to learn all the different types of sprints and sudden elerations before moving to the actual abilities.


    ''They are all so different from the shadow step,'' Khan thought after that inspection. ''No wonder Luke and Bruce didn''t want to learn it. Some of these moves go against that basic technique.''


    The Lightning-demon style''s footwork wasn''t only entirely different from the theory behind the shadow step. It also featured far moreplicated moves that involved specific flows of mana.


    One of the first sprints wanted Khan to reinforce his knees and ankles with mana while part of his remaining energy had to flow in opposite directions depending on the dominant leg.


    The palm force had required a straightforward flow of mana, and executing a weaker version of the technique had taken Khan an entire day. Instead, the Lightning-demon style wanted him to make the mana do three different things at the same time.


    "How long did it take you to go past novice with your first martial art?" Khan asked as helplessness filled his mind.


    "One year of constant training," Lieutenant Dyester revealed. "I started with a medium-level martial art. I guess you wanted to know that."


    Khan nodded while his dreams of deploying a few techniques in the next weeks shattered.


    ''I have been too arrogant,'' Khan sighed in his mind. ''The path is harsh for everyone, and my advantage only consists of a few weeks over my peers. Yet, they will most likely rely on synthetic mana and surpass me in no time.''


    Khan felt slightly disheartened when he thought about the long journey and the environment around him, but Lieutenant Dyester soon ced a hand on his shoulder.


    "Talent is useless without training," Lieutenant Dyester announced. "You won''t be able to use training rooms like the other kids, so you need to work harder than them."


    "Don''t forget about the specific Masters," Khan reminded the Lieutenant. "They will also have experts suitable for their elements. Can I even keep up with them?"


    "That depends on you," Lieutenant Dyester exined while going to his chair and lighting a cigarette. "I won''t me you if you decide to give up now. I have already cleared my debt in the end."


    Lieutenant Dyester gave voice to a loudugh while stretching his legs on the table.


    "Trust me when I say that remaining on Earth is the best," Lieutenant Dyester continued. "You can bully everyone even if you have little to no power."


    "And remain trapped in an eternal nightmare," Khan sighed, but Lieutenant Dyester ignored the real meaning behind his words.


    The soldier believed that Khan didn''t want to remain on Earth due to the bad memories connected to the Second Impact, and he was partially correct. Yet, he couldn''t even begin to imagine the real drive behind Khan''s action.


    "I''m quite strict as a Master," Lieutenant Dyester eventually added. "I will never allow you to ck if you decide to step on this path. You will wake up in pain for the next months, and you won''t have the time nor the energy to take care of your girlfriend."


    Khan didn''t react to that joke. He continued to inspect the instructions behind the footstep of the Lightning-demon style. Those difficult teachings made him desire to give up, but the images of his nightmare appeared in his vision whenever his determination started to flicker.


    ''Why do I even pretend to have a choice?'' Khan sighed in his mind. ''Giving up because the path is hard isme. Also, how much can those wealthy kids even endure?''


    Khan had seen how Luke and the others trained during Professor Norwell''s lessons. They had no interest in those weak techniques, but that alone didn''t manage to hide theirziness.


    Instead, Khan could continue to perform the same exercise until his palm bled. His determination wasn''t something that the simple desire to learn better techniques could generate.


    The life in the Slums, the Second Impact, and his nightmares had imprinted that determination inside him. His desperation had given birth to an ability that his peers couldn''t imitate.


    "You said one year," Khan eventually broke his silence. "Can I seed sooner?"


    "The Lightning-demon style is definitelyplicated," Lieutenant Dyester exined. "It''s more difficult than my initial martial art. Yet, you seeded in performing a decent execution of the palm force in one day. Who knows? You might surprise me."


    Lieutenant Dyester didn''t fully believe in his words. He valued Khan a lot, but there was a limit to how quickly a body could adapt to those moves. His lines only wanted to create a challenge for his disciple.


    "Fine then," Khan announced while weakly pping his cheeks to disperse his hesitation. "Let''s begin right away. Teach me the mental training that you mentioned yesterday too. I want to learn it now that my body still holds."


    Lieutenant Dyester couldn''t help but smile at that sight. It was normal to hesitate in front of a painful process that could take more than a year to give its first rewards, but Khan had made up his mind in a matter of minutes.


    ''His mindset is his best quality,'' Lieutenant Dyester thought before pointing at the writing on the hologram that marked the first lesson.


    It was time to start the actual training, and they had to hurry since the curfew would give them only a few hours together.


    .


    .


    .


    Returning to the dormitory ended up being extremely hard. Khan''s ankles felt sore, but his expression showed only determination.


    Lieutenant Dyester had managed to teach the mental training to Khan before thetter had to begin his exercises with the Lightning-demon style.


    Khan had initially struggled. He didn''t try to use mana on that night, but he still had to spend some time to forget the habits obtained after training into the shadow step for an entire week.


    ''I need to notify Professor Norwell tomorrow,'' Khan thought as he limped inside his t. ''I can''t keep training in those techniques. One week has almost rendered a whole night of exercises useless.''


    Luke and Bruce had been right since the beginning, but Khan couldn''t me himself. He couldn''t predict that he would have found a Master so quickly.


    Samuel was already sleeping, and Khan decided to eat a food can before throwing himself in bed. Still, he didn''t immediately try to rest. Lieutenant Dyester had taught him something that he had to test before returning to his nightmare.


    ''All the spells require control over the mana stored in my head,'' Khan repeated Lieutenant Dyester''s words in his mind. ''This training should theoretically improve my ability to cast spells.''


    Khan entered his meditative state, but he didn''t focus on his nape at that time. His attention went on the small azure lights in his head before he tried to execute Lieutenant Dyester''s teachings.


    ''Up and down,'' Khan thought as his concentration intensified, ''Left and right, and circles in the end. I need to do it without losing control over the mana before moving to a harsher exercise.''


    Khan chose one of the small azure lumps and tried to move it upward. He wasn''t trying to raise his attunement, so the process didn''t hurt. Yet, he still failed to retain control over that small amount of energy.


    Khan didn''t give up and tried multiple times to move that lump of mana in a specific direction. Controlling the energy inside his brain felt differentpared to when he executed his techniques. That ability seemed to depend on other factors that he had yet to understand fully.


    ''My thoughts should influence the process,'' Khan eximed in his mind. ''Go up! I want you to go up!''


    Lieutenant Dyester had tried to exin to Khan how to handle that training, but everything had sounded too vague. The former had even stated that every mind reacted differently, so part of the teaching might not work for him.


    Only one detail was universal when it came to the mana inside the brain. The first time was the hardest. Khan would be able to memorize the sensation generated by the movement of that energy and try to replicate it until he mastered the procedure.


    ''Come on,'' Khan continued to shout in his mind. ''Do it at least once. I only need you to move up a single time.''


    The mana didn''t listen to him. His thoughts ended up affecting the energy released by his nape instead.


    Khan had set the rm before beginning that training. Disappointment inevitably filled his mind when his phone rang, but he had yet to seed in the exercise.


    ''I''ll try again tomorrow,'' Khan sighed before setting another rm and going back to the meditative state.


    Khan couldn''t ignore part of his training to focus on his martial arts and mental exercises. Doctor Parket had already destroyed his hopes toward the synthetic mana, so he had to work hard on his attunement too.


    ''I waste twelve hours between sleep and morning lessons,'' Khan thought after stopping the second rm and checking the hour. ''I need to divide the other twelve among the Lightning-demon style, the mental exercises, and the meditations. I can''t leave Marthapletely alone either.''

 Chapter 31 - Insults

    "Technology and mana" didn''t get any more interesting the next morning. Khan was behindpared to his peers when it came to types of machinery, and everything seemed to favor mana on its own anyway.


    Instead, "xenolinguistics" continued to stir Khan''s interest. He kept guessing right whenever Professor Thogett used the Nak''snguage, which forced him to disregard the idea that the event was a simple coincidence.


    Two lessons weren''t enough to make Khan sure about anything, but his doubts inevitably started to transform into reasonable hypotheses. After all, he seemed able to understand the Nak''snguage even without paying attention to the few words that Professor Thogett used as examples.


    The peculiar event didn''t let Khan ignore his priorities, especially since he couldn''t get clear answers yet. He had to notify Professor Norwell about his attunement with mana and martial art, but he didn''t forget to spend time with Martha during the usual break.


    "Did you really expect to learn a martial art in weeks?" Marthaughed when Khan told her about his hesitation.


    "I''m a simple man," Khan sighed. "I just want superpowers."


    "You still have to work hard for them," Martha covered her mouth to suppress herugh. "Even Luke will have to sweat to learn a few moves."


    "That would be a fun scene," Khan joked. "Luke sweating. What a sight!"


    Marthaughed again, but the duo eventually fell silent. They had to start their training to make the best out of the time before Professor Norwell''s lesson, but they both desired to talk a bit more.


    "You shouldn''t worry about the wealthy kids," Martha eventually said before Khan was about to close his eyes. "You can definitely keep up with them even if you don''t have Credits to purchase synthetic mana. They can''t buy determination and experience."


    "I hope you are right," Khan revealed an honest smile. "I wish to reach a decent level before the first missions. I might stand out and gain something if I''m stronger than them by then."


    "I see you have a n," Marthamented before a tinge of sadness appeared in her eyes.


    Obtaining that level of expertise in less than a semester would be impossible unless Khan spent most of his time training. That would leave them barely any time together. They even had to limit their conversations during the breaks to focus on their mediations.


    "Do you miss me already?" Khan winked toward Martha when he noticed her reaction, and thetter promptly wore an annoyed expression.


    "Stop wasting time and meditate already!" Martha snorted. "We are here to be proper soldiers, not chitchatting."


    "Aye aye, ma''am," Khan chuckled before closing his eyes and moving his focus on the energy flowing out of his nape.


    Martha stared at his earnest expression for a few seconds. She inspected the asional tremors that ran through Khan''s face whenever his body tried to oppose the expansion of the mana. He had already learnt how to continue to meditate when the pain wasn''t too intense.


    Martha heaved a faint sigh before closing her eyes. She decided to dive into a meditative state instead of sorting the thoughts that filled her mind. Her education and financial situation didn''t give her the time to handle that stuff yet.


    Khan exited the meditative state a few times before the rm rang and put an end to his training. Martha also woke up, and the duo went toward the basement even if the lesson would take thirty more minutes to start.


    The basement held the ss of recruits who had scored B in the initial test. Most of them were already exhausted since the lesson was almost over. Khan even spotted Samuel in the corner of the area.


    Professor Norwell was walking among the recruits. She shook her face whenever she saw a boy or a girl panting on the floor, and she reacted in the same way at the sight of the red lights on various menus.


    Khan raised his hand to attract the Professor''s attention, but some of the exhausted recruits also noticed his gesture. Samuel''s friends were busy sparring with their partners, but they didn''t miss that event either.


    Khan and Martha were members of the special ss, and their friendship with Luke made them even more famous inside the training camp. Moreover, the other recruits often saw them meditating together in parks or walking at night through the streets, so rumors had inevitably spread.


    "You can make appointments through your phone if you want to see me," Professor Norwell whispered after she neared Khan and Martha. "I believe every matter can wait until Sunday."


    "My attunement with mana has reached twenty percent," Khan immediately revealed to calm down the Professor. "I''ve also already obtained a martial art."


    Professor Norwell remained speechless for a second. She was aware of Khan''s background, so she immediately doubted that statement. However, Martha nodded as soon as the soldier''s gaze fell on her.


    "Continue sparring!" Professor Norwell shouted after turning back toward the ss and gesturing to the duo to go in the corridor.


    Then, Professor Norwell reached Khan and Martha in the corridor to exin her recent actions. "Your feat is quite amazing. Did you consider all your options? I can put you in a special program of the army and give you ess to good martial arts."


    "How good are we talking about?" Khan asked while feigning interest in the offer.


    "Are you aware of the ssification of martial arts?" Professor Norwell asked before continuing when she saw Khan nodding. "The Global Army will surely treasure your talent. I can probably obtain a medium-level martial art up to sixty points."


    Khan faked slight surprise before lowering his head to pretend to think about the matter. He had already refused that offer in his mind, but he didn''t want to risk ruining his rtionship with the Global Army.


    "Do you mind if I continue like this for a while until I learn more about co?" Khan asked while wearing an honest expression. "I don''t want to lock myself on a single path already. I want to keep my options open for a little more."


    "That''spletely understandable," Professor Norwell announced while revealing a smile. "My offer will stand as long as your talent keeps you above the others. Even matching the growth of your peers will be enough."


    Khan expressed his thanks while Martha remained silent and inspected that interaction. She knew that Professor Norwell would probably call the medical bay to confirm Khan''s attunement, but the soldier still appeared fooled by his honest behavior.


    "You are really great at pretending," Marthamented when she escorted Khan outside of the main building.


    Khan didn''t need to attend Professor Norwell''s lessons anymore, so he could go directly to the prisons of the camp and continue his training with Lieutenant Dyester. Yet, the ss would still take ten minutes to start, and he didn''t mind spending that time with Martha.


    "You have already told me that," Khanughed before teasing the girl. "Are you jealous that my charm has managed to fool Professor Norwell?"


    "She is a beautiful woman," Marthamented, "But you need to get far stronger to get a shot at her."


    "I guess you aren''t in the mood for jokes," Khan sighed.


    "You''ll know the reason behind that in a second," Martha closed her eyes before wearing a broad smile and looking in the distance.


    Khan suddenly noticed that three girls at the end of the street had started to wave their hands toward Martha. Their faces expressed pure joy, but Khan could smell the pretense from his current position.


    "You are always so on time, Martha!" One of the girls eximed.


    "She works harder than the entire special ss," Another girl said. "We should praise her for that."


    "I have already told you that you don''t have to worry about synthetic mana," The third girl shouted. "My mother will take care of all my friends. It''s a tradition of the ckdell family!"


    "Female Luke iing," Martha whispered before raising her voice and greeting the girls with a tone that Khan had never heard.


    "Why don''t you introduce us to your friend?" The first girl asked. "He is the boy from the Slums, right?"


    Martha shot a meaningful nce toward Khan before resuming her pretense. "Sisters, he is Khan."


    "It must have been hard to make the transition from that dirty ce," The first girl announced. "Even Martha had started to gain your bad habits before meeting us. I''m Beth Merwood anyway."


    "It''s not his fault," The second girlined. "He has probably survived eating cockroaches. It''s a miracle that he knows how to take a shower. It''s nice to meet you. I''m Cora Pensloo."


    "The background doesn''t justify someone''s behavior," Thest girl snorted. "He is in the training camp now. He should behave like a recruit. I''m Alison ckdell."


    The three girls had spewed insults before announcing their names and stretching their right hands forward. Martha asked Khan for forgiveness with her eyes. A tinge of shame also appeared on her expression, but she had to endure that behavior due to political reasons.


    Khan looked at the three hands stretched toward him. The girls clearly wanted something from him, but he had no idea what to do. Still, his knowledge about characters made him understand the three girls would never respect him.


    ''I might as well make things easy for Martha,'' Khan sighed in his mind. ''Nothing like amon enemy to improve a friendship.''


    "Is that makeup?" Khan asked while pointing at the girls'' faces. "I''ve never seen it on such young girls. Only the hookers wore it in the Slums, and you never wanted to know what they hid with it. I hope it''s not the same for you."


    The three girls opened their mouths, and anger filled their eyes, but Khan walked past them while they were busy going through his words. A few screams resounded from behind him at some point, but he was quite far away by then.

 Chapter 32 - Unlucky

    A message arrived on Khan''s phone while he walked toward the prisons of the camp. Martha had immediately questioned him about his recent behavior.


    ''What was that?'' Khan read on his phone.


    ''I thought she would get it.'' Khan thought before writing an answer. ''Use this chance to look good with your friends. Give them some funny story too.''


    Martha didn''t answer, so Khan could guess that Professor Norwell''s lesson had started. She would probably send a messageter, but he wouldn''t be avable for the entire night.


    The familiarwn unfolded in Khan''s vision before the trapdoor opened and revealed the path toward the basement. Lieutenant Dyester was waiting for him, and a lit cigarette was already in his mouth.


    "Don''t waste time," Lieutenant Dyester ordered after the trapdoor closed behind Khan. "You will spend the next months practicing footwork. Get in position! The quicker you memorize the moves, the sooner you can start adding mana and turn them into techniques."


    Khan unlocked his phone, muted the notifications, and activated the training program for the Lightning-demon style. Then, he ced the device on the table before pointing its camera in his direction.


    The scanner of the training program was active. The holograms would tell Khan whenever he failed to perform the correct moves, and Lieutenant Dyester would add tips that came from his experience.


    Khan had the perfect training room. He onlycked countless hours spent sweating and spitting blood now, but he didn''t hesitate to start umting them.


    The night went by slowly. Khan never stopped practicing the basic footwork required to begin the proper training of the Lightning-demon style.


    His movement started to grow sluggish as his ankles and overall legs reached their limits. Lieutenant Dyester suggested practicing slower versions of the techniques once the pain became unbearable, and Khan followed his instructions.


    Khan felt barely able to climb the staircase when the training session ended. His ankles were killing him, but Lieutenant Dyester didn''t do anything to help him.


    "I''ll make sure to have some lotions ready from tomorrow onward," Lieutenant Dyester announced while he inspected Khan''s struggles. "You are on your own tonight."


    Khan didn''t bother to answer. He limped out of the basement before walking slowly back to his dormitory. The curfew would still take an hour to arrive, so he could avoid hurrying.


    Khan copsed on his bed once he reached his room. The pain on his ankles had only gotten worse after the long walk, but he couldn''t allow himself to rest just yet. Two training sessions were still waiting for him.


    ''I''m definitely going to die,'' Khanughed in his mind before straightening his position. ''Mental traininges first. I can deal with the attunementter.''


    Khan was so busy with his schedule that he almost overlooked Samuel. The boy wasn''t sleeping. Instead, he was staring at him from his top bunk on the other side of the room.


    "What is it?" Khan asked while setting the rm for the first training.


    Samuel opened his mouth, but no words came out of it. The boy seemed to go through a mental struggle before making up his mind and giving voice to a weak "nothing".


    Khan revealed a faint smile, but his expression grew cold after Samuely back on the bed. Something had changed in his behavior, and Khan could only find one exnation.


    ''Visiting Professor Norwell''s ss has started something,'' Khan thought.


    Of course, Khan was only considering the worst possible reason behind that seemingly harmless gesture. Samuel didn''t do anything too strange in the end.


    However, Khan didn''t dare to rx. His guess could turn out to be wrong, but he didn''t want to ignore those signalspletely and regret itter.


    The conflict in Samuel''s expression could only lead to his friends. Khan didn''t believe that those bullies had forgotten about him, but the lessons on the training camp had kept everyone too busy to n an act of revenge.


    Still, something might have changed after he visited Professor Norwell''s lesson, and Khan didn''t dare to overlook that possibility.


    Khan put that matter aside for the time being and focused on his training. Hours went by as he obtained an initial sess with the mental exercise and continued to endure the usual pain during the meditations.


    After his second rm rang, Khany in bed and prepared himself to sleep, but a sudden thought reminded him about Martha.


    ''She did send something,'' Khan sighed before reading the message on the phone. ''I don''t want to badmouth you to gain the favor of these harpies.''


    ''I thought she knew how to handle politics,'' Khan chuckled before writing an answer. ''Don''t mind me. You might get free synthetic mana with my sacrifice. You can always tell me how great I am when we see each other in secret.''


    Khan couldn''t help butugh after sending that answer, but his exhaustion inevitably had the better of him. His eyes began to close as he set the rm for the morning and went back to his nightmare.


    .


    .


    .


    The week went by quickly and without issues.


    Martha epted the role that Khan had forced her to y, but her pride didn''t allow her to ignore him. She even straight-up refused to hide their friendship. Her new friends questioned her about that behavior, but she justified it by describing Khan''s devotion to his training as his only good quality.


    Professor Thogett''s lessons didn''t get any more interesting during that week, but Khan still decided to put xenolinguistics as one of his possible subjects for the second semester.


    Khan had continued to understand the Professor''s words whenever she used the Nak''snguage, so he had to dive deeper into the matter. Moreover, learning aliennguages sounded right since he wanted to explore differents in the future.


    His sessions with Lieutenant Dyester improved after the soldier requested lotions and specific remedies for Khan''s joints. He could stop limping back to his dormitory alone at night, and theck of pain led to an overall better training experience.


    Khan continued to grow used to the pain felt during the meditations, and his mental exercises also showed some improvements. His ability to move the mana in his brain developed as he piled nights of training.


    Samuel''s strange behavior didn''t lead to any repercussion, but Khan didn''t lower his guard, especially since he found the boy awake at night more often. That situation was strange, and he even saw Samuel peeking at him from time to time.


    Something was definitely up, but Khan decided to pretend to ignore the matter until the bullies made their move. The regtions of the Global Army would protect him as long as he wasn''t the first to attack.


    Sunday arrived and led Khan to have a long training session in the prisons. His body reached its limit on that day, and Lieutenant Dyester felt forced to send him back to his dormitory three hours before the arrival of the curfew.


    The Lieutenant didn''t feel disappointed in his endurance. Instead, he didn''t hold back from giving positive evaluations regarding Khan''s determination, dedication, and talent. In his opinion, the boy was improving far faster than he had predicted.


    Khan couldn''t feel happy about those words since he was still far away from a perfect execution without mana. He had needed only a week to reach a decent level of expertise with the palm force and the shadow step, but the Lightning-demon style required far more training to provide the same results.


    His day instantly improved when he saw Martha waiting for him at the entrance of his dormitory. The duo decided to spend the remaining hours before the curfew together, andughs often resounded between them.


    Then, before the clock could signal nine pm, Khan''s phone rang. Martha felt immediately interested in the matter since the boy didn''t have many contacts inside the training camp, but her eyes widened when she saw that the message came from the Global Army itself.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to open the message, and Martha even clung to his shoulder to peek at his phone. Themunication used the Global Army''s profile, but it came from Professor Norwell. The soldier had notified Khan that he could start his training as a mage in the following week.


    "She must have requested a training program for your element when you notified her about your attunement," Martha exined before wearing an annoyed expression. "Why did it take them so long? Almost an entire week has passed."


    "I have the chaos element," Khan revealed. "I guess it''s rare."


    Martha remained speechless at that revtion. The elements weren''t an important topic among recruits since all of them could achieve simr levels, but there were a few exceptions.


    The chaos element was one of the exceptions due to its connection to the Nak. Humankind didn''t like to see their soldiers wielding the same power as their enemies, and Khan had preferred to keep it a secret for that reason.


    "That''s quite unlucky," Martha announced before continuing when Khan shot a confused nce toward her. "I''ve heard that humans don''t really suit that element. Learning chaos spells might take you a long time."


    ****


    Author''s notes: Part of me feels that this is too slow, but maybe my desire to reach the fighting parts is affecting my judgment. I don''t think I can elerate the pace without neglecting important details, and I want to avoid that. Still, let me know what you think.

 Chapter 33 - Vague

    The morning lessons changed again in the third week. A new professor called Ava Holmer took care of teaching "basics of the society" and "politics". Khan ended up hating those subjects, but he desperately needed to learn them.


    Ava Holmer was an old woman with long grey hairbed in arge bun and cateye-shaped sses. Her uniform featured a single star on both shoulders, and her demeanor was quite stiff.


    Khan found the lessons incredibly boring, especially since they didn''t involve the fantastic qualities of the mana. The only interesting details in those sses concerned the various rtionships between humankind and the known alien species.


    It turned out that the Global Army had mainly established peaceful alliances with four of the intelligent alien species found throughout the universe.


    Obtaining those alliances had required a few battles orpromises during the first meetings, but everything had reached a stable situation now. Thest political crisis had been on Istrone when a faction of the Kred had decided to rebel.


    "The Kred are a peaceful alien species," Professor Holmer exined, "But they also worship mana. The radical groups on Istrone believed that humans were tainting that energy with their technology. That eventually led to a rebellion."


    "My professor in co told me that the Kred struggle to control mana," Luke added while the lesson continued. "Their bodies are better than ours, but we can surpass them once our attunement reaches high percentages."


    Khan never stopped absorbing information about the world. He didn''t care that Professor Holmer''s teaching style could match Professor Conche''s dullness. His attention never faltered, and he promptly lowered his headphones whenever one of his friends added pieces of knowledge to the lessons.


    "It''s a pity that Professor Holmer didn''t say anything about the other cities on Earth," Khanmented once the group hit the canteen. "I hope she teaches something about the social structure of the world."


    "Why would you even wait for a professor to teach you that?" Bruceughed at those words. "You can learn that from your phone. Thework of the Global Army can teach you a lot if you know how to look."


    "The professors will probably skip what they deem asmon knowledge," Luke exined. "They only go through those topics when they have ssified information to add."


    Khan felt a bit lost. His phone contained some answers to his doubts, but he had never thought to use it.


    "I''ll teach you how to use theworkter," Martha eventually sighed.


    Khan revealed a grateful expression when he turned toward Martha, and the other boys and girls on the table couldn''t help but stare at that interaction.


    "It''s quite bold of you to be with him," April Rotstonmented. "My mother would kill me if I were to date a boy from the Slums."


    Martha and Khan shot a surprised nce toward the girl. They didn''t think the rumors already saw them as a proper couple.


    "Khan will definitely go far," Bruce added. "He will easily reach high ranks in the Global Army. He is the first in the entire training camp to reach twenty percent of attunement with mana, and he always works hard. Even Professor Norwell wants to rope him into special training programs."


    "The soldiers with poor backgrounds statistically go further in the army," Luke continued. "Many known heroes of the Global Army have started with little more than a few Credits."


    Luke and Bruce''s approach to Khan''s background was directly opposite to Martha''s new friends. The two boys saw Khan''s potential as a valuable asset in future toons. Instead, the three girls only considered his worth as a spouse.


    "Getting my attunement to twenty percent was only luck," Khan tried to tone down those praises.


    "Don''t sell yourself short," Luke contradicted him. "I know you''ll go far. Who knows? You might even enter the personal guard of the noble families."


    "You are exaggerating now," Bruceughed. "He must really be a hero to get there."


    "You''ll understandter," Martha whispered, and Khan limited himself to nod.


    Martha didn''t bother to address the rumors. She knew that her words wouldn''t change her friends'' opinion, so she limited herself to finish her meal and leave with Khan.


    Khan could go to the prisons of the camp right away since Professor Norwell had exempted him from her lessons. However, he had to take the training program for his element that day, which would inevitably dy his meeting with Lieutenant Dyester.


    Professor Norwell wouldn''t arrive in the camp''s main building right after lunch, so Khan had some time to kill with Martha. The girl took the chance to walk him through the menus of the phone, and Khan happily discovered that thework of the Global Army was fairly easy to use.


    ''Arge group made of ten representatives from the noble families and one hundred diplomats from the other families govern Earth,'' Khan read on his phone. ''The ten noble representatives rarely change due to their privileged position, while the others can vary depending on the political influence of each minor family.''


    The exnation on thework was short andcked many details, but Khan could gain a general idea of how the Global Army administered Earth.


    Martha exined how the number of spots for each minor family depended on the achievements of their members. They changed every year, and the ten noble representatives handled that decision.


    "The noble families have a lot of influence," Martha revealed. "Building a connection with one of them is the dream of every soldier. They basically have unlimited power on Earth, so even creating a family from scratch wouldn''t be a problem once you gain their favor."


    "That seemsplicated," Khan sighed. "I only want to explore the universe. I hope I don''t need to be politically active for that."


    "Humankind isn''t at war anymore," Marthaughed. "Every soldier has political interests. Their priority is to settle and build a decent foundation for their children."


    "Do you have the same ideas?" Khan asked when he heard Martha''s superficial tone.


    "I need to elevate my family''s status and bring it out of poverty," Martha exined. "I''m not willing to resort to political marriages to do that, so I need to serve in dangerouss and gain merits."


    "How did humanity stop feeling curious about the universe?" Khan asked while looking at a random spot in the distance.


    "Humanity has always evolved through wars," Martha scoffed. "Maybe we''ll go back to who we were during the First Impact if you find a new enemy."


    That topic didn''t lead anywhere, and the duo eventually decided to meditate while Khan waited for Professor Norwell''s arrival.


    The rm rang and awakened the two, but Martha limited herself to exchange a few words before going back to her meditation. She didn''t need to see Professor Norwell, and Khan would head for the prisons of the camp afterward anyway.


    Khan reached the basement of the main building in an instant. Excitement had started to build inside him as he approached the meeting with Professor Norwell. She would finally grant him ess to magic, and he felt restless about it.


    "You are early," Professor Norwell said when she noticed Khan standing in front of the basement.


    "I''m excited," Khan honestly revealed.


    "I would tone down that feeling," Professor Norwell suggested while taking out a small casket from her bag. "This is only an initial training program. It will teach you the basics of your element and one easy spell, but nothing more."


    Khan''s excitement disregarded those words. It continued to fill his mind and forced his eyes to remain glued on the casket.


    "You''ll understand soon," Professor Norwell announced. "I suspect that Lieutenant Dyester has already warned you about your element."


    Khan lowered his head to mask his confusion, but he quickly wore a faint smile that fooled the Professor. Lieutenant Dyester didn''t mention anything specific about the chaos element. Khan had learnt about some of the hindrances through Martha.


    "How did you learn about Lieutenant Dyester and me?" Khan asked while Professor Norwell handed him the casket.


    "The Global Army pays a great deal of attention to potential talents," Professor Norwell revealed before winking at him. "And it''s hard to hide something inside the training camp. I''ve also heard the rumors about the Weesso girl and you. Nice catch, kid."


    Professor Norwell didn''t linger in the corridor any longer and entered the basement. The metal door of the room closed and began to reflect Khan''s speechless figure.


    ''Why does everyone think that we are in a rtionship?'' Khan wondered. ''I guess they have too much time to kill. I wouldn''t even know how to put a girlfriend into my current schedule.''


    Khan soon put those thoughts in the back of his mind before running toward the prisons of the camp. The trapdoor opened as soon as he stepped on the familiarwn, and Lieutenant Dyester greeted him with the usual fuming cigarette in his mouth.


    "You arete today," Lieutenant Dyester snorted before moving his eyes on the casket in Khan''s grasp. "Did you take a look at the mage training yet?"


    Khan shook his head, and Lieutenant Dyester promptly pointed at a spot on the table. Khan ced the casket there and unlocked it before lifting its lid.


    A dark red fabric that featured purple shades covered the insides of the casket, and a tiny disk upied its center. Khan nced at Lieutenant Dyester before picking the item when the soldier nodded, and a small knife soon appeared on his shoulder.


    Khan picked the knife and bound the disk before cing it on his phone. The device absorbed the item and added a new magic device to the specific menu.


    ''Chaos element for beginners,'' Khan read on the phone before pressing the icon.


    Holograms quickly came out of the phone, but Khan immediately noticed that they had fewer details than the Lightning-demon style''s training program. They even had fewer options and only a tenth of the lessons.


    "They don''t even give credit to the Professor," Lieutenant Dyester snorted after inspecting the holograms.


    Khan shrugged his shoulders before pressing on the first lesson. The holograms morphed and transformed into a human figure that had vague facial features. The images appeared damaged, but Lieutenant Dyester exined that the program was simply old.


    "Wee to the basic training for the chaos element, unlucky fe," The slightly mechanical voice of a man came out of the phone. "First of all, my condolences for your Tainted status."

 Chapter 34 - Viral

    Khan nced toward Lieutenant Dyester while stopping the recording, and thetter showed a confused expression.


    "How does he know about my Tainted status?" Khan asked.


    Khan knew that Tainted humans could inherit the chaos element, but he believed that some would have it without the Nak''s influence.


    "The chaos element isn''t natural for humans," Lieutenant Dyester exined. "The only ones who can have it without the influence of the Nak''s are sons and daughters of Tainted men and women. I thought you knew that."


    Khan shook his head, but he let go of the matter and yed the recording.


    "Mages usually require specific emotions and thoughts to turn the mana inside their brain into spells," The mechanical voice continued. "Elements have different features, so our minds need to enhance them to summon the magic properties of our energy."


    Lieutenant Dyester nodded and added a few lines to that exnation. "The fire element needs thoughts like heat, fire, and other simr ideas. The emotions can be anger, jealousy, and those that share the same recklessness."


    "The chaos element doesn''t have any of that," The man in the hologram suddenly said. "This power is something that originally belonged to creatures made of mana. The Nak don''t have to think or feel about deploying their power. They only have to desire it, and the mana autonomously takes the intended shape."


    The exnation made sense. Both Khan and Dyester remained silent as they did their best to learn as much as possible from the training program.


    "The chaos element is also unstable," The mechanical voice continued. "It will try to oppose yourmands, and it will use every slip-up to escape your control. Only the steadiest minds can learn how to turn this energy into spells without risking their lives."


    Khan scratched his head, and Lieutenant Dyester revealed a helpless expression. Thetter knew that controlling the chaos element was hard, but he didn''t believe it to be far harsher than the other elements. After all, they didn''t try to fight their user.


    "I can''t teach you much," The man in the hologram exined. "I dare to say that no other chaos wielder can do that. Every mage with this element has to find a personal path, which mostly requires years of training."


    "Don''t tell me that he won''t teach me anything at all," Khan scoffed.


    "That shouldn''t be the case," Lieutenant Dyester replied, and the training program soon proved him right.


    "However," The hologram continued, "There are a few key points that those with the chaos element must pursue. This training program will teach you many exercises to improve your sensitivity to mana and control over that energy. Also, it will have a simple spell at the end. I suggest you don''t try it until you havepleted all the previous steps."


    Khan''s mood improved after hearing those words, and Lieutenant Dyester even patted his shoulder to reassure him. Then, the duo exchanged a meaningful nce before Khan scrolled through the lessons and selected thest one.


    "I see that you have mastered all the exercises," The man in the program eximed. "You have reached the level of sensitivity and control required to learn your first spell. Pay attention now."


    The vague figure of the man gained a few details, and stats even appeared around him. Khan and Lieutenant Dyester could read the amount of mana required for the spell and a few examples of thoughts that have worked to activate it.


    The man raised his palm, and a sizzling noise came out of the phone. The hologram showed waves of energying out of the soldier''s hand, but Khan couldn''t understand much without the usual training dummy ced as an example.


    The hologram seemed to hear his thoughts, and a training dummy quickly appeared in front of the man. The soldier ced his palm on the puppet before activating the spell again, and the images suddenly became vague for an instant.


    The images stabilized after a second, and Khan could see that the dummy was in pieces. Only the small stick that supported its metal figure had remained in its ce. Everything else had crumbled during the spell.


    "The chaos element always causes problems with the recording devices," The man revealed after straightening his position. "Only top-tier gear can get a proper footage of chaos spells, but a few frames end up disappearing anyway."


    Khan quickly tinkered with the recording to reveal all the stats recorded during the spell, and Lieutenant Dyester studied them to give a professional opinion.


    "The sheer destructive power is great considering the small amount of mana required to activate the spell," The Lieutenant announced. "I can''t say the same about the other requirements."


    Khan didn''t take much to understand what Lieutenant Dyester meant. The notes next to the spell were quite vague. They indicated a few thoughts and different movements of the mana that could lead to the same effect.


    The program seemed to be sure only about one stat. Khan could read that the spell required theplete absence of emotions during the casting.


    "It won''t be easy to achieve that level of control," Lieutenant Dyestermented when he read that detail. "Can you even think without feeling? It will take you a while to master that part."


    Khan reactivated the lesson to ignore the feelings that were surging in his mind.


    "This spell is called Wave," The man resumed his exnation. "It can virtually pierce any material, be it metal, human flesh, or alien skin. Chaos has the best destructive potential among the elements, but it often ends up hurting the user. Your previous exercises were necessary to avoid that oue."


    The recording ended at that point, and Khan scrolled the program back to the initial lessons to count them. He could see twelve exercises meant to enhance his control and sensitivity to mana, and their difficulty increased as they neared the spell.


    "You can drop my mental exercises to focus on this training," Lieutenant Dyester announced while sitting on the steps of the staircase. "They mostly have the same purpose. These even seem more advanced than mine, which only proves how hard it is to control the chaos element."


    "Everyone will have fireballs and other cool stuff while I''ll remain stuck at mental exercises," Khan sighed before turning off the hologram and activating the Lightning-demon style''s training program.


    "The other kids will also have it hard," Lieutenant Dyester replied while lighting another cigarette. "They''ll probably learn to cast spells before you, but that''s the very reason behind your martial art."


    Khan revealed a confused expression, and the Lieutenant exploded into augh.


    "Why do you think I''ve contacted the higher-ups?" Lieutenant Dyesterughed. "You needed something good topensate for your element. The Lightning-demon style even focuses on speed, so you''ll be able to reach most of your peers before they finish preparing their spells."


    Khan remained speechless for a second. Lieutenant Dyester had already considered everything. His experience had allowed him to understand Khan''s ws and find solutions before even starting the training.


    "I don''t know what to say," Khan honestly whispered.


    "I don''t want words," Lieutenant Dyester snorted. "Pay me back in blood and sweat. Come on! You have been an entire week on the basic footwork without showing any result. I want at least fifty perfect executions before your ankles start to give up!"


    .


    .


    .


    Time inside the training camp moved quickly. The lessons and the many projects filled everyone''s routines and left them with virtually no free time. Only those who cked on their training had the chance to enjoy the beauty of their youth.


    The end of the third week signaled the arrival of new lessons. The Global Army couldn''t teach only subjects rted to mana since it had to give aplete education to its recruits, so a few unrted courses began to appear.


    Khan had to attend lessons featuring general science, anatomy, chemistry, engineering, and other subjects that could lead the recruits toward specific courses once the second semester started.


    Most of the advanced courses required a mixture of those subjects, so the recruits needed to gain a clear idea before choosing what to do in the second semester. They would still be in time to change their lessonster on, but it was wise to get them right the first time.


    It was rare for unusual events to happen inside the training camp. The Global Army wanted everything to be perfect for the recruits, and that required a stable routine.


    The recruits didn''t need stress or other external influences since they had to focus on their training. The first semester wouldn''t even feature tests for that very reason. Everything had to exist for the sole purpose of creating good soldiers.


    The attunement with mana of some of the recruits from the special ss inevitably reached twenty percent as the days passed. Those kids could finally start the real part of their education, and Khan''s social life vanished at that point.


    Khan continued to see Martha, Luke, and the others during the morning lessons, but all of them gained full schedules after their attunement reached the intended level. Masters from co even arrived in the training camp and began to follow their respective disciples to teach martial arts and spells.


    Khan went through solitary days that consisted of many hours of training and Lieutenant Dyester''s shouts. He didn''t mind that routine, but his mood inevitably suffered from the endless pile of exercises he had to repeat every day. Only his steady improvements allowed him to remain sane.


    The lessons seemed to follow a cycle. The Global Army alternated one month of subjects connected to mana with one month of general knowledge.


    The cycle then restarted, featuring the same lessons that went over more specific subjects. For example, "history of mana" would analyze the many families that had stood out during specific periods after the First Impact.


    Khan often decided to download some lessons on his phone, and his device eventually became a pile of information that he could review whenever he had doubts about certain subjects.


    Memorizing everything in mere weeks was impossible, especially since the army wanted the recruits to focus on their training with mana. Their instruction was secondary, and only those interested in pursuing a career in some subjects would divide their time into both parts.


    Some recruits still decided to use part of their days to hang out with friends or flirt around. They inevitably sacrificed their growth to enjoy their youth, but most of them ignored that aspect of their training since they aimed for eventual infusions of synthetic mana.


    A few recruits had fallen behind their peers in the special ss, leading them to go back to the normal courses. Distress and anger inevitably built inside those boys and girls, and their desire to work harder ended up vanishing due to their failures.


    That mood led some of them to make bad decisions to vent their anger and regain some form of superiority inside the training camp. It was hard for some of the wealthiest kids to be considered inferior to poorer recruits, so they felt the need to re-establish the chain ofmand.


    "Are you sure that we won''t suffer any repercussions for this?" Bloke Seylor asked while Samuel and the other two bullies stood behind him.


    A girl was sitting in front of them on the steps that led to a dormitory. Two girls were behind her, and the three of them were watching the video of Khan kicking the four bullies on the groin.


    "How could you let this go for almost three months?" Alison ckdell asked.


    "He rarely is alone," Bloke replied. "We have followed him at night from time to time, but he always returns homete. We would risk breaking the curfew to attack him."


    "Lieutenant Dyester is also his Master," One of the bullies added. "He will never let us go if we did something to his disciple."


    "I don''t care how you do it," Alison ckdell snorted. "I can''t allow a boy from the Slums to remain in the special ss when I''m not there. I couldn''t do anything when the Cobsend kid was around him, but everything should be easier now that everyone is busy training."


    "I think we should ignore Khan," Samuel eventually said. "I didn''t think you could develop muscles so quickly. He honestly scares me."


    "You four are still struggling to reach twenty percent attunement!" Alison snorted. "You also have grudges with the kid who dared topare me to a hooker. You can choose to gain synthetic mana and my protection or see this video going viral. The choice is yours."

 Chapter 35 - Vibe

    Ambushing recruits inside the training camp was hard. Drones patrolled the streets non-stop, and groups of boys and girls often upied the various parks and benches.


    Some of the older recruits even ran from one building to another at random hours. It was almost impossible to find someonepletely alone.


    "Does he ever get tired?" Bloke asked his three friends.


    The four bullies had gathered in the corner of the fence that surrounded Khan''s dormitory. Professor Norwell''s lesson had ended just a few minutes ago, so the curfew would still take a few hours to arrive.


    The group had the time to n their ambush, but Khan''s tight schedule made it almost impossible to find the right moment. He had never changed his habits during those months, but that consistency didn''t help the bullies.


    "I told you countless times already," Samuelined. "Hees backte and starts to meditate. I swear. I''ve never seen someone training so often."


    "He must sleep or show an opening at some point," Duke, one of the bullies, said.


    "I have been in the same t for almost three months," Samuel continued, "But I''ve never seen him sleeping. That guy is a damned robot!"


    "How much can someone even learn in three months?" Kyle, the other bully, said. "He has been the first to push his attunement to twenty percent, but martial arts are something entirely different. I bet he can''t use them in battle."


    "He will still be stronger than us," Samuel added, hoping that his friends would change their minds. "He has spent more than two months with attunement above twenty percent, while we have yet to reach that stage. We can''t match his physical prowess."


    "You don''t need to remind me about my attunement," Bloke snorted. "I would have already reached twenty percent if I weren''t still growing! Also, these damned mandatory lessons leave us drained. How can anyone even meditate in these conditions?"


    The three bullies looked at Bloke, and the group exchanged meaningful nces. They were aware that they were lying to themselves, but that was better than epting the truth.


    Their cores weren''t exceptional, but their routine didn''t help their training either. The four boys had spent their time outside the lessons sleeping or hitting on girls. They even had the chance to bully some of the poorer kids.


    In their minds, the four bullies believed that their families would fix their power through synthetic mana. Yet, they didn''t expect that theplete disregard for their training would have put them in a situation when they couldn''t use that energy.


    The bullies'' attunement had to reach twenty percent to use the synthetic mana. Their failure to achieve that result in almost three months had forced their families to reconsider their priorities.


    The synthetic mana was expensive, and its price rose exponentially depending on its quality. The four bullies had decently wealthy families behind them, but they were losing their ims on that energy due to theirck of progress.


    After all, the families could always wait a few years for a better descendant. Using good synthetic mana on recruits who couldn''t even bother to meditate was a waste since it probably wouldn''t lead to decent achievements.


    The families had to produce results to obtain spots in the government of Earth, so bncing their expenses on their descendants was an essential part of their financial and political experience.


    Samuel and his friends clearly weren''t good material. Their current performance showed that they wouldn''t seize any merits for their families. They were a bad investment.


    However, everything would change if they managed to get their hands on synthetic mana on their own. The four bullies could make up for the time lost during the initial months in the camp and generate wealth for their families.


    The only hindrance in that n was the hardworking and astute Khan.


    "I still think that this is a bad n," Samuel almost begged his friends. "Why don''t we all start meditating? I bet we can hit twenty percent in two weeks if we work hard."


    "We will pass the third month in two weeks," Bloke replied. "Our families will never believe in our talent."


    "Face it, Samuel," Duke continued. "We messed up. Getting the help of the ckdell family is the only way to regain some credit."


    "Our families might even reward us if we establish a decent rtionship with Alison," Kyle added. "The ckdell family has connections with the noble families. We have the chance to hit the jackpot here."


    Samuel bit his lower lip. He didn''t like the n, but there seemed to be no way out of his situation.


    His friends didn''t share his worries because they didn''t see Khan as often as him. Samuel had studied his roommate in thest months, and he had been one of the few witnesses of his transformation.


    "Alison isn''t a patient girl," Bloke eventually announced. "We should prepare our ambush soon. I think that attacking at night is our only option."


    "Sunday then," Duke added. "That''s the only day when Khan goes back to his dormitory slightly earlier than usual."


    .


    .


    .


    Khan waspletely unaware that the bullies from the first week were nning to ambush him. He had even started to forget about them since his training upied the entirety of his days.


    His demeanor had changed during thest months. The exercises for his element had forced him to develop a firm control over his thoughts and emotions, and his face showed his improvements.


    Moreover, the relentless training with the Lightning-demon style had removed every trace of fat from his body, giving him a slender body that hid firm muscles.


    Khan didn''t do anything special during the past months. He had only alternated the morning lessons to the various exercises featured in his two training programs.


    The training program for the chaos element had made his expression grow aloof since most of its exercises forced him to separate his emotions from his thoughts. Khan''s mind had grown sharper, but his face nowcked its previous vitality.


    Still, his new mindset had ended up benefitting the training in the Lightning-demon style. Khan could focus harder on his martial art since his mind had grown far more resilient, and his emotionless thoughts had even given him a few advantages during the practice of the various moves.


    ''I should be able to seed in the fifth lesson tonight,'' Khan sighed as he walked back toward his dormitory. ''Then, I have to master it before moving to the sixth. Dammit. I still have seven exercises toplete before the Wave spell.''


    It was the Sunday night before the change of the lessons. The Global Army would resume teaching general subjects unrted to mana starting from the next week, and that trend wouldst until the end of the fourth month.


    Khan''s mood was quite poor due to that event. He couldn''t help but find the subjects rted to mana far more interesting. He would rather have an entire month of Professor Conche than following math and other boring lessons four hours a day.


    ''I''ll definitely pick xenolinguistics and politics,'' Khan thought as he crossed the familiar streets that separated him from his dormitory. ''I probably need to add something else, but I still have three months and missions before the second semester.''


    Khan had started to gain an idea of what he wanted to be in the Global Army. Remaining a simple soldier that patrolled dangerouss was a decent option, but he had found a better one thanks to Martha''s help.


    The Global Army needed ambassadors to handle the rtionships with the alien races. Those political figures could travel from to easily, and eventual scouting parties even required their presence.


    It was the perfect job for someone who wanted free ess to the map of the universe and priority over inteary travels. Also, that role would prevent Khan from bing a simple pawn in the hands of his superiors.


    Bing an ambassador would even give Khan merits helpful in the politicaldder. He didn''t care about his rank in the army, but he didn''t forget Lieutenant Dyester''s words either. He had to be a Colonel to gain ess to the ssified files about the First Impact.


    The path was still long, and Khan had yet to understand all the requirements for that political role, but having a goal helped him. He didn''t feel like a foreigner anymore after setting his eyes on a target. He had be like the other recruits who wanted to be someone inside the army.


    Khan checked his phone. It was already half past nine, and a sigh inevitably escaped his mouth.


    ''My body has be used to the Lightning-demon style,'' Khan thought as his dormitory appeared in the distance. ''I barely need lotions anymore, and I can endure a full day of training even on Sunday.''


    Lieutenant Dyester was a severe Master, and Khan was a dedicated disciple. He never skipped a training session, and he always tried to push his limits.


    Khan had basically convinced himself that the wealthy kids would surpass him if he dared to go easy on his training. Losing his spot as a talented recruit would close the doors opened by Professor Norwell, which he wanted to keep open.


    Maintaining the halo of the talented recruit from the Slums could help him bing an ambassador, and Khan didn''t want to lose that chance. Also, remaining without any clear affiliation would increase his value once offers from other families appeared. Khan only had to hold on to his status until he became a first-level warrior.


    Of course, Khan didn''t think about that on his own. Martha had to walk him through that scheme. It was nothing tooplicated, but Khan still felt like a stranger to the political environment.


    A strange sensation eventually hit Khan''s mind. He felt a peculiar fluctuationing from a dark area in the park next to the end of the street.


    His sensitivity to mana had increased after the training for the chaos element. Khan felt sure that something that contained mana was behind the bushes and trees near the end of the street.


    ''Robots?'' Khan thought, but he quickly disregarded that idea.


    Some of the robots inside the training camp contained mana that Khan could sense. However, the sensationing from behind the bush and trees was different. He even felt a familiar vibe.


    ''Is that Samuel?'' Khan wondered.


    His sensitivity to mana wasn''t exceptional. It was the best among the recruits but still weakpared to proper soldiers. Yet, he had slept in the same room with Samuel for the past three months, so he couldn''t fail to recognize his vibe.

 Chapter 36 - Minutes

    ''What is he even doing here?'' Khan wondered before recalling the many nces and peeks of his roommate. ''Did they finally decide to make me pay for the scuffle from the first week?''


    Khan could sense that Samuel wasn''t alone. His ability didn''t allow him to understand how many recruits were hiding in the darkness, but his knowledge could fill those gaps.


    ''They should still be under twenty percent of attunement,'' Khan thought while stopping his tracks in the middle of the street. ''Martha told me that they have started to hang out with the three harpies now that I think about it.''


    The gossips were one of the best forms of entertainment inside the training camp. Martha, Luke, Bruce, and the asional friends from the special ss who ate with Khan often talked about the other recruits. Alison ckdell came out often since her demotion to the normal course had been quite a scandal.


    Khan couldn''t make the connection between the four bullies and the three harpies. He considered the possibility that the three girls had enhanced the bully''s anger, but he couldn''t imagine that thetter were trying to ambush him due to a threat.


    Still, his failure in understanding the true reason behind the ambush didn''t change his situation. Khan had to deal with the four bullies, and the clock was ticking. He only had twenty-eight minutes before the curfew.


    Khan suppressed a smirk as heid his back on a streetmp and took out his phone. He pretended to browse through the menus, but his eyes never left the clock.


    Minutes passed, but Khan didn''t move. The clock inevitably reached twenty to ten pm, but he remained at ease.


    Khan needed less than ten minutes to reach his dormitory with his running speed. Moreover, only Samuel lived in the same block. The other bullies'' ts were elsewhere in the camp, so their time was running out.


    ''They must do something in the next five minutes,'' Khan thought while keeping his eyes on the phone. ''No recruit dares to break the curfew.''


    The bullies proved Khan wrong. Five minutes passed, but they remained hidden in the darkness. None of them seemed willing to move.


    ''What are they waiting for?'' Khan wondered. ''Are they willing to drag me down with them? I have only busted their balls a few times, and that was three months ago!''


    The ambush began to resemble a suicidal n as time continued to flow. Khan almost considered the possibility that the bullies had fallen asleep in the park when only thirteen minutes separated him from the curfew. However, he didn''t dare to underestimate the boys.


    ''Do they think that their families will get them out of eventual punishments?'' Khan wondered. ''My Master is the damned Lieutenant in charge of the prisons! How can they fail to consider something like that?''


    Khan used another minute to consider every possible option. The n didn''t make sense unless the bullies had ess to some influential figure inside the Global Army who could override Lieutenant Dyester''s authority.


    ''They do have wealthy backgrounds,'' Khan eventually considered in his mind. ''Bloke couldn''t stop mentioning his father in the prisons, and Samuel''s family has already prepared synthetic mana for him. Maybe they can make Lieutenant Dyester powerless.''


    Khan had no proof to back his worries, but he wouldn''t dare to risk breaking the curfew. Yet, the situation would only worsen if he ignored the bulliespletely. He couldn''t even touch Samuel inside the t due to the harsher regtions connected to that type of aggression.


    ''Eleven minutes to the curfew,'' Khan thought while putting his phone back in the pocket of his trousers. ''I would have wasted thest three months if I couldn''t deal with them in three minutes.''


    Khan wore an aloof expression as he left the streetmp and resumed his walk back to the dormitory. He stepped into the dark area after a few seconds, but the bullies didn''t move yet.


    ''Did they really fall asleep?'' Khan wondered without stopping his walk.


    A few faint steps eventually resounded behind him when he crossed the end of the street. The presences sensed by his mind drew near and reached his back in an instant.


    ''I need to let them attack first,'' Khan sighed in his mind before closing his eyes and clenching his teeth to prepare for the imminent blows.


    His arms casually covered the back of his head before sharp pain spread from four different spots. The bullies had hit Khan''s forearms, back, and legs with something other than their punches.


    Khan jumped forward to avoid losing his bnce. He turned as soon as his feet stepped on the street, and his swift movement allowed him to face the bullies before they could catch up with him.


    The dim light radiated by a nearby streemp allowed Khan to see the faint figures of the four bullies. He recognized Bloke, Samuel, and the other two boys from the first week. They were all wielding long bats made of cheap alloy.


    The bats were already swinging toward Khan. He didn''t have much time to react. He could leap backward to dodge the iing attacks, but that would only prolong the battle.


    Khan pointed his right foot before twisting his ankle and performing an anticlockwise rotation. His left leg rose while following his body, and his left feet soon met Duke''s shoulder.


    A cracking noise came out of Duke''s shoulder. The boy didn''t have the time toplete his attack, and the impact lifted him from the ground as it pushed him away.


    Meanwhile, three batsnded on Khan''s side and threatened to push him to the ground. However, he endured the pain andpleted his form.


    Khan''s right arm shot forward when his leg touched the ground. He rotated his ankles and waist to fill his hook with incredible momentum.


    His punch reached Kyle''s jaw, and a cracking noise resounded after the impact. A few teeth also flew out of his mouth as the boy rotated on himself and fell.


    Only Samuel and Bloke remained on their feet, and the two boys couldn''t help but nce at theirpanions. Kyle had fainted, and blood was flowing out of his mouth. Instead, Duke was crouching on the ground two meters behind them, and whimpers resounded from his figure as he held his left shoulder.


    Khan flowed directly into another attack. He bent his legs before leaping forward while rising his knee. Bloke promptly defended his chest with his bat, but his eyes widened when he saw his weapon curving and obtaining a V-shaped form.


    Samuel swung his bat toward Khan, but thetter blocked it with his arm. Then, Khan wrapped his hand around the boy''s arm, and his body began to rotate as he waited for his right leg to touch the ground.


    Khan rotated his feet as soon as it touched the ground. The technique filled his body with momentum and gave his raised left leg enough power to reach Samuel''s ear.


    The boy lost his bnce and let go of the bat, but he clung to Khan''s arm before falling to the ground. Bloke exploited that chance to swing his oddly-shaped bat toward Khan''s head, but thetter raised his arm to protect himself.


    Bloke didn''t stop attacking, and Samuel did his best to remain gripped on Khan''s arm. Thetter couldn''t move freely with that weight disrupting his bnce, but he never lowered his arms.


    Bloke suddenly felt unable to move his weapon. Fear filled his face when he saw that Khan had managed to grab the bat during thest swing.


    The boy quickly let go of his weapon and took a step back. His good reaction allowed him to dodge a kick aimed at his stomach, and a tinge of determination appeared on his face when he studied Khan''s situation.


    Samuel was still hanging from Khan''s arm, and thetter had to risk his bnce to deliver his kick. Khan was standing on a single leg while enduring Samuel''s weight. It was the perfect moment to push him to the ground.


    Bloke jumped forward and wrapped his arms around Khan''s neck. He used the entirety of his body in a desperate attempt to make his opponent fall, but astonishment filled his mind when he noticed that Khan managed to endure the blow.


    Khan had Samuel hanging from his right arm, and Bloke clung to his neck, but he didn''t falter. His legs could endure the additional weight. He didn''t even sway when the two boys struggled to push him backward.


    Khan grabbed the back of Bloke''s uniform and pulled. The boy did his best to push his waist back on Khan''s chest, but a sharp pain suddenly spread from his groin.


    A sense of weakness filled Bloke. He let go of his opponent and slid on Khan''s knee while falling toward the ground. Khan had raised his leg when Bloke tried to wrap himself around his chest, and his groin ended up hitting the knee.


    Khan turned toward Samuel at that point. The boy had basically fainted. He was continuing to hang from Khan''s arm out of pure willpower.


    ''What a waste of determination,'' Khan couldn''t help but think as he threw a kick on Samuel''s chest and flung him away.


    The battle had been messy, but Khan had sessfully defeated his four opponents. Moreover, he had deployed part of the footwork learnt from the Lightning-demon style, and that feat left him happy.


    "You lose," Bloke weakly said while covering his groin. "You will break the curfew."


    Khan promptly drew the phone from his pocket. The device informed him that the curfew would arrive in less than seven minutes. He waste, and even running might not solve the issue.


    ''Why are they so confident about the punishments?'' Khan wondered when he noticed Bloke''s satisfied smile.


    The boys definitely had something in store for Khan, but he didn''t know what to expect. Yet, he wouldn''t risk finding it out.


    ''I can only pull it off one out six times,'' Khan thought as he closed his eyes and bent his legs. ''I also need to prepare for thirty seconds. Still, I don''t see other options.''


    Bloke''s smile froze when he noticed Khan''s serious expression. The boy kept his eyes closed and performed deep breaths as his legs slid on the street.


    Then, Bloke blinked, and confusion appeared on his face when he reopened his eyes. Khan had disappeared. Bloke didn''t even hear his steps.

 Chapter 37 - Sliding

    Everything was vague in Khan''s vision. The darkness of the night fused with the dim lights of the streemps to create a strange spectacle that dried his eyes.


    Khan tried to keep his eyes open, but a burning sensation forced them to close them every time he failed to control his body. His skin also hurt as the friction with the air scarred the flesh that his uniform didn''t cover.


    The faint image of a building suddenly appeared in Khan''s vision. It disappeared in the next second since his eyes closed, but he still nted his feet on the ground to stop his incredible momentum.


    The same burning sensation that afflicted his skin began to spread on his feet. Khan gritted his teeth, but he lost his bnce and fell to the ground.


    Khan kept his eyes closed as his body slowed down. His back began to hurt, but that sensation vanished once he stopped sliding on the ground.


    His eyes opened and struggled to focus on his surroundings. Khan blinked many times to regain his vision, and the world slowly lost its blurriness.


    The fence that encircled the dormitory soon became clear. Khan even noticed two soldiers standing on the sides of the gate and shooting confused stares toward him.


    A satisfied smile appeared on Khan''s face when he nced at the clock hanging on the side of the gate. The curfew would still take three minutes to arrive. He had reached his destination on time.


    "Do we need to call the medical bay?" One of the soldiers asked when Khan pointed his hands on the ground and struggled to stand up.


    Khan''s condition was far from ideal. His face, neck, and hands featured multiple scarred patches of skin. The sole of his shoes had also vanished during the abrupt stop, and the ground had torn his uniform.


    "I''m fine, I''m fine," Khan promptly said while wearing a fake smile and limping through the gate.


    His feet hurt whenever they touched the ground, but he only cared about returning to his t. Khan had stored a few lotions during those three months, so he wouldn''t have to skip his usual training to visit a doctor.


    The two soldiers followed Khan with their eyes before disregarding the matter. The clock soon marked ten pm, and the gate closed on its own. The easiest part of their job had finally arrived.


    ''I''m still far away from aplete mastery of this technique,'' Khanined in his mind as he entered his t and crouched to take a few lotions from under his bed. ''Still, this move is great. I can''t wait to learn how to deploy it in battle.''


    His mind yed the images of the fight against the four bullies while he applied the lotion on his scarred skin. Khan could see how inexperienced he was in that type of battle. His moves were good, but they had yet to be natural. Moreover, he often mixed them with random attacks.


    The images then reached hisst technique. Khan could finally understand what Dean Ulluw meant during his exnation of the Lightning-demon style. Expressing more power wasn''t an issue. The problem was that the human body wasn''t always able to endure it.


    His scarred flesh proved how dangerous mana could be if deployed incorrectly. Khan had only performed the simplest sprint of the Lightning-demon style to reach the dormitory, but he didn''t calcte how much mana he had to use.


    It was clear that his body still couldn''t endure that speed. Also, the execution of the technique wasn''tpletely perfect, especially during its end.


    ''Mana is so dangerous,'' Khan sighed in his mind as he put the lotion under his bed, ''But it''s so damn cool. How fast did I even go? Those bullies couldn''t even do anything against me. I could break their bones with a few blows!''


    Khan was excited about the path ahead, but he suppressed that emotion when he recalled his schedule. He still had his mental training and the usual meditation toplete.


    ''Fifth lesson here Ie,'' Khan shouted in his mind as he crossed his legs on the bed and focused his attention on the insides of his brain.


    His brain contained a few azure specks of light, and Khan focused on thergest. His mind went nk as a few simple thoughts filled him and forced the mana to transform.


    The small azure sphere split. It divided itself into two dots before repeating the process and creating four identical specks. Then, Khan imagined a series of invisible hands pinching their edges and giving them a different shape.


    The spheres slowly stretched to transform into dimmer hexagons. Thin lines grew inside their edges until they reached the opposite sides. Then, more branches grew and tried to give birth to an intricate figure.


    The theory behind the mental exercises of the training program for his element was rather simple. Khan had to manipte the mana inside his brain to shape it in the form of intricate diagrams.


    The execution of those exercises was far harder. The training program forced Khan to increase the number of diagrams every time he stepped on the next lessons.


    The first lesson only saw one diagram, but the third already wanted two of them. The fifth required four, and the seventh would need six of them.


    Everything had to culminate in the eleventh lesson, where Khan had to create ten diagrams. The process also had to happen at the same time. He couldn''t handle the different figures separately.


    Learning how to manage different diagrams at the same time was a hellish process, but the training program didn''t end there. Every even lesson forced Khan to repeat the previous exercise without involving emotions, which was far more difficult than it sounded.


    Khan shaped the diagrams as described by the training program and kept them in that state for a few seconds before doing the backward process. He dismantled those figures and returned them to their original form of a single speck of azure light.


    ''Again,'' Khan faintly thought before repeating the exercise.


    The training program required Khan to repeat the exercise five times in a row without mistakes to implete mastery. He could proceed on the next lesson only after meeting those standards, and he nned to seed that night.


    Khan started to reshape the mana again, and his second execution seeded. The third also went well, but his speed diminished when he approached the fourth.


    His mind began to feel tired and sloppy, but Khan pressed on. He didn''t want to find justifications that night. The pain that filled his body couldn''t reach him in that state. He had to seed because he was dying to reach the Wave spell.


    Khanpleted the fourth execution before moving to the fifth. He felt on the verge of falling asleep, but his control didn''t waver. Growing each line on the diagrams took far more time, but that wasn''t a good reason to stop.


    It took an entire hour toplete the fifth execution, but Khan didn''t lose control for even an instant. He built the diagrams before dismantling them onest time and opening his eyes. His back inevitablynded on his bed when the process was over, and an intense sense of weakness filled his body and mind.


    However, excitement raged in his mind. He could finally move to the sixth lesson. He had reached the halfway point before the Wave spell.


    ''It''s already one am,'' Khan thought when he nced at his phone. ''Doing one hour of meditation will only make me more tired tomorrow morning. I should let my body recover tonight.''


    The fifth lesson of the chaos element''s training had taken far longer than Khan had predicted, so he set the rm and closed his eyes. He didn''t even nce at the empty top bunk on the other side of the room. He knew his roommate wouldn''te home that night.


    The nightmare arrived as usual. Khan went back in time and relived the Second Impact. His mental training had allowed him to develop a unique coldness toward those images, but the long scene annoyed him anyway.


    Yet, a sudden noise interrupted the nightmare and awakened Khan. His eyes immediately went on his phone, and a confused expression appeared on his face when he noticed that it was still four am.


    The noise then resounded again. It spread through the entire t and made some of the walls tremble. Khan inspected the event from his bed, but he eventually heard a few knocks on his door.


    ''Did I get into some trouble?'' Khan wondered as he stood up and opened the door.


    The two soldiers that patrolled the dormitory were standing in front of their t. The duo wore severe expressions as they waved their phones and confirmed Khan''s identity.


    "Why didn''t you answer your doorbell?" One of the soldiers asked.


    "I didn''t even know this t had a doorbell," Khan honestly replied.


    "Where were you tonight?" The second soldier asked.


    "I went to the prisons of the camp to train with Lieutenant Dyester," Khan exined. "Then you saw me sliding on my back when I returned to the dormitory."


    "We indeed saw you," The first soldier continued. "Only mana can create that eleration. Do you know that it''s forbidden to deploy mana outside of training rooms or without supervision?"


    "I''m sorry, sir," Khan scratched his head. "I must correct you. The regtions of the Global Army forbid the use of mana to attack other recruits, but it doesn''t say anything about training in the open, especially in isted spots."


    Both soldiers remained speechless, and one of them even browsed through the menus of his phone to find the regtions.


    "The technique didn''t even have offensive purposes," Khan continued. "It was an enhanced sprint meant to make me reach the dormitory on time. I was only trying to be a good recruit, sir."


    Khan didn''t share his father''s stubbornness. He could continue to pretend even when the soldiers had clearly missed the mark.


    The soldier found the regtions and showed them to hispanion. Khan was right. He didn''t break the rules with hisst sprint.


    "What can you tell me about this?" The second man asked while activating a few holograms on his phone.


    Khan saw the battle against the bullies. He didn''t feel surprised that the robots around the camps had recorded it, but he still didn''t see anything wrong with it.


    "They ambushed me," Khan exined while studying the battle. "It was self-defense."


    "The tape is currently under investigation," The first soldier said. "You have been involved in two fights in only three months. I hope you don''t mind if we pay more attention to you from now on."


    "Not at all, sir," Khan continued with his act, but his eyes remained glued to the holograms. "You are just doing your work. I''m happy toply to improve the situation in the camp. By the way, can I have this tape?"

 Chapter 38 - Mistakes

    "A broken shoulder, a shattered jaw, a pierced eardrum, a few cracked ribs, and other minor injuries," Lieutenant Dyester read on his phone while Khan prepared the holograms for his usual training. "They will be out for two entire weeks even if Doctor Parket personally oversees their recovery."


    "They seemed desperate," Khanmented. "I don''t want to say good things about them, but they shouldn''t be so stupid to attack me after three months of training."


    Lieutenant Dyester stepped off the wall and neared Khan to inspect his injuries. The lotions had done a great job on the scarred skin, but he still had a few marks on his face.


    The injuries caused by his sprint couldn''t heal in a single day, even with the great lotions of the Global Army. Khan had to attend the morning lessons in that state, with a constant annoying feeling spreading from his feet. Luckily for him, his friends didn''t investigate further after he justified the marks with his training.


    "Did you watch the battle?" Khan asked after Lieutenant Dyester let him go. "How did I do?"


    "You were awful," Lieutenant Dyester snorted as he picked his phone and activated holograms depicting Khan''s battle. "You have studied it. How many mistakes did you find?"


    "Three," Khan honestly replied. "The front kick against Bloke and the jumping kneee from my bad habits while letting Samuel hang on me was pure inexperience."


    "What about the initial jump?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. "Why did you lower your leg both times? You have practiced techniques in that stance. Why didn''t you flow into them?"


    "I didn''t think about it," Khan said while scratching his head. "These moves still don''t feelpletely natural. I kept thinking during the fight."


    Lieutenant Dyester heaved a helpless sigh. He inspected the video again and yed with the holograms a bit before lighting a cigarette. There seemed to be some annoyance on his face, but Khan couldn''t understand the reason behind that feeling.


    "You can''t limit yourself to the exercises anymore," Lieutenant Dyester sighed again. "It seems that someone is trying to get to you."


    Khan showed a confused expression, and Lieutenant Dyester didn''t hesitate to continue. "Those boys didn''t fear breaking the curfew. They only cared about forcing you to break it. They were even quite determined. Their reasons probably had nothing to do with you."


    "Why would they even attack me then?" Khan asked.


    "Did you make anyone with some really good background angry?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned Khan.


    "I''m as good as theye," Khan said while wearing a fake smile, but a memory suddenly surged in his mind. "I might have insulted Alison ckdell and her friends, but that wasn''t much. I wouldn''t even recall her name if she weren''t at the center of the gossips."


    Lieutenant Dyester stared at Khan with a nk expression. Thetter even waved his hand on his face since the soldier didn''t seem able to move anymore.


    "What did they even put in that brain of yours?!" Lieutenant Dyester eventually shouted while grabbing Khan from his shoulders. "The ckdell family has connections with the noble families, and you decided to insult one of its members! She even failed to remain in the special ss! I bet she will get back at anyone who dares to speak badly about her."


    "How can anyone remember stuff from months ago?" Khanined while Lieutenant Dyester continued to shake him. "You are exaggerating. No one has so much free time."


    "She is a kid born in a family with connections with the noble families!" Lieutenant repeated while letting go of Khan and walking through the corridor that divided the cells. "She has never faced a problem in her entire life! What do you think will happen when she suddenly finds issues that her name can''t solve?"


    "Work hard to improve herself?" Khan asked, but Lieutenant Dyester''s face told him that he was wrong.


    "Do you think that honest excuses will calm her down?" Khan asked when he understood that the situation was quite bad.


    Lieutenant Dyester sighed before massaging his temples. He didn''t know what to say in that situation. His disciple wasn''t stupid, but he had yet to realize how the wealthy kids reacted to some interactions.


    "You will only worsen your situation," Lieutenant Dyester shook his head. "She doesn''t seem the type to let go of this stuff, especially in her state. I can only prepare you for the worst."


    "Worse?" Khan didn''t understand what Lieutenant Dyester meant, but thetter suddenly shot forward.


    Khan couldn''t even react to that sudden event. Pain spread from his chest while his feet left the ground. The attack directly flung him toward the wall.


    Khan hit his back and head on the wall. Everything became confused for an instant while he fell on the floor. His vision quickly regained its focus and allowed him to see that Lieutenant Dyester''s foot was about to reach his face.


    Khan instinctively closed his eyes to prepare for the imminent blow, but nothing touched his face. Instead, a low noise resounded from above him, and tremors reached his back.


    "You had it too easy with those boys," Lieutenant Dyester said as he kicked the table next to the staircase away to create some space. "It''s easy to fight against weaker opponents. Let''s see what you can do against me."


    The situation had turned upside-down in an instant. Khan was barely keeping track of the events, but everything became clear when Lieutenant Dyester bent his legs and took a battle stance.


    Khan stood up slowly. His hand went on the back of his head, and a warm sensation spread from his palm. He was bleeding, but Lieutenant Dyester didn''t seem to care about that.


    "I don''t think the other kids train like this," Khan eximed.


    "The other kids don''t have to worry about being ambushed at night," Lieutenant Dyester snorted. "Besides, this will teach you how real battles are. The martial arts try to make them appear shy and precise, but they are messy most of the time."


    "Can I use mana?" Khan asked while taking a battle stance.


    "Of course," Lieutenant Dyester replied as a smirk appeared on his face.


    Khan took a deep breath and summoned the mana in his body. He couldn''t match Lieutenant Dyester''s physical strength, but he might be able to achieve a simr speed since his martial art focused on that feature.


    However, right after part of the mana inside his body started to activate, a sharp pain spread from Khan''s waist and forced him to open his eyes. His backnded on the wall again as he stared at the kick that Lieutenant Dyester had delivered.


    "First lesson," Lieutenant Dyester announced while turning and lighting another cigarette. "Never use something unreliable. I''m faster than your mana, so you can''t rely on it."


    ''It was a trick!'' Khan shouted in his mind before resuming a battle stance.


    "Second lesson," Lieutenant Dyester continued while turning and delivering a fast roundhouse kick that mmed next to Khan''s head. "Study your opponent. I''m a third-level warrior and mage, while your attunement with mana has yet to reach fifty percent. Why are you even trying to fight me?"


    Khan stared at the leg next to his face. Lieutenant Dyester didn''t bother to lower it, and Khan could notice the bulging muscles under the uniform at that distance.


    Lieutenant Dyester''s physique was quite massive. His uniform hid part of his muscles, but Khan understood how much power his body contained in that situation.


    ''How can he be so fast with that body?'' Khan wondered as he gulped and nced at the trapdoor.


    "That should have been your first thought!" Lieutenant Dyester shouted when he noticed that gesture. "You shouldn''t feel safe because I''m here. Remember that I''ve killed many aliens and even a few humans. You are locked in the same room with a murderer. You should never lower your guard."


    "Who can I trust then?" Khan asked as his face abandoned every expression.


    "Trust your senses," Lieutenant Dyester replied. "Trust your training, your body, your mana, and your achievements. Your situation is different from the other kids. No one would bother to look for your corpse if you were to die somewhere problematic."


    Khan was using the mastery over the fourth lesson of the mental training to hide the mana flowing through his body. He filled his ankles with that energy before moving part of it in different directions.


    "How can I even trust you to trai-," Khan began to say, but his leg moved while Lieutenant Dyester was busy listening to his words.


    Khanunched a frontal kick that aimed at Lieutenant Dyester''s groin. His attack was quick. His leg almost created afterimages as it moved toward the soldier.


    However, Lieutenant Dyester grabbed his ankle before it could reach its target.


    "Masking your emotions was a smart choice," Lieutenant Dyester exined, "But you can''t hide your intentions to my senses, especially since you only mastered the initial exercises."


    Lieutenant Dyester pulled Khan''s leg and forced him to fall on the floor.


    "We''ll do this once a week," Lieutenant Dyester announced. "The next times won''t beplete beatdowns. I''ll give you the chance to use a few moves in battle."

 Chapter 39 - Meeting

    Khan''s friends didn''t immediately give much thought to his condition. They would see a few injuries on him or a paleplexion every Monday, but they initially disregarded those features since training with mana could lead to those events.


    Even they would show a few wounds from time to time. They weren''t as evident as Khan''s tiredness, but they still suffered from their training. The presence of proper Masters from co couldn''t prevent them.


    However, worries inevitably appeared when they noticed that Khan''s situation didn''t improve even after a few weeks passed. Usually, recruits would learn how to avoid suffering injuries as their expertise with mana improved, but Khan didn''t seem to follow that progress.


    "Are you ok?" Luke eventually asked during a Monday afternoon in the canteen.


    "Everything is fine," Khan replied as he wolfed his fourth te.


    Martha, Luke, Bruce, and the two kids from the Rotston family didn''t buy his in answer. Khan almost had a sickplexion, and arge bruise encircled his right eye.


    "Youe every Monday with a new set of injuries," Martha pointed out. "It has happened for almost two months."


    "Lieutenant Dyester is teaching me how to fight," Khan briefly exined. "His methods aren''t for softies."


    The group didn''t know how to react to that statement. Masters could be harsh, especially during actualbat training, but Khan seemed to go through a beatdown every Sunday.


    "I wouldn''t trust Carl Dyester so much," Luke eximed. "I asked my Master about him. The rumors about him aren''t good at all."


    "What can you expect from someone called "butcher of Istrone"?" April Rotstonmented. "That guy is the only survivor of a rebellion. Stuff like that leaves deep scars."


    "It''s worse than you think," Luke continued. "My Master knows someone who has reached Istrone right after the crisis. The soldiers had yet to clean the battlefield back then, so he saw the reason behind that title."


    "Which is?" Jacob Rotstone asked.


    "Khan is still eating," Luke replied. "I don''t want to ruin his meal."


    "Go on," Khan promptly said while munching his meat. "Nothing can ruin my appetite."


    Luke nced at his other friends before heaving a helpless sigh when they nodded.


    "This soldier saw piles of fuming alien corpses," Luke said while lowering his voice. "His toon found Lieutenant Dyester sitting on one of them. ording to the story, he didn''t even notice the reinforcements. He remained there with a cigarette in his mouth."


    "He must have snapped during the battle," April Rotstone sighed. "It amon thing for soldiers on the frontlines. I''m not surprised he decided to lower his rank on purpose and iste himself in this training camp."


    "I can find you another suitable Master, Khan," Luke revealed while turning toward him. "Your training feels like abuse. Don''t put up with his methods because you don''t see other options."


    "Don''t worry," Khan replied while giving voice to a fakeugh. "Thank you for your concern, but I''m getting better with this training. I know you disagree with his methods, but they are perfect for someone like me."


    "You are hopeless," Bruceughed while shaking his head. "Both Luke and the Global Army want to give you a hand, but you stick with the traumatized soldier who handles the prisons. Is this another Slum thing?"


    Bruce had always treated Khan with respect. Khan knew that those words carried no ill intention, so he didn''t feel offended by them.


    "It''s about matching characters," Khan exined. "He pushes me to go beyond my limits, and that''s all I want. I need a firm hand to get better."


    Martha''s worries quieted down after that revtion. She was afraid that Khan was enduring that treatment because of her, but there seemed to be more to it.


    Lieutenant Dyester seemed able to appeal to Khan''s true character. The driven and resolute man hidden behind that young face wouldn''t ept sophisticated Masters who barely made him sweat. He needed a warden who taught him the practical uses of his abilities.


    Luke and the others didn''t reach the same conclusions, but they let go of the matter anyway. They wanted to help Khan, but they couldn''t fight his stubbornness. They only hoped that he wouldn''t suffer any permanent injury during that hellish training.


    The group finished eating and began to leave the canteen. All of them had to rest or reach their Masters, but a message arrived on their phones before they could split.


    ''Mandatory meeting in the first basement at three pm,'' Khan read on his phone.


    "This is from the Global Army," Khan eximed while turning toward his friends. "Do you know what''s happening?"


    Khan saw surprised expressions on his friends. It seemed that even their knowledge of the Global Army didn''t help in that situation.


    "It''s strange," Lukemented. "There''s more than a month before the end of the semester. This shouldn''t be about the missions."


    "Maybe they want to address Khan''s issue," Bruce added. "They didn''t say anything about the four boys who attacked him two months ago. No one has seen them since then either. The Global Army might give an official statement."


    "The other recruits didn''t receive anything," Jason contradicted him when he inspected his surroundings. "It seems that only the members of the special ss received this message."


    "They might still follow a precise order," Martha continued. "Anyway, the meeting is in half an hour. We can wait in the corridor."


    The group changed direction and moved toward the staircase that led to the lower floors. They continued to suggest ideas that could exin the reason behind the meeting, but Khan remained silent during the walk.


    Khan had thought about the four bullies from time to time, especially since Samuel''s bed had remained empty during those months. Even Lieutenant Dyester didn''t know how that matter had ended.


    Still, Khan didn''t suffer from simr events anymore. Two months had gone by peacefully. He had even started to believe that Lieutenant Dyester''s worries about Alison ckdell were mere exaggerations.


    The group waited in front of the first basement. Other recruits from the special ss gathered on that spot, but they weren''t enough to fill the corridor. Less than twenty boys and girls had remained in that course after almost five months of training.


    A familiar figure eventually descended from the staircase. Khan recognized Lieutenant Rupert Unchai, the soldier who had overseen his initial test.


    Khan could finally inspect his features. Thest time he had seen the Lieutenant in the shape of a hologram, so he had failed to notice the dark color of his short hair and the clear shades of his eyes.


    "I will hold the meeting," Lieutenant Unchai announced once he stepped off the staircase and made his way through the group of recruits.


    The first basement opened, and Lieutenant Unchai gestured to the group to follow him. The soldier quickly walked toward the stage on one side of the hall and connected his phone to the floor while the recruits simply gathered around him.


    "Let''s make a few things clear first," Lieutenant Unchai announced as a series of holograms appeared on the walls behind him.


    Khan widened his eyes when he saw that the holograms yed the scenes of hisst battle against the bullies. The images even depicted the damages suffered from the four boys during the various exchanges.


    "The Global Army condemns these actions," Lieutenant Unchai continued once the tape ended. "Your background doesn''t matter here. Your family might have connections with the noble families, but the same goes for the higher-ups of the Global Army. Every soldier is equal. We only look at your achievements."


    Khan pretended not to notice the series of nces that ended on his figure. He had even heard a few surprised gasps while the tape was still running. It seemed that some of the recruits had liked the show.


    "We have expelled the four boys," Lieutenant Unchai exined once the audience focused on him again. "co''s training camp has even ced an additional fee on their families. I hope this can solve part of the grudges that this shameful event might have generated."


    Lieutenant Unchai didn''t look toward Khan, but it was clear that his words were for him.


    "He is worried that ack of punishments from the Global Army would have ruined its chances to get you," Martha whispered while tilting her head toward Khan.


    Khan limited himself to nod. He had understood that part. Attending "politics" for another month had given him some insights into that environment.


    ''The real culprit might still be out there,'' Khanined inside his mind. ''Punishing these four doesn''t prove that I''m safe.''


    "The recent situation has forced the Global Army to understand its ws," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "It''s rare to have this degree of violence inside the camp, and it''s evident that most recruitsck battle experience. We can''t punish before the actual illicit event, but we can give you the chance to learn some self-defense."


    The audience fell silent at that point. The recruits didn''t know where Lieutenant Unchai''s speech led, but its topic sounded interesting.


    "We can''t offer this to everyone in the camp," Lieutenant Unchai continued. "Only the special ss will have ess to this. The Global Army is giving you the chance to continue the rest of your lessons on Onia, where you will receive realbat training."

 Chapter 40 - Preparations

    Author''s notes: I will use "[ ]" for the aliennguage. I hope you enjoy the story.


    ****


    The news left the audience speechless. The Global Army was offering a free journey to Onia where the recruits could get realbat training.


    Needless to say, whispers began to resound among the recruits. None of them managed to remain silent in that situation. Even the wealthiest kids felt excited.


    "The Global Army can''t pay for your Master," Lieutenant Unchai exined, "But they can join you on Onia if they can cover the expenses of the travel. Yet, some of them will need to obtain permits, so make them contact the rted offices."


    The few recruits who still had doubts about that chance felt relieved to hear that. Some of them had strict training programs to follow, and a trip could considerably dy their improvements.


    "Please understand that this is a special situation," Lieutenant Unchai continued. "We must make sure that the members of the special ss know how to protect themselves. Also, this travel won''t affect the normal schedule of your lessons. You will still have to face the missions at the end of the semester."


    "What do you think?" Martha asked Khan while keeping her voice down.


    "They are giving me the chance to go to another," Khan said while wearing an excited smile. "How can I even miss it?"


    "This sounds so interesting," Martha eximed as excitement inevitably seeped into her voice. "I have never been to another. We will also get the chance to see the Ef''i!"


    "I wonder how off my ent is," Khan whispered. "I''ve only learnt a few words."


    "I saw you taking notes during Professor Thogett''s lessons now that I think about it," Martha teased him while pulling his sleeve. "Tell me something in theirnguage."


    "[Hello, peace,]" Khan said in a strangenguage that featured guttural sounds. "I only know these two words."


    "Are they useful?" Martha asked.


    "I hope," Khanughed before moving his attention back to Lieutenant Unchai.


    The Lieutenant had removed his phone from the floor and had begun to descend from the stage. The recruits opened a path for him, and the soldier raised his voice once more to exin thest details behind that mission.


    "We depart in one week," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "Your phones will gain ess to a new menu tonight. You must sign it to be part of this event. You can also find other important information there, so read carefully."


    Lieutenant Unchai then made his way through the crowd, but he slowed down when he passed next to Khan. His eyes inevitably fell on him, and a faint smile even appeared on his expression.


    "You were a natural-born fighter apparently," Lieutenant Unchai whispered before going on his way and leaving the basement.


    The recruits remained in the hall, and their voice inevitably rose now that the soldier had left. Everyone was excited. The sole idea of going to another made them unable to contain themselves.


    Even the usually calm Luke seemed interested in that opportunity. His fingers tapped on his phone non-stop as he made ns for the imminent mission.


    "What is it?" Martha asked when she noticed Khan''s pensive expression. "I thought you would have loved this chance."


    "I do love it," Khan replied while scratching his head, "But I don''t know how to warn my father about this. He should have gotten out of jail by now."


    Martha''s excitement slightly dispersed when she remembered about Khan''s situation. His father was in the Slums, where contacting a single person was fairly difficult.


    "Try asking Lieutenant Dyester about that," Martha suggested. "He might not be able to find him, but he can warn him if he visits the camp."


    "That sounds good enough," Khan eximed. "Thank you, Martha. I don''t know where I''d be without you."


    Khan then left the basement in a hurry. He had to attend his usual training with Lieutenant Dyester and warn him about the mission. His schedule would probably change after that news.


    Martha stared at his departing figure. She remained a bit disappointed that he didn''t even bother to exchange a few more words with her, but the excitement about the iing mission made her forget about that.


    After all, her entire ss would go to another. She would have time to spend with Khan.


    Khan ran toward the prisons of the camp, and the trapdoor promptly opened as soon as he stepped on thewn.


    "You arete, Dog, "Lieutenant Dyester shouted from the bottom of the basement.


    Khan ignored the new fake name that the Lieutenant had chosen for himtely. He ran down the staircase and began to exin the contents of the meeting as soon as the trapdoor closed.


    "A training camp on Onia sounds interesting," Lieutenant Dyester said while lighting a cigarette. "I wonder if they''ll make you fight against Ef''i. Maybe the self-protection thing is just an excuse to prepare you for the tournaments."


    "I didn''t think about that," Khan honestly revealed. "Still, should I go? I can''t miss this chance, right?"


    Khan was almost begging Lieutenant Dyester to share his opinion. His curiosity was exploding, but he would ept the soldier''s words if he happened to be against the travel.


    "You must go," Lieutenant Dyester announced. "You have fought against weaker kids and sparred with me for two months. It''s time to understand your actual level and get a real idea of where you standpared to your peers."


    "Peers and aliens," Khan reminded him.


    "We should stop sparring then," Lieutenant Dyester continued while ignoring his previous words. "Focus on your forms without using mana. Let''s maximize your muscle memory before the trip."


    "No mana?" Khan asked with a disappointed tone.


    His training with the Lightning-demon style was going well, and the mental exercises only helped in the process. His meditations even strengthened his body and made it able to memorize different moves quickly. Khan had almost reached the point when he could perform a few correct techniques with mana.


    "Mastery beats unstable performances," Lieutenant Dyester snorted. "You have almost removed your bad habits, but your ability must go past that. Stabilize your foundation before building on top of it."


    Khan nodded, but he still felt a bit disappointed. Regr techniques were nice, but their versions with mana were far stronger. He had superpowers ready for him, but his Master wanted him to stick with the basics.


    "You will get there," Lieutenant Dyester said when he noticed Khan''s expression. "You must breathe, dream, and live for the Lightning-demon style. Adding mana will be far easier if you don''t have to think about your movements. Moreover, it will make you less useless in an actual battle."


    Khan nodded again. He understood Lieutenant Dyester''s point. He only felt restless about using mana.


    "Stop looking so depressed if you understand!" Lieutenant Dyester suddenly shouted. "Activate the damned holograms! You have a long day ahead of you. I want at least two hundred perfect executions of the entire training program."


    "I don''t have enough time for that!" Khanined.


    "Then you keep trying until you make the time!" Lieutenant Dyester shouted. "Go on. Start from the first and reach the end. I hope you won''tmit mistakes during the first cycle."


    .


    .


    .


    Khan''s training became even harsher during that week. Lieutenant Dyester didn''t let him rest for even a second. He wanted to finish imprinting the Lightning-demon style on his body and remove thest trace of his bad habits.


    Khan also mentioned his father during that week. He had no way of contacting him from the training camp, but Lieutenant Dyester promised that he would take care of the matter.


    Lieutenant Dyester didn''t have a good reputation, but that only helped Khan''s cause. The soldier could warn all the buildings that handled the eptance of guests and simr about Khan''s father. Those in charge of those offices would send Bret to him if he happened to visit the camp.


    The week eventually passed, and Khan prepared for the imminent travel. The new menu on the phone had instructed him about the event. It wouldst only two weeks, and all the recruits would go directly toward the location of the semestral missions after that period.


    His first semester inside the training camp would end in a mere month, and Khan could already sense how much he had changed during that short period. He had friends now, and his body had never felt so strong.


    On Monday, the special ss gathered in a distant area of the training camp early in the morning. No recruit roamed through the streets at that hour, so no one could question the reason for their presence in that ce.


    Lieutenant Unchai soon appeared in the distance. The soldier greeted the recruits and led them toward an immense building nearby. The structure resembled a three-story-tall stadium that upied arge area.


    The group entered the building throughrge metal doors that slid open as soon as Lieutenant Unchai neared them. They had to go through a series of body scanners and sign a few forms before the soldiers protecting the entrance allowed them in the insides of the structure.


    A series of soldiers wearing white medical coats tinkered with the many consoles ced at the sides of arge circr room. Khan could identify all of them as scientists, but he ignored the reason behind their presence there.


    "I''ve never been to a teleport," Martha suddenly said when she pointed at therge structure at the center of the hall. "They say that everyone pukes on their first time."

 Chapter 41 - Teleport

    Khan had read the travel''s schedule on his phone, but he didn''t expect it to involve a teleport. He knew nothing about inteary voyages, but his imagination had led him to believe that everything would happen through a spaceship.


    The circr hall featured arge oval tform at its center. Khan studied its feature after Martha pointed at it, and curiosity inevitably spread inside him.


    The tform had two curved pirs growing out of its vertices. Tubes that contained an azure liquid ran through the two horn-like structures and gave them a powerful aura. The pipes experienced random surges of energy that made their light shift from dim to bright and gave them an unstable vibe.


    Simr tubes connected the white tform to the various consoles ced on the walls of the hall. Khan managed to see a few graphs and diagrams on their screens, but he couldn''t understand much. He only recognized some equations mixed with symbols that had no meaning for him.


    "We inherited this technology from the Nak," Luke said without moving his eyes from the teleport. "We rebuilt their spaceships at first, but everything changed when we found the first teleport. Inteary travels became far easier after that."


    "Spaceships are far more reliable," Lieutenant Unchai exined while turning toward the special ss. "You wouldn''t even think about stepping in there if you knew how many things could go wrong. The amount of synthetic mana required for the teleport is also massive, but the Global Army has made an exception for its brightest recruits."


    The boys and girls in the group couldn''t help but smile at those remarks. The Lieutenant was openlybeling them as the best of their course. Even the wealthiest kids felt good to gain such acknowledgment from a proper soldier.


    "We set the location to the third quadrant," One of the scientists eximed while turning toward the Lieutenant. "You can begin to step on the teleport."


    Lieutenant Unchai nodded and stepped on the tform. He gestured to the recruits to follow him, but they took a few seconds to ovee their fears.


    Only a few among them were brave enough to jump directly on the structure. Khan, Luke, and Bruce didn''t even hesitate after Lieutenant Unchai''s gesture. Khan couldn''t wait to experience the teleport, while the other two boys trusted the Global Army too much to feel scared.


    ''Woah,'' Khan gasped in his mind as tingling sensations ran through his spine. ''I have never felt the mana so clearly!''


    The two horn-like pirs seemed able to contain the mana inside the edges of the tform. Khan felt immersed in a dense liquid that caused his bones to experience faint tremors.


    ''This feels different from my mana,'' Khan thought while closing his eyes and immersing his mind into that atmosphere. ''It''s almost dirty.''


    All the recruits eventually stepped inside the teleport, and Lieutenant Unchai inspected his group onest time before nodding toward the scientists.


    "Exit locked in," One of the scientists shouted. "They are ready to receive us."


    "Synthetic mana one hundred percent stable," Another scientist shouted. "Starting the countdown!"


    The shouts awakened Khan from his thoughts. Numbers resounded in the hall and quickly moved toward zero as the azure light radiated by the many tubes intensified and became a blinding halo.


    Then, azure sparks started to run through the horn-like pirs until they connected their sharp tips. The scene onlysted one second since Khan''s vision suddenly went dark.


    A faint pressure appeared inside Khan. That feeling intensified until pain started to spread through his abdomen. His internal organs churned, and he inevitably held his breath to endure that process.


    Luckily for him, the sensation onlysted for a few seconds. Other feelings appeared as soon as the pressure afflicting his abdomen started to fade. He felt cold spreading from his knees and palms as retches tried to reach his mouth.


    Khan suppressed that sensation and struggled to open his eyes. The same white metal of the teleport appeared under him, but he soon noticed that something was off when he nced past the tform''s edges.


    A green metal covered the surroundings of the teleport and ended on walls that carried simr shades. Consoles that had different shapes from those seen in the training camp filled that circr hall, and unknown faces handled them.


    Khan found himself kneeling on the tform, but his curiosity didn''t give him the time to stand up. He had caught a glimpse of something strange, and nothing inside him dared to move until he focused on that scene.


    The scientists inside the new hall were mostly humans, but there were a few strange figures that he had only seen through his phone. Khan had obviously searched the Ef''i on thework, but seeing them with his own eyes caused apletely different reaction in his mind.


    The Ef''i were a humanoid alien species with pale-brown skin that featured a few yellow patches on their back. Their faces were almost human, except for their stretched four eyes, pointy ears, long heads, andpleteck of hair.


    Their hands had five fingers, but ck w-like nails grew from them. The few alien scientists in the hall kept them short, but Khan knew that they could stretch them at will.


    The Ef''i hadrge feet but a slim physique. Still, their most iconic feature was the pointy tail growing from the bottom of their back. The white medical coats of the alien scientists had a hole in that spot where that limb coulde out.


    Khan forced himself to straighten his position after he got a clear view of the aliens. His insides were still churning, but he was managing to hold back the desire to vomit.


    The same didn''t apply to most of hispanions. The recruits couldn''t contain themselves and began to puke directly on the tform. Yet, a thin azureyer appeared whenever those substances tried to reach the white metal and burned them in an instant.


    "The first teleports always broke because of this," Lieutenant Unchai whispered when he noticed that Khan was inspecting that scene. "Imagine billions of Credits wasted because the soldiers couldn''t close their stomach."


    A faintugh came out of the Lieutenant before he made his way through the crouching recruits and jumped off the tform. One of the alien scientists stepped forward to greet the soldier, and the two exchanged a firm handshake and polite smiles.


    "[It''s a pleasure to be back here]," Lieutenant Unchai said in the Ef''i''snguage.


    "No need to be so formal," The alien scientist replied in perfect humannguage. "Our alliance hassted for centuries already. You are wee here anytime you want."


    Khan was still in a daze. The Ef''i moved and behaved like a human, but his physique made all those gestures odd to watch. Its tail even moved whenever it tried to express a new emotion.


    ''This one should be a female,'' Khan thought while recalling the information found on thework. ''Our sexual organs aren''tpatible, but I can differentiate them from the size of the chest. Female Ef''i usually have a smaller torso.''


    Khan ignored why thework of the Global Army contained those descriptions, but he felt d that he could recognize the sex of the alien thanks to them. He would be able to avoid making wrong impressions if a conversation with an Ef''i ever happened.


    Lieutenant Unchai and the alien turned toward Khan when they saw him stepping off the teleport. Hispanions were still trying to stand, but he was only slightly pale after the process.


    "You have a resilient one," The Ef''i eximed.


    "He should have the highest attunement with mana among them since the others have yet to receive synthetic mana," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "Khan! Come and greet Tetli!"


    Khan snapped out of his daze and marched toward the duo. He stretched his hand forward as a strange "[hello]" stuttered out of his mouth.


    "That wasn''t too bad," Tetliughed while shaking his hand. "Try it again. Like this: [Heeellloooo]."


    Khan found the sharp change in her voice quite spectacr. Tetli went from having a harmonious human voice to the guttural sounds iconic of the Ef''i''snguage.


    Khan nodded whilemitting to memory the sensations felt when he touched the alien''s rough skin. He cleared his throat before trying to say the same word slowly.


    Both Lieutenant Unchai and Tetli nodded when they heard Khan''s second attempt. His ent was still off, but they could understand the meaning behind his word.


    "You can proceed forward," Tetli eventually said while pointing at the exit from the circr all. "We''ll take care of the other recruits."


    "Thank you!" Lieutenant Unchai eximed while cing a hand behind Khan''s back and pushing him toward the exit with him.


    A long corridor that featured multiple body scanners and other scientists unfolded in Khan''s vision. He had to go through that procedure again, but excitement inevitably began to build inside him.


    Khan would be on a different once he exited that structure. He couldn''t wait to go past that inspection and see the new environment with his own eyes.


    "I thought you would be the thickheaded battle-oriented type," Lieutenant Unchai revealed as the duo walked through the scanners. "It turns out that you have something inside that shovel-shaped brain."


    "I wish to be an ambassador for the Global Army one day," Khan whispered. "I know that my background isn''t much, so I need topensate by working hard."


    "An ambassador?" Lieutenant Unchai gave voice to a surprised gasp. "That might take a long time. Still, it''s far from impossible, especially if you show some talent in xenolinguistics."


    Khan had revealed that information on purpose. Only Martha and Lieutenant Dyester knew about his goal, but he wanted to spread that idea inside the Global Army now.


    Professor Norwell wanted to rope him into the Global Army, so Khan didn''t want to give her too many hints. Instead, Lieutenant Unchai didn''t seem to have hidden intentions. Revealing his goal to the soldier sounded like the best way to spread rumors among the higher-ups.


    The duo crossed thest scanner before approaching the exit. Khan could already see barren red-brown ground past the few windows near the edges of the structure. His curiosity was about to explode, but Lieutenant Unchai suddenly ced an arm in front of him.


    "They need to give you a pill to endure the new atmosphere," Lieutenant Unchai exined.


    "Sir?" A human soldier who held a digital notebook called Lieutenant Unchai when he heard those words. "The boy doesn''t need the pill. His attunement with mana is already past thirty percent."

 Chapter 42 - Barren

    Khan wasn''t aware of the connection between mana and the foreign atmosphere, but he felt slightly disappointed when he heard about his attunement.


    ''Five months of training to gain a mere ten percent,'' Khan sighed in his mind. ''Improving through meditations is so slow.''


    Lieutenant Unchai didn''t share his disappointment. He shot a surprised nce toward Khan before taking the digital notebook from the soldier''s hands.


    The Lieutenant read through the results of the scans while mumbling a few words. Khan didn''t manage to understand much. He only heard the number thirty-one among those unclear lines.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t have the time to check his attunement with mana in the past months. His schedule upied the entirety of his days, and Lieutenant Dyester even took care of refilling his stash of lotions.


    Khan didn''t have any reason to visit the medical bay. He also knew that bing a first-level warrior could take entire years, so he didn''t bother to keep track of his attunement. After all, the first important checkpoint was already behind him. Other percentages had no meaning until he reached fifty percent.


    "Did you say ambassador before?" Lieutenant Unchai asked while handing the digital notebook back to the soldier.


    Khan limited himself to nod, and the Lieutenant wore a pensive expression while his hand reached his chin. The man sized Khan with his eyes while various thoughts filled his mind.


    "Try to perform well in the semestral missions," Lieutenant Unchai eventually eximed. "There might be something for you if your talent doesn''t drop."


    Khan''s eyes lit up. He didn''t expect his faint hint from before to give results already, but he didn''t refuse that oue. Yet, his doubts about the alien atmosphere remained in his mind.


    "Can I breathe Onia''s air with thirty percent attunement?" Khan asked while turning toward the Lieutenant.


    "It''s not a matter of breathing," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "Your body has already gone past normal human limits at this point. The mana will naturally help you absorb what you need from the air. You also have lower requirements. Give it a few hours and you''ll barely notice the difference with Earth."


    Khan nodded, and the duo began to walk toward the exit. His excitement was about to burst out of his body when the metal doors slid open, but the first contact with the alien air ruined the moment when he stepped on the red-brown ground.


    Khan bent his back forward as he gasped for air. He could sense his lungs expanding and shrinking whenever he breathed, but they didn''t seem to provide any oxygen to his tissues.


    Instead, he felt like a dense liquid was trying to fill his lungs and seal his throat. He was suffocating even with his breathing working as usual. The strangeness of the sensation and the fear felt in those moments were impossible to put into simple words.


    However, his lungs slowly became used to that change. The liquid that seemed to fill his organs grew lighter and lost part of its density as Khan continued to breathe.


    Some life eventually returned to his flesh. Khan still felt weak and out of breath, but he wasn''t dying anymore. Moreover, his condition seemed to improve whenever he concluded a breathing cycle. His body was getting used to Onia''s atmosphere.


    "Wee to Onia," Lieutenant Unchai eximed when he saw that Khan could straighten his back and focus on the environment. "The seems barren on the surface, but its underground world is rich in life and vegetation."


    A red-brown spectacle unfolded in Khan''s vision. His eyes went past the various ck buildings that filled his surroundings. He focused on the environment outside of the settlement and saw a series of short mountains stretching in the distance.


    The Global Army had built the camp on a in that featured many pieces of cracked ground. The site''syout resembled co''s training camp, even if it seemed tock a few core buildings. It was also smaller, and a tall fence reinforced with mana encircled the various structures.


    The ground and the mountains in the distance feature the same red-brown terrain. There didn''t seem to any change in that environment.


    ''It''s quite hot,'' Khan thought while moving his eyes toward the sky.


    Onia was far warmer than Earth. His uniform didn''t seem to suit that hot environment. Sweat even umted on his back, but everything became meaningless when he noticed the two suns illuminating the sky.


    "Don''t turn yourself blind," Lieutenant Unchai shouted. "Onia only has two hours of darkness, and the days herest for thirty hours. The Ef''i have superior stamina due to the harsh conditions of their. They are quite strong."


    "Stronger than humans?" Khan asked.


    "We get stronger after the evolution," Lieutenant Unchaiughed. "You can say that humans arete bloomers. Yet, some of our talents can still rival the best Ef''i even before surpassing one hundred percent attunement."


    Lieutenant Unchai couldn''t help but nce at Khan when he said those words. Winning the tournaments on Onia was important for the Global Army, and finding new talents was vital for that part.


    A jeep eventually ran from the other side of the camp and stopped in front of the duo. The soldier riding it jumped off and performed a military salute before climbing back into the vehicle.


    Lieutenant Unchai entered the jeep and gestured to Khan to hop in. Khan sat with him in the backseats, but he still nced toward the previous structure in confusion.


    "Shouldn''t we wait for the others?" Khan asked.


    "They will be out for a bit," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "Tetli and the others can take care of them. I honestly didn''t expect to havepany during this part of the trip."


    Khan limited himself to nod before continuing with his questions. "Where are we going?"


    "This camp only has the teleport and a few structures meant for the other soldiers," Lieutenant Unchai said while patting the front seat. "We must go to another training camp. This ce isn''t suitable for recruits."


    The jeep soon left the camp, and Khan didn''t bother to question Lieutenant Unchai anymore. Onia''s environment had captured his entire attention. That red-brown stillness was quite in, but it gained a mystical vibe since it belonged to an alien world.


    The car tripsted for a couple of hours that Khan spent meditating once he grew tired of the environment. Arger training camp unfolded in his eyes once the group was about to reach their destination. The Global Army had built the site at the base of a short mountain, with some structures dug inside the red-brown rocks.


    The camp didn''t only feature the ssic architecture of the Global Army. Humankind had moved toward functional but majestic buildings during the five hundred years after the First Impact. They had left behind part of their artistic sense to focus on the wonderful fusion between technology and mana.


    However, some of the structures inside the camp had apletely different color. They didn''t use the iconic ck metal of the Global Army. They relied on the same green alloy around the teleport.


    The style of the green buildings was alsopletely different. Humankind preferred smooth surfaces that featured multiplerge windows, but the green structures had vast arrays of spike-like items on their entire exteriors. Their windows were even fairly small. They seemed to have battle purposes rather than a purely aesthetic nature.


    "Are we going to live with the Ef''i?" Khan asked when he finished studying the green buildings.


    "Smartd!" Lieutenant Unchai eximed. "The Global Army thought to use this chance to give you an idea of the Ef''i. Getting used to facing aliens early on is for the best."


    ''Lieutenant Dyester might have been correct,'' Khan thought while Lieutenant Unchai exploded into augh. ''The Global Army might have nned to prepare us for the tournaments.''


    Khan didn''t mind those hidden intentions. He simply didn''t like that his organization had to keep some evident purpose a secret.


    The jeep entered the training camp, and Lieutenant Unchai and Khan jumped off the vehicle. The soldier in the car then did an inversion and left the site to return to his position.


    "I''ll show you where you will stay," Lieutenant Unchai announced. "There won''t be lessons today, so you can rest and make yourself at home."


    "[Look at them]!" An alien voice that spoke the Ef''inguage suddenly resounded behind the two. "[The Earthlings have arrived]!"


    Khan and Lieutenant Unchai turned and saw a tall Ef''i followed by a series of younger aliens belonging to the same species. His face expressed a bit of arrogance that the differences from the humans couldn''t hide.


    "[Teco]!" Lieutenant Unchai suddenly shouted. "[I didn''t expect to find you here on my first day. Did you manage to produce some good students this year]?"


    "[Our batches only get better]," Teco scoffed. "[The Ef''i don''t getzy after victories. Humans do]."


    "[Why don''t we test it out then]?" Lieutenant Unchai proposed. "[Your best against my best]."


    Teco snorted before giving voice to a guttural sound. The tallest Ef''i among his group stepped forward and joined his fists to perform a polite salute.


    "Go on," Lieutenant Unchai said while pushing Khan forward. "Go greet your opponent."


    "Opponent?!" Khan asked in a surprised tone.


    Khan didn''t understand anything about the previous conversation. He even ignored the meaning behind those tones.


    "The Ef''i take pride in their strength," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "The best way to win their respect is to face them in a fight. You wanted to be an ambassador, right? Use this chance to establish your first alien rtionship."


    Khan felt that everything was moving too quickly, but he didn''t turn his back on the fight. He actually felt curious about his current power.


    Khan stepped forward and ced his arms behind his back before performing a military salute. His eyes didn''t move from the tall Ef''i during the process. He inspected his opponent from head to toe during those short seconds.


    His opponent was two meters tall and was clearly a male due to his broad chest. He was still quite slender, but a few bulging muscles ruined his harmonious physique.


    "What are the rules of the fight?" Khan asked.


    "Knock him unconscious," Lieutenant Unchai exined.


    "I meant about man-," Khan wanted to ask, but Teco suddenly gave voice to a guttural sound and suppressed his question.


    The tall Ef''i immediately bent his legs and began to summon his mana. Khan could sense his power increasing. The alien was trying to perform aplete technique.


    The instincts that Lieutenant Dyester had forced his body to memorize kicked in. Khan bent his legs and shot forward in an instant. He didn''t even bother to try to summon his mana.


    The Ef''i was still in the process of gathering his mana when a sharp pain spread from his abdomen. His feet also left the ground as he flew back into his group.


    Khan had closed the distance between the two in an instant. His leg hadnded on the alien''s abdomen before he couldplete his technique!


    Yet, the Ef''i stood up and cleaned the blood that had appeared on the corners of his mouth. The alien had endured Khan''s blow. He was ready to resume the battle, and an excited smile even appeared on his face.

 Chapter 43 - Blood

    Khan''s battles after he had obtained mana had beenpletely one-sided. The bullies couldn''t help but suffer severe injuries every time he hit them, while Lieutenant Dyester was simply unbeatable.


    The tall Ef''i was the first opponent who could put up a decent fight, and Khan ended up feeling excited about it. The alien could show him his current limits and give him a clear idea of his current prowess.


    ''He definitely felt it,'' Khan thought when he looked at the green spots of blood that remained on the corners of the alien''s mouth.


    The Ef''i gave voice to a few guttural sounds before patting his chest. Khan didn''t understand what he said, but a clear word eventually resounded while the alien pointed at his face.


    "Cilli!" The alien shouted while pointing at his face multiple times.


    Khan finally understood what he meant. The Ef''i was announcing his name, and Khan happily imitated his gesture.


    "Khan!" Khan shouted while pointing at his face.


    The two exchanged an excited smile before resuming their battle stances. Cilli didn''t try to summon his mana at that time. He bent his legs and stretched one arm forward. His ws grew by a few centimeters, and his tail arched until it pointed at Khan from above his shoulder.


    Khan suddenly recalled about the Ef''i''s pointy tail. He didn''t forget about that limb, but he didn''t consider that the alien could use it in battle until then.


    ''Their martial arts should be different,'' Khan realized in his mind.


    The different physique of the Ef''i opened the path for techniques that humans couldn''t perform. Those aliens had ess to normal martial arts due to their humanoid figures, but they could also go past them thanks to their additional features.


    Khan inspected Cilli''s body before giving up on trying to understand his fighting techniques from those nces. He wouldn''t need to find it out if he executed the Lightning-demon style correctly.


    Khan took a deep breath as his body bent forward. He seemed about to fall to the ground, but his figure shot ahead when his knees were only a few centimeters from the red-brown terrain.


    Faint afterimages materialized behind Khan as his light steps generated an incredible eleration. He reached his opponent in an instant, but he suddenly pointed his right foot and twisted his ankle to rotate his body and shift his momentum on his rising leg.


    The tip of Khan''s foot dug the terrain as he performed a roundhouse kick aimed at Cilli''s stomach. The alien couldn''t react to his incredible speed again, but determination appeared on his face when he noticed the arrival of the attack.


    The wsing out of Cilli''s naked feet stretched and curved until they pierced the terrain. Khan''s kicknded on his torso at that point, and the immense power carried by his attack pushed the alien backward.


    However, Cilli pointed his sharp feet to avoid flying away. His ws dug the terrain and made him stop after sliding for only two meters. His limbs couldn''t reach Khan at that distance, but the same didn''t apply to his tail.


    Cilli''s tail shot forward and aimed for the center of Khan''s chest. That limb was slim and quick, and Khan felt forced to cross his arms to block it.


    An immense force fell on Khan''s arms and spread through his shoulders. His body inevitably slid backward, and a deep wound appeared on his right forearm.


    ''That''s crazy sharp!'' Khan shouted in his mind before taking a step back to exit the alien''s range.


    Khan inspected his forearm and found a two centimeters deep cut where the tail had hit him. Cilli wasn''t holding back his deadly force at all. Things might have gotten dangerous if Khan didn''t manage to block the attack.


    ''Is he trying to kill me?'' Khan wondered, but his expression froze when Cilli showed a disappointed face.


    The alien had seen the surprise and fear that had appeared in Khan''s face, and the event let him down. Cilli believed to have found a worthy opponent, but it seemed that Khan was only a scared kid.


    ''They don''t simply value battles,'' Khan understood after noticing that disappointment. ''They worship them!''


    Khan then took another deep breath and let go of his restraints. He had aimed both times for Cilli''s torso because Lieutenant Unchai had only ordered to knock him down. Yet, his previous approach wouldn''t work since the Ef''i''s idea of battle was far different.


    The fear, surprise, and excitement that ran through Khan''s face disappeared. He abandoned every emotion as his expression grew cold.


    The Ef''i might have trained Cilli to consider every battle as a matter of life and death, but Lieutenant Dyester had done the same. Moreover, Khan had experienced a level of mental torture due to his nightmares that normal kids of his age couldn''t even imagine.


    Cilli seemed ready for his first war, but Khan had already witnessed it every night of thest eleven and a half years. The Ef''i''s honorable approach to pain came from the beliefs of his species, but it couldn''tpare to Khan''s mindset. He had epted desperation as his normality a long time ago.


    Khan shot forward again. He performed his usual eleration, but Cilli had grown used to that technique by then. His four eyes even allowed him to follow the quick movements of his opponent, and his tail promptly pierced the air to intercept the sprint.


    Yet, Khan flowed into another attack when he noticed the iing tail. His body had already begun to rotate, but he put more strength on the foot stabbed on the ground.


    The tail pierced Khan''s figure, but Cilli suddenly realized that he had only hit an afterimage. Khan had jumped without interrupting his rotation. His body continued to spin mid-air and moved the power umted with his momentum toward his right leg.


    Cilli couldn''t do anything to stop that attack. He had noticed the second technique toote. His four eyes could only watch as Khan''s horizontal figure delivered a descending kick at the top of his long head.


    The Ef''i gritted his teeth to endure the blow, but the kick inevitably flung him downward. His knees and palms hit the ground as everything grew confused in his vision.


    Khan couldn''t help but respect the Ef''i''s resilience when he saw that Cilli struggled to stand up while his body finished descending toward the ground. However, those thoughts only affected the back of his mind. His legs moved as soon as his feet touched the terrain.


    A knee filled Cilli''s vision when he managed to regain some focus. The alien had just begun to straighten his position, but Khan didn''t let him rest.


    Green blood fell from Cilli''s nose and mouth as Khan''s attack straightened his back and exposed his torso. Khan noticed the Ef''i''s tail flying toward him with the corner of his eyes, but his experience told him that his next kick wouldnd before it.


    Khan bent his body backward to give power to his leg. His knee was already in the air due to his previous attack, so he only had to tilt his shinbone to make his heel hit the alien torso.


    Cilli flew backward again. The alien fell among his group, but Khan didn''t let him go even at that point. He jumped among the Ef''i and stomped both feet on the chest of his confused opponent.


    The other Ef''i didn''t dare to affect the battle. Theirpanion was lying among them, and Khan was jumping on his chest, but they didn''t move.


    Khan didn''t care about his surroundings either. Cilli had decided to have a battle to the death, and he would happily y along.


    Images of his nightmare shed in Khan''s vision whenever he jumped on Cilli''s chest. The alien spat green blood every time the entirety of Khan''s body weight fell on his abdomen. His senses were about to give in, but the relentless assault suddenly stopped and gave him the time to breathe.


    Khan found a sharp tail wrapped around his left arm. Teco had stepped in to interrupt the battle. Disappointment shed on his face when the Ef''i nced at his student, but that feeling didn''t hide his respect toward Khan.


    "Good battle," Teco eximed with a guttural ent.


    Khan nodded and stepped off Cilli. His aloof eyes fell on his bleeding opponent onest time before he turned and walked back to Lieutenant Unchai.


    The Lieutenant patted his shoulder. Khan heaved a helpless sigh as he suppressed the violent images of his nightmare. He didn''t lose control of his actions, but the coldness shown during thest part of the battle had scared him.


    ''I was ready to kill him,'' Khan thought while mustering his courage to turn toward the alien group.


    Cilli had clearly deserved that beatdown, and the Ef''i even saw it as a necessary procedure due to their customs. Yet, Khan was a human, so his ideals were different. He didn''t feel good after attempting to kill one of his future sparring partners.


    Teco gave voice to a guttural sound, and the group of Ef''i quickly grabbed Cilli to drag him toward one of the green buildings. Those young aliens nodded when they crossed Khan''s gaze. They seemed unable to avoid showing their respect toward him.


    Even Teco abandoned his previous fervor and exchanged a polite handshake with Lieutenant Unchai before following his students. The group left in a matter of seconds, and Khan soon remained alone with the soldier.


    "Did I do well?" Khan asked as doubts raged inside his mind.


    "You did well, kid," Lieutenant Unchai sighed when he saw Khan''s conflicted expression. "The first contact with an alien species is always peculiar. Your first had to be the Ef''i, so you''ve learnt how reckless they are when ites to battles."


    "Are they all ready to die over these pointless fights?" Khan asked.


    "They aren''t pointless for them," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "Learn the alien traditions, but don''t let them get to your head. You have only adapted to their culture. No need to overthink your actions."


    Lieutenant Unchai then led Khan toward his habitation, but his mood didn''t improve during the walk. A reurring question deafened the rest of his thoughts and forced him to ept the reality of his previous actions.


    ''What would I do in front of a Nak?'' Khan wondered while moving to the foreign building and entering the first empty t that he found.


    Khan didn''t want to think anymore. He only wanted to dive deep into his training and ignore the recent events until he understood himself better.

 Chapter 44 - Answers

    Khan had a lot of time for himself inside his new habitation. He didn''t bother to study the insides of the ck building due to his poor mood, but its style resembled his dormitory, so finding a t wasn''t an issue.


    The building didn''t even have soldiers patrolling its corridors, so Khan had only needed to find an empty t before sitting on a bed and starting his usual training.


    The other recruits didn''t arrive anytime soon. Khan could focus on the mental training for his element. He had justpleted the seventh exercise, so he had to repeat it without emotions to clear the eighth.


    Khan studied a rtivelyrge lump of mana inside his brain as he tried to think about many small hands meant to modify it. However, the process was far slower than usual since a faint azure barrier was isting his target.


    Every even mental exercise required him to repeat the previous lesson without using emotions. The process forced him to create a barrier made of thoughts and mana that isted every feeling.


    Only emotionless thoughts could affect the mana inside the barrier, but Khan''s control over them wascking. He was basically using less than half of his mind in the exercise, which inevitably slowed down the entire procedure.


    Khan found it even harder to approach the exercise that morning. His barrier continued to open whenever he tried to manipte the mana. Images of his battle against Cilli appeared in his vision when the emotions invaded his thoughts. He saw himself jumping on the alien''s chest and feeling nothing but coldness.


    That interruption happened a few times before Khan gave up on his mental training. He would get nowhere until he fixed his mindset, but proper answers still struggled to arrive.


    Part of him still belonged to a sixteen years old boy who wanted to live a normal life. Yet, there was a mature man who had be used to experiencing true desperation on the other side.


    Boy-Khan wasn''t ready to take a life. He only wanted to bathe in the wonders of mana and explore the universe. His desires were quite childish, but they were also appropriate for his age.


    Instead, man-Khan went through the nightmare of the Second Impact every night. He had grown used to the sight of charred and maimed corpses. His life in the Slums had also forced him to develop a faint paranoia toward his peers.


    Khan tried to sort his thoughts and find a middle ground between those two sides, but the quest appeared impossible. Moreover, his personality was naturally shifting toward man-Khan as his training and age advanced.


    ''Will I turn into a cold murderer?'' Khan wondered while recalling Lieutenant Dyester''s words. ''Do I already have that tendency?''


    The aspect that made Khan hesitate the most was hisck of regret toward that trend. He could understand the negative features connected to a cold and uncaring personality, but everything seemed justified in front of his desperation.


    Khan remained on his bed while his mind went through those chaotic thoughts. He didn''t bother to meditate, and even his appetite struggled to arrive. Lunchtime had already passed, but he didn''t feel like standing up and understanding how to find food in that alien training camp.


    A familiar figure then walked past his t. Khan only managed to catch a faint glimpse of familiar dark hair before a face decided to peek inside his t.


    "You are here," Martha eximed when she noticed Khan on the bed.


    Khan inspected his friend. Martha was still pale even after many hours had passed since the teleport, but she could stand easily, at least. Also, excitement filled her face due to her first trip on an alien.


    "What happened to you?" Martha asked when she noticed that Khan''s mood was quite poor.


    Martha didn''t even hesitate to enter the t and sit on Khan''s bed. She feltfortable around him, and the duo had never tried to move their rtionship past friendship anyway.


    "I fought against one of the Ef''i," Khan revealed while staring at the wall in front of him.


    "And?" Martha asked as her eyes widened in surprise.


    "And I beat him, hard," Khan continued.


    "That''s great!" Martha shouted. "You have already established a good foundation for your future connections on Onia. The Ef''i will continue to respect you for years!"


    Martha almost couldn''t believe that Khan had fought an Ef''i while she was recovering from the teleport, but she felt truly happy for her friend. After all, she knew how that feat could improve his path to be an ambassador in the future.


    "I was ready to kill him, Martha," Khan added while keeping his voice down. "I think something inside me is broken."


    Other recruits began to walk through the corridor connected to Khan''s room. Many of them inevitably noticed the scene, and faintughs escaped from their mouths when they saw the two sitting on the same bed.


    Chatters resounded through the corridor. The special ss would definitely keep that gossip alive for many months, but Khan and Martha barely noticed their noise.


    Martha slowly realized that Khan was going through a difficult moment, and helplessness filled her mind when she understood that her words wouldn''t do much in that situation.


    She knew something that Khan had failed to realize during his days in the training camp. Man-Khan already had the mindset of an experienced soldier who had served on the frontlines, but that couldn''t suit a boy.


    "You are ahead of us," Martha eventually sighed and caught Khan''s attention.


    "We will all learn how to gain your mindset," Martha continued when Khan fixed his eyes on her. "That usually happens during our first real battle, or when we take a life for the first time. However, all of us will inevitably reach your point."


    Khan didn''t answer. He continued to listen to Martha and review her words. There was truth in her lines, even if they seemed to carry a great sadness.


    "Recruits always tend to forget that the Global Army is teaching us how to kill," Martha scoffed. "The known universe might be at peace, but we remain soldiers. Take Lieutenant Dyester, for example. The next crisis might be behind the corner, and we might end up in the middle of it."


    "Should I just look at the positive side then?" Khan asked.


    "I think you should find the path that doesn''t make you regret things," Martha replied while putting her back on the wall and staring at the other side of the t. "You have years to find your answers. We won''t start to search for them until the traumatic event actually happens."


    Khan continued to look at Martha''s face before her words finally managed to seep inside his mind. He then released a meaningless growl while lying on the bed and stretching his legs on Martha''sp.


    "Take these dirty things away from me!" Martha snorted while trying to move away Khan''s legs, but thetter forced them to remain above her.


    "Weren''t youforting me?" Khan began tough. "I''mfortable now."


    "Shut up and move!" Marthained, but she eventually started tough too while fighting against Khan''s legs.


    "Fine!" Martha eventually gave up when she understood that she couldn''t get rid of those nimble limbs. "Just for a few minutes!"


    "We are lucky the other recruits have already gone past the room," Khanughed while putting his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling.


    "You are actually enjoying this!" Martha pouted while pinching Khan''s arm.


    Martha suddenly noticed a red spot of blood when her move forced Khan to retract his arm. The cut caused by Cilli''s tail was still there, but the wound had started to close.


    "Why did you worry so much about your intentions when the Ef''i wanted to kill you?" Martha asked as her hand gently touched Khan''s forearm and kept it still to inspect the injury.


    "It''s nothing," Khan eximed without retracting his arm any further.


    Some warmth spread inside his mind as Martha''s fingers circled the edges of the cut. She appeared really concerned about the wound, and Khan couldn''t help but stare at her serious face during the process.


    "You are quite stunning," Khan eventually said in a in voice. "How did you even end up taking care of me?"


    Martha''s blushed and prepared herself to hit Khan, but her hand stopped when she noticed that he was wearing his serious expression.


    "Try not to change when the trauma hits you," Khan continued. "I''ll help you take care of that matter once it happens, but remain the same. It would be a pity."


    Martha continued to remain stunned. Her hand was still on Khan''s forearm, and faint tremors ran through it as she kept staring at those azure eyes. Yet, a sudden growl resounded from Khan''s abdomen and ruined that romantic scene.


    "Shut up, idiot," Martha said in a slightly high-pitched voice before retracting her hand and moving Khan''s legs away.


    The girl jumped off the bed and neared the entrance of the t, but she stopped her tracks when she was about to return to the corridor.


    "I know I can count on you," Martha whispered before shooting a nce toward Khan and leaving the room.


    Khan remained alone inside the t. Everything had grown colder after Martha had left, and the images of the battle against Cilli reappeared in his vision. Yet, they didn''t seem too grim anymore. Instead, Khan managed to see their positive side.


    ''I''m strong,'' Khan realized in his mind before closing his eyes and going back into his brain.


    The eighth exercise was waiting for him, and something told him that it would go far better now.

 Chapter 45 - Training Hall

    The recruits spent the first day on Onia inside their ts. Most of them had to rest to recover from the negative effects of the teleport. Some of the soldiers inside the camp even opted to bring food directly into the building since the younglings didn''t have enough energy to stand.


    Khan remained alone in his t. The special ss had the entire ground floor of the building for themselves, so some managed to im rooms for themselves. Still, that mostly happened to the wealthy kids, while Khan''s situation came from the gossips that ran among his peers.


    The other kids wanted to give him the chance to remain alone with Martha if the situation required it. Of course, Khan didn''t learn about that on his own. Martha had to exin it through a message.


    The Global Army''swork worked fine on Onia. The soldiers had upied the for centuries already, so they had many structures meant for those services. Almost every training camp worked as a station for the signal.


    Khan ate, meditated, spent hours in his mental training, and repeated the various forms of the Lightning-demon style inside his t after sealing the entrance. His day went by quickly, and he soon hit the bed to return to his nightmare.


    Khan had set the rm early as usual, but his phone didn''t have the time to ring the next morning since a loud siren echoed through the entire building and forced all the recruits to wake up.


    ''It''s four am!'' Khan shouted in his mind when his sleepy eyes fell on his phone. ''Wait. Do Earth hours even count here?''


    Khan browsed through the various menus and discovered that his phone had already adapted to Onia''s time. He could see that the device considered the days thirty hours long now, but the Global Army didn''t use that additional time to let him sleep a bit more.


    "All recruits must gather outside of the building in five minutes," Lieutenant Unchai''s voice resounded through the entire floor. "Don''t bete. I don''t want to show you my punishments so soon."


    The recruits didn''t have much choice after those threats. Khan quickly donned one of the clean uniforms inside his t and washed his face with a cold liquid in the bathroom that resembled water before diving outside the building.


    Khan was one of the first to arrive outside. Lieutenant Unchai was already waiting for them in front of the building. His eyes moved between his phone and the recruits as he kept track of the passage of time.


    One recruit ended up arriving a mere ten seconds after the countdown reached zero. She was a tall girl with long blond hair and a sleepy face that Khan vaguely knew as Iris.


    "Do fiveps around the camp," Lieutenant Unchai ordered. "Report to me once you are done."


    Iris widened her eyes, but she didn''t feel too saddened about that punishment. After all, a mere fiveps were nothing for the body of someone with attunement past twenty percent. However, Lieutenant Unchai soon shattered her dreams.


    "The Global Army considers the mountain part of the training camp," Lieutenant Unchai added in a severe tone. "Don''t get lost. It''s hard to find recruits on Onia. Only the Ef''i can differentiate between the mountains."


    Iris'' expression froze, and she even tried toin, but no words came out of her open mouth when she focused on Lieutenant Unchai''s stern face.


    All the recruits remained silent during those seconds. None of them dared to exchange nces with the girl. Iris could only walk toward the exit of the camp and start her punishment.


    "The environment on Onia is harsh," Lieutenant Unchai announced once he confirmed that Iris had started her firstp. "We are only four hours into the day, but the temperatures are already high."


    Lieutenant Unchai pointed at the sky to emphasize his words. The light radiated by the suns made the scene feel like one of the hottest days on Earth, but that was only a regr early morning for Onia.


    "Longer days might sound like more breaks in yourzy minds," Lieutenant Unchai continued, "But I only see them as a chance to train more. You must abandon your human schedules during these two weeks. You''ll live as Ef''i and work harder than them."


    "What about our Masters, sir?" Luke politely asked after performing a military salute.


    "They are still handling the paperwork for the travel," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "You arepletely mine for the next few days."


    Luke''s expression froze, but he didn''t dare to show any unpleasant feeling. He limited himself to break his salute and wait for the Lieutenant to give orders.


    "Your new schedule will feature physical training, lessons, and more physical training," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "Your Masters can take care of the second physical session once they arrive here, but you''ll remain mine for the first. Is everything clear?"


    The recruits shouted a loud "yes, sir" at the same time, and the Lieutenant nodded before pointing at arge building near the mountain.


    "You''ll fight there," Lieutenant Unchai. "I''ll use the first week to evaluate, fix, and improve yourbat style. The best of you will have the chance to fight against Ef''i during the second week, so work hard."


    Excitement inevitably spread through the recruits. The various training sessions were nothing unusual, but the chance to fight aliens was priceless. That feat would end up on their profile and improve their value in the eyes of the Global Army.


    "Khan has been kind enough to defeat the best Ef''i in the other group while you were out," Lieutenant Unchai suddenly announced. "The aliens can''t wait to face you all, so work hard."


    All the recruits immediately turned toward Khan. They still recalled how hard it had been to recover from the harmful effects of the teleport, but theirpanion had managed to fight and defeat one of the Ef''i during that time.


    ''Did he really need to say it out loud?'' Khan sighed in his mind while forcing himself to ignore those nces.


    Khan knew that Lieutenant Unchai didn''t have bad intentions, but being at the center of the attention was quite bothersome for someone who spent most of his time training. His political skills were still too poor to handle all the wealthy kids.


    "You have watched enough," Lieutenant Unchai announced. "Move! March toward the arena and start warming up! I''ll reach you in a few minutes."


    All the recruits started to walk toward the arena, and Lieutenant Unchai oversaw their march. Yet, he ced a hand on Khan''s shoulder to stop him and separate him from the rest of the group.


    Many noticed that scene, but they ignored it after shooting a few curious nces. Only Martha inspected that action a bit more, but she turned when Khan nodded at her.


    "Do I get to skip morning training after beating the Ef''i?" Khan asked after the other recruits were far away.


    "In your dreams," Lieutenant Unchai snorted while leading Khan toward a different part of the camp. "I can''t put you against the other recruits until I understand how strong they are."


    "Will I have to fight you?" Khan asked as his mind silently prepared him for a beatdown.


    "I have something better," Lieutenant Unchai eximed while revealing a proud smile. "You have never been inside a training hall, right?"


    Khan''s eyes lit up before looking around in excitement, and his gaze soon focused on arge building in the distance since there didn''t seem to be anything else relevant on his path.


    The building was two stories tall, and part of itsrge base was inside the mountain. It didn''t have any window, but faint azure shes ran through its ck surfaces.


    Lieutenant Unchai led Khan inside the building and tinkered with a few menus after the entrance to register Khan''s gic signature.


    Ample insides unfolded in Khan''s vision. The corridor after the entrance could contain a group of thirty people, and the many halls connected to it seemed as big as the various basements in co''s training camp.


    "I bet you don''t even know how the training halls work," Lieutenant Unchai sighed while leading Khan into one of the rooms.


    Khan limited himself to shake his head. The amount of space avable in those halls already outssed the cramped area of the prisons of the camp. That alone made his eyes shine in excitement.


    Still, the surprises were far from over. Lieutenant Unchai tapped his foot a few times, and a series of menus lit up on the floor. He browsed through them with his legs and eventually arrived at abel that said "free advancedbat training".


    Lieutenant Unchai pressed thatbel, and a mechanical noise immediately spread inside a wall in the distance. Gears and drills moved on the other side of the ck metal, and a cavity soon slid open.


    A humanoid puppet slowly walked out of the cavity. Wires and tubes that contained azure energy detached from its body during the process before returning inside the wall. The hole then closed, and white writings appeared on the wall as a mechanical voice resounded inside the hall.


    "Level zero," The mechanical voice announced while the puppet took a simple battle stance.


    "It won''t start fighting until you attack it," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "Defeating it will make the training program move to the next difficulty level. Don''t hold back. The Global Army makes them to take blows."

 Chapter 46 - Levels

    Dark-silver metal made the entire exoskeleton of the puppet. The training dummy was a few centimeters short of being two meters tall, and it featuredrge spheres instead of fingers and hands.


    White light shone from the puppet''s joints and made it visible in the faint darkness of the training hall. The neon and the glow of the writing on the wall were the only forms of illumination inside the area, but they were bright enough to avoid any issue linked to vision.


    "Can I break it?" Khan asked as his legs started to itch.


    "You must to get to the next level," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "Don''t bother thinking about the cost of these things. The Global Army will pay for everything during these two weeks."


    "What level should I reach?" Khan asked while stretching his arms and legs.


    "You must be a first-level warrior to handle the levels past ten," Lieutenant Unchai replied. "Reaching that point means that you have achieved apetent proficiency level with your martial arts. Of course, that evaluation only involves the base techniques, not their version with mana."


    "No mana then?" Khan asked as a tinge of disappointment seeped into his voice.


    "The puppets capable of testing actual proficiency levels are far more expensive," Lieutenant Unchai announced. "The Global Army can''t give them for free, especially for a recruit who can''t control mana correctly. You have to stick to the base techniques this time."


    Khan nodded and prepared himself to fight, but Lieutenant Unchai continued to exin the puppet''s features. "The training program will analyze your fighting style and try to counter it as you advance through the levels. Its system contains hundreds of martial arts that reach up to fifty points, and it can mix them if needed."


    Lieutenant Unchai''s words were a sweet melody that entered Khan''s ears. Lieutenant Dyester had stressed the importance of training halls, but Khan had never managed to understand how useful they were. However, everything became clear when he heard those exnations.


    "The system resets every time you exit the training program," Lieutenant Unchai added. "I suggest you work your way through the various levels and learn the different functions before creating targeted exercises. You might be unable to cross the fifth level after starting from zero, but things can go differently if you go directly to that difficulty."


    Lieutenant Unchai nced at Khan to see if the boy had understood his words, and thetter nodded. Everything was quite clear, and Khan even tapped the floor to review the various options andmands that the training program had to offer.


    Khan only had ess to a few menus with his gic signature, so browsing through them was extremely easy. The meaning behind Lieutenant Unchai recent exnation became clear after he reached the list of martial arts in the training program. The various levels became harsher depending on how much time the system had spent adapting to his battle style.


    "I''ll see where the system stops me before trying to reach my highest," Khan announced, and Lieutenant Unchai nodded at those words.


    "That''s for the best," Lieutenant Unchai continued. "Every martial art has positive and negative matchups. Try to focus on the overall level of the puppet to gain an idea of your proficiency. Remember that this only serves to give you battle experience in different fields. A lot will change once you start relying on mana."


    Khan nodded before starting to jump on the spot. He was ready, and Lieutenant Unchai sensed his excitement. The soldier turned to approach the exit before giving somest directives.


    "The training hall will automatically warn you when the lessons are up," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "You can spend as much time as you want inside here after them. I''ll only bother you if some of yourpanions turn out to be suitable opponents or when it''s time to fight the Ef''i."


    "Can I order food from here?" Khan asked before the Lieutenant could leave the training hall.


    "Just connect your phone to the floor," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "The soldiers can''t bring much here, but I don''t think that''s an issue for you."


    "Not at all!" Khan shouted, and his expression grew aloof when he heard the metal doors sliding behind him.


    Khan took his phone out of his pocket and ced it inside an opening on the floor. Menus lit up there, but he ignored them for the time being.


    Khan removed his shoes and took off the upper part of his uniform. His opponent couldn''t die or suffer permanent injuries. He could finally go all-out without worrying about nasty consequences.


    ''Defeating level ten will put the proficiency of my basic techniques onpetent,'' Khan thought before taking a deep breath and bending forward.


    Khan shot forward, deploying one of his best eleration. The puppet began to move its arms around its chest to prepare for the imminent sh, but a kicknded on its head before it could even understand where Khan was aiming.


    The puppet flew backward as the metal on its head bent. A heel-shaped mark had appeared on its face, and the writing on the wall immediately turned green.


    ''Did I win already?'' Khan wondered, and the training program soon confirmed his guess.


    The puppet crawled back toward the wall, which opened and started to modify its limbs and damaged parts. Khan could see many metal arms tinkering with the machine before the zero on the wall transformed into a one.


    "Level one," The mechanical voice announced inside the training hall while the puppet walked outside the wall. "Enhanced reflexes."


    A red light had appeared at the center of the puppet''s face. A harmless beam shot out of that new feature and pointed at the center of Khan''s chest.


    ''Is it scanning me?'' Khan wondered, but he didn''t let his doubts waste his time.


    Khan shot ahead again and raised his leg to deliver a precise attack toward its head. However, the dummy managed to lift its arms and cover its face before the arrival of the kick.


    ''Still slow,'' Khan thought while his raised leg continued to rotate instead ofnding on the metal arms.


    Khan''s roundhouse frontal kick transformed into an airborne circr attack that used his other leg to hit the uncovered part of the puppet''s head.


    The attack flung the puppet away. Khan had amassed far more momentum while flowing in the second technique, and the metal carried proofs of its power. His shinbone had pierced the side of the dummy''s head and had disfigured its face.


    Even the red eye had broken after the kick. The puppet seemed unable to work properly while the training program announced that Khan had cleared the level. The dummy couldn''t move back inside the wall due to the damages suffered in the exchange.


    ''Do I have to push it inside now?'' Khan wondered, but a metal rope suddenly shot out of the wall and attached itself on the puppet''s back.


    The rope seemed to have a maic field that kept the puppet stuck to its surface. The gears inside the wall then spun to retract the cord and bring the dummy inside the workshop.


    "Level two," The metallic voice shouted. "Enhanced reflexes, enhanced mobility, enhanced resilience."


    The new puppet that came out of the wall was far different from before. It now had three red eyes, and new joints had appeared on its wrists, elbows, shoulders, and knees. Its dark-silver metal also appeared darker after the modifications.


    Khan didn''t bother to take a few steps back. Testing one of his most efficient techniques over and over again was pointless. He was there to improve, and that approach wasn''t working.


    His ankles twisted to make him sprint toward the puppet''s side. The three red eyes followed Khan and made the dummy tilt its guard ording to his position.


    ''He can follow my movements now!'' Khan shouted in his mind when he saw that the puppet''s actions had no dys.


    His figure performed a sharp turn and made him approach the puppet frontally. Khan raised his leg to deliver a circr kick aimed at the dummy''s head, but metal arms appeared on the trajectory of his attack.


    Khan immediately flowed into another technique at that point. His waist spun until it faced the ground and altered the trajectory of his leg.


    His attack transformed into a descending kick that aimed at the puppet''s right leg. The sharp turn during his technique umted more momentum than before. Khan felt almost confident in cutting through the metal with that power.


    Yet, the puppet suddenly raised its leg and made its metal shinbone collide with its leg. Khan''s attack bent that limb, but the dummy seemed to have reinforcements in that spot.


    The puppet didn''t waste that chance. Khan was standing on one leg, and his almost horizontal body was facing the ground. His side waspletely open.


    The dummy''s arms tilted forward as its torso bent. The metal spheres on top of those limbs were about tond on Khan''s side, but thetter quickly pulled with the leg still connected to the metal shinbone.


    Khan''s leg arched until his foot touched the back of the puppet''s legs and pulled it forward. The dummy inevitably lost its bnce and began to fall on its back.


    Khan put power on the foot connected to the floor to jump. His horizontal body spun mid-air as it crossed the puppet''s body and delivered a kick to its face before it couldplete its fall.


    The entirety of the puppet''s face shattered when it collided with the floor. Khan had stomped its head so hard that shards of metal and wires flew everywhere in the hall. Even the second level couldn''t make him sweat.

 Chapter 47 - Superior

    "Level three," The hall announced. "Superior reflexes, superior mobility, superior resilience."


    Khan noticed the change in the adjectives used to describe the features of the training program, and he immediately stepped off the scraps of metal to return to the center of the training hall.


    The metal rope shot out of the opening in the wall and dragged the puppet inside the workshop. A few short cubical robots also came out of the cavity and cleaned the various debris left after the exchanges.


    Khan didn''t let those robots sway his focus. The training program had announced something different at that time, and it was even taking longer to rebuild the puppet. Something told him that the next level wouldn''t be so easy.


    The cleaning robots returned inside the opening as a tall puppet came out of the wall. The dummy still had its three eyes, but their red light blinked while they inspected Khan. Moreover, its shades had moved toward even darker colors.


    The puppet immediately took a battle stance different from before. It stretched its front leg forward and lowered its body to improve its stability. One of its arms pointed toward Khan while the other waited behind the back of its head.


    That was an obvious defensive stance, but the puppet had never taken such aplicated form before. The dummy had limited itself to raise its arms and prepare a counterattack in the previous levels, but things had changed in ways that Khan couldn''t predict now.


    ''It has started to counter the Lightning-demon style,'' Khan concluded in his mind before bending forward and sprinting ahead.


    There was no reason to change his approach or study his opponent further. The Lightning-demon style focused on quick moves meant to take out enemies before they could deploy their techniques. Improvements and martial arts wouldn''t matter as long as Khan seeded in preserving the upper hand in the battle.


    The puppet''s guard had openings in its front leg, face, and side. Khan reached his opponent and pointed his left foot on the floor before spinning on his leg to perform a roundhouse kick aimed at the dummy''s head.


    The three red eyes continued to sh and inspect his movements. The puppet didn''t miss anything even if Khan''s speed went beyond what its structure could reach.


    The puppet moved its rear arm on the kick''s trajectory, but Khan promptly tilted his leg to aim for its exposed chest. Yet, the dummy suddenly bent its front leg and closed the distance from its opponent while its free arm shot toward Khan''s face.


    That move had been too sudden. The puppet had managed to reach Khan''s speed since its stance allowed it to shift its weight forward in less than an instant and stretch its range by a full meter.


    Normally, Khan''s face was safe during his roundhouse kicks because his body tilted backward to give more power to his legs. However, the puppet had bent its stretched front leg to cover a lot of distance and reach otherwise protected body parts.


    The metal sphere that the puppet had as a hand flew toward Khan''s ear. The attack would hit at the same time as his foot, but Khan would definitely take more damage if he decided to trade blows.


    His foot was also off-target now that the puppet had moved forward. Khan would only hit its arm, which wouldn''t bring him closer to victory in the slightest.


    ''I''m still stronger!'' Khan shouted in his mind as the leg on the floor bent.


    Khan let himself fall. His kick lost power and only managed to make the puppet tremble, but his movement made the punch miss his face.


    The puppet promptly lowered its arm in an attempt to follow Khan''s face, but thetter twisted his ankle to perform a short jump and elerate his fall.


    Khan''s body rotated mid-air. His back quickly approached the floor as his legs went upward. The puppet couldn''t reach its opponent after that eleration, but it still followed his fall to exploit that seemingly defenseless situation.


    However, Khan quickly grabbed his opponent''s arm and used it as a handhold. His shoulder withstood the entirety of his weight as he stabilized his rotation and pointed his feet on the puppet''s rear arm.


    Khan''s back hit the floor, and he used that chance to pull the puppet toward him. The dummy bent forward before Khan released the power umted in his legs.


    The puppet lost its foothold as Khan pushed it upward. The dummy ended up flying toward the ceiling, but it stopped before hitting the ck metal.


    Still, Khan spun while the puppet started to descend. His hands glued themselves on the floor as he rotated his entire body to deliver a roundhouse kick toward his falling opponent.


    The puppet couldn''t take any defensive stance in the air. It raised its arms to block the iing attack, but its structure couldn''t match the sheer might gathered in that kick.


    Khan''s heelnded on the puppet''s arms and bent the dark metal that reinforced them. The limbs didn''t shatter, but they didn''t manage to remain in their position either. They crashed on the dummy''s head while Khan continued to push it toward the floor.


    Khanpleted his move by sitting on the floor. His heel had never let go of the puppet during the technique. His attack mmed the dummy on the ck metal and ttened its head.


    The writing on the walls turned green, and the metal rope quickly shot out of the opening. Khan barely had the time to stand up before the puppet returned inside the workshop.


    "Level four," The hall announced. "Superior body, medium-level martial arts."


    The new puppet that came out of the wall waspletely ck, with azure neon blinking in specific spots of its body. A fourth red eye had appeared on its face, and lights shed from those artificial organs.


    The metal spheres were no more. Metal hands and fingers had reced those parts, and the puppet didn''t hesitate to raise them to take a simple defensive stance.


    ''Let''s see these martial arts,'' Khan thought before shooting forward.


    He quickly arrived on the puppet and delivered a direct kick aimed at its chest. Still, the dummy''s arms shed and hit his limb while the footnded on its body.


    A sharp pain filled Khan''s leg, but he gritted his teeth toplete his attack. The puppet flew backward, but it didn''t fall. His kick had dug a foot-shaped mark on the metal, but the dummy had managed tond on its feet.


    Still, a sense of numbness spread through his leg when he tried to bend it to flow into the next technique. Khan nced at his limb and noticed that two holes had appeared on its trousers. One of them pointed at the lower side of his thigh, while the other was near the center of his shinbone.


    ''What''s this?'' Khan wondered as he stomped his foot multiple times to push away that numbness.


    Khan''s knowledge of martial arts was quite poor. He didn''t know that some techniques could target his pressure points and temporarily affect his movements.


    The situation left him speechless, but the puppet didn''t give him time to think. The dummy had managed to endure the kick with its new body, so it could shoot directly toward Khan since thetter didn''t attack.


    Khan found himself on the defensive side for the first time since the beginning of the training program. The puppet was slower than him, but it still covered the few meters that separated it from him in less than a second.


    Its metallic fingers shot forward. Those nimble arms resembled snakes that were about to bite his body. It was hard to keep track of them, but Khan''s martial art had forced him to grow used to quick and sudden changes in his vision.


    Khan''s arms shot forward. His right hand failed to stop the enemy attack, and two metal fingersnded on his shoulder. However, he seeded in grabbing the other metal wrist and prevent the other half of the technique.


    A sense of numbness spread through his entire shoulder. Khan felt unable to raise his arm, and his left leg also struggled to follow his orders. Yet, the puppet was in his grasp now, and he didn''t dare to let it go.


    Khan pulled the puppet closer before using his numb leg to support his rising knee. A powerful blow hit the dummy''s torso, but that attack didn''t seem to be enough to knock it down.


    The puppet tried to attack with its free arm, but Khan pushed it on the side without releasing his grasp. The attack missed his numb shoulder, and Khan could use that chance to lift his knee again.


    Khan repeated the process multiple times. He had transformed that training program into a mere scuffle between brutes, but he didn''t care as long as that approach could bring him to victory.


    The puppet managed to deliver a few attacks from time to time, but Khan always hit its chest. It didn''t take much before the dummy''s movements began to slow down, and its neon started to lose their light.


    The dummy went limp after Khan hit it with his knee for the twelfth time. He let his opponent fall to the floor while he stepped backward and decided to sit.


    The writings on the wall became green, and the metal rope appeared again, but Khan shouted amand before the training program could step on the next level.


    "Time-out!" Khan shouted, and everything stopped.


    The gears inside the wall stopped turning, and the writings remained stuck on unclear letters. Khan could only see the faint number five hidden behind the disappearing green light.

 Chapter 48 - Pressure Points

    Khan inspected the copsed dummy and the metal rope attached to its body before lying on the floor. He closed his eyes to enter the meditative state, and mana flowed from his nape to spread through the rest of his body.


    The process hurt. Khan''s flesh didn''t want the mana to take over, but he had grown used to that pain. His mind remained steady as he pushed that energy forward and forced it to weaken the numbness that afflicted his leg, shoulder, and side.


    Khan didn''t remain in his meditative state for too long. The fifth level was waiting for him. He only wanted to restore his condition enough to approach the next battle.


    ''These training programs are so useful,'' Khan couldn''t help but exim in his mind when he exited his meditative state. ''They don''t only force me to improve. They also allow me to face different battle styles. Nothing in the real world can make me gain experience so quickly.''


    Khan didn''t know that martial arts capable of targeting his pressure points existed before the previous battle. He waspletely unaware of the existence of those spots even.


    One iplete training session with the program had been enough to expand his knowledge in ways that his usual fights against Lieutenant Dyester couldn''t aplish. Even his battle against Cilli didn''t give him that amount of experience.


    Moreover, the training program''s adaptive features had underlined the weaknesses of the Lightning-demon style. A martial art with seventy-eight points was clearly outstanding, but it had ws that Khan couldn''t help but notice after defeating the fourth level.


    ''My hands are kind of useless,'' Khan thought without bothering to straighten his position. ''They help me bnce and give power to my kicks, but I don''t have many blows that rely on my arms. I guess only proper high-level martial arts don''t have evident ws.''


    Relying mostly on his kicks wasn''t an inherent weakness, but Khan understood that he could improve in some fields. His body was even quite strongpared to his peers, so limiting his fighting style to half of his limbs seemed a waste.


    Memories about Martha''s situation appeared in his mind during that reasoning. She also had a good martial art inherited from her family, but she had to improve it by fusing it with another style.


    Khan believed that the same went for most soldiers. Lieutenant Unchai had stressed how every martial art had good and bad matchups, so the best approach was to fuse a few of them and obtain aplete set of abilities.


    ''Look at me,'' Khan eventually thought while a helplessugh escaped from his mouth. ''I have the chance to use a training hall freely, and my martial art is among the best for recruits, but I''m still unsatisfied. Not even six months outside of the Slums, but I''ve already lost my humbleness.''


    Khan straightened his position and sat on the floor. He rotated his right arm to check his shoulder, and he also bent his leg for the same reason. The numbness had almostpletely dispersed. He was ready to approach the fifth level.


    "Resume!" Khan ordered, and the training program immediately activated.


    The gears spun again and dragged the puppet back inside the workshop. The writings on the walls also moved to the fifth level, and the mechanical voice soon resounded in the hall.


    "Level five," The training program announced. "Superior body, medium-level martial arts, superior aggression."


    Khan''s eyes sharpened at those words, but he didn''t need to wait long before understanding their meaning.


    The puppet charged ahead as soon as the wires and tubes detached from its body. It wasn''t letting Khan gain the upper hand right away anymore.


    Khan didn''t let that sight scare him. He shot toward the iing puppet and prepared for the imminent sh. Part of him even preferred that approach.


    The puppet''s arms shot forward and performed strange movements that tried to trick Khan''s eyes. However, he disregarded them and crouched to slide under his opponent.


    The dummy''s attacks missed as Khan kicked its legs and made it fall forward. The two of them were close, so the puppet tried to stab its fingers toward him. Yet, Khan rolled on his back and pushed with his hands once his feet aligned with his opponent.


    Khan resembled a spring when he used his arms to push his whole body toward his opponent. He didn''t need to see the puppet to know where it was. There wasn''t much that it could do while it was falling toward the floor.


    The blow pushed the puppet away and made it fly for a few meters. Khan''s feet touched the floor while the dummy was still mid-air, and his ankles twisted to make him turn in an instant and give him enough power to shoot toward his opponent.


    The puppet quickly stood up, but Khan''s kick arrived before it could resume any battle stance. His shinbone hit the dummy''s head and flung it away again.


    Khan chased after his opponent. The ck metal seemed able to endure his blows now, but he would press forward until that material shattered.


    His leg rose when the puppet entered his range. The dummy raised its arms to block the iing kick, but Khan missed them on purpose. Instead, his descending blow made his heel and his opponent''s foot collide.


    The puppet''s foot bent upward. It wouldn''t be useful as a foothold anymore in that condition, but Khan lost his momentum afterpleting the attack.


    His rear leg rose to deliver a kick on the puppet''s side, but thetter disregarded the iing blow andunched its arms toward him.


    Khan''s kick and the puppet''s fingers hit at the same time. The dummy''s side caved in, but its handsnded at the center of his chest and hit two different pressure points.


    Khan found himself unable to breathe for a second. He struggled to maintain his bnce, and the puppet didn''t hesitate to exploit that chance. One of its hands clung on Khan''s side while the other created a fangs-shaped figure with its fingers that flew toward his corbone.


    Khan pushed himself backward, uncaring that his bnce waspletely off. He fell on the floor and dodged the iing attack, but the dummy promptly jumped toward him.


    The puppet tried to m its feet on Khan''s chest, but thetter rotated to the side. The dummy''s attacknded on the floor, and Khan used that chance to perform a sweep.


    The dummy promptly jumped to dodge the iing leg, but it didn''t manage to perform it correctly due to the damage suffered by its foot. Only half of the puppet''s body escaped from Khan''s range, so his shinbone sessfully hit its leg.


    The power released by the sweep made the puppet rotate on itself and remain in the air. Meanwhile, Khan continued to spin until his leg returned behind him and became a suitable foothold.


    Khan waited until the puppet turned upside-down mid-air before leaping forward and raising his knees toward its head. The dummy managed to protect itself with its arms, but their metal bent beyond recognition after the violent blow.


    Khan nted his hand on the puppet''s waist while both of them fell. He was ready to smash his opponent on the floor and overwhelm it with a relentless series of techniques, but a sense of numbness suddenly spread from his legs when they touched the ck surface.


    The puppet had hit the pressure points on his ankles during the fall, and Khan couldn''t avoid losing his bnce. He bent backward, but his hand promptly grabbed the dummy''s leg and dragged it with him.


    Khan gave voice to a battle cry as both his arms grabbed the puppet''s leg and pulled until it mmed behind him. The dummy tried to point its arms on the floor to stand up, but their damaged structure made it lose its bnce and fall again.


    Khan rolled on his back. His ankles would be useless for a few minutes, so he had to use gravity to his advantage. His legs bent as he performed a handstand on the puppet''s limb before moving the entirety of his body weight toward his knees.


    Popping noises came out of the puppet when his knees hit its torso. Something had clearly broken inside the dummy, but it continued to struggle. Its arms were quite useless, but its fingers still worked, and they immediately tried to reach Khans'' legs.


    Khan rotated on his knees and delivered a hook to the puppet''s head. The dummy tried to stand up and use its arms to protect its face, but Khan unleashed a rain of punches that barely cared about their targets.


    Most of those attacksnded on the damaged arms, but some managed to reach its face. Moreover, those limbs continued to bend until the metal finally cracked.


    Khan couldn''t feel anything. The shards of metal were cutting his knuckles, but his punches continued to fall. He wouldn''t stop until his opponent went limp.


    The arms eventually broke and left the puppet defenseless. Khan punches could finally target its head without hindrances, and the battle ended in a few seconds. The dummy barely had a face anymore when the writings on the walls became green.


    "Time-out!" Khan shouted without any hesitation.


    The puppet had brought him to his limits at that time. His chest and ankles hurt, and his hands were bleeding. The battle had been rtively even, which made Khan worry about the sixth level.


    ''I''m almostpletely certain that I can''t surpass it,'' Khan thought while lying on the floor.


    There was a high chance that Khan would lose once the training program moved to the next difficulty. Continuing to fight would most likely lead to a beatdown. Recruits would usually stop there and call it a day, but Khan hesitated to make the system reset its data.


    ''I can learn what might cause me to lose in the future,'' Khan thought as a helpless sigh left his mouth.


    His mind had already understood which approach would provide the most benefits, and he could only ept that while he let his body recover. Escaping from pain now would only cut his gains short.

 Chapter 49 - Life And Death

    ''I can''t waste time meditating now,'' Khan thought as a helpless sigh escaped from his mouth.


    His chest hurt, his ankles were killing him, and his knuckles had many cuts that made them unsuitable for another battle, but the lessons would arrive soon. Khan actually expected the training hall to interrupt him in the next minutes.


    ''I''ll just fix the ankles,'' Khan decided before entering his meditative state and forcing the mana to expand toward his legs.


    Khan didn''t rely only on his nape at that time. Sparse lumps of mana had appeared in other parts of his body after five months in the training camp. Moving them through his flesh was troublesome, but some of them were closer to his ankles, so they were perfect for his needs.


    The numbness that afflicted his ankles slowly dispersed, but that feeling was still there when he left the meditative state and struggled to stand up.


    ''This will have to do,'' Khan sighed in his mind before giving the order to the training program.


    A metal rope immediately shot out of the wall and dragged the broken puppet inside the workshop. Cleaning robots also came out of the cavity to remove all the scraps and shards from the floor. It didn''t take much before the entire training hall returned to a perfect state.


    Khan closed his eyes and took deep breaths as he waited for the arrival of the puppet. His mind was ready for the imminent beatdown, but he had no intention to go down easily.


    "Level six," The training program eventually announced. "Superior body, superior techniques, superior aggression, battle instincts."


    A nging noise spread through the training hall as the puppet stepped out of the workshop. Khan opened his eyes and saw four blinking red eyes fixed on him. The neon had also turned red and had given a menacing aura to the dummy.


    Khan mustered all the power he could find in his body to shoot ahead. His sprint was inevitably slowerpared to before, but he still appeared quite fast.


    However, the puppet seemed able to follow his movements perfectly. It raised its arms before Khan could reach it, and its fingers took fang-like shapes while its entire body crouched forward.


    Khan raised his leg as soon as the puppet entered his range. He didn''t dare to use potentially dangerous techniques like his roundhouse kicks. He limited himself tounch his foot forward while keeping as much distance as possible from the dummy.


    His foot seemed about to sh with the puppet''s face, but thetter suddenly bent on the side. Khan promptly spun his waist to turn his front kick into a circr attack that followed his opponent''s head, but his leg never managed to hit its target.


    The puppet''s arms had never stopped moving. They had flown toward Khan''s leg while the dummy bent on the side, and its fingers ended up hitting three pressure points.


    The attack didn''t only spread an intense numbness through Khan''s leg. It also pushed it back to interrupt his technique. It seemed that puppet was able to match his physical strength in the sixth level.


    Khan gave voice to a battle cry as an ugly expression appeared on his face. He gritted his teeth and frowned to endure the pain and jump forward by releasing the power umted in his rear leg.


    His condition was far from optimal, and the puppet had even managed to neutralize one of his legs in a single exchange. He knew that the battle would be over right afterpleting that technique, so he couldn''t let it end so soon.


    The puppet''s arms shot forward, but the suddenness of Khan''s reckless action made it unable tounch precise attacks. Its metal fingers hit his abdomen and chest, but only one of themnded on a pressure point.


    Khan lost his breath for an instant, but he didn''t let that sensation surprise him anymore. His whole body was flying inside the puppet''s guard, and his arms quickly grabbed its neck as he used his leg to cling on its chest.


    The puppet didn''t let that reckless attack disrupt its forms. Its arms shot toward the leg clung on its chest and turned it numb in an instant. Still, Khan endured the pain and began to assault its head.


    Khan had relied on a sudden move that didn''t follow any technique. His chances of winning that battle through martial arts were basically zero, so he had to do something that the dummy couldn''t predict.


    His fists mmed on the tough dark metal and began to bend its fabric. The puppet raised its arms and started to aim for the pressure points on his side, and Khan soon lost his bnce as numbness spread through his whole torso.


    Yet, Khan clung on the metal head with one arm and continued to use the other to throw punches. The puppet started to miss attacks since Khan was behind its head, but metal fingers stillnded on his limbs and side from time to time.


    Some of those attacks eventually hit pressure points. Khan felt his thumb going numb and threatening to release the grip on the puppet, but he promptly bent forward to regain his bnce.


    Still, that gesture exposed him to the blinking red eyes. Khan couldn''t move as he wished in that position, so he didn''t manage to avoid the metal finger aimed at the center of his forehead.


    Everything went dark for an instant. Khan barely had the time to sense the cold sensation carried by the puppet''s finger before his back hit the floor.


    His senses slowly focused on his surroundings, and disappointment inevitably spread through his mind. He had fallen. The battle was over.


    A dark figure appeared in his vision. Metal legsnded on his arms and locked him on the ground while threatening fingers fell toward his face.


    Then, the fingers stopped. The puppet interrupted its attack as soon as it touched Khan''s face.


    "Defeat," The training program announced as the puppet straightened its position and stepped off Khan''s arm to return inside the wall. "Analyzing performance. Do you require additional actions?"


    "Send everything to my phone," Khan ordered. "I''ll close my eyes for a while."


    Khan didn''t bother to think about the battle anymore. His whole body hurt, and only his mediations could make him able to stand in time for the morning lessons.


    A sudden noise resounded inside the training hall before Khan could even begin meditating. He nced at the wall and sighed when he read that the lessons would start in less than twenty minutes. Luck wasn''t on his side that day.


    Khan tried to stand up, but his body didn''t follow hismands. His legs, sides, and right hand were still numb. Even his head hurt. Only his left arm worked properly, but that wasn''t enough to bring him to the lessons.


    ''How mad can they even get if I skip these lessons?'' Khan wondered while his eyes closed. ''This is the sixth month. They won''t have anything rted to mana.''


    Khan was only justifying himself in his mind. He had already understood that he was in no condition to move. Meditating was the only process that could restore his body enough to make him walk.


    Time always moved quickly during the meditations, but it only seemed tost one second for Khan. He had started to use mana to disperse the numbness in his body, but a voice suddenly reached his ears and forced him out of his training.


    "I should have seen thising," Lieutenant Unchai scoffed while standing next to Khan.


    "I just went a little overboard," Khan said in a fake sleepy voice. "Can I marry this training hall? I think I am in love."


    Lieutenant Unchai shook his head, but augh escaped his mouth and ruined his pretense. The soldier didn''t manage to hide the faint respect that had appeared inside him, so he tapped the floor to change the topic.


    The summary of Khan''s performance appeared on the floor, and Lieutenant Unchai''s face froze when he read through the various details. Khan also turned to look at the various writings, and a pleased smile inevitably spread on his expression.


    ''This is so detailed,'' Khan thought before reading the summary. ''Good execution of the techniques, incredible resolve, good instincts.''


    Each of thosebels led to a different menu that exined the reasons behind that evaluation. It even featured key moments that had led to that assessment.


    Lieutenant Unchai studied everything. He didn''t let a singlebel go and inspected every key moment recorded by the training program. His hand ended up covering his mouth while he read through the various descriptions, and his confused words failed to reach Khan''s ears due to that cover.


    "How does it look?" Khan asked while turning his head to stare at the soldier standing next to him.


    "Sad," Lieutenant Unchai said in a in voice.


    Khan''s eyes widened. The training program only showed positive evaluations. A fewbels did have excellent grades, but that came from Khan''s overall inexperience. After all, he had only trained for five months, even less if he considered the actual time with the Lightning-demon style.


    "You are good, really good actually," Lieutenant Unchai continued without ncing at the boy lying at his side. "You are progressing far faster than I imagined, and you didn''t even have ess to these tools before. Still, I''m worried about this resolve of yours. You shouldn''t treat a training program as a matter of life and death."

 Chapter 50 - Pens

    Khan fell silent at that remark. He knew exactly what Lieutenant Unchai meant, but his real character wasn''t something that simple pretenses could hide, especially with the summary in front of them.


    "You aren''t dumb," Lieutenant Unchai sighed. "You try to appear na?ve and stupid, but that''s not your real nature, isn''t it?"


    Khan opened his mouth, but no words came out of it. His experience in lies and pretenses was useless when Lieutenant Unchai could read what had happened in the fifth level.


    "You could have stepped away here," Lieutenant Unchai pointed at the green sign marking the fifth level. "Instead, you chose to jump in a battle that you couldn''t hope to win, and you didn''t even rest properly before it. I guess you still wanted to make it to the lessons."


    Khan turned on his back. He didn''t know what to say, especially when the people around him showed concern.


    "Guess what?" Lieutenant Unchai snorted. "You only hurt yourself and failed to attend the lessons on time. You are lucky that these are mere general courses, or maybe you have chosen to rest for that very reason."


    Khan gulped, and Lieutenant Unchai finally decided to look at him. He wanted to maintain a stern expression, but he could only shake his head at the sight of the injuries.


    Khan''s body was full of red bruises. His skin carried the marks of the shes with the metal fingers. Multiple holes had even appeared on his trousers.


    "Did you learn something at least?" Lieutenant Unchai asked.


    "I have a lot to improve," Khan promptly replied. "I''m not talking only about the executions of my techniques. I mainlyck battle experience, and the nature of my martial art doesn''t help in the matter."


    "What do you n to do about it then?" Lieutenant Unchai continued with his questions.


    "Fight with as many different martial arts as possible in the fifth level," Khan exined, "Test the sixth level with favorable matchups after training for a few days, and see how far I can push my limits."


    "That''s the correct approach," Lieutenant Unchai nodded. "However, it''s clear that you are a danger to yourself, so I''ll set a few rules."


    "I have only gone overboard, sir," Khan attempted to appease the Lieutenant''s anger with polite words. "It won''t happen again. I was so excited about the training hall that I couldn''t hold back, but I know my limits now. Don''t limit my time here."


    Khan was obviously worried that the Lieutenant could limit his time inside the training hall due to his reckless approach, but the soldier only smiled when he saw the regret in his face.


    "I won''t," Lieutenant Unchai announced, "But I can''t giveplete freedom to someone who has no care for his own body. I''ll give you onest chance before applying proper limits to your time here."


    "I won''t disappoint you, sir!" Khan happily shouted, but the soldier''s smile suddenly vanished.


    "You can''t bete to lessons anymore," Lieutenant Unchai ordered. "I''ll let today pass, but punishments will arrive if you fail to attend them regrly."


    "I won''t miss a single day!" Khan shouted again.


    "Good," Lieutenant Unchai eximed. "Go now. You can still catch the second hour of chemistry."


    Khan''s expression froze, and Lieutenant Unchai did his best not to explode into augh. Instead, he proceeded to exin the real meaning behind his previous words.


    "I''ll let today pass," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "I didn''t say that you could skip today''s lessons altogether."


    Khan stared at the Lieutenant before ncing at his body. Everything still hurt, but his limbs had started to regain some power. He couldn''t move properly, but he was a bit better.


    Khan nced at the Lieutenant again and understood that the soldier had no intention to let the matter go. He seemed ready to re at Khan with his severe gaze until the boy left the training hall.


    "I''ll leave now," Khan whispered while turning on his belly and pushing with his left arm.


    He had to perform multiple slow movements to get back on his feet. Khan pointed his knees, then raised one leg before spreading his arms to control his bnce while lifting his whole body.


    A sense of dizziness spread inside his mind when he went back on his feet. Something inside Khan told him that it was too early to stand up, but he suppressed that feeling and turned toward the exit.


    "What about your phone?" Lieutenant Unchai asked while pointing at the corner of the training hall. "How did you n to reach the building with the lessons without it?"


    Khan inspected Lieutenant Unchai''s stern face before moving toward his phone. He supported himself on the wall and gave voice to a faint groan when he bent to pick his device, but he managed to maintain his equilibrium during that walk.


    Then, Khan finally left the training hall and proceeded to walk alongside the wall of the corridor to exit the building. His phone was already on the menu that showed a blueprint of the camp with all the various activities. Finding the way to the lessons wasn''t a problem.


    "You forgot your uniform," Lieutenant Unchai''s voice suddenly resounded from behind him, and Khan suppressed a loud curse.


    Khan was still shirtless and without shoes. He hadpletely forgotten about the rest of his uniform since he was using most of his concentration to remain on his feet.


    Lieutenant Unchai had no intention to bring those clothes to Khan, so he had to walk back inside the training hall and crouch again to pick them up. He almost fell during the process, but the soldier didn''t mock him.


    "I''m off then, sir," Khan announced while suppressing a few grunts while he wore his uniform and supported himself on the wall to handle his shoes.


    Khan managed to get out of the building without interruptions at that time. He even felt slightly better after going up and down through the corridor. His ankles still hurt, but they had regained most of their steadiness.


    The training camp wasn''t big, but Khan still took a while to reach the building where the lessons happened. He walked quite slowly, and his destination was near the center of the site.


    The hot environment didn''t help his struggle. The two suns were higher in the sky now, and the temperatures had risen. The red-brown ground radiated scorching sensations that managed to get past the sole of Khan''s shoes and tried to force him to walk faster.


    Khan couldn''tply with that instinct. His legs weren''t able to elerate in that situation, so he had to endure the heat umted on his feet while he made his way through the camp.


    The temperaturespletely changed once Khan stepped inside the building. The metal floor was cold, and the air flowing inside the corridors relieved him from the struggles of his recent march.


    Khan felt tempted to sit in a corner and meditate. His mind seemed unable to ept that he had to go through hours of boring lessons, but he feared Lieutenant Unchai''s threats too much to skip them.


    His priority was to use the training hall as much as possible since the benefits connected to that technology were simply massive. Spending a few hours listening to boring lessons was a fair price to pay for his current benefits.


    Khan found the room meant for his lessons in an instant, and he slowly slipped inside it while an unfamiliar professor read through notes on his interactive desk. Arge hall with hundreds of stands unfolded in his view, but his eyes only searched for his friends.


    Some of the recruits sitting on the stands noticed Khan moving silently on the staircases that ran among the seats, and a hand eventually rose from the crowd. Khan''s eyes lit up when he saw Martha and an empty chair next to her.


    "What has even happened to you?" Martha asked in a worried tone, but she found it hard to suppress herugh when she inspected her friend.


    Khan had arge red spot at the center of his forehead. His uniform was untidy and full of holes. He didn''t even tie his shoes.


    "The training halls are amazing," Khan announced while keeping his voice down. "I don''t know how I''ll survive once this trip is over."


    "I don''t know if you''ll survive the trip," Martha joked about his state. "The Lieutenant has given you the chance to use a training hall then. That''s great. We did nothing but perform our techniques on dummies and spar a little."


    "Did you win?" Khan asked while revealing a curious smile.


    "Of course," Martha replied while wearing a proud expression. "Everyone was too scared to fight for real, but I suspect that Lieutenant Unchai will start punishing them this afternoon."


    Khan nodded, but two shadows suddenly appeared in the corner of vision. His hands instinctively shot forward since his mind was still in battle mode, and his grasp closed on two digital pens.


    Khan raised his eyes and noticed that the entire ss was staring at him. Even the professor in the distance couldn''t help but show his surprise at that scene.


    ''Did he throw them because we were talking?'' Khan wondered before standing and walking down the staircase to give the pens back to the professor.


    Then, he climbed the steps to return to his seat. A faint smile appeared on his face after confirming that his ankles were far better now, but he quickly wore a regretful expression since the professor was still staring at him.


    "You are the kid who defeated the Ef''i, right?" The professor asked, interrupting the silence that had fallen in the hall.


    Khan nodded, and the professor couldn''t help but reveal a proud smirk. He picked one of the pens that Khan had brought back and stared at the boy for a few seconds before resuming the lesson.

 Chapter 51 - Trick

    Khan could return to the training hall right after the lessons ended. A few members of the special ss tried to exchange some polite words, but he didn''t have time to waste during that week.


    Lieutenant Unchai didn''t say anything about the second week. Khan had understood that he would have to face the Ef''i, but he was oblivious to everything else.


    One week with the training hall wasn''t enough to learn much, but Khan nned to do his best to improve his battle style. After all, he felt that it would be a long time before he obtained a simr chance.


    Khan had already developed a faint schedule. He required a bit more info about the training hall to perfect that n, but he believed that everything would be clear after the afternoon.


    ''I should be able to test different martial arts today,'' Khan thought while entering the training hall and plugging his phone into the floor. ''I must take full advantage of the longer days.''


    Khan ordered some food before tapping his foot on the floor and browsing through the menus to select his training program. The system had countless martial arts in store, and it even gave brief descriptions of their style.


    The system also described the points of each martial art. Khan immediately found those which had achieved a fifty or slightly lower score and proceeded to pick the first one on the list. Then, he selected the fifth level, and the gears inside the wall activated.


    A tall puppet with multiple reinforcements on its arms, legs, torso, and neck came out of the wall and took a defensive stance. That dummy was far bigger than the other, and it didn''t appear nearly as fast.


    Khan shot ahead and began to release a storm of kicks. The puppet didn''t budge and endured all the blows, and his arm eventually shot forward when it found an opening in Khan''s guard.


    Khan had left that opening on purpose. The puppet finally gave him a chance to pierce its guard with a flying kick that required a horizontal spin.


    His leg mmed on the puppet''s head and bent its metal, but the dummy seemed able to endure the blow. Its arms shot toward the airborne Khan and tried to grab his feet.


    Khan nted his feet on the puppet''s chest and performed a backflip to dodge the iing attack. Hended on the floor perfectly, and the dummy quickly resumed its defensive stance.


    ''I''ll take it down nice and slow,'' Khan concluded in his mind before resuming his offensive.


    The fifth level appeared far easier now that the system didn''t choose good matchups against the Lightning-demon style. Khan could learn to face different martial arts without suffering many injuries. It was perfect for him.


    Khan''s new schedule soon took form. He practiced inside the training hall for the entire afternoon and gained a general idea of how difficult the fifth level was without data about the Lightning-demon style. He even tested his power against different martial arts, but the list was still long.


    The experience gathered during the afternoon made Khan understand that he could use the mornings to continue testing his power against the fifth level since it didn''t inflict many injuries. That would allow him to attend the lessons and leave him with an entire day to push his limits.


    Khan had the t for himself, but his friends came to visit him once he returned inside the building. He was exhausted, but Luke, Bruce, and Martha wanted to hear more about the Ef''i.


    "Their tail is dangerous," Khan revealed. "They are also quite strong, so I suggest you meditate a lot during this week."


    "How did you even get the chance to fight one of them?" Luke asked. "We only saw the Ef''i when we came out of the teleport. They act as ghosts here."


    "They must train underground," Bruce revealed. "I''ve seen a few tunnels inside the mountain. I bet we''ll go there if Lieutenant Unchai selects us."


    "How strong can the others even be?" Khan wondered. "I should have defeated the best among them. They shouldn''t be able to do much in a mere week."


    "Maybe they have something in store," Martha suggested. "The Ef''i are an honorable warrior race, but they also aim for victory like every other species. I wouldn''t be surprised if they made you fight the second strongest or even less."


    "Who is paranoid now?" Khan mocked Martha, but thetter ignored him.


    "Well, Khan should be able to improve with the training hall," Bruce announced. "I suspect he''ll be far stronger after this week."


    The boys and girl eventually left Khan alone and gave him the time to approach his meditations and mental exercises. He still had the eighth lesson to clear, and improvements struggled to arrive.


    The week went by quickly. The schedule of the recruits was quite dull and tiring since they had to be used to having thirty hours in a day. Still, their endurance inevitably improved due to Lieutenant Unchai''s hellish training method.


    Khan felt like he was in heaven. He could use the training hall every day, and hisbat abilities inevitably improved. He even got the chance to clear some of the sixth levels when the puppet''s martial arts were a favorable match-up for the Lightning-demon style.


    The constant stress and gathering of battle experience sharpened his mind and benefitted his mental training. Pain and struggles could improve the resilience of his brain, especially since Khan didn''t forget about the mental exercises when fighting.


    Lieutenant Unchai gathered the recruits in front of their dorm on the first day of the second week. The soldier wore an angry expression that didn''t seem to target Khan and the others. He was livid, but the kids ignored the nature of that feeling.


    "I made a mistake," Lieutenant Unchai suddenly announced. "Teco has tricked me. I showed the strongest of you to his group, but he didn''t do the same. I don''t like losing discussions, so let''s avoid the topic altogether."


    Khan shot a nce toward Martha. She had ended up being correct about the Ef''i, but she didn''t appear happy about the matter.


    "Let''s move now," Lieutenant Unchai shouted. "The Ef''i have prepared a surprise for us. I don''t want you to bete."


    The recruits felt excited, but they remained silent during the trip. It seemed that Lieutenant Unchai would bring all the kids to the Ef''i, but their destination remained unclear until they approached the mountain and a tunnel unfolded in their vision.


    The Lieutenant led the recruits inside the tunnel. The red-brown rocks and terrain seemed darker there, and vegetation even appeared.


    Khan didn''t know what to say in front of the strange nts that filled the tunnel. Even the grass was red, and a few purple flowers upied random spots in that scenery.


    The scent radiated by those nts was quite intoxicating. It made the recruits'' eyes red and forced them to shed tears. The mana inside their bodies activated to fend off the negative effects of that odor, but some of the kids with low attunement didn''t manage to regain their senses even after a few minutes passed.


    Lieutenant Unchai promptly took a series of pills and shoved them inside the mouths of the recruits that had yet to grow used to the scent. Theirplexion immediately improved after that event, so the group could proceed on their march.


    Arge arena eventually appeared after the corridor. A series of Ef''i were already waiting for their opponents on one side of the underground hall, and they didn''t hesitate to perform polite salutes when they saw Khan.


    Some of the aliens revealed shame when they nced at a tall Ef''i sitting at some distance from their group. Khan moved his attention on him, and thetter eventually opened his eyes when he heard the arrival of his opponents.


    "[They are thinner than I imagined]," The unfamiliar Ef''i announced while standing up and patting his broad chest. "[I hope they can put up a decent fight]!"


    Teco came out of one of the tunnels connected to the arena and pped the unfamiliar Ef''i head. He wasn''t pleased about his arrogant behavior, but his focus soon moved on Lieutenant Unchai.


    "[I hope this is enough to forgive me]," Teco announced. "[Humans are winning too oftentely]."


    "[Just show me the goods]," Lieutenant Unchai replied, and the Ef''i took out a small metal sphere from his pocket.


    "That''s faswite!" Luke suddenly announced at the sight of the silver mineral, and the entirety of his group showed interest in that material.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I have a pretty harsh fever. I thought I could just endure it, but I can barely suppress the tremors with meds. I''ll do only one for chaos and one long for demonic sword until I feel better.

 Chapter 52 - Tournament

    "That chunk of faswite should be enough to create five or six synthetic cores," Luke announced while turning toward Khan. "You have to win. Gaining ess to training halls back on Earth won''t be a problem if you defeat them."


    Khan''s eyes lit up at those words. He felt interested in facing the unfamiliar Ef''i, but that additional reward made everything far more appealing.


    "The rules of the tournament are simple," Lieutenant Unchai suddenly announced. "You will fight every day until you face all the recruits in the enemy group. The side that gets more victories will obtain the faswite."


    Tension began to build among the recruits on Khan''s side. They didn''t expect their role to be so important. Most of them wanted to rely on Khan, but that system would require everyone to do their part.


    "There is an exception," Lieutenant Unchai added. "A group will automatically win the tournament if one of their recruits wins every battle. Remain unbeaten, and the Global Army will reward you."


    The tension that had umted previously quickly vanished. Khan ignored the many nces thatnded on his figure, but he realized how important his role had be. The tournament wasn''t a matter of personal gains anymore. The Global Army as a whole would benefit from his victories.


    Lieutenant Unchai walked toward Khan and lowered his head before whispering something to his ear. "You and the new alien will fight on thest day of the week. I''ll also notify you whenever he steps on the arena, so make sure toe back here to watch him."


    Khan understood what Lieutenant Unchai wanted him to do. He would need to fight only two times every day since each group contained less than twenty recruits. Khan could go back to the training hall once hepleted his battles.


    Still, learning how his final opponent fought was as essential as his training. Khan limited himself to nod at those orders. He didn''t like to be at the center of the attention, but having so much value in the eyes of a Lieutenant could only benefit his ns.


    "Go in then," Lieutenant Unchai announced before pushing Khan toward the centers of the arena.


    Khan turned toward the Lieutenant, and thetter didn''t hesitate to exin the schedule that he had prepared for him. "You''ll fight early in the morning for the entire week except for thest day. I believe you can handle two battles in a row."


    Khan spread his arm before shaking his head. That schedule was quite efficient, so he couldn''tin about it.


    "[An honorable warrior should avoid resorting to tricks]," A female Ef''i stepped forward and crossed the circr area marked by a series of purple nts. "[Yet, honor alone can''t win wars. Forgive us, but get ready]."


    Khan nced toward Lieutenant Unchai, and thetter promptly tranted those words. "She is sorry for tricking you."


    Khan scratched the side of his head before ignoring the matter. He didn''t really care about that ploy since it wouldn''t help the Ef''i. His battle style had improved by leaps and bounds after an entire week spent inside the training hall.


    "[Get ready]!"


    "In position!"


    Teco and Lieutenant Unchai shouted, and Khan and the Ef''i immediately performed their guard. Khan limited himself to raise his arms and crouch forward while the alien lifted her wed fingers in front of her head and pointed them at her opponent. Her tail even curved above her shoulder to prepare for the imminent attack.


    "Fight!"


    "[Fight]!"


    The two leaders shouted, and Khan shot forward. The Ef''i''s tail promptly shot forward, but Khan spun on the side and went airborne. His momentum allowed him to rotate two times and m his heel on the alien''s head.


    The Ef''i flew away and mmed on the wall after the arena. She then fell on the floor as blood began to flow from her mouth and ear.


    Everyone fell silent. They expected Khan to be strong, but that instant victory still surprised them. Also, the sheer power released by his kick made all of them reevaluate how powerful he actually was.


    Khan''s prowess didn''t only rely on his speed. He also had a strong body that could overpower aliens in sheer physical might.


    "Don''t bother stepping out," Lieutenant Unchai announced as a second Ef''i walked inside the arena.


    His second opponent was a tall male Ef''i who announced something in hisnguage. Khan turned toward Lieutenant Unchai to get a trantion, but thetter limited himself to shake his head. The alien didn''t say anything meaningful.


    "Fight!"


    "[Fight]!"


    The Lieutenant and Teco announced the beginning of the battle, and Khan didn''t hesitate to shoot ahead. However, his opponent did the same and spread his long arm to prevent movements at his sides.


    His tail also shot forward once the two were about to sh. The alien wanted to force Khan into a frontal sh, but thetter promptly slid under him and swept the Ef''i''s legs.


    The alien lost his bnce and fell forward, and Khan didn''t hesitate to turn before leaping forward. He jumped on the back of the falling Ef''i and nted his foot on the back of his head.


    The Ef''i tried to protect himself with his arms, but the power released by Khan''s kick made him faint even if his face didn''t directly hit the ground.


    Lieutenant Unchai patted Khan''s shoulder when he exited the arena and pushed him toward the tunnel that led to the camp. He had to return to the training hall and make the best out of his day.


    .


    .


    .


    Khan didn''t have to modify his schedule too much with the ongoing tournament. He still gained experience in other martial arts with the fifth level of the training program in the morning and tested his limits in the afternoon. He only had to run toward the mountain twice a day to fight and watch his fated opponent.


    A few doubts had appeared in Khan''s mind after he understood how the tournament had to unfold. In theory, the fact that everyone had to fight multiple times rendered the advantage gained with the ploy useless. After all, the human side would see how the new Ef''i fought during that week.


    However, everything became clear after Khan inspected a few battles of the new alien. The tall Ef''i seemed unable to suffer damage. His skin could endure every blow. He basically exhausted his opponents without performing any proper technique.


    Even the strongest among the human side couldn''t do anything against that tough skin. Martha, Luke, and others who had a decent percentage of attunement with mana couldn''t hurt him.


    "Everything would be different if I could use my hammers," Martha snorted.


    "It''s all up to Khan now," Lukeughed. "Make sure to bring honor to humankind!"


    "I still wonder why you always end up in my t," Khan snorted while eating a strange soup inside a food can.


    "I have simr doubts about your stomach," Bruce announced while pointing at the food can. "You do realize that you are eating alien food, right?"


    "It''s good," Khan eximed. "And they made sure that humans can eat it, so I don''t see the problem."


    The four of them had gathered inside Khan''s room. It was the night before theirst day on Onia. Khan would have to fight that seemingly unbeatable alien tomorrow.


    "How can you be so rxed?" Bruce asked.


    "I''ve finally managed to defeat the sixth level of the training hall," Khan announced as a broad smile appeared on his face. "The matchup was also even, so I guess I''m good. I did my best in these two weeks."


    "Sixth level?!" Luke shouted. "Didn''t you practice your martial art for less than six months?"


    "So?" Khan asked while shrugging his shoulders.


    "That''s an outstanding achievement, Khan," Martha exined. "No wonder you are the best of our group."


    "My grandfather would kill me if he learnt about you," Bruceughed. "I''m still stuck at the fourth."


    "Maybe it''s a matter of attunement with mana," Khan said while trying to move the attention away from him.


    "That definitely helps," Martha eximed, "But the proficiency with the martial art is undeniable. You must have trained like a madman."


    The four continued to talk for a few more minutes before leaving Khan to his training. Tomorrow would be an important day. Khan and the seemingly unbeatable alien would finally face each other.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I woke up with 39.5 today. I''ve used meds to keep the fever down, but it keeps rising. I don''t know if I have to hit the hospital, but you can pretty much guess that I''ve gone there if you don''t see chapters.

 Chapter 53 - Mana

    The next morning the two groups gathered inside the mountain as usual, but they only held meaningless battles since most of the focus was on Khan and the new Ef''i.


    The two of them were the only recruits who had yet to face a loss, so they could both aim to win the tournament without counting the victories of their sides. Of course, the matter was far more important for Khan since his group had often lost against the aliens.


    Khan and the Ef''i had to fight onest time against different opponents that morning, and they both achieved overwhelming victories. Still, the alien appeared far stronger due to his apparent immunity to direct blows.


    "How can he be so tough?" Khan asked Lieutenant Unchai when his group left to attend the lessons.


    "I''m not sure," Lieutenant Unchai sighed. "The Ef''i are a warrior race. Some of them can develop a higher muscle density due to a luckybination of genes. The issue might even be mana-rted due to the rules of the tournament."


    "What do you mean?" Khan promptly asked.


    "It''s not forbidden to use spells or techniques before a battle," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "He might be able to reinforce himself with mana before jumping into the arena. It would still take a genius to perform a wless execution every time, but it''s a possibility."


    ''That might be troublesome,'' Khan thought as his group moved toward the building that would hold the lessons. ''I don''t have techniques with mana that I can prepare beforehand.''


    Khan wanted to win, but he didn''t know how possible that feat was. He even felt unclear about the alien''s power since they had never fought.


    "Just focus on doing your best," Lieutenant Unchai said when he noticed Khan''s conflicted expression. "I didn''t expect their course to have such a strong recruit either. It seems that Earth will have some problem securing enough faswite in the next years."


    "Can a single soldier affect the tournaments so much?" Khan asked as curiosity inevitably seeped into his voice.


    "I already told you that the Ef''i are generally stronger than us before the evolution," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "The arrival of a new talent can turn the previous bnce upside-down. Also, our soldiers fight here to obtain rewards while the Ef''i only want to defend their natural resources. None of us remains on Onia for too long."


    Khan nodded as his understanding of the political environment on Onia grew. The Lieutenant then left the group of recruits since their lessons were about to begin, but none of them seemed in the mood to pay attention.


    Most of the boys and girls shot silent nces toward Khan during the lessons. They could sense the anxiety of that situation, and they couldn''t help but express their feelings through their gestures.


    Even Luke and Bruce decided to ignore Khan to avoid breaking his concentration. Their friend was their most valuable asset on Onia right now.


    Only Martha continued to treat Khan normally. She knew how thickheaded he could be. She would actually feel surprised to see him getting anxious.


    "They shouldn''t put so much pressure on you," Martha whispered during the lessons.


    "Let them do it," Khan said while giving voice to a faintugh. "I''m not fighting for them anyway."


    "Let me guess," Martha smirked. "You want the Credits connected to this achievement."


    "I only want more training halls," Khan whined. "They are so cool. I can fight so often against so many different opponents. They don''t even stink of smoke like Lieutenant Dyester."


    "You seem to like them very much," Marthaughed, but she promptly covered her mouth for fear of alerting the ss.


    "A simple like can''t express my feeling," Khan announced in a dramatic voice while taking Martha''s hands between his palms. "This is the purest form of love. Only food stands above it."


    Khan almost didn''t hold back his voice during hisst announcement. Most of the other students were paying attention to him due to his role in the tournament, so everyone could pick up the word "love" spoken while he held Martha''s hand.


    Even the professor noticed that scene, but he decided to ignore it due to the importance of Khan''s role in the tournament. He limited himself to clear his throat to suppress the giggles that had begun to resound inside the hall.


    "I suspect that you do this on purpose at times," Martha snorted while retracting her hand, "But then I remember that you are an idiot."


    "I really do love the training halls," Khan whispered whileying his torso on the desk and waiting for the end of the lessons.


    Lieutenant Unchai didn''t allow Khan to go to the training hall that afternoon. The soldier wouldn''t risk his best shot at getting faswite to suffer injuries or arrive at the battle tired.


    Khan had to follow his ss back to the mountain after the lessons, and he limited himself to meditate while the rest of the battles unfolded.


    The awaited moment eventually arrived. Lieutenant Unchai kicked Khan''s crossed leg and awakened him from his meditation. Khan wanted toin, but the sight of the tall Ef''i inside the arena reminded him of his purpose there.


    "[Me is Khan]!" Khan shouted in a bad ent while standing and jumping into the arena.


    He had used part of his free time on Onia to improve his Ef''i''snguage, but he had only managed tomit a few words to memory. Still, he could nowplete a few short phrases.


    "[Your name has no meaning]," The Ef''i grunted while patting his chest. "[I won''t waste time memorizing opponents who can''t make me flinch]."


    "Slow down a bit," Khan eximed while trying to mimic the meaning of his words with his hands. "Slow. Ehm, [egg]! That''s the word for slow, right?"


    Khan turned to look at Lieutenant Unchai, but thetter shook his head and shattered his hopes.


    "He won''t bother to learn your name until you beat him," Lieutenant Unchai tranted while pointing toward the alien.


    Khan scratched his head before turning toward his opponent. The Ef''i didn''t move at all. He didn''t even bother to enter a defensive stance.


    Teco and Lieutenant Unchai exchanged a nce before raising their arms and announcing the beginning of the fight.


    Khan immediately shot forward and delivered an impressive direct kick aimed for the center of the alien''s chest. That wasn''t one of his strongest attacks, but it still hit the Ef''i with a great amount of power.


    The Ef''i didn''t move at all. Khan felt as if his foot had hit an immovable wall. His battle experience even revealed something tragic to his mind. He could feel that no attack in his arsenal could achieve better effects against that opponent.


    ''There must be a trick,'' Khan thought while rotating on himself and going airborne to deliver a descending kick toward the alien''s head.


    The Ef''i didn''t even try to dodge the attack. He endured the kick and continued to smile while he grabbed Khan''s leg and threw him on the other side of the arena.


    Khan mmed on the rocky wall before falling on the terrain. The sh didn''t hurt too much, but he would eventually lose if he let the situation continue like that.


    ''It shouldn''t be a matter of muscle density,'' Khan thought as he stood up and returned inside the arena. ''His physical strength isn''t great. Only his defense is off the charts, and the mana might exin that feature.''


    A conclusion quickly reached Khan''s mind. Nothing in his arsenal would work against a defensive technique fueled by mana. He would have to execute something simr to gain a chance to win.


    ''How long does it even take me now to perform aplete technique?'' Khan wondered as his body crouched forward. ''Can I even seed on the first try?''


    Khan shot forward while taking a handful of terrain with him. The Ef''i didn''t notice that quick gesture, so he continued to smile as he waited for his opponent to reveal an opening.


    Khan performed a short jump followed by a front flip that made the Ef''i think about a descending kick. The alien was ready to receive the attack, but terrain suddenly covered his vision and blinded his four eyes.


    The alien began to give voice to angry guttural noises, and the same went for the audience outside the arena. The Ef''i didn''t like that behavior, but Khan didn''t have time to waste in that situation.


    Khan took a step back as soon as his feet touched the ground. His eyes closed as his body crouched forward, and his attention went on the mana flowing through his flesh.


    The Ef''i quickly cleared his eyes from the terrain and noticed what his opponent was up to. An angry noise came out of his mouth as he jumped toward Khan while stretching his ws and cracking his tail forward.


    The tail was the Ef''i''s fastest limb. It reached Khan in an instant and began to pierce his right shoulder. The alien''s ws arrived right after, but a loud noise spread through the arena before they could stab Khan''s skin.


    The Ef''i figure suddenly disappeared as tremors started to spread through the walls around the arena. It seemed that an earthquake was making the entire mountain shake, but those events had a far shorter range.


    Khan had changed his stance. Only Lieutenant Unchai and Teco had been able to follow his movements, but the other recruits didn''t understand what had happened. They didn''t see when Khan had straightened his left leg forward and performed a direct kick.


    Green trails fell from Khan''s shoe. The recruits on both sides widened their eyes when they saw that feature, and their gazes inevitably followed the trajectory of his kick.


    A second wave of surprise filled their minds when they saw that arge hole had appeared on the rocky walls of the arena. A few green spots had even tainted those dark-red shades.


    ****


    Author''s notes: The fever has gone down. I hit 38 this morning, but it has never gone above 37 for the rest of the day. I hope you understand that I still don''t want to risk returning to the normal schedule until I''m fully healed. Give me a day or two before going back to the proper number of chapters.

 Chapter 54 - Tomorrow

    Everything was silent. No one dared to speak in front of that surprising spectacle. Khan had flung the Ef''i away, and thetter had dug a hole into the wall during the impact.


    The drops of green blood falling from Khan''s foot and the wall''s edges added a menacing feeling to the scene. Even Khan began to worry after he lowered his leg. He feared that his attack might have killed his opponent.


    ''He must be alive, right?'' Khan wondered as pain started to spread from his right shoulder. ''He must have had mana as protection!''


    Khan instinctively nced toward Lieutenant Unchai, but the soldier wasn''t looking at him. Everyone in the area was staring at the hole, waiting for the Ef''i to show some trace of life.


    Some debris eventually fell out of the hole and hinted at movements in its insides. Khan kept his eyes fixed on that spot until the familiar alien figure became visible.


    Khan heaved a sigh of relief, but his expression froze when the alien crawled out of the hole and straightened his position. The Ef''i had a deep foot-shaped injury at the center of his torso, which leaked blood over his body.


    That gory sight made most of the recruits divert their eyes, and even some of the Ef''i couldn''t help but cover their gazes. Only Khan, Lieutenant Unchai, and Teco didn''t blink at that sight. They could see part of the alien''s internal organs through that injury, but the scene didn''t cause any reaction in their minds.


    The Ef''i nced at his injury before wearing a wide smile. He ced a hand on his chest and gave voice to a clear word that Khan recognized as his name. "Eztli!"


    Khan didn''t show any happiness at that event. Eztli had suffered a severe injury, but he appeared unwilling to abandon the fight. Even Teco wore aplicated expression but remained silent in front of his student''s determination.


    ''The Ef''i are crazy,'' Khan thought when he saw Eztli lowering his arm, closing his eyes, and tensing his body.


    Eztli''s muscles bulged from under the tight open garments that covered his shoulders and the side of his torso. Khan could see the flow of blood intensifying during that process and tainting his short tight trousers.


    The muscles seemed to follow a precise rhythm that Khan could only connect to a technique. Eztli wanted to perform a move that used mana, and Khan''s expression inevitably lost every trace of emotion at that sight.


    Khan jumped off the arena to shoot toward Eztli. A kick flew toward the alien before he couldplete gathering the energy for his technique and sent him back inside the wall.


    Eztli wasn''t immune to his blows anymore. Khan had kicked his face and had easily flung him inside the hole. The alien had left a trail of green blood during his flight, but everyone could still see his legsing out of the wall.


    "Make him surrender!" Khan shouted while turning toward Teco, but thetter didn''t even bother to look at him.


    Khan turned toward Lieutenant Unchai at that point, but even the soldier appeared conflicted about the matter. Different emotions filled his face, with sadness being the most intense.


    "What am I supposed to do?" Khan asked. "Do I have to kill him if he doesn''t give up?"


    "Teco won''t stop the battle since faswite is on the line," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "Try to knock him down. Nothing will happen to you if he dies in the process."


    ''That''s great!'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''Killing someone when I''m not even seventeen can only do good things to my already broken mentality!''


    Khan began to feel angry and annoyed, but he didn''t back down from that situation. The army wasn''t a yground. He didn''t want to kill Eztli, but the alien wasn''t helping him in the matter.


    ''Just stay down,'' Khan begged in his mind, but Eztli didn''t listen to his silent request.


    Eztli''s legs twitched while he tried to crawl out of the hole. His tail and ws eventually pointed at the wall and helped him sliding out of the wall, but Khan delivered a kick as soon as he saw his head.


    The alien flew back inside the hole as more blood came out of his injury. Khan maintained his aloof expression when he inspected the scene, but a tinge of sadness inevitably seeped into his gaze. Killing felt so pointless there, but he had to continue fighting for humankind.


    Khan was even aware that backing down from the fight might lose him the respect of the Ef''i. His position inside the Global Army would also improve after winning the battle. Everything depended on whether he had the guts to pursue that path until the end.


    The images of the nightmare inevitably appeared in Khan''s vision. He felt cold and devoid of any motion as the Ef''i struggled toe out of the hole and showed his head.


    Khan delivered a powerful kick to the Eztli''s head as soon as it entered his vision. The alien flew deeper into the hole at that time, and his belly ended up hitting the upper parts of the small tunnel. The impact with those rocks made some of the blood flowing out of the injury ssh and fly on Khan''s face, but he barely felt that.


    Lieutenant Unchai''s sadness intensified as he kept track of Khan''s actions. He could see the man ready for war hidden behind those young features. A simple tournament was forcing Khan to grow used to that side of him, and the soldier partially med himself.


    The other recruits had different reactions. Many humans still found it hard to inspect the scene, but those who could began to look at Khan in fear. They could barely believe that one of theirpanions was capable of such coldness.


    Instead, the aliens had all managed to focus on the scene by then. They had abandoned the anger caused by Khan''s dishonorable actions and had worn solemn expressions. None of them dared to make a sound while their friend was suffering a beatdown.


    Khan''s eyes flickered when he saw that Eztli''s injury worsened and started to release more blood. The muscles on his abdomen began to bulge and hinted at the summoning of mana for another technique.


    Khan promptly grabbed Eztli''s foot and dragged him out of the hole while throwing him back into the arena. The alien lost his concentration and dispersed the umted mana, but hended on his knees and avoided sliding on the ground.


    However, the sudden dispersion of mana made his injury lose even more blood. Eztli created a small green pool under him while he remained crouched on the ground, and hisplexion paled. He seemed on the verge of fainting, but his sheer will was keeping him awake.


    Khan couldn''t allow Eztli to stretch that battle any further. The alien had to faint now, or he would be a murderer.


    Eztli tried to stand up, but Khan arrived above him in an instant. His body was already airborne by the time Eztli nted his first foot on the ground.


    Khan''s leg rotated until his heelnded on Eztli''s neck, and the impact mmed the alien on the ground. More blood flowed out of his injury and erged the green puddle, but the Ef''i''s eyes finally closed after that attack.


    ''Finally!'' Khan shouted in his mind before noticing that his situation wasn''t ideal either.


    Blood had continued to flow out of his shoulder during the battle. His uniform had gained arge dark patch that didn''t mix well with his slightly paleplexion.


    Khan wanted to turn toward Lieutenant Unchai, but he stopped when he heard a sshing noiseing from his feet. The puddle of green blood had reached his shoes, and a wet sensation was spreading under his heels.


    "[The humans win],"


    "We won the tournament!"


    Teco and Lieutenant Unchai suddenly announced while Khan was busy staring at his shoes. They had initially been dark-blue, but the green blood had covered them with apletely different shade. That sight had also filled his eyes with helplessness.


    Luke and Martha forced themselves to give voice to excited cries and p their hands, but the other recruits weren''t in the mood to show their support toward Khan after that gruesome scene.


    Khan showed a weak smile toward his two friends before nodding toward his proud Lieutenant. Then, he exchanged a series of polite and respectful nces with the Ef''i. Teco even stepped into the arena and shook his hand before crouching toward Eztli to inspect his injuries.


    "Take this," Teco said in a bad ent before Khan could leave the arena. "Give it to your leader."


    Khan nced at the small lump of faswite before grabbing it with great care. The silver mineral was cold and incredibly light, even if it was only a tiny piece. It radiated a strange scent, simr to the nts seen at the beginning of the tunnel, but Khan didn''t spend time confirming that vague guess.


    "You did good," Lieutenant Unchai announced when Khan handed the faswite to him. "Make sure to perform well in the missions, and the Global Army will prepare something for you in the second semester."


    "When do the missions start?" Khan asked when he recalled about that event.


    "Officially?" Lieutenant Unchaiughed. "Tomorrow!"


    ****


    Author''s notes: I''m far better. The fever is down, and the throat has also stopped hurting in thest hours. I think I''m ready to go back to full speed, so you can expect more chapters from tomorrow onward. Today it will be the usual one for chaos and a long one for demonic sword.

 Chapter 55 - Women

    The first semester was about to end. Thest two weeks of the sixth month usually marked the beginning of the missions that would evaluate the overall growth of the recruits and their different aptitudes, and Khan''s ss had just approached them.


    "Do we have to use the teleport again?" Khan asked as the excitement that he felt helped sweep away part of the sadness that had taken control of his mind.


    "Yes, but I can''t disclose your destination," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "The Global Army doesn''t want to give anyone time to prepare for the different environment."


    The training camp had many wealthy recruits who could purchase or ask their families for suitable equipment once they discovered the location of the missions. Khan felt d to learn that the Global Army was trying to prevent unfair advantages.


    Soft grunts suddenly resounded behind Khan. Teco was turning Eztli, and more blood fell out of the foot-shaped injury on his abdomen during the process. Yet, Teco promptly tore a piece of his peculiar robe to put a patch on it.


    Azure energy flowed out of Teco''s hand and sealed the piece of his robe to the injury. His mana also made it waterproof and stopped the bleeding, but his expression didn''t appear relieved in the slightest.


    "There are many spells that don''t require much concentration," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "The Global Army barely considers them as spells. You can give special features to your mana once you learn how to control it. It''s not a vital skill, but it can help in many areas, especially on the battlefield."


    Khan nodded while he watched Teco lifting Eztli and carrying him into a tunnel that led deeper into the mountain.


    "Will he be okay?" Khan asked while following the duo with his eyes until they disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel.


    "He should," Lieutenant Unchai announced. "Mana can heal almost every injury. I once met a soldier with the flesh element who could rebuild entire human tissues. Surviving is easy. You just have to be careful about what you''ll be in the process."


    Khan lowered his eyes and remained silent for a while before heaving a deep sigh. Everything was in the past now. It was time to focus on the future.


    "Can I go to the training hall now?" Khan asked as his voice gained a shameless tone.


    "You should enjoy yourst day ther-," Lieutenant Unchai eximed before approaching Khan''s shoulder to pat him, but the dark patch on his uniform suddenly reminded him about his injury. "You aren''t going anywhere! Some of you drag this idiot to the medical bay. Don''t let him sneak away."


    Martha promptly stepped forward, and Luke grabbed Bruce by his uniform before following his friend. The trio encircled Khan and quickly escorted him outside of the mountain.


    "You don''t have to do this," Khan said once the sunlight hit his eyes. "We can make a deal. I''ll let you use the training hall once if we all go there."


    "How magnanimous of you," Marthaughed.


    "I think I have enough Credits to live inside a training hall," Lukemented while scratching his chin.


    "The most expensive training hall in co''s camp even," Bruce scoffed.


    "You aren''t any different, Bruce," Lukeined. "The Cobsend family has a higher status because of its connection with the noble families, but the Eerly family isn''t poor at all. I might even say that you have as many Credits as me."


    "That might be true," Bruceughed, "But we both know that connections are more important than Credits at some point."


    "Can we go back to my topic?" Khan asked. "The entire camp knows that you are rich. They literally know me because I''m with you."


    "And because you stole Martha in mere weeks," Bruce said while clearing his throat to cover his words.


    "I need to bring my hammers around more often," Martha snorted, but she lowered her head to hide her faint blush.


    "Khan, I''ll try to make it simple," Luke announced. "You have just secured a small chunk of faswite for the Global Army. The higher-ups will definitely make you attend a few missions here once we be proper soldiers. They want you to win tournaments, so they will invest in your training without asking anything in return."


    "Will they?" Khan asked as his eyes lit up.


    "Think it through," Bruce continued. "The Ef''i are generally stronger than us before the evolution, but you already are better than them. The Global Army will pay any price to send you here again."


    "Is faswite so important?" Khan eventually asked.


    "Organic cores are rare and inconvenient," Luke exined. "The future of the Global Army is with synthetic cores. The demand of faswite is nigh-endless due to all the recruits and ongoing experiments."


    The conversation went on until the group reached the medical bay of the alien camp. It was a short building withrge windows that showed its white insides filled with soldiers wearing white medical coats. All of them appeared to be human.


    "We can leave him to you, right?" Bruce asked while looking at Martha.


    "I''m not his nanny," Martha snorted.


    "I hope not," Luke winked before the two boys left the area in a hurry and left Khan and Martha alone.


    Khan turned to show a pleading expression toward Martha, but she gave voice to a low curse before pushing him inside the medical bay. A few nurses quickly arrived when they noticed the patch of blood on his uniform, and they immediately dragged him into one of the corridors.


    One of the nurses took out a small knife that released a faint white light from its sharp edge and began to cut the dirty uniform. Khan wanted toin, but he found himself shirtless in less than an instant.


    "I could have taken it off," Khanined. "No need to ruin an almost perfect uniform."


    "Please be silent and don''t move," One of the nurses ordered. "The injury has stopped bleeding, but the cut is quite deep. Also, you have multiple untreated contusions everywhere."


    The second nurse cut away his trousers, which left Khan in pants in the middle of the corridor. Only the two nurses, Martha, and Khan were there, but he still felt a bit exposed.


    "Wasn''t there a room avable?" Khanined while scratching the side of his head.


    "We use them only in essential situations," One of the nurses exined. "This is a medical bay in an alien camp. We must always be ready for a crisis."


    The atmosphere in that medical bay was far differentpared to co''s training camp. Everything was tenser and handled quickly. The nurses and doctors didn''t take their work as a simple job. They were on a mission there.


    "Stay here and don''t move," One of the nurses said before both of them pushed Khan on a bed and left to grab a few meds.


    "They feel more like soldiers," Khanughed while turning toward Martha, but he suddenly noticed that she was avoiding his gaze.


    "What is it?" Khan asked. "Is something wrong?"


    Martha nced at Khan from the corner of her eyes, but she quickly moved her gaze away. Khan was basically naked. His pants covered his manhood, but they did a poor job at hiding its shape.


    Martha managed to get a good look at Khan''s body even with those nces. She could see how defined his muscles were. Khan was barely sixteen and a half, but his physique had already reached an incredible and quite appealing state.


    "Are you ok?" Khan continued to ask.


    Khan wasn''t dense, but too much had happened that day. His mind could barely go past the events with Eztli, and the issues with the iing mission waited for him afterward. He didn''t have enough room to consider that Martha could feel shy seeing him almost naked.


    The nurses suddenly reappeared at the end of the corridor, and Khan waved his hand to im their attention.


    "Can you take a look at my friend?" Khan shouted. "She doesn''t seem too good."


    The nurses quickly moved toward Martha, and understanding smiles appeared on their faces when they saw her blush.


    "Can you handle him on your own?" Martha asked while keeping her voice down.


    "Are you sure that you want to miss this?" One of the nurses teased her, but Martha promptly turned and left the area.


    "Don''t tell me that it''s my fault," Khan sighed when the two women turned their smiles toward him.


    "Young boys shouldn''t ignore theirdies," The first nurse eximed.


    "Everything seemsplicated at this age," The second nurse continued, "But it really isn''t. I bet you two have yet to rify your situation."


    ''Women are sharp!'' Khan shouted in his mind before lying backward and cing his back on the wall. ''I guess I should talk to her, but what can I even say. The missions will start tomorrow. Neither of us has time to handle feelings now.''

 Chapter 56 - Wolf

    The nurses ended up applying some stitches on Khan''s shoulder and a few lotions on the various contusions that afflicted his body. They even left him with clear orders. He couldn''t do any physical training that night if he wanted to heal by the next morning.


    The medical bay gave him a new uniform before ordering him to return to his dormitory. Khan unwillingly followed those directives, but surprise filled his expression when he saw a cheerful horde of recruits waiting for him near his rooms.


    It seemed that everyone wanted to celebrate his victory in the tournament, and Khan decided to y along. He wouldn''t refuse the additional food that hispanions were throwing at him, but he didn''t forget that most of them were unable to look at him just a few minutes ago.


    Khan often searched for Martha with his gaze, but he always found her busy talking with her friends. Khan never found the opportunity to free himself from the constant attention that the other recruits were shooting toward him, so he epted that the chance to talk with Martha would nevere that night.


    The other recruits threw a storm of questions toward him. They wanted to know the secret behind his power or eventual tricks to perform during their training. However, Khan couldn''t give them anything. His ability came from constant exercise and a good mindset built in the Slums.


    The desperation caused by his nightmares had yed a crucial role in his training, but Khan wasn''t willing to reveal that. He limited himself to give vague answers until he found a way to return to his t and seal the entrance.


    A heavy sigh escaped his mouth when the silence of his t filled his ears. He had finally managed to leave the crowd. His mind could take care of reviewing thest battle and sort his emotions while he prepared to start his usual training.


    His belly was full, and he barely felt his wounds. His condition was perfect for his mental training and meditations, and he still had many hours left in front of him. Khan could make full use of the additional time without sacrificing his sleep.


    The eighth mental training was still a challenging opponent. Khan had made some progress in that exercise during those two weeks, but he had yet to feel confident in clearing it.


    Still, he felt d to discover that each aspect of his training seemed to benefit his overall growth. His battles against the puppets helped him gain a firmer grip on his emotions, which subsequently improved his execution of the eighth mental exercise.


    The same happened backward, and everything eventually flowed into his meditations. Khan''s ability would take a step forward as a whole whenever one part of his training experienced improvements. Even his recent execution of a proper technique with mana came from the convergence of his various feats.


    The rm rang, and Khan stopped draining his mind over the eighth mental exercise. He felt tired, but he still had many hours avable for his meditation, so he didn''t hesitate to switch to his second training.


    However, Khan noticed that Martha had sent a message when he unlocked the phone to set the next rm.


    ''Where did you get those muscles?!'' Khan read on his phone before wearing a smile.


    Khan had finally understood why Martha had been so strange for the entire afternoon, and the exnation left himughing on his bed for a whole minute.


    ''Did you like what you saw?'' Khan wrote and sent before continuing tough.


    Martha''s answer was almost immediate and left Khan''s speechless. He almost couldn''t believe his eyes when he read the simple "yes" written on his screen.


    ''What do I even answer now?'' Khan wondered as a faint blush appeared on his face.


    He didn''t expect such a direct answer. His knowledge in matters rted to love and rtionships was non-existent, and having to handle that situation through the phone was even slightly annoying.


    Khan stared at the screen in silence, unclear about what to answer. The desire to see Martha made its way inside his mind. Still, she sent another message before his thoughts could explore the topic any further.


    ''Don''t overthink it and finish your daily routine quickly. We have the semestral missions tomorrow.'' Khan read on the phone before heaving a deep sigh.


    ''I think I can confirm that she likes me, right?'' Khan thought while lying on the bed and closing his eyes.


    He couldn''t ignore the happiness that had appeared in his mind, but that feeling struggled to find enough room to exist among his other thoughts. The matters with the Global Army, his nightmares, and his training were already too heavy. Khan didn''t know if he could add a potential rtionship to his life, but he would definitely try to do it.


    ''Don''t tell me that dad was right,'' Khanughed in his mind. ''Do I really need to find condoms?!''


    .


    .


    .


    A siren sounded through the entire dormitory early in the morning. Lieutenant Unchai''s orders quickly followed that noise and forced all the recruits to pack up and gather in front of the building.


    The Lieutenant was already waiting for them, and he quickly led the group toward the camp''s exit.


    Khan didn''t miss the chance to approach Martha, who was yawning in the corner of the group. The girl wore aplicated expression at that sight, but she eventually showed a slight smile.


    "What''s with those eyebags?" Martha asked as she suppressed a faintugh. "You went to sleepte."


    "The meds are to me," Khan snorted. "I didn''t think my body would naturally absorb the stitches. I actually had to search it up in thework before being able to sleep."


    "Look at you," Marthaughed. "You can use thework on your own now. I''m so proud."


    "You don''t look too rested either," Khan tried to go on the offensive. "Did you think about something in particr?"


    Khan uncovered his abdomen to use his uniform as a fan. He pretended to be hot, but he was clearly teasing the girl next to him.


    "Cover yourself before the Lieutenant sees you," Marthaughed while covering his mouth. "I''m not like that, okay? You just took me by surprise."


    "What if I were like that?" Khan asked.


    "Do you lust after muscr bodies?" Martha asked. "No wonder you spend so much time with Lieutenant Dyester."


    "You know what I meant," Khan smiled while adjusting his uniform and making sure that Martha watched the scene. "And you also know that one of us had to say it."


    "Shut up," Martha whispered. "We would need to live on a where the daysst fifty hours just to consider that."


    "I''m considering it anyway," Khan announced.


    "You are an idiot who needs a phone to rule the length of his training sessions," Martha rebuked.


    "We can use the phone for that too!" Khan eximed.


    "We won''t use a phone for that," Martha quickly refuted Khan''s idea.


    "Something is there then," Khan smiled.


    "The whole training camp can''t bepletely wrong, can it?" Martha said before a faint blush appeared on her cheek. "Focus now. The semestral missions are here."


    "Can we talk about this properly once we are back?" Khan asked.


    "No," Martha immediately replied before lowering her head. "Maybe."


    "Maybe is enough," Khan announced before continuing to walk next to her in silence.


    Luke and Bruce had noticed that interaction by then, but they didn''t dare to approach the duo. The two boys had been with Khan and Martha far longer than the other recruits of the special ss, so they could sense that something was off.


    Martha and Khan had always spent a lot of time together, and they had clearly shared a few secrets. However, they had never obtained the romantic aura that new couples usually had.


    Still, that feeling was surrounding the duo now. Luke and Bruce could almost sense that their rtionship had taken a step forward. Something had changed during the two weeks on Onia, but the two boys couldn''t understand the reason behind that event.


    A long truck and a jeep were waiting for the recruits at the exit of the training camp. Lieutenant Unchai quickly ordered everyone to jump in, but the ss of Ef''i suddenly appeared in the distance and dyed their departure.


    Khan felt happy to see that Eztli was among them. He needed the help of one of hispanions to stand up, and his waist had many green patches, but he was alive.


    Teco forced his students to form a line in front of the human ss and perform a military salute. Then, Lieutenant Unchai''s voice roared behind Khan and the others and ordered them to reply with a simr gesture.


    The two groups exchanged their polite salutations, and Khan didn''t miss how Eztli''s gaze never left him. Khan couldn''t help but smile at that sight, but the Lieutenant soon made them break the ranks and go toward the truck.


    "It''s hard to believe that we have been on another," Khan sighed as he kept his eyes on the openings of the trucks to memorize Onia''s deste environment.


    "Your body will remind you of the difference once we go back on Earth," Marthaughed, and her gaze often fell on Khan''s curious expression.


    The truck didn''t take much to get back to the camp that held the teleport. Lieutenant Unchai made all the recruits jump off the vehicle before leading them toward a familiar structure.


    Scanners and green floors unfolded in Khan''s vision as he returned to the first alien building seen during that travel. It was time to leave, but the recruits had yet to learn about their destination, and Lieutenant Unchai had no intention to reveal it to them.


    "I won''t follow you there," Lieutenant Unchai announced once everyone gained ess to the circr area with the teleport. "A different Lieutenant will take care of handling the semestral missions. Be sure to use the valuable battle experience you have gathered here to make your training camp shine. Bring honor to co."


    "Do you mean that we''ll have to fight against other training camps?" Khan asked, and everyone fell silent before turning toward Lieutenant Unchai.


    The soldier didn''t say anything else. He showed a wide smile before giving the order to the scientists. The teleport activated, and all the recruits jumped on the oval tform.


    Khan could feel the area of synthetic mana gathering around him again, but another sensation suddenly spread through his arm. His eyes went on that spot and noticed that Martha was holding his hand.


    "The first time wasn''t too nice," Martha briefly exined.


    Khan limited himself to tighten his grasp on Martha''s hand and nod. No one could see their gesture since everyone was busy worrying about the side effects of the teleport. Yet, the machine activated before any of them could even think about preparing their minds.


    Everything went dark before a few sensations appeared among that darkness. Khan felt cold spreading from his knees, but his left hand was warm. His vision then returned and allowed him to see that he was kneeling on a white tform surrounded by glowing blue nts.


    Martha was crouching at his side, and the other recruits were in a simr situation. Some of them still puked, but the white surface of the teleport took care of that waste.


    Khan wanted to help Martha, but a huge figure suddenly filled his vision. A more than two meters tall humanoid creature walked toward the group of recruits and showed a displeased expression when it noticed their state.


    ''Isn''t that a Kred?'' Khan wondered when he inspected the creature.


    The alien was massive. Its furry skin didn''t manage to hide the tight array of bulging muscles. The creature had the face of a wolf that had inherited a few human features, and its fingers ended with sharp ws.


    "You are another disappointing bunch," A female human voice came out of the Kred. "Wee to Istrone. I will be your Lieutenant for the semestral missions."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I''m back.

 Chapter 57 - Plain

    "I''m Lieutenant Sehlolo of the Global Army," The humanoid wolf-like alien announced. "I will handle the special ss of co''s training camp. Other Lieutenants will manage the other groups from your city and the other training camps. We can move once you stop puking on the teleport."


    Khan never blinked as he kept his gaze on the Kred. He had only seen a few images of that alien species on thework due to their connection to Lieutenant Dyester, but the real deal gave off apletely different vibe.


    The Kred were creatures that humans often saw as evolved animals due to their stark resemnce with the fauna on Earth. Lieutenant Sehlolo was the perfect example of a wolf who learned how to stand on two feet and talk.


    Theirnguage didn''t have fixed grammatical rules. The Kred used cries that reflected their apparent connection with the animal species on Earth, but they could understand each other even if their sounds were different.


    A wolf-like Kred could understand a lion-like Kred and so on. The reason behind that feature was an innate mental connection among the members of their species. They were a spiritual bunch, and humans couldmunicate with them only if they managed to tap on that mental environment.


    Khan had tried to understand more during his lessons of xenolinguistics, but Professor Thogett had never focused on a single aliennguage during the first semester. Rumors said that essing that mental connection was possible only after epting the innate feral side, but Khan didn''t know how to take that information.


    ''She definitely looks wild,'' Khanmented in his mind while trying to find any feature that could hint at her sex.


    Dark-blue fur covered the entirety of Lieutenant Sehlolo''s body. A few white strands of hair appeared under her long chin and seemed to stretch through her chest, but Khan couldn''t confirm that due to her uniform.


    Her right shoulder featured two stars, while the left only one. She was a second-level warrior and a first-level mage, but Khan wondered whether those symbols had the same value on a Kred.


    ''I didn''t know that the Global Army had aliens in its ranks,'' Khan thought while nting a foot on the teleport. ''They should have a better body, but they can''t handle mana as well as us.''


    Khan reviewed the little information about the Kred learnt during the past months while he prepared to stand up. He recalled their devotion to mana and their rebellion, but his knowledge ended there.


    Martha was still holding his hand, and she had yet to find the strength to stand up, but herplexion was far better than the other recruits. She seemed ready to leave the teleport, but she clearly needed some help.


    Khan crouched toward her ear before whispering a few words. "I''m going to help you stand now."


    Martha frowned before performing a weak nod. Her grasp on Khan''s hand tightened before rxing and releasing itpletely.


    Khan took that as the signal that she was ready to stand. He took her hand and ced it on his shoulder before wrapping his arm behind her back and slowly pull her up.


    Khan would be lying if he said that he wasn''t enjoying that moment. He didn''t like seeing Martha in that state, but the warm sensation spreading from the hand clutched at her waist was quite intoxicating.


    He had heard his peers talking about hormones, but he had never felt them so clearly. Part of him wanted to hold Martha right away, but he suppressed that instinct to focus on helping her.


    Martha clutched her hand on Khan''s shoulder, but her grasp slipped away. She had to reach for his neck to gain a good handhold, and her short nails inevitably tried to pierce his skin.


    The duo eventually ended up on their feet, and Khan remained in that position until Martha found her bnce. The process took a few seconds, and Martha''s hand soon left his neck to slide through his back and return to her side.


    Khan did the same once Martha nodded, and the duo exchanged an understanding gaze afterward. They both had performed a few useless moves just to touch their friend''s back a bit longer, but they let that knowledge remain silent.


    The other recruits were doing worse than them, but Bruce and Luke showed signs of recovery. The two kids from the Rotston family were in a simr situation. It would only take a few minutes before all of them could stand on their feet and leave the teleport.


    Martha and Khan jumped off the tform and started to study the area. The teleport was almost identical to the others seen on Earth and Onia, but the rest of the building waspletely different.


    The floor didn''t have metal tiles. Instead, ground and glowing blue nts surrounded the oval tform. Walls made of a ck material that seemed able to store electricity separated that hall from the outside world.


    Many consoles and soldiers wearing white medical coats handled the various consoles attached to the ck material, and a dark corridor connected the hall to the rest of the building.


    There wasn''t much metal in the hall. Most of the materials used for the walls and tubes that brought electricity and mana seemed toe from natural substances. Only the consoles and the teleport had apletely different technology, which required various alloys.


    The recruits slowly stood up and gathered around Lieutenant Sehlolo. The Kred grunted before turning toward the corridor, and the kids instinctively followed her.


    The same ck walls unfolded in their vision. Pale azure glows shone from behind that strange material and made the recruits fear that everything could crumble at the slight tremor. After all, that ck substance seemed to have the same fabric as Onia''s terrain.


    "Humans always rely on their metal," Lieutenant Sehlolo snorted when she saw the reaction of the recruits. "You arepletely unaware of the potential of natural resources, but your power allows you to thrive in your ignorance."


    "I''m sorry, ma''am?" One of the recruits asked after mustering enough courage. "Why did you decide to join the Global Army then?"


    "We can do better together, humans and Kred," Lieutenant Sehlolo exined. "Istrone has been the home of the most recent rebellion, but the Kred believe in peace and cooperation. It''s only logical for some of us to join the Global Army and try to change things from the inside."


    "Change what, ma''am?" Another recruit asked.


    Lieutenant Sehlolo didn''t seem too scary after her first answer. She had a threatening appearance, and a wild aura surrounded her, but her voice hid a peculiar kindness. Her behavior was rudepared to human standards, but Khan began to ept that the Kred simply were extremely honest.


    "Humans exploit the mana without caring about the consequences on the environment," Lieutenant Sehlolo exined. "Mana can empower everyone and have enough power left for the world, but the humans don''t know how to contain themselves. They need a Kred to learn harmony."


    The group went through the usual scanners and signed the familiar forms before going out of the building. Khan discovered that even Martha, Bruce, and Luke didn''t require to use pills to breathe anymore, and he couldn''t help but feel happy for them.


    A proper jungle unfolded in their vision once they left the building. Tall trees that had greenish trunks and blue leaves stood all around the structure. Theirrge and thick crowns covered the sky, but a yellowish halo seeped through them anyway.


    Azure glows ran through the terrain and ended in various nts that trembled when that energy spread through their structures. Violet flowers blossomed right in front of the group''s eyes, and new vegetation appeared from those spots.


    Khan and the trio who didn''t need the pills took a few minutes to ept the change of atmosphere. The air there was dense and wet but also powerful. Khan could feel mana everywhere. It seemed that every inch of Istrone had grown with that energy.


    "The daysst twenty-six hours here, with an almost perfect division between day and night," Lieutenant Sehlolo exined once Khan and the others became able to breathe. "Don''t underestimate the vegetation, humans. Most of the nts here have a will of their own and have gained special abilities through mana. You can consider them Tainted creatures."


    Everyone immediately became wary of their surroundings. The recruits had yet to see a spot of Istrone thatcked nts, so their worries inevitably intensified.


    "There aren''t many paths on Istrone," Lieutenant Sehlolo continued. "Only the natives here can avoid losing themselves in this everchanging environment. Follow me closely. The area for the first mission is right ahead."


    The group followed Lieutenant Sehlolo across uneven paths that had many hindrances on their way. They had to move roots, branches, bushes, and even entire nts at times to proceed forward, but arge in eventually unfolded in their eyes.


    Khan could finally see the single sun of Istrone once his group left the tight array of trees. The star radiated a pale-yellow light that kept the temperatures rtively low. He wasn''t freezing, but he felt like in autumn on Earth.


    Crowds of younglings filled the immense in and surrounded the various metal tforms in the area. Those structures were thirty meters wide and two meters tall, but they had stairs on their side, which hinted at some special purpose.


    Khan recognized some of the students from co, but he also saw many unfamiliar faces. However, the uniforms were all identical. The location of their training camp didn''t matter. They all belonged to the Global Army.

 Chapter 58 - Flare

    Shouts and peculiar roars resounded through the in as the various Lieutenants handled their groups. Khan saw other Kred wearing the dark-blue uniforms of the Global Army among them. He managed to identify a horse-like and a lion-like alien before Lieutenant Sehlolo forced his teammates to focus and walk toward one of the tforms.


    A group of recruits was already there, but Khan didn''t recognize any of those faces. They seem to belong to a different training camp, and a tinge of curiosity inevitably appeared in his mind.


    Khan had never been past co on Earth, and he didn''t even remember much of the city''s insides. His was a mystery, and his curiosity eventually tried to make him speak with the other recruits.


    However, Martha promptly pulled his sleeve and gestured to bend toward her.


    "They might be our opponents in the missions," Martha whispered. "Don''t try to make new friends now."


    "We have be very touchy since our conversation," Khan teased her,pletely ignoring her previous statement. "I must say that I like it."


    "Shut up and focus on the missions," Martha snorted, but a smile appeared on her face even if she wanted to show an annoyed expression.


    "Someone also likes it," Khanmented while straightening his back and ncing at Lieutenant Sehlolo.


    "You said it, not me," Martha promptly replied before following his gaze.


    Lieutenant Sehlolo had climbed on the tform to meet the two soldiers in charge of the other groups. The three exchanged words that Khan and Martha didn''t manage to hear, but they didn''t fail to notice that the trio often nced toward the sky.


    "Do they really expect us to do the missions in this condition," Luke asked while looking in the same direction. "Most of us can barely stand, and we are the special ss. I bet the other recruits are far worse off."


    "They must have a reason for this gathering," Bruce joined the conversation. "These tforms seemnding spots. They might want to transfer us somewhere before starting the missions."


    "Are we going to fly?" Khan asked as his eyes lit up.


    "Didn''t you fly before?" Martha asked. "We flew together when Lieutenant Unchai brought us to the training camp."


    "A mere tform and an old truck don''t count," Khanined. "I want to see a proper spaceship in action."


    "I don''t think they''ll deploy actual spaceships for the missions," Luke exined. "Those things run on synthetic mana. You can''t expect them to waste it like this."


    "My Credits are on helicopters," Bruce added. "Nothing is cheaper than them."


    "Nothing is older than them," Martha scoffed. "I believe they''ll send small troop carriers. They should be perfect for this environment."


    The four friends eventually fell silent since they could only wait to see the answer to their doubts. Clouds covered the sun as the minutes passed, and a thin rain even started to fall at some point.


    The Lieutenants did nothing to shield the recruits from the rain. The semestral missions had already started, and enduring the harsh conditions of the environment was one of the requirements. Moreover, it was hard for bodies empowered by mana to catch a cold or a simr illness.


    The minutes slowly transformed into an hour, but nothing happened. Other groups of recruits had entered the in during that time, but their Lieutenants had only divided them across the various tforms.


    "I think it''s time to give a few instructions," Lieutenant Sehlolo suddenly announced once another group entered the in. "We will divide all of you and create mixed groups. You''ll end up with recruits from other training camps. Working together is the key to get through the first mission."


    A wave of surprise filled Khan''s group. They didn''t expect the mission to force them to work with unfamiliar recruits, especially when they came from other training camps. They had initially thought that the tasks would be apetition between cities due to Lieutenant Unchai''s words, but they seemed to be deceiving.


    "The performance of the group won''t affect your individual score," Lieutenant Sehlolo continued. "You might gain ess to the second mission even if your team fails toplete the first. The Global Army has already activated a scanner in your phone to keep track of your actions, so don''t worry about unfair treatments."


    Khan immediately picked his phone and noticed that most of its functions had gone dark. It only marked the hour and depicted a vague map now.


    The other Lieutenants on all the tforms were exining the same things to their respective recruits. Khan guessed that the first mission was about to start, and the appearance ofrge vehicles in the sky confirmed his hypothesis.


    Khan opened his mouth in surprise when he saw dark-gray nes descending toward the tforms. Those vehicles had two wings and arge cockpit. Their tail was short and thick, and engines that released an azure light stood right at the center of the whole structure.


    The engines had the shape of circr gears that contained levitating azure spheres. They only needed to turn to change the direction of the released energy.


    The carriers slowly descended toward the tform and turned their engines off. Their tall doors opened and showed their ample insides. They could contain up to eight grown-up soldiers in their central section.


    "I''ll form groups of four now," Lieutenant Sehlolo announced. "Make sure to memorize the name I''m calling. They will be your teammates and your first opponents. We n to eliminate half of you as soon as yound."


    Another wave of surprised gasps spread through the recruits, and a notification appeared on everyone''s phone. The details of the first mission became a menu on the devices.


    The first mission was rtively straightforward. Each troop carrier would bring two teams to an isted location and force them to fight. The winning group would then have to return to the in with nothing more than their vague map.


    "The Global Army has already freed a few Tainted animals in this area," Lieutenant Sehlolo continued. "They can''t infect anyone, and they will have reduced offensive abilities, but they can still kill you. This isn''t training anymore. You are on the battlefield now."


    Lieutenant Sehlolo then started listing names. Groups of four formed and walked toward their assigned carried before the soldier moved to the next team.


    Khan eventually heard his name and walked toward the stairs while whispering a faint "good luck" to Martha. The girl did the same, and the two exchanged a quick smile before focusing on the mission again.


    Three unfamiliar recruits gathered around Khan before Lieutenant Sehlolo sent them to the carrier. The four spots next to them remained empty since the Lieutenant had yet to call their opponents.


    "I bet we didn''t hear our names due to this annoying rain," One of the girls in Khan''s group announced while wearing a smile. "Memorizing them now is also pointless since we might never see each other after these missions. Why don''t we name ourselves after our cities?"


    "Good idea," The boy next to Khan announced. "I''m Flurris."


    "co," Khan promptly added.


    "Etherdale," The second girl eximed.


    "Perfect," The first girl said as her smile broadened. "I''ll be Reebfell then. Nice to meet you all."


    The rain intensified during the wait, but a second group of recruits eventually arrived in Khan''s carrier and upied the seats next to his team.


    The tension inside the carrier immediately intensified as the two groups inspected each other. They would fight as soon theynded, and the losers would fail to join the second mission if they didn''t show anything worthy of consideration.


    The other group didn''t speak. Khan felt lucky that his team had the chance to say something before that inevitable awkward silence. Still, now he couldn''t wait for the mission to start.


    Martha eventually climbed on the tform and moved toward one of the carriers. Khan didn''t manage to make their gazes meet under that heavy rain, but he still followed her with his eyes. His otherpanions soon did the same and took ce on different carriers, and some of them had to walk toward other tforms even.


    Each tform could only contain three carriers, which took care of twenty-four recruits. Many kids had to move toward other tforms or wait for vehicles to rise in the air and leave their spots open.


    The carriers on Khan''s tform ended up going into the sky to leave their spot to other vehicles. They didn''t fly toward the beginning of the mission yet since it would be unfair toward the other recruits. They simply hoovered in the sky and waited for all the kids to take their ce.


    Khan kept track of Martha''s vehicle. He wondered if he could meet her team in Istrone''s harsh environment, but he knew that those were delusions.


    His mind had to be on the mission, but he couldn''t stop thinking about his return to Earth. He could actually gain a girlfriend if everything went well.


    The other troop carriers soon flew in the air and floated in a circle above the edges of the in. Everything was ready for the beginning of the mission. The pilots were only waiting for a signal from the Lieutenants.


    Then, one of the Lieutenants shot a re at the center of that airborne circle, and the various vehicles departed in different directions.


    Khan and the others peeked from the windows to memorize theyout of the thick vegetation under them. They wanted to obtain an advantage in the second part of the mission, but everything seemed the same from the sky. Also, the rain covered most details so, they didn''t manage to understand much.


    However, many red lights suddenly lit up among the thick trees. Scarlet trails and smoke also came out of those spots. It seemed that someone hadunched other res, but their trajectory seemed off.


    "Brace yourselves!" One of the pilots shouted through themunicator inside the carrier before a firework of red light filled Khan''s vision.


    He saw multiple explosions happening in the distance, and one of them seemed toe from the direction of Martha''s carrier. Still, Khan didn''t manage to think about much since an explosion eventually resounded under his vehicle and made the pilot lose control.

 Chapter 59 - Corpses

    Everything became a mess. The troop carrier started to spin and turn as the pilots failed to regain control of the vehicle. Khan and the other recruits weren''t wearing seat belts, so they began to smash on the various surfaces of the ne during the fall.


    The other recruits panicked and tried to grab anything that resembled a handhold, but Khan was calmer than hispanions. That wasn''t his first crisis, so he knew that letting his emotions take control of his mind wouldn''t help.


    Khan flew and mmed on the other kids and insides of the carrier until he managed to grab one of the seats. His veins bulged as he forced himself to wrap the seat belts around him in a desperate attempt to reduce the damage from the imminent crash.


    Then, the troop carrier hit the ground, and everything went dark. Khan had sparse moments of awareness filled with pain and a buzzing noise that didn''t make him understand where he was, but his vision slowly gained some rity.


    A familiar scene unfolded in his eyes. Khan saw fuming debris and metal bs mixed among the thick vegetation. Some of them were on fire, but the nts on Istrone seemed too resilient to burn.


    Some of the other recruits were absent. The carrier was on its side, and its doors had disappeared. The same went for three kids, and one of them was from his team.


    The recruits inside the carrier weren''t in good condition either. They didn''t manage to fasten their seat belts, so they had suffered many injuries during the crash before amassing on the broken side that touched the ground.


    Khan didn''t manage to understand the nature of their injuries from his position, but his survival instincts didn''t allow him to prioritize their well-being. He had clearly ended in an unforeseen situation, and the only ones who could know more about the whole situation were in the front of the troop carrier.


    ''I must talk with the pilots!'' Khan immediately concluded in his mind and lowered his head to remove the seat belt.


    Khan''s expression froze when he saw that a sharp b had pierced his left shoulder. The cut was deep, and a lot of blood flowed out of it. The injury appeared rtively serious, but he managed to see the positive side in that situation.


    ''My legs are fine at least,'' Khan sighed before wearing a determined expression and tinkering with the seat belt to remove it.


    The seat belt unlocked, and Khan gave voice to a grunt when he grabbed the edge of the broken door to avoid falling on the other side of the carrier.


    Only his right hand worked properly, so Khan had to wrestle with the various unstable footholds inside the vehicle to get out of it. His new position didn''t improve his point of view. The vegetation was too thick to see past ten meters in every direction.


    ''Deal with the injury first,'' Khan ordered to himself as dizziness tried to take control of his mind.


    He was bleeding too much, but the global army had managed to give a few lessons that could help him during anatomy. Khan knew that he had to cauterize the injury, and his eyes grew cold when he set his gaze on a fuming metal b right under the vehicle.


    Khan grunted again when he jumped off the carrier, and a tinge of hesitation appeared in his mind when he sensed the heat radiated by the piece of metal.


    ''I have gone through the Second Impact,'' Khan reminded himself. ''How bad can this be?''


    The upper part of his uniform only had a few holes, but Khan ripped it apart to create a thick cover for his right hand. Then, he took another piece of fabric and folded it a few times before putting it in his mouth.


    His teeth bit hard on the piece of uniform before he took the sharp metal out of his shoulder. Pain filled his mind, and dense patches of ck blood came out of the injury, but he quickly moved to the next phase to preserve his momentum.


    Khan threw the bloody shard away and crouched to grab the scorching metal b. The protection didn''t manage to block all the heat, but it was enough to make his hand endure it until the procedure ended.


    Khan took a few deep breaths and applied everything he had learnt during his mental training to separate his mind from his emotions. The scorching b released sizzling noises when it touched his shoulder, and a massive wave of pain tried to tear down his determination, but Khan only pushed the metal with more intensity.


    Khan counted the seconds in his mind and threw away the metal b once he reached three. His knees immediately hit the ground at that point, and his eyes closed to help him enter the meditative state.


    The adrenaline released during the fall seemed to give Khan more control over his mana. A simr crisis had given birth to his desperation and determination in the end. It was as if his body had returned home and could finally show its true power.


    Mana flowed out of his nape and converged toward his left shoulder. The injury had been losing too much blood, so Khan wasn''t sure that a simple cauterization could solve everything. He had to rely on the miraculous energy that flowed inside his body to fix what he could.


    Waves of mana attacked the injured spots and filled them with power. The intensity of the pain slowly decreased, and Khan even began to feel better. The dizziness vanished, and his left hand started to shake whenever he tried to move it.


    Khan remained inside his meditative state until he became able to close his hand into a fist. It would take a while to obtain a full recovery, especially without meds, but that was enough for now.


    ''The pilots now,'' Khan ordered to himself before standing and moving toward the front of the carrier.


    The scene that unfolded in his eyes would make most recruits puke. The tip of the carrier hadpletely caved in. Its metal had created a series of spikes that had pierced the two pilots. Blood covered their corpses, and confused expressions filled their faces.


    Khan sighed before wearing a cold expression. He kicked the shards of ss that were still in one piece and slipped inside the pilot cabin to remove the seat belts from the two corpses. Then, he dragged the dead bodies out of the vehicle and made sure not to leave anything important behind.


    Of course, his definition of important was rtive. Khan was still ipetent when it came to tech. The vehicle probably had amunicator or something simr that could reach the Global Army, but he didn''t even know what it looked like.


    Khan recalled about his phone after ncing at the destroyed console of the pilot cabin. His device was still in his pocket, and it seemed to have survived the impact. Yet, most of the menus were dark. It seemed to bepletely offline.


    ''This can''t be part of the missions, right?'' Khan wondered. ''These corpses are real, just like my injuries. Testing our ability to survive a ne crash is way too much.''


    Dark thoughts filled Khan''s mind as he approached the two dead soldiers. He could only think the obvious since he was on Istrone, but that wasn''t the time to make a point of his situation yet.


    The soldiers didn''t have much on them. Their phones had broken during the crash, and the same went for anything that could resemble a radio. Khan even inspected their shoulders to get an idea of their power, but neither of them had stars there.


    ''We are fucked,'' Khan cursed in his mind before mustering his strength and moving back inside the vehicle.


    Climbing was annoying due to the condition of his left arm, so he entered the pilot cabin again and kicked open the door that separated it from the central part of the vehicle.


    The four injured recruits were still unconscious, and Khan didn''t hesitate to grab them to drag them outside of the vehicle. Most of them had amassed on the side of the carrier, so he uncovered the central part by pulling them away.


    Arge puddle of blood unfolded in Khan''s vision when he grabbed thest recruit lying on the ground where the carrier''s door was supposed to be. Other slimy materials filled that red pool and led to under the vehicle.


    Khan dragged the recruit outside of the carrier and returned inside it to inspect that spot, but his eyes immediately closed when he crouched to see what it hid. He had found one of the lost kids.


    ''Where are the other two?'' Khan wondered while inspecting the area, but his search didn''t produce any result.


    The carrier had slid on the terrain for a few hundreds of meters. Yet, the vegetation on Istrone had already started to fill the long hole created during the crash.


    Khan could barely see that path anymore. The trees around the destroyed area had stretched to fill the hole, and the mana flowing through the terrain was giving birth to other nts every second. It was a mystical scene that he didn''t manage to appreciate due to the severity of his situation.


    Khan didn''t dare to go too far during his exploration. He wouldn''t risk getting lost to find the two missing recruits. He onlymitted the direction of the broken path to memory before returning to the other kids.


    Thoughts inevitably surged at that point. Khan had retained a small brim of hope before. He wanted to believe that everything was part of the test, but the corpse of the recruit under the carrier had shattered that belief.


    That situation was outside of the Global Army''s control. It was an unforeseen crisis, something that Lieutenant Dyester and his toon had faced forty years ago.


    Martha''s face appeared in Khan''s mind. He was worried about her, but he forced those emotions to vanish. Feelings wouldn''t help him survive. The time to grieve or shout in joy woulde after he got out of that situation.

 Chapter 60 - Panic

    The heavy rain quickly took care of the small fires around the destroyed troop carrier. Khan spent his time tending the recruits'' injuries, but their situation didn''t look good.


    Flurris and Reebfell''s injuries were lighter since they had been on the side that didn''t slide across the ground. Their bodies were full of bruises and cuts, but their wounds had already stopped bleeding after hours spent unconscious.


    The other two recruits were worse off. The boy had patches of scarred skin across the entire left side of his body. His uniform was also in pieces, and many metal scraps had ended up piercing his left arm, leg, and side.


    The girl was in a simr situation, if not worse. Her body didn''t suffer the same extensive injuries as herpanion, but her right hand had turned into a bloody mess. Her fingers had bent toward unnatural angles, and her wrist had taken the same density of a jelly.


    Khan couldn''t do much while they remained unconscious. He proceeded to tear pieces of their robes to create bandages and cover their injuries. He even removed some of the metal shards stuck inside their bodies, but he left those that still released blood in their ce.


    Khan had ced the four recruits under a spot covered by the rain, but he regretted his decision when he saw that they continued to sleep. His patience eventually ran out, and he began to deliver light ps to those who seemed better off.


    "What is-," Flurris began to ask in a weak voice, but Khan ced a hand over his mouth and made him remain silent.


    Khan then pointed at his various injuries and made it realize what had happened. The boy immediately started to panic while trying to break free of Khan''s hand, and his struggles threatened to worsen the other recruits'' injuries.


    Khan rolled his eyes and dragged Flurris under the rain. The boy could finally see the entirety of the crash site, and his panic intensified. Retches even climbed down his throat when he saw the corpses of the pilots on the vehicle''s side.


    ''He will need a while,'' Khan sighed in his mind before approaching Reebfell and starting pping her face.


    The girl slowly woke up, and her reaction was almost identical to Flurris, so Khan dragged her under the rain too. The coldness of the water falling on her face and injuries seemed to bring some rity in her case, but everything fell apart when she saw the two dead pilots.


    Khan shook his head when Reebfell puked a mixture of saliva and blood. She would also need a bit to recover from the trauma, which brought his attention to the other two recruits.


    ''I can''t wake them up before gaining their help,'' Khan concluded when he reviewed the state of the boy and girl still under the vehicle''s cover.


    Their injuries were too deep. They would only worsen their condition if they fell prey to their panic like the other two recruits. Khan couldn''t risk that, especially when hecked the means to restrain them.


    "Someone attacked us," Khan announced after turning toward the two recruits under the rain. "We crashed. We are the only survivors."


    Khan partially lied, but he didn''t care. He didn''t know the location of the other two recruits, but he needed his group to believe that returning to the in was a priority.


    After all, Khan had every reason to believe that Tainted animals and rebels of the Kred species were roaming that jungle. There was even a high chance that they were hunting survivors.


    The two awake recruits froze when they heard those words, and Khan couldn''t help but recognize their expressions. Their whole world had turned upside-down. They were experiencing the same emotions that had afflicted him after the Second Impact.


    "You need to calm down and meditate," Khan exined. "Stabilize your condition and help me with the other two. We aren''t safe here."


    The confidence and calm carried by Khan''s voice helped the two recruits ept their situation. The Global Army had trained them to be soldiers for six months in the end. Part of them already knew what to do in those situations.


    Flurris and Reebfell sat under the rain and closed their eyes to enter a meditative state. The falling water didn''t disturb their concentration at all. The duo actually felt d that their bodies could still sense something after everything that had happened to them.


    Khan nced at the two recruits sheltered by the broken vehicle and heaved a deep sigh. He was doing the best he could to keep the situation under control, but his power had clear limits. His knowledge was the same, especially when it came to the medical and technological fields. He wasn''t the right person to be inmand of the group.


    A growl suddenly resounded among the trees and alerted his senses. Khan instinctively turned toward a seemingly random spot of the jungle and felt a chaotic mass of mana nearing his position. Something big wasing, and his two awakepanions were in the way.


    "Wake up and hide behind the carrier!" Khan shouted while stomping his foot near the two meditating recruits.


    The two recruits instantly woke up, but they didn''t understand the reason behind his words. Yet, they saw arge figure moving through the trees when they looked in the direction of Khan''s gaze, and they quickly crouched to crawl behind the vehicle.


    Khan remained in his position, and his mana started to flow through his legs. His mind had never been clearer. His emotions were in a separate part of his brain that didn''t have any ess to the side handling the technique.


    A massive bear slowly came out of the jungle and stepped into the crash site. The creature was three meters tall and stood on its rear legs. Azure fur covered its entire body, and its drooling mouth hung open as its glowing eyes moved among Khan and the other recruits.


    ''Did the rebels remove the suppression from the Tainted animals?'' Khan wondered when he saw that the bear didn''t have any device meant to reduce its offensive ability.


    Its long ws were in the open, and its paws hung on the side of its body. Its teeth were sharp, and its movements didn''t show any trace of restraints.


    ''I''m not a kid scared of Tainted animals anymore,'' Khan thought as his body crouched forward.


    His left shoulder hurt when he tried to move his arms to bnce his body, but nothing reached his mind. Khan was only thinking about his technique and his opponent. Everything else had disappeared.


    The Tainted bear descended to stand on four legs before charging ahead. It closed the distance from Khan in two long jumps, and one of its paws swung toward his head once he entered its range.


    The paw never managed to hit Khan. The bear''s head shook as an invisible strikended on its side and flung the entire creature away.


    Khan had delivered a kick so fast that it didn''t even create afterimages. His left leg had only trembled for an instant before stopping moving. The attack had taken ce during that short second.


    The bear crashed on the ground and slid for a few meters. The side of its head had turned into a bloody mess, but its resilience was off the charts. The creature straightened its position and released an angry roar, but its vision soon went dark.


    Khan had flowed into another technique instead of stopping to inspect the creature''s condition. He had deployed mana while the bear was sliding on the ground. The preparation for his move had taken even less at that time.


    A scorching sensation spread through his skin as the sole of his footnded on the bear''s eyes and dug through its skull. His shoes broke during the attack, but he barely felt anything. Khan didn''t even sense the blood and brain matter falling on his naked skin.


    Khan didn''t lower his leg, and the Tainted bear fell on the ground. Tremors ran through its body before lifepletely abandoned its eyes. The animal died, and Khan dispersed the umted mana while lowering his leg.


    ''I can fight with mana,'' Khan concluded in his mind. ''The techniques aren''tpletely reliable yet, but I''m getting there. I might be able to have an even fight with the seventh level of the training program now.''


    Khan''s sess with the previous executions of the proper Lightning-demon style came from hispletely calm mindset. He felt like a robot that gave orders to his body and managed his mana. Mistakes seemed impossible when his emotions didn''t y a part in the battle.


    Flurris and Reebfell had inspected the battle from a hidden area behind the troop carrier, andplete shock filled their minds after witnessing such a clean fight. Khan had taken care of a huge Tainted animal in two mere blows, but the surprises weren''t over.


    Khan had been shirtless since they awakened, but the two recruits had been too confused to notice the azure scar on his chest. However, they couldn''t miss it now that he turned to walk toward them.


    Khan''s defined body, coupled with the azure scar and the hideous burn on his shoulder, removed every trace of youth from his figure. Theck of shoes and his broken trousers also gave him a wild aura. Reebfell even blushed when his azure eyes met her nce.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Ok, real talk. All has epted my contract, so I''ll go premium soon. I''ll tell you more about the locked chapterster on. I want to settle the matter of the word count now.


    I''m finding it hard sticking between 1401 and 1600 words. Almost none of the previous chapters are like that. Only this one is 1595 (the others are longer, the previous is 1714 for example). Still, I don''t want to lock myself behind the need to write chapters between 1601 and 1800 words out of fear of creating fillers. What would you say if I kept the length of the chapters between 1401 and 1800 words? (It means that the price will vary between 8 and 9 coins depending on the size)

 Chapter 61 - Knife

    The situation was tragic in the crash site, but some awkwardness had inevitably fallen among the awake group. Khan had to rip the recruits'' uniforms apart to create bandages and tend some injuries, so everyone was partially naked.


    Khan had a better time ignoring Reebfell''s uncovered skin and exposed sports bra. His mind was forcing his emotions in a part of his brain that didn''t affect his body. Also, that wasn''t his first time seeing women in that state anyway.


    The Slums didn''t give Khan the chance to have rtionships, but he had lived amongplete poverty. Torn clothes were the norm there, so he had often seen women roaming the narrow streets and going to work with little more than a few rags on them.


    Moreover, everyone knew the locations of the brothels, and the hookers didn''t even try to hide their bodies. Khan had often walked pastpletely exposed chests that attracted many men willing to trade their meals for a few hours of pleasure.


    The same didn''t apply to Flurris and Reebfell. They didn''tin about Khan''s actions, especially after he had saved their lives, but their eyes often fell on theirpanions to snatch quick peeks.


    Flurris was quite evident in his attraction toward Reebfell. She was as tall as Khan, and her sports bra didn''t manage to hide her well-developed chest. Her long blonde hair andrge green eyes were even perfect for the slender body and firm curves that the training of the Global Army had forced her to obtain.


    Flurris wasn''t ugly either. He had an average face, with short ck hair, dark eyes, and thick eyebrows. It was clear that a beard had even started to grow on his chin, but he seemed to shave often.


    The boy was taller than Khan and had a decentyer of muscles. His chest was quite hairy, but his broad shoulders gave a mature vibe to his figure. However, Reebfell barely looked at him. Her eyes seemed unable to leave Khan and his scarred chest.


    ''It''s almost time to wake up the other two,'' Khan concluded in his mind after spending a few hours meditating under the heavy rain.


    Khan quickly inspected the two recruits before moving to the duo sleeping under the vehicle. Their condition was getting worse, especially when it came to the girl''s hand. A dark-red shade had appeared on the tip of her fingers, which forced Khan to consider a harsher approach.


    ''Don''t tell me that we have to amputate her hand,'' Khan wondered before standing up to check the two unconscious recruits.


    "co, right?" Reebfell asked as soon as she noticed that Khan was on his feet. "I think we should drop these codenames. You know, in case some of us don''te back."


    Khan showed a confused expression, but Flurris quickly supported the girl''s argument. "The survivors must warn the families about their dead descendants."


    Understanding dawned upon Khan at that point. That topic made sense, and he didn''t hesitate to follow their suggestion. "I''m Khan."


    "Dorian Aiyti," Flurris announced while pping his chest in pride and moving his gaze toward the girl next to him.


    "Cora Ommo," Reebfell eximed without even ncing at Dorian. "Just Khan?"


    "I''m from co''s Slums," Khan promptly replied. "Dorian, you seem to be fine now. Help me with this girl. She must wake up and meditate. I think she might lose her hand."


    Dorian and Cora widened their eyes when they learnt about Khan''s background. Everyrge city had Slums around them, so they could immediately understand his situation. Yet, they couldn''t exin how he could be so strong with the evidentck of backing.


    "Dorian?" Khan repeated, and the boy snapped back to reality before standing up.


    Cora imitated Dorian, but both Khan and the boy shot a confused nce toward her. She was still tending her bruises and cuts, and her help appeared unnecessary in the matter.


    "How do you think she''ll react in front of two half-naked boys?" Cora exined, and Khan promptly moved to the side to make room for her.


    Dorian and Cora walked toward Khan''s position, but only the girl crouched next to him. She blushed a little when her naked shoulder touched Khan''s, but she remained focused on her task. Meanwhile, the other boy remained behind them to oversee the situation.


    Cora lightly pped the girl a few times, but she increased her strength when she failed to wake up. The unconscious recruit eventually opened her eyes, and a painful scream immediately left her mouth.


    "Calm down!" Cora shouted while trying to restrain the girl, but thetter was in too much pain.


    She struggled to get out of Cora''s grip, and her eyes often fell on her broken hand. Her mindset didn''t improve when she gained a clear understanding of how bad its condition was, and her screams became louder after that.


    "Move aside," Khan whispered while cing a hand on Cora''s uncovered waist and pushing her away.


    Cora slightly jumped when she sensed his firm palm pushing her away, but sheplied with his orders. She waited for Khan to grab the screaming girl''s elbows before moving to her legs and keeping them still.


    Khan dragged the girl under the heavy rain and shook her a few times until she decided to suppress her pain for a few seconds. She sobbed as her tears mixed with the falling water and her bloodshot eyes focused on Khan.


    "You need to meditate now," Khan exined in a steady voice. "Your hand is in bad shape."


    Khan didn''t bother to spend time exining the crash or his other hypotheses. He only wanted the girl to bebat-ready as soon as possible and leave the area.


    The girl seemed to calm down after his words. She nodded, and Khan slowly left her elbows. She shook when her injured hand fell to the side of her body, but she managed to sit and enter the meditative state after taking a deep breath.


    Khan sighed and turned toward the boy. Cora moved farther away and left her spot to Dorian, who carefully grabbed the unconscious recruit''s arms from areas that didn''t feature injuries.


    Khan nodded and began to p the boy. Thetter woke up quickly, and his first reaction was to throw his legs in the air. One of them hit Dorian''s side, while the other wanted to aim for Khan''s face.


    "Calm down!" Khan shouted while grabbing the boy''s ankle before the kick could reach his face. "We crashed, the mission is over, and you are injured."


    The boy''s ragged breath slowed down as he moved his eyes among the three recruits and the crash site. His head eventually performed a nod, and Khan let his leg go.


    The boy inspected his left side and noticed the many injuries and bandages. His eyes quickly went on Khan and the others before he nodded again and closed his eyes to meditate.


    ''Finally a smart one,'' Khan eximed in his mind.


    "Let''s rest a little longer," Khan ordered. "You can''t fight right now, and I can''t handle all the threats hidden here by myself. I''ll definitely need your help."


    Dorian and Cora nodded before sitting and closing their eyes to meditate. Both of them understood that their struggle to survive would start once everyone was ready, so they had to abandon every distraction.


    Khan also sat to meditate. His shoulder still needed care, but it got better with every training session. He guessed that everything would be perfect after a week, but he hoped to regroup with the Lieutenants before that.


    Hours passed under the heavy rain. The group of recruits didn''t have food, but the falling water seemed drinkable. Khan even tried to taste a few drops to see if they caused strange reactions inside his body, but everything seemed fine.


    Managing the hunger wasn''t an issue for Khan, but the other recruits'' stomachs inevitably started to growl after meditating for so long. Yet, they could only endure that feeling and continue to heal their bodies with mana since they had nothing else at hand.


    The world eventually went dark, and the insides of the jungle became even harder to inspect. Khan and the others had to stay close to keep track of their position, and their heightened senses couldn''t do much in that environment.


    ''We must wait until the sun is up again,'' Khan concluded while inspecting the darkness. ''Exploring during the night is pure madness.''


    The other recruits also woke up when they sensed that Khan had started to inspect the perimeter again. That gave the two unknown kids the chance to introduce themselves and group up to make a point of their situation.


    "We must regroup with the Global Army," George Ildoo announced after Khan exined everything. "I hope your attunement with mana is high enough to make youst on Istrone without breathing pills."


    George Ildoo had a mature vibe around him. He was shorter than Dorian, and his body was slender, but his sharp eyebrows and calm gaze made him appear stronger than the boy.


    The rain forced his long ck hair to fall on his azure eyes, but he promptly created a bandana with pieces of his uniform to keep his gaze clear.


    "We mus-," Ethel Fensee began to speak, but the paining from her hand forced her to stop for a second. "We must hurry. The Global Army technically controls Istrone, so the Kred will aim to destroy its bases."


    Ethel was shorter than Khan. She even looked younger than herpanions. It was clear that her body had yet to develop fully, but her short brown hair gave her a soldier-like appearance.


    "We should take care of your hand first," George pointed out. "You can''t move in this condition."


    "Wha-!" Ethel spoke, but her pain forced her to stop again. "What can we do about it? Even my mana can''t fix it."


    Khan had kept track of the condition of hispanions during his breaks. Dorian and Cora were mostly fine by now, and George had stabilized his most severe injuries. He was even suppressing the pain released by the other wounds during the meeting.


    Instead, Ethel didn''t improve. Her bruises and small cuts had mostly healed, but her right hand didn''t recover at all. It was actually getting worse, and the dark-red shades were stretching past the wrist. ck spots had even appeared on the tips of her fingers after those hours.


    "I have a bit of medical knowledge," George announced. "Your hand is too far gone. It''s developing gangrene that will spread through your arm. Your mana might slow down the process, but you''ll never get better until we remove it."


    "You are talking about my hand here!" Ethel shouted.


    "One hand is better than your life," Khanmented while scratching the azure scar on his chest. "I bet that the Global Army will even give you a good prosthesis once we get back to our training camps."


    The recruits fell silent when Khan spoke. Ethel and George had learnt about his background during their introduction, and they didn''t take much to connect the azure scar to the Second Impact. After all, the reappearance of the Nak had shaken the entire world.


    "But-," Ethel whimpered as another wave of pain spread through her body. "It''s my hand!"


    "Keep your voice down," Khan reminded her while ncing at the dead Tainted bear in the distance.


    The corpses of the pilots and the dead Tainted animal seemed to remind Ethel about the gravity of the situation. She was only a burden in that condition, and her chances to survive were even quite low due to the constant pain released by her hand.


    The best approach was clear in her mind, but tears still flowed out of her eyes. Ethel was only seventeen, but she had to prepare herself to lose such an important part of her body.


    "How should we cut it?" Dorian asked. "I''ve seen some sharp bs, but I don''t know if they''ll be enough."


    "I think I can handle that part," George eximed before closing his eyes and starting breathing at an odd rhythm.


    Everyone felt confused in front of that scene, but no one spoke. George had only shown a mature personality until then, so he had earned a bit of trust.


    Khan and the others grew suspicious after minutes passed, but an azure light suddenly appeared between George''s hands and made them gasp in surprise.


    The light condensed and morphed while changing color. It grew darker and obtained silver shades as it transformed into a small knife.

 Chapter 62 - Guard Duty

    Khan and the others remained speechless in front of George''s ability. They had understood what the boy had done, but the event was still too surprising to put into words.


    George had activated a spell. His mana had taken the shape of a small dark-silver knife. The weapon had clear ethereal features, but none of the bystanders dared to underestimate its power.


    "Don''t look at me like this," George eximed as a weak smile appeared on his face. "I needplete calm and entire minutes to cast this simple knife. My mana capacity doesn''t even allow me to materialize it more than three times a day, so it hardly feels like an achievement."


    George''s words didn''t manage to suppress the others'' amazement. He had been a recruit for as long as them, but he could already cast spells.


    "What element are you?" Khan asked as evident curiosity filled his mind.


    "Spirit," George revealed before deciding to exin a bit more when he saw that the answer didn''t seem to satisfy hispanion. "It''s pretty rare, but also rather in. It''s one of the most flexible elements, but that feature depends on the user. I''ve trained with swords during my life, so this is the only shape that I can create."


    Khan remained surprised at how different the elements could be. Lieutenant Dyester''s words made more sense in his mind after hearing George''s exnation. Only someone who shared the same type of mana could know how to use it. The behavior of that energy could simply vary too much.


    "It''s stable now," George suddenly continued while grabbing the knife. "You should probably find something to cauterize her forearm before I cut her hand."


    Khan looked around the crash site. Everything was drenched due to the incessant heavy rain. He knew how to start a fire with random tools, but he couldn''t find anything to burn.


    Dorian and Cora seemedpletely useless in that situation. They imitated Khan, but they didn''te up with anything to help in the matter.


    "You can use the almost intact engine to heat a b," Ethel exined while suppressing the waves of pain running through her body. "Just tear it apart and bring it here. I''ll tell you what to do."


    Khan immediately stood up and moved toward the wreckage. The left engine had lost its external circryer, but the wires in its insides appeared in one piece.


    ''I should probably tear the whole thing from its base,'' Khan concluded since he didn''t know what parts he had to preserve.


    Mana flowed into his legs as his body crouched. Khan delivered a few kicks at the bent base of the troop carrier and continued until his foot pierced the metal. He didn''t always manage to activate the techniques correctly, but his sess rate was above eighty percent.


    Khan repeated the process until the whole engine hung from a small piece of metal. He pulled the entire thing at that point while tilting the device on both sides until the b gave in.


    Khan then brought the entire engine back to his group and dropped it among them. He had initially failed to notice their astonished expressions, but they became impossible to miss after getting rid of therge machine.


    "What is it?" Khan asked.


    "Did you just dig a hole in a troop carrier with your legs?" Dorian asked.


    "I used mana," Khan honestly replied. "It has even taken a while."


    "That''s what they are sayin-!" Ethel exined before her pain interrupted her line. "Perfect executions should be quite rare, but you have a high sess rate. Also, you don''t look tired at all after performing so many techniques."


    "My attunement with mana is pretty high," Khan tried to y it humble. "That wasn''t even a battle, so I could focus easily."


    "What about the Tainted bear?" Cora asked.


    "Luck," Khan promptly exined before changing the topic. "What now?"


    "There should be a circr piece," Ethel exined. "You have to rotate it when I say so. Hopefully I can redirect all the involved wires outside and don''t activate the flying device."


    Ethel bent forward and frowned whenever her hand moved. She used her left arm to tinker with the various wires of the engine and took most of them outside. Then, she ordered to get a suitable metal b.


    ''The teams appear very bnced,'' Khan thought when he inspected Ethel and George.


    The two recruits had initially been in the opposing team. They both had talents that shone in that difficult situation, and their mindset was also generally mature.


    Instead, Dorian and Cora didn''t seem to have any special talent or favorite subject. Khan had yet to see them fight, but George could literally cast a spell. They couldn''t be better than him.


    ''The Global Army has probably put weaker recruits in my team to bnce me,'' Khan thought while Ethel continued to give orders, and Dorian executed them. ''The other team must have had stronger recruits for the same reason. It''s a pity that one of them has suffered a major injury.''


    Dorian began to rotate the circr piece of metal. Energy umted on the device and flowed toward the wires at that point. Sparks came out of those cables, and Cora ced a metal b over them.


    Khan promptly took Cora''s hands and pulled them closer. The girl jumped again at that sudden physical contact, and her face became red when she saw Khan ripping off part of his trousers.


    However, everything became clear when Khan took her hands from the b and covered them with the fabric. Cora had forgotten to protect herself while heating the piece of metal.


    Ethel, George, Dorian, and Khan pretended not to notice Cora''s evident blush, especially since they were about to cut one of theirpanion''s hands. The situation was tragic. Some of them even cursed in their minds when they saw that Cora could waste time thinking about that stuff.


    Khan nced at George. It was time to amputate Ethel''s hand, but the two boys reached a silent understanding when their eyes met. It was clear that they were the strongest of their group, so it was up to them to return to the in.


    "It''s better if you bite something," Khan said while tearing a pierce of Ethel''s robe and folding it.


    The girl didn''t show any shyness when Khan uncovered even more of her body. She even opened her mouth when he neared the piece of fabric to her face. Her mind was elsewhere. She was doing her best to muster her courage before the procedure.


    "Ready?" George eventually asked when he saw that the metal b in Cora''s hand had begun to change color under the relentless attack of the sparks.


    Ethel nodded before stretching her arm. George grabbed her forearm and ced his dark-silver knife right above her wrist. Then, he pushed the weapon down, and the de severed Ethel''s arm without meeting any resistance.


    ''Powerful!'' Khanmented in his mind.


    Cutting a human arm was hard, even with sharp des. Yet, George had barely needed to put strength in his movement to sever Ethel''s hand.


    Ethel gave voice to a grunt, and tears quickly followed. She continued to scream while her teeth bit hard on the piece of folded fabric and her left hand covered her mouth to suppress her noise.


    The magic knife dispersed as George grabbed Ethel''s injured arm and forced it closer to the scorching b. The girl wasn''t in control of her actions, and she opposed the body with kicks and pulls.


    Cora''s hands trembled when she saw the bleeding arm. The girl froze and found herself unable to push the scorching metal forward, but Khan promptly grabbed one of her wrists to help her.


    Khan also grabbed the bleeding arm and helped George getting Ethel closer to the scorching b. The two eventually met, and a sizzling noise resounded among the heavy rain.


    Cora almost puked when that noise and Ethel''s suppressed screams reached her ears. She had to close her eyes and let Khan guide her through the process.


    "You can drop it now," Khan eventually whispered, and Cora saw that her arms pointed inside the engine among the recruits now.


    The girl gave voice to a short cry when she sensed heat going past the protection on her hands. She instantly dropped the metal b, and she instinctively hid her face on Khan''s side. Her fingers also tried to stab his abdomen and back as she clung to him.


    Khan almost lost hisposure, but a helpless expression appeared on his face when he heard Cora''s sobs. Thest part had been too much for her. She had tried to suppress her emotions until now, but she was only a seventeen-year-old girl whose world had turned upside-down.


    "You can''t fall apart yet," Khan sighed while gently patting the back of Cora''s head. "We have a long way to cross, and dangers might be waiting for us. Put your emotions on hold until we get past this."


    Cora began to calm down under Khan''s caresses. The girl eventually left his side and sniffed onest time before nodding.


    "Thank you," Cora whispered while closing her eyes and moving on her side to try to sleep.


    George dragged Ethel next to her and let her sleep by her side. The girl had fainted after the procedure, and only a long night of rest could help her with the trauma of losing her hand.


    "Should we establish guard duty?" George asked while turning toward Khan.


    Khan took out his phone, and a few calctions happened in his mind. The device had synchronized with Istrone''s time after the teleport, so its hour was still urate. Khan didn''t know how long its battery wouldst, but the group could use the rms for now.


    "Let''s wake everyone up before dawn," Khan ordered. "I want Ethel to spend a few hours meditating before starting the march. Walking at night is out of the question, so we have to use every hour with the sun to get closer to the in."


    "Who wants the first round?" Dorian asked before ncing at his twopanions and heaving a helpless sigh. "I''ll take it, but my phone is broken."


    "Don''t worry," Khan replied while setting the rm and cing his phone among them. "I''ll meditate a bit more before sleeping. Shout if you see something off."


    "I''ll do the same," George announced before nodding toward Khan when thetter shot a worried nce at him. "I still need to recover, and we need power more than ever now."


    Khan couldn''t change George''s mind, and the trio soon created a simple schedule for the guard duty. Dorian then started his task while Khan and George began to meditate. Still, the duo exchanged a few words when theirpanion jumped on the vehicle to gain aplete view of the crash site.


    "How strong are you?" George asked without opening his eyes.


    "I''m strong," Khan replied.


    "Some of us won''t make it," George added.


    "I know," Khan whispered. "I''m no stranger to death."


    "But can you leave someone behind if the situation requires it?" George continued.


    Khan didn''t answer anymore at that point. He didn''t want to let others die, but he wouldn''t lose his life to y hero either. Still, revealing that information to George could lead to adverse situations, so he preferred to leave the boy in the dark.

 Chapter 63 - Failure

    The group went through an uneventful night, and Khan woke everyone up a few hours before dawn. His phone hadsted for the entire guard duty, and he had taken thest shift to make sure that the others wouldn''t lose track of time even if his device turned off.


    The recruits'' condition was far better after a long night of sleep and multiple meditations. Dorian and Cora almost appeared at their peak when the sun rose, and George also felt far better. His left side was still a mess, but it didn''t seem to hinder his movements.


    Ethel was Khan''s main concern, but the girl''splexion had improved after removing her wounded hand. Her mana didn''t have to slow down the gangrene anymore, so it could focus all its efforts on healing her body. She was far from ok, but she could stand and walk without slowing down her teammates.


    "We have to move now," Khan ordered while pointing toward the direction that he hadmitted to memory after the crash. "The in is in that direction."


    The recruits followed Khan''s hand, but they didn''t see anything peculiar when they looked at the jungle. The traces of the crash had disappeared under the trees'' stretched branches and thick vegetation born due to the mana flowing through the ground.


    "Are you sure about that?" Dorian asked. "Everything looks the same for me."


    "I memorized the spot before taking you out of the troop carrier," Khan revealed. "That''s the right direction. Not getting lost is up to us."


    "Some of our phones are still working," Cora said while keeping her voice down. "Thepass should be active since the devices aligned with Istrone''s maic field."


    Cora felt awkward due to her previous actions. She hadpletely lost it after cauterizing Ethel''s arms, and her mind had yet to recover. Also, she had basically exposed her feelings, which made her shy toward her teammates.


    "For how long can we rely on them?" Khan asked when he noticed that Cora seemed to know a bit about those devices.


    "The battery won''t be a problem," Cora exined with the same tone as before. "Our phones only need one day under the sun to fully charge, and they canst for a bit more than a week if used correctly. The sparse rays that pierce the crowns should prevent problems."


    Khan and the others instinctively lifted their heads. The trees'' crowns were thick and left almost no room for the sunlight, but some ray still managed to reach the ground.


    ''What if it rains all the time?'' Khan wondered.


    The rain had stopped after the long night, but Istrone seemed to experience that bad weather often. The thick vegetation couldn''t onlye from the mana in the end.


    ''We must hurry,'' Khan concluded before tinkering with the phone and finding thepass.


    His new knowledge about the devices didn''t change the team''s situation. They had to regroup with the Global Army as soon as possible since the forest might hide dangers that they couldn''t face. Spending time in the wilderness only increased their chances of dying.


    Khan didn''t know much aboutpasses, but he soon understood that using them wasn''t too hard in his situation. He didn''t have to learn Istrone''s cardinal directions. He only needed to make sure that the arrow on the screen remained in the same spot while traversing the jungle.


    The group quickly began to move through the wilderness. Khan and Dorian took the lead of the team while George remained at its end. The two girls were in the middle since they had yet to bebat-ready.


    Everything looked the same in Khan''s eyes. The nts and trees seemed to repeat themselves in his vision. The only proof of his correct direction was thepass depicted on his phone.


    Istrone appeared empty. Khan had never been in an environment full of vegetation before, but he had heard about it from documentaries and other shows. He knew that a forest on Earth would normally have many animals, but the alien didn''t respect that rule.


    ''Even the Slums had cockroaches and rats,'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''How can this have nothing at all?''


    The foreign environment didn''t make sense in his mind, but he didn''t dare to share his thoughts with his teammates. The group had silently decided to limit their noise to avoid attracting threats, and theck of the heavy rain made them even more careful about that approach.


    The jungle was silent, and only the cracking noise of the roots breaking under the recruits'' feet resounded in the air. The vegetation was too thick to allow wind in its insides, so the group couldn''t even hear the fluttering of the leaves and nts around them.


    Theplete silence was deafening. Khan and the others had only doubts in their minds, and theck of noises made them louder. It was impossible to avoid thinking about the countless things that could go wrong in their journey, but they had to suppress them anyway to pay attention to the environment.


    The recruits only knew that their direction was on point. Everything else was a mystery, starting from the most worrisome features of the whole situation. There was a chance that the rebels had captured the Global Army''s headquarters, which would leave Khan and the others without a destination.


    "Stop," Khan whispered, and his word reached even George in the back of the group due to theplete silence around them.


    Khan had sensed something while moving through the jungle. It was a familiar sensation by then. Two masses of wild mana were moving among the trees ahead, but they had stopped when the recruits halted their steps.


    ''They know we are here,'' Khan quickly concluded before turning toward Dorian.


    Khan didn''t know how strong the boy was, but it was better to learn about his prowess now that he could handle the threat on his own. Making ns would be far easier afterward, and the experience might even benefit Dorian.


    "There are two Tainted animals ahead," Khan whispered while lowering his body. "They know we are here, but they are hesitating. The mutations must have worked pretty well for them."


    Tainted animals usually fell prey to their aggression, but the two creatures in front of the group were showing signs of intelligence. That behavior broke the pattern and led Khan to believe that their mutations had led to stable forms.


    "What should we do?" Dorian asked while imitating Khan.


    The boy''s martial art waspletely different, but he instinctively imitated Khan''s actions due to his anxiety.


    "I''ll quickly take one out," Khan exined. "You take care of keeping the other busy until I arrive. Of course, kill it if you can."


    Dorian gulped, but he forced himself to nod. A real battle was finally in front of him, so he had to deploy all the teachings that his Master had forced him to memorize.


    "I''ll give the order," Khan continued. "Be sure to keep up with me."


    Dorian nodded, and the tension in the air intensified as Khan started a countdown. Even the three recruits behind him felt anxious about the imminent battle.


    The countdown eventually hit zero, and Khan shot ahead. Dorian quickly imitated him, but disbelief appeared in his eyes when he stopped seeing hispanion.


    Khan was too fast, and that feature became even more evident during a fight. His sprints were one of the Lighting-demon style''s core aspects, and his speed reached insane levels during those techniques.


    Khan''s skin burnt due to the friction with the stale air. His body could barely endure the incredible eleration gained during the sprint. Still, he had to keep his eyes open to avoid all the roots and hindrances on the uneven terrain.


    Tworge figures quickly unfolded in his vision. A Tainted bear and a Tainted wolf-like creature were standing in a spot that didn''t feature many trees. It seemed that they had chosen a battlefield that would benefit their size, but Khan was going too fast to let those thoughts enter his mind.


    Khan didn''t have much time to choose his target. It would take him less than an instant tond on the two Tainted animals, and he had to use part of that time toplete his technique.


    His eyes and body quickly turned toward the strange wolf. The creature had two rows of teeth on both sides of its mouth and a forked tail, but it appeared frailer than the bear.


    Taking out one Tainted animal with a single blow would significantly simplify the battle, and Khan didn''t hesitate to pursue that approach.


    Khan nted his right foot on the ground when he arrived in front of the two Tainted animals. His leg dug the terrain as his body spun and deployed a roundhouse kick aimed at the wolf''s head.


    The attacknded on the creature before it could do anything about that sudden threat. Even the bear remained still when Khan''s figure materialized in its vision. Both animals had only seen a shadow even if they had prepared for the iing opponents.


    ''Dammit!'' Khan cursed in his mind when he saw the wolf flying away and releasing a trail of blood from its nose.


    Khan had be aware of something tragic afterpleting the technique. He had executed everything perfectly, but he had lost control of his mana at thest instant.


    The wolf had flown away due to the momentum umted during the inhuman sprint, but his technique didn''t express its full power. The animal''s head would have exploded otherwise.

 Chapter 64 - Exploration

    ''I have been too confident in my ability,'' Khan quickly concluded in his mind when he realized that he had failed to execute his technique.


    The Tainted bear didn''t give him much time to think. The animal recovered from its surprise and raised its paws tounch an attack toward its opponent.


    However, Khan''s emotions were still in a separate part of his brain. His surprise and disappointment in front of the failed technique didn''t slow down his body. His leg was already in the air, and his shinbone was even pointing at the bear''s side.


    Mana flowed through Khan''s body ording to the teachings of the Lightning-demon style. The bear''s paws were getting closer to his head, but his eyes barely registered them. His mind could only think at the instructions that he had reviewed and practiced countless times already.


    The bear''s paws filled Khan''s vision. The sharp ws descended until they were at a mere inch from his face, but the whole creature disappeared when hepleted his technique.


    A loud noise spread through the area as the bear slid on the ground and created a long hole before mming on the nearest tree. The nt shook to no end as the beast crouched on its trunk, and a cloud of blue leaves fell after the impact.


    The Tainted wolf returned to its feet and fixed its angry eyes on Khan. Its nose still hurt, but taking care of its opponent had the priority.


    The creature gave voice to a loud howl before charging ahead. Khan prepared for the imminent impact, but a battle cry suddenly resounded in the area before Dorian ran past him to face the wolf.


    Dorian''s posture was clearly off, and sweat already covered his body. He wasn''t trying to perform any special technique. His assault was a reckless charge driven by fear and panic, but those emotions didn''t make him forget his task.


    The wolf quickly changed its target and leapt toward Dorian. Its teeth stabbed the boy''s shoulder, but they didn''t dig his skin too deeply due to the pain that spread through its mouth after the attack.


    Dorian barely felt pain in his frenzied state. His mind only registered that the one-and-a-half-meter tall wolf was on him before his fists started to m on its figure.


    Khan almost felt bad about Dorian''s Master after seeing those pitiful attacks, but the boypleted his role with his messy approach. The two Tainted animals couldn''t work together anymore.


    The Tainted bear roared as Khan turned toward the creature. It seemed that the tinge of intelligence from before had disappeared. The huge animal fell prey to its aggression and went on its four legs to charge toward Khan.


    Blood flowed out of the creature''s mouth. The previous technique had hurt its insides in ways that normal animals and humans couldn''t endure. Yet, the mana flowing through its body allowed it tounch a reckless offensive that Khan weed with calm eyes.


    ''I got too cocky before,'' Khan thought as the bear''s charge slowed down in his eyes. ''Mastery doesn''te after a few good days of perfect executions. My proficiency will increase only after these techniques won''t require me to concentrate anymore.''


    Khan took a deep breath and let the bear get close. The huge creature leapt toward him once he entered its range, but its ws didn''t manage to hit anything.


    The bear grew confused even in its frenzied state. Khan''s figure vanished as its body pierced it. The boy had moved so quickly that its eyes still saw his afterimage.


    A faint pressure then appeared on its head. The bear couldn''t see what was happening there, but the trio in the distance witnessed the entire scene.


    Khan seemed to have teleported on top of the bear''s head. The tip of his left foot touched the creature''s forehead as he stood above it.


    Khan felt weightless. His body seemed able to use the very air as footholds with his faint steps, but even mana couldn''t make him ignore gravity. Still, he had no intention to remain in that state forever.


    The mana in Khan''s body suddenly fell and converged toward the tip of his foot. The bear sensed an immense force pushing it down and mming its head on the ground.


    The attack was so sudden that the head dug the ground before the rest of the body could follow it. A cracking sound eventually resounded in the area when the bear''s bellynded on the terrain, but Khan''s foot continued to pierce downward.


    A wet sensation enveloped Khan''s foot when the ground managed to stop his attack. He took his leg out of the hole and noticed that a dark-red liquid and other slimy materials had covered everything under his ankle.


    The Tainted bear didn''t move anymore. The attack had crushed its skull after giving birth to a spectacr scene.


    ''The other now,'' Khan turned and shot toward Dorian without bothering to inspect the situation behind him beforehand.


    Vague images appeared in his vision, but they didn''t stop Khan from focusing on his target. The Tainted wolf and Dorian were still stuck in a messy grapple that didn''t seem to lead anywhere, and their situation made it hard for Khan to intervene.


    The wolf had its teeth stuck inside Dorian''s shoulder. An abrupt attack could worsen the boy''s injuries. Khan even risked hurting hispanion if he delivered a proper kick to the creature, so his approach couldn''t follow his usual style.


    Luckily for Khan, Lieutenant Dyester had gone all-out to pick an excellent martial art. The Lightning-demon style had earned seventy-eight points, so it featured techniques useful in every situation.


    Khan stopped when he reached Dorian. His body seemed to move slowly in the boy''s vision, but he soon linked that impression to the effects of a technique.


    Khan was moving slower than usual, but he was still quite fast. That apparent slow-motion came from the peculiar flow of the mana inside his body. The energy wasn''t apanying his rising leg. It was actually trying to push it in the opposite direction.


    Air slowly flowed out of Khan''s mouth as he ced his foot on the wolf''s head. He didn''t put any power into that move, but a loud noise still followed that action.


    Dorian''s eyes widened when blood started to flow out of the wolf''s face. The creature even went limp and hung from his shoulder after the attack. The boy quickly grabbed its head to throw it to the ground, but pure disgust filled him when he sensed that the creature''s skull had gained the same texture as a jelly.


    The wolf''s corpse fell on the ground as Dorian let go of its head. The boy held his hand as his breath grew ragged, but Khan promptly squeezed his arm to make him focus on something else.


    "It gets easier," Khan exined before turning to the threepanions that had juste out of the trees. "I''ve never seen such calm Tainted animals."


    "They probably are the result of some experiment," George suggested. "The Kred might even be involved. I''ve read that their connection with nature can unlock fields unknown to humans."


    George managed to suppress his amazement after exchanging a nce with Khan, but the two girls couldn''t do the same. Ethel stared at him with wide eyes before shaking her head and regaining her concentration, but Cora appearedpletely in a daze.


    "Wake up," Ethel suddenly whispered while lightly hitting Cora''s side with her elbow. "We have to move."


    Cora snapped back to reality at that point, and an evident blush appeared on her cheeks. Khan pretended not to see that event and shot a nce at Dorian''s shoulder before ordering to resume the march.


    The group walked for all the hours with the sunlight, but they had to stop once heavy rain arrived and blocked their only source of illumination. They had managed to march for almost a quarter of a day before Istrone decided to hinder their vision, and Khan could only order to stop at that point.


    A few training sessions and the guard duty made the group go through the night quickly. They didn''t speak much due to the unsettling hunger umting in their minds. Sleeping was the only approach that temporarily suppressed that feeling.


    The rain was still falling the next morning, but it wasn''t as heavy as the previous day. The clouds past the trees weren''t evenpletely dark either, so the recruits could see the path ahead and resume their march.


    An uneventful day went by, but the group got lucky at that time. The weather never worsened, so they could walk for thirteen hours straight without taking any break.


    The effort pushed their bodies to their limits. Exhaustion wasn''t a problem, but their intensifying hunger was dulling their senses and slowing down their movements.


    Only Khan appeared unaffected. He filled his stomach with the falling water and endured his hunger perfectly even after almost three days ofplete starvation. Yet, it was clear that his teammates needed a solution to that issue.


    None of them knew much about Istrone''s vegetation, so they could only test the nts blindly. The recruits chose to use Dorian as a guinea pig and feed him different roots after removing their most hideous parts.


    Most of the tests didn''t go well. The human body rejected most of those nts, but some didn''t cause any reaction.


    The group took note of the harmless nts and started gathering their roots before feasting. Ethel became the official supplies carrier of the team since her condition wouldn''t allow her to fight for a few more days, but there was a limit to how many resources she could hold with a single hand and theck of a bag.


    Dorian skipped the guard duty that night since his body had yet to expel all the toxins eaten during the tests. Nothing serious happened to him. He only experienced severe diarrhea that his mana managed to fix in a few hours.


    The next day featured some illumination again, but rain still fell. The group felt better after taking care of their hunger, so they marched at a good pace through the jungle, hoping that they could return to the in without meeting any danger.


    Yet, Khan had to stop hispanions after marching for a few hours. A strange sensation that he couldn''tpletely describe had suddenly reached his mind and had alerted his senses.


    "How are you feeling, George?" Khan whispered while trying to understand what was happening among the trees.


    The strange sensation told Khan that the danger didn''te from Tainted animals. He needed another reliable fighter in that unknown situation, and Dorian didn''t fit those requirements.


    "I can fight," George replied in a firm tone before drawing a thick and long branch from a hole in his trousers.


    The boy had picked that branch in the past days, and no one had questioned him about that action. Everyone could understand that it had something to do with his martial art.


    "Dorian?" Khan asked.


    "I''m ready," Dorian answered while trying to imitate George''s tone.


    "Cora?" Khan continued to question his group.


    "I''ll follow you closely but remain hidden," Cora said with a slight tremor in her voice. "I''ll jump out and support you if the situation goes out of hand."


    Khan nodded even if curses resounded in his mind. Cora''s role was quite important, but he didn''t know if the girl would freeze in a real battle. She could do the same during her task, but she wouldn''t be in the way at least.


    "Follow me," Khan eventually whispered before crouching and moving through the trees.


    A few figures soon appeared behind somerge trunks. Khan recognized two bear-shaped Kred standing around three fainted humans. His eyes couldn''t help but widen at that point. Luke was among that group.

 Chapter 65 - Surprise

    The Kred exchanged growls that Khan couldn''t understand. Those noises were perfectly clear due to the deafening stillness of the jungle, but the aliens weren''t using words. They sounded like animals exchanging a deep andplicated conversation.


    ''They didn''t notice us,'' Khan thought even if the event left him surprised.


    That jungle was the Kred''s native environment. It felt strange that Khan had managed to sense the two aliens and get that close without alerting their senses. After all, no one in his group knew how to move silently, and they had stopped at only ten meters from them.


    Khan wanted to believe that his group had gotten lucky, but the nature of the situation didn''t make him feel like that. Luke and the other two recruits didn''t feature heavy injuries, but flexible roots tied their hands and legs.


    The three recruits were prisoners, which put Khan into an annoying situation. He had to decide whether to attempt to save those three or avoid the issue altogether.


    The Kred seemed unaware of Khan''s group, so running away was an option that he didn''t dare to disregard. The aliens'' prowess was an unclear variable that he couldn''t underestimate.


    Doubts filled Khan''s mind while hispanions remained silent. They were waiting for his orders, and tension inevitably built among them.


    Only George could consider all the avable options like Khan. The other recruits in their group had immediately thought that a rescue mission would start once their leader came up with a n.


    ''Kred have better bodies but struggle to increase their attunement with mana,'' Khan reminded himself while inspecting the area. ''The Ef''i are a stronger species, and I''ve defeated them, but they look like adults.''


    It was hard for Khan to judge the actual age of the Kred. Their inhuman features didn''t show marks that he could recognize, but their auracked any childish vibe.


    The Kred appeared mature, determined, and driven. Their inhuman eyes carried no mercy when they stared at the fainted recruits under them. They didn''t waver as they coldly inspected the young prisoners.


    ''Facing them is madness,'' Khan eventually concluded in his mind.


    His opponents could have years, if not decades, of training more than him. They might be experienced soldiers who had already gone through many deadly battles. The two bear-shaped Kred might be as strong as Lieutenant Dyester, which would leave Khan no chance to seed in an eventual rescue mission.


    "Let''s leav-," Khan turned and began to give his order, but his eyes widened when he saw that a third bear-shaped Kred was silently approaching his group from behind.


    Khan and the alien looked at each other for less than a second, but that moment felt like an eternity. The two went over countless ideas in the span of an instant before reacting to the surprising event.


    The Kred began to roar. Its hairy mouth opened and started to give voice to a low cry, but Khan put everything he had in his bent legs and reached the alien one second after its warning spread into the environment.


    Dorian, George, Cora, and Ethel divided Khan from the Kred, but his faint steps barely affected them when he walked on their shoulders and heads.


    Khan flew after walking over hispanions. His airborne figure appeared in front of the alien with a knee pointed toward its open mouth. He had taken only one second toplete the technique. His mana was already in the right ce. The sudden danger had allowed him toplete his fastest execution yet.


    The Kred''s eyes widened as its body bent backward, but it didn''t seem to have the power to dodge Khan''s attack. His knee hit the alien''s nose and made it cave in until it reached its forehead. A cracking noise even resounded from its skull, but Khan didn''t hear it due to the grunt that followed the interruption of the warning cry.


    Khan directly flowed into another technique. His attack had pushed the Kred backward, but his knee was still attached to its face. He took a deep breath as mana gathered in his torso before falling toward the tip of his joint when he exhaled.


    The Kred''s vision had grown blurry after the first attack, but it could sense that a massive weight had suddenly appeared on its face. Still, everything was happening too quickly. The alien tried to raise its wed arms, but the back of its head hit the ground before it could even attempt to touch Khan.


    The ground shattered as Khan mmed the tall alien down and forced the entirety of his bodyweight to converge on his knee. His leg dug the terrain as he continued to push the Kred downward. The crash made a lot of noise, but Khan could only think about defeating that opponent now.


    The noise alerted the other two Kred and forced the four recruits to turn. Everything had happened too quickly for them too. They realized the nature of the threat only when the tall body of the alien appeared in their vision.


    ''Can I really defeat them?'' Khan wondered while rolling on his back to exit the hole created by his attack and turn toward his astonishedpanions.


    The Kred didn''t move anymore. Khan had clearly beaten it, but he didn''t know if he could aplish the same feat without taking the aliens by surprise. Still, another issue appeared in his mind when he realized that escaping would cause other problems now.


    ''We can''t lose our path,'' Khan understood in his mind when he saw two tall figures moving quickly among the trees.


    Escaping when two natives were on his tracks was hard, but Khan could pull it off with his speed. However, he risked getting lost in the process, and nopass could help him if he walked out of his path.


    Fighting seemed the only chance at that point, but hispanions had yet to understand what had happened. Khan''s sudden actions had made them turn toward him and show their back to the other aliens. They didn''t know that the Kred were already on the move.


    "Behind you!" Khan eventually decided to shout.


    The four recruits turned and noticed the two tall bear-shaped Kred hurrying toward their position. Their size didn''t seem to be a hindrance in that thick vegetation.


    George was the first to react to that threat. He was already wielding his branch, and his mind had been ready to fight since the group found the Kred.


    George took a deep breath as mana flowed out of his body and entered the branch. The greenish weapon began to radiate a faint light while the boy sat on his knees and acted as if he was sheathing a sword on his side.


    Dorian quickly stood up and prepared himself for the imminent impact, and Cora imitated him while using her body to hide Ethel.


    Khan made sure to reinforce the mental barriers on his emotions before shooting ahead. He circled the group and prepared himself to support George since he had the highest chances of delivering a proper attack to the Kred. Yet, he slowed down on purpose to make the two aliens sh on the group.


    One of the Kred quickly approached George and waved both its arms toward his head. However, the alien promptly retracted them when the boy drew the branch by his side and swung it in the air.


    The Kred''s reaction had been almost immediate, but the tip of George''s branch had managed to hit its targets anyway. Two superficial cuts opened on the alien''s forearms, and red blood started to flow out of them.


    Dorian charged ahead once the second Kred became too close. His palms mmed on the alien''s chest to push it, but thetter didn''t budge. Instead, it delivered a swift attack with its left arm that flung the boy away and opened four deep cuts on his side.


    Khan arrived at that point. The injured Kred shot an angry nce toward George, but a kicknded on its side and forced its body to bend unnaturally.


    George didn''t miss that chance. His branch promptly shed at the Kred''s head, and a long injury opened on its face. The weapon even cut part of its exposed hairy chest and made dark-red patches spread from those spots.


    Khan jumped to rotate his body mid-air and m his heel on the back of the Kred''s head. The impact made the alien fall forward and gave George the chance tounch another attack. However, the boy lost his concentration, and his branch broke when its tip touched his opponent''s chest.


    Khan prepared himself tounch another attack, but he stopped when he noticed that the Kred had fainted. His eyes moved toward the other alien at that point, and he found it waving its arms toward Cora.


    The girl seemed to panic when the two massive wed arms swung toward her, but her body instinctively moved to apany the alien''s attack.


    The ws stabbed her side, but they didn''t dig too deeply. She imitated their movements and rotated behind the Kred once itpleted its attack.


    The Kred felt surprised in front of that strange technique, but Cora shared its emotions. Her breath became ragged, and pure fear appeared on her face when the creature turned toward her.


    However, a figure suddenly materialized above the Kred''s head. Cora saw Khan rotating in the air before mming his heel on the alien''s forehead.


    The attack stunned the Kred and allowed George to reach its position. He still wielded his broken branch, but the weapon didn''t fail to pierce the side of the alien''s chest at that time.


    The alien spat blood, but Khan''s shinbone suddenly mmed on the side of its head. Its jaw broke after the technique, and the alien fell to the ground. It was still awake, but it seemed unable to stand up.

 Chapter 66 - Daughter

    ''Did we win?'' Khan wondered as a tinge of excitement managed to seep past his mental barrier.


    Khan almost couldn''t believe the recent event. The three huge Kred appeared threatening and scary, but they were all lying on the ground now. A team made of inexperienced recruits had defeated them in only a few exchanges.


    The third Kred struggled to stand up, but it seemed unable to restore its bnce. It pointed its huge arms and knees on the terrain, but it always fell, and a puddle of blood eventually gathered under its figure.


    Khan took a deep breath to force his emotions away and handle the situation coldly. He quickly grabbed Cora''s shoulder and lifted her arm to inspect her injuries.


    The girl blushed when she sensed Khan''s gaze on her uncovered side. The Kred''s ws had pierced part of her sports bra, and Khan even touched the areas around that spot to inspect her injuries. However, he quickly let her go when he noticed that they were nothing more than superficial cuts.


    Ethel shook her head when she saw Khan turning toward Dorian without saying a single word to the embarrassed girl, but Cora red at her to make her stop. Khan noticed that reaction, but hepletely ignored it to inspect the wounded boy.


    Dorian had been the only one in his group to endure the direct attack from one of the Kred. He had managed to sit on the ground after the sh ended, but arge bruise had appeared on his whole right side.


    Moreover, four deep cuts had appeared on that injured spot. Blood flowed out of them and created red trails on his back, but the bleeding didn''t seem to be a severe issue.


    "Start meditating now," Khan ordered before turning toward George. "Can we do anything else for this injury?"


    George shook his head before ncing at his broken branch and throwing it away. The images of the fight were running through his vision during that peaceful moment, and they put Khan above him in terms of battle prowess.


    That conclusion disappointed George. He had acted humbly before, but he felt quite confident in his ability. His entire training camp on Earth knew about his talent with mana, but Khan''s battle prowess had reminded him that his skills were useless if he couldn''t deploy them during an actual danger.


    Yet, George quickly put away his feelings and focused on his surroundings again. Having such a strong teammate was a good thing in that tragic situation. Khan could be the key to save everyone''s life.


    "Cora, untie the three recruits and wake them up," Khan continued with his orders. "Ethel, grab something useful to tie the aliens. George, guard these two a bit. I''ll go take the other."


    No one spoke after the orders. Everyone got to work while Khan crossed a few trees to return toward the first alien.


    The first Kred''s head was inside the ground, and the same went for part of its shoulders. Khan had mmed it hard on the terrain, so debris and nts had ended up covering part of its body.


    Khan crouched toward the hole to check the alien''s condition, but his movements froze when he saw that a puddle of blood hid its face. The wet surface evencked bubbles. The whole scene depictedplete stillness.


    Khan''s eyes slowly moved toward his left knee and saw that arge dark-red patch and fur had tainted his skin. His hands then slowly grabbed the Kred from its shoulder and lifted it out of the hole.


    The puddle released disgusting noises while Khan lifted the Kred andy it on the intact ground. He could see its crushed head at that point, but his attention moved to its broken nose and mouth.


    The mental barrier that kept his emotions away struggled to remain intact while Khan inspected the alien. Its forehead, nose, and upper side of the mouth had caved in, but that scene carried a feature that made his thoughts freeze.


    The Kred wasn''t breathing. No air moved the wet fur on the sides of its nose, and the same went for its mouth. The alien had died in thest exchange.


    Khan timidly stretched a hand over the alien''s nose and mouth, but he didn''t sense anything. It didn''t matter how many times he inspected and tested the scene. His seemingly frozen mind could only reach one conclusion. The Kred was dead, and he had killed it.


    Lieutenant Dyester''s voice inevitably resounded in his mind. Khan heard the soldier say "murderer" in thatplete silence. That word echoed through his frozen thoughts and became the only noise in his ears.


    ''Put it away,'' Khan ordered to himself. ''Hide it in the corner of your mind. Reinforce the mental barrier. You can''t fall now.''


    The mana in Khan''s brain moved as he gave himself orders. He reinforced the mental barrier learnt in his training before creating a secondyer on top of it.


    That method didn''t seem to be enough to keep locked away the tumultuous emotions trying to take control of his mind. Khan had to create a thirdyer and add a fourth before his thoughts grew calm.


    Pure emptiness filled Khan''s mind now. He could think and create ns, but he felt devoid of everything. He was nothing more than a puppet ruled by survival instincts and simple thoughts, but that was fine by him.


    That emptiness was better right now. Khan couldn''t sort his emotions in that situation. Surviving had toe before the cracks in his personality.


    Khan searched the Kred''s robe. The alien was wearing a simpleyer of fabric that covered its belly and thin trousers with no pockets. There wasn''t anything useful there, so he quickly stood up and left the area.


    "Where is the other?" George asked when he noticed that Khan was back.


    Cora was tying the two Kred to a three under George''s strict supervision. Meanwhile, Ethel was talking with the three recruits in a different spot. Luke and his group were awake, and pure happiness filled their faces.


    "She isn''t a problem," Khan announced while moving his gaze toward the two prisoners.


    "She?" Cora asked when she noticed that Khan had stopped addressing the Kred as a simple alien.


    Khan had discovered the Kred''s sex during the inspection, and his mind didn''t allow him to consider her as a simple opponent anymore. Even his mental barriers couldn''t help him with that.


    "Did you let her go?" Cora continued when Khan failed to answer her.


    "Enough questions, Cora," George suddenly eximed. "Finish tying them up and help Ethel. I bet she desperately needs you."


    Cora felt confused at that sudden burst. She nced at Khan''s aloof gaze before nodding and hurrying with her task. Then, she straightened her position and walked toward Ethel to help her handle the three recruits.


    Khan and George exchanged an understanding gaze before nearing the two aliens tied to the tree. A quick inspection revealed that they weren''t carrying anything either, but that process allowed the boys to understand their sex.


    The male among the two growled when he opened his eyes and noticed the two boys ncing at him. The cut on his face had stopped bleeding by then, but a deep mark remained and gave his expression a threatening appearance.


    "Dorian, you can leave if you want," George exined. "You might not want to see what''s about to happen."


    "Don''t worry about me," Dorian replied while interrupting his meditation and moving his eyes toward Khan. "We are at war, right?"


    "What do you know about the attack?" Khan asked the male Kred. "Is this another rebellion?"


    The Kred roared, and Khan didn''t manage to understand anything from those animal cries. Still, the alien often nced at his faintedpanion with an expression that seemed to express worry and anger.


    Khan crouched toward the female Kred. George''s branch had broken after the mana inside it dispersed, and the blood flowing out of her broken jaw had eventually forced her to faint. The bleeding had yet topletely stop even, so the other alien had reasons to be worried.


    The male Kred''s roars became louder when Khan approached hispanion, but he barely looked at him. Khan limited himself to grab the fur on her forehead and lift her face to inspect her injuries.


    The female Kred woke up during the process, and growls immediately came out of her mouth. Yet, her broken jaw released a wave of pain when those vibrations ran through it.


    Khan let her go and stood up again. He had to make the aliens talk, but they appeared pretty resolute.


    "How do we know that they can speak ournguage?" Khan asked while turning toward George.


    "Istrone isn''t like Onia," A familiar voice resounded from behind the three boys, and Khan couldn''t help but nod when he saw Luke walking toward them.


    The boy and girl in his group followed closely behind, and Ethel and Cora made sure that the new group didn''t fall due to their exhaustion. Everyone had gathered around the tied Kred now.


    "Humans and Ef''i have a peaceful and respectful rtionship," Luke exined while nearing Khan and patting his shoulder, "But the Kred are different. Istrone is under the strict control of the Global Army after thest rebellion. All of them must learn how tomunicate with humans."


    "You understand what we want then," Khan continued while turning toward the two prisoners. "Tell us what you know, and we''ll spare your lives."


    The male Kred snorted and spat toward Khan, but he sidestepped the grume of saliva. Instead, the female alien growled again before trying to gaze past the recruits.


    "Are you looking for something?" George asked, and the male Kred promptly red at hispanion.


    That gesture wasn''t enough to stop the female Kred. Her worry increased, and faint understandable sounds eventually came out of her broken mouth.


    "Whele ish she?" The female Kred asked in a young voice. "Wheke ish ay dauthel?"


    The broken jaw made it hard for her to speak, but the group understood what she meant. The third Kred was her daughter, and Khan felt his mental barrier tremble when he heard that.


    George nced at Khan from the corner of his eyes while Cora directly stared at him. Everyone soon understood that only he had the answer to that question, but his cold face didn''t show any hint.

 Chapter 67 - Execution

    Khan was already struggling to dehumanize the Kred. He couldn''t see them as simple enemies anymore after discovering their sex, and realizing that they had families added blows to his mental barrier.


    Khan wasn''t only a murderer anymore. He had destroyed a family, just like the Nak had done to him during the Second Impact.


    ''Concentrate, dammit!'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''They have attacked first anyway. Keep your cool.''


    Khan maintained a cold expression while the group turned toward him. Raging emotions wanted to fill his brain, but he slowly pushed them back during his silence. His eyes didn''t waver during the process either. They remained on the two aliens who had inevitably started to look at him after noticing the reaction of the other recruits.


    "Tell us everything you know first," Khan eventually said in a in tone. "We''ll talk about your daughter after that."


    The male Kred roared again before turning toward hispanion. It was clear that he didn''t want to reveal anything about the situation, but the female alien''s determination was on the verge of crumbling.


    "I ant to see ay dauthel fist," The female alien said and revealed her resolve to share information, but Khan couldn''t show any w in his pretense.


    "Your story first," Khan repeated.


    Desperation appeared on the female Kred, and tears even fell from her animal eyes. She turned toward herpanion, and sad cries came out of her mouth.


    She seemed to beg herpanion, and thetter was clearly struggling to preserve his resolve. The male Kred''s expression remained stern for a few seconds before slowly rxing to wear a sad face.


    "Do I have your word that you''ll let us talk with our daughter afterward?" The male Kred asked in a raspy voice while turning toward Khan.


    A hammer hit Khan''s mental barrier and made it tremble to no end. The three Kred belonged to the same family, and the two in front of him sounded quite young.


    Khan didn''t know much about the Kred''s anatomy, but part of his thoughts inevitably started wondering about their customs and growth speed.


    How young were they when they set up families? How quickly did they obtain their iconic tall bodies? How old was the Kred that he had killed?


    "How old are you two?" Khan couldn''t help but ask when one of his many doubts seeped past the mental barrier.


    The two Kred and hispanions didn''t understand the reason behind that sudden question, but the two aliens couldn''t remain silent in that situation.


    "In Earth years?" The male Kred asked before quickly calcting his age in his mind. "We are both twenty. Our daughter will be ten soon."


    Khan knew that his values couldn''t apply to that alien species. The three Kred had mature bodies even if they were pretty young. It seemed that they only required ten years to developpletely, which made even the dead daughter an adult.


    However, the differences between the two species didn''t change the reality of the facts. Khan had taken a life who had barely been in the world for ten years. That realization forced him to fall silent and reinforce his mental barrier again while hispanions shot confused nces toward him.


    "You have my word," Khan eventually announced. "You''ll both see your daughter if you tell us everything you know."


    Something broke inside Khan when he said those words, but his mental barrier held strong and kept the part of his mind in control of his actions calm and cynical.


    The male Kred appeared disappointed when he inspected Khan''s cold expression, but a nce at his tied partner''s begging face forced him to pursue that approach. He had to cooperate for the sake of his family.


    "The three of us are simple foot soldiers," The male Kred revealed. "We only know that some of the rebellious factions have decided to strike back to restore Istrone''s independence."


    "Why would you rebel again?" Luke asked. "Didn''t you learn your lesson forty years ago?"


    "The ground still carries the scent of our fallen," The Kred said as growls fused with his human words. "Humans might be able to move on easily, but our doesn''t allow us to forget. This debt will remain as long as Istrone lives."


    George and Luke exchanged a meaningful nce before turning toward Khan. That story wasn''t going anywhere. It exined part of the Kred''s mentality, but it didn''t help the recruits at all.


    "Tell me about your targets and other useful details," Khan ordered. "How many Kred rebelled? How many of you are patrolling the jungle? Why did you attack innocent recruits instead of taking the battle to the real culprits of your suppression?"


    "None of you is innocent," The Kred scoffed. "You thrive by feeding on Istrone''s natural resources. You pige our and exploit our teachings to destroy nature. This ground is our future, and you are destroying it. We have only decided to pay you back with the same approach."


    There was an immense gap between their species. Simple words couldn''t make them reach an agreement. The Global Army had a financial approach to war, especially in thest years, but the Kred saw defeats as curses that remained stuck to their very species.


    That feeling wasn''t reasonable. The Kred could actually smell the scent of their fallen, ording to the male prisoner. Istrone constantly reminded them of their defeat, and Khan could rte to that situation. He experienced the same reminder every night.


    Khan could understand that the Kred wouldn''t stop rebelling as long as Istrone continued to drive them crazy. He wouldn''t either if he were in their situation, but his task wasn''t to rte with the aliens.


    "Targets, number of rebels, and troops deployed in this area," Khan reminded the Kred with his emotionless voice.


    "I already told you that we are mere pawns in this rebellion," The male Kred replied as a tinge of anger seeped into his voice. "Our role was to take care of all the human survivors and use them to bargain with the Global Army."


    "Where did you have to bring them?" Khan asked.


    "Nowhere," The Kred snorted. "There has never been a fixed gathering point. We had to keep an eye on them until our leaders showed up."


    "Leaders?" Khan continued to question the alien. "Also, I don''t care if you don''t know the exact number. Just give me a rough estimate."


    The Kred was losing his patience under the storm of questions. His partner was growing worried about their daughter, but the answers never seemed enough to Khan.


    "We resemble animals on Earth, right?" The Kred eventually asked. "Those like us are rebels. Our connection with the is stronger, so we have it harder resisting the desire to fight."


    "Only those that look like you?" Khan asked.


    "Yes," The Kred sighed. "We don''t have prejudices, but we still divide ourselves into factions depending on our aspect. Some of them knew that the attack wasing, but none cooperated."


    Luke and George revealed a grim expression. The situation was worse than they had initially thought. Istrone seemed to have many rebels, and some factions had even decided to remain silent about the attack.


    Traitors could lurk everywhere. Istrone wasn''t a safe destination anymore. The entire had be a battlefield, and the Global Army had yet to learn about that.


    "There can''t be many of us here!" The Kred shouted when he saw that the recruits were losing interest in him. "I bet that only a few groups of Kred and Tainted animals are patrolling the crash areas. I know that the leaders didn''t expect many of you to survive."


    "Why are you dodging the questions about the leaders?" Khan asked.


    "Because e can''t sheak about hem," The female Kred suddenly revealed before receiving a re from her partner.


    "She is telling the truth," The male Kred sighed after staring at his partner for a few seconds. "Recognizing our state as underlings puts mental restraints on our minds. We can''t say much about them."


    Khan turned toward Luke, but thetter shrugged his shoulder. The recruits didn''t know how true those words were, but they had no way to prove them.


    The interrogation was over. The Kred had revealed everything they knew. The attack didn''t seem to aim to capture specific bases of the Global Army. It was a pure act of revenge dictated by the very.


    "Can we see our daughter now?" The male Kred asked. "We told you everything we know! Please!"


    "You all go ahead," Khan whispered while turning toward Cora, Ethel, and the two new recruits. "I need to speak with them in private."


    Cora and Ethel didn''t like that decision, but they still followed Khan''s orders. Instead, the other two recruits seemed about toin, but the two girls promptly stopped them and pushed them away.


    Khan took a few steps back, and the three boys followed him until they reached the spot with the third Kred. Dorian and Luke''s eyes widened at the sight of the corpse, but George''s gaze barely flickered.


    "We all know what we have to do," George eximed while they remained around the corpse. "How long will it take before they free themselves? We can''t risk having two angry Kred behind our back."


    "Can''t we take them as prisoners?" Dorian asked. "They can guide us, and the Global Army might even manage to learn something with proper interrogations."


    "How do you n to convince them when their daughter is dead?" Luke sighed. "They have decided to join a rebellion because the told them so. What do you think will happen when they learn about this?"


    "There are two of them," Khan coldly announced. "Only two of us have to kill."


    Those words forced the three boys to think about the actual act of killing someone. That feat sounded easy in their minds, but the resilient and huge bodies of the Kred told them otherwise.


    "I-," George began to speak, but he had to stop and take a deep breath before proposing his idea. "I can fill two branches with my mana and turn them into sharp weapons. That should be enough to pierce their heads."


    Luke nodded toward the boy. A clean kill was better than a gory beating. However, they had to decide who would perform the actual deed.


    "Khan, did you kill this one?" Dorian asked as a tinge of shame appeared on his expression.


    "I''ll kill one of them," Khan eximed to put an end to the hesitation that was filling hispanions. "You decide who has to take care of the other. I won''t force this on you."


    "There''s no need to force it," George sighed. "I''ll make the weapons anyway. I''ll take care of the other."


    Khan and George exchanged a nod before thetter approached the nearest tree. He didn''t need to find special branches at that time. Two random ones would be enough for the task.


    George ripped two short branches and closed his eyes. The blue leaves on those greenish items fell as his mana flowed inside their insides and strengthened their structure.


    A faint dark-silver halo came out of the two branches once Georgepleted the technique. He handed one of them to Khan, who didn''t hesitate to wield it, and the duo slowly turned to get back to the prisoners.


    Luke and Dorian followed the two recruits out of respect for their task. The Kred began toin and growl when they saw the group returning with two glowing branches, but the recruits ignored them.


    The scene didn''t promise anything good, but their words didn''t seem to reach the four recruits. The four boys approached the tied aliens with slow but firm steps. There was evident hesitation in their eyes, but they didn''t stop anyway.


    "Keep their heads still," George ordered, and Dorian and Luke crouched next to the aliens.


    The two boys grabbed their heads and made them turn toward their friends. Khan and George could point their enhanced branches at the center of the prisoners'' forehead at that point. Everything was ready for the actual killing.


    George, Luke, and Dorian began to exchange nces. Their hesitation was about to take control of their actions. None of them had the guts to take part in that execution, but Khan suddenly shouted to restore some firmness in their hands.


    "Now!" Khan shouted before pushing his branch forward.


    George almost panicked, but he imitated hispanion, even if his eyes closed at the sight of the red blood. The other two boys also turned their faces away from the scene, but they couldn''t do anything about the disgusting noises that reached their ears.

 Chapter 68 - Destination

    The group resumed their march after dealing with the Kred. The new recruits had the chance to introduce themselves, but the conversation stopped there since the team''s mood was as heavy as it could get.


    The two recruits'' names were Abel Tairnu and Jill Ranster. The boy was as tall as Khan, while the girl was shorter. They both had ck hair, respectively long and short, and their bodies appeared quite frail even after six months of training.


    It was clear that the Global Army had used those weaker recruits to bnce Luke''s talent and wealth. The boy had gotten quite strong after his time on Onia. He wasn''t like Khan and George, but he surpassed the average by a lot.


    Khan and the others didn''t exin what had happened to the two prisoners, but the other recruits understood anyway. They had even talked among themselves and heard the Kred''s pleas, so everything was quite clear in their minds.


    Still, no one dared to say anything about the matter. Some felt d that the Kred were dead, while others realized how scary theirpanions could be. After all, they had to sleep alone and without supervision with recruits who could deploy lethal force. Being worried about their safety was only normal, especially when it came to the girls.


    Panic and desperate situations could lead to disgusting oues. Ethel and Jill tried to distance themselves from the boys since they were aware of that fact, and they even warned Cora about that issue.


    However, Cora trusted Khan too much to decide to take precautions against him. She didn''t even care if some of the boys snored loudly during the night. She felt safe next to him, and she even tried to walk close to him during the march.


    Khan was far from ok. Yet, his face didn''t show any emotion even after days passed from the events with the Kred. He appeared cold, detached, and confident, which only increased his status as a group leader.


    George, Luke, and Dorian wore simr expressions during the travel. Some of them were only trying to imitate Khan, while others were really managing to suppress their emotions.


    The interactions among the group grew scarcer as the days passed. They didn''t talk, and they even ignored the suppressed sobs of some of theirpanions when the night arrived. The roots could provide nutrients, and the bad weather gave water, but all of them were reaching their mental limits nheless.


    The cooperation among Khan, Luke, George, and Dorian grew tighter and smoother. Killing the Kred had created a bloody connection that they couldn''t ignore. The four boys instinctively relied on each other whenever a Tainted animal or other issues appeared on their path.


    Ethel, Jill, and Abel remained apart, at least mentally. Knowing about the killing had created a wall among them even if some agreed with the four boys'' decision. Yet, theircking battle prowess demoted them to mere walking backpacks for supplies. Khan and the others didn''t even trust them for the guard duty.


    Only Cora tried to act as a bridge between the two groups, but her efforts didn''t lead anywhere. She even managed to muster her courage and talk with Khan multiple times during the days, but she didn''t manage to achieve anything.


    The main issue with that division was the eptance achieved by the various recruits. All of them could understand that the currentyout of the group expressed its full potential, and no one was willing to change anything since everything was going smoothly.


    Theck ofmunications ended up benefitting Khan. No one dared to bother or contradict him. His newpanions didn''t even try to question him about the azure scar on his chest. He could wholeheartedly focus on maintaining his mental walls.


    Cora was an issue that Khan did his best to ignore. She wasn''t annoying. Actually, her concern and efforts were quite heartwarming, but Khan couldn''t let her behavior endanger his mental barrier. He went along with her and made sure to reassure her about her state, but their interactions stopped there.


    The anxiety among the group began to build as more days passed inside the jungle. Their phones were still working, but they had crossed the one-week mark by then. Only a few rays of light had reached the surface in that period, so the devices felt ready to turn off.


    The many days of travel had even created doubts among the group. Some recruits started to think that they had lost their way at some point, and the deceiving scenery of the jungle didn''t help their mindset.


    All the trees looked the same after more than a week of travel inside the jungle. Gaining familiarity with the environment made them doubt their path. Every bush could represent an already crossed area, but they could never confirm if their worries were real issues or simple tricks of their minds.


    The heavy atmosphere among the group ended up preventing internal fights. Everyone remained silent even if doubts filled their minds. The recruits limited themselves to follow Khan, whose determination appeared unbreakable.


    The doubts, worries, and heavy atmosphere vanished when arge in unfolded in their vision. The familiar metalnding areas brought immense joy to their minds. They had done it. The recruits had returned to their starting point.


    Yet, the area was empty. Khan didn''t even manage to sense anything. Theplete stillness that had filled most of his days of travel covered the spot and brought a new wave of worries to the group''s mind.


    "Where is everyone?" Dorian asked while keeping his voice down.


    "We should check the teleport," Khan ordered.


    All the recruits had reached Istrone through the same teleport. The location of their training camps on Earth didn''t affect the matter, so Khan''s group had a vague idea of how to return to the structure.


    The vegetation on Istrone had already changed by then. The recruits couldn''t find anything familiar in the path that they had originally taken to reach the in, but they knew the general direction of the teleport, and that was enough.


    The group had to rely on theirpasses again and work together to ensure that they covered all the possible areas where the teleport could be. The changed environment yed with their memories, so they could only ovee the issue through many attempts.


    Resting at night remained mandatory under Khan''s leadership, but the group managed to find the building with the teleport in only two days of exploration. Yet, their hopes shattered when they saw that the structure featuredrge holes and many crumbled walls.


    It was clear that the Kred had assaulted the building, but that knowledge didn''t help Khan''s group. They were out of options now. They didn''t know anything else about the.


    "What now?" Ethel asked, giving voice to the question in everyone''s mind.


    The recruits turned toward Khan, but he had no ns or answers for them. He had hoped that the in and the teleport could be valid destinations, but the rebellion seemed to have spread more than expected.


    Still, his senses suddenly warned him about masses of mana moving at some distance from the building. Khan could identify them as Kred even if he couldn''t see the actual source of that power from behind the thickyers of trees, but he also noticed that something was off.


    The Kred weren''t alone. Other fainter presences moved behind them. The pace of the group was even slow, which made Khan consider a few possibilities.


    The fainter presences didn''t belong to Tainted animals, but they didn''t seem Kred either. Khan couldn''t get closer for fear of exposing himself, but he had an idea that sounded quite reasonable.


    Istrone didn''t seem to have a fauna, so Khan could only think about one type of living being that didn''t belong to Kred and Tainted animals. There was a high chance that the aliens in the distance were dragging humans.


    "Follow me," Khan suddenly whispered before crouching. "Try not to make sounds, and make sure not to bump into me. I don''t know if this will work, but I can''t think about anything else."


    The recruits had doubts, especially since they couldn''t sense the Kred hidden by the trees, but they decided to follow Khan''s orders anyway. He was the only one who could save them in that desperate situation.


    Khan began to follow the Kred. He moved slowly among the trees and made sure to keep enough distance from the aliens. He remained at the edges of his mental range, elerating and holding his steps ording to the movements of the group ahead.


    The group had to advance like that for hours, and they couldn''t stop even after the night fell. Khan had officially forced hispanions outside of every known path, but his teammates were too desperate to mind that.


    Khan suddenly stopped at some point, and George inevitably mmed into his back. The same happened for the recruits behind the boy, but everyone managed to maintain their bnce and avoid creating unnecessary noises.


    Khan''s sudden actions came from the arrival of an areapletely devoid of trees. The forest stopped and created an empty zone that featured only short vegetation and a narrow cave that seemed to lead underground.


    The faint figures of a bear-shaped Kred who dragged two young humans inside the cave had appeared in Khan''s eyes during the abrupt stop. He didn''t know what that structure contained, but it looked like a gathering point for prisoners.

 Chapter 69 - Cave

    Khan stopped sensing the Kred and humans once they entered the cave. Istrone''s ground created a wall that his senses couldn''t pierce. The darkness of the night also hindered his vision and prevented him from gaining a clear understanding of the whole area.


    Only the faint azure lights running through the ground and some glowing nts illuminated the area and created shadows that Khan could study. Still, they weren''t enough to allow a proper inspection of that empty spot in the middle of the forest.


    Some of Khan''spanions had noticed the Kred entering the cave with the prisoners. They didn''t see much, but they managed to confirm that Khan wasn''t leading them across the jungle blindly.


    The scene made them reach simr conclusions that they didn''t hesitate to whisper among the group. There was a high chance that the cave was one of the locations meant to hold the survivors of the attack.


    Another realization quickly followed that understanding. The Kred didn''t exin much, but they had given important information that the recruits could connect to that scene.


    Only the leaders of the rebellion knew where to bring the prisoners, which implied that the cave had more than simple foot soldiers. That structure would probably contain strong Kred.


    "We have to go in, right?" George asked after the group remained silent for a while.


    "We must save the others!" Luke eximed while keeping his voice down.


    "I agree," Dorian added. "We can''t leave them there."


    The other recruits remained silent since it wasn''t their role to make decisions in the group. They had different views about the issue, but they waited for Khan to make a decision. Their only option was to follow him.


    Khan remained silent while those words reached his ears. Saving others wasn''t even close to being a priority in his mind, but he was out of options. He didn''t know anything else about Istrone, and hiding wasn''t really a possibility due to the foreign environment.


    The humans and aliens inside the cave could reveal a path that his poor knowledge ignored, but an eventual raid required thorough preparations.


    "Let''s remain here for a couple of days," Khan ordered. "We need to study their routine before attacking."


    "Days?" Luke asked. "People might be dying there!"


    "The forest isn''t safe for us either," George added. "You are the only one who can sense the Kred hiding among the trees. We''ll be in the dark whenever you lose focus."


    "I won''t," Khan replied with his firm voice. "Everyone will remain inside the range of my senses, and we''ll alternate ourselves to spy the cave. I''ll handle the guard duty on my own."


    "You can''t stay awake for so long right before attacking!" Cora eximed while keeping her voice down, but everyone could sense the worry in her tone.


    "She is right," George continued. "You are the strongest among us. You should be at your peak before the attack, not the opposite."


    "I can handle it," Khan revealed, "And I will. We don''t have other options, so let''s skip theints. We''ll have time to worry after we return to Earth."


    Khan didn''t give anyone the chance to argue, but the recruits slowly understood that the situation was quite helpless. Attacking the cave blindly was too reckless, and only Khan''s senses could ensure their safety during the inspection.


    Khan gave a few instructions before leaving the edges of the forest and moving in a spot at the center of hispanions'' activities. He could cover the kids busy with the surveince and those tasked with gathering roots from there, so he sat on the ground and began to meditate.


    His senses had grown sharper after spending so long in the jungle, and the constant suppression of his emotions made him quite responsive to the fluctuation of the mana in his surroundings. Khan could meditate without lowering his guard, but his task didn''t allow him to do anything else in that situation.


    The other boys and girls had to study the cave and gather food without alerting the Kred moving through the area. Khan wouldn''t normally trust all of them for those tasks, but that had to do due to the helpless situation.


    The group began their silent surveince of the cave while Khan didn''t move from his spot. No one spoke, and those spying on the target did their best to avoid making noises.


    Cora took care of bringing food to Khan every few hours, and thetter often forgot about thanking her since his mind was elsewhere. He paid attention to the surrounding area even while munching roots and moving mana through his body.


    The girl didn''t mind thatck of attention. Her worries about Khan even intensified as time passed. Hispanions could sleep and rest, but he had to remain alert for the whole time to make sure that no Kred approached their position.


    Khan spent two days in that condition. He had sensed Tainted animals, Kred, and fainter presences getting close to his position, but none of them had threatened to discover the group. He had never needed to alert everyone to force them to change location.


    Two days of surveince weren''t enough to understand theplete behavior of those living inside the cave, but that time had to do. Khan''s resilience was inhuman, but it had limits that a longer time in that condition would definitely make him reach.


    "Multiple groups of Kred go out before dawn," George listed what he had learnt in the past days once the group gathered. "Many of them return empty-handedte in the night, but some bring prisoners. Others even carry corpses back."


    "We attack once they leave then," Khan quickly concluded before ncing at the openings in the blue crows above him.


    His phone had died since heavy rain had never stopped falling in thest two days. The group still had a few working devices, but they preferred not to waste their energy to check the hour.


    The almost two weeks spent in the jungle had made them grow used to Istrone''s time, so they didn''t have any problem keeping track of the passing hours. The recruits had even learnt how to alternate the guard duty without using rms in thest period.


    "Do you want to rest for a few hours?" Luke asked once Khan lowered his gaze. "The Kred have already returned inside the cave. We can handle the surveince without you for a bit."


    "Let''s not take risks," Khan replied. "Focus on preparing. The attack will start in less than four hours."


    The order forced all the recruits to realize that the beginning of the mission was close. Many of them closed their eyes to meditate and bring their condition to the peak, while others made sure to relieve themselves before the attack.


    Tension umted among the group as time passed. Every minute felt like an eternity in their minds, and that feeling even interrupted their meditation multiple times. Only the four boys involved with the execution of Kred managed to remain calm and prepare themselves correctly.


    The sky past the blue crowns grew brighter as dawn approached. Small teams of Kred began to leave the cave and disperse in the jungle to resume their daily patrol, and Khan made sure that none of them walked toward his direction.


    The group waited until the morning arrived before leaving the forest and approaching the cave. Khan obviously led the group, and the other recruits created a line behind him as per his instructions.


    Theck of information concerning the insides of the cave had prevented the group from creating a proper n. Still, they had gone through some possible situations before leaving the forest. They had decided how they would react to specific issues beforehand to avoid freezing in front of the actual danger.


    Khan was in front of the group because his attacks were incredibly fast. He could take care of any threat before eventual rms and warning cries rang.


    George followed closely behind him while wielding a thick branch already empowered with mana. His role was to deal with the enemies that Khan failed to handle or crossed.


    The recruits behind George had the same task. The group''s priority was to move forward, even at the cost of running past some opponents. Everything would be fine as long as one of the kids in the line took care of them.


    Khan didn''t show any hesitation when he reached the entrance of the cave. The narrow passage went downward and didn''t feature stairs, but it had rocks that could be useful footholds.


    Theck of enemies past the entrance made Khan descend through that unstable path right away. His agility allowed him to go through that narrow passage in no time, and a long tunnel unfolded in his eyes once hended on stable ground.


    Blue and purple nts filled the insides of the tunnel and illuminated it with their faint glow. Khan could see everything perfectly, and he didn''t fail to notice a few holes dug on the walls.


    Khan approached the holes while hispanions descended through the entrance, but his eyes grew colder when he inspected their insides. The cavities weren''t big, but the Kred had managed to store human corpses inside them anyway.


    All the recruits ended up inspecting the holes as Khan walked forward. He even had to stop at some point when he heard Abel puking in the corner of the passage.


    Jill and Ethel made sure to remind Abel about their situation, and the boy quickly suppressed his retches to proceed with the mission. Hisplexion had paled, but a newfound determination had appeared on his expression. There seemed to be even hatred on his face now.


    The passage led to another descending path that ended up in arge hall filled with glowing nts and holes. Still, those cavities featured wooden sticks arranged to create what seemed to be the bars of a cell.


    Khan peeked inside one of the cells and noticed that it contained a young girl tied with a few roots. Her eyes slightly opened when she saw the boy, but Khan promptly put a finger in front of his mouth to make her remain silent.


    The faint sound of steps then echoed from the end of the hall. Khan turned and saw that a tall figure had appeared in the passage that connected the cave to the next area, and his vision immediately grew blurry.


    Khan didn''t hesitate for even an instant. The mana flowing through the many nts around him dulled his senses, but he didn''t fail to link that tall figure to a Kred. He shot forward and arrived in front of the alien before it could open its mouth in surprise.


    ****


    Author''s thoughts: I''ll go premium on the 29th, with chapter 75. I''ll keep the length variable to have some flexibility, so the cost of the chapters will vary ordingly. Moreover, the mandatory privilege will go online on the same day. It will cost 1 coin and contain 2 chapters.

 Chapter 70 - Prisons

    The bear-shaped Kred tried to growl andunch a warning cry, but Khan''s foot mmed on its throat before any noise coulde out of its mouth. A snapping sound echoed from its neck, but it didn''t manage to get past his mental barrier.


    The alien began to fall, but Khan promptly grabbed it and put it on the ground while limiting the noises in the process. The Kred exhaled itsst breath in his embrace, but he suppressed everything and turned to look at the passage.


    The cave descended again, but Khan could see the shadows of tall figures created by the glowing nts. None of them seemed aware of the intruders, but taking eventual opponents by surprise would still be tricky since there was only one way.


    The other recruits quickly reached Khan and ignored the corpse next to him. Their eyes tried to fall on the dead Kred, but they forced them to remain on their leader.


    "There are others down there," Khan whispered before turning when he saw that hispanion nodded.


    They had prepared for that situation. They didn''t need to add other words.


    Rescuing the starved and weak recruits inside the cells was pointless since they wouldn''t be able to help in the battle. Khan decided to shoot ahead and enter the second hall at full speed to take care of every threat before dealing with the prisoners.


    A hall identical to the first unfolded in his eyes, and Khan only had the time to notice theck of other tunnels before focusing on the four bear-shaped Kred in the area.


    His vision was blurry, but he managed to stop in front of the first Kred and deliver a roundhouse kick with his right leg that mmed the alien''s face to the wall.


    The wall caved in and released a noise that alerted the other aliens. Growls began to resound through the hall, but Khan was already on the move again by then.


    Khan quickly approached the second Kred while it was busy turning toward the invaders. A kicknded on its side, but the attack only managed to push it into the wall.


    Khan had failed to deploy mana correctly, but that realization didn''t slow down his movements. He promptly left the second alien in its ce and shot deeper into the hall to approach the third.


    The Kred had begun to move toward the invaders by then, but the third alien suddenly saw a shadow materializing in the air. Its eyes soon managed to identify Khan''s rotating figure, but a descending heel filled its vision before it could raise its arms to block the attack.


    The heel hit the Kred at the center of its forehead and made it fall on its back. Khan had executed the technique correctly at that time, but the third alien seemed more resilient than itspanions since no cracking noise followed the impact.


    However, Khan didn''t stop for even an instant. It didn''t matter if his opponents survived or not. He had to press forward and deal with every alien on his path. Hispanions would deal with the Kred who managed to remain awake after his blows.


    Khan reached thest Kred in an instant. The fourth alien had to spend some time to stand up, but its guard was in ce by the time its opponent arrived. Its arms were ready to stop the iing kick aimed at its head, but Khan''s leg became blurry right before the impact.


    Khan''s heel suddenly hit the Kred''s right foot. He had decided to perform a feint since the alien was ready to block his attack, but he flowed into a second technique after his blow hit his target.


    Khan''s figure rotated and went airborne as he jumped on the Kred''s foot to deliver a circr kick aimed at its head. His leg was barely visible while it cut the air to reach its target, but a wed hand suddenly appeared on its path.


    "You are too cocky," The Kred growled in a deep male voice while showing a cold smile.


    The alien had managed to grab Khan''s right leg and stop the attack. Khan couldn''t avoid that from his airborne position, and his body quickly tensed in a desperate attempt to use the Kred''s hand as a foothold to deliver a second kick.


    The Kred blocked the second kick too. His grasp on Khan''s ankles tightened, and his ws even stabbed his skin. Red trails started to flow out of the injuries, but Khan didn''t give up.


    Khan tensed his abdomen and crouched toward the Kred while pointing his fingers toward the animal eyes. He couldn''t deploy proper punches without the help of his legs, but he knew that he could do a lot of damage if his attack hit.


    The Kred snorted and turned to m Khan on the wall. Tremors ran through his body after the impact, but the alien didn''t let him go and continued to wave his arms to make him crash on every surface.


    Blood umted in Khan''s mouth as the alien continued to y with him. He was nothing more than a child in the Kred''s grasp, and his consciousness even threatened to fade as he continued to m on the wall and ground.


    ''The thumbs!'' Khan shouted in his mind before crouching toward the alien again.


    His target wasn''t the alien''s head at that time. His hands went for the wed thumbs holding his ankles.


    The Kred mmed Khan on the wall again, but he endured the pain as his hands reached the furry thumbs. Khan mustered all the strength that his body was capable of at that point and lifted the fingers to create an opening in the alien''s grasp.


    Khan pushed from the alien''s thumbs, and his legs slid over the sharp ws as they existed that firm grasp. Four deep cuts opened on Khan''s ankles and feet in the process, but he finally freed himself.


    Khan jumped backward as soon as his feet touched the ground. He didn''t manage to control his movements due to the panic that was trying to fill his mind, so he ended up mming on one of the cells behind him.


    The impact destroyed the wooden bars and made Khan fall inside the cell. His mental barrier quickly fended off the emotions that were trying to take control of his movements. Even the pain radiated by his injured legs remained outside and didn''t affect his thoughts.


    The Kred didn''t immediately jump on him. He remained near the wall at the end of the hall and wore a cruel smile.


    Khan tried to straighten his position, but his hand suddenly touched soft fur. He turned, and a familiar figure unfolded in his eyes.


    "You shouldn''t havee," Lieutenant Sehlolo sighed while looking at Khan.


    The wolf-shaped Kred didn''t feature any injury, but her military uniform had broken in many spots. Khan couldn''t see her stars anymore, but he also noticed that she didn''t have roots restraining her legs and arms.


    "Did you think you could rescue your friends?" The male Kred sneered. "Even your Lieutenants turned their backs on you!"


    Khan moved his eyes back on his opponent at that point. He noticed that the Kred''s foot was almostpletely fine. His previous attack didn''t manage to break its bones.


    "How strong is he?" Khan asked without turning toward Lieutenant Sehlolo.


    The answer scared Khan. Lieutenant Sehlolo was a second-level warrior and first-level mage, but she was in prison. In theory, her warden had to be stronger than her.


    Yet, Khan had learnt how scary warriors could be after training with Lieutenant Dyester. His Master was so strong that a single attack could make him faint, but the alien didn''t evene close to him.


    "I''m what you earthlings call a first-level warrior," The Kredughed while pointing his wed forefinger toward Lieutenant Sehlolo. "She had to be in charge of this prison camp, but her determination crumbled at thest second. She is nothing more of a coward who chose to seal herself behind bars."


    "Why don''t you help us instead of remaining here?" Khan asked while turning toward the Lieutenant.


    "Kids have died because of me," Lieutenant Sehlolo said while dodging Khan''s gaze. "I didn''t know. How can innocent blood wash our grudge clean? I don''t want to have anything to do with this rebellion anymore."


    "Your decision will only make more of us die," Khan coldly added.


    "I''ve made up my mind," Lieutenant Sehlolo replied while turning her head to face the back of the cell. "I can''t spill blood anymore."


    ''She is useless,'' Khan cursed in his mind before taking a deep breath and exiting the cell.


    His feet hurt when he straightened his position, but he ignored the pain to focus on his opponent and surroundings. Hispanions were fighting the two weaker Kred, and they appeared close to defeating them. It wouldn''t take much before they coulde to Khan''s aid.


    Instead, the strong Kred didn''t move. He was waiting for Khan to make his move while wearing his cruel smile.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Just to avoid confusion, I''ve started using "he" instead of "it" for the alien after making his sex clear.


    Anyway, to add info on the privilege for readers who don''t know how it works. Privilege is a monthly subscription that will allow you to be ahead of normal releases. However, you will get new chapters only the first time. Paying in the following months will only make you preserve your advantage over normal releases. Moreover, you won''t be able to use fast passes on the chapters inside the privilege, so keep that in mind. Do purchase it if you want to support me, and don''t hesitate to ask stuff throughments or discord if you have other doubts.

 Chapter 71 - Anger

    Khan inspected the Kred and tried to get a read of his actual power. The glowing nts around him hindered his senses, but the alien was standing right in front of him. Something eventually reached his mind.


    The alien was a dense mass of mana. His entire body featured shining lumps of energy that empowered his already incredible innate features. There were empty spots, but they didn''t create any weakness in that massive array of muscles.


    Khan''s eyes fell on the alien''s foot. He had delivered aplete technique on that spot, but he had failed to inflict significant damage. However, a second inspection revealed that the body part had swelled. It was clearly bigger than the other foot.


    ''I can damage him,'' Khan concluded in his mind.


    His attunement with mana was pretty high, but it had yet to reach the fifty percent mark and allow him to im the status of a first-level warrior. Still, he appeared close to that level since his blows could affect the Kred.


    ''I might be able to defeat him once the others arrive,'' Khan thought as a few images shed in his mind.


    The Kred''s reaction time was incredible, but Khan had managed to get past his defense andnd a blow. The nature of the Lightning-demon style gave him a slim hope to avoid ending up in the alien''s grasp again. In theory, Khan could slowly exhaust his opponent with a hit and run tactic since he was faster.


    ''I can''t allow him to grab me again,'' Khan sighed as pain continued to spread from his ankles and tried to seep past the mental barrier.


    His n could work only if the alien didn''t catch him again. Khan knew that his body couldn''t endure another beating since his insides already hurt. Moreover, the Kred had a high chance to damage his legs again since Khan''s offensive relied on those limbs, and suffering severe injuries there would put an end to the battle.


    Khan needed to go past perfection to handle the Kred. Simple speed wasn''t enough. He had to perform feints and predict his opponent''s reactions to always stay a few steps ahead in the battle.


    Sess in that approach wouldn''t even ensure his victory. The Kred were innately more resilient than humans, and his opponent''s body even had more mana. Khan was on the losing side when it came to sheer strength, endurance, and probably battle experience. He could only rely on his speed andpanions in that situation.


    ''I don''t have many choices,'' Khan cursed before bending his body forward.


    The alien''s smile widened at that sight, and he raised his arms to prepare for the imminent attack. He pointed his palms toward Khan, and his sharp ws became ready to pierce the boy''s skin.


    Khan removed everything useless from his senses. The noises caused by the battles of hispanions didn''t reach his ears anymore. The various cells and prisoners became mere shadows in his eyes. The Kred''s features also vanished and transformed him into a mere training dummy in his mind.


    Khan shot ahead once his concentration reached its peak. Mana flowed freely through his body and apanied his movements. A kick quickly flew toward the Kred''s head, and the alien raised his arms to block that blow, but Khan''s leg suddenly curved as his blurry figure crossed his opponent.


    The Kred sensed his feet leaving the ground when Khan''s shin hit his abdomen. The boy had relied on a feint again, and the power behind his blows seemed to have increased. The alien couldn''t help but feel some difort on his belly, but his arms still swung after his opponent.


    Khan saw sharp ws flying toward him and aiming for his face. He had stepped behind the Kred toplete the attack, but his opponent didn''t lose track of him.


    Khan jumped backward and distanced himself from the Kred. A w managed to touch his cheek and open a small cut, but he barely felt that.


    The Krednded on the ground and gave voice to an arrogant grunt. He appearedpletely unaffected by the recent attack, but Khan expected as much.


    Khan shot ahead as soon as the Kred tried to restore his guard. His leg quickly rose and aimed for the alien''s head again, but he performed a feint as soon as he saw the huge furry arms appearing on his path.


    His heel fell on the already injured foot, but Khan didn''t flow into another technique. He put power into his legs and jumped backward before the alien couldunch his arms forward.


    The Kred gave voice to an angry roar when he saw his opponent escaping his range again. Khan was slippery and hard to follow even with an enhanced body, but his blows felt like mosquito bites in the alien''s mind.


    Still, the Kred inevitably grew angry about that situation. He was stronger than Khan, but his power would be useless as long as he failed to catch him.


    Moreover, it felt strange to fight against Khan. Warriors would show some reaction during a battle. Their species didn''t affect that feature. Pain, anger, and other sensations were inevitable when exchanging blows powered by mana.


    Yet, Khan''s face appeared empty. It didn''t show anything at all. The Kred could barely exin how he felt against that opponent. Staring in Khan''s dead eyes made his spine tremble.


    "You are a strange human pup," The Kred couldn''t help but exim, but his words didn''t reach Khan.


    Khan shot ahead as soon as the Kred closed his mouth. His leg went for the alien''s head again, and its shape grew blurry as soon as furry arms appeared on its path.


    The Kred didn''t fall for that tactic again. He swung his arm toward the base of Khan''s leg to interrupt every feint and technique. After all, Khan had to slow down his offensive to chain two attacks in a row and trick his opponent. The alien wanted to use that window to take care of his threatening speed.


    Yet, the nt of Khan''s foot suddenly hit his nose while his ws were converging toward the leg''s base. The Kred didn''t manage to maintain hisposure due to the surprise that filled his mind, and his body inevitably bent backward.


    Khan had faked his feint. He had pretended to flow into another technique, but his leg had only imitated his previous movements, which didn''t make him waste much time.


    The Kred''s calctions ended up being off. He would have been able to reach Khan''s leg if he feinted, but he fell short of a small instant since Khan''s kick had continued to fly forward.


    Tears umted in the alien''s eyes. It didn''t matter how powerful his body was. Every living being had vulnerable spots that mana could only cover partially.


    The Kred roared in anger again as he wiped his eyes and tried to clear his nose, but a kick hit the lower part of his mouth and made some of his teeth crack. Khan didn''t stop there, and multiple attacks fell on the alien''s abdomen and injured foot while thetter remained in his confused state.


    The alien eventually regained his vision and swung his ws forward, and Khan felt forced to jump backward. Two long horizontal cuts opened on his chest and divided his azure scar, but those injuries were too superficial to affect him.


    "Enough jumping around!" The Kred shouted while spreading his arms and shooting forward. "Come here!"


    Khan couldn''t help but rejoice at that scene. The alien had finally lost his cool and had decided tounch a reckless assault.


    The Kred closed his arms on Khan when he reached his position, but his figure vanished when those furry limbs touched his skin. Khan ducked at thest second, and his body rotated on his feet to cross the alien and deliver a kick on his back.


    The alien bent forward, but he managed to preserve his bnce and turn while swinging his arm. Khan jumped to dodge the attack, and his airborne figure spun to m his heel on the Kred''s head.


    The Kred wanted to use his other arm to grab Khan now that hecked footholds, but thetter pointed his free leg on the alien''s chest and pushed himself away.


    Khan performed a backflip and returned to his feet, but the alien didn''t give him any time to breathe. The Kred immediately charged ahead and forced Khan to slide under his figure to dodge the iing ws.


    The alien wanted to turn, but a sharp pain suddenly spread from his groin and forced him to halt his movements. Khan had punched the alien''s manhood while sliding between his legs, and he even followed the attack with a double kick performed by pointing his hands on the ground.


    The Kred ended up losing his bnce after the attack hit his back. He mmed on the wall at the end of the hall before slowly turning to face his opponent. Immense anger filled his eyes at that point, but Khan only took note of the various spots that had swollen.


    Khan hadnded blows on his opponent multiple times by then, but thetter didn''t slow down at all. The Kred had suffered injuries on his foot, head, back, and abdomen, but nothing seemed able to affect him. The fast offensive had only managed to increase his anger.

 Chapter 72 - Blood

    Khan''s breathing began to show signs of growing ragged. He still had mana avable inside his body, but his muscles were starting to give in to the immense stress.


    Instead, the Kred appeared at his peak condition. He had a few bruises on his body, and intense anger filled his face, but he stood straight and without showing the slightest trace of exhaustion.


    Khan gulped and tried to steady his breath while the alien turned to face him. The Kred was livid, but he had abandoned his recklessness. He raised his arms and bent his legs before sliding on the terrain and approaching his opponent through short movements that didn''t reveal any opening.


    The Kred was using the forms of simple martial arts, but he didn''t seem too confident in those techniques. His steps were slow, and his eyes often fell on his limbs to ensure they were in the correct position.


    Khan had learnt a bit about martial arts during his intense training on Onia. His knowledge still had many nk gaps, especially when it came to styles that had earned many points. Yet, he had started to develop a faint battle instinct, which told him that the Kred didn''t train much in those techniques.


    Khan had also noticed that during the previous exchanges. The Kred''s fighting style was messy and wild. It mainly relied on his physical superiority and natural features, but it didn''t deploy mana to empower specific techniques.


    ''Do Kred outside of the Global Army even use martial arts?'' Khan wondered as the alien closed on his position.


    Theck of knowledge about that alien species was annoying. Khan ignored most of their customs and abilities, so his evaluation had many uncertainties.


    However, it didn''t make sense for the Kred to hold back, especially after Khan started to hit him often. Something was definitely off, and it seemed to benefit Khan.


    ''Maybe he only knows a few techniques,'' Khan wondered as his figure bent to prepare for the imminent exchange. ''He might even be bad at them. Still, a martial art deployed by a first-level warrior shouldpletely destroy me. I can''t risk getting hit.''


    The change in the Kred''s behavior didn''t affect his approach. Khan only had one valuable tactic in that situation. He had to wear the alien down with quick and safe attacks without ever exposing himself since a single hit from his opponent could put an end to the battle.


    Khan waited until the Kred entered his range beforeunching his attack. His body turned to the side while his leg flew toward the alien''s head.


    The alien didn''t care about the iing attack. His arms moved forward as his muscles bulged. He appeared ready to endure the kick, and Khan didn''t hesitate to put strength in his rear foot to jump backward.


    The Kred''s arms stretched before descending toward the ground. His ws stabbed the terrain and dug it until his hands disappeared among the roots of the glowing nts.


    Cracks spread through the ground after the attack ended, and a slight tremor even reached Khan''s feet once hended. His eyes inevitably widened when he realized how powerful that technique was. He didn''t know if his body would remain in one piece after getting hit by that blow.


    "How far can you run?" The Kred snorted while retracting his arms and resuming his battle stance. "The jungle benefits my species, and you can''t move as much as you want inside this cave. You have no chance to survive the rebellion."


    Khan hated to admit that the Kred was right. He could always escape back into the forest, but that wasn''t even close to being a solution. Also, the cave wasn''t small, but it still restrained Khan''s movements, which inevitably affected his high mobile martial art.


    The new technique revealed by the Kred limited Khan''s options since the attack could turn frontal blows and attempts to attack his sides into deadly situations. Khan could only attack his back now, but that made him predictable.


    A solution eventually reached his mind as the Kred started to approach him again. Khan blinked before focusing on the iing alien and waited for his opponent tounch his offensive before moving.


    The Kred didn''t fear Khan''s blows, so he could deploy all his energies on attacking. It didn''t matter if his techniquesnded or not. Khan would still exhaust himself before him.


    The alienunched his arms forward, and his ws pierced Khan''s figure. Yet, thetter turned out to be nothing more than an afterimage.


    The Kred managed to follow Khan''s movements, but that knowledge didn''t change his approach. He continued to perform his technique until his hands stabbed the terrain and caused a slight tremor to spread through the ground.


    Khan ran around the alien and delivered his kick after his opponentpletely bent. He wasn''t trying to damage him too much in that situation. His priority was to push the Kred forward.


    The Kred''s feet left the ground after the impact. The alien flew for a few meters and turned as soon as he stepped back on the terrain, but the sole of a foot suddenly filled his vision.


    Khan delivered a kick to the alien''s face and ducked to avoid the iing shing arms. He had sessfully disrupted the Kred''s pace, but his n didn''t end there.


    Khan rotated after crouching and swept the Kred''s legs to make him fall on his back. The alien was incredibly steady, but his body had already bent backward after the kick, so the attack separated him from the ground.


    A heel eventuallynded on the Kred''s groin before mming him on the ground. Khan had connected three techniques in a row and had performed them with mana, but the alien tried to straighten his position as soon as his back hit the terrain.


    That resilience left Khan speechless. He was doing his best. He had never fought so well in his entire life. However, the Kred was too strong.


    Still, his n wasn''t to defeat the Kred alone. He didn''t pay attention to the environment at all, but he recalled how big the second hall was.


    The first attack had pushed the Kred among the recruits. They were still dealing with one of their opponents, but some of them noticed the arrival of the new alien and didn''t hesitate to turn their offensive toward him.


    George and Luke had dealt with their opponent and had begun to help theirpanions with the stronger Kred, but they suddenly noticed Khan throwing another alien among them.


    The two boys immediately turned to help Khan since they valued him far more than the other recruits. George pointed his enhanced branch toward the Kred''s chest while Luke threw a kick aimed at the alien''s head.


    The alien couldn''t dodge the iing attacks. He had been too caught in the battle to notice the crowd next to him. Also, his focus had been on standing up, so he didn''t see the two boys.


    George''s branch pierced the right side of his chest and made him grunt in pain. Then, Luke''s kick arrived and broke some of the already damaged teeth.


    Khan attacked again at that point. His figure became weightless as he stepped on the alien''s abdomen and deployed his technique. The entirety of his bodyweight converged on the tip of his foot and fell on the Kred.


    George tilted his branch while making sure not to lose control of the mana inside it. The Kred instinctively grabbed that weapon and squeezed it until it broke, but the event only worsened his situation.


    George didn''t lose his bnce when the branch broke. Instead, he continued to make mana flow in its insides while he crouched to stab it on another side of the furry chest.


    The Kred raised his other hand to stop the boy, but Luke kicked him again and made him lose sight of the iing attack. George sessfully stabbed the alien, and Khan''s attack followed.


    The three boys unleashed a relentless offensive that didn''t let the Kred stand up. Luke and Khan''s attacks didn''t do much since the alien''s sheer resilience could make him endure those blows, but George was deadly with his branch.


    Even that strong body couldn''t do much against a proper weapon. George''s branch ignored the thickyers of muscles and pierced everything on its path. The Kred couldn''t help but suffer severe injuries during those exchanges, but the boys never let him regain his breath.


    The beating continued even after the Kred stopped moving. George and Luke were in a frenzy, and they had to wait for Khan''s orders to understand that the battle was already over.


    "He''s dead!" Khan shouted before turning toward thest standing Kred, but he halted his steps when the images of the other battle unfolded in his eyes.


    Dorian, Ethel, Cora, Abel, and Jill were standing around the corpse of thest Kred. Most of the alien''s face had turned into a meat paste, and Khan didn''t fail to notice the blood falling from the recruits'' hands.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Friendly warning about this novel going premium. I publish before China time, so chapters 75 and 76 will remain free for some hours. You might find them unlocked if you read them near release.

 Chapter 73 - Help

    The sudden stillness of the scene was oppressing. The recruits found themselves unclear about what to do in front of the now silent cave. The noise caused by the blood falling to the ground became deafening, and only the ragged breath of the boys and girls managed to ovee it.


    Khan''s group had done it. They had cleared the cave and killed every Kred. They could move to the next step of their n, but everyone required a second to snap back to reality.


    "Break the bars and free the recruits," Khan ordered when he saw that some of hispanions were still in a daze in front of the bleeding corpses. "We can''t stay here."


    The orders forced the recruits to ignore the cold and scary feelings surging inside their minds. They all began to move and focus on other tasks to keep themselves busy, but some of them didn''t miss that Khan went straight for the end of the second hall.


    The cell containing Lieutenant Sehlolo soon unfolded in Khan''s eyes. The wolf-shaped Kred was still facing the end of the hole when he arrived, but she turned when she heard noisesing from behind her.


    Khan had crouched in front of the cave, and his emotionless eyes inspected the Kred. Lieutenant Sehlolo couldn''t help butpare that gaze to the memories in her mind. Only a couple of weeks had passed since the beginning of the semestral missions, but Khan had already transformed.


    "We need to talk," Khan announced when he saw a tinge of regret appearing in the Lieutenant''s eyes.


    Lieutenant Sehlolo opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She tried to say something a few times, but her eyes eventually fell to the ground.


    She couldn''t stand to look at Khan in the eyes. The stark change in his behavior reminded her of the blood spilled during the rebellion.


    "Do you regret what you did?" Khan asked when he saw that scene.


    Khan''s words transformed into sharp des when they reached Lieutenant Sehlolo''s ears. She tried to speak again, but she ended up turning her face on the wall to hide from the living reminder of her actions.


    "The situation will only worsen if you don''t do anything," Khan exined. "These prisoners are nothing more than targets among the trees. The Kred will kill all of them, and their blood will be on your hands."


    Khan made sure to use his entire knowledge concerning human interactions during his speech. He relied on his previous talks with Lieutenant Sehlolo to choose words that could make her mind give in. It was clear that regret was eating her insides, and Khan wanted that feeling to grow.


    Feelings seeped past the mental barrier during that speech. Khan had to be cruel during the past two weeks, but he had never enjoyed that behavior. However, a warm sensation spread inside him when he saw Lieutenant Sehlolo suffering due to his words.


    Still, Khan decided to suppress that dark feeling too. Revenge was useless in that situation. He had to get the Lieutenant''s help to have a chance to survive the crisis.


    "You can still save us," Khan continued. "You can remain inside your cave and wallow in your regret, but we need something. We are basically stranded on Istrone unless you tell us how to get out."


    Khan didn''t know how the Global Army behaved in that situation. Part of him even feared that the higher-ups were busy solving greater issues since nothing in thest two weeks had hinted at the arrival of reinforcements. He needed the Lieutenant''s knowledge to understand what to do and devise a n to get him back on Earth.


    Lieutenant Sehlolo opened her mouth, but no sound came out of it again. Still, Khan waited in silence at that time. He let her experience the pain that her species had inflicted on the young recruits while his cold gaze remained on her.


    George and the others had started to free the imprisoned recruits, and noises inevitably spread throughout the cave. Most sounds were suppressed sobs or painful cries, but a few angry voices also reached the end of the underground structure.


    Lieutenant Sehlolo heard everything. Each sob made her body shake. Her hand trembled whenever one of the prisoners exploded into tears, and her eyes flickered whenever curses reached her ears.


    The prisoners were reminding her of the pain that her species had caused. The rebellion had destroyed the innocent excitement of mere kids and had transformed it into despair and anger. Those recruits would turn into soldiers who hated the Kred. The grudge between the two species had only intensified.


    "You can help them," Khan added when he felt that the Lieutenant was ready to break. "You can save them and help your species. Wars will inevitably happen, but your actions can reduce the damage. Talk and help both species."


    Those words tore Lieutenant Sehlolo''s insides apart. Khan''s eyes remained still when he heard the Kred clearing her throat. He didn''t need anything else to know that he had seeded.


    "The rebellious factions have destroyed the teleport and blocked themunications with the orbit," Lieutenant Sehlolo exined. "The Global Army has a space station around the, but its sensors can''t find much without receptors on the surface. The mana in Istrone''s vegetation creates a shield that stops every attempt to inspect the."


    "The higher-ups should still see the nk spot on their scanners, right?" Khan asked. "Why didn''t they send someone at its edges and inspect the whole area?"


    Khan didn''t know how the scanners for Istrone worked, but it didn''t make sense for the Global Army to bepletely in the dark. After all, the soldiers must have known where the semestral missions happened. Thepleteck of reinforcements in that area left him speechless and worried.


    "The dark area isn''t as small as you think," Lieutenant Sehlolo revealed. "The rebellious factions have deactivated the sensors in many sites."


    "They should still know where we are," Khan continued.


    "Not really," Lieutenant Sehlolo said while turning her face toward Khan. "The army makes sure that only a few trusted soldiers are aware of the location and details of the semestral missions. The families would find a way to help the recruits otherwise, and the Kred know that."


    "I bet these soldiers aren''t on the space station," Khan said.


    "Leaving them there could create a breach in the security," Lieutenant Sehlolo exined. "All of them were on Istrone, and my species has taken care of them before the rebellion."


    The situation appeared quite grim after that exnation. The higher-ups didn''t know where the recruits were, and the Kred had even disabled many structures.


    Convincing Lieutenant Sehlolo to be a guide for the group wouldn''t help since Khan and the others would have to cross a long distance to reach the first working structure. The soldier could even be unaware of the actual size of the blind spot, which only worsened the overall situation.


    "Do you think they are looking for us?" Khan asked.


    "Definitely," Lieutenant Sehlolo revealed. "I wouldn''t be surprised if many experts from the Global Army and the various families had already reached Istrone through the teleports outside the blind zone. They must be already on their way. I believe they''ll converge here in a few weeks."


    "But the Kred know that," Khan added when he saw that sadness had appeared in Lieutenant Sehlolo''s voice during the end of her line.


    "Yes," Lieutenant Sehlolo continued. "They are ready to move all of you soon."


    Khan sat on the ground as he went through the issue in his mind. There wasn''t much that the recruits could do. Even obtaining Lieutenant Sehlolo''s full cooperation would still leave them in the middle of the rebellious factions.


    "Do you think their sensors are pointing toward the blind zone?" Khan asked as a vague idea formed in his mind.


    "Of course," Lieutenant Sehlolo replied, "But you would need something big to appear on their screens. Simple res won''t be enough."


    Khan nodded before standing up and leaving the cave in silence. A grim spectacle unfolded in his eyes. Hispanions had freed most of the imprisoned recruits by then, but that wasn''t enough to soothe their pain.


    George, Cora, and the others had recruits clung to their shoulders and arms. Loud sobs came out of their hidden faces. Most of them were actually fine after spending so long inside the caves, but their minds were far from ok.


    "What should we do now?" George asked when he noticed Khan. "Most of them aren''t ready to move, and having such arge group inside the jungle will only turn us into a loud target."


    "We need to get louder," Khan exined before iming Dorian and Luke''s attention. "Move everyone out and seal each passage. I don''t want to see if she reacts in the wrong way."


    Most of the prisoners knew that Lieutenant Sehlolo was inside a cave. The wardens had often mocked them about that, and Khan''spanions had learnt everything from the cries that had reached their ears.


    It was clear that Khan had something in mind. His worry about the Kred also hinted at something that the alien species wouldn''t appreciate, so hispanions decided not to probe further until they left the range of Lieutenant Sehlolo''s ears.


    It took a while to move all the recruits outside the cave. Dorian and the others even had to make sure that none of them overreacted in front of the sudden freedom. Calm was necessary, and Khan even needed everyone''s help to deploy his n.


    The empty area around the cave unfolded in Khan''s vision once he stepped out of the cave. Even that spot featured rich vegetation, but most of those nts barely reached his ankles.


    Mana flowed inside those nts and made them quite resilient, but they were far from sturdy. A firm pull could break them, and fire could burn them if deployed correctly.


    "What do you have in mind?" George asked when he saw that Khan remained silent while inspecting the various trees and nts around the cave.


    "We need to create a signal," Khan exined. "I hope that a big fire will be enough."

 Chapter 74 - Fire

    It took a while to make the former prisoners understand that Khan''s group required their help. George and the others needed even more time to convince them to stand up and start working.


    Starting a fire on Istrone wasn''t an easy task due to the mana flowing inside the nts. The constant bad weather didn''t help with the matter either, but Khan was out of options.


    Some of the prisoners turned out to have experience with fires that involved wild vegetation. They had received special training from their families to help them with simr situations, and the other recruits did their best to follow their instructions.


    Moreover, two prisoners had the fire element. They couldn''t cast spells, but their training had taught them how to heat their mana. Their ability quickened the gathering and preparation of the materials required to start the fire and allowed the group to be ready many hours before the arrival of the night.


    Luke, Dorian, and other recruits sealed the various passages in the cave with branches, wood, and rocks. That method couldn''t stop Lieutenant Sehlolo''s eventual outrage, but it could buy them some time, especially since it prevented the smell from reaching the end of the underground structure.


    Khan even kicked the narrow entrance until it crumbled. The recruits showed astonished expressions when they saw him hitting rocks for almost half an hour, but the cold aura surrounding him stopped any desire to talk to him.


    The rain didn''t stop falling, so the group had to create a fire that could resist it. They gathered many piles of dry branches under the trees behind the cave and lit them up through rudimental methods and fire mana before waving makeshift fans toward the mes.


    The resilient vegetation and the relentless rain fought the mes, but Khan had made sure to prepare enough dry materials for the task. The group had a time limit, so they had to seed on their first try.


    A few trees eventually took fire. Theirrge crowns ended up working against them since they blocked part of the rain, and the mes reached the falling water once they were too intense.


    Also, the group was lucky enough to witness a strange reaction. The mana made the trees more resilient, but it transformed into powerful fuel for the mes once the nts died.


    Starting the fire turned out to be the only hurdle in the task. The mes grew intense once the mana burnt, and the reaction became unstoppable after that event.


    The mes spread once entire trees took fire. The recruits limited themselves to throw more dry materials and dig holes on the ground to keep the cave away from that destructive force.


    ck smoke rose in the sky and created a long trail that spread high and wide. The beacon was in ce, but everyone in the area could see it. The Kred who had gone hunting couldn''t miss that, and Khan knew that they would hurry back to the cave to punish the culprits behind that horrendous act.


    Khan didn''t do much after the fire began to spread on its own. He sat near the cave and entered the meditative state to relieve his muscles of the stress umted during the battle.


    He felt beyond exhausted. Khan had been awake for almost three days and had endured the blows of a first-level warrior. His insides hurt, his feet were sore, and his eyes begged him to sleep, but he didn''t rx just yet.


    The Global Army might arrive after the Kred, which would force the recruits to fight again. Khan couldn''t allow himself to rest before such a significant event.


    Anxiety built among the recruits as the minutes passed. The noise caused by the falling rain and the crackling of the fire filled their ears and prevented them from concentrating.


    The recruits were basically warning the Kred about their sessful rescue mission, but everyone knew that Khan''s n was theirst real hope to leave the. Still, they couldn''t help but shake as worries and fears built inside them.


    The Kred had captured many of those recruits right after the crash. Those who had managed to put up a fight were too injured or inexperienced to achieve any result. They had no confidence in their ability, but a deadly battle was approaching, and they had to make the best out of that time.


    A loud noise suddenly resounded while the group stared at the fire, meditated, or conversed to disperse the pressure that had filled their minds. The event startled them and even awakened Khan from his meditation, but thetter didn''t move when he sensed that the sounds came from under him.


    Slight tremors ran through the ground. The recruits quickly understood that Lieutenant Sehlolo was trying to escape the cave and prepared for the imminent battle, but confused expressions appeared on their faces when they saw that Khan remained in his spot.


    Khan had faced the first-level warrior Kred and had sparred with Lieutenant Dyester for months. He knew how dangerous empowered soldiers could be, and Lieutenant Sehlolo was even a mage.


    The chances of the group to defeat Lieutenant Sehlolo were non-existent. The situation wouldn''t change even if all the recruits were at their peak condition and didn''t have fears hindering their movements. Their opponent was a second-level warrior and a first-level mage. Only death waited for them if the soldier decided to kill them.


    The entrance of the cave exploded and sent rocks and debris forward. Lieutenant Sehlolo''s tall figure came out of the new opening before jumping next to Khan in an instant.


    Her mouth opened when she looked at the massive fire raging through the forest. She appeared in pain at the sight of the burning trees, and blood even flowed out of her palms when she tightened her grasp.


    "Your species has a good nose," Khan eximed without turning toward the Kred.


    His eyes remained on the fire. He was too tired to pretend or beg for his life. The mental barrier kept out his unreasonable feelings and made the cold and cynical part of his mind ept his death.


    "It wasn''t the smell," Lieutenant Sehlolo revealed while gritting her teeth. "I heard the ground screaming in pain."


    The Lieutenant was experiencing an internal battle, and her expression allowed the recruits to keep track of her predominant feelings. res of anger would often appear in her eyes, but a helpless sadness always suppressed it.


    "I hope this works as a beacon," Khan sighed.


    "I could still gain the Kred''s favor if I killed all of you," Lieutenant Sehlolo threatened at the sight of Khan''s uncaring attitude.


    Humans couldn''t understand Istrone''s pain. They couldn''t hear its screams and desperate requests. They didn''t feel anything in front of the fire, and Khan embodied that feature in his current state.


    Lieutenant Sehlolo couldn''t help but feel hatred toward him and the recruits around her. Part of her wanted to go wild and kill everyone. However, her rational side knew how pointless that action would be.


    Those recruits weren''t guilty of anything. They had simply reacted to the rebellion. Burning the trees was ast desperate attempt to save themselves from a hatred that didn''t belong to them.


    "Can you promise me something?" Lieutenant Sehlolo suddenly asked as resolve overcame her sadness.


    "Depends," Khan vaguely replied.


    "Don''t tell the Global Army about my involvement," Lieutenant Sehlolo announced. "I''ll hold back the Kred if you promise me to remain silent."


    The recruits couldn''t hear Lieutenant Sehlolo from their position, and they didn''t dare to get closer to the alien. They limited themselves to inspect the scene from behind the heavy rain and hope that Khan could handle the situation.


    "Do you fear for your faction?" Khan asked after he thought about the reasons behind that request.


    The Global Army would definitely retaliate against the Kred, and the culprits behind the rebellion would suffer a grim fate. Lieutenant Sehlolo wanted to save the wolf-like aliens from that.


    "I do," Lieutenant Sehlolo revealed.


    "Were they involved in the rebellion?" Khan asked.


    Lieutenant Sehlolo replied after hesitating for a few seconds, "Some of them."


    Khan fell silent and didn''t let any of his thoughts affect his expression. Lieutenant Sehlolo often nced at his cold eyes, but she didn''t manage to understand what was going on in his mind.


    "Fine," Khan eventually eximed. "Protect us, and I''ll tell everyone that you had nothing to do with the rebellion."


    Lieutenant Sehlolo nced at the various recruits staring at her in fear. She didn''t know if Khan could make all of them remain silent, especially after they experienced such a traumatic experience. Yet, she had to help her faction, even if that meant cing her hopes in a bunch of kids.


    The Kred didn''t say anything else. She ced a hand on the ground and closed her eyes before moving toward a side of the jungle. Everyone inspected her actions, but no one dared to stop her.


    George walked toward Khan once Lieutenant Sehlolo stopped in front of the jungle''s edges. His confused gaze clearly expressed his desire to understand what had happened during that interaction, but Khan shook his head before closing his eyes again.


    Time flowed, and tall figures eventually appeared among the trees in front of Lieutenant Sehlolo. Angry Kred jumped out of the thick vegetation and set their bloodthirsty eyes on the various recruits.


    Khan could sense that some of them had the same amount of mana as his previous opponent. That group of aliens featured multiple first-level warriors, but none of them dared to advance with Lieutenant Sehlolo on their path.


    Roars and other animal cries resounded among the group of aliens. Lieutenant Sehlolo and the other Kred discussed in anguage that the recruits couldn''t understand even if they got closer to them. Their anxiety inevitably intensified at that scene, but all of them knew that they were powerless.


    One of the Kred suddenly roared in anger and shot forward. The alien tried to run past Lieutenant Sehlolo and reach one of the recruits, but the soldier appeared on its path in an instant and pushed it back into the forest with a mere wave of her hand.


    The Kred showed ugly expressions at that sight. Lieutenant Sehlolo''s actions had proven her determination to the group, and the aliens couldn''t help but hesitate.


    Lieutenant Sehlolo was too strong, but there were many of them. They could reach some of the recruits if they charged at them together. A single soldier couldn''t stop all of them.


    Yet, the loud noise released by a series of engines suddenly pierced the rain and crackling fire. Everyone looked toward the sky at that point, and broad smiles appeared on the recruits when they noticed a few spaceships descending toward their position.

 Chapter 75 - Camp

    The Kred lost their desire to fight when they saw the spaceships descending toward the zone devoid of trees. Some of them took a few steps backs in fear, but the vehicles reached their destination in mere seconds.


    The sudden eleration of the spaceships left almost everyone on the scene speechless. Khan had struggled to follow their movements through the sky. They had been nothing more than faint dots hidden among the rain before, but they had transformed into huge figures that hovered above the cave just one instantter.


    The spaceships were different from the troop carriers. They had an oval shape and didn''t feature wings or tails. Threerge rotating engines on their sides and back controlled their altitude and speed, but they stopped releasing noises once they stopped moving.


    The front of the spaceships featured threerge screens that hid the insides of the cockpits, and their size was almost the same as the troop carriers. Those vehicles couldn''t carry many soldiers, but the recruits could understand that numbers didn''t matter anymore.


    The Global Army had found the recruits. The space station in the orbit would now learn about the position of the lost kids, and the news would reach the worried families. Khan only needed to inspect the reactions of the Kred to understand that he was safe.


    "Get on the ground and ce your hands behind your head," A mechanical voice resounded from one of the four spaceships hovering in the sky. "Any attempt to resist the arrest will authorize the use of lethal force."


    The Kred were a driven species due to their tight connection with Istrone. The aliens in the area would rather try their chances than ending up in the Global Army''s hands.


    The time that the Global Army had required to find the recruits proved that the environment was in their favor. The Kred had a high chance to escape as long as they yed their cards right, but their hesitation in following the orders forced the spaceships to act.


    A trapdoor opened under one of the spaceships, and a human figure jumped out of it. A man fell for more than twenty meters, and the terrain shattered during the impact, but he appearedpletely unaffected by the event.


    The soldier wasn''t tall, and his physique didn''t feature any evident muscle. He had short ck hair, a pair of cold green eyes, and a well-kept short beard that covered a good chunk of his stern face.


    The seemingly middle-aged man sent to handle the Kred appeared rather in. Some of the first-level warriors among the aliens radiated a wilder aura even. Yet, Lieutenant Sehlolo couldn''t help but show an astonished expression and perform a military salute when she recognized that soldier.


    "Wee on Istrone, Captain Foxnor, sir!" Lieutenant Sehlolo shouted during her salute, and her voice was so loud that everyone in the area heard it.


    The recruits paid more attention to the soldier at that point. The heavy rain still tried to hinder their vision, but the gales generated by the four spaceships dispersed part of it and allowed the kids to inspect the man properly.


    Needless to say, astonishment and surprised gasps spread through the area at the sight of the four stars on each shoulder of the soldier''s military uniform. The Global Army wasn''t ying around. It had sent a monster to deal with the Kred.


    Khan had noticed Captain Foxnor''s power sooner than hispanions. His face had remained unaffected by the event, but rumbling emotions were attacking the mental barrier in his insides.


    His senses couldn''t miss the intense energy contained in the Captain''s body. Even those with poor sensitivity to mana could sense the threatening power that the in man carried. He was a beacon that almost obscured the other presences in Khan''s mind due to his intense glow.


    "You have three seconds to get on the ground," The soldier said in a in voice.


    His tone was firm, but it didn''t carry any peculiar emotion. It almost sounded peaceful even.


    The Kred hesitated while inspecting the stars on Captain Foxnor''s shoulders. They had to run away now if they wanted to have a chance to preserve their freedom.


    The Captain closed his eyes while raising his right arm. His gesture seemed to match the time that he had given to the aliens. It would stretchpletely once the three seconds passed.


    One of the aliens suddenly took a step back, and that gesture triggered a mass reaction. The other Kred quickly turned toward the trees and began their escape, but three seconds passed before they could dive deeper into the jungle.


    Captain Foxnor snapped his fingers once his armpletely stretched, and pale-white shes suddenly illuminated the area. Multiple lightning bolts had materialized above the escaping Kred and had fallen on their heads without giving them any chance to dodge the attack.


    The result of that spell was incredible. All the Kred except for one first-level warrior fell dead on the ground. Dark smoke came out of their figures as their fur and skin continued to burn even after the attack ended.


    That scene left everyone surprised and worried. A single gesture from the Captain had been enough to take care of a threatening toon of Kred. His attacks had even been so precise that the surviving alien didn''t suffer any injury. The soldier had a scary level of control over his power.


    "I''m not going to repeat myself," Captain Foxnor eximed in his calm voice.


    The Kred looked at the deadpanions and turned its body in anger. Pain filled its mind as the blood of the aliens flowed into the ground. Its suffering made it prefer death over imprisonment.


    The alien shot after Captain Foxnor. It didn''t care if its action was pointless due to the vast disparity in power. Its charge was an expression of the Kred''s determination!


    Captain Foxnor prepared himself to snap his fingers again, but Lieutenant Sehlolo jumped on the Kred before he couldplete the spell. She pushed the alien on the ground and held its arms behind its back while sitting on them.


    "I''m sorry for interrupting you, sir," Lieutenant Sehlolo exined while restraining the alien. "I believe you wanted to interrogate her, sir."


    Captain Foxnor''s eyes slightly flickered, but he lowered his hand and turned to walk under one of the spaceships. Khan stared at him for the entire time, but the soldier never wasted time inspecting the area.


    A metal rope fell from the trapdoor, and the Captain grabbed it before being dragged back inside the vehicle. Meanwhile, two spaceshipsnded in rtively empty spots near the trees before their doors opened, and a series of soldiers jumped out of them.


    Some of the soldiers ran toward Lieutenant Sehlolo and helped her restraining the Kred with metal handcuffs. Instead, others hurried toward the recruits while carrying lotions and bandages.


    "Handle the others first," Khan announced when one of the soldiers tried to approach him. "I''m fine."


    Khan was obviously far from fine, but he didn''t want to rx yet. The mental barriers would crumble as soon as he allowed himself to feel safe, and he couldn''t let himself experience the many suppressed emotions in that situation.


    There would be time on Earth to deal with the mess in his mind, but he had to endure for a little more now. He would have to go through interrogations and other procedures before going back home, and showing weakness during them could ruin part of his achievements.


    Khan knew that what he had aplished on Istrone was terrific. He had saved his group, survived in the jungle for two weeks, and rescued many prisoners. The Global Army would definitely reward him after learning of his actions, and he suspected that even the families of hispanions wouldn''t hold back from showing their gratitude.


    Everything was benefitting his n to be an ambassador. His current cold mindset was perfect for seizing many favors from the Global Army and gaining a privileged status among the families. He felt nothing like a hero, but he only needed the higher-ups to see him in that way.


    Lieutenant Sehlolo and a few soldiers dragged the prisoner into a spaceship, and the vehicle immediately set off while carrying the whole group.


    Another spaceshipnded in that spot after a few minutes. That vehicle was bigger than the others, and the soldiers that came out of it carried multiple devices that they didn''t hesitate to ce on the ground.


    Items with the shape of small suitcases transformed intorge azure tents that could fend off the rain. The Global Army built a camp in minutes, and the soldiers moved to handle the other issues afterward.


    A few soldiers ran toward the fire and began to suppress it. A woman with a star on her left shoulder controlled part of the falling rain and made it umte above her figure before throwing it toward the burning trees.


    Another soldier helped her while firing a device with the shape of a machinegun thatunched a slimy substance. The mes immediately vanished when they touched that dense green material.


    Another group began to carry the injured recruits toward the various tents that had appeared around the cave. Most of the kids didn''t need anything special. A few nights of rest and light meds were enough to tend their condition.


    Instead, others required immediate special care. Some soldiers escorted Ethel and two other kids who had a paleplexion into the spaceship, and the vehicle set off before dispersing into the sky.


    Other spaceships descended and departed as the soldiers erged the camp and dealt with the kids. Khan''s turn soon arrived, but he didn''t let the soldier do much. He epted the lotions for his cuts, but he refused further inspections.


    nces eventually started to fall on him. Khan had remained in his spot near the cave since it was clear that the group wouldn''t leave soon, but the soldiers had started questioning the recruits in that period.


    The prisoners didn''t say much, but the core members of Khan''s group were quite loud about his merits. A group of soldiers had even gathered around Luke when they became aware of his background, and he didn''t hold back from praising Khan as much as possible during that interaction.


    The rumors spread so quickly that a soldier with three stars on each shoulder eventually left the cockpit of a spaceship and walked toward Khan.


    "I think it''s time we have a talk," The slightly old man announced when he reached Khan. "You can address me as Captain Godman. I''m in charge of this rescue mission, and I can''t wait to hear your version of the story."

 Chapter 76 - Mark

    Khan didn''t hold anything back, but he made sure to tell his version of the story in a calm and precise way to show his ability to maintain a collected mind even after the mission ended.


    Captain Godman had a few wrinkles on his face, but his eyes were lively, and his body radiated a steady vibe. His uniform couldn''t hide his bulging muscles, and his short grey hair didn''t manage to give him an old appearance.


    The soldier appeared in his prime, but the stars on his shoulders clearly stated his inferiority to Captain Foxnor even if they shared the same rank. He seemed slightly weaker than Lieutenant Dyester, but Khan couldn''t feel sure about that from a simple inspection.


    Khan told everything to the Captain. He even managed to y it humble without forgetting to mention his many feats. He relied on his entire knowledge about human interactions to create a perfect image of himself without bragging.


    Captain Godman often adjusted his ck mustache with his fingers while listening to Khan''s story. He remained silent for the whole speech and only nodded from time to time when he heard certain decisions that he approved.


    The soldier didn''t ask anything about Lieutenant Sehlolo, but Khan guessed that the Global Army would question him about that during the official interrogation. He mentioned her presence inside the cave, but he didn''t give all the details about their private conversation since that situation didn''t let him exploit the information properly.


    The Captain took out a pack of cigarettes when Khan''s story ended. The heavy rain had finally stopped, so he could pull an electric lighter from his pocket and smoke without worrying.


    The soldier offered a cigarette to Khan, but thetter refused it. His curiosity about smoking had waned when he had seen people in the Slums trading cans of food to keep up with that bad habit.


    "It''s regretful that you didn''t know more about Istrone," Captain Godman eventually announced while blowing smoke above him. "Your background even worked against you, but I can see that you did your best."


    "Do you know about my history, sir?" Khan asked while turning toward the soldier.


    "We checked you up since the Cobsend kid didn''t stop narrating your deeds," Captain Godman said while giving voice to a shortugh. "You made good friends in the army already. I''ve seen soldiers undermining theirpanions to improve their chances of getting a promotion, but none of the recruits here dared to forget to mention your name."


    "I wouldn''t have survived without them," Khan promptly added to make sure that his pretense remained in ce.


    "And they wouldn''t have survived without you," Captain Godman continued. "Still, you could have yed it better, but you should me the army for that."


    "How so, sir?" Khan asked.


    "You could have realized that the kid''s families would have hurried on Istrone after the mission went sideways," Captain Godman exined while drawing something on the ground with his foot. "You could have avoided the patrolling Kred if you moved toward the edges of the blind zone. The Global Army would have even learnt about the rebellion earlier if you met the reinforcement deployed on Istrone."


    Khan followed the Captain''s foot with his eyes. The soldier was drawing a simple scheme of Istrone''s situation to exin the different approaches that Khan could have taken.


    The edges of the blind zone were farther away from the crash site than the in, but they were safer. Also, those areas had soldiers from the families and the Global Army busy searching for traces of the recruits.


    The Kred didn''t make the in the center of the blind zone to mislead the army, so Khan would have had a high chance to meet the reinforcements in a single week. In theory, he could have helped to deal with the rebellion far faster.


    "I didn''t think about that," Khan honestly announced when he understood the Captain''s point of view.


    "Of course you didn''t," Captain Godman snorted. "You had no idea of the actual situation of the teleport, and you didn''t know how the sensors on Istrone worked. You couldn''t see the best course of action without that knowledge."


    Khan turned toward the Captain again at that point. He didn''t say anything, but even his aloof face couldn''t hide his confusion. He didn''t see the point of that speech.


    "I''m not saying this to worsen your mood," Captain Godman exined. "Take my words as a special lesson for talented recruits. You have a high chance to end up in a position of power one day, and this might allow you to save lives."


    "Thank you for your kindness, sir," Khan eximed as his eyes widened.


    Khan didn''t know how the Global Army would value his feats, but Captain Godman had basically revealed how important they had been. Even such a high-ranked soldier had acknowledged that Khan could end up leading toons.


    "It''s rare to find good soldiers at such a young age," Captain Godman eventually said while standing up and patting Khan''s shoulder. "Keep working hard and serving well, and you''ll get somewhere. Wear something now. You''ll have to stay on Istrone a bit more, and I bet you don''t want to spend that time in pants."


    Khan suddenly realized that he had yet to change into the clean uniform that one of the soldiers had brought him. He was only wearing the torn trousers that had apanied him in thest two weeks.


    Khan promptly stood up and performed a military salute before taking out the uniform from its cover and walking toward a tree to change himself. The mud, blood, and dirt that had umted on his trousers and pants made them hard to take off, and he ended up tearing them apart to quicken the process.


    Remaining in the open was pointless now that the army had built a proper encampment. The soldiers had prepared enough tents for all the recruits, so Khan picked an empty one and allowed himself to rest. The exhaustion umted after staying awake for three days almost made him look forward to his familiar nightmare.


    Khan slept for a long time while the troops on Istrone continued their tasks. The rescue missions were still ongoing, and theck of sensors in the blind zone made the exploration of the forest slow.


    The camp couldmunicate with the space station and the entirety of the Global Army through the spaceships, so multiple vehiclesnded on the in the following days.


    Each spaceship could only cover a small area, but the army used them to create checkpoints inside the blind zone. Moreover, the space station sent technicians toward the broken structures, and they worked day and night to restore the sensors.


    Khan didn''t do much during those days. George, Luke, Dorian, and Cora often visited him due to the habits developed in the previous weeks. The recruits spent a lot of time meditating together and exchanging faint jokes to relieve the pressure umted during their journey.


    The soldiers brought other recruits into the camp as the days passed, but those scenes were a rarity. The troops returned with metal coffins most of the time since the Kred preferred to kill their prisoners before escaping deeper into the jungle.


    Khan stood up whenever he saw soldiers returning into the camp with coffins or stretchers. He didn''t forget about his friends after the traumatic experience. Bruce''s location was still unknown, and the same went for Martha.


    George and the others noticed his behavior, but they also acted in a simr way. They had lost friends too.


    Still, Cora felt more emotional than the others. She came from Reebfell''s training camp, so the return on Earth would inevitably separate her from Khan. Also, seeing the boy so interested in the dispersed recruits made her heart ache.


    Cora couldn''t muster the courage to question Khan about eventual romantic rtionships, but the same wasn''t true for Luke. Thetter was easy to talk to and open about gossips, so she got her answers from him in no time.


    Learning about Martha made Cora feel bad for Khan. She already had immense respect for the boy, but understanding that he had led them to safety while his girlfriend remained dispersed made her fall even harder for him.


    Khan didn''t share his pain with anyone, but he had endured hispanion''s suffering like a true leader. Cora couldn''t find any ws in his character, deeds, and appearance, but she felt unable to help him.


    The desire to lift Khan''s mood intensified as the days passed and the date of their return on Earth grew close. Cora didn''t want the two of them to separate as simple acquaintances, but leaving a mark on him required all her courage.


    Cora made up her mind one morning and reached Khan''s tent when she knew that he would have been alone. The sun had just appeared, but she was aware that her friend was already meditating.


    Khan opened his eyes and closed them as soon as he recognized Cora. It was unusual for her toe in his tent so early, but he had grown used to his friends going in and out of it freely, so he disregarded the matter.


    Yet, ignoring Cora became impossible after she stood in front of him for entire minutes.


    "What is it?" Khan eventually asked while interrupting his meditation.


    "Do-," Cora began to speak, but she had to take a deep breath before she could say the entire line. "Do you trust me?"


    Khan noticed the slight blush on the girl''s face, but he also saw that she was struggling to say those words.


    "Of course," Khan replied in his emotionless tone.


    "Then close your eyes for a bit and don''t move," Cora eximed as her voice gained a begging tone. "I need to check something."


    Khan knew that the girl had a crush on him. He even felt d that his group had such a heartwarming presence during the travel through the jungle.


    Cora had done her best to lift Khan''s morale since the crash, and thetter couldn''t ignore her efforts. His mental barrier still hid his emotions, but he could understand when he had to y along.


    "Sure," Khan said while closing his eyes.


    Silent seconds passed while Cora reaffirmed her courage. She took a while to bend toward Khan and ce her hands on his cheeks.


    Khan instinctively retreated when he sensed the warm sensation spreading on his face, but his eyes remained close to respect his promise with the girl.


    "Don''t move!" Corained, and Khan gave voice to a weak "sorry" before bending forward again.


    A warm and slightly wet sensation then spread from his lips. Khan couldn''t help but open his eyes at that point, and Cora''s face filled his vision. The girl had kissed him.


    "You opened your eyes!" Cora shouted while retreating as soon as she noticed that Khan was looking at her.


    The girl''s face becamepletely red, and she hurried toward the exit of the tent, but she suddenly stopped before lifting the azure fabric.


    "Don''t forget about me, ok?" Cora asked while keeping her voice down and ncing at the boy staring at her in surprise.


    "How could I?" Khan replied while wearing a warm smile, and the girl quickly escaped from the tent after seeing that scene.


    Khan''s expression returned cold when the girl left, and his fingers instinctively went on his lips. That had been his first kiss, and he had to admit that it had felt good.


    The entrance of the tent suddenly opened while he remained immersed in his thoughts. Khan initially thought that Cora had returned, but the appearance of Luke''s figure made his eyes sharpen.


    Luke was wearing a conflicted expression. Worry and sadness filled his face while his eyes moved between the ground and Khan. Still, the boy didn''t take much to steel his resolve and exin the reason behind his visit. "They have found Martha."


    ****


    Author''s notes: The privilege will activate once the novel goes premium, so I can''t drop the additional chapters now. I''ll see if they lock my chapters while I''m still awake. You''ll have to wait for me to wake up otherwise, so don''t panic if you can''t purchase the privilege. I''m either sleeping or editing.

 Chapter 77 - Change

    Khan''s mental barrier shook when Luke''s words reached his ears. Cora''s kiss vanished from his thoughts as he jumped off his simple bed and ran to his friend.


    Luke quickly led Khan toward one of therge medical tents built near the center of the camp. The soldiers didn''t usually let anyone inside, but they moved away when they saw the boy with connections to the noble families and the famous kid who had created the signal for the army.


    The two boys walked among the various beds containing injured recruits. Only those in severe conditions or deep need of rest could upy those spots, so the scene was quite grim.


    Khan ignored the severed limbs, bleeding bandages, and infected injuries that reached his eyes while searching for his friend. A familiar figure eventually appeared in his vision, and his mental barrier couldn''t help but shake again.


    Martha was sleeping in a bed near the end of therge tent. The soldiers with specializations in medical fields were still tending her injuries, so Khan could witness the entirety of her wretched state.


    Large patches of burnt skin and missing flesh filled the entirety of Martha''s right side. Even her face had turned into a mess of charred flesh.


    Luke halted his steps when he saw Khan slowly walking toward Martha. The doctors had to undress the girl to apply many lotions and bandages to cover the burnt flesh, so they didn''t notice the boy walking around them and approaching Martha''s intact side.


    Khan remained silent while the doctors patched Martha up and covered her with special nkets that radiated a warm orange glow. Hepletely ignored the ability of that item, but his mind barely produced thoughts in that situation.


    "Can I?" Khan asked once the doctors straightened their position and heaved a helpless sigh.


    Khan''s sudden appearance startled them a bit, and concerns about his actual reasons even appeared in their minds. After all, the boy could have been in front of the naked girl for despicable motives. Yet, the evident sadness in his eyes made them drop their guard.


    "Make sure not to touch the bandages," One of the doctors said. "Are you a rtive?"


    "No," Khan whispered as his hesitant hand slowly touched Martha''s hair. "I''m just a friend."


    The two soldiers exchanged a nce after witnessing that sad scene. They could sense the care in Khan''s actions even with the mental barrier suppressing most of his emotions.


    "She has been awake for a while after the crash," One of the doctors exined once she couldn''t stand to watch Khan''s helpless expression anymore. "She has managed to stabilize her condition before falling into aa. They found her near the wreckage of her vehicle with her mouth pointed toward the sky."


    Khan nodded as his hand reached Martha''s intact cheek. She felt soft and warm, but he didn''t manage to appreciate those sensations with the overwhelming sadness trying to fill every corner of his mind. Even the naked scenes from before had barely managed to enter his vision since he could only focus on her injuries.


    "Will she wake up?" Khan asked, and the doctors didn''t fail to notice how he didn''t mention anything about her appearance.


    "It''s very likely," The other doctor announced. "Hera is only a defensive measure of her body, but she should wake up once the damage retreats and nutrients flow again. It might take her a while to healpletely, but she is out of danger now that we found her."


    "We''ll move her to the space station in less than an hour," The first doctor continued. "You can remain here if you don''t hinder our work."


    "Thank you," Khan simply replied without moving his eyes from Martha.


    The doctors didn''t know what else to say to improve Khan''s mood, but they didn''t have time to waste there either. The soldiers continued to bring injured and half-dead recruits to the camp, so they had to deal with their patients quickly in order to have enough room for everyone.


    The duo left Khan alone, and Luke showed aplicated expression before turning to leave the medical tent. Cries of pain and loud orders resounded inside the structure, but Khan barely heard anything while his attention remained on his friend.


    ''Thank you for not dying,'' Khan sighed in his mind.


    Everything about the situation was awful, but Martha was alive. That was the only positive aspect of the rebellion. Both of them had survived.


    ''What should I do now?'' Khan thought as if asking Martha. ''We didn''t even get the chance to talk.''


    The promise to talk about their rtionship became a sweet memory in Khan''s mind. Looking at Martha in her current condition made him realize how important she had be in his life.


    Martha had been a wonderful friend for almost six months. She had allowed him to get Lieutenant Dyester''s training, and she had always helped him when his ignorance or doubts tried to affect his actions.


    Moreover, Martha had never asked anything in return. She was nothing more than a young girl, but her maturity and cheerfulness had been one of the pirs on which Khan had founded his life in co''s training camp.


    The two of them had rarely gotten chances to see each other outside the lessons in thest period due to their packed schedules, but they had managed to grow closer on Onia. They had clearly liked each other for a while, but it had taken them six months to conclude that they couldn''t remain simple friends, even if the army didn''t give them much free time.


    Khan almost heard Martha''s replies in his mind. He could imagine her telling him to focus on his training and his goal to be an ambassador.


    Khan then imagined how fun it would be to tease her about Cora. Martha would definitely pretend not to care about the event, and Khan would have to work hard to find her real feelings.


    ''I really wanted to see you jealous,'' Khan eventually sighed again.


    The hideous injuries didn''t manage to ruin his mental image of the girl. Khan barely cared about them after everything that he had gone through. He only wanted to hear her voice and almost always correct ideas again since part of him felt utterly lost.


    ''I would have found a way to buy condoms for you,'' Khan couldn''t help but smile when he thought that.


    Martha''s angry face even appeared in his mind when he imagined her reaction. He knew it would have been fun to experience those moments with her, but the world didn''t seem to like the idea of the two of them ending together. Actually, part of Khan started to believe that he was the issue in the matter.


    ''Maybe I attract problems,'' Khan thought. ''What are the chances of experiencing the Second Impact and Istrone''s second rebellion in a single life?''


    Martha would scold him if she knew about those thoughts. She would remind him of how the world could simply be unfair at times. Having suffered once didn''t save anyone from future traumas.


    Khan eventually took Martha''s hand in his grasp and waited in silence. His mind continued to be a mess, but only his memories of the girl managed to seep past the mental barrier.


    The hour went by in an instant. Not even the meditations could make time flow so quickly. Khan didn''t seem able to grow tired of staring at her, but the doctors eventually took her away and moved her toward a spaceship.


    Luke neared Khan when he noticed him staring at the spaceship disappearing in the sky. George and the other friends limited themselves to gaze at him from their tents. Khan had taken care of them in the jungle, but they didn''t know how to do the same for him.


    The rain started to fall again by the time Luke patted his shoulder, but Khan barely felt that interaction. Seeing the spaceship leave made him feel as if part of him had ultimately vanished. That departure seemed to deliver a killing blow to the boy-Khan that his mental barriers kept away from his brain.


    "She''ll wake up in no time," Luke said while trying to cheer Khan up. "Not even the Kred can make that girl stay put."


    "I''m not worried about her," Khan honestly revealed without adding anything else.


    Luke showed a confused expression, but he didn''t find the time to say anything since Khan quickly turned to go back into his tent. George and the others wanted to show their support when looking at that scene, but they felt that Khan wanted to remain alone for the time being, so they didn''t move.


    Khan had spoken the truth before. He wasn''t worried about Martha. She would definitely wake up one day, and everything would be almost the same in her mind. However, Khan didn''t know what could change inside him in that period. He wasn''t even sure if she could recognize him right now.


    Most of those worries were paranoias enhanced by his sorrow and unstable mental state. His raging emotions were about to burst past the barrier, but he didn''t let it fall. It even appeared sturdier after the time he spent with Martha.


    Khan entered his tent and sat cross-legged on his bed. He didn''t want to think anymore. His attention quickly moved on the mana in his brain before starting the eighth mental exercise.


    Needless to say, Khan finallypleted the exercise and moved to the ninth. He only had three lessons left to master left before the Wave spell.

 Chapter 78 - Interrogation

    Life in the camp on Istrone was peaceful but temporary. The recruits ended up spending two entire weeks in the various tents while the soldiers rescued and took care of the lost kids before the Global Army decided to start moving some of them.


    Captain Godman reappeared on the camp and started managing the departures of the recruits who didn''t feature any severe injury. Arge spaceshipnded in the area burnt by the fire, and the soldiers ended up moving Khan, George, and many others inside it.


    The army had found Bruce in those two weeks, but the boy had many open injuries that his body didn''t manage to heal due to a dangerous infection. His life wasn''t in danger, but he couldn''t join the first batch of recruits meant to return on Earth.


    The spaceship set off once Captain Godman filled its seats with recruits. The vehicle''s insides were vast but cramped due to the many rows of chairs meant to carry soldiers.


    That vehicle could hold up to twenty people in its central part, and most of the recruits sitting inside it felt slightly excited when they fastened their seatbelts. Only Khan and a few others didn''t let their first trip to space improve their mood.


    The spaceship set off a few minutes after the recruits took their ce. Khan felt a faint pressurending on his body and pushing him down, but the sensation vanished quickly. Mechanical noises resounded from outside the vehicle at that point, and its doors eventually opened to reveal a dark-grey environment.


    Khan left his seat and peeked out of the spaceship. The scenery hadpletely changed in a matter of minutes. He had gone from the simple tents and the flourishing vegetation of Istrone to a metal chamber full of glowing wires and beeping sounds.


    Captain Godman quickly left the cockpit and walked in front of the central doors. A faint smile appeared on his face when he saw that Khan was already inspecting the outsides of the spaceship, but he didn''t say anything until the rest of the recruits stood up.


    "Gather up and get in line," Captain Godman eventually ordered. "Follow me closely and don''t touch anything. Your families wouldn''t be able to repay this beauty even if they sold the entirety of their resources."


    "He''s exaggerating," Luke whispered while walking next to Khan. "Space stations are old tech unless they have some special weapon. They have be rather obsolete after humans perfected the teleports."


    Khan nodded and jumped off the spaceship to follow the Captain walking toward one of the corridors connected to that docking bay. Other vehicles filled the area, and he recognized the troop carriers and the smaller spaceships from before.


    His lungs cheered in joy when he breathed inside the space station. Khan immediately recognized Earth''s air, and energy filled his body after bathing inside it. Something inside him immediately felt at home.


    The other recruits experienced simr sensations when they jumped off the spaceship. Their bodies felt relieved to experience Earth''s atmosphere again. Mana made them able to breathe on foreigns, but it couldn''t alter their natural habitat.


    "Don''t waste time!" Captain Godman shouted from the end of the corridor. "Why would you stop to enjoy this fake air when you are about to get back on Earth?"


    The Captain''s words forced the recruits to snap back to reality. The fear of disobeying direct orders was intense, but nothing could beat their desire to go back on Earth.


    Khan and Luke ended up leading the line of recruits behind Captain Godman. The soldier moved among the intricate array of corridors quickly and without showing any hesitation. He had memorized those paths long ago, and he had no interest in letting the kids inspect the insides of the space station.


    Arge hall that featured many desks and soldiers eventually unfolded in the group''s vision. Khan felt that the area''syout was quite familiar, but it took him a while to connect that scene to the station in the Slums.


    "We''ll go over an official interrogation now," Captain Godman exined while the soldiers in the hall stood up and activated the holograms on their desks. "You,e with me."


    Khan suddenly found Captain Godman pointing at him. He didn''t know why he was receiving special attention, but he didn''t mind it. That privileged status was a requirement for his goal.


    Captain Godman led Khan inside a separate room that contained a table, a few chairs, and a window that showed the outsides of the space station.


    Khan couldn''t help but lose his focus when he saw the darkness of space expanding from the window. The spectacle was breathtaking, and he instinctively moved closer to that transparent material to inspect every corner of that scene.


    A blinding star shone in the distance and almost hid the small white dots that disrupted the darkness of the void. A giant blue filled the lower part of the scene and multiple pieces of the space station that Khan didn''t recognize upied its sides.


    Istrone was the most captivating part of that scene. Khan almost couldn''t believe that he had been on that blue just a few minutes ago. The flight with the spaceship didn''t make him experience much, but thatrge windowpensated for that.


    "You''ll grow used to that eventually," Captain Godman announced. "You''ll start to see every alien species as a potential threat instead of a chance to marvel at the vastness of the universe. A soldier''s life isn''t easy."


    "I know that, sir," Khan replied while showing a sad smile.


    The Captain almost regretted saying those words. Khan had just gone through hell on Istrone, and he had even survived the Second Impact. He had probably experienced more pain than some of the soldiers in the space station.


    "Sit," Captain Godman eventually ordered. "I must warn you that the Global Army will record everything you say inside this room, so be careful. Still, don''t worry either. Just make sure to tell the truth."


    "Of course, sir," Khan promptly answered while taking his seat.


    "I can vouch for your version of the story," Captain Godman said while sitting in front of Khan. "You don''t need to repeat it since the higher-ups will hear it multiple times from your friends. I''m only interested in what you know about the rebellion."


    "In general or about specific details?" Khan asked.


    "I''m talking about potential traitors inside the Global Army," Captain Godman eximed. "Many former prisoners im that Lieutenant Sehlolo has been involved with the rebellion. That would make her entire faction a potential threat to the army. I know that you have talked with her alone two times. I want to know if you have learnt something more than rumors spewed by wardens."


    Khan pretended to hesitate. He had already made up his mind about that topic, but he wanted the Captain to see a struggle inside him. The time for the partial lies had arrived, and he had to betray Lieutenant Sehlolo''s trust without appearing untrustworthy in the soldier''s eyes.


    "I convinced Lieutenant Sehlolo to talk after defeating the first-level warrior inside the cave with the help of my team," Khan exined, making sure that his feat inside the cave ended up in the tape. "She had clearly been aware of the attack, but she didn''t seem to know the actual target of the rebellious factions."


    "Continue," The Captain said without showing any emotion.


    "I had to find about the disabled sensors and blind zone from her beforeing up with the idea of the fire," Khan added. "She even helped us by keeping the Kred at bay while we waited for reinforcements, but I had to promise not to say anything about her involvement to make her cooperate."


    "Why are you telling me this now, then?" Captain Godman asked. "Does your word have no value when you give it to an alien?"


    "It''s not about that, sir," Khan replied while lowering his head and making sure to keep his voice down. "I had to keep mypanions safe, and ¡­."


    "And?" Captain Godman pressured Khan to continue.


    "And they killed my friends, sir," Khan concluded. "I don''t hate the Kred in general, but I can''t remain silent when questioned about the rebellious factions. The Global Army has to be aware of the potential threat to make sure that something like this doesn''t happen again."


    "Do you know what''s best for the Global Army now?" Captain Godman scoffed.


    "I didn''t mean that, sir," Khan replied while raising his head to stare at the soldier. "I''m not saying this out of hatred. I only want the army to know that these traitors exist."


    "Oh?" Captain Godman said in a surprised tone. "Why would you reveal this then? I didn''t offer you anything in exchange, so I can only think that you want us to punish Lieutenant Sehlolo and her faction."


    "That won''t solve the issue, right?" Khan eximed. "I don''t know much about the Kred, but I''ve learnt about their resolve in these weeks. They will never ept their loss, and humans don''t have a proper way to discover moles. However, everything might be different if their spies were to double-cross them."


    Captain Godman''s expression froze before he exploded into a loudugh and mmed his hand on the table.


    "Do you want us to ckmail Lieutenant Sehlolo''s faction to gain spies capable of infiltrating the Kred''s society?" Captain Godman asked.


    "Isn''t that the best path, sir?" Khan questioned the soldier. "Unless I''m missing core information again."


    "No, you got it figured out this time," Captain Godman announced. "Good thinking. The army was already nning something like that, but it''s hard to obtain valuable leverage on the Kred. We have it now."


    Khan opened his mouth to speak, but the soldier raised his hand to interrupt him.


    "The army won''t mention your name," Captain Godman exined. "Putting a target on your back isn''t a good reward for your loyalty and service. Be sure to talk with Linda Norwell once you get back in co. I can understand why you are refusing to join the special training program right away, but that shouldn''t prevent you from getting something."

 Chapter 79 - Return

    Captain Godman let Khan go after that short interrogation, but the other recruits didn''t have it so easy. The soldiers had to record everything in the official tapes of the army, and the process ended up taking almost an hour.


    The soldiers then led the entire group into a waiting room and provided some food while preparing everything for the return on Earth. It turned out that the space station had a teleport in its insides, but the Global Army preferred to avoid using it due to issues connected to the synthetic mana.


    Many structures, machines, and vehicles inside the space station used synthetic mana as fuel, so the army preferred to avoid depleting its stashes. The teleports even consumed a lot of energy, so using those on thes prevented eventual issues caused by a shortage of power.


    Still, the situation was atypical due to the chaos on Istrone, and the army didn''t want to send the recruits back on the after everything they had experienced. Using the stashes of synthetic mana in the space station was the least they could do to improve the kids'' return.


    Captain Godman didn''t reappear. A simple soldier took care of leading the recruits across the intricate corridors of the space station until they reached a familiar circr area that contained an oval structure at its center.


    Khan had grown used to that scene already. All the teleports looked the same. The only differences were in the materials that surrounded the actual structures.


    The same dark-grey metal floor of the space station surrounded the teleport, and white consoles filled the edges of the circr hall. Many soldiers wearing white medical coats worked on those spots and tinkered with the holograms to ensure that everything worked perfectly.


    The teleport still scared some of the recruits, but they didn''t show any hesitation at that time. The soldier divided them ording to their training camp, and each group jumped on the white tform as soon as they heard the order ringing in their ears.


    Khan, Cora, George, Luke, and Dorian used that chance to say goodbye. That separation would make it impossible for them to meet for many years due to the training in their respective camps. They could contact themselves through their phones, but they all knew that their packed schedules wouldn''t leave time for that.


    "I guess we''ll see each other around," Dorian announced while wearing a sad smile. "The Aiyti family isn''t too wealthy, but you''ll always have a friend there."


    "The same goes for me," Cora continued while shooting shy nces toward Khan. "Make sure to give me a call if you ever end up near Reebfell. Also, who knows? We might find ourselves in the same toon one day."


    "I doubt any of us wants to be on the battlefield again," Lukeughed. "Though, I won''t forget that you saved me. Make sure to contact me if you ever need something."


    "We''ll still belong to the same organization," George exined. "I think we''ll definitely meet each other again."


    "It''s very likely as long as we chase simr goals," Khan added. "Take care of yourselves. I can''t always be there to save your asses."


    Khan''s mental barrier was still in ce, but he didn''t want to ignore that momentpletely. Taking good care of social rtionships was necessary for his goal, and those recruits had even shared tragic moments with him. The group had grown close through pain.


    "I don''t think I like arrogant-Khan," Dorianughed.


    "He has every reason to be like that," Luke replied. "I bet our entire training camp will start to worship him once we return."


    Khan couldn''t help but show aplicated smile at those words. The Kred had managed to kill many recruits during the attack. There weren''t many first years left to worship him.


    That reaction reminded Luke of the tragic situation. He was still struggling to ept that new normality. Going back to co wouldn''t solve anything since most of his friends were now inside coffins. Even the special ss didn''t have many survivors.


    Luke''s mistake was understandable. Every recruit was trying to get back to normality, and the mostmon approach was to pretend that nothing had happened.


    However, it was impossible to ignore that their entire world had turned upside-down. Their very minds carried memories that had changed thempletely.


    Some recruits had matured during the rebellion. Others had discovered their true nature and talents after their struggles. Many more had fallen apart, and it would take them years of therapy and time among loved ones to recover.


    Khan could see those changes in his friends. Luke had grown distracted after experiencing the near-death experience. Cora and Dorian had found their confidence and courage. George had gained a broader knowledge of the many talents inside the army, and he had also umted battle experience that allowed him to deploy his abilities correctly.


    Khan had also changed, but he couldn''t study his transformation as long as his emotions remained bottled in his mind.


    Those bottled emotions would trigger changes that Khan couldn''t predict, and the time to lower his mental barrier even drew near as the soldier continued to send recruits to the teleport. It was almost time to experience those raging feelings, and Khan didn''t look forward to that.


    "Flurris!" The soldier eventually shouted, and Dorian showed an honest smile before walking toward the teleport.


    A skinny girl with a paleplexion who had remained alone for the entire time also moved and joined Dorian on the teleport. She also was from Flurris'' training camp, but it was clear that her mental condition was far from optimal after the events on Istrone.


    The teleport lit up, and the two recruits vanished. The soldier quickly called another city, and the recruits belonging to that training camp walked toward the structure while the technicians changed the coordinates.


    Cora''s time eventually arrived. The girl wanted to say many things, but it was impossible to talk with Khan alone in that situation, and she didn''t really know how to face him after the kiss.


    The girl limited herself to exchange polite words with Luke and George before jumping forward to hug Khan. Thetter could avoid that gesture, but he didn''t.


    "I won''t forget," Khan swore when he saw the girl leaving his arms and trying to say something.


    Cora revealed a broad smile before walking happily back to the teleport. No one else in the group of recruits moved since she was the only survivor from Reebfell.


    George and Luke shot curious gazes toward Khan, but none of them said anything. It wasplicated to discuss Cora''s matters when Martha was in aa. Both boys knew that teasing him wasn''t the right thing to do.


    "Thank you for everything," George announced when it was his time to reach the teleport.


    The boy didn''t say anything else and hurried to the teleport. A few recruits joined him, and the structure soon made them vanish.


    Luke and Khan''s time arrived right after George. They were the only ones from co who could return on Earth right away since the other survivors were too injured to endure the teleportation. Bruce and Martha were somewhere inside the space station, and they would need a bit more to recover.


    The scene felt lonely when Khan inspected the almost empty tform. The first year of co''s training camp had less than one hundred and fifty recruits before the semestral mission, but only a dozen of them had survived the rebellion.


    The army had yet to find traces of many lost kids, but everyone knew that the chances of finding survivors diminished as time passed.


    The Kred''s rebellion might have failed in the end, but the aliens had seeded in their goal. The Global Army had lost more than ny percent of its six-month-old recruits. The damage suffered in those short weeks was immense.


    Synthetic mana surrounded Khan and Luke before their vision went dark. The two reopened their eyes in a familiar circr hall. Some difort spread from their bodies, but that feeling didn''t manage to suppress the slight relief that they experienced when gazing at the room seen before their trip to Onia.


    "Wee back!" An elderly man with long white hair and a grey goatee announced while fixing his eyes on Luke.


    "It''s nice to see you too, Master Ivor," Luke eximed while jumping off the teleport.


    Khan connected that elderly but lively figure to Luke''s hired Master. The two even appeared quite close since they exchanged a hug once Luke left the tform.


    Khan also jumped off the tform and limited himself to perform a quick inspection before fixing his eyes on the corridor that led to the exit. Lieutenant Dyester wasn''t there, but he didn''t feel bad about it since he knew about his history.


    The soldiers in the building made the duo go through the usual scanners and inspections before letting them off the hook. A few surprised gasps resounded when the technicians read the machines'' results, but Khan limited himself to take note of that event before hurrying outside the structure.


    "Do you need anything?" Luke asked when his Master began to walk toward the boy''s dormitory.


    "I''m fine," Khan replied while wearing a fake smile. "I only want to see my bed again."


    "I''m the same!" Lukeughed. "My dad wants me to do aplete check-up with better scanners, but I think I''ll ignore him until I get a proper night of sleep."


    "See you soon then," Khan said while waving his hand and going on his way.


    Luke didn''t have the time to say much due to Khan''s sudden departure, but he let go of the matter after heaving a helpless sigh. His friend had every reason to act as he wanted after Istrone''s events.


    Khan''s smile vanished when he felt sure that Luke couldn''t see his face anymore. It wouldn''t take him much to return to his room, but he wanted to go somewhere else before dealing with his emotions.


    His phone had started to work again after the soldiers on Istrone provided charges. Khan could read on the screen that it was almost time for lunch, but he didn''t feel hungry at all. He only wanted to talk with someone who could understand him.

 Chapter 80 - Emotions

    Khan walked the familiar empty streets until he reached thewn that hid his training area. The trapdoor opened before he could knock on the ground, and the scent of smoke filled his nose when he approached the descending staircase.


    Lieutenant Dyester had moved the table near the wall on the other side of the staircase, and he was sitting over it with his legs stretched. A fuming cigarette was in his mouth, and a bottle that contained a light-brown liquid was at his side.


    "Have you been drinking?" Khan asked when he smelled the familiar scent of booze after the trapdoor closed.


    It wasn''t hard for Khan to recognize that scent. The same smell filled his home in the Slums.


    "Bad memories, Khan," Lieutenant Dyester replied in a hoarse voice without using any special nickname. "I bet you have new ones now."


    "Did they tell you about Istrone already?" Khan asked while sitting on the steps.


    "Just the rumors," Lieutenant Dyester revealed. "I haven''t watched any official interviews yet. I don''t know if I will."


    Khan didn''t have a good reply for those words. Part of him felt that Lieutenant Dyester had every right to act like that, especially since he had already gone through a simr crisis forty years ago. However, another side of him wanted the soldier to behave like a proper grown-up and help him with his struggles.


    Lieutenant Dyester didn''t speak anymore, and Khan also remained silent. The former finished his smoke and immediately lit another one while taking sips from his bottle. Instead, Khan tried to sort his thoughts to find questions that could give him helpful answers.


    "How was it?" Lieutenant Dyester eventually asked when the silence became too unbearable.


    Khan believed that the soldier was questioning him about the rebellion, so he gave a short exnation. "Tiring, dirty, and bloody."


    "They didn''t change after forty years," Lieutenant Dyestermented before taking another sip from his bottle.


    "I-," Khan began to speak before taking a second to choose his words and continuing. "I did some things there."


    "Obviously," Lieutenant Dyester. "I bet you were the only one who didn''t shit his pants. Still, I don''t know how positive that is."


    "I managed to survive because of that!" Khanined.


    "You are sixteen," Lieutenant Dyester scoffed. "Being able to remain calm among blood and corpses only hints at your pain. It''s tragic that you have already grown used to it."


    "I actually don''t know howfortable I am with it," Khan revealed. "I had to rely on the mental exercises to remain in control."


    Lieutenant Dyester was the only man inside the entire camp who knew about Khan''s training. He had helped him whenever the programs on his phone weren''t clear or in front of bottlenecks, so he could immediately understand what technique Khan had used.


    "Is the mental barrier still up?" Lieutenant Dyester asked.


    The soldier was about to grab his bottle again, but he stopped when he realized that Khan was seeking his help. The effects of the abuse of the mental barrier became evident in his vision at that point. Khan didn''t have a foul mood. His face was dark because his emotions couldn''t reach it.


    "I would have done the same if I had ess to a simr technique back then," Lieutenant Dyester sighed while picking the bottle and staring at its almost empty insides. "Emotions can break you, especially when friends die in front of your eyes. Yet, life would be pointless without them."


    "What should I do?" Khan asked in a helpless tone.


    Khan felt lost, and he acknowledged that one of his suppressed emotions was his fear of the imminent changes. It was scary to sense the many feelings ready to eat him up while he had yet to find proper answers.


    "It''s pointless to speak about right or wrong," Lieutenant Dyester sighed while blowing smoke. "I won''t give you speeches about the morality of your actions and the greater good of humankind."


    Lieutenant Dyester stared at the almost empty bottle for a few more seconds before throwing it away. The item flew across the entire basement and shattered when it hit the wall on the other side.


    "Humans have created ideas of right and wrong, but that doesn''t mean that they don''t exist," Lieutenant Dyester continued. "Still, spending your life thinking about that is a waste of time. You should decide what you want to be and do everything in your power to stay on that path."


    "Is that what you did with your life?" Khan asked as a vague mocking tone seeped into his voice.


    Khan didn''t like that advice. A simple "be yourself" wasn''t enough.


    "I''m old, kid," Lieutenant Dyester sighed. "I might not look like it, but I''ve already lived a full life. I''ve be the hero of the Global Army and paid the price for my sess. I''ve achieved my dreams, but I''ve realized toote that I didn''t really care about them. I had to lose my friends to understand that they were the core of my happiness."


    Khan remained silent. His contained burst of anger vanished behind the mental barrier. He felt able to see Lieutenant Dyester''s true face in that situation. The soldier was a broken man who had lost everything and had no interest in trying to rebuild his life. He only wanted to punish himself.


    "I know what I want already," Khan eventually revealed.


    "That''s not the point," Lieutenant Dyester replied. "Dreams are lies. They don''t reflect the real world. Instead, the path to reach them is everything, and you must decide how to walk it."


    "What do you mean?" Khan continued to question the soldier.


    "You can keep that mental barrier up," Lieutenant Dyester. "I believe you have enough talent to make it permanent. A life like that is easy, and it will even provide great results."


    "I hope there is a buting," Khan said.


    "Not really," Lieutenant Dyesterughed. "The other path sees you facing your emotions. It will have many low points and only a few highs, and it will probably create many issues along the way. As I said before, you only have to choose what you want to be."


    Khan couldn''t help but nod after that exnation. He had understood what Lieutenant Dyester meant at that time. A bit of confidence had even appeared inside him. Part of him felt ready to open his mind.


    "Thank you," Khan whispered.


    "Don''t thank me yet," Lieutenant Dyester snorted. "The hard part arrives once we are alone with ourselves, but I believe we both have to face that now."


    "I can''t dy it any further," Khan sighed while standing up and climbing the staircase.


    The trapdoor opened, but Khan didn''t immediately exit the basement. His eyes turned toward the broken bottle near the wall, and a memory of his father suddenly filled his mind.


    "You shouldn''t drink that brand," Khan revealed. "My father has always avoided it because the family in charge of its production exploits workers from the Slums. You don''t want to know what they do to retaliate."


    Khan left the prisons of the camp at that point, and a speechless Lieutenant Dyester stared at the trapdoor closing to restore some darkness in the basement. His eyes slowly moved toward the light-brown liquid that had tainted the floor, and a gulp inevitably resounded from his throat.


    Khan walked toward his dormitory in a hurry. The emptiness of the streets reminded him of the many dead recruits on Istrone, and those thoughts made his mental barrier tremble. It felt harder to keep it intact now that he had decided to take it down.


    The soldiers guarding the gate of his dormitory showed surprised expressions at his arrival. They seemed about to say something, but Khan crossed them without waiting for their words.


    His empty t soon unfolded in his eyes, and Khan threw away his clothes before approaching his bed. He sat and watched the scene that had kept himpany for almost six months before a few images appeared in his vision.


    Khan reviewed his usual nightmare. He hadmitted those images to memory long ago, so it didn''t take him much to imagine the tall Nak standing in front of him. The pain of the Second Impact seemed to fill his body, and desperation spread inside him, but he felt unable to found his life on those feelings.


    ''Finding the Nak is my goal,'' Khan confirmed in his mind, ''But I don''t want to make it the sole meaning of my life. I can''t let this desperation drive my every move.''


    Martha''s injured face suddenly appeared in his vision. Khan had desires that went past his desperation. His goal to find the Nak was mandatory due to his nightmares, but he was already letting them control his nights and most of his days. He didn''t want the entirety of his life to depend on them.


    Khan sighed, and the mental barrier slowly crumbled. An intense flow of emotions filled his brain and made him feel dizzy. His vision grew blurry, his hands started to tremble, and his body fell to the side as his breathing became ragged.


    The first wave of emotions mainly carried pain. Khan experienced all the suffering that he had suppressed during the travel across the jungle in mere seconds, but that felt rather easy to withstand.


    The other feelings weren''t as easy to endure. An intense sorrow filled his mind and made tears appear in his eyes. His hands continued to shake as he experienced anger caused by the unfairness of the world. He felt hatred toward the Kred who had hurt Martha and made him survive through hell.


    Khan screamed and punched the wall of his t. A dent appeared on the resilient metal before he jumped off his bed and started kicking the furniture around.


    His attacks deployed mana on their own. He had grown so used to rely on that energy that he threatened to perform proper techniques even as he vented the intense feelings that had taken control of his actions.


    The anger, hatred, and sorrow were nothingpared to the third wave of emotions. The corpses of the Kred killed by his kicks suddenly filled his vision. Khan felt able to recognize the differences among those inhuman faces when his mind reminded him that he was a killer.


    The raging feelings were easier to handle. Khan could punch and kick stuff to vent them. However, the emptiness felt in front of the death perpetrated by his own hands was unbearable. It made him fall on his knees, andy his side on the floor as he continued to see the faces of his victims.


    The sensations felt during his first kill came back stronger than ever in his mind. Khan still recalled his faint excitement during his sessful knee attack. He had felt truly happy about his power back then, but now those feelings caused only disgust inside him.


    Fighting with mana wasn''t a game. People could die whenever those attacks hit their target correctly. His techniques were lethal weapons, and it had taken him six months to acknowledge their dangerousness.


    The emptiness didn''t go away even after minutes passed. Khan straightened his position and ced his back on the wall as he sat on the floor. The cold of the metal felt nice. He liked sensing something when his body was so devoid of emotions.


    A realization slowly dawned upon his mind as he remained in that state. Khan understood that there was no solution to the emptiness that he felt. He could only wait until he grew used to that condition and fused with it.

 Chapter 81 - Requests

    Khan didn''t sleep much. His bed was perfect, and the t was dead silent, but his eyes opened before dawn, and his brain didn''t let him close them anymore.


    The awakening ended up being quite messy. Khan jumped off the bed and ced his back on a wall while crouching his body to enter one of the few defensive guards described in the Lightning-demon style. The mess of his t had startled him, and it took him some seconds to realize that no danger woulde out of the corridor.


    Khan felt slightly lost when his arms lowered. He wasn''t on Istrone anymore, but his mind still felt battle-ready. His senses were alert, and the slight change in his vision could make him trigger the fighting instincts built inside the jungle.


    More sweat than usual covered his body. Khan had gone from his usual nightmare to a battle stance, and his skin had reacted ordingly. Even his breath seemed about to grow ragged, but his resilience didn''t allow his lungs to end up out of air.


    ''I''m really back,'' Khan sighed when he managed to calm down.


    It felt strange to be back inside the training camp. Khan had spent two weeks developing survival instincts and being alert for twenty-six hours straight every day, but he needed to forget those habits now. Still, he didn''t know how easy that process would be.


    The emptiness reappeared when he recalled everything that had happened. That emotion filled his mind and made him desire to go back to bed, but his body acted before he could even think about remaining still.


    The bunk beds were lying on the ground together with other pieces of furniture. The walls of his bedroom featured some caved-in spots, and shards of wood and metal filled the floor. Khan started to sort everything out once he calmed down, and his t regained some order after a few minutes.


    Khan grabbed his phone and browsed through the menus at that point. He didn''t have the right tool to clean everything, so he wanted to check where to get them. Yet, he soon noticed that most of the services that had required Credits in the past were now free.


    ''I guess the army wants to make it easy for us,'' Khan concluded before tapping a few digital buttons to activate a few services.


    The door of his t soon opened on its own, and a cubical cleaning robot entered the corridor before scanning the whole area. Its mechanical voice announced every item that needed recements and damage that the bedroom had suffered, but its questions managed to surprise Khan.


    "Fixing the walls will require time," The robot announced. "Do you wish to change t?"


    Khan scratched the side of his head at those words. The Global Army would normally make him pay for the damages, but the robot didn''t even mention Credits. It was clear that he was receiving special treatment after Istrone''s event.


    "It''s fine," Khan eventually replied. "I only need the floor clean."


    The robot beeped a few times before proceeding with its task. Khan could take a shower and wear clean clothes during the process, and he noticed that the moving cube had left by the time he was over.


    The robot didn''t limit itself to remove the shards of metal and wood from the floor. It also reced the sheets and pillows on each bed, cleaned the corridor, and didundry. Khan couldn''t believe that it had done everything during his short shower, but he could only ept it as another special treatment after his feats.


    Another robot entered the t at that point. The machine brought a lunch box inside and left it on the bedside table before leaving in a hurry. Khan had ordered the best avable breakfast since he was at it, but he didn''t expect the army to deliver it so soon.


    Aplete breakfast that featured sweets, snacks, cereals, and other delicious meals unfolded in Khan''s eyes when he lifted the lid of the lunch box. That sight would have normally made him drool in hunger, but he maintained hisposure now.


    Khan soon noticed that he couldn''t fully appreciate the delicious tastes and appealing scents that filled his mouth and nose during the meal. He could sense them in their entirety, but no happiness spread inside him when eating them.


    The emptiness inside Khan devoured everything. It didn''t let him enjoy the best meal of his life, and he could only heave a helpless sigh when he finished eating. It would take him some time to relearn how to appreciate those small things, but he didn''t know if his ns would allow him to do so.


    Khan performed his usual meditation and morning exercises out of habit. He didn''t even need to think about them to sit on his bed and start training.


    The Global Army didn''t give him a new schedule for the lessons and didn''t notify him about special events, so he had the entire day for himself. He would have usually spent it inside the prisons of the camp before, but his return on Earthpelled him to attend more important matters.


    Khan checked the list of professors on the phone and requested an appointment with Linda Norwell. He expected thework to require a few hours to n the matter, but a notification reached his device mere minutes after filling the digital form.


    His phone announced that he could find Professor Norwell in one of the basements under the canteen. The device didn''t even set precise hours for the event. It only stressed to attend the meeting before the arrival of the curfew.


    Khan didn''t waste time and exited his t. The soldiers guarding the entrance of the dormitory followed his figure with their eyes when they saw him departing toward the lessons building. They appeared conflicted and sad, but they didn''t say anything.


    Khan walked slowly. He could reach his destination in less than half an hour, but the emptiness of the training camp felt quite overwhelming. The streets devoid of recruits were a constant reminder of the tragedy that had unfolded on Istrone, and it inevitably brought tragic memories to his mind.


    The faces of his victims would sh in his vision whenever he blinked. Khan didn''t feel able to appreciate the newfound peace around him. That silence came from death, and the safety of the training camp appeared fake after his time in the jungle.


    Khan had learnt to treat the training camp as his new home in thest six months, but that feeling wasn''t inside him anymore. He saw clean streets, well-keptwns, andfortable benches, but they seemed to express a fake idea. They failed to convince him that peace existed after everything that he had gone through.


    The main structure of the camp eventually unfolded in his vision, and Khan didn''t hesitate to walk toward the basement. He met Professor Conche on his way, but thetter only revealed a surprised expression at his sight.


    Khan found Professor Norwell inside the basement that the recruits had used in thest six months. She was sitting at the edges of the tform with a fuming cigarette in her mouth, and her gaze seemed lost when she inspected therge empty hall.


    "I thought you would have taken a few days ofplete rest," Professor Norwell eximed when Khan entered the basement. "It''s not wise to make decisions right after what you''ve been through."


    "I can''t stay in my t for too long," Khan revealed.


    "I bet it must be suffocating," Professor Norwell announced. "These crises are unusual on allieds, but I''ve seen soldiersing back from the frontlines. What you are experiencing ispletely normal."


    "I know," Khan replied. "This isn''t my first time."


    Professor Norwell seemed about to say something, but she decided to remain silent. She was aware of Khan''s background. He had experienced far more tragedies than her in less than seventeen years. Her words would be nothing more than noise in his ears.


    Khan entered the hall and noticed that a few menus lit up whenever he stepped on the ck floor. The basement was active, and it showed many programs that even the training area on Onia didn''t allow him to pick.


    "You haveplete clearance on most services in the training camp," Professor Norwell exined. "They are free for you and the other survivors. You can use them while the higher-ups decide what to do for the rest of the year."


    Khan nodded while browsing through the various menus. That training hall didn''t have puppets at its disposal, but a map of the camp opened on the floor and marked the buildings that could offer that service.


    The Global Army was even allowing him to train with puppets that used mana. The programs were rtively simple, but they were something useful nheless.


    "I''m sure you are here to talk about your rewards," Professor Norwell eximed after Khan had remained silent for a few minutes. "Captain Godman has told me to satisfy all your requests, but I suggest you don''t name anything too unreasonable. Pick something that suits your efforts on Istrone without going overboard."


    "Can I pick two things?" Khan asked without raising his eyes from the floor.


    "Of course," Professor Norwell replied. "Still, as I said, bleeding the army out now will only turn you into a greedy hero in the higher-ups'' eyes. Try to avoid asking for too many injections of synthetic mana."


    "I don''t want synthetic mana," Khan revealed while lifting his head and walking toward the Professor.


    The announcement surprised Professor Norwell. After all, the best that recruits in Khan''s situation could ask for involved synthetic mana and cores. They were the most expensive resources avable to them.


    "What does the special training program include?" Khan asked before stopping right under Professor Norwell. "What benefits will I get if I decide to join it?"


    "You will instantly have ess to better martial arts," Professor Norwell exined as her eyes lit up. "The army will also do its best to find suitable training programs for your element. You will even gain the chance toplete a few missions and earn Credits."


    "Is this special training program on Earth?" Khan asked.


    "It will be for a while," Professor Norwell exined. "The army might deploy you to handle a few missions throughout the, but most of the training will happen here."


    "That''s not enough," Khan replied, and his words startled the Professor. "I don''t want to remain on Earth."


    Professor Norwell opened her mouth to speak, but she stopped when she realized how serious Khan was about the matter. He didn''t feel attached to the training camp. That structure wasn''t his home anymore.


    "I''ll see what I can do," Professor Norwell sighed. "I know that the army has training camps on some aliens, but they are elite stuff. I don''t know if I can get you inside with your merits."


    "It doesn''t have to be a prestigious location," Khan continued. "I just want the best training program that the army is willing to offer. I bet all of them are outside Earth."


    Professor Norwell couldn''t help but nod at his words. Gathering battle experience on others was the quickest way to improve. Earth was too safe andfortable to offer the best training programs.


    "Anything else?" Professor Norwell asked after taking out her phone and tapping a few buttons.


    "I want a new martial art," Khan announced. "Something for my hands and suitable for the Lightning-demon style. I''d like it to feature weapons and have more than eighty points.

 Chapter 82 - Nitis

    Khan had made his decision to leave Earth again during his walk toward the basement. He didn''t want to live in the constant reminder of Istrone''s rebellion, and having to face everything without Martha felt pointless.


    He knew that Lieutenant Dyester would understand his decision. The soldier had been a great Master, but Khan had to prioritize his mental state. Also, he felt that it was time to announce a proper coboration with the Global Army.


    His feats on Istrone would definitely attract the attention of the other families, so the Global Army would satisfy all his requests to rope him in. Khan had only decided to sell himself now that his value had reached its peak.


    Instead, the decision concerning the new martial art had been in his mind since Istrone. Khan didn''t forget how George could hurt the first-level warrior Kred with his enhanced branch. The boy''s attunement with mana was lower than Khan, but the fact that he used a weapon allowed him to injure stronger opponents.


    Khan wanted something simr, but he had to make sure that the army provided something suitable for the Lightning-demon style. He could already imagine how strong he would be if he fused his fast movements with deadlier attacks. Even stronger opponents would find it hard to defeat him in that case.


    "Above eighty points, you say," Professor Norwell whispered while ncing at Khan.


    She didn''t find any hesitation in his words and eyes. Khan was perfectly calm and confident. He knew exactly what he wanted, and Professor Norwell could only start typing on her phone after that realization.


    "I''ll keep you updated," Professor Norwell announced when she stored her phone. "I don''t know if the Global Army will give you everything you asked, but I believe you''ll remain satisfied nheless."


    Khan nodded and performed a military salute before turning to leave the basement. Still, Professor Norwell''s words make him stop his tracks.


    "There won''t be lessons for the entire month," Professor Norwell exined. "This training camp doesn''t have enough recruits to fill the sses anymore. Use this time to think about your decision to leave. No one will mock you if you decide to change your mind."


    Khan nodded before leaving the basement and exiting the building. He had doubts about his decision to leave Earth again, but they vanished when his eyes fell on the empty streets again.


    Remaining there was pure torture. Khan had Lieutenant Dyester, but everything else felt empty. The soldier wasn''t in his peak condition either, so there was a limit to how supportive he could be.


    co''s training camp appeared unable to give him a reason to stay. Khan even knew that his father would approve his trips to others.


    ''How do I even tell him about this?'' Khan wondered before heaving a helpless sigh.


    Bret could still be in prison as far as he knew. He wasn''t the type to behave quietly, and not having Khan around would only intensify those ws.


    ''I''ll have to rely on Lieutenant Dyester for that,'' Khan concluded before moving toward the medical bay.


    The staff of the medical bay was still in ce, but Khan didn''t see anyone running around. The nurses were exchangingzy conversations with the soldiers, but everyone turned and revealed surprised expressions when they saw Khan entering the building.


    "Is Doctor Parket inside?" Khan asked. "I didn''t set an appointment, but I figured he could be free."


    "He is in his office," One of the nurses eximed. "I''ll tell him about your arrival."


    Khan only had to wait a few minutes in front of the entrance before a soldier escorted him toward Doctor Parket''s office. nces fell on him, and whispers resounded through the corridors as he walked through the structure, but he ignored everything and entered the room once the man gave the okay.


    Doctor Parket was in his usual spot behind his desk. A series of digital reports filled the table, and hezily browsed through them with his fingers.


    The Doctor didn''t immediately raise his eyes when the door closed behind Khan. He continued to check the various reports before heaving a deep sigh and taking out his sses.


    "You have saved many lives," Doctor Parket announced. "You should be proud of yourself."


    "I just did what I thought was right," Khan eximed while remaining in front of the entrance.


    "That''s more than enough most of the time," Doctor Parket said while swiping on the table.


    A series of reports transformed into holograms that floated above the desk. Khan could recognize some of the names on them. They were the written version of the interrogations on the space station.


    "All these kids are alive because of you," Doctor Parket said in a calm voice. "Soldiers tend to focus only on the ugly part after a traumatic experience. They often fail to see the good that hase out of their actions."


    Khan nodded, but he didn''t feel any better. He had been ready to abandon most of those recruits if the situation required it. Even freeing the cave had been nothing more than a necessity in his efforts to survive.


    Moreover, the Kred were harder to me than the Nak after witnessing their suffering. Their connection to the almost forced them to rebel. They hadmitted nefarious acts in the name of their hatred, but Khan actually understood their feelings.


    Khan felt angry about what happened to Martha, but he knew the Kred''s desperation far too well. ming them would force him to question himself, and he had no intention to dive deeper into hisplicated psyche.


    "Why are you here?" Doctor Parket eventually asked when he saw that Khan wasn''t paying much attention to the reports. "I can summon a specialist in post-traumatic stress disorder if you need, but that''s not my field."


    "I only wanted you to check that everything was fine with my body, sir," Khan revealed. "I like to keep eventual mutations in check."


    "You can drop the formalities for today," Doctor Parket sighed before standing up and wearing his sses.


    The Doctor picked his scanner and approached Khan''s nape. The holograms above the table transformed before depicting the insides of his neck.


    A series of words soon reced the holograms before a mechanical voice resounded from the desk. "Mana core quality: Organic A-tier; Element: Chaos; Attunement: thirty-eight percent; Mana capacity: error."


    Khan read the familiar lines while ignoring Doctor Parket''s surprised gasp. It was clear that he was growing quickly. He only needed to add twelve points to his attunement to be a first-level warrior.


    "No trace of mutations," Doctor Parket announced after leaving Khan''s nape. "Still, your growth is amazing. Your simrities with the Nak are making your body attune with mana far faster than I predicted."


    Khan had to close his eyes for a second to sort his thoughts. He couldn''t help but feel a tinge of irony in the whole situation, and the urge to explode into augh was even trying to make its way through his brain.


    The Second Impact had turned his life upside-down and had left him with reurring nightmares. However, that tragedy had given him a body that could adapt to mana faster than his peers.


    The rebellion on Istrone had made him advance in the mental training, and it had even given him important battle experience. Yet, it had also forced Khan to realize his simrities with the Kred.


    ''Am I even human?'' Khan scoffed in his mind. ''My body tries to imitate the Nak, and my desperation is simr to the Kred. I should study the Ef''i thoroughly. I might find something else about myself in them.''


    Doctor Parket could sense part of theplicated emotions running through Khan''s mind, but he didn''t say anything anyway. He didn''t have words that could make him feel better. The boy had to find a way to ovee that mindset on his own, or the Global Army would break him.


    "Thank you for your time, sir," Khan eventually announced before turning to leave.


    "Kid," Doctor Parket suddenly said and forced Khan to stop, "Be sure to tell me if you need anything. Also, try not to be alone."


    "There is something," Khan said while turning toward the doctor. "Can you send my father to Lieutenant Dyester if he everes to visit?"


    "Of course," Doctor Parket promptly announced.


    Khan showed a slight smile before leaving the office and hurrying outside of the medical bay. It was still too early to have lunch, but he didn''t feel like eating. He had taken care of everything in less than three hours, so he had the entire day for himself now.


    Khan took his phone and sent a message to Lieutenant Dyester before checking the map of the camp. He quickly found the location of the best training halls avable to him, and he didn''t hesitate to walk there.


    Arge ck building that didn''t feature any window soon unfolded in his eyes. Khan moved his eyes between his phone and the structure while inspecting the many corridors and halls.


    Khan quickly found a training hall that suited his needs and activated it with his gic signature. Many menus appeared in his eyes, and he promptly initiated the same program that he had faced on Onia.


    That training program didn''t want Khan to use mana. It only tested the proficiency with his martial art, and he soon confirmed that he could clear the seventh level at ease.


    Then, Khan tested the programs that required him to use mana, but he felt disappointed when he realized that the training hall only kept track of his power output. It used resilient targets meant to give a score to Khan''s strength.


    Khan went back to the previous training program and alternated fights with perfect executions that used mana. He even connected his phone to the structure and orderedrge meals to take breaks.


    Lieutenant Dyester didn''te to the training hall, but Khan didn''t me him. He was fine alone. The intense fights with the metal dummies even managed to make him forget about the emptiness eating his insides.


    Then, his phone rang when it was almost time to return to his dormitory. A message from the Global Army had arrived, but Khan quickly read that it came from Professor Norwell.


    ''I didn''t think they would act so quickly,'' Khan read on his phone. ''The Global Army has agreed with your requests. You''ll teleport to Nitis in two weeks. You''ll get the new martial art there.''

 Chapter 83 - Snapping

    ''They must really want me,'' Khan scoffed in his mind. ''I guess I''ll know how badly once I see the value of the martial art.''


    Khan could understand how on point his guess had been from that quick answer. He knew that his value had increased a lot after Istrone''s rebellion, but he remained a mere sixteen-year-old boy who had yet toplete his first year in the training camp.


    There had to be a limit to how much the Global Army was willing to invest in Khan. Yet, the rapid answer from Professor Norwell confirmed that the situation was quite grim and that the higher-ups wanted to secure him before other families could attempt to buy his loyalty.


    ''Two weeks,'' Khan thought while picking his clothes and leaving the training hall. ''Maybe the Lieutenant wille if he knows that I''m leaving.''


    Khan didn''t have anyone else in the training camp. Luke was a friend, but they had never deepened their rtionship due to the boy''s obvious hidden intentions. Only Lieutenant Dyester knew Khan''s true face now that Martha was away.


    ''I''ll teleport to Nitis in two weeks to join a special training program,'' Khan wrote on his phone to send a message to his Master. ''I''ll be in the fifth training hall of building N in these days.''


    Khan didn''t want to force the Lieutenant to face his pain. Everyone reacted differently to those intense emotions. However, he had decided not to let his desperation rule the entirety of his life, so he had to put some effort to preserve his only meaningful rtionship left in the training camp.


    It had taken Khan an entire day inside the training hall to make up his mind. The desire to iste himself and let his sorrow thrive was strong, but he didn''t want to have regrets before his departure. Lieutenant Dyester''s help even came from Martha, so it didn''t feel right to leave things like that.


    Khan didn''t let his thoughts linger on the matter anymore after the message. He had done everything in his power to make things right. The rest was up to the Lieutenant.


    The dormitory soon appeared in his eyes. The soldiers guarding the gate were half-sleeping during their shift, but Khan ignored them and continued on his path.


    Yet, the sound of hurried steps suddenly resounded from behind him, and Khan couldn''t help but jump ahead while spinning mid-air tond with his face turned toward the gate.


    Mana flowed through Khan''s body and prepared him to deploy his martial art. He had be ready to fight in less than an instant, but confusion appeared on his face when he saw the two soldiers shootingplicated gazes at him.


    "We didn''t want to frighten you," The first soldier said.


    Khan''s eyes moved among the two men. His senses quickly evaluated them and gave him a vague understanding of their power. His chances to win the battle appeared non-existent, so he started to look for a way out of that situation.


    "We wanted to say that we are sorry for thest time," The second soldier announced while raising his hand to express his harmlessness. "You didn''t deserve that behavior."


    The mental barrier had already formed inside Khan''s brain. He had be ready to fight and kill if the situation required it, but the soldiers'' reaction surprised him.


    His eyes moved among the scene. The streets, the gate, and the buildings in the distance entered his vision and reminded him of his location. That wasn''t Istrone. He was in co''s training camp, so those soldiers weren''t enemies.


    Khan identified the soldiers at that point. They were the same men that had questioned him after his second fight with the four bullies. His brain then understood their words and connected the past events to his current situation.


    ''What am I even doing?'' Khan cursed in his mind before straightening his position and letting the mana disperse inside his body.


    Khan took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and disperse the mental barrier. His mind was clear now, so he quickly came up with polite words. "Don''t worry. You were only doing your job."


    Too much had happened in thest six weeks. Khan had gone on Onia before facing the rebellion on Istrone. He had almost forgotten about the issues connected to the ckdell girl. That problem sounded so pointless after everything that he had gone through. He didn''t even know if she was still alive.


    "We still feel sorry," The first soldier repeated while performing a military salute. "Please, ept our apology."


    "Please," The second soldier eximed while performing a military salute too.


    "You can be at ease," Khan nodded. "Everything is in the past."


    The two soldiers heaved a sigh of relief before revealing a smile and turning toward the gate. They wanted to add a few words, but it was clear that Khan was in no condition to receive them.


    Khan stared at the soldiers'' backs and turned when they crossed the gate. He felt unable to move his gaze before confirming that they had resumed their patrol.


    ''Dammit,'' Khan cursed in his mind while hurrying toward his t.


    It didn''t take him even a second to understand what had happened. His mind had snapped at the first unclear event. It had directly connected the loud steps to potential dangers and had made him ready to fight.


    ''I can''t stay here anymore,'' Khan thought while the door of his t closed behind him. ''I''m dangerous.''


    That realization made Khan wish that Martha was awake. She might not know what to say in that situation, but her words would still help.


    Lieutenant Dyester would also be able to say something useful, but he was unreliable right now. Khan didn''t even know if he had read his message.


    Theck of options made Khan rely on his training schedule to suppress those thoughts. His meditation and mental training were the only stable pirs on which he could found his remaining time in the camp. Everything would change traveling to Nitis. He hoped that at least.


    .


    .


    .


    Khan felt slightly better when he woke up. He still jumped out of bed as soon as he opened his eyes, but he had managed to rest a few more hours that night.


    Breakfast arrived in his room while he performed his usual training. Khan ate everything before leaving the t and walking toward building N.


    A slight smile inevitably appeared on his face when he saw Lieutenant Dyester sitting in front of the building. A fuming cigarette was in his mouth, and his uniform grew dirty while he remained on the street, but he didn''t seem to care about anything.


    "Give me an actual hour next time," Lieutenant Dyester scolded when he noticed Khan. "I have waited here for two hours already."


    "You could have sent me a message," Khan calmly replied, but the Lieutenant limited himself to snort before standing and entering the building.


    Khan followed him, and the two entered the training hall without exchanging any word. It was clear that both of them wanted to talk, but neither seemed willing to make the first step.


    "So," Lieutenant Dyester eventually said when Khan started to browse through the training programs, "Did the nightmares arrive?"


    "They never left," Khan replied while giving voice to a shortugh.


    Lieutenant Dyester took his words as a half-joke meant to hide the true state of his mindset, and Khan let him believe that. Only his father knew about the nightmares, and Khan preferred to leave it like that.


    "I snapped yesterday," Khan revealed after Lieutenant Dyester fell silent. "I heard steps and went full kill or be killed. I guess part of me is still in the jungle."


    "Is that why you chose to leave so soon?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. "Did peace be suffocating?"


    "What was I supposed to do?" Khan snorted. "The streets are empty, the canteen is silent, and everyone treats me as a hero. I''d rather spend my time fighting than having to go through that for months."


    Khan''s foot quickly found his usual training program and pressed on the eighth level. He wanted to use those two weeks to approach thepetent proficiency level, but he still struggled to advance.


    "Do you use the mental barrier during battles?" Lieutenant Dyester suddenly asked when he read the difficulty level.


    "I''m better with it," Khan revealed. "I don''tmit the same mistakes."


    "But you experience only half of the battle like that," Lieutenant Dyester added. "Cutting away your emotions might have been necessary on Istrone, and the training for your element might even require it, but you need to learn how to control them. You need to lose this bad habit."


    "Do you want to make me weaker before my departure?" Khan asked while spreading his arms.


    "A training dummy feels no happiness in a victory," Lieutenant Dyester sighed. "It doesn''t even care about winning at all. It only does what the programming tells it to do. It doesn''tmit mistakes, but it can''t go beyond its limits either."


    Lieutenant Dyester continued while pointing his forefinger toward Khan. "The mental barrier helps you express everything you have learnt withoutmitting mistakes, but it might be a wall that prevents your improvements in the future. I''m not saying that you shouldn''t rely on it if your life is in danger, but you definitely must not abuse it."


    "What should I do then, Master?" Khan tried to mock the soldier, but thetter didn''t fall for his words.


    "Go to the previous difficulty level," Lieutenant Dyester ordered. "You''ll fight every day of the next two weeks to get rid of that bad habit. You''ll feel weaker for a few days, but you''ll know that I''m right by the date of your departure."


    Khan didn''tpletely understand Lieutenant Dyester''s words, but his metaphor with the training dummy made sense, so he followed his orders.


    "For your information," Lieutenant Dyester added after Khan turned, "This isn''t only to prevent your growth from bing stale. You need to feel to ept your emotions again. You need to stop treating your feelings as something that you can ignore whenever you want. They would lose every meaning in your mind otherwise."

 Chapter 84 - Sharing

    Khan didn''tpletely agree with Lieutenant Dyester''s words, but he followed his directives anyway.


    It felt good to have someone watching over him during his training. Lieutenant Dyester pointed out many mistakes that Khan had started to absorb in his battle style. They would have be bad habits in the long run, but the soldier had caught them before that.


    Theck of the mental barrier made Khan slightly weaker due to various undesired reactions during the battles, but he started to notice unexpected improvements after a few days.


    Being emotional during a fight was a disadvantage, but learning how to control those feelings helped Khan''s mindset. Moreover, hisbat instincts developed faster when he used the entirety of his mind against the puppets.


    His sess rate in the perfect execution diminished before slowly rising again. Khan managed to hold his ground against the ninth difficulty level after thirteen days spent familiarizing himself with his emotions. His mindset inevitably grew colder, but he began to feel better. He even started to appreciate his small achievements.


    "Did they tell you when you have to leave tomorrow?" Lieutenant Dyester asked while eating a soup ordered through Khan''s phone.


    "I bet they''ll send me a message in a few hours," Khan replied while wolfing a chicken wing. "What is it? Do you miss me already?"


    "Hurry up and leave," Lieutenant Dyester snorted. "You ruined my perfect sleeping schedule! If only I didn''t ept her-."


    Lieutenant Dyester suddenly interrupted his line. Khan and the soldier had be able to exchange jokes again after spending two entire weeks together. They had healed part of their respective pain, but some topics still hurt too much.


    The soldier had read the reports of Istrone''s rebellion during those days. He was aware of what Khan had to ovee to return to Earth alive, and he also learnt about Martha''s injuries.


    His connection with Martha''s family made him sad about the girl''s situation, but he knew that Khan felt far worse.


    "It''s fine," Khan sighed while cing the chicken wing on the lunch box. "She will wake up and get back on her feet in no time."


    Khan had been the one who benefitted the most from those two weeks. Part of his yful character had returned, even if he showed it only with Lieutenant Dyester. The emptiness that spread from his insides didn''t feel too overwhelming anymore either.


    Khan still lost himself in his thoughts. His regr face had also be cold and detached. He didn''t feel as helpless as before, but the idea of remaining inside the training camp remained unbearable.


    Leaving was mandatory in his mind. Peace was suffocating. Lieutenant Dyester didn''t hide his worry concerning Khan''s feelings, but their conversation about that topic didn''t go anywhere.


    Lieutenant Dyester eventually realized that only Khan could decide when to ept peace again. The soldier believed that Martha''s awakening could trigger that event, but he had no power over the matter. He only hoped that Khan would miss Earth after spending more time on others.


    "Khan," Lieutenant Dyester broke the silence that had fallen between the two.


    "What is it?" Khan asked while sealing the lunch box and putting it away.


    "Do you want to talk about it?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. "I might not be the most suitable listener for your situation, but I know what it''s like to remain alone with your thoughts after a tragedy."


    "What can talking even do?" Khan asked before heaving a helpless sigh. "I did what I needed to do to survive. I know that Martha''s condition isn''t my fault. The situation is just sad."


    "You are young," Lieutenant Dyestermented. "You''ll still be young when she wakes up. You only lost some time."


    Khan stared at the ck floor when Lieutenant Dyester forced him to think about his situation. His fears had never concerned Martha''s health. His worries involved the changes in his character.


    "She liked a joyful boy who could spit non-sense just to make herugh," Khan eventually revealed. "She might not like the cold-looking me who can''t even sleep properly."


    Lieutenant Dyester remained silent at that point. Khan had started to speak. He only needed to give him enough room to continue.


    "I didn''t think that the aliens could be so different, you know?" Khan revealed after a few silent seconds. "I''m not talking about their aspect. Their morals, customs, and mindsets are different. I expected something simr, but¡­."


    "But?" Lieutenant Dyester asked when he noticed Khan''splicated expression.


    "The Kred are big. You know that," Khan said while standing up and lifting his arm to describe how tall the aliens were with his hand. "They reach physical maturity quickly. You basically can''t differentiate between a kid and an adult unless you are an expert in the field."


    "I do know that," Lieutenant Dyester revealed. "They are a strong species. Male and females are ready to jump into battle after little less than ten years of life."


    "We were hiding behind trees one day," Khan continued while using his hands to describe theyout of the jungle. "I had sensed two Kred in front of us. They were with Luke and other recruits, but here I am. I see those tall aliens and decide that escaping is better."


    "You had never faced a Kred before," Lieutenant Dyestermented. "You had also just learnt how to use your senses. Retreating when you don''t know your odds is a good choice."


    "I turn, right?" Khan eximed while crouching and reying the scene with his body. "I turn and see this tall Kred trying to sneak up on us. I didn''t sense her, but I attack right away. My knee hits her face before mming her on the ground. Two perfect executions in a row. I was ready for the third, but she doesn''t move."


    Lieutenant Dyester held himself back frommenting. He had noticed how Khan had started using "her" to describe the alien. He knew that something was up.


    "The other two Kred attack us," Khan continued, "But we deal with them. They turn out to be pretty weak, so the others tie them to a tree while I get the third. I had to spend a whole minute to understand that she was dead."


    "Was she your first?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. "That''s a good first. You didn''t kill her on purpose. She had misjudged the power of your group."


    "Of course she did," Khan snorted. "She was damned ten. Those three aliens were a young family who happened to be on patrol duty for the mighty higher-ups."


    Lieutenant Dyester understood why that matter weighed on Khan''s mind so much. He had basically killed a kid ording to human standards.


    "You can''t use human morals to study the event," Lieutenant Dyester promptly replied. "The Kred are adults at that age. Don''t see her as a kid."


    "They begged us to see their daughter," Khan sighed. "They told us everything they knew for her, even if she was lying dead some meters away."


    "You couldn''t leave two angry Kred behind you," Lieutenant Dyester exined. "You wouldn''t have been here otherwise."


    "They were a desperate family," Khan shook his head while sitting back on the floor. "They are a desperate species. I know that feeling far too well, but I showed no mercy."


    "Kid," Lieutenant Dyester sighed at the sight of Khan''s sad face, "That''s how the army works. You can avoid that nasty stuff by earning a position in a safe ce, but wars will always exist around you. You should get away now if you worry about falling apart."


    "That''s not the issue," Khan struggled to say. "I''ve seen those who risked falling apart. I''ve seen recruitspletely broken by the event even. I didn''t."


    "You had the mental barrier," Lieutenant Dyester replied.


    "You can cut away emotions," Khanmented. "You can''t cut away your true nature. I fear that I might be perfect for that stuff."


    Khan didn''t fear danger. He wasn''t too worried about death either. Yet, his desperation scared him. He didn''t know what that feeling would make him do if he grew too used to killing.


    "Most of my toon was dead by then," Lieutenant Dyester suddenly said while looking toward an empty spot in the training hall. "I was marching alone toward arge prison camp when I saw that the Kred had executed all my remaining friends."


    Khan couldn''t help but focus on the Lieutenant at that point. He had never thought that the soldier would reveal stories of the crisis from forty years ago.


    "I get mad and startunching spells," Lieutenant Dyester scoffed. "It''s hard to care about your actions when you have nothing left to lose. I kill freely, burning every Kred that tries to charge at me or run away. I am unstoppable, and the aliens eventually realize that.


    "They start falling on their knees and putting their hands behind their heads. Do you believe it? They have the beheaded corpses of my friends around them, but they still try to surrender."


    Lieutenant Dyester showed a dark expression, and his eyes fell on his hands. He started inspecting his palms and fingers while a faint disgust appeared on his face.


    "You should never lose control of your emotions," Lieutenant Dyester eximed. "Mana gives us the chance to be gods among normal men. It makes killing too easy. I realized what I had done only after I couldn''t find anyone else to burn."


    Khan gulped. His situation had beenpletely different. He had never lost control of his actions during Istrone''s rebellion.


    "You might have more talent than me at this," Lieutenant Dyester revealed. "Killing will be easier, but don''t let it grow meaningless in your mind. The ugly feelings that you experience after taking a life are part of what makes you human. Only those who can suffer can also experience love and happiness. Never forget that."


    "Do you still suffer?" Khan asked.


    "You shouldn''t worry about me," Lieutenant Dyester said before giving voice to a faintugh. "I''m a defective training dummy. I''ve tried to be a monster, but my mind opposed my programming."


    The conversation ended with those words. Both Khan and Lieutenant Dyester had problems that they could only solve on their own. Still, Khan made sure to memorize the soldier''s teachings and ept them in his mind.


    His words still resounded in his mind by the time Khan returned to his t. All of a sudden, his emptiness and sorrow didn''t feel too bad anymore. They proved that he wasn''t a mindless killer.


    ''Get better at killing without growing used to it,'' Khan summarized in his mind before a notification reached his phone.


    The Global Army had finally given him the schedule for his trip to Nitis. He would have to depart early in the morning. The message even said that he would spend the remaining months of the first year of training there.


    ****


    Author''s notes: The first volume will end here. See you tomorrow at the beginning of the second.

 Chapter 85 - Purr

    Khan had obviously studied Nitis on thework during the two weeks of intense training with Lieutenant Dyester. The Global Army hadnded on the for the first time only seventy years ago, which made it one of thest worlds discovered during the expansion of the human species.


    Nitis was a cold mostly surrounded by pale darkness. Thework described it as a world stuck in thest hour before dawn. Its distant star and its peculiar orbit never allowed it to bathe under the sunlight.


    The was the home of an intelligent species called Niqols. They were quite simr to humans, except for their dark-blue skin, pale irises, and white hair. Thework described them as a peaceful kind with a great understanding of mana and a deep enmity with the Nak. It seemed that they had also gone through something simr to the First Impact in the past centuries.


    Khan did his best to memorize a few useful lines of the Niqols''nguage during his spare time, but his knowledge remained poor when the day of his departure arrived.


    The main issue was that the Global Army''swork didn''t describe too much. Khan couldn''t ess most of its information due to his low clearance level. He could only learn a few basic features of the, the Niqols, and theirnguage before exhausting what his phone had to offer.


    Faint excitement built inside Khan when he approached the teleport. Those emotions mixed with his tragic memories, but he didn''t let them take over his mind.


    His conversation with Lieutenant Dyester had helped. Khan had slowly started to see his bad feelings as a sign that he wasn''t a mindless killer. That realization didn''t make him feel atoned for his actions on Istrone, but it allowed him to ept them and begin to move on.


    Professor Norwell was waiting for Khan in front of the building with the teleport. She threw away her cigarette as soon the boy entered her vision, but she showed a confused expression when she saw that he was alone.


    "Will Lieutenant Dyester show up for your departure?" Professor Norwell asked.


    "We said everything we needed to say yesterday," Khan exined.


    "Good," Professor Norwell eximed before leading Khan across the insides of the familiar building.


    "Our young rtionship with the Niqols makes this training camp quite experimental," Professor Norwell exined while Khan went through the usual scanners and forms. "The Global Army took the liberty to choose lessons connected to your goal, but you can modify them if you change your mind. The Captain on the site will be your only connection with the rest of humankind, so rely on her whenever you need something."


    Khan memorized everything and nodded from time to time. He felt happy to see that he was looking forward to that experience. Also, thinking about leaving Earth made him ignore part of the silence that filled co''s training camp.


    Forsaking peace forced Khan to focus on his next task. He didn''t go full battle-mode, but most of his useless thoughts disappeared in front of the potential dangers of an alien.


    "Remember that your actions might have a political impact due to the young rtionship with the Niqols," Professor Norwell exined as the duo entered the circr hall with the teleport. "These aliens are very simr to us. I hope this is enough to exin how bad things can go if you offend their species. You might be a hero for now, but the Global Army wouldn''t hesitate to use you as a scapegoat to preserve this rtionship."


    "I understand, ma''am," Khan replied in a firm voice.


    "The soldiers on the camp will brief you after your arrival," Professor Norwell continued. "We don''t have many sses there. You willplete the fourth. Still, you''ll learn everything in detail after the travel. I don''t know much about Nitis either. What I exinedes from a summary that the army has pressed me to say before your departure."


    Khan''s eyes flickered at those words, but he didn''t show any evident reaction. It seemed that Nitis'' matters were ssified even for the professors. He didn''t know if the same applied to the Lieutenants, but he started to gain an idea of how frail the rtionship with the Niqols was.


    Professor Norwell didn''t follow Khan on the teleport. She pointed at the tform once everything was ready, and he jumped on it. The soldiers wearing white medical coats shouted numbers and coordinates, and synthetic mana soon filled the oval structure before activating its functions.


    Darkness unfolded in Khan''s vision before a pale blue light allowed him to study his surroundings. He found himself on a grey teleport surrounded by ck consoles and grey walls. A small team of soldiers wearing white medical coats handled the various machines, and a young man stood in front of him.


    "You must be Khan," The man didn''t hesitate to say while his eyes studied Khan. "The Global Army has sent us some redacted reports of the Istrone''s rebellion. Great fucking job."


    Khan inspected the soldier too. The man appeared to be in his twenties. He had slightly long blonde hair,rge green eyes, no beard, and an aloof face. He seemed to look down on Khan with his uncaring gaze, but thetter felt that he wasn''t doing that out of arrogance.


    The man was slightly muscr and a bit taller than Khan. He kept his arms behind his back during the inspection, and a calm aura surrounded him.


    "Thank you, sir," Khan promptly replied while moving his eyes on the boy''s shoulders.


    The uniform featured a star on each shoulder. The man had managed to be a first-level warrior and mage at his young age, which made him an elite even among talents.


    "I''m just the second year in charge of the new ss," The man replied. "Don''t bother with the formalities. I don''t want to feel old when I''m barely neen."


    Khan nodded before jumping out of the teleport. That was the first building on a different where he didn''t see any aliens. That feature hinted at how the rtionship between the two species had yet to solidify, but his reasoning couldn''t go further.


    "I''m Paul Stratbert, but don''t bother checking my family on thework," The man announced while turning and starting to walk toward the corridor connected to the circr hall. "Families don''t matter much here. Only talent and achievements can get you into the special sses."


    Khan couldn''t help but notice how the structure appeared almost empty. He didn''t see the usual soldiers handling scanners to check the neers. He had to pass through a rectangr machine that listed some of his important features on a nearby screen, but that was it.


    "Almost thirty-nine percent attunement with mana when you aren''t even seventeen," Paul whistled. "And they called me a talent."


    "I have been lucky," Khan said to tone down thosepliments.


    "Lucky my ass," Paul scoffed. "You have the same numbers as someone who has received the first infusion of synthetic mana. Are you implying that everyone else has been unlucky?"


    "I didn''t mean that," Khan promptly replied while lowering his gaze.


    "Then be proud about it!" Paul snorted. "This isn''t a training camp on Earth. ying it low will only make the army forget about you."


    Khan felt surprised by how easily Paul could read through his behavior. The soldier had probably dealt with simr situations already.


    "I''m the best of the best," Khan announced in an emotionless tone while inspecting the structure and avoiding Paul''s sudden nce.


    "Everyone is the best of the best here," Paul eventually exined when he understood that Khan wouldn''t reply to his gaze. "Nitis even requires an attunement above thirty-five percent to breathe freely. The Global Army sends only true elites who have the potential to climb the ranks here."


    "Do you n on using this experience to get a promotion?" Khan asked as the exit of the building drew near.


    "I have a shot at bing a Lieutenant by the end of the year," Paul eximed as a tinge of pride appeared on his aloof face. "The final evaluation of the ss under my management will influence the test a lot, so don''t make me lose face."


    "Noted," Khan said while a dark environment unfolded in his vision.


    A dark-blue sky made the entirety of the scenery dark, but a faint radiance managed to reach the surface anyway and create unclear shadows.


    An uneven in spread from the lonely building and stretched in the distance until it met a short mountain chain. Dark grass grew from the ground and filled the scene with an eerie vibe.


    Nitis waspletely different from Istrone. The formercked tall trees and featured small bushes at best. Narrow cracks and short elevations filled the in, and a few paths cut right among them.


    Khan saw a series of buildings in the distance. He wouldn''t normally be able to notice them due to the faint darkness that covered the entirety of the scene. Still, those structures radiated azure light that almost managed to reach his position while they shone on the in.


    "Humans didn''t want to mess with Nitis''yout since they didn''t know how the Niqols would react," Paul exined. "I think the higher-ups of both species are discussing the purchase ofnds, but the aliens don''t seem to like that."


    "It''s still their," Khan couldn''t help butment while keeping his voice down.


    "I agree," Paul announced. "Imagine if the same happened on Earth. Do you think humans would ever sell parts of their to an alien species? We are lucky enough that they let us stay here."


    "Do they fear us?" Khan asked.


    Paul clearly knew a lot more than thework, so Khan didn''t hesitate to use him as a source of knowledge.


    "They actually like us," Paulughed. "We are really simr. They are above us when ites to understanding mana, but we surpass them in the technological fields. They only want to make sure to keep clear walls between our species."


    "How do we reach the training camp?" Khan asked when he didn''t see any vehicle around him.


    The teleport stood alone in the middle of the in, and the area didn''t feature anything else man-made. Only the city in the distance showed the presence of other intelligent living beings, but it was too far away to reach it on foot in a reasonable time.


    "You''ll eventually understand how things work here," Paulmented before putting his thumb and middle finger in his mouth to give voice to a loud whistle. "Remember that the Niqols have developed with mana as their foundation. They have a peculiar approach to most stuff."


    The ground under Khan and Paul suddenly began to tremble. Two presences that carried dense mana became clear in his senses and made him lower his gaze.


    Khan instinctively jumped backward as cracks opened around a fissure a few meters from him. Tworge Tainted animals quickly crawled out of the ground and approached Paul.


    The animals resembled giant moles. They had long ck fur, unusual long limbs, and pale-grey ws. Their grey noses were quite long and hid sharp teeth, and loud barks came out of their mouths as they charged toward Paul.


    Khan prepared himself to fight, but a confused expression appeared on his face when Paul gestured to him to stop. His feeling then transformed into pure astonishment when he saw the Tainted animals stopping next to the soldier and purring under his caresses.

 Chapter 86 - Liiza

    Paul petted the tworge Tainted animals. They were as tall as him, but their bodies were almost three meters long. Still, they appeared harmless once their purr resounded in the area.


    "They like to y a lot," Paul said as a faintugh escaped his mouth whenever the animals tried to lick his face. "You can see them asrge dogs if you want."


    Khan''s eyes fell on the creature''s ws. Their nails were razor-sharp knives as long as his hands. He couldn''t see a dog anywhere in those dangerous animals.


    "Come here and let them know your scent," Paul ordered.


    "Do I have to?" Khan asked without moving his eyes from the sharp ws.


    "You must unless you want to walk to the city," Paulughed. "They are our rides."


    Khan blinked before scratching the side of his head and taking a few timid steps forward. The two animals noticed his movements and stopped ying with Paul to inspect him. They appeared curious about the new boy, and their noses trembled as they tried to catch a hint of his scent.


    "We call them Ugu," Paul exined while continuing to pet the two animals. "They are quite docile. They only need to memorize you."


    "Aren''t they Tainted animals?" Khan asked while taking a few steps forward and stretching his hand toward the nearest Ugu.


    "Animals have evolved differently here," Paul replied. "Technically, they are Tainted creatures, but they didn''t mutate through the Nak''s mana. The energy in Nitis has made all the animal species here gain strange features."


    The exnation made sense in Khan''s mind. It was the same as Istrone''s vegetation. Thoses didn''t need the First Impact to gain mana. Their flora and fauna had developed with that energy.


    The first Ugu continued to sniff the air until it reached Khan''s hand. The second creature soon joined itspanion in the inspection while Khan remained alert.


    "I think you can try to pet them now," Paul suggested when he reached the two animals. "You don''t need to be soft. They are quite resilient."


    Khan nodded before slowly moving his hand past their noses to reach the furry forehead of the first Ugu. His fingers almost touched the creature, but it suddenly lowered its head and started growling toward him.


    The second Ugu quickly imitated itspanion. Khan found himself in front of two huge animals that appeared ready to jump at him.


    "Calm down!" Paul shouted while grabbing the fur behind the second Ugu''s head, but his order didn''t stop the first creature from leaping toward Khan.


    The huge shape of the creature tried to m on Khan, but thetter had been ready to fight since he sensed the two animals. His figure disappeared when the Ugu pierced him. Khan reappeared on the side of the beast with his knee raised to his chest, but he didn''tunch any attack.


    "How should I act?" Khan asked, and Paul couldn''t help but remain surprised in front of the coldness of his actions.


    The Ugu had tried to kill Khan, but he had dodged the attack easily without responding to that offensive. He remained ready to deliver a powerful blow, but he managed to withhold his technique and wait for Paul''s orders.


    "Don''t hurt it," Paul quickly ordered. "I''ll call someone. Can I leave you on your own for a minute?"


    "No problem," Khan replied while lowering his leg and jumping on his side when the Ugu waved its long ws at him.


    Paul continued to pull the second Ugu''s fur while wrestling with his pockets. A phone eventually came out of his trousers, and he didn''t hesitate to tap on its screen a few times before nearing the device to his ear.


    "Yes? Miss Liiza?" Paul shouted while continuing to pull the animal from its fur. "There is a problem with the Ugu. Yes! [Thank you very much]!"


    Khan continued to dodge the first Ugu''s assault. Its movements appeared slow in his eyes. The dummy in the ninth level of the training program was far faster, so the animal never managed to touch him.


    Paul stored his phone and opened his mouth to say something, but the words remained stuck in his throat when he saw how easily Khan was dealing with the Ugu. The boy didn''t show any expression while dodging the relentless assault. He almost appeared bored about the whole process.


    ''Five times,'' Khan counted in his mind. ''Six, seven, eight. These creatures are quite clumsy.''


    Khan kept track of his chances to deliver techniques toward the animal during its assault. The Ugu was quite fast for its size, but its attacks were too straightforward to endanger Khan.


    The quick movements of the Lightning-demon style would have allowed Khan to deliver many direct blows during the openings showed by the Ugu. He was only keeping track of his chances during a defensive approach even. Everything would be different if he decided to gain the upper hand.


    Khan had to remain in that situation for entire minutes, and Paul showed aplicated expression at that scene. Part of him felt guilty about that oue, but that emotion couldn''t suppress the surging respect growing inside of his mind.


    Paul had seen the recruits that the Global Army allowed to join the training camp on Nitis. He had been one of them even. They were all geniuses or special talents.


    The background couldn''t affect the Global Army''s selection since the situation on Nitis was still unclear. Only the best of the best could go there and help reinforce the rtionship between the two species.


    Still, Khan appeared above that level. His moves were almost perfect, but his calm mindset was the most outstanding aspect of his character.


    Khan wasn''t using the mental barrier. Lieutenant Dyester had forced him to relearn how to fight without it in the past two weeks, and his training had worked perfectly.


    Every dodge gave new insights on the Ugu''s movements to Khan. He learnt how to punish those straightforward attacks quickly, and he also improved his dodges ordingly.


    A loud screech eventually resounded in the area and made the second Ugu tremble in fear. Even Khan''s opponent stopped moving and hid its head into the ground.


    Khan nced at the animal onest time before turning in the direction of the screech. His eyes went toward the dark sky, but he struggled to find the source of that cry. However, the glow of the city in the distance eventually revealed a huge figure diving at high speed toward the ground.


    The figure appeared faster than Khan during its dive. He couldn''t help but jump backward when he saw it approaching his position. Then, a gale engulfed his body and threw debris and dust in his eyes, but he protected them with his arms.


    Arge animal unfolded in Khan''s vision when he lowered his arms. A creature that resembled an eagle with dark-grey feathers showed itsrge wings toward the two Ugu before giving voice to a second screech.


    The Ugu raised their heads before putting them back into the ground. Their bodies never stopped shaking, and yelps eventually resounded from their figures.


    "It wasn''t my intention to disturb you so early," Paul promptly announced while joining his hands in front of his chest and performing a short bow toward the eagle. "The Ugu have reacted poorly to the neer, but I ignore the reason behind their odd behavior."


    Khan inspected the animal while showing evident confusion. He noticed that the creature had three eyes during his second examination, but he remained perplexed.


    ''Is he talking to the animal?'' Khan wondered, but the huge eagle suddenly lowered its body and revealed a dark figure sitting on its back.


    Khan couldn''t help but remain dumbfounded. A female Niqols was sitting on the eagle. Her smooth dark-blue skin seemed to glow under the darkness of the scene, her white eyes released a faint radiance that illuminated her face, and her long white hair enhanced her slender figure when it fell on her shoulders and back.


    The Niqols were practically humans. Khan struggled to find differences in their facial features and bodies. The aliens'' skin, eyes, and hair had different shades, but they were overall identical to the men and women from Earth.


    Those simrities made Khan unable to ignore the Niqols'' striking beauty. The alien was wearing a white tank top and tight trousers that enhanced her curves. Her chest wasn''t big, but it highlighted the harmony brought by her slender figure.


    The words patible sexual organs" read on thework during his study of the alien species inevitably appeared in Khan''s mind. The Niqols seemed only a few years older than him, and he couldn''t help but feel attracted by her.


    ''I can add my dumb taste to the things that make me less human,'' Khan cursed in his mind while controlling himself.


    Martha''s face appeared in his mind and helped him control his emotions. Khan didn''t let anything appear on his face. He maintained a cold expression while joining his hands, performing a slight bow, and speaking a few alien words trained during the past two weeks. "[I''m honored to make your acquaintance]."


    Both Paul and the Niqols raised their eyebrows in surprise when they heard Khan. The aliennguage featured short sybles and clear sounds, and Khan''s pronunciation was only slightly off.


    "You are guests on Nitis," The alien said in a perfect human ent. "The honor is mine."


    "Miss Liiza, let me express how sorr-," Paul began to say, but the alien raised her hand to stop him.


    Liiza jumped off the eagle and patted its neck before walking toward Khan. He could see that the alien was as tall as him at that point, and he didn''t fail to notice that her beauty was even more striking up close.


    The Niqols bent toward Khan, and he instinctively retracted his head. Yet, the young woman shot an admonishing nce toward him, which forced him to resume his previous position.


    Liiza sniffed Khan''s face before cing her slim fingers on his forehead. Her skin felt cold, but that feature didn''t surprise him since he had read about it on thework. The Niqols'' average body temperature was nine to ten degrees lower than humans, which suited the''s coldness.


    Liiza closed her eyes while keeping her face near Khan''s forehead. He couldn''t help but think about Cora''s kiss at that point. Part of him felt that he should divert his gaze, but he ended up inspecting the Niqols'' face anyway.


    The young woman eventually opened her eyes. The azure irises met the glowing white ones, and they didn''t separate even after Liiza pulled herself back.


    Paul''s eyes widened at that interaction, and he quickly stepped in to question Liiza about the recent event. "Do you know why the Ugu reacted like that?"


    "Yes," Liiza revealed while diverting her eyes from Khan. "It''s quite simple. He smells like a Nak, and the Ugu hate them."


    Paul shot a confused nce toward Khan, and Liiza also turned toward him at that point. The Global Army didn''t warn the soldier about Khan''s Tainted status since it didn''t think that the topic was relevant. However, it became clear that Khan had to exin himself now.


    Khan sighed before unbuttoning the superior part of his uniform and revealing the azure scar on his chest. His left shoulder even featured a patch of redder skin due to the cauterization on Istrone, but Paul and Liiza didn''t notice it since the azure mark caught the entirety of their attention.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I have the second shot of the vine tomorrow. I might slow down with the releases if I fall ill.

 Chapter 87 - Flight

    The incidents on Earth that involved the Nak''s mana were quite famous, and Paul also knew that Khan came from co''s training camp. It didn''t take him much to link the azure scar to the Second Impact, which also helped exin why Khan was so goodpared to his peers.


    Liiza appeared curious about the scar. She neared Khan again and lifted her arm toward his chest without showing any hesitation.


    Khan instinctively grabbed Liiza''s hand to stop her action, and the two exchanged a long gaze again. Paul''s eyes widened when he saw that scene. He quickly prepared a series of polite words, but they didn''t get the chance to leave his throat since Khan released his grasp.


    Liiza''s slid her fingers through Khan''s palm and forearm before reaching the left side of his chest. Her ck fingernails softly scratched Khan''s skin and went over the red patch on his left shoulder before reaching the edges of the azure scar.


    The Niqols traced the scar''s edges with her fingers before going over its insides. It was rare for Khan to have someone else touch that part of his body, but Liiza felt gentle and firm. She didn''t cause him any difort.


    Liiza eventually ced her whole palm at the center of his chest. She felt Khan''s beating heart while her eyes moved on his face. Their gazes met again, and they remained fixed on each other for a few seconds.


    The alien eventually retracted her hand and inspected her palm. Khan didn''t know what she was thinking during the process, but he didn''t feel the need to ask questions.


    "He won''t be able to ride the Ugu," Liiza eventually exined while fixing her eyes back on Khan''s face. "They will never ept him."


    "Will he have to walk?" Paul asked as aplicated expression appeared on his face.


    It didn''t matter how talented Khan was. The Global Army would deem him unfit for the training camp on Nitis if he couldn''t use some of its core features.


    "He needs to tame a [Aduns]," Liiza announced before pointing at the eagle behind her. "I believe you call them Aduns."


    "We don''t have the clearance for that," Paul politely replied. "With all due respect, your superiors have been quite clear."


    Khan wanted to inspect Paul to study his reactions, but his gaze remained glued to Liiza''s eyes. She appeared to be in the same situation, and her expressionless face barely moved when she gave her answers.


    "They won''t be able to say anything if an Aduns chooses him," Liiza exined. "I''ll get him to a nest right away."


    "We have yet to brief him!" Paulined, and Liiza finally moved her eyes away from Khan to re at the soldier.


    Paul clearly regretted raising his voice. He lowered his head, and polite words came out of his mouth. "He doesn''t know much about Nitis. Please, forgive him if he offends you by mistake."


    Liiza limited herself to nod and return to her ride. She patted the eagle''s neck, and the creature lowered its wing to make her jump on its back.


    "What are you waiting for?" Liiza asked when she noticed that Khan had yet to move from his spot.


    "Go," Paul whispered while approaching him and pushing him toward the Aduns. "This is your chance to remain on Nitis, but don''t do anything stupid. Are we clear?"


    "Yes, sir," Khan promptly replied while approaching the creature.


    The eagle followed his movements with its three eyes. Khan couldn''t help but notice the differences with the Nak''s organs. The Aduns'' third eye was vertical and slightly bigger than the others, but it didn''t radiate any light.


    The Aduns didn''t seem to like that Khan had to climb on its back, but it epted the event with impable decorum. The creature appeared quite smart and well-trained. It didn''t flinch for even an instant when Khan stepped on the dark feathers and arrived behind Liiza.


    The Aduns appeared even bigger from that position. The creature was almost three meters tall, and its wings could cover a six metersrge area when unfolded. Its back had enough space for multiple people, but Khan still struggled to find where to sit.


    Khan studied Liiza''s stance and tried to imitate her. Her hands were on the feathers on the eagle''s neck, and she had wrapped her slim legs around the wings'' base.


    Khan couldn''t do the same from his position, so he sat and tried to tighten his legs on the Aduns'' back while grabbing the feathers right in front of him. He obviously put some distance between Liiza, but he was still close enough to touch her back if he crouched.


    The eagle suddenly gave voice to a quiet high-pitched cry, and Khan instinctively tightened his grasp. Yet, his handhold vanished since his hands ripped a few feathers.


    Khan''s eyes widened when he saw the dark-grey feathers in his grasp. Panic built inside him. He had actually hurt a creature that seemed to hold an important ce in the Niqols'' mind.


    Liiza didn''t reveal any emotion. She released her grasp and bent backward to grab Khan''s wrists. He let her lead him closer to her back, and Paul almost fainted when he saw the alien putting Khan''s arms around her waist.


    "You can''t hold Aduns from there," Liiza quickly exined before crouching forward again.


    Khan had to lie on her to remain attached to her waist. His chest was on her back, and her white hair often fell on his face.


    Khan turned toward Paul and noticed that the soldier was holding his head while staring at the whole scene. His eyes were wide open, but they transformed into an admonishing gaze when they fell on Khan.


    "I''ll send him to the camp once we are done," Liiza announced. "Don''t look for him if he doesn''t return."


    Paul wanted to say something, but the Aduns suddenly unfolded its wings and waved them, creating gales made of dust and terrain.


    Khan couldn''t help but tighten his legs on the creature''s back, and the same went for his arms. His face soon touched Liiza''s back, and the coldness of her body spread through her clothes to reach his chest and cheek.


    The Aduns gave voice to a loud screech before pping its wings again and separating from the ground. The creature seemed to struggle to set off now that it had two people on its back, but it slowly managed to gain height anyway.


    Khan couldn''t express what he was experiencing with simple words. His legs kept losing their grip on the eagle''s back whenever it pushed him upward. The fear of falling threatened to take control of his mind, but Liiza''s firm figure managed to reassure him.


    Liiza barely moved while the Aduns went up and down in the sky. She seemed part of the creature during the flight, and Khan instinctively relied on her to avoid falling.


    His embrace tightened, and his body grew closer to her. Khan was basically lying on her, and his unstable foothold often made his chest collide with her back.


    Khan couldn''t express how worried he was about his actions, but he did his best to regain someposure quickly. His legs continued to search for a stable foothold and eventually found it right above the wings'' base. His grip on Liiza''s waist never became rough either. He did his best to keep it gentle.


    The wind grew more intense at some point, and Khan peeked past the immense wings to study his situation. His expression froze when he noticed that the Aduns was high in the sky already. Paul had even disappeared from his vision.


    Talking with that intense wind blowing on his face was troublesome, and Khan didn''t want to disturb Liiza anyway, so he remained silent and enjoyed the travel. That wasn''t his first flight, but it felt like it. Using a vehicle couldn''t evene close as an experience.


    The eagle was alive. It reacted to Liiza''s short but firm movements. The creature would turn to the right whenever the Niqols pulled the right side of its neck, it would go up when her legs tightened, and it elerated when she crouched closer to its neck.


    Khan couldn''t help but admire such mastery in her flying skills. His body was practically on her, so he could sense when her muscles tensed or rxed.


    The awesome scenery from high in the sky and the incredible experience of flying on top of an alien creature made Khan ignore the inevitable arousal triggered by the situation. He focused on learning Liiza''s moves instead of paying attention to her soft curves. Those sensations still reached his mind, but he made sure to iste them in the corner of his mind.


    The Aduns flew toward the mountain chain, but it avoided getting close to the shining city. Khan managed to see various dark buildings that featured strange symbols on their surface, but the creature turned before he could get a better sight of the Niqols'' architecture.


    The temperature fell as Liiza led the eagle toward a mountain peak covered by a grey material that resembled snow. Khan tried to get a better view of the area, but the Aduns suddenly started to fly higher in the sky.


    The creature''s stance wentpletely vertical from time to time, which forced Khan to focus the entirety of his efforts on not falling. His legs managed to cling on the Aduns'' back, but the animal eventually folded its wings and turned its head toward the mountain below.


    ''Don''t tell me!'' Khan barely had the time to curse in his mind before the eagle dived toward the mountain.


    His legs lost their grip on the creature''s back at that point. Khan''s body stretched into the air and managed to remain attached to the Aduns thanks to Liiza firm figure.


    Everything disappeared inside Khan''s mind. He could only think about tightening his grip on Liiza while the Aduns elerated. The mountains grew dangerously close in his vision, but the creature suddenly folded its wings and resumed its horizontal flight right before crashing on the dark-grey rocks.


    The sudden deceleration made Khan m on Liiza''s back, but she managed to remain in her position even after that intense impact. Still, Khan''s face ended up peeking above her shoulder andy next to her head.


    "Did you really need to do that?" Khan couldn''t help but ask while his cheek touched the alien''s forehead.


    "The Aduns do what they want," Liiza replied before giving voice to a faint giggle.


    The event surprised Khan and make him turn to face her. Liiza''s smiling expression unfolded in his vision, but she limited herself to nce at him before turning her head.


    "You are still on me," Liiza eventually said, and Khan promptly slid on her back to resume his previous position.


    The Aduns didn''t do anything dangerous anymore. It continued to fly among the mountains until it gave voice to a loud screech and turned toward a rocky structure that featured a series of cavities.


    The creature''s screech echoed among the mountains, and other simr cries resounded in the area. Multiple Aduns peeked out of the cavities and weed the eagle back into the nest.


    Liiza rxed her legs, and the Aduns gently descended until itnded at the base of one of the mountains. The Niqols straightened her back at that point, and Khan imitated her movements while retracting his arms.


    "I know that humans don''t handle the cold as well as us," Liiza eximed while turning toward Khan, "But mana makes you able to endure this much, right?"


    Khan couldn''t help but memorize the moment when Liiza lifted her legs to turn toward him. He knew how soft they were, and his knowledge made the scene quite captivating.


    "Cold shouldn''t be a problem," Khan revealed while moving his gaze toward Liiza''s face. "Can I really ride an Aduns without putting the humans at risk?"


    "The Aduns are¡­ I think humans would call them holy animals," Liiza exined. "My superiors won''t be able toin if you manage to tame one of them before they learn about it."


    ****


    Author''s notes: Just one today. I ended up feeling quite down after the second shot of the vine. I even feared that a fever would arrive, but luckily I avoided that. Everything should go back to normal tomorrow.

 Chapter 88 - Test

    Liiza revealed how her idea to make Khan tame an Aduns wasn''tpletely legal. However, a quibble could make him avoid eventual punishments and troubles.


    "What do I need to do to tame an Aduns?" Khan eventually asked while his gaze moved toward the dark mountain at his side.


    The dark sky hid the nests seen during the flight. They were at some point in the upper half of the mountain. High-pitched screeches echoed from time to time, but Khan couldn''t see any winged figure above him.


    "Climb the mountain and reach the nests," Liiza exined.


    Khan couldn''t help but shoot a confused nce toward Liiza. Her question about the cold suddenly made sense now.


    "I don''t have the proper equipment with me," Khanined without mentioning that he had no idea how to climb mountains. "I don''t have food either. How am I supposed to reach the nests?"


    "That''s your problem," Liiza replied in a in tone. "The Aduns won''t ept you if they don''t see your struggles. The mountain is a test."


    Khan hesitated. His eyes moved between Liiza and the mountain. He knew that his body had surpassed normal human standards already, but the journey could kill him anyway. He wasn''t immune to cold and exhaustion.


    "I might die," Khanmented.


    "Then you have to understand how strong your desire to remain here is," Liiza continued. "Humans can''t bring their vehicles here since their noise scares the animals. I believe your army won''t let someone who can''t use rides stay on the."


    Liiza clearly knew a lot about the Global Army and its rtionship with the Niqols. Khan started to wonder whether she was an important figure inside her species, but his thoughts soon returned to the main issue.


    ''I might die if I try to climb the mountain,'' Khan thought, ''But I will have to return on Earth if I don''t acquire a ride.''


    Thinking about Earth made him recall the empty feelings that devoured his insides. Khan suddenly realized that his mind had never lingered on those memories after teleporting on Nitis. His arrival on the had made him forget about the issues that troubled him.


    ''Coming here has actually helped for a short while,'' Khan sighed in his mind before jumping off the eagle.


    "How do I know that the Aduns won''t reject me like the Udu?" Khan asked without looking at Liiza.


    The alien felt surprised by Khan''s sudden change. He had been unable to stop looking at her before, but he seemed to care only about the mountain now.


    "The Aduns aren''t cowards," Liiza exined. "They respect strength, which is why you need to surpass this test. Also, you have a high chance to tame one of them even if you don''t belong to my species."


    "Why is that?" Khan asked.


    "You survived the Nak," Liiza exined while lowering her gaze when Khan turned to look at her. "I felt your pain. They will too."


    The Niqols eventually raised her gaze again and found Khan still staring at her. Cold winds blew through their hair and made them flutter, but neither of them seemed to care.


    "I''m Khan, by the way," Khan eventually announced while revealing a faint smile. "Let''s fly together if I get an Aduns."


    Khan turned toward the mountain without waiting for the Niqols'' reaction. He stepped toward the steep rocky surface and started to climb the tall structure.


    Liiza showed aplicated expression after that offer. She revealed a faint smile that Khan couldn''t see, and she inspected him while he made his way through the steep surface.


    It was clear that Khan knew nothing about climbing mountains. He limited himself to rely on his physical strength to drag his body upward without caring about proper footholds or studying the path ahead.


    He would jump on a rock as long as it felt stable. His steps were even light, so they never caused andslide. Khan was nimble among that cold and unfriendly environment. He had trained his legs to be the strongest and swiftest parts of his body.


    ''I basically asked her out,'' Khan thought while jumping from rock to rock. ''She even seems important here. Damn my hormones.''


    Khan knew that he had to behave appropriately on Nitis, but he couldn''t hold back in front of the seemingly deadly quest. Truth be told, he wasn''t even sure whether he could flirt with someone properly so soon after Martha''s events.


    However, Khan couldn''t control his tastes, and the quest made him forsake part of his restraint. He even ignored the possible repercussions that his actions could have on the Global Army since Liiza didn''t seem the type to rat him out.


    Khan didn''t notice the emptiness inside him anymore when he started the climb. He didn''t even realize that the feeling had stopped affecting his mind. The mission on a foreign world and the faint anticipation surging inside his mind made him ignore everything that didn''t involve his current quest.


    After all, he would get the chance to fly again if he seeded. Anyone would be excited about that.


    The sound of pping wings eventually reached his ears. Khan saw Liiza and her Aduns leaving in the distance. They had left him alone in the middle of the mountain chain, which only intensified the danger sensed by his mind.


    Khan continued to climb for a bit before stopping on a rtivelyrge tform that came out from the mountain''s surface. His phone quickly appeared in his hands, and his fingers tapped on its screen until he found instructions that could help him.


    ''Prepare your equipment carefully,'' Khan read on the phone, ''Study the path thoroughly, partner up with experienced climbers, set your pace ording to your endurance. Well, I''m doomed.''


    Khan couldn''t help butugh when he realized that he had gone against every advice. He was alone, in an unknown environment, and without any gear. He could have won a prize for the least prepared climber in every alien world.


    ''Maybe this wasn''t meant to happen,'' Khan sighed when he reviewed the issue thoroughly. ''I bet I can still contact someone on Nitis and get back to the teleport since my phone works.''


    Khan tried to find ways out of that option, but risking his life only to remain on Nitis seemed a bit too much. The army would find other suitables since the issue wasn''t his fault. He would have only lost some time if he retreated now.


    Yet, something peculiar eventually appeared in his vision. Khan noticed a rtivelyrge path on the side of the mountain. The route was clearly artificial, and it seemed connected to the base of the structure. He couldn''t see it because it started from behind hisnding spot.


    ''Did Liiza leave me at some distance from the passage on purpose?'' Khan wondered while scratching his head.


    Khan didn''t know anything about the Niqols'' customs and personality. He would have already imed that Liiza liked him if she were a human. However, the differences between their species made Khan hold back froming up with possible delusions.


    ''Was she testing me?'' Khan wondered while straightening his position and jumping from rock to rock until hended on the path. ''Did she want to see if I would have given up before finding the path?''


    His surroundings appeared clear. Khan couldn''t see anyone, and even his senses didn''t pick any odd trace of mana. He waspletely alone with the cold wind, so his thoughts about Liiza slowly vanished.


    Khan started marching toward the upward path that led him around the mountain. The wind grew stronger as he reached higher spots, but his body was able to fend it off, and his uniform managed to help him ignore the cold.


    Mana flowed through his body whenever the cold tried to seep past his skin. Khan happily realized that he could endure that unfriendly environment easily, even if his situation worsened as he kept climbing.


    The path grew narrower, the winds continued to intensify, and the temperature never stopped dropping. Khan felt forced to sit and meditate from time to time to disperse the cold, but the harshness of the situation didn''t make him decide to turn back.


    Hours passed, but Khan struggled to notice the flow of time due to the constant darkness covering Nitis. Still, his endurance was inhuman, and he barely grew tired even after walking for half a day.


    A series of cavities eventually appeared in his vision. The high-pitched screeches even grew louder. Khan knew that he was getting closer to his destination, but a new series of problems arrived in that part of his journey.


    Large amounts of grey snow would fall on the path every once in a while and forced Khan to crouch near the wall to avoid falling. Some rocks were too slippery to be suitable handholds, so he had to put his full strength on his legs and push his back on the uneven surface of the mountain to remain on the track.


    Cuts inevitably appeared on his back during the process. Khan couldn''t risk falling from that height when the snow engulfed him, so he had to ignore the sharp rocks that pierced his uniform and skin during the small avnches.


    Khan noticed that the Aduns had something to do with the avnches after experiencing a few of them. Their loudest screeches always preceded them. They seemed to do that on purpose since they had noticed the boy climbing the path.


    The avnches started to happen more often as Khan kept climbing. Aduns even flew at high speed next to the path to distract him and generate gales that could make him lose his bnce. They never attacked him directly, but they didn''t help him either.


    ''Damned birds!'' Khan found himself cursing multiple times.


    His senses had be able to predict the arrival of those creatures after experiencing their methods a few times. They even flew so close to the path that Khan could attack them without leaving it if he wanted. Yet, he held back from hurting the animals that could allow him to remain on Nitis.


    The path eventually opened in a rtivelyrge area that featured multiple cavities. Clear signs of nests filled those holes in the side of the mountain, but Khan had to get closer to them to inspect their insides.


    Still, a series of Aduns flew out of the holes as soon as he became too close. The winds generated by the pping of their wings pushed Khan backward and made him fall from the area.


    Panic built inside Khan as his hands shot toward the side of the mountain. Cuts opened on his palms as they slid on the rocks, but Khan didn''t dare to pull them back.


    His fingers eventuallynded on an almost dry and stable rock, which allowed him to stop his fall. Pain filled every inch of Khan''s body, but he activated the mental barrier to cut everything away and gain a detached approach to his issue.


    Khan inspected his surroundings and decided to descend to return to the path rather than risking climbing back on the t area. He lost an entire hour of march, but his feet eventually stepped on the safe road again.


    The mental barrier vanished once Khan resumed his march toward the nests. His body hurt in every spot, and his uniform was in pieces. Multiple cuts had opened on his torso, arms, and legs, but they were only superficial injuries that didn''t hinder his walk.


    The Aduns that had made him fall began to hover above him. Their screeches seemed to mock his efforts, but Khan didn''t mind them. He had invested too much in that task to fall prey to those taunts.


    Khan eventually returned to the t area and crouched when approaching the nests. The Aduns followed his movements and continued to fly in a circle above him without ever falling silent. Faint tremors started to spread through the mountain at that point, and Khan quickly jumped inside one of the caves when he sensed them.


    His quick reaction made him able to dodge the massive avnche that covered the entire t area and the caves. Meters of grey snow covered the entrances and made him unable to see anything. Only darkness filled his vision, but he didn''t lose track of his position.


    Khan sat inside the dark cave and meditated for a few minutes to stabilize his condition before approaching the snow that blocked the entrance. He started to dig through that soft grey material with his fingers, and cold inevitably seeped past his skin.


    Khan forced the mana to flow through his body and disperse part of the cold trying to affect his joints while he dug through the snow. He made sure to have the side of the mountain behind him during the process, and cold wind eventually hit his hand when it came out of greyness.


    Climbing through the snow was hard, but Khan used the mountain''s surface to pull his body past theyer of greyness that covered the t area. His foothold was unstable, but he became able to inspect the site once he came out in the open.


    The Aduns in the sky had disappeared by then. Khan couldn''t even hear their screeches anymore. Yet, a silent white figure gently descended at some distance from him andnded on the snow without falling inside it.


    Khan couldn''t help but remain in a daze at the sight of the white Aduns. The creature felt like a stranger in that dark world. It was just like him.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I only feel slight difort on my arm for now. Hopefully it will stay like this.

 Chapter 89 - Snow

    The white Aduns didn''t look at Khan. It used its beak to scratch the feathers on its wings before inspecting the environment and giving voice to short screeches.


    Khan didn''t know what to do in that situation. Liiza didn''t give him any instruction, but something told him that the test was over.


    The Aduns standing on the grey snow was the first white creature that Khan had seen during his climb. All the other eagles featured darker shades, spanning from grey, blue, orpletely ck. The event didn''t feel like a coincidence when Khan considered his situation.


    ''A white eagle for the alien boy,'' Khan thought while struggling to find a decent foothold on the mountain''s surface. ''It sounds proper.''


    Khan studied his surroundings and showed aplicated expression when he realized that he didn''t know where the mountain ended. Snow had submerged the entire t area and had made walking over it dangerous.


    The snowy surface was even frail. Khan didn''t know how the eagle could avoid falling inside it. The creature was slightly smaller than the other Aduns seen during the climb, but it was still quite bigpared to humans.


    The Lightning-demon style gave Khan the ability to perform soft steps. He could reach the Aduns even in that environment, but he would risk falling inside the snow once he stopped.


    "Hey!" Khan called. "Come here! Let''s fly away together!"


    Khan tried to contain his voice, but a few tremors still spread above him and made him m his back on the mountainside. His fear of another avnche caused an instinctive reaction developed during his climb.


    No snow arrived, but the white Aduns also ignored him. The eagle had yet to turn toward Khan since itsnding on the grey area.


    ''Do I have to jump on it?'' Khan wondered.


    He didn''t like the idea of performing reckless actions, especially since the Aduns seemed to be his only way out of that situation. It would be hard to find the previous path with all that snow on the t area, and the risk of falling was high. Going up appeared far easier.


    ''I hope it doesn''t drop me mid-way,'' Khan sighed in his mind while preparing for the imminent sprint.


    Liiza had spoken about taming the Aduns, but Khan didn''t know if the meaning in her mind matched his. Still, he was out of options, so he bent his body and let himself fall forward.


    Khan never fell on the grey snow. His figure vanished as faint footprints appeared on the soft surface. The Aduns suddenly felt a foreign weightnding on its back, and a loud screech inevitably escaped its beak.


    The Aduns started to fall inside the snow due to the additional weight, but it promptly pped its wings to lift its body in the air. However, legs suddenly wed themselves at the base of the wings.


    Khan had studied Liiza thoroughly. He couldn''t avoid memorizing the position of her legs and arms when the two flew across the sky.


    "Calm down!" Khan shouted from the eagle''s back. "Let''s be friends!"


    The eagle didn''t seem to like that approach. It gave voice to a loud screech when Khan wrapped his arms around its neck. The cry generated another avnche, but the Aduns set off before more snow could fill the area.


    The environment changed in an instant. The wind blew on Khan''s face while the Aduns flew around the mountain, and the sight of the distant surface made him tighten his arms and legs on the creature''s neck and wings.


    The Aduns gave voice to a painful cry before rotating on itself to get rid of the unwanted presence on its back. The world in Khan''s vision spun, but he did his best to suppress his fears and soften his grip.


    "I''m sorry, ok?!" Khan shouted. "I didn''t want to hurt you!"


    The Aduns ignored his words and tried everything in its power to make Khan fall. It rose high in the sky before diving at incredible speed and stopping only when the ground became too close. It spun mid-air so often that it almost affected its bnce. It even tried to m Khan on the mountain''s side, but nothing worked.


    Khan endured everything without releasing his grip. It didn''t matter that his skin started to burn due to the scorching friction with the air. He didn''t care that his insides seemed about to shoot out of his mouth. He even ignored the shes with the rocky mountainside.


    Deep injuries ended up opening on his back and shoulders after the Aduns mmed Khan on the rocky side multiple times. Most of the blood flowing out of his wounds dispersed in the sky as the eagle elerated, but some of it fell on the white feathers and tainted the previously spotless creature.


    The eagle didn''t appear bothered by the blood falling on its feathers. It actually stopped mming Khan on the mountainside and limited itself to spins and sudden dives.


    The Aduns eventually grew tired and stopped trying to get Khan out of its back. It continued to fly among the mountains at a moderate speed and avoided performing sudden movements.


    Khan didn''t trust the eagle at first, but a bit of confidence formed inside him after flying for almost an hour. He tried to imitate Liiza''s movements to see if the Aduns followed his orders, and a broad smile inevitably appeared on his face when he seeded.


    Lightly pulling the feathers on the Aduns'' neck would make it turn left and right. Tightening and rxing his legs would trigger ascensions and dives. The eagle reacted to those simple gestures, and Khan slowly grew used to the strength he had to exert to avoid hurting the creature.


    The Aduns still opposed Khan''s orders from time to time, but they felt like jokes. The creature was only ying around at that point. It had already epted its pilot.


    A grey figure eventually flew toward Khan. Liiza and her Aduns appeared among the dark sky and began to follow him.


    "This is great!" Khan shouted, but his words lost themselves in the intense winds that enveloped him.


    Liiza shook her head and showed a slight smile before pointing at the base of a mountain. Her Aduns folded its wings and began to dive toward that spot, and Khan promptly followed them.


    Liiza''snding expressed how nimble those creatures could be. Her Aduns unfolded its wings when it was less than two meters from the ground, and the sudden move managed to put an end to the incredible momentum umted during the dive.


    Khan was on his first flight, so he approached thending carefully. He kept tightening his legs whenever his Aduns gained too much speed, and the creature ended up performing a spin before reaching the ground just to piss him off.


    "Give me a break," Khanined when the eagle gave voice to a happy screech. "It''s only my first time. I''ll let you go as fast as you want once I get the gist of this."


    The Aduns seemed to understand the meaning behind his words, but it replied by folding its wings and rolling on the ground before straightening its position. Snow covered Khan when the eagle went back on its ws, and his expression revealed how helpless he felt.


    "You got a yful one," Liiza announced while continuing to wear her faint smile. "It must be young."


    Liiza jumped off her eagle and neared Khan. Yet, her eyebrows arched when she saw that he wasn''t leaving his Aduns.


    "I thought you would have wanted to talk," Liiza eximed as her smile vanished. "I''ll lead you to your camp now."


    "Wait!" Khan eximed when Liiza turned to jump back on her Aduns. "Won''t it fly away if I jump off?"


    Liiza turned and understood the reason behind Khan''s hesitation. She even realized that the misunderstanding was her fault since she had forgotten that Khan had been on Nitis for less than a day.


    "The Aduns has already epted you," Liiza exined while pointing at the white creature. "It won''t allow others to ride it as long as you are alive."


    "Oh," Khan couldn''t help but exim while turning toward his eagle. "Aren''t you sweet?"


    Khan started to pet the eagle, but the creature saw that moment of distraction as the chance to roll on the ground again and cover Khan with anotheryer of snow.


    Liiza covered her mouth to suppress augh when she saw Khan covered in snow. The scene seemed exhrating, but Khan decided to get right to the point.


    "How can I call it if I''m on the ground?" Khan asked while removing some snow from his shoulders and head.


    "Come down, and you''ll see," Liiza announced while crossing her arms.


    Khan and the eagle exchanged a nce, but he eventually released his grip and jumped off the creature''s back. Liiza had no reason to lie to him. She had even gone against her superior to help him.


    The white eagle didn''t fly away. It shook for a bit to remove the snow umted on its body, but it soon lowered its head to face Khan.


    "Put your forehead on its vertical eye," Liiza exined. "Think of a name in the meantime."


    Khan nodded without turning toward the Niqols. His hand reached the side of the eagle''s head before his face bent toward its forehead. The Aduns closed its third eye when Khan''s skin touched its feathers, and a strange event followed.


    A foreign presence entered Khan''s mind. He could sense a vague weight bing part of his thoughts and releasing a series of faint sensations.


    ''Snow,'' Khan thought, and the sensations solidified and fused with a small shard of mana inside his brain.


    Khan''s eyes widened when foreign emotions spread through his brain. They carried some tiredness but also sincere respect.


    "Am I sensing its mind?" Khan asked while separating himself from the eagle and taking a few steps back.


    "It''s a mental connection," Liiza exined. "It consumes mana to remain active and send words to the other side, but you can sustain it since you passed the test."


    "Wow," Khan eximed while testing the mental connection.


    Sending thoughts on the others side felt almost instinctive. It didn''t need training, but the Aduns didn''t understand everything he said. The same went for Khan since the eagle could only speak through sensations. Yet, the creature clearly expressed that it liked the name Snow.


    "I''m starting to like this," Khanughed while returning near Snow and rubbing its feathers.


    Khan turned at that point. An honest smile appeared on his face as the memories of the flight crossed his vision. Liiza had made him experience one of the most amazing things in his life, and he wanted to express his deep gratitude.


    "Thank you for everything you have done for me," Khan eximed while performing a slight bow. "I hope I can repay this favor in the future."


    "Don''t thank me yet," Liizamented as her expression became stern. "You still have to face your superiors."


    ****


    Author''s notes: Just one today. I ended up feeling quite down after the second shot of the vine. I even feared that a fever would arrive, but luckily I avoided that. Everything should go back to normal tomorrow.

 Chapter 90 - Politics

    "I thought the issue was with your superiors," Khanined as worries appeared in his mind.


    "I''m always in trouble," Liiza shrugged her shoulders, "And your situation is different."


    "You are important then," Khan eximed.


    "Just a bit," Liiza exined while rolling her eyes when she saw that worries appeared on Khan''s face.


    Khan noticed that reaction, but he didn''t know what to think. He had yet to figure out Liiza''s character, and the recent events didn''t help with his evaluation.


    Liiza had appeared cold during the first meeting, but she had started tough after the two spent a few hours together. Khan also had doubts about the Niqols'' customs, so he never trusted the faint guesses that appeared in his mind.


    "Did I make you angry now?" Khan asked while moving to her side and reappear in her gaze. "I don''t know much about the Niqols, so forgive me if I don''t understand stuff at times."


    Khan''s direct honesty slightly startled Liiza. None of the other humans on Nitis had ever acted so casually. Khan had been the first to behave without minding status and politics.


    "It''s fine," Liiza revealed. "It''s just strange to talk with a human without seeing bows."


    Khan frowned before a faint idea appeared in his mind. He still had his doubts due to the different customs between the species, but the only way to confirm his guesses was to question the alien.


    "Could it be that you don''t like politics?" Khan asked.


    Liiza avoided his gaze and shrugged her shoulders again. The crossed arms on her torso enhanced the curves revealed by her tank top, but Khan only looked at the alien''s glowing white eyes.


    "Is that a bad thing for the Niqols?" Khan asked. "I thought you''d be more carefree."


    "Why would you think that?" Liiza asked as her gaze finally returned on Khan.


    "Well," Khan said while scratching the side of his head, "You ride animals. Isn''t that an expression of freedom?"


    "How are those things connected?" Liiza asked while showing a perplexed face.


    The two remained in silence. Khan believed that he had found one of the topics he couldn''t exin due to the Niqols'' different customs, while Liiza remained curious about that.


    "Okay, see it like this," Khan tried to exin, and his hands followed his words to create a better image of the topic. "Animals don''t have politics, right? Being so close to them can hint at freedom."


    "Animals have tight hierarchies and many rules," Liiza replied while tilting her head. "Aren''t they a form of politics?"


    Khan opened his mouth to reply, but his hand went under his chin when he realized that Liiza''s words made sense. Animals didn''t have proper verbal rules, but their instincts created environments that could feature basic forms of politics.


    "You might be right," Khan revealed. "Humans have it all wrong."


    "Why did you move your arms so much?" Liiza asked while pointing at his hands. "Is that another human thing?"


    "Is this your first time seeing someone gesticting?" Khan asked while exining the meaning of the word by moving his arms.


    "Humans never move their arms when they talk to me," Liiza announced while stepping forward and inspecting Khan''s arms from different perspectives. "Is that what Paul was doing before? Why was he gesticting?"


    Khan couldn''t help but recall Paul''s re at that point. He quickly drew his phone from his pocket and noticed that he had already spent more than fourteen hours on the test. Nitis'' dayssted twenty-four hours, so it was already night by human standards.


    "Do you have to go?" Liiza asked, but she didn''t show any sudden or strange reaction at that time.


    "Returning now might increase my chances of remaining on the," Khanughed. "Can you tell me how to take care of the Aduns before setting off? I don''t want to bepletely lost when you aren''t around."


    Khan''s honest concern about Snow surprised Liiza again, and she didn''t hesitate to exin what she knew. It turned out that the Aduns were quite independent, so Khan only had to take his eagle for a flight once a week to strengthen their rtionship.


    "I have another reason to fly with it, don''t I?" Khanughed once the exnation ended. "It gives me the chance to hang around with you."


    "Fly often then," Liiza said while revealing a faint smile and jumping on her eagle. "Don''t lose track of me."


    ''You heard her,'' Khan sent through the mental connection, and Snow gave voice to a proud screech when it sensed his intentions.


    Khan jumped on his eagle and took the riding position, but Liiza shot in the air before he put both his legs under the creature''s wings.


    Snow promptly pped its wings to follow the grey Aduns, and Khan released a loud curse while using the entirety of his strength to cling on his eagle and stabilize his position.


    Liiza shot upward and tried to disappear among the dark sky, but Snow managed to catch up with her. Khan saw that Liizaughed when she turned and noticed that he had yet to grow used to the flight. She was having so much fun that she didn''t hesitate to make things harder for him.


    The grey eagle suddenly dived toward the ground, forcing Snow to imitate it. Khan didn''t even try to give orders during that situation. He let his eagle handle everything while he focused on preserving his life.


    Liiza revealed her vast experience during the flight. Shemanded her Aduns to ascend, dive, spin, and pass through narrow paths inside the mountain chain. Khan often cursed loudly as Snow followed her, but he eventually began tough when he saw that Liiza seemed truly happy.


    The two circled the city and flew toward a small settlement nearby. Khan didn''t recognize the architecture of the structures in that ce, but Liiza''s sudden dive confirmed that they had reached their destination.


    The settlement featured a few windowless ck buildings with strange glowing symbols and a tall structure near its edges. A tall fence that released a faint azure glow surrounded the entire site, and holes filled with white worms upied the areas immediately past the barrier.


    Khan could see Uduing out of the ground and approaching the holes, but the Aduns'' cries forced them to look toward the sky and retreat. Liiza made her eaglend in those feeding spots, and Snow imitated her.


    Paul and other young recruits hurried outside of the buildings and started to run toward the two Aduns. Meanwhile, Liiza and Khan jumped off their rides and petted them while they fed on the worms in the holes.


    "You definitely have fun making things hard for me," Khanmented before giving voice to a shortugh.


    "It''s your fault for being so expressive," Liiza smiled while trying to gesticte, "But this thing that you do is still strange."


    "I''ll stop then," Khan sighed dramatically and performed a bow. "I can''t have such an important Niqols displeased about my behavior."


    "No, keep doing that," Liiza answered as her smile became strangely honest. "It''s cute."


    Khan''s eyebrows arched in front of that sudden honest reaction. He couldn''t help but fix his eyes on Liiza''s face, and the Niqols did the same.


    Paul had reached the two quickly enough to hear Liiza''sst line. The scene that unfolded in his vision made him grab his hair and widen his eyes.


    "What does that mean?" Liiza asked when she noticed Paul. "He did it again."


    "I''ll tell you once I understand that," Khan replied while turning toward Paul and pointing at Snow.


    Paul didn''t know what to think about the situation. Liiza seemed to have lost part of her detached demeanor, Khan was full of injuries, and the Global Army had gained its first Aduns rider. Moreover, Khan and Liiza seemed to be in flirting terms, which could cause many problems considering the frail rtionship between the two species.


    "Thank you for everything you have done, Miss Liiza," Paul eventually announced while performing the polite bows used by the Niqols.


    Other recruits arrived behind him and imitated his gesture. Liiza found a small group showing their utmost respect toward her, and her expression gradually grew colder as she inspected that scene.


    Liiza nced at Khan at that point. He was staring at her and inspecting her reactions. She felt that he had noticed the gradual saddening of her face during the event.


    "Khan!" Paul suddenly shouted, and Khan noticed his admonishing re when he turned toward the soldier.


    Khan showed aplicated smile before bowing toward Liiza. He knew that she had noticed his reaction, but her face still grew colder even if he peeked at her whenever Paul didn''t look at him.


    "It''s only normal to help our guests," Liiza eventually eximed in an emotionless voice. "I hope this event will bring Niqols and Humans closer together."


    Liiza then turned to jump on her Aduns. The eagle wanted to eat some more, but she patted its neck and forced it to set off.


    Khan straightened his position and gazed at Liiza''s disappearing figure, but the sound of multiple steps forced him to turn. An angry Paul unfolded in his vision, but the soldier calmed down when he saw that Snow stopped eating to re at him.


    "They are friends," Khan exined while turning toward Snow.


    Khan had felt a bit of anger flowing out of the mental connection. Those emotions had created a warm feeling inside him since they confirmed Snow''s concern, but he still had to stop the eagle.


    The recruits showed surprised expressions when they noticed that Snow dived back to its worms after Khan''s words. The creature was really listening to him.


    "Leave us," Paul ordered after heaving a helpless sigh, and the recruits returned toward the camp.


    Khan couldn''t help but inspect those recruits. They were all young, but they had steady auras around them. Their bodies even contained a decent amount of mana. They were clearly above average as assets.


    "Of all the recruits that the army could send here," Paul began to shout once the recruits returned inside the camp, "The damned womanizer had to end up in my team! What did you do with Miss Liiza for an entire day? Don''t tell me that you have been inappropriate!"


    "Does she like me then?" Khan asked as his eyes lit up. "It''s hard to understand her reactions at times."


    "I have no damned idea," Paul snorted, "But you are forbidden from touching, teasing, and fucking flirting with her. We don''t want to cause a scandal."


    "Is she so important?" Khan asked while wearing a stern expression and straightening his position to perform a military salute.


    "You''ll learn more about the Niqols'' political system during the briefing," Paul sighed as his anger waned. "Consider her as a princess for now. Her parents are pretty important in the rtionship between the two species."


    "Yes, sir!" Khan eximed, and Paul studied his expression to understand if he was just pretending.


    Khan''s face didn''t show any w. He appeared as the most devoted soldier in the entire Global Army, so Paul ended up letting him off the hook. He had no idea that Khan was already thinking about his next flight with Liiza.


    "Come inside the camp now," Paul ordered in a calm voice. "It''s toote to brief you, but Captain Erbair wants to see you. She said that she has to give you something."

 Chapter 91 - Divine Reaper

    Khan had almost forgotten that he had yet to receive the entirety of his rewards. The Captain on Nitis had to give him his new martial art, and some excitement inevitably built inside him.


    However, that reminder also brought negative emotions since it made Khan recall Istrone and the very reason behind his current situation.


    The faces of the Kred that he had killed on Istrone ran through his vision. Khan recalled that he had paved his way to Nitis with blood. The new had made him feel like his first day in co''s training camp, but the situation was far different, and his personality had also changed.


    ''Can I really enjoy all of this when Martha is in aa and blood still taints my hands?'' Khan wondered while following Paul inside the camp.


    Khan had already found an answer to that question but applying it felt hard. He had to move on without forgetting, but reminders of his actions always appeared. Still, Nitis was seeding where co''s training camp had failed. The alien held the potential to make him happy.


    Paul led Khan in front of the tall building. Strange symbols that gave off a cold feeling glowed on its ck surface, and theck of windows surrounded it with an eerie aura.


    "I''ve brought Khan, ma''am," Paul shouted while performing a military salute.


    Khan imitated him, but the sight of a white figure shooting through the sky distracted him. The mental connection allowed him to confirm that Snow had left, but his mind suddenly sensed a dense pressure and made him turn toward the building again.


    A tall woman hade out of the sliding metal doors of the building. Her military uniform enhanced her muscr physique, and her short scarlet hair didn''t manage to distract Khan from her glowing bionic left eye. She had three stars on each shoulder, but Khan felt that she was even stronger than Lieutenant Dyester.


    Captain Erbair had a long scar that ran through the entire left side of her face. It was clear that she had lost her left eye due to that injury, but the army had patched her up nicely. The only issue with that machine was that its red light conflicted with the natural green color of the right eye.


    The Captain walked toward Khan until she was right in front of him. Khan couldn''t help but notice that she was at least thirty-five centimeters taller than him. She was the tallest person that Khan had ever seen in his entire life.


    "How can this wren be the same recruit who solved the mess on Istrone?" Captain Erbair asked while scratching a spot next to her bionic eye.


    "I didn''t solve anything, ma''am," Khan promptly replied. "Captain Foxnor and the rest of the Global Army have handled the situation. I only set a piece of the jungle on fire."


    "He is even humble," Captain Erbairmented before turning toward Paul. "Didn''t you make your usual speech about pride?"


    "What do you mean by usual, ma''am?" Paul asked while keeping his eyes on the building. "I did it, but that doesn''t mean that I do it often."


    "He does it often," Captain Erbair whispered when she turned toward Khan. "Still, he is right. You get nothing by being humble here. Are you implying that you don''t deserve the reward that the Global Army has sent here before your arrival?"


    "I totally deserve it, ma''am!" Khan eximed as his eyes lit up. "I''ve been crucial in saving lives and putting an end to the Kred''s rebellion."


    "Good boy," Captain Erbair said while patting Khan''s head with her huge hand. "Follow me inside now. We have to talk about the Aduns and your rtionship with the Niqols girl."


    Captain Erbair turned to walk inside the building, and Khan shot a nce toward Paul to see how he reacted to those words. However, Paul shook his head and showed an innocent expression at that gaze. He didn''t mention the inappropriate interactions between Khan and Liiza in his report.


    Khan could only follow Captain Erbair inside the structure at that point. It became evident that the Global Army didn''t build that ce once he could inspect its insides. The building featured the same smooth surfaces and almost-absent d¨¦cor iconic of the human architecture, but it had glowing symbols instead of electric torches and digital menus.


    Captain Erbair didn''t give Khan the chance to stop and inspect the various peculiarities of that structure. She directly led him to the second floor and into arge room, where she sat on arge couch before pointing at an armchair.


    Khan couldn''t help but notice how the familiar furniture created a stark contrast with the room''s functions. The overlyrge couch didn''t match the mystical symbol on the ceiling that filled the area with a faint azure glow. The armchair''s style was too intricate for the simple rotating square on the wall that seemed to represent the Niqols'' version of a digital menu.


    The color of the furniture enhanced that stark contrast. The couch and armchair had pale-yellow shades, which disrupted the faint dark environment that the room was trying to create.


    "You''ll grow used to everything quickly," Captain Erbair announced. "You have lived in co''s Slums for eleven years. This change can''t affect you too much."


    "It won''t, ma''am," Khan answered while taking his seat on the armchair. "I have a lot to learn about the Niqols, but they appear quite simr to us. I can''t wait."


    "I hope your impatience doesn''t involve getting into Miss Liiza''s pants," Captain Erbair snorted while taking a metal casket from the side of the couch. "Also, yes, Niqols wear pants."


    "My interest is purely academic, ma''am," Khan announced while ignoring thest part of her speech.


    "You aren''t the first boy to fall for her," Captain Erbair revealed. "The others only got the chance to learn their ce before meeting her."


    "Is she so important?" Khan asked as his eyes fell on the casket.


    "Her mother called me when she didn''t return home on time," Captain Erbair exined. "She has enough authority to call the leader of the human troops on Nitis. That should be enough to exin how important her daughter is."


    Khan didn''t reveal any expression, even if his thoughts were running wild. Part of him felt d that Liiza appeared unreachable since it would give him an excuse to remain focused on Martha. Yet, he knew that Martha would want him to live his life, especially due to her unclear condition.


    ''I guess I can only see how things go and adapt,'' Khan thought while his eyes remained on the casket. ''I don''t know if she likes me, and my feelings are still too messy to think about rtionships.''


    Captain Erbair took his behavior as an expression of his curiosity toward the reward. A proud smirk appeared on her face as her fingers started to tap on the metal casket with her fingers.


    "I want you to take this as proof of the Global Army''s goodwill," Captain Erbair continued. "The higher-ups have understood how valuable you can be, and they are willing to reward you properly. I hope you can keep up with our expectations."


    Khan limited himself to nod. Other words wouldn''t matter now.


    Captain Erbair lifted the casket''s lid and revealed the small white disk contained in its insides. Still, Khan could immediately notice how the fabric around the item appeared as luxurious as it could get.


    Khan nced at the Captain before timidly picking the disk. His hand was already pulling out his phone in the meantime, and he quickly put the item on the screen to make his device absorb it.


    "Get out now," Captain Erbair ordered before Khan could check the list of magic devices connected to his phone. "Paul will show you where you''ll sleep. The briefing is tomorrow at five am. Don''t bete."


    Khan stood up to leave the building, but the Captain added a few lines before he could exit the room. "Good job with the Aduns, by the way. Your feat might actually convince the Niqols to give us more freedom. Make sure to treat that beast well."


    A loud "yes, ma''am" came out of Khan''s mouth before he turned again to leave the building. The Captain''s words would basically give him the chance to take Snow out for a flight often, which meant spending more time with Liiza.


    Curiosity tried to make him pull his phone to check the new magic device, but he eventually decided to wait until he arrived in his room. Paul was waiting for him in front of the building. The two moved toward one of therge structures while remaining silent for most of the walk.


    "Telling you stuff now would be pointless," Paul announced when they entered the building. "The briefing tomorrow will exin everything you need to know about Nitis. Also, I couldn''t help but notice that you are quite good. You''ll do well if you don''t listen to your dick."


    Khan nodded while ignoring the obvious meaning behind Paul''s words. The soldier led him in front of a small room with a simple bed and a hole surrounded by glowing symbols. The habitation didn''t feature anything else.


    "The building already has ournguage," Paul exined while tapping on a rotating azure square on the room''s wall.


    The cube opened to reveal multiple options that Khan could activate if he filled his fingertip with mana. They were simr to the menus on Earth, but they founded their functioning on mana rather than technology.


    The hole in the ground turned out to be the bathroom. The various symbols around its edges activated different functions, and one of them even made dark-blue water fall from a spot on the ceiling.


    "See you tomorrow," Paul announced before leaving Khan alone in his new room.


    The cramped space and the strange bathroom didn''t leave Khan disappointed. Eleven years in the Slums had made him learn to ept everything he got, and he felt happy as long as the area didn''t appear too peaceful.


    Khan closed the metal door and browsed through the menus to seal it. His phone immediately appeared in his hands at that point, and the wall seemed to react to the device.


    ''Do you want to charge your device?'' Khan read a writing that had suddenly appeared on the wall.


    Those words didn''t take much to make sense in his mind. Nitis experienced almostplete darkness every day. Devices powered by sunlight wouldn''tst much in that environment, so they required a different type of fuel.


    Khan followed the instructions and ced his phone on the floor to activate the charger and connect the item to the room. He could reach the list of magic devices directly from the wall at that point, and he didn''t hesitate to tap on the ck metal to see what the Global Army had decided to give him.


    ''Divine Reaper,'' Khan read right under the Lightning-demon style and the beginner''s training for chaos element users. ''What an arrogant name for a martial art.''


    Khan quickly opened the training program and noticed that it featured as many lessons as the Lightning-demon style. It even had the same detailed options that could introduce and overview the martial art before approaching the actual teachings.


    A hologram came out of the phone and filled the center of the room. Khan saw a woman wearing a strange military uniform that featured arge star on each shoulder. He had to inspect her figure to understand her sex since a hood and a piece of cloth left only her eyes uncovered.


    "My name is ssified," The woman announced once the summary began, "But you aren''t here to learn names. I''ll teach you one of the deadliest knife techniques in the world, so use it carefully. You might kill someone by mistake with the instincts that the training program will force you to develop."


    Khan couldn''t help but feel excited. The Global Army seemed to have respected all his requirements. He only wanted to know the points earned by the martial art to bepletely satisfied.


    "The Divine Reaper doesn''t work well alone," The woman continued. "The Global Army has assigned it sixty-five points when used on its own. However, its value can surpass ny points when matched with a suitable style. I hope your decision to learn it hase after an urate study of your needs."


    Khan could barely believe his ears. The Global Army had given him a martial art with immense potential. Yet, some doubts remained in his mind since he didn''tpletely understand how a style could gain more than twenty-five points if paired with suitable techniques.


    Silence fell in the room as Khan waited for the summary to continue, but loud knocking suddenly resounded from his door and forced him to close the training program.


    Khan worried when he noticed that it was prettyte. He hoped that his actions with Liiza and the Aduns didn''t cause any major issue, but his fears disappeared when he unlocked the room and saw a familiar face unfolding in his view.


    "I hurried here as soon as they told me that you had alsoe to Nitis," George exined while wearing an honest smile at the sight of Khan''s surprised expression. "I didn''t expect us to meet again so soon."

 Chapter 92 - Briefing

    "I didn''t expect this offer," George exined after the duo entered Khan''s room and started conversing about their situation. "Apparently, the Global Army sent all the survivors in different training camps. I simply got the best due to my feats on Istrone."


    Khan couldn''t help but nod at those words. George could already cast spells, and his battle prowess was way above average. It wasn''t surprising that his profile suited Nitis'' training camp after Istrone''s crisis.


    "What about you?" George asked once his story ended. "I thought you would have remained on Earth to take care of your girl."


    "I can''t do much for her," Khan sighed while lying on his bed, "And everything was too peaceful. I was losing my mind there."


    Khan gave an honest reply. George had already seen his ugliest face. He had no reason to hide his real feelings. Yet, he decided not to talk about Martha in detail since the topic was hard to exin.


    "Trust me, I get you," George sighed whileying his back on the wall and stretching his legs on the floor. "I have guards at home, right? One of them approached me from behind when I was meditating inside the woods near the mansion. I almost took off his eye."


    "Do all recruits have mansions?" Khan asked.


    "That''s just the holiday home," George exined. "Some members of the main family always live in the central districts. My father thought that a messy city wasn''t ideal in my condition."


    "But they still sent you here," Khanughed.


    "I flew between the training camp and the holiday home every day after I returned," Georgemented. "I was going crazy, and my family even wanted to hire private professors until the Global Army came up with something. I basically escaped when I heard that I could go to Nitis."


    "Did they brief you already?" Khan asked. "What did they say about the Niqols?"


    George revealed a shameless smile when he noticed Khan''s interest. He lowered his voice before announcing something that made Khan divert his eyes. "I heard some rumors. There seems to be a neer who made Miss Liizaugh."


    "He must be a handsome and virtuous man," Khan suggested.


    "Cora and your girl on co weren''t enough," George teased him. "You also had to hit on a Niqols. Did they tell you that she is basically a princess here?"


    "First of all, Martha and I are only friends," Khan eventually decided to rify his position. "We have probably liked each other for a long time, but the packed schedule inside the training camp never left room for feelings. We had decided to talk about us right before the semestral missions, but you know how it ended."


    George suddenly felt bad about hisst tease. He didn''t think that Khan had been so unlucky. He clearly liked Martha a lot, but Istrone had ruined their hopes of ending up together.


    Hisck of reactions in front of Cora''s feelings also made more sense now. Khan had spent his time on Istrone waiting to understand if he had a girlfriend, but Martha''s condition had put that matter on hold.


    "I''m sorry to hear that," George sighed. "Luck only pretends to be on your side. You never had the chance to appreciate what you had."


    Khan shrugged his shoulders. He didn''t have a proper answer to that statement. The two fell silent as they remained on the bed and floor with various thoughts running inside their minds.


    "What about Miss Liiza then?" George eventually asked. "Is that a misunderstanding?"


    "Well," Khan eximed while diverting his eyes again. "We flew together twice. I don''t think there''s much more. I don''t even know how the Niqols handle that stuff."


    "Do you mean flirting?" George asked.


    "I mean, they must have different customs, right?" Khan continued. "How can a few smiles prove anything?"


    "The Niqols are a straightforward species, Khan," George exined. "You don''t have to imagineplicated reasons to exin her behavior. The simplest answer is usually correct with these aliens."


    "Did you just reveal ssified information?" Khan teased George. "I didn''t think recruits could share them."


    "Shut up," George snorted. "Let''s make a deal. You don''t rat me out, and I''ll pretend that you didn''t smile before."


    Khan''s hand suddenly went on his mouth. He was really smiling, but he had needed George to point it out to notice it.


    "Dammit," Khan cursed while lightly bumping the back of his head on the metal wall.


    "There is nothing wrong in liking her," Georgemented. "I have yet to see her with my own eyes, but they showed me holograms of her during the briefing a few days ago. I would also smile if I were in your situation."


    "There is no situation," Khan snorted. "She only brought me to the Aduns'' nests."


    "How did she even bring you there?" George asked in his teasing voice. "This is a small camp. Rumors run quickly. Everyone knows that you couldn''t get an Udu, so how did you reach the nests ande back in less than a day? Did you have to ride behind her?"


    "I won''t answer that," Khanughed while pushing George away with his feet. "Get out now. I have to wake up in less than six hours."


    Georgeughed while straightening his position and walking toward the metal door. He exited the room quickly, and Khan could soon enjoy the silence again.


    ''Straightforward species, he says,'' Khan repeated in his mind before sealing the door and reactivating the training program of his new martial art.


    The summary continued and briefly described the Divine Reaper''s main features. The martial art relied on quick techniques and deadly attacks that aimed to take down opponents in a single move.


    However, the Divine Reaper had evident ws. It almostpletelycked defensive stances. It was an extremely aggressive martial art that forced the user to go all-out during every battle.


    Khan soon understood why the Divine Reaper couldn''t get more than sixty-five points if used on its own. The user would risk suffering counterattacks half of the time since each move leftrge openings whenever they failed to kill an opponent.


    Still, Khan also saw how his Lightning-demon style could remove those weaknesses. The fast moves of the Divine Reaper were perfect. He felt confident in bringing their value to their intended value once he fused them with his other techniques.


    The training program exined a few requirements of the Divine Reaper before approaching the actual lessons. It rmended a few exercises meant to merge two martial arts faster, and it even listed a series of knives that suited the powerful moves.


    ''A normal knife would break during every failed execution with mana,'' Khan read on the holograms, ''It''s better to use magic weapons with enhanced resilience. Sharpness isn''t mandatory as a feature since the Divine Reaper will handle that part.''


    Khan closed the training program at that point. It waste, and he even felt a bit disappointed. He didn''t consider the issue of a suitable weapon. George had made it appear so easy on Istrone that he had ended up underestimating the difficulty of the martial art.


    ''Weapons require apletely different set of skills,'' Khan sighed in his mind. ''That''s so obvious. I shouldn''t even try to fuse my martial arts until my proficiency with the Lightning-demon style reaches thepetent level.''


    It was clear that Khan had to spend a long time in his training. Obtaining a new martial art didn''t immediately make him stronger. He needed to invest sweat and blood before that resource could give results.


    .


    .


    .


    Khan didn''t sleep much and reached the building meant for the briefing in no time by following the instructions on his phone. He even managed to have breakfast in a simple canteen that mostly served some of Nitis'' iconic worms and insects.


    The strange food didn''t faze Khan, so he reached the briefing hall five minutes before the appointment. The room was empty, so he sat on one of the small desks that filled the area and meditated as he waited for someone to arrive.


    A rtively young solider soon entered the hall and showed a surprised expression when he noticed Khan meditating on one of the desks in the front lines. His eyebrows even arched when Khan opened his eyes and jumped on the floor to perform a military salute.


    "At ease," The man quickly announced while walking toward the end of the hall. "I''m Lieutenant Glenn Kintea. I will now share ssified information that you aren''t allowed to spread with anyone under the grade of Captain. Am I clear?"


    "Yes, sir!" Khan promptly shouted while inspecting the soldier.


    The Lieutenant was rtively short, but he had a severe face that his square head enhanced. He had short ck hair, dark eyes, a short beard, and his uniform featured two stars on each shoulder.


    The soldier didn''t waste time. He went right to the point of the briefing as he activated some of the alien menus on the ck walls and let them scan his eyes and gic signature before unlocking more options.


    Lieutenant Kintea threw a storm of information toward Khan and used holograms to make the process smoother. The soldier started from Nitis'' generalyout, fauna, and flora until he arrived at the Niqols'' hierarchy, customs, and rtionship with the humans.


    Nitis'' environment didn''t have much to say. Its often uneven surface made ground vehicles hard to use, and relying on the Udu showed the Niqols that the Global Army was willing topromise to improve the rtionship between the two species.


    The flora didn''t thrive much on the due to the absence of suitable nutrients. Sunlight didn''t shine on the surface, and the ground wasn''t as rich in mana as Istrone.


    Instead, the fauna thrived in every corner of Nitis. The didn''t need the Nak to obtain the mana, so the animals had evolved with that energy throughout countless years. Every creature in that world was a Tainted beast.


    The Niqols had a tight rtionship with Nitis'' fauna due to their excellent understanding of the mana. They relied on those creatures for different purposes, which often allowed the aliens to rece technology with them.


    The Niqols had never needed to develop vehicles, but Lieutenant Kintea confirmed that the Niqols had gone to space. The aliens had yet to reveal how a species that had founded its growth on mana could fly past Nitis'' orbit, but the Global Army guessed that most of that technology came from the Nak.


    The aliens'' hierarchy was quite simple. They had organizations that resembled tribes created ording to the connections among each family. The Niqols would belong to the same group even if they shared a single drop of blood.


    The elders of the species could join the organizations in charge of the entire poption, but they mostly handled borders and specific resources. Those groups became vital only in front of a global crisis.


    Smaller organizations handled different quadrants of the and various tasks. The Global Army didn''t know many details, but it didn''t care about them either. Its only focus was on the alien ambassadors that managed the rtionship between the two species since they were the ones in charge of epting eventual permits.


    Liiza''s mother turned out to be one of the ambassadors who managed the rtionship between the two species. She wasn''t alone in the task, but she was in charge of her team, which made her the most important alien on Nitis in the eyes of the Global Army.


    Liiza and others had to take care of helping the humans on the field. The task seemed beneath her, but she had offered herself for that role, which inevitably caused her mother''s anger.


    Nitis didn''t have many humans on its surface. Only one captain, two lieutenants, four gradeless soldiers, a few professors, and four sses of recruits lived on the alien world.


    Khan''s current training camp featured only two sses. The others were near a different city on the other side of the mountain chain. The tasks of each group mainly consisted in continuing their studies, but the army forced them to help the Niqols with various tasks to reinforce their rtionship.


    "Nitis contains priceless knowledge," Lieutenant Kintea exined as the briefing reached its end. "Imagine having a society that has evolved around mana for thousands of years. We can elerate our development by entire centuries with each discovery that the Niqols are willing to share. Our job here is vital for the Global Army and the entirety of humankind."


    Lieutenant Kintea cleared his throat at that point before opening a menu and confirming that he had sealed the door. Khan didn''t miss that action, and a tinge of interest filled his mind and made him straighten his sitting position.


    "Great job with the Aduns, Khan," The Lieutenant eximed. "We have tried to gain ess to those birds for years already. We didn''t think that the solution to our problems could be with the new generations of Niqols."


    A strange feeling spread through Khan. He didn''t know why, but he had started to feel dirty after inspecting the soldier''s keen eyes.


    "I know that the Captain wants to y it safe," Lieutenant Kintea continued, "But I believe that establishing a tight rtionship with Miss Liiza could bring incredible benefits in the next years. These aren''t official orders, but I hope you realize how great it would be if you brought Liiza on our side."

 Chapter 93 - Honesty

    The briefing ended on that strange note. Lieutenant Kintea couldn''t order Khan to get close to Liiza on purpose, but he didn''t hide his desires when the two were alone.


    Khan had to admit that he understood the Lieutenant''s intentions. Liiza seemed to have a rebellious character. She could be the perfect lever in the rtionships between the two species. Also, even if Khan were to fail to seize immediate benefits, he could alwayse back once Liiza was among the elders and make sure that humankind got its share.


    It was an almost failproof n since the Global Army could use Khan as a scapegoat if something went wrong. Still, he didn''t feel good when he thought about exploiting the Niqols'' character for his personal benefit. He wasn''t a stranger to lies and pretenses, but he didn''t want to do that to Liiza, especially since she seemed to loathe the tactics connected to the politics.


    Khan didn''t say anything about his conversation with Lieutenant Kintea when he met Paul. He limited himself to follow him toward the building where all the recruits attended their mandatory and optional courses.


    The Global Army had chosen Khan''s lessons already, and he couldn''t help but approve once Paul listed them. It turned out that many recruits on Nitis aimed to be ambassadors or simr political figures in the future, so the camp already had professors able to teach xenolinguistics, human and alien politics, and alien customs.


    Those three subjects were the core of every good ambassador, and they were necessary for the recruits living on Nitis. After all, knowing the Niqols''nguage and customs would significantly improve their performance during the semester, and it might even lead to positive oues during the interaction with the aliens.


    Most professors were rtively weak soldiers who handledmon subjects like "history of mana" and "mana cores". Lieutenant Kintea taught politics and customs, while Captain Erbair took care of the lessons of xenolinguistics that involved the Niqols''nguage.


    The recruits'' main task was to learn, and Khan did nothing else for the entire day. The academic year had already reached its seventh month, so everyone''s schedule was full of lessons. Khan and the others had to spend ten hours straight inside the sses for four days a week.


    That packed schedule didn''t leave much time for their training, but Khan quickly discovered that he didn''t have many options on Nitis.


    The camp didn''t have any training hall since the Niqols limited the type and number of buildings that the Global Army could send on the. Structures meant to strengthen the humans didn''t fit those standards, and the same went for observatories and simr stations.


    Khan''s weeks still featured three free days in which he could train freely, but Paul revealed that missions executed together with the Niqols often happened during that time. They mostly involved hunts of dangerous creatures or simr simple issues, but they would still force him to waste a lot of time.


    The usual darkness of Nitis unfolded in Khan''s eyes when he came out of the lessons. It was alreadyte afternoon, and most of the recruits around him felt the need to throw themselves on their respective beds after such a long day. However, some still tried to make Khan join the few recreational activities avable in the camp.


    "The others are going to a river nearby," George exined once the various recruits started to separate. "I went there two days ago. It was nice, and the others aren''t bad either. I might even need your charm to get closer to a cute one."


    "I don''t have a charm," Khan snorted, but his eyes inevitably fell on the recruits who had stopped near the exit of the camp.


    Those boys and girls didn''t seem bad. George wouldn''t have vouched for them otherwise. Moreover, they were all eager to know the guy who had sessfully tamed an Aduns.


    Yet, Khan felt out of time when he checked the phone. He had yet to do his usual mental training and meditations that day, and he wouldn''t mind adding some physical practice to those exercises.


    Time wasn''t on his side in the days with the lessons, but Khan wouldpletely lose it if he left to kill time with his ssmates. Also, he had something else in mind already, so he politely declined.


    "Maybe another time," Khan replied while looking toward the sky.


    Khan had sent a message through the mental connection when the lessons were about to end, and a foreign feeling had spread inside his mind while he talked with George.


    A white figure unfolded in his vision when he raised his eyes to the sky. Snow dived toward the insides of the camp and spread itsrge wings when it was about to crash on Khan and George.


    The other recruits had instinctively retreated during that sudden event. George had even fallen on the ground when the intense windsnded on his back. Only Khan had remained immune to Snow''s appearance, and he kept his eyes on the creature while itnded in front of him.


    "You must enjoy scaring others," Khanmented, and the Aduns gave voice to a loud screech before sending a proud feeling through the mental connection.


    "Yes, they can''t stand your might," Khan added, and the Aduns showed a satisfied expression before realizing that he had been sarcastic.


    Still, Khan was already on its back when that realization arrived. His legs were even clung at the base of its wings by then.


    ''Let''s go to the mountains,'' Khan sent through the mental connection.


    Snow understood what Khan wanted and quickly set off under the astonished gaze of everyone in the camp. Even Captain Erbair and Lieutenant Kintea hade out to inspect the scene, and faint smiles appeared on their faces when they saw the white spot disappearing in the distance.


    The flight felt far morefortable at that time. The injuries suffered during the test had mostly closed after a day and a short meditation performed before going to sleep. Khan felt perfectly fine, and he didn''t fear the Aduns'' sudden movements anymore after establishing the mental connection.


    Khan let Snow fly freely. He didn''t give orders nor force it to slow down. He even tried releasing the grip on its neck to see how stable his legs were.


    The almostpleteck of fear and insecurities allowed Khan to enjoy the flight properly. He felt free among the sky. The problems that had afflicted his past weeks couldn''t reach his mind with the winds blowing on his face.


    Snow eventually descended toward the base of a mountain and left Khan there before resuming its flight. The screeches of the other Aduns echoed in the sky as Khan sat on the cold, rocky ground and crossed his legs. The environment was perfect for his mental training.


    Khan spent a few hours on the ninth lesson of the mental training before a sudden pping of wings awakened him from the exercise. A dark-grey Aduns appeared in his vision when he opened his eyes, and Liiza''s charming face soon peeked out of that feathered neck.


    "I''ve never seen a human training outside the camp," Liiza announced without jumping off her Aduns.


    "The cold helps," Khan exined while showing a faint smile. "I didn''t think I would have seen you today."


    Khan had spoken the truth about his training. He had almostpleted the ninth exercise, and the tenth wouldn''t be a problem since his expertise with the mental barrier had increased a lot after Istrone''s events.


    It was only a matter of months before Khan could approach the Wave spell, and he could barely contain his excitement. His achievement wasn''t much when hepared himself to George, but the nature of his element made him ept his pace.


    "Why wouldn''t I?" Liiza asked. "I''d rather be here than at home."


    "Did your mother say anything about me?" Khan asked as his smile becameplicated.


    "I rarely see her," Liiza revealed while wearing an emotionless face. "I guess they told you about her. Does that mean that you can''t fly with me anymore?"


    "I''ve already called Snow," Khanughed as he straightened his position.


    Liiza arched her eyebrows, but a faint smile appeared on her face when she saw the white Adunsnding next to Khan. He didn''t hesitate to climb on his eagle, and the duo left as soon as Liiza set off.


    Liiza led Khan across the mountain chain. Her flight was reckless and fast, and Khan couldn''t help but appreciate it whenever he saw her smiling face. Risking his life almost felt worth it to make that usually aloof Niqols happy.


    The two Aduns eventuallynded on arge t area that expanded from the center of a mountain. The structure was quite peculiar, but it allowed Liiza and Khan to jump off their rides in a spot that wasn''t too cold and didn''t risk getting submerged by snow.


    "Why did you call it Snow?" Liiza asked. "Doesn''t that mean [snow]?"


    "The snow is white on my," Khan exined while patting his Aduns and letting it fly on its own.


    Liiza did the same with her eagle. The two soon remained alone in the middle of the mountain, and their eyes inevitably met.


    Liiza was wearing longer clothes that hid most of her skin at that time. Khan didn''t know if yesterday''s matters had something to do with that, but he didn''t mind her new look. Her white tracksuit managed to hide her curves, but it couldn''t diminish her beauty.


    "You have yet to exin what Paul meant with his gesture," Liiza reminded Khan while walking toward the edges of the t area and sitting with her legsid on the rocky side.


    "You really don''t want to let that go," Khanughed while imitating her.


    Khan sat next to her and put his legs past the area''s edges while supporting himself with his hands. The dark scenery of the mountain chain was marvelous from that position, but the few strands of fluttering white hair that appeared in his vision often made him turn toward Liiza.


    "Is that a secret?" Liiza asked as honest confusion appeared on her face.


    "Of course not," Khanughed before scratching the side of his head. "It''s just embarrassing, I guess."


    "How can a gesture be embarrassing?" Liiza continued.


    "Trust me on that," Khan replied, but Liiza''s expression grew detached at that answer.


    "Hey," Khan said before clearing his throat and continuing, "I want to remind you that I still don''t know much about the Niqols. I wish you could tell me what''s wrong instead of having to watch you growing sad."


    Khan''s sudden burst of honesty startled Liiza. She didn''t expect him to be so direct. It was even hard to contradict him when he fixed his azure eyes on her.


    "I don''t understand you," Liiza eventually revealed while giving voice to a sigh. "We learn a lot about humans from a young age, but we only know what those on the camps show us. You are definitely different."


    "How so?" Khan asked as a tinge of interest filled his mind and made him widen his smile.


    "I sensed your pain," Liiza exined, "But you can joke around easily. Your behavior didn''t change after learning about my mother, but you still keep secrets for the army. I just can''t see you clearly."


    His decision to keep the meaning behind Paul''s gesture a secret ended up creating a big misunderstanding. Yet, Khan could learn more about Liiza''s character from her words.


    "Do you also hate secrets?" Khan asked.


    "I hate lies," Liiza revealed. "I understand the need to keep a face in front of your superiors, but I can''t stand fake people, and my mother is their leader."


    "I thought Niqols were straightforward," Khanmented.


    "Straightforward doesn''t mean honest," Liiza replied, and the two moved their eyes back toward the dark scenery past the mountain.


    "I''ll tell you," Khan eventually sighed, "But don''t get strange ideas."


    "I can''t control my ideas," Liiza coldly replied. "You wouldn''t have an Aduns otherwise."


    Khan sighed before tilting his head and giving voice to a simple exnation. "Paul thought that I was hitting on you. He was only expressing his worry."


    "Hitting on me?" Liiza turned to show a confused expression to Khan. "What does that mean?"


    "You know flirting?" Khan tried to exin while turning toward Liiza and trying to summon his entire knowledge about the Niqols''nguage. "It should be something along the lines of [romance] if I''m not wrong."


    "Oh," Liiza seemed to understand at that point, and her gaze returned toward the scenery past the mountain''s edges. "Did your superiors think the same?"


    "They are just worried that I might create a mess with the Niqols," Khan sighed while looking toward the dark scenery too. "Some of them even want me to use you to get more benefits for humankind."


    "Why are you telling me this?" Liiza gasped while turning again toward Khan.


    "You like honesty," Khan said while shrugging his shoulders. "I give you honesty."


    Liiza didn''t know what to say, but a smile ended up appearing on her face. Khan looked at the scenery and avoided her eyes, and she couldn''t help but appreciate his cold vibes.


    "Get down," Liiza eventually ordered while lying on the ground and pulling Khan from his shoulder. "The sky is better than the mountains."


    Khan let Liiza pull him to the ground. The two ended up side to side with their eyes toward the sky. Their shoulders and arms touched, but neither of them said anything about that.


    "Was he right?" Liiza eventually asked.


    "Who?" Khan promptly replied with a question.


    "Paul," Liiza continued. "Were you hitting on me?"


    "A bit," Khan honestly revealed. "You can me the Nak if you want. They must have done something to my taste."


    "Am I ugly then?" Liiza asked while supporting herself on her elbow and turning toward Khan.


    Liiza''s curves inevitably touched Khan''s shoulder and arm. She seemed about to lie above him, but she made sure to keep her free arm on her side.


    "No," Khan sighed. "I struggle to stop looking at you."


    Liiza giggled as her eyes met Khan''s. The two continued to look at each other even after Khan spoke again. "You did the same, right? I don''t know how to recognize the signals of your species."


    "Niqols use signals only when actions might cause problems," Liiza revealed. "They don''t bother to talk when they know that everything is fine."


    "Were they signals the-?" Khan was about to ask, but Liiza suddenly ced her free arm on his chest and lowered her head above his.


    Her long white hair fell to the sides of Khan''s head, but her glowing white eyes allowed him to see her perfectly. The light started to vanish as Liiza continued to lower her body, and itpletely disappeared when their lips met.

 Chapter 94 - Talk

    Liiza''s lips felt cold and smooth. They werepletely different from Cora''s warmth, but Khan didn''t even think about the human girl in that situation.


    His mind barely managed to generate thoughts. Everything had disappeared when Liiza kissed him, and his hand instinctively rose to reach the back of her head. Her white hair felt like the softest material in the world while he pulled her closer.


    Liiza''s fingertips scratched Khan''s chest before closing on his uniform. The kiss became more passionate, and Liiza soon rxed enough toypletely on his torso.


    She felt light, and her hand slowly reached his cheek to caress it. Khan couldn''t help but wrap his arm around her waist andy his palm on her side.


    The two remained immersed in their kiss for a while. Sometimes, Khan tilted his head and made their lips separate to adjust his position, but Liiza dived on him in the next instant. Other times, Liiza lifted her chin and showed a happy smile whenever Khan followed her to bring her back into their romantic moment.


    Liiza eventually raised her head and giggled before lying on his chest. Khan revealed a broad smile as he nced at the long white hair right under him and continued to caress it.


    The two fell silent. Only the howling winds and the sporadic screeches of the Aduns echoed in the area, but Khan couldn''t hear them. He felt at peace under that dark sky and with the cold Niqols resting on him. He didn''t feel the need to do anything for the first time in weeks.


    "One of us has to speak at some point," Liiza giggled.


    "Everything else will return if we talk about it," Khan said while enjoying the slight reactions that caressing the back of Liiza''s head caused.


    Liiza gave voice to a cute sound to express her agreement. The two remained in silence for a few more minutes, but the world eventually showed its presence again in their minds.


    "You are warm," Liiza eventually eximed. "It''s strange to kiss a human."


    "Did you kiss many Niqols?" Khan instinctively asked, and Liiza raised her head to show a canny smile toward him.


    "Jealous?" Liiza teased him. "Do you want to go possessive on me already?"


    Khan nned a perfect answer, but those words vanished from his mind when the glowing white eyes filled his vision. His smile disappeared as his face wore a captivated expression and rose to meet Liiza.


    Liiza was only teasing Khan, but her smile also vanished when she saw how serious Khan had be. The two kissed, and she wrapped her arms around his head to make their lips touch for as long as possible.


    Liiza moved a bit forward after the two separated to make sure that she could watch Khan straight in the eyes. Sheid her arms at the side of his head and yed with his hair while wearing aplicated expression.


    "Do we really have to talk?" Khan asked as a helpless sigh escaped his mouth.


    "It''s necessary, right?" Liiza replied without showing any happiness about the matter. "Our situation kind of requires it."


    Khan knew that she was right, but he didn''t want to talk about politics right away. He felt the need to rify his position first.


    "I went through something before reaching Nitis," Khan revealed while lowering his eyes. "I had, no, I might have had a girlfriend if she didn''t end up in aa. Part of me wanted to wait for her, but you arrived."


    Liiza''s eyes widened in front of that sudden revtion. She pursed her lips before asking something in a calm voice. "Do you feel guilty?"


    "No," Khan honestly replied while fixing his eyes on the Niqols. "I feel at peace."


    "Are you using me to forget her?" Liiza asked.


    "Not at all," Khan replied in a firm voice. "I actually wanted to stop thinking about you."


    "That didn''t go so well," Liiza giggled, and Khan opened his mouth to say something, but the Niqols lowered her head to kiss him.


    Khan felt surprised, but he eventually lost himself in the kiss. The two spent a few more minutes in that situation before separating again and exchanging captivated expressions.


    "I shouldn''t have revealed that I liked honesty so soon," Liizamented while moving her fingers around Khan''s lips.


    "I won''t abuse this power," Khanughed, "Too much."


    Liiza smiled before giving a proper answer to Khan''s previous revtions. "We just started this rtionship. We''ll have time to see if we truly like our characters. I might have decided to kiss you only to go against my mother for all you know."


    "Rtionship?" Khan asked as his eyes lit up. "Do you mean it in the human meaning?"


    "Niqols have the same idea of rtionships," Liiza replied while diverting her gaze. "Is that a problem?"


    "So, I only kiss you, and you only kiss me?" Khan asked to make sure that he had understood correctly.


    "If you want," Liiza answered while continuing to divert her gaze, but her eyes slowly returned to Khan''s face since he didn''t answer.


    A warm smile unfolded in her vision. She didn''t need to hear Khan''s answer anymore at that point. His expression had already confirmed that he agreed with her, and she couldn''t help but kiss him again at that point.


    The two continued to kiss until Khan turned and gently ced her on the ground. He pulled her close as his hand remained on her waist, but she eventually pulled his upper lip with her teeth and revealed a smile in front of his confused expression.


    "I''m not ready for that," Liiza said after releasing Khan''s lip.


    Khan didn''t need to question her to understand the meaning behind "that". He limited himself to smile and make his hand slide toward the upper part of her back until he could pull her into a hug.


    Liiza snuggled closer and rested on his chest. She enjoyed Khan''s caresses for a few minutes, but she eventually pushed him down before lying on him again.


    "We have to talk!" Liizained, but a giggle escaped from her mouth when she saw Khan rolling his eyes.


    "What''s there to talk about?" Khan said in a helpless tone. "The army will kick me out once your superiors learn about us, and your mother will ask for my head on a silver te to mend the rtionship between our species."


    "Does the te have to be made of silver?" Liiza asked while tilting her head. "Is that a human thing?"


    "I''m dead either way," Khan announced while raising his hand toward the sky and speaking in a fake dying voice. "If only I had a beautiful girl willing to satisfy myst wish."


    "Niqols reach physical maturity when they are fifteen," Liiza revealed while poking Khan''s cheek with her finger. "I''m almost eighteen. I''m an adult."


    "If only I had a beautiful woman willing to satisfy-," Khan repeated in the same tone, but Liiza covered his mouth with her hands before exploding into a cuteugh.


    "We must make sure that they don''t find out about us then," Liiza said while continuing to cover Khan''s mouth. "I will also face many problems if my superiors learn that I''m with a human."


    Liiza revealed a happy expression when she sensed Khan''s smiling from under her palms, but the arrival of a wet sensation made her remove her hands and sit on his chest.


    "Don''t lick it!" Liizained, butughs seeped into her voice and stopped her from using an angry tone.


    "You have a secret boyfriend then," Khan smiled while caressing her legs.


    "And you have a secret girlfriend," Liiza continued while crouching on Khan and kissing him.


    The two continued tough, kiss each other, cuddle, and reveal small pieces of their lives as time flowed. They were so caught in each other that they lost track of their surroundings. Their eyes barely managed to go past their figures.


    "How can I contact you once I return to the camp?" Khan eventually asked as Liiza rested on his shoulder.


    "The humans have given us phones," Liiza exined without opening her eyes, "But they work on their system. My superiors strongly believe that humans keep track of every conversation."


    "What about the Niqols?" Khan asked. "How do youmunicate?"


    "We have special stones powered by mana," Liiza revealed, "But they require a core to work. My superiors can inspect it and understand if there are unwanted presences connected."


    "I won''t be able to learn if something happens to you then," Khan sighed.


    "I won''t know if you need me to save you then," Liiza scoffed. "Do I need to remind you that this is my?"


    "It''s still annoying," Khan added while caressing Liiza''s hair and enjoying feeling her snuggling closer.


    "We can talk through the Aduns," Liiza eventually revealed. "It won''t be a proper conversation, but we''ll be able to learn if we are both outside."


    "Can we?" Khan asked in a surprised tone, and Liiza nodded before pointing her palm on his chest and straightening her position to sit on the ground.


    "Call Snow," Liiza said while covering her mouth to hide a yawn. "Let''s make them talk."


    Khan imitated Liiza and sat cross-legged on the ground. He sent a message through the mental connection and raised his eyes to the sky as he waited for the familiar white dot to appear in his vision.


    "I can get used to your warmth," Liiza yawned while cing her head on Khan''s shoulder.


    Khan quickly took her in his embrace and let her rest on the side of his chest. He even lifted her legs and made her sit on hisp. It was clear that Liiza couldn''t handle all-nighters as well as him, but he didn''t mind that since he got the chance to see her cute sleepy face.


    Liiza fell asleep, but the familiar noise generated by the pping of wings soon awakened her. Both her Aduns and Snow appeared in her vision when she opened her eyes.


    "Keep track of each other," Liiza ordered. "It''s the only way to know if we are outside. We must rely on you."


    Snow turned toward Khan and gave voice to a short screech when it saw him nodding. The two eagles turned to leave at that point, but Khan''s phone suddenly rang and made them look toward the couple sitting on the ground.


    Khan''s eyes widened when he saw the hour on his phone. It was almost six am. The lessons were about to begin, and Paul had sent him a message when he failed to appear for morning count.


    "Those aren''t nice words, right?" Liizamented when she read Paul''s message from Khan''s screen. "Are they what humans call slurs?"


    "I have to go," Khan sighed while kissing Liiza''s forehead. "I didn''t think you could be worse than the meditations."


    "Are you insulting me?" Liiza asked while pulling herself back and showing a confused expression.


    "Hoursst seconds when I''m with you," Khan briefly exined while caressing her cheek and standing up. "You made me experience two of the best days of my life. I hope to do the same with you."


    "You need to keep trying then," Liiza smiled before lying on the ground. "I hope to see you tomorrow."


    "Will you sleep here?" Khan asked when he saw that she had no intention to move.


    "I often sleep on the mountains," Liiza revealed. "It''s fine, but we should avoid ending up like this too often. Once can be a coincidence, but our superiors will start to suspect something if we both arrivete to our appointments."


    Khan nodded and turned to reach Snow. The Aduns had understood how Khan was feeling, so it prepared itself to fly at full speed and in a straight line toward the human camp.


    "Khan?" Liiza suddenly called before Khan could jump on the eagle.


    "What is it?" Khan asked while turning toward the Niqols resting on the ground.


    "Won''t you say goodbye?" Liiza asked as a tinge of shyness appeared in her voice.


    Khan couldn''t help but smile and hurry back to her. He quickly crouched, and Liiza didn''t hesitate to take his face into her hands. The two exchanged a long kiss, and Liiza delivered ast short one before pushing him away.


    Both of them ended up smirking, but Khan eventually turned and ran toward Snow. Liiza waited until his figure disappeared among the sky before turning to her side and falling asleep while wearing a warm smile.

 Chapter 95 - Monster

    "You arete for your morning lessons on your second day," Paul scolded while looking at the boy performing a military salute in front of him.


    "I lost track of time during my meditations," Khan lied. "It won''t happen again."


    Paul hade out of his habitation as soon as he heard Snow''s wings pping in the camp. Khan wanted to hurry toward the lesson, but Paul had intercepted him before he could enter the building.


    "Being on time is an important skill in all recruits," Paulmented. "Your presence here should mean that you are among the best of the best, and that includes not beingte for the lessons."


    "I understand," Khan replied while keeping his eyes on the soldier.


    "Look," Paul eventually sighed while breaking his stern expression. "I know that you are a special case, and I don''t want to be too harsh on you after everything that you have done on Istrone. However, I can''t have recruitste or sleeping during sses. That behavior might affect my promotion."


    "I won''t bete again," Khan promised, "And I won''t fall asleep during the lessons either. I''ll be the perfect recruit that you need."


    "How can I trust you?" Paul asked. "The schedule here is harsh, and you make it worse by training all night somewhere on an alien. You might be able tost for a few days, but theck of sleep will definitely affect your performance in the missions with the Niqols."


    "I have remained awake for almost three days before fighting a first-level warrior," Khanmented. "I won''t make you lose face during those missions."


    Paul suddenly recalled the reports of the Istrone''s rebellion. He didn''t know what to say in front of those facts. Khan had already proven that he could handle theck of sleep perfectly.


    "Just take care of yourself then," Paul signed. "The fact that you can endure theck of sleep doesn''t mean that you should remain awake as much as possible. Take it easy. You have earnt it."


    Paul began to leave, but Khan gave voice to a weak "sir" that made him turn.


    "Would it be possible to skip the morning lessons?" Khan asked. "I know that a soldier should know our history and how mana cores work, but I''d rather spend that time training."


    "Do you want to remain ignorant about such crucial topics?" Paul asked.


    Khan snorted inside his mind. He came from the Slums. Most of the soldiers there didn''t even know that they were immune to Tainted animals.


    Moreover, learning about the various details of human development and the many stats of the mana cores felt pointless. Khan would rather have them as separate books to read whenever he had time. Having the chance to look them up on his phone was far better than spending four hours of his day listening to a professor.


    "You aren''t the first toin about the tight schedule," Paul revealed. "The army thinks that theck of training halls and the three free days are enough to make up for the time spent in the additional lessons. The higher-ups didn''t add the missions with the Niqols to their math. They even tried to add courses unrted to mana in the past."


    "How would they even fit them?" Khan asked while shaking his head.


    "Don''t ask me," Paul shrugged his shoulders. "Captain Erbair has tried to reduce the number of lessons for quite some time as far as I know, but it seems that the higher-ups are stubborn."


    "Why would they even oppose that?" Khan wondered. "I thought getting stronger soldiers was the army''s priority."


    "What do you want me to say?" Paul sighed while spreading his arms. "The higher-ups probably want to leave easy subjects to make even idiots graduate."


    The training camp was free for two years, but the recruits often left it sooner to join different specialized fields. Still, they had toplete a few requirements to leave it and sessfully graduate as soldiers.


    Bing a first-level warrior was the easiest and mostmon requirement due to the help of synthetic mana. Many recruits managed to make their attunement hit fifty percent in a bit more than a year, so they didn''t even need to continue attending the lessons.


    Other requirements involved sessful mastery of a subject. Those events needed written tests nned through thework and helped to add value to a soldier.


    Khan would need to pass tests in xenolinguistics, human and alien politics, and alien customs to appear on the list of potential ambassadors. He even had to add a decent level and multiple achievements to his profile to gain more value in the eyes of the Global Army.


    Soldiers would gain ess to contests and simr tests for specific positions as long as their profiles met their requirements. Thework of the Global Army updated a list of avable tasks and roles every hour, and a simple phone was enough to browse it.


    Martha had taught Khan how to check his list in the past, which had obviously turned out to be empty. He didn''t look it up after Istrone''s events, but he knew that the process would remain pointless as long as his profilecked proper certificates of his abilities.


    "I''ll ask if you can skip those two lessons," Paul continued. "They might make an exception for you. Giving you more free hours can only help my situation."


    "Thank you, Paul," Khan honestly replied. "Though, make them send the lessons to my phone anyway. I want to read them when I have time."


    "Sure, sure," Paul said while turning and waving his hand. "I''ll try to get you everything you want as long as you stay away from alien pants."


    Khan remained expressionless, but he still felt lucky that Paul wasn''t looking at him when he made thatment. The soldier was quite perceptive, so Khan wanted to avoid giving even the slightest hint about his situation. It was better if Paul never learnt that he had already gone against his orders.


    The conversation with Paul didn''t exempt Khan from the morning lessons. He had been a mere thirty minuteste to the first ss, so he had nine more hours to go before regaining his freedom.


    Theck of sleep tried to get to Khan''s head, but he easily vanquished those sensations. He paid attention during the lessons, even if many of them were incredibly dull, and his tiredness reached its peak once the night approached.


    "Will youe with us tonight?" George asked while a small group of recruits hurried toward the camp''s exit and turned to wait for him.


    "I think I''ll go for a flight again," Khan showed a sorry smile before looking toward the white dot that had appeared in the sky.


    Snownded next to him, but it didn''t manage to scare George at that time. The boy had already grown used to the eagle, which ended up giving voice to a disappointed screech at that scene.


    "Don''t bete again tomorrow," Georgeughed, "And try to sleep a bit. I don''t want to think about Istrone when I look at your face."


    "How did it go with the girl in the end?" Khan asked while climbing on the eagle.


    "It would have been better if I had your charm on my side," Georgeughed. "Be sure to help me one of these days."


    Khan limited himself tough. Snow set off and flew toward the mountains in the distance. The Aduns had yet to see Liiza''s eagle that day, and Khan could only hope that she went out for a flight at some point.


    Spending time on his own wasn''t an issue. Khan set the rm and dived into his training. It was almost six pm, so he had twelve hours left before the lessons in the morning. He could easily fit his mental exercises, meditations, practice with the Lightning-demon style, and a nap before that.


    Khan approached the mental training right away and finallypleted the ninth exercise. He could move one step closer to the Wave spell now, but he felt a bit tired, so he decided to meditate for a few hours before standing up and repeating all the techniques of the Lightning-demon style.


    ''Only four hours before the lessons,'' Khan sighed in his mind when he checked his phone.


    His training could upy his entire day. Theck of training halls didn''t affect his packed schedule at all, especially since he could spend many hours meditating and increasing his attunement with mana.


    Snow could require almost an hour to fly between the camp and the mountains. That time depended on how long it yed during the flight, and Khan didn''t want to take that away. He liked keeping his eagle happy, which meant that he only had three hours left.


    Khan had returned to therge t area where Liiza had kissed him, but she didn''t arrive. The winds were strong there, but he didn''t need to fear avnches, so he decided to walk near the rocky wall and sleep in a partially covered corner.


    The rocky surface was nothing too hard to withstand after Istrone''s events. Khan even ended up falling asleep faster than usual there. The cold on that spot couldn''t affect his body, and the winds didn''t manage to keep him awake. He felt free and safe in the wild.


    The noise generated by the pping of wings awakened him before his rm could ring. Khan opened his eyes and saw a dark-grey figurending next to the edges of the t area.


    "I didn''t want to wake you up," Liiza announced after jumping off her Aduns. "You must be exhausted after yesterday."


    "I would have sensed your mana anyway," Khan revealed before scratching the corner of his eyes and reopening them to gaze at the stunning figure walking toward him.


    Liiza was wearing her usual aloof expression when she was on her Aduns, but a smile had appeared on her face seeing Khan. She hurried toward him and knelt toy her shoulder on the rocky side next to him.


    "Hey," Liiza whispered.


    "Hey," Khan replied, and his eyes inevitably fell on Liiza''s mouth when she saw her biting her lower lip.


    The two smiled as their faces drew near and eventually led to a kiss. A slight tinge of awkwardness had been in the air, but the two returned to the previous night when their lips met.


    "My mother hase back today," Liiza exined before sitting on Khan''sp and facing him. "It''s always hard to sneak out when she is home."


    "It''s fine," Khan said while their foreheads touched. "We can''t spend every night together. Finding the time for everything is getting hard."


    "I can always break up with you to give you more free time," Liiza teased before exploding into augh when she saw Khan''s frown.


    The two remained in that position for a while. They exchanged kisses, jokes, and long, meaningful gazes, but Khan''s rm eventually rang and reminded him about his lessons.


    "I have to go," Khan revealed in a helpless tone while putting the phone back inside the pocket hidden by Liiza''s leg.


    "This is so annoying," Liiza sighed while tightening her legs around Khan''s waist and doing the same with the arms clung to his neck.


    "We will have more time together during the weekend," Khan exined. "I still have to train, but I wouldn''t have to spend ten hours on the lessons."


    "You won''t," Liiza revealed. "Your team will have to help with a monster. The entire travel to the hunting area will take three days."

 Chapter 96 - Bad Boy

    "Monster?" Khan asked before thinking about something. "Wait. Don''t tell me about that stuff. I don''t want to risk using you."


    "You are my boyfriend," Liiza said while wearing a sober expression and cing a hand on his cheek. "I won''t keep secrets from you due to political reasons. Deal with it."


    Khan opened his mouth, but the words remained stuck in his throat. He didn''t have a proper response, and Liiza''s eyes made him lose the desire to speak.


    "What is it?" Liiza asked when she saw that Khan limited himself to stare at her. "Either kiss me or leave."


    Khan couldn''t help but ce his hands on her waist to pull her closer, and the two exchanged a long kiss.


    "Now give me a proper goodbye," Liiza whispered when their lips separated, and Khan wrapped his arm around her waist while pointing his feet to the ground and standing up.


    Khan straightened his position while lifting Liiza with him. The Niqols gave voice to a cute giggle before kissing him again. She remained wrapped to him while he slowly walked toward Snow.


    Liiza bit her lower lip when the two separated, and Khan couldn''t move his eyes from her while her legs left his waist and returned to the ground. That was only the second day of their rtionship, and the few minutes they had managed to spend together weren''t nearly enough to satisfy them.


    "On a positive note," Liiza continued while diverting her gaze and ying with her hair. "I''ll have to oversee the Niqols ss during the hunt, so I''ll get the chance to see you fight."


    "Are you looking forward to that?" Khan teased her while pulling her closer.


    "A bit," Liiza turned to show a smile, and the two inevitably kissed again.


    Khan had to muster the entirety of his mental strength to push Liiza away. He lightly squeezed her sides to enjoy her softness before giving a short kiss and turning toward his eagle.


    Liiza and Khan exchanged a meaningful nce as their fingers left each other. They both could understand their desires, but neither of them acted to dy the separation even further.


    "How strong are you anyway?" Khan asked while climbing on his Aduns.


    Khan could sense the intensity of the mana inside Liiza''s body. She didn''t feel like a first-level warrior, but that feature sounded strange when he considered how Niqols had a great understanding of mana.


    "Humans fill their bodies with mana before understanding how that energy works," Liiza exined after wearing a calm smile. "Niqols don''t do that. We ept mana only after proving our understanding. I probably started my training after you."


    "How can you be so strong then?" Khan asked in a shocked tone.


    The mana contained inside her body put her near his level in terms of attunement. Khan knew that his simrities with the Nak had made his meditations quite effective, so he couldn''t understand how Liiza could have reached his level in a shorter time.


    "Nitis developed through mana for a long time," Liiza revealed. "The Niqols are like the other animals. Our starting point is above humans."


    Khan understood at that point. It even made a lot of sense when he thought about it. The Niqols probably had mana inside their bodies since birth, so they could make up for thete start of their training with that advantage.


    "Hurry up now," Liiza pressed.


    Khan smiled and kept his eyes on Liiza while he patted Snow''s neck. The Aduns set off and made sure to fly in a circle above the t area a few times before shooting toward the camp.


    Khan managed to arrive on time for his first lesson, and another long day started. His few hours of sleep were more than enough to keep him up and running untilte afternoon arrived and he could leave for the mountain chain again.


    Nitis allowed Khan to experience true freedom. He had a mandatory appointment to attend for ten hours a day, but he was more independent than all the other humans on the after that.


    His Aduns gave him the chance to fly in areas that the other humans couldn''t reach. Khan could move between different regions in a matter of hours. No one could even bother him due to his achievements on Onia and Istrone.


    The meetings with Liiza went better in the following nights. The Niqols managed to sneak out of her home early, so the couple could spend a lot of time together.


    The rtionship ended up affecting Khan''s sleeping schedule badly, but he felt the tiredness only when he reached the morning lessons. Curiosity took control of him when he attended the subjects necessary to be an ambassador, and his energy seemed endless when he was with Liiza.


    Truth be told, Khan had the chance to rest, but his training would have suffered at that point, and he preferred to avoid that, especially with the new martial art and the Wave spell waiting behind the corner.


    Stepping on thepetent proficiency level with the Lightning-demon style would give him the chance to start studying the Divine Reaper without affecting his current ability. Meanwhile, the mental training for his element only needed him to clear three more exercises before approaching his first spell.


    Khan ended up clearing the tenth mental exercise on his fourth night spent on the mountains. He didn''t have to attend lessons the next day, so he didn''t leave the t area even after morning arrived.


    Liiza had fallen asleep on hisp after spending the entire night flirting, kissing, and joking around, and Khan had used that chance to take a nap and resume his training. The captivating figure in his embrace had only benefited his already great mastery over the mental barrier and had made him clear the tenth exercise in no time.


    ''Paul has yet to call,'' Khan thought when the mental exercise ended.


    The beauty on hisp had revealed that the human troops would have to join a hunt during the three free days, but Paul didn''t mention anything during thest period. Khan knew that Liiza didn''t lie to him, so he expected a message to reach his phone soon.


    "Why don''t you ever rest?" Liizained in a sleepy voice while moving her hand on Khan''s torso. "I caught a glimpse of your sleeping face only on the second night."


    "I slept a few hours before," Khan said in a soft voice before kissing her forehead and sliding his hand over her back to reach her head. "A few naps are enough for me."


    Khan couldn''t help but smile when he noticed Liiza pouting with her eyes closed. He began to caress the back of her head, and Liiza replied by snuggling closer and putting her hand between the buttons of his uniform.


    Khan had no experience with rtionships, but he knew that it was impossible to reach the same level of intimacy with a human after only four days. The two were already sleeping together in the end, and Khan thoroughly enjoyed those moments.


    Holding back was a problem at times, especially since Liiza was quite bold with her actions. Shey on him whenever she had the chance, and her hands had even started to sneak inside his uniformtely. Khan could suppress his arousal through his training, but Liiza had caught him right afterpleting the mental exercise now.


    "I know," Liizamented while caressing Khan''s bare chest with her cold fingers. "You move and sweat a lot when you sleep."


    Khan didn''t say anything. Liiza was usually curious about those things, but she didn''t question him at that time. She limited herself to point out that she knew about Khan''s messy sleep, but no inquiry arrived from her side.


    Liiza couldn''t possibly imagine that Khan experienced the same nightmare whenever he fell asleep. Still, she knew about his azure scar, and he had even revealed that something had happened to him before Nitis. She connected the messy sleep with one of those events, but she decided to let Khan talk about it only when he felt ready.


    Liiza never let go of her curiosity, so Khan could understand that she was remaining silent on purpose. That care for his feelings made him feel warm, and his mind grew messy when that sensation fused with her cold touch on his chest.


    "Human girls would never sneak under my clothes so soon," Khan teased.


    "I studied what you humans call decency," Liiza announced before sneaking her whole palm past the opening between the buttons and cing it on Khan''s bare side. "You can be so stupid at times. Why would you even wait to get this?"


    Liiza squeezed Khan''s side and revealed a satisfied smile when she felt his firm muscles. Khan almost lost his mind, and his free hand went on her thigh while he bent forward and gently put her on the ground.


    A white glow shone on his face at that point. Liiza had opened her eyes, and she fell in a daze when she noticed Khan''s serious face. He appeared on the verge of exploding, and her grip on his naked side inevitably tightened.


    Khan descended on her, and Liiza weed him by wrapping her free arm behind his neck. The two exchanged a passionate kiss, and one of the uniform''s buttons came off as Liiza''s hand began to move freely on Khan''s naked skin.


    Khan didn''t hold back either. He felt slightly shy, but his desire was cutting off most of his restraint. The hand that had been on Liiza''s thigh slid upward, caressed the side of her butt, and found the opening in the upper part of her tracksuit to reach her bare waist.


    Thoughts stopped flowing when the coldness of Liiza''s soft skin spread through his mind. The two became more passionate during their kiss, and their clothes suddenly started to feel ufortable.


    However, Khan''s phone suddenly rang, and a groan escaped his mouth. Liiza''s rxed her grip and gave him the chance to leave her lips. Still, a teasing smile appeared on her face when she saw that Khan used the hand behind her head to pick his device and left the other under her tracksuit.


    ''Mandatory meeting in one hour,'' Khan read Paul''s message on the screen, and the faint desire to destroy his phone filled his mind.


    That desire intensified when his eyes moved on Liiza. She had her gaze on him while an arm rested on the ground above her head. Her foot was scratching Khan''s leg, and part of her waist was in the open.


    "I''m starting to hate humans," Liiza sighed. "When do you have to be there?"


    "One hour," Khan replied while storing his phone. "I can stay a bit more."


    Liiza''s smile broadened, and she quickly spread her legs to catch Khan''s waist in their grasp. She pulled him closer, and he let her guide him above her.


    "You''d better set the rm," Liiza said as more of her arm slid inside his uniform and made another buttone off.


    "I''d better set the rm," Khan repeated as his hand slid over Liiza''s naked side and reached her bra.


    .


    .


    .


    Paul and the other recruits had gathered at the center of the camp. Even Lieutenant Kintea was there, but they all wore awkward expressions while they waited for Khan to arrive.


    "How long?" Lieutenant Kintea asked when turning toward Paul.


    "He still has five minutes," Paul replied while looking at his phone.


    The Lieutenant was clearly annoyed that the time wasn''t up yet, but a white figure suddenly appeared in his vision when he looked at the dark sky.


    Snow dived at full speed toward the camp and unfolded its wings right before touching the ground. Khan quickly jumped off the eagle, and the scene made the recruits, Paul, and the Lieutenant wear confused expressions.


    Khan was shirtless. Everyone could see his naked torso covered with small patches of grey snow. Meanwhile, the Aduns next to him had the torn upper part of his uniform in its beak, and it seemed happy when it swung it left and right.


    "I''m on time, right?" Khan asked while wearing his best innocent face and patting his eagle. "I''m sorry. I would havee sooner if this bad boy stopped ying around."

 Chapter 97 - Flashes

    The group struggled to understand what had happened. It was clear that Khan had lost control of his Aduns, but they ignored how it had ended up with his uniforms in its beak.


    "You aren''tte," Paul quickly eximed before the Lieutenant could say anything. "Go get a new uniform ande back here. You have sixty seconds."


    Khan nodded and patted Snow''s neck before hurrying toward his room. The Aduns immediately set off, but only the male recruits gazed at the beautiful animal leaving the camp. The girls among the group couldn''t help but shot nces at Khan''s uncovered torso before giving voice to whispers, gasps, and giggles.


    ''I love that eagle!'' Khan shouted in his mind while removing the snow from his torso.


    The process revealed faint red marks on his back and chest. Liiza had grown more passionate during thest minutes they spent together, and her nails had left signs on many spots.


    Khan didn''t even have a proper way to justify the missing buttons from his uniform, so he had opted to return without it and me Snow about the matter. The army couldn''t do anything to a creature that the Niqols viewed as part of a holy species.


    Messy thoughts ran through Khan''s brain as he searched for a clean uniform in his room. The memories of the sensations experienced just a few minutes ago were still clear in his mind, and captivating images appeared in his vision whenever he went back to those moments.


    ''How can I even keep a straight face in front of her after tonight?'' Khan cursed in his mind while buttoning his uniform and running back toward the center of the camp.


    ''We are definitely getting close to that,'' Khan thought as he reached the recruits and performed a military salute after getting in line. ''Can I skip the condoms since she is a Niqols? Who can even know this? Wait, our sexual organs arepatible, but can we procreate?''


    Countless doubts filled Khan''s mind now that his chances of experiencing his first time seemed to increase. He knew a bit about the topic, and he valued his father''sst words, but his options on Nitis were almost non-existent since his rtionship could cause a major uproar.


    "It''s time to start the meeting," Paul cleared his throat. "We''llplete a mission with the Niqols in these days. Lieutenant Kintea will take care of exining the various details."


    Paul took a step back and performed a military salute. The Lieutenant nodded at that gesture and started walking in front of the recruits in silence. His res made some of them lower their eyes, but Khan and many others remained unaffected by those gestures.


    "Many of you have alreadypleted missions with the Niqols," Lieutenant Kintea eventually announced. "Nitis'' powerful fauna often generates problematic specimens that hurt the environment. The Niqols take care of them, and they have started to request our help more often after we proved ourselves useful."


    Lieutenant Kintea waited for his words to seep inside the recruits'' ears before continuing. "This mission won''t be different from the others. You''ll still have to help with a hunt. However, the target will be stronger this time. I know for a fact that the Niqols believe it to be a monster."


    Some recruits frowned, others gasped, and a few looked around them to see if theirpanions knew more about the matter. Khan was the only one who didn''t show any reaction. He was still thinking about Liiza with part of his mind, and the confusion of those around him confirmed that he wasn''t alone in his ignorance.


    "Are you even listening, Khan?" Lieutenant Kintea walked in front of Khan and asked when he noticed hisck of reactions.


    "Yes, sir!" Khan promptly replied.


    "What did I just say?" Lieutenant Kintea asked in a stern tone.


    "We have to help the Niqols kill a monster, sir!" Khan eximed.


    "Do you know what a monster is?" Lieutenant Kintea continued.


    "No, sir!" Khan shouted.


    "Why didn''t you ask anything then?" The Lieutenant asked.


    "I believed the Lieutenant or Paul would have exined it sooner orter, sir," Khan replied. "I didn''t want to waste your time with questions, sir."


    "What if we didn''t say anything at all?" Lieutenant Kintea asked as his eyebrows arched.


    "I would have killed the monster anyway, sir," Khan shouted, and a tinge of arrogance even seeped into his voice.


    Khan had obviously given that answer on purpose. He was following Paul and Captain Erbair''s advice. ying it low and avoiding problems wasn''t the right approach in that training camp.


    "Hmph," Lieutenant Kintea snorted before leaving Khan and taking a few steps back so that the entire group of recruits could see him. "A monster is an unstable evolution of a Tainted animal. Mana can naturally cause mutations, even if it isn''t as pure as the Nak''s. Those are extremely rare events, but Nitis experiences them every once in a while due to the high number of Tainted beasts."


    Khan felt actually surprised to learn that. He knew a lot about the Tainted status, and he was even aware of the chances of developing mutations from mana that didn''te from Nak. They were basically non-existent.


    The chances of experiencing a second wave of mutations after achieving the Tainted status were even lower. Still, a reasonable exnation formed in Khan''s mind when he thought about Nitis'' situation.


    The featured Tainted animals that ate each other for years. In theory, that could trigger new mutations after a while. The chances were still incredibly low, but they weren''t impossible anymore in front of the fauna of an entire.


    Khan found the matter quite interesting. He didn''t know how strong a monster could be, but it couldn''t be weak since the army was willing to deploy an entire ss for the mission. He would finally have the chance to fight and deploy his techniques against a proper opponent.


    Thinking that Liiza would be on the mission made Khan''s mind go back to thest moments spent together, but Lieutenant Kintea suddenly turned to leave, and Paul forced the group to salute him.


    "We''ll leave in an hour," Paul exined once the Lieutenant entered a building. "Prepare your stuff and rides. Miss Liiza will lead us to the gathering point where we''ll join the ss of Niqols. The travel should take half a day, but I''ll handle the provisions."


    Everyone voiced a loud "yes, sir", but they slowly turned toward Khan due to the obvious issues connected to his ride.


    "Will you be okay?" Paul asked. "I hope your bird doesn''t tear your uniform apart again."


    "I''ll manage," Khan replied before sending a message through his mental connection.


    An annoyed feeling spread from the mental connection. Snow didn''t like that Khan had sent it away just to summon it a few minutester, but the eagle couldn''t say anything when it sensed Khan''s helplessness.


    "We are finally going to spend some time together," George announced after Paul left, "Even if you''ll enjoy the travel from the sky."


    "Aduns aren''t asfortable as you think," Khanughed. "It kills your legs to be on their back for more than a few hours."


    "Well, I know that you can handle that," George smirked before recalling something and clearing his throat. "Let me introduce you to everyone else."


    A group of fifteen recruits stood behind George. They were the members of the ss handled by Paul, the fourth human ss in the entirety of Nitis.


    A series of names flew toward Khan, but he only paid attention to a few of them since they belonged to recruits who stood out even among that experienced group.


    Harris was a tall, muscr guy who already had a thick beard. His azure eyes created a stark contrast with his dark skin, and his slightly long curly hair fell to the side of his face to give it a round shape.


    Natalie was as tall as Khan, and she wore a cold expression that threatened to ruin her natural beauty. Her olive skin mixed perfectly with her long ck hair and dark eyes, and her uniform failed to hide her well-developed curves.


    Sonia was a short girl who never stopped smiling. Her clear skin, long blonde hair, and azure eyes gave her an angelic appearance, but the rusty knife that she spun around her fingers ruined her pure aura.


    Veronica was slightly taller than Khan. She had a metal stick sheathed on her back, and she wore armguards above her military uniform. She had short brown hair and green eyes, and her expressions gave off a gentle feeling.


    It wasn''t hard to understand that George liked Natalie. He had put more emphasis on her introduction, and Veronica had even rolled her eyes during that part. Still, Natalie didn''t appear interested in those attentions.


    The other recruits felt rather in. They appeared as slightly better versions of Dorian right after the end of Istrone''s rebellion. Their attunement with mana was decent, but Khan didn''t feel threatened by them.


    Only Harris, Natalie, Sonia, and Veronica seemed to be on George''s level, but Khan didn''t let his senses convince him that he was the strongest among the recruits. He didn''t believe that his sensitivity to mana and instincts could evaluate battle prowess urately after a single interaction.


    None of the recruits mentioned theirst name. George exined that the camp had that tradition and that everyone agreed to respect it. The boys and girls didn''t want their families to have some influence there. That would lower their value in the eyes of the Lieutenants and Captain.


    Khan exchanged a few superficial talks with the recruits. They mostly joked about his shirtless appearance from before, but they remained polite in their behavior.


    George clearly was the reason behind their behavior. The recruits often mentioned some stories about Istrone that the boy had shared in the past days now that Khan was there. Luckily for him, Snow descended in the training camp before they could question him about specific events.


    Khan led Snow to the holes containing worms and made it sit on the ground as he waited for the familiar dark-grey figure to appear in the sky. The other recruits gathered around him to take care of their Ugu, but they soon understood that those creatures were too anxious next to the eagle and him.


    Khan decided to move by a few meters to elerate the process, and the group became ready in minutes. The familiar noise generated by the pping of wings also resounded in the area at some point and announced Liiza''s arrival.


    The dark-grey Adunsnded among the group. Liiza inspected all the recruits while wearing her aloof expression, and her face didn''t flicker even when her eyes went over Khan.


    Khan did the same. His poker face was wless, but his mind had fallen into pure chaos when he noticed that Liiza was wearing the same tracksuit from before.


    "Let''s move," Liiza ordered before Paul could perform one of his usual polite greetings. "The Niqols ss is already on the move. We don''t want to bete."


    The recruits could only follow their orders. Everyone mounted their Ugu and prepared for the long travel. Only Paul handled three of those mole-like animals since two of them took care of carrying the provisions for the trip.


    Khan also climbed on Snow''s back and waited for Liiza to set off. The girl shot a short nce at him before performing an emotionless nod and crouching her body forward.


    Her Aduns took off, and Khan noticed Paul''s proud gaze on him before following Liiza in the sky. She had performed that respectful nod on purpose. Khan''spanions would basically believe that he had gained the Niqols'' respect due to his ability with Snow.


    Khan and Liiza flew recklessly when they were among the mountain. They elerated, dived, andughed when they were sure that no one was watching them.


    The same couldn''t happen during the travel. They had to maintain a low altitude to make sure that the Ugu could follow them, and their flight had to be rtively stable.


    Snow quickly grew bored about that flight, but Khan could only pat its neck to reassure it. Still, he also grew annoyed about the process, and his mind soon slipped inside the meditative state.


    It would take the group half a day to reach their destination, and Khan had no intention to spend that time doing nothing. He didn''t feel confident enough to sleep while mid-air, but the meditations and the mental exercises were a different matter. Snow wasn''t performing any sudden movement, so he could sit on it and train without rxing the grip on his legs.


    The eleventh exercise for his element was incredibly harsh, but Khan had learnt how to approach that training by then. He had to create and revert ten intricate hexagons five times in a row to seed in the level, and he could only face the matter step by step.


    A happy feeling eventually spread inside his mind and forced him to open his eyes. Khan felt d to see that Liiza had started to descend toward a small forest situated in a valley between tworge mountains.


    Therge dark leaves of those trees created an eerie scene when inspected from the sky, but Khan didn''t have the chance to focus on them since a bluish light shed in the distance every few seconds.


    Khan didn''t manage to see much from his position. It seemed that the sources of those shes were lightning bolts exploding in the distance, but they weren''t falling from the sky.

 Chapter 98 - Teams

    Bluish shes disrupted the dark scenery and illuminated a distant patch of trees in the valley between the two mountains. Therge dark leaves created thick crowns that hid the surface, so Khan didn''t manage to see much from the sky.


    Liiza made her Adunsnd at the edges of the forest, and Khan didn''t hesitate to follow her. The two dismounted and let their eagles leave before turning toward the iing group of Ugu approaching from the distance.


    "Did you manage to get some sleep?" Liiza whispered while the two kept straight faces and continued to stare at the Ugu.


    "Not really," Khan replied, "But I''m not tired. How could I?"


    "Don''t let it get to your head," Liiza sneered. "You are cute, but I want to know you more before that."


    "I''ll tell you more," Khan promised.


    "Don''t do it for the wrong reasons," Liizained. "Niqols might have fewer restraints than humans, but we share the same feelings."


    Khan frowned. He felt that was something wrong with Liiza, but that wasn''t the right situation to question her properly.


    "Hey, it''s not simple attraction on my side," Khan revealed while mustering the entirety of his self-control to keep his face fixed on the Ugu. "It''s deeper. I don''t know how to exin it."


    "I know," Liiza whispered. "I can read it in your eyes. I feel the same. Our mana is probably telling us that we are a match."


    "Mana?" Khan asked as he failed to rx his frown. "Why would it have something to do with us?"


    "That''s so human of you," Liiza replied while clearing her throat to avoid giving voice to a shortugh. "Did you think that mana would have only changed your strength? Your feelingse from your brain, and you have mana there."


    Understanding suddenly dawned upon Khan. Liiza was right. The human approach was quite barbaric now that he thought about it.


    Mana already filled multiple spots inside his body, brain included. His base physical strength had increased due to that energy, so it was only normal that his feelings and sensations had gone through simr changes.


    "Do I like you due to our mana?" Khan asked as a tinge of disappointment seeped into his voice.


    "Khan, our mana is only an expression of ourselves," Liiza exined. "It''s the most honest part of our character. Niqols consider it to be the purest form of attraction."


    "That''s a good thing, right?" Khan eximed as his eyes flickered.


    He was dying to see Liiza''s expression, but he couldn''t leave any clue about their rtionship. Appearing too intimate or rxed next to the daughter of the ambassador handling the humans would only make the iing group suspicious.


    "That''s really good," Liiza sighed, "But it means that now I''m worried about your safety."


    Liiza didn''t let Khan speak anymore. She stepped forward and walked toward the group of Ugu carrying Paul and the other recruits. Khan couldn''t help but remain in a daze when he stared at her long white hair fluttering in the wind and revealing her captivating back. Still, he promptly shrugged his shoulders, wore a fake helpless smile, and pretended not to have control over his actions when he noticed Paul''s admonishing gaze.


    Some of the boys on the Ugu hid their smiles, while the girls shook their heads and revealed disgusted expressions. Yet, Paul soon red at all of them and made them regain stern faces.


    Khan''s expression grew cold as soon as the others stopped focusing on him. He preferred hispanions to believe that he was an idiotic horny kid rather than endangering his rtionship with Liiza.


    Herst words had made him desire to hold and reassure her, and his lustful thoughts had even dimmed after learning about the influence that mana had on his mind. Khan found himself wanting to talk about feelings with Liiza rather than thinking of ways to get her naked.


    Khan followed Liiza, making sure to keep enough distance from her. He even took his position among his group once they reached their destination without getting close to the Ugu.


    "My superiors have contacted me during the flight," Liiza announced while the human troops waited for her instructions. "The situation appears more dangerous than they had initially predicted. We must reach the Niqols group right away."


    Liiza didn''t wait for an answer and turned to walk toward the forest''s edges. The other recruits dismounted from their Ugu, and Paul approached Khan while carrying two backpacks almost as tall as him.


    "You get one," Paul ordered while dropping a backpack on the ground.


    "I was only looking," Khanined while crouching to wear the backpack.


    The item was incredibly heavy and forced Khan to bend forward to carry it properly. Still, his current attunement with mana and training with the Lightning-demon style made his bnce quite firm even with the additional weight.


    "We have fine butts in the camp," Paul snorted. "Look at them next time."


    Paul reunited with the group, and Khan followed him after regaining his cold face. The soldier shot nces at him while everyone walked toward Liiza, but he could only see the most driven recruit in the world now. The heavy backpack on his back didn''t even manage to slow him down.


    "I don''t get you at times," Paul whispered.


    "You aren''t the first to say that," Khan revealed as a sad smile appeared on his face.


    "I''m sorry," Paul quickly said when he noticed that his words had awakened sad memories. "Just focus on doing well in the hunt. Handle it like you handled Lieutenant Kintea."


    Khan smirked, and the conversation ended there. Paul made sure to walk in front of the group and reach Liiza, who entered the forest when everyone gathered at its edges.


    The group moved on foot among the uneven terrain inside the forest. Large roots came out of the ground and made it impossible to walk through the area in a straight line, but Liiza''s steps never faltered as she led everyone across the seemingly identical trees.


    A rtivelyrge empty spot eventually unfolded in everyone''s vision. Khan and the others could see twenty Niqols sitting in a circle while an older alien drew maps on the terrain.


    "[Our allies]!" The older Niqols eximed when he noticed Liiza and the humans behind her. "Come,e. We were just starting the briefing."


    The older alien had the aspect of a middle-aged man who carried the Niqols'' iconic features. He was slender, with dark-blue skin and glowing white eyes. Long white hairbed into multiple braids fell on his back, and a gentle feeling filled his face.


    "Chief Alu," Paul eximed while performing a polite bow once he approached the group. "It''s an honor to meet you again."


    "You are too polite," Chief Aluughed. "It''s always nice to work with humans. It''s a pity that the situation today is quite serious."


    Paul gestured at the recruits to form a circle around the sitting Niqols. Liiza took her seat on the ground next to some of them, and Khan couldn''t help but notice how herpanions appeared rather dismissive toward her arrival.


    That reaction didn''t apply only to Liiza. The young Niqols in the circle barely nced at the humans even after they stood behind them. Only a few aliens took their time to inspect all the recruits before moving their attention on the map again.


    "I believe we can start," Chief Alu announced in his perfect human ent. "I''ll exin the situation and n in bothnguages to make sure that all of us understand them properly."


    Chief Alu resumed his exnation in the Niqols''nguage, and the human group politely waited for him to finish. Khan had the chance to inspect the mana in the aliens during that time, but their level seemed to be on par with hispanions.


    Only Chief Alu appeared clearly stronger than Paul. He gave off the same sensations that Khan felt with Lieutenant Kintea and other stronger soldiers. It was clear that he wasn''t a simple squad leader.


    "It''s your turn now," Chef Alu announced. "As I said to the others, the monster has keen senses capable of warning it about potential threats. We have already tried to hunt it with stronger soldiers, but it keeps escaping them. Only those that aren''t dangerous in its mind can approach it without making it run away."


    Chief Alu then moved his gaze toward Khan and revealed a warm smile before continuing. "You have seen the forest from above. Hunting this monster with the Aduns will only put them in danger."


    The young Niqols shot curious nces toward Khan at that point. They all knew the humannguage, and they had even heard that a human had sessfully tamed an Aduns. However, they didn''t think that he would have fought with them.


    Khan saw different feelings on their faces. Some Niqols were angry, while others felt slightly curious. Still, they all made sure to nce at Liiza before moving their eyes back on the ground.


    Anger inevitably built inside Khan''s mind when he saw Liiza ignoring those nces. Nothing appeared on his expression, but it didn''t feel good at all to see his girlfriend going through that treatment.


    "We would normally send higher-ups with the recruits during these hunts," Chief Alu continued, "But the careful personality of this monster doesn''t allow them to get too close. Even Paul will have to remain a bit far away during the hunt."


    Chief Alu basically exined that the recruits wouldn''t have any backup during the hunt. Paul would be nearby, but he would still need a few minutes to reach their position if something happened.


    "Let me be clear," Chief Alu exined. "We have broadly evaluated the monster''s power. You are more than enough to kill it. The only problem is that it can also kill you, so be careful."


    Chief Alu then cleared his throat and moved his attention to the drawings on the ground. "We have other groups ready to intercept the monster if it decides to escape. Try to push it toward one of the exits marked on the map in that case."


    The map was quite simple. It depicted the two mountains, the valley, and the passages connected to the area. The forest was vast, but the region only had a few clear entrances. The monster would sacrifice its favorable position if it tried to escape through other paths.


    "A few warnings now," Chief Alu added. "This monster has developed special abilities. I believe you have heard the crackling noises when entering the forest. It has also subdued a few animals and created a small pack, so it won''t be your only opponent."


    The exnation continued with a description of the monster. Khan vaguely understood that it resembled a tiger with grey fur and ck stripes, but it was hard to convey those details due to the differences between the two species.


    Chief Alu even revealed that they had never managed to get a picture of the creature with their devices due to the lightning bolts that it released. However, he reassured the group by exining how impossible it was to miss it.


    "Rest for a few hours now," Chief Alu ordered. "I''ll send a few explorers forward to confirm the monster''s position. Make sure to gather your strength."


    Paul and the others performed a polite salute and settled in a different corner of the empty spot. Khan could eat and take a short nap while the group waited for the explorers toe back, and he felt at his peak when Paul summoned everyone.


    Niqols and humans gathered and created a simple battle tactic. Those groups couldn''t work together correctly, but they could n approaches that would make them cooperate better.


    The two groups divided themselves into smaller teams that would approach the target from different angles and call for help whenever the battle started.


    Khan had George, Sonia, and a tall boy called Glenn in his team. The four of them exchanged nces with the other teams before walking on different paths. Paul and Liiza remained behind the groups and started to follow them only after a few minutes.


    The dark environment would normally prevent inspections from their spots, but Paul had brought two binocrs that featured precise heat sensors. Liiza could see the entirety of Khan''s silhouette even if dozens of trees separated her from him.

 Chapter 99 - Lightning Bolts

    Khan and George moved through the forest without showing any hesitation. Sonia and Glenn couldn''t help but notice how confident of their abilities they appeared when they walked toward their dangerous target.


    George instinctively let Khan go first. He had developed those habits on Istorne, and he had never regretted them. Khan was the strongest recruit he had ever seen. The others in the training camp might have only heard rumors about his feats, but George had seen them with his own eyes.


    Sonia and Glenn could only silently ept the gestures and whispered orders that the two boys threw at them. Khan and George were only newbies on Nitis, but they had survived Istrone''s crisis. Their simple steps carried a confidence that the other recruits didn''t have.


    "Tainted animal ahead," Khan suddenly announced as he spread his arm to make the group stop. "Seven meters in that direction. I''ll handle it."


    Khan didn''t wait for the others to reply. He didn''t even check if they had understood his orders. His figure bent forward before shooting through the darkness that surrounded the trees.


    "He migh-," Glenn tried to speak, but George promptly red at him and made him fall silent.


    George had been rtively friendly inside the camp. He had even joined the few recreational activities avable on Nitis and established decent rtionships with the other recruits. Everyone also knew about his attraction toward Natalie, which only made his character more approachable.


    However, George seemed to have transformed into a different person now. His expression was cold as he kept both hands on the short sword sheathed at his side.


    His solemnity existed in a different realm. The other recruits were worried and tense about the hunt, but they never forgot that their target was an animal. They took the mission seriously, but they didn''t consider that they could lose their lives against the monster for even a second.


    George was different. He had already seen how frail life could be. The other recruits were hunting, but he was at war. Luckily for him, someone else in his group shared that feeling.


    A faint thud soon resounded in the forest and made the trio look at a dark spot among the trees. A figure slowly became visible inside the darkness, and Sonia and Glenn couldn''t help but enter a defensive stance.


    "Calm down," Khan whispered once he came out of the darkness. "There was another Tainted animal nearby. I had to change direction mid-way."


    "We can close on both of them and kill them swiftly," Sonia suggested, but she wore a confused expression when she saw Khan''s frown.


    "What are you saying?" Khan asked. "The animals are already dead."


    Khan didn''t care about the surprised expressions that appeared on Sonia and Glenn. He directly turned to resume his march through the forest, and George nodded at the two recruits before following him.


    Sonia and Glenn were still confused about the matter, but a squelching sound echoed from under them when they started to follow the two boys.


    Glenn and Sonia suddenly noticed that a dense dark liquid had created arge spot on the ground. They didn''t understand the nature of that substance among the darkness, but everything became clear when they saw that more of it stained the path ahead. Its source was Khan''s left foot.


    Khan''s steps were too light to leave footprints, but he couldn''t stop the blood that had tainted his shoe from falling on the ground. He had ended up killing two Tainted animals that resembled wolves with multiple tails in a few seconds. Two kicks had been enough to shatter their skulls.


    The path ahead appeared clear. Khan couldn''t sense anything off around him, but the air grew tense as he approached the target. A strange power seemed to run among the trees. It created sensations simr to those felt on the teleports, even if far milder.


    ''This feels dangerously close to a first-level warrior,'' Khan couldn''t help but think as he proceeded forward.


    Faint bluish shes shone in the distance from time to time. They never happened in the same spot, but they came from the same direction. The monster had yet to notice the hunters, so the various teams could approach their target safely.


    However, the valley was quiterge and had many hiding spots. The Niqols'' intelligence was pretty urate, but it couldn''t consider everything, especially when Nitis had Tainted animals that could live underground.


    A series of loud barks suddenly resounded through the silent forest. The recruits and the Niqols couldn''t fail to recognize those cries. Even Khan could link them to the Ugu when he heard them.


    The forest grew messy after the barks echoed inside the darkness. Howls, roars, and growls started to resound through the area and warn everyone about the threat approaching the monster.


    Sounds of battles quickly followed. Khan and his group started to hear humans and Niqols shouting whenever roars and other cries resounded through the forest.


    Glenn immediately tried to move toward the nearest group, but Sonia promptly grabbed the side of his uniform and made him stop. Her usual smile appeared on her face as she exined the reason behind her actions. "Our mission is to kill the monster."


    "But we have orders to help the others!" Glenn eximed before covering his mouth when he noticed that George and Khan were ring at him.


    "We have orders to help with the monster," Khan exined before turning toward the faint glows that continued to appear in the distance. "Move now. They are among the best recruits of the Global Army. They can handle a few Tainted animals."


    Glenn couldn''t respond to those words. Khan and George had already considered the situation and had found the best course of action. Still, a faint worry appeared in his mind when he thought that his group might have to face the monster on their own.


    The four advanced until Khan spread his arms to make them stop. A crack suddenly opened on the terrain a few meters from them and tilted the tree right above it. A Ugu''s head started toe out of the ground, but Khan didn''t give it the time to get on its feet.


    Khan shot ahead. The Ugu peeked out of the terrain, but a kicknded on the side of its head. Cracking noises came out of its skull, and more cracks spread on the ground, but the creature stopped moving after the attack.


    The three recruits could see how Khan''s foot had torn the creature''s skin and had forced the side of its head to cave in after he retracted his leg. The same dark spots from before appeared on the ground as he walked deeper into the forest. He didn''t even look at hispanions since it was their job to keep up with him.


    The team met two more Tainted animals on their path, but Khan killed them in a single blow. Those creatures couldn''t survive his precise and merciless kicks. They weren''t even able to follow his movements.


    Needless to say, Sonia and Glenn felt utterly in awe of Khan''s power. They didn''t fear the Tainted animals, and they wouldn''t even have problems dealing with them. Yet, Khan''s kills were clean and immediate. They didn''t feature any superfluous movement, and they were so fast that their eyes barely managed to understand when he shot ahead.


    George also felt slightly surprised. He didn''t let that emotion appear on his face, but he admired Khan''s improvements. Only a few weeks had passed since Istrone''s matters, but he had already grown stronger.


    The bluish shes intensified as the group approached their destination. Burnt trunks even started to appear on their path. It was clear that the lightning bolts had reached those spots, but the monster seemed to have moved by then.


    "We must pick up our pace," Khan ordered. "The monster is retreating."


    "Don''t go too fast," Georgemented before preparing for the imminent sprint.


    Sonia and Glenn imitated him, and the four started to run through the trees as they tried to reach the source of the bluish shes. Khan obviously contained his speed, but his concentration increased during the sprint.


    Traces of natural illumination eventually appeared in the distance. The sight initially surprised Khan, but he realized what had happened when he saw that a few trees were on fire.


    Trunks filled with charred holes and burning cracks began to fill the area. Khan could finally see everything almost clearly, and his eyes caught a glimpse of a dark figure leaving that illuminated zone.


    Khan took a deep breath as his body bent forward. The three recruits were right behind him, but they suddenly lost sight of his figure.


    Messy images filled Khan''s eyes as he sprinted at full speed, but their central part was clear. His peripheral vision felt unreliable, but his eleration didn''t affect his reading of the path ahead.


    Khan moved quickly among the trees until he reached the escaping ck figure that he had seen before. A two meters tall striped animal appeared in his vision, but he didn''t have the time to inspect his opponent in that situation.


    The creature suddenly turned and saw a rotating figure falling toward the center of its body. Khan''s movements were too fast, so his heel descended on the animal''s back before it could prepare for the battle.


    The beast bent forward when the heavy kicknded on its back. It gave voice to a painful cry before turning its anger toward the figure that had resumed to spin once his right foot had touched the ground.


    Khan threw a roundhouse kick toward the creature''s head, and thetter couldn''t avoid it. His footnded on the animal''s nose and made it bleed, but it didn''t manage to fling it away.


    ''What?'' Khan shouted in his mind when he saw that the creature had maintained its position after the powerful attack.


    His execution had been perfect. Khan had thrown one of his strongest kicks toward the beast, but thetter didn''t budge. The blow had hurt it, but it had remained rooted on the ground.


    A faint bluish glow began to shine on the dark fur while Khan still had his foot on the creature''s face. He immediately shot back to stop at a few meters from his opponent. His new position finally allowed him to inspect the beast, and his expression only grew colder when he sized it.


    The animal only had the striped fur of a tiger. Yet, its body and face seemed the result of a fusion between a wolf and a bear. Its torso wasrge and thick, its legs were quite massive, but its triangr head and long pointy ears made its overall appearance feel quite off.


    Khan didn''t have any doubt about his target after thest exchange. He knew that he had found the monster, but surprise still filled his mind. He had clearly broken the creature''s nose with hisst kick, but that didn''t seem to affect its condition.


    The mana inside the monster''s body grew messy as the bluish lighting out of its fur intensified. Its hair stood up as sparks started to leak out. Something wasing, and Khan didn''t know if he could endure it.


    Then, the light intensified, and Khan sensed a trail of mana approaching him at high speed. His eyes couldn''t help him in that situation, but he instinctively dodged to the side and stopped when he mmed on a nearby tree.


    The light dimmed at that point, and Khan became able to inspect the environment again. The tree behind his previous position was on fire now, and its trunk even fell due to therge crack that had opened at its center.


    Other trees all around the monster had taken fire and had started to break. The creature didn''tunch the lightning bolts only toward Khan. It had attacked different spots at the same time.


    ''Those are quite deadly,'' Khanmented in his mind as his figure crouched.


    His senses told him that the monster was weaker than a first-level warrior. The only issue was with its lightning bolts, but Khan was fast enough to dodge them. He wouldn''t feel fear when the battle depended on his best quality.


    The monster turned toward him and roared in anger as blood fell from its broken nose, but multiple figures suddenly appeared in Khan''s senses. Nevertheless, the event didn''t make him lose his cool since he recognized their familiar presence.


    Multiple Niqols shot out of the trees and charged at the monsters while George and the rest of his group appeared behind Khan. Thetter only needed to point at the creature to mark the beginning of the offensive.


    Khan shot ahead and managed to deliver a powerful kick to the side of the monster''s head since it had turned to inspect its new opponents. A cracking noise spread from its jaw, but the beast couldn''t turn toward him right away since the Niqols arrived.


    The aliens performed precise martial arts that heavily relied on palm strikes and blows featuring discharges of mana inside their opponent''s body.


    The monster suffered six different attacks in the span of one second, and bluish light immediately started to run through its fur again. Khan didn''t hesitate to retreat at that sight, and the Niqols imitated him when they noticed his reaction, but the lightning bolts shot out of the creature far sooner at that time.


    Khan barely had the time to perform a side-step that made him avoid a direct impact with the lightning bolt. The attack scorched his waist before continuing to fly past him.


    The other Niqols also had a keen perception of mana, so they avoided suffering severe injuries during that reckless discharge of power. The lightning bolts hit their legs, shoulders, or arms, but they never managed tond on their vital organs.


    Yet, the Niqols weren''t the only soldiers on the scene. A painful cry suddenly reached Khan''s ears and made him turn toward the team behind him.


    Khan quickly saw George and Sonia, but he noticed how they were looking at a spot behind them. His eyes also moved there, and coldness spread through his mind when he saw Glenn lying on a tree.


    The upper part of Glenn''s uniform had vanished, and the right side of his charred chest waspletely in the open. A spiderweb of red marks expanded from the spot where the lightning bolt hadnded, and the scent of burnt flesh started to spread in the area.

 Chapter 100 - Burns

    Shock and fear spread among the group on the scene. Sonia and the Niqols remained still when they saw Glenn''s state. Many aliens had even suffered injuries, but they weren''t nearly as severe.


    However, most of the injured Niqols couldn''t fight anymore. Some couldn''t stand up due to their fuming legs. Fears had also started to take control of their minds and affect their actions.


    Khan, George, and a few aliens were the only ones who managed to remain calm, and they quickly recognized each other when their eyes swept the battlefield. Warriors didn''t need words in those situations. Short exchanges of nces were enough to understand that they had to take the mess into their own hands.


    "Sonia, bring Glenn away!" Khan shouted while his eyes remained on the massive monster. "George, get me something sharp!"


    The monster was puking blood. The palm strikes from the Niqols had hurt its insides and had inflicted decent damage. Yet, the creature remained on its legs, and angry roars mixed with its retches whenever it raised its eyes toward its opponents.


    Khan found himself in the same situation experienced with the first-level warrior Kred. His martial art gave him the chance to approach his opponent safely and deliver powerful blows, but simple kicks weren''t enough to fill the gap that divided the level of their bodies.


    The pain spreading from his waist even forced him to ept that the monster could be more dangerous than the Kred. The creature had attacks that could almost match his speed, and he felt unable to predict their arrival properly.


    Khan wanted to put an end to the battle quickly, but hecked deadly attacks. Yet, everything would change if he could get close enough to stab the monster''s head with one of George''s enhanced weapons.


    "He''s not breathing!" Sonia suddenly shouted.


    "Get him out anyway!" Khan ordered before shooting forward and mming his knee on the distracted creature.


    The skin on the monster''s forehead opened, and cracks appeared on its skull, but the attack failed to fling it away again. The creature even tried to open its mouth and bite Khan''s leg off, but a kicknded on its cracked jaw andpletely broke it.


    The monster didn''t understand what was happening. The creature didn''t even see Khan''s movements, and the lower part of its mouth now hung from its broken jaw. The beast had even lost track of him again after thest kick, and bluish light spread through its fur as anger built inside its mind.


    The sparks that ran through its hair dispersed when a heel mmed on the back of its head. Khanpleted his third technique and immediately flowed into a fourth when the monster''s face touched the ground.


    The spinning airborne kick had mmed the monster''s head to the ground, and the fourth technique moved the entirety of Khan''s bodyweight on its nape to make it dive deeper into the terrain.


    Some of the escaping sparks managed to hit his body during the attacks, but they only created small red patches on his skin. The monster didn''t manage to gather much mana before losing control of its ability, so Khan easily endured the bluish shes.


    Two Niqols approached the monster from behind at that point. Palm strikesnded on the creature''s fur and spread tremors inside its body than Khan could feel from the foot still nted on its head.


    "Catch!" George shouted as a flying mass of mana approached Khan from the side.


    Khan''s hand shot to grab the mass that turned out to be George''s short sword. A dark-silver halo was covering the sharp edges of the de. The boy had already enhanced the weapon, and Khan didn''t hesitate to make it descend toward the monster''s head as his foot left its nape.


    The de''s sharp tip descended toward the center of the hole opened during thest two kicks, but an intense bluish light suddenly filled the environment and blinded everyone on the scene. Khan felt that mana was flying toward him, but he was too close to dodge it.


    Khan lost his foothold and his grip on his de. His senses were numb as his eyes tried to disperse the light that covered the environment. Something appeared in his vision when a rough feeling started to spread from his back. He slowly understood where he was, and his condition made him curse.


    Thest attack had flung Khan away by a full eight meters. He even suspected that the flight would havested longer if his back didn''t hit one of the few intact trees in the area.


    George''s de was nowhere to be seen, and charred flesh filled his palm. Tree-shaped patches of red skin spread from that spot and covered the entirety of his left arm. The lightning bolt had hit him, but the damage wasn''t too severe. He could even open and close his hand if he ignored the pain.


    Khan forced himself to stand up. Blood flowed through his back due to a few wounds that had opened after the impact with the tree, but they weren''t worthy of his concern, not while the monster kept its eyes fixed on him.


    The monster appeared tired and on the verge of fainting. Its condition gave Khan the time to inspect the battlefield, but the situation seemed far from promising.


    The two Niqols who had been close to the creature couldn''t dodge the attack either. Khan could see some of the injured aliens taking care of them and dragging them out of the battlefield.


    George didn''t move as he wielded his sheath with both hands and stared at the monster. He had never dared to get too close to the creature, but Khan couldn''tin about his decision. After all, the boy had no way of dodging the lightning bolts. Only the distance was giving him the chance to react to those attacks.


    Some of the injured Niqols who weren''t busy tending those in bad condition stood up, but they also remained at some distance from the monster. They knew that they were close to defeating the creature, but it was clear that the first to charge ahead would have to endure the entirety of its rage.


    Khan epted that he was the only one up for the task. His injuries wouldn''t slow him down either, so he had a high chance to dodge the next attack as long as he deployed hit and run tactics. Yet, waiting seemed a better option since it would be easier to react to an iing lightning bolt than avoid it once he was up close.


    Blood continued to flow from the monster''s mouth and nose. The recent attacks had clearly affected it, but it continued to stand and stare at Khan. The creature had identified him as the biggest threat inside the group, and it didn''t dare to stop studying him.


    ''Come on!'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''Attack me already!''


    The silence that had fallen on the battlefield was deafening. Only the crackling noise of the small fires, the creaking sounds of the bending trunks, the ragged breathing of the recruits, and the asional retches of the monster filled the area. Everything else was still, but heavy steps soon took care of bringing movement again.


    Many presences suddenly appeared in Khan''s mind. The other teams of humans and Niqols came out of the trees and charged at the monster. The group had invested some time encircling the area, so they attacked the creature from every direction.


    Khan''s eyes widened at that scene. His mind generated images on its own when he saw the twenty recruits from both species jumping toward the monster. He could already predict what was about to arrive, so he quickly hid behind a tree.


    A blinding bluish light filled the area. Khan could see that radiance even if he had closed his eyes and had hidden behind the thick trunk. The tree experienced a violent tremor when an attacknded on its surface, and Khan decided to take a peek at the battlefield after that event.


    Recruits from both species were flying in every direction. Charred cracks had even appeared on the ground due to the many lightning bolts that had shot out.


    Everything flowed in slow motion in Khan''s eyes. The recruits were still in the air when he got aplete view of the scene. Thoughts were trying to move through his mind and develop a battle n, but his instincts made him act before that.


    The monster had always required some time to prepare that massive discharge of lightning bolts. The creature seemed to get faster after every attack, but its improvements didn''t change that it had just released its umted energy. It was at its weakest now, and Khan didn''t hesitate to exploit the safest seconds between the exchanges.


    Khan pushed his body more than he had ever done in the past. The Lightning-demon style''s power depended on how much speed he could endure, but his limits didn''t matter now.


    Khan had instinctively understood that he wouldn''t get a better chance since the monster continued to shorten the time required by its ability. He had to make sure that his next attack killed the creature and put an end to that dangerous battle.


    The pain released by his charred palm intensified as his skin burnt due to the friction with the air. Khan disregarded the physical limits set by his attunement with mana and reached the monster in an instant.


    The mental barrier had surged to keep the pain away and make Khan focus on his technique. He had only one shot at that. Failing to deliver a proper blow would leave him open in front of the angry monster.


    The entirety of his momentum flowed into his rising knee. An intense burning sensation tried to seep past the mental barrier during the execution of the technique, but Khan managed to keep it away until his attacknded on the monster''s head.


    The mental barrier crumbled at that point, and Khan experienced the entirety of his pain. He felt on fire, and the faint scent of burning flesh even spread from under him.


    However, he quickly forced himself to stabilize his position and lift his hands when he saw the monster''s shape rising and standing on its rear legs. Khan noticed that smoke wasing out of his arms, but he didn''t let that detail distract him from the danger in front of him.


    The monster raised its front legs when it straightened its positionpletely, but no attack descended. The creature bent backward and fell on its back right in front of Khan''s incredulous eyes.


    Khan rxed after he noticed that the monster didn''t move anymore. His eyes quickly moved toward its neck as he took careful steps to circle the creature''s big figure. His legs lost power and made him fall on his knees when he noticed that the beast''s head had disappeared. It had turned into a bloody pulp that had partially vanished inside its body.

 Chapter 101 - Blanket

    Everything was on fire. Even Khan''s mind burnt while he remained on his knees and stared at the gory scene. The monster was dead, but the hunting groups had to pay a steep price to win.


    Multiple trails of thin smoke came out of the ground. Khan could often see a Niqols or a human at their base. Most recruits had fallen unconscious after the recent attack, but their skin didn''t stop burning. A single monster had almost taken out two entire sses on its own.


    ''Dammit,'' Khan couldn''t help but curse in his mind when he inspected the state of his body.


    Thest eleration had created multiple burns on his front. They had fused with the injuries caused by the lightning bolt, which gave Khan a reddish and feverish appearance.


    Khan''s consciousness and strength dwindled as his position grew unstable. He felt on the verge of falling forward, but he called upon all his remaining power to bend backward and let his back hit the ground.


    His injuries felt cold while they remained exposed to the stale air inside the forest. His uniform had disappeared during the battle, but he couldn''t remember when that had happened.


    His mental barrier surged and crumbled cyclically. The burning sensation was too intense, so Khan rarely managed to keep the pain away for more than a few seconds.


    Khan managed to hear hurried steps around him whenever the mental barrier was up. He had long since closed his eyes, but his sensitivity to mana and ears allowed him to gain a vague understanding of his surroundings even in that situation.


    Muffled orders reached his ears. Khan heard Paul and Chief Alu''s voices, but the pain that filled his mind made him lose part of their words. The two leaders were managing the battlefield and tending the injured, but Khan couldn''t understand the various details of that process.


    A cold sensation suddenly spread on Khan''s left arm and made him tense his body. That feeling had arrived when he was busy rebuilding the mental barrier, so he had been too surprised to remain calm.


    "Don''t move," Paul''s voice reached his ears while he opened his eyes and saw the soldier sitting next to him. "This should make you feel better in no time. I believe only your hand will take a while to heal."


    Paul was spreading a dense half-transparent ointment over Khan''s injuries. He took the substance from a big cylindric sk ced next to him and carefully applied it over the entirety of Khan''s torso and legs.


    "You must let your skin absorb the lotion," Paul exined. "Don''t move for a few hours. Try to sleep if you can."


    Khan nodded, but a snort resounded in his mind when he saw Paul grabbing the sk and leaving him. Sleeping wouldn''t make him stay still at all.


    The cold sensation that filled Khan''s front appeased the burning sensation and made him able to endure it without the help of the metal barrier.


    His condition seemed to improve as the minutes passed. Only his left hand and waist continued to annoy him, but the rest of his body began to feel better in no time.


    Khan did his best to help the lotion with his meditation. Two hours went by quickly while he spread mana through his body and aided the healing process. However, his skin had yet to change color by the time he opened his eyes. It was still red and full of burns.


    ''I guess this relief is part of the lotion,'' Khan sighed in his mind as he tilted his head left and right to inspect the area.


    The corpse of the monster wasn''t next to him anymore. Only the puddle of blood released by its broken head had remained at his side. Some Niqols and humans in the distance shared his condition as they waited for their bodies to absorb the lotion.


    Khan even noticed Paul going over a few Niqols sitting next to trees. Their different species didn''t stop him from applying the lotion to their charred spots, and the aliens epted the treatment after Chief Alu confirmed that it was harmless.


    Two more hours had to pass before Khan''s body absorbed the lotion. His skin felt slightly numb when he forced himself to sit on the ground, but pain still spread from his left hand and the long horizontal burn on his waist.


    ''I''m a mess,'' Khan sighed at the sight of his red skin.


    It would take him at least a full day to recover, but his annoyance didn''t onlye from the time that he would lose to get better. The many injured humans and Niqols generated doubts in his mind. He couldn''t help but feel that sending those recruits against the monster had been a bad decision.


    "You shouldn''t be up," Chief Alu announced while approaching Khan. "Rest is the best medicine. Allow your mana to heal you. Paul, Liiza, and the other Niqols have told me what you did. I''m actually envious that you belong to the human species now."


    Chief Alu wore his gentle smile during the entirety of his speech, but Khan didn''t know how he could appear so rxed after most of his underlings had suffered injuries.


    Khan''s mind was still too messy to give birth to a polite answer. He felt that he wouldin just like his father did with the inept soldiers if he opened his mouth.


    "I''ll make sure to tell my superiors about your feats," Chief Alu continued. "Who knows? They might finally decide to bring the rtionship between our species to the next step."


    The foul feeling that Lieutenant Kintea had managed to originate returned after he heard those words. Khan knew that the oue of the hunt should make him ecstatic, but he couldn''t feel happy after witnessing the monster hurting so many recruits.


    Yet, Khan still grunted as he ced his right hand on the ground and stood up to perform the iconic bow of the Niqols. Chief Alu revealed a surprised expression when he saw that gesture, but his smile soon returned as he proceeded to reply with the same salute.


    Chief Alu left to assist the other wounded at that point, and Khan remained still to inspect the battlefield once more. A dark figure eventually captured the entirety of his attention and almost made him fall into a daze.


    Liiza was helping Paul and Chief Alu with the wounded. She attended the recruits from both species, and she showed no hesitation in front of their gruesome injuries when applying lotions and bandages.


    Liiza had the chance to nce at Khan when she switched patients. He even believed that she had seen him from the corner of her eyes. Yet, it was clear that she was holding back from staring directly at him.


    Khan moved his gaze away quickly. He didn''t want to be the reason behind the shattering of her self-restraint. He didn''t want to take risks even if his desire to rest on herp seemed to be stronger than the pain released by his hand.


    George, Sonia, and a few recruits who had suffered superficial injuries eventually entered the battlefield while carryingrge sks and provisions. They seemed in charge of relocating the camp, and they couldn''t help but smile when they saw that Khan was on his feet.


    George put down the sks and unsheathed his sword while showing a wide smile. He had found his de, but its color had changed. Its sharp edges had been pale-silver before, but they werepletely ck now.


    Khan showed his charred palm and pointed at it with his other hand. George gave the thumbs up at that scene. It seemed that the de had endured part of the lightning bolt that had spread through Khan''s arm, and George was clearly d about that oue.


    The messy battlefield filled with wounded recruits, loud groans, and a few cries was something that Khan didn''t want to endure. Those scenes only made his desire to talk with Liiza increase, so he preferred to walk back to the previous gathering point and resume his meditation there.


    Khan walked slowly. He felt tired, and the sudden movements made his many burns hurt again. Yet, he felt better after a while.


    The path back to the previous camp was rtively straightforward. Paul and the others had left clear tracks, and Khan had even gained a general idea of his position after the hunt. The familiar empty spot soon unfolded in his vision, but his mind suddenly sensed a dense mass of mana past it.


    Khan let his curiosity guide him. The mana in the distance didn''t move, so he knew that it didn''t belong to anything dangerous. He walked past the empty spot and among the trees until two figures appeared in his eyes.


    The first figure was easy to recognize. It belonged to the monster that Khan had killed a few hours ago. The mana inside the corpse had fused with its dead flesh by then and had made it safe to handle even for normal humans.


    Instead, the other figure made Khan''s expression grow colder. It had a human shape, but a brown nket covered the entirety of its body while ity next to the monster''s corpse.


    Khan had already seen George and Liiza, so no worries appeared in his mind. However, he still walked toward the corpse and gave voice to a grunt while he bent to lift the nket.


    Glenn''s face soon appeared in his eyes. The boy''s expression was peaceful, but the scent of charred flesh came out from under the nket and made Khan cover its face again.


    His mind then sensed a familiar presence nearing him from behind. Khan straightened his position and saw Paul walking toward him while wearing aplicated expression.


    "The others still don''t know about it," Paul revealed as his eyes fell on the corpse covered by the nket. "I tried to restart his heart, but nothing worked. The medical bay in the camp might have done something more, but¡­."


    Paul fell silent, and Khan didn''t say anything either. The two simply stared at the brown nket. Silence could be deafening at times, but they didn''t want to hear anything else now.


    "Was this really necessary?" Khan asked. "Is this the best that two intelligent species can do?"


    "Don''t start questioning your orders now," Paul sighed. "That''s a slippery slope, and I''m not only talking about your position in the army. It helps to separate your mind from all of this."


    "What exactly is this?" Khan asked. "I thought we were here to reinforce the rtionship with an alien species."


    "Today''s events did that," Paul exined. "You did that. Glenn did that. His death will bring humans and Niqols closer. He will be a hero of our species."


    "He was only a kid," Khan whispered. "All of them are."


    "They stopped being kids when they enlisted," Paul replied in a cold voice. "Our mission on Nitis is delicate. We can only go along with what the Niqols say and rejoice if we gain something out of it. This opportunity might make you believe that we are special, but the Global Army wouldn''t hesitate to sacrifice all of us to grow closer to the aliens."


    "A rtionship founded on blood and corpses," Khanmented.


    "Don''t be dumb," Paul snorted. "Do you have any idea how many experts have blown off their own limbs to perfect the stable martial art in your hands? The same applies to everything connected and unrted to mana. Blood is the most valuable currency in the universe. It''s only a matter of being willing to use it."


    "How are the others?" Khan asked while his mind absorbed Paul''s words.


    "They are mostly fine," Paul sighed as the faint anger from before vanished. "A few weeks of meds and meditations should be enough to bring everyone back on their feet."


    "Has Captain Erbair already announced the break?" Khan asked while turning toward Paul for the first time during their conversation.


    "She has yet to receive the message since thework is unstable here," Paul exined. "Still, I believe she''ll give a few weeks off from the lessons."


    A tinge of warmth spread through the coldness that had filled Khan''s mind. He couldn''t help but think about Liiza when he heard about the break. His desire to talk with her was so intense that it almost made him forget about his injuries.


    "Focus on resting now," Paul ordered when he saw Khan lowering his gaze back on Glenn. "Get that hand patched up and sleep. We''ll stay here at least another day, so get a new uniform from the backpack. You can''t stay like this."


    Paul''s words reminded Khan that his uniform had almostpletely disappeared. He only had a few rags covering his pants, but everything else had vanished. His shoes even had a few holes that revealed his toes.

 Chapter 102 - Return

    Khan didn''t put everything in the back of his mind at that time. Paul and the others continued to manage the camp and take care of the injured, but he ignored them. He isted himself in the previous gathering point and resumed training after changing his uniform.


    Complicated thoughts ran through his mind during his meditation. Khan had grown so used to that exercise that he could lose himself in his reasonings while his flesh opposed the expanding mana.


    The sharp pain that spread inside him from time to time didn''t break his concentration and didn''t interrupt the conflicting feelings that he experienced. He could think about his current situation, and everything appeared dark except for a few light shades.


    That wasn''t his first time experiencing that internal conflict, but he still couldn''t grow used to it. The training camp on Nitis had been a heavenly ce in his mind before the hunt since it helped appease Istrone''s memories, but everything had vanished after Glenn''s death.


    Khan opposed his realizations at first, but he couldn''t lie to himself. The Global Army had revealed its true nature during the hunt, and he couldn''t ignore how its image changed in his mind.


    Living in the Slums for eleven years had made Khan quite cynical toward human nature. He had never once trusted the Global Army, but co''s training camp, Onia, and Nitis had given him memories that he treasured dearly.


    The rtionship with Lieutenant Dyester and the respect showed in front of his achievements weremendable behaviors that left Khan positively surprised. The disregard for his background even made him believe that the Global Army could be an overall good ce at times.


    The issues with the bullies and the ckdell girl were inevitable problems that existed in every organization. Khan could go past them and believe in the Global Army as long as everything else was good.


    However, the hunt had proven his cynical approach to be on point. The recruits on Nitis were nothing more than cannon fodder meant to solidify the foundation of the rtionship with the Niqols.


    It didn''t matter what happened to that cannon fodder. The Global Army would be happy as long as the recruits seized benefits from the Niqols. The greater good of humankind was above the frail lives of those young soldiers.


    Khan could vaguely justify that point by considering humankind as a whole. He knew that people could have strong ideals capable of making them forget about individuals and only see humanity as a whole.


    Yet, he couldn''t do that. Khan couldn''t evene close to caring about strangers after what he had experienced in the Slums.


    His reasoning led to a sad realization. That idea had always been in his mind. Still, the tragic events that he had to ovee had reinforced it and had turned it into a power that he couldn''t ignore.


    Khan couldn''t believe in the Global Army, but he needed it for his personal goals. Hence, he decided to see it only as a tool. He would help andplete tasks, but only the missions that could grant him real benefits would deserve his best efforts.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t feel good about that decision. He liked Paul, Captain Erbair, and some of the other recruits, but a wall appeared in front of his heart after he made up his mind.


    Paul and the others partially stopped being human beings. They transformed into figures with a specific value that depended on how much Khan could benefit from them.


    That dirty feeling grew stronger when a whole day passed and Khan decided to help with the injured to improve his value in the eyes of the alien species. Still, seeing Liiza created a stark division inside his mind. Part of it became cold, dishonest, and maniptive, while the other struggled to remain warm and hopeful.


    ''Improve without getting used to it,'' Khan reminded himself. ''The world sucks. You have always known it. Use it without letting its filth taint your core. You have endured almost twelve years of nightmares. This is nothing.''


    Only three people in the entirety of the camp noticed the faint changes in Khan''s mindset. Paul sensed that his face had grown slightly colder, George''s mind sent him back to Istrone whenever he saw Khan''s expressions, and Liiza felt something ache inside her when she nced at him.


    The rather difficult situation in the camp didn''t give the time for personal interactions or talks, so everyone simply focused onpleting their tasks and getting all the injured ready for the return.


    The treatment with the ointments eased most of Khan''s burns, but his left hand and waist remained quite serious. Yet, the day of rest made him suitable to ride Snow again, and the other recruits also improved enough to start the preparations for the return.


    Paul couldn''t hide Glenn anymore once everyone was ready for the long travel. The revtion left both recruits and Niqols stunned. The death of a peer was tough to handle at their young age, and seeing Khan helping secure the corpse on an Ugu only made the scene harder to endure.


    Khan knew that Liiza was watching him while he tied Glenn to the creature. She saw how uncaring he appeared when he ordered Snow to make the Ugu stay still and handled the figure covered by the brown nket as if it were a simple item. The ache inside her intensified, but she made sure to divert her eyes before anyone noticed her behavior.


    The group eventually departed. Chief Alu led the group of Niqols inside the forest after exchanging polite salutes with Paul, and thetter ordered everyone to move after handling those political necessities.


    Khan and Liiza flew on their Aduns and guided the recruits back to the training camp. The travelsted a bit less at that time, and everyone could only feel d about it.


    Paul and the Ugu that carried the provisions were in the lead. All the recruits could see Glenn''s corpse going up and down during the entirety of the travel. The brown nket that covered his figure became a hideous de that cut away all the na?ve feelings that had managed to survive until then. Everyone even started to hate that particr color after staring at it for many hours.


    Khan and Liiza were hard to see from the ground, but they yed it safe anyway. They didn''t exchange nces at all and focused on sleeping or training during those long hours.


    The familiar camp eventually appeared in the distance, and Liiza''s Aduns gave voice to a loud screech before turning to fly toward the nearby city. Snow partially tranted that cry for Khan. Liiza had was simply saying that he could handle the rest of the travel on his own now.


    Khan made Snow descend toward the Ugu to notify Paul and hispanions that they had to follow him from that point onward. The eagle hovered right above the group and made sure that everyone could see how easily Khan kept his bnce. He didn''t even grab the creature''s neck while he informed Paul and returned in the sky.


    The group returned to the camp after spending a bit more than two days away. Their free time was alreadying to an end, but everyone felt too tired toin.


    Paul sent everyone to their rooms or the medical bay depending on their condition. Khan silently returned to his habitation after sending Snow away, and his mind notified him about his exhaustion when he saw his bed. He had only taken naps during the past days, so his body desperately needed rest.


    Khan woke up as soon as the afternoon ended. His stomach growled, so he made sure to stuff it with the best meals that the canteen had to offer. Then, Paul announced a mandatory meeting through thework, and all the recruits able to stand gathered at the center of the camp.


    Paul, Lieutenant Kintea, and Captain Erbair wore serious expressions as they waited for the ss that had joined the hunt to gather in front of them. Less than ten recruits created a row in front of the leaders, and a heavy mood soon fell among them.


    "You won''t have mandatory lessons for the next month," Captain Erbair announced once everyone took their position. "You can still attend them, but you won''t receive demerits if you decide to skip them. I won''t even keep track of your behavior, so be at ease."


    Captain Erbair cleared her voice before scratching the side of her bionic eye and continuing. "Glenn Padlyn''s death is a tragedy that the Global Army will make sure to honor properly. His family will receive great benefits, starting from the name of the new pact sealed by the superiors of both species."


    Captain Erbair took out her phone and activated holograms that materialized between the recruits and her. Those images depicted a sheet written in twonguages and carrying two very different marks that made it official.


    "The Niqols have agreed to grant us ess to the Aduns," Captain Erbair exined while the recruits read the sheet. "Humans will also receive other benefits, but you don''t have the clearance to know those details.


    "Anyway, good work out there. You have brought honor to the Global Army, so the Global Army will honor you. The Niqols will also hold a formal event next week, and they have invited all of you. Congrattions. You have officially be part of the historical records of two species."


    Captain Erbair''s words inevitably brought happiness into the heavy mood that had fallen on the recruits. Glenn was still dead, but the survivors had be a core part of the rtionship between the two species. Their profiles had instantly gained immense value, and they could only rejoice when they learn that.


    Khan decided to wear a fake smile only when he noticed that George was searching for him with his eyes. The two nodded at each other, but they both sensed the faint sadness that lingered under that happiness.


    "Go back to your rooms now," Captain Erbair ordered. "Dy the celebrations for when your injuries arepletely healed."


    The recruits performed a military salute before turning toward their building. Their phones quickly appeared in their hands since they couldn''t wait to notify their families about the recent events, and Khan followed them while nning his next move. Still, Captain Erbair''s voice suddenly resounded again and made everyone turn.


    "Khan, I need to have a word with you," The Captain ordered, and Khan didn''t hesitate to follow her toward her office under everyone''s curious gaze.


    Captain Erbair sat on herrge couch and pointed at the armchair. Khan quickly took his seat there and remained silent while she yed with her phone to activate a few functions of the room.


    A few images quickly appeared on the wall. They depicted a series of reddish figures immersed in a dark-blue environment. Most of them had a human shape, but others showed Tainted animals that Khan found familiar.


    "Did you record the hunt, ma''am?" Khan asked as some surprise appeared in his eyes.


    "Wait a second," Captain Erbair said while activating more functions on her phone.


    The images slowly gained a few details. Trees, leaves, and other features appeared on the scenes as soon as they started moving. Faces appeared on the various reddish figures, and Khan could soon recognize himself when staring at the wall.


    The images yed the scenes of the entire hunt while Captain Erbair changed the point of view to focus on different sites. The various details appeared vague once she zoomed on certain battles and spots. It was clear that the program had only built those pictures by using data stored by the Global Army.


    The scenes stopped moving after Khan killed the monster, and Captain Erbair even pped her hands a few times after turning off the program.


    "You live up to our expectations," Captain Erbair suddenly revealed. "You even surpass them actually. Great job out there. Now, tell me what you want."


    "I''m sorry?" Khan asked in surprise.


    "I''m talking about a reward for your feats," Captain Erbair exined. "You don''t have any backing, so it''s up to the army to nurture you. Tell me what you need, and I''ll make sure to get it. Of course, try to be reasonable."


    Khan felt that everything was happening too quickly, but he didn''t take much toe up with a request. "I need a training knife, something suitable for the Divine Reaper."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I ran a bitte. The second chapter will arrive soon.

 Chapter 103 - Revelations

    The meeting ended there, with Captain Erbair''s promise to take care of the matter rted to the knife. Khan had even been vague on purpose so that the soldier could decide the quality of the weapon on her own.


    The battle against the monster had shown to Khan once again how the Lightning-demon style had evident ws. Stronger opponents could endure his quick blows, and the issue had started to annoy him.


    Captain Erbair would take a bit to get the knife, and Khan nned to approach thepetent proficiency level with the Lightning-demon style in that time. He didn''tmit any mistake during thest battle, so his n didn''t sound too unreasonable when he thought about it.


    Hesitation filled Khan''s mind when he stepped on the camp''s streets. The faint sound of cheers andughs reached his ears when he approached the building with the various rooms. Clearly, the recruits were celebrating the important achievement, but he didn''t feel in the mood to lie and pretend for a whole night.


    Even lying about his condition to iste himself into his room didn''t sound like a good option. Khan''s hand and waist still needed care, but the other recruits had seen him riding the Aduns for half a day without flinching. They would understand that he was onlying up with excuses to remain alone.


    Khan felt the intense desire to stop pretending, but Nitis only gave him two options where he could be himself. One of them saw him being on his own, and the other involved Liiza. Luckily for him, the mountains offered him the chance to get both of them.


    The metal doors of the building began to slide open, but Khan quickly sprinted toward the exit of the camp before theughing recruits couldy their eyes on him. No one could notice him while he kept running until the base was nothing more than a tiny dot in the distance. He could directly sit on the ground and wait for hispanion to arrive at that point.


    The azure light radiated from the city in the distance shone on his face from time to time, but Khan barely noticed it. He meditated among the uneven in until a foreign sensation spread inside his mind and made him gaze at the descending white figure.


    Khan let Snow enjoy itself as a reward for the long and tedious flights of thest days. The Aduns didn''t go too hard on him since bandages still covered his left hand and waist, but it still elerated and spun whenever it felt right. The eagle only held back from performing sudden dives.


    The familiar mountain with the t spot near its half eventually unfolded in Khan''s eyes. Still, his gaze immediately went on a dark figure sleeping in the corner of the rocky wall. Liiza was wearing arge ck tracksuit, and she was using its big hood as a pillow while she rested on the ufortable rocks.


    Snow didn''t hesitate to drop Khan on the t area and set off while making sure to remain silent. Liiza sensed their arrival and awakened anyway, but the eagle didn''t want to disturb the couple more than necessary since it could feel part of Khan''s foul mood.


    "I knew you wouldn''t have rested at all," Liiza eximed in a sleepy voice while opening the upper part of her tracksuit and showing the white tank top under it. "I''ll make sure that you rest tonight."


    Liiza patted herp and took off therge upper part of the tracksuit. It turned out to be a hoodie that she wanted to use as a nket to cover Khan.


    Khan smiled and crouched to kiss Liiza, but she promptly covered his mouth and stopped his actions.


    "No kissing until you rest," Liiza exined. "Licking won''t get you anywhere today."


    Liiza sensed Khan''s smile from under her palm. She could feel hispliance in his tired gaze, so she slowly retracted her hand and stretched her legs to create a pillow for him.


    Khany on the ground and ced his head on Liiza''sp. She shook her head when she saw that he made his face point toward her waist. She could sense his nose and mouth touching the skin covered by the thin tank top, and her lower lip inevitably ended between her teeth.


    Still, Liiza managed to restrain herself when she saw the bandages on Khan''s hand. She ced the hoodie over him before reaching his hair to caress it.


    The thin tank top couldn''t stop Khan''s breath. Khan made her waist warm in no time, and she couldn''t help but pull his hair softly whenever he kissed her in that spot.


    "Stop!" Liiza eximed as cute giggles came out of her mouth. "I''ll lift every restriction in a few hours if you behave!"


    Khan stopped teasing Liiza after those words. He continued to breathe warm air on her waist, but he didn''t try anything funny again.


    The two remained in that position for a while. Khan bathed in the cold sensations released by Liiza''s body, and she caressed his hair while enjoying the warmth he carried.


    The smile on Liiza''s face slowly disappeared when she noticed the few strands of azure hair on Khan''s head. That was her first time seeing them, and she inevitably connected them to therge scar on his chest.


    "I couldn''t sneak out any medicine," Liiza couldn''t help but say when the images seen through the binocrs crossed her eyes. "I-I was afraid that they could find out about us."


    Khan instinctively tilted his head to gaze at Liiza when he heard the hesitation in her voice. Her face had grown aloof, and she even diverted her eyes. There seemed to be shame and sadness in her expression.


    Khan felt the urge to hug her, but Liiza promptly pushed his head back on herp as soon as he tried to straighten his position.


    "I know what you are about to say," Liiza snorted. "It''s not my fault. I did the right thing. Humans have good meds too. That''s all true, but it''s annoying anyway. I had to stay put while the monster hurt you, and I can''t even help you with your injuries. I can''t do anything for you."


    Khan suddenly realized that Liiza had probably seen the battle. Paul was the only one in the group who could have been close enough to record the hunt, and she had been with him.


    He couldn''t even start to imagine how she must have felt during the hunt. Liiza didn''t only force herself to ignore him after noticing his injured state. She had to remain still while he endured lightning bolts.


    Khan had felt angry when the other Niqols ignored her. He didn''t know how he would have reacted during the hunt if he were in her ce.


    "It''s not about what you can do for me," Khan eventually said while caressing her side with the back of his sane hand. "It''s about showing my true face. I don''t need to lie and pretend when I''m with you, and that''s everything for me right now."


    Liiza''s expression froze at those words. Her eyes slowly returned on Khan, and the two inevitably stared at each other for a while. Khan even started to straighten his position again, but Liiza eventually remembered to put him down.


    "A few nice words won''t be enough today," Liiza snorted as her voice grew sweeter and a smile reappeared on her face. "I know that you have barely slept since we got together, but you went through a lot just two days ago. Please, rest for a bit. Do it for me."


    Liiza was basically begging Khan, and thetter read her worry on her face. She desperately wanted to do something for him, even if it meant forcing him to sleep.


    Khan moved his gaze on the white tank top, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He had already slept for the entire day, and he had even gone through the nightmare multiple times since the paining out of his hand had often awakened him.


    He didn''t feel sleepy, and he had no desire to review the Second Impact. Khan only wanted to be himself after spending more than two days pretending to be a perfect soldier, and he wished for Liiza to be part of that time.


    "I hate sleeping," Khan eventually revealed.


    "That was obvious," Liiza gave voice to a faintugh, "But your body needs it now. Get back on your feet so you can jump on me again."


    Liiza never stopped caressing Khan, but he wasn''t really paying attention. He felt her careful touch and heard her teases, but his focus was on different thoughts.


    "I can''t stop dreaming about it," Khan whispered, and Liiza frowned since she didn''t understand the meaning behind his words.


    "What do yo-?" Liiza started to ask, but Khan interrupted her before she could finish her line.


    "I always relive the day when I got this," Khan revealed while patting his chest. "The fire, the corpses, the smoke, everything returns as soon as I fall asleep."


    Liiza felt dumbfounded, and even her hands stopped caressing Khan. She slowly absorbed his words, but it felt hard to apply them to the real world.


    "Do you have nightmares about the Nak?" Liiza eventually asked. "Isn''t that normal after a trauma? I bet many Niqols will dream about the monster for the next months."


    "You don''t understand," Khan sighed as he turned to stare at the dark sky. "It''s not a nightmare that appears every once in a while. I dream about the incident every time I fall asleep. I relive it from the fire to the arrival of the Nak. It has gone on for almost twelve years by now."


    Liiza''s eyes widened at that point. Her hand carefully went under Khan''s uniform to touch his azure scar, but she didn''t feel anything off there. Her fingers then reached his forehead, but nothing happened there either.


    "Twelve years, you say?" Liiza asked in a worried tone. "Did they ever miss a day?"


    "No," Khan revealed. "I have the nightmare if I''m asleep. No exceptions."


    Liiza fell deep into her thoughts. One of her hands even left Khan''s head to scratch her cheek while she reviewed the issue.


    Khan''s condition didn''t seem toe from his psyche, but Liiza couldn''t confirm that mana was the issue either. Yet, Niqols had a great understanding of that energy, and she could think of many figures that could help him.


    "I might know someone," Liiza announced after a while.


    "I have already sought help," Khan sighed. "It didn''t work. I actually joined the army to find the Nak and see if I can put an end to this problem."


    Liiza opened her mouth at that important revtion, but she held back from talking about it now. She had something more important to say to her boyfriend now.


    "You don''t understand," Liiza exined. "The Niqols can help you search for eventual stains in your mana."


    "But I had these nightmares before obtaining mana," Khanined.


    "The Nak''s mana changed you!" Liiza shouted in a helpless tone. "You smell like a Nak, your eyes and hair carry their shades, and you clearly have a great talent for mana. I''m saying that the cause of the nightmares can be in your mutations, and I know someone who can help without exposing us."

 Chapter 104 - Shaman

    "How sure are you about this?" Khan asked as faint hope appeared inside him when he saw how resolute Liiza was about the matter.


    "Niqols know mana in ways that humans can''t even begin toprehend," Liiza smiled while removing the hair from Khan''s forehead. "Our knowledge might not solve your issue, but I''m sure that it will at least point in the right direction. Humans might be able to help at that point."


    "I was talking about our rtionship," Khan replied as aplicated smile appeared on his face.


    Khan had survived the nightmares for almost twelve years. His desperation was a core part of his personality, and the fact that his father didn''t manage to solve the issue had forced him to ept his condition.


    Hope wasn''t enough to make him risk what he had. Liiza granted him a peace that he wasn''t willing to endanger, even if it meant remaining with the nightmares until the duo didn''t have to hide anymore or he solved the issue by himself.


    His answer left Liizapletely stunned. The intense attraction that they shared made them extremely unwilling to give up on their rtionship, but she didn''t believe that Khan would decide to put her above such a severe issue.


    However, Liiza soon understood that Khan''s words didn''t onlye from his feelings. His answer mainly was the result of his helplessness. Part of Khan had basically stopped to believe that he could vanquish his nightmares.


    "I didn''t think you were a coward," Liiza snorted while wearing her aloof expression, but her hands remained on Khan''s head.


    Liiza continued to fondle Khan''s hair. She appeared pissed and annoyed, but her cheeks grew paler. Khan had seen that reaction during their most intimate moments, but he understood what it meant only during that conversation.


    "I like when you blush," Khan said as his smile became peaceful.


    "Shut up," Liiza snorted again before diverting her gaze. "Cowards can''t speak."


    "Maybe this someone can solve my nightmares," Khan sighed. "Maybe only a Nak can remove them. Maybe they don''t evene from mutations. I can''t be sure about any of that, but I know that I can endure until my position in the army improves. Why would I risk losing you now when I can simply wait for a few years?"


    "Why do you have to be the only one to endure?" Liizained while shooting an angry nce at him. "Why can''t I take part of that weight? I don''t need your protection, and we should work together to make us work."


    Liiza wanted to add more words, but she held back from saying them. Giving an ultimatum to Khan would only make him change his mind out of fear of losing her, which wouldn''t solve the issue. He had to reach those conclusions on his own. The problem would return otherwise.


    Khan suddenly realized that he could be at fault. In theory, he had done everything correctly. Liiza was having a boyfriend that never forced his schedule on her.


    However, his inexperience in rtionships made him fail to realize that Liiza didn''t want to feel happy on her own. She wanted Khan and her to have the same status in the rtionship, with both helping each other whenever something was wrong.


    Liiza had to get angry to make Khan understand that. He only had to imagine himself in her position to experience her many foul feelings.


    Liiza had merely felt annoyed when the matter involved only her powerlessness in helping Khan. Yet, that feeling had transformed into real anger when she saw Khan directly refusing her assistance to avoid creating problems for them.


    Khan wasn''t trying to protect Liiza. He was only avoiding risks since he was happy about his current situation. Still, he could understand how that behavior could annoy her since it was creating a wall between them that she couldn''t cross.


    Moreover, Khan was the very reason why she couldn''t cross that wall. He was pushing her away by trying to avoid creating problems.


    "I''m sorry," Khan eventually eximed while diverting his gaze. "I''m new to this. I didn''t think that trying to make things easy for you would hurt you."


    Khan had been sincere, and Liiza sensed it. Her anger slowly dispersed when she noticed how regretful he appeared through his cold expression.


    "I don''t have much experience either," Liiza revealed as her hands resumed caressing Khan''s hair. "It has never been so intense."


    The two spent a few minutes in silence. They had argued for the first time, right at the end of their first week together, but they only wanted to get closer now.


    "How much do you trust this someone?" Khan eventually asked.


    "She has been a shaman in my family for many generations," Liiza revealed a sweet smile. "Still, my mother had to kick her out due to her anti-human policies."


    "How is that supposed to reassure me?" Khan frowned and tried to raise his head, but Liiza promptly put him down while giving voice to her cute giggle.


    "Let me finish first," Liiza shouted before continuing in a in voice. "She has been my nanny for a long time, and I''ve remained in contact with her behind my mother''s back. She still relies on the old ways, so the devices developed during the cooperation with the humans can''t find her."


    "Why didn''t you contact her to get us a way tomunicate?" Khan suddenly asked as his eyes lit up.


    "I don''t even know how to exin the old ways to you," Liiza shook her head. "It would take a few days to contact her and even more toplete the items. How could I even justify disappearing for so long?"


    "That issue also applies to my situation," Khanmented, but Liiza softly pecked his forehead and pouted until he wore an apologetic face again.


    "The Niqols will hold a formal event at the end of the next week," Liiza exined. "Everyone will be busy with the preparations, and¡­ I believe that the humans will also refrain from special activities."


    Talking about the iing free time reminded Liiza about the hunt. Seeing Khan handling Glenn''s corpse so effortlessly made her chest ache, and part of his previous revtions even reappeared in her mind.


    Khan had revealed that he had joined the Global Army to find the Nak. His cold pretenses obviously came from that decision. Liiza couldn''t help but feel sad when she considered everything he had gone through and was enduring even now.


    "How are you, really?" Liiza asked when she found Khan looking at her. "I''ll handle the matter with my nanny and tell you the details once everything is ready, but I don''t want you to feel on your own in the meantime. I''m here for you, okay?"


    The evident concern in Liiza''s glowing eyes made Khan''s thoughts vanish. Only the conversation about the attraction caused by their mana remained in his mind.


    "I want to talk more about what you said in front of the forest," Khan announced. "Our feelings and mana, can we rify?"


    "I thought you didn''t like to talk," Liiza teased him, but her faintugh remained stuck in her throat when she saw how serious Khan appeared.


    "Let me sit now," Khan said without moving his eyes from Liiza, and she slowly removed her hands from his head.


    Khan straightened his position and sat next to Liiza. Their bodies faced each other, and Khan wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her closer.


    Their foreheads touched, and their eyes half-closed as they inspected each other''s faces. Their cold and warm breaths mixed as their lips drew close, but they didn''t kiss yet. There was something that they had to rify first.


    "There''s nothing much to say," Liiza whispered. "We have elements that express ourselves. The same goes for feelings. You know what we experienced when we first met."


    "How could I forget?" Khanughed. "It happened only a week ago."


    "Don''t ruin it, dummy," Liiza tried to scold him, but only a cuteugh came out of her mouth. "You wanted this. We can go back to kissing if you can''t handle it."


    "We are like this after one week," Khan said in a mocking tone. "Where does your superior knowledge think we''ll end up in a month?"


    "I won''t say anything specific," Liiza giggled, "But I believe our attraction will intensify until proper feelings appear."


    "And that will be the end," Khanughed.


    "Indeed," Liiza sneered before wearing a pensive expression. "Do you ever think about the future?"


    "Our future?" Khan asked.


    "That too," Liiza replied in a timid voice.


    "I don''t know," Khan sighed while raising his sane hand to caress her cheek. "I''ve barely started climbing the ranks inside the army. I don''t even know how long my stay on Nitis willst. I can only think about simple stuff for now. I''ll keep training and seeing you."


    "It''s the same for me," Liiza exined. "I actually envy you since you have a clear goal. I don''t want to turn into my mother, and the other Niqols even avoid me because I keep disobeying orders. I don''t know if I''ll ever find my ce here."


    "You have me now," Khan teased her.


    "I do have you," Liiza repeated as she spread her legs and wrapped them around his waist while sitting on Khan''sp. "I don''t know for how long, but it feels nice now, and that''s enough for me. Just promise that we''ll face the stuff thates at us together."


    "I promise," Khan swore. "I''ll be better."


    "You already are," Liiza smiled, and the two lost their desire to speak at that point.


    Their lips instinctively drew near until they touched, and their minds went nk. They stopped thinking as they lost themselves in each other''s embrace.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I ran a bitte. The second chapter will arrive soon.

 Chapter 105 - Events

    The free time granted by Captain Erbair allowed Khan to train a lot and stay with Liiza without affecting his sleeping schedule. Still, he ended up being the only one who decided to attend the three afternoon lessons necessary to be an ambassador.


    The event naturally surprised Paul since Khan had previously requested more free time, but he never got the chance to question him during the week after the hunt.


    Khan was a ghost inside the camp. He appeared only to attend the three lessons concerning xenolinguistics, politics, and alien customs, but he left right after them. The other recruits didn''t even bother to attend those sses after the hunt, so no one had the chance to talk with him.


    Khanpletely disappeared during the free days. He stashed provisions in his backpack before spending his entire time among the mountains. The cold apanied his training and his moments with Liiza, but he barely felt it anymore.


    The couple never stopped indulging in their intimate moments, but Liiza forced herself to set clear boundaries whenever they risked going too far. Their attraction continued to intensify, but she didn''t want to rush things due to the feelings generated by their mana.


    The purpose of their boundaries didn''t involve only Khan. Liiza also felt her self-control waning as she spent entire days with her boyfriend. She managed to reset her mind whenever she disappeared to contact her old nanny, but her feelings came back stronger than ever once she gazed at Khan again.


    Khan understood how scary the mana that affected his feelings could be during his second week on Nitis. He sensed his mind growing dull whenever he spent more than a minute with Liiza. Even ncing at her from a distance could make him end up in a daze.


    Those irrational desires were so dangerous that the couple had toe up with strategies to avoid doing something that they would regret. Liiza wanted to wait before going all the way with Khan, and he didn''t want to force her. Also, the issue about the condoms remained, so it felt easier to enjoy his girlfriend without worrying about that problem.


    The strategies mostly involved mandatory breaks that the couple had to take to calm down. They would decide to fly among the mountains, train, attend specific matters, or directly converse about various topics to let their minds calm down.


    Luckily for them, they both had rtively high control over their mana. The Niqols didn''t normally restrain themselves, but they could do it if the situation required it, and Liiza rarely hesitated to use that ability. Meanwhile, Khan''s mental training gave him the chance to seal away his feelings and desires in no time, so he only needed to decide to do it to calm himself down.


    The couple developed new types of breaks as the week passed. Liiza and Khan were in a peculiar position due to their roles on Nitis. They both needed to learn more about their partner''s species, and they didn''t mind spending long hours conversing about customs and habits.


    Khan even took that chance to learn the Niqols''nguage. He already attended lessons in the camp, but Liiza felt happy to help him with the matter.


    A notification eventually arrived on Khan''s phone near the end of the sixth day, and the context of the message didn''t surprise him. Liiza had already warned him about the event previously that week. The seventh day would feature the formal celebration inside the city near the camp, and the army had even nned Glenn''s funeral to happen in the morning.


    "She should answer in these days," Liiza exined after kissing Khan and taking a step toward her Aduns. "You might have the chance to meet her next week."


    "There''s no hurry," Khan warmly replied while also stepping toward his Aduns. "I can wait more weeks if it helps you doing everything safely. I''ll spend five months here at the very least. I have time."


    "This is still my, Khan," Liiza announced while wearing a smile and jumping on her Aduns. "Don''t worry. I became an expert at covering my tracks after sneaking out of my house for almost seven years."


    Liiza set off after that announcement, and Khan quickly jumped on Snow''s back to return to the camp. His injuries had healed by then, so he let his Aduns have fun during the flight.


    His return to the camp didn''t go unnoticed, but everyone had grown used to the asional noise released by Snow''s wings by then. Khan''s behavior had even gained a different aura after the hunt. His feat against the monster had made the other recruits look up to him and create rumors concerning his trips.


    Khan was too resolute to be a mere asocial recruit in their minds. Everyone even knew that he didn''t take a single break from the lessons connected to the ambassador''s role.


    Many had started to believe that he traveled across Nitis to learn more about the and improve his position in thework''s lists. Others thought that he had found a special training area in regions that they couldn''t reach. Some simply used his Aduns to exin the need for many trips.


    Still, none of them could ever get clear answers from him since he barely spent time in the camp. Moreover, the other recruits didn''t have real reasons to bother him, so they limited themselves to spread rumors.


    Some recruits tried to convince George to act as a bridge between the seemingly unapproachable Khan and the rest of the recruits, but he categorically refused every time. George had basically been to war with Khan, so those requests didn''t even faze him. He even tried to justify his behavior with the power that he wielded.


    Khan knew that he should socialize, but time wasn''t on his side. His schedule had never been so packed with a girlfriend and his relentless training with the Lightning-demon style. Captain Erbair had promised to him that the knife would arrive in a few weeks, so he felt the need to increase his proficiency level as soon as possible.


    Everyone in the camp gathered right outside the fence the next day and organized a small funeral to remember Glenn. Even the sses from the other training camp traveled all night to attend that event.


    The funeral consisted of a symbolic burial of an empty coffin apanied by speeches from the two Lieutenants, Paul, Captain Erbair, and the few recruits that knew the boy well. Glenn''s corpse was in line to reach the teleport and return to his family, but organizing that event anyway felt needed, especially when it came to those who had joined the hunt.


    Four rtivelyrge groups formed as the various recruits started to follow their respective leaders and orders. Nitis'' four human sses had all gathered there, but they had different tasks toplete. Only Khan''s group had ended up gaining ess to the formal event.


    Captain Erbair and Lieutenant Kintea could join the event because they were the direct superiors of the hunting group, but they couldn''t reach the city on their own. Humans still didn''t have free ess to it.


    An envoy riding a ck Adunsnded at the edges of the training camp right before lunch. The Niqols had notified Captain Erbair about that arrival, so Khan had already summoned Snow by then.


    Chief Alu sat on the ck Aduns and didn''t leave its back while the recruits, Lieutenant, and Captain gathered around his figure while riding their Ugu. Only Khan was waiting slightly in the distance with Snow ready to set off.


    The group didn''t exchange many words. The travel started as soon as Chief Alu set off, and everyone followed him closely. The city was nearby, but the trip would stillst an entire hour.


    Chief Alu made his Aduns fly above the buildings once he reached the city. Khan did the same, and he soon found himself hovering above the bustling city. The azure glow of the many structures didn''t make Snow grow confused. The eagle could follow the ck creature closely andnd on argending tform above the buildings.


    "The event will happen right below," Chief Alu exined with its usual gentle tone. "Someone will get you something to wear. Can I trust you to wee your group on the first floor?"


    "Of course," Khan promptly replied, and a trapdoor that led to the insides of the tall building opened on the floor.


    Khan found a series of Niqols wearing luxurious white armors that covered them from head to toe when he followed Chief Alu inside the building and crossed a few corridors to find elevators. The defensive items had azure symbols on their imposing metal figures that seemed to enhance them.


    The soldiers let Khan pass since he was with Chief Alu, so the duo quickly reached sliding metal doors that revealed elevators featuring the rotating azure cubes that the Niqols used as menus.


    The elevators there were clean and rather small. They didn''t have chords or gears attached to their metal structures, but the mana in the area created an environment simr to what Khan experienced on the teleports.


    Khan took one of the small elevators by himself and made it go down. He reached the first floor in an instant, and more Niqols donning white armors waited for him there. The aliens remained at his side until Captain Erbair and the others arrived. The rtivelyrge group quickly filled the luxurious hall that featured drapes andrge couches all over it.


    The Niqols took care of leading the group toward a series ofrge elevators that could contain all of them. The soldiers entered the structures with them and made them travel to the twentieth floor, where a series of aliens who carried white fabrics left and right weed them.


    The Niqols quickly provided new clothes to all of them. The group wore tight white robes as they returned to the elevators and let the soldiers lead them even higher in the building.


    Arge hall unfolded in their vision once they reached their destination. Multiple figures wearing white robes filled the area, but only a few of them were powerful enough to be potential threats.


    Alien soldiers filled the walls of the hall, but two figures soon attracted Khan''splete attention when they appeared in his vision.


    Two female Niqols were waiting for everyone to enjoy the delicacies ced on the two long tables that divided the room. One of them was the captivating Liiza who was wearing a tight white dress that exposed her curves. The other had a simr dress, but an intense mature aura surrounded her and made her appear far more beautiful than his girlfriend.

 Chapter 106 - Drinks

    The Niqols had adapted to the darkness that never stopped covering the. Their architecture and artistic sense showed those customs. The aliens had the chance to fill the insides of their buildings with light, but they limited themselves to dim azure symbols that kept everything rtively dark.


    The corridors, elevators, and halls that Khan had crossed were all quite dark. The lights released by their azure symbols allowed him to see everything clearly, but humans would prefer more illumination anyway.


    Instead, the hall where the celebration happened was far brighter. It seemed that the Niqols were trying to make their guestsfortable by raising the intensity of the azure lights radiated by the symbols on the ceiling.


    Liiza was stunning in her dress. The thin white fabric stuck perfectly to her wless skin and created a stark contrast on her chest, where an attractive cleavage highlighted the curves of her gracious breasts.


    The dress ended in a diagonal skirt that opened right below the center of her left thigh and finished on her right ankle. Liiza''s aloof expression and detached aura even enhanced the pure grace that her figure radiated.


    However, the woman next to her belonged to a superior realm. She shared some of Liiza''s facial features, but she was taller than her. Her V-shaped cleavage emphasized her ample chest, and her long skirt couldn''t hide her attractive round waist.


    The female Niqols had a mature aura that attracted the attention of every male in the room. Even some of the females couldn''t help but steal nces of her sexy figure. She merely appeared in her thirties, but her glowing eyes carried a wisdom that only elders would have.


    The woman was clearly aware of the attentions converging on her, but she appeared at ease in that situation. She even revealed cute smiles and covered her mouth to hide herugh whenever someone cracked a joke or approached her to talk.


    Her behavior perfectly matched and enhanced her natural beauty. Khan nced at Liiza after inspecting the woman, but he found his girlfriend looking at him. Her aloof expression was still there, but Khan felt that she was angry.


    ''Is she the famous mother?'' Khan wondered when he sensed something off in Liiza''s gaze.


    Liiza and the woman had their hairbed in the same way. Long white braids fell from their heads and descended on their backs. It felt obvious that they had prepared for the event at the same time, and Khan used that as a clue to guess the Niqols'' identity.


    "Our guests have finally arrived," The woman announced in a sweet voice that managed to spread through the entirety of the room. "Please, eat and drink. Today we celebrate a significant step forward in our rtionship."


    Those in Khan''s ss who had yet to notice the woman couldn''t help but remain stunned when they saw her. Some of the boys even opened their mouths and found themselves unable to close them.


    "It''s an honor to see you again, Ambassador Yeza!" Captain Erbair announced in a tone loud enough to startle the other recruits awake and made them perform a polite bow.


    "It''s a pity that we are both too busy," Yeza revealed a broad smile. "I would n weekly meetings otherwise. Of course, Lieutenant Kintea would also have toe."


    "I wouldn''t dare to refuse, Ambassador Yeza," Lieutenant Kintea politely replied while managing to ignore that Yeza''s voice had be more sensual when she called him.


    ''She is a vixen!'' Khan shouted in his mind without breaking his polite bow.


    Yeza clearly knew how to use her beauty to her advantage. She even pointed her shining smile at the boys that didn''t manage to keep their heads down.


    Khan happily discovered that Yeza''s beauty didn''t affect him as intensely as Liiza. He felt nothing more than mere physical attraction toward her.


    Her title and Liiza''s annoyed gaze had made Khan almost sure that Yeza was her mother. The mental barrier immediately appeared and fended off his feelings at that point. Khan didn''t want to risk revealing anything in that situation. Even the faint exchange of nces felt too much with Yeza in the same room as his girlfriend.


    "Stop standing there," Yezaughed. "We are all friends here. No need to exaggerate with the formalities."


    Captain Erbair decided to break her bow at those words, and the others around her did the same. The Niqols in the room could finally approach the group, and they didn''t hesitate to call the recruits to make them at ease in that foreign environment.


    "Do you mind if we take something to eat together?" Chief Alu asked when he approached Khan.


    "Not at all," Khan replied while wearing a fake smile and following the alien toward one of the tables.


    The group experienced simr scenes. The other Niqols in the room mainly were the young soldiers who had fought against the monster. Those aliens called some recruits and led them toward the tables or the various couches to make sure that they enjoyed the celebration.


    Chief Alu pointed at tes that Khan had to try, and thetter didn''t hesitate to eat everything. It didn''t matter if the meals involved worms or odd-looking insects. Khan let the Niqols guide his appetite to keep him satisfied.


    "You really adapted to the Niqols'' cuisine," Chief Aluughed after Khan wolfed everything that he had pointed at. "Let''s get something to drink now."


    A series of cups carved from ck wood stood next to arge basin that contained a dense pink liquid. Chief Alu didn''t hesitate to fill two mugs with that beverage before handing one of them to Khan.


    "We consider it bad manners if you don''t look at yourpanion in the eyes when drinking," Chief Alu exined, and Khan quickly fixed his eyes on him.


    Chief Alu nodded and raised his cup to take a sip of the pink liquid. Khan did the same, and the two continued to look at each other during the action.


    A warm sensation spread through Khan''s mouth and throat as he drank the pink liquid. He immediately realized that the drink was simr to some of Earth''s liquors, but that small quantity didn''t manage to affect his mind.


    Khan had only tried booze to appease his curiosity. It had never been hard to find it in his house in the Slums, but he didn''t like it. Bret even was a constant reminder of how bad drinking could be, so Khan had always ignored that habit.


    Still, he knew how booze worked. The Niqols apparently didn''t have an age limit when it came to drinking, so Khan inevitably called upon his knowledge to remember how to avoid getting drunk. ording to his memories, having a full belly would already keep him safe from that single cup.


    Chief Alu led Khan toward one of the couches. The two exchanged polite lines that mostly involved the differences between Earth and Nitis and the personalities of their respective Aduns after they sat and started conversing.


    Their conversation never became too serious since Chief Alu only had to entertain Khan and avoid that he remained alone while the celebration continued. The other Niqols had the same tasks, and all the humans ended up having casual chats with the aliens.


    Yeza and Liiza had also moved toward two couches divided by a small table. Captain Erbair and Lieutenant Kintea were in front of them andughs often came out of their mouths. Only Liiza remained emotionless as she limited herself to nod and give short replies whenever the conversation required her to answer.


    Yeza eventually stood up, and the two humans immediately imitated her. She shot a warm smile toward them before clearing her throat and iming everyone''s attention.


    "I think it''s time to move the event to its main topic," Yeza announced before tapping on an azure square on the ground with her white shoe and activating series of functions of the room.


    The squares on the four walls lit up and released faint beams that created a detailed image at the center of the room. The sheet containing the new agreement between the two species appeared and showed the various details that the superiors had added during the week after the hunt.


    The most striking feature of the agreement was its name. Its official title was "Padlyn''s deal", which obviously wanted to remind of Glenn''s sacrifice.


    "Humans will gain ess to the Aduns'' nests starting from next week," Yeza announced while everyone was busy reading the sheet. "I hope that all of you seed in taming our wonderful creatures."


    A curse inevitably resounded inside Khan''s mind when he realized that his private spot in the mountains with Liiza might be unsafe once other humans gained ess to the Aduns. Still, he quickly calmed down since he believed that his girlfriend could find something equally nice in no time.


    "Many academies have also agreed to share their training areas," Yeza exined in her sweet voice while her glowing eyes moved through the room. "Friendly tournaments and joint activities will definitely happen in the next months."


    Captain Erbair and Lieutenant Kintea didn''t show surprised expressions during the exnation since their superiors had already informed them about the final state of the agreement. However, the recruits from both species widened their eyes when they learnt about all of that.


    "You can also gain ess to our cities from now on," Yeza continued, "But you''ll still need an escort to explore them. Still, we''ll make sure to create a group in charge of the task."


    Yeza continued to speak and mentioned multiple topics that made the recruits happy about the new agreement. The humans could finally bring new buildings to Nitis and have more freedom on the. The Niqols even hinted at the chance to allow new human sses in the following years.


    All in all, the agreement was a huge step forward that made everyone get another cup of the pink liquid to celebrate.


    Khan politely offered to get it for Chief Alu, and the alien didn''t refuse. He remained on his couch while the boy approached the table and refilled both cups. Khan''s mug was still half-full, but the Niqols didn''t seem to mind that he was holding back from drinking.


    "You''ve finally met my mother," A familiar voice resounded from behind Khan, but he didn''t turn and continued to fill the cups.


    "Shouldn''t we avoid speaking here?" Khan whispered as Liiza waited for him to be over with thedle.


    "This is a formal event meant to celebrate the rtionship between our species," Liizamented. "It would be strange if I didn''t speak to you. They might even punish me."


    Khan had offered to refill the cups after everyone had taken care of their drinks. No one stood near the tables since most tes were empty. He was alone with Liiza, and the others were too caught in their conversations to look at them.


    "She is your mother then," Khan replied while handing her thedle.


    "What do you think about her?" Liiza said while filling her cup. "You must have taken a good look."


    "She is beautiful," Khan honestly replied, "But I''d still choose you over her."


    "I find it hard to believe it," Liizamented. "My mother is one of the most beautiful women on the. I''m just a normal girlpared to her."


    "Tell that to my mana," Khan picked one of the cups and turned to fix his gaze on her eyes.


    "No reactions?" Liiza asked as she imitated him and remained with her cup in front of her mouth.


    "Not at all," Khan revealed before both of them took a short sip without breaking the stare.


    "What did you think when you saw us then?" Liiza timidly asked as she watched Khan picking the other cup and turning toward Chief Alu.


    "I wondered if you could bring that dress to the mountains," Khan revealed, and Liiza quickly turned toward the table to fill a te.


    Khan returned to Chief Alu, but Liiza remained on the table with her head lowered on the tes. She appeared focused on picking her food, but the truth was that her cheeks had blushed after those words, and she had to hide them until the feeling ended.

 Chapter 107 - Call

    The event went on peacefully, and Khan never ended up conversing about serious topics with Chief Alu. The two went on speaking about the Aduns, and the Niqols even revealed some tricks on how to handle those creatures.


    Two recruits led by two young Niqols approached Khan and Chief Alu''s couches before the duo could grow bored of those superficial talks. George and Natalie performed polite bows, and Chief Alu didn''t hesitate to stand up while giving voice to a gentleugh.


    "I''ll stop boring you now," Chief Alu announced while bowing toward Khan. "This has been nice. Let''s go for a flight together at some point."


    Khan stood up and bowed while the four sat on the couches. The Niqols immediately started talking about the hunt andpliment Khan''s ability, and a light-hearted conversation began.


    It was clear that the two aliens hadpelled George and Natalie to drink a bit. Natalie''s eyes appeared heavy, and her usual cold expression had disappeared to leave room for a broad smile. She evenughed often whenever George or the Niqols cracked a joke.


    George''s cheeks were slightly red, and he swayed left and right whenever his back left the couch. However, his words were still clear, and he never risked revealing ssified information during the conversation.


    Khan limited himself to interact only when the Niqols directly talked with him, but he made sure never to appear distracted. Still, he didn''t fail to notice how the aliens often asked him to drink.


    Khan had to ept a few times, but he didn''t hesitate to refuse once the pink liquid started to make him feel lightheaded. It was easy in his situation to justify his rejection. He only needed to mention the Aduns to make the aliens give up on the matter.


    ''Do they want to get us drunk to see if we reveal something ssified?'' Khan wondered while he kept his twopanions in check without ignoring the two aliens.


    Drinking on Earth was legal from the age of sixteen, but that practice wasn''t popr among young recruits. It was even hard for them to find booze in the camp.


    Instead, the Niqols appeared rtively unaffected. Khan couldn''t understand if their species had a higher resistance to the liquid or if they had grown used to it over time. However, it was clear that the human group would have to leave soon before some recruits made the army lose face.


    Captain Erbair seemed to agree with Khan''s conclusions, and she soon stood up to announce her need to leave. Yeza didn''t try to convince her to stay, so the two exchanged polite bows while the Lieutenant gathered all the recruits.


    "You don''t need to lead the path," Captain Erbair announced after the group performed a formal salute and approached the elevators. "The Ugu remember the road."


    Khan could only nod at those words take a separate path after he recovered his uniform. The Niqols had cleaned it and folded it inside a backpack, so he didn''t need to change clothes before using the elevator that led to the roof.


    The decision to leave the celebration had been rather sudden, so Khan didn''t find Snow waiting for him when he reached the roof. Instead, he found a few young Niqols in the corner of the area encircled by a short metal fence.


    The Niqols seemed to panic when they heard the trapdoor opening, but they slightly rxed when they noticed Khaning out of it. Those aliens had been inside the event hall just a few minutes ago, but it seemed that their role had ended after the human group left.


    A trail of smoke wasing out from behind them, and a strange smell even filled the area. Still, Khan didn''t say anything as he went into the opposite corner of the roof. It was rather early since the celebration hadsted less than two hours, so noises still came out of the streets below.


    "You killed the monster, right?" One of the Niqols eventually asked while Khan was busy looking at the distant streets.


    "I did," Khan revealed while turning toward the group, "But I didn''t kill it on my own."


    The alien group had a boy and three girls. The male had been the one to speak before, and he wore aplicated expression when he moved his eyes between the trail of smoke and Khan.


    "I won''t say anything," Khan quickly announced, and the four revealed a smile at those words.


    "[He''s actually cute]," One of the girls said before her friends exploded into augh.


    "[You should hit on him]," A girl replied while suppressing a giggle. "[You might get a reward if you are the first Niqols to have sex with a human]!"


    The fourughed loudly, but the boy soon justified himself when he saw Khan studying their behavior. "We were talking about your technique. It was quite amazing."


    Khan revealed a fake smile. He didn''t know enough about the Niqols''nguage to understand what they said, but he could sense that their words didn''t involve his martial art.


    "Hey, your has daylight, right?" The male Niqols eventually asked as the girls continued to speak among themselves.


    "It does," Khan replied.


    "Is it good?" The Niqols continued.


    "It''s quite good," Khan smiled as his eyes went on the dark sky. "It''s hard to describe it."


    "You don''t need to," The Niqolsughed. "Nitis will experience its first daylight after two thousand years soon. I can''t wait!"


    "How soon?" Khan asked as his eyebrows arched.


    That sounded like something ssified. Khan didn''t even know if his superiors were aware of that event.


    "It should be a matter of mont-," The Niqols revealed before one of the girls pulled his arm and shot an admonishing gaze at him.


    "Don''t mind my words," The boy quickly added when he realized that he had said too much. "I had too much to drink, and¡­."


    The Niqols nced at the trails of smokeing out behind the girls before exploring into augh. Khan revealed a fake smile, but his eyes recorded everything. He noted in his mind that he had to learn more about that imminent event.


    An awkward atmosphere fell on the roof, but Snow soon arrived and saved Khan from those Niqols. The eagle wanted to go directly toward the mountains, but Khan made sure to make it fly toward the camp until the city was far away before changing direction.


    The faint effects that the pink liquid had started to cause on his body had vanished while he was on the roof. Khan felt inplete control of his senses while Snow shot through the sky and enjoyed itself. He only had to secure the backpack containing his uniform to his back before letting his eagle have as much fun as it wanted.


    Snow dropped Khan on the familiar t spot. The area was empty, so Khan didn''t hesitate to sit on the ground and start the eleventh mental exercise.


    It didn''t take him much to fail. He still needed a while toplete one of thest steps before the Wave spell, but he didn''t feel dejected. Khan improved every day, and it seemed that no one had caught up with him for now.


    A dark figure eventually flew through the sky and encircled the mountain before dropping Liiza on the t area. She was still wearing her dress, and a blush appeared on her face when she saw Khan standing up to stare at her.


    "You look good too," Liizamented as a faint smile appeared on her face. "I''m d they let you keep the robe."


    Khan didn''t speak. He took slow steps toward Liiza without moving his gaze away from her. Liiza gave voice to a cuteugh, but her expression soon turned serious when she understood Khan''s mood.


    "We should avoid today," Liiza whispered when Khan wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "We both drank. It''s not smart."


    Liiza refused Khan with her words, but her hands went on his hair soon as their bodies touched. She even started kissing him and pushing him toward the rocky wall.


    Khan''s back eventually hit the wall, and the two slowly sat as their hands made their clothes grow loose. Liiza left his face at some point, and the words she said made him almost go crazy.


    "It''s your job to stop me tonight," Liiza whispered while breathing roughly. "I know I won''t. Can I trust you?"


    Everything inside Khan begged him to find a way out of that conversation, but Liiza''s appeared really worried about her condition. She seemed scared about what she could do.


    "I''ll stop you," Khan promised, and Liiza dived on him again.


    Keeping the clothes on in that situation was impossible, but Khan mustered the entirety of his resolve to stop Liiza before she went too far. The process was basically torture for him since she appeared ready to go all the way. Yet, he didn''t forget his promise, and Liiza slowly calmed down as the effects of the pink liquid waned.


    "I''ve died a few times tonight," Khan sighed after the frenzy ended and Liiza opted for cuddles.


    Liiza had ced Khan''s robe over her while she sat between his legs. The situation didn''t help his arousal since they were both naked, but it was easier to endure that feeling since she wasn''t fighting his self-restraint now.


    "You did incredibly good," Liiza announced while kissing his chest and snuggling closer.


    "I''ve disappointed all the men in the world," Khan continued while wrapping his arms on Liiza''s naked waist. "I can see my ancestors shaking their heads."


    Liiza couldn''t help but explode into augh when she heard Khan''s disheartened voice. He was staring at the dark sky, but his mind kept ying the incredible scenes he had just experienced.


    "You know," Liiza timidly said after suppressing herugh. "Two weeks aren''t nearly enough, and our different species makes everything worse. Yet, you have proven that I can trust youpletely."


    Khan lowered his gaze and saw Liiza staring at him while her hand remained wed to his chest. The robe had stopped covering part of her body, but he seemed unable to stop looking at her eyes.


    "Can we restart slowly?" Liiza asked while her hand slowly ran down his naked torso, but a frown suddenly appeared on her face.


    Liiza stopped her actions and ced her back on Khan''s chest as she pulled her other arm out of the robe. An azure symbol had appeared near her wrist, and its faint glow shone on the couple''s faces.


    "Dress up," Liiza quickly ordered while turning and kissing Khan. "We have to go."


    Khan remained in a daze when he saw Liiza leaving the cover of his robe and wearing her dress right in front of him. The girl blushed when she noticed her attentive gaze, but she forced herself not to stare too much between his legs when she exined what was happening.


    "My nanny has called," Liiza exined. "We must go now."


    Khan''s eyes lit up. He quickly called Snow as he straightened his position and wore his robe.


    The two soon found themselves standing near the edges of the t area. Liiza was in Khan''s arms, and the couple didn''t speak as they stared at the dark environment.


    The arrival of the Aduns forced the two to separate. Liiza led Khan deeper into the mountain chain, into areas that he had never seen. The flight evensted a few hours, and she descended only when a small forest appeared under them.


    Liiza seemed to havemitted the environment to memory. The Aduns left the two on the ground, and she led Khan across the dark trees without ever questioning her steps. The couple sprinted through the forest and stopped only when they reached arge tree with a narrow cavity in its trunk.


    "Come," Liiza ordered while taking Khan''s hand and nearing the cavity.


    Khan struggled to enter that hole, but the path erged as a tunnel that led underground unfolded. A few burning torches even appeared as the two walked through the passage, and arge underground area appeared after a while.


    Khan could barely believe his eyes when he inspected the underground area. The rocky walls featured strange symbols that released a red light. The corpses of a few Tainted animals hung upside down from the ceiling. A huge cauldron even upied a corner of the cave, and a Niqols with long red hair slept next to it.

 Chapter 108 - Zalpa

    Everything about the cave felt off. The hung Tainted animals strangely were easier to ept than the glowing red symbols on the walls and the alien with hair that reminded Khan about blood.


    Khan had basically just arrived on Nitis, but he believed to have mastered the basics concerning Niqols, especially for what concerned their appearance and typical uses of mana.


    However, the scenes in the cave went against his knowledge. Nothing learnt in the past two weeks and before the travel to Nitis mentioned those blood-like red shades.


    "I never understood if she gets the humannguage," Liiza exined while tightening the grip on his hand and getting closer to him. "I''ll lead the conversation and trante. You follow my lead."


    Liiza''s words awakened the red-haired Niqols sleeping next to the cauldron. The alien sat on the ground and removed the dirty hair from her face to inspect her guests, and a disgusted expression soon appeared on her face.


    "[You didn''t tell me that he was a human]," The red-haired Niqols announced in a rough voice before spitting on the ground without breaking her eye contact with Khan.


    The Niqols was clearly old. Wrinkles filled the corner of her eyes, the space between her white eyebrows, and her forehead. An awful smell came out of her ragged dark-grey robe that featured many ck stains, and ayer of dirt covered her soles.


    The old woman had long ck fingernails on both fingers and toes, and her white eyes carried some scarlet shades that tainted the usual pure glowing gaze of the Niqols.


    Khan couldn''t help but think that her red shades weren''t natural. After all, her eyebrows and eyes still tried to stick to the Niqols'' innate features. Moreover, the odd reminder of blood caused by those dark-red colors made it feel like an artificial feature.


    "She''s happy to see you," Liiza said while caressing Khan''s arm.


    "I got that when she spat on the ground," Khanmented, but no anger managed to fill his mind since he saw how hard Liiza was trying to make that meeting seed.


    Liiza was holding Khan''s right arm with both her hands. One of them squeezed his palm while the other caressed his elbow and made sure that it remained attached to her chest.


    Her expression even appeared quite resolute. Khan felt hopeless about the whole matter after experiencing the nightmares for so long, but Liiza didn''t hide her seriousness. She seemed willing to pay any price to help Khan.


    Warmth inevitably filled Khan. He felt unable to move his eyes from his girlfriend. Liiza''s resolute face tried to hide her worry and insecurities, and she was doing her best to support him even while those tumultuous feelings raged inside her.


    ''Maybe I''ve be too used to my suffering,'' Khan thought as hemitted that scene to memory.


    Initially, Khan didn''t want to n that meeting since it could endanger his rtionship with Liiza. He had eventually epted because his actions were creating cracks in their bond. Yet, a new reason appeared in his mind when he saw how deeply his girlfriend cared about that matter.


    Khan wanted to get better to make Liiza happy now. He couldn''t force himself to forget what he had be used to endure, but he cared about her feelings enough to do what was best for his condition.


    The old Niqols'' mouth opened in a grimace when she studied the youngsters. Liiza''s fervor and Khan''s captivated expression felt cute and pure, but she hated it when she considered the boy''s species.


    "[You know that I hate humans, Lii]," The woman snorted. "[I would do anything for you, but helping them is too much]."


    "[I''m not asking you to help humans]," Liiza exined as her hand went on Khan''s chest and opened his robe to reveal the azure scar. "[I want you to hurt the Nak]."


    The disgusted expression on the woman''s face disappeared when the scar appeared in her vision. She quickly stood up and walked toward Khan to near her nose to his chest and sniff the tainted spot.


    The woman''s movements had been quite abrupt. They had almost triggered Khan''s instincts, but Liiza had made sure to remind him to stay still.


    "Zalpa was the best shaman of her time," Liiza exined while the woman''s nauseous odor surrounded the couple. "She understands mana in ways that the current healers of my species can''t even begin toprehend."


    "I thought the rtionship with the humans benefitted your species," Khan eximed while tilting his head once Zalpa started sniffing his neck.


    "Niqols became scared of sacrifices," Zalpa suddenly exined in a bad human ent before taking a step back while keeping her eyes on Khan''s chest. "They want to force mana into hands, but mana is free."


    Liiza appeared surprised that Zalpa could use the humannguage, but she didn''t forget to continue the exnation. "Our old ways often required a cost. We learnt how to remove that price by sacrificing a bit of our understanding."


    "[A bit]!" Zalpa snorted. "[You let the easy path tempt you]!"


    "She doesn''t seem happy," Khanmented.


    "She rarely was even back then," Liiza smiled whileying her head on Khan''s shoulder, "But she taught me about freedom. I would have never decided to stay with a human if it weren''t for her."


    Khan''s eyebrows arched in surprise, and his gaze toward Zalpa inevitably grew softer. The old Niqols hated humans, but he couldn''t see her in a bad light anymore after learning about that connection with Liiza.


    "[Can you understand what''s wrong with him]?" Liiza asked when she saw that Zalpa had started scratching her hair and mumbling with herself.


    "[Yes]," Zalpa replied before resuming her mumbling.


    "[Can you help him]?" Liiza continued in an excited voice.


    "[Maybe]," Zalpa gave another short answer before going back to her incoherent muttering.


    "[What is it then]?" Liiza asked when she saw that Zalpa didn''t appear inclined to approach the task.


    "[He is a human and a Nak]," Zalpa exined. "[Two reasons not to help him]."


    Khan actually understood the first line, and his expression inevitably darkened. Doctor Parket had already informed him about his peculiar condition, and he had yet to ept itpletely.


    "[Please, Zaza]," Liiza asked in a pleading voice. "[Do it for me]."


    "[Why would you even go so far for a human]?" Zalpa snorted. "[I know that your mother made you dislike the Niqols, but he can''t feel like we do. He''s probably using you for his species or his urges]."


    "[He just held back from doing that]," Liiza exined as a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. "[He even wanted to stay with his nightmares because this meeting put our rtionship at risk]."


    Liiza''s voice grew sweeter as her exnation continued, and she even tried to get closer to Khan during the process. He understood almost nothing of her speech, but his eyes met Liiza''s gaze when he sensed the girl snuggling on his shoulder.


    Zalpa had learnt a bit about Khan''s situation in the past days. She knew about his condition, and her expression inevitably rxed when she understood how caring he was toward Liiza.


    Zalpa eventually raised her hand and gestured to Khan to get closer. Liiza wore a broad smile and kissed his cheek before letting him walk toward the shaman, but thetter suddenly grabbed his robe and made him bend with her superhuman strength.


    "I know curses that kill your entire family," Zalpa whispered to Khan''s ear before slowly letting him straighten his back. "Are we clear?"


    "I won''t hurt her," Khan promised when Zalpa''s face reappeared in his vision.


    "Feelings don''t worry me," Zalpa snorted while turning toward the cauldron. "Niqols'' love is stronger than humans. She''ll happily get hurt in your ce."


    "[Zaza]!" Liiza shouted from behind Khan as her blush intensified. "[We have been together for only two weeks]!"


    "[And you are already opening your legs]!" Zalpa snorted while bending inside the cauldron and throwing away various nts and other materials to clean its insides. "[I know you, Lii. You have never been so careless with the others]."


    Liiza scoffed and turned her gaze away, but Khan noticed how her blush continued to intensify. Her cheeks had almost lost their dark shades at that point.


    "You two must be really close," Khanughed after that interaction ended.


    "She is an old hag who can''t ept progress," Liiza snorted.


    "She is a rebellious kid who likes humans due to her hate toward her mother," Zalpa replied in the same tone.


    "Zaza!" Liiza shouted as her timid gaze went on Khan. "I''m not with you because of my mother."


    "I know," Khan revealed a warm smile, but Zalpa suddenly pulled him to her side and turned him to face the cauldron.


    The bottom of the cauldron still had a few items. Khan recognized a fewrge ck leaves, a glowing silver mineral, and a piece of wood that had peculiar scarlet lines on its dark surface.


    "Blood," Zalpa said while showing her palm to Khan.


    "What?" Khan asked in confusion, but Zalpa snorted, and her hand shot to grab his right wrist.


    Khan barely saw her movements. He found Zalpa holding his hand over the cauldron when he realized what had happened. Surprise filled his mind while he tried to guess the shaman''s power from the mana inside her body, but pain spread from his palm and distracted him from that inspection.


    Zalpa had opened a long cut on Khan''s palm with her fingernails. She had only needed her thumb to create an injury that made many drops of blood flow toward the bottom of the cauldron.


    Khan couldn''t pull his hand back. Zalpa''s grip was too firm and reminded him about his previous inspection. He found it hard to sense her power with his senses, but she felt more dangerous than Lieutenant Dyester in that situation.


    A barrier seemed to cover her figure and stop Khan from understanding her actual level. Still, that alone proved how strong Zalpa was. She clearly was an expert in mana.


    Zalpa ced her free hand on the dark-bronze side of the cauldron while Khan''s blood continued to fall on the items in its insides. Then, a red glow started to fill the metal until it slowly stretched toward the materials and made them melt.


    Khan watched the silver mineral and the piece of wood melting before submerging his blood and the leaves. The pale-red liquid that came out of that mixture continued to rise until it filled the entire cauldron and created a clear surface once it reached its edges.


    The liquid turned into a pale-red mirror that reflected Khan and Zalpa''s faces. It was so dense that no ripples appeared on its surface. Khan even wondered whether it had solidified at some point.


    "Lii, don''t you want to watch?" Zalpa shouted as she sniffed the pale-red mirror and let go of Khan''s hand.


    "I don''t know if I h-," Liiza started to say in a timid tone, but Khan promptly interrupted her.


    "Don''t worry," Khan announced while turning toward her. "I have nothing to hide."


    Khan even gave voice to a faint "thanks" when he turned to face the cauldron. He had understood that Zalpa had used the humannguage on purpose with her previous question, but she only snorted at his word.


    "What should I do now?" Khan asked after Liiza approached the cauldron.


    "Drink to create mental connection," Zalpa exined. "Revive the dream while pouring mana into the cauldron. Can you do that?"


    Khan hesitated a bit before nodding. Pouring mana wasn''t a problem. His only issue was with the strange liquid, but he didn''t mind it too much after recalling what the Slums had forced him to eat.


    Liiza took Khan''s hand in her grasp while he bent toward the cauldron. A cold sensation spread through his lips when they touched the liquid, and that feeling spread through his throat when he took a short sip.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to make mana flow out of his free hand after he straightened his back. The familiar scenes of the nightmare appeared in his vision as his energy entered the cauldron''s metal and flowed inside the pale-red liquid.


    Then, faint images started to materialize on the calm surface. Both Liiza and Zalpa became able to witness the memories of the Second Impact that had afflicted Khan for almost twelve years.

 Chapter 109 - Doubts

    Khan''s expression grew cold as he reviewed those familiar images. He had epted the nightmares as part of his existence, but he had never managed to grow used to those memories.


    The pain, fear, and desperation felt during that tragedy reappeared inside his mind as the images gained some rity and started flowing forward. Those sensations even felt more intense now, but Khan med the dense pale-red liquid for that.


    Liiza gasped when the mirror showed the Naking out of the crater. Her grasp on Khan''s hand tightened when she saw the bleeding injury on his chest, and her expression darkened once the alien stretched one of its six fingers toward him.


    Khan''s nightmare always ended at that point, but a frown appeared on his face when the scene continued. An azure halo covered the Nak''s hand before filling the images reflected in the mirror.


    "Are these my memories?" Khan quickly asked.


    "I can''t show you what your mind doesn''t contain," Zalpa replied.


    Shock filled Khan''s mind. His entire world fell apart. Those new scenes meant that he had seen a mere iplete nightmare for the past years. However, the surprises didn''t end there.


    The wound on his chest started to close as an azure halo continued to fill those memories. The scar that Khan still carried appeared in the mirror, but strands of hair that featured the same shades slowly fell in front of his eyes and partially covered the scenes.


    Khan instinctively let go of Liiza''s hand to check his hair. It had be long enough to reach his eyes if he stretched it, but he only saw ck strands. The azure hair depicted in the memories was nowhere to be seen.


    Liiza understood that something was off, but the images shown on the cauldron were too captivating to risk missing even a slight detail. She had never seen such a vivid representation of a Nak either, so she couldn''t divert her attention at all.


    In the memories, Khan''s azure hair continued to grow as those shades intensified. The entire world became azure as the Nak took slow steps toward him.


    Many details of the world disappeared as the azure color became too blinding. The trio only managed to see the Nak''s silhouette reaching Khan and bending toward him to ce its huge hand on his head.


    The memories didn''t go dark when that huge palm covered kid Khan''s vision. The azure color continued to fill them, and faint shapes slowly appeared as the light in certain spots intensified.


    Shining and pale azure figures moved on the mirror to create a unique scene. The trio saw a blinding circr spot encircled by multiple thin rings that featured small spheres.


    The light radiated by the rings grew dimmer depending on the distance from the central circr spot. They eventually became so vague that they mixed with the pale-azure color of the scenery.


    The images started moving after everything took its ce. The rings, the tiny spheres, and the centralrge spot began to rotate clockwise and counterclockwise. There didn''t seem to be a specific reason for their direction, but Zalpa understood something that Khan and Liiza couldn''t get from that scene.


    "[This is a sr system]," Zalpa exined as shock filled her expression.


    "What did she say?" Khan asked without moving his eyes from the scene.


    "This scene resembles a sr system," Liiza promptly tranted.


    The scene continued to move until everything started to go dark. ckness appeared at the cauldron''s edges and moved toward its center until the mirror returned to its pale-red color.


    "You can take away your hand now," Zalpa announced, and her voice wasn''t as rough as before.


    "Khan?" Liiza asked while cing a hand on Khan''s shoulder when she saw that he didn''t move even after Zalpa''s reminder.


    Khan ignored the nature of his feelings. His mind felt too messy to understand what was happening in its insides.


    Khan had founded his entire life on his nightmares. He had survived the harsh life in the Slums and had waited until he reached the enlistment age to join the army and look for the Nak.


    The Slums had forced him to learn how to lie, pretend, lower his head, and ept injustices, but he had gone past them without losing his ability to smile. His personality featured evident cracks due to the intense desperation caused by the nightmares, but he was still himself, and he wasn''t crazy.


    Yet, his nightmares had turned out to be iplete. Actually, they only featured the least important parts of the Second Impact. They didn''t show how the Nak had healed his injury, and they didn''t even carry that significantst scene.


    Khan didn''t manage to think about the meaning behind those scenes right away because other details were too shocking to ignore. The growing azure hair forced him to think about his father. Bret had never revealed anything about that, but it felt obvious that he had found Khan in that state.


    ''Why didn''t he tell me?'' Khan couldn''t help but wonder.


    Bret was the second pir on which Khan had founded his life before the enlistment in the Global Army. The nightmares gave him endless desperation, but his father was a source of truth. Khan had never once doubted his words, and that seemed a mistake now.


    Khan could quickly find the truth in some of Bret''s words since Doctor Parket had confirmed them after he joined the Global Army. His body wasn''t mutating anymore. Something had happened during the Second Impact, but his condition was stable, and he was a proper human. Some of his features resembled the Nak, but that was it.


    The Doctor had confirmed that Bret had really suppressed the mutations, but the whole story seemed to miss some details now. Khan had epted every exnation without thinking too much about them in the past. Yet, he started to question some of them after witnessing the entirety of his memories.


    ''Did we really have to forsake our name due to the expenses of my treatment?'' Khan wondered. ''Was it dad''s fault that my nightmares were iplete? Is he aware of the sr system?''


    Khan didn''t exclude anything. He didn''t know the full extent of human technology, but he didn''t underestimate it either. Moreover, his father had been the previous head of the scientific department of the Global Army as a mere first-level warrior. His talent had to go beyond what his peers could understand. There was a high chance that Bret had managed to see his memories, including the sr system.


    Khan reached conclusions only to find new doubts. The previous reasoning made him wonder whether Bret was really a mere first-level warrior.


    Everything in his life suddenly felt fake. Every exnation led to more questions, and eventual answers only made him doubt what he knew even more.


    Khan abruptly left the cauldron, ignoring that Liiza''s worried gaze never left him. He walked through the cave as countless thoughts filled his mind. He couldn''t find peace. Nothing seemed able to bring stability. His foundation had crumbled and had turned him into a mass of doubts that didn''t go anywhere.


    Zalpa continued to stare at the pale-red liquid. Her face didn''t reveal any emotion. She seemed deep into her thoughts as she reviewed the images that she had just witnessed.


    Meanwhile, Liiza didn''t know how to react to what she had just learnt. She knew that Khan had suffered quite a lot in his life, but seeing the actual scenes he had to experience every night left her stunned.


    Liiza had developed a cold and aloof character due to the conflicts with her mother and her species. She was quite rebellious, but she could still decide to open up if the situation required it. However, her feats were nothing more than child''s ypared to Khan.


    Khan had literally gone through hell, and not only once. The scenes depicted by the cauldron were only the first of the harsh aspects of his life. They didn''t consider the Slums, and they didn''t even involve Istrone''s crisis.


    Liiza didn''t know much about thetter, but she was aware that he had suffered there. She had even seen his first trauma now. It was hard to believe that Khan could still smile and care so much about others after everything he had gone through.


    Khan''s resolve to never ck wasmendable. It showed his resilience in front of traumas and challenges. Yet, in Liiza''s mind, his ability to enjoy some aspects of his life after those traumas was his best aspect. She couldn''t even imagine how strong he had to be to seed in those feats.


    Still, that strong character seemed on the verge of falling apart now. Khan walked up and down the cave as he tried to find the faintest trace of stability in his life. He suddenly found himself without footholds. He couldn''t understand what was real anymore, and he didn''t even know who he could trust.


    Khan eventually hit something when he turned again. The impact took him by surprise and made him angry, but his feelings froze when he saw Liiza scratching her nose and revealing a sad smile.


    Khan had bumped into her, but she didn''t say anything about that. She limited herself to smile in a desperate attempt to make him understand that she was there if he needed her.


    Khan opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out of it. He tried to say something multiple times, but he always failed. He eventually gave up on the matter and sat on the ground while releasing a helpless sigh.


    Liiza slowly kneeled in front of him, being careful not to touch him. Khan didn''t look at her. His eyes were wide open as they stared at the ground and saw images that only his mind could generate.


    Liiza mustered her courage and ced her hands on his cheeks. She tilted his face to make his eyes point at her, and Khan eventually focused on his worried girlfriend. She was doing her best to show a in and peaceful expression, but it was clear that she didn''t know what to do in that situation either.


    "I''m lost," Khan whispered while using the white glow of Liiza''s eyes to maintain his concentration. "I don''t know what to believe anymore. Everything feels fake now."


    "I can help you find what''s real," Liiza announced.


    "Please," Khan almost begged her, and Liiza quickly cleared her throat to suppress the slight tremor in her voice.


    "I''m real," Liiza exined, "Snow is real, your feats among the humans are real, your power is real, and your feelings are also real."


    Liiza ced a hand on Khan''s uncovered chest before continuing. "Your heart doesn''t lie. I heard it when you meditate, when you are with me, and when you flew for the first time. You would like those aspects of your life even without the Nak."


    Khan couldn''t help but take Liiza''s hand in his grasp, and she revealed the most beautiful smile that he had ever seen at that point. She carefully bent toward him, and Khan helped her sitting on hisp.


    "It feels that I''m back to square one," Khan revealed whileying his head on Liiza''s chest. "Why did the Nak even save me? What was that sr system?"


    Liiza didn''t have answers to his questions, so she limited herself to take Khan''s head between her arms. Her slow heartbeat resounded in Khan''s ear as she carefully caressed his hair and left soft kisses on his forehead.


    "Someone must know," Liiza eventually said. "I''ll help you find answers. The knowledge of two species is at our disposal. How hard can it be to find a single sr system?"


    "The Nak have probably seen thousands of different sr systems," Zalpa suddenly announced as she turned toward the couple. "Finding a specific one among their immense knowledge might take decades."


    Liiza red at Zalpa, but Khan shook his head while lightly squeezing her hand. He only wanted truths now, no matter how harsh they could be.


    "I think the position of the sr system isn''t important," Zalpa continued while ignoring the couple. "You should focus on why the Nak has imnted that image in your brain. If you ask me, it wanted you to go there."

 Chapter 110 - Stroll

    "Why would they do that?" Khan asked. "How is it even clear?"


    Khan was desperate for answers, and Zalpa seemed to have them. He didn''t know how the Niqols could feel so certain about a mere inspection of the nightmare, but he was willing to ept everything in his current situation.


    "The dreams aren''t natural," Zalpa shortly exined. "The Nak wanted you to have them."


    Zalpa''s behavior appeared far kinder now. She couldn''t remain biased about Khan after witnessing what he dreamed every night. She hated humans, but she wasn''t heartless, especially in front of a young man who had gone through so much suffering.


    The trio fell silent after that revtion. The Nak had imnted that image in Khan''s mind, but maybe it wasn''t aware of the consequences that the event would cause to his mental state.


    Doubts were stronger than truths right now. Khan, Liiza, and Zalpa could onlye up with reasonable hypotheses, but they couldn''t prove much.


    "Lie there," Zalpa eventually said while pointing at the center of the cave. "I''ll run tests."


    Liiza nodded as soon as Khan turned toward her, and the couple separated. Khany on the cold terrain, and Zalpa didn''t refrain from doing what she wanted with him.


    Zalpa directly removed Khan''s robe and left him with nothing more than pants while she yed with the cauldron and the other materials in the cave.


    The alien took some of Khan''s azure hair, dropped dense blood on his skin to study its reaction, drewplicated runes next to the scar to trigger the power that it contained. She did everything in her power to understand the nature of Khan''s mutations, and her discoveries led to conclusions that no one in the cave could appreciate.


    "Your mutations are seamless," Zalpa exined when she gestured to Khan that he could dress up. "It almost appears that you don''t have any, even if it''s clear that you aren''tpletely human anymore. Still, I''m surprised that you could return to this form. Earth must have powerful shamans."


    Khan inevitably thought about his father. Zalpa''s words relieved part of his worry, but his doubts still resisted. He had never questioned Bret''s love and ability. The issue was with his intentions and secrets.


    "So, what exactly am I?" Khan asked after straightening his position and checking his phone.


    The first morning of his third week on Nitis had arrived. Khan was still in time to attend the afternoon sses if he flew back to the camp in the next hours.


    "Who knows?" Zalpa announced. "The other shaman''s work makes you hard to read, but there is something else. Your body actively hides your mutations. I believe you can study them only from the inside."


    "I''ve been in this state for almost twelve years," Khanmented. "I have no idea how to look for what''s wrong inside me."


    "I think everything would naturally be clear as your power increases," Zalpa exined. "You would have unlocked the map on your own at some point. The same should be true for the other mutations."


    ''Getting stronger is mandatory then,'' Khan sighed in his mind.


    Khan still struggled to understand how he had to feel. His life didn''t change in the end. He still had to pursue the same goals set before enlisting in the Global Army. However, everything else in his view had changed.


    "Don''t you have some shaman way to make me stronger quickly?" Khan eventually asked while looking around the cave. "Can''t you teach me something?"


    Zalpa fixed her eyes on Khan before exploding into a loudugh. Her voice was so coarse that she started to cough at some point, but she quickly cleared her throat and calmed down.


    "Don''t get the wrong idea, human," Zalpa sneered. "I helped you because Lii cares about you. I pity you a bit, but I don''t care whether you live or die. Maybe I''m more toward the dying side so that the rebellious child can end up with a good Niqols."


    Khan could only sigh at those words. He didn''t feel too disappointed, especially since adding new stuff to learn would only turn his schedule more hellish. He was already sacrificing his interactions inside the camp to keep up with everything. A new training program would force him to stop sleeping again.


    "Get out now," Zalpa suddenly ordered. "Daylight ising, and I have a lot to prepare."


    Zalpa''s words reminded Khan of the conversation with the Niqols on the roof from the previous night. ording to them, Nitis would experience its first daylight after two thousand years of darkness in the next months.


    "Prepare for what?" Khan immediately asked while moving his gaze between Liiza and Zalpa. "Will something happen?"


    "Zaza believes in the old legends," Liiza exined after heaving a helpless sigh. "Niqols don''t have many records of the past daylight, but they are keeping the entire in check as the event approaches. Nothing strange is happening."


    "[Fools]!" Zalpa snorted. "The entire evolved in darkness. Daylight will cause a catastrophe. The old texts are clear!"


    "We still sent sacrifices to the Aduns two thousand years ago," Liiza shook her head. "How can you trust anything recorded in those texts?"


    "You''ll see in a few months," Zalpa eximed before her expression grew worried. "Promise me that you''ll be in a safe ce when the light arrives. Bring the human along even as long as you prepare yourself."


    Liiza rolled her eyes, but she eventually nodded. Zalpa crossed her arms at that point, and the couple understood that their time to go had arrived.


    "I didn''t want to keep the daylight matter from you," Liiza revealed in a timid voice as soon as the couple returned into the corridor. "I wanted to make you a surprise."


    Liiza hid her face when she said those words, but Khan heard the faint excitement in her voice. He waited until the duo climbed their way back to the surface to pull her arm and make her turn toward him.


    "Are you excited about the daylight?" Khan asked when he saw Liiza''s pout.


    "How could I not be?" Liiza snorted. "I''ve never seen anything like that in my entire life. Though, I don''t know how I would look outside the darkness."


    Khan revealed a faint smile before shaking his head and reaching for Liiza''s cheek. Yet, thetter grabbed his wrist and shot an admonishing gaze toward him.


    "Don''t even try," Liiza eximed in a firm voice. "There won''t be any consoling me until you are better."


    Khan''s smile broadened, but his expression grew sadder. He had calmed down, but his situation didn''t improve at all. Liiza had helped him establishing some stable aspects of his life, but the path ahead continued to appear grim.


    A long conversation with Bret appeared mandatory, but Khan didn''t know if he felt ready to have it. His father had probably lied to him for years, so nothing could stop him from doing it again.


    Khan silently epted that he was nothing more than a kid immersed in aplicated world. His seven months in the army weren''t enough to give him enough experience in everything that happened in the universe.


    A conversation with his father right now wouldn''t lead to anything. Khan had to grow as a man and soldier to face him properly, which required more experience and years.


    Lieutenant Dyester had warned him about the secrets and details that the Global Army refused to disclose to the public. Khan had already decided to climb the ranks and gain enough clearance to gain ess to those reports, but the matter appeared mandatory now.


    The sadness in Khan''s eyes intensified while he silently decided that remaining on aliens was the quickest way to gain merits. Returning to Earth would only slow him down.


    ''I hope they will let me stay on Nitis,'' Khan sighed in his mind as his eyes fell on the stunning Niqols who was trying to do everything in her power to improve his situation.


    His life was a broken mess, but he had managed to find faint happiness inside it anyway. The issues involving the different species, cultures, and politics suddenly lost any meaning when Khan ced his situation next to Liiza''s resolute face.


    Those problems felt so pointless when he considered his problems. Khan wasn''t even seventeen, but he had already seen enough to make all the political issues lose value in his mind. They were nothing more than petty things that the rest of the world held in high regard for reasons that he struggled to understand right now.


    "What is it?" Liiza asked when she saw that Khan was lost in his thoughts.


    "I think I''m in love with your dress," Khan said in a calm voice.


    Liiza blushed beforeining loudly. "And I was even worried about you!"


    Liiza let go of Khan''s wrist and turned to leave the forest, but she stopped and nced back at him when she saw that he wasn''t moving.


    "Aren''t youing?" Liiza asked in a concerned tone.


    "I was just looking at you," Khan smiled and walked toward her before taking her hand. "I don''t have to return to the camp right away. Do you mind if we walk like this for a while?"


    Liiza revealed a sweet smile and stared a Khan''s eyes for a few seconds before nodding and clinging to his arm.


    The two walked slowly toward the edges of the forest. They didn''t speak nor hurry back. Khan didn''t want to use his time left to go back to the intense kissing fromst night. He felt the need to make the pieces of his life that he could trust solidify in his mind, and having Liiza next to him in those moments helped in ways that she couldn''t imagine.


    Snow and Liiza''s Aduns were already waiting for the couple at the edge of the forest. The two eagles even looked away when the couple exchanged a long kiss and a meaningful stare before separating to jump on their rides.


    The meeting with Zalpa had revealed more than just Khan''s problems. The interaction between Liiza and the Niqols had shown what the couple already knew. Liiza and Khan''s feelings were intensifying, and they both knew where they were going.


    The flight back to the familiar mountains where the Aduns separated felt good. Khan forgot about his many problems as the wind blew in his face. He let Snow go crazy to experience the adrenaline generated by the reckless eagle, and his intense sensations suppressed the issues that afflicted his mind.


    It felt good to be alive. Khan could experience so many wonderful things even if immense problems tried to devour him from the inside.


    His father had probably lied to him for years, but how could he feel angry when he could fly freely across the sky?


    The same Nak who had caused the Second Impact had saved his life before forcing him to experience years of nightmares. However, using mana felt good, and being strong was even better. Khan rejoiced whenever he performed a perfect execution. His confidence even increased after every victory or feat.


    Could he even hate the Nak after discovering that part of his talent came from that tragedy? Khan didn''t have a clear answer to that question, but he knew that his desperation wouldn''t simply disappear. Yet, he could change how he approached that feeling. After all, he could train harder than others due to the mindset obtained after years of nightmares.


    His experiences on Istrone had turned him into a murderer. Khan had killed mercilessly and had suffered from the all-devouring emptiness that the act had generated. However, his achievements in the rebellion had granted him ess to Nitis and had allowed him to meet Liiza.


    The good aspects of his life couldn''t make him see his tragedies in a positive light, but they helped him deal with them. Khan had goals, things that he liked, and could still experience intense feelings. His efforts had to be on making sure that his pain didn''t prevent him from appreciating what he had.


    ''I think I get it now,'' Khan thought as he imagined to speak with Lieutenant Dyester. ''It''s not about forgetting the bad or focusing only on the good. It''s about eptance.''


    Life could suck, but it was worth living as long as he could pursue what he liked. It didn''t matter if his interests only involved martial arts, aliens, flights, and Liiza. They were enough to keep his crumbled self into one piece, and he would do everything in his power to protect them.

 Chapter 111 - Interactions

    The atmosphere in the camp was quite hectic. Khan saw the members of his ss enjoying their lunch outside the fence as cheerfulughs resounded among them. Paul, a few soldiers, the Lieutenant, and some professors were also having happy conversations on the streets among the buildings.


    It was clear that the overall mood had improved after the formal celebration. The recruits had grown closer, and the superiors had rxed after the rtionship between the two species had improved. Rewards were bound to arrive on Nitis, and everyone felt happy about that.


    Khan made Snownd near his ss. He knew that he had ignored them for too long, and the ability to create a decent socialwork in every environment was one of the skills required by the ambassadors.


    George and the other recruits tried to establish a rtionship with Khan, but he had been too busy with his training and Liiza. His behavior had probably even offended them, so it was up to him to mend that situation.


    "The hero of the hunt is here!" Georgeughed when he saw Khan jumping off the Aduns, petting it a few times, and turning to walk toward the group.


    "Is your sword okay?" Khan asked while reaching the group enjoying their pic.


    The recruits couldn''t help but notice that Khan didn''t change at all from the previous night. His white robe even had stains due to his intimate time with Liiza and the events with Zalpa.


    Khan didn''t bother changing. He had a uniform in his backpack, but it would have been hard to justify him wearing clean clothes after spending an entire night outside. Moreover, the robe covered his body better, which was quite important due to the marks that Liiza had left on his neck.


    "It still cuts," George shrugged his shoulders. "I wanted to get a new one anyway. This alloy is struggling to keep up with my improvements."


    "What do you even do every night outside?" Sonia asked before Khan could lead the conversation toward other topics. "Is handling Aduns really so annoying?"


    The recent step forward in the rtionship between the two species had opened the Aduns to the humans. The recruits could finally get their flying mounts and abandon the Ugu, but doubts inevitably appeared when they saw how Khan behaved.


    "They are quite independent actually," Khan exined.


    "Why do you spend so much outside then?" Sonia continued.


    Only Sonia seemed to have enough guts to question Khan so openly, and the other recruits pretended not to notice her behavior.


    It was clear that the matter with Glenn had affected her a lot. Khan couldn''t see the girl''s usual smile anymore. Sonia didn''t even y with her knife but kept her sightly angry gaze fixed on him.


    "The bed is toofortable," Khan lied while diverting his gaze. "I prefer to stay in the open. I''m not trapped there."


    The faint anger shooting out of Sonia''s eyes disappeared in front of that answer. The other recruits even showed surprising expressions. Only George wore a sad smile as Istrone''s memories reappeared in his vision.


    The recruits didn''t expect Khan to hint at traumas connected to Istrone. That sudden burst of fake honesty left them speechless and even made them justify part of Khan''s entric behavior.


    "The Global Army has good specialists for that," Natalie suddenlymented. "There is no shame in seeing them."


    "That''s something you can say to others," George snorted while lowering his gaze. "You didn''t see Istrone. The hunt was child''s ypared to what we''ve experienced there, but Khan has never faltered. We would all be dead if it weren''t for him."


    "The Kred really hated us," Khan vaguely eximed as his eyes remained fixed in the distance.


    Khan was pretending in that situation, but Istrone''s scenes still reappeared in his mind. The blood, the corpses, the angry cries of the alien family, everything returned and reminded him of what he had done. However, his mind didn''t waver now.


    Khan had finally started to ept the nature of his actions. He had stopped applying human values to those scenes. He had even stopped considering them in terms of good and evil.


    He wouldn''t have experienced the faint happiness that tried to sort out his shattered life without his merciless actions on Istrone. Khan felt as if he had paid the price to seize what he currently had.


    Discovering the map and the matters about his father had left Khan broken, but he had started to believe that he would get something out of it sooner orter. He didn''t know the nature of his reward yet, but even his current eptance felt like a good starting point.


    ''My advantagese from traumas and my happiness from the blood on my hands,'' Khan sighed in his mind. ''I wonder if I can escape this system once I be stronger.''


    "Our control over Istorne has intensified after the rebellion," Harris revealed while Khan and George remained silent. "It won''t take much before the incident bes history. I believe our rtionship with the Kred will flourish again at some point."


    George and Khan revealed faint smiles at that announcement, but they both suppressed the vague sadness that tried to fill their expressions. They had learnt about how cursed Istrone could be for the Kred. Those aliens couldn''t let go of their grudge.


    "Don''t be scared when the timees for you to get your Aduns," Khan announced while changing the topic of the conversation. "The eagles will put you through a test, but they won''t attack you. Your focus must be on not falling."


    The recruits couldn''t help but show smiles. Khan had just helped them out of pure goodwill. Their idea of him inevitably improved and made them frown when they saw him turning toward the camp.


    "Will you attend the lessons?" George asked.


    "We are here to learn," Khan gave voice to a faintugh, and his eyebrows arched when he saw George standing up.


    "Breaks don''t suit me," George vaguely exined.


    His gesture inspired other recruits to stand up and gather around the two boys. They couldn''t ck when those who had suffered far more than them were willing to go past their pain and attend to their duties.


    "Let''s go then," Khan happily ordered. "We don''t want to bete."


    Paul''s surprised expression weed the small group back into the camp. The soldier saw Khan walking in the lead of a bunch of recruits and leading them toward the building that featured the lessons.


    Lieutenant Kintea couldn''t help but take note of that event. Captain Erbair had given a long and justified break, but it seemed that Khan''s influence had made the recruits prioritize their instruction over their free time.


    The situation wasn''t as simple as it looked, but Lieutenant Kintea didn''t care about the details. He saw Khan inspiring recruits to resume their lessons, and that was enough to write a positive report about his character.


    The rest of the afternoon went by peacefully. The recruits who had decided to attend the lessons even questioned Khan about the Aduns during the short breaks.


    Khan didn''t hold anything back. He described the test and the things that he had learnt after flying with Snow for two weeks. The recruits initially struggled to believe in the mental connection with the eagle, but Khan proved his point by showing how Snow dived toward the camp as soon as he left the building.


    "It won''t understand proper words," Khan exined as Snow lowered its head and allowed him to pet its neck properly, "But it will get your feelings. Well, you''ll understand what I mean soon enough."


    The recruits behind him showed grateful expressions and evident respect after spending that afternoon with him. They had seen how attentive he was during the lessons. They had even learnt a lot about the Aduns thanks to him.


    Khan was seeding in creating the image of a perfect soldier in their minds. He was reliable in battle, driven during the training and lessons, and didn''t hold back from helping his peers. Everyone started to think that climbing the ranks was only a matter of time for him.


    "Is it really impossible to make youe with us tonight?" George asked as Khan climbed on his Aduns. "We are even working on contacting the Niqols to get our hands on the booze. Having you would make everything easier."


    "I like to train in the mountains," Khan lied. "You''ll understand what I say after you see them."


    George shook his head, but the other recruits had only smiles for Khan. The girls even shot strange nces at him. They couldn''t help but like the valiant aura that had fallen on him after he sat on his mount. Their onlyint was Khan''s clear ignorance toward his dirty clothes, but they could ignore that after seeing the muscles lying under them.


    "I''ll see you tomorrow," Khan announced, and Snow began to p its wings, but a siren suddenly resounded from every building in the camp.


    Snow initially panicked, but Khan promptly sent calm emotions through the mental connection and made it able to ignore the loud noise. Still, a frown appeared on his face, and his eyes didn''t hesitate to focus on the figure hurrying toward the group.


    "I hope you are all ready to depart," Paul announced after reaching the group. "We have just received a distress signal from the higher-ups of the Niqols. They have openly requested the help of all the human troops on the."


    "What is happening?" Khan quickly asked while continuing to pet Snow.


    "It seems that monsters have started to appear everywhere on the," Paul exined as evident worry filled his face. "The Niqols have already confirmed the presence of ten dangerous creatures in the area, and their number continues to increase."


    Paul''s phone rang at that point, and the soldier''s eyes widened when he read the message on the screen. His voice became grave as he announced the contents of the text. "They are eleven now."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I wanted to focus a bit more on Khan''s mindset for these chapters. It didn''t feel right to make everything move forward without exining how his mind was evolving after the recent discoveries. Hope you enjoyed it.

 Chapter 112 - Pee

    The announcement left everyone speechless, especially Khan, who knew exactly how rare the event could be. The appearance of one monster already was an incredible asion. Having to deal with eleven of them at the same time was something that went beyond unreasonable and impossible.


    Moreover, that number only kept track of the monsters in the area. Paul didn''t reveal how many of those creatures had appeared on the, but it was clear that the situation was far from ideal. Nitis was going through a catastrophic event.


    "I''m sending coordinates to your phones," Paul announced while tapping on his device without looking at the screen. "We must divide ourselves and depart as soon as possible to help with the monsters. This is different from your previous hunt. Every human on Nitis will help deal with this threat."


    Heavy steps echoed in the area as soon as Paul finished his line. The recruits couldn''t help but turn toward the source of that noise and notice Captain Erbair walking toward the camp''s exit while wearing a stern expression.


    "Lieutenant Kintea is preparing a Ugu for you, ma''am!" Paul promptly eximed when the Captain passed near the group.


    "I won''t use a Ugu," Captain Erbair replied in a firm tone before charging toward the exit.


    The sudden eleration generated gales that almost pushed the recruits backward. Captain Erbair''s had the size of a giant who could surpass Khan''s speed, and her sprint made tremors spread through the ground.


    Her giant figure left the camp and disappeared inside the in in an instant. Paul and the recruits could only remain silent as they witnessed the strongest human on Nitis joining the hunts.


    Notifications arrived on their phones right after that event. Paul had sent a map featuring the various monsters'' locations, but three of them quickly turned yellow and showed Captain Erbair''s name when tapping them. It seemed that the soldier had already chosen her targets.


    The monsters chosen by Captain Erbair weren''t far nor close. They stood in the middle of the other creatures in the area, and Paul didn''t hesitate to exin the reason behind that choice.


    "We will go toward the closest monsters," Paul ordered. "Create four groups quickly and start gathering your Ugu."


    Paul then turned toward Khan before continuing. "Khan, you are the only one who can reach the monsters far away on time. Teams of Niqols are already approaching them, but they will probably need help."


    "Roger that," Khan eximed before patting Snow''s neck.


    The eagle sensed Khan''s feelings and promptly spread its wings to leave the ground. The duo didn''t waste even a single second in that situation, and Paul limited himself to say somest words while the creature rose into the sky.


    "Don''t try to be a hero!" Paul shouted. "Helping the Niqols is important, but this isn''t our. The humans can use this chance to justify eventual reinforcements."


    The dirty feeling that usually apanied those political schemes appeared inside Khan as he flew high in the sky and set off toward one of the distant targets.


    Khan didn''t know how such a catastrophic event was even possible, but he hated that the Global Army had already thought of a way to exploit it. The crisis would endanger both Niqols and humans, but Paul''s first idea was on the chance to send more troops on Nitis.


    Khan hated even more that he had to learn how to develop that mindset. An ambassador needed to find the path that would benefit the Global Army in every situation, even in aary crisis that could make both species pay a steep price.


    The sole thought that Liiza could be part of that price made his mind grow cold. Khan wanted the Global Army to give its full support to the Niqols to prevent harsh consequences, but he knew that the humans would prioritize future benefits.


    Khan had to take the matter into his own hands to reduce the dangers faced by the Niqols. He could get over the death of strangers, but he wouldn''t forgive himself if hisck of efforts led to consequences that his mind didn''t even want to consider.


    Snow flew as fast as possible and without wasting time performing useless moves. It crossed the sky at a speed that Ugu couldn''t even imagine and reached the first destination in a little less than an hour.


    Finding the actual location of the monster turned out to be rtively easy. Khan saw fire spreading across a small mountain under him. The mes tried to devour the short vegetation that covered the structure and illuminated small dark figures that encircled a scarlet shape.


    A faint tremor ran through Snow''s back when its eyes caught a nce of the scarlet figure. Khan could feel its fear through the mental connection, but he still ordered it to dive toward the fiery creature.


    Snow folded its wings before spreading them once the ground became dangerously close. The Aduns didn''t get too close to the mes, but Khan couldn''tin after sensing its feelings.


    "Wait for me," Khan ordered while patting Snow''s neck to calm it down. "We have more monsters to kill today."


    Snow gave voice to a worried screech, but Khan didn''t linger there anymore. The Aduns had dropped him at a few hundred meters from the battle, so he had to hurry to help the Niqols against the fiery creature.


    mes filled the short mountain and spread toward the in around its base. The scarce vegetation prevented the fire from creating long fiery tongues, but it did nothing to stop its expansion.


    The scene was bright since everything was on fire. Khan could see a group of seven Niqols encircling a one and a half meters tall creature covered in mes.


    Khan couldn''t help but feel surprised when he got close enough to study the monster''s features from behind the mes. The creature had the head of a bird that resembled the Aduns, but it featured tiny feathered wings on its back. Moreover, it stood on four legs, but the front limbs appeared too shortpared to the rear ones.


    The feathers didn''t burn among the mes that surrounded the creature. Actually, they appeared to be part of them. They waved whenever the fire crackled, and their movements seemed able to control that scorching energy.


    "How is it?" Khan shouted when he stepped forward and became part of the encirclement.


    The Niqols were wearing ugly expressions. Many of them featured burns, but their condition didn''t appear severe. Still, all of them frowned when they saw the human joining their group.


    "[How did he]-?" One of the Niqols began to ask, but another alien promptly interrupted her.


    "[He is the human with the Aduns, the one who killed the monster]," A tall male Niqols exined before turning toward Khan. "Thank you for hurrying here, but I don''t know what we can do against this thing."


    Khan''s eyes sharpened before understanding dawned upon his mind. The tall Niqols had been part of the previous hunt, which exined the faint respect that he saw on his face.


    "What''s the issue?" Khan asked while moving his focus back on the monster.


    "Everything is the issue," A female Niqols near Khan snorted. "Can''t you see that it''s on fire?"


    "Azni, please!" The male Niqols scolded the tall girl before turning toward Khan again. "We can''t approach the monster without getting hurt. We are trying to limit its movements reduce the damage on the environment, but-."


    The monster seemed to hear the Niqols'' words. Its feathers stood up while it opened its beak and spat a fireball that flew toward Khan. The attack wasn''t too fast, so Khan could easily sidestep it, but the explosion that followed itsnding on the ground made his eyes widen in worry.


    The fireball flew for a bit more than ten meters after crossing Khan before falling on the ground. Raging mes spread during the impact, and multiple patches of short ck grass took fire. A small fuming crater even appeared in the spot where the attack hadnded.


    The ability was deadly. Khan could see how a single direct hit carried enough power to make his chest explode. The destructive power of the fireballs surpassed the lightning bolts faced in the past, even if they weren''t nearly as fast.


    "We must wait until our superiors arrive!" The male Niqols continued as his expression darkened. "Help us stop its movements!"


    Khan nodded, but he barely paid attention to the Niqols. His eyes remained on the monster since something felt incredibly off about that creature.


    The other monster was clearly stable. Its features were strange, but it grew stronger after each attack because the second wave of mutations had improved its overall state. The creature was simply growing used to its new abilities.


    Instead, Khan''s current opponent was strange and almost unnatural. Its front legs and small wings made him feel as if the monster didn''t developpletely. It also appeared weaker after its previous attack since it lowered its beak and kept it open to gasp for air.


    ''Can it even breathe inside the mes?'' Khan wondered without knowing how to find answers to his doubt.


    "Are the mutations stable?" Khan eventually asked while pointing at the creature. "Doesn''t it seem out of breath for you?"


    The male Niqols and hispanions grew confused as they looked at the monster and inspected it properly. Khan''s words were on point. The creature appeared far from stable. Its power seemed to hurt it even.


    "We didn''t have time to study it," The male Niqols revealed before nodding. "It does feel off, unstable even."


    The monster mustered enough strength to raise its head again, and a wave of anger ran through its eyes when it saw that the encirclement was still there. Its beak opened, and another fireball flew toward Azni.


    The girl jumped to the left and dodged the attack, but the fireballnded close to her. Some of the mes that apanied the explosion touched her back and burnt the white tracksuit.


    Azni grunted and gritted her teeth as she threw herself on the ground and rolled to stop the mes burning her tracksuit. One of the Niqols next to her even left the encirclement to help suppress the fire. Yet, the monster didn''t hesitate to run through that opening.


    The monster left a trail of mes on the ground as it ran across the in. The creature wasn''t fast. Its wings and front legs even seemed to slow it down, so Khan and the other Niqols could reach it and restore the encirclement.


    Khan felt lucky that the short grass couldn''t provide much fuel to those mes. The entire environment would be on fire otherwise. Instead, the short vegetation burnt only for a few minutes before turning into fuming patches of charred ground.


    The environment clearly wasn''t helping the monster, and the creature even appeared wary of a frontal sh against its opponents. However, the issue remained. The beast would only keep burning the region andunch attacks if its enemies didn''t do anything to stop it.


    "How many of you are on the battlefield?" Khan asked while the group remained silent around the monster.


    "Every warrior in the city has joined the hunts," The male Niqols revealed without understanding the hidden meaning behind Khan''s question. "Even Ambassador Yeza has stepped into the battlefield due to the gravity of the situation."


    That revtion confirmed what Khan feared. Liiza was bound to be on the battlefield, so stalling only increased her chances of getting hurt.


    A notification suddenly reached Khan''s phone. He was far away from the camp, but his device managed to refresh the map whenever it connected with thework.


    The map featured three more targets now. The number of monsters had increased again, and Khan closed his eyes as resolve filled his face.


    "Do you have water?" Khan asked as he tore the upper part of his robe and revealed his muscr torso. "Any fireproof liquid is fine actually."


    Khan never had the chance to wear clean clothes after the formal celebration. He didn''t even eat at all since that event because his schedule had been quite packed between Liiza, Zalpa, the lessons, and the sudden crisis.


    He would use his pee in the absence of fireproof liquids, but he felt unable to muster any of it while he tied the torn fabric to his legs. Khan wanted to protect his ankles, knees, and feet, but his robe alone wouldn''t be enough. The Niqols'' clothes were even quite thin, so they weren''t suitable for his n.


    "Are you sure?" The male Niqols asked when he understood what Khan had in mind. "We have the ointment against the burns provided by the Global Army. It''s pretty fireproof, but it won''tst long."


    The male Niqols had seen Khan fight against the lightning monster. He knew of fast he could be. Khan''s quick attacks were better than the techniques usually deployed by the aliens in that situation, but he would still risk his life if he decided to press forward with that strategy.


    "It''s fine," Khan said before taking a deep breath. "The monster will fall quickly if my idea is on point."


    The male Niqols studied Khan''s resolute expression for a few seconds before turning toward the two aliens who had remained behind and shouting orders. "[Azni, B,e here and bring the ointment. Help the human smear it on his legs]!"

 Chapter 113 - Cubes

    The monster was too busy dealing with its mes to see that something was up. B and Azni quickly brought a metal sk containing the half-transparent ointment toward Khan and helped him smearing it on the fabric covering his legs.


    Azni''s back was in a poor state. Khan could catch glimpses of her scarred back, but she didn''t use the ointment for herself. All the lotion in the sk eventually ended up on Khan''s legs, leaving her no chance to tend her injuries.


    Khan and Azni exchanged a meaningful nce before the girl nodded. They two didn''t have to say anything to understand what their gazes meant.


    "Those mes are scary," The male Niqols eximed when B and Azni left Khan and rejoined the encirclement.


    "I''ve seen scarier," Khan whispered before bending forward.


    The Niqols'' expression became grave when they saw the scene. Khan''s words could sound like a simple arrogant announcement meant to boost his resolve, but they didn''t give off that vibe.


    The azure scar on his chest, his resolute expression, his steady guard, and his fearless eyes that reflected the flickering mes created a heroic scene that almost made the Niqols forget about the monster among them.


    The monster''s mes were scary, but Khan knew that they would need time to burn past the fabric covered in ointment and reach his skin. The heat was an issue, but his techniques mainly focused on speed. He had developed a high resistance to friction with the air and simr issues.


    Khan felt perfect for the role, but he had to fight wlessly if he wanted his n to seed. Still, he had already ended up in simr situations. Those high requirements felt almost normal now.


    "Do you need us to do anything?" The male Niqols asked when he saw that Khan''s concentration was reaching its peak.


    "Don''t catch the monster if you see it flying toward you," Khan ordered, and his figure bent even more when he saw the monster''s feathers standing up.


    The creatureunched a fireball toward B, but the male Niqols dodged it easily. The attack evennded far away from his position, so the mes didn''t manage to touch him.


    B instinctively turned toward Khan when he straightened his position, but his eyes widened when he noticed that the human had disappeared. A painful screech reached his ears at that point, and his surprise increased after he gazed at the monster.


    Khan had materialized in front of the monster. His left leg was in the air andid perfectly on his torso. The creature was in the air above his left foot. The upward kick had separated the beast from the ground and had created a trail of mes that threatened to reach him.


    Khan took a step back to let the mes disperse in front of him. The monster soon started to fall, but a roundhouse kicknded on its beak before it could touch the ground.


    The monster flew backward for a few meters and threatened to end up on one of the Niqols in the encirclement, but the alien promptly dodged to his right.


    The creaturended on the ground next to the Niqols, which scared her when she saw its mes burning near her. Yet, a shadow soon crossed her vision.


    Khan stomped his right foot on the monster''s head, but he quickly used it as a foothold to jump and kick the creature away. He couldn''t execute too many techniques in a row in that situation. His legs already felt hot, so he needed to give them a break between each attack.


    The monster appeared unable to react to the relentless offensive. Khan executed a couple of attacks before pushing his opponent away and chasing after it to repeat his techniques. The creature didn''t have the same physical prowess as his past opponent, so he could y with it as long as he wanted.


    The feathers tried to stand up to amass power and generated another fireball, but Khan always reached the monster before it couldplete its attack. His offensive was ruthless and didn''t feature any useless movement. He didn''tmit mistakes either. Each kick sessfullynded on the creature''s head, making cracking noises seep past theyer of mes.


    The fire that covered the creature grew unstable as the offensive continued. Fiery res started toe out of the monster as it lost control of its ability. Even the feathers began to burn, and Khan couldn''t help but interrupt his sprint when he saw that he was running toward a ticking bomb.


    Khan performed a sharp turn when the burning halo around the monster expanded. He started to escape from the creature instead of running toward it, but a scorching force still managed to hit his bare back after an explosion resounded.


    Khan flew by two meters beforending on his feet and turning toward his opponent. The bleeding and scorched whimpering figure of the monster unfolded in his vision and revealed how poor its condition was. The creaturey on the ground as its small wings pped in a desperate attempt to restore part of its bnce.


    Khan didn''t let that chance go. The mes had finally disappeared from the creature. It was the perfect time to deliver a killing blow.


    The world in his vision became unclear as he sprinted toward the monster again. The skin on his face and chest started to burn, but he barely noticed that pain.


    A few mes appeared on the creature''s charred body when it noticed that Khan wasing, but it didn''t manage to protect itself before the arrival of the attack. An unstoppable forcended on its head and wholly crushed its skull, putting an end to its life.


    Khan quickly jumped off the corpse since a few mes were still burning on its charred skin. He had put some distance from the Niqols after kicking the monster away multiple times, but the aliens could still inspect the scene when he turned to face them.


    Faint trails of grey smoke came out of Khan''s feet as he nced at the corpse and started walking toward the group of aliens. A few red spots had appeared on his chest and face, but they didn''t seem anything serious. The ointment on his legs had almostpletely dried up, but the clothes under it were mostly fine. The trousers covered by torn rags only featured a few burns.


    "Can you notify your superiors?" Khan asked while staring at his device. "My phone can''t connect to thework from here."


    The male Niqols nced at B, and thetter picked a cube from the insides of his tracksuit. Azure symbols glowed on each side of the item, and their radiance intensified when the Niqols closed his eyes.


    "Doku, we have two more nearby," Azni said after checking her cube and turning toward the male Niqols. "The higher-ups are handling the other side, and the rest of the teams are near the city. We are on our own here."


    Doku turned toward Khan. Thetter was ying with his phone, but the device was unresponsive since the interactive map couldn''t connect to thework. Khan could still see the location of the other monsters, but the information wouldn''t update. He couldn''t check if other teams had already taken care of some monsters or where the new ones had appeared in that condition.


    "Do you want to tag along?" Doku eventually asked. "You are on your own anyway, right?"


    "I''m the only one with an Aduns," Khanughed as a white figure crossed the sky above him and turned tond at his side.


    Khan had called Snow as soon as he confirmed the death of the monster, but it seemed that the group of Niqols had done the same. Multiple dark figures flew across the sky andnded next to the aliens while giving voice to screeches.


    "The higher-ups have tasked us with this area," Doku continued. "What orders do you have?"


    "Help where the others can''t arrive in time," Khan revealed. "Same as yours, apparently."


    "Let''s go then," Doku ordered. "The entire has gone crazy. We have never faced such a dangerous situation."


    "Do you know what caused it?" Khan asked while jumping on Snow and preparing himself for the flight.


    "I''m afraid that''s ssified," Doku revealed aplicated smile while hispanions jumped on their respective Aduns.


    Khan limited himself to nod, but thoughts inevitably filled his mind while he watched Doku climbing on his Aduns and setting off. Snow and the other eagles didn''t hesitate to follow him, and Khan used that time to review the group and the situation.


    The Niqols'' level seemed to be slightly higher than hispanions. They were on par with George, if not a bit stronger. However, they probably trained in the techniques that inflicted internal damage seen during the first hunt.


    Khan had only learnt Doku, B, and Azni''s names, so his inspection focused on them. The three had the iconic features of the Niqols, with their long white hair, dark-blue skin, and glowing white eyes. Yet, their figures were slightly different.


    Doku was slender and tall. A noble aura covered him, but it appeared different from the spoiled recruits that Khan had seen on Earth. He behaved as an honorable leader who didn''t care about the difference between species.


    B was one of the rare muscr Niqols. He wasn''t as tall as Doku, but he made up for that with his thick figure. His hair was even shorterpared to hispanions, but it still crossed his shoulders.


    Azni was quite stunning. She had a round gentle face thatpensated for her cold and detached expressions. She had a curvaceous figure that was the exact opposite of Liiza''s slender body, but she didn''t appear fat at all.


    The group made room for Khan during the flight. Snow could fly in the backline together with the other Aduns. The Niqols had basically epted him into their group, but Khan couldn''t feel too happy about that.


    Doku had been in the first hunt. He was part of the Niqols that ostracized Liiza, and Khan couldn''t feel good about him even if he didn''t appear as a bad character.


    The matter about the ssified information didn''t affect his judgment about the Niqols'' character. Khan felt almost sure that the arrival of the daylight was to me about that event, and his fears about the event inevitably increased. After all, Nitis was still in the dark. Its first morning after two thousand years of night would take a few months to arrive.


    ''What will happen once the daylight shines on the?'' Khan wondered as the group crossed a fuming empty spot in the middle of a small forest.


    The flying group saw a team of Niqols standing around a fuming corpse when they inspected the forest. The aliens on the ground noticed the eagles and picked their cubes before pointing at the crater among them. They quickly confirmed their kill and let the Aduns fly toward the next location.


    Doku led the group toward the next location and happily noticed that another team had cleared that area. Khan kept track of the monster killed on his phone even if his map didn''t react, and helplessness began to fill his mind as the travel continued.


    The group reached two more locations with defeated monsters. Those clearly were good news, but Khan could only see the negative aspect of the situation since three of them didn''t appear on his map. Those creatures had shown their presence only after he set off.


    ''How many of them do we even have to fight?'' Khan wondered as his reasoning reached other topics.


    The first monster had taken two sses of Niqols and humans toplete the hunt, but the creatures appearing during the current crisis were dying rather quickly. There was a high chance that all of them were unstable like the fiery feathered beast faced previously.


    That was a positive aspect that Khan couldn''t ignore, but his mind went nk when Snow started to dive toward the ground to follow the rest of the Aduns. His eyes had fallen on the side of a hill after the sharp change of direction, and he couldn''t avoid seeing Liiza fighting alone against a giant toad.

 Chapter 114 - Tongue

    The Aduns were intelligent creatures, but they remained beasts. Snow sensed Khan''s feelings and tried to elerate to reach Liiza quickly, but pressure promptly spread from the base of its wings to make it slow down.


    Khan felt worried, but he didn''t dare to leave clues of his rtionship with Liiza. Moreover, his girlfriend would scold him if he ended up doing something so stupid for her. She would take his actions as ack of trust in her abilities.


    ??


    Snow remained in the back of the Aduns'' group after Khan''s reminder, and everyone soonnded at the base of the hill, right outside the battlefield. Liiza noticed their arrival, but her opponent didn''t give her the chance to turn or greet them.


    The toad was quite big. It was shorter than an average man, but its belly and legs made it quiterge. Its mouth alone was almost one meter wide. It seemed able to eat a human or a Niqols in a single bite.


    The creature''s skin was dark-blue, but it appeared lighter than the Niqols. A fewrge dark spots covered a good part of its short front limbs, bent legs, andrge back. Its eyes werepletely ck, and clear eyelids covered it whenever it blinked. Moreover, smoke came out of the ground right under it, but its source was unclear.


    Khan studied that phenomenon after he jumped off his Aduns and hurried toward Liiza with the rest of his group. His new position soon allowed him to see thick drops of greenish saliva falling from the corners of the toad''s mouth and creating deep holes on the ground as soon as they touched it. The smoke came from the instantaneous corrosion generated by that liquid.


    Liiza was fine. She wore her iconic cold expression as cold sweat fell from her forehead. Khan couldn''t see any injury on her figure during his short nce, but her tracksuit was dirty in multiple spots. It was clear that she had to throw herself on the ground a few times during the battle.


    The arrival of the group made the toad stop to study the situation. Liiza used that chance to inspect the neers, and her gaze inevitably lingered on Khan for a few seconds when she noticed his state.


    Khan''s chest was bare, but his trousers and the torn fabric that covered them didn''t hide the nature of his clothes. Liiza noticed that he didn''t change after the previous night, and faint worry slowly seeped into her mind.


    "[We picked him up along the way]," Doku exined before clearing his throat to switch to the humannguage. "What did you learn about this monster?"


    Doku and the other Niqols didn''t see anything wrong with Liiza''s previous inspection. After all, Khan was a peculiar presence in that group, and his appearance made the whole matter rather odd. In their minds, it would have been strange if she didn''t show any curiosity at all.


    "Its saliva is deadly," Liiza exined while showing a frown to Khan and moving her gaze back to the toad, "Its tongue is like a whip, and its skin is slimy."


    Khan couldn''t help but notice the thin wetyer that covered the toad''s skin at that point. His expression grew colder as he understood that the creature was a bad match for his abilities. The monster''s mutations appeared even stablerpared to the fiery bird-like beast from before.


    The toad made up its mind in those short seconds. Its mouth opened, and Liiza gave voice to a loud "dodge" at that sight.


    A scarlet whip shot out of the creature''s mouth and tried to crack on one of the Niqols, but thetter managed to dodge the attack thanks to Liiza''s warning. Everyone had jumped to the side before the blownded on the ground, but they didn''t miss the scene of the toad quickly retracting its tongue while they straightened their position.


    The tongue had created a hole on the ground in the Niqols'' previous position, but the sheer might of the organ didn''t appear as scary as the saliva that apanied it. The toad had left arge patch of its corrosive liquid in that spot, and the terrain could only vanish in a thick trail of dense smoke under its corrosive effects.


    The small hole quickly transformed into a one meter deep pit. The scene added value to Liiza''s warnings and made them ept that the slightest contact with the creature''s saliva could lead to severe injuries or worse.


    "Did you hit it already?" Khan asked while keeping his eyes on the monster.


    "A few times," Liiza exined. "It''s slow, but it''s hard to reach its insides, and its physical prowess is no joke."


    "Your name is Khan, right?" Doku asked after the group spent a few seconds inplete silence.


    "I didn''t expect you to know," Khan honestly revealed. "Doku, right? The honor is mine."


    Doku turned toward Khan and performed a respectful nod toplete a formal introduction, but faint hesitation seeped inside his voice during the request that followed his gesture. "Can you bait the toad? You are fast enough to dodge the tongue."


    The other Niqols wanted to look at that interaction, but they didn''t have the guts to turn toward Khan. He had basically taken care of thest monster on his own, but Doku still wanted him to y a dangerous role in the current battle. It didn''t feel fair to put him alone against the threatening tongue, but the tactic made sense.


    The aliens would have found it easier to ept the event if Khan weren''t a human and didn''t already put himself at risk in the previous battle. Yet, the current situation felt quite dangerous, and Doku''s tactic had a high chance to seed, so they remained silent and waited for Khan''s reply.


    "Be sure to kill it quickly," Khan eximed as confidence filled his face.


    Doku nodded, and the other Niqols heaved a sad sigh of relief once they learnt that none of them would have to perform that dangerous role. Only Liiza remained utterly expressionless. She couldn''t let anything reach her face because she feared what it would reveal.


    "Try to keep up," Khan announced before taking a deep breath and bending forward.


    The toad noticed that sudden movement and opened its mouth again. A scarlet whip shot out toward Khan, but his figure vanished when the attack reached him.


    Liiza almost gave voice to a worried gasp, and the other Niqols felt as surprised as her to notice that the tongue had only pierced an afterimage. Their eyes quickly went back to the toad and noticed that its mouth had closed after Khan''s upward kick.


    ''Really a bad match-up,'' Khan cursed in his mind as he did his best to keep track of the saliva falling from the tongue less than a meter from him.


    His mind couldn''t linger on those thoughts for too long. Khan was right under the toad''s mouth. He couldunch another attack right away, but he held back from doing so.


    The monster tried to open its mouth and swing its tongue toward its opponent, but Khan kicked it closed again. His attack even made the creature tilt to the opposite side due to the power released in the impact.


    Khan felt happy to notice that the toad wasn''t as strong as the lightning monster. He could heavily affect its body with his kicks and interrupt its offensive. The only problem was with the actual damage that his attacks inflicted.


    His kicks could push the toad away, but they didn''t manage to pierce its skin. Moreover, the slimy liquid that covered its skin made it troublesome to deliver precise attacks. Khan''s foot had almost slid across the creature''s mouth during his first technique, and his foothold even felt unstable after touching that fluid.


    Khan prepared himself to take a step back and shake the slimy fluid that had umted on his left foot, but two figures suddenly ran at his side and reached the back of the toad.


    Doku and Liiza had been the fastest among the Niqols. Their reaction to Khan''s movements had been almost immediate, so they had managed to reach the toad after hepleted his second attack.


    The two Niqols threw their palms forward, and the toad croaked in pain as the alien''s mana seeped past its slimy skin and ravaged its insides.


    Khan''s eyes widened in fear as drops of corrosive saliva rained out of the creature''s mouth. Some of them tried to fall on him, but he quickly shot forward to go under its body and reach its side.


    The corrosive saliva fell on the ground behind Khan and dug the terrain while releasing trails of smoke, but he didn''t manage to focus on the event since he slipped due to the slimy liquid covering his left foot. Still, he didn''t panic and used his falling motion to spin on himself, ce his hands on the terrain, and make his leg rotate until it mmed on the toad''s throat.


    The monster croaked in pain again and spat even more saliva, but Khan had developed a somewhat reasonable approach to the battle after those three exchanges. He didn''t have time to remove the slimy liquid, so he would limit it to its left foot. The other leg would have to work as a foothold for the rest of the fight.


    More dark figures ran around the toad and reached its back tounch attacks meant to hurt its insides. B and the others finally joined Doku and Liiza and took their position to assault the monster with their best offensive.


    The creature moved forward due to the pain spreading from its back and put Khan in a troublesome situation. He couldn''t push the toad away when it used the entirety of its body to charge ahead, but he couldn''t retreat either due to the rain of corrosive saliva behind him.


    Khan could retreat to his left, but that would make him abandon his position. The toad would have the chance to turn at that point, and the Niqols would lose their openings.


    Khan was basically crouching under the right side of the toad''s mouth. He could jump to his left and avoid the massive body threatening to squash him, but there was a small opening above him.


    The entirety of his physical strength and mana flowed into his right leg as he shot upward and leapt past the monster. His airborne body started to spin as he stretched his left leg. His heel eventuallynded on the creature''s head and delivered a blow so powerful that the toad mmed its mouth on the ground.


    The Niqols didn''t hesitate tounch another wave of attacks, and dense trails of smoke engulfed Khan since the toad spat arge amount of saliva that corroded the ground right under him and freed its mouth.


    The smoke clouded Khan''s vision, but he focused on his left foot and cut away everything else. The slimy skin and the liquid around his shoe made him slide across the toad''s head, but he waited until he found a decent foothold before putting strength in his leg and performing a backflip.


    The foothold on the monster''s head was far from stable, so Khan''s backflip ended poorly. He fell on his knees and slid through the ground as his hands stabbed the terrain to stop his momentum. He had failed to perform a perfect retreat, but he had sessfully gotten out of the toad''s range without touching the saliva.


    The Niqolsunched another wave of attacks, and anger ended up taking control of the toad at that point. The creature pieced theyer of smoke and fixed its dark eyes on Khan before opening its mouth andunching its threatening tongue forward.


    Khan couldn''t stand up in time to perform a sprint with his left foot covered in slimy liquid, but his right leg could still help. He kicked the ground under him and shot forward to slide right under the tongue thatnded a few meters behind him.


    Saliva fell from the organ and threatened to reach Khan, who was lying under it. Yet, he promptly rotated on himself to dodge the iing corrosive liquid.


    The toad titled its head to follow Khan''s movements and never gave him the chance to stand up. The scarlet organ chased after him and engulfed the area with smoke. He found himself unable to escape from the tongue while spinning on the ground, so he opted to shoot ahead again once it almost reached him.


    His action only managed to buy him some time since he remained under the tongue. Khan had to start rotating again, but the scarlet organ soon stopped following him.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to push with his hands and stand up while bending his right leg to prepare a sprint, but his body rxed when he gazed at the scene ahead.


    The toad wasn''t moving anymore. Its mouth had closed after bluish blood had fallen from its edges and had mixed with the corrosive saliva. The Niqols behind the creature wore disgusted expressions as they tried to wipe their palms clean with their tracksuits, but Doku didn''t forget to nod toward Khan when he noticed his gaze.


    Liiza was also looking at him, but her face didn''t betray any emotion. However, it was clear that the monster had died, and Khan couldn''t help but heave a tired sigh as he sat on the ground.

 Chapter 115 - Ice

    The group spent some time removing the slimy liquid from their hands before updating their superiors about their victory and receive an update of the crisis. Khan limited himself to check the state of his left shoe during the process, but he felt forced to throw it away when he understood that it would never dry up in time for the next battle.


    Khan tried to keep his other shoe, but his bnce felt off with only one of them, so he ended up throwing away that too. He remained in his barefoot, but Nitis'' uneven ground didn''t cause any difort.


    ??


    "Monsters are still appearing everywhere on the," Doku exined once Khan rejoined the group of Niqols, "But the pace is slowing down. It seems that the crisis ising to an end."


    "I''m still in the dark," Khan announced while showing how the map on his phone had yet to update. "I''ll stick with you until the crisis is over."


    "Perfect!" Doku eximed as a faint smile appeared on his face. "Your help has been priceless in thest battles. We are lucky to have you with us."


    Doku politely bowed, and Khan didn''t hesitate to do the same. The other Niqols went through different reactions at that scene. Liiza remained emotionless, B, Azni, and a few aliens nodded in respect, and the others diverted their gazes.


    It was clear that some of the Niqols had yet to ept Khanpletely, and most of their hesitation came from the evident difference in power between them and the human.


    Khan could have bad matchups against certain opponents, but his ability, resolve, and determination portrayed a scary image of the Global Army. The hesitant Niqols couldn''t help but believe that they were granting benefits to a species that contained monsters.


    Still, those aliens didn''t treat Khan poorly. Their doubts and fears couldn''t stop them from acknowledging the human who was going out of his way to help them. They couldn''t disrespect someone who had decided to risk his life to help their twice already.


    Liiza joined the hunting team once everyone rested for a bit. The surrounding areas still had multiple monsters left since both species were prioritizingnds close to the city or other settlements. Only a few groups had flown so far, so the mission ended up proceeding slowly.


    The various hunting groups in the distant areas killed monsters quickly due to their often unstable mutations. Yet, the travels from one target to another could take up to half an hour. That inevitably slowed down the mission due to the limited number of troops in the distant areas.


    Khan''s team didn''t let the idea of spending the entire night hunting monsters scare them. Doku turned out to be a firm leader that never forgot to prioritize the well-being of his underlings by giving them breaks and alternating those tasked with the actual offensive.


    The group flew fromnd tond to face every monster inside their hunting area. The Niqols and Khan ended up meeting a rabbit-like creature capable of bending the ground to its will and a sheep-like animal that could make their concentrations waver with its cries. They had to kill a huge snake that spat poisonous purple bullets and a strange horned beast that resembled a lion and could give metallic properties to its skin.


    All the monsters had different abilities that required approaches meant to exploit their various ws, but Khan always ended up ying an important role in each battle.


    The rabbit-like creature was too fast for the Niqols, so he almost had to hunt it on his own. The aliens supported him by encircling the area and ensuring that its influence in the ground never made them lose its tracks, but they didn''t actively join the battle.


    The sheep-like animal could only charge at its opponents, but its cries were annoying to handle. Only those with a firm mind could manage to perform their techniques against that monster, and Khan''s mental barrier turned out to be perfect for the situation.


    The snake ended up being a troublesome opponent because it could exploit the many trees in itsir to hide andunch surprise attacks that featured poison. Khan and the Niqols struggled to follow its movements even if their sensitivity to mana was above average, so Doku opted to make someone act as bait again. Khan simply was the perfect candidate due to his incredible speed.


    The horned beast had the same issues as the toad. Its skin was virtually imprable, so the Niqols'' techniques became the core part of the battle tactic. Still, the aliens needed someone capable of attracting the monster''s attention, and Khan didn''t mind facing multiple charges until the hunt was over.


    Those four hunts kept Khan''s group busy for seven hours due to the multiple travels, battles, and necessary breaks. The Niqols didn''t even have provisions with them since they didn''t expect the crisis tost so long, so Khan''s fasting inevitably stretched.


    Khan could easily endure his hunger, and it seemed that some of the Niqols were like him. The hunting group split as some of its members struggled to express their true power after the many battles. It didn''t take much before only Khan, Liiza, Doku, and B could still fight properly.


    Azni also seemed to have enough stamina left, but the injury on her back suffered against the fiery bird-like monster forced her body to reach its limits sooner than expected.


    Luckily, the crisis appeared almost over after the sixth hunt. Doku''s superiors would recall everyone after they took care of thest monster that still lived in the distant areas.


    The news filled Doku''s team with life and made its members muster their remaining strength toplete their mission. The Niqols and Khan even felt excited to know that they had umted consistent battle merits after spending an entire night hunting monsters. However, their hopes crumbled after they faced theirst opponent.


    A sharp pain spread from the center of Khan''s chest when he reopened his eyes. The noises of the battlefield reached his ears again, but the screams of the Niqols soon overwhelmed them.


    A massive bull raged among the trees in front of him. The creature had a smooth ck skin that carried metallic properties. It was a bit more than two meters tall and three meters long, and thick muscles filled the entirety of its body.


    Two curved horns came out of its head, and blinding bluish light never stopped filling their sharp tips. That glow seemed able to create intense shockwaves as soon as something came near it. Khan had only needed to be at less than three centimeters from that radiance to suffer a massive blow that made his entire body go numb before flinging him away.


    The hunting team had approached thest monster carefully. Doku had even used his cubical device to group up with the other Niqols in the area. Four different squads had joined their forces and had converged toward the bull to put an end to those seemingly endless hunts, but the situation had turned for the worse in mere seconds.


    The new group featured thirty Niqols and Khan as the only human. They had divided themselves into different teams to surround the bull running through a small forest, but the creature had noticed their arrival and had charged toward the closest opponents.


    The charge had made six Niqols fly in every direction. Some of them had only mmed on the nearby trees aftering close to the horns, while others had found themselves with broken bones after enduring a frontal sh with the muscr monster.


    Khan had immediately opted to resume his role as bait after confirming the monster''s power, but he didn''t expect the creature''s range to be so strange. He was faster than the bull, but the glow radiated by its horns had flung him away when his chest went too close to them.


    The battle immediately became messy. Khan noticed how the Niqols were attacking the bull from every side, but dark figures always ended up flying away whenever the aliens went too close to its horns. The attacks thatnded on its body didn''t seem to slow down its movements either. The monster appearedpletely stable and resilient. It even felt more powerful than the lightning creature fought in the past.


    Khan straightened his position and tried to study the situation, but a flying figure attracted the entirety of his attention. Liiza was falling at full speed toward a tree nearby, and she clearly had no control over her movements.


    Khan would have normally ignored that scene for the sake of his secret rtionship, but everything in his vision slowed down when he saw that Liiza''snding spot featured a long pointy root.


    Thoughts stopped flowing inside Khan''s mind at that point. He didn''t even realize that the mana in his body fueled a sprint and made him instantly appear in front of the pointy root.


    Liiza woke up when she fell on his chest. Khan raised only one arm to support her back, and she quickly found her bnce while using his limb as a handhold. Confusion filled her expression when she turned to inspect her boyfriend, but the sharp root behind him appeared in her vision at that point.


    Liiza''s cold expression almost fell apart. Fear tried to take control of her mind. That root had a high chance to stab her chest or head if she had continued to fall. Khan had prevented the worst possible oue, but that didn''t change the nature of the situation. The bull could kill them easily.


    A red bruise had even appeared at the center of Khan''s chest. The bull didn''t touch him, but the light radiated by its horns had been enough to cause that injury. The mark spread over the azure scar and slightly changed its color, but it was nothing more than a superficial wound.


    Liiza noticed that she had a simr bruise on her left shoulder. A new wave of fear swept her mind when she recalled how the bull had only needed to swing its horns near that spot to make her fly away. In her mind, the creature became approachable.


    "We need to keep it still," Liiza eventually said while leaving Khan''s arm and focusing on the bull.


    "How?" Khan coldly asked.


    Khan''s eyes had remained on Liiza for only an instant. He had moved his focus back on the bull as soon as he noticed that she was okay, but the scene that unfolded in his vision was grim.


    The Niqols were trying to surround the bull and overwhelm it with their numbers, but those efforts appeared pointless. The monster endured every attack easily, but only a few of its opponents managed to get back on their feet after taking one of its blows.


    The bulls'' kicks could shatter bones, its charge was unstoppable, and its horns were deadly. Every piece of its body was a weapon that could defeat its opponents in a single blow. It only took a few exchanges for therge group to turn into a small team that featured less than ten members.


    "Can-," Liiza said before lowering her head to make sure to hide her hesitation before continuing. "Can you keep it busy for a bit? I know how to stop it."


    Khan couldn''t stop himself from moving his eyes on Liiza. He couldn''t see her face since she was facing the battlefield, but he could imagine it inside his mind. She clearly hated herself for asking Khan to perform such a dangerous role after Doku had ordered him to do the same for the other hunts. However, she felt unable to rely on the others in that situation.


    "No problem," Khan announced and stepped forward while suppressing the need to ruffle Liiza''s hair. "I just didn''t know its actual range before. It can''t touch me now."


    "Be careful," Liiza whispered in a voice too faint that only Khan could hear before raising her head and showing a cold face.


    Meanwhile, Khan performed slow steps as he approached the bull. The monster was busy taking care of the few remaining Niqols around it. Blood and dark figures flew after each exchange, but nothing managed to break Khan''s concentration.


    The bull soon defeated all the opponents in its surroundings. A few Niqols on the trees nearby were struggling to stand up, but the monster decided to focus on Khan when it noticed him.


    The monster''s hooves scratched the terrain a few times while it prepared its charge, but its body suddenly bent forward as it lost control of one of its legs.


    The bull turned and saw that Khan had mmed his shin on its front left leg and had forced it to leave the ground. The monster quickly grew angry and tried to bend forward to make its opponent enter its horns'' rage, but pain suddenly spread from its mouth.


    The creature bellowed after it endured the blow, but a kicknded on its face as soon as it tried to find its opponent. Khan continued to make his offensive converge on the bull''s mouth since it helped him keep away the horns, but the monster soon jumped and stood its rear legs to remove its opponent''s favorite target.


    Khan quickly switched targets and shot toward the rear legs to deliver a powerful kick. However, those limbs barely moved since the entirety of the bull''s weight was on them.


    The bull twisted its body and tried to fall while pointing its horns toward Khan, but thetter easily escaped their trajectory. He moved under the creature and reappeared in front of the exposed side of its head.


    Khan didn''t lie before. He was faster than the bull. The creature had taken him by surprise before only because he didn''t expect its horns to have ranged abilities.


    Yet, touching him appeared impossible now. Khan sprinted around the bull''s body and delivered kicks whenever he found an opening. The only issue with that tactic was that his attacks didn''t inflict any damage.


    "Jump back!" Liiza''s shout suddenly reached Khan''s ears while he was busy fighting the bull.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to follow Liiza''s orders, and his eyes widened when he saw ice umting under the monster. The creature''s legs froze in an instant before the transparent material spread through the entirety of its body.


    The ice expanded until it created a massive rectangr chunk that enveloped the bullpletely. Only the creature''s head remained outside of the frozen prison, but its horns had stopped glowing after Liiza''s spell covered them.


    "Feel free to kick it as much as you like now," Liiza said in a weak voice before sitting on the ground.


    Her hands had been on the terrain just a second ago, and a trail of ice still spread from that spot and connected it to the frozen prison. Khan''s eyebrows arched when he realized how quickly Liiza hadpleted her spell, but he didn''t forget to turn back toward the powerless bull.


    The monster still bellowed, but it was powerless now. Khan couldn''t help but reveal a cold smile when he saw that Nitis had finally given him a well-deserved training dummy.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I''m considering changing the cover after each volume. What do you think about it?

 Chapter 116 - Capacity

    Bangs resounded inside the forest. The Niqols who could stand attended their injuredpanions since the battle was basically over. Still, they couldn''t help but shoot nces at the rectangr chunk of ice in the middle of a rtively empty spot whenever another loud noise resounded.


    The injured Niqols and those who weren''t helping didn''t even try to hide their interest. Their eyes never moved away from the chunk of ice, and their mouths slowly opened as Khan''s actions generated waves of astonishment inside them.


    ??


    Liiza was among that audience. Her left shoulder wasn''t in an ideal state, and her spell had left her drained. She had decided to rest near a tree while inspecting her secret boyfriend with her usual cold expression.


    Khan firmly believed that the training halls were the best asset in the camps. Fighting against dummies that could feature different power levels and multiple martial arts made his battle prowess improve far faster than any other method. Even sparring with partners couldn''tpare to the metal puppets.


    However, the Global Army was still at the beginning of its rtionship with the Niqols, so it couldn''t teleport those incredible structures to Nitis. Khan had to practice in the Lightning-demon style on his own or against monsters, but that couldn''t live up to the high standards developed after his intense training on Onia and after Istrone''s crisis.


    Depending on their innate features, the monsters would die in a few blows or remainpletely unaffected by his attacks. Khan could only test his proficiency level against those creatures, but his actual battle experience didn''t improve a lot. He still grew used to the battlefield, but those fights didn''t push him beyond the limits of his expertise.


    The bull stuck inside Liiza''s ice wasn''t a worthy opponent either, but Khan felt happy to finally have something that could endure his blows and give him an actual understanding of his power.


    Khan kicked the bull''s exposed head, making sure to alternate his legs and go through all the techniques described by the Lightning-demon style. He didn''t care that the Niqols were staring at him during the process. They couldn''t learn much from a simple observation of his moves, and his blows were too fast to memorize anyway.


    The bull had a metallic skin that seemed able to absorb and endure every blow, so Khan could go crazy. He performed all his techniques methodically. He didn''t even hold back from retreating by a few steps whenever his moves required sprints or long jumps.


    The monster sessfully endured the entirety of the Lightning-demon style, but Khan only rejoiced at that sight. He could start again while pouring more power into his techniques to explore the current limits of his body.


    The Niqols remained astonished in front of that methodical training. Liiza had seen Khan performing those moves in their intimate spot among the mountain chain, but the scene appeared far more incredible now that her boyfriend had a target.


    Liiza, Doku, B, and the other members of his team had even seen Khan performing dangerous roles during the hunts. He had gone all-out in each battle, without ever sleeping or eating during the breaks. In their minds, he had to be on the verge of fainting, but their ideas shattered whenever another powerful blownded on the bull.


    Khan was clearly exhausted. Sweat covered his body, andrge eyebags stood under his tired gaze. His figure had even grown thinner than usual after the long dehydration, but he didn''t stop attacking, and he didn''t even fail to perform perfect executions.


    The Niqols could ept that Khan had grown used to endure his physical exhaustion. They didn''t know about Istrone, but the azure scar on his chest and his performance during the battles proved that his life had been far from easy and that he was an admirable soldier.


    Yet, the mana inside his body had limits. Both organic and synthetic mana cores would need time to produce more energy once they became empty. They worked like normal organs. They required nutrients to refill the reserves of mana and allow their users to perform techniques again.


    A higher attunement would increase the maximum capacity, but it couldn''t make it endless. Even aliens like the Niqols who had innate mana cores would find their reserves of energy running short after spending an entire night fighting. Liiza hadpletely exhausted them after her spell, for example, and herpanions were close to her condition.


    Still, Khan never appeared to run short of mana. He continued to deliver powerful attacks without ever holding back. Some techniques even required a lot of energy, but he didn''t seem affected by their cost.


    Khan wasn''tpletely ignorant about his situation. Most of his concentration was on the bull, but he didn''t fail to notice the surprise shown by the Niqols, and he also easily connected that reaction to his stamina.


    Doctor Parket had already inspected his stats twice, but he couldn''t calcte Khan''s mana capacity with his tools. The mutations could exin why the scanners failed to evaluate his reserves of energy, but Khan had slowly realized that something was off as he kept fighting and training.


    Khan simply didn''t run out of mana. His body often reached its physical limits, but his core had never oncecked energy. He could always meditate right after long training sessions or strenuous battles without worrying about running out of power.


    Khan had initially disregarded that feature during his time on Earth. He had even forgotten about it at some point. Yet, those around him kept reminding him of how incredible his reserves of mana were, and that had inevitably made him see his advantage as a potential issue.


    His simrities with the Nak and the mutations could exin that peculiar feature. Khan couldn''t help but ept that hispatibility with his mana core was perfect. After all, he had gained the organ of the very alien that had caused his mutations.


    Still, that raised another issue. Having vast reserves of mana clearly was an advantage, but Khan didn''t like being unaware of his limits. He could ept the matter now that his body depleted its energy faster than his mana core, but everything would change after he learnt spells.


    Khan might find himself in a situation that depleted his mana without requiring physical efforts. Knowing his limits would be important there. However, he had to wait until he gained ess to the Wave spell to test himself properly.


    The Niqols could help kill the monster, but they didn''t want to interrupt Khan''s training. His resolute expression and concentration revealed how much he cared about that matter, so the aliens focused on tending the injured and recovering while informing their superiors.


    The bull eventually gave in. Its skin remained intact, but the skull under it crumbled after Khan''s relentless offensive. The monster died after its brain transformed into a meat paste that flowed out of its nose, ears, and mouth. The hunt was finally over, and the Niqols confirmed it to be thest.


    The area was finally clear. The crisis was over. Some monsters still roamed freely in other parts of the, but the Niqols would take care of them in the following days.


    "What do I have to say to my superiors?" Khan asked once Doku and the other team leaders gathered to discuss their orders.


    "I can''t say anything, Khan," Doku exined while wearing a regretful expression. "These matters involve Nitis'' global security. We can''t inform the humans about them."


    "That''s understandable," Khan sighed before showing a polite smile. "It was fun to hunt with you all, but I think I must return to my camp now. I didn''t have the chance to update them at all."


    "We took care of that for you," Aznimented as her cold expression broke into a surprising happy smile. "You were busy with the monster, so we thought to inform our superiors about your situation. I''m sure Ambassador Yeza has already notified your Captain."


    "Thanks!" Khan eximed in a happy smile. "I guess that''s it then. Don''t hesitate to call me if you need help for other hunts."


    "Of course," Dokuughed while stretching his hand forward. "You humans shake hands for the informal salutes, right? It doesn''t feel right to bow after what we have gone through tonight."


    Khan''s smile broadened as he shook Doku''s hand. The alien didn''t know how long that gesture had tost, but Khan made sure to rx his grip once they had stayed in that position for a few seconds.


    "Who knows?" Khanughed. "Your superiors might even organize another formal event to celebrate today''s victory. We might see each other sooner than we expect."


    "It won''t happen tonight," Liiza''s snort resounded from behind Khan and made the small group turn toward her. "They aren''t dumb enough to organize another event after everyone fought for an entire night."


    Liiza''s sudden cold remark and fast-paced walk toward a path that led at the edges of the forest made the whole situation awkward. The Niqols didn''t know how to react to that poor behavior, especially with a human among them. Liiza had basically shown how their ranks could have unruly soldiers, which inevitably put some shame on their species.


    Khan limited himself tough and pretend to feel normal about Liiza''s outburst. Still, he could immediately understand the meaning behind her words. She was telling him to remain inside the camp that day.


    The seemingly ignorant smile that Khan wore made the Niqols rx and regain their happy mood. A small group even separated from the other aliens to apany him to the edges of the forest where his white eagle was waiting for him.


    "Can I ask for a favor?" Khan asked as something popped in his mind while everyone prepared for a new wave of salutations.


    "I hope it''s not connected with our species," Dokuughed, but he quickly fell silent to wait for Khan''s words.


    "My friends in the camp have enjoyed the drinks in the celebration a lot," Khan exined, "But the army will never purchase them since they only have recreational purposes. I was wondering if we could trade them without notifying our superiors."


    "Oh!" Doku eximed. "Like a, what''s the word, secret market!"


    "Exactly," Khanughed. "I don''t know what we can offer, but it would be nice to establish a connection."


    "That shouldn''t be a problem," Doku announced. "I''ll tell the others. That drink is quitemon on Nitis. We wouldn''t mind giving it for free either."


    Another wave of salutations happened at that point. Khan jumped on Snow once the formalities were over and set off to return to his camp.


    Intense exhaustion filled him as soon as he rxed on the Aduns'' familiar back, and his eyes eventually closed as the soft feathers provided the best pillows in the world.


    A loud screech eventually awakened Khan and made him tighten his legs when he realized that he was in the sky. He almost lost his bnce even, but his firm foothold allowed him to remain on Snow''s back.


    The Aduns gave voice to an annoyed screech before disregarding the matter. Khan didn''t hesitate to rx his legs and pet his reliablepanion while expressing how happy he was to have it through the mental connection. Snow still felt slightly pissed after the process, but it vented its feelings by flying recklessly for a few minutes.


    Snow had woken Khan up because they had almost reached their destination. The city had reappeared in the distance, and the training camp soon unfolded in their eyes too.


    Khan let Snow have fun beforending near the camp''s entrance and saying his goodbyes to the loyal animal. Liiza had been quite clear before. She wanted him to remain on the site, and he didn''t mind following her orders too much.


    Khan wanted to spend some valuable time with his girlfriend, but he couldn''t endure his condition. He was desperate for rest, and Liiza appeared in the same situation afterunching her spell.


    ****


    Author''s notes: The second chapter might take another thirty minutes toe out.

 Chapter 117 - Radiations

    The short sleep on Snow''s back didn''t appease Khan''s exhaustion, but he still revealed a resolute expression when he saw that a small group of recruits led by Paul hurrying toward the entrance to greet him.


    Khan noticed George, Harris, and the other recruits who he had vaguely begun to know yesterday, but his gaze soon went on their condition. Most of them featured bandages or limped while they walked toward him. It was clear that their hunts had also been quite difficult.


    ??


    Even Paul had bandages around his forehead. He also appeared quite pale, but he didn''t seem to have problems hurrying in front of the group and stopping at the camp''s entrance to perform a military salute.


    "At ease?" Khan mocked Paul before giving voice to a shortugh.


    Paul sighed before breaking his salute and shaking his head. He wasn''t in the mood tough, especially after seeing Khan''s state. The boy had his chest in the open, which revealed a few red marks caused by the many battles that happened during the night. His shoes had disappeared, and his trousers were nothing more than a mass of rags tied together to cover the lower part of his body.


    Khan was trying not to show his exhaustion, but his body didn''t listen to him. Paul and the other recruits could clearly see how tired he was. Hisrge eyebags, his paleplexion, his thin figure, and the dirt and patches of sweat on his skin showed how hard the night had been for him.


    "Ambassador Yeza has notified Captain Erbair about your feats," Paul exined as Khan entered the camp. "You have be a celebrity among the Niqols."


    "How is the situation here?" Khan asked while waving his hand toward the recruits who hade to wee him back to the camp. "Casualties?"


    "None," Paul promptly replied. "We have many injured, but everyone will recover in no time."


    George and the others gathered around Khan and Paul as they walked across the camp and exchanged short reports that described the overall situation in the area. The recruits didn''t even realize that they were instinctively cing Khan at the center of their attention. They almost interacted with him with the same respect shown toward Paul.


    "You guys in the distant areas had awful luck," Paulmented while pointing at different spots of the updated map on Khan''s phone. "Most of the stable monsters have appeared there. You had Captain Erbair nearby, but she never had the chance to help since other threats had appeared around her. Thework has also been unreliable tonight, so ourmunications have been down for many hours."


    "How did you even coordinate?" Khan asked while studying the screen. "You took care of more than thirty monsters in a single night. That''s more than good."


    "We weren''t alone," Paul confessed. "Niqols havee to help us coordinate. We actually had to request their support due to the issues with thework."


    "Can''t we improve it?" Khan asked. "What do we even need to stretch the range of thework? It''s pitiful to risk being in the dark as soon as we get out of the camp."


    "It''s not up to us," Paul sighed. "The Global Army has the repeaters ready, but we need the Niqols to approve them. The Padlyn''s deal will help a lot in that field. The crisis has happened a week too soon."


    "Hopefully it doesn''t ur again," Khanmented. "Do we know how this even happened? I''m not an expert, but I know that there shouldn''t be so many monsters at the same time."


    "An external factor caused the mutations," Paul exined before ncing at the recruits around him. "Lieutenant Kintea will hold a briefingter tonight. Every lesson is obviously canceled, so try to rest during the afternoon."


    The long night spent hunting had stretched until the beginning of the morning. Khan had wasted a bit killing the bull, and the travel to the camp had also taken a while. Only a few hours separated him from lunchtime now.


    The professors in the camp had to take part in the hunts, so they had also gained a few free days. Khan felt the intense need to hit his bed when he realized that he was in no condition to train, but a stronger desire filled his mind as soon as the group crossed one of the central buildings in the camp.


    "I''ll rest soon," Khan reassured Paul, "But I need to eat something first. Myst meal has been during the celebration in the city."


    Paul''s eyes widened at that revtion, and he had to muster the entirety of his strength not to kick Khan directly toward the canteen. It would be better if he ate in his room, but his stern gaze showed some worry when it passed over the other recruits.


    "No stories today," Paul ordered. "You''ll have time to talk about everything another day, so let him sleep as soon as he finishes eating."


    George and the others stopped their tracks to perform a military salute and shout a loud "yes, sir" before chasing after Khan and Paul again. Thetter ignored the event and took note of Khan''s order, but a frown appeared on his face when he heard what the boy wanted.


    "Do you really want six tes of those big worms?" Paul asked. "I''m sure I can find synthetic meat."


    "The synthetic meat is tasteless," Khanined. "I''d rather have gross but yummy worms."


    "Aren''t they too squishy?" Sonia couldn''t help but join the conversation andment when the topic reached the food. "I don''t know. I still can''t ept them."


    "You''d be surprised to what I''ve learnt to ept in the Slums," Khanughed. "We have a saying there: Never kill the trapped rat. Let the embers have its life."


    The entirety of the group became aware that Khan had to eat rats during his time in the Slums, but they forced themselves to suppress theirments. The recruits even stopped being curious about Khan''s taste since it barely matched human standards anymore after those experiences.


    "So, six tes?" Paul asked again and limited himself to sigh when he saw Khan nodding.


    Paul left the group when Khan reached the building with the many rooms, but he didn''t remain alone even after he got to his small t. The various recruits who had weed him back to the camp entered with him and sat on the floor as they waited for him to clean himself up.


    Khan still had the clean uniform from the celebration, so he changed inside the small bathroom and jumped on his bed while dodging the group of recruits sitting on the floor. Their curious gazes fell on him at that point, but Veronica dyed their questions since she entered the room while bringing the six tes that Khan had ordered.


    The grey worms released odd noises that made the recruits look away whenever Khan put them into his mouth. Still, they didn''tment on Khan''s eating habits and quietly waited for him to fill his stomach.


    "So," Khan announced while cing the various trays next to his bed, "What do you want to know?"


    A storm of questions flew toward him and made him spend ten minutes reliving the long night. The recruits had experienced simr events, but Khan had been alone among Niqols during the hunts. His story sounded far more interesting than theirs.


    Khan described almost everything that he had to go through. The recruits soon learnt about his role and opponents, but he didn''t disclose some details, especially when they involved Liiza. He didn''t want to reveal that he had understood her element.


    "It must have been fun to fly from one region to another," Georgemented once Khan''s story ended. "We could only approach the monsters nearby, but the Ugu often failed to reach them in time. Thework had also been extremely unstable, so you can imagine the mess."


    "I''m surprised we could be so disorganized in front of such a crisis," Khanmented. "I guess we don''t have enough troops here."


    "This isn''t our," Sonia snorted. "The Niqols can''t expect us to do a lot when they barely allow us to expand."


    "They would have handled the crisis well even without our help," Natalie replied. "The Niqols are quite strong. We aren''t really necessary."


    "We must be necessary," Harris added. "That''s our role here."


    "Only a long cooperation can lead to that result," Veronica exined. "The Niqols are wary of humans, and Khan''s prowess doesn''t help in that sense. I think it''s normal to be afraid in their situation."


    "We have spent years developing technologies that they can''t even imagine," Sonia said in an annoyed voice. "They should beg us to share it with them."


    "Like we are begging to learn more about their understanding of mana," Khanughed. "They are ahead of us when we consider how advanced both species are. Also, they can live quite well without technology, while we can''t survive without mana."


    "Our understanding isn''t too poor," Harrismented.


    "They have mana as the foundation of their society," Natalie exined. "You have been in the lessons. The Niqols can partially understand emotions through the manaing out of us. How can our understanding evenpare?"


    "Didn''t they have to confirm that?" George asked. "I thought it was only a guess."


    "It felt true today," Natalie replied. "They could understand when I had to rest before me."


    The recruits continued to converse for a few more minutes, but Khan eventually felt forced to kick them out of his room. His eyes were about to give up, and no amount of pretense could hide his exhaustion from their excited gazes.


    Khan confirmed what he had experienced during his return on Snow''s back. Something had changed in his nightmare, and his second rest removed every doubt in his mind. The dreams had remained the same for almost twelve years, but they featured the additional scenes revealed by Zalpa now. They would end with the map of the alien sr system.


    A message reached Khan''s phone and awakened him from his messy slumber. The mandatory briefing arrived, and every recruit in the camp gathered in arge hall in one of the buildings. Lieutenant Kintea was already there, but he politely waited for all the injured to take their seats.


    "The Niqols have been quite silent about the reason behind this crisis," Lieutenant Kintea exined through the help of images that appeared on the walls. "However, the Global Army has a telescope not too far away from Nitis, and we managed to discover something peculiar today."


    The images on the walls depicted Nitis'' sr system. Sixs orbited around a distant star, but their trajectory progressively brought them closer to that small sun as the program made the years pass.


    "As all of you know," Lieutenant Kintea announced, "Everything on Nitis has evolved through mana. The fauna here is nothing more than a mass of Tainted animals. Their mutations are stable, but a strong source of radiations can trigger a second evolution."


    The images on the walls then lit up and showed the radiance released by the star. It didn''t take much before that glow reached the sphere that depicted Nitis.


    "The Global Army found out that the is going to experienceplete daylight in a few months," Lieutenant Kintea continued. "What we saw today is only the result of the radiations reflected by one of thes nearby. We strongly believe that the actual daylight will cause far more problems."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I think the matter of the golden tickets is quite clear, but do ask if you have doubts.


    As for the covers, I would naturally keep them on the discord. They won''t disappear.

 Chapter 118 - Looks

    Lieutenant Kintea''s exnation raised many questions, especially since everyone was aware of their Taintedpanion. A series of nces inevitably fell on Khan when the recruits learnt about the properties of the radiations. It was unclear whether that energy could affect him, but the soldier didn''t hesitate to clear those doubts.


    "Don''t panic on me already," Lieutenant Kintea scolded. "There is a reason why the radiations have only affected Tainted animals until now."


    ??


    The images on the wall changed and depicted two figures. One was an average human being, while the other represented the lightning monster of the first hunt.


    An azure glow lit up inside those figures as their features vanished to leave only their outlines. The recruits could see how the mana in the human was stable and flowed naturally across the body. Instead, the Tainted beast contained multiple unstable spots that took a while to fuse with its flesh.


    "The fauna on Nitis feeds on other Tainted creatures on a daily basis," Lieutenant Kintea exined while pointing at the mana inside the different figures. "Their bodies are stable, but their diet puts them at risk to go through a second wave of mutations even without an external trigger. Theirck of control over their mana also worsens their situation and makes them unable to suppress eventual transformations."


    Khan raised his hand to im the Lieutenant''s attention at that point, and the soldier didn''t hesitate to point at him.


    "Are the Niqols at risk?" Khan asked once receiving that silent permission to speak. "They are born with mana, they eat Tainted animals, and they start their trainingter than us. Will the radiation affect the younger generations?"


    "Someone didn''t ck during the lessons!" Lieutenant Kintea eximed while ring at the other recruits. "You are correct. The Niqols who have yet to learn how to control their mana are definitely at risk. However, the Global Army has studied the orbits thoroughly. They go through this event every few millennia. I''m sure they already know how to handle it."


    Khan felt strange after that answer. His face didn''t betray anything, but his mind inevitably grew messy. His meeting with Zalpa had taught him how the Niqols had disregarded their old texts after their rtionship with the humans started. There was a high chance that they had begun to review them toote to prepare for the imminent crisis.


    "What if they aren''t, sir?" Khan asked while adding the respectful title at the end of his line to make the soldier ignore that he didn''t wait to receive permission to speak.


    "Well," Lieutenant Kintea replied as his stern expression broke into a rare faint smile that carried a cruel vibe. "The Niqols would need our help at that point. Who knows? They might even allow us to bring a space station in their orbit if the crisis gets too bloody."


    The recruits didn''t like the cruel meaning behind Lieutenant Kintea''s words, but they couldn''t ignore the potential benefits connected to the event. The chance to bring a space station to Nitis was an achievement that the Global Army would typically gain after investing centuries in its rtionship with the alien species. Still, the Niqols would ept that help only if the crisis grew to levels they couldn''t handle on their own.


    Lieutenant Kinteant didn''t forget to inspect the recruits after his exnation. Their eyes would reveal who had the mindset to see the potential death of thousands of young Niqols as a chance for their species.


    The inspection left the Lieutenant pleasantly surprised. Most recruits appeared honestly excited about that chance, but their feelings didn''t arrive afterpletely understanding the situation.


    Many didn''t understand that their chance woulde only if the crisis put Niqols younger than them in danger. That event would even involve proper children and newborns, but most recruits didn''t think as far as that.


    Only a minority of the recruits could see the matter in its entirety, and their reactions differed. Some wore conflicted expressions, others felt disgusted, and a few managed to suppress their feelings to show resolute faces.


    Khan''s situation differed even more. His experience with crises allowed him to consider the entirety of the issue right away. After all, he had seen the nameless casualties of a tragedy with his own eyes during the Second Impact.


    Yet, he was the only one among the recruits who considered the well-being of the Niqols. Those who had felt disgusted could see the aliens as proper living beings, but they still put them below humans. Khan didn''t, and his mindset didn''te only from his rtionship with Liiza.


    Khan had lived in the Slums, among soldiers who came from the real city. He had seen their arrogance, and he had suffered from their mindset. He had already been on the side of those viewed as inferiors, so those thoughts couldn''t touch him.


    The Niqols were like humans. They were definitely different, but he couldn''t see them in terms of superior and inferior. The same applied to the other alien species met on Istrone and Onia. Khan could only treat them as equals after what he had gone through in the Slums.


    Lieutenant Kintea was basically hoping that the Niqols would be too unprepared to save their children and younglings. He wanted the Global Army to exploit their sorrow and desperation. Khan even guessed that the soldier would wait until the situation became too tragic to send help to ensure that the humans would gain enough benefits.


    Khan had promised himself to be cold and lie to pursue his goals, but he knew himself. He couldn''t rejoice at that chance.


    His cold face made Lieutenant Kintea nod toward him. The gesture only made an awful feeling spread inside his abdomen. Still, the soldier couldn''t imagine that Khan had already made up his mind. He had decided to warn Liiza and help her spreading awareness through her species.


    ''Now I''m even prioritizing the well-being of an alien species over potential benefits for Global Army,'' Khan mocked himself inside his mind.


    His decision didn''t make him feel bad. A peaceful sensation actually spread inside him and suppressed the hateful feelings that Lieutenant Kintea had created. It was the first time since his discovery about the simrities with the Nak that Khan felt truly d to be less human.


    "Last night''s events probably won''t have immediate consequences," Lieutenant Kintea continued after taking note of all the recruits that seemed okay with his words. "The Niqols will pretend that nothing is wrong, and we will y along. The Padlyn''s deal will give to some of you the chance to be part of an alien academy and learn the Niqols'' way of mana, but I''ll tell you more once Captain Erbair notifies me."


    The news caused a wave of excitement to spread among the recruits, but the Lieutenant ignored the many hands that rose in the air and sent everyone away. The meeting ended on that interesting note, and Khan couldn''t help but end up at the center of the attention after getting out of the building.


    "Maybe they''ll ask Khan to pick a team," George eximed as the group of recruits walked back to their rooms. "I''m sorry to you all, but I''ll be the first on that list."


    "They won''t give me so much power," Khan contradicted George while showing a fake smile. "I bet they''ll use your recent performance and your knowledge of the Niqols''nguage to decide who to send."


    "I''m doomed then," Sonia sighed. "I did nothing important in the first hunt, and I only know ten Niqols'' words. Wait, does [soldier] means weapon?"


    "Soldier," Khan corrected her, and Sonia''s expression grew even darker.


    "I''ve gone back to nine," Sonia growled before timidly ncing toward Khan and lowering her voice. "What''s your secret? This is only your third week here, but you are already doing great."


    "You can''t ask that, Sonia," Veronica giggled. "We belong to the same ss, but you shouldn''t forget that we all have personal goals. Also, Khan deserves to be a few steps ahead of us."


    Khan couldn''t help but nod at Veronica, and thetter showed a broad smile. Sonia moved her eyes between her twopanions, and a helpless sigh eventually escaped from her mouth.


    "We can study together," Natalie added before Sonia couldin again. "We''ll even get a chance to tame the Aduns soon. I won''t refuse a few flight lessons."


    "That would help a lot," Harris announced. "I got the theory behind that, but applying it in the real world is always harder than it looks. Also, I''d rather not fall."


    "I don''t want to be the first human to die because of an Aduns," Sonia gasped. "My family would find a way to get me back to life and kill me again."


    A series ofughs resounded among the group. Other recruits even joined Sonia in her jokes, but everyone slowly went silent and shot meaningful nces toward Khan.


    "I can''t help you with the Niqols''nguage and the test on the mountains," Khan dered without turning toward the hopeful recruits around him, "But I can teach you how to fly. It''s not too hard. It looks scarier than it is."


    The recruits felt happy about his statement, and some of them even cheered. They couldn''t wait to let go of their Ugu and gain ess to the Aduns. It wasn''t only a desire connected to the exciting chance to roam across the sky. Some wanted those eagles to improve their value as soldiers on Nitis.


    "Let''s all try to reach the academies," George eximed once the group started entering the building with the many ts. "Getting in is the hard part. We can rely on Khan''s good looks once we get in."


    "That''s so true," Veronicaughed. "The Niqols would have never offered the Aduns if he didn''t impress Miss Liiza."


    "I didn''t impress anyone," Khan denied while showing a fake smile. "She has only given me a way to remain on Nitis before dropping me at the base of a mountain."


    "I heard a different story," George teased while diverting his gaze.


    "We all did," Sonia giggled before clearing her throat when Khan nced at her.


    "I know for a fact that you didn''t," Khan sneered while shaking his head.


    "Well," Harris added while diverting his gaze too. "We know that Paul came to get you on his own, but he returned to the camp alone. Instead, you arrived with Miss Liiza. I wonder, how did you reach the mountains where you got your Aduns without an Ugu?"


    Khan could almost sense the curious gazes on him, but he only showed a broad smile while a joking threat came out of his mouth. "Remember that I have to teach you how to fly."


    "I suddenly forgot what I said before," Soniaughed before hurrying inside her building to reach her room.


    "You bring honor to the human species," Harris announced while giving Khan the thumbs-up and entering the building.


    "I did nothing," George said as soon as Khan''s gaze ended on him. "I swear."


    "Rumors are a dangerous weapon here," Khan stated while wearing an honest expression and making sure that the remaining recruits around him saw it. "Don''t make things hard for me. It''s fine to joke around, but I fear what the Lieutenant or the Captain might do if they think that you are serious."


    Some of the recruits gasped or covered their mouths when they understood how serious the situation could be over those simple jokes. Many couldn''t help but express their regret with polite excused, but Khan made sure to give gentle dismissals that made him appear magnanimous and understanding.


    "You still have to go out with us one of these nights," George grinned before entering the building and disappearing in the dim corridor.


    "He wants you to rx," Natalie said while approaching the entrance. "He respects you a lot. I think he feels indebted after Istrone."


    "He has been quite reliable there," Khan exined. "I wouldn''t be here without him."


    "Khan, I''m not dense," Natalie replied while showing her usual cold expression toward him. "Still, we are soldiers on an alien trying to improve a frail rtionship. How can we even waste time with that stuff?"


    Natalie''s answer reminded Khan about Martha. She had said something simr to him in the past, even if her hidden meanings had been different.


    "How can you improve a rtionship when you refuse to know them?" Khan whispered as a faint sadness appeared in his eyes.


    "That''s barely rted," Natalie said as faintughs tried to seep past her cold expression. "I just used the same word. Don''t give it the same meaning."


    "I will as long as it helps George," Khan winked, and Natalie finallyughed before shaking her head and entering the building.


    Only Khan and Veronica remained outside the building at that point, but they both appeared about to enter it.


    "That was nice," Veronicamented as she approached the entrance. "I didn''t think you also had the time to help your friends."


    "George is a good man," Khan smiled. "Helping him feels right."


    "What about helping yourself?" Veronica teased. "You have good looks and achievements to back them up. I bet any girl would be happy to know you better."


    "You are overestimating me," Khan dismissed her statement while giving voice to a fakeugh.


    "No, I''m not," Veronica announced as her expression grew severe for the first time since the beginning of the conversation, but she turned before Khan could study her face.


    ''Maybe I''m really good-looking,'' Khan wondered while remaining alone outside of the building.


    Truth be told, he wanted to go to the mountains and be with Liiza, but she had decided to be rude to herpanions to warn him about her exhaustion. Khan didn''t want to let her efforts go to waste. He would remain in the camp and recover properly that night.


    "Good, you are here," A familiar voice suddenly resounded behind Khan and interrupted his step toward the entrance.


    Khan turned and saw Captain Erbair''s tall figure approaching him. She was wearing casual clothes that didn''t express her rank or power, but he noticed arge casket in her grasp.


    "The Global Army has decided to elerate the transport of goods," Captain Erbair exined. "The higher-ups even sent your rewards sooner than initially nned after learning about your performance during the crisis."


    ****


    Author''s notes: The second chapter is basically done. I just need a few more minutes.

 Chapter 119 - Grades

    Khan''s eyes lit up as Captain Erbair handed him therge casket. The container felt heavy, and it was far bigger than he expected. After all, he had requested a single knife, but the chest was sixty centimeters long.


    "You are umting merits at an incredible pace," Captain Erbair announced while Khan was busy inspecting the clean box made of ck metal. "Be honest. Do you like the Niqols?"


    ??


    The sudden question made Khan frown as he raised his eyes toward the tall Captain. He couldn''t understand the meaning behind her words, but she quickly exined herself better.


    "I meant as a species," Captain Erbair exined. "I''ve studied how the rtionships with these types of alien species usually evolve. I don''t know if it will happen soon enough for you to be a candidate, but the Global Army might n a political marriage at some point. I just wanted to know if I should keep your name in mind in case things move faster than expected."


    Khan''s frown rxed, but his surprise intensified. He instinctively thought about Liiza, but he still felt too young to give an honest answer about a possible marriage. He didn''t even like the idea of using the event for political reasons, but he kept that idea for himself.


    "Would I get to choose my wife?" Khan eventually asked to learn more about the matter.


    "Probably not," Captain Erbair revealed. "I can even assure you that Miss Liiza would be out of the question with your background. The life as the first interspecies couple is also quite annoying due to all the studies rted to an eventual offspring."


    Khan had only heard about the existence of interspecies couples. He had yet to study anything specific, but he knew that humans had tried to mix their genes with aliens withpatible sexual organs. Still, everything rted to those topics seemed ssified or too advanced since thework didn''t offer information about them.


    "How bad is it if I say no?" Khan honestly asked as his expression becameplicated.


    Everything on Nitis was working in his favor. Khan was gaining merits with the Global Army, his girlfriend was amazing, and the Niqols were learning to know him.


    Khan didn''t want to ruin his perfect record by dering his unwillingness to sacrifice for the greater good of the Global Army. However, he didn''t want to lie about such important matters either since they mighte to haunt him in the future.


    "This conversation isn''t official," Captain Erbair exined. "I''m just trying to know my team better. The Global Army sent me here because of my knowledge of alien species and the history of our past interactions with them. Learning how I can use you it''s my job."


    Khan didn''t feel offended by the works picked by Captain Erbair. She had to treat her underlings as pawns to use them properly. Emotions were useless and dangerous when handling important matters, and she couldn''t allow herself tomit mistakes. It would take years to mend the rtionship between the two species otherwise.


    "I don''t want my kids to be guinea pigs, ma''am," Khan honestly revealed.


    "That''s understandable," Captain Erbair nodded. "Don''t worry. You are young, but you are already doing great. You''ll be fine as long as you don''t fool around with Niqols once you get to the academies."


    "Am I in then?" Khan asked as his eyes lit up again.


    "Of course," Captain Erbair snorted. "Who else would I even send there? I''ll use the next two weeks to understand what that damned Yeza wants beforeing up with a team. I might contact Paul or you if I''m undecided about a few names."


    Khan promptly ced the casket on the ground and performed a military salute, but Captain Erbair limited herself to wave her hand and turn back to her building.


    "Make sure to sleep," Captain Erbair ordered while walking back to her ce. "We all need it. We might not have time for it soon."


    Khan watched Captain Erbair disappearing inside her building before ncing at the casket on the ground. He picked it up while messy thoughts filled his mind. It was clear that everyone expected chaos to unfold soon, but he felt too little to affect aary crisis. His power barely allowed him to protect what he cared about.


    The scenes of Liiza flying toward the sharp root after the sh with the bull appeared in his vision. She could have gotten badly hurt in that battle, and Khan wouldn''t have been able to do anything to stop that.


    His power wasn''t enough to stop a single monster. Khan couldn''t even imagine what would happen once the sunlight started to shine on Nitis. He didn''t even know if he could be with Liiza while the crisis unfolded.


    ''I need to get stronger,'' Khan decided in his mind as his grasp on the metal casket tightened.


    Khan started to review his past battles on Nitis as he walked inside the building behind him and quickly found his room. His hands went on the azure square on the wall after dropping the casket on the bed. He quickly sealed the t as he prepared to approach his second martial art.


    His memories confirmed that he had never failed to execute techniques since he hadnded on Nitis. The trend had started on Earth during hisst period with Lieutenant Dyester, and it had yet to end.


    Khan didn''t feel different about his proficiency level, but he had no way to test it. He didn''t even know how to learn about it without training areas. Still, his confidence in the Lightning-demon style felt almost natural now.


    A surprising scene unfolded in Khan''s eyes once he lifted the casket''s lid. He clearly recalled having asked for only one knife, but the box had three of them apanied by matching sheaths.


    Each sheath had abel that described the knife''s quality. Khan didn''t hesitate to unlock his phone to check what the Divine Reaper''s training program said about them.


    ''Reinforced blunt null-grade weapon,'' Khan read on thebel of the first knife before checking what the training program said.


    The program confirmed that the first knife was perfect as a training tool. It could be hispanion while he learnt the different techniques for the Divine Reaper, and it could even work as a weapon once he deployed mana.


    Most importantly, the weapon wouldn''t break if he failed to execute a technique correctly. That was the biggest issue mentioned in the training program, but the Global Army had him covered.


    ''Reinforced null-grade weapon,'' Khan read on the second knife.


    It seemed that the Global Army wanted him to differ between training and actual fights. Khan even checked the second knife after opening the leather sheath that held its handle still.


    He did the same with the first andpared the two weapons. Their edges were clearly different. The second knife cut his skin as soon as he ced his thumb on its sharp edge, while the first seemed unable to do the same no matter how much strength he put in the grip.


    Both knives had ck handles and dark-grey des. They were almost identical and a bit less than twenty centimeters long. They were pointy and triangr, clearly hinting that they could cut with both sides. Also, a single pale-azure line ran at their center and connected their bases to their tips.


    Khan ced both knives back into the casket at that point. He had the blunt and the sharp reinforced des already. He couldn''t imagine what thest weapon could be, and his eyes ended up widening in surprise when he sensed a faint trace of manaing out of the third sheath.


    ''Reinforced first-grade weapon,'' Khan read after carefully picking the third knife and looking at itsbel.


    His hands almost moved on their own as he unlocked the piece of leather keeping the ck handle still and drew the weapon. A dark de unfolded in eyes, but the same pale-azure line connected its sharp tip to its base.


    The third knife was simr to the others. It was pointy, triangr, and rather long, with two sharp edges and afortable handle covered in resilient fabric. Still, a faint aura surrounded the weapon, and Khan almost felt in danger while holding it.


    Khan''s eyes quickly moved across the room. He wanted to find something to cut, but he didn''t find anything that could tell him how sharp the knife actually was. Yet, the simple bed with its metal legs eventually filled his vision and attracted his hands.


    Khan ced one of the sharp edges of the knife to the bed''s metal legs and applied a bit of pressure. The weapon immediately pierced the material and started cutting it without meeting any hindrance. He didn''t even notice that the de cut it from side to side until it was toote.


    The bed fell to its side, but Khan didn''t move. The dark de had captured the entirety of his attention. He felt almost drawn by the first-grade weapon, even if he didn''t know what that ssification meant. Still, the training program put it as the ideal type of knife to use since it was a magic item.


    ''I bet I''d be so rich if I sold it,'' Khan thought before storing the knife, using the casket to rece its severed leg, and tinkering with his phone to find more exnations.


    It turned out that thework didn''t say anything about magic items, but Khan discovered that he could find additional exnations on the Divine Reaper''s training program. Each weapon listed there had further descriptions and hidden lessons.


    The grade referred to the enhancements that the weapons received. The lessons of the training program didn''t focus on the actual description of the magic items. Khan had to understand the information among exnations meant for other aspects of the knives, but the task turned out to be rather easy.


    The woman in the training program described how weapons would react to the martial art depending on their grade, so Khan could easily understand their qualities and connected them to a level.


    The null-grade only had basic enhancements that relied on mana to make a material surpass its innate features. The first-grade went beyond that and added abilities that could only be described as magical.


    The third knife''s sharpness was unrealistic. It existed beyond the simple edge. Khan barely had to put any strength to cut the bed''s metal leg.


    ''Magic items sure are strange,'' Khan thought after reading all the descriptions. ''Wonderful, but strange.''


    The Global Army had yet to teach about magic items. Those were topics for the second year and specialized courses since they involved different subjects connected to mana. Khan had the chance to learn something about it sooner than others, but he felt quite sure that most of the wealthy recruits already knew a lot about them.


    The excitement waned once he finished reviewing those lessons. Khan had yet to recover from the long night spent hunting. His body still felt exhausted, but it didn''t prevent him frompleting a short meditation.


    Various thoughts returned in his mind after he came out of the meditative state. Khan had to warn Liiza about the imminent crisis and discuss how the Niqols wanted to handle it. He didn''t know if he could help her entire species, but he wanted to make sure that they faced the struggle together.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I''m sorry. It took far longer than I expected.

 Chapter 120 - Promise

    The following morning, Khan finally had the chance to give the Divine Reaper''s techniques a try. He had the null-grade blunt knife ready for his training now, and his body had even washed away most of its tiredness after spending an entire night sleeping. Nothing could stop him from approaching his second martial art.


    Multiple desires fused in Khan''s mind while he tried to memorize the initial techniques of the Divine Reaper. He had the deep and tense feelings connected to the imminent crisis, but he also felt simple excitement toward the idea of getting to his first-grade magic weapon.


    ??


    The Divine Reaper employed only one weapon, which made Khan''s two null-grade knives only temporary tools. Their enhancements didn''t even make them immune to the after-effects of the martial art. Damages would inevitably umte in their structure, so alternating them would prolong their life.


    Khan had already decided how to divide his time with the knives when he inspected them the previous night. He would limit the blunt weapon to his training and bring the sharp one into battle once he managed to fuse the Divine Reaper with the Lightning-demon style.


    The first-grade knife would have to wait for his expertise to improve. Khan didn''t want to ruin it with failed executions unless he desperately needed its incredible sharpness. Its grade made it more resilient than the other weapons, but his constantck of Credits kept him worried about an eventual future when he couldn''t rely on the Global Army to get goods.


    The Divine Reaper waspletely different from the Lightning-demon style. It wasn''t only a matter of using hands instead of legs. The moves, the speed, the strength, and the rhythm he had to express during each technique were inherently opposed to the martial art that he had memorized during the past seven months.


    The habits and instincts developed after countless hours spent repeating the same techniques over and over again made the initial approach to the Divine Reaper end up poorly. Khan kept failing to even stand in the right position since his legs didn''t feel it to be natural.


    Still, spending the entire morning training inside his room eventually allowed him to see positive aspects that his initial struggles had prevented him from noticing. Khan was immensely better at controlling manapared to when he first started practicing martial arts. Moreover, his battle sense had also improved, so he could seed in a few moves after sessfully suppressing his old habits.


    The Divine Reaper didn''t rely much on actual moves or weapon quality. It heavily depended on the control of mana to work since the sharpness and the deadliness of each technique would depend on how the user deployed that energy.


    The martial art could theoretically work with every type of move since it only needed the mana to match them. The training program still contained a series of ideal knife techniques meant to provide warriors with a general battle style. Yet, the hooded woman often stressed how the Divine Reaper didn''t have set limits, which was the very reason why it could get such a high evaluation when used with other skills.


    The theory behind each move was to envelop the knife in a thickyer of mana, but that was the first big issue. The hooded woman exined how weapon users usually limited themselves to fill the structure with their energy and create a temporary enhancement simr to what magic items experienced. Instead, the Divine Reaper needed them to go beyond that and create an actual membrane capable of adding intense features.


    Filling the knife with mana and enveloping it into a thick membrane were only the initial struggles. The amount of control required to maintain that enhancement while moving was immense. Khan saw his azure energy dispersing in the air whenever he tried to practice in one of the techniques described by the training program.


    Khan didn''t have the time to reach the third andst hurdle of the martial art in a single morning, but he checked it out anyway. It turned out that thest barrier before thepetent proficiency level saw him enhancing specific features with his mana, not only use it as a barbaric method to make even blunt weapons sharp.


    The single morning of training didn''t allow Khan to do much, but it gave him a general idea of his starting point. His mental training made him slightly talented in controlling mana, but the Divine Reaper''s moves wentpletely against his style. They felt so off that he even consideredpletely ignoring them for the time being.


    Khan had lunch in the canteen with the other recruits after spending the morning in his room. Then he discovered that the professors were still taking a break from the lessons, so he basically ended up having the entire day for himself.


    "You need to put your legs right under the base of the wings," Khan exined to the recruits who had gathered around him right after lunch. "They are quite sensitive, so don''t squeeze too hard."


    Snow turned to look at Khan when it heard the word "sensitive", and the recruits around them couldn''t help butugh at that scene. Khan had decided to teach everyone the basic flight position before traveling toward the mountains, so even the boys and girls from the other ss had gathered outside the camp.


    Their test to tame the Aduns woulde soon, and Khan was the only human who had seeded in the task. He was even the only one who knew what the trial featured, and that made him the greatest expert in the entire human species in that specific field.


    "Your hands should be on its neck," Khan continued. "Then again, it''s sensitive, so don''t pull its feathers. You don''t really need to cling on its neck when you fly, but all of you will do it before gaining some confidence."


    Snow gave voice to a pissed screech again, and it even started scratching Khan''s head with its beak. The scene felt hrious for the audience, especially once Khan decided to address the issue.


    "Sensitive doesn''t mean weak!" Khanined while fixing his gaze on the eagle''s three eyes.


    Snowined through another screech, and Khan decided to ruffle the feathers on its neck until it gave up to its pissed attitude. The Aduns fought back by rolling on itself and making dirt cover Khan, but thetter only continued with his pets.


    "I''ve gotten a yful one," Khan announced while patting his uniform to remove part of the dirt once the two stopped ying. "You don''t get to decide your Aduns during the test. You will climb the mountain until one of them chooses you."


    Khan then patted Snow''s back, which unfolded its wings and prepared itself to set off.


    "Remember that the Aduns won''t attack you directly," Khan repeated one of his previous warnings. "However, they will try to make you fall, so never lower your guard. They''ll probably order me to oversee your tests, but I probably won''t be able to do much. Remain calm and prepare your bodies for the climb."


    Khan set off at that point. He didn''t want to study the admiring gazes of hispanions. Also, creating a faint barrier between the recruits and him would only improve his image. It was better to leave before the others could feel too close to him.


    Khan''s expression grew cold once he remained alone. The wind blowing on his face didn''t make him forget what he had to do.


    Warning Liiza and trying to n a strategy that could allow them to face the iing crisis together was almost treason, but Khan didn''t care about that part. His worries were on how little his girlfriend could do the information. After all, she was simple soldier. Her privileged status came from her mother, but she didn''t have much power over her species.


    The familiar t spot among the mountain chain soon unfolded in Khan''s view, and Snow didn''t hesitate to drop him there. Liiza was nowhere to be seen, so a long training session started.


    Khan meditated and spent time in the mental training. The eleventh exercise continued to make him struggled, but he never stopped improving there. The Wave spell kept getting closer to his reach, and his excitement inevitably intensified with each step forward.


    Khan decided not to bring the blunt knife on purpose since he wanted his main focus to remain on the Lightning-demon style. He had yet to understand if his proficiency had stepped on thepetent level, so slowing down his training couldn''t be an option in his mind.


    The familiar sound of pping wings made Khan interrupt the seemingly endless repetition of his techniques. Liiza''s dark-grey Aduns appeared in his view when he turned, and the sight of his stunning girlfriend forced his face to break into a smile.


    "How are you feeling?" Liiza quickly asked while hurrying into Khan''s arms and leaving a kiss on his lips.


    Her question involved multiple topics. It went from the long night spent hunting to his nightmares, and Khan didn''t hide anything. He told her that his dreams always involved the new scenes uncovered by Zalpa and that his body had almost fully recovered after spending an entire day resting.


    "The spell yesterday has drained me too," Liiza sighed while taking Khan''s hand and leading him toward their favorite spot in the corner of the wall. "I remained asleep for an entire day just to recover."


    Khan sat in the corner, and Liiza didn''t take much to reach hisp. They had grown so used to be together in the past two weeks that they didn''t need to voice their wishes. Liiza liked Khan''s warmth, so she always wanted her back to be on his chest.


    "We need to talk about the monsters," Khan said while the two snuggled closer to each other to enjoy the sensations generated by their position. "The Global Army has found the cause of the crisis. I think that Zalpa is right."


    "I''m not surprised," Liiza sighed while turning her face to stare into Khan''s worried eyes and raising a hand to caress his cheek. "My superiors are studying every old text they can find. It seems that Nitis will face much worse once the sunlight arrives."


    "Yeah," Khan continued. "The matter won''t involve only Tainted animals. The Niqols who have no control over mana might be at risk. The younger generations of your species might experience mutations if you don''t shield them from the sunlight."


    Liiza''s eyes widened in surprise, and she couldn''t help but divert her gaze. Her hand also left Khan''s face and joined her other one as the potential consequences of the crisis became evident in her mind.


    Liiza was quite rebellious, but her behavior mostly came from her poor rtionship with her mother. She didn''t hate the Niqols at all. She didn''t agree with some of their politics and customs, but that wasn''t enough to make her loathe her species.


    The Niqols didn''t have the precise and detailed scanners of the humans. They knew mana in ways that the other species couldn''t even begin toprehend, but that understanding mostly involved feelings. It didn''t feature math and equations.


    The fact that the previous crisis had only involved Tainted animals had made the elders of the Niqols ignore that the sunlight could affect their species. However, Liiza understood how tragic the consequence of that event could be. The future of her kind could be at risk. She even felt retches rising through her throat when she imagined kids and children mutating.


    "The army wants to exploit the crisis to strengthen the rtionship with the Niqols," Khan revealed as his expression darkened. "They might refrain from helping until your situation gets tragic."


    Khan didn''t forget to caress Liiza''s back and sides while she absorbed those revtions. She wasn''t ignorant about political matters, so she could immediately understand how the humans could benefit from the crisis.


    The thought that the army would let children and kids die to gain more benefits disgusted her, but the warmth spreading from her back slowly made her feel better. Liiza turned and saw how Khan was experiencing simr feelings. He was trying to do the good thing, even if his actions put his situation in the army in danger.


    Thest barrier around Liiza''s heart crumbled when she fixed her eyes on Khan''s worried gaze. She took his head between her hands and pressed her lips on his mouth while straightening her position.


    Khan wanted to stand up with her, but Liiza made him understand that he could remain in his position. Her gaze felt more intense than usual during the process, but she didn''t give her boyfriend the time to ask questions.


    "I need to warn everyone," Liiza said while remaining bent toward Khan and keeping her hands on his cheeks. "I''ll say that Zalpa came up with this, so you don''t have to worry about the army. You only need to promise me one thing."


    Khan nodded. He felt confused, but the intense glowing out of Liiza''s eyes was too captivating to make her interrupt her actions. He had never seen her so serious. Even her usual cold expression couldn''t match how resolute she appeared in that situation.


    "Think carefully about us and our situation these days, okay?" Liiza almost pleaded before turning without waiting for Khan''s answer.


    Khan wanted to follow her, but the dark-grey Adunsnded on the t area and took her away before he could say anything.


    ****


    Author''s notes: The second chapter is basically done. I just need a few more minutes.

 Chapter 121 - Days

    Khan couldn''t understand what had just happened. He could get that Liiza needed to leave and warn everyone quickly, but herst words left him speechless.


    ''Why would she say that?'' Khan wondered as he yed the time spent with her in his mind.


    ??


    Khan felt quite sure that he didn''t make Liiza angry. He had always been honest, and he wasn''t treating her like a powerless girl either. The events with Zalpa had even made their rtionship take a step forward since they were sharing each other''s burdens now.


    Still, Liiza''s sudden reaction made Khan feel that something was off. She was usually easy to understand since she never held back from showing her true intentions. Yet, thest interaction had featured the exact opposite of what Khan had learnt to see in his girlfriend.


    The confusion caused worries, and the worries led to paranoia. Khan had recently gone through multiple difficult moments, and Liiza had be one of the few things he could appreciate wholeheartedly. She was a trustworthy beacon in his life who helped him go on even if his beliefs had fallen apart.


    Liiza''sst line sorted the effects that it described. Khan couldn''t help but consider his rtionship with her, and he even ended upparing the Niqols to the only other girl who hade close to be his girlfriend.


    Two weeks of rtionship didn''t sound like a long time when Khan thought about it. However, they had arrived while he was lost in the emptiness caused by Istrone''s events. Moreover, they had been intense and wonderful in fields that went way beyond simple lust.


    Khan couldn''t deny the intense attraction the two had experienced since they firsty their eyes on each other. Yet, those days together had proven how their mana wasn''t wrong. They had a simr mindset and situation. The differences between their species didn''t even manage to create unsolvable misunderstandings.


    It was evident that their rtionship could work. Khan and Liiza were still at the beginning of their romance, but they could feel how they never stopped getting closer to each other. Their feelings never stopped intensifying as they discovered new aspects of their partner. They also grew used to their gestures and behavior at a surprising pace.


    Martha and Liiza were so different that Khan struggled to understand how he could like both of them.


    Martha was a gentle friend who didn''t care about Khan''s background. She liked to fight, to prevail over her peers, and she didn''t mind helping Khan whenever he couldn''t understand some aspects of the Global Army.


    Khan and Martha shared a simr position in the army, but that only created a natural alliance since they were on the opposite side of the wealthy recruits. Their background wasn''t the reason why their rtionship had slowly evolved.


    Martha was mature, and she felt naturally attracted by Khan''s driven character. She also liked the side of him that made herugh. The same went for his shamelessness toward some aspects of their life in the Global Army.


    She had initially tried to suppress her feelings due to the packed schedule caused by the training camp, but Onia had made her hesitation crumble. Martha had felt slightly shy about that, but she had finally decided to give her romantic life a chance.


    Liiza was almost her opposite. She and Khan simply couldn''t be friends. Their attraction was instinctive, and a power that they couldn''t control drove it. Their minds had decided that they were good for each other, and that had been enough to make everything else happen.


    Liiza''s status as a Niqols made her self-restraint quite loose. She didn''t hesitate to kiss him as soon as she confirmed her attraction. She often initiated their intimate sessions, and her confidence was something that Khan admired about her character.


    Moreover, Liiza could feel his pain in ways that humans who didn''t endure the same experiences struggled to do. She could look into his mind by studying his gaze and staring at his expressions. Her perception was almost magical and probably came from her deep understanding of mana.


    ''What should I even consider about us?'' Khan sighed as he softly bumped the back of his head to the cold, rocky surface behind him. ''I like her, and she likes me. Isn''t this the whole point of a rtionship?''


    The differences between their species didn''t matter in Khan''s mind. He could barely force himself to see humans and Niqols as separate creatures. He couldn''t find issues when he struggled to understand what everyone saw as problematic.


    His confused state eventually led to a conclusion that left him both sad and warm. Khan slowly epted that Liiza would have probably captured the entirety of his mind even if Martha were awake. He couldn''t even describe the reasons behind his deduction. There was something between the Niqols and him that went beyond thoughts and words.


    The evolution of his rtionship with Martha had been natural and smooth, but he could describe it clearly. Khan could see every tiny step that they had taken together to reach their apex in Onia.


    Instead, everything felt unclear and unavoidable with Liiza. She existed, so Khan felt attracted by her. His eyes wanted to remain on her as long as she was in their range.


    Khan could guess that his feelings came from his young age. He didn''t lie to himself when he considered his inexperience in rtionships and potentially na?ve emotions.


    However, Khan couldn''t find a proper reason to disrespect his emotions. They mighte from his young and na?ve mind, but so what? They still existed, and he could feel them growing stronger with each passing day.


    ''Niqols'' love is stronger than humans,'' Khan repeated Zalpa''s words in his mind. ''I wonder if we should all learn to love like the Niqols. Isn''t this what Lieutenant Dyester tried to teach to me? Shouldn''t I avoid having regrets?''


    The mental conversation felt too one-sided at some point and made Khan suppress his worries to go back to his training. The third day of his third week on Nitis passed quickly, and he returned to the camp the following afternoon to fill his stomach and see if the professors had gone back to work.


    The recruits weed him back to the camp with open arms. They even took that chance to study his riding position again, and Khan didn''t mind repeating his exnations while adding a few descriptions of his test.


    One of the professors had yet to return to work, but Khan could attend two lessons before the arrival of the night. Hispanions tried to drag him outside of the camp at that point, but his thoughts about Liiza made it impossible for him to ept that offer.


    Khan ate again before going inside his room and taking care of his training with the Divine Reaper. He even tested whether the mental barrier helped with the exercises rted to mana, but the results ended up being quite obvious. His ability to cut away his emotions improved his results, but he was still far away from creating the membrane of sharp energy described in the martial art.


    His training with the Divine Reaper ended around midnight. Khan had the chance to sleep and flew to the mountains after he woke up, but Snow notified him about its arrival before he could even consider remaining inside the camp.


    The Aduns didn''te to the camp due to Khan''s orders. It had simply sensed his longing toward Liiza, and it had connected that feeling to the t area among the mountains.


    Khan didn''t need to make up his mind anymore at that point. He exited his room, jumped on Snow, and let the eagle fly him to the mountain chain with its most reckless flight yet. Snow allowed him to experience surges of adrenaline that even the battles couldn''t provide. Still, everything went silent when the duo approached the t area and noticed a dark figure wrapped in a white nket sitting in the corner of the rocky wall.


    Liiza opened her eyes and unfolded the nket when she saw Khannding at the edges of the t area. She appeared sleepy, but her expression quickly grew aloof after staring at her boyfriend for a few seconds.


    Khan could see that something was bothering her. She used the nket to create a spot next to her where he could sit. She wanted to talk instead of diving into intimate actions.


    Khan didn''t let that scene scare him away. He actually felt d that he was finally about to obtain his answers. He didn''t want to experience that day of doubts and worries ever again.


    "Can you tell me what''s wrong now?" Khan asked once he sat cross-legged on the nket and fixed his eyes on Liiza.


    "Did you think about what I said?" Liiza went straight to the point without showing any reaction in her expression.


    "I didn''t manage to think about anything else," Khan honestly revealed without moving his eyes from hers. "I thought and thought, considered every day spent together. My mind evenpared you to the girl I told you about."


    "What did you discover?" Liiza asked, but her voice seemed to tremble near the end of her line.


    Khan ignored that detail and decided to go along with her questions. "What''s there to discover? You already know how I feel. I can''t understand what''s changed."


    "You put yourself at risk to help my species," Liiza replied. "That happened."


    "I can''t see the differences between humans and Niqols," Khan exined while shrugging his shoulders. "I don''t want the rtionships of our species to improve on the blood of children. I just don''t."


    "You didn''t decide that because of me, right?" Liiza continued.


    "I had the chance to warn the Niqols with you," Khan sighed as his expression darkened. "I still need to follow orders and wait to help if that''s what my superiors want, but I didn''t want to keep you in the dark over something so important. I don''t care if the army ends up losing benefits over my actions."


    "Khan, isn''t that treason?" Liiza asked as her voice gained a pleading tone.


    "Isn''t the opposite genocide?" Khan replied without showing any hesitation in his face.


    A tremor ran through Liiza, but she suppressed it and remained still. Her eyes moved toward the ground before returning on Khan.


    "Niqols don''t feel like humans, Khan," Liiza whispered.


    "I know," Khan scoffed. "Zalpa has been clear about that. Still, I''m notpletely human, am I?"


    "Khan," Liiza eximed in her previous begging tone while her cold face broke to reveal her hesitation. "You have just put yourself at high risk to help my species. My superiors are already trying to confirm what you said. You might have saved thousands of lives."


    "Well," Khan cleared his throat at that sudden praise, "I was only trying to do the righ-."


    Khan didn''t have the chance to finish his line since Liiza slowly bent toward him until her forehead touched his. Khan soon felt her crawling on hisp and wrapping her arms around his neck.


    "What is it?" Khan whispered as the sensation caused by Liiza''s cold body filled his mind.


    She was standing on her knees while on hisp. Liiza clung to his hair and forced his head to tilt upward to look at her face. Her forehead was still on him, and her half-closed eyes seemed lost in the sensations that his warmth caused.


    "I want to be clear," Liiza gave voice to faint words that caused cold puffs tond on his lips. "I will turn you into a block of ice if you betray my feelings."


    Khan''s eyes lit up, but the nature of the situation didn''t allow him to think straight. He simply nodded, and Liiza''s head moved together with his face.


    "What is happening?" Khan eventually asked after Liiza has remained in that position for a few minutes.


    "Shut up," Liiza pleaded in a sweet voice. "It''s my first time. I want to be sure."


    Khan wanted to speak again, but Liiza''s lips suddenly fell on his mouth, and the two remained entangled in a passionate kiss that quickly made them lie on the ground.


    Liiza appeared more passionate than usual. Her hand quickly went inside Khan''s robe and uncovered his torso. Khan couldn''t help but do the same, and the two soon remained naked while lying on each other.


    Liiza showed a faint hesitation as her hand slid down Khan''s torso, but a hateful thought suddenly filled his mind and made him stop her gesture. Liiza left his lips and revealed a confused expression. Some sadness even appeared in her eyes when she saw the conflict in her boyfriend''s face.


    "I thought you also wanted it," Liiza whispered in a voice so sad that Khan''s heart almost shattered when he heard those words.


    "I don''t have condoms," Khan quickly exined himself as a tinge of shame appeared on his face.


    He didn''t have the time to search for them inside the camp, and he didn''t trust anyone enough to talk about the issue. George could know something, but Khan didn''t want to risk anything yet.


    "Oh," Liiza eximed in surprise.


    The Niqols turned and twisted her body to reach her tracksuit on the ground. She browsed through its insides until she took out a small oval disk that contained something that looked like a condom.


    "I had to go through dad''s old stuff to find it," Liiza revealed in a shy voice. "It has even been hard to keep it hidden during these days."


    "Days?" Khan asked as warmth spread inside his mind.


    "I knew it was going to happen soon and that you couldn''t move freely in the camp," Liiza said while showing a timid smile that broadened as soon as she saw her boyfriend abandoning hisst brim of self-restraint and rising to make their lips meet again.

 Chapter 122 - Cold

    Nitis'' dark sky appeared brighter than usual when Khan opened his eyes, but that feature didn''te from the nearing of the sunlight. The cold air felt sweeter when it entered his nostrils, and the small chunks of snow that had fallen on him during the night almost spread warmth through his body.


    Those symptoms would usually grant anyone a visit to a doctor or a shrink, but Khan knew that he wasn''t ill. His strange situation was the exact opposite of a disease. Those strange sensations came from what had happened during the night.


    ??


    Khan found himself lying on the ground with a white nket covering his naked body. A cold sensation spread from his left side, but he felt only happy to recognize it. Liiza had fallen asleep after snuggling onto his shoulder andying her head on his chest.


    ''I''ve be a man!'' Khan childishly shouted in his mind before ugly thoughts attempted to taint his happiness.


    The soldiers used their first kill to mark the passage from kid to a man. Thinking about that made Khan relieve the events on Istrone when a ten-year-old Kred had died under his blows.


    Khan didn''t let that memory ruin his moment, but another thought inevitably made its way across his mind and worsened his mood even more. He had finally experienced his first time, and he had even used condoms, but the event reminded him about his father and hisst words before their separation.


    ''I listened to him even if you probably are a liar,'' Khan thought as he imagined a mental conversation with Bret. ''I really hope you had good reasons, dad.''


    "Hey, look at me," Liiza groaned in a cute sleepy voice while adjusting her position on Khan''s chest. ''It ruins your warmth if you have unhappy thoughts."


    Khan turned toward the beauty at his side. The nket covered her naked body, her long white hair tried to hide her face, and her closed eyes blocked the glow of her stunning gaze, but she remained the most captivating view that he had ever experienced in his entire life.


    Liiza gave voice to a sweet moan when Kahn wrapped his arm around her shoulder to bring her closer. His free hand reached her forehead to remove the strands of hair that had fallen on her face before adjusting the nket to make sure that she remained covered.


    A slight smile appeared on Liiza''s sleeping expression. Looking at her had restored Khan''s peace of mind and regted his mana to a state that she could appreciate. Her sensitivity to that energy was almost scary, but Khan knew that it was so urate with him due to the feelings that they shared.


    "Did you develop an addiction to my sleeping face already?" Liiza teased without opening her eyes.


    "Did you develop an addiction to my warmth?" Khan chuckled before leaving a kiss on her forehead.


    "Just a bit," Liiza moaned while snuggling closer.


    "You are doomed," Khan teased. "This evil human made you abandon your Niqols'' roots."


    "My species is missing out so much," Liiza whispered in her sweet voice. "I didn''t think I could feel so hot."


    "Someone liked it then," Khan whispered while nearing his mouth to her forehead to make her feel his warm breath.


    "I wonder if it feels as good with a Niqols," Liiza said before giggling when she sensed Khan''s body tensing up.


    Liiza opened her eyes while revealing a broad smile and climbing on Khan''s body. Shey on his chest and pointed her elbows on his shoulders to support her head andugh at her boyfriend''s frown.


    "Is this the time when you go possessive on me?" Liiza giggled while bending her legs up and down to express her yful and happy mood.


    The nket fell off from her back and left both of them exposed. A faint wind also blew it for a few meters. Khan felt overwhelmed by that sight, and he failed to y along as his true feelings escaped his mouth.


    "Your freedom led to where we are now," Khan revealed as he fell in a daze. "That''s also how I imagine you in my mind. How could I even try to suppress it?"


    Liiza''s legs stopped moving and fell back on Khan. Their feet touched as her yful smile vanished, and she bent to kiss him.


    "Hey," Liiza said when their lips separated, and Khan couldn''t help but sense hesitation in her voice.


    "What is it?" Khan asked as his hand reached her naked back to caress it.


    "All humans are warm, right?" Liiza responded while diverting her gaze. "My body is cold. Was it a problem?"


    Khan frowned again, but understanding eventually dawned upon his mind. His eyes widened when he managed to uncover the real meaning behind Liiza''s words, and his arms inevitably reached her shoulders to push her on his chest.


    Liiza kept her face turned toward the ground while she let Khan''s embrace envelop her. The warmthing out of his chest and spreading through her didn''t help her doubts. It only made her more aware of the vast difference between their temperatures.


    The warmth felt really good for a Niqols, but the opposite wasn''t true for humans. Liiza was worried that her cold body could be a turn off for Khan.


    Truth be told, that feature didn''t cause any problem to Khan. He had felt overwhelmed by emotions and sensations during their first time. Mana also empowered his body, so it was more resilient toward things that would bother a normal human.


    Moreover, Khan couldn''tpare what he had feltst night with simr events. He didn''t know how sex with a human was, and he didn''t care about it with Liiza in his arm. She had given him the best experience of his life again. The problem was making sure that she understood that.


    "The snow felt warm when I woke up," Khan whispered while diving into Liiza''s hair and finding her nape with his lips. "You have no idea how warm you feel."


    A tremor ran through Liiza when she felt Khan''s warm lips on her nape. She didn''t turn, but her grip on his shoulders tightened. Her ck fingernails threatened to stab his skin, but he could sense the worry behind that gesture, so he didn''tin. Instead, his hug intensified as if trying to make her fuse with his chest.


    "Are you sure?" Liiza hesitant voice resounded again. "I don''t want you to endure everything by yourself."


    "Enduring?" Khanughed without moving his lips from her nape. "I''m probably the unluckiest sixteen-year-old in the world, but you still make me feel blessed. You can feel it, right?"


    "I do," Liiza replied as she rxed her grip on one shoulder to reach Khan''s face and caress it softly. "I''m just worried."


    "About?" Khan asked.


    "Niqols feel more than humans," Liiza exined. "I''m afraid that everything will be too much for you one day."


    Zalpa''s words resounded inside Khan''s mind again. He had already learnt that the Niqols experienced feelings differently from humans, but he didn''t worry about that at all. He was actually looking forward to seeing how intense Liiza could be.


    "Luckily I''m notpletely a human," Khan sighed. "I''ll learn to love like a Niqols."


    Those words made Liiza shake again when they vibrated on her nape. She couldn''t remain in that position anymore. She bent her back and turned to stare at Khan directly into his eyes. She was blushing, and her white glow had even intensified.


    "Is someth-?" Khan started to ask when he noticed that something was off, but Liiza dived toward his lips before he could finish his line.


    The kiss felt different than usual. Liiza wasn''t showing the same lustful intensity asst night. Her search for Khan''s lips appeared desperate as if her body demanded a dose of him.


    "I''ll teach you how to love like a Niqols," Liiza whispered when the two separated. "Make sure to keep up."


    "Aye, aye, ma''am," Khanughed before noticing that Liiza was biting her lower lip while moving sensually over his low waist.


    Khan slowly straightened his position to sit on the ground. Liiza remained on hisp, with her legs spread and her wast pressing on his manhood.


    "We can''t," Khan expressed his frustration through his pleading voice.


    "What are you saying?" Liiza teased him while moving even more. "You have been in this state since we woke up."


    "Not that," Khan corrected her while trying to ignore his arousal. "We are out of condoms."


    Liiza frowned before moving her face away from his forehead and searching for her tracksuit around her. Her frown intensified when she found it tied to a rock on the wall.


    "Didn''t you put it back into the item?" Liiza asked while turning to look at Khan again. "The item is in the robe."


    "So?" Khan asked in a confused voice. "We used it already."


    "Do the humans make disposable condoms?" Liiza questioned him before nodding when she saw Khan''s eyes widening.


    "Don''t tell me," Khan gasped. "Can we use it again?"


    Liiza only needed to continue to nod to make Khan abandon his self-restraint. Her happy giggle resounded when he pointed his feet on the ground and straightened his position while lifting her to reach the tracksuit.


    .


    .


    .


    ''I love Niqols,'' Khan thought as the wind blew on his face.


    Snow dived, elerated, and rotated on itself, but Khan didn''t react to those events. His mind was busy ying the events that had filled the night and morning shared with Liiza. Each memory made him return to those incredible moments. He couldn''t even begin to express how lucky he felt.


    Neither of them had wanted to separate, but the nature of their rtionship forced them to respect somepromises. Khan and Liiza had decided to return to their respective homes right before lunchtime to keep up appearances. The two had even chosen not to fly through the same path among the mountain chain for fear that their self-restraint would crumble.


    ''Do I love Liiza?'' Khan wondered as he bent backward andy on Snow''s feathered back.


    Khan was unclear about that topic. His insecurity didn''te from his feeling. He knew that there was something far deeper than the simple attraction between Liiza and him. However, his inexperience in the matter didn''t allow him to realize if what he felt was the so-called love.


    ''Though, it''s hrious,'' Khan thought as Snow dived and made his back leave the feathers. ''I can add my first time to the things that make me less human. Khan, nost name, sixteen years old, had his first time with a Niqols. Who can even refuse such a profile?''


    Khan noticed the arrival of the ground from the corner of his eyes and bent forward to make his chest adhere to Snow''s neck. The Aduns unfolded its wings to perform an abrupt stop mere meters from the terrain, but he barely felt that sudden event.


    ''She is so damned cute!'' Khan cursed in his mind, and his thoughts never moved away from Liiza as he flew back to the training camp.


    Khan remained immersed in his thoughts even after Snow dropped him on the ground and pecked his head a few times before setting off. The Aduns left the area, and Khan instinctively moved toward the camp''s entrance. The first of the free days had basically just started, but he wanted to spend it training now that he was free of Liiza''s constant temptation.


    Still, a peculiar sight startled him awake once he reached the camps'' entrance. Khan saw George sitting next to the fence with a metal cup held tightly in his hand. He initially believed the boy to be asleep, but a loud burp that came out of his mouth when he neared him proved otherwise.


    "Khan!" George shouted when he raised his head and noticed the boy nearing the gate. "You are the damned besht of the besht!"


    George then tried to stand up, but he swayed so intensely that he fell on his butt as soon as he tried to straighten his legs.


    "I guessh mana doesn''t make ush immune to booze," George announced as he raised his cup to drink, but the pink liquid in its insides fell on his uniform since his head kept swaying left and right.

 Chapter 123 - Drunk

    ''What has even happened here?'' Khan wondered, but his thoughts transformed into a curse when he recalled his conversation with Doku.


    "Did the Niqols bring the booze?" Khan gave voice to a rhetorical question to check how far gone George was.


    ??


    "They gave ush everything freely!" George shouted. "We had to celebrate!"


    Khan had seen his good share of drunk behaviors after spending eleven years in the Slums. Every narrow street or corner hid someone who preferred a bottle of the cheapest liquor avable on the market over a good meal. His father had also shown and taught him a lot about booze.


    George seemed to belong to the happy drunk category. He shouted and felt the need to drink more to stretch the feelings experienced in that state. He didn''t appear problematic, but leaving him there didn''t seem proper, especially since it was still the middle of the day.


    The first of the three days had basically just begun, but lying drunk around the camp wasn''t a behavior worthy of a recruit who had earned the honor of serving on Nitis. Everyone there still had to be an elite inside the Global Army, and George was far from that in his current condition.


    Khan inspected his surroundings, but he didn''t find anyone. The camp felt empty, and only the faint cries of the moles near the holes containing worms resounded in the area.


    That sight wasn''tpletely unusual. The week had entered in the free days right after a major crisis that had forced every soldier to fight. Moreover, it was lunch hour. Everyone probably was in the canteen or inside their respective rooms.


    "You are one lucky guy," Khanmented while showing a faint smile.


    "Of course!" Georgeughed. "I''m one of Ishtrone''s shurvivors! No one is luckier than me!"


    "Let''s not talk about that," Khan sighed as his expression grew cold. "Don''t ruin your mood."


    "Yesh, sir!" George shouted before exploding into another loudugh.


    Khan bent toward George and helped him stand up. He had done the same with his father at times, and he had been only a kid back then. Doing the same after obtaining the mana felt like child''s y.


    George didn''t struggle against Khan. He seemed to trust himpletely, even if he didn''t understand why the two were walking back into the camp.


    Khan supported George from his shoulder. He had even wrapped a hand around his waist to make sure that he didn''t fall. Directly carrying him would have been faster, but the recruit risked puking on him if he ended up upside-down.


    The duo quickly reached the building with the many ts, and Khan didn''t hesitate to bring the boy inside. Still, the scene that unfolded in his vision left him a bit surprised.


    A few barrels filled the corridors, and the dense pink liquid seen during the official celebration came out from some of them. Multiple cups alsoy on the floor and at the entrances of the open ts. It seemed that a proper party had happened there.


    "It was sooo fun!" George shouted.


    Khan revealed a faint smile as he shook his head. He had seen simr scenes too often to criticize the recruits, especially after what they had been through. Also, his mood was too good that day to feel bothered about those minor issues.


    George''s voice alerted some recruits who didn''t hesitate toe out of their ts to see what was happening in the corridor. Khan saw Natalie, Veronica, and a few boys of whom he vaguely recalled the names. They all showed frowns caused by headaches connected to the booze, but they appearedpletely sober.


    "Khan, you are back," Veronica announced in a voice that sounded like a groan. "You also found George."


    "I see that you had fun," Khanughed while helping George moving forward.


    "The Lieutenant and the Captain had to go to the city to handle some political matters," Veronica exined. "They left Paul in charge of the camp since the other ss and its squad captain had to help capture Ugu, but a group of Niqols brought these as soon as he returned inside his quarters."


    "They know the importance of secrecy," Nataliemented before groaning since speaking caused waves of pain to spread through her head.


    "They told us to thank you for this," Veronica continued while patting a barrel next to her. "You are full of surprises."


    Khan limited himself to smile while he continued to drag George across the corridor. Yet, he stopped when he realized that he didn''t know where his room was.


    "Sixth to the left," Veronica solved his doubt when she noticed how lost he appeared.


    The girl even stepped forward and bent under George''s free shoulder to help Khan with the process. The two led the boy inside his t in a few seconds, and they threw him on his bed right after crossing the entrance.


    "How did you even end up in this condition?" Khan asked as those who had stepped out of their ts gathered in George''s room. "I thought you had more self-control."


    "It wasn''t our fault," Natalie exined before moving her gaze to the ground. "We have only been slightly careless."


    "The Niqols warned us about this batch," Veronica added. "Apparently, it hase out stronger than usual. We didn''t realize that we were getting drunk until it was toote."


    Khan shook his head again, but his faint smile never left his face. He instinctively took away George''s shoes as vague nostalgia rose inside his mind.


    "You are good with drunks," Veronicamented after inspecting that scene.


    "Ie from the Slums," Khan limited himself to exin, and Veronica waited for him to wear a different expression, but that change never happened.


    Veronica would never dare to im to know Khan well, but she had observed him in the past days. That was a normal action since every recruit looked up to him, but she had a keen perception on her side. She could almost sense that something had changed inside him.


    Khan often appeared cold and resolute, but a kind aura surrounded him now. Veronica couldn''t exin what that vibe meant. If she had to guess, she would say that Khan had found some peace.


    "I''ll hit the canteen now," Khan informed the others who nodded and opened a path for him, but their expression froze when they saw a stern figure on the other side of the corridor.


    Khan noticed that reaction and peeked at the corridor from the t''s entrance. He could see that Paul was inspecting the chaotic scene with a cold expression that grew angrier with each passing second.


    "Do I need to ask?" Paul asked in a cold voice.


    "We''ll clean everything up," Khan promptly announced whileing out of George''s room and performing a military salute. "We only wanted to tighten our rtionship with the Niqols'' sses and prepare for the imminent mission in the academies, but we underestimated the alien booze."


    The recruits shot admiring gazes toward Khan, and they quickly imitated him by performing military salutes toward Paul. The boys and girls couldn''t help but feel safer now that Khan had taken the situation into his own hands. That mess wasn''t even his fault, but he had decided to step forward to help them.


    Paul wanted to remain angry, but he couldn''t continue to keep a stern face in front of a recruit who showed so much potential. Khan appeared as a natural-born leader in that situation. He didn''t only show loyalty toward hispanions. He was even facing his problems head-on.


    "Clean up," Paul eventually ordered. "I will personally send you all back to Earth if I smell the faintest scent of booze when Ie to check on you again."


    "Thank you, sir!" Khan shouted, and the recruits imitated him.


    The scene made Paul nod in approval. He even turned to leave the building, but a rude shout suddenly resounded from George''s room and made him stop his tracks.


    "We totally tricked him!" Georgeughed from inside his t. "I''m telling you. Khan ish born for this. He ish the besht fucking bet during a crishsh!"


    The clear drunken and rude voice made Paul cross the corridor and reach George''s room in an instant. Khan didn''t even try to stop him. He could see from the soldier''s expression that words couldn''t help anymore.


    "On your feet!" Paul ordered when his eyesnded on George''s sorry figure.


    "I''m shorry, shir," Georgeughed as he stretched both arms and legs. "Everything ish shpinning. Permisshion to resht, shir."


    "Permission denied," Paul snorted. "Get up now before I write a formal report to Lieutenant Kintea."


    George began tough. He lightly pped his cheeks as he straightened his position and sat on the bed. It took him a few seconds to make sure that his stomach felt stable enough to remain in that position, but hisugh returned once he confirmed that.


    "What''s so funny?" Paul shouted.


    "You won''t write anything about today," Georgeughed. "They will never make you Lieutenant if they find out that your underlings can get drunk right under your nose."


    The recruits peeking at that scene widened their eyes in surprise. George seemed to have recovered after sitting, and the words that came out of his mouth were clearly meant to mock his direct superior.


    "You are out of line," Paul growled while gritting his teeth.


    Paul hated to admit that George was right. He could easily hide the incident from his superiors, but everything would be far moreplicated with an official report. He couldn''t send recruits back on Earth without reason, and every nasty event would inevitably reflect poorly on him.


    "Out of line?" George suddenly stoppedughing to wear a cold expression. "Fuck you, Paul. The army wants us tomit a genocide. Why can''t I have the chance to get drunk?"


    George then turned toward the other recruits and showed a disgusted expression before continuing. "What are you looking at? You have no idea what''sing for you."


    George''s face rxed when his eyes fell on Khan. The boy even suppressed a sob when he saw the only person in the room that he couldn''t insult.


    The boyy on the bed again and turned to face the wall. His body shook a few times as he suppressed his tears. It seemed that the booze had forced everything that George had bottled inside his mind toe out, and Khan knew that the experience was far from nice.


    "Khan?" George eventually said in a pleading voice.


    "What is it?" Khan asked as his cold eyes fell on the floor.


    "I''m still there," George revealed. "I''m still in the forest, and I can''t get out."


    "I''m there too," Khan said. "I''m there with you."


    George sniffed before continuing. "We cut her hand, Khan. All those corpses, so many corpses."


    George fell asleep on those words, and Paul felt on the verge of exploding into a burst of anger. However, a handnded on his shoulder and made him turn toward his owner.


    Khan shook his head when Paul looked at him, and thetter slowly calmed down when he saw his cold azure eyes. Some feelings didn''t need words to reach others, and Paul was experiencing that while reading the emotions on Khan''s face.


    "You and me. Outside," Paul limited himself to say before hurrying outside of the t.


    Khan nced a George, and sadness filled his expression. The boy had always been joyous during thest days, but it seemed that he had yet to ept Istorne''s events. His behavior was probably a mask meant to hide his actual mental state.


    Natalie and the other recruits stared at Khan while he left the t and moved toward the building''s exit, but he didn''t even nce at them. He couldn''t pretend now. He felt unable to muster enough strength to lie, so he decided to ignore hispanions.


    Paul was waiting for him right outside the building. The soldier walked up and down therge street while stomping his feet. He was livid, but a tinge of regret had also appeared on his expression.


    "The reports never express the true cruelty of a battlefield," Paul eximed when he heard the building''s sliding doors closing behind Khan.


    "Istrone wasn''t a battlefield," Khan exined. "It was a ughter that the Kred failed toplete."


    Paul snorted, but he stomped his feet right afterward. His eyes eventually fell on Khan when he stopped, and an honest question finally came out of his mouth.


    "Be honest," Paul uttered. "Should I send him back on Earth?"


    "No," Khan limited himself to reply.


    "He is unstable!" Paulined.


    "He was drunk," Khan defended George.


    "Give me a reason to keep him here then!" Paul shouted. "He disrespected a direct superior."


    "He is still here after facing hell," Khan replied without showing the slightest hesitation. "He''s the kind of soldier that you want to have on the battlefield once the sunlight arrives."


    Paul wanted toin, but he couldn''t say anything against that. He voiced a loud curse before turning toward his quarters and leaving the area without bothering to give additional orders.

 Chapter 124 - Worse

    The free days inside the camp were usually a happy period, even if missions popped up. Yet, George''s outburst ruined the mood of all the recruits who had been unlucky enough to witness the event.


    Khan struggled to see the positive side of the situation. He knew that his previous words had managed to change Paul''s mind, but George had still reminded him of everything that had happened on Istrone. Moreover, the boy had shown that his usual happy behavior was only a mask that covered his real feelings.


    ??


    George had managed to fool Khan too. Thetter knew that his friend wasn''tpletely fine, but he didn''t expect the problems to be so profound.


    ''I was so happy about Liiza just a few minutes ago,'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''Come one, world! Let me enjoy my first time for at least one week!''


    Recalling about the time spent with his girlfriend cheered him up a little. After all, Khan had already faced his memories of Istrone. He had yet to ept thempletely, but he was in a rtively good position now, especially since he had Liiza in his life.


    Still, the issue remained. George was in a bad ce, and Khan couldn''t do much to help him. He was the only one inside the camp who could talk with the traumatized recruit since they shared the same tragic memories, but pain was a strange emotion to face. What worked for Khan probably wouldn''t work for George.


    "You have been great," Veronica''s voice resounded from behind Khan after he heard the noise caused by the sliding metal doors. "George is lucky to have a friend like you."


    "You have seen him," Khan turned and showed a helpless expression toward the girl. "Would you call that lucky?"


    Veronica''s smile transformed into aplicated expression when she heard Khan''s words. She had no idea George carried so much sorrow. The topics mentioned during his outburst with Paul had even managed to worry her.


    Khan felt the need to fly back to the mountains right away, but he forced himself to walk inside the building. Veronica silently followed him, and the gazes of all the recruits soon converged on the two.


    "Let''s clean up," Khan ordered in a in voice before bending to pick a cup from the floor.


    "You don''t need to do it," Natalie announced from the back of the corridor. "We caused this mess. It''s our job to clean it."


    "It will be faster if everyone helps," Khan replied before bending again to pick another cup lying on the floor.


    "Stop," Veronica said while quickly moving in front of him and grabbing his wrist. "We insist, right?"


    Khan noticed the resolve in Veronica''s face before seeing how the other recruits nodded and began to clean the corridor. A sigh soon escaped his mouth when he understood that the group wouldn''t let him help. Khan limited himself to hand the cups to the girl and stand up.


    "George only needs to sleep," Khan exined. "I bet he''ll be up in an hour or two. I believe he will also remember everything that has happened, so reassure him."


    Khan turned to walk toward his room at that point, but Veronica made him stop his tracks with a question whispered in a hesitant tone. "Is it true?"


    Khan turned to nce at the girl and herplicated expression, but he quickly noticed that the other recruits were wearing simr faces. It was clear that George''s words had forced them to reconsider their orders.


    It didn''t matter how hard they tried to suppress their thoughts. The recruits had eventually realized that the Global Army was asking them to let children and kids die, and George''s outburst had forced them to face that n in its entirety. They felt unable to ignore their doubts after seeing how they could end up.


    "What is?" Khan asked.


    "Will we have to go through the same pain that George is facing now?" Veronica continued as the hesitation in her eyes intensified.


    "How honest do I have to be?" Khan asked as he lowered his gaze.


    "As honest as you can," Veronica pleaded. "Don''t make it easy for us. We want to know what to expect."


    The events on Istrone had been rtively simple. The Kred had rebelled, and many recruits had died. The revolt had been a pure and cruel vengeance that aimed to ruin the future of the Global Army.


    Instead, Nitis'' situation wasplicated. The Global Army knew about the mutations, but it couldn''t predict how they would evolve the''s fauna. The very nature of those transformations made them casual events that often led to unstable forms.


    It was impossible to predict the actual consequences of that worldwide crisis. The entire had multiple strong warriors, but the monsters would definitely be more of them. The Niqols would remain outnumbered even with the help of the humans.


    Khan knew that the Niqols would take care of their younger generations since he had passed the information to Liiza. However, he couldn''t reassure the recruits due to the secrecy of his rtionship and his action. He had to give them a convincing lie, but that came easy to him, especially since it would have actual experiences as a foundation.


    "It will probably be worse than Istrone," Khan revealed. "The entirety of Nitis will go through a massive change. We might need weeks spent hunting to bring everything back to normal. The battles alone will cause many casualties."


    The recruits remained speechless at how easily Khan could describe those events. Death sounded almost normal to him when he told them about the imminent crisis.


    Khan''s emotionless face wasn''t the only reason behind their dumbfounded state. The recruits actually felt scared when they thought about Nitis in its entirety. The amodated only a hundred or so humans, but they would probably need to help with as many hunts as possible.


    The idea of spending entire weeks fighting made the recruits lose every desire to stick around. The dangerousness and probably gory state of the iing battlefields also made them experience some doubts toward the mission.


    The problem wasn''t even the actual danger to some of them. A few recruits were confident enough in their abilities not to fear monsters. Yet, they were worried about their minds. Ending up with heavy traumas like George wasn''t a nice prospect.


    "Wh-," Veronica uttered before hesitating for a bit and deciding toplete her question. "What should we do in your opinion?"


    The question surprised Khan. He couldn''t decide what was better for those recruits, but he didn''t want to leave them hanging either, so he opted for the truth.


    "You won''t be the same after the crisis," Khan exined. "Running away from this one isn''t too bad, but you''ll eventually find a battle that you can''t escape. I suggest you don''t be in the army at all if you don''t want to see this stuff."


    Khan turned at that point. His previous words had confused all the recruits, but that was fine. They would have to think about their actual character and how far they were willing to go to follow orders.


    Browsing through the few menus allowed Khan to seal his room in a matter of seconds. He couldn''t even hear the noises happening outside thanks to its settings.


    Khan ended up waiting to get his food. He could order it from his room, but the recruits were still cleaning the corridor, and he didn''t want a random soldier to learn about the party.


    Hours spent meditating, practicing the eleventh mental exercise, and reviewing the moves of the Divine Reaper went by. The memories awakened by George never resurfaced during those moments, but he still felt off.


    It was strange to be treated as a leader after lying so much. Khan had helped hispanions a few times already, but he had always worn his mask during those moments.


    Khan also had to lie to George due to the issues connected to Liiza. The two of them weren''t even close to being best friends, but they had developed a tight connection after Istrone. They had built that bond through blood and death, but their rtionship couldn''t go past that due to their packed schedule and the secrets that Khan had to keep to preserve his happiness.


    Luckily for Khan, training always made the hours flow quickly, and the nighttime arrived in a blink while he remained isted in his room. He stopped his many exercises only to order some food before the canteen closed, but they resumed once he filled his stomach.


    His favorite part of the day soon arrived. His phone rang when the clock hit midnight, and he didn''t hesitate to leave his room at that point.


    The clean corridor unfolded in Khan''s vision after he left his quarters. He could see how the barriers, the cups, and the pink liquid had disappeared from the area, and he inevitably nodded in satisfaction.


    The camp felt empty when he left the building, but that silence wasn''t enough for him. Khan crossed the site''s edges and walked under Nitis'' ck sky for a while to clear his thoughts until a white figurended next to him.


    Snow could sense that Khan''s mood was off, so it didn''t y around with him too much. The Aduns still performed sudden dives and sharp rotations in the air, but its pace was rtively slow and allowed Khan to avoid clinging to its neck during the flight.


    The eagle brought Khan to the t spot in no time, and the sight of a familiar sleeping figure there made him smile in ways that the recruits had never seen.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I''m spending a bit more time editing. I noticed that I''m making more mistakestely, so I want to be thorough. Something will always pass, but I''d rather give you the best reading experience possible.


    The second chapter will take a bit more to arrive for the reasons above.

 Chapter 125 - Ride

    The free days of Khan''s third week on Nitis felt like a dream, one of the good ones that he never had the chance to experience during his sleep. Except for George''s outburst, that period unfolded beautifully since he did nothing but train and spend valuable time with Liiza.


    George and Khan didn''t talk. Still, neither of them felt the need to speak about what had happened due to the pink liquor. The two didn''t even see each other often since Khan spent most of his time inside his room when he was in the camp.


    ??


    The same happened with Paul and the other recruits. Awkward nces, respectful nods, and snorts reached Khan''s eyes and ears whenever he was outside his room. It was clear most recruits and Paul had yet to put the messy event in the back of their minds, but Khan didn''t really care about it.


    The situation didn''t cause any problem to him. Actually, Khan experienced the exact opposite. The recruits and Paul saw him as the most stable and experienced soldier in the fourth team, so they simply let him do as he wished.


    His help would also be vital in the iing period. The fourth week would finally see other humans approaching the mountain chain to tame the Aduns, and Khan was necessary for that task. Captain Erbair had even already confirmed his position for the training program in the alien academies, so no one dared to bother him or question his habits.


    Khan''s training went smoothly. He didn''t manage to achieve anything astonishing during his free days, but he took steady steps forward in every aspect of his abilities.


    The Lightning-demon style only needed constant repetition of its techniques to improve the proficiency level, and Khan never failed to attend those exercises. He performed a few rounds of all the moves every day, and his executions continued to be perfect. His sessful streak continued throughout the entire free period.


    Khan had yet toplete the eleventh mental exercise, but he grew closer to that achievement after each attempt. He would eventually cross it and get one step closer to the Wave spell, and his anticipation only made him work harder.


    His meditations had never encountered bottlenecks. His flesh hurt whenever mana tried to invade its fabric, but he didn''t run away from pain. Instead, Khan started to see that detail as evidence that his attunement level was increasing.


    His training with the Divine Reaper proceeded slowly, but Khan didn''t mind that. He had just approached the new martial art, and he didn''t even rely on the entirety of his concentration during the exercises. He still gave his best, but his main focus remained on the other programs since they set the very foundation of his power.


    The time to focus entirely on the Divine Reaper woulde, but Khan preferred to stabilize and improve what he deemed necessary for his situation. A martial art that he wouldn''t be able to deploy for months clearly didn''t meet his standards.


    The calm respect inside the camp and the steady improvement made Khan happy, but nothing could match the feelings that he experienced when he was with Liiza. It was simply unreal how intense the attraction between them was, and that emotion even grew stronger as time passed.


    Khan felt honestly surprised to see that Liiza''s self-restraint almost vanished whenever they were alone. The girl would often jump on him to start intimate moments that always ended in a state that the couple had learnt to feel as normal.


    The duo always ended up lying next to or on each other. Liiza often slept or rested on Khan''s chest after reaching the end of their intimate sessions, and the satisfied expression that never left her face made Khan feel confident in his ability to please her. Moreover, they didn''t hide anything from each other, even the specific talks that involved awkward topics, so the two constantly learnt more about each other.


    Their feelings intensified as they grew closer. Khan had no idea how to exin that event. He only knew that he couldn''t think straight whenever Liiza was around. His mind could only focus on her, and it took him the entirety of his mental strength to separate from her. It seemed that their rtionship was turning into an addiction, but that was the Niqols'' way of love.


    "It''s tomorrow, right?" Liiza asked in a slightly annoyed voice while she adjusted her position on Khan''s chest.


    "Today, actually," Khan smirked as his arms tightened on Liiza''s naked body. "We''ll need to find a new ce where to be together. Everything will be too risky once the others gain ess to the Aduns."


    Khan''s fourth week on Nitis had begun. He and Liiza had seen each other around midnight, and they had already spent five hours together in the t area in the mountain. The duo would normally remain in that position, with Liiza sleeping over him, until lunchtime arrived, but Khan had to return to the camp far sooner that day. The recruits required someone to guide them during the taming test.


    "I''m losing track of timetely," Liiza revealed in a sweet voice. "I''m starting to use our meetings to understand what day it is."


    "This human is making you go crazy," Khan teased.


    "You chose to have a Niqols as a girlfriend," Liiza whispered while tilting her head to ce her mouth on Khan''s neck. "You have to deal with the consequences now."


    Khan couldn''t help but make his hand dive into Liiza''s hair. He apanied the movements of her head and immersed himself in the cold sensations that spread through his neck, and a faintugh escaped his mouth when he sensed a tinge of pain reaching his mind.


    "Don''t bite," Khanughed. "It will leave a mark."


    "The other humans need a reminder that you are taken," Liiza snorted while raising her head to stare at Khan straight in the eyes. "That Veronica clearly has set her gaze on you."


    "Do you want to go possessive on me already?" Khan mocked while turning Liiza and gently cing her on the ground before lying on her. "Someone is jealous."


    "You have no idea," Liizained in a pleading voice as she wrapped her legs around Khan''s waist to pull him closer. "I hate how I can''t openly call you mine."


    "One day, maybe," Khan whispered before descending toward her lips.


    Soft and loud moans resounded through the t area as the couple dived back into their intimate moments. Some of those voices even echoed through the mountain chain. They forced the Aduns in the area to answer with screeches that both Khan and Liiza failed to hear.


    The world disappeared when the two looked into each other''s eyes. Their attraction reached new peaks whenever they added an intimate moment to their rtionship. Those emotions didn''t seem to have limits, and they fused with their sensations to improve their experiences together.


    An rm resounded from Khan''s phone after a bit more than an hour went by. The couple was still immersed in their intimate moment by then, and both Khan and Liiza gave voice to loud curses when they heard it.


    Khan had set the first rm a bit before his deadline to make sure that he could give a proper goodbye to his girlfriend once his time was up, so he ignored the noise as he remained focused on Liiza. Still, both of them understood that they had to elerate. Twenty minutester, both of them had returned inside their clothes.


    "I already have somewhere in mind for a new ce," Liiza exined as she pulled Khan closer to her face from his uniform. "I''ll let you know through Snow."


    "We''ll talk about the academies next time," Khan announced after giving a quick kiss. "I really need to run now."


    "Go, go," Liiza giggled. "Remember to pay attention to Veronica. That girl is only waiting for a chance to jump on you."


    "I can barely keep up with one Niqols doing that," Khan teased.


    "That''s how it should be," Liiza smirked before pulling Khan again to leave a long kiss on his lips. "Leave now before I jump on you again."


    Khanughed, but he followed her order. His girlfriend would really jump on him again. That wouldn''t be her first time dying their separation either.


    Khan jumped on Snow that was waiting for him at the edges of the t area and hurried back to the camp. He arrived twenty minutes before the official meeting, but the recruits from the two sses had already gathered near the center of the site.


    "I hope you don''t take his habits once you get your Aduns," Paul shouted while looking at Snow unfolding its wings andnding right behind the rows of recruits.


    "Khan has been kind enough to share his knowledge with us," Paul continued. "Remember what he taught you, and go fetch the Ugu. We''ll depart as soon as the envoy of the Niqols arrives."


    The recruits dispersed and moved toward the other side of the camp without forgetting to shoot nces at the boy who had never dismounted from his Aduns.


    "George," Khan sighed when he saw his friend passing next to him.


    "What is it?" George asked while showing a broad smile. "Are you worried about me?"


    "Not at all," Khan honestly exined. "You have the highest chance to get an Aduns. Everyone else should fail if you don''t get it."


    "I can still die during my first flight," Georgeughed. "You make it look quite simple, but I know that it has taken you a while to get used to it."


    "Flight experience, you say," Khan thought while many recruits heard that conversation and stopped to inspect it.


    Khan wanted to turn toward the recruits, but a ck figure suddenly appeared in the sky and gave voice to a loud screech. The envoy had arrived, and Khan took that chance to offer his help to his friend.


    "Hop on," Khan ordered. "I''ll show you how to fly."


    George and the other recruits remained speechless at that offer, but Khan had beenpletely serious. Snow had enough room for the both of them.


    "That''s unfair!"


    "You shouldn''t have favorites among recruits!"


    "Paul, he is trying to give private lessons to his friend!"


    A group of recruits from the other ssined, but Khanpletely ignored them. He didn''t even look at the squad captain to see if something was wrong with his behavior.


    Of course, giving privileges to a friend didn''t create a good scene, but Khan wasn''t doing anything wrong or illegal. It would also help the most promising recruit in the process and do something positive for his poor mental state.


    "Don''t pity me," George exined as he stretched a hand toward Khan''s arm.


    "This isn''t even close to pity," Khan replied before giving a few instructions.


    George was almost ready to fly.

 Chapter 126 - Survivors

    "Shouldn''t I have the wings right under my knee?" Georgeined as he tried to find a stable grip on Snow''s back.


    "That will arrive once you get your Aduns," Khanughed while taking George''s arms and wrapping them around his waist. "I only want to make sure that you won''t panic once one of these goes crazy."


    ??


    "How are you supposed to do that?" George shouted as worry filled his voice.


    "By making you experience the crazy!" Khan announced before patting Snow''s neck. "Get me to the envoy."


    "I''m not sure this is a goo-," George wanted toin again, but Snow suddenly pped its wings and rose into the air.


    George instinctively tightened his grip on Khan''s waist. He did the same with his legs, but both Snow and his friend turned to re at him.


    "Aduns are pretty sensitive," Khan exined while knocking on George''s right knee. "I know it feels unstable, but you must rx there. Snow might decide to make you fall otherwise."


    George''s eyes widened in worry, but he trusted Khan enough to put his life in danger if necessary. His legs rxed and stopped squeezing Snow''s back. His grip on the eagle became unstable, but he found somefort in how firm Khan felt.


    Snow resumed its climb and soon reached the ck figure hovering in the sky. Khan revealed a broad smile when he recognized the rider of the ck Aduns, and he promptly joined his hands in front of his chest to perform the polite bow used by the Niqols.


    "I hope you enjoyed our gift," Dokuughed before performing a polite bow to match Khan''s gesture.


    "He had a lot of fun with it," Khan mocked while pointing at George, who was too busy clinging to him to pay attention to that conversation.


    "I''m d!" Dokuughed before moving his eyes on George. "Are you preparing him for the test?"


    "He won''t have problems climbing," Khan exined. "I only want to get him used to the experience."


    "Flying is the best feeling in the world," Dokuughed before turning toward George again. "Make sure to hold on tightly."


    "Hey, Doku," Khan probed in a slightly more serious tone, "Can you give me the location of the nest in advance? I want to take a different route and make him experience the wind."


    "No problem," Doku eximed before bending forward and whispering a few words in the Niqols''nguage to his Aduns.


    The ck Aduns released a short screech before pping its wings to get close to Snow. Thetter understood the eagle''s intentions and imitated them.


    The two Aduns didn''t speak, but they fixed their gaze on each other, and their three eyes even remained still for a few seconds. Khan could feel that Snow had fallen into a daze, but the process didn''t make it stop pping its wings, and it didn''tst long enough to give him a clear view of that mental conversation.


    Doku''s Aduns soon diverted its gaze, and Snow confirmed through the mental connection that it knew where to go. Khan didn''t hesitate to perform another bow toward the Niqols at that point, and thetter imitated him to express his respect.


    "I''ll see you on the nest then," Doku announced before descending toward the pack of Ugu that had gathered on the ground.


    Khan nced at Paul and the recruits from the two sses before turning to look at George. The boy still clung firmly to his waist, but he had started to grow used to Snow''s faint movements.


    "It will be scary at first," Khan described, "But having the wind blowing on your face feels nice, and it helps with the bad memories. Try to focus on having fun. That worked for me."


    George''s eyes widened at those words. His respect for Khan had always been incredibly high after Istrone''s crisis, but that feeling only increased now.


    Khan could speak openly about his traumas without abandoning his rxed expression. He appeared at peace, and George couldn''t help but desire to reach the same state.


    "Thank yoahhhh-!" George began to express his gratitude, but Snow suddenly folded its wings and dived toward the surface.


    George''s legs inevitably left the feathered back and ended up in the air. The boy tightened his grip on Khan''s waist while Snow dived at high speed toward the ground, but an ecstatic cry managed to seep past the howling winds and reach his ears.


    The ground grew dangerously close in George''s vision and made him close his eyes, but his body suddenly mmed on Snow''s back as a strange sensation hit his stomach. George mustered his courage to inspect the environment, and wonder filled his face when he found himself immersed in Nitis'' ck sky.


    "Wonderful, right?" Khan shouted as augh escaped his mouth.


    Pure terror filled George''s face when he saw Khan releasing his grip from Snow''s neck and letting his arms flutter in the wind. George felt his grip growing unstable, but everything worsened when the Aduns spun on itself before diving toward the ground again.


    "Does it ever stop?!" George shouted as his body went airborne again.


    Khan limited himself tough while checking that George''s grip remained firm. Meanwhile, Snow went all-out and had as much fun as it could as it moved toward the destination learnt from Doku''s Aduns. The eagle even enjoyed that George felt so scared about the whole matter, so it did its best to give him a memorable ride.


    George mostly screamed in fear. His voice grew hoarse as the flight continued, but Khan continued tough, and his behavior eventually affected the boy. The sudden elerations slowly didn''t feel too scary anymore. The dives continued to make George close his eyes, but he started to enjoy the funny feeling they caused in his stomach. The sharp turns and spins also gained additional senses as he began to look past his worries.


    Snow eventually reached an area filled with tall mountains surrounded by a faint fog. Screeches resounded through the sky from time to time and echoed among the tall, dark structures, but everything became quieter once the Aduns descended toward the ground.


    "You can leave me now," Khan joked when he saw that George remained clung to his waist even after Snow hadnded on the grey snow that covered the ground.


    "Won''t it set off again?" George asked in a worried tone.


    "It won''t," Khanughed while ruffling the feathers on Snow''s neck. "It has a yful character, but it''s quite reliable."


    "Are you sure?" George asked again.


    "Completely sure," Khan confirmed, and George timidly let go of his waist.


    Snow didn''t miss that chance. It rolled on its back as soon as George let go of Khan''s chest, and the boy found itself on the ground when the Aduns straightened its position.


    Khan found himself covered in snow, and his admonishing gaze inevitably fell on his Aduns. Yet, the eagle raised its head toward the sky and wore a proud expression. It even announced its sess through a short screech.


    "As I said," Khanmented while turning toward George. "yful character."


    George remained silent as his eyes continued to stare at the dark sky, but augh escaped his mouth when he saw Khan''s state. Snow covered his hair and shoulder as his helpless gaze had gone back to his Aduns. George found the whole scene incredibly hrious, especially since he had seen how cold Khan could appear during crises.


    Both Khan and Snow turned toward the boy when they heard hisugh. Khan felt slightly relieved at that scene, and aplicated smile even appeared on his face.


    "Thank you, Khan," George eximed once he managed to suppress hisugh. "Not only for this. Thank you for everything you have done since Istrone."


    "I can''t tell you how to handle your sorrow," Khanmented as hey on Snow''s back and fixed his eyes toward the dark sky. "I barely manage to keep myself in one piece. I can''t help you more than this."


    "You don''t need to," George replied in a firm tone. "Defending me after what I said to Paul has already been more than I deserved."


    "George, we are survivors," Khan sighed. "We need to stick together. No one else will do that for us otherwise."


    "Unless someone has your otherworldly charm," George snorted. "For real, how did you even get Veronica in your pocket?"


    "Why does everyone think that she likes me?" Khanined.


    "Who are the others?" George asked as a curious expression fell on his face. "I believed to be the first to notice it."


    Khan suddenly recalled that hisment came from Liiza''s warnings. The two talked about their daily lives during their calm moments, and Liiza had ended up reaching the same conclusions after hearing how Veronica behaved around Khan.


    "Rumors," Khan quickly switched the topic. "I also have eyes, you know? I can see that she is gentler around me, but I thought she was up to something."


    "Veronica isn''t like that," George exined. "She is like a big sister to everyone. It''s only normal for her to like the only guy who doesn''t need her help."


    Khan didn''t answer, but George pressed on as he turned on his side to stare at him. "You would have noticed it if you didn''t spend all your days outside the camp."


    "Still, you understand why I do it, right?" Khan asked. "The adrenaline helps with the bad thoughts."


    "That''s only a form of suppression," George scolded as his expression darkened. "They will return stronger than before at some point."


    "It''s not only that," Khan scoffed. "Did you feel it? Did you sense the freedom?"


    George fell silent at those questions. He didn''t want to lie to Khan. He had definitely experienced a faint peace once he had started putting away his fears. Still, he couldn''t be sure that flying around with an Aduns would solve his problems.


    "What if that doesn''t work?" George asked as his gaze fell on the grey snow. "What if I''m stuck with these nightmares forever?"


    Those words managed to worsen Khan''s mood, but he endured the blow to focus on George. The boy''s issue was different. His nightmares weren''t an endless curse that seemed to hide deep secrets.


    "You might," Khan replied without trying to tone down the issue. "I don''t think we''ll ever forget what happened on Istrone."


    "So, what?" George cursed. "Are we doomed?"


    "You can''t simply forget that you have taken a life," Khan sighed. "I don''t think you should either. The fact that the act affects you proves that you are human and can still experience happiness."


    "Are you implying that this pain is a good thing?" George asked.


    "Would you prefer to bepletely immune to that stuff?" Khan asked. "Would you rather be unable to feel at all? I don''t know what would be the point of remaining alive then."


    "What''s the point of our lives now?" George asked. "We are just traumatized kids in an alien world. I don''t see what meaning we can even find."


    "George, the other recruits are about to go through the worst experience of their life," Khan reminded. "Who do you think can help them go through that? Paul? Lieutenant Kintea? Those soldiers have no value in their eyes. However, you are their friend, and they will experience your pain."


    ****


    Author''s notes: The next chapter will arrive in 2-3 hours.

 Chapter 127 - Urge

    George couldn''t help but fall silent at thest statement. Khan wasn''t only right. His words went beyond the inevitable struggle that was waiting for them to obtain a deeper meaning. He sessfully gave a reason for the pain that they had suffered on Istrone.


    Khan didn''t really believe in his words. He agreed with them, and he knew that they were sound, but his intentionsy elsewhere. He only wanted to help George through his struggle. As for his pain, the deep meaning mentioned before didn''t even cross his mind. After all, his traumas were older than Istrone.


    ??


    The two boys remained in silence for a few minutes before they resumed chitchatting about superficial topics. George ended up describing his situation with Natalie, and Khan limited himself to be a good listener.


    Life appeared easier when the problems only involved girls. Everything was nothing more than a game when the political agenda of the Global Army didn''t affect their youth.


    Khan ended up liking that conversation a lot. He didn''t expect that talking about something so superficial would remind him of something he had lost after Martha fell in aa. It felt good to have real friends again.


    "Are you really remaining silent about Veronica?" George asked. "I just told you everything about Natalie, but you keep acting all wise and experienced."


    "What''s there to say about Veronica?" Khan sighed. "Humanity''s hope to move the rtionship with the Niqols forward lies on my shoulders. How can I even bother such a young girl with my problems?"


    "She is one year older than you," Georgemented.


    "Mental age," Khan corrected himself.


    "I''m pretty sure she is older than you outside of a battlefield," George replied. "You earn a draw just because you are good at fighting."


    "She is ugly!" Khan announced.


    "She is one of the hottest girls in our camp," George contradicted him, "And she trains a lot. I bet her body is nice."


    "See?" Khan proposed. "You should hit on her."


    "But I like Natalie!" George promptly shouted. "Why are you so against getting a girlfriend? Does it have something to do with your friend in aa?


    George had started to worry that his words could reopen some of Khan''s old wounds. After all, he knew about Martha. Khan might not feel ready to move on.


    "No, I just don''t know Veronica enough," Khan vaguely answered. "I talked with her only a few times. I can''t say if I like her."


    "Maybe you should stop flying away with your Aduns every day," George snorted. "At least you have a chance to get something done."


    "Don''t grow all depressed on me now," Khan ordered. "I had to listen to your screams for thirty minutes just to lift your morale."


    "I didn''t scream for so long," Georgeined before correcting himself. "I don''t scream at all."


    "Sure, sure," Khanughed. "What do you even mean with getting something done anyway?"


    George frowned before making a circle with his right hand and inserting his free forefinger inside it.


    "We aren''t even eighteen," Khan scoffed. "Girls will never allow us to get that far. Also, my father always said that unprotected sex is bad. Where would you even find condoms on Nitis?"


    Khan''s pretense was perfect, but he didn''t forget to mask his questions with confident exmations that would make everyone desire to correct them. He didn''t feel good about lying to George, but Liiza had the priority in his mind, and the boy would understand if he knew about his secret rtionship.


    "You shouldn''t underestimate the women in the army," George exined. "They literally learn to kill. They are pushier than you imagine."


    "You sound as if you have experienced that first-hand," Khan argued in a curious tone.


    "Not to brag," George announced while giving voice to shortughs, "But I was fairly popr in my training camp. Also, your father is right, but every medical bay has condoms. You only have to ask the nurses. They don''t take note of who requests them since every family prefers to remain unaware of what their descendants do in that field."


    The issue that had afflicted Khan for so long ended up being a minor problem. He didn''t know how to feel about that revtion. All his ns and paranoia vanished when he understood how easy it was to get condoms in the Global Army.


    The atmosphere among the two boys grew grimmer after George''s lines. Neither of them had mentioned that. Still, they knew why George had used the past tense when talking about his poprity in the training camp. That status belonged to the time before Istrone when most recruits in the first year were still alive.


    A bit of awkwardness also appeared between them since neither wanted to switch the topic so suddenly. Still, familiar cries soon resounded in the distance and saved the two boys from themselves.


    Snow had fallen asleep while Khan and George conversed, but the arrival of Doku''s Aduns awakened it. The ck creaturended on the ground near the two boys, and the group of Ugu soon gathered around them.


    Everything moved rather quickly. Doku jumped off his Aduns and exined how the recruits had to approach the test. He also gave many details that Liiza didn''t mention back then, and Khan made sure to take note of them to tease his girlfriend when he met her again.


    The mountain with the Niqols'' nest had a path simr to what Khan had to climb. The passage circled the structure and led toward its higher parts. Its initial portion wasrge enough to amodate multiple recruits. Still, Doku stressed multiple times how sending only one human every half an hour would drastically improve the chances of getting Aduns.


    George went on the path before the other recruits, and others followed once enough time passed. Paul also had to approach the test to get his Aduns, but he decided to be thest in the line.


    A single day usually wouldn''t be enough to test both sses, but the Niqols had chosen a mountain with a closer nest on purpose, and Paul ended up sending more than a single recruit every half an hour on the passage. His decision didn''te from his disrespect toward Doku''s warning. Spots simply opened whenever one of the kids gave up and climbed down the path.


    Khan didn''t need to do much. The Ugu had provisions, and Doku had already exined the most important stuff. He could meditate and approach his mental exercises while Snow slept or ate. Only asional questions flew toward him, but Doku often took care of answering them before he could interrupt his training.


    Hours continued to pass in that cold environment. Paul grew anxious since he had yet to see recruits sessfully taming Aduns, but Doku reassured him. The nest was a six hour climb from the mountain''s base, and that math didn''t involve the difficulties that the eagles created on the path.


    Doku''s words didn''t manage to reassure Paul since recruits continued to give up on the test. Most of them descended from the path withrge cuts on their back, hands, legs, and heads. They didn''t have Khan''s desperate determination to get an Aduns, so they didn''t dare to continue the climb after suffering rtively severe injuries.


    That approach didn''t please Paul. The recruits on Nitis had to be among the best recruits in the entire Global Army, and thatck of determination hinted at evident ws in their character. Still, he couldn''t say anything since getting an Aduns wasn''t mandatory for now.


    Clear joy eventually appeared in Paul''s eyes when a dark figure descended from the sky and performed a messynding on the grey snow. An Aduns with an evident belly andpletely ck feathers unfolded in everyone''s vision, and the group could see that George was riding the creature.


    Paul couldn''t help but shoot a nce toward Khan at that sight. He still didn''t like that George had exploded in that disrespectful speech, but the boy''s value was undeniable. His body even featured more injuries of the recruits that had descended from the mountain. His power and determination were perfect for the imminent crisis.


    Other flying figures descended from the mountain in the next hours. Harris, Natalie, Veronica, and other recruits from both ssesnded on the ground and showed their Aduns. Each eagle had a personal shade and unique characters, but Paul didn''t even notice them. He only cared that the humans were achieving some sess in that task.


    Khan used that chance to send Snow away. The eagle had been with him for almost half a day already by then, so it required some free time to hunt and enjoy itself. Also, Khan wanted it to talk with Liiza''s Aduns and learn about the new meeting spot.


    Doku continued to give exnations and details to the recruits who had sessfully tamed the Aduns. He taught them how to establish mental connections and gave tips on how to take care of them.


    "I thought you would have shown us how to fly," George announced while controlling his Aduns to walk toward Khan.


    "You should focus on yourself for now," Khanughed as lies came out of his mouth. "Snow was too bored to stay."


    "You can''t escape anymore now," George announced while patting his Aduns. "You won''t be able to avoid your social life."


    "Is that a challenge?" Khanughed again, and George showed a smile before his Aduns shot in the sky, and the other creatures in the area followed it.


    Khan wore aplicated smile when he saw those figures disappearing in the dark sky. His situation had worsened, but he felt happy for George''s sess. Those conflicting emotions filled his mind and left him unclear about the path ahead.


    The human species had finally taken a consistent step forward on Nitis, but Khan''s situation had worsened because of that. The connection between the two events felt hrious and helpless when he thought about it.


    ''Will I have to hide behind a mask forever?'' Khan wondered as he sat on the grey snow and resumed his training.


    The cold snow reminded him about Liiza. Seeing her would be far more difficult now since the other recruits would try to follow him around. He would also go to an alien academy in a mere week, and his situation could only worsen there.


    Sacrifices appeared inevitable. Improving his position among the Niqols would grant him more friends with Aduns capable of following him. The achievements of the human troops on Nitis caused the same effects. Everything seemed to indicate that the rtionship with Liiza had been a mistake to begin with, but Khan couldn''t even think about giving her up. His current peace came from her.


    ''What can I even cut away to make room for everything?'' Khan wondered.


    His sleep immediately appeared at the top of the list, but Khan didn''t even need to consider it. That was his most disposable resource, and he wouldn''t hesitate to forsake it to spend more time with Liiza.


    Slowing down his training and avoiding creating a social environment around him were unthinkable approaches. His personal power was the only key that could put an end to his nightmares, and he required friends to be an ambassador. He even needed more than normal people, especially on an alien.


    Khan then had to add the alien lessons to his math. He didn''t know how much of his time they would upy, but his situation appeared grim nheless. He was in front of the same issues that had dyed his rtionship with Martha. Nitis'' days were too short.


    ''I need to find a where the daysst fifty hours,'' Khan sighed, but a sensationing from a foreign mind suddenly spread among his thoughts.


    The smile that appeared on his face had been impossible to suppress. Khan couldn''t help but feel happy that Snow had learnt the new secret location that he and Liiza would use to spend time together.


    The event confirmed how important his girlfriend was in his life, and Snow''s return created an urge that almost split his mind into two parts.


    One part wanted to hop on Snow and fly away to wait for his secret girlfriend, while the other knew that he couldn''t leave the area yet. He was the only experienced rider in the human species, so he had to make sure that everything progressed smoothly.


    ''I guess Liiza did it,'' Khan concluded in his mind. ''She taught me how to love like a Niqols.''

 Chapter 128 - Marsh

    Doku had tried to smooth things out, but the recruits in the two sses still required a bit more than an entire day to go through the test, and Khan had to oversee the situation for the whole time. The group could draw its conclusions only by lunchtime of the following day, and the two squad leaders on the scene inevitably showed disappointed expressions when they studied those results.


    Both sses had less than twenty recruits each, but only eight of them had managed to tame Aduns. That number represented only a fifth of the group, so the squad leaders'' disappointment felt somewhat justified, especially when they considered that every Niqols on Nitis could clear that same test at a much younger age.


    ??


    It was evident that the human definition of elite fell short in front of the alien species. The Niqols weren''t necessarily stronger, but they carried a determination that the boys and girls of the other species didn''t have, and that drive was everything during the test.


    Climbing the mountain wasn''t hard. The Aduns tried to make the test harder, but they never interfered directly with the recruits. A few avnches and strong winds weren''t enough to kill them unless theymitted mistakes. Still, they could scare away those that didn''t consider the task connected to the eagles necessary, and that alone could make them fail.


    Paul and Felicia, the squad leader of the third ss on Nitis, approached the test once all the recruits had gone through their attempts. Khan ended up taking care of overseeing the injured and tired boys and girls who had failed the climb while the two soldiers were away, but his task didn''t require much effort. He could continue to eat and train in silence since everyone felt too ashamed or depressed toin.


    The two squad leaders weren''t only first-level warriors and mages. They also carried a determination that most of their underlingscked, so they soon descended from the mountain on the back of majestic Aduns. Their climbs hadsted less than five hours, and that feat brought even more shame on the recruits who had failed the test.


    George and the others had also returned during those hours, so they could join Doku in hispliments to the two squad captains. The group soon departed after a short exchange of polite words. Khan, Paul, Felicia, and those who had tamed Aduns flew close to the ground as they followed the Niqols and led the Ugu across the regions.


    Khan obviously felt tired after the group reached the camp and separated from Doku. The same went for the other recruits and soldiers who had sessfully tamed Aduns since the ability to fly made them too excited to cut that new experience short and rest. Still, everyone let their newpanions go after returning home.


    The squad leaders called a mandatory meeting with all the recruits who had failed the test. Paul and Felicia couldn''t let them remain without Aduns since they would only slow down their respective sses. The soldiers quickly created mandatory training courses meant to prepare those kids for the next test. Those who couldn''t pass it after a second attempt would simply have to leave Nitis.


    The step forward in the rtionship between the two species had created new requirements for the humans on Nitis. The Global Army had yet to express itself on the matter, but everyone knew that no soldier could continue to rely on the Ugu to travel anymore. Those mole-like creatures couldn''t match the Aduns in terms of speed, and the aliens would even show more respect toward those who could sessfully tame the eagles.


    Meanwhile, Khan, George, and the other seven recruits who had sessfully tamed Aduns could have the rest of the day free if they wished, but all of them decided to attend the afternoon lessons. The end of the week would make the rtionship with the Niqols take another step forward. Some would gain the chance to move to one of the alien academies, leaving them less than six days to gather merits.


    Of course, Khan didn''t have to worry since Captain Erbair had already chosen him as one of the recruits who would move to an alien academy. Yet, it was in his interest to learn, especially when it came to the Niqols''nguage and their customs. He had an advantage on the matter due to his secret rtionship, but he still had a lot to study since that was only his fourth week on Nitis.


    "You are lucky we are tired today!" George announced once the group of nine left the building and moved toward their respective ts. "We won''t let you off the hook so easily tomorrow. You will spend thesest days with us!"


    George directed those lines at Khan, and thetter found his resolute words heartwarming. However, everything felt too extreme when he considered that George would probably be part of the recruits sent to the alien academy. After all, the boy was almost a war hero after Istrone.


    "I''ll do my best to run away only when you won''t notice it," Khan promised while showing a faint smile and turning toward the exit of the camp.


    George wanted toin, but a yawn came out of his mouth before he could say anything. The other recruits were in a simr condition, so they let Khan go without cracking other jokes.


    "You have a tough one to catch, Veronica," Georgemented when Khan was too far away to hear him.


    "What do you even mean?" Veronica dismissed his words with a gentleugh. "Khan is the best in the camp exactly because he works so hard. We should all learn from him."


    "She even defends him so openly," Natalie sighed. "Feelings can sway even the most mature soldiers."


    Veronica nced at George after Natalie''s statement, but the boy pretended not to hear those words. Still, the recruits from the other ss showed evident interest in those gossips, and a series of teases soon resounded among them.


    Khan exited the camp as he let his mind wander through his conflicting emotions. He felt excited to move to an alien academy, and George''s improved mood removed part of the bitterness that his drunk outburst had created. Yet, his worries about Liiza and their rtionship remained, but only she could appease them.


    A white figurended next to Khan while he walked through the in right past the camp. Snow was tired, but it didn''t shrink back from being Khan''s mount, especially after sensing his mood.


    Snow flew throughnds that Khan didn''t recognize. It initially went toward the familiar mountain chain, but it quickly performed sharp turns that made the two cross vast ins and a fewkes connected to small rivers.


    The Aduns followed the rivers filled with a pale-grey liquid that resembled water until it reached a cliff that ended into a vast swamp. A few ck trees and short thick vegetation expanded throughout the marsh, creating a still and eerie scene. Khan could sense that some Tainted animals upied thends under him, but it felt hard to pinpoint their exact location while Snow dived toward the muddy surface.


    Liiza''s Aduns had given a specific location to Snow, so the eagle led Khan to the base of the tall and steep cliff. The rivers falling from its edges had created thin waterfalls that connected the marsh with the in above, and a few stable areas seemed to upy the surroundings of the rocky walls behind them.


    Snow didn''t want to follow Khan across the waterfalls, but he didn''t mind that. He sent the eagle away and proceeded to explore the areas at the base of the cliff. Many were identical to the marsh and featured short dark vegetation growing on muddy terrain, but other parts had rtively stable and dry ground. Khan even found a path there as his exploration continued.


    Khan kept the base of the cliff next to him as he walked forward. His feet would seep into the terrain whenever he encountered a muddy area. Still, the techniques involving quick steps of the Lightning-demon style allowed him to return to stable ground easily.


    The path quickly led to a natural cave that expanded inside the base of the rocky cliff. Khan noticed a few nkets as he entered the cavity, and his mind soon sensed the presence of a familiar figure near its dark depths. A pair of white lights lit up as he proceeded forward, and their radiance allowed him to see the captivating features of Liiza''s face.


    "I wasn''t sure you would havee," Liiza announced in a sleepy voice as the light radiated by her eyes vanished and reappeared while she scratched them.


    "I didn''t sleep," Khan revealed.


    "Of course you didn''t," Liiza scoffed. "Well, do you like the new ce? It''s wet and sticky. Aduns can''t reach it easily due to the waterfalls covering the path at the base of the cliff, and the marsh is never fully silent."


    Khan gave voice to a shortugh before sitting next to Liiza andying his head on her shoulder. The Niqols had a few nkets and some simple pillows to make the rocky wall behind her morefortable, but Khan didn''t give her the chance to share them.


    "You don''t get scared away so easily," Liiza whispered in her sweet voice as a hand left the nket and started to caress Khan''s cheek.


    "I grew up in a far louder ce," Khan groaned. "You have to do better if you want me even to consider giving up on my girlfriend."


    "I will," Liiza announced beforeughing when she saw that Khan frowned without opening his eyes. "I won''t try too hard."


    Liiza kissed Khan''s forehead, and thetter opened his eyes. The couple exchanged one of their usual meaningful stares before giving in to their desire for intimacy.


    Khan had reached the cliff in a few hours, so the couple had the entire night and the following morning for themselves. Khan didn''t even have to worry about Paul since the soldier would focus on the recruits who had failed to tame the Aduns in the next period. He only had to return to the camp to attend the lessons, but that was it.


    "I know which academy will take you and the other humans," Liiza announced when she saw Khaning out of his meditative state.


    The two were lying on the cold ground, with only a thin nket dividing them from the wetyer covering almost everything inside the marsh. A nket hid their naked bodies, and a few pillows prevented Khan''s head from touching the ground.


    Liiza had taken a nap on Khan''s chest, and thetter had used that chance to start his training. The Niqols didn''t disturb him after she woke up. Instead, she waited until he exited the meditative state on his own while letting his concentrated expression fill her vision.


    "Is it good?" Khan asked while making sure to bring Liiza closer to his chest.


    Khan knew that Liiza often waited for him to finish his exercises. She mostly used the moments when they exhausted their conversations or after the cuddles to sleep, but she happened to wake up while he was immersed in his training from time to time.


    Liiza neverined about that, but Khan still wanted her to understand how much he appreciated her behavior. The hugs and kisses on the back of her neck that came every time he noticed her efforts not to disturb him were the only rewards he could give.


    "It''s one of the most famous on the," Liiza exined while moving her fingers over the arms wrapped around her waist. "Still, it epted you mostly to benefit the Niqols there. Having humans will diversify its environment and improve its social courses."


    "That''s fine as long as we learn something," Khan replied. "I hope the professors won''t hold back from teaching the real Niqols'' methods to us."


    "Niqols'' academies are quite serious about their members," Liiza reassured. "Your species won''t matter once you enter them."


    "Great," Khan eximed in a tired voice before moving to the topic that worried him. "How bad is it for us then?"


    "Pretty bad," Liiza sighed.


    "How many days do we have to spend apart?" Khan continued with his questions as his mood started to worsen.


    "That''s the issue," Liiza growled. "We won''t be apart at all."

 Chapter 129 - Ex

    Liiza was the daughter of the ambassador managing the rtionship with the human species. She has always been vague about her father, and Khan didn''t probe further due to the obvious internal problems in her family. Still, she clearly was a privileged figure in the Niqols'' society.


    Paul didn''t tell Khan to consider her as a princess by chance. His statement had reasons that involved her social importance for both species. Liiza was an untouchable figure for the human species and a coveted political partner for the Niqols.


    ??


    Khan didn''t feel strange to learn that Liiza was part of one of the most famous academies on Nitis. Still, he remained speechless when she confirmed that her school had been the one epting the humans. The couple would have to attend lessons in the same structure, even if they were different since she was already in the second year.


    "[The Pure Trees] is exceptional," Liiza exined after the couple silently decided not to talk about the obvious issues connected to their situation. "Niqols usually start to learn about mana early, so the first year can''t offer us much. However, those lessons might be pretty important for humans. They can even transform how you consider mana."


    "I can''t wait," Khan honestly announced before thinking about something. "They won''t teach us Zalpa''s methods, right?"


    "The Niqols removed them from the mandatory courses many years ago," Liiza exined. "Even the optional courses only allow you to study those old ways. No one really teaches them anymore."


    "Isn''t that a waste?" Khan replied. "Aren''t they a core part of your history?"


    Khan didn''t need to mention it, but Liiza knew that he was hinting at the fact that Zalpa had been right about the sunlight. She could sense the doubts in his voice, so she didn''t hesitate to reassure him.


    "Khan, the old ways were barbaric," Liiza exined. "We would use our blood to conduct mana and empower its effects. Most of our spells required a cost usually paid through flesh. We even used the animals as core materials for specific abilities."


    Everything sounded as barbaric as Liiza described it in Khan''s mind, but he didn''t see the problem with that. That didn''t seem strange after learning that the Kred had organized a rebellion to appease their''s pain.


    "The old ways were powerful but unstable," Liiza continued when she understood that Khan wasn''t convinced. "Dealing with humans has taught us about the existence of stabler paths. They didn''t even involve a significant loss in power since hard work and experience could make up for it."


    "Our techniques aren''tpletely stable either," Khan revealed. "We still have cases of soldiers getting hurt by their own spells."


    "That''s just the result of a failed execution," Liizained before turning to face Khan without making him break his embrace. "You have seen [Zaza]. Why do you think her hair is red? The old methods have tainted her mana until it caused natural mutations. I''m not even sure of how she is suppressing them."


    "She looked fine," Khan revealed a warm smile when Liiza''s eyes pointed at his face.


    "Really?" Liiza asked as her eyebrows arched. "Should I stop taking baths then?"


    "That won''t scare me away either," Khanughed. "And I didn''t mean it in that sense."


    "I know how you meant it, stupid," Liiza sighed while making their foreheads touch. "[Zaza] said that you have to get stronger to discover more about your nightmares, so you want to go all reckless. I''m worried about how easily you ept pain."


    "Everyone does that," Khan responded. "Spreading the mana inside our bodies hurts, but we all do that."


    "Remember where you are," Liiza scolded while pulling back her head and showing her cold expression. "Stop pretending with me."


    Khan''s eyes widened. Liiza was only scolding him, but he could sense that his previous words had hurt her since he had tried to wear his usual mask with her.


    "I''m sorry," Khan sighed as real regret appeared in his eyes. "Pretending is a habit by now, and I even have to do it all day."


    "I know you didn''t do it on purpose," Liiza stated while snuggling closer to Khan. "I don''t even want you to fix that behavior since you need it. I just hate it when you use it with me."


    Khan could only heave another sigh and caress Liiza''s back to reassure her. Their time together was already at risk, and he didn''t want the cold part of his life to affect his happy moments.


    "I might be too used to pain," Khan timidly revealed.


    "That''s an understatement," Liiza snorted. "It honestly doesn''t surprise me after what you went through. Still, I like how you do your best to get over your bad habits for me."


    "I wanted to leave my post after Snow learnt about this ce," Khan scoffed. "I think you should tell me what to expect in [The Pure Trees]. I''m getting better at feeling like a Niqols, but that''s not always good in my position."


    "About that," Liiza cleared her throat and diverted her gaze as her voice gained a yful tone. "Can we cuddle for a bit more first? You might not be in the perfect state for that afterward."


    Khan frowned and pulled Liiza closed before questioning her. "How bad is it?"


    "Well¡­," Liiza uttered, and Khan''s expression froze when her exnation arrived.


    .


    .


    .


    ''Of course her ex had to be in the academy!'' Khan cursed as hey on Snow while the creature flew across the sky to bring him back to the camp.


    Khan had always known that he wasn''t Liiza''s first boyfriend. Her previous rtionships had never been long, and she had never felt anything for her partners. The Niqols''ck of self-restraint had made her exchange kisses with a couple of attractive boys in her species, but she had always ended up breaking up with them quickly.


    However, one of her exes had turned out to be a pretty important figure inside the Niqols'' society. His name was Ilman, and he belonged to one of thergest tribes in charge of developing new techniques and methods involving mana.


    The Niqols had changed their approach to mana after meeting the humans, so those subjects were rtively new. The tribes that could improve and innovate them had an immense value in the alien society in that specific historical period, and Ilman ended up belonging to one of them.


    The Niqols had to make up for thousands of years of evolution through barbaric methods. The organizations that could develop new and valuable paths basically had the most important role in the entire alien society since they carried the hopes of a whole species. The future of the Niqols was in their hands.


    The quickest way to develop new methods was to have direct ess to human technology, and the ambassadors filled that role. It was clear that a union between tribes that dealt with those fields would bring immense benefits to both of them and the Niqols'' species as a whole. Needless to say, Liiza and Ilman''s tribes had attempted to do that.


    ording to Liiza, Ilman was pretty good-looking, and his character wasn''t even bad. Many tribes had already tried to hook him up with their descendants since his looks, wealth, and political relevance were incredible. He was the closest a Niqols could be to perfection at his age.


    Ilman and Liiza''s tribes had agreed to arrange the rtionship when they were still young, but Liiza''s rebellious character had eventually made the agreement fail. The event was the main reason behind her current situation. The Niqols felt that she had betrayed her species by not making such suitable organizations fuse.


    The angriest about the whole matter had been Yeza. She was an ambassador with a daughter who couldn''t sacrifice herself for the greater good of her species.


    Being with Ilman wasn''t even a sacrifice. The boy actually liked Liiza, and he wasn''t bad in any aspect. Even Liiza had admitted that she had refused him only to go against the obligations imposed by her mother.


    Khan''s issue was that Ilman also attended the second year in [The Pure Trees], and his feelings for Liiza had only increased after her refusal. The Niqols was still pursuing her, and Khan would have to watch those scenes in silence once he arrived in the academy.


    ''Dealing with a secret rtionship without forsaking my training wasn''t enough,'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''Now I have to endure the handsome, rich, and important guy going after my girlfriend too. What did I ever do to you, world? Can you let me have one good thing?''


    Khan didn''t let his mental state affect his time with Liiza, but she had understood that it was better not to mention the topic with him at all. The main issue was that the couple couldn''t find a proper solution. They could only endure and make sure that their problems didn''t hurt the happiness that they managed to experience when they were together.


    Khan''s ability to hide his real emotions was so good that only George got the feeling that something was off with him. However, his hunches were too vague to lead to actual questions. Also, Khan often didn''t sleep for entire days, so forcing him to go out during the remaining days inside the camp was hard.


    Khan still had to go out with the eight recruits who had sessfully tamed Aduns a few times. His moments with Liiza inevitably shrunk due to those events, and his sleeping schedule ended up suffering the most from his behavior.


    Training, studying, going out with George and the others, and flying to Liiza filled Khan''s schedule in ways that the training camp on Earth had never done. He couldn''t even sleep on Snow at times since he needed those few hours toplete his daily training.


    Luckily for him, George and the otherscked his resilience, so they didn''t stay upte even when the Niqols smuggled other batches of the pink liquid in the camp. As for Liiza, she directly forced him to sleep whenever she saw that he was about to reach his limits.


    The couple didn''t talk about Ilman anymore after Liiza''s exnation. Khan even forgot about him at times since the feelings shared by the two continued to intensify with each night spent together. Khan found it hard to worry about the ex-boyfriend when Liiza slept naked in arms.


    Khan''s fourth week on Nitis eventually went by, and the day that everyone was waiting for arrived. Captain Erbair made one of her rare appearances inside the camp to announce the names of the recruits who would go to [The Pure Trees].


    The Captain''s decision came from various factors. She had considered the recruits'' battle prowess, their knowledge of the Niqols'' customs andnguage, their achievements in the Global Army, and their character toe up with her list. Still, some inevitably remained disappointed.


    [The Pure Trees] had only opened eight spots to the humans. Khan obviously upied one of them, and George and Veronica ended up filling two more. Yet, Captain Erbair disregarded Natalie and Harris since their character didn''t suit such a delicate mission. The girl was simply too cold, and the boy was way too attached to his human customs to be in an environment full of Niqols.


    Gabri, a girl from the third ss, ended up filling the fourth spot, and Captain Erbair decided to assign the remaining four to recruits from the first and second sses. Her decision didn''t want to aim to a precise and fair division of that task. She had only picked the best candidates since the mission came before the political repercussions that her decision could have.


    Paul couldn''t help but feel ecstatic to see that three members of his ss had gained the chance to go to an alien academy. His value as a squad captain would inevitably increase after that achievement, but the seriousness of the situation didn''t make him forget to make a list of what the trio didn''t have to do once outside the camp.


    Each squad captain did the same with the respective recruits. Khan spent thest night of his fourth week inside the camp since Paul would kill him if he dared to risk beingte. Moreover, envoys leading a pack of Ugu had to approach the area to transport the group''s clothes and weapons to the academy beforehand, and everyone had to help.


    The departure happened early the next morning when an Aduns wearing fabric enhanced by the Niqols'' azure symbolsnded in front of the camp.

 Chapter 130 - Lake

    The travel to [The Pure Trees] happened on the back of the Aduns. The pack of Ugu had already moved the eight recruits'' clothes and belongings to the academy the previous night, so everyone could directly hop on their eagles and set off once the Niqols envoy arrived.


    Khan didn''t recognize the envoy, but the Niqols didn''t waste time introducing himself. Khan only made sure to memorize the alien''s clothes and the fabric that covered his Aduns since they featured the same glowing azure symbols.


    ??


    The departure was quick but tense. Captain Erbair, Lieutenant Kintea, Paul, and Felicia made sure to send them off even if it were early in the morning due to the importance of their task.


    The previous night, Khan and the others had learnt howplicated the situation truly was from their squad captains. They had been already aware of the benefits that their task could bring to the human species, but it took that briefing to instruct them about matters that would be ssified otherwise.


    It turned out that the Padlyn''s deal wasn''t as open as every recruit thought. The agreement had terms and heavy restrictions, especially when it came to the knowledge involving Nitis''yout.


    The Niqols weren''t willing to reveal the location of [The Pure Trees]. The enrolled recruits would even need to swear magic oaths once they actually entered the academy to make sure that they couldn''t spread ssified information.


    Moreover, thework of the Global Army didn''t reach the academy, so the recruits would bepletely cut away from the human settlements. They could send messages andmunicate with their superiors through specific Niqols assigned to that task, but the aliens would check everything to make sure that the humans didn''t learn anything outside of the deal.


    The tight restrictions obviously worried the recruits since they put their lives in the hands of an alien species. However, Khan couldn''t help but feel slightly relieved when he learnt how hard it was tomunicate with the camps. It sounded strange, but he actually had more freedom without his superiors watching his moves.


    The main difference between the two species was their approach to discipline. The humans wanted severe and dignified soldiers who believed in the chain ofmand and were ready to act as pawns if the situation required it. Instead, the Niqols acknowledged and respected entric behaviors as long as their soldiers carried the resolve necessary to serve their kind.


    The Niqols were also more rxed when it came to their habits. The recruits had seen how easily the aliens decided to indulge in booze or smoke. Their self-restraint was even quite bad, so their emotions often drove their actions.


    Khan couldn''t help but look forward to that new environment, and his excitement prevented him from training during the flight on Snow''s back. He wanted to memorize the path toward the academy even if the road looked from the surface would featurepletely different sceneries.


    The phone in his pocket allowed him to keep the passage of time in check. The Global Army had even provided chargers that the Ugu from the previous night had already sent to the academy. Khan didn''t have to worry about the battery of his device.


    Many hours passed, and Khan couldn''t help but notice how the group often performed sharp turns that made them fly over the same regions multiple times. It was clear that the envoy felt worried about possible trackers of pursuers, and that inevitably dyed their arrival to the academy.


    Khan had the chance to study a bit more of Nitis''yout during the flight. The environment was generally cold, so snow often appeared in his vision. Yet, he also sawrgekes, rivers, ins, short mountains devoid of ice, and more. He didn''t have the chance to set his eyes on a proper sea, but he believed that the had one or two of them.


    The detail that surprised Khan the most was theplete absence of cities under him. The poor technological advancements of the Niqols didn''t justify that scarcity of artificial structures, and Liiza had also mentioned multiple times how her species controlled the whole. Khan quickly became certain that the envoy was avoiding the settlements on purpose, and he could only find his caution reasonable.


    Five dark figures eventually appeared in the distance. Khan and the others could see a Niqols leading four recruits across the sky and making sure that the two groups met.


    The appearance of the second group made the envoy of Khan''s group perform a sharp dive toward one of the ins nearby. The second team did the same, and the Aduns soonnded on a rtively barren area that only featured a few short bushes every once in a while.


    "We aren''t there," The envoy in Khan''s group announced before the recruits could ask anything. "We only need to perform a preliminary test to understand which courses you have to attend."


    The eight recruits exchanged confused gazes while remaining on their Aduns. The briefing from the previous night didn''t mention any test. Still, there didn''t seem to be a way out of the situation. The boys and girls there could only ept that they had to go with the flow from now on. Theirints would have to wait for when they had the chance to return to the camp.


    The two Niqols didn''t give the recruits the chance to introduce themselves. Khan, George, and Veronica barely knew Gabri since their different sses had never given them the opportunity to properly bond, even if they lived in the same camp.


    The recruits limited themselves to exchange nces for the time being before imitating the Niqols. They jumped off their Aduns and followed the aliens toward a seemingly random spot in that barren in where the envoys told them to stop.


    The two Niqols studied the empty area in front of them and walked in a circle to leave marks on the frail ground. That behavior left the recruits confused, but an azure glow began toe out of the footprints on the terrain once they connected to create arge ring.


    The azure glow slowly seeped past the footprints and converged at the center of the circle, where it created one of the symbols that often illuminated the tall buildings in the city. A tremor ran through the ground at that point, and the area marked by the light started to slide to reveal a trapdoor connected to a staircase that led underground.


    All the recruits there had seen far more spectacr scenes on Earth. The teleports alone were enough to surpass theplexity of that simple hidden trapdoor. Yet, it felt strange to witness such a unique use of the mana. After all, the Niqols didn''t use any technology to activate those effects. It seemed that the ground itself carriedmands that they could trigger with simple steps.


    The two envoys didn''t hesitate to climb down the staircase, and the recruits promptly followed them. Still, some awkward scenes unfolded when the group approached the narrow passage.


    Khan was in the lead of the group because his curiosity had won over his hesitation almost immediately. Still, a tall, muscr boy from the other group quickened his steps to surpass him and be the first in the line.


    His actions made the other recruits elerate to take the spots right behind him, and only Khan remained clueless about the whole situation. He could vaguely understand the reason behind that behavior, but everything felt pointless when he inspected it the second time.


    ''What''s the point of fighting for merits already?'' Khan wondered, but part of him understood that his position was rather special, even among the Niqols.


    Both the Global Army and the Niqols had learnt Khan''s name after his performance on Nitis. He had been on the only four weeks, but he had already aplished incredible feats.


    Being the first human to tame an Aduns was only a minor feat that many could connect to luck. Yet, his victory against the lightning monster and his selfless performance during the crisis had sealed his position as one of the best recruits on Nitis.


    The fact that he had even survived Istorne''s crisis a bit more than a month ago and his help in the matter only increased his overall value. Khan didn''t need to fight to receive the acknowledgment of his peers and superiors. He had already solidified his position.


    Khan silently decided topletely disregard the event and let hispanions enter the passage before him. The staircase was old and seemed made of the same frail terrain of the surface, but nging noises resounded from the steps as the group descended deeper underground.


    Khan even touched the walls at his sides to confirm the overall stability of the structure. His eyes could only see the same frail terrain of the surface there, but his fingers revealed other features. He could sense the firmness and coldness of metal in what should be nothing more than sand. It was clear that mana was enhancing that material.


    The passage descended for a few meters before opening into an immense underground area with a clearke at its end. Khan felt surprised to see that such clear water existed on Nitis. Almost everything on the had dark shades, but that liquid was basically transparent.


    A few azure symbols shone on the smooth walls and filled the area with a faint glow that allowed everyone to inspect almost every corner of the structure. The ce was obviously artificial due to its rectangr shape, and only the part with theke featured uneven surfaces that didn''t go through a polishing process.


    The group wasn''t alone in the hall. The two envoys suddenly performed a polite bow toward the end of the area and forced the recruits to focus on the slightly darker corners on the other side of theke. They quickly realized a hooded figure standing right next to the wall with its feet immersed in theke, and Khan felt astonished when he failed to sense anythinging out of it.


    That discovery felt quite strange. Khan''s sensitivity to mana had improved a lot as his attunement increased and his mental exercises continued. He even believed that part of his understanding of the Niqols'' feelings came from how good he had be with that ability.


    Yet, the hooded figure didn''t reveal anything. It was a nk spot in an environment full of mana. Khan could sense that energy filling the walls, the ground, the ceiling, and theke, but nothing came out of that foreign presence.


    "Wee, young humans," The hooded figure greeted in a melodious male voice as he stepped forward and uncovered his head.


    Long white hair, a pair of shining white eyes, and a handsome face came out from under the hood. The girls couldn''t help but open their mouths in surprise and blush in front of such a perfect expression of beauty. The Niqols was tall, his face released a captivating resolve, and his overall figure carried a harmony that made him seem part of theke.


    ''Please, don''t be Ilman,'' Khan almost begged in his mind, and his expression rxed after the Niqols continued to speak.


    "I''m one of your future professors," The Niqols continued. "You can address me as Professor Supyan or [Guru]. I handle the courses connected to some of the shades that mana can obtain."


    Khan and the others quickly performed a polite bow as per the Niqols'' customs, and Professor Supyan limited himself to nod before continuing his exnation.


    "My species doesn''t use many structures connected to the old methods anymore," Professor Supyan exined. "Thiske is an exception. Form a line and remove your clothes before entering theke one by one. The waters will reveal the shades of your mana, and it will give me the chance to choose courses that suit your nature."

 Chapter 131 - Nature

    Professor Supyan''s exnation surprised the recruits. Humans didn''t go past the element when they studied the mana. Instead, the Niqols considered features that the Global Army didn''t even bother to mention in its lessons. Khan wasn''t even sure whether his species believed them to affect the behavior of that energy.


    Some of the recruits were skeptical about the whole matter. Humans knew that the Niqols had a deeper understanding of mana, but there was a limit to how much those features could affect the actual functioning of that energy.


    ??


    The Global Army had achieved wonders without bothering to consider those features. The teleports, the synthetic mana, and the synthetic cores were only some of the many incredible creations aplished with that energy. The Niqols appeared unable to match those feats with their spiritual methods, which made some humans underestimate the test.


    None of the skeptical recruits dared to show their real feelings toward the matter. Captain Erbair had chosen only boys and girls that could blend perfectly with the Nitis'' environment, and that required ack of biases. It didn''t matter if they had different ideas on the matter. They had to make sure that none of them appeared on their faces.


    All the recruits did a perfect job at keeping stern faces, and only Khan allowed himself to show the genuine curiosity that was spreading inside his mind. He felt really interested in the matters connected to the mana, especially after Liiza continued to surprise him with her keen perception.


    ''I wonder if the features of my mana will reveal something about Liiza,'' Khan thought as a faint worry fused with his curiosity, but he quickly suppressed those ideas.


    The test sounded too serious to involve emotions that had appeared less than a month ago. His thoughts quickly moved to the Second Impact and the life in the Slums since those aspects of his life had been far more influential to his current character.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to unbutton his military uniform after he cleared his mind from useless thoughts, and the other recruits imitated him after noticing his actions.


    The girls lowered their gazes when they saw the boys turning toward them, and thetter also revealed some hesitation at the thought of ending uppletely naked there. Only Khan didn''t seem to care about the matter. He could even ignore the girls around him as his attention remained on the test.


    Of course, Khan still nced at his nakedpanions before moving his eyes back to theke, but his action carried no lust. Most girls there had attractive curves and figures that their training had improved, but he couldn''t think about them in a sexual way. His curiosity toward the test was quite intense, and his urges belonged only to Liiza.


    The recruits showed different reactions to his uncaring behavior. Both girls and boys from the other camps had ended up focusing on him due to the evident azure scar on his chest, so missing his reaction was impossible. Gabri and Veronica didn''t fail to look at him either, even if they had different reasons for that.


    Gabri had seen Khan many times in the camp, but she had never had the chance to inspect him properly, especially when it came to his azure scar. His well-defined muscles and firm posture matched the rumors that apanied his name. Khan definitely resembled the driven warrior described in the many reports.


    Instead, Veronica felt almost happy about Khan''s seemingly uncaring reaction. Her eyes carried a bit of disappointment, but she appreciated how he was different from the other boys in the group.


    The exchange of awkward, intense, and lecherous nces ended when Professor Supyan cleared his throat and imed the recruits'' attention. The reaction of the humans didn''t surprise him since he knew how different their species was when it came to self-restraint and decency, but he still pointed at the tall boy in the lead to start the test.


    "I''m Bradford, Professor Supyan," The tall boy bowed before stepping forward and entering theke without showing any hesitation.


    The glow of the azure symbols on the walls seemed to converge on the boy and highlight his features after he arrived in a spot of theke where the water reached his knees. Bradford was almost two meters tall and quite muscr. He had short ck hair, dark eyes, and hair covered most of his chest. A faint beard even grew from under his chin and cheeks.


    The ripples spreading from his position gained strange shades as they expanded throughout theke, and they soon created something simr to a vague hologram on the transparent surface.


    The image of a bear-like creature wearing a crown and sitting on a throne slowly became clear. That peculiar picture even grew bigger as Brandon''s mana continued to affect the waters.


    "You can go out," Professor Supyan exined after nodding toward the peculiar ethereal image.


    "Is it possible to know the meaning behind this image, Professor Supyan?" Brandon asked after performing another polite bow.


    "Your mana carries arrogance, strength, and duty," Professor Supyan replied without bothering to look at the boy.


    Brandon didn''t know how to react to those words, but he didn''t dare to remain inside theke any longer. He reunited with hispanions and picked his clothes from the ground before getting dressed.


    "Next," Professor Supyan ordered. "Be faster."


    The girl who had been behind Brandon in the line quickly entered the waters after performing a bow and introducing herself. Her name was Helen, she also had dark eyes, and her long blonde hair carried silver shades. Her short figure was quite sensual due to her curves. Her physique seemed to resemble Liiza due to the harmony that it radiated.


    The waters reflected dark-purple lights that gave birth to the image of a flower that had many sharp thorns on its pedicel. The picture even radiated a heavy aura that tried to darken its surroundings.


    "Noble, dangerous," Professor Supyan announced without looking at the girl. "Next!"


    The next girl that entered theke introduced herself as Kelly. She had short brown hair and green eyes, and she was rtively tallpared to the rest of the group. She had more muscles than curves, but most boys on the scene focused on her back anyway since she didn''t have hair covering her features.


    Kelly''s mana created a lion-like animal surrounded by an intimidating aura. The image generated confidence and determination in the recruits that inspected it. Even Khan couldn''t help but feel surprised by how intense that influence was.


    "Leader, honor," Professor Supyan quickly eximed before hurrying the recruits to continue.


    Thest boy in the other group had an average height. His name was Rodney, his short hair was dark, his eyes brown, no beard appeared on his face, and the same went for his chest. His body had some muscles, but they couldn''tpare to Khan and Brandon''s. Still, they gave a certain firmness to his figure.


    Rodney''s mana made theke generate a fox-like creature that had six tails. Professor Supyan''s gaze flickered when he looked at that image, but he dismissed the boy after giving voice to the words "sly" and "unpredictable".


    The time for the recruits from Khan''s training camp finally arrived, and Gabri didn''t hesitate to step forward. The girl was as tall as Veronica, she had long ck hair and green eyes, and a sensual vibe surrounded her well-developed curves.


    Her mana generated a strange figure with the head of a dog and a cat''s body. Even Professor Supyan appeared slightly confused by that image, but he eventually voiced the words "loyal", "careful", and "in".


    Veronica entered theke right after Gabri left the waters. Her mana created a tree that glowed with a warm yellow light capable of rxing everyone on the scene. Its crown made ofrge yellow leaves continue to expand as the girl remained inside theke.


    "Love," Professor Supyan limited himself to say before sending Veronica away, and George didn''t hesitate to take her ce.


    The shades of theke immediately darkened once George''s mana started to affect the waters. A scarlet glow covered the entire transparent surface as a sharp de slowly came out of it until it floated right in front of the boy.


    Red trails of a dense liquid fell from the de and flowed into theke. George couldn''t help but stare at the weapon while wearing a cold expression. His expression revealed some hesitation, but an unshakable determination also filled his eyes as his hand rose to reach the handle floating in front of him.


    "Don''t lose yourself in the illusion," Professor Supyan reminded, and his words managed to startle George awake. "Your mana is too murky to describe it with a few words. We''ll talk more once we reach [The Pure Trees]."


    George couldn''t help but bow and exit theke. He appeared in a daze, but his eyes suddenly moved toward Khan. George knew that his friend probably had far murkier mana.


    Khan didn''t hide his faint worry. Istrone''s crisis had made George generate a gruesome image, so he guessed that his mana would be even worse. Still, he didn''t really care as long as the picture didn''t involve Liiza.


    "[I''m Khan, Guru]," Khan announced in a perfect Niqols'' ent before bowing and entering theke.


    Brandon''s expression twisted into a grimace when he heard those words. He didn''t think that Khan would be a show-off, but his chance to do the same had already passed, so he could only feel annoyed now.


    Professor Supyan didn''t show any reaction at Khan''s exmation, but a frow appeared on his face when he saw that the entireke lit up to reveal an azure glow.


    Khan''s eyes widened as the azure light gave birth to images that he knew far too well. The familiar crater appeared right in front of him, and a tall alien figure slowly came out of it. A Nak materialized right in the middle of theke and forced everyone on the scene to raise their guard.


    The appearance of the monster from the nightmares didn''t make Khan freeze in fear. The Nak had stopped being scary when he was little more than seven, and it had be a mere silent curse after almost twelve years.


    However, something was different at that time. Khan didn''t have the chance to modify his nightmares, but he was able to move there. The desperation umted in almost twelve years of helpless dreams filled his insides as his mana flowed toward his legs and fueled the techniques that he hadmitted to memory by now.


    A loud noise suddenly spread throughout the underground hall, and the walls of the structure echoed it until they transformed it into a deafening sound. The recruits had to cover their ears for a few seconds before they could stare at the scene again, and their eyes widened at the sight of Khan''s leg piercing the Nak''s head.

 Chapter 132 - Competent

    The noise that apanied Khan''s kick announced something that he had struggled to confirm on Nitis. His technique had felt different, smooth in ways that his previous executions couldn''t achieve. His mana and body had moved without requiring thoughts or strategies, and the power expressed by the blow marked his arrival in the superior proficiency level.


    It had taken Khan almost eight months of relentless training, constant struggles, traumatic experiences, and unshakable resolve to achieve what most soldiers would see as a turning point for their battle prowess. The Lightning-demon style had finally fused with his instincts and habits to make him reach thepetent proficiency level and unlock a path that went beyond the correct execution of his techniques.


    ??


    Martial arts could develop new effects and abilities as the synchrony among mana, muscles, and moves surpassed a certain level. Those techniques had the chance to evolve once a soldier sessfully absorbed them into his core. Khan could go past perfect executions now, but his situation didn''t allow him to appreciate his achievement.


    Professor Supyan had just voiced a vague warning about the dangerousness of the illusions during George''s test, and Khan had taken his words seriously. Yet, his sudden attack didn''te from his failure in separating the fake pictures from the real world. His kick was a simple expression of the feelings that he had bottled up for almost twelve years.


    Khan''s attack pierced the Nak''s head, and the upper part of the picture dispersed into a few faint lights before the glowing out of theke rebuilt that figure.


    The Nak wasn''t real, and its appearance came from the nature of Khan''s mana. He couldn''t destroy it simply because nothing was standing in front of him. That opponent came from inside him.


    Khan didn''t lose himself in his feeling. His mind had never been clearer. He experienced the same reassuring coldness that had filled his mind after the crash on Istrone, but that mental state felt far more intense now.


    His mind had instinctively recognized his sworn enemy and had made the entirety of his focus flow on the creature. Khan''s vision was clear, his breath was steady, and he could study every feeling captured by his senses in instants. He was in a perfect battle state, and he didn''t hesitate to use it to unleash his full power on the alien that had cursed his nights for so long.


    The attack didn''t stop the Nak from ying the images that had afflicted Khan''s mind for years, but he didn''t limit himself to a single technique either. His body spun and created seamless circr ripples that expanded from his foothold as he performed a roundhouse kick that aimed for the alien''s head again.


    Still, a shadow suddenly moved in Khan''s peripheral vision until it appeared in the trajectory of his attack. Professor Supyan had shot forward to stop the kick and prevent the boy from falling into the illusions even more. His hand rose to block the iing leg and capture it in his grasp, but his glowing eyes widened when he saw that Khan''s foot stopped before reaching his palm.


    Professor Supyan almost couldn''t believe his eyes when Khan retracted his leg and jumped backward to reach the shore in a single leap before performing a polite bow. The alien understood that the young human had always been in control of himself. His attack had been the consequence of a cold decision generated by a calm mind.


    The image behind Professor Supyan started to vanish after Khan left the waters, but thetter didn''t stop inspecting it. Khan kept his eyes on the Nak as its figure grew dimmer and theke stopped releasing its azure glow.


    Professor Supyan didn''t miss that action. He turned to nce at the disappearing Nak before moving his eyes back on Khan. His gaze fell on the azure scar at that point, but his face didn''t betray anything. It remained expressionless asplicated thoughts ran through his mind.


    Khan and Professor Supyan ended up exchanging a long nce after the Nakpletely disappeared. The Niqols could see the coldness in the boy''s expression slowly rxing without ever leaving himpletely free of those feelings. It was clear that they were part of Khan.


    A tinge of sadness seeped past Professor Supyan''s poker face when he connected that coldness to Khan''s young age. The Niqols didn''t have any bias toward humans, so he experienced the sadness of Khan''s situation as if he were a simple boy from his species. His gaze inevitably fell on the ground as his empathy became unbearable.


    ''I know the answer to my old doubt,'' Khan thought as he studied the alien Professor. ''I''m d that fear didn''t freeze my movements.''


    Khan had wondered about what would happen once he met a Nak, but the experience in the undergroundke had given him a satisfying answer. He would fight without showing any hesitation nor fear.


    The strange mental state that Khan had experienced during the sudden event had left him slightly surprised, but he didn''t mind that. Actually, he felt d that his mind could reach such high levels of concentration on its own without requiring the mental barrier or other techniques.


    "We''ll also have a talk once we reach [The Pure Trees]," Professor Supyan announced once he felt able to bring his eyes back on Khan.


    Khan limited himself to bow again, and Professor Supyan inspected that action without revealing any emotion before nodding at the two envoys.


    The two Niqols bowed and whispered a few orders that made all the recruits get in line again after everyone went back into their uniforms. Khan remained immersed in his thoughts while he wore his clothes and took his position at the back of the line, but George didn''t forget about him.


    "We are really moody," George whispered as a faint chuckle apanied his voice. "No wonder we can''t getid."


    "Talk for yourself," Khan smirked as George''s efforts to lift his morale warmed his mind a bit. "I choose not to."


    "As if anyone would even believe it," George scoffed as the group climbed the staircase back to the surface. "Maybe your tastes have moved closer toward a certain white and dark-blue species after your first day on Nitis."


    "Don''t even joke about that," Khan sighed. "They will send me back to Earth in an instant if they even suspect that I like Miss Liiza enough to flirt with her."


    "Look at the bright side," George continued to joke while keeping his voice down. "You can improve your abilities as an ambassador in the academy."


    George had turned and winked at him when he said thosest words. His hidden roguish meanings were evident, and Khan couldn''t help but shake his head at that sight. Still, a faintugh apanied his action since his friend''s jokes had dispersed his overflowing coldness.


    "What are you even whispering about?" Veronica asked once the group returned to the surface.


    "Men''s stuff," George eximed without any shame, and Veronica giggled when she saw Khan shaking his head behind him.


    "That''s from the Second Impact, right?" Brandon suddenly asked as the whole group turned toward Khan.


    The two envoys wanted to hurry back to the Aduns, but they understood that the humans wanted to talk a bit among themselves. The Niqols would usually never allow such dys, but they felt that the recruits deserved a short break, especially after witnessing Khan''s test.


    Moreover, the group had flown for almost half a day already. It didn''t hurt to give the Aduns a short break before moving to thest part of their trip.


    "They aren''t good memories," Khan replied while showing aplicated smile.


    "No wonder," Kelly eximed while crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Though, you should take pride in your achievements. Reaching thepetent proficiency level so early proves your hard work."


    Khan''s eyes widened at that remark. He had yet to ept his new state, but it seemed that all the other recruits had already understood what had happened.


    Khan''s first instinct was to dismiss those words with fake polite excuses, but he noticed that habit in time to stop it. He decided not to say any words and broaden his smile to ept thatpliment.


    The fact that Khan didn''t deny nor add anything to Kelly''s words filled his gesture with a mature vibe. He acted as if those achievements were only a regr part of his life.


    "Look," Brandon cleared his throat while diverting his gaze, "I''m sorry for earlier. It''s just, this mission is really important, right? You are already so famous on Nitis. I didn''t want to fall behind."


    "I thought you were arrogant," Khanughed while reminding Brandon about Professor Supyan''s evaluation.


    "It doesn''t mean that I have to be a dick," Brandon alsoughed before going back to a severe expression. "There are only eight of us in this mission. Our focus should be on working together for the greater good of humanity, so I hope that everything is okay between us."


    "No problem at all," Khan answered in a warm voice. "Everyone wants the spotlight. I believe this mission will give all of us the chance to get it."


    "Especially with the crisis around the corner," Rodney added. "Be sure not connect too much with the alien. We don''t want them to know about our strategy."


    Khan couldn''t help but feel slightly angry about Rodney''s cold words since they seemed to target his rtionship. Still, nothing appeared on his face as the group nced at the two envoys from the corner of their eyes to make sure that they weren''t listening to their conversation.


    "Are you ready to leave?" The male Niqols asked, and the recruits didn''t hesitate to give positive answers.


    The group quickly hopped back on their Aduns before setting off toplete their trip. The eagles had loyally waited near that secret area, so it didn''t take much for the travel to resume.


    Khan noticed how the secret trapdoor had closed by the time the group returned in the sky. He didn''t see Professor Supyan leave the underground area before the passage disappeared, and theke didn''t seem to have tunnels either.


    Of course, Khan didn''t believe that the Niqols had remained underground. It was very likely that theke had secret passages simr to the trapdoor connected to the staircase, but that would mean that [The Pure Trees] was closer than he imagined.


    His guess turned out to be correct. The group only had to fly for two more hours before reaching a thick forest surrounded by seven mountains. The envoys didn''t hesitate to dive at that sight andnd in a small area devoid of trees.


    The group didn''t feel sure if they had arrived until the envoys jumped off their Aduns and gave specific instructions. "The academy is at the center of the valley. You can say goodbye to your Aduns for now. We''llplete thest part of the trip on foot."


    ****


    Author''s notes: The second chapter should arrive in less than an hour.

 Chapter 133 - Proposal

    Khan had done his best to memorize the areas crossed during the flight. Calctions happened in his mind as he tried to understand how far away he was from the human camp and the marsh.


    It turned out that the many hours spent flying had been mostly pointless. The two envoys had invested longer in deceiving eventual pursuers rather than in the actual travel.


    ??


    Khan believed that the valley at the center of the seven mountains was at mere five or six hours from the camp. The ce was farther away from the human settlement than the t area in the mountain chain and the marsh, but it wasn''t unreachable, especially with an Aduns.


    A vague map even appeared in Khan''s mind. The Global Army didn''t have ess to detailed maps of Nitis, and the telescope outside the''s orbit couldn''t get a clear idea of the surface either. Khan didn''t even have clearance for those pictures, so he had to rely on his personal experience to understand the generalyout of the area.


    Khan had traveled a lot in the past four weeks. Snow had allowed him to fly above manynds as soon as hended on Nitis. He had even spent most of his time outside the camp. His time with Liiza, the hunts, and the other travels had granted him a vague but general understanding of the areas around the base, especially those near the mountain chain.


    The marsh, the valley, and the mountain chain were in the same general direction, soing up with a simple map with a few checkpoints ended up being rtively easy for Khan. He could even add a vague number that marked their actual distance from his new home.


    The t area in the mountain chain was pretty close, at less than thirty minutes from the camp. Khan used to take almost an hour to go back to his home only because snow wanted to have fun along the way. Still, it became the farthest location from his new position. He even guessed that it would take his Aduns a bit more than six hours to go back there.


    The marsh was a bit more than two hours from the camp but closer to the valleypared to the mountain chain. Khan believed that Snow could reach it in less than three hours if it didn''t have fun for too long during the flight.


    His situation didn''t sound so bad afterpleting that map. He could reach the marsh and Liiza rather quickly, so his happiness was safe. The only issue was hisck of knowledge of the academy''s customs and regtions. Khan didn''t know how free he would be after the official enrollment, but he believed the Niqols wouldn''t restrain him too much.


    The Aduns quickly flew away after exchanging affectionate or yful goodbyes with their riders. The two envoys didn''t hesitate to lead the recruits across the forest at that point, and the group mostly remained silent since everyone did their best to study the area.


    The recruits knew that magic oaths would prevent them from spreading information about [The Pure Trees], but none believed those restraints tost forever. They wanted to have something to say to the Global Army when those limits fell and granted themplete freedom over their knowledge again.


    Khan relied on his sensitivity to mana and eyes to learn as much as possible from the area. The insides of the forest didn''t feature paths or footmarks that hinted at the presence of Niqols. Still, the peculiarities in the energy flowing through the trees, ground, and air revealed invisible details.


    Nitis wasn''t like Istrone. The energy contained in the ground and nts of the Kred''s made Khan''s sensitivity to mana inurate and unreliable. Instead, the Niqols'' didn''t have those hindrances, so he could gain a decent understanding of its secrets during the march toward the center of the forest.


    Some trees contained far more mana than the others. Some areas seemed utterly devoid of energy instead. It was clear that someone had tampered with the ground and nts, but Khan could only guess the nature of that process. Those spots should have defenses and simr mechanisms due to their strategic position, but he didn''t dare to jump to conclusions.


    The presence of defenses didn''t surprise Khan. The Niqols appeared devoid of internal conflicts, but their fauna was quite dangerous, especially since monsters appeared on their own even before the approaching of the sunlight.


    The forest didn''t seem to contain Tainted animals, but that was only a tiny area in the middle of seven mountains. Khan could guess that the nearby regions would feature the usual distribution of threats that filled the rest of Nitis.


    The group moved quickly and steadily. Memorizing the path wasn''t an issue since the envoys were moving toward the center of the forest, and finding the beginning of the academy turned out to be easy too.


    A patch of white crowns suddenly expanded in the group''s vision once they reached the central parts of the forest. Therge leaves abandoned their ck shades to make room for white and grey colors that radiated the same glow as the Niqols'' eyes.


    That sight obviously left the humans surprised. The scene wasn''t only stunning due to the unusual illumination. Khan and the others didn''t understand how they couldn''t see that white patch from the sky.


    All the recruits didn''t hesitate to inspect the top of the crowns hidden at many meters above them, but they couldn''t notice dark shades among those glowing leaves. Lucky for them, the envoys took care of clearing their doubts.


    "A barrier covers the entire valley," The female Niqols exined. "You wouldn''t notice anything from the sky even if the whole forest were on fire."


    The news left everyone astonished, especially Khan. He had made sure not to miss details connected to the distribution of mana, but he didn''t evene close to sensing the barrier.


    Khan tried to focus on the areas above the crowns, but his sensitivity to mana continued to betray him. He couldn''t sense anything different from the normal air, and that forced him to reevaluate his previous inspections.


    The presence of the barrier proved that the Niqols could deploy defenses that used mana and didn''t trigger his senses. Khan had initially thought that the peculiar areas on his path were traps with specific functions, but they felt as decoys meant to hide the real protections now.


    ''I''m still so ignorant,'' Khan sighed in his mind at that realization.


    His knowledge had never stopped expanding, but the world kept getting bigger. It didn''t matter how much Khan learnt. There was always something else that he didn''t initially see or even consider.


    The vastness of the fields that involved mana was disheartening but also exciting. Khan had lost his na?ve curiosity toward the immensity of the universe after everything he had gone through. Still, a more mature version of that sensation reappeared inside him inside the forest.


    The trees grew clearer as the group marched forward. Their trunks became whiter and started to radiate the same faint glow as the leaves, but more empty areas also started to appear.


    That trend peaked when arge empty area that featured multiple buildings made of mud and ck ground unfolded in the group''s vision. The structures appeared quite poor-looking. They were short and scarce, but they all had the iconic azure symbols on their surface.


    There seemed to be faint paths on that dark in illuminated by the white glow around it. A few benches and marks on the ground created rudimentary gathering points. Other spots hadrge holes with stages and cauldrons.


    There didn''t seem to be anyone inside the area, but everything changed after the group crossed thest white tree in sight. Khan and the others felt as if they went through a dense invisible membrane before a series of dark figures materialized in their vision.


    Many young Niqols appeared inside the empty spot in the forest. They mostly sat on the ground and created circles in different areas while older aliens stood at their center. Multiple lessons were happening at the same time, but all of them had stopped by the time the recruits entered the area.


    All the Niqols in the area stared at the humans. None of them was surprised by their arrival since their superiors had spread the news concerning that event, but it still felt strange to see those recruits walking inside such a secretive area.


    Khan didn''t suppress his curiosity at all. The other recruits lowered their heads or tried to keep stern faces to express the importance of the mission. Instead, Khan''s eyes darted through the environment and tried to memorize every detail of the academy.


    The ce basically was the exact opposite of a human camp. The Niqols seemed to prefer holding their lessons outdoors and without the help of specific devices.


    Khan couldn''t help but notice how mystical auras that carried different vibes surrounded every group sitting on the ground. Some of them felt peaceful, others were intense, and a few even filled his nostrils with the faint scent of blood.


    The almostplete absence of technology didn''t manage to make them appear as a barbaric species. The young Niqols all wore casual clothes, but the professors donned elegant white robes that demarked their status and divided them from their students.


    Moreover, the peculiar auras that enveloped every group gave them the appearance of sages who had a deep understanding of the world. Khan found it hard to describe how he felt in front of that scene, but he inevitably fell in a daze.


    The same happened to the other recruits. Even those who firmly believed humans to be superior couldn''t help but admire the differences in their training methods. They almost felt that their campscked something after studying that scene.


    The two envoys didn''t let the recruits stop to study the academy. They would have time to familiarize themselves with the few structures and functions of the ce in the following days, so the Niqols found no reason to stop moving now that their task was almost over.


    Khan soon sensed a familiar gaze falling on the side of his face. His mana informed him that his girlfriend was looking at him, but he limited himself to nce in that direction from the corner of his eyes.


    Khan found Liiza sitting on a thick branch of one of the few trees that grew inside the area past the invisible membrane. She was alone as she read an old book with a dim azure symbol at the center of its ck cover.


    That short nce didn''t allow Khan to see much, but he still felt part of his tiredness vanishing from his mind. The couple didn''t get the chance to spend the previous night together, so their meeting inevitably gave birth to intense sensations inside them. Still, they both suppressed everything and avoided leaving clues about their rtionship.


    The envoys led the recruits across the entire empty area until they reached one of the short buildings. The structure featured a thick wooden door covered in a pungent smell that became almost unbearable once it opened to reveal its insides.


    A small dim area appeared in front of the group, and the Niqols didn''t hesitate to bring everyone inside. An old female alien who wore a sweaty white robe and sat between two fuming cauldrons that reached her shoulders.


    "Hair," The old woman said while picking wooden cups and filling them with the dense bubbling dark liquid contained in the cauldrons.


    The Niqols showed their palms to the recruits, and they exchanged a nce before pulling one of their hairs and handing them to the aliens. The old woman then used them toplete those strange drinks and handed them back to the recruits, making sure to match the hair with the owners.


    Khan couldn''t help but notice the differences with Zalpa''s method. He felt sure that the old shaman would have asked for his blood again toplete the potion.


    The recruits obviously hesitated, but Khan gave them some confidence by gulping the potion in one sip. The liquid scorched his insides and fused with his throat, but it didn''t cause any damage. Still, a spot on the side of his neck started to itch, and Khan noticed that an azure glow illuminated his hand when he raised it to scratch the area.


    Khan quickly picked his phone and used it as a mirror to inspect the area. An azure symbol had appeared on his neck, but that mark disappeared in a few seconds without leaving any trace. He could sense only when he made mana flow through that spot.


    The other recruits imitated Khan after confirming that nothing too strange had happened to him. Azure symbols also appeared on the side of their necks, but no after-effects unfolded.


    "I used the white leaves and roots of the trees around the area to create this potion," The old Niqols exined in a raspy voice. "You will be able to talk about [The Pure Trees] only with those that carry the same mark. Don''t worry. It''s easy to understand who doesn''t have it."


    Khan and the others could only nod before the envoys brought them outside the building again and began to lead them toward their habitations. Yet, a peculiar scene unfolded before they could leave that central area of the academy and force them to turn toward the tree where Liiza was sitting.


    "[Liiza]!" A tall and good-looking Niqols shouted while kneeling in front of the white tree.


    The alien kept his arms stretched toward the girl a few meters above him. He held beautiful multicolored flowers in his hands, and his face expressed pure devotion.


    "[Please, ept this small gift]," The Niqols pleaded. "[I only ask for a chance. Close your eyes in front of our political obligations and follow your heart]!"


    The multicolored flowers appeared quite rare in Nitis dark environment. Even humans could understand that those nts were quite expensive. However, Liiza didn''t seem to care about them. She only showed an annoyed expression at the boy before answering with a clear "[no]".


    Her answer caused a series of faintughs to spread among the Niqols on the scene. Some of them even shouted words meant to encourage the boy to try again in the following days. They appeared used to that scene, and Khan couldn''t help but feel annoyance spreading inside him at that sight. Something told him that he had found Ilman.

 Chapter 134 - Tour

    ''She didn''t tell me that he was so into her,'' Khanmented in his mind as his annoyance increased.


    Khan didn''t understand the entire speech, but the few words that he could trante in his mind had allowed him to get its general meaning. The Niqols was clearly trying to date his girlfriend, and he couldn''t do anything about the situation.


    ??


    The Niqols remained on his knees, and his expression didn''t even flicker after Liiza''s firm refusal. His face remained solemn as if he were in the middle of a deadly battle.


    "[You will acknowledge me one day]," Ilman eximed before straightening his position and leaving the flowers at the base of the tree. "[I won''t give up on us until then]."


    Ilman''s romantic words made some of the female Niqols gasp. Some even stood up to approach him with consoling words, but he ignored them until they started to offend Liiza.


    "[You should imagine yourselves in her position before speaking so poorly of her]," Ilman defended. "[Her mother wanted to sell her away for the Niqols'' greater good when she was nothing more than a kid. Her anger ispletely justified in my eyes]."


    "[Give up on her then]!" One of the female girlsined before blushing and ying with her hair. "[You can go out with me. I''ll make you happy]."


    "[You can''t tempt my love]," Ilman promptly refused her. "[I can''t betray my feelings]!"


    The girls took a step back after that remark. They appeared disappointed, but their blush didn''t disappear. It seemed that they liked how dramatic and driven Ilman was about the matter.


    Khan failed to understand most of that interaction again. He only got some of Ilman''s words since he spoke simple lines, and that fueled Khan''s irritation even more.


    ''I need to learn the Niqols''nguage as soon as possible,'' Khan decided as his expression grew colder when he saw that Ilman had started to walk in his direction.


    "You must be the new students!" Ilman eximed while wearing a broad smile. "I hope that your stay in [The Pure Trees] will bring species even closer together."


    Ilman''s manners were perfect. His smile didn''t show any w and highlighted his innate beauty. His human ent was excellent, and a gentle aura seemed to cover his whole figure.


    ''Don''t tell me that he is a good guy,'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''World, can you give me something easy to hate this time around?''


    "I''m Ilman," The Niqols continued. "My tribe has benefitted immensely from the cooperation with the humans. Allow me to express my gratitude."


    Ilman performed a polite bow, and the recruits didn''t hesitate to imitate him. Only Khan hesitated for an instant, but he forced himself to bend forward while joining his hands when he sensed Liiza''s intense gaze on him.


    "Allow me to escort you to your habitations," Ilman proposed. "I wouldn''t mind giving you a tour of the camp if you aren''t too tired from the long travel."


    It was onlyte afternoon, and Khan''s group had basically spent the entirety of the travel on their Aduns. They were full of energy, and Ilman''s offer was tempting.


    "It would be an honor to have you as our guide," Kelly quickly replied.


    Brandon found himself with his mouth open and words stuck in his throat. Kelly had been faster than him in giving a polite answer. The boy could only curse in his mind and prepare himself for the next chance to show off.


    The other recruits shared the same mood. Their stay in the academy was a critical political mission, so those who managed to establish a good rtionship with the Niqols would gain more value inside the Global Army. Also, they had to do their best not to remain inside Khan''s shadow. Luckily for them, thetter didn''t seem interested in exchanging polite words with Ilman.


    Khan''s eyes never left Ilman. He would have normally done his best to get closer with the Niqols, especially since he appeared as a famous and respected figure inside the camp. However, his feelings made him unable to think about the matter politically. He could only stare at the alien and curse silently whenever his beauty became impossible to ignore.


    ''Taller than me, good-looking, rich,'' Khanmented in his mind, ''He even belongs to the right species, and his feelings are intense.''


    Khan found himself unable to win against Ilman in any aspect. He clearly was a worse pick, but feeling Liiza''s constant stare helped him remain in control of his pretense.


    "Let''s not waste your precious time then," Ilmanughed and walked toward the two envoys to lead the group back to their habitations.


    Khan got the chance to sneak a peek at Liiza while the group turned to follow the three Niqols. Her eyes widened in a re when she saw his action, but both of them quickly returned to their pretense before anyone could see them.


    The three Niqols led the recruits away from that central square and among the trees. It seemed that the membrane covered arge area at the center of the forest, so they could remain inside it while they moved toward the structure meant to amodate the humans.


    It turned out that the academy didn''t have many buildings. The few structures inside the forest all had specific purposes that required a closed environment or unique tools. Moreover, Ilman exined how the trees created a special aura that covered the entire academy and helped with the training.


    The Niqols didn''t want to risk ruining the aura by adding too many buildings. Yet, that didn''t prevent them from expanding the academy. They only had to stretch it downward instead of upward.


    The habitations were in arge underground hall connected to the surface with arge and steep staircase. Azure symbols and smooth walls created a cozy and warm environment that featured eight beds and four separate bathrooms.


    The Niqols had brought the temperature to human standards, and the menus were in theirnguage too. The only awkward aspect of the area was that the beds were all in the same room since the aliens didn''t see any issue with girls and boys living together.


    The recruits didn''t voice anyint, and some of them didn''t really care about that. Others even looked forward to sleeping together, especially the boys since they would have more chances to be with the girls.


    All their belongings were next to the beds. Khan could find his knives quickly, and a tinge of concern filled him when he thought about leaving them in the open in front of the other recruits. The two null-grade weapons didn''t matter too much, but he wanted to hide the first-grade de from the others.


    That concern vanished when he noticed that the Global Army had sent lockers calibrated to their gic signature. Khan could keep his knives there without worrying about the other recruits.


    The Global Army had sent some uniforms, but the Niqols had also left white robes on the clean ground next to them. It seemed that the alien wanted to give them a choice to wear what they preferred.


    The tour continued afterward. The academy didn''t expand too much inside the forest since the Niqols preferred to use the underground world to erge it, but that approach didn''t stop them from using specific areas that carried unique features.


    The academy had a smallke filled with transparent waters that spread a peaceful vibe throughout its shores. Risky lessons that requiredplete control over mana happened there due to the obvious benefits connected to that aura.


    Another unique area was under the surface. The roots of many trees came out of the ceiling and created an environment almost devoid of mana. It was easier to focus and check certain improvements and features of the mana there. Many medical lessons happened there since theck of interferences made diagnoses quicker.


    The academy had simr structures spread inside the area inside the barrier. Overall, the site was far smaller than co''s training camp, but it sessfully held almost one hundred Niqols.


    Ilman acted as the perfect envoy during the tour. He never failed to giveplete exnations of each area, and he added details even when the other two Niqols tried to stop him.


    The boy never revealed ssified information, but he always had the chance to hold something back to make things harder for the humans. However, Ilman wanted the humans to experience the entirety of their stay inside the academy. He didn''t care about giving advantages to his species.


    Kelly and Brandon basically fought each other for Ilman''s attention. The other recruits also managed to say gentle words or polite remarks from time to time. Only Khan remainedpletely silent during the entire tour. He didn''t fail to memorize everything and study the various interactions, but he couldn''t force himself to speak with the alien.


    "That''s it for the tour," Ilman announced while wearing a broad smile after bringing the group back to the central empty area. "I''m often away during the day since the second year only has specific lessons, but you can find me around this time since I have a high chance of finding Liiza in these hours."


    "I wish you the best of luck with her," Brandon promptly eximed. "Don''t hesitate to contact us if you ever need help with her or other matters."


    Ilman appeared quite easygoing. His dramatic behavior made it hard for the group to notice his real character, but they slowly uncovered it during the tour. The Niqols appeared honest and joust. He was the type of person that would always choose to do the right thing.


    Khan hoped to find something worth hating, but Ilman kept disappointing him. The Niqols'' character was so wless that it almost felt unreal.


    Needless to say, that only worsened Khan''s mood, and George eventually noticed that. Khan wasn''t the type to miss so many chances to establish a rtionship with a seemingly important figure in the camp. Something seemed off with him, so George decided to help him after Brandon''s remark.


    "You can talk with Khan about girls," Georgeughed while patting Khan''s shoulder. "He has a real talent with them. I bet he can help you with Miss Liiza."


    ****


    Author''s notes: Same as yesterday. I need 1-2 hours for the next chapter. I''m sorry. Chaos simply requires longer at times.

 Chapter 135 - Party

    George didn''t only want to help Khan with his words. He knew that the mission in [The Pure Trees] was for the greater good of humanity, but he couldn''t forget that he belonged to the fourth ss.


    Brandon and Kelly were basically monopolizing the situation, which didn''t put the ssesing from the other training camp under a good light. Still, George, Veronica, and Gabri were rtively inpared to the shy Brandon and the stern Kelly. Only Khan could im Ilman''s attention and make a good impression.


    ??


    Khan slowly turned toward George. The boy was showing one of his best smiles while patting his shoulder, and his expression carried pure confidence. Everyone would believe his words, especially since he was the first to trust them.


    "Khan," Ilman repeated while diverting his gaze to look through his memories.


    "Of course!" Ilman eximed as his eyes lit up. "You are the first human to ride an Aduns. You are lucky that Liiza was in charge of helping your group. The other Niqols would have never given you the chance to tame one of them."


    Khan felt incredibly lucky. A simple call redirected to the special phones handed to the Niqols had given him the chance to meet Liiza. That simple encounter had provided him with an Aduns, a girlfriend, and peace. Nitis had granted him happiness that he didn''t believe to be possible. His mind contained only gratitude, but Ilman smiling face was trying to tamper with that feeling.


    "Miss Liiza has saved my position on Nitis," Khan announced while performing a polite bow. "I''m forever in her debt."


    "I can understand that," Ilmanughed. "I can already sense that we''ll get along. Maybe our mana ispatible."


    ''World, I hate you,'' Khan thought while his mouth moved to voice different words. "I feel the same. I hope I can be of help."


    "Oh?" Ilman gasped to reveal a surprised expression. "Are you familiar with our way of experiencing feelings?"


    "Only vaguely," Khan gave another polite answer. "I find your customs captivating, so I tried to broaden my view, but I''m afraid I can''t quite match the depths of your perception."


    "Wonderful!" Ilman shouted as his surprise transformed into pure joy. "This is how it should have been from the beginning! Humans trying to feel like Niqols! Thank you, Khan. Your words have rekindled my hopes. I now believe with even more intensity that our species can be great allies!"


    Khan felt speechless in front of that dramatic answer, but he wasn''t the only one on the scene to experience those feelings. George directly opened his mouth in surprise, and the other recruits also remained stunned. The same went for the two Niqos who were still with Ilman. They didn''t think that theirpanion''s reaction would be so extreme over such a simple matter.


    "I hope you can help me improve there if it''s not too much to ask," Khan managed to say after suppressing his surprise.


    "No problem at all," Ilman eximed. "I''m sure the professors will already point you in the right direction, but I will definitely help when I can. I can''t wait to work with all of you."


    Ilman performed a bow, and the recruits quickly imitated him. The alien left at that point, and the two envoys took care of thest doubts that remained in the experts'' minds.


    "Are you nning to leave every night even aftering here?" George asked as the envoys left and the recruits started to return to their habitations.


    George and the other recruits didn''t miss how Khan''s questions to the envoys had involved the various restrictions of the academy. The answers had left him pleasantly surprised since every student basically hadplete freedom as long as their actions didn''t damage the structures or ruin the peace that filled the insides of the membrane.


    Fights were strictly forbidden, but that only inside the valley due to the many defenses in ce. Those restrictions would vanish once the students reached the mountains.


    Even the lessons weren''t mandatory, but that obviously didn''t apply to the recruits. The Global Army would send them back to Earth if they tried to skip them. Deciding not to attend them could appear as ack of respect on the human side toward the chance to learn about the Niqols'' ways.


    "Better than hearing your snores every night," Khanughed.


    "I don''t snore," George snorted.


    "You have made remaining awake on Istrone really easy for me," Khan mocked.


    "I''ll take it as a yes then," George sighed while ignoring hisment. "I honestly don''t get it. We have so many good training areas here. The mountains are nice, but I don''t think they can beat this."


    George waved his hand to highlight the peaceful scenery under the thick crowns. Everything was dark in the areas without azure symbols, but that didn''t remove the magical feeling that the scene could generate. The aura that permeated everything inside the membrane also enhanced those vibes and made the recruits desire to protect that ce.


    "It''s indeed good," Brandonmented, "But I still prefer our clean streets and tall buildings. I can''t get used to these bathrooms either."


    "I agree on the bathrooms," Kelly added.


    "They aren''t so bad," Khanmented. "I had it far worse in the Slums."


    "I don''t even want to think about that," Helen uttered while wearing a disgusted expression. "How did you even, you know, clean yourself?"


    "Do you really want to hear the answer?" Khan asked.


    "No," Helen shook her head. "I want to continue respecting you."


    "I''m sure that won''t be too hard," Veronica smirked as her eyes fell on Khan.


    Khan ignored that gesture, and the two Niqols waiting next to the passage that led toward the underground habitations made it easy for him to mask his actions. He couldn''t help but smile when he recognized the two aliens that had appeared on his path.


    "Doku, Azni!" Khan shouted happily, surprising the four recruits that came from the other training camp. "I didn''t think you studied here."


    "Only the best Niqols have the chance to be in [The Pure Trees]," Azni sighed. "You should know that we belong here."


    "We have been busy during the day," Doku continued. "I wouldn''t have minded handling the tour otherwise."


    "Ilman took care of that," Khan shortly exined before turning toward Azni. "How is your back?"


    "I have a small scar because of you," Azniined while crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I''ve decided to forgive you only recently."


    "How magnanimous of you," Khanughed before focusing on Doku. "So, what do you have in mind?"


    "We thought that our poor human friends would feelpletely lost here," Doku exined. "Luckily for them, two good Niqols are willing to help."


    Brandon and the other recruits from the other training camp couldn''t believe how at ease Khan, Doku, and Azni appeared. They almost looked like old friends.


    Even George and Veronica struggled to understand how Khan could have such a good rtionship with the two Niqols. They knew that he had managed to make a deal with Doku for the booze, but they didn''t expect the aliens to treat him as a friend.


    Khan quickly introduced hispanions, and the two groups exchanged a series of bows. The two Niqols then followed the recruits inside their habitations, and they didn''t show any hesitation to sit on Khan''s bed before exining the reason behind their visit.


    "The professors don''t let us have parties inside the actual academy ground," Doku exined, "But we often gather near one of the mountains and spend the night there. We have already nned something for tonight, so you muste."


    "Doku is the best at this stuff," Azni continued. "Don''t even try toe up with excuses. We know that you don''t get tired easily."


    George and the others could only stare at the scene with their mouths open. Khan, Azni, and Doku were sitting on the former''s bed without minding that theck of space was forcing them to be quite close. Their backs were on the wall behind them, and Khan and Azni''s shoulders even touched often.


    "Do you want us to get drunk the night before our first lessons?" Khanughed. "That''s not ideal."


    "You survived an entire tour with Ilman," Aznimented. "You''ll be fine."


    "Azni is one of the few girls who can escape Ilman''s charm," Doku quickly exined.


    "What charm?" Azni scoffed. "He''s always so intense for no reason, and he ispletely devoted to Liiza. Only an idiot would keep hitting on her after hundreds of rejections."


    "Hundreds?" Khan repeated.


    "He is quite devoted to the task," Dokuughed. "Well, he expresses the true Niqols'' way. I don''t think I''ve seen anyone so intense."


    "Luckily he neveres to the parties," Azni revealed. "He doesn''t care since Liiza neveres either."


    "I thought she would have friends here," Khan said after making sure that his words didn''t reveal that he had learnt about her situation. "Is she always alone?"


    "That''s quite hard to exin," Doku replied.


    "Not really hard," Azni corrected. "Just quiteplicated. Things got worse with time and led to the current situation. Some of us don''t hate her. Ignoring her it''s more of a habit that''s hard to break since she doesn''t try to get friends."


    That answer added details to Khan''s knowledge. He had only heard Liiza''s side of the story before, but he gained aplete view of the matter after Azni''s exnation.


    Liiza''s decision to break up with Ilman had turned her into an outcast, and her personality had developed from that state. Her peers had grown and had eventually forgotten about their disappointment, but Liiza had be unapproachable in those years.


    Of course, that only applied to part of the Niqols. Many still believed that Liiza had betrayed her species and weren''t willing to forgive her.


    "Let''s not waste time talking about those two," Doku eximed. "The party will begin soon. I bet that someone has already started drinking. We must hurry."


    "We should get clean and change before," Khan responded. "I smell like my Aduns."


    "Why would you clean yourself before the party?" Doku asked as honest confusion appeared on his face. "You''ll get dirty again there anyway."


    "This isn''t a formal event," Azni exined while revealing an understanding smile. "The others would only think that you are strange if you changed for the event."


    "Oh, it''s a human thing," Doku uttered while standing up. "Right, I forgot about it."


    "Let''s go," Azni giggled while keeping her glowing eyes on Khan.


    The girl eventually stood up and wore her usual cold expression when she nced at the other recruits staring at the scene. She didn''t seem good with strangers, so Doku took care of pressing them.


    "I believe you won''t miss the chance to join a core event of the academy," Doku teased, and the recruits felt forced to leave their beds and gather around him.


    Doku understood their situation clearly. The recruits were there to improve the rtionship with the Niqols, so attendingmon social events was necessary. Their duties basically forced them to go to the party.


    The group soon left the underground habitations and left the membrane as Doku and Azni led the humans across the forest. The two Niqols exined details that the envoys and Ilman had left behind, like the paths toward the various mountains. It seemed that the camp had seven vague exits meant for that specific purpose.


    Each mountain also had a name that humans struggled to pronounce. The Niqols used them to divide the valley into different quadrants, and only the professors mentioned them during the nning of special lessons outside the membrane. Most of the students had learnt them only to have an easier time nning parties or simr events.


    "I knew it," Doku sighed when the group arrived in a rtively empty area.


    Thirty or so Niqols had created small groups around a fuming cauldron that contained the familiar pink liquid. They all had drinks in their hands, and piles of wooden cups stood a few trees away from the empty area.


    The arrival of the humans didn''t go unnoticed, but the Niqols didn''t appear bothered by that. Instead, some of them wore excited faces and raised their sses toward them.


    Doku forced the group to take cups and fill them with the scorching pink liquid. It turned out that no one actually smuggled the drink inside the valley. The academy had a few Niqols who could produce it as long as they had a cauldron and a few core materials. Doku happened to be one of them.


    The recruits started to rx as the drinks began to show their effects. The other Niqols also grew more friendly after emptying a few cups. Everyone became tipsy after a few hours, and the humans never had the chance to remain alone since they were a great attraction in that situation.


    Khan limited himself to drink a few cups while getting to know everyone. He even exchanged honestughs after some of them cracked jokes in the humannguage, and he did his best to use the Niqols''nguage as much as possible.


    The situation grew slightly awkward for the recruits after some couples formed. A few Niqols started kissing and whispering sweet words before leaving the empty area and disappearing among the trees.


    Veronica, Kelly, and Gabri couldn''t help but blush when they understood what was happening. They felt that they genuinely understood the Niqols'' freedom during the party, and that mood slightly affected them.


    Khan nced at Azni kissing with Doku on a fallen trunk used as a bench. The girl eventually stood up and led him inside the forest without caring about leaving their human friends in that awkward situation.


    A few Niqols approached Khan and exploded into happyughs when they saw him looking straight in their eyes during the toasts. The fact that he respected their customs made him quite popr around the aliens that focused on drinking.


    Some daring Niqols tried to flirt with Helen, Veronica, and Brandon, but the three humans only yed along without ever considering something more than that. It didn''t feel proper due to the political importance of their mission. Moreover, they thought that the aliens were moving too quickly for their standards.


    The situation was enjoyable, even fun at times, but time moved quickly, and it soon became toote, especially for the recruits. George and the others searched for each other with their gazes once their phones revealed that it was already past two am, but they quickly discovered that Khan was nowhere to be seen.


    Brandon and the others from his camp initially felt worried about his sudden disappearance, but George took care of reassuring them.


    "He leaves often," George exined while leading the group back inside the forest, on a path that would bring them back to the academy. "Don''t worry. He''ll be at the lessons before us."

 Chapter 136 - Compliments

    Sneaking out of the party had been extremely easy, especially when everyone was busy flirting, drinking, or trying to enjoy themselves. Khan had simply been focused on leaving even before reaching that spot in the valley.


    Snow arrived on the other side of the mountain a bit before two am, and Khan was already waiting for the creature in the first empty spots that he found. He didn''t know much about the area outside the academy ground, but the Aduns could rely on the mental connection to pinpoint his exact location. The thick crowns of the trees even covered the sky, so those still in the party had no chance to notice its arrival.


    ??


    The Aduns needed less than three hours to reach the marsh from the academy, and that only if it didn''t y around during the flight. Time wasn''t on Khan''s side that night, but the Niqols'' customs managed to bring some relief to his packed schedule.


    The Niqols were aware of their character. The professors and superiors knew that the students would spend their time enjoying themselves at night. Suppressing that nature to enforce a stricter discipline would go against the very disposition of their species, so they preferred to avoid nning the lessons and other events early in the morning.


    The Niqols'' rxed approach to discipline gave Khan the chance to approach the long flight without risking beingte for his first lesson. Of course, that depended on how long he spent with Liiza. He would have less than three hours with her even if Snow did everything perfectly.


    Skipping an entire night of rest for mere three hours with his girlfriend sounded pretty unreasonable, especially since Khan wasn''t even sure that Liiza would be in the marsh. Yet, the couple had already failed to meet the previous night. Khan also didn''t ponder too much about the issue either. He had a chance to see Liiza, so he would take it, even if it consisted in mere minutes.


    Khan would normally meditate while on Snow''s back, but he didn''t want to arrive at the lessons exhausted, so he decided to sleep while the Aduns took care of bringing him to the marsh. The noise of the thin waterfalls awakened him before the eagle could dive toward the muddy ground and drop him near the cliff''s base.


    The path toward the secluded cave felt easier to remember already. Khan could reach it in no time and remain under the three hours required by the travel. The clock on his phone had yet to hit five am when he saw the entrance of the cavity unfolding in his vision.


    A pair of white lights lit up at the end of the cave when Khan crossed its entrance. All the Niqols had those captivating glowing eyes, but he felt able to see the tiny differences that made Liiza''s gaze unique.


    "Why did you evene?" Liiza''s sleepy voice resounded in the darkness of the cave. "You have lessons soon."


    "Five hours and a few minutes, to be precise," Khanmented while walking straight for the two glowing eyes.


    Liiza''s features slowly grew clearer as he approached her. She had wrapped herself in a nket that appeared thicker than usual. The warm fabric was even covering part of her head and hiding her hair.


    "That leaves us with a bit more than two hours," Liizained without moving her eyes away from Khan. "Why didn''t you remain in the valley? Don''t tell me that Ilman got to your head."


    "I''m definitely not fine with Ilman," Khan snorted while sitting cross-legged in front of Liiza, who had just started to straighten her back. "George even set me up. I have to advise Ilman on girls-rted matters now."


    "How did you even end up in that situation?" Liiza tried to maintain a stern expression, but giggles inevitably escaped from her mouth when she ced her back on the rocky wall.


    "I have no idea," Khan sighed. "What should I even tell him? I don''t know why George thinks I''m good with girls."


    Khan and Liiza were basically sitting in front of each other. Their legs were close enough to make them experience their partner''s temperature, but they never touched.


    "I can think of a few reasons," Liiza revealed while diverting her gaze.


    "It''s different with you," Khan replied. "Our mana messed up with our minds."


    "Am I nothing more than an alien unable to control her urges for you?" Liiza scoffed as her smile vanished. "Do you think that I kissed you just because mana told me to do it?"


    "You know that I didn''t mean that," Khan quickly exined. "I''m saying that I didn''t do anything special with you. I''ve just been myself."


    Liiza''s expression froze for a few seconds before she broke it to heave a helpless sigh. Khan felt unable to understand the reason behind that reaction, but he didn''t have to wait too long to receive an exnation.


    "You can be so stupid at times," Liiza remarked in an annoyed tone. "You work, fight, and train harder than everyone else, but you always fail to recognize your value."


    Khan opened his mouth to speak, but Liiza promptly red at him. She wouldn''t let him say anything until her speech ended.


    "Yes, mana made deciding to kiss you easier," Liiza admitted, "But I think we are way past that, right? Also, I didn''t just jump on you because our mana ispatible. I remember telling you to climb a mountain first."


    Khan couldn''t help but reveal a smile at those words. He had already teased Liiza about their first meeting after learning that she had withheld many exnations about the Aduns back then. It turned out that part of her wanted to test his character, and the result of the climb confirmed that she liked him.


    "Khan, it''s not even just that," Liiza sighed again. "You looked for me even if your superiors told you to stop. I could sense your sorrow when we first met, but you still decided to risk everything over faint sensations. You also had to fight your feeling for your friend to pick me, and I know that you still feel bad about it."


    Liiza seemed able to look right inside Khan''s mind. Everything she said was true, and he couldn''t help but feel warm when those words reached his ears. She had learnt so much about him, even if she was unaware of many details about his life. Her sensitivity to his feelings had simply taught her a lot.


    "It wa-," Khan began to say to rify Martha''s issue again, but Liiza interrupted him with another re.


    "You are good-looking," Liiza continued with her descriptions of Khan''s positive aspects. "You have no idea how attractive you are when you stop pretending, and I bet every girl would fantasize about you after seeing you shirtless. Trust me when I say that you only have to be yourself to make girls fall for you."


    "You sure know how to improve my self-esteem," Khanmented before widening his eyes in fear of receiving another re.


    "I won''t let you dismiss my words with a simple joke tonight," Liiza scolded while unwrapping the nket and spreading her arms to reveal her usual white tracksuit. "I''ll make sure that you understand them properly."


    "I''m still angry at you for hiding Ilman for so long," Khan teased, but Liiza''s serious expression made him lose any desire tough.


    "That''s fine," Liiza announced in a firm tone. "I also want to know more about your friend. Juste here first. I can''t handle the cold as well as before."


    Liiza''s voice gained a timid tone toward the end of her line, and Khan''s mind directly went nk as he bent toward her and sat between her legs. Liiza didn''t hesitate to wrap the nket around his chest and imprison him in a cold hug. Khan could feel her heart beating on his back due to how intense her embrace was.


    "I missed you yesterday," Liiza whispered while digging her head on Khan''s neck.


    "Do you really feel cold without me?" Khan asked as some worry seeped into his voice.


    "It''s not actual cold," Liiza exined as her lips trembled on Khan''s neck. "My body didn''t change. It''s just intense longing."


    Khan couldn''t help but remain astonished at how intense the Niqols'' feelings were. Liiza''s species had evolved to endure the Nitis'' cold environment, but her longing for Khan made her cover herself in nkets that she didn''t need. Her emotions could affect her body in ways that humans barely could exin, and Khan felt blessed to realize how deeply his girlfriend cared about him.


    Liiza kissed the base of Khan''s neck and yed with the same spot for a while. She even bit at times to reveal her intentions, but he didn''t stop her. His hand reached the back of her head to apany her movements. He would let her leave arge mark that night.


    "Ilman is harmless," Liiza whispered when she finished ying with his neck. "He proposes to me so often that I take it as routine. I didn''t hide it on purpose. I just don''t see him as relevant."


    "It''s fine," Khan sighed. "I''m just annoyed about our situation. He isn''t hard to handle."


    "Are you bragging about being a good liar?" Liiza asked while bending backward and making Khan lie on her.


    Khan ended up resting on her chest, but the softness of her captivating curves didn''t make him divert his attention by her intense gaze. Liiza had left his neck to look at him, and her expression seemed to carry a faint hesitation.


    "Why do you want to hear about my friend?" Khan asked after understanding that Liiza''s hesitation came from that topic.


    "She made you hesitate to get with me," Liiza exined, "Even with mana messing up your mind. I want to know her, even if only through your words."


    Liiza wanted to sound as if she were teasing Khan, but he understood that there was something else to the matter. He could even guess the meaning behind her doubts. They had been together for only a month, but their intense feelings were making their rtionship incredibly important in their lives.


    Liiza had already reached the point when her body suffered in Khan''s absence, and he had always been willing to skip sleep or risk making his superior angry to see her. She was also the main pir on which he had built his current happiness. They had already brought their rtionship to the next level when it came to its physical aspect, but they had to do the same with their feelings now.


    "Is it time to go over our whole lives?" Khan asked as a faint smile appeared on his face.


    The couple had started describing parts of their lives during the past month, but they had never gone too deep about it, and they had never been too detailed either. However, it felt almost necessary to do that now, especially since their situation kept worsening due to their duties. Aplete knowledge could help remove eventual doubts and pointless worries.


    "I want to, but¡­." Liiza stated as her worry filled her voice, "But you travel even if you knew that our time together would havested only a few hours. Are you sure that you want to spend it talking?"


    Khan arched his eyebrows in surprise, and a broad smile appeared on his face as he understood what Liiza meant. He turned in her embrace to face her and bring her on hisp. Liiza didn''t oppose the process, and she soon ended up sitting on him, with legs wrapped around his waist and arms clung to his neck.


    "Howe you are bing shyer as we learn more about each other?" Khan asked as his arms went around her waist.


    "Feelings intensify," Liiza revealed while closing her eyes and enjoying the warmth spreading inside. "My body ys tricks on me, and it needs a few days to adapt to the new intensity. I''m lucky my boyfriend doesn''t exploit my temporary weakness."


    "I wonder what would have happened if we didn''t have to hide our rtionship," Khan wondered while ignoring Liiza tempting tease.


    "Our situation is rarer than you think," Liiza smirked as the darkness of the cave hid her intense blush. "I''ve heard that two Niqols withpatible mana can decide to spend their lives together after a single week of rtionship."


    "Wow," Khan gasped. "We are done for then."


    "We might be an exception due to the differences between our species," Liiza contradicted him.


    "Do you want us to be an exception?" Khan asked, and they both opened their eyes to stare at each other at those words.


    "Didn''t you have to tell me about your life?" Liiza promptly switched the topic of the conversation.


    "You first," Khan grinned. "This good boyfriend is too busy suppressing his urge to exploit your weakness to talk."


    "You won''t escape this," Liiza warned. "Don''t even try to use our short time to your advantage and leave before your turnes."


    "I won''t do that," Khan eximed as an honest smile appeared on his face. "I want you to know about me."


    Khan''s serious reaction made Liiza''s expression freeze. She gulped and pushed him toward the ground before kissing him and lying on his chest. He took care of adjusting the nket while she moved her fingers through the insides of his uniform. It took a few minutes, but she eventually started to speak, and his turn arrived almost thirty minutester.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Same as yesterday. I need 1-2 hours for the next chapter. I''m sorry. Chaos simply requires longer at times.

 Chapter 137 - Return

    Khan remained in a daze even after Snow dropped him near the same mountain where he had departed eight hours ago. It was still ten am. He had an entire hour to return to the academy and attend his first lesson with a Niqols professor.


    He would normally look forward to the lesson. He would have the chance to learn apletely different approach to mana, something humans wholly ignored out of arrogance and confidence in their methods.


    ??


    Khan didn''t feel able to underestimate those subjects after witnessing how intense and urate they could be. He had seen Liiza''s body suffering after she failed to experience his warmth for a single night, and she even continued to understand his feelings with mere nces or touches.


    In his opinion, the Niqols'' way had immense potential, but the conversation experienced in the past hours made him unable to focus on the imminent lessons. Khan knew that he should feel excited, but he could only think about the words he had exchanged with his girlfriend.


    Sex had brought them closer, but that was a mere physical connection. The Niqols experienced it on many levels that could even bepletely emotional, but it still couldn''tpare to what they had gone through that night.


    Liiza and Khan had spent their two hours describing their whole lives without hiding anything. They both knew that normal couples wouldn''t go over those topics so soon in their rtionship. Some would evenpletely ignore them and leave them in the past. Yet, they had felt the need to grow closer, so they spoke without putting any filter to their words.


    Khan went through jealousy, annoyance, anger, and pain as he heard Liiza''s story. She had always been a rebellious kid, and her boyfriends had been a simple expression of her nature. She didn''t like to have a privileged status, so she had always picked Niqols that would make her mother angry.


    Her father''s story turned out to be rather sad. Liiza had always been close to him since they shared the same unruly character, but Yeza had eventually led to their separation.


    Deni, Liiza''s father, truly loved Yeza. He was one of the few men on Nitis who could look past her striking beauty and appreciate her for her dedication toward the Niqols'' species. Yeza also loved him for that, but their different priorities eventually led to harsh fights.


    Yeza was an ambassador, and her beauty could be a weapon that she didn''t hesitate to use for the greater good of her species. She had also ended up cheating on Deni to get her hands on important information.


    Her dedication made her be a hero for her species, but it only worsened Deni''s situation. He felt forced to leave to maintain his sanity, and he even ended up cutting ties with his daughter due to the intensity of his feeling. Thinking about his family simply made him suffer too much.


    Liiza put all the me on her mother. Her rebellious character even worsened after that event, which led her to refuse a good partner like Ilman just because Yeza had picked him.


    Liiza spent the years after that event mostly in solitude. Her peers ignored her, Zalpa and Deni had left, and her rtionship with her mother was so bad that she struggled to remain inside her home. She still helped with specific social events or tasks because she cared about her species, but the rest of her time belonged to her Aduns and Nitis'' wild regions. Her life didn''t have anything else.


    Khan had been a surprise in her life. When Liiza thought about it, it made sense that only someone belonging to a different species could awaken her feelings. He even met all her requirements and had the mana on his side. It almost felt like a fated encounter in her mind.


    In theory, the Niqols wouldn''t mind if a member of their species were to end with a human. They might even push that rtionship toward an official union. However, the situation would be different with Liiza due to her peculiar social status and her famous character.


    Yeza would oppose the union with a nobody like Khan, and the other higher-ups would even question Liiza''s loyalty since her record wasn''t great. She might decide to reveal ssified information to the humans due to her grudge, and her status as a Niqols made her easier to exploit when love was involved.


    Liiza had also learnt everything about Khan''s life. His story went from the Second Impact, lingered on Istrone, and reached his current state on Nitis without hiding the ugly parts that had filled his tragic moments. She could finally understand the depths of Khan''s sorrow at that point, especially when it came to Bret''s probable involvement in events that he struggled to imagine.


    The reasons behind theirpatibility became clear after they shared their stories. They both had lost a lot during their lives. Their pain had created a wall between them and their peers. Liiza had be an outcast, while Khan had developed exceptional lying skills to hide among normal kids. The intensity of their suffering was clearly different, but their character had advanced on simr paths as they dealt with those feelings.


    Needless to say, Khan and Liiza had to fight against their very nature to separate after that long conversation. They would have done everything in their power to remain all day in each other''s embrace, but they had duties to attend, especially Khan. He would have surely missed his morning lessons if Liiza didn''t kick him out of the cave and sent him back to the academy earlier than nned.


    Liiza''s decisiveness was the very reason why Khan had an entire hour at his disposal to return to at the center of the valley. Still, he knew that her actions carried deeper meanings. She didn''t want Khan to ruin his record because of her, and she also wanted to remain alone.


    That desire didn''te from her feelings. Liiza wanted to do her best to absorb what she had learnt that night and let her emotions stabilize. She was aware that her condition could lead to bad decisions that might worsen Khan''s situation. She didn''t want their rtionship to pick up speed again until she was inplete control of herself, and only some time on her own could bring that rity.


    Khan understood that, and he even agreed with her silent decision. His mind was too into her after the night spent with her. He had to calm down and focus on his training to make sure that his rtionship didn''t hurt another important aspect of his life.


    It didn''t take Khan much to return to the location where the party had unfolded. He even found cups lying around and the cauldron still half-full when he reached that empty spot.


    The area appeared empty, but the path back to the academy felt quite clear even if the ground didn''t carry any footprint or simr traces of the passage of the students. It seemed that part of the defenses in the valley took care of those issues, but Khan didn''t need external factors to find his way back inside the membrane.


    Still, a familiar figure appeared in his view right after he crossed the empty spot. Khan found Doku sleeping naked on the ground with only the upper part of his clothes covering his manhood.


    "[Wake up]," Khanughed while lightly kicking his foot.


    Doku frowned due to the sudden awakening, and a few words that Khan couldn''t trante even came out of his mouth. Then, the alien gave voice to a loud groan when he opened his eyes and noticed Khan standing above him.


    Doku tried to speak in the Niqols''nguage again, but Khan quickly interrupted him. "Don''t go so fast. I''m not good at it yet."


    "You are good enough to interrupt my beauty sleep," Dokuined while lifting an arm toward Khan. "Help me stand."


    Khan smirked and grabbed his wrist before pulling Doku to his feet. The Niqols didn''t like that sudden change in his position, and he supported himself on Khan''s shoulder while his mind found some bnce. He swayed back and forth a few times before he felt stable enough to leave hispanion.


    "I knew that you were a yer," Dokumented while revealing a knowing smile when he noticed the hickey at the base of Khan''s neck.


    Khan had made sure that his uniform covered the hickey, but Doku had pulled it down enough to reveal it while he found his bnce. Still, the Niqols didn''t evene close to connecting that mark to Liiza.


    "You definitely did better than me," Khan smirked while pointing at his naked lower half.


    Doku suddenly realized that the clothes that covered his manhood were now on the ground. His naked body waspletely in the open, and he couldn''t help but exchange an awkward nce with Khan before bending to pick the garment.


    "I swear it doesn''t usually end like this," Doku justified himself while tying the clothes around his waist and covering himself.


    "Let''s both avoid spreading the news then," Khan suggested while hiding his hickey.


    "You humans are strange," Doku scoffed. "I''ve read about your decency. I didn''t think it was true."


    "They need a good Niqols to show them the way," Khan teased while patting Doku''s shoulder and resuming his walk through the forest.


    "Don''t even joke about that," Doku pleaded while following Khan. "Azni will literally cut it if she feels that I''m cheating on her. If you end up with a Niqols, don''t make her angry. I''m telling you this for your own safety."


    Khan couldn''t help but think at the threat that Liiza had voiced before they had their first time. The image of the bull inevitably appeared in his mind, and he also imagined himself in the monster''s position.


    "Are they all like that?" Khan asked.


    "They go crazy as soon as they start feeling something," Doku revealed. "Well, it''s the same with the men of my species, but most of us have more self-control."


    "Our species are so different," Khanmented.


    "That''s the beauty of the universe, I guess," Doku groaned as his hangover sent a wave of pain through his mind.


    "Is that the self-control you were talking about?" Khanughed while turning toward hispanion.


    "Azni likes to make me drink," Dokuined. "She says that I''m too stiff when we are together, but I can''t do much about it. I''m in the second year, and I alreadymand troops. She is still in the first year, and in my team even. I need to create a wall between us."


    "You almost sounded human there," Khan continued to mock him.


    "Shut up," Doku cursed. "It''s really annoying because she doesn''t get it."


    "I mean, you are a Niqols," Khan responded. "Just do what you feel like. What''s the point of going against your nature?"


    "That''s not a bad idea," Doku honestly eximed.


    The duo walked quickly across the forest and reached the membrane in no time. However, Doku didn''t cross it with Khan. He said goodbye to his friend and decided to enter through a more isted part of the academy.


    Khan entered directly and approached the central empty area that featured multiple squares demarked by glowing azure symbols. The clock on his phone had yet to reach eleven am, so the academy appeared mostly empty. The first lessons would still require half an hour to start.


    Khan limited himself to meditate to make that time pass quickly. The envoys from yesterday had only told him to wait there to attend the lessons, so he didn''t bother to pay too much attention to his surroundings.


    Familiar voices eventually resounded near Khan and awakened him from his short meditation. He could see George and the other recruits when he opened his eyes. They appeared rxed and well-rested.


    "I told you that he would have been here before us," George eximed as a faintugh escaped his mouth.


    "Where did you disappear yesterday?" Brandon asked. "It''s not wise to separate since our phones don''t work here."


    "I''ll be fine," Khan smiled. "I only like to have my space."


    "I have to agree with Brandon here," Kelly added. "Your actions reflect on us and the entire human species. Nitis is dangerous, and the slightest dy to a lesson might worsen our rtionship with the Niqols."


    Khan didn''t have words to express how little the Niqols would care if one of their students were to skip a lesson. Still, he would need to disappear almost every night to attend his secret rtionship, so it was better to take care of that topic once and for all.


    "I was the first to ride an Aduns," Khan announced. "I dealt the final blow to the monster that has killed Glenn Padlyn, and I''ve already joined hunts where I was the only human among Niqols. Do my actions really worry you?"


    Kelly couldn''t say anything in front of that sharp response. Khan''s sudden serious answer even left the rest of the group speechless. He would often crack a joke to dismiss the matter, but he had actually defended his right to do what he wanted now.


    An awkward atmosphere spread among the recruits. They couldn''t force Khan to respect their desires, and his actions had only benefited the Global Army until then. However, their concerns made sense, especially since they were now in the middle of the alien territory.


    A Niqols wearing a white robe saved the group from arguing any further. The recruits turned to see that Professor Supyan approached the humans before stopping and moving his eyes between Khan and George.


    "You two," Professor Supyan ordered. "With me."


    Professor Supyan''s seriousness made the other recruits unable to say anything. They remained speechless as they watched Khan and George approaching the Niqols and following him into the distance.


    "You two are ready to take lives," Professor Supyan announced after leaving the empty area and leading the two recruits across a faint path inside the forest. "That might lead you to a dark path that will never stop requiring blood."


    Professor Supyan eventually reached the entrance of an underground area and descended its staircase to lead the two recruits into a strange room covered in roots.


    The underground hall didn''t have walls, ceilings, or floors. It seemed that the roots had naturally created that space and the Niqols had simply added a few glowing runes to illuminate the area. However, it was clear that something so precise couldn''t be a natural urrence. The aliens probably had tinkered with the direction of the roots for a long time so that they could give birth to a neat rectangr room.


    "Your mana inherits features from your character," Professor Supyan exined. "It evolves with you as you grow up. That shows its innate potential to gain different forms."


    Professor Supyan raised his palm and gathered mana over it. An azure membrane that radiated a peaceful feeling spread through the underground room before he ced his hand on the wall and released the umted energy.


    The roots that made the wall shook, and a spiderweb of cracks even appeared when the Niqols pulled his hand back. However, a second wave of power suddenly gathered on his palm and spread a suffocating feeling in the air.


    Khan and George felt certain that Professor Supyan had gathered the same amount of energy as before, but the second batch appeared far more dangerous.


    Professor Supyan didn''t hesitate to ce his hand on the roots again, right next to the first cracked spot, before releasing the umted energy. A series of fissures opened on the wall and stretched past his hand at that point. It was impossible to miss that the second attack had almost been two times more effective.


    "Mind you," Professor Supyan exined while turning toward the two speechless recruits. "I didn''t use different techniques, and I didn''t vary the amount of mana deployed. I''ve only altered the features of my mana and enhanced its destructiveness."


    ****


    Author''s notes: It came out 2700 words. Took longer than expected.

 Chapter 138 - Manipulation

    Professor Supyan''s demonstration left the two recruits speechless, especially George, since his knowledge about mana was vaster due to his excellent background.


    Humans paid attention to the mana''s nature, but only when it came to its element. They didn''t bother to go deeper in its study or understanding and treated it as a simple fuel for martial arts and spells. However, the Niqols had apletely different approach which shown clear benefits.


    ??


    ''How are humans unaware of this?'' Khan wondered without daring to speak those words out loud.


    Khan didn''t know how much the Niqols knew about humans. His words could have political repercussions or reveal ssified information, but everything felt pointless when he noticed George''s astonished expression. Anyone would understand how surprising that lesson was when looking at his face.


    "Don''t worry," Professor Supyan reassured when noticing Khan''s cold expression. "Both humans and Niqols know about these differences between our species. You will simply be the first to receive proper lessons from us."


    Professor Supyan could be lying to exploit the recruits'' naivety to learn more about the humans, but Khan felt too curious to hold back. Moreover, George had already revealed the nature of his doubts, so he found no problem voicing them.


    "Why don''t humans teach this?" Khan asked while his eyes darted between the two damaged spots. "We should be able to replicate these applications of mana even without knowing your methods."


    "That''s for sure," Professor Supyan replied in his usual in tone. "Very little is out of your range with your technological achievements."


    "Then why no one teaches this?" Khan continued.


    "I can think of multiple reasons," Professor Supyan revealed. "First of all, I believe you can learn about this branch. You humans always record everything."


    Khan and George exchanged a nce and nodded internally. There was a high chance that some specific branches of the Global Army had a catalog with all the different applications to mana learnt from alien species.


    "As for why humans decide not to teach this," Professor Supyan continued, "I believe they think that its benefits don''t match its difficulty."


    That answer didn''t satisfy the two recruits. They had just seen how a simple discharge of mana became two times more destructive with a simple thought. It didn''t matter how difficult that ability was. It should still be avable to the soldiers due to its incredible potential.


    "I think you are underestimating the difficulty of this task," Professor Supyan eximed after inspecting how the recruits reacted to his words.


    The Niqols showed his hand to the two boys. A lump of azure mana seeped out of his skin and gathered on his palm to form a rotating sphere of energy.


    The amount of control over mana shown by that simple gesture left the two recruits speechless. They would struggle to do something simr outside their bodies. Even Khan didn''t know if he could force so much energy to work together in such a seamless and precise way.


    Controlling mana once it came out of his body was incredibly hard, which was the very reason behind the Divine Reaper''s difficulty. Khan would have already seeded in creating a stable membrane around his null-grade blunt knife otherwise.


    "This is simple maniption," Professor Supyan exined as the small sphere in his palm started morphing. "This mana shares a connection with me, so I can control it to take different shapes. However, the previous ability has to go beyond forms."


    The mana inside the sphere slowly started to move oddly, but Professor Supyan didn''t seem to control those small movements. It was as if the nature of the energy had changed and had started to affect that small structure.


    The azure energy grew unstable at times, and the sphere shook while tiny res tried to escape its edges. Everything turned incredibly calm right afterward, and the glowing ball even condensed due to the stability achieved by the mana in the Niqols'' palm.


    Professor Supyan appeared able to change the mana''s nature at will. He could turn it into energy ready to explode or a dense gas that almost gained liquid features. He could even make those two behaviors coexist to highlight the stark differences that they carried.


    Everything felt obvious now. The subject actually was so simple that even a child could understand it. Turning the mana unstable would increase its destructiveness, while stabilizing it would make it gain denser forms.


    The ability didn''t need other exnations, but Khan and George couldn''t understand how to replicate that process. The Divine Reaper actually featured a simr requirement, but it was extremely specific, and Khan had yet to study that lesson properly.


    "There obviously are other issues caused by our different techniques," Professor Supyan announced. "Humans rely on techniques that use specific movements to make the mana express the intended effects. The Niqols approach the matter differently, changing the nature of the mana depending on the ability that we want to use."


    George frowned, and Khan diverted his eyes. They both tried to review those words in their minds, and a conclusion soon grew near, but Professor Supyan decided to exin himself better out of fear that his students could misunderstand his teachings.


    "Imagine to throw a punch," Professor Supyan exined. "Humans would move mana alongside the attack to augment the movement and discharge it once the attack ends."


    The Niqols was oversimplifying the issue, but the two recruits didn''t hesitate to nod. Their techniques required mana to flow in different directions at the same time to express the intended effects, but the theory behind those moves matched Professor Supyan''s exnation.


    "Instead, Niqols transform the mana before throwing the punch," Professor Supyan continued. "We alter its nature before the actual move. A simple touch can transform into a punch since that''s what we prepared our mana to do."


    The example made the theory behind the Niqols'' different approaches to techniques far easier to understand. It even made Khan and George realize the benefits that their methods could bring to their power. Removing the need to perform specific moves to perform an attack sounded too good to be true.


    "If I were to prepare my mana for a kick with the Niqols'' method," Khan wondered, "But then use that energy during a punch, would the attack still carry the effects of the intended technique?"


    "Of course," Professor Supyan affirmed. "The power and effects of your techniques mostlye from mana, so speed, strength, and precision will change depending on the nature carried by that energy."


    "Won''t that cause conflicts?" Khan guessed. "After all, a punch is a punch, and a kick is a kick. There is a reason why we use different limbs to execute them. They have clear physical limitations."


    Professor Supyan''s face showed a rare reaction. His eyebrows arched in surprise when he heard Khan detailed doubt. George experienced a simr emotion since he didn''t expect his friend''s understanding of martial arts to be so deep.


    Khan didn''t consider himself an expert in martial arts, but he had relied extensively on the training areas on Onia and Earth. He had done his best to face different styles to improve his overall battle experience, so the ws with the Niqols'' methods felt quite obvious.


    The Lightning-demon style also made Khan aware of how the physical limits could affect a technique. He could already hurt himself during his attacks, so he could guess that the Niqols'' method would carry simr ws.


    "Your doubts are sound," Professor Supyan stated. "You will see weaker effects if your moves don''t match the nature of your mana. You can even hurt yourself if you aren''t careful. Yet, what do you think will happen if you fuse the human and Niqols'' methods?"


    George''s eyes widened in understanding, but Khan maintained his natural cold expression. The answer was obvious. Mastering the Niqols'' methods would significantly shorten the preparations required by martial arts and spells, and it might even lead to stronger effects if used correctly.


    "Why are you teaching us this?" Khan asked.


    Khan''s question could mean two things. It could refer to the obvious danger of teaching potential enemies techniques that could make them far stronger than their peers from both species. Still, it could also wonder about the reason behind that private lesson while the other recruits were with other professors.


    "[The Pure Tress] has its pride to follow," Professor Supyan announced. "Holding back its teachings out of fear toward your different species would be a permanent spot in its history."


    The firm exmation didn''t match the Professor''s aloof appearance, but it became clear that he valued his position inside the academy and the fame that apanied it. George and Khan couldn''t help but respect the Niqols after understanding how easily he could disregard the differences between their species.


    "You also have deep problems," Professor Supyan continued. "I won''t dare to guess what has happened in your lives, but your mana is on a dangerous path. I fear what can cause in your character once its weight starts to affect your behavior."


    George struggled to understand that part, but Khan had epted how his energy could sway his thoughts and affect his behavior. He wouldn''t even be with Liiza if his mana didn''t convince him to move on toward what it felt could make him happy.


    "Blood is covering your de," Professor Supyan dered while pointing at George. "It might submerge you, dull your edge, or be a core part of your character. You need to gain control of your mana to decide where you want your mind to evolve."


    Professor Supyan''s expression darkened when he turned toward Khan. He even seemed to hesitate to point at him, but simple words eventually escaped his mouth. "You are cursed."


    Khan didn''t react at all to that statement. Instead, his eyes went on George. The boy had lowered his head and was staring at the roots that made the floor. The Niqols'' words had reminded him of the mess constantly happening inside his mind.


    "I''m willing to create additional lessons due to your special situation," Professor Supyan exined. "The other humans can attend them too, but my focus would remain on you two since you need it the most. I can''t promise that my teachings will improve your condition. You will only learn to control the nature of your mana. What to do with that ability is up to you."


    Khan couldn''t help but curse in his mind. He appreciated Professor Supyan''s concern. Such seriousness in his role was almost moving. However, Khan inevitably thought at his shrinking free time, especially since he knew that refusing those additional lessons wasn''t an option.


    Khan didn''t feel too scared about the effects that his mana could have on his psyche. His focus was on the evident benefits that mastering the Niqols'' method could provide.


    Learning how to control the nature of the mana wouldn''t only allow him to reach levels that the simple human path couldn''t touch. It would also benefit his future martial arts and spells since he would have the chance to approach them from multiple angles. For example, the Divine Reaper wouldn''t appear so hard if he already knew how to create a membrane of energy and give it sharp features.


    Of course, Khan didn''t delude himself. The Niqols had mana since birth, and they spent years studying its nature before approaching actual techniques, but Professor Supyan considered the matter difficult nheless.


    It was unclear how hard it would be for a human to reach satisfying levels of mastery over that ability. Khan even guessed that Professor Supyan''sck of worry came from that exact reason.


    The Niqols seemed to have good intentions, but the Professor was probably only tempting the recruits with his speech about the superior power achievable after fusing the methods of both species. He didn''t really believe that Khan and the others could reach high levels of control over mana since theycked years of training in that field.


    The cynical mindset developed in the Slums made Khan see how aplete openness between humans and Niqols would clearly benefit thetter.


    The techniques of the Global Army were far easier to deploy, so the aliens would achieve a perfect fusion between the methods of both species faster. Instead, the humans had already indirectly refused the Niqols'' approach. They preferred to limit the maniption of the mana''s nature to specific techniques rather than gain a general mastery over that field.


    "Can it really help?" George suddenly asked in a timid voice as his hopeful gazended on the Niqols.


    "Only if you want it to help," Professor Supyan nodded, and his stern expression almost broke in front of George''s evident sorrow.


    Khan''s expression darkened when he saw George in that state again. The boy was usually cheerful, but the traumas hidden inside his mind felt overwhelming to witness whenever they escaped his suppression.


    "We have to seize this chance, right?" George asked while turning toward Khan.


    The boy was clearly excited about that opportunity, but he still looked for Khan''s support. George still considered him as the figure in charge of such important decisions.


    "Of course," Khan stated while showing an honest smile. "We can''t ignore [Guru]''s kindness."

 Chapter 139 - Discussion

    The private meeting ended after a few polite exchanges of words and bows. George''s excitement almost made him unable to stop thanking Professor Supyan. Khan soon had to drag him out of that underground hall to return to the empty spot where theirpanions were attending another lesson.


    The female Niqols in charge of that lesson didn''t bother introducing herself since she preferred putting Khan and George to work right away. Her subject involved the sensitivity to mana, and the duo could finally experience the teaching methods of the alien species after following her instructions.


    ??


    The professor had made theirpanions sit cross-legged on the ground around her. Their position matched spots with azure symbols meant to expand the range of their senses and intensify the influence that mana could have on their perception. Khan and George experienced those effects when they took their position on empty glowing marks, and gasps inevitably escaped from their mouths.


    Khan wasn''t a stranger to those sensations. He had felt something simr on the teleports and the Niqols'' elevators, but the experience was far more intense while he sat on the azure symbol. His mind expanded past the circle and went beyond the usual range of his senses. Khan also noticed many details that his normal sensitivity to mana had never allowed him to see.


    The purpose of the lesson was to make their minds used to that state. It was conditioning meant to improve their base sensitivity to mana, like a meditation focused only on their senses. It felt rxing to experience such a tight connection to the world. The recruits even remained in a daze after the professor deactivated the symbols and interrupted their training.


    The recruits had been in that state for only three hours, and it felt strange to return to reality and experience the limits of their senses again. The change was easier to endure for Khan, but hispanions ended up feeling off for a few minutes while their minds readapted to their normal sensitivity.


    Lunch happened inside an underground structure that harvested nutrient roots and the usual worms that even the human camp served. The Niqols didn''t actually eat there since the forest offered a far nicer environment. Khan''s group also went outside, and they ended up meeting with Azni and some aliens met the previous night in an isted spot that gave them some privacy.


    The atmosphere was quite rxed during lunch. Khan and the others exchanged jokes, learnt gossips, and threw questions at each other to deepen their rtionship. Those conversations mostly involved the events of the parties, but some topics exined aspects of the academy and the lessons that the recruits still ignored.


    It turned out that the Niqols'' academies only had two years. They divided their students depending on their achievements in the three major branches connected to mana which involved sensitivity, control, and maniption.


    Meeting the standards set by the Niqols when it came to sensitivity and control was enough to gain ess to the second year. Maniption was already an advanced skill, and the aliens required a certain mastery over it to approach more specialized courses.


    A decent mastery over the maniption of mana wasn''t necessary to graduate. It turned out that even the Niqols found it hard to alter the nature of mana past certain levels. [The Pure Trees] only had a handful of geniuses in that field, and Liiza was one of them. Her ice came from one of the specialized courses of the academy.


    The students were mostly free to decide their own future after graduating. Many of them usually became active parts of their tribes while others continued to pursue their studies to enter or expand specialized courses.


    Money didn''t seem to be an issue in that society, and it started to matter only when it came in significant quantities. Apparently, the elders were quite generous with the distribution of wealth when it concerned projects that could benefit the Niqols species as a whole.


    Azni revealed how Khan and the other recruits wouldn''t even gain ess to the first year during normal times. It wasn''t a matter of weakness or battle prowess. They simply didn''t have any foundation when it came to the Niqols'' methods.


    The issue concerned the different approaches to mana of the two species. The human martial arts might require the recruits to express a level of control that only Niqols in the second year wielded, but that ability would apply on a single technique or move. Instead, the aliens had it as a general requirement for each process that involved mana.


    That exined why their lessons didn''t involve any specific topic. Their schedule was more packed than the Niqols in the first year because they had to go over basics that the aliens had mastered even before approaching the academy. Yet, they still involved the three major fields.


    The recruits had gone through the lesson involving the sensitivity to mana in the morning. The afternoon would feature two more sses that would try to teach them the fundamentals of control and maniption of mana.


    An old male Niqols called Professor Kunta handled the control lesson. The alien was quite oddpared to the other members of his species. He was short and slightly fat. A long white beard even grew from his chin, but the light radiated by his white eyes appeared more intense than usual.


    The recruits felt quite confident when they approached the lesson since the human methods had forced them to control the mana inside their bodies in ways that the Niqols ignored. However, the nature of the ss shattered their hopes.


    The lesson happened in one of the underground areas that had rootsing out of the ceiling. The external interference was at the lowest in that room, so Professor Kunta could inspect every mistake that the recruitsmitted during their assignment.


    In theory, the Professor''s assignment was quite simple. He wanted the recruits to move mana above their skin. His request almost sounded like a game, but the Niqols took it very seriously. The other students in the first year would be able to move a nail-sized mass of mana over their figures for an entire hour, but the humans could barely keep their energy stable for ten minutes.


    Professor Kunta was severe and never let them rest. He forced the recruits to restart the exercise whenever he saw ripples appearing on their mana. The process was mentally exhausting, and only Khan, George, Helen, and Rodney showed some improvements after each attempt.


    The lessonsted almost three hours, and the recruits'' mood worsened when they approached the maniption ss. An old female Niqols called Professor Zakhira was in charge of that course, and her methods were even more severe than Professor Kunta.


    Professor Zakhira supported herself on a cane while she inspected the eight recruits sitting in a circle in a structure thatpletely isted them from the outside world. Her hunched back bent even further when she stared at the white crystals that each human held in their hands. Those minerals changed color whenever mana ran through them, but they never showed shades different from the iconic azure of that energy.


    "Pour feelings!"


    "Use your minds!"


    "The mana is alive!"


    Professor Zakhira shouted those same three lines while tapping her cane on the smooth floor of the short structure. She appeared on the verge of hitting the recruits since they continued to fail with the task even after they spent hours trying to fill the crystals with different shades.


    Luckily for them, the Professor held back from adding physical punishments to her lesson. Yet, recruits couldn''t feel happy about the overall ss since the Niqols never exined how to generate different shades. She had basically handed them the crystals, given them the task, and started tapping on the floor while repeating her three lines.


    The lesson ended after three hours, finally putting an end to that long day. The recruits'' clocks warned them that the afternoon had long since passed, but none of them felt hungry.


    Sharp headaches had ended up afflicting their minds after spending nine hours listening to the three professors. The recruits only wanted to meditate and sleep to make that day end.


    "Why would you even want to do more of this bullshit?" Brandon shouted after George exined Professor Supyan''s offer.


    The recruits had turned to their room. They were alternating themselves to take showers, but they didn''t fail to speak about their second day in the academy during those moments.


    "I understand improving the sensitivity to mana," Brandon continued, "But why would I even need to learn to move mana over my skin? Who cares? I''ll just learn to perform specific movements if my next martial art asks me to use mana outside my body. I don''t see the point of mastering this ability."


    "It would improve your future training," Gabri uttered, even if doubts filled her voice.


    "How many martial arts and spells can we even learn in one life?" Brandon asked in a frustrated tone. "I''m not surprised the Global Army doesn''t bother to teach this stuff. We have the chance to skip the intermediate steps and approach the techniques directly instead of spending years building a foundation that we''ll never have the chance to exploit to its fullest."


    "He is right," Helenmented while she adjusted her clean white robe and created a sensual spectacle that the boys in the room struggled to ignore. "Our control gets better after each technique that we master anyway. It''s pointless to spend years creating a foundation when we can do specific exercises for our styles."


    "I think the sensitivity and control lessons can have benefits," Rodneymented while lying on his bed. "The problem is Professor Zakhira. She didn''t exin how we should change the color of those damned crystals."


    "That''s why we should attend Professor Supyan''s additional lesson!" George repeated.


    "I''m sorry, George," Veronica sighed. "I don''t know if any of us will decide to spend three more hours of our days for something like that."


    "You two even put us in a bad situation," Kelly scolded while moving her eyes between George and Khan. "You shouldn''t have epted the offer without considering us. We have to justify our decision not to attend the additional lesson to our superiors now."


    "Well," Rodney cleared his throat, "They don''t need to know."


    "I won''t keep secrets from the army after getting this chance," Brandon snorted. "I don''t think they''ll me us anyway. We still have to prioritize real training over this useless stuff."


    "Khan?" George asked when he saw that the recruits had no intention to support him on the matter.


    Khan closed his locker before tying the null-grade blunt knife to the belt of his uniform. He couldn''t hide his new martial art with thatck of privacy, so he opted to reveal a few clues without lingering in detailed exnations.


    "I don''t see the point with this discussion," Khan honestly exined while crossing the room and picking a white robe of his size. "We are here on a political mission, but we still have different goals inside the Global Army. Just do what you feel like."


    "Where are you going?" Kelly asked when she saw Khan approaching the staircase that led to the surface.


    The group didn''t meet Doku that day, and Azni had confirmed the absence of parties. Khan could still decide to leave the habitation to train in a private spot in the forest, but Kelly found it strange that he was bringing clean clothes with him.


    "Outside," Khan exined while stopping his track and turning toward the recruits. "I''ll take Snow out for a flight."


    "Do you care about this political mission at all?" Kelly blurted. "You have already spent an entire night outside, and you want to add a second right after epting more workload in our name. I''m not going to cover for you if you start missing lessons."


    Khan shrugged his shoulders before turning toward the stairs again. He had already expressed his position to Kelly. It wasn''t his fault if she continued to be angry about that.


    "What about tomorrow?" George asked as his voice almost faded toward the end of his question.


    "Room full of roots, eight am," Khan said without bothering to turn.


    George showed a broad smile after Khan confirmed that he would attend the additional lesson. The recruits could only wear ugly expressions when the boy turned to look at them and the faint stepsing from the staircase stopped resounding in the room. That was only their second day in the academy, but some factions had already formed among their group.


    Khan walked toward the mountain in the same direction as the marsh. The trip forced him to pass through the empty central area of the academy, and a lonely figure appeared on his path right before he could enter the other side of the forest.


    "It''s you," Ilman eximed in a sad tone when he noticed Khan.


    The Niqols was sitting on the ground, with his back on one of the white trunks. The glow of therge leaves above him illuminated his figure and made his sad expression even more evident.


    "Bad day?" Khan asked as a curse resounded inside his mind.


    "Usual day," Ilman grunted while forcing himself to stand up and make his face regain his usual determination, "But love isn''t only happiness. I know this struggle will lead to better times."


    Khan showed a fake smile before performing a polite bow and going back on his way. However, a second curse resounded in his mind when Ilman spoke to him again.


    "You are good with women, right?" Ilman asked. "Can you tell me your secret?"


    Khan turned to look at Ilman. The Niqols appeared really honest about his feelings and request for help. The alien was trying to date his girlfriend, but even Liiza had confirmed that his character was far from bad. Actually, Ilman had been one of the few Niqols who had never med her for her decision to break the engagement.


    ''Maybe it''s better if I keep him close,'' Khan concluded in his mind even if he hated that option.


    "I don''t have a secret," Khan revealed while thinking about Liiza''s words from the previous night. "That''s my secret."


    Ilman frowned before his eyes lit up in understanding. The Niqols performed an honest bow before hurrying somewhere in Khan''s opposite direction.


    ''I should keep Liiza updated about what I say to him,'' Khan sighed in his mind before continuing on his way.


    It was still rtively early, but his days had shortened. Khan had to hurry to fit everything in his packed schedule. Still, he knew that sleep wouldn''te for him that night.

 Chapter 140 - Threats

    The first week inside [The Pure Trees] tested Khan''s physical and mental limits. Attending lessons that heavily focused on his mind for twelve hours a day, fusing them with his regr training, and leaving some time for Liiza forced him to sacrifice his sleep often. He even had to forsake his naps on Snow''s back to fit his mental exercises and meditations at times.


    The problem wasn''t with Khan''s ability to manage his time. He simply had too much to do, or, rather, he didn''t want to forsake any aspect of his life.


    ??


    Hispanions didn''t have it as bad as Khan. Only George and Veronica attended Professor Supyan''s additional lessons, but the girl decided to stop going after only two days. Instead, the other recruits didn''t even bother to try them, no matter how much George praised them.


    Khan often supported George''s ims. Professor Supyan was far better than Professor Zakhira at exining the maniption field. It turned out that the subject heavily depended on the user''s emotions, so Khan and George spent entire mornings practicing their control over those feelings.


    The additional lessons even showed small results by thest ss of the week, when Khan managed to make his crystal glow with a dark-azure shade. Professor Zakhira didn''t bother topliment him for that small achievement, but everyone noticed that her cane didn''t hit the floor violently anymore after that event.


    The Niqols'' easygoing approach didn''t reflect on the distribution of lessons throughout the weeks. Both humans and aliens had sses for five days in a row, and the matter changed only for the students in the second year, especially those who already had ess to the special sses.


    It turned out that Liiza could ignore the academy for entire weeks as long as she kept the professors updated on her field. Her freedom made her decide to spend most of her time outside or in the marsh since she had no reason to be inside [The Pure Trees].


    Her presence when the humans arrived wasn''t casual either. Liiza had decided to remain a bit longer inside the academy to watch her boyfriend. Otherwise, she would avoid remaining in those areas because Ilman never lost the chance to propose to her.


    Liiza confirmed that Khan''s advice didn''t cause any change in Ilman''s behavior, but their talks rarely focused on the Niqols. She saw how Khan''s condition worsened as the days passed and he failed to rest properly. Yet, she held back from exploding until her boyfriend was done with the weekly lessons.


    "No sex until you umte four hours of sleep," Liiza announced as soon as Khan sat next to her and ced his back on the cold, wet walls of their cave.


    Khan''s tough week had finally awarded him with free time. He hadpleted thest lesson of the fifth day just a few hours ago, and he had even stayed in Doku''s party for some time to keep up appearances. He could finally spend an entire night with Liiza without worrying about his duties, but she had surprised him with those words before they could even hug.


    "What do you mean?" Khanined. "I''m as fine as ever."


    His appearance didn''t agree with his words. Khan hadrge dark eyebags, hisplexion had paled due to the relentless training, and his bloodshot eyes expressed how much effort he put in the Niqols'' lessons and mental exercises.


    His responses were even vague at times. Khan lost himself in his tiredness at times, but that was understandable when considering his condition. He had basically stopped sleeping. Even his naps had be a rare urrence.


    "You have been in the academy for five days," Liiza stated. "How much did you sleep during that time?"


    Khan opened his mouth toin again, but Liiza''s angry re forced him to think about the matter seriously. The situation didn''t look too good when he yed the previous four nights in his mind. He found it hard to recall hisst nap.


    "Five hours?" Khan honestly guessed. "Maybe six. I remember that I fell asleep with you once."


    "For a few seconds!" Liiza angrily remarked. "That''s it. I''ve studied your limits in the month that we have been together. Your resilience is incredible, but that''s not a good reason to make use of it. You must umte four hours of sleep every two days, or my legs will remain sealed!"


    "Wait," Khan growled. "What about your feelings? I thought you still had a hard time controlling yourself. Also, we didn''t get the chance to celebrate our month together¡­."


    Khan''s tease made Liiza blush, especially since he wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her in his embrace. Liiza sat on hisp and let him hug her, but she didn''t leave her nket for even a second.


    "You are four hours short," Liiza snorted. "You shouldn''t worry about my self-restraint either. I have always been quite popr, and Ilman has be strangely attractivetely. Maybe your advice really helped him."


    A tremor ran through Khan''s body, and his body tensed up while he brought Liiza closer to his chest. The girl didn''t turn at all, so he failed to check how serious she was about the matter.


    "Liiza?" Khan called her in a worried voice. "You are joking, right? Please, don''t use Ilman to scare me."


    Khan pulled Liiza closer and even lightly tugged her to attract her attention. However, the Niqols continued to keep her back straight and cover Khan''s vision with her white nket.


    Khan rxed only when he heard Liiza suppressing a cute giggle. Her efforts eventually failed to hide her real feelings and made her explode into a loudugh. The Niqols rxed her back at that point, and she slid over Khan''s chest to make sure that her face could stare straight at his eyes when she turned it.


    "You are so cute when you y along," Liiza whispered before showing a warm smile toward Khan.


    Khan also smiled when those glowing eyes shone on his face. He had always known that Liiza was teasing him. She wouldn''t even think about cheating on him after what Yeza had made Deni go through.


    "I know that you like it," Khan revealed. "I didn''t only look at your legs in this month."


    "Oh, trust me," Liiza scoffed. "I know that you have looked everywhere else too."


    Liiza failed to fake the anger in her voice and ended up giggling by the end of her line. The two exchanged a long kiss at that point, but Khan saw an actual worried expression appearing on his girlfriend''s face when they separated.


    "Though I''m serious," Liiza said in a pleading voice. "I know that I can''t control you. I don''t want to do that either. I also know that you consider me and your training more important than yourself, but I don''t. I''ll force you to rest even if it ends up hurting me."


    "I don''t want you to suffer because of me," Khan responded in a stern tone as he recalled Zalpa''s warnings.


    "Then rest," Liiza pleaded, diving into his neck.


    "I forced you to do this again," Khan sighed while lying on the ground and making sure to keep Liiza above him.


    "It''s fine," Liiza mumbled in a sleepy voice. "It''s in your nature. I hate it, but I like you for being like this."


    Khan couldn''t help but caress Liiza''s back. He couldn''t express how close he felt to her in that situation, but an unrted doubt still appeared in his mind.


    "Do I really have to umte four hours of sleep every two days?" Khan wondered. "I''m pretty sure I can be fine with three or even two."


    "Ilman is taller than you now that I think about it," Liiza teased while her peaceful smile remained on her face.


    "I''ll sleep right away!" Khan announced, and his eyes closed while Liiza''s cute giggle resounded in his ears.


    .


    .


    .


    "I can ept you spending your nights outside the academy," Kelly scolded when she saw Khan descending the staircase that led to the human habitations, "But how can you justify remaining an entire day somewhere on an alien? What if the Niqols requested our presence? What if the Global Army requested a briefing?"


    Khan descended thest step and nced at Kelly before throwing the dirty robes in his grasp toward the corner of the room. He had ended up spending the entire day with Liiza. That was already the sixth night of his first week in the academy, but Kelly had yet to ept his habits.


    George and the others were all inside the underground room. Doku didn''t organize any party that night, so they had the chance to focus on their training and get back to their habitation early.


    The days spent attending the lessons had made their minds reach their limits, so they wanted to sleep as soon as possible now that they had free time. The recruits had onlypleted their real training and exchanged a few talks with the other Niqols returning to their room. Khan had returned by nine pm when they were about to crash on their beds.


    George, Veronica, and the recruits who had kept track of Khan''s worsening condition during the past days couldn''t help but notice that he appeared to be far better that night.


    Khan''s face still carried the faint trace of eye bags, but they had dimmed a lot since thest time the recruits saw him. Moreover, his clean white robe and the messy long hair that fell from his head gave him a rested appearance.


    "You know," Khan sighed as he adjusted his robe to make sure that the marks left by Liiza remained hidden, "Your remarks are getting annoying. You have no authority over any one of us, so I don''t understand why you keep thinking that I should listen to you."


    "Your behavior is putting the mission at risk," Kelly exined in a firm tone. "We aren''t here to enjoy ourselves. You can''t do whatever you want."


    "Risk?" Khan scoffed. "I attend more lessons than you, the Niqols don''t hesitate to search for me when a party is about to happen, and I''m even the only one showing results in their training methods. How am I putting the mission at risk?"


    "A good soldier on the field should be able to blend with the aliens without forgetting his troops!" Kelly quoted a famous phrase that Khan vaguely recalled from the lessons in the human camp. "You aren''t doing that. You don''t consider yourpanions at all!"


    "Technically, we are still recruits," Khan stated while shrugging his shoulders. "You might have had a point if I were an ambassador, but I''m just another kid sent to make a good impression, and I think I''m doing well."


    Kelly opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out of it. She hated to admit that Khan was right, but his uncaring behavior only made her angrier.


    "I won''t hide this from my report once the mission is over," Kelly eventually threatened.


    "And what would you even say?" Khanughed before clearing his throat and trying to imitate Kelly''s voice. "Khan has spent every night outside the academy without notifying hispanions. His desire for privacy has been a major threat to the mission, even if he has been the only one who has actually tried to learn from the Niqols. George has done the same, even if his interest usually peaked during the parties."


    Khan winked toward George, and thetter couldn''t help butugh at his joke. Veronica also giggled while covering her mouth. Rodney and Helen showed simr reactions, even if the girl added an interested gaze to her suppressed chuckle.


    "I''m telling you that you have to stop spending your nights outside," Kelly ordered while standing up from her bed.


    Theughs stopped at that scene. Kelly appeared livid and ready to do something drastic. Brandon and George wanted to stand up to defuse that situation, but Khan''s words resounded in the room before they could attempt anything.


    "Otherwise?" Khan asked as his expression grew cold. "Did you forget who I am?"


    Khan''s expression radiated a chilling aura. He had shown the same face when theke created the image of a Nak, and he had even worn it for most of his time on Istrone. George''s mind inevitably went battle-ready, but he remained unclear about who he had to stop in that situation.


    Faint steps echoed through the room as Khan began to walk toward Kelly. The girl''s face showed no fear, but she didn''t move either. She was doing her best to appear confident, but the rumors about Khan inevitably filled her mind.


    Khan''s chilling expression was enough to warn her that the boy in front of her wasn''t a simple recruit. There was a graveness in his face that she found herself unable to endure. The vague rumors picked up in the days in the other camp and during that week also filled her mind with worries.


    Khan had initially decided to ignore Kelly''s behavior. He even understood her worries, but he wasn''t willing to sacrifice his time with Liiza to reassure her.


    Still, the repeated scolding and her threat had forced Khan to show a face that only George knew well. Kelly was revealing herself as a potential issue for his rtionship, so Khan decided to make her understand that they weren''t at the same level.


    "Do you have any idea what I did on Istrone?" Khan whispered in a chilling voice when he reached Kelly.


    The girl was taller than him, but she appeared incredibly small when he stopped in front of her. The cold worlds echoing in the room even worsened the atmosphere. Kelly suddenly didn''t feel safe anymore. Her instincts were telling her that Khan was dangerous.


    "Uhm, is this a bad moment?" A familiar voice suddenly resounded from the staircase and attracted the recruits'' attention.


    Everyone turned to see that Doku had appeared at the end of the staircase. The Niqols wore an awkward expression since he had heard part of the discussion while descending, but Khan made sure to get rid of his hesitation.


    "I don''t think that we are in the mood for a party tonight," Khan announced while his cold expression broke into a smile.


    "It''s not that," Doku exined while fixing his eyes on him and dodging the other''s gaze. "I have an important mission tomorrow, and Professor Zakhira suggested that you should join my team."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I need a bit for the second. Two hours should be enough.

 Chapter 141 - Flowers

    Khan''s coldness had scared Kelly, but she had never once believed herself to be wrong about her ideas. However, Doku''s words dealt a blow to that belief and made her realize how deeply Khan had actually bonded with the Niqols.


    When it came to actual time spent with the Niqols, Khan and the other recruits were almost on the same level. The aliens were more at ease around him, but he always ran away during the parties, so the number of hours was in the other humans'' favor.


    ??


    However, Khan didn''t put any wall between him and the Niqols, and they could feel it. He treated the aliens as if they belonged to his species, without biases nor care for the political environments that stood behind them.


    The Niqols couldn''t help but appreciate his behavior, those willing to ept humans so openly at least. Their poor self-restraint made them like how Khan appeared so free around them. They didn''t see a member of a different species when they talked to him.


    Khan''s behavior was only thest of the features that made the Niqols appreciate his character, and that mostly involved the students'' perception. It wasn''t a major aspect for the professors, but it fused well with other parts of Khan''s reputation.


    "Mission?" Khan asked.


    "It''s something that we do a few times every year," Doku exined while moving his eyes between Khan and Kelly. "Do you want to talk about it outside?"


    "No, it''s fine," Khan eximed while walking toward his bed and sitting cross-legged over it. "I believe it doesn''t involve ssified stuff."


    "That''s correct," Doku announced before stepping into the room and sitting next to Khan.


    Khan''s words dealt another blow to Kelly''s belief. He had the chance to keep the contents of the mission for himself and gain leverage over the other recruits, but he decided to inform everyone right away. His actions clearly showed that he prioritized the mission over petty squabbles with hispanions.


    Kelly couldn''t help but return to her bed at that point. She didn''t like to have such an unrestrainedpanion in her group, especially on an important mission. However, Khan seemed to be inplete control of his actions and behavior.


    Doku picked a smooth square rock from the insides of his robe and threw it at the center of the room. Azure symbols lit up on the small item once it touched the floor, and the room seemed to react to that event. The menus on the walls transformed into images that depicted a sea of flowers covering a in interrupted by a few short hills.


    That scene appeared on each surface of the room, but most recruits inspected it while looking at the floor. The images even moved as the perspective flew over the environment and revealed its vastness.


    Doku remained silent while the perspective moved to the interesting part of the environment, but a peculiar scent reached his nostrils during the wait. The Niqols sniffed the air a few times before discovering that Khan was the source of that unique odor.


    "Are you bathing in the wild?" Doku asked.


    "Your nose is frighteningly urate!" Khanughed.


    Khan''s packed schedule didn''t give him the chance to take showers inside the underground habitation, but he didn''t want to stink. Liiza didn''t care about that part too much, but she had limits that Khan didn''t want to discover.


    Luckily for Khan, the cave in the marsh stood behind waterfalls. He had often used them to clean himself, and Liiza had even joined him at times. Still, the scent of the wild had inevitably be part of him.


    "I''m always outside doing missions," Doku exined in a proud tone while scratching the tip of his nose. "I just developed it throughout the years."


    Khan chuckled and shook his head, but his mind grew cold. He immediately decided to address that issue with Liiza. He couldn''t leave such clues of his rtionship lingering around him.


    "That''s it!" Doku dered when the images focused on a specific hill covered in pinkish flowers. "We have to collect them. That''s the mission."


    "Don''t tell me that they are a core material for the [booze]," Khanmented when he noticed the simr shades of the flowers.


    "That''s just one of their uses," Dokuughed. "We only need the leftovers of the flowers to make the drink. The other parts are useful materials in many medical fields. The Niqols have started to reevaluate them after gaining ess to part of your knowledge."


    "Can you even reveal this?" Khan asked. "This sounds like something that should be ssified information."


    "These flowers are cheap and grow every few months in multiple locations on the," Doku reassured. "You don''t know these locations, and we would know who to me if they started disappearing from the ce that you''ll see tomorrow."


    Khan didn''t answer. He limited himself to nod in understanding. Doku''s n was failproof since humans didn''t have anything in Nitis'' orbit with the ability to scan the surface urately.


    "So, do we just fly there and collect them?" Khan asked. "Why even sending someone from the second year for something like this?"


    "These flowers attract predators," Doku exined. "It''s usually enough to send only a few of us to collect them, but everyone is scared after thest outburst of monsters."


    The arrival of the daylight was something that the Niqols still tried to keep a secret. They knew that the humans probably had already learnt about that event with their tech. Yet, the aliens didn''t want to give them too many details for fear that they could use them to their advantage.


    The Niqols had even recently epted that the arrival of the daylight would affect their younger generations, so they wanted to remain in control of the situation. They couldn''t imagine that the humans had already learnt about that danger and had developed a cruel n to maximize their number of benefits.


    "Didn''t you clear the entire from the monsters thest time?" Khan continued. "What are the chances for a new monster to appearing again?"


    Doku hesitated before answering. In his mind, he didn''t see any problem revealing everything about the daylight and speaking openly about the issue. However, he had orders to remain silent about it. Luckily for him, his mission had another real exnation that he could use without mentioning the imminent crisis.


    "We didn''t clear these areas during thest crisis," Doku revealed. "Our presence in the area might have ruined the natural environment necessary for the appearance of the flowers. We only used non-invasive methods to keep track of the flora, but that''s it."


    "I bet your methods didn''t find anything strange," Khan guessed.


    "Which is even stranger," Doku concluded before heaving a helpless sigh. "I''ll lead the team. There won''t be many of us since we want to keep our impact to the minimum, but we''ll still bring more students than usual. You are already here, so the professors thought to add a trustworthy human to the team."


    "I will never believe that they used the word trustworthy," Khanughed.


    "They didn''t," Dokuughed too, "But you were the obvious pick anyway, so just ept it."


    The Niqols had chosen Khan for his feats during the previous hunts, and the recruits knew that. Yet, it still felt bad to learn that the aliens didn''t even consider them.


    "The briefing will happen early in the morning," Doku announced while standing up and storing his square rock. "Someone will pick you up. Everything should go smoothly, so prepare yourself for the usual end-of-the-week party. It''s mandatory."


    Doku then turned toward the other recruits before continuing. "You must alsoe."


    George and the others nodded and showed smiles, but they all cursed internally. Their heads had just stopped hurting after a good day of rest, but Doku didn''t intend to let them rest for too long.


    "New weapon?" Doku asked after he turned back toward Khan and noticed the sheathed knife tied to the side of his robe.


    "I''m just practicing," Khan smirked. "You''ll only see kicks tomorrow."


    "Hopefully I won''t," Dokuughed before reaching the entrance and performing a polite bow toward the recruits.


    Doku left after that gesture, and the awkwardness created during Khan and Kelly''s squabble returned. No one knew what to say in that situation, so silence reigned for a few minutes until Kelly decided to speak.


    "You might have lost this chance if you were outside," Kellymented before lying in her bed.


    "I''ll ask them to give me amunicator," Khanughed before lying down too.


    Khan had returned to the academy because Liiza had to see her mother. The couple wouldn''t have had the chance to meet that night anyway, so Khan could rest properly. Of course, he decided to return to his nightmare only after his meditation and mental training ended.


    .


    .


    .


    A Niqols from the first year reached the humans'' underground habitation at seven am, but he found Khan sitting cross-legged next to the entrance to the staircase. The two didn''t need to say much to each other, so they quickly moved across the forest to reach the gathering point of the team.


    A surprising scene unfolded in Khan''s eyes when the Niqols led him toward an empty spot near one of the mountains. The alien then left and left him to inspect the situation with hesitant eyes.


    Khan quickly noticed Doku and Azni arguing over something trivial, but it seemed that the girl was only teasing the boy. Yet, Khan''s surprise didn''te from the two Niqols. His eyes inevitably widened when he saw Liiza sitting on the other side of the empty area.


    Liiza was reading one of her books, but her eyes rose toward Khan when she felt his gaze on her. Surprise also filled her expression, but she quickly suppressed that feeling when she noticed one of the Niqols turning toward her.


    Everyone noticed Khan once he stepped past the trees, and a series of bows happened. It turned out that Khan had met all of them in the parties during that week, and he heaved a sigh of relief in his mind when he confirmed that their names existed in his memory.


    The group wasn''t big. It featured only eight students equally picked from each year. Four of them came from the first year, while the other belonged to the second.


    ''They must really fear the daylight for Liiza to be here,'' Khan thought as he exchanged salutes with everyone and summoned Snow through the mental connection with the creature.


    Khan had learnt a lot during his first week inside the academy. Azni had already confirmed that Liiza was one of the geniuses there, but thetter had to exin her specific field privately to make him understand everything.


    Liiza could castplicated spells. Her expertise in manipting mana had yet to reach an exceptional level, but the dy required by her abilities didn''t manage to lower her value as a warrior. She could turn an impossible battle into an easy hunt with the proper preparations, so many considered her a necessary asset during troublesome situations.


    Her presence in the team stated how afraid of the monsters the professors were. After all, convincing Liiza to perform those missions always was quite annoying due to her character, but they had decided to make her mother handle the matter.


    Liiza had initially felt annoyed that Yeza had ruined her chance to spend another entire day with Khan. Still, those feelings dispersed when she saw him exchanging bows with the other Niqols and trying to use simple words in theirnguage tomunicate.


    It felt nice to see Khan doing so well among the Niqols. The scene almost made Liiza forget all the problems that their different species could cause. She dreamt of a time when she and Khan could hold themselves in the open without worrying about what their superiors would say.


    The group departed as soon as the Aduns arrived. Khan limited himself to follow Doku, and the same environment seen in the underground habitation unfolded in his vision after a few hours. However, it became immediately evident that something was off with that scene since holes filled all the regions outside of the area kept in check by the Niqols.

 Chapter 142 - Hesitation

    The scene almost seemed to hide an borate ploy, but the randomness of the holes gave off a different vibe. It felt strange how only the regions that the Niqols didn''t keep in check by their methods had been affected by that strange phenomenon. Still, those cavities and cracks didn''t reveal any specific pattern or shape.


    Khan didn''t feel confident enough in his knowledge of the Niqols'' species toe up with a failproof conclusion. He let his mind remain open to every possibility as he tried his best to memorize the scenes witnessed from high in the sky.


    Doku picked the cubical item meant tomunicate with hispanions and gave precise orders. Khan didn''t have one of those, but he was in the backlines of the group, so Snow could simply follow along.


    The Aduns descended until they could hover above their destination and inspect the area from a safe position. The flowers shown by Doku''s items were still there, and the same went for the pinkish ones, but the Niqols in the lead brought the group outside of that region instead ofnding.


    Doku made the group perform aplete inspection of the surrounding regions to see how far the strange phenomenon stretched. Khan didn''t need amunicator to confirm that the presence of the holes was unexpected. The Niqols even corroborated his guess once the teamnded outside the areas affected by that strange damage.


    "It clearly is the result of animals that live underground," Doku announced once everyonended in the uneven in covered by short grass that stood before one of the damagednds around the target.


    Doku was quite easygoing inside the academy. He even organized most of the parties and took care of producing the pink drinks, but no one would ever describe him as unreliable. The Niqols was able to retain his noble aura even when he was sleeping drunk on the ground.


    That feature only intensified during a mission. Doku could appear serious without causing any tension in his underlings. He had a peculiar character, but he was suitable for his role as a squad leader.


    "Monsters?" Khan asked as everyone stared at the holes in the distance.


    "That''s unclear," Doku stated before turning toward Khan. "Do you mind taking care of the frontlines?"


    "No problem," Khan announced while performing a few squats to warm up his legs.


    "Zeliha, how is your sensitivity to mana today?" Doku continued while ncing at a short female Niqols at his side.


    The girl appeared younger than her peers. She was short, her figure was thin, and her body had yet to develop fully. Her white hair was longer than herpanions and almost reached her knees. It managed to stay away from her seemingly distracted gaze only because shebed it into multiple braids and tied some of them into a ponytail.


    "[Best in The Pure Trees]," Zeliha proudly eximed as her gaze continued to wander.


    Khan inspected the skinny girl before shooting a curious gaze toward Doku. He had understood her words. He only wanted to confirm that she was telling the truth.


    "She is a genius when ites to sensitivity to mana," Doku quickly exined. "She is so good that the professors threw her into the second year even if her control had yet to touch the proper requirements. Though she is good there too now."


    "[Isn''t the human going to slow me down]?" Zaliha asked without ever focusing on herpanions.


    "[That''s a funny choice of words]," Dokuughed before realizing that Khan didn''t get thosest words. "She is honored to work with you."


    Doku wasn''t even trying to hide his lie, but Khan limited himself to reveal a reassuring smile. He knew that his presence there could appear strange for some Niqols, especially in a mission so connected to their culture. The possible dangers ahead only intensified their worries, and the rumors about Khan''s feats weren''t enough to quell them.


    Khan could feel rtively certain that the professors had sent only noteworthy figures in the mission after learning about Zeliha. That decision sounded reasonable with the daylight getting closer, but the team remained small.


    Doku didn''t need to give the exact order, but Khan and Zeliha understood their task right away. The two of them would make the perfect scouting pair if they managed to work together. Khan''s speed and Zeliha''s sensitivity to mana would allow them to take care and sense threats before eventual encirclements happened.


    Liiza didn''t like that Doku had assigned that dangerous role to Khan again. She trusted his prowess and battle experience, but he would still be the first to face eventual threats. Nevertheless, her feelings didn''t appear on her face, and she directly took her position in the backlines without needing orders.


    Liiza''s ice was the deadliest weapon among the students of the academy, but she needed to prepare to cast it. She already knew that Doku would put her in the backlines to make sure that the others would have the chance to buy time for her if the situation required it.


    The other Niqols created a line that connected Khan and Zeliha to Liiza. Doku and thest student in the second year took their ce right behind the frontlines. The boy''s name was Bashir. He was tall and slender, his face featured caved in cheeks and sharp edges, and his hands were on a sheathed short sword at his side.


    Azni and the other two students in the first year were right in front of Liiza. They would be thest line of defense in case the group ended up requiring her ice. Khan knew the other two Niqols as Elbek and Asyat, and he felt pleasantly surprised to see that calm and concentration filled their eyes in that situation.


    Khan had known Elbek and Asyat during one of Doku''s parties, and their condition during the event wouldn''t normally make him trust them when it came to a battle. Yet, they appeared confident in their abilities, and their presence confirmed that their feeling wasn''t a pretense.


    The distribution between the years in the academy didn''t describe the actual battle prowess of the students. It only defined their level of expertise in the three major fields connected to mana, which was the very reason behind those mixed teams.


    The group advanced until they reached the ground started featuring those cavities, cracks, and holes. Most of them were too narrow for Khan and the others, and a quick inspection revealed that they led deep underground. Their actual depth was impossible to understand from the surface, but Doku kept hispanions focused on a simple study of the area for now.


    "[The Ugu didn''t cause this]," Asyat whispered. "[I can think of a few species that live underground, but some tunnels too narrow for most of them. I bet we are against worms or creatures with a simr size]."


    "[Why did they avoid the flowery in]?" Doku asked. "[It doesn''t make sense to ignore that spot. It should be their target even]."


    "[Maybe they don''t like the numbing properties of the flowers]," Asyat replied.


    "[Why did they even set theirir here then]?" Doku responded. "[They can easily dig a home somewhere else]."


    "[How should I even know]?" Asyatined.


    "[Your tribe studies the fauna for a living]!" Doku eximed.


    "[We have yet to learn how to talk with animals]!" Asyat snorted. "[We don''t even know which mutations have affected this species. How am I supposed toe up with a general overview of its behavior]?"


    Khan paid attention to the conversation between the boy and the girl, but he only managed to gain a vague understanding of the discussed topics. The Niqols found it hard to talk about the various species through human words, so they preferred to use theirnguage and trante for Khan once they reached a conclusion.


    "[I only want you to tell me if the path ahead is safe]," Doku exined. "[We are strong enough to face a monster or two, but I don''t want to send us into a ce without escape routes]."


    Asyat hesitated to give an answer. Her tribe had instructed her about the general behavior of the various species on Nitis, but that knowledge became unreliable when the mutation came into y. Everything about a Tainted animal could change once it developed new features and abilities.


    "[We should be safe on the surface]," Asyat eventually stated. "[This species didn''t eat the flowers, which probably means that it''s using them. I can''t guess anything more than this]."


    Doku didn''t appear satisfied about that vague answer, and Khan understood why after Bashir gave him a brief summary of the conversation.


    The issue was with the unclear behavior of the species that had dug those tunnels. The group couldn''t understand the purpose behind thatir when the most valuable resource in the area was still intact. When they thought about it, Khan and the others couldn''t even determine whether the Tainted animals were still in thosends.


    The mission would have been easier to approach if the target weren''t in such a troublesome position. Yet, the pinkish flowers were right at the center of the only intact area, and regions filled with holes and tunnels upied its surroundings. That strangeyout could end up being a trap that would leave the group with no way out.


    Doku had thest word on the matter. It was his role to decide if the mission appeared too dangerous for his group. Asyat''s lines continued to resound in his mind as he thought about the situation, and a conclusion eventually became clear.


    "Let''s be quick about it," Doku ordered in the humannguage. "We''ll leave the roots underground and collect only the flowers before leaving the area as fast as we can."


    "The roots are the most valuable part of the flowers," Bashirined.


    "I know that, okay?" Doku scoffed. "But I won''t put us at risk. Our lives are more important than a single batch."


    Khan could almost hear the words that the Niqols decided not to say. Normally, the presence of an unknown danger would force the group to reconsider the mission and contact their superiors to determine how to handle the situation.


    However, time was short due to the iing daylight. Khan could guess that the Niqols were trying to umte materials useful in medical fields before the unavoidable crisis, and that forced them to be more reckless.


    The iing daylight was the only reason why Doku had even considered continuing the mission. He didn''t want to charge blindly toward the flowery in, but the settlements near the academy might suffer from a shortage of meds during the crisis if his group didn''t seize that batch now.


    Picking only the flowers and leaving the roots behind wasn''t an ideal solution, but it could cover part of the required materials while reducing the dangers connected to the mission. After all, the underground world might not notice their actions until it was toote if they only seized half of each nt.


    The Niqols quickly understood Doku''s reasons, but none of them could find the right words for Khan. They found themselves unable to justify their decision without talking about the daylight. Luckily for them, Khan yed along.


    "It''s better if we hurry, isn''t it?" Khan chuckled, showing a smile that revealed no ws.


    Relief filled hispanions when they saw that he didn''t need other exnations. Still, Doku and Azni felt bad about keeping Khan in the dark. As for Liiza, she felt as if daggers were stabbing her heart when she saw how perfect Khan''s pretense was. She couldn''t help but suffer when she realized how used her boyfriend was to lying.


    Of course, Liiza, Doku, and Azni didn''t reveal anything, and the same went for their expressions. The group could soon proceed forward and pick up their pace as they ran through the uneven and cracked in while paying attention to their surroundings.


    The regions featuring holes and tunnels were deadly silent. The noise created by the group''s faint steps resembled thunder that disrupted the silence, but nothing reacted to those sounds.


    The group could sprint through those areas in less than an hour and reach the flowery in safely. Khan and the others had silently decided not to speak to limit their noise to the minimum, and they had all seen the area at least once, so they could move toward their pink targets without uttering words.


    The tension that had fallen among the group intensified when they reached the pinkish flowers, and that feeling only grew stronger when they started to rip them in half. Khan and the others expected something to happen whenever their actions generated rustling noises, but everything continued to remain still.


    Bashir, Elbek, and Azni hadrge backpacks behind their backs that theirpanions didn''t hesitate to fill with the torn pistils. There were only eight of them on the scene, and the hill was quite big, but they managed to gather everything in no time.


    The hill appeared barren after the studentspleted their work. Torn stems continued toe out of the dark ground, and the absence of the pink color filled the area with a depressing feeling.


    The group didn''t waste time on that scene. They turned toward theirnding spot and started sprinting as soon as they collected everything.


    The tension that had umted in their minds started to fade as they left the intact area and returned among the holes, cracks, and cavities. It was only a matter of minutes before they could reach safe areas again and return to the academy. Some of them even started thinking about the party that woulde that night.


    However, something began to move under them, and Zaliha didn''t hesitate to warn everyone about that. Multiple faint presences had suddenly appeared in the range of her senses, but they felt strangely weak.


    Doku gave the order to keep running. He didn''t care how weak that potential threat was. It was better to face it outside itsir. Still, the group didn''t have the chance to get too far before an earthquake started filling those areas.


    The ground shook violently and made some of the Niqols falter. Zaliha even risked falling as her foothold grew unstable, but Khan promptly grabbed her arm and helped her regaining some bnce.


    Simr scenes happened behind Khan. The Niqols were helping each other to get far away from the holes that the earthquake was expanding, but everything became pointless when fissures reached their position.


    The surface remained in one piece for less than a second before itpletely shattered and revealed multiple tunnels of various sizes and shapes. Most of them were too narrow for Khan and the Niqols, but they also crumbled once the groupnded on them.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I need a bit for the second. Two hours should be enough.

 Chapter 143 - Fall

    Khan struggled to understand for how long he fell. His proficiency with the Lightning-demon style had stepped on thepetent level, granting him incredible agility and ability to preserve bnce. However, he couldn''t deploy those skills when the ground shattered as soon as his feet touched it.


    The underground world of the regions filled with tunnels was incredibly frail. It turned out that only the surface had retained a stable structure, but everything under it had the same texture as thin ss. A simple impact was enough to makerge patches shatter into countless pieces.


    Khan failed to find a stable foothold multiple times as everything around him crumbled. Waterfalls made of dirt and ground fell together with him and clouded his vision. His eyes burnt, but he forced himself not to close them. He was worried about his situation, but he also hated how he couldn''t get to his girlfriend falling only a few meters from him.


    Liiza''s glowing eyes also ended on Khan as the waves of frail ground submerged them and brought them deeper into the region. Worry and confusion filled her face, but the currents of terrain eventually led her far away. The same happened to Khan and the other Niqols. The dark soil creates proper rivers that flowed into different directions and divided the group.


    It didn''t take much before Khan felt unable to see anything. Complete darkness filled his burning eyes. The dirt had forced him to close them at some point, but they still hurt as they tried to disperse the soil that had tainted them.


    His body continued to move with the river of ground, but he changed direction from time to time. Khan wasn''t sure what could cause that massive amount of soil to twist, but the impact with a firm surface made him gain a vague idea of his situation.


    The flowing ground tried to squash Khan on the firm surface, but his body was strong enough to oppose that intense force. The prolonged contact allowed him to understand the nature of that tough wall. He could sense sharp rocks tearing open holes in his robe and cutting his back. It became clear that he had hit one of the solid parts of that chaotic underground structure.


    His physical strength didn''t allow him to break free of that suppression. The ground gained the same texture as steel as it continued to press him on the rocky wall. Khan spent entire minutes in that position, and breathing grew harder as time passed.


    Thoughts on theyout of the underground structure appeared in his mind as he struggled to dig space where his nose could breathe. It seemed that the Tainted animals that had ravaged the area had left a few parts intact. Khan wondered whether those parts were too tough to pierce, but he didn''t linger too long on those ideas.


    Cuts continued to open on his back as his body bent back and forth in a desperate attempt to clear the path for his mouth or nose. Khan breathed, but that air was never enough to satisfy his lungs. He soon felt lightheaded, but everything around him resumed to move at that point.


    The river of terrain flowed again and dragged Khan deeper into the underground world until he mmed on another solid surface. The ground falling above his head and on his injured back tried to squash him, but everything stopped moving before the situation could be too dangerous.


    Khan remained still until he confirmed that everything around him had stabilized. He didn''t feel any unstoppable force pressing him down, so he did his best to dig his way through the ground that had umted above him and straighten his position.


    His movements generated loud noises that made him freeze. Khan didn''t know how stable his situation was, so he wanted to approach the digging slowly. However, he couldn''t avoid causing a mess whenever he moved the ground above him.


    His hands eventually reached a spot where stale air could flow over them. Khan rejoiced at that sensation and hurried to make the rest of his body escape that pile of terrain. His dirty head eventually came out, but his muddy eyes didn''t give him the chance to see much.


    Khan pulled his entire body out of the ground and found a stable foothold before straightening his position. He had yet to clean his eyes, but he preferred to prioritize his footing. He was useless without it.


    The ground under his soles was far from stable, but it was enough for his martial art, and Khan didn''t need anything else. He could finally focus on his eyes, but nothing about him was clean enough to clean them after the journey underground.


    The back of Khan''s robe was already in pieces, and blood had even tainted it in multiple spots. Tearing it apart and patting it to remove the soil lingering on its surfaces didn''t take much. He soon obtained a rtively clean fabric that could clean his eyes.


    His vision slowly returned as he wiped his eyes clean. Khan found himself inside a tall andrge tunnel made of smoot and cold rocks. Multiple holes appeared on the ground, walls, and ceiling, and he even found a rtivelyrge opening right above him.


    Khan was standing on a three meters tall pile of terrain that had fallen with him through therge opening. The ceiling was at ten more meters above him, which basically made it unreachable, and the rest of the tunnel didn''t feature enough handholds that could make him reach that hole.


    ''I can''t go back from there,'' Khan quickly concluded as he lowered his head to check that the pile of soil didn''t betray his feet.


    Nevertheless, a few ck figures entered his vision when he nced at his uncovered waist. Khan didn''t notice them before because he had regained his vision only when his eyes were already on the environment, but it became impossible to miss them now.


    Khan saw a series of worm-like creatures attached at the lower side of his waist. His hands shot before he could even consider his situation, and sharp pain spread through his body when he forced them to separate from his skin.


    Each worm left behind a circr bleeding wound. Those creatures turned out to be leeches, and Khan didn''t hesitate to remove all of them. They felt rough and dry when he touched their soft bodies, and a simple squeeze was enough to squash them to death.


    Many circr bleeding wounds appeared on Khan''s waist after the process was over, but he didn''t feel satisfied yet. His hand went on his back, where he found a few more leeches attached to its lower part. His shoulders and upper part seemed clear, but he still checked them multiple times since his eyes couldn''t reach those spots.


    His search didn''t end there. Khan checked his face, neck, and armpits, but he found other leeches only when he went over his legs. Multiple leeches were sucking his blood there, and he crushed them in an instant.


    Khan felt dizzy after he confirmed to have killed all the leeches on him. The circr wounds continued to release blood that umted on the pile of ground under him and worsen his condition. Still, a peculiar scene appeared in his vision before he could take care of himself.


    Multiple leeches came out of the terrain under him and started to suck the blood that had tainted it. Khan immediately understood how those creatures had managed to enter his clothes so easily. He had found their natural habitat.


    Khan suppressed the urge to jump out of the pile of soil and took careful steps to reach the rocky floor under him. That surface appeared stable and firm. It even felt able to endure his kicks, but he didn''t test that idea.


    More leeches continued toe out of the pile of terrain and surround the wet patches created by Khan''s blood. They appeared hungry but also weak. Moreover, their movements were slow once they came out of the ground.


    Those weak creatures couldn''t be the reason behind that messy underground structure. Yet, Khan could guess that a mutated specimen might be strong enough to pierce the terrain if the transformation went in the right direction. The only issue to that idea was the sheer size of the damage suffered by the underground world. He didn''t know if a single monster had enough time to dig so much.


    ''Is there more than one monster?'' Khan wondered as vague ideas appeared in his mind.


    Khan''s calction used the worldwide crisis to determine the eventual appearance of the leech monster. Those few weeks didn''t seem enough to create that deep underground structure, but he didn''t dare to make too many assumptions. He knew how the mutations worked, but Nitis'' fauna wasn''t part of his expertise.


    His mind suddenly spun as his dizziness intensified. Khan had to support himself to the rocky wall until his condition forced him to sit down. He didn''t like to be so close to the pile of soil and the leeches, but he needed to meditate quite desperately.


    Khan closed his eyes and led his mana flow throughout his body. Something strange immediately appeared while he kept track of the movements of that energy. He saw a foreign substance filling his circr wounds and forcing them to remain open.


    Khan had to wash those spots with his mana a few times before his body expelled the foreign substance. His wounds could finally start to close at that point, and his condition immediately started to improve.


    A chilling scene unfolded in his vision when he opened his eyes. Khan looked at the pile of terrain as soon as he came out of his meditative state, but the rocky ground attracted his attention. The leeches were crawling toward him, and some had even almost reached his knee.


    Khan immediately stood up and started to stomp on those creatures. He killed all of them, and a faint annoyance filled his mind once he was done. Squashing the leeches didn''t help him at all. He was still stuck inside that dark tunnel.


    ''These things are troublesome,'' Khan cursed in his mind.


    The leeches were weak, but they seemed able to hide from Khan''s senses. His sensitivity to mana was useless against those opponents, and his agility also appeared unable to bring him out.


    The memories of his fall reappeared in his vision as Khan thought about his situation. Arge chunk of the region had shattered. Snow could surely fly down the hole and pick him up. Yet, he had to reach a spot where the Aduns could find him.


    Moreover, Khan had another issue to handle. He didn''t fall on his own. The desire to find Liiza was already filling his mind, but he managed to spare some thoughts for Doku, Azni, and the other Niqols. Except for Zaliha, they had all treated him as one of them. That alone said a lot about their character.


    Khan tried to recall the direction of his fall before picking a path. The tunnel stretched on two sides, but he couldn''t forget where the river of soil had brought Liiza. He quickly turned to his left and advanced slowly, making sure to check the stability of the ground in front of him and dodge holes.


    The area waspletely silent. Only the faint noise of ground falling somewhere that Khan couldn''t see reached his ears.


    Khan moved forward, paying extra attention to every unstable spot that he found. Everything appeared lifeless around him, but the tunnel didn''t hesitate to prove him wrong.


    A piece of frail ground at his side burst to release multiple leeches while he walked past it. Khan had already noticed that spot, but that sudden event took him by surprise. Luckily for him, he wasn''t the type to freeze in those situations.


    A kick reached the leeches before they could reach his face, and a loud noise followed the perfect execution of the technique. His sole was big enough to touch all of those creatures, but only some of them suffered a direct hit. However, the energy released during the ability made all of them explode.


    That was Khan''s first real attack against a living being after the improvement of his proficiency level. The effects of his kick ended up being incredible. The blow wasn''t only faster and smoother. It even carried a power that he had never managed to express before.


    The tremors generated by his perfect execution had been enough to squash the leeches, and Khan could only rejoice at that sight. He had been initially worried that his martial art might not suit those creatures, but those thoughts disappeared now.


    That strange event happened two more times before the tunnel erged into a vast underground area that featured an actual river that flowed near a rocky wall. Dark waters filled its violent currents, but something else quickly attracted Khan''s attention.


    Khan saw patches of blood on the ground on the opposite side of the river. Bloody marks with the shape of a hand also tainted the rocky wall next to them. Those traces were even fresh, and Khan didn''t hesitate to follow them.


    The marks led Khan in front of a cavity connected to thatrge area. A pair of white lights appeared at the bottom of the cave when he crossed its entrance, but disappointment filled his mind at that point. He could immediately understand that those eyes didn''t belong to his girlfriend.


    "Khan!" Azni eximed as she suppressed a faintment. "Help me out. I can''t reach all of them."


    Azni''s condition became clear when Khan reached her. The girl had forsaken her robe. She was in her pants and sports bra, and many bleeding circr injuries filled her dark-blue skin. Still, she wasn''t flexible enough to reach three leeches that had attached themselves to the center of her back.


    Khan held Azni from her shoulder and ripped the leeches while squashing them in his grasp. The girl groaned and made sure to adjust her bra since the creatures had pulled away part of it, but she quickly thanked Khan afterward.


    "Let me check your back now," Azni eximed as she grabbed Khan''s shoulder.


    "It should be fine," Khan exined while turning to show his back. "I checked many times before."


    "But it''s full of cuts!" Azni shouted.


    "The fall wasn''t gentle for me," Khan voiced a faintugh, but a third presence suddenly appeared in the range of his senses.


    Khan turned his head toward the entrance while Azni continued to check his back. Liiza''s figure soon appeared in front of the cave, but herplexion appeared far from fine. She was pale, and her torn robe had turned dark-red after the fall and the blood loss.


    "Liiza!" Azni eximed in a worried tone when she noticed her condition, but Khan''s eyes widened when he saw the intense emotions running through Liiza''s confused gaze.


    Anger shed on Liiza''s face. Everything felt vague in her vision, but she could recognize Azni clung to Khan''s bare back. She was almost naked too, and a misunderstanding formed in her confused mind.


    That emotion made her focus long enough to point her hand at Azni and gather her mana, but Khan didn''t let that sudden event surprise him. He had already understood that something was off, so he shot forward and bent her arm upward.


    A shard of ice shot out of Liiza''s fingers and stabbed the ceiling. The rocks couldn''t even try to stop that attack. The areas around the pierced spot even started to freeze.


    Azni''s eyes widened in fear before anger filled her expression and her loud voice filled the cave. "[What are you even doing?! You could have killed me]!"


    However, confusion soon made its way among her anger as Azni continued to inspect that scene. She didn''t initially find anything wrong with Khan''s rapid reaction, but something started to fell off.


    Liiza didn''t say anything when Khan grabbed her forearm and bent it toward the ceiling. Her anger even vanished from her face after Khan started exining the situation through words whispered softly.


    Khan sounded as if he were justifying the previous scene, and Liiza kept bending her head toward his chest before retracting it whenever she managed to focus.


    Azni couldn''t help but notice how they appearedpletely at ease in that situation. A strange idea slowly appeared in her mind when she thought about her twopanions, and disbelief slowly appeared on her face.


    Azni didn''t know Liiza''s habits, but she had been at the center of the incident that had granted an Aduns to a human for the first time in history. That human ended up sneaking out of the parties early even, and Doku had told her how he had found the other recruitsining about Khan''s constant absence at night.


    "No way," Azni whispered as she jumped happily toward the two and started inspecting their faces.


    Azni appeared as the happiest Niqols in the world, and giggles even escaped her mouth when she saw the couple diverting their gazes at the same time.


    ****


    Author''s notes: The chapter came out almost 3000 words long lol.

 Chapter 144 - Story

    "Doku did tell me about the hickey," Azni eximed in a yful tone. "I remember thinking about it yesterday when he spoke about your fight."


    A slight tremor ran through Liiza, and Khan sensed it from the hand gripping her forearm. They had diverted their gazes. Khan looked at the ground behind her shoulder, and Liiza focused on the rocky wall to his right side, but both of them felt unable to separate in that tense situation.


    "I mean, I would have known if you were dating a Niqols," Azni continued as she jumped around the couple to try to enter in their visions. "That''s why I was certain you were with a human. I just chose not to think too much about yesterday''s stuff because of the mission, but I definitely felt that something was off!"


    Khan''s thoughts ran at full speed to find a way out of that situation. The entirety of his experience regarding pretenses and lies flowed into his mind and created multiple possible solutions. Still, they were nothing more than gambles, and those with the highest chance to seed required Liiza''s help.


    Liiza''s condition waspletely off. She was pale, and pale-red blood had tainted her torn robe. She had suffered a lot during the fall, and the urge to take care of her grew stronger in Khan''s mind as her ragged breath continued to resound through the cave.


    Waiting hurt Khan. He could sense his girlfriend begging for his help whenever her focus wavered. She instinctively bent toward him when her confusion made her unable to think clearly, but she always managed to straighten her head before her gestures became too tant.


    For the first time in his life, Khan found himself reflecting on how far he was willing to go to keep his rtionship safe, and dark thoughts inevitably filled his mind. His feelings for Liiza were intense and irrational. He wanted to stay with her even if it hurt. He desired to hold her in his arms even if he had to spill blood.


    Of course, those were only general thoughts created by Khan''s cracked personality. He could imagine himself killing someone to protect Liiza, but that didn''t involve proper executions, and it surely didn''t include the current situation.


    Azni was a cheerful person who could look at Khan without minding the differences between their species. She had always treated him properly, and even her current realization didn''t trigger any negative emotion inside her. She appeared pretty happy about the whole matter.


    "Azni," Khan eventually uttered in a tone that didn''t reveal the slightest emotion. "We are friends, right?"


    "What are you even saying?" Azniughed.


    The girl had failed to understand how serious Khan was about the matter, but he made sure to rify his position with his next statement. "I need you to answer honestly. Please."


    Khan sounded as if he were begging her, and Liiza couldn''t help but move her gaze back on his serious face. Their eyes didn''t meet, but she remained in a daze at the sight of his expression. He was suppressing his emotions almost wlessly, but he couldn''t hide his intense resolve, not from her at least.


    Liiza raised her free arm to reach for Khan''s face, but she retracted her stretched fingers when she recalled where they were. Her mind felt dizzy, and her vision went dark from time to time, but the familiar warmth spreading from her forearm was keeping her awake.


    It felt unfair to be unable to touch her boyfriend. Liiza only wanted to ease Khan''s tense face with soft caresses. Her desire was innocent and pure, but the world addedplexity to that emotion that she couldn''tpletely endure in her condition.


    Liiza''s tired eyes eventually turned toward Azni before a weak whisper came out of her mouth. "Please."


    Liiza didn''t care about Azni''s answer, or, rather, she wasn''t in the condition to mind the entirety of that situation. She only wanted to understand whether she could let go of her self-restraint or not.


    Azni didn''t initially understand how serious the matter was, but she began to think about the entirety of the situation when the couple''s stern gazes fell on her. However, she couldn''t consider the intricacy of the politics behind her twopanions during her reasoning.


    "I don''t get it," Azni confessed as her smile disappeared and she took a step back. "What''s the matter? You are scaring me."


    Liiza had just tried to stab her with an ice-shard, and Khan had only emotionless eyes for her in that situation. Azni started to feel scared. Two of the strongest members of her group were in front of her, and they didn''t show nice expressions.


    Azni''s honest reaction made Khan regret his previous coldness. That scene allowed him to understand her true nature, and that thought left a disgusting feeling inside his mouth. The Niqols was only a young girl excited to learn about juicy gossips.


    ''What am I even doing?'' Khan cursed in his mind as Lieutenant Dyester''s teachings resounded in his mind.


    Azni was a friend, and she was even one of the Niqols who openly admitted that they had been too hard on Liiza. She was cheerful, open about her feelings, and a goodpanion in battle, but Khan''s first instinct was to consider her as a potential enemy.


    That wasn''t a reaction caused by his intense feelings for Liiza. His thoughts came from the dark sides of his personality that his mind harbored. Khan knew that he couldn''t get rid of those dark aspects of his character, and he didn''t even want to due to their evident utility. Yet, Azni didn''t deserve them.


    Khan abandoned his paranoia and focused on what was truly important. He pulled Liiza closer and wrapped his arm around her waist whileying the forearm in his grasp on his neck.


    Liiza''s eyes widened at that sudden action, and she even tried to push Khan back, but he kissed her forehead and whispered sweet words that made her melt in his arms. Liiza gave up trying to control that situation and left everything to her boyfriend while she bathed in his warmth.


    "I''m sorry," Khan announced while apanying Liiza next to the rocky wall and helping her sit between his legs. "Please, help me out. I''ll exin everything once she is stable."


    Azni noticed the stark change of tone of the conversation. Khan only seemed worried about Liiza now. Even his eyes appeared devoid of any hidden intent when he fixed them on his friend.


    Azni didn''t think twice to crouch toward Liiza and help Khan removing her clothes to check her injuries. She had a few deep bleeding wounds on her right side and lower back, and a few leeches even hid in the insides of her sports bra.


    Azni almost didn''t have to do anything. She limited herself to keep Liiza still whenever Khan acted. He always moved before her and without showing any hesitation.


    Khan tore the lower part of his robe apart whenever he needed to cover Liiza''s bleeding injuries. He didn''t even show any difort or awkwardness in inspecting the insides of her sports bra and pants. Azni never had the chance toin about his actions either because the deep affection revealed by his eyes made her speechless.


    Azni had only suspected something before, but those scenes confirmed her ideas. Khan and Liiza were close, and their rtionship had even gone quite far since he didn''t feel awkward in checking her intimate parts while she was unconscious.


    The scene even made Azni blush at times. She couldn''t help but find the sleepy Liiza snuggling closer on Khan''s chest extremely cute. The affection he showed with his soft caresses that didn''t hinder his inspection also intensified the romantic vibe radiated by that couple. Azni found it so lovely that she started to envy them.


    "Doku never treats me like that," Azniined before covering her mouth in surprise.


    Azni didn''t want to say those words. They hade out of her mouth on their own after the romantic aura radiated by the couple affected her. Khan and Liiza appearedpletely harmless and at peace when they were in each other''s arms, and those feelings had spread to Azni.


    "What else can I do?" Khan asked while wrapping his arms around Liiza.


    Liiza had fallen asleep on his chest after the inspection ended. Patches of his robe covered her injuries, and she didn''t have leeches attached to her body anymore. Khan believed that she only needed to rest now, but he didn''t know if Azni could reveal something that he still ignored about the Niqols.


    "She only has to rest," Azni exined as a warm smile appeared on her face. "We don''t need to meditate like the humans. Mana flows naturally inside our bodies, and it grows together with us. She''ll be fine after a few hours of sleep."


    Khan nodded as his worried gaze fell on the beauty lying on his chest. He did his best to bend his back and adjust his sitting position to make Liizafortable, and Azni didn''t miss all the faint careful moves he performed to avoid waking her up.


    "You must really care about her," Azni announced without covering his mouth afterward.


    The Niqols followed her line with a cute giggle, and Khan couldn''t help but sigh. Shame spread through his mind when he recalled his previous thoughts. He hated himself for even considering such an innocent girl as a potential threat.


    "I do," Khan revealed while caressing the side of Liiza''s head and making her voice a cute groan. "She saved me."


    Azni would normally take simr words like an exaggeration caused by intense emotions, but that didn''t seem to be the case with Khan. The azure scar on his chest was a constant reminder of his pain, and the loving gaze toward his girlfriend showed how serious he was about his words.


    Azni felt the need to giggle again, but she made sure to suppress that reaction to focus on her priorities. She had to learn everything about that couple before being overwhelmed by their cuteness.


    "So," Azni smirked as her yful tone returned and she sat next to Khan, "Someone promised that he would exin everything."


    "That someone must be the best liar on Nitis," Khan sighed and shook his head, but augh escaped his mouth when he saw Azni''s frown.


    "Sorry, it feels too nice to stop pretending," Khanughed. "You have no idea for how long I wished to be like this in the open."


    Khan heaved a rxed sigh as he abandoned every pretense. It felt intoxicating to be himself. A calm smile appeared on his face as he adjusted Liiza on his chest and thought about what he could reveal to Azni. He had to avoid most of the intimate parts, and an initial statement also felt necessary before his story began.


    "Look, you seem nice," Khan dered without turning toward Azni, "But Liizaes before anyone else in my mind, and I can''t risk having people knowing about us. Are we clear?"


    A tinge of his coldness seeped inside his voice at the end of the line. Khan was threatening Azni, but the girl didn''t care about it when he put it into those words. His seriousness and worry about Liiza even made him more attractive in her eyes.


    "Not even Doku?" Azni asked.


    "I trust Doku," Khan exined, "But I can''t add variables. You got lucky enough to deserve to hear our story, but no one else can know. Please, make it easy for me."


    Azni pouted, but Khan''s seriousness had the best of her again. Moreover, she was too curious to give up on that chance. The juiciest gossip in the entire academy was right in front of her, and she couldn''t hold back but promise to keep everything for herself.


    "Good," Khan eximed before shooting a warm smile toward the beauty sleeping in his arms. "I guess I should start from the beginning when the Ugu attacked me due to my simrities with the Nak...."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I need 1-2hours for the next.

 Chapter 145 - Exploration

    Liiza woke up with the sound of faintughs and teases ringing in her ears. The warmthing from Khan''s embrace made her feel confused in front of the images that appeared in her vision when she opened her eyes. His bare chest suited those sensations, but Azni''s smiling face made her tense up and try to snap back on her feet.


    "It''s fine!" Khan promptly shouted while tightening his embrace to keep her on him.


    The fearing from others learning about her rtionship made Liiza struggle to escape Khan''s embrace, but she started to calm down when one of his hands ended up on the back of her head.


    Liiza kept her palms pointed on Khan''s chest as her breathing slowed down, but her confusion didn''t vanish. She could still see herself in her boyfriend''s embrace while someone else stared at them.


    "She had understood about us on her own," Khan continued through whispers alternated with kisses at the top of her head. "I exined everything while you were resting."


    "Resting?" Liiza asked in a sleepy voice before recalling her condition.


    Liiza noticed how she was wearing only her pants and sports bra. A few pieces of Khan''s robe acted as bandages for her deepest injuries, and some circr marks still appeared on her dark-blue skin due to the troublesome effects of the leeches'' bite.


    "Did you go through my underwear?" Liiza asked while adjusting her sports bra.


    "You had leeches in strange ces," Khan exined as a warm smile appeared on his face.


    Liiza was clearly better. Her face had regained its usual dark shades, and she appeared focused on her surroundings. The confusion that had afflicted her before had vanished after her short one-hour nap.


    "So," Liiza uttered while shooting a nce toward Azni, "Does she know?"


    "I know about you two," Azni replied while covering her mouth to suppress her giggles.


    "Does she know that we are together?" Liiza repeated while turning toward Khan


    "I left out many details," Khan revealed, "But she knows."


    "Great!" Liiza eximed before turning inside Khan''s embrace to face him.


    Liiza spread her legs before sitting on Khan''sp and taking his neck into her arms. An eager smile had appeared on her face, and Khan didn''t hesitate to satisfy her desire.


    Azni''s eyes widened when she saw Khan and Liiza kissing right in front of her. She even gave voice to a high-pitched gasp, but she quickly suppressed it to let that scene continue.


    Khan and Liiza entered a world of their own when their gazes met. Everything around them disappeared now that they could enjoy each other''spany. They had both felt worried about their partner during the fall, so they used that chance to rece those heavy emotions with better ones.


    Azni slowly fell into a daze. She didn''t want to stare too much about those intimate moments, but the unusual expressions that the couple revealed left her astonished.


    Khan showed a liveliness that he had never revealed among the other Niqols. Azni had never seen him so rxed and happy. His chuckles and whispers were sweet sounds that made his partner blush and smile whenever they reached her ears.


    Liiza''s behavior was even more astonishing. Azni had basically never seen the girl smile inside the academy, and her status as an outcast made it even harder to see her wear something different than a cold face.


    However, that cold and detached Niqols didn''t exist when Khan hugged her. Liiza shot captivating smiles and meaningful nces as her hands caressed Khan''s face and bare chest. She even bit her lower lip when the kisses became too intense.


    "She is still staring," Liiza whispered before diving into Khan''s neck and chuckling.


    "Can you me her?" Khan teased. "I must look great."


    "I''ll make sure to aim at you the next time," Liiza threatened while biting the base of Khan''s neck.


    "You''ll leave a sign again," Khanined. "Though you were so cute before. Were you worried that I was cheating on you?"


    "Shut up," Liiza said through her bite. "I need to brand you to keep the other girls away."


    "How am I even going to justify a hickey here?" Khan scoffed without stopping her partner from ying with his neck.


    "Just me the leeches," Liiza groaned.


    "The leeches'' bites go deeper," Khanughed before immersing his face in Liiza''s hair to reach her ear, "And they definitely don''t look like this."


    Liiza left Khan''s neck and fixed her gaze on her partner''s eyes. She appeared ready to jump on him, but she managed to hold back due to the troublesome situation.


    Azni had initially thought that Khan and Liiza were only a passionate couple, but those intense stares and gestures made her change her mind. She obviously knew about the rarepatibility between two different mana, but the Niqols taught it as if it were one of those unreasonable love stories with fated partners. Yet, she felt that the couple in front of her fit that state.


    "Couldn''t this happen during a formal event?" Liizained through an exasperated sigh. "We actually have to do important things now."


    "Eight of us have fallen in the underground world," Azni announced now that the conversation had reached topics that she could join. "We must find the others and a way out of here."


    "We really must," Liiza repeated in an annoyed tone before leaving a deep kiss on Khan''s lips.


    Liiza stood up at that point, and she took Khan''s hand to make him imitate her. Azni also went back on her feet, and the romantic atmosphere slowly vanished as everyone focused on their situation.


    The main issue there was theck of a way out. Azni and the others would leave the matter in the hands of their superiors otherwise. The unknown nature of the leeches made the eight members of the group not enough to face that threat. Still, they were stuck in the underground world now, so gathering everyone sounded like the best option.


    "Remember, not a word with the others," Khan reminded Azni before taking Liiza into his arms and kissing her again.


    Azni giggled and nodded, but her expression showed disappointment when she saw how Khan and Liiza behaved outside of the cave. Both wore cold faces and stopped exchanging gazes as they inspected therge area with the river.


    The sudden change in their behavior made Azni feel as if the previous scenes had been nothing more than a dream. She struggled to imagine Liiza and Khan as happy as before when she inspected their current expressions.


    Azni kept her disappointment for herself since the mission came before her desire for gossips. The three even had to find the backpacks since she had lost hers during the fall.


    The travel through the underground structure resumed in silence. Only a few whispers resounded among Khan and the two girls when branches that led in different parts of their appeared in their vision.


    Azni, Khan, and Liiza decided to remain inside therge areas since they gave them an advantage over the leeches hiding inside the soft spots. Having some space allowed them to dodge sudden attacks without risking hitting the walls.


    The group didn''t bother speaking about the situation because it was impossible to gain a clear idea of the threat even after they fell inside their. Only a study of the actual cause behind that underground structure could reveal something, but the tunnels continued to offer them nothing more than leeches.


    The dull and slow march gained some meaning once the group found footsteps stretching toward one of the narrow cavities to their right. The river had long since disappeared, and only rocky walls filled with holes and soft spots surrounded them. Dangers would surely apany those tracks, but the trio didn''t hesitate to proceed ahead.


    Khan could see perfectly with the two Niqols a few steps behind him. Their glowing eyes were like electric torches in that almostplete darkness. The narrow cavity unfolded in his vision in its entirety after the group took a single step inside it, and he could immediately see an unusual pile of dirt umted in the distant corner.


    That cave was small, and its entrance allowed only two grown-up men to pass at the same time. Khan had to re at Liiza a few times before she stopped fighting him for the spot in front of the group, but the inspection proceeded smoothly afterward.


    Khan could study the small area and confirm that it didn''t have threats that he could sense. That didn''t say anything about the leeches, but he didn''t fear them too much. His speed and his new proficiency level made him quite good against those frail opponents, and hispanions were there to help if the situation even became dangerous.


    Multiple ck spots jumped out of the pile of dirt once Khan entered its range, but he almost expected that to happen after witnessing the same event multiple times throughout the exploration. Many leeches tried to reach him with their threatening mouths, but his kicks arrived before them.


    The leeches exploded mid-air as Khan delivered three fast kicks and took another step toward the pile of dirt. More of those creatures came out, but he killed them quickly before repeating the process until he was in front of the actual terrain.


    The tracks led there, so Khan didn''t hesitate to kick away part of the soil to dig through the insides of the pile, and a Niqols'' foot eventually appeared in his vision. Liiza and Azni couldn''t miss that detail, and their expressions inevitably darkened, but Khan didn''t let that scene stop his actions.


    Khan carefully bent forward and stopped multiple times to make sure that no leeches jumped at him. Still, the soil seemed safe now, so he could grab the Niqols'' foot and pull that body from the pile. The figure that unfolded in his eyes immediately made him think about Elbek, but a peculiar detail made him forget about the alien altogether.


    Khan had only managed to pull half of the Niqols'' body out of the dirt before a disgusting scene filled his vision. He saw the familiar rough skin of the leeches covering the alien''s waist, but that feature didn''t belong to multiple Tainted animals. Instead, it came from a single creature that was trying to eat Elbek.


    The biggest leech that Khan had ever seen was sucking Elbek''s body inside its sharp mouth. The creature was almost two meters long and thirty centimetersrge, but its figure stretched to let the Niqols pass through its cavity.


    The Tainted animal ignored Khan and focused on sucking the boy deeper inside its body, and that process continued even after he kicked the lower part of its rough figure. He was trying to make the creature let go of Elbek, and the attack seemed to work since the boy''s body slowly came out of the sharp mouth.


    Khan continued to stomp his foot on the creature until the entirety of Elbek''s body left the sharp mouth. He understood that nothing could help the boy at that point. The giant leech had made the skin of the corpse''s upper part melt.

 Chapter 146 - Deeper

    The giant leech didn''t do anything after Elbek''s corpse left its mouth. It tried to crawl toward its prey, but it seemed to have problems moving its body in its stretched state.


    Khan inspected the leech for a few seconds and confirmed that it wouldn''t attack before moving his attention to the corpse. He had known Elbek for a mere week, so his death didn''t affect him too much. Yet, the event still swept his mind with a wave of sadness that he couldn''t suppress.


    The two girls experienced stronger feelings at that scene. Liiza was rtively better off since she didn''t have close rtionships with her peers. However, she had known most of the students in the academy for years due to her mother''s unique role in the Niqols'' society, and she couldn''t help but take Khan''s hand while her eyes remained on the corpse.


    Instead, Azni''s world turned upside-down. She had shared countless parties with Elbek, and the boy had even attended many lessons with her.


    The Niqols'' way of life often put students in front of dangers since the elders made them handle monsters and simr threats. However, the death of a friend remained a tough event to endure. Azni had it even worse since Elbek was her firstpanion lost in a mission.


    The leech screeched as its mouth started to shrink, but Khan promptly mmed his foot at the center of its body. The creature voiced a high-pitched painful cry, but it didn''t turn its attention away from its prey. It even tried to rely on its stic body to reach it, but Khan kept it still.


    The cave was so silent that Khan didn''t miss Liiza''s gulp. He allowed himself to ignore his pretense at that point. He pulled his girlfriend close and wrapped his free arm around her while making sure to caress her back.


    Khan wasn''t a stranger to death. He had epted it during the Second Impact, and Istrone''s crisis had made him grow used to it. Elbek''s corpse only managed to generate sadness inside him, but it didn''t stop his mind from gathering information.


    Elbek''s corpse didn''t show any visible deadly injury except for the melted skin. Some strands of white hair and a few patches of skin were still in ce and revealed his identity, but Khan didn''t manage to find anything that could have caused his death before the arrival of the big leech. Turning the body on the other side with his free leg only confirmed that the creature had killed him.


    ''We have been lucky,'' Khan concluded in his mind after his inspection.


    Elbek couldn''t be weak since he had earned a spot in that mission. He was still in the first year, but the Niqols didn''t use that to describe a student''s battle prowess.


    Theck of evident injuries confirmed that the fall didn''t kill Elbek. The big leech had probably taken the Niqols by surprise while the rivers of ground submerged him. Even Khan would have died in those conditions, so he couldn''t help but consider himself lucky to have met only the small versions.


    His embrace tightened when those conclusions reached his mind. Liiza had also been lucky, and he couldn''t help but feel grateful about that. The girl had continued to stare at the corpse even after Khan had taken her into her arms. Still, she turned her worried gaze toward him when she felt his reaction.


    Khan limited himself to move his hand on the back of Liiza''s head and pull her even closer. He immersed his face in her long white hair and bathed in her scent. Feeling happy about that oue wasn''t good, but he didn''t care. He felt d that the big leech found Elbek instead of her.


    A sob forced the couple to turn toward Azni. Tears had started to fall from the girl''s eyes as they remained fixed on the corpse. The scene generated another wave of sadness inside Khan, but he didn''t know what to do to console her.


    Surprisingly, Liiza made the first move. She left a kiss on Khan''s bare shoulder before gently pushing him away and taking Azni''s hands into hers. Thetter sobbed again when their fingers touched, and she felt unable to oppose Liiza pulling her into her chest.


    Liiza was an outcast, but she still knew how to behave in those situations. Also, she could understand Azni''s pain, even if it weren''t as intense for her.


    Khan sighed and ced a hand on Azni''s shoulder to express his emotional support. His other hand went on Liiza''s head, and she turned to show aplicated expression to him.


    Azni continued to cry while Liiza held her. Meanwhile, thetter continued to stare at Khan. No one knew what to do in that situation, but Khan had more experience, so he eventually decided to divert his attention from that sad moment.


    The big leech had almost regained its original form during those minutes. It had even shown some agility while stretching its stic body toward the partially melted Elbek. Its abilities wereing back, but Khan wouldn''t let it live that long.


    Khan left the two Niqols and pointed the entirety of his weight on the foot keeping the leech still. His other leg bent until his knee touched his chest before unleashing the umted power downward.


    His attack created a foot-shaped hole that pierced both sides of the leech''s mouth. Khan didn''t know how tough a creature of that size was, but he saw that it continued to move, so he didn''t hesitate to repeat his technique.


    The leech stopped moving when Khan removed a quarter of its body. Azni trembled every time an attacknded on the ground, but she didn''t say anything. Liiza only held her tightly to make her forget about that event.


    Khan''s attention moved toward the pile of soil at that point. He checked the hole in the ceiling standing right above it to make sure that no big leech tried to ambush him and moved forward after confirming the absence of threats.


    Using his hands to dig through the soil was too dangerous, so Khan performed light kicks that dismembered the pile little by little. A few small leeches reappeared when he reached its deepest parts, but taking care of them while his leg was already in the air was far too easy.


    His action wasn''t meaningless, and his eyes lit up when he found what he was looking for. A torn backpack full of leeches appeared in his eyes when he reached the other side of the pile, and he didn''t hesitate to grab it while killing all the creatures he found.


    ''Hopefully we can retrieve another one,'' Khan thought while emptying the backpack''s contents to take care of the remaining leeches.


    Azni ended up in that part of the underground structure without her backpack, so it had probably remained above the rocky ceiling that prevented the group from using their Aduns to leave. The trio could only hope to find another one while looking for the other Niqols.


    A few leeches came out when Khan emptied the backpack. They ate the pinkish flowers even if their properties made them sleepy and slow. Those simple creatures didn''t seem to care about the nature of their food as long as it contained mana.


    Khan squashed the leeches quickly and fixed the backpack as best as he could. The creatures had filled it with holes, but Khan had lived in the Slums. He knew how to patch it up through special knots that inevitably diminished its capacity.


    Khan proceeded to put the flowers back into the backpack after checking that the knots held strong, and two pairs of hands suddenly joined him. Liiza showed a sad smile when he gazed at her, but Azni kept her eyes fixed on the ground to focus on the task. A few tears still fell from her face, but she was able to suppress her sobs now.


    Khan wanted to give the backpack to Liiza after the group finished filling it, but Azni took it without giving any exnation. Her determined face prevented herpanions fromining, so the three left the cave without ncing at the corpse again. The ceiling was even too high there, so none of them dared to suggest climbing out of that hole.


    The march through the underground area resumed, but the atmosphere among the group was far heavier than before. Elbek''s death hadpletely changed their mood, and no one dared to speak even if they had discovered a crucial detail of thatir.


    The big leech was a monster, and Khan had no doubts about it. The creature was identical to its smaller version. The mutation had only affected its size.


    That discovery led to positive and negative conclusions. Khan could confirm that the mutations weren''t too scary. A mere change in size was something that he could handle without help. He had even confirmed that his kicks could pierce the leech from side to side.


    Still, that weakness led to his negative conclusions. After all, the big leech was too small to cause that mess in the underground world. It didn''t make sense for only one of them to create such an intricate and deep structure. There had to be more monsters, and that hinted at the presence of different mutations.


    It was almost impossible for mana to cause identical mutations on two different beings. The pack of leeches had probably fed on the same animals and nts, but they remained separated beings. Khan couldn''t use the big leech to predict what abilities the other monsters had developed, but he felt rtively sure that all of them would feature increased size.


    The mutations had to be different, but they could share simr effects at their base, especially in a pack that had lived in the same environment and fed on the same things. Moreover, the width of the underground structure forced Khan to think that the other monsters had to be big enough to dig something so vast. It almost felt necessary when he thought about it.


    The short meetings with small leeches resumed. Those creatures seemed to upy every soft spot of the underground structure, and the group learnt to recognize them as their walk continued. It felt strange that they failed to encounter other students on their path, but everything became clear when the ceiling above them stopped featuring holes.


    Khan had kept track of his movements, and the two Niqols also had a great sense of direction. They could calcte that they had long since circled the areas beneath the flowery regions. The disappearance of holes in the ceiling showed that the leeches didn''t dig those parts.


    "Maybe they ended up on the other side," Liiza suggested after Khan stopped for the fifth time to inspect the area.


    "I don''t know how smart it is to continue on this path," Khan revealed. "We know that most of the previous region has crumbled, but we don''t know anything about the others. I''d avoid testing their stability."


    The group didn''t know how much of thend had crumbled after the earthquake. Khan didn''t want to go on the regions on the other side of the flowery area only to cause another mess with his noise. He would rather find a way toward the surface in zones that had already stabilized after falling apart.


    However, the previous tunnel didn''t show any viable way toward the surface. Khan''s group didn''t explore many cavities, and they had even avoided reaching the end of the path in the opposite direction, but they hesitated to take one of those ways.


    The opposite direction led toward the regions that didn''t feature cracks on their surface. Khan had avoided them because he wanted to find Liiza, but they also had fewer chances of featuring paths that could lead outside of the underground area.


    Also, finding tunnels that went upward didn''t necessarily mean a connection to the surface since those areas could lead to the intact regions. The highest chances of the group were on the already crumblednds, but that meant venturing through the narrow cracks or directly picking paths that went downward.


    "We should go back," Azni broke her silence while Khan and Liiza thought about their issue. "The others would have left signs of their passage on the walls. They must be inside one of the passages that we ignored or¡­."


    Azni didn''t need to say thatst word. The others'' death could exin theck of tracks or signals left by the others, but she wasn''t ready to say that yet, not so soon after confirming Elbek''s death.


    Khan made a few calctions in his mind again. The underground currents might have led the students far away, but not that far. His group had covered a reasonable distance, so it made sense for the other Niqols to be at their sides rather than forward. A few hours had passed since the fall even. Someone was bound to be awake as long as the leeches didn''t kill all of them.


    A tedious and slow search started after the group decided to turn. Azni used some petals to leave pink marks on the dark walls whenever Khan explored the caves and passages next to them. Most of them were nothing more than small cavities, but some stretched for a few hundreds of meters before ending into rocky barriers.


    Still, the group eventually found a tunnel that led somewhere. The only problem was that it did that through a hole on the floor. Khan wanted to avoid going even deeper but catching a glimpse of a faint figure made him change his mind.


    Khan saw a dead big leech on the floor past the floor. The creature seemed almost identical to the monster that had killed Elbek. The only difference was in the ck hair growing out of the edges of its mouth.


    ****


    Author''s notes: The second chapter might take up to three hours toe out. Hopefully I''ll be quick.

 Chapter 147 - Reunion

    The sight of the different mutations didn''t surprise Khan. His focus remained on the fact that the big leech was dead and didn''t show external injuries. Its murky dark blood had flowed out of its mouth, which hinted at the presence of internal damage.


    Those signs made Khan almost certain that a Niqols had killed the monster. The absence of external injuries matched the aliens'' fighting style, and he couldn''t find other exnations for its death in that unique environment. Of course, stronger predators could exist, but that felt unlikely due to how crowded the underground area was with leeches.


    Descending through the hole felt inevitable now, but Khan didn''t want to get down without ensuring a path back to the previous area. The current tunnel had yet to show passages to the surface, but the group didn''t explore all of it. Moreover, keeping an escape path open was never a bad option.


    Khan showed aplicated expression when he turned toward the two girls. They were already wearing only their underwear, and he wasn''t better off. The groupcked the materials needed to build a rope, and the backpack alone could only cover one or two meters of the five that separated the hole from the floor under it.


    Khan could get creative to stretch the length covered by the backpack once he tore it apart to create a rope, but that would affect its durability. That weakness wasn''t ideal when he had to jump to reach it, but he could only add his torn clothes now.


    "Stay here for a bit," Khan ordered while diverting his gaze. "I''m going to get something to make a rope."


    Khan left before the girls could understand orin about his decision. He literally sprinted toward the entrance of the passage and ran toward the narrow cavity that contained Elbek''s corpse.


    It took Khan less than ten minutes to reach that area. A few leeches were sucking the stale blood from the Niqols'' corpse, but he didn''t disturb them. Elbek had lost most of his robe after the fall and the monster''s melting saliva, but its lower part was still rtively intact. His underwear was also in a good state, and Khan cursed in his mind when he seized them.


    It was time for Liiza to see one of Khan''s ugly sides. His life in the Slums and Istrone''s crisis had made him unable to forsake resources that could help him survive. Yet, he didn''t know if his girlfriend could see past his unpleasant act and evaluate it with a cynical mind.


    Khan sprinted back to the path where he had left the two Niqols, but he struggled to continue at his fastest pace when the rocky entrance drew near. His mind even allowed him to sense the two girls, and that only slowed down his steps.


    The hesitation eventually lost to the gravity of the situation. Khan forced himself to step inside the cave while carrying Elbek''s torn clothes in his hands.


    The two Niqols had prepared themselves to fight when they heard the faint steps resounding in the tunnel, but they rxed when they saw Khan crossing the entrance. Yet, their expressions quickly darkened when they noticed the clothes in his hands. Their reaction only worsened at the sight of the ck underwear on top of the white fabric.


    Khan didn''t stay still under their unclear gazes. He reached the two girls and crouched before starting to work with Elbek''s clothes. He even removed the few rags that still covered his underwear during the process, and a seemingly firm rope eventually took form.


    Khan''s hands moved quickly but precisely. He didn''t want to remain under the girls'' judging eyes longer than necessary, but he couldn''t fail to build a decent rope either. Still, a cold sensation suddenly spread from his bare shoulder, and Khan almost jumped back on his feet due to that unexpected event.


    His surprise transformed into warmth when he noticed that Liiza had crouched and had ced her hand on his shoulder. She was even wearing an understanding smile to express her support.


    "You are good at this," Liiza eximed in a desperate attempt to lighten the mood and make Khan feel better.


    Khan couldn''t express how intense his affection toward Liiza became. She had vanquished his fears in a mere instant. His situation was awful, and he had just piged hispanion''s corpse, but he felt that moment to be the happiest in his life. Even his first time couldn''tpare to theplete eptance that Liiza showed toward his ugly sides.


    "You can find many fainted drunkards in the Slums every Sunday morning," Khan revealed while his gaze returned on the torn clothes and a faint smile appeared on his face. "Food was a priority back then, but clothes were pretty useful too. They served as nkets, pillows, curtains, and covers for the cold tiles, but I always had to cut and patch something up after stealing them from the drunkard. I also had to handle my father, so I became good quickly."


    "No wonder you run so fast," Liiza chuckled whileying her head on his shoulder and watching him work.


    "Please," Khan scoffed. "I hid in corners or roofs and let the other kids go first to study the situation. I shouted something to scare them off if everything looked good."


    "Oh my," Liiza giggled. "My boyfriend is a scoundrel."


    "A lucky one," Khan added while shooting an intense nce toward Liiza.


    The couple almost fell in a daze when their eyes met. They forgot that Khan was working with their dead friend''s clothes and that Azni was standing next to them. Still, thetter cleared her throat to remind the two of her presence.


    Khan snapped back to reality and finished that part of the rope. His gaze went toward Azni at that point, and his hand also stretched toward her. The girl initially frowned when she thought that he wanted her sports bra, but he promptly pointed at her backpack.


    "No Niqols would hold a grudge against you for this," Azni sighed while sitting in front of Khan and handing him the backpack. "Well, others might see you as a cynical human, but I know that you don''t care about our differences."


    Azni nced at Liiza before nodding to show her sincere support, and thetter''s smile brightened at that gesture. She instinctively took Azni''s hand. Liiza felt strange after being alone for so long, but it seemed that a friend had eventually appeared in her life.


    Khan was the reason behind that sudden friendship, so her feelings for him intensified during those moments. Liiza started caressing his back while he emptied the backpack and undid the knots to rip it apart. Both girls wanted to help him, but they didn''t say anything in front of his evident superiority in the task.


    "I''m sorry for Elbek," Khan whispered. "He-."


    "Not now," Azni interrupted him while suppressing a sob. "We''ll talk about it once we get out."


    The conversation ended there, and no one dared to mention the topic anymore.


    Theplete rope took a few more minutes to appear. Khan pulled both sides of each important knot a few times to make sure that everything held strong and that the overall item was stable enough to endure a person''s weight. The Niqols were a bit lighter than humans, so he didn''t have to worry about the tallest in the group that he hoped to find.


    The rocky surfaces in the passage didn''t have viable handholds near the hole''s edges, so the group had to get creative. Liiza had great control over her mana, so she hit the ground a few times to destabilize its insides. Khan could break it with a simple kick at that point, and a suitable spot for their rope eventually appeared.


    After a few tests, the group decided to throw the rope inside the hole. Khan jumped inside it first since he was the only one who could reach the girls'' stretched arms with a jump if the tool ended up not working, but his tests went well. They had a way back to the passage, so everyone got to the new area.


    Arge underground hall unfolded in the group''s eyes. Khan checked the big leech''s corpse once he made sure that nothing came after them, and his inspection confirmed his initial guess. The creature had clearly died due to internal injuries, so some Niqols had to be on that floor.


    Two passages opened from thatrge area, but the group recognized pink marks on both of them. Azni and Liiza could easily trante them into actual messages and understand where theirpanions had gone.


    The three moved quickly. Azni and Liiza even found more marks on the various cavities and passages that appeared on their way, but they became useless once the sounds of heavy steps and grunts echoed through the area.


    Khan nced at Liiza, and thetter didn''t hesitate to nod. He bent forward and elerated after that gesture. The path ahead transformed into a circr scenery surrounded by faint images as his speed reached inhuman levels, and a battle eventually unfolded in his vision.


    Doku and Asyat were against a wall, fighting against four big leeches that had encircled them. Zeliha was behind them, but her condition appeared poor. Her left shoulder and arm featured ugly patches of melted skin, and her eyes struggled to remain open even when her twopanions were doing their best to protect her.


    Khan''s thoughts ran quickly. He had seen Doku''s battle prowess, so the four leeches clearly had special abilities that made them tough opponents for that strong Niqols. Asyat couldn''t be bad either since the professors had picked her for the mission.


    Nevertheless, Khan arrived behind the first big leech before his reasoning could end, and his leg instinctively rose to deliver a powerful kick. He had already gained a clear understanding of the monsters'' texture, so he knew exactly how much strength he required to cleave them in half.


    Khan''s rotating kick resembled an ax that swung at the center of the leech''s straightened body. The monster was standing on a small part of its lower figure as it prepared to throw itself at its prey, but it suddenly fell to the ground. Its limited mind didn''t allow it to notice that its mouth and tail didn''t have flesh connecting them anymore.


    The event had been so sudden that both Niqols and leeches failed to notice Khan''s arrival. One of the monsters evenpleted its offensive while itspanions died. It leapt toward Asyat, but its head exploded into a gory mess of flesh and dark blood.


    The girl required an entire second to realize that someone had killed the leech before it could reach her, but she still failed to focus on her savior since Khan shot directly toward the other monsters.


    Doku fended off one of the leeches with a precise rising palm strike that made the creature spit a mouthful of blood and saliva. The exchange forced him to take a step back to dodge the iing corrosive fluid. Thest monster was even flying toward the almost-fainted Zeliha, so he hoped to push it off track with a messy shoulder-bash.


    Still, a shadow hit the flying leech before Doku could reach it. The Niqols saw the monster losing half of its body and interrupting its charge. It could only fall on the ground after it became nothing more than a scaled mouth attacked to a small chunk of bleeding flesh.


    Doku became aware of his helper when the third leech''s fall suddenly elerated. The creature''s head exploded when it crashed on the ground, and his eyes finally be used to the sudden change in the images in front of him. Doku saw Khan flicking his left leg to remove the corrosive saliva that had fallen on his shoe, and he also heard the silent curse escaping his mouth when his foot remained bare.


    "Khan!" Doku happily eximed, and his voice attracted the attention of the two girls with him.


    Asyat showed pure happiness when she saw Khan. She didn''t know him too much, but his feats in the battle were enough to make her ecstatic. Zeliha also opened her tired eyes, and a faint smile appeared on her face when she inspected the oue of the fight.


    Doku wanted to add something, but the sound of loud steps attracted his attention and made him nce at the path that his group had just crossed. His smile broadened when he saw Liiza, and his figure shot ahead when Azni''s face peeked past the entrance.


    Azni showed a happy smile too. She jumped in Doku''s arms, and the two exchanged an intense hug before kissing. Liiza walked past them and ignored Khan while inspecting the four dead monsters and the two Niqols near the wall.


    "What happened to her?" Khan asked while crouching next to Zeliha and inspecting her injured shoulder.


    "One of the monsters almost ate her," Asyat exined. "These things can hide from our senses. She can''t use her talent here."


    "I noticed," Khan sighed while avoiding touching her injuries.


    Zeliha''s arm was quite bad, but Khan couldn''t do anything for her. The pink shades around her mouth told him that she had already tried to quell her pain, but her condition appeared unable to improve without proper medications.


    Khan''s expression darkened when he noticed the familiar short sword hung on Zeliha''s back. His voice softened as he questioned Asyat about something that felt quite obvious at that scene. "Did you find Bashir?"


    "We did," Asyat revealed while lowering her gaze. "What remained of him at least."


    "Elbek is also dead," Liiza announced to join the conversation. "Did you find a way back to the surface?"


    "We cleared the other path," Doku exined after separating from Azni. "We checked every corner and cave behind us, but nothing useful came out. Where did you evene from?"


    "We used a hole in the ground," Azni whispered as she held Doku''s face and turned it toward her. "We didn''t explore the entire upper floor, but the situation didn''t look great. Also, we wanted to find you all."


    Doku ended up leaving a kiss on Azni''s lips again, and sheid her head on his chest when they separated. Yet, a wave of sadness filled her eyes when she saw how Liiza and Khan had resumed ignoring themselves. She couldn''t even imagine how hard it was to keep their rtionship a secret in such a dire situation, especially when she could enjoy her man''s embrace so easily.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Thank you IndraDeus and Kane_jay_85 for the castles! I also want to take this chance to all those who send gifts. They don''t go unnoticed, and I greatly appreciate them.

 Chapter 148 - Resuming

    The group made a point of the situation after regrouping, and Zeliha even mustered the strength to give her professional opinion on the fauna.


    It turned out that the situation of Doku''s group had been simr to Khan and the others. The fall had brought the four Niqols into the underground structure''s lower floor, and they had found themselves after exploring the area for a while.


    Bashir had been unlucky enough to meet a big leech while he was inside the rivers of terrain, and the other aliens had found him when a monster had already devoured most of his body. His short sword had remained intact during the process, so the Niqols didn''t have doubts about the consumed corpse''s identity.


    Doku''s approach to the exploration had been thorough, and the two Niqols had followed his example after regrouping. They inspected every cave and cavity, marked each hole, and even reached the end of the path that seemed to lead right under the intact regions.


    Their exploration had featured far more dangers. It seemed that the big leeches liked the deeper areas of the structure, so Doku and the others had ended up facing many of them. Zeliha''s injuries came from a surprise attack suffered when she had yet to confirm the efficiency of her sensitivity to mana. Luckily for her, herpanions had been quick enough to save her shoulder and arm.


    Zeliha''s exnation provided Khan, Azni, and Liiza with a greater understanding of their opponents. She had actually recognized that species after inspecting it during those hours. The Niqols knew the leeches as "[Silent Groundsuckers]", words that they could trante only partially. Still, their meaning sounded fairly obvious when the aliens tried to exin it.


    ording to Zeliha, the main issue in that environment was that the simplicity of the leeches had favored stable mutations and had granted a high survival rate. A simr diet had even led the transformations toward simr fields.


    The size, the corrosive saliva, and the overall sturdiness weremon aspects that the transformations affected. The amount of energy diverted to those features changed from monster to monster, but Zeliha was almost certain that each big leech would have those three enhanced abilities.


    The changes between monster to monster were in the additional features that they gained due to the mutations. Most of them were simple aesthetic transformations. Some developed hair, other scales, a few would even obtain simple teeth, but none showed abilities with power that could match spells. Doku spoke of a specimen capable of generating strong noises, but that was it.


    It seemed that their simplicity went against developing powerful abilities. Their species could only go so far unless more mana came into y, which was almost impossible for creatures that spent their lives eating ground, nts, and rare worms.


    Those features put the [Silent Groundsuckers] above normal Tainted animals due to how easily they could mutate. Still, they also ced them under average monsters since their transformations weren''t too threatening. The major issue with that species was the number of its specimens, which didn''t seem troublesome in front of Khan''s destructive power. Yet, Zeliha ended up contradicting him on that point.


    The leeches'' soft bodies were troublesome to handle for the Niqols since their martial arts focused on inflicting internal injuries. The aliens in the second year could switch to a more brutish fighting style, but they would lose a significant amount of efficiency, which made their normal attacks better.


    The problem was with their maniption of mana. The students could make their energy work for punches rather than palm strikes, but they wouldn''t be able to express its true power, and their attacks would suffer from heavy dys.


    Liiza turned out to be the only one among the group with proficiency in manipting mana high enough to change the nature of her energy without suffering heavy dys. Yet, she had always used palm strikes throughout her life, so her battle prowess would inevitably fall when switching style so abruptly.


    Moreover, most of her proficiency in the maniption field went toward her ice. That spell was a powerful ability that could kill tens of big leeches in a single attack at the price of a short preparation, so the group felt that they had gained a trump card after the reunion.


    Of course, Khan''s gained a lot of attention after his previous feat. He had killed four monsters in mere seconds since his martial art was ideal for those creatures. He risked touching the corrosive saliva only when his feet pierced the leeches'' skin, which made him perfect for the frontlines there.


    Khan and his group didn''t hesitate to share their experiences of the superior floor, but their story didn''t have much except for Elbek''s death. The trio had gone through many tunnels and small leeches without ever getting closer to an exit. The rope left behind could work as an escape route and second path if everything down there failed, but that was as much as they could tell.


    Doku had forced Asyat to throw her backpack away when he saw that four monsters were chasing them, but the group retrieved it quickly. Learning that Khan and the others had left a pile of flowers on the higher floor didn''t tempt him at all. Finding a way back to the surface had the priority. Doku felt terrible that his decision to proceed with the mission had led to the death of hispanions, so he didn''t want to take risks anymore.


    The march eventually resumed, and Khan''s group could experience how thorough Doku was when he was in charge. He even made them peek through every hole they could reach when exploring small cavities and simr structures.


    The lower floor really ended up having many monsters, but the students only met them in groups of two at best, and Khan was more than enough to take care of them. His kicks were deadly weapons against those creatures. The only problem was with his shoes and what the corrosive saliva did to them, but hispanion gave him theirs whenever he needed a new pair.


    Khan ended up running out of avable shoes after fighting his twentieth monster, so he relied on pieces of fabric from theirpanions'' robes. Those were bound to vanish too, but he could only hope for the exploration to end before he had to fight barefooted.


    The hours passed, but the group continued to find nothing useful. The faint thought that a path that could bring them back to the surface didn''t exist at all tried to make its way inside their minds, but everyone suppressed it. Their situation was already awful. Worsening it with negative ideas wouldn''t help at all.


    Still, that idea became incredibly loud as more time passed and the group continued to fail to find anything that they could use to climb out of that empty ce. It felt even reasonable for those paths not to exist in the underground structure since the leeches didn''t dig while following human or Niqols'' standards.


    Those creatures didn''t need to build something that led to the surface since they could crawl toward it while digging more tunnels. Andslide had even happened, so the group even had to be a bit lucky to find something remotely useful for their needs.


    Most of the paths led downward, but the trend described by Zeliha worried the group about diving deeper into the underground area. A single difference in floors had increased the number of monsters exponentially, and the students didn''t want to imagine what the depths contained.


    However, the group ended up not needing their imagination at all since something finally appeared. They had ended up moving toward the intact regions again by then, and a peculiar structure that the student saw as the most beautiful scenery in the world eventually unfolded in their eyes.


    Khan and the others found themselves in front of a diagonal wall that featured rivers of ground and protruding rocks. Still, the structure''s inclination worked in their favor, and it went past the ceiling even if it didn''t seem to reach the surface.


    The group didn''t care about going directly to the surface. It was enough for their Aduns to have a clear path, and the rescue mission would be a sess. Crossing the ceiling and jumping on the first stable area that gave them a clear view of the outside world was everything they had ever needed.


    Finding that diagonal wall brought immense happiness to the group, but the hard part came right afterward. They had to prepare for the actual climb, and that meant taking care of two issues.


    The pink flowers left by Khan''s group were still on the other end of the rope attached to the hole used to descend to the lower floor. Technically, they were in a safe area, so leaving them there felt like a waste, especially since two of theirpanions had died in the mission that involved them.


    Moreover, Zeliha couldn''t do the climb. Doku and Azni had alternated themselves during the exploration to carry her, but they couldn''t cross that steep wall with her on their back. The ground that covered the many rocks made everything too slippery.


    The group didn''t need words, and Khan didn''t oppose the suggestion that came out of Doku''s mouth either. He would take care of climbing the wall with Zeliha on his back.


    As for the flowers, Doku, Liiza, and Asyat could take care of them. Khan had to remain near the wall to defend their escape route, and Doku wanted to leave Azni in the safest position he knew.


    Everyone could understand that Doku was giving unfair advantages to his girlfriend, but no one bothered toin. Azni was the only one who tried to say something, but she quickly had to give up on it since herpanions didn''t support herints. After all, Doku wasn''t endangering the sess of the mission with his decision. He had just picked one Niqols over another.


    Khan didn''t like that Liiza traveled with students who couldn''t do much in the fights, but he had to suppress those emotions and go along with everything that Doku said. Azni noticed his behavior, and she couldn''t help but sigh when she saw that he kept his mask on even when the only stranger was a half-fainted Niqols sitting on the ground.


    The second team didn''t take much toe back. Doku had memorized every path in the area by then, so reaching the rope, retrieving the flowers, anding up with a simple basket turned out to be rather quick since no monsters appeared on his path. His group had even left the cord in its ce since an escape path could still end up being necessary.


    Khan helped modify the basket so that it could be a simple backpack, and everyone prepared for the imminent climb. Khan made a few tests on his own before confirming the stability of the rocks and bending forward to make hispanions put Zeliha on his back.


    Seeing the closeness of the girl to his back, her legs wrapped around his waist, and his hands holding her thighs almost made Liiza''s snap. Witnessing herpanions watching such an intimate scene without batting an eye made her furious about her situation. Luckily for Liiza, Azni had expected something like that to happen after experiencing her deadly reaction.


    "[Let''s do our best]," Azni suddenly announced while taking Liiza''s hands. "[Mind you. Skipping todays'' party isn''t an option, not even for you]."


    Azni''s surprising words left the group speechless, but it wasn''t hard to guess that the two girls had grown close after spending the first part of the crisis together. They didn''t expect Azni to invite Liiza to the parties right away, but they didn''t hesitate to show their support through nods and smiles.


    Holding grudges after experiencing such a tragic event felt pointless. Some still thought that the benefits for the whole species connected to her marriage with Ilman were too incredible to ignore. Still, that wasn''t the time to talk about that. The mission had turned Liiza into nothing more than apanion, and she could remain that for the entire day and longer if she felt like it.


    "Can we leave this ce now?" Khan coldlymented as the Niqols continued to show their approval to Liiza.


    Khan had performed a few squats and had jumped on his spot to grow used to Zeliha''s weight, but the matter had been rtively quick since the girl was incredibly light, even lighter than Liiza. Her undeveloped body was actually working to his advantage in that situation.


    The group could only focus on the mission at that remark. Doku was the first to stretch his legs before jumping on the wall and leaping among the various rocks to go even higher. The difficulties began when he had to cross the area where the ceiling almost touched the inclined surface, but he had found a decent passage already, and crawling for a few meters wasn''t a problem.


    Liiza was the second, and Asyat followed right after. Azni jumped on the wall after the girl, and Khan imitated her after she crossed the narrow passage.


    Khan struggled a bit to find the proper position that could suit the task. Yet, the passage was too narrow, so his chest ended up sliding on some sharp rocks before actually moving to the other side of the ceiling.


    ****


    Author''s notes: The second is ready. Just give me 20ish minutes to finish editing.

 Chapter 149 - Saved

    Khan ignored the pain and let the sharp rocks cut his chest as he crawled in the narrow passage between the wall and the ceiling. Something inevitably touched Zeliha, but those contacts happened so softly that her skin remained intact. A few white marks appeared, but nothing more.


    A different environment unfolded in Khan''s eyes when he crawled for a few meters. The ceiling ended at that point, and he could see piles of soil filling the uneven area above it. The upper side of the tunnels had many tall protruding rocks that managed to peek out of the sea of ground that covered most of the area. It resembled a sandy in with dunes and hills, but Khan disregarded everything when he saw the dark sky standing high above him.


    His legs quickly kicked the wall and pushed him toward the rtively t area. His feet sank in theyers of terrain, but he managed to grow used to the soft ground quickly. A deep breath and a few steps allowed him to jump back on the actual surface and keep him there without seeing his legs submerged by that dark soil.


    Khan instinctively called Snow before inspecting the area a second time. Hispanions were nearby, all struggling with the unstable surface, but smiles filled their faces. They knew that their Aduns would soone to pick them up. That nightmare was about to end.


    Still, an environment filled with terrain in that specialir was bound to have threats, and Khan understood that far too well. The others were also aware that the dark sea could hide many leeches and monsters, so they didn''t let their happiness ruin their concentration.


    The Niqols remained still as they waited for something to appear, but Khan sprinted toward them without caring about his surroundings. He was too fast for any eventual threat, so he could focus on getting Zeliha off his back.


    Doku and the others couldn''t help but stare in surprise at Khan''s movements. He wasn''t sinking in the ground even while moving so fast and with the girl on his back. He seemed to float above that frail surface, and the terrain barely moved when he abruptly stopped in front of them.


    The group had already prepared for that situation. It wasn''t hard to guess what to expect on the other side of the ceiling since that area featured only rocks and soft ground. Liiza immediately closed her eyes and focused on her mana while Asyat took care of picking up Zeliha and putting her on her back with the help of herpanions.


    Khan had vanished from his position when the Niqols turned to look at him. They found him on top of one of the protruding rocks nearby. He stood on his toes, with his back and knees slightly bent to be ready for any eventual threat that dared toe out of the ground before Liizapleted her spell.


    The Niqols had a tight connection with Nitis'' fauna, but their rtionship wasn''t in the same realm as the Kred with Istrone''s vegetation. They simply knew most animals fairly well, and they also felt a deep respect for those powerful creatures.


    Khan resembled a predator in his hunting ground in the Niqols'' eyes. He barely released traces of his presence, and his body looked like a spring ready to unleash its power forward. Doku and the others had seen him fight in the past hours, so everyone had learnt how strong he was, and they felt able to rely on him after witnessing that scene.


    Khan''s appealing state ended up distracting most Niqols. Only Doku remained aware of his surroundings and noticed two monsters and a few leeches leaping out of the ground near them. Their mouths were already pointing at various members of the group, with the big creatures aiming at Zeliha and Doku.


    "[Fight!]" Doku shouted, and a shadow flew past him while he turned to face his opponent.


    Asyat struggled to dodge the iing monster since her legs had sunk into the ground and Zeliha was on her back. Her best option was to jump to her side and threw herself on the soft surface, but her mind didn''t think so quickly. Luckily for her, a shadow made the big leech''s head explode while she still realized the nature of the threat.


    A few footprints materialized on the soft surface when Khannded. Stoppingpletely with that momentum would only make him sink into the ground, so he took a few steps forward before curving and continuing to sprint until he faced his group again.


    The situation had already changed at that point. Azni had killed some small leeches flying toward her, Doku had managed to hit his monster with a palm strike and move his body away from its trajectory, and Liiza had remained still while creatures hadnded on her shoulder and side.


    Khan hated himself like never before while sprinting ahead and circling the group until he reached Doku''s position. His monster had fallen and was about to hide back into the ground, but Khan stomped on that spot, and a familiar wet sensation spread from his almost bare foot.


    Khan used his momentum to rotate on himself and stomp with his other foot. The ground around his legs flew away and revealed the maimed monster squashed on the rocks below. The second attack had sessfully killed the creature, so Khan could finally jump toward his girlfriend.


    His hands were enough to remove the leeches that had attached themselves to Liiza''s skin. The injuries that they left behind continued to bleed, but Khan couldn''t do much about it. He could only appreciate how his girlfriend didn''t lose her concentration during that painful interaction.


    Khan could return to his protruded rock at that point, and the familiar noise caused by the pping of wings soon reached his ears. The other Niqols didn''t miss that sound either, and their gazes instinctively went toward the sky.


    The upper side of the ceiling basically was the bottom of arge canyon. The earthquake had created huge cracks in the area that had turned a in featuring small hills into a series of gorges that led to a hellish environment.


    Therge area toward the surface that opened above the upper side of the tunnels'' ceiling was perfect for the Aduns. Those creatures had even remained nearby during those hours since they had sensed their riders'' anxiety and danger, so it only took them a few minutes to reach the right canyon and dive toward the desperate Niqols.


    Snow''s white feathers seemed to shine among the darkness, and Khan could only smile at the sight of his Aduns descending with the other creatures. Still, he couldn''t help but notice how Elbek and Bashir''s eagles were absent.


    That detail didn''t matter too much in that situation. Khan moved his eyes back on the group and shot forward when he saw the ground creating a long trail that led toward hispanions.


    Faint footprints appeared on the ground as Khan sprinted toward that long trail and leaped to go airborne. His body rotated to move the entirety of the umted momentum on his left leg. The ground moved before his foot even touched it. A hole opened and revealed the monster crawling toward hispanions before the attack squashed half of its body.


    The hole created among the soft terrain revealed many small leeches that were following the monsters. They immediately turned toward Khan when they noticed his arrival, but a series of kicks took care of them. Some managed to bite his legs since he hadnded among them, but he quickly ended the ughter with his hands.


    "Jump!" Liiza suddenly ordered while opening her eyes, and everyone followed her instructions.


    Her orders weren''t actually for everyone, but even Asyat followed them. She barely managed to bring her feet outside of the surface, but the ground didn''t start freezing until right past Doku.


    Khannded on a smoothyer of ice afterpleting his jump. The surface felt slippery, but it wasn''t too bad, especially when he used mana to improve his foothold. Liiza''s spell had a few ws, and she had exined to the group while they prepared the n for the return.


    The ice covered arge chunk of the upper part of the ceiling. Doku, Azni, and Asyat even stepped on that bluishyer to let Liizaplete her work. She froze the area where they were previously standing at that point, creating a big zone where the group could feel safe from sudden attacks.


    The crisis felt at its end now. The ice protected the group from sudden attacks, and the Aduns were diving toward them. The students were only seconds away from leaving thosends, and Khan even allowed himself to walk toward them at a normal pace.


    However, Khan suddenly noticed a familiar item from the corner of his eyes. His previous positions, the many protruding rocks, and the dunes had made it impossible for him to see it before, but it appeared clear as he approached the Aduns''nding spot.


    Khan saw a backpack with only a few leeches in the areas past theyer of ice. It was impossible to miss it. The item hung from a handhold on the side of a protruded rock. It was mostly intact even.


    The situation didn''t give Khan the time to warn hispanions, and they wouldn''t be able to help in the task either. He only needed to send a message through his mental connection before turning toward the backpack and shooting forward.


    The Niqols were too focused on their Aduns to hear his faint steps. Even Liiza couldn''t notice that Khan had decided to dy his return to a safe area. They understood what had happened only when Snow separated from the group of eagles.


    The Adunsnded, and the Niqols started to jump on them while turning toward Snow. Noticing Khan in the same direction on the ground wasn''t an issue, even if he were running as fast as ever. He was a shadow that barely caused ripples on the surface, and that was enough to identify him.


    Nothing could notice Khan. The leeches and monsters on his path would react to the appearance of his footprints, but he was already far away by that time.


    A jump allowed Khan to cover the few meters that separated him from the backpack. When he grabbed the item, the force he applied tore apart one of its shoulder straps, but hended safely on the ground with the loot in his grasp.


    Khan didn''t sink into the ground, but he inevitably slowed down when he performed his sharp turn. A monster came out from the terrain and tried to block his path at that point. The few sharp teeth that the mutations had caused in that creature gave its mouth a threatening appearance, but he smiled at that sight.


    Khan didn''t slow down in front of that tall creature. Instead, he elerated, making sure to take a deep breath and securing the backpack on his chest. He didn''t care that it had a few leeches as long as he kept its contents safe.


    The monster continued to screech, but it suddenly noticed that Khan disappeared from its senses. A faint sensation had appeared on its head instead, but it vanished in the next instant.


    Khan used the monster as a foothold to jump higher in the sky, and white feathers weed him. Snow promptly unfolded its wings to stop mid-air and give its rider the chance to take the correct position.


    Khan put his legs under the Aduns'' wings and made sure to keep the backpack away from its feathers. The eagle immediately resumed its flight higher toward the sky, and Khan could take care of removing the leeches on the item in the meantime.


    Snow rejoined the other Aduns at that point, and Khan happily noticed that he hadpletely secured the item. The eagles left the canyon at that point, but the Niqols'' eyes inevitably shot toward Khan.


    Khan finished squeezing leeches and removed the creatures that had started to afflict his body afterward. He turned toward hispanions at that point, and he happily showed the third backpack. He had saved most of the mission on his own, so the Niqols onlyughed or shook their heads when they saw how lively he appeared.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I just wanted to say that the idea of the different covers is actually moving on. I n to change cover each volume. You''ll be able to find the old and new ones on discord and Instagram.

 Chapter 150 - Winking

    The group didn''t even consider stopping for a break. They had been inside the underground structure for hours, and they had experienced awful experiences. The sadness and grief caused by the loss of two of theirpanions were intensifying in their minds, and they didn''t want them to burst out in a random spot in the wilds. Zeliha''s condition was also awful, so they prioritized getting back inside the academy.


    The few hours that divided the team from [The Pure Trees] helped the students realize what they had just experienced. It wasn''t too rare for the Niqols to lose assets during hunts or missions. It sounded like a cruel and cynical process, but it also was a core part of their society.


    The Niqols considered themselves Nitis'' overlords, but their approach to the matter wasn''t intrinsic to their intelligence or current position. They didn''t see their status as an obvious consequence of their power like the humans. They believed that they had to earn it constantly, even if they had to put their younger generations through a tough skimming process.


    Khan found it hard to understand that part. It wasn''t a matter of simrities to the Nak or distance from the humans. He had the innate idea that nurturing the young so that they could be strong enough to protect the species was generally better than uncovering talent among the new generations through tough challenges.


    Still, Khan could also see why the Niqols could apply those skimming methods rtively easily. The aliens had fewer specialized fieldspared to humans. They grouped the use of mana into three major areas and judged their students ording to their proficiency in them.


    Instead, humans could find talent in a soldier who struggled to learn a single martial art. Khan found himself thinking about the skinny boy from his entrance test when considering that issue. Jay had a mana core, but his bnce was awful. Yet, his understanding of technology could turn him into a valuable asset inside the Global Army. It might even bring him higher than those who could only fight.


    The Niqols didn''t have that. They used general fields and demanding challenges to evaluate their younger generations. That led to a sturdier foundation, but it also removed from the political and social scene characters that could have an incredible talent in umon areas.


    The forest surrounded by the seven mountains eventually unfolded in the group''s vision. Happy smiles immediately appeared on the Niqols'' faces, but thatfortable sight also broke their self-control. Some students saw their emotions bursting out and filling their eyes with tears. Khan could see Azni and Asyat bending on their Aduns to hide their sadness.


    Doku led the group toward one of the empty spots near the mountains. Professor Supyan and Professor Zakhira were already waiting for them on the ground since he had alerted the academy about their return. Khan felt surprised that the two Niqols didn''t seem to have any special potion or tool at hand to help the students, but everything became clear after thending.


    Zeliha had been too weak to jump on her Aduns on her own. Asyat had kept her on her back during the flight. The professors didn''t hesitate to reach her when she jumped off her eagle.


    Professor Supyan and Professor Zakhira handled the injured girl carefully. Theyy her on the ground and crouched at her sides before stretching their palms forward. Mana came out of their hands and created a dim white membrane above her skin that sent power to her wounded flesh.


    Khan''s sensitivity to mana was quite remarkable, even for Niqols'' standards. His simrities to the Nak and mental training had brought his ability to levels already suitable for the second year when it came to its sheer range. He only had to improve on differentiating the various purpose of that energy to meet the aliens'' standards.


    Still, the purpose of the professors'' mana was evident. Their energy was a warm force incapable of evil. It was simr to the aura released by Veronica''s tree during the test inside the undergroundke, and the power that it carried was simply miraculous.


    Khan saw the patches of melted skin on Zeliha''s shoulder and arm healing at an unfathomable speed. Flesh grew right under his stunned eyes. The Global Army had medicines and technologies capable of fixing severe injuries in mere days or weeks. Still, they felt obsoletepared to the short minutes necessary to bring the girl back to a decent condition.


    The professors retracted their energy and checked Zeliha before taking out one of the ck cubes featuring azure symbols. Professor Supyan lifted the girl with Professor Zakhira''s help before throwing the item under her.


    The cube started releasing a faint force that made Zeliha float mid-air. The item worked as a stretcher made of azure light that followed Professor Supyan when he hurried back into the forest.


    Khan barely had the time to inspect the new skin before Zeliha disappeared among the trees. It felt obvious that the flesh that had just grown couldn''t perform all its functions correctly. The girls'' arm and shoulder now featured multiple pale-blue patches that created a stark contrast with her normal shades, but that seemed enough to stabilize her condition. She had stopped shaking and groaning in pain as soon as the white membrane broke.


    Only five students and Professor Zakhira remained in the empty spot. Azni had sat on the ground while her gaze remained fixed on a patch of ck grass. Doku soon crouched next to her and wrapped his arms around her figure. The girl didn''t hesitate to abandon herself in that embrace, and faint sobs resounded after she hid her face in his chest.


    Asyat yed with her hair. Two wet lines still connected her eyes to her chin, but she had stopped crying. She only felt sad about the situation, and her gaze remained lowered as her mind showed her memories of Elbek and Bashir.


    Liiza mostly ignored the group. She stood at the edges of the empty area, with her back on a ck trunk while she stared at the forest''s depths. It was impossible to understand what thoughts ran through her mind due to her cold expression.


    Khan was in an awkward position. He had felt marveled at the Niqols'' methods, but he still experienced the sadness of the whole situation. His pain didn''t match the intense feelings of hispanions, and his experience with those events almost made him appear uncaring.


    The sadness in his mind didn''t stop him from studying everything he could. The professors'' healing methods were only one of the details that Khanmitted to memory. He also noticed how Professor Zakhira''s hunched back didn''t affect her agility. She was incredibly nimble once she stored her cane in a specific pocket at the side of her robe.


    Khan took out his phone since Professor Zakhira limited herself to y with a ck cube in her hands. He had used the rubber band of his underwear to store his phone and save it from his robe''s destruction. Its screen quickly lit up to confirm that the afternoon had already arrived.


    The faint thought of leaving his phone behind from now on hit Khan''s mind, but that device could be useful even without a connection to the Global Army''swork. He had a raw map of Nitis and many lessons saved there, so it could show its utility during a mission. Yet, it was clear that he needed a better way to store it since his clothes kept falling apart.


    Khan noticed how hispanions suffered from the same issue. Liiza had lost her cube, and Azni had stored hers inside her sports bra. Doku and Asyat still had pieces of their robes covering them, soing up with a pocket wasn''t an issue for them.


    Doku was the first to recall that he was still carrying a backpack. He slowly took it off while making sure not to ruin the various knots that kept the many rags together and ced it on the ground.


    The Niqols did the same with Azni''s backpack at that point. The girl was still too focused on her sorrow to mind the item on her back, but Doku took care of it while making sure to add sweet caresses to the process.


    Khan recalled the backpack on his back when he noticed those actions. He quickly took it off and dropped it next to the other two. Doku nodded toward him when he saw the scene, and Khan revealed aplicated smile when the Niqols focused on his girlfriend again.


    The urge to jump toward Liiza filled his mind, but he limited himself to nce at his phone again. Khan didn''t even search for a specific menu or image. He simply tapped on the screen while pretending to be busy writing something down.


    "Khan!" Professor Zakhira eventually shouted and forced him to snap out of his pretense.


    The professor''s hoarse and loud voice made everyone on the scene turn toward her. It was strange to see Professor Zakhira try her best to use a human ent, so even Azni and Asyat forced themselves to lift their gazes and stare at the old Niqols.


    Professor Zakhira didn''t immediately continue her phrase. She inspected Khan with her bright eyes and focused on the azure scar on his chest often. A few cuts had appeared around it after crawling out of the underground structure, but they had long since stopped bleeding.


    Khan didn''t understand what was happening, so he limited himself to remain silent. Still, his confused gaze went on Doku when the professor didn''t speak for a whole minute. He wanted to confirm that he had heard his name correctly, but the boy didn''t reply to his nce.


    "[Can you understand me]?" Professor Zakhira eventually continued while tapping her cane on the ground.


    "[Vaguely]," Khan replied with the best ent that he could muster.


    "[Vaguely]!"Professor Zakhira snorted. "[Make sure to do better! Catch]!"


    Professor Zakhira threw the cube in her hand at that point, and Khan promptly bent forward to catch it. Foreign energy seeped inside his hands as soon as his fingers touched the cold metal, but those sensations vanished in a few seconds.


    A strange understanding filled Khan after that sudden event. He sensed that foreign information had entered his mind. He realized that he knew how to use the cube even if that were his first time holding one of them.


    "[Bring back the flowers to the academy ground]!" Professor Zakhira ordered while turning and moving toward the trees.


    Khan remained confused. He yed with the cube in his hands while inspecting each azure symbol. Those signs didn''t mean anything to him, but he still understood how to activate them.


    ''She added you to ourwork,'' A familiar voice suddenly resounded inside Khan''s mind and made him turn toward Doku.


    The Niqols smiled while he held his cube and looked at him. His mouth remained fixed in that position, but words continued to resound inside Khan''s mind.


    ''Mind you,'' Doku continued to exin, ''Themunicator is only for you. The other humans won''t be able to use it. Also, thework registers every message, so pay attention to everything you say.''


    Khan''s eyes sharpened as he tried to use the information in his mind to send a message toward Doku. ''Won''t they record this too?''


    It was enough to think about Doku to establish a connection with hismunicator. Khan felt the link forming in his mind and transmitting his thoughts toward the boy''s device.


    ''They are probably already checking it,'' Doku sent, and Khan could even hear hisugh inside his mind. ''So you''d better not talk to my girlfriend anymore!''


    Khan frowned, but Doku winked while putting his cube away. His finger pointed at his eyes at that point, and hisughing voice finally came out of his mouth. "Did I do it correctly? I''ve read about the winking that humans do, but I never had the chance to use it."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I need 2-3 hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 151 - Ploy

    Khan weakly nodded before epting what had just happened. A professor had given him amunicator meant only for him. That decision was probably something that only the higher-ups of the Niqols'' species could make, but they had considered him worthy of that reward.


    "Why now?" Khan asked while studying the cube and thinking about different Niqols.


    Khan could quickly find the connection with Azni''s device, and the same went for Asyat and Zeliha. Khan could even sense Liiza lost cube in the distance. Still, something strange happened when he thought about the professors. There seemed to be a barrier that the knowledge inherited when he touched the item didn''t hesitate to describe.


    The cube had multiple functions. It could work as amunicator, a tracking device, and a notebook. It could even connect to the menus in the various alien buildings and enhance their functions. Moreover, it only needed mana to work, and Khan could refill it easily.


    The item gave Khan the chance to contact the professors, but they had to ept his call. It wasn''t the same immediate connection experienced with Doku. The same went for some of the important figures met during his stay on Nitis. The link with Chief Alu felt weak and restricted, but the same didn''t apply to B and the other Niqols encountered during past hunts.


    The only Niqols that Khan seemed unable to contact at all was Ambassador Yeza. He couldn''t find the connection with her device even if he knew her face and name, which were the only requirement for those types ofmunications.


    Khan couldn''t help but feel marveled at the flexibility of the cube. Phones could perform simr functions and even surpass what those alien devices did in some fields. Still, everything appeared miraculous when he considered the almostplete absence of technology.


    The cubes only needed mana to work. They were nothing more than items built with a special alloy. The azure symbols on their surfaces dictated the functions they could perform, while the core of thework handled the various permissions.


    The superiority of the humans felt slim in front of such a pure dedication toward mana. Khan couldn''t help but think that his species had only learnt how to use that magic. Instead, the Niqols were magical at their core. There was a qualitative difference that only centuries of research could fill.


    Moreover, technology was easier to learn since the Niqols only had to gain ess to thetest discovery to be almost on par with the humans. The opposite couldn''t happen since it would require a thorough transformation of society and training methods.


    Khan had dreamt about the vastness of the universe multiple times, but that often happened due to his desperation. Those feelings had even intensified after Zalpa had granted him ess to the entirety of his nightmares. However, he only felt pure wonder now. All his pain and problems almost disappeared when he considered how spectacr each different species could be.


    "It takes a while to make a good impression on our higher-ups," Dokuughed. "It''s even harder for you due to your species. Still, it was about time they epted you."


    "Why would they ept me?" Khan asked while turning toward Doku.


    Azni and Doku were smiling at him. The girl still had tears running down her face, but her sadness didn''t suppress the happiness that she felt for her friend. Khan noticed that Asyat was showing a simr expression, and Liiza was also wearing a proud face while she looked at him.


    The four Niqols seemed to know something that Khan ignored, and he managed to hold back his curiosity only because he realized how positive that news was. Hispanions kept him waiting for a few seconds, but they eventually stopped teasing him.


    "I have given a report of the mission while we were flying back here," Doku exined. "I''m not surprised they gave you amunicator."


    "Did you tell them everything?" Khan asked again.


    "I even praised how you have thrown yourself in a horde of monsters to retrieve one of the backpacks," Doku continued.


    "I don''t remember the horde," Khanined.


    "The professors don''t know that," Doku winked again, "And there was ground all around us. The horde waspletely possible."


    Khan didn''t know what to say. He knew that his rtionship with Doku and Azni was good, but they had known each other for less than two weeks. They had hunted together for an entire night and had shared some time inside the academy, but nothing more.


    However, Doku was already willing to inte Khan''s feats, and the other Niqols didn''t oppose that decision. They actually seemed to agree with him and y along so that Khan could get more benefits.


    That behavior left Khan speechless. He didn''t expect that unanimous and warm decision in his favor after such a short time.


    "Everything is a n to force you to do an entire party without running away," Doku joked. "Don''t think too much about it."


    "You really are¡­," Khan whispered before closing his grasp on the cube and performing a polite bow toward Doku.


    "It''s fine, Khan," Doku added. "You deserve it. You are the first human to ept our ways so openly. It would bring dishonor to our entire species not to reward such behavior."


    "Though Professor Zakhira will have her eyes on you from now on," Azni chuckled while sniffing to clear her nose. "You have earned the right to experience her cane now."


    "How hard can it even hit?" Khan asked when he thought about the seemingly frail professor.


    The Niqols'' expressions immediately darkened at those words. Only Liiza remained rtively fine, but she still diverted her gaze and resumed staring at the forest.


    "She is a master in the maniption field," Doku exined after clearing his throat. "Have you ever tasted a wooden cane carrying the same texture as a fiery metal?"


    "Is that even possible?" Khan asked as his eyes lit up both in curiosity and worry.


    "Mana can make everything possible," Doku continued before taking Azni''s hand and standing up. "Humans use it as a fuel, but it has always been more than that."


    "We have so much to learn," Khan sighed while approaching the couple and picking one of the backpacks.


    Doku and Azni did the same, and Asyat joined them as they started to move back to the academy. Thetter even made sure to walk around the couple to be next to Khan as they approached the trees.


    Khan decided to turn toward Liiza since the situation would give him many reasonable excuses if someone were to question his actions. The girl had remained on her tree, and she limited herself to nce at Khan before walking toward her Aduns. Most of the eagles were still resting in the empty spot, so she flew away in no time.


    "Don''t mind her," Asyatmented. "She is always liked that."


    "She isn''t bad," Azni replied, "And she promised to attend the party tonight."


    "Do you think it''s proper to celebrate and have fun tonight?" Khan asked, clearly hinting at the two boys'' death.


    "That''s how we handle things," Doku revealed. "We suffer, we fight, we die, but we never forsake our feelings. It doesn''t matter how much it hurts."


    Doku wrapped an arm around Azni and held her close. It was clear that he could handle the loss of the two Niqols better than her, and he didn''t hesitate to give his emotional support.


    On the other hand, Asyat swayed her body left and right, ending up touching Khan''s bare shoulder whenever she went toward him. Khan initially thought that to be a case, but the reurring nature of her gesture eventually forced him to ept that she was doing that on purpose.


    ''Don''t tell me that she wants a hug too?'' Khan wondered, and the couple at his side confirmed his thoughts.


    Doku wore a knowing smile when he noticed the scene and Khan''s confusion. He even nodded while trying to hide the gesture from the girl in his arms. Instead, Azni''s eyes were wide in surprise, but they soon be part of an admonishing gaze.


    ''Don''t look at me like this!'' Khan cursed in his mind while showing a cool smile and shaking his head. ''Help me out instead of judging me!''


    Azni wasn''t aware of Khan''s exceptional lying skills. She had started to suspect them after learning about his secret rtionship with Liiza, but she didn''t know how deeply his ability stretched. She didn''t understand Khan''s call for help in that situation. His reaction almost made her think that he enjoyed those attentions.


    Azni wouldn''t believe that Khan wanted to cheat on Liiza, not after she had seen how intense their feelings were. They had be an ideal couple in her mind. Still, her idea of men wasn''t great, especially after seeing many of her friends cared more about their urges than their emotions. She knew that anyone could fall prey to temptations, but she didn''t want that to happen for Khan and Liiza after witnessing how cute they were together.


    "Don''t you have to report back to the other humans, Khan?" Azni suddenly asked while Asyat''s request became more evident. "I bet they are worried about you."


    "How could they?" Doku scoffed. "I bet the professors have yet to inform them about today''s missio-."


    Azni stepped on Doku''s foot and forced him to interrupt his line. The girl then shot an admonishing gaze toward her boyfriend, and thetterpletely misunderstood the meaning behind that gesture. Yet, he could vaguely guess her intentions, so he decided to y along.


    "That''s right!" Doku eximed without showing the slightest awkwardness about the sudden inversion in his opinion. "Khan should reunite with the other humans and prepare for the party. I bet he even needs a nap after his hard work."


    Asyat frowned and shot a confused nce toward the couple, but Khan acted before she could say anything. He made up a few quick excuses and goodbyes while handing his backpack to the girl and sprinting deeper into the forest. He had been incredibly fast, but a few words spoken in the Niqols''nguage still managed to reach his ears.


    "[Why did you stop me]?" Asyat asked while shooting an angry nce toward Azni. "[I thought you had epted him]!"


    "[You should still take it slowly]," Azni suggested. "[He has a good mind, but he remains a human]."


    "[Maybe you are right]," Asyat heaved a disappointed sigh. "[I''ll try to know him better at the party]."


    Only faint words managed to reach Khan after that, but he felt to have listened enough. His steps quickened as another issue appeared in his mind. The party had just turned into a dangerous event.


    ''Getting so much attention from girls surely boosts my self-esteem,'' Khan thought as many trees crossed his vision.


    The events in the underground area had been awful, but everything that had followed it had been incredible. The Niqols had officially epted him as part of their society, and he had even confirmed that his good looks ignored the differences between the species.


    Azni had also be a helper that Khan and Liiza could use to protect their rtionship. Everything seemed to turn for the best. He only had to check something before letting his mind bathe in the satisfaction obtained through his achievements.


    ''It works!'' Khan eximed in his mind while he held the cube.


    Khan had almost reached the underground habitations, but he had to test something crucial to the survival of his secret rtionship before rxing.


    The cube could work as a tracker, meaning that the Niqols had the chance to learn about his secret rtionship. However, Liiza had sneaked out of her home and academy for many years already. There had to be a way around that function.


    The knowledge inherited by Professor Zakhira didn''t say anything about turning off the tracker, but Khan could vaguely guess how the cube worked. Thinking about stopping transmitting his position was enough to halt that function without affecting the others.


    ''Did the professors keep this hidden on purpose?'' Khan wondered while he waited for a call to reach his mind.


    Nothing arrived. No Niqols tried to question him about his actions. Khan didn''t know if the superiors had yet to notice his actions or didn''t care about the matter, but he remained suspicious.


    ''I guess I can''t avoid political ploys even after being epted,'' Khan sighed in his mind as he reactivated the tracker and stored the cube in the rubber band of his underwear. ''Maybe the Niqols have someone like Lieutenant Kintea. Ambassador Yeza is willing to ruin her family to improve the rtionship with the humans. I bet some of the students are the same.''


    A wave of sadness fell on his happiness and swept it away. Khan found himself unable to enjoy some peace. There was always something capable of affecting his mindset and revert him to the cynical man who had survived the Second Impact and Istrone''s crisis.


    ''I can only trust four people on Nitis now,'' Khan reminded himself. ''George can''t betray me after we went through together, Doku and Azni are good friends, and Liiza is Liiza. I can''t let anyone else too close before confirming their character. I bet that Veronica isn''t too bad, but Liiza would find other ways to mark me if I get too close to her.''


    Thoseplicated and messy thoughts filled Khan''s mind as he reached his habitation and descended the staircase. The recruits were meditating on their beds, but they all opened their eyes to stare at theirpanion. Needless to say, their mouths opened when they saw his condition.


    Khan was almost naked, with rags instead of shoes, covered with soil from head to toe, slightly injured, and with two devices stretching the rubber band of his underwear. Helen and the other girls would have directly attacked him if they didn''t recognize his azure eyes.


    "The mission has been a partial sess," Khan exined while moving directly toward the bathrooms without bothering to inspect hispanions. "Doku will probably kick you out of the academy himself if you don''te tonight. I''ll tell you the rest once I clean myself up a bit."


    "What has even happened out there?" Kelly shouted while standing up and using an angry tone. "Your priority is to report everything to us."


    Khan rolled his eyes. He had almost reached the bathrooms, but Kelly didn''t seem able to ept his character. Luckily for him, he had a deadly blow with him that day.


    "Right," Khan announced while taking the cube out of his underwear and turning to show it to the other recruits. "I told you that I would have gotten amunicator."

 Chapter 152 - Visit

    Kelly had no words left in her throat, mouth, or mind, and the same went for the other recruits. They could only watch as Khan entered one of the bathrooms at the bottom of the underground habitation and sealed the sliding door behind him.


    The recruits spent the minutes that Khan took to remove the dirt umted during his adventure with the Niqols in silence. Only George decided to move to put clean clothes right outside the bathroom before returning to his bed.


    Khan''s achievements had forced them to realize how a half-assed approach wouldn''t lead anywhere. He was strong, stronger than most of the recruits on Nitis even, but that alone wasn''t the reason behind his gains. Pure power couldn''t make soldiers advance through the Global Army''s ranks so quickly, and the same went for the Niqols'' society. He was doing something that hispanions had yet to ept. He was forsaking his human status to turn himself into an alien.


    The human professors advised against that approach due to many reasons. An ambassador, or even a simple envoy, had to embody the human pride without letting that image scare away or worry the aliens. Building a rtionship and blending in their society was the priority of those roles with every intelligent species. Still, the soldiers had to achieve that without forsaking their identity as humans.


    Khan was doing the exact opposite. He wasn''t throwing away his human traditions, but he wasn''t prioritizing them either. His uncaring and unrestrained behavior was bringing him closer to the aliens while creating a barrier between the other recruits.


    That approach was dangerous. The Global Army would struggle to put its trust into a soldier who could forsake the human heritage so easily. An ambassador couldn''t be a formless chameleon capable of adapting to every environment.


    Still, Khan was only a recruit. His approach could be enough for now as long as he kept seizing benefits. After all, he wasn''t an ambassador yet, so his behavior wasn''t exactly off-role. Khan was simply getting what the higher-up had told him to achieve in his own way.


    The recruits found themselves reevaluating their approach to the task while they waited for Khan toe out of the bathroom and update them about the mission. Their beliefs had remained firm when Khan only gained friends and a bit of recognition, but themunicator set a vast difference between them.


    It was one thing for the Global Army to appoint Khan as the main envoy due to his lucky chance with the Aduns and his brave feats during the hunts. The recruits knew how their organization worked, and they didn''t have to face insurmountable barriers. They would eventually get simr benefits, tasks, and recognition as long as they did their job correctly.


    However, the Niqols'' seemingly official recognition added a far deeper value to Khan''s figure. He would have the priority and trust of the aliens in every social and political matter from now on, and the other recruits could only chase after him in those fields without ever getting the chance to surpass him unless something major happened.


    Khan would remain the spokesperson in charge of the bridge between the young generations of both species unless other recruits did something spectacr or he messed up. That single advantage over hispanions had transformed into an immense gap that forced the other humans to reconsider how they had approached the political mission.


    Their situation didn''t give them many chances to do more. The recruits had been polite, had joined parties, and had done their best to be part of the Niqols society. There wasn''t much that they could improve to catch up with Khan.


    Professor Supyan''s lessons and their knowledge of the aliennguage could do something, but that felt too little toote now that the Niqols had epted Khan fully.


    Some time had to pass before the Niqols would allow another human to be part of their society. The recruits could understand how they didn''t have great options at hand. The best they could do was wait until a chance appeared. Yet, most of them still decided to work a bit harder, at least regarding the two fields that they could affect.


    Khan eventually left the bathroom. Drops fell from his wet hair, and trails of the strange water used by the Niqols ran down his body. He had worn his dirty pants to cover himself since he had forgotten to take clean clothes, but a smile appeared on his face when he saw that someone had taken care of the matter.


    Khan returned inside the bathroom and changed. He now appearedpletely different from the brutish cavemen who hade back from the mission. His wet hair and untidy robe gave him a messy aura, but his clean state allowed the recruits to appreciate the confidence radiated by his gestures.


    The recruits remained silent, and Khan didn''t make them wait. He approached the beds and stood in a spot where all hispanions could see him clearly before exining everything that had happened in the mission.


    Khan didn''t hide much, especially when it came to how the Niqols avoided mentioning the arrival of the daylight, and he even warned the recruits about Doku''s exaggerations. Still, he didn''t y it humble, and the urate version of his charge toward thest backpack remained quite heroic even when told without lies.


    Justifying Doku''s version of the story ended up being rtively easy when Khan described the whole situation. The Niqols were on their Aduns when he shot toward the backpack, so the recruits could understand the misunderstanding. Most humans even appreciated how Khan avoided iming undeserved achievements for himself, but some of them only started to resent him with more intensity.


    Khan could have decided to elevate his image to heroic levels, but that could create expectations that he didn''t want to face, especially since the recruits would report everything back to the Global Army at some point. He wanted to appear important but not blended enough to be part of a loathsome ploy. He didn''t want his superiors to turn him into a spy since his priorities were on Liiza right now.


    "In short," Khan eventually concluded, "You have toe to tonight''s party and do your best not to get wasted while the other Niqols face their grief in their own way. Actually, copsing near a tree might get you closer to them, so the choice is yours."


    George, Veronica, and Brandonughed. Helen shook her head while hiding a chuckle with her hand. Rodney smirked, and Gabri decided to smile after seeing how herpanions reacted. Only Kelly''s expression remained serious at that joke, but she eventually sighed when she realized that Khan''s words weren''t entirely wrong. They made enough sense to be annoying.


    "How can they be so strong when they spend their time throwing parties?" Kellymented when she reviewed the issue.


    "I find them really simr to humans," Rodney contradicted her while putting a hand under his chin. "They are only unrestrained, but that''s their approach to emotions and life in general. Maybe that''s also the secret behind their deep understanding of mana."


    Khan suppressed his reactions, but he felt surprised about Rodney''s realization. Humans generally didn''t think that mana and behavior had connections, but the boy came close to that conclusion.


    "They believe that mana affects emotions as if they were muscles and flesh," Khan exined to make sure that the merit for that discovery went to him.


    "That doesn''t say much about their character if mana makes them throw parties all the time," Helen scoffed beforeughing and causing simr reactions in herpanions. "It sounds as if they are using mana to justify their attachment to primitive behaviors. I bet they''ll abandon this belief in a few decades."


    "My thoughts exactly," Brandon added. "Their current understanding of mana might be far deeper than humans, but our methods are a natural evolution connected to our superior society."


    George and the others had initiallyughed at Helen''s joke, but her secondment generated conflicting reactions. Brandon''s statements ultimately divided their group into two sides, even if they all felt those words to be a bit racist. Still, Kelly, Helen, and Gabri ended up partially agreeing with them due to their firm attachment to their species.


    The other recruits were able to acknowledge the benefits that the Niqols'' methods provided, but part of them remained convinced that the humans were still one step above. They saw those different habits as a chance to learn and improve, but they remained somewhat inferiors in their minds.


    Only Khan had apletely different view about the matter. His faint smile remained on his face, but a sad realization filled his mind. He suddenly understood that those recruits would never fully ept the Niqols. They would remain aliens in their vision forever.


    "When is the party?" George eventually asked when the awkward silence created by Brandon''s statement became deafening.


    Khan didn''t know the answer to that question, but his eyes lit up when he recalled about his cube. Conflicting expressions appeared on the recruits'' faces when Khan pulled the item from inside his robe and silently contacted Doku.


    "The party will start in an hour or so," Khan revealed after storing the cube. "It will happen earlier than usual since it''s the end of the week and due to what happened this morning."


    The recruits remained marveled at how Khan had contacted the Niqols without uttering a word. He had exined how the cube worked before, but seeing it in action was apletely different thing, especially when handled by a human.


    A tinge of envy inevitably spread among the group, but everyone suppressed it to get to work. They had spent the whole day training, so they had to take turns for the bathrooms and prepare. Meanwhile, Khan used that chance to meditate a bit and enjoy that he had understood Doku''s directions. The boy had used the strange words meant to describe the various quadrants of the forest, but Khan didn''t need further exnations.


    .


    .


    .


    A peculiar but familiar scene unfolded in front of the recruits when Khan led them into an empty spot near one of the mountains. They found three fuming cauldrons at the center of the area and far more Niqols than usual around them. Moreover, those aliens were busy with different activities at that time. They didn''t limit themselves to drink.


    The Niqols had naturally divided themselves into multiple groups, and all of them featured many half-empty wooden cups. Still, some had brought strange instruments that yed sad tones meant to set the party''s mood. Khan saw violin-like devices and long flutes, and a few aliens even chanted simple lines in the Niqols''nguage to apany their music.


    Khan couldn''t help but notice how some Niqols near the trees were smoking. Others even deeper in the forest were crying or punching the thick trunks to vent their feelings. The scenery was quite incredible due to its diversity, but Khan inevitably fell in a daze when a familiar dress appeared in his vision.


    Liiza was standing alone, with her back lying on a tree. She wasn''t even facing the empty area filled with Niqols. She was staring at the dark depths of the forest, but her eyes moved toward Khan for a brief second when she sensed his gaze on her figure.


    ''Damn you,'' Khan cursed in his mind when he confirmed that Liiza was wearing the same dress used during the formal celebration from a few weeks ago. ''She has definitely done that on purpose.''


    The reason behind Liiza''s behavior quickly became clear in Khan''s mind. Almost all the Niqols turned toward the recruits when they noticed their arrival, and Khan saw many girls showing attractive smiles when his gaze met theirs.


    ''Don''t tell me that she has predicted this oue,'' Khan wondered as a series of Niqols met during the previous parties reached the recruits and started dragging them toward the cauldrons.


    Azni reached Khan before anyone else could, and she directly hugged him instead of limiting herself to a formal bow. The scene surprised the recruits, especially when they saw Khan wrapping his arms around the girl''s back, but the other Niqols soon forced them to move their gazes away from the two.


    "I''m sure Ilman will be here at any moment," Azni whispered in Khan''s ear before breaking the hug. "You might want to seize this chance now that she is alone."


    "You know I can''t," Khan sighed while showing a sad smile.


    "Don''t be so paranoid," Azni almost shouted before recalling to keep her voice down. "You just went through a deadly situation together. You''ll appear as the trustworthy friend who won''t let her be alone in this sad moment."


    Khan felt that Azni''s words made sense, but he didn''t know whether his desire to approach Liiza was ying tricks with his mind. Yet, he eventually epted that he couldn''t think straight in front of her stunning dress.


    Khan was almost about to ignore Azni''s words, but she added something that changed everything. "Doku is also set on finding you a girl tonight, and I have no power over that."


    Khan nced behind Azni''s shoulder at that point and noticed Doku looking at him from the other side of the empty spot. The Niqols wore a broad smile, and he winked a few times when he caught Khan''s gaze.


    ''I need to teach him how to wink properly,'' Khan took note in his mind before heaving a sigh and taking Azni''s full cup from her hands.


    Azni limited herself tough at that gesture, and she pretended not to watch Khan walking toward Liiza while she went toward one cauldron. Doku frowned, and his eyes darted between his girlfriend and Khan. He couldn''t miss that suspicious interaction. Something was clearly up, but Azni''s admonishing gaze soon fell on him and forced him to stop thinking too much about the matter.


    "You shouldn''t be here," Liiza whispered when she heard familiar steps resounding behind her and stopping at her side.


    Khan reached the tree right next to her beforeying his back on its trunk. He didn''t even peek at Liiza while his eyes moved toward the depths of the forest.


    "What was I supposed to do?" Khan replied while taking a sip from his cup and making sure that his voice couldn''t spread too far. "You wore the dress."


    "That barely counts as an excuse," Liiza scoffed, but her cheeks inevitably paled due to her faint blush. "Also, you have be too poprtely. I needed a distraction."


    "You did it on purpose then," Khan chuckled. "You have gotten quite possessive."


    "And yet you are the one barely holding yourself back," Liizamented while raising her cup to drink.


    Khan chuckled again, but he didn''t say anything. Liiza was right. Her dress was too much for him.


    Silent minutes passed. Khan and Liiza continued to stare at the darkness of the forest while the party continued behind them. The music even grew happier at times, but they didn''t move from their spot. It was as if they were waiting for one of them to empty their cups.


    "Won''t you join the party?" Liiza asked. "It''s proper, and I bet many girls are dying to meet you."


    "I''m exactly where I want to be," Khan replied. "Almost exactly."


    "Me too," Liiza added. "Almost exactly."


    Another wave of silence fell among the two, but they eventually started to talk about random stuff. Doku, Azni, and Asyat even brought them refills of their cups every once in a while before exchanging a few jokes and leaving them alone again. Azni used the times when she visited the couple on her own to exin how the other two didn''t suspect anything. They were simply happy that Liiza wasn''t alone.


    The couple ended up remaining alone for most of the party, even with those asional visits, and their unique position didn''t allow them to notice Ilman''s arrival. No one actually saw him since he never fully stepped into the empty spot.


    Ilman had every intention to join the party due to Liiza''s presence, but he changed his mind when he noticed the girl wearing expressions that he had never seen on her face.


    Ilman had been in love with Liiza for so long that he found it easy to notice the slight differences in her face. The girl smiled and chuckled from time to time, but that wasn''t the most surprising aspect of the matter. Her eyes carried happiness that he couldn''t generate even before the events of the arranged marriage.


    The Niqols limited himself to find in Khan the source of Liiza''s strange behavior before leaving the area. He had never left the darkness among the trees, so no one became aware of his short visit.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I need 2-3 hours for the second chapter.


    I chose to do this super long chapter just toplete the scene in one go. I want the story to move forward, and spending too long in these social interactions can get boring really quickly. I don''t want to skip them, so this felt like a good way to handle them.

 Chapter 153 - Love

    The party endedte, at less than two hours from the beginning of Professor Supyan''s lesson. The recruits hurried back to their habitation once the event ended, but Khan remained a bit longer in the empty spot even after Liiza left.


    Khan had already decided that sleeping was pointless since the first lesson would happen soon. He preferred to spend an hour meditating and covering the time needed by his deal with Liiza that night. Very few things could match sex, and resting with his girlfriend in his arms was one of them. He only had to go through the day to reach that point.


    The beginning of his second week in [The Pure Trees] looked messy. Khan left his spot only to find Niqols sleeping around the cauldrons and in many isted areas nearby. The party had created new couples, had broken old ones, had causedughs and cries, and had allowed the aliens to ept the death of theirpanions.


    The scene was incredibly silent. It felt almost unreal that those sleeping aliens could cause the previous night''s mess, and Khan only smiled at that thought.


    His second month on Nitis had basically just begun. Less than five months separated Khan from the end of his first year inside the Global Army, and he couldn''t even begin to describe how much his life had changed in that short period.


    Khan had gone from being a two-faced kid to his current vaguely mature appearance. His faces had almost fused in that period, but his number of masks had increased. The different political and social necessities had forced him to hone his lying skills and push them into a superior realm.


    His secrets had also increased, and that only led to aplicated mental state. His rtionship with Liiza made him unable to remainpletely loyal to the humans, and the hidden scenes in his nightmares had ruined his initial beliefs. Nitis had forced Khan to shed away most of his previous self and find a character free from his previous values.


    The conflicting emotions inside his mind didn''t stop him from having a clear vision of his path ahead. Khan wasn''t a mass of desperation unaware of his ce in the world anymore. He was still an ignorant kid, but he knew what he wanted and how to approach it. He had even discovered many talents in the period that went from his first day on Onia to now.


    Moreover, his growth had confirmed something that he had started to ept since his meeting with Zalpa. Khan had developed more in the almost three months spent in foreigns than on Earth, and the matter didn''t only involve his battle prowess. His character had matured in ways that would have been impossible inside co''s training camp.


    The idea of staying away from Earth until his character and knowledge grew enough to face Bret without falling for his lies sounded reasonable now. The ideal scenario saw Khan learning about the truth behind his tragedy before meeting his father, but that would most likely require years, and he didn''t know if he could remain on aliens for so long. He wasn''t even sure whether his doubts would remain bearable throughout that period.


    Khan realized that he couldn''t follow all his desires without sacrificing something. His packed schedule had already taught him that. Returning to Earth to face his father would separate him from Liiza, but remaining on Nitis wouldn''t give him the chance to learn about core pieces of his past.


    Those heavy thoughts vanished when Khan noticed a familiar figure partially hidden behind a tree. A smile appeared on his face as he approached it, and his expression struggled to show only one emotion after he saw the entirety of the scene.


    George didn''t go back to the underground habitation, but the other recruits didn''t mind that too much since he usually attended Professor Supyan''s lesson. Khan didn''t bother to keep hispanions in check since he was busy with Liiza and his heavy mind, so finding George sleeping on the tree felt a bit surprising. Yet, the funniest aspect of that scene was the Niqols resting with her head over his shoulder.


    ''Her name should be Havaa if I''m not wrong,'' Khan thought while inspecting the girl sleeping with George.


    Havaa belonged to the first year. She featured the usual Niqols'' beauty, and her body didn''t fall behind in that field. Her only peculiarity was her hairstyle since she shaved the left side of her head.


    The other side had long white hairbed into braids, but it was hard to focus on it when her shaved part featured a white tattoo that stretched behind her ear and until the base of her neck.


    Khan''s smile only broadened when he inspected the duo''s clothes. George''s chest was bare, and his robe hung from his waist. Instead, Havaa was still wearing her tracksuit, but it was partially open to create a cleavage.


    Khan decided to kick George''s foot lightly a few times when he felt the urge to explode into augh. It took a while to wake up the boy, but his eyes eventually opened, and his eyebrows quickly furrowed to create a frown.


    George began to ask something, but his hoarse voice didn''t manage to go too far once he noticed the girl sleeping on his shoulder. His eyes widened, and his frown rxed at that point. His hangover vanished in an instant as he slowly crawled out of that position,id Havaa on the tree, and got on his feet to leave the area.


    Khan was on the verge of exploding during that scene, and his urge even intensified when George turned to shoot an admonishing nce at him. The recruit wanted to leave the area as soon as possible, but Khan didn''t seem willing to move until he had enjoyed himself long enough.


    Khan decided to move when George started to beg him through his eyes. The two boys had to cross arge part of the forest before George felt confident enough to stop silencing his breath. The scene made Khanugh loudly, which triggered the excuses that his friend had prepared during the walk.


    "I didn''t do anything!" George exined. "I wasn''t feeling well, so I sat there to recover a bit. Havaa just threw herself at me when she found me."


    "Havaa," Khan sneered. "You remember her name."


    "That''s my job as an envoy of the human species," George stated. "Everything I do is for the greater good of the Global Ar-."


    George had to interrupt his line since something escaped from his stomach and climbed his throat to appear in his mouth. Khanughed when he saw the boy hurrying behind the nearest tree and vomiting what he had yet to digest.


    "Didn''t you like Natalie?" Khan asked when George left the tree and started to walk with him again.


    "I didn''t do anything with Havaa," George repeated. "We might have kissed a few times, but what''s a kiss for the Niqols? I bet it has the same value as a handshake. Besides, we were both fairly¡­ We had both enjoyed the party, so we decided to sleep."


    "You''d be surprised by how much these small gestures mean for the Niqols," Khanughed. "The point isn''t in the kiss, but in the fact that she has decided to kiss you."


    George''s eyes widened, and a tinge of worry even appeared inside them. Khan was right, but he couldn''t give up so easily. He would have to admit that he had flirted with Havaa through the whole party otherwise.


    "Howe you know so much about the Niqols now?" George asked. "Also, you can''t really speak. We all saw you spending the entire night with Miss Liiza. I decided to get drunk rather than listen to Kelly''sints."


    "That girl should try to face what we have gone through," Khan sighed. "I''m so close to snapping at her."


    "You lose if you do," Georgemented.


    "I know," Khan replied. "The world is proving me right anyway. I only hope she cares more about the mission than her petty pride."


    Thement made the two boys fall silent for a while. They continued to walk through the forest, but the topic about Liiza remained inside George''s mind. After all, he was the only one among the recruits who knew a bit more about the matter.


    "So," George eventually said when his curiosity and worry had the better over him, "Did you enjoy the party with her?"


    "George, I''m not dumb," Khan lied. "I won''t do anything stupid. Azni and the others didn''t want Miss Liiza to be alone after everything that has happened, and she can''t be too rude toward a human due to her role."


    "You sure lookedmitted," George teased before retches surged through his throat and forced him to hide behind a tree again.


    The boys nned to meditate once they reached the spot that would hold Professor Supyan''s lesson, but a strange scene unfolded in their visions after they crossed the membrane.


    The path taken by Khan and George led them directly into the central empty area of the academy. It was easier to reach their destination from there since they wouldn''t have to keep track of their position inside the forest.


    Ilman was sitting on his knees right at the center of the empty square. His stance seemed to be part of a martial art, and the scene inevitably worried the two boys. The Niqols opened his eyes when he heard them, and his stern voice soon resounded in the area.


    "I was waiting for you, Khan," Ilman eximed.


    "Is something the matter?" Khan asked in a in voice.


    "I saw you and Liiza yesterday," Ilman continued.


    "Azni told me that you would havee," Khan quickly dered as wild thoughts ran through his mind. "I must have missed you among the crowd."


    Khan pretended not to understand the meaning carried by Ilman''s words, and the act turned out to be rtively easy. He didn''t do much with Liizast night. The two had even been on their respective trees throughout the whole party.


    ''Is he so jealous?'' Khan wondered while ncing at George.


    The boy had gone full battle mode when he sensed that faint threat. Georgepletely forgot about his hangover and prepared himself to fight. His hand even instinctively went looking for his sword at his side, but it eventually stopped when he recalled that he was unarmed.


    "George, we are inside the academy ground," Khan scolded, and the recruit quickly did his best to rx his tense posture.


    The academy didn''t allow fights inside the entire valley, so Khan felt at ease even in that situation. He didn''t believe that Ilman would attack him right in the middle of the central square. Also, he didn''t do anything that could cause such a reaction.


    "You didn''t miss me," llman announced while straightening his position and performing a polite bow. "I decided to leave before someone could notice me."


    "Why?" Khan asked as his expression remained friendly.


    "I couldn''t ruin a party that my peers needed to ovee their grief," Ilman exined. "I wanted to handle this matter privately when we wouldn''t have casualties."


    "What matter?" Khan continued with his questions.


    Khan wanted Ilman to be clear about his reasons. He honestly struggled to believe that such intense jealousy could exist in the world, but he was against a dramatic Niqols who had tried to date the same girl for years. That special situation could prove him wrong.


    "I want to fight you for the right of making Liiza happy!" Ilman shouted. "I have always believed to be the one fated to make her smile, but life has put a contender on my path! I appreciate your past advice, but lovees before everything! We must decide who is better among us now to make it easier for her!"


    The statement left the two speechless. Khan and George even exchanged a nce to make sure that they had heard Ilman correctly.


    "I''m not sure I understand," Khan eventually responded.


    "She will have to decide between us at some point!" Ilman shouted. "I can''t let her go through that struggle. It''s better to settle this now when the loss of one of us won''t cause her too much pain!"


    George frowned, and Khan remained utterly speechless. That interaction confirmed that Ilman was crazy, but it didn''t tell him how to get out of that situation.


    "There has been a misunderstanding," Khan tried to exin. "Miss Liiza and I are barely friends. I just made sure that she didn''t remain alone with her grief after what we have been throughst morning."


    "My eyes don''t lie," Ilman continued while bending his legs and raising his arms to prepare his palms. "You made her enjoy herself. You are a candidate for her happiness, so we must fight!"


    "Can''t she be happy with more than one person?" Khan questioned. "Isn''t that what friends do for each other?"


    "You don''t know her as I do," Ilman shook his head. "She won''t ept more than one person, so I can''t let her end up in front of a painful choice!"


    "Khan?" George asked as doubts filled his mind.


    "We are still inside the academy," Khan reassured George. "Don''t worr-."


    Khan had to interrupt his line since a shadow darted next to him and forced him to sidestep its attack. Ilman had been incredibly fast, almost as fast as him, and he had delivered a palm strike that had discharged a wave of violent mana in the air.


    George went battle-ready again. He stretched his fingers to create a de with his right hand and tried to run around Khan to reach Ilman, but a kick suddenlynded on his abdomen and made him fly away. The attack didn''t hurt too much. It was a thrust rather than an actual blow, and the recruit understood the meaning behind that gesture only after hended on the ground a few meters from his friend.


    Ilman didn''t touch George. Khan had been the one to push him away. George could even see his friend ring at him for an instant before turning toward his opponent.


    "Won''t they expel you for this?" Khan asked as he sidestepped an iing palm strike.


    The palm released its mana when it passed next to Khan''s chest. He could sense his insides tremble at the faint contact with that force. He could immediately understand that a direct hit would cause serious internal injuries.


    "Love stands above the academy!" Ilman shouted as he twisted his body and turned his palm toward Khan''s chest.


    Khan could sense mana umting in Ilman''s hand, so he jumped backward. The Niqols released his energy at that point, and part of it ended up touching Khan before he managed to retreat.


    A faint weight had appeared at the base of Khan''s chest after hended on the ground. Blood had even umted on the corners of his mouth. Ilman''s palm didn''t even touch him, but the mana released in the attack had been enough to hurt him.

 Chapter 154 - Delusions

    Calctions quickly happened inside Khan''s mind. His first instinct was to dodge Ilman''s attacks until a professor arrived. The Niqols was fast, but Khan was faster, and his stamina was incredible. His mana capacity seemed even above that, so that approach was theoretically doable.


    Yet, that tactic could only work if the professors decided to rule in his favor. Moreover, Khan would still need to dodge attacks for a bit more than an hour. He could probably do that with his speed and battle experience, but he wouldn''t be able to avoid ending up in poor condition.


    The Lightning-demon style gave Khan exceptional speed, but it was also an aggressive martial art. It expressed its true potential only when attacking. Relying on it only to dodge and run away would force him to ignore more than half of his techniques.


    Ilman wasn''t even weak either. The Niqols was a student in the second year driven by a burning passion that ruled most aspects of his life. Khan could guess that his opponent had trained with mana since an early age, and his unique position also gave him an annoying advantage.


    The Niqols'' martial arts were rtively simple and focused on the maniption of the mana''s nature rather than on actual moves. However, Ilman''s tribe handled the development of new applications of mana, and most of them came from their study of human methods.


    Khan didn''t need to think too much about that topic to realize how Ilman''s speed didn''te from the iconic martial arts of his species. His forms and stances felt familiar. His tribe probably had developed them by fusing the Niqols'' traditional methods to the human styles.


    Ilman''s speed and deadly attacks put Khan in a tough position. His confidence in his abilities was high, but that situation could be too challenging even for him. Also, he didn''t like the idea of suffering injuries during such an important part of his training. He would hate to stop attending the lessons because of eventual wounds.


    ''Do I really have to fight him?'' Khan wondered as Ilman turned toward him, raised his palms, and bent his legs forward.


    Khan''s expertise with pretenses and lies was almost useless when his opponent was crazy. He wasn''t even guilty of anything as far as Ilman knew. The Niqols had simply snapped due to his own paranoia.


    Worries connected to the mission and Nitis'' political situation surged in his mind as he saw Ilman charging ahead with both his arms stretched forward. It felt easier to follow his movements when staring directly at him, but that didn''t ease the conflicting thoughts fighting inside Khan.


    Part of Khan believed that he didn''t have to touch Ilman at all. Hurting such a promising, wealthy, and famous Niqols could turn to ashes everything that he had obtained in the past weeks. The Global Army might even send him back to co if his presence on Nitis became a problem for the rtionship between the two species.


    On the other hand, the Niqols would probably justify Khan if he defeated Ilman without hurting him deeply. Those aliens didn''t mind ranks and statuses too much. They might evenpensate him for the issues connected to their unstable emotions.


    Khan slipped under the double palm strike that was about tond on his chest. Mana exploded above his head as he slid under Ilman and grabbed his right ankle.


    The world in Ilman''s vision turned upside-down as Khan stood up and pulled his ankle. The Niqols mmed his face on the ground and tensed his body to prepare for a blow, but nothing arrived.


    Khan''s martial art focused on his legs, so he instinctively knew how to counter simr moves. Ilman''s weakness was in his heavy reliance on palm strikes, which often left him defenseless after releasing the umted mana.


    It was enough to aim at Ilman''s legs to put him on the ground and gain the upper hand in the battle. Khan had only needed to see his attacks three times to understand that fatal weakness. Part of that came from his battle experience, but he couldn''t deny that the Niqols'' moves had ws. Khan could imagine an eventual fusion with those fast moves and the palm strikes, but Ilman appeared unable to mix the two styles correctly.


    Ilman''s style felt like a high-risk, high-reward martial art simr to the Divine Reaper. A single attack could take out or kill an opponent since the speed gained with the sprints enhanced the palm strikes. However, it also left the Niqols exposed if the move failed to hit the target.


    "Can we talk about this?" Khan almost begged Ilman while letting go of his ankle. "I know we have different values when ites to this stuff, but fighting isn''t the solution."


    "This isn''t about us!" Ilman shouted while rotating on his back to stand up and shoot toward Khan.


    The Niqols was trying to attack Khan without establishing a proper foothold. Thetter only had to sweep his legs to interrupt the move and make him fall on his back.


    Khan wanted to say something else, but Ilman didn''t remain still for even a second. The Niqols curled toward him and tried to grab his legs, but Khan promptly jumped backward.


    Ilman didn''t try to stand up at that time, so his range was far from great. Retreating by mere thirty centimeters put Khan outside of his reach and the area his mana could cover. Yet, Ilman managed to surprise him.


    Khan had used the previous attacks to evaluate what Ilman''s palm strikes could do. Still, it turned out that he had underestimated the Niqols'' ability in the maniption field.


    The mana that shot out of Ilman''s palms when he stretched his arms and sat on the ground didn''t take the shape of violent clouds. Instead, it transformed into two beam-like attacks that took Khan by surprise and hit both his shins.


    Khan almost fell on his knees. His legs felt weak even if no injuries appeared on his skin. The beams of mana had torn his robe, but the outsides of his shins seemed to be intact. Still, the sense of weakness that filled those spots almost cut his connection with his ankles and warned him that something inside had broken.


    Khan promptly jumped backward again before forcefully mming his feet on the ground. He performed a technique that made mana flow downward and created a deep hole among the short dark grass during the impact.


    Pain arrived at that point. The mana that flowed through his legs and came out of his soles described his injuries'' nature. His shinbones were fine, but his muscles weren''t as reactive as he wished. They also felt sore and weak.


    It seemed that Ilman''sst attack had lost a lot of destructiveness to obtain its ranged properties. The azure beams had been enough to hurt Khan, but they didn''t inflict much damage. He felt able to express most of his power even after that blow, but he firmly believed that fighting before suppressing the internal injuries would only worsen his condition.


    It became evident that Khan couldn''t continue dodging. It turned out that he didn''t know enough about Ilman''s power to make that approach doable, but he still hesitated to fight back properly. Luckily for him, he had finally started to gain an idea of how the Niqols'' crazy mind worked.


    "Is your idea of Miss Liiza so poor?" Khan asked in a chilling voice as he wore a disappointed expression.


    Ilman was using those seconds to get back on his feet, but the suddenment made him stop his tracks. His beliefs had always been firm due to the intense love that backed them. However, something in Khan''s statement made him hesitate.


    "Don''t you dare to offend her!" Ilman eventually shouted as anger filled his mind.


    The Niqols charged forward again, but the world in his vision began to rotate before he could reach his target. Ilman couldn''t understand what had happened, but he found himself staring at the dark sky when his eyes managed to focus.


    A faint pressure appeared on his chest. Ilman suddenly saw that Khan had disappeared from the spot on his initial path and had reappeared next to him. Khan was pressing the Niqols on the ground with his foot, but he didn''t apply too much strength. He preferred to talk now.


    "You are offending her," Khan continued in his chilling voice. "I don''t know Miss Liiza at all, but yesterday''s matters have proven that she isn''t weak. You are the only one who thinks that she needs protection."


    Lies fused with truths during Khan''s statements, but Ilman''s found his tone heavier to endure than his words. The Niqols generally were quite sensitive to feelings, and Ilman could almost see past the masks that Khan was wearing to hide his real intentions.


    Khan was choosing his words carefully, but he wasn''t using only lies. His disappointment was fake, but the coldness in his voice was real. He pretended not to know Liiza, but everything he said about her was true.


    "I''m doing this for her!" Ilmanined while lifting his palms to attack the leg pressed on his chest.


    Khan''s leg disappeared before the arrival of the palm strikes, and a force suddenlynded on Ilman''s side. The Niqols slid over the ground and rotated in on himself until he managed to stop his body. He even tried to stand up to attack, but Khan''s sharp words arrived before he could muster his strength.


    "Did she ask for it?" Khan asked. "I thought Niqols strived for freedom, but your feelings try to remove it. Is that your idea of love?"


    Ilman''s eyes widened, and the mana that he had umted in his hands dispersed as his concentration crumbled. His idea of love was immature, but he had always believed that such intense feelings couldn''t be wrong, especially since his peers seemed to admire them.


    Khan showed him a different perspective, a point of view that the Niqols around Ilman wouldn''t describe even if they could consider it. Ilman''s socialwork it impossible for him to doubt his beliefs, but Khan took care of the matter that day.


    "How can you know how Niqols feel?" Ilman responded, but his question only made Khan''s voice grow colder.


    "I''ve learnt a bit about Miss Liiza''s situation during my stay here," Khan revealed. "I''ve also learnt a bit about you. Did you think that you could win her over through perseverance? Also, how can you think that the Niqols'' methods would work on her after what she went through?"


    Ilman was mostly trying to reject Khan''s words, but thestment ended up making a lot of sense. Even a foreigner could understand Liiza''s detachment from the Niqols'' species. It was only normal for her to hate potentially toxic behaviors connected to the iconic intense emotions.


    "My peers appreciate them!" Ilman shouted in a desperate attempt to remain on the right side of the argument. "I embody what a Niqols should be!"


    "But you don''t want the others, right?" Khan asked as his voice gained some warmth. "I understand that Niqols and humans are different, but we have limits to how insistent we can be, especially after clear refusals. Maybe you should work a bit on yourself or give up on Miss Liiza."


    "Do humans give up so easily?" Ilman asked while wearing a stupefied expression.


    "I wouldn''t say easily," Khan pretended to think about the topic for a bit before continuing. "I guess we respect boundaries better than Niqols. Your feelings seem incredible when everything goes well, but they can turn into something pretty awful when it doesn''t."


    Khan decided to inflict the deadly blow at that point. He cleared his throat while removing all the coldness from his voice and trying to appear as if he wanted to teach something to the Niqols. "Look at where your love led you. You have decided to attack someone who has only done his best to ease Miss Liiza''s grief. You didn''t only break the academy''s rules and made things incredibly difficult for me. You have actually tried to reduce the potential happiness of your loved one."


    Ilman felt as if his world was falling apart. Everything Khan had said was correct. He only had to look at the matter from outside his delusions to understand that.


    The Niqols turned toward George, and thetter nodded when he saw Khan ring at him in the distance. Ilman didn''t know what to think anymore after thatst confirmation. He felt as if he had wasted thest years of his life.


    "Look, I understand jealousy," Khan eventually said in a rxed tone, "But I was only talking to her after spending an entire morning fighting leeches under the surface. Isn''t that normal? Also, did you n to lock Miss Liiza up in a cave if she ever epted dating you? You can''t just avoid others from interacting with her."


    The destruction of Ilman''s beliefs only quickened as Khan continued to throw words at him. The Niqols often considered humans cynical, but they could make reasonable points during a conversation, and Ilman tasted that first-hand. Still, that new perspective gave him something that he had slowly started to recover during thest years. It showed him that hope existed.


    "Thank you, Khan," Ilman said after standing up and performing a bow. "I thought I had hit a wall with Liiza, but you showed me that I could do much more. Your friends aren''t wrong about you. You are really good with women."


    Khan suppressed the desire to re at George. The whole problem was his fault, and the boy seemed to understand that since he diverted his gaze and pretended to be ignorant about the situation.


    "I don''t know exactly how it works here," Khan responded after performing a bow, "But we can forget about this matter if you want. I don''t want problems with the professors, and being the reason behind messes can ruin my position on Nitis. Let''s pretend that nothing has happened, okay?"


    "Nonsense!" Ilman shouted, leaving both Khan and George speechless. "We must follow the rules! I''ll see the professors immediately and report everything!"


    Khan wanted to say something, but Ilman quickly turned and shot toward the forest. His speed had increased now that anger didn''t cloud his mind anymore. He seemed able to express his real power with his newfound calm.


    Khan saw that he would struggle to catch up with him. Nevertheless, he tried to shoot after Ilman anyway, but a sharp wave of pain spread from his shins when he bent his legs. The Niqols had disappeared among the trees by the time Khan managed to focus on his surroundings again.


    ****


    Author''s notes: 2-3 hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 155 - Feelings

    "You are the master of love," George mocked while approaching Khan.


    "I will say that everything is your fault if they try to put some me on me," Khan sighed as he straightened his position and checked his legs.


    Khan was overall fine. His mana was already fixing the faint damage suffered during the battle, but dealing with internal injuries appeared quite bothersome. His body seemed to require more care, and only the meditations could give it that.


    "That sounds fair," Georgeughed before showing a tinge of regret. "I honestly didn''t expect things to reach this point."


    "I know," Khan said while patting George''s shoulder. "It''s just my bad luck."


    "Says the guy who has human and Niqols girls trying to get under his robe," George scoffed.


    "I feel the sudden urge to contact Natalie," Khan joked, and George promptly shot a worried nce toward him.


    "C''mon, man," George pleaded. "We are friends, right? We don''t do this to each other."


    "I should even ask Azni to bring Havaa along more often," Khan continued while walking toward the square where they usually waited for Professor Supyan.


    "Spare me from your anger," George almost begged Khan as he followed behind him. "I like Natalie."


    "How did you even end up with Havaa then?" Khan asked as honest confusion filled his face.


    "A man has urges!" George proudly announced.


    "You need to take lessons from Ilman," Khanughed.


    "Khan, we are young and talented recruits in the Global Army," George exined while wrapping an arm around Khan''s shoulder and waving a hand toward the distance. "We should enjoy our poprity before a girl manages to lock us up in a marriage."


    "What are you doing?" Khan asked while pointing at the hand waving in the distance.


    "I''m showing you the vast number of girls that we can have before settling," George replied while making broader gestures.


    "Is Natalie in the settling n or the hand part?" Khan asked without lowering his fingers.


    "I don''t know," George responded before giving up on involving Khan in his jokes. "She is beautiful, and her family would be a perfect match for mine, but she is way too cold. I must say that the Niqols'' straightforward character is far better. I even find it enticing."


    "As long as it doesn''t get to Ilman''s levels," Khan added.


    "As long as it doesn''t get to Ilman''s levels," George repeated before wearing a serious expression.


    George saw that Khan wasn''t saying anything about the issue on purpose, but he didn''t feel good about ignoring the topicpletely. Ilman''s matters were partially his fault. He wasn''t in control of the Niqols'' craziness, but that didn''t remove his share of guilt.


    "I will take the me if they try to do something to you," George announced after remaining silent for a few seconds.


    Khan nced at hispanion and studied his regretful expression. Part of him wished to reveal everything about Liiza and talk about her openly, but he suppressed that urge. Khan limited himself to appreciate how hisscivious friend had an honorable character at his core.


    "You don''t have to," Khan forced himself to say.


    "Of course I have," George dered. "Losing Nitis won''t do much to my career. I will still be a wealthy soldier if they send me back to Earth. Besides, I owe you."


    "You need to get out of that forest," Khan scolded. "The daylight is approaching, and you can''t face it in this condition."


    "Isn''t it better to remain like this until the crisis is over?" George asked. "I feel I can be more efficient."


    "We are already at our second crisis, George," Khan sighed. "I''m starting to believe that there will always be more problems, even if you decide to remain on Earth. You never know. An alien spaceship might fall in front of you and create a living hell."


    "I have no idea how you manage to keep going and make it seem so easy," George eximed.


    "I have many talents," Khanughed before wearing his serious expression. "Make sure to focus on Professor Supyan''s lessons. They might really help you."


    "Did they help you?" George questioned.


    "I have other methods to handle everything," Khan announced as Liiza''s face appeared in his vision.


    The duo fell silent as their square appeared in front of them. Both Khan and George needed to rest, so they didn''t hesitate to sit on the active azure symbols on the ground and fall deep into their meditations.


    The azure symbols among the dark grass improved their sensitivity to mana and forced their minds to notice the slight differences in that energy. The squares were open to everyone, so the two boys had picked the habit to improve their perception when they had some time to kill. Their meditations didn''t require the entirety of their concentration anyway, so they could multitask during those moments.


    An empty figure eventually entered their range and moved through the mana to reach them. Khan and George opened their eyes and stood up to perform a polite bow toward Professor Supyan. An awkward silence fell among the group after the Niqols replied to the gesture with a simr salute.


    Professor Supyan appeared slightly annoyed and sleepy, even if it were hard to notice anything from his cold expression. His mana couldn''t help in the matter either because the Niqols knew how to keep it hidden inside his body. The two boys only had that vague impression by the few strands of messy hair that stood out on his head.


    "Did Ilman wake you up, [Guru]?" Khan asked after deciding that showing initiative was the best thing to do in that situation.


    "He did," Professor Supyan confirmed. "He told me a funny story."


    Professor Supyan reached for Khan''s head at that point, and thetter instinctively bent back to avoid it. Yet, the Niqols nodded to express that he had no ill intentions, so Khan eventually let himy a hand on his forehead.


    The same white membrane that Khan had seen enveloping Zeliha covered his skin in a few seconds. He could sense its light releasing a glow that forced his flesh to inform the technique about its state. It didn''t take Professor Supyan much to find the injuries on Khan''s chests and shins, and his ability soon acted to heal them.


    Khan felt foreign energy seeping through his skin and reaching the injured spots before attracting other brims of mana inside his body. It seemed that the technique didn''t rely only on Professor Supyan''s energy. It also used Khan''s mana to originate a healing process that suited his body almost perfectly.


    Khan couldn''t help but close his eyes while a peaceful feeling spread inside him. It was strange to have someone else''s energy flowing through his insides, but that process didn''t cause any difort. Actually, it triggered sensations very simr to those felt while he was with Liiza.


    "Only a few humans have experienced our [Harmony Technique]," Professor Supyan eximed as the membrane broke and he retracted his hand. "How was it?"


    "I felt at peace, I think," Khan honestly replied while touching his injured areas and jumping on his spot.


    A slight soreness still existed in his shins, but everything else appearedpletely fine. The meditation had already appeased his injuries, but the healing technique had almost put an end to them. The weight on his chest had vanished, and no pain afflicted his legs now.


    "The technique can only provide energy," Professor Supyan exined. "Your body does the healing. The emotions that we have to use to trigger that process often remind us about our peaceful moments. You have probably thought about something that makes you truly happy."


    Khan nodded, but he couldn''t suppress the appearance of a warm smile. He didn''t even sense iting. Thoughts about Liiza reappeared in his mind at Professor Supyan''s words, and Khan realized once again how important that girl had be in his life.


    "How is Ilman?" Khan asked when he snapped back to reality.


    "He is fine," Professor Supyan snorted as his voice gained an angry tone. "We are lucky that you were his target. He might have really killed weaker students. The professors have decided to suspend him from the lessons. He won''t bother you anymore."


    Khan and George bowed, but Professor Supyan promptly stopped them. "Don''t. It''s our fault for misjudging how dangerous he could be. Hopefully your teachings will help him."


    Khan''s eyebrows arched when he saw Professor Supyan shooting one of his rare smiles toward him. It seemed that Ilman''s report didn''t stop at his action. It also involved the words that Khan had spoken during his scolding.


    "Enough wasting time," Professor Supyan eventually ordered as his expression returnedpletely stern. "Get back on the ground and repeat the rotation of emotions. Start with the positive to reach the negative. You have yet to show me decent results in the maniption of mana."


    .


    .


    .


    The long day eventually went by. The lessons brought Khan and George to their limits, and even the other recruits didn''t handle them too well. Thetter tried their best during them, but their minds never managed to be fully involved with that type of teaching. Only the sensitivity ss felt useful, but the others were too detached from the human methods for their tastes.


    Khan returned inside the underground habitation with everyone, but he did that only to pick his null-grade blunt knife and a change of clothes. Kelly tried to approach him while he walked toward the staircase, but he only needed to show the cube to make her abandon any idea of starting another discussion.


    Khan didn''t forget to deactivate his cube''s tracker before moving toward the edges of the forest and leaving with Snow. He eventually decided to sleep during the travel to add almost three hours to the four requested by Liiza.


    It didn''t take much before Khan entered the usual cave in the marsh and saw the familiar white eyes lightning up at its end. Liiza had just woken up, but she didn''t hesitate to shoot out of her nket to reach her boyfriend.


    "I heard about Ilman," Liiza announced while locking her hands on his shoulders and checking his body.


    "I''m fine," Khanughed. "Ilman nevernded a clean blow on me, and Professor Supyan has used the [Harmony Technique] even."


    "I didn''t think he would react like that," Liiza exined in a regretful tone. "I would have tried to stop you from helping him."


    "It''s fine," Khan continued tough, but his voice gained a teasing tone. "Aren''t you going to ask me more about the [Harmony Technique]? Don''t you want to know what appeared in my mind?"


    Liiza blushed and lowered her gaze. She released Khan''s shoulders and let him wrap his hands around her waist. Her eyes went on him, and they ended up staring at each other for a while before Khan decided to speak again.


    "How bad is it if I thought about you during the technique?" Khan whispered while slowly leading Liiza back on the wall at the bottom of the cave.


    "Pretty bad," Liiza revealed without trying to oppose Khan''s actions. "You must be desperate to see your happiness in someone known for a bit more than a month."


    "I have as much desperation as you want," Khan grinned.


    "Don''t joke about it," Liiza pouted. "I''d rather have you face that seriously when we are together."


    Liiza''s back hit the wall a few seconds after her reply. The couple continued to get closer as Khan made their foreheads touch, but Liiza lowered her face to avoid falling prey to intense kisses already.


    "I don''t," Khan said while letting his feelings sweep away his tiredness.


    The couple spent entire minutes in that position without doing much. Liiza even wrapped her arms around Khan''s neck at some point, but she didn''t raise her head.


    "Did you umte four hours of sleep?" Liiza eventually asked in a sweet voice.


    "Almost three," Khan announced. "I n to do thest afterward."


    Liiza''s blush intensified. Khan didn''t need to exin what he meant with his words, and she found herself biting her lower lip when she thought about it.


    "Did you really think about me during the [Harmony Technique]?" Liiza questioned in an even sweeter voice.


    "I felt the same sensations that I''m experiencing now," Khan stated.


    "Khan, it has only been one month," Liiza whimpered while finally raising her face.


    Khan frowned when he noticed her watery eyes. Liiza seemed on the verge of crying, but she didn''t appear sad. He even tried to rely on his sensitivity to mana to understand her feelings, but the oue of his inspection was confusing. Khan sensed that Liiza was overflowing with happiness.


    "What is it?" Khan asked as he raised one hand to caress her cheek. "Talk to me."


    "I''m afraid," Liiza sniffed. "I want to say it, but I think that it''s too soon. I don''t want to ruin everything either, and our situation is so bad. I don''t know wha-."


    Liiza couldn''t finish her line since Khan hugged her. He could understand herpletely. He had gone through a long talk about love that same morning. Revealing their feelings now would only make it harder to keep their rtionship a secret. Both of them knew that, but Liiza needed him to reassure her.


    "It will happen," Khan whispered while leaving a kiss on her hair. "Don''t treat your feelings like a curse, especially if they are for me."


    Liiza clung to Khan''s head and made sure to seep her fingers into his hair. That deep and instinctive understanding felt incredibly reassuring. She almost couldn''t believe that they had reached that state in such a short time.


    "You can ignore the hours tonight," Liiza eventually whispered. "But only tonight."

 Chapter 156 - Terror

    Life in [The Pure Trees] was mostly peaceful and busy. Everyone knew about the arrival of the daylight, but no one dared to ruin the rxed aura that filled the forest at the center of the seven mountains.


    Kelly and the other skeptical recruits eventually had to ept that the new environment brought clear advantages. Their training felt smoother, their improving sensitivity to mana increased their overall awareness, and their constant efforts to control that energy benefited their martial arts in ways that they didn''t expect.


    Only the maniption field remained tooplicated for most recruits since it belonged to a type of training that was too distant from what the humans believed to be useful.


    Of course, that realization didn''t arrive in a matter of days. The recruits had to spend two more weeks immersed in that alien environment to notice and ept that their level was increasing in ways that the human training camps had never managed to provide. That realization didn''t evene on its own. Brandon, Kelly, and George had to reach thepetent proficiency level with their martial arts to make the clear advantages of the alien academy impossible to deny.


    The three recruits weren''t poor like Khan orzy like Luke. They were Martha''s rich version. Their families had given them martial arts before their enrollment to the Global Army. That had only allowed them to memorize most of the techniques before their attunement level granted them ess to mana, but it was a significant advantage nheless.


    Khan had managed to match that advantage through sheer willpower and discipline in his training, but his early ess and talent to mana had yed an essential part in his achievement. Still, his talent didn''t refute the importance of what his threepanions had aplished. Stepping into thepetent proficiency level only eight months after their enrollment remained an amazing feat.


    George was the first to aplish the important feat, but hispanions used Istrone''s crisis to justify the event. Kelly''s advancement arrived only a few dayster, but the other recruits viewed her stern approach to her training as the reason for her achievement. It took Brandon''s breakthrough to make them ept that the academy had something to do with their sudden growth.


    Some took the events as a natural consequence of the increased workload. The recruits had to spend nine hours a day immersed in exercises meant to improve their sensitivity, control, and maniption of mana. Adding their normal training to those lessons had basically doubled the amount of time they spent on the physical subjects.


    Nevertheless, others didn''tpletely disregard how the Niqols'' training methods and the peaceful atmosphere of the academy had affected their growth. They all could feel their approach to mana changing after that prolonged stay among the aliens. The recruits inevitably stopped taking it as a simple fuel and started viewing it as a core part of themselves.


    The recruits didn''t have actual conversations about that realization, not general talks at least. They vaguely mentioned the topic every once in a while, but no one wanted to go too deeply in that field. Cracks appeared in their confidence about the superiority of their species, but that was the best it could happen in only three weeks.


    The faint and silent changes experienced by the recruits were far more evident when it came to Khan, and some recruits failed to see them only due to his almost constant absence.


    The two weeks after the events with the leeches didn''t feature any mission or unexpected crisis. Khan could immerse himself in his new life and be a core member of the academy''s socialwork.


    Rumors about his battle against Ilman had inevitably spread, and George was partially to me for that. The boy had no ill intention when he bragged about his friend during parties or lunch breaks, and his ignorance about the secret rtionship didn''t make him realize how troublesome his actions were for Khan.


    Ilman had a great image among most Niqols due to his dedication to his innate emotions. Learning that Khan had fought and won against him made many aliens reevaluate the human boy and hispanions as a whole. Khan started to build deeper rtionships with Niqols outside of Azni and Doku, and most of them featured girls interested in more than a simple friendship.


    George took that development as an absolute victory, but Khan could only see problems piling on in front of his eyes. The parties became battles that required his best performances to remain polite and admirable without offending or openly rejecting those attentions. Leaving them also became a problem when he had to handle interested girls, friendly Niqols, and happy drunkards. Luckily for him, he had a helper during those loud events.


    Khan didn''t know how he would have managed to continue seeing Liiza if Azni didn''t help hime up with excuses to remain alone long enough to escape the parties. The girl turned out to be an expert in gossips and parties, and her support helped Khan avoid creating misunderstandings.


    A few problems followed Azni''s tant help. Doku started to suspect that something was up, but his girlfriend''s behavior never made his thoughts think about an affair. Moreover, Khan''s mysterious disappearances only improved his image in the Niqols'' eyes. He became Ilman''s opposite. Both good-looking and talented, but one was openly intense, while the other appeared full of secrets.


    Khan limited himself to look at the positive side of that matter. The Niqols didn''t even begin to suspect something about his secret rtionship. They all had seen him the night before his battle with Ilman, and everyone agreed that the alien had fallen prey to unreasonable jealousy. Khan had even been kind enough not to take the matter to heart and teach him how different perspectives existed.


    Other problems involved the recruits. The group of humans created two different factions, and Khan appeared to be outside of both. Kelly''s team tried to maintain a distance from the aliens, while George''s side did its best to blend in.


    Khan couldn''t belong to either of them because he didn''t exist. He didn''t sleep in the underground habitation, he always escaped from the parties, and he spent most of his free time inside the academy training.


    Hispanions began to take his disappearances as a needed search for privacy, and even Kelly started to ept that after seeing how popr he was among the Niqols. They couldn''t imagine that Khan''s problem stretched even outside of the academy.


    "That Zezag bitch!" Liiza shouted as she stomped her feet while walking up and down the cave in the marsh. "She always clings to boys to make sure that they notice her big chest! How would anyone miss it when you keep your robe open all the time?!"


    "Even Kheda joined her!" Liiza cursed without stopping her steps. "Why are girls with a big chest so bold? How is Ilman even causing more problems now that he can''t enter the academy? Why are you even smiling?!"


    Liiza''sstment only broadened Khan''s smile. He was watching his jealous girlfriend while sitting at the bottom of the cave. The tiredness umted in the previous two weeks was trying to fill his head, but he didn''t feel anything when he saw how angry Liiza was about his situation.


    "It''s funny to see you like this," Khan chuckled. "I don''t even need to tease you to get these reactions."


    "Shut up!" Liiza snorted. "You are just happy that I''m too jealous to care about my initial deal."


    "I''m still respecting it," Khan responded before diverting his gaze, "Most of the time."


    The couple was approaching their second month together. Only a bit more than a week separated the two from that celebration. The happy event had initially put Liiza in a good mood, but the attentions that Khan had received in thest two weeks had made her jealous beyond reason.


    The fact that Liiza had held back words that she was desperate to say for two entire weeks only worsened the situation. Luckily for her, Khan had been perfect in reassuring her. He often reminded her how it was enough for them to know about their feelings.


    Liiza even felt bad about being unable to remainpletely focused on Khan during the time that he managed to find for them in his packed schedule. It was the second day of his fourth week in the academy. He had gone through twelve hours of lessons, a party, and a long flight to have a few moments with her, but she found herself unable to ignore how popr he had be.


    "You are draining yourself for me," Liiza whispered as her eyes went on the ground. "Sometimes, I think you''d be better off without me. You would be able to sleep properly, train all you want, and have sex with many big-chested girls."


    Khan knew that he had to console her, but her third remark on the chest issue made him explode into augh. Liiza had ended up gaining that inferiorityplex due to theparison with her mother''s beauty, and she couldn''t help but reveal it when her boyfriend received the attention of girls with simr curves.


    "Don''tugh!" Liizained while ring at him. "This is serious. I''m one step away from rushing to the next party and kissing you in front of everyone. You have no idea how hard it is to stay here alone knowing that hordes of girls are trying to get inside your pants."


    "I wouldn''t call them hordes," Khanughed.


    "Please," Liiza snorted. "I might have been an outcast for years, but I know how Niqols girls think. Damn you. You made me unable to enjoy my time alone in less than two months."


    Liiza crossed her arms and moved her eyes back to the ground. She hated herments. She knew that Khan wouldn''t take her words seriously, but she didn''t want to talk badly about their rtionship, even when joking or angry.


    "[Liiza]," Khan said in the best Niqols'' ent he could muster, "[Come here]."


    Khan''s knowledge of the aliennguage had continued to improve, and Liiza was the main reason behind that. Yet, the couple had started to use it as a trigger for their intimate moments.


    Liiza pretended to struggle, but she soon nced at Khan. He had broken his cross-legged position and had stretched his legs to create afortable seat above him. Liiza wanted to make him wait a few seconds, but hisp appeared too appealing that day. She didn''t manage to resist it for even a second.


    "[I didn''t forget about the four hours that you owe me]," Liiza whispered while spreading her legs to sit on Khan.


    Her arms went around his neck as the two exchanged a long kiss, but Liiza retracted her face and showed a warm smile when she sensed Khan''s hands going under her robe and sliding on her thighs. The warmth spreading on her bare skin made her bite her lower lip, but she shook her head anyway.


    "[I just wanted to feel your]-," Khan said before diverting his eyes as he tried to recall the word that he was looking for.


    "[Butt or legs]," Liiza giggled. "[Pick one]."


    "[Both]," Khan smirked, and Liiza''s smile broadened before she left another kiss on his lips.


    "[Let me show you something]," Khan announced before pointing his feet on the ground and standing up while lifting Liiza with him.


    Liizaughed as she wrapped her legs around his waist and let Khan carry her outside the cave. She immersed her hands in his hair and left light kisses on his head, but she focused on her surroundings when drops of water started falling on her.


    Khan had stopped before the waterfall right in front of the cave. The ground there was mostly muddy. However, he had learnt to recognize the stable spots in the area after flying there for weeks.


    "[I thought we could take baths together only early in the night due to Doku''s nose]," Liiza whispered to Khan''s ear. "[Getting me naked won''t make you skip your hours either]."


    Khan showed a smile and kissed her cheek before whispering to her ear. "[Get down]."


    Liiza bit her lower lip again as she made her legs slide over his body slowly until they reached the ground. She waited for Khan to turn and dive on her like he often did, but a surprised expression appeared on her face when she saw him drawing the knife sheathed at his left side.


    Liiza''s curiosity intensified when she felt Khan holding her tightly. Their heads touched as he raised the knife in front of her eyes and used his mana to cover its dark-grey de.


    The membrane of mana appearedpletely stable. Khan showed how he could wave the knife almost freely without creating ripples on that glowing cover.


    The demonstration didn''t end there. The membrane became thinner and sharper when Khan kept the knife still. Liiza noticed how his grip on her lower back rxed as he focused on the technique. She even felt a faint sharp feeling when she inspected the weapon.


    Khan stopped when he reached the limits of his concentration. He neared the knife covered by the sharp membrane to the waterfall and showed how a hole appeared among the water even before the weapon touched it.


    "[My training is going well]," Khan suddenly announced as the membrane broke and a white mark appeared on the blunt edge.


    Khan still couldn''t use the Divine Reaper in a battle, but he was getting there quickly. His progress almost scared him. Yet, he knew that his growth came from his efforts in the lessons about the maniption of mana.


    His maniption was immature and unstable, but it was improving quickly. The changes that Khan managed to apply weren''t intense either, but he wasn''t in a hurry. Achieving so much in less than two months without sacrificing the important aspects of his life was already an incredible achievement.


    Liiza understood that Khan didn''t bring her there to try to get past her restrictions about sex. He was trying to improve her mood, and that realization made her snuggle closer.


    Khan stored the knife and turned toward Liiza. The girl was staring at him with loving eyes. She appeared in a daze as she studied all the features she had memorized in thest period.


    "[I don''t care about the other girls either]," Khan whispered. "[I only want you]."


    "[Even if their chest is bigger]?" Liiza asked in a pleading tone.


    "[Even if their chest is bigger]," Khan confirmed while showing a loving smile.


    The two slowly drew close until they exchanged a long and affectionate kiss. The couple separated only to end up in a tight hug that made the two almost unable to breathe.


    "[How long do you have]?" Liiza eventually asked without moving her face from his neck.


    "[Less than one hour]," Khan revealed through a sigh. "[Let''s spend it like this]."


    "[I wish we could be like this forever]," Liiza whimpered in a cute voice.


    Khan chuckled, but a smile appeared on Liiza''s face when she felt him nodding. The two immersed themselves in the sensations that their hug generated and let themselves forget about the problems that surrounded them.


    "[What is it]?" Liiza asked when she sensed Khan had suddenly tensed up.


    "Liiza," Khan said without adding anything else, and Liiza understood that something was up since he had stopped using the Niqols'' ent.


    Liiza''s head left the embrace and noticed that Khan was staring at a point in the distance. His eyes were wide, so she quickly followed his gaze.


    Liiza didn''t immediately understand what was happening. The waterfall filled her vision with its flowing water, but a strange multicolored glow eventually attracted her attention. She had never seen that liquid generating that reaction. The sight was clearly odd, but she didn''t understand the reason behind Khan''s astonishment.


    Khan''s hand reached for the waterfall at that point. His fingers pierced the flowing water before he used his palm to create an opening in that thin structure.


    The rest of the marsh expanded past that opening. Liiza could see the sparse vegetation bing thicker in the distance, the dense water covered in mud and small leaves, and the dark sky farther away. However, her expression froze when she noticed that an area appeared brighter than usual.


    Khan and Liiza took slow steps forward and crossed the waterfall to gain a broader view of the areas past the cliff, and their gazes slowly went upward after converging on the brighter spot. Their astonishment transformed into terror when they noticed that the usual dark sky had gained pale-azure shades as it spread a faint light in the environment.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Second chapter in 2-3 hours.

 Chapter 157 - Ugly

    Liiza had never seen a simr scene. The sky had never turned azure. She instinctively thought about the mana due to the simrities of their shades, but she knew that the event meant something entirely different.


    At her side, Khan realized how strange it felt to see the sky change color. He had been among Nitis'' darkness for so long that he had almost forgotten how beautiful the dawn could be. However, no happiness could apany that moment. The unexpected event only hinted at the arrival of a crisis.


    Khan wanted to question his girlfriend about the matter, but the surprise revealed by her expression stated that she didn''t expect the daylight to arrive so soon. The event didn''t even seem to affect the whole. The pale-azure shades darkened in the distance and brightened past the cliff. The marsh didn''t even appear to be the center of that clear patch either.


    A cold sensation filled Khan and Liiza''s robes, and an azure glow seeped out of their fabric. The two picked their cubes and saw that their symbols were radiating an intense light due to the Niqols trying to contact them.


    ''How far are you from the academy?'' Doku''s voice resounded inside Khan''s mind once he established the mentalmunication.


    ''Three hours,'' Khan replied honestly.


    ''How far are you from this location?'' Doku asked as a vague image appeared in his mind.


    Khan had turned off the cube''s tracker before flying to the marsh. The image sent by Doku depicted a map of the areas around the academy, but it didn''t show Khan''s current location. One of those regions had a striking glowing spot that marked the site meant by the Niqols.


    Khan would have had to activate the tracker if he didn''t manage to find himself on that map without the help of the cube. Yet, he had studied the area thoroughly in thest weeks, so calcting the distance from that bright spot wasn''t an issue. It ended up being in his direction, at only one hour from the marsh.


    ''A bit more than an hour,'' Khan gave another honest answer.


    Khan and Liiza had decided how to handle a simr situation when he received his cube. Simr answers to questions concerning their location when they were together would inevitably create suspicions, so they had toe up with a simple tactic that they could apply all the time.


    Liiza would always add one or two hours to her actual location, while Khan would be honest. Being avable was more critical to Khan due to his political mission, so Liiza didn''t mind risking beingte even when it came to important events. Still, Khan didn''t know how she would feel about the tactic in that situation.


    ''Go there right away,'' Doku ordered before his tone gained a worried tone. ''We need all the help we can get.''


    Doku cut off themunication at that point, and Khan checked the map once more to make sure that he had understood where he had to go. His gaze moved on Liiza as he put the cube back inside his robe, and she showed a worried expression as she stored her device too.


    "Khan," Liiza whispered in a trembling voice, "No one expected this to happen."


    "It''s definitely strange," Khan announced while pulling her closer.


    Khan didn''t know how the daylight on Nitis would work, but it felt odd for only a small patch of the sky to brighten. He didn''t know anything about astronomy and the connected subjects, but that event didn''t sound like the apocalyptic event that everyone was waiting for.


    "It''s not happening only here," Liiza exined as she pointed her palms on Khan''s chest to stop his hug and make their eyes meet. "The sky is getting clearer everywhere on the, but our calctions gave us at least two more months before the first light."


    "What do you mean?" Khan asked as he started to understand the nature of Liiza''s worry.


    "We aren''t ready!" Liiza shouted. "There is a vige under this bright patch, and we aren''t ready!"


    Khan had felt worried about the light. He had immediately imagined the arrival of a long period spent hunting, but the situation had gained apletely different meaning now. The presence of a vige under the bright patch hinted at Niqos with no control over their mana.


    "I need to go," Khan stated. "How long did you say it will take you to go there?"


    Liiza didn''t immediately answer. She picked her cube again and made it touch the waterfall. Confused images appeared on the flowing water, but Khan managed to recognize the same map that Doku had sent to him.


    "Where did they tell you to go?" Liiza asked.


    The nature of the waterfall made the edges of the picture unclear. It wasn''t the ideal surface for that function, but Liiza couldn''t use the cube with Khan because thework would record their conversation.


    "Around here," Khan said while pointing at the glowing spot highlighted by his map.


    "That''s the vige," Liiza sighed as she raised her hand to grab the corners of Khan''s robe. "They sent me to the surrounding areas to take care of the monsters there."


    Khan would have taken longer to realize the entirety of the situation if he didn''t have Liiza''s conflicted expression in front of him. Yet, she struggled to speak, and she avoided looking at him in the eyes after learning about his target.


    The Niqols knew how strong Khan was. He had even defeated Ilman, even if anger was controlling the alien back then. Still, Khan remained the perfect candidate for the hunts, but they had decided to send him inside the vige and Liiza in the wilds. It seemed that they preferred to make a human experience the effects of the sunlight on the members of their species.


    "I''ll be fine," Khan reassured her. "I''ve probably seen worse."


    "I really hope that," Liiza whispered while continuing to avoid Khan''s gaze.


    Liiza felt ashamed about that decision. Their superiors had sent a human to handle the mutated Niqols to save their students from that sight. She knew that she had nothing to do with that tactic, but that didn''t matter when her boyfriend would be the one to suffer due to that choice.


    The noise of Snow''s wings soon echoed in the area and made Khan turned toward his flyingpanion. The Adunsnded in a stable spot near him, but it made sure not to let its feathers touch the mud nearby.


    "Won''t you say goodbye?" Khan asked while revealing a faint smile.


    Liiza couldn''t help but turn when she heard the exact words that she had spoken in the past. She could read in Khan''s expression that he was doing his best not to make her worry, but his efforts became pointless when she thought about what he would see in the vige.


    "Don''t hate us after today," Liiza pleaded before leaving a short kiss on his lips.


    "Don''t get hurt out there," Khan responded while caressing her cheek and wearing a frown until he saw her nodding.


    Khan smiled at that point and decided to kiss her again, but the two separated afterward. He had been honest about his distance from the vige, so he had to leave now.


    Liiza followed Snow''s white figure as it shot through the sky and flew toward the brighter areas. Her expression darkened whenever she thought about what the vige could hold. Even imagining those scenes seemed too much for her.


    Khan couldn''t meditate during that short hour. He had to adjust Snow''s direction ording to the map in the cube, so resting was also out of the question.


    The region highlighted by the map eventually unfolded in his vision. It featured a vastke filled with dark water, a forest expanding from one side, and a in with some hills on the others. Yet, Khan couldn''t see any trace of a vige from his position.


    It felt strange to inspect Nitis'' environment with that faint light illuminating the scene. It wasn''t exactly morning, but there wasn''t the usual almostplete darkness either.


    Khan made Snow hover above the area until he noticed a group of Niqolsing out of the edges of the forest. He didn''t hesitate to dive toward them, and an ugly feeling soon spread inside him when he became able to inspect those aliens properly.


    Snow set off again as soon as it dropped Khan on the ground. Thetter hurried toward the six adult Niqols standing and sitting next to the trees. Their bloodied white robes became impossible to ignore at that point, but the aliens didn''t seem to have injuries on them.


    All the Niqols were wearing ugly or lost expressions. Some were even smoking an alien version of the human cigarettes. None of them seemed willing to talk with Khan, but a short woman among them eventually decided to approach him.


    "Go there," The woman ordered in a wed human ent while pointing at a seemingly empty spot near theke''s shores. "Kill everything that lives."


    "There?" Khan asked as his brows furrowed.


    "A barrier hides the area," The woman exined. "The academy built it for the humans. It didn''t protect from the light."


    Khan didn''t need to ask anything else. He bowed and proceeded toward the spot pointed by the woman. He only had to walk for two hundred meters before finding the barrier.


    The scenery in Khan''s eyes changed when he crossed the barrier. Many houses built from dark wood mixed with the iconic azure symbols of the Niqols expanded for almost a quarter of the shores. Some structures even upied the shallow waters. The whole vige could probably contain a bit more than five hundred aliens.


    A few troops who wore nk expressions sat in a circle at the edges of the vige. Blood covered their robes too, but they didn''t have a single injury on their bodies. Some still clung on their weapons, while others drank from metal sks that released a strong scent that reminded Khan of the pink booze.


    The Niqols almost didn''t notice Khan''s arrival. They turned only when his steps became impossible to ignore, and their expression became even uglier when they realized how young he was. Some even covered their eyes in shame as a few tears ran down their faces.


    "Are you alone?" One of the older Niqols among the group asked, and Khan limited himself to nod.


    The male alien sighed before ncing at the sk in his hands and shaking his head. The Niqols went through some of the backpacks amassed among the circle and took out an identical bottle before handing it toward Khan.


    Khan tried to refuse the offer, but the Niqols only needed to say a few words to make him ept it. "You will need it."


    The mission was clear, even if no one had the strength to go over its details. Khan had to clear the vige from the mutated creatures inside it, which would probably be Niqols. The effort had brought the aliens to their mental limits, so someone else had to take care of the matter, and letting a human handle it sounded proper.


    Khan gulped as he approached the vige. He partially knew what to expect, but he decided not to think about it.


    The short houses at the edges of the vige''s main street were open, and Khan couldn''t sense anything with his sensitivity to mana. He tried to inspect some of them, but they were empty. None of them featured creatures that could remain hidden in front of his senses.


    Awful scenes unfolded in his vision as he went deeper into the vige. Patches of blood and corpses belonging to Niqols of different ages filled the streets that divided the various houses. Most of those aliens appeared young, younger than any student in the academy, but pieces of their bodies carried strange features.


    Some corpses had scales, and others had spikes that created a gruesome spectacle. A few had even started to grow additional limbs or organs in strange ces. The scene was horrific, and Khan couldn''t help but feel lucky that those aliens were already dead.


    The scenes didn''t improve as Khan went deeper into the vige. They actually became sadder. A few older Niqols had hung themselves, others had died next to bottles that radiated an awful smell, and a few had directly killed themselves with des or other weapons.


    Khan couldn''t even imagine the chaos that had spread when the sunlight arrived. None of those Niqols expected the event, and everything had fallen into madness. It even appeared crazier than the Second Impact.


    Something faint eventually appeared in Khan''s senses. He turned toward the source of the presence and noticed a house with a dead couple hanging from a rope. That scene didn''t hint at anything good, but Khan decided to cross its entrance anyway.


    Khan walked slowly as he approached the presence in his range. He was ready to fight, but the appearance of a wooden crib when he entered a room made him freeze. He felt unable to move forward, but a strange wail soon reached his ears.


    The wail wasn''t human. It didn''t seem to belong to a Niqols either. It had something monstrous inside him, which made Khan hope in the power of the mutations. He didn''t desire much. He only wanted the appearance of the creature inside the crib to be as far from Niqols as possible.


    Khan took hesitant steps forward, and the insides of the crib soon unfolded in his eyes. The scene was quite gruesome. The mutation had made a mess of that thing, but it was still alive. Its structure simply prevented it from moving. To make it worse, the creature still had some features that reminded him about the Niqols. Its glowing white eyes focused on him and showed how azure shades had appeared inside them.


    The wails slowly transformed into hungry growls, and Khan instinctively looked at the sk inside his robe before heaving a deep sigh. Booze wouldn''t help him now. His legs wouldn''t move no matter how drunk he was.


    A familiar cold sensation spread inside his mind as the mental barrier fended his emotions away. The technique had improved after all his training. Khan felt empty and devoid of feelings. His mind could only think about the mission, and his legs finally moved.

 Chapter 158 - Kick

    The vige on theke''s shores wasn''t far away from [The Pure Trees], but it wasn''t close either. The Niqols had tasked the recruits to travel there and take care of the mutated creatures, but thetter would need at least two and a half hours of flight to reach their destination. Khan would remain alone for more than one hour, and that time was enough to inspect most of the small houses in the area.


    Kelly and the others didn''t lie to themselves when the order from the Niqols arrived. They had received many details about the situation since the aliens could use the menus inside their habitation to convey them. They set off knowing that their job was to take care of the mutated creatures that the Niqols couldn''t muster the courage to attack, but they didn''t object norin.


    The recruits didn''t need maps or cubes. Their Aduns received the details about their destination from the Niqols'' eagles, so they could depart right away.


    Theke''s shores had be more popted in the time that they took to arrive. The radiation had affected only the younger Niqols living in the vige, and they didn''t create powerful monsters, so most of the older aliens could handle the threat. Casualties had happened only when the Niqols found themselves unable to raise their weapons against the mutated creatures. The rate of suicides had also been rtively high due to the overwhelming emotions experienced during the event. Still, a fair share of members of the older generations had survived nheless.


    Most of those Niqols had been in the forest when Khan arrived, but they had started to gather on theke''s shores afterward. The seven recruits could basically see all the survivors of the crisis once their Adunsnded on those muddy areas. That sight made the faint determination that they had managed to muster during the flight crumble.


    The Niqols put their younger generations face to face with death quite early. Students who were fifteen or sixteen years old would already join hunts that could lead to casualties. It was a normal part of their culture which inevitably led to more experienced soldiers.


    However, the older Niqols camping next to theke were far from fine. The recruits saw how even aliens who radiated the aura of experienced soldiers were in tears. Some didn''t manage to raise their heads at all when the humans arrived. nk gazes, sobs, and the intense smell of booze filled the area. The scene depicted pure desperation, and that feeling overwhelmed Kelly''s group.


    At that moment, the humans realized how lucky they were to have George among them. The boy had never behaved as the most reliable recruits on Nitis. His scene in the human camp and his dedication to the parties had given him the fame of an immature, careless, and uncaring soldier. However, hispanions understood how all of that was fake when they saw him stepping forward while they remained frozen on their spot.


    "Doku said that Khan is already inside," George announced after turning to show a cold expression to hispanions. "We can''t waste time here."


    George''s usual cheerfulness and rxed attitude had disappeared once his mind switched to its war mode. The boy went back to Istrone, and hispanions noticed that. Failing to see the sudden change in his behavior was impossible.


    Many professors said that experience mattered more than training on the battlefield, and those recruits couldn''t help but agree with those words at that scene. George was the only one among them who had seen the ugly side of war. He moved without shaking and walked toward what could be the worst experience of his entire life without hesitating.


    Veronica had seen that side of George''s character only during his drunk outburst, but the feelings that he radiated at that moment werepletely different. He appeared in total control of his actions and thoughts. George seemed born for those situations.


    George''s steadiness made the recruits rely on him. They didn''t exchange words as they instinctively followed the boy moving among the groups of Niqols sitting on the muddy ground.


    The recruits'' young age made the Niqols'' mood worsen. Many failed to notice them due to their poor mental state, but those who could ended up feeling profound shame. It didn''t matter if they belonged to a different species. No one should be cruel enough to make kids handle those matters.


    Still, the Niqols couldn''t raise their weapons or palms against mutated creatures who had once been their children, grandchildren, and nephews. Most of those who had managed to muster enough courage to kill them had ended up overwhelmed by emotions that led to their suicide. The order to let the humans handle them came from their higher-ups, and many aliens epted that as a necessary action to ensure their survival. Their intense feelings were a curse in that situation, and they didn''t want to activate it.


    The recruits received the same treatment as Khan. The soldiers patrolling the vige past the membrane handed them sks with strong booze before resuming their sad gathering. The action increased the humans'' worry, but George didn''t hesitate to move forward.


    Veronica and the others promptly followed George, and their grips on the sk tightened when they saw that he took a sip of the strong booze before storing it and drawing his short sword. The recruits hesitated when they looked at their bottles, but they decided not to follow his example.


    The vige appeared empty. Its peripheral areas didn''t have any corpses, and only the creaking noise of the wooden tiles moved by the light wind resounded in the environment. The scene carried a faint chilling feeling, but that wasn''t enough to scare away the recruits.


    The problems began when the first corpses started to appear. The recruits gained a general idea of how severe the crisis had been when they saw the signs of suicides around them. The dead mutated Niqols on the ground also confirmed their worries, but everything was still fine for now.


    The scene was sad and nauseating, but it wasn''t impossible to bear. Those recruits weren''t even strangers to the sight of blood and insides due to the past hunts, so they could move forward without lingering on those images. The only real problem was the stench that filled the area, but the group couldn''t do much about it.


    The only positive aspect of that situation was the apparent absence of living beings. None of the recruits'' sensitivity to mana was on par with Khan, but they could still rely on it to confirm that everything around them was dead.


    A peculiar scene unfolded in their vision when they reached arge square in the vige. Many suicides had happened there. Hanged corpses and dead bodies that featured self-inflicted wounds filled the houses and streets in the area, but the recruits'' focus quickly went on a familiar figure sitting on the short wooden staircase that led inside one of the houses.


    Khan appeared rtively fine, at least on the outside. Red spots had tainted his white robe, with most of them filling the lower part of his clothes. The recruits noticed how he wasn''t wearing shoes. His trousers even left most of his legs uncovered since they had lost a huge chunk of their fabric.


    Khan noticed the arrival of the recruits, but he didn''t turn. His eyes were nk as he stared at the two hanged corpses on the opposite side of the house. The image was ugly beyond reason, but he found somefort by looking at it.


    The sk containing the strong booze was in his grasp, but he had barely touched it. Khan had taken a sip after sitting on those steps, but he didn''t find any reason to keep drinking. Clouding his senses wasn''t a solution. Still, he didn''t store it either, so it remained among his handsid on his knees.


    The missing shoes and torn trousers were his fault. He didn''t want to keep the most tainted parts of his clothes on him, so he had thrown them away before reaching his current spot.


    Khan had taken care of every presence inside the vige. Most Niqols had died naturally due to the mutations, so he didn''t find many living beings during his inspection. Yet, the issue wasn''t with the number of kills.


    ''Was it mercy?'' Khan wondered as he stared at the inted dead faces a few meters from his position.


    It took an intense love to generate pain capable of leading to such a final act. Khan didn''t kill the creature inside that house. Those two Niqols had probably taken care of it, but it was clear that the effort had required a price too great for them to bear.


    Khan had found simr scenes during his inspection. The mental barrier had removed every trace of hesitation from his actions and had prevented him from stopping to really think about what he was seeing. Yet, his emotions had returned now, and he couldn''t help but feel profound respect for that couple and all the Niqols who had ended up killing themselves due to their pain.


    epting the nature of his actions had turned out to be easier at that time. Khan felt empty, devoid of every emotion. He even felt the urge to cry. However, those feelings weren''t as bad as during his first kill.


    Khan didn''t know if his current rtively okay state was only temporary. He couldn''t even be sure about the reasons behind his different reactions. That apparent eptance mighte from his increasing experience as a murderer or the development of his character. It could even be the result of his rationalization. It had always been toote for those mutated Niqols anyway.


    The situation would have been different if the crisis had happened near one of Earth''s cities. The humans'' knowledge of mutations and their technology would have probably been able to save some lives, but that wasn''t certain either.


    Instead, on Nitis, developing mutations was akin to dying. The cynical part of Khan''s mind could view his victims as nothing more than monsters and disregard their origin. Of course, the same didn''t happen for his emotional side, but having such evoking disys of the Niqols'' intense affection all around the vige helped him ept his actions.


    Khan had saved lives that day. He had prevented Niqols from having to deal with the matter themselves. Some of those aliens would have probably fallen apart if they had to kill such young members of their species.


    Liiza''s words resounded in his mind as he kept staring at the dead couple. She had asked Khan not to hate the Niqols, but his feelings couldn''t evene close to that emotion. He despised that he had to go through such tragic scenes, but he couldn''t me the Niqols after seeing how hard it was for them.


    Khan only felt emptiness, doubts, and a lingering sadness that made him unable to move, but that was nothingpared to what the Niqols had experienced. That sorrow was better inside his mind. He could endure it and spare useless suffering to the species that was giving him so much. He felt almost d to pay that price in their ce.


    The recruits remained in a daze for a few minutes, but George eventually decided to step forward, and hispanions followed him. The group reached Khan and gathered around the short staircase. Brandon risked hiding the hanged corpses due to his size, but Veronica made sure to stop him before he could reach that position.


    "The mission is over," Khan revealed while straightening his position. "You can leave."


    Khan didn''t look at hispanions for even a second, and they opened a path when he descended the steps to return to the square. His eyes appeared lost on the scene, and they never reflected the recruits'' faces as he moved through the environment.


    "Will you join the hunts?" George asked while turning toward Khan''s departing figure.


    "No," Khan revealed without turning. "See you at tonight''s party."


    Kelly frowned. She didn''t want to disrespect Khan''s efforts, but he was leaving them on their own. He was the only one who had amunicator, so it was his responsibility to remain close. Moreover, it was still morning. The missions were far from over.


    Kelly stepped forward and opened her mouth to speak, but a shadow appeared in front of her before she could say anything. The recent breakthrough in her martial art''s proficiency level couldn''t help her during that unexpected event. An unstoppable force suddenlynded at the center of her chest and made her fly away.


    The girl flew past the recruits and mmed on the house''s wooden walls, piercing them due to the immense momentum that the attack had generated. She stopped only after her back hit on a second wall, and pure anger appeared on her face when she fell on the floor.


    Kelly couldn''t fail to recognize her assant. Khan had actually decided to attack her. His actions could lead to countless troublesome issues due to the army''s regtions, and she couldn''t wait to report the event after jumping after him to have a fair fight.


    Yet, something was clearly off. Kelly didn''t feel any paining from her chest. She had seen how destructive Khan''s kick could be, so herck of injuries left her confused. It was as if Khan had chosen to push her inside the house on purpose.


    Kelly stood up as doubts mixed with her thoughts, but her mind went nk when she saw a small bed appearing in the corner of her vision. She turned, and retches tried to rise through her throat as she studied what the Niqols'' couple had killed.


    Every desire Kelly had to fight Khan vanished. She didn''t even dare to imagine what he had to kill while they were still flying on their Aduns, but she felt d that he had taken care of that on his own. Gratefulness even reced the intense annoyance that she felt toward him.


    As for Khan, he resumed his march toward the vige''s exit. He didn''t care about what anybody said. His mission was over, and no Niqols would dare to say something after what he had done there. His recent attack didn''t even worry him. Kicking Kelly had been incredibly easy after everything he had seen that morning.


    ****


    Author''s notes:2-3 hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 159 - Similarities

    The Niqols camping outside the vige turned toward Khan when he walked among them to reach an isted spot on the shores. None of them tried to talk to him. None dared to question him about the situation in the settlement either. Noticing the spots of blood on his robes already exined enough.


    Khan flew back to the marsh after turning off his tracker. Liiza would probably be busy all day, but he didn''t mind that too much. He felt the need to remain alone for a while to sort his feelings out.


    The bright patch in the sky started to darken when Snow was about to reach the marsh. That sight highlighted the strangeness of the event. It became evident that the proper dawn had yet to arrive, but Khan wasn''t in the right mood to think about that.


    The Global Army had probably already found an exnation, but Khan didn''t care. He needed some time alone, outside from the chaos that the world continued to throw at him. Everything else could return after he dealt with his heavy mind.


    Snow left Khan alone after it dropped him near the cave. He only needed to walk for a few minutes to see the familiar nkets and pillows left in the warm nest that the couple had created.


    Khan reached the end of the cave and wrapped himself in the nkets beforeying his head on a pillow. That cover felt too hot without Liiza cooling him down, but he didn''t remove the fabric. Everything there carried his girlfriend''s scent, and he wanted to enjoy it before the marsh swept it away.


    Two conflicting views of his actions fought inside his mind and mixed at times. Khan''s thoughts moved from the disgusting nature of the mission to the massive pain that the Niqols wouldn''t face thanks to his actions. His cynical and emotional side held a grand battle that couldn''t generate winners.


    Both sides were true and wrong at the same time. The nature of his actions was undeniable, but they were also mandatory. Someone had to do it, and the humans suited the task better. Making differences between young and old soldiers was meaningless at that point. Experience couldn''t do much when it came to the emotional burden connected to that task.


    Someone had to take that pain. Khan had only been unlucky enough to be close to the actual vige at that time. The otherpanions would have taken part in the executions otherwise.


    Khan knew that disregarding the negative aspects of the event and consider it as necessary action would be easy. Viewing the mutated Niqols as simple monsters would be harder, but he could probably do that too.


    However, forcing the event to lose value in his mind would also make him forget what he had experienced while sitting on the steps. The deep respect felt for the Niqols was something that Khan wanted to hold close. He almost envied the intense emotions that the aliens could experience, and the images in his memories could work as a constant reminder of his desire to learn from them.


    The nature of the whole matter would change as soon as Khan used another perspective. He could choose how to feel quite freely due to the peculiarity of the event. He had the chance to forget and ignore, but that didn''t fit Lieutenant Dyester''s teachings. Zalpa''s words about the Niqols'' feelings also resounded inside his mind. The aliens wouldn''t run away from their emotions, so he shouldn''t either.


    The admiration for the Niqols wasn''t enough to make Khan make that decision. He wanted to experience those feelings because he knew that the world had far better to offer. The happiness that Liiza could generate inside him made that sorrow worth it.


    Khan would risk losing his ability to ept the beauty of the world if he rejected its ugly sides. Happiness had such an appealing value because he knew pain and suffering. He had the faint desire to shut everything and turn into a mindless robot that only strived to understand the reason behind his nightmares. Still, Khan couldn''t follow through when the scent carried by the nkets and pillows managed to make him feel at peace.


    The tiredness umted in the past days eventually filled his mind, but he struggled to fall asleep since gruesome images appeared in his vision whenever he closed his eyes. It took Khan a while to ept that he couldn''t get rid of them. They were another memory that would forever be part of himself.


    The eptance slowly allowed Khan to rest. The nightmare returned and gave him the chance topare what he had experienced that morning with the Second Impact. He couldn''t decide which was worse, but he didn''t want to think about those events in that sense.


    The world felt so ugly when Khan inspected it through his nightmare or his most tragic memories, but most people ignored those parts. Many would even be lucky enough to avoid those tragedies throughout their lives.


    The sound of faint steps alerted Khan''s senses while he was still in the middle of his nightmare. He woke up only to see Liiza standing at the cave''s entrance. Dirt and blood covered her torn robe and hair. She had clearly gone through harsh battles, but she disregarded her condition when Khan appeared in her vision.


    Liiza gulped as she hurried toward Khan. She managed to crouch toward him before he could sit, and her hands pressed on his side to make sure that he continued to lie down.


    "How are you?" Liiza asked in a trembling voice.


    The couple had spent many nights together. Khan believed to know almost every expression that Liiza could wear, but her current deep and unmistakable worry left him speechless. That was different from her annoyance or concern toward his sleeping schedule. She was anxious beyond reason, and he was the reason behind that feeling.


    "I''m fine," Khan revealed while diverting his gaze. "They weren''t strong."


    A sob reached Khan''s ears and made him nce at Liiza again, but she took his head into his arms before he could look at her face. Her hands were shaking, but she did her best to caress his hair to show her emotional support.


    ''Am I already too used to this?'' Khan wondered while he experienced Liiza''s reactions.


    Khan didn''t even need to question Liiza to understand that she knew about his actions. She was feeling deeply concerned about him, but his apparent indifference made her suffering intensify. She could barely ept that the Niqols had made him go through even more traumatic events.


    "Doku and Azni were worried about you since you disappeared so quickly," Liiza exined as she sniffed to clear her nose. "Are you really okay?"


    "I think I am," Khan confirmed. "It was necessary, right? Someone had to do it."


    A strong tremor ran through Liiza before she took a deep breath and mustered her determination. She pulled Khan away from her chest and tilted his head so that their eyes could meet. Khan saw two wet lines on her cheeks that reflected her natural white glow, but he also noticed her resolve.


    "Tell me what happened then," Liiza ordered.


    "You don''t need to do this," Khan said while showing a faint smile and trying to reach her arm.


    Liiza pushed his arm away with her elbow while making sure to keep his head still. Khan understood that she wouldn''t let go of the matter until she made sure that he was fine. However, he didn''t want to describe the gruesome events that happened in the morning.


    "Didn''t you hear a repor-?" Khan tried to ask, but Liiza promptly covered his mouth.


    "I heard it," Liiza exined, "But I want you to say it. You''d try to face it on your own otherwise."


    Liiza slowly freed Khan''s mouth and allowed him to reply. "I did face it. It''s fine. The world is bad, but I have you. Isn''t that enough?"


    "Did you understand who you killed?" Liiza asked, and Khan felt unable to reply properly.


    Khan diverted his gaze and reviewed his past thoughts. He had epted what he had done, but something felt off. He had missed something that made him gulp.


    Khan had grown so used to the nightmares that sleeping wasn''t too much of a problem even if gruesome scenes appeared in his vision whenever he closed his eyes. He had initially thought that his mind needed some time as it did after Istrone. Yet, something else became evident now, and Liiza didn''t hesitate to make one of her hands slide through his body until it reached his chest. It stopped right on his azure scar to exin what she meant with her words.


    The young Niqols in the vige were the victims of mutations caused by a force that they couldn''t stop. Khan didn''t think about his simrities with those creatures until now. They were an unlucky version of his condition.


    "I killed me," Khan whispered. "I killed me many times."


    "You have been lucky enough to stabilize your mutations," Liiza added while caressing his cheek. "They have been lucky enough to have you."


    "Is that even luck?" Khan asked as his tone grew angrier. "How is it that everyone keeps worshipping mana when all of this happens?"


    Liiza remained silent as she took Khan''s head back into her arms. She had managed to make him vent. She only had to endure until the outburst was over now.


    "Why can''t I even get a break?" Khan shouted angrily. "I was fine yesterday night, but the world just won''t stop. It''s one mess after another, and I always happen to be right in the middle of it. It''s the same with you. Why can''t I even enjoy the only good thing in my life openly?"


    Khan knew that his words were useless. Their only purpose was to rant about all the injustices that he had suffered. He could barely believe how he had gone from the Second Impact to killing mutated kids in less than twelve years.


    Truth be told, Khan started to feel slightly angry about Liiza too. He had managed to ept his actions before realizing his simrities with the mutated Niqols.


    Khan retracted his head and escaped Liiza''s embrace. His angry eyes went on her face, but his raging feelings vanished when he saw her furrowed brows, sealed mouth, and closed eyes. She was doing her best not to make any sound while Khan vented. Tears had also started to flow again, but she didn''t interrupt him at all.


    "Liiza," Khan said in a worried tone while he tried to sit, but she pushed him down again.


    "No!" Liiza cried. "Let me do this. I don''t want you to grow used to dealing with all of that on your own."


    Liiza was suffering on multiple levels. Her species had experienced great losses that day, which mainly affected the younger generations. The whole world was mourning, and she wasn''t a stranger to that sorrow.


    Her boyfriend had performed one of the morally harder tasks during the crisis, but he was too used to tragedies to share his feelings. Liiza felt useless, so she preferred to endure Khan''s anger than leave him on his own. That pain didn''t scare her as long as she managed to lift part of his burden.


    Khan felt his love bursting, but the gruesome images became more vivid as that feeling intensified. It seemed that a tight connection linked his happiness to his pain. His mind wouldn''t let him have one without the other, but he didn''t hesitate to abandon himself to those unreasonable emotions.


    Khan reached for Liiza''s hand, and the girl voiced a surprised gasp when she felt his warm touch. He felt warmer than usual, almost scorching even. She opened her teary eyes to check him before noticing that he had also started to cry.


    "Can''t we just sleep?" Khan asked while doing his best to avoid the breaking of his voice.


    Liiza didn''t hesitate to nod. She snuck under the nket and dived on his chest while he wrapped his arms around her. Khan heard a few sobs, but he could only hug her closer as he lost himself in her hair.


    Tears still fell from his eyes, but he felt unable to stop them. It seemed that everything that Khan had experienced until now came back stronger than ever. The closer he felt to Liiza, the more intense his negative feelings would be.


    His life truly appeared as a mess when he reviewed it with his intense feelings. Khan didn''t even know how broken someone had to be to survive through everything he had experienced. That didn''t say much about his mental state, but he didn''t care. He had seen enough to forsake the world as long as he could keep what made him happy.


    "I think I might kill to protect what we have," Khan revealed.


    Liiza''s sobs stopped when she heard those words. Humans would probably run away in front of those signs of psychosis, but everything was different for the Niqols.


    "Khan," Liiza whispered while her face remained on his chest. "[I love you]."


    "I love you too," Khan sighed as his embrace tightened.


    The two remained in that position after they voiced the words that they had promised not to say. It didn''t take much for both of them to fall asleep at that point, and tears stopped flowing before drying uppletely. Their mental stress had been heavy to endure, but they were dealing with it through their feelings. They had no other method to handle their situations.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I really wanted to reach the next scene, but well. I hope you enjoy the chapter.

 Chapter 160 - Warmth

    Cold sensations followed by an azure glow forced the couple to wake up. Khan and Liiza didn''t dare to separate as they reached inside their robes and picked their respective cubes to answer the iingmunications.


    ''Are you okay?'' Doku''s worried voice resounded in Khan''s sleepy mind after he picked the cube.


    ''I''m good,'' Khan replied. ''How is the situation on Nitis?''


    ''The previous crisis had triggered many mutations already,'' Doku exined. ''Fewer animals had transformed into monsters this time. The hunts have been easy.''


    Doku didn''t mention the casualties suffered by his species, and Khan didn''t question him about the matter either. Both of them had silently agreed not to say anything about that terrible aspect of the crisis.


    ''Azni is worried about you,'' Doku added after a few silent seconds.


    ''I''m not secretly dating your girl,'' Khan groaned.


    ''Don''t y dumb,'' Doku scoffed before his thoughts gained a sad tone. ''I believe we are past that.''


    ''I''m fine,'' Khan repeated while caressing the girl dealing with a different mental conversation in his arms. ''I have the best medicine in the world.''


    ''You are lucky I respect your secrets,'' Doku chuckled.


    ''I''m lucky to have a good friend,'' Khan corrected him, and Doku fell silent at that sudden burst of honesty.


    ''When is the party?'' Khan asked while smiling when Liiza rolled her eyes and hid in his chest without interrupting her mental conversation.


    The Niqols had already hosted a partyst night, but Khan understood their customs well enough to know that they would repeat the event. The sadness caused by the crisis made that almost mandatory.


    ''Less than one hour,'' Doku exined. ''I''ll allow you to bete today, but make sure toe. Everyone wants to see you.''


    ''I''ll be there,'' Khan promised before cutting themunication and storing his cube.


    Liiza was still busy with her mental conversation, and her expressions revealed how pissed she was about it. Khan didn''t waste that chance to tease her through soft kisses that started on her head and slowly descended to reach her shoulder''s bare skin.


    Liiza red at Khan and pulled his hair, but her attempts to stop him from disturbing her conversation were pointless. Khan dug his face under her torn robe and continued to kiss her bare skin without avoiding the sensitive spots he had found during their time together.


    The grip on his hair transformed from a pull to sensual caresses as Khan opened Liiza''s robe and kissed her waist. She spread her legs to make him morefortable, and her foot instinctively started to rub his thigh.


    Khan skipped the pants on purpose and crouched to free her legs from the dirty and torn trousers that covered them. Liiza red at him again, but he couldn''t look at her eyes when the captivating dark-blue skin of her thighs appeared in his vision.


    Liiza''s expressions began to change during Khan''s teasing. She was showing an annoyed face before, but his actions made her bite her lower lip and take deep breaths. Her eyes closed as the corners of her mouth curved upward and a blush filled her cheeks.


    The situation escted until Liiza moaned. She and Khan exchanged a worried nce at that point, and they silently agreed to stop for a few seconds. Liiza did her best to cut that mental conversation short, and Khan inspected her without rxing his grip on her thighs.


    "That was close!" Liiza scolded after storing her cube. "My mother almost heard me!"


    Khanpletely ignored thatment and started to kiss her thighs again. Liiza wanted to say something, but another moan came out of her mouth when warmth spread from one of her sensitive spots. Her back arched, and she bent her head backward when she felt his soft bites teasing her.


    "Stop," Liiza weakly moaned. "I''m still dirty from the hunt."


    "Let''s hit the waterfall then," Khan whispered without stopping his teasing. "I''ve slept enough for the whole week today."


    "What about Doku?" Liizained while breathing deeply and clenching her fingers on the nket. "My mother wants me to attend the party tonight."


    "Let''s not care about that tonight," Khan replied. "Also, the longer you keep me here, the less I''ll have to spend with the other girls."


    Liiza''s eyes widened as she remembered the attention that Khan had received in thest period. She could already imagine how everything would be worse that night due to what had happened. Khan saw her leaving his grasp and standing up in an instant. Augh inevitably escaped from his mouth when she pulled his robe and started dragging him toward the waterfalls.


    .


    .


    .


    Khan ended up reaching the party incrediblyte. It was already past three am when Snow dropped him on the mountain near the empty spot mentioned by Doku.


    The Niqols were drunker than usual, which meant almostpletely wasted at that hour. Khan waved at the various couples hidden in isted spots that he had to cross to reach the cauldrons, and those aliens waved back before going back to their intimacy. Other Niqols had copsed fainted, and a few were even puking since their stomachs were at their limits.


    The poor condition of the Niqols didn''t prevent them from shouting Khan''s name when they saw him crossing the trees and arrive in the empty spot that held the party. The alienspletely disregarded his torn wet clothes and jumped on him to envelop him in drunk hugs.


    Khan didn''t have the time to change, so he had let the waterfalls remove the blood that had stained his torn robe. The long flight on Snow''s back had managed to dry his hair while giving it a messy shape, but it couldn''t do much for his clothes, especially with Nitis'' generally low temperatures. Wet patches remained on his back and arms, but none of those aliens seemed to care.


    "Let me get a drink first!" Khanined beforeughing together with the Niqols that had gathered around him.


    Everyone appeared happy, but Khan could see a few grateful faces among those who still retained some awareness of the situation. Khan limited himself to nod at them, and those Niqols couldn''t hold back from replying with affectionate and tight hugs.


    The Niqols in the vige near theke had given an urate report. They didn''t even fail to understand that Khan had taken care of the matter on his own since the other recruits left the settlement afterpleting a simple inspection.


    The students were aware of what Khan had done, and they all felt grateful toward him. Their intense emotions and drunken state made them express their feelings with even more affection, which was the reason behind the gathering around him.


    Khan felt overwhelmed by that behavior. He expected something simr to happen, but he didn''t predict that the aliens could affect him so deeply. His recent interaction with Liiza had made his mind dive deeper into the Niqols'' way of experiencing emotions. The warmth that those affectionate gestures generated filled him and washed away the heaviness that his lingering sadness spread.


    ''That''s why they throw so many parties,'' Khan thought as honestughs escaped his mouth every time someone around him cracked a joke or was too drunk toplete a line.


    Khan almost couldn''t believe how a species as cold as the Niqols could generate so much warmth. He had experienced that with Liiza, but he thought that his feelings were to me for those reactions. However, the party proved him wrong. Most of the aliens around him were simple acquaintances, but they managed to make him feel better anyway. A simple hug, a joke, or a pat on his shoulders were enough to improve his mood.


    It took Khan a while to walk past that crowd of Niqols and grab one of the wooden cups lying around the cauldrons to get a drink. Doku and Azni appeared in his vision at that point. They were sitting on a fallen trunk that acted as a bench, and they showed peeved expressions as they stared at him.


    "[What''s up with you two]?" Khanughed while nearing the couple.


    "[Khan has started to ignore us after bing popr]," Dokumented while turning his head dramatically.


    "[Fame has gotten to his head]," Azni snorted before fixing her cold gaze on him.


    The two held their position for a while beforeughs broke out of their mouths. Khan smirked as the two Niqols stood up, and he spread his arms to wee them in his embrace.


    "You bathed in the wilds again," Doku stated after sniffing his hair.


    "Aren''t you drunk?" Khan frowned.


    "We waited for you," Azni pouted. "You took a while."


    Azni and Khan exchanged a meaningful nce, but Doku promptly cleared his throat. "Can you not be so obvious? It''s not easy to hold my curiosity back."


    "You are the best precisely because you hold back anyway," Azni announced while wrapping her arms around Doku''s torso. "Can we drink now?"


    "Definitely!" Doku shouted before moving toward the cauldrons and making sure that Azni didn''t leave his side.


    "Isn''t it toote?" Khan asked while walking with the couple.


    "No lessons tomorrow," Doku exined as his voice turned serious. "The elders have ordered a full stop of all activities on Nitis to give everyone time to mourn."


    Khan didn''t say anything. That decision was understandable, and his eyes fell on his cup as his thoughts reviewed the had experienced that morning.


    "The professors actually have orders for you and the other humans," Doku continued after turning to raise his cup and stare straight into Khan''s eyes. "They want you to fly back to your camp and check what the army has understood about his event."


    "Is something the matter?" Khan frowned while performing the Niqols'' traditional toast and repeating the action with Azni.


    "Our higher-ups think that something is up," Doku exined while showing aplicated expression. "The humans didn''t send many reinforcements this morning. It took a while to make your captain leave the camp even."


    Khan''s eyes widened before he lowered his gaze again. Many thoughts ran through his mind as he considered everything that could have happened in the human camp. He didn''t have the chance to contact the Global Army during the almost four weeks spent in the academy due to the poor signal of itswork. Khan had even immersed himself in the Niqols'' lifestyle so deeply that he had almost forgotten about his origins.


    "What are you asking me to do?" Khan whispered as his voice became grave.


    Ack of cooperation on the human side wasn''t exactly against the Padlyn''s deal, but it would definitely worsen the rtionship between the two species. It could even bring it back by a few decades since the crisis had affected the Niqols deeply.


    Khan couldn''t act freely in that situation. He liked the Niqols. He probably appreciated them more than the humans, but his position didn''t change. Those matters were heavily political and forced him to respect the chain ofmand.


    "Khan, I''m not asking you to do anything," Doku exined in an honest tone. "The professors have ordered me to tell you this. Simple as that. I wish we didn''t have to deal with politics either."


    "They had to arrive, eventually," Khan sighed while looking around the empty area around the cauldrons. "Did the others go away already?"


    Both Doku and Azniughed at that question, but the girl quickly took care of exining what had happened to the recruits. "George is somewhere with Havaa. I saw them leaving a few hours ago."


    "How good are you at this?" Khan asked. "Do you keep track of all of us?"


    "She had created seven different scenarios depending on your time of arrival," Doku responded. "The second wasn''t bad at all. You would have had Kheda, Zezag, Asyat, and Zeliha fighting to drag you among the trees."


    ''I would have also been dead,'' Khan thought as Azni elbowed Doku''s side before ring at him.


    "The others are in a funny state," Azni continued after scolding Doku with her eyes. "Do you want to see them?"


    Khan nodded, and the couple led Khan among the trees until he managed to see six figures sitting on the ground.


    Kelly and the other recruits weren''t awake, and the sks obtained from the Niqols patrolling the vige were next to them or in their grasps. Cups alsoy around them. It seemed that they had fallen asleep after drinking too much.


    Khan didn''t fail to notice the faint reflection that the Niqols'' eyes caused on some of the recruits'' cheeks. Veronica and Gabri had cried before falling asleep, and their tears didn''t have enough time to dry up. It seemed that it wasn''t too long since they lost their senses.


    "They had the good drinks," Doku sighed while shaking his head in envy.


    Khan felt surprised. He didn''t expect that even his most diligentpanions would allow themselves to take a break that night. It seemed that the scenes witnessed in the vige had affected them deeply, and he couldn''t me them for that.


    "I''ll go to the human camp on my own in the morning," Khan said while browsing through his robe and taking out his almost full sk. "Let them rest."


    Doku seized the sk as soon as Khan handed it to him. A broad smile appeared on his face as he patted Khan''s shoulder. He didn''t hesitate to take a sip of that strong booze before voicing a satisfied cry.


    "You should rest too," Azni advised while taking the sk and mixing some of that stronger booze with her pink drink. "You don''t have to go right away. Everyone would understand if you took some time for yourself."


    "It''s fine," Khan replied as Azni handed the sk back to him. "Also, it''s better to understand if something like this can happen again. Maybe our species can even stop pretending that the daylight isn''ting."


    Doku and Azni didn''t add anything. In theory, the matter about the sunlight was still a secret, even if thest crisis had made it obvious. The topic had never beenpletely ssified. Khan had even learnt about it from careless Niqols seen after the formal event. The higher-ups of the alien species had tried to hide it after the first outburst of monsters, but everything appeared pointless now.


    The awkward silence that had fallen among the three didn''tst long since a familiar figure appeared among the trees nearby. Liiza hadnded on the mountain only a few minutes ago. She showed her clean and intact robe as she walked toward the cauldrons and filled one of her cups before returning at the edges of the forest.


    Everyone noticed that there was something off with Liiza. Her cheeks were slightly pale. She was still blushing even if hours had passed since the shower with Khan. The flight on her Aduns didn''t calm her down either.


    "Who would have thought!" Doku eximed.


    "Why is she like that?" Khan asked while pretending not to care about the issue.


    "Love, Khan," Doku exined. "Liiza is in love, and she is also fulfilling that feeling. The paleness on her cheeks describes how her emotions are still raging in her mind."


    "It''s also a sign of sexual gratification," Aznimented. "I wish to feel it one day."


    "I don''t know what you are talking about," Doku snorted and diverted his gaze. "That''s just a rumor anyway."


    Khanughed at that interaction, and Azni showed a proud smile toward him. She nodded in approval before correcting her boyfriend. "Only men say that it''s only a rumor."


    ****


    Author''s notes: 2-3 hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 161 - Explanations

    Liiza and Khan couldn''t interact much at the party. Azni still managed to drag her among her group, but she had to leave to spend some intimate moment alone with Doku at some point.


    The only Niqols who weren''tpletely drunk had hidden in the forest to enjoy intimate moments with their partners, so Khan and Liiza could have a peaceful conversation after they remained alone. Khan mostly teased her after Azni''s revtion, while Liizained and threatened him to increase hours of sleep that he had to pay. However, they soon realized that they had to separate.


    All the barriers had crumbled after the two had voiced their feelings. They had been about to forsake their secrecy as their conversation continued, and only separating could solve the issue. They would have loved to spend more time together, especially since the emotional rush from before was still affecting their minds. They didn''t feel too bad about parting either since they had already shared beautiful moments.


    Khan felt full of energy after he returned inside the underground habitation and wore intact clothes. The clock on his phone had yet to hit six am, but flying back to the camp could take up to six hours, so he departed immediately.


    Snow knew the fastest path back to the human camp, even if the envoys had taken many detours back then. Khan could force the eagle to fly in a straight line and save time, but he decided to let it have some fun. His packed schedule had forced the Aduns to forsake its enjoyment, so he didn''t mind letting it have fun now.


    Khan used the strong winds that blew on his face due to the dives, spins, and sudden elerations to sweep his sadness away. It was strange to define how the party had helped him, but his condition had improved nheless. Tears would try to appear in his eyes whenever he thought about the mutated Niqols, but that urge wasn''t unbearable anymore. His actions had been ugly, but he didn''t me himself.


    The mission, his poor mental state, his time with Liiza, and the party had forced him to skip an entire day of training, but his flying ability had improved a lot after riding Snow basically every day. His control over mana had also grown after his diligent efforts during the lessons. Khan could meditate or remain immersed inside his mental training even when his Aduns was upside down.


    The city grew closer while Khan remained immersed in his training. Everything felt smooth. It seemed that the human and the Niqols'' training methodsplemented each other to create the ultimate foundation meant to control and deploy mana.


    On one side, Khan had the techniques and moves perfected over the centuries by human experts. On the other, he had methods that forced him to improve his basic understanding and control over mana.


    Those two paths would lead to simr levels, but they affected fields so different that fusing them didn''t create any problem. In theory, it was possible to manipte mana to gain the effects of a punch while throwing the actual attack and obtain something stronger. The two actions didn''t affect each other, which was the very reason why they sounded so easy to use at the same time.


    Khan couldn''t wait for his maniption ability to reach decent levels, but his excitement focused on something that appeared far closer. He felt almost about to seed in the eleventh mental exercise, which would lead him directly to thest lesson of his elemental training. The Wave spell didn''t seem far anymore.


    Khan''s proficiency level with the Lightning-demon style had reached thepetent level, he would soon gain ess to his first spell, and he already had a second martial art ready to add to his fighting style. His meditations were also going smoothly. His growth appeared far more than promising.


    Snow''s screech eventually awakened Khan from his training. The familiar uneven in with the simple-looking camp unfolded in his view, and a strange feeling spread through his mind. That ce was the reminder of his belonging to the human species. It forced him to recall part of the problems that could affect his rtionship.


    Khan wanted to stay with Liiza, but his nightmares would inevitably bring him deeper into the universe. His life seemed a battle between his love and his desperation now, and he couldn''t see a viable solution, not in his current position at least.


    Delusional ideas on how to run away with Liiza appeared in his mind, but his intense feelings didn''t make him stupid. Khan never stopped remaining aware of how unreal those ns were. He wasn''t even seventeen. He could decide very little about his life.


    His greatest hope was to remain on Nitis long enough to achieve an important position among both species before departing to look for the Nak and the sr system depicted by his nightmares. Ideally, Liiza would be his wife by then, so she would get the chance toe with him.


    ''I''m already thinking about marriage,'' Khanughed in his mind as he jumped off Snow''s back and started walking toward the camp''s entrance. ''Love really makes you crazy.''


    Khan stopped making unreasonable ns and crossed the entrance of the human camp. Everything felt too cramped and coldpared to [The Pure Trees]''s peaceful environment. He could almost hear the difference between the different approaches to mana in the faint sounds that came out of the structures featuring no istion.


    A familiar figure stepped out of a building to greet Khan, and he didn''t hesitate to perform the iconic military salute of the Global Army. Paul inspected him from head to toe. The aura that covered Khan was different from his memories, but he med the alien robe for that strange feeling.


    "Where are the others?" Paul asked.


    "They were busy helping the Niqols after the crisis," Khan lied to cover for his drunkpanions. "Besides, I''m the fastest in the air."


    "Wait here for a bit," Paul nodded while scratching the side of his head, "Or visit the canteen, whatever. I need to contact Lieutenant Kintea and the Captain to prepare the briefing."


    Khan nodded and went directly toward the canteen. The food was better in the camp. The kitchens there made tes aimed to the human tastes, especially when it came to their temperature. What the Niqols saw as warm was cold for the humans, so it felt nice to have a satisfying meal.


    A notification eventually reached Khan''s phone. That ringing sound was another thing that he had almost forgotten after being in the academy for more than three weeks, and he smiled at that thought since it made him remember Martha. His conflicting feelings about her didn''t exist anymore after confirming his love for Liiza. Khan felt affection and concern for Martha, but she couldn''t be anything more than a friend now that his current girlfriend had be such an important part of his life.


    The briefing room didn''t change during those weeks. Khan could reach it in no time, but something felt off when he saw that it contained only Paul, Lieutenant Kintea, and Captain Erbair.


    A personal briefing wouldn''t require those three important figures. One of them was enough to update Khan. Moreover, the Captain''s presence would often involve all the other recruits, but Khan was the only one except for the trio.


    Khan performed a military salute, and his two superiors did the same curious inspection that Paul hadpleted just a few minutes ago. Khan had changed during those weeks, but they couldn''t understand how. They could see a faint maturity in his stance and movements, but everything else remained hidden from their powerful eyes.


    "Is something the matter, ma''am?" Khan asked after the inspection stretched for longer than half a minute.


    "It''s nothing," Captain Erbair announced while pointing at one of the seats.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to take his ce, and a series of images appeared on the wall behind the three soldiers as Paul activated a few menus. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Kintea and Captain Erbair stared at Khan before the former decided to voice one of his doubts. "How much can you say about the academy?"


    Khan recalled about his restrictions at that point, and he opened his mouth to say something. However, an azure symbol suddenly lit up on the left side of his neck and started to spread an ominous aura.


    Khan revealed a weak smile while pointing at the symbol. The two soldiers could only sigh at that sight, but they didn''t appear too disappointed. They didn''t hope to discover much through him anyway.


    "I believe you didn''te here on your own," Captain Erbair said as her bionic eye focused on the azure symbol to analyze the changes in its glow.


    "The Niqols wanted me to question you about yesterday," Khan revealed while keeping the azure symbol in check.


    It seemed that the explicit authorization that the professors had given to Doku allowed Khan to speak about that part even if it came from the academy. It felt surprising to see how flexible that restriction worked, but the Captain''s stern gaze didn''t give him time to let his thoughts wander.


    "Is it true that you didn''t help them on p-," Khan began to ask, but pain suddenly spread from the azure symbol.


    Mentioning the hidden meaning that Doku''s words carried seemed too much. The actual question wasn''t a problem. The issue was that Khan had tried to talk about the Global Army''sck of cooperation after having gained those ideas from the Niqols.


    Luckily for Khan, Captain Erbair didn''t have time to waste. She didn''t make him go over thebinations of words that would allow him to ask the same question without hinting at anything negative. She nodded at Lieutenant Kintea, and the briefing began.


    "The Niqols won''t reveal much," Professor Kintea announced as the Captain moved to the side of the room and cleared Khan''s sight of the images on the wall. "However, we have kept track of the event for some days already. Communicating between Nitis and the telescope outside this sr system takes a while, but we have received a few reports. The mana became unstable on almost half of the. Their losses must have been consistent."


    "I''m sorry," Khan interrupted the Lieutenant as a frown appeared on his face. "Did you say some days? Were you aware that the daylight would have arrived?"


    "Technically, it wasn''t proper daylight," Lieutenant Kintea replied while nearing the images on the wall. "It was a sr wind that created peculiar and temporary patches of bright sky throughout Nitis. The telescope saw iting four days ago, but we only learnt about it andpleted the necessary math two days ago."


    The images on the wall depicted scenes that Khan couldn''t wholly understand. They showed Nitis'' sr system together with equations and numbers connected to a wave of energy that shot out of the distant star.


    Lieutenant Kintea didn''t go too deep into details with his exnation because he was aware of Khan''s ignorance in astronomy. Still, he highlighted every piece of information that he found important.


    "The arrival of the daylight is still set at a bit more than two months from now," Lieutenant Kintea continued. "It should probablyst for two months before bringing darkness that willst for a bit more than two millennia.


    "We even expect the radiation to be more influential during that period. We believe that the sr wind didn''t generate too many monsters since it arrived close to the first crisis. The Tainted animals easy to affect had already transformed the first time, but the proper daylight will be merciless. Only the Aduns and a few unique species will remain untouched."


    Khan memorized those words, but his mind could only focus on one detail. He had started to believe that his bad luck was to me for his mission in the vige, but there was something else now. The Global Army was aware of the iing crisis and had chosen to remain silent.


    "Why didn''t you warn us?" Khan asked in a cold voice.


    "We couldn''t let go of this chance," Lieutenant Kintea announced while revealing a cruel smile. "It''s a pity that you can''t say anything. We have sort of confirmed that the sr wind has affected some Niqols, but Ambassador Yeza isn''t saying anything about that. Having an actual report would give us better data."


    Lieutenant Kintea soundedpletely detached to the core of the issue. He didn''t seem to care that theck of warnings had caused countless casualties among the younger generations of the Niqols. He talked without knowing the pain that those aliens and the eight recruits had suffered.


    "Warning you all was too risky," Lieutenant Kintea continued. "We needed the Niqols to lose as much as possible to create better terms for our cooperation. We even sent many of us to different locations through the teleport beforehand to limit the amount of help that we could give."


    The exnations piled on in Khan''s mind, but he could only review thest detail over and over. Cribs, small beds, and gruesome scenes appeared in his vision. The Global Army had basically been the cause behind that pain and his actions.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I just wanted to warn you all about something that I''ve learnt recently. It turns out that coins purchased through Paypal give a higher share to the authors (it avoids cuts apparently, consistent cuts). In short, use Paypal to purchase coins if you want the authors to earn more.

 Chapter 162 - Story

    Khan couldn''t find peace.


    The mental barrier had helped him go through the mission, and the many proofs of the Niqols'' intense love in the vige had brought some stability.


    Liiza had made Khan realize his simrities with the mutated Niqols, which shattered that stability, but her intentions were pure. She wanted him to experience everything fully to gain ess to a deeperyer of his feelings and allow her to take a share of that burden. Her desire was selfless, and it had made Khan go past simple eptance. Liiza had managed to create some forgiveness and peace inside him.


    Still, everything crumbled again during the briefing. The Global Army wasn''t only aware of the iing daylight. It had even decided to remain silent about the whole matter, uncaring of what the aliens and the recruits would experience.


    Khan could probably ept that behavior if he tried to rationalize it. He would understand the benefits that the Global Army could receive after that decision if he threw away his emotions and studied everything through cynical eyes. However, Lieutenant Kintea''s expression made him silently swear never to be like him.


    The issue wasn''t with the cruelty in the Global Army''s intentions. Khan could even ignore where that decision had led him. He knew he was a pawn, a mere gear in arger system. Yet, he couldn''t ept the satisfaction and joy that Lieutenant Kintea showed during the briefing.


    It was fine to gain something from the suffering of those around you. That mindset wasn''t good or righteous, but the world was too ugly to think in those terms. Khan had learnt how to be cynical in the Slums, and that understanding had never once left his perspective.


    On the other hand, Khan had never epted that tant cruelty. He had done bad things, but he had never enjoyed himself during those moments.


    The issue was even worse at that time due to the targets of that cruelty. Khan had grown close to the Niqols, so it hurt to see his superiors treat them with such detachment. He was a pawn, but the aliens had even lower value. Their worth came from the potential benefits that they could give to the Global Army, and Lieutenant Kintea had never once viewed them as living beings or intelligent species.


    Captain Erbair and Paul didn''t appear as cruel as the Lieutenant, but Khan could see how they shared the core belief that led to that feeling. The Niqols weren''t humans, so they didn''t have much value. That view didn''t evene from a sense of superiority or xenophobia. The simple awareness that the Niqols were aliens created a wall that made the two soldiers unable to ept them as their equals on a general viewpoint.


    Khan had to activate the mental barrier to maintain his poker face. He was already radiating cold feelings, so the action didn''t alert the three soldiers. They actually found his mental resilience quitemendable, but that made sense when they recalled everything that Khan had experienced.


    The three soldiers couldn''t even begin to imagine what Khan was experiencing. The recent deepening of his emotions and his current frail condition risked making him show his true feelings. The three would be able to see the anger born from the injustice that Khan felt. They would learn about his newfound mistrust toward the Global Army, and they would also notice his affection toward the species that had never struggled to ept him.


    ''I could probably gain something out of this,'' Khan guessed as his cynical mind took over his thoughts.


    The order to clear the vige hade from the professors, so Khan couldn''t describe how important his actions had been for the Niqols. Yet, the three soldiers had already almost confirmed that the mutations had affected the aliens. It was doable to make them understand that Khan had performed a crucial role during the crisis without triggering the azure rune on his neck.


    Still, his mind categorically opposed that approach. Khan couldn''t even start to think about that tactic. The mental barrier couldn''t defeat his feelings there.


    "What do I have to report back?" Khan coldly asked as the atmosphere inside the briefing room became suffocating.


    "We have already provided a story," Lieutenant Kintea revealed while nodding toward Paul. "You only need to confirm it and express our desire to be more involved with this event. The sr wind has ruined our initial n, but we believe that reaching simr results is possible.


    "Make sure to mention what we know about the daylight too. Ambassador Yeza is ying dumb, so we must take the first step in spreading awareness about our knowledge. It''s time that we stop pretending to be ignorant about the iing crisis."


    Paul understood the silent order and started tapping on the screen of his phone. Khan''s device rang a few times as his squad leader forwarded to him the story that the Global Army had used to justify the absence of troops. The message spoke about a made-up crisis on a called Ecoruta and even added general exnations.


    The best lies had truths blended inside them. Ecoruta was a constantly at war that the Global Army had upied in thest century. That ce was famous in a political array that involved many alien species, so the Niqols would find the story reasonable even if they knew about it.


    The message also contained information meant only for Khan. The soldiers didn''t know the exact range of his knowledge, but they wanted to make sure that he learnt enough about the matter to make his story more convincing. Some of those descriptions were ssified, but every recruit on Nitis had the clearance to gain ess to them. The reports weren''t too secretive since Ecoruta was quite famous.


    "Understood," Khan stated after memorizing the contents of the message and raising his gaze toward the three soldiers. "Do you have additional orders?"


    "Not really," Lieutenant Kintea exined while crossing his arms. "Our rtionship with the Niqols has improved quickly during thest period, but that''s an anomaly. These matters usually take years or decades of silent cooperation to move forward. Your priorities are still within the academy. Learn as much as you can, but don''t grow weak."


    "The daylight ising," Paul added. "The entirety of Nitis will turn upside down, and the situation won''t stabilize for months. Almost all the Tainted animals will be monsters, and the eight of you will experience the crisis from inside the Niqols'' social environment."


    "You won''t have the chance to remain outside of the struggles," Captain Erbair summarized. "Get as strong as you can in these months and perform well once the daylight arrives. Getting through the crisis isn''t as important as the amount of help that the Niqols will ept once everything is over."


    Khan stood up and performed a military salute. The three soldiers nodded at that resolute gesture and dismissed him. Paul even escorted him outside of the building and until the camp''s edges.


    The squad leader appeared honestly concerned about Khan''s well-being, but he didn''t question him about his life inside the academy due to his restrictions. Paul remained mostly silent while walking next to his talented underling, but he eventually started adding details connected to the briefing.


    "Our prospects see most of the fauna dying due to hunts and battles among different packs," Paul exined. "The years after the crisis will require long cleansing operations, but the worst willeter, once the shortage of food hits the Niqols. We n to share part of our resources and technology at that point. Who knows? We might even establish a proper independent city that works as a source of food."


    "I understand," Khan emotionlessly replied. "Our focus must be on appearing reliable and honest throughout the whole crisis. Our freedom on Nitis after everything settles will depend on how well we perform."


    Paul nodded, and a satisfied smile even appeared on his face. Khan could appear entric at times, but he remained the best asset in his ss. The promotion to lieutenant didn''t seem unreasonable with Khan gaining merits for his team.


    Paul would be even happier if he knew everything that Khan had achieved during his time inside the academy. The Global Army wasn''t aware of how deeply he had blended with the Niqols. The trust that the soldiers put in him came from his previous achievements.


    "Be sure to continue working hard out there," Paul announced once the two reached the gate and a white figure became visible high in the dark sky. "I believe there will be full disclosure after the crisis. Everyone will be aware of your sacrifices, and I''ll make sure that they won''t go unrewarded."


    "Thank you, Paul," Khan said while showing a fake smile toward the soldier. "I know that our rtionship has been rocky at times, but I''m d to have you as squad leader. You are fair."


    Paul didn''t say anything. He limited himself to wear a proud smile and pat Khan''s shoulder while Snownded a few meters from them.


    "Time to go," Khan announced before approaching the Aduns.


    "Bring honor to the Global Army," Paul reminded as Khan jumped on Snow''s back, "And keep it inside your pants!"


    Khan voiced a fake chuckle before patting Snow''s feathered neck. The Aduns set off almost immediately, and Paul continued to smile as he stared at the white figure disappearing in the sky.


    The wind blew on Khan''s face, but he didn''t feel it. The beauty of Nitis'' dark sceneries expanded in his vision, but he couldn''t appreciate it. The mental barrier lowered its walls and let him experience his emotions again, but he only sensed a profound coldness mixed with disgust.


    Khan felt the need to vomit the food eaten in the canteen. He cursed himself for appreciating the warm meal. The spot where Paul had patted his shoulder also became an unbearable sight. Khan tried to wipe it clean of the stench that only he could smell, but nothing seemed to work. That awful odor remained on him even after he tore that chunk of his robe apart.


    Ideas on how to make the Global Army pay for what it had done and had forced him to go through appeared in his mind, but he did his best not to fall prey to his anger. Khan needed his organization, and the settlements on Nitis had nothing valuable either. He could ruin the rtionships between the two species, but that would only send him back to the Slums or in a military prison.


    ''How can everything be so cruel?'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''They could have just alerted everyone and use that favor to improve their rtionship!''


    Khan was only venting his feelings. He knew that politics rarely rewarded good deeds, especially when it came to different species. Hesitation would always exist on both sides. He had actually studied that during the sses connected to the subject.


    The idea of having to spend almost six hours alone with his thoughts scared him. His orders were clear. Khan had to return to the academy and lie to the friends that had epted him so openly.


    Liiza wouldn''t even be able to do anything after learning about the Global Army''s decision to keep the sr wind a secret. Khan''s help had probably given the Niqols enough time to prepare for the daylight, but the situation was different now.


    The elders probably already suspected that the humans were withholding information. Ambassador Yeza''s behavior also showed the profound mistrust that still existed between the two species. Khan felt lost among problems that he couldn''t solve and situations that he couldn''t affect. His role also forced him to work for an organization that he had started to despise and go against the species he admired.


    Khan decided to hide inside his training to dull the delusional and unrealistic thoughts generated by his messy feelings. He needed to calm down before reaching the academy, but life seemed to have no intention to give him peace.


    Khan opened his eyes when he was halfway through the travel. His gaze went on the dark sky as his traumatic experiences flowed through his vision. He had another advantage to add to those events. He had justpleted the eleventh mental exercise.


    ****


    Author''s notes: 3-4 hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 163 - Meeting

    Traumas led to aplishments, and a parallel connection existed between the blood on his hands and his happiness. Khan had found himself linking those terrible events and actions to advantages and positive feelings in the past. He had hoped that his increasing power would have made him escape that trend, but his sess with the mental exercises proved that he wasn''t quite there yet.


    Khan spent the rest of the flight in a daze. The world ran through his vision, but he barely saw it. He struggled to believe that a single person could experience such beauty and pain at the same time.


    His love for Liiza and affection for his Niqols friends existed with his desperation and newfound disgust toward the Global Army. His talent in the ways of mana, fast growth, and achievement moved forward as he amassed traumas in his mind.


    There didn''t seem to be anything in-between. Extremes dictated Khan''s life, and he didn''t know how to view that. That perfect bnce felt to go beyond luck. It almost appeared as the work of a higher force, but Khan didn''t let his mind wander in those fields.


    The forest among the seven mountains appeared in his vision before he could reach a conclusion that exined his life. Still, everything became clear by the time Snownded on an empty spot on the side of those rocky dark-grey structures. His experiences had no deeper meaning in that chaotic world. Khan could me luck, fate, or mana itself, but that didn''t change the truth about his situation. He was nothing more than a powerless gear in a system that he didn''t understand.


    ''Everything points toward power,'' Khan thought as he crossed familiar areas of the forest.


    Finding and eventually fighting the Nak required power. The higher ranks of the Global Army had a broader range of requisites, but being strong helped reach them. A strong ambassador would also obtain more benefits and privileges, which might involve the chance to marry important figures, even when it came to an alien species.


    Khan''s goals and desires required him to be strong. It didn''t matter if they involved the Nak or his girlfriend. He wouldn''t manage to pursue those paths if he remained weak.


    That answer didn''t change Khan''s situation since he already gave his everything in his training. It only helped stabilize his mind and generate a new desire. He now wanted to be strong to avoid ending up in awful situations again. He desired the power to fix the traumatic events that his bad luck continued to put on his path.


    It felt strangely good to desire power for those reasons. Khan could work harder than others because no recruit had experienced the same desperation. However, there was much more inside him now. Those drives fused and created a stronger determination, a resolve that appeared able to bear the deeper emotions that he had learnt to experience.


    The areas past the membrane were empty. The squares and the various buildings didn''t feature students or professors. The elders had called a worldwide day of mourning that put all Niqols activities to a stop, so most aliens decided to spend that time with their loved ones.


    Khan didn''t meet anyone on his path toward the underground habitation. The recruits meditating on the beds were the first trace of life inside the academy, and they all turned toward the staircase when they heard him descending thest step.


    "Khan!" George eximed and revealed an honest smile, but the other recruits diverted their gazes in shame.


    Kelly and the others had drunk too much the previous night. It had felt extremely easy to end up in that condition after their experience in the vige. They even desired to join a party again, but they knew that no amount of booze could make them forget those images.


    "What has even happened to you?" Khan asked when he noticed the state of George''s neck.


    Khan''s mood was far from ideal, but the sight of the many hickeys on George''s neck made him explode into augh. He chuckled for so long that the situation almost felt awkward, but the recruits didn''t dare to judge him. He had experienced far worse than them, but he didn''t fail to attend his duties.


    Khan eventually managed to fall silent. He had ended up using hisugh to vent part of the heaviness that had filled his mind, and an ted smirk remained on his face after he calmed down. George''s state remained hrious, but he didn''t lose control again.


    "I''ve seen leeches doing less damage than Havaa," Khan cracked a joke, and hispanion couldn''t help butugh or cover their mouths to suppress their smirks.


    The event with the leeches had led to the death of two Niqols, and the previous night honored the many casualties suffered during the sr wind. Yet, everyone managed to smile, even if some of theughs ended up in suppressed sobs and loud sniffs.


    "I have to update you on the situation," Khan eventually said once everyone calmed down and the mood returned serious.


    "Before that," Kelly announced while mustering her determination and fixing her eyes on Khan, "I wish to say that I''m sorry. I messed up after seeing a few bad scenes. I have no idea how you must feel after going through the Second Impact, Istrone, and yesterday. Spending nights in the wilds sounds too little now."


    "Does this mean that I won''t hear yourints anymore?" Khan asked after his eyebrows arched in surprise.


    "I will still say something if your actions risk hurting the Global Army," Kelly exined, "But well. I''ve been a senseless idiot. I would understand if you reported me to our superiors."


    A sh of coldness ran through Khan''s expression, but he promptly lowered his head to heave a deep sigh. His gaze slowly returned on Kelly, and he felt able to see the girl in her true form. She was nothing more than a recruit at her first traumatic event. Her mental growth was evenmendable. Khan had felt slightly disgusted after seeing her dedication toward the Global Army, but he couldn''t me her too much about that. Her belief came from ignorance that he was about to fill.


    "I couldn''t say anything because of the restrictions," Khan reminded her while pointing at the spot on his neck where the azure symbol had previously appeared. "Besides, I doubt they would have cared with everything that is about to happen."


    The recruits showed curious expressions, and Khan began to share what he had learnt from the meeting. He didn''t hide anything from the recruits, and some revealed faces that he knew far too well when his story exined how the Global Army had kept the sr wind hidden on purpose.


    Many among the recruits felt a strong sense of belonging toward the Global Army and their species, but cracks opened in their beliefs after Khan finished describing the contents of the briefing. It became evident how every story had two versions and multiple perspectives, and they had lost the privilege of being on the ignorant side.


    In theory, the tactic had been a sess. The Niqols had lost a lot, and they would probably ept worse pacts as long as they could avoid going through a simr event. However, the recruits had to take in that from the side that had paid the price of that decision.


    Kelly and the others didn''t only witness the gory scenes in the vige. They had also seen how hard the event had been for the Niqols. The difference between their species didn''t matter too much in front of honest tears, suicides, and desperate cries of sorrow voiced by aliens who had been nothing but cheerful until then.


    Khan could see how the recruits were far from fine. Their world had grown darker in a few minutes due to simple words. They needed help and emotional support, but he couldn''t provide that. Khan limited himself to change his torn robe and leave while hispanions remained in a daze and let that knowledge seep inside their minds.


    ''What is it?'' Doku''s voice resounded in Khan''s mind while he walked toward one of the mountains.


    Khan could sense that Doku had deactivated the tracker of his cube, but that didn''t prevent him from hearing the summary of the briefing. Khan revealed what the Global Army had allowed him to share, and Doku didn''t dig deeper. They both felt their respective need to say something that didn''t involve politics, but that desire felt pointless when talking through their cubes.


    ''I''ll notify my superiors immediately,'' Doku eventually transmitted. ''Get some rest now. Oh, Azni says hi.''


    ''See you tomorrow, both of you,'' Khan said while trying to convey a smile through the mental message before shutting down themunication.


    Snow was already waiting for him on the side of a mountain. The Aduns felt quite pissed due to the multiple travels and long waits, but Khan made sure to let it enjoy itself during the flight to the marsh. The eagle even passed through areas that Khan didn''t recognize due to many detours and reckless airborne stunts.


    Khan reached the cave past ten pm and found Liiza waiting for him in her usual position under the nkets. He had felt some hesitation in the past when it came to talking to her about problematic matters. Still, nothing like that happened that night.


    Liiza didn''t react well to the awful actions of the Global Army, but she did her best not to explode in a fit of anger. She didn''t want her feelings to add weight on Khan''s already heavy mind, but he made sure to shatter her self-restraint. The couple went through that matter together without hiding their feelings. Liiza sobbed at times, and Khan ended up kicking the rocky walls once to vent.


    Their intense state even caused a rough intimate outburst that left Khan full of marks that were hard to hide. Liiza ended up in a simr situation, but the blush that continued to affect her cheeks even after she fell asleep in his arms confirmed that she had enjoyed the unexpected event. Khan couldn''t help feeling slightly proud as he imagined Azni nodding at him before his mind slipped into the nightmare.


    Khan had nned to wake up earlier than usual to take care of his exposed marks through a longer meditation, but an azure glow awakened him before his rm. Liiza also woke up, and both of them raised their sleepy heads to find the source of that light.


    Khan''s head went back on the pillow after seeing that the source of the light was Liiza''s robe. The girl groaned as she crawled toward her clothes while dragging the nket with her. Khan''s bare body ended up in the open, but he only chuckled as he inspected the captivating scene.


    Liiza dragged her robe closer to Khan before restoring that simple bed andying her back on his chest. Her hand went looking for her cube only after Khan wrapped his arms around her and gave her all the warmth that he was capable of.


    Khan tried to fall asleep again, but Liiza''s movements during the mental conversation didn''t let him remain calm. She didn''t even try to hide the teasing nature of her gestures, and Khan made sure to respond ordingly after he checked his phone. It was four am, half an hour before his rm.


    ''Who even calls at this hour?'' Khan wondered before moving his attention on Liiza when she rubbed her butt on his waist.


    Niqols weren''t morning people. Khan could only think about one figure who could be awake and call Liiza at that early hour. The matter probably involved Yeza, which even exined Liiza''s bolder behavior.


    The teasing came to an abrupt stop at some point. Liiza''s body tensed before turning until she faced Khan. The cube was still in her grasp, but she ced her free hand on his chest as she concluded that mental conversation.


    "What is it?" Khan asked after Liiza let the cube roll behind her.


    Liiza showed annoyance but also worry. Khan brought her closer in his arms to reassure her, but it soon turned out that her fears weren''t as serious as he had initially imagined.


    "My mother wants a meeting with the human envoys," Liiza exined. "It will happen at the end of this week."


    "That''s not too bad," Khanughed. "We can still spend a lot of time together."


    "That''s not the issue," Liiza continued while avoiding Khan''s gaze. "She mentioned you. I know how that stuff ends with her."


    Ambassador Yeza was one of Liiza''s weak points, but Khan could onlyugh in front of her insecurity. He had seen hell multiple times already. A meeting with a tempting woman didn''t even ssify as a problem in his mind.


    "Will you be there?" Khan asked while kissing Liiza''s bare shoulder.


    "I must be," Liiza scoffed as she slightly turned and clung to the back of Khan''s head to let him dive toward her chest. "She will probably find the chance to remain alone with you and use me to keep the other humans busy."


    "It''s fine," Khan chuckled as his kisses continued. "I had to meet my girlfriend''s mother sooner orter."


    "You know that''s not the issue with her," Liizained.


    Khan heaved a helpless sigh and nced at her chest onest time before moving toward her face. Liiza was still trying to avoid his gaze, but he took her cheeks in his hands and forced her to look at him.


    "[Liiza]," Khan said in a scolding tone.


    "[She is really good]," Liizained again. "[You wouldn''t be the first taken men to fall prey to her]."


    "[I''ll just tell her about us if the situation bes too dangerous]," Khanughed, but Liiza pulled his hair to remind him that she wasn''t joking.


    "[Isn''t my reaction during the past event enough]?" Khan asked. "[Though don''t wear special dresses unless you intend to bring them here]."


    "[I will wear a new one]," Liiza whispered as her hand slid down Khan''s torso, "[And I will bring it here if you behave]."


    "[What happens if I don''t]?" Khan yed along and revealed a smirk as Liiza''s cold hand reached his manhood.


    His smirk froze as Liiza''s hand grew colder. The girl revealed a smile that carried a chilling aura before announcing her intentions. "[I''ll turn you into a block of ice, starting from here]."

 Chapter 164 - Lysixi

    Doku took care of informing the group of recruits about Ambassador Yeza''s decision to hold a meeting. The Niqols couldn''t exin much since those matters involved areas of Nitis that the aliens had never shown to the humans. Still, he didn''t fail to give a few general warnings, especially when he found himself alone with Khan.


    "You must be the luckiest boy on Nitis," Dokumented before drinking from his cup. "y it well, and you''ll have something to brag about for the rest of your life."


    Doku winked at Khan multiple times, but thetter couldn''t fake his reactionspletely with Azni staring coldly at him.


    It was the night of the fifth day of the week, and the Niqols had thrown the usual party meant to celebrate the end of the lessons. The recruits had already heard the few instructions that they would have to apply during the actual meeting, but they had dispersed among the other groups of aliens by then.


    Only Khan, Doku, and Azni had remained on the trunk-bench they often used as their drinking spot. It was already quitete, so the couple would leave soon to spend some time alone. Yet, the two had insisted on having that conversation now that the recruits had left since it would cover more personal topics.


    "I told you already," Khan smirked at Doku''s gesture. "You need to blink only once. Don''t repeat it, don''t make it obvious, and definitely don''t alternate your eyes only because it feels cool."


    "What if the other doesn''t notice it?" Doku asked.


    "The gesture loses its purpose if you make it noticeable," Khan repeated in an exasperated tone. "It''s like a secret code. You wink, and your previous words or actions gain a meaning that only yourpanion and you understand."


    "What about the other meanings that you''ve mentioned the other time?" Doku questioned while scratching his cheek and showing a face that was far from promising. "Also, won''t it be more secretive if I wink multiple times?"


    "That was my bad," Khan sighed while shaking his head as he recalled his past mistake. "I didn''t think that telling you about all the possible applications would confuse you so much. Focus on the secret code thing, and no. It doesn''t be more secretive. It only turns into a joke because everyone can see that."


    Trying to teach how to wink to Doku had turned out to be harder than predicted. Khan didn''t expect that a simple gesture would confuse the Niqols so much. The issue was with the multiple meanings that the same movement could gain depending on the context. The alien could follow when it involved secret codes, but he lost himself once he reached lies, jokes, and flirting.


    Khan had spent thest day trying to make Doku forget about the meanings he had listed in the past, but the project wasn''t going well. Still, his current exasperation wasn''tpletely real. Faint gratefulness apanied that feeling since the two had managed to disperse the awkwardness that the politics between their species had created.


    "Do you n on winking at Ambassador Yeza often?" Azni asked with clear annoyance in her voice. "Is that why you want to learn?"


    "[Azni]," Doku said in a dramatic tone while taking the girl''s shoulders between his hands. "[You know what I feel for you better than me]."


    Azni''s annoyed face started to rx in front of those honest words. Her mouth even began to curve into a smile, but her irritation came back stronger than ever when Doku spoke again. "[But you have seen Ambassador Yeza. Better men than me have failed to resist her, and I can understand the reason behind that quite clearly]."


    "[You must have really grown tired of sex and booze]," Azni announced in a chilling tone.


    "[Why would I ever grow tired of them]?" Doku asked in confusion.


    "[Because you won''t have either for the next two weeks]," Azni exined as an emotionless smile appeared on her face, and Doku''s eyes widened when he understood the nature of his punishment.


    Doku wanted to beg for forgiveness, but Khan''sughs interrupted his attempt. The alien boy also started to chuckle with him, hoping that everything would turn into a joke. Still, Azni''s expression continued to radiate a chilling feeling that slowly made him ept his punishment.


    Doku nced at Azni again before rolling his eyes and throwing away the cup in his hands. The boy appeared truly depressed about the action, but Azni finally dropped her cold attitude and hugged him. Doku caressed her back as evident affection seeped out of his glowing eyes, but his girlfriend''s nextment made him desperate again. "[You''ll add tonight to the two weeks]."


    Khanughed to no end, and his voice rose when Doku begged him for help with his eyes. Still, Khan only shook his head. He knew the Niqols well enough to avoid mixing himself with the private matters of another couple. Also, Azni knew about his secret rtionship, and he feared what she could say to Liiza.


    "Come on," Khan eventually stated. "I''ve fought monsters and seen much worse. How hard can it be to resist her?"


    The couple shot sorry nces at Khan. Their heads shook as they tried to make him understand how little he knew about the matter.


    "Even I would fall for her," Aznimented at some point, and both boys fixed their surprised eyes on her.


    "[What]?" Azni giggled as she closed her eyes and snuggled on Doku''s chest. "[You have seen her. She is stunning]."


    Doku and Khan stared at the girl resting on the former''s chest before exchanging a meaningful nce. They didn''t speak nor show any expression, but they both understood what was happening in their minds.


    "[I can hear your dirty thoughts]," Aznimented without raising her head, and the two boys ended up revealing a silent knowing smile before all three of them exploded into a happyugh.


    .


    .


    .


    Khan''s ability with the mental barrier had increased so much that he cleared the twelfth mental exercise in the days that separated him from the meeting with Ambassador Yeza.


    The new intensity that his feelings could reach didn''t affect the mental exercise at all. They actually made it smoother since Khan could suppress far stronger emotions now. Maintaining ess to the entirety of his abilities while the mental barrier was up turned out to be extremely easy during the calm moments spent training.


    The deepening of his ability in the three fields taught by the Niqols had also helped him clear thest mental exercise in the training for the chaos element in no time. Only the Wave spell remained at that point, but Khan didn''t have time to start studying it since the day of the meeting arrived.


    Professor Supyan ended up being the one to pick up the recruits from their underground habitation early in the morning. The presence of a professor highlighted how different the event was from the other missions and tasks, so a tense aura quickly fell on the group as the Niqols led them toward the short structure where they had drunk their first potion.


    It turned out that Khan and the others needed another potion before leaving the academy. The Niqols were extremely careful about revealing areas they had kept hidden from the humans for seventy years, and the iing crisis only intensified that approach.


    Getting a new restriction made of mana obviously didn''t please the recruits, but they didn''t have any choice in the matter. Of course, they could refuse to attend the meeting, but none of them dared to miss that chance.


    Professor Supyan didn''t let the recruits summon their Aduns. The eagles could memorize locations with a simple nce of their three eyes. They also had an incredible sense of direction that could help them find their way back home in unknownnds. The Niqols couldn''t risk having loose ends, so they opted for a different ride.


    "This is a Lysixi," Professor Supyan exined to the astonished recruits. "Our species has dug under Nitis'' surface for a long time. These structures are one of the main reasons why humans struggle to figure out our actual power, but we rely on Lysixi to cross them."


    Professor Supyan had led the recruits through a secret passage hidden inside one of the seven mountains that encircled the academy. The rocky path led under the surface and into arge tunnel that featured a tall ceiling. Azure symbols shone throughout its walls filled with cracks, but their glow didn''t manage to illuminate the depths of the structure.


    The tunnel was seven meters tall and seven metersrge. It had a smooth square shape disrupted only by the many cracks that had opened due to the passage of time. The azure symbols improved the texture of those dark rocky surfaces, but that apparent unstable structure still alerted the recruits'' survival instincts.


    However, their lingering worries about the tunnel''s stability vanished when a huge Tainted animal came out from one of the rare branches connected to the structure.


    The Lysixi had an odd shape. It resembled a lizard for most of its features. The creature had dark-green scales, cold yellow eyes, and a forked dark-pink tongue that often came out of its triangr mouth. Yet, it had two strange characteristics that made the recruits open their mouths in surprise.


    The first surprising feature was its size. The Lysixi wasn''t tall. It barely reached the recruits'' waists. However, its back was so vast that it could almost fill therge surfaces of the tunnel.


    Moreover, its body was basically t. The Lysixi was five meters long, but its belly didn''t evene close to touching the floor. The eight legs growing out of its sides allowed it to stand, but its overall stability appeared rtively poor.


    "Don''t be afraid," Professor Supyan announced while jumping on the upper part of the lizard''s back. "They don''t like meat too much, so their nature is rather peaceful."


    The recruits noticed how the Lysixi didn''t budge at all when the Niqolsnded on its back. That scene didn''t seem to fit that seemingly frail structure, but it became evident that the creature was stronger than it looked.


    Khan jumped on the lizard after confirming that the creature had barely noticed the additional weight caused by the professor. Still, he relied on his expertise with the Lightning-demon style to perform a softnding that didn''t release any sound.


    His improved sensitivity to mana gave him a general idea of the creature''s strength after he sat behind Professor Supyan and ced his palms on the dark-green scales. Khan almost felt the Lysixi''s back to be firmer than the rocky floor. He soon found himself wondering if his kicks would affect it at all.


    The other recruits had a more careful approach to the climb. They followed George as he avoided the creature''s legs and bent forward before slowly crawling behind Khan. It didn''t take much before all the humans sat on the Lysixi, but the Tainted animal remained still throughout the entire process.


    "Don''t fall," Professor Supyan warned before patting the back of the lizard''s neck.


    The recruits didn''t have the time to question the Niqols about the warning since a forcended on their bodies and made them bend backward. The Lysixi had started to run, but its eleration had been so sudden Gabri and Rodney almost fell off. Luckily for them, the dark-green scales were rough enough to cling on them.


    Khan quickly managed to stabilize his position. He had an advantage in the task since his martial art already forced his skin and mind to endure such speed. The Lysixi wasn''t going as fast as his top eleration, but its fast movements weren''t something that unprepared recruits could learn to handle immediately.


    The straight structure of the tunnel allowed the Lysixi to keep moving at the same speed for two entire hours. The lizard never slowed down nor showed signs of tiredness. It resembled a vehicle with endless fuel that quickly led the group toward their destination.


    "Don''t be so tense," Professor Supyan advised once the Lysixi stopped in front of a cavity that featured a narrow staircase. "Ambassador Yeza only wants to see you. You will help us face the daylight, so she requested to get a glimpse of your character."


    Shocked faces appeared on the recruits again. The Professor had openly spoken about the daylight. That was the first time a Niqols didn''t try to hide that news. It seemed that the higher-ups of both species had sealed a deal in the days after the briefing.


    The professor led the recruits through the staircase that opened in a snowy area surrounded by mountains. The temperatures were low, and a tremor ran through some recruits once winds blew in their faces. Still, their gazes soon converged toward a vague structure in the distance.


    The building carried the same shades of the mountains, so it was hard to see it clearly among Nitis'' darkness and the falling snow. The group had to walk for a while before they could gaze at the tall pce that the remote area hid.


    The pce filled the narrow area that separated two mountains. Its dark-grey surfaces mixed with the rocky structures and allowed it to reach heights that even mana would struggle to keep stable.


    Many azure symbols filled the ground around the pce, the mountains, and the actual surfaces of the structure. A few small windows appeared every few meters and marked the spots where each floor stood. A ck ss-like material covered those openings and hid the areas behind them.


    The pce didn''t have any entrance door, and its summit seemed to end in a bridge that connected the two mountains. A few towers came out of the top''s sides and featured t roofs with the same ck windows as the rest of the structure.


    The structure would almost resemble a simple wall or a dam if it weren''t for those windows, but everything changed when the group got close enough. The pce revealed how its surfaces had manyyers by making a few of them slide open to show a rectangr metal entrance hidden behind them.


    The two tall sides of the entrance slid open, and a series of Niqols dressed in luxurious robes became visible. The woman standing at their centerpleted the majestic scene with her striking beauty.


    Ambassador Yeza wore the brightest smile that the recruits had ever seen, and her revealing dress immediately attracted everyone''s attention. She was wearing a simple long gown that used only two narrow lines of fabric to cover her torso. Her ample chest was basically in the open, and the same went for her sensual waist and back.


    Khan saw a piercing cold gaze filling the corners of his vision, but he did his best to appear captivated by Yeza''s beauty. Liiza was also beautiful with her tight dress that adhered perfectly to her skin and revealed her wless silhouette. Only her back was in the open, but that didn''t diminish how tempting she appeared.


    Liiza wasn''t expressing more coldness than usual. She was wearing the normal aloof face showed during those political and social events, but Khan could feel her true feelings anyway.


    Khan couldn''t enjoy Liiza''s appearance since it could make her mother suspicious, so he wore a captivated smile that satisfied Yeza''s need for attention. Silent and cold warnings converged toward his mind and almost made him beg to go where Liiza couldn''t re at him, but he could only endure for now. His sole constion was that his girlfriend wouldn''t change before going to the cave that night.


    ****


    Author''s notes: 3-4 hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 165 - Red Spot

    The Niqols'' customs that concerned specific political events weren''t tooplicated. Doku had given detailed instructions, and Khan had even heard them before from Liiza.


    The recruits performed a general deep bow before stepping forward to bow in front of each Niqols. Thetter replied with simr gestures, and some announced their political roles before Ambassador Yeza brought everyone inside the pce.


    "Many important figures from each tribe travel here to attend specific matters," Yeza exined while walking in front of the group at a slow pace to make sure that everyone took a good look at her exposed back. "We can control most of the functions in the region powered by mana from here. This involves every symbol that you have seen,municators, and other things unique only to this ce."


    Khan found Yeza''s slow pace quite annoying. He was the only one among his group unaffected by her beauty, so he didn''t enjoy that walk through the almost empty corridor connected to the entrance.


    Guests couldn''t wander alone. That was part of the customs, which wasn''t hard to follow. Yet, those traditions also stated that they could suggest activities or ask questions only after the main host was over with the general introduction of the habitation.


    Those customs didn''t apply to the Niqols who had weed the recruits and Professor Supyan. The aliens slowly returned to their tasks as multiple rooms started to appear along their path. It didn''t take much before only the humans, Liiza, Yeza, and a few young Niqols remained in the corridor.


    The environment eventually revealed something that Khan could inspect while the slow walk continued. Artworks made of silk-like materials started to cover the walls, and soft carpets appeared on the floor. They carried unusual red shades, and the drawings on them were mostly abstract.


    Those artworks were a rare sight among the structures that the Niqols showed to the humans, but Khan couldn''t avoid connecting the redness of their shades to Zalpa''s hair. It seemed that they belonged to an ancient part of the aliens'' history that came before the cooperation with the humans. The pce probably kept them due to their undeniable artistic value.


    The corridor ended in arge hall that featuredrge staircases on both sides. The area had more of those artworks together with wooden tables and chairs with handmade decorations. The furniture carried the same style that Khan had seen before, and the red shades also appeared often.


    "Let''s go upstairs," Ambassador Yeza announced with her sweet voice. "Something to drink should arrive soon."


    The Lysixi didn''t take much to reach the pce, and the slow walk had onlysted for half an hour. ording to the Niqols'' standards, it was early morning, so the recruits hoped that Yeza''s drink didn''t involve booze.


    ording to Liiza and Doku''s words, thest custom connected to those events was something that the Niqols had started to abandon after the humansnded on Nitis. It basically forbade guests from refusing what the hosts offered, be it drinks, food, or even themselves.


    A refusal would offend the hosts, and only a present with equal value to what they had offered could soothe that feeling. That tradition had often created problems among the various tribes, and it became even harder to apply once the humans joined the political scene.


    The Niqols had stopped applying that custom for a few decades by then, but it was hard to get rid of instincts inherited by parents or older members of the tribes. Many aliens from the older generations still felt offended if guests decided to refuse their offerings, and Yeza could easily do the same.


    The recruits didn''t have anything to offer back, so they could only ept everything Ambassador Yeza threw at them and hope. George and the others were mainly worried about getting drunk or forced to eat something that their human tastes found disgusting, but Khan''s fears involved far different topics.


    ''She can''t offer herself to me, can she?'' Khan wondered as the soft fabric of the carpets that covered the staircase prevented his steps from releasing noises. ''I''m only a slightly famous no one. Her interest in me shouldn''t be too deep.''


    Everyone had warned Khan about Yeza. The ambassador had never once hesitated to use her beauty as a weapon, and the constant attention that she naturally attracted had made her quitescivious. Liiza had even revealed that her mother actually held back often because her position among the Niqols was too important.


    Yeza couldn''t sell herself cheap, and Khan had built his hopes on that approach. Doku wanted him to y his cards right, but he nned to do the very opposite. Khan would show how he was nothing more than a recruit so that Yeza wouldn''t value him enough to offer herself to him.


    The upper floors of the pce featured rooms with different purposes. Yeza led the recruits through a few vast libraries, training areas, indoor gardens, guest rooms, multiple lounges, and far more. The insides of the pce were immense. It seemed that an entire army could live inside it.


    The tour even led the recruits toward some structures that they had only imagined after witnessing the various functions that mana could obtain inside the Niqols'' buildings. Ambassador Yeza allowed them to take glimpses of the vast halls meant to regte specific purposes the azure symbols spread throughout the region featured. She even added short exnations without forgetting to add sweetness to her voice.


    The structures meant to handle those functions always had the shape ofrge ck cubes that could be as tall as a grown-up man. Each hall or area that regted a specific purpose of the azure symbols in the region featured many of them, and the Niqols seemed able to activate them through theirmunicators. Yeza didn''t exin how they could affect the distant areas, but Khan guessed that the underground tunnels had something to do with it.


    "Drinks!" Yeza eximed when Niqols who weren''t wearing white robes reached the group. "Finally."


    Those Niqols seemed to work as servants or butlers. They carried many wooden cups filled with a liquid that made Khan curse internally. They had the same booze that the aliens patrolling the vige had shared with the humans during the crisis.


    "Is it too strong for you?" Yeza asked when she saw that the recruits hesitated to grab one of the cups.


    Yeza''s voice broke toward the end of her question. Her acting was so good that the recruits felt terrible about putting her in that situation. Even Khan couldn''t help but experience a slight ache in his chest when he saw the woman''s worried face.


    ''She would be queen of the Slums in a single day!'' Khan cursed in his mind before joining the recruits who didn''t hesitate to leap toward the trays with the wooden cups.


    Yeza made sure to exchange the traditional Niqols'' toast with each recruit, and Khan vaguely felt that she had decided to make the exchange of gazes with himst slightly longer. Having such strong drinks in the morning made the humans'' stomachs twist, but none of them dared to show displeased expressions.


    The pure smile that Yeza showed at the sight of that scene made the recruits instantly feel better. Brandon and George even took another sip in the hope that they could receive some special attention, but Yeza turned to continue the tour at that point.


    Khan almost forgot about the seemingly longer toast, but a few strange behaviors became evident as the tour continued. Yeza used her incredible acting experience to make the recruits drink even more. Still, Khan made sure to be in full control of his mental capabilities before confirming that something was off.


    The Niqols who had remained in the group throughout the tour often nced and shot smiles at the other recruits. Only Liiza walked on her own, a few meters from the others, but she was a special case.


    Instead, Khan wasn''t getting any attention. No Niqols dared to look at him, and he even tested his idea by moving among the group to fall in their line of sight. The aliens always pointed their eyes away from him in a few seconds, and they even tried to make the gesture appear natural.


    The other Niqols weren''t as good as Yeza. Khan could see through their pretense after repeating his tests a few times. He suddenly felt like the special target of some secret political mission. Still, the aliens didn''t give him enough time to think about his situation since the transparent roof of the pce soon unfolded in their vision.


    "That''s it for this building," Yeza announced. "The tour is over. We''ll divide ourselves into different groups and discuss various topics now. I hope you all enjoy yourselves."


    The Niqols who had remained with the group started taking the recruits'' hands or arms to lead them to various locations. Khan only had the time to see Liiza approaching Veronica and bringing her away before realizing that he had remained alone with Yeza.


    "You haven''t looked at me once during the tour," Yeza stated before covering her mouth and voicing a tempting chuckle. "Interesting."


    Yeza turned and walked toward one of the corridors connected to that area, and Khan gulped before following her. He felt worried after thatment. He didn''t expect her senses to be so sharp.


    The Niqols led Khan in a dark room before tinkering with the menus on the walls. The azure symbols on the surfaces immediately became brighter, and everything felt warmer after a few seconds passed.


    The room didn''t have much. It featured the same carpets and silk artworks on the walls. A long table and a few chairs upied its center, and a tray with different bottles and cups stood on the furniture in the corner.


    Khan could nce at the mountains through one of the transparent walls of the room. That was one of the ck windows seen from the outside. Its darkness appeared unable to reach that side of the ss-like material.


    "You also drank less than yourpanions," Yeza continued while undoing her braids and messing with her hair to remove the shapes caused by her previous hairstyle.


    Yeza seemed to have dropped her act, but Khan understood that she had just decided to change tactic. The Niqols approached the bottles and nced at him from behind her shoulder before giggling and picking two clean cups.


    "Come here," Yeza ordered in a sensual voice while filling the cups with the booze in the bottles nearby. "Leave your drink there."


    Khan gulped again. Trying to refuse was pointless, and it would even worsen his situation. He could only y along and make sure that he didn''t ruin the source of his happiness that day.


    Khan ced his cup on the table and approached the other side of the room. Yeza turned when he reached her. Her timing felt unreal, even when it came to the handing of a new drink.


    Yeza raised her cup, and Khan performed the iconic Niqols'' toast. The new booze was strong, but something made it easy to drink it. It was slightly dense, warm, and it carried the faint taste of strawberry. Those features hid how easily the liquid could affect someone''s mind.


    "You have helped us a lot since your arrival on Nitis," Yeza smiled before moving closer to the window. "Do you have something to prove in the Global Army, or do you simply like the Niqols?"


    "I believe both is the right answer," Khan firmly replied while walking toward her.


    The two stood side by side as they watched the dark snow falling on the mountains. The scene was quite beautiful, but the darkness of Nitis'' constant night didn''t allow Khan to see much."


    "You have even helped with the vige," Yeza continued. "Your life must have been hard."


    Khan didn''t answer, but Yeza''s words made him take another sip from his cup. He had actually promised himself not to drink anymore, but he realized what had happened only when the warm liquid ran down his throat.


    ''She is dangerous,'' Khan reminded himself.


    "The daylight ising," Yeza eventually sighed. "Your superiors have tried to offer their help, but I''ve always managed to sense the presence of hidden intentions. You can''t remain na?ve when you are me."


    Khan confirmed that the daylight had finally stopped being a secret, and he even felt d that Yeza was spending time in her monologue. The more she focused on herself, the less she tempted him.


    "Will you help my species once our world turns upside down?" Yeza asked while ncing at Khan, and he felt the need to meet her eyes.


    "Of course," Khan stated in a firm tone.


    Yeza showed what appeared to be an honest smile. Her hand reached his cheek, and Khan felt unable to retract his head. His body didn''t want to oppose her touch.


    Khan felt surprised when Yeza''s fingers touched his cheek. She was warm, even warmer than a human. She caressed his face and spread that cozy feeling throughout his body.


    "So young," Yeza whispered as she ced her palm on his cheek and softly pushed him toward the table, "And yet so driven. I know about your pain. Let me see it."


    Yeza''s hand slid over Khan''s neck and reached his chest. Her fingers started to spread the opening in his robe to reveal his scar, but his hand suddenly grabbed her wrist to stop her.


    Khan had to activate the mental barrier to resist Yeza. His body felt out of control, but he couldn''t let her ruin his happiness. The cold and cynical mindset created by his technique made him ept that he might have to reveal his rtionship with Liiza, but he kept that as hisst option.


    "I''m sorry, Ambassador Yeza," Khan said in the politest voice he could muster. "I have someone."


    "Oh!" Yeza eximed before an interested smile appeared on her face. "It has been so long since someone tried to resist me. I only wanted to tease you, but you have earned my full interest now."


    Yeza''s hand moved quickly. It reached the edges of Khan''s robe and uncovered his chest. He was still holding her wrist, but the entirety of his physical strength was unable to stop her.


    Yeza revealed another surprised expression when she saw the state of Khan''s chest and side. The azure scar immediately unfolded in her vision, but the various marks that filled the rest of his torso made her smile broaden. She noticed hickeys and faint scratches, and she could immediately recognize their source.


    "You have a wild one," Yeza chuckled.


    "She was worried about today," Khan exined.


    Liiza couldn''t announce her rtionship to the world, and leaving signs on Khan''s neck was never ideal. The meeting also worried her deeply, so she had ended up being quite rough the previous night. Not even half a day had passed since that intercourse, so Khan still carried her marks.


    "Did the other students tell you something?" Yeza asked in a curious tone. "Maybe this is the job of a Niqols."


    Yeza ced her warm hand on Khan''s chest while speaking. She noticed how he didn''t react at all at that touch, so she made her temperature drop to Niqols'' levels. Khan couldn''t stop his eyes from flickering when he sensed the contact he had grown used to feel.


    "It is a Niqols!" Yeza giggled before cing even her other cold hand on his chest and uncovering the rest of his torso. "You are remarkable."


    The cold sensations spreading from his chest made his mental walls crumble. Khan saw himself falling prey to Yeza''s influence again. His grip on her wrist opened as he abandoned himself to those irresistible sensations.


    "That''s a good boy," Yeza whispered with her sensual voice while caressing his azure scar.


    Her hands slowly returned to Khan''s face. Yeza bit her lower lip before starting to bend toward him. Her captivating figure was about to descend on him, but he could only think of how Liiza made the same gesture when she felt excited.


    Yeza had been honest before. She didn''t n to do anything other than teasing Khan. However, his ability to refuse her and his determination in protecting his rtionship had aroused her interest.


    Khan saw Yeza''s lips drawing near. His body wanted to dive on her, but his mind still worked properly. He could understand what was happening, and all his thoughts ended up converging toward Liiza.


    A simple kiss would be enough to end the reason behind his happiness. Lying about it wouldn''t help either since Liiza would hate Khan even more for that. Yeza was a sensitive topic for Liiza, and she would never forgive him for cheating, even when he couldn''t control his actions. Her memories of her ruined family would never allow her to justify Khan even if her rational mind understood that he was innocent.


    Khan felt able to activate the mental barrier again, but that technique wouldst for less than a second with all that tempting coldness spreading from his face. He needed slightly more to escape from that situation, but he had no idea how to stretch that time.


    Leather that Khan wasn''t used to touching ended up in his left hand while he struggled to raise his arms. He had started to carry the null-grade bunt knife everywhere he went in thest period since flying back to the academy when he was in the marsh took too long.


    Khan didn''t need to think. He didn''t even need to consider the nature of his actions. He wanted to protect his happiness at all costs. His pain didn''t matter.


    Yeza closed her eyes when she was about to kiss Khan, but he disappeared before their lips could touch. She frowned while turning toward the other side of the room. Her senses had never lost track of him, but she remained surprised and confused anyway.


    Khan had his back on the wall. Sweat fell everywhere from his skin as he breathed roughly. Still, his most striking feature was the long knife stabbed on his left thigh. The blood that came out of his injury quickly tainted his white robe and created an expanding red spot.

 Chapter 166 - Mother

    A single instant with the mental barrier wouldn''t have given enough time to perform one of the Lightning-demon style''s sprints, but pain could stretch that window.


    Khan only needed a few seconds of rity and freedom from Yeza''s influence to run away from her kiss, but the same went for a proper technique with his knife. In theory, the instant provided by the mental barrier wasn''t enough to draw his weapon and stab his leg.


    Yeza inspected Khan from under her frown. Her sensitivity to mana wasn''t something that weak soldiers could understand. She was strong, strong enough to sense the slightest change in that energy even when it happened outside of her body.


    Her eyes went on the expanding red patch before moving on the side of Khan''s waist. The functional and neat leather sheath had turned into torn pieces of fabric that hung from the robe''s belt.


    Khan had never drawn the knife. Yeza had sensed a vague sharp feeling when he had touched the weapon''s handle. The boy had stabbed his leg after piercing his sheath, and he had done that without showing any hesitation.


    His current expression didn''t carry any regret either. Yeza could see how Khan only cared about not cheating on his partner. His determination was unwavering. He treated the matter as if his life depended on it.


    "Am I so disgusting in your eyes?" Yeza said in a tone that hinted at the arrival of tears.


    Khan felt his heart plummeting. Everything inside him desired to reassure Yeza and prevent her sadness. However, he promptly twisted the knife stabbed in his leg to wash his body clean with another wave of pain.


    rity filled his mind. Yeza''s first instinct in front of that dramatic scene had been to see how far Khan''s determination stretched, and his reaction left her quite stunned.


    "Do you n on cutting off your leg to resist me?" Yeza asked as her expression gained a tinge of curiosity.


    "I hope it doesn''te to that," Khan replied in a cold voice.


    "It was just a kiss," Yeza scoffed while turning to refill her cup. "You can even lie about today. No one would know about it."


    "I would know," Khan responded as his cold expression broke and his eyes fell to the ground.


    Khan tried to imagine what it would be to remain with Liiza without theirplete honesty. His mind immediately rejected the idea of tainting that pure feeling. Khan felt like he would deserve such a sad world if he couldn''t preserve what was bringing so much happiness to his life.


    Yeza didn''t miss the slight changes in his expression. She was the best at what she did. Khan''s mind was like an open book in her eyes, so she could directly read the emotions that he experienced.


    Of course, Yeza could only guess what caused them. Yet, she had learnt to link the dots of a character together and understand personalities in ways that others couldn''t, and Khan appeared deeply broken.


    "That doesn''t seem like love," Yeza announced after taking a sip from her cup.


    Khan''s eyes flickered, and a frown appeared on his face as he raised his gaze toward the Niqols. His grasp on his knife tightened as he prepared for eventual attempts to affect his mind, but Yeza had no intention to continue in her teasing.


    "Maybe you are feeling something so intense only because it mends your mind," Yeza continued. "That''s not love. That''s a toxic addiction."


    Khan didn''t doubt his feelings for even an instant. He would have considered Yeza''s words if his rtionship with Liiza had happened differently, but their attraction had started right away.


    His mana might have seen Liiza as a cure for his mind, but that wouldn''t exin how she felt the same deep emotions unless she was also deeply broken. Liiza''s mindset wasn''t exactly ideal, but she wasn''t like Khan. Moreover, even if she were, Khan would see that as the reason why theypleted each other so easily.


    "It might be toxic for humans," Khan revealed honestly, "But isn''t that what Niqols strive to have?"


    Yeza remained speechless for the first time during that conversation. Even Khan''s determination in hurting himself to avoid betraying his girlfriend didn''t manage to silence her. It had taken him that remark to make her understand that she had analyzed the situation from the wrong perspective.


    Yeza had learnt how humans thought, and she applied that mindset during political events. ording to her experience, even those who ended up dating Niqols still preserved the values of their different species. Still, the situation was different with Khan, and she quickly realized how her initial judgment had been off.


    Khan''s eyes widened when Yeza started tough. He had seen her giggling multiple times already, and her gestures weren''t any different now. The Niqols was covering her mouth to hide her smile, but she wasn''t trying to be cute or tempt Khan. Her voice carried a faint sadness.


    "You remind me of my ex-husband," Yezaughed. "Well, who he was when we first decided to marry."


    Liiza had told Khan about her father, Deni. The topic was quite important for her since her parents'' separation had been what had eventually led to her outcast status. Still, Khan felt that something was off when he saw Yeza talking about him.


    "Were you married?" Khan lied as honest curiosity filled his voice.


    "Years ago," Yeza sighed as her gaze fell on her cup. "I know I''m not an easy woman, even for Niqols'' standards. Yet, I really believed that his love would have kept us together."


    "What happened?" Khan questioned.


    "The same that happens in every rtionship," Yeza voiced a bitter chuckle. "Small things be big things. Promises turn into curses throughout the years. One day you are able to ept who you have married. The other you ask her to change."


    Yeza heaved a helpless sigh before chuckling when recalling that Khan was in the same room with her. "And you be so bitter that you end up revealing this stuff to a kid. Maybe I''m getting too old for this."


    Khan felt slightly confused. Liiza''s version of the story covered other topics and mainly focused on Deni''s pain. It never considered Yeza''s perspective, and Khan didn''t find it hard to me her for the crack in her family. Even humans had cheaters in the end.


    However, it was clear that there was more to the matter, which wasn''t entirely surprising. Liiza had been nothing more than a kid when her parents separated, and she had even been closer to her father back then. She could have easily misunderstood and failed to see something crucial.


    Khan didn''t know what to do with what he had just learnt, but Yeza didn''t keep their conversation on that topic any longer. She used both hands to raise her hair and show the entirety of her face before questioning him. "Do you think I''m getting old?"


    Yeza''s revealing gown showed even more of her bare torso in that position. The Niqols also slightly turned to make sure that Khan could get a good look at how her sensual curves mixed with her slim and wless waist. She was a piece of art without wrinkles or spots.


    "You are stunning," Khan honestly evaluated.


    "I know, right?" Yeza scoffed before letting her hair fall and revealing a teasing smile. "And yet you still refused me."


    Khan tightened his grip on the knife''s handle but still decided to give a polite answer. "I''m sorry."


    "Don''t be," Yeza stated as her smile started to radiate a faint affection. "Never be sorry for what feelings make you do. That''s the Niqols way, and you must learn it if you want to make your girl happy."


    "I never said that she was a Niqols," Khan quickly corrected, but Yeza shot a nce at him that clearly stated how little she believed in his words.


    "Don''t make promises that you can''t keep," Yeza lectured while approaching the other side of the room, "Don''t let your feelings for her change, and don''t try to suppress her. Seed, and you''ll have a rtionship that humans can only dream."


    "Yes, ma''am!" Khan promised in a serious tone.


    "And don''t you dare to use that ma''am with me ever again," Yeza scolded. "It only makes me feel old."


    Khan couldn''t help but chuckle at that reaction. He nodded honestly as he took her lecture to heart. Yeza had no idea that he would apply those teaching to her daughter, but she didn''t need to know that.


    Yeza noticed the sharp change in Khan''s expression. She had tried to make him cheat on his girlfriend just a few minutes ago, but he could still appear grateful about her teachings. She felt almost moved by the intensity of hismitment toward his rtionship.


    "You might be the kind of man that I always wanted for my daughter," Yeza eximed. "I thought that the Ilman kid would be perfect since he basically worships her, but you saw how easily jealousy twists love."


    Khan suddenly recalled how Yeza probably was aware of everything that had happened in the academy. She even knew that Liiza had brought Khan to get his Aduns since she had called Captain Erbair on that same day.


    "Liiza seems to lower her guard with you," Yeza continued. "Maybe she has also sensed some resemnces with her father. Do me a favor and keep an eye on her, okay? She doesn''t trust Niqols anymore, so a human might help her get back into the world."


    Khan limited himself to nod slowly. Everything he had ever learnt about lies fused to allow him to maintain the perfect poker face in front of the queen of pretenses.


    Yeza revealed a satisfied smile at that gesture, but her eyes fell on his leg when she stopped in front of the room''s exit. The patch of blood had almost reached Khan''s ankle.


    "Do you n on taking that off at some point?" Yeza asked.


    "Depends," Khan firmly responded.


    "I won''t tease you anymore. I promise," Yeza chuckled while covering her mouth. "I would feel bad about breaking your determination after seeing how deeply you care about your partner."


    Khan inspected Yeza''s face for a few seconds before slowly retracting his knife. More blood poured out of his injury, and the red patch soon threatened to reach his shoes. Khan didn''t exactly know how deep the wound would have been after manipting his mana to be sharp, but it seemed that he needed to meditate and patch himself up.


    "Stay still," Yeza said as she stretched her hand toward Khan.


    Khan instinctively bent backward, and a membrane of sharp mana even covered his knife. He was ready to stab himself again to resist Yeza''s powers, but he didn''t feel anything off for now.


    "I''m just trying to heal you," Yeza giggled.


    Khan inspected Yeza for a few seconds again, but he eventually dropped his guard. The mana around his knife dispersed, and a new mark appeared on its edges. The weapon would probably break soon if his maniption ability didn''t improve, but that was precisely what he intended to do.


    Yeza ced her hand on top of Khan''s head. She was cold, but that sensation brought some coziness when she sent mana inside his body. She didn''t use the [Harmony Technique]. Her control over mana granted her ess to a superior ability that used her energy to copy Khan''s features and find every damage before fixing everything.


    Khan felt the paining out of his legs disappearing as the injury closed, but the positive effects of that technique didn''t stop there. His tiredness also vanished while a sense of liveliness filled his mind. Only the marks and hickeys on his torso remained untouched.


    "I left them on purpose," Yeza exined in a teasing voice. "I believe you want to keep her marks, right?"


    Khan nodded a few times before staring at Yeza showing an approving smile and reaching the room''s exit. He felt slightly strange in that situation. The Niqols had stopped acting as a temptress, but her new behavior was something that Khan didn''t know too well. Yeza vaguely felt like a mother.


    "Aren''t youing?" Yeza asked while stepping out of the room, and Khan quickly snapped back to reality.


    ****


    Author''s notes: 3-4 hours for the second chapter.


    I would also like to address an issue. I know many of you want to read both chapters at the same time and are willing to wait more hours for that. Yet, others don''t mind, so dying the first chapter would only hurt them.


    In the end, I can''t satisfy everyone, unless I fix my cursed sleeping schedule of course. I promise I''m doing my best there, but I just keep failing. I can only ask you to bear with me. I would understand if you couldn''t.

 Chapter 167 - Sorry

    "[Get him new clothes]," Yeza ordered as soon as she found one of the servants. "[We are going to the basement]."


    Yeza was leading Khan across the pce. He had covered his chest, and the Niqols had healed his injuries, but his robe still had that ominous red patch. It wasn''t ideal for an envoy toe out of a political meeting with bloodied clothes.


    Khan hid how well he had learnt to understand the Niqols''nguage in thest period. He had been on Nitis for a little less than two months, so his knowledge was far from perfect. Still, his deep immersion in the aliens'' social environment had allowed him to get better quickly, especially when it came to simple phrases.


    Khan wanted to preserve some advantages, even if they were slight. A minor slip-up on the Niqols'' side might allow him to gain important information or connect events that he thought to be unrted. Of course, that was a general mindset. He didn''t reveal his above-average knowledge of the aliennguage to Yeza only because of her connection to Liiza.


    Khan didn''t know how to interact with Yeza. He felt to have taken a glimpse at her true face during their previous conversation, but that didn''t exactly bring his rtionship with her to a friendly state.


    Yeza remained the ambassador in charge of managing the humans even if she had shown her motherly side before. Khan felt that she liked him, but she still was the woman who had cheated on her husband for the greater good of her species. He believed that she wouldn''t hesitate to forsake her feelings to make use of his position inside the Global Army.


    On the other hand, Yeza was his girlfriend''s mother. Khan wanted to know her better, especially after learning that Liiza might have misunderstood part of the events involving her family.


    The strangeness and awkwardness of the situation made Khan remain utterly silent as Yeza led him across the staircases and toward the first floor of the pce. He didn''t even ask her where they were going.


    Yeza ended up opening a secret passage behind one of the silk-like artworks hung on the walls of the first floor. She could unlock hidden menus when she ced her palm on the dark and smooth material that made the pce, and one of them granted the two ess to a descending path.


    A servant reached Yeza and Khan before they could step into the path. The Niqols kept a folded and clean robe on his raised palms as he waited for more orders.


    "Change," Yeza ordered as she tinkered with other menus to adjust the illumination and temperature in the passage. "Don''t let the dirty clothes touch the carpet."


    Yeza basically stated that Khan had to change there, but he didn''t mind. She wasn''t paying attention to him, and the servant was wearing a nk expression that almost made him look like a puppet. Also, Khan had lost his sense of decorum after his life in the Slums. Ending up in his pants in the middle of an almost empty room wasn''t an issue.


    Khan felt surprised to discover that the new robe was warm. The Niqols had actually heated it before bringing it to the first floor, and Khan couldn''t help but express his gratitude in the aliennguage.


    The servant didn''t react to those words. He limited himself to grab the dirty robe and turn to leave. The emotionless interaction made Khan wonder whether he had done something wrong, but Yeza didn''t miss that interaction, and she didn''t fail to address his doubts.


    "Some Niqols still don''t ept our new ways," Yeza exined while showing aplicated smile to Khan. "Those attached to the old ways often work in simr buildings. This art tells our history."


    Yeza caressed the artwork hanging at her side, but Khan felt the need toment. "Isn''t it dangerous to have xenophobic Niqols living with the ambassador in charge of the rtionship with the humans?"


    "Oh, no, they are professionals," Yeza responded. "They wouldn''t let their beliefs ruin their work. Zura is simply jealous because I don''t open my legs for him."


    Khan fell silent and decided not to ask more questions for the time being. It felt too awkward to learn about Yeza''s sexual life as her daughter''s boyfriend.


    Yeza led Khan through the descending path. Her previous tinkering with the menus had filled the area with a dim azure glow that revealed its details. The secret passage didn''t feature any carpet or artwork, and the hall that unfolded after reaching its end resembled arger version of the training camp''s prisons.


    Cells with bars made of ck metal with multiple red spots filled both sides of the hall. Chains built with the same materials upied their insides, but Khan didn''t fail to see how everything appeared quite dusty. It seemed that no one had been inside the prisons for a long time. A dark moss had even started to grow in the corners of the room and some humid spots.


    Yeza didn''t stop there, and Khan made sure to follow along. She crossed the whole hall and opened another descending passage after reaching the opposite wall. The new path appeared almost identical to the first. The only difference was that the room at its end carried different cells.


    The same ss-like material that made the pce''s windows divided the hall in half and separated the other side into multiple smaller cells. Moreover, azure symbols shone on those dark surfaces to control the environment inside each cubicle.


    The symbols'' shades gave Khan the idea that the Niqols had created thatyer of the prison after meeting the humans. The clear contrast with the red spots on the metal bars on the superior floor gave birth to two very different pictures in his mind. He almost felt able to see the old and modern versions of the alien species in those differences.


    "It won''t be a good sight, especially for you," Yeza announced.


    "It''s fine," Khan responded.


    Yeza nced at Khan while showing a slightly sad expression. She didn''t know too much about him. The Global Army had to send general descriptions about all the humans arriving on Nitis, and Khan''s report had a few more lines due to the issue with the Aduns and his many feats. Yet, she still ignored how much he had to suffer to gain that resolve and detachment at such a young age.


    Khan appeared more mature than most Niqols, even if the aliens had to join hunts fairly early on. That felt a bit too much, but Yeza could only ignore her feelings since she had political duties to attend to.


    "Mistrust between our species still exists," Yeza exined as she approached one of the cells. "That''s natural due to our respective goals, so I can''tpletely trust your superiors. I don''t trust you either, but maybe I can appeal to yourpassion and sorrow. I only need you to focus on your feelings for the girl from my species before giving your answer."


    Yeza covered two fingers with mana before touching the azure symbol on the dark ss and changing some of its lines. The material quickly became transparent, and Khan''s expression turned cold as soon as he recognized the creature contained inside the cubicle.


    Monstrous growls that Khan had heard in the vige reached his ears as Yeza continued to move the lines of the symbol. She was lifting the restrictions of the cell. Herst movement even allowed the creature to see what stood outside of the cell.


    The growls intensified at that point. The mutated Niqols inside the cell was short, barely one meter and twenty centimeters tall. It stood two monstrous legs. One of them was hairy and ended in a hoof, while the other was smooth and had a slimy liquid above it.


    Its torso had lost every humanoid feature. Bumps covered in scales, chunks of hairing out of open patches of skin that leaked blood, and what seemed to be a three-fingered hand grew from that part.


    Khan felt lucky that feathers covered the creature''s head. A horn seemed to grow from the center of its forehead, but it wasn''t long enough to show its entire shape. Other strange features covered the monster arms, but Khan moved his cold gaze on Yeza at that point.


    "Did you show me the ugliest mutated Niqols on purpose?" Khan asked in a cold tone.


    Mutations usually led to death when they were so unstable, but the creature in the cell had managed to remain alive even if it had developed body parts that could often create conflicts in a single body. The chances of something like that happening were almost non-existent, so Khan guessed that Yeza''s choice had been part of a n.


    Yeza was perfect in her pretense. She didn''t show any reaction until her mouth twisted in an emotionless smile and she decided to admit everything. "I had to cause an intense emotional reaction. You have probably found Niqols in the same condition during your mission."


    It felt strange to see Yeza show such an aloof face. She always relied on evident emotions to affect the behavior of those around her. Her current expression appeared entirely out of character.


    "Why?" Khan asked.


    "Because of your scar," Yeza exined. "You probably know a bit about problems caused by mana. I''ve asked your superiors if they could turn these Niqols back to their original form, but they wanted something in exchange for that information."


    "Are you asking me to betray the army?" Khan asked as his eyes returned to the cell.


    "I''m asking you to show mercy," Yeza corrected.


    Khan had to muster the entirety of his mental strength not to answer that question right away. Yeza had picked correctly. Khan knew enough about mana infections to have a real answer to her question. He also had a weak spot for the Niqols, even if she ignored how deep his reasons for that were.


    Making the other recruits decide to reveal something would have been easier for Yeza due to her many talents, but she wasn''t sure about their knowledge. The same applied to Khan, but she could at least guess that he knew a bit more about the field.


    "What do I get if I help you?" Khan asked coldly.


    "Do you like Nitis?" Yeza questioned.


    "Very much," Khan revealed.


    "I can give you political relevance as long as you remain here," Yeza promised. "I can turn you into the bridge between our species after the crisis. It will take a few years, but you would gain enough merits to climb the ranks of your army or establish yourself here. The choice would be yours."


    Those were words that Khan had dreamt to hear ever since acknowledging everything that could have hindered his rtionship. Yet, he didn''t let his hopes get to his head. Yeza could take back those promises whenever she wanted, so he wanted something else for the time being.


    "I also want to know more about the Niqols'' ways," Khan demanded, "Especially when ites to everything that you can do with mana."


    "The academy will eventually teach you that if you be good enough in manipting mana," Yeza stated.


    "I''m talking about the old ways," Khan exined.


    "Why would you even want to learn methods that we have abandoned?" Yeza asked while turning to show her confusion to Khan.


    Khan couldn''t reveal anything about his meeting with Zalpa. Truth be told, her methods had left him quite surprised, especially when she had uncovered the hidden parts of his nightmare. The old ways seemed to have a profound understanding of mana, and Khan wanted the chance to study them.


    Moreover, Zalpa knew about the problems that daylight could cause. The knowledge hidden in the old ways seemed to go past what the Niqols held now, and Khan wasn''t scared to pay the price for that power.


    "I want to fuse our methods while keeping the human ways as the core," Khan voiced a partial lie.


    The Niqols were fusing the methods of the two species, but they still founded what they developed on the three fields connected to mana. It made sense for Khan to desire to do the opposite.


    "Sure," Yeza quickly agreed. "I''ll send you a list through a secret channel. Pick a field, and I''ll give you what we have."


    The knowledge of the old ways was useless in the hands of a single recruit. Khan wouldn''t even be able to reveal it to his organization without arousing suspicion, so Yeza felt safe sharing it. She would also keep the truly important aspects of those fields for her, and Khan wouldn''t be able to do anything about it.


    The silence that followed their arrival to an agreement felt heavy, but Yeza respected it. Betraying your species wasn''t something easy, but Khans'' exnation arrived sooner than she expected anyway.


    "Even our best technology can''t turn them back," Khan revealed. "They have remained in this mutated state for too long. I''m sorry."


    ****


    Author''s notes: Just to give you the heads-up, the new cover should arrive soon. I''ve already shown the sketch that the artist has sent to the others on my discord. The n to have a cover for each volume seems sound, so remember that you can always find the old ones on my Instagram and discord.

 Chapter 168 - Paranoia

    The meeting was only an excuse to give Ambassador Yeza the chance to question Khan about the mutated Niqols. The other young aliens mostly exchanged superficial talks or probed each other''s view of the rtionship between the two species.


    Creating a psychological profile of the recruits that the Global Army had decided to send to [The Pure Trees] could only help the Niqols since those humans would probably continue to upy important political positions. The young aliens took note of how they reacted to various stimuli, be it teases, drinks, sudden questions, or statements that put some pressure on them.


    Only Liiza struggled to make it hard for Veronica and understand how the girl''s mind worked. Liiza was too anxious about Khan remaining alone with her mother, and having one of his suitors in front of her didn''t help.


    Luckily for Liiza, Veronica''s personality was warm, polite, and weing toward every odd reaction that she could have. Liiza even ended up in a daze at times when she immersed herself in her fears and paranoia. Her mother could make men fall to their knees with a single smile, but she had to wait for the event to end to understand if her boyfriend had managed to resist her.


    "Is everything okay, Miss Liza?" Veronica politely asked when she saw that Liiza had remained immersed in her thoughts for more than two minutes.


    The girls were in an ample room adorned with a thick dark-red carpet, artworks hanging from the walls, and arge window that showed the dazzling snowy environment outside the pce. Comfortable armchairs and couches upied the center of the area and encircled a small table that had a few bottles and cups at its center.


    Veronica and Liiza sat on armchairs on opposite sides of the small table, and thetter had limited herself to fill two cups before taking anxious sips. She would ask preset questions whenever Veronica reminded her of her situation, but she never truly listened to her answers.


    The situation worsened until Liiza remained silent for more than two minutes after Veronica''sst answer. Thetter had managed to wait calmly, but the faint fear that she might have done something wrong eventually appeared in her mind due to the Niqolsplete and constantck of attention.


    "What do you think about the Niqols'' customs?" Liiza quoted one of the preset questions that she had memorized earlier when Veronica brought her back to reality. "I believe it must be hard to adapt to our different ideas of decorum."


    "I think about it as a priceless experience!" Veronica eximed while wearing a brilliant smile. "I think we should learn from each other while we have this lucky chance together. It doesn''t happen every day meet a species which has evolv-."


    Veronica halted her answer when she noticed that Liiza had stopped listening to her again. Thetter kept her mouth on the cup''s edges as she gazed at the room''s exit. Her glowing eyes even moved left and right as her paranoia fueled her worry.


    Veronica had long since learnt about Liiza''s situation. A single conversation with Azni had been enough to make her aware of all the gossips inside the academy. Of course, Veronica had also heard about the rumored secret boyfriend that had made Liiza arrive at the party after the sr wind with pale cheeks.


    In theory, the Global Army''s orders saw the envoys expressing the utmost respect toward the Niqols, especially those with some political involvement or connection. However, Veronica had learnt how the aliens thought and behaved in thest month, which gave her enough courage to be more open. Her current approach wasn''t going anywhere anyway.


    "Are you worried about your man?" Veronica suddenly asked.


    "Did you find the schedule in the academy we-," Liiza voiced as she snapped back to reality, but another question came out of her mouth when she understood what Veronica had said. "What man?"


    "Everyone in the academy says that you have found someone," Veronica giggled before diverting her gaze and lowering her voice. "Is it the part of the sexual gratification true?"


    "What?!" Liiza instinctively eximed before covering her mouth to remind herself about herposure.


    "Sorry!" Veronica quickly added. "I know. It''s too personal. I was just curious since I also have someone I like, but it''s hard topete when everyone is so pushy with him."


    A wave of jealousy filled Liiza''s mind and washed away the tipsiness that her anxious drinking had created. She knew who Veronica liked, and she was also aware of the pushy attention that he was receiving.


    "Mypanions are so hard to approach about that topic," Veronica continued, "And the Niqols tell me to jump on him before the others. How does one even jump on someone?"


    "You shouldn''t listen to everything they say," Liiza stated from behind her cup to hide the jealousy that filled her face. "It''s pointless to change who you are just to get a man."


    "That''s what I think too!" Veronica eximed. "Still, this man is so hard to approach. He is always there when you truly need him, but he is impossible to find otherwise. I can''t really say anything to him after everything he had to ovee, so I''m lost. You looked like the only Niqols who could have a different view."


    Countless ns on how to make Veronica give up on Khan mixed with her jealousy and filled her thoughts. Yet, Liiza wasn''t nearly as good as her boyfriend when it came to pretenses and lies. She feared that her words or behavior could reveal something if she became too involved in the conversation.


    "Why do you like him?" Liiza asked after deciding to let Veronica focus on her own feelings.


    "I don''t really know," Veronica revealed while wearing a genuine smile and fixing her eyes on her cup. "He probably lies a lot, and he definitely has secrets, but he is also incredibly reliable, strong, and driven. Also, I know his heart is in the right ce even if everything he has experienced would give him a free pass on being an insensitive idiot."


    Liiza fixed her glowing eyes on Veronica while continuing to hide her face behind the cup. She could see the girl''s affection in her expressions, but she couldn''t feel jealous about that when her wordsplimented her boyfriend so openly. Liiza actually felt a bit proud to be with Khan.


    "He seems the kind of guy who would give up on the world for those important to him," Veronica said as her smile became slightly yful. "I don''t think that''s exactly a good thing, but I feel warm when I imagine myself as one of his important people."


    Liiza had to drink to suppress her blush. Veronica had made her think about all the sacrifices that Khan had made for her. She also recalled the hesitant and twisted words that he had voiced during their intimate moments. Khan''s mind could reach dark ces, but it felt too good to be at the center of his bright thoughts.


    "Is everything okay?" Veronica repeated when she saw that Liiza had fallen silent again.


    "I''m sorry," Liiza responded quickly, showing that she didn''t forget about her surroundings at that time. "I-, I have someone but don''t say anything to the others. Let it remain a rumor."


    "Of course!" Veronica promised as her eyes lit up. "How is he? You are so beautiful, so he must be handsome. Are you keeping him a secret because of Ilman? Is it because of your mother?"


    Veronica had lowered her voice during herst line, but she didn''t hide how curious she felt about Liiza''s situation. Everyone believed that her man belonged to tribes that could cause troubles for her mother, and the Niqols had quickly grown excited at the idea of a forbidden rtionship.


    "I won''t say anything," Liiza announced as her voice gained sweet tinges. "He is just the best."


    Liiza found it strange to have that type of conversation since her unique situation had forced her to give up on friendships and simr rtionships. She had never gotten the chance to talk with another girl so openly, and even Azni couldn''t fill that role since her schedule often conflicted with Khan''s free time.


    "Tell me more about it!" Veronica begged.


    "My lips are sealed," Liiza giggled before bending forward and pointing at Veronica''s cup. "Why don''t you tell me more about your hesitation about jumping on your guy?"


    "I need another drink for that," Veronica stated before hiding herugh behind her hand.


    "Don''t worry," Liiza assured. "This pce is built on drinks."


    .


    .


    .


    The meetingssted only a few hours, and each group gathered in the hall on the first floor afterward. They moved back to the pce''s entrance, and inspections happened among all of them to understand how that event had gone.


    Brandon and Kelly had been with two Niqols who often exchanged words with them. However, everyone could see how a wall existed between them and prevented the arrival of honestughs or casual conversations. They had done nothing but voicing political ideas and hopes connected to the rtionship between their species during their meeting.


    Gabri, Rodney, and George were in a group with three Niqols, but only the two boys seemed to have dropped the manners required by that political event. They often joked with their escorts, hinting at how sessful their meeting had been.


    Helen''s situation was quite surprising. She had been alone with a tall Niqols who radiated nobility with all his gestures and expressions. His manners were calm but firm, and Helen couldn''t help but respond with faint flirts and attractive smiles that made her appear as Yeza''s younger and inexperienced version.


    The surprising aspect of the two was that the Niqols appeared attracted by those gestures, and Helen didn''t hide from his attentions either. They were basically flirting in the open by the time they reached theirpanions.


    Liiza and Veronica''s situation was quite peculiar since both girls had ended up drinking a lot after their topics had digressed to more intimate matters. They had never revealed anything specific, but it was clear that their conversations didn''t involve the rtionship between their species. Their unstable steps also proved how they had limited themselves to have fun.


    Nevertheless, Khan and Ambassador Yeza created the most surprising scene as they regrouped with everyone in the hall. The two appeared to be at ease during their conversation. They were talking about something superficial which seemed to involve the Lysixi seen in the tunnel, but a few details in that scene left the other humans and Niqols speechless.


    Everyone noticed how Khan was wearing a different robe. Yeza''s fame was far from a simple rumor, so the others immediately connected it to the scene. The Niqols felt amazed that Khan had actually managed to make Yeza get under his clothes, while the humans experienced different reactions, which went from envy to pure astonishment.


    Liiza and Veronica almost froze at that scene, and no one noticed their peculiar reaction because everyone was busy staring at Khan and Yeza. The two didn''t even see that they had worn the same face since they were too busy inspecting Khan''s new robe. They couldn''t ignore what that detail meant, but the boy didn''t hesitate to make their confusion intensify.


    Khan had noticed how Veronica and Liiza were having fun, and the sight of his girlfriend''s honest smiles made him truly happy. He knew that Liiza had trouble making friends due to her past, so seeing her so rxed brought him joy.


    Khan revealed an honest smile when he looked at the two girls, which made them divert their gazes in confusion and awkwardness. Veronica ended up blushing even, but Liiza regained herposure. She knew that the gesture was for her, so she started to doubt whether Khan had cheated on her.


    Yeza''s rxed approach to the conversation also stunned the group inspecting the scene. Herughs, smiles, and light touches on Khan''s shoulder remained captivating, but she didn''t seem to do them on purpose. They resembled a consequence of her habits, but she didn''t back them with the intention of making Khan fall for her.


    The confusion and astonishment couldn''tst long since Professor Supyan waited for everyone at the end of the corridor and forced humans and Niqols to separate. The two groups exchanged the usual polite bows and smiles before splitting to return to their duties.


    Liiza remained still for a few seconds in front of the slidingyers of the pce and its closing doors. She was tipsy, and her confusion didn''t help her situation. Yet, a strange urge spread inside her as her fears intensified. She felt the need to confront her mother about her meeting.


    The Niqols and Yeza had grown used to Liiza''s behavior by then. They knew that she would leave in a matter of minutes, so they didn''t even bother to talk with her as they resumed their tasks inside the pce.


    Liiza could wait a few minutes and climb the familiar staircases to reach a dark room that featured one of thergest windows in the pce, a big bed, and a vast wardrobe that covered an entire wall. Her mother was there, browsing through the various clothes to pick something morefortable now that the meeting had ended.


    "[It''s rare for you to visit me]," Yeza said as she recognized Liiza''s unique aura. "[You usually are already flying away by now]."


    Yeza didn''t stop browsing among her clothes, and Liiza made sure to close the door behind her as she reviewed the questions prepared during her walk there. She couldn''t just ask about Khan, but her unique position gave her ess to things that other Niqols might ignore.


    "[Did the human know a way to revert the mutated Niqols?" Liiza asked.


    "[No]," Yeza sighed. "[Apparently, reverting that state would require new mutations, and that would only affect their bodies. Their minds are long gone]."


    "[Understood]," Liiza announced while pretending to leave.


    Her n relied on everything she knew about her mother''s personality. Liiza had used the word human on purpose to bait out Yeza''s reprimands, and she fell for that trap.


    "[That boy''s name is Khan]," Yeza corrected. "[He is actually an interesting boy. I believe he will be an important figure among the humans, so we should keep him close]."


    "[What makes him interesting]?" Liiza voice while suppressing a smile.


    "[His resolve is off the charts]," Yeza scoffed while peeking out of the wardrobe and showing her surprised expression to Liiza. "[He didn''t only refuse me because of his Niqols girlfriend. He even stabbed his own leg to resist me after I insisted. I had to make him change after all the blood that had fallen]."


    Yezaughed, and Liiza reminded herself to shake her head in disgust. That was their usual interaction, and Yeza didn''t address the slight hesitation that her daughter had shown.


    "[He reminded me about your father]," Yeza continued while bringing her gaze back to the wardrobe. "[I wonder if he''ll fail his woman in the same way]."


    "[Dad didn''t fail you]," Liiza snorted before opening the door in a hurry. "[You just can''t expect love if you sleep with other men]."


    "[That''s what I used to think before Deni]," Yeza sighed again, "[But I ended up being right all along. Love simply isn''t enough at times. You have his same character, so make sure that you can follow through your emotions before making important decisions]."


    A third sigh escaped Yeza''s mouth when she heard the door of her room closing. She knew that Liiza would probably never understand her reasons, but she didn''t care as long as she could prevent her from making the same mistakes.


    ****


    Author''s notes: 3-4 hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 169 - Deal

    The political meeting left the eight recruits satisfied. They had a clear advantage over thepanions who had remained in the training camps, and they had even made sure to expand that gap.


    The Global Army had sent their best eight recruits to the academy, which had created an elite team with a high chance to be a core aspect of the rtionship between the two species in the following years. Their political role wouldn''t only award them with merits. It would also benefit eventual promotions, especially if they involved Nitis'' environment.


    Brandon and Kelly didn''t feel to have fallen behind theirpanions when it came to their merits. They had shownpetence and seriousness during their meeting, which were the exact features they wanted the Niqols to know them for.


    Instead, the others had a more rxed approach since they believed that the Niqols would appreciate humans capable of blending with their culture.


    Helen and Veronica had sort of forgotten about their political purpose for different reasons. However, they had still obtained positive results since they had established decent rtionships with two important figures of the alien species. Liiza would have some relevance in the future due to her mother, and the Niqols who flirted with Helen seemed to belong to a distinguished tribe.


    Still, everyone felt that Khan had been one step ahead of them again. They didn''t initially care that Ambassador Yeza had chosen him for the meeting since the Niqols already saw him as the face of the envoys. However, the scene seen when the groups reunited had left them curious, doubtful, and envious.


    The presence of Professor Supyan on the Lysixi that led them back to the academy didn''t let them question Khan properly, and thetter didn''t give them the chance to talk even after exiting the secret passage. Snow was already waiting for him when everyone stepped on the mountain, and he jumped on it right after performing a bow toward the Niqols.


    That behavior made the recruits even more curious, but running away from questions wasn''t Khan''s intention. That was thest free day of the week, and he wanted to spend the rest of it with his girlfriend, especially since he imagined her anxious state.


    ''Things are finally turning for the better!'' Khan shouted in his mind as Snow elerated through the air.


    Khan could finally see a path in front of him. He didn''t know if Yeza would fulfill her side of the deal, but the fact that she could rely on him to learn details about the Global Army already ensured a future political relevance.


    The decision to sell ssified information for personal benefits made Khan a traitor, and it could easily turn him into a spy. Yet, he didn''t care. He had betrayed the Global Army without the slightest hesitation, and his secret rtionship was only one of the reasons behind that decision. Khan still loathed the soldiers for what they had chosen to make the Niqols and the eight recruits face.


    Paying back part of the injustice suffered during the sr wind felt good, but Khan couldn''t enjoy that feeling thoroughly. He had only shared a minor detail that the humans almost viewed asmon knowledge. His actions might have prevented his species from gaining a few more permissions, but that couldn''tpare to all the deaths and pain that the humans had caused.


    The benefits that gave Khan hope about Liiza and his personal power felt better than that pointless payback. He couldn''t wait to see what the Niqols'' old ways had to offer, and the sole idea of experiencing his rtionship in the open made him ecstatic. He actually had the chance to establish himself on Nitis and gain a position that could give him a future with his girlfriend.


    The mental training for the chaos element was over, but Khan had yet to approach the Wave spell. The program gave an example of proper execution of the ability, but it was unclear whether that would help.


    Mages needed to rely on specific thoughts and emotions to activate their elements and turn them into spells. Yet, the chaos element was different in its requirements.


    The program stated that the emotions couldn''t be part of the casting process due to the innate instability of the chaos element. Moreover, Khan couldn''t rely on studies to follow precise instructions on how to gain ess to that power. The mages had developed lists of thoughts and feelings that helped and triggered specific effects with their elements, but chaos respected no rule. Its approach was highly personal and required Khan to develop his own method.


    Khan felt lost about that part of his training. He nned to imitate the expert in his program for the time being, but the innate instability of the chaos element made him decide to approach everything carefully. Also, he couldn''t try to summon such unstable energy with people around him, so he noted in his mind to test the spell only when he was alone.


    That left Khan with only two choices when it came to how he had to spend the hours flying toward the marsh. He couldn''t use his knife correctly there, so only his meditations and sleep remained.


    Calctions quickly happened in his mind and made him aware that he still had hours of sleep to fill to meet Liiza''s requirements, so hey on Snow''s feathered back and closed his eyes. The usual nightmare didn''t take much to arrive.


    Khan had to go back to the academy before flying toward the marsh, so Liiza took less to arrive there since she didn''t have intermediate destinations. He sensed her presence when the entrance of the cave unfolded in his vision, and a smile appeared on his face when he saw her figure jumping in his direction.


    Liiza flew in Khan''s embrace. She quickly wrapped her arms and legs around his neck and waist as she dug her face on his neck. Khan could only reply by hugging her tightly, and Liiza didn''t hesitate to fill him with kisses.


    "Hey, let''s get inside first," Khanughed as Liiza stormed his neck and side of his head with kisses.


    "[I love you so much]!" Liiza eximed before taking his cheeks in her hands and keeping him still to leave a deep kiss on his lips.


    Khan understood that there was no stopping to Liiza, so he replied to her kisses while entering the cave. He quickly reached the simple bed made of nkets and pillows, and his knees went on the ground before he bent forward to lie Liiza down.


    The girl had never stopped kissing him, and she started to open his robe when her nape touched one of the pillows. Khan didn''t have the time to say anything before he found himself captured in her pushy and captivating passion.


    Khan had never seen Liiza in that state, but he didn''t fail to enjoy the following hours. When everything ended, he found himself staring at the ceiling while wearing a pleased smile. Liiza was resting on his sweaty chest. An evident blush filled her smiling face as she slowly caressed Khan''s side and leftzy kisses on his torso.


    Liiza almost purred whenever Khan caressed her hair. He had never seen her so happy, and the sight was dazzling. Betraying the Global Army feltpletely worth it if it could lead to that.


    Liiza eventually decided to move. She climbed on Khan''s torso andy on his chest. Her hands went in his hair as she left a deep kiss on his lips before raising her head and revealing an affectionate smile.


    "I''ve never been happier," Liiza whispered while moving the hair that had fallen on Khan''s forehead.


    "To think that I only needed to refuse your mother for that," Khan teased while joining his hands on her lower back.


    The two had yet to speak about what had happened during their respective meetings. The previous burst of passion didn''t leave them any time to say much. They had only voiced their feelings multiple times, but everything else had been a loud mess of deep breaths and moans.


    Khan knew Liiza well enough to guess the reason behind her unusual ardor, but he was unaware about everything else. He wasn''t even sure if Liiza had learnt about the mutated Niqols in the basement.


    "Did you really stab your leg to resist her?" Liiza asked happily.


    "How do you even know that?" Khan uttered.


    "I know how to trick my mother," Liiza boasted before moving her gaze on the ground. "I also know that she made you see the basement."


    "[Liiza]," Khan whispered, and Liiza''s eyes immediately went back on him at the sound of the Niqols'' ent.


    The two kissed again, and their lips remained close when Khan responded to Liiza''s previous words. "What''s a woundpared to this? Also, I managed to get a decent deal out of your mother after apanying her to the basement."


    Liiza retracted her head to show her curious expression, and Khan didn''t hesitate to exin everything that had happened with Yeza. Then, it was Liiza''s turn to tell him how she had ended up spending a lovely morning with Veronica.


    .


    .


    .


    Life in the academy continued as usual, except for a change that everyone noticed but no one mentioned. Liiza started attending the parties more often, and Khan could never hold back from joining her in casual and vague interaction. Luckily for the couple, Azni always dragged Doku and other Niqols around them to hide the real reason behind that behavior.


    Someone guessed that Khan liked Liiza. It made sense due to the rumors from his first day on Nitis and the gentle rejections he reserved to the other girls flirting with him. Still, no one believed he had a chance with her since her blush seemed to have be a regr part of her face. The aliens didn''t think that Liiza could mind others when someone was keeping her so happy.


    Of course, Khan and Liiza had nned the timing for their arrivals and departures from the parties perfectly. No one suspected that Khan could be the man behind the blush, and Azni even used her ability with gossips to spread fake rumors that led the other Niqolspletely off track.


    Liiza simply couldn''t hold back from leaving Khan alone among girls flirting with him after the meeting. His ability to refuse her mother had made her surrender to her feelings. She would literally go crazy if she had to wait an entire night alone in the cave without knowing what the other Niqols were throwing at Khan.


    The gathering around her wasn''t ideal since it could still reveal something about Khan, but Liiza solved it by leaving a few marks on his neck from time to time.


    That created the perfect alibi, even if it put Khan in the awkward situation of having to stick to two different lies at the same time. The Niqols believed that his partner was one of the humans, while the recruits were confident that he was hooking up with an alien. It was a mess, but Khan managed to handle it pretty well, especially since he never remained inside the academy longer than necessary.


    The only one who started to guess something was Doku. The boy was an honest friend, extraordinary even. He had all the right cards before him, but he still refused to think about the matter.


    Azni was helping Liiza and Khan openly, and Doku could see that better than anyone else. His girlfriend was lying about gossips to protect them, and Liiza and Khan shared the same wild scent. That could be a coincidence, but ideas inevitably formed in his mind as all those clues piled on.


    A change happened at the beginning of his tenth week on Nitis. Eight days had passed from the meeting, and Khan had just attended hisst lesson. He was about to reach a mountain and summon Snow, but a hooded figure suddenly appeared on his path.


    Khan immediately prepared himself to fight. The figure was like Professor Supyan. It managed to hide its presencepletely and ignore the defenses inside the forest. That alone made Khan consider running away, but his fears dwindled when he saw a dark-blue handing out of the robe''s long sleeve and cing a scroll on the ground.


    The scroll featured one of the azure symbols on its seal, but its light appeared dimmer than the others seen throughout the academy. Still, Khan couldn''t focus too much on that item since he found out that the hooded figure had disappeared during that second of distraction.


    Awe immediately filled his mind, but that feeling didn''t stop him from reaching the scroll. The wax-like seal divided itself as soon as he touched it, and it turned into a lock that he could close by rejoining its two halves.


    Khan inspected his surroundings before unfolding the scroll. His eyes lit up when he read the contents of that item. It resembled an interactive list with many Niqols'' names and brief descriptions in the humannguage. Yeza had finally started to respect her side of the deal.

 Chapter 170 - Discussion

    "We aren''t picking the [Blood Graph]," Khan dered.


    "It''s [Blood Vortex]," Liiza corrected, "And we are definitely picking it."


    Khan had hurried toward the cave in the marsh after the meeting with the hooded Niqols. His knowledge of the aliens'' old ways was basically non-existent, so Liiza walked him through them. She didn''t know too much either, but she could inspect them from a different perspective, and that was already a lot.


    "I''m not picking a method that will hurt you," Khan stated seriously while turning to nce at his girlfriend.


    Khan was sitting between Liiza''s legs. His back was on her chest, and she yed with his hair or left soft kisses on the top of his head whenever he said something that made her emotions burst.


    The two had studied the scroll together, but they had quicklye to the conclusion that all the methods were outside the range of Khan''s abilities. The list described advanced techniques that only Niqols with excellent proficiency in the maniption field could approach, and Khan didn''t evene close to meeting those requirements.


    Moreover, a good level of expertise in the maniption field was only the initial requirement. Most methods had at least one additional material or condition which only Nitis could fulfill. The nts, or wood, or liquids described on the scroll were iconic of the alien.


    Khan hoped to remain on Nitis as long as possible, but he didn''t delude himself. Finding the Nak remained one of his priorities, so he would eventually leave the, and he didn''t want to end up with a method that he couldn''t use. He couldn''t even confirm whether the Global Army could grant him ess to those materials, but he guessed that the prices would be far higher through that channel.


    The list described many interesting methods. They went from an old version of the azure symbols that filled every Niqols'' structure to many branches of the alien alchemy. Yet, they all had steep requirements in terms of maniption of mana, and they even needed many materials, which even Liiza struggled to recognize.


    Only three methods appeared somewhat approachable, even if they would still force Khan to wait until his expertise in the maniption field reached the intended level. They were respectively a defensive ability, a technique that allowed to absorb mana from the environment, and an offensive skill.


    The offensive skill was interesting, but it required many steps. It described how it was possible to replicate an enemy''s unique aura and control its mana. It was actually terrifying to think about the applications of the technique.


    The only problem was how long it could take to gain an exact idea of an enemy''s aura. The method described how Niqols might even require to suffer direct injuries to reach that level of understanding. They could achieve the same results by eating pieces of the opponent, but the technique almost lost its meaning at that point since they could already hurt it.


    Also, the level of control of the opponents'' mana depended on how deeply the Niqols understood it, which could lead to long battles. The method seemed to go against Khan''s fighting method, so he didn''t feel too interested in it.


    Instead, the defensive method was interesting. It required some preparations since the user would need to eat specific materials to gain the ability to clot blood and turn the skin into a shield. The only problem there was that the ingredients usually involved coagted blood that could even belong to monsters or simr creatures. The abuse of the clotting skill could even lead tosting injuries, and the limits changed ording to the body''s resilience.


    In the end, the absorption method, the [Blood Vortex], used tattoo-like marks to attract the mana in the environment. Applying those signs on a body would increase its attunement with mana and could rece human meditations. The only issue was that blood usually was the best ingredient for the ink, and it also required infusions with mana that carried a specific nature.


    Khan had felt stunned during his first read of the list. The old ways were gruesome, barbaric, but powerful. All of them could cause bacshes, but that felt almost normal since they allowed the Niqols to use abilities able to surpass spells in terms of power. Those methods could also ignore the differences among the various elements since they relied on external materials to achieve their effects.


    Liiza didn''t need to think too much about it. She felt that the [Blood Vortex] was perfect for Khan since he could use the monsters'' blood once his maniption ability increased. The other techniques required too many materials ofplicated procedures, and he might need years to start practicing them.


    Khan''s current ability didn''t allow him to use the [Blood Vortex] either, but he wasn''t alone. Liiza''s proficiency in the maniption field was outstanding. She also fell short when it came to the method''s requirements, but she could fill that gap by using her own blood during the procedure. Needless to say, Khan waspletely against that.


    "Your hair is getting long," Liiza whispered while fixing her gaze on each azure strand she found. "I never understood why humans cut it short."


    "I''m not using your blood to get stronger," Khan repeated.


    "You won''t," Liiza stated after leaving a kiss on Khan''s lips. "I will."


    "[Liiza]," Khan scolded while turning to face his girlfriend.


    Khan took Liiza by her sides and lifted her while turningpletely. Liiza ended up on hisp when he put her down, and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. She showed an affectionate smile at his concerned face, and the two inevitably exchanged another deep kiss.


    "Look," Khan while raising the scroll to their side. "I can pick the [Blood Shield] and get your help gathering materials. It feels right to get a defensive ability."


    "You said it correctly," Liiza voiced a sweet smile while squeezing Khan''s head in a hug. "You are getting good at mynguage."


    "I have my reasons to learn," Khan teased while bending forward to lie Liiza on the ground.


    The two started to exchange intense kisses, but Liiza didn''t forget the previous topic, and she didn''t hesitate to remind Khan as soon as their lips separated. "You are still picking the [Blood Vortex]. It''s the only method that can give some results before the daylight."


    Khan heaved an exasperated gasp while lying on her. His head pointed at the dark wall, but Liiza pulled his hair softly and giggled until he turned to face her.


    "[I don''t want to use you]," Khan revealed when their eyes met.


    "[This is me being selfish]," Liiza stated while cing her hand on his cheek. "[I want to sacrifice something for you]."


    Liiza had never stopped smiling since the beginning of that discussion. It was as if she knew that Khan wouldn''t give in unless she showed him how much that mattered for her.


    Khan knew that the [Blood Vortex] was the best option. The fact that Liiza could probably help him right away was too important with the daylight getting close. Even a slight one or two percent increase in his attunement with mana could help during the crisis. It might also turn him into a first-level warrior before everyone else in his year.


    Khan would even be able to use the technique on his own at some point, and blood was everywhere in the universe. The method also affected something that he could easily justify with his talent or mutations. After all, he would have to keep his new ability a secret from the Global Army since it would immediately investigate otherwise.


    "How much blood are we talking about?" Khan eventually gave up in front of Liiza''s loving expression.


    "I have no idea," Liiza revealed in an awkward tone. "It might be a lot."


    "I''m definitely picking something else!" Khan shouted, and Liizaughed happily.


    It took a while, but Liiza slowly made Khan ept that he had no better option. She actually had to exin how resilient Niqols were and had to make him promise to be as amodating as possible after each procedure. Khan would have never epted such a big favor otherwise.


    "Are you sure my mother said that you can pick only one of them?" Liiza asked while reviewing the list. "The [Mana Control] feels too difficult, but the [Blood Shield] doesn''t sound bad. I think I''ve even heard Zalpa mentioning it."


    "She said one field," Khan exined.


    "I think she added these abilities on purpose then," Liiza uttered. "She knew that the various alchemic fields and our runes would have been too hard for you to learn, so she put something more approachable for a human."


    "How nice of her," Khanmented beforeughing when Liiza red at him.


    Khan continued tough as he straightened his position to sit cross-legged. Liiza didn''t hesitate toy her head on hisp while handing him the scroll. The item was interactive, so he only needed to press on one of the names to make his choice.


    "Do you think I can pick two?" Khan asked.


    "Try to press them at the same time," Liiza suggested. "Maybe someone on the other side will notice it and ept to give you both."


    Khan didn''t need exnations on how to interact with the item. He ced the scroll on the ground and gathered mana on his forefingers before pointing them at the names of the absorption and defensive technique.


    "Don''t try to get slow on your right hand," Liiza warned since Khan''s right forefinger was on the [Blood Vortex]bel.


    "I can''t control itpletely," Khan joked. "I''m left-handed."


    Liiza snorted and turned the scroll upside-down while making sure that Khan''s glowing left forefinger pointed at the [Blood Vortex] now. She then left a kiss on his knee before resting on hisp again.


    Khan could onlyugh before lowering his fingers at the same time. The [Blood Vortex] and [Blood Shield]bels lit up together with their descriptions, but nothing happened when he interrupted the contact.


    Khan tried multiple times, but the scroll kept rejecting his choice. He had to reach his twelfth attempt to trigger a reaction on the item.


    The names and descriptions of the two techniques continued to glow even after he removed his fingers. The scroll had epted Khan''s choice, but it surprised him by catching fire on its own.


    Khan''s first instinct was to suppress those blue mes, but Liiza promptly grabbed his wrists to stop him. She also shook her head before exining the nature of that event. "That''s how secret conversations among tribes happen since it''s incredibly hard to delete something once it enters the cubes."


    "I guess we can only wait now," Khan sighed as he watched the scroll burn.


    His hand went on Liiza hair as multiple thoughts filled his mind. Liiza experienced something simr as her eyes remained on the mes. The flickering noises resounding in the silent cave made both of them fall in a daze and reminded them that the daylight would arrive in less than two months.


    ****


    Author''s notes: 3-4 hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 171 - Gains

    Days passed without anything major happening. Khan went by lessons, parties, and enchanting nights with Liiza as his connection with the Niqols'' society deepened.


    An almost imperceptible pressure began to fall on the academy as the arrival of the daylight drew near. The partiessted longer, the professors applied harsher exercises in their lessons, and more couples appeared. Even Doku and Azni spent more time together since they didn''t know how Nitis would be once its long and safe night ended.


    Those changes were gradual. They were even almost impossible to notice for the recruits who had never dived too deeply into the Niqols'' social environment. Still, Khan saw everything clearly due to his three different lives. His almostplete pretense with the humans, his vague lies with the aliens, and his absolute honesty with Liiza gave him three different perspectives that allowed him to analyze every transformation in the world around him.


    Khan felt actually surprised that the Niqols continued to behave so calmly. They were an emotional species, but the news of the impending apocalypse only reaffirmed their determination to keep control of their. They stretched their parties to vent their stress, but they were pretty peaceful otherwise.


    The event that both Khan and Liiza were waiting for eventually arrived. Two weeks had to pass since Khan''s first meeting with the hooded Niqols before seeing it again. The interaction happened in the same circumstances when he had entered the forest to reach one of the mountains and fly toward the marsh.


    Khan couldn''t feel anythinging out of the hooded figure in front of him. It seemed a ck spot in a world otherwise filled with mana. His senses could still notice its arrival and departure if he paid enough attention, but it was easy to miss during a moment of distraction.


    The Niqols didn''t waste time. It took out two small books and a tiny casket from its robe and ced them to the ground before raising its head. It seemed to wait for Khan to show an opening, but he didn''t move his gaze at all. His eyes remained fixed on the alien. He wanted to see where it went at that time.


    The alien''s glowing eyes remained on Khan for a few seconds before losing their focus. The hooded Niqols simply turned and walked among the trees until its figure became impossible to see.


    Khan tried to keep track of that empty spot, but his senses soon lost it. His range allowed him to inspect areas farther away, but that didn''t help with the Niqols'' peculiar cloaking technique. It was too hard to notice that dead zone in the distance.


    The books and the casket entered his vision at that point. Khan hurried toward the items and stored them inside his robe before resuming his march toward the mountain. The arrival of the techniques should have made him happy, but he couldn''t dispel the worry for his girlfriend. He knew that the procedure had more chances to hurt him, but he couldn''t care about himself when Liiza was willing to spill blood to help him.


    It didn''t take Khan much to reach the marsh. He had ended up relying on his Aduns more than many Niqols during those months. Snow grew faster after the frequent full-speed flights, so it slowly shortened the time required to bring Khan in each location.


    Reaching the marsh used to take almost three hours, but Snow could save half an hour now. That gave Khan more time with Liiza, and it also helped him attend his training without taking multiple breaks.


    "This is actually pretty hard," Liiza revealed while reading the book that described the [Blood Vortex]. "You need to adapt the mana to your surroundings and your body to make sure that they can build a connection. The marks act as vortexes and determine the position where the mana would eventually umte."


    Liiza was sitting at the center of the bed, and Khan was ncing at the book from behind her shoulder. He was hugging her in one of their usual affectionate positions, but their attention was on the tranted words on those yellowish pages.


    "It''s not a problem if you can''t do it," Khan said in an emotionless tone.


    "You won''t get away so easily," Liizaughed before leaving a kiss on his cheek. "I can do it. I only need to prepare a few things beforehand. Also, we can''t do this when you have the lessons. You need to disperse the mana throughout your body once you exhaust the blood, and I believe you''ll end up drained."


    "I can''t drink before the technique either," Khan read from the book. "I can ask Azni to help me skip the party in four days and add that time to the break from the lessons."


    "Do you really want to spend less time with Doku and Azni?" Liiza asked while showing the affectionate smile that she had started to wear often in thest period. "They are already going among the trees earlier than usual."


    "You are right," Khan sighed helplessly. "George is also spending a lot of time with Havaa, and I think I''ve seen Helen sneaking out to meet the guy from the meeting. You Niqols sure are something."


    "The poor humans couldn''t resist these exotic beauties," Liiza teased. "It would have been fun to drag you among the trees in front of everyone at least once."


    "I wish we could have that," Khan said in a loving voice before tightening his embrace.


    "I don''t know if my mind could take so much happiness," Liiza whispered before snuggling closer.


    The two remained in that position for a few seconds before moving to the next book. Their clothes would vanish in an instant if they lingered in that romantic moment any longer, and Liiza wanted to prioritize Khan''s training.


    The [Blood Shield] technique turned out to be easier than they had initially thought, and least when it came to the maniption of mana since it always needed the same nature. Khan wouldn''t need to adapt it to different environments or materials. The problem came from the other ingredients.


    Khan needed to prepare materials that his body could digest so that their nutrients could reach his bloodstream. In theory, every substance could work. Some had an easier path to the circtory system, especially when they went through enhancements with mana.


    The first ingestion would unlock the ability to clot blood, which would require mana like every other technique. Meanwhile, the method''s actual power came from how much the user nurtured it since the body would eventually expel the foreign substances.


    The ability wouldn''t disappearpletely once those substances left the bloodstream. The technique had checkpoints that worked like levels. The ability''s power couldn''t go under the checkpoint after reaching it.


    Curiosity filled Khan and Liiza when they read that the first level only needed the activation of the ability. Their eyes instinctively moved toward the tiny casket, and Khan didn''t hesitate to pick it from the ground.


    A bloody chunk of flesh appeared in the two''s vision when Khan lifted the lid. The tiny piece of meat had a series of ck lines running through its red structure. It seemed pretty fresh, but a strange smell came out of it.


    "Do you think I can cook it?" Khan asked.


    "I think you might incur the wrath of my ancestors if you did," Liiza replied.


    Both of them had an acute sensitivity to mana. Khan and Liiza could quickly sense the modifications that the energy had applied to the chunk of flesh. They could even confirm that its nature matched the requirements described in the book.


    "Your mother is so nice. She has even prepared the material for the first level," Khanmented.


    "You are incurring my wrath now," Liiza scoffed.


    "So," Khan eximed while picking the tiny chunk of flesh and taking it out of the casket, "Do I get a new ability if I eat this?"


    "That''s what the technique says," Liiza responded.


    "I''ve eaten worse," Khan sighed before throwing the piece of meat in his mouth.


    The flesh felt disgusting and squishy. There seemed to be something solid at its center, but Khan threw his head back and gulped before more sensations could spread from his mouth.


    "How is it?" Liiza asked when she saw Khan showing a disgusted expression. "Do you feel anything?"


    "I don''t feel anything at all," Khan exined. "I bet this taste will remain in my mouth for an entire day."


    Liiza gigged beforeying her head on his shoulder. "That won''t stop me from kissing you."


    The two exchanged a loving gaze, but Khan suddenly felt unable to breathe. Pain spread from his belly and forced him to crouch, and a heavy sensationnded at the center of his chest.


    Liiza called Khan''s name, but she didn''t dare to move him around. Bacshes could happen with the old methods, and painful sensations usually appeared during the most invasive procedures. Khan was trying to unlock apletely different technique, so it felt almost normal for him to have that reaction.


    Air eventually managed to flow inside his lungs, but his belly and chest continued to hurt. Khan felt as if he had something dense clogging his blood vessels and organs. A foreign substance was invading him. He wanted to puke, but his stomach appeared sealed.


    It took a few minutes, but his muscles slowly began to rx. His pain waned, and the heaviness that afflicted his chest grew lighter. He started to feel better, but he felt something off in his abdomen even after he managed to straighten his torso.


    Liiza remained silent at his side while wearing a worried expression. She rxed only when Khan took her hand, but she didn''t dare to smile yet. Meanwhile, Khan closed his eyes to enter his meditative state and check what had happened to his insides.


    Mana flowed normally. The recent procedure didn''t change anything. Still, he found something off under his abdomen. He sensed a mass made of strange energy that was slowly adapting to his body.


    Khan continued to meditate until the mass attuned to his bodypletely. It didn''t feel solid, but it was dense enough to appear like that. Also, Khan found out that he could move it if he made mana flow inside it.


    A tremor ran through Liiza when she saw Khan opening his eyes. She wanted to smile, but a frown appeared on her face before she could express her relief. Khan opened his robe and uncovered his chest without even ncing at her, and the sudden action made her wonder whether something was affecting his mind.


    However, her frown transformed into a surprised expression when the blood vessels on the right side of Khan''s chest became more visible and created a red spiderweb over his clear skin.


    Khan touched that spot and remained surprised at its firmness. Those blood vessels appeared sturdier than his rib cage and activating that protection had taken nothing more than a thought. It wasn''t hard at all to use the [Blood Shield].


    "Why did you even abandon the old methods?" Khan couldn''t help but ask while ncing at Liiza.


    Liiza wore a condescending expression before raising her arm. Ice spread on her skin and created a beautiful, almost transparent shield that covered her forearm. She even showed how she could stretch or shrink that defense at will.


    The [Blood Shield] felt obsolete in front of that wless disy of Liiza''s maniption ability. Her spell only required training and mana. It didn''t involve any strange rituals and additional material. Moreover, it was safe, and her body epted it easily since it matched her element.


    Khan revealed a bright smile at that scene. He had understood what Liiza wanted to show him, but that almost lost meaning when he noticed that her maniption ability had improved. She had managed to create that defense with basically no preparation.


    "You have improved!" Khan shouted happily.


    "Even faster than I expected," Liiza revealed while inspecting her shield shattering into a series of shards. "I think you are to me for that. My mind has never been clearer."


    "This poor Niqols couldn''t resist my exotic beauty," Khan joked while taking a deep breath to inte his chest.


    "[I didn''t even try]," Liiza said, and Khan stopped joking when he saw her biting her lower lip.

 Chapter 172 - Blood Vortex

    Khan spent the following days getting ustomed to the [Blood Shield], but it turned out that it didn''t need much work. The technique already existed inside him. He only had to move it in the intended spots to make it manifest its effects.


    The branches of the Niqols'' old ways carried drawbacks, gory rituals, and steep requirements, but they felt terrific once mastered. Khan had basically obtained a spell that didn''t require concentration, practice, or unique movements. Committing mistakes was even impossible since the ability technically was already active.


    Khan could understand that Ambassador Yeza had given him the chance to activate the [Blood Shield] right away on purpose. She seemed to care about his performance in the crisis, which only revealed how scary that event could be.


    Khan could also guess why Yeza had decided to increase his power before the crisis. He knew how strong he was, and she was aware of his Niqols girlfriend. She couldn''t possibly imagine her true identity, but the determination that Khan had shown during the meeting proved how deeply he cared about her and the aliens as a whole.


    His decision to betray the Global Army was another proof of hisx attachment to his species. Khan could be a valuable asset during the crisis. His actions could save Niqols'' lives, and Yeza didn''t hesitate to invest in him.


    Khan never brought the books back to the academy, and he never tested his limits with the [Blood Shield] there either. His coboration with Ambassador Yeza had to remain a secret that only Liiza could know. Azni and Doku would probably remain silent if they learnt about it, but Khan didn''t want to leave loose ends.


    The cave in the marsh was the perfect hiding spot for the books. Moreover, Liiza and Khan could use their time there to memorize their contents and prepare for the [Blood Vortex]. As for the [Blood Shield], Khan didn''t need practice, but he wanted to understand how strong the technique actually was before using it in battle. Also, he had to see how much his skin could handle in that reinforced state.


    The tests led to surprisingly good oues. The [Blood Shield] was slightly stronger than human spells, so it could defend Khan from powerful impacts and sharp objects. He struggled to dig his knife past that tough array of blood vessels even when he relied on the Divine Reaper''s teachings.


    The gap between the [Blood Shield] and the Divine Reaper shrunk when Khan tried to hurt himself seriously, but he linked that feature to the uniqueness of his martial art. The Divine Reaper''s piercing power was near the peak of the human fighting styles. It would be surprising if it couldn''t do anything to the dense blood vessels.


    Khan started to consider perfect executions the times when the Divine Reaper managed to pierce the [Blood Shield]. The flexibility of the Niqols'' technique allowed him to test the sharpness of his membrane on safe spots like the side of his forearm, so he didn''t hold back during those days.


    The absence of training halls on Nitis prevented Khan from evaluating his execution of the Divine Reaper. The [Blood Shield] became his gauge, but Liiza eventually forced him to stop by recing the defensive technique with her ice. Khan was only suffering superficial cuts that healed in a matter of hours, but she didn''t like how easy it was for him to hurt himself.


    Khan and Liiza had to wait until the arrival of the free days to work on the [Blood Vortex]. Nothing unusual happened, so they could meet in the cave after the party meant to celebrate the end of the lessons and approach everything calmly.


    The rest of the night went by sweating the booze drank in the party, and the two had be pretty good at it. They woke up near lunch hour with clear minds, satisfied expressions, and a lingering warmth that filled their hearts, but the mood quickly turned serious after a few kisses.


    "You aren''t going to bleed yourself out, right?" Khan asked while inspecting Liiza.


    The girl had brought a small cauldron and a simple knife to the cave during the previous days. She was ready to open a deep cut on her palm, and Khan obviously hated that situation.


    "Everything will be fine," Liiza repeated for the hundredth time. "You should be worried about eventual bacshes. Are you sure that the mana in the environment won''t kill you?"


    Khan had told Liiza about the warnings that Doctor Parket had given him. His body might reject synthetic mana, but that shouldn''t apply to the energy in the environment.


    The two had decided that they would interrupt the [Blood Vortex] as soon as Khan noticed that something was off, but he felt pretty confident that everything would go well. The [Blood Shield]''s sess had proven how his body didn''t reject the Niqols'' old methods, so he believed that the same would happen for the other technique.


    "Are you sure you have enough potion?" Khan asked.


    "[Zaza] has been more than happy to help me after learning that we were going to use the old methods," Liiza repeated.


    "What about your stomach?" Khan continued. "We didn''t eat a lot."


    "I ate the usual," Liizamented. "I even left out part of what you brought in the hope of making me sleepy."


    "I''m feeling a little dizzy," Khan announced in a dramatic tone.


    "I will make you feel dizzy if you don''t stop disturbing me," Liiza threatened. "We are doing this. Deal with it. And, no, I won''t stop even if you disturb me."


    Liiza didn''t need to raise her gaze from the knife to know that Khan had started to n ways to disturb her. He could only give up on making her stop the procedure. Khan loved her even more when he saw how deeply she knew him, but the requirements of the technique still annoyed him.


    Khan wanted to add a few jokes, but his mind went nk when he saw the level of concentration that Liiza reached during those short silent seconds. She had worn the usual aloof expression that she showed to the others, but it contained a deeper meaning now. She looked as if the procedure could kill her, but Khan knew that she wasn''t worried about herself.


    The knife eventually dug into her palm and opened a deep wound. Pale-red blood began to fall in the small cauldron, and Liiza erged her injury once she felt that the process was too slow.


    Liiza made sure not to reveal any emotion to reassure Khan. She had cut out everything useless from her vision and senses, but she could still feel his worried gaze on her. That was something that no amount of concentration could make her ignore. Her mana wanted her to know that he was there.


    Liiza eventually dropped her knife on the ground and ced her palm on the cauldron. An azure glow slowly spread on the item, and its shades darkened as Liiza changed the nature of her mana. She had to create an energy that could connect Khan''s body to the environment and bathe the blood in it.


    Creating something that matched Khan''s unique aura wasn''t a problem for her since she had spent almost three months sleeping in his arms. Liiza hadmitted his warmth, scent, and reactions to memory. She knew exactly how to modify her mana to suit him.


    Doing the same for the cave turned out to be a bit harder. Liiza had grown familiar with that environment, but no special feeling enhanced her perception. A slight difference in the temperature or staleness of the air forced her to adjust the idea in her mind.


    Adding two different natures to the mana and blending them without destabilizing the energy was challenging. Khan could add sharpness to his mana, but he was nowhere near the smoothness revealed by Liiza now. The transformation appeared natural when she performed it, and he remained speechless in front of her ability.


    Liiza waited until her blood filled half of the cauldron before opening her eyes and picking a sk that she had left behind her. The murky liquid inside it was a potion that Zalpa had made in the past days after Liiza told her about the [Blood Vortex]. The old Niqols was the perfect secret helper for the couple since she had cut ties with the rest of her species, and her affection toward Khan''s girlfriend made her even more willing to help.


    Blood quickly stopped falling from the cut on Liiza''s palm after she took a sip from the sk. The injury didn''t close, but that improvement had already reassured Khan. Moreover, the effects of the potion didn''t alter her control over mana. The energy that covered the cauldron remained stable and didn''t experience any shift in its shades.


    Liiza had to remain in that position for a while. The blood had to absorb the mana naturally, so she could only let it bathe in her energy until it gained new features. Almost one hour had to pass before she removed her hand from the item and nodded in satisfaction.


    "Come here," Liiza ordered. "It''s time to draw the marks."


    Khan left the bed andy on the ground next to the cauldron. He was still naked from the previous night, while Liiza had donned her robe before starting the process to avoid altering his mindset. She needed him to be entirely focused on the technique since they had to act quickly if something went wrong.


    "Your ancestors were quite kinky," Khan joked.


    "We have also been kinky," Liiza whispered while crouching to leave a kiss on his lips.


    The teasing ended there. Khan closed his eyes to focus on the insides of his body, and Liiza brought the cauldron closer to her side before dipping two fingers into the blood.


    "I''m going to start," Liiza stated. "Make sure to warn me as soo-."


    "[Liiza, I trust you]," Khan murmured without opening his eyes.


    Liiza revealed a loving smile and caressed Khan''s hair before freeing his forehead from his ck strands. Her other hand came out of the cauldron at that point, and she let a few drops fall from her fingers before approaching his face.


    The blood was slightly cold, but Khan focused only on Liiza''s firm movement. He had memorized the marks that the [Blood Vortex] required. They were simple drawings that went from his forehead to his toes, so he could follow her with his mind.


    Liiza never hesitated normitted mistakes. She was perfect. She always dipped her fingers inside the blood after drawing three lines, and Khan eventually started to feel something building up above him.


    His sensitivity to mana allowed him to notice how the blood began to activate as more lines joined the drawing. The technique wanted to create an electrical circuit meant for mana, and its power built up until Khan started to feel ufortable.


    Nothing affected Khan''s skin, but he felt that something was about to happen. He understood the reason behind that sensation when Liiza hesitated for the first time since the beginning of the process.


    "Complete it," Khan eximed to reassure Liiza, and she left another kiss on his lips before drawing thest line required by the technique.


    Liiza quickly took a step back while dragging the cauldron with her. The lines began to shine in those seconds, and a pale-red glow filled the dark cave. A faint wind also blew from behind her as mana started to converge toward Khan.


    Khan didn''t speak. Hisplete focus was on the marks that Liiza had drawn, and faint surprise spread in his mind when he studied the nature of the [Blood Vortex].


    Mana flowed naturally toward the glowing lines after they established a connection with the environment, but that energy didn''t immediately enter Khan''s body. It gathered inside the blood and slowly seeped into the skin below.


    The mana didn''t disperse inside Khan''s body either. It remained under the blood and continued to umte until it created a copy of the lines inside his skin. The process caused difort and even some lingering pain since his flesh couldn''t contain so much energy in the same spot. Yet, Khan endured worse during the meditations, so remaining still wasn''t a problem.


    The issues started when Khan began to feel hot. The mana flowing through the blood created some friction with his skin. The burning sensation was initially milder than what the Lightning-demon style had trained him to endure, but it continued to intensify as the process went on.


    "Is everything okay?" Liiza asked when she saw a frown appearing on Khan''s face.


    "It burns a little," Khan grumbled. "I can still endure for now."


    Liiza wanted to add something, but she forced herself to remain silent. She suppressed her words even when a faint sizzling noise started toe out of Khan''s figure.


    The noise and burning sensation intensified until Khan remained unable to hide most of his expression. Everything started to hurt properly, but he had faced worse during his fastest sprints, so he endured that pain. He wanted to get the best out of that process, and stopping too early would make him feel like he was wasting Liiza''s blood.


    "I''m stopping the technique," Liiza dered when trails of smoke started toe out of Khan''s skin.


    "I can still go on!" Khanined.


    "I don''t care," Liizamented while crouching next to Khan and reaching one of the lines on his abdomen to interrupt the technique.


    Liiza voiced a painful gasp when she touched the glowing line. The drawing was so hot that she had retracted her hand instinctively. However, mana quickly covered her fingers when she realized that Khan was keeping those scorching marks on his entire front.


    The marks stopped absorbing mana when Liiza wiped part of the blood away. The scorching sensations filling Khan''s mind faded, but he could only inspect Liiza when he opened his eyes.


    Khan could quickly notice the burn on Liiza''s fingers, and he didn''t hesitate to sit to take her hand. However, she didn''t react to his gesture. Her eyes remained fixed on the chunk of skin that she had uncovered to interrupt the [Blood Vortex].


    Khan''s eyes also went there. A red mark had appeared on that spot since the blood had burnt the superficialyers of his skin. It wasn''t hard to guess that the rest of the lines hid flesh in a simr state, but Khan didn''t care too much since he had almost two days to heal. Instead, he felt happy to feel the mana umted right under those injuries.


    "It worked!" Khan eximed while turning to show his excited smile to Liiza, but she pped him before he could look at her face.


    Khan had to hear her sniff to realize what had happened. He tried to turn toward Liiza again, but she jumped to her feet and hurried outside the cave. She even kicked the cauldron angrily, causing the remaining blood to spill on the ground.


    ''I fucked up,'' Khan immediately realized.


    A deep sigh came out of his mouth before he jumped to his feet too. Khan straightened the cauldron up and walked out of the cave slowly. He was still naked, but he didn''t care. He knew that the area was empty.


    His sensitivity to mana led him to the familiar presence sitting in a muddy corner on the cliff''s base, where he found Liiza wearing the most pissed expression he had ever seen on her face.


    ****


    Author''s notes: 3-4 hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 173 - Slap

    "Wash yourself," Liiza ordered before Khan could get too close.


    "[Liiza]," Khan pleaded, but Liiza''s expression grew even angrier as she pointed at the waterfall a few meters in front of her.


    Khan could only sigh and approach the falling water. He didn''t need to ask what Liiza wanted to gain an idea of her intentions. She was experiencing the same annoyance that he had felt when she cut her palm open.


    The waterfall washed Khan clean. Removing all the marks with simple water was difficult, but he made sure to scrub everything away. The entirety of his injuries slowly appeared in the open, and Liiza could see his state when he turned toward her.


    Deep red marks covered Khan''s front. They created a simple tribal-like tattoo engraved in his skin that went from his forehead and reached his toes. Each line that Liiza had drawn had transformed into injuries that could burn for days if left untreated, but Khan didn''t seem to care about them at all.


    Liiza''s annoyance intensified when she saw Khan waiting for her angry outburst. He cared more about the iing rebuke than his injuries, and she couldn''t endure that sight for too long. She lowered her gaze, but her wounded palm appeared in her vision at that point.


    An exasperated sigh came out of her mouth as she crouched to hide her head between her knees. Liiza felt incredibly angry about Khan''s carelessness, but she couldn''t me him too much when she had done the same.


    "[Liiza]," Khan whispered whileing out of the waterfall and nearing his girlfriend.


    His wet feet mixed with the mud and became dirty again, but he barely noticed that. Liiza appeared really angry, angrier than she had ever been. It felt scary to know that he could make her like that.


    "Is my mother right?" Liiza asked without raising her head. "Is our love toxic?"


    "I have no idea," Khan sighed while diverting his gaze. "Does love have a general meaning? Would our species even share that meaning?"


    "Did you wonder if we are good for each other?" Liiza asked while peeking past the white hair that had fallen above her face. "Look at you. My blood did that. I basically forced you to pick the [Blood Vortex]."


    Khan reached Liiza and crouched before her. She hid her face behind her knees again, but her glowing eyes peeked at him when she heard his question.


    "Do you think I would be better off without you?" Khan asked while wearing a loving smile.


    Liiza froze as she reviewed Khan''s life. He had nothing, and he couldn''t even trust anyone. He had a few friends and a Master, but Martha was still in aa as far as he knew, George was venting his trauma through booze and sex, and Lieutenant Dyester was in the same messed-up state.


    Khan''s best rtionships existed among the Niqols, and that after being on Nitis for a bit less than three months. It was sad to consider his situation from that perspective. Still, it also felt quite lucky. Liiza couldn''t even imagine what he would be willing to do without anyone relieving him from his darkest thoughts.


    "I think you would be better without me after a while," Khan honestly revealed while moving her hair away from her half-hidden face. "I can imagine you mending your rtionship with the Niqols through me and finding someone who isn''t so broken."


    Liiza had deep problems, especially among such a sentimental species, but she wasn''t hopeless. Her quest toward mental peace didn''t require a journey through the universe looking for the Nak. Ironically, she had started to experience traumas simr to those that afflicted Khan''s mind only after his arrival on Nitis.


    The speech made sense, at least in Khan''s mind, but Liiza didn''t hesitate to p him again.


    "Is that what you think of my feelings?" Liiza angrily shouted. "Do you think that my mana wants me to use you as a sort of potion?"


    Liiza wanted to p Khan again, but he grabbed her wrist before she couldplete the attack. Liiza tried with her other hand, but Khan blocked her again. He had never stopped smiling since the beginning of their conversation, and his expression only radiated more affection now.


    "If I''m better without you, you are better without me," Khan stated. "We have both been attracted to each other right away, so our reasons should be simr. Also, you have said that before me. Why am I the one getting pped?"


    "You let my blood hurt you," Liiza rebuked. "You deserve them."


    "You hurt yourself for me first," Khanined.


    "You stabbed your own leg to resist my mother," Liiza added.


    "You kissed me first," Khan announced proudly, "Which makes everything your fault."


    "Paul would have a different opinion," Liiza smirked.


    "I won''t get to p you then," Khan voiced a fake disappointed sigh, and Liiza couldn''t suppress herugh.


    "You are an idiot," Liiza giggled.


    "And you chose to be with me anyway," Khan shook his head. "I''m starting to doubt whether you are as smart as you think."


    Liiza continued tough before wearing a warm smile when she saw Khan''s eyes lingering on the cut on her palm. She couldn''t remain angry at him when he was so concerned about her.


    "We are a mess," Liiza sighed before pointing at Khan''s hands with her eyes.


    Khan understood the meaning behind her gesture and let her wrists go. Liiza carefully took his head in her hands, making sure to avoid the injuries that ran across his cheeks, before pulling him between her legs. She helped him turn so that he could sit in front of her without letting anything touch his wounds.


    "Is being a mess bad?" Khan asked.


    "I don''t know," Liiza sighed before leaving a kiss on the back of his head. "I''m just a young girl in love."


    "That makes me a younger boy in love," Khan replied.


    "When do you be seventeen anyway?" Liiza asked one of the questions that had nevere up in the past months.


    Khan calcted in his mind before answering and wearing an awkward smile. "My birthday is a bit more than a month. It should match the beginning of the crisis. When''s yours?"


    "The month after yours," Liiza revealed, "Right in the middle of the crisis."


    The two remained silent for a few seconds before exploding into a loudugh. They weren''t even sure about the reason behind that reaction, but they couldn''t stop themselves.


    "[I''m so d we found each other]," Liiza whispered as she immersed her face in Khan''s hair. "[I didn''t believe I could be so happy]."


    "[Thank you for saving me]," Khan said in a sweet tone while making himselffortable between Liiza''s leg. "[I love you]."


    The two reacted almost instinctively to the Niqolsnguage. Their eyes soon met, and their lips touched. Khan even began to turn, but Liiza suddenly stopped him by pushing on some of the spots on his chest that didn''t have injuries.


    "What am I doing?" Liiza scoffed. "No sex until you are healed. You even need to meditate to absorb the mana gathered with the [Blood Vortex]!"


    "But we were so in the mood," Khan groaned.


    "What mood?" Liiza scolded while making Khan turn and forcing him to sit between her legs again. "Mediate again before I p you again!"


    "The current generations also are quite kinky," Khan sighed dramatically.


    Liizaughed before nearing Khan''s ear to whisper teasing words. "Finish quickly so that we can move to the kinky stuff."


    Khan found himself inside the meditative state as soon as he heard those words. He began to move his mana as usual, making sure to expand it in areas of his body that remained unaffected by that energy.


    Mana flowed out of his nape and generated painful sensations when Khan''s flesh tried to oppose its expansion. Still, something peculiar happened when it touched the energy gathered through the [Blood Vortex].


    Khan inspected that energy mixing with his mana and dispersing through his body without causing any bacsh. His mana didn''t even lose intensity. It seemed to condense the foreign energy before epting it in his insides, but the training was smooth except for that.


    The meditations mainly had two limits to how quickly they raised the attunement with mana. They caused pain that a soldier might be unable to endure, and they could only use the mana that the mana core released.


    Khan had grown used to the pain rather quickly, but he still had to face the second limit. The other recruits and soldiers had ess to the synthetic mana to quicken the process, but Doctor Parket had made him lose interest in that training method. However, the [Blood Vortex] could have the same effects and provide normal mana at the same time.


    The higher amount of mana inside his body made him increase his attunement with mana faster than usual. Khan was unaware of his current level, but he knew that he had crossed the forty percent mark. He even believed it to be quite close to fifty percent but confirming it was troublesome without scanners or doctors.


    The meditation right after the [Blood Vortex] went so well that the injuries caused by the Niqols'' old method almost healedpletely in a single session. Moreover, he remained astonished when he studied how much his mana had advanced andpared it to his regr training. He had obtained effects that were five to six times better than usual.


    ''I might be a first-level warrior during the crisis at this pace,'' Khan thought as determination filled his mind.


    Liiza had fallen asleep while Khan meditated. He found her lying on his back, with her head on his shoulder and her arms on his side. She had hold back from hugging him out of fear of touching his injuries even if she clearly wanted cuddles.


    ''I went through so much,'' Khan sighed in his mind as he inspected Liiza''s sleeping face. ''How can I even feel so lucky?''


    Khan moved silently, making sure not to wake up Liiza. He turned and pointed his feet on the ground before sliding his arms behind her back and thighs.


    Liiza didn''t wake up when Khan lifted her softy. His warmth enveloped her, so she felt as if they were in their usual bed. He could bring her inside the cave andy her on the nkets before reaching his robe nearby.


    Liiza whined when she felt the warmth leaving her, and her eyes started to open, but Khan promptly caressed her cheek and left a kiss on her forehead.


    "[I''lle back soon]," Khan promised.


    "[You never do]," Liizained while showing a loving smile. "[Give me a kiss and try to hurry. It''s cold without you]."


    Khan smiled and kissed her before Liiza turned to the side to make it easier for him to leave her there. He moved to the waterfall while wearing his trousers, and the dull knife soon appeared in his grasp.


    The weapon had many marks on its edges and center, but they didn''t appear as often as before. Khan was getting better at the Divine Reaper. The perfect executions even caused far less damage to the null-grade knife, but it would eventually break anyway.


    The Global Army had given Khan another null-grade knife, but he would use the first-grade once the daylight arrived. It was pointless to hide his power during a worldwide crisis, and fighting with a better weapon would allow him to avoid injuries whenmitting mistakes.


    The main problem with the Divine Reaper was that Khan had never gotten the chance to blend it with the Lightning-demon style properly. He had found and learnt a few moves during his training, but he didn''t perfect them in an actual battle. His instincts still relied mainly on his legs. He had to think to recall the knife, and that was a problem in a deadly situation.


    The innately sharp first-grade knife would help while Khan developed a fighting style that relied on both his martial arts. Still, he had to make sure to approach the daylight with a decent proficiency level. He didn''t dream about reaching thepetent level so soon, but having a sess rate in the perfect executions above eighty percent didn''t sound bad. The problem was arriving at that level of expertise with only a bit more than a month left to train.


    ''Mastery beats unstable performances,'' Khan repeated Lieutenant Dyester''s words in his mind often while swinging his knife at the waterfall.


    Khanpleted his exercises for the Divine Reaper before moving to the Lightning-demon style. He didn''t forget his foundation, and thepetent proficiency level was nowhere close to the peak on the path toplete mastery, so he had to continue practicing.


    The moves that fused the two martial arts came afterward. Khan repeated everything methodically before calling it a day. He had someone to warm up for the rest of the night, and he didn''t know for how long he would be able to enjoy those moments.

 Chapter 174 - Daylight

    Time passed no matter how the students and the recruits tried not to keep track of it. Aplicated smile, the anxious rebuke from a professor, the parties thatsted long enough to coincide with the lessons, and the general carelessness toward the already slight decorum hinted at the arrival of the daylight.


    Even the most serious recruits started to fall prey to their anxiety and resort to the Niqols'' habits to handle it. Khan once even saw Brandon and Kelly kissing during his usual march toward the mountains.


    The Niqols had a to defend, but the eight recruits simply happened to be there. Some humans had developed affection toward Nitis and established meaningful rtionships, but that wasn''t their home. The Niqols were only a mission, but the Global Army had left them in the frontlines anyway.


    The recruits would have to put their lives on the line for an alien and a different species. In their minds, the mission felt noble, even rightful when considering what they recalled the vige near theke. Still, a different version of the story saw them as nothing more than pawns who had to be there for political reasons. George and the others simply decided not to focus on the second view.


    Khan was the only recruit who shared the same determination as the Niqols. Nitis had brought him a peace that seemed impossible to achieve after Istrone. That cold and dark had given him love, new friends, power, and overall happiness. He would go all-out to defend it. His twisted mental state even made him more driven than some aliens.


    Everyone''s days were so packed with lessons, parties, and intimate rtionships that they almost failed to connect the azure shades that began to spread in the sky to the crisis when they first noticed them. Recruits and Niqols had given so much importance to that event that it almost felt unreal when it actually started.


    The students had started to imagine the arrival of the daylight as a loud apocalyptic event, but it turned out to be a silent and dazzling moment. Lunch hour had yet to arrive, and the week before the estimated beginning of the crisis had just begun, but calctions couldn''t be perfect when the humans had no scanners or tools in the actual sr system.


    The Global Army''s math came from data gathered through a telescope outside of Nitis'' sr system, so those calctions involved dys and errors. Moreover, its conclusions had never been precise. They had always involved a rtively short period, including that week.


    Khan was attending the usual lesson with Professor Bikatu, the professor in charge of improving the recruits'' sensitivity to mana, when he noticed that some of the Niqols in the squares around him were gazing at the sky.


    The trees in the academy had arge empty spot that the professors had used to set up squares that had specific purposes. Seeing the area from the sky was impossible due to the membranes that hid the academy, but the students'' view had no obstruction from the ground. Khan eventually saw the azure shades piercing the darkness, and his reaction made hispanions notice the event.


    "Prepare for battle!" Professor Bikatu shouted, and her words made everyone in the square snap back to reality.


    Simr cries resounded throughout the academy ground. Professors and students echoed that rm and made everyone aware that the time hade. The daylight had arrived.


    Khan expected panic to spread, but the Niqols left him pleasantly surprised. No one spoke for more than a few seconds. The professors hade up with a n and had forced the students to memorize it, so everyone knew what role to y. They only dyed their march toward their positions to exchange a few goodbyes, kisses, and promises.


    "Don''t you dare to die on me," George announced while poking Khan''s chest with the side of his fist.


    George''s mindset had improved a lot after abandoning himself to the Niqols'' lifestyle. Professor Supyan''s lessons had also helped him ept his trauma and fuse it with his character. He was wearing a resolute smile when he saluted Khan, and that was his real face even if his mind was ready for war.


    "Don''t let me do all the work again," Khan mocked by imitating his friend and jabbing at his chest softly.


    "Good luck to everyone," Kelly stated before turning to leave a quick kiss on Brandon''s lips and hurrying toward her position.


    The gesture left every recruit except Khan speechless. Brandon and Kelly had been quite secretive about their rtionship. Khan had noticed them out of sheer luck.


    "Let''s show everyone what humans are capable of," Brandon announced before turning to reach his position too.


    "Khan, our areas are pretty close," Rodney reminded while winking at Khan. "Come to help once you clean everything up."


    "Khan has to oversee a crowded area," Veronicained as her bright smile lifted everyone''s morale. "Don''t bezy."


    "And you don''t defend him too much," Gabri teased.


    "Khan, did you send that message for me?" Helen asked in a hesitant tone.


    Helen had started to date the Niqols met during the meeting with Ambassador Yeza, but she couldn''tmunicate with him. She had eventually asked Khan to act as the middleman, and he couldn''t reject her request since her situation reminded him about his rtionship.


    Khan had ended up conveying awkward and overly-sweet messages, but the situation had never been too troublesome since his packed schedule had allowed him to help the couple only once or twice a day.


    "He said that he will tell you those words face to face," Khan said while revealing a genuine happy smile.


    Helen gasped happily, and she couldn''t hold back from hugging Khan. Thetterughed while patting her back. She had been the recruit to change the most inside the academy. She had initially been part of the faction believing in human superiority, but a few months had been enough to change her mind, and Khan could only marvel at how much the Niqols had been able to do in such a short time.


    Helen eventually left Khan and nodded at him before departing to reach her position. Gabri did the same, and Khan wished the remaining recruits good luck once more before leaving.


    The Niqols had divided the surrounding areas into quadrants and had assigned different teams to all of them. The higher-ups had tried to bnce each group, and they had even split the recruits for various reasons, so Khan had ended up with weakpanions.


    Khan felt stronger than ever after training with the [Blood Vortex] for a bit more than a month. His body appeared near a turning point that he obviously connected to the checkpoint that divided first-level warriors from other soldiers. He didn''t know what that achievement would involve, but he knew it was happening.


    His sprint across the forest was wless. His feet barely released noises when they hit the ground, leaves, or roots on his path, and his vision was clearer than ever during his eleration.


    The entrance of the underground habitation soon appeared in his eyes. The daylight had surprised everyone, so Khan only had his null-grade sharp knife with him. The dull one had broken in thest month, so he had reced it, but the crisis required his most valuable asset.


    His locker opened and allowed Khan to wear his first-grade knife in no time. His sensitivity to mana made him aware of the faint pressure that had appeared on his side. He could feel the magic item hidden inside the sheath, and even caressing that leather gave him an idea of its power.


    Khan didn''t store the null-grade knife inside the locker. He moved its sheath to his right side before leaving the underground habitation in a hurry. It didn''t hurt to have an additional weapon at hand in case something happened to his magic item. Also, he didn''t know if the crisis could affect the academy, so it felt pointless to leave anything valuable there.


    Khan had to group up with his teammates in an area past one of the mountains. His team was one of the only ones without Niqols in the second year, which stated how much the aliens trusted his battle prowess. No one dared to say it out loud, but many believed him to be one of the stronger students in the academy, if not the strongest.


    Messages flowed from both sides of the mental connection as Khan crossed the familiar forest and reached the mountain in no time. He had already contacted Snow, and the two were exchanging emotions to understand how close they were to each other.


    ''Luckily Aduns resist the radiation quite well,'' Khan found himself thinking while speeding toward his destination. ''Maybe that''s the reason why the ancestors of the Niqols had originally taken them as sacred animals.''


    The screeches of the Aduns filled the sky. The students and professors of the academy were moving outside the forest and past the mountains to reachnding areasrge enough to contain many eagles.


    Khan was one of the first to cross the mountain. The sky had cleared even more during the short hour he had required to reach one of the ins that expanded past the academy ground. Dark shades still tried to hide the nature of the event, but any human would understand that a star was about to rise on the horizon.


    Nitis'' unique atmosphere wouldn''t even have dark areas once the star shone directly on the. The sky would spread its light everywhere and fill the surface with its radiation.


    Snownded next to Khan a few minutes after his arrival in the in. The eagleid its head on top of him as he ruffled the feathers on its neck. They had to wait for the other Niqols in their team to arrive before departing, and the situation was too serious to y around. Even the Aduns understood that the world was going through something strange.


    Multiple Niqols arrived in the in and took simr positions. Khan exchanged nods or friendly salutes with all of them before fixing his gaze on the mountain again. He had learnt to know almost everyone in the academy during that period. They were all acquaintances or friends who had been part of drunken jokes, chants, or groupughs during the parties. Yet, they were wearing serious expressions now that the apocalypse hade.


    Niqols eventually started to gather near Khan. His group had two boys named Edil and Kakhir and a girl called Elita. They all featured the iconic beauty of their species. Their figures were slender, and their hair long. Still, their tense expressions didn''t allow them to show those qualities.


    "I''ll rely on you, Khan," Edil announced after bowing when he arrived in the in.


    "I already feel better," Elita smiled when she arrived and saw Khan''s confident gaze.


    "We can move right away," Kakhir stated when he arrived in the in since his Aduns was already waiting in the sky.


    The four didn''t waste time and set off to reach their destination. They had to take care of a rtivelyrge area at the beginning of a mountain chain famous for a species of Tainted animals called Talelos, which Khan had started to consider as strange bears after receiving the task and going through a simple briefing.


    The mountain chain was quite far away from the academy, and it even expanded in unknown areas of Nitis. Khan''s group had to fly for almost five hours to reach it, and the four didn''t hesitate tond once they saw the dark-grey peaks stretching in the distance.


    The sky had almost reached a color that Khan knew far too well. Nitis seemed to fight against the dawn and dy its arrival, but the sky was about to bepletely azure. A proper morning was about to arrive, even if it were already afternoon.


    The group''s task was to take care of the monsters that came out of the mountain chain and tried to expand into the in that bordered it. The first part of the Niqols'' n was to contain and iste the effects of the sunlight before proper cleaning operations could start.


    Khan inspected his surroundings while patting Snow''s neck to sent it away. The area was quiterge, but the mountain chain didn''t offer manyfortable paths. It had two narrow canyons that could act as entrances, but they were rtively close, so the group could take care of both if they went slightly deeper into the in.


    The three Niqols imitated Khan''s movements among those tense moments. The academic year didn''t say anything about their battle prowess, but Khan''spanions were weak. Liiza had confirmed that after the professors conveyed the n to everyone.


    The Niqols had high standards, so their weak students weren''t as bad as the weak recruits. Still, that knowledge didn''t reassure Khan too much, especially after seeing the size of the mountain chain with his own eyes. There could be thousands of Tainted animals there. They could overwhelm him even if only one percent of them managed to mutate correctly and leave the canyons.


    "[Keep your Aduns close]," Khan ordered.


    Everything could potentially go well. The monsters could fight each other before leaving the mountain chain. That would ease the group''s work and even eliminate it if they were lucky. However, Khan wanted to prepare for the worse, including abandoning the in if the situation became too dangerous.


    The three Niqols didn''t hesitate to nod. They didn''t even notice how Khan''s ent was quite good for someone who had been on Nitis for only four months. They were too tense to consider others when the two canyons in the rocky barrier in the distance released an ominous feeling.


    Khan had made sure to bring the group two kilometers from the mountain chain so that they would have enough time to evaluate the nature of the threat ande up with a n. The two canyons were only a few hundred meters from each other, so it didn''t matter which exit the monsters chose to take.


    Khan''s eyes flickered when he sensed something off in the area in front of him. A vague solitary figure peeked out of the left canyon and started to drool when it saw the four students in the distance.


    The figure shot out of the canyon and charged at full speed toward Khan''s group. Exiting the narrow entrance allowed the four students to inspect its features. The creature had long dark-red fur, the massive body of a four meters tall bear, and a skull-like cover on its head.


    Khan used thest feature to recognize it as a mutated Talelos. Its body appeared stable. The creature had transformed into a monster. Yet, there seemed to be something off with its aggression and the drool overflowing from its mouth.


    "[Do me a favor]," Khan announced while stepping forward. "[Let me fight it alone]."


    Khan didn''t hesitate to draw his first-grade knife and rotate it in his hand. He appeared quite skilled with that weapon, but his experience didn''t go beyond his solitary training.


    "[We should fight together]!" Kakhirined before repeating the same phrase in the humannguage out of fear that Khan might have misunderstood him.


    "[I''m the main asset in this group]," Khan exined calmly while gazing at his threepanions. "[I can''t fight properly if I don''t know how strong I am]."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I have a dinner tonight, and I can''t attend it with my current schedule unless I publish less. There will be only 2 chapters for demonic sword and 1 for chaos today. I hope you understand my need for this partial break.

 Chapter 175 - Sadistic

    The confidence that Khan radiated left the three Niqols speechless. The monster was drawing near at high speed. They could almost feel the ground under them tremble due to its heavy body mming on the in while it charged forward, but Khan appearedpletely at ease with his back toward the creature.


    The three Niqols were only in the first year, and their battle prowess wasn''t great, but they could understand Khan''s reasons. The period after the sr wind didn''t feature any hunt since the creatures that could mutate had already mutated. Other parts of Nitis had seen monsters in the past months, but that didn''t apply to the area under the control of the academy.


    Khan didn''t have the chance to test the skills developed during that time due to the absence of opponents, and the Niqols didn''t usually rely on sparring sessions to improve, which left him basically out of options.


    However, a single monster hade out of the mountain chain now. It was the perfect chance for Khan, and it would also benefit the three Niqols since they would get an idea of the creature''s power without fighting it themselves. The other mutated Talelos would probably develop different abilities, but their enhanced physical strength should remain a constant, so it wasn''t wrong to study it.


    "Be careful," Elita said when it became clear that none of them would oppose Khan.


    Khan limited himself to nod before turning to shoot ahead. His figure transformed into a shadow that approached the monster at high speed. The creature had covered almost half of the path that divided it from the students, and it didn''t slow down at all when it noticed the iing opponent.


    The two drew closer until their sh became imminent, but Khan darted on the left before the skull-like cover could m on his chest. His body spun as he gathered the entirety of his momentum on his right foot before delivering a strong blow that hit on the monster''s neck.


    The monster was immense. It was a mass of muscles and fur that was taller than Khan even when standing on its four legs. The Niqols almost believed that the creature would have pushed him away due to the sheer might that its charge carried, but their mouths opened in astonishment when they saw it flying to the right.


    The mutated Talelos was as surprised as the Niqols. Khan''s timing had been perfect. His kick hadnded on the monster when its four legs didn''t touch the ground, and theck of a foothold had made pushing it away easier. However, he still had to release enough power to move that heavy mass of muscles.


    The monster continued to shoot forward as it moved to the side. Khan had kicked it away, but it retained the momentum umted during its charge, so it flew diagonally before crashing on the ground and rotating to create a long hole. The beast took a while to stop, but Khan was already in front of it by then.


    The new position allowed Khan to notice a few details that he had missed from a distance. The skull-like cover resembled a mask made of bones that grew from the creature''s forehead and ended past its chin. Those animals probably had issues eating with that tough shield in front of the mouth. The monster also had long curved wsing out of its four legs, and its fur carried the faint smell of blood.


    The creature tried to stand up, but Khan shot toward its neck while raising the first-grade knife to his side. That situation appeared perfect to test the Divine Reaper, so he didn''t hesitate to seize it.


    Khan deployed a technique that fused his martial arts. He elerated before stopping right in front of the monster''s neck. His ankles rotated, and his whole body followed as he stretched his left arm forward.


    Mana gathered on his knife and enveloped it in an azure membrane that carried sharp properties. The speed of the blow was incredible, and the power of Khan''s energy fused with the innate features of the weapon to create what seemed to be an unstoppable attack, but the impact with the dark-red fur brought only disappointment.


    The knife managed to pierce the monster''s thick skin, but only half of the de seeped into its body. Khan frowned while looking at the scene, but an angry growl soon reached his ears and forced him to focus on the battle.


    The monster turned its head and fixed its angry gaze on Khan. He could see its bloodshot eyes from behind the holes in the skull-like cover. The creature seemed in a frenzy, but it still spent one second in that exchange of nces before roaring and swinging its left paw toward him.


    ''The membrane must have broken before touching its skin,'' Khan concluded in his mind before jumping back to dodge the iing attack.


    A trail of blood came out of the monster''s neck when the knife left the wound. The weapon had managed to reach decent depths due to its natural enhancements, which only made the creature angrier.


    Khan looked at the bloodied knife while he continued to retreat. No mark had appeared on its edges or surface. The failed execution from before didn''t damage it at all, and he heaved in relief at that sight.


    The magic weapon appeared far more resilient than the null-grade knives, making Khan desire to test his techniques again. His execution had been almost perfect. Now, he only needed to practice until his new abilities became reliable.


    The failure in performing hisst technique correctly showed him the reason for the sixty-five points assigned to the Divine Reaper when using it alone. The monster would have been able to hit Khan if it weren''t for the quick moves of the Lightning-demon style, which would have probably left him badly injured. A single mistake had almost doomed him.


    The weakness of the Divine Reaper was evident. It was impossible to use its techniques before reaching thepetent proficiency level because a single failed execution could lead to a deadly response. Still, that level of expertise didn''t change that an opponent could dodge an attack and seize the same openings.


    ''It feels so weak on its own, but the army still gave it sixty-five points,'' Khan thought as he stopped retreating and inspected the monster standing up. ''Maybe my perception ispletely off since I started training with a good martial art right away.''


    The monster charged ahead, but Khan reached its side before it could pick up speed. A single kick managed to make it crash on the ground again, which made him prepare the knife in no time.


    Khan approached the creature''s rear legs at that time. He performed a sprint to reach his target quickly and umte momentum, and his whole body rotated to give power to his swinging motion.


    Theplete absence of obstructions felt during the technique made Khan sure about its perfect execution. His knife had gone smoothly through the monster''s leg, but its flesh had yet to show the effects of his attack.


    The monster roared in anger again when it noticed Khan standing behind it. The creature quickly tried to straighten its body to turn and squash him, but it fell to the side when its weight moved on the damaged leg.


    Khan saw the creature''s fur opening into a gory mess and bending in an odd shape. It turned out that he had cut hair, skin, muscles, and femur in a single attack. The monster actually started falling on him since that limb gave up on trying to support its weight.


    Khan had to retreat again, but a smile inevitably appeared on his face. He had always known that the Divine Reaper''s offensive power was great, but he didn''t believe it could reach such insane levels. After all, his opponent was a monster that could endure his kicks, but its innate defenses couldn''t do anything against his knife.


    ''Ny-five points,'' Khan thought while looking at his knife. ''This is simply too great!''


    His greatest weakness had disappeared. Khan could finally disregard the stronger bodies that the monsters had. He could even kill them in one blow if he hit the right spot. The only problem was how much he could rely on those abilities.


    The scenes that followed left the three Niqols inspecting the scene speechless. The monster couldn''t do much now that it couldn''t use one of its legs. It crawled as its aggression tried to make it reach its targets, but it wasn''t a proper threat anymore, not for Khan at least.


    Khan attacked the monsters in different spots. He focused on the other legs first to make sure that the creature couldn''t move at all before unleashing a flurry of techniques meant to improve his ability with the Divine Reaper.


    The scene appeared quite sadistic. Khan made sure to avoid vital organs with his attacks as he continued to test the Divine Reaper''s techniques, and the monster soon ended up in a gory state. Only its incredible resilience managed to keep it alive throughout that treatment, but it directlyy down at some point. The creature only wanted Khan to deliver the final blow, but he never satisfied its desires.


    Khan''s actions carried no cruelty. The monster had be nothing more than a training dummy in his eyes. He could use it to see how often his techniques failed before a proper opponent and how deeply he could cut it. The [Blood Shield] and Liiza''s ice had never given him a proper understanding of the Divine Reaper''s power, but he filled those gaps in his knowledge in no time.


    "Just kill it!" Edil eventually shouted. "Save your mana!"


    Edil''s scolding forced Khan to remember about the crisis. He had been too caught in his training that he had almost forgotten about his situation. The canyons on the rocky wall in the distance could release monsters at any time, and he wasn''t with his teammates.


    ''Well, you have stopped being useful for a while already,'' Khan thought while looking at the gory figure at his side.


    The bear had deep cuts on its four legs. One of them was even on the verge of separating from its base since it hung from a small patch of skin. Simr wounds filled the entirety of the creature''s body. Khan had gone all-out with his tests, making sure to understand his current level and in which fields he needed to improve.


    ''I''m not as precise as I wished,'' Khan summarized in his mind, ''And I fail to perform the techniques correctly far too often.''


    The membrane covered the knife again as Khan approached the monster''s head. The creature didn''t even oppose the weapon piercing its skull. It only wanted to die after the awful treatment that Khan had reserved it.


    "[Sorry, I''ve been too caught in it]," Khan shouted while drawing the knife and cleaning the blood on the monster''s fur.


    "We noticed!" Khakhir mocked, and hisment made everyoneugh.


    Khan began to walk back to hispanions, but he suddenly sensed multiple presences gathering near the canyons. Many skull-like covers soon peeked out of the exits as his eyes remained fixed on those spots. There seemed to be ten monsters ready to get out of the mountains, and some of them even showed signs of special abilities.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to shoot back to hispanions before turning to face the mountain chain. His knife stood in front of him as he bent his legs and prepared for the imminent battle.


    The three Niqols did the same, but Khan almost sensed their hesitation. Still, that feeling didn''te from their inexperience or weak battle prowess. He couldn''t me them when he was experiencing simr feelings.


    The new monsters appeared far calmer than the first. The ten creatures were all mutated versions of the Talelos, but the transformations had affected them differently. Their furs carried various colors, and their skull-like masks also had different shapes. However, two of them stood out among the group.


    Those two monsters were bigger than theirpanions. One of them had mes burning on its pale-red fur while the other released a dark gas from under its mask. It was clear that they had developed abilities.


    ****


    Author''s notes: 3-4 hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 176 - Abilities

    Ten monsters weren''t a force that regr students could face in an open field and without any n. Khan had seen a group of more than twenty Niqols almost losing against one creature with abilities, so the sight of that pack made him hesitate.


    The situation wasn''t exactly terrible. The monsters mutated from the Talelos seemed to retain the same physical weaknesses. They were massive and resilient, but they could only charge forward and swing their paws. Those simple offensive patterns were easy to handle when facing only one specimen.


    Fighting ten of them at the same time was a big problem, but Khan could imagine a group of Niqols with exceptional battle prowess winning that fight. It would take them some preparations and a slow approach, but the battle was feasible.


    Khan would have even felt confident in dealing with ten monsters on his own if his proficiency with the Divine Reaper had reached thepetent level. His attacks with the knife were deadly and ignored every protection, but that happened only when he managed to perform them correctly.


    The speed and flexibility of the Lightning-demon style, the deadly powering from the Divine Reaper, and the [Blood Shield] gave Khan aplete set of abilities that turned him almost unbeatable against those types of opponents. The issue was that his foundation had deep ws. Hecked experience with his new techniques, and they were far from perfect.


    Those hypothetical ns were almost pointless in front of the two big monsters. The ominous feeling radiated by the pale-red mes and the dark gas dered how the pack wouldn''t only rely on mere physical attacks and simple charges. Those creatures could probably express the same deadliness that Khan had just started to feel proud of.


    Khan inspected the situation from every angle and perspective, but nothing changed. His battle prowess was unreliable, and hispanions were useless. They could probablyunch the iconic palm strikes of their species, but they would die as soon as the pack touched them.


    An ideal world where Khan managed to sprint through the monsters and perform ten perfect executions in a row existed, but he didn''t believe to be there. The previous tests had shown him that only two out of three attacks came out fine and that when the monster was already powerless. The tension of an actual battle would make his number of failures increase.


    "[Summon the Aduns]," Khan eventually ordered. "[We can''t fight this]."


    Edil wanted to give voice to a heroicment that could inspire the group to remain in the area and fight, but he didn''t lie to himself. He was willing to give his life for his, but his sacrifice would be pointless there.


    The Niqols silently agreed to Khan''s order and summoned the Aduns. The academy had prepared strategies for simr situations, so they didn''t mind abandoning their position so soon.


    A professor or other higher-ups would upy strategic areas that could make them able toe in the student''s aid rtively quickly. The closest soldier to Khan''s position would take three hours to arrive in the in, and the monsters couldn''t do too much damage in that period.


    The monsters didn''t charge toward the four students. They approached them slowly as if they were studying the scene. Still, Snow and the three dark Aduns'' descent forced the two ability users to react.


    The monster with mesing out of its fur roared before its hair pointed forward andunched a fewrge fireballs toward the descending eagles. The attacks were oddly fast for their size, but they destabilized before reaching their targets. Yet, their explosion filled the sky near the students with an expanding heatwave and fiery trails that reached the ground.


    The heatwave forced the Aduns to halt their descent and spread their wings to shoot outside its range. The Niqols showed ugly expressions at that sight, but Khan promptly turned to retreat.


    "[Let''s get out of their range]!" Khan ordered, and the Niqols understood his simple tactic, but the same went for the monsters.


    The eight normal monsters charged ahead after the fiery specimen growled. The ground trembled for real now that those heavy creatures stomped it repeatedly, but Khan didn''t fear them. They had started to run toote. The Aduns would have enough time to pick the students up and escape in the sky.


    Yet, even that seemed to be within the monsters'' calctions. The creature that was releasing ck gas pointed its mouth on one of the holes in its mask and blew while unleashing the full power of its lungs.


    Khan was holding back his speed on purpose to remain near the Niqols, and thetter weren''t too slow. They still met the superior standards that the aliens tried to create, so even their weak battle prowess was decent ording to human criteria. The Aduns in the sky moved freely and without obstruction, so they were only waiting for the students to put enough distance from the monsters before descending again.


    Nevertheless, the ck gas that the monster blew from behind its mask moved faster than students and Aduns. The rare light that had started to fill Nitis disappeared as the dark gas engulfed the area within four kilometers.


    Khan immediately noticed that his sensitivity to mana couldn''t help him in that environment. His senses couldn''t pierce that thin gas. He couldn''t even notice the three students behind him. He could see almost decently, but that was too little when eight monsters were running in that direction.


    Breathing became difficult, but Khan didn''t experience any violent reaction. Instead, the Niqols had it slightly worse since they stopped moving to crouch and cough. Their attunement with mana didn''t make them adapt to the new air quickly enough to avoid ending up in that condition.


    Khan found himself in a troublesome situation. He didn''t know howrge the cloud was, but nothing could catch him if he continued to sprint at full speed. He could save himself, but the three Niqols would die.


    On the other hand, the monsters couldn''t have the best teamwork. The two leaders with abilities probably were the only specimens smart enough toe up with simple hunting tactics. Those creatures had mutated less than seven hours ago. They couldn''t possibly know the full extent of their new powers.


    ''The two strong ones probably can''t sense me here either,'' Khan thought as he did his best to imagine the creatures'' simple mindset.


    The ten monsters had decided to create that group in less than seven hours. They had to belong to the same pack already, which would exin their instinctive teamwork. Khan could even guess that they had an innate talent toward the hunts due to their nature, but their intelligence couldn''t go too far.


    Khan could imagine only one tactic if he decided to consider the creatures intelligent enough to fuse their newly developed abilities with their usual hunting patterns. The eight normal monsters had shot ahead before the arrival of the cloud, which meant that they had to set their direction beforehand. They were probably still running even if the gas was suppressing their senses.


    ''If it''s just the eight without abilities¡­.'' Khan thought as determination appeared on his face.


    "[Focus on leaving the cloud]," Khan ordered as the Niqols started to straighten their backs. "[I''ll buy some time]."


    "No!" Kakhir shouted as a cough tried to interrupt his exnation. "You are more valuable than us during the crisis. Leave us here."


    Khan felt deep shame for having considered leaving the three students behind. His eyes widened in front of their timid determination. They were weak, scared, and useless in that situation, but they were already willing to sacrifice themselves for Nitis'' greater good.


    Kakhir revealed a weak smile when he thought that his words had managed to convince hispanion, but stupor filled his face when Khan grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back on his feet.


    "[Run in that direction and leave]" Khan ordered while pointing at their previous direction.


    "[Nitis has the priority]!" Kakhir shouted while dropping any intention to use the humannguage.


    "[I''m a human]," Khan smirked. "[I only care about battle merits]."


    Edil and Elita had recovered enough to hear the entirety of that conversation. The three Niqols weren''t too close to Khan, but they had learnt to know his character. They saw through that tant lie right away, andints immediately tried toe out of their mouths.


    "[They can''t catch me]," Khan interrupted them. "[Just go. I can''t fight with you slowing me down]."


    Khan continued to smile, which allowed the Niqols to see right through his intentionally rude words. He was trying his best to make them leave, even if that meant offending them, and their desire to live eventually made them ept his intentions.


    "[We''ll call the professor as soon as we exit this thing]," Elita promised as Kakhir helped her standing up.


    Edil nodded at Khan before the three resumed their march. Khan had kept track of the passage of time during that interaction. Almost a minute had passed, so the monsters had to be almost on him. However, the Niqols were still too close, so he sprinted in the direction where he hoped to find opponents.


    Khan felt angry at himself. He hated the fact that he had considered sacrificing the three Niqols when they were able to show such an intense determination. Khan felt the need to pay them back for teaching him how those pure feelings could survive even in an awful situation. He also needed to vent. Luckily for him, he could do both things at the same time.


    It felt strange to rely only on his vision after spending months using his sensitivity to mana as his first form of perception, but he didn''t forget how to use them. Khan could see clearly even while sprinting among the dark gas, and a huge figure eventually appeared in front of him.


    Khan didn''t even give time to the figure to be clearer. He elerated until his skin started to hurt and calcted the arrival of the sh perfectly.


    The normal monster continued its mad, blind charge through the cloud, but a vague figure suddenly appeared in the darkness before it. The shadow rotated on itself and dug the ground due to the amount of momentum umted in the sprint to throw a rotating kick.


    Khan''s sole mmed on the side of the monster''s head before thetter could realize what was happening. He had sessfully hit the uncovered part right behind the mask, and the creature ended up changing direction due to the violence released in the impact.


    Khan saw the monster sliding by his side, but he chased after it while rotating the knife in his hand. He stretched his arm until the tip of his weapon was right above its skull, and he performed a simple stabbing gesture once an azure glow shone.


    The knife didn''t release any sound when it pierced the monster''s head and dug deep into its brain. Khan didn''t even look at the creature after he retracted his weapon. He had performed the technique correctly, so his opponent was dead. That was the way of the Divine Reaper.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I didn''t expect the three hours to be so long. I was about to fall asleep on the keyboard yesterday, so I ended up hitting the bed. Today''s chapters will probably have some dy, but they wille out.

 Chapter 177 - Darkness

    More tall figures appeared around Khan as the monsters continued to charge forward. The dark gas had made them unable to notice the death of theirpanion, but they wouldn''t have cared anyway. They had precise but simple orders, and they didn''t dare to ignore them.


    Khan shot after the nearest monster. His sprint made him reach his opponent in no time, and his left arm stretched before the creature could notice him. However, the knife didn''t manage to pierce the beast''s skull when it stabbed its head.


    The monster noticed Khan at that point. It roared angrily as it turned toward while interrupting its charge. Three of its legs slid on the ground and created long holes as it tried to stop and swing its paw toward its opponent.


    Khan only needed to run around the creature to dodge the iing attack. He stabbed his opponent''s head again when he reached its side, but he ended up failing to execute the technique correctly again.


    The monster was livid. It tried to put strength in its rear legs and jump at Khan, but a kick mmed its head on the ground. The knife tried to pierce its skull again, but its bones managed to stop the weapon.


    ''Dammit!'' Khan cursed in his mind while interrupting the monster''s attempt to stand up with another kick.


    The creature growled to no end, but Khan''s kicks always managed to bring its head back to the ground. Swinging its paws didn''t help either because Khan could jump on the other side of its body before resuming his offensive. The monster felt powerless in front of the wless execution of the Lightning-demon style.


    A cracking noise eventually followed the thudding sounds generated by Khan''s relentless offensive. The monster died, but he only felt pissed at his ipetence.


    The other monsters had long since run past Khan while he was busy dealing with his opponent, but the darkness of the cloud didn''t allow him to find them. He could only sprint toward the students in the hope of finding something among that annoying gas.


    Khan had to reach the end of the cloud to find the other monsters. They were about to leave the gas and approach the students who had just stopped to call their Aduns, but he ran among them while throwing kicks left and right to attract their attention.


    The six monsters crashed on the ground, rolled on themselves, or ended shing with each other. Khan had only needed a few kicks to interrupt their charge, but he found six pairs of fierce eyes pointing at him afterward. His only constion was that he had finally left that annoying cloud.


    The three Niqols hesitated when they fixed their gaze on Khan''s back. He appeared incredibly small with those huge figures surrounding him. The monsters stood up as angry growls came out of their mouths. They hadpletely forgotten about their targets after receiving those kicks. They only wanted to pounce at the human now.


    Khan tightened the grip on the knife. He felt no fear in front of those threatening monsters. His figure radiated pure confidence.


    The monsters seemed able to sense Khan''s power. They were angry and even rather stupid, but their instincts told them that their opponent was strong. Their sensitivity to mana was working now that they had left the cloud, and they couldn''t help but hesitate in front of that clear confidence.


    The Aduns screeched when theynded on the ground and let the Niqols climb on their backs, but the monsters didn''t react to that event. They remained still and left their eyes on Khan. They feared what would happen if they dared to lose their concentration.


    One of the monsters began to bend forward, and that slight movement marked the beginning of the battle. Khan shot ahead and thrust his knife forward once the skull-like mask filled his view. His weapon pierced those bones and dug the flesh behind them before creating a hole in the creature''s head.


    A faint satisfaction spread inside Khan when he saw life abandoning the monster''s eyes, but pain took its ce as an unstoppable forcended on his side. He lost his grip on the knife as he flew above the monster to his right and blood umted in his mouth.


    The monster stood on two feet and swung its paw toward Khan. He couldn''t dodge the iing sharp ws while airborne, so he moved the [Blood Shield] on his right forearm while crossing his arms in front of his chest.


    The paw hit the forearm and flung Khan further away. He mmed on the ground and rolled on himself as the massive force generated by that simple attack vanished. Still, he soon managed to nt his feet on the terrain and stop himself.


    His right sleeve was in pieces, and part of it hung on his hand. Khan tore it apart as he unsheathed the null-grade knife and threw it in his left palm. The gesture revealed how four bloody cuts had appeared on his right forearm, but they seemed pretty superficial.


    The monsters had charged ahead as soon as Khan had mmed on the ground, and one of them was even about to fall on him after he drew the knife, but the creature ended up hitting nothing. Khan sprinted among his opponents and reached the other side of the group before jumping toward one of the enemies.


    Khan performed an airborne spin before mming his heel on the monster''s mask. Cracks opened on those bones as the creature''s head crashed on the ground and dug a deep hole.


    The sudden stop made the monster''s back rise, but it was too heavy to perform aplete flip. Khan could stab his knife downward, and the azure glow covering its surface stopped shining on the dark fur when it dug the creature''s nape.


    Khan immediately jumped backward while taking out the knife from the deadly wound. A monster immediately fell on his previous position and turned the corpse''s head into a gory pulp of fur and blood. Nothing would have been able to save Khan if that attack had hit him, but he had learnt from his previous mistake.


    A monster approached Khan from behind, but it didn''t escape his senses. Khan turned before sprinting to the creature''s side and stabbing his glowing knife on the spot right next to its mask, but only the tip pierced the tough skin.


    The creature''s head performed a sharp movement as it turned toward Khan, and the knife ended up snapping in half when the mask hit its side. A swinging paw followed that gesture, but it found no one once the monsterpleted the attack.


    Khan cursed in his mind while running toward the corpse with the first-grade knife stabbed in its mask. He threw away his broken weapon once reaching his destination, but a pale-red glow spread in the area when he crouched.


    A dense sphere of mana suddenly entered the range on Khan''s senses. He didn''t need to raise his head to understand what was about to arrive, so he quickly pulled out the knife from the mask and ran away. The sound of an explosion reached his ears while he ran away, and a heatwave eventually engulfed him.


    Khan felt hot, but the heatwave didn''t hurt him. He continued to sprint for a few seconds before stopping and turning to gain a clear idea of his situation.


    The four normal monsters had stopped attacking now that their leaders had stepped into the battlefield. A trail of dark smoke came out of Khan''s previous position. The monster''s corpse wasn''t burning, but its charred skin continued to release an ominous gas that tried to hide the two huge figures that hade out from the cloud.


    The two leaders had run through the cloud to hide their arrival, but Khan had been fast enough to dodge their attack. The two monsters had their hungry eyes on him now, and their underlings imitated them as growls resounded from behind their masks.


    Khan replied with his cold gaze. The battle had changedpletely after the arrival of the two leaders, and he didn''t know how smart it was to be part of it. He had managed to kill four monsters, but the previous exchanges had highlighted how unreliable his prowess was.


    The first-grade knife returned inside the sheath as Khan began to run away. Angry roars followed that gesture, and the same pale-red light from before shone around him, but he didn''t care. The battle was over for him.


    Khan ran on the in until Snow had enough room to pick him up without entering the range of the fiery specimen. It didn''t take long before he was high in the sky, far away from the monsters.


    The three Niqols soon reached him, and the group remained above the monsters to keep track of their movements. They had to stay there until a stronger soldier showed up and cleared the area before resuming their task there.


    The monsters didn''t do much after losing their targets. They advanced for a while, but more creatures eventually came out of the mountain chain and started fighting them for control of the in.


    A messy battle unfolded, and its size increased as its noises attracted more packs living in the mountain chain. The group could confirm the existence of almost fifty monsters, and many of them turned out to be different abilities.


    Khan and the others never had a chance to defend the area, but that was fine. The Niqols had actually expected something like that to happen once the sunlight started to shine on the surface. The students'' role was to dy those creatures once stronger assets arrived to clear the area.


    Of course, the situation wasn''t so desperate elsewhere. The mountain chain was one of the crowded areas on Nitis, so the Niqols already expected Khan and the others to be unable to defend it. They had actually predicted that they would lose control of most of the in the initial days of the crisis.


    Edil updated the Niqols in charge of handling the various stronger assets on the changes that the in experienced. He kept count of the number of monsters and described their abilities urately so that the experts nearby could decide if their powers were up to the task.


    Kakhir had to separate from the rest of the group to follow a few monsters that decided to run away from the bloody battle unfolding on the in. The specimens with abilities were trying to erge their packs by subduing their opponents, but it took almost an hour before a clear hierarchy formed.


    The monsters had to wait and recover at that point. They ate their deadpanions and slept. Khan and the others could start to rx and focus on something else, and he even decided to meditate during those hours.


    His body had been able to endure a direct hit from a monster, but his insides felt off. A vast bruise had even appeared on his side due to that attack, but he couldn''t deny his slight satisfaction.


    Khan had struggled against a single monster on his first hunt on Nitis, but he had just killed four of them in little more than a few exchanges. He had grown incredibly strong in mere months, and he had yet to perfect his abilities too. It felt unreal how much had changed.


    The screech of an Aduns awakened Khan from his meditation. An eagle with peculiar dark-red feathers flew in the area while carrying a middle-aged woman who wore a serious expression.


    Khan didn''t know that Niqols, but she didn''t waste time announcing herself. She appeared in a hurry while she descended toward the resting pack and pointing at the various monsters.


    A dark sphere came out of her fingers and expanded as it descended toward the pack. Some monsters noticed the event and alerted everyone with their roars, but the attack moved too quickly. It only took a few seconds to transform into a ck halo that enveloped all the specimens.


    Cries of pain resounded, but Khan couldn''t study what was happening since the halo hindered his vision. The technique remained active until everything went silent and made the woman decide to disperse her darkness.


    The scene that the dispersion of the technique revealed left Khan speechless. The pack had disappeared. Patches of blood stained the ground, but he couldn''t see anything else there. The darkness had also devoured the short grass in that area.


    ****


    Author''s notes: 3-4 hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 178 - Grasshoppers

    The woman didn''t even look at the ground after retracting her technique. She shot in the distance to go after Kakhir and handle the monsters that had separated from the main pack. Khan, Edil, and Elita limited themselves to follow her departing figure with their astonished gazes.


    It was rare to see strong soldiers in action. Khan had seen something simr on Istrone when Captain Foxnor had taken out many Kred with his lightning, but that event didn''t make him grow used to that power. He had surpassed the human limits long ago, but that was apletely different realm. He couldn''t find words to describe it.


    Edil and Elita felt a simr surprise. They had remained amazed at Khan''s battle prowess, but the woman had shown them what levels mana could make them reach. It was inspiring and scary learning that a single person could wield so much power.


    Their amazement didn''t make them forget about the crisis. The light filling the environment was a constant reminder that Nitis was turning upside-down. Its rich fauna was transforming and expanding, stretching into areas that had typically been safe.


    Khan, Edil, and Elita returned to the ground and waited for other monsters toe out of the mountain chain. Kakhir soon returned while wearing an amazed expression that made hispanions realize how stunning it had been for him to see the woman in action. The group could continue their task, but nothing interesting happened even after hours passed.


    A few solitary monsters came out of the canyons at random intervals, but the group took care of them easily. Those creatures had probably remained hidden while therge pack had gone to the in, which said a lot about their power. One of them ended up having a strange ability that gave it a pinkish halo, but Khan killed it before learning what it did.


    The three Niqols didn''t let Khan fight on his own anymore, but those solitary opponents couldn''t make them sweat, especially with him in the frontlines. The three aliens wanted to improve, but the knife would eventually pierce the creatures'' heads and put an end to that training.


    The situation had stabilized to a level that the four students could handle, and the same happened in many other areas as the stronger soldierspleted their first round of help.


    The Niqols seemed to handle the crisis well, but the truth was far different. The aliens left arge part of Nitis on its own to focus on regions featuring habitations or other structures. They didn''t have enough forces to inspect those ces either since all the strong soldiers had to help with the various battlefields.


    "Khan, they are asking about you," Edil said at some point while the cube glowed in his hand.


    Khan had sat on the ground to meditate since monsters had stoppeding, and a frown appeared on his face when he heard Edil. It didn''t make any sense for someone to want to talk with him directly.


    Khan picked his cube and contacted Edil to join the connection that he had set, and the unfamiliar male voice of a Niqols resounded in his mind as soon as the alien boy put his device away. ''There has been a problem with Rodney. Your area has calmed down, so we need you to reach his group.''


    ''What happened?'' Khan asked.


    ''It''s better if you go there yourself,'' The Niqols said before sending a map with precise instructions on how to reach the current position of Rodney''s group.


    Those words were basically orders, so Khan didn''t hesitate to stand up and summon his Aduns. A quick exchange of salutes happened before he jumped on Snow and left the in.


    Rodney''s group was only an hour away. They handled a rtively barren area that featured small animals, but Khan didn''t know too much about them since each briefing had happened separately. What he knew came from his friend''sints and Asyat, who happened to be with him.


    The sky had bepletely clear by then. The night had arrived ording to his phone, but the sun seemed on the verge of rising. Khan actually didn''t know if he would see it, but his thoughts didn''t linger on that topic for too long.


    The faint secrecy of the Niqols handling themunication had made Khan curious and worried. Rodney had always been quite easygoing about everything, but he was by no means stupid. Khan even believed that hispanion understood the politics behind their situation better than everyone else.


    Asyat was also a good friend. She had continued to hit on Khan even after Liiza had started to join the parties, but she wasn''t as clingy as the other girls who flirted with him. He respected that part of her.


    A rocky, barren area unfolded in Khan''s vision as he reached the spot marked by the map in the cube. Hills and short mountains created an uneven terrain filled with cavities, narrow caves, and a few valleys. It had the potential to generate manyirs, but it was too poor for big animals.


    Khan found a Niqols sitting on the ground, and Snow didn''t hesitate to dive toward him. The boy''s name was Mikail. He revealed a broad smile when Khannded next to him, but his expression returned sad when he recalled what had happened to his group.


    "[Where are the others]?" Khan immediately asked.


    Mikail pointed at a descending path a few hundred meters in the distance. Two hills with odd shapes created a tunnel that led under the surface, but Khan couldn''t see anything from his position.


    "[We were doing fine]," Mikail exined, "[But a monster with hypnotic abilities appeared, and everything fell apart. The skill isn''t even too strong, but it''s hard to break out of it once it takes control of your actions]."


    "[Couldn''t you help the others]?" Khan questioned.


    "[I regained control of my body only after they left]," Mikail responded. "[I think the monster can''t control four of us at the same time, so I remained here and became able to move again only when I exited its range. The higher-ups told me to let you handle the situation when I notified them]."


    "[Why is that]?" Khan asked in a confused tone.


    "[I''m not sure]," Mikail answered. "[Maybe they are scared of political repercussions. We are still talking about a hypnotized human. Who knows what the monster is making him do]?"


    Khan suddenly realized how things could getplicated in that situation. The monster couldn''t have good intentions, so Rodney and the others probably were up to something terrible. That could lead to troublesome political issues if the Niqols were to handle everything poorly.


    Instead, the responsibility would fall on the humans if Khan were to mess things up. That was a simple political game that had to happen between the two species. Khan simply hated it because it involved lives.


    "[How can I even protect myself from hypnotic abilities]?" Khan questioned.


    Mikail was talking about the hypnotic ability as nothing irrelevant, but that was Khan''s main concern since he had no idea how to handle it.


    "[Right]," Mikail eximed when he recalled that Khan''s training probably had never touched those topics. "[You need to create a barrier around your head, something simr to a shield. Can you do it]?"


    Khan limited himself to nod. The mental barrier activated, but it didn''t push away his emotion. It created a protective membrane around his brain that hindered his sensitivity to mana but also blocked external influences.


    "[Good luck, Khan]," Mikail announced when he saw that Khan turned toward the tunnel. "[I wish our species weren''t so wary of each other]."


    "[It''s fine]," Khan revealed aforting smile after turning toward the boy. "[I''lle back in no time]."


    Mikail wore a smile too, but Khan only looked at it for a second before moving toward the tunnel. The light in the environment managed to illuminate the passage since the two rocky structures that made the ceiling left multiple openings. Still, he couldn''t see much anyway due to the various turns and narrow spots.


    Khan checked his cube before entering the tunnel. A simple call to Mikail revealed the nature of the species that lived in the area. The monster resembled a grasshopper, but it didn''t look too threatening. Its hypnotic ability was its only problematic feature, but that wouldn''t be an issue for Khan since he had prepared the barrier beforehand.


    Khan didn''t draw his knife. The biggest animal confirmed in that area resembled a small rat, so his kicks would be more than enough to handle every threat. The many narrow corners and turns of the tunnels didn''t suit the Lightning-demon style, but he didn''t want to riskmitting mistakes in that situation.


    The mental shield reduced the range of Khan''s sensitivity to mana, but he could still check his surroundings with it. He even approached every corner carefully to avoid falling prey to an ambush in areas that hindered his kicks. Still, nothing seemed to live in the initial parts of the tunnel.


    Khan advanced slowly but steadily. His careful steps would make rocks roll at times, and the echo of their noises made him understand how deep that underground structure actually was.


    Describing it as underground felt incorrect after Khan saw the tunnel opening into a rtivelyrge area. The sunlight shone from above him and highlighted the spots where the two hills failed to meet. He felt inside a long and intricate hole rather than in an actual cave, but the path kept descending, and some darkness eventually appeared in his vision.


    ''How far did they go?'' Khan wondered after he spent more than twenty minutes descending through that structure.


    Khan crossed tunnels, narrow cracks, and rtivelyrge rooms. The areas where the sunlight managed to arrive grew scarcer as he continued to descend, but he felt worried when he saw thepleteck of lifeforms. A few tracks and footsteps appeared on his path, but they only confirmed that he was heading on the correct way.


    A worrying thought filled Khan''s mind, and he felt pretty sure that Mikail shared it. The two didn''t speak about that matter in detail, but they knew that the Tainted animals weren''t too intelligent, especially those as small as grasshoppers.


    The monster''s orders would mainly involve food, which only gave an ominous aura to the matter in such a barren area. Khan didn''t want to think about the situation, but ideas inevitably appeared in his mind, and fears built up.


    A buzzing noise eventually began to fill the underground areas that Khan was crossing. That intense sound seemed able to make the rocky walls tremble and the terrain shake. It intensified as Khan moved forward, and it almost gained deafening properties when the structure opened into a dark gorge.


    Khan found himself on a narrow path that bordered a deep gorge. The area was rtively ample, and he could even notice a few holes connected to the surface on the ceiling about one hundred meters above him.


    The buzzing noise came from the darkness of the crack, but Khan couldn''t inspect it properly with his restrained sensitivity. He had to take his cube out and activate one of its functions to study the area properly.


    The azure symbols on the cube lit up and transformed into a torch that Khan didn''t hesitate to point at the crack. The buzzing noise suddenly went silent when that light shone on the rocky walls, and Khan couldn''t help but gulp when he saw the many ck grasshoppers hanging there. They basically filled the entire canyon, but they were nothing more than Tainted animals.


    ''Where is the monster?'' Khan questioned himself before moving deeper along the narrow path.


    The grasshoppers stopped releasing their noises as soon as the azure glow of the cube shone on them, but none of them dared to attack. Khan had plenty of room to perform his kicks there, so he didn''t feel any fear. He only worried about hispanions.


    A thudding noise eventually reached his ears. That sound spread from the depts of the area, which seemed to mark the end of the underground structure. A cavity appeared on his left as he pressed forward, and he didn''t hesitate to inspect it since the thuds came from there.


    The cavity wasn''t big. It barely stretched for eight meters, but Khan froze when the azure glow of the cube illuminated its contents. Multiple grasshoppers filled the walls and the ceiling of the small cave, but different figures upied its floor.


    Something had crushed those figures. They were nothing more than bloody pulps that of fur, flesh, and bones. Khan struggled to recognize them, especially since some grasshoppers were feasting on the floor. Yet, he couldn''t fail to notice Rodney sitting on one of thergest corpses.


    The thudding noise had stopped, but Khan quickly connected it to the bloody rock that Rodney wielded between his hands. He had clearly it to squash the various victims of the monster''s hypnotic ability. Hisst one was a headless corpse who had already lost most of its features, but its white hair and dark-blue skin remained impossible to ignore even in that state.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I didn''t expect the three hours to be so long. I was about to fall asleep on the keyboard yesterday, so I ended up hitting the bed. Today''s chapters will probably have some dy, but they wille out.

 Chapter 179 - Panic

    Everything was still. The grasshoppers had stopped moving. Rodney didn''t look at Khan, but his arms were in the air as he continued to wield the rock firmly. The cave was the embodiment of death and gore.


    Khan didn''t move. He preferred everything to remain still to hold on to the faint hope that he had imagined those scenes. Yet, a third humanoid figure suddenly entered his vision and forced him to think about his next move.


    Asyat was sitting on the ground. Her eyes didn''t move, which confirmed how she was under the effects of hypnosis. The monster was probably waiting for Rodney to finish with the other Niqols before moving to her.


    Khan''s eyes darted through the cavity. The grasshoppers barely showed differences among each other, but one of them was slightly bigger than the others. Moreover, a faint pressure came out of it and tried to reach his mind, but the mental shield prepared beforehand blocked it.


    The monster was at the bottom of the cave, on the other side of the corpses. Khan could reach it in less than two seconds. He even had enough room to kill it with a single blow, but he needed a little longer to ept the scenepletely.


    Khan''s figure slowly bent forward, but that slight movement made the entire roome back to life. The monster showed its wings and released the buzzing sound before every other grasshopper in the underground canyon did the same. The rocky surfaces started to tremble as the noise became deafening, and every insect in the cavity shot toward the exit.


    A series of ck figures filled Khan''s vision. They weren''t trying to attack him, but their escape made him lose track of the monster. Of course, that only involved his eyes. His sensitivity to mana didn''t manage to reach the end of the cave in its current state, but it could fill the entirety of the exit.


    Khan let the grasshoppers fly past him until a slightly different figure entered the range of his senses. His leg shot upward at that point, and rocks fell from the wall when his foot mmed on that surface.


    The grasshopper grew more chaotic. Their flight became messy and panicked, and the same went for their buzzing noise. Their cry lost the synchrony shown before and turned into a loud but and chaotic series of sounds.


    Khan''s leg remained on the wall until all the grasshoppers had left the cavity. His foot slowly left those rocks once everything was clear, and the squashed corpse of the monster appeared under his sole. A single kick had been enough to kill it.


    The pressure on his mental shield was no more, and his twopanions inside the cavity also started to regain control over their movements. Asyat bent to her side before voicing a series of deep breaths while Rodney threw the rock behind him before jumping off the corpse and nting his back on the wall.


    Khan didn''t need to question Mikail to understand that the hypnosis didn''t make you forget what you did. The boy recalled everything that had happened while he was under the monster''s control, so Khan felt sure that the same had happened to hispanions.


    "[Eset]," Asyat sobbed while covering her mouth.


    Her exmation made Khan aware of the corpse''s identity. Eset was a girl in the second year of the academy. She even had a boyfriend among the Niqols, but Rodney had transformed her head into a bloody pulp. Khan would have never recognized her if it weren''t for Asyat.


    "Khan," Asyat whimpered, and Khan checked the state of the underground gorge before walking toward the girl.


    The grasshoppers had lost their cool after the monster died. They were flying up and down the canyon without an apparent destination, and their buzzing noise filled the area. Still, they were virtually harmless, so Khan could ignore them.


    Khan crouched in front of Asyat, and the girl jumped in his arms. Her hands clutched his robe as she dug her face on his chest and started sobbing loudly. She had seen ugly stuff against the [Silent Groundsuckers], but thetest event had been too much for her.


    "Rodney," Khan whispered while caressing Asyat''s hair in the hope that it could help her calm down.


    The boy was trying to retreat even if his back had long since hit the wall. Rodney continued to push himself backward as his eyes remained fixed on Eset''s corpse.


    Rodney remained in that condition until retches climbed his throat. The boy turned to his right to puke, and Khan heaved a helpless sigh. He couldn''t even imagine what the two had to experience under the control of the monster. Rodney had seen his hands killing his ownpanion. He had to hear and feel the sounds and sensations that crushing a head with a rock caused. That event could break even the most stable minds.


    "It wasn''t your fault," Khan stated while Rodney wiped his mouth clean with his sleeve. "No one has trained against mental abilities."


    Rodney didn''t answer nor turn, but he seemed calmer after those words. Khan could turn toward Asyat. She was still sobbing on his chest, but she had also started to breathe regrly after his caresses.


    "[We have to leave this ce]," Khan whispered while reaching the side of Asyat''s head and lifting it toward him.


    Asyat''s teary glowing eyes soon shone on Khan''s face. He could see her transparent tears running down her cheeks. The girl had even left a wet patch on his robe, but he didn''t care. He only wanted to return to the surface and make sure to handle the situation correctly.


    The Niqols nodded weakly, and Khan helped her standing up. Asyat continued to cling to his robe, and he couldn''t find any reason to make her leave him. Even Liiza would understand her behavior in that situation.


    "Rodney?" Khan called while moving toward the exit.


    Asyat hid her face on his chest again when they walked over Eset''s corpse. Instead, Rodney remained crouched toward his puke. He appeared unable to look away from that disgusting spot on the ground.


    "Rodney!" Khan shouted while grabbing the boy''s shoulder, and thetter finally straightened his back to move his eyes on him.


    Rodney appeared in a daze. Complicated thoughts filled his mind, and Khan didn''t even try to guess them. He didn''t have time to give him emotional support now. His hands were literally full with Asyat already.


    "Let''s go," Rodney eventually said in a weak voice. "We must report this."


    Khan could only nod before exiting the cavity. Asyat voiced a high-pitched cry when she found herself in the middle of the swarm of grasshoppers. She directly hugged Khan and let him lead her.


    Rodney followed closely behind. He appeared fine among the grasshoppers, but the same lost expression filled his face while he reached his twopanions.


    Khan led the two through the passage, ignoring how Rodney got closer to his shoulder after each step. Asyat, the grasshoppers, and the vivid images of the previous scene made him fail to consider what the boy could think or try to do.


    Everything happened quickly. Rodney suddenly jumped in front of Khan and pushed Asyat. The girl was basically lying on Khan, so she didn''t oppose the attack at all. She flew backward, and her feet went past the passage''s edges in no time. She started to fall inside the canyon, but her hands were still clinging to Khan''s robe, so she dragged him with her.


    Khan saw the darkness of the canyon bing dangerously close. He almost lost the grip on his cube as Asyat''s weight threatened to make him fall inside that deep hole.


    "What are you even doing?!" Khan angrily shouted while grabbing Asyat''s forearm and making sure that she didn''t fall.


    The mental barrier still covered his brain, but he couldn''t fail to sense Rodney getting closer again. The boy seemed willing to push him too now, but he didn''t n to stay still.


    The Lightning-demon style had turned Khan''s legs into proper weapons capable of discharging inhuman strength. The Niqols were also generally light, and Asyat wasn''t an exception. He could put everything he had on jumping backward and pulling both of them out of that dangerous situation.


    Rodney almost fell from the cliff when Khan''s figure disappeared from its edges. The grasshoppers tried to make him lose his bnce, but he remained on the passage. However, a kicknded on his side as soon as he managed to turn.


    The attack flung Rodney on the right and made him crash on the rocky ground. The boy rolled on himself before mming on the wall. He tried to stand up, but a shadow reached him and made him stop.


    "What the fuck did you try to do?" Khan asked angrily while nting his foot at the center of Rodney''s chest.


    Asyat had crouched next to the wall behind Khan. She was hugging her knees as pure disbelief filled her expression. She had gone from watching Eset dying to almost falling inside the canyon, and Rodney had been significant in both events. Also, the grasshoppers were still flying around her, which only made her mental situation worse.


    "I''m protecting my position on Nitis!" Rodney exined while trying to straighten his back, but Khan only intensified his pressure and made him hit the ground again.


    "Protecting what?" Khan scolded. "You were under the effects of a monster. What''s there to protect?"


    "You are so na?ve," Rodney scoffed. "Do you think the army will let me stay here after learning what I did?"


    "So, you thought that killing her was the right call?" Khan shouted while applying even more pressure on his chest. "Why did you try to push me too then? Was that about your position too?"


    "I panicked," Rodney justified himself while diverting his gaze, but Khan suddenly kicked his face and made him faint.


    Blood came out of Rodney''s nose, but Khan didn''t care. He felt angry beyond reason. He was in the middle of a worldwide crisis, he had just added another gruesome scene to his memories, and hispanion had even tried to kill him.


    ''Why do they try so hard to make me hate humans?'' Khan cursed in his mind before turning to reach Asyat.


    The girl was traumatized, but Khan wasn''t in the right mindset to showpassion. He put an arm under her armpit and forced her to stand up. Asyat instinctively clung to his neck and hugged him tightly.


    Khan could sense her cold tears wetting his neck, but he ignored them. He wrapped his arm around her back and partially lifted her to lead her toward the tunnel. Rodney began to regain his senses when Khan reached him, but a second kick aimed at his face put him to sleep again.


    Khan then crouched to grab the boy''s cor and drag him through the hole. He had his hands full with Asyat and Rodney, but he barely felt their weight. He could march through the underground structure and cross every narrow area without facing great problems.


    Asyat even helped Khan with the fainted Rodney when one of the narrow areas appeared, but she immediately returned into his arms once they reached arger path. That would probably make Liiza reach her limits, but Khan couldn''t do much about that. He would dly let her freeze him as long as he could get out of that structure.


    Light eventually shone on his face. Khan exited the tunnel while holding Asyat in his right arm and dragging Rodney with his left. Mikail couldn''t help but show a confused expression at that scene, but he refrained from asking questions when he noticed how pissed Khan appeared.


    "[You have to leave me now]," Khan whispered in Asyat''s ear once they reached Mikail.


    The girl nced at Mikail before moving her eyes back on Khan. She nodded and hugged him tightly again. He even felt her dry lips leaving a kiss on his neck before she left him to sit next to the Niqols.


    "[Tie him up or something]," Khan vaguely ordered while taking out his cube. "[I have to report something]."


    *****


    Author''s notes: 2-3 hours for the next chapter, hopefully.

 Chapter 180 - Camp

    Khan reported everything that had happened in the underground structure urately. His report included Rodney''s unforgivable behavior, and Asyat''s cube soon lit up since the higher-ups of her species wanted her to confirm Khan''s version.


    The girl wasn''t in a good state, but she mustered her strength toplete the task. Mikail couldn''t help but shoot disgusted nces at Rodney after orders arrived in his cube. He almost couldn''t believe that he had considered that human hispanion just a few hours ago.


    "[They were right to be wary of us]," Khanmented when he saw Mikail standing up to drag Rodney to his Aduns.


    The Niqols had tied Rodney up with his own clothes. That couldn''t do much to keep someone capable of wielding mana still, but Mikail wouldn''t hold back from hitting the boy until he fainted if he happened to do something funny.


    The higher-ups had given Mikail orders to bring Rodney to one of the safe locations since he had be unreliable on the battlefield. Khan didn''t know what would happen to him, but he didn''t really care. Rodney had tried to kill him. Khan wouldn''t feel any pity for his situation.


    Mikail left the area, and Khan waited for new orders, but nothing arrived. Theck ofmunications confirmed how he and Asyat had to continue overseeing that area. Everything there had been rtively calm before the arrival of the monster, so no threats appeared now that Khan had killed that creature.


    Khan didn''t like that situation too much. He still felt pissed that Rodney could have resorted to such an extreme action only to save his position on Nitis. Attacking Asyat was one thing that Khan hated but understood. However, he couldn''t even begin to ept how Rodney had been willing to turn on him afterward.


    Khan and Rodney didn''t have a great rtionship, but they had slept in the same room multiple times. They were also members of the elite team sent on a political mission. That alone set specific rules for their behavior, but Rodney didn''t seem to think like him. He didn''t hesitate to try to push Khan down once he started defending Asyat.


    The absence of threats in the area worsened Khan''s situation. Asyat didn''t even try to hold back now that they had remained alone. She took his arm in her grasp and rested on his shoulder while he studied thend or meditated.


    The girl had managed to calm down, but she still used Khan as moral support. She even tried to kiss him a few times, but he always stopped her or directly dodged her attempts.


    It almost seemed that Asyat was doing that on purpose. An ignorant eye would see her attempts to kiss Khan as a form of maniption that exploited her recent experience. However, he knew the Niqols enough to understand that she was simply trying to vent the awfulness that she was feeling. He was the perfect alternative to a party in her situation.


    "[Why are you so hard to get]?" Asyatined after Khan dodged another kiss and made her lips end on his cheek. "[I know that you have no interest in me, but can''t you make an exception today]?"


    "[We are in the middle of a worldwide crisis]," Khan tried to change the topic.


    "[One more reason to stop holding back]," Asyat responded while diverting her gaze. "[We might die full of regrets tomorrow]."


    Khan inspected the girl lying on his shoulder. Her feelings appeared serious, so he felt the need to address them adequately, especially after what she had gone through. "[I like you, but I already have someone. I''m sorry]."


    "[Everyone knows about your mysterious girlfriend]," Asyat announced before making sure that his arm could feel her breasts, "[But can''t you make an exception]?"


    ''Liiza will kill me for sure,'' Khan sighed in his mind before pulling his arm out of that tempting situation.


    "[I can''t. I don''t want to]," Khan replied in a serious tone. "[You probably wouldn''t want it like this either. Take your time to ept what has happened]."


    Asyat remained speechless in front of Khan''s honest words. She sniffed as a tear ran down her cheek. Her sad voice followed as she bent toy on Khan''sp. "[Let me rest for a bit then]."


    Khan couldn''t do much there. He hoped for the arrival of monsters, but the rocky region betrayed him. He could only remain in that position as Asyat did her best not to fall asleep to forget about everything that had happened.


    ''This is only the first day,'' Khanmented in his mind as minutes passed.


    The first day with the daylight was bound to be harsh due to the sudden increase in the monsters'' poption. The initial wave of packs expanding intonds that they had always avoided would create many battlefields, and the Niqols didn''t have enough strong assets to handle all of them. They could salvage their important areas by letting the students buy some time, but they had already epted that they would lose control of most of the.


    Easier days would follow the initial outburst. The monsters would settle in new environments, which would give the Niqols the chance to create specific hunts. The students would have to handle the creatures within the range of their abilities while the stronger assets would take care of the nearby areas that featured too many threats.


    Still, the situation would worsen afterward. The sunlight would continue to fill Nitis for two months, ording to the calctions of the Global Army. That time was enough to trigger new mutations on monsters that had already stabilized.


    That would give birth to stronger monsters which the students couldn''t even hope to approach. The Niqols considered that the worst moment of the crisis since it would require their best assets to work together to clear multiple areas.


    The situation would stabilize again after that due to the overall fall in the Tainted animals'' poption. The monsters wouldn''t have anything with mana to eat, which would stop further mutations and force them to rely on fights inside their packs.


    Everything was about surviving the first day and the dangerous phase, but Khan couldn''t feel too good about that after seeing what a single unique monster had managed to cause. One student was dead, and another had betrayed him for political reasons. The Niqols would have to abandon more areas if other battlefields ended up facing the same losses.


    Mikail never returned to the barren area. The Niqols sent him to help Khan''s previous group. Instead, he and Asyat eventually had to stand up to fight a strange rat that had developed the ability to spit poison.


    The battle against that creature didn''tst long since Khan killed it in three kicks, but the event finally made Asyat leave hisp and arm. She had calmed downpletely. She only wanted to attend the party meant to mourn the losses of the first day now.


    Hours had to pass before the Niqols in charge of the variousmunications summoned the students back to one of the safe areas established after studying the expansion of the different mutated animals. It was enough for them to send a map through the cubes to notify everyone of the temporary headquarters created after a whole day of reports, and Khan remained stupefied by how quickly the aliens had managed to act after he and Asyat reached their destination.


    The Niqols had established an encampment in a cold area hidden among a mountain chain. That region was rtively close to the academy. It actually was in the most external defensiveyer decided before the arrival of the daylight, which proved how sessful the first day had been.


    A few short structures that had specific purposes stood in the middle of a sea of tents. Only experts who could concoct potions, provide medical care, or help in the disposition of the troops could enter those buildings. Every other habitation was for the students, and the aliens didn''t even bother to assign names to them.


    Khan didn''t know how the Niqols had managed to create something like that in a mere day. He guessed that they had used some of the underground tunnels, but he remained stupefied nheless.


    The actual state of the camp made his amazement vanish quickly. Khan noticed multiple groups of Niqols gathered in empty spots with drinks in their hands or instruments ying sad chants. Many of them featured bandages or new injuries, and their dark mood revealed how the first day didn''t go too well for them.


    Khan moved among the tents until a familiar pair of eyesnded on his side. He turned and saw Liiza staring at him whileying her back on one of the metal sticks that kept the tent open. Her gaze immediately went on his right sleeve to check the injury created by the mutated Talelos, but she quickly stopped inspecting him after confirming that he was fine.


    Khan did something simr. He confirmed that Liiza was fine before diverting his gaze and proceeding on his way. Liiza entered her tent at that point. She had seen her boyfriend, so she could sleep easily now.


    Many Niqols greeted Khan with warm salutes, but some seemed to feel some hesitation when their eyes fell on him. Something was holding them back from showing their usual affection toward him.


    Khan didn''t initially understand the reason behind that odd behavior, but everything became clear when he found the recruits living on their own in tents at the edges of the encampment. He could recognize ostracism when he saw it.


    George, Veronica, Kelly, and Brandon were standing outside of their tents when Khan approached them. His arrival made them stop their conversation and hurry toward him, but their reactions differed greatly.


    Veronica appeared worried, George ran while eyeing the couple, Kelly was angry, and Brandon was confused. Only one event could make them react so differently. Khan could confirm that they knew about Rodney with a simple nce.


    "What have you done?" Kelly asked while trying to keep her voice down.


    "Fought against many monsters mainly," Khan shrugged his shoulders.


    "Don''t y dumb," Brandon continued. "We know that you sold Rodney to the Niqols. You should have let the humans handle him!"


    "Do you know what he has done?" Khan asked as a displeased expression appeared on his face. "He didn''t only try to kill a Niqols. He even tried to push me down a cliff when I tried to help her. Did you want me to leave such a dangerous character around while we still can''t contact the Global Army?"


    The four fell silent when they heard those words. They didn''t expect the situation to be so serious. Their knowledge came from the rumors that had already filled the camp, but they were obviously iplete.


    "Don''t listen to them," Veronica announced. "You did the right thing. I wouldn''t feel safe with someone like him fighting with us."


    "She is right," George added. "I understand the political issues connected to your actions, but we are risking our lives here. I''m not dying because of him."


    "What if he has ruined everything that we have aplished until now?" Kellyined. "Wouldn''t that make our efforts useless?"


    "Useless but alive," George repeated. "I would have reported Rodney myself if I were in his situation. The guy actually tried to kill him!"


    "He could have handled it better!" Kelly continued. "The political repercussions that this-."


    "Kelly, I don''t care," Khan interrupted her before turning to walk toward the tents more in the center of the encampment.


    Some Niqols might resent the humans after what had happened, but Khan knew that many wouldn''t care, and he preferred to spend time with them. He had yet to check on Doku and Azni even. Also, he wanted to find a drink and vent the annoying feeling that Rodney''s actions had generated.


    The four recruits didn''t initially let him go. That matter wasn''t as simple as his nights spent in the wild. Khan had reported one of them to the Niqols authorities.


    Yet, Doku suddenly appeared in their path. Bandages came out from his sleeve, but he seemed to be fine otherwise. His expression was quite serious, but he didn''t hesitate to smile when he and Khan exchanged a nce.


    "Khan, I was looking for you," Doku quickly exined. "The higher-ups are nning the clearing operations, and they want you to lead one of them."

 Chapter 181 - Favor

    The four recruits remained speechless. Even George and Veronica didn''t like that the Niqols would have the upper hand when it came to handling Rodney. They could ignore the matter since it involved Khan, but Doku''s words had reminded them of a simple political tactic.


    Selling someone to the enemy to gain personal benefits was amon practice. Khan had even done the same to gain ess to the Niqols'' old methods and build a promising future as an ambassador. However, he had identally done something simr by reporting Rodney.


    Khan had improved his position by giving Rodney away. In theory, that result benefited the Global Army since it brought one of the recruits closer to the Niqols.


    Even Kelly had to remain silent in front of those results. The Global Army now had an asset deeply connected to the Niqols'' younger generations. The higher-ups of the alien society also relied on him when it came to important matters. Khan''s actions and performance had led to a striking sess in the political mission. Kelly couldin about his methods, but she had to remain silent in front of his undeniable achievements.


    On the other hand, Khan felt conflicted about the matter. Rodney''s issue had left a bad taste in his mouth, but he had been out of options after the boy had tried to push him inside the gorge. Still, gaining benefits from that event made him feel dirty.


    That oue had been a coincidence that Khan could connect to his performance in the in, but it felt bad since it came right after Rodney''s betrayal. He could findfort in the fact that he was getting closer to the Niqols and to his final goal of being together with Liiza in the open, but he still found himself split between two worlds.


    It seemed that Khan could grow closer to the Niqols only by distancing himself from the humans. He didn''t mind that trade, but he wondered whether a better way existed. After all, he had found good people among the humans. Khan couldn''t forsake Lieutenant Dyester, Martha, George, and Veronica.


    Khan didn''t let the conflict inside his mind appear on his face or actions. He didn''t hesitate to nod at Doku before hurrying next to him. The four recruits could only remain in silence as they gazed at the two disappearing among the sea of tents.


    "[Is Azni okay]?" Khan asked while the two moved among the tents.


    Multiple injured Niqols filled his vision. Some nodded when they noticed his gaze, and others raised their cups while showingplicated smiles. It seemed that having Doku next to him confirmed his position as a true ally and made the aliens ignore how a member of his species had tried to kill one of theirpanions.


    The overall situation in the camp wasn''t too poor. Many had suffered injuries, but Khan couldn''t see anyone in a serious condition. Still, he didn''t delude himself, especially after what he had witnessed in the underground canyon. His question about Azni came from that worry.


    "[She is better than me]," Dokuughed while lifting his left sleeve to show the bandages that covered his forearm. "[I had to fight a damned thing that grew tentacles on its head. I swear, these monsters try to be ugly on purpose]."


    Doku was one of the few Niqols who knew how good Khan had be in the aliennguage, so he didn''t hold back from using it. He and Azni had been part of the reason behind Khan''s quick improvements, but Doku knew that there was something else. He had even gained a few ideas, but he was pretty good at halting every thought that tried to probe deeper into the matter.


    "[I bet all of this is ssified since she isn''t here]," Khan guessed.


    "[That''s right]," Doku exined. "[You''ll learn how we n to move after the first intense phase. That will involve areas that the humans have yet to see]."


    "[Do I need to drink another potion]?" Khan asked.


    "[That won''t be necessary this time]," Doku smirked while patting his shoulder, and Khan couldn''t help but show a simr smile.


    Doku led Khan a bit outside of the encampment. Some Niqols in bad conditions eventually appeared when the two walked near the alien medical bay, and the sight confirmed what Khan had initially thought. Casualties had happened on the first day. They were only hard to see there.


    The mountain chain had many secluded areas due to the dark snow covering most of its environment and the unevenyout. Doku and Khan walked until arge cave unfolded in their vision. Four adult Niqols stood at the side of the entrance, but they didn''t say anything when the two entered the dark structure. They limited themselves to fix their glowing eyes on Khan before leaving him be.


    Familiar faces appeared once the white glow of Niqols'' eyes made Khan able to see everything in the area. He could recognize Professor Supyan, Professor Kunta, Chief Alu, Zaliha, Mikail, and other prominent students. The cave also had some soldiers that he couldn''t identify, and they all stood around arge circr table with a fuming cauldron at its side.


    A glowing cube ced on the wall next to the group created Ambassador Yeza''s picture with its azure light. Another device on the table depicted a map that enveloped all the areas around [The Pure Trees].


    Khan had always believed to know a lot about those regions, but he noticed many strange marks on the map that described settlements or proper cities that he had never been able to see from the sky. It seemed that the Niqols had kept everything hidden due to the human presence inside the academy.


    "[Are you sure this is a good idea]?" A tall man who carried the iconic features of his species and that Khan didn''t recognize asked while ncing at the wall with Ambassador Yeza''s image. "[Can he even understand us]?"


    "[I think he can answer by himself]," Yeza replied as her sweet voice came out of the cube.


    Khan saw the Niqols in the cave turning toward him and waiting for his answer. He didn''t know how much Yeza could see of the area, but he felt her eyes on him too.


    "[I''ll keep up]," Khan calmly announced while performing a polite bow.


    Khan''s ent was still off, but his words were in the right ce. He had evenpensated for his ws by highlighting some sounds and making sure that the meaning was correct.


    Most Niqols in the cave nodded in satisfaction and moved to make room for Doku and Khan. Only the man remained unconvinced and made sure to voice a clear warning when the two approached the table.


    "[I know your kind]," The man threatened. "[You might appear righteous now, but I know that you traded your friend for this spot]."


    Everyone could hear that remark. The Niqols didn''t even try to hide his words. Khan couldn''t help but think about the xenophobic factions mentioned by Yeza, and he felt that politeness wouldn''t work in that situation.


    Khan had slowly transferred part of his understanding about human interactions to the Niqols'' society. He still ignored a lot, but he had learnt how the chain ofmand wasn''t too strict there, at least in terms of manners. Also, he had long since realized that expressing his real thoughts could help ease some awkwardness, especially when he had the clear support of other important figures.


    "[I got this spot because I''m the best student in The Pure Trees]," Khan responded. "[Niqols don''t put lives at risk to give political rewards]."


    Silence immediately fell inside the cave. Khan''s words had been incredibly sharp. He had praised himself and the Niqols at the same time, leaving the manpletely unable toe up with an answer.


    Chief Alu couldn''t hold himself back anymore after a few seconds passed. He covered his mouth as faint chuckles escaped it, and his reaction made the other Niqols break their silence too. Everyone started tough, and the man ended up imitating them.


    "[You definitely are a special brat]!" The man announced while patting Khan''s shoulder and leading him to the table. "[I''m Chief Nazyr. I''ve handled the other human camp]."


    Chief Nazyr made a grabbing motion with his hand, and Mikail didn''t hesitate to fill two wooden cups with the liquid in the cauldron next to him. The student quickly handed them to Chief Nazyr, and thetter gave one to Khan before performing the iconic toast of his species.


    Khan followed along and took a short sip from his cup. The strong booze almost scorched his throat, but a pleasant warm sensation filled his chest afterward. It felt so good that he drank again to check if he could go through the same experience.


    "[Only good stuff for us]," Chief Nazyrughed. "[Always bring someone who can concoct good booze with you, especially when that someone is a woman]."


    The sudden inversion in Chief Nazyr''s personality left Khan''s speechless, but it caused simr reactions in the Niqols around the table. Chief Alu showed a gentle smile while shaking his head, the students diverted their gazes, and the other aliens voiced harshments, especially the women in the cave. Yeza limited herself to stare at Chief Nazyr coldly, but her gesture felt so loud that everyone soon brought their focus back on the map.


    The meeting was nothing more than a briefing. The situation on Nitis wasn''t stable enough to create ns right away, but the Niqols felt that those involved with the future attacks had to receive constant updates.


    The first day of the crisis had been messy and impossible to contain, but everything would change in the following period. The packs of Tainted animals and monsters would settle and fight among each other to control certain areas, so the Niqols would be able to understand whichnds they could seize back from those creatures.


    The priority wasn''t the actual control of Nitis in that period. The sunlight would continue to illuminate thes for months and trigger other mutations even in monsters, so the Niqols wanted to focus on lowering their poptions to keep them within the range of their best assets'' abilities.


    The Niqols didn''t believe that they could clear the entirety of the in a matter of weeks, especially after their whole society had been forced to abandon most of its domains. Moreover, Nitis had many areas that were hard to explore or had always been under the control of Tainted animals. The aliens could only contain and reduce the power that other mutations could give to the fauna.


    Khan and the other prominent students would have to create hunting teams for that exact purpose. The areas that the stronger experts had to handle were simply too many, so the younger generations had to help where they could, and that involvedirs where the poption of monsters wasn''t too high.


    The Niqols would give themselves a week to let the situation stabilize before picking the targets of the hunts. The students would have to continue their containment during that time, and the performance on each battlefield would help decide who could be part of the teams.


    Each team leader had the chance to handpick some members of their teams, which made Khan immediately think about Liiza. Still, it would be too obvious if he decided to request her presence, so he opted for another approach.


    "[Doku, I have a favor to ask]," Khan whispered when the two exited the cave after the meeting ended.


    "[I know exactly what you are talking about]," Doku winked at Khan before leading him toward another spot in the mountain chain.


    Doku had clearly misunderstood Khan''s intentions, but he followed him anyway since his sudden reaction left him curious. The two had to cross a narrow path that the melting snow made hard to ovee before reaching a smaller cave.


    The area had a series of ss-like cells at its sides, the same cubicles that Khan had seen in the pce''s basement, and one of them revealed Rodney after Doku tinkered with the azure symbol on its surface.


    Rodney was in a poor state. Chains bound his hands and feet to the dark surface of the cave, and his face was dark as he stared at the ground. He seemed to have given up on life.


    "[He can''t hear nor see us]," Doku exined as a disgusted expression appeared on his face.


    "[Why did you bring me here]?" Khan asked as he felt the atmosphere around him darkening.


    "[You know how emotional the Niqols are]," Doku stated. "[We would have already killed him if he weren''t a human, but his political value is decent. Still, the higher-ups are willing to make an exception to get on your good side]."


    Khan suddenly understood what Doku was offering him, and he promptly shook his head before expressing how he felt about the matter. "[I don''t want to kill him]."


    Khan had already epted that his twisted mental state would probably make him able to kill humans, especially since he struggled to consider them specialpared to other aliens. However, that was an execution, and he desired no part in it. He didn''t want Rodney''s betrayal to gain even darker shades in his mind.


    "[Are you sure? Your army might forgive him]," Doku responded while the disgust on his face intensified.


    Doku felt proper hate toward Rodney, but Khan knew that his feelings didn''te from the difference between their species. He loathed the boy because he had tried to kill two of his friends after Khan had saved his life. Doku had no words to express how seriously he took that matter.


    "[I''d rather not have another trauma weighing on my mind]," Khan said in the best way he could.


    Doku''s expression eased after he noticed how confident Khan was on the matter. Thetter wasn''t sparing Rodney because he deserved mercy. Khan was prioritizing his mental sanity.


    "[I understand]," Doku eventually announced as aplicated smile appeared on his face. "[Let''s get something else to drink now. I bet Azni is worried too]."


    Khan nodded and patted Doku''s back to express how he appreciated that offer. The Niqols nodded, and the two quickly exited that simple prison while forgetting about the matter.


    "[Right, what did you want to ask]?" Doku wondered when he recalled about Khan''s request.


    Khan wore a serious expression as his eyes darted between the encampment in the distance and his friend. He checked that no one was around before whispering something that mattered a lot for him. "[Please, take Liiza in your hunting group. Someone will definitely recruit her, and I prefer her to be with you]."


    Doku''s eyes widened at that honest request. Khan''s expression and gestures even expressed how hard it had been for him to voice it. Yet, it also showed how deeply he trusted his friend.


    "[I need a lot of booze not to connect this to anything]," Doku joked.


    "[I''ll get you drinks until morning]," Khan promised.


    "[I''m the best friend that you could find on this]," Doku sighed.


    "[You are]," Khan confirmed, and Doku exploded into augh that stated his decision to help him.


    ****


    Author''s notes: 3-4 hours for the next chapter.

 Chapter 182 - Friend

    A week had to pass before the Niqols felt confident in sending the students into some areas that the monsters had conquered since the beginning of the crisis.


    The sunlight had never stopped filling Nitis in that period, and the students had left the encampment every day to help contain the relentless expansion of the mutated animals. The new battlefields weren''t as dangerous as the firsts since the higher-ups could study the situation beforehand, but casualties happened anyway.


    Some students had been unlucky enough to witness new mutations on monsters who had fought against many packs after the initial expansion. They had umted enough mana to experience a new transformation due to the constant radiation that filled the surface, and the young warriors had to pay the price for that.


    Khan didn''t find anything out of the ordinary. The Niqols always sent him in crowded areas or on the path of violent packs, but they revised his teams depending on what they expected him to aplish.


    The Niqols didn''t waste strong students on areas that they nned to lose. Khan''s task there was to buy enough time for a powerful soldier to arrive or slow down the pack''s advance to make it meet a different group of monsters.


    Instead, the Niqols didn''t hesitate to send prominent students with Khan whenever he had a chance to stop the advancing monsters. He had even been with Doku, Liiza, and other peers that could im to be near the level of his battle prowess at times.


    Khan had to vanquish a few bull-like mutated creatures capable of ignoring their huge size and cross manynds in a matter of hours. He had to slow down a pack of rats featuring many specimens that had developed unique abilities. He had even found himself in front of a swarm of bee-like insects that had turned out to be far more popted than expected.


    His encounters with strange creatures didn''t stop there, and those missions didn''t always go as predicted. The Niqols in charge of studying each potential target or traveling pack weren''t always correct, and they could even fail to gauge the actual power of some monsters.


    Khan had found himself forced to retreat in areas that he had to defend, and he had defeated packs that the Niqols didn''t think he could handle. Of course, that had also depended on how good his performance with the Divine Reaper was that day. Still, his groups had always managed to avoid suffering casualties. The worst he had witnessed in the week before the beginning of the hunts had been a few injured aliens.


    The students had no free time in that period, but they couldn''tin since the entirety of Nitis was turning upside-down. They threw parties in the encampment every night to disperse the constant tension of the battles, and theirck of self-restraint only intensified in that period.


    The encampment was silent only when all the students left to fight, but moans,ughs, and chants filled the nights. The Niqols didn''t hold back to express themselves since they had constant reminders of how short life could be, and many tents remained empty as everyone preferred to sleep in someone''s arms.


    Khan wished to do the same, especially since his birthday had basically arrived. However, he couldn''t find any opportunity to share some intimacy with Liiza without risking revealing his rtionship. He couldn''t justify an eventual departure with the crisis unfolding all around that safe area, and someone would notice if he and Liiza tried to hide in one of the mountains nearby.


    The issue had no solution while the crisis raged and everyone remained stuck in the same encampment. Deactivating the tracker on the cube only to have a chance to sneak out would only create suspicion, so Khan had to ept that he simply couldn''t see Liiza.


    Azni tried to help the couple by sending messages that the two couldn''t exchange through their cubes, but she found herself unable to say everything they wanted to convey to each other. Khan managed to remain vague about the most intimate parts, but Liiza suffered from the separation more than him, and Azni had to endure her explicit words.


    Azni didn''t even know where to begin describing Liiza''s message the night before the hunts. Khan saw her blushing as soon as she tried to find words that she feltfortable with, and the scene only made him feel worse about the whole situation. He could see Liiza''s struggle from how explicit she was with Azni, but they could only suppress their urges for now.


    Khan didn''t depart with the other students the day of the hunts. Everyone had grown used to short hours of sleep and long time spent patrolling or defending certain areas after dealing with the effects of the sunlight for an entire week, so a few orders were more than enough to move the entirety of the camp.


    Khan had the chance to inspect the empty camp that morning. Less than thirty students had remained among the tents, and all of them moved toward an open spot near therge cave to meet the two Chiefs in charge of the various missions.


    Doku had respected Khan''s wishes. Thetter saw Liiza following Doku, Azni, and two other Niqols until they created a separate group in front of the cave. Khan and Liiza tried not to nce at each other, but their eyes inevitably met during the walk, and both of them remained in a daze for a few seconds. Luckily for them, everyone was too focused on the imminent missions to notice that short gesture.


    Chief Alu and Chief Nazyr talked to each group personally to update them about the state of their target. They had already assigned them locations that had stabilized, so they only had to inform the students about eventual changes in theiryout or poption.


    Khan had threepanions, Kozh and Vakha from the second year and Ez from the first year. The two boys had been famous even before the crisis, while the girl from the first year had revealed exceptional battle prowess during the past week, so she became part of those teams.


    Khan''s group was the only one with only four members, and the Chiefs even briefed it asst. Their target was a pack of strange dog-like creatures with two heads and spikes on their backs. They were mostly Tainted animals, but they also had four monsters that had developed abilities.


    The students that had slowed down that pack in the past week had identified the abilities of three monsters. One could add venomous properties to its spikes andunch them, but thest part wasn''t too useful due to the peculiar position of those sharp objects. The creature couldn''t really aim them at its opponents unless they stood above it.


    Another monster had developed the ability tounch sound attacks through its growls. That specimen had been the main reason behind the repeated failures in stopping the pack since its blows were invisible and unstoppable. It was even hard to predict their actual trajectory.


    The third known ability belonged to the smaller monster in the group. It consisted of a weak form of telekinesis that the creature could apply on itself and others. It was pretty troublesome to deal with, but the specimen''s intelligence had clear limits, so it never applied it to its full potential.


    The fourth monster''s ability remained unknown. The students who had faced the pack had reported that they had noticed a ck halo around the specimen from time to time, but they had never seen it do anything. The Chiefs hoped that the aura didn''t have any effect, but they still reminded Khan''s group to be careful.


    The four departed after the Chiefs confirmed that the pack of two-headed dogs didn''t move from their position. Khan and the three Niqols flew for less than two hours until they reached thick woods that bordered a rtively barren area. The sharp change in the environment felt quite surprising, but the reports confirmed the presence of smallkes among the trees, which exined the thriving vegetation.


    Three Niqols waited for Khan''s group at the edge of the woods. Some of the higher-ups had left symbols that acted as sensors among the trees, so those three could keep track of the pack''s movements from their position. Still, they were from the first year of the academy, and their battle prowess was even poor, so they could only cover that role.


    "The pack is still in theke near this quadrant," One of the Niqols announced while the cube in his hands glowed.


    Khan and the other members of his group could find a more detailed map of the woods in their cubes. The image even highlighted theke mentioned by the boy and offered a deeper description of the pack.


    Khan and hispanions exchanged a meaningful nce that was enough to make them decide to start the hunt. They had used the two hours on their Aduns to create a vague tactic and get some sleep, so they already knew how they had to act.


    "Wait!" The boy from the three Niqols stationed in the area called when he saw Khan''s group approaching the woods. "Didn''t the professor tell you?"


    "Tell us what?" Kozh asked.


    "Someone else has to join your group," The boy exined. "We heard from him just recently. He should almost be here."


    The four in Khan''s group showed confused expressions, but they didn''tin about that decision. It wasn''t bad to have a helping hand when their opponents were four monsters with abilities.


    Nevertheless, Khan ended up regretting those thoughts when a dark Aduns appeared in the clear sky and revealed its rider. The eaglended on the surface in no time, and the tall Niqols that jumped off immediately fixed his eyes on him.


    "[Ilman]," Khan announced after Ilman continued to stare at him silently.


    Everyone in the academy had learnt about Khan and Ilman''s fight. The Niqols had ended up ming Ilman''s dramatic character for that event, so the aliens on the scene couldn''t understand why the professors had allowed him to join that team.


    The silence that Ilman showed didn''t help the tension that had fallen among the group either. He wore a serious expression as his glowing eyes remained fixed on Khan. Still, thetter didn''t show any fear. He only appeared as confused as everyone else about that surprising presence.


    "Khan!" Ilman shouted while spreading his arms.


    The tension among the group intensified as Ilman fell silent right after calling Khan in a firm tone, but everyone remained speechless when the Niqols finished his line. "My friend!"


    ''What?'' Khan thought, but he didn''t have the time to study what was happening since Ilman startedughing and walking toward him while keeping his arms spread.


    "Care to exin?" Khan said while taking a few steps backward, but Ilman didn''t seem discouraged by his hesitation.


    "Come here, my friend!" Ilman shouted again, and his broad smile eventually forced Khan to ept that hug.


    "I must thank you for beating some sense into me," Ilmanughed while patting Khan''s back firmly. "I''ve always sensed that we were meant to be lifelong friends!"

 Chapter 183 - Faces

    Pure awkwardness had fallen on the group. Khan''spanions and the three Niqols who had kept track of the changes in the woods didn''t know how to react to Ilman''s dramatic behavior.


    Khan had countless questions, but he blocked all of them out of fear of the answers that Ilman could give. He had already confirmed that the Niqols was crazy, so trying to understand him with a normal mindset was impossible. Only one doubt managed to survive that suppression and eventually made Khan speak.


    "Did you get over Miss Liiza?" Khan asked, trying to appear as innocent as he could.


    That question would have typically arisen suspicion, but the Niqols on the scene felt it to be perfectly normal since Ilman was its target. Everyone knew that Liiza had been the reason behind the fight, so it sounded legit for Khan to worry about that topic.


    "Not at all!" Ilmanughed while patting Khan''s back a few more times. "But you taught me how feelings alone aren''t enough. I have to be a better man, both on the Niqols and human side."


    Ilman let Khan go and moved his gaze on the ground. A tinge of shame appeared on his glowing eyes as calm and surprisingly reasonable words escaped his mouth. "Is my intense love the best for Liiza if it makes me hurt her? I should feel happy as long as she is happy. Thank you for teaching me that."


    Ilman revealed an honest smile as his eyes returned on Khan. Thetter couldn''t help but nod and smile too in front of that sudden turn in his personality, but the Niqols didn''t hesitate to shatter that faint satisfaction.


    "I''ll allow you to make Liiza happy until I be a man worthy of her love," Ilman stated in a solemn voice while grabbing Khan''s shoulders. "I''ll fight you for real if you hurt her."


    Khan''s eyes widened, but he quickly transformed his stupefied expression into a frown. He felt lucky that everyone knew about Ilman''s character. The boy had been so convincing with his words that someone unaware of the situation would truly believe in the existence of a rtionship between Khan and Liiza.


    "Miss Liiza and I are merely acquaintances," Khan calmly exined, "And mostly due to political reasons. Don''t jump to conclusions."


    "Friends can''t hide anything from each other!" Ilmanughed while letting Khan go again and turning toward the trees. "Don''t make me regret my growth, and show me if a human can love better than a Niqols!"


    Khan moved his questioning gaze on his threepanions, but they limited themselves to suppress faintughs. The disbelief in Khan''s face was too funny for them. His pretense was so perfect that none of them suspected that emotion to be fake. Khan had shown it on purpose to hide how true Ilman''s seemingly unreasonable words had been.


    ''Is he crazy or smart?'' Khan wondered before turning toward the trees. ''Is our mana reallypatible?''


    The Niqols on the scene didn''t believe a word Ilman said, but Khan had started to feel curious about the apparent connection that the boy felt. Khan pretended to study the trees while he focused on his sensitivity to mana to check how his energy reacted to Ilman, and a curse inevitably resounded in his mind.


    Khan felt at ease next to Ilman. Thetter only happened to be in a troublesome position, but his character wasn''t bad. It even suited Khan''s almost desperate desire for truth in his life. He could always trust Ilman''s words, and that was enough to make thempatible.


    ''Maybe he might help me once Liiza and Ie out in the open,'' Khan guessed, but his thoughts soon went back on the mission.


    Ilman was a great addition to the hunting team. Khan had tested his power first-hand, so he knew how strong the Niqols could be. Ilman might even be able to match him if he managed to keep his cool during a battle. Moreover, his potential was great due to his peculiar position in the alien society.


    "[Do you know what we have to do here]?" Khan asked, forsaking the humannguage now that the situation had turned serious.


    "[Of course]," Ilman replied in a firm tone. "[Did you already divide the targets among yourselves]?"


    "[We''ll charge at the venomous specimen together and take it down quickly]," Khan exined. "[I''ll take the monster with the sound abilities afterward while the others clear the area]."


    "[I''ll help you out with your target then]," Ilman stated. "[It''s better to take it out quickly too]."


    "[We have a n then]," Khan eximed before exchanging a nod with Ilman and his threepanions.


    The five didn''t hesitate to shoot inside the woods. They knew where their targets were, so everything was a matter of being silent while approaching them.


    The woods were hard to cross. The terrain was rtively t, but it featured ayer of soft ck leaves that slowed down the group''s advance. Its insides were also dark due to the thick ck crowns connecting the various trees and creating a natural membrane that shielded the surface from the sunlight.


    Therge dark trunks often forced the five students to change direction and remain on the correct path. They had to reach the smallke from the right side to cut every escape path for the pack, so they often had to adjust their position by using the images in their cubes.


    No one spoke, but no one felt tense either. Thest week had made the students aware of their battle prowess and had forced them to grow used to fighting monsters. The two-headed dogs weren''t too resilient either, so inflicting killing blows wouldn''t be too problematic. Those creatures would have never survived for so long if it weren''t for the abilities of the four leaders.


    Khan eventually raised his arm to perform a signal that the group had decided beforehand. He had finally sensed the presence of the pack among that seemingly empty environment, but the creatures that had entered his range weren''t monsters. They were only Tainted animals that the four leaders had probably appointed to patrol the area.


    Khan nced at Ilman while picking his cube, and thetter imitated him to create a mental conversation that wouldn''t release any sound in the environment.


    ''[There are four Tainted animals ahead],'' Khan exined. ''[Can you sense them]?''


    ''[Of course],'' Ilman confirmed, ''[Two on the right, one straight ahead, and one hidden on the left].''


    ''[How fast are you]?'' Khan continued.


    ''[Faster than thest time],'' Ilman transmitted while showing a confident smile.


    Khan instinctively believed in the Niqols, so he came up with a n that relied on him. ''[Take care of the two on the right. I''ll handle the others].''


    ''[Can you reach it before it warns everyone]?'' Ilman questioned, but Khan limited himself to smirk before putting his cube away.


    Ilman showed an excited expression as he took his position near Khan''s right side and bent forward to prepare for the imminent sprint. Khan did the same while aiming at a path on his left and turning to nce at Kozh.


    Kozh immediately understood the meaning behind that silent order. He crouched between his twopanions and whispered a short countdown. "[Two, one, go]!"


    Both Khan and Ilman shot ahead. The thick trees tried to hinder their sprints, but they revealed the full extent of their agility in that situation.


    Khan crossed ten trees before finding a one-meter-tall two-headed dog in front of him. The dark spikes growing out of its brown fur and its two heads gave it odd proportions, but Khan didn''t let the faint surprise spreading in his mind affect his task.


    The two-headed dog turned to its right when it heard something, but Khannded on its spiked back before it could even understand what was happening. His steps had been so faint that those needles bent instead of piercing his soles. His feet soon managed to touch the brown fur hidden behind them.


    The Tainted animal tried to look at its back to understand what hadnded there, but an unstoppable force soon mmed it on the ground and turned its rib cage into a mess of blood, fur, and shattered bones. Khan had used the creature as a foothold for his second sprint, and thetter couldn''t endure the power released during his eleration.


    A second two-headed dog was in the distance, behind a series of trees. The creature was slightly bigger than its threepanions, which had probably awarded it its position of squad leader in that small patrol team.


    The Tainted animal had noticed Khan when he stopped on itspanion, and its mouths opened tounch an rm. Yet, a kicknded between its necks before any sound coulde out of them.


    Khan had noticed that the creature was slightly bigger than itspanions, but he didn''t care about that feature. His current proficiency level with the Lightning-demon style ced him far above Tainted animals in terms of battle prowess. Those beasts had be too frail in his eyes. He couldn''t even consider them threats anymore.


    The kick pierced skin, muscles, and bones. The Tainted animal opened into two parts as Khan''s leg dug inside its torso and killed it on the spot. He reached so deep inside its body that he had to use his hands to remove the corpse from his limb after the attack ended.


    Khan turned and saw Ilman nodding at him. The Niqols had two intact corpses lying at his feet. His kills had been far cleaner, but he didn''t feel superior to hispanions after witnessing how fast Khan could be.


    The three Niqols who had remained behind the trees soon reached their position, and Khan made the group resume their advance. They met other Tainted animals patrolling the area after a few minutes, but he and Ilman took care of them easily.


    The sound of sshes eventually spread through the quiet area. The event alerted Khan and the others about their arrival to their. Still, they didn''t need that reminder since their senses had already notified them about the four powerful presences in the distance.


    The five students didn''t take much to be aware of the position of the four monsters. The mutated creatures appeared utterly unaware of their presence, so Khan and the others could study them in their natural environment and guess which abilities they had.


    The telekic monster was easy to recognize due to its small size. The creature was lying on theke''s shores, but the students couldn''t understand whether it was sleeping or not.


    The venomous monster came after. The creature was scratching its back on a tree, and grey smoke came out of the trunk due to the corrosive properties contained in the creature''s spikes. The group actually felt lucky to sense it there since it was the closest to their position.


    The other two monsters were inside theke. They seemed to be cleaning themselves, but their features were almost identical, so the students couldn''t understand which one had the troublesome sound abilities.


    The students picked their cubes to rehearse their offensive tactic in silence. Ilman''s addition to their team felt fortunate now since he and Khan could shoot toward the two monsters in theke at the same time. Still, the group''s priority remained the venomous creature, and the current position of the pack clearly benefited them.


    ''[You go first],'' Khan ordered to his three originalpanions. ''[Ilman and I will arrive before you know it].''


    Kozh, Vakha, and Ez nodded before shooting ahead. Theyer of leaves on the ground dampened the noise released by their hurried steps, but the monsters couldn''t fail to notice them once they grew too close. Loud barks resounded in the area before the students could reach the space upied by the pack.


    The venomous monster was the closest to the steps, and it didn''t hesitate to leave its tree to rejoin itspanions. Yet, two shadows suddenly reached the creature''s sides and forced it to stop with their violent attacks.


    Khan mmed his foot on the right side of its torso, and cracking noises resounded in the area. Ilman''s palms fell on the left head, and a disgusting noise came out of that spot.


    The two attacks mmed the dog on the ground, but they didn''t manage to kill it. The monster instinctively released its spikes in that dangerous situation, but Khan and Ilman had made sure to remain outside their trajectory during their offensive.


    The three students reached theirpanions when the monster''s offensive ended. Their palms didn''t hesitate to fall on the safe spots of the creature''s body, and Khan and Ilman also had enough time tounch another attack.


    The two-headed dog''s body wasn''t too powerful. It was even below averagepared to other resilient monsters that Khan had fought in the past. That sudden but violent offensive killed the venomous specimen in mere seconds and turned the first part of their tactic into a sess.


    Barks resounded all around the students. The silent aura had turned into a loud mess in a matter of seconds, but they didn''t mind it. They even showed confident expressions when they turned to gaze at their other targets.


    Kozh, Vakha, and Ez quickly dispersed to take care of their opponents. They had to kill the telekic monster quickly, and one of them also had to handle the iing Tainted animals.


    Instead, Khan and Ilman shot toward theke as their eyes darted between the two monsters. They wanted to understand which one had the dangerous sound abilities, but their opponents didn''t mind revealing that secret.


    A dark aura shone out of the specimen deeper into theke and confirmed its identity. Yet, that radiance morphed before the two students could reach their targets, and multiple animal faces soon became visible among that glow.


    ****


    Author''s notes: 4-5 hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 184 - Shadows

    The faces depicted animals that Khan had seen in the reports connected to that pack. They seemed to represent the creatures that the monsters had defeated before reaching the woods, but he didn''t let his mind linger on those thoughts.


    Khan and Ilman had identified the monster with sound abilities, so they didn''t hesitate to converge toward it. The creature was even closer to the shores, so they both decided to take care of their main target before thinking about the specimen with the mysterious skill.


    All the creatures in the area were already barking. Even the Tainted animals busy patrolling theke had started to echo their leaders'' warnings. The venomous monster had died quickly, and Khan and Ilman were even insanely fast, but they didn''t manage to reach their target before the activation of its ability.


    Some of the barks became heavier for the duo''s ears. Khan and Ilman even sensed a faint pressure on their chest as their steps pierced theke''s surface and brought them closer to their target. They prepared their attacks when they were only one second away from the monster, but an invisible force suddenlynded on their right sides and pushed them away.


    Khan and Ilman slid on the muddy terrain inside theke and failed to perform their attacks. The Niqols even risked falling, but Khan made sure to stop him.


    The event had been as strange as the reports described it. The sound attacks were invisible, unstoppable, and it was almost impossible to predict their arrival. Khan and Ilman could use the faint pressure thatnded on their chest to learn about the activation of that ability, but everything felt pointless since they would remain unaware of the blow''s trajectory.


    Luckily for the two students, the sound attacks weren''t too powerful. Khan and Ilman felt that their insides were vaguely off, but they remained able to stand and move easily. They didn''t suffer any troublesome injury. It simply was as if a series of punches hadnded on their sides.


    The two monsters fixed their angry eyes on the two students, but thetter shot backward to bait their opponents out of theke. Khan and Ilman didn''t mind the water as long as it failed to reach their knees, but they preferred to leave that unfavorable environment, especially since their fighting styles heavily relied on speed.


    Something seemed tond on Khan and Ilman''s previous spots as they retreated to return to the shores. They couldn''t see anything there, but they heard a faint booming noise. Still, even that detail failed to tell them more about the sound ability since the previous attack didn''t release anything simr.


    The stable and dry ground soon reappeared under their feet. Khan and Ilman kept track of the environment with their senses as their eyes remained on the two monsters. Some Tainted animals had arrived in the area, but Ez was more than enough to handle them. Kozh and Vakha had also managed tond a few blows on the telekic creature during that time, so their battle seemed to go well.


    Khan and Ilman could use the entirety of their concentration on their target in that situation. Still, the second monster soon imed part of their attention. The ominous animal faces among its dark halo had be too strange to ignore after that short exchange.


    "[Can you keep the other busy]?" Khan asked as the two monsters charged at them.


    "[Can you kill the other on your own]?" Ilman asked in a serious tone.


    Khan drew the first-grade knife and spun it in his hand before sealing his grip on its handle. "[I should be okay]."


    Ilman limited himself to nod at that gesture. The dramatic aspects of his personality made him silent and driven during a battle. Khan was the squad leader, so the Niqols would follow his orders without voicing useless questions.


    The two monsters left theke but stopped on its shores. Khan and Ilman felt pressure umting on their chest again while the various animal faces on the second monster turned toward them. The two students didn''t remain still, and booming noises resounded behind them as they split to approach their opponents from opposite sides.


    Khan sprinted in a curved trajectory until he found himself in front of the sound monster''s right head. His left arm shot ahead as an azure glow covered his knife and allowed it to open a deep hole in the creature''s skull. The weapon''s tip almost came out of the other side.


    A blownded at the center of Khan''s torso and vanquished the faint satisfaction he had felt after the correct execution of his technique. The attack made his feet separate from the shore''s muddy ground and flung him back by a few meters.


    Khan didn''t lose his grip on the knife. He had long since promised himself that he wouldn''tmit that mistake again. The monster''s attack had made his insides churn and had filled his mouth with a metallic taste, but his palm never left his weapon.


    The sound monster barked in anger after Khannded on the ground. Its right head hung lifelessly from its torso, and its sole sight was enough to make it livid.


    The pressure on Khan''s chest returned, and a series of blowsnded on his body before he could perform another sprint. Impacts with the invisible energy happened on his belly, face, arms, knees, and thighs. The monster seemed able to attack him from multiple directions and on various spots at the same time.


    The relentless offensive continued as the monster''s barks kept echoing in the area. Khan''s sensitivity to mana failed to sense the trajectory of the blows. Only pain could tell him where the attacks happened.


    Khan felt unable to move, but he knew that he had to get out of that situation before his injuries became too severe. The pain wasn''t the problem there. He simply couldn''t move while that invisible force pushed him left and right.


    A resolute expression appeared on Khan''s face as he struggled to bend forward. Three impacts happened on his chest during the process. He spat blood, but he didn''t stop.


    Khan didn''t need much. The [Blood Shield] moved on his left thigh before waiting for him to find the right opportunity. Invisible attacks continued tond on his body, but he remained still and endured until one blow hit the spot protected by his technique.


    The left leg finally gained a window to move freely, and Khan didn''t hesitate to muster the entirety of his strength to push himself forward. Booming noises resounded behind him as he left the area targeted by the monster''s ability. The restrictions on his body vanished and allowed him to stomp his right foot on the ground to elerate even further.


    Khan reached the monster in an instant. Booming noises had followed his sprint and were about to catch up with him, but his rotating kick put an end to the creature''s barks.


    Khan''s foot mmed the monster''s left head on the ground. His knife glowed as he removed his leg to open a path, but a nging noise resounded when his weapon pierced the fur and hit the skull.


    The monster used that chance to raise its head and open its mouth, but Khan promptly kicked it close. His knife was still on its head, so he used it to keep the monster still as his feetnded non-stop on his opponent.


    The knife dug deeper into the skull as Khan''s kicks continued to fall. The innate sharpness of his magic weapon and the incredible force created by his powerful martial arts eventually made the sharp tip pierce the bone and reach the brain. Only a few more attacks had to follow before life abandoned the creature''s eyes.


    Khan spat the blood that had umted in his mouth before pulling out his knife and straightening his back. The troublesome sound monster was dead, but his body was sore everywhere. He felt as if he had just received a violent beating, and a sense of weakness even tried to spread inside his mind.


    However, his senses warned him about the massive discharge of mana that was happening near him. Khan turned to his right and saw Ilman retreating as a series of shadows flew toward him.


    ''What the fuck?'' Khan cursed in his mind.


    The monsters didn''t seem to have limits to the abilities that they could develop. They could go from simple physical enhancements to troublesome skills like that hypnotic power of the grasshopper.


    It was generally easy to guess what each ability did after seeing it in action, but those shadows left Khanpletely clueless. His confusion even intensified when he noticed the animal faces with their mouths open in front of those dark masses of energy.


    Khan couldn''t remain still for too long since some of the shadows stopped chasing Ilman and turned toward him. He didn''t know what those things did, but he had no intention of finding out. He quickly jumped back and sprinted toward their source.


    A dark halo continued to cover the monster that had released the shadows. At times, some faces managed to leave that ethereal membrane with some of its darkness. Yet, the creature seemed to suffer during the process. Its heads pointed at the ground, and its eyes were closed as the ability remained active.


    Khan felt curious, but that feeling didn''t make him forget his priorities. His speed brought him to the monster''s side in no time, and his knife glowed as he swung it toward the left neck.


    A clean cut severed the head from the rest of the body and made the monster howl in pain. The sudden injury made it retract all the shadows released in the environment, and Ilman finally gained some time to catch his breath. Yet, his eyes widened when he saw Khan standing so close to the creature.


    "[Its aura absorbs mana]!" Ilman shouted in a desperate attempt to warn Khan, but his voice arrived one second toote.


    Khan turned to shoot a confused nce toward Ilman, but the dark aura under him suddenly expanded and flung him away. Multiple animal faces passed through his body while bringing part of the darkness with them. An intense sense of weakness quickly filled him and made him unable tond properly.


    Khan fell on the ground before spinning on himself until a tree stopped him. He was awake and could feel the knife in his grasp, but his body didn''t answer his orders.


    The shadows left Khan and returned to the monster. The dark halo that covered its figure intensified as its eyes moved on him. All the animal faces in its aura also fixed their gazes on Khan as they prepared themselves toe out again.


    Khan inspected his body during those seconds. The parts of his flesh that had fused with mana seemed to have dried up. They didn''t lose their improvements, but they were devoid of energy now.


    His focus quickly went on his nape to force his mana core to release more energy and refill his body. The organ didn''t hesitate to follow his orders, but the monster charged ahead at that point.


    The faces on the dark aura started toe out as the monster ran. Blood fell from the severed neck, but the creature didn''t seem to care about its injury. It only wanted to kill its prey.


    Ilman wanted to help Khan, but he hesitated to get near the monster. The dark aura covered the entirety of its figure, meaning that it would drain his mana as soon as he touched it. Khan had the knife, but he would need toe into contact with the dangerous halo, which would put him in the same state as hispanion.


    Ilman couldn''t save Khan when that dangerous ability was active, but he got ready to shoot ahead once the halo dimmed. Meanwhile, Khan focused the entirety of his efforts on giving power to his body, especially his left arm.


    The monster eventually got so close that it could jump on Khan. He could see the many animal faces surrounding its rtively small figure, and his arm shot ahead as soon as its sharp teeth entered his range.


    The azure glow shone in the area for only a second. The creature''s brain hid it after Khan stabbed the knife inside its mouth.


    ****


    Author''s notes: This chapter covers yesterday''s release, so you can expect two more chapters. I don''t know if I''ll be quick enough not to affect Demonic Sword with the second, but another one will definitely arrive in the next hours. I''ll keep you all updated anyway.


    Just one thing. I hate being unable to warn you beforehand, but I can''t do much on the site without publishing a chapter. I usually use my discord for these unexpected announcements, so do join it if you want to remain updated. You can find the link in the book''s synopsis.

 Chapter 185 - Failures

    Blood flowed down Khan''s arm and tainted his white sleeve. The shadows that enveloped the two-headed dog dispersed as life abandoned its eyes. The monster didn''t have the chance to bite its prey since death arrived in a mere instant.


    Khan voiced an annoyed groan as the monster fell to the ground. He supported himself on the tree behind him to sit and point a foot on the corpse. The bloodied hand and knife released an awful noise as he pulled them out of the creature''s mouth, but his ears were growing used to hear that.


    Weakness filled most of his body. Khan had gone through a beating before losing most of the mana inside his flesh. He felt the desperate need to sleep and meditate, but the chaos of the battlefield still raged around him and kept him awake. Still, the state of the fights turned out to be quite reassuring.


    Kozh and Vakha had long since gained the upper hand on the telekic monster, and Ilman could join them after Khan took care of the creature with the shadows. Thest mutated specimen couldn''tst long against the joint assault of the three students.


    Meanwhile, Ez had taken care of the Tainted animals converging on theke. The pack had about thirty members busy patrolling the area, but the girl could defeat them easily. Her palms were too deadly for creatures that didn''t undergo mutations, and she was even too nimble for them.


    Khan didn''t feel the need to recover in a hurry. Hispanions could take care of the remaining enemies by themselves. Also, he had killed two monsters on his own, so he deserved some rest.


    The Niqols took care of the remaining animals quickly. The telekic monster was troublesome, but Ilman ended up being too fast for its annoying ability. The rest of the Tainted dogs stopped trying to invade the area after their leaders died.


    "[You are a real warrior]!" Ilmanughed while approaching Khan after the battle ended. "[I thought I would be closer to your level. I''ve never been so wrong in my life]."


    "[Don''t shout]," Khanined. "[Let me sleep for a bit]."


    "[Nonsense]!" Ilman shouted while crouching to put his shoulder under Khan''s armpit and forcing him to stand up. "[You must go back to the camp and celebrate this victory]."


    Khan was too tired to shake Ilman off, and he felt no desire to argue against his dramatic mindset. He was willing to agree with everything the Niqols said as long as it made him shut up faster. Yet, a doubt appeared in his mind after hearing those words.


    "[Won''t youe back to the encampment]?" Khan asked as the three Niqols gathered around Ilman and him.


    "[I''m afraid that I have yet to atone for what I did]," Ilman exined while shaking his head. "[The Niqols'' regtions and my guilt don''t allow me toe back]."


    Khan didn''t say anything. He let Ilman help him walk through the woods until he felt strong enough to move on his own. The atmosphere around him was pretty happy since the hunt had been sessful, and he felt able to join that mood after a while.


    Ilman wasn''t too bad when the topic didn''t involve Liiza. He was loud and unreasonable but also extremely honest and reliable. Still, Khan liked how he couldn''t return to the camp just yet. His problems would only increase otherwise.


    The three Niqols from the first year were still at the edges of the woods when the hunting team came out. A simple exchange of smiles and proud cries was enough to notify them about the mission''s sess, but they still spent time questioning each student to obtain clear reports.


    Ilman and the other Niqols didn''t even try to hide Khan''s achievements. He actually had to correct them at times to avoid exaggerations. His fame among the aliens was already incredible, so he wanted to prioritize the uracy of the reports to benefit future ns.


    "[I will see you soon]," Ilman announced when Khan and his three initialpanions prepared themselves to jump on their Aduns. "[We are some of the best warriors among the students, so the professors will honor us with the harshest hunts]."


    "[Don''t make me do all the work next time]," Khan joked as he jumped on Snow''s back.


    "[You need to stop improving then]," Ilmanughed, and the group departed quickly afterward.


    The encampment was only a few hours from the woods, so Khan preferred to handle the matter about his mana during the travel. His body almostpletely recovered by the time the sea of tents appeared in his vision. He still felt sore in many spots, but the weakness that had filled him after touching the shadows had dispersed.


    The encampment was rtively empty. The hunt didn''t take long, and the woods had even been nearby, so Khan''s group could return before lunchtime. The four couldn''t even find a cauldron brewing booze at that hour, so they decided to get some food and rest until everyone returned.


    Khan had slept in a tent picked randomly in thest week. He didn''t want to be among the ostracized recruits, especially since Kelly would only annoy him, but he also preferred to avoid being at the exact center of the encampment.


    The Niqols partied too hard for someone who couldn''t even spend time with his girlfriend. Khan would only risk losing control of his actions if he spent night after night listening to the happy couples around him. The situation didn''t improve too much in his current tent, but he could avoid random Niqols ending up inside it by mistake.


    ''I guess I''ll be seventeen tomorrow,'' Khan thought as the screen of his phone lit up and allowed him to check the date.


    Khan and the other recruits had left the chargers provided by the Global Army in the academy when the crisis started, but the arrival of the daylight had made them superfluous. Their phones would never turn off since Nitis always had light now.


    Memories of thest year crossed Khan''s mind as he removed the dirty robe and wore one of the new ones that the Niqols left in each tent. A lot had changed in that short period. He almost couldn''t believe how he was living in the Slums only a while ago.


    The first year in the Global Army had made Khan experience a lot. He had learnt how to wield the magical energy called mana, but he had also gone through terrible events. Istrone alone could make kids of his age abandon the battlefield forever, but he was still there, fighting in the frontlines as if it were the most normal thing to do.


    A smile eventually appeared on his face. Khan had believed that happiness would have forever been out of his reach aftering back from Istrone, but Nitis had proven him wrong. That cold could make him feel warm even in its darkest moments. He felt intense love and affection even as everything around him turned upside-down.


    Khan couldn''t see his girlfriend, but she was fine and shared the same intense love. He felt annoyed about that separation and their situation, but she was usually there, mere tents away from him. That was enough for now.


    Rodney had tried to kill him, and some of the recruits even hated his behavior. However, Khan had found true friends among them and the Niqols. Even Ilman had turned out to be rtively okay in the end.


    The duality of his life was almost hrious, but that was fine as long as he remained able to experience that happiness. Khan felt to understand Lieutenant Dyester''s teachings very well now. He was in the middle of a global crisis, and a lot tried to go against his situation, but those struggles didn''t make him unable to appreciate everything he had.


    Even the Global Army didn''t feel too bad when Khan considered everything he had gained from that despicable organization. He had seen alien worlds, obtained friends, a loving girlfriend, and he had be strong.


    Everything Khan had learnt had helped him shape his feelings. He had gained the chance to vent some of his desperation and pain. He had managed to exploit it to grow stronger than his peers, but it was clear that his current level wasn''t nearly enough in that dangerous universe.


    The Niqols had soldiers who could vanquish entire packs made of monsters with abilities, but they still feared the daylight and its consequences. Meanwhile, Khan barely had enough power to join specific hunts.


    Khan felt the need to be stronger to protect what made him happy. The Nak would probably require even more from him, so he couldn''t settle for a few kicks and some knife attacks. He needed proper magic.


    ''I need to make it work,'' Khan thought as he finished dressing up and sat at the center of his small tent.


    The final lesson of the training for his element was perfectly clear in his mind. Khan hadmitted the execution of the Wave spell to memory in thest period. He knew how the expert in the program unleashed that incredible power, but he had always failed to replicate it even after practicing hard.


    Khan stretched his hand forward and activated the mental barrier. His mind grew cold before the mana inside it moved ording to the flow used by the expert in the training program.


    The Wave spell expressed destruction, so Khan thought about the vivid memories of the Second Impact to imagine that meaning. He wanted his mana to express the same power that the fall of the Nak spaceship had discharged in the Slums.


    Mana gathered on his right palm as Khan focused on the vague theory behind the Wave spell. He knew that the chaos element required a personal approach, but that was hard to find when hecked basics. Imitation was his only path for now.


    Azure energy covered his hand before its shades changed. The mana gained a pale red-purple color as it started to tremble, and Khan''s eyes sharpened as he forced himself to intensify those effects. The air in front of his palm seemed to twist at some point, but everything suddenly dispersed.


    His palm stopped glowing for no apparent reason. Khan lost control of his mana even if he didn''tmit any mistake. The failure didn''t hurt nor inflict damage to his flesh, but he failed to perform the spell anyway.


    No curse resounded in Khan''s mind. He had experienced that failure countless times already, and he had grown used to feeling lost in front of that event by then. In theory, his execution was perfect, but he remained unable to perform the Wave spell. He didn''t evene close to creating the destructive energy described in the training program.


    Khan had already considered fusing what he had learnt about manipting mana with that training, but the two approaches appeared opposite at their core.


    The training program stated how Khan had to cut away his feelings to control the chaos element, while the Niqols'' teachings required emotions to manipte the nature of the mana. Those paths stood onpletely opposite fields, so he preferred to rely on the human ways since he had more experience there.


    Moreover, the Niqols had a strange approach to spells. Liiza''s ice didn''t onlye from the mana inside her mind. She needed to apply a special influence on the environment to make sure that it replicated the effects that she set.


    Khan lost track of the passage of time as he continued to practice. He didn''t have anything to do for the rest of the day, so he immersed himself in his training. The tests with the Wave spell only used his mana even, so he never reached his limits since his mana core continued to refill his brain with energy.


    His training went on for hours until steps resounded outside his tent. Khan initially ignored that event, but he quickly stopped his practice when he sensed three familiar presences walking directly toward the entrance of his habitation.


    It didn''t take much before Azni, Doku, and Liiza entered the tent. Khan''s eyes widened when he saw their bloodied robes and stern expressions, but he rxed a little since the Niqols didn''t seem injured.


    Still, the Niqols didn''t let his confusion end there. Doku threw a series of sks full of good booze in front of Khan as Azni sat in front of him. Her boyfriend made sure that the tent''s entrance was sealed correctly before taking his ce next to the girl and opening one of the bottles.


    "[I''m really drunk today]!" Doku shouted after taking a single sip from the sk. "[I can''t trust my eyes anymore]."


    Khan frowned, but his eyes widened when Liiza crossed the two Niqols and jumped on hisp. Khan shot a confused gaze toward her, but his mind went nk when her cold lips fell on his mouth.


    "[Such good booze]," Doku continued to shout in an obvious forced tone.


    "[Why is he shouting]?" Khan whispered when Liiza raised her face.


    "[It''s better like this, trust me]," Aznimented while patting Doku''s shoulder. "[This idiot needs to convince himself that everything is happening inside his mind to lie to our superiors. Don''t worry. He had to do something simr with me when we got together]."


    "[When you temped me until I ignored my position as squad leader]," Dokuined before taking another long sip from the sk as soon as his eyes ended on Khan and Liiza.


    "[I didn''t know I made you so unhappy]," Azni pouted.


    "[Azni]," Doku pleaded when he realized that he had misspoken, and the couple started bickering under Khan and Liiza''s surprised gaze.


    "[What are you doing here]?" Khan eventually asked while turning to look at his girlfriend.


    Liiza''s hands were on his cheek, but she slowly moved them on his back as she wrapped her arms around his neck. They slowly slipped inside his robe and caressed his bare skin while she bent her head forward and showed her brightest smile.


    "[Did you really think that I would have ignored your birthday]?" Liiza responded in a loving tone. "[I asked Azni for her help as soon as I found a chance]."


    "[My birthday is tomorrow]," Khan teased, but Liiza promptly tapped his forehead.


    "[Don''t be picky now]," Liiza said in a pleading tone. "[Hold me tightly. We don''t have much time, and I have been cold for an entire week]."


    ****


    Author''s notes: It''s prettyte, so I''ll deal with Demonic Sword now. The second chapter for Chaos will arrive after those three, so I guess 6-7 hours.

 Chapter 186 - Announcement

    The few hours that Khan managed to spend with Liiza felt terrific. The couple had to experience that separation after almost cohabitating for months. One week wasn''t long at all, but it had hurt nheless. Their attachment wasn''tpletely natural in the end.


    Khan and Liiza exchanged tight hugs, sweet words whispered in each other''s ears, and long kisses that often ended in meaningful stares. They couldn''t go any further with Azni and Doku in the tent, but they couldn''t remain alone either since the two Niqols were their alibi. Still, their eyes told everything they needed to say.


    Doku never fully got over the issue. He had managed to suppress his thoughts for a long time, and Liiza''s boyfriend wasn''t an important matter either, but his identity could cause serious issues. The Niqols were investing a lot of trust in Khan, but his rtionship with the daughter of their main ambassador could create reasonable doubts about his actual motives.


    Now, Khan was a human who had approached the Niqols'' ways honestly, but his rtionship with Liiza could make him appear as a soldier hungry for political merits. The situation was simply too coincidental not to raise suspicion.


    Those who saw Liiza and Khan together would never think that they were faking their feelings. Still, appearances could affect politics a lot, especially when it came to two different species that already failed to trust each other. It was very likely that the higher-ups from both sides would force the couple to separate to prevent the eventual leak of information or simr events if they were to uncover that rtionship.


    Azni, Doku, and Liiza eventually had to leave. The encampment grew too crowded as the various hunting teams and students returned, and the absence of a few famous members of the usual parties wouldn''t go unnoticed.


    Khan had to join the parties too. He had to celebrate the sessful hunt with Kozh and the others, and he wanted to see how the others had fared in those important missions. After all, most of those Niqols were good acquaintances with whom he had often exchangedughs in thest period. Khan cared about their well-being.


    It turned out that all the hunts had gone well. The Niqols had studied everything carefully before assigning those important tasks to the students. Some had suffered injuries, and a few monsters had managed to escape once the situation had be too harsh. Still, the missions had remained a sess.


    The Niqols had finally taken the first step toward Nitis'' retrieval, and everyone knew that the higher-ups had also been busy. They didn''t say anything to the students, but it felt obvious how the aliens didn''t deploy only their weaker troops that day.


    The party progressed nicely and continued to be loud even as morning approached. The voices that filled the encampment changed nature. They went from happy shouts and chaotic chants to whispers, moans, angry arguments, and slow songs more fitting for the tired atmosphere.


    Khan checked his phone and heaved a tired sigh when he calcted how little time had left before the usual morning gathering. He wouldn''t be able to sleep for long, but that was fine. The forceful separation from Liiza was allowing him to rest more than usual. His days were simply busier.


    Khan reached his tent and lifted the entrance''s fabric, but he shook his head when he found two naked Niqols on the bed. The couple didn''t even bother to use the simple lock of the habitation. The smell of booze filled its insides and exined how the two aliens could forget something like that.


    Khan quickly went looking for a new tent, but a familiar figure appeared in his vision during his search. He found Doku sitting on the ground, near a cauldron that still released some sweet smoke.


    "[Is everything okay]?" Khan asked while nearing Doku and picking one of the seemingly clean cups near the cauldron.


    "[I made Azni blush tonight]," Doku revealed before taking a sip from his cup.


    "[It feels strangely good, right]?" Khanughed while bending inside the almost empty cauldron to get his drink.


    "[I''ve never seen her sleeping so peacefully]," Doku scoffed while Khan sat next to him. "[She didn''t even wake up when I left the tent]."


    "[I found Zaur and Zezag in my tent]," Khanmented while changing the topic. "[She finally got over me]."


    "[It''s surprising that she stuck with you for so long]," Doku replied while raising his cup. "[She isn''t exactly known for her patience with men]."


    "[I know. Liiza told me about that]," Khan sighed before performing the usual Niqols'' toast.


    The two drank as their empty eyes stared at the encampment. Everything was peaceful, but the bright sky shining above them made them unable to rxpletely. The sun had yet to appear, but they couldn''t forget about the crisis anyway.


    "[How long have you two been together]?" Doku eventually asked.


    "[Since I stepped on Nitis basically]," Khan replied.


    "[How did it even happen]?" Doku chuckled.


    "[I don''t really know]," Khan sighed. "[I stared, she stared. She kissed me, and I kissed her]."


    "[Did you learn about her position before or after the kisses]?" Doku continued.


    "[Don''t insult my love]," Khan warned while shooting a cold nce at Doku.


    Khan almost didn''t control that reaction. It had been an instinctive gesture caused by the sole idea that someone could question his feelings.


    Doku remained surprised, but he quickly lowered his gaze and shook his head. A helpless sigh escaped his mouth before he exined himself. "[Sorry, I didn''t mean to. I can''t stop worrying about my species with everything happening around us]."


    "[I know]," Khan uttered while lightly poking his forehead to rx. "[I''m also sorry. My mind gets messy when Liiza is involved]."


    "[Every Niqols on the would be proud of you]," Doku joked. "[Well, maybe Yeza and Ilman might have something to say on the matter]."


    "[Ilman is strangely fine about that]," Khan reveled, and Doku''s shot an astonished nce at him.


    "[Did you tell him]?" Doku asked.


    "[Please]," Khan sneered. "[That guy is making everything up in his mind. He just happens to be right]."


    "[He has crazy instincts]," Doku said in disbelief.


    "[Indeed]," Khanughed. "[I took longer to realize what I felt]."


    Dokuughed with him, but the two eventually sighed again. They felt tired after such a busy day, but talking like that felt nice. The only issue was the light that shone on the.


    "[Is the stuff about mana true]?" Doku asked. "[Azni couldn''t stop talking about that after we left]."


    "[How do you expect me to exin that]?" Khan responded. "[I didn''t even know that mana could affect feelings beforeing to Nitis]."


    "[Isn''t that obvious]?" Doku frowned. "[What did you think would have happened after putting mana in your brain]?"


    "[Humans are dumb]," Khan admitted.


    "[I know one who isn''t]," Doku announced while patting Khan''s shoulder.


    Khan groaned before taking a long sip from his cup. He felt a bit annoyed that he couldn''t just jump in Liiza''s bed and sleep with her, but it felt good to talk about the situation with Doku.


    "[It hit us suddenly]," Khan exined. "[I wasn''t in a good ce when I arrived here, but my eyes kept falling on her. I wanted to feel bad about it, but everything just vanished whenever I saw her. Then, she kissed me, and I gave up]."


    "[It must feel good since you share those emotions]," Doku guessed.


    "[It''s the best thing in the world when everything is going well]," Khan replied, "[But it''s awful when something happens]."


    "[I bet that the life in the camp is killing you]," Doku mocked.


    "[I''m keeping myself busy]," Khan whined before showing an awkward smile. "[I guess I''m sleeping more than usual at least]."


    "[No wonder]," Dokuughed while showing a proud expression. "[I now know what you had to do to keep that blush on her face]."


    "[I think it''s easier for us]," Khan stated as a hand reached his chin. "[It''s almost craving for us. I don''t see it as effort]."


    "[I saw the craving today]," Doku winked. "[I should feel lucky that you didn''t start doing it right in front of us]."


    "[Oh, trust me, I considered doing that more than once]," Khan joked.


    The twoughed before falling silent and losing themselves in their thoughts. The morning gathering continued to draw close, but they had silently decided to remain up until their cups became empty.


    Doku and Khan eventually turned toward one of the tents near them when they sensed a presence approaching its entrance. Azni peeked out of the opening while making sure that the fabric covered the rest of her body, and her sleepy voice soon reached the duo. "[Hi, Khan. Doku,e back to bed]."


    Khan couldn''t help but smile when he saw Azni''s blushing cheeks. The girl appeared a bit shy about that, and Doku didn''t hesitate to stand up to reach her.


    Doku and Khan didn''t exchange salutes. They had gone through that scene many times already. It felt almost normal for Khan to see Doku disappearing with Azni somewhere. The couple only waved at him before sealing the entrance of the tent.


    Khan didn''t immediately stand up to resume his search for a tent. His cup still had some booze, and the camp had finally gone silent. All the students were trying to sleep for a couple of hours before going back to the mess. That peace felt almost magical when he thought about how deeply Nitis had transformed.


    It almost felt like a waste to use the few hours left before his return into the mess to sleep. The peace that Khan was experiencing now was the reward that everyone was fighting so hard to obtain. He wanted to enjoy it, even if his mind would curse himter on.


    .


    .


    .


    The following days didn''t involve any special hunt, but more special meetings happened throughout the entire week. The Chiefs and the other higher-ups kept Khan and the prominent students updated on how the crisis was evolving, so everyone felt prepared when another mission arrived.


    Ilman turned out to be correct. The boy joined Khan''s group in the hunts that followed, and the two seized sess after sess even if their teammates changed from time to time.


    The chaotic swarms of Tainted animals and monsters that had spread on Nitis slowly showed signs of losing power. Khan could see the crisis rxing its grip on the on a daily basis. His battles never became easier since the Niqols kept assigning him to challenging missions, but he could study how his friends began to appear happier during the usual parties.


    The special role that the Niqols had given to Khan didn''t even bother him. He actually liked how he always had the chance to give his best during the hunts.


    His expertise with the Divine Reaper improved at high speed due to the various challenging situations he faced. No training area could force Khan to experience the same amount of danger. He grew used to blood, battles, and struggles, and his new abilities became somewhat reliable.


    Still, a major yer had yet to step into the battlefield. Khan and the other recruits knew that the Global Army was doing something during the crisis. They weren''t aware of its actual tasks, but it felt obvious that the humans were actively cooperating with the Niqols. The students simply couldn''t learn anything since they couldn''t contact anyone from the camp.


    That confusion transformed into surprise when an announcement hit the camp. The students had fared rtively well during thest period. Deaths didn''t happen anymore, and it almost felt as if everything could go back to normal in no time, but the two Chiefs made sure to remind them how serious the situation still was.


    "[A formal meeting with the human troops stationed on Nitis will happen at the end of the week]," Chief Alu announced to the horde of students that had gathered right outside the encampment.


    "[Everyone will have to fly there that day]," Chief Nazyr continued. "[We will abandon this camp, enjoy the meeting, and move toward another secure location ready to face the new surge in the monsters'' power. You have mypliments for surviving the first part of the crisis]."


    ****


    Author''s notes: You can expect 2 more in the following hours.

 Chapter 187 - Smile

    The announcement took everyone by surprise. Khan was standing among the crowd of students gathered in front of the Chiefs, but everyone turned to look at him nheless. He had be the representative of the human species in those months, at least for the younger generations, so hearing about the Global Army made the Niqols inspect him.


    Khan shook his head to express his ignorance about the whole matter. Many knew that he had no contact with the Global Army, but some needed that reminder. Also, the students wanted to see if he had information to shareter on at the party, but he had to disappoint them.


    Khan nced at George, who was nearby. The boy was holding hands with Havaa, but his gaze was far from rxed. Khan could actually read awkwardness in his eyes. His mind wasn''t thinking about the political meaning behind that meeting. George felt conflicted at the idea of seeing Natalie again.


    ''He is hopeless,'' Khan sneered in his mind before searching the other recruits with his eyes.


    Helen was somewhere among the crowd, surrounded by other Niqols girls, and she shook her head when she met Khan''s gaze. Brandon and the others were near the group''s edges, and they also gestured their ignorance about the whole situation.


    None of the humans seemed to know what the Global Army had in mind, but that felt normal after the long period withoutmunication. Khan was merely hoping that one of the recruits could guess something due to eventual knowledge of the protocols, but hispanions disappointed him.


    Rodney sounded like a recruit who could know something about the topic, but Khan couldn''t even begin to imagine where an eventual interrogation would even lead to. The boy was smart enough to trade information with his freedom, and that decision wasn''t up to Khan. He had chosen to leave everything in the hands of the Niqols, and he preferred it that way.


    "[The human troops have probably taken care of a different quadrant]," Doku exined when he noticed Khan''s confusion. "[They must have protected the teleport and the areas nearby]."


    The Niqols had turned after confirming that Khan didn''t know anything about the matter, but Doku and Azni had continued to pay attention to him. They were even next to him in that gathering, so they didn''t hesitate to start a conversation.


    "[Some Niqols must have been with them to check everything passing through the teleport]," Khanmented.


    "[I bet they forced them to deactivate the device]," Doku announced.


    "[Can we even do that]?" Azni asked.


    "[The humans would have probably refused during normal times]," Doku uttered, "[But everything has been pretty tense after the sr wind. I bet our superiors are making use of that event to ignore part of the Padlyn''s deal]."


    "[Some deals might even not apply during wartime]," Khan added.


    "[Exactly]," Doku agreed. "[We would have never let you stay on Nitis if we weren''t confident in our ability to suppress you. No offense, of course]."


    "[None taken]," Khan smiled.


    The sunlight had gone on for more than three weeks by then. Everyone knew that the second spike in the crisis'' dangerousness was close, so the timing of the meeting sounded too perfect to be a coincidence.


    The Niqols were probably trying to gather their forces and prepare for the imminent worsening of the crisis, which included adding humans to the fray. Khan didn''t mind that development, but he inevitably considered how facing Paul and the Captain would affect his life.


    Khan almost forgot how he wasn''t a Niqols at times, but the meeting would surely require him to behave as a human. The sole idea of meeting his superiors made him feel as if everything he was experiencing was nothing more than the dream of a delusional kid.


    Khan''s face didn''t reveal his profound mental state, but his mask shook when Liiza appeared in his eyes. Everyone had started to leave, so he had managed to find her among the crowd. She was alone as usual, but she turned toward him when she felt his gaze on her.


    Liiza was wearing the usual cold expression that she showed in public, but her eyes quickly inspected her surroundings to make sure that no one was looking at her. She lowered her head at that point, and a warm smile appeared behind the white hair that had fallen on her face.


    Khan felt warm when he saw Liiza going through all that trouble just to show that simple gesture. The crowd of students moving back to the tents eventually blocked his vision, and she wasn''t in her previous spot anymore when he managed to gaze in that direction again. Still, the warmth remained and made him stand still to focus on appreciating that feeling.


    "[Is everything okay]?" Doku asked when he noticed that Khan had yet to start moving back to the encampment.


    "[Are you going to start right away]?" Khan asked after snapping back to reality.


    "[I think we''ll join the partyter than usual today]," Aznimented while wrapping her arms around Doku''s torso and shooting a meaningful nce at him.


    Doku initially frowned in confusion, but everything became clear in his mind when he looked at this girlfriend. He almost fell in a daze before recalling that his friend still needed an answer. "[What she said]."


    Khan smiled while shaking his head. He directly turned and waved his hand to salute the couple, and the two Niqols imitated him without diverting their gazes from each other.


    Khan took one of the first empty tents that he found and sealed its entrance. The warmth in his chest was almost about to vanish, and he couldn''t do anything about that. Yet, he could train until his power allowed him to keep that feeling close.


    The Niqols began to set the cauldron and prepare the materials needed to concoct the booze. Groups started to chant and test instruments. Everyone was getting ready for the usual celebrations that wouldst until morning, but Khan didn''t want to join them right away. He felt the need to train a bit more that day. He almost feared that he would lose chances to see that smile otherwise.


    Khan drew his first-grade knife and scrutinized it. He had picked up the habit to check its edges and surface carefully every night to make sure that his failures in the techniques of the Divine Reaper didn''t affect its structure.


    The weapon turned out to be fine. Marks had yet to appear on its dark surfaces. It was as perfect as the day Khan received it.


    The next step in his training saw him performing a few tests with the Wave spell. He had yet to seed in getting close to something that resembled a decent execution. Still, he slowly understood what the training program meant when it exined the chaos element''s need for a personal approach.


    Some of the things described in the training program didn''t work for Khan. Instead, a few parts that the lessons advised against helped his execution of the spell. He had continued to fail without producing any effect, but the red-purple color of his mana had intensified as he kept testing the procedure.


    That day wasn''t any different. Khan sat, stretched his hand, thought about the Second Impact, and failed to achieve anything close to decent. A few curses ended up leaving his mouth when he stopped, but he quickly went back to the other part of his training afterward.


    His meditation began as usual. Khan forced his mana to spread through his unwilling flesh. His body didn''t want to change and sent waves of pain to express that feeling, but Khan barely felt them anymore. He pushed everything into spots that the energy had yet to touch, and everything proceeded as usual. However, something different happened after he spent a few hours immersed in that partial trance.


    Khan''s mana suddenly failed to cover the same amount of flesh as before. It stopped halfway through before the areas affected by the mana became slightly brighter.


    The azure halo generated by that new radiance expanded throughout the rest of his body. It filled every corner of his insides and applied to his flesh a weaker version of what Khan usually did during the mediations.


    ''What is happening?'' Khan wondered before understanding what that glow would cause.


    The glow generated by the mana inside his body carried weaker effects of the actual energy, but it still affected everything it illuminated.


    The parts of the body that Khan had yet to reach during his regr meditations suddenly experienced the influence of mana and began to improve. The event generated painful sensations everywhere, and they piled up until he felt forced toy on the ground.


    Khan tried to stretch his limbs as if he were dealing with normal cramps, but that couldn''t solve his problem when the source of his pain came from inside him. He even stopped the flow of energy from his mana core, but that also didn''t help. The glow was already in ce, and nothing appeared able to stop it.


    Sweat covered Khan''s skin as he wriggled on the ground and waited for the process to end. He had slowly understood what was happening, so he knew that everything would be over once his flesh adapted to the new state that the glow was enforcing.


    The flesh that Khan''s mana had yet to affect improved without developing sharp changes in its structure. That energy didn''t fuse with his tissues, but it elevated their nature to a state close to what mixing with actual mana would create.


    The painful sensations filling Khan''s mind slowly quieted down until theypletely disappeared. The sweat that had umted on his face, hands, ankles, and opening of his robe evaporated to leave a cold sensation on his bare skin. He feltfort in that coldness, but a lot more reached his mind after he calmed downpletely.


    A wave of power filled his body as the halo became unable to affect his flesh any further. Khan felt that his base power had increased after that unexpected event. He had initially thought that something had gone wrong with his meditation due to the sudden interruption of his growth, but he understood what had happened afterward.


    ''Did my attunement with mana reach fifty percent?'' Khan shouted in his mind as he straightened his back to sit on the ground and check his body.


    There didn''t seem to be anything different in him. His muscles had remained identical, and the same went for everything else outside his skin. However, his insides had changed in ways that he couldn''tpletely describe.


    Khan promptly stood up with the idea of testing his techniques, but he almost lost his bnce during the process. He had felt too light. The force released by his legs had also made him jump.


    Khan immediately epted that he would require some time to grow used to his status as a first-level warrior.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Stable releases used to be one of my strong selling points, but I always seem to mess things up with Chaos. I didn''t forget the 3 chapters that you still need. I''m rested and everything, so you''ll get them.

 Chapter 188 - Intense

    Khan didn''t feel in his own body. Everything he had learnt to do in seventeen years of life had be useless in the span of a meditation. He used to know how much strength to apply to walk. He had learnt to ignore the many sensations that spread through his skin, ears, nostrils, mouth, and ears. He never once noticed the weight of his body, but that was over.


    The years spent honing reflexes and developing instincts that took into consideration the limits of his body had be useless. Khan was different on a primordial level now. He almost felt overwhelmed by how much had changed in mere hours.


    His body felt light. The tent was only three meters tall, but Khan felt able to jump over it without requiring mana. That lightness didn''t even affect his strength. He had never believed that his muscles could hold so much power.


    All that power mixed with his sudden lightness made his posture unstable. Khan had to think about bncing his strength to remain on his feet. His equilibrium was off, and he ended up swaying whenever he failed to control his power.


    Those issues weren''t too relevantpared to all the sensations that were assaulting his mind. Khan could feel the cold air inside his tent from the bare spots on his skin. The rays of light that passed in the fabric''s holes were a bit too bright for his sensitive eyes. His ears picked sounds that went as far as the faint whispers in the tents around him. The scents of his habitation were different when they entered his nostrils. Even his own saliva had changed taste.


    The changes weren''t necessarily bad. Khan could understand what was happening rather quickly. He was experiencing the same intense sensations that Liiza could generate inside him by simply existing, with the only difference that they involved every aspect of his life now.


    His mana had started to affect the entirety of himself, which naturally involved how he perceived the world in general. Khan was sensing and experiencing everything through organs enhanced by that magical energy. Those stark changes were only normal. They only felt overwhelming when they all happened at the same time.


    Khan gave himself time to grow used to those changes. He couldn''t test his new power with his senses all over the ce anyway, so he stood still while waiting for everything to lose some intensity.


    That time allowed Khan to focus again on his insides. He could vaguely calcte how only half of his flesh had fused with the mana. Everything else had only improved due to the influence that the energy spread.


    That other half had yet to reach the proper fusion, but it had also grown immune to the lingering influence. Khan entered the meditative state to see how his training had changed after reaching that checkpoint, and he felt disappointed to notice that he couldn''t spread his mana as before.


    Khan could still elerate the flow of mana, but it didn''t directly affect his flesh anymore. Instead, meditating intensified the influence that lingered in the part that had yet to fuse with that energy.


    The more intense version of that influence forced his non-fused flesh to improve, but it didn''t allow him to focus on specific areas. Khan could only enhance himself as a whole now, which inevitably slowed down his overall growth. Still, that felt inevitable at his current level.


    ''No wonder it''s harder to reach the higher levels,'' Khanmented in his mind as he interrupted his meditation and dispersed the intense pain that had spread throughout his body.


    His growth wasn''t only slower now that he had to rely only on the influence of the mana that had already fused with his flesh. The process was also far more painful since it affected half of his body at the same time. Khan had raised the bar of the minimum suffering that he had to endure to improve.


    Still, the breakthrough didn''t only bring bad news. Khan''s growth had suddenly be far slower and excruciating, but moving his mana inside his body had be far easier. The energy flow had be smoother since the entirety of his flesh had gained a basic attunement level now.


    His mind slowly adapted to his new sensitivity. Khan felt that it would take him a few days to turn those intense sensations into his new normality, but he didn''t feel worried about the next battles. Mere minutes in that condition had already made everything somewhat bearable. A night of sleep should be able to turn him battle-ready.


    Khan waited a little more before deciding to move. At first, he jumped on his spot. It was strange to feel the actual tremors released during the impact of his feet with the ground, but that became easy to ept after a few minutes. He started to test his steps at that point, and finding the right bnce took less and less as attempts piled on.


    Khan alternated jumps, steps, sharp turns, and basic physical training to gain confidence in his new body. He had to persevere for an entire hour before feeling ready to test his martial arts, but he continued with the simple exercises even at that point.


    His ignorance scared him. Khan didn''t know anything about first-level warriors or above, and he had already tasted the fear of his own power when he was in co''s training camp.


    Khan wouldn''t dare to go into battles that could potentially lead to casualties while wielding a power that could hurt hispanions and himself. He could take risks in a safe environment, but everything on Nitis was about life and death right now.


    Another hour had to pass before Khan grew almost used to his new state. His senses were finally starting to click with his instincts, and he didn''t feel inside a foreign body anymore, not entirely at least.


    Khan drew the first-grade knife from the sheath that never left his side and made his mana gather on its surface. His eyebrows arched when he saw how quickly he could send his energy to the weapon, but his new state didn''t improve his control and maniption. His sensitivity to mana had improved, but the breakthrough didn''t affect the other two fields.


    A deep breath escaped Khan''s mouth after he ced the knife back in its sheath. The tent didn''t give him much freedom, but he could stretch his legs without reaching the fabric on the other side.


    Khan started with the simplest techniques of the Lightning-demon style as if he were trying to learn it from scratch. His legs moved slowly as he made sure that his mana followed at the correct speed.


    His careful approach turned out to be unnecessary due to how much he had waited before approaching the martial art. Khan had already regained a good control over his body, and he had even learnt how quickly he could move mana now. His proficiency with those moves had reached thepetent level, so it only took him a few slow attempts before growing used to his new features.


    Khan felt almost whole after performing all the techniques of the Lightning-demon style. He wasn''t perfect yet, but he was getting there. His mind only had to adapt to that new state.


    The party had long since started by the time Khan felt in control of himself. It was even about to reach its final phases, but he didn''t leave his tent yet. He wanted to see how his new body reacted to the booze, but a heavy doubt pressed on his thoughts and made him unable to join the event until he made up his mind about it.


    ''Should I tell the Global Army during the meeting?'' Khan wondered as he sat on his bed and went over the many consequences that revealing his breakthrough could cause.


    Khan had been in the Global Army for a little less than eleven months. The soldiers would definitely see his early breakthrough as proof of his talent. However, he knew that the [Blood Vortex] had something to do with the matter.


    The Niqols'' technique had made Khan save entire weeks of training even if he had used it only a handful of times. That alone proved how valuable the [Blood Vortex] had been, but it also created a troublesome possibility. The Global Army might connect his quick growth to his favorable position among the aliens and investigate him thoroughly.


    Khan didn''t know if he could hide his growth behind his mutations, but even that was clearly a risk. The safest option would be to remain silent, but he wanted the Global Army to learn about his talent. That didn''t only involve a possible future with Liiza either. He needed merits to climb the ranks and learn more about the Nak.


    The matter was quite annoying, and Khan couldn''t find a solution on his own. Yet, he knew someone who knew a lot about life as a wealthy recruit. George had also earned hisplete trust, so a serious conversation appeared necessary.


    Khan had to interrupt his reasoning when he sensed three familiar presences approaching his tent. His sensitivity to mana didn''t only allow him to identify the three Niqols. It also gave him the chance to notice them when they were still a few tents away from his habitation.


    The trio moved directly toward his tent, and Khan didn''t hesitate to jump out of his bed to unlock the entrance. Doku''s surprised face unfolded in his vision when he lifted the fabric, but those raised eyebrows transformed into a rxed smile in no time.


    Khan moved to the side to let the three Niqols inside. Doku appeared quite drunk already, but a proud smile never abandoned his face. Instead, it only widened when he dropped a series of sks to the ground and jumped on the bed.


    Azni was blushing, and she continued to appear shy about that, but she hid her feelings behind her full cup. The girl limited herself to smile at Khan before hurrying on the bed and lying inside Doku''s arms.


    Liiza was thest to enter the tent. She was still wearing the cold expression that she showed in front of the others, but Khan quickly allowed her to rx by sealing the entrance.


    Liiza jumped on Khan as soon as he straightened his back. He found his girlfriend in his arms, clinging with legs and arms on his waist and neck. Her lips found his mouth in no time, and the two soon found themselves on the ground.


    "[I''m not in the best mental state today]," Khan whispered to Liiza''s ear when he managed to lift his mouth from her lips or neck. "[I''m struggling to hold back]."


    Liiza wanted to question Khan, but she had to cover her mouth to suppress the faint moan that the soft bite on her ear had generated. Her free hand instinctively reached the back of Khan''s head to cling on his hair. He could sense her sensual pull, and everything felt far better with his new body.


    Khan wasn''t lying about his poor self-control. His body still felt too much right now, and he couldn''tpletely hold back, especially when those moments together had be rare.


    Feeling Liiza clinging on his hair made Khan gave in to his feelings for a few seconds. Her pull only became stronger as his mouth descended through her neck and reached the opening of her robe on her chest.


    Khan wasn''t thinking straight, so he continued. Liiza ended up voicing a sweet moan when she took his head in his hands and brought him face to face with her.


    Khan revealed a yful smile, and Liiza couldn''t help but smile too even if she wanted to scold him. Neither of them didn''t bother to nce at the bed even after Liiza''s moan, but snores eventually reached their ears and made them turn toward the couple.


    Doku and Azni had fallen asleep in each other''s arms, and both of them snored pretty loudly. Khan snapped his fingers a few times to see if they woke up, but they appeared too drunk, tired, or both to bother about that gesture.


    "[Khan, why are you so pushy tonight]?" Liiza asked without moving her gaze away from the couple.


    "[I''ve be a first-level warrior]," Khan exined while imitating her and keeping his eyes on the couple. "[Everything is a bit too intense now]."


    Khan had to turn toward Liiza when he sensed her hands clinging on the chest opening on his robe. Her eyes were wide, but a beaming smile had appeared on her face. She almost felt on the verge of crying due to how happy she felt about that achievement.


    "[Maybe it''s better to cuddle tonight]," Khan teased while caressing her cheek.


    Liiza bit her lower lip as struggle appeared on her face, but the couple snored again and attracted her attention. She then fixed her eyes on Khan again while wearing a meaningful expression.


    Khan widened his eyes in surprise, but another snore reached his ears. The couple appeared in aa. They didn''t react to any external stimulus, which made him give up on even trying to hold back.


    "[Remember, slow]," Liiza whispered when she managed to find his ear in that storm of kisses. "[Everyone is drunk, but I still can''t scream]."


    "[You don''t like slow]," Khan teased, but Liiza promptly bit his ear and made himugh.


    The two exchanged another meaningful nce at that point before immersing themselves in the silent pleasure that the previous weeks didn''t give them the chance to enjoy.


    ****


    Author''s notes: This chapter covers yesterday. I''ll work on the first for today now.

 Chapter 189 - Gathering

    Finding a moment when to talk with George in private turned out to be quite hard. All the students had to join separate hunts or patrols every day, and the parties at night often involved partners. Khan was the only one who didn''t have the chance to be with his girlfriend.


    Khan could have some intimacy with Liiza when Doku and Azni decided to sacrifice their time alone or noticed a slightly messier party, but that happened rarely. Khan didn''t even want to ask the couple favors after everything they were doing for him already, so his situation remained quite lonely as the day of the formal meeting approached.


    The talk with George happened the night before the relocation. The boy was too conflicted about seeing Natalie after spending more than three months among Niqols. He had drunk on his own during most of the party, and Khan used the chance when he left the encampment to pee to question him about the average level of the recruits.


    George had changed a lot, even if his character had remained the same. His growth had been more a matter of eptance rather than general maturity. Living as a Niqols had helped him in ways that he didn''t believe possible, and that gratitude had ended up condensing in the form of feelings for Havaa.


    The boy was already drunk when Khan managed to have his conversation, but he described everything perfectly. Still, Khan had to spend most of what remained of the party listening to his rants about Natalie''s coldness and Havaa''s sweetness.


    Khan didn''t mind helping George in those moments. He would have preferred that conversation to happen in a better situation, but everyone seemed tock time in that period, so he didn''tin.


    George knew a bunch of data when it came to achievements among recruits. Apparently, it was challenging for someone to be a first-level warrior in the first year at the Global Army due to multiple factors that often didn''t involve talent.


    The recruits in the first year were always pretty young. They were still growing, which made raising their attunement with mana more challenging. Many of them had ess to synthetic mana, but they couldn''t abuse that resource since it could create impurities in their energy in the long run.


    The second year usually was the time when the Global Army could identify the talented recruits. Bing first-level warriors in the first six months of the year would show their talent and prove that they were worthy of special attention.


    Khan didn''t reveal his state to George. He trusted the boy, but he didn''t want to take even more risks. Moreover, George''s exnation confirmed Khan''s fears. He had advanced too quickly, so he had to wait before telling everything to the Global Army.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t know if he could keep his level hidden from the stronger soldiers, but he had reasonable justifications if they discovered it before his notification. His ignorance was a shield that would serve him perfectly in that situation.


    The talk about Natalie and Havaa didn''t interest him too much, mainly because George couldn''t make up his mind about women. Khan would have already chosen to remain with Havaa if he were in his situation. The decision felt even obvious since Natalie didn''t have any interest in rtionships.


    Also, George had basically relied on Havaa''s feelings in that period to improve his recovery, so it didn''t sound right to abandon her. He even felt something for her.


    The only hindrance in that rtionship was the difference between their species since George''s status was quite peculiar. He wasn''t a noble, but his family was wealthy. Meanwhile, Havaa was an ordinary student, so their potential union couldn''t have political interests.


    Khan couldn''t say much there. He gave his honest opinion, which George only half-listened since he was too drunk to remain serious for too long. Khan wanted him to follow his feelings and ignore theplicated issues connected to politics. Still, he wasn''t sure whether the boy had truly understood his point even after they separated.


    The conversation had ended upsting so long that George left only one hour before the departure. The students didn''t have anything truly important in the encampment, so they didn''t need to prepare for the event. Yet, Khanughed internally when he thought about how hungover the Niqols would be during the travel.


    In the end, Khan decided to spend that remaining hour roaming among the tents while enjoying the remaining booze. His endurance had reached insane levels after bing a first-level warrior, and the same applied to his alcohol resistance. Remaining awake wasn''t an issue, especially since he had gotten many chances to sleep in those weeks.


    It didn''t take much before an rm resounded from cubes ced at the corners of the encampment. That noise wasn''t too loud, but it remained annoying enough to wake up even the Niqols who were still drunk. The aliens knew their kind so well that they had developed special countermeasures for those asions.


    Groans and curses resounded in the camp as all the students left their tents and gathered in empty spots to summon their Aduns. Most of them had already nned to deal with the rest of the hangover during the flight, even if they didn''t know how long it would take them to reach the location of the meeting.


    Chief Alu and Chief Nazyr were in an empty spot right outside the encampment, and they shook their heads when they saw the zombie-like walks of the students. Still, neither of them said anything about that issue. They wouldn''t dare to scold younglings who had spent almost four weeks fighting on the frontlines.


    Aduns filled the sky when everyone in the camp set off. The two Chiefs led the group across the sky in a straight line toward the location that would hold the meeting with the Global Army.


    Khan didn''t meditate nor sleep. He wanted tomit that path to memory. The Chiefs seemed to fly in the general direction of the human camp, and the familiar mountain chain that expanded behind the glowing city eventually appeared under the group.


    The Chiefs didn''t stop there. They flew deeper into the mountain chain until those tall structures opened to create arge valley that had a dark gorge in its middle.


    The scenery appeared marvelous, and the sunlight revealed all its details. The valley had a vaguely rectangr shape, and the gorge connected its short sides. t areas filled with dark-grey grass and sparse spots with multicolored flowers expanded from the long sides of the crack. At the same time, the short edges connected the mountain chain to a marvelous pce far different from the structure where the recruits had met Ambassador Yeza.


    The pce had three main buildings connected by shorter structures that featured bridge-like passages at their top. The buildings at the sides had square shapes that ended up in t roofs encircled in short ck fences. Instead, the central construction was rectangr and featured two long balconies at its sides, with one opening on the valley and the other toward the mountain chain.


    The entire pce was dark-grey, but its surfaces were darker when it came to the structures that connected the three buildings. Multiple ck spots also filled each side of the structure and marked the presence of windows.


    It was clear that the pce didn''t have battle purposes. It felt like an expression of the Niqols'' artistic sense rather than a structure with deeper meanings. Khan could quickly guess that the aliens mainly used it for political reasons, which suited the event perfectly.


    The Chiefs made the group circle the area a few times before leading everyone on one of the mountains nearby. The students left their rides there before reaching the valley on foot, and a surprisingly calm aura enveloped them as soon as they stepped on the dark-grey grass.


    That atmosphere resembled the calm aura of [The Pure Trees], but it felt more intense. A faint smile appeared on Khan''s face when he sensed the vague tiredness of the travel disappearing in a few seconds under the positive properties of that influence.


    Simr smiles appeared on the students. Some still had headaches even if the flight hadsted for almost half a day. The aura washed over their hangover and allowed them to appear as lively as possible.


    "[Clean yourselves up and wear decent clothes]," Chief Alu ordered while wearing his usual gentle smile. "[The humans will arrive at night, so hurry up]."


    "[Go in the habitations behind the pce and don''t waste time]," Chief Nazyr added. "[You had enough fun already. You can be serious for one night]."


    A fewughs resounded among the group of students while the Chiefs led everyone across the long valley. The pce appeared immense when they had the chance to inspect it from its base, but no doors appeared in their view. It seemed that the structure featured hidden entrances.


    "[I bet you can''t wait to see your superiors]," Doku mocked when he approached Khan from the side.


    "[Shouldn''t you bow to some higher-up inside the pce or something]?" Khanughed.


    "[I believe this is outside of my reach]," Doku exined while pointing at one of the small structures that appeared once they crossed the pce. "[Only Liiza and some members of important tribes can go there]."


    "[Maybe it''s better like this]," Khan eximed before sensing a familiar presence and turning his head toward his source.


    "[My friend]!" Ilman shouted when he saw Khan''s eyes falling on him. "[You are sharp as always]."


    Ilman had juste out of one of the structures behind the pce. His hair was still wet, and he had yet to close his robe. His slender figure and underwear were in the open, and some girls couldn''t help but gasp at that sight.


    Ilman ignored those attentions while waving his hand toward Khan, but his face turned serious when he noticed that Liiza was looking at him. He immediately closed his robe and performed a deep bow toward her, but a sigh escaped his mouth after he raised his head and found her walking toward the pce.


    Everyone could see that scene. Khan could follow Liiza''s departing figure with his eyes without worrying that his gesture could arise suspicion. The girl approached the smooth dark-grey surface of the pce, and a few metalyers slid open to reveal an entrance after she ced her hand on it.


    ''She must be so pissed today,'' Khan thought as a sweet smile appeared on his face when theyers of the pce closed behind her figure.


    "[Maybe that''s for the best]," Doku whispered. "[I''ve seen how poorly you hold back]."


    "[You didn''t see anything]," Khan sneered. "[You and Azni were both dead drunk. It''s not my fault if your nose could smell the aftermath]."


    "[These human friends won''t hesitate to exploit your kindness]," Doku joked.


    "[You were literally sleeping on my bed that night]," Khanined.


    "[Who was sleeping where]?" Ilman asked after he arrived next to the duo and heard the end of that conversation.


    "[Life in the encampment]," Khan lied shortly. "[Doku here likes to enjoy it to the fullest]."


    "[Because he is a true Niqols]," Ilmanughed while patting Doku''s shoulder.


    "[Why aren''t you inside the pce]?" Doku asked.


    "[I asked to be among the students]," Ilman exined as he escorted the duo toward one of the structures. "[I don''t have the best character when ites to political matters]."


    Both Doku and Khan nodded to agree with those words, and Ilmanughed again. The three exchanged a few more jokes during the walk as the students flowed into the different structures to clean themselves up and wear new robes.


    Khan and Doku cleaned themselves quickly, and Ilman led them back into the valley once they came out. Azni and other Niqols joined them as they took their ce among the dark-grey grass, and the same went for the recruits.


    Servants eventually came out of the pce to ce multiple cauldrons among the valley. Khan and the others could watch them concocting the special booze meant for that event while they waited for the meeting to start.


    Then, the familiar noise of the Aduns'' wings spread through the area, and the group could witness the arrival of the human troops in the valley when they raised their eyes toward the bright sky.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I will move to Demonic Sword now since it''s superte already. I will write the fourth chapter for chaos after taking care of my first book.

 Chapter 190 - Punch

    The dark-blue uniforms worn by the humans almost made them look like Niqols, but the sunlight revealed their true nature. Khan couldn''t see much from his spot, but he didn''t fail to sense the immediate tension that had fallen around him.


    The change didn''t really apply to Khan due to how close he had be with the Niqols. George and Helen could also partially ignore that new atmosphere since they had rtionships to state their honest approach to their alienpanions, but the others felt awkward.


    The arrival of the human troops turned that rxed gathering on the grass into a political meeting. The Niqols had to work for the greater good of their species now, so they couldn''t treat the recruits among them as simplepanions anymore.


    "[We should greet them]," Doku announced before standing up.


    Khan, Azni, and the others imitated him and crossed the valley to approach the pce again. The Niqols that led the humans to the area had made the groupnd in one of the mountains near the structure, and the students weren''t the only ones who moved to wait for them.


    The students almost stopped moving when they saw the dark-grey walls of the pce sliding open to reveal an entrance. The sight didn''t surprise them, but the Niqols that came out of it left all of them stunned.


    Ambassador Yeza was wearing one of her usual revealing dresses. She was so stunning that even the Niqols behind her struggled to keep their gazes straight. Only Liiza, who stood by her side, and Khan, who was captivated by his girlfriend''s gown, managed to look elsewhere.


    Azni snapped back to reality before herpanions, and she poked both Doku and Khan with her elbows. The two stopped staring at Yeza and her daughter and performed a bow, and the other students soon imitated them.


    "Let''s greet our guests properly, shall we?" Yeza asked while wearing a bright smile, and the students didn''t hesitate to walk behind her group to create a proper greeting party.


    The humans soon descended from the mountain. Khan saw Captain Erbair, Lieutenant Kintea, Paul, the other Lieutenant and squad captains, various soldiers, and all the recruits stationed on Nitis. He didn''t recognize many faces, especially those from Brandon''s camp, but he noticed how their auras had changed.


    Khan mostly noticed the difference in the recruits from his camp, especially those he had learnt to know better than the others. Harris, Natalie, and Sonia appeared more mature but in a sad way. Their uncaring eyes almost described how the crisis had affected their livelihood heavily.


    The human group was rtively small, smaller than Khan expected. They had suffered losses in those weeks, which wasn''t surprising considering their situation. Also, the Global Army was willing to send its most promising recruit among the Niqols. Khan couldn''t imagine what the others had to do to ensure the survival of the teleport.


    The changes weren''t too unexpected, but Khan still felt strange in front of the humans. He performed a military salute, but he didn''t sense any belonging in that gesture. Bowing felt more natural now.


    "[Greetings, Ambassador Yeza]," Captain Erbair bowed before showing a stern smile.


    "We finally have the chance to meet again," Yeza eximed in an enchanting tone. "It''s a pity this meeting had to happen during such awful circumstances."


    "I hope my envoys have served you well," Captain Erbair uttered.


    "They havepleted their tasks perfectly," Ambassador Yeza announced before waving a hand in Khan''s direction. "We would be lost without Khan."


    The unexpected mention made Khan frown, but his expression instantly turned into a respectful smile that he didn''t hesitate to hide with a bow toward Yeza. Everyone had turned toward him after that announcement, and most of them shared his surprise.


    ''She is really holding up her end of the deal,'' Khan thought as he straightened his back and revealed his respectful smile to everyone who was still looking at him.


    The past deal with Yeza involved Khan''s political career, and mentioning him in front of his superiors would significantly improve his value. The event had been unexpected, but he epted it happily. The ambassador in charge of handling the rtionship between the two species had actually vouched for him.


    Paul kept his eyes on Khan for a bit longer than the others, but he eventually joined the exchange of polite salutation with the other Niqols. The meeting had officially started, and the group split since only the higher-ups or notable figures could enter the pce.


    Only Captain Erbair, the two Lieutenants, and the older soldiers followed Yeza, Liiza, and the other higher-ups of the Niqols inside the pce. The other remained outside and waited for the wall to hide the entrance before moving toward the valley again.


    "[I should probably greet the others]," Khan sighed when he saw Brandon and the others hurrying toward the squad leaders and the other recruits.


    "[Don''t forget to bring the other to drink]," Dokumented.


    "[They must celebrate in the Niqols'' way]," Ilman added, and his words almost sounded like an order.


    "[Don''t make any of them fall into the gorge]," Azni reminded them, and the three boys instinctively looked at the crack a dozen of meters from their position.


    The valley was vast, and the same went for the crack. The sunlight illuminated its upper parts and revealed the details of those rocky surfaces. Still, the bottom of the gorge remained dark due to how deep it was.


    "[I won''t get my hopes up with the squad leaders here]," Khan exined.


    "[Maybe we can pretend to get offended to get you out of a boring situation]," Doku proposed. "[A signal might work].


    "[Doku, you took weeks to learn how to wink properly],"


    "[Months]," Khan corrected her while pretending to cough.


    "[Do not worry]," Ilman announced. "[I will understand when Khan is bored with a single nce]."


    "[That will be hard since I''m already bored]," Khanughed before nodding at the three Niqols and turning toward the group of humans.


    His actions didn''t go unnoticed. All the recruits and squad leaders nced at Khan when they saw him splitting from his Niqols friend. Yeza''s announcement from before had made him the most interesting figure among the envoys.


    "How the fuck did you even do that?" Paul asked as soon as Khan approached the humans.


    "I must be good with women," Khanughed while ncing at George.


    "Humans and Niqols can confirm that!" George shouted before mustering his courage to approach Natalie.


    ''Why is he even scared?'' Khanmented in his mind before disregarding the issue to focus on Paul.


    "How are things out there?" Khan asked.


    "They are as messy as they can be," Paul sighed. "We lost a bunch of recruits in the first week, and the situation didn''t improve too much afterward. So many survived only because we abandoned the camps and hid near the teleport since Captain Erbair was in charge of defending it."


    "Did the Niqols send reinforcements?" Khan continued while pointing at one of the cauldrons in the distance.


    "As if," Paul snorted. "We were about to obtain clearance to send some weapons here, but Rodney happened."


    Khan fell silent and continued to stare in front of him even if Paul were trying to study his reactions. He wouldn''t reveal anything on the matter until he understood where Paul stood regarding the topic.


    "No one is holding a grudge against you," Paul reassured when he understood the reason behind Khan''s silence. "Well, Rodney''s family will definitely hate you, but we are keeping your name outside of the official reports for now. Everyone is mostly happy that one of you managed to get close to the Niqols."


    "Is he rich?" Khan asked without turning.


    "Pretty wealthy, but not too influential," Paul exined. "Don''t worry. You are quite untouchable for now."


    Khan nodded, and his thoughts immediately went toward another topic when silence fell again. Yeza''s announcement had made it difficult for him to inspect his peers properly, but he believed that none of them had noticed his breakthrough. Even Paul didn''t seem to realize that he was walking side by side with another first-level warrior.


    "So, did you have fun before the arrival of the sunlight?" Paul teased, clearly hinting at what George had said before.


    "I have restrictions," Khan joked while pointing at the side of his neck. "I''m afraid everything has to remain a secret."


    "You are enjoying this, aren''t you?" Paul asked.


    "How untouchable am I exactly?" Khan smile.


    "Move on, soldier," Paul snorted. "Don''t forget that I''m your superior."


    "I wonder if I can ruin my image fast enough to affect your promotion," Khan wondered while bringing a hand to his chin.


    "Name your price, scoundrel," Paul gave up.


    Khan nced behind him. Everyone was busy catching up, and the azure symbols on the six envoys'' necks often lit up since they risked revealing something connected to the academy. Still, no one was looking in his direction anymore. Even George and Veronica were too busy with the other humans to pay attention to him.


    His eyes eventually fell on Kelly. She was with Brandon next to a short woman whose presence appeared as strong as Paul. She probably was one of the squad leaders of the other camp, and Khan couldn''t help but notice how close Kelly seemed to her.


    "I''m close to beating Kelly up," Khan whispered. "The restrictions don''t allow me to tell you why, but she has tried to get in my way many times already."


    "I should have gotten a drink first," Paul sighed while massaging the spot between his eyebrows. "Whose fault is it?"


    "Neither," Khan responded. "She is strict while I''m free, but she gets mad since she can''t control me."


    "Oh, that''s easy," Paul eximed. "You have yet to realize it, but you are already a few steps above the other recruits on Nitis. You might even be above me in terms of sheer political value. The higher-ups would directly throw awayints filed by recruits if they were to involve you."


    "That''s reassuring," Khanmented.


    "You should check your position on the lists once all of this is over," Paul suggested. "You should be able to fit in some positions as a squad leader in aliens after what you have achieved here."


    "You still don''t know what I did," Khan frowned.


    "And you have no idea what I would do to make Ambassador Yezapliment me," Paul scoffed. "That alone will be part of your profile."


    "I can ask her to see you if you want," Khan proposed.


    "Can you?" Paul gasped as his eyes lit up in pure joy.


    "No," Khanughed before hurrying toward the first fuming cauldron that he found.


    Paul silently cursed him, but a smile eventually appeared on his face. Khan had basically ensured his promotion to Lieutenant. He couldn''t say anything to that recruit.


    The servants from the pce had continued to handle the preparations for the event. The valley had less than two hundred people, but those Niqols prepared thirty cauldrons in different spots of the area.


    The valley was a few kilometers long, so those cauldrons never ovepped. The various groups that formed during the event could also have the chance to decide between a crowded area or some privacy.


    Many Niqols had sat around the fuming cauldron approached by Khan, and they didn''t hesitate to hand him a cup. Doku, Azni, and Ilman were there, and the girl promptly pointed at the edge of the group with her eyes. Havaa was in that area, and she was staring at the iing humans.


    Khan had been the first human to approach the cauldrons, so he could turn and watch the awaited scene unfold with his three friends. Havaa took a deep breath before standing up and walking toward the iing recruit. George was doing his best to catch up with Natalie, and the girl was even showing rare smiles at his jokes.


    The crisis had been hard for Natalie. Still, that reunion had reminded her of how easy it had always been to talk with George. Seeing that he didn''t change at all during those months was even heartwarming, but Havaa''s arrival made her frown. Her surprised expression only intensified when she saw Havaa punching George on his nose.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Hey, look! Chaos got a new chapter! Jokes apart, this covers yesterday, which means that you''ll get two more for today and two for tomorrow. I slept for 13 hours, so I should be able to write everything before and after Demonic Sword''s next release.

 Chapter 191 - Entertainment

    The sudden punch left everyone speechless. Only a few had paid attention to the entire scene, but no one could miss George after some surprised gasps resounded in the area. The boy was sitting on the ground, and a hand covered his nose as blood flowed out of it.


    The recruits froze, and Paul''s hands instinctively went in his hair when he thought about the many political consequences that the event could cause. George was even in his ss, so he knew that he had to handle the issue by himself.


    Natalie had just started to feel some relief after the tough weeks that she had to experience, so anger filled her face when she gazed at Havaa. She didn''t care about George enough to get into a fight for him, but that girl had hurt her by hitting her friend.


    Paul decided to step forward and defuse the situation, but Khan stopped him by cing a hand on his shoulder. The soldier turned to question him, but he discovered that he didn''t move his eyes from George and Havaa.


    Khan performed a grabbing gesture with his free hand, and Ilman promptly put a cup filled with booze in his palm. Khan handed that cup to Paul before repeating the process to get a drink for himself.


    Paul continued to stare at Khan in confusion, but thetter soon whispered to exined the situation. "Let them handle that. Everyone has waited for this to happen since learning about the meeting."


    Paul wanted toin, but his words remained stuck in his throat when he saw the other Niqols staring with prying eyes at George and Havaa while taking quick sips from their cups. Everyone seemed serious about the situation but for stupid reasons.


    Natalie prepared herself to voice an angry berate, but Veronica reached her and pulled her away before she could say anything. The same confusion that afflicted Paul fell on Natalie, and she couldn''t help but question her friend with her gaze while she continued to pull her away.


    That confusion spread among all the recruits. Only Khan and the others who had lived in the academy knew what was happening and managed to take it as a mere fight between partners.


    George rarely managed to keep his mouth shut, especially after drinking. Almost every student had learnt about his previous love interest, so they had waited for that event to unfold. Still, they didn''t expect Havaa to hit him when he was talking with Natalie.


    "[That''s a bit too-]," Doku began toment, but Azni pped his shoulder to make him stop speaking.


    Paul noticed that interaction and nced at Khan again, hoping that thetter could give him exnations. Yet, Khan only had short answers for him, and he even had to whisper them out of fear of Azni''s anger. "She has been George''s girlfriend during these months."


    "That''s still-," Paul tried to argue, but he didn''t contain his voice, so a series of annoyed gazes converged toward his figure and made him go silent.


    "The Niqols generally like gossips, especially those involving couples," Khan exined through whispers.


    Paul could only nod while Khan took a sip from his cup and remained focused on the scene. The soldier turned to look at George and Havaa and discovered that the other envoys had taken care of calming down the recruits who wanted to intervene.


    "Why aren''t you helping them?" Paul asked in a faint voice.


    "This is a perfect spot," Khan responded. "I''m not giving it up."


    "[Khan]?" Azni''s cold voice resounded from behind the two, and Khan immediately fell silent. Paul also understood the silent threat and stopped talking.


    "[Why did you do it]?" George asked in a poor ent. "[We were just talking]!"


    "[I know what talking means for you]," Havaa scolded angrily. "[Did these months mean nothing to you]?"


    "[Of course, but my family-]," George replied, but Havaa suppressed a sob before kicking his leg and leaving the scene in a hurry.


    George followed her departing figure with his gaze, but an army of disappointed eyes unfolded in his vision when he turned to look at hispanions. Some of the Niqols were even shaking their heads.


    "[A man who can''t listen to feeling-]," Ilman started to shout while standing up, but Khan and Doku promptly reached his shoulders to keep him on the ground.


    Ilman still struggled, but Azni''s cold re eventually put an end to his desire to scold George. The girl appeared ready to kill to preserve her source of gossips.


    George remained in that position for a few seconds before exploding into a loud groan. He nimbly jumped on his feet and wiped his bleeding nose before turning toward Natalie.


    "I''m sorry," George announced. "We can''t be together."


    Natalie''s eyes widened before her eyebrows closed into a frown. "We have nevere close to that."


    George pretended not to hear that answer. He began to run in the direction where Havaa had left, but he stopped after a few meters to turn toward Khan''s group and voice a request. "Can I get a cup before g-."


    The boy couldn''tplete his request since a series of angry reprimands flew in his direction and forced him to resume his march. Curses and satisfied nods appeared among the group of Niqols after George left the areas, but Ilman''s sudden announcement ruined that mood. "[Love wins in the end]!"


    "[We have yet to see if she epts to get him back]," Aznimented.


    "[Don''t appear too excited about it]," Doku teased.


    "[Come on]," Azniined while pulling Doku''s sleeve. "[They are so cute together]."


    "[We are cuter]," Doku winked, and Azni blushed in front of that unexpected gesture.


    A series of cute exmations resounded among the group when Azni hid her face in Doku''s chest. Ilman ended up being the loudest of them, and Khan also showed an honest smile at the sight of the happy couple.


    "What did you even do during these months?" Paul whispered when Khan rejoined him.


    "You might discover that some of us have changed after adapting to the Niqols'' lifestyle," Khan vaguely exined, and Paul stared at him for a few seconds before giving up on the matter.


    The recruits found it hard to join the Niqols right away, but Khan, Helen, and Veronica did their best to unite the groups while the servants were still setting everything for the meeting. Tables filled with food slowly appeared on both t areas at the sides of the gorge, and the event soon moved there.


    The atmosphere in the valley wasn''t tense. The main meeting was happening in the pce, and the Niqols discovered how easier it was to connect with the humans when Khan helped them out. That was the first time someone of their age had grown so close to them, so he could effortlessly act as a bridge between the two species.


    Doku, Azni, Ilman, Asyat, and the other Niqols that had built a good rtionship with Khan also helped since they knew that a good performance in the event would help their human friend. They didn''t hesitate to bring the recruits inside their groups and make them join their conversations.


    Many recruits remained biased or hesitant about the vague carelessness shown by the Niqols. The squad leaders also avoided drinking too much since they couldn''t consider the event a simple celebration. Their serious approach made them unable to miss how deeply Khan had entered that social environment, and the four of them didn''t forget to memorize that detail.


    Yeza''s mention and the scenes during the meeting put Khan above the other envoys. The squad leaders felt that the humans had finally gained a decent foundation regarding the rtionship with the Niqols. It might take a few years, but Khan could transform into the connection they needed to get past that mutual distrust and start developing a proper alliance.


    George returned a few hourster. He had a few bruises on his face, but Havaa held his hand as they walked back to the event. The girl was even blushing, which caused a series of excited gasps andughs, with the loudest being Ilman and Azni.


    "Why is everyone so excited?" Paul questioned Khan about that reaction.


    "Ask the others," Khanughed. "I''d rather not be the one to have this awkward conversation."


    Paul listened to his advice and questioned the other envoys. Veronica ended up revealing everything to the squad leader, even if she blushed and used shy words to exin the matter.


    The squad leader had no words to express how he felt. Paul didn''t know whether to feel angry that George had left the meeting to be intimate with his girlfriend or happy that another recruit had established a strong rtionship with the Niqols.


    In the end, Paul let go of the matter and decided to ignore every strange oue that had resulted from that political mission. It was part of the envoys'' tasks to blend with an alien species without forgetting their origins. George seemed to tend too much toward the Niqols, but he chose not to care that day.


    Truth be told, all the recruits needed to rx and vent the stress umted in the past weeks. They didn''t have the parties to vent their tension, and their missions had been messy due to theck of proper tools at their disposal.


    The humans had to live in constant tension during those almost four weeks. The small area under their control was their only advantage over the Niqols since the weaker troops could always retreat and rely on stronger troops if the situation became too dangerous.


    The peaceful meeting helped the humans rest their minds and enjoy a night among the hellishndscape that Nitis had be.


    "What will you say to your family?" Khan asked once George separated from Havaa and walked past all thepliments and teases voiced by the Niqols.


    "What can I even say?" George shrugged his shoulders before taking a sip from his cup. "It''s not totally stupid from a political perspective, right? I''ll get to see this alliance flourish while my talented friend does all the work for me."


    "I wish it were so easy," Khan sighed while toasting with George and moving his gaze on the pce.


    Some of the important figures who had entered the pce were on the long balcony of the central structure. Khan was too far away to recognize all of them, but Captain Erbair, Yeza, and Liiza were easy to find even at that distance.


    Captain Erbair was too tall to mistake her for a Niqols, Yeza had her unique charm, and Liiza made Khan feel warm. The others were nothing more than vague figures in his vision.


    It seemed that the meeting inside the pce had reached a cordial phase since many Niqols and humans were on the balcony. Still, Khan noticed how Liiza and Yeza left the area together and in a hurry.


    The two Niqols didn''t immediately return on the balcony. Khan only shot nces every once in a while when no one looked, but he kept track of the changes on the pce. It felt strange for such important figures to disappear from the main event, but a familiar screech eventually reached his ears and revealed the nature of the situation.


    The group in the valley noticed a dark-grey Aduns when they nced at the sky, but they quickly disregarded the matter. Only Khan continued to inspect the eagle because it was his girlfriend''s ride.


    Liiza soon appeared on the open roof of the right building and jumped on her Aduns to leave the pce. At the same time, Yeza returned to the central balcony and resumed her political tasks.


    ''They must have fought,'' Khan concluded in his mind as he followed Liiza''s Aduns crossing the valley.


    Snow almost replied to the emotions filling Khan''s mind, but he made sure to stop it. He couldn''t follow her now even if he desired to do it with every fiber of his body.


    A helpless sigh escaped Khan''s mouth as he decided to bring his focus back on his surroundings, but a faint tremor suddenly reached his feet. No one except for the squad leaders seemed to have felt it, but a stronger vibration soon ran through the valley and made everyone aware of the event.


    Khan looked at the Niqols to understand how worried they were about the earthquake. They didn''t appear scared. They only frowned in front of that event, and annoyance filled their faces when the tremors intensified even more.


    The first sign of danger appeared when a crack opened at the edges of the gorge. Yet, panic didn''t spread since azure symbols appeared on the ground and the gorge''s walls to reinforce their structure. Everything continued to tremble, but nothing broke anymore.


    Liiza stopped above the valley when she noticed the azure symbols. It took her a while to notice the earthquake, but she didn''t feel worried about the event either. However, her peculiar position allowed her to see that cracks continued to open in some mountains around the area.


    The students couldn''t see those events from the bottom of the valley, but that wasn''t enough to cause worry. Liiza had to see a massive wing out of one of the cracks to understand that something was deeply wrong.


    Liiza made her Aduns shoot toward the group, but her expression froze when her senses noticed something giant hiding right inside the gorge''s edges. Her eagle unfolded its wings to stop its momentum, but everything happened too quickly for her to do something about the incredible event.


    Part of the gorge''s edges exploded even if the azure symbols were reinforcing them. A dark-green lightning bolt shot out of the rocky surface and illuminated a massive mutated Lysixi that had pointed its strange mouth toward Liiza.


    The lightning bolt was too fast for the Aduns. It hit its chest and spread part of its destructive power on the other side.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Only one chapter left to cover yesterday''s release.

 Chapter 192 - Worry

    Ilman''s feelings bordered what humans would define as madness, but they were real. His gaze moved on Liiza as soon as the dark-green light of the lightning bolt filled the area. It was as if he could instinctively sense that she was in danger.


    The lightning bolt pierced the Aduns'' chest and released what remained of its power on the other side. Liiza couldn''t do anything as the attack hit her right shoulder and flung her out of her ride.


    The Aduns and Liiza started to fall as the Lysixi stretched its massive body forward to reach its prey. Simr scenes happened everywhere in the area as other giant monsters came out of the mountains and gorge. They all appeared as mutated versions of the lizard that the envoys had seen in the underground tunnels, but Ilman didn''t care. His full attention was on the woman he loved falling toward the darkness.


    The gorge was vast. Even his best leap couldn''t cover all of it. However, Ilman believed to be fast enough to catch Liiza mid-air and reach the opposite wall before touching the bottom of the crack.


    A suicidal n quickly formed in his mind as chaos unfolded. Everything went in slow-motion in his eyes as he came up with a desperate idea to save Liiza''s life.


    Ilman wouldn''t be able to control his fall, but Liiza might have the chance to climb back to the surface if he brought her on the opposite wall. That alone wouldn''t save her life and would most likely kill him due to the speed reached before the impact, but it could create some hope for her.


    Determination appeared in Ilman''s eyes as his muscles tensed up. He was ready to sacrifice his life if that gave Liiza a slim chance to survive. He felt no hesitation as he bent himself forward to muster his strength, but a shadow crossed his vision before he could sprint ahead.


    Strong winds followed the passage of the shadow. Ilman hair fluttered and his robe almost opened due to the intensity of those gales. His gaze left Liiza''s falling figure for the first time since the beginning of that chaotic event, and reassurance spread inside him when he managed to identify the boy who had moved before him.


    Khan had gone through everything that Ilman had experienced, but his emotions had been far stronger. His resolve to risk his life to save Liiza had also been more intense, but he could actually back it up with some confidence.


    Khan had been a first-level warrior for a week already. Hunts had followed his breakthrough, but he had always held back during them to avoid arousing suspicion. However, everything had disappeared after the lightning bolt hit Liiza.


    Giant monsters capable of eating Khan with a single bite wereing out from every surface of the valley, but he didn''t feel any fear. His immediate reaction could make others wonder about his rtionship with Liiza, but those worries didn''t exist in his mind either.


    A deafening urge resounded Khan''s mind and made it impossible for him to think about anything else. He had to save his loved one. All the worries, fears, and consequences had to wait for when Liiza was safe.


    Khan reached an unfathomable speed when he called upon the entire power that his body could unleash. The air transformed into a dense membrane that tried to slow him down as he shot ahead, but his eyes managed to see everything clearly.


    The gorge was too vast, even for Khan. He couldn''t cross it in a single jump, but the Lysixiing out of the walls had created multiple footholds that he could use.


    The giant lizardsing out of the walls and the boulders flying in the gorge allowed Khan to see a path. His experience in the Lightning-demon style told him that he could cross the opening thanks to the new power that filled his body.


    Khan generated winds as he moved forward, but his steps didn''t release any sound. The edges of the gorge were falling apart, but the tiny boulders created a path that led him directly to the back of the lizard.


    The monster was stretching its giant body toward the center of the crack in a desperate attempt to catch the falling Aduns. The creature had be almost seven meters long after the mutations. It was even using its tail to reach deeper parts of the canyon, and Khan didn''t hesitate to use it as a bridge to get closer to Liiza.


    The mutated Lysixi didn''t notice Khan''s arrival. His steps on the dark-green scales were too faint, but his pace changed when he reached the tip of the creature''s mouth.


    Khan almost stopped once he stepped on the mouth''s tip. The Lysixi noticed him at that point, and its ws tried to converge in his position, but a massive force suddenly flung its head downward.


    A rumbling noise spread among the canyon as Khan jumped using all the strength that his legs could muster. The central parts of the canyon didn''t have debris, so he couldn''tmit any mistake. Yet, his feelings made his mind reach levels of concentration that he had never experienced before. His leap was perfect.


    Khan flew as his body slowly spun. He went so fast that even the improved skin obtained after the breakthrough burned in some spots. A direct sh with Liiza would only kill her, but he had calcted his rotation perfectly.


    Liiza had almost lost consciousness after the lightning bolt pierced her shoulder. Her worry for her Aduns and her pain had kept her vaguely awake, but seeing Khan flying toward her made her eyes widen in surprise and concern.


    Liiza immediately realized where she was, so seeing Khan flying in the middle of the gorge made her fear for his life. Still, everything happened too quickly for her to do anything. Khan reached her before she recalled what had happened.


    Khan didn''t hit her directly. He continued to rotate with the same momentum generated during his jump and grabbed her gently before continuing to shoot ahead.


    The impact remained hard to endure for Liiza even if Khan had done his best to make it easy for her. Moreover, the speed that she reached wasn''t something that her body could endure. Her bare skin started to burn as Khan held her close to his chest and gazed at the path ahead.


    Khan was far faster than Ilman, but he couldn''t reach the other side of the gorge even after using the Lysixi. Grabbing Liiza had made him slow down and descend toward the wall, but that area had a path that he could walk.


    Many monsters hade out of the wall and had filled that area with falling boulders. Khan continued to descend diagonally until he reached those cracked rocks, and one of them eventually appeared in front of him.


    "[Hold still]," Khan whispered as his eyes remained on that boulder.


    Liiza instinctively wrapped her arms around his chest, allowing him to focus the entirety of his attention on the issue at hand. Khan''s side mmed on the falling boulder and pushed it away, but he used his free hand to keep it close.


    The boulder continued to fall, but Khan nimbly jumped on it. His eyes went on the sky now that he had finally gained a foothold. Many rocks and giant lizards filled his vision, but he didn''t consider them as potential threats. They were his path toward the surface.


    Liiza tightened her grip on Khan''s chest when he jumped upward. His faint stepsnded on multiple cavities on the wall as he pushed himself closer to the surface.


    Khan climbed until he exhausted the viable cavities, but he turned toward the falling rocks at that point. A suitable boulder was right above him, and he didn''t hesitate to jump there.


    The new spot opened new paths. Khan saw other cavities and boulders, and he quickly jumped again by following a simple tactic. He had to prioritize the boulders since they would end at some point. Instead, the wall would still be there once they fell past him.


    Khan climbed until the surface reappeared in his vision. A Lysixi hade out from a spot above him and had created arge cavity that could lead him back on the valley with a single jump. Yet, the creature was still there, and it had noticed his arrival.


    That monster was smaller than the lizard seen on the other side of the canyon, but fuming ws grew from its eight legs. They appeared able to melt everything they touched, including the rocky cavity that allowed it to stand next to the surface.


    A single touch from those ws would cleave Khan in half, but he didn''t feel any fear while jumping away from the wall to reach a falling boulder behind him. The second foothold allowed him to leap back toward a higher spot of the wall that was quite close to the cavity upied by the mutated Lysixi.


    The creature couldn''t follow his movements, but the instant that Khan spent on the second foothold told it that the prey wasing. The Lysixi started to stretch its ws forward even if Khan disappeared from its vision.


    The ws aimed for Khan even after he jumped off the boulder, but he didn''t panic. He had never intended to reach the mutated Lysixi in a straight line. A small rock stood between him and those fuming talons, and that was enough to make him change direction mid-air.


    The small rock shattered as Khan performed a quick jump that led him next to the lizard''s head. The creature remained stunned, but Khan vanished right after. He climbed the small wall behind the monster until his feet stepped on the dark-grey grass of the valley.


    Khan didn''t stop there. The monster was behind him, but other mutated Lysixi wereing out in the distance. The safest spot appeared to be the center of that side of the valley, and he reached it in no time.


    "[Khan]," Liiza sobbed when Khan ced her on the ground.


    Liiza had hidden her face on his chest, but burns had appeared on her hands, forearms, legs, and neck. Her shoulder had never stopped bleeding either, and Khan''s speed had only worsened her injury.


    Still, the pain felt during the flight had awakened herpletely. Liiza had recalled everything that had happened, and tears inevitably fell from her eyes.


    Khan didn''t need to question her to understand the source of her sorrow. Liiza had just lost the friend that had apanied her throughout the long years as an outcast. Her Aduns had been her only trustedpanion before Khan''s arrival, and its corpse was somewhere in the depths of the gorge now.


    "[I couldn''t save Zama]," Khan exined while holding her hand. "[I''m sorry]."


    Liiza tried to stand up and go toward the gorge, but Khan hugged her before she could stand up. The girl struggled to escape his grasp and shouted the Aduns'' name, but she eventually hid her face in Khan''s neck to cry.


    Khan studied Liiza''s injuries while she wrapped her arms around his neck to hide her face even more. The burns weren''t an issue, but blood still flowed out of the hole in her right shoulder. He had to patch that wound before it became too severe.


    A powerful presence entered Khan''s range while he was busy tearing apart a piece of his robe. His hand immediately went on his sheath and drew the first-grade knife as he turned toward the source of that sensation, but his eyes widened when he noticed Yeza.


    Dark blood had tainted the woman''s revealing dress and hair, but she didn''t seem to care. Yeza''s face was cold, but evident worry filled her eyes as they moved between Khan and Liiza.


    Khan wanted to rx his face, but he noticed that his muscles didn''t reply to his thoughts. His grip on the knife remained firm, his eyes continued to express coldness, and his feet had instinctively prepared another sprint.


    The dangerous situation and the injured Liiza crying in his arms had made Khan focus the entirety of his power on protecting her. Of course, that was an irrational desire in front of her mother, and Khan slowly managed to lower his knife, but his expression remained cold and wary.


    ****


    Author''s notes: This chapter covers yesterday. I need two more to handle today''s release now. I think the first wille before I move to Demonic Sword. The second will arrive afterward.

 Chapter 193 - Bridges

    The rtionship between Liiza and Yeza was far from good, but thetter still loved her greatly. She had been on the balcony of the pce''s central building when the chaos had unfolded, and she had immediately noticed the dark-green lightning bolt hitting Liiza.


    Yeza was incredibly strong. Her position had requirements that went beyond simple political skills, and she met all of them perfectly. However, her power was useless in that situation. Liiza was too far away.


    Despair had started to spread in Yeza''s mind when she realized how powerless she was in that situation. Still, a peculiar scene unfolded in her vision before she could lose herself to grief. She saw Khan unleashing an unfathomable speed and jumping after her daughter while everyone had yet to realize what was happening.


    Something strange happened in Yeza''s mind. She wasn''t thinking clearly, but she still felt confident that Khan would seed in saving her daughter''s life.


    That confidence made her jump from the balcony, step on the ground, and run toward the valley''s left side. Khan had reached Liiza by then, so Yeza already knew where he wouldnd.


    A mutated Lysixi came out of the ground in front of her, but Yeza barely looked at it. She softly pressed her palm on the scaled chest, and the creature spat a torrent of blood before copsing on its back. Part of its dark insides fell on her hair and dress, but she didn''t care about her appearance when she had yet to confirm the state of her daughter.


    A smile appeared on Yeza''s face when she saw Khan jumping on the surface while carrying Liiza in his arms. She felt even happier when she noticed that her daughter was alive, but the sobbed screams that called the Aduns'' name turned her expression dark.


    Yeza knew that she couldn''t offer Liiza any emotional support. Their rtionship was too bad, and she suffered when she realized that Liiza would have to go through that pain on her own. Her daughter was all alone in the world now.


    However, something even stranger happened while she continued to run forward. Liiza abandoned herself to Khan''s hug with ease that Yeza had never seen in her daughter. Moreover, Khan appeared truly in pain and worried about her situation.


    Yeza was an expert in manipting mana and political interactions, but her true mastery was in the study of people. She could understand secrets from hidden nces and uncover rtionships from vague gestures. Liiza was her weak point in that ability, but she couldn''t fail to sense the deep feelings that the couple was sharing now.


    Everything became more evident when Yeza reached the duo. Khan raised his knife in an instinctive attempt to protect Liiza from an unknown threat, and his desire had been so strong that he couldn''t lower his weapon even after recognizing Yeza.


    Moreover, his expression carried the same determination that Yeza had seen during the meeting. She couldn''t fail to connect that secret Niqols'' partner with the girl in his arms.


    Khan managed to lower his knife after a few seconds, but the coldness in his eyes didn''t disappear. Still, Liiza was in pain, and she needed medical attention, so he didn''t hesitate to consider her health a priority.


    "She is injured," Khan limited himself to say while using the humannguage on purpose.


    Yeza snapped back to reality and hurried toward the couple before cing a hand on Liiza''s head. Her mana flowed inside the girl and fixed her injuries in a matter of seconds, but thetter only held Khan tightly as strength returned inside her body.


    Instead, Khan nced at Yeza and met her cold gaze. He immediately realized that she had understood everything, so he waited for her judgment.


    "[Since when]?" Yeza eventually asked, and hearing that voice made Liiza raise her head in surprise.


    Liiza''s grief had made her fail to realize that someone had healed her, but hearing that voice forced her senses to focus on her surroundings again. Yeza''s stern face appeared in her teary eyes, and she instinctively nced at Khan to understand what they had to do.


    Liiza immediately understood that her gesture had been a mistake, so her eyes darted back on Yeza. Still, her attempt to hide how deeply she cared about Khan''s opinion only made the situation more obvious.


    A wave of panic swept Liiza''s mind. Her thoughts were still a mess due to Zama''s death, and the fear that her actions had uncovered her rtionship with Khan only worsened her mental state.


    Her breath became irregr, but a familiar warmth spread from the back of her head and calmed her down. Liiza turned again toward Khan and rxed when she saw his loving smile. Another sob inevitably escaped her mouth as she made their foreheads touch and took his face in her hands.


    Yeza struggled to maintain a cold expression. She saw the love in Khan''s caresses and smiles. She noticed the affection in her daughter''s reactions. Her position had forced her to consider the political implications and dangers that the rtionship could cause, but those worries vanished in front of the couple''s feelings. They even felt offensive in front of their intense emotions.


    "[Right after my arrival on Nitis]," Khan revealed when he and Liiza turned to show their firm gazes to Yeza.


    "[It was my fault]," Liiza quickly added. "[He would have neve-]."


    "[It was only a matter of time before we ended up together]," Khan interrupted her, and the two exchanged meaningful nces.


    Yeza could almost read their intentions in those gazes. Liiza wanted to take the me for the rtionship, but Khan didn''t let her. She then questioned him with her eyes, and he made her understand that they were in that mess together.


    The two seemed on the verge of kissing after that silent exchange of gazes. Yeza had to clear her throat to im their attention.


    Khan and Liiza snapped back to reality and fixed their eyes back on Yeza. The situation around them had only grown more chaotic, but they only cared about her judgment.


    "[You have no idea what I can do with my mana]," Yeza threatened while bending toward Khan. "[I hope you don''t force me to review the Niqols'' long history in torture techniques]."


    Yeza then turned toward Liiza to continue. "[You have seen how men are. Don''t give yourself away easily even if our species finds it hard to hold back]."


    Liiza sniffed before performing a weak nod, but something in her gesture made Yeza frown and question the couple. "[Did you two have sex already]?"


    "[I won''t ept your opinion on the topic]," Liiza stated while showing a firm expression.


    Yeza''s frown deepened and forced Khan to add something to defuse the fight. "[We have been careful. We have used protections]."


    Liiza and Yeza turned toward Khan, and he obviously chose to look at his girlfriend. Both women appeared angry about something, and Khan guessed that they didn''t want him to step between them.


    "[You have gone through a lot]," Khan exined while pulling Liiza closer to his chest. "[This isn''t the time to argue with your mother]."


    Khan''s words reminded Liiza about Zama, and a sob apanied the nod that she used to answer him. Yeza''s eyes widened in astonishment. Khan had actually managed to stop Liiza''s angry outburst.


    "[Your father would like him]," Yezamented, and Liiza turned to show an angry expression toward her mother.


    Khan managed to stop the second outburst by calling her name with the Niqols'' ent, but he also turned to say something to Yeza once Liiza calmed down. "[With all due respect, you aren''t helping]."


    Yeza ended up smiling at that remark, but she quickly covered her mouth. She couldn''t appear happy when the crisis had reached such a critical point. Still, she had been unable to hide her feelings after confirming that her daughter had someone worthy of her trust during that problematic situation.


    "[We''ll talk properly after everything is over]," Yeza eventually sighed before turning her gaze on the valley. "[Make sure to be there for her. Zama was a good Aduns]."


    Khan nodded even if Yeza wasn''t looking at them. Liiza''s grasp on his neck tightened as she realized what had just happened. That announcement wasn''t a proper approval of their rtionship, but it was something that went in the right direction.


    The valley had fallen deeper into chaos during those minutes. The Niqols and humans in the pce had chased after Yeza, but mutated Lysixi had blocked their path. The students and recruits on the other side of the crack had tried to reach their higher-ups, but monsters had eventually stopped their advance.


    Both Niqols and humans needed to regroup and create proper battle formations to get out of that situation. The pack of Lysixi wasn''t too numerous, but all of its members were monsters that had developed abilities. Yeza, Captain Erbair, and soldiers at a simr level wouldn''t have problems against them, but the same didn''t apply to the others.


    "[Khan, help the other students]," Yeza ordered. "[Bring Liiza with you. I will make the higher-ups regroup and join you before leading everyone to another safe location]."


    "[How should I reach th-]?" Khan began to ask, but Yeza suddenly tapped the ground to activate one of the functions that the Niqols had set there beforehand.


    The entire valley was full of monsters, and the students were on the other side of the gorge, so Khan didn''t know how to reach them. Yet, many openings appeared on the rocky walls of the canyon after Yeza''s gesture. Large bridges full of cracks came out of the holes and stretched toward the other sides.


    Azure symbols filled the bridges and increased their stability. Khan saw some Lysixi attacking them only to have a shining membrane blocking their abilities. That protection even deflected the fuming ws of the giant lizard near the spot where he hadnded.


    "[Can I trust you with this task and my daughter]?" Yeza asked without turning.


    Yeza appeared in a hurry to leave, but she didn''t move. She wanted to hear that Khan had understood how important those things were for her.


    "[Of course]," Khan confirmed in a calm voice that made Yeza smile in satisfaction.


    Yeza didn''t want loud or arrogant announcements. She had already seen how Khan had been ready to risk his life to save Liiza. Still, she needed to hear how he felt about the task, and his calmment expressed his confidence perfectly.


    Yeza shot forward at that point. Khan took that as the signal that the mission had started. He stood up while lifting Liiza with him, and she didn''t hesitate toin. "[You can''t fight like this. Put me down]."


    "[I''m not going to fight until I reach the other side]," Khanmented, and Liiza immediately understood what he wanted to do.


    Liiza hid her face and hands inside Khan''s robe before covering the bare skin that she couldn''t protect naturally with her ice. Khan waited for the process to be over and shot ahead when Liiza pinched his side.


    The bridges were still stretching forward. They would reach their counterparts on the other side soon, and the Lysixi had given up on stopping the process.


    The lizard on the bridge near Khan had also stopped attacking and had turned toward him, but it stretched its long body on the structure when it lost track of his figure. Khan would need to pass over its body to go on the other side of the gorge, but that wasn''t a problem for him.


    The Lysixi didn''t even notice when Khan crossed it. He had only needed to perform steps too faint for the creature''s senses. The monster in front of him also was quite simr to the lizard seen in the tunnel, so he didn''t need to perform long jumps that would have made him slow down.


    Still, Khan didn''t feel satisfied with a simple sprint. The first-grade knife was already in his left hand, and testing a technique at that speed wouldn''t even slow him down. Moreover, lowering the number of monsters sounded like a good idea.


    Khan reached the end of the bridge and jumped on the structure stretching from the other side. The action inevitably slowed him down and forced him to release some sound, so the Lysixi turned. Yet, a long wound that went from its neck to the base of its tail opened during the process.


    "[You have said no fights]," Liizained once Khan stepped on the other side and stopped running.


    "[Technically, it was training]," Khan justified. "[I''m not used to deploying my full power]."


    "[I''ll forgive you if you kiss me and hold me tightly afterward]," Liiza whispered.


    "[Now]?" Khan asked as he nced at the students who had noticed their arrival.


    "[Yes, now]," Liiza repeated, and Khan gave in to her request.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I have decided to hit the bed right away today. I will clear Demonic Sword right after waking up before focusing wholeheartedly on Chaos, especially since this part requires my best mental state. If everything goes well, you will get five chapters tomorrow to cover everything that I owe you (1 missed from yesterday, 2 for today, 2 for tomorrow).


    Also, thank you for being so understanding and patient toward this messy writer.

 Chapter 194 - Tail

    The Niqols'' sensitivity to mana generally was pretty good, so they sensed Khan and Liiza stepping among their group even if they didn''t turn. The humans didn''t study that topic in the academy, but some of them had developed decent senses anyway, while others had simply heard the couple stopping behind them.


    Paul and the other squad leaders were keeping the three mutated Lysixi that had attacked the group at bay, so many students and recruits had seen Khan saving Liiza. Ilman had even cheered after the event, so missing it had been quite impossible.


    The other side of the gorge was quite far away, and the confusion of the battlefield never gave the group the time to perform a long inspection. They focused on the fact that Liiza and Khan were fine, but they didn''t go further, so no one noticed the intimacy shown by the couple. Yet, the scene that unfolded in their eyes after Khan and Liiza crossed the bridge left everyone stunned.


    Khan lowered his head to kiss Liiza right in front of everyone. It felt good, incredibly good to savor each other''s lips after having spent long weeks in different tents. That feeling was even more intense since they could finally stop pretending in public.


    The chaos unfolding in the valley forced Khan to keep the kiss short, but Liiza tightened the grip on his neck and made him remain on her lips. Khan couldn''t help but smile and wrap both arms around her waist to bring her closer, and the two separated after she decided to hide her face on his chest again.


    Khan gently caressed Liiza''s hair while she tried to use his warmth to fight the grief that was devouring her insides. She could stop herself from exploding into tears only due to the vague eptance that her mother had shown toward her rtionship. Still, that break from her sad emotions neversted more than a few seconds.


    Many saw that stunning scene, and the voices that followed made everyone aware of what had happened. Azni had voiced a high-pitched excited cry, Ilman had shouted some encouragement, and George didn''t hold back from expressing his surprise. Everything else was a series of murmurs, gasps, and exmations that eventually reached those involved in the battle.


    Paul, Felicia, and the other two squad leaders were busy fending off the three monsters trying to approach the group. They were all first-level mages and warriors, so mutated creatures weren''t too much of a problem for them. Yet, the three Lysixi had developed abilities, and one of them appeared able to crack its tail at an unfathomable speed, which ended up controlling the pace of the battle.


    The other two Lysixi also had troublesome abilities. One of them spat a sticky fluid that forced the squad leaders to retreat or use spells to remove it. The other seemed able to make anything shake as long as it kept its gaze fixed on it.


    Those abilities wouldn''t be too troublesome if taken singrly, but the monsters appeared intelligent enough to deploy a raw battle formation. The sticky fluid creature made the squad leaders unable to advance, the quick tail forced them to dodge often, and the specimen with the powerful gaze dispersed every spell they tried to cast.


    The battle had reached a stalemate, with the squad leaders unable to advance orunch spells and the monsters waiting for one of their opponents tomit a mistake. Jumping on the creatures would solve most of the problems, but no one was fast enough to dodge the tail. Even Ilman had to remain behind.


    The surprised gasps, rumors, and other voices informed the squad leaders about Khan''s return. None of them had seen Khan crossing the gorge, but they had learnt about his sess in the feat, so they had confirmed that he had grown faster in those months.


    The battle required a fast soldier who could approach the monsters, so Paul didn''t hesitate to jump back and turn to call Khan. Still, his expression froze when he saw the end of the kiss and the subsequent loving hug.


    Khan raised his head to inspect his surroundings after Liiza hugged him tightly. An honest smile appeared on his face when he saw Doku and Azni, but his expression turned awkward when he noticed Ilman''s proud expression.


    The awkwardness intensified when Khan went over all the stunned humans. Liiza was still the untouchable "Miss Liiza" in their minds, so the scene shook them deeply. Instead, the Niqols added faint smiles when their eyes met Khan''s. They had aplicated rtionship with his girlfriend, but they respected her current grief.


    The awkwardness reached its peak when Khan found Paul staring at him. The soldiers'' hands were in his hair as he expressed hisplete disbelief.


    Khan wanted to say something, but the scenes of the battle imed the entirety of his attention. He inspected the abilities of the three monsters and quickly understood what the squad leaderscked. They needed him to sprint past the fast tail and disrupt the creature''s teamwork.


    "[Can I let Azni take care of you for a bit]?" Khan whispered to Liiza''s ear.


    Liiza could be very useful in that situation, but her mental state was a mess. Half of her world had fallen apart after Zama died. Khan believed that she would join a battle if necessary, but he wanted to spare her that struggle.


    "[It''s never a bit with you]," Liizained while raising her face to fix her eyes on him.


    "[I''lle back soon]," Khan promised as a hand reached her cheek.


    Liiza nodded, and Khan left a quick kiss on her lips before walking toward Azni. The two didn''t need to say anything. Azni took Liiza''s hand, and thetter whispered soft words before separating from Khan.


    "[The tail is really fast]," Ilman warned when he saw Khan walking toward Paul.


    "[I''m faster]," Khan announced, and Ilman smirked proudly.


    "I''ll stop the monster with the annoying tail," Khan dered when he reached the stunned Paul. "Make sure to kill one of them in the meantime."


    "Why can''t you be a normal soldier?" Paul cursed without moving from his spot.


    "A normal soldier wouldn''t be helpful here," Khan replied in a vaguely mocking tone.


    Paul turned toward the battle. The squad leaders were about to lose their ground now that he had abandoned his position. He had to return and make Khan join the fight, but he didn''t forget to voice a reminder first. "You and I will need to have a long talk once everything is over."


    "Your spot in the line is behind Ambassador Yeza," Khan joked before running to the side and waiting for Paul to reach his position among the squad leaders.


    Paul''s return relieved some pressure from the other squad leaders'' but only because he added a target to the threatening tail and vibrations that one of the monsters could cause. The four soldiers never had the time to gather their mana tounch spells, so they limited themselves to dodge and escape from the expanding sticky fluid.


    Khan waited until he confirmed that the lizards weren''t paying attention to him. The monster with the fast tail kept an eye on its surroundings, but Khan disappeared during the sprint. The creature noticed his absence when he had already reached the trio.


    The first monster on Khan''s path had the powerful gaze. He felt confident in shing its eyes or killing it directly with a perfect technique, but he couldn''t take risks in that situation.


    Khan jumped on the monster''s head and mustered the entirety of his strength to leap toward his real target. Thetter was at the center of the trio, but a massive force suddenly mmed on the side of its t head and pushed it toward itspanion.


    Khan found himself airborne, but thatsted for less than a second since the lizard''s head had been close to the ground. The knife in his hands shone with an azure light as he stabbed it at the center of the creature''s skull.


    The execution had been perfect, but the lizard didn''t stop moving. Instead, it grew angry and made its quicky tail crack toward Khan. Thetter dodged it by stepping on the creature''s back and approaching the base of that annoying limb.


    A swift attack with his de severed the tail. The limb was quiterge at its base, but it remained thin due to the Lysixi''s strange bodies, so the knife was enough to cut it with a single sh.


    The monster bellowed in pain and tried to turn toward its opponent, but a fireball exploded on its face and pushed it back by a few meters. Khan had to jump off the creature to remain next to the two lizards, but he had to sprint away when he saw the sticky fluid flying toward him.


    Khan didn''t fear that substance, but his waist suddenly trembled and made him lose his bnce. He fell to the ground and started rolling on himself due to the momentum umted in the first part of the sprint.


    The two monsters approached Khan as he slid on the ground, but a fireball and a dense gas flew toward them. The first attack exploded on one of the lizards'' back while a dark cloud covered the other creature''s head.


    The two monsters found themselves unable to reach Khan, so he could stand up and back off safely. Meanwhile, one of the squad leaders from the other camp unleashed a beam-like ability that pierced the dark cloud and made the creature inside it fall lifelessly on the ground.


    Khan noticed the fuming hole in the lizard''s head before turning toward the squad leader who hadunched that threatening attack. A trail of smoke came out of the woman''s fingers, but she quickly waved her hand multiple times to disperse the heat umted there.


    ''That''s dangerous,'' Khanmented as he watched the other squad leader taking a deep breath before pping his hands in front of his chest.


    The gesture created a soundwave that flew toward the tailless lizard. The attacknded at the center of its body and almost opened it into two parts. The monster had survived the fireball, but thest spell killed it once and for all.


    Only the monster with the sticky substance remained. A fireball had hit its broad back, but that wasn''t enough to kill it. Still, itspanions had died, so it tried to escape in front of the obvious disadvantage.


    Paul didn''t let the creature run. He jumped forward and crossed theyer of sticky substance to grab the monster''s tail. He closed his eyes, and a wave of energy seeped inside the lizard, ran through its back, and reached the back of its neck.


    Khan saw the monster''s head exploding into a rain of dark blood. The squad leaders had only needed a short window to kill three giant mutated creatures. They were strong, and their disy of power proved to him once again how incredible spells could be.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Long story short, I fucked up. I woke up at a decent hour, opened the word file, and just didn''t write. Take yesterday as my break.. I''ll also go slow today and make only another chapter, but I n to stick to the five-chapters n tomorrow.

 Chapter 195 - Goddesses

    The group could finally experience a peaceful moment. The squad leaders had done an excellent job keeping the monsters at bay, but both students and recruits couldn''t feelpletely safe. Still, Khan''s arrival had helped turn the situation in their favor.


    Khan inspected the four squad leaders with deep interest. He had learnt everyone''s names, but he could add abilities to the descriptions in his mind now.


    Paul''s element was unclear, but he seemed to require physical contact to activate his spells. The sheer power of his ability bnced those disadvantages and created a skill that could kill in a few seconds.


    Felicia''s element was fire, and she had only shown her fireballs during the battle. Her attacks weren''t as powerful as herpanions'' abilities, but she could cast them multiple times in a row without getting tired. Moreover, their range was decent, and they didn''t require long preparations.


    Iris'' element was unclear. She appeared older than her fellow squad leaders, and her short dark hair enhanced the mature aura that surrounded her body. Her abilities involved the threatening bright beam that had pierced the mutated Lysixi from side to side.


    Thest squad leader, Ryan, clearly had an element connected with the wind or the air in general. He appeared as old as Paul, but he had short dark hair, and his eyes were so clear that they created a stark contrast with the dark shades of his skin.


    Ryan was short but thick. His muscles bulged from under his military uniform, and hisst spell seemed to have forced them to inte. The man was the source of the dark gas and the sharp soundwave, and their differences were the main reason behind Khan''s struggles to recognize his element.


    ''Are they stronger than me?'' Khan wondered as he walked past the squad leaders to return among the group.


    The Lightning-demon style gave Khan a massive advantage, especially now that he had be a first-level warrior. He could probably defeat the squad leaders in a one versus one as long as he attacked first. The Divine Reaper also gave him incredible deadliness, but he felt he fell short in terms of destructive power.


    The students and the recruits created a path for Khan while he was busy cleaning his knife with his sleeve and walking back to Liiza. Azni had been with her the whole time, but she didn''t dare to miss Khan''s battle, and she didn''t hesitate to reveal a warm smile when he took her in his arms again.


    "[I told you it would have been quick]," Khan whispered while kissing Liiza''s on the side of her head.


    "[I was about to step in when the Lysixi survived your attack]," Liiza teased while slipping a hand under his robe.


    The event had taken Khan by surprise too. He didn''t expect the lizard to continue its offensive even after he dug a hole in its brain. Those creatures seemed too big to die due to the small injuries that his knife was able to open.


    The students around the couple remained speechless once again. Most of the girls there had tried to flirt with Khan during his stay in the academy, but it felt obvious that he had already ended up with Liiza back then. They even connected her usual blush to their rtionship, and murmurs eventually filled the group.


    Khan could almost hear everything those Niqols said, and he felt grateful that most of the humans on the scene couldn''t understand theirnguage. He didn''t want them to learn those gossips so soon, especially while the valley was still a mess.


    "What did Ambassador Yeza say?" Paul asked as he and the other squad leaders approached Khan.


    Everyone had seen Yeza reaching Khan and Liiza, and their new open behavior even hinted at her acknowledgment of their rtionship. Azni had gossips ready to spread among the Niqols, but she held back and limited herself to smile every time her eyes fell on the couple.


    "We have to wait for her to gather the higher-ups and bring them here," Khan exined. "She''ll lead us to a safe location afterward."


    Paul nodded, but his struggle was evident. That emotion was even stronger in the other squad leaders. All of them tried to keep their eyes on Khan, but they always fell on the girl snuggling closer to his chest. She was basically uncovering his torso as her hands went deeper inside his robe and her mouth left soft kisses on his bare shoulder.


    Liiza''s mental state was awful now, and her mother had sort of acknowledged her rtionship. Khan''s higher-ups weren''t there either, so her self-restraint didn''t bother to appear.


    Her explicit behavior put the humans who had never gotten used to the Niqols'' customs in an awkward position. The squad leaders mostly managed to force themselves to keep their eyes on Khan, but the other recruits instinctively diverted their gazes. It was simple politeness on their end not to stare at those intimate actions.


    "Do we have to remain here?" Iris asked in an annoyed tone.


    "How long do you think it will take them?" Khan asked while pointing at the pce with the hand that held the knife.


    Everyone turned to look at the pce, and the scene that unfolded in their eyes left them dumbfounded. Yeza had quickly regrouped with the other higher-ups and had led them back near the building before making them advance across the valley to reach the students.


    Many mutated Lysixi had charged toward their group as soon as they came out to the ground, gorge, or mountains nearby. Some creatures had even been closer to Khan and the others, but they didn''t mind them as they rushed toward the strongest warriors in the valley.


    Their charge toward Yeza''s group appeared almost instinctive. The monsters knew who they had to defeat to conquer the area, but their efforts ended pitifully.


    Almost fifty monsters hade out of the valley and the mountains nearby. That massive number of mutated creatures would make the squad leaders tremble in fear, but they were nothing more than dummies in front of the overwhelming power shown by the higher-ups.


    Yeza was dazzling as she danced among the abilities, tails, ws, and teeth that flew toward her. Her body appeared able to dodge those attacks on its own. She performed elegant but sharp turns whenever something was about to reach her, leaving her untouched even if five monsters tried to gang up on her.


    Moreover, her hands were deadly weapons. Yeza was holding her true power back since higher-ups from another species were on the scene, but that didn''t make her weak. She only needed to touch her opponents to make them puke a torrent of blood. The spot where her fingersnded didn''t even seem to affect the power of her ability.


    Captian Erbair was also hiding her true power, but she appeared unstoppable nheless. She was massive but incredibly fast. Her body resembled a cannonball as she covered long distances in less than a second to m head-on on the monsters.


    The impact with those creatures directly shattered their scales and insides. Khan even turned in time to see her m her massive arms on a monster''s head to turn it into a bloody pulp.


    Khan had to go all-out to handle even the weaker monsters. He was strong, but he couldn''t allow himself tomit mistakes. However, those fights couldn''t make the higher-ups sweat. They easily handled multiple mutated creatures and their abilities at the same time without ever stopping their advance.


    The leaders of the two factions did most of the work. The two Lieutenants, the Chiefs, the soldiers, and the other Niqols in the group rarely had the chance to do much.


    They tried to help multiple times, but their leaders ended up killing their targets before they could even reach them. The Lieutenants and the other soldiers wanted to show off a bit in front of Yeza, but they never got a chance to shine since Captain Erbair and the enchanting Niqols were simply too strong.


    Iris lost the desire toin. She remained stunned in front of that sheer disy of power. It was rare to see higher-ups fight, but the sight was spectacr, and knowing that they weren''t using the entirety of their abilities made everything even more surreal.


    Yeza and Captain Erbair weren''t even close to being human in terms of the power that they wielded. They were goddesses of war who were having fun among monsters putting their lives on the line to take them down.


    Liiza felt Khan''s hug tightening while he remained captivated by that scene. She raised her eyes only to see how a deep resolve had appeared on his face.


    The power revealed by the two leaders was his goal, at least one of his first goals. Khan knew that Captain Erbair was only a third-level warrior and mage, which meant that beings stronger than her existed in the world. Many of them were potential threats, and the Nak were among those.


    "[I''m not watching your mother]," Khan exined without moving his gaze from the battle when he felt Liiza''s gaze on him.


    "[I know]," Liiza sighed before resuming her snuggling. "[That power suits you. You will obtain it in no time]."


    "[Of course he will]," Ilman shouted from behind the couple as he approached the two to pat Khan''s shoulder. "[We will reach the peak of our respective worlds]."


    "[Ilman, this was kind of a romantic moment]," Khan scolded, but Ilman ignored him to focus on Liiza, who looked at him from behind Khan''s shoulder.


    "[My condolences for Zama]," Ilman announced in a serious tone while performing a deep bow. "[Your Aduns deserves the loudest party that The Pure Trees can offer]."


    Both Khan and Liiza remained stunned in front of that serious statement. Liiza even sniffed before performing a respectful nod to show her appreciation.


    "[Also, for what it''s worth, I''m happy that you have found someone who can make you smile]," Ilman continued. "[I''m even happier that the honor went to Khan. You couldn''t find a better human or Niqols]."


    "[You are making me blush now]," Khan joked, but Liiza pulled his hair to make him shut up.


    "[Thank you, Ilman]," Liiza responded. "[I''m sorry I couldn''t give you what you wanted]."


    "[Nonsense]," Ilman contradicted. "[You more than anyone else deserve happiness, and I''m d that Khan can give it to you]."


    Ilman took a few steps back to return among the crowd watching the higher-ups, and the couple watched him getting too far away to hear theirments.


    "[He isn''t a bad guy]," Khan said while focusing on Liiza to see if that interaction had improved her mood.


    "[He is cute]," Liizamented before wearing a faint yful smile at the jealousy that shed in Khan''s eyes.


    Liiza approached her mouth to Khan''s ear as he turned to look at the battlefield again and whispered words that sounded far more captivating than the scenes unfolding in his vision. "[Don''t forget that nothing can stop us from sleeping together now. Can I ask you not to leave me alone at least tonight]?"


    Liiza appeared almost scared to ask that favor. Her suppressed begging tone made Khan give up on any training he had nned for when Yeza brought the students to a safe location. His girlfriend needed him, and he wouldn''t deny her hispany.


    The two ended up exchanging a long kiss without bothering to worry about their surroundings. The higher-ups seemed on the verge of defeating all the monsters by themselves since those creatures kept charging at them. It was hard to feel in danger when Yeza and Captain Erbair made giant lizards explode every time they moved.


    Simr thoughts spread among the rest of the group. They might not need to abandon the valley if everything continued to progress so smoothly. Still, both students and recruits ignored something that only those with vast knowledge of monsters could guess.


    The mutated Tainted animals were usually quite independent, especially those that managed to develop abilities. They created packs to improve their hunts, but they would never charge toward certain death. Their survival instincts would prevent that.


    Nevertheless, the monsters kept charging at Yeza and Captain Erbair recklessly without caring for their lives. Their deadpanions had already shown them how the two warriors were unbeatable at their level, but they continued to shoot toward them as if driven by an unreasonable hunger.


    It turned out that hunger wasn''t their drive. The mutated Lysixi were attacking out of fear of something that showed its face only when the pack had almost disappeared.


    A mountain right behind the pce opened into two parts before revealing a massive cavity that contained countless mutated Lysixi. Those creatures came out of theirir to storm the valley and uncovered a pair of shining dark-grey reptilian eyes that made all the snow in the area light up as their glow intensified.


    The event made the entire valley tremble. The snow started to move on its own and generated multiple avnches that threatened to submerge the dark-green ins among the mountains.


    A primordial aura that everyone could sense also spread from the mountain with the massive crack as a giant set of ws came out of its dark insides. Those talons appeared as big as the short buildings behind the pce.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I didn''t forget about the 5 chapters. I''ve only slept for a very long time.. Of course, this doesn''t count among the 5.

 Chapter 196 - Lucky

    The atmosphere in the area went from rxed to chaotic. Only a few seconds had passed between the appearance of the new opponents and the avnches. Still, that time had been enough to make everyone in the valley understand that the situation had changed drastically.


    The danger carried by the iing avnches paled in front of the primordial aura radiated by the giant creature inside the mountain. The valley was big, and the students were quite distant from the pce, but they felt that suffocating pressure as if it were right on them.


    The Chiefs, the Lieutenants, and the other soldiers finally had the chance to show their power since Yeza and Captain Erbair turned toward the new threat to show their surprise. The two leaders had also believed to be almost over with that crisis, but the world was ready to throw far more at them.


    Khan didn''t know how to react to the giant mutated Lysixiing out of the mountain. He had almost grown used to sensing monsters, but the new creature made a chill run down his spine.


    The giant creature seemed to be far stronger than its peers. It even appeared to control therge pack of Lysixi. Khan felt almost sure that the new threat couldn''t be a simple monster.


    Khan nced at the Niqols before moving his eyes on the squad leaders, but his inspection left him disappointed. Everyone was as stunned as him, which revealed how hispanions were also unaware of the nature of that new threat.


    Only the higher-ups could have answers to his doubts, but they were too busy to gaze at their underlings. They didn''t take long to vanquish the monsters already around them, but they couldn''t divert their attention when the sea of lizards was about to descend toward them.


    "[Ilman]?" Khan shouted during that desperate moment since he was the only Niqols who could react quick enough to the scene.


    "[I don''t know]," Ilman replied as he kept his wide eyes on the giant creatureing out of the mountain.


    Khan tightened his grip on Liiza''s back and lifted her a bit. He was ready to run away at full speed if the situation turned out to be too much, even for the higher-ups. He also had to decide what to do quickly since the avnches were about to submerge everyone.


    Remaining in the valley wasn''t an option. Khan could run away, but he didn''t know where. He had memorized the path crossed during the flight, but that only confirmed how lost he was.


    An azure halo suddenly shone among the group. The sudden radiance startled the students awake and made them pick the cubes in their robes. Khan''s device had also lit up, and he didn''t hesitate to touch it to establish the mental connection.


    "[Go here without us]," Yeza''s voice resounded in Khan''s head, and a detailed map apanied it.


    The map described many areas and had far more details than any other mental image Khan had ever received. He could even zoom in a specific location to inspect its general environment.


    A distant location had a mark that made it stand out from the rest of the areas. Khan could vaguely guess that it would take the group half a day to fly there, but getting on the Aduns was impossible in that situation.


    Still, Yeza''s orders were clear. The students had to leave the higher-ups in the valley and reach the safe location on their own. It seemed that the new threat was too much even for the leaders.


    "[Hop on my back]," Khan whispered while rxing his grip on Liiza''s back.


    Liiza didn''tin. She quickly went behind Khan and jumped on his back. Simr scenes happened among the other Niqols as Doku announced the contents of the mental message. The students knew each other''s abilities quite well, so they didn''t hesitate to rely on the fastest among the group if their speed weren''t good enough for the task.


    "Let us be in the lead with you," Felicia interrupted the Niqols and Khan, who had already turned toward the direction of the safe location. "We can handle snow."


    A fireball appeared on Felicia''s palm, and that simple gesture convinced the Niqols. Khan, Ilman, Doku, and the four squad leaders stepped in front of the group before gazing at the glowing avnches ready to sweep them.


    The group was on the right side of the gorge. They only had to run past the avnches to reach a safe spot where to wait for their Aduns, but the glowing dark-grey snow carried an ominous aura as it approached the group.


    Only a few seconds separated the group from the snow. Khan prepared himself to deploy everything he had achieved with the Lightning-demon style to run over the avnche, but he didn''t feel too confident in the task.


    Khan was strong and fast, but he was in front of a tall wall of snow under the control of a monster that even the leaders had to take seriously. He could jump and rely on light steps, but his opponent remained a natural cmity that didn''t give him many options.


    "We''ll open a path," Felicia announced. "The priority is to remain on the in. Don''t fall."


    Gulps and deep breaths resounded as the rumbling noises of the iing snow intensified. The sh was a few seconds away, but everyone remained still.


    Then, Felicia and Ryanunched their spells. Arge fireball and arge gale shot forward and shed with the glowing avnche. The two attacks pierced the snow and created a conical opening in that cmity, but those two attacks only opened a path where the group could jump.


    Liiza hid her face on Khan''s back when she sensed that his body tensed up. What followed was too intense for her to feel it clearly. A heavy pressure fell on her arms and legs since she had wrapped them around Khan''s neck and waist, and her gown broke in many spots due to the friction generated with the air.


    Khan flew. He mustered the entirety of his strength to jump forward and use the opening created by the squad leaders to gain some ground over the overwhelming avnche. He did his best to remain in the air as long as possible, but he eventually fell on the glowing snow and used his quick steps to fight against the force pushing him toward the gorge.


    The rest of the group couldn''t evene close to performing as well as Khan. Ilman and those capable of surpassing the tall avnche jumped on that glowing snow but ended up falling prey to its raging momentum.


    Other students and recruits exploited the opening created by the squad leaders to run inside the avnche for a while, but the snow eventually trapped them in its unstoppable grip.


    The avnche pushed almost everyone backward, and someone inevitably fell inside the gorge. Khan was barely maintaining his bnce on that slippery and unstable surface, so he couldn''t keep track of what was happening behind him. Yet, Liiza could look behind her now that his speed had fallen, and she saw many familiar faces disappearing among the glowing snow.


    The avnche appeared never-ending. Khan continued to leap forward, but the snow under his feet moved in the opposite direction, so he ended up losing ground instead of gaining it. Still, he did his best to limit that trend, and a deep sigh escaped his mouth when everything around him stopped flowing toward the gorge.


    "[Khan]," Liiza pleaded as she released her grasp to jump off him, but Khan promptly bent forward to make her remain on his back.


    Liiza shot a confused nce toward him, but her expression darkened when he saw his cold expression. The couple didn''t need words to express their intentions in that situation. Khan was telling her how he wouldn''t let her go until they were in a safe area.


    Liiza couldn''tin, but she felt better when Khan turned to help the survivors. The squad leaders, Ilman, and a few Niqols had managed to remain on the new surface, but everyone else was under that thickyer of snow.


    The avnche had turned the valley into a dark-grey glowing spectacle. The gorge wasrge enough to remain visible, and the bridges had also survived the cmity, but almost everything else had ended up submerged by the snow.


    The castle was too tall to fall prey to the cmity, and a rtivelyrge area around the higher-ups had remained untouched by the snow. However, none of those strong warriors dared to divert their eyes from the many lizards approaching them.


    The giant leader had even disappeared inside the snow. The suffocating pressure that had filled the valley had vanished after the creature used the glowing material under its control to hide its presence.


    Khan only allowed himself to perform a quick inspection of the area before focusing on his group. The snow made it hard for him to sense the students and recruits hidden under the surface, but he helped everyone he could and even spent some time digging in the spots where he felt something.


    Many had ended up surviving the cmity, and Khan could only rejoice at that sight. He heaved a relieved sigh whenever a familiar face came out of the snow, but his anxiety intensified as time passed.


    The giant leader didn''te out even if the higher-ups had started fighting the horde of lizards. Khan didn''t know whether the creature was waiting for an opening or was misleading everyone. Still, he didn''t want to remain in the area long enough to find out.


    Some recruits and students remained missing no matter how deeply those who had reached the surface dug. Khan and those who had some experience with tragedies inevitably exchanged understanding gazes after they spent a whole minute without finding anyone else.


    The situation was still tense, so many failed to understand how tragic everything was. The Niqols didn''t have problems epting what had happened, but the recruits struggled to ept that some of their friends were still missing.


    Someone had to force them to move. Doku, Ilman, Azni, and the other Niqols naturally nced at Khan in the hope that he could handle that issue, but he had no power over those recruits. A few of them probably respected him enough to follow his directives right away, but he didn''t have the time or the authority tomand the others.


    Only the squad leaders were in the position to force the recruits to move, but they didn''t get the chance to use their authority since a massive figure suddenly came out of the snow. The suffocating pressure returned as a giant reptilian mouth pierced the surface and ate two recruits who had been busy searching for their missingpanions.


    Khan almost remained frozen in fear as the monster revealed its giant body while gulping the two humans. It didn''t manage to make the second recruit enter its mouthpletely, but its teeth severed the girls'' right leg and made it fall on the snow.


    Everyone panicked. The giant monster had appeared among the group, and its glowing eyes revealed how the two recruits didn''t satisfy its hunger. Those reptilian organs inspected its potential targets coldly and noticed that some of them had already started running away.


    Khan and the Niqols knew where they had to go, so they didn''t hesitate to run toward the mountains. The squad leaders, and envoys, and some other humans who managed to ovee their fears chased after them, but the monster didn''t remain still either.


    The glow radiated by the snow intensified as its texture changed. Khan was relying on his faint steps, but his feet fell inside the surface after the monster changed it to trap the group inside its hunting area.


    The snow went from incredibly soft to solid in an instant. Khan saw his right foot digging the surface before remaining stuck inside it. No amount of strength allowed him to break free of that prison. He couldn''t leave the area, and his thoughts immediately went on the girl on his back when he epted that he had no power over his situation.


    "[I''m going to throw you]," Khan announced while taking Liiza''s wrists and forcing her to break the grip on his neck.


    "[What]?" Liiza asked in surprise.


    Liiza had yet to realize how desperate the situation was, but Khan''s announcement made her understand that everyone who had touched the snow was dead. Even Felicia''s fireballs appeared unable to melt the surface that was keeping her feet locked in an unbreakable grip.


    "[No, no]!" Liizained. "[Don''t you dare to throw me]!"


    Khan pretended to be deaf to Liiza''sints. Truth be told, his physical strength wasn''t something that she could match. He could force her legs to leave his waist easily, and his girlfriend soon appeared in his arms.


    Khan was ready to use that time to give Liiza a chance to survive. Almost nothing could make him stop, but his girlfriend knew him too well by then. Liiza took Khan''s face in her hands and fixed her glowing eyes on him before voicing a simple request in a firm voice. "[Khan, let me die with you]."


    Almost nothing could stop Khan, but those words made his determination waver. He was suppressing his fear of death to prioritize Liiza''s well-being, but she shared his feelings. She didn''t want to lose her Aduns and her boyfriend on the same day.


    "[Liiza]," Khan said in a begging tone, but she promptly shook her head.


    "[We have been incredibly lucky]," Liiza smiled as faint tears appeared on the corners of her eyes. "[Don''t add pain to my love]."


    Khan wanted to ignore her request, but even the mental barrier failed to remain in its ce in front of Liiza loving expression. He could only heave a helpless sigh before pulling her mouth closer to his lips. In his mind, death couldn''t be too bad if it arrived after sharing a long kiss with his girlfriend.


    "[Stop wasting time]," Yeza''s voice suddenly resounded in the area, and everyone snapped out of their desperation to turn toward the giant monster.


    An azure halo had created a cubical prison around the monster. The cage hade out of the in hidden by the snow and had trapped the giant lizard, but its glowing surfaces weren''t strong enough to survive the creature''s physical strength.


    Cracks opened on the azure prison whenever the giant lizard mmed its head and ws on those shining surfaces. It was clear that the cage wouldn''tst long, but it still gained enough time for Yeza and a few higher-ups to reach that area.


    "[Move, move]!" Yeza shouted, and the group suddenly discovered that the snow wasn''t trapping their feet anymore.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to hold Liiza tightly and shot forward. The same went for the other students and recruits who finally found a chance to escape. Everyone left the area quickly, but Yeza made sure to shout onest announcement before they got too far away. "[Khan, take care of my daughter]."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I bet some of you thought I had fallen asleep. Four more. Anyway, I hope you like the new cover.

 Chapter 197 - Concerns

    Khan didn''t think about the deeper meaning of Yeza''s words right away. She had decided to shout that announcement, which basically forced the humans to ept his rtionship. Still, the situation was so dangerous that his mind stored her voice in the back of his mind and prepared itself to release it only when he reached a safe area.


    Everyone shared the same mindset. The valley''s defenses had managed to buy the group some time, and the higher-ups were bound to do the same. Still, the avnche and the giant monster had already inflicted casualties, so the students didn''t dare to remain in the area any longer.


    The recruits and squad leaders followed after those who had learnt where the safe area was. Khan was in the lead far in front of them, but he turned to check that everyone was following him from time to time. The fact that Liiza was in his arms didn''t affect his movements at all.


    A deep bellow resounded throughout the valley when the giant monster broke free of the azure cage. Yeza and many higher-ups had reached the creature''s position by then, but Khan took that event as the time to stop worrying about others.


    Ilman, Doku, George, and those who were important to Khan were in safer positions already. Liiza was even in his arms, so he could ignore everything else. The priority was to cross the mountains, and he elerated to reach that destination faster.


    Khan didn''t summon the entirety of his speed since Liiza was in an odd position. She was in his arms, in front of him, so she would suffer too much if he went all-out. Still, he became fast enough to leave hispanions behind.


    The sterile environment of the mountains soon unfolded in his vision. Snow filled the areas and sides of those tall structures, but the region remained unfamiliar even with the map in his mind.


    Khan moved forward until he couldn''t see the valley anymore. His senses searched for every trace of danger around him, but everything appeared empty. He couldn''t find monsters or other threats, so he advanced until Liiza pulled his hair.


    "[This is enough]," Liiza exined as Khan slowed down to hear her voice. "[No monster can see the Aduns from here]."


    Khan nodded before stoppingpletely. He could vaguely see the figures of hispanions in the distance, and he heaved a sigh of relief when familiar faces appeared in his vision.


    It took only a few minutes for the entirety of the group to gather in the uneven spot among the mountains where Khan had stopped. The group of students and recruits had lost a quarter of its members, but everyone was still too shocked to think about the event.


    No words resounded among the group. They didn''t dare to waste time after having escaped from such a dangerous situation. Everyone used their mental connections to summon their Aduns while exchanging meaningful nces.


    Many eyes ended up on Khan. His interactions with Liiza still left almost everyone stunned. Both students and recruits couldn''t understand how the two could reach such a level of ease.


    However, the Niqols could see something deeper than simple feelings in the simple gestures that the couple exchanged. They gasped at how carefully Khan let Liiza on the snow. Faint smiles appeared on their faces when they saw the two looking at each other with eyes that carried many words. They would toast at that evident show of love if it weren''t for their tragic situation.


    The humans had it a bit harder, especially when it came to the squad leaders. They didn''t ignore Yeza''s announcement. Actually, they had understood its meaning thoroughly. The alien ambassador in charge of the rtionship between the two species had officially acknowledged Khan and Liiza as a couple.


    Paul had told Khan to consider Liiza as a princess during his first days on Nitis, so that announcement had turned him into a prince. Khan was more than untouchable now. He had be the pir on which the humans had to build that political rtionship.


    "How bad is our luck?" George cursed while nearing Khan. "This is the second time already. I''m starting to believe that everything is my fault."


    Khan smiled when he saw George and Havaa holding each other''s hands. The girl even clung to George''s arms once he stopped in front of his friend.


    "It must be me," Khan stated while pointing at the azure scar visible from the opening of his robe. "I have one tragedy more than you."


    Liiza pped Khan''s chest before ring at him. Those depressing rants made her angry, but he didn''t hesitate to caress her cheek and bring her closer to his chest. Liiza would have usually made it harder for him, but her grief was too intense that day.


    "So," George cleared his throat while looking at that scene, "This exins a lot."


    "I didn''t want to keep us hidden," Khan exined, "Not from you at least."


    "Don''t worry," George shook his head. "I understandpletely. I''m happy for you, both of you."


    "I didn''t expect Yeza to approve you so quickly," Aznimented while approaching the two couples with Doku.


    "[She has seen them together]," Doku added. "[Who can even be against them after that]?"


    "Khan, we need to talk," Paul announced while the couples gathered.


    Khan nced at Paul. He was with the squad leaders, among the other recruits, and the four wore stern expressions. It seemed that they wanted to use that peaceful moment while they waited for the Aduns to talk about the matter.


    "Now?" Khan asked.


    "We have to set a few things clear," Paul announced.


    Khan sighed before kissing Liiza''s head and breaking his embrace to move toward the human group. Yet, Liiza didn''t let him go. She took his hand to wrap his hand around her waist so that they could approach the squad leaders together.


    "[This might be ssified]," Khan whispered.


    "[I was ready to die with you]," Liiza reminded. "[Do you think I would care about the regtions of your species]?"


    Khan wanted to contradict her, but he felt that no words could work. Liiza''s expression had never been so resolute. She had lost Zama, but her mother had acknowledged her rtionship. Khan had basically be her whole world, and she had no intention to leave him alone.


    Moreover, Liiza had understood the situation far better than Khan. She was the daughter of an ambassador. She knew how influential Yeza''s name was, and she could use part of that power in front of the humans.


    "What is it?" Khan asked once he reached Paul.


    The squad leaders remained at Paul''s side to let him handle the conversation. Brandon, Kelly, and the other envoys were right behind them, while the other recruits were further behind.


    "I hoped we could remain alone for a while," Paul said in an awkward tone while forcing himself not to look at Liiza. "This issue is something that concerns humanity as a whole."


    "Are you trying to separate me from my man?" Liiza asked in a cold tone and perfect human ent.


    Khan, the Niqols, and the humans shot surprised expressions toward Liiza. They had never heard her talking like that. Paul and the other squad leaders started to worry about the political consequences that their next words could cause.


    "[We wouldn''t dare]," Paul eventually uttered while performing a deep bow.


    Paul pointed at a spot nearby, and a small group moved there. The squad leaders, the envoys, Khan, and Liiza walked among the snowy environment and separated from theirpanions to have that private conversation.


    The Niqols and the students let themselves go a bit now that their leaders weren''t on the scene. The aliens didn''t suffer many casualties since they had developed better instincts throughout the years spent hunting. Still, their intense emotions made them unable to ignore thepanions lost during the crisis.


    The recruits were worse off. They had gone through losses only recently due to their battles near the teleport, so they had yet to grow used to the event.


    Sobs and sniffs resounded now that students and recruits had the time to realize how much they had lost during those short minutes. They did their best to suppress their grief, but tears inevitably fell.


    "Do you have any preference about thenguage, Miss Liiza?" Paul asked once the group stopped in a slightly distant spot.


    "Speak yournguage," Liiza ordered. "My presence here must not risk causing misunderstanding among you."


    Khan shot another surprised nce toward Liiza. She had never been involved in political situations, and it felt strange to see her caring so much about the issue. Still, he had to admit that he liked seeing her using her authority to order his superiors around.


    Paul felt awkward about the situation, but he took a deep breath before stating the nature of the topic. "Your rtionship arises concerns. We want to confirm that your loyalty is still in the right ce."


    Liiza opened her mouth toin, but Khan promptly pulled her closer to interrupt her. His eyes went on the other recruits before revealing a sad smile and giving the best answer that the restrictions allowed him to say. "Do you have any idea what we had to do in the academy?"


    Paul frowned, but he noticed that the envoys lowered their heads when Khan made them recall the scenes in the vige. Fighting monsters was far better than what they had to see there.


    Khan rxed his grip on Liiza, and she understood that her time to speak hade. Her expression turned dark as she gave a brief exnation of what had happened during the sr wind. "The Niqols have a harder time dealing with emotions, and the sunlight for a few months ago has taken us by surprise."


    An azure symbol appeared on the side of her neck near the end of her exnation, but she stopped speaking before triggering the punishment. She couldn''t add other details, but the squad leaders could fill the gaps by themselves.


    Paul and the others had kept the sr wind a secret, so they knew what it could cause on the unprepared Niqols. Yet, they didn''t expect the aliens to send the envoys to clean up the mess. Learning about that actually made them feel awful, and Ryan even had to cover his mouth to suppress retches.


    "I''m still here after everything," Khan continued. "What else do I have to prove?"


    The squad leaders couldn''t muster the strength to say anything. None of them dared to question Khan''s loyalty. His exnation didn''t solve their doubts, but they didn''t feel right questioning someone who had given the Global Army so much already.


    Screeches resounded among the sky during that sad silence. Everyone nced at the sky and showed broad smiles at the sight of many Aduns approaching the area. Only Liiza kept her face hidden in Khan''s chest, and he made sure to hold her tightly during the event.


    The Aduns were the kings of the sky. The group would be safe after hopping on their backs. The tragic events from before were about to turn into nothing more than a bad memory, but a breathtaking event diverted everyone''s attention from the pack of eagles.


    Nitis'' orbit was peculiar, and the same went for its atmosphere. Khan didn''t know how everything worked during the crisis, but he was sure that the sun would have eventually appeared in the sky. Still, he didn''t expect that to happen so suddenly.


    A blinding yellow sphere suddenly became visible in the sky. It started as a bright spot in the azure spectacle right above the group, but it quickly transformed into a sight that the humans found familiar.


    The sun didn''t rise. It suddenly became visible among the sky, and its intense light blinded the iing Aduns. Those creatures cried in pain as that radiance filled their eyes and forced them to change their trajectory.


    The eagles stopped flying toward the group to hide from the new light that filled the sky, and Khan remained speechless when he felt the mental connection growing thin. He found himself unable to contact Snow now that the sun had appeared.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I think you can all see how I''m struggling to writetely. The issue doesn''t involve my two stories. I think it''s a matter of concentration, which I don''t seem able to muster. The effects of this distraction are even worse on Chaos'' Heir since writing a single chapter can take even five hours.


    Anyway, I can''t write 5 chapters of Chaos in a single day in this condition.. I think I''ll throw one or two additional chapters every day until I''ve settled this debt.

 Chapter 198 - Path

    The appearance of the sun swept away the hope that had spread among the group. The Aduns would have solved every problem, but they turned out to be unable to withstand the intense light radiated by that ming star.


    Khan didn''t know how to react to that scene. He tried to call Snow through the mental connection, but his words couldn''t reach the other side. A barrier had appeared between his Aduns and him, and no amount of mental shouting could get past it.


    Khan instinctively looked at the Niqols, but they appeared as surprised as him. They didn''t expect the sun to hinder the mental connections with the Aduns. They didn''t even predict that the creatures would have been unable to withstand that radiance.


    "What is happening?" Felicia asked while moving her gaze among the group, but she found no one with answers.


    Felicia, the other squad leaders, and those who managed to study the situation without letting panic take over their minds could understand what was happening. That conclusion wasn''t even too hard to reach. It simply was too stunning and depressing.


    The Aduns were an essential part of the Niqols'' lives and society. The humans on Nitis had also learnt to appreciate how valuable those creatures were after the aliens had allowed them to go through the taming test.


    Those eagles were one of the few stable assets during the crisis, but the arrival of the sun had changed that fact. Khan and his group found themselves on foot now. Their path to salvation had vanished in a matter of seconds.


    Khan quickly touched his cube. The map appeared in his mind, and he tried to calcte how long it would take to reach the safe area on foot. He struggled toe up with an urate estimate, but he could guess that the travel would take entire days, if not a couple of weeks.


    The monsters on the path were another issue that Khan couldn''t ignore. The past weeks spent hunting had taught him how messy Nitis had be. The group was bound to find multiple packs during the travel, and eventual alternate paths would only stretch their stay in the wild.


    Still, Khan didn''t see other options. The Aduns were unavable, and the Lysixi had clearly turned against the Niqols. The aliens probably had other methods to cross long distances, but he believed that everything had be unrealizable after the arrival of the sun.


    "[Liiza]," Khan whispered in the hope that his girlfriend could tell him something that he didn''t know.


    Liiza had studied the scene after hearing the painful cries of the Aduns. The situation was tragic, and she was as lost as everyone else in the group. Yet, she knew who could help.


    Liiza took her cube and started a mental conversation. Other Niqols did the same to contact some members of their tribes, and Khan inspected their faces to see if he could hope again. He mostly saw dark expressions, but he turned to look at Liiza when he sensed her eyes on him.


    "[Zaza can''t help right away, but she will try to meet us]," Liiza announced while cing the cube on the snow.


    The device spread its light on the dark-grey surface and recreated the map. The humans could finally study how distant the safe area was, and desperation inevitably appeared on their faces at the sole thought that they had to cross so much on foot.


    Liiza stepped on the map and used her feet to point at each checkpoint stated by Zalpa during their mental conversation. "[We have to cross the mountain chain, thekes, and the marsh to meet Zaza. Getting to the safe area should be easy once joining her]."


    The path marked by Liiza went a bit off track. It didn''t go directly toward the safe area, but Khan didn''t dare to underestimate the help that Zalpa could offer. She probably was as strong as Yeza, and her knowledge of the crisis was far deeper than the rest of the Niqols.


    "[Zaza]?" Iris asked.


    "She is an ally," Khan shortly exined without moving his eyes from the map. "I suggest you call her Zalpa. She doesn''t like humans too much."


    "Why should we trust her then?" Paul asked while stepping on the map to mark the quickest path to the safe location on the snow. "We would lose many days of travel if we decide to follow this new path."


    "She knew that the sunlight would have caused a mess even before humans," Liiza coldly exined. "She probably is the best expert when ites to this situation."


    "Why wasn''t she with Ambassador Yeza then?" Felicia continued.


    "Her position toward humans doesn''t suit the new ways adopted by the Niqols," Khan gave another short exnation.


    "Why would she even help us then?" Paul wondered. "I won''t put what remains of our forces here in the hands of a xenophobic alien."


    "Howe you even know about all of this?" Kelly joined the conversation. "Why didn''t you tell us about such an important figure?"


    Khan wore an aloof expression while moving his eyes among the squad leaders and the envoys. Even Veronica was wearing a confused expression. It was clear that Khan didn''t only keep his rtionship with Liiza a secret. That realization even made sense when considering all the nights that he had spent outside the academy.


    "She was my nanny," Liiza intervened. "I wanted her to know Khan, but I made him promise not to say anything since her situation is unique."


    Liiza wasn''t as good as Khan when it came to lies, but her cold expression and the authoritying from Yeza prevented eventual questions. The squad leaders epted that the matter involved the couple. Also, Liiza had vaguely hinted at how close she was with Zalpa with her announcement. That exined why the humans could trust that unknown ally.


    Paul and the other squad leaders fell silent as they inspected the map. The path marked by Liiza would make them lose a few days of travel, but they would end up gaining from that detour if they added an actual expert to their group.


    "Do any of you know what these areas have in store for us?" Iris asked while looking at Liiza.


    "We usually fly over these empty regions," Liiza shook her head.


    "Walking blindly isn''t ideal," Ryanmented.


    "We would walk blindly anyway," Felicia stated.


    "We can still wait here," Paul suggested while looking at the sun high in the sky as a hand partially covered his eyes. "The Aduns mighte back, and the same goes for our superiors."


    "My mother wouldn''t lose the chance to show off," Liiza exined. "The monster must be powerful for her to send us in the wild on our own."


    "She probably didn''t expect the Aduns to fly away," Paul continued, but Liiza shook her head.


    "We must walk," Liiza eximed before storing her cube and ncing at Khan.


    "You heard her," Khan said as he reached Liiza to take her back into his arms.


    "Khan," Paul called to discuss the matter a bit more.


    "That thing can hide in the snow," Khan promptly replied. "We are walking on snow."


    The squad leaders and the envoys nced at the snow under them while Khan resumed walking back to the rest of the group. The ground couldn''t be too deep there, but the monster had shown the ability to cause avnches. Hiding under that dark-greyyer didn''t sound too impossible, so they hurried after Khan.


    Khan took care of exining the situation in bothnguages. The group didn''t ept that decision too easily, especially after learning how long they would have to travel through the wild. Still, it was clear that they didn''t have other options, so everyone eventually started moving.


    The mountains remained barren even after a few hours passed. The group didn''t have problems adjusting their direction with the map in their cubes, but other problems became evident as that march continued.


    The snow could appease the group''s thirst, but theck of food was an issue they couldn''t ignore. Khan and the squad leaders could endure their hunger better than others due to their status as first-level warriors, but they would also starve if they remained in that condition.


    The issue was that the mountain chain stretched for a long time. The group would take a few days to cross it, and the absence of food would be hard to bear for some of the recruits. The Niqols would be a bit better off, but the starvation would slow down their advance anyway.


    Khan, Ilman, Doku, and the squad leaders ended up in charge of the group. The Niqols and the recruits didn''tin that they made every decision, but they didn''t have much to discuss to begin with. Groans and curses resounded when they understood that they wouldn''t have the chance to sleep that day, but the situation didn''t give them different options.


    The group spent an entire day walking among the snowy and uneven environment of the mountain chain. They had to climb and descend hills multiple times to stick to their path, and the effort only made them tired faster.


    The second day of continuous travel brought most recruits to their limit. Theck of sleep, the uneven terrain, and theck of food managed to defeat even those with a high attunement level. They could still move forward, but their leaders opted to make them rest for a few hours. They simply didn''t want their underlings to bepletely useless in case a battle fell on them.


    "Just like Istrone," Georgeughed after those resilient enough to skip another night of sleep set the guard duty.


    Khan smiled, and warmth appeared on his face when he saw Liiza walking toward an isted spot near a steep rocky wall that marked the base of a mountain. She even cleared the snow on the ground before turning toward her boyfriend.


    Everyone noticed that scene, and the squad leaders had to divert their gazes to avoid voicing reprimands. The spot chosen by Liiza would keep her hidden from the rest of the group and grant her some privacy. Her choice was perfect for her and Khan, but it wasn''t ideal in that serious situation.


    Khan ignored the squad leaders and the curious nces that the recruits shot toward him when he crossed the rocky corner and reached Liiza. The humans noticed how many Niqols did something simr, even if many had to remain visible since the area didn''t offer too many hidden spots.


    Liiza sat on the dark-green grass that hade out in the open after she removed the snow from the ground. Sheid her back on the rocky wall as her intense eyes remained fixed on Khan. He almost lost himself in that glowing gaze, but a series of foreign presences suddenly entered the range of his senses and forced him to divert his attention.


    Cawing noises filled the area and alerted everyone about the arrival of unwanted guests. Khan raised his eyes and saw a flock of big dark-red birds descending toward the group. He couldn''t study them clearly since they were still far away, but his knife ended up in his hand right away.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I bet some of you thought I had fallen asleep. Four more.. Anyway, I hope you like the new cover.

 Chapter 199 - Hunger

    Each bird was as big as a man''s chest. They resembled crows, but they had two pairs of wings and curved beaks. The flock filled the bright sky with a dark-red cloud that descended toward the group and prepared to storm the snowy area.


    No one knew why the sunlight didn''t affect those creatures, but they were too fast to let the group think about the issue. The flock was only a few seconds away from filling the area upied by those young troops, and only a few of them could step up to face the danger. The long travel without food had made even the most resilient of them unable to stand.


    Khan, Ilman, and the squad leaders exchanged a worried nce when they inspected the surface. They could see other students and recruits struggling to stand up, but they wouldn''t be helpful at all in that condition.


    Khan nced at Liiza. She could also fight, but her position was odd. The flock was descending toward the crowded part of the area, and she wouldn''t have the time to reach it before the initial impact.


    .


    Liiza nodded when she saw the hesitation in Khans'' eyes, and he didn''t hesitate to shoot toward the friends farther away from his position. Orders also came out of his mouth during his sprint. "[Ilman, protect George and Havaa]."


    The couples in the group had settled in various partially isted spots. Doku and Azni had even found a good ce where to exchange intimate moments without letting the others see them, but their area was on the path of the flock.


    Khan arrived in front of them in an instant. He was ready to defend them, but the couple tried toin. Still, they felt weak after the prolonged starvation. The birds were even on the verge of shing with the recruits in front of them. They only had the time to stand up before the loud caws fused with painful cries.


    The flock moved quickly. It only took a few seconds to reach Khan''s position, but an azure halo had already covered his de by then.


    Khan kicked directly at the dark-red cloud, and his attack released a rumbling noise before shing with the birds. Blood and feathers immediately rained toward him and hindered his vision, but nothing escaped his senses.


    Two birds flew past the barrage of feathers and crossed his position to reach Doku and Azni. However, Khan continued to rotate on his rear leg as his arms spread. One monster saw the glowing knife severing its body in half, while the other ended up in Khan''s grasp.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to rotate again to throw another kick forward. He even used that chance tounch the monster toward the cloud before waving his left arm a few times. Maimed corpses fell at his feet, but he didn''t stop attacking until the bright sky unfolded in his vision again.


    Doku and Azni had to deal with little to no threats due to Khan''s efforts. The flock was full of monsters, but they were pretty frail. Moreover, none of them had shown abilities, so everything had been a matter of avoiding being overwhelmed.


    Khan nced at his two friends before moving his sharp eyes on the sky. A few cuts had opened on Doku and Anzi''s arms, but they were superficial. Still, the flock in the distance was turning to prepare another assault. The painful cries behind him exined how effective the first attack had been, so he understood that the current tactic wouldn''t work.


    "[Khan]," Liiza called as she approached him.


    Liiza pointed her hand at a spot behind Doku and Azni, and a wall of ice grew from the snow. The structure was only two meters tall and three metersrge, but it was thick enough to endure the assault of the flock.


    Liiza took deep breaths after the feat. She appeared tired, but she could remain on her feet. Doku and Azni even nodded at her to express their gratitude.


    "Take cover!" Iris shouted from the other side of the group.


    Ilman had sprinted to reach George and Havaa, but the squad leaders shot toward the other underlings to defend as many Niqols and humans as they could. The crow-like monsters didn''t give them the time to cast spells, but their martial arts had been enough to relieve some pressure.


    Khan could inspect the state of the group now that he had turned to look at Liiza. Many had suffered injuries, and some of them were quite severe. A few recruits were even lying lifelessly on the snow as pools of blood expanded from their figures.


    The squad leaders had helped, but they were only four first-level warriors without their spells. They could probably fight the entire cloud of monsters on their own, but protecting the group behind them was pretty impossible.


    Iris, Ryan, and Felicia prepared their spells while the recruits and Niqols tried to find cavities hidden by the snow or in corners created by the rocky walls nearby. They were ready to counterattack properly now, but that would temporarily disregard the lives of their underlings.


    Khan found Ilman with his eyes, and the two exchanged a meaningful nce. George and Havaa had been in an isted spot already, so they could find cover before the return of the flock. Ilman was free to defend those still in the open, and Khan silently agreed to do the same.


    Khan jumped forward. He took Liiza by her waist and threw her toward the couple under the ice wall. Doku and Azni widened their eyes before catching the girl mid-air and moving their attention on their friend.


    The couple couldn''t find Khan in his previous position. He had already reached a group of recruits who had been too weak even to attempt to find cover, and Ilman was nearby, protecting a few Niqols that the snow had tricked. Those aliens had started digging after sensing a hole under them, but they had only found a short pit that didn''t offer any protection.


    The flock returned, and many monsters mmed on the ice wall in a desperate attempt to pierce it. The sh filled the outer surface of Liiza''s spell with blood since it remained intact, and she didn''t stop expanding her ice to make sure that the monsters didn''t open any significant crack.


    The rest of the dark-red cloud swept the area upied by the group again. The first to face the monsters were Khan and Ilman, who unleashed a flurry of palm strikes, kicks, and shes that managed to protect those behind them from most creatures.


    The monsters reached the four squad leaders afterward, and a spectacle of lights began. Ryan gave birth to an intense wind that made the cloud stop for a second, Irisunched her piercing beam toward a crowded area, and Felicia threw fireballs everywhere else.


    The discharge of those three spells killed many monsters in a single exchange. Paul only had to punch away the few birds that managed to fly past that destructive barrage. His attacks were precise and powerful. His arms resembled snakes as they cracked in the air while killing the few creatures that entered his range.


    The flock couldn''t advance further. It rose higher in the sky instead of forcing its way forward, but it didn''t leave the area. The monsters flew toward the sun before turning to dive back at the group.


    Khan and Ilman didn''t know how to protect the recruits and Niqols behind them from that vertical attack. They jumped among them and prepared themselves to do their best, but the squad leaders stepped forward to ce themselves right under the descending dark-red cloud during that time.


    The monsters reached an insane speed and threatened to squash everything under them, but the four squad leaders didn''t feel any fear. Ilman and Khan shared the same confidence, but their efforts didn''t involve only their safety. Still, their worries ended up being unnecessary.


    Ryan used his control over the wind to generate another spell that made the descending dark-red cloud shrink. Intense gales forced the monsters to m on each other and slow down their advance, and Iris didn''t waste that chance. She shot one of her piercing beams, and the attack crossed the flock from side to side, killing many birds at the same time.


    Those who continued to descend even after that disy of superior might had to deal with Felicia''s fireballs. She only managed tounch three of them before the flock reached the surface, but her attacks had appeared quite effective against those feathered creatures.


    Khan, Ilman, and Paul relied on their martial arts to kill as many monsters as possible after those creatures stormed the surface. Many corpses fell on the dark-grey snow that had started to melt after everything that had crashed there. That barren and pure area had turned into a bloody spectacle in a matter of minutes.


    The flock dispersed in the area before flying higher in the sky. Khan and the others prepared for another wave, but they remained surprised when they saw the monsters leaving. It seemed that those creatures had given up on the hunt.


    Everyone remained silent even after the flock left the area. The group wanted to be sure that they had actually won, but sighs of relief eventually started to resound. Even the squad leaders rxed, and Khan also epted that they had won that battle.


    The faint happiness felt due to that feat didn''tst since the state of the battlefield was impossible to ignore. Many dead monsters had tainted the dark-grey snow, but they couldn''t hide the few corpses among them. One Niqols and three recruits had died during the sudden assault, and many more had suffered injuries that required immediate attention.


    Some recruits and Niqols exploded into tears due to the casualties, but the others looked at the dead monsters with hungry eyes. Grief existed in the minds, but they couldn''t think about it with their stomachs grumbling to no end.


    Almost everyone remained silent out of respect for that sad moment, but Khan couldn''t allow himself to waste time. The group was basically standing on top of a pile of food, which could attract other predators. The flock had found them, so the same could happen with other monsters. The new threat might be too strong for them, and it might even force them to leave the area, so eating had the priority now.


    Khan picked a few birds from their legs before bringing them next to the ice wall where Doku, Azni, and Liiza had remained hidden. The couple smiled at that sight, but Liiza pouted even if Khan could read the hunger in her eyes.


    "[Do you know how to cook them properly]?" Khan asked, and Doku forced himself to stand up.


    "Squad leader Felicia!" Doku shouted with his weak voice while pointing at a rtively empty spot in the area. "I need your help to set off a fire. Can you help?"


    The woman initially felt surprised, but she eventually nodded and approached Doku. The two started preparing the fire to cook those monsters in no time while the other squad leaders handled the issue about the corpses.


    "[You have thrown me]," Liizained when Khan sat next to her and let the coldness of the ice wall spreading throughout his back before taking her into his arms.


    "[It was quick]," Khan exined before mocking her a bit, "[And fun]."


    "[You are lucky to be cute]," Liiza snorted before cuddling on Khan''sp and closing her eyes.


    "[Thank you, Khan]," Azni eximed after Liiza finished teasing Khan.


    "[I''m d you are okay]," Khan announced. "[Everything is already quite grim. I would have found it hard to bear all of this if something happened to you]."


    "[I suspect someone would have helped you getting through that]," Azni smiled while ncing at Liiza half-sleeping in his arms.


    Khan caressed Liiza''s hair before focusing on the squad leaders. He had obtained another demonstration of how strong spells were, which intensified his desire to get his hands on the Wave spell. Still, the scent of roasted chicken soon reached his nostrils, and everyplicated thought vanished in front of his hunger.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I wanted to warn everyone about my break, but I found myself unable to write anything as soon as I made that decision. Anyway, I''m back now.

 Chapter 200 - Shout

    Everything improved only to worsen again. Felicia and Doku made sure to refill everyone''s stomach. Khan, Ilman, and the squad leaders had killed many monsters, so the entirety of the group got the chance to appease their hunger. Yet, theck of that distraction allowed them to focus on what they had just survived and lost.


    The calm achieved after scaring away the flock forced the recruits to acknowledge their new situation. They had gone from fighting to defend the teleport to a struggle for their very survival. The battles had been part of a mission before, but everything was different now.


    The crisis didn''t differ between the species.. It killed both humans and Niqols without caring about their status, wealth, and origin. Only power mattered in the wild, and it became clear how the aliens were one step above the recruits in that field.


    The recruits weren''t only generally inferior in terms of sheer battle prowess and experience. The casualties suffered by the group also affected them deeply, which sounded strange when the Niqols experienced stronger emotions. Those young humans had not been used to death, but the crisis quickly educated them in that field.


    Moreover, the recruits had seen Niqols helping them without minding their different species. That sight was heartwarming, but it also originated deep regret.


    The humans had learnt about the sr wind before the actual event, but they had let it happen without warning the Niqols. That cruel decision had been easy to make from their safe and distant camp, but it only caused disgust now.


    The recruits had been proud about the idea of exploiting their superior knowledge to make the Niqols suffer and force them to ask the humans for help. Yet, those same Niqols were protecting and defending them now. It was hard to describe how bad the humans felt after sharing food and sleeping next to the students.


    The group left the area in a hurry after eating and storing some provisions. They couldn''t carry much due to theck of backpacks and simr items, but they didn''t want to end up in the previous grim situation. Still, the food issue would be over once they crossed the mountain chain, which was bound to happen the very next day.


    The squad leaders prioritized leaving the battlefield to avoid meeting predators attracted by the appealing smell of the corpses. They didn''t even bury the Niqols and human bodies since they could act as baits for eventual monsters.


    The food didn''t aplish miracles, so the group had to sleep right after reaching a new safe area. Khan and Liiza could finally be alone for a while, but they only rested in each other''s arms after finding a rtively isted spot.


    The third day of the travel finally caused a change. The mountains suddenly stopped filling the groups'' vision and opened into a in covered in snow that stretched far in the distance. The vegetation appeared scarce or hidden by the dark-greyyer, and faint winds started to blow after diving deeper into the new area.


    Liiza checked the map often to make sure that the group was on the right path. It was easy to get lost in the snowy in due to theck of structures that the group could use as signals. They could only rely on the mountains behind them, but they were a bit too vague as andmark.


    The doubts and worries disappeared when a frozenke appeared on their path. The group could finally confirm to be on the right way toward Zalpa, but they still needed to inspect the area thoroughly andpare what they learnt with their maps to understand where they were.


    It turned out that the group was slightly off the nned course, but adjusting it wouldn''t be a problem. They would only lose a few hours of travel, which were nothing when they thought about how distant they were from their destination.


    The temperature rose as the group continued their march. Dark-green grass reced the snow, and small bushes also grew near the shores of the otherkes that appeared on the path.


    The environment didn''t feature animals in its frozen areas, but Tainted creatures started to appear once the snow retreated. However, most of them lived inside thekes and couldn''t breathe outside. Even the few monsters that the group found shared that feature.


    The group initially felt safe since the monsters couldn''t leave thekes, but theck of water became an issue they couldn''t ignore after spending two days traveling in the area. Even the food became scarce and forced the squad leaders toe up with ns to fish out the Tainted animals and monsters.


    The emptiness of the areas outside thekes hinted at how dangerous the monsters inside thekes were. The environment was far from barren, so it didn''t make sense for packs to ignore it. The group didn''t find anything on the surface, so something had to make it uninhabitable, and only the creatures in the water could seed in that feat.


    The creatures that upied thekes could be strong enough to prevent other packs from appeasing their thirst, but humans and Niqols were far smarter than monsters. Also, the group could coordinate their spells and approach the hunt safely.


    Thekes mainly contained an odd species of fishes capable of changing the color of their scales to hide inside the dark waters. Some Niqols recognized them, but the presence of monsters made their knowledge unreliable due to the abilities that those creatures might have developed.


    Still, the group didn''t need to learn the nature of those abilities. Thekes didn''t hide the presence of the monsters, and those creatures weren''t even too big, so Iris could slowly take them out with precise beams aimed at their heads.


    Liiza also helped by freezingrge chunks of the targetedke whenever the monsters tried to send their Tainted underlings toward the group on the shores. Felicia and Ryan supported her in the process, so no one risked facing dangers.


    Theke chosen by the group was rtively small since they aimed to clear itpletely. The hunt provided more food and water, and it also told the squad leaders that they could repeat the process throughout that region as long as they continued to pick small targets.


    The barren mountain chain had exhausted the group, but the travel through the in filled withkes restored their physical condition. Both Niqols and students could rest and eat quite freely, and theck of dangers on the surface allowed them to ignore the constant pressure that surrounded them.


    That peaceful period ended as the vegetation started to thrive and thekes expanded to transform into arge marsh that featured multiple muddy areas. The change in the environment made the group enter in thest part of their travel, but it also brought their mindset back into the crisis.


    It had taken the group many days to reach the marsh. They had already entered their second week of travel, but everything could potentially end after crossing that region. Liiza even contacted Zalpa to confirm that she was on her way to meet them. Thest struggle separated students and recruits, so tension inevitably fell on them again.


    That marsh differed from the region that Liiza and Khan had almost started to view as their personal home. It almostpletelycked stable areas. Mud and dirty water covered the entirety of its surfaces, and a few giant trees upied sparse spots. Those nts had dark trunks asrge as buildings, and their roots spread for many meters before going underground.


    The water reached the group''s knees in many areas. The roots that spread on the surface also hindered the travel, but the trees could act as signals since the maps had marked them.


    The travel inevitably slowed down due to the many hindrances that the environment put in front of the group. Still, the monsters remained the main threat. Packs of snakes and leeches filled the shallow dirty waters. Some of those mutated creatures had even developed abilities, but they couldn''t do much when Khan and the others were at their peak.


    The trees started to appear more often as the group trod forward, and patches of ground begun to rece the mud and dirty water. The destination was finally in sight. They would meet Zalpa in the strange forest past the marsh, but an unexpected event happened when they entered theirst day of travel.


    Khan, Liiza, and Zaliha were the first to notice multiple presences quite close to their position. They would have normally changed direction in front of such a numerous group, but they decided to walk toward them since the source of that mana came from Niqols.


    The other group did the same when it sensed those potential allies. Almost thirty familiar Niqols appeared in front of Khan once the two teams met. Those aliens were the servants who had worked in the valley. Khan even recognized someone that he had only seen during the meeting with Yeza.


    ''His name should be Zura,'' Khan thought while ncing at the middle-aged Niqols in the lead of the other group.


    Zura had been the servant who had given Khan the warm change of clothes after he stabbed his own leg. His presence made Khan reevaluate how joyful that meeting was since it forced him to recall Yeza''sment about the xenophobic Niqols.


    "[This is a fortuitous meeting]," Zura bowed once the two groups got close enough to talk.


    The Niqols wore the same nk face that Khan had seen in the pce, but his gestures were polite enough to put the squad leaders in a good mood. The other aliens behind him also bowed to greet the other group and built a friendly atmosphere in mere seconds.


    "[It''s nice to meet allies for once]," Ilman announced while performing a bow, and the squad leaders imitated him after voicing polite greetings.


    Khan also performed a bow, but he didn''t say anything in that situation. Still, he didn''t miss the curious and surprised nces that converged in his position when Liiza took his hand to wrap his arm around her waist.


    Many didn''t hear Yeza''s announcement, especially the servants who had remained inside the pce during the outburst of monsters. The rtionship between Khan and Liiza was a surprising event which her political position highlighted.


    Liiza didn''t care about her legacy, but the same didn''t go for the other Niqols. She remained part of her mother''s tribe, with ims on her position as ambassador. Yeza was even a unique figure in the social and political environments, so Liiza''s partner was an important topic for some aliens, especially those loyal to the old ways.


    Liiza didn''t consider that her actions could cause problems. Yeza had acknowledged her rtionship, so no one could dare to say anything about it. However, Khan had be paranoid even before teleporting toward his first alien, and that feeling couldn''t remain silent after recalling about the xenophobic groups of Niqols.


    "[How did you escape the valley]?" Ilman asked without adding any negative meaning to his tone.


    "[The Lysixi left the tunnels connected to the pce, so we used them to leave after Yeza sent us the location of the next safe area]," Zura shortly exined, and the squad leaders nodded even if they didn''t know anything about the tunnels.


    "[Aren''t you off track]?" Zura continued after cing his cube on the muddy ground and creating the map with its azure light. "[You came from the valley, right? How did you even end up here]?"


    "[Liiza had an ally in this area], Ilman revealed while pointing at the forest in the distance. "[We nned to meet with her before reaching the safe location]."


    "[Do you mind if we tag along]?" Zura asked as his eyes moved toward the four squad leaders.


    "[Not at all]," Iris replied before performing another polite bow. "[We must stick together in this dangerous period]."


    Khan slowly led Liiza on the opposite side of the newly arrived Niqols after the groups fused and resumed the march. Only she noticed those vague actions, but he limited himself to reveal a meaningful gaze when she looked at him with her questioning eyes.


    Liiza didn''t understand the reason behind Khan''s actions, but she epted them for now. She would simply question him once they got some privacy.


    The marsh eventually ended, and a thick forest unfolded in front of the group. The same giant trees with roots that spread on the surface filled the next region and created a wild scene. That would be another tricky area to explore, but Khan rejoiced at the sight of proper footholds.


    The students and recruits remained stunned in front of that strange environment for a few seconds, but Zura suddenly shouted something in the Niqols''nguage that most aliens didn''t understand.


    The shout distracted everyone and made them unable to see how their newpanions curved their fingers into ws and shed them at the humans in their surroundings.


    The event had been too sudden and unexpected. The newly arrived Niqols had already blended with the group, so they didn''t have problems finding human throats. Their fingers pierced skin and muscles easily and made blood spurt out everywhere.


    Everything happened too quickly, even for the squad leaders. Iris had focused on the sudden shout only to move her attention on the painful cries of her underlings. She noticed Zura''s attack only after his fingers pierced her throat.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Also, I know that I''ve promised many chapters before the break. Long story short, Ick the time and the energy to write them while I handle two stories. I''m sorry.

 Chapter 201 - Hesitation

    Khan instantly realized that his worries had be true, but he felt powerless in that situation. The shout had managed to surprise him too, so the newly arrived Niqolspleted their attacks by the time he understood what was happening.


    Blood filled Khan''s vision. The newly arrived Niqols'' group featured thirty members, and almost all of them managed to find a suitable target. Large cuts opened on many human throats as the aliens'' sharp fingers stabbed them. Khan had never seen that technique, but his knowledge allowed him to understand its functioning during those short seconds.


    Brandon, Kelly, Helen, and Veronica managed to dodge the iing attacks, and the same went for a few more recruits. George, Felicia, Paul, and Ryan weren''t in the Niqols'' range, so they didn''t have to deal with any threat. However, everyone else suffered from the sudden offensive, and most of those injuries ended up being deadly.


    Khan didn''t know the recruits as well as the students, but he had forced himself to learn everyone''s name. He had even instinctively studied their behavior due to his social paranoia, so he could im to be everyone''s acquaintance. Still, most of them fell to the almost dry ground as their hands reached their throats in desperate attempts to close theirrge injuries..


    The event had been a one-sided ughter. Khan had expected the new Niqols to be rtively unfriendly, but he would have never predicted them to attack right in the middle of the wild. He believed that they would have tried something sneakier after reaching a safe ce, but the reality had turned out to be far different.


    Everyone seemed to freeze while many of the injured recruits fell to the ground and died in the following seconds. Most students didn''t know how to react to that scene, and the other Niqols didn''t feel the need to attack again right away. The most surprising aspect of that scene was Iris'' death, which arrived only an instant after the rest of the humans.


    The recruits who had dodged the iing attacks or had seeded in salvaging their vital spots were the first to scream. Their terrified voices forced everyone to snap back to reality and made them ept the nature of the situation. The newly arrived Niqols had almost killed most of the humans in the group.


    Khan jumped back while lifting Liiza and drawing his knife. The three squad leaders and the surviving recruits did the same, and the newly arrived Niqols imitated them.


    A strange scene formed. The humans and the servant stood at two opposite sides of a small battlefield at the forest''s edges. Instead, the stunned students remained among the two groups, but they turned toward the other aliens as they prepared themselves to fight.


    "[What did you even do]?!" Ilman shouted as his wide eyes moved among the servants and the corpses on the ground.


    The humans didn''t say anything, and even Liiza and Havaa remained silent. The two girls were the only Niqols who had retreated with the humans, but they waited for the other aliens to answer Ilman before deciding what to say in that situation.


    "[We did what our species should have done a long time ago]," Zura stated without showing the slightest tinge of regret. "[The alliance with the humans has made us forget our ways. We must sever this connection to reim our old values]."


    "[What nonsense is this]?" Ilmanined. "[Our species has gained immensely from the alliance with the humans. We have managed to let go of the most brutal aspects of our past without losing power]!"


    "[How do you describe this situation then]?" Zura asked while waving his hand to point at the two groups and the marsh expanding at his right side. "[Our ancestors knew about the sunlight, but we didn''t bother to study the old knowledge due to the trust in the new ways. The Niqols'' blood spilled during the crisis on your hands]."


    "I''m tired of this idiocy," George snorted before stepping forward and leaving Havaa''s tight embrace. "You killed ourpanion, so you are our enemies."


    George was livid. His eyes tried to remain on Zura, but they often fell on a corpse standing a few meters from his position. Natalie''s lifeless face revealed pure terror and confusion. She had died without understanding what was happening around her.


    The other recruits shared the same anger. They all had friends andpanions among the corpses on the ground, so their emotions were about to burst out. Khan even felt how many of them started to move their mana to prepare techniques or spells.


    Khan felt angry about the sudden turn of events. The servants didn''t only kill many recruits. They had also endangered the overall survivability of the group by removing many of its members. Still, he didn''t let his emotions get over his head.


    The three squad leaders shared the same mindset. They held back for a very simple reason that Khan had considered as soon as he saw the students remaining at the center of the battlefield. It was unclear whether the young aliens would side with the humans or the members of their species.


    "[I am ashamed of being part of your same species]," Ilman eventually announced while raising his palms toward Zura to prepare for the battle.


    The Niqols around Ilman imitated his gesture. The students had only needed that small input to decide which side to take. That choice felt even easy since they almost had no connection with the old ways.


    "[Do you dare to raise your hands against the older generations]?" Zura asked as a disappointed sigh escaped his mouth. "[Do you really wish to side with the humans even after what happened during the previous crisis? Did you forget how many young Niqols died due to the political schemes of those hideous parasites]?"


    A wave of hesitation spread among the group of students. Every Niqols suspected that the humans had kept the knowledge about the sr wind a secret to maximize their potential gains. The higher-ups of the Global Army had never admitted anything, but the political silence that had followed that event was a clue that the aliens couldn''t ignore.


    The students had ignored that clue during the journey toward the forest, mainly because they knew that simple recruits didn''t have much power over those political decisions. However, they couldn''t help but hesitate when they had to choose whether to fight members of their species or not.


    "[What are you doing]?" Ilman questioned while turning toward the Niqols around him. "[They have justmitted an act of treason against our political allies. Don''t show any hesitation]."


    Ilman''s words did little to help those undecided Niqols. The truth of the situation was undeniable. Except for the envoys, the humans behind them had probably been aware of the sr wind, but they didn''t do anything to warn the aliens. The recruits might have had no power over that matter, but that didn''t make them innocent.


    "[Your words are pointless]," Zura chuckled. "[Doubts have already seeped into their minds. Just step aside and let us end them. No one would suspect us with Nitis in this state]."


    "[I would know]!" Ilman shouted in a resolute tone.


    Ilman couldn''t betray his feelings about the matter. He didn''t ignore that the humans might have helped with the sr wind, but that was apletely different topic. He remained focused on the present, on the servants who had assassinated many recruits.


    Khan had remained focused on the conversation, but a soft pull diverted his attention on the girl in his arms. Liiza was also staring at the two groups of Niqols, but she had instinctively tightened her grip on Khan''s robe when she understood that the situation could lead to an ugly battle.


    Only a third of the human group had survived the sudden attack. That would grant a numerical advantage to the servants if the students decided to step aside.


    The servants weren''t weak either. Many of them were adults with power simr to first-level warriors. Moreover, their techniques were unclear. They still abided by the three major fields taught in the academy, but they were different from the palm strikes usually deployed by the students.


    Liiza actually feared what would happen if a battle were to unfold, and Khan understood her feelings by a simple nce at her worried gestures.


    ''We might lose even if the other Niqols were to help us,'' Khan thought before ncing at the knife in his hands, ''Unless I''ve be as strong as I think.''


    "[Do you want to step aside]?" Khan whispered while showing a sad smile toward Liiza.


    Liiza raised her worried face before her eyebrows closed into a frown. "[I won''t remain out of this]."


    "[We fight then]," Khan announced before leaving a quick kiss on her lips. "[Your spell can turn the battle in our favor. Make sure to use it wisely]."


    "[You are nning to go in there on your own, aren''t you]?" Liiza asked as her frown deepened.


    "[You know that they can''t catch me]," Khan said while wearing a confident expression.


    Liiza didn''t like the idea of remaining in the backlines while her man jumped in the middle of the enemy group, but their abilities almost forced them to take those roles. Her frown deepened even more, but her face eventually rxed.


    "[We won''t hesitate to treat you as enemies if you keep blockin-]," Zura voiced a threat, but a surprising event suddenly unfolded in his vision.


    Zura had missed Khan and Liiza''s quick kiss, but he didn''t overlook the long one that followed their whispers. His strange reaction made everyone look past the students and focus on the couple exchanging that intimate gesture before the battle.


    Surprise inevitably spread among the servants. They had seen how intimate Khan and Liiza appeared during their short travel together, but the couple had never exploded in such evident expressions of their feelings. Still, that long kiss removed every doubt. Liiza and Khan were in a rtionship, and their feelings also seemed incredibly deep.


    "[Yeza''s tribe is doomed]," Zura heaved a disappointed sigh, and the servants behind him showed evident disgust.


    Khan and Liizapletely ignored that reaction. They exchanged warm smiles and soft words that no one could hear after they separated. Then, Khan turned toward the servants and took faint steps forward to approach Ilman and his group.


    George, the squad leaders, and the other humans instinctively followed Khan. They quickly created a simple battle formation that made sure to highlight their innate talents.


    Khan, Paul, Brandon, Kelly, Veronica, and George ended up on the frontlines. They were all ready for battle, but they stopped when Khan reached Ilman.


    "[I would understand if you decided not to fight with us]," Khan eximed, but a series of snorts promptly resounded among the students.


    "[Nonsense]!" Ilman shouted.


    "[Don''t try to protect us]," Azni uttered. "[We are in this together]."


    "[I can''t believe someone could be so vile tomit an act of treason during a global crisis]," Dokumented.


    Otherments resounded among the students as Niqols stepped forward to join the humans. The fact that Khan had tried to give them a way out of that situation only reminded them of the friendships built during the past months.


    Those students couldn''t betray their feelings, and most of their group soon joined the humans. Only a few Niqols unwilling to fight against their own kind remained on the sidelines, but the numerical advantage moved on Khan''s favor anyway. The issue remained the sheer power of the servants, but the squad leaders didn''t hesitate to address it.


    "You all should focus on the weak ones," Paul ordered in the humannguage since most recruits didn''t know the other. "Let us handle the other leaders."


    Paul looked toward Khan to wait for his nod, but thetter didn''t react to that gesture. Paul wanted Khan''s help, but he appeared unable to hear anything.


    Cold thoughts had started to fill Khan''s mind now that the battle was imminent. Many servants were staring at him due to his previous kiss with Liiza, and some still had blood falling from their fingers.


    Those aliens had killed many humans. They had dared to betray their political allies during such tough times. It felt unfair to die at the hands of those aliens after surviving many packs of monsters, but Khan didn''t focus on those thoughts.


    The images of Istrone reappeared in his vision, but they didn''t manage to make Khan sweep away the coldness that was invading his mind. The servants would probably punish Liiza for being with him. They might kill her or worse, so he stopped caring about how bad he might feel after the battle.


    Istrone''s events had brought Khan to tears, but he didn''t feel any hesitation now. He was ready to deploy deadly attacks against the Niqols. He felt able to kill like never before.


    "Khan?" Paul called as the silence between the two groups became deafening.


    The squad leader wanted to n a simple battle tactic before charging toward their opponents, but Khan had already decided that he wouldn''t be a part of that. His figure disappeared as soon as coldness filled the entirety of his mind, and one of the adult servants lost her head.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I wanted to warn everyone about my break, but I found myself unable to write anything as soon as I made that decision. Anyway, I''m back now.

 Chapter 202 - Mana Control

    Khan found it hard to describe what he was experiencing. He wasn''t thinking too much about his mental state, but he could feel intense emotions creating a chilling and calm mindset.


    Khan felt his survival instincts which naturally came from the dangerousness of the situation. However, there was something more intense there. He was experiencing the emotion that he had been scared to feel but that he couldn''t suppress now.


    Living among the Niqols and his rtionship with Liiza had expanded his emotional spectrum. He didn''t feel like the humans anymore. His love could touch levels of intensity that no other member of his species had ever experienced, but the same applied to the very opposite emotion. Actually, his cracked mindset allowed him to go far deeper into that mental state.


    Khan had survived the Second Impact, Istrone''s rebellion, and many ugly scenes on Nitis. His mind had long since stopped belonging to a boy, and his many experiences had allowed it to reach dark areas that stable humans couldn''t even consider.


    .


    That feature worsened against the servant. Those Niqols were putting his life, his rtionship, and his girlfriend in danger. They had also killed many humans in a vile and sudden act of betrayal. No amount of self-restraint could stop Khan from falling into the dark depths of his mind, which gave birth to a clear and calm killing instinct.


    The Lightning-demon style fused with the sheer power of a first-level warrior made Khan''s sudden attack impossible to notice. He didn''t even bend his body at that time. He simply disappeared from his spot to dive into the enemy lines.


    The servants weren''t living beings in his eyes anymore. Khan saw heads, necks, and chests. He was treating everything as a target for his deadly glowing knife.


    The Niqols next to Zura lost her head, a hole opened in the man behind her, a deep cut appeared on the woman''s neck further behind, and simr scenes followed. Everything happened so quickly that the servants located Khan only after he had crossed the entirety of the enemy group.


    Zura and the other Niqols revealed surprised and worried expressions as they inspected the gap that had appeared among their group. Their gazes eventually converged on the bent figure at the end of that path. Khan slowly turned his head, and his cold azure eyes seemed to glow with a chilling light under the radiance of the sunlight.


    The path treaded by Khan had some corpses and an injured Niqols. It started with the headless woman and continued with a dead man, a woman who was desperately holding her bleeding neck, a body with a gory hole at the center of his forehead, and another headless corpse.


    The path ended with Khan standing on the crushed head of a Niqols. The deadliness of the sudden attack left both allies and enemies speechless. Even Khan''s closest friends had never seen him performing his martial arts with such tant perfection.


    The sheer power of Khan''s assault didn''te from his expertise in the martial arts but from his ability to fuse his techniques. The Divine Reaper gained the Lightning-demon style''s speed, adding a level of deadliness that his sprints couldn''t typically have.


    Khan had also been wise in his attacks. He had yet to reach thepetent proficiency level with the Divine Reaper, so his knife failed to express its intended deadliness at times. Still, he had focused vital spots that even his sheer physical strength could pierce. Even the injured woman eventually died due to how deep the cut on her neck was.


    Paul, Ryan, and Felicia were familiar with the difference in power between a regr recruit and a first-level warrior. They knew that the sheer might deployed by Khan couldn''t possibly belong to the former category, but the situation didn''t give them time to ponder about the issue.


    Ilman voiced a battle cry that made both groups snap back to reality and charge forward. Khan found a series of glowing eyes converging on him. Only part of the Niqols turned toward the humans and students. Almost half of the servants decided to take care of him first.


    Khan didn''t dare to remain in his position. He jumped back before shooting to his left side. A young-looking Niqols had predicted his movements and had stretched her curved fingers to block his path, but he didn''t hesitate to duck and rotate on himself to deliver a powerful roundhouse kick at her side.


    The backlines had weaker Niqols. The girl''s ribs shattered and her lung copsed as Khan''s kick sent her flying toward the servants behind her. He could have opened a hole in her torso, but that attack would have stopped his momentum, so he had limited his power.


    The servant quickly proved themselves worthy of their superior battle experience. Khan saw a tall male Niqols jumping on his path and crossing his hands in front of his chest.


    The Niqols had used the time lost during Khan''s attack to locate him and interrupt his movements. The alien nned to use his body to stop him, and he didn''t hold back from deploying a technique that darkened his skin.


    Khan''s sensitivity to mana told him that his opponent was a first-level warrior and that the amount of energy summoned to darken his skin was massive. The alien was deploying a spell.


    The Niqols'' timing had been quite good. Khan didn''t have much room to dodge the alien, but he could still avoid a direct impact if he jumped to his side and rolled. Still, that would leave him on the ground. Moreover, a tough wall wasn''t something that he had to fear.


    A failure in the execution of the Divine Reaper would force Khan to m on the Niqols'' chest, which would lead to injuries. He couldn''t risk that, so he put everything he had on leaping and rotating mid-air to maximize the amount of power gathered on his descending heel.


    A thudding noise followed the impact between Khan''s heel and the top of the Niqols'' head. The alien''s mouth opened as he gritted his teeth to endure the power discharged during the impact.


    A few teeth broke and flew out of the alien''s mouth, and a line of pale-red blood descended over his forehead, but he managed to endure the attack. The skin on his arms and shoulders regained its natural color as he tried to grab Khan''s leg, but thetter promptly used his free foot to kick himself away from that situation.


    Khan flew above the servants that had hurried to catch him. He was almost six meters from the ground, so the aliens had the time to prepare for hisnding.


    Another adult servant stepped among his allies and moved them away to point his hands at Khan. His fingers followed the human''s fall, and the air in front of them suddenly ignited.


    Khan saw a trail of fire flying toward him. The mes followed his descent. They even seemed to morph into a snake''s mouth, but he had to stop looking at them to cover his face with his arms.


    A scorching sensation filled Khan as the attack detonated on his arms. The explosion flung him away and made him m on the ground.


    The Niqols who had cast the spell started to turn at the sight of his fuming target, but his eyes widened in disbelief when he saw him jumping back to his feet. The alien couldn''t contain his surprise when he saw Khan tearing away his charred sleeves and revealing that his arms were still in one piece. They featured many charred spots, but those injuries weren''t even close to being severe.


    "[He has a defensive spell]!" The Niqols promptly shouted, and Khan used that instant to run away.


    The warning only reached the servants who had turned to deal with Khan. The students and humans had started to fight, and the battlefield''s chaos forced them to focus on their surroundings.


    The servants had remained close together, and that didn''t change after the arrival of their opponents. The battlefield was rtively small. Ryan and Felicia rarely found the chance tounch their mighty spells, but the students managed to open them a path from time to time.


    Blood had spilled as soon as the two groups shed. Paul, Ilman, and the squad leaders had tried to limit the superior power of the servants, but they couldn''t prevent some of them from shing their fingers at theirpanions. Khan had managed to kill two first-level warriors with his surprise attack, and he had even attracted the attention of other powerful Niqols, but that wasn''t enough to prevent casualties on his side.


    The oue of the sh between first-level warriors and weaker troops was obvious. No amount of care, strategy, or diversions could save the students and recruits who ended up in the range of the powerful servants.


    The human side had fewer first-level warriors but more troops, so they could focus on overwhelming their opponents. They would have to pay those small victories with blood and sacrifices, but both students and recruits showed no hesitation in their charge ahead.


    The scene would have been far different before the arrival of the sunlight, especially when it came to the recruits. Most of them would have been too scared to charge ahead before experiencing the cruelty of the crisis. Instead, they approached their enemies fearlessly now, even if some were blinded by anger.


    Khan swept the battlefield quickly. George, Doku, Azni, Ilman, and Liiza were doing fine. They had instinctively decided to fight together and protect Liiza since they knew how powerful her ice was.


    Something simr was happening with Felicia and Ryan. Their spells were powerful, so both students and recruits were doing their best to fend their opponents off and give them enough space. Each attack defeated a servant, so protecting those powerful assets was a priority even if the situation forced them to be near the frontlines.


    Paul ended up having a crucial role in protecting the other two squad leaders. The servants had initially approached him carelessly, and they had remained stunned when their chests or heads exploded after a short contact with the human. The event quickly told the Niqols that Paul was dangerous, so everyone tried to avoid fighting him.


    Khan only wasted a few seconds inspecting the battlefield before diving back into it. The few members were the servants'' greatest weakness, so he proceeded to take care of those busy fighting to worsen that feature.


    An old-looking woman was waving her nimble fingers in the air. Those body parts were sharp knives capable of severing everything they met, and the Niqols in front of her couldn''t help but retreat as she stepped forward.


    The woman wore a confident smirk, but her expression froze when a hole opened at the side of her neck. She had to use a hand to check the actual injury since Khan''s movements had been too quick and smooth. The Niqols didn''t even notice his passage, but her opponents didn''t hesitate to exploit that opportunity and overwhelm her with palm strikes.


    Another woman with a far youngerplexion was giving Paul a hard time. She used strands of her long hair as whips that managed to keep the squad leader distant and block Ryan and Felicia''s view at the same time.


    The two squad leaders never had a clear shot in that situation, but a hole suddenly opened at the center of her throat as a knife pierced her from behind. Khan''s technique had failed, but he had still shoved his weapon all the way through the neck until it came out of the other side.


    Khan obviously had to waste a second to draw his weapon out of the woman''s neck, but the servants around him didn''t manage to catch him since he kicked his dead enemy toward the iing Niqols. The window created by that gesture allowed him to disappear again.


    The servants would shout something whenever Khan reappeared on the battlefield, but their efforts to keep track of his movements were pointless. He could run around the crowd and reap lives whenever he found a suitable chance.


    The servants couldn''t even focus on Khan since some of their opponents were quite dangerous. They were losing ground, and that trend quickened as the number of their members continued to fall.


    "[Behind me]!" Zura suddenly shouted, and the servants quickly took a few steps back to stand behind their leader.


    Twelve servants had remained, and only six of them were first-level warriors. Instead, the enemy group was still quite numerous, even if corpsesy among them.


    "[Show them the power of the old ways]!" Zura ordered as he pointed his hand toward Paul.


    Paul instinctively crossed his arms in front of his face to prepare for a ranged ability, but nothing came out of Zura''s fingers. The squad leader started to lower his guard, but a surprised expression soon took over his confused face.


    Paul grabbed his left forearm and tightened his grip, but nothing seemed able to stop the ability. His veins bulged as worm-like waves of energy ran under his skin until they tore it apart.


    Khan jumped backward and stopped running toward his target when he saw most of the skin on Paul''s left forearm exploding. He knew a technique that could cause those effects. Zura had deployed the [Mana Control].


    ****


    Author''s notes: Also, I know that I''ve promised many chapters before the break. Long story short, Ick the time and the energy to write them while I handle two stories. I''m sorry.

 Chapter 203 - Assassinations

    Zura''s incredible technique made the human group take a step back and interrupt the assault. They didn''t know what was happening, but they didn''t dare to get too close when an enemy could make their skin shatter with a simple wave of his hand.


    Some Niqols who had heard stories about the old ways could probably understand the nature of the [Mana Control], but they didn''t know its details. They weren''t sure whether Zura could deploy it against all of them or only Paul.


    Ilman knew something more due to the unique role of his tribe, but he also ignored the level of expertise that Zura had reached. Moreover, the boy couldn''t understand who Zura could target with his deadly technique. After all, the battle hadsted for mere minutes. Bing able to control the mana of a single opponent was already an incredible feat.


    Instead, Liiza and Khan knew every detail about the [Mana Control] since thetter had the chance to learn it. They were aware of the harsh requirements that apanied it, so they started to see Zura in a new light after his feat.


    However, the situation didn''t change too much.. Paul''s injury didn''t turn the tables of the battle. The servants were still losing, but they had managed to instill fear in their opponents.


    Khan quickly realized that he couldn''t let the situation continue like that. Zura would only learn to manipte the mana of more opponents if he allowed him to study them from a safe position. The chaos of the battlefield benefited the human group, so he had to restore it.


    Many eyes had converged on Khan after he stopped running. The servants didn''t want to lose track of his position, but they had no control over the matter. They limited themselves to voice warnings as soon as his figure disappeared and resumed running around them.


    Zura promptly jumped among his underlings while the other five first-level warriors took specific positions at the edges of the battle formation. They were clearly trying to protect him, and their behavior disclosed important information about their power.


    Everyone understood the nature of that behavior. The servants were probably protecting Zura because he was the only one capable of deploying that threatening technique.


    Felicia and Ryan didn''t hesitate to step forward andunch their spells. A sharp gale and arge fireball flew out of their figures, but two powerful servants jumped on their trajectory to intercept them.


    The two servants crossed their arms in front of their faces and chests and let the spells crash on them. The impact generated two different explosions that torn their white robes and gave birth to trails of smoke. Still, the squad leaders saw how their targets had only suffered superficial injuries once they managed to check their state.


    The skin on the servants'' arms and torsos featured a tight array of pale blood vessels. The two Niqols could deploy the [Blood Shield], and they didn''t have to limit it to small spots. They could cover almost a third of their bodies with that defensive technique.


    The human group''s morale almost fell when they saw that their strongest assets had failed to inflict any damage with a direct attack. Their hesitation deepened when Zura raised his hand from behind the servants and pointed it at Felicia. They felt the need to run away, but they stopped their tracks when a head flew in the air between the two teams.


    Khan didn''t remain stunned by the servants'' old ways, so he had seized that silent opportunity to reach one of the Niqols that had deployed the [Blood Shield]. He had aimed for the neck, but the Divine Reaper seeded, so his knife beheaded the alien.


    Liiza shared a simr mindset. She had held back her spell until now, but the opportunity created by Khan allowed her to take her opponents by surprise.


    A thickyer of ice came out of her position and spread quickly until it reached the enemy group. Only some servants managed to react to the sudden event. They jumped back to dodge the iing spell, but the ground under them froze nheless.


    The servants who couldn''t react to Liiza''s spell ended up stuck on the ground, with ayer of ice trapping their feet. Instead, those who had jumped saw a series of sharp spikes growing out of that frozenyer.


    Khan''s assassination had imed the servants'' attention, so Liiza''s ice ended up trapping most of them. The Niqols who fell on the spikes saw injuries opening on their legs, and only a few of them seeded in protecting themselves or avoiding those sharp traps.


    Zura found himself unable toplete his technique. He had jumped and had used the [Blood Shied] to protect his feet. Still, he couldn''t do anything to improve the situation of hispanions.


    Felicia and the others had remained stunned, but Khan and Liiza made them snap back to reality. The human group charged ahead as another gale and a fireball flew in front of them.


    The spells hit the unprotected spots of the servants'' group. Those Niqols were too busy trying to free themselves from the ice to deploy any defensive technique, so the fireball and the gales ended up having deadly effects.


    A first-level warrior saw her torso opening in half after the gale hit her. The spell didn''t cut her from side to side, but it reached deep enough to make some of her organs spurt out together with a torrent of pale-red blood.


    The fireballnded in a spot upied by weaker servants. It didn''tnd directly on anyone, but its explosion burned two Niqols who were stuck in the ice. The mes melted part of Liiza''s spell, but Felicia had done her best to limit that effect by aiming at her opponents'' heads.


    Khan didn''t immediately attack after beheading the servant. He let the battlefield fall into chaos as he ran around the enemy group. The explosion of the two spells distracted the Niqols from him, so he used that chance to cut the neck of the first alien that he found.


    The humans and recruits eventually reached the servants and quickly killed those who were still struggling to free themselves from the ice. Two more first-level warriors died after being overwhelmed by a series of palm strikes and techniques that they couldn''t dodge. The weaker Niqols obviously had it far worse in that exchange.


    Twelve servants had remained when Zura revealed the [Mana Control], but thest exchange left only four of them alive. Two of them were first-level warriors, and one of them had even fallen prey to the ice.


    The first-level warrior stuck in the ice pointed his hands at the ice and released a wave of mes that partially burned his legs. He appeared unable to deploy the [Blood Shield], but he endured the pain and jumped out of the meltedyer to turn toward the marsh.


    The Niqols wanted to run away, but a familiar figure appeared on his path before he could escape the area frozen by Liiza. Khan jumped to m his knee on the alien''s face, and his knife descended right after. The weapon pierced his opponent''s head smoothly.


    Ilman reached one of the weaker servants stuck in the ice and delivered a precise palm strike at her head after dodging her panicked attack. The girl died quickly, and the dying scream of the other weak Niqols soon resounded in the area.


    Khan and Ilman exchanged a nce before focusing on the escaping figure in the distance. Zura had left the battlefield as soon as he understood that the battle was over, but the two boys couldn''t let him go after all the deaths he had caused.


    Khan and Ilman didn''t need words to decide what to do. They were the fastest in their group, and Zura was slower than them, so they shot toward him without showing any hesitation.


    Khan was far faster than Ilman. The Niqols struggled to keep up with him, but Zura wasn''t too far away, so the difference in their speed didn''t matter too much.


    Zura turned when he sensed the arrival of those two opponents. His usual aloof face had turned into an ugly expression that expressed the full spectrum of his emotions. The defeat didn''t only hurt him due to the loss of hispanions. It had also damaged his belief in the old ways.


    Zura studied the situation in less than a seconds and realized that he still had a chance to escape. His opponents were a mere boy and the annoying human who had killed many of hispanions. He could fight, and he even knew how.


    Khan couldn''t help but stomp his feet on the muddy ground to stop his sprint when he saw Zura pointing in his direction. Water and dirt flew in everywhere due to his sudden action and even more spread around him as he shot toward his left.


    Khan wasn''t sure whether Zura had managed to understand his aura. He had been careful, but he had also been at the center of the attention for a long time. There was a chance that the Niqols could use the [Mana Control] on him, and he didn''t want to risk getting hit by it.


    Zura snorted. He couldn''t focus on Khan''s mana when thetter was doing his best to avoid being in the trajectory of his fingers. The Niqols turned toward Ilman and prepared his fingers for the imminent impact, but a shadow suddenly appeared at his side.


    Khan had been fast enough to reach Zura as soon as he decided to focus on Ilman. The mud and shallow waters didn''t hinder his movements nor affect his speed. His knife rose to reach the Niqols'' neck, but his eyes widened when he saw a hand grabbing his wrist.


    "[You are predictable]," Zura revealed in a chilling tone while pulling Khan and cing his palm on his face.


    Khan sensed the mana inside him escaping his control. A foreign force had entered his body and had taken over his energy. Zura was trying to make his face explode, but the blood vessels on that spot quickly clotted.


    A faint rumbling noise filled Khan''s ears as his vision blurred. Pain spread on his face, and a headache immediately filled his head. However, he was alive, and he could feel that his condition was far from bad.


    Zura widened his eyes in surprise. He could recognize the [Blood Shield] when he inspected the opening among his fingers. His mind froze when he realized that a human was relying on the Niqols'' old ways to protect himself, but his stupor ended when a powerful blownded on his belly.


    Khan had regained his focus during Zura''s stupor. He had delivered a powerful kick as soon as he felt able to move his mana, and the blow made the Niqols spit a mouthful of blood.


    Zura had no words to describe Khan''s strength. Thetter wasn''t only as strong as him in terms of physical power. He could even deploy techniques that the other servants struggled to learn.


    Khan resembled the perfect fusion of the human teachings, the Niqols'' old ways, and their new ways. Moreover, his young age made his achievements spectacr.


    Zura felt his will to fight fading, but he forced himself to tighten his grip on Khan''s face anyway. Yet, he lost control of his body when a palm strike hit his spine and made his insides tremble. Ilman had finally reached his opponent, and he didn''t hesitate to deliver one of his strongest attacks toward a vital spot.


    Khan''s knife lit up as he forced his arm to twist. His physical strength overwhelmed Zura''s, and his weapon severed the Niqols'' forearm. Ilman delivered another palm strike, and Khan followed with a piercing attack.


    Zura''s lung copsed as the glowing knife pierced the center of his chest. Blood filled the Niqols'' mouth as his eyes darkened. Khan drew his weapon and shed it at his side with a quick moment to remove some blood from its edge, but his gaze remained on the dying alien. He didn''t stop looking at him even after he fell next to his feet.

 Chapter 204 - Leader

    Zura died silently. Only his fall released a plopping noise that didn''t manage to go far due to how shallow the waters were in that area were. Still, that sound echoed in Khan''s ears and became louder as his mind left its dark depths.


    The battle was over, so Khan could resume thinking normally. He could start inspecting everything that had happened in the past minutes with his usual mindset, and the scenes that unfolded in his eyes made his mood plummet.


    Zura''s corpse was right under him. Khan couldn''t see his face, but he still recalled the desperate and unwilling expression that the Niqols had worn before dying. His eyes then moved toward the rest of his team. It was impossible to miss the many corpses amassed among them. Most belonged to the servants, but others had familiar shapes instead.


    Khan''s cold eyes moved among those corpses. He found it hard to recognize the servants that he had killed.. He had moved too quickly during the battle, and he had never focused on the actual features of his targets. Everything was a mass of foreheads, necks, and chests in his mind.


    Khan lowered his gaze as he tried to recall how many had fallen under his attacks. He couldn''t feel sure about their actual number. It was as if his mind didn''t record the moments when his de or kicks managed to kill an opponent.


    ''Killing has be easier,'' Khan realized.


    His thoughts didn''t involve his personal power. Khan had be strong, so he knew that his attacks had gained a deadliness theycked before. His realization concerned his mental state. Making up his mind about taking a life had be easier.


    Khan didn''t know how he felt about that. Part of him felt dirty and disgusted about what he had be. Yet, his more practical side forced him to ept that he would have lost a lot if he didn''t kill those Niqols.


    Thest battle had been different from Istrone''s events. Khan had focused on his survival back then. A deep desire to remain alive and go back home had driven his actions, but he had felt bad about them anyway. It had taken him a long time on Nitis to heal his mental state.


    Instead, the recent battle had something more than simple survival instincts. Khan had barely considered the servants'' beliefs, and he didn''t spend much time thinking about his own life. He had only wanted to protect Liiza and those close to him.


    Khan didn''t know how much he could justify his actions. He had acted out of love, but he had still taken many lives. Was his emotion more important than those Niqols? Some of them were younger than him, but he had severed their heads without showing any hesitation.


    Khan even hated how he didn''t feel as bad as before. Oveing the suffocating emotions caused by Istrone''s events had taken a while, but nothing simr arrived now. Khan was cold, disgusted, and depressed, but he could move forward without relying on the mental barrier. The crippling sadness that he had gone through in the past didn''t return.


    ''Does this make me a killer or a soldier?'' Khan wondered as his eyes moved on Zura''s corpse and inspected the expansion of his pale-red blood on the muddy ground. ''Does this make me both?''


    Theck of crippling sadness threw Khan directly into the same emptiness he had experienced in the past. He felt as if he had gone back to before Nitis. He had regressed to the lost kid who couldn''t bear to remain on Earth anymore.


    It turned out that his regression was only an illusion. A familiar cold sensation suddenly spread on the bare parts of his arms before filling his chest. Khan snapped back to reality and noticed that Liiza had reached him. She had wrapped her arms in the insides of his robe to take his torso in her embrace.


    "[Are you okay]?" Liiza whispered as her worried eyes moved on his face.


    Khan had managed to protect himself from Zura''s attack, but a few cuts had inevitably appeared. Still, they weren''t deep, and they had even stopped bleeding. His face would only need a day or two to heal.


    Khan wanted to confirm that his injuries were nothing serious, but the words remained stuck in his throat. He could sense that Liiza wasn''t worried about his physical state. She knew how hard Istrone had been on Khan, so she wanted to check his current mental state.


    Everything felt better when Liiza was in his arms. Every fiber of Khan''s body and mind seemed to recall how he had ovee the emptiness experienced after Istrone.


    "[I was losing myself a bit]," Khan whispered as he wrapped his arms around Liiza''s waist to pull her even closer. "[Everything is better now]."


    Liiza revealed a warm smile before hiding her face in his neck. Khan immersed one of his hands in her hair and caressed her nape. He kissed her head a few times before approaching her ear and lowering his voice so that no one could even try to hear him. "[Are you okay]?"


    Zama had died less than two weeks ago. Liiza''s grief was still intense, but she had still fought many members of her species. Khan''s problems felt meaningless in front of what she had to ovee in thest period.


    Liiza rotated her head so that she could gaze at Khan''s worried face from the corner of her eyes. She bit her lips when she sensed that many Niqols and humans had gathered around them now that the battle was over, but Khan promptly lowered his ear to make sure that she could whisper words meant only for him.


    "[I''m fine now that I''m in your arms]," Liiza whispered.


    Khan could only tighten his embrace. She was experiencing the same emotions, and she had found the same solution. The feelings that they shared were the best cure and reward. Everything else seemed useless since they could enjoy each other warmth and coldness.


    Felicia cleared her throat and coughed a few times to im the couple''s attention, but Khan and Liiza ignored her. They would remain in that position as long as they wished, and the Niqols around them stared at the squad leader to make her let go of the matter.


    Liiza and Khan separated on their own a minuteter. They exchanged a few soft kisses before rejoining the battlefield in each other''s arms. Their group had suffered many casualties, and they both tightened their embrace at the sight of a familiar corpse.


    Azni, Ilman, George, and Havaa were fine. Doku had an ugly cut on his shoulder, but it didn''t seem too deep, and Azni was already patching it up. Paul''s left arm was in bad condition. His forearm had almost lost the entirety of its skin, and the bandages around the injury leaked blood even if they were pretty tight.


    The rest of the humans were rtively fine, except for Kelly, who had lost a chunk of her hand. Brandon was helping her, but her situation wasn''t critical.


    The students were also quite fine, but Khan could see how their number had fallen. Asyat, Zeliha, and other Niqols that he had learnt to know better than others were okay, but many others had died, and their corpses were on the ground around him.


    Gabri had died during the surprise attack, and Veronica cried next to her corpse. Khan felt the need to say something to console her, but he limited himself to nce at George. Thetter understood the meaning of his gesture and approached Veronica with Havaa. The three quickly fell prey to their sorrow.


    The group would find it hard to move right away, but a few of them required medical attention. Paul, Kelly, and some Niqols had bad injuries that could lead to problems if left untreated. Paul was an exception since he was a first-level warrior, but the others didn''t have that privilege.


    Zalpa was in the forest, only one or two days of travel from the group''s location. Liiza could even contact her to make here in their direction and spare some time. Onest effort divided humans and students from a potential safety.


    "[We should leave now]," Khan sighed, half-hoping that no one could hear his words.


    His hopes shattered in mere seconds. The area waspletely silent, and only sniffs resounded from time to time. Everyone could hear hisment, and their eyes soon converged on the few injured members of their group.


    Ilman nodded and helped a girl that he was consoling to stand. Doku and Azni also jumped to their feet, and everyone else slowly imitated them.


    Khan found a series of eyes converging on him. The Niqols, even the few who didn''t join the battle, nced at him and waited for him to move. The event initially surprised Khan, but the proud smile of his girlfriend ended up revealing the nature of those gestures.


    The Niqols had seen Khan fight. They had acknowledged his power, his loyalty, and the intensity of his feelings for Liiza. He wasn''t only one of them. He was a potential leader that they trusted more than Paul, Felicia, and Ryan.


    The three squad leaders could only nod when Khan nced at them to inspect their reactions. He could finally understand what Paul had said before. His power, rtionship, and the eptance that the Niqols showed toward his figure made him untouchable.


    Moreover, thest battle had added something more to his figure. Khan had be a leader, at least when it came to the students.


    "[Let''s hurry to the forest]," Khan ordered. "[Our priority is to reach Zalpa. We''ll take care of our sorrow after ensuring our safety]."


    His closest friends were the first to nod and gather behind him. Felicia and Ryan quickly arrived too, and everyone else followed. The group put its injured members at its center and let Khan pick the path.


    Khan didn''t decide much. Liiza contacted Zalpa and ced her cube on the ground from time to time to adjust the direction. The group entered the forest and treaded forward carefully to avoid meeting monsters. The path featured some packs, but it seemed that the heavy aura surrounding the group was scaring them away.


    Theck of dangers made the group advance quickly. The forest was full of faint noises that seemed to resound in the distance. The big trees also hid most of its environment, but nothing could escape Khan''s senses in that situation.


    "[We should be almost there]," Liiza revealed as she studied the map in her cube.


    "[Did Zalpa even try to meet us halfway]?" Khan sighed.


    "[You know how she is]," Liiza responded. "[I''m not sure she would have helped us if the situation weren''t so tragic]."


    "[You are right, Lii]," A hoarse voice suddenly resounded from the peak of one of the trees nearby. "[Why would I even help humans]?"


    An ugly figure slowly became visible on top of the tree. Everyone could see the old Niqols who had odd features. Her long red hair and the faint red shades in her glowing white eyes made her unique among the alien species. Some of the students even gasped in surprise at the sight of those shades.


    "[It''s an honor to meet you again]," Khan promptly said while separating from Liiza and performing a deep bow.


    "[You are still around]," Zalpa snorted before jumping off the tall tree andnding in front of the group.


    Zalpa had fallen for more than eight meters, but she didn''t show any pain when hernding created a hole in the ground. She didn''t even hesitate to step forward and approach Khan and Liiza.


    "[It''s nice to see you, Zaza]," Liiza eximed happily before jumping in her arms.


    Zalpa revealed a surprised expression in front of that sudden affectionate gesture. She raised her head to inspect Khan and search for answers, but her confusion only intensified at the sight of his evident sadness. He was hurting to see Liiza in that condition.


    "[Let''s go back to my cave]," Zalpa threatened. "[You''ll tell me everything there]."


    Khan nodded without showing any fear, and his reaction left Zalpa stunned again. She could almost see the profound changes that had affected that cursed boy. She would easily mistake him for a Niqols if it weren''t for his physical features.

 Chapter 205 - Privacy

    Zalpa led the group through the forest and never stopped until she reached a narrow cavity in the ground hidden by a series of leaves that radiated an ominous aura. She carefully removed the cover and guided everyone through the many dark passages that unfolded after the entrance until she arrived in a rtivelyrge area that Khan found familiar.


    The underground area was simr to the cave that Khan had seen during his first meeting with Zalpa. Red symbols covered the rocky walls and filled the circr hall with an eerie light. She had hung a few Tainted animals and monsters to the ceiling, and two empty cauldrons stood on the ground.


    The peculiar sight would normally leave students and humans stunned, but they were too tired to question Zalpa. They had to travel for many hours to reach the cave, so they sat on the ground as soon as she felt that they had arrived in a safe area.


    Liiza had returned in Khan''s arms during the travel, but she had to leave him to plead Zalpa when she hesitated to take out potions. The old Niqols wouldn''t hesitate to heal the students, but she didn''t want to help the humans. Still, she found herself unable to refuse Liiza due to how sad she appeared.


    Luckily for the group, Zalpa already had many potions in store.. She only had to modify some of them to increase their effectiveness on humans. Those remedies abided by the old ways, so they exacted a price in terms of mana that made Paul, Kelly, and the injured Niqols fall asleep in a few minutes.


    Zalpa didn''t immediately demand a summary of what the group had gone through in the past weeks. She tinkered with one of the red symbols on the wall to reveal a hidden cavity that contained a stash of food, and she threw a few ingredients into a cauldron to prepare drinks.


    Everyone soon had drinks and food at their disposal, and many ended up falling asleep after their exhaustion had the better of them. Only a small part of the group remained awake and gathered around Zalpa to exin what had happened since the meeting in the valley.


    "[The sunlight is stronger than I expected]," Zalpamented after Khanpleted his exnation. "[The Lysixi should have been immune, like the Aduns, but it seems that this crisis is worse than before. Also, I can''t believe that those damned bastards have turned on their own kind]."


    "[Don''t you agree with them]?" Khan asked.


    "[I definitely do]!" Zalpa dered while moving her eyes between Khan and the girl sitting between his legs, "[But surviving the crisis should have the priority. We can always kick out the humans after they help us with the sunlight]."


    "[Zaza]," Liiza called while adjusting her position between Khan''s legs.


    "[I gave you food, drinks, and potions]," Zalpa snorted. "[I will say whatever I want]!"


    Liiza sighed, but Khan promptly caressed her hair. She nced at him before taking his hand, kissing it, and wrapping it around her waist. Khan could only hold her tightly at that point.


    Zalpa inspected the situation with aloof eyes. Khan''s story had been detailed, but he had avoided mentioning a few important events. He didn''t say anything about Zama''s death, and he had also decided to keep Yeza''s acknowledgment for himself. It was better to let Liiza talk about those topics when she felt ready.


    Still, Zalpa wasn''t stupid, and she also knew Liiza quite well. She couldn''t understand the precise reason behind her lingering sadness, but she noticed how the couple wasn''t hiding the nature of their rtionship anymore. Moreover, the Niqols and humans around them treated those affectionate gestures as a regr urrence, which revealed that something had changed in those months.


    Felicia, Ryan, Brandon, and George were the only humans around Zalpa, and they inevitably remained surprised in front of her tant hatred toward their kind. The old Niqols also ignored thempletely and looked only at Khan and Liiza, so they never had the chance to join the conversation.


    However, at least for now, the humans didn''t feel the need to interrupt the conversation. Zalpa had allowed them to rest and recover, so they didn''t want to endanger that situation. Their doubts and questions would have to wait for when Khan was alone.


    Zalpa nced at the humans and students for the first time since the beginning of the conversation after the couple fell silent. They mostly avoided her gaze or bowed politely, but their reaction only annoyed her.


    "[Alright]," Zalpa eventually eximed before standing up. "[Lii,e with me. Let''s have a real talk]."


    Liiza nodded and stood up while taking Khan''s hand. He imitated her, and Zalpa didn''t forget to voice her disagreement with that scene. "[Do you have to bring him along]?"


    "[Zaza, just ept him]," Liiza replied while lowering her head and blushing a little. "[Even my mother did that]."


    Khan tried to maintain a stern face, especially after everything that had happened in the past days, but Zalpa''s surprised expression made him feel a bit proud. Of course, the old Niqols didn''t hide her annoyance, which she revealed by staring at him coldly.


    "[What tricks did you use to make Yeza ept you]?" Zalpa asked, and everyone on the scene bent toward Khan to listen to his exnation.


    That topic was quite popr, but the crisis had made everyone unable to question Khan about it. They didn''t even have any right to ask that stuff due to Liiza''s past and position.


    "[I can''t say anything]," Khan reminded by pointing at his neck.


    The envoys had to drink a restriction before the meeting with Yeza, so Khan had never managed to describe what had happened back then. He could only talk with the other recruits in the academy about that event, but he had never disclosed much.


    Zalpa snorted again and closed the distance between her and Khan in less than a second. He found her hand on his neck. The sudden event made Felicia and Ryan start to stand up, but Khan showed them his palm to interrupt their actions.


    Two azure symbols lit up on Khan''s neck, and Zalpa closed her eyes before pulling her arm back. Khan felt as if she ripped a chunk of his skin off, but everything turned out to be okay when he checked one of the spots previously upied by the restrictions.


    Liiza had remained still during the scene. She knew that Zalpa wouldn''t hurt Khan due to how important he was for her. She had limited herself to show a firm expression while continuing to stare at the old Niqols.


    "[Won''t this create political issues]?" Khan asked while scratching his neck a few times and clearing his throat to get rid of the strange feeling that the removal of the restriction had originated.


    "[The humans would have removed it anyway]," Zalpamented before crossing her arms and waiting for an answer.


    "[I refused her]," Khan simply exined, and those few words were enough to leave everyone stunned.


    Yeza was so beautiful that even those who weren''t into women would find it hard to refuse her. The feat would be harder to aplish in a formal meeting where the Niqols could reveal her captivating abilities. Yet, Khan imed to have ovee the challenge, and many understood that his rtionship had yed an important role there.


    Zalpa didn''t believe his words, but Liiza nodded as soon as her eyes fell on her. The old Niqols could only ept that truth, but she continued to feel annoyed about it. She didn''t say anything before turning and walking toward the opposite side of the cave.


    Zalpa tinkered with a red symbol, and another cavity opened. The new area resembled a proper room with other runes on its walls, and she didn''t hesitate to enter it.


    Khan and Liiza followed Zalpa, but thetter turned to grab his neck again after the others in the cave became unable to see the trio. Zalpa pushed Khan on the nearby wall, and her expression revealed deep killing intent as she studied his face.


    "[No one can refuse Yeza]," Zalpa stated in a chilling voice. "[I won''t let you trick Lii]."


    "[I did]," Khan repeated without showing any fear.


    Zalpa tightened her grasp, but Khan''s face remained resolute. That reaction only enraged her, but Liiza soon ced a hand on her arm.


    "[He is the only reason why I managed to ovee Zama''s death]," Liiza exined, and her revtion left Zalpa stunned.


    The old Niqols felt unable to pour strength into her grip. She let Khan go as she turned toward Liiza and took her into her arms. Liiza sniffed, but she quickly pushed her away to inspect Khan''s neck.


    "[He isn''t tricking me]," Liiza exined without looking at Zalpa. "[My mother decided to let him go after he stabbed his own leg]."


    Zalpa''s gaze immediately went on Khan, and he nodded to confirm those words before focusing on Liiza. The grief that the girl had suppressed until now had returned after talking about Zama, and he couldn''t let her handle it on her own.


    Zalpa didn''t know what to say. Every fiber of her body was against the political rtionship between Niqols and humans. Still, the scene in front of her made her belief shake. Khan and Liiza shared the same emotions. Actually, Khan''s feelings appeared stronger at times.


    "[You could have chosen a good Niqols]," Zalpa sighed.


    "[I chose him]," Liiza whispered while wrapping her arms around Khan''s torso, "[And I won''t forgive you if you threaten him again]."


    "[It''s fine]," Khan whispered.


    "[It''s not]!" Liiza shouted, forcing Khan to show a helpless smile toward Zalpa.


    "[I will never like you]," Zalpamented.


    "[I don''t care]," Khan responded. "[Though let''s try to go along for her sake]."


    Zalpa cursed in her mind. Khan was even focusing on Liiza''s well-being. She couldn''t find anything against him, so she snorted before looking toward the entrance.


    "[We should leave tomorrow]," Zalpa announced while changing the topic.


    "[Can''t we dy the departure by one day]?" Khan asked.


    "[Why is that]?" Zalpa questioned in her hoarse voice. "[Are humans so frail]?"


    "[Tomorrow is Liiza''s birthday]," Khan revealed, "[And the Niqols would only benefit from a party]."


    Liiza revealed a warm smile before moving her arms around Khan''s neck and kissing him. Zalpa''s ended up opening her mouth in surprise. Khan didn''t only remind her about Liiza''s birthday. His suggestion even focused on the students'' well-being.


    "[I guess I can use one day to prepare a few things]," Zalpa admitted. "[We still need to march for a while before reaching the safe area in the end]."


    "[Thank you]," Khan said during a polite bow after Liiza let his lips go.


    "[I''m not doing this for you]," Zalpa snorted. "[We also have to talk about the techniques that you are using. Your knowledge might be iplete, and I don''t want Lii to get hurt because of that]."


    "[We want the same thing then]," Khan added, and Zalpa scoffed in front of that innocent answer.


    "[Zaza]," Liiza uttered in a cute voice as she lowered her head to hide her faint blush, "[Can we use this room? We never had a decent chance to remain alone after everything that has happened]."


    "[I refuse to let a human fuck you while I''m here]!" Zalpa promptly shouted, and her voice was so loud that it resounded even in the other area.


    "[Zaza]!" Liiza scolded.


    "[I don''t care]!" Zalpa continued. "[I can barely bear to see you two together. I won''t give you the chance to remain alone]!"


    "[Do you prefer us to do it in front of everyone]?" Liiza teased, but her voice carried a faint determination that Zalpa didn''t miss.


    "[You wouldn''t dare]," Zalpa gasped.


    "[I don''t know]," Liiza whined while tightening her embrace. "[I felt so sadtely, with only Khan to cling on to. My emotions are bursting. I wouldn''t really care if someone were to see us. He might prefer the forest to avoid unwanted attention, but there are many monsters there. I don''t know if we have a choice]."


    Zalpa opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out of it. She cursed using words that Khan didn''t know before groaning loudly and addressing the request. "[Fine, take the damned room]!"


    Zalpa cursed again before leaving the room and closing the entrance. The rocks moved to seal the area, but a simple red symbol appeared in that spot. Even Khan knew how to activate it. A bit of mana and some pressure would be enough to open the wall again.


    "[I didn''t expect you to use your grief to our advantage]," Khan stated, but a sniff followed his words.


    Cold tears fell on his neck and made him lift Liiza before sitting on the ground. It took a few caresses and some kisses to make her reveal her face. She was finally dealing with her grief, and Khan could see how that feeling was overwhelming her.


    "[Don''t lie if it hurts you this much]," Khan scolded her softly while caressing her cheek.


    "[At least we got some privacy]," Liiza showed a warm smile disrupted only by her tears, "[So make sure to hold me tightly]."

 Chapter 206 - Safe Area

    Being in Zalpa''s cave gave the group the chance to have a proper party and face the losses that the crisis had caused. Khan and Liiza eventually joined the event, but they remained among their friends only for a short time before returning inside their room.


    Zalpa''s mood was awful, but she distracted herself by preparing smelly potions meant to make the journey toward the safe location easier. She even let Doku handle the second cauldron so that the others would neverck drinks.


    The cave didn''t have many cups, but the students made sure to pass them so that everyone could drink. The envoys joined them without hesitation, and they even helped the few other humans in the cave with that tradition.


    The humans deployed on Nitis had suffered incredible losses during the crisis and Zura''s betrayal. More than forty recruits had upied the two camps before the arrival of the sunlight, but less than ten of them had remained now. One of the squad leaders had also died.


    Rodney''s position was unclear since the higher-ups of the Niqols had to take care of delivering him to the humans, but no one bothered to think about him. The crisis had taken so much from the group that everyone eventually got drunk..


    Khan and Liiza finally had the chance to spend some meaningful time together, which allowed him to help her take care of her grief. He couldn''t do anything spectacr, but being there for her ended up being enough to improve her mood.


    Liiza found it hard to control herself after she overcame her grief, but she didn''t even bother to try to suppress her raging emotions. Zalpa had granted privacy to the couple, and she didn''t dare to waste it. She and Khan basically spent the entire day of her birthday in their room, with him leaving only to grab food and drinks.


    Many gazes fell on Khan whenever he took those short strolls outside the room. The squad leaders wanted to question him about his power, while his friends wished that he could join the celebration. Yet, he only had Liiza in mind that day, so he limited himself to short salutes before returning into his girlfriend''s arms.


    Zalpa had to muster the entirety of her self-control to enter the room and have the conversation about the old ways. She made sure to visit the couple during the night of the second day after making sure that they weren''t up to anything naughty.


    "[What a damned brat you are]," Zalpa cursed when she entered the room and saw the couple''s state.


    Khan and Liiza were naked, but they were using their torn and dirty robes to cover themselves. Liiza was sitting on Khan''sp, with her half-sleeping faceid on his bare shoulder. Instead, Khan was caressing her hair while his free hand adjusted the clothes used as a nket and her legs under it.


    Zalpa didn''t miss the evident blush on Liiza''s face, and the scene left her conflicted. Except for Khan''s ability to satisfy Liiza, Zalpa noticed that she was feeling better after spending that long time with him. Yet, Zalpa didn''t like seeing her so used to being in Khan''s arms. Part of her motherly instincts still viewed Liiza as a kid.


    "[Zaza, thank you for this]," Liiza whispered while caressing Khan''s right leg with her feet.


    Zalpa could see Liiza''s actions even if the robes covered her, but she couldn''t feel angry at that time. She actually revealed a faint smile in front of Liiza''s peaceful voice.


    Khan''s protective stance toward Liiza also reassured Zalpa. He never failed to adjust her to make herfortable and warm. The old Niqols had to admit that she had never seen such a perfect couple before, but she didn''t dare to voice those thoughts.


    Zalpa didn''t remain in the room for a long time. She limited herself to hear Liiza and Khan''s descriptions of the [Blood Vortex] and [Blood Shield] before adding a few simple exnations.


    It turned out that Yeza had given Khan theplete techniques. They didn''tck anything, so Zalpa could only add some advice. She knew the old ways better than the current ruling generation of Niqols, and the couplemitted to memory her words.


    Zalpa let Khan and Liiza be after that short interaction, and the couple spent the rest of the night together. They came out of the cave early in the morning of the next day, with Liiza still wearing her evident blush.


    Zalpa didn''t give specific orders, but everyone had understood that they had to wake up early that day. The group found the old Niqols already up, and she quickly forced them to sit so that she could apply her potions.


    Zalpa applied a few lines of dense and smelly dark ink on everyone''s faces. Then, she poured a few drops of another smelly liquid on their heads before moving to other potions.


    The squad leaders didn''t like that treatment, but they didn''t oppose it. They could sense that Zalpa was far stronger than them, and the effectiveness of her potions was undeniable. The skin on Paul''s forearm hadpletely regrown, and the same went for the injuries of the others.


    Only Kelly would need proper surgery once she regained ess to human technology. Zalpa''s potion had closed her injury, but it didn''t regrow the missing piece of her hand. She had lost her thumb and forefinger, and only a prosthesis could fix that.


    The group left the cave after Zalpapleted her preparations. The forest reappeared in their view, but the old Niqols made everyone run among therge trees and long roots. She never bothered to check the path ahead, and she was so nimble that those behind her struggled to keep up with her speed.


    An exnation arrived after the group ran for an entire day and saw the trees around them getting scarce. Zalpa needed to stop to check the map, so Liiza had the chance to question her about her recklessness. Many believed that she was simply confident in her abilities, but the answer revealed a far different truth.


    "[What do you think the potions are for]?" Zalpa responded. "[I made all of you invisible to many species of monsters. We can rush our way toward the safe area like this]."


    No one asked questions anymore after that exnation. Zalpa pushed the students and humans to their physical limits to reduce the amount of time spent in the wild, but she didn''t forget to take care of their exhaustion.


    Zalpa dug multiple holes in the ground and reinforced them with red symbols drawn with her blood every time the group took a break. She used those pits as simple cauldrons meant to prepare fuming potions that had different effects.


    Some trails of smoke kept the monsters away and hid the group''s presence. Others quickened everyone''s recovery, while a few cauldrons simply contained nutrient drinks meant to bring students and Niqols back to their peak.


    The breaks neversted more than a few hours due to how incredible Zalpa''s methods were. She spent half an hour creating the holes and concocting the potions, and the group used the rest of that time recovering. As for Zalpa, she rarely ate or drank. She never appeared tired during the journey.


    A in full of bushes and short grass followed the forest, but trees reappeared after the group traveled for two more days. Zalpa''s potions allowed everyone to skip sleep without enduring any drawback, so the group managed to cross long distances in far less time.


    A forest that featured tall trees with thick and wide crowns made ofrge ck leaves followed the in. Many monsters upied that environment, but Zalpa changed direction whenever she sensed something with her incredible sensitivity to mana. Her potion could make them invisible, but she still had to avoid meeting the packs.


    Crossing the second forest took a bit more than expected due to its crowded environment. Still, the group eventually reached a solitary mountain that grew right among that thick array of trees. Zalpa led everyone on the other side of that rocky structure, and a waterfall connected to ake eventually became visible.


    Zalpa began to use red symbols on her arms as she moved along the shores of theke. The group had to swim for a bit and cross a narrow path to reach the areas hidden by the waterfall, but they only found a rocky wall there.


    "[Take a step back]," Zalpa announced as she approached the wall filled with dark-grey moss.


    No one dared to ignore her order, but everyone paid close attention to her actions. Zalpa approached the moss and drew sharp lines on its wet structure. She didn''t use her blood at that time, but azure symbols lit up anyway after she activated a few of them.


    The symbols there were quite intricate, so Zalpa took a while to activate all of them. However, the wall started to tremble after shepleted the process. Boulders covered with moss fell from higher parts of the mountains as the rocks in front of her began to open to create a tall passage.


    The boulders always fell into theke, but the group on the narrow path inevitably moved their attention above them to make sure that nothing tried to hit them. Meanwhile, the tall passage began to open and revealed that the mountain''s insides were mostly empty.


    "[Let''s move]!" Zalpa ordered once the rocky wall stopped moving.


    The group couldn''t see much from the narrow passage, but everything became clear once they stepped on the small spot where Zalpa had activated the symbols. The mountain''s insides unfolded in their vision, and a faint azure light allowed them to recognize most details.


    The insides of the mountain weren''t actually empty. The Niqols had dug an immense part of the structure away but had left a tall pce at the end of that enormous cavity.


    The building was simr to the structure where Khan and the other envoys had met Yeza, but it featured an evidentck of aesthetic details. It had a dark and smooth surface, but its windows were small and uneven. Its roofs also fused with the rocky walls of the mountain and made the pce part of the structure.


    The pce was a structure meant for war times. It didn''t have any political purpose, but the group didn''t care about that. They felt ecstatic to see a new home that didn''t involve the dangers of the wild.


    Azure symbols filled the entirety of the enormous cavity and immersed the area in a pale radiance. That glow allowed the group to see some familiar figures standing on the rare balconies of the pce. Captain Erbair, Yeza, and the other higher-ups from both species waved at Zalpa and their underlings when they saw them moving toward the safe structure.

 Chapter 207 - Vait

    The smooth walls of the pce inside the immense cavity slid open when the group arrived. Multipleyers made of dark metal moved to reveal a tall andrge entrance that didn''t feature any luxurious door. It was nothing more than a rectangr hole that the students and recruits could cross to enter a vast hall.


    The stark change between the wild and the pce''s insides left the group pleasantly surprised. Soft and thick dark-red carpets covered the entirety of the room''s floor and spread on the steep staircases connected to the area. Simple tables surrounded by chairs upied different spots of the main hall, and two chimneys containing blue mes upied the center of two walls.


    The blue mes didn''t release any smoke, but their light added a brighter glow to the faint azure light that illuminated the pce''s insides. Moreover, those fires weren''t as hot as they should be, but they remained warm enough to make the environment cozy even for humans.


    The walls featured the same silken artworks that the envoys had seen during their meeting with Yeza. Dark-red and proper scarlet shades put an end to the ckness and greyness that filled most Niqols'' structures. The abstract pictures captivated both students and recruits, but the arrival of the higher-ups soon imed everyone''s attention.


    .


    Yeza, Captain Erbair, the Lieutenants, and various adults from both species descended from one of the three staircases connected to the main hall. The higher-ups'' expressions were initially proud and happy, but they turned into dark faces once they realized how few of their underlings had survived.


    ''Did they also lose someone?'' Khan wondered when he failed to see some familiar faces among that group, especially when it came to the soldiers.


    That detail wasn''t enough to confirm that the higher-ups had suffered losses since the other adults could be in different areas of the pce, but Khan didn''t dare to keep his hopes up. He had seen how strong the leader of the mutated Lysixi was. The creature definitely had the power to kill some of his superiors.


    Yeza was strangely wearing a robe that covered most of her body. Her clothes still carried a luxurious aura, and they were tight enough to reveal her enchanting curves, but she wasn''t half-naked as usual.


    Her appearance was still too much for the students and recruits. Only Khan, Liiza, and Zalpa could avoid falling prey to her incredible beauty, and they ended up reacting differently to her arrival.


    Zalpa had worn a vaguely annoyed expression as soon as she entered the pce. She didn''t like seeing humans walking inside structures built by Niqols that believed in the old ways. The artworks and dark-red shades carried her species'' history, and those soldiers didn''t know anything about it. She felt as if Yeza had allowed heretics inside a holy ce.


    Khan took that chance to inspect the higher floors of the pce. He couldn''t see much from his position, but he had noticed dark figures peeking from the dark handrails above him. Many Niqols had decided to observe the arrival of the human group, and Khan mostly saw unfamiliar faces among them.


    At first, Khan felt worried about those Niqols due to Zura''s betrayal, but his fears soon transformed into curiosity. He had initially believed those aliens to be servants, but their robes and behavior hinted at a far different truth. They most likely were members of other academies or tribes.


    Khan couldn''t continue his inspection since Liiza tightened the grasp on his robe when the group of higher-ups got close. He had entered the pce with an arm wrapped around her waist, but she revealed her anxiety once the inevitable meeting with the superiors drew near.


    Yeza had acknowledged the couple in the middle of a tough battle. The crisis didn''t give her the time to question Khan and Liiza properly, but the situation was different now.


    Khan also realized how the situation could be troublesome now. He had grown so used to being with Liiza that he had almost forgotten the main problem with their rtionship. They belonged to different species, so political repercussions were bound to arrive.


    Paul had confirmed that Khan was untouchable. His importance among the young generations of Niqols made him a priceless asset in the rtionship between the two species. He was the perfect candidate for the position of ambassador on Nitis.


    However, the depths of his feelings for Liiza could create worries. Khan had even ignored direct orders from both Paul and Captain Erbair. The positive oue of his decision didn''t change that fact.


    "I''m d that so many of you made it here," Yeza eximed while wearing a warm smile that seemed able to relieve the group from the tension that had filled thest part of the journey.


    The soldiers couldn''t hide their emotions as well as her. The human group had lost a lot during the crisis. Only a fourth of those elite recruits had survived the recent events, and one of the squad leaders had also died.


    The oue wasn''tpletely terrible. Those losses would be worth it if they helped improve the rtionship with the Niqols, and the current scene showed a unity that would have been unthinkable only a few months ago.


    The two interracial couples were only a minor detail that added value to the unity demonstrated by the group. The recruits stood among the Niqols without showing any worry, and their closeness was so evident that the higher-ups could notice it without questioning their underlings.


    Many worried and meaningful nces also fell on Khan, who was in the group''s lead right behind Zalpa. It was clear how both Niqols and humans cared about his situation and looked up to him. Captain Erbair was surprised to notice how even the squad leaders shared part of those feelings.


    "[I couldn''t leave Lii in the wild]," Zalpa snorted. "[I''ll go now]."


    Zalpa turned without looking at the recruits and students that had been with her for an entire week. Still, Yeza promptly called her. "[Zalpa, please, the sunlight will continue to illuminate Nitis for at least another month. Your knowledge of the old ways is priceless in this period]."


    "[My knowledge has always been priceless]!" Zalpa shouted. "[Those who have decided to forsake the old ways are to me for this situation. You have failed as leaders]."


    Captain Erbair and the other soldiers remained speechless. They had never seen someone scolding Yeza and the other Niqols'' leaders so openly, but thetter''s eptance surprised them even more.


    The Niqols among them lowered their heads in shame. Only Yeza continued to look at Zalpa, but the brightness of her face dimmed after thatment. Still, she endured the blow like a true leader and proceeded to do what was in the best interest of her species.


    "[Wemitted a terrible mistake]," Yeza announced without showing any shame. "[Please, remain here and help us n the next move]."


    Zalpa stared at Yeza. She was still half-turned toward the pce''s exit, and most of her wanted to leave those Niqols on their own. Yet, Liiza''s pleading gaze eventually entered her vision, and she found herself unable to resist it.


    Zalpa voiced a curse that most Niqols couldn''t understand before turning to march toward the group of leaders. Yeza smiled at that sight, but her expression froze when she saw Zalpa crossing her and moving toward the end of the hall.


    "[I''ll take the second basement for myself]," Zalpa eximed before approaching a dark-red drape that hung from the wall.


    Zalpa lifted the drape and tinkered with the azure symbol behind it. The rune seemed to oppose hermands, but she eventually forced it to activate.


    "[The humans didn''t know about the basement]," Yezamented as red shades appeared on the symbol and the wall slid open.


    "[They do now]!" Zalpa snorted before entering the narrow staircase that her actions had uncovered.


    Yeza sighed and shook her head, but anotherment suddenly resounded from the narrow passage and echoed throughout the hall. "[The brat isn''t too bad]."


    The wall closed, and Khan saw a series of eyesnding on him. Some Niqols and the soldiers didn''t know that Liiza and Zalpa were close, but they only needed to follow those stares to understand that the old alien was talking about him.


    Khan didn''t know how to behave there, but a faint smile appeared on his face when he noticed that Liiza had lowered her head to hide her happiness. Zalpa meant a lot to her, and she felt d that she had started to ept her boyfriend.


    "I think we should all take a few days to recover and handle our respective political matters," Yeza eventually announced, putting an end to the awkward situation.


    Yeza then stepped forward and pointed at the students in the group to follow her. The soldiers did the same, but various events dyed that division.


    "[Leave everything to me]," Azni whispered after bending toward Khan.


    "[There will be a party, and you can''t miss it]," Doku winked before pulling his girlfriend away.


    "[My friend, let''s do our best in these briefings]!" Ilman shouted while patting Khan''s shoulder. "[What we have learnt during our journey might save lives]."


    "[See youter, Khan]," Asyat smiled.


    Other Niqols made sure to salute Khan as they moved toward Yeza. Thetter tried to maintain a warm expression, but her smile widened when she saw the res that Liiza shot at the girls. The squad leaders also felt awkward when they saw how popr Khan was.


    "Let''s hurry," Captain Erbair uttered as her bionic eye moved between the two couples. "You''ll have time to meetter."


    George and Havaa exchanged warm smiles before separating, but Liiza hesitated. She feared her mother or the soldiers could find excuses to keep her away from Khan. Her mother''s acknowledgment might not be enough now that they were in a safe ce.


    "[Can I-]?" Liiza started to ask, but her mother promptly interrupted her.


    "[Liiza, he has political matters to attend privately]," Yeza said in a loving voice. "[Besides, we have a lot to talk about, especially if you are serious about him]."


    Yeza''s affectionate smile didn''t convince Liiza, but Khan made her turn toward him by pinching her side. Liiza wanted to show her pout, but her expression melted when a sudden kissnded on her lips.


    Liiza epted the reality of the situation as Khan''s warmth spread on her face. She and her boyfriend were prominent members of the new generation, but that was it. They had no power over those political matters in Yeza and Captain Erbair''s presence.


    Their privileged position depended on how well they behaved among their respective species. Khan and Liiza had to join the political game to remain together. Their rtionship couldn''t escape it.


    Khan didn''t want to prolong that kiss in front of Yeza and his superiors, but Liiza didn''t give him much choice on the matter. She wrapped her arms around his neck as soon as she felt that he was pulling his head back.


    Khan could only let her decide when they had to separate. He forgot his situation as he abandoned himself to that loving coldness. Their kiss even risked tost long enough to arouse him, but Liiza let him go right before that.


    The two exchanged loving stares as they pulled their arms back. Liiza left to approach Yeza, and Khan followed her with his eyes. He diverted his gaze only when she reached Azni, who immediately whispered in her ear and made her blush.


    ''She''ll be fine,'' Khan rejoiced in his mind. ''She isn''t alone anymore.''


    A series of awkward and stern stares awaited Khan when he turned toward the human group. He pretended not to see them as he walked toward Captain Erbair, performed a military salute, and joined the rest of the recruits. His mind already started to long for Liiza''s cold embrace, but his face remained serious.


    George patted his shoulder and nodded proudly, but he halted his action as soon as some soldiers red at him. Captain Erbair and Yeza exchanged a bow before turning toward opposite staircases to lead their groups in different areas of the pce.


    The students and the recruits peeked behind them to check on thepanions that had apanied them through the wild during thest weeks, but their respective leaders promptly cleared their throats to make them focus on the path ahead. Khan exchanged onest nce with Liiza before resuming his inspection of the many Niqols that upied the upper floors.


    The second inspection confirmed that Khan had never met most of those aliens. He saw a few vaguely familiar figures among the adults, but the others were strangers.


    Captain Erbair and the other soldiers appeared familiar with the pce. They led the group into a vast corridor right after reaching the second floor, and they remained silent as they crossed many ample rooms containing a few Niqols.


    "You sure had fun in the academy," Captain Erbairmented without turning when the group reached a more isted area. "I will need aplete briefing from all of you. It''s time to spend some time among humans."


    Captain Erbair tried to remind her underlings about their political situation, but a shout suddenly resounded behind the group and ruined her attempt. "Helen!"


    Everyone turned toward the source of that shout and found a Niqols breathing roughly on the other side of the corridor. It was hard to bring the aliens to that level of exhaustion, so it was safe to assume that the boy had probably run through more than half of the pce to reach the human group.


    "[Vait]!" Helen shouted before shooting a pleading nce toward Captain Erbair.


    Vait was Helen''s boyfriend. The two had met during the meeting with Yeza, and they had dated during the months before the crisis. The arrival of the sunlight had kept them apart since they had to take care of different areas, but they could finally reunite now that many Niqols had gathered inside the pce.


    "He is quite important among the Niqols," Khanmented while covering his mouth, "Probably as important as Miss Liiza."


    Captain Erbair red at Khan, but she eventually sighed. "Make it quick."


    Helen thanked Khan with her eyes before running toward Vait. The human group could soon watch the couple''s reunion.

 Chapter 208 - Interrogation

    "They definitely know that we are the troublemakers," Georgemented.


    "We literally walked inside the pce with a Niqols in our arms," Khan responded. "What did you even expect?"


    "You will be fine," Georgeforted. "Both Yeza and Zalpa are on your side, and the same goes for everyone else. I bet that Kelly will also defend you."


    "That''s the issue, right?" Khan sighed. "Why would I even need that? I just went out with a girl."


    "Who happened to be the only daughter of the ambassador in charge of the rtionship between our species," George added.


    "Shouldn''t I gain points for that?" Khan scoffed.


    .


    "Depends on which side benefits from your rtionship," George exined.


    "I benefit from my rtionship," Khan said in an annoyed tone before focusing on his friend. "By the way, are you okay? I''m sorry I couldn''t pay attention to you all. Liiza had the priority. I hope you can understand."


    The soldiers had led the group in a part of the pce that the Niqols had left to them. The area featured arge rectangr hall connected to many rooms that the higher-ups were currently using to interrogate the recruits.


    The soldiers had yet to summon Khan and George, so they had decided to sit on the soft carpet to wait for their turn. Everyone else had already gone through the interrogations and had taken a room, but the higher-ups continued to remain silent.


    "Don''t even mention it," George stated while waving his hand. "I know how much pressure you have on you. I''m actually d that Liiza can heal what this damned crisis is forcing you to endure."


    "I''m not sure I even need healing anymore," Khan revealed while inspecting his hands. "Fighting and killing are getting easier. I fear I''ll forget how I felt after Istrone."


    Khan''s hands were clean, but he could feel the blood that soaked them. Still, that sensation didn''t disgust him. Actually, he hoped that his past realization woulde true again.


    ''My happinesses from the blood on my hands,'' Khan repeated in his mind.


    Khan didn''t feel proud of his thoughts, but he also desired a break. He was tired of facing traumas after traumas even if he did his best in every situation. He couldn''t help but hope that all that blood could lead toward the happiness that he desperately needed.


    "That''s a good sign, I guess," George sighed. "I risked ignoring Professor Supyan''s teachings. I went from hitting on Natalie to watching her corpse with another girl in my arms."


    "Natalie''s death isn''t your fault," Khan scolded.


    "I know that," George continued, "But I think that we shouldn''t have to face so much. Is the universe going crazy or just bad luck? I''m growing tired of this."


    "And it''s not over yet," Khan chuckled.


    "We must go on differents once we get out of Nitis," George suggested. "We''ll finally know who is the unlucky one then."


    George''s statement was nothing more than an innocent joke, but he realized how troublesome those words had been when he saw Khan''s sad smile. The situation was far from easy, especially with both of them being in a rtionship with a Niqols.


    Those words forced the two boys to think about their future. They would both have to face problems due to their rtionships, but the nature of those issues was far different. George had to deal with his family, while Khan had to face what the political environment would throw at him.


    Those weren''t even the entirety of their problems. George would have to decide where to live if everything with Havaa went well, while Khan had to understand how to hunt the Nak without forsaking Liiza.


    The path ahead appeared incredibly harsh, and leaving Nitis would only worsen it. Leaving their girlfriends would restore their freedom, but the two boys didn''t even consider that option. Havaa and Liiza were the very reason why they couldugh and joke when so little had passed from Zura''s betrayal.


    A door in the hall suddenly opened, and Lieutenant Kintea came out. The soldier only needed to point at George to make the boy stand up and follow him inside the room.


    Khan remained alone in the hall. He felt a bit hot, and that sensation made him smile. Liiza had grown used to his warmth, and the same had happened to him.


    Khan drew the cube from the insides of his robe. He yed with the device in his hands as his hesitation prevented him from sending a message to his girlfriend. His rtionship was finally in the open, but he didn''t know how freely he could act. Doing nothing seemed the safest approach.


    A door eventually opened, and George reappeared in the hall only to walk straight toward one of the rooms. Khan would normally feel confused about that behavior, but he couldn''t say anything when he saw that Lieutenant Kintea inspected the situation from his habitation.


    The soldier didn''t summon Khan. He sealed his door as soon he made sure that George had entered a room. The Global Army wanted to limit the interaction among recruits during the interrogations, and Khan respected that wish.


    The cube in Khan''s hands started to glow while he waited for his interrogation to start. He immediately checked it, and a smile appeared on his face when he confirmed that Liiza had left him a simple message.


    "[Everything went well here]," Liiza''s voice resounded inside Khan''s mind and reassured him about the Niqols'' side.


    ''It''s on me then,'' Khan thought as he continued to stare at the cube.


    It felt good to receive his first mental message from his girlfriend, but Khan couldn''t bathe in that sensation since a door suddenly opened. He didn''t even need to check who was standing at the room''s entrance to understand who would interrogate him. Everyone had seen where Captain Erbair had decided to stay.


    "Sit somewhere," Captain Erbair casually ordered when Khan followed her inside her room.


    The habitation wasrge but simple. It featured arge bed, a wooden table with a few chairs, a second area that acted as a bathroom, and the usual azure menus on its smooth dark walls. Most of the room was empty, but Khan guessed that the Niqols didn''t put any furniture there on purpose. A structure meant for war required space where soldiers could train in the end.


    Khan took one of the chairs, but Captain Erbair decided to sit on the bed in a spot next to the wall. She was too tall for those simple seats.


    The Captain didn''t bother to use the menus on the wall. She tapped on her bionic eye, and its red light shed a few times before returning stable. Khan guessed that she was recording him, but she immediately corrected his thoughts.


    "This thing has an urate scanner," Captain Erbair exined while pointing at her bionic eye. "It will warn me as soon as you start to lie."


    "I understand, ma''am," Khan stated, and Captain Erbair stared at him to make sure that his intentions were honest.


    "Let''s start then," Captain Erbair eventually said before pointing at an azure symbol on the wall next to Khan. "First of all, ce your hand on that rune. It will remove the restrictions that the Niqols have made you drink."


    Khan frowned, but he didn''t voice any question. The sole fact that the Niqols were letting the envoys remove the restrictions confirmed that they had sealed a deal with the humans.


    Khan followed the Captain''s orders. He stood up and ced his palm on the azure symbol, which brightened during that interaction. Khan felt cold under that radiance, but an even stranger sensation filled his mind. He sensed something melting inside his neck.


    The symbol''s light dimmed once the process ended. Khan left the wall and checked his neck with his hands. He even closed his eyes to inspect the area with his mana, but he didn''t find anything. The Niqols had really decided to lift his restrictions.


    "Return to your seat," Captain Erbair ordered. "I want short and honest answers. I can fix ufortable truths, but I can''t trust you if you try to hide them. Are we clear?"


    "Yes, ma''am," Khan promptly uttered before sitting on his chair again.


    "Good, let''s go in order then," Captain Erbair responded as her bionic eye started to blink. "State your name."


    "Khan," Khan replied.


    "What''s your mission on Nitis?" Captain Erbair asked.


    "I need to improve the rtionship with the Niqols," Khan exined.


    "Do you think the humans have seeded in the task?" Captain Erbair asked.


    "Partially," Khan responded.


    "How is that?" Captain Erbair continued.


    "The Niqols still hold grudges due to the events rted to the sr winds," Khan honestly replied.


    "Do you hold grudges about that?" Captain Erbair asked.


    "Yes," Khan answered without showing any hesitation.


    "Do you think the other envoys feel the same?" Captain Erbair questioned.


    "Yes," Khan gave another honest answer.


    "In your case, is that grudge strong enough to make you betray humankind?" Captain Erbair asked.


    "No," Khan replied, even if he felt conflicted about that topic.


    Khan didn''t hate humankind, but he had mixed feelings about the Global Army. He had achieved a lot thanks to its teachings, but he had also witnessed scenes that would haunt him for a long time for the same reason.


    "What did you do in the academy?" Captain Erbair didn''t stop.


    "Trained and partied," Khan responded.


    "Is it true that you have left the academy basically every night of thest months?" Captain Erbair continued.


    "Yes," Khan admitted.


    "Was Miss Liiza the reason behind your travels?" Captain Erbair asked.


    "Yes, mostly at least," Khan revealed.


    "Did you make a move on Miss Liiza even if your superiors had expressly ordered you to hold back?" Captain Erbair asked.


    "No," Khan honestly replied.


    "Exin yourself," Captain Erbair ordered.


    "I had nned to hold back, but she kissed me," Khan exined.


    "Did you establish a rtionship out of fear of the political repercussions for your refusal?" Captain Erbair asked.


    "No, I couldn''t refuse her," Khan admitted.


    "Did you remain with her due to potential political gains?" Captain Erbair continued.


    "No, I love her," Khan responded.


    "What about her?" Captain Erbair asked. "Did she use you to gain ess to ssified intel?"


    "No, she loves me," Khan announced.


    "How can you be sure of that?" Captain Erbair asked.


    "I believe feelings are quite hard to exin, ma''am," Khan replied.


    "Did your rtionship with Miss Liiza affected your version of the story concerning Rodney''s attempted murder?"


    "No, he tried to push me down a cliff after I saved his life," Khan exined.


    "Did ambassador Yeza try to use your rtionship with her daughter to coerce ssified information?" Captain Erbair asked.


    "No, she found out about us in the valley," Khan replied.


    Captain Erbair sighed. She was getting tired of those questions, especially since they weren''t leading anywhere. Moreover, she didn''t want to ask anything specific. She knew that something was off, but she wished to let Khan off the hook due to how important he had be for the Niqols. She was actually holding back during the interrogation.


    A mere recruit couldn''t reveal much. Khan had even spent most of his time in the academy, without any connection with the human camp. An eventual betrayal wouldn''t change anything in the current situation, so Captain Erbair preferred to keep him clean when it came to the official records.


    "Let''s wrap it up," Captain Erbair announced. "I have only a few questions left for you. Where does your loyalty lie?"


    "With me," Khan responded.


    "What''s your personal goal?" Captain Erbair asked.


    "Finding the Nak," Khan revealed.


    "Is that the reason behind your enrollment?" Captain Erbair continued.


    "Yes," Khan replied.


    "Onest question," Captain Erbair eximed. "Did you be a first-level warrior?"


    "I''m not sure," Khan exined.


    "What do you mean with that?" Captain Erbair asked while scratching the side of her head. "How can you not know that?"


    "Well," Khan revealed an awkward smile, "No one has ever taught me what happens when you reach that level, so I can''t be sure."

 Chapter 209 - Nature

    Captain Erbair had almost forgotten about Khan''s background. The other wealthy recruits had a general understanding of mana that hecked. He didn''t even have the chance to learn about those topics in the academy since he had teleported to Nitis only a couple of weeks after Istorne''s crisis.


    Khan didn''t even get the chance to learn about the first-level warriors and mages on Nitis since the Global Army had sent him to the alien academy. His knowledge had deep empty areas, but that didn''t seem to hinder his growth.


    "First-level warriors can''t expand the mana normally anymore," Captain Erbair shortly exined. "They have to improve about half of their body at the same time, which obviously leads to slower growth. Did you reach that point?"


    "I think I have," Khan admitted with the same tone used during the rest of the interrogation.


    Captain Erbair tapped on her bionic eye a few times, and its light brightened in the process. The soldier stood up and started pacing around Khan, bending whenever she needed to take a closer look.


    .


    "Your Tainted status and element make my device fuzzy," Captain Erbair announced, "But I can confirm that you have be a first-level warrior. Our superiors will remain speechless once they learn about this."


    Khan felt the need to say something, but he eventually decided to remain silent. Captain Erbair tapped her bionic eye once, and its light returned to its usual intensity. The soldier scratched her chin as she walked back to the bed and activated the menus on the wall next to it.


    The Captain remained silent, and Khan imitated her, but the situation soon turned awkward. Khan could read what his superior was doing with the menus, and her actions appearedpletely unrted to the interrogation.


    "Ma''am?" Khan cleared his throat after a whole silent minute passed.


    "The Niqols can truly do wonders with mana," Captain Erbair eximed. "Humans like to see them as an undeveloped species, but I can''t see the difference between our technology and their use of mana."


    "Is something the matter, ma''am?" Khan asked since he felt that Captain Erbair was trying to hint at something.


    "You would use your mutations as an excuse for your quick growth if I try to probe you on that topic, right?" Captain Erbair guessed.


    "That''s correct," Khan stated.


    "Let''s talk a bit off the record," Captain Erbair sighed before turning toward Khan. "Our superiors don''t care about what happens down here. They look at a report, check the numbers, and decide what to give us ording to what we have achieved. Some will get a promotion, while others will have to go to another forgotten to add more merits to their profile. A few will remain here, and you have almost met the requirements for that role in these few months."


    Khan felt excited, but he didn''t let that emotion appear on his face. He knew that the Captain was trying to tell him something, so he silently waited for her toplete her speech.


    "I''ll be frank," Captain Erbair uttered. "The ambassadors always use their position for their own benefits to some extent. I know that you have done the same, and I''m saying this without questioning your feelings for Yeza''s kid. I''m only worried that your rtionship might make you forget your real home."


    "Do you think I''ll betray the Global Army, ma''am?" Khan asked.


    "No, you need it to find the Nak," Captain Erbair dered. "Take my words as a warning from a soldier who has seen quite a lot in her life. Feelings aren''t always enough, especially when ites to politics. You can get lucky, but you should be careful. You might end up losing the support of both species over trivial things outside of your control."


    Khan wanted to question the Captain, but he felt that the conversation was over, at least for her. He couldn''t understand if her words were an honest warning or a political action meant to drive him toward other parts of the Global Army, but he still memorized them.


    "Get going now," Captain Erbair snorted while lying on the bed. "We have a lot to n with the Niqols. Apparently, some of their reactionary groups are using the sunlight to stir a mess on the, and we have to help put them down. Good job with the traitors, by the way. You''ll gain a lot if you make it through this crisis."


    The revtion left Khan stunned for a few seconds, but everything made sense when he thought about it. Zura''s betrayal couldn''t be an isted event since his eventual victory wouldn''t have led anywhere. Those servants alone couldn''t change the Niqols'' society, but the situation would be far different if all the reactionary groups across Nitis decided to revolt.


    Thinking about the army of adult Niqols that Khan might have to face made him drop his polite silence and question the Captain about something that hisckluster education had failed to teach him. "What do I need to do to be a first-level mage?"


    "Nothing special," Captain Erbair exined while crossing her arms in front of her eyes. "Spells have grades. Prove that you can perform a few first-grade ones, and you''ll get your star."


    Khan sighed in his mind while performing a military salute that the Captain couldn''t see and leaving the habitation. The hall unfolded in his vision, and he could quickly find an empty room by inspecting the azure symbols on the doors. He picked one randomly and sealed it before throwing his dirty clothes on the floor.


    Khan''s room was identical to Captain Erbair''s. He could find a new robeid on the bed, but the habitation didn''t contain anything else. His phone still worked, so he could check the time. It was already past midnight, but he didn''t feel tired at all.


    ''Zalpa''s potions are incredible,'' Khan thought as he picked his cube from the floor to send a quick update to Liiza.


    The past months and his breakthrough had made Khan able to remain awake for many days in a row without feeling any fatigue. Zalpa''s potions had kept him at his peak, so he decided to spend the night training. Still, he first threw himself in the bathroom to wash away the dirt umted during the long travel to that safe area.


    Messy thoughts filled Khan''s mind, but he barely paid attention to them. Only his current situation mattered, but everything looked quite grim. He wouldn''t have to fight only monsters anymore. Some Niqols had also decided to be his enemy.


    Khan knew that he was incredibly strong, but that only when it came to his level. He had seen how the servant had almost managed to counter his abilities. He had even suffered a few hits, which went against what the Lightning-demon style taught.


    His current power wasn''t enough. The rebellious Niqols would probably even have warriors as strong as Yeza and Captain Erbair, so Khan wouldn''t have the chance to affect the battles as much as he wished.


    Khan didn''t like that. He wanted the power to protect what he had, and a deep desire to train filled his mind as those thoughts continued to rage inside his mind. He didn''t even bother drying his hair or donning his new robe after exiting the bathroom. His eyes were on one of the empty areas near the bed.


    The crisis had forced Khan to stop his methodical training routine, but he didn''t forget it. He performed all the moves of his two martial arts before sitting on the floor and approaching the annoying exercises.


    His return among humans didn''t make Khan disregard everything he had learnt in the academy. He valued the teachings about the three major fields of mana a lot, so he repeated the exercises connected to them before moving to thest part of his training.


    His ability to manipte mana didn''t allow him to use the techniques obtained by Yeza without Liiza''s help. Khan didn''t care too much about the [Blood Vortex] since it wouldn''t lead to immediate benefits, but the situation was different for the [Blood Shield]. He wished to bring thetter to the next checkpoint, but he didn''t even know where to begin gathering the required materials.


    Khan''s foundation in the Niqols'' ways simply didn''t meet the proper requirements, so he could only move to thest part of his training afterpleting all the previous exercises. His power would get an immense boost if he mastered the Wave spell.


    Hours passed as Khan remained immersed in his attempts to cast the Wave spell. His mana always turned purple-red, but he continued to fail in the final part of the ability. He never managed to discharge the energy umted in his palm.


    Khan''s mana core never stopped refilling the energy depleted during his attempts, so he could keep going as long as his patiencested. Still, one of the azure symbols in the room suddenly brightened, and the walls slid open to reveal Liiza''s hesitant figure.


    "[I did it]!" Liiza happily eximed when she noticed Khan sitting in the empty area in front of her, but she quickly wore a frown at the sight of his training stance.


    "[How did you even get here]?" Khan asked as a happy smile appeared on his face.


    "[These buildings always have secret passages]," Liiza exined as she stepped into the room and tinkered with the symbol behind her to close the wall. "[I''ve learnt to open them to sneak out of my home many years ago]."


    "[How did you even find me]?" Khanughed while standing up to greet his girlfriend.


    "[I followed the signal on your cube]," Liiza pouted while pointing at the device on Khan''s bed. "[The same cube that you didn''t use to contact me]."


    "[I thought we still had to hold back or something]," Khan exined before approaching Liiza and pulling her into his arms.


    "[I also don''t know how much we can do]," Liiza revealed as she snuggled closer in Khan''s embrace. "[My mother forced me to listen for entire hours to her warnings. She even feared that I could be pregnant at some point]."


    "[We have been careful]," Khan coughed as an awkward feeling spread in his mind when he realized that Yeza knew how intimate her daughter''s rtionship was.


    "[She didn''t exactly like that we used my dad''s old stuff]," Liiza giggled. "[Though she reaffirmed her eptance of our rtionship. She even gave me more condoms]."


    Khan tried not to memorize thosest words since he wanted to remain able to show a straight face the next time he saw Yeza. He focused on the faint blush that had appeared on Liiza''s face, and his smile only broadened at that sight.


    "[What were you doing anyway]?" Liiza asked. "[I''ve never seen you training like that]."


    Liiza knew about Khan''s element, but he had never talked about his training method since she wouldn''t be able to help with the human ways. He had even made sure to attempt to perform the Wave spell only when he was alone due to the innate dangerousness of the chaos element.


    "[That was me failing to perform a spell]," Khan sighed while breaking the embrace and looking at the spot where he had trained only a few seconds ago. "[I know that using the chaos element is difficult, but I should have the amount of control required for such a simple spell]."


    Liiza frowned and pulled Khan''s arm before questioning him again. "[What do you mean by control]?"


    "[That''s the theory behind the spell]," Khan exined while turning to inspect Liiza''s frown. "[I need to cut away emotions and choose a specific idea of destruction to force my mana to release simr effects.]."


    Liiza''s frown deepened, and Khan questioned her with his eyes to understand the reason behind that gesture. Liiza appeared stunned, but she eventually heaved a helpless sigh followed by a disappointed statement. "[How dumb can humans even be]?"


    Liiza left Khan and walked across the room to sit on the bed. She shook her head in disappointment, but she decided to exin herself since Khan continued to keep his confused gaze fixed on her. "[How do you even n to control the chaos element? That''s the freest type of mana! You are literally going against its nature by suppressing it]!"

 Chapter 210 - The Whore And The Liar

    Khan didn''t know what to say. What Liizabeled as free was nothing more than unreliable energy for humans. The amount of control that he had to develop during the twelve mental exercises served the purpose of preventing unwanted effects, which felt normal when it came to such an unstable power.


    Still, Khan trusted Liiza and her knowledge about mana enough to probe her on the topic. "[How do Niqols handle the chaos element]?"


    "[We don''t]," Liiza exined. "[None of us has it. We have mana since birth, so the Nak have only managed to cause monstrous mutations during their attack]."


    "[How can you be sure that my approach is wrong then]?" Khan asked. "[I know for a fact that some humans have learnt to use spells with the chaos element]."


    "[They are still only using a small part of its power]," Liiza rebuked. "[You should imitate the Nak instead of doing the exact opposite.. They don''t try to control their mana. They let it run free]."


    That topic was a partial secret. The Niqols had to deal with the Nak in the past. Still, they had never revealed anything about those events to the humans.


    Khan had learnt the truth about the matter from Liiza. Apparently, the younger generations had studied the events connected to the invasion. Yet, they couldn''t gain ess to everything that their species had developed unless they became important inside their respective tribes.


    The elders didn''t want the younger generation to rely too much on technology and lose familiarity with mana. They kept the intel a secret to let the students focus on their foundation, but they didn''t hold back from releasing tools and techniques that could improve their growth to the public.


    The tall buildings in the cities came from that knowledge. The humans even believed that the Niqols had spaceships hidden somewhere on Nitis. The aliens didn''t engage in inteary travels, but they knew what space contained.


    "[So what]?" Khan asked while spreading his arms. "[Should I just try to cast the spell without bothering to control my emotions]?"


    "[Well]," Liiza eximed before remaining silent for a few seconds to sort her thoughts. "[I can''t say for sure, but I think you aren''t ready to do it. Mana can feel you. It will sense your hesitation. You have even tried to suppress it until now, so it might decide to hurt you on purpose]."


    "[You are talking about it as if it had feelings]," Khan scoffed as he started to approach the bed.


    "[Mana is more than simple energy]," Liiza dered while crossing her legs to sit morefortably on the bed, "[Especially in your case. I believe that even your dumb species has understood that the chaos element requires a different approach]."


    Khan sighed before throwing himself on the bed. Liiza giggled and threw a pillow at him as soon as he started to turn toward her.


    "[Don''t take my words lightly]!" Liizaughed before picking the second pillow and wielding it in front of her like a shield. "[I''m trying to teach you how to use mana properly]."


    "[Is the pillow part of the lesson]?" Khan joked as he put the first pillow under his head and turned to stare at the dark ceiling. "[I always pay attention to what you say, but I can''t risk my life to test your theory. My body might directly explode if I something goes wrong]."


    "[I know]," Liiza sighed before reaching Khan and putting the second pillow next to him.


    Liizay down and wore a warm smile. Khan couldn''t help but turn toward her and fall prey to her captivating expression.


    "[What is it]?" Khan asked after the two remained next to each other in silence for a while.


    "[It''s our first time in an actual bed]," Liiza exined while biting her lower lip, "[But our superiors might summon us in a few hours]."


    Khan left his pillow to approach Liiza slowly. She smiled as she followed his movements with her eyes. Khan ended up above her, with his knees and palms pointed at her sides. He bent forward to kiss her head before whispering something to her ear. "[We might have time since I''m already naked]."


    Liizaughed and turned to face Khan. Thetter had only worn the clean underwear since he didn''t want to stain his new robe with sweat, and Liiza didn''t miss that detail when she entered the room.


    "[You''ll say anything to get between my legs]," Liiza whispered before lifting her legs and wrapping them around Khan''s waist. "[You are lucky you are cute]."


    .


    .


    .


    "What has happened to you?" George almost shouted when he noticed the marks on Khan''s neck, but his eyes soon fell on the blushing Niqols who was holding his hand. "How can you be here?"


    The azure symbols inside the rooms upied by the humans had transformed into a simple message a few hours before lunchtime. Yeza had invited everyone to attend a formal meeting, so the recruits and the soldiers had quickly gathered in the hall.


    No one could miss Liiza''s presence at that point. The girl had ended up remaining in Khan''s room since the two had lost track of the passage of time, and she couldn''t bother to use the secret passage. She had nothing to hide, so she hade out hand in hand with Khan. The only issue was that everyone could see the aftermath of their passion.


    Khan had many hickeys on his neck, but they were healing quickly due to his status as a first-level warrior. His back was a different matter, but he didn''t worry about it since no one could see the deep marks that Liiza had left there.


    Liiza''s skin also carried many marks, but they were on her thighs, chest, and butt. Her robe didn''t allow anyone to see them, but her blush had already revealed enough.


    "Maybe don''t shout that next time," Khan sighed before ncing at his superiors.


    The soldiers showed different reactions that went from disappointment to approval, but Captain Erbair didn''t let that situation continue for too long. She heaved a helpless sigh before clearing her throat to im everyone''s attention and lead the group across the corridor.


    "[Why didn''t you bring Havaa with you]?" George whispered as the group followed behind Captain Erbair, but Veronica promptly pped the back of his head.


    "Don''t bother them," Veronica scolded.


    "She wouldn''t have been able to find you since you don''t have a cube," Khan exined.


    The soldiers in front of the recruits red at them, but they quickly turned again. They were ready to scold their underlings, but Liiza''s presence made everything too awkward, so they let the matter go.


    Liiza kept a straight face, but Khan knew that she wasn''t exactly fine. They didn''t sleep at all, and Yeza''s message had even interrupted them. Her thoughts were still on the messy bed, but she remained silent to hide her aroused voice. She and Khan talked only through short lines whispered to each other''s ears.


    Yeza, many students, and other Niqols were waiting for the humans in the main hall on the first floor. A series of polite bows happened after Captain Erbair''s group descended the staircase, and many nces toward Khan and Liiza inevitably followed that event.


    Khan showed an awkward smile to Ilman, Doku, and Azni before approaching them when Yeza led everyone in another part of the pce. George and Helen did the same with their respective partners, but simr scenes happened among the group. The recruits and the students had be friends after spending weeks in the wild.


    "[You really can''t stay away from each other, can you]?" Dokumented at the sight of the couple.


    "[I told you that it wasn''t a problem for us to sleep together]," Azni snorted.


    "[That''s how true Niqols should behave]!" Ilmanughed.


    "[We are in the same pce as our superiors]," Dokuined. "[We should focus on the crisis]."


    "[You should have let Azni sleep with you]," Liiza scolded. "[The sunlight might still kill us all]."


    "[We slept together, but that''s the issue]," Azni voice another annoyed statement.


    Ilman shot a confused nce toward Khan, and thetter cleared his throat before using the best words he could find to describe what happened. "[They only slept]."


    Azni highlighted his exnation with another snort, and Ilman oohed to express his understanding. The Niqols who overheard that conversation chuckled, but they turned their heads when Liiza red at them. The matter involved Azni, and she didn''t want anyone tough about her problems.


    Yeza led the group into arge hall on the first floor. The area was quite big and seemed able to contain even a hundred people. Many rectangr tables encircled by chairs upied the floor, and bottles full of familiar drinks stood on them. They even had multiple cups around them that only waited for the Niqols and humans to pick them.


    Khan and his friends instinctively upied a table. Doku and Ilman opened the bottles and started pouring drinks, and no one dared to refuse them. The soldiers tried to re at Khan and George, but they gave up on the matter when they saw that all the other recruits decided to drink without showing any hesitation.


    "I''ll try to be short so that everyone can go back to a well-deserved rest," Yeza announced without tranting her line in the Niqolsnguage.


    Yeza had taken a seat at a table next to a wall. She had stood up to make her announcement, and she didn''t return to her chair when her line ended. Instead, she ced her cube on one of the azure symbols and made a map spread on every surface of the hall.


    A map appeared on the walls, tables, floor, and ceiling. The humans and Niqols in the hall could choose the surface that they found morefortable to inspect the picture, but most of them ended up lifting the bottles to use their tables.


    The map was quite vague. It depicted an area that covered many regions, but it started to zoom in on two mountains when Yeza began to speak.


    "Many monsters will go through the second round of mutations during this period," Yeza exined as the mountains began to fill the entirety of the map. "We could wait for this moment to pass in the safety of this pce before resuming the hunts. Yet, some Niqols have decided to betray their species. These rebels have even upied important structures, and we won''t let them settle inside them."


    The mountains became closer and revealed a muddy valley between their bases. Scarce trees and a small river upied the area, but a tall structure eventually appeared as the images went deeper into the swamp.


    "This pce has been a crucial strategical location during many wars," Yeza continued. "Its defenses are incredible, but the rebels don''t know how to activate all of them, not yet at least. We must act quickly and reim this structure before our enemies turn it into one of the main assets of their rebellion."


    Yeza''s wasn''t trying to exin anything during that meeting. She was only announcing that the group would soon take part in a siege, but the actual battle tactic had yet to take form.


    "Someone will bring food now," Yeza announced. "You can inspect the map as much as you want while you enjoy today''s lunch. I''m eager to hear your suggestions about the imminent attack."


    Yeza approached her table and picked her cup, but she didn''t sit. She walked directly toward the exit while voicing ast surprising statement. "[Khan,e with me]."


    Khan rolled his eyes and left his cup on the table before standing up. Everyone was looking at him, but those gazes soon fell on Liiza since she didn''t remain in her seat.


    Khan didn''t even try to talk. He knew how Liiza was when it came to her mother, so he didn''t try to make her remain in the hall. The girl didn''t give him time to think either. She took his hand and moved toward the exit.


    The couple found Yeza right outside the hall, but thetter quickly shook her head before speaking in a warm tone. "[I''m sorry, Liiza. I''m afraid I need to talk with him alone]."


    "[What''s this about]?" Liiza asked.


    "[I need to threaten him properly]," Yeza exined while showing an innocent smile. "[It''s my job as your mother to make sure that he is too scared to hurt you]."


    Khan and Liiza remained speechless, but they couldn''t really say anything there. Liiza had to go through that speech yesterday, and Khan''s turn had arrived.


    "[I''ll find you when we are done]," Khan reassured, and Liiza kissed him softly before returning inside the hall.


    Khan found Yeza smiling at him when he turned toward her, but she quickly pointed at one of the doors in that corridor. The duo approached it after a few steps, and a small room unfolded in their vision when they crossed it.


    The room had the same furniture as every other environment inside the pce. Khan saw a small table, bottles at its center, three chairs around it, and a series of artworks on the walls.


    "[I can speak mynguage, right]?" Yeza asked while sitting on one chair. "[Liiza has told me that you have worked hard to learn it]."


    "[She helped me a lot with that]," Khan revealed before sitting on the chair on the other side of the table.


    Yeza sighed as she stared at her cup in silence. Khan noticed how she appeared slightly off. She didn''t reveal anything strange inside the hall, but she had stopped using her captivating arts now that they had reached that small room.


    Yeza didn''t lose a single ounce of her beauty. The Niqols was wearing a normal robe, and she wasn''t using her sexy gestures, but she remained stunning. Khan only felt that she had stopped trying to im his attention on purpose.


    "[I already told you that you resemble Liiza''s father]," Yeza eventually broke the silence. "[You and Liiza have a difficult path ahead. I also still believe your rtionship to be toxic, but that shouldn''t stop me from telling you my story and hope that you can learn from it]."


    Khan immediately nodded. Truth be told, he had been quite curious about Yeza''s version of the story. He had only heard about Deni from Liiza, so he never managed to get aplete picture.


    "[Liiza''s father, Deni, was as driven and in love as you]," Yeza exined. "[I had feelings for him, but they never reached the same intensity. Moreover, I knew my true nature, so I have always refused him to avoid hurting him]."


    Yeza took a long sip from her cup before cing it on the table. She stretched her hand to reach the bottle, but she eventually retracted it without refilling her drink.


    "[I like controlling men with my beauty]," Yeza continued. "[I even like controlling them in bed, but my species has always been my priority. I have never minded mixing my job with my pleasure, but Deni''s love wasn''t something that time could suppress].


    "[His feelings were so strong that I''ve eventually decided to ept them. Of course, he knew about my character, and he had even promised me not to care about my affairs as long as they remained political. I believed him, and love eventually blossomed inside me too]."


    Khan remained speechless. Messy thoughts filled his mind, but he suppressed them. He wanted to hear the end of the story before evaluating the matter properly.


    "[It turned out that his love couldn''t survive my character]," Yeza stated. "[He broke his promise and started growing jealous. He eventually had to leave since I couldn''t and didn''t want to give up on my position]."


    "[Did you ever tell this to Liiza]?" Khan asked.


    "[What''s the point]?" Yeza scoffed. "[Her father made me hope that someone like me could enjoy love, but he ended up betraying that feeling. I''m already hurt, so I don''t mind taking Liiza''s hatred as long as I can preserve her good memories. I don''t want her to feel as the daughter of the whore and the liar]."

 Chapter 211 - Sadness

    The Niqols generally had simple rtionships. Mutual attraction led to dating, which would transform into proper love if feelings were to bloom.


    Those rtionships were deep, intense, and strong, but they were based on how open the Niqols were toward their feelings. The aliens rarely went against their emotions, which made the interactions between partners straightforward. It was easy to understand whether their bonds only had physical attraction or had something more.


    Even Khan, George, and Helen had found good partners rtively easily. The Niqols'' straightforward approach to emotions and theirck of self-restraint had helped those humans get over the differences between their species. Things had been slightly different for Khan, but he knew that everything would have been harder with Liiza if she didn''t reveal her attraction right away.


    Yeza didn''t fall in that category. She had always been aware of the problems that her character could cause, especially among such an emotional species, but she didn''t give up on it. Instead, she had decided to iste herself and focus on politics to avoid ending up in rtionships that couldn''t have a future.


    Deni had made her hope that she could have something simr to her peers. His intense love had made Yeza take a chance. He had allowed her to believe that she could fulfill her feelings. Yet, her character had turned out to be too much in the end.


    The words that Captain Erbair had spoken just yesterday resounded inside Khan''s mind. Yeza was the living proof that feelings weren''t always enough. Her situation was unique, but she had still proved how a rtionship featuring mutual love could end for various reasons.


    Khan had learnt to evaluate and recognize different characters due to the social paranoia developed in co''s slums. However, he had to admit that his approach to rtionships was still naive.


    Khan couldn''t me himself there. His young age and poor experience in that field made him innocent and pure, so he couldn''t evaluate Yeza''s situation urately. Part of him continued to believe that she was at fault due to her affairs, but could he really me her? ording to her words, she had done everything she could to warn Deni about her character.


    Khan believed that Yeza''s rtionship was tooplicated to study with his inexperienced mind. He obviously couldn''t evaluate it ording to human canons, but he could start to understand her when he relied on his broad mindset.


    Understanding Yeza felt depressing. It actually hurt Khan to try to rte to her situation. Something even brought his mind to the Nak and his nightmares. He could find simrities between his desperation and Yeza''s character when it came to the problems that they could cause in a rtionship.


    "[Don''t think too hard about my words]," Yeza continued when she saw that Khan lowered his gaze. "[I only wanted to broaden your perspective. You have power over my daughter''s happiness, so I can''t let you remain a na?ve kid. Your mind is in the right ce, but you need to be more than that to be with her. You need to be a man who can help her face her political responsibilities]."


    Khan couldn''t help but raise his gaze. Yeza was taking that rtionship seriously, so she wanted to prepare him for the problems that Liiza''s status could cause. She was acting as a concerned mother who wanted her daughter''s path to be smooth and happy.


    "[I want to do my best]," Khan honestly revealed. "[I don''t know much about politics, but I''m learning. Still, I hope you can understand that I don''t care about them. I only wish Liiza''s happiness]."


    Yeza''s eyes widened in surprise. Khan had the gall to voice such an honest revtion before her, the main ambassador in the rtionship between the two species. She didn''t know whether to see that as brave or dumb. His honesty left her shocked, but a warm smile eventually broadened on her serious face.


    "[You should never say such words in the open if you want to get the approval of my tribe]," Yeza chuckled while covering her mouth.


    "[I have just been honest to my girlfriend''s mother]," Khan said as a timid smile appeared on his face.


    Yeza inspected Khan, and she soon heaved a helpless sigh. She focused on her drink and traced the cup''s edge with her fingers as ament escaped her mouth. "[Look at me. I''m getting so emotional in front of my daughter''s first serious man. My age is making me lose ground against a kid. I wonder if I''ll start desiring grandchildren in a few years]."


    Khan''s expression froze as soon as he considered the idea of having a child with Liiza, and Yezaughed when she saw that scene. She voiced anotherment, but her tone gained a chilling aura near the end of the line. "[I was joking. I hope you won''t get my daughter pregnant anytime soon]."


    "[We are extremely careful about that]!" Khan promptly reassured, but his quick reaction only made Yezaugh again.


    "[At least you know how to keep her satisfied]," Yeza teased. "[I might forget what my daughter''s natural shades are if you two continue like this]."


    Khan directly diverted his gaze as an awkwardugh escaped his mouth. He didn''t want to talk about sex with his girlfriend''s mother.


    "[Well]," Yeza sighed before standing up, [I hope you won''t forget my words. You shouldn''t if you like having that thing between your legs. I''m an emotional woman when ites to my daughter. I don''t know what I might do to those who hurt her]."


    Khan''s expression went nk. Those words finally revealed a stark simrity between Yeza and her daughter. It seemed amon trait of Liiza''s family to threaten his manhood.


    "[You can remain in this room if you want to avoid those curious nces]," Yeza said while moving toward the door. "[We''ll probably n things out for a few more days, maybe even a week, so this meeting isn''t crucial]."


    Khan''s expression turned serious as he inspected Yeza''s departing figure. He had another important question that he couldn''t suppress.


    "[Ambassador Yeza]," Khan called as he stood up, "[Is the toxicity of our rtionship really a bad thing]?"


    Yeza had almost reached the door, but she stopped her tracks and turned to inspect Khan. The intense resolve in his eyes saddened her, but she wanted to respect that feeling.


    "[You two are nothing more than kids]," Yeza exined in a calm voice, "[Even worse than kids. I don''t know much about you, but it''s clear that your life wasn''t easy. Liiza is the same, so you two have developed a deep need for each other]."


    "[Isn''t that what Niqols strive to obtain]?" Khan asked.


    "[Yes, but that between two normal partners]," Yeza responded. "[You found each other when you had nothing else. Developing such an intense love is almost normal in your situation, but it leaves it with a frail foundation. I''m not sure it can survive in the open, once you''ll have to face the real world]."


    "[I''m no stranger to the true nature of the world]," Khanmented.


    "[I wasn''t speaking about that]," Yeza corrected. "[I wish you had found each other after experiencing some good aspects of life. You simply don''t know any better right now]."


    Khan opened his mouth to speak, but he found himself unable to say anything. He had to sort his thoughts before managing to voice a simple question. "[Isn''t it better to get this love sooner]?"


    "[Is it]?" Yeza wondered. "[If your feelings are as strong as you two say, you would have eventually found each other anyway, maybe without being so broken. Right now, you both need those emotions, so you aren''tpletely selfless about them. I''m not questioning your love. I''m just saying that you are both using part of it to heal your sadness]."


    Khan diverted his gaze as those words echoed in his mind. Yeza heaved another sigh before crossing the door to leave him alone with his thoughts. She knew that her revtion might have been too profound for such a young boy, but she couldn''t hold back since her daughter was involved.


    Khan didn''t even hear the door closing in front of him. He tried to dissect Yeza''s words to inspect them from different perspectives, but it soon became clear that she was right. Both Khan and Liiza even knew about that. They didn''t only love each other. They were also relying on their feelings to keep moving.


    "[Come out, Liiza]," Khan said, and a wall on the other side of the room slid open.


    "[How could you sense me]?" Liiza asked while stepping out of the secret passage. The wall behind her closed as soon as she entered the room.


    "[I didn''t]," Khan revealed while turning toward Liiza to show a teasing smile. "[I just know that you would have never left me alone with your mother if you had the chance to spy on us]."


    Liiza pouted, but her face soon broke into a warm smile when Khan reached her to wrap his arms around her waist. She wanted to kiss him right away, but a tinge of sadness appeared in her expression when she saw him hiding in her neck. She could only imitate him at that point, and the two remained in that position for a few minutes.


    "[Did you hear everything]?" Khan asked when he raised his head.


    "[Yes]," Liiza revealed after leaving his neck and keeping her gaze lowered. "[I didn''t expect my parents to have these problems. No wonder I am a mess]."


    "[You are a beautiful mess]," Khan stated while taking Liiza''s face in his hands and lifting it to make their eyes meet.


    "[I''m your beautiful mess]," Liiza pouted, "[So don''t get strange ideas over what my mother said. I don''t care if we are instinctively using each other. We''ll deal with that together if problems appear]."


    Liiza''s earnest answer made Khan''s doubts melt. He didn''t care about anything when those glowing eyes illuminated his face and filled him with feelings that allowed him to find beauty in his dark life.


    The two kissed, but they quickly separated. Khan and Liiza were in the middle of the pce, next to a hall full of superiors and friends. Their mental state was even far from ideal, so continuing to be so intimate was risky. Still, their eyes spoke words that they both knew far too well.


    "[You should take your time to think about your parents]," Khan suggested, trying to defuse that reckless situation, but Liiza didn''t help him.


    Liiza took his hand and led him toward the door. She tinkered with the azure symbol there to seal the entrance before turning to push Khan toward the table gently.


    "[Liiza]," Khan attempted to stop her with thest brim of self-restraint in his brain, but everything fell apart when he sensed her cold hands slipping under his robe to caress his bare torso.


    "[My parents'' stuff is too much to take right now]," Liiza exined before showing her pleading expression. "[Help me silence my thoughts]."


    Khan and Liiza could have left the area. They had the chance to use the secret passages or the main corridor. No one forbid them from returning to Khan''s room, but they remained there. The sole idea of dying their intimate moment for even a second sounded like torture.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Robbers stole my dad''s car yesterday, so everything has been pretty hectic. Everything is kind of fine now, except for my schedule. I need a few hours for the next chapter, but everything should go back to normal tomorrow.

 Chapter 212 - Anger

    The days that followed the meeting were awkward.


    Liiza had a hard time epting that her mother wasn''tpletely to me for what had happened to her family. Liiza had hated her for too long, but she couldn''t ignore what she had overheard. Yeza was a hard woman to love, but she had been fair with Deni. It actually seemed that he had taken advantage of a moment of weakness only to betray her trustter on.


    Khan wasn''tpletely fine either. Captain Erbair, Liiza, and Yeza''s words never stopped resounding inside his mind. He worried about the political environment, his power, and his rtionship, but no real solutions appeared in sight.


    Captain Erbair was right. Feelings weren''t always enough in rtionships, and Khan and Liiza might have to face that truth. Yeza''s story had even proved how the problems didn''t have to be strictly political. Some features in the partners'' characters could lead to a division, and Khan feared that his desperate goal to find the Nak might fall in that category..


    The revtions about the chaos element also filled his mind with doubts. Liiza believed that the human approach to the Wave spell was dumb, but she couldn''t help him develop a new method either. She even felt that Khan shouldn''t test his luck right away due to how he had treated his mana until then. After all, a single failed attempt might really make him explode.


    Khan found himself stuck among issues that he couldn''t solve. He couldn''t do anything to fix the toxicity of his rtionship, the political environment was basically on hold during the crisis, and his power couldn''t gain any immediate benefit. Moreover, he had to deal with Liiza''s poor mental state without forgetting his friends, superiors, and the higher-ups of the other species.


    Needless to say, Khan felt overwhelmed during those days, but he was far from alone. He was doing his best to help Liiza, but everyone could see that she did the same.


    The pce wasn''t too different from the academy. The students soon understood that they could use some of its areas to have parties, and the few recruits left on Nitis didn''t hesitate to join them. Khan and Liiza weren''t an exception, but they limited themselves to a few hours of celebrations before going to his room or the first isted ce that they found.


    Those celebrations mostly started in thete afternoon and continued until deep into the night. Instead, meetings with the higher-ups upied the hours before lunchtime. Yeza never failed to summon everyone to inspect their target inside the muddy valley at the base of the two mountains.


    It turned out that the pce inside the valley was only one of the important locations that the rebels had captured with the help of the sunlight. Multiple structures that had served the Niqols for centuries had fallen into their hands, but Yeza''s group only had to take care of what was near them.


    The absence of Aduns was an issue that the Niqols didn''t expect and couldn''t fix. The Lysixi had also be unreliable due to the sunlight, so crossing long distances and gathering information had be impossible for now.


    Yeza could only make her group focus on one target due to those issues, and she even had to approach the fight carefully. The siege was only thest of her problems. Her team would have to cross multiple regions potentially upied by monsters that had gone through the second round of mutations before reaching the muddy valley.


    Tension built up as the days passed. Both humans and Niqols knew that each meeting drew their departure closer. Yeza even nned to deploy most of the troops inside the pce for the mission, so it was clear that she had no intention to retreat or fail to capture the muddy valley.


    The group was looking at a one-way journey, and the humans among them couldn''t say anything. The soldiers didn''t establish any friendly rtionship with the Niqols, so they didn''t feel the need to help them. Yet, their mission forced them to deploy as much manpower as possible in the battles, and Yeza knew that. She never held back from counting them as part of her force.


    The growing tension only added worries to Khan, but he barely had the time to think about that with everything going on inside his mind. It seemed that his life had gone back to the peaceful times in the academy, with the only difference that he didn''t have to keep his rtionship hidden.


    The students and recruits enjoyed six entire days of break inside the pce, but Yeza wanted to put an end to that peaceful period, and Khan and Liiza were the first to learn about that.


    A surprising message appeared in Khan''s room on the night of his sixth day inside the pce. The azure symbols on the walls brightened and woke him up as they transformed into orders that carried Yeza''s name at their end.


    "[Is it mine or yours]?" Liizained in a sleepy voice as she used the bed''s nket to cover her face.


    Liiza and Khan had never held back from sleeping together after the silent eptance of their respective superiors. She was currently on Khan''s chest, but the light of the orders was annoying her.


    "[It''s from your mother for both of us]," Khan revealed, and Liiza immediately uncovered her head to inspect the walls with her sleepy eyes.


    ''[Khan, Liiza, use your young and cute aura to convince the old hag],'' Khan and Liiza read on the walls.


    The message didn''t say anything else. It didn''t add any detail, and it didn''t even mention Zalpa, but the couple knew that Yeza was talking about her.


    "[Is she spying on us]? Liiza scoffed.


    "[We didn''t exactly y it low recently]," Khan joked while reaching the back of Liiza''s head to caress her.


    Liiza voiced an annoyed curse before lying on Khan and hide her head in his neck. She left a few kisses there, but Khan straightened his back and made her sit on hisp.


    "[I think she means now]," Khan chuckled when Liiza''s annoyed face appeared in his vision.


    "[Of course she means now]," Liiza whined, "[Which means that we have to depart soon. Don''t you want to make the best out of our safe time left]?"


    Khan''s eyes widened before lowering at his side. Liiza was right. Yeza must have asked them to gain Zalpa''s favor since the battle was close. The time to assault the castle inside the muddy valley had finally arrived.


    "[Zalpa will have to wait a bit]," Khanmented when his eyes returned on Liiza.


    Liiza caressed his cheek before wrapping her arms around his neck and whispering in her cute voice. "[More than a bit]."


    .


    .


    .


    Zalpa had nevere out of the second basement during those days. No one had ever mentioned her either. Yet, everyone could guess that some Niqols had interacted with her to question her about the crisis.


    The pce''s corridors were almost empty at night. The only areas that still had someone were therge halls with the parties, but Khan and Liiza didn''t have to cross them to reach the first floor. They could arrive in front of the drape that hid the basement''s entrance without meeting anyone.


    Liiza didn''t take much to make the walls move and uncover the narrow staircase that led to the lower levels of the pce. A prison almost identical to that seen during the meeting with Yeza unfolded in the couple''s eyes after they descended from the steps.


    Liiza quickly found the entrance to the second underground floor and unlocked it. The couple soon arrived in a familiar environment illuminated by dark-red light. They saw a couple of cauldrons, red symbols, and Tainted animals hanging from the ceiling.


    ''How did she even bring Tainted animals here?'' Khan wondered as his eyes focused on a dirty figure sleeping on a simple bed on the other side of the basement.


    "[Are you Yeza''sst resort]?" Zalpa shouted while straightening her position to sit on the bed.


    "[Zaza, you know that helping us is the right thing]," Liiza promptly responded.


    "[Is it though]?" Zalpa asked before jumping to her feet and approaching one of the cauldrons to check its insides. "[Niqols who believe in the old ways are finally showing themselves. Why should I help stop them]?"


    "[Because I am on the other side]," Liiza replied as she and Khan approached the old Niqols.


    "[You can still change your mind]," Zalpa sighed when the couple arrived in front of her. "[I wish you would, Lii]."


    Zalpa nced at Khan after herment, but her eyes quickly went back to Liiza. She had basically asked Liiza to go back to the old ways while her boyfriend was holding her hand, and she didn''t appear too proud about it.


    Khan had reached the basement with the intention of remaining silent. He didn''t delude himself. Zalpa''s pastment about him wasn''t aplete acknowledgment since she still hated the humans. She only liked that he was treating Liiza properly.


    Khan wanted to let Liiza handle the talk, but his annoyance reached its limits after thestment. He was giving his everything to Liiza, the Niqols, and Nitis as a whole. Khan had done his best since his first day on that alien. He had approached every teaching in the academy with utmost seriousness, and he had even learnt techniques from the old ways.


    Thest days in the castle had been tense, but the situation for Khan had been even worse. His head was full of problems that he couldn''t solve, but he still did his best. He took care of Liiza and his friends, trained like a madman, and helped in every meeting. He couldn''t remain silent when Zalpa spat on his effort.


    "[What else do I need to do]?" Khan voiced an angryint that surprised both Liiza and Zalpa. "[Do you want me to paint my skin and stare at the sun until my eyes turn white? I understand that you have a problem with humans, but why can''t you put them aside for me? I''m more Niqols than most of the students in the academy! I abide by the old ways more than most of Liiza''s superiors]!"


    Liiza tightened her grasp on Khan''s hand, but she held back from hugging him. She was the only one on the entire who knew how much Khan did every day. She actually felt surprised that his patience hadsted for so long.


    Zalpa had also remained speechless in front of that angry outburst, but she couldn''t remain silent. Everything Khan had said was true. He had earned enough respect to deserve an answer.


    "[Your kind is cruel, cynical, and weak]," Zalpa exined. "[You throw away lives only to gain mere political benefits, and you show no respect toward your power. You take everything you can without paying any price. You feed on a few exceptional individuals and im their merits as your own. You are no better than worms]."


    Zalpa revealed how her hatred toward the human wasn''t mere xenophobia. Her disgust had a solid foundation that Khan couldn''t contradict. Everything she had said was true, at least when it came to a general view of humankind.


    "[Don''t treat me as a human then]," Khan dered. "[I don''t care how you see me. I''ll even let you take me as a Nak if that makes it better for you]."


    Khan partially hated himself for saying those words, but the cold sensation spreading from his hand appeased that feeling. Everything was worth it as long as it was for Liiza.


    "[That''s not better at all]," Zalpa''s snorted, but her expression seemed to rx. She had seen what Khan went through every time he slept. She knew that his statement must have taken everything he had.


    "[Then find another method to trust me]," Khan continued while pointing at the cauldron next to him. "[You are a shaman, right? Do some shaman stuff to test me or something. I''ll let you do whatever you want as long as you start trusting me]."


    "[Are you willing to go this far just to get my help against the rebels]?" Zalpa chuckled in disappointment while shaking her head.


    "[I don''t care about that at all]," Khan announced. "[I''m doing this to make Liiza happy. She cares a lot about you]."


    Zalpa felt a tinge of shame spreading inside her mind. Her expression froze as she raised her eyes toward Khan to inspect him. His resolve was honest and intense. Even the Niqols would struggle to match his determination.


    "[I can arrange that]," Zalpa didn''t give up. "[I can test you, but the process can hurt you badly. It will even leave asting mark on you. Do you really want to gain my approval]?"


    "[Khan]," Liiza called, and her action made the cold smirk on Zalpa''s face widen. She believed that Liiza would make Khan give up on that matter, but the rest of the phrase left her speechless once again. "[Don''t overdo it. She is still an old woman]."


    "[Don''t worry]," Khan smiled while pulling Liiza closer. "[She has finally given me a chance. Nothing else matters]."

 Chapter 213 - Tattoo

    Liiza didn''t like to see Khan hurting himself for her sake. She didn''t want him to put so much effort into getting epted by Zalpa and the Niqols society as a whole. She would dly take his ce and shoulder that burden, but opposing his resolve would only go against what made him so exceptional.


    Khan''s selfless determination was unstoppable when it came to a few topics. Liiza would only risk offending him if she tried to oppose that resolve, and she would even fail to make him give up on the matter. The best path was to show him her support and take care of him properly once he seeded in his n. In Liiza''s mind, Khan couldn''t fail when he put his whole self into something.


    Zalpa didn''t expect that turn of events. Liiza and Khan were extreme characters, but she believed that they could suppress each other''s radical features when they were together. Still, they actually ended up condoning and supporting them if the situation required it.


    Zalpa could see that Liiza wasn''t happy about the situation, but she also noticed her earnest desire to support Khan. The girl couldn''t stop him, so she would do everything in her power to make his path easier..


    Both Liiza and Khan were willing to give their everything to their partner. That sight partially reassured Zalpa, but it also hinted at the dysfunctional aspects of their rtionship. Their determination was in the right ce, but their minds didn''t abide by the spectrum that ordinary people should have.


    ''[They are influencing each other],'' Zalpa concluded in her mind.


    The old Niqols inspected the couple to try to understand whether their situation was healthy. She knew that the crisis was highlighting the extreme aspects of both personalities, but she didn''t mind that too much. Her focus was on Liiza''s well-being. Zalpa wouldn''t hesitate to drive Khan away if she felt that his presence was hurting her.


    However, Zalpa could only end her inspection with a curse that never managed to leave her mouth. She felt ashamed of herself in front of Khan''s intense resolve and Liiza''s effort to suppress her worries. She would go against everything she preached if she didn''t show any respect for those feelings.


    "[Where do you want the mark]?" Zalpa asked before turning to reach one of the monsters hanging from the ceiling.


    "[Maybe I should know more about it before deciding]," Khan suggested while inspecting Zalpa cutting open the odd bear with her bare fingers.


    "[I''m going to draw a mark on you]," Zalpa exined as she seized bloody organs from the monster and put them in the insides of her robe. "[If your feelings are honest and pure, the mark won''t hurt you. Otherwise, it will burn like crazy for a few weeks. It might even require an invasive removal depending on how bad your emotions are]."


    Khan''s eyebrows arched in surprise, but no fear appeared in his mind. The exnation ended up reassuring Liiza too. The two did not doubt the feelings that they shared.


    Zalpa returned to the couple while carrying a bunch of gory materials in her dirty robe. A patch of dark blood expanded on her clothes, but she didn''t mind it and promptly picked those organs in a specific order to throw them into the cauldron.


    "[Blood]," Zalpa ordered, and Khan quickly left Liiza to stretch his hand.


    Zalpa drew a knife from the insides of her robe and cut Khan''s palm open. She did her best to pierce his skin without using her mana since she didn''t want to spoil that material, and blood eventually started to fall inside the cauldron.


    "[The mark will be a lifelong testimony of your feelings if everything goes well]," Zalpa continued before removing Khan''s hand and proceeding to send mana into the cauldron to make everything in its insides melt. "[Choose the spot carefully]."


    Khan and Liiza exchanged a nce, and they ended up showing a warm smile when he uncovered his torso. He showed his back to his girlfriend before pointing at his shoulder and asking for her advice. "[Left or right]?"


    "[We might have to fight soon, so pick the right]," Liiza responded.


    "[You heard her]," Khanughed while turning to show his back to Zalpa.


    "[Sit]," Zalpa ordered, and Khan didn''t hesitate to execute those orders. He crossed his legs and sat on the ground before shooting a confident smile toward Liiza.


    Zalpa took a few minutes to prepare the liquid inside the cauldron. She requested Liiza''s blood at some point, and she dipped two fingers inside her potion once everything was ready. The old Niqols then pulled Khan''s hair and made him show her his face since she needed to draw a few marks there.


    "[You''ll fall into a trance]," Zalpa exined while drawingplicated marks on Khan''s forehead, nose, and cheeks. "[Your feelings will fight while I draw the mark. The ink will seep into your skin, and your body will ept it only if your emotions are worthy]."


    Khan nodded once Zalpa let go of his head. He started to feel dizzy as soon as she ced her fingers on the back of his right shoulder, and confused images slowly reced the basement.


    Khan found himself amongplete ckness. He could stand, but he couldn''t see the ground under him. His sensations also were nothing more than a mere echo. It was clear that his body wasn''t there.


    Lights slowly appeared in front of Khan. That glow slowly took Liiza''s features. It transformed into a white silhouette of the girl, and he didn''t hesitate to approach her.


    A second light appeared on Khan''s path before he could reach Liiza''s figure. The familiar azure shades revealed the nature of that glow even before it took a detailed shape. Khan coldly inspected the radiance growing and transforming into the Nak from his memories in a few seconds.


    The two figures remained still and expressionless. Liiza radiated a cozy coldness, while the Nak had a chilling warmth around its ethereal shape. They represented how Khan felt about them. Liiza reminded him of all the lovely nights spent in their home in the marsh, while the Nak carried the scorching memories of the Second Impact.


    ''Is the test asking me to choose between them?'' Khan wondered as he inspected the two figures.


    The choice felt obvious. Khan quickly approached Liiza''s glowing figure and tried to touch her, but his hand seeped past them. He felt as if her white light didn''t want him to touch her.


    ''Is it rejecting my feelings?'' Khan wondered before correcting himself. ''No. It won''t ept them unless I''m certain about my position.''


    Khan felt able to understand what the test wanted from him. He couldn''t exin that sensation, but he went along with it without lingering on pointless thoughts. He had encountered a problem, but solving it would require something that he wasn''t willing to do.


    "I can''t abandon my goals," Khan stated, and his muffled voice echoed throughout the dark area before dispersing in the distance.


    A hideous smirk appeared on the Nak''s face after that statement. Its light intensified while the opposite happened to Liiza''s figure. It seemed that the test was moving in the wrong direction, but Khan didn''t panic. He couldn''t fall prey to his fears after spending thest days thinking about his problems.


    "This test would make me lose all my respect for the Niqols'' old ways if it didn''t understand the true nature of my situation," Khan mocked before ncing at Liiza''s dimming figure to show aplicated smile. "How can I let her continue sleeping on my chest when I shake every time I close my eyes?"


    Khan turned toward the smirking Nak to heave a helpless sigh. He raised his hand, and a scorching sensation spread on his palm when he touched the center of the alien''s torso.


    "You forced me to hate you for reasons that I still can''t understand," Khan said, "But I won''t let you affect her. My desperation isn''t alone anymore."


    The smirk on the alien slowly disappeared, and its face morphed to gain Khan''s features. He could see deep into his desperation when he looked at those ethereal eyes. The sorrow umted throughout twelve years on nightmare was right in front of him. He had long since decided to fix it, and Nitis had added a reason to his goal. Khan wanted to get better so that Liiza wouldn''t suffer by looking at his pain.


    The Nak and Liiza vanished, and the ckness around Khan shattered as the basement slowly filled his vision. The test was over, but an ufortable stinging sensation spread from his shoulder and made him unable to focus on his surroundings.


    Khan turned to look at his right shoulder. He couldn''t see much from there, but he still noticed a few azure lines spreading down his back. Their color was almost identical to his scar and mutated strands of hair.


    "[Your resolve is stunning]," Zalpa sighed before covering her palm with mana and manipting it until it transformed into a mirror-like surface.


    Khan could inspect his shoulder when he looked at his reflection. An azure cross that featured S-shaped lines at its center had appeared on the back of his right shoulder. The mark glowed for a few seconds before darkening and transforming into a proper tattoo.


    "[You won''t be able to remove it through normal methods]," Zalpa exined. "[This mark is part of you now. No Niqols would ever dare to question your feelings now]."


    "[What does this mark mean]?" Khan asked, but a sniff suddenly reached his ears and made him turn toward Liiza.


    Liiza was covering her mouth as a single tear fell from her eyes. She took timid steps toward Khan before crouching to sit on hisp. Her hands moved among his hair before going around his neck to pull him closer and make their foreheads touch.


    "[You need to stop doing this]," Liiza whined. "[A single mind is too little for all this happiness]."


    Khan didn''t hesitate to hold Liiza tightly. She instinctively hid her face on his neck and gave him the chance to question Zalpa with his gaze. The old Niqols stared at him for a few seconds before heaving a deep sigh and voicing an answer.


    "[That symbol means love or union]," Zalpa revealed while diverting her eyes, "[And it has a vague eternal sense added to it]."


    "[Thank you, Zaza]," Khan smiled.


    Zalpa voiced an annoyed snort. "[Don''t get carried away. I still hate humans. You might have gained my approval, but I''ll help you only because of Liiza]."


    "[Help with what]?" Khan asked in confusion, and even Liiza raised her head to show a confused frown to Zalpa.


    "[You are about to jump into a battle with warriors far stronger than you]," Zalpa replied. "[You won''t be able to affect its oue, but you might need to protect Liiza with your body. Improving your Blood Shield is the least I can do for her]."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I failed again to deliver the second chapter on time. The first took far longer than expected. Give me a few hours.


    Also, you can find the symbol on my discord, or if you google "eternal love rune".

 Chapter 214 - Teachings

    Zalpa''s statement inevitably made the couple excited. Khan stood up without letting go of Liiza, and the girl had to wrap her legs around his waist to cling to him.


    "[I''m already regretting this]," Zalpa snorted when she saw the two young faces brimming with gratitude.


    "[She would be far easier to like if she weren''t so grumpy]," Khanmented as Liiza put strength in the arms around his neck to make her legs reach the floor slowly.


    "[It''s part of her charm]," Liiza giggled while fixing her intense gaze on him.


    Liiza partially let go of Khan''s neck to move a hand on his right shoulder. Her fingers carefully reached the tattoo and traced its edges when she confirmed that Khan wasn''t hurting.


    "[Can you stop lusting after each other for a bit]?" Zalpa scolded before turning to walk toward the bear-like monster with the open belly. "[I''m trying to teach you something important, you damned horny kids]."


    .


    Liiza would have normally called Zalpa''s name toin about her words, but she only voiced a happyugh now. Khan also smiled while nodding at his girlfriend. It was hard to contain their emotions after the test, but they did their best to focus on the old Niqols since her teachings had the priority.


    "[It can be dangerous to reach the superior checkpoint of the Blood Shield when your body isn''t ready to endure its drawbacks]," Zalpa exined while gesturing to the couple to follow her. "[Still, I bet that you don''t care about the risks]."


    "[Everything should be fine]," Khan said in a confident tone.


    Khan had been able to use the [Blood Shield] before bing a first-level warrior. His body had improved, so the next checkpoint of the technique shouldn''t cause any problem.


    "[You shouldn''t underestimate its power]," Zalpa continued as she proceeded to cut a thumb-sized lump of flesh from the monster with her bare fingers. "[The old ways always carry risks, but their requirements protect you. You would normally have to wait for your maniption ability to reach the right level before approaching the next checkpoint, which would give you time to improve your body. Your situation is different, so you can''t realize how much power you are ingesting]."


    Zalpa knew that Yeza had unlocked the [Blood Shield] for Khan, and she was about to do the same with the next checkpoint. That would give an immense boost to his defensive power, but it would also leave him clueless about the actual cost and requirements of the technique.


    "[Make sure to watch carefully]," Zalpa announced. "[The procedure never changes. You only have to apply more power and find better materials to reach higher checkpoints]."


    Zalpa used her bare foot to clean a spot on the floor from the dust before cing the lump of flesh there. Then, she sat and stretched her hands to let her palms hover right above the gory item.


    Mana umted on her palms and created an azure radiance that illuminated the lump of flesh. The blood still flowing out of the material reversed its course and started gathering in its center.


    "[You must be gentle]," Zalpa described. "[Use your mana to teach the blood how to clot without breaking the flesh. Part of your energy will naturally be part of the material and empower its structure, but you need to make sure that nothing breaks during the procedure. You might ingest a wed version of the Blood Sheld otherwise]."


    The flesh''s edges eventually dried up, and Zalpa reached for the maimed corpse of the monster and squeezed some of its insides to make blood flow out of them. She gathered that dark liquid with her hands before slowly pouring it on the material.


    "[Yeza has probably used the flesh from a Tainted animal to unlock the Blood Shield inside you]," Zalpa exined. "[Yet, the second checkpoint requires more energy, and only a stronger material would be able to contain it. I used a monster''s flesh now for that exact reason, but I still need to refill it with blood and repeat the procedure until enough mana fuses with its structure]."


    Zalpa did exactly as she exined. She poured blood on the chunk of flesh before gently clotting it in its center. She repeated that process methodically, without ever falling prey to hurry or impatience. Her movements were slow but firm. Liiza and Khan couldn''t help but remain in a daze when they inspected her.


    "[It''s ready]," Zalpa eventually eximed. "[Come to inspect it. I don''t want you to bepletely clueless about its current power]."


    Khan nodded before crouching in front of Zalpa. He carefully stretched his arm forward and let his sensitivity to mana gather as much information as possible while he hovered his palm above the flesh.


    The chunk of flesh felt strong. Khan guessed that it was slightly above his first-grade knife in terms of mana umted in its insides. Zalpa had created an organic magical item in a matter of minutes, and he had been lucky enough to inspect the whole process.


    "[Don''t limit yourself to sense it]," Zalpa snorted. "[Touch it, savor its texture, smell, and noises. You have mixed your life with mana, so all of your senses can help you study it. Abandon your human bias]."


    Khan gulped before nodding again. He began to lower his hand, but Zalpa voiced a simple reminder before he could touch the flesh. "[Be gentle, gentler than you are when you touch Lii]."


    Khan mustered the entirety of his self-restraint to keep a straight face, but Liiza needed to divert her eyes to avoid showing something. Both of them had been everything but gentle during theirst passionate intercourses.


    The flesh''s wet surface released a squelching noise when Khan''s forefinger touched it. He only needed a few seconds to get used to the material''s texture and gain enough confidence to ce the rest of his hand there.


    No blood came out of the flesh even when Khan applied some pressure. He could sense a solid core at the center of the material, and he made sure tomit its features to memory. Then, he bent forward to smell it, and the intense scent of blood filled his nostrils. Something felt differentpared to the typical odor that raw meat usually had, but Khan couldn''t find the exact reason behind that sensation.


    Zalpa nodded in approval when she saw how serious Khan was. He even licked the chunk of flesh near the end of his inspection to add more data to his mind.


    "[So, do I only need to replicate the same effects next time]?" Khan asked when he straightened his back.


    "[You''ll need a better core material and far more power]," Zalpa exined, "[But yes, you''ll be fine as long as you create something simr to this. It doesn''t matter if you fall short in terms of power and fail to reach the next checkpoint in one go. You can still stack up weaker items until you hit your goal]."


    "[Though I bet you don''t advise that since it would mean that my maniption ability has yet to reach the right level]," Khan guessed.


    "[That''s correct]," Zalpa replied. "[Remember, you should prioritize the perfection of the clotted blood over its power. It''s pointless to make a stronger material that doesn''t express the Blood Shield properly. You might end up ruining everything you have built inside you with a single reckless mistake]."


    Khan took those teaching to heart as he picked the lump of flesh and brought it close to his mouth. He nced at Zalpa to check whether he could proceed, and he didn''t hesitate to gulp it after she nodded.


    His chest immediately felt heavy. Khan could sense the chuck of flesh reaching his belly and dispersing its nutrients in no time before the [Blood Shield] activated on its own.


    The blood vessels at the center of Khan''s chest clotted to create a head-sized red array. The effect expanded until it almost covered the entirety of his torso and made him sweat.


    Khan felt as if his body was about to halt its functions. He couldn''t force himself to remain without so much blood for too long, so he focused on his mana to suppress the technique.


    The intricate array of blood vessels slowly waned as they went back to their normal functions. Khan''s back arched as he took a deep breath, but he eventually bent forward to crouch on the floor. Drops of sweat fell from his forehead as his body dealt with the aftermath of [Blood Shield], but his mind soon went on the lump of foreign materials inside his chest.


    Khan moved those materials across his body and confirmed that the technique didn''t be harder to use after improving. Moreover, he now had enough of them to activate the [Blood Shield] in two different spots. He didn''t even need to use all of them at the same time, so the drawbacks wouldn''t be a problem as long as he was careful.


    "[Get out of here now]," Zalpa ordered in her hoarse voice. "[I''ve been too long with you already. I have things to prepare]."


    "[Will you join the attack then]?" Liiza asked before bending toward Khan to help him stand up.


    "[I wille, but I won''t join the battle]," Zalpa announced. "[I still can''t force myself to kill Niqols who share my beliefs]."


    "[I think that will be enough for my mother]," Liiza dered. "[Thank you, Zaza, for the battle and us]."


    Liiza wore a bright smile that made Zalpa heave a helpless sigh. Khan had an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer when he saw that happy face. The couple exchanged a meaningful gaze, and Zalpa felt the need to smile at that scene.


    "[Zaza, can I ask you onest thing]?" Liiza said while diverting her gaze from Khan to look at the old Niqols.


    "[What is it]?" Zalpa asked.


    Liiza lowered her head and tightened her embrace before speaking with a timid voice. "[Can you give us one more day? I don''t want to give up on this peace just yet]."


    Khan chuckled and began to caress Liiza''s hair. The girl moved her attention back on him, but Zalpa angry curses soon resounded in the basement. "[As if I would lie to Yeza just to let her horny daughter fuck a human for one more day]!"


    Khan and Liiza began tough as they hurried toward the staircase that led to the upper floors, and their voice grew louder when another course reached their ears. "[Yes, run away before I make you spit the Blood Shield! Damned brats! I''m the best shaman of my generation. I won''t let two kids use me like this]!"


    Zalpa continued to curse, but her voice stopped reaching Khan and Liiza when the wall that divided the two basements closed. The two exchanged a nce before exploding into anotherugh and hurrying toward the first floor.


    The morning was about to arrive, but the humans had adapted to the Niqols schedule in those days. The castle would be empty until a few hours before lunchtime, so the couple could run and have fun freely while hurrying back to Khan''s room.


    Liiza and Khan held hands as they crossed halls, corridors, and staircases. They ended up stopping many times to exchange intense kisses that led to giggles or intense gazes. Every corner of the pce felt cozy enough for an intimate break, but they grew shorter once they risked removing each other''s clothes in the open.


    It felt hard to keep track of what happened when they reached the room. Khan and Liiza''s minds were full of fierce feelings that neither of them could suppress. The sight of the tattoo even rekindled that passion whenever the couple was about to stop.


    Liiza and Khan ended up skipping a meeting for the first time that day. They didn''t even eat, but neither of them cared about that. Their mad passion calmed down in the middle of the afternoon when the Niqols started preparing the usual parties, but a message reached everyone''s rooms and cubes before that.


    Khan and Liiza couldn''t help but explode into a loudugh when they read the message on the room''s walls. Yeza had sent a general update throughout the pce where she stated that the attack would start in two days. Zalpa had listened to Liiza''s request.

 Chapter 215 - One Year

    The atmosphere inside the pce grew even tenser after Yeza''s announcement, but the Niqols knew how to deal with it. They threw a massive party the day before the departure that saw the presence of adult aliens and some soldiers. Their participation initially made things awkward, but the booze vanquished that feeling rather quickly.


    Khan and Liiza didn''t waste a single second of the time that Zalpa had given them. Massive problems that they couldn''t solve filled their minds, but they made sure to appease them through their overflowing feelings. They didn''t show their faces often, and the other couples imitated that behavior. Everyone made sure to spend a few hours together before taking care of their loved ones.


    The day of the departure saw arge group amassing in therge area in front of the pce. A small army made of a hundred Niqols and few humans gathered inside the mountain and followed their superiors'' orders to take their spot in the simple battle formation nned in the previous days.


    The muddy valley wasn''t nearby. The group would take a bit more than two weeks of constant travel to reach it on foot. They would even need to spend that time in the wild without proper knowledge of the fauna since no one had the chance to perform thorough inspections without the Aduns..


    The students and recruits who had traveled with Zalpa didn''t worry too much about the monsters. They had seen how easily the old Niqols had ensured that no danger ever appeared on their path, and they even had many powerful assets leading them at that time.


    However, some doubts still existed in their minds, mostly due to the timing of the travel. The sunlight had theoretically entered itsst phase. ording to the soldiers'' math, Nitis would regain its iconic constant night soon. They had calcted that it would take between two and four weeks for the sky to return dark.


    The group might even witness the event during their travel. The crisis was about to end, but that didn''t manage to raise morale. The issue with the Aduns had halted most hunts, meaning that Nitis was full of monsters that had been free to thrive under the sunlight for entire weeks. Some of them had probably also gone through the second round of mutations.


    Khan and the others might avoid meeting monsters during the travel, but those creatures were a problem that they would eventually have to face. The battle inside the muddy valley might even attract some packs due to the massive discharge of mana that it would inevitably feature.


    Nitis might require entire years to return to its past stability, especially since the rebels had decided to make their move. Many battles would follow the end of the crisis, but the soldiers couldn''t wait for them to arrive. The''s chaos would work in their favor once they regained ess to the teleport.


    Khan could easily understand those political matters, and he could even guess that his superiors were betting a lot on him to gain more freedom on Nitis. Still, those motives barely managed to make their way inside his mind. He would give his everything in each battle but for very different reasons.


    Zalpa revealed the full extent of her expertise by shielding the army with countless potions that she had prepared in a matter of days. The group departed after that process ended. They abandoned the safety of the mountain to step into the wild.


    Long and silent days followed the departure. Khan was among his friends, but none of them dared to speak for too long. The army was already quite loud on its own, so they didn''t want to add noises that could waste the effects of Zalpa''s potions.


    The higher-ups led their underlings across the regions fearlessly. The army had a series of scouts that inspected the areas and updated Yeza constantly, so she could always find a path that would limit the number of breaks or battles.


    The army''s size didn''t allow it to avoid monsters altogether, but those meetings led to one-sided ughters. Even packs with more than thirty specimens were nothing more than ants in front of all the powerful soldiers in the group.


    Breaks still happened, but they were rare, and they never left room for intimacy. Yeza''s knowledge of Nitis''yout had allowed her to pick resting areas even before the travel, which mostly featured empty zones that offered aplete view of their surroundings. Everyone slept in the open and near theirpanions to ensure that no one got lost or worse.


    The group crossed the environments seen during the meetings. The forest led to a small in connected to a series of dark rivers. The vegetation began to thrive again afterward and forced the army to tread among thick woods. Mountains eventually followed before the path transformed into a in.


    The army had to change its pace and approach depending on the environment it was crossing, but the leaders took care of every decision, so the underlings only needed to imitate them. Random battles and issues with the breaks affected the schedule nned in the pce, but the two mountains containing the muddy valley appeared in the distance only a dayter than expected.


    The travel had taken a total of two and a half weeks. Khan needed George''s reminder to recall that their first academic year was over, but neither of them had the time to think about the topic. The sunlight illuminated Nitis even as the group settled in a spot near the two mountains. The crisis was still ongoing, so the matters concerning the Global Army felt too distant from their current situation.


    "The rebels have probably already learnt about our arrival," Yeza announced when she made the army stop next to the river that led into the muddy valley. "Let''s set up a camp quickly and rest. We''ll take one day to remove the fatigue umted during the travel. The battle will follow."


    The announcement made most underlings gulp, but none of them fell prey to fear. The crisis had trained them for those situations, so they quickly began to work on the encampment.


    The Niqols had prepared provisions and portable tents that revealed how mana could rece technology for the most part. One of the aliens carried a backpack filled with glowing cards that made the ground raise once they touched it. A series of short triangr structures soon grew on the rtively barren shores and created an encampment capable of containing the entire army.


    That scene would normally surprise the humans and many students, but everyone was too tense to pay attention to those valuable tools. Their entire focus was on the imminent battle and making the best out of the time before that.


    "[I never expected us to be our greatest enemy during the crisis]," Ilman announced before gulping the booze in his cup.


    "[I never expected to share drinks with you]," Azni joked. "[Nitis must have really gone crazy]."


    Everyoneughed at thatment. The Niqols had obviously thrown a party after theypleted their tasks, and Khan and his friends had sat in a circle to enjoy those short hours together.


    The army had orders to sleep early the next day, so the students and recruits nned to enjoy that event to its fullest. Some soldiers and adult Niqols also shared that mindset and decided to get drunk or join the chants echoing among the camp.


    "[I can''t believe that we have been here for six months]," George chuckled as Havaaid her head on his shoulder.


    "[Right, you use years to divide the level of your instruction]," Dokumented. "[That still feels stupid]."


    "[We are so different]," Helen sighed, but a warm smile appeared on her face when Vait ced a hand on her back.


    "[We have all changed a lot]," Azni announced, "[Especially you and those two over there]."


    Helen blushed, but she imitated the others in the circle by ncing at the couple on her left. Liiza was sitting on Khan''sp, and the two often exchanged whispers that led to cuteughs or intense stares.


    Khan and Liiza noticed that the attention had moved on them, but they still exchanged a series of teases that only they could hear before turning toward their friends. Different expressions that mostly showed affection or approval unfolded in their vision and made them smile warmly.


    "[I didn''t change at all]," Khan stated, but his words transformed most affectionate expressions into res. Liiza even had to cover her mouth to suppress herugh.


    "[Don''tugh]," Azni mocked. "[You are no different from him. No wonder you two get along so well]."


    "[She is just jealous]," Khan joked while wrapping his arms around Liiza''s waist.


    "[I want you two to remember that I had to babysit your rtionship when you still acted as edgy kids]," Azni sneered, and everyoneughed again, Khan and Liiza included.


    "[Though they fooled all of us]," George admitted, "[Except Ilman, I guess]."


    "[My intuition is unmatched on Nitis]," Ilman proudly announced.


    "[I wouldn''t put it like that]," Khan rolled his eyes.


    "[And I was lucky enough to witness everything]," George cleared his throat before emptying his cup.


    Laughs resounded among the group again. Teases, jokes, and stories about their memories on Nitis followed as the group tried to make the best out of thatst party. Other Niqols and humans joined and left as the hours passed, but the celebrations eventually started to end.


    "[Well]," Ilman eximed before standing up and spreading his arms, "[I''ll try to end the celebrations like a true Niqols. Wish me good luck]!"


    Everyone saluted Ilman, but Helen and Veronica turned toward the boys to shoot questioning nces as soon as the Niqols left.


    "[He will try to find a girl tonight]," Khan exined.


    "[Did he finally get over Liiza]?" Azni asked as curiosity filled her eyes.


    "[Not really]," Doku revealed. "[He is only trying to experience a normal life to find his true self]."


    "[And he doesn''t want to die as a virgi-]," George began to say, but Havaa pped the back of his head before he could finish his line.


    "[Howe you three know so much about him]?" Azni asked. "[We have barely spent time together in the past days]."


    "[Men only need a gesture to convey entire speech-]," George eximed, but Havaa pped the back of his head again to interrupt him.


    "[What was this for]?!" George asked in surprise.


    "[I don''t need a reason to p you]," Havaa proudly dered before continuing to speak in a softer tone, "[And it''s gettingte]."


    George revealed a nk expression in front of Havaa''s meaningful gaze, but he quickly snapped back to reality. He threw away his cup and wrapped an arm around the girl''s waist to lift her as he jumped to his feet.


    Havaa giggled as she wrapped her arms around George''s neck and stretched her legs to make him put an arm under her knees. He rotated on himself to tease his girlfriend before stopping to face hispanions and voice odd salutes. "[I have to take care of my woman''s needs]!"


    Havaa pped the back of George''s head again, but thetter didn''t care. He started tough as he turned and carried her back to his tent.


    "[I''m surprised Havaa lets him talk at all]," Aznimented when the couple disappeared among the tents.


    "[He is an idiot]," Doku chuckled.


    "[He is a good idiot]," Khan corrected beforeughing with his friend.


    "[We''ll also take our leave]," Helen announced as she and Vait stood up elegantly. "[I don''t know if you''ll see us tomorrow, but we will be at your side during the battle]."


    A round of salutes resounded again, and others soon imitated the couple. It didn''t take long before the circle only had Khan, Azni, Doku, and Liiza left.


    "[I won''t even ask if you''lle out of your tent tomorrow]," Azni said in a helpless tone, and Khan and Liiza shook their heads to confirm her guess.


    "[We won''t get out either]," Doku announced. "[I bet that the entire encampment will remain empty tomorrow. The battle is worrying everyone]."


    Thement made a sad aura fall among the four, but they fought it by relying on their partners. Both couples silently stood up and exchanged simple waves of their hands before separating to reach their respective tents. They didn''t need to say anything since their friendship was already beyond those things.


    The following day went as Doku had predicted. The camp was almost empty, and no one celebrated or roamed among the tents. Everyone dealt with their anxiety by training, sleeping, or focusing on intimate intercourses. The only interruption in that free time was a message that appeared inside each habitation and described the battle n.


    "[Your mother is definitely spying on us]," Khan groaned as he straightened his back to sit cross-legged on the ground and study the battle n.


    "[At least she is choosing to interrupt our sleep instead of the other stuff]," Liiza joked in a sleepy voice before adjusting her position toy her head on Khan''sp.


    Khan only needed to ce his cube on the ground to take control of the battle n and inspect it from different points of view. He could even read the names that would make each toon. He was on the sidelines while Liiza would remain behind to focus on her spell.


    "[Don''t you dare to get caught]," Liiza stated after studying the battle n. "[I won''t hesitate to leave my position otherwise]."


    "[Are you trying to encourage me by using your safety in a threat]?" Khan asked as he tinkered with the azure drawing on the ground.


    "[I know how your brain works]," Liiza proudly dered, and Khan couldn''t help but divert his gaze from the battle n to focus on her.


    Khan caressed Liiza hair, and she wore a smile as she took one of his crossed legs in her arms as if it were a pillow. She was the epitome of cuteness in that position, and Khan couldn''t help but express his feelings.


    "[Did I already tell you that I love you]?" Khan whispered.


    Liiza opened her eyes and turned to nce at Khan. His loving azure eyes appeared in her vision and made her emotions burst.


    "[Yes, but never stop saying it]," Liiza responded before cing a hand on his abdomen. "[Get down so that I can also tell you how I feel]."


    The couple enjoyed that loving moment as long as possible, but the morning eventually arrived. Humans and Niqols left their tents and saluted those who would remain in the camp before starting their march toward the two mountains nearby.


    Zalpa did her best to hide the army''s presence, but her help ended there. She only made sure to nod at Khan and Liiza before returning to the camp and preparing a medical bay. She knew that many would need it.


    ****


    Author''s notes: The second chapter will bete again, damn me. ording to my calctions, which are always wrong, it will take less than two hours for me toplete it.

 Chapter 216 - Traps

    The two mountains stood in the middle of a in featuring many barren spots, especially near the shores of its small rivers. A thriving flora would normally fill that area, but the constant sunlight in the past two months had killed many of those nts. Dark-green grass still grew, but its appearance was far from healthy. The vegetation there couldn''t survive the massive change.


    Only the areas shielded by the huge mountains still had flourishing nts. Those tall andrge structures were barren in the zones exposed to the sunlight and full of life in the others. The valley had barely gone through any changes during the crisis since only a few sunrays managed to reach its depths.


    The army only needed one hour to reach the mountains, but they slowed down their pace on purpose to make sure that the scouts could arrive in their positions. Yeza made the group stop whenever she received an update on the valley, but her face didn''t show any satisfaction in those moments.


    The entrance of the valley was vast. The two mountains grew closer on the other side, which made it the harsher path to tread. The ground grew muddy as the group stepped on the shadows created by the two tall structures and began their slow advance into the enemy territory..


    Utter silence disrupted only by the noises of the river and the faint winds filled the area. The march of the army added squelching noises due to the many feet digging into the mud. Only Khan, Ilman, and a few experts who practiced fitting techniques could avoid causing those disturbances, but their efforts were useless among their loudpanions.


    The army wasn''t trying to sneak up on the rebels. Yeza had announced how they had probably already learnt of their arrival. That had even be a certainty now that her group had entered the valley. The careful approach had the sole purpose of avoiding eventual traps on the path.


    Rare trees began to appear on the shores of the rivers as the army reached deeper parts of the valley. Annoying bushes also began to grow as the air dampened. The temperature fell, but it didn''t stop the weaker underlings from sweating. Anxiety built up, but everyone showed firm resolve during the march.


    The army had yet to assemble in a battle formation. The higher-ups led the underlings across the valley while keeping their senses alert. Yeza and other experts in the sensitivity field could read the mana in the environment like a book and uncover every secret that it hid. Their sole presence helped the young humans and Niqols endure their tension and filled their minds with confidence.


    The river narrowed together with the valley, but the area remained quite vast. The annoying mud was the only issue capable of hindering the army, but that applied only to the younger troops. The higher-ups had ways to deal with that challenging terrain.


    Multiple azure lights suddenly shed among the army, and everyone immediately stopped. That was one of the signals nned before departing from the encampment. Yeza would use the cubes in the Niqols robes to convey orders through a simple code. The devices had blinked twice, which meant that Yeza had ordered aplete halt of the march.


    Khan peeked past the higher-ups in front of him to inspect the situation. Liiza and his friends were near him, and they didn''t hesitate to fall prey to the same curiosity.


    Yeza and a few Niqols took careful steps as they separated from the rest of the army. They advanced for twenty meters before stopping and stretching their arms forward. Long seconds filled with deafening silence followed that gesture, but a series of rumbling noises soon resounded throughout the valley.


    The ground shook for a few seconds before a series of explosions unfolded at some distance from Yeza''s group. Mud and dirt flew in every direction as a long patch of the valley''s floor detonated and left behind a line of red mes that hindered the army''s path.


    The explosions didn''t manage to hurt Yeza''s group, and the experts could soon move forward to deal with the mes. That fire seemed to have magical properties since it continued to burn on the wet ground without any fuel, but the Niqols dealt with it through simr methods. They tinkered with the mana along the fiery line until they deactivated the trap.


    The fire quickly vanished, and Yeza''s group could reunite with the army. The cubes shed a single time, and the march resumed.


    Khan and the other underlings couldn''t help but stare at therge patch of charred ground when they crossed it. The area affected by the trap stretched until the other side of the valley and was six metersrge. It would have killed many rows of troops if they were to activate it with their feet.


    The trap announced the arrival into the area affected by the rebels, and the army didn''t have to wait long before meeting more traces of their presence. Yeza ended up stopping the march multiple times since she found more defensive mechanisms that required her attention.


    The army could witness more explosions, rows of arrows covered in venom shooting out of the rocky walls in the distance, deep holes filled with spears, and a strange patch of mud that acted like quicksand. Those traps appeared simple, but all of them could kill many experienced warriors if caught by surprise. They were deadly and ced in intelligent locations, but nothing seemed able to escape Yeza''s senses.


    The situation didn''t improve when the castle finally appeared on the path. Its form was almost identical to the safe structure that the army had used before the travel, but moss covered a vast part of its surfaces. Moreover, the red symbols glowing on its ck metal announced how the rebels had already altered some functions.


    Yeza forced the group to stop again. A deep frown appeared on her face as her eyes darted among the environment. Khan and those with decent sensitivity to mana could immediately understand the nature of the issue. The mana in the area all around the castle was a mess that featured different behaviors and dark spots.


    Even Yeza struggled to understand how many traps the area had. The rebels couldn''t take control of all those defenses, so they had ced new ones on top of them to create a messy and chaotic array that even the best experts would find hard to decipher.


    Yeza could open a path, but the time required by the task was immense. She would need an entire week only to gain a general idea of the array of traps before even starting its removal.


    The cubes among the army blinked four times and made those who had those devices pick them to hear the mental message. Yeza''s voice resounded in their minds andpelled them to retreat by a few meters.


    Khan and the other Niqols conveyed those others to the recruits before the army began the partial retreat. Only Yeza and Captain Erbair remained behind, but the soldier joined the group after a short conversation with the Niqols.


    "Crouch and cover your eyes!" Captain Erbair shouted after the army stopped and nced at Yeza in the distance. "She is about to trigger all traps at once!"


    The exnation made the group search for a better spot. They approached one of the sides of the valley and created a line alongside its rocky wall before crouching. Khan and Liiza were using a small corner to hide their figures, but they both peeked at Yeza to inspect her actions.


    Yeza checked that the entire army had reached a safe spot before turning toward the pce. She closed her eyes and stretched her arm forward as mana flowed toward the tip of her fingers. She seemed about to cast a spell, but the azure shades of her energy soon vanished.


    "[My mother''s element deals with feelings]," Liiza whispered. "[She can give them form and alter them. Most Niqols consider her a rare genius since her element gives her a natural advantage in our techniques]."


    "[Is her element to me for hersciviousness]?" Khan asked.


    "[Khan, we are our element]," Liiza exined without moving her eyes from her mother. "[Our mana takes the shape of our character and enhances its features. You are one of the few exceptions to this truth, but that won''tst. Your element will eventually be a core part of your personality]."


    The silence that followed those words worried Liiza since she knew how delicate the topic was with Khan. She wanted to turn to inspect him, but he promptly ced a hand on her head to reassure her. The couple could continue to focus on Yeza, but that didn''tst long.


    A tremor ran throughout the air around the castle. The event had been too evident to miss, but it had also been rtively invisible. The area had blurred for a mere second before returning to its normal state.


    Nothing seemed to happen, but Yeza jumped back before continuing to retreat without moving her gaze away from the castle. An earthquake soon arrived as the ground around the structure lit up to show its azure and red shades. Multiple traps activated at the same time and made it impossible to keep track of the scene.


    Explosions destroyed arge chunk of the muddy area and set it ame, but an acid liquid soon came out of the ground and put an end to the fire. Spears and arrows shot from different spots of the rocky walls, but they also melted when they hit the toxic swamp that now surrounded the castle.


    The temperature then rose and evaporated the toxic liquid, transforming it into a green cloud that started to spread in the valley. Yeza didn''t hesitate to nce at some adult Niqols, and they immediately left their safe spot to face the iing threat.


    The three Niqols who had left their position stepped forward before pulling their arms back. Their palms opened as they started to push an invisible wall that made the veins on their foreheads bulge.


    The scene felt strange. The Niqols were clearly struggling to push something forward, but they weren''t touching anything. However, winds suddenly blew from behind the army and made the toxic cloud flow toward the other end of the valley. It turned out that the three experts had taken control of the air in the environment.


    More traps detonated while the Niqols dealt with the toxic cloud. Boulders fell and rolled around the castle, holes opened to reveal sharp weapons, and the water in the river even surged to transform into a snake-like shape that mmed its head on the area.


    Each trap made the walls or the ground shake. Many Niqols and humans had to nce above them to make sure that no boulder fell on their heads. Luckily for them, their area seemed stable enough to survive that mess.


    The valley took a whole minute to return silent and even more to disperse the dirt and smoke umted around the castle. The area never becamepletely clear, but Yeza made the cubes sh once when only a thin fog separated the army from their target.


    Liiza and Khan exchanged a long kiss before separating. The battle n saw them taking their position into the formation once the castle was in sight, and their roles were far different. Liiza had a supportive role due to the vast area that her spell could cover, while Khan had to deal with the annoying assets that the rebels wanted to protect.


    "[Leave the strongest to me]," Khan said when a familiar figure approached his side.


    "[Only if you reach them first]," Ilmanughed, and the two exchanged a resolute nod.


    More Niqols and two soldiers gathered around Khan and Ilman. Their group had the least troopspared to the other teams, but that felt natural when their role was so specific. They never had to join the fray unless they felt certain about taking out a troublesome asset. They were assassins who had to thrive in the chaos of the battlefield.

 Chapter 217 - Explosions

    The army assembled into a battle formation as it advanced through the thin pale-grey fog. Khan, Ilman, and a few others were on the left side of the main group and let thetter approach the castle before them.


    The fog slightly hindered everyone''s vision, but it never fully hid the area. The castle remained visible, even if only in the form of a vague shadow that featured no details.


    Khan drew his knife and wielded it firmly with his left hand. His expression grew colder as he followed the two soldiers and the adult Niqols in charge of his team. He was right between those leaders and the other students, and Ilman made sure to remain near his side.


    The two soldiers were strong and rtively young, but they didn''t gain any battle merit throughout their lives. Casper, the bald, short man with an unkempt beard, had two stars on his right shoulder and none on his left. Instead, Lorna, the slender woman with short blonde hair and dark eyes, was a second-level warrior and a first-level mage.


    Their level was enough to award them with a promotion, but they remained simple soldiers.. Khan still didn''t understand how the ranks in the army worked, and Nitis'' state had never given him a chance or the time to gather intel about that topic. Yet, he could guess that the issue had something to do with their background or actual achievements.


    As for the adult Niqols, Khan had never managed to learn her name. She was one of the aliens he had met in the pce, but they had never interacted due to their different position and duties. Still, Khan could sense how her power seemed to be slightly below Casper.


    The students behind Khan were Niqols specialized in quick attacks, but their power felt underwhelming. Except for Ilman, none of them would have the chance to kill Niqols with power simr to first-level warriors or above unless they worked together or found a lucky opening.


    Many thoughts about the situation and the power of the team tried to rise inside Khan, but he silenced them. He couldn''t lose his concentration. He had to give his everything on his sprints and maximize the number of perfect executions of the Divine Reaper.


    The many traps triggered by Yeza had turned the area into a mess of holes, fuming patches, dangerous puddles, and broken weapons. The fog also carried an acrid smell that the three Niqols didn''t manage to remove when they blew the toxic cloud away. The odor forced many eyes to release tears, but only when it came to weak students.


    Khan had to pay attention to his path, but his sensitivity to mana helped in the task. Luckily for him, each dangerous or annoying spot resulted from traps, which left behind mana that he could sense. His eyes were partially unreliable when it came to distant areas, but he couldpensate for that easily.


    The army trod through the fog and approached the castle slowly. The air didn''t move, and the river had stopped flowing in that area, so the battlefield was utterly silent except for the few steps heavy enough to echo among the rocky walls. Niqols and humans also voiced surprised gasps whenever they walked on some broken weapons or puddles, but those noises vanished quickly among the fog.


    A scarlet light suddenly shed on the castle before vanishing among the fog. A whooshing noise followed and grew louder until Yeza''s deafening shout resounded throughout the battlefield. "[Shield]!"


    Yeza''s order made a few Niqols jump next to her and point their hands toward the ground. A wall grew in front of the central team before an explosion resounded on the other side. The structure partially broke as mes spread on its surface, but the aliens dispersed them by making that chunk of terrain fold on itself.


    "[Charge]!" Yeza shouted once the path ahead reappeared, and everyone started to run.


    Battle cries echoed on the battlefield as the army dropped its silent approach. The Niqols and humans didn''t abandon their position, but each team advanced far faster than before.


    Three lights shed on the castle, and the whooshing noise returned, but multiple sources caused it now. The fog didn''t allow the army to understand the trajectory of those projectiles, so each team leader gave different orders.


    "[Shield]!" Yeza shouted, and a thick wall rose from the ground. Her team hid behind it and waited for the explosion to unfold.


    "[Halt]!" The Niqols in charge of the backlines ordered to make everyone stop.


    "[Take cover]!" Lieutenant Kintea, who was in charge of the team on the right, shouted, and those behind him jumped on the rocky wall to hide.


    "[Disperse]!" Lorna ordered, and her team members sprinted in different directions that still brought them closer to the castle.


    Khan went on his left and made sure to keep the rocky wall close. The whooshing noise grew louder, but it crossed his position and culminated in an explosion behind him.


    Two more explosions resounded on the battlefield. One of them happened on the wall in front of Yeza''s team and the other on the area that divided her from Lieutenant Kintea''s group.


    mes filled those three spots, but the wall fell forward to fuse with the ground and suppress them. As for the two other fiery areas, the army let them go to resume the charge forward.


    It didn''t take much for the red shes to reappear. The whooshing noises returned, but a series of painful cries resounded after the detonations happened. Khan had sensed another projectile crossing his position before exploding somewhere behind him and taking the lives of two students who had decided to run together.


    Those scenes repeated themselves in a relentless cycle that eventually added scarlet shades to the fog due to the many fires that the army left behind. A scorching smell filled the area, but no one noticed that change with the tension that filled their minds.


    Painful cries, orders, and shouts mixed with the mess that had descended on the battlefield. Everyone tried to remain close to their team leaders in the hope of increasing their chances of survival, but Khan''s group was an exception.


    Khan ran as if his life depended on it. He tried his best to sense the arrival of those exploding projectiles whenever the whooshing noise reached his ears, but he failed to feel them until they came close to his position.


    Khan changed direction whenever the red lights shed on the castle. Those devices mostly focused on Yeza''s team since it contained the highest number of troops, but projectiles still flew on the other groups. They were so fast that Khan never managed to understand their form, but he didn''t care too much about that. He had a goal shared by all hispanions.


    In theory, a frontal attack against such a big castle would have little chance to seed. The structure had many defenses in ces, and it could even rely on the rebels in its insides.


    However, the army''s firepower wasn''t weak. Yeza, Captain Erbair, and even the weaker first-level mages could unleash an overwhelming power with their spells. Moreover, the attackers'' main goal was to bring their leaders close enough to affect the structure''s functions.


    The rebels practiced arts belonging to the same time as the castle, but Niqols had adapted its functions to the new ways throughout the years. Yeza and other experts in the maniption of mana had a high chance to take control of the various symbols now tainted with red shades.


    The battle would be over once the castle fell, and the rebels knew that far too well. They assaulted the army with their defenses, but their enemies also knew what they had to face. The projectiles managed to kill a few Niqols who didn''t stick to their leaders'' orders, but their group mostly survived that barrage of attacks.


    Khan felt lost from time to time. He often remained alone among the fog only to run into some of hispanions whenever the castleunched another attack. The structure slowly grew bigger in his eyes as he continued to advance. The army was about to reach their destination, but the rebels didn''t hesitate to give their everything during thatst part.


    The usual red lights shed on the castle, but they didn''t stop at that time. Khan almost stopped running when he saw that the red radiance continued to shine for nearly half a minute.


    Panic immediately filled his mind. Khan sprinted forward without bothering to change direction. He rushed his way toward the side of the castle as multiple whooshing noises filled the fog. His senses soon became able to locate many threats, but that only made him elerate.


    Only a few seconds had to pass before explosions began to fill the battlefield. The orders shouted by the leaders mixed with painful cries and rumbling noises. The entire valley shook as the temperature rose due to the appearance of countless fires. The foggy area transformed into a red hell that didn''t seem to know the end to its chaos.


    Khan sensed projectiles flying above his head and exploding behind him until one of them exploded rtively close to his position and flung him away with the heatwave that it created. He flew for a few meters, but he didn''t lose control of his movements.


    After thending, Khan rolled on the ground before jumping to his feet and resuming his sprint. The explosions finally ended, but he couldn''t see much. A single drop of sweat fell from his forehead as he tried to understand the true nature of the shadows that the flickering mes created among the fog, but he failed in the task.


    A ringing noise had taken control of his right ear after the close explosion, but that issue didn''tst long. It ended when Khan realized that the shadowy shape of the castle had spread high above him. He had basically reached his destination, but a series of dark figures suddenly appeared on his path.


    Khan immediately sprinted to the side, but he didn''t forget to keep track of those figures. Thetter advanced for a few steps before amassing in front of the castle. In Khan''s vision, they were nothing more than a vague ck area in the middle of the scarlet fog, but his sensitivity to mana allowed him to recognize them as Niqols.


    Yeza''s voice resounded throughout the fog as another mass of dark figures advanced toward the castle. "[This castle belongs to true Niqols. Traitors who can''t respect a global crisis aren''t worthy of what our ancestors left behind]!"


    "[You and your generation have ripped away from our species what made us Niqols]!" A rough voice resounded from the ck figures near the castle. "[Our ancestors built these structures for us. You can ask the humans for new ones since you like them so much]."


    Khan stopped retreating and half-crouched. Those words told him how the situation had progressed. The rebels had finally left the castle to prevent the army from reaching the red symbols. The battle was about to enter its critical phase, so he had to remain nearby to fulfill his role.


    Winds suddenly blew toward the castle. Khan''s hair had gotten quite long during his time on Nitis. It reached the halfway mark of his neck, so it fluttered as those gales pushed the fog behind the structure and cleared the battlefield.


    Khan finally became able to see the many fires and the two armies. Many had survived the explosive barrage. It even seemed that Yeza''s group was better offpared to the other teams.


    Ilman was near Yeza''s group, while Casper and Lorna stood close to the rocky wall. The adult Niqols was right behind Khan, while the other Niqols were farther away from the castle.


    Khan had ended up on the frontlines of his team, but he didn''t have the chance to think about his position since a series of presences became clear in his mind as the fog continued to leave the area.


    A small team of Niqols appeared on his side of the battlefield. Khan diverted his attention from the two armies and turned to see a group of aliens that had tried to use the fog to hide their presence. It seemed that his enemies also had a team of assassins ready to take out troublesome targets.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I need a few hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 218 - Fast Blows

    An awkward exchange of gazes happened. Khan was alone on the left side of the battlefield, with the army of rebels to his right and the enemy team of assassins ahead. Hispanions were behind him in different locations, so he ended up staring at the Niqols who had tried to use the fog to hide.


    The enemy group of assassins only had five members, and they were all adults. He sensed that the man in the lead was at the same level as Casper, but the others were weaker, which meant that he could face them. Yet, he remained still since the dispersion of the fog had made the battlefield end in a silent stalemate.


    Khan tightened his grip on the knife as he waited for something to happen. He didn''t dare to be the first to move when both sides had warriors far stronger than him. It was also against his role to attract attention to him.


    His opponents seemed to share his intentions. The enemy Niqols remained still as they inspected the rest of Khan''s team. It wasn''t hard to notice the other assassins, especially since they had recognized the imminent threat.. The two groups were sharing the same part of the battlefield, and Khan''s side had the numerical advantage. However, hispanions were quite distant, except for the adult alien.


    The silence felt deafening, but a series of lights soon shone on the battlefield and attracted everyone''s attention. Lieutenant Kintea was in charge of the team featuring a series of experts with ranged abilities, and he didn''t hesitate to give a silent order during that stalemate.


    A fireball, a fiery serpent, a series of arrows, a glowing spear, a sharp gale, and a blue mass flew above Yeza''s group and crashed on the enemy army. Only a few rebels managed to react to the wave of destruction unleashed by those attacks. Many died in a single exchange, and the event marked the beginning of an angry charge apanied by battle cries.


    The assassins in the rebel army moved their attention away from the two armies when they saw that the battle had started, but a peculiar scene soon unfolded in their vision. They saw their leader pushing Khan''s arm away with a bloody line spilling out of his cheek.


    Khan had exploited that distraction to attack the man in charge of the enemy team, but thetter had managed to react to his abrupt offensive. He had lunged his knife forward to aim for the Niqols'' head, but the alien had managed to raise his arm and deviate the blow. The weapon only managed to graze his cheek, where it left a long cut that almost reached the ear.


    The Niqols was still surprised, and his bnce wasn''t ideal, so Khan decided to press on. He twisted his wrist to sh his de at the alien''s forearm, but thetter reacted at an unfathomable speed.


    Time seemed to slow down in Khan''s eyes. His knife glowed with an azure light as it approached the alien''s forearm pushing his wrist, but the Niqols also attacked. The fingers of his left hand curved and released mana that took the shape of long ws as he swung them toward Khan''s waist.


    Khan didn''t have time to think. He had to trust the instincts developed throughout his battle to decide how to deal with that situation. He could give up on his attack and retreat, but he opted for another path.


    The Niqols'' attack was faster. The glowing ws traced an ascending sh that aimed to rip Khan''s entire torso to shred, but they found themselves unable to rise after theynded on his side. The alien''s eyes widened as he cut part of the robe and uncovered the array of clotted blood vessels that had stopped his technique from digging into Khan''s skin.


    The glowing ws began to slide across the patch of abdomen protected by the [Blood Shield]. They left superficial cuts that didn''t release any blood as they tried to reach the part of the skin not affected by the defensive technique, but they stopped moving when a sharp pain spread in the Niqols'' mind.


    Khan had continued his attack after deploying the [Blood Shield]. He had twisted his wrist to make his knife fall on the alien''s forearm, which severed it with a clean cut. The Niqols couldn''t help but stop his offensive, and Khan used that chance to run toward the other enemy assassins.


    The Niqols shouted in anger when he saw Khan running away, but he couldn''t follow after him since another opponent arrived. The adult alien in Khan''s team had charged ahead and had decided to take care of that injured enemy.


    Khan felt off after deactivating the [Blood Shield]. He gritted his teeth as his mind grew lighter and his heart transformed into a hammer that attacked his rib cage. The second checkpoint of the Niqols'' technique was a bit too much to endure at his current level, but he could continue to run after using it, so he didn''t mind those side effects.


    Khan didn''t fail to understand what had actually happened. He realized how impressive his previous feat had been. He had exchanged blows with a Niqols who felt as strong as Casper, a second-level warrior, and he had won.


    The power of the [Blood Shield] was incredible, and his clever use of the surprise effect had allowed him to leave a severe injury on his opponent. Khan didn''t only attack while the two armies distracted everyone. He had also used the seconds of disbelief experienced by the strong Niqols toplete his attack.


    Khan also knew that the exchange had been quite lucky. The Niqols'' power had even left him speechless since the former had managed to react to his fast surprise attack. It was clear that he couldn''t stand his ground in that battle, so he had used the first opportunity he found to move toward other opponents.


    The rest of the enemy assassins felt frightened in front of the scene. Khan had won the exchange of blows with their team leader, and he was running toward them now. Yet, they didn''t have the chance to escape since he was faster than them.


    The first Niqols to appear on Khan''s path was a woman who mustered the entirety of her courage to face him directly. Pale-red blood vessels became visible on her neck as she charged ahead to swing her hands at her opponent. She tried to interrupt Khan''s momentum, and she partially seeded, even if most of her feat came from his state.


    Khan was still dealing with the drawbacks of the [Blood Shield] when he saw the woman stepping forward. Her hands were des ready to behead him, so he ducked to sh his knife at her side. He failed to perform the Divine Reaper correctly, but a deep cut opened on his opponent''s waist anyway.


    Khan''s knee slid on the ground before he jumped back to his feet. The quick exchange had cleared part of his dizziness and had made him ready for his next opponent.


    A male Niqols had leaped toward him after seeing his glide. It was hard to keep track of Khan''s movements even if the other assassins were at his same level, but the previous exchange had forced him to slow down. The alien didn''t miss that opportunity and raised his knee to deliver a strong blow aimed at Khan''s chest.


    The Niqols timing had been exceptional, but he didn''t expect Khan''s martial art to be so flexible. Thetter stomped his right foot on the ground and rotated on himself before going airborne. His left leg helped give more power to the mid-air spin and allowed him to fly over the alien''s attack.


    Everything had happened in less than a second. Khan spun above the Niqols'' raised knee before delivering a powerful kick to his face. The alien''s vision went dark as the attack made him fly to the left.


    Thest two Niqols approached Khan at the same time before he could touch the ground. The woman among the two was wielding a short spearhead that she didn''t hesitate to lunge forward. Instead, the male alien deployed a variant of the palm strikes that saw him cing a hand on top of the other and thrusting them forward.


    The aliens'' timing had been good again. Their attacks wouldnd on Khan before he could touch the ground. The situation seemed to force him to rely on the [Blood Shield] again, but he didn''t know its effectiveness against the palm strike.


    Khan quickly decided that avoiding the palm strike had the priority. The [Blood Shield] appeared on his right palm as he stretched his hand to grab the spearhead and pull. The woman''s stance was firm, so she remained in her spot as Khan used her to flung himself forward.


    The two Niqols followed Khan with their eyes as they saw him flying past them tond behind the woman. Thetter turned, but the sharp tip of the glowing knife immediately filled her vision before it made it go dark.


    The man tried to deploy his palm strike while Khan was busy drawing the knife out of the woman''s head, but a foot suddenly appeared on his face and forced him to duck. The Niqols tried to continue his attack by aiming at Khan''s unprotected groin, but his leg descended in no time and hit his opponent at the center of his forehead.


    Khan couldn''t muster much strength from his stance, so the Niqols only felt intense dizziness spreading throughout his mind when he mmed on the ground. Still, he didn''t recover fast enough to dodge Khan''s next attack. The glowing knife dug a hole in his head and killed him on the spot.


    Khan opened and closed his right hand to disperse the tense feeling that had filled it after activating the [Blood Shield]. He turned to see the state of the other assassins, and he was pleased to see that hispanions had taken care of them.


    Casper, Lorna, Ilman, and adult Niqols, and the other surviving students in his team had gathered behind him, but they didn''t hide their surprise in front of his battle prowess. The humans had learnt that Khan had be a first-level warrior, but they didn''t expect him to be so strong right after that breakthrough.


    Khan didn''t waste time dealing with those stares. He gazed at the battlefield and noticed how chaotic the situation had be after only mere minutes. The two armies had fused to create a messy battlefield that featured multiple smaller fights.


    Many died every time Khan blinked. The battlefield was merciless, especially to those who happened to suffer from the reckless attacks of the leaders. Finding openings among that mess would be challenging, but Khan was ready to give his everything to reduce the number of losses that his side had to suffer.

 Chapter 219 - Battlefield

    Khan had to admit that he had underestimated the battlefield. He had been in messy battles between Istrone and Nitis, but he had never seen something so massive and chaotic.


    The two armies had shed in the area right in front of the castle, and Lieutenant Kintea''s team had to join the main group since the situation didn''t leave openings for ranged attacks. Almost two hundred Niqols and humans were fighting in a rtively small battlefield, creating a crowded and deadly environment that Khan didn''t know how to approach.


    Each path had a battle. Spells and attacks powered by mana flew everywhere and often traveled for a few meters before reaching a target. Khan even witnessed instances of friendly fire, which were inevitable considering how crowded the area was.


    The rest of his group shared that hesitation. Their task was to remove troublesome targets, but they didn''t know how to approach the battlefield. The weaker Niqols in the team had initially believed that their role would have made them safer than those in the frontlines. However, the reality of the situation soon became evident. Thatrge battle had no safe areas..


    Khan tried to inspect everything calmly, but the pressure he felt intensified with each second that he spent standing still. His eyes darted among the battlefield in a desperate attempt to find a safe path, but he only saw chaos in his vision.


    Moreover, each area had his friends or acquaintances, and he often saw some of them falling under the enemy offensive. Death was the true ruler of the battlefield, and it could arrive randomly.


    Khan eventually noticed a peculiar scene. A group of young Niqols had surrounded an adult alien who could withstand their blows due to the sheer thickness of his skin. It was clear that he was empowering his natural defenses with his mana, but that wasn''t everything. The man was also rtively nimble and could use his fingers to tear a path among his enemies.


    The young Niqols couldn''t do anything in that situation. At times, their palms managed tond on their opponent, but those attacks didn''t lead to any result. The man endured everything and used those openings to sever what his fingers could reach. He traced lines of blood in the air whenever he swung his hands.


    That battle was rtively close to the edges of the battlefield. Khan only needed to cross a few Niqols entangled in other fights to reach that position. That would leave him among the mess, but he didn''t care. Khan couldn''t remain on the sidelines anymore. He preferred to be in danger rather than watch the aliens who had partied and fought with him dying while he didn''t move a single step.


    Khan shot ahead without warning hispanions. The first battle on his path featured two young Niqols dodging each other''s techniques, but one of them lost her head as soon as he crossed that position.


    The second battle had three Niqols and a soldier. They appeared equally matched, but Khan nned to change that. One of the two enemy aliens seemed as strong as a second-level warrior, but the chaos of the battlefield didn''t allow him to see the shadow approaching him from behind.


    Khan prepared himself to sh the back of the man''s knees, but thetter suddenly dodged to his right to jump away from the path of a fireball that was flying toward him. Khan ended up in the spell''s trajectory during a slow phase of his sprint since he had started his attack, so he couldn''t avoid the fast projectile.


    The [Blood Shield] covered Khan''s arms and torso as he used the instant before the impact to protect his head. The fireball hit his crossed forearms and filled him with a scorching sensation before flinging him away.


    Khan flew until he hit an adult Niqols behind him. Thetter didn''t see him since she was busy dealing with another alien, and the impact disrupted her momentum, giving a chance to her opponent to inflict a deadly injury.


    Khan''s sleeves were on fire, but he tore the burning parts away as soon as hended on the ground. Then, he rolled to his left and jumped to his feet before inspecting the scene. A woman was lying lifelessly on the uneven terrain. A puddle of pale-red blood expanded from her throat, and a slender male alien stood next to her.


    The panic caused by the sudden situation made Khan raise his knife as soon as he saw the bloody dark sword wielded by the Niqols. His senses were deafening him. The mana in the area forced his mind to absorb countless pieces of information that only intensified his confusion and prevented him from realizing whether the swordsman was a foe.


    The Niqols nodded before performing an abrupt dodge to his right that partially avoided the attackunched by a rebel behind him. Khan saw blood filling the air behind the alien''s left shoulder. His ally had managed to avoid a deadly blow aimed at his neck.


    Khan regained his concentration and prepared himself to help his ally, but his mind suddenly sensed a dangerous mass of mana approaching him from behind. He instinctively jumped to his left and saw an ethereal yellow spear crossing his previous position before ending at the center of his ally''s chest.


    The man had been too caught in his new opponent to notice the spell. His eyes widened when the attack pierced his chest and continued to fly forward, stabbing the raised right arm of the woman behind him.


    Khan shot ahead and reached the woman in an instant. Thetter hadunched an attack to the ethereal spear to shatter it, so she could only jump back when she noticed the shadow approaching her at an insane speed. Yet, Khan leaped after her and lunged his weapon forward. Pale blood vessels started to appear on the Niqols'' face, but the glowing knife managed to stab the upper part of her face before the technique could protect her.


    Khan fell on the woman''s corpse, but he promptly jumped back to avoid ending inside the battle in front of him. His ally and his opponent were lying lifelessly on puddles of pale-red blood. He didn''t even have the time to understand their level, but that didn''t matter anymore now that they were dead.


    The scene tried to fill Khan''s mind with thoughts, but the chaos of the battlefield suppressed them. His sensitivity to mana made him hear a concert yed by the waves of energy flying around him.


    Khan found it impossible to think among those deafening sensations. They almost made him unable to move due to the pressure that apanied them. Still, his body acted as soon as one of them became too close to his position.


    A Niqols had approached Khan when she saw that he was standing still among the battlefield. Her sharp fingers had descended as soon as she reached his position, but he stepped forward to avoid the attack.


    The woman tried to wave her hands after Khan, but a foot suddenlynded on her nose and made her fly backward. Khan sprinted toward his opponent to finish her as soon as shended on the ground. However, another ethereal spear flew in his direction and threatened to hit his chest.


    Khan crouched and slid on the ground. He had reacted so quickly that the woman had ended up falling on him. The event interrupted his momentum and trapped him, but he quickly pushed his opponent away.


    The woman began to roll at his side, but she immediately pointed her palm and knees on the ground to stop herself. Her back was facing Khan, but she didn''t hesitate to wave her free hand blindly behind her.


    Khan noticed the attack as soon as he tried to straighten his back. Sharp fingers were flying toward his face and forced him to bend to his left to dodge them. The woman''s timing had been perfect, so her nails managed to dig two cuts that connected his right eye to his ear.


    The woman tried to push herself toward Khan after her attack failed to inflict serious injuries, but thetter promptly grabbed her arm and pulled. Meanwhile, his right leg rose and prepared itself to discharge an attack as soon as the opponent arrived.


    The Niqols covered her face with her free arm as soon as she saw Khan''s foot flying toward her. That simple protection didn''t prevent her vision from growing blurred, and her opponent didn''t let her go either.


    Khan pulled the woman and mmed his foot on her again. A cracking noise eventually reached his ears as her forearm broke and opened the path for a direct attack. The Niqols tried to free herself, but Khan''s grip was firm, and his offensive relentless. He was basically sitting on the ground, so he couldn''t muster much strength, but hepensated by kicking his opponent''s face until it transformed into a gory mess.


    Khan felt the instinct to lie down after letting go of the woman, but he felt utter fear when he inspected the battlefield from his position. He was sitting among attacks that flew through the air and Niqols struggling to kill each other. He would get stomped if he dared to remain there.


    A familiar scene appeared in Khan''s vision as soon as he stood up. He noticed his initial target behind two Niqols who were exchanging blows madly. The alien was still fighting against younger troops, but another friendly face had joined them. Doku was there, doing his best to take down the powerful opponent with his precise palm strikes.


    Doku''s attacks failed to do much, but he seemed able to slow down his opponent''s offensive. Still, thetter continued to use his incredible defensive ability to injure the Niqols around him. It appeared that taking him down would require a steep price.


    Khan wiped away the blood flowing from the cuts on the right side of his head before shooting ahead. His knife shed as he jumped right in the middle of the two Niqols exchanging reckless blows, and his ally soon noticed that he was continuing to attack a headless corpse.


    The Niqols with the enhanced skin managed to stab his fingers in a student''s chest, but a shadow soon appeared in his vision. Khan came out from behind his injuredpanion and reached his target in an instant. His knife rose even faster and stabbed the lower part of the alien''s mouth.


    The knife pierced past the mouth and reached the brain. The Niqols continued to move and tried to close his arms on Khan''s throat, but thetter pulled his weapon and opened his opponent''s head in half.


    It had taken a while and many deaths, but Khan had finally killed the target chosen when he was still outside that mess.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Only one chapter of Chaos and two of Demonic Sword today, and the same goes for tomorrow. A good friend of minepleted his master''s degree, and he is taking everyone out to dinner. I can''t go with my current schedule, so I''ve decided to slow things down these two days.

 Chapter 220 - Chase

    Doku and Khan didn''t have the time to exchange words. They nodded at each other before the rage of the battlefield fell on them and forced that small group to separate.


    Khan sprinted among the group of Niqols and rare humans while swinging his de and kicking whenever he found a good opportunity. The chaos of the battlefield still ruined every n that tried to form in his mind and forced him to improvise, but his speed and deadliness gave him an advantage that most didn''t share.


    Khan had a specific role in that battle, but it was impossible to keep it in mind in that situation. He could barely think at all with the pressure that the mana around him applied to his senses. Khan soon lost himself among the cycle of sprints, dodges, and attacks that his body performed. He emptied himself of every useless feeling and sensation to blend with the battlefield and be nothing more than an expression of his expertise.


    Interrupting the flow of his thoughts and regressing to a mere mass of instincts seemed the only valid option in an area thatcked order. nning something would only lead to hesitation, which usually brought death, and Khan couldn''t die there. He didn''t allow himself tomit mistakes after surviving through twelve years of nightmares. He couldn''t be sloppy now that he had found someone who could grant him peace..


    Khan didn''t have the time to appreciate how easy it had been for him to blend with the battlefield. It felt almost natural to adapt his movements and flow among the waves of mana that reached his senses.


    His reactions quickened, his attacks became more precise, and his movements grew smoother. Khan experienced his strongest state yet, but he couldn''t appreciate it. His thoughts were elsewhere, hidden by a dense and seemingly emptyyer that forced his mind to remain immersed in the mana around him.


    The head of a young rebel exploded when Khan kicked it, but he quickly bent backward to dodge an ethereal spear flying in his direction. Another young rebel tried to attack him while he was in that odd position, but he performed a back handspring to get out of that situation.


    The rebel tried to chase after Khan, but thetter threw a kick at his opponent''s head. The attack shattered the girls'' teeth before breaking her neck and flinging her backward.


    Khan shot to his right. He had instinctively chosen the annoying spear-thrower as his next target, but it had taken him a while to identify the Niqols responsible for those spells. However, he had eventually explored the messy battlefield enough to notice a tall woman conjuring those yellow ethereal weapons out of thin air.


    Hisst sprints had brought him closer to his target. Still, the woman seemed to have realized that he wasing for her since she retreated whenever he got too close. She even had a group of young Niqols around her that opened a path and fought to protect her.


    Each step forward that Khan took led him in another battle, but he didn''tin nor hesitate. It felt almost good to be lost in that mess. Khan felt as if every move he performed was better than the previous. He was striving toward the perfection that his current level could touch, and a tinge of ecstasy inevitably seeped inside his seemingly empty mind.


    Khan began to wee battles. He rejoiced whenever his target retreated and gave him the chance to fight a bit more before reaching her.


    A fireball flew across the battlefield, and Khan risked getting in its trajectory. The spell carried an immense amount of mana, so he sensed it before it was toote. He could stop and let the attack pass, but his body continued to move forward.


    Khan jumped to fall to his knees and started sliding on the ground. His back bent backward as he almosty down and continued to glide. He kept his eyes open as the fiery projectile crossed his position. The scarlet mes shone in his vision, but that scenested for less than a second. The fireball soon continued its flight and exploded as soon as itnded on someone.


    The fireball had made many take a step back, so Khan could take his opponents by surprise when he jumped back to his feet. The two young Niqols on his path only saw a shadow before both of them found a horizontal cut splitting their foreheads into two parts.


    Khan was too immersed in the battlefield to rely on moves that could reduce the issue caused by failed executions of the Divine Reaper. He shed and lunged freely without worrying about the sess of his techniques. He danced ording to the rhythm of the mana around him, and his approach led to evident benefit.


    His smoother moves and quicker reflexes weren''t the only aspects affected by his strange mental state. His martial arts also benefited from the absence of thoughts, especially when it came to the Divine Reaper. Khan couldn''t remember thest time he had failed to execute his techniques correctly, which led to a sharp improvement of his battle prowess.


    Khan didn''t limit the Divine Reaper to lunges or shes aimed at vital spots. He didn''t fear eventual failures, and the sess of his executions allowed him to kill in ways that he had been too scared to attempt.


    The knife glowed as Khan approached a male Niqols who appeared as strong as a second-level warrior. The alien wasn''t paying attention to him, but he turned when he sensed the mana behind him gaining sharp properties.


    The Niqols quickly stepped forward to push his opponent away and turn to face the new enemy. Khan had his knife near his chest, ready to thrust it as soon as his opponent entered his range, but the alien managed to attack before that could happen.


    The man joined his palms before making one of them slide toward Khan through a sharp movement. The gesture released a curved azure line that flew forward at high speed.


    The line''s mana carried the same nature as the energy around the knife, and Khan didn''t miss that detail. His first instinct was to dodge, but the Niqols quickly released a second attack that joined the first and transformed them into a sharp cross.


    Khan would have to slide to his sides to dodge the azure cross, and his body even started to crouch to proceed with that n. However, everything changed when a cruel smirk appeared on the Niqols'' face. The man kept his palms ready to attack again as soon as Khan picked a direction.


    Khan continued to crouch, but his movement soon transformed into an abrupt leap that made him fly in the top-right opening of the cross. The sudden event surprised the Niqols since he had prepared an attack aimed toward the ground. He couldn''t move his palms in time to adjust the trajectory of his technique, so he abandoned his initial n and raised his arms to protect his face.


    Khan stretched his knife forward and turned his wrist so that the de would end up in the path of the Niqols'' forearms. Thetter barely managed to protect his face before his arrival, but his eyes widened when he saw the glowing weapon cutting his left wrist and approaching his face.


    The alien began to dodge to his right, but he was one second toote. The knife reached his nose and started digging his flesh while he continued his evasive maneuver. The Niqols ended uppleting his move, but blood suddenly spurted out of his face. The weapon had managed to cut half of his nape during the attack.


    Khan began to roll on himself while still airborne and continued the movement once hended on the ground. He went back to his feet in an instant without wasting time checking the opponent behind him. His senses had already told him that the man had fallen.


    Simr scenes happened while Khan continued to move forward. He didn''t always kill, especially when his opponents were stronger than him, but his deadliness remained far above average. Many of those who appeared on his path died or suffered severe injuries that significantly affected their battle.


    Khan also had to change direction many times. Everything was fine when he met young rebels or adults at his level, but he couldn''t jump among those with the power of second-level warriors recklessly. He had killed some of them, but he had always needed to exploit the surprise effect or simr tricks in the feat.


    His chase of the spear-thrower led him to the other side of the battlefield, but he always made sure never to get near its center. The area had strong warriors everywhere, but the real leaders were fighting in the middle of that mess, and no one could disturb them.


    Khan never tried to inspect the center of the battlefield, mostly because he felt that the waves of mana there had enough power to sweep him away. Yet, he saw spells and people flying from that location at times, so he could keep track of the trend of the overall fight.


    His side was winning. Khan didn''t know how or why, but he could see the ranks of rebels thinning as the battle continued to unfold. The fight among the leaders would probably y an important role in the assault''s oue, but that wasn''t his problem. Performing well among that mess helped more than enough.


    Another spear flew in his direction, but he dodged it with a single sidestep. Niqols jumped toward Khan, but he shed, kicked, lunged, and sprinted depending on the nature of the situation. He even ran away when necessary, but his target remained in sight, and he eventually reached her.


    The woman was only a first-level warrior, but her spell was annoying and deadly. Her spear barely had any weight, so she could throw them across the entire battlefield. Her aim was even incredible, but the chaotic nature of the area made her hit rebels at times.


    Khan''s relentless chase had led the woman and her team to the edges of the battlefield. They could still retreat into the empty areas at the side of the castle, but that would only open the path for her opponents. The rebels had to stop the enemy army from reaching the structure, so leaving the mess wasn''t an option.


    The woman could only continue to escape Khan by reaching the part of the battlefield on the opposite side of the castle. The two armies had blended by then, so that area had the same number of allies and enemies. Yet, it also featured the rear team.


    Khan had reached the point when no battles stood between him and the spear thrower. The weaker Niqols around her couldn''t help but shake in fear when they saw that fast opponent sprinting toward them. They had kept track of Khan''s feats during their retreat, so they knew that their numerical advantage might fail to lead to a victory.


    The tall woman among them threw a spear aimed at Khan. The spell appeared even faster at that distance, but the same went for him. The previous battles had perfected his moves in ways that even he struggled to believe.


    Khan jumped forward, and his opponents opened their mouths in surprise when they saw him stepping on the yellow spear. The ethereal fabric of the weapon felt strange under his foot, but it was dense enough to act as a foothold.


    The spear shattered into a cloud of light that dispersed in no time when Khan leaped again. The weaker Niqols lost him until hended on the heads of two of them.


    Thending was so soft that the Niqols almost failed to notice his arrival, but what followed carried opposite properties. Khan raised his glowing knife as part of his mana rushed downward and instantly increased his weight.


    Khan mmed on the ground, carrying the two Niqols with him. The two aliens fell, and their heads ended up in the holes dug by Khan''s feet. The event attracted the attention of theirpanion, who focused on the blood flowing out of the cavities, but another surprising event soon entered their vision.


    Half of the spear thrower''s head fell among the Niqols and filled their minds with utter fear, but only a few had the time to move. Khan didn''t hesitate to throw kicks around him, crushing the skulls or rib cages of anyone who dared to be too slow to leave his range.


    Khan chased the escaping Niqols, but ice suddenly grew from the ground under them and pierced their legs before transforming them into frozen statues. Thetter quickly shattered into countless shards and revealed the rear team at some distance from the main battle.


    Liiza lowered her hand and revealed a warm smile when she saw that Khan was safe. Thetter couldn''t break his concentration, but he still nodded at his girlfriend. She didn''t add to avoid distracting him, and the two soon focused on other parts of the battlefield.


    Khan felt refreshed after that short interaction. He was ready to follow the waves of mana again, but a scene made that faint happiness end up with the rest of his thoughts. He saw Azni carrying Asyat on her shoulders. A river of blood had reced thetter''s right leg.

 Chapter 221 - Complaints

    Azni limited herself to nce at Khan before suppressing every emotion and pressing forward. She knew that her friend could bring Asyat back to the camp far faster than her, but he was too valuable on the battlefield to abandon it.


    Khan understood her thoughts and let her go without saying anything. Still, that sight ruined the pleasant emotion that seeing Liiza had generated and made him go back to a grim thoughtless state that carried a deeper resolve than before.


    Thoughts tried to seep past his empty mental state as he dived back into the battlefield to resume his role. Khan had killed a lot by then, but he found himself surprised to realize how frail life was. Death often descended whenever his knife darted, but he had never fully acknowledged how his friends could very well be in the opposite situation.


    What if the rebels had someone like Khan on the battlefield? His friends would die for the sole reason of standing on his path. That worry seemed strong enough to put an end to his special mental state, but everything stabilized and became firmer than ever once he reached a simple, instinctive conclusion. He couldn''t control anything there, so it was pointless even to try.


    That conclusion mostly came from his poor level, but Khan saw how even the stronger soldiers failed to save their lives or affect the battlefield meaningfully.. They had opponents who could reduce their influence, which applied to the leaders on both sides. Khan would have to be more powerful than Yeza to begin having more control, but that sounded vague since his current knowledge didn''t allow him toprehend the state he had to reach.


    The eptance of his small and even disposable role only improved everything that he had experienced before. Khan moved faster, had sharper reactions, and was deadlier than ever once he rejoined the mess. He lost himself, but he preserved a firm resolve at that time. He wanted to perform better to end that chaotic battlefield quickly.


    More rebels fell by his hands as he resumed his search for troublesome targets. The battlefield seemed to erge as the number of troops shrunk. The rear team took care of the injured within their reach or transported to the camp those that managed to leave the mess.


    The ruthless and relentless battles eventually culminated in a slow advance toward the castle. Yeza''s side was forcing the enemy army to retreat and was exploiting that trend to kill as many opponents as possible. Khan and everyone else could go crazy now that the rebels were focusing on defending themselves or retreating.


    The numerical advantage also benefited the battle among the leaders. Yeza and Captain Erbair saw adults Niqols or soldiers joining their fights and helping them against the rebels who had been able to face them until now. That bloody assault seemed about to end soon, but azure light suddenly shed among the troops, giving the signal meant for a full retreat.


    Yeza didn''t stop the assault right away since the army was close to achieving aplete victory, but her expression changed when she checked her cube. The scouts on both mountains had alerted her of an imminent threat. The event wouldn''t give her the time to end the battle or capture the castle.


    "[Retreat]!" Yeza suddenly shouted among the disbelief of her allies.


    "[What do you even mean]?" Captain Erbair immediatelyined. "[We are so close to ending this in a single assault]!"


    Yeza wished to have the time to exin everything to her allies. She realized how hard it could be for them to give up on everything they had achieved during the assault, but the situation didn''t leave her other options.


    Yeza knew that words would only make her army waste time without leading to actual conclusions. She stopped advancing and turned to run away from the castle without bothering to add anything else. She even controlled the mana around her to make it echo her feeling in the hope that her underlings would follow her without questions.


    The Niqols, both young and adults, trusted Yeza deeply, and the wave of emotions that enveloped them helped remove the hesitation they felt in front of her order. They regretted leaving a battlefield that had taken the lives of many of theirpanions, but something disastrous seemed about to fall on them, so they decided to follow their leader.


    The humans had a harder time epting that decision, but they couldn''t remain on the battlefield on their own, so they followed the Niqols as questions escaped their mouths. Some of the soldiers even dropped their polite tones when they requested proper exnations.


    Khan could only snap out of his strange mental state and join his retreating allies. He didn''t understand what was happening, but he didn''t need to. His position only allowed him to follow orders.


    The rebels felt confused, but they disregarded the meaning behind their opponents'' retreat and decided to use that chance to attack. Azure symbols shed on their forearms or chests as mentalmunications reached them, but they ignored them due to the frenzy that filled their minds.


    The rebels had just gone from utter desperation to hope. The battlefield had transformed so quickly that they didn''t have the chance to think about their actions. They fell prey to their intense desire to kill those invaders, which made them disregard any potential danger approaching the valley.


    A strong group of aliens had survived among the rebel army. Those Niqols didn''t hesitate tounch spells that ended on the backs of their retreating enemies as they continued to chase after them.


    Yeza''s army began to experience losses again, which only intensified the hesitation and confusion that had never stopped to fill her underlings. The humans grew even louder with theirints, especially Captain Erbair since she had seen one of her Lieutenants falling prey to a strange scarlet bullet that exploded into a mass of fire once it reached the escaping troops. Yet, Yeza continued to run and make her emotions flow around her.


    A series of hoarse screeches suddenly resounded throughout the valley and put an end to theints. Both armies nced above them and noticed that a series of big figures had started descending inside the area. Yeza didn''t need to exin her reasons anymore at that point. It was clear that she was trying to bring her group away from that flock of Tainted animals and monsters.


    Khan only managed to memorize a few shy features during the short time he spent inspecting the flock. He saw dark feathers, straight, long beaks, and glowing scarlet eyes. Moreover, the scene had another terrifying detail. The specimen in the lead of the flying group was far bigger than the others and had two pairs of huge wings that shone with a silver glow.


    Panic immediately filled the troops on the ground. Yeza''s group did its best to run away from the valley, while the rebels immediately stopped their offensive to return to the castle. However, the flock dived at an unfathomable speed and reached the ground before anyone could get to their destinations.


    Many monsters and Tainted animals descended on the rebels since they were directly under them. Instead, the leader and some rtively big creatures chased after Yeza''s army.


    The leader of those bird-like creatures abruptly stopped its descent when it was close enough to the ground. It spread its four wings as the silver glow that covered them intensified. The feathers on those limbs quickly stood up before shooting after the Niqols and humans desperately trying to leave the area.


    Each feather was as long as a man''s forearm and carried the leader''s dangerous mana. A rain of sharp and heavy projectiles fell toward the ground and forced everyone to deploy defensive techniques or perform evasive maneuvers.


    Khan sensed everything happening above him clearly, even if his eyes didn''t point at the monster. The feathers carried so much mana that missing them was impossible, so he jumped left and right to avoid everything that tried to fall toward him.


    The feathers dug the ground and made spiderwebs of cracks open when they released their power. Their effects were deadly, and they even seeded in piercing some of the defensive measures that the troops had stopped to deploy.


    Everyone expected that attack to end soon due to the limited resource used in the offensive, but the monster soon proved them wrong. The creature seemed to have an endless number of feathers since that deadly rain continued to fall even after its third wave. Those who had stopped to defend themselves ended up dying due to their miscalction of the mutated beast''s power.


    Khan was rtively fine. The feathers were fast, but so was he. He was even slippery enough to perform precise dodges that often led him to avoid those projectiles by mere centimeters. Still, Khan couldn''t feel happy about his situation since he had to witness the assault ripping the rear team to shreds.


    The rear group had ended up in the lead of the retreat after Yeza''s orders, but their members were very different in their nature. Some were Niqols capable of deploying spells that could influence the battlefield significantly, while others were rtively weak troops in charge of bringing the injured back to the camp.


    The rain of feathers killed most of those weak troops on the spot and gave the others a hard time. A ughter unfolded in Khan''s eyes, but his skin soon started to burn as he mustered all the power contained in his body to elerate and reach his girlfriend.


    Liiza had deployed ayer of ice on her back to protect herself from the feathers that fell on her, but her spell couldn''t stop the attackspletely. Her ability shattered after two projectiles stabbed it and left bleeding injuries near her spine.


    Liiza didn''t stop running away, but the feathers eventually began to fall toward her again. She could obviously sense them, but she wasn''t fast enough to dodge all of them since they covered a rtivelyrge area.


    Two of the four feathers flying toward her were about to hit her back, but Khan suddenly jumped in their trajectory. He faced the projectiles with the [Blood Shield] covering the outer side of his right arm and the glowing knife in the other.


    One of the feathersnded on his arm and slid across it. The projectile''s favorable angtion allowed the [Blood Shield] to deviate its trajectory and made it slide across the array of clotted blood vessels. Entire chunks of his skin vanished as the sharp attack acted as a brush razor, but he eventually managed to send it away.


    Meanwhile, another feather tried to hit his shoulder but met the glowing knife first. The weapon cut right through the projectile, but thetter was too long, and its texture was equally tough across its whole structure. Khan severed the enhanced quill in half and deviated its trajectory, but his de suffered the same fate. It broke right afterpleting the attack.


    Khan didn''t have the time to think about his knife. He performed a messynding on the ground before retrieving his bnce and turning to inspect Liiza, but he found her on her knees, with a hand covering a bloody patch that had once been her left shoulder.


    A feather had managed to hit her even after Khan had given his everything. Liiza had lost the entirety of her left arm in the process. The energy discharged by the feather after thending had also disrupted her bnce, making her fall to the ground.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to reach Liiza and throw her on his shoulders. She didn''t oppose the process since she had long since noticed that Khan was behind her. Instead, she used that time to cover her injury with ayer of ice. She wasn''t fine but losing a limb didn''t make her panic.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I''m having trouble focusing today. The next chapter will take a few hours to arrive.

 Chapter 222 - Desperation

    The rain of feathers didn''t stop, but Khan could avoid everything that tried to fly toward him. Carrying Liiza inevitably slowed him down but only slightly. He remained fast enough to dodge the monster''s threatening ability.


    Liiza and Khan didn''t say anything to each other, and she didn''t try to jump down either. The crisis had already made her confirm that her weight barely affected his speed, and it was clear that she couldn''t deal with the feathers on her own, especially after losing an arm.


    Khan couldn''t feel the pain radiated by his right arm. He didn''t even think about his broken knife. Only the sensations caused by the falling feathers and the exit of the valley existed in his mind.


    Painful cries filled the valley as Niqols and humans continued to die. The monsters'' screeches resounded among the two mountains, but they couldn''t suppress the familiar voices that reached Khan''s ears. The Niqols he had learnt to know during thest months were dying, and he couldn''t do anything about that.


    .


    The higher-ups from both species soon reached the rear team and lowered the damages caused by the feathers. Yeza seemed able to make those projectiles change their trajectory, Captain Erbair could punch many of them away, and the other powerful troops also performed simr feats.


    Soon, only those who could deal with the feathers or had found suitable protectors continued to run in the valley. Still, the deaths didn''t stop since many monsters directly dived on the escaping group to kill with their sharp talons.


    Khan did everything in his power to remain near Yeza, and she didn''t make it hard for him. An aura capable of fending off the monsters surrounded the Niqols'' leader, and she didn''t hesitate to use her ability to protect her daughter.


    The valley''s exit eventually grew close enough to fill the survivors with hope, but the ground in front of them suddenly opened to reveal a series of mutated Lysixi. It turned out that the battle between the two armies had attracted more than one pack, and the scouts couldn''t see the seconding.


    A series of spells immediately shot toward the monstersing out of the ground. Every ability user in the escaping groupunched powerful attacks that killed the creatures before they could jump on the surface. Yet, more Lysixi soon reced the dead and continued their charge.


    A few Niqols managed to use the window created by the spells to jump past the holes created by the Lysixi, but those creatures soon sealed the path and bellowed in anger. The escaping group had to stop to avoid those threatening monsters, but that action only exposed them to the rain of feathers.


    The two packs weren''t working together. The bird-like monsters screeched at the mutated Lysixi and diverged part of their offensive on them. Khan almost hoped that the two groups would forget about them, but that didn''t seem to be an option.


    The mutated Lysixi created a proper wall with their bodies while Khan''s group tried to understand what to do. They couldn''t advance, but they couldn''t stay there either since feathers continued to fall and some of the flying monsters had evennded near them.


    Many eyes fell on the two leaders. Niqols and humans tried to find answers in Yeza and Captain Erbair, but it was clear that they were as lost as them. The two packs weren''t leaving any path open even if they didn''t n to share their targets peacefully.


    Utter desperation fell among the group. ns formed and crumbled in Khan''s mind as he tried to find a way out of that situation. He had a shot at leaving. He was fast enough to sprint past the Lysixi, but that only if they were distracted.


    Khan eventually experienced nefarious thoughts when death seemed imminent. He hated what was appearing in his mind, but he couldn''t ignore the products of his survival instincts.


    Khan quickly came up with a list of who he was willing to sacrifice to save his life. The names of the soldiers or adult Niqols didn''t affect him, but he felt dirty when he saw that many of his acquaintances had made it there. His only constion was that his close friends weren''t there.


    "[Mom]?" Liiza asked in a weak voice when she realized how desperate the situation was.


    Yeza stared at Liiza and the desperation that she felt melted. It had taken Liiza entire years and that terrible situation to rely on her mother, and thetter couldn''t help but feel happy about it.


    Yeza heaved a deep sigh before showing a warm smile. She knew what she had to do. In theory, her position as an ambassador made her the most valuable asset in the valley, but she didn''t care about politics now. She had a chance to save her daughter, and no hesitation stood on that path.


    "[Convince the old hag toe back home]," Yeza ordered in a warm voice, "[And don''t make kids before you have established yourself in the tribe. Did you hear that, young man]?"


    Khan found himself unable to speak when looking at Yeza. He could read her intentions on her face, and his throat closed because of that. He could only nod to answer her.


    "[What does this mean]?" Liiza asked.


    Liiza had lost a lot of blood, and pain filled her mind. She had used the entirety of her concentration to straighten her back enough to inspect the situation, so she was utterly exhausted now. Her mind couldn''t process the meaning behind Yeza''s words.


    Yeza didn''t answer. She closed her eyes before unleashing a wave of mana that crossed her underlings and expanded until it reached the monsters and Tainted animals in the area.


    Khan had felt as if a dense gale had crossed his body. Nothing had happened to him, but he didn''t fail to notice how all the flying monsters after his group fell to the ground. The same happened to the Lysixi. Yeza had made more than fifty monsters faint at the same time without affecting any of her underlings.


    The incredible power revealed by Yeza left Khan stunned. He had no idea that the Niqols could deploy such a strong ability. It felt almost surreal that a single mage could aplish something like that.


    The humans and Niqols in the group shared Khan''s amazement. Hope even appeared in their expressions, but their faces darkened when they saw that the monsters didn''t remain asleep. Those creatures began to wake up mere seconds after falling to the ground.


    "[Khan]!" Yeza shouted, and her words seemed to carry hidden meanings meant only for him.


    Khan immediately snapped back to reality and sprinted toward the Lysixi. He ignored everything happening around him and jumped past the sleeping monsters to resume escaping from the valley.


    Liiza struggled to raise her back. She was lying on Khan''s right shoulder, and he was holding her legs with both arms, so she didn''t have to worry about her bnce. She could gaze at the rest of the escaping group, and her eyes widened after noticing that Yeza wasn''t moving. The monster with two pairs of wings was even charging at her.


    Khan wished to go deaf. Liiza called her mother in a tone that broke his heart. She even mentioned him a few times, but he forced himself to ignore everything and focus on escaping. He only made sure to tighten his grip on Liiza''s legs to prevent her eventual attempts to run toward Yeza.


    Yeza''s smile widened when she saw how sad Liiza felt. She could finally confirm that her daughter cared about her, but her eyes eventually had to move on the four-winged monster. Her re forced the creature to interrupt its charge and inspect its opponent in fear. That gave her the time to grab the only human that had remained in the area.


    Captain Erbair felt dizzy. Her surroundings had turned into nothing more than vague images after Yeza unleashed her ability. Then, she felt someone pulling her from her shoulder.


    Captain Erbair initially helped the pulling force since she believed that someone was dragging her away from the valley. However, when her vision stabilized, she found herself farther than before from the valley''s entrance.


    "What have you done?" Captain Erbair asked without bothering to use the Niqols''nguage.


    "I couldn''t keep them busy on my own," Yeza revealed while letting Captain Erbair go and showing a sorry smile.


    Captain Erbair inspected her surroundings at that point. The Lysixi and the flying monsters had surrounded Yeza and her, but they didn''t attack. Those creatures appeared scared of the two leaders even when they had an overwhelming numerical advantage.


    "Is this your doing?" Captain Erbair asked.


    "I can make them scared," Yeza sighed, "But monsters with such big packs don''t give in to fear. They probably think that we are more valuable than all our underlings."


    Captain Erbair inspected the distant valley''s exit. A few monsters were running in that direction as they tried to catch the survivors with Khan in the lead. Those creatures weren''t enough to scare away the underlings, but thetter''s priority was to leave the area.


    "You killed us," Captain Erbair coldly stated.


    "It''s our role to protect the younger generations," Yeza announced. "Your species will be fine. You have good soldiers."


    "Humans don''t think like that," Captain Erbairined while moving her eyes on the monsters around her.


    "I know," Yeza chuckled. "That''s why I didn''t give you any choice."


    "Bastard!" Captain Erbair cursed while turning toward Yeza and grabbing her shoulders.


    "Come on now," Yezaughed. "We are already dead, but we can buy more time for our underlings. Let''s focus on putting up a good fight, shall we?"


    Captain Erbair wanted to crush Yeza on the spot, but she couldn''t deny the nature of her situation. Monsters were all around her, and some of them had gone through the second round of mutations. Many had abilities, and both packs even had reinforcements near the castle or on the ground. Death was inevitable even for a soldier as strong as her.


    "You are lucky that I like to fight," Captain Erbair sighed while letting Yeza go.


    Yeza revealed a happy smile, but the two leaders soon had to turn toward the monsters. Thetter had finally managed to ovee their fear and hadunched a joint offensive.

 Chapter 223 - Broken

    Khan put as much energy he could muster into his escape. He ignored his surroundings, the struggling girl in his arms, and her screams to focus on leaving the valley.


    The mountains eventually ended, but Khan kept running. The encampment was one hour from the valley, but he nned to reach it in less than thirty minutes by maintaining his top speed.


    His sensitivity to mana tried to send information to his brain, but Khan didn''t let anything disturb his concentration. He feared what Liiza''s pleading would do to his mind if he let them inside, and the situation didn''t allow mistakes. He couldn''t waste Yeza''s sacrifice.


    Not many kept up with his speed. The adults behind Khan did their best to salvage what they could, so they slowed down their escape on purpose to help the injured and make sure that they weren''t leading monsters to their encampment. Some higher-ups even stopped running after a while to deal with the few creatures still in pursuit.


    The camp never appeared in Khan''s vision until he crossed an invisible barrier that transformed the scenes in his vision.. Familiar triangr structures and an old Niqols wearing a worried expression reced the barren shores.


    "[She lost her arm]!" Khan shouted, and Zalpa quickly pointed at one of the habitations.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to enter the tent and drop Liiza on the ground carefully. Wet cheeks and teary eyes inevitably appeared in his vision and forced him to ept how much Liiza had suffered during the escape, but Zalpa quickly pushed him away to handle her arm.


    Khan didn''t mind those rude manners. He kept his eyes on Liiza as he crouched on the ground and waited for Zalpa to work her magic. Liiza was only partially awake, so she didn''t fight the old Niqols as she ripped her robe apart and began to draw lines on the left side of her chest. Zalpa initially used only mana during the process, but she cut her palm and added blood to retrace the signs.


    Liiza ended up with three glowing red symbols by the time Zalpa left her. The ice that covered the hideous injury had long since shattered, but the blood loss had also stopped. Khan even saw the skin on the maimed shoulder twitch every few seconds.


    "[The pain will soon be unbearable]," Zalpa exined after turning toward Khan. "[I need to take care of the others, so I can''t be with her all the time. You must make sure that she won''t remove the technique]."


    Khan nodded before approaching Liiza and sitting next to her as soon as Zalpa left that spot. He took her hand and held it tightly as that scene triggered other awful memories. He had been in the same situation on Istrone after the soldiers found Martha.


    Zalpa opened her mouth, but she felt unable to say anything. She wanted a thorough description of the battle, but Khan was in no condition to give it.


    "[I''lle backter to fix your arm and check on her]," Zalpa announced before heaving a deep sigh when she noticed that Khan didn''t react to her words.


    Khan couldn''t feel the paining from his right arm. He didn''t even bother to store his broken knife back in the sheath. The weapon remained on the ground to his right while he left worried kisses on Liiza''s hand and hoped with everything he had that everything would go well.


    "[It tickles, dummy]," Liiza said in a weak voice as some rity returned in her eyes.


    Khan immediately bent forward to caress her hair. Liiza revealed a warm smile as she lost herself in his warmth, but the glow of the red symbols suddenly intensified and transformed her face into an expression of pure pain.


    Liiza screamed in pain and tried to turn, but Khan pulled her hand and used that chance to make hery her head on hisp. Liiza didn''t calm down and threatened toy on her left, so Khan wrapped an arm around her neck and pushed her down from her right shoulder.


    Liiza kicked and tried to break free, but Khan was too strong. She tried to summon her mana, but the pain was too intense. Desperation eventually filled her mind and made her rely on pleads.


    "[Khan, make it stop]," Liiza pleaded in a broken voice.


    A scream followed her words, and Liiza didn''t forget to fix her desperate eyes on Khan when the wave of pain ended. He wanted to look away, but he couldn''t leave her alone during the process, so he endured his desire to interrupt the procedure and shook his head.


    Liiza soon screamed again, and her struggles didn''t stop. Pleads came out of her mind whenever the pain allowed her to think, and some of them became curses as Khan kept refusing her.


    The healing process tortured both of them. Liiza was so in so much pain that she started threatening Khan with topics that she knew would hurt him. She used their rtionship, and her words felt like knives that pierced his chest whenever they reached his ears.


    Khan never answered. He couldn''t find the strength to speak there, and his only constion came from the state of Liiza''s injury. New flesh appeared during the most painful phases of the healing process. Bones, muscles, and skin slowly grew to recreate the missing limb.


    The pain wasn''t constant. The red symbols gave Liiza a break when her mind and body were about to reach a breaking point. She could finally calm down in those moments, but the memories of her threats didn''t allow her to rest.


    "[I''m sorry]," Liiza said during one of the breaks as tears fell from her eyes. "[I don''t want to say those things, but it hurts so much]."


    Khan felt able to speak again when he gazed at her regretful expression. He revealed a proud smile before whispering words in the most loving tone that he could muster. "[Don''t worry about me. You are doing great]."


    "[Khan]," Liiza called as fear seeped in her voice, "[It''sing back. I can feel it. Quick, make someone else take your ce. I don''t want to say those things to you]."


    "[I''m not going anywhere]," Khan stated before bending forward to leave a long kiss on Liiza''s forehead.


    Liiza smiled, but the pain quickly returned and restarted the cycle of screams, curses, and threats. Khan didn''t budge, and his eyes often fell on the growing arm as he tried to calcte how long that process had tost. The results of his study were disheartening, to say the least.


    Zalpa entered the tent to check on the couple a few times, but she found herself unable to do anything. Liiza only had to wait for the technique to end, and Khan refused to let her hand go to get his arm treated. Also, he hoped that the pain spreading from his injuries would rece what he experienced during Liiza''s screams, but his mind betrayed him.


    The healing processsted almost half a day. The pain ended and the red symbols went dark when Liiza''s armpletely regrew. The limb was slightly darker than the rest of her body, but it slowly returned to its natural color.


    Liiza finally managed to sleep after everything ended, but Khan didn''t let her go. He remained awake and listened to her breathing to confirm that everything was alright. He even caressed her whenever bad dreams tried to ruin her rest.


    ''What will happen to us now?'' Khan wondered while Liiza rested.


    His rtionship wasn''t at stake, but too much had happened during the crisis. The Niqols had lost their main ambassador, and the monsters had decimated his group. Khan wasn''t even sure of how many had survived since he had yet to leave the tent.


    His worries and thoughts vanished when Liiza woke up and smiled at him. The two exchanged a long kiss that tried to make up for everything they had to endure during the healing process. Liiza even checked her new limb, but it still felt too sore to work properly.


    "[Don''t get up]," Khan ordered, but Liiza didn''t listen to him.


    "[I want to see who survived]," Liiza said while dressing and straightening her back, but she suddenly lost her bnce.


    Khan moved to make her fall on his chest. Liiza sniffed as she held his robe tightly. She felt weak and useless, but Khan decided to fulfill her wish. He wrapped an arm around her back and helped her stand up.


    Liiza and Khan walked out of the tent slowly, and he never let her leave his arms. The camp appeared empty when it unfolded in their vision, but they found Zalpa sitting next to a tent as they started inspecting it.


    "[What do you think you are doing]?" Zalpa scolded when she saw the couple.


    "[How is the situation]?" Khan asked.


    Zalpa wanted to force Liiza to rest, but she found it impossible to ignore her begging expression. The old Niqols heaved a helpless sigh before standing up and doing her best to summarize the situation. "[Very few have survived]."


    "[Can we see them]?" Khan continued.


    "[None of them are alone]," Zalpa exined. "[You would only disturb them now. Let everyone rest for the rest of the day. We''ll understand what to do tomorrow]."


    "[Zaza]," Liiza pleaded.


    "[I can''t right now, Lii]," Zalpa didn''t give in. "[It''s not only about the physical injuries. The battle might have broken some of them]."


    Liiza could only give up on her request in front of Zalpa''s firm refusal. She pulled Khan''s robe, and he understood the hidden meaning behind her action. He nodded at Zalpa before walking Liiza back to their tent.


    Khan sat on the ground, and Liiza took her ce on hisp. The girl forced herself to use her left arm, but it was still too unresponsive. Yet, she used her other limb to ce it inside Khan''s robe and perform an odd hug.


    "[How are you]?" Khan felt the need to ask when tears fell from Liiza''s eyes. He didn''t want to leave her alone with her thoughts.


    "[I''m broken]," Liiza whispered as she adjusted her position to hide her face in Khan''s neck. "[My is experiencing a global crisis, deaths have be a normal urrence in my eyes, and the person I trust the most is a human met a bit more than six months ago. I''m deeply and thoroughly broken]."


    Khan remained silent as he tightened his embrace. Liiza started to kiss his neck to deal with her sorrow ording to the Niqols'' way, but sobs soon interrupted her. Her grief was too intense to deal with it by losing herself in her boyfriend''s warmth.


    "[It''s fine]," Khan whispered to her ear. "[I''m here]."


    Liiza exploded into tears. She sobbed loudly and wrapped her legs around Khan''s waist in a desperate attempt to get even closer to him. A sad cry eventually escaped her mouth as Khan did his best to support her. "[It would have been easier if I still hated her]."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I''m superte today. The second chapter will arrive in some hours.

 Chapter 224 - Familiar

    Liiza faced her grief in a way that Khan could only describe as human. Her tears didn''t stop flowing even after she fell asleep in his arms. Processing her feelings without relying on parties or intense sensations had exhausted her.


    Khan didn''t sleep. Hey Liiza down and let her use hisp as a pillow before facing everything he had experienced during the battle. A lot had happened in mere weeks, and he had never had the chance to process those events on his own.


    Nitis had transformed Khan. The Niqols had given him so much, and part of that wasn''t necessarily good. He had learnt the depths of his personality, which were incredible when they involved its bright shades. His love was powerful, intense, and profound. His affection toward his friends was pure and honest. His determination and resolve were immense.


    .


    However, the dark shades of his personality shared those intense and powerful features. His desperation was boundless, his coldness could make him see his acquaintances as sacrificial pawns, and his detachment was scary. Khan''s kill count had skyrocketed, and he didn''t even keep track of it anymore. He didn''t like taking lives, but he wouldn''t hesitate to wave his knife if the situation required it, and the event wouldn''t affect him too much either.


    Khan had learnt to feel with more intensity than aliens who basically worshipped emotions. The cracks in his personality had only widened because of that. His emotional spectrum had expanded on both good and bad sides, and he couldn''t take any of that back. His mind forced him to experience everything, which wasn''t ideal when his intense love for Liiza and his cold approach to battles coexisted.


    Theck of regret for regret was the feature that scared Khan the most. He wasn''t a murderer who justified his actions through delusional thoughts. He could inspect everything with impersonal eyes and understand when something was generally wrong. Yet, he had his reasons for everything that appeared bad or evil.


    The killing of the mutated Niqols was an act of mercy. Khan had spared that species from a massive amount of pain. His betrayal of the Global Army was nothing important. Even Captain Erbair saw it as a regr urrence when it came to ambassadors. The blood on his hands always had a reason. He wasn''t a mindless killer. He was a soldier with orders who happened to be good at taking lives.


    The world could be evil and cruel. Khan''s nightmares were a constant reminder of how life could punish ordinary people for no reason at all. That alone made him ept that he wasn''t turning into a monster. He was only joining the unavoidable system that ruled over the whole universe. Violence was amon theme that no species seemed able to escape.


    Still, the nature of the world was only part of the reason behind his current eptance. It would have taken Khan far longer to be at peace with his present self if it weren''t for the girl sleeping on hisp. Liiza had taught him so much about feelings that he didn''t even recall how he faced them before. Also, she had given him love so intense that all the ugly scenes seen during his life felt worth it since she could rest on him.


    Khan knew that it was easier to be like that on Nitis. The humans on Earth would probably struggle to ept his new intensity, but it was toote now. He already felt like an alien among his species, so he didn''t care about the possible problems that his changes could cause.


    There was something else among that mess of emotions. Khan didn''t forget about the mindless and almost instinctive mental state he had reached during the battle. Everything had felt simpler among the chaotic discharges of mana. He had flowed and fought like never before, and part of him desired to experience that again.


    The long day ended as Khan remained immersed in his thought and made sure to cuddle Liiza whenever she went through bad dreams. Soon, only the worries about his friends stayed in his mind. He had yet to understand how many had died on the battlefield, and he hoped with everything he had that none of his close friends had fallen.


    His worries didn''t make him interrupt Liiza''s sleep, but loud voices eventually reached his tent and woke her up. The couple exchanged a long and sweet kiss before standing up and leaving the habitation to check what was happening in the camp.


    "I saw her in a daze!" Lieutenant Kintea''s voice resounded throughout the camp and led the couple to a small gathering in a rtively empty spot among the tents.


    Khan and Liiza could soon inspect the situation. Lieutenant Kintea and two soldiers stood in front of Zalpa, who limited herself to examine them with her cold eyes. A few familiar figures sat around them, and their faces appeared quite serious. They almost failed to notice the arrival of the couple due to their interest in the conversation.


    Other Niqols and humans came out of the tents and reached that small gathering. Khan and Liiza could finally gain an idea of who had survived the battle in the valley, and the situation was grim for both species.


    The human side had Lieutenant Kintea, the two soldiers, George, Paul, and Kelly. They all appeared in a decent state, but that felt almost normal after spending an entire day resting under Zalpa''s care.


    The Niqols'' side had a few adult aliens, Ilman, Azni, Asyat, Doku, Havaa, and other students with whom Khan had never bonded too tightly. They were also rtively fine. Even Asyat''s leg had grown back, but the girl didn''t appear too excited about it, and Khan could understand why after witnessing the painful healing process.


    "[Where is everyone else]?" Khan asked as he tried to inspect the insides of the tents nearby through his sensitivity to mana.


    "[This is everyone]," Doku revealed before moving his gaze on the ground.


    Khan''s eyes widened in surprise. The group didn''t even reach twenty-five members. It alsocked many faces that he had grown used to having around. Helen, Veronica, Brandon, Zeliha, and many who had traveled with him during thest period didn''t make it out of the valley.


    The army initially counted one hundred troops, but the battle and the sudden arrival of the two packs had killed more than three-quarters of them. The situation was so poor that Khan struggled to feel d about the survival of his closest friends.


    The event had been rather lucky. Ilman, Doku, and George had relied on their experience and abilities to survive the battle and help those around them. Azni had apanied Asyat back to the camp, so she could avoid facing the two packs. Also, the monsters had focused on the stronger troops during the sudden attack, so those students had managed to avoid ending up in a deadly situation.


    That lucky turn of events didn''t change the nature of the situation. Too few had survived, and the battlefield had even broken the spirits of many of them. The army was no more. Their group was no more than a team full of people who didn''t want to fight anymore.


    "Khan, this isn''t the time for that," Lieutenant Kintea scolded before pointing at Zalpa. "I saw Captain Erbair falling into a daze after Ambassador Yeza''s ability. She must have done it on purpose to weaken our side!"


    "Yeza just saved our lives," Khanmented. "Are you sure you want to bring this up now?"


    "I can''t remain alongside aliens ready to sacrifice our leader for petty political strategies," Lieutenant Kintea snorted. "How do you expect us to follow orders now?"


    "Do you think I care about how you feel?" Zalpa asked in her bad ent.


    "Your leader killed Captain Erbair on purpose!" The woman next to Lieutenant Kintea shouted. "This betrays everything we have built in the past years!"


    "Politics," Zalpa snorted. "You don''t know if you''ll survive the light, but you worry about politics."


    The survivors had been too focused on their escape to inspect their surroundings. Only Lieutenant Kintea had seen that Captain Erbair had be unresponsive after Yeza unleashed her ability. He knew that his words had little value since hecked proof. Yet, he wanted to gain something out of what he had witnessed, but Zalpa was a wall that his threats couldn''t pierce.


    "This is useless," Khan sighed while bringing Liiza closer to his chest. "[Zalpa, what do we do now]?"


    "I''m still your superior!" Lieutenant Kinteained, but Khan ignored him as he approached his friends and sat among them.


    "[We can''t do much]," Zalpa revealed. "[Returning to the castle might be our best option]."


    "[Won''t that make all of this pointless]?" Azni asked while sitting closer to Liiza to envelop her in a hug.


    "[It''s better than trying to seize an area filled with monsters with nothing but kids and idiots]," Zalpa dered, but she soon voiced a weak "[sorry]" when she understood that she had gone too far.


    "You even n to retreat now," Lieutenant Kintea eximed in disbelief. "You didn''t join the battle, so why would you be in charge now?"


    "You should consider shutting your mouth," Zalpa threatened.


    "Why is that?" Lieutenant Kintea asked. "Will you kill me too?"


    "You have insulted Yeza in front of her daughter," Zalpa exined.


    Lieutenant Kintea wanted to say something, but he couldn''t find good words when everyone red at him. Even the humans around him didn''t seem to agree with his approach. Only the female soldier next to him appeared willing to support his argument, but that felt pointless right now.


    Khan honestly didn''t care whether Lieutenant Kintea was telling the truth. He only wanted the shouts to end. The situation was too grim, and that behavior worsened it.


    "[What happens after we return to the castle]?" Khan questioned.


    "[We wait to receive further orders]," Zalpa replied.


    "That''s it?" Lieutenant Kintea scoffed. "Your n is to wait for everything to end?"


    Zalpa was about to lose her cool, but a peculiar sight suddenly filled her vision. The event was impossible to miss and soon made everyone gaze at the sky.


    A wave of darkness moved through the sky and left behind dark shades that the Niqols knew far too well. The sunlight seemed to retreat in front of the shadows that took control of the world. It didn''t take much before Nitis'' iconic night swept away the day.


    The darkness finally returned. Tears fell from the Niqols'' eyes as they stared at the familiar ck sky. Only Liiza remained almost expressionless since she had cried too much the previous day. Also, an idea was taking form in her mind as Nitis regained its natural colors.


    Khan couldn''t help but smile at that nostalgic sight, but pure happiness soon diverted his attention elsewhere. Foreign emotions spread inside his mind when the sunlight disappeared. He sensed Snow calling for him, and he didn''t hesitate to summon it in the area.


    The other Niqols experienced the same happiness when they reestablished the connection with their Aduns. Those creatures were a big part of the aliens'' lives, so regaining ess to their minds brought some constion to their poor mental state.


    Only Liiza couldn''t experience that feeling, but her idea allowed her to avoid thinking about Zama. She even voiced her n while herpanions remained astonished. "[We should fly to the elders]."


    The sudden announcement made everyone divert their attention from the sky. Both Niqols and humans turned toward Liiza in a desperate attempt to add more details to her proposal.


    "[That makes sense]," Zalpa announced, "[But I can''t leave you alone in the wild. You might face a flock of monsters, and moving as a group will only make you shier]."


    "[I can go]," Liiza exined. "[That''s my tribe''s role in the end]."


    "[How do you n on reaching them without Zama]?" Zalpa asked, but she regretted voicing that question when Liizaid her head on Khan''s shoulder.


    ****


    Author''s notes: This chapter fills yesterday''s release, but I''ll take a break today since I don''t have time to write everything I failed toplete. I''d rather rest than force myself back into the cycle of sleeping every two days. I don''t want to burn myself, and I need to preserve the story''s quality, so I will slow down today to restore my schedule. Chapters will go back to normal in 26 hours.

 Chapter 225 - Changes

    The meeting had been an emotional rollercoaster for Khan. He had gone from utter sadness about the number of casualties suffered in the valley, cold anger toward Lieutenant Kintea for his insults, and pure bliss at the sight of the night. Yet, Liiza managed to add confusion to those feelings.


    The meeting didn''t give Khan the time to ept how many of hispanions had died. He didn''t need to control the discussion either since Lieutenant Kintea had no power over Zalpa. He had called Snow as soon as the night descended, so he could immediately understand what Liiza''s gesture meant.


    The elders were a topic that the Niqols mostly kept for themselves. They were one of the ssified information that the humans weren''t allowed to learn, and Khan had never probed too much. His species couldn''t go past the tribes since Yeza handled that rtionship, so his knowledge had always remained rtively vague.


    The Niqols divided their society into tribes, but their oldest members could be elders whose power came into y when it came to worldwide matters. Khan felt sure that they had something to do with the current division of the various armies on Nitis, so it made sense for those political figures to decide what role his group had to y.


    .


    However, Liiza had hinted that Khan would apany her, and Zalpa''s reaction exined how deeply she hated that idea. Liiza was right when she imed that her tribe made her perfect for that role, but bringing a human along was forbidden, even after a global crisis.


    "[I won''t show him anything]," Liiza exined while snuggling closer to Khan. "[I just want him to be with me during the travel]."


    Khan wrapped an arm around Liiza''s shoulders, and she didn''t hesitate to get closer to make their foreheads touch. They could feel their desire to face their losses in the Niqols'' way, but Lieutenant Kintea didn''t let that conversation proceed smoothly.


    "Why should Khan go to the elders?" Lieutenant Kintea questioned. "He has no political relevance. I should be the one to attend the meeting."


    "There won''t be any meeting," Zalpa scoffed. "This isn''t a political urrence. Khan will apany Liiza in a ssified location and wait for her to be done."


    "Why can''t one of us go with her anyway?" Lieutenant Kintea continued. "All of us have Aduns, and it would be safer to travel with an adult."


    "I don''t trust any of you," Zalpa shortly exined before turning to approach a cauldron nearby.


    Lieutenant Kintea wanted to speak again, but the woman next to him ced a hand on his arm to interrupt him. The soldier shook her head, and the Lieutenant finally gave up on the matter. Thetter only shot a meaningful nce at Khan and nodded a few times before returning to his tent.


    The woman and the other soldier also left the area. Soon, only the Niqols, Khan, George, Paul, and Kelly remained in that part of the camp. Many of them kept their gazes on the ground, while others couldn''t stop inspecting theirpanions and thinking about many missing faces.


    Life was frail. Khan didn''t know how else to describe that scene. Veronica''s kindness, Helen''s growth, Zaliha''s pride, and all the features that he had to learn about those who didn''t make it out of the valley had disappeared in a short day. So much only lived inside his memories now.


    Khan wouldn''t forget his past months. Lieutenant Dyester would be disappointed if he hid away all his painful memories. Khan wasn''t even sure his new emotional spectrum could allow him to disregard everything experienced on Nitis. After all, he could value his happiness so much because he knew sorrow and pain.


    The silence that had fallen among the group only reminded them of those lost during the battle, but no one was in the mood to speak. Sad smiles and hugs happened whenever eyes met. Kelly didn''t hold back from nodding at Khan either. Her pastints about his behavior felt pointless after everything they had experienced during the crisis.


    "[I believe everyone wants to drink]," Zalpa announced, breaking the silence and attracting everyone''s attention.


    Zalpa turned to carry four cups filled with strong booze to the group. She then returned to the cauldron, repeating the process until everyone in the empty spot had a drink. She obviously prioritized the Niqols, but Khan felt happy enough to be the first among the humans to get his part.


    "[Today might be hard]," Zalpa eximed after sitting among the group, "[Tomorrow might be even worse, but the future will be bright with you as the new older generation. Your stronger foundation will bring the Niqols to new heights]."


    "[Zaza, this isn''t the right time]," Liizained, but a sniff suddenly resounded among the group and made everyone turn toward the source of that noise.


    Tears fell from Ilman''s eyes as he nodded repeatedly. He gulped his cup before raising it to the sky and shouting. "[For Nitis]!"


    Azni shook her head as a helpless sigh escaped her mouth. Doku patted her head before gulping his cup and raising it to the sky. He didn''t shout, but he still spoke loud enough to make everyone in the group hear his voice. "[For those who aren''t here]."


    "[Both humans and Niqols]," George added before emptying his cup and rising it to the sky.


    Some also drank their whole cups before raising them to the sky. Khan and Liiza avoided emptying them, but they still joined that toast. The eventsted only a few seconds, and everyone soon went back to normal celebrations.


    The couples didn''t leave the party quickly. They had learnt how quickly the crisis could kill them, so they wanted to remain among their friends as long as possible. They would have time to share intimate moments with their loved ones, but not that day.


    Everyone pretended to have forgotten about Liiza''s idea, and Khan yed along. He didn''t ask anything and focused on dealing with the feelings caused by the aftermath of the battle. He knew that Liiza would exin everything once they remained alone anyway.


    The group tried their best to be loud, but everything felt too silent, even if Ilman shouted whenever someone talked to him. Khan and the others had grown used to entire crowds of Niqols celebrating around them, and that small gathering couldn''t match them.


    Awkward and sad silences still fell among the group, but Zalpa always said something to put an end to those moments. She even tried her best to be less grumpy than usual, and Liiza shot warm smiles toward her whenever she caught her suppressing meanments.


    The atmosphere lightened before growing heavier again in a cycle that repeated itself for many hours. The booze seemed endless when Zalpa took care of refilling the cups, and the group''s thirst wasn''t too different. Everyone drank a lot. Even Khan ended up feeling dizzy by the end of the event.


    Most of the Niqols and humans there had been awake for mere hours, but no oneined when their friends got too drunk to remain outside of their tents. The group soon dispersed, and Khan and Liiza also left.


    "[What do you have to do with the elders]?" Khan asked before helping Liiza lie on the ground and throwing himself next to her.


    "[Just see them as very old Niqols]," Liiza exined as she removed her dirty clothes and threw them toward the corner of the tent.


    "[I hope they don''t make us fight again]," Khan whispered while Liiza opened his robe andy on his bare chest.


    The two had yet to wear clean clothes. Zalpa had been alone in the camp, so she didn''t prepare clean robes for the group. Still, the survivors barely cared about their smell or appearance. The party actually worsened those two features.


    "[Are they strong]?" Khan asked as he moved his hands on Liiza''s bare back and enjoyed how the booze in his system enhanced the sensations caused by her cold body.


    "[The Niqols get stronger with time]," Liiza groaned. "[Of course they are strong]."


    "[Why didn''t they fight with us]?" Khan continued.


    "[You know how important it is for us to prepare the new generations]," Liiza reminded. "[They would have intervened only if we truly risked losing Nitis]."


    "[I hate them already]," Khan admitted.


    "[Me too]," Liiza revealed. "[I guess we can be as dumb as the humans]."


    "[You are lucky you are cute]," Khan teased, and Liiza immediately voiced a sweet chuckled.


    The two soon kissed before sticking to the Niqols'' traditions. They were still physically and mentally sore, but they didn''t dare to waste their time together. They didn''t know when their death would arrive, but they were in each other''s arms right now. The world felt perfect when they abandoned themselves to their passion.


    An entire day had to pass before loud screeches resounded in the sky and alerted the camp about the arrival of the Aduns. Khan only half-donned his dirty robe before hurrying outside his tent to wee his eagle. Liiza began to follow him, but she eventually decided to remain at the habitation''s doorsteps.


    A series of flying figures pierced the barrier before diving toward the tents. Khan soon saw a white feathered creaturending on him and voicing even louder screeches. Simr scenes happened in the camp as humans and Niqols rejoined their Aduns and did their best to show them their affection. Even Lieutenant Kintea couldn''t help but feel happy about that reunion.


    Snow pecked Khan''s head with its beak softly. The two could feel each other''s happiness through the mental connection, and that emotion only grew stronger as they went back to their old habits. Khan ruffled Snow''s feathers while thetter directly sat on him to y with his hair.


    Zalpa eventually put an end to that yful reunion. Liiza approached Khan and Snow when she saw that the old Niqols was walking toward them. He didn''t miss her arrival, and Snow let him go when it sensed his feelings.


    "[I have already prepared potions that will hide your presence]," Zalpa announced as Khan stood up. "[Nothing has tried to get to the Aduns, so the area should be safe for now. I think you should depart right away]."


    Khan and Liiza nodded, but Zalpa shook her head when she saw that they were still wearing the robes from the battle. She ordered them to remain there before picking up potions, a backpack with provisions, and new clothes from one of therger tents and bringing them to the couple.


    Khan and Liiza changed inside their tent, and Snow tried to follow them. The Aduns was too big for that small entrance, but that didn''t stop it from sneaking its head inside it. The Aduns wasn''t ready to separate from Khan so soon. It wouldn''t let him leave its gaze until they had a long flight together.


    "[Remember our orders]," Zalpa reminded after the couple exited the tent.


    "[He won''t even get near the elders]," Liiza promised.


    The blush on Liiza''s face made Zalpa re at Khan, who pretended not to understand the nature of that gesture. He limited himself to make Snow lower its head so that the old Niqols could apply the potion on its feathers.


    Zalpa moved to the couple after dealing with the Aduns. She applied the same type of potions used during the army''s journey to that location. Her methods would make Liiza and Khan almost invisible to eventual monsters, but she still worried about them.


    "[Come back here after you are done]," Zalpa ordered. "[We will remain here in case the elders decide to send us hunting]."


    Khan and Liiza didn''t like that possibility, but they still jumped on Snow to begin their travel. Khan could confirm that Liiza''s left arm had almost regained its former strength when she grabbed his waist to cling onto him. He remained worried about her endurance, but the Aduns sensed those feelings and decided not to go too crazy.


    Azni and the others gathered around Snow to wave their hands at theirpanions, and the Aduns soon set off. Khan could finally experience the beauty of flying again, but Liiza quickly tightened her embrace since the event was forcing her to recall Zama.


    "[Our first flight together was like this]," Khan shouted to make sure that his words could pierce the strong winds caused by Snow''s speed.


    Liiza hid her face in his hair, but he sensed that a faint smile appeared on her face since her mouth was on his neck. It felt almost unreal how much things had changed in a bit more than six months.


    Liiza could still recall when she took Khan to the mountain chain for the first time. They had been nothing more than strangers attracted to each other due to their mana back then, but she had allowed him to cling to her waist nheless.


    The situation had turned upside-down afterward. Khan and Liiza had developed an intense and passionate love that had led them to that familiar but opposite position. Liiza clung to Khan and held him tightly, separating from him only to adjust Snow''s direction. She didn''t need to check any map to know where the elders lived.

 Chapter 226 - Meeting

    The couple didn''t say much during the flight. Khan and Liiza were out of words and tears, and exhaustion filled their minds. They could experience how tired they truly were after getting away from their group and roaming among the dark sky.


    The months under the sunlight had featured constant tension that Khan and Liiza didn''t fully acknowledge until they left. The winds and familiar darkness that enveloped them while they flew through the sky forced them to feel how deeply Nitis and they had changed.


    Nitis had regained its natural shades, but everything was different. The changes didn''t only affect its fauna and overall environment. Khan and Liiza felt unable to appreciate those wonderful sceneries after everything they had gone through. They couldn''t experience the same na?ve happiness from the months before the crisis.


    Khan and Liiza hugged each other, exchanged casual kisses, and filled their partner with caresses, but they didn''t speak. Those gestures were enough to express how they felt. The sunlight had brought them even closer, but it had also shattered their previous view about the world.. Their respective love was their only constion.


    Liiza grew tired of clinging to Khan''s waist after the couple spent an entire day flying abovends that he had never seen. Khan didn''t hesitate to ce her on hisp so that she could wrap her legs around his torso. The new position almost made them fall prey to their passion, but Snow made sure to express its annoyance when it felt that they were going too far.


    It felt nice to experience thatplete intimacy. That was different from the time spent in the castle. It reminded Khan and Liiza of the cave in the marsh when they had a home for themselves. The world around them had disappeared and had left them with nothing more than Snow''s back, but they didn''t desire anything else. Their happiness reached its peak only when they were truly alone.


    It turned out that an entire day of travel wasn''t enough to reach the elders. The couple had to take a few breaks to let Snow rest and handle natural needs. Of course, Khan and Liiza inspected every area multiple times before deciding to stop there and create a cozy home. They never remained too long on the surface, but they always made sure to enjoy that time together.


    Snownded in a simple-looking in after almost three entire days of flight. The area appeared empty, except for the short vegetation that covered the surface, but Khan felt that something was off. He didn''t sense anything specific, but he couldn''t be at ease either. The region carried a strange pressure that didn''t allow him to rx.


    "[The elders are just ahead]," Liiza stated while taking Khan''s hand and moving toward the center of the in.


    "[I thought I couldn''t see them]," Khan replied without halting his steps.


    "[No human should ever see these areas]," Liiza exined.


    "[Are you creating troubles for me]?" Khan asked.


    "[Maybe]," Liiza revealed before taking his arm in her embrace, "[But I want you to see Nitis'' true face. I''m tired of these traditions]."


    Liiza fixed her timid eyes on Khan, and he didn''t hesitate to free himself to wrap an arm around the back of her waist. Liiza tried to appear resolute, but it was clear that the meeting worried her a little, and Khan wouldn''t let her face it on her own.


    The two walked until they crossed an invisible barrier that transformed the scenes in their vision. Khan''s mouth opened in surprise when he saw an immense circr gorge recing the simple in, but he soon realized that he had barely scratched the surface of the area''s secrets.


    A circr metallic structure slowly unfolded in Khan''s vision as he approached the gorge''s edges. Scarlet symbols glowed on its smooth and dark surface, filling the entire area with a red halo that carried a chilling feeling.


    ''Is this technology?'' Khan wondered when he noticed that the scarlet halo hid azure tubes near the base of the circr structure.


    The building resembled a dome with a t roof that fused the studies of two different species. Khan recognized the Niqols'' old ways in the scarlet symbols, but he didn''t fail to notice how the tubes were almost identical to those seen in the teleports. Moreover, the structure didn''t have the iconic hidden doors seen in the other pces. It had actual entrances marked with words written in the aliennguage.


    "[Don''t look at me for answers]," Liiza chuckled when she noticed Khan''s questioning eyes on her. "[I also don''t know much about this area. The new generations learn about these locations, but the actual knowledge arrives only after we be actual members of our tribes]."


    "[The Global Army would pay any price to learn about this]," Khanmented after his eyes returned on the odd dome.


    "[I know]," Liiza replied. "[We have simr buildings all around Nitis, but the older generations want us to study mana in its pure form before gaining ess to technology. I can''t disagree after watching the humans in battle, but I wonder if we couldpromise a little]."


    Khan sighed and brought Liiza closer to her chest. He knew what she was thinking. She wanted to improve the Niqols'' society to prevent so many losses.


    ''Zalpa is right,'' Khan thought as he caressed Liiza''s hair. ''This generation will bring the Niqols to greater heights.''


    "[Let''s go]," Liiza eventually said in a sweet voice after leaving Khan''s chest and taking his hand.


    The canyon had steep staircases dug inside the ground that led to its bottom. The steps appeared unstable, but Khan confirmed that the red symbols on their surfaces granted them a metallic texture. The couple could reach the t dome in no time, and Liiza quickly led him toward one of the tall entrances.


    The red symbol on the entrance transformed into a palm-shaped figure when the couple approached it. Liiza pressed her hand there, and Khan noticed that a small bloodstain had appeared on the wall after she retracted her arm.


    The symbol confirmed Liiza''s identity and returned to its previous shape. Yet, it shed with a soft light that didn''t match the other runes on the structure.


    "[An elder shoulde out soon]," Liiza exined while sitting in a spot right next to the entrance.


    Khan sat next to Liiza, but she didn''t hesitate to jump on hisp. The two rested in each other''s embrace as they waited for the elder to arrive.


    A few minutes had to pass before the dome''s entrance opened and let a wave of dense mana flow out in the environment. The energy filled the entirety of the canyon, but the symbols on the structure quickly brightened and absorbed it, returning the area to its previous state.


    Khan couldn''t focus too much on that process since a heavy presence manifested itself after the entrance closed. A tall figure had appeared next to the Khan and Liiza, but neither had seen it leaving the dome.


    "[I thought humans were still forbidden from seeing these areas]," A hoarse voice resounded in the area and applied heavy pressure on Khan.


    Khan felt unable to move under that pressure. He could only raise his eyes to inspect the elder. The figure belonged to an old woman with long red hair and glowing scarlet eyes. Wrinkles filled her cold face, but her slender body seemed to brim with power.


    "[He is-]," Liiza began to speak, but the elder interrupted her.


    "[We receive reports from the various tribes]," The elder announced before fixing her intense gaze on Khan. "[You must be Khan]."


    Khan wanted to stand up and bow, but the pressure didn''t allow him to do anything. Cold sweat started to fall down his forehead as the elder continued to inspect him. He felt naked in front of those scarlet eyes. The Niqols seemed able to study every corner of his mind easily.


    However, the pressure suddenly vanished when the elder revealed a warm smile and performed a polite bow. Khan remained speechless, and his surprise only intensified when the old Niqols spoke in a motherly tone. "[Thank you for taking care of my great-granddaughter. The whole tribe was worried about her. I''m d that she had you during the crisis]."


    ''Great-granddaughter?!'' Khan shouted in his mind before performing a timid nod and moving his eyes on Liiza.


    Liiza blushed before diverting her gaze andying her head on his chest. She was happy that the elder had acknowledged her rtionship, but she couldn''t stop thinking about the possible consequences of that event. Her rtionship had be so serious that she inevitably considered taking it to the next step.


    "[The situation must be tragic for you to be here]," The elder eximed while tapping the ck surface of the dome a few times. "[Tell me everything]."


    The wall soon opened to reveal a smallpartment containing a big sk and three cups. The elder picked everything and poured the drinks before sitting in front of the couple. The three exchanged a silent toast before Liiza started her story.


    The elders received updates, but they remained ignorant about many details. Liiza''s great-grandmother knew about the attack on the valley, but she wasn''t aware of its oue. She also needed Liiza to describe the months before that to check whether Yeza had told her everything.


    "[So, Yeza is dead]," The elder sighed. "[She would have be a great elder, but her legacy is equally promising]."


    Liiza couldn''t help but sniff at those words. Yeza''s death was still too close to her mind, but she managed to suppress her grief and remain focused on the conversation.


    "[It seems that the sunlight has only helped reveal problems rooted deeply in our society]," The elder continued. "[Maybe we are to me for this oue. We tried to evolve too quickly, without worrying about the consequences that progress could cause]."


    Khan couldn''t help but feel a strange detachment in the elder. She talked about Nitis'' matters as if they didn''t involve her. She had appeared sad about Yeza''s death, but she didn''t linger too long on that revtion.


    "[What should we do now]?" Liiza asked after the elder fell silent.


    "[Your role in this crisis is over]," The elder stated. "[The elders must step into the battlefield to prevent the annihtion of the younger generations. Go back to a safe area and wait for us to clear the. We''ll hold a meeting to decide the Niqols'' future after taking care of the monsters]."


    "[That''s it]?" Liiza questioned. "[What about the rebels? Won''t they get any punishment]?"


    "[Do you want us to reduce the Niqols'' poption even more]?" The elder asked. "[I can''t me them too much. They have seen their traditions crumble in a matter of decades. In their minds, they were only defending what made them true Niqols]."


    "[But-]!" Liiza wanted toin, but the elder raised a hand to interrupt her.


    "[I''m sure some elders will mention this topic]," The old Niqols said, "[But these matters are outside your control now. Go back, rest, wash away the sorrow umted in this period. Your generation did well. I''m sure you''ll create a better future]."


    Those words didn''t make Liiza happy, but she remained silent anyway. Khan sensed her grip on his robe tightening, so he decided to put an end to the meeting. He wrapped an arm around her waist and forced her to stand up with her before performing a polite bow.


    "[Thank you, elder]," Khan eximed, and Liiza uttered simr words after suppressing her conflicting feelings.


    "[I wouldn''t thank us so soon]," The elder announced in an aloof tone.


    Khan and Liiza raised their heads to inspect the elder, but they found themselves unable to speak when they saw that she started to levitate without breaking her sitting position.


    "[I can see the intensity of your feelings]," The elder exined as she continued to rise toward the sky. "[I''ll fight to give you a chance, but I don''t think you should take it]."


    Liiza and Khan didn''t understand what she meant, but they kept their eyes on her figure as she flew higher in the sky and disappeared behind the dome''s roof. The meeting was over, but the couple didn''t feel d about that. Something in the elder''s words had given birth to a faint worry inside them.


    ****


    Author''s notes: This chapter fills yesterday''s release, but I''ll take a break today since I don''t have time to write everything I failed toplete. I''d rather rest than force myself back into the cycle of sleeping every two days. I don''t want to burn myself, and I need to preserve the story''s quality, so I will slow down today to restore my schedule. Chapters will go back to normal in 26 hours.

 Chapter 227 - Decision

    Nitis appeared peaceful from the sky, but Khan and Liiza barely gazed at the surface while Snow flew back to the pce inside the mountain.


    The two had informed Zalpa about the contents of the meeting, and she had decided to regroup in their previous safe area. Crossing long distances wasn''t an issue now that the Aduns had returned, so she didn''t mind leaving the couple alone for a few more days.


    Khan and Liiza knew that their role in the crisis was over, but they couldn''t disperse the worry that the elder''s words had caused. Countless possibilities crossed their minds as they hugged each other silently. They didn''t know what Liiza''s great-grandmother meant, but they couldn''t appease that awful sensation anyway.


    ''What can even happen?'' Khan often found himself asking that question in his mind.


    Khan didn''t know what could cause problems after everything he had ovee. His friends'' lives were safe now, and his rtionship was stronger than ever. The humans had also silently acknowledged his importance among the Niqols. In theory, nothing could threaten his current position or source of happiness..


    However, Khan continued to feel that something was off, and Liiza''s worried face confirmed that he might have failed to consider something. She was as clueless as him, but she also sensed that something could threaten the state they had fought so hard to obtain.


    Liiza and Khan didn''t voice their worries since theycked a proper source. They didn''t need words to understand what was happening inside their minds. They limited themselves to immerse their minds in the peaceful sensations caused by their partner. A simple hug could make everything disappear, and they did far more than that. Snow''s back was a personal world that protected and cherished their love.


    Days went by as Khan led Snow toward the solitary mountain containing the safe pce. The flight required many breaks that the couple didn''t hesitate to stretch as long as possible. A lingering sadness still filled their minds, but they slowly dispersed it by relying on each other''s presence.


    Liiza''s world had turned upside down, and the same had happened to Khan''s mind. Their rtionship and the many events in the past months had deeply affected their characters, and the faint peace brought by the elder''s decision had forced them to face those changes.


    Most changes were positive. Liiza had ovee her status as an outcast and had established herself among the Niqols. Instead, Khan had discovered a lot about himself. He had matured, and his feats on Nitis had turned him into a priceless asset. He felt sure that the Global Army would grant him countless benefits once it learnt about everything that had happened.


    Still, both Liiza and Khan had to pay a steep price for those gains. They had to ovee Nitis'' dark side and watch many of their friends fall. The blood and corpses that they had to leave behind added a disgusting taste to their happiness. At times, they found themselves wondering whether they deserved those beautiful feelings when so many didn''t get the chance to experience them.


    Liiza had been Khan''s beacon of hope after Istrone, but they switched their roles after the meeting with the elder. He knew the emptiness that death could cause, and his support prevented Liiza from falling prey to her negative thoughts.


    The world could be unfair, but that wasn''t their fault, and Khan did everything in his power to make Liiza understand that part. They had done their best and lost a lot, but they had managed to return in each other''s arms, and failing to cherish that lucky oue would only insult those who didn''t get that chance.


    The mountain in the middle of the forest eventually appeared in their view. Snownded near the waterfall, and the couple approached the secret entrance that opened on its own as soon as it sensed those familiar presences. Khan and Liiza could enter the pce in no time, and they quickly noticed how the atmosphere there reflected what was happening in their minds.


    Zalpa''s group had been closer to the pce, so they could reach it far earlier than the couple. Also, Khan and Liiza had traveled slowly, making them arrive at their destination a whole week after theirpanions.


    The atmosphere that greeted them in the pce was quite grim. Doku and the others were sitting around a long table filled with food and drinks in the main hall. The smell of booze that filled the area revealed that their party hadsted more than a single day, but Khan and Liiza understood how they felt.


    "[You are finally back]!" Azni groaned.


    "[You know how they are]," Dokuughed while patting the girl sitting on hisp. "[I feel bad for Khan''s Aduns]."


    "[You can''t me them for seeking refuge in their emotions]," Ilman announced while trying to stand up, but a wave of dizziness filled his mind and forced him to fall back on his seat.


    "[Did you leave something for us]?" Khan asked as a faint chuckle escaped his mouth.


    "[You should hurry before George wakes up]," Havaamented while poking the boy sleeping with his head on the table.


    "[I''ll have another cup]," George weakly said while trying to raise his head, but his girlfriend promptly pushed him down.


    Khan and Liiza couldn''t help but smile at that scene. Rejoining their friends felt good. They showed happy faces even when they looked at Paul and Kelly. The two humans were also sitting at the table, and their condition wasn''t better than the others.


    "How was the meeting?" Paul asked as he rubbed his face to try to disperse the hangover that filled his mind.


    "I didn''t join it," Khan lied while Liiza led him on an empty chair next to Doku and Azni.


    "I get it!" Paul eximed. "It takes a woman to make you stick to the rules!"


    "Paul, get some sleep," Kelly scolded before standing up and patting the squad leader''s shoulder.


    Paul showed a displeased expression, but he eventually put his cup aside and stood up. The two humans climbed the staircase together before disappearing into one of the corridors.


    Liiza let Khan sit on the chair to take her ce on hisp, and Azni quickly handed them a sk with two cups. The couple joined the drinking, but it was clear that the party was already over.


    The group exchanged a few jokes, but they mostly remained silent. Ilman shouted chants from time to time, but his drunkenness eventually had the better of him and made him fall asleep on the table. Asyat wasn''t in the best condition either, so she decided to return to her room after a while.


    George woke up in time to discover that only Ilman and the three couples had remained on the table. His head hurt, but his feelings were worse. Still, Havaa didn''t allow him to get another cup.


    "[What happens now]?" George voiced an annoyed snort as he threw his head back and ced his feet on the table. "[Do we just pretend that the past months didn''t happen]?"


    "[I don''t know]," Khan sighed, but a warm smile appeared on his face when Liiza took his head in her arms.


    "[How are you two]?" Doku asked when he noticed that sweet interaction.


    "[We went through the bad part]," Liiza eximed while caressing Khan''s hair. "[Going back to normal is impossible, but that doesn''t feel too sad anymore]."


    "[Maybe we should also take a long trip]," Azni suggested in a surprised tone. "[How did you even ept to be happy when so many have died]?"


    "[It''s easier when you have already gone through something simr]," Georgemented while he continued to stare at the tall ceiling. "[You make everything bad disappear and focus on the good left in your life]."


    "[When did you be so wise]?" Havaa teased.


    "[I didn''t do anything]," George scoffed. "[I owe everything to Khan, Professor Supyan, and you. I don''t know what it would have be of me otherwise]."


    Khan couldn''t help but smile in front of George''s earnest statement. He rejoiced to see that his friend was in a rtively good spot. The general sadness that filled the group was impossible to disperse in that short period, but George was better than many others due to what he had learnt on Nitis.


    "[I wonder where Professor Supyan went]," Khan changed the topic. "[I haven''t seen him since the events with that giant Lysixi]."


    "[I hope he is safe]," George replied. "[Maybe I''ll get to thank him one day]."


    "[Does this feeling ever leave]?" Doku asked while moving his eyes between the two humans. "[How long does it take to feel better]?"


    George straightened his head to nce at Doku, and his eyes soon moved on Khan. Thetter was also ncing at him, and the two understood that their friend needed some moral support. The Niqols were resilient when it came to sadness, but the recent events had been too much even for them.


    "[It doesn''t leave]," Khan revealed.


    "[But it does get better with time, especially if you have something good in your life]," George continued.


    Doku heaved a helpless sigh, and Azniid her head on his shoulder while wearing a simr expression. They both remained silent for a few seconds before Doku cracked a joke. "[I guess I need to get drunk with you all often]."


    "[That''s the fate of every good soldier]!" George eximed as he tried to reach the cup in front of him, but Havaa promptly pped his hand.


    The othersughed at that scene, but they all felt that the party was over. It didn''t take much before they silently decided to stand up and return to their rooms.


    The situation improved during the following days. A sad atmosphere continued to envelop the group, but they slowly dealt with it. The parties and their Aduns helped a lot, especially now that all the survivors had reunited. They even flew together from time to time, even if they remained in the areas around the mountain.


    The group finally experienced a taste of the peace obtained after fighting for entire months. At first, it felt strange to be without worries, but they slowly epted that new state. All of them started tough more often, and no one bothered to train.


    Khan and Liiza almost forgot about the elder''s words as they epted their return to a normal life. The process was slow, but each day looked brighter than the previous. They could spend time among friends and loved ones without having the fate of the on their shoulders. They could finally be carefree kids again, and life couldn''t get better than that.


    Nevertheless, the world wasn''t over with them. The group had noticed that the number of monsters in the surrounding areas had fallen during that peaceful period. Khan and the others had never seen battles, but they could confirm that someone was hunting those dangerous creatures.


    The hunts decided by the elders had clearly started, and they were obviously going well. Khan and the others almost couldn''t believe how quickly the monsters disappeared from the regions around the mountain, and that process seemed to affect even areas farther away. The students and recruits weren''t the only ones going back to normal. Nitis was also retrieving its peace.


    The process inevitably reminded Khan and Liiza about the elder''s words. They didn''t know when the meeting among those powerful figures would happen, but that event grew closer as the monsters continued to disappear. The couple would soon learn about Nitis'' future, and that knowledge brought the previous unsettling worry back.


    Azni and the other noticed how Khan and Liiza grew distracted, but they never questioned them about the issue. Everyone was reacting to Nitis'' peace differently, and the couple''s situation was unique, so it didn''t feel right to probe the two when they didn''t say anything about their problems.


    The worries culminated during a seemingly ordinary afternoon. Khan''s group, Kelly, and Paul were enjoying their lunch when Zalpa appeared in the main hall. The old Niqols had never left the pce''s basement in that period, so her arrival attracted everyone''s attention.


    Zalpa wore an aloof expression, but her eyes fell on Liiza and Khan before she took a deep breath and exined the reason behind her presence in the hall. "[The elders havee to the conclusion that the Niqols as a whole need to retrieve their harmony before opening themselves to foreign cultures. They want all the humans to leave the. They didn''t specify for how long]."

 Chapter 228 - Future

    The worries that had filled Khan and Liiza''s minds in thest period finally took form, and they appeared as awful as they had feared. The two were sitting on the same chair since the lunch had already reached the drinking part, but they instinctively dropped their cups to fall in a tight embrace.


    "[That''s bullshit]!" Azni shouted, but Zalpa raised her hand to silence eventualints.


    "[The elders feel that the Niqols are too divided right now]," Zalpa exined. "[They believe that we won''t be able to find a true unity until we spend some years without external influences. Still, they promise that they will warn the humans once they n to reopen Nitis to other species]."


    "[How many years do you think they''ll make us wait]?" Paul asked in a cold tone.


    "[I can''t say for sure]," Zalpa replied before pointing at Paul and Kelly. "[You two should warn your superiors about this decision. They will need the elders'' help to contact the rest of your species and n the departure, so send them to me in a couple of hours]."


    .


    Paul nodded before following Zalpa''s hand with his eyes. The old Niqols used two fingers to point at the two interspecies couples on the table while voicing more orders. "[You four,e with me. Let''s talk in private]."


    Everyone on the table inevitably moved their eyes on the two couples. Khan mostly saw worries in his friends'' gazes, but he couldn''t address those feelings in his current situation. His mind was a mess held together by hope and Liiza''s coldness, and the same went for her.


    The two couples followed Zalpa inside the second basement and halted their steps after the old Niqols stopped at the center of the area. Zalpa turned and remained silent as she inspected the four worried faces in front of her.


    Zalpa pitied the two couples a bit, but it wasn''t her ce to contradict the elders, especially when she agreed with their decision. The Niqols'' society was in pieces right now. The sunlight had uncovered problems that hadsted even before the arrival of the humans on the. Her species needed time to decide how to move forward, and unity was necessary for the vast political environment of the universe.


    "[The elders don''t want this to look like a punishment]," Zalpa resumed their exnation. "[The Niqols are at their weakest right now, and our whole society requires an overhaul. We can''t do that with other species roaming the and pursuing their political interests]."


    "[Zalpa, the humans have shed blood for the Niqols]," Khanined in a disappointed tone. "[Young recruits have died in battles that you have ordered us to fight. How can we even ept this after everything we have been through]?"


    "[I''m sure the humans will get something from the elders]," Zalpa replied. "[You only have to wait for your superiors to contact them]."


    "[I thought we were the cold ones]," Georgemented, doing his best not to sound cold.


    Zalpa didn''t miss the coldness radiated by the couples, but she also felt d that they didn''t immediately berate her. Khan, George, Liiza, and Havaa knew that the Niqols had led them in the basement for a reason, and they hoped that it would concern their rtionships.


    Khan noticed how a tinge of worry appeared on Zalpa''s face, but she dispersed it by taking a deep breath. Her expression returned aloof as she exined the reason behind that private meeting. "[The elders won''t force anyone to remain on Nitis. You can leave with your partners if your feelings don''t allow you to separate]."


    Hope inevitably filled the two couples. They were both holding hands, and their grip tightened when they felt that their separation wasn''t mandatory. Of course, they had yet to analyze Zalpa''s words fully, but that couldeter.


    "[However]," Zalpa added before the couples could cheer, "[The elders can''t turn you into ambassadors since the Niqols have yet to gain unity. They can''t send you into political missions when you still don''t know what goals you have to pursue]."


    "[What does that mean]?" Liiza promptly asked.


    "[It means that the Niqols won''t be responsible for your actions]," Zalpa dered after heaving a deep sigh. "[You won''t be able to contact Nitis after your departure, and you will also lose the privileges connected to your tribes since you won''t take part in this important social process]."


    "[Are the elders testing us]?" Havaa exploded. "[Do they want to see who is loyal to their species? What nonsense is this]?"


    "[Please, calm down]," Zalpa pleaded. "[The elders have to prioritize the Niqols as a whole. Giving you a chance to leave is already a lot]."


    "[Sure]!" Havaa shouted. "[They are only forcing us to decide between our species and our partners. That sounds totally fair]!"


    "[I thought that the Niqols had a deeper respect for feelings]," George mocked while pulling Havaa in his embrace to calm her down.


    "[We do]," Zalpa stated, "[But the elders can''t predict that the Niqols will be after this period. They might decide to put limits to the external influences indefinitely, making those who leave unable to be proper members of the new society]."


    "[Are you implying that the rebels can win]?" Liiza asked in a chilling tone.


    "[I don''t think that will ever happen]," Zalpa admitted. "[I''m only trying to exin the reasons behind this decision. You can remain on Nitis and help build an open-minded society, or leave and live your feelings. You can''t have both]."


    The elder''s words finally became clear in Khan and Liiza''s minds. The couple also started to consider her suggestion. Liiza''s great-grandmother wanted the two to refuse the chance to remain together.


    "[The decision is final]," Zalpa dered. "[It will take some time for the humans here to establish a connection with their superiors, but the day of the departure will eventually arrive. I suggest you start thinking about it immediately. Your choice will affect your future deeply]."


    The two couples understood that the conversation was over. Zalpa wanted to say much more, but it wasn''t her ce to affect that decision. She couldn''t bear that responsibility. Liiza and Havaa had to pick a path on their own to avoid regrets, especially since they would have to live with that choice for the rest of their lives.


    Liiza had never held Khan''s hand so tightly, but he barely felt that. The worry caused by the elders'' decision had emptied him of every other sensation. He couldn''t stop thinking about the issue, and conflicting opinions surged in his mind as he inspected the situation from different perspectives.


    Khan would never pick a path that would cause problems in his rtionship. Liiza was the best part of his life. He had given his everything to preserve what he had with her, but he couldn''t have power over that decision. She had to choose what was best for her.


    When Khan imagined himself in Liiza''s shoes, he could guess the battle happening in her mind. Liiza had always been an outcast among the Niqols, so severing her ties with her species would only bring her to her previous state. Yet, that would also force her to depend on Khan for everything since he would be her only social connection in the entire universe.


    Moreover, Liiza had just seen her mother giving her life to save her. She had finally be a proper member of the Niqols'' society, and her tribe expected a lot from her. Liiza would be perfect to lead her species toward greater heights since she respected the old ways without forsaking the importance of progress. She could be a splendid ambassador.


    Except for Paul and Kelly, the others had remained on the table in the main hall. A series of curious and worried eyes fell on the two couples when they came out of the basement, but no questions resounded after seeing their pensive and ugly expressions. Azni and Doku wanted to say something, but Ilman ended up ring at them when he noticed their behavior.


    The two couples couldn''t muster the strength to move their gazes on their friends. They had too much to consider, so they approached the staircases to return to their rooms silently. The others could only let them go since they sensed how heavy the atmosphere among them was.


    Each step that Khan made toward his room echoed in his chest. He felt hammers hitting his heart as he approached the inevitable conversation. He felt the need to grab Liiza, run on Snow''s back, and leave toward regions where those problems didn''t exist, but he never let those delusional dreams take control of his actions.


    The two couples separated without saying any words. George and Havaa were the first to disappear behind a door, but the same soon happened to Liiza and Khan. The two found themselves in the familiar barren room, and they instinctively moved to the bed.


    Khan and Liiza continued to hold hands as they sat on the bed. They remained silent as they fixed their eyes on the azure symbol on the wall in front of them. They let the glow of the rune distract them for a few seconds, but that effect soon ended and forced them to talk.


    "[I-]," Khan began to speak, but Liiza promptly ced a finger on his mouth.


    "[Not now]," Liiza said in a pleading tone before pushing Khan on the bed.


    Liiza thenid her head on his shoulder and wrapped his arm around her waist. One of her hands went under his robe to envelop his side in her fingers. Instead, the other closed on his clothes, holding them as tightly as she could.


    "[I want you to choose what''s best for you]," Khan announced after Liiza remained silent for a whole minute.


    "[And I want to choose what''s best for you]," Liiza giggled. "[We can''t find a solution, so let''s not decide]."


    "[Liiza]," Khan called her in a scolding tone.


    Liiza giggled again before uncovering his shoulder and leaving a soft kiss there. She then pulled herself closer to Khan before tracing the edges of his scar with her fingers. She seemed to fall in a daze, but a request eventually came out of her mouth. "[Describe what would happen if I left with you]."


    Khan''s eyes flickered, but he forced himself to think about the matter seriously when he noticed the seriousness in Liiza''s face. He sorted his thoughts for a few seconds before wearing a smile and starting his story. "[The Global Army won''t be able to refuse our requests. I should be the most promising ambassador in the world, and your knowledge is priceless. You''ll find a ce among the humans in no time, and I''ll make sure never to leave you alone]."


    "[What happens after that]?" Liiza asked.


    "[We would go back to Earth at some point]," Khan continued, "[And you would force me to talk to my father. Your presence probably wouldn''t change the oue of that conversation, but I know that I would still feel grateful to you]."


    "[Then]," Liiza asked as she adjusted her position on his shoulder.


    "[We would probably get married]," Khan said as a warm smile appeared on his face. "[I don''t really know how it works, nor where we would live, but I''m sure that everything would be fine as long as we are together]."


    "[What about kids]?" Liiza timidly asked. "[Do you want them]?"


    Khan had never really considered that topic, but Liiza''s question forced him to think about it, and his smile only broadened when he imagined a happy family with her.


    "[I think I want them]," Khan whispered, "[With you at least]."


    "[I feel the same]," Liiza revealed. "[I wonder if our different species would cause problems]."


    "[We would rely on the Global Army for that]," Khan reassured. "[I would only wait for me to fix the nightmares issue. You know, I''d rather avoid passing them to our kids]."


    "[I would be able to oversee your progress with mana if I came with you]," Liiza stated. "[I''m sure you would go back to a messy state without me]."


    "[I won''t answer that]," Khan chuckled.


    "[Don''t you want to affect my decision at least a little]?" Liiza asked while raising her head toward Khan''s face.


    Khan turned his head to look at Liiza, and his smile became even warmer as he answered. "[I''m afraid of what I might force you to do]."


    "[I know twonguages]," Liiza said, "[But I can''t find the words to describe how much I love you]."


    "[It''s the same for me]," Khan admitted while turning toward Liiza and pulling her until their whole bodies met. "[I feel saved every time you look at me]."


    The two kissed each other before letting their foreheads touch. Their minds were a mess of fears, worries, and desires, but none of those emotions appeared on their faces while they focused on the sensations radiated by their partner. They were at peace even among that chaos, even if they both knew that she would eventually have to make a decision.


    "[Hey, let''s take a few days to think about it]," Liiza suggested. "[Help me clear my head while we still have time]."


    "[You sure like to use nice words to ask for sex]," Khan teased.


    "[Shut up and kiss me, dummy]," Liizained, but her pout melted when Khan''s warm lips fell on her mouth.

 Chapter 229 - Promise

    Liiza and Khan didn''t talk about the elders'' decision, but time wasn''t on their side.


    Lieutenant Kintea immediately started to work with Zalpa to contact the elders ande up with a solution for the current situation of his troops. The crisis had ended up destroying the teleport, so the humans needed the Niqols'' help to contact their superiors and n the migration from the.


    The elders didn''t hesitate to reveal part of their technology to help the humans in the matter. Lieutenant Kintea and the other two surviving soldiers obtained a beacon capable of sending messages in space, and they quickly activated it to contact the superiors. The Global Army had a telescope ced right outside Nitis'' sr system, so it didn''t take much for an answer to arrive.


    Everything became easier after establishing a connection with the Global Army. The elders allowed the humans to bring a small space station near Nitis to start the departure, and Lieutenant Kintea kept his underlings updated about the process. Soon, only one day remained before the arrival of the vehicle that would put an end to the political missions on the alien.


    Khan and Liiza had spent that period as if the inevitable departure didn''t exist. They had enjoyed themselves as much as possible between parties and passionate moments, and their friends didn''t question them about the issue..


    George had never been able to keep secrets for himself, especially after drinking. Azni and the others had learnt that the two couples had a chance to remain together, but their options were equally awful. They couldn''t even begin to imagine what Havaa and Liiza were going through in that period, so they did their best to pretend that everything was normal.


    Zalpa didn''te out of her basement at all. She knew how harsh the situation was, and she was worried that her presence would affect the two girls'' decision.


    Zalpa wanted Liiza and Havaa to remain on Nitis, but both of them were pretty rebellious. She was afraid that her actions would push them to leave the. The old Niqols pitied both couples, especially Khan''s, but her mind remained set on helping the separation with her absence.


    Paul, Kelly, the two soldiers, and the Lieutenant had also spent most of that period in their rooms. They had never bonded with the Niqols too much, and they didn''t want to be around parties that didn''t wee them. They simply waited for the day when they could finally leave that to arrive.


    Khan spent the day before the departure peacefully. He took Snow for a long flight and did his best to exin what would happen. The Aduns didn''t fully understand his words, but the feelings that seeped past the mental connection gave it an idea of the imminent separation.


    The Aduns were Tainted animals with high resilience to different atmospheres, but Khan had seen what the sunlight had done to them. In theory, he could take Snow with him, but the many different environments he would have to explore in his missions would only hurt the eagle. Khan would be forced to leave Snow in a safe area many times, and he didn''t want that sad oue for his loyalpanion.


    Snow didn''t take that news happily. It took many detours and flew recklessly while returning to the mountain. The Aduns hoped to ruin Khan''s departure by arrivingte to the castle, but he slowly calmed it down. The eagle could only give up and drop him near the waterfall angrily when it understood that the event was inevitable.


    A party weed his return to the pce. No one wanted to address the lingering sadness in the hall, so everyone did their best to celebrate as hard as possible.


    Khan lost himself in the joyful faces of his friends and partner. His problems didn''t exist when he remained immersed in those affectionate gestures, jokes, andughs. Part of him even believed to have found true happiness in those short hours, but the celebration inevitably came to an end.


    Doku and Ilman limited themselves to nod when they saw that Khan and Liiza started to leave the main hall, but Azni jumped on him to perform a tight hug. The girl didn''t say anything, but a faint sniff resounded when she left his chest and hid her face to return to her boyfriend.


    Azni''s gesture broke the illusion created by the party, but the couple didn''t fall prey to their emotions. Khan and Liiza quickly approached the staircase and walked slowly toward their room. They never left their partner''s hand during the stroll, but the reality of the situation became impossible to deny after the door closed behind them.


    "[Liiz-]," Khan tried to say, but Liiza promptly jumped on him and trapped his lips in a long kiss.


    The kiss felt almost violent. Liiza wrapped her arms and legs around his neck and waist, forcing him to hold her from her butt. She then pulled his hair in a desperate attempt to make him walk toward the bed, but he couldn''t let her spend more time without talking.


    "[Liiza]," Khan said in a scolding tone when he managed to free his lips from Liiza''s desperate passion.


    "[No, we still have time]," Liiza pleaded while trying to reach his mouth again, but Khan pushed her on the wall and pressed with his waist to support her without needing his arms. His hand went on her hair and pulled it to trap her head.


    "[So rough]," Liiza teased as a captivating smile appeared on her face, but Khan mustered the entirety of his self-restraint to remain focused on the issue.


    "[Liiza, I need to know]," Khan begged while making their foreheads touch. "[Please, we need to talk about this before it''s toote]."


    Liiza sighed and released the grip on his waist to ce her feet on the floor. Khan took a step back and let her leave the wall, and she seemed to calm down as a warm smile appeared on her face.


    "[We switched position]," Liiza giggled while cing a hand on his cheek. "[I''m the one who doesn''t want to talk now]."


    "[The reason didn''t change]," Khan smiled while taking Liiza''s hand. "[Talking will force the rest of the world to be real]."


    Liiza''s smile broadened, but tears suddenly appeared on the corners of her eyes and made her leave Khan. She turned to walk toward the bed, but she never sat there. Khan kept his eyes on her back and noticed how her hands closed into tight fists.


    "[I thought about it, a lot]," Liiza whispered without turning. "[I''ve given my everything to inspect all my options. Honestly, I would choose to remain with you even if that meant going through a hundred crises]."


    Tears appeared in Khan''s eyes, but he suppressed them. Everything about him wanted to jump on Liiza, take her in a tight embrace, and tell her that they would be fine, but he had to wait for her speech to end. He could already sense that a "but" was about to arrive.


    "[Yet, I couldn''t stop thinking about all the warnings]," Liiza continued. "[We both know that our rtionship isn''tpletely healthy. We rely on our love to save ourselves from the grim aspects of our lives. Our feelings resemble an addiction]."


    Liiza sniffed, and Khan instinctively took a step ahead, but the girl voiced a plead when she sensed that gesture. "[Wait! I won''t be able to finish if I sense your warmth]."


    Khan closed his eyes to calm down before retracting his leg. A wet sensation spread on his right cheek, but he ignored it to focus on his girlfriend again.


    "[Mana hurried us into a rtionship]," Liiza exined. "[Our feelings have exploded as soon as our lips met. Still, I wonder if they did that for the wrong reasons. I can''t help but hear my mother''s warnings in my mind, and we both know that she might be right. We are broken, and we are partially using each other to remain in one piece]."


    Khan couldn''t deny that statement. He and Liiza had also acknowledged the toxic aspects of their rtionship long ago, but they had decided to fix them together slowly. However, the elders'' decision had changed their situation in ways that forced them to reevaluate that choice.


    "[I wish we had time to heal together]," Liiza cried. "[I wish I wouldn''t have to choose between you and my species. I wish that my mother''s death didn''t make all of this harder than it is, but how can I leave my tribe after she died to save me? How can I abandon the Niqols after they suffered so much]?"


    Khan stepped forward when he saw tears falling next to Liiza''s feet. He hugged her before he could even attempt to stop himself, and she immediately clung her hands to his arms. Khan sensed something wet spreading from her palms. It seemed that she had cut herself with her fingernails.


    "[We can still do both]," Khan pleaded as tears fell from his eyes. "[You can stille with me and return to Nitis after the elders reopen their borders. It doesn''t matter if the rebels win. We can always make them change their mindster]."


    Liiza sobbed before patting Khan''s arms. He rxed his embrace and allowed her to turn. Their eyes met, and more tears fell from them when they noticed the sad expression of their partner. They almost couldn''t believe how something so intense and beautiful was causing such deep pain.


    "[Khan, if you ask me to follow you, I wouldn''t be able to refuse]," Liiza admitted in a pleading tone as her hands grabbed the opening in his robe. "[However, love shouldn''t be like this, right? I should have a choice. I want to be able to refuse and still decide to be with you]."


    Khan opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out of it. He wanted to tell her to follow him. Everything inside him was screaming to beg her to move in the Global Army, but he found himself unable to voice requests that could hurt her.


    "[Khan, Khan, listen to me]," Liiza cried while taking his face in her hands. "[We have been incredibly lucky to find each other. Our timing was simply off. We can''t appreciate what we have until we fix each other, but that requires growing without the safety of our love]."


    "[I don''t want to go back to a world without you]," Khan revealed, "[But you can''t be happy with me, not right now. I''m only afraid that I might lose you forever]."


    "[Remember my mother''s words]," Liiza replied as a warm smile appeared on her face. "[Mana made us find each other. Believe that it will do the same after we have fixed our issues. Let''s live our lives and grow to a point when we can truly love. I know that we will meet again then]."


    "[I will search for my happiness without you only if you promise me to do the same]," Khan stated. "[You won''t be able to grow if you cling to the hope of meeting me again]."


    "[Dummy]!" Liiza sobbed. "[I had to say that. Don''t hurt yourself for me even now]."


    "[What can you even do? Break up with me]?" Khan joked as tears continued to fall from his eyes.


    Liiza smiled, but her sobs became too hard to suppress in front of that separation. She hid her face on Khan''s neck and cried loudly as she realized what was happening.


    "[Why am I so sure that I won''t love anyone else so deeply]?" Liiza cried without leaving Khan''s neck.


    "[It''s the same for me]," Khan confessed as he took her head in his arms. "[You have cursed me forever]."


    Liiza left Khan''s neck and fixed her eyes on his face. She loved him so much, but they only had a night left together, and she knew exactly how she wanted to spend it.


    "[Let''s enjoy this curse onest time]," Liiza sniffed while wiping away her tears with Khan''s robe. "[I won''t cry. Promise that you will do the same]."


    "[I promise]," Khan said while wiping away his tears. "[Let''s not ruin this memory]."


    Liiza nodded, and the two kissed before falling prey to their passion. Everything grew hazy as they lost each other in their raging emotions, but neither of them managed to stick to their promise.


    ****


    Author''s notes: The second chapter will arrive soon.

 Chapter 230 - Departure

    Azure lights appeared on Nitis'' dark sky early in the morning. The scene initially scared some Niqols due to the resemnce with the crisis, but the true nature of the event became clear in a matter of minutes.


    Theck of clouds made the space station''s arrival impossible to miss. The giant vehicle resembled arge star that had flown too close to Nitis'' orbit. The azure light radiated by its neon and glowing tubes filled the sky in its surroundings and created a bright patch that tried to shine on the surface.


    Orders appeared in each room of the pce and warned everyone about the imminent departure. The humans had to leave, so formal salutations became mandatory. Still, Azni and the others didn''t need orders to gather past theke next to the mountain and wait for their friends toe out.


    Lieutenant Kintea, the two soldiers, Kelly, and Paul were the first to leave the mountain and cross the narrow passage that led on the other side of theke. The Niqols on the scene didn''t hesitate to perform bows when the group reached them, but nothing else happened. The humans crossed them to stare at the smaller light that had separated from the halo created by the space station.


    .


    The Niqols also moved their eyes on that descending glowing dot. Soon, the silhouette of a small spaceship became visible in the dark sky. It only took a few minutes to reach the surface andnd in an empty spot.


    Azni, Ilman, Doku, and Asyat remained astonished in front of the spaceship''s speed. They inspected its three engines and its curved front, but their eyes soon went on the five humans marching forward. Lieutenant Kintea''s group didn''t hesitate to approach the vehicle.


    The group on Niqols inspected the spaceship''s insides after it opened its metal doors, but they eventually turned to examine the waterfall. Two humans had yet toe out of the mountain, and anxiety built inside the students as they prepared themselves to say goodbye.


    Two figures eventually became visible on the narrow passage. George and Havaa held their hands as they crossed theke and reached the Niqols. The couple then exchanged a long kiss, but Havaa pushed George away when her tears became impossible to contain. The girl turned to run back inside the mountain as her sobs resounded in the area.


    "[I wish things were different]," Georgemented while showing a sad smile toward the students.


    "[Make sure not to drink too much once you get back among the humans]," Doku winked before reaching George to hug him.


    "[No recruit would be able to keep up with me anyway]," George scoffed before separating from Doku and falling prey to Azni''s embrace.


    "[Take care of yourself, George]," Azni whispered. "[Don''t cause any mess]."


    "[I''m a responsible soldier]!" Georgeined, and the couple exploded into augh.


    "[I hope to see you again soon]," Asyat uttered after Azni let George go.


    "[I''lle back to Nitis as soon as possible]," George replied before exchanging a short hug with the girl.


    "[Don''t forget the Niqols'' way]!" Ilman shouted as he ran toward George and squeezed his head between his arms.


    "[Why are you always so intense]?" George cursed butughs soon apanied his words.


    "[Nothing can stop my raging feelings]!" Ilman dered before letting George go and patting his shoulders a few times.


    "[I''ll miss you too]," George announced as he took a step back to escape Ilman.


    George performed a polite bow toward the adult Niqols on the scene and began to approach the spaceship, but a dark figure suddenly descended on him and mmed him on the ground. The boy found himself trapped in his Aduns'' pecks andughs inevitably escaped his mouth.


    "I will miss you too!" Georgeughed as he hugged the Aduns'' neck and straightened his position. "Make sure to eat a lot and find a goodpanion. I don''t want to see you without a partner when I''ll return to Nitis."


    The Aduns screeched toward the sky and snuggled its head on George''s chest onest time before setting off and disappearing in the darkness of the sky. The boy could only heave a helpless sigh at that sight, and a single tear fell from his eyes as he turned toward the students.


    "[Take care of Havaa for me]," George requested. "[Don''t let her remain fixated on me]."


    "[She will forget you in no time]," Azni mocked, but the warm smile that appeared on her face and made George nod happily.


    "[Thank you for everything]," George eximed after performing a polite bow. "[Please, make sure to convey my gratitude to Professor Supyan if he is still alive]."


    "[You can count on us]," Doku announced, and George finally found the courage to turn and reach the spaceship.


    The students turned toward the waterfall after George disappeared inside the spaceship. Their anxiety increased as they waited for Khan to appear, but something else distracted them and made their eyes move on the sky.


    A screech resounded in the sky as another Aduns flew in the area andnded next to the spaceship. An adult Niqols jumped off her eagle while carrying a human covered in thick chains. The boy had his mouth, hands, and legs bound by those chinking items, but the students didn''t fail to recognize him. It seemed that Rodney had survived the crisis in the safety of his prison.


    The adult Niqols didn''t waste time. She threw Rodney inside the spaceship before jumping back on her Aduns and setting off. The students didn''t have the chance to express their disgust toward the boy since Lieutenant Kintea took care of securing him on a seat on the other side of the vehicle.


    The scene had added a filthy feeling to the tension that enveloped the students, but everything disappeared when they saw a figure leaving the waterfall. Khan marched on the narrow passage, but he was alone.


    Azni covered her mouth, and tears began to form in her eyes when Khan revealed a faint smile toward his friends. The sadness radiated by his expression was impossible to describe by simple words, and the students seemed able to experience it as he drew close.


    "[She couldn''t make it]," Khan quickly exined, but he couldn''t add anything else since Azni jumped on him.


    Doku joined his girlfriend in the embrace, and Khan could only pat their backs as he tried tomit to memory the coldness radiated by their bodies. He almost couldn''t believe that he had grown so close to the two aliens in little more than half a year.


    "[I''ll watch over her and find a way to make you end together]," Azni promised.


    "[Azni, it''s fine]," Khan said in an affectionate tone while patting her head. "[This goodbye is only temporary. I''ll see you all again sooner orter]."


    "[But you were so-]," Azni continued as tears started to fall from her eyes, but Doku covered her mouth to make her stop.


    Azni red at Doku, but she understood her mistake when she noticed that Khan''s eyes had also started to produce tears. The girl felt incredibly sorry, but Khan shook his head suppressed his sadness to reveal a warm smile.


    "[I want the greatest party of all time once we reunite]," Khanughed.


    "[You can count on me]," Doku proudly announced. "[The entirety of Nitis will learn to respect the importance of my parties. I''ll be an authority in every celebration]!"


    "[Don''t put strange ideas in his mind]," Azniined now that Doku had let her mouth go. "[Remember that I''ll have to deal with him in these years]."


    "[I don''t want you to get bored]" Khan winked, and Doku exploded into augh in front of Azni''s pout.


    The two Niqols didn''t want to let Khan go, but a screech soon resounded above them. The three wanted to nce at the sky, but a mass of white feathers mmed them on the ground before they could understand what was happening.


    "[Snow]!" Khan scolded before exploding into a happyugh.


    The Aduns sat on Khan and prevented him from standing up. Snow even screeched proudly to announce its superiority, but Khan could sense through the mental connection that the eagle was trying to keep him on the.


    "[We have talked about this]," Khan whispered as he ruffled Snow''s feathers. "[You need to keep an eye on Liiza for me, okay? I must leave, but I can''t do that with an easy mind unless I know that both of you will be fine]."


    Snow screeched again, but sadness seeped in its voice at that time. Khan could only continue to ruffle its feathers until the eagle decided to let him stand up.


    "[You are the best Aduns on the entire]," Khan dered while hugging Snow''s neck, and the eagle lowered its head to voice another sad screech.


    Doku and Azni remained silent in front of that scene. They could rte to the sadness in Snow''s voice. Khan had be an important member of their lives, but he would have to leave for many years now.


    Snow eventually left Khan and flew toward the peak of the mountain, disappearing among the dark sky. He could sense that the Aduns was still nearby, and he even understood its reasons. The eagle wanted to wait for Liiza toe out of the pce.


    ''Good boy,'' Khan thought before finding another pair of arms around his neck.


    Asyat hugged Khan tightly, and thetter didn''t hesitate to do the same. The two didn''t say anything, but that gesture was enough to express that they would both miss each other.


    The next salutes ended up being far rougher than the others. Ilman jumped on Khan as soon as Asyat let him go and wrapped his arms around his torso to lift him.


    "[Don''t you dare to forget about me]!" Ilman shouted as he waved Khan left and right. "[What are yearspared to our friendship]?!"


    Khanughed and let Ilman do what he wanted with him. The boy was almost more violent than Snow while he expressed his affection. Khan didn''t even notice that the upper part of his robe had fallen by the time he returned to the ground.


    "[You never change, do you]?" Khanughed as he covered his shoulders, but a series of stunned gazes filled his vision during the process.


    Doku''s mouth had opened in surprise, Asyat''s eyes had widened, Ilman had fallen silent, and Azni had started to cry even harder than before at the sight of the rune on Khan''s shoulder.


    "[Right]," Khan helplessly sighed as he inspected his tattoo for a few seconds before covering it again.


    "[No, no]," Azni muttered. "[You can''t leave. I''m sure that even the elde-]."


    "[Azni]," Khan interrupted her. "[We have already made up our minds. As I said, this isn''t goodbye. We''ll all meet again. Take care of her and yourselves]."


    "[This is so unfair]!" Azni shouted, but Doku promptly took her in his arms and prevented her from speaking any further.


    "[You should leave before she tries to take down your ride]," Doku suggested as a sad smile appeared on his face.


    "[I''ll see you soon, my friends]," Khan dered before turning, performing a bow toward the adult Niqols, and approaching the spaceship.


    Tears wanted toe out of Khan''s eyes, but he suppressed them. A tinge of hesitation filled his body when he was about to step on the spaceship, but the memories of the previous night eventually gave him enough strength to proceed. He had to leave to learn how to love correctly.


    Every event experienced on Nitis filled his vision as he walked toward the first empty seat that he found, and everything culminated with the memories of thest night. The promise and that goodbye filled with tears darkened his face and made him desire to remain alone. He felt the desperate need to see Liiza, but she had made the right decision. Neither of them would have been able to separate if they could gaze at their partner during those final moments.


    The noise caused by the metal doors of the spaceship made Khan raise his eyes. He noticed Rodney, but his mind didn''t allow him to think about the boy now. His gaze went on the outside world where he saw that all his friends had started to cry. Khan only managed to show onest smile before the vehicle sealed its entrances and set off.


    ****


    Author''s notes: The second volume will end here. Itsted far longer than I expected, but I think it turned out quite well. I know you are split between wanting more battle or more romance, but I can''t satisfy everyone. I can only write what I feel it''s necessary. Anyway, see you tomorrow at the beginning of the third volume!

 Chapter 231 - Sir

    The mental connection with Snow grew weaker as the spaceship flew toward the space station. The vehicle elerated before slowing down and causing a series of clunking noises during itsnding. Its doors opened and revealed a bright environment filled with white light tainted only by the azure glow of the tubes that ran on its smooth dark surfaces.


    Earth''s air flowed inside the spaceship and brought relief to the humans'' lungs. The soldiers and recruits'' bodies recognized their home, but that sensation only filled Khan''s mind with sadness. He remained focused on the mental connection with Snow until that portal into the Aduns'' thoughts closed and transformed into nothing more than a faint dot. It still existed, but he could easily overlook it if he didn''t pay attention.


    A series of soldiers stood next to the spaceship and performed military salutes as Lieutenant Kintea and the others stood up. Dark-blue uniforms and white stars shed in Khan''s vision, but he barelymitted them to memory. Orders also resounded, but nothing seemed able to enter his ears. His body moved, but his mind was too sore to study all the inputs that reached it.


    The nging noise that resounded after Khan jumped off the spaceship forced Khan to ept how final that moment was.. He had spent a bit more than seven months on Nitis, but everything was over now. He was back in the human world, and his thoughts hid in a dark corner of his mind to dy that realization.


    Khan followed Lieutenant Kintea and the other soldiers, but he didn''t study his surroundings. His eyes remained firm, but they didn''t look at anything. He was a mere body empty of sensations and emotions that walked through bright and warm corridors before stopping inside arge hall. Multiple desks featuring interactive screens filled Khan''s vision, but his gaze immediately went on the long ss at the end of the area.


    "The interrogations will start soon!" The woman in charge of the team that had picked up the envoys shouted. "We will begin with-."


    The woman stopped speaking when she noticed that Lieutenant Kintea had raised a hand, and thetter promptly exined himself. "There is no need to interrogate the others. I''m more than enough to provide aplete report."


    The woman inspected Lieutenant Kintea. She didn''t know if the soldier wanted to let his underlings off the hook or was simply looking to improve his value, but Khan soon imed her attention. He had approached the window without caring that all the eyes in the hall had fallen on him.


    "It''s fine," Lieutenant Kintea reassured before the woman could scold Khan. "We went through a lot on Nitis. Let''s deal with the report now."


    The woman''s gaze returned on Lieutenant Kintea, and she eventually nodded before pointing at one of the corridors connected to the hall. She watched the soldier leave, and a simple order escaped from her mouth as she moved to follow him. "Send the others to their rooms for now."


    The soldiers in her team performed a military salute before approaching the envoys. Still, they soon found out that everyone was quite responsive, especially Kelly, Paul, and the two higher-ups. Rodney had remained inside the spaceship, and someone had probably already brought him into a cell, so only George and Khan didn''t move immediately.


    George inspected Khan for a few seconds, but he eventually decided to leave with the soldier. He wanted to be with his friend, but his mind was also a mess. He needed some time alone.


    Khan inspected the world past the long window. He had initially managed to see Nitis clearly, but the dark became hard to notice as the space station left its atmosphere.


    His palm went on the window as everything he had loved so hard in the past months grew farther away from him. The ss felt cold, good cold, but it couldn''t suppress the dense sadness that was slowly filling his body.


    "Your room awaits," A tall man said after waiting for a few minutes that Khan noticed his presence.


    Khan ignored the soldier that had approached him from his left. He didn''t care enough about the Global Army to lose thosest glimpses of Nitis.


    "You muste with me," The soldier insisted, but Khan continued to turn a deaf ear to his words.


    The space station was fast, too fast for Khan''s tastes. Nitis soon disappeared among the ckness of space, but he continued to search for the. He hoped that memorizing that dark spot would allow him to find it again in the future.


    Khan''s tant disregard for his situation was getting on the soldier''s nerves. Thetter reached for the boy''s shoulder, but he suddenly felt unable to move his arm. His eyes widened when he saw that Khan had grabbed his wrist.


    The soldier opened his mouth toin, but his tongue froze when Khan turned to inspect him. His cold eyes moved slowly and went from the man''s face to his shoulders. Thetter had a single star on his right. He was a mere first-level warrior.


    The soldier had treated Khan as a simple seventeen-year-old boy, but that misconception crumbled when he inspected those cold eyes. Khan''s gaze radiated a chilling calmness that sent waves of fear down the man''s spine. Thetter could only ept to be in front of a warrior who had far more experience than him.


    "[Does-]," Khan began to speak, but he closed his eyes when he realized that he was using the Niqols''nguage. He spent a few seconds in silence before resuming voicing his question. "Does the room have a window?"


    The soldier didn''t know why he wasn''t fighting to escape from Khan''s grip. His very instincts were telling him to go along with that situation. He almost failed to realize that an answer had left his mouth. "No, they don''t."


    "I won''t go there then," Khan stated as he let the soldier go. "Does this space station have a training hall?"


    "Yes, but-," The soldier tried to exin that the Global Army rarely allowed the use of training halls inside the space stations due to their high consumption of synthetic mana, but Khan didn''t let him finish.


    "I''ll go there," Khan announced. "Lead the way."


    Khan began to walk toward the center of the hall, but he soon turned toward the soldier since he didn''t know which corridor would lead to the training hall. The man didn''t know what to do, but the slight soreness that had spread throughout his hand told him that Khan was strong enough to hurt him. That sensation and the cold eyes fixed on him eventually made him decide to go along with that request.


    The two crossed many corridors silently, and the soldier didn''t hold back from ncing at Khan whenever his curiosity had the best of him. That walk felt strange. The man was clearly leading that march, but he sensed that Khan was in charge.


    "We are here," The soldier announced after stopping in front of a grey metal door. "You only need to-."


    "I know how training halls work," Khan interrupted before taking out his phone and cing it next to the door.


    The action didn''t lead to any result. Khan''s phone had died after the weeks spent inside the castles. The envoys had left their chargers somewhere on Nitis, and they didn''t need them under the sunlight, but their devices had inevitably turned off after the constant night returned.


    Khan heaved a helpless sigh in front of the unresponsiveness of his phone. He moved to his right and pointed at the door, but the soldier found himself in a pickle.


    "The hall will use my Credits if I activate it," The soldier exined, hoping that Khan would give up on the matter.


    "The Global Army will pay you back," Khan coldly replied.


    "You can''t know that!" The soldierined.


    "Then call someone," Khan ordered. "Tell them that Khan wants to use the training hall."


    Under normal circumstances, the soldier would never bother his superiors over a kid, but the firmness in Khan''s words made him pick up his phone. The man sent a message to the woman interrogating Lieutenant Kintea, and her answer left him stunned.


    The soldier raised his eyes to stare at Khan in disbelief, but thetter didn''t appear surprised to see that reaction. Khan radiated pure confidence, and he even made that aura appear normal on him.


    "You are free to use the training hall as long as you want," The soldier uttered before timidly adding another word, "Sir."


    Khan decided not to address that topic and waited calmly for the soldier to touch the door with his phone and press a few options. The entrance slid open, and the man performed a military salute when Khan entered the training hall.


    The door closed behind Khan as soon as he tapped the metal floor a couple of times. Menus quickly appeared under his feet, but he ignored them to ce his phone in the corner of the hall.


    The training hall immediately started to charge the device as Khan undressed. He threw the upper part of his robe next to his phone and drew his broken knife before removing the sheathe from his waist. The Niqols had made him leave the cube on Nitis, so he didn''t have anything else. Khan even took off his shoes and remained in his loose trousers before approaching the menus.


    Khan was no stranger to the training programs in those halls, but everything was different now that he had be a first-level warrior. He needed to activate puppets powered by mana to test the level of his martial arts.


    The training hall never stopped Khan. It allowed him to pick all the programs he desired, so he didn''t hesitate to choose something suitable for his level. nking noises immediately resounded from behind the walls as azure shades seeped into the white light that illuminated the area.


    The walls on the opposite side of the hall took a few minutes to open. Khan saw a three meters tall ck puppet leaving the tubes and wires that kept it connected to the workshop. Azure lines ran across the dummy''s body and revealed the presence of mana in its metal. It felt like a proper first-level warrior when he inspected the sheer amount of energy contained in its body.


    Khan closed his eyes as the puppet charged toward him. It was fast, but it felt slow when he inspected it with his senses. He had enough time to muster his mana and shot forward through a simple movement that made him end behind the dummy.


    The puppet immediately turned, but its quick movement revealed a diagonal cut on its oval face. Its four red eyes went dark as half of its head separated from the rest of its body and fell to the floor.


    "Level four," The training hall announced.


    Descriptions of the enhancements resounded in the hall, but Khan ignored them. He focused on the fact that the program had brought him directly to the fourth level, but that felt almost normal since he was far stronger than an ordinary first-level warrior.


    The training hall retrieved the puppet and took a few minutes to build the next challenge, but its difficulty ended up disappointing Khan. He shook his head when he saw three dummiesing out of the workshops inside the walls.


    ''The program is preserving the synthetic mana,'' Khan concluded in his mind.


    Khan had picked a training program meant for first-level warriors, but the Global Army had set clear limits to the amount of mana that the hall could use. He didn''t know if that was limited to the space stations due to their short stashes of energy, but he soon let go of his disappointment.


    Facing three opponents almost as strong as first-level warriors wasn''t an easy task. Khan''s abilities simply happened to counter those challenges. Still, he decided to ignore those issues and focus on falling inside the unique mental state experienced in the muddy valley.


    The three puppets charged at Khan. They had different sizes, speeds, and structures, but none of them was as fast as him. The first one to approach him found a vertical cut on its face after failing to catch him. The second dummy suddenly flew toward the third dummy as the metal on its side caved in, but precise kicks soon reduced their heads into a mass of wires, gears, and dark shards.


    "Level six," The training hall announced, but Khan didn''t hear that.


    Khan''s mind only paid attention to the mana in his surroundings. He felt able to smell the difference between natural and synthetic energy. Everything seemed so obvious that Khan wondered how he had failed to sense that in the first ce.


    The training hall soon created five puppets, and Khan moved as soon as he sensed that the flow of mana in his surroundings changed. He ducked, side-stepped, kicked, and waved his weapon without thinking. He didn''t even care that his knife lost chunks of its broken de from time to time.


    The training program eventually forced Khan to rely on the [Blood Shield]. He even found himself flying around when he fell in the middle of a trap, but he never suffered severe injuries. A few bruises had appeared on his torso, arms, and mouth when he noticed that the hall wasn''t sending dummies anymore.


    Khan raised his eyes toward the wall and noticed the words "level ten" shining with a green light. He hadpleted the training program, and the debris around him only confirmed how fierce the battle had been. However, he still felt full of energy, even if some sweat had appeared on his body and a faint soreness had spread inside him.


    ''I guess a training program can''tpare to an actual war,'' Khan thought before browsing the menus to the floor to make some robots clear the hall.


    Khan inspected his knife as he walked back to his phone. His weapon had initially featured a long de, but only a sharp chunk shorter than four centimeters had remained now. He had mostly performed perfect executions of the Divine Reaper during the battle, but that didn''t seem to be enough for a cracked item. His only constion was that he had almost reached thepetent proficiency level in his second martial art.


    Khan was about to pick his phone, but someone suddenly knocked on the door. He used the menus to open it, and a helpless smile appeared on his face when he saw George crossing the entrance to show a bottle of booze and two sses.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I''ve thought a lot about my current scheduletely. I can handle publishing so much each day, but that only if I cut away everything else from my life, so I''ve decided to establish Saturday and Sunday as partial breaks. I will publish 1 chapter for Chaos'' Heir and 2 for Demonic Sword those days to fix eventual dys umted during the week, rest, or enjoy my life a little. I hope you can understand my position. By the way, today is Saturday for me, so there won''t be a second chapter.

 Chapter 232 - Request

    "How did you even find booze up here?" Khanughed when George walked proudly toward him.


    "You should never underestimate the power of a driven man!" George announced before sitting in front of Khan and filling the two sses.


    The two instinctively toasted ording to the Niqols'' traditions and took a long sip before revealing disgusted expressions. The liquor was different from what they had be used to drinking on Nitis. It had a strong vor that made their throats burn for a few seconds before spreading warmth in their stomachs.


    "I should have asked Doku for some recipes," Georgeined.


    "Knowing how to make booze is thest thing you need," Khan mocked, and the two boys exploded into a loudugh.


    "Hey, I''m heartbroken here," George stated while trying to suppress hisughs. "I need some liquid love to keep going."


    "You should be careful," Khan suggested. "You don''t have anyone stopping you from bing an alcoholic now."


    "Is it strange that I already miss her ps?" George asked. "Havaa knew how to hurt without really hurting me. I don''t know if that makes sense."


    Khan''s smile grew helpless as he nodded. He could vaguely understand what he meant, even if his experience with that topic involved Liiza''s violent passion.


    "We have been the luckiest boys in the entire universe for a few months," George sighed as he picked up his cup and drank a small sip.


    "How is it?" Khan asked in front of George''s frown.


    "It does get better after the first sip," Georgemented, and Khan didn''t hesitate to test that for himself.


    The liquor soon filled his throat with its intense vor again, but it didn''t burn with the same intensity as before. Khan even managed to start appreciating that taste.


    "Maybe you should stop being a soldier and make your brand," Khan joked.


    "Life would definitely be easier," George groaned while inspecting the robots cleaning the debris in the hall. "It looks like you also need a break from all of this."


    "I was just blowing off some steam," Khan responded. "I think I frightened the soldier who led me here. The guy even called me sir after leaving me."


    "The two of us have more experience than most of the soldiers in this space station," George scoffed. "Our eyes see the world differently, and they can understand that when they look at us."


    "They don''t know how lucky they are," Khan chuckled.


    "They have no idea," George confirmed before refilling both cups.


    A few drinks went by as the two boys cracked jokes, but silence eventually fell among them. It felt hard to keep talking when it was just the two of them.


    "Did you already think about your next move?" George asked after a few silent minutes went by.


    "I have no idea," Khan admitted. "What about you?"


    "On this topic," George cleared his throat. "I know that we have joked about this, but I wouldn''t mind following you. We make a good team. The Global Army will throw promotions at us if we keep performing so well everywhere we go."


    Khan''s eyes opened in surprise, but warmth soon reced that feeling. He could see that George didn''t want the two of them to separate, especially after everything they had experienced, but his desire felt slightly forced. Khan believed that his friend was partially suggesting that for him.


    "George, have you thought about going back on Earth?" Khan asked with all the affection that he could put in his tone.


    "Why would I go back on Earth?" George questioned. "I can already think about the countless political obligations that my family would force me to attend."


    Khan heaved a deep sigh as he sorted out his thoughts. He knew George well, and he valued his friendship a lot, but he couldn''t let himmit a mistake out of fear of remaining alone.


    "George, why did you leave Earth in the first ce?" Khan asked.


    "Why do you even ask?" George questioned in an annoyed tone. "You know damn well why I left."


    "I also know that Professor Supyan has helped you make peace with that reason," Khan continued. "You don''t need to be away from Earth anymore. You can go back home and show to your family and the Global Army the kind of man that you have be."


    "A young drunkard?" George asked.


    "One of the most promising warriors in the entirety of the Global Army," Khan corrected.


    "You should have said that I was the most promising warrior if you really wanted to convince me," Georgeughed.


    "Impossible," Khan joined hisugh. "That would be me."


    "Sess corrupts even the best of us," George sighed, but hisugh ended when he noticed that Khan had started to stare at him with warm eyes.


    "Khan, why do you want to remain alone so badly?" George asked. "You have been there for me when I was a mess. Why can''t I do the same for you?"


    "I can''t consider you a friend and use you at the same time," Khan dered whileying the back of his head on the wall. "Love doesn''t work like this."


    George wanted to correct Khan. He could see that his words involved Liiza and the recent separation, but he still desired to reassure him. Yet, something told him that Khan probably needed to be alone.


    "You are helpless," George cursed. "You are strong enough to inspire an entire generation of recruits, but you don''t let anyone learn from you."


    "No one should be like me," Khan said, and his smile left George speechless.


    Istrone and Nitis had filled George with bad memories, but Khan surpassed him in that field. George also knew something affected his friend in ways that he couldn''t understand. Mere traumas couldn''t forge such a firm, driven, and strong character without other details that he couldn''t see.


    George believed to be quite close to Khan''s mindset. He even felt confident enough to im that he was one of the few people in the entire universe who could understand him. However, there was a gap that he couldn''t fill. George couldn''t reach the same depths of Khan''s mind that Liiza had managed to touch.


    Nevertheless, George trusted Khan deeply. He knew that his friend wasn''t a reckless idiot who could fall prey to booze or simr dangerous distractions. Moreover, Khan was smart enough to understand what would benefit George the most and drive him on that path.


    "Promise me that you will ask for my help if you ever find yourself in a tough spot," George requested after epting that he couldn''t do anything else for Khan.


    "Of course," Khan promised. "You are at the top of my list right now."


    George didn''t find any lies in that statement, and the event rejoiced him. His worry slowly vanished as he refilled the cups and called for another toast.


    The two boys resumed their rounds of jokes, but someone interrupted them by knocking at the hall''s doors. George initially panicked due to the liquor, but Khan didn''t care about that enough to dy the opening of the entrance.


    George widened his eyes when he saw Lieutenant Kintea entering the training hall with a small backpack on his shoulder, but Khan''s calm movements calmed him down. Khan stood up and performed a simple military salute before sitting back to the floor, and George imitated him.


    Lieutenant Kintea inevitably gazed at the bottle and cups between the two boys, but he pretended not to see them. He cleared his throat and stepped deeper into the training hall before speaking in a polite tone. "George, can you leave us? I need to speak with Khan."


    George nodded before standing up again. Yet, he recalled something when he was about to reach the exit, and Lieutenant Kintea had to watch as the boy went back to Khan, filled his drink, and took the bottle with him without forgetting about his cup.


    Lieutenant Kintea''s patience seemed about to reach its limits during that slow scene, but he didn''t say anything. Khan sealed the door after George left, and the soldier took that as the signal to exin the reason behind his visit.


    "The Global Army is aware of everything that has happened on Nitis," Lieutenant Kintea exined. "I hope you don''t mind that I mentioned your rtionship with Ambassador Yeza''s daughter."


    "It''s fine, sir," Khan calmly replied as he picked his cup andid his back on the wall.


    "Excellent," Lieutenant Kintea eximed. "I believe you can understand how valuable you have be for the Global Army. Your feats on Istrone and Nitis can grant you ess to every destination you desire. I''m sure you can even strive to be a Lieutenant this year. You would only have to apply for the position."


    "I''m still unclear about my future, sir," Khan honestly admitted.


    "I would like to give you more time," Lieutenant Kintea eximed, "But we can''t remain on this space station for too long. Besides, your second year has already begun, and you are quite behind in many aspects of your education. That obviously wouldn''t be a problem if you were busy elsewhere, but I need you to tell me what you want to do first."


    "Do you mean now, sir?" Khan asked.


    "I can give you a few hours," Lieutenant Kintea responded. "Why don''t you check your phone to find a suitable position? I''m sure that the Global Army has already updated your profile."


    Khan nodded, and Lieutenant Kintea revealed a polite smile before leaving his backpack on the floor and approaching the exit. The phone fell in Khan''s hand after the door closed behind the soldier, and a series of notifications appeared as soon as he turned the device on.


    Nitis was a ssified area, so the messages from outside the had to go through a briefing. Khan had even left the human camp after a single month, so he didn''t gain ess to the Global Army''swork for a long time.


    However, those restrictions didn''t apply anymore now that Khan was on the space station. He could see that Luke and Bruce had sent a few messages while he was on Nitis. Most of them tried to check on his situation, while others updated him about Martha''s condition.


    ''She is still in aa,'' Khan understood after reading all the messages.


    After loving Liiza so hard, Khan could only see Martha as a dear friend. He missed their casual conversations and her constant support. Her gentle and mature words would be able to alleviate his sadness, but it seemed that her body and mind still needed time to heal.


    Khan didn''t reply to Luke and Bruce as he checked his profile. A long list of tasks and positions meant for first-level warriors unfolded in his eyes. Most of them wanted him to be a foot soldier in different environments, and those jobs even had a number of Credits written next to them, but Khan couldn''t understand whether those sums were good or bad due to his ignorance in the field.


    Only a couple ofbels involved roles as an apprentice ambassador, but they were on special academies on Earth. They even required Khan to have high grades to pay for his enrollment.


    After reading thosebels, Khan felt forced to consider Earth as an option, but everything inside him opposed those thoughts. Going back there meant returning to a world where everything he had experienced on Nitis didn''t matter. Moreover, he stillcked the knowledge, confidence, and power to face his father.


    The crisis on Nitis had broadened Khan''s understanding of mana, forcing him to realize how weak he was. Khan was exceptional for his age, but he was still powerless. He couldn''t save anyone nor affect the scales of a battle, and that felt uneptable right now.


    The injuries caused by the monster''s feathers had long since healed, but Khan still recalled how his best efforts had been pointless. Liiza had lost an arm even if he had jumped in front of an attack for her. The value of his life couldn''t be high if he could only achieve so little by putting it on the line.


    The desire to improve transformed into a faint need. Khan would have been able to discuss Liiza''s situation with the elders if he were stronger. He wouldn''t have witnessed so many deaths during the crisis if he had the power to take over entire battles on his own.


    Khan then recalled the backpack left by the soldier. He approached it quickly, and a dark-blue military uniform unfolded in his vision when he opened it. The clothes seemed to fit him, but his eyes grew resolute when he saw the single star on the right shoulder. The secrets behind his nightmares, the sr system, and the Nak also required far more than that, and simple academies couldn''t make him stronger.


    .


    .


    .


    After two hours, Lieutenant Kintea returned inside the training hall and felt surprised to find Khan deep into a meditative state. Still, his arrival in the area awakened him.


    "Did you make up your mind?" Lieutenant Kintea asked when Khan opened his eyes.


    "I did," Khan said while picking his phone and throwing it on the military uniform next to him. "I won''t join any toon or academy."


    "Why is that?" Lieutenant Kintea questioned. "Those environments are perfect for your growth, especially after everything you have experienced."


    Khan shook his head as the resolve in his eyes intensified. He had given his everything, but he had still seen his happiness slip through his fingers. He wanted to get stronger quickly, and only one ce could grant him that.


    "Send me to the battlefield," Khan firmly requested.

 Chapter 233 - Ecoruta

    The Global Army wasn''t at war, at least politically. Humankind had many interests across the universe, but it didn''t have a proper enemy since the Nak already upied that spot.


    Still, battlefields existed on differents. Most of them were environments devoid of other intelligent species but with Tainted animals and monsters that the Global Army had to suppress to continue harnessing eventual resources. However, others involvedplicated interests and aliens that the humans wanted to help to obtain benefits.


    Ecoruta was one of those environments. The featured two intelligent species constantly at war, and the humans had decided to side with one of them to get a share of the natural resources. Apparently, that world was like Onia since it contained one of the core metals used in the creation of vehicles meant for space.


    Khan had learnt something about Ecoruta after the sr wind when he discussed the event in the human camp. Still, Lieutenant Kintea granted him ess to ssified information that expanded his knowledge about the as soon as he decided to send him there.


    Ecoruta was simr to Earth in terms of length of the days and temperature, but its fauna and flora were obviously different. Also, the two intelligent species that lived there were rather unique and opposite between them.


    The Global Army had sided with the Guko, an extremely intelligent alien species thatcked the physical prowess to defend themselves against their opponents. They were short. Most of them didn''t even cross one meter. Two antennae grew from their oval heads, and their skin was green. They all had three big eyes lined up in the upper part of their faces,rge mouths, and two cavities where humans typically had noses.


    The Guko''s incredible intelligence made them pragmatic, a feature that the Global Army had used to establish a cooperation between their two species. Those aliens knew that they didn''t have any chance against their opponents, so they didn''t hesitate to ally with the humans in exchange for part of the precious metal of their.


    The opponents called themselves Stal. They were a driven alien species with physical prowess that went beyond both Ef''I and Kred. The reason behind that incredible power came from their peculiar anatomy since they basically hosted two people in the same body.


    Almost all the Stal were three meters tall. Their facial features were very human-like, but they had two heads and rough brown skin that resembled dry ground. Moreover, they had four thick arms that they could control freely. Their only issue came from their two brains since they carried two different personalities that affected their overall thinking capabilities.


    The Guko and the Stal had shared Ecoruta in peace for a long time. The Stal actually used to protect the Guko from the dangers in the environment. The''s fauna was between Earth and Nitis when it came to the number of Tainted animals and monsters. Those beasts weren''t everywhere, but they existed and made certain areas dangerous.


    However, the arrival of the Nak had changed that situation. Ecoruta had experienced something simr to the First Impact a few centuries ago, and the event had transformed its society deeply.


    The Stal had always been in charge, and their poor intelligence had never allowed the society to experience industrial breakthroughs. Still, they had found themselves full of Nak''s technology after surviving the invasion, which had allowed the Guko''s intelligence to shine.


    The two species had inevitably grown apart after that point. The Stal couldn''t understand much about the Nak''s technology, but the Guko had never stopped studying it. Their intelligence had also given them the chance to develop weapons capable ofpensating for their weaker bodies.


    The two species didn''t remember exactly how their actual division happened. They had started living in different areas and developing new habits. The Guko couldn''t ept to return to their state of a protected kind, so a sh eventually happened, and the wars spread throughout the.


    Initially, the Guko suffered incredible losses. They had the wits and the right tools, but the Stal had umted battle experience since forever. They knew how to handle a war, and their lower intelligence didn''t prevent them from learning how to use their opponents'' weapons.


    Still, the Guko learnt quickly, and they soon managed to stop the Stal''s offensive. Then, when the humans found Ecoruta, the Guko didn''t hesitate to seal a deal with them to gain the upper hand in the war and upy half of the.


    ''The Global Army has experienced a few technological leaps in only fifty years of cooperation with the Guko,'' Khan read on his phone from the report that Lieutenant Kintea had sent him. ''Many alien species wish to take our ce, but we have kept them at bay by sharing part of our gains with them and showing the Guko that only we can provide the best support.''


    Khan turned off the screen of his phone and put it in his pocket. He had memorized everything there was to learn from the report, and the situation was even quite clear in his mind.


    Ecoruta didn''t need the Nak to obtain mana, but the Stal had never been able to use it properly. They had developed simple martial arts and techniques that enhanced their physical prowess, but their poor intelligence had always been a limit that they couldn''t ovee.


    The Guko had the chance to develop wonders after the Nak''s invasion, but their bodies were too weak to handle martial arts and spells correctly. Their pragmatic mindset had made them focus solely on the technological field, and the humans wanted to reap those fruits.


    The Stal couldn''t produce the Guko''s weapons on their own, but they had stolen many of them during the initial stages of the war, and they kept doing that after every victory. Those tools were their only chance to fend off their technologically superior opponents, so the Global Army''s role was to prevent those thefts and help in specific battlefields.


    Khan tried to adjust his clothes, but nothing he did made them feel right. He had donned the military uniform, but it felt too tight after getting used to thefortable Niqols'' robes. Still, he gave up on the matter as he left the training hall and followed a simple map of the space station that Lieutenant Kintea had provided to give him more freedom on the vehicle.


    The dirty robe and the empty ss were still on the floor, and Khan ended up staring at them for a few minutes. Those white clothes felt like hisst connection to Nitis, but he couldn''t carry them with him. He didn''t even have a home where to leave them. Khan could only sigh and close his eyes as he turned to leave the training hall without bothering to remove those items.


    The space station appeared almost empty when all the soldiers inside it were busy with different tasks. Khan didn''t even need to reach specific locations, so he could roam freely and avoid the areas that could feature people.


    Khan ended up in the hall with the long window. The area was empty now that the interrogation had ended, so he could spend some time losing himself in the ckness of space. He would depart in less than twenty-four hours, so he couldn''t do much while everyone else prepared themselves for their next missions.


    Sadness spread inside Khan when he realized that he couldn''t find anything that hinted at Nitis'' presence. The space station had already gone too far away from the. He wasn''t even sure the vehicle was still in the same sr system.


    The emptiness of space appeased Khan''s mental state for a while, but he eventually grew bored of that spectacle. He didn''t want to remain alone with his thoughts, and he had already decided toplete his training sessionter, so he didn''t know how to upy that time now.


    An idea eventually appeared in his mind and made him pick up his phone. Thework had tests on specific subjects, and their results would end up on his profile, so he quickly found something connected to the Niqols''nguage.


    Khan sat on the floor as he read and answered the various questions that the device showed to him. The test turned out to involve more than the simple Niqols''nguage. It questioned Khan about their society and Nitis as a whole, using what the humans had learnt over seventy years of cooperation as the subject.


    A wave of disappointment filled Khan''s mind when he saw a "B" filling the screen. That wasn''t a bad score, but he wanted to ace the test. However, after he inspected his wrong answers, he noticed how many aspects of the Niqols society still escaped his knowledge.


    That wasn''t his fault. The test had tried to question Khan about matters that only his superiors could know. He didn''t know much about the information shared by the Global Army or the actual martial arts passed to the aliens. Still, his knowledge of thenguage and some traditions had allowed him to obtain a positive score anyway.


    Khan knew that the list connected to his profile had changed now. He would probably find new roles as an apprentice ambassador if he checked, but he didn''t bother to look. The "B" only proved that he needed more experience, and the Ecoruta was the perfect ce where to gain it.


    The seconds felt endless now that Khan had run out of things to do, so he gave up on his initial n and went straight for his room. The map allowed him to find it in no time, and he didn''t hesitate to dive into his training after sealing its entrance.


    Khan performed every exercise he knew, giving more importance to the Niqols'' teachings since they progressed better than his spells. He repeated the training until he felt tired enough to sleep.


    The nightmare barely affected Khan''s sleep. His mind was elsewhere, even during his sleep. He didn''t feel anything when the Nak approached him to imprint the image of the sr system in his mind.


    An rm eventually rang in his room and forced him to wake up. Khan noticed on his phone that Lieutenant Kintea had summoned everyone on the hall that contained the teleport, and he didn''t hesitate to walk there. Familiar faces unfolded in his vision when he entered the circr area with the priceless device, and he immediately felt that a series of eyes fell on his right shoulder.


    "Stop staring!" Lieutenant Kintea shouted. "Let''s end this quickly. The space station needs to save synthetic mana, so we will have to teleport twice to reach our destinations. Khan, you go first."


    Khan snapped back to reality, but he eventually nodded and stepped forward to approach the teleport. Of course, his departure ended up taking more time than Lieutenant Kintea desired.


    "I hope life grants you the happiness you deserve," Kelly announced while stretching her arm forward, and Khan smiled before shaking her hand.


    "Don''t im the spotlight too soon," Paul scoffed when Khan shook his hand.


    "I thought I didn''t have to hold back," Khan joked as a faint smile appeared on his face.


    "I''m not saying this for you," Paul announced. "I pity the poor soldiers that will have topare themselves to you. Show some mercy, and let them believe to be strong for a few days."


    "I''ll do my best," Khan promised.


    "That''s exactly what I''m worried about," Paul snorted, but his expression grew warmer when their hands separated. "Don''t die."


    Khan nodded before falling in George''s embrace. The boy squeezed him hard for so long that Lieutenant Kintea had to clear his throat to remind him about the situation.


    "Remember that you have a brother on Earth," George stated.


    "It would be impossible to forget," Khan smiled before patting George''s shoulders. "I''ll make sure to visit you once I get back. Don''t drink yourself to death until then."


    "It won''t have the same taste on my own," George sighed. "I think I''ll take some time to clear my mind before going back to girls. They are harmless, mostly."


    "You really are incredible," Khanughed, but Lieutenant Kintea cleared his throat, so the two boys hugged each other again before ending their salutations.


    Khan stepped on the teleport, and synthetic mana soon filled the area above the oval tform. George smiled at him, and he couldn''t help but show the same confident expression, but his vision soon went dark before regaining focus on a different circr hall filled with unknown soldiers.


    "The new soldier has arrived," A voice resounded from under Khan.


    Khan lowered his eyes and noticed that a short green alien was standing right outside the oval tform. Its antennae waved left and right as its three eyes inspected a screen ced next to the teleport.


    "Khan," The Guko said while reading the writings on the screen, "Seventeen years old; Mana core quality: Organic A-tier; Element: Chaos; Attunement: fifty-one percent; Mana capacity: Impossible to estimate due to the mutations experienced during the Second Impact."


    The different description of his mana capacity distracted him from his first meeting with that alien species, but a problem soon became evident. Khan noticed that all the soldiers in the circr hall had started to look at him with strange eyes. They couldn''t ignore that someone with an Organic A-tier mana core was about to join a battlefield.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Yesterday has been a mess followed by 12 hours of sleep. I''m on the chapters now.. I''ll do my best to recover the missing ones too.

 Chapter 234 - Trench

    The Guko continued to speak. "Martial arts: Lightning-demon style and Divine Reaper; Proficiency level with the said martial arts: Co-."


    "Stop right there," Khan interrupted the alien.


    Three eyes rose to inspect Khan, but they quickly returned to the screen as the alien resumed its description. "Lightning-demon style: Competent proficiency level; Divine Reaper: Nov-."


    "I said stop it!" Khan shouted. "You have no right to reveal private information."


    The Guko looked at Khan again. Its eyes carried no emotions, but they weren''t cold. The alien simply found no difference between inspecting a screen or Khan.


    "Everything listed here is already part of the Global Army''swork," The Guko exined in its perfect human ent. "My team can gain ess to private information about every new asset that reaches Ecoruta to choose a suitable role. I believe you want us to evaluate your power correctly before sending you to the surface."


    Khan wanted toin, but the situation seemed hopeless. The training halls and the scanners could record every result, so it wasn''t a surprise that the Global Army was aware of most of his abilities. Still, it didn''t feel good to get exposed so easily, especially when some of the soldiers in the room had shown a clear interest in his mana core.


    ''Don''t tell me that they will try something nasty while I''m down there,'' Khan thought as the Guko resumed reading the data on the screen.


    The short alien and the familiar air in the room had revealed how Khan had yet to reach Ecoruta, but he dismissed that information to point his cold eyes on the soldiers. The white medical coats hid the shoulders of their uniforms, but he didn''t need to see them to understand their level. Khan could sense that the room featured only a couple of humans stronger than him.


    "The briefing isplete," The Guko announced after revealing Khan''s score on the test about the Niqols. "You will join the thirty-seventh battalion. Lieutenant Amos Pouille will be the leader of your toon. Do you have something to ask before reaching the surface?"


    Khan moved his eyes on the Guko while drawing his cracked knife from his sheath and voicing a simple request. "I need a new first-grade weapon."


    "You will visit the armory on the way to the spaceship," The Guko promptly replied. "You can step off the teleport now. Follow Eunice to the hangar."


    Khan nodded and stepped off the teleport while inspecting his surroundings. The Guko had already lost interest in him and had reached a shorter console near the wall. The other soldiers in the room had also turned to look at their screens.


    A corridor expanded from the hall, so Khan guessed that he had to cross it. He sensed the soldiers peeking at him when he walked past them, but he couldn''t do much about that behavior.


    A young woman with short curly brown hair, dark skin, and clear eyes became visible once the bright corridor expanded into a rectangr hall. She had arger version of a phone in her hands, one star on each shoulder, and Khan could read the name "Eunice" written on the tag appointed on the left side of her chest.


    "Khan, correct?" Eunice asked when she saw Khan leaving the corridor. "My superiors have warned me about your sudden arrival. I must say that you are more good-looking than I expected."


    "How could you expect that?" Khan frowned.


    "Oh, you might not know about this," Eunice eximed. "Nitis'' reports went public right before they informed us about your arrival. We have naturally looked you up on thework afterward."


    "What do you mean by us?" Khan asked after heaving a helpless sigh.


    "The soldiers on this space station," Eunice revealed before cing a finger on the corner of her mouth. "We have forwarded what we learnt to the soldiers on the surface. I might say that everyone is eager to meet you."


    ''How much did Lieutenant Kintea even reveal?'' Khan cursed in his mind before voicing a question that worried him a little. "Why did you expect me to be good-looking?"


    "Well," Eunice announced in a timid voice as her eyes went on the screen to avoid Khan''s stern gaze. "Only a good-looking man would have been able to make a Niqols'' princess fall for him."


    ''I fucking knew it!'' Khan shouted in his mind before dismissing that statement. "She wasn''t a princess. The Niqols don''t have that type of society."


    "I see," Eunice nodded while showing an awkward smile. "I guess we only read the parts that involved you, and you know how it works with rumors. People tend to hear what they like instead of the truth."


    "No, I don''t know how they work," Khan stated in an annoyed tone. "Can we go now?"


    "Of course!" Eunice eximed in front of Khan''s evident irritation.


    The woman turned and led Khan across the space station. The two crossed a series of empty corridors until they arrived before a door that Eunice unlocked with her device.


    A small square room that featured a single console unfolded in Khan''s vision when the door slid open. Eunice turned to give him some privacy, and he slowly stepped inside the area.


    Only a few steps divided Khan from the console. Its screen showed a series of instructions that told him how to handle the device and gain ess to the actual armory.


    It turned out that Khan couldn''t see the weapons with his own eyes before picking one of them. He had to use the console to choose something fitting to the level of clearance that his phone carried.


    Khan didn''t know how much his phone would allow him to do, but he nodded after cing it in a small hole next to the screen. His device unlocked most of the first-grade weapons listed on the console, and their price even disappeared.


    Khan followed the console''s instructions to filter through the list and find knives or short des that suited the Divine Reaper. It turned out that the armory had many of them avable for his clearance level, and detailed descriptions apanied eachbel. He could read information about the materials and methods used to produce those weapons together with their features.


    The Divine Reaper''s training program had given Khan a detailed description of the knife that suited the martial art, so he didn''t take long to choose one of them from the list. All thebels went dark at that point, and the console even allowed him to retrieve his phone as nging noises resounded from behind it.


    A spot under the screen soon slid open and revealed the weapon that Khan had requested. It was a simple-looking knife with a slightly soft brown handle and a long, pointy ck de that featured two sharp edges. An azure line ran across both faces of its thick body and connected its tip to the small guard.


    Khan wielded the new knife and waved it a few times. His new weapon was heavier than thest, but that didn''t affect his movements. Covering it with mana also didn''t cause any problem. He felt able to fight with it right away.


    ''Do you wish to recycle your old weapon?'' Khan read on the console before drawing his cracked knife and cing it in the drawer under the screen.


    The console closed, and a spinning wheel appeared on its screen, but the words "No value" soon reced it.


    ''I guess I won''t get my hands on Credits anytime soon,'' Khan thought before storing the new knife in the sheath and leaving the armory.


    "Lieutenant Pouille''s toon is currently fighting," Eunice revealed as she resumed leading Khan across the space station. "We''ll try to drop you near the trench, but it will be up to the pilot to decide how close the spaceship can get to the battle."


    "Understood," Khan firmly replied, and theck of fear in his expression captured Eunice''s interest.


    "You know," Eunice said while turning toward Khan. "It''s rare for soldiers to end up here in the middle of the academic semester. Did you offend someone by dating the Niqols'' princess?"


    Khan''s irritation only grew as Eunice kept mentioning Liiza. Nitis'' events were still too close to his mind for him to talk about it with a stranger.


    "Why would you think that I offended someone?" Khan asked.


    "Someone with your profile would never choose a battlefield on purpose," Eunice exined, "Especially this one."


    "Is the situation on the surface that bad?" Khan questioned.


    "It''s quite messy," Eunice sighed. "The Guko have lost too much during the initial phases of the war, and the Stal aren''t dumb when ites to battles. They never show themselves unless they know how to counter air support. They basically force us to fight on their terms."


    Khan limited himself to nod. He didn''t only dodge the annoying question. He had even learnt something more about the Stal. It seemed that simple reports couldn''t describe all the features of an entire species.


    "So, about the Niqols'' princess," Eunice reminded as curiosity filled her face.


    "I''d rather focus on the mission," Khan interrupted with his cold voice. "You are about to send me in the middle of a battle, right?"


    Eunice could only fall silent after that statement. She even hurried across the corridors to reach arge hall containing multiple spaceships, and she promptly pointed at the smallest vehicle in the area.


    The vehicle seemed barely able to contain three people. It had a pointy front covered by a ss that revealed the presence of two seats, but its back wasrge and featured two circr engines.


    A soldier was enjoying a cigarette while leaning on the ss. The helmet and dark visor prevented Khan from inspecting his facial features, but he could notice the absence of a beard, and his senses revealed that he was a first-level warrior. Khan could also check his left shoulder from his position, which showed that he was a first-level mage too.


    "Jakob, you know that you can''t smoke here," Eunice scolded.


    "Do you have any idea of how good the filtration system of this space station is?" Jakob groaned as he straightened his position. "So, he is the guy from Nitis. Did you find out what he did wrong to end up here?"


    "We don''t have time for this," Eunice scoffed while shooting worried nces toward Khan. "Lieutenant Pouille''s toon is in the middle of a battle. He might need Khan''s help."


    "How can a single soldier even change the situation in the trenches?" Jakob asked. "He will only waste more synthetic mana."


    "Our superiors still have ordered to send him to the surface immediately," Euniceined.


    "Don''t worry," Jakob said while patting the spaceship behind him. "This beauty can reach the thirty-seventh battalion in no time."


    "Don''t take detours when youe back," Eunice ordered. "You have already wasted your monthly share of fuel. I can''t hide your trips anymore."


    "Nothing turns a woman on more than a nice trip in space," Jakobughed as he pressed a button on the spaceship that unlocked its ss.


    "Please, forgive him," Eunice shook her head in shame. "He is an incredible pilot, but his priorities aren''t exactly virtuous."


    "She is just mad that I''ve never used that fuel for her," Jakobughed as he threw his cigarette away and lifted the ss to jump on the left seat. "Nitis guy,e here. We don''t want to keep you from the mess."


    "I swear that I''ll report you one of these days!" Eunice shouted while Khan left her side and hurried toward the spaceship.


    "Jump in," Jakob ordered.


    Khan walked around the spaceship before jumping directly toward the seat. Jakob pointed at some belts after he sat down, and the two quickly fastened them.


    The ss descended on them after Jakob pressed a series of buttons. Some holograms came out of the various lights that appeared after the pilot turned on the spaceship. The vehicle even began to tremble as the engines started to umte power.


    The spaceship slowly left the floor and started to approach one of the walls of the hangars as Jakob moved the rectangr steering wheel. Khan wanted to memorize the pilot''s actions, but a side of the hall suddenly opened and captured his attention.


    A blue appeared in Khan''s vision. He had seen Ecoruta from the pictures in Lieutenant Kintea''s report, but no image could depict the beauty of that scene.


    "The eleration can be tough to handle," Jakob warned as the spaceship slowly left the hangar. "You shouldy your head on your seat."


    Khan followed those orders before a sudden force fell on his body and pressed him on the seat. The spaceship had elerated as soon as it left the hangar, and he barely had the time to inspect the ckness of space before the filled his vision.


    "This feeling is the best, am I right?" Jakobughed as he led the spaceship inside Ecoruta''s atmosphere and dived toward a brown patch of ground that Khan couldn''t study from that distance.


    "I only have time for a question, so I''ll get right to the point," Jakob uttered. "How does it feel to do it with a Niqols? I mean, aren''t they cold?"


    Khan directly ignored that question as he peeked at the environment past the ss. Details appeared on the surface as the spaceship continued its descent. He soon became able to see a vast in upied by a series of unclear figures that stood on opposite sides of the area.


    Azure lights shed in the empty area that divided the two toons. They resembled spells, but Khan couldn''t believe that both sides couldunch the same types of attacks.


    The lights turned out to belong to weapons. Khan soon became able to notice long rifles that fired masses of energy in the hands of the soldiers taking cover behind a long, short wall. He could finally understand what Jakob meant when he mentioned the trenches. It seemed that both sides were using barriers and long holes to protect themselves from the iing bullets.


    "They will take me down if I slow down," Jakob announced as the spaceship got dangerously close to the surface. "You can look forward to a roughnding. I''d start holding on to your seat if I were you."


    Khan didn''t hesitate to follow those orders. He adjusted his position before grabbing the sides of his seat. Jakob nodded while moving the entirety of his focus on the scene ahead. The spaceship seemed on the verge of crashing on the surface, but he abruptly pulled the steering wheel and made the vehicle''s tip turn upward.


    The scenery seen from the ss rotated, but Khan suddenly lost his foothold. He lowered his eyes in time to notice that he had started to fall at high speed toward the surface. The lower part of the spaceship had opened to release his seat and send him on the battlefield.


    Only thirty meters separated Khan from the ground, but his speed was too great. Jakob had made use of the spaceship''s momentum to fling him toward the surface. Khan feared that thending could kill him, but a series of pillows quickly grew from under his seat.


    Khan didn''t feel anything when his seat hit the ground. He expected a violent impact, but the pillows had managed to absorb all the force generated by the incredible speed. They even prevented the opening of cracks on the surface.


    Khan didn''t have the time to feel amazed about the event since a series of azure bullets began to fly above his head. They were close enough to worry him, but none of them seemed able to hit him while he remained on the seat.


    Everything became clear in his mind at that point. Jakob had to make him perform that abruptnding to dodge the bullets that filled the battlefield. Moreover, the barriers next to the trench prevented him from ending up in the trajectory of those projectiles made of energy while he continued to sit.


    Khan quickly unfastened his belt and half-bent forward as he moved toward the trench. Whooshing noises and orders spoken in the humannguage reached his ears as he got closer to his toon. His senses alerted him whenever a bullet flew above his head, and they also allowed him to find the strongest soldier in the group ahead.


    The items used to build the barrier were quite unique. They had appeared as a ck metallicyer capable of enduring the bullets crashing on their surface when Khan inspected them from the sky. However, they were transparent now that he looked at them. The soldiers had also dug a series of steps on specific spots of the trench to peek past the defenses and fire their weapons from rtively safe areas.


    "Lieutenant Pouille!" Khan shouted as he jumped inside the trench to appear before a soldier with two stars on each shoulder. "I''m Kha-."


    "I know who you are!" A tall man with short ck hair, unkempt beard, dark eyes, and dirt on his face shouted while ring at Khan. "Those bastards have gone through all this trouble just to send a single soldier to my battlefield. Don''t bother wasting time with the introductions. Grab a rifle from one of the corpses lying around and start shooting!"


    Lieutenant Pouille seemed to forget about Khan after those orders. He turned to inspect the area past the barrier before ring at some soldiers to his right. Then, his rough voice resounded inside the trench again. "I can see that you aren''t shooting! Drop those cigarettes and fire at some aliens before I throw you over the barrier with my own hands!"


    Khan watched Lieutenant Pouille marching toward those underlings for a few seconds before inspecting the trench. Almost everyone was on the steps dug in the ground to fire at the opposing army. The bottom of that long channel only had corpses or injured soldiers. Spots full of mud created by sweat and blood filled the area, and a few rifles eventually appeared in his vision.


    Khan stepped forward and jumped over a corpse tond in front of a rifle. It was heavy, but he was strong enough to feelfortable with that weight. Still, he had no idea how to use it, so his eyes quickly went on the soldiers around him.


    Part of the trench in a distant spot in front of Khan suddenly blew up and interrupted his inspection. Something had managed to pierce the barrier and destroy part of the channel, engulfing a series of soldiers in the explosion.


    A series of painful cries reached his ears before a shout conveyed clear words that the soldiers echoed throughout the trench. "They have a tank!"

 Chapter 235 - Tank

    Khan knew that word. He had seen tanks passing through the Slums from time to time, but he found an unfamiliar vehicle when he jumped on the steps next to him and inspected the battlefield from behind the transparent barrier.


    Khan couldn''t see much from that position. The opposite barrier was nothing more than a ck line that hid the enemy trench, but that only made the tank easy to find. The vehicle had a spider-like structure, with four huge legs that featured spiky wheels halfway through their bodies. A simple cubical cabin stood on those thick limbs, and a long fuming barrel came out of it.


    The tank had crossed the barrier with two legs to make better use of its height. That exposed it to the enemy fire, but Khan noticed how the bullets that fell on its surfaces didn''t leave any mark. The mana spread over the ck metal and dispersed most of its power before it actually hit the vehicle.


    ''Does it repel mana?'' Khan wondered before dismissing that thought.


    The enemy trench was one hundred meters from his position, so his senses could be slightly unreliable, but the tank contained enough mana to make his inspection urate. Khan could immediately notice that the mana didn''t upy the actual materials that made the vehicle. Most of it was somewhere inside the cabin.


    Khan felt his mind slipping into the mindset experienced in the muddy valley. Mana was everywhere on the battlefield. It had different forms, but he could still sense it clearly. He could even recognize the iconic taste of its synthetic version since the magazines of the rifles and tank relied on it.


    The bullets were fast, but they couldn''t escape his senses. Khan could listen to the song yed by the mana, and his mind inevitably immersed itself inside it.


    The tank turned its barrel toward a different spot of the opposite trench before amassing power. Then, it released a giant bullet that blew up part of the barrier and filled the channel with painful cries.


    Khan turned to his left to inspect the aftermath of the explosion. The bullet had fallen closer to his position at that time, causing a wave of dust and dirt to engulf the area. Still, he remained able to sense the many projectiles that flew from both sides of the battlefield.


    Injured soldiers ran outside the cloud to reach protected areas of the trench. They supported each other during that messy march, but Khan noticed how some of them were already dead. Those troops simply didn''t realize that until theyy theirpanions on the ground.


    The scene was gory and merciless. Missing limbs, maimed bodies,rge injuries, and blood filled Khan''s vision, but he barely felt anything. He almost couldn''t believe how used he had be to those images.


    Moreover, the situation there was different from Nitis. Khan didn''t know any of those soldiers, and the Global Army had decided to join the war between Guko and Stal to pursue personal benefits. In his mind, those deaths were partially their fault.


    Khan''s eyes flickered when he sensed a bullet flying in a straight line toward the soldier behind him. Thetter was peeking past the barrier to fire at the tank, but the iing projectile would hit him if Khan let things stay as they were.


    Khan didn''t think. He jumped toward the steps to his right and grabbed the soldier''s military uniform to pull him down while hended on the trench. The young man tried toin after falling with his back on the ground, but the bullet that crossed his previous position made those words freeze in his mouth. He knew that the projectile would have blown his head if Khan didn''t intervene.


    "Thank you," The young man muttered, but Khan had already started to ignore him to nce at the battlefield past the barrier.


    "Is the tank immune to bullets or something?" Khan asked while moving his eyes on the magazine of the rifle in his right hand. "Is it mana resistant?"


    "What?" The soldier said in a confused tone before sorting his thoughts to exin the issue. "The rifles can''t do much against the tank because their bullets aren''t dense. The idea is to haverger magazines without losing deadliness."


    "Spells should still be effective, right?" Khan questioned.


    "It depends on the spell," The soldier replied, "But it''s hard to find something that can retain its density after flying for so long. No one in this toon can do it."


    ''The Divine Reaper should be able to cut through it then,'' Khan thought, but a rough voice suddenly resounded inside the trench and forced him to move his focus elsewhere.


    "What are you two even doing?!" Lieutenant Pouille shouted while walking toward Khan and the young man. "Jump back on the barrier and shoot down that tank!"


    The young soldier quickly stood up and performed a military salute before contesting the order. "Sir, our rifles can''t do anything against that tank, sir. We need air support, sir."


    "There won''t be any air support," The Lieutenant snorted. "We must hold our position with what we have, so get back on those steps and start firing!"


    The young man wanted to say something, but an explosion resounded behind him and dispersed his thoughts. When the soldier turned, he noticed that Khan was already inspecting the area. The tank had fired, and another part of the trench had transformed into a cloud of dust that hid corpses.


    The third bullet was even closer than the other two. If that trend continued, it would only take two more projectiles to reach their position. It seemed that the tank had every intention to destroy the trench methodically.


    "We can''t continue like this, sir," The young soldierined after turning toward the Lieutenant. "We can only retreat without air support."


    "Negative," Lieutenant Pouille dered. "Our orders are to hold this position, and that''s exactly what we''ll do. Don''t make me repeat myself."


    Khan nced at the Lieutenant to inspect the expressions that seeped into his face. The soldier appearedmitted and driven. He didn''t look like the time willing to ignore orders.


    "Did you hear me?" Lieutenant Pouille asked. "Get back on-."


    The Lieutenant didn''t have the chance to finish his line since another explosion resounded in the trench. The tank had hit an even closer spot now, and soldiers inevitably amassed behind Khan and the young man since they had nowhere else to go.


    "Sir, we are getting destroyed!"


    "Sir, we can''t deal with the tank!"


    "Sir, what are our orders?"


    The soldiers shouted reports and questions that the Lieutenant didn''t know how to address. A crack appeared on his expression when he nced at the poor state of his underlings. He knew that the situation was hopeless, but that scene forced him to exin his reasons.


    "Our superiors are trying to deal with the anti-aircraft gun behind the enemy trench," Lieutenant Pouille exined. "They can''t do much until they take it down, and this area is too important to let the Stal have it. We have to buy time for them to find a solution."


    "But we won''t survive for long, sir," The young soldier next to Khan announced.


    "I know," Lieutenant Pouille revealed as a tinge of regret appeared on his face, "But these are our orders, and we have to stick to them."


    A wave of helplessness spread among the soldiers gathered behind Khan. The Global Army was basically asking them to die, and they couldn''t do anything about that. They had nowhere to go, and they would be charged with treason even if they managed to escape.


    "I won''t die just because you ask me to," Khan scoffed before throwing the rifle to his right.


    "What are you doing, Nitis guy?" Lieutenant Pouille asked when he saw Khan drawing his knife and approaching the barrier. "Our superiors didn''t clear us for a frontal charge."


    Khan didn''t hear those words. He had cut away everything except for the mana on the battlefield. The Lieutenant was stretching his arm to grab him, but his focus remained on the tank. He felt the synthetic energy flowing toward the barrel.


    The tank fired, and Khan jumped past the barrier. The massive bullet was fast, but it flew toward a spot to Khan''s left, allowing him to sprint past it and run toward the vehicle.


    Khan was running on the trajectory crossed by the massive bullet, so no one fired in his direction. The explosion in the trench had also provided him with some cover, so only a few Stal noticed his figure crossing the battlefield quickly. Those aliens tried to aim their rifles at him, but he was too fast, and the projectiles that tried to fly in his direction only ended up crossing his previous positions.


    The symphony yed by the mana on the battlefield filled Khan''s mind and raised his concentration to insane levels. He found himself in front of the tank in no time, and his knife glowed with azure light as it performed two quick shes.


    Khan stopped right in front of the barrier. Strange growls reached his ears as the aliens inside the trench shouted orders, but they never got the chance to aim their rifles at him since the tank imed the entirety of their attention.


    Half of the tank''s barrel separated from its main body and fell to the ground. Sparks also appeared on one of its front legs as it became unable to support the vehicle weight anymore and bent forward. The deep cut that had appeared on the limb made the whole weapon turn to its left until it crashed on the ground.


    The event left everyone speechless, but the tank''s fall didn''t mark its end. A whooshing noise resounded from the cabin as its top and sides opened to reveal a huge two-headed alien that appeared too big for that seat.


    The Stal punched its four arms to the ground to jump back to its feet. Khan could now inspect the huge alien in its entirety. It was almost three meters tall, and its dark eyes radiated pure anger as it pointed its two right arms toward him.


    Khan inspected the event coldly and prepared for his first sh with a Stal, but a bullet suddenly pierced both heads. The alien fell lifelessly to the ground while Khan nced at the opposite trench. He couldn''t see much from his position, but he noticed golden hair behind the rifle that had fired that bullet.


    The nature of his situation forced him to snap back to reality. A series of Stal had peeked out of the barrier to aim their rifles at him, but he moved before bullets could hit his figure. Khan had already found the few aliens that seemed stronger than him, so he charged in the opposite direction to deal with the weaker ones.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Yesterday has been a mess followed by 12 hours of sleep. I''m on the chapters now.. I''ll do my best to recover the missing ones too.

 Chapter 236 - Tall

    The Stal''s trench wasrge, and itcked the steps next to the barrier since those aliens were tall enough to peek without needing them.


    Khan couldn''t remain on the other side of the barrier since he had no cover there, so he jumped inside the trench. The Stal in front and behind him fired their rifles, but he sprinted forward to hide behind the aliens.


    Dark blood spurted inside the trench as the bullets hit the aliens, and a loud growl followed the event. The Stal lowered their rifles after that order, and Khan used that chance to sh his knife at the alien that blocked his way.


    The trench was barely enough to contain the Stal. They were too big, and they could prevent Khan from sprinting past them if they stretched their arms. However, he could duck or jump between their limbs while swinging his knife to carve a path.


    The alien in front of Khan saw a deep injury opening at its side while he ducked to sneak between its left leg and arm. That wasn''t enough to stop the Stal, but Khan stabbed his knife at the center of its back after crossing it.


    That injury also failed to kill the Stal, but it lost control of its leg and arms after Khan retracted his knife. His attack had severed its spine, putting an end to its battle.


    ''They are too tall,'' Khan cursed in his mind while he turned to kick an alien charging at him.


    Khan had grown in thest year, but most of the Stal were three meters tall. He would have to jump to reach their heads, but that would make him waste too much time. Khan couldn''t allow himself to have that weakness when he was behind the enemy lines, so he aimed his attacks at other vital points. The Stal''s anatomy was different from the humans, but they had a few areas inmon, especially their spines and joints.


    The kicknded on the Stal''s waist, but it didn''t budge. Khan widened his eyes in surprise when he saw the alien closing its four arms on his raised leg, but he quickly retrieved it.


    Realization immediately dawned upon his mind. Khan had miscalcted how strong those aliens actually were. Their physical prowess was insane due to their peculiar features. The Stal in front of him was a first-level warrior, but it counted as two of them thanks to its odd body.


    That dy gave enough time for a Stal to approach Khan from behind. He found himself trapped between two aliens. Eight arms stretched toward him and left no path open.


    Khan jumped forward and stepped on one of the upper arms. The alien tried to move its other limbs toward him, but a deep vertical cut opened on its right head as he shot ahead.


    The alien felt dizzy for a few seconds, but it soon fell forward, hindering the Stal that had tried to approach Khan from behind. The injured Stal tried to restore its bnce, but it felt unable to control its huge body with only one head. Its battle and life inside that society were over.


    Khan found four arms flying in his direction as soon as hended. He didn''t have enough time to dodge them, but he could reduce the amount of power that would fall on his figure.


    Khan sidestepped the right arms before covering his right side with the [Blood Sheild]. The blood vessels on his limb and face clotted before two punchesnded on them. An immense force followed the event, but Khan mustered the entirety of his physical strength to remain in his position. His feet ended up digging the ground, but he managed to avoid flying away.


    The Stal showed a surprised expression when it saw Khan remaining in one piece after its attack. Its free arms tried to swing toward its opponent, but Khan slipped past its limbs to reach its chest and stab his knife.


    The weapon pierced the rough brown skin, but that injury didn''t stop the Stal. The alien tried to close its arms to trap Khan in a violent embrace, but he jumped while preserving the sharp mana around his knife. The technique ended before he could reach the space between the two heads, but a massive amount of blood spurted on his figure nheless.


    The alien fell backward, giving Khan the chance to extract the knife and shoot forward. The trench seemed immense, and dozens of Stal upied it. He had countless opponents to deal with, but his senses suddenly noticed something surprising.


    A series of battle cries reached the enemy trench as humans peeked past the barrier and fired at the unaware aliens. Khan had created a disturbance that had imed most of the Stal''s attention, making them unable to notice the arrival of their opponents. Many of them didn''t even have the chance to raise their rifles before bullets pierced their chests and heads.


    The Stal didn''t retreat after that event. Khan saw an alien charging at him, but a precise bullet suddenly pierced its chest and killed it. Khan turned to see that the young soldier saved previously had his rifle pointed at the enemies trying to charge toward him. The man didn''t hesitate to fire whenever he had a clear shot.


    Khan found himself without anything to do. The entirety of his toon had reached the enemy trench, and the surprise effect created with his actions had given his allies the upper hand. Even the stronger Stal couldn''t do anything when a series of bulletsnded on their bodies before they could try to reach their rifles. A ughter unfolded and ended quickly under his cold gaze.


    "Don''t stop here!" Lieutenant Pouille shouted. "Cross the trench and reach the damned anti-aircraft gun!"


    Khan immediately jumped outside the trench and searched for the weapon mentioned by the Lieutenant. His gaze eventually converged on a tall cannon that had its barrel pointed at the sky. A series of Stal were protecting it, but they began to take steps back as more soldiers climbed out of the trench.


    Mana started to cover Khan''s knife as he prepared himself to sprint forward. He could reach the cannon far faster than hispanions, but Lieutenant Pouille''s voice shattered his ns before he even started to deploy them. "Nitis guy, we need that cannon! Don''t make it end like the tank!"


    Khan wanted to shoot a questioning nce at the Lieutenant, but the Stal next to the cannon started to run away to escape from that battlefield. The soldiers began to cheer at that sight, but an explosion suddenly engulfed the weapon and turned it into nothing more than scraps and fuming metal shards. The aliens had decided to destroy the tall gun instead of leaving it to their opponents.


    The event put an end to the cheers, but the soldiers remained rather happy about that oue anyway. They had turned a potential defeat into an incredible victory, and Khan was the reason behind that sess. Their eyes converged on their newpanion, but their expressions froze after inspecting his state.


    Khan wasn''t cheering. His expression remained cold as blood flowed down his face and uniform. The previous alien had covered him in that dense dark liquid, and he didn''t bother to wipe it away yet.


    The calmness that Khan radiated left the soldiers speechless. Some of them even recalled how unfazed he had been inside the trench. He appeared at ease in that chaotic environment. It seemed that the battlefield was his home.


    Those thoughts inevitably saddened some of the most empathetic soldiers. Khan was among the youngest of the toon. Seeing him so used to the battlefield made many of them wonder about his life. They didn''t dare to imagine what he had to go through to reach that mental state.


    Even those who had the time to read the reports sent by the team on the space station couldn''t imagine how bloody his life had been. Many of those soldiers had only focused on funny aspects like his rtionship with Liiza, so they didn''t learn about Istrone and the actual battles on Nitis. Yet, they promised to themselves to read everything thoroughly once they found the chance.


    "Snap out of it!" Lieutenant Pouille shouted. "Grab their rifles and everything valuable they have left behind. Nitis guy,e with me."


    The soldiers immediately diverted their gazes to focus on the trench when Khan turned. They didn''t want to meet his cold eyes, but they didn''t hesitate to nce at him once he crossed them to reach the Lieutenant.


    Lieutenant Pouille had started to walk back toward the allied trench, but Khan reached him quickly. He stepped at his side before adapting to his pace and waiting for words to resound.


    Khan had started to learn how the higher-ups thought, and he had even defied a direct order. He expected a scolding to resound soon, but Lieutenant Pouille ended up surprising him.


    "What you did was reckless," Lieutenant Pouille stated. "You shouldn''t throw away your life just because you have gone through some hard stuff."


    "I wasn''t in danger, sir," Khan said after dispersing his surprise. "The bullets are faster than me, but I can still dodge them."


    "Don''t use today to justify your actions," Lieutenant Pouille scolded. "You might not be so lucky the next time, so keep in mind that you aren''t alone on the battlefield. You must learn how to trust yourpanions."


    Those words sounded strange when the one speaking them had almost let his entire toon die to stick to his orders, but Khan didn''t disregard them. Still, he didn''t need that reminder to know how to behave on the battlefield. He simply couldn''t trust strangers so soon.


    "Also, try not to break things when you have the chance," Lieutenant Pouille ordered. "The Global Army will spare a lot of synthetic mana if we manage to take weapons directly on Ecoruta instead of receiving them through the teleport."


    "Understood," Khan uttered while waiting for more words toe, but the Lieutenant remained silent until the two reached the barrier.


    "Stop following me," Lieutenant Pouille scoffed while stepping on the other side of the barrier and jumping inside the trench. "I have official matters to handle. You can join the others. They will show you around."


    Khan stopped and watched the Lieutenant approaching a bunker dug in the ground near the end of the trench. His gaze turned on the enemy barrier after the soldier disappeared inside the structure, and he saw many figures crossing the battlefield while carrying multiple rifles.


    The soldiers appeared ecstatic to have won the battle. Khan guessed that they were mostly happy about their survival, but his thoughts never went too far in the topic. He only inspected their faces to memorize them. Those men and women would be hispanions on Ecoruta in the end.


    "Thanks for saving our asses, Nitis guy!" One of the soldiers shouted before throwing three rifles inside the trench.


    "They sent a true powerhouse from HQ," Another soldierughed while also throwing his weapons in the channel past the barrier.


    Soldiers slowly gathered around Khan as theyunched their weapons and voiced different thanks. They clearly wanted to get to know him, but a patch of golden hair suddenly imed his attention.


    "Hey, you," Khan said, making all the soldiers around him turn toward the woman carrying four rifles. "Thank you for before. That was a nice shot."


    The woman appeared in her early twenties. She was short, with a slim figure and a pair of brown eyes. Her uniform had one star on each shoulder, and a long rifle different from the others seen on the battlefield hung from her back through a loose belt.


    "You have been dumb to run across the battlefield," The woman said while throwing her weapons into the trench. "We might have gotten the tank and the anti-aircraft gun if you waited for the higher-ups toe up with a solution."


    The woman then jumped past the barrier and crossed the trench to walk across the barren in. Khan stopped looking at her only when he heard that the soldiers around him had started tough.


    "Don''t mind her," The young man that Khan had saved before announced. "Gloria has developed an odd attachment to rulers and orders after her family threw her away."


    "What did she do?" Khan asked.


    "Nothing much from what I''ve learnt," The man revealed. "Her family couldn''t afford to nurture many descendants, so it sent her here. Honestly, she is the onlypletely innocent soldier on Ecoruta."


    "What do you mean by innocent?" Khan questioned as a frown appeared on his face.


    "The mortality rate here is insane for us foot soldiers," The young man exined in a surprised tone. "Only those who have done something wrong would end up in this ce."


    "What did you even do on Nitis?" Another soldier, a woman, promptly asked. "You should be able to get a nice position in some safe ce with your strength."


    "I bet it''s about the alien girl, right?" A short man eximed while voicing a shadyugh. "What did you even do to her to end up in this ce?"


    Khan noticed that the topic interested the soldiers a lot. Everyone bent forward while waiting for an official statement about that gossip. Khan wanted to lie his way out of that conversation, but he found himself unable to do that when the matter involved Liiza.


    "I''ve loved her," Khan dered in a tone so firm that made the soldiers'' faces freeze. Still, he didn''t remain on the scene to inspect those expressions.. He turned and crossed the barrier before jumping past the trench and marching in the same direction as the blonde woman.

 Chapter 237 - Popular

    Hurried steps resounded from behind Khan as he marched across the brown-yellow in. He didn''t know where to go, but he guessed that his toon would have a base of some sort behind the trench.


    Khan could have asked hispanions for indications, but he had found himself unable to deal with the questions that involved Liiza. He had teleported on the battlefield to suppress those thoughts, but it seemed that the soldiers wouldn''t let him go so easily.


    "Nitis guy, wait!" The young man saved before shouted after reaching Khan''s side. "I''m sorry for before. They aren''t bad. We just got excited after seeing a new face."


    Khan finally had the chance to inspect the man. He was taller than him, with short ck hair and green eyes. His skin had brown shades, and his uniform featured a single star on his right shoulder.


    "My name is Khan," Khan uttered.


    "Right, right," The man eximed. "I''m Felix. My family has sent me here after I broke a container with synthetic mana meant for me."


    "I know," Felixughed when Khan turned to show his frown. "I''m quite clumsy."


    "Is everyone here like this?" Khan sighed. "Did you all cause problems on Earth?"


    "Not only Earth," Felix continued tough. "You can see Ecoruta as a chance for atonement. The Global Army will clear our profiles of every red spot after serving for a few months here."


    "It doesn''t seem like the Global Army cares whether you live or die," Khanmented.


    "I wouldn''t be so hard on Lieutenant Pouille," Felix exined. "He is like us. Rumors say that he offended one of the noble families, so he must stick to his orders to get out of this. He''s actually quite nice when we aren''t busy fighting."


    ''Where did Lieutenant Kintea even send me?'' Khan cursed in his mind before disregarding the issue. He had asked for a battlefield, and Ecoruta fitted those requirements perfectly.


    "I thought the Global Army would have elite soldiers here," Khan guessed.


    "As far as I know, it has been like when the Global Army first arrived on Ecoruta," Felix announced. "However, the Guko''s weapons have turned these battlefields into the trench warfare that you have seen before. The whole is basically divided in half, and those damned anti-aircraft guns prevent us from flying directly behind the enemy lines. In short, it''s a bloody mess."


    "How can an entire have anti-aircraft guns?" Khan asked.


    "Well, the Guko initially developed weapons meant to oppose a second alien invasion," Felix exined. "Still, the Nak didn''t return here, and they started to fight the Stal afterward, so they found themselves with tons of anti-aircraft guns with no purpose. They would have remained in some armory if the humans didn''t arrive."


    Everything made sense in Khan''s mind. He still believed that the Global Army was working with the Guko to deploy troops in unprotected spots, but that didn''t seem to be his battalion''s role.


    "So, how do things work here?" Khan questioned. "Do we just set another trench now?"


    "Are you so eager to jump into another fight?" Felixughed, but Khan''s cold expression made him gulp and decide to answer seriously. "We will wait for HQ''s orders. We''ll probably advance until we arrive in another important area while the Guko and other soldiers set camps and defenses here."


    Khan didn''t need to question Felix about how Lieutenant Pouille nned to build another trench since a series of structures appeared in his vision. He could see arge square building that featured spiked wheels and a series of vehicles that resembled excavators. It didn''t take him long to understand that he had reached the camp.


    "Does that thing move?" Khan asked in a surprised tone.


    "Incredible, right?" Felix eximed. "That''s Guko''s technology for you. They have built a moving camp capable of containing entire toons. Though I must say that some features remain short even if they meant this structure for humans."


    Khan nodded as he continued to inspect the moving camp. It felt incredible that such a big structure could follow the toons as they advanced or retreated. He couldn''t even begin to list the number of benefits that such habitations could provide. Something like that would have saved the lives of many Niqols in the battle inside the muddy valley.


    "The camp is a bit cramped, but you''ll get used to it quickly," Felix continued. "It also has a few vehicles in its hanger, but none of us can use them. Food sucks, but we can''t do much about it. There isn''t much privacy either, but the filtration system keeps everything quite odorless."


    "Training halls?" Khan questioned.


    "The Guko didn''t know where to put it," Felix responded. "They are a pragmatic species, so they sacrificed a few services to prioritize other aspects. We are lucky to have showers at all."


    Everything sounded rtively standard for a battlefield, and Khan also noticed how Felix didn''t say anything about his mana core. He wasn''t sure whether the team on the space station would leak that informationter on, but it seemed that no one on the surface knew about that feature for now.


    Khan could see the golden-haired woman entering the camp. Its dark metal doors slid open and revealed an environment illuminated by artificial white light, but he couldn''t inspect much from his position. Meanwhile, Felix continued to peek at him, and his actions became so tant that he felt the need to address them.


    "What is it?" Khan asked.


    "Don''t you feel the need to wipe the blood out of your face?" Felix said while pointing at the dark liquid that had dried up by now.


    "I''ll take a shower once I find a room," Khan revealed.


    "You can''t take a shower now," Felix dered. "We have precise hours for some activities. The meals happen three times a day andst only thirty minutes, while men can take showers in the morning. The Guko didn''t think that would have needed separate bathrooms, so we have to take turns."


    "Can I get a new uniform, at least?" Khan questioned while pointing at the vast stain of blood on his chest.


    "You''ll always find new ones in the rooms," Felix responded. "Laundries are unusually fast here."


    The two boys didn''t say anything else. They approached the camp and witnessed as the metal doors slid open on their own. Felix then jumped in the corridor and guided Khan across the structure, describing each area and its purposes.


    The insides of the moving camp were extremely simple and small. Someone slightly taller than Khan would have trouble crossing the short doors and using the showers. Still, that allowed the structure to feature multiple areas capable of providing the soldiers with everything they needed.


    The dining hall and the dormitories were the biggest areas inside the camp. The former featured a series of long metal tables with stools connected to their structure. Instead, a long room had a series of bunk beds on both sides divided by a narrow passage that could contain only two soldiers walking side by side.


    The toon had hung a curtain halfway through the room to create two different areas and allow men and women to sleep separately. The women had the bottom of the hall to give them more privacy and prevent unexpected visits in case of sudden crises or simr events.


    Each bed had a clean uniform folded on their pillows. Most had names written on the metal that supported the mattresses, but Khan easily found an empty one. Felix even showed him how to use theundry, so he could change and put the star on the right shoulder of his clean clothes.


    The kitchen waspletely automatic and inessible for ordinary soldiers. Still, the structure featured an area with praying mats and consoles that the toon could use to rx and hang out. The hall was too small to contain all the men and women in the moving camp, so they hade up with a schedule to use it. Yet, Felix revealed how everyone usually remained on their beds or left the building in the hope of getting some privacy.


    "That''s everything for our tour," Felix happily announced after bringing Khan to the dining hall. "Women usually shower before dinner, so it will take another hour for food to arrive, but there isn''t anything else to do here, so it''s not bad to get good seats this early."


    Khan limited himself to nod before summarizing everything he had learnt in his mind and imagining his next months in that environment. Everything appeared rather dull, but that felt fine after Nitis'' events. He needed a routine and a stark change from his life on that cold, and Ecoruta was perfect for that.


    Soldiers had entered the camp while Felix had shown Khan around, but no one had approached them. Their previous interaction with Khan had made things awkward, so they limited themselves to inspect him from afar while they read the reports on their phones. It didn''t take much before everyone learnt about the Second Impact, Istrone, and Nitis.


    Felix appeared envious of the other soldiers. His eyes continued to fall on his pocket while the duo waited for the dinner to arrive, and Khan eventually decided to address the issue.


    "You should read the report," Khan stated as he took his phone. "I should also see it to see what it says about me."


    Felix hesitated, but his self-restraint vanished when he saw that Khan had opened Lieutenant Kintea''s report on his phone. The soldier didn''t hesitate to draw his device and do the same before immersing himself in Nitis'' events.


    ''This is so sloppy,'' Khanmented in his mind while reading the report.


    Lieutenant Kintea had skipped many details, especially those that could put the Global Army under a bad light, to focus on the few aplishments of the political mission. Khan ended up being at the center of them since his name appeared whenever the soldier spoke about the rtionship with the Niqols.


    ''Khan has carried out his task as potential ambassador perfectly,'' Khan read one of the lines quoting Lieutenant Kintea. ''Even the Niqols have acknowledged his dedication to his species, power, and flexibility. It''s not surprising that the alien princess has fallen so hard for him. I found it hard to talk with him due to all the time he spent with her or among other Niqols.''


    "Wow," Felix eximed after going through the report. "Did you really lose so many troops? Maybe it''s for the best that the is off-limits for now."


    Felix realized that he had said too much when he noticed Khan''s re. He wanted to say something to correct his words, but groups of women suddenly entered the dining hall since they had finished showering. Their arrival imed the attention of the men in the room, but they didn''t seem interested in those gazes.


    All the women had their phones in their hands, and gasps often resounded among them. They couldn''t even stop sneaking peeks at Khan whenever they read about his feats of rtionship. Some even giggled before approaching the stools near him. Felix could barely contain his excitement when he understood that he had be the friend of the most popr soldier in the camp.


    ****


    Author''s notes: My grandfather died yesterday, and I spent most of today between the funeral and my family. I don''t know how many chapters I''ll manage to write, but I''ll try to push something on a daily basis. I''ll let myself be like this until Monday when I''ll resume with the normal schedule.. I''m sorry for the countless issues.

 Chapter 238 - Settlement

    "Oh, you poor thing," The woman who had sat next to Khan said while cing a hand on his shoulder. "It must have been awful to lose your girlfriend after going through so much. Those Niqols must have no understanding of feelings. Luckily you are back among humans now."


    "ra is right," The woman sitting in front of Khan eximed. "Interspecies couples rarelyst due to the many differences in the customs, but don''t worry. You are among friends now."


    "A broken heart can be the deadliest of the injuries," Another woman sitting in front of Felix announced. "Maybe talking about it can help. We should go for a walk one of these days. This area is quite barren, but there is a beautifulke just past the in."


    "Hope, don''t bother him already," The second woman scolded. "You can''t expect him to forget about the alien so soon."


    "Julia, you shouldn''t scold others because they have asked what you are too timid to say," ra scoffed, and Julia lowered her gaze as her cheeks reddened in embarrassment.


    ''Lieutenant Kintea has just be my archenemy,'' Khan cursed in his mind as he tried to ignore the situation. ''Now I understand what George has said about the women in the army.''


    The report depicted Khan as a magnificent man. He wasn''t only an incredible soldier and a talented ambassador. He was also faithful and capable of deep feelings. His good looks only added positive features to the great image that Lieutenant Kintea had created for him.


    Ecoruta was a battlefield where death could arrive abruptly, especially for a toon made of foot soldiers. That unique situation had made both men and women inside the moving camp disregard normal ideas about decorum to prioritize a straightforward approach.


    Every day could be theirst, so they had to make the best out of them. Those soldiers'' behavior resembled the Niqols for some aspects, but Khan could sense theck of honesty in their gestures. The women who had approached him didn''t know anything about him. They were only going after the image that Lieutenant Kintea had created in the hope of finding a perfect partner.


    Of course, those intentions didn''t apply to everyone, but it was clear that both men and women in that toon had developed a deep interest in Khan. After all, the report depicted him as a hero who could love without caring about the physical differences that could afflict two species.


    "You can always bring me for a walk," Felix stated in an excited tone before changing his approach when he saw the res flying in his direction. "Khan needs to know everyone sooner orter. It''s only proper to go out as a group."


    Felix patten Khan''s shoulder in a desperate attempt to show how close he had gotten with him. Still, that gesture didn''t prove much since Khan didn''t y along and only inspected his surroundings in the hope that the meal would arrive soon.


    Khan would usually voice a few smart words and leave in that situation, but he was starving, and the strict schedule inside the moving camp didn''t grant him much freedom when it came to meals. He had to endure those ignorantments about his situation and the Niqols beforeing up with a n to escape.


    ''I miss Snow,'' Khan sighed in his mind when he felt caged in a situation that he couldn''t avoid. ''What does ra even want? She must be at least ten years older than me.''


    Everyone in the toon was rtively young. Most soldiers barely appeared to be past twenty, but a few exceptions existed, and ra was one of them. She was cute, and her face didn''t have any wrinkle, but Khan could feel the age gap in her gestures. She resembled a poor imitation of Yeza, who failed to read the situation and use her beauty correctly.


    "The Niqols feel more than humans," Khan eventually exined when he couldn''t endure thosements anymore. "They experience life differently and have respect for what''s truly important. Humans have a lot to learn from them."


    The suddenment and the meanings that it carried left the four soldiers around Khan and those listening to him stunned. They didn''t expect him to defend the Niqols so firmly after what he had gone through on Nitis.


    "Well, it''s still unfair how they treated you after everything you have done for them," rained, trying to save her face from herstment.


    "They had to take care of their species as a whole," Khan continued to defend the Niqols. "They gave her a choice, and she chose to remain."


    Silence fell again among the group. The report didn''t mention that detail, but Khan''s story only grew sadder after hearing it. Luckily for him, clunking noises started toe out of the table until a spot under him slid open to reveal a tray with food.


    "I told you that these seats were goo-," Felix tried to brag, but he fell silent when he saw Khan diving into his food.


    Khan had grown used to every kind of food after living in the Slums and on Nitis. He could understand that the quality of the meals on Ecoruta wasn''t great, but he had tasted worse in his life, so he devoured everything before the trays stoppeding out of the tables.


    No menus appeared on the table after he finished eating his meal. Khan could only ept that the camp wouldn''t give him the chance of ordering another round, so he prepared himself to leave. Yet, ra noticed his dissatisfaction and didn''t hesitate to use it.


    "You can take part of my rice if you want," ra dered. "These portions are too big for me anyway."


    "You can also have mine," Julia eximed. "Have this egg too. I can''t really handle it when I can''t recognize its species."


    "Same here," Hope sighed. "Also, the life in the trenches is often sedentary. I''m afraid I might get fat if I keep eating so much."


    Getting fat while carrying heavy guns and practicing with mana was virtually impossible. Khan was also certain that the soldiers in the trenches would often skip meals due to the nature of the conflict, but he didn''t mind where that conversation was leading. He lifted his tray and let the three women throw food inside it before resuming his meal.


    The four had to watch as Khan wolfed his second meal in no time. They almost remained speechless in front of the amount of food that he could put in his stomach, but they didn''t say anything about that until he finished eating.


    "You must be in your growing phase to be so hungry," ramented.


    "That made you sound incredibly old," Hope chuckled.


    "Who did you call old?!" ra almost shouted.


    "Ladies, you are all young and beautiful," Felix said while trying to put an end to that argument.


    "That sounded creepy," Julia whispered in a timid tone.


    Khan ended up revealing a smile at those funny interactions, but he didn''t forget the main reason behind his arrival on Ecoruta. He had to get stronger, and that required training. Establishing friendly rtionships with women who only cared about his fame wasn''t on his list.


    "Where are you going?" Felix asked when he saw Khan standing up.


    "I''ll meditate on my bed," Khan responded without adding other details, and he moved toward the exit of the dining hall without giving anyone the chance to stop him.


    A series of gazes followed his departure, but he ignored them. Khan went straight for the dormitory and sat on his bed before immersing himself in the meditative state.


    Time moved quickly while Khan forced his mana to intensify its effects on his body. Training after bing a first-level warrior felt incredibly slow since he had to rely on the passive influence of that energy. Still, Khan had a n to elerate the process. The only problem was that hecked the ability to deploy it.


    Figures moved past Khan, and voices reached his ears as the other soldiers filled the dormitory andy on their beds. Very few of them decided to train. Most directly slept or waited for everyone to fall asleep so that they could reach their partners or leave the room with them.


    Everything was silent by the time Khan opened his eyes. It was barely midnight, but the strict schedule in the moving camp had made most soldiers decide to rest. He could hear faint voices echoing through the corridor outside the dormitory, but they were too vague to understand what they said.


    Normally, Khan would decide to pull an all-nighter toplete his training schedule, but he didn''t know Ecoruta enough to feel confident in getting tired before a possible battle. Lieutenant Pouille could send the toon on another trench the very next day, and he wanted to be at his peak.


    However, a problem appeared after Khany down to sleep. Ecoruta''s temperature was simr to Earth''s, so he could deal with that warmer environment. Still, the dormitory contained almost thirty soldiers, and the cramped space made their presence impossible to miss. The environment inevitably grew hot to the point that he felt unable to sleep.


    Khan didn''t expect that problem to arrive, especially after living in the Slums for so long, but it seemed that his body rejected those warm temperatures now. He couldn''t rx enough to sleep, leading him to give up on his initial n after spending ten minutes wide awake.


    Khan jumped off his bed silently and left the dormitory to approach the camp''s exit. He passed in front of the hall with the praying mats, but he only saw a couple flirting in the corner that he didn''t hesitate to ignore.


    The exit slid open when Khan approached it, and a cold breeze swept him, immediately bringingfort to his mind. Part of him already decided that he would sleep outside that night, but that only if hepleted his training quickly enough.


    Ecoruta was simr to Earth at night, except for the two moons high in the dark sky. Theck of artificial illumination in the area also added vibes experienced only on Nitis. Still, he quickly disregarded them when he noticed a group of four soldiersughing and chatting right past the corner of the moving camp.


    Khan initially nned to let the soldiers be, but his gaze inevitably fell on the metal sk that they were passing around while blowing the smoke of their cigarettes. Smoking seemed quitemon on Ecoruta, but he barely noticed that at the sight of such a familiar situation.


    The four soldiers fixed their gazes on Khan when they saw him walking toward their group. Some frowned as they tried to understand his intentions, but he quickly exined himself through a soft voice. "Do you mind sharing that drink with me?"


    The request surprised the soldiers, but they eventually exploded into augh that they suppressed as soon as they recalled about thete hour. The woman with the drink then handed the sk to Khan, and he took a short sip before passing it to the man to his left.


    "Do you want one?" The man asked while showing the pack of cigarettes, but Khan shook his head as he sat on the ground andid his back on the camp''s spiked wheel.


    "I didn''t expect you to be the drinking type," The womanmented. "Though I would also drink after having dinner with those three."


    "I learnt on Nitis," Khan revealed while epting the sk handed by the second woman.


    "That must have been messier than the report said," The second man stated.


    "I couldn''t help but overhear what you said during dinner," The first woman uttered. "Why did she decide to remain on Nitis?"


    "Her species needed her," Khan half-lied to avoid giving more exnations. "Why is everyone so interested in her?"


    "We can''t do much down here," The first man eximed. "Gossips make everything easier to endure."


    Khan revealed a smile since those words made him think about Azni, but he suddenly sensed a powerful figure approaching the camp. He turned toward the trench, and the soldiers did the same before seeing Lieutenant Pouille marching forward while muttering vague words.


    "You should be sleeping," Lieutenant Pouille scolded as he approached the entrance.


    "We''ll go soon, sir," The first woman chuckled while showing a radiant smile.


    "No, I meant it as an actual suggestion," Lieutenant Pouille replied. "Our victory has created a w in the enemy defenses. We have orders to take over a settlement tomorrow."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I''m back.

 Chapter 239 - Squad

    "We don''t have the equipment to take over a settlement!" The first man immediatelyined before adding a weak "sir" at the end of his line.


    "What do you want me to say?" Lieutenant Pouille sighed. "HQ has seen an opening after our victory, so we must exploit it. We''ll have a briefing early in the morning toe up with a n."


    "Do we even know something about this settlement''s defenses?" The first woman asked.


    "We can''t see anything outside the range of the anti-aircraft gun in the settlement," Lieutenant Pouille shook his head. "HQ needs us to go there and inspect the situation."


    "Sir," The second girl called in a pleading tone.


    "I can''t do anything," Lieutenant Pouille exined. "We have already received orders. Nitis guy, don''t act on your own next time."


    Khan didn''t reply. He showed a calm expression even if he felt slightly pissed. The Lieutenant wanted to me him for the current situation, but he couldn''t see how that was his fault. After all, remaining inside the trench against the tank would have led to a bloody defeat. Khan wouldn''t regret saving lives.


    Lieutenant Pouille left after shaking his head again. The noise caused by the metal door resounded among the silence of the night and created an awkward atmosphere. The four soldiers lowered their heads, sighed, and muttered faint curses, and Khan hesitated a bit before inspecting them.


    "It''s not your fault," The first woman said as soon as she noticed the hesitation on Khan''s face. "I bet that the Lieutenant is as pissed as all of us. He only has a hard time showing it."


    "A very hard time," Khanmented while picking the sk that the second man handed him. "How did he even offend the noble families?"


    "I have a theory," The first man announced.


    "Here he goes again," The second woman chuckled while throwing her cigarette away.


    "It fits perfectly," The first man scoffed before clearing his throat. "Lieutenant Pouille was with someone in the noble families, romantically."


    "How can a Lieutenant get so close to the noble families?" Khan asked.


    "How did you get in the Niqols'' princess pant-," The first man began to voice a question, but the first woman interrupted him by punching his shoulder and ring at him.


    "She wasn''t a princess," Khan heaved a helpless sigh, "And the Niqols don''t use underwear."


    "Wait, really?" The second man immediately asked.


    "No, I lied," Khan stated, and the two womenughed at the sight of the men''s disappointed expressions.


    "You shouldn''t y with a man''s feelings like this," The first manined. "My dreams shattered before taking form."


    "Forgive them," The first woman shook her head. "They are idiots."


    "It''s fine," Khan smirked as George and Ilman''s faces appeared in his mind. "I''m good among idiots."


    The soldiersughed before passing the sk around and lighting more cigarettes. They spent half an hour exchanging jokes and introducing themselves properly, but they eventually went back inside the moving camp to rest and prepare for the next day. Only Khan remained outside to enjoy the cold breeze that filled the night.


    ''They seem nice,'' Khan found himself thinking once silence fell around him.


    The first woman, Delia, had short brown hair and dark eyes. She was as tall as Khan, and her figure appeared quite fit. She was a first-level warrior and mage, and the other soldiers seemed to treat her as the leader of that group.


    The first man, Ian, was tall and muscr. He had short ck hair and dark eyes, and his uniform featured a single star on his right shoulder. He liked to joke around, but Khan could sense the faint maturity hidden by that behavior.


    Faith and Milo were siblings, and they shared a few physical features. They had fair skin and golden hair, but Faith liked to keep it a bit long. Their uniforms didn''t feature stars, but Khan could sense that they were both close to bing first-level warriors.


    Khan couldn''t understand the reason behind their presence on Ecoruta. The short interaction with the four soldiers had only given him a vague idea of their rtionship and character.


    Delia and Ian were the oldest of the group, and the two siblings had taken them as leaders to follow on the battlefield. The former were aware of that situation, and they had epted that role, which naturally made them develop some affection toward their youngerpanions.


    Khan had felt familiar feelings during those interactions, but everything had ended now that he was alone again. It wasn''t toote, but he didn''t know whether he would get the chance to sleep properly even if he went back to his bed. The sole idea of returning to that cramped dormitory made him lose every desire to rest, so he soon closed his eyes and summoned his mana to begin his usual training schedule.


    Mana appeared on his hands before he controlled it to move over his body. Khan increased and reduced the amount of energy used during the training until the rm on his phone rang.


    Khan set another rm before moving to the exercises that involved the maniption of mana. He joined his hands and summoned his energy as different thoughts and feelings flowed inside it.


    The mana changed color and texture depending on what Khan added. Except for a firm sharpness, the effects were faint and unstable. He was improving every day, but he was still far away from Liiza''s level. It would take him many months to be able to use the [Blood Vortex] and add power to the [Blood Shield] on his own, but he didn''t fret. Being so close was already incredible.


    The rm rang again, and Khan moved to his physical training. He repeated all the techniques he knew and tried to smoothen those that involved both martial arts. He didn''t know how long it usually took to reach the advanced proficiency level, but he felt that only constant training could bring him there.


    In the end, Khan sat to dive into the exercises for the Wave spell. He didn''t forget Liiza''s words, but he couldn''t attempt something so dangerous when his ability with mana was stillcking. His idea was to seed through the human methods and study the chaos element for a while before deciding how to proceed, but that moment didn''t want to arrive.


    His training with the Wave spell didn''t involve any physical exercise. His mind had also grown quite resilient after everything he had ovee. His mana was the only variable, but he didn''t seem able to run out of it, so his attempts ended upsting until a siren resounded in the structure behind him.


    The morning had arrived, but Khan didn''t manage to appreciate the dawn due to his deep concentration. Still, the siren forced him to interrupt his training and approach the entrance of the moving camp.


    A series of sleepy soldiers marching through the corridors appeared in his view. The scene told Khan that the men had already taken their shower, but he also noticed how no one seemed to mind yesterday''s deaths.


    Khan followed hispanions while they gathered inside the dining hall. Lieutenant Pouille was already there, and Khan didn''t take long to find Felix and the soldiers from the previous night waving at him. The former was with the three women from yesterday, so he joined Delia and the others.


    "Let''s n things out before breakfast arrives," Lieutenant Pouille announced as he ced his phone on an opening in the wall behind him to activate a series of holograms.


    "I''m sorry, sir," A woman that Khan couldn''t see clearly from his position called. "I don''t see the reinforcements from the battalion. We lost quite a few soldiers yesterday."


    "There won''t be any reinforcements," Lieutenant Pouille stated before putting his hands forward to silence the gasps and voices that had resounded after his words. "The Stal are already moving away weapons and provisions from the settlement. It won''t take long before another trench appears, so we don''t have time to regroup."


    Khan saw disappointment spreading among hispanions but no sadness. He noticed a few soldiers lowering their heads to hide their dark expressions, but that was it.


    It seemed that Ecoruta didn''t leave room for grief and simr feelings. The soldiers had probably grown used to losingpanions, or they simply didn''t establish deep rtionships due to the dangerousness of the battlefield.


    ''Maybe I can notice these differences because I''ve grown used to the opposite approach,'' Khan guessed in his mind as he continued to study his new environment.


    Part of Khan felt d that his newpanions had experience in those aspects, but he inevitably felt out of ce. He couldn''t be like them. He couldn''t throw away everything he had learnt on Nitis.


    Lieutenant Pouille resumed his exnation while Khan began to ept that he would probably remain alone on Ecoruta. "Our job is to take control of the settlement and salvage all the resources we can find. We won''t be able to deploy any tactic since we don''t know much about the area. Our attack will be direct and swift."


    The holograms on the wall moved until they took the shape of a simple map. Khan could recognize the two trenches from yesterday, a river deeper into the enemy territory, and a ck dot that he guessed marked the Stal settlement.


    "Can we even take the Stal by surprise?" Khan asked since the map didn''t feature any natural barrier.


    "They will notice us as soon as we enter the range of the jammed area," Lieutenant Pouille revealed before tinkering with his phone to activate a hologram that depicted a vehicle that resembled a truck. "A small squad will join me inside the ram to attract the Stal''s attention and open a path for the others. Do we have volunteers?"


    No one answered. Even Khan remained silent in front of that offer. Lieutenant Pouille was basically asking them to jump blindly into enemy territory and fight until the rest of the toon arrived. That role was almost suicidal.


    "I''m not surprised," Lieutenant Pouille announced before tapping on his phone again. "I took the liberty of forming the team on my own."


    A list with seven names appeared next to the truck, and Khan cursed in his mind when he saw "Nitis guy" written among them. It seemed that he had already imed too much attention in the trenches.


    "This isn''t a punishment," Lieutenant Pouille eximed when he saw the dark expressions on the seven mentioned by the list. "This is a chance to prove your value. The Global Army will make sure to note down your names after this mission."


    "If we survive," Delia whispered before immersing her hands in her short hair.


    "What is HQ even thinking?" Ian cursed while making sure to keep his voice down.


    Delia and Ian''s names were on the list, and the same went for ra. Khan could also find the other three soldiers through a quick inspection of everyone''s expressions. Lieutenant Pouille had chosen the oldest and strongest assets for the squad.


    "Your luck is awful, my friend," Ian sighed.


    "It''s fine," Khan dismissed those words. "I''m not good with rifles anyway."


    "You should learn," Delia whispered while pointing at the golden-haired girl who had killed the Stal riding the tank. "Gloria always manages to be in the backlines thanks to her good aim. I wish I could also handle rifles as well as her."


    The tables opened as trays with the breakfast started to arrive. It seemed that the meeting had ended there, but Lieutenant Pouille summoned the seven who would join him in the mission once everyone finished eating.


    The Lieutenant didn''t give the group the time to introduce themselves. He led everyone in a seemingly empty area of the moving camp before taking out his phone and making the metal wall in front of him slide open to reveal a rtively small hangar.


    The area only contained four vehicles. Khan immediately found the truck shown during the meeting, and he felt slightly disappointed to see its actual size. It was nothing more than a small rectangr structure with spiked wheels and a pointy metal front that featured small windows.


    The firm material of the windows was dark, so Khan couldn''t inspect its insides, but the Lieutenant quickly unlocked the doors at its sides to reveal eight seats. The truck didn''t have anything else.


    "Take your position," Lieutenant Pouille ordered. "We should arrive near the settlement in a few minutes."


    "How fast is the camp?" Khan asked since the soldier''s statement conflicted with the map shown just a few minutes ago.


    "Oh, right, you can''t possibly know it," Lieutenant Pouille said while pointing at the floor. "We have started to move as soon as everyone gathered in the dining hall. You can''t feel it because the Guko''s technology is incredible."


    ****


    Author''s notes: My grandfather died yesterday, and I spent most of today between the funeral and my family. I don''t know how many chapters I''ll manage to write, but I''ll try to push something on a daily basis. I''ll let myself be like this until Monday when I''ll resume with the normal schedule.. I''m sorry for the countless issues.

 Chapter 240 - Assault

    The stupor onlysted a few seconds. The Guko''s technology was clearly incredible, but Khan couldn''t think about that after understanding that the battle would arrive soon.


    "Get inside," Lieutenant Pouille ordered. "I''ll drive the ram behind the enemy lines, but everything will be quite messy once we get out. Our priority is to bring the Stal in the open to expose them to the rest of the toon."


    "Do we have to follow a battle formation?" ra asked as the squad started to enter the truck.


    "We barely have information about the actual settlement," Lieutenant Pouille admitted. "I''ve chosen you because of your battle experience. We''ll have to improvise a lot, so try to remain close to me."


    Khan suppressed a curse as he took one of the seats on the right side of the vehicle. It didn''t take a genius to understand that simr missions would typically require days spent inspecting the target and preparing suitable battle tactics. However, his group barely knew where the settlement was. Everything felt too abrupt, but he couldn''t ignore HQ''s direct orders. He had simply ended up in the wrong ce at the wrong time.


    Lieutenant Pouille took one of the front seats and turned the vehicle on. A series of lights lit up before a few holograms appeared in front of the soldiers. One of them acted as a camera that depicted the truck''s surroundings, while the others led to different functions. Khan tried to study what he could, but the map that appeared on the top-right corner of an image attracted the entirety of his attention.


    The map depicted the camp''s current position. Khan only had topare that picture to the images seen during the breakfast to understand how long it would take his toon to reach the Stal''s settlement. It seemed that the mission would start in less than five minutes.


    "Don''t worry too-," Delia began to say while turning toward Khan, but she felt unable to continue after inspecting him.


    Khan had already drawn his knife, and his face had grown cold as he kept his eyes fixed on the map. Delia had initially wanted to reassure her youngpanion, but she realized that her worry had been pointless. Khan appeared tense, but an expert eye would be able to see how he was perfectly calm. His figure expressed pure readiness.


    Except for Lieutenant Pouille, the other soldiers in the vehicle noticed Khan''s behavior and let it affect their mindset. No one spoke or cracked jokes. Everyone fell silent and prepared themselves for the imminent battle.


    The seconds spent inside the truck felt like hours as the group kept their eyes on the dot moving across the map. Only Lieutenant Pouille knew when the vehicle would leave the camp, but the soldiers didn''t care about that. The entirety of their focus was on the reinforced doors at their sides.


    Someone took a deep breath when the dot on the map crossed the river. Khan didn''t know how the camp had ovee that hindrance, but those thoughtssted in his mind for mere seconds before vanishing. The flow of mana had already taken control of his senses. He was ready to lose himself in a battle.


    Lieutenant Pouille eventually pressed one of thebels depicted by the holograms before voicing a calm announcement. "The settlement is less than a minute away. Prepare the rifles and gather in the second hangar. If everything goes well, we''ll bring the fight to you."


    The Lieutenant closed the channel before pressing otherbels. A series of nging noises managed to echo past the vehicle''s thick surfaces as the soldier activated some functions of the camp. Ecoruta''s bright morning light began to seep from a side of the metal wall in front of the truck as an unfamiliar entrance started to open.


    Then, everything suddenly changed. The wall slid open in a single second, and the truck shot forward. The vehicle was so fast that Khan didn''t have the time to inspect the changes in the environment recorded by the cameras. He only saw a series of short metal buildings growing closer.


    The Stal''s settlement was as simple as possible. The metal buildings were highly simr to the human camp, linking their architecture to the Guko''s technology. A few short barriers encircled them and created simple protections for troops armed with rifles or simr weapons. In theory, a frontal attack appeared unfeasible.


    Lieutenant Pouille barely touched the menus as the truck approached one of the barriers at high speed. Two-headed figures appeared from behind that defense and began to fire bullets made of mana toward the vehicle, but they appeared as nothing more than azure shes on the cameras.


    "Brace for impact!" Lieutenant Pouille shouted as belts came out of the seats and fastened around the soldiers on their own.


    The truck crashed on the barrier a few seconds after the warning, and the soldiers inside it felt it. No technology could make Khan and the others ignore that violent impact, but the belts kept them safe and still.


    The barrier couldn''t do anything against the vehicle. The truck even ran over a couple of unlucky Stal as it continued to advance inside the settlement. Khan used the cameras to count how many aliens would try to approach him from behind, but a series of cylindric items suddenly appeared on the ground and rolled toward the metal fence before exploding.


    Simr scenes appeared on the other areas recorded by the cameras. The truck released bombs on its own and transformed its surroundings into a fiery environment. The Stal that had tried to approach the vehicle directly burnt, but the mes didn''t manage to hide the shadows of other tall figures charging from behind them.


    The settlement was big enough to contain a couple of toons, but that ording to human standards. The Stal were far too big to fit so many soldiers, so Khan guessed that his group would be only slightly outnumbered. The issue was that eight of them would have to face the aliens on their own for a while.


    Lieutenant Pouille pressed on one of the holograms, and the truck changed its course to crash into a building to its right. The violent impact made the building''s metal walls cave in, but it didn''t pierce them. Yet, the belts suddenly unlocked after the event, and every thought disappeared from Khan''s mind when he saw the door next to him sliding open.


    "Follow me!" Lieutenant Pouille shouted while jumping out of the truck, and the soldiers followed him.


    Waves of mana invaded Khan''s senses as the scorching air caused by the many fires around him reached his nostrils. That chaotic environment felt familiar and helped his peculiar mindset. He could immediately locate many Stal approaching his position, but the Lieutenant had no intention to fight there. The soldier charged toward the initial barrier, and his underlings followed him.


    Two Stal jumped past the mes to appear in front of Lieutenant Pouille, but thetter promptly bent forward and mmed his palms on the aliens'' waists. Khan almost snapped out of his unique mindset when he saw the two huge opponents flying away in different directions and disappearing from his sight.


    The Lieutenant''s incredible battle prowess couldn''t im the squad''s attention for too long since more Stal jumped past the mes and voiced growls to alert the entire settlement about their enemies'' location. The aliens didn''t even wait for theirpanions to arrive as they charged ahead and tried to encircle the human group.


    The soldiers didn''t need orders at that point. Their priority was to reach a spot that the rest of their toon could target from the safe position outside the settlement. They couldn''t waste time in pointless battles that would only worsen their situation.


    Two Stal charged toward Khan, but he ignored them since Lieutenant Pouille sent his opponent flying away again. He wouldn''t fight when he had the chance to continue that tactical retreat.


    The other soldiers shared his thoughts, but those in the backlines couldn''t avoid the Stal. Ian and the man standing next to him raised their arms to defend against the iing punches of the aliens, but the impact made them m into theirpanions.


    Ian crashed on Khan''s back, but the event didn''t take thetter by surprise. Khan had sensed the arrival of hispanion, so he had bent forward to improve his bnce. He even grabbed Ian and made sure that hended properly after sliding off his back.


    The other man wasn''t as lucky as Ian. He fell on Delia''s back, but the woman required the entirety of her concentration to remain on her feet. She couldn''t spare seconds tending to herpanion''s situation, so the soldier ended up falling on the ground. He straightened his position in no time, but that short dy was enough to make him fall prey to the Stal behind the group.


    The mes began to disperse in those seconds since they didn''t have anything to burn. Tall figures appeared behind them and continued to charge at the escaping group. Still, Khan disregarded them as the entirety of his focus went on the two Stal standing in front of Lieutenant Pouille. He could sense that they were both as strong as his superior.


    Lieutenant Pouille tried to deliver the same palm strikes that had sent the previous Stal flying, but his two opponents managed to cross their arms before the attack could hit their torsos. Khan sensed a massive amount of mana exploding in front of the soldier''s palms and engulfing the aliens, but thetter only took a few steps back before charging ahead again.


    The underlings couldn''t advance when their superior was stuck in a battle, and that dy in their escape allowed many Stal to gather around them. Ian, Delia, ra, Khan, and the other two soldiers saw a barrage of punches and thick arms filling their vision. The aliens didn''t hesitate to attack, but their reactions were equally fast.


    Khan ducked to dodge the four punches flying in his direction. He had the chance to slide between his opponent''s legs in that position, but he decided to straighten himself after going past those thick arms to cut the alien''s belly open. A torrent of blood spurted out of the long vertical injury inflicted with his glowing knife, but he didn''t allow himself to rx since the Stal mustered its remaining strength to close its limbs in a tight embrace.


    The Stal''s physical prowess was scary. Khan''s opponent wasn''t a first-level warrior yet, but its level was only a half-step away from that realm. Khan didn''t dare to try his luck in that situation, so he ducked again before kicking one of the alien''s legs.


    The alien lost its bnce and began to fall forward, but Khan''s jumped to his right to approach the Stal busy fighting Ian. He had no intention to enter another battle, but he needed a foothold to dodge the tall figure that was about to hinder his path.


    Khan kicked as soon as his foot touched one of the alien''s arms to push himself over his first opponent. His action ended up creating an opening for Ian, who used his right elbow to deliver a rising blow capable of expressing the entirety of his physical strength. The impact lifted the Stal from the ground and made dark blood spit out of its mouth.


    Khannded on the ground only to notice that the twopanions in front of him were busy with other battles. He had the chance to help them, but more Stal were approaching him from the group''s sides. Dealing with those opponents wouldn''t get them out of that troublesome situation unless they took care of the main issue.


    Khan didn''t have the time to establish deep rtionships on Ecoruta. He didn''t know how hispanions would react to an eventual ordering out of his mouth. He wouldn''t even be surprised if those soldiers decided to ignore his idea to attack the two powerful Stal together, so he took the matter into his own hands.


    Lieutenant Pouille had been impable during those seconds. His opponents were as strong as four second-level warriors, but he couldpensate his inferior physical strength with his spells. The soldier could release shockwaves with every part of his body and enhance them through specific moves that usually involved palm strikes.


    Four arms flew toward the Lieutenant''s left side, but he pushed his left hand forward slowly. A massive amount of mana came out of his palm and hindered the iing blows so much that they didn''t inflict any injury when theynded on his shoulder and torso.


    Instead, the other Stal had joined his hands to deliver two descending blows that seemed to carry enough power to shatter the reinforced metal of the truck. However, Lieutenant Pouille used his free arm to punch the first attack and created a shockwave that pushed the alien back.


    That scene was incredible. Lieutenant Pouille appeared inplete control of his battle, but his right arm didn''te out unscathed from the exchange. His tight sleeve had exploded, and bruises had appeared on his skin since he had to endure part of the force discharged during the impact.


    The Lieutenant knew that he couldn''tst long against such powerful opponents, and every second wasted in that situation only made more Stal gather around his group. Mana started to umte right below his skin as he prepared to use one of his trump cards, but a peculiar scene forced him to interrupt his actions.


    The Stal on the left had lifted its arms to deliver four descending blows that made use of its scary size, but an azure light suddenly ran behind it and made it arc its back in pain. Lieutenant Pouille immediately seized that chance to ce his palm on the alien''s exposed torso andunch a shockwave that made some of its internal organs explode.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I need a couple of hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 241 - Platforms

    Khan ended up on the trajectory of four punches that forced him to cross his arms and activate the [Blood Shield]. He had managed to take one of Lieutenant Pouille''s opponents by surprise, but his sneak attack had revealed his position, allowing one of the Stal around the group to target him.


    The impact with the four punches flung Khan back. He didn''t have the time to nt his feet on the ground, so the attack pushed him in the trajectory of the Stal that Lieutenant Pouille had just killed. The alien fell on him, forcing his momentum to an end.


    The Stal that the Lieutenant had previously pushed away had noticed Khan''s actions. An angry growl came out of its two heads as it decided to deal with the impaired human before turning toward its other opponent. The same went for the aliens that had gathered around the group since Khan now stood in the open.


    The aliens never reached Khan since Lieutenant Pouille charged toward his previous opponent and mmed his palms on its side. The attack was more effective from that position, and the soldier also had the chance to use his full power on a single target. The Stal ended up leaving the ground and flying for a few meters, allowing Khan to push the corpse away while retreating on that now safe path.


    Chaos quickly fell on Khan and the Lieutenant again. The former saw Stal stepping on theirpanions'' corpses to reach their opponents quickly, but the situation had changed now that his leader didn''t have multiple strong aliens against him. Khan could sh his way through the many limbs that tried to hinder his escape while Lieutenant Pouille took care of opening a path.


    Khan could feel himself flowing among the waves of mana. He almost forgot that he was in control of his body. He ducked, jumped, and shed depending on the hindrance that appeared on his path, without ever forgetting to follow the mass of energy radiated by his superior.


    Blood spread his view, and growls filled his ears as the escape continued. Khan struggled to keep track of the limbs severed with his knife, but a refreshing sight eventually unfolded in his eyes. He finally saw the remains of the initial barrier and the rest of his toon farther away. Those soldiers had taken position next to the moving camp, and they had their rifles ready to fire as soon as they had clear shots.


    Khan had lost sight of Ian and one of the other soldiers. His group had shrunk, but his mind didn''t have any room for those worries. Lieutenant Pouille suddenly changed the direction of the retreat to move behind the nearby building, but that meant more battles.


    A Stal tried to approach Khan through a frontal charge, but it vanished from his view since Lieutenant Pouille made an alien fly in its path. Khan couldn''t rx yet since another Stal approached him from his left and forced him to slide on the ground while waving his knife upward.


    The alien had stretched its arms toward Khan and had tried to follow his movements, but it lost one of its hands when the knife shed. The sharp pain didn''t interrupt the Stal''s charge, but it forced it to lift its limbs out of fear.


    Khan spun on himself while straightening his position to stab his knife on the Stal''s left side and lift it until the mana around it lost its power. The alien found a long and deep cut after Khan retracted his weapon. It still wanted to charge at its opponent, but a sense of weakness quickly filled its body and made it fall to the ground.


    Delia tripped over the corpse, but Khan was the perfect handhold to prevent her from falling. He found the woman on him while he was in the middle of turning toward the Lieutenant, and the event didn''t slow him down. He simply decided to jump back and carry hispanion with him.


    Delia only needed a second to restore her bnce and leave Khan. The two found three Stal closing on their position, but they were too big to attack them at the same time. They ended up obstructing each other assaults, wasting the tiny window caused by Delia''s fall.


    Khan used that chance to duck past the thick limbs and sh a torso open. The three aliens tried to follow his movements, but that only hindered their movements further since he was too small for those tall beings.


    Delia voiced a high-pitched cry during that moment of confusion. The mana that apanied the spell scared Khan and made him interrupt his attack. He even covered his ears before that soundwave could reach him, but that mana turned out to be harmless to him.


    The same didn''t go for the three Stal. The alien with the open torso saw more blood bursting out of its injury, while the other bleed from their eyes, ears, and noses. The first Stall directly fainted, while itspanions fell in an intense confused state.


    The confused Stal fell prey to their instincts. They waved their arms left and right while they waited for their senses to regain some rity, but Khan and Delia didn''t waste that chance.


    Khan couldn''t approach his opponents from behind due to the other aliens gathering in that position, so he limited himself to open two deep cuts on the closest Stal''s legs. Instead, Delia studied the messy attacks of the other Stal before pulling one of its arms at the right moment and disturbing its bnce.


    Both Stal ended up on the ground, and their huge bodies hindered theirpanions. Khan and Delia could finally chase after Lieutenant Pouille and resume their escape.


    Bullets started to fill the battlefield as soon as the entirety of the human group reached the building. Khan and the others focused on pushing the aliens back into the exposed areas so that theirpanions could gun them down. Azure projectiles shed non-stop in the area, but the soldiers never stopped kicking, punching, andunching spells to repel the Stal.


    The enemy toon finally shrunk to a point when Khan''s group could see the end of that mission. Some Stal had epted that they couldn''t remain in the open and had found cover behind other buildings, but many had fallen under the rain of bullets. Others had died due to the bombs, and the retreat had also killed a few of them.


    Victory felt incredibly close, but none of the soldiers dared to lower their guards. Still, Khan eventually found himself with no Stal to fight since Lieutenant Pouille was enough to push most of them in the open.


    Khan finally had the time to inspect the battlefield. ra, Delia, Lieutenant Pouille, and the man that he didn''t have the time to know were around him. Ian and the other two soldiers were nowhere to be seen. Khan could only guess that the corpses in the area were hiding them.


    A small group of Stal was hiding in the building on the other side of the exposed area, but they were no threat to Khan''s group. None of them was as strong as Lieutenant Pouille, so he could disregard them.


    Other aliens were still approaching Khan''s group from behind, but they alsocked warriors capable of dealing with Lieutenant Pouille. A few structures had suffered some damage due to the bombs and the vehicle, but they all seemed operative. Khan couldn''t see the anti-aircraft gun from his position, but it couldn''t be too far away. Everything was going perfectly, but his eyes suddenly widened in astonishment.


    The many bullets flying across the battlefield and the various discharges of mana prevented Khan from sensing events too far away. However, he felt unable to miss the sudden appearance of a series of presences.


    Tall bodies full of mana appeared in each building of the settlement. They were so numerous that Khan managed to sense them among the chaos created by the small battles around him and the many bullets. He could easily connect those presences to the Stal, but he couldn''t exin how those aliens had remained hidden for so long.


    The issue wasn''t purely linked to his sensations. The Stal were simply too big, so the settlement couldn''t contain many of them. The number of aliens that Khan''s group had seen seemed already able to fill those buildings.


    Khan knew that those reinforcements had just arrived in the settlement, but that didn''t happen through teleports. He would have sensed them otherwise. The only possible exnation involved underground passages directly connected to the buildings, but that created a discrepancy with the intel about the Stal. In theory, that species wasn''t intelligent enough to rely on such battle tactics, and they would have never remained hidden for so long during an enemy attack.


    Khan could still believe that the new troops had required a few minutes to reach the settlement after receiving an rm, but their joint arrival felt too coincidental. The aliens had appeared at the same second, even if the buildings were in different positions.


    Lieutenant Pouille didn''t need Khan''s warning to notice the new wave of Stal that had appeared in the settlement, but he shared his stupor. Still, it was up to him to give orders, and the situation left him with only one option.


    "Retreat!" Lieutenant Pouille shouted before the rest of his underlings could notice the iing Stal.


    The Lieutenant immediately moved past Khan and the others to appear in the area invaded by flying bullets. He put his arms forward and discharged mana multiple times to make sure that no projectilended on his body. Khan followed closely behind him, and the other soldiers disregarded their confusion to chase after their superior.


    A few bullets exploded in front of Lieutenant Pouille and filled the group''s surroundings with azure light before the soldiers in the safe spot understood that their allies had appeared in their line of sight. Only a few confident marksmen decided to continue firing, but they remained stunned when they saw many figures hurrying past the covers or outside the buildings.


    A new toon of Stal had appeared out of nowhere, but the soldiers didn''t fall prey to their worries. They were in a safe position, and their camp was right next to them. They only had to take a few steps to return inside their habitation, so they continued to fire at their enemies to open a path for their allies.


    Even those who didn''t have a good aim decided to join that assault. A few bullets ended up flying in Lieutenant Pouille''s direction, but he handled them with his spells. Drops of sweat had covered the soldier''s face, hands, and uniform, but he didn''t hold back his attacks. Still, it was evident that the effort was bringing him closer to his limits.


    Everything changed again when part of the ground behind the camp opened to revealrge tforms full of Stal. Lieutenant Pouille couldn''t help but hesitate for an instant at the sight of those new troops, but he didn''t give up. He knew how powerful the moving quarters could be, so he continued to do his best to reach it.


    Nevertheless, the ground under the camp suddenly opened to allow the passage of another tform. The Stal standing there raised their thick arms and worked together to tilt the huge structure until it turned upside-down. Even the soldiers in the safe spot lost hope when a small toon of aliens reced their quarters. They couldn''t understand how the situation had gone south so abruptly.


    The soldiers stopped firing, and Lieutenant Pouille halted his retreat. The aliens were everywhere, and they even advanced to encircle the human group. HQ had sent them to fight a toon, but they had an entire battalion around them now. That scene didn''t leave room for hope.


    Khan soon remained the only one who still inspected the environment to find possible escape routes. He couldn''t give up on his life so easily. He had suffered too much to die on that.


    His inspection didn''t give promising results. He could use his speed to take by surprise one of the weak spots in the encirclement, but he would remain in the open afterward. He had a chance to outrun the strongest Stal in the area, but some of them had rifles, while the others could always seize them from hispanions.


    The faint hope to survive that crisis was enough for Khan. He didn''t care how slim his chances were as long as he had a shot. Yet, the Stal didn''t advance afterpleting the encirclement. They remained still and turned only when another hole appeared on the ground among them.


    The humans on the scene also gazed at the new tform rising among them, and pure astonishment filled their faces when they saw a group of Stal with a Guko in their lead. Thetter quickly jumped off that secret elevator to point the screen in its hands toward the soldiers.


    The inspectionsted for a whole silent minute until the Guko voiced something in the Stal''snguage and returned to its tform.. The Stal then took outrge handcuffs and ck sacks from their backpacks before approaching the humans.

 Chapter 242 - Hands

    It didn''t take a genius to understand the Stal''s intentions, but they were still surprising. Imprisoning those humans made no sense from a tactical standpoint since none of them had any political value. Most of the soldiers on Ecoruta were even outcasts who had caused problems inside their families.


    ''What do they even want to do with us?'' Khan wondered as the Stal wielding handcuffs and sacks approached both human groups.


    Khan couldn''t find answers to his doubts. His paranoia made him think that his mana core had something to do with it, but he didn''t dare to consider the possibility of such aplicated ploy when he had yet to decide how to act.


    His risky escape paths slowly vanished as the Stal grew closer. Khan knew that his chances were less than slim, but they only worsened as the aliens approached the humans without breaking the encirclement. Each second spent hesitating put him into more danger, but he couldn''t make a decision, especially when death didn''t appear impending. He would remain alive as a prisoner, while the rifles would probably kill him if he tried to run away.


    The hesitation ended up making that decision for Khan. Only a few seconds had to pass before his chances to escape vanishedpletely. Still, he immediately switched his mindset to prepare for an eventual jailbreak. When a Stal approached him, he raised his hands forward to make sure that it didn''t tie them behind his back.


    The Stal didn''t seem to care about that detail. It handcuffed Khan''s hands with those heavy tools before covering his head with the ck sack. He felt unable to see anything afterward, but his sensitivity to mana still worked perfectly, and he could clearly sense the alien taking away his knife.


    Khan had to force himself to remain still when he sensed two thick arms wrapping themselves around his waist and lifting him. The Stal barely felt his weight as it carried him toward the tform where the other aliens were gathering the prisoners. Khan could notice the entirety of his team around him, but his focus was on the mana inside his body. Everything worked perfectly, so he had toe up with a n.


    The entirety of his knowledge ran through his mind as the tform began to descend. Khan heard the ground closing above him, the Stal''s random grunts and growls flew toward his ears, and their strong smell filled his nostrils, but he remained focused on his thoughts.


    Khan didn''t experience any fear. An alien species had taken him prisoner, and he didn''t know what would be of him, but he didn''t panic. Actually, his mind seemed to work faster under those terrible conditions. It was something simr to the mindset that he obtained during battles. The tragedies were his home.


    ''I can''t be a prisoner if the Nak have already trapped me for years,'' Khan joked in his mind before suppressing those thoughts and going back to his situation.


    Many details of his imprisonment were still unclear. His best bet would normally be Lieutenant Pouille, but he didn''t know if they would end up in the same cage. The Stal mightmit that mistake, but that event felt unlikely with a Guko leading them.


    Khan could also put his hopes on hispanions. Some of them were first-level mages, which hinted at the possibility of destructive spells. However, he put those thoughts on hold for now. He would consider them only after studying the eventual underground cages.


    After clearing those topics, Khan dived deeply into everything he had learnt throughout the years. He had spent too little on Ecoruta to realize that his expertise already differed deeply from regr humans.


    Khan''s power came from two worlds. His core was still human since he mostly relied on his martial arts while fighting. Yet, the Niqols'' way had be an important part of his being. He didn''t approach the mana through the teachings of the Global Army anymore.


    Still, his expertise with the Niqols'' arts had yet to reach decent levels. His sensitivity to mana was great, and his control was above average, but his maniption couldn''t touch Liiza''s realm. He was vaguely sessful when it came to adding sharpness to his energy, but that was it.


    The [Blood Shield] was a defensive technique that would obviously prove itself useful during an eventual escape, but it couldn''t break him free of his shackles. Khan could only think about his martial arts after excluding everything else, but he found only disappointment there.


    The Stal had taken away his first-grade knife. Khan couldn''t rely on the deadly Divine Reaper, and the Lightning-demon style couldn''t help against those aliens due to their incredible physical prowess. He could still hope that his jailer would be weak, but he didn''t dare to bet everything on unclear information.


    Khan found himself lost. All his power felt useless when the Stal could outnumber him or limit his offensive. A mere alien species with incredible physical strength had been enough to put him into that awful situation.


    ''Am I really so weak?'' Khan wondered when the tform stopped moving and the Stal began to march forward.


    The Stal had rendered Khan useless by taking away his knife. He cursed himself for having such an evident weakness. The situation would be different if he couldunch his spell, but that wasn''t the case. His only option seemed to kick his way out of that prison, which was obviously unfeasible.


    Khan tried to wrap his mind around his problem while keeping track of his movements. The Stal were far from graceful. He could understand whenever his jailer turned or walked in a straight line, and his senses inevitably brought another wave of worries. The aliens kept marching for entire hours, which only shattered every vague n he had developed.


    ''I''ll only end up in the middle of the enemy territory if I take the first avable elevator,'' Khan concluded in his mind as he started to repeat in his mind the turns that the Stal had taken.


    A series of "left" and "right" resounded in Khan''s mind in an endless cycle that tookplete control of his mental faculties. He added a new direction to that silent prayer every time the Stal took another turn, but he didn''t dare to lose focus. His ability to find the elevator near the river depended on how much he could memorize.


    The worries that apanied that idea never managed to appear in Khan''s mind. He knew that the Stal would probably advance now that Lieutenant Pouille''s team had lost its im on the territories past the river, but Khan didn''t care. A lot could go wrong in that situation, so he focused on what was within his power.


    The long march changed pace as grunts and vague cries seeped past the ck sack to reach Khan''s ears. He tried to understand what was happening through his sensitivity to mana, but the Stal gave him answers before he could find them on his own.


    The Stal removed the sack on Khan''s head before throwing him away. He tried to inspect his surroundings, but the impact with a metal wall made his consciousness go dark for a few seconds. When his vision stabilized, he found himself inside a small ck cell illuminated by dim light.


    Khan immediately snapped out of his stupor and straightened his position to move forward. The cell appeared open, and he could even see the back of the group of Stal marching through the corridors right outside the entrance. However, something suddenly appeared on his path and forced him to halt his track.


    Nothing had appeared in his vision, but Khan knew that a denseyer of mana had covered the entrance. The mass of energy was transparent, so he could see everything happening in the corridor, but he didn''t feel confident enough to touch it.


    A crackling noise followed by a painful cry resounded in the area while Khan tried to study the barrier. Those sounds came from his right, while the Stal were moving toward his left, so he could link them to another prisoner. It didn''t take him long to understand that someone had tried to touch the dense mass of mana and had suffered because of that.


    Khan disregarded the barrier to focus on his situation at that point. The cell wasrge, and its advanced technology stated how the Guko had probably built it to contain Stal. The corridor had simr architecture. It wasrge and tall,pletely made of dark metal, and dim white lights came out of its corners to illuminate the area.


    The Stal continued to throw humans inside cells without stopping marching through therge corridor. Khan couldn''t understand their intentions, but he could confirm that he would remain alive for the time being.


    Khan stopped inspecting the area after the Stal disappeared and noises stopped echoing throughout the corridors. The structure didn''t have much else to study, so he sat on the floor and repeated the turns taken by the aliens in his mind before focusing oning up with an escape n.


    "Is Lieutenant Pouille here?" A voice suddenly resounded from his right.


    "Lieutenant Pouille?" Another voice came out from the cell to his left.


    "Is the Lieutenant here?" A third prisoner shouted, and Khan recognized ra''s voice even if a series of cells divided him from her.


    "I''m here," Lieutenant Pouille eventually shouted, and his voice came from a distant spot on Khan''s left. "Stop crying and shut up! They mighte to beat us up."


    "What should we do now?" A soldier asked,pletely disregarding the previous orders.


    "What''s the n, Lieutenant?" Another voice resounded.


    "Is the Global Army aware of our position?" A third soldier shouted.


    "HQ knows about these underground structures," Lieutenant Pouille exined, "But they can''t study them from space. We have even gotten far away from our initial position, so you can forget about reinforcements."


    "What do you mean, Lieutenant Pouille?" ra cried in a pleading tone. "Why was a Guko working with the Stal? Why did they even take us prisoner? Do they want to trade us with HQ?"


    "How the fuck would I even know that?!" Lieutenant Pouille shouted in an angry voice. "I''m only a Lieutenant. HQ gives orders, and I follow them. Still, let me break it down for you. No one ising to save us."


    More pleads resounded from the various cells, but Lieutenant Pouille didn''t answer anymore. Khan could only hear as the many voices quieted down before turning into asional cries and sobs.


    ''Is this a way to get rid of troublesome soldiers?'' Khan wondered after sorting out his thoughts. ''Is the Global Army really unaware that some Guko are working with the Stal?''


    Khan''s paranoia affected his thoughts, but he tried to suppress them to avoid developing biases about the situation. Nothing told him that the Global Army had something to do with his imprisonment. The cooperation between the two alien species was still suspicious, but he couldn''t find anything that involved the humans in the matter.


    Khan went back to his nning. He repeated the left-right prayer in his mind before trying to develop a tactic that could allow him to escape. He still didn''t know much about his situation or the Stal''s intentions, but he had to solve a major problem first.


    In the current state, Khan would be unable to deal with a single first-level warrior from the alien species. His experience could give him a chance against those strong beings, but he didn''t know it would take to win in a direct sh when relying only on his kicks.


    Saving time was mandatory while deep inside an enemy structure. Khan couldn''t give the Stal the chance to alert theirpanions in the eventuality of a battle, but he couldn''t perform his deadliest techniques right now.


    His thoughts didn''t lead anywhere, and they eventually turned into desperation. Khan couldn''t find any solution, and Liiza''s face appeared in his vision as he started to ept that his life was in the Stal''s hands.


    Khan almost couldn''t believe how intense his feelings for Liiza were. He had said goodbye and tried not to think about her, but she always reappeared whenever he let his mind wander. It felt almost funny topare his current state to his life on Nitis. He had left that dark mere days ago, but that time already felt like an eternity.


    A surge of anger made Khan m his arms on the wall to his right. The thick handcuffs didn''t even leave a mark on the dark metal, and the impact didn''t damage their structure either. They also seemed meant for a stronger species, which only removed any idea of breaking free through brute force from his mind.


    ''Liiza would have frozen these things with a simple thought,'' Khan smiled while thinking about his talented ex-girlfriend. ''Zalpa could have turned them into dust by blowing on them. Even items resistant to mana can''t do much when someone forces their very nature to change.''


    Khan had initially desired to me his ineptitude, but an odd idea formed in his mind as he continued to think about the Niqols. He raised his hands and stretched his fingers before tilting his head to inspect them from a different angle. He had to admit that they could look like short des.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I need a couple of hours for the second chapter.

 Chapter 243 - Price

    ''What''s the difference between a first-grade weapon and a first-level warrior?'' Khan wondered as mana started to seep out of his skin and move toward his hands.


    Khan quickly halted his actions and retracted his hands before inspecting the corners of his cell. He didn''t know if the area had cameras, but he refused to take risks, especially now that he might have solved his greatest problem.


    The question continued to resound in his mind even after he stopped testing his theory. Khan had long sincemitted to memory the requirements for the Divine Reaper. He had performed those techniques with mere dull null-grade weapons, so his hands could work. He felt sure that his body met the minimum requirements for the martial art.


    Khan felt even more confident after thinking about the Niqols. They could transform caresses into punches as long as they manipted the mana ordingly, so the same had to be true when it came to des. Applying sharpness also was Khan''s best field since he had already be used to that meaning by training in the Divine Reaper.


    Everything seemed perfect. Khan almost couldn''t believe how he had failed to consider that possibility until now. He only had to transform the Divine Reaper into a Niqols'' martial art to deploy the same effects with his bare hands.


    The process would obviously beplicated for normal humans. A weapon would help create the sharp membrane required by the Divine Reaper, but Khan felt confident in replicating it on his hands. The situation would be different with other features, but he knew that he could seed when it came to sharpness.


    Khan had finally decided how to take care of his jailers quickly. He couldn''t test his theory out of fear of being discovered, and he didn''t know how effective his attack would be, but he wasn''t lost anymore.


    The time to define the rest of his escape had arrived, but he could only wait before approaching those essential parts of his n. The Stal would have never thrown Lieutenant Pouille into those cells if the barrier couldn''t stop his spells. The same would probably apply to the eventual jailers that would pick him up, and Khan could guess that something simr would happen to the rest of the prisoners.


    Khan had to understand how the Stal behaved and gain insights into their intentions before deciding how to act. The situation would remain hopeless if multiple aliens were to appear for each prisoner. However, he had a chance to do something if he had to deal with a single Stal. Its level wouldn''t matter too much since he nned to exploit the surprise effect to the fullest.


    Only a deafening and tense wait could bring answers. Khan didn''t know what the Stal wanted to do with him and his group, but he remained calm and made sure to preserve his condition. He didn''t meditate nor train since that would make him hungry faster, and he even avoided moving as his entire focus went on gathering information about his imprisonment.


    Khan''s habits made him perfect for that role. The Slums had taught him how to endure hunger and thirst. His nightmares and time on Nitis had made him used to spend entire days without sleeping. The many tragedies ovee throughout his life had given him a firm mindset that could survive heavy stress. He could wait calmly without growing anxious ormitting mistakes.


    It was hard to keep track of the passage of time inside the underground cell, but Khan could rely on his phone for that. The Stal didn''t need to take the device away since it had lost connection with the Global Army''swork even before going underground.


    The night arrived, and the morning reced it, but no Stal walked through that corridor. Only the afternoon brought a change to the long hours that Khan spent as alert as possible.


    A single Stal suddenly walked from the left of the corridor and crossed the various cells until it arrived in front of thest one. Khan counted the alien''s steps after it moved past his entrance. He then heard a few cries and the noises caused by clear physical struggles before a thudding sound put an end to the matter.


    The steps then resounded again. Khan didn''t move, but his eyes remained fixed on the barrier. The Stal crossed his cell with a fainted soldier held firmly in two arms, but he disregarded hispanion. His focus remained on the alien as he tried to find items or armors that might protect it when picking prisoners. Khan even paid special attention to its power to prepare for his turn.


    The barrier hindered Khan''s sensitivity to mana, but he could still inspect something when the Stal was in front of his cell. The alien was a first-level warrior, while the prisoner in its arms was only close to that level. Moreover, he noticed that the Stal wasn''t wearing the dirty rags seen during the previous battles. It had a tight dark suit that covered the entirety of its torso and simple metallic protections on legs and armpits.


    The Stal crossed the entrance of Khan''s cell before he could gain a clear idea of the suit and protections'' power, but he didn''t mind that too much. He was nning to kill his future jailer quickly, so he couldn''t aim at those spots. Everything was fine as long as the aliens kept their necks and heads uncovered.


    ''Not yet,'' Khan reminded himself before repeating the route to the tform in his mind.


    A single inspection wasn''t enough to create an escape n. Khan didn''t know if the Stal would behave differently the next time they decided to take one of the prisoners, so he continued to wait.


    The night arrived again, and the morning followed, but Khan had to wait for the afternoon to hear the heavy steps of another Stal. The jailer didn''t change, and it also wore the same protections. Still, it didn''t have yesterday''s soldier in its arms, and the walk past Khan''s cellsted slightly less too.


    The noises of a physical struggle and painful cries resounded for a few seconds before the Stal returned to the left side of the corridor while carrying a soldier. Khan could sense that the prisoner was a proper first-level warrior, which filled his mind with hope.


    Everything would be problematic if his jailer ended up being a second-level warrior, but he could handle things easily with someone at his level. Khan didn''t know how the Stal nned to keep the entire toon alive if they kept picking only one soldier a day without bringing water or food. Still, he didn''t care too much about that since the situation benefited him.


    Khan had used the steps to guess how long it would take for a jailer to appear in front of him. Thest prisoner was only two cells away from him, meaning that it would take three more days for his turn if that trend continued.


    Remaining without food or water for three more days would be harsh, but Khan knew that his body could take it. His battle prowess would be far from ideal, but he had to seize every chance he got.


    The next day was identical to the previous. The same armored Stal crossed the corridor, reached the rightmost cell, and knocked a prisoner unconscious before dragging them somewhere.


    Something different happened on Khan''s fifth day of imprisonment. A few Stal went cell by cell to deliver simple trays that contained a small white bar and a simple sk full of water. A small spot opened in the barriers to allow the passage of those tes, and the aliens didn''t leave each entrance until the prisoners gave those tools back. It wasn''t hard for the humans to understand those strange growls when four hands pointed at the items.


    Khan behaved impably. He ate the small bar and gulped all the water without even bothering to understand their taste. He had heard the noises of heavy beatings before, so he quickly gave everything back before sensing the small opening in the barrier close.


    The previous routine resumed on the sixth day. The now-familiar armored Stal reached the cell on Khan''s right and beat the soldier inside it before dragging them away.


    The tension in Khan''s mind intensified once the heavy steps stopped resounding throughout the corridor. He had managed to ignore loneliness, boredom, and fear the previous day because he had a goal, but everything came back stronger than before now that his n was about to start.


    The white bar and the small sk of water only managed to put a patch to his hunger and thirst. Hisck of sleep also filled his mind with a faint weariness. Yet, he remained as focused as ever, even if intense emotions raged inside him. It seemed that he could grow calmer in the hours that preceded a battle.


    Khan counted the hours without looking at his phone. He had never managed to understand if the cells featured cameras, but he didn''t dare to take risks, especially now. The wait felt endless, and his emotions only intensified after each minute, but his body instinctively rxed while that chaos filled his mind.


    Then, the echo of familiar steps reached his ears. Khan''s mind went nk as his thoughts vanished. It was now or never, so he deployed the preparations he had imagined during the past days.


    Khan had yed everything in his mind countless times aftering up with a n. His imprisonment would end soon, after seven days spent in a cell. He would escape or die trying.


    Khan slightly stretched his legs before cing his back on the wall to apply some pressure. His position didn''t reveal the tension that afflicted his muscles. No one would notice that he wasn''t really sitting on the floor.


    Each step that reached his ears filled his body with the need to tremble, but no muscle moved. Khan remained perfectly still as he closed his eyes and yed the iing battle in his mind onest time. Then, he opened them right before the Stal appeared in front of his cell.


    Khan immediately noticed his first miscalction. The Stal stepped forward without waiting for the barrier to go down. Its body crossed that dense mass of mana without suffering any injury.


    A series of images shed in Khan''s vision while the Stal bent downward and pulled two of its arms back to prepare punches. He had nothing but time in the previous days, and he had spent them considering what could go wrong with his n. That granted him the promptness needed to decide whether to fight the alien inside the cell before itpleted its attack.


    The barrier was a miscalction, but Khan knew that he wouldn''t be able to be as quick as he wished if he let the Stal grab him. Even if he somehow managed to get out of that strong grip, he would still be in an unfavorable position that wouldn''t allow him to perform a quick kill.


    The thoughts about the barrier vanished as his right leg shot forward. Khan slowed down his attack on purpose, and the alien didn''t disappoint him. The Stal voiced a growl as the hands prepared for the attack opened to grab the iing limb.


    Khan unleashed all the power amassed inside his left leg when he sensed the alien''s thick fingers wrapping around his ankle. He jumped forward without bothering to control his movements, and he ended up being so fast that the Stal couldn''t use its free arms to stop the assault.


    Nevertheless, the Stal chosen to be a jailer was an experienced warrior. Its reflexes were incredible, so it promptly pulled Khan from his leg. He felt a massive force interrupting his charge, but he didn''t care about the imminent sh with the floor. Only the alien''s throats existed in his view.


    Khan performed what he didn''t dare to try in the past days. Mana umted over his stretched and tense right hand to create a sharp membrane. He swung his chained arms at the Stal''s heads while it pulled him downward. The [Blood Shield] covered his back right before mming on the floor, but intense pain reached his mind anyway.


    A mess followed. Khan forced his vision to focus, but a torrent of blood hindered it. Then, the Stal''s heavy body fell on him, but he quickly tried to lift it. Still, the action revealed the true source of his pain. His back had always been fine, but the same didn''t apply to his right hand.


    Khan noticed the deep cuts on the alien''s throats before focusing on his right hand. The Stal''s heads hung from small patches of brown skin as blood continued to flow on him. His attack had almost beheaded his opponent, but his weapon had paid the price to that achievement.


    Countless cuts had opened on his right hand, and his fingers had even bent unnaturally. The same applied to his palm, which seemed split into two parts. It was clear that his injuries didn''t affect only his skin. His bones and muscles had also suffered from the drawbacks of the Divine Reaper.


    ****


    Author''s notes: The chapters will obviously bete tonight.

 Chapter 244 - Escape

    Khan wanted to scream, but only suppressed groans came out of his mouth as he pushed himself away from under the Stal''s corpse. Curses resounded in his mind, and pain made a mess out of his thoughts, but intense anxiety also fought against those sensations to remind him about his situation.


    His jailer was dead. His escape had begun. Khan couldn''t allow himself to waste time or cry over his hand, but the pain felt unbearable. He ended up on the verge of fainting every time his cracked fingers or palms moved.


    Khan headbutted the wall behind him in a desperate attempt to suppress part of the pain spreading from his right hand. A second of peace filled his senses, but everything soon returned and almost froze him on the spot. Still, he mmed his head on the dark metal again and used that short moment of rity to decide what to do.


    Istrone came back to his mind. Khan thought about Ethel, but he refused to consider amputating his hand. He wouldn''t even know how to do it in that situation.


    His eyes eventually fell on the metal protections on the Stal''s limbs, and an idea formed in his mind. Khan threw himself over the almost beheaded corpse and tinkered with one of those metal shields to open it. It turned out that the item had two metalces that featured a single button on their surfaces.


    Theces unlocked when Khan pressed those buttons. He tore away part of his trousers before applying his hand on the metal protection and tying it with the help of his mouth. The armor was far too long to be useful with the Divine Reaper, but he couldn''t find a better solution for now.


    Khan mmed his head on the metal wall again before adjusting his cracked hand on the metal protection and tying it firmly with the bandages. Blood fell from his forehead, but he ignored it. After creating a tight knot, he closed his eyes to enter the meditative state and see whether his mana could help with his injury.


    The mana had affected the entirety of Khan''s body after bing a first-level warrior, but only half of it had improvedpletely. The other half was still in the process of fusing with his energy, and his cracked hand featured many spots like that.


    Still, Khan noticed that the pain dimmed when he forced his mana to send stronger radiations. The different suffering that usually apanied meditations arrived, but he could only rejoice when he experienced that since he saw that his hand was trying to heal on its own.


    ''Not now,'' Khan reminded himself before snapping out of the meditative state and focusing on his situation.


    His experience with the mental barrier turned out to be helpful. Khan pushed away his pain to create a small but peaceful environment inside his mind. He could think almost clearly there, and that was enough for now.


    ''Can I cross the barrier now?'' Khan wondered while inspecting the dead Stal.


    Everything was silent. Khan didn''t know whether the structure had silent rms, but they would be outside his control, so he disregarded those fears. His focus was on the Stal''s corpse. The alien was so tall that its legs had remained outside the cell. Still, the barrier didn''t do anything to them.


    Khan took away another protection from the Stal''s limbs before throwing it toward the barrier. A crackling noise resounded before that denseyer of mana flung the metal item back inside the cell. Khan bent to his right to avoid the piece of armor, and his eyes inevitably fell back on the dead alien.


    ''Does it need a gic signature?'' Khan wondered. ''No, they would have been able to give the trays without opening the barrier otherwise.''


    That conclusion forced Khan to dive on the Stal. He took out its metal protections, removed the tight suit, and even tore apart the rags that covered its lower body. The two huge dongs of the alien appeared in his view, but he paid no attention to them as he continued searching for something that could make him cross the barrier.


    Khan found something only when he inspected the alien''s hands. One of them had a metal ring that felt like a magical item after a second inspection. Khan quickly took it, and a change immediately happened.


    The crackling noise returned after Khan seized the item. The barrier began to affect the corpse and dug its way through the two legs. It only took a few seconds before the mana cut the alien''s limbs.


    The deadliness of the barrier left Khan dumbfounded for a second, but he forced himself out of that mental state to jump to his feet. The ring was too big for his fingers but too small to be a bracelet, so he used his cracked hand to wear it.


    A wave of pain spread from his wounds as he wore the ring with his little finger and ring finger. Khan clenched his teeth as he checked that the item didn''t risk slipping out on its own. Everything was perfect, so he approached the barrier.


    The slight hesitation in Khan''s movements vanished when he noticed that his left hand crossed the barrier without problems. He even felt the synthetic mana falling on his skin, but that sensationsted for less than a second since he prioritized getting out of the cell.


    ''I did it!'' Khan couldn''t help but shout in his mind when he stepped on the corridor.


    His excitement didn''t make him forget about his situation. Khan inspected both ends of the corridor and confirmed that he was alone. He instinctively turned to his right, but a series of thoughts inevitably appeared in his mind when he noticed that everything remained silent.


    ''Are they really unaware about my escape?'' Khan wondered as his eyes fell on his cell.


    The Stal had to open the barrier to deliver food, but that didn''t happen now. Yet, in theory, Khan would have had to cross it anyway since the alien hade to pick him up.


    Khan had paid incredible attention to the sounds that had reached his cell during thest days. He knew that the Stal didn''t say anything while picking up the other soldiers. The ring didn''t even have buttons, so he felt rtively sure that he couldn''t sendmunications from his end.


    The only possible conclusion was that the barrier wouldn''t have opened at all. Still, that created questions since Khan would have needed to cross the denseyer of mana anyway.


    Khan felt the need to run away immediately, but he would need a long time to reach the initial tform. He didn''t even know whether the underground structure would feature other areas on his path, but he felt certain that the Stal would eventually notice his escape.


    The unclear functions of the underground structure forced Khan toe up with a simple n. A good escape required a distraction, so he bent forward to pick up one of the severed legs push it toward the barrier.


    The barrier rejected the severed leg, but Khan tried a different approach. He put the limb at his side and carried it like the jailer had done with the soldiers the previous days. Then, he tried to enter his cell, and his eyes lit up when he noticed that the denseyer of mana finally allowed the passage of that foreign item.


    ''They would have needed to retrieve the trays personally if they didn''t open the barrier,'' Khan summarized in his mind after understanding how the barrier worked. ''I can carry things out.''


    Khan let go of the severed leg and hurried toward the next cell. The soldier inside it had noticed that something had gone wrong, and Khan''s appearance almost made him shout in excitement.


    "Shut up," Khan whispered before the soldier could say anything. "Stay still, and trust me."


    The soldier covered his mouth with both his hands after that reminder. A frown appeared on his face when Khan bent forward and wrapped his limbs around his waist, and aint tried to seep out of his fingers when he saw the barrier growing close in his vision.


    The soldier didn''t have time toplete hisint since Khan brought him out of the cell in no time. The barrier didn''t oppose the process, and the man could soon stand up on his own.


    "Than-," The soldier tried to express his gratitude, but Khan interrupted him with a re before approaching another cell.


    Simr scenes unfolded as Khan went cell by cell to carry his toon into the corridor. No one understood how he had managed to escape, but they waited for him to free everyone while making sure to keep their mouths shut.


    Thest imprisoned soldier was Lieutenant Pouille. The man didn''t need reminders, so Khan could carry him out of the cell silently. Still, a gasp inevitably escaped his mouth when he noticed that his entire toon was standing in the corridor.


    "How did you even-," Lieutenant Pouille tried to whisper, but Khan promptly interrupted him.


    "I don''t have time to exin," Khan replied while keeping his voice down. "I''ve memorized the path back to the elevator. We must leave now."


    Those whispers managed to reach the soldiers on the other end of the group due to the deep silence. Everyone inevitably smiled and nodded at that news, but hands fell on Khan''s shoulder when he turned to begin the escape.


    "We won''t be able to reach the initial elevator if the Stal have habitations along the way," Lieutenant Pouille stated while showing his handcuffs, "Especially with these."


    "I know, but it''s better than advance without a clear target," Khanined.


    "We can fight our way toward the nearest elevator before stealing something on the surface," The Lieutenant suggested while pointing at the left side of the corridor.


    "You can go there," Khan whispered while pointing at the right side of the corridor. "I''ll stick to my n."


    "The Stal''s forces must have expanded after our defeat," Lieutenant Pouille exined. "The safest ce where to resurface is behind the enemy lines."


    Khan felt anxious since freeing all the soldiers had taken a few minutes. He wanted his escape to start right away, but he had to admit that Lieutenant Pouille''s words held some truth.


    Theck of rms or reinforcements even stated how confident those aliens were about their underground prison. Khan didn''t know if the Stal were too stupid to consider those aspects. The situation had too many variables, and his knowledge of Ecoruta wasn''t on par with the Lieutenant. He didn''t want to put his trust in someone else, but he had to admit that his power alone might end up failing him during a solitary escape.


    "Wait for a second," Khan whispered before hurrying toward his cell and carrying the huge Stal outside.


    The soldiers instinctively gathered around Khan, but they let the Lieutenant pass. Thetter''s eyes widened in surprise when he saw Khan removing the metal protections and the tight suit before handing them to his group.


    Khan couldn''t use something so long for the Divine Reaper, but hispanions might find those items useful. Lieutenant Pouille didn''t hesitate to pick the suit, while others took the pieces of armor to wear them or use them as weapons.


    Then, Lieutenant Pouille followed Khan on the other side of the group as he started marching toward the corridor''s left. The soldiers behind them didn''t know who was in charge, but they tried to be as silent as possible as the escape began. They even half-bent forward to imitate Khan''s movements.


    "Why is no oneing?" Khan whispered.


    "There might be only one Guko in this area," Lieutenant Pouille guessed without wasting more words in his exnation.


    That short line was enough to reassure Khan. The Stal probably had no idea how to use the underground structure or their items properly, and the presence of a single Guko could exin those many ws in the prison.


    "Can you fight?" Lieutenant Pouille asked when his eyes fell on the messy bandages and long protection on Khan''s right hand.


    Khan had been able to use only his right hand with the Divine Reaper before, but that would be almost impossible now since the long armor would hinder his shes. He could probably perform something decent if he waved his chained arms from right to left, but that was far from ideal nheless.


    "We must find a way to remove these handcuffs," Lieutenant Pouille announced after noticing that Khan hesitated to answer, and thetter could only nod as the group went deeper inside the enemy territory.

 Chapter 245 - Advance

    Many faint steps resounded in the silence of the corridor. The soldiers had instinctively arranged themselves ording to their confidence against the Stal, but Khan and Lieutenant Pouille remained in the lead. The former knew that his kicks wouldn''t be so helpful against that powerful species. Still, he didn''t dare to let anyone else be in front of the group since his sensitivity to mana was too valuable in that situation.


    The dim lightsing out of the corners of the metal surfaces allowed Khan and Lieutenant Pouille to see almost everything in the corridor. Their group crossed many empty cells before arriving at a turn that Khan inspected silently before advancing. No one was in sight, but that wasn''t enough to remove the tension that filled his mind.


    Random thoughts appeared in Khan''s mind while the group moved silently. He didn''t forget to add the new turns to the path that he had memorized, but he still spared some attention to his hand and martial art.


    Khan''s hand had stopped bleeding, but he didn''t dare to remove the piece of armor. Yet, he forced himself to think about his failed attempt to perform the Divine Reaper barehanded to develop solutions.


    Khan had confirmed that he could perform the martial art without weapons, but his body wasn''t strong enough to endure the bacsh that apanied those techniques. Still, he had ess to the [Blood Shield], which could theoretically solve the issue or prevent him from suffering such severe injuries.


    The handcuffs and the bandages would hinder Khan from using his left hand to perform the Divine Reaper, so his attention went on his feet. In theory, he could use them for his techniques, but he decided to avoid that until he saw how effective the [Blood Shield] was. His escape would end if he ended up injuring his legs.


    A change eventually happened. Khan and Lieutenant Pouille noticed a door in the distance, and they quickly informed the other soldiers about it. Everyone slowed down to reduce the noises released by their advance, and Khan suppressed his thoughts to focus on his senses.


    The door was on the right side of the corridor, so the group could approach it safely. Still, the Lieutenant performed a few silent gestures to make everyone form a single line once that entrance grew close. He even tried to take the frontmost spot, but Khan didn''t let him.


    Khan sensed strange waves of synthetic mana, but he couldn''t find anything that belonged to a living being. After peeking inside past the door, he saw a small room full of tall rectangr items with azure tubes running over their surfaces.


    Khan stepped inside the room while shooting a confused nce at Lieutenant Pouille. Thetter followed him inside before wearing a deep frown. Other soldiers peeked past the entrance, but they decided to remain outside after noticing that the room couldn''t contain all of them.


    "Do you know what these items are?" Khan asked while searching for buttons or writings that could give him some clue.


    "They are servers," Lieutenant Pouille exined, "Pretty good servers. They even use an immense amount of mana."


    "What''s a server?" Khan asked.


    "They help process information," Lieutenant Pouille replied. "The Global Army would kill to study these."


    Khan dismissed that exnation afterbeling it as useless for his escape. He inspected the room onest time before approaching the entrance. Yet, he stopped after seeing that Lieutenant Pouille''s eyes remained glued on the tall servers.


    "What is it?" Khan questioned.


    "One of these would be enough for an entire space station," Lieutenant Pouille sighed before following Khan toward the entrance.


    The Lieutenant didn''t need to add anything else to exin what he meant. An entire space station only required one server, but that underground room had more than ten of them. Both Khan and the soldier couldn''t understand what process would even need such massive technological power.


    It immediately became evident that the underground structure had some important purposes. After all, something so important as the servers was in a random room that didn''t feature any protection.


    Khan let those worries escape from his mind once the group resumed the escape. The corridor had yet to show proper exits or actual habitation, and he didn''t like remaining still without a n in mind.


    It didn''t take long before another change appeared in Khan''s view and forced the group to a stop. After another turn, he noticed that the corridor ended in a tall door that seemed to lead to an area featuring a different illumination instead of the dim lights around him.


    Azure shes fused with a constant bright white light, but Khan didn''t focus too much on those features. He had sensed the presence of living beings as soon as the group had approached the new area.


    Khan pointed at Lieutenant Pouille and the five soldiers who had taken the pieces of armor before proceeding forward. The six men and women followed him slowly, allowing him to approach the entrance before them.


    Their silent movements didn''t cause any reaction in the lifeforms inside the new area. Khan could get close enough to recognize the source of the presences sensed before. He could confirm that four Stal and a Guko were standing and sitting in silence, and only two of the tall aliens were first-level warriors.


    ''The jailer must havee from here,'' Khan thought before turning toward hispanions and doing his best to describe the situation.


    Lieutenant Pouille didn''t need Khan''s descriptions, but the other five soldiers fixed their eyes on his left hand as he exined what would wait for them past that entrance. Luckily for Khan, the two species were so different that hispanions understood him quickly.


    The squad prepared themselves for a battle. They didn''t need to speak to understand what they needed to do. Their priority was to kill the Stal. As for the Guko, they silently decided to interrogate it after dealing with the other threats.


    Lieutenant Pouille raised his chained arms to perform a countdown with his fingers. Khan and the soldiers shot forward as soon as their leader closed both hands into fists, and the aliens inside the new area inevitably noticed their arrival.


    Khan charged directly for one of the weak aliens. A series of desks andrge chairs stood on his path, but he dodged them easily. A Stal was sitting on the opposite side of the room, but it had no time to stand up since a kick mmed on one of its heads and turned it into a bloody pulp.


    Growls resounded, but they quickly turned into grunts as the soldiers began to fight with the aliens. Khan disregarded hispanions to inspect the area before shooting toward an entrance on the room''s opposite side. His senses reassured him, but he still peeked out of the opening. He saw the now-familiar corridor but nothing else.


    The Stal did their best to fend off the intruders, but nothing could stop Lieutenant Pouille. Heads exploded, and bodies mmed on the ceiling whenever he waved his chained hands. The other soldiers were also quite strong, so all the tall aliens died in a matter of seconds.


    The death of thest Stal made everyone nce at the Guko. The small alien had remained on its tall chair during the battle. It didn''t even try to escape while it watched itspanions die.


    Delia reached the Guko and ced the piece of armor to its short throat before nodding at herpanions. Lieutenant Pouille approached the first entrance to gesture at the other soldiers to advance, while Khan focused on inspecting the area.


    The area was quiterge. It featured the same tall servers seen in the previous room, but it also had tworge desks, four chairs, and a few screens on the wall in front of the Guko.


    A series of writings in anguage that Khan didn''t recognize filled the screens. Theck of images that depicted the cells or corridors reassured him, but he didn''t let anything appear on his face. He didn''t know why the Guko had remained still, but he wanted to show his coldest expression anyway.


    The toon had a bit more than twenty soldiers, and the room had enough space for them, but Lieutenant Pouille made sure to leave a few of them on both corridors. Of course, Khan decided to inspect the second entrance thoroughly before leaving his spot to someone else.


    The room seemed distant to other areas or aliens, so the group slowly rxed before encircling the Guko. Lieutenant Pouille even waited for Khan to arrive in front of the alien before starting the interrogation.


    "Why didn''t you try to escape?" Lieutenant Pouille asked, without trying to understand if the Guko knew the humannguage.


    "I would have never outrun you," The Guko replied in a perfect human ent. "Also, you would have hurt me after catching me."


    The alien''s straightforwardness left Khan surprised, but the Lieutenant didn''t seem to find any problem with that.


    "How many Stal does this underground structure contain?" Lieutenant Pouille questioned.


    "The entire structure currently has two battalions," The Guko replied. "Yet, I believe you are interested in the number of warriors nearby. There are only three squads in areas less than a day from here."


    "Why are you coborating so easily?" Lieutenant Pouille eventually asked the question that was afflicting everyone''s minds.


    "You would hurt me if I didn''t," The Guko exined. "Moreover, showing my value can preserve my life, which is the ultimate goal of every living being. My actions are as logical as possible."


    Khan finally understood how deep Guko''s pragmatism was. Those aliens were basically robots that followed a series of simple goals, which worked in his favor.


    "Why do you have no doors?" Khan asked, voicing another doubt that was in everyone''s minds.


    "The Stal are a dumb and short-tempered species," The Guko exined. "They would break the doors if they forgot how to open them. Moreover, being able to inspect each area helps their poor sense of direction."


    "How can they get lost here?" Delia questioned. "There is only one corridor."


    "I can list the number of cases involving dispersed Stal if you want," The Guko dered, but Delia quickly shook her head.


    "Why are you cooperating with the Stal?" Lieutenant Pouille asked. "Is your species betraying the humans? Are there spies among you?"


    "The Guko have a hard time understanding the idea behind lies," The alien revealed. "None of us can be a spy."


    "How could you have kept your cooperation with the Stal hidden then?" Lieutenant Pouille continued.


    "The Guko with the humans don''t know about us," The alien dered. "Many of us have be prisoners of the Stal during the initial stages of the war, and some have managed to prove themselves useful enough to obtain partial freedom. I''m one of them."


    "Useful how?" Khan asked.


    "The Stal are aware that they can''t win this war on their own," The Guko announced. "They need our weapons, technology, and intelligence, and we provided it to preserve our lives."


    "What are you doing here?" Khan continued. "Why did you take human prisoners? How could you keep new weapons hidden from the humans and the members of your species helping them?"


    "The majority of our species is with the humans," The Guko responded. "We couldn''t win in a race toward the newest technologies, so we focused on developing a final weapon capable of winning the war on its own."


    "How can something like this even exist?" Lieutenant Pouille questioned.


    "It would be easier to show it to you," The Guko stated, but Delia pressed her piece of armor on its throat to stop any attempt to leave the chair.


    "We aren''t as stupid as you think," Lieutenant Pouille scoffed.


    "I''m aware of your intelligence," The Guko exined. "I''m only unclear about the limits of yourprehension."


    "Try us," Khan threatened.


    "Can I have any assurance that you won''t kill me in a burst of anger afterward?" The Guko asked.


    "No," Khan, Lieutenant Pouille, Delia, and a few other soldiers answered at the same time.


    "Very well," The Guko eximed in its aloof voice. "The final weapon''s project is called anti-mana. The humans simply happen to be perfect guinea pigs due to their incredible diversity."


    ****


    Author''s notes: The chapters will obviously bete tonight.

 Chapter 246 - Armory

    The soldiers immediately understood the Guko''s attempt to ensure its safety. Its revtion hinted at awful scenes of humans used as test subjects or material for the anti-mana project. The alien had actually considered the possibility of an emotional reaction from its captors.


    shes of anger appeared in the eyes of some soldiers, but Khan, Lieutenant Pouille, and those close to the Guko remained calm. The others also managed to contain themselves since the rtionships among the toon were rtively shallow except for a few exceptions.


    "What''s anti-mana?" Lieutenant Pouille questioned to turn the interrogation toward important topics.


    The Guko remained speechless for a few seconds at that question. It didn''t seem to understand how to exin the project better, but it tried anyway. "Project anti-mana strives to create a form of energy capable of countering every item, weapon, technique, or spell that uses mana as its fuel. In short, it has the potential to revolutionize the very structure of most societies and win this war in a series of short battles."


    Lieutenant Pouille''s question was a mere attempt to gain a clearer understanding of the projects, but he didn''t need an exnation about the possible consequences of anti-mana. The same went for the other soldiers. Among the toon, only Khan knew how life without mana worked due to his life in the Slums, but even he realized how revolutionary that change would be.


    The sole idea of undoing five hundred years of technological progress founded on mana was unthinkable. Everything would fall apart if anti-mana became actual energy. Every discovery or achievement might be obsolete, especially when rted to wars or battles in general.


    "How close you are topleting this project?" Khan found himself asking out of pure curiosity.


    "That''s unclear even for us," The Guko exined. "The anti-mana project theoretically requires aprehensive study of all the forms that mana can obtain. We don''t know when we''ll start seeing a pattern in its behavior, so we keep adding information as we develop different approaches."


    "How close are you?" Delia repeated in a chilling voice. She couldn''t remainpletely calm when she realized that adding information meant using more humans as guinea pigs.


    "I can''t give real answers," The Guko replied.


    "Guess then," Delia threatened while pressing her piece of armor even more on the alien''s throat.


    The Guko lowered its three eyes. They darted left and right as calctions happened in its mind, and its antennas imitated those movements before stopping once it found an answer. "The project should be thirty or forty percentplete, but most of us believe that its progression will elerate after crossing fifty percent."


    The exnation brought some reassurance. The project was still far away frompletion, ording to the Guko. In theory, the Global Army still had the time to take it before deciding what to do with it.


    "You said you wanted to show us the anti-mana project," Lieutenant Pouille continued. "Is theb close? Can we reach it without alerting the Stal?"


    "Of course," The Guko eximed. "Those of us who have earned the Stal''s trust have also gained the chance to build separate structures to avoid interferences. The Stal are too dumb to be close to valuable tech, so they let us on our own there."


    "How can they be sure that you will follow the n?" Khan asked. "They can''t trust you so deeply, especially since they are aware of their stupidity."


    "They have members of my species keeping track of our actions," The Guko revealed.


    "Don''t you have camaraderie or something in your species?" Delia questioned.


    "Our species is already safe with the humans," The Guko stated. "Everything here is about individual survival."


    The cold, robotic answer left no room for rebukes. The soldiers in the room understood that approach. Khan basically always had that mindset, so he could quickly ept that the Guko would bring that behavior to its limits.


    "Lead us to theb," Lieutenant Pouille ordered, but a series of eyes immediately fell on his figure.


    "Shouldn''t we prioritize our escape?" Khan voiced everyone''s thoughts. "We are still deep into the enemy territory. The Global Army can interrogate this Guko on its own once we are safe."


    "A possible leak in the information connected to the project will lead to its relocation," The Guko contradicted.


    "See? This is our only chance to find theb," Lieutenant Pouille dered.


    "I still believe that we should leave first," Khan continued.


    "The Guko are a pragmatic species," Lieutenant Pouille uttered while raising his chained arms and pointing at his shoulders. "They will naturally establish deals with the high-ranking soldier, am I right?"


    "That''s correct," The Guko promptly replied.


    Khan fixed his cold eyes on Lieutenant Pouille. He knew that the soldier didn''t care about him or the rest of his underlings. The man was probably trying to use that situation to regain the Global Army''s favor, even if that meant putting his entire toon at risk, but Khan couldn''t do anything about the matter.


    Going back on his own now would only worsen his situation. The Guko had confirmed that most troops had reached new battlefields, which meant that Khan couldn''t use the initial elevator since it would bring him behind or in the middle of the enemy lines. His best bet was with his toon and the alien.


    Khan closed his eyes and nodded, and the Lieutenant could only rejoice at that scene. The soldier knew that Khan had gained a lot of favor after freeing everyone, so convincing his underlings to follow him without their savior would have beenplicated.


    "Let''s go then," Lieutenant Pouille ordered. "I''d also wish to obtain aplete map of this underground structure and the current battle ns of the Stal''s forces."


    "I can get them immediately," The Guko revealed while stretching its short arms toward the screens, but Delia interrupted it by putting force on her piece or armor.


    "I won''t gain anything by creating a trap or alerting everyone," The Guko exined. "You would only kill me before attempting a reckless escape."


    Delia didn''t fully believe those robotic words, but Lieutenant Pouille ced his chained hands on the piece of armor before nodding at her. The soldier could only snort before retracting her weapon.


    "Do you want me to remove the handcuffs too?" The Guko asked as it approached the screens.


    "Of course," Lieutenant Pouille announced, and a series of mechanical noises resounded in the room as the handcuffs unlocked.


    Khan cursed in his mind and his expression twisted as the handcuffs slid on his wrists. An intense wave of pain had reached his mind as soon as the heavy item touched the bandages. His suffering continued even after he freed his limbs and slowly removed his piece of armor.


    "Hey," Delia whispered while approaching Khan and carefully cing a hand on his right shoulder. "Let me help you."


    Khan felt the instinctive need to reject Delia, but he suppressed his social paranoia for the sake of his hand. He slowly removed his blood-stained bandages as Delia tore away her sleeve and picked his piece of armor to create a better sustain.


    Theck of handcuffs allowed Khan to tie the armor around his forearm, creating a more manageable fortification. Delia couldn''t help but show a surprised expression when she saw the actual state of the wounded hand, but she still proceeded to create firm bandages that could keep it still.


    Delia didn''t know how Khan had managed to escape from his cell, but the scene uncovered part of his deep resolve. He didn''t only go through the interrogation and battle without letting his hand hinder him. He had also remained silent when she applied the new bandages.


    "Thanks," Khan weakly whispered after checking his new bandages and waving his arms at his sides.


    Delia had done an excellent job. His wounded hand didn''t move at all when he moved. Still, most of his happiness came from his newfound freedom. He could finally rely on the Divine Reaper again, even if he didn''t know how much the [Blood Shield] would help.


    ''I might need to try that out if I end up injuring my left hand too,'' Khan sighed as his thoughts went to the Wave spell and Liiza.


    There was something in Khan''s arsenal that both Liiza and his training program had told him not to use. He was still unable to execute the Wave spell, and he didn''t know if the human teachings were to me.


    Still, the alternative approach saw aplete disregard for the rules that past mages with the chaos element had set. The matter had been different with the Divine Reaper since his proficiency with the martial art was already bordering thepetent level. He had suffered severe injuries, but they had been the result of a miscalction. He knew what drawbacks his attempt could cause.


    Instead, trying to execute the Wave spell while letting his emotions take control of the process could directly kill him. Khan even heard Paul''s words resounding in his mind when he thought about that. He had no intention to be like one of the past soldiers who blew themselves up to test new approaches.


    "Is it too tight?" Delia asked, forcing Khan to snap out of his thoughts.


    Delia appeared truly worried about his state, and he med his sad expression for that. Thinking about Liiza always added evident longing to his face, and he had no control over it.


    "It''s perfect," Khan replied while wearing a fake smile.


    Lieutenant Pouille and the Guko hadpleted the download of information on the soldier''s device while Khan and Delia had been busy with the bandages. The group could move afterward, but the alien revealed more detail as it let everyone into the second corridor.


    "There is an armory along the way," The Guko exined while walking carelessly and crossing corners without bothering to check them first. "Rifles and some weapons that the Stal have seized during your capture are stored there, but you would have to fight a small squad to enter it."


    "Why didn''t you say anything before?" Khan asked as he made sure that he and Lieutenant Pouille remained in front or next to the alien.


    "You have asked about theb, not the armory," The Guko justified. "I can take you to theb without meeting Stal or showing you a short detour that would involve a small battle."


    Khan would have already seen red gs in those words, but they hade out of a species that struggled to lie. He had learnt about that feature from a Guko, but its exnation had sounded believable. It even made a lot of sense when paired to their almostpleteck of personalities.


    Khan''s doubts or thoughts didn''t matter too much when Lieutenant Pouille had made it clear that he was in charge. The soldier didn''t hesitate to ept the Guko''s suggestion and prolong the group''s stay inside the underground structure.


    The corridor never changed. It was the samerge metallic tunnel that featured an evidentck of branches orrge underground areas. Most of the structure seemed made of mere passages that connected one small important room to another.


    The armory was slightly different than the previous control room. The corridor unfolded into a rtivelyrge hall that had many lockers at its sides. Five Stalzily patrolled the area or sat on the metal floor without paying much attention to their surroundings. They almost seemed to have forgotten their job there.


    Khan and Lieutenant Pouille inspected the Stal and the lockers from the turn right before that area. The five aliens were all first-level warriors armed with rifles, but that wasn''t a problem on its own. The main issue was that the corridor continued for a while before reaching the hall, so the aliens would have the time to point their weapons and fire them before any intruder could get to them.


    Lieutenant Pouille had already shown that the rifles couldn''t do much against his spells, but the soldiers still feared that the Stal would sound the rm if they recalled how to do that. The situation required a distraction, and Khan didn''t hesitate to offer himself for the job.


    A series of whispers preceded the simple n. Lieutenant Pouille nodded at Khan before preparing himself to sprint forward. Delia squeezed his shoulders to reassure him before doing the same, and the other soldiers also showed encouraging faces or gestures.


    Khan inspected everything coldly, limiting himself to a fake smile for Delia. He didn''t offer himself as the initial distraction due to his speed. He only wanted to be in a position of control during the attack.


    After the soldiers involved with the missionpleted their preparations, Khan shot forward, crossing the corner and sprinting across the corridor to reach the armory in no time.


    The Stal were in no position or mood to notice Khan right away, but they still jumped to their feet and began to point their weapons when they saw someone stepping inside the armory. Still, they were toote at that point, and Khan could easily slip past them to reach the alien near to the hall''s exit.


    The Stal had remained half-kneeled on the floor while aiming its rifle at the corridor, but that only made a perfect target for Khan''s technique. The alien fired a shot that missed him as he covered his hand with the [Blood Shield] and applied the theory behind the Divine Reaper.


    One of the Stal''s heads split in half and fell on the floor as Khan stopped in front of the hall''s entrance. Pain spread from his left hand, but its intensity was far inferior to what his other hand had to suffer. Still, the situation didn''t give him the time to assess his injuries since multiple angry eyes and rifles turned toward him.


    The four Stal tried to aim at Khan, but a series of loud steps suddenly resounded behind them and made them turn again. Other soldiers had crossed the corner, and Lieutenant Pouille was in the lead.


    Khan used that chance to approach another Stal and wave his left hand. The pain intensified as a head fell, but everything was still bearable. The other aliens disregarded him and fired at the iing soldiers, but Lieutenant Pouille stopped the bullets, giving Khan the time to reach another opponent.


    Khan''s hand had be a firm de with the addition of the [Blood Shield], but he still suffered when using it as an actual weapon. Even the Niqols'' technique couldn''t make his body match the first-grade knife, at least for now.


    Lieutenant Pouille entered the hall before Khan could go after his fourth opponent, and the battle ended a few seconds afterward. Khan could finally inspect his hand when peace spread among him. His skin had broken in many spots, and his overall grip felt weak, but nothing important was broken.


    ****


    Author''s notes: This constant catching up with the releases has drained me, but Saturday has arrived, so I have the chance to reset the publishing schedule again. I''m dying now, so I''ll sleep before moving to the second chapter. I''m thinking about ignoring my partial break Sunday due to the many chapters missedst week, but I''ll let you know that day.

 Chapter 247 - Lab

    ''Iplete,'' Khan thought when trying to find the right word to describe his technique.


    The [Blood Shield] had provided the structural firmness required to prevent his bones from breaking, but his skin and the muscles under it had suffered during the execution of the Divine Reaper. He had salvaged his hand with that adjustment, but he couldn''t let go of the knives just yet.


    The issue wasn''t too important now since Khan could locate his knife from the corner of his eye. The Stal had locked it behind one of the metal lockers that featured small windows that showed what they contained. He would go back to full power soon, but he didn''t abandon his new techniquepletely.


    Knives and other weapons were external parts of his strength. Crises could remove them temporarily or forever, depending on how grave they were. Khan acknowledged that it was better to keep as much power on himself to be ready for every situation, and his new technique could help in that matter.


    Still, Khan also epted that he would probably need to be a second or third-level warrior before obtaining the physical resilience required to remove drawbacks. He even guessed that the Divine Reaper would get stronger as his ability with mana and proficiency level increased, but his reasoning became tooplicated at that point. It had too many variables that he couldn''t calcte to worrying about them right now.


    The soldiers stormed inside the hall after the battle ended. Many had watched Khan''s incredible battle prowess. He was fast and deadly even against opponents that humans couldn''t theoretically overpower at close range.


    His strength, coupled with the fact that he was the reason behind the escape, only increased the soldiers'' respect. Some of them even started to show signs of reverence. Khan had barely entered the second month of his second year in the Global Army, but he was already leagues beyond their peers.


    Most of Khan''spanions were even far older than him. They had to ovee problems within their families and the Global Army, which had eventually slowed down their improvements. Yet, those years felt wasted in front of someone who had virtually reached that power on his own.


    The Guko didn''t need orders to open the lockers. It reached one of the consoles at the center of the hall and tinkered with its menus under Lieutenant Pouille''s strict surveince before all the weapons in the armory became avable to the soldiers.


    Khan''s left hand felt sore and weak, but he still went straight for his knife and tested the power behind his grip. The result felt rather disappointing, so he tore away another piece of his trousers before applying bandages around his fingers. His idea was to tie his weapon to his palm, but Delia promptly came into his aid.


    "What are you doing?" Delia chuckled before heaving a helpless sigh when she saw Khan trying to tie bandages with his single usable hand.


    "I don''t want to drop it," Khan shortly exined while trying to make a knot with a finger and his mouth before giving up and letting Delia take over.


    "You know that you can ask for help, right?" Delia scolded. "I believe everyone here would love to give you a hand. Oops, bad choice of words."


    "Do you like to tease injured men?" Khan joked while Delia undid the bandages and wrapped them again around his hand without tying the knife inside them.


    "Only when they think that they have to do everything on their own," Delia sighed before revealing a cheerful smile. "You are too young to y the broody solitary man. Let big sis take you under her wing."


    "I''m not Faith or Milo," Khan rejected the offer while ncing at the siblings who were checking the rifles retrieved from the lockers.


    "You definitely aren''t," Delia said in a pensive tone whilepleting the knot, "Which only makes watching you sadder."


    Khan revealed a fake smile before recalling something that he had yet to mention. "I''m sorry for Ian. He seemed a good guy."


    "We weren''t lovers or anything simr," Delia promptly announced before crossing her arms and snorting softly. "He could only dream about that. Still, he has been a good friend. Maybe dying up there has saved him from the anti-mana project."


    "Maybe," Khan whispered before trying to stick his knife inside the bandages.


    "Don''t ruin my masterpiece!" Delia scolded. "Try holding it normally first. It should feel firm enough."


    Khan nced at Delia''s slightly annoyed expression before testing her words. It turned out that the bandages helped his tendons and muscles create a firmer grip, allowing him to hold the knife tightly without requiring much strength.


    "Told you," Delia announced proudly at the sight of Khan''s surprised expression.


    The right corner of Khan''s mouth inevitably turned upward in front of Delia''s earnest approach. Still, Lieutenant Pouille didn''t let him appreciate that short peaceful moment for too long.


    "Gear up quickly," Lieutenant Pouille ordered. "Get one rifle each and move toward back into the corridor. We have another target to hit before getting into the real mess."


    The orders reminded the soldiers about the dangerous part of their mission. Everything was going well and smoothly inside the underground structure due to the Guko and the rtive absence of Stal. However, their path would eventually lead to the surface, deep inside the enemy territory.


    Khan had only gotten a taste of how battles worked on the surface, but that had been enough to ept the value of weapons. Yet, a problem remained, and he decided to voice it to Delia after picking a rifle from a locker.


    "How do you use this thing?" Khan whispered to Delia, who had already turned to sort her things out.


    Delia nced at Khan waving the rifle left and right. She felt the need tough at his almost clueless face, but she suppressed that feeling to focus on helping herpanion.


    "I guess you know how to fire," Deliamented, and Khan promptly nodded. "Everything is a matter of stance then. The butt goes on your shoulder and your other hand on the handguard. This button removes the magazine, but you can refill it by sending mana to the rifle. Still, I suggest you take an additional magazine in case you find yourself empty or tired in the middle of a battle."


    "That sounds easy," Khanmented before securing the rifle behind his back through its belt.


    "That''s how it''s meant to be," Delia exined as a tinge of sadness seeped into her voice. "Everyone can fire a weapon. The point is to make even untrained soldiers able to kill."


    Khan showed his honest half-smile again in front of Delia''s sadment, but she quickly regained a hint of cheerfulness and nodded before turning again. Khan reminded himself to tie another magazine to the belt with the sheath for the knife before joining the other soldiers.


    Lieutenant Pouille let the Guko lead the group into a part of the previously crossed corridor. The alien then tinkered with a wall, and buttons slowly came out of it as it pressed them in seemingly random order.


    "I would prepare the rifles," The Guko suggested.


    "I thought the ce didn''t have Stal," Khanined.


    "It doesn''t," The Guko exined, "But the other members of my species there might decide to sound the rm before understanding what''s their best chance to survive. A rifle pointed at their heads should solve that."


    Khan couldn''t argue anymore, and even Lieutenant Pouille felt the Guko''s words to be reasonable. A simple gesture with his head made Gloria and other confident marksmen raise their rifles and point them at the wall as they waited for the alien to open the passage.


    The Guko pressed onest button, and a whooshing noise resounded in the corridor as the wall started to slide open. The two sides of the metal door moved slowly, but the soldiers quickly noticed three Guko standing on top of narrow staircases that allowed them to oversee a long and bloody metal table.


    The Guko immediately stopped what they were doing when the soldiers pointed the rifles at them. Khan couldn''t help but notice how those aliens were different from the one leading his group. They had cors around their necks, and they wore dirty and torn rags. Moreover, a few pale bruises tainted their faces, describing how their imprisonment had been far from peaceful.


    Khan''s eyes soon fell on the table. Blood and other disgusting body parts still upied its white surface. He even recognized a foot among that mess, and it didn''t take him much to connect it to thest soldier taken by from the prison.


    "We only vivisect and add information to our register here," The allied Guko exined. "The actual testing workshop is right behind this area."


    The allied Guko advanced, and the soldiers followed behind it. Most of them decided to divert their gazes as soon as they understood what the table contained. Some felt angry enough to re at the aliens on the narrow staircases while moving their hands dangerously close to their rifles, but Lieutenant Pouille made sure to scold everyone with his eyes.


    The allied Guko reached the end of that long hall before using some screens to open the wall. Another whooshing noise resounded, and a far different area unfolded in the group''s vision.


    The second area was big and had arge circr tube that appeared empty at the moment. Yet, a container filled with a dark-blue gas stood at its center and illuminated the entire hall with its dim light.


    A series of smaller tubes came out of the circr item and entered the walls beforeing out in the first area and going directly at the table''s base. The project seemed to have two different phases connected, and the dark-blue gas probably was the product of that study.


    "I can give a detailed description of the process," The allied Guko eximed. "However, I believe you want to keep these exnations forter. We don''t have too much time."


    "How much of the anti-mana project is here?" Lieutenant Pouille asked. "You must have other undergroundbs across thes."


    "There are four more, but they are near the frontlines," The Guko revealed. "As I said before, humans are the best guinea pigs, so thebs have to be close to where they can appear."


    "Do thesebs share data and updates?" Lieutenant Pouille continued.


    "Of course," The Guko dered. "We share information once a day and process everything again to check that no mistakes have happened during the project."


    "Can you ess the otherbs remotely?" Lieutenant Pouille questioned.


    "I would need the authorization of the Guko managing them," The alien replied. "I''m afraid that''s impossible even if I exin my situation. You can''t promise those Guko''s safety, so they will never coborate."


    "But you can ess this, right?" Lieutenant Pouille asked before continuing without waiting for an answer. "How much would the anti-mana project lose if we wiped thisb clean?"


    "Only a day worth of data in terms of immediate loss," The Guko exined. "The greatest loss would be the destruction of valuable equipment that''s hard to rece. The project as a whole would take a heavy hit."


    Lieutenant Pouille fell silent as he scratched his beard. His underlings could see that he hade inside theb with a n, but thest revtions had shattered it.


    "I know that you want to stop the anti-mana project," Khan decided to speak, "But we can''t remain down here for too long. It''s clear that we can''t reach the otherbs. Let''s go back to HQ and regroup before sending forces prepared to study this entire underground structure."


    "You really don''t get it, do you?" Lieutenant Pouille sighed. "Humans are the best material for this project. What do you think the Global Army will do once it gets its hands on this knowledge?"


    A realization abruptly filled Khan''s mind. He didn''t need to think too much to understand that the Global Army would do everything in its power to obtain the anti-mana energy, even if it meant sacrificing many soldiers in the process.


    "Anti-mana can''t exist," Lieutenant Pouille stated before a resolute expression appeared on his face. Then, he neared his hand to the allied Guko, and its head exploded after a faint discharge of his vibrations.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Okay, I didn''t expect chapter 249 to be so long. Let''s say that releases will bete again without confirming or denying whether I''ll take the partial break on Sunday too.. I honestly want to avoid it, but I don''t want the chapters'' quality to go down due to myck of sleep.

 Chapter 248 - Surface

    The execution of the Guko turned the atmosphere upside-down. The soldiers didn''t feel good after seeing the remains of theirpanion on the table. Still, everything gained a different vibe after Lieutenant Pouille killed the alien without a single warning.


    Many instinctively opened their mouths toin, but they remained silent when they recalled that Lieutenant Pouille had already obtained everything he needed for the escape. The Guko had downloaded the Stal''s battle ns and the blueprint of the underground structure on his phone. Leaving wouldn''t be a problem, but his actions had still affected them deeply.


    Khan had seen enough tragedies in his life to remain calm. Lieutenant Pouille''s actions had surprised him, but he understood the reasons behind them. The soldier had acted out of fear that his world could fall apart due to the revolutionary form of energy.


    ''How far is he willing to go?'' Khan wondered as his hand casually neared the knife in his sheath.


    Keeping the anti-mana project a secret was impossible since the entire toon would go through a briefing after reuniting with the Global Army. The Lieutenant could ensure that everyone would keep their mouth shut only if he shut them himself.


    "Shoot them," Lieutenant Pouille firmly ordered after pointing at the three Guko on the staircases.


    "We can help you," The first Guko pleaded in a robotic voice.


    "This structure is vast andplicated," The second Guko added. "Having a guide is necessary."


    "We know the paths toward the otherbs," The third Guko eximed in an attempt to use the Lieutenant''s intentions to its favor.


    Their aloof but honest pleads made the marksmen hesitate. It was easy to kill from the trenches or shoot the Stal that had forced them to defecate in a small hole in the corner of their cells. Instead, executing defenseless Guko who had every intention to coborate made their triggers incredibly heavy.


    "I gave you an order," Lieutenant Pouille stated in a cold voice, and Gloria ended up being the first to ovee her hesitation.


    A clean shot turned the second Guko''s head into a bloody pulp. Gloria''s actions made the other two marksmen fire, and the area soon fell silent as the soldiers'' gazes converged on the three corpses filling the narrow staircases with pale-green blood.


    Lieutenant Pouille nodded before throwing his punches around. The circr tube didn''t survive long under his assault, and the same went for the various screens in the second hall. He even used his spells whenever he saw a server or something that seemed able to store data.


    The soldiers inspected that calm and calcted destruction in silence. They remained still, and only Khan eventually decided to step over the remains of the circr item to get close to the spherical container with the dark-blue gas.


    Khan was too worried about the gas'' properties to touch the transparent surface of its container. Still, he remained curious about that substance and let his senses inspect it.


    His sensitivity to mana normally reacted only to that energy, but every environment featured it. Theplete absence of mana was another detail that he could study with his senses, but the gas felt peculiar nheless.


    The dark-blue gas was still mana, but Khan noticed how it released faint radiation that kept the energy outside the container away. It basically created a small area where normal mana couldn''t enter.


    ''Is anti-mana just another element?'' Khan wondered, but the arrival of the Lieutenant put an end to his inspection.


    "Do you think I should disperse it?" Lieutenant Pouille asked when he gazed at the dark-blue mana.


    Khan''s eyebrows arched in surprise. The Lieutenant was asking for his opinion, and his firm expression revealed how serious he was about the matter. Khan could only guess that his actions during the escape had given away the power of his senses.


    "We don''t know what effects it will have on us," Khan responded. "It seems to push mana away, but I can''t learn much more."


    "Same here," Lieutenant Pouille sighed. "Though, it does feel like mana. Anyway, I guess we should fire at it when we are about to leave."


    The friendly interaction reassured Khan about the Lieutenant''s intentions. Yet, another doubt remained strong in his mind.


    "What should we tell the Global Army?" Khan asked as he followed Lieutenant Pouille into the first hall where he was about to resume his destruction.


    "We tell it the truth," Lieutenant Pouille stated before punching a hole into one of the screens. "The situation would have been different if we brought something back. Instead, HQ would prioritize destroying the project since it can''t have direct ess to it. Everything thates after that is outside of our control."


    "What do you mean?" Khan asked.


    "You can''t destroy an idea," Lieutenant Pouille exined. "I can only hope that the Guko on our side are dumber than these."


    Khan let the Lieutenantplete his destruction before gathering outside theb with the rest of the soldiers. The Guko''s death had put him in the annoying situation to depend on his superior, but he could only y along.


    Lieutenant Pouille studied his phone for a few long minutes as he rejoined his underlings. The device battery wouldn''tst much longer after the week spent inside the cell, so he made sure to memorize the escape path in case it turned off.


    The sunlight would solve the battery issue, but the group had to reach the surface first. The phones would also probably fail to ess the Global Army''swork since soldiers would be deep in the enemy territory, but that wasn''t too important when the Lieutenant had the Stal''s battle ns.


    "I have it," Lieutenant Pouille eximed. "There is an elevator past the armory. Let''s go. Gloria, blow the anti-mana up once we are set."


    Khan took his ce in the lead, next to Lieutenant Pouille, and the rest of the soldiers created a line behind them. Gloria peeked inside theb with her long rifle, and a simple exchange of nces with her superior was enough to make her open fire.


    The group began to run forward as soon as an explosion resounded from inside theb. They had already crossed that part of the corridor, so they reached the armory in no time, but a high-pitched rm suddenly started to echo from behind them.


    None of the soldiers stopped moving, but everyone realized what had happened. The underground structure probably had protocols in ce for eventual leaks of the dark-blue gas, and the destruction of the container had eventually triggered them.


    Mechanical and whooshing noises resounded from behind the group as they left the armory and proceeded through the corridor that followed. The underground structure was locking down the areas affected by the iplete anti-mana, but those effects didn''t involve their location. Still, anxiety inevitably built in everyone''s mind since the Stal would finally understand that something troublesome had happened.


    Khan let Lieutenant Pouille get in front of him whenever a new area appeared or the corridor divided itself into multiple branches. The soldier never hesitated, so the group advanced quickly. The ce was alsopletely deserted, so they could avoid getting into useless fights.


    The escape felt endless. The underground structure was immense, and Khan soon lost himself even if he had tried his best to memorize every turn and path crossed in the past hours. Everything became more intricate as they advanced, but Lieutenant Pouille never stopped to recheck his device.


    The number of turns and branches that the group had to cross made Khan question whether Lieutenant Pouille''s confidence was only a pretense, but a familiar scene eventually unfolded in his eyes. The corridor ended into arge rectangr tform that brought joy to the sweaty and tired soldiers.


    The group didn''t hesitate to cross the corridor and jump on the tform. Still, nothing moved, so everyone started looking for buttons that could activate it.


    Delia soon found a series of buttons in the corner of the tform. There were four of them, and she instinctively pressed the topmost. That ended up triggering another rm that she quickly turned off by mming her fingers on that key again.


    Delia then pressed the second topmost button, and the elevator finally started to rise. The area above the group was dark, but a fissure soon opened and allowed the pale light of the two moons to seep inside the rectangr cavity.


    "Stop staring," Lieutenant Pouille cursed when he saw that many of his underlings had fallen into a daze at the sight of the sky. "Prepare your rifles. You don''t know what''s waiting for us up there."


    Khan had already drawn his knife, but those words made him suspect that the Lieutenant didn''t mention everything about the escape. His senses and the scenes that unfolded in his view as the elevator reached the surface only confirmed that idea. He jumped forward as soon as a two-headed figure became visible.


    Khan crossed the small patch of ground that divided him from the surface before the elevator even began to stop. He found himself flying toward a confused Stal, and his knife promptly shot forward. The alien fell on its back after the weapon dug a hole into its right head.


    A series of azure shes illuminated the area as soon as Khannded on the alien. Hispanions had fired their weapons after noticing the many aliens that had gathered around the elevator to check who was reaching the surface.


    Khan could see a few buildings and sense multiple aliens. The Lieutenant had made theme out in a settlement, but there didn''t seem too many aliens there. The surprise attack had already killed fifteen of them, leaving only ten or so Stal spread among the different structures.


    "Clean everything up," Lieutenant Pouille whispered before inspecting his surroundings and charging toward one of the buildings.


    Khan imitated his superior as he shot toward a building that contained two first-level Stal. A tall, sleepy figure appeared in his view when he arrived in front of the structure''s entrance, but the event didn''t surprise him. He promptly jumped forward, and his glowing knife severed both heads in half.


    The Stal fell lifelessly on the ground, and Khan jumped over it to reach the second presence. He found the second alien snoring loudly on a simple butrge bed, and his knife didn''t hesitate to descend. He even repeated his attack to make sure to pierce both heads.


    When Khan left the building, he noticed that the battles had pretty much ended. The Stal had shown awful responsiveness to the sudden attack. Many didn''t even bother to wake up among the mess, but Khan found it almost understandable. His group hade out deep inside the enemy territory. No one would expect the appearance of such a numerous and armed group of humans.


    Lieutenant Pouille ran from building to building to make sure that his underlings had killed everyone. He ignored Khan''s structure and inspected his surroundings again to fuse the map seen on the phone with those scenes.


    The soldier eventually took his phone out again, but the device had died during the escape. He had to nce at the moons and check the hour from one of his underlings before picking a direction and starting another run. The settlement didn''t have vehicles that the soldiers could use, but the Lieutenant didn''t appear worried about that issue.


    The soldiers seemed to run for their lives. Lieutenant Pouille often ended up distancing himself from the group to check the areas ahead, but he always let them catch up with him afterward. It took a while, but a forest eventually appeared in the distance and forced everyone to elerate.


    The sky had partially brightened by the time the group reached the edges of the forest, but that only made them run faster. They had to put as much distance as possible from the settlement to avoid getting taken by surprise by hidden elevators again, and Lieutenant Pouille never failed to urge them.


    The forest wasn''t too big, and its trees didn''t create the best safe areas. They were tall, but their trunks were thin, and their red-brown crowns didn''t have many leaves. Yet, the Lieutenant still ordered the group to stop after reaching a deep area that hid them from the barren ins around it.


    "Let''s rest here for a few hours," The Lieutenant ordered. "We are far from safe, but we are on the surface. Make sure to piss, sleep, and suppress your hunger. We''ll get food after seizing the next settlement."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I don''t really know what to say. I''m finding myself busy and sleepless even for reasons that don''t involve writing. I can only rely on your understanding today too since this will be the only chapter tonight.. I''ll try to go back to my usual schedule or at least that number of chapters asap.

 Chapter 249 - Path

    The long and tiring escape culminated into a tense break. The stress and exhaustion umted after spending seven days in the cells and running for entire hours almost made the soldiers faint now that they had the chance to rx.


    Khan hated the idea of sleeping, but he had remained awake for too long. A short nap wouldn''t allow him to recoverpletely, but it wouldn''t hurt either, especially since his hands also needed some attention.


    The slightly damp environment felt weing while Khan walked among the trees and found an isted spot close to the main group. Sitting on theyer of red-brown leaves that covered the ground was almost natural for him. Falling asleep turned out to be easy now that he didn''t have to be in a cramped warm room.


    The nightmare was as punctual as ever, but the arrival of a foreign presence awakened Khan before the sr system could fill his view. He quickly opened his eyes and turned to his left, but he rxed at the sight of Delia''s surprised face.


    "Talking about a light sleeper," Delia joked.


    "How long did I sleep?" Khan asked as he scratched the corner of his eyes before ncing at the few sunrays that had started to seep through the crowns.


    "Less than an hour," Delia replied while crouching next to him. "You can rest a bit longer. The others won''t be ready to leave anytime soon."


    "Why aren''t you resting?" Khan asked while taking out his phone and throwing it into one of the bright patches in front of him.


    "I slept a lot inside my cell," Delia exined before pointing at Khan''s hands and revealing a faint smile. "Also, someone had to change your bandages."


    "You don''t need to worry about me so much," Khan sighed while ripping away his sleeve and giving it to Delia. "I''m resilient."


    "We would have turned into materials for the Guko''s project if it weren''t for you," Delia replied while turning the torn sleeve into bandages and taking Khan''s hands carefully. "Let us help."


    Khan didn''t say anything else and focused on his condition. His left hand was mostly fine since it had never suffered severe injuries. It didn''t even feel weak anymore, but Delia decided to reinforce it anyway.


    The right hand was still a mess. A single day wasn''t nearly enough to heal broken bones, and the pain that they radiated when Delia removed the piece of armor to handle the bandages only proved how bad the situation was.


    Still, Khan rejoiced in front of the slight improvements. His right hand had long since stopped bleeding, and its superficial injuries had also healed. It would take a while and proper medical attention to fix everything, but he felt that everything would eventually be okay.


    "Did you use this to escape?" Delia asked after picking therge ring and inserting it in Khan''s fingers carefully before applying bandages over it.


    "I wonder if I should throw it away," Khan admitted. "I think it''s a simple key, but you can never be too sure."


    "I bet you''ll get something good if you manage to bring it back to the space station," Delia responded. "Keep it. The Stal will learn about our position anyway. No point worrying so much when our situation is already quite bad."


    Khan nodded and let Deliaplete the bandages before testing them out through a few quick gestures. She was right. The Guko working with the Stal wouldn''t take long to figure out where his group had escaped, especially since they had left a trail of corpses behind them. The point in the escape was to be faster than their pursuers so that they couldn''t catch up even if they learnt their position.


    "You never take it easy, do you?" Deliamented when she saw that Khan closed his eyes to enter a meditative state.


    "We''ll share a drink once we get back," Khan promised.


    "I want to smoke so badly," Deliained before sitting next to him and cing her back on the trunk to rest.


    Khan knew that meditating would only worsen his hunger, but he felt the need to take care of his hand. The influence that his mana applied to his body intensified as he focused on his training, and a faint pain spread in his mind as that energy tried to fix everything wrong with him.


    Those short hours couldn''t heal much, but they allowed Khan to put his hand on the correct path. It was incredible how deeply his mana knew his body. He wasn''t a doctor, but he could see that his energy tried to align bones and muscles.


    The faint shouts and orders that resounded from the main group forced Khan toe out of his meditative state. Delia had hugged her legs and had ced her head on her knees during her nap, but the trunk was too small, so she had ended up partially lying on him.


    Khan took her shoulder and shook her lightly. Delia appeared lost for a few seconds when she reopened her eyes, but the shouts that reached their position soon reminded her about her situation.


    The two stood up and walked back to the main group after Khan''s retrieved his phone. It turned out that all the soldiers had used the illuminated spots on theyer of leaves to charge their devices. Tired faces had gathered around Lieutenant Pouille as they waited for him toplete studying the map on his screen to find a suitable path.


    The Lieutenant didn''t have it easy. The battle ns on his phone were clear, but some of them might have be unreliable after the escape. He didn''t know whether the Stal had decided to close on them or had continued with their initial tactics.


    Moreover, the environment in that region didn''t help the soldiers. The forest was one of the few natural covers in the otherwise t area. All the possible paths back to the allied territories would force them to march in the open.


    Lieutenant Pouille knew that the chances of ending up in another encirclement would only increase if his group spent too long in the open. Stealing vehicles and making their way directly toward allied areas was their best bet, but that only created another problem.


    The Stal were advancing now that they had defeated part of their enemies. Most of their vehicles were near the frontlines. The settlements in Lieutenant Pouille''s area would probablyck those assets, which made his decision even harder.


    "We don''t have safe paths," The Lieutenant eventually announced. "We can try to take a long road around the trenches to reunite with other toons of the thirty-seventh battalion, but that would stretch our travel by several days."


    "Can I take a look?" Khan asked, and the Lieutenant handed him the phone.


    Khan could immediately see what the Lieutenant wanted to propose. One of the trenches was rtively close to their position. It would take the group less than a day to reach it, but that meant fighting in the open against a force that outnumbered them.


    "Is there a fight here?" Khan asked while pointing at the nearest trench depicted on the screen.


    "Probably," Lieutenant Pouille revealed before taking his phone back. "We can theoretically take the trench by surprise, but the settlement nearby would be able to send reinforcements. We can''t even seize it before approaching the frontlines due to the secret elevators."


    "Can we even bet on our allies?" Khan questioned.


    The Stal had probably set up a trench to defend against human forces, meaning that the soldiers would have ess to reinforcements as long as they managed to notify their allies. However, Khan had seen how unwilling the Lieutenant had been to leave his position back then, so he could guess that the other higher-ups would share the same mindset.


    "We can always split and send a team past the trench," Khan suggested.


    "Someone would have to be a decoy without knowing whether reinforcements would ever arrive," Lieutenant Pouille sighed.


    "I''m fast," Khan eximed.


    "You are also one of the best warriors we have," Lieutenant Pouille dered.


    "I''m no different than a below-average marksman if the battle turns into trench warfare," Khan responded.


    "How do you even n on convincing the allied forces to advance on your own?" Lieutenant Pouille asked. "Leave it. The rest of the battalion wouldn''t even trust my words without a proper briefing. We must take the long path."


    That conclusion didn''t leave room forints, and Khan couldn''t say much either. The Lieutenant knew how the higher-ups thought better than his underlings, so he had to trust his words, even if the other n had fewer variables.


    "We should still have some form of surprise effect if we y it smart," Lieutenant Pouille exined. "Our priority right now is to vanish so that the Stal won''t be able to encircle us. Prepare yourselves. We have a long road ahead of us."


    The soldiers suppressed theirints and followed after the Lieutenant as he resumed the march across the forest. The area featured a few animals, but the group didn''t have time to hunt them. They were also too loud for that task.


    Nevertheless, the Lieutenant and a few soldiers had a general understanding of Ecoruta''s flora, so they managed to seize edible roots along the way. The group never stopped for more than a few minutes, but they couldn''t ignore the few sources of food and water that they found.


    The forest quickly ended, and a seemingly endless barren in expanded from that position, but the Lieutenant quickly picked a direction and led the group forward. Their return in the open brought rekindled the tension that the rest had slightly appeased, but the hurried pace forced the soldiers to remain focused on saving energy.


    Ecoruta''s sun was hot, and the constant march across its barren areas only worsened the soldiers'' condition. Even the first-level warriors among them ended up slowing down after tense hours went by.


    The rifles turned into anchors that tried to fix their feet on the ground, and their uniforms transformed into damp tissues that irritated their skin. Their shoes also started to burn, but the Lieutenant didn''t allow any break.


    Khan''s eyes darted left and right as he made sure to pay attention to his surroundings. Still, his sensitivity to mana couldn''t do much in that situation since the in expanded past its range. He would probably see eventual opponents before sensing them.


    Everyone expected Stal to appear in the distance sooner orter. Their group wasn''trge, but they were still running right in the middle of the enemy territory. Lieutenant Pouille was keeping them away from the settlements, but the risk of being discovered existed and was even rtively strong.


    The morning went by, but no Stal appeared in sight. The soldiers didn''t know if the aliens had disregarded their escape or had been too busy in the trenches. Still, the barren environment that surrounded them couldn''t provide answers.


    A change happened when the group found an abandoned trench on their way. ording to the battle ns on Lieutenant Pouille''s phone, the Stal had long since left that area to advance, so he decided to use the area as a temporary resting spot.


    The soldiers entered the trench and quickly set up a guard duty before taking naps or removing their sweaty uniforms to let them dry. No one cared about privacy in that situation, and many even ignored the alluring half-nakedpanions resting near them. They could barely muster the strength to think when their hunger and thirst had seized control of most of their brains.


    Khan didn''t sleep, but he didn''t volunteer for the guard duty either. He paid attention to his surroundings on his own, but only whenever he forced himself toe out of his meditative state.


    Nothing came in their direction, but that didn''t reassure the group too much. If a battle had to happen, they preferred to have it in their current advantageous position. Yet, Lieutenant Pouille summoned everyone after a mere hour and forced them to resume the march.


    Khan ended up waking up Delia again, and she quickly ran after him after donning back her uniform. Many imitated her due to the confidence that Khan radiated in that unclear situation. He had actually gained a decent number of loyal followers during the escape.


    Of course, Khan didn''t bother to pay attention to those soldiers. Even Delia''s half-naked sleeping figure couldn''t distract him.


    When the night approached, the group saw the scenery in front of them changing again. Rtively short buildings appeared in the distance and forced everyone to crouch as Gloria began to inspect the area through her rifle''s scope.


    "They seem calm," Gloriamented.


    "How far are we from our elevator?" Khan asked.


    "Not far enough," Lieutenant Pouille revealed. "We must get past this settlement to be rtively safe, but there is a trench nearby and arge camp on the other side. Let''s lie down and wait until it''s deep into the night before moving."


    The soldiers could only obey. The Lieutenant had calcted that they would reach that area during the dark hours, but they were still in the middle of a in. No one had noticed them because they were still far away from the settlement, but the Stal would see something if they resumed moving now.


    Needless to say, some soldiers fell asleep during the long wait on the ground. Many of them couldn''t fight the tiredness and stress umted for so long, and every break turned into an opportunity to recover.


    Khan and those who remained awake kicked the soldiers that started to snore or make too many noises, but the night eventually reached its darkest hour. Lieutenant Pouille whispered orders at that point, and the group followed him as he resumed the advance.


    The soldiers didn''t run. They marched while keeping their backs bent forward to avoid exposing themselves to eventual night guards. The Lieutenant even led the group to the settlement''s right to avoid getting too close.


    Each step felt too loud as it resounded among the silence of the night. No one spoke, and Lieutenant Pouille used hand gestures to give simple orders from time to time. They mostly involved Gloria and her scope, but they also dealt with eventual changes of direction.


    The slow, sneaky march turned out to be far more tiring than their previous hurried advance. The tension almost made some soldiers trip and voice gasps at the first unfamiliar noise, but everyone managed to remain as silent as possible.


    The tensest moment arrived when the group crossed the settlement. The faint hope that the group could ovee that hindrance without getting noticed tried to take control of their minds, but they suppressed it as they remained focused on their task. Cold drops of sweat fell from the soldiers'' foreheads and tried to distract them, but everyone behaved impably.


    Still, perfection wasn''t always enough. A loud growl suddenly resounded from behind the soldiers, and a series of heavy steps began to echo in the night. The group turned to check whether the rm was for them, but a series of azure shes filled their vision and forced them to abandon their attempt to remain hidden.


    "Run!" Lieutenant Pouille shouted even if everyone had already started darting forward.


    The initial bullets missed everyone, but they increased as more and more Stal woke up and started firing at the humans. Still, the soldiers had put enough distance between them and the settlement, and the darkness of the night worked in their favor. The azure projectiles flew in their direction, but they often ended up hitting the ground behind them.


    Some bullets sessfully fell among the group, and their explosive power managed to hurt or destabilize a few soldiers, but no one stopped to help them.


    Khan soon found himself in the lead, next to Lieutenant Pouille. He had already been in a simr situation on Nitis, so his senses worked at full speed to make him dodge any bullet that flew in his direction. He jumped left and right whenever he ended up in the trajectory of those masses of mana.


    "Don''t stop until you reach the canyon!" Lieutenant Pouille shouted even if no one could see that destination in the darkness of the night.


    Some died, but many managed to leave the range of the rifles and survive that sudden attack. The canyon also became visible as the minutes passed. It was nothing more than a narrow passage that led toward underground areas, but that was more than enough for the soldiers. Nothing would be able to fall on them if they reached the depths of that territory.


    The passage slowly revealed its true nature. It was a steep slide that led directly to the dark depths of the canyon. Climbing it would require a long time due to its frail structure, but no one cared about that right now. Everyone followed Khan and Lieutenant Pouille without bothering to think too far into the future.


    Khan prepared himself to jump inside that long hole that stretched in the distance, but a bright azure light suddenly shone above the group and made many of them lift their heads. Khan''s senses warned him about the presence of a dense mass of mana falling in his direction, so he promptly sprinted to his left and activated the [Blood Shield] to cover his right side.


    The soldiers behind Khan imitated him, and the same went for Lieutenant Pouille, even if he moved in the opposite direction. Yet, the bright bullet fell faster than everyone expected and ended up crashing right in front of the Lieutenant.


    Khan only noticed a chest-sized mass of mana falling on the ground before an explosion flung him away. Something burned, but he disregarded those sensations to focus on restoring his bnce.


    Khan fell and rolled on the ground before jumping back to his feet. His right side hurt, and his head felt hot, but he quickly focused on his surroundings to understand what had happened.


    Thest bullet had created a fuming crater, and its explosion had affected some soldiers, including the Lieutenant. Khan could sense his superior lying behind the smoke as hispanions continued to hurry toward the canyon.


    Khan cursed in his mind as he shot toward the Lieutenant. He reached him in mere seconds, but the scene that unfolded in his eyes after crossing the charred crater left him stunned for a second.


    The Lieutenant''s left arm had disappeared, and the same went for part of his shoulder and side. Part of his uniform was on fire, and charred skin spread under him. Khan could even see part of his rib cage from behind the torrent of blood flowing out of his body.


    "Help me," Lieutenant Pouille weakly said, but an azure light suddenly shed in the distance and forced Khan to act.


    Khan unsheathed his knife and cut the Lieutenant''s hand before going for his right pocket. He had long since memorized where the soldier stored the phone, and he performed a full-speed sprint after retrieving the device and the severed body part.


    The [Blood Shield] covered his back as another bullet fell right behind him. The mass of mana caused an explosion that flung him away again, but he ended up flying directly inside the passage at that time. Pain spread from different parts of his body as his charred skin slid on the barren ground.


    ****


    Author''s notes: It usually takes me between two and three hours to write one chapter for Chaos (more if Ick focus or get near 3000 words).. I hope to deliver the second chapter in that time.

 Chapter 250 - Pain

    Khan felt on fire even if the [Blood Shield] continued to protect his back. The passage was long, and its steepness prevented him from adjusting his position or controlling his descent. He was almost free-falling, but he prepared himself for the inevitablending.


    Many presences drew close as Khan continued to slide on the passage. Pain tried to make him unable to keep track of them, but he suppressed everything for the time being.


    Then, when Khan felt close enough to hispanions, he forced himself to bend forward and kicked the ground to jump. The long leap made him cross the messy group, and his airborne rotation allowed him tondfortably without ending on hispanions.


    Ecoruta''s two moons couldn''t illuminate the depths of the canyon, but no one dared to stay still. Many tried to hurry forward only to trip on theirpanions or eventual rocks standing in their path.


    "Calm down and use your phones!" Khan shouted when he sensed the clumsy advance of hispanions.


    A series of gasps resounded among the narrow passage before a few screens lit up and illuminated the area. Khan was already holding the severed hand, his knife, and the Lieutenant''s phone in his left hand, so he couldn''t rely on his device. Still, his experience of Nitis and his sensitivity to mana allowed him to turn and proceed along the passage without needing sources of light.


    The group began to advance steadily. Some had suffered injuries, but the adrenaline running through their bodies allowed them to ignore their pain and focus on the escape. Many doubts had even tried to fill their minds, but no one dared to speak when the threat of the Stal was so close.


    Khan didn''t have the time to study the environment. He prioritized getting out of the settlement''s range, so he advanced blindly, doing his best to memorize every turn or branch that appeared on his path.


    The canyon didn''t follow a simple route. Its initial narrow passage erged and shrunk randomly, and it even revealed multiple paths that stretched in different directions.


    Khan didn''t want to lose himself, and the paths that stretched to his sides could lead him closer to enemy settlements, so he did his best to advance in a straight line. That hurried and silent march had to continue for an hour before he felt confident enough to take the first turn that led to a rtivelyrge area and rest.


    The soldiers behind Khan instinctively followed him. They adapted to his pace, pointed their screens toward him to imitate his steps, and stopped as soon as he turned to face them.


    Multiple lights fell on Khan. At first, they moved over his body and stopped whenever they found an injury, but they eventually converged on the gory spectacle in his left palm. Everyone could see therge patch of blood created by the severed hand, the dirty phone, and his phone.


    "What-?" One of the soldiers asked, but Khan interrupted him by shaking his head and sitting on the ground.


    Khan threw the severed hand and Lieutenant Pouille''s phone on the ground before sheathing his knife. His left palm was sticky due to the blood that had fallen on it, but his attention went on his injuries first.


    The two explosions had injured his right side and back. Khan soon discovered that his robe had remained in its ce due to his intact left side, but it barely offered any protection now. It had turned unto a burned rag that he didn''t hesitate to take out to transform into bandages.


    Khan did the same for the bandages on his right hand. Most of them had burned, and the skin under them had suffered a simr fate. Still, the injuries didn''t go too deep thanks to his prompt use of the [Blood Shield].


    His back was in a simr state. Patches of burned skin filled it, but the damage didn''t spread to his muscles. The fall through the passage had worsened those wounds, but they remained superficial injuries that a few meditative sessions would fix.


    His hair was the only thing that his meditations couldn''t fix and the [Blood Shield] couldn''t protect. Khan didn''t cut it at all, and it had be quite long after his long period on Nitis, but the explosion had burnt many strands, especially those on his right and back.


    Khan picked one of the few strands of hair that had survived the explosions and stretched it in front of his eyes. Memories and sensations slowly appeared in his mind as he let his thoughts wander. He could almost sense Liiza''s cold hands on his head.


    ''She really liked it long,'' Khan thought as a helpless sigh escaped his mouth. The knife soon reappeared in his hand before shining with azure light and cutting what was left of his long hair.


    The soldiers didn''t say anything in front of that scene. It felt dumb to mind something as trivial as hair after suffering so many injuries, but something told them that the matter had a deeper meaning for Khan. They felt almost able to read the sadness in his eyes.


    "Delia, can you-?" Khan began to ask, but the woman didn''t let him finish. She had moved forward as soon as she heard her name.


    Khan inspected hispanions while Delia crouched next to him and started to patch him up. Everyone was mostly fine. He had been the only one to survive or manage to reach the passage after facing therge bullets. That was good news since no one in the group would slow him down, but it also meant that many had remained behind.


    The group only had twelve survivors. Some had also lost their rifles in the messy escape, so the situation wasn''t ideal. Yet, Khan couldn''t help but focus on the positive aspects. It would be easier to remain hidden with a smaller team, and the same went for preserving order among the ranks.


    "Oh," Delia softly eximed as her timid fingers touched the tattoo on the back of Khan''s right shoulder. "You might need to retrace this."


    Khan dismissed those words. The tattoo was part of him. He believed that it would reappear even if the entire patch of skin were to blow up.


    "You can leave something in the open," Khan whispered. "Most of these injuries will go away in no time."


    "It''s fine," Delia said whilepensating for what remained of Khan''s uniform with part of her clothes.


    Delia was almost done, so Khan began to prepare his next move. He cleaned the screen of Lieutenant Pouille''s phone with what remained of his pants before pressing the severed hand on it. The device lit up, and he quickly browsed through the various menus to search for useful functions.


    Khan couldn''t always use his fingers to browse the phone. Some menus required the constant use of Lieutenant Pouille''s hand due to their ssified nature. The martial arts, training programs, and some reports wanted that disgusting process, and they refused any attempt to transfer them to other devices.


    Instead, other menus worked perfectly, so Khan transferred to his phone everything that sounded interesting. He only had to ce his device on top of the screen to begin the process, and he obviously started from the information obtained in the underground structure.


    "Is this really the time to steal?" Gloria asked when she saw that Khan had no intention to address their current situation.


    "Don''t worry," Khan eximed while waving the severed hand. "I''ll pass it around once I''m done."


    "I wasn''t talking about that," Gloriained. "We are still deep into the enemy territory, and the Stal know our location. Leaving should be our priority."


    Khan sighed before inspecting hispanions again. He could see that many soldiers shared Gloria''s thoughts, and even Delia avoided his gaze now that she hadpleted the bandages.


    "We don''t know how to leave," Khan exined. "We don''t know where we shoulde out, and we alsock a proper n. I''d rather spend the night recovering and studying the Stal''s battle tactics instead of walking blinding inside this canyon."


    "What if the Stal search for us?" Gloria continued.


    Khan pointed at the opening above him before exining his idea. "We are at least twenty meters under the surface. The canyon is narrow in many areas, which offers natural protection against bullets. The environment doesn''t allow the passage of numerous toons either, so we can hold our position if the situation requires it."


    "The Stal know this area better than us," Gloria didn''t give up.


    "They won''t be able to take us by surprise as long as I''m here," Khan stated, and the intense confidence contained in his words left the group speechless. Even Gloria found herself widening her eyes in surprise in front of that bold announcement.


    Normally, no one would trust such a youngpanion right away. However, Khan had done nothing but prove his prowess since his arrival on Ecoruta. Moreover, everyone had read about his achievements on others, so they knew he had experience in those situations.


    Khan waited for his device toplete downloading everything before going back on the ssified information. The training methods for Lieutenant Pouille''s element were useless to him, but he decided to read their descriptions anyway. The same went for the martial arts, but he didn''t have any luck there either. His techniques weren''t only better. They also conflicted with anything that sounded vaguely interesting.


    Instead, the reports were different. They were simple and contained orders that Khan wouldn''t normally be able to ess. Some didn''t even involve Ecoruta, but they were too old to have any relevance to his current situation.


    ''The Global Army is as uncaring as ever,'' Khanmented in his mind after skimming through the reports.


    The orders weren''t too explicit, but they often pressed the Lieutenant to hold specific ces at all costs, even if that led to the destruction of his toon. Khan learnt the position of some important mines or the reason behind a few trenches, but most information didn''t help his situation. The only valuable reports involved the allied troops, which could help him decide how to approach the rest of the escape.


    "Pass it around," Khan eventually said while handing the severed hand and the phone to Delia. "Download what you want and try to take turns if you are interested in the training programs. Still, let''s prioritizeing up with an escape n. We mustpare the battle tactics to decide where to go."


    Delia stared at the severed hand for a few seconds before slowly taking it. She was clearly disgusted by the action, and she even had to gulp a few times to suppress her retches, but her eyes gained determination every time they fell on Lieutenant Pouille''s phone.


    The tragic nature of the situation almost forced Delia to put aside her disgust. Khan had offered her something that the Lieutenant had never wanted to share. He had given her the chance to be a part final decision.


    The other soldiers didn''t miss that detail. The few who still had faint doubts about Khan''s leadership found a new confidence. They couldn''tin when their voice already had value.


    Khan stopped caring about hispanions while they were busy with the phone. He could close his eyes and enter the meditative state to deal with his injuries.


    The burning feeling slowly vanished and allowed Khan to appreciate the [Blood Shield] even more. He almost couldn''t believe that an attack capable of blowing a second-level warrior away had only left him with superficial injuries.


    Eyes started to fall on Khan and eventually forced him toe out of the meditative state. A few soldiers had sat around hologramsing out of the Lieutenant''s phone. The others had formed a circle that included him and had drawn a simple map on the ground.


    The map was simple. It used circles to mark the human troops and squares for the Stal, creating an urate description of the current situation on the battlefield. That had rendered the phone superfluous, allowing the soldiers interested in Lieutenant Pouille''s techniques to focus on them.


    A few soldiers in Khan''s group appearedpletely lost. They managed to look at the map only for a few seconds before ncing at theirpanions to check whether they were doing better.


    Instead, other soldiers had already made up their minds. The battlefield only had a few valid paths, and their character had been enough to pick one of them.


    Khan could see that Lieutenant Pouille''s initial indecision remained as an issue. The group had the chance to reach the frontlines directly and hope that their allies on the other side would help them or resume their attempt to leave the area stealthily. Yet, the second option felt unreal after the recent events.


    Both options involved huge risks, but Khan immediately felt inclined to move toward the frontlines. That had also been his initial idea, and the recent developments had only pushed him in that direction.


    More and more soldiers raised their eyes, but no one spoke. Many wanted to hear theirpanions'' opinions before voicing their ideas, while others simply didn''t have the confidence to state their thoughts over such a difficult situation.


    "We should reach the frontlines," Khan said to shatter the silence. "The Stal might be stupid, but we are still on their side of the world. They must have dispatched troops to patrol the area before the trenches."


    "I agree," Gloria stated. "Though I''d avoid separating. Lieutenant Pouille was right. We can''t trust the other toons. We have to take the trench or at least create suitable conditions for a victory."


    "Maybe we can hide here for a while and wait to be rescued," ra stated. "This canyon is quite safe, especially with our rifles. We can even try to disturb the Stal if we learn this area well enough."


    "You forget food and water," Khan contradicted. "Besides, this map is our only advantage, but it loses value quickly. We might have mere days before the situation changes again."


    The exnation removed every idea connected to ns that would take many days to unfold. Everything would be different if they had ess to food and water, but the canyon was too barren for that.


    "We attack then," Delia announced. "Nice talk."


    A few soldiers chuckled but sighs soon followed. They didn''t need words to decide that the end of the night would mark the beginning of their attack.


    Khan used that chance to take out his phone and browse through his gains. The Lieutenant had been far from rich, but his device contained many books that involved various topics, and he had taken all of them without bothering to read their titles. Still, now he could see many interestingbels, some about subjects connected to the role of an ambassador.


    Khan only spent a few minutes on the screen. He wanted to prioritize his meditations and maybe even sleep a little before tomorrow''s battle. The morning wouldn''t take much to arrive, so he couldn''t waste time studying.


    No one added ideas to the battle n, so Khan approached the frail wall andid his back carefully. It hurt a little, but he could endure it. The other soldiers imitated him and prepared themselves to rest.


    "It''s almost intact again," Delia said while sitting next to Khan. "Did you trace it with mana?"


    "The Niqols do very little without mana," Khan revealed while ncing at his tattoo.


    "What does it mean?" Delia asked.


    "It depends on the day," Khan lied as he closed his eyes.


    "What about now?" Delia continued.


    "Pain," Khan sighed before falling into his meditative state.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I don''t really know what to say. I''m finding myself busy and sleepless even for reasons that don''t involve writing. I can only rely on your understanding today too since this will be the only chapter tonight.. I''ll try to go back to my usual schedule or at least that number of chapters asap.

 Chapter 251 - Fire

    A few sunrays managed to seep past the narrow openings above the group and woke up some soldiers. Khan opened his eyes only to notice the slight hesitation and fear in hispanions'' expressions. Everyone knew that a tough battle was ahead of them, and anxiety inevitably spread.


    Delia woke up as Khan began to move to check his state. The woman had fallen asleep next to him, and she had ended up using him to support herself again, but she had chosen his left side since she had noticed her habit.


    Khan didn''t mind Delia''s behavior. His group was in a mess, and many soldiers had always fought behind trenches or in safe environments. He would allow her to rely on him if she needed that. He only hoped that she wouldn''t get the wrong idea about the nature of their rtionship, but those thoughts didn''tst long in his mind.


    Khan confirmed that his skin had mostly reached a stable state. It still hurt at times, but it didn''t hinder his movements, which was enough for him.


    "Who has the phone?" Khan groaned while scratching the corners of his eyes.


    One of the soldiers on the other side of the group stood up and avoided stepping over the map drawn on the ground to deliver the phone and the severed hand to Khan. The man held the gory and smelly limb with two fingers and tried not to look at it, and simr disgust appeared on the others when they saw him walking among them.


    Khan ignored those reactions and quickly unlocked the phone before reaching the human battle ns and projecting them next to the map through holograms. Then, he used his device to inspect the Stal''s tactics, and some soldiers imitated him.


    The map, the holograms, and the images on the screens showed some differences, but they remained rtively simr. Still, Khan preferred to use the original source to be more urate when deciding his next move.


    The group had already decided to attack the nearest trench. Still, they had yet to pick a path to get out of the canyon. The map on the ground couldn''t possibly show all the possible branches of the structure, so the soldiers had to rely on the information obtained from the Guko for that.


    The Stal''s knowledge of the canyon wasn''t as urate as many hoped, but it prevented the soldiers from beingpletely lost in that environment. Khan could quickly find a few possible paths that led to the nearest trench, but none of them seemed better than the other.


    "Do we pick randomly?" Gloria asked after reaching Khan''s conclusions.


    "One of the paths leads closer to the trench," Khan sighed, "But the map bes unclear in many areas that involve it. I think we should use one of therge ones to avoid getting lost."


    Khan and other soldiers had kept track of their movements inside the canyon, and the map helped them pinpoint their current position. They only needed to cross a few branches to enter one of thergest passages of the structure, and missing it didn''t seem possible.


    Of course, arger passage meant less cover from potential projectiles, but Khan felt ready to take that bet. Everything about that mission was risky, with the greatest of them being remaining in the canyon for too long, so that option sounded like the most reasonable n.


    Hispanions'' silence was enough to express their agreement. That event also made the soldiers stand up to prepare for the imminent march. Many of them wielded their rifles and adjusted their dirty military uniforms before waiting for Khan to give orders.


    "Do you want me to redo your bandages?" Delia asked during the preparations.


    Khan nced at hispanion. Not much of her uniform had remained after taking care of his injuries. Delia appeared willing to go further and remove the fabric that hid her waist, but Khan shook his head.


    "It''s fine," Khan reassured Delia. "Your bandages are perfect. They are still firm after these hours."


    "Still," Delia continued, but Khan interrupted her by cing a hand on her shoulder.


    "It''s fine," Khan repeated while showing a fake reassuring smile. "We got this."


    Delia felt able to hear the lies in Khan''s voice, but she chose to believe in him anyway. She would have be a guinea pig for the anti-mana project if it weren''t for him, so deciding to rely entirely on him turned out to be rtively easy.


    The other soldiers had initially tried to avoid staring at Delia and Khan since they felt that the situation required some intimacy. Still, they ended up fixing their eyes on Khan after his confident statement. Many couldn''t see through his lies, so it was easier for them to trust in himpletely.


    "Let''s go," Khan ordered after tying the severed hand to his belt and storing the other phone in his pocket.


    His confident expression transformed into a cold face after crossing hispanions to lead them through the canyon. There were only twelve of them and nine rifles. The enemy toon would probably have more than twenty-five Stal, and settlement with reinforcements was nearby. Khan''s hopes relied on the surprise effect, and he nned to make full use of that advantage.


    The group would approach the trench from behind the barrier, and the Stal were tall enough to be perfect targets from that position. However, the soldiers would have to reach that area in broad daylight, and they would be rtively in the open after the initial attack.


    Attacking at night would have normally been better, but the group knew that taking the trench on their own would be hard. They had to rely on the allied fire from the other side of the battlefield, which required daylight.


    The attack also had to be rtively swift since the arrival of reinforcements would put an end to the soldiers'' escape. Dying in battle would be the best option at that point since they knew what fate waited for them if they allowed the Stal to capture them again.


    Khan revised the n countless times in his mind as he led the group across the canyon. It was almost impossible to get lost with so many eyes keeping track of the path, but hisck of worries in that field didn''t allow him to reach better conclusions.


    The battle would be a mess that featured many variables, and Khan tried to y them in his mind. The Stal would crouch to hide in the trench after the surprise attack, making them virtually impossible to hit with the rifles. That phase would require a distraction capable of forcing them to peek out of the channel, and Khan knew that he was perfect for that role.


    Khan obviously didn''t like the idea of charging on his own toward the enemy trench, but the situation didn''t give him other options. He wasn''t as good as hispanions with a rifle, and he couldn''t let the Stal drag the battle until reinforcements arrived.


    Khan didn''t exin his intentions to hispanions, but he felt that everyone had understood them. Theck of enough rifles forced him to make use of his speed and closebat experience.


    The soldiers advanced quickly, and no one dared to speak. Many were hungry, thirsty, and exhausted, but they pressed on anyway. The recent events had steeled their determination and had removed most traces of inexperience from their minds, turning them into reliable soldiers.


    In a way, Ecoruta had served its purpose for Khan''s group. The surviving soldiers weren''t the same troublemakers or clumsy kids who had earned a ticket for that ruthless. Fighting on the trenches had already started that process, but it had taken them that crisis to transformpletely.


    The group had to march for a few hours before reaching their destination. A rtively steep passage that led toward the surface unfolded in their vision and made their expressions darken.


    Hesitation naturally spread among the group now that the battle was so close, but Khan didn''t let that feeling stop him. He stepped forward and tested the passage while paying attention to his senses. The area felt empty, but he decided to climb on his own to check what his sensitivity to mana couldn''t reach.


    A simple gesture was enough to make the soldiers remain at the bottom of the canyon while Khan climbed the frail passage. His light steps didn''t cause any reaction to the ground under him, so he became able to peek at the surface in no time.


    The barren in didn''t change. Khan only noticed a few solitary bushes that had no leaves during his inspection. As for the Stal, he saw the vague shapes of a settlement to his right, and faint azure lights shed in a distant spot in front of him.


    Everything felt closer than Khan had expected. The map had been quite detailed, but he had needed to see the area with his own eyes to gain a clear idea of his situation.


    The Stal''s battle ns had informed the group that the trench didn''t have vehicles, but the same didn''t apply to the settlement nearby. The aliens had a tank and a few armored trucks that could make them reach the frontlines in mere minutes.


    Khan returned to his group and inspected their faces. That probably was a good time for an inspiring speech, but he only had bad news to convey.


    "The settlement is quite close," Khan announced. "We won''t have long before the reinforcements arrive."


    "So?" Delia asked before fear could take control of the group.


    "So, nothing," Khan exined, deciding to make his tactic clear. "We reach the trench, kill as many Stal as possible, and keep firing to cover me. I''ll jump among them and make sure that you can hit their heads."


    "I will also go," One of the soldiers without a rifle eximed. "It''s pointless for me to remain in the backlines."


    "Some of us will die since we don''t have any cover," Khan dered. "Still, we can''t let our fire grow weaker. I need you two to pick your fallenpanions'' rifles and keep killing while I''m among them."


    The man and the woman without rifles couldn''t say anything in front of those words. Khan looked at them for a few seconds to confirm that they had understood their role before turning toward Gloria.


    "I need you to pay attention to the second-level warriors," Khan ordered. "I can endure a blow or two, but defeating them inside a trench and in my current state is a bit hard."


    Some soldiers frowned. Khan was saying that he would have a chance against second-level warriors in a different environment. They could ept that he could hold his ground for a few exchanges, but killing those strong opponents was somethingpletely different. Still, they remained silent to avoid ruining the group''s concentration.


    "I can''t tell first-level and second-level warriors apart from that distance," Gloria admitted.


    "It''s simple," Khan responded. "If they are alive after fighting me, shoot them."


    Many would consider Khan delusional or extremely arrogant, but his group had already seen him jump inside a trench. They knew that he was speaking out of confidence.


    "I don''t know what''s the ideal range for the rifles," Khan eventually said. "You will decide when to stop."


    A series of nods unfolded in Khan''s vision, and he took them as the signal to start the mission. He turned, and everyone followed him.


    Climbing the passage turned out to be hard for the soldiers without suitable techniques, but the group eventually made it out of the canyon and half-crouched to begin their advance.


    Ecoruta''s warm sun shone on the group as they moved toward the azure shes in the distance. They were slow, but that was fine for now.


    The enemy trench eventually appeared in their sight and made them lower their heads even more. A toon with more than thirty Stal fired from behind a barrier and ignored everything behind them. Bullets even flew above them, but they rarely hit something.


    Khan and the others silently decided to elerate. The whooshing noises covered their steps and allowed them to get close to the trench quickly, and they advanced until ra spoke. "I can hit them from here."


    A series of "me too" resounded among the group and made it reach amon understanding. The soldiersy down and pointed their rifles at the trench, but they didn''t pull their triggers yet.


    "Make sure to aim at different targets," Khan whispered, and exchanges of gazes happened among hispanions. Once everyone was ready, he whispered a soft "fire" that a series of whooshing noises and azure shes didn''t hesitate to follow.


    Nine bullets flew forward, but only eight hit their targets. A few even failed to inflict deadly injuries and allowed the surviving Stal to voice angry growls that alerted the entire trench.


    The Stal stopped firing at the human trench on the other side of the battlefield and turned, but more bullets flew in their direction. The soldiers had used that change to fire again and kill more aliens, but the loud growl that followed that event put an end to that trend.


    The aliens quickly crouched inside the trench and made it impossible for the soldiers to aim at them. The Stal limited themselves to raise their rifles and fire blindly, and some of those bullets ended up flying rtively close to the group.


    "I''m going," Khan announced as he began to stand up. "Don''t stop firing for even a second, and try not to hit me."


    Someone chuckled, but Khan didn''t hear that. Thoughts disappeared from his mind as he sprinted forward and immersed himself in the currents of mana that flowed throughout the battlefield.


    ****


    Author''s notes: It usually takes me between two and three hours to write one chapter for Chaos (more if Ick focus or get near 3000 words).. I hope to deliver the second chapter in that time.

 Chapter 252 - Pushing

    Bullets flew and exploded on the battlefield. Khan sensed them crossing his sides and passing right above his head, but his stance didn''t falter. He sprinted forward, keeping his back bent forward to remain outside of the projectiles that reached that part of the battlefield.


    The random bullets fired from the Stal crouching inside the trench were the only threat that could reach Khan. He had to cut to his sides or perform short jumps to avoid what was flying toward him, but his actions felt almost natural by then. He didn''t even need to think about his surroundings. His body moved on its own and dodged any mass of mana that tried to hit him.


    The trench wasn''t exactly close, but Khan reached it quickly anyway. A series of Stal oddly crouching on the channel unfolded in his eyes, and multiple presences became clear in his senses. He could locate the stronger aliens, and he didn''t hesitate to avoid them.


    Khan jumped toward his right. The leap was basically horizontal and never brought him higher than the barrier on the other side of the trench. His knife lit up while he was airborne, and he swung it under him to hit a head that had just noticed his presence.


    The knife didn''t meet any hindrance. It passed through the head without slowly Khan down. He could point his legs forward andnd on the trench''s side before sprinting past a series of Stal.


    It felt annoying that the stronger Stal were on the left side of the trench. Khan would have had the chance to swing his knife at the aliens in that case. Instead, he had to go to his right and move on the trench''s diagonal wall to avoid his opponents'' huge bodies, making them too far for his weapon.


    A series of growls resounded throughout the trench and alerted everyone about the presence of an intruder. Stal began to stand up to search for Khan, but bullets immediately reached them. Some aliens had forgotten about the enemies behind their barrier, and many paid the price for that.


    Khan focused on attracting the aliens'' attention for now, but it didn''t take long before they put an end to his sprint. A Stal eventually mmed its two right arms on the wall without straightening its position. Those thick limbs alone couldn''t hinder Khan, but the area above him had bullets, and he couldn''t slide under the Stal either due to its crouched stance, so he had to start fighting.


    Khan performed another horizontal leap that made him pass right above the Stal''s heads. His glowing knife shed in the process, and blood spurted on his body.


    The alien could only fall forward when it found one of its heads split in half. Khannded inside the trench, but the event attracted the attention of the Stal in front of him that quickly voiced warnings.


    Khan darted forward, swinging his knife while the alien in front of him was still busy growling. The Stal was crouching, so he could reach its heads without performing any airborne maneuver. His weapon swung horizontally, severing its faces into two halves.


    The alien died on the spot, but it didn''t move. Its corpse became a boulder that Khan kicked to open a path, but his eyes widened when he saw the Stal crouching behind it. Thetter had its rifle pointed at him, and azure light soon filled his vision.


    Khan bent his legs and moved his left arm in front of his face before deploying the [Blood Shield]. His unique mental state adjusted the position of his forearm and made it stand in the bullet''s trajectory. The mass of mana mmed on the Niqols'' technique and discharged its energy, burning his skin and trying to push him away.


    Khan''s feet dug the ground as he endured the power of the bullet. A burning sensation spread from his arm, but he ignored it. He could feel his tight grip on the knife, so nothing else mattered.


    The Stal''s humanoid features allowed Khan to notice the surprise that filled its face, but he didn''t linger on those thoughts. The alien fired again, but he had already moved by then. He dodged the bullet and reached his opponent''s head in no time.


    Blood spurted on his torso as he almost beheaded the alien. The Stal lost its bnce as its right head fell forward and revealed the small patch of skin that kept it attached to the neck. Khan was ready to push the Stal to the side and proceed forward, but his senses suddenly warned him of another threat.


    Khan grabbed the falling alien from the rags that covered its chest and used it as a shield. An azure light shed behind it before piercing the left side of its torso and passing right next to Khan''s head. He didn''t expect the Stal behind his opponent to fire at itspanion, but he had the time to adjust his position and leave the bullet''s trajectory.


    Another azure light shone as the Stal fired again. Khan had to move his head away to avoid the bullet, and blood fell on his face since he had ended up in front of the hole created by the previous attack.


    The Stal could finally see Khan after opening two holes in itspanion''s torso, but he kicked the corpse before another bullet could arrive. The dead alien flew forward and forced the Stal to raise its rifle and arms to defend, but a shadow appeared under it before the impact.


    Khan stabbed his knife on the Stal''s left head as the corpse fell on him. The heavy alien tried to press him on the ground, but he was strong enough to push it away with his shoulder and use the second Stal as a shield.


    Khan could remain in that position for only a second since bullets started flying from behind him. He had to let go of the maimed Stal and jump on the wall to his left, making sure that his head didn''t get past the barrier.


    The bullets pierced the maimed Stal and continued to fly toward the aliens on the right side of the trench. The friendly fire killed a few of them, but more growls soon resounded and made everyone lower their rifles.


    Khan never stayed still for too long. He sprinted forward as soon as the Stal lowered their rifles and descended from the wall to deliver an airborne kick on the first alien he found. Thetter couldn''t withstand the attack since it wasn''t even a first-level warrior.


    The kick mmed the alien on the ground and allowed Khan to move forward. A Stal growled as it straightened its position and spread its arms to block his path, but a bullet pierced its heads as soon as it peeked past the trench.


    Khan slid between the alien''s legs as it fell lifelessly to the ground. Another Stal appeared in his view. Thetter had begun to stand up, but it had tried to return to its crouching stance after witnessing itspanion''s fate. Still, Khan reached it before it couldplete the action, and his body rotated before throwing a powerful kick.


    The attacknded at the center of the Stal''s torso and made it separate from the ground. The alien ended up leaving the trench''s cover with its entire body, and a precise bullet hit its sides before it could start to fall.


    Khan didn''t even look at his opponent. He had sensed the iing bullet from hispanions, so he sprinted past the falling alien to approach the next Stal. He found another first-level warrior on his path, but thetter didn''t wait for his arrival.


    The Stal jumped forward and spread its arms. Khan saw a giant brown figure flying toward him and decided to slide under it while stabbing his knife upward.


    The Stal couldn''t catch Khan, and the knife ended up leaving a long and deep cut across its torso. Some of its organs fell out before it couldnd, and the rest followed after the impact with the ground.


    The corpses or maimed Stal that Khan left behind hindered his pursuers. The aliens couldn''t stand up since bullets flew in their direction whenever they peeked out of the trench, so they couldn''t use their height to jump past theirpanions.


    Khan noticed that event, but he barely had the time to rejoice since opponents kept appearing on his path. He had picked the side that had first-level warriors at best, and their crouching stance allowed him to reach their heads without jumping, but that also made many of them remain in their position after dying.


    Khan often had to kick or push away the Stal that he defeated, slowing down his advance and forcing him to interrupt his momentum. He could have killed far more aliens in an open field, but he struggled to reach his opponents quickly now.


    The annoying situation only made Khan work harder. He couldn''t use his right hand, and his left arm had also suffered injuries, but his kick could make most aliens fly or disturb their crouching stance enough to make their heads peek past the trench. His knife was as deadly as ever, and the channel prevented him from being surrounded.


    In theory, Khan was unstoppable as long as he avoided getting caught or facing second-level warriors. He would eventually have to deal with the stronger Stal, but everything was going well for now. He could even consider approaching the human troops on the other side of the battlefield if he cleared the right side of the trench quickly.


    Still, even in their stupidity, the Stal were a strong species that knew how to fight and wage wars. Khan continued to fight his way through enemies until an alien battle cry resounded throughout the trench and forced him to turn.


    The scene that unfolded in his eyes felt almost unreal. Khan saw a second-level warrior pushing the corpses that he had left along the way without even bothering to stand up. The alien was strong enough to move at a decent pace when more than four bodies were trying to hinder its path.


    The Stal also made use of its four arms smartly. It continued to push the corpses forward while constantly throwing some of them outside the trench. Its actions initially didn''t lead anywhere since more dead aliens appeared on its path, but it eventually managed to elerate as it closed the distance from Khan.


    Khan had long since resumed his advance, but the iing Stal turned out to be faster than him. He needed to kill and move his opponents, while the alien only had to push to reach his position. The sheer difference in their speed didn''t matter when Khan couldn''t move as freely as he wanted.


    The Stal tried to help their leader when they noticed its actions. They jumped forward and did their best to hinder Khan''s advance, and some of them even tried to catch him after losing one of their heads. The battle cry from before had turned them into cannon fodder that had the sole purpose of stopping him.


    The chaotic nature of the trench made Khan''s movements even smoother, but that alone couldn''t get him out of the iing threat. He was slowly getting faster in his kills and advance, but the Stal was getting closer anyway.


    Khan eventually decided to jump right behind the barrier and sprint for a while to put some distance from the second-level warrior, but his n crumbled as soon as he found corpses flying toward him. The Stal had turned its deadpanions into weapons, and he couldn''t jump over them since bullets still flew above his head.


    Khan felt forced to jump back at the bottom of the trench, but the Stal arrived at that point. He found himself clung to the corpses that the alien was pushing forward, but he couldn''t pay attention to them since other opponents appeared on the path ahead.


    The first Stal to appear in front of him was a first-level warrior. The alien had already prepared itself to throw four powerful punches, but Khan decided to jump toward it to stab his knife at the center of its chest.


    The second-level warrior reached Khan in no time and forced him to m on the pile of corpses again, and he used that force to push his knife upward and cut a big chunk of his opponent''s insides. The Stal was still alive, but Khan promptly shed again and severed its heads in half.


    The alien died, but Khan made sure to grab its ragged clothes and hold it in front of him. The second-level warrior couldn''t hit him from behind the pile of corpses, but it continued to push everything forward, eventually making his meat shield m on another Stal.


    The matter didn''t end there. More and more Stal fell prey to the second-level warrior''s actions. That single alien was turning the entire trench upside-down, and Khan focused on remaining alive while two opposite forces tried to squeeze him.


    Luckily for Khan, the Stal that ended up getting pushed by the second-level warrior lost their foothold and couldn''t manage to express much strength. They became like Khan, and they couldn''t even reach him since he was using one of their deadpanions as a shield.


    The second-level warrior had to stop throwing away corpses and use its four limbs to push since the weight had be too much even for its incredible strength. The alien had already captured Khan, but it seemed to have forgotten its initial n. Everything had transformed into a contest in its mind, and it didn''t want to lose.


    Khan wanted to curse, but he didn''t dare to lose focus. He continued to pay attention to his surroundings and waited for the right opportunity to appear.


    After almost a minute spent between the corpses and the trapped Stal, Khan noticed that his legs and left arm became unable to create a safe area. He had stopped moving, and the group in front of him had started to push his meat shield with new strength.


    Khan knew that he was no match for the Stal in terms of physical strength, especially with so many of them involved. He waited until the area above him felt safe before pointing one foot on the first foothold he found and pushing him away from that situation.


    The meat shield fell on the other corpses as soon as Khan jumped above the messy group. Almost half of his body surpassed the barrier, so he immediately bent forward as he started to use the Stal''s heads, shoulders, and limbs to sprint ahead.


    It turned out that the second-level warrior had pushed the group until the end of the trench. The Stal that had fallen prey to the event had started to use the wall as a support to fight back against the force trying to crush them alive.


    Khan used that chance to get out of the situation. Bullets flew in front and behind him, but he elerated and slowed down while running on top of the Stal to dodge everything.


    When Khannded on the ground past the trench, he elerated and moved toward the allied force on the other side of the battlefield. However, bullets started to fly toward him and forced him to resume his escape.


    "You idiots!" Khan shouted at the allied trench when he had the chance to stop. "Do I look like a Stal to you?!"


    Khan didn''t know if the humans had heard him from that distance, but bullets stopped flying toward him, so he decided to shout again. "We are the survivors of Lieutenant Pouille''s toon. My team is fighting on the other side of the enemy trench. You can charge ahead safely!"


    Khan didn''t expect those words to have any effect on his allies, and the humans didn''t surprise him. No one jumped past the barrier, and he couldn''t wait for them. His cold face turned toward the enemy trench, where he saw that some Stal were slowly escaping the cramped area and stepping on the surface to approach him.


    Bullets immediately reached those aliens. The mess caused by the second-level warrior had made the Stal forget about Khan''s group, and they paid the price for that mistake.


    Khan stepped back to avoid getting in the way of hispanions. His distraction had ended up affecting the Stal''s toon badly. Almost twenty of them had died, while the rest continued to hide inside the trench. That scene felt like a victory that the appearance of a bright azure light disrupted.


    An explosion followed the sh of azure light. Khan had remained still as arge bullet fell in hispanions'' position and created a trail of smoke that made him unable to assess their condition. Then, the noise of engines reached his ears.


    When Khan turned, he saw that two armored trucks and a tank had appeared in the distance.. The first two vehicles were evening in his direction.

 Chapter 253 - Vehicles

    The Stal in the trench started toe out again after the tank attacked the soldiers behind the enemy lines, but bullets fell on them before they could reach Khan. The allies on the other side of the battlefield had targeted them had soon as they left their cover.


    The help from the other toon didn''t improve Khan''s situation. The Stal had gone back to the relentless but safe offensive iconic of the trench war, blocking one of the possible escape paths.


    Khan found himself in a pickle. The two armored trucks were faster than him, and they could reach him before he arrived on the enemy trench. The battlefield had bullets flying everywhere, and the Stal in the channel had already started to point their rifles at him.


    Khan was stuck between difficult choices. He could do his best to reach the allied barrier and hope to deal with the armored trucks along the way, or he could return inside the enemy trench and see if he could cause a mess again.


    Both options sounded bad. Khan didn''t want to face the trucks right next to the battlefield, and jumping back in the enemy trench would put him in front of second-level warriors. The presence of the tank didn''t help either since it theoretically turned every empty area into a danger zone.


    The special mindset that Khan achieved during battles couldn''t help him there. His sensitivity to mana could only tell him where the danger lurked, and he sensed it all around him. Even standing still wouldn''t prevent him from facing a threat.


    ''The allies will never be able to advance with a tank on the scene,'' Khan eventually thought as he slowly bent toward the iing vehicles.


    A single tank had almost made the humans lose their trench on his first day on Ecoruta. Khan knew how that battle would go if he didn''t do anything. The escape would fail, and the other toon would retreat. The humans falling prey to that offensive would die or be prisoners for the anti-mana project.


    The selfish option could save Khan a lot of trouble if it seeded, which would mean forsaking hispanions. He didn''t really care about them, but Delia had been good to him, and he wanted to help her. Since he would need to face threats anyway, he decided to take the path that could save everyone.


    Khan stared at the iing armored trucks while the mana on the battlefield yed a symphony inside his mind. He sensed the Stal behind him getting their rifles ready and the many bullets flying around. He even felt a few projectiles arriving from hispanions, indicating that some had survived the tank.


    ''It''s only two vehicles,'' Khan thought as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ''I didn''t survive for so long only to lose to two damned vehicles.''


    Khan didn''t forget the powerlessness felt when the Stal had ambushed his toon. The situation was different now. He had fewer enemies, and he was strong enough to deal with them. After everything he had gone through, that was more than enough to fill his mind with confidence and determination.


    When Khan opened his eyes, the trucks were only a few seconds from him. He could see their spiked wheels, theirpact rectangr shapes, and the multiple metal protections on their corners, and the small dark windows that hid its insides.


    They were nothing more than fast and big chunks of metal with high resistance to mana. A frontal hit could kill even second-level warriors, and they probably had bombs or other weapons at their disposal. However, their riders were known as a stupid species, so Khan could guess that they wouldn''t be able to use all the functions of the vehicles.


    Khan was slower than the trucks, but that only when it came to running in a straight line. He was faster in the initial phases of a sprint, and his agility was in a superior realm.


    The first truck filled his view in no time, but Khan moved to his right before a frontal crash could happen. His shoulder felt warm when it passed next to the vehicle''s side, but he didn''t dare to let it touch the metal. Instead, he lowered his knife and covered it with sharp mana before stabbing it on the wheels.


    A normal weapon would have allowed the truck to fling Khan away, but his knife empowered by the Divine Reaper didn''t make him feel the slightest hindrance. He barely noticed that the de crossed the rear wheel and almost cut it in half, uncaring of the metal protections and spikes that stood in its way.


    Khan maintained the technique active until the knife came out of the other side of the metal wheel. He wasn''t sprinting, and he had no intention of doing that. The second truck soon filled his view, and he repeated his swift dodge apanied by a sh.


    The second truck had tried to turn to its left after seeing what Khan had done to the first vehicle. It couldn''t follow his movements, but it made the rear wheel escape from his range. His knife''s tip only touched it and left a shallow mark that didn''t affect its functions.


    Both trucks turned, drifting on the barren ground as they tried to align their front with Khan''s position. Yet, the damaged wheel of the first vehicle broke during the intense action and made its back hit the terrain.


    The momentum umted during the turn made the vehicle dig the ground ande to a stop before it could point at Khan. It even tilted to its left due to theck of a wheel and the hole. Yet, the Stal inside it still tried to elerate.


    The truck quickly brought itself outside the hole, but it remained tilted, and the Stal weren''t smart enough to attempt to bnce it by moving their huge bodies on the other side. Instead, they went along with that new angle, which ultimately made the vehicle fall on its left side.


    The crash made the truck dig the ground again and rise a cloud of dirt. The spikes of its intact wheel managed to touch the ground, and it carried enough power to keep the vehicle moving. However, it slowly began to spin inside that pit since it was unable to turn or find other footholds.


    The Stal didn''t understand what was happening, but the aliens inside the second truck felt interested in the sudden event. Yet, they soon recalled about their targets, but they couldn''t find him in his previous position.


    Khan sprinted at full speed toward the tank. He didn''t imagine that the first truck would actually end up in that poor position, but he soon became unable to sense it due to the distance.


    The tank had moved in a different direction since it wanted to target soldiers behind the enemy lines. Yet, the Stal in the second truck eventually noticed him, and they didn''t hesitate to elerate toward him. Their vehicle was so fast that it caught up with him before he could get close to the four-legged weapon.


    Khan sensed the truck moving in his direction but acted as if everything was normal. He continued to sprint forward until the vehicle was about to run him over before jumping to his right.


    The currents generated by the truck almost flung Khan away when it passed next to him. Yet, they only managed to push him a bit. He couldnd safely and jump forward to reach the rear wheel before it left his range.


    The glowing knife left a diagonal cut through the wheel. Khan ended up falling on the ground since he had basically thrown himself forward, but he didn''t fail to raise his head and inspect the truck turning to its left to point at him.


    The immense pressure that fell on the damaged wheel broke it. All the weight of the truck ended up on that spot as it touched the ground and tilted. Itsck of bnce and momentum made it fall to its right side and rotate until it turned upside-down.


    Khan felt lucky that the Stal had decided to turn the truck to the left, but he didn''t waste time enjoying the moment. He jumped back to his feet in an instant and resumed his sprint toward the tank.


    The four-legged weapon had fired two morerge bullets toward hispanions while he was busy dealing with the two vehicles, but he didn''t turn to check their conditions. Khan moved quickly and eventually reached the tall tank.


    Khan had already dealt with one of those vehicles. His knife glowed as he passed among its legs. The de pierced the joints of two legs as he turned to prepare for the inevitable fall.


    The two legs bent under the tank''s weight and made it fall on the ground. The cabin behind the long barrel released a whooshing noise as it opened and revealed a Stal struggling toe out of that cramped area. The alien was a second-level warrior, but it couldn''t do anything against the iing attack since Khan had darted forward before its arms could leave the small space.


    Khan didn''t have the time to rejoice in front of the beheaded second-level warrior since a series of bullets flew in his direction. He crouched to hide behind the fallen tank and peeked past it as soon as his senses told him that the area was safe.


    The Stal inside the trucks hade out. Each vehicle contained four of them, but one had died due to a bullet before managing to hide behind the dark metal. Instead, the others had ced a knee on the ground and had their rifles pointed toward him.


    A few more bullets flew in Khan''s direction and forced him to hide behind the truck again. The second wave of attacks hade from the enemy trench since it still had Stal focused on him. Those aliens didn''t sound happy about his feat. Their growls reached his ears even if he was rtively far away.


    Khan saw some familiar figures once the smoke created by the tank''srge bullets dispersed. There had once been eleven soldiers there, but he could only make out four or five of them now. He couldn''t understand what had happened to the others, but he didn''t allow himself to think about that.


    ''It''s only a few bullets,'' Khan thought as he prepared himself to go back to the battlefield.


    The path back to the trenches wasn''t as messy as the actual battlefield, but it had a few Stal focused entirety on Khan. He wouldn''t mind spending more time behind his cover, but the aliens wouldn''t take long to understand what had happened, and he was the closest soldier to the settlement right now.


    A curse interrupted the small break that Khan had decided to take. He suddenly sensed the familiar noises of the trucksing from behind him. When he turned, he saw that four more armored vehicles had appeared in the distance and were converging toward his position.


    There seemed to be no end to the number of reinforcements that the settlement was ready to deploy, but Khan epted that oue quickly. He took a deep breath and focused on his surroundings. He studied the barrage of bullets before darting out of his cover as soon as he found an opening.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Same as yesterday.. I hope toplete the second chapter in less than three hours.

 Chapter 254 - Cough

    Khan sprinted to his right, leaving the spot targeted by the Stal before curving toward the truck that had turned upside-down. The first-level warriors among the aliens could follow him with their eyes, but they never tried to predict his movements, so the bullets ended up flying behind him.


    The situation became more dangerous as Khan grew closer to the truck since he couldn''t be as flexible as before. Sidestepping a couple of bullets while running in a straight line wasn''t a problem, but the action would force him to slow down for a few seconds, leaving him vulnerable to other attacks.


    Moreover, the first truck had three Stal, but Khan didn''t find other options. He charged at them, diving deep into his special mindset to make his movements as smooth as possible.


    A bullet aimed for his head, but he bent to his left before kicking the ground to minimize the loss of speed. Another tried to fly toward his chest, but he spun on himself, prolonging and stretching the rotation to make sure that nothing touched him. Still, Khan suddenly noticed that the third mass of mana was basically on him, so he ducked and slid on the ground.


    The rotation had forced Khan to slow down, so he couldn''t slide for long, and the Stal didn''t wait for him to stand up. Two bullets flew toward him and prevented any attempt to straighten his position. He had to kick the ground to move to his right, but he saw a third mass of mana moving toward him as soon as he managed to jump back to his feet.


    Khan jumped to his left and kicked the ground with his right leg to resume sprinting forward, but he had to duck when he saw another bullet flying toward him. A second projectile tried to hit him while he was still sliding on the ground and forced him to throw himself to his right.


    Khan hit the ground with his right shoulder, but another bullet arrived. He could only turn and kick with both legs to push himself outside of the attack''s trajectory. Other projectiles tried to follow his movements, so he flung himself away and slid until he surpassed the cover of the truck.


    The Stal behind the second truck immediately tried to fire at Khan, so he had to continue kicking the ground until he arrived behind the front of the first vehicle. No projectiles could reach him there, but the situation was far from ideal.


    Khan straightened his position andid his back on the truck. Three Stal were at the side of the vehicles. Two stood behind the second cover, while others were inside the trench. He would expose himself to two groups if he moved to his right and only one if he started sprinting to his left. However, he would have the chance to use his knife in the first option.


    The new reinforcements grew closer as Khan continued to wait behind his cover. He had decided to turn the corner to his right and jump among the three Stal, but bullets were still flying toward him, and he could sense the three aliens keeping their rifles ready.


    When Khan found an opening, he sensed that one of the Stal decided to turn the corner on its own. He didn''t hesitate to crouch and imitate its movements. The alien jumped forward and pulled its arms back to attack as soon as it found its opponent, but it couldn''t find Khan right away due to its tall size.


    Two thick legs appeared in Khan''s vision, but he barely paid attention to his eyes in that situation. As soon as he sensed the Stal standing before him, he jumped and shed with his knife.


    The Stal found Khan only when it saw him filling its view. Yet, everything suddenly felt dizzy, and its bnce broke as it began to fall backward.


    Khan made the mana in his body fall toward the tip of his left foot to fall faster than his opponent. His hand reached for the Stal''s robe as soon as he touched the ground, and he forced the alien to act as a cover while he understood what its twopanions were doing.


    The other two Stal didn''t move, so Khan decided to act. He kicked the alien to his right before turning the corner. The two Stal couldn''t see him when the huge body of theirpanion flew toward them, so the first of them couldn''t stop the shadow that moved right under it.


    Khan ducked under the flying body before nting his left leg on the ground, bending forward, and throwing his right foot upward. His kick appeared in front of the unaware alien busy inspecting its flyingpanion, but thetter didn''t recognize the nature of the attack since most of Khan remained hidden.


    The kicknded at the center of the Stal''s torso. Thetter wasn''t a first-level warrior, so something inside him exploded as Khan pushed it. The body fell on him at that point, but he put strength on his left leg and slipped out of that situation before anything could trap his right foot.


    The second alien made it impossible for the third to fire at Khan, but he had gotten away from them to get out of the falling body. The Stal in the trench didn''t miss that opportunity. They peeked out of the barrier and fired at him as soon as they saw him in the open.


    Khan jumped back while rotating on himself. Bullets flew behind him, but nothing could disrupt his concentration. He pushed himself forward when his feet touched the ground. The second alien had begun to bend forward to puke the blood that had umted in its mouth, while the third started to move its rifle when it saw the shadow appearing in its vision.


    Khan tilted his head to his left, and a bullet passed next to his ear. He felt hot for an instant, but his knife still rose as he converged toward the third alien. He couldn''t jump due to the hindrance it would inflict on his sprint, and the Stal''s current stance didn''t leave many openings, so he stabbed his weapon at the center of its waist and let it cut everything on its path.


    The alien began to turn, but the movement revealed the harshness of its injury. A torrent of blood fell as half of its waist opened. It had to use one of its hands to stop the organs trying toe out of the wound, and Khan left its range during that window.


    Khan found himself in the open again. The enemy trench was to his left, but he sprinted to his right to reach the second truck. He performed the samerge path to avoid sprinting in a straight line, but his approach to the vehicle didn''t go as expected.


    Khan had to proceed in a straight line during thest part of his sprint. He was ready to dodge the iing bullets that would inevitably fly in his direction, but they ended up flying in an odd trajectory.


    Two bullets flew next to each other toward Khan''s torso. He didn''t know if the Stal had done that on purpose or if both of them had terrible aims, but that caused problems for him. The projectiles were upying arger space now, and Khan couldn''t pass between them. A simple sidestep was out of the question too, and he wasn''t close enough to the truck to jump behind its hidden side.


    Khan could only duck to slide on the ground or perform an evasive maneuver to his left. Yet, both options would slow him down, so he had to decide which risk to face.


    Khan ended up jumping to his left dodge the bullets before kicking the ground to restore his speed. However, a mass of mana dangerously approached, and his senses told him that he wouldn''t be able to dodge it.


    The [Blood Shield] covered Khan''s left arm as heid it to his side. The bullet hit the spot right below the shoulder and slightly pushed him away. Moreover, some soreness filled his limb. That was already his second time deploying the Niqols'' technique to protect himself from a projectile.


    The jump and the following sprint brought Khan closer to the two Stal behind the truck. He only had to make a few steps to reach the aliens, but his experience told him that he wouldn''t be able to perform the Divine Reaper in that condition.


    It had been a long time since hisst failed execution of the Divine Reaper. Khan felt quite sure that his special mindset had brought him infinitely close to thepetent proficiency level and maybe even past it. Yet, his left arm was suffering from the drawbacks of the [Blood Shield], and it had even endured two bullets, so he couldn''t control his mana properly in that area.


    Between the two Stal behind the truck, the first was a first-level warrior, while the second was only close to that level. Khan couldn''t retreat due to the bullets flying toward his previous positions, and he didn''t have enough space to cut to his right to reach the trunk. He could endure another projectile with the [Blood Shield], but it was clear that his body was approaching its limit.


    Khan pressed forward. The first alien fired at him, but the projectile missed him without the need for evasive maneuvers. It turned out that the Stal really had terrible aim, but Khan didn''t have the time to curse in that situation.


    Khan ignored the first alien and converged toward the second. Thetter fired its rifle, and an azure sh filled his vision, but he performed a long jump helped by two airborne rotations. The second Stal had initially felt happy for its urate shot, but its vision went dark when a heel dug its left head.


    The airborne kicks allowed Khan to add his weight and multiple rotations to his momentum. They were the strongest techniques of the Lightning-demon style in terms of sheer physical power, and a Stal that had yet to be a first-level warrior couldn''t endure them. Even their superior physique couldn''t save their lives against those attacks.


    Khan found himself in the air, almost three meters from the ground, and his right foot was inside the alien''s head. He had never been so in the open before, but that was a calcted risk. He pushed his right leg across the squashed body part and flung himself downward as soon as his toe touched the truck.


    A series of bullets crossed Khan''s vision as he fell at high speed. His back hit the ground when the projectiles pierced the injured Stal. He felt unable to breathe for an instant, but that didn''t stop him from rotating on himself to straighten his position.


    The first alien found it hard to follow Khan''s movements due to the falling body of itspanions and the projectiles that had flown before its eyes. Still, it fired anyway, even if it had to hit the corpse in the process.


    The bullet pierced the corpse and continued to fly on its path. Khan almost couldn''t believe his senses when he felt the mass of mana approaching the center of his back. He was still standing up, so he had no chance to dodge it when it was already so close to his position.


    The [Blood Shield] manifested itself right before the bullet fell on Khan''s back. He immediately felt dizzy. He could hear his heart hammering his eardrums, his chest became heavy, and cold sweat started toe out from every corner of his skin.


    Khan forced himself to stand up and sprint around the vehicle. The effort almost made him faint, and he ended up crashing on the ground when he reached the other side of the truck. His action prolonged the critical state caused by the [Blood Shield], and it took him a few seconds before he could resume breathing decently.


    Remaining deep inside the special mindset was almost impossible. That condition directly cut Khan away from his senses from time to time, but he still did his best to keep track of thest Stal on the other side of the truck. The alien couldn''t chase him since that would expose it to the human trench, so it remained in its position and waited for the arrival of the reinforcements.


    Khan felt partially reassured, but he soon fell prey to a violent cough. The need to puke filled his mind, but his stomach didn''t have anything. He didn''t eat or drink anything since the forest, and that had been a small meal. He even umted less than five hours of sleep since the beginning of his imprisonment. His body was a mess, and he could experience how bad his condition was during that fierce reaction.


    Khan tried to suppress his cough to stand up, but his body didn''t listen to him. He risked falling outside of his cover during the process, so he gave up on the matter for now and sat to let his condition stabilize.. Yet, Khan lost track of the passage of time during the process, and his eyes widened when he saw that the trucks were basically on him.

 Chapter 255 - Drained

    Out of the four armored trucks, two of them were moving side by side toward Khan, while the others were slowing down as they approached the area behind his cover.


    The two trucks would only need a few seconds to hit Khan, and he was in no condition to control his body properly. He wasn''t even standing, but he couldn''t fall prey to a frontal crash.


    The vehicles seemed to have every intention to run Khan over. Their rectangr shape didn''t even reveal footholds that he could use to his advantage. He could only tilt himself to his right, bend his legs, and kick the ground in the hope that he could push himself past the iing trucks.


    Khan didn''t manage to go airborne, but he still pushed himself toward the space between the trucks and his cover. His right arm slid on the ground as huge metal figures filled his view. He felt that the end was near, but the vehicle''s side eventually appeared in his eyes and confirmed that he had dodged the attack.


    The Stal instinctively turned the truck to the left, but it didn''t think about Khan''s previous cover. The vehicle mmed on the overturned car and started drifting. The abrupt and violent maneuver made its back end on the second truck, which forced the aliens inside it to spend some time regaining its control.


    Khan felt temporarily safe, but that feeling vanished sooner than he expected. The first truck partially stabilized after hitting the second and began to push the overturned vehicle. The Stal behind that cover had to run away, while Khan saw the tall metal structure closing in on him.


    Khan didn''t have the time to stand up, so he could only kick the ground again to push himself away from the truck''s path. The vehicle continued to turn as it moved the cover, but it couldn''t run over Khan due to its inability to perform sharp turns. It ended uppleting a half-circle around him before moving a bit in the distance to adjust its position.


    The second and the other two trucks entered the battlefield before turning to point at Khan. The bullets that fell on their dark surfaces didn''t affect them at all. They were resistant to mana, so simple rifles couldn''t take them down.


    The first truck also managed to turn after getting close to the Stal''s trench. Khan finally had the time to stand up, but he only saw four vehicles getting close to his position by then.


    The trucks were approaching Khan slowly, but he felt unable to outrun them anyway. He was out of breath, drained, and on the verge of fainting. His vision also wavered, and his senses barely stretched past his figure.


    Khan found himself ncing at the area while the trucks stopped around him and created a natural cover against the human trench. No bullet had flown toward him, and the Stal''s barrier seemed silent. He couldn''t confirm it, but he guessed that the n had been a sess.


    The only Stal that continued to show their presence on the battlefield were the ones getting out of the trucks around him. Khan could hear the whooshing noises of the bullets, and a few azure lights even shed behind the vehicles, but nothing reached his position. The four cars had created a cover that allowed the aliens to disregard their proximity to the battlefield.


    Each truck had three Stal. Eleven of them were first-level warriors, while thest to appear in the open was a second-level warrior. They wielded enough power to be a small toon, and they even had rifles with them. Meanwhile, Khan could barely remain awake. He felt trapped in a body that didn''t react to his orders.


    Messy thoughts surged in Khan''s mind while the second-level warrior growled to order its underlings around. He didn''t know the Stal''snguage, but he felt able to read their intentions from their gestures and approach.


    The aliens didn''t bother to lift their rifles. Part of the group nced at the area behind their trench and gave simple answers before pointing at Khan and exchanging other growls. They felt very human in their gestures, something that the Guko couldn''t express due to their pragmatism.


    Khan felt that the Stal had given up on saving the trench. He guessed that they were preparing themselves to imprison the humans inside their territory and leave the area. The leader seemed rtively bright for a Stal, so it could change tactics in the middle of a battle, even if it had to exin its decision multiple times to make its underlings understand its reasons.


    ''Maybe I''m just imagining everything,'' Khan mocked himself as a weak smile appeared on his face.


    Khan realized that his mental state wasn''t ideal for analyzing the situation. He still had mana, but his body had reached its structural limit. He could see his torn bandages and his injuries after lowering his eyes. Khan struggled to believe that he could still stand in such a sorry state.


    One of the first-level warriors approached Khan, and he tried to raise his knife, but his left arm trembled and never reached his chest. Still, the alien didn''t like that gesture and delivered two punches with its left limbs.


    Khan didn''t even dare to activate the [Blood Shield]. A punch hit his face while the othernded on his right shoulder. The Stal was a first-level warrior like him, but the simple attack mmed him on the ground and made his bones release a worrying noise.


    A violent cough retook control of Khan''s lungs. The right side of his face felt warm and almost made him unable to sense that he was leaving the ground. The Stal had picked him up and had started to carry him to a truck.


    Khan recalled those sensations. He had felt them when the Stal had taken him prisoner. Another weak smile appeared on his face when he realized that he had guessed the alien''s behavior correctly.


    ''I might be really good at this alien stuff,'' Khan joked in his mind. ''I would have be a great ambassador.''


    Khan didn''t delude himself. His mana was trying to disperse the weariness of his body, but even a long meditative session couldn''t solve his problems. He needed food, water, and sleep to give his body what it needed to recover.


    His state made a second escape impossible. Khan was in no condition to raise his knife, let alone defeating another jailer and getting out of the underground structure again. His fate would be sealed if he entered the truck.


    ''I can buy myself some time if it finally works,'' Khan thought as he ced his broken hand on the Stal''s waist.


    The images of the Second Impact appeared in his mind, and they fused with the other tragedies in his life. He recalled the missiles blowing up the troop carriers on Istrone and that damned vige near theke on Nitis. His idea of destruction reached incredible levels of purity as the mental barrier appeared to cut away his emotions and mana gathered on his right palm before gaining red-purple shades.


    The bandages that kept his hand still seemed to tremble while the mana began to express its power, but everything suddenly went dark. Khan didn''t know why, but the Wave spell failed again.


    The Stal didn''t miss that sudden glow, especially the one carrying Khan. The alien voiced a loud growl as it raised him in front of its head and held the rifle with only one hand to deliver a punch to his stomach.


    Khan spat saliva and blood. His world turned upside-down, but he managed to remain awake. Still, everything felt vague. He couldn''t see the Stal clearly, but he noticed that it raised its free arm again and prepared it for another punch.


    The growl of the second-level warrior resounded before the Stal couldplete the attack. Khan''s jailer hesitated a bit, but it eventually lowered its arm before putting him back at its side.


    The walk back to the truck resumed, but it felt endless for Khan. Every heavy step of the Stal seemed tost an eternity. He could review his entire life in those infinite seconds. He wasn''t even eighteen, but he had experienced a lot, maybe too much for a single person.


    Khan didn''t recall anything of his time inside co. His memories basically started on the cursed day of the Second Impact, and its scenes had haunted him since then.


    His life in the Slums had been harsh, especially with his father being a drunk mess, but he had never found it hard. Stealing, working, enduring his hunger, and being worried about his safety was nothingpared to the horrifying scenes of the Second Impact.


    Then, co''s training camp arrived and changed his life forever. Except for the four bullies'' incident, Khan had found a fantastic friend, a good master, and a path toward a world that went beyond human limits. He had learnt the wonders of mana, and he still felt amazed at how incredible that energy could be.


    Onia had been a fun trip. Seeing an alien species for the first time outside his nightmares had been incredible, and his talent had even be public domain there. Khan had shown how a strict master and his relentless training could make him shine among recruits who had yet to receive synthetic mana.


    Everything had fallen apart on Istrone. The blood, the losses, and the killing had changed Khan in ways that he had been unable to ept until Nitis, until Liiza taught him how to see past all that pain.


    Everything had felt easier after Khan had experienced her cold touch. Many would see what he had gone through on Nitis as a hellish experience, but he could only smile when he thought about that cold.


    ''Why does it hurt so much?'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''I''ve lived for twelve years with the same terrible nightmare, death seems to follow me, and I''ve be unable to trust my own father. Why does everything feel like nothingpared to losing you?''


    Khan could only mock himself. He had to be truly broken to put a rtionship that hadsted for less than a year above everything experienced in his life. Still, he couldn''t control how he felt, and his eyes grew teary as the scenes of hisst day with Liiza reappeared in his mind.


    The Stal were about to put Khan into a cell again and use him as a guinea pig for the anti-mana project, but he could only think about his lost happiness. Dying felt easypared to living with so much pain. Yet, it also felt unfair after everything he had survived.


    ''I guess I have nothing else to lose now,'' Khan sighed. ''Blowing up is still better than bing a guinea pig.''


    Khan let mana flow inside his broken hand as the Stal ced a foot on the truck''s entrance. The other aliens stepped toward the vehicle to check that everything went well, and the azure glow that started toe out of his palm only made them growl angrily again.


    An exchange of growls happened before Khan''s Stal raised him in front of its heads and prepared another punch. The alien tried to threaten him before attacking, and that gave him the chance to mutter something.


    "[Feel my desperation]," Khan whispered in the Niqols''nguage before the mana on his palm transformed into a bright red-purple glow that engulfed the entire group.

 Chapter 256 - Fried

    Khan didn''t know how to apply the Niqols'' approach to the Wave spell. He knew the theory behind Liiza''s ice, but each element required a different method or process to express its power.


    The Niqols couldn''t help Khan there since none of them had the same element, so he could only try to fuse the human training program to the Niqols'' approach to mana. He knew that changing the nature of that energy required strong emotions. Still, he was also aware that the Wave spell needed specific images, something deeply connected to an idea of destruction.


    Needless to say, Khan''s greatest drive had always been his desperation, and his experiences on differents had only strengthened it. His nightmares, Istrone, everything that had happened on Nitis, and his current predicament had turned that feeling into the most powerful fuel that his mind was able to produce.


    Hence, Khan performed everything that his training program had taught him. He imagined all the death and destruction seen throughout his life while adding his desperation to that mixture, and the oue turned out to be quite explosive.


    Something broke inside Khan. He found it hard to describe that sensation. Pain and tiredness had filled his mind until he felt relief as if he had just taken off an ufortable shirt. Everything became slightly lighter for no apparent reason.


    The mana umted on his palm suddenly turned red-purple before expanding into a wave of energy that released a strange noise when it spread throughout the air. It almost sounded like a desperate cry, but Khan didn''t know how reliable his ears were in that situation.


    The wave of mana quickly reached the Stal, but Khan barely had the time to inspect the scene since everything fell apart in no time. He couldn''t move or even turn his head, but the alien had lifted him in front of its head, so he could see what his attack did to its flesh.


    The alien''s rough brown skin disappeared as soon as it touched the red-purple mana. Most of it simply vanished and left behind a few chunks of flesh as it revealed the Stal''s insides.


    Khan could nce at the Stal''s skeleton, muscles, and organs for less than a second before they also started to vanish. Some of themsted longer than others, but they eventually turned into a few gory chunks that began to fall with him.


    The rifle endured the attack even longer, and the same went for the truck. The mana pushed the weapon away as it cracked its tough fabric before turning most of it into dust. The vehicle''s dark metal seemed able to survive the spell, but it soon started to break as the mana continued to expand.


    Khan fell on his feet, but he couldn''t preserve his bnce, so his back quickly ended up on the ground and left him staring at the sky. The wave of mana had vanished by then, and the area had also fallen silent. He couldn''t hear the bullets anymore, but a grunt eventually reached his ears.


    Khan slowly turned his head in the direction of the grunt. The thick legs of a series of Stal appeared in his vision and described the gory spectacle he had created. The spell had reached every alien in the group, but not in their entirety, allowing some body parts to survive the event.


    The limbsid among puddles of blood, tiny parts of the Stal, maimed corpses, and broken rifles. Still, Khan soon noticed a wounded figure past them. He recognized the second-level warrior that supported itself on one of the trucks.


    The Stal had three arms crossed in front of its chest and head while the other clung onto the truck''s roof. Part of the skin on its limbs and waist had vanished, transforming intorge bloody spots that revealed thickyers of muscles.


    The alien had managed to escape the spell''s range in time to avoid severe injuries, and it now inspected Khan with wide eyes. The Stal slowly straightened its position and began to study the area. Its gaze didn''t remain for long on itspanions'' body parts, but the sight of the broken vehicle seemed to stun it deeply.


    Indecision seemed to appear on the Stal''s face. It didn''t immediately jump inside the truck to escape. Instead, it continued to gaze at the broken truck before fixing its eyes on Khan.


    Khan felt that something was off. He recognized the hint of determination that had appeared on the alien''s face, so he began to muster his mana again. A red-purple glow started to spread from his palm as desperation filled his mind. He could sense that the spell was about to work, but the violent cough from before abruptly took control of his lungs and broke his concentration.


    The Stal darted forward when it saw the red-purple halo dispersing. It reached Khan in no time, and its feetnded at his sides as it drew its four arms forward. The alien wanted to kill him in a single blow, but a bullet suddenly pierced its right head and made it lose its bnce.


    The alien fell to its left, but it ced a knee and two palms to the ground as it forced itself to maintain its bnce. The Stal didn''t give up on its n to kill Khan and did its best to prepare for a deadly attack while controlling its huge body with only one brain. Yet, two bulletsnded on its side before its arms could descend.


    The Stal growled, but dark blood filled its mouth until life abandoned its body. The alien fell to its side andy on the ground right next to Khan.


    A series of hurried steps approached Khan. He had to tilt his head while coughs continued toe out of his mouth, and the scene that unfolded in his eyes made the struggle worth it.


    Delia, Gloria, and two other soldiers approached his position while wearing various expressions. Delia smiled happily while her threepanions inspected the area with a mixture of astonishment, disgust, and even awe.


    Their presence in that area confirmed that the enemy trench wasn''t a threat anymore. Only four soldiers had survived the arrival of the tank, but Khan didn''t have enough strength to feel sad or happy about it. His mood was far from ideal after his first and attempted second execution of the wave spell, so his exhaustion took the better of him and made his vision go dark.


    The nightmare didn''t care about Khan''s condition. He was sleeping, so it had to take control of his dreams. However, he didn''t mind it too much that time since it confirmed that he was still alive.


    Waves of pain with unknown origin invaded his nightmare from time to time, but Khan couldn''t focus on them. He was partially aware of what would follow the battle, but he couldn''t think too deeply about the matter since the Second Impact often imed the entirety of his attention.


    When the nightmare ended and Khan opened his eyes, he found himself in a foreign and yet familiar environment. He didn''t recognize the dark ceiling and the objects around him, but they gave off the same vibe as the moving camp.


    Khan tried to turn to inspect his surroundings, but he quickly discovered that long metal handcuffs were binding his right arm to his simple bed. A small metallic structure also covered his hand and forced his fingers and palm to remain straight.


    Khan quickly used his free arm to remove the sheets that covered his body. He was wearing a pair of clean trousers, but his torso was in the open and revealed a series of bandages that didn''te from a military uniform.


    A tube with a transparent liquid came out from under the handcuffs, and a few consoles stood at the bed''s side. Khan could see his knife on a table on the other side of the room, but his phone, Lieutenant Pouille''s device, and the ring stolen from the Stal were nowhere to be seen.


    Khan understood that he was safe and that the handcuffs probably didn''t have any negative purpose, but he didn''t like to be bound to a bed. He moved his back a bit and flexed his left arm to check their condition, but everything felt fine. He experienced a slight difort in the spots where the bullets had hit him, but that alone couldn''t force him to lie down.


    "Hello?" Khan called, but no one answered. He couldn''t sense any presence past the walls of therge room nor hear steps.


    The room featured two more beds with the same consoles but no nurses or doctors. Khan couldn''t even see meds or other items in the room, and he had no idea how to call someone without a phone.


    Khan wanted to stand, and he even felt the urge to pee, so he started inspecting the handcuffs. They had a simple circr button on the other side, and they let his arm free when he pressed it.


    Khan inspected his right hand and the simple metallic structure over it for a few seconds before cing his bare feet on the cold floor and slowly standing up. He felt slightly dizzy, but he had kept his left hand on the bed during the process, so he didn''t lose his bnce.


    A sense of tiredness pervaded Khan''s mind, but he felt rtively okay. He didn''t know for how long he had slept, but that couldn''t be long since his body still needed to recover. Yet, he didn''t feel hungry or thirsty, and the tube with transparent liquid seemed to be the reason behind that.


    ''I guess I shouldn''t take it away for now,'' Khan thought after seeing that the tube pierced his skin to send that liquid inside his body.


    Luckily for Khan, the tube had a sack hanging from a simple stick on the other end. The item even had four small wheels that allowed him to carry it around easily.


    Khan took the stick with his left and carried it with him. He retrieved his knife, but he noticed that a mark had appeared on one of its surfaces. Even the handle appeared damaged, and he couldn''t see his sheath anywhere.


    Khan disregarded eventual doubts and approached one of the two doors in the room. His short time inside the moving camp had taught him how those structures worked, so he recognized the bathroom in no time.


    A surprising sight waited for Khan in the bathroom. A mirror right above a sink allowed him to see that someone had cut his hair short. He didn''t have his half-burned and messy haircut anymore.


    A few red spots also upied the right side of his face, where the Stal had punched him. Khan didn''t feel any pain or difort from there, and nothing seemed broken either.


    ''They have patched me up properly,'' Khan thought as a helpless sigh escaped his mouth.


    The tiredness and the vague difort couldn''t hide the realization that something had changed inside Khan. He felt different, even if he couldn''t exin how. Also, the sadness caused by his separation from Liiza and his other tragic experiences had intensified.


    His mood was far from ideal, but he didn''t mind that too much. Khan guessed that it was only normal to feel like that after hisst battle.


    The only constions were his rtively good condition and his sess with the Wave spell. Khan wasn''t sure how to call his ability since it had been different from what he had seen in the training program, but it was easy to exin that event with his new approach to the chaos element.


    The entrance slid open when Khan pressed a button at its side. A corridor expanded in his view, and a young soldier slept on a chair ced at its end. Khan didn''t need to check the man''s shoulders to know that he was only close to bing a first-level warrior.


    The soldier didn''t wake up even when Khan got close to him, so he cleared his throat loudly. The man snapped awake and jumped to his feet to perform a military salute, but his stance rxed when he noticed Khan.


    "You shouldn''t be out of your bed!" The man eximed.


    "Can I remove this thing?" Khan asked while pointing at the tube attached to his arm.


    "Wait here!" The soldier stated. "I''ll call the doctor."


    The soldier darted toward a door next to the chair, and Khan slowly followed him. A rtivelyrge area appeared in his view, and many interactive desks filled it. That alone showed him that the quality of that structure surpassed his previous moving camp.


    Khan entered the room and inspected it for a while before approaching the door crossed by the soldier. Different voices began to reach his ears, but he had to stop paying attention to them to focus on the middle-aged woman that appeared in front of him with the young soldier at her side.


    "Why did you get up without my consent?" The woman asked in a chilling tone.


    "I had to pee," Khan admitted while raising his right arm. "I made sure not to touch this."


    Khan couldn''t see the woman''s shoulders due to the white medical coat that she wore over her military uniform, but she felt slightly stronger than Lieutenant Pouille. She had to be a second-level warrior.


    Still, her appearance felt slightly off. She had long gray hair, even if her stern face didn''t show any wrinkle. She was even quite slim, but her figure radiated a power that Khan couldn''t ignore.


    The woman inspected Khan sternly, but her expression rxed when she saw that he didn''t remove the tube. She approached him and ced a hand on his chest that he forced himself not to avoid before taking out the item from his arm.


    "Your body is in a good state after only a bit more than a day of rest," The woman eximed after pointing at the stick and letting the soldier handle it. "They told me that you were tough. They weren''t wrong."


    "Thank you, ma''am," Khan casually replied. "Is it possible to know where I am? Also, I can''t find my phone anywhere."


    "I''m Lieutenant Ava Holger," The woman dered, "But everyone in the thirty-seventh battalion calls me Doctor or Doc. Come, I''ll show you around."


    Khan nodded and followed her through the corridor that expanded after the room. The two eventually crossed arge area that featured multiple screens and many unknown soldiers that didn''t hesitate to inspect Khan curiously as he passed in front of the entrance.


    Lieutenant Holger didn''t stop and led Khan across a few corridors and other rooms. He could quickly understand that the structure wasrger than his previous moving camp, but he understood its actual size only when the soldier made him exit it.


    A green in covered with short grass expanded past the structure. Khan could see a series of small metal habitations divided by small paths and tworge roads that divided the encampment into four parts.


    The habitations were rectangr and simple. Khan guessed that they contained only two rooms. Also, he noticed how the main structure just crossed didn''t have wheels and represented the center of the encampment.


    The encampment had hundreds of small habitations, and Khan could sense the many presences inside them as he followed the Doctor. She didn''t leave his silent doubts unanswered and resumed her exnation during the walk. "This is one of the central areas assigned to the thirty-seventh battalion. We have moved your team here to brief you. It''s curious that I''m not allowed to know the contents of their reports."


    Khan pretended not to hear her. Hispanions had probably preferred to disclose the matters rted to the anti-mana project to a superior to avoid spreading unnecessary rumors. He would have done the same since it was unclear how the Global Army would react to the news.


    "Your spell has fried your belongings," Lieutenant Holger exined. "The chaos element and technology don''t go along very well. Even your sheath has fallen prey to your ability. Was that your first time using it in battle?"


    "How do you know that?" Khan asked.


    "Chaos wielders are rare," The Lieutenant exined. "The number of soldiers who end up with that element is constantly shrinking, so it''s really hard to find someone capable of using it in battle, especially at such young age."


    Khan only nodded. He didn''t want to reject thatpliment through a simple lie, but he wasn''t in the mood to make a smart remark either. The Doctor nced at him to study his silent eptance, but she couldn''t see anything past his poker face.


    The quadrant where the Lieutenant was leading Khan hadrger habitations and a big interactive table in a rtively empty area. Khan could see multiple soldiers staring at the map depicted on the table and applying marks by simply touching it. Still, they all raised their heads when Khan and the Doctor approached them.


    "You are awake!" A middle-aged man with a military uniform that showed three stars on each shoulder happily shouted. "Come,e. We have a lot to talk about. I hope that you didn''t get tired of the fighting because I''ve already assigned you to the elite assault team ordered by HQ."


    ****


    Author''s notes: Little trivia. The novel''s title was initially supposed to be "Chaos Wielders", but then editors and fellow authors suggested finding something catchier.. The current title still fits perfectly, but it''s nice to finally use this name.

 Chapter 257 - Legs

    The soldier had short ck hair and bright brown eyes. His happy and loud gestures didn''t appear appropriate in his current location, but the men and women around him didn''t seem fazed by them.


    Khan inspected the soldiers in the area before ncing at Lieutenant Holger. The Doctor nodded and stepped aside and crossed her arms behind her back. The men and women on the interactive table revealed simr reactions. They resumed their study of the map without bothering that one of them had left them to walk toward thergest habitation in the quadrant.


    ''He must be a captain,'' Khan concluded in his mind before hurrying behind the powerful soldier.


    The man didn''t say anything as he approached his habitation and unlocked the metal door with his phone. Then, he stood in front of the entrance and gestured to Khan to get inside.


    The habitation''s insides partially confirmed Khan''s guess. The initial area was quite big and featured multiple doors. He could see a series of armchairs, one round table, and an interactive desk at its bottom. A few screens also hung from the walls and revealed openings meant for phones or simr devices.


    Khan could immediately notice the ring stolen from the Stal on the interactive desk. Two phones stood next to the item, but they all featured multiple cracks that he could connect to his spell.


    "Yourpanions told me that you have faced an entire trench and multiple vehicles on your own," The man stated as he closed the door behind Khan and walked toward the other side of the room. "Soldiers like you are rare, especially on Ecoruta. No one wants to fight properly here."


    "I thought the orders to remain inside the trenches came from HQ, sir," Khan politely replied as the man tinkered with the interactive desk to open a drawer.


    "That''s because HQ doesn''t want to win," The soldier announced while cing a bottle and two sses on the desk. "The Global Army has nothing to gain from aplete victory. This isn''t our, and the Guko would definitely renegotiate the terms of our alliance after the war ends. The current situation is theoretically perfect since it allows us to benefit from those aliens without giving them too much power."


    Khan lowered his eyes as the soldier began to pour the booze in the sses. He could finally understand the reasons behind HQ''s orders. Forcing Ecoruta to remain at war granted a constant flow of resources and new technology without giving anything back to the Guko.


    "Does it anger you that the Global Army is trading human lives for technology and resources?" The man asked before pushing one ss forward and pointing at a chair in front of the desk.


    "I''m just a soldier, sir," Khan lied while approaching the chair. "I follow orders and do my best to survive."


    "Is that so?" The man scoffed. "It pains me to see that such a promising soldier can''t trust his superiors, but I can''t me you. I bet you would have tried to remain on Nitis if you had the chance."


    Khan didn''t sit nor answer. He stood next to the chair and kept his aloof eyes on the soldier. Thetter appeared truly sad, but he couldn''t drop his guard so easily.


    "HQ''s behavior angers me," The man eventually admitted as he sat behind the desk and pointed at the chair next to Khan again. "Sure, the war is granting immense benefits to humankind, but I can''t simply watch as my soldiers die due to awful strategies. I want to change things, but my authority barely covers the thirty-seventh battalion."


    Khan sat and took the ss. The strong smell of booze reached his nostrils as he nced at the amber liquid. He wanted to drink, but he waited for the soldier to finish his speech.


    "I have a n to improve things for the thirty-seventh battalion," The man continued. "The news of the anti-mana project had forced HQ to grant me some freedom. The assault team has to take care of the undergroundbs, but nothing stops it from attacking settlements and seizing vehicles on the surface."


    ''Does he want to use the team as his personal army?'' Khan wondered. ''His reasons aren''t bad, but he is also nning to use human lives to pursue his goals.''


    "Were the reports wrong?" The man asked when he saw that Khan had yet to say anything or drink from his cup. "I thought you liked drinking."


    "It felt impolite to start without you, sir," Khan lied, and the soldierughed before taking a sip from his ss.


    Khan could only drink at that point. A pleasant burning sensation filled his mouth and throat. He could feel that the booze''s quality surpassed everything experienced in the past, but he didn''t show any reaction.


    "I guess I can''t gain your trust with expensive booze and nice words," The manughed. "Yet, I still need your help. The assault team will have a few second-level warriors, but I need you in charge of the weaker soldiers."


    "I can do that, sir," Khan stated before raising his right hand, "But I won''t be at my best until my hand heals."


    "Don''t worry about that," The soldier eximed. "The Stal must have already moved thebs. We''ll always be one step behind them, so it''s better to take our time and prepare something that they can''t stop. You will spend the next month here to recover."


    Khan internally rejoiced at that news. He didn''t care about his injuries, but he wanted to understand what he had achieved with the chaos element before jumping into another battle.


    "My question had another meaning," The man eximed. "I wanted to know if you were willing to cooperate with my n. That might involve partially lying about your reports."


    "I''ll do as you ask me, sir," Khan dered without showing any hesitation.


    The man''s words had sounded like a trick question, but Khan didn''t let them sway him. He couldn''t say no to a superior, especially during a war. Also, he would juste clean and me the soldier if someone with a higher rank showed up.


    The man didn''t seem satisfied with that answer. He scratched his hair and inspected Khan as he took small sips from his cup. Khan couldn''t understand what the soldier was thinking, but his face remained aloof and calm.


    "Let''s try to change approach," The man eventually sighed. "I''m Captain Jason yman. I''ll be a Lieutenant Colonel in a matter of years. Help me, and you''ll have an ally in the higher ranks. Is that enough to show me your true face?"


    Khan had to admit that he didn''t expect that sudden change in the Captain''s behavior. Still, he couldn''t continue pretending now that the soldier had shown his cards.


    "I had many important things on my phone," Khan replied. "What will happen to them?"


    "Everything is stored in thework, hidden by your gic signature," Captain yman exined. "You''ll gain ess to everything you have lost once you receive your next phone. I''ve alsomissioned a device that can resist your element. You won''t even have to worry about the things you have taken from Lieutenant Pouille''s phone."


    "What about eventual rewards?" Khan asked. "The Global Army knows about the anti-mana project because I''ve made my team escape. That ring must also have its uses in its broken state, am I right?"


    "You can name whatever you want," Captain yman eximed.


    "I might need help there," Khan responded. "I already have two good martial arts, a first-grade weapon, and a training program for my element. I don''t know what else I should ask for."


    Captain yman''s eyes widened in surprise before his mouth opened to create a satisfied smirk. He had predicted that Khan would have been an interesting soldier, and thosest words only confirmed that idea. Khan had expressed his ignorance without any shame since the matter involved his strength.


    "I''ve read your file," Captain yman replied while cing his legs on the interactive desk and ncing toward a random spot in the room. "What you have is already a lot for most first-level warriors. You can ask for synthetic mana, other spells, or knowledge. I''ll send you a list once HQ gives you a new phone."


    Khan nodded in satisfaction. He had faced his limits during the recent escape, and he couldn''t wait to get rid of them. A second spell might help him avoid some of his weaknesses, and he didn''t mind learning more about the world of mana.


    "So, can I trust you?" Captain yman asked and forced Khan to snap back to reality. "I won''t hide that your team will have to face dangers, but yourpanions in the thirty-seventh battalion will have it far easier if you seed."


    "Expanding can''t be the only solution, sir," Khan stated. "Most soldiers heree from difficult situations that have never allowed them to develop their power, and being stuck inside a trench doesn''t help. They need teachers, training areas, and actualbat experience."


    "Small steps, Khan," The Captain dered. "HQ must feel forced to send them after we clear arge area. Focus on securing victories and clearing the underground structure. I''ll take care of improving yourpanions'' life here."


    "I''ll take my leave then," Khan eximed before gulping the remains of his drink and standing up to perform a military salute.


    "Right, onest thing," Captain yman announced. "This stuff about the anti-mana project is a secret. I''m the only one in the entire battalion who knows about it, except for your friends, of course. HQ wants things to remain like this. Are we clear?"


    "What about the assault team?" Khan asked.


    "Only trusted soldiers will join the team," The Captain exined. "Though I''d still refrain from speaking about it even during the missions."


    "Understood," Khan stated before turning to leave the habitation.


    "Khan?" Captain yman called before Khan could leave the room. "Try not to abuse your fame. I don''t want to put limits on you, but this isn''t Nitis. Let''s retain a human behavior."


    Captain yman winked when Khan nced at him. Khan could only nod before leaving the habitation in a hurry. He had vaguely understood what the soldier wanted to say, but those words only gave birth to a bitter feeling inside his mind.


    Khan felt a bit lost when the entirety of the camp expanded in his vision. It was already night, and he had no idea where to go. He didn''t even know if the Captain had prepared a habitation for him.


    "Sir, sir?" The young soldier that Khan had seen sleeping outside the medical bay called while running toward him.


    The higher-ups sitting at the table red at the young man, but they decided to ignore him when they saw that Khan was involved. Meanwhile, Khan tried to understand why that soldier was using such polite words to call him.


    "Sir!" The man announced after stopping in front of Khan. "I will be your guide and assistant during your stay inside the camp."


    Khan quickly inspected the man. He appeared only a few years older than him. His short golden hair and green eyes gave him features that looked too pure for a battlefield. Even his behavior didn''t make Khan feel next to a warrior.


    "What''s your name?" Khan asked.


    "Rick, sir!" The soldier shouted and imed the attention of the higher-ups on the table again.


    "Stop calling me sir," Khan sighed, "And lower your voice."


    "I''m sorry, si-," Rick almost whispered before shutting his mouth to interrupt his line.


    "Where is my habitation?" Khan asked.


    "It''s right here, in the second quadrant," Rick announced while pointing at the habitations past one of the roads that divided the camp. "I''m sure that you''ll like it. Only the Lieutenants can get one of the big tents."


    Rick began to walk toward the second quadrant, and Khan calmly followed him. A series of gazes fell on his figure as soon as he arrived among the various houses. Many soldiers had gathered into small groups to exchange words or drinks, and they didn''t refrain from sizing Khan up when he passed in front of them.


    A familiar atmosphere filled the second quadrant, but Khan inevitablypared it to Nitis. He had spent many nights among fellow soldiers, but the humans didn''t have the Niqols'' hospitality. None of them tried to greet Khan, but he didn''t mind that.


    The situation changed when Rick pointed at thergest habitation in the area. Khan studied it for a few seconds before diverting his attention on a few figures rushing toward his position.


    "You took your time!" Delia shouted before exploding into a happyugh.


    "I''m surprised he managed to wake up so soon," Gloriamented.


    "Are you?" One of the other soldiers asked. "I was surprised he could sleep at all."


    "Shut up, idiot," The fourth soldier scolded. "Try to be polite. We are alive thanks to him."


    "That was apliment," The third soldier scoffed.


    "It didn''t sound like that," The fourth soldierined.


    "I see that you have recovered," Khan stated as a sad smirk appeared on his face.


    His toon had initially counted more than thirty members, but only five of them had survived the imprisonment and escape. That was an incredible feat, but Khan didn''t feel good anyway.


    "Hey, no sad faces," Delia pouted while reaching Khan and checking his bandages. "You have been incredible out there."


    Khan nodded without adding anything. Delia was right, but he couldn''t decide how he felt. The aftereffects of the Wave spells were still filling his mind. He felt desperate even after going back to a safe area.


    "Well, get out now," Delia stated to her threepanions. "Khan still needs to rest. We can show him around tomorrow."


    "They don''t look so friendly," Khan joked while ncing at the soldiers who were still inspecting his group.


    "They are just scared," Delia exined. "They have asked us many things about you while you were sleeping. I must say I struggled to believe my own words when I told them what you have done."


    "I can me you for this hospitality then," Khan joked.


    "I just told them the truth," Deliained. "Besides, I''m sure they''ll grow more friendly once they get to know you."


    "It''s fine either way," Khan sighed. "I''ll hit the bed for now. I''ll think about everything else tomorrow."


    "You can contact me from your habitation if you need anything," Rick eximed before performing a military salute.


    Khan nodded and showed a fake smile toward hispanions before approaching his house. Many thoughts weighed on his mind, and no one could help him sort them out. His feelings didn''t listen to reason, and his element required tests that were too dangerous to perform among people.


    The door of the habitation slid open as soon as Khan neared it. The area featured only a couch and a small table, but he could see that the house had three different rooms. He nned to inspect them before deciding what to do, but a figure slipped past the entrance before it could close.


    "What are you doing here?" Khan smirked while turning to inspect Delia.


    "You have promised me a drink," Delia reminded while taking out a small sk from her pocket. "I''m here to im my reward."


    "Did you want to remain alone with me so badly?" Khan teased as he threw himself on the couch.


    "What if I said yes?" Delia giggled while taking her ce on Khan''s left. "Let me see your hand now. That thing is hideous, but it seems to do the job."


    Khan stretched his right hand toward Delia, and she took his wrist carefully to study the metal item that kept his fingers and palm straight. Yet, she raised her legs and ced them on hisp during her inspection.


    ****


    Author''s notes: It should take less than an hour for the next chapter.

 Chapter 258 - Change

    "Delia, what are you doing?" Khan asked in a scolding tone.


    "I''m checking your bandages," Delia replied, pretending that she didn''t do anything strange. "Right, the drinks. I almost forgot about it."


    Delia kept her left hand sealed on Khan''s wrist and opened the sk with the help of her mouth. Then, she took a short sip before handing the item to Khan, and he seized it while ring at hispanion.


    Delia ignored Khan''s re and continued to inspect his right hand. She turned his wrist carefully to study both its sides, but she didn''t use the same grace with her legs. She moved them a lot as if trying to make sure that Khan felt them.


    The camp had given a clean military uniform to Delia, but that didn''t prevent Khan from imagining her firm curves. She had almost ended up naked during the escape, so he recalled what that dark-blue fabric hid.


    Khan let her have fun. He took a long sip from the sk before handing it back to hispanion. Delia seized the item and pulled herself closer to Khan before cing his hand at the base of her left leg, near her groin.


    "You are taking advantage of a wounded man," Khan joked.


    "Please," Delia sneered. "I have seen you dealing with a tank, a trench, and six armored trucks when you could barely stand. I wouldn''t stand a chance if you decided to push me away."


    Delia drank and handed the sk to Khan. His eyes inevitably moved between her legs and his right hand before falling on the item. He took it, but he didn''t forget to question hispanion. "Delia, why are you doing this?"


    "I''m not doing anything," Delia whispered while reaching his left arm and tracing the bandages with her fingers. "You have gone all-out for our sake, didn''t you?"


    "I was only trying to survive," Khan exined. "I would have gotten injured even if I were alone."


    "Liar," Delia eximed as she moved Khan''s left arm away to open a path to his chest. "You could have avoided many of these wounds. I bet you could have outrun the first trucks."


    "No, they were too fast," Khan admitted.


    "You have dodged them while running toward the tank," Deliamented. "You could have dodged them while running toward the allied trench, but you didn''t. You stayed behind and fought."


    "It has been an instinctive reaction," Khan dered.


    "Liar," Delia repeated. "I''ve watched you. Most of your smiles are fake, and you never tell the whole truth. Why did you decide to fight instead of running away?"


    Khan didn''t want to answer, but Delia pouted while cing the sk on his chest. He could only heave a deep sigh and drink before exining his reasons under those unblinking dark eyes. "I''ve felt weak after the imprisonment. Leaving you all to die would have only worsened that feeling. Besides, I wanted you to survive that mess."


    "You as in me?" Delia smirked while cing her fingers on his chest to trace the edges of his azure scars.


    "I don''t really know the others," Khan admitted without showing any shame for the hidden meaning of those words.


    "Can I take that as a sign that you like me?" Delia whispered.


    Khan couldn''t help but fix his eyes on Delia''s smiling face. She was almost ten years older than him, but her age didn''t matter in that situation. He could only think about her soft body and bold moves. Her warmth spread on hisp and chest, but the most unbearable sensation came from his right hand that she had smartly ced near her groin.


    Delia''s warmth worked as a constant reminder of the differences between humans and Niqols. Khan felt that she was too hot, but that wasn''t enough to drive him away. He could almost imagine thefort that she could give him.


    Delia seemed to understand the faint feelings exposed by his gaze. A hand went on his right wrist while the other squeezed his shoulder as she bent forward. She was already close to him, so she could reach his face in mere seconds.


    However, Khan ced the back of his hand on her lips at thest instant. Delia nced at the sk in his grasp before raising her eyes toward him. She was about toin, but she found herself unable to speak when he made their foreheads touch.


    "I''m still in love with her," Khan revealed while closing his eyes. "I''m sorry."


    Delia tilted her head to free her mouth before whispering in a joking tone. "We can still have fun, especially after what we have been through. We both deserve to clear our minds."


    "Do you really want to be my rebound?" Khan asked while opening his eyes.


    Delia stared deep into Khan''s eyes. The faint attraction that she had seen before had disappeared. She could only see his sadness now, and that sight felt overwhelming. Something told her that she had never experienced a simr feeling in her life.


    "No," Delia sighed beforeying her head on his shoulder. "I''m too old to get myself into half-hearted rtionships."


    "You are nowhere near old," Khan chuckled.


    "I know, but you don''t get to say it after refusing me," Deliained.


    "I''m sorry," Khan repeated.


    "It''s not your fault," Delia shook her head without leaving his shoulder. "I simply met you at a bad time."


    "I still want you as a friend," Khan dered.


    "You won''t get rid of me so easily," Delia scoffed. "Also, I will know if you start to fool around with other women. I won''t forgive you if you end up with someone else after refusing me."


    "I''ll be sure to put you at the top of my list," Khan teased.


    "I didn''t mean that!" Delia giggled before adjusting her position and lowering her voice. "That girl must have been amazing."


    "She was indeed incredible," Khan sighed.


    "Tell me about her," Delia requested.


    "I''d rather avoid that," Khan uttered as Liiza''s face appeared in his vision and intensified the desperate feeling inside his mind.


    "Please," Delia begged. "I might feel better if I understand how amazing this Niqols was. Besides, I couldn''t sleep after reaching the camp. A story might help."


    Delia shot a begging nce toward Khan before closing her eyes and rxing. She was sitting on him, but he felt unable to push her away. The escape must have left her with awful images, and he knew how bad that was once the dreams arrived.


    "The first time I saw Liiza, she was riding an Aduns, which is basically a big eagle," Khan began to speak, and his story soon reached funny events or situations. He avoided the most important details, but Delia still giggled and voiced shortments from time to time.


    Khan failed to notice when Delia fell asleep. He had been too caught in his story about Liiza that he didn''t see when his friend stopped listening to him.


    Delia slept peacefully on Khan''s shoulder. She appeared incredibly cute under the dim white light of the habitation. The sensations radiated by her body were also hard to refuse, but her warmth made it easier for him.


    ''She didn''t even bother to remove my hand,'' Khan cursed in his mind before pulling back his right arm and cing it under her legs, paying attention to avoid touching the metal structure on his hand.


    Khan stood up and lifted Delia. The woman didn''t even try to wake up, so he could carry her around his habitation, dropping her gently only when he found a bed.


    Delia whimpered a bit without waking up when she felt Khan''s warmth leaving her, but he promptly ced a nket over her. When she calmed down, he left the room and started inspecting the rest of his habitation.


    The house had a living room with menus on the walls that could work without his phone, a bedroom, a bathroom, and an empty area with darker surfacespared to the rest of the structure. Khan only needed to touch those walls to sense its familiar properties. That metal was resistant to mana.


    ''This shouldn''t break so easily,'' Khan thought. ''Good.''


    Khan immediately sat at the center of the room and fell into his meditative state. He nned to perform a few tests with his spell after focusing on his injuries for a bit, but something strange happened as soon as he tried to increase the influence that his mana had on his body.


    After bing a first-level warrior, the energy that came out of the mana core only intensified the halo that filled his body. The same happened now, but the color of the aura turned out to be different. Khan saw red-purple strandsing out of his improved parts and starting the usual improvements originated by the mediative state.


    Khan snapped out of his meditative state instantly and wore a shocked expression. The recent event made no sense. Even when it came to other elements, the mana gained different features and colors only after bing part of a spell. He had seen that happening on different asions. The Niqols'' energy also retained its original azure shades before going through maniptions.


    Khan tested the process again. He closed his eyes and focused on his mana core. However, the energy that came out of the organ was still red-purple for no apparent reason.


    ''This makes no sense!'' Khan shouted in his mind. ''Even the Nak are azure. What is even happening?''


    Khan initially looked for his phone, but he quickly recalled that he had yet to get a recement. Still, he quickly disregarded the idea of finding answers in his device since the training program for his element didn''t mention anything simr.


    Another idea appeared in his mind, and he didn''t hesitate to test it out. The knife had been in his pocket the whole time due to theck of a sheath, and he quickly drew to create the membrane required by the Divine Reaper. His weapon ended up glowing with a red-purple light even if he didn''t do anything different from usual.


    Khan kept the membrane active for a while to study it. The sharpness that filled his mana when he performed the techniques of the Divine Reaper was still there, but he sensed something deeper now. His base energy had gained properties that he felt unable to suppress and barely noticed unless he paid close attention to them.


    The barrier remained in its ce until Khan noticed that the mark on his knife began to expand. He immediately dispersed his energy and inspected his weapon to check its condition. It was still virtually perfect, but the dent on its surface proved that his mana had gained destructive properties that damaged what it touched.


    Khan reactivated the barrier and stabbed the knife on the floor. The metal couldn''t do anything against his weapon. The de created a perfect hole, and he didn''t feel any hindrance during his attack.


    The mark on the knife didn''t erge during the few seconds in which the barrier had been active. It seemed that the weapon could survive his new energy as long as he limited its use to short amounts of time. Yet, that discovery didn''t satisfy him.


    Khan stood up and threw his knife toward the corner of the room before cing his right arm behind his back. Then, he pointed his left hand toward the wall in front of him and activated the Wave spell.


    Khan took every possible precaution. He made sure to aim in the opposite direction of the bedroom as he focused on his desperation. However, the spell created a spherical attack that expanded everywhere.


    The reinforced room was quiterge, and Khan had previously decided to stand at its center since he had predicted a simr event. Yet, his mana dug the dark walls a few seconds after touching them. Even the floor revealed a smooth hole when his attack ended.


    Khan quickly checked his right hand. The metallic structure was fine, but the same didn''t go for the bandages on his left arm. A few aspects of his spell remained unclear. It almost seemed that the edges of the red-purple sphere carried its true destructive power, but he couldn''t feel sure about that for now.


    Moreover, Khan couldn''t exin why his spell was so different from what he had seen on the training program. He felt unable toin in front of that destructive power, but he remained annoyed by his inability to control its trajectory.


    Khan wore a resolute expression and stretched his left arm again. He felt ready to test his attack all night if needed, but a tinge of hesitation eventually appeared in his mind.


    His current habitation wasn''t ideal for those experiments. Khan had already damaged it. Also, Delia was sleeping only a few walls away from his position. Testing his power so close to her was too risky. He didn''t even know what effects the Wave spell could have on the metallic structure on his right hand.


    ''Knowledge, knowledge,'' Khan repeated in his mind before picking his knife and sitting back at the center of the room. ''There must be something about this in the records of the Global Army. I might have to rely on Captain yman if the topic involves ssified information.''


    The heavy thoughts that filled Khan''s mind didn''t prevent him from falling into his meditative state. That process appeared unaffected by the changes in his mana, and his body also confirmed that theory.. Actually, the intensity of the halo felt stronger than before due to the vigor gained by his energy.

 Chapter 259 - Aggressive

    Khan ended up spending the whole night immersed in his meditative state. He wanted to make sure that his new mana didn''t cause any adverse repercussions, and he also felt interested in the properties of that energy.


    The red-purple mana was aggressive, but Khan found it easier to control it. The connection with his energy felt deeper and rooted in his instincts, but that wasn''t always a good thing.


    Forcing the mana to act was easy. Khan barely needed to think about specific actions to activate it. Meditating, deploying the sharp membrane, and moving the energy across his body felt smooth and natural like never before.


    However, the problems arrived when Khan needed to interrupt those actions. His mana didn''t want to stop once obtaining a purpose. It ignored his orders and forced him to focus the entirety of his concentration on halting eventual effects. He even failed in the processpletely at times.


    That behavior was in line with what Khan experienced during battles or chaotic situations. He could finally exin the source behind the special mindset unlocked on Nitis. His mana preferred instinctive actions that showed no hesitation, which was exactly what he did on the battlefields.


    Khan didn''t initially intend to be awake all night, but he lost track of time during his study and meditative state. He didn''t like thatck ofplete control over his energy, but he had to admit that it felt good to let go. Part of him rejoiced to experience the aggressive nature of his mana, and his injuries also benefited from it.


    His hand needed far more than a single training session to heal, but his other injuries healed faster than before. He could sense the exhaustion umted during the escape vanishing under the influence of the aura inside his body. New skin also reced the burns and holes caused by the bullets.


    After spending a whole night in that state, Khan felt to understand what Liiza had meant when she described the chaos element. Suppressing it went against its nature. He could apply that theory to his meditations, martial arts, and spell since they showed stronger effects when he abandoned every restraint.


    That felt amazing, except when it came to the Wave spell. The spherical attack would create problems on a battlefield featuring allies or precious equipment. Even his weapons and clothes didn''t seem immune to its destructive power.


    Most of those worries and doubts remained in the back of Khan''s mind. A single night wasn''t enough to uncover all the secrets behind his new mana, and hecked the knowledge to find answers. Still, he confirmed that it was dangerous for him to fight among allies before learning everything about his power.


    Khan didn''t notice the arrival of the morning, but he snapped out of his intense study when he heard faint steps resounding behind the walls of the reinforced room. The familiar presence also moved directly toward him, so he interrupted his training right before the metal door slid open.


    "You are impossible," Deliamented in a sleepy tone while scratching the sides of her eyes.


    "I lost track of the passage of time," Khan exined before adding a tease, "And my bed was taken."


    "You could have joined me," Delia giggled before a yawn interrupted her gesture.


    "You must really like teasing me," Khan joked before standing up.


    "I usually am into older men, so be proud of yourself," Delia revealed while approaching Khan and taking his left arm. "Let me see."


    "The Doc will probably scold me if you undo her bandages," Khanined without stopping Delia.


    "Then get scolded," Delia replied before undoing the knots and slowly revealing the skin under the bandages.


    Khan could also see the state of his injuries in that situation. The burns had mostly disappeared, but red spots had remained where the bullets hadnded.


    "I think the bandages are useless now," Deliamented while moving her fingers over his back and stopping when she reached the tattoo. "You did this for her, right?"


    "It was part of a test," Khan exined. "Her nanny didn''t really like humans, and she was important to her."


    "You are incredible," Delia sighed before wrapping her arms around his neck and cing her head on his nape. "You didn''t deserve this."


    "I know," Khan whispered. "At least I did my best."


    Delia''s warm breath fell on his neck rhythmically and made Khan lose himself in those sensations. It felt good to be with someone, even if that rtionship didn''t involve deep emotions.


    The Niqols'' approach told Khan to let go of his restraints and ept Delia, but it also forced him to experience his pain on a deeper level. The desperation that filled his mind didn''t help there either, so he decided to enjoy that interaction without pushing it forward.


    A slightly wet sensation eventually spread from his neck and interrupted his thoughts. Delia left a loud kiss before chuckling and teasing him again. "I would have definitely managed to kiss you properly. You shouldn''t lower your guard so easily."


    "Why didn''t you do it then?" Khan asked as Delia broke the embrace.


    "Because it would have probably hurt you now," Delia responded while wearing a smirk.


    "I guess maturity really arrives once you get older," Khan joked before approaching the exit.


    "Hey, who did you call old?" Delia scoffed, but she eventually smiled when she heard Khan''sugh. She had managed to lift his mood, and that was enough for now.


    Khan''s habitation had new uniforms ready for him, but he couldn''t wear them with the metallic structure on his right hand. He limited himself to changing his trousers before leaving his house with Delia to find something to eat.


    It was early in the morning, and the camp waspletely silent. The only sound that reached Khan''s ears came from the familiar figure sitting next to the entrance of his habitation. Rick was snoring loudly, but he woke up as soon as Khan kicked him softly.


    "Sir!" Rick shouted when he noticed Khan and Delia staring at him.


    "What did I tell you about this "sir" stuff?" Khan scolded.


    "My apologies!" Rick shouted again before straightening his position to perform a military salute.


    "What did I tell you about your voice?" Khan scolded again.


    "I''m sorry," Rick whispered while lowering his head in shame.


    "How long have you been here?" Khan asked. "I would have let you in if I knew you were here."


    "I didn''t want to disturb you," Rick timidly replied while moving his eyes between Khan and Delia.


    "It''s not how it loo-," Khan began to exin, but Delia interrupted him before he could finish his line.


    "It''s exactly how it looks like," Delia dered while cing her head on Khan''s shoulder and taking his left arm in her embrace. "You can also tell everyone if you want. Actually, please tell everyone."


    Rick appeared embarrassed by that bold deration. He even blushed a bit, and Khan could only shake his head before ring at Delia. She limited herself tough and let go of him after squeezing his arm onest time.


    "Why did youe here anyway?" Khan asked. "I thought I had to contact you, and it''s way too early even for a guide."


    Rick suddenly raised his head as he recalled the purpose of his visit. He reached for his pocket and took out a phone that was slightly different from those used by the other soldiers. It remained nothing more than a screen, but it had a darker color.


    "I had to deliver this," Rick exined while handing the phone to Khan. "HQ sent a recement suitable for your element."


    Khan noticed that the phone was heavier than his previous device. It also felt sturdier, but he didn''t try to confirm that. The screen activated as soon as his thumb touched the screen, and a wee message that featured his name quickly appeared.


    ''Gic signature acknowledged,'' Khan read on the phone. ''Wee back, Khan. Do you want to download the contents of your previous device?''


    Khan pressed on the "yes"bel, and a loading bar immediately reced the previous menu. The process wasn''t slow, but it would take a few minutes to end, so he stored the device in his pocket for now.


    "Is there a canteen here?" Khan asked as his stomach started to torture him.


    "I will lead you there immediately!" Rick shouted before covering his mouth with his hands.


    "Just go," Khan sighed, and Deliaughed when she saw Rick shooting toward a seemingly random direction to escape that awkward situation.


    Khan and Delia followed Rick toward the center of the second quadrant, where they found a rtively small building with interactive surfaces. The structure was nothing more than a ck cube ced next to a series of metal tables and benches.


    The menus on the interactive surfaces showed a series of tes that all the soldiers could select. Rick even exined how the structure never stopped working, so ordering food even deep into the night was possible. Only the types of meals changed depending on the hour.


    Khan could only rejoice at that news. The night spent meditating had left him famished, so he didn''t hesitate to order multiple tes right away. He couldn''t use his right hand, so Delia and Rick had to help him carry the trays that came out of the cube whenever drawers opened on its smooth surface.


    The food wasn''t great, but Khan was nowhere near picky. Delia and Rick almost couldn''t believe that he could eat so much so quickly, but they refrained from pointing that out.


    The meal allowed Khan to learn more about Rick. It turned out that the soldier came from a good family with high standards, but his nature didn''t suit battles. His parents had sent him on Ecoruta in the hope that the experience would have forced him to mature, but none of his superiors had found him ready for the battlefield until then.


    Khan lost interest in Rick when his new phonepleted the download. He could confirm that everything was in its ce, including the training programs that had required external magical items to be part of his device. He didn''t know how the Global Army had aplished that, but he didn''t bother thinking about it.


    Khan initially intended to explore the books stolen from Lieutenant Pouille''s device, but a message appeared on his screen before he could start searching for answers to his condition. Captain yman had sent him a list of possible rewards.


    "Hey, help me out," Khan said while elbowing Delia''s side softly.


    "What is thi-," Delia said while bending toward Khan, but a long ooh reced the end of his question when her eyes fell on the list.


    "Ignore the synthetic mana," Khan added.


    "Why is that?" Delia asked. "That''s a lot even for wealthy families."


    "Just do as I say," Khan uttered before whispering an honest "please".


    The list had manybels, and Captain yman didn''t specify how many Khan could pick. He could read the names of many books that involved knowledge about mana, mana cores, and uses of that energy. Instead, others revolved around historical records about past famous experts or general descriptions of the known alien species.


    The amount of knowledge avable to Khan was immense, and he couldn''t wait to get his hands on it, but the techniques described on the list soon imed the entirety of his attention. He could see training programs for two spells and abilities that used mana without requiring a specific element.


    "I still think the synthetic mana is perfect for your current situation," Deliamented. "You are already strong. Adding other techniques might make you weaker until you manage to add them to your fighting style."


    "Delia," Khan said in a scolding tone.


    "If you really don''t want what probably is the best resource avable to soldiers at our level," Delia eximed, "You should just pick everything else. I still think you won''t get the chance to use these techniques, except for these mental ones.. This "enhanced reading" is good to study, and the "simted mental battle" should suit someone as thick-headed as you."

 Chapter 260 - Rassec

    "How do you even know them?" Khan asked.


    Khan had yet to open the description of the two mental techniques on the list, so he could only guess what they did ording to their names. Still, Delia seemed to know their exact uses and effects.


    "Both techniques consume a lot of mana," Rick added before Delia could answer. "The "enhanced reading" is something that the Guko have created, so it''s not perfect for humans. Meanwhile, the "simted mental battle" is rather advanced. You might be unable to use it without some training."


    "How can you both know about this?" Khan repeated as his gaze moved between Rick and Delia.


    "Mana has various uses," Delia summarized. "There is a lot more past and in-between martial arts and spells. Magical items and techniques that don''t require specific elements have bemon after the Global Army interacted with multiple alien species. Still, most of them are too advanced for recruits or soldiers in their second year."


    "How does he know about it then?" Khan asked again since Rick was quite close to his age.


    "Are you implying that I''m old again?" Delia threatened while pulling Khan''s ear, but he pretended to ignore her and kept his eyes on Rick.


    "This knowledge has been part of my education before joining the Global Army," Rick shortly exined.


    "You must be quite rich," Deliamented before letting go of Khan''s ear.


    "My family is rich," Rick stated. "I won''t be until I prove myself worthy of the name that I carry."


    Delia couldn''t help butpare Rick with Khan. They were both young, but their lives had been entirely different, and that had led to opposite characters. Rick was timid and insecure, while Khan was the embodiment of confidence.


    Meanwhile, Khan replied to the message to question Captain yman about the number of items in the list that he could request as rewards for his feats. He didn''t expect the soldier to answer quickly, but thetter surprised him.


    ''Don''t be too greedy,'' Khan read the answer on his phone and quickly chose everything but the synthetic mana.


    ''That''s still too greedy,'' The Captain said in his answer before sending another list that gave a value to eachbel and number that he couldn''t ovee.


    Delia had started to advise Rick on how to improve as a soldier, but she moved her attention to Khan when he called her. The Global Army''s generosity left her stunned for a few seconds, but she didn''t feel too surprised since the matter involved Khan.


    Delia also understood the necessity to keep a few things a secret from Rick. Those rewards would be part of Khan''s assets, so it wasn''t her ce to tell everyone about them. Also, she could use that chance to tease him a bit more.


    "You can find less detailed versions of these books on thework," Delia whispered to Khan''s ear. "I suggest you go for the mental techniques, the training programs, the historical records, and the uses of mana."


    "I want to be an ambassador," Khan whispered while turning toward Delia, "And I need information about mana for personal reasons. You know, my element can be troublesome."


    Delia approached his ear again and replied in a soft voice. "Ditch the historical records and a mental technique then. The knowledge about the alien species is necessary for your goals, and you really need to learn more about the uses of mana."


    "I don''t want to give up on a technique either," Khanined.


    "The math is clear," Delia stated. "You can''t pick everything."


    "I hope the Captain says otherwise," Khan uttered while sending his choices even if they exceeded the max value set on the second list.


    "Don''t you feel any shame negotiating with a captain?" Delia asked.


    "I don''t know what that means," Khan joked.


    "You must know the meaning of shame to ignore it," Delia corrected.


    Rick lowered his head, but he inevitably nced at the duo from time to time. Khan and Delia didn''t seem to care that they were basically flirting in the open. Rick couldn''t even understand how Khan could resist Delia''s bold approach, especially with her doing everything in her power to get closer to him or make him aware of her captivating presence.


    Needless to say, Rick began to admire Khan. The rumors about his feats on the battlefield and his evident experience with women created the image of a perfect man, everything that Rick''s family wanted him to be. It didn''t help that Khan was younger than Rick, which only made thetter decide that he wanted to learn everything he could during his time as a guide.


    "Please, be my master!" Rick suddenly shouted while Khan and Delia were still busy teasing each other.


    Khan and Delia raised their gazes from the phone and stared at Rick in confusion, but their eyes soon fell on the small group of soldiers approaching the area. They didn''t even reach the cube before gathering around the trio''s table.


    Khan instinctively prepared for battle, but he forced himself to calm down. He had yet to see the effects of his new mana during a fight, and he wanted to avoid testing them when Delia was so close.


    "Do you like the food in our camp?" One of the soldiers, a rtively young man, asked after inspecting the many trays on the table.


    Khan didn''t immediately answer. The stars on the group''s military uniforms gave him a general understanding of the soldiers'' power, but he wanted to understand their actual battle experience.


    The soldiers were all first-level warriors and mages, but that alone didn''t mean much. Power in the hands of a helpless kid was useless, but Khan felt to be among elites. Everyone in the group appeared confident, and they even made sure to remain outside of his knife''s range during that conversation.


    "I''ve lived in the Slums for eleven years," Khan replied without adding any emotion in his tone. "Everything tastes better than the food there."


    "I''ve heard that you can dodge the bullets shot by a rifleying on your face," Another soldier, a young-looking woman, stated.


    "My arm and back say otherwise," Khan contradicted while showing the red spots on his forearm and shoulder.


    "Is it true that you cut your superior''s hand in the middle of the escape?" A third soldier, another young-looking woman, asked.


    "Yes, but you missed the part when a giant projectile had fallen on him," Khan responded.


    The group fell silent, and the tension in the area intensified. Rick instinctively lowered his head, and Delia wore a cold expression since she didn''t like how the soldiers were treating Khan. However, everything ended when the men and women standing around the table began tough.


    "You are one crazy fe," The man announced while suppressing hisugh and sitting next to Khan. "I had my doubts when the Captain assigned you as one of the leaders of the assault team, but you didn''t flinch at all."


    "Please understand that we tend to look down on the toons on the trenches," One of the women announced while she and herpanions sat around the table. "The soldiers in this camp generally have enough battle experience to avoid the mindless shooting on the frontlines. HQ deploys us only during important battles."


    "Instead, some of us are simply too rich to face risks," Another soldiermented while ncing at Rick.


    "Should you really speak about the assault team so openly?" Khan asked, hiding the fact that he felt d that his newpanions appeared capable.


    "Only our target is ssified," The first man replied. "I''ve learnt about it because I have friends in high ces, but I won''t put the mission at risk to brag about it."


    "How can you be on Ecoruta with such good friends?" Delia questioned.


    "Serving here is good for my profile," The man dered. "Also, my family business deals with the metal obtained from this. Being on the surface for a while has be a tradition for potential heirs."


    "Wait," Delia eximed. "Are you from the Kilwood family?"


    "I''m Moses Kilwood," The soldier announced before pointing at the woman near Delia, "And she is my cousin, Peggy Kilwood. We arepeting for the next avable position in our family, but I promise that we won''t let that get in the way of the mission, Chief."


    Khan couldn''t help but inspect the two cousins. Moses had short brown hair and dark eyes, and his tight uniform revealed a few bulging muscles. Instead, Peggy had slightly long dark hair tied in a bun, blue eyes, and a slender physique.


    The two soldiers didn''t appear rted since their facial features and skin werepletely different. Moses had a round face that expressed pure confidence and a darkplexion, while Peggy was pale and had sharp traits.


    "Don''t call me chief," Khanined.


    "You are our chief, Chief," Moses responded. "Using only Khan isn''t appropriate for our positions. Besides, you have already achieved enough to deserve a promotion."


    "Call me boss or something if you must," Khan stated. "Just don''t use Chief."


    The statement surprised everyone, but Moses and the others didn''t seem to mind it. Only Delia connected it to Nitis since Khan never acted irrationally unless something triggered bad memories.


    "Well, Boss, we only wanted to check you out," Moses eventually exined while standing up. "HQ doesn''t want to send training areas, but we spar every morning a bit outside the camp. Feel free toe once your condition improves. I think it would be a good idea to get to know each other''s power before going into battle."


    "I''ll definitelye to check you out," Khan promised as the rest of the soldiers stood up and performed military salutes.


    Moses revealed a bright smile before leaving the area. The rest of the soldiers followed him without saying a word, but many nced at Khan onest time during their walk. The women in the group even inspected Delia since she seemed pretty close to him.


    "I told you that they were friendly," Deliamented after the soldiers disappeared from their sight.


    "And young," Khan teased.


    "Stop joking about that," Delia snorted. "I''m barely twenty-six. I''ll keep my good looks until I''m forty if I improve quickly."


    Khan smirked but didn''t add anything. That interaction with the soldiers had reassured him, and part of him also wanted to see how strong they were. However, the issue with his mana remained. He didn''t want to spar with them before understanding how dangerous he was. The same went for the mission in general. He preferred to understand the nature of his condition before jumping into a battle.


    Khan didn''t forget Rick''s request, but his phone had the priority. The Captain had answered to ept his request. He would obtain the two mental techniques, the chaos spear spell, the chaos ws spell, advanced knowledge about mana and its uses, and a general description of the known alien species.


    "B-boss!" Rick shouted after mustering his courage.


    "You don''t have to call me like that," Khan stated after putting away his phone. "You aren''t part of the assault team, and I epted only because Moses didn''t seem the type to take no for an answer."


    "I still wish to call you like this, Boss," Rick announced.


    Khan sighed before standing up and gathering the trays to throw them inside the cube. He didn''t address Rick at all, but Delia eventually called him when she saw the soldier''s teary eyes.


    "Why do you even want me as a master?" Khan asked. "I bet your family can provide you with someone far better than me."


    "I had many masters," Rick revealed, "And my improvements aren''t too bad either, but they don''t match my family''s standards anyway. Also, my character is a problem."


    "What makes you think that I can fix that?" Khan questioned.


    "I believe you wouldn''t be afraid to hurt me," Rick honestly admitted.


    The statement left both Khan and Delia surprised. Even the descendants from wealthy families had to grow used to struggles and pain at some point. The sole thought that no one dared to teach that to Rick didn''t feel possible.


    "How important are you?" Khan almost shouted.


    "My family name is Rassec," Rick whispered, and Delia widened their eyes in astonishment. Even Khan had heard that name.. It belonged to one of the ten noble families.

 Chapter 261 - Instincts

    Delia paled, and Khan remained equally stunned even if he tried his best to hide his feelings. Rick was nothing more than a weak soldier with a bad attitude toward battle, but his name could make the entire Global Army tremble.


    Of course, the ten noble families were immense. They had countless descendants, so many of them ended up failing to match their high standards. However, even the lowest member of those organizations could summon a force capable of scaring almost everyone in the entirety of humankind.


    That power didn''t only involve actual assets. The scariest aspect of the noble families came from their influence over the entirety of the Global Army. Ending up on their bad side could ruin the career of the most promising soldiers. Ricky probably didn''t have ess to such connections, but both Khan and Delia didn''t dare to take his revtion lightly anyway.


    "Does the Captain know?" Khan eventually asked.


    "I believe he suspects something," Rick exined. "My family made sure to hide my origin, but Captain yman is incredibly sharp. It''s not surprising that he will be a Major by the end of the year. After that, he only needs to be a fourth-level warrior to enter the list for the promotion to Lieutenant Colonel."


    Delia couldn''t muster the strength to speak in that situation. She didn''t even try to stand up since she feared that Rick might find her actions disrespectful.


    Khan was doing better than Delia. He had studied the noble families during his short period on co''s training camp, and Martha had also exined multiple times how important they were in the current human society. Still, Rick had openly asked for his help, so he had to gaze past his amazement to make up his mind about the issue.


    Khan could only see three options in front of him. He could ignore Rick altogether, pretend to help him through half-hearted exercises, or do his best to turn that clueless soldier into a proper warrior.


    The three paths featured advantages and risks. The first and second options would limit potential adverse consequences, even if they could put Khan on Rick''s bad side. Instead, the third path could cause many troubles if he hurt the soldier and his training didn''t lead anywhere.


    Khan only had to decide which risks he had to face. Usually, he would try to avoid political problems due to how frail his status was. Yet, Rick could be an ally that surpassed every potentially empty promise from Captain yman. He had the chance to establish a proper rtionship with the young soldier if he actually managed to teach him something.


    ''A good ambassador wouldn''t give up on this opportunity,'' Khan thought before correcting himself. ''A partially crazy ambassador wouldn''t. Still, what do I even have to lose here? My current fame is great, but I''ll eventually need political allies, especially if I want to gain ess to the information about the Nak.''


    For once, Khan forced himself to think as an ambassador while ignoring any dirty feeling that his approach originated in his mind. It was time to be as calctive and cynical as possible, even if he couldn''t avoid adding a personal touch to that behavior.


    "Do you realize that I''m agreeing to help you only due to your family name?" Khan asked openly, without caring for Rick''s feelings.


    "That''s fine," Rick stated as a smile appeared on his face. "I don''t mind relying on my family as long as it helps toward my goal."


    "What exactly is your goal?" Khan questioned.


    "I want to be someone proud of my name," Rick exined. "I want to stop being a useless pawn that my parents are willing to hide away on some remote just to keep the standards of my family high."


    "That''s not enough," Khan eximed. "I''m no master, but I can probably force you to develop a better mindset, something that can face adversities without cowering in fear. Yet, the process won''t be funny, and most of the results would depend on your actual determination."


    "I''ve been pampered my whole life," Rick announced. "The masters willing to deal with someone with below-average talents had never dared to touch me. Even the many training areas that I''ve visited didn''t allow me to test myself properly since my family didn''t find me capable of oveing those challenges. Please, just give me a real chance."


    Khan had to admit that Rick''s situation sounded awful. He could vaguely understand the fears of the masters, but he couldn''t believe that even the training areas would avoid putting him in danger. It almost felt that the Rassec family had given up on Rick as soon as he showed less talent than other descendants.


    That mindset was hard to acknowledge for ordinary soldiers, especially since Rick wasn''t too bad. He wasn''t even twenty, and he probably didn''t get any infusion of synthetic mana, so his current level wasn''t unusualpared to many young men and women. Rick wasn''t Khan, but no one couldbel him as a failure so soon.


    The noble families seemed to have apletely different view on the matter that Khan didn''t want to explore too deeply. He could guess that the branch of Rick''s bloodline was rtively poorpared to the others in his force, but his thoughts stopped there.


    "I can''t be your master since I still have a lot to learn," Khan admitted, "But I can give you pointers and try to reshape your instincts. I only want to make sure that this stuff won''t end up ruining my future."


    "I will never speak badly of you in front of my family," Rick promised.


    "You don''t have to speak about me at all," Khan corrected. "This isn''t about your potential failure. I don''t want your parents or other rtives to silence me to quell the rumors about a weak descendant among their ranks."


    Rick widened his eyes as he understood that point. He immediately nodded and showed the purest expression that Khan had ever seen in his entire life. The soldier really wished to grow stronger, but Khan sighed internally at the sight of that evident naiveness.


    "We can''t let others see us," Khan stated. "You said it yourself. Captain yman probably knows about your status, so I don''t want anything that can cause problems for me. You would also have to lie about eventual injuries, understood?"


    "Yes, boss!" Rick happily shouted as he stood up to perform a military salute.


    Khan felt a headache spreading inside his mind. Rick had been lucky enough to find him when he had yet to recover and obtain the knowledge that could improve his training. Khan would have probably considered refusing him a bit longer otherwise.


    "Let''s go to my habitation," Khan sighed.


    Delia stood up, but she waited for Khan to cross her before following him. Instead, Rick shot forward as if he couldn''t wait for his first real training session to begin.


    The breakfast didn''tst long, but a few soldiers in camp had awakened and had started to march toward the dark cube to have their meals. Some inevitably met Khan, Delia, and Rick, and they showed friendly smiles or curious nces.


    "You must be Khan," A woman in her twenties eventually eximed when her group waked toward Khan and the others.


    "Did the scar betray me?" Khan joked as he stopped in his tracks.


    The woman was quite beautiful, and her long red hair was an unusual sight on the battlefield since she didn''t tie it. Still, she and her group appeared weaker than Moses'' team. Only a few of them were both first-level warriors and mages.


    "You get to memorize most faces after spending a few weeks here," The woman announced while starting to y with her hair. "Yours definitely doesn''t go unnoticed."


    "I hope for good reasons," Khan teased while wearing a fake polite smile.


    "Of course," The woman replied as her eyes checked his defined muscles with evident interest. "You must still learn about our habits. We usually hang out outside the camp when it gets dark. You are wee to join us if you want."


    "I''ll consider it," Khan replied while showing his right hand. "I hope this doesn''t give me too much trouble."


    "There''s no hurry," The woman responded. "Take care of yourself first."


    The woman showed an enchanting smile before continuing on her way, and her group followed her. Some nodded at Khan, but most of thempletely ignored Delia and Rick.


    Khan didn''t mind that interaction too much. He knew that rumors about him had already spread throughout the camp, so his presence naturally interested the soldiers there. Moreover, he had grown used to being at the center of the attention on Nitis, and the polite manners of the humans could barely manage to annoy him.


    Delia and Rick had different reactions. Delia felt a mixture of pride and jealousy, while Rick experienced pure admiration. His eyes seemed about to take fire when he saw how calmly Khan could handle those situations.


    Simr events happened again while Khan and the others walked back to his habitation. Soldiers stopped on their way toward the dark cube to greet Khan and exchange a few polite words. The matter didn''t only involve women, but they were still the majority of those interested in him.


    By the time Khan''s group reached their destination, Rick''s eyes had turned into bright green lights, while Delia seemed to have learnt how to express two different emotions at the same time. She didn''t like how famous Khan was, but she still felt that hepletely deserved that respect and attention.


    The trio entered the habitation, and Khan immediately led the duo inside the reinforced room. The poor state of the area left Rickpletely stunned, but he didn''t say anything.


    "Can you be his sparring partner for a while?" Khan asked.


    "I''m not touching him," Delia stated, but she tried to exin herself when Rick''s puppy eyes fell on her figure. "I''m close to leaving this damned. I only need a bit more to umte enough Credits to purchase synthetic mana, be a second-level warrior, and apply for a safer position."


    "Show me what you know," Khan ordered after abandoning any hope to receive Delia''s help.


    "How should I do that?" Rick questioned, and Delia hid her face behind her hand to avoid showing her disappointment. Luckily for Rick, Khan''s expression remained aloof.


    "You must know a martial art, right?" Khan guessed. "Punch and kick the wall so I can see it. These surfaces are quite sturdy, so don''t hold back."


    Rick''s eyes lit up in understanding before approaching one of the walls. He quickly bent his legs and spread them a bit to create a stable battle stance beforeunching a series of quick punches.


    Khan inspected the mana moving through Rick''s body. The flow of his energy was smooth and precise, but he could see that some hesitation appeared whenever his knuckles were about to hit the metal.


    "I said that you don''t have to hold back," Khan soon reminded.


    Rick gulped in front of Khan''s stern expression, but he eventually resumed his attacks. He even deployed some techniques that relied on his elbows and knees. His martial art appeared quite bnced. It didn''t focus on any specific aspect, but it also showed no opening or clear weakness. It was fast, powerful, andplete.


    Rick slowly gained some confidence as his offensive continued. He grew used to the pain spreading from his knuckles, knees, and elbows, which made him express more power. It only took a few minutes before he started going all-out and deploying his martial art to the best of his capabilities.


    ''He isn''t bad,'' Khan thought while checking every technique that Rick deployed. ''If his initial mistakes havee from his anxiety, he has probably reached thepetent level with his martial art.''


    The event felt quite surprising for someone who imed to have trained with bad masters throughout his life. Still, everything felt reasonable when Khan thought about the wealth that the Rassec family had invested in Rick.


    "Okay, that''s enough," Khan announced, and Rick turned toward him. "Your techniques are good for your age and level. You onlyck the right attitude and experience."


    "I can''t gain experience as long as the Captain keeps me inside the camp," Rick exined.


    "I know," Khan answered. "We must focus on the other problem then. Your instincts are bad, so we must get rid of them."


    "How do we do that?" Rick asked, but Khan suddenly shot forward and kicked him at the center of his torso.


    Rick flew across the room and crashed on the opposite dark wall. Khan didn''t use much power in his attack, but Rick wasn''t ready to endure it, and blood inevitably filled his mouth when hended.


    "I could have killed you there," Khan exined. "Pay more attention to your surroundings even with allies around you."


    Rick coughed a few times, but he eventually stood up and nodded before wearing an honest smile and resuming his attacks on the wall. He became immersed in his training until another kick flew in his direction and forced him to throw himself on the floor.


    Khan mmed his foot on the floor and made the whole room shake. The reinforced metal endured the blow, but that didn''t hide the amount of power he had released during the attack.


    The foot hadnded next to Rick''s head. Khan had missed him on purpose, and something simr had happened with his previous attack. The second kick had been so slow that Rick had been able to sense it, but his dodge had been awful.


    "Your martial art has defensive stances and techniques, right?" Khan asked as he took a step back to let Rick stand up.


    "Yes," Rick responded. "In theory, it has no weaknesses."


    "But that only means that it requires more experience to reveal its true power," Khan exined.


    "I couldn''t get any real battle experience," Rick justified himself.


    "You don''t need to repeat that," Khan scoffed while checking his mana.


    His kicks were rtively safe, but he wanted to make sure that his mana didn''t start acting on its own due to his annoyance or simr feelings. Everything seemed in its ce, but Khan still feared what could happen if he tried to use his power properly.


    "Rick, your first instinct was to throw yourself on the floor," Khan scolded, trying to exin the gravity of the situation. "You should have tried to escape since I''m far stronger than you. I would have even epted a defensive technique. Yet, you directly gave up on fighting. Why is that?"


    "I felt a bit scared, so I panicked," Rick admitted.


    Delia could only shake her head. She could see how massive Rick''s weaknesses were. It wasn''t a matter ofck of training. The soldier had developed horrible habits since no one had ever forced him to get used to pain. His first instincts were to give up instead of deploying what he knew.


    Khan didn''t know how to approach the issue. He never had simr problems, and he couldn''t be a sparring partner in his current condition. Rick needed someone with the same level to slowly reverse neen years spent without knowing real pain, but the other soldiers seemed to despise him due to his apparent privileged state.


    "You said that no one knows about your true identity here, right?" Khan asked.


    "That''s correct, boss," Rick replied.


    "We need to find you someone willing to get you through this tedious part," Khan stated.


    "How would I even find that?" Rick asked as a tinge of shame appeared on his face. "I''m a joke inside the camp. No one will take me seriously."


    "They will if I''m with you," Khan dered.


    "Do you n on using your charm to make one of your suitors help him?" Delia teased.


    "Not at all," Khan shrugged his shoulders before pointing at Rick. "He will pay them. I''ll just stick around to make sure that everything goes smoothly."


    "Thank you so much, boss!" Rick shouted as excitement filled his face. He seemed ready to get out of the habitation right away, but Khan moved his attention to his pocket when he heard his phone ringing.


    "We''ll continue this tomorrow," Khan announced after checking the message. "I have things to do now."


    "But the day has barely begun," Rickined before lowering his head as soon as Khan red at him.


    "I bet you have a good habitation," Khan guessed. "Go there and repeat all the techniques of your martial art until you fall asleep. Stop only when you need to eat."


    "Do you mean all day long?" Rick asked in a surprised tone.


    "You can perform your techniques perfectly," Khan responded, "But you don''t see them as your first resource. You must start to change that, so repeat them until you run out of breath or mana. If you happen to recover during the night, wake up and start the training again."


    "Will this really help me?" Rick timidly asked.


    "You need to get rid of many years of bad habits," Khan exined. "Using every second to reshape your instincts is the least you can do for now."


    Rick didn''t feel happy about that training session, but he still nodded, performed a military salute, and left the habitation. Delia waited for the entrance to close before turning toward Khan and addressing his orders. "Why did you send him away?"


    "The Captain has sent part of the rewards," Khan exined. "Besides, I didn''t lie to Rick."


    "Aren''t you afraid that he might turn on you if he doesn''t see improvements?" Delia asked.


    "Delia, I recognize desperation when I see it," Khan said in an aloof tone that instantly saddened her.


    "Look at the bright side," Delia tried to change the topic as she approached Khan. "You might have a friend inside a noble family if you actually turn him into a decent warrior."


    Delia wanted to embrace Khan from behind to tease him a little, but he ced his left hand on her cheek before she could do anything. Delia blushed at that sudden action. She didn''t even mind that he was holding his phone while using his thumb to caress her.


    "I need to test these techniques," Khan announced. "My mana is dangerous, so I can''t rx if you remain here."


    Delia knew that Khan was sending her away, but the seriousness in his tone and his gesture made her ept his decision quickly. She caressed the back of his hand before taking a step back and turning toward the door. It didn''t take long before she left the habitation.


    Khan didn''t feel good about exploiting Delia''s feelings, but his bitterness mixed with his usual desperation after he sat and unlocked his phone.. The Captain had yet to send the two spells, but the mental techniques had reached his device, and he couldn''t wait to try them.

 Chapter 262 - Anomaly

    Khan didn''t mind theck of the two spells in the initial wave of rewards. He guessed that the Global Army couldn''t send them without adding magical items, so it made sense for them to take longer to arrive.


    The books that Khan had requested had also arrived on his phone, but he ignored them for now. The mental techniques captured the entirety of his attention. Part of him even found it pointless to start studying the vast amount of knowledge on his device when he had just gained something that could theoretically improve that process.


    Khan quickly pressed on thebel "simted mental battle" to check his first technique. A series of descriptions and multiple exercises that the phone could project through holograms appeared on the screen, and he studied everything carefully before activating the actual training.


    The mental technique was simple in its theory. It didn''t try to obtain any specific feature, so every type of mana could activate its effects. Its purpose was to create mental battles that could rece training areas or actual fights and allow soldiers to improve or retain their physical condition.


    ording to the descriptions, the "simted mental battle" would still force the involved muscles to activate. It could even make the soldiers experience injuries suffered during the imaginary fight at its highest levels.


    The effects'' intensity and what remained on the body depended on the meditative state''s depth reached during the execution of the mental technique. At its highest levels, the soldiers could even surpass what real battles gave.


    Needless to say, Khan couldn''t wait to learn and master that technique. He loved the training halls and their flexibility, but the "simted mental battle" could give him far more. His location, situation, and condition wouldn''t matter anymore after bing good at that type of exercise.


    The mental technique obviously had manyyers of difficulties. Delia had told Khan that he probably wouldn''t be able to perform it right away, and the descriptions on his phone exined why.


    To activate the "simted mental battle", Khan would have to gain ess to a deep part of his brain, the area where his organ stored his memories. Then, he had to flood it with mana and force his energy to use some of the details found there to create an imaginary battlefield.


    The weaknesses of the mental technique stretched past the difficulties connected to its activation. The soldiers couldn''t create opponents or situations out of nowhere. Their memories had to contain enough details about the intended battles that they wanted to imagine to make the "simted mental battle" work.


    Moreover, the soldiers needed a deep understanding of what they wanted to create. Seeing an opponent wasn''t enough. They had to know a few basic features to make a simr mental copy. Of course, a high number of details would allow them to build something extraordinarily lifelike and push them deeper into the meditative state.


    Other issues involved the strain that the mental technique applied to the minds. The "simted mental battle" had to affect the body. Otherwise, it would lose every purpose, so the soldiers had to userge quantities of mana to make those effects possible.


    The mana alone couldn''t solve everything either. The mental technique worked like any other martial art since it put the brain under heavy stress. Abusing the "simted mental battle" could lead to headaches, internal injuries, or even death. Those issues could appear even during deep meditative states in case of a defeat during the imaginary fight.


    The great difficulty for the activation, the limited number of assets avable for the mental battle, the vast amount of mana required to apply the effects on the body, and the heavy strain on the brain made the technique extremelyplicated to use correctly. Khan even began to wonder if something like that was healthy for a first-level warrior during his read.


    The many difficulties and possible drawbacks didn''t scare Khan away. The two techniques gained on Nitis had simr dangers and harsh requirements. His current ability to manipte mana didn''t even allow him to activate them on his own, so he guessed that the mental skill would join that list for now.


    Khan promised himself to test the "simted mental battle" before jumping to hasty conclusions, but he put it away for now to approach the second mental technique. The "enhanced reading" featured a simr menu with shorter descriptions that stated its lower requirements in terms of understanding, training, and consumption.


    ''This one is quite easy,'' Khan concluded after a quick read of the instructions. ''I only need to send set amounts of mana to my eyes and move them toward a specific area of my brain in a short time. I also need to stick to a precise rhythm, but I bet that I can memorize it in no time.''


    His experiences on Nitis continued to show their incredible value. Khan had be rtively decent in his control of mana, which only involved the use of the energy outside his body. Everything would be easier when the process had to happen inside him, so he didn''t hesitate to memorize the instructions and attempt to replicate them.


    Mana came out of his mana core and flooded his brain with tiny masses of energy meant to be an essential aspect of the mental technique. Then, Khan ced them right behind his eyes and moved them slowly toward the spot marked by the instructions on his phone.


    Khan repeated the process a few times, moving the masses of mana from the very front of his eyes to the center of his brain to memorize the path that they had to cross. It wasn''t hard to control those lumps of energy after his training in the Niqols'' approach and his exercises for the Wave spell. Still, the "enhanced reading" required a high speed and a specific rhythm to bring the loss of information to the minimum.


    The instructions on his phone described how the actual memorization happened after multiple cycles of the mana going back and forth between his eyes and the center of his brain. The specific rhythm also maximized the amount of knowledge that would be a permanent part of his memories.


    That mental technique featured simr drawbacks to the "simted mental battle". It would put his brain and eyes under heavy stress and depleterge quantities of mana. Those requirements and possible adverse consequences were only lightpared to the other ability. Still, they remained something that Khan had to be wary of, especially since he knew his character.


    Khan kept his eyes closed as he moved the lumps of mana back and forth. Once he got that part right, he started adding the other steps required by the technique. It seemed that each mass of energy could transport only a set amount of knowledge, which would basically force him to rece them after two or three cycles.


    The addition of that step brought Khan back to step one. He could preserve the intended speed with individual lumps of mana but recing them always made him waste time and lose his momentum. It took him a while before he could get that part right too.


    Thest step was the harshest since it made Khan apply a specific rhythm to everything learnt previously. He had to move and rece the lumps of mana without ever getting off-track. An eventual mistake would affect the knowledge transported during thest cycle and force him to start the technique again.


    Failing didn''t sound too harsh in terms of drawbacks, but Khan changed his mind after experiencing that first-hand. The strain on his brain was manageable while the technique was active, but its abrupt end and its following restart created clear difort in the shape of a vague headache. That feeling even intensified as he continued to amass mistakes.


    Khan couldn''t reach a decent level before his headache started to affect his training. He felt forced to take a break at that point, and a mere nce at his phone even informed him that lunchtime had arrived.


    An empty stomach and an intense headache didn''t go well together, so Khan decided to stand up to reach the cube to eat something before taking a nap. Yet, he found a tray waiting for him right in front of his habitation''s entrance. Someone had even drawn a heart and the letter "D" with a sauce on an empty spot.


    ''Delia is really enjoying this,'' Khan thought as a smirk inevitably appeared on his face.


    Khan picked up the tray and returned inside his habitation. He took mere minutes to eat everything, and drowsiness eventually arrived to warn him that he had to rest.


    His habitation was empty, so Khan went for his bed. However, something felt off after spending a few minutes on the pillow. The sheets and nkets still carried Delia''s faint scent, and his mind automatically recalled her warmth.


    Everything would have still been fine if his mind had stopped there. Yet, Khan found himself imagining Liiza''s coldness, creating a sh of memories that couldn''t end as long as Delia''s scent continued to flow inside his nostrils. The situation became so troublesome that he had to leave the bed and reach the couch, where he finally managed to fall asleep.


    The rm on his phone rang before his nightmare could evene close to reaching the map of the unknown sr system. Khan felt tired when he woke up, and a deep sigh escaped his mouth when he sensed that a faint trace of his headache had remained after that short nap.


    Khan decided to spend some time inside his meditative state, which luckily solved his headache and brought him back to his peak mental condition. His exercises for the "enhanced reading" resumed right after that, and he happily found out that his short break had brought positive results.


    The tedious and repetitive mental exercises still kept Khan busy for a few hours, but he eventually reached a decent level of mastery over the "enhanced reading". The headache had returned by then, but a short meditation solved it and allowed him to test how powerful his mental technique was.


    Khan unlocked the phone and found the book containing advanced knowledge rted to the mana. He still prioritized uncovering the reason behind the change in his energy, so he didn''t hesitate to test the "enhanced reading" while looking for answers.


    The initial tests led to failures. Moving rtively empty lumps of mana was easypared to the actual use of the mental technique. Khan only needed to stare at the hologram of a page to acquire the information it contained, but bringing everything to his brain feltplicated and heavy. He could clearly sense that his energy was carrying something.


    Nevertheless, through sheer resolve and multiple attempts, Khan managed toplete his first cycles and experience how good the actual memorization was. It felt unnatural for the human brain to gain so much knowledge instantly, but he still achieved incredible results. He couldn''t recite the page word for word, but he understood its contents without needing to review it.


    A cycle took less than a second. Khan could almost memorize the entire page of a book with only a pair of lumps of mana. In short, he only had to remain two seconds on each sheet before moving to the next one.


    If Khan didn''tmit any mistake during the "enhanced reading", he could read entire books in less than an hour and memorize their general contents. A second inspection would probably lead to aplete understanding of their topics. He had the chance to study knowledge that would have usually taken weeks to learn in mere days.


    The excitement didn''t let him ignore his failures and the headache that they caused. Khan felt about to reach his limits again while studying the book, but he pressed on since he wanted answers. He only allowed himself to spend a few minutes inside his meditations before resuming his read.


    The process was far from healthy, but it allowed Khan to find something that seemed to match his condition on that very night.. The book called it "mana anomaly".

 Chapter 263 - Study

    ''The mana anomaly is a rare condition that can have multiple causes,'' Khan read without using the mental technique. ''An excessive purity of the mana, a trauma that involves the mana core, or different mutations can alter the natural azure color and add unwanted features.''


    The book went on to exin that the change usually wasn''t abrupt. Changing the nature of the mana so radically and permanently was hard even when relying on external methods. Reaching Khan''s current state would typically require long months or years of specific procedures. Only traumas could cause something so drastic, but he had merely activated the Wave spell. That didn''t sound enough.


    ''The anomaly can have multiple effects depending on the depths of the changes,'' Khan continued to read. ''The different features can affect the normal functioning of the mana or even the user''s behavior.''


    The book followed that description with a few examples of known cases of mana anomaly. Emotional instability seemed to be amon problem in the harshest cases, and the same went for a general difficulty in controlling the energy. Still, the condition could also bring benefits if the changes ended up suiting certain spells or techniques.


    Khan found himself in a strange spot after reading everything the book said about the mana anomaly. He felt almost sure that his energy had gone through something simr, but he didn''t experience most of the listed effects.


    The desperation that upied his mind wasn''t exactly unstable, and he didn''t feel any difficulty controlling his mana. Actually, Khan even found it easier to move his energy around after the changes.


    The current red-purple color put Khan among some of the harshest cases of mana anomaly, but he felt normal. The differences with what the book described made him wonder whether he had found the right condition, but he couldn''t see anything else that caused simr effects.


    ''I can''t fix the anomaly either,'' Khan concluded after reading the cure to his condition.


    The book stated that it was extremely hard to fix an anomaly, and reverting the mana to its previous state was basically impossible. The treatments involved expensive procedures and long years in which the patients couldn''t use their energy at all. Khan wasn''t only broke. He wouldn''t even ept to slow down his growth over something that didn''t cause any immediate problem.


    Reading about all of that made Khan think about his father. Bret would probably be able to tell him something more about that new mana since he was aware of his son''s physical condition. Yet, Khan didn''t want to rely on him for now. He wasn''t even sure whether he could trust him.


    ''The anomaly might be good for me,'' Khan eventually thought as he put his phone down and massaged his temples. ''My mana seems to express the nature of the chaos element now. I might have an easier time learning the new spells. Also, it can''t be bad in battles to have my element''s destructiveness unless I start hurting allies.''


    Khan summoned a bit of mana on his left palm. Except for the color, everything felt normal. He could move his energy quite freely and even affect its nature through the exercises learnt on Nitis.


    The problems started when Khan tried to make his mana harmless. He wasn''t a master when it came to manipting his energy, but he had been able to achieve something decent recently. Still, now it was harder to make the mana obtain features that went against its aggressive nature.


    That wasn''t necessarily bad, but Khan felt a bit worried about his two alien techniques. The [Blood Shield] and the [Blood Vortex] required specific uses of his mana, and its constant destructiveness could cause problems there. However, Khan eventually put those thoughts in the back of his mind since his skill had yet to reach the point when he could deploy the two abilities on his own.


    Knocking noises came from the entrance while Khan was immersed in his thoughts. He opened the door only to find Delia carrying two trays full of food. She limited herself to smile, and Khan made way for her while shaking his head.


    "You should be happy that someone is taking such good care of you," Deliained while reaching the couch and cing the trays on herp.


    "I am happy," Khan admitted. "I simply have a lot in my mind."


    "Don''t tell me that you have already studied everything the Captain sent you," Delia said in a scolding tone.


    "I''m only at the first book," Khanined while sitting on the couch and taking one of the trays. "Well, I''ve finished it."


    "You already went through the reading technique, right?" Delia asked without hiding her faint surprise.


    "It turned out to be quite easy to learn," Khan revealed. "The Niqols'' teachings are paying off."


    "Shouldn''t you be exhausted by now?" Delia wondered. "I mean, I believe you had to practice for a bit before learning the technique."


    "My brain isn''t too happy about my training schedule," Khan admitted.


    "I was talking about your mana," Delia exined. "How can you learn a mental technique and use it on the same day? Shouldn''t you have run out of energy hours ago?"


    "I have a good mana core," Khan half-lied. Truth be told, even he ignored the limits of his mana capacity.


    The answer didn''t convince Delia, but she didn''t probe any further. The matter wasn''t too importantpared to Khan''s feats. He had shown once again how amazing he was, and she couldn''t stop smiling thinking about that.


    "It''s already quitete," Khan eximed after finishing all the food on both trays. "Are you nning on sleeping here again?"


    "I''d feel lonely otherwise," Delia replied in a cute voice whileying her head on Khan''s shoulder.


    "I still need to study," Khan calmly announced while grabbing his phone. "I want to get over all the books before receiving the new spells."


    "You are the only man on this who would choose to study over sleeping with me," Delia scoffed.


    "That''s why you like me so much," Khan winked at her before unlocking his phone and checking his books.


    "You don''t have to use mana, right?" Delia sighed.


    "I''ll use the mental technique, but it should be safe," Khan exined.


    "Then you won''t mind this," Delia said while lying down, throwing away the trays, and cing her head on hisp. "Move a bit too."


    Khan shook his head but did as Delia asked. He made sure to give her more space so that she could liefortably, and she didn''t hesitate to adjust herself. She even took one of his legs between her arms to hold it like a pillow.


    Khan''s eyes inevitably fell on Delia from time to time. Her short hair seemed soft, and part of him wanted to caress it. Still, he held himself back and tried his best to focus on the books to avoid thinking about Liiza.


    The "simted mental battle" would clearly need a long time, so Khan preferred to deal with hisrge amount of knowledge obtained from Lieutenant Pouille and Captain yman. His phone now contained many books that dealt with various topics, and some of them didn''t even involve mana or alien species.


    It turned out that Lieutenant Pouille was preparing himself for a test that would have probably brought him to the rank of Captain. His books covered multiple topics connected to battles, management of armies, and general knowledge about the Global Army.


    Khan could finally learn things that had always been unclear in his mind. He understood the difference between the various levels assigned to the soldiers and even read how to obtain the stars on his left shoulder.


    Soldiers became first-level warriors after their attunement with mana crossed fifty percent, and the army considered them as evolved beings after that stat went above one hundred percent. The book didn''t say much about that mighty level, but it gave detailed descriptions of the previous stages.


    ''I''ll be a second-level warrior when my attunement with mana reaches sixty percent,'' Khan summarized in his mind. ''The third level arrives at seventy percent, the fourth at eighty, and the fifth at ny, but these stages don''t bring great changes.''


    The book exined how soldiers mainly experienced a growth in their physical prowess by raising their attunement with mana. Their reflexes, muscles, and thinking speed would reach true inhuman levels by the end of that journey, but they would remain mortals.


    Instead, evolving would bring a true transformation. The book stated that the difference between evolved beings and normal soldiers was immense. Their actual power was also hard to evaluate since they would have gone past the limits of their species by then.


    Needless to say, Khan grew quite interested in the evolved beings. He had seen how humans without mana couldn''t do much against proper soldiers, so he wanted to learn more about the level that stood even above that. Still, the book didn''t say much about the topic. It only mentioned those powerhouses from time to time without ever exining anything.


    Getting acknowledged as a mage was as easy as Captain Erbair had once exined. Spells had grades like the magical items, so a soldier only needed to learn a few of them to receive a suitable number of stars.


    ''I only need to learn another first-grade spell to be a first-level mage,'' Khan summarized in his mind after going through the whole book and taking a short break to deal with his headache.


    Khan was getting better at the mental technique, but he kept making mistakes that intensified his headache and lingering tiredness. Still, a short meditation usually appeased those sensations and allowed him to get back to his studies.


    The night passed quickly while Khan remained immersed on his screen. He couldn''t read everything even with the mental technique, but it was easy to decide which topics to leave forter.


    The general description about the known alien species was interesting, but Khan didn''t need it right now. Khan found the various battle tactics rather boring, so he left them forter too. He didn''t even know if he would ever pick them up again since he didn''t really need them for his goals.


    The book about the uses of mana was also quite boring since it was nothing more than an updated list of human achievements. Still, Delia had insisted on that topic, and Khan knew that his knowledge couldn''t have such big holes, so he forced himself to go through every page.


    The humans had achieved a lot with mana, and their experiences with alien species had even allowed them to replicate some techniques. His current "enhanced reading" was something developed by the Guko that the Global Army had adapted for its soldiers.


    Countless simr techniques existed, but the book was clear about their inferiority to normal spells. Those abilities didn''t require any specific mana, but that made them weaker.


    The list also showed many examples of magical items, but they could literally be everything, so Khan found it hard to be invested in them. He read about special clothes that could defend against powerful spells, rings that could turn into shields, swords capable of shooting rays of mana, and much more. Yet, everything felt too distant for him. Also, none of them could ever rece a soldier''s real strength.


    Khan felt drained after spending the whole night reading. He had gained a vague idea about basically everything there was to know. Lieutenant Pouille''s books had even given him a proper understanding of the requirements needed for eventual promotions or specific roles inside the army.


    ''I might really be a Lieutenant this year,'' Khan thought as he put his phone away and tried toe up with ns for the future. ''I should also start studying multiple aliennguages to solidify my path to be an ambassador. I need to request more books.''


    Khan had to admit that his future inside the army appeared quite bright. He was young, but his growth had been incredible, and he had also added amazing feats to his profile. Still, his young age went a bit against the chance to get promotions since the army might believe that he was too immature to get them.


    The need to sleep assaulted Khan''s mind while he remained immersed in those thoughts. Delia had long since fallen asleep, and her hair inevitably filled Khan''s vision while he considered his situation.


    A faint urge made Khan caress her head softly. It felt good to fondle Delia''s hair, but that only filled his mind with guilt. He knew that he had no actual reason to experience that, but his emotions worked against him.. His everything still belonged to Liiza, and his brain knew it.

 Chapter 264 - Colder

    "Don''t stop," Delia whined when Khan retracted his hand. "It feels good to be touched for once."


    Khan sighed before diving back on her hair. He felt guilty because he liked that gesture, so he wasn''t exactly forcing himself.


    "Are you finally starting to like me?" Delia asked while rubbing her head on Khan''s leg.


    "I''ve always liked you," Khan admitted. "That''s not why I''m refusing you."


    "I know, but it''s nice to hear it," Delia stated. "I still have to take care of my pride."


    Khan didn''t say anything. He wanted to close his eyes, but Liiza''s face appeared whenever he did that, so he focused on the sleepy figure resting on him. He wished things were easier, but his mind didn''t release its grip on him.


    "Did you get any sleep?" Delia eventually asked.


    "No," Khan responded.


    Delia let go of his leg and turned to face Khan. Her hand went on his abdomen to leave soft caresses as whispers left her mouth. "Lie down. Let me take care of you."


    "I''m not sure I''d be able to sleep," Khan revealed.


    "You wouldn''t sleep anyway," Delia giggled as she straightened her position and crossed her legs. "Come on. I''m sure Rick will show up soon."


    The guilt inside Khan''s mind intensified. He felt tempted by the offer, so his brain made him experience that sad emotion. Still, he eventually decided to lie down when Delia patted her thighs.


    The softness and warmth that filled Khan''s mind afterying his head on Delia''sp only intensified his guilt. He couldn''t believe how something so simple could feel good and wrong at the same time. He found some peace but also a lot of pain.


    ''Are you going through this too?'' Khan wondered in his mind. ''Are you resting in someone else''s arms thinking about me?''


    Khan had to force those thoughts in the back of his mind. He knew the Niqols'' free nature, so he didn''t like the images that his brain created. He didn''t delude himself, but he felt that going over those topics would only add pain.


    "Does it feel good when I do this?" Delia asked while rubbing her hands on his head and neck.


    "Yes," Khan admitted, "That''s why it hurts."


    "Should I stop?" Delia asked after her fingers twitched in hesitation.


    "No," Khan sighed. "I can''t stop the pain anyway."


    Delia''s fingers twitched again, and her eyes felt teary when she tried to imagine what Khan was going through. She had to gulp and clear her throat before she felt able to resume speaking. "I¡­ I don''t know how to make you feel better. I''m afraid that I will hurt you no matter what I do."


    "It''s fine," Khan whispered. "It''s not your fault. I''m actually surprised you managed to put me in this situation."


    "I am indeed amazing," Delia chuckled.


    "Experiencees with old age," Khan joked.


    "Don''t ruin it!" Deliained, but a helpless smile appeared on her face when she heard Khan''sugh.


    "You are a hard man to like," Delia sighed while pulling Khan''s head closer to her waist.


    "I do my best," Khan eximed before closing his eyes, ready to face everything his brain threw at him.


    Images and sensations that Khan had shared with Liiza filled his mind and fought everything that Delia tried to give him. He slowly began to realize that his love for Liiza wasn''t the only reason behind his current condition. Khan was scared. He feared that he would forget the immense happiness experienced on Nitis if he allowed himself to move on.


    Khan didn''t manage to fall asleep, but he didn''t mind that. He meditated for a bit and let himself enjoy Delia''s careful touches. He could almost feel her hesitation from her gestures, but that was fine for now. They had shared a bad and long experience, but they were still learning to know each other.


    Delia''s prediction turned out to be on point. It didn''t take long before someone knocked at the entrance and forced the two to separate. Khan noticed the faint blush on the woman''s cheeks, but he decided not to joke about it since she diverted her gaze to hide her mood.


    "Rick," Khan said after the door slid open and revealed the young man''s figure.


    "Boss!" Rick shouted before covering his mouth.


    Khan couldn''t find the strength to scold Rick, and faint surprise spread in his mind when he checked his state. The soldier had bruises and cuts on his knuckles, and his uniform on his elbows and knees had broken.


    ''His determination isn''t bad,'' Khan thought. ''I wonder if he developed it only after feeling useless for so long.''


    "Today is the day, right?" Rick asked without hiding his intense excitement.


    "Yes," Khan announced. "We only need to find you a sparring partner. I hope you are willing to pay for that."


    "Of course!" Rick shouted, and Khan rolled his eyes, forcing him to lower his head in shame.


    "I still don''t get how you n on convincing the other soldiers," Delia asked while approaching Khan from behind and wrapping her arms around his abdomen.


    Rick blushed when he saw that intimate scene. It was early in the morning, so he knew that the two had slept together. Thinking about that was enough to make him feel awkward, but it also solidified his respect for Khan. Thetter didn''t even react when Delia hugged him.


    "Let''s get something to eat first," Khan stated before ring at Delia.


    Delia giggled and left a kiss on his shoulder before picking the trays in the room and rejoining herpanions. Her smile only widened when she saw how red Rick had be. She seemed to like teasing him.


    The trio reached the dark cube in no time and dealt with the breakfast quickly. Then, Rick led Khan and Delia toward an area right outside the camp where the grass didn''t grow. Patches of barren ground and a bit of mud tainted the otherwise green spectacle.


    "Aren''t they a bit too strong for Rick?" Delia asked as the group sat to wait for Moses and the others.


    "I don''t know anyone else," Khan admitted, "Unless you want me to reach out for some of the other soldiers on my own."


    Delia''s eyes snapped open when she recalled how popr Khan was. A fake smile appeared on her face as she patted Rick''s shoulder and tried to reassure him. "Don''t worry. You''ll be okay."


    Rick didn''t understand what was going on, but he was too excited to care about it. He turned toward the camp often, hoping that Moses and his group would appear soon.


    Moses and the others didn''t take long to arrive, and they didn''t hold back from showing their surprise either. A few smiles appeared on their faces when they saw Khan, but some frowned at Rick''s sight.


    "Have you decided to join us today?" Moses happily asked before ncing at the metallic structure over Khan''s hand. "Are you sure you should fight in this condition?"


    "I need a sparring partner for Rick," Khan exined. "I promised that I would teach him how to fight."


    Some of the soldiers behind Mosesughed, but they diverted their gazes when Delia red at them. She even felt a bit angry that Khan didn''t say anything to defend Rick. Thetter was a terrible soldier, but he had a good heart, and he had even proven his determination.


    "We are a bit too strong for him," Moses honestly replied.


    "I know, but you must know someone who isn''t," Khan guessed. "Isn''t there some promising soldier in the camp?"


    "There is a kid who has yet to be a first-level warrior," Moses said while rubbing his chin. "Still, she is quite troublesome. Nice words won''t help with her."


    "He''ll pay her," Khan eximed while pointing at Rick, and thetter nodded to confirm his statement.


    "She might hurt him, you know?" Moses continued. "Her family threw her on Ecoruta for a reason."


    "It''s fine," Khan stated. "Pain isn''t a problem here. It might even help in his case."


    Moses nodded and took out his phone and started sending messages. The device even buzzed a few times when replies arrived. It took a few minutes, but the soldier eventually raised his gaze from the device to announce his sess. "She will be here in half an hour. I must warn you. She wasn''t exactly happy when my friend woke her up."


    Khan lost interest after settling the matter. He crossed his legs and began to meditate while Moses and the others reached the barren patch and started to practice some moves.


    Some soldiers didn''t like that Khan didn''t bother to look at them. He could feel their disappointed and annoyed gazes on him, but he didn''t care. They didn''t know that he was inspecting them even during his meditation. Besides, he had nothing to prove.


    Two soldiers arrived after a while. Khan interrupted his meditation to inspect the neers. One of them was a tall man with an annoyed look on his face, while the other was a young girl with messy red hair.


    "Do I get to fight with him?" The girl asked as her green eyes lit up when they fell on Khan.


    "No," Khan calmly replied while pointing at Rick. "I need you to beat him up a bit."


    "Why would I fight against that kid?" The girl snorted. "Isn''t he the weakest soldier in the entire camp?"


    "You are younger than me!" Rickined.


    "He''ll pay you," Khan continued, ignoring Rick''s reaction.


    "Is he a masochist?" The girl questioned. "I can use the money, but I don''t think he''llst long."


    "That''s fine," Khan announced. "Stand up, Rick. Deal with the price yourself."


    Rick followed Khan''s orders, and the girl set a price before he could say anything. The two could reach the barren patch of ground quickly, and the other soldiers even made room for them as they created a half-circle to enjoy the scene.


    "Rick, don''t think about attacking," Khan ordered. "Focus on blocking her blows with techniques. Don''t dodge, block."


    Rick took a deep breath and bent his legs to prepare his defensive techniques. He was clearly anxious, but Khan could sense the mana inside him moving smoothly.


    The girl nced at Khan, and he nodded. A wild smile appeared on her face as she shot forward and waved her hand in an attempt to scratch Rick.


    Rick jumped to his right and dodged the attack. The girl wanted to chase him, but Khan''s voice resounded before she could move.


    "Stop!" Khan shouted. "Rick, you dodged. Let her hit you."


    "What?" The girl, Delia, and Rick asked at the same time.


    "You heard me," Khan sighed. "Let her hit you and go back in your position."


    Rick stared at Khan for a few seconds, but thetter''s expression showed only coldness. The soldier eventually nodded and got closer to the girl before closing his eyes and clenching his jaw.


    The girl nced at Khan, and he nodded. She rolled her eyes and casually waved her hand at Rick''s chest. Her fingers cut his uniform and left superficial cuts on his skin.


    "Again now," Khan ordered even if the girl''s attack wasn''t serious.


    Rick and the girl faced each other, and thetter shot forward as soon as he took a defensive stance. However, Rick dodged instead of blocking again.


    "Do I have to hit him again now?" The girl asked.


    Khan sighed and stood up before approaching Rick. The soldier lowered his head in shame, but he didn''t even look at him. Instead, Khan stomped his foot twice to create two holes.


    "Get your feet inside them," Khan ordered while pointing at the holes.


    Rick could only follow the orders. He stood up and inserted his feet in the holes before Khan proceeded to cover them. Rick was obviously strong enough to get out of them, but the action would make it impossible for him to dodge the iing attack.


    "Go at it again," Khan ordered while taking a few steps back.


    The girl didn''t like that situation, but her hesitation vanished when she thought about the Credits that she would earn. She shot forward as soon as Rick raised his arms, and her fingers left cuts on his waist when he tried to bend backward to dodge the attack.


    "Again," Khan shouted without showing any trace of mercy.


    The girl attacked again, and Rick''s instincts made him dodge. He even got one foot out of the hole at that time, but the sharp fingers reached his shoulder anyway.


    Khan stepped forward and pointed at the hole. Rick ced his foot inside it and watched as Khan covered it. The soldier tried to look at Khan, but he ignored him.


    "Again," Khan ordered after stepping back.


    Those scenes repeated themselves for a few minutes. The girl attacked, and Rick''s tried to dodge, only to suffer injuries. Most wounds were superficial, but some ended up going quite deep and causing significant blood loss.


    The sparring reached the point when Rick struggled to stand and the girl tried to hold back her blows. Khan often had to remind her to hit him, which made a series of surprised gazes converge on him.


    Moses and the other soldiers were actually starting to get scared. They knew that getting rid of bad habits was hard, but the process was killing Rick. Moreover, Khan didn''t show any emotion. He appeared willing to continue that training even if Rick''splexion had started to pale.


    "Khan," Delia called after standing up and approaching his ear. "His family might have discarded him, but you will still pay the price if he dies."


    "A half-assed approach won''t work with him," Khan exined.


    "But maybe this isn''t the way," Delia whispered. "Look at him. He will need to spend the whole day in the medical bay already. More might really kill him."


    "He can see her attacks," Khanmented, "But his body works against him. He needs to get rid of those instincts today."


    "He might not get past today," Delia continued.


    "He will never be a warrior if he can''t perform a single block in the face of death," Khan announced.


    Delia wanted toin a bit more, but she couldn''t find words that made sense. She didn''t like that approach, but Khan was right. Rick was a lost cause if he couldn''tplete that simple exercise.


    Another series of attacks and attempted dodges followed as the sparring session continued. Rick seemed about to faint after new injuries appeared on his body, but Khan didn''t hesitate to step forward and p him lightly to keep him awake.


    Some of the soldiers began to think that Khan was enjoying that process. The training had transformed into torture that he didn''t want to stop. Even Delia hated Khan''s ruthlessness, but only because it was hurting Rick. She knew that his merciless approach was the very reason behind her survival during the escape.


    Then, the moment that everyone was waiting for eventually happened. The girl waved her hand toward Rick, and he raised his arm to deflect it. The technique failed and made a few cuts appear on his forearm, but he didn''t try to escape.


    "Finally," Khan sighed as Delia voiced an excited cry. Even the soldiers in Moses'' group appeared honestly happy that Rick had seeded.


    "Let''s stop here for today," Khan ordered. "Rick, you need to go to the medical bay. Tomorrow we''ll do this again until you can control your body properly."


    Rick nodded and tried to perform a military salute, but he lost his bnce during the action and fell to the ground. He even fainted after rxing, and Khan could only shake his head at that scene.


    "Did you really need to go that far?" The girl asked. "You are pretty cold for a hero."


    "The battlefield is colder," Khan announced while approaching Rick and lifting him with an arm.. He would have to carry him to the medical bay.

 Chapter 265 - Selfish

    Khan dropped Rick on his shoulder and started moving back toward the center of the camp. Some of the soldier''s blood fell on him, but he didn''t have the upper part of his uniform, so nothing got dirty.


    Delia quickly went after him, and the red-haired girl ended up joining the group. Khan and Delia shot curious nces toward her, but she had an exnation ready. "He still owes me Credits."


    Moses and the other soldiers limited themselves to stare at the odd group as they left the barren area. They still didn''t know how they felt about Khan''s character, but some of them silently decided that they would test him properly once he got better.


    Delia and the red-haired girl also didn''t feel too good about what they had just witnessed. Thetter could easily stop caring about the matter, but Delia was different. She liked Khan, so hating his ruthless side made her feelings messier. She knew that he had never tried to hide that part of him, but seeing it applied on hispanions scared her a bit.


    The red-haired girl actually eased some of the awkwardness that had fallen between Khan and Delia. Her presence prevented the two of them from talking properly, and she didn''t even hold back from asking questions that also upied the woman''s mind.


    "I still don''t think he had to go through all of this," The girl announced while the soldiers in the camp inspected the badly injured Rick on Khan''s shoulder. "Some people simply don''t suit the battlefield."


    "He wanted to learn to fight," Khan exined. "He had to start somewhere."


    "I''d be surprised if he recalled anything about today," The girl continued.


    "Rick is a tough man," Delia announced. "His determination is admirable. He will recall."


    Delia nced at Khan, but he pretended not to notice that gesture. He had understood that she wasn''t feeling too good about what she had witnessed, but he couldn''t say much either. In his mind, his ruthlessness had been necessary.


    "Was that stuff about the battlefield true?" The girl asked. "I''ve been in a trench for a few months, but I''ve never fought for real. It doesn''t feel like a proper battlefield when I shoot at aliens from behind a barrier."


    "Why do you even want to see what a real battlefield is like?" Khan asked.


    "I like fighting, and I''m good at it," The girl eximed. "There are no politics there, and our origin doesn''t matter either. Battles are simple."


    "You are way too young to have this mindset," Delia sighed. "Maybe you can have it only due to your inexperience."


    "Why would my age have anything to do with that?" The girlined while pointing at Khan. "I''m as old as him, but he became a hero in a few weeks spent on this."


    "Our toon had more than thirty soldiers and a Lieutenant," Khan revealed. "Only five of us have survived the escape. That''s not really heroic."


    "I guess you are right," The girl stated. "I don''t n on remaining here for long anyway. I only need to get Credits and some stuff to put on my profile before going somewhere else. I don''t wantplete safety, but Ecoruta is honestly pointless. Humans are nothing more than spectators in the fight between two alien species."


    "Why not Earth?" Delia asked. "I''m sure the training camps need good soldiers after everything that has happened on Istrone."


    "My family is on Earth," The girl replied. "Everyone there prefers my well-mannered sisters. I can''t stand most social gatherings and simr events."


    "You''ll get your Credits if you keep helping Rick," Khan dered before recalling something. "I don''t think I know your name."


    "I''m Lucille, but don''t use that name," The girl said. "I prefer Lu. It''s shorter, and it doesn''t remind me of my family."


    "Alright, Lu, I''ll need you to take care of Rick for this month," Khan continued. "You can decide what to do afterward, but I''d like for the two of you to keep sparring."


    "Right, the assault team leaves in a month," Lu recalled. "Lucky you. Are you joining the attack?"


    Lu nced past Khan to look at Delia, and the woman showed a fake smile before replying. "I have yet to decide. I''m not excited at the idea of jumping back on another battle, but I want to make the Stal pay too. I''ll think about it properly in the next weeks."


    "You didn''t tell me that you were considering joining the assault team," Khan uttered.


    "You never asked," Delia responded as a weak smile appeared on her face.


    "Are you already fighting?" Lu questioned. "Many said that rtionships born on the battlefield don''tst long. I know a few women who are only waiting for you two to break up."


    "We have been in this camp for only a few days," Khan frowned. "How can someonee up with such ideas already?"


    "Rumors run fast inside a camp," Lu exined. "Even I know that you sleep in the same habitation. You sure got over the alien woman pretty quickly."


    Khan heaved a helpless sigh but remained silent. Delia casually naming Istrone had been fine, but he still couldn''t deal with those who talked about Liiza without knowing what had really happened on Nitis. The misunderstanding about his rtionship with Delia was kind of fine, but even she realized that she might have gone too far with it.


    "See, don''t be like me," Khan joked. "Avoid the battlefield and focus on your studies to get a nice position somewhere safe."


    "My mother has always told me not to trust men who can''t keep it in their pants," Lu announced. "I hate her, but she knows her stuff about men. I won''t get lectured by someone like you."


    Khan couldn''t help but smirk in front of Lu''s honesty, but Delia had a very different reaction. Lu''s words exined precisely why she could trust Khan. She almost couldn''t believe how wrong she had been about him.


    Delia opened her mouth to say something in Khan''s defense, but she ended up pouting when she saw that he nced at her with curious eyes. She could read his desire to tease her in that gaze, which ultimately made her remain silent.


    The faint awkwardness caused by Rick''s training seemed to vanish after that interaction. Khan was still yful, and Delia rarely managed to get the upper hand in discussions, especially when she couldn''t be intimate with him. His cold side still existed, but it wasn''t a predominant aspect of his personality. Also, she could justify it after thinking about his life.


    The group eventually reached the medical bay, and Rick''s bloody figure helped them avoid the greetings that Khan would typically attract. It didn''t take them long to find Doctor Holger, and she didn''t hide her surprise at the sight of the injured soldier.


    "What has happened to him?" Lieutenant Holger asked while leading the group to the room where Khan had woken up after hisst battle against the Stal.


    "Just harsh training," Khan admitted without mentioning any detail.


    Lieutenant Holger helped Khan put Rick on the bed, and she quickly stripped him down to assess his injuries. Then, she moved to another room to pick a few lotions that she applied to his wounds as soon as she returned to the room.


    The Lieutenant was fast with her movements. Khan had never seen anyone applying bandages so quickly. She was also precise and delicate at the same time, which only showed how experienced she was at her job.


    "He''ll need to spend the day here," Lieutenant Holger exined. "His injuries aren''t severe, but he has lost a lot of blood. Still, tomorrow he should be back in fighting shape. Let me see your hand now."


    Khan showed his right hand, and the Lieutenant carefully inspected it. She even touched it in specific spots to check the condition of the bones kept still by the metallic structure.


    "You are healing faster than I expected," The Lieutenant eventually announced. "I should be able to remove this brace in two weeks, and you''ll only need an additional week to recoverpletely."


    "That''s great," Khan eximed. "It was getting tiring to pay attention to this thing all the time."


    "I noticed that you have damaged it a bit," Lieutenant Holger stated. "A recement with metal resistant to your element has already arrived, soe here immediately if you happen to break it."


    "Thank you, Doc," Khan honestly responded. He had to admit that he didn''t expect the Lieutenant to be so mindful about those details.


    "Right, HQ sent a package for you a few minutes ago," The Doctor continued. "You can pick it up on your way out of here. Just try not to blow up your habitation. Those things cost a lot."


    "Is there a ce where I can train safely and alone?" Khan asked, but the Doctor immediately shook her head.


    "Privacy is hard to attain on a camp like this," The Lieutenant exined. "You should feel lucky that your habitation is big enough for the two of you."


    The Doctor wore a warm smile as her eyes moved between Khan and Delia. Thetter widened her eyes and diverted her gaze timidly, while Khan felt the desire to frown, but he eventually decided to ignore the issue.


    "Can I remain here a bit?" Lu asked. "The guy still owes me money."


    "Don''t be loud and don''t hurt him," Lieutenant Holger ordered. "I have nothing against that otherwise."


    Lu nodded and gave her contact to Khan before he and Delia left the room. The two reached an area with a series of consoles, and one of them opened to reveal two caskets when Khan took out his phone near it.


    "You are about to skip sleeping again," Delia sighed when she saw the excited expression that filled Khan''s face.


    "I''ll just inspect them for now," Khan responded. "I''m not tired, but I don''t know if the habitation can handle them."


    Delia didn''t say anything and limited herself to following Khan out of the central structure in the camp. She walked behind him until they reached his habitation and went inside with him.


    "Hey, Delia," Khan called while cing the caskets on the couch, "I trust you, but I think it''s better if I watch these spells on my own."


    "Can we talk for a bit first?" Delia finally broke her silence, and her timid tone made Khan take her request seriously.


    "You didn''t need to be so hard on Rick," Delia stated. "He is a good soldier. He would have eventually reached that point even if you didn''t put his life at risk."


    "Delia, he couldn''t go back to his habitation after another failure," Khan exined as he sat on the couch. "It was better to create an initial sess. Besides, that''s how I learnt how to fight."


    Delia covered her face with a hand while she shook her head. She had to take a deep breath to calm herself down and resume speaking. "Can your life get any sadder?"


    Khan diverted his gaze when he thought about all the details that Delia didn''t know, and she heaved a helpless sigh when she noticed that reaction. She gave in onining and sat next to him before lying her head on his shoulder and taking his arm in her embrace.


    "I don''t like seeing you like that," Delia admitted as she rubbed her head on his shoulder.


    "But that''s how I am," Khan whispered. "That''s how we escaped from the Stal."


    "I know," Delia sighed. "I''m not saying that you are wrong, but I hate knowing that you actually take it easy on others. Most of your ruthlessness is toward yourself."


    Khan felt surprised that Delia had noticed that detail so quickly, but he didn''t say anything. There was nothing to add to her statement.


    "Khan, why did you evene to Ecoruta?" Delia asked. "You could have gone everywhere with your profile, and the Global Army would have never sent you here on its own. Why did you choose a battlefield right after Nitis?"


    "I wanted to grow strong quickly," Khan revealed without describing the deeper details behind his decision.


    "Why?" Delia questioned. "Is it for her? Did you think that getting stronger could get you back on Nitis?"


    "Part of me thought that," Khan admitted. "I''ve seen a lot of death in thes that I''ve visited. I would have been able to change things if I were stronger."


    "That''s so silly," Delia scoffed. "It''s not your job to save others or lead everyone to victory. You are seventeen, but you have already gone through so much. Try to find peace instead of punishing yourself over things that you couldn''t control."


    "I needed to clear my head anyway," Khan replied. "Ecoruta is helping. You are helping."


    "Don''t try to trick me," Delia threatened while pulling his ear to make him bend on her.


    "You are clearly using your experience to your advantage," Khan joked when his arm ended up pressing on her chest. "Older women are so scary."


    "Shut up," Delia ordered while adjusting her position to make himy his head on herp. "You would be naked if I were to try for real."


    "Why aren''t you doing that then?" Khan asked. "I thought that you wanted it."


    "I want it," Delia sighed, "And I will take it if you start running away. Yet, I don''t want you to sacrifice yourself to make me happy."


    Khan remained silent for a few seconds. He couldn''t believe that another woman had ended up mentioning that same problem. He had learnt a lot about rtionships with Liiza, but it seemed that his bad habits were still there, and Delia had noticed them.


    "I still n to check the spells," Khan eventually said.


    "I''ll leave you be in one hour," Delia promised while caressing his head. "I''ll be selfish for a bit now. Do the same if you can."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I bet you had lost all hopes for today''s releases.. Anyway, I''m also making a second chapter to cover for Sunday.

 Chapter 266 - Line

    Delia held back, but she still pushed the invisible line that Khan had drawn between them. At first, she limited herself to caressing his head and moving her legs to make sure that he experienced her softness. Then, her approach grew bolder and started to make his self-restraint waver.


    It was fine as long as Khan could divert his attention from what was happening around him. Liiza''s face always appeared in his vision when he closed his eyes, and his brain never stoppedparing the sensations experienced on the couch with what she had given him.


    However, everything grew unclear when Delia pushed Khan closer to the couch''s back andy down in front of him. She never did anything too inappropriate, but her hands explored his bare chest and back, and she made their foreheads to keep their faces dangerously close to each other.


    Humans and Niqols were different, but Khan recognized the arousal in Delia''s half-closed eyes. She didn''t hold back from getting closer to him to make their bodies touch. Her warmth and softness tried to takeplete control of his mind, but she never managed to be his sole thought.


    Khan couldn''t lie to himself. He liked that intimacy. His brain seemed to reject that thought, but he slowly stopped seeing the reason behind that stubborn self-restraint.


    Liiza and Khan weren''t a couple anymore. They had broken up for multiple reasons, with one of them being the need to grow without each other''s support. They needed to fix themselves and leave the rest to fate, mana, or whatever. There was no painless solution to their situation, so they had opted for something that could prevent both of them from remaining stuck in their current mindset.


    Khan could predict what a Niqols would do after such a sad break-up. He didn''t want to think about it, but he knew. Even that vague and unclear idea was enough to rip his heart apart, but that was the reality of the situation, and he couldn''t do anything to change it.


    Moreover, Khan had long since distanced himself from the typical human mindset. He could pretend to think like a member of his species, but his mind had moved on the Niqols'' side.


    His vaster emotional spectrum allowed him to experience what Liiza was probably going through right now. She was sharing his sadness, but that only made his thoughts grimmer. He knew what Niqols did when they experienced such intense feelings since he was aware of what he wanted to do to suppress them.


    Those messy thoughts eventually led to a simple conclusion. Khan realized that he was tired of feeling nothing but despair and sadness. He wanted to experience something different, even if that ended up leading to more pain. He desired a real break, and he had a chance to get it right in front of him.


    Khan knew that his actions would hurt Delia. She was holding herself back for his sake, so he hated the sole thought of raising her hopes when he wasn''t ready. Still, he was in desperate need of doing something for himself, something that could make that sadness stop even for a single second.


    Delia was doing her best to make as much as their bodies touch, so she sensed when Khan began to move his left arm. His hand ended up between them, and his fingers traced a straight line that started from her waist and ended on her neck.


    Delia gasped when Khan''s fingers passed over her chest. They didn''t apply enough strength to make him experience her whole softness, but she felt them, and so did he. Her breath grew deeper when he reached her neck and opened his hand to take her cheek. His thumb stretched toward the corner of her lips, but it never touched them.


    Both Khan and Delia eventually opened their eyes and fell prey to a long stare filled with doubts, hesitation, and desire. She didn''t want to make the first move out of fear that he could y along only to satisfy her, and he didn''t want to cross that invisible line.


    The minutes went on quickly as Delia tried subtler approaches to check how Khan felt. One of her legs made its way between his knees to make her waist touch his groin. She could sense him clearly, and that made a smile appear on her face. Her mouth widened enough to reach his thumb, which inevitably experienced the softness of her lips at that point.


    Khan knew that his barriers were about to crumble, but he continued to hold back. Delia was there, ready for him, and he wanted her, but he didn''t make thest step required for him to lose control of the situation.


    The two passed short minutes in that state, staring and caressing each other without ever ending up doing more than that. They both wanted that, but they held back for different reasons, and the hour eventually went by.


    "Khan," Delia called in a pleading tone as her warm breath expanded on Khan''s face. "I think we have been like this for more than an hour."


    "I know," Khan sighed. "My spells are waiting."


    "I know," Delia whispered as she slowly separated from him and started to straighten her position.


    Khan did the same. He pushed with his now free left hand on the couch to sit, but he soon found Delia on him. Her waist pressed on his manhood, and she took his face in her hands. When he raised his gaze to inspect her, a soft and wet sensation spread on his lips.


    Delia quickly interrupted the kiss and left the couch while covering her mouth with the back of her hand. She muttered a hurried "sorry" before rushing toward the exit and leaving the habitation. Khan managed to snap back of his stupor only when the door closed.


    ''No,'' Khan sighed as he touched his lips. ''I''m sorry.''


    Khan knew that Delia had a good heart. That kiss had probably hurt her since she had ended up betraying her promise. Still, he could only see his faults. His actions were to me for bringing her so close to her limit.


    ''I''m sorry for being so vague,'' Khan said in his mind. ''I''m sorry for using you to gain some relief.''


    The small break from the constant desperation and sadness ended with those thoughts. Everything returned stronger than ever and made Khan cover his head in shame. He didn''t only take a first step toward going over Liiza. He had also hurt Delia with his indecisiveness.


    ''Why is this so hard?'' Khan cursed before moving his eyes toward the two caskets at his side.


    The spells offered a good distraction that Khan didn''t hesitate to seize. He picked the caskets and opened them without bothering to inspect the luxurious decorations or padding that kept the tiny disks in their insides safe.


    Khan quickly ced the two disks on his phone, and two newbels appeared in his magical items'' menu after the device absorbed them. He had sessfully gained ess to the chaos spear spell and the chaos ws spell, and he didn''t hesitate to open one of those programs.


    A series of descriptions immediately appeared on the holograms that came out of his phone. The training program featured the same mental exercises of the Wave spell, but Khan ignored them since his approach to his element wasn''t exactly human.


    An expert that the training program didn''t bother to name or depict urately performed the technique. At the same time, the holograms marked a series of stats that Khan had to memorize before attempting to cast the ability. The chaos spear spell appeared simple at its core, but it had a few significant differences from the wave spell, and the same went for its effects.


    To cast the chaos spear, Khan had to condense a dense mass of mana between his palms, stretch it to give it the shape of a small stick, and throw it forward. The projectile would basically pierce everything that stood on its path, and the attack would end with a violent explosion.


    The rtively simple theory didn''t do justice to the actual effectiveness of the spell. Khan could immediately see how its long-range could prevent potential friendly fire. He wouldn''t have to fear his own element if he mastered something like that.


    Theplicated aspect of the spell was in the ideas required to gain those effects. The Wave only needed destruction, but the chaos spear wanted a mix of that thought, flexibility, and stability. The ability risked detonating between his hands if he tried to stretch it without the proper control.


    Khan wanted to test the chaos spear immediately, but the condition of his right hand didn''t allow him to start his first attempt. He could still try to use it, but he didn''t know whether his control over mana would be ideal in that state. Moreover, he had to think properly about the idea to put behind the execution.


    The second spell turned out to be even simpler. The chaos ws would only make Khan create a series of ws-like structures around his fingers. The theory behind the ability matched the Divine Reaper, except for the meaning required and the membrane''s actual length.


    First of all, the ws couldn''t be empty membranes. They had to cover the fingers, but they also had to stretch far past them, so they needed to be actual structures made of mana to remain stable.


    Their meaning didn''t even involve sharpness. The ws wanted Khan to express the pure destructiveness of the chaos element to create weapons that could cut and pierce virtually everything. The ideas behind them still involved destruction, but they tried to give it a denser and more threatening shape.


    Khan had to think about the ideas to use for the spells. The Wave spell was easy since all his traumas gave him images of general destruction. However, the chaos spear and the chaos ws wanted something moreplicated that forced him to immerse himself in his bad memories.


    There was another issue. Khan wasn''t using the human approach to his element, so theck of emotions requested by his training programs didn''t apply to him. Still, he had to fill that spot with something, and he didn''t know if his desperation could work with his new spells.


    The only constion came from the current state of his mana. In theory, his energy now always expressed the nature of the chaos element. That could bring some benefits during the execution of his spells.


    The only way to see where Khan stood was to test the new spells. The chaos spear seemed far too dangerous to use without a clear understanding of his mana, so he opted for the chaos ws. The movements that his energy had to make to summon those weapons were quite intricate, but he approached them slowly to make sure that he memorized everything.


    A series of exercises followed that memorization. Khan couldn''t express how d he felt about the Niqols'' teachings. His ability to move mana inside his body had increased in ways that he struggled to describe, and his techniques naturally benefited from that. Imitating and perfecting the flow of his energy took more than half a day, but he eventually reached a decent level of confidence.


    Khan eventually found an idea for the chaos ws. He had the perfect images of an unstoppable weapon deeply rooted inside his memories. He only needed to think about the Divine Reaper to imagine the type of destruction that he needed.


    For the feeling, Khan believed that he couldn''t use something as bottomless and overwhelming as his desperation. He needed something denser, precise, focused, and his thoughts eventually ended on the pain he had just experienced. Hurting Delia had created a sharp and subtle sorrow that he couldn''t shake off.


    ''Don''t blow my fingers off,'' Khan asked as if he could talk to his mana.


    A deep breath preceded the execution of what Khan had just learnt on the training program. His first attempts to use the chaos ws spell failed due to his anxiety, but he eventually rxed andpleted the exercise.


    An unpleasant sensation filled his left hand after he summoned his mana. Khan saw his red-purple energy covering his fingers and enveloping them into a rtively dense membrane that appeared far from stable. Still, his attention wasn''t on the ws of his execution. He frowned after seeing that he didn''t obtain ws.. The spell had given birth to a short sword that covered his entire palm.

 Chapter 267 - Decision

    The red-purple sword emitted buzzing noises. It wasn''tpletely stable, but part of the tremors that ran through its structure felt natural as if they were proper features of the spell. It didn''t feel good to have that mass of energy right over the skin, but the technique vanished before Khan could study it any further.


    ''Is every human chaos wielder wrong about this element?'' Khan wondered while inspecting his hand.


    The spell didn''t hurt his skin, but he had felt that it was possible to suffer from it. Still, his greatest concerns came from the unexpected shape that the mana had taken. Khan had seen the same happening with the Wave spell, so he started to think that the event involved a pattern of some kind.


    The problem wasn''t with the different effects. Khan was using an approach that involved two opposite theories, so those changes felt normal. However, the sole fact that the spells remained functional surprised him, especially since they typically required a certain amount of perfection in their execution.


    ''Is my elementpensating on its own?'' Khan asked himself. ''Is its freedom adjusting the spells to my approach?''


    No one could give Khan answers, not on Ecoruta at least. The Niqols or even his father would be able to add details to that strange trend, but he couldn''t reach them.


    Khan allowed his mind to go quiet before summoning his mana again. The red-purple short sword reappeared, but it felt more stable now. He could lower his arm without losing control of the spell, and the floor soon showed him its effects.


    The chaos ws spell resembled the Divine Reaper in its current form, but its effects weren''t as clean as the martial art. A few cracks appeared on the floor as soon as the short de got near it. Part of the metal directly shattered once the red-purple glow touched the surface and began to dig through it.


    The destructive power of the de stood in the spells'' realm. It had the Divine Reaper''s sharpness, but it also expressed the chaos element''s innate destructiveness.


    Khan guessed that non-lethal injuries could be deadly when the red-purple de was involved. He could imagine what the spell would do to actual skin and muscles. A simple thrust could endanger a series of internal organs depending on how deeply or long the technique remained inside a body.


    The de vanished a few seconds after it entered the floor. Khan found it pointless to damage his habitation even more than that, so he decided to focus on smoothening his execution of the spell. He didn''t know how to implement that new asset in his fighting style, but those exercises still counted as training.


    Khan summoned the de multiple times. The process wasn''t tiring, and he didn''t risk destroying his habitation with something so small, so he didn''t hold back from diving into his training. A long meditation followed, and a repetition of all his techniques came after that.


    Khanpleted his training cycle past dinnertime when the night had reached one of its darkest hours. He was sweaty, tired, incredibly hungry, but he couldn''t stop thinking about what had happened in the morning once he stopped keeping himself busy.


    His indecision and hesitation had ended up pushing Delia past her limit, ultimately hurting her. Moreover, Khan could guess that the woman was probably ming herself for what had happened. She didn''t deserve that treatment. He didn''t feel any deep feelings toward her, but she had been good to him.


    Khan showered and changed his trousers before heading outside. He wanted to appease his grumbling stomach since that seemed the only problem he could solve. Still, the scene that unfolded in his vision brought his mind back to the previous issue.


    Three trays stood next to the entrance. The food on them was cold but edible. There was even more than usual, but it didn''t carry any special mark. Delia didn''t leave any teasing messages.


    ''She isn''t making it easy at all,'' Khan sighed as he sent a message to Rick and sat on the ground to eat.


    Khan usually didn''t care about the quality of his meals, but the food felt bitter now. The silence of the night also prevented him from escaping his emotional conflict. Guilt and sadness fought each other inside his mind without managing to find a winner.


    The pain seemed an inevitable oue. Khan could ignore Delia and wallow in his longing and sadness, or he could give in and ept the guilt that would follow his decision. It would be easier if one of the options would spare Delia of that suffering, but that wasn''t the case.


    ''When did I even be so scared of pain?'' Khan cursed in his mind before diverting his attention to his buzzing phone.


    Rick had answered his message even if it was deep into the night. His reply contained a simple map of the camp with a mark on Delia''s habitation.


    Khan sighed before standing up and marching toward the habitation. It didn''t take him long to find it, and his hand soon knocked on the metal door. The entrance quickly slid open, but it closed as soon as Delia noticed the identity of her visitor.


    "Open up," Khan said, knowing that she was close enough to hear him even if he didn''t raise his voice.


    His phone buzzed. Delia had sent a message containing a simple "NO", which only made Khan shake his head. He had yet to make his mind about the situation, but he still voiced his stance. "I guess I''ll remain outside all night."


    The door slid open before Khan could sit in front of the entrance. Delia limited herself to nce at him before turning to disappear inside her bedroom.


    The entrance closed after Khan stepped inside. Delia''s habitation was rtively big, but it fell far behind Khan''s house. It had the usual couch and bathroom but no reinforced room.


    Khan took a deep breath before the inevitable confrontation. He could finally understand the nature of his fear. Suffering was fine, but he didn''t like to spread his pain. Khan didn''t want his actions to make things worse for his friends.


    "Delia," Khan called as he peeked past the bedroom''s entrance.


    Delia was sitting cross-legged on her bed. She red at Khan, but she quickly diverted her gaze as hesitation and guilt appeared on her face. She didn''t seem able to look at him for longer than a second.


    "You shouldn''t havee," Delia whispered. "I couldn''t contain myself. I shouldn''t have done that, not to you."


    "You should worry about yourself," Khan stated as he approached the bed. "I can deal with myself."


    "But you don''t," Deliained as she turned toward the wall when she sensed Khan sitting next to her. "You try to make it easier for everyone else, but you neglect yourself. You shouldn''t ept pain so easily just because you have grown used to it."


    "What happened wasn''t exactly painful," Khan corrected.


    "Don''t lie to me," Delia replied. "You havee because you feel that you have wronged me, right?"


    "Well, I did," Khan admitted.


    "No!" Delia shouted while finally turning toward Khan and showing her teary eyes. "You should be mad at me for taking away your chance to choose when to move on. I forced you to betray your feelings for your ex. Don''t pretend that you can ignore all of this."


    Khan opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out of it. Every idea that appeared in his mind featured the very ws in his personality that Liiza and Delia had noticed. He wanted to put all the me on him so that Delia could be free of her guilt, but that would only anger her now.


    "Fine, I can''t ignore the kiss," Khan revealed. "Still, there are countless things that I can''t ignore. My mind is a dark mess that doesn''t give me any breaks. I''m either sad about everything that has happened on Nitis, guilty due to what I''m doing with you, or generally annoyed that problems appear wherever I go."


    "That''s exactly why you should give your everything to yourself!" Delia responded. "Be selfish. Do whatever you need to feel even a tiny bit better. Everyone would understand if you were to hurt others in the process. I know I would."


    "I don''t like it," Khan sighed. "I don''t like the idea behind that nor how I''d feel afterward. What''s the point of appeasing my pain by spreading it around? I wouldn''t mind it with strangers, but we are past that by now."


    "You are impossible," Delia eximed while shaking her head. "I''ve never met anyone as stubborn as you."


    "It''s part of my charm," Khan joked.


    "Yes, together with absurd battle prowess, maturity, actual good-looks, a damn fine shape, and deep mindset," Delia dered. "It''s a pity that you had to pay such a steep price for some of them."


    "Oh my, don''t fall for me so quickly," Khan mocked.


    "I''m not an idiot," Delia responded. "You are a better soldier than me at such young age. You will reach heights inside the Global Army that I can''t even imagine. It''s pure luck that I had the chance to meet you when we are still vaguely equal."


    "I''ve never thought about us in those terms," Khan said as a faint frown appeared on his face.


    "I did," Delia uttered. "You will step on a path that I won''t be able to tread. In ten or even five years, you''ll be some bigshot in the Global Army, while I''ll remain a simple soldier."


    "I don''t think I''d care about that stuff," Khan stated without limiting his thoughts on the current situation.


    "This is the first time I hear you thinking like a seventeen-year-old," Delia said. "You are lucky you made friends with such an honest woman. Others might have tried to guilt-trap you into a rtionship now that you are within their reach."


    "I must be very lucky," Khan smiled while fixing his gaze on Delia''s eyes.


    Delia pouted, but Khan didn''t move his eyes from her. The long stare made her feel awkward and eventually forced her to voice aint in a cute voice. "What is it?"


    "You have calmed down," Khan stated.


    "Are you still trying to make me feel better?" Delia voiced in an annoyed tone. "Listen to me. I can y that game too. Actually, I''ve already decided that I won''t try anything serious with you to avoid adding problems to that mess that you call brain. You have just lost the chance to get one of the best girlfriends on this damned."


    Khan continued to smile and stare at Delia. Her statement had been quite cute, and she had even tried her best to appear proud about it. The faint blush on her face had betrayed her real thoughts, but he refrained from pointing that out.


    "Stop staring at me!" Deliained in a cute voice. "I have a will of steel. Looking atcent and mature won''t get you anywhere."


    "You really have the wisdom of the old age," Khanmented.


    "What would that even mean?" Delia scoffed. "I''m only looking out for you."


    "I can see that," Khan stated while bending toward Delia slowly. "I trust you now."


    "What are you doing?" Delia whispered while retreating until her back reached the wall. "I already told you. We won''t end up together. I won''t allow it."


    "I''m not trying to make you my girlfriend," Khan exined as he reached Delia and grabbed her side. "I only trust that you won''t get hurt."


    "Khan," Delia pleaded as she slid down until shey her head on the pillow. She was basically apanying Khan''s soft pull, which put her under him in no time.


    "It felt good, the kiss," Khan revealed while moving his hand to her cheek and rubbing his thumb on her lips. "I could forget about everything for a second. What came afterward was far from nice, but you are right. I should try to find small moments of peace."


    Delia''s breath became uneven as her gaze darted between Khan''s eyes and mouth. She even began to raise her hands to reach his torso, but she closed them into fists to hold herself back.


    "Can I be selfish then?" Khan asked before making their foreheads touch. "Can I use you to carve some fake peace in my life?"


    Khan didn''t lower his mouth to let Delia make that decision. He was still hesitant about that action, and she had to ept the consequences by herself to avoid future misunderstandings or grudges. However, Delia''s hesitationsted only a few seconds. Her hands soon rxed and reached his head to make it cross the space that separated it from her lips.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Due tock of time, I had to skip one day, both for Chaos and Demonic Sword.. I''ll write another chapter before setting the schedule back to normal.

 Chapter 268 - Leader

    Khan''s optimistic approach turned out to be wrong on various levels. In theory, a human suited his body in ways that Niqols couldn''t achieve, but the differences found with Delia only worked as a constant reminder of what he was doing.


    That made Khan work harder on losing himself in the pleasant sensations that Delia generated. Theck of deep intimacy with the woman inevitably worsened the sex, but that didn''t turn it into a bad experience. It was simply clunky at times, even if it improved as the two continued to remain wrapped in each other''s arms and legs.


    Delia wasn''t new to that practice. She also had condoms in her habitations to be ready for those situations. Still, the two needed a bit to understand how to satisfy each other properly.


    Delia felt initially surprised when she noticed Khan''s curious but confident approach. She had no idea how someone so young could show no awkwardness or insecurity in front of an older partner, but he quickly made her forget those thoughts to focus on the actual event.


    Instead, Khan found himself in the odd situation of being familiar with certain reactions even if unusual sensations apanied them. Humans and Niqols were simr, but they felt different, especially during those situations.


    Of course, that wasn''t unusual at all. Khan had only experienced sex with Niqols, so his understanding of the practice was a bit off. It didn''t take him long to grow used to those differences, and he even started to appreciate some of them near the end. Yet, he felt the need to hold back at times since Delia was no Liiza. Their chemistry wasn''t bad, but it was clear that they had yet to know each other in that field.


    The injured hand didn''t help with the intercourse, but the two paid great attention to it. In the end, they both enjoyed the experience greatly and ended up staring at the ceiling while the morning grew close.


    "You never stop surprising me," Delia whispered as she turned toward him to leave a kiss on his chest.


    Khan didn''t answer. He limited himself to reach the back of her head to caress her, but his eyes remained on the ceiling. The sex had mostly been a good distraction, but everything had returned now. The new intensity experienced after the quick kiss was nothingpared to what invaded his mind now.


    There was a simple truth to the situation that went beyond the spiritual betrayal of his love for Liiza. Khan had mustered the strength to be intimate with someone else, so Liiza was also capable of that. The realization almost brought Khan to tears. He wanted to leave, go somewhere cold, and remain alone, but he found punishing himself more appealing.


    Delia''s warmth was a constant reminder of his actions. They made Khan feel awful, but that was fine. Being angry at himself was better than suffering about something that he couldn''t control. Besides, part of him thought that he deserved that pain.


    "Too soon?" Delia asked when she noticed that Khan kept his unblinking eyes fixed on the ceiling.


    "I think it would have always been too soon," Khan admitted without moving his eyes from the ceiling.


    "You forced yours-," Delia tried toin, but Khan promptly sealed her mouth with his hand and turned toward her to show a helpless smile.


    "It has been good," Khan honestly stated. "I''ve forgotten about everything for a bit, so thank you."


    Delia could only give in at the sight of Khan''s honest expression. She didn''t say anything when he removed his hand from her mouth, and she also remained silent when he sat to search for his underwear.


    "I can remain down with you for a bit longer if you want," Khan proposed.


    "It''s fine," Delia sighed while sitting and approaching Khan from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Rick will soon arrive at your doorstep, and we aren''t lovers or anything. You ended up here to gain small moments of peace, so use me well without worrying about eventual consequences."


    "I must be really good under the sheets," Khan joked.


    "I''ll tell you more the next time," Delia teased while turning Khan''s head toward her and approaching his mouth before stopping at thest second. "If you want us to do this again."


    "Are you really okay with our agreement?" Khan asked.


    Delia nodded, and Khanpleted the kiss before resuming searching for his clothes. The woman felt that he had ended the gesture hastily, but she didn''tin. Still, her hands moved on his back until they eventually reached the azure tattoo.


    "What does it mean today?" Delia timidly asked.


    "You don''t want to know that," Khan eximed before standing up and reaching his underwear.


    Delia obviously didn''t feel thrilled about all of that, but she epted Khan''s behavior. She was paying him back for everything that happened during the escape, and she could even realize how hard that night had been for him. Also, in her mind, she had already acknowledged that Khan would leave her life once his mission on Ecoruta ended.


    Khan dressed up quickly, and Delia did the same. When the two exited the habitation, they found Rick napping on the ground right next to the entrance. He appeared in a perfect state and ready for another ruthless training session.


    A routine began at that point. Life in a camp could get boring rather quickly, but Khan nevercked things that kept him busy.


    Rick would upy part of his mornings. Khan always brought the soldier to the barren patch of ground and oversaw his sparring with Lucille. The first days showed little to no progress and left Rick in a pitiful condition, but improvements slowly arrived and eventually led to more interesting fights.


    Marcus and the other members of the future assault team tried their best to share meals with Khan or talk to him while they waited for his hand to heal. It was clear that his ruthless methods had created doubts in their minds, but they couldn''t test him until his condition went back to its peak.


    Khan spent the rest of the mornings, afternoons, and nights training. His foundation in the Niqols'' methods had to improve to gain mastery over their two techniques. Moreover, his element required constant attention since he wanted to grow used to its new features and the changes it applied to his techniques.


    Delia was thest meaningful part of that routine. She couldn''t be with Khan all the time due to his relentless training, but she made sure to spend most nights with him. Their rtionship remained rather superficial due to the limitations that they had set, but they still managed to enjoy a few intimate moments that warmed each other''s hearts.


    Sadly for Khan, most of his interactions with Delia always led to a vortex of negative emotions. He didn''t even feel that he was moving on. Guilt, sorrow, and longing always tainted the memories of the warm moments shared with Delia, and the situation didn''t improve with time.


    The long time spent studying the nature of the chaos element forced Khan to inspect his very self. The mana naturally gained features from the mind and body of a soldier, so a bit of introspection was necessary even in his unique situation.


    That allowed Khan to understand the nature behind hisck of emotional progress, and the truth turned out to be rtively simple. Nothing seemed able to surpass what he had experienced with Liiza, but that was fine. The issue came from theck of deep feelings for Delia. Everything with her was purely physical, even if he generally liked her character.


    That led to a simple conclusion. Khan wouldn''t begin to move on until he allowed himself to feel again, but he didn''t want that. He was actually scared of forgetting. He preferred the short relief over a possible solution to his issues because it kept him connected to Liiza.


    A change in the routine happened when Khan felt that his right hand hadpletely healed. The event urred deep into the night while he was in the middle of one of his long meditative sessions. He felt that everything was finally okay, so it was time to test hisst spell.


    Khan sat on his bed and checked his hand with his fingers. Only six days had passed after Lieutenant Holger had removed the metallic structure. He had healed fully only one day before her predictions, but that felt already a lot after considering the injuries that he had suffered.


    "Is it morning already?" Delia whined when she sensed Khan leaving the bed.


    "No, four am," Khan calmly replied.


    "Training?" Delia asked.


    "I need to try something," Khan exined. "This habitation might not endure it."


    "Do I need toe?" Delia questioned.


    "Not at all," Khan stated. "I don''t know how dangerous this will be."


    Delia didn''t add anything else. The assault team would leave the camp in seven days, so Khan needed freedom to train and prepare for the mission. He would go back on the battlefield soon, and he couldn''t allow himself to be unprepared.


    Delia had initially expressed her desire to join the assault team, but Khan had ended up talking her out of it. He didn''t underestimate her battle prowess or value on the battlefield. His words didn''t evene from eventual concern about her safety. Delia simply had no reason to take those risks, and Khan didn''t want her to go only to watch his back.


    Khan left the habitation and moved outside the camp in a random direction. The frontlines weren''t too distant, but the settlement''s surroundings were safe and empty, which was what pressed him the most.


    The in extended for a while in every direction, so Khan marched among the dark environment until he felt distant enough to test his spell. His senses confirmed the absence of bystanders around him, so he quickly closed his eyes as he summoned images and feelings that he had prepared beforehand.


    The chaos spear spell required flexible destruction, something rather hard to imagine. Finding a suitable emotion was also challenging, but Delia helped Khan once again.


    During the past weeks, Khan had learnt to bottle up his sadness and suppress it for a few hours, depending on how long his intercourses with Deliasted. The action left a bitter taste in his mouth and led to stronger feelings afterward, but it revealed a bit of control, which could be the key to his new spell.


    The images were also tricky to find. Khan could only rely on vague spells deployed by the Niqols. He recalled the fiery snake, or the ability to build up energy before transforming it into ice. They weren''t ideal examples, but he had nothing better to work with for now.


    Khan summoned his mana and joined his palms while reaching a deep state of concentration. He had memorized how to move his energy in the past weeks, so he only had to perfect the execution.


    Mana amassed between his palms. Khan could feel energy capable of sting his arms away umting and struggling to maintain a stable structure. However, he kept going. He sensed the simrities with what happened with Delia. He still had time to gather power.


    His palms slowly began to separate. A tiny re escaped the mass of mana when it found an opening, but most of it remained in that dense structure. Khan stretched it until he created a thick red-purple line that almost begged him to let it explode.


    Khan didn''t lose control of the spell, even if he wasn''t exactly suppressing it. He was using a feeling that added that nature to his mana. Still, his time was up, so he wielded the spear and threw it in the distance.


    ''I need to work on my aim,'' Khan thought as soon as he inspected the spear.


    The trajectory was off, and Khan even realized that he had applied too much strength. It was hard to bnce his power with something that felt so light. Yet, his thoughts disappeared when the spear hit the ground.


    The original chaos spear spell created a normal explosion, but Khan''s version ended up summoning a bright pir that slid on the ground as it continued to release its power. The simple detonation had transformed into something that added range and height to the spell. It even made its discharge of energy more immediate.


    Khan couldn''t rejoice at his sess for too long since a presence suddenly entered his range. The event surprised him, but he didn''t feel scared since he recognized the figure behind that aura.


    "That was quite the spectacle," Captain yman announced while reaching Khan''s side and bending forward to check the destruction unfolded by the spell. "The chaos element is definitely scary. I hope you have something less destructive for your mission."


    Khan took that as a chance to reveal part of his power. Mana gathered on his palm before taking the shape of a short sword. The chaos ws spell had grown a bit in those weeks, but its range remained limited.


    "That''s not bad," Captain yman eximed while taking out a cigar from a pocket on his chest. "Did you show it to me to get your star?"


    "I need a superior to confirm my ability to cast first-grade spells," Khan admitted.


    "You''ll have your new uniform tomorrow," Captain yman stated. "It''s great that you have reached this level before the mission. It will help solidify your position as leader."


    "The others already respect me a lot, sir," Khan exined. "There won''t be any problem during the mission."


    "It would be strange if they didn''t respect you," Captain yman responded. "Your feats naturally attract attention, but you handled your fame quite well. You didn''t end up stirring any mess, and you are even taking care of the Rassec boy."


    Khan fell silent. He didn''t say anything, and his eyes also remained fixed on the crater created by the chaos spear. Still, the Captainughed as he lit up the cigar with two fingers.


    "It''s pointless to hide your surprise," Captain yman chuckled while patting Khan''s shoulder. "It''s only normal for me to know. His parents told me even before he reached Ecoruta."


    "I thought they had cut him off due to his character," Khan stated.


    "Well, they did that," The Captain replied, "But he remains a member of a noble family. I didn''t think you had the guts to train him properly. I figured you would have spent all your time alone or with your woman."


    "Rick isn''t bad," Khan exined. "He has a good heart."


    "And he can turn into an incredible ally if you make him somewhat important inside his family," The Captainughed.


    Khan didn''t answer. There was no need to add words to that statement. Everyone could see the benefits of training someone who could have ims on positions inside a noble family.


    An azure light eventually shed far in the distance and attracted the duo''s attention. Khan didn''t know what could cause such an intense glow, but the Captain quickly exined without requiring questions. "We lost a trench. It''s fine. HQ had nned that yesterday."


    "Did they evacuate the area?" Khan asked.


    "What do you think?" Captain yman questioned. "HQ needs to exploit the thinning of the enemy frontlines. It must appear as a real victory, or even the Stal would suspect something."


    Khan limited himself to nod. He knew Captain yman''s mindset, but he didn''t dare to say anything on the topic. Khan was only a vaguely important soldier. He had no say on those matters.


    "Imagine humankind five hundred years ago," The Captain sighed while smoking his cigar. "We had nothing more than broken cities and corpses, but we managed to rebuild and learn. It didn''t take long before the first humans started to advance through the levels of mana. We should have gone extinct that day, but we have learnt to wield our new power and aplished wonders with it."


    The Captain appeared extremely disappointed about that story. He often stopped talking to smoke, but he always picked up from where he had left.


    "Look at us now," Captain yam eximed. "We let our soldiers die to obtain a minimal tactical advantage in battles for a that doesn''t belong to us. Are we even worthy of our ancestors who paved the way of mana?"


    "Humankind is strong among the discovered sr systems," Khanmented.


    "We are," The Captain scoffed, "But we have lost purpose. Wars have be ygrounds. We aren''t aiming to see how far mana can bring us. We prefer to steal metal and seal alliances with an emotionless alien species instead of trusting each other."


    "I''m sure some of us still pursue that goal, sir," Khan imed.


    "I know," The Captain sighed, "But it''s pointless when only the minority shares that mindset. We have to show them how to do things properly."


    "We?" Khan voiced in a questioning tone.


    "You are an official leader now," Captain yman announced. "You have to show them more than raw prowess. You must inspire them.. Wars are hideous things, but everything bes easier to ovee with a goal in mind."

 Chapter 269 - Test

    ''A goal,'' Khan repeated in his mind as his face grew colder.


    Khan had a goal, but it didn''t involve the war on Ecoruta or his futurepanions. The Global Army was a tool that he needed to use to fix his nightmares, and what he had learnt during the crisis on Nitis had made his loyalty waver a lot.


    "I don''t know if I''m the right person for that," Khan admitted. "I might be simpler than you think, sir."


    "I find it hard to believe that," Captain yman contradicted. "Everyone in the thirty-seventh battalion has read your profile. Your ability to survive ande out on top of awful situations is unmatched in your generation."


    "Is that enough to inspire?" Khan wondered.


    "It''s enough to make others follow you," The Captain revealed while blowing out a small cloud of smoke. "Your ideals will eventually fill what youck, but you can get thoseter on. You are too young for that stuff."


    Khan nodded, even if he knew that the Captain''s guess waspletely off. His ideals were already solid. His experiences inside the Global Army only added dark shades to them.


    "I wish I could change things," Captain yman sighed when more azure lights shed in the distance. "It bes hard to understand all these small things after seeing what humans can achieve with mana. Most soldiers strive to gain minor safe positions when they can evolve past the limits of their species. I don''t get how they can ignore that chance."


    "Are you talking about the evolved beings, sir?" Khan asked as interest spread in his mind.


    "I''ve seen one with my own eyes once," Captain yman eximed. "I don''t im that I''m strong enough to understand their power, but I didn''t think a single nce could make me feel so small. They live in the same world as everyone else, but they experience it far differently."


    "Do you know what evolving brings?" Khan questioned. "I couldn''t find much about evolved beings."


    "Only the noble families or the forces connected to them have urate records," The Captain exined. "I had the chance to learn a few details, but they are useless in your case. See evolved soldiers as dragons among rats. They share the same air, food, and world, but things are different in their eyes."


    "Dragons, sir?" Khan asked.


    "What about them?" Captain yman questioned.


    "I don''t know what they are," Khan admitted.


    "Oh," The Captain gasped. "They are huge fictional beasts. I guess your childhood wasn''t great."


    "The Slums aren''t great at that," Khan chuckled.


    "Anyway, back to my point," Captain yman announced while clearing his throat. "Humans can be drago-, I mean, big beasts, but they choose to remain rats. That''s disheartening."


    "Sir, training isn''t for everyone," Khanined.


    "That''s why soldiers need sources of inspiration," The Captain eximed. "They need dragons among them to show them the path. I hope that you will help me achieve this dream once you reach important positions."


    Khan turned toward the Captain and nodded. "I don''t like to see lives wasted. I want to change things if possible."


    "Good, good!" The Captainughed while patting Khan''s shoulder. "I knew I could count on you. Still, remember this warning. Politics can be more dangerous than battles, so focus on making many powerful friends."


    "I''ll do my best, sir," Khan confirmed.


    The Captain patted Khan''s shoulder onest time before turning to walk back to the camp. His mood had improved after that conversation, but Khan''s face grew colder after that departure.


    Khan didn''t lie, but his words only conveyed half-truths. He didn''t like seeing lives wasted, but he couldn''t prioritize them over his problems. He wasn''t even sure he cared enough about the Global Army or humankind in general to fix it.


    ''Is this what I have to be to reach the Nak?'' Khan wondered as the Captain''s figure disappeared behind the distant buildings. ''Do I have to lie and use friends to get rid of the nightmares?''


    Khan felt about to fall prey to his feelings. He didn''t like what had happened after Nitis. He often had to resort to lies, and his only moments of peace came from a physical rtionship that exploited a friend. That type of life didn''t seem worth living after experiencing the happiness among the Niqols, but giving up wasn''t an option. That self-loathe was better than the nightmares, at least for now.


    Khan used his training to suppress the depressing thoughts that had filled his mind. Launching spells highlighted some of his worst emotions, but he preferred to focus on a few of them instead of experiencing his entire mental state.


    Khan hade to Ecoruta to stop thinking for a while, but that peace was going against his n. Luckily for him, it wouldn''t take long before he could jump on the battlefield again.


    Red-purple lights shed in Khan''s surroundings as his training continued. The chaos spear could deploy more power than the Wave spell, but its uracy depended on him. A few exercises allowed him to grow used to the attack''s weight and sensations, but he felt the need to perform more tests before the mission.


    The chaos spear also gave Khan ideas on how to solve the issue with the Wave spell. He could control his mana with the former, so he could theoretically do the same with thetter, and his feelings were the key.


    The chaos element''s effects changed ording to the feelings that Khan used during each execution. The expanding spherical shape of the Wave spell made sense when he paired it with his boundless desperation. However, he believed that reducing its range and forcing it into a single direction was possible as long as he found a different emotion.


    Khan didn''t have the time to test that theory since the morning arrived and his phone began to ring. Sweat covered his body, and faint drowsiness had taken control of his mind, but he could still attend Rick''s training.


    Rick and Delia waited for Khan in front of his habitation, and the group soon moved toward the patch of barren ground. Lucille even joined them along the road, and the morning training began as usual.


    Rick seemed to have transformed in those three weeks. His face shone with pure excitement while exchanging blows with Lucille. His poor battle experience made him waste many openings or suffer a few injuries, but he could fight now. Traces of his old habits still existed, but he was giving everything he had to remove them.


    Delia couldn''t help but smile at those scenes. She had grown fond of Rick. His determination was inspiring, but she knew that Khan deserved most praises there.


    On the other hand, Khan remained cold during Rick''s training. Everything could work because the soldier knew that punishments would arrive if he failed in the exercises, and Khan had to remind him about that with his serious face.


    Even Delia''s warm gazes of soft caresses didn''t distract Khan from the training. He was serious about Rick, and Delia''s presence remained both pleasant and painful. She was a constant reminder of what Khan had decided to do to experience short hours of peace.


    Khan had tried to hide that problems had started to appear, but Delia had noticed them. She was like a drug for Khan. Everything seemed to go well when he got his dose, but the hours after that were painful, and the intensity of his suffering was slowly increasing.


    Liiza wasn''t even the sole core of the issue anymore. Khan saw that Delia suffered whenever she couldn''t gain ess to his emotions. The limits of the rtionship were slowly starting to hurt her, but Khan didn''t stop using her even if he had noticed those problems, and that made him feel awful.


    In theory, Delia neverined, and Khan was simply sticking to the rules set beforehand, but he felt terrible anyway. Even if they had broken up, Khan still thought that he was cheating on Liiza while hurting a friend at the same time. His only constion came from the fact that a new battle would arrive soon.


    "Khan, are you behindst night''s mess?" Moses asked through augh as he and his group arrived on the barren patch outside the camp.


    "What mess?" Delia asked.


    "I''m talking aboutst night''s fireworks," Moses exined. "Some soldiers saw lights shing outside the camp for entire hours. We went to check the area beforeing here. How did you even dig so many holes?"


    "I was training," Khan admitted. "I can''t test my spells inside my habitation."


    "Are you back in fighting shape then?" Moses asked as his eyes lit up.


    Simr expressions appeared among his group. The soldiers had waited patiently for Khan to join the sparring sessions, and the time had finally arrived.


    "I can join you safely," Khan said while wearing a fake smile. "Shall we use your rules?"


    "I have no intention of facing your element," Moses announced while following Khan into an empty spot of the barren area. "No spells or deadly attacks."


    The event inevitably caught the attention of everyone in the area. Rick and Lu stopped fighting, and the others formed arge half-circle around Moses and Khan to inspect their battle.


    "I know that you are fast," Moses announced. "I might have an advantage there."


    Khan smirked, but his face quickly became serious. The coldness contained in his expression forced Moses to focus, and his hands shot forward as soon as his opponent moved.


    Khan reached Moses in an instant, but a hand filled his view before he could start his attack. Moses used a martial art that focused on instinctive actions. His body moved on its own without requiring thoughts or strategies. He had reacted so quickly to the sprint that Khan couldn''t even begin his offensive.


    ''So much for no deadly attacks,'' Khan thought while inspecting the curved fingers aimed at him.


    Khan had studied Moses'' martial art in the past week, and he had even developed some respect for him. The automatic actions required a lot of training and experience to be efficient in an actual battle. It was almost impossible to take the soldier by surprise, but Khan was one of the few warriors in the camp capable of testing his limits.


    Moses had joined his fingers to create two curved fangs. They were moving toward Khan''s head, but the action didn''t create openings.


    Khan ducked to slide under the iing attack, but Moses quickly lowered his arm in an attempt to catch him. Khan could push himself forward and escape the blow, but he decided to jump and spin on himself.


    The airborne maneuver allowed Khan to dodge the fangs'' initial descent, but Moses promptly changed their trajectory to wave them at the figure rotating at his side. His fingers would definitely stab Khan, but his eyes widened when he understood that his opponent had no intention to dodge them.


    Moses'' instincts made him interrupt the attack and half-turn while raising his arms above his chest. His quick reactions allowed him to protect himself before the airborne rotating kicknded on him. A shinnded on his forearms, and an unstoppable force pushed him away.


    Moses'' feet dug the ground as he slid a few meters away. Khannded softly, but he didn''t immediately sprint forward. His eyes rose to inspect his opponent, and a fake smile appeared on his face when he noticed the single drop of sweat falling from the soldier''s forehead.


    "You are one crazy fe," Moses eximed while inspecting his forearms.


    Some soldiers on the scene had understood what had happened, but Rick, Lu, and others didn''t see anything off. In their minds, Khan had managed to hit Moses, but thetter had sessfully protected himself.


    "I could have hit you," Moses stated in a confident tone.


    "And you would have lost your arm," Khan replied.


    The exchange had been simple. Moses had the chance to hit Khan, but he was ready to endure the blow. The sharp fingers would have pierced his side, but his kick would havended before they could reach his organs.


    Moreover, Khan had decided to push Moses. He could have focused his momentum on breaking his arms and what stood behind them, but he had held back to avoid causing injuries.


    "Do you always fight like this?" Moses questioned.


    Khan ced his hand on the new sheath at his side while revealing a meaningful smirk. He had only relied on the Lightning-demon style, and he had even limited its destructive power. His recent performance wasn''t even close to his real fighting style.


    "That''s quite menacing," Moses admitted. "No wonder you could survive inside the enemy lines. I bet your size helps against the Stal."


    "It depends on the situation," Khan revealed. "They are too tall, so I can''t jump freely in crowded situations."


    "I get that," Moses stated before stretching his fingers. "Do you want to go at it again?"


    "Do you?" Khan chuckled while lowering his gaze to nce at the weapons hanging from Moses'' belt. He used odd gloves that had two long desing out of the knuckles.


    "It would be fun," Moses sighed, "But it would also endanger the mission. I believe everyone here is already satisfied with your power, am I right?"


    The soldiers on the scene could only nod, and some of them even fell in awe when they nced at Khan. They had initially hated his ruthless approach to Rick''s training, but they couldn''t say anything after realizing that he was worse toward himself. Someone like that would surely fit as a leader for the simple reason that no one would dare to question his choices.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Due tock of time, I had to skip one day, both for Chaos and Demonic Sword.. I''ll write another chapter before setting the schedule back to normal.

 Chapter 270 - Departure

    The rest of the week before the mission went by quickly. The camp didn''t offer many distractions, and Khan was too busy with his training anyway. The addition of the spells had only increased the number of daily exercises that he had to execute, but he never rested since his return to the battlefield was drawing near. He only used thest day to sleep and bring his condition to the peak.


    Needless to say, his imminent departure saddened a few people. Rick didn''t want his master to go away during such a critical phase of his training, but he epted the necessity of the event. Moreover, Lucille would spar with him as long as he kept paying her, so his morning exercises wouldn''t end.


    Delia''s situation was a bit more problematic. Her moments with Khan went from intimate sessions to cold and detached hours, and those extremes worsened as the departure grew close.


    Khan was the main problem there, but Delia didn''t shy away from epting her share of the me. Khan showed the ssic behavior of an addict. He slowly built a resistance to his partner, requiring him to dive deeper into their intimate moments to reach the desired peace. Still, the moments outside of that state were filled with sadness and self-loathe that intensified with time.


    On the other hand, Delia became unable to stay true to her words. She had always liked Khan, and gaining ess to that intimacy made her feelings blossom. She tried to keep them hidden and always remained silent about them, but Khan noticed everything, and the scene only intensified his self-loathing.


    There was no solution to that situation. Khan simply wasn''t ready to feel good again, and Delia didn''t want to coerce him into something that caused him pain.


    The night before the departure confirmed some of Delia''s worries. She didn''t know how she understood that, but she felt sure that Khan was doing everything he could to make her happy. He had resorted to sacrificing himself again instead of pursuing peaceful moments, and Delia didn''t stop him.


    That selfish act made her avoid sleeping in Khan''s arms that night. Delia felt ashamed about herself, and that feeling prevented her from sleeping. When the morning was about to arrive and Khan began to leave the bed, she voiced a weak "sorry" before turning to show her back.


    "Why would you feel sorry?" Khan sighed without turning. "I''m to me for all of this."


    "No," Delia sniffed. "You tried, and I couldn''t give you what you wanted."


    "No one can," Khan stated. "I knew that, but I started this rtionship anyway. I guess I''ve grown weak to sorrow after being happy for so long."


    Delia angrily turned to throw her pillow at Khan. He had the chance to dodge it, but he let it hit his head anyway. When he turned, he saw Delia covering her chest with the nket and ring at him while a few tears fell from her eyes.


    "Stop ming yourself for wanting peace when you deserve it more than everyone else," Deliained. "It hurts to look at you. It pains me to watch you lying and doing your best to help me when you are in this state. Just ignore my feelings and use me properly. That''s all I ever wanted."


    Those bold words left Khan speechless. It seemed that his pursuit of giving her happy moments had ended up hurting her even more.


    "Khan, I''ll be fine," Delia said in a pleading voice. "I will stay here for a bit more before returning to Earth and living the rest of my days there. Sure, I''ll be a bit heartbroken, but that''s fine. That''s nothingpared to the idea of repaying you a bit."


    "You don''t have to repa-," Khan tried to reply, but Delia threw the second pillow at him before he could finish his line.


    "I''m bringing bnce to the universe," Delia scoffed. "Entires have to repay you. I''m just starting that trend."


    Khan ended up revealing a sweet smile. Delia appeared indestructible. She could voice a proud statement with tears falling from her eyes. She could suffer but still do her best to grant him some peace.


    "You are incredible," Khan smirked as he went back on the bed.


    Delia began to retreat when Khan approached her, but she fell in a daze at the sight of those intense eyes. She wanted him so badly that disappointment filled her mind when he took her in a tight embrace.


    "You have been a good friend," Khan whispered. "Every man would be lucky to have you as a girlfriend."


    "I know," Delia chuckled while diving into Khan''s neck. "I''m so amazing that the universe is punishing me."


    "I''m so-," Khan tried to say, but Delia promptly pulled his ear to interrupt him.


    "I don''t want to hear that anymore," Delia snorted. "Don''t be sorry about your feelings. You have always been honest with me. I know how much she meant for you, so I''m d that I had a chance to fill her ce for a few hours every day. It means a lot to me."


    "You deserve far more," Khanmented while breaking the hug.


    "I know," Delia stated while taking his face in her hands, "But not from you. You only have to think about the Stal now. If I''m here when youe back, I''ll happily do my best tofort you again."


    Khan revealed another honest smile, and Delia couldn''t stop herself from kissing him. Still, she quickly interrupted her gesture and started pushing him away.


    "Go now before I change my mind," Delia scolded while lying down and showing her back to Khan. "And be careful. Don''t you dare to die or suffer heavy injuries."


    Khan''s smile widened as he picked up his clothes and put both pillows back on the bed. He didn''t add anything else as he left the room, dressed, and reached the habitation''s entrance.


    The stars on his shoulders reflected the pale morning light that shone on him when he opened the entrance. Khan stepped outside his habitation and kicked Rick lightly before moving toward the appointed gathering point.


    Rick was taking his usual nap, but he jumped to his feet after the kick. His sparring session would start soon, but he wanted to make sure to say goodbye to Khan before the mission.


    "I will make sure to work every day, Boss!" Rick shouted. "I won''t let you down."


    "Focus on not letting yourself down," Khan ordered. "You are doing good for now, but always remember that you are behind your peers. You need to work extra hard to catch up with them."


    "I won''t hold back!" Rick shouted again.


    "Also, your family is a problem," Khan stated while lowering his voice. "Make sure to get trusted allies once you get out of Ecoruta. They don''t have to be important. Focus on surrounding yourself with honest people while you find ways to train. You should even drop your naivety as soon as possible."


    "I understand what you are saying," Rick whispered as his eyes fell on the ground, "But isn''t that sad? I know that my character can be a problem, but I''ve still met you, Delia, and Lu."


    "Rick, you are a good guy," Khan sighed, "But that''s not enough most of the time. People will try to exploit your position. Even I agreed to help you due to your status. It won''t bring you much happiness, but you need to start treating the world coldly. You must learn that more than everyone else in the Global Army."


    "I will try my best," Rick promised, but his words didn''t sound convincing enough for Khan.


    "Rick, a Nak spaceship fell on my head when I was five," Khan reminded. "There is nothing fair about it, but it happened anyway. Do you understand what I''m trying to say?"


    Rick didn''t like the idea of changing. He wasn''t dumb, and he appreciated his own honesty. Yet, contradicting Khan was impossible. He could only nod and promise to himself to watch his back.


    Arge toon unfolded in Khan''s vision when he reached the nned gathering point, and Rick politely decided to stop following him at that point. The area featured thirty-four soldiers, with most of them being first-level warriors and mages. Only three of them were second-level warriors and mages, with one seeming oddly strong for her state.


    Captain yman was also in the area. He waited as Khan took his ce next to Moses'' group and performed a military salute as he waited for his superior to speak.


    "This won''t take long," Captain yman announced while checking everyone''s expression. "Most of you are unaware of the nature of your target. Follow my advice and remain ignorant about it. You don''t want to learn secrets that could potentially hurt your career."


    A few gulps resounded next to Khan. The soldiers remained quite stoic, but many inspected their surroundings to check who could know something about their target. They couldn''t stop their curiosity so easily.


    "We have gone over your assault on the underground structure more than necessary," Captain yman continued. "I only want to remind you of a few things. Your secondary mission can help many soldiers in the battalion, but you shouldn''t lose your lives toplete it. Steal what you can, but always prioritize your safety. I forbid you from losing your lives over vehicles and resources."


    It was a bit heartwarming to see a superior talk like that, and Khan could clearly see the general appreciation that the soldiers had for Captain yman during that scene. It was clear that most members of the assault team had a rtively close rtionship with him or respected him enough to go against HQ''s orders.


    Of course, Captain yman wasn''t starting any revolution. He only wanted the assault team to retrieve technology secretly to improve the situation of his battalion. His honest and harmless decision to preserve lives made Khan understand the kind of inspiration the soldier wanted him to spread.


    ''I''m not like him,'' Khan thought. ''I don''t like seeing pointless death, but I can''t be so selfless toward humans.''


    Khan tried his best to evaluate himself properly. He didn''t see himself as a bad guy. The Slums had forced him to develop a selfish side, but he couldn''t see that trait in terms of good and evil since surviving had the priority.


    Istrone had seen a cold version of Khan, even if that had saved many recruits. Meanwhile, Nitis had experienced the betrayal of his own species, but he felt partially proud about that. He had spared many innocent Niqols from a lot of pain.


    Overall, Khan could be evil for what he wanted, but he generally tried to avoid causing pain. That could be a good starting point, but he knew that it didn''t suit the Global Armypletely for a simple reason. He couldn''t see the difference between humans and other alien species.


    "Get moving now," Captain yman ordered after nodding toward the assault team. "Good luck to you all!"


    The Lieutenant in charge of the team shouted a "yes, sir" that the soldiers behind her echoed. Then, she led her group toward a series of vehicles waiting for them in the distance. They were simple armored trucks, but they wouldn''t need to enter the battlefield. Their sole purpose was to lead the assault team near the closest entrance to the underground structure.


    "It has finally begun," Moses whispered as the group marched toward the vehicles. "Are you excited, Boss?"


    "There is nothing to be excited about when going into a battle," Khan stated. "However, I must admit that I''m looking forward topleting the mission."


    A fewughs that the Lieutenant had to suppress with a re resounded among the group. The superior''s eyes eventually fell on Khan to scold him, but she saw nothing more than pure concentration. He wasn''t even looking at the path ahead. His gaze appeared lost even if he continued to express awareness of his surroundings.


    Khan felt his self-loathe, sadness, and desperation melting to make room for a simple and profound mindset.. The mana in the environment yed a melody, and he intended to focus on it for the whole mission.

 Chapter 271 - Mission

    "Khan, can you take care of it?" Lieutenant Leville asked.


    "Another one?" Khanmented while peeking past the corner to inspect a metal wall that blocked the path.


    "They are trying to slow us down," Lieutenant Leville sighed. "Though I don''t understand why unless they can expand the underground structure in a matter of weeks."


    "It would defeat thebs'' purpose to expand deeper into their territory," Khanmented whileing out of the corner and approaching the wall.


    "And we can''t leave the area assigned to the thirty-seventh battalion," Lieutenant Leville added. "Well, we shouldn''t, at least."


    ''It''s about time for us to go out too,'' Khan thought before stretching his fingers to give his hand the shape of a sword.


    The assault team had entered the underground structure through a trench that the allied forces had captured during the month that Khan had spent recovering. Finding the exact location of an elevator had been annoying, but activating it had been easy since the Global Army had built a copy of the ring retrieved in the prisons.


    The march inside the underground structure had also been easy but slow. The tunnels were rtivelyrge, but they could be very long, and each corner could hide traps or small groups of Stal.


    The assault team had advanced slowly to prioritize its safety, and they had even encountered a few hindrances during the two weeks spent inside the tunnels. The traps had been easy to notice and destroy, but the small squads of Stal had forced them to dy their schedule by entire days at times.


    The issue was in the underground structure''syout. Even a small squad of Stal could force the entire assault team to a stop with a few rifles. Lieutenant Leville didn''t want to send her underlings forward without inspecting the area, so her group had to remain behind corners for a while until she felt confident enough to advance.


    Those attacks didn''t even lead to satisfying victories. The Stal had always managed to escape through secret passages or by deploying walls resistant to mana before the assault team could reach them. Khan and the others had never caught up with them, but that didn''t stop their advance.


    The same had happened now. A small squad of Stal had kept the assault team busy for two days. Lieutenant Leville had been ready to give the order to advance after that period only to find a ck wall blocking the path.


    A red-purple light began to cover Khan''s hand before condensing into the shape of a short sword. He then ced the spell on the wall and stabbed it deeply in its structure.


    The walls were resistant to mana, so bullets and regr spells would take a while to pierce it. The tunnel was also underground, so explosive or simr attacks with arge area of effect could put the whole team in danger. However, the assault team had a chaos wielder, and Lieutenant Leville didn''t hesitate to use him as soon as she understood that his power was perfect for the situation.


    The wall couldn''t stop the chaos ws spell. The glowing short sword pierced its surface and created cracks around its shape. Those fissures spread like a spiderweb as the attack dug deeper into the wall, and metallic shards soon started to fall as the destruction continued.


    The wall''s resistant properties fought against the destructive influence of the chaos element, but they eventually had to give in and crumble. A hole slowly formed and allowed Khan to push the spell deeper. That hindrance was thick and annoying to deal with, but he could open a passage in a bit more than five minutes.


    The Stal that had stopped the assault team for two days were nowhere to be seen. Khan couldn''t sense anything past the wall, so he proceeded to erge the passage to create a path that wouldn''t hinder a possible retreat.


    Khan had done the same with the other three walls that the team had encountered on their path, but the scene continued to surprise his teammates. The chaos element''s destructive power was quite famous, but the soldiers remained amazed that he could keep his spell active for so long.


    Khan took that role as part of his training. He had be quite good with the chaos ws. They were his easiest spell, but he liked that he could keep them active for so long after a little more than a month.


    "There should be ab nearby," Lieutenant Leville announced while leading the group forward.


    After crossing a few corners, the assault team reached a long corridor that didn''t seem to contain anything. Still, one of the second-level mages used a sound ability to study the areas past the dark walls and uncover hidden rooms.


    The inspection continued for a while, even after the soldier found something. He wanted to make sure that the Stal or the Guko they controlled didn''t rig the entrance, but he eventually felt forced tounch attacks.


    The soldier sent soundwaves on the other side of the wall by cing his hands on specific spots of that dark surface. Explosions resounded in the area as soon as the attacks touched traps or triggers, and the process continued until Lieutenant Leville ordered him to stop.


    Khan''s time arrived at that point. He approached the spot marked by the soldier and summoned the chaos ws again before stabbing them on the wall.


    Theb''s entrance wasn''t as resistant as the previous wall. A spiderweb of cracks expanded before shards fell, creating arge hole that allowed the soldiers to inspect the area on the other side.


    The room past the wall was dark, and the feeble light from the corridor wasn''t enough to illuminate its insides. Still, Khan and the Lieutenants could confirm the absence of lifeforms on the other side, so the team moved to the next part of the n.


    Khan left the hole and let other soldiers take his position. Four burly first-level warriors approached the spot and began to pull from its edges. The entrance opposed their force, but it eventually gave in and started to open.


    A desteb slowly unfolded in the team''s vision. The area was identical to what Khan had seen during the escape, except for its emptiness. The room didn''t have monitors or consoles. It only featured a long table, a series of severed tubes, and random broken machines that no one would be able to connect to their previous form.


    Lieutenant Leville nodded at the other two second-level warriors before stepping forward. The first-level warriors armed with rifles raised their weapons and pointed them at the dark depths of the area in case something unexpected happened. Meanwhile, the others moved aside to give theirpanions more space.


    Khan could stay in front of the entrance even if he didn''t have a rifle. He was the only one inside the team to have seen an activeb, so his experience could be useful. However, he couldn''t do much since the area appeared empty.


    Lieutenant Leville seized some shards or tools that seemed interesting before returning into the corridor and giving the items to the soldiers in charge of the provisions. The team had expected that oue, but it felt annoying anyway since they had to spend two weeks to reach it.


    The assault team had the map retrieved during Khan''s escape, but that alone couldn''t ensure the mission''s sess. Khan had reached the camp more than a month ago, giving the Stal and the Guko they controlled all the time needed to relocate. Moreover, the hindrances along the way only dyed their advance even further, worsening the overall prospect of the n.


    "This is far from promising," Lieutenant Leville sighed after her underlings gathered around her. "HQ has authorized us to explore the areas near the frontlines, but the Stal have probably hidden thebs. I''m not sure we canplete the mission."


    "Let''s just clear the checkpoints and leave," One of the second-level warriors suggested. "Our hands are tied, and going too deep into the enemy territory is just reckless. The Stal might keep us locked inside forever in that case."


    "We can stillplete Captain yman''s mission," The other second-level warrior said. "I say we follow both orders. I prefer these tunnels than the trench anyway."


    "It''s not so easy," Lieutenant Leville exined while moving her short dark hair from her forehead. "The Stal are keeping track of our current location. Resurfacing might be too dangerous."


    Khan soon grew bored of the conversation. His mind started to wander as he lost himself in the movements of the mana in the area. The tunnel used to be calm, but the presence of hispanions made the entire environment fall into a mess.


    That wasn''t the first time that Khan decided to ignore his surroundings. Focusing on the behavior and actions of that incredible energy made him forget about everything. He liked the faint peace that losing himself brought to his mind, but he started to notice something oddtely.


    The Niqols knew a lot about mana, and Liiza had been on point when she described the chaos element. Khan could feel a faint desire to disrupt the harmony around him whenever his surroundings grew too calm. He didn''t necessarily want to destroy things. He only wanted the waves of mana to move faster or grow denser.


    ''Is this my nature?'' Khan often found himself thinking during those moments.


    Liiza had never exined to Khan how the Niqols studied the mana before starting to use it, but he guessed that they followed a simr procedure. He could sense his knowledge, sensitivity, and ability increase as he remained immersed in that mental state. The world talked, and he was slowly learning to listen to it.


    "Khan!" Lieutenant Leville''s voice eventually forced Khan to snap out of his special mental state.


    "What is it?" Khan asked while moving his eyes on his superior.


    "What do you think about Lieutenant Zartea''s idea?" Lieutenant Leville questioned.


    "My attention was on the area, ma''am," Khan half-lied. "I didn''t think you would have required my opinion."


    Lieutenant Leville couldn''t scold Khan for that distraction after that lie. She knew that his senses were among the sharpest in her team, so his efforts actually ended up gaining her approval.


    "Lieutenant Zartea was wondering whether you had long-range spells," Lieutenant Leville exined.


    "The elevators might lead to a trap," Lieutenant Zartea continued. "I can check the area beforehand, but the Stal are too sturdy for my long-range spells. I believe yours might be able to hurt even second-level warriors."


    "I would destroy the elevator," Khan replied while crossing his arms. "I would even put everyone in the area in danger."


    "That''s not better than a grenade then," The third Lieutenant sighed. "We should divide ourselves into two teams ande out from different elevators."


    "I don''t want us to split when we can''tmunicate," Lieutenant Leville revealed. "Still, the other options are too dangerous."


    Lieutenant Leville took out her phone and used it to project a few holograms in the middle of the group. The underground structure''syout and a map of the areas behind the enemy trenches fused to create an urate description of thends above the assault team.


    The Lieutenant quickly picked two elevators slightly outside the settlement standing above the group''s position. She set precise hours before asking who wanted to be part of the decoys.


    "Are you sure?" Lieutenant Leville asked while looking at Khan''s raised arm. "You are quite valuable in the exploration of these tunnels."


    "I''m also the best on the battlefield," Khan calmly announced. "Also, I can''t use the rifles as well as the others, so it only makes sense for me to be part of the initial attack."


    Lieutenant Leville couldn''t argue against that, and Khan didn''t fail to notice how some of the first-level warriors decided to imitate him. Their skill with the rifles wasn''t bad, but they wanted to fight side by side with him anyway.


    Khan didn''t give the event much thought, but he still started to understand what Captain yman said about inspiring the humans. Khan only wanted to fight to immerse himself in the battlefield, but hispanions saw his behavior as a selfless act that made the best out of his abilities.


    ''Even lies can inspire,'' Khan thought before disregarding the whole issue.


    The assault team split and Khan''s group moved toward one of the elevators chosen by Lieutenant Leville. Lieutenant Zartea was also there, but the first-level warriors in the group seemed to prefer standing behind Khan instead of following their superior.


    The elevator quickly appeared in the team''s view, and the Lieutenant blew upward while fusing mana with his breath. His spell spread throughout the opening that led to the surface and studied the area before dispersing.


    "The area above us should be empty," Lieutenant Zartea whispered, "But I can''t say anything for the settlement. There might be Stal patrolling the area, so remember to be swift."


    A series of nods was enough to reassure the Lieutenant, who picked up his phone and kept track of the hour. It was impossible tomunicate with the other team in that area, so Lieutenant Leville had chosen a precise hour to coordinate the attack. Khan''s team had to wait fifteen minutes before activating the elevator and moving toward the surface.


    The darkness of the night hid the group''s arrival, but a series of voices and lights immediately reached their position. Loud, odd growls then resounded and made the soldiers shoot toward the short buildings that had appeared in their view.


    Khan didn''t think. A beacon had fallen on his group, but he left the area quickly. He shot forward toward the many presences that had started to move after the rm rang. Thirty or so Stal gathered right ahead, but he didn''t slow down nor change his direction.


    The first-grade knife appeared in his left hand when the first Stal became clear. Lieutenant Leville was at his side, and the other soldiers were behind him, but he didn''t pay attention to them. Khan only listened to the many masses of mana in the enemy rifles moving up and down as the aliens prepared themselves to fire.


    Khan and Lieutenant Leville reached the Stal before any of them could fire. Red-purple light began to shine from Khan''s left hand as he covered the knife with the sharp membrane and waved it at the first alien on his path. Thetter tried to use an arm to punch him, but it only found its limb flying away from its body.


    The growls became angry as the Stal and the soldiers shed. The aliens fired when their opponents were already on them, so those projectiles missed their targets and created openings that the humans didn''t hesitate to exploit.


    Khan waved his knife left and right, focusing on quick and short sprints to remain outside the most crowded areas. His group only counted thirteen soldiers, so their goal didn''t involve winning the battle. They only had to buy enough time for their allies.


    Khan rarely managed to inflict deadly blows in that situation. Punches flew everywhere, and jumping was too dangerous in the middle of that crowd. He often had to wave his knife to interrupt attacks or leave cuts on non-vital spots.


    A Stal tried to take Khan by surprise once. Thetter had just finished severing half of an iing fist when a tall figure tried to block his escape route by jumping on him. The alien was too big, and it had even spread its arms to prevent him from dodging at its sides.


    Red-purple light quickly came out of Khan''s right hand while the alien continued to fall. He stretched his arm forward even if the spell had yet to form fully, but the short de appeared right before he could touch his opponent''s waist.


    The effects of the chaos ws turned out to be devastating. Khan only wanted to kill the alien before it fell on him, but he saw arge chunk of its waist exploding into a gory spectacle as soon as the ethereal de reached a specific depth.


    The scene would leave anyone stunned, but Khan wasn''t thinking. A rain of blood and gore filled his vision, but he only saw that an opening had appeared now that a quarter of the alien''s body had vanished. His feet kicked the ground without showing any hesitation, and filth fell on his face and uniform as he crossed the hole that he had just created.


    A few more exchanges had to happen before a series of azure projectiles started to fly from the other side of the settlement. The second team hade out of their elevator and had exploited the diversion to surprise the Stal.. It didn''t take long before every alien fell lifelessly on the ground.

 Chapter 272 - Lies

    The symphony of violence, growls, and cries stopped, and a silent calmness broken only by many steps reced it. Khan listened to that change of mood as the two teams regrouped and Lieutenant Leville started assigning specific tasks to a few soldiers.


    The assault team had seized the settlement. The rifles, vehicles, provisions, and various resources of the Stal could be helpful to the human side, so the soldiers had to seize them while the Lieutenant studied how to deliver them.


    Khan wandered past the corpses as his eyes moved among the area. The sharp difference between that silence and the previous chaos left him pensive for no specific reason. Something inside him desired that peace, but he also wanted the previous mess tost a bit longer.


    His eyes eventually fell on the alien corpses. Strands of mana seeped out of those huge figures while part of that energy remained in their insides. There were two second-level warriors among the dead Stal, and an idea appeared in Khan''s mind when he sensed the amount of mana that remained in their bodies.


    ''Is a second-level warrior enough for the third checkpoint of the [Blood Shield]?'' Khan wondered as he stretched his hand toward the hole a projectile had dug in the alien''s head.


    Red-purple mana came out of his hand as he closed his eyes. Khan felt his energy fusing with the blood dripping out of the injury. The nature of his element made part of that dark liquid ssh on its own, but he slowly suppressed its destructive properties to obtainplete control over the material.


    Khan opened his eyes and took a deep breath before fixing his gaze on the blood. He tried to make it condense in the flesh below, but the liquid sshed and divided itself into a series of drops that flew everywhere.


    ''Is this a problem with my mana or my expertise?'' Khan asked himself. ''Maybe both.''


    "Khan, what are you doing?" Peggy Kilwood asked while a frown filled her face.


    "I was only checking something," Khan lied. "The Stal sure are a strong species."


    "Don''t you want to clean your face?" Peggy continued, uncaring of his previous line.


    Khan touched his cheek and finally recalled the blood and gore that had fallen on his face. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he had forgotten what had happened during the battle.


    Peggy had seized a towel from one of the buildings in the settlement and was handing it to Khan. Thetter quickly took it to remove all the filth from his face, but hispanion''s expression said that the situation didn''t improve too much.


    "I''m going," Khan sighed, and Peggy nodded a few times.


    Soldiers ran around the settlement while carrying various tools or resources. Khan dodged a few of them to enter one of the buildings and use the bathroom to remove the remains of blood that tainted his face. When he came out of the structure, he found Moses, Peggy, and other first-level warriors waiting.


    "Is something the matter?" Khan asked.


    "Are you okay?" Moses questioned. "You have been kind of lost since the beginning of the mission."


    "Oh," Khan whispered beforeing up with a lie. "It''s a bit hard to deal with my element. I have to remain focused."


    "No wonder," Moses replied. "I''m surprised you can do so well. I''ve heard nasty things about chaos wielders."


    "His talent isn''t the issue here," Peggy stated. "I don''t know how you can cast so many spells in a row without getting tired."


    The other soldiers nodded and began to voice their approval. It was clear that they found Khan''s mana capacity odd, but he didn''t think he had gone overboard. Luckily for him, one of his underlings voiced ament that exined the issue. "He lights up his knife non-stop."


    "That''s not really a spell," Khan lied again while showing his palm and releasing a bit of mana.


    The mana created a small red-purple sphere that slowly changed color as Khan focused on modifying its properties. Its shades initially intensified before growing pale.


    "This is something I''ve learnt on Nitis," Khan exined. "The mana naturally changes color and texture if you modify its nature."


    The soldiers gasped in surprise and inspected the tiny sphere of mana. Khan never used it to do anything, but they could feel that its power and nature changed whenever it gained different shades.


    "Right, you had to go to an alien academy," Mosesmented. "I guess you had to learn something to gain points in the eyes of the Global Army."


    "It''s more useful than you think," Khan revealed while drawing his knife and creating the red-purple membrane. "I can add the properties of my element to martial arts without relying on spells."


    A new series of surprised gasps and sounds resounded among the soldiers. Khan was lying about his techniques, but the theory behind the Niqols'' methods was real, and it was easy to exin its usefulness.


    "How long did it take you to learn?" Moses asked while scratching his chin.


    "I''d say six months to start thinking about using this ability in battle," Khan eximed, using numbers that reflected his actual aplishments. "Though I went all-out on the Niqols'' training when I was there."


    Most soldiers diverted their gazes at those words. They could guess why Khan had worked so hard on Nitis, and they didn''t want to mention that topic. Instead, Moses and a few others tried to consider learning that ability, but it soon became obvious that they were finding problems with that idea.


    Khan felt able to understand what was happening in their minds. Six months weren''t a long time, but the soldiers could focus on techniques that the Global Army acknowledged in that period. It would have been fine if the matter only involved a few weeks, but half a year was simply too much.


    "Did the Niqols help with your element?" Moses asked as the group began to disperse.


    "They did far more than that," Khan sighed as he retracted the barrier and inspected his knife. A few new marks had appeared on the weapon after the battle. He might need to change it after the mission.


    The assault team loaded the three armored trucks in the settlement with the resources seized from the various buildings. There was even a tank and a small vehicle with two seats, and Lieutenant Leville stared at them while trying to understand how to deliver them to the humans.


    "Alright, gather up!" Lieutenant Leville eventually shouted. "The enemy lines aren''t far away. I need the best shooters and someone willing to go into the tank. The others will remain here and defend the settlement in case the Stal try to reim it. If there are too many of them, run toward the enemy trenches."


    Khan instinctively stepped forward, but the Lieutenant stretched an arm to stop him. She shook her head as a quick exnation left her mouth. "We won''t get in their range. We''ll gun them down and let the allied forces on the other side advance."


    Khan could imagine the scene, mostly because his escape had featured something simr. A group of twelve soldiers had managed to conquer a trench with nothing more than a few rifles and a powerful decoy. Lieutenant Leville and her team could do far more with vehicles, a tank, and arger group.


    "You and Lieutenant Webburn are in charge while we are away," Lieutenant Leville ordered. "Let''s move up, people! Fill the trucks and the car!"


    The soldiers were aware of their skills, so a team didn''t take long to form. Everyone took their position on the vehicles and started to leave. They couldn''t move quickly due to the tank, but they eventually disappeared from Khan''s sight.


    Khan reached for one of the buildings used to inspect the surrounding areas. Some soldiers went with him, while others upied the other structures with a simr purpose.


    It was still deep into the night, and the silence that filled the settlement made the soldiers decide to remain silent. It was hard to inspect the distant areas due to the darkness, and turning on the beacons could attract unwanted attention, so everyone focused on their immediate surroundings.


    The two women that had followed Khan nced at him from time to time. They wanted to take that chance to talk with him, but the nature of the situation forced them to remain silent.


    Khan ignored those nces and focused on the transparent ss used as walls in the room. He couldn''t see much, but he could sense the ground at the base of the building. That was enough to check eventual elevators since they were the most threatening aspect of the enemy territory.


    The silent night went on peacefully, and the morning didn''t bring any problem when it arrived. The soldiers remained in their position, but they left the buildings when they saw theirpanions in the distance. They appeared tired due to the long fight and walk, but Lieutenant Leville didn''t let anyone rest yet.


    The settlement was easy to protect, but the assault team would remain in the open. Besides, thest two battles had already ignored the mission''s primary purpose. HQ could consider stealing vehicles and delivering them to the allied side a waste of time or an unnecessary deviation.


    Lieutenant Leville led the entire team back inside the underground structure. The group marched for half a day before reaching an arearge enough to contain them and choosing to rest there. Their provision couldst for a long time, especially after refilling them in the settlement, so they only had to sleep and recover before resuming the main mission.


    The following weeks saw the assault team busy in the slow advance iconic of the first part of the mission. Small squads of Stal would appear to dy the soldiers, and walls or other traps would force the group to waste time, but nothing tried to stop them forever.


    The mission continued rtively smoothly, with real battles happening only when the group attacked settlements on the surface. Those fights weren''t too hard due to their proximity to the frontlines and the assault team''s sheer prowess. Still, losses happened from time to time, even if they mostly involved one or two soldiers.


    The underground structure never rewarded the long efforts of the soldiers. The assault team eventually visited the remaining threebs, but they were empty and abandoned. Nothing valuable had remained there, which turned the mission into aplete failure.


    Lieutenant Leville and her underlings didn''t feel too bad about that since they expected a simr oue. The gains of the thirty-seventh battalion were also enough to quell any annoyance that could appear in their minds. The group had sent many resources to the allied side, so they could feel proud of themselves.


    However, HQ couldn''t be satisfied with that oue.. When Lieutenant Leville led her team back to the nearest allied trench, she received orders to wait until the higher-ups of the Global Army came up with a new n.

 Chapter 273 - Surprise

    The sunlight shone on the partially barren ins near the frontlines. The dark metal of the moving camp glowed under that yellow radiance, and the same happened to the small habitations ced next to the structure.


    The sounds of steps on the metallic floor awakened Khan from his nightmare. He was sleeping in the open with his back on the camp''s wall, and the melody yed by the mana around him quickly reced his faint drowsiness.


    The assault team hadpleted the inspection of the fourbs in the underground structure and found nothing. After that, Lieutenant Leville had brought everyone in the nearest camp behind the allied trenches, where they had settled to wait for HQ''s orders.


    The moving camp already had its toon, but it also contained a series of metal bags that could transform into small habitations. They were simr to the tents that Yeza and the Niqols had deployed before the tragic attack on the valley, except that they relied entirely on technology.


    The camp didn''t have enough tents for the entire assault team, so many soldiers had decided to share the small habitations or set up beds in the crowded dormitory. Khan hated the idea of being in hot environments, and his training schedule was tight, so he had decided to remain in the open. He entered the main structure only to shower or eat.


    The assault team had been on the camp for three entire days, but HQ had yet to announce its decision on the matter rted to the anti-mana project. Lieutenant Leville and the others didn''t mind that wait. They already felt quite satisfied with the resources stolen from the Stal, and Khan also liked to have the time to focus on his training.


    The soldiers in the camp respected the assault team due to its unique mission and conquest of the trench. Lieutenant Leville and her underlings had saved them from the dangers of the frontlines. Also, all the members of her group had be somewhat famous due to the secrecy of their task.


    Even more fame fell on Khan since his young age only added value to everything he had aplished. The soldiers in the camp naturally wanted to get closer to him, and that wasn''t limited to the female side, but his dismissive character quickly made them give up on the task.


    Khan''s mood was strange. His desperation continued to be a lingering feeling that he couldn''t disperse nor suppress, but he could ignore it when he lost himself in the mana.


    His focus had moved away from the simple study of the mana. Its behavior felt almost obvious after the weeks spent listening to it. His approach had shifted to something deeper, more personal. Khan wanted to understand his nature topare it to the chaos element.


    Normally, the soldiers would develop elements that suited their bodies and characters. The mana had deep connections to every aspect of a person, but Khan was an exception due to his mutations.


    That left Khan with questions that he seemed unable to answer. Where did he end? Where did the Nak start? What would have be of him without the mutations? Was his current character the result of the chaos element? Did the mutations affect his personality to suit the nature of his energy?


    Khan didn''t know how to find answers to those questions. The mutations had probably hidden them forever, but his doubts remained, especially now that he was growing closer to the mana. Something told him that he needed to understand himself to move his abilities to the next step.


    Time had flown quickly during the mission in the underground structure. The longing that upied an important part of Khan''s mind intensified whenever he realized how far Nitis had gotten.


    His second year in the academy had already reached the fifth month. The time spent on Nitis would soon drown among his other experiences. Right now, the long period on that dark upied a long part of his life, but that statement would slowly lose value as time passed.


    Khan could sense that he was starting to feel better. He wasn''t happy nor ready to open his heart again, but he was getting used to his new state. The same had happened after the events with the Kred, but that only scared him.


    His first kill had been a tragic experience, but he had learnt how to ignore the awful nature of that action. Khan didn''t want the same to happen with his time on Nitis. He preferred endless sadness over treating that intense love as nothing more than a happy memory.


    Lieutenant Dyester''s teachings often resounded in his mind whenever those thoughts became too loud. That was one of the main reasons behind his introspection. Khan wanted to understand who he was before deciding what he wanted to be.


    ''I could turn into a monster,'' Khan thought as the sunlight shone on his face. ''Everything would be easier if I just stopped caring. I could spend my life killing on the battlefield and earning ranks until I find the Nak. I can always unlock my feelings afterward.''


    Khan immediately mocked those thoughts. Could he even relearn how to feel after spending so long as a mere pawn of the Global Army? Besides, he didn''t want to stop feeling. Khan had made that decision even before Nitis.


    ''I can''t experience the happiness if I don''t ept the sadness,'' Khan sighed while bumping the back of his head on the metal surface of the camp. ''I couldn''t have gotten Liiza otherwise, and she is the best thing that has happened in my life.''


    Khan bumped his head on the metal again as if the action helped him disperse his doubts. He had already explored those doubts countless times. Turning into a puppet simply wasn''t for him.


    ''At least I know what I don''t want to be,'' Khanughed internally. ''Now I have to understand what I want.''


    Khan already had the answer to that. Liiza, Snow, and the other Niqols appeared in his mind. Even George was among them. He wanted to be with his friends, away from the Global Army and politics. Still, there was another figure among those familiar faces. The glowing azure head of a Nak stood proudly behind everyone.


    ''I have two curses now,'' Khan shook his head. ''I can''t pursue peace because of the nightmares, and I can''t ept love because I''ve already experienced the best version of that feeling. Dammit, I''m spending too long inside my mind.''


    Khan decided to silence the mess inside his mind to have something to eat. Soldiers appeared in his vision when the camp''s entrance slid open, and they limited themselves to polite nods when he walked past them. He replied to those gestures with fake smiles and nods of his own, but he never exchanged words with them.


    The same happened in the canteen. Khan found an isted spot where to sit, eat, and read some of the books on his phone. He was getting better at the "enhanced reading", but he still struggled to perform it withoutmitting mistakes. Yet, his current expertise was enough to memorize a few pages during his meals.


    Khan had obviously tested the "simted mental battle" before and after his mission with the assault team, but the technique remained too demanding for now. Gaining ess to the specific part of his brain and flooding it with mana was doable, even if tiring, but what came after required a level of concentration that he couldn''t achieve yet.


    "You are early as always," Moses eximed in a voice full of energy as he approached Khan''s seat.


    "We don''t know when we''ll be stuck inside those tunnels again," Khan justified himself while putting away his phone. "Also, you are pretty early too."


    "I have a reputation to defend here," Moses exined through a sigh. "And I have to gain points over my cousin. She is better than me in negotiations and other stuff. I need topensate with hard work."


    "Your family can''t be so small," Khan dered. "I''m sure you can find a role that suits your character."


    "Tell that to my father," Moses joked as a tray came out of the table. "I''m sure Lord Kilwood can''t wait to hear your opinion."


    "You are grumpy as usual in the morning," Khan chuckled.


    "This wait is starting to annoy me," Moses revealed. "It''s fun to get all this admiration, really fun, but I can''t add a failure to my profile. Our only gains can''t even enter the official records."


    "They can''t put the failure on us," Khan responded. "We went down there and found nothing."


    "Khan, you know that I have no intention to offend you when I say this," Moses replied. "You have nothing to lose. Your merits are also enough to obtain forgiveness for a major crime. You don''t have to fight against your older brothers, sisters, and cousins, and whatever to get a bit of recognition inside your family."


    "Being rich must be hard," Khan mocked.


    "Shut up," Moses grinned before focusing on his food.


    Simr scenes had happened in the previous days on the camp. Khan had been mostly lost during the mission, but he had still behaved perfectly, and some soldiers had eventually learnt to ignore his dismissive personality. They even felt surprised when they understood that Khan could joke around easily.


    More soldiers from the assault team arrived after Moses. Peggy and other familiar faces gathered around his table and ate their breakfast quickly, exchanging a few words and jokes from time to time. The men and women in the toon stationed there inspected their table with desire and admiration. Khan and hispanions basically were the cool kids of the camp.


    An unusual event ruined the morning routine before many soldiers could reach the canteen. Lieutenant Leville''s loud voice abruptly pierced the chatters inside the moving camp and made everyone fall silent. Khan and the others couldn''t hear the first part of her phrase clearly, but they couldn''t miss what followed it.


    "What crazy bullshit is this?" Lieutenant Leville shouted as she ran past the canteen''s entrance while keeping her phone near her ear. "We would have already conquered it if we had enough troops. I thought that the whole point of the trenches was to preserve the status quo."


    Lieutenant Leville became impossible to hear after she left the moving camp to make the conversation private, and chatters inevitably resumed when the metal door slid close. Of course, everyone guessed that HQ had finally given new orders.


    "Do you want to bet?" Peggy asked while moving her eyes among herpanions.


    "Not at all," Moses refused. "You always win when ites to political stuff."


    "I''m broke," Khan stated.


    "Only if I can copy your bet," A soldier eximed.


    "I''m in too if I can have the same bet," A second soldier added.


    "What''s the point of a bet then?" Peggy scoffed before moving his eyes in the direction where the Lieutenant had left. "Though it must be something bad. Lieutenant Leville usually is quite restrained."


    "What can even happen?" A soldier asked. "We are already at war."


    "And we already explored the underground structure," Moses added.


    "We didn''t explore all of it," Khan reminded.


    "We couldn''t proceed forward," Moses responded. "We had allied toons on one side and the depths of the enemy territory on the other. Continuing the mission with a bit more than thirty soldiers was simply stupid."


    "That''s why HQ has decided to send the whole battalion," Lieutenant Webburn announced as he entered the canteen. "We have orders to take the entire quadrant. Captain yman is already notifying all the toons under him."


    A series of surprised gasps and loud "what" resounded in the canteen. They didn''te only from the assault team. Even the other soldiers who didn''t join the special mission felt stunned in front of that announcement.


    "Sir, with all due respect, we struggle to take trenches," Moses eximed. "How can we even consider the idea of seizing an entire quadrant?"


    "The details of the n are still unclear," Lieutenant Webburn revealed. "However, HQ seems willing to send every resource in the hands of the thirty-seventh battalion on the frontlines.. We might even have air support."

 Chapter 274 - Reassuring

    Khan wasn''t an ignorant soldier anymore. He had studied Lieutenant Pouille''s books and had learnt many important aspects of the Global Army. His knowledge now involved ranks, levels, and the differences among various groups, so he could understand what it meant to send a whole battalion into the enemy territory.


    Ecoruta would belong to the Guko even if the Global Army helped in its conquest. It didn''t make much sense to win the war and renegotiate the favorable alliance with the alien species, sorge attacks weren''t part of HQ''s ns.


    The decision to send a whole battalion forward described how important the anti-mana project was for the Global Army, and Khan couldn''t help but inspect the issue coldly. Forcing arge army to advance through multiple trenches was risky and expensive. HQ was willing to sacrifice many troops as long as the mission seeded.


    "How does that make any sense?" Moses whispered during the rtively calm uproar. "We don''t know where they moved thebs. What''s the point of seizing the whole quadrant?"


    "Maybe the Guko on the space station know something about the tunnels," Khanmented.


    ''Or maybe they are sending us forward blindly in the hope of uncovering clues,'' Khan continued in his mind.


    Lieutenant Webburn saw a storm of polite questions fly toward him, but he dodged most of them with a believable excuse. He was also in the dark about the attack. Lieutenant Leville was still talking with a superior in the end.


    The questions transformed into chatters among soldiers, and the news soon spread throughout the camp and the habitations outside. In a matter of minutes, everyone became aware of HQ''s decision.


    Khan didn''t say much during that mess. He tried to listen to some voices from soldiers who had been on Ecoruta longer than him, but they also sounded quite lost. The troops had never left the trenches during their stay on the, and the assault team had been the only exception.


    Still, Khan''s experience in crowded battles was above hispanions. The size of the battlefield would naturally surpass what he had witnessed on Nitis. Yet, he could develop a prospect in his mind after taking into consideration what the Stal owned in terms of weapons and defenses.


    ''The attack will be a bloody mess,'' Khan concluded while heaving a deep sigh.


    The issue wasn''t with the sheer number of defenses that the Stal could deploy. The thirty-seventh battalion could probably match those after the efforts of the assault team. However, the side advancing toward the enemy lines would always suffer huge losses during a trench war. It would be impossible to dodge the rain of projectiles in a frontal attack featuring hundreds of soldiers.


    The prospect was grim, even when Khan added eventual tanks and armored trucks in the frontlines. The regions on that side of Ecoruta were rtively t, so vehicles wouldn''t have problems advancing. Yet, that wouldn''t improve the situation too much.


    The same went for the air support. The spaceships could probably turn the tides of a battle, but the soldiers on the surface would have to take care of the anti-aircraft guns behind the enemy lines first. That alone would require considerable sacrifices in terms of human lives.


    "What do you think, Khan?" One of the soldiers at Khan''s table asked once the chatters began to quiet down.


    "It''s too soon to think about anything," Khan honestly exined. "We don''t know the exact tactic. Also, the area covered by the thirty-seventh battalion is huge. We have the manpower to seize the whole quadrant, but that would normally require many months."


    Khan only hinted at his idea, but everyone at the table understood what he meant. An attack that involved multiple frontlines would have a high chance of failure since it would force the battalion to spread its troops. It made more sense for the assault to target a specific location.


    "They might really know something," Moses said as a hand fell on his chin.


    "Khan," Peggy called while lowering her eyes and raising them again to look at Khan, "You have more experience than us in open battlefields. Can you teach us some tricks?"


    The question ended up taking Khan by surprise. His profile had a few descriptions about Nitis, but theycked many details, and Lieutenant Kintea had limited himself to talk about positive deeds. Peggy had to be really worried to ask for his help when she was so unclear about Khan''s actual experience.


    It turned out that all the soldiers at the table shared Peggy''s worries. They turned toward Khan and waited for his answer as expectant expressions filled their faces.


    "I don''t know what to say," Khan replied while moving his eyes among those steading gazes. "How honest do you want me to be?"


    "Don''t treat us like kids," Moses scoffed. "We are also soldiers. We fought at your sides for weeks already."


    Khan didn''t want to shatter hispanion''s hopes, but he didn''t know how to inspire them either. Captain yman would probably have straightforward and loud speech in those situations, but Khan wasn''t him.


    The images of the muddy valley appeared in Khan''s mind as he tried toe up with an answer. Only madmen would decide to jump in such a chaotic, dirty, and dangerous environment. Actually, they would also consider their alternatives before making up their minds.


    "There aren''t tricks," Khan eventually stated. "A random bullet can blow your head off while you are distracted. An attack aimed at yourpanion can take you by surprise. A tank from the other side of the battlefield might fire arge projectile and catch you in the explosion.


    "You shouldn''t try tricks. You can only be careful and make sure to have trustworthy people around you. Everything else is a mix of preparation, determination, and luck."


    A moment of silence followed those honest words. Even some soldiers in the tables nearby had listened to the conversation and had lowered their heads afterward. Khan didn''t add any detail, but they still understood that the real battlefield could be merciless.


    "How did you survive there?" Moses asked at some point, and many eyes fell on Khan.


    The desire to have a drink appeared in Khan''s mind as memories of the muddy valley surged. He recalled the chaos, the cries, the sudden invasion of the monsters, and the random deaths that had urred. He couldn''t see that, but his eyes grew empty, and his expression went cold.


    "I''m fast, and I have a good understanding of my surroundings, even in the middle of the mess," Khan exined. "Still, I would have died if my superiors didn''t sacrifice themselves to lead the enemies away."


    Many faces went dark. The soldiers in the canteen weren''tpletely inexperienced. They had seen deaths and struggles inside the trenches, but they knew that an open battlefield could bring far more problems.


    "Do you think we have chances to win?" Moses eventually asked the question that was in everyone''s minds.


    "Of course," Khan replied without showing any hesitation. "We should outnumber the Stal, and their inner areas shouldn''t have defenses meant for foot soldiers. The initial attacks will be the greatest hurdle."


    Some relief seeped into the dark faces. Khan was right. Everything would be easier after surpassing the initial trenches. The battalion would only have to deal with small settlements and cities that could be unprepared for war.


    Khan had to suppress a helpless sigh when he saw that reaction. He didn''t lie, but he had avoided saying a few things. He didn''t mention how many soldiers could die during those initial attacks.


    Almost half a day had to go by before the soldiers could obtain a proper announcement about the mission. Lieutenant Leville gathered all the soldiers outside the camp after lunch and described HQ''s orders in great detail, even naming those who belonged to specific teams.


    Khan turned out to be correct. HQ didn''t n an offensive that involved the whole quadrant. It wanted the thirty-seventh battalion to reach a specific location deep behind the enemy lines since it suspected that the Stal might have stretched the underground structure there.


    The attack would have three different fronts. One would feature the main army fighting to pierce the enemy lines, another the team would handle the vehicles, while thest would have elite soldiers tasked to take care of specific defenses.


    The n sounded solid, and Khan felt d to hear that he had gotten a few things wrong. He had initially believed that the Global Army would rely on the numerical advantage to advance forcefully, no matter how many corpses amassed on the ground. Yet, it seemed that HQ was ready to send a series of items meant to prevent substantial losses.


    The details about the items and the different teams arrived on the soldiers'' phones. Khan didn''t feel surprised to be on the elite group, but the goods he would receive for the attack sounded useful.


    The list was short. It contained a shield capable of enduring a few bullets, a protective vest that could partially repel mana, and a series of grenades meant to be as strong as spells. That wasn''t a lot, but it would definitely improve the situation on the battlefield.


    Khan cross-checked the list with the other soldiers in the camp. Most members of the assault team had be part of the elite group, while all the others had fallen into the main army. Thetter had more protective gear in their items butcked grenades since they could create problems in a crowded area.


    The division among the three teams had to be immediate. HQ wanted to exploit the openings in the enemy defenses created by the assault team, so they had to prepare quickly. Khan didn''t know how the higher-ups had discovered those weaknesses, but he guessed that there were some spies under Lieutenant Leville.


    The vehicles in the camp weren''t enough to carry the soldiers to the respective gathering points, so a long march began. Lieutenant Leville and Lieutenant Zartea led the soldiers meant for the elite team across the partially barren in to reach another structure. The walksted for a few hours, but they eventually arrived at a series of rtively tall buildings that were experiencing a flow of troops.


    Khan snapped out of his unique mental state at the sight of the other soldiers. He inspected the various faces, but he recognized only a few of them. They came from therge camp, so he could confirm that Delia wasn''t in his team.


    ''She must be in the main army,'' Khan concluded in his mind while suppressing a sigh.


    The main army would be the most dangerous side of the battlefield, so he couldn''t rejoice to know that Delia would be there. As for Rick, he probably wouldn''t join the fight due to his status, which was for the best due to his inexperience.


    The Lieutenants made the soldiers gather outside the buildings before nting a series of portable habitations. The elite team would have a total of two hundred members led by a third-level warrior called Bonnie Dyelow. She was a middle-aged woman with short brown hair and dark eyes. She was also a second-level mage, and her face featured a series of scars that cut through her mouth and nose.


    Bonnie was a Lieutenant who would probably obtain a promotion after her period on Ecoruta. She didn''t interact with the soldiers during the gathering, but her underlings took care of exining the hierarchy of the elite team. She was at the top, while the Lieutenants under her would take care of different sides of the group.


    Khan took a random habitation and waited for the official summoning to happen. He meditated a bit, and a message eventually forced him toe out of that state. He expected something rted to the imminent battle, but surprise filled his mind after noticing that the notification hade from Delia.


    ''I''ve loved every second we have spent together,'' Khan read on the message, ''Please, forgive me for leaving Ecoruta without giving you a proper goodbye. I don''t want to experience the battlefield.''


    Khan initially didn''t understand what was happening, but a second message followed. Rick had sent something simr, even if his reasons seemed opposite to Delia. He wanted to see the battlefield, but his family had withdrawn him from Ecoruta after hearing about the mission.


    Khan left his habitation to search for someone who could tell him more about the situation, but the area ended up intensifying his confusion. A few soldiers were arguing with the Lieutenants next to the tall buildings.. The discussion was loud, and he could often hear words like "treason" and "desertion".

 Chapter 275 - Rebels

    ''What is even happening?'' Khan wondered as he approached the buildings.


    Khan had learnt about the consequences that those crimes could cause. Deserting could ruin entire careers and even lead to jail time, so he couldn''t understand how the soldiers on Ecoruta could consider those options.


    "Is something the matter?" Khan asked when he reached the soldiers arguing next to the buildings.


    "It''s a damned mess," Mosesmented while stepping aside to make space for Khan. "Half of the thirty-seventh battalion is leaving the instead of joining the main army."


    "Can they do that?" Khan asked.


    "Well," Lieutenant Leville replied, "No one forces the soldiers to remain on Ecoruta. They only need to get epted in another position to leave the thirty-seventh battalion. Their families can even help remove eventual punishments. Captain yman is also quite permissive, so he probably allowed everyone to depart before HQ could say something on the matter."


    Everything began to make sense in Khan''s mind now. No one would choose to remain in the main army during such an improvised attack.


    "Why did you decide to stay?" Khan asked while moving his gaze on Moses. "Your family should be able to pull you out easily."


    "Our team is rtively safepared to the others," Moses exined. "Well, it was rtively safe. I don''t know what HQ will decide to do after the recent events."


    "They can''t force to attack anyway, right?" One of the soldiers in the group questioned. "Our team won''t be able to advance without the diversion of the main army."


    "We still have many vehicles," Lieutenant Leville reassured.


    "We lost hundreds of troops!" Another soldierined.


    "She is right," A third soldier added. "I''m not sure we can win in this condition."


    Khan remained silent as the conversation continued. He didn''t know if his rtionship with Rick and Captain yman could help him get out of that situation. Part of him also wanted to stay as long as the attack didn''t turn into a suicide mission.


    ''I might even get epted somewhere else,'' Khan thought as he studied the situation.


    Ecoruta was different from Nitis. The had multiple battalions, so a single attack wouldn''t matter too much, even if it involved the anti-mana project. The space station in the orbit also allowed soldiers toe and go freely. In short, no one was stuck there, especially if they had families willing to help.


    "What''s this mess?" Lieutenant Dyelow asked aftering out of one of the buildings.


    "I''m sorry, ma''am," Lieutenant Leville quickly said. "We were discussing the recent events with the team."


    "The soldiers these days are a bunch ofzy, spoiled brats," Lieutenant Dyelow sighed. "I wonder what they''ll do when a proper war appears."


    "Ma''am, this attack would have worried anyone," Moses politely contradicted. "Besides, no one would like to be cannon fodder."


    "No one likes to fight," Lieutenant Dyelow stated, "And yet, here we are, fighting for metal that most of us can''t differentiate from other alloys. Anyway, go back to your tents. We''ll probably remain here for a while."


    Khan and the others performed a military salute before going back toward their habitations. Still, they didn''t enter them. The group gathered in an empty spot of the vast camp to continue the conversation without their superiors'' influence.


    "I''m telling you," Peggy announced. "HQ will never order us to charge forward in this condition. We''ll probably have to wait for a battalion to join us."


    "But that will put us back in the previous situation," A soldierined. "I''m starting to think that we should defect and leave this position."


    "He is right," A second soldiermented. "The Global Army can''t punish all of us, especially if members of the Kilwood family join the movement."


    "What about those who can''t move on their own?" Moses chuckled coldly. "Our family won''t pay for all of you. I''m pretty sure we''ll get scolded to no end for leaving our post."


    "HQ must call off the attack if enough troops leave the battalion," Another soldier said.


    "You don''t understand," Moses eximed. "HQ will never give up on this offensive. The mission is too important."


    "What are we even trying to find?" A soldier questioned in an angry tone. "I don''t like the trenches, but I prefer them over a reckless attack meant to destroy something so secret that even the Lieutenants don''t seem to know."


    "You don''t want to know," Moses replied. "I also want to forget it."


    Khan remained silent as the discussion continued. Most soldiers limited themselves to echo the opinions voiced by some rtively famous individuals. The group contained more than a hundred members, but only a few of them stood at its center and expressed their ideas.


    The conversation felt a bit pointless in Khan''s mind. The poorest soldiers wanted their richerpanions to leave to prevent eventual punishments or red marks on their profiles. Meanwhile, thetter hesitated to put their careers in danger.


    Most of the soldiers on Ecoruta had ended there due to their troublesome characters. Leaving without valid excuses would only ruin their prospects inside the Global Army. Yet, a joint rebellion could shift the me on their superiors since it would highlight the poor management of the troops.


    "Khan?" Moses called in a helpless tone, forcing Khan to snap out of his thoughts.


    Countless gazes fell on Khan. He felt surprised to see how many soldiers actually knew him and respected his opinion. He had never met most of those men and women, but they had heard a lot about him, so they fell silent as they waited for his words.


    "I can''t help you here," Khan honestly revealed. "I didn''t think we had a choice until a few minutes ago."


    "Khan, you probably are the most talented soldier in the second year," Mosesmented. "Drop that misfit mindset and tell us what you think."


    Khan''s eyebrows arched in surprise, but a quick inspection of the soldiers around him told him that many shared Moses'' opinion.


    ''When did I even be so important?'' Khan wondered while trying to sort out his ideas.


    "I honestly don''t understand why you areining so much," Khan eventually dered. "Leave if you don''t want to fight, or stay if you don''t mind following your orders. There''s not much more to it."


    "Come on," Mosesined. "This problem involves the whole battalion. Ourpanions left us in the dirt."


    "Not really," Khan exined. "They have only made their move before all of you."


    "That''s the point!" Peggy joined the discussion. "We will look bad now. They are forcing our hand."


    "Peggy, your family can put you in a good position even if you were the worst soldier in the entire Global Army," Khan responded. "Most of the soldiers here don''t have that privilege, but they still decided to risk their careers. It takes guts."


    A few silent seconds followed that statement. Khan was right, but the soldiers didn''t feel any better after that realization.


    "What will you do then?" Moses asked after the silence became deafening. "I''m sure HQ wouldn''t be able to say anything if we all refuse to join the battlefield."


    "I havee on Ecoruta to fight," Khan revealed. "I won''t back off because the mission has be more difficult."


    "That''s easy for you to say!" A soldier shouted.


    "Easy?" Khan voiced.


    "You are a chaos wielder," The soldier replied. "The Global Army will obviously put you in a safe position."


    A series of soldiers joined thatint. The respect and faint admiration that they had directed toward Khan transformed into anger and disappointment. They expected him to join their movement due to his past and poor background, but he ended up voicing the opposite opinion.


    Khan didn''t expect that development. Thement even hurt him. Those soldiers didn''t know anything about the chaos element and what he had to ovee to use his spells. That belittlement angered him, but he decided to ignore those disrespectfulpanions.


    Khan scoffed and shook his head before turning to leave. Someone called him, but the soldiers in the gathering didn''t dare to block his path. He could return inside his habitation in no time and forget about that pointless mess.


    The annoyance vanished when Khan fell in his meditative state. He didn''t care about those political issues. He could have probably used that chance to establish his position as leader of the younger generations in the Global Army, but he didn''t want such dumbpanions.


    A thought appeared in his mind when he came out of the meditative state. Delia was far from wealthy. Her desertion had probably caused serious problems for her career, but she didn''t hesitate to reassure him when he questioned her about the issue.


    ''They didn''t even put my relocation on my profile,'' Khan read on Delia''s message. ''The Global Army is probably worried that I might disclose what we have seen in thebs. I''m in the space station now, but I''ll probably leave tomorrow morning.''


    Khan replied with a simple goodbye before thinking about his position. He could definitely leave without suffering any repercussion, but he had no valuable destinations. Ecoruta was perfect for his current needs, and the idea of seeing a messy battlefield even intrigued him.


    In the end, Khan decided to spend the rest of the night sleeping. When the morning arrived, Khan left his habitation and found a simr gathering of soldiers and Lieutenants around the camp''s main buildings. The discussions were louder than the previous night.


    Khan didn''t want to join those pointless conversations, but he inevitably heard something. It seemed that some soldiers had left during the night, while others threatened to depart if HQ didn''t inform them about the changes to the mission.


    The scene was quite surprising and very different from the other interactions between underlings and superiors that Khan had seen on others. The soldiers were probably scared, but their behavior remained disrespectful and rude. Some Lieutenants even had to raise their voices to remind everyone about their position.


    Lieutenant Dyelow came out of her building and inspected the situation for a few seconds before finding Khan near the tents. A helpless smirk appeared on her face as she shook her head and walked toward him.


    "They are so loud," Lieutenant Dyelow announced before patting Khan''s shoulder. "It''s a pity that they aren''t like you. We would be already on the battlefield otherwise."


    "They are scared, ma''am," Khan said, ignoring the fact that many gazes had moved toward him.


    "They should be," Lieutenant Dyelow announced. "War isn''t a nice ce, but running away and relying on their families isn''t a solution."


    "Did HQ decide what to do?" Khan asked.


    "Yes," Lieutenant Dyelow stated without adding anything else.


    "Why aren''t you informing the camp?" Khan questioned as a frown appeared on his face.


    "I can understand who to report to the Global Army like this," Lieutenant Dyelow exined. "The Kilwood kids are untouchable, and the same goes for a few of these cowards. Yet, I''ll make sure that the others won''t get anywhere in the future."


    Khan widened his eyes, but he didn''t say anything on the matter. He remained silent until his curiosity had the better of him and made him voice a question. "What did HQ decide?"


    "The attack has to happen," Lieutenant Dyelow revealed. "However, the thirty-seventh battalion is short in manpower now. HQ will send troops from other toons to reinforce our ranks, but I wouldn''t be too happy about that.. We lost our chance to exploit ws in the enemy lines."

 Chapter 276 - Cannon

    The following days in the camp ended up being quite tense. Lieutenant Dyelow stayed true to her words. She sent away all the soldiers who had threatened their superiors or behaved disrespectfully. Less than fifty warriors remained among the habitations as the team waited for HQ to move the n forward.


    Khan found himself unable to be with his peers. Many still respected him, but they couldn''t see him as a potential ally after he stated his position in the meeting. Khan didn''t mind that too much since his training kept him busy most of the time, but it felt annoying to see that abrupt change of behavior.


    Khan knew that fame and public opinion could change quickly, but he had never witnessed that first-hand. He knew that the role of an ambassador required many social connections and general likeability, so the current situation felt like a setback in his ns.


    Still, Khan didn''t know how to handle the issue differently, especially after some of his peers had belittled the chaos element. He had proven his character to his superiors, but he had lost part of the general respect earned through his feats.


    Someone with experience in that field would have probably managed to keep the restless soldiers at bay while respecting HQ''s decisions. Khan acknowledged that, but he also justified himself a bit. He was only seventeen, and his mind was all over the ce. There was a limit to how much he could me himself.


    The solitary days ended up benefitting Khan. Theck of friends or soldiers willing to engage in conversations with him removed the need for lies and pretense. He could be himself and dive into his training without affecting his health. He couldn''t test his spells in that camp, so his free time allowed him to sleep properly.


    The peaceful period came to an end when a series of loud noises filled the area. Khan and other soldiers left their habitations only to see a series of vehicles approaching the camp before stopping next to the tall buildings.


    The event surprised everyone, but Lieutenant Dyelow promptly called for a gathering to exin the situation. The new battle n wouldn''t have different teams or fronts. It would involve a joint assault meant to overwhelm the enemy lines slowly.


    The news didn''t please the members of the elite team. Everyone would be part of the main army now, and the swift offensive had turned into a slow advance.


    Only a few soldiers managed to understand that the new tactic was basically necessary. The dy created by the defecting soldiers had allowed the Stal to fix the openings created by the assault team. It was impossible toplete precise attacks now, which also worsened the prospect of receiving air support.


    More soldiers began to gather in the camp as the days continued to pass. The number of tents in the area increased, and the Lieutenants felt forced to update their underlings about the situation multiple times. The army slowly took form, and thest to arrive turned out to be Captain yman.


    The arrival of the Captain warned everyone that the battle was imminent. The days after the event saw the Lieutenants taking control of specific toons to improve the flexibility of the army, and Khan ended up under Lieutenant Leville again.


    The items promised by the Global Army arrived, but they didn''t reflect the initial list due to the difference in the various teams. The soldiers received the shields and a series of armored gear but no grenades or other offensive items since they would be pointless during that type of assault.


    Time continued to pass until the day of the battle arrived. Khan found himself among a group of ny soldiers advancing behind a series of armored trucks and a tank. Eight identicalpanies stood at his sides and marched forward. Only the group with Captain yman was different since it had more vehicles.


    Khan checked his items during the march. He was wearing an armored vest and a few protections on his forearms and shin. The shield had the form of a watch on his wrist with three green lights on its screen. The item had created a thin membrane over his figure that felt like a weaker version of the cells'' barrier.


    The lights indicated how many bullets the shield could endure. Of course,rger projectiles would consume more charges, but Khan still liked having that additional protectiveyer. He didn''t expect the battles to get messy right away, but it felt nice to know that he could avoid using the [Blood Shield] right away.


    The advance was slow but tense. Only Khan, a few experienced soldiers, and the Lieutenants knew that the initial phases of the assault wouldn''t be too dangerous, but everyone soon understood that.


    The allied trench eventually appeared in the army''s view, and the enemy lines past it also became visible. Chaos immediately spread among the Stal stationed there, and a few projectiles also flew from their side, but none of them managed to get past the barrage of armored trucks.


    The tanks among the human groups only needed to fire a few times before the Stal jumped out of their trench and abandoned the area. The swift victory took many soldiers by surprise, but it felt normal when they considered their situation.


    The Stal weren''t ready to fight that massive number of troops. They weren''t aware that the humans had decided to send such a force toward trenches that had never seen more than fifty soldiers on each side.


    The victory didn''t slow down the advance in the slightest. The Stal had taken away everything they had during their retreat, so the human side could march past the trench without bothering to take a break.


    Simr scenes followed during the rest of the days. The army found settlements and trenches along its path, but the Stal had been smart enough to leave them after realizing how numerous their opponents were.


    The army could advance undisturbed and without meeting enemies until the night arrived. Captain yman ordered everyone to stop, and the various Lieutenants echoed his message to their underlings.


    The soldiers had to sleep in the open that night. A cold breeze blew over the partially barren in, but the soldiers barely felt it. There was only tension in the air since they knew that the following day would feature actual battles.


    Khan lost himself into the darkness of the night. He was among hundreds of soldiers but alone. The cold felt like an old friend among that crowd. The faint idea of resting appeared in his mind, but he ignored it to enjoy that peaceful moment before the arrival of the mess. He wanted to experience both situations and the sharp change that divided them.


    Ecoruta''s two moons disappeared when the morning light filled the sky. The army awakened in a matter of minutes and resumed the march into the enemy territory. More abandoned settlements and trenches appeared on its path, but signs of life eventually forced the advance to a halt.


    Gulps and gasps resounded among the variouspanies. Khan could sense the mana around him growing tense and restless. The world seemed to know that chaos was about to unfold.


    The faint shapes of arge city had appeared in the distance, but the soldiers'' eyes were on the army that divided them from those figures. Hundreds of Stal, armored vehicles, trenches, andrge cannons stood on their path.


    The human army outnumbered its opponents, but thetter had better weapons. A single night had not been enough to fill the entire area with trenches, but the Stal retained the innate advantage that those kinds of battles gave to the defending side.


    A bloodbath was about to unfold, and Khan calmly drew his knife to prepare for the event. His gesture forced the soldiers around him to snap out of their anxiety. They wielded their weapons and rifles tightly as they waited for their superiors to give the inevitable order.


    "Stay behind the trucks," Khan announced among that tension. "Don''t go near the tanks. Don''t dive too deeply into the enemy territory if you make it to the other side. We might need to retreat."


    The silence was so deep that most of the soldiers in his group heard him. Many wore resolute expressions, and Lieutenant Leville also turned to nod at him before voicing a short speech.


    "Most of their defenses will be useless after reaching them," Lieutenant Leville announced. "Wait until the tanks start firing at each other. The charge will begin when the first bullet flies through the air."


    Lieutenant Leville stepped forward afterpleting her speech. Other second-level warriors followed her and approached the back of the armored trucks. The vehicles had handholds and footholds there, and the soldiers didn''t hesitate to jump on them.


    "There is room for a few of you," Lieutenant Leville eximed after checking the situation in her group. "We''ll open the battle and distract the Stal. Who wants toe?"


    Terror appeared on many faces. The sole idea of jumping inside that mess and waiting for their allies to arrive sounded insane, but astonishment reced that fear when Khan and a few others stepped forward.


    "Why am I not surprised?" Lieutenant Leville chuckled when Khan jumped on one armored truck.


    Khan didn''t answer. He exchanged a nod with the second-level warrior and the two soldiers attached to his truck before losing himself in the waves of mana again. The time for words was over.


    Simr scenes happened in the other groups. The tanks even started to move forward to make the enemy lines enter their range. Each step of those spider-like vehicles seemed tost an eternity, but a tremor eventually ran through the mana in the area, and Khan''s eyes grew cold.


    The trucks elerated without giving any warning. Whistling noises and loud explosions resounded as Khan tightened his grip on the handhold. He could see the soldiers chasing after the vehicles, but he couldn''t inspect the actual battlefield from his position. Still, his senses gave him a faint idea of what awaited him.


    The ride became bumpy when the trucks crossed a series of fuming craters. Azure light never stopped shing as countless bullets flew through the air. Khan couldn''t keep track of so many projectiles, but a big mass of mana eventually attracted his attention.


    Khan nced past hispanions hanging from the truck. They didn''t understand the reason behind his gesture, but the explosion that followed made them turn. Their eyes widened when they saw that smoke had covered the armored vehicle next to them.


    The armored truck turned to the side and crashed on the ground before rotating on itself. The momentum dispersed the smoke and revealed that something had blown away its front. The spinning also flung away the soldiers hanging from its back, leaving them right in the middle of the rain of bullets flying through the air.


    The rider of Khan''s truck moved to the right to act as a cover for those soldiers. The abrupt movement surprised the four soldiers hanging from its back, but no one lost their grip on the handholds.


    The soldiers struggled to keep up with the vehicles, but the rifles also failed to reach their position most of the time. Meanwhile, the tanks on both sides firedrge bullets relentlessly, but they often missed their important targets due to the many projectiles on their path.


    Countless presences eventually appeared in Khan''s range. His truck was almost there. He bent forward and prepared himself to jump into battle, but surprise filled his mind when he understood that the vehicle wasn''t going to stop.


    The truck crashed directly into the enemy trench. Its front mmed on the other side of the channel and dug a hole through the ground.


    Khan and the others mmed on the truck''s back due to the violent impact. Still, they felt forced to jump forward when a series of cylindrical items came out of the vehicle and started rolling inside the trench.


    A series of explosions followed the leap. Khannded on the ground with his threepanions, and chaos immediately filled his mind.


    Khan was right before the enemy trench. Hundreds of Stal stood in the area, and most of them were firing their rifles at the iing tanks and soldiers. The mana took so many forms and trajectories that he almost felt overwhelmed by the information reaching his mind.


    Still, his senses quickly grew used to that mess. The bullets became nothing more than a normal urrence, and the same went for the many Stal in the area. Khan didn''t need to study them anymore since he had already memorized what they were, which relieved a lot of pressure from his mind.


    The Stal didn''t have the time to focus on Khan''s group due to the bombs that had blown away part of the trench. Five more soldiers came out of the truck crashed on the channel and joined theirpanions as they tried to decide where to attack.


    Simr scenes happened near the other trucks. Most of those vehicles had reached their destination, and the soldiers inside them did their best to find valuable targets and charge toward them.


    "There''s a cannon there!" One of the second-level warriors in Khan''s groups shouted among the mess of whistling noises and growls.


    That short announcement was enough to make the group move. Khan and the others turned toward arge gun nted on the ground, which continued to shoot bullets toward the human tanks. A series of Stal stood before the weapon, and even more aliens upied the trench before it.


    Khan''s group only contained nine soldiers, but many were second-level warriors. Also, the explosions had created a cover for their presence, allowing them to jump past the trench unnoticed.


    The Stal noticed the humans among their ranks when Khan''s group crossed the area destroyed by the bombs. A series of rifles immediately pointed at them, but one of the second-level warriors shouted an order before bullets could fly in their direction. "Inside the trench!"


    The soldier jumped to his left, and hispanions followed. Khan and the others found themselves inside a trench, with Stal aiming their rifles at them, but the same man pointed his hand forward and generated a torrent of water.


    The water seemed alive as it filled therge trench and pushed the Stal away. Bullets flew from above the channel, but the aliens on the surface had a hard time aiming at Khan''s group from their position. The team could follow the river to get closer to the cannon, but a hindrance suddenly appeared.


    Two Stal as strong as second-level warriors marched through the river and blocked part of its might with their bare bodies. The two aliens were supporting each other to endure the spell, eventually forcing the soldier to call his attack back.


    "Go!" The soldier eximed as he raised his arms to take a defensive stance that Khan didn''t recognize. "Leave the trench and reach the cannon."


    The soldiers didn''t hesitate to follow those orders. Khan and the others jumped outside the trench and charged toward the group of Stal protecting the cannon.


    Bullets flew in their direction. Khan and a few others managed to dodge the first wave of projectiles, but some inevitably hit theirpanions. The second wave of attacks was even harder to avoid, and the same went for the third.


    Khan''s watch lost one of its green lights before he could reach the Stal around the cannon. Twenty aliens had gathered in front of the huge weapon to block the soldiers'' path, and some of them were second-level warriors.


    Khan waved his glowing knife to cut two arms moving in his direction, but the Stal didn''t seem to care about that loss. It jumped forward, forcing him to step back and leap to dodge the bulletsing from the trench.


    The other aliens that protected the cannon advanced as Khan and other soldiers retreated. Even the human second-level warriors had to back off in front of the stronger Stal. The attack had been a failure, and the Stal were even pushing them more in the open.


    "Cover me for a few seconds!" Khan suddenly shouted as he sprinted backward.


    A bullet fell on his body, but the shield endured it. The second green light disappeared as Khan joined his hands and focused on his feelings. A red-purple light began to shine between his palms, and he separated them to give birth to the chaos spear.


    A series of projectiles flew in his direction. Still, a soldier jumped in their trajectory while using the light in the environment to create a shield. Nothing reached Khan, which allowed him toplete his spell.


    "Move away!" Khan shouted, and the soldiers busy keeping the Stal at bay jumped back to open a path for him.


    The Stal initially wanted to chase those opponents, but the red-purple glowing from Khan''s ethereal weapon imed the entirety of their attention. Part of them sensed that the spell was extremely dangerous, and some relief appeared on their faces when Khan threw it far above their heads.


    Nevertheless, the relief transformed into desperation when the spear curved and fell on the cannon.. The Stal tried to move toward the weapon, but a red-purple radiance soon filled their vision and made them unable to advance.

 Chapter 277 - Mess

    The spear gave birth to a bright pir that destroyed everything it touched. The cannon was three-meter tall and had a barrelrger than a man''s head. A container of mana stood under it, and a series of round gears allowed it to tilt left, right, up, and down. Yet, the red-purple glow destroyed half of its structure, turning the weapon into nothing more than a pile of metal.


    Khan''s group had remained rtively hidden from the entirety of the enemy army. Multiple trucks had crashed on the trench or other spots of the frontlines, and the defensive formation of Stal covered a vast part of the area. Yet, the red-purple pir imed everyone''s attention, especially after they could witness the result of the spell''s destruction.


    The chaos of the battlefield took a deep breath during that second of amazement. Khan could hear the world gasping and hesitating to inspect his spell before going back to its messy state.


    The situation was far from ideal. Khan and hispanions were in the middle of the enemy lines, past the trench, with Stal on every side and multiple weapons ced everywhere. Most of the aliens had to focus on the iing army, and the cannons couldn''t aim at the soldiers out of fear of friendly fire, but the area remained a pure mess.


    Khan''s group didn''t know where to move. The explosion of the chaos spear had attracted the Stal''s attention, but that diversion had only managed to buy a few seconds.


    The Stal tasked with the protection of the cannon showed their anger when they turned toward the human group. Some even threw away their rifles due to their desire to kill the attackers with their own hands.


    Meanwhile, some Stal came out of the trench to join the hunt for the humans. The path behind Khan and the others was rtively empty due to the bombsunched by the truck, but aliens were quickly filling it to pursue the invaders.


    There wasn''t a proper way out of that situation, but Khan and the others didn''t need to escape. Their task was to create a diversion and wait for their allies to arrive.


    Khan moved before hispanions could say anything. Stal were jumping on the surface to approach his group, so he shot toward the trench. The channel could be a trap if the aliens encircled it, but remaining in the open was simply too dangerous.


    The first soldier was still busy dealing with the two powerful aliens. He was using a martial art that made him able to deflect most punches flying in his direction. Something would normally hit him due to the sheer number of limbs aiming at him, but the trench prevented the Stal from working together properly.


    The water spell had pushed the weaker Stal away, creating a space where Khan could jump. Still, he would end up in the middle of two groups of aliens while also hindering hispanion if he went in without taking care of the threat.


    Khan sprinted toward the two powerful Stal. He didn''t jump. Instead, he dived for the first head that appeared in his view while his glowing knife pierced forward.


    The Stal turned one of its heads while Khan was in the middle of his dive. The glowing knife was about to reach its neck, but its left arms rose to deflect the attack.


    Khan didn''t need to think or calcte the speed of the Stal''s movements. He was usually faster than those aliens, but his opponent was a second-level warrior that had to perform a simple gesture. He could sense that his attack wouldn''t reach its target.


    The [Blood Shield] covered Khan''s left arm right before the alien could hit him. A massive force fell on his limb when the Stal touched him, and his feet inevitably left the surface.


    Khan found himself flying toward his right inside the trench. He mmed on the wet ground and rolled a couple of times before stabbing his feet in the mud and straightening his position.


    The strong Stal ignored itspanion and turned toward Khan. It appeared pissed that someone as weak as him had attempted a sneak attack. Meanwhile, Khan stared at the alien while a series of figures began to approach him from behind.


    That was exactly what Khan had wanted to avoid, but his mind didn''t have room for regret or curses. His left arm felt numb, and jumping out of the trench would only put him back in the rifles'' trajectory. He had to deal with one of the threats now, but the waves of mana couldn''t help him there.


    Khan closed and rxed his right hand. He couldunch a spell, but the chaos ws were too dangerous to use against an opponent far stronger than him. The chaos spear was out of the question too. His aim wasn''t terrible, but he would only fall prey to his own destruction in that situation.


    As for the Wave spell, Khan had developed a way to limit its size, but his control remained poor. He risked hitting the soldier fighting against the other powerful Stal.


    The decision became obvious in less than a second. Khan began to turn to deal with the Stal approaching him from behind. He was ready to unleash his spell to open a path and run away from the powerful alien, but familiar masses of mana suddenly approached his position and made him stop.


    The other soldiers in Khan''s group jumped inside the trench and stood at his sides. Two second-level warriorsnded at his left and faced the powerful Stal, while the others arrived at his right to help him with the weaker aliens.


    "That was a nice shot!" One of the soldiers eximed.


    "Do you need to rest after something like that?" Another soldier asked while raising her guard to protect Khan.


    "I''ll be fine in a few seconds," Khan lied as he massaged his left forearm to disperse the numbness that afflicted his limb.


    Battles exploded around Khan. The second-level warriors on his left worked together to fend off the tall alien trying to make its way forward by swinging its fists.


    Even when working together, the two second-level warriors weren''t a match for the Stal''s physical might. However, one of them condensed the light in the area to create two swords that sent bright shes toward the alien. The attacks only inflicted superficial injuries, but that was enough to keep the Stal at bay.


    The other soldiers had started fighting against the weaker Stal on Khan''s right. The trench worked in their favor since they could fight side by side while the aliens had toe forward one by one.


    The group had sessfully created a safe spot inside the enemy trench, but Khan didn''te on the battlefield to watch hispanions fight. He waited enough to make his lie stick before jumping on the right wall and sprinting forward to reach the line of Stal.


    The punches flying toward his figure grew easier to sense as time passed. Khan learnt to filter out the information that his mind didn''t need. The bullets flying across the battlefield disappeared, and the same went for the Stal in the distance. He focused on the aliens in his range and the rifles targeting him as he waved his knife to cut what dared to appear on his path.


    Limbs, chunks of flesh, heads, and blood flew in front of Khan as his sprint continued. The alien first-level warriors could react to his movements, but they couldn''t stop them.


    The punches that tried to interrupt his advance turned into gore that flew through the air. The heads that entered his range lost their connection to their necks. Khan had to interrupt his sprint only when one of the Stal decided to jump on him to block his way.


    Khan kicked the wall to push himself at the bottom of the trench. The alien tried to turn after mming on the diagonal surface, but a red-purple short sword suddenly stabbed its waist and turned its internal organs into a shattered mess.


    The Stal fell to its knees, but Khan didn''t even look at the scene. He turned and saw a series of aliens ring at him as they held their severed limbs or patches of missing flesh.


    Khan charged toward them. The first alien had been thest to react, so Khan could run past it while opening arge cut at the base of its back. The second Stal had lost one of its heads, which made it unable to stand properly and allowed Khan to deliver a killing blow.


    The third alien had lost an arm during Khan''s offensive, and it seemed to have every intention to make him pay. It spread its limbs when it saw its opponent moving forward, but it suddenly lost sight of him. Then, a sharp pain spread from its groin and made it fall on its knees.


    Khan slid under the alien and kicked the following opponent while standing up. The fourth Stal had only lost half of its hand during his offensive, and the attack barely managed to make it move. Yet, Khan continued his assault by sending his mana forward.


    The alien revealed a confused expression as it stared at the foot ced on its torso. It had felt something, but nothing seemed off, so it soon moved its attention back on Khan.


    ''Is it too weak?'' Khan wondered while pulling back his leg and charging forward.


    Khan had to test the effects of his normal mana sooner orter. In theory, his energy already carried the innate destructiveness of the chaos element, but that feature appeared too weak to hurt first-level warriors.


    The discovery reassured Khan, but he didn''t think about that for now. He had partially confirmed that his mana wasn''t dangerous in its normal form, but he still had to deal with his opponents.


    The Stal punched Khan with its four limbs, but thetter ducked to dodge the attack. His knife shed above his head, and two forearms fell together with a rain of dark blood.


    The alien growled in pain, but Khan didn''t stop. He ran under the severed limbs and reached the Stal''s waist, where he stabbed his knife before jumping.


    The Stal''s torso opened into two parts as Khan kept the sharp membrane active and pushed it forward. The alien could only fall on its back as a trail of blood followed its movements.


    Khan found hispanions staring at him while wearing proud smirks after killing thest alien. His gaze couldn''t go past the soldiers, but his senses allowed him to understand that the battle among second-level warriors was still ongoing.


    "Change!" The soldier in front of Khan shouted before crossing him and shooting after the other Stal approaching their position.


    Khan quickly grabbed the soldier and pulled him back. Thetter and hispanions shot confused nces at him, but he exined himself by pointing at the barrier above the trench and voicing a few words. "They are here."


    The confusion on hispanions intensified before a few battle cries resounded in the area and exined what was happening. A series of soldiers peeked out of the barrier and began shooting at every Stal they saw. Some even jumped inside the trench to move behind the enemy lines.


    "Forward!" Lieutenant Leville''s voice resounded from behind Khan''s group. "Kill them all!"


    The battle cry made many soldiers jump inside the trenches to approach the groups of aliens defending weapons or other specific positions. The same went for some of Khan''spanions, and he didn''t hesitate to follow them.


    The true nature of the battlefield became clear after Khan stepped on the surface again. The human army had fallen on the Stal, and fights had started everywhere. The tanks still shot bullets from time to time, but they aimed them at areas that didn''t contain members of their species.


    The cannons continued to firerge bullets aimed at the tanks, and one of them eventually shattered under that relentless offensive. A second quickly followed, which forced the Lieutenant in that team to order an assault at those weapons.


    Khan didn''t have a precise role in that battle. He had never seen anything messier in his life, and his mind lost itself in the violent waves of mana that filled the area. His senses improved with each bullet or attack dodged.. Chaos was everywhere around Khan, and he danced among it.

 Chapter 278 - Aftermath

    The sheer size of the battlefield surpassed anything Khan had ever experienced. His group dispersed as the wave of soldiers reached the trench. Bullets flew everywhere, and cries filled the area.


    Khan could shut down his thoughts and lose himself on the battlefield. His eyes and ears worked, but he didn''t rely on them to fight. Stal and humans filled his surroundings without relying on any specific tactic or strategy. Everyone attacked everyone, often ending up in friendly fire and simr problems that the chaos in the area swept away.


    Khan felt whole but also empty. He was one with the world but not himself. His knife never stopped glowing and cutting the air. His feet always kicked the ground or iing enemies. Blood, dirt, gore, and sweat covered his body as he shot left and right toward every alien that he found.


    A Stal tried to approach Khan from behind, but he jumped forward to stab his knife at a distracted opponent. The weapon left a deep cut at the center of the alien''s back, but thetter turned while swinging its arms.


    Khan kept the sharp membrane active and slid his knife in the opposite direction of the alien''s rotation. The Stal found a curved cut that went from the center of its back to its torso when itpleted its movement. As for its opponent, it couldn''t see him anywhere.


    A series of bullets flew toward Khan, and he sensed them, but fights were happening all around him. He couldn''t dodge, notpletely at least, so he ducked and let one of the projectiles fall on his shield.


    The watch went dark now that it depleted its charges. Khan felt the barrier dispersing, but his attention quickly went on the Stal falling toward him.


    Khan had to take a step back to avoid the Stal. The soldier on the other side voiced a weak "sorry" when he noticed his ally, but an alien exploited that moment of distraction to m its arms on his head.


    Khan saw everything and nothing. His brain memorized information, but it reacted only to the mana. He felt lost, but he also hadplete awareness of his situation and position.


    Conflicting sensations filled Khan''s mind as he continued to fight. Chaos raged, but he was at peace. Deafening noises reached his ears, but he heard nothing. The strangeness of the situation seemed able to freeze his joints, but his limbs moved faster than ever.


    The first-grade knife broke at some point. Khan had kept the sharp membrane active during most of the battle, and his element had eventually gotten the best of his weapon. The event forced him to rely on the chaos ws, which allowed him to notice the differences between his spell and the Divine Reaper.


    The chaos ws spell seemed simr to the Divine Reaper in its uses, but itcked the martial art''s swiftness and speed. The red-purple short sword destroyed instead of cutting, so each attack was inevitably slower than when he used the knife.


    The battlefield prevented other soldiers from noticing that Khan relied on his spell non-stop. Some of his fights would have gone better if he used his version of the Divine Reaper, but he didn''t want to abuse the [Blood Shield].


    His sensitivity to mana allowed him to avoid strong Stal. However, Khan decided to jump on them whenever he noticed an opening or a distraction.


    The battlefield slowly thinned down until it went silent. Soldiers inspected their surroundings and searched for other opponents, but they soon realized that the area now featured only humans. Disbelief soon reced their battle intent, and everything eventually fell prey to loud cries that announced the victory.


    Khan took a bit to return to his normal mental state. He had remained in a daze when he inspected the sharp changes in the mana around him. The energy had gone from pure chaos to peaceful to ecstatic. The soldiers'' happiness filled the world with raging waves that flew upward and engulfed the whole army.


    Khan discovered that he was out of breath when the battle ended. Deep tiredness filled his arms and legs, and his body felt heavy. Mana still flowed out of his mana core and filled his insides, but the long battle had drained him.


    Some of the happy cries transformed into sobs. Many soldiers sat on the bloody ground, uncaring of the corpses and gore lying around them. The first-level warriors were exhausted, and those who had yet to reach that level were even worse. Even the Lieutenants couldn''t bother dealing with their duties in that situation. Everyone wandered, rested, or lost themselves in what was left of the area.


    Khan wanted to wipe his forehead, but he stopped when he noticed that both his arms were full of blood. He couldn''t even find a clean spot on his torn and ragged uniform. One of his shoes had also disappeared, but he couldn''t remember how.


    The ground had turned muddy after all the blood that had fallen during the battle. Craters, metal shards, and corpses also filled the in. Most of the trench had crumbled, and smoke still came out from where therge bullets had crashed.


    The scene depicted death and reminded Khan about the Second Impact. He had already seen such destruction, but the event had involved a vaster area at that time. He had even been one of the causes behind that mess, but that realization barely affected his mindset.


    His gaze stopped when he noticed a soldier puking in front of the gruesome spectacle. The scene was pitiful, but Khan couldn''t move his eyes away from the poor man. That was a natural reaction to the disgusting images that the area could provide, but Khan had lost the ability to suffer because of them.


    ''I''ve grown cold,'' Khan sighed before forcing himself to look away.


    Only a few soldiers had remained active on the battlefield. Captain yman shouted orders to the Lieutenants around him and tried to get everyone moving. The army had to gather the bodies and check all the equipment that the Stal had left behind before regrouping and making a point of the situation.


    The cleaning operations began, and the other soldiers slowly started to get to work. Even Khan received orders at some point. He had to move the corpses of the Stal and amass them on a pile that someone would eventually set on fire.


    Tents began to appear in the area as parts of the battlefield became free of the corpses. The ground absorbed the blood but remained muddy. Still, it was stable enough to allow the creation of a messy camp and defensive lines that used the intact vehicles.


    The oue of the battle became clear by the morning of the next day. The human army had lost half of its members and many vehicles to achieve its victory. A few cannons and tanks from the Stal''s side had also remained intact, which improved the prospect of future fights.


    The numbers were encouraging. The human army had been on the offensive side, so Captain yman had been ready to lose far more troops. However, the initial distraction and the soldiers'' general superiority due to their spells had contained their losses.


    Captain yman ordered everyone to rest while the higher-ups dealt with food and other basic necessities. Many soldiers had to sleep in the open due to theck of portable habitations. It even took a while for trucks with new provisions to arrive. HQ also had to send fresh troops to refill the losses since the army had to approach the city in the distance afterward.


    No one really socialized during the days after the battle. The army also partially dispersed since many soldiers didn''t want to sleep on the muddy ground where friends and Stal had died. The event wasn''t problematic since the higher-ups had stretched the Global Army''swork in the area, but the Lieutenants still reminded everyone not to wander too far from time to time.


    Khan notified Lieutenant Leville about his need for a new knife. The weapon arrived together with some trucks that carried provisions and more portable habitations. The de met his requirements, so his istion could continue peacefully as he waited for the army to resume its advance.


    A message eventually interrupted Khan''s usual training routine. Captain yman had summoned him to his tent, and he didn''t hesitate to cross the camp to reach thergest habitation in the area.


    "Did you want to see me, sir?" Khan asked after the metal door of the habitation opened to reveal a rtivelyrge room with an interactive desk at its end.


    "Khan, yes," Captain yman eximed before raising his eyes from the menus on the desks. "Please, sit. We have a few things to discuss."


    Khan felt surprised, but he still followed the orders. He reached one of the armchairs before the desk and sat while ncing at the various menus on the interactive surface.


    The desk featured multiple reports and profiles of specific soldiers. Khan was among them, but he saw nothing strange during that nce. He could look at the same descriptions and stats from his phone.


    "HQ is taking the attack seriously," Captain yman announced whileying his back on his chair and cing his hands on his nape. "We are actually advancing instead of remaining locked in useless trenches."


    "The anti-mana project is scary," Khanmented. "I''m not surprised HQ wants to take it down so badly."


    "Indeed," Captain yman sighed before clearing his throat. "Well, your performance in the battle has been great. They have told me that you have taken down one of the cannons during the initial attack. Good job, you have saved many lives."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan stated without adding anything.


    Captain ymanughed as he took a bottle and two cups from a drawer of the desk. A smirk appeared on his face as he poured the drink and voiced a casual announcement. "It''s great to be captain. They bring these bottles with the furniture."


    "Are we setting camp here?" Khan asked while picking up the cup and searching from the Captain''s eyes only to remember that the soldier didn''t know about Nitis'' customs.


    "We have to build a settlement," Captain yman eximed before taking a short sip from his drink, "But we won''t live here. HQ will create a branch of the thirty-seventh battalion here to use it as a base for our assault."


    "It''s almost about time to leave then," Khan guessed while savoring the strong booze.


    "Are you disappointed?" Captain yman teased through a chuckle.


    "Not at all," Khan honestly admitted. "I don''t mind fighting."


    "You are a rare breed," Captain yman dered. "You are young, talented, resolute, and mature. Your mastery over your element is also quite astonishing considering that you have trained for less than two years with mana."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan could only repeat before focusing on his drink. The Captain had yet to mention the reason behind that meeting, but Khan had no intention to press him.


    "I have already forwarded your application for a promotion," Captain yman said before raising his hand when he saw that Khan''s widened his eyes in surprise. "You don''t need to thank me or anything. It''s only proper that you gain a chance to be a Lieutenant. I''ve added my rmendation, but your age might be a problem. Still, don''t worry. Very few soldiers seed at the first try."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan said for the first time. "I don''t know what to say."


    "Don''t say anything," Captain yman announced. "You deserve some recognition."


    Khan could only nod at those words. Bing a Lieutenant was the first step toward the answers he needed to learn about the Nak. He almost couldn''t believe that something like that could arrive so soon.


    "Let me ask you one thing," Captain yman said while Khan was still immersed in his thoughts. "Do you like Ecoruta? Do you like the battlefield?"


    "No sane mind would like the battlefield," Khan responded. "As for Ecoruta, it''s just another."


    "That''s a good answer," Captain ymanughed. "I feared you had be addicted to fighting. It happens, you know? Some soldiers became unable to have a normal life after witnessing the dark aspects of war. They begin to feel at home only when bullets fly over their heads."


    Khan didn''t know what to add there, so he remained silent. Yet, the Captain continued his line with something that created cracks in his poker face. "It''s a pity that I won''t be able to see your growth."


    "Are you leaving Ecoruta, sir?" Khan asked.


    "No, you are," Captain yman eximed. "The Global Army wants you to head toward Onia.. You have to join one of the tournaments."

 Chapter 279 - Mana Treatment

    Khan didn''t think about Onia in a long time. Only a year had passed since then, but the events on that hot seemed to belong to a different lifetime already. Everything was still na?ve, bloodless, and fine back then.


    The year that had followed the training camp on Onia had been rough, tragic, and full of awful moments. Only Liiza had brought some light in that period, but she also belonged to the past now.


    "Onia?" Khan couldn''t help but mutter as memories surged in his mind.


    The Ef''i, his bloody fight against Eztli, the faswite, and the cute moments with Martha came back. They felt so distant that Khan almost couldn''t believe that he would go back to Onia.


    "What is it?" Captain yman asked when he noticed Khan''s stupor. "Everyone is happy to get a chance to leave this. You should be the same."


    "It''s just sudden, sir," Khan replied.


    "The Ef''i have decided to hold the tournaments early this year," Captain yman exined while pointing at Khan''s cup. "They have made that decision due to Istrone''s mess. Giving the Global Army the chance to get more faswite is their way to show respect for our losses."


    "They really are a warrior race," Khanmented while cing his cup on the desk to let the Captain refill it.


    "You can refuse if you really want to," Captain yman eximed while pouring the drink. "However, I don''t suggest it. The tournaments on Onia are a big deal, and winning them is even bigger. Your career will take a leap forward if you bring home a mine."


    "Refusing would be dumb," Khan agreed. "What about the anti-mana project?"


    "Let me handle that part," Captain yman announced while pushing the cup toward Khan. "I''ll even notify you once we have dealt with thebs, but, please, leave this. Ecoruta has nothing but blood and battles to offer."


    ''That''s why I came here,'' Khan replied in his mind as he picked his cup and took a short sip.


    "You are a strange one," Captain yman sighed. "Being picked for a tournament is a great honor and a statement of your prowess, but you don''t look happy."


    "I feel honored, sir," Khan hastily responded. "Hearing about Onia just brought back memories."


    "I read that you have already won a tournament there," Captain yman said.


    "It feels so far away," Khan honestly revealed.


    Captain yman didn''t say anything. He knew what hade after Onia. Istrone and Nitis had broken Khan and rebuilt him into a new man.


    "Don''t let it get to you," Captain yman eventually stated.


    "What do you mean, sir?" Khan asked.


    "Don''t bring the war back home," Captain yman exined. "Don''t carry this filth and blood with you all the time. Go to Onia, win the tournament, and enjoy the position that the Global Army gives you afterward. You have already fought a lot, but bing an ambassador requires more than that."


    Khan didn''t hide his surprise at those words. He had never mentioned his goals to the Captain, but thetter seemed to know about them.


    "I have good sources," Captain yman announced while wearing a proud smile. "Besides, it''s not hard to find information about you. There has never been such a young candidate in Onia''s tournaments, and you didn''t exactlyy low before that."


    ''It can''t be bad for my goals to be public knowledge,'' Khan thought. ''I might get a suitable role if I actually end up winning a tournament.''


    "When do I leave?" Khan questioned.


    "Tonight," Captain yman replied. "A spaceship will bring you back to the space station where you''ll use the teleport. I''m afraid you won''t get the chance to say goodbye to anyone."


    "That''s fine," Khan stated. "I can leave as soon as the spaceship arrives."


    "Good," Captain yman announced. "Do you have any special requests that I can mention to HQ?"


    Khan thought for a few seconds before nodding and voicing a simple demand. "I need a book for the Ef''i''snguage."


    .


    .


    .


    Luke and Bruce stood in front of a room that featured a single bed and some medical equipment. Their eyes were on Martha, who was sleeping with a series of tubes and sensors attached to her body. Her burns had long since healed, but she had yet to wake up.


    "When was thest time that someone so young has been picked for Onia''s tournaments?" Bruce asked without moving his gaze from Martha.


    "It has never happened," Luke calmly replied. "Khan is the youngest candidate in history for the fights with first-level warriors."


    "Do you think he can win?" Bruce questioned while ncing at his friend.


    "I don''t know," Luke sighed. "He has surpassed everyone''s expectations many times already. Who knows? He might actually win."


    "He will be unreachable if that happens," Brucemented.


    "I''ve always known that he would have gone far," Luke eximed. "Yet, I didn''t expect that to happen so soon. He isn''t even eighteen."


    "And we had him in our ss," Bruce added. "I guess you lost your chance to use him."


    "You know that I''m not like that," Lukeined. "I even owe my life to Khan. Sure, I want him to work under me in the future, but I won''t be like my father to get the best troops."


    "Your father is a great man from a political viewpoint," Bruce said. "Still, I agree. It would be a dick move to coerce him into joining you. He doesn''t deserve that."


    "I won''t coerce him," Luke exined. "I don''t even want to pay him up. I''d prefer him to join me as a friend."


    "Is that why we came here?" Bruce asked. "Didn''t you read about his alien girlfriend? He might not care anymore about her or us."


    "That''s not the Khan I know," Luke stated.


    "We both didn''t know much about him," Bruce dered. "Come on. Did you think he could pull off everything he did on Istrone when you first met him?"


    "And that was only the beginning," Luke added. "That''s why I have to try. He''ll probably be someone really important in a few years at this pace. Leaving my mission aside, I need to keep him as a friend for my own future. He might be the only ally that my father doesn''t control."


    "Your father doesn''t control me," Bruce replied in an annoyed tone.


    "Your father controls you," Luke scoffed, "And my father is his friend. Khan is different. He is still outside all of this."


    "So what?" Bruce asked. "How can Martha help you?"


    "I''ll wake her up," Luke stated.


    "How?" Bruce chuckled. "Also, she has already lost an entire year of training. Do you think Khan will remain behind for her?"


    "I''ve put her into a high-tier mana treatment," Luke revealed. "I''ve also asked the Weesso family for permission. Her parents are quite proud, but they couldn''t refuse such a good offer."


    "That''s expensive even for you," Brucemented.


    "An ally like Khan is priceless," Luke announced. "I hope he won''t forget our names by the time she wakes up."


    .


    .


    .


    A spaceship descended among Ecoruta''s darkness. Many soldiers hade out of their habitations to create two lines that Khan had to cross before departing.


    The soldiers were performing military salutes, and they even wore serious expressions during the event. Khan felt a bit awkward to walk among them, but Captain yman had already exined that those gestures were necessary. His battalion had to show respect for someone picked for Onia''s tournaments.


    Some soldiers nodded at Khan when he met their eyes. Others smiled, and only a few dared to break their salutes to give him thumbs up. Khan did his best to perform fake smiles at those gestures, but he inevitably began to feel strange after a while.


    Luckily for Khan, the walk didn''tst long. He soon arrived next to the same spaceship that had brought him on Ecoruta. Its pilot had half of his face covered, but he recognized Jakob from the few visible features.


    "Make sure to bring honor to the Global Army," Captain yman eximed after leaving his line. "And don''te back here afterward. I''ll take care of you-know-what."


    "I''ll do my best, sir," Khan promised as the spaceship entrance opened.


    "That''s more than enough," Captain ymanughed before nodding.


    Khan took that as the signal to enter the spaceship. The reinforced ss closed above him, and the vehicle set off slowly to avoid causing winds on the surface.


    "Do you remember me?" Jakob asked once the spaceship was quite far away from the surface.


    "You are about to elerate, right?" Khan guessed.


    "Damn right," Jakobughed before the spaceship picked up speed and shot out of Ecoruta''s atmosphere.


    Khan nced at the shrinking before moving his gaze on the erging space station. He had experienced a few meaningful moments on Ecoruta but nothing that was remotelyparable to Nitis. He had unlocked his spells, and his mood had slightly improved, but he wouldn''t hold many events dear. Delia had been a nice distraction, but she couldn''t give birth to feelings after Liiza.


    "You never told me that you were so strong," Jakob announced. "Don''t tell me that I will have to call you "sir" in a few years."


    Khan didn''t answer. His gaze remained on the space station as a hangar quickly grew clear in his vision. It didn''t take long before the spaceshipnded and unlocked its cover to let him out.


    "Bring my regards to the Ef''i!" Jakobughed as Khan left the spaceship and walked toward a familiar figure waiting in front of a corridor.


    "Hi Khan, it''s been a while," Eunice eximed while wearing an odd wide smile.


    "Only a few months," Khan replied. "Unless I lost track of time while I was down there."


    "Not at all," Eunice happily stated while tinkering with the menus on the screen in her hands. "You have been on Ecoruta for almost four months. It''s incredible that you have been able to aplish so much in such a short period."


    "The Stal did the kidnapping," Khanmented. "I only escaped."


    "That alone is incredible!" Eunice shouted while entering the corridor to escort Khan across the space station. "It''s a pity that you are leaving so soon."


    "Did you want me to remain on the battlefield?" Khan said before performing a fake chuckle when he saw Eunice''s apologetic expression.


    "It''s a pity that you couldn''t get stationed here," Euniceined. "The higher-ups want you to reach Onia right away. You''ll have to spend the night here, but you''ll get teleported early in the morning."


    "Maybe one day I''ll get a role here," Khan replied without putting any emotion in his words.


    Eunice quickly led Khan to an area of the space station that he didn''t see the first time. The quarter featured a series of small rooms, and one of them opened when the two passed in front of it.


    "I''ll pick you up tomorrow morning then," Eunice eximed as Khan began to enter the room.


    "Is there a training hall here?" Khan asked when he thought about sleeping for an entire night there. "Can I use it?"


    "This space station has three training halls," Eunice revealed while wearing an awkward expression, "But you can''t use them. Chaos wielders have special restrictions in space."


    "That makes sense," Khan sighed. "I''ll see you tomorrow then."


    "Well," Eunice voiced while stepping forward and caressing her short hair, "There isn''t much to do on the space station, but I often hang out with a few soldiers. We only drink and practice at the firing range, nothing special, but it might be a good way to kill the night."


    Khan noticed a few expressions that he had learnt to recognize. Eunice''s smile, her fingers ying with her hair, and the slight high tone that took control of her voice from time to time stated that he probably had a chance with her. Herst gesture also seemed to confirm that idea.


    Still, Khan recalled his first interaction with the woman. Eunice was probably acting like that due to his newfound fame, which worsened his idea of her. He didn''t want something simr, not after Delia.


    "I think I''ll force myself to rest," Khan responded. "I probably need it before reaching Onia."


    "Of course!" Eunice quickly eximed before stepping out of the room. "You need to bring honor to the Global Army. I''m sorry for even asking you to waste time with me."


    "I''m sure it wouldn''t have been a waste," Khan dered while showing a fake smirk before sealing the room. He only had the time to notice Eunice''s gasping expression before the door slid close.


    ''George definitely knew a lot about women,'' Khanughed internally before a few memories of Onia surged in his mind.


    Khan remembered his cute moments with Martha, the innocent flirt that the two had exchanged for a short period, and her decision to hold his hand before teleporting on Istrone. His memories then moved to her charred figure inside the medical bay, but he still corrected his previous thought after reviewing all of that. ''Some of them at least.''


    ''Onia then,'' Khan thought while throwing himself on the bed.


    Khan had no intention to sleep, but he didn''t mind spending a few moments reviewing everything that had happened on Ecoruta.. It felt necessary to make a point of his situation now that he was entering the second half of his second year in the Global Army.

 Chapter 280 - Slow

    Khan had grown used to spending entire nights training, but his schedule featured something different at that time. The Global Army had sent him a book featuring a deep description of the Ef''i''snguage and grammar, so he deployed the "enhanced reading" to memorize most of its contents.


    Memorizing words and grammatical rules wasn''t enough to grant Khan mastery over that aliennguage. His ent would remain off without practice, and he would still fail to apply everything he had learnt in an actual conversation. His understanding wasn''t natural enough to speak properly, but he nned to fix that issue on Onia.


    The morning arrived before Khan couldplete his usual training routine. Eunice knocked at his door, and he left in a hurry to follow her through the many corridors. The two exchanged casual words, but she soon understood that his mind was elsewhere.


    A familiar area eventually unfolded in Khan''s vision. Eunice remained behind while Khan entered the room with the teleport and consoles that he had seen when he first arrived in the structure.


    The soldiers in the room stared at Khan with strange expressions. Some appeared disappointed, while others experienced conflicting feelings that their faces didn''t even try to hide.


    Khan wasn''t as unaware of the situation as before. The nomination for Onia''s tournaments had even improved his status greatly, so he quickly approached the Guko next to the teleport and voiced a loud question. "Are they disappointed that they didn''t get my mana core?"


    "Yes," The Guko replied before anyone could stop it.


    Khan wore a fake smile as he stepped on the teleport and nced at the soldiers on the consoles. Thetter avoided his gaze, and they stuttered when they voiced the indications necessary for the teleport.


    The soldiers didn''t know that Khan was only teasing them. They were afraid that he could report them to a superior and use his status to make their lives harder. Of course, Khan had no interest in all of that, but their reaction gave him a clearer understanding of how important he had be.


    ''I guess I need to win the tournament,'' Khan thought as synthetic mana began to fill his surroundings.


    A series of orders rang before a blinding light filled Khan''s vision. When the glow vanished, he found himself in a simr room that featured a far different atmosphere. Green metal covered most surfaces, and dark consoles stood at the edge of the circr area. Still, the alien figure standing in front of the teleport imed most of Khan''s attention.


    "Wee to Onia," The male Ef''i eximed in perfect humannguage. "A Lieutenant is waiting for you outside the building."


    "[Thank you]," Khan said with the best ent he could muster while stepping out of the tform.


    The Ef''i wore a polite smile before adjusting his white medical coat and approaching one of the consoles. Khan nced at his pointy tail before moving his eyes toward a soldier that approached him.


    "Sir, we must perform a routine check before allowing you out of the building," The man said in a polite tone while showing the way toward a corridor.


    The man had a single star on his right shoulder, but he still addressed Khan as "sir". Khan ignored that matter and limited himself to nod before following the soldier across the corridor. A series of scanners stood in his way, but he went through all of them quickly.


    "Do you mind if I check my stats?" Khan asked when the building exit appeared in his view.


    The soldier at the end of the tunnel nodded before handing over the screen in her hands to Khan. He only cared about one stat, and a bit of disappointment appeared inside him when he read it.


    ''Only fifty-three percent attunement with mana,'' Khan eximed in his mind. ''I had to fight and travel for entire weeks, but I still meditated a lot.''


    Gaining only two points on his attunement with mana in almost four months left Khan surprised. He could sense that the next checkpoint was still far, but he didn''t expect to have improved so little.


    ''I''ll be a second-level warrior in my third year at this pace,'' Khan thought while handing back the screen. ''This is far too slow.''


    Khan''s thoughts inevitably went on the [Blood Vortex] after acknowledging the limits of his meditations. He had something that could make him improve faster, but his ability to manipte mana had yet to reach the intended level.


    ''I need to work harder on my Niqols'' techniques,'' Khan decided. ''The [Blood Shield] isn''t a problem for now, but it will also need to reach the next level after I be a second-level warrior.''


    His thoughts stopped when the exit slid open and a familiar face appeared in his view. Lieutenant Unchai wore a broad smile as soon as his eyes fell on Khan.


    "Sir, I didn''t expect to see you here," Khan stated.


    "I decided to receive you as soon as I heard about your nomination," Lieutenant Unchai chuckled as his smile saddened. "I thought that you would have liked a familiar face here."


    Khan nodded without adding anything else. His eyes moved among the red-brown environment as he inspected the small camp that contained the teleport. Tall buildings and a few squads of soldiers were visible from his position, but the almost unbearable heat remained the most striking feature in the area.


    "Nothing has changed here," Khan sighed before ncing at the second star on the Lieutenant''s left shoulder. "Well, almost nothing."


    "You aren''t the only one who has been busy," Lieutenant Unchai announced while leading Khan toward one side of the small camp. "Instead, Onia is as hot as always. Even a catastrophe wouldn''t change that."


    "I thought you would have gone back on Earth after our training session," Khan stated.


    "Earth has been a bit of a mess after Istrone," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "The Global Army had a shortage of recruits, so many teachers decided to switch professions or find temporary jobs. The situation has started to stabilizetely due to the new year."


    Khan went silent. Istrone had been a tragedy that had caused deep consequences in many aspects of the Global Army. Humankind had basically lost a year to recover from those losses.


    Lieutenant Unchai led Khan in an area with a few cars. A few soldiers stood next to them, and they didn''t hesitate to perform military salutes when they saw the two. One of them even approached one of the vehicles, but Lieutenant Unchai waved his hand to dismiss him.


    "Do you know how to drive?" Lieutenant Unchai asked while cing a hand on a car.


    "I never had the chance to learn, sir," Khan replied.


    "You are learning now," Lieutenant Unchai stated while jumping on the passenger''s seat. "It''s pretty easy. Hop in, and I''ll show you."


    Khan imitated the Lieutenant and jumped on the driver''s seat. The car waspletely ck and had no roof, but itsfortable insides and metal surfaces weren''t hot even if Onia''s two suns had shone on them for a while already.


    "Press that to turn it on," Lieutenant Unchai exined while pointing at a button and the two pedals under Khan''s feet, "That to elerate, and that to stop. I told you, easy."


    Khan didn''t know why Lieutenant Unchai was giving him that chance, but he didn''t ask any questions. He turned the car on and timidly pressed on the elerator. The vehicle began to move forward, and he instinctively held himself on the steering wheel to keep it still.


    "Try to turn on the right," Lieutenant Unchai ordered. "Get used to how the car reacts."


    Khan followed the order and performed slight turns inside the camp. He learnt all the basic functions quickly, and the Lieutenant eventually told him to leave.


    "You can elerate here," Lieutenant Unchai said as soon as the car left the tall fence around the camp.


    Khan immediately pressed on the elerator, and the car shot forward. Hot winds blew on his face as the vehicle sprinted through the barren in outside the camp. A smile even appeared on his face as he recalled the feelings experienced when he flew with Snow.


    "Can you handle this speed?" Lieutenant Unchai asked in a surprised tone.


    "Sir, I used to fly far faster," Khan eximed as he tried to perform sharp turns without slowing down.


    The car remained stable as Khan kept testing it. It waspletely different from an Aduns. If it weren''t for the wind, he would barely notice that he was moving.


    "You need to learn how to fly a spaceship then," Lieutenant Unchai suggested. "Those things can go far faster than any Tainted animal."


    "Do you know the Aduns, sir?" Khan asked.


    "No, I''ve only searched a few things on thework after studying your profile," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "Did you really fly on those creatures'' backs?"


    "It''s safer than you think," Khanughed.


    "Is it?" The Lieutenant questioned, but Khan limited himself to shaking his head without interrupting hisugh.


    "Ok, slow down a bit now," Lieutenant Unchai said while tinkering with the screen in front of his seat. "You need to turn to the right and continue straight for a while to reach our destination."


    "Where are we going, sir?" Khan asked while following the indications.


    "Our destination is one of thergest human camps on Onia," Lieutenant Unchai revealed. "The humans have built it around a big mine of faswite, but the Ef''i have a few buildings there. The tournament for first-level warriors will also happen there."


    "I thought the event would have been grander," Khan responded. In his mind, something like the tournaments would need a city or vast settlements.


    "Wait until you see it," Lieutenant Unchai replied. "Also, the surface is never important with the Ef''i. Life thrives underground here."


    Khan nodded before falling silent. His eyes went on the screen in front of Lieutenant Unchai from time to time to make sure that his direction was correct. He didn''t know how the car could know its exact location in areas that the Global Army''swork didn''t reach. Still, he didn''t voice questions and decided to focus on the winds blowing on his face.


    ''This is too slow,'' Khan thought as he slowly pressed harder on the elerator.


    "You have changed," Lieutenant Unchai eventually announced. "I guess that''s normal after everything you have been through."


    "How so, sir?" Khan asked while feeling d that the Lieutenant wasn''t scolding him about the car''s speed.


    "You look mature," Lieutenant Unchai exined.


    "I have always been mature," Khan dered.


    "Maybe you didn''t change too much," The Lieutenant scoffed, and Khanughed. Then, the soldier noticed that something was off and turned toward Khan to question him. "Are we going faster than before?"


    "Not at all," Khan promised. "It must be the heat, sir."


    "What heat?" Lieutenant Unchai shouted before heaving a helpless sigh. "Fine, you can go as fast as you want, but slow down once the camp is in sight."


    "What are the rules of the tournament?" Khan questioned now that the Lieutenant mentioned the camp again.


    "One versus one fights," Lieutenant Unchai began to list the rules, "No weapons allowed, and avoid killing if you can."


    "That''s it?" Khan asked.


    "That''s it," Lieutenant Unchai confirmed.


    "Can I really kill them?" Khan continued.


    "Do you want to?" Lieutenant Unchai asked in an emotionless tone.


    "No," Khan replied before continuing with words that brought a pensive mood to his mind, "It''s just easier."


    "You have really changed," Lieutenant Unchai sighed. "You can use spells, but I''d avoid it in your case."


    "I guessed as much," Khan revealed.


    The Ef''i were a battle race. They would respect Khan if he won, but they would inevitably hold grudges if he ended up killing many of their young soldiers. That went in the opposite direction of his goal.


    "Will you be fine without your knife?" Lieutenant Unchai asked.


    "I don''t know," Khan admitted. "I''lle up with something."


    "They are stronger than us before the evolution," Lieutenant Unchai reminded. "Their tail is also a natural weapon. I don''t need to tell you that they are quite challenging."


    "I remember," Khan sighed. "I''ll just hurt them badly if I must."


    "You have grown confident in yourself," Lieutenant Unchaimented. "That''s good."


    "It''s pointless toy low right now," Khan added. "I need to win."


    Lieutenant Unchai stared at Khan for a while before moving his eyes on the sterile environment. He almost couldn''t recognize Khan. Thetter had gone from a yful kid to a confident soldier in a single year. The sight was almost depressing.


    "Do you know anything about Lieutenant Dyester?" Khan asked after a while.


    "As far as I know, he is the same as always," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "co''s training camp has gained new recruits, so he has to work again from time to time."


    Khan nodded, and silence arrived again. The car continued to shoot through the barren path until a series of structures appeared in the distance and forced him to slow down.


    The camp was farrger than Khan had predicted. It wouldn''t be wrong to call it a small town due to its sheer size. A tall fence stretched for hundreds of meters around multiple dark buildings. A few green structures also stood among them. The settlement could contain thousands of soldiers, and that was only the surface.


    "So?" Lieutenant Unchai asked in a proud tone.


    "I don''t understand why you call this a camp," Khan stated, and the Lieutenantughed.


    A few soldiers stood in front of the fence''s entrance, but they moved aside when they noticed Lieutenant Unchai. Khan led the car inside the parking area to the right, and his inexperience with those vehicles became evident in that situation. It took him a while toplete the procedure correctly.


    "You''ll get better," Lieutenant Unchaiforted Khan after they stepped out of the car.


    "I bet the spaceships are harder to ride," Khan sighed.


    "Not really," Lieutenant Unchai revealed. "You can''t hit anything in space, and you canplete some procedures with the auto-pilot."


    Lieutenant Unchai led Khan outside the parking area, and a few soldiers quickly approached them to be their guides. However, a scene that Khan found familiar yed in his vision before the two men could say their names.. He could see a group of Ef''i approaching his position, and he even recognized Teco among them.

 Chapter 281 - Rematch

    "Is this happening again?" Khan whispered while wearing a fake smile at the sight of the approaching Ef''i.


    "I have no control over this," Lieutenant Unchai said in an apologetic tone before spreading his arms and raising his voice. "[Teco]!"


    "[It''s not a case that the kid won thest time]," Teco eximed before turning toward Khan to speak in a bad human ent. "I''m d to meet you again."


    "[Honor are mine]," Khan said as best as he could.


    Teco didn''t hide his surprise to see Khan speaking hisnguage. Khan''s performance was poor at best, but he still managed to make the Ef''i understand what he meant.


    Meanwhile, Khan simply felt d to understand the Ef''i''snguage. He needed to rey the words in his head at times, but he confirmed that he wouldn''t remain in the dark when conversations happened near him.


    "Khan," Someone spoke from the center of the group. The Ef''i opened a path, and Khan soon could see Eztli stepping forward to stand at Teco''s side.


    Eztli had grown taller during that year. More muscles had also appeared on his slender figure and the tight yellow tank top that he wore only highlighted them.


    "I think a rematch is mandatory before the tournament starts," Teco said in a bad human ent. "I hope your candidate doesn''t mind."


    "Khan was born ready!" Lieutenant Unchai proudly announced while patting Khan''s shoulder.


    Khan rolled his eyes before stepping forward. He knew that escaping that situation was impossible, and part of him even wanted to test his strength against the Ef''i. Besides, that fight could work as a preparation for the tournament.


    Eztli also stepped forward and revealed a confident grin. His tail mmed on the ground as his nails stretched and his muscles bulged. Khan could sense the mana moving inside the alien''s body to create a defensiveyer that fused with his pale-brown skin.


    Khan caressed the sheath to his left before closing his hand into a punch. Piercing that defense through the Divine Reaper would be easy, but he couldn''t use his weapon during the tournament, so it was pointless to wield it now.


    ''I wonder if that can work this time,'' Khan thought before bending forward and waiting for the two leaders to give the order.


    "Fight!" Lieutenant Unchai shouted as soon as both fighters appeared ready.


    "[Fight]!" Eztli followed, and Khan promptly shot forward.


    Eztli had be a first-level warrior during that year, but his limbs remained unable to follow Khan. However, the same didn''t apply to his tail.


    Khan saw the Ef''i''s pointy limb shooting toward him as soon as he entered his range. The attack would have made Khan change direction one year ago. Yet, he had gone through countless battles during that period. His experience went far beyond his age.


    Khan bent forward even further. The tail touched the upper side of his head before sliding past it. A cut opened under the rtively short hair, but that wasn''t enough to make him stop.


    The ground seemed incredibly close as Khan kicked with both feet tounch himself forward. His torso went back as his legs moved forward and bent. Eztli didn''t even have the time to cross his arms before Khan''s knees mmed on his abdomen.


    Khan''s airborne attacks carried the entirety of his weight and momentum. They were final blows in the Lightning-demon style. Hisst technique didn''t express his peak battle prowess due to theck of rotations, but it remained among his strongest moves.


    The Ef''i were above the humans in terms of pure physical prowess. They didn''t reach the Stal''s insane levels, but theypensated that through spells and martial arts.


    Eztli slid on the terrain for two meters. His toenails dug the ground to interrupt his momentum, and his tank top shattered due to the impact.


    The tail slid over Khan''s head for a second before Eztli decided to retract it. The attack didn''t break the alien''s posture, but Khan had every intention to continue with his offensive. However, a peculiar sight appeared in his view and made him stop. The piece of Eztli''s tanktop that had fallen had revealed a foot-shaped scar.


    Eztli understood the reason behind Khan''s surprise and decided to stop too. He smirked as he nced at his scar. His sharp nails went on his tank top and tore it apart before he mmed his palms on his chest.


    Khan also smiled but for very different reasons. He had actually read something about that in one of the books obtained on Ecoruta. The Ef''i weren''t bad in the medical field, but they often decided to retain their scars to remind themselves of their defeats.


    Instead, Khan''s smile carried a bit of longing. The scar had reminded him of who he was when he first came to Onia. He recalled the fear toward his own power and aggression andpared it to his current confidence and coldness.


    "[Stop holding back]," Eztli said while Khan was busy inspecting the scar.


    Khan raised his head to nce at Eztli''s four eyes. He could see pure happiness on the alien''s face. Thetter approached battles in ways that Khan had never considered. Eztli was having fun exchanging blows with an opponent at his level.


    Khan had learnt to lose himself during his battles, but that new approach tempted him. His thoughts started to disappear as he tried to enjoy the fight without minding all its negative aspects. His mind began to cut away everything to leave a simple desire behind. Khan wanted to win for the sole sake of bathing in a victory.


    ''I guess it''s pointless to test him any further,'' Khan thought as his sensations started to fill his mind. ''He can defend against my kicks, so I have to rely on my mana.''


    Khan shot forward again. Eztli threw his tail toward Khan, but he dodged itpletely at that time. The rtively ample movement prevented him from reaching the alien before he could remove the openings in his guards. Still, Khan wasn''t aiming to exploit his speed tond clean blows now.


    A fast rotating kicknded on Eztli''s right arm. The alien had used it to protect his side, and the lower power contained in the attack also allowed him to remain in his position. Yet, red-purple energy came out of Khan''s shin right after the impact.


    Eztli felt that something was off, but his arm worked fine, and nothing seemed broken, so he proceeded to wave his left arm at Khan. His tail also rose above his head as it waited for Khan to dodge.


    Khan instinctively pushed himself forward while bringing his raised foot to the ground. Eztli couldn''t reach him even if he rotated his body to follow those movements. However, that only applied to his arm.


    Eztli''s tail didn''t have his arm''s limitations. It descended at high speed and managed tond on the side of Khan''s right shoulder. Still, he continued to move around the alien, so the limb ended up leaving a deep cut that reached his tattoo beforeing out of his body.


    Khan had sensed the arrival of the tail. He had the chance to use the [Blood Shield], but he decided to avoid revealing his abilities before the tournament.


    After the tail came out of Khan''s body, he rotated on himself to deliver a powerful kick on Eztli''s waist. His mana flew out of his foot and entered the alien''s body, but nothing significant happened.


    Eztli swung his tail toward Khan, but he raised his arm to block it. The alien started to rotate toward him, but another kicknded on his waist and hindered his movements.


    The tail rose, and Khan sprinted around Eztli again. The alien couldn''t see his precise location now, so he waited for an attack to arrive. Khan didn''t make him wait long. He threw a kick as soon as he stopped on Eztli''s side before jumping back to avoid the descending pointy limb.


    Khan took a few steps back afternding on the ground. He didn''t need to check his injury to know its state. His eyes could remain fixed on his opponent, and his senses made sure to tell him everything that was happening inside the alien''s body.


    Something was definitely changing. Khan had already kicked Eztli four times, and his mana had entered his body during those attacks. The alien''s arm had blocked the first blow, but the other three hadnded directly on his waist and abdomen, which allowed Khan to notice some reactions.


    Theyer of mana that had fused with Eztli''s skin had remained mostly intact, but the energy flowing inside his body had begun to find hindrances, especially when it passed through his waist and right arm. Those issues were still too faint to make the alien notice them, but they were definitely happening.


    ''It can work then,'' Khan thought before falling back into his unique mental state.


    The chaos element had destructive features, but they were too faint when Khan didn''t use his mana for spells or specific martial arts. However, he had learnt how to change the nature of his energy on Nitis, so he could also enhance its iconic abilities.


    The problems obviously resided in Khan''s ability to enhance those features during his attacks. He had to add another process to his martial art, which already went beyond what the Niqols did. He wouldn''t feel confident in seeding with the Divine Reaper. Yet, the issue didn''t appear impossible when it came to the Lightning-demon style.


    Khan dived deeper into his special mental state and took deep breaths as he focused on his mana. He had to perform his kick correctly before enhancing the nature of his energy and releasing it. He also needed to use his movement to push it inside his opponent to make sure that it reached decent depths.


    Eztli waited for Khan to move. He knew that he wasn''t as fast as his opponent, so he had to adopt a defensive approach.


    Khan didn''t make him wait long. He sprinted forward when he felt ready to test that new approach. The pointy tail soon filled his view, but he ducked to continue his charge under it. Eztli''s waist quickly entered his range, and his foot soon mmed on that area.


    Eztli tried to close his arms around Khan while retracting his tail to block his escape path. Yet, Khan ced his raised foot on one of the iing forearms and used it as a foothold to jump.


    Khan slipped past the iing arms and tail while flying above Eztli. His figure began to rotate before a heel descended toward the alien''s head. Still, Eztli managed to put his tail in the kick''s trajectory and block most of the attack.


    Khan used the tail as a foothold to push himself outside Eztli''s range. He flew backward and performed a backflip beforending on the ground and shooting forward again. His new approach required multiple attacks, and he had every intention to deliver them.


    Soldiers began to gather around Khan and Eztli as their battle continued. The same happened to some Ef''i who happened to be nearby and notice the fight.


    Simr scenes happened rtively often inside camps with both humans and Ef''i. The Ef''i liked to test their strength, even outside training areas, and the soldiers had adapted to those habits.


    Moreover, Khan''s battle was quite scenic. He danced around and above Eztli while thetter waved his arms and tail in the hope of inflicting severe injuries.


    The two''s endurance was incredible. Eztli endured kick after kick without showing any reaction, while Khan ended up suffering injuries from time to time. They were mostly superficial cuts caused by the restrained dodges meant to keep the alien in his kick''s range. Still, Eztli also managed to stab his tail deeply whenever Khan decided that he could gain from that.


    The long battle eventually tore Khan''s uniform apart. He had to leave his defensive gear on Ecoruta, so all the attacks thatnded on his body created bloody cuts or holes that gave a gruesome appearance to his torso. He made sure to keep his legs safe, but he sacrificed everything else as he continued to release kicks.


    Lieutenant Unchai began to worry at some point. Khan never slowed down, but the injuries umted on his body were reaching a concerning number. He was losing a lot of blood, and even hisplexion started to grow pale.


    The only detail that stopped Lieutenant Unchai from putting an end to the battle was Khan''s confident expression. Khan smiled during his relentless offensive, and his eyes never lost their focus. His face said that everything was going ording to his n.


    The Ef''i couldn''t help but approve of Khan''s resilience. They had heard about him and did their research after his nomination for the tournament, but they could confirm his value now. He was a brave warrior who didn''t fear pain, which the Ef''i respected with their whole selves.


    Nevertheless, everyone expected Khan to lose. Eztli had yet to suffer visible injuries, while Khan''s torso was covered in blood. He even appeared on the verge of fainting.


    Then, during one of the usual exchanges, Khan mmed his foot at the center of Eztli''s chest and used the impact to push himself away. He even took a few steps back and interrupted his offensive as he kept his eyes on his opponent.. Everyone believed that he was about to surrender, but Eztli suddenly spat a mouthful of blood and fell unconscious on the ground.

 Chapter 282 - Three Weeks

    No one expected that oue. After all, Eztli had looked fine until the moment before copsing. Still, it was impossible to deny that surprising scene. Everyone remained dumbfounded as green blood continued toe out from the Ef''i''s mouth and created arge puddle.


    Teco immediately shot forward to check on Eztli. The surprise on his face intensified after he ced his hand on the alien''s back and studied his condition. Teco couldn''t help but raise his four eyes toward Khan, who was doing his best to keep his back straight.


    Khan knew exactly what had happened. He had been the only one among the crowd who had kept track of Eztli''s condition during the fight. He had sensed how his kicks had continued to destabilize his opponent''s insides until his body couldn''t endure them anymore.


    The breaking point had led to a chain reaction that had involved different organs. Entire parts of Eztli''s insides had shut down due to the chaos that Khan had nted with his kicks. The Ef''i tissues, mana, and blood had basically turned on their owner after Khan''s influence had be too intense to suppress.


    ''It works,'' Khan thought as he did his best to stabilize his ragged breath.


    Dizziness filled his mind, and the desperate desire to faint almost made him sit down, but he suppressed those feelings to remain on his feet. Khan had something to prove to that battle race. He had to show the Ef''i that he was a threat worthy of their respect.


    The soldiers and Ef''i on the scene experienced multiple emotions when their gazes fell on Khan. They could see the many injuries that filled his shoulders, head, back, and chest, but they also noticed how he didn''t appear fazed by them.


    Khan was a gory mess, but he was still on his feet. Besides, his azure eyes had remained wide open even after Eztli had fallen on the ground. He appeared ready to keep fighting even if he had demonstrated his awareness of Eztli''s conditions.


    "[Did you hold back]?" Teco eventually asked before gesturing to his underlings to grab Eztli.


    "[Yes]," Khan honestly admitted in his bad ent.


    "[Good]," Teco stated while standing up. "[You wouldn''t have survived in the tournament otherwise]."


    Khan kept his poker face, but questions inevitably appeared in his mind. He wanted to know the true meaning behind those words, but that wasn''t the right time.


    "I told you that he was ready!" Lieutenant Unchaiughed while stepping forward and cing a hand on Khan''s back while making sure that he didn''t touch any injury.


    "I''m fine," Khan whispered when he understood that the Lieutenant was trying to support him.


    "I''ll bring Khan to the medical bay now," Lieutenant Unchai announced while retracting his hand and wiping the blood on his uniform. "Unless you want him to fight someone else."


    "I can''t wait to see him at the tournament," Teco replied while wearing an odd smile. "He can beat [Eztli], but our candidates are far stronger."


    Khan understood the meaning of Teco''s previous words after that statement. Eztli wouldn''t join the tournaments because he wasn''t strong enough to be there.


    The news tried to break Khan''s poker face, but he managed to suppress any flicker. He could do far better, but he had still tested his real offensive power against Eztli. Stronger opponents would be hard to defeat if he didn''t improve.


    "How long do I have until the tournament?" Khan whispered as the Ef''i nodded at him and started to leave the scene.


    "Three weeks," Lieutenant Unchai revealed.


    "I hope this camp has a training hall," Khan added.


    "The Global Army has already given its approval," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "You can destroy as many training dummies as you want as long as you bring the faswite home."


    "The faswite is already home," Khanmented. "I need the training hall to avoid killing anyone."


    "That''s an arrogant im," Lieutenant Unchai responded. "The Ef''i in the tournament won''t be weak. Don''t underestimate them."


    Khan limited himself to nod, but a different answer rang in his mind. He could see that he was different. The Ef''i from before and most soldiers in the audience had never been part of a war, and Khan felt able to notice that. He was a proper soldier, while most of the warriors inside the camp had never actually killed anybody.


    The level of his resolve was in a different realm. The Ef''i worshiped battle prowess, but Khan had already proven himself on an actual battlefield. His mind touched thoughts that those in his surroundings didn''t have, which was his greatest advantage in the iing tournament.


    "Let''s hit the medical bay," Lieutenant Unchai eventually announced before stepping forward.


    Khan followed his superior across the vast camp while many eyes fell on him. It was easy for those soldiers and Ef''i to recognize foreigners, and his bloodied state didn''t help him go unnoticed.


    Multiple buildings appeared and disappeared in Khan''s vision. Most of them were habitations, but many belonged to specific branches. co''s training camp had wider diversity, but Onia''s settlement had structures that involved advanced subjects, especially when it came to the creation of synthetic mana cores.


    It turned out that the camp had three medical bays, with two of them in the outskirts of the settlement. The duo could reach one of them rather quickly, and a series of nurses dealt with Khan''s injuries as soon as he entered an empty room.


    The nurses applied lotions and bandages before forcing Khan to sleep. They ordered him to sleep for the rest of the day, but he limited himself to a short nap that used only a few hours. Lieutenant Unchai was still waiting for him by the time he got out of the structure.


    "I will show you your habitation now," Lieutenant Unchai eximed as the two began to walk.


    "There''s no need for that," Khan responded. "I''ll probably spend these weeks in the training hall. Just have someone bring a pillow."


    "No mattress?" Lieutenant Unchai joked before sending a series of messages on his phone.


    The Lieutenant changed direction after exchanging those words. He led Khan into a different part of the camp''s outskirts to reach a giant dark building that contained various training halls. Khan could use the most advanced areas due to his status as a chaos wielder.


    "Someone will bring you food three times a day," Lieutenant Unchai exined after the two stopped in front of one of thest sliding doors. "We have masters in the camp, but I''m afraid they won''t be able to help you with your element. You can still request for someone to look after you when ites to your martial arts, but something tells me that you''ll refuse this offer."


    "I only need you to remind me when the day of the tournament is approaching," Khan stated while unlocking the door with his phone and inspecting the dark hall.


    The training hall was almost entirely empty, but spots on the floor lit up with a white light whenever Khan''s feet touched them. He could find the hole where to put his phone in no time, and he even noticed the small bed in the corner.


    "You can contact me through the training hall," Lieutenant Unchai announced. "Other than that, I''ll try to keep your stay here as peaceful as possible. I know it''s a loss for your goals, but the Global Army values the faswite far more than a potential ambassador."


    "Don''t worry, I understand," Khan said before nodding at Lieutenant Unchai and sealing the training hall.


    Three weeks on Onia and the actual tournament could give Khan the time to establish meaningful rtionships with the Ef''i or other soldiers in the camp. However, winning the faswite was more important in the Global Army''s eyes, so the training hall had to be his primary concern.


    ''Now,'' Khan thought as he plugged his phone into the training hall and began to skim through the various menus.


    His idea for the tournament was quite simple. The Niqols could transform ps into punches and hands into swords through their ability to manipte mana. Khan wanted to apply the same theory to the Lightning-demon style, but his goal didn''t involve a sharp change in his energy''s nature.


    The chaos element already carried destructive properties. They weren''t powerful when Khan limited himself tounch his energy forward, but he could change that by applying the Niqols'' teachings.


    The process didn''t require deep emotions or thoughts connected to images that depicted destruction. Khan had to work on his foundation to improve his attacks. His ability to manipte mana had to grow past its current level to be threatening.


    Khan didn''t need to test his current proficiency level. He waspetent in both his martial arts, so his training dummies had to meet a simple requirement. They needed to be resistant to internal damage.


    ''Three weeks,'' Khan thought as the hall''s workshops started to release noises. ''I can''t do much in this short time, but I might be able to reach a decent level if I focus everything on a single nature.''


    Khan wanted to reach Liiza''s level when it came to the maniption field, but he didn''t need that right now. The tournament''s rules went against him, but he could put his everything on learning how to enhance the chaos element''s innate features. In short, he had to shorten the number of kicks required to knock down his opponent.


    The prospect of the tournament''s battles was clear in his mind. Khan could guess what would be waiting for him during the event when he used Eztli as a starting point. His opponents would beplete warriors who didn''t have limitations on their spells. He would have to deal with Ef''i ready to express the peak of their power when he had to hold back his best attacks.


    Eztli had almost managed to bring Khan to his limit. He could use the [Blood Shield] to protect himself from deeper injuries, but he couldn''t abuse that technique. He also had ess to his version of the Divine Reaper, but it was better to keep that as a secret technique for harsher battles. In short, Khan had to rely on his kicks, but he had to bring them to a decent level before the tournament.


    One of the hall''s walls eventually opened, and a slightly fat puppet walked out of it. Khan could sense the synthetic mana running inside its body, but he failed to keep track of the energy''s movements when it crossed its chest, legs, and joints.


    ''Does it have reinforced areas?'' Khan wondered before shooting forward and throwing a kick at the center of the puppet''s chest.


    Khan didn''t focus on enhancing the chaos element''s properties during his attack. His attention was on the mana sent inside the puppet. He made sure to follow it with his senses to understand if the training dummy met his requirements.


    Sadly for Khan, the puppet''s chest caved in after the kick. Its insides remained intact, but the rest wasn''t as sturdy as he wished. The dummy tried to swing a punch at him after he retracted his leg, but he promptly raised his hand tounch a spell.


    A red-purple light came out of his palm as violent energy shot forward. The mana expanded in a conical area and enveloped the puppet. The spell didn''t affect the movement''s speed, but the arm approaching Khan''s face shattered before it could reach him.


    Simr scenes happened to other parts of the puppet. Its chest, face, and the front part of its legs crumbled into a rain of dust and metal shards. When the spell ended, the dummy had lost most of its body, and only its back had remained entirely intact.


    Khan had the chance to study the puppet''s insides during his kick and after the Wave spellpleted its destruction. The training hall couldn''te up with harder wires and tubes for the dummy''s insides, but it could addyers to its metallic surfaces to increase its resistance. Its sensitive parts would be able to survive internal attacks like that, but Khan needed more from his opponents.


    The floor lit up again, and Khan tinkered with the menus to change the stats of his opponents. He didn''t want the training hall to sacrifice external defense for internal resilience. He needed the puppets to have both features off the charts to mimic the struggles that the tournament would put in front of him.


    After the training hall pulled the old back, a new puppet came out of the wall. The new dummy was even fatter, but it was also taller than the previous, and its limbs wererger to contain the additional gears required to move that heavier body.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to shoot toward his new opponent and throw a kick aimed at its chest. The puppet endured the attack, and its metal didn''t cave in after the impact. Khan also lost sight of his mana right after it entered the dummy''s body, which made him smile in satisfaction.


    The puppet tried to use that chance to wrap its arms around Khan, but he stepped back before falling prey to that slow hug. The dummy clearly couldn''t match his speed, but he didn''t need to test himself in that situation. He required something that could endure his kicks without falling apart too soon.


    ****


    Author''s notes: My mind has been a mess in the past few days, but I''m better now. Thank you for your patience.


    Shoutout to vking1999 and Rogueguinness13 for their castles and to everyone else giving gifts. The system only announces the big ones, but I see all of them, and I''m grateful.


    I''ll probably hit the bed now, but I n to write 2 more chapters for Chaos once I wake up.. They aren''t enough to fill all the missing spots fromst week, but I feel like writing them, so welp.

 Chapter 283 - Confidence

    Khan forgot that he was on Onia. The training hall became his entire world, and he didn''t mind losing himself in his training. His new project was necessary, and he liked how it made him feel closer to the Niqols.


    Khan had to put part of his exercises aside to focus entirely on his ability to manipte mana. His training dug deep into the nature of his energy and continued the process started on Ecoruta.


    The chaos element was free, violent, and powerful. It didn''t necessarily want to destroy, but it liked expressing its might without bothering about what stood in its path. It was a selfish form of energy, but it brought waves of relief whenever Khan unleashed it without limiting its nature.


    Khan ended up finding differences between his personality and his element as his training continued. The Slums had taught him to be selfish, but he could be extremely selfless when it came to people that he considered dear.


    Something told Khan that he could find simrities in that difference, but he preferred to focus on epting those features for now. His introspection eventually brought him to a simple conclusion. Part of his selflessness was toxic since it came from his high resistance to pain.


    Khan could sacrifice himself easily due to how used he was to suffering. Liiza and others hadined about that, and the time inside the training hall made him acknowledge that issue properly.


    The matter didn''t involve ack of self-esteem. Khan knew his value, and he desired happiness, but he was also ready to pay a steep price to achieve it.


    That wasn''t inherently a problem. Khan''s current superiority came from his resolve and ruthlessness. Still, he couldn''t let that feature remain an instinctive part of his personality since it often ended up hurting those who cared about him.


    Khan needed to learn how to desire without sacrificing himself. That step felt necessary for his training. His character and the nature of his mana had to findmon ground where they could both grow.


    Many battles happened in-between those introspections. Khan didn''t forget that he had to apply his growth to his kicks, and the training dummies allowed him to keep track of his improvements.


    Days went by between long meditations and harsh battles against unbeatable puppets. Khan didn''t talk, think, or waste time. He never interacted with the outside world, and the door of his training hall opened only when he needed to pick up his meals.


    The four dark walls of the training hall became his everything, but he didn''t feel trapped. Actually, that unrestrained cycle of battles and deep introspection made Khan experienceplete freedom. He was in a simple room, but he was traveling farther than he had ever done through his mind.


    Khan felt surprised about his own improvements. The istion had forced him to face his problems without any external interference. The politics, his goals, traumas, and experiences didn''t matter anymore in that small environment. For once, he managed to put himself at the center of his universe and study his true shape.


    The three weeks went by in no time. Khan had learnt to ignore the outside world so deeply that he forgot his phone and the many messages that appeared on the training hall''s dark walls. His concentration was scary. He didn''t realize that something outside him existed. He had fully lost himself, which brought freedom that no one could disrupt.


    The entrance of the training room eventually opened, and an anxious Lieutenant Unchai stormed in with every intention of scolding Khan. Yet, the sight that unfolded in his vision left him speechless for a few seconds.


    Khan was sitting at the very center of the training hall. A dim light illuminated the area and revealed many cracks on the various surfaces. The floor, walls, and ceiling had holes andckedrge chunks of their fabric in certain spots. Metal shards and pieces of broken dummies also filled his surroundings, and a strange vibe enveloped the scene.


    Lieutenant Unchai didn''t know how to describe the scene. The training hall was damaged in many spots, and the scraps that filled the floor only enhanced the messy vibe that enveloped the area. Yet, he also sensed a deep calmness that seemed tock an actual source.


    "What time is it?" Khan said without opening his eyes.


    "The tournament starts tomorrow," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "You have less than eight hours to prepare."


    "It''s fine," Khan stated while interrupting his meditation and straightening his position. "I''m ready."


    Lieutenant Unchai didn''t say anything after that statement. His eyes often fell on Khan, but he decided to remain silent. Something had changed in his expression, and the soldier didn''t know how to exin that event. Khan''s face brimmed with resolve, and Lieutenant Unchai didn''t want to ruin it with useless questions or jokes.


    The Lieutenant led Khan toward the center of the camp. Everyone appeared busy, but both soldiers and Ef''i halted their duties when the duo walked near them. They wanted to take a good look at the candidate, especially after hearing what had happened three weeks ago.


    Khan felt all the gazes that fell on him, but his mind ignored most of them. He was allowing the world back into his senses, but he forced the process to be slow out of fear of losing the mental state achieved during his istion.


    Only Khan knew how much he had grown in thest three weeks, but the soldiers and Ef''i seemed able to understand something during their quick inspection. Khan didn''t actually change, but the resolve that filled his face revealed part of his new mental state.


    The center of the camp featured a vast hole that stretched deeply into Onia''s underground world. Multiple rectangr structures that worked as elevators stood at the gorge''s edges and connected the surface with the bottom of the area.


    Lieutenant Unchai led Khan toward one of the elevators and activated its functions. The two descended into the hole, and a glowing spectacle soon unfolded in their vision.


    Onia''s surface was barren. The two suns gave the two mere hours of darkness, and the hot temperatures prevented the appearance of vegetation. However, the underground world featured a far different environment.


    nts and multicolored flowers started to appear as the darkness of the hole reced took control of the area. Onia revealed its rich flora as Khan and Lieutenant Unchai dived into its underground world. The sight was mesmerizing, but Khan seemed unable to focus on those details.


    The elevator stopped when it reached a vast underground hall with consoles, screens, and a series of metal pirs meant to reinforce the structure. Multiplerge tunnels expanded from the area, and a series of artificial lights illuminated them with their dim light. Flowers and nts also thrived on the rocky walls and ceilings, and Khan could even feel many presences in the distance.


    "You will have to remain locked in a room until the tournament starts," Lieutenant Unchai exined while leading Khan into one of the tunnels. "I have texted you the rules of the tournament. Did you take a look at them?"


    "No," Khan honestly admitted as he inspected his surroundings without moving his eyes from the path ahead.


    "Are you okay?" Lieutenant Unchai asked as worry started to amass in his mind. "You seem off."


    "I am off," Khan responded. "I have never been more off in my entire life."


    "What?!" Lieutenant Unchai eximed, but confusion soon arrived when he heard Khan''s chuckle.


    "Don''t worry," Khan stated. "I won''t lose. I don''t think I can."


    Lieutenant Unchai didn''t know what to say, but something in Khan''s voice appeased his worries. Moreover, the cave where Khan would have to stay had appeared in his view, which put an end to his ability to influence the situation.


    "Go inside," Lieutenant Unchai eximed after reaching the cave''s entrance. "The room will seal itself once you enter it. This is yourst chance to voice requests."


    Khan remained silent as he stepped inside the room and watched two walls sliding out of the openings behind him. The room was about to close, and he took that chance to voice one simple line. "I expect a promotion after I win the tournament."


    Lieutenant Unchai didn''t have the chance to reply. The cave closed before he could say anything, but he still voiced a deep sigh as he stared at the dark walls that divided him from the room''s insides.


    Khan didn''t need to inspect the cave to understand itsyout. He could sense synthetic mana flowing inside tubes hidden behind those rocky surfaces. Onia''s underground world resembled a giant machine filled with life.


    The cave was as simple as possible. It was small and featured a single bed in the corner. It also had a tiny corner with a hole that Khan quickly connected to a bathroom.


    Khan sat on the bed and closed his eyes. The world continued to fill parts of his mind as he allowed it to enter and upy spots that he had previously reserved solely for himself.


    Khan didn''t want to lose what he had achieved during his istion, but he couldn''t close himself to his surroundings either. As the hours passed, he made sure to find a stability that satisfied him. Then, he decided to sleep to bring his condition to its peak.


    The sound of sliding doors cut his nightmare short. Khan opened his eyes and sat on the bed as his cave opened and revealed Lieutenant Unchai''s stern figure. The soldier had a clean military uniform in his hands, and his expression showed his intense anxiety.


    Khan didn''t say a word. He took the new uniform and changed before following Lieutenant Unchai across the tunnels. The synthetic mana flowing inside the rocky walls tried to hinder Khan''s senses, but he remained able to notice countless presences drawing close as he marched through the underground structure.


    The tunnel eventually ended, and a giant underground hall unfolded past it. Khan could see a circr area filled with soldiers and Ef''i sitting on tforms dug into the tall walls. Multiple artificial lights also shone on the ceiling and focused their glow on therge stages at the center of the scene.


    The area contained hundreds of powerful warriors. Their presences fused to create a heavy atmosphere that threatened to suffocate Khan. He had never seen such a dense gathering of mana. Most of the humans and Ef''i in the area were stronger than him, and some even reached levels that filled his mind with fear.


    "The Global Army has sent a Colonel to oversee the tournament," Lieutenant Unchai whispered while apanying Khan down a staircase that led at the bottom of the area.


    Khan limited himself to nod as he grew used to the pressure generated by the many stares that had converged on him. By the time he reached the bottom of the area, he could ignore everything that surrounded him and focus on the other Ef''i and soldiers that had gathered near the stages.


    Only a dozen warriors stood at the bottom of the area. Khan exchanged gazes with the Ef''i and soldiers and noticed the various emotions that filled their eyes. He saw anxiety, confidence, fear, and resolve. No one was in the mood to talk, and he was fine with that.


    The rules of the tournament were quite simple. The Ef''i would gamble multiple mines that day, and winning would grant the warriors the chance to fight for the best ones. Needless to say, thest battle was the most important event, but Khan would have to defeat three opponents in a row to reach it.


    The glow of the artificial lights intensified after thest members of the audience exited the many tunnels connected to the hall and took their seats. Silence filled the area as the warriors at the center of the area led their respective underlings toward the stages that would host their battles.


    Lieutenant Unchai led Khan toward one of the rings to his right. The tform wasrge and had short staircases connected to its surface. He could jump directly on the stage, but something told him to use the steps.


    Lieutenant Unchai followed Khan on the ring before moving toward the two Ef''i that had climbed the opposite staircase. One of the aliens also started to walk forward and reached Khan in a few seconds.


    Khan had read about that procedure. He spread his arms and let the Ef''i check him. The alien took away his phone and knife before nodding at him and returning toward his tall underling. Lieutenant Unchai did the same as he carried a series of metal rings taken from the Ef''i''s tail.


    Lieutenant Unchai and the older Ef''i then descended the staircases and took their ce on opposite sides of the ring. Simr scenes happened in the other stages, but Khan didn''t move his eyes from his opponent during that procedure. The alien was more than two meters tall, and bigyers of muscles covered his body. Seriousness filled his face, and faint tremors ran down his tails.


    The lights began to change color as each ring became ready to fight. Their white glow gained yellow shades, and countdowns appeared under the contestants'' feet. Sounds even resounded from the stages to mark the passage of time. Khan nced at the numbers written in two differentnguages approaching zero without making any move. It was forbidden to summon mana before the battle actually started.


    Then, when the numbers disappeared and a green light filled the stage, Khan shot forward. His opponent filled his tail with mana and swung it toward him to create an ethereal yellow sh that carried sharp properties.


    Khan cut to his left to dodge the sh, but the Ef''i didn''t hesitate tounch two more of them. The two attacks created an ethereal cross that forced him to change direction again.


    More ethereal shes flew toward Khan and prevented him from approaching his opponent. The alien began to perform the same spell with his arms, which generated a rain of attacks that ended up blocking Khan''s paths. He couldn''t advance, and the storm of blows threatened to push him away.


    Khan kept track of the Ef''i''s condition during his evasive maneuvers. The alien wouldn''t get tired anytime soon, so he couldn''t remain in that situation. Coldness shed in his eyes as he interrupted his dodges and shot forward toward three ethereal shes flying in his direction.


    A red-purple wave of energy came out of Khan''s figure before the shes could reach him. The Wave spell destroyed the attacks and opened a path, but the Ef''i promptlyunched more ethereal abilities.


    Khan watched the shes growing close to his position and decided to jump. Gasps resounded among the audience in front of that reckless action, but he didn''t hear them. The Ef''i mustered mana to prepare more ethereal attacks that could exploit Khan''s airborne state, but thetter had no intention to remain without a foothold.


    Khan lowered his legs when he was right above the shes. His feet seemed to carry no weight as they touched the ethereal attacks and used them to push him forward.


    The Ef''i remained dumbfounded when he saw Khan shooting forward andnding under him. His wed hands and tail tried to cover his torso, but a kick reached his abdomen before they couldplete their movement.


    Khan''s foot released a wave of red-purple mana while it unleashed the entirety of his momentum. The Ef''i tried to stab its toenails into the floor to stabilize his position, but he suddenly lost control of his body and fell prey to the enemy attack.


    The Ef''i flew away and ended up outside the ring. His figure rolled on the ground a few times before he could stop himself and stand up again. The alien quickly tried to approach the stage again, but surprise suddenly filled his expression.. He tried to cover his mouth, but green blood spurted out of it anyway and forced him to crouch.

 Chapter 284 - Second Round

    The Ef''i tried his best to stand up, but more blood came out of his mouth whenever he tensed his abdomen. Something had broken, but he still wanted to get back on the ring to continue the fight. However, his body didn''t listen to hismands, and his superior eventually shook his head before crossing his arms above him.


    Khan didn''t know the meaning behind that gesture, but the ecstasy that filled Lieutenant Unchai''s face told him that the battle was over. The older Ef''i had announced his underling''s surrender.


    The other rings were still hosting battles, but the audience voiced surprised gasps anyway after witnessing the oue of Khan''s fight. Many even pped their hands to announce their approval, and that gesture didn''te only from the humans.


    Khan didn''t let the victory ruin his concentration. His eyes moved to a wave of mana to his right. His hand rose in an attempt to catch it, but the energy escaped his grasp. He didn''t even feel it on his skin.


    ''Too thin,'' Khan thought as his mind yed the sensations experienced during his previous sprint.


    Khan had used the Ef''i''s shes as a foothold before, but he had never managed to pull off something simr in the past. The mana unleashed by the alien had been dense enough to create a tform that his feet could use to push himself forward.


    The action gave Khan insights into the superior proficiency levels of the Lightning-demon style. His recent move had been almost instinctive. He didn''t think before jumping on the shes. He had merely felt that they could work as a foothold, so he had gone for that.


    The sess in that new move opened a whole world in front of Khan. His sensitivity to mana allowed him to see the waves of energy in his surroundings. It was actually hard to find spots that didn''t have mana floating around.


    Of course, that mana was thin. A faint gale was enough to disperse it. Khan couldn''t even begin to conceive the proficiency level he would need to reach to use that energy as a foothold. Yet, the same didn''t apply to eventual spells. Even the bullets seemed suitable to be footholds now that he thought about it.


    The battle offered more insights, especially regarding Khan''s ability to enhance the chaos element''s natural properties. His opponent didn''t resort to any defensive technique, but a single kick would have normally failed to defeat a first-level warrior with a superior physique. Yet, the internal damage inflicted through his energy had been enough to put him out ofbat.


    The oue would have been different if the Ef''i had a defensive technique or had managed to block the kick. Still, neither had happened, so the battle had ended in a single attack.


    ''They are strong,'' Khan thought after reviewing the battle.


    The Ef''i had forced Khan to use his spell and best sprints to win. Having ess to the knife wouldn''t have changed the situation either. The aliens in the tournament were strong, and those in the next rounds would only be harsher to defeat.


    ''I might really have to kill someone,'' Khan sighed as that realization solidified inside his mind.


    Lieutenant Unchai didn''t share Khan''s worries. The soldier was happy beyond reason in front of that victory. Thanks to Khan, the Global Army had already gained a minor mine, which was enough to improve his mood.


    Moreover, Khan had proven himself to be worthy of that nomination. He had struggled during the initial phases of the battle, but he had won without suffering any injury. That alone filled the Lieutenant with hope.


    Khan approached the staircase and began to leave the ring, but a wave of strange mana suddenlynded at his side and made him turn toward the audience. His eyes ended up on one of the tforms that held both humans and Ef''i, and a surprised smirk eventually imed his attention.


    Almost everyone in the audience had stopped caring about Khan to focus on the other battles, but a smiling man had his gaze fixed on him. The soldier had short ck hair and brown eyes. His chincked a beard, and his face appeared rtively youthful and lively. However, the amount of mana in his figure dered that he was different from the others on his tform.


    Khan nced at the man''s shoulders to confirm what he had perceived through his senses. The soldier''s uniform had five pairs of stars. He was the strongest warrior and mage in the entire underground hall, and Khan quickly understood that he had found the Colonel sent by the Global Army.


    Khan nced at his left arm. The strange mana had fallen there, but nothing had happened. He couldn''t feel any difference in his skin or muscles eyes, so his confused eyes soon went back on the Colonel.


    The Colonel''s smile widened at that sight, and he even shook his head to reassure Khan. Thetter didn''t understand what was happening, but Lieutenant Unchai approached him before he could inspect his superior any further.


    "Stop staring," Lieutenant Unchai whispered while cing his hands on Khan''s shoulders. "Perform a salute and meditate. You only have three hours before the next battle."


    Khan nodded and performed a military salute, but the Colonel had already moved his attention on the other battles. Khan took that chance to inspect his left arm again, but everything continued to be okay.


    The superior of the defeated Ef''i approached Khan and Lieutenant Unchai to hand back the phone and the knife. Khan epted those items and exchanged a nod with the alien before moving toward a side of the area.


    The battles on the other rings continued to unfold while Khan sat next to the metal wall under the tforms. The Ef''i seemed to have the upper hand over the humans, but the soldiers didn''t give them an easy time.


    Spells red on each ring. The other contestants didn''t hold back during their fights. Khan didn''t have a good view from his position, but he could still use his senses to keep track of the battles and find the strongest Ef''i.


    A few Ef''i stood out from the rest, and they soon proved their value by defeating their opponents. Gasps and cheers resounded among the audience as more warriors left the rings. All of them saluted their superiors, but their gazes fell on Khan when they approached the metal wall.


    Khan replied to those nces, but he quickly stopped caring about the Ef''i. His attention went back to the other battles, and he watched as they reached their end. Only two soldiers had ended up defeating their opponents. The aliens had dominated the first round.


    "Is it always like this?" Khan asked while keeping his voice down.


    "What do you think?" Lieutenant Unchai scoffed. "Focus on yourself. Don''t worry about the others."


    It wasn''t hard to understand why the Ef''i won so much. Their tails and ws were natural weapons that gave them a stark advantage over the humans. Also, they had stronger bodies, they were generally tall, and their culture was heavily battle-oriented. Onia''s harsh natural conditions gave them incredible resilience, and their four eyes granted them heightened vision.


    The matter would have been different if the Ef''i had proper ws like the Stal, but that wasn''t the case. The humans would have to be far stronger to defeat them, and only a few soldiers could meet those requirements.


    Khan listened to Lieutenant Unchai''s advice. He closed his eyes and fell into his meditative state. He didn''t get tired after his battle, but he wanted to check whether the Colonel had done something to his body.


    Khan couldn''t find anything even after checking his body through his mana. He guessed that the Colonel only wanted to study him, but he didn''t know how to feel about that.


    The same strange mana had reached the two victorious soldiers, which reassured Khan a bit. Still, he didn''t like that gesture, and he hated the fact that he couldn''t defend himself from that inspection even more.


    Khan eventually put the matter aside during his meditation. He couldn''t me himself since the Colonel was a fifth-level warrior and mage. Also, the tournament imed his full attention, especially after he confirmed the Ef''i''s prowess.


    Lieutenant Unchai interrupted Khan''s meditation to hand him quick meals or drinks meant to vanquish eventual tiredness. He epted everything before returning to his rest, and the time for the next battle eventually arrived.


    The Ef''i had removed some of the rings during that break. The stages could close intorge rectangr items that could pass through the tunnels, so transporting them wasn''t an issue. In their ce, the aliens had broughtrger tforms that expressed the superior value of the following battles.


    The same procedures happened when Khan and a young female Ef''i stepped on the ring. Lieutenant Unchai and the alien in charge of the enemy contestant checked the two fighters before leaving the stage. The glow of the artificial lights intensified as countdowns appeared on the metal floors.


    Khan had inspected the Ef''i''s previous battle. She was faster than her peers, and her slimmer chest granted her superior agility. She still couldn''t match Khan''s speed, but she had something else that made him worry about the imminent fight.


    The floor turned green, and Khan shot forward. The Ef''i smiled in front of that scene and spread her arms while raising her tail to wait for his arrival.


    Khan kept track of the mana inside his opponent. The Ef''i was gathering her energy on her palms and tail, but the process made it faint. It seemed that her mana was losing its properties.


    The strange event didn''t affect Khan''s sprint. He reached the Ef''i in an instant, and his body rotated to deliver a kick aimed at the center of her chest.


    The Ef''i crossed her arms to block the kick. Her limbs endured the powerful attack, but a red-purple glow followed after the impact. Khan studied his mana entering the alien''s limbs, but his eyes flickered when he lost track of it.


    The tail shot forward, but Khan used his raised leg to kick it away. While his foot approached the ground, a red-purple glow covered his right hand and created an ethereal short sword. As soon as Khan restored his bnce, he threw the chaos ws spell toward one of the arms still crossed in front of the Ef''i''s chest.


    Khan had every intention of ripping away one of the Ef''i''s limbs, but his red-purple short sword vanished when the spell began to pierce her skin. The alien had forced his mana to disperse again, and her tail promptly moved to exploit that opportunity.


    The tail hit Khan''s exposed side and pushed him away. He had sensed the arrival of the attack, but he had decided not to deploy the [Blood Shield]. The blow had made him lose his breath for a second, and a metallic taste had also filled his mouth, but the impact allowed him to retreat.


    Khan took a few steps back before stopping and bending forward. His side felt numb, and waves of pain spread from where the tail hadnded. The pointy limb didn''t break anything since it had wasted its mana during the previous attack, but he had still felt it.


    The Ef''i stopped ying around. She shot forward when she saw that Khan was trying to find a way to deal with her abilities. Mana moved through her body and lost its features again as she reached him and threw her tail forward.


    Khan watched the pointy limb drawing near. The Ef''i could remain outside his range thanks to her tail, but he wouldn''t let her exploit that innate advantage. He sidestepped the attack right before it could pierce his head, but a long cut opened on his right cheek due to how close his dodge had been.


    Khan didn''t care about that minor injury. He closed the distance with his opponent while his cheek left a trail of blood on the tail. The Ef''i prepared her arms to block the iing attack, but her eyes widened in fear when he pushed his palm forward and made it shine with a red-purple light.


    The Ef''i began to retreat out of fear of facing Khan''s spell, but a kicknded on her ankle before she could escape his range. She lost her bnce and began to fall to the floor, but Khan made sure to raise his leg and deliver another attack.


    The alien moved her arms and intercepted the iing kick. She even dealt with the mana that followed the attack through her peculiar methods. Her feet had the chance to reach the floor after she supported herself on Khan''s leg, but she found herself unable to retreat since he had closed his firm grasp around her tail.


    The Ef''i began to move her mana while mustering her strength to pull back her tail, but Khan didn''t dare to waste that chance. Waves of mana came out of the hand around the pointy limb as he threw kicks to destabilize his opponent again.


    The alien couldn''t attack Khan when she had multiple spots to protect. Moreover, Khan made sure to sweep her feet whenever she restored her bnce, so escaping his grasp became impossible.


    A flurry of attacksnded on the Ef''i''s body. Khan kicked her right side, waist, legs, and arms violently without forgetting to add his destructive mana to the offensive. His hand also continued to send waves of red-purple energy inside the tail, and pieces of her skin eventually shattered as she grew unable to deal with the relentless offensive.


    Then, Khan faked an attack aimed at her side and made her prepare mana on that spot before mming his raised leg on the floor. He used that limb to spin on himself and lift his other foot. His movement ended up being too fast for the Ef''i, who didn''t have the time to protect her face from the iing attack.


    Khan didn''t follow the impact with a wave of his mana since he feared what internal injuries in that spot could cause. However, the Ef''i wasn''t protecting her face, so something broke.. Cracking noises resounded on the ring as the alien fainted and green blood tainted Khan''s shoe.

 Chapter 285 - Crazy

    The Ef''i fainted, but Khan didn''t let her fall on the floor. He pulled her tail and bent forward to put an arm around her right shoulder andy her down gently.


    Green blood came out from the alien''s mouth and nose. Part of her facial features had taken odd spots, but Khan soon stopped looking at her. A sshing noise reached his ears when he took a step back. His right cheek felt hot and wet, but his right hand ended up iming the entirety of his attention. His palm and fingers had turned green, and he could even see pieces of the Ef''i''s tail there.


    Khan''s battle had been the second to end. The audience didn''t hesitate to focus on him and study his figure. They felt amazed to see him virtually unharmed for the second time, but they didn''t hold back to show respect for his victory.


    The Colonel''s heavy gaze fell on Khan again, but no strange energy reached him at that time. Khan nced at the young-looking soldier while wiping his hand clean on his uniform. The man smiled and nodded at that sight, but Khan didn''t make any gesture.


    Lieutenant Unchai and the older Ef''i approached Khan when he left the ring. The alien was as respectful as possible, while the soldier could barely hold back his excitement. Still, Khan went through those interactions without paying attention to them. Worries had filled his mind after the battle, and he couldn''t quell them easily.


    ''She could deal with the chaos element,'' Khan thought while approaching the metal wall to rest. ''I got a bit arrogant.''


    No one had been able to deal with the chaos element on Ecoruta. The Global Army also valued chaos wielders a lot, so Khan had begun to think that he was virtually unbeatable among first-level warriors as long as he went all-out.


    However, hisst opponent had proven how counters to the chaos element existed. Khan had still ovee the Ef''i through a mixture of superior experience and prowess, but that was only the second battle. His next fight would probably feature someone at the same level or stronger than the female alien, and that wouldn''t even be the end of the tournament.


    The second rounds took a while to end, but their oues matched what Khan had realized after the first fights. Only another soldier had managed to win, and his condition was far from great. The Lieutenant that took care of him had to carry him to a medical bay due to the injuries suffered during his battle.


    All the victorious Ef''i ended up focusing on Khan when he remained the only human contestant in the area. He had paid attention to their battles, but he didn''t deign them of his gaze. He stayed deep into his meditative state while Lieutenant Unchai applied a smelly ointment on the cut on his right cheek.


    The Lieutenant had wanted to say something since the end of the battle, but Khan''s pensive mood masked with an aloof face stopped him from voicing anything. The soldier didn''t want to ruin his apparent concentration, especially since he was faring exceptionally well in the tournament.


    "What will happen to the other soldier?" Khan eventually asked when the three-hour break was about to end.


    "He won''t forfeit," Lieutenant Unchai shortly replied.


    "He can''t recover in time for the third battle," Khan continued. "And he can''t take special drugs either. He has no chance to win."


    "He will still try," Lieutenant Unchai dered while cing his back on the metal wall. "Who knows? He might be able to injure your future opponent."


    "Do you finally trust me to reach the fourth round?" Khan teased in an aloof tone.


    "I know you''ll do everything in your power to reach it," Lieutenant Unchai exined before lowering his face and continuing through whispers. "Your next opponent is strong."


    "I know," Khan eximed as his eyes went on the male Ef''i staring at him from the other side of the area.


    Khan had kept track of most battles. He had been unable to understand everything from his position, but he had gained a vague idea of his potential opponents during those inspections.


    His next opponent had been the first to im a victory during the second round. The Ef''i was fast and could use fire-based spells. His experience also appeared great.


    "Don''t hold back against him," Lieutenant Unchai suggested. "The fourth battle will happen tomorrow, but you might fail to heal if you suffer severe injuries."


    "I''ll win," Khan sighed while closing his eyes, "Both today and tomorrow."


    Lieutenant Unchai fell silent, but he soon had to call Khan to make him reach a ring. The Ef''i had moved the stages again, and therge area only featured two of them now. Only two humans had remained, so it made no sense to have more of them.


    Khan and his opponent entered the ring, but the audience''s abrupt cheers made them nce at a tunnel. A sorry figure covered in bandages and ointments walked out of the passage and approached the ring with a Lieutenant marching at his side.


    The enemy Ef''i didn''t seem to mind that the Lieutenant had apanied the injured soldier on the ring, but that gesture revealed the severity of his condition. The wounded contestant could have probably fainted on his way to the tform.


    "He won''t win," The Ef''i in front of Khan said in a bad human ent. "You won''t either."


    Khan felt almost able to read the intense battle intent on the Ef''i''s face. The taunt brimmed with confidence, but it also had a deeper meaning. The alien wanted Khan to use his full power during the battle.


    Khan smiled before shaking his head and letting the waves of mana in his surroundings fill his mind. A countdown appeared on the floor under him, and his figure shot forward when the stage turned green.


    The Ef''i voiced a battle cry as mana shot out of his left hand. The energy turned crimson and gained scorching properties as it transformed into a long whip that swung in a straight line.


    Khan felt forced to dodge to his left, but the Ef''i created another scorching whip with his right arm and swung it at him. Khan jumped to avoid the attack, and sizzling noises reached ears while the two spells remained on the floor.


    The Ef''iughed as he swung both whips toward Khan. Thetter sprinted forward to get close to his opponent and avoid those spells, but the alien rotated on himself quickly and prevented him from getting close.


    Khan ended up sprinting in a circle around the Ef''i. The whips continued to follow him, and the alien never stopped spinning on himself. The two threatening spells couldn''t reach Khan, but he faced the same problem.


    In theory, the alien had to get tired before Khan. Keeping two spells active while spinning so quickly consumed more mana than a simple sprint. However, the Ef''i didn''t show any sign of exhaustion even after that exchange continued for a whole minute.


    Khan eventually understood the nature of the issue. The scorching mana that came out from the alien''s hands had hindered his inspection, but he managed to see past the whips after spending a minute running around his opponent. The Ef''i wasn''t adding more mana to his spell. He was only protecting his palms from the fiery weapons.


    That low mana consumption began to make sense and forced Khan to change his approach. He slowed down slightly and let the whips approach his back before mming his feet on the floor and performing a backflip.


    The Ef''i couldn''t interrupt his momentum as abruptly as Khan. Thetter jumped over the whips and sprinted toward his opponent as soon as his feet touched the floor. The alien tried to invert his rotation to swing his fiery weapons at Khan, but it soon became clear that time wasn''t on his side.


    Khan reached the Ef''i in no time and prepared himself to deliver a powerful rotating kick. Yet, the alien suddenly let go of the whips and unleashed a wave of mes that caught both of them in its fiery might.


    Khan retreated while ripping apart his military uniform. Burning and fuming rags fell on the ground as he removed everything still on fire. A pitiful spectacle unfolded in his vision when he inspected his condition, but the Ef''i wasn''t too better off.


    Only a few rags had remained on Khan. His chest, arms, and knees were in the open now, which revealed his poor state. Burns filled his skin. Most of them were superficial injuries, but they didn''t look good anyway.


    The Ef''i had suffered simr injuries. His hands were a mess, and the same went for his arms. Still, he appeared able to endure the pain and move normally. He even managed to keep his grin on his face.


    ''Crazy bastard,'' Khan cursed in his mind as the corners of his mouth curved upward.


    Khan had sensed the arrival of the spell. He even had the chance to protect himself with the [Blood Shield], but he had held back after understanding how much mana the Ef''i had put in his attack.


    The alien had held back and had relied on his superior body to suffer less than his opponent. Yet, the spell had unleashed most of its power at its center, and the Ef''i''s hands had to endure it.


    The Ef''i quickly summoned his fiery whips again, and Khan''s smile widened at that sight. The alien didn''t show any sign of pain on his face even after wielding his scorching weapons. He appeared crazy beyond reason, but Khan could rte with that approach. He could y that game even better than his opponent.


    Khan promptly shot forward, and the Ef''i swung his whips toward him. The weapons created a cross-shaped hindrance that threatened to converge on Khan, but a red-purple light came out of his figure before they couldnd on him.


    The whips shattered after facing the wave spell, but the Ef''i salvaged their base by pouring more mana on them. Khan saw the broken weapons on his path again when he reached his opponent, but he decided not to face them.


    Khan ducked to sweep his opponent''s legs, but the Ef''i didn''t let that attack surprise him. The alien jumped and dodged the kick while mming his whips downward.


    Khan didn''t expect the Ef''i to read his attack so well. The alien had been fast enough to dodge his kick andunch a finishing blow at the same time.


    The sight was quite surprising for Khan. It was rare for someone to be faster than him, and the alien didn''t fit in that category either. Khan''s top speed remained unmatched, but the Ef''i had managed to surpass him during that short exchange.


    Khan could kick himself away to dodge the attack, but the Ef''i was airborne now. Thetter couldn''t avoid anything in that position. Khan believed that he wouldn''t get a better chance during the battle.


    The whips began to fill Khan''s vision, but his hands soon barged into the scene. The [Blood Shield] covered his palms and allowed him to grab the weapons without suffering severe injuries. His skin burnt and generated an unbearable pain, but he endured everything.


    Khan moved the whips out of his way. The Ef''i didn''t hide his surprise, but he still let go of his weapons once he understood what was happening. Yet, he reacted one second toote, which allowed Khan to create an opening where his leg could pass.


    Khan used the floor as a foothold to throw a powerful kick at the center of the alien''s torso. Thetter spat a mouthful of blood as the attack pushed him in the air, and his eyes widened in fear when he saw that his opponent began to prepare another technique.


    The whips dispersed when Khan threw them away and started to rotate on himself. His hands went on the floor as he used his movement tounch both of his legs upward.


    Khan''s timing was perfect. The alien would fall right into his kicks, but he had a different n. The Ef''i pointed his tail downward, and crimson energy began to umte on its tip during his descent.


    Therge amount of mana umted on the tail worried Khan, but the alien''s timing had also been perfect. Khan was already performing a handstand, leaving him no room to dodge the iing attack. He could only activate the [Blood Shield] again and hope that his kicks would put an end to the battle.


    A beam of scorching crimson light shot out of the tail when Khan''s kicksnded on his opponent. The fiery attack reached Khan''s back, but the blood vessels in that spot clotted before the impact and saved his insides.


    The kicks flung the Ef''i away. The alien ended up outside the ring and rolled for a while before using his limbs to stop himself. He then tried to stand up, but a river of blood exploded out of his mouth and made him faint on the spot.


    ****


    Author''s notes: It''s no secret that my mind is out of ce. I''m taking it easy, so thank you for your patience again.


    I''m writing, so another chapter will arrive today, and I''ll do my best to do two more after dealing with Demonic Sword. Anyway, I hope you like the new cover!

 Chapter 286 - Bottle

    Lieutenant Unchai almost shouted when the Ef''i lost consciousness. Khan had won, but his expression froze when he saw his poor state.


    Khan didn''t stand up right away. He sat on the floor and inspected his condition while curses resounded in his mind. His chest was rtively okay, but his arms, hands, and back were a mess that would take longer than a day to heal.


    The [Blood Shield] had prevented the Ef''i''s attacks from leaving deep injuries, but Khan''s skin had still paid a heavy price. The whips and thest beam had threatened to break his defensive technique, which sounded incredible considering the level of his ability.


    Khan couldn''t find intact skin on his palms and back. Blood umted on his burns due to the blood vessels that had shattered after he withdrew the [Blood Shield]. His heart beat faster than usual, and his chest felt heavy as the pain from his injuries intensified.


    ''Fuck,'' Khan cursed in his mind before standing up and showing his cold face to the audience.


    His gestures didn''t reveal anything, which only gained the approval and respect of the Ef''i in the audience. Khan had long since proven himself to be a great first-level warrior, but each victory brought him closer to being the very best.


    The other fight had ended long ago. The injured soldier couldn''tst long against his opponent, and even a reckless offensive didn''t give him the chance to inflict injuries. Khan could only suppress a sigh as he left the ring and let Lieutenant Unchai drag him inside a tunnel.


    The Lieutenant shouted a series of orders in bothnguages while a cave drew close. Two soldiers appeared in front of the entrance by the time Khan sat on the simple bed in the corner. The two were carrying bandages and ointments that they didn''t hesitate to apply to his injuries.


    "Tell me that you can still fight tomorrow," Lieutenant Unchai said in an anxious tone after the two soldiers left the cave.


    "I can still fight tomorrow," Khan replied in an uncaring tone.


    "Khan, I''m serious," Lieutenant Unchai scolded. "You might actually win the tournament."


    "I told you that many times," Khan teased. "Did you start to believe me only now?"


    "Mock me as much as you want," Lieutenant Unchai stated, "As long as it helps you deal with the stress."


    "I''m not stressed, sir," Khan sighed. "I have been through far worse. How can I get anxious over a mere tournament?"


    Lieutenant Unchai gulped before kneeling in front of Khan. He ced his hands on his shoulders, making sure not to touch the bandages before opening his mouth to speak. "You have no idea how valuable tomorrow''s battle is. The mine of faswite at stake is bigger than everything gambled in the previous fights."


    "What are you asking me to do?" Khan said while fixing his eyes on Lieutenant Unchai''s face.


    Khan could see the struggle in the soldier''s mind. He had already understood the meaning behind the Lieutenant''s internal conflict and hesitation, but he wanted him to voice those thoughts.


    Lieutenant Unchai was one of the few people who knew how much Khan had changed during that one and a half years. He had seen Khan going from a yful kid to a cold-blooded warrior. That was great from the Global Army''s perspective, but the issue about his age remained. He was incredibly young, even too young to have his current mindset.


    The Lieutenant had to decide which advice to say in that situation. As Khan''s superior, he had obligations toward his growth and well-being. However, he was also a soldier who had to prioritize the Global Army''s interests.


    "Don''t hold back in the next battle," Lieutenant Unchai dered as a tinge of shame appeared on his expression. "Kill your next opponent if you must, but bring the mine home. We''ll find ways to mend your rtionship with the Ef''iter."


    Khan smiled and nodded, but very different thoughts appeared in his mind. He even experienced a bit of sadness. He had just confirmed that Lieutenant Unchai was a soldier of the Global Army before being his ally.


    ''I won''t put my goal at risk,'' Khan thought while the Lieutenant straightened his position and did his best to appear satisfied. ''Yet, I still have to win. This is getting troublesome.''


    Khan inevitably nced at his bandages. The ointments had suppressed the pain, but he could still feel his injuries. His back and hands wouldn''t heal in a single day, and the rules of the tournament also went against him.


    Some Ef''i had been unable to join the second and third fights due to ack of opponents. They could choose the warrior to send to the fourth battle on their own, without minding the number of victories they had imed.


    Khan''sst opponent would probably be in perfect condition, with a set of abilities that countered his Lightning-demon style. Khan couldn''t even keep the [Blood Shield] a secret during the tournament, so he had lost a trump card that he could use to create a winning blow.


    His fingers shook, and no amount of concentration made them stay still. Holding his knife would be a problem with his hands in that state. His back would also annoy him during his spins, but he had to win anyway.


    A heavy presence eventually entered the range of Khan''s senses and made him snap out of his thoughts. Lieutenant Unchai realized what was happening only after his superior got closer to the cave, but he performed a military salute in no time. Even Khan began to stand up as the Colonel appeared before the entrance.


    "Don''t worry about these formalities," The Colonel announced while stepping inside the cave and pointing at the bed. "Sit. I only wanted to have a short chat."


    Two soldiers had followed the Colonel, and one handed him a rectangr bag before both left the cave. The superior even nced at Lieutenant Unchai, and thetter promptly nodded before following hispanions.


    Khan broke the military salute and sat cross-legged on the bed. The Colonel nodded before opening the bag and taking out a strange-looking bottle with a rectangr shape. The soldier then unscrewed the cap and used it as a cup.


    "They gave me this bottle as a gift," The Colonel exined as he poured the dense dark liquid slowly. "The Ef''i don''t really like to drink, but they try their best when ites to their alliance with us. Though I must warn you, it will probably taste like shit."


    The Colonel handed the cap full of booze to Khan. A pungent and strange scent reached his nostrils. Khan''s first instinct was to back off the drink, but he suppressed that desire and took it.


    "Do we share the cup, sir?" Khan asked while inspecting the drink.


    "I''m sure you won''t mind," The Colonel stated. "You don''t seem the type to give up on the habits gained in the Slums in less than two years."


    "I''m ttered that a Colonel knows so much about me," Khanmented while taking a sip from the cap.


    The drink was awful. It was dense, and the burning sensation started as soon as it entered Khan''s mouth. Gulping it felt even worse, but a cozy warmth spread throughout his chest after the sip was over.


    "The drink must be worse than my sneaky inspection," The Colonel eximed as a sly smirk appeared on his face.


    Khan''s eyes immediately fell on the Colonel. His whole aura had changed after thatment. Khan felt unable to inspect the mana inside his superior anymore. He only saw an empty spot in front of him.


    "Don''t worry," The Colonel said while showing his palm. "I was only checking you all. I didn''t expect you to sense me."


    Khan put the cap on the Colonel''s hand and remained silent. He didn''t understand what the soldier wanted from him, but he didn''t dare to voice questions before figuring out his character.


    "You are wary of your superiors," The Colonelmented before taking a long sip that didn''t cause any reaction on his face. "That''s a good mindset. No wonder you managed to excel during those dangerous situations."


    The Colonel handed the cap back to Khan, and he took it without saying anything. Khan''s eyes also remained fixed on his superior during the whole interaction and while he drank.


    Khan also suppressed his reactions while the dense liquid burnt his mouth and throat. The Colonel smiled at that sight, and he didn''t hesitate to take the cap when Khan handed it back.


    "I checked you after the results of today''s battles," The Colonel exined. "Your achievements stopped being surprising after reading your profile. You must feel in a yground among a bunch of kids."


    "The Ef''i are strong, sir," Khan replied.


    "There is an immense difference between those preparing for war and those who have seen it," The Colonel stated. "You are even a chaos wielder. I bet you could blow up the whole ring if you wanted."


    "Your idea of me is ttering, sir," Khan announced.


    "You didn''t deny it," The Colonel chuckled before emptying the cap and closing the bottle. "First-level warriors usually don''t interest me, but you are definitely special."


    "My element makes me unique," Khan dered.


    "Your uniqueness goes beyond your element," The Colonel sneered. "The sole fact that you can keep your cool in front of me proves that."


    The Colonel began to scratch his beardless chin. Khan''s silence seemed to amuse him, but his eyes remained intense. The soldier was looking for something, but Khan couldn''t understand what.


    "Definitely too young," The Colonel whispered before heaving a sigh. "Let''s try with incentives. What do you want for your victories?"


    Khan did his best to preserve his poker face as his mouth opened to voice requests. "A promotion, a proper first step in the path to bing an ambassador, and general support from the Global Army."


    "That''s not special at all," The Colonel said in a teasing tone. "You have Colonel Norrett in front of you. I''m sure you cane up with something better."


    Khan wanted to gulp, but he stopped himself from showing any reaction. The word "colonel" resounded in his mind, and the same went for Lieutenant Dyester''s voice. Colonel Norrett probably knew something about the Nak, but Khan didn''t know how wise it was to question him about that topic.


    Khan opened his mouth before closing it without saying anything. He felt certain that the Global Army was hiding a deeper truth about the Nak. Still, there had to be a reason behind that decision, and he wasn''t in the position to learn it.


    Showing his interest in the Nak''s history could alert someone far above Khan, especially since a colonel would hear his words. Colonel Norrett might have the answers to his questions, but he didn''t dare to voice them.


    "I want that bottle," Khan eventually said while pointing at the bottle in the Colonel''s hands.


    The Colonel''s eyes widened in surprise, but a loudugh soon left his mouth. He quicklyid the bottle on the bed and turned to leave the cave.. Khan remained confused as the soldier stopped hiding his power and vanished in the corridor.

 Chapter 287 - Mezmac

    Khan took a short sip from the cap as he adjusted his position on the bed and prepared himself for a long meditation. Lieutenant Unchai inspected him with his curious eyes, but he didn''t dare to say anything or question him about the recent events.


    The Lieutenant didn''t eavesdrop on Khan''s conversation with the Colonel, but he remained curious about the matter, especially after seeing the soldierughing while leaving the cave. He had no idea what Khan could have said to leave such a good impression on someone so high in the chain ofmand.


    Khan would be unable to give proper answers even if the Lieutenant mustered the courage to question him. He had decided not to ask anything about the Nak to the Colonel, and the support of the Global Army was enough to grant him everything he needed. His request for the bottle had been somewhat random, even if it voiced some of his superficial desires. Still, he also didn''t expect the soldier to have that happy reaction.


    Khan repeated the conversation with the Colonel in his mind while Lieutenant Unchai inspected him. Truth be told, Khan didn''t understand the soldier at all. The interaction had also been mostly casual, with only one line that seemed to hide something deeper.


    ''Definitely too young,'' Khan repeated in his mind. ''What does it mean? Does he want to recruit me in one of his toons? Does it have something to do with my element?''


    Khan couldn''t find answers. He didn''t know enough toe up with solid hypotheses either. He could only rejoice a bit due to the faint envy that Lieutenant Unchai''s curiosity tried to hide. That reaction probably confirmed his performance had been good, and that was enough for now.


    "Is drinking before the final match a good idea?" Lieutenant Unchai eventually broke the silence.


    "Sir, I''d like to be alone for the rest of the night," Khan responded without addressing the question. "I hope you don''t mind."


    "No, no," Lieutenant Unchai hastily said while snapping out of his curiosity. "Of course. Do what you need to prepare for tomorrow. I''ll make sure to contact you one hour before the fight."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan eximed while wearing a fake smile.


    Lieutenant Unchai nodded before stepping out of the cave and closing it from the tunnel. A groan left Khan''s mouth as soon as he remained alone. It actually hurt to hold the cap, but the ointments and the booze were helping with the pain.


    Khan spared a few more thoughts on the Colonel before giving up on understanding the soldier''s intentions. He took another sip from the cap and crossed his legs as his mind quickly slipped into the meditative state.


    The nature of his injuries became perfectly clear now that mana illuminated them. Khan could confirm that his back and hands wouldn''t heal before the battle, but he had enough time to bring himself to a decent state. The days on Oniasted thirty hours, so he would also have the chance to sleep a bit.


    Khan''s night went by quietly. He spent most of his time in his meditative state, but he didn''t hold back from taking a few breaks and drinking in silence.


    The booze never got better, but Khan didn''t stop drinking. He didn''t aim to get drunk, but the familiar situation brought pleasant feelings. Longing spread in his mind as Khan left the bed and sat on the ground to bathe on its faint coldness. Onia didn''t reach Nitis'' low temperatures, but that was the best he could do there.


    Khan didn''t remember when he fell asleep. He went from immersing himself in some good memories to facing his nightmare. The unknown sr system filled his vision, but the noise generated by the cave''s metal door eventually forced him to wake up.


    "Is everything okay?" Lieutenant Unchai asked when he noticed Khan sleeping in the corner of the cave.


    "Never better," Khan lied while scratching the corners of his eyes and standing up.


    The ointments'' effects had ended by then. Khan could experience his injuries to their fullest. The burns on his arms and chest had mostly healed, but his palms and back still needed some care. They felt annoying when he moved or closed his hands, but he confirmed that he could ignore them.


    "A soldier will change your bandages now," Lieutenant Unchai announced while gesturing something toward the right side of the corridor. "He will give you a new uniform and apply the oint-."


    "I''ll skip the ointments," Khan interrupted. "I don''t want to be clueless about my condition."


    Lieutenant Unchai opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly closed it and nodded. He whispered a few lines when a soldier arrived in front of the cave, and thetter left the cylindric case in his hands outside before approaching Khan.


    The soldier began to change the bandages, but Khan gave him precise instructions when he reached specific spots. Khan didn''t want anything hindering his fingers or waist. He didn''t care if some of his injuries ended up touching the military uniform during the battle.


    The soldier nced at Lieutenant Unchai whenever he heard those requests, and thetter nodded every time. He was putting his whole trust in Khan, so he didn''t dare to go against him.


    Khan gave dispositions for what was left of his bottle before leaving the cave with Lieutenant Unchai. The two crossed the corridor and reached therge circr hall in a few minutes, and many gazes weed them.


    The various tforms were already full. Khan could confirm that the number of humans among the audience had increased since the previous day. He found the Colonel quickly, but he also noticed other powerful presences belonging to unfamiliar faces.


    The audience didn''t cheer or speak. Palpable tension filled the underground hall as Khan and Lieutenant Unchai approached the singlerge tform ced at the center of the area. Even the Ef''i appeared slightly worried about the iing battle.


    ''The mine must be really big,'' Khan thought before handing his sheath and phone to the Lieutenant.


    Only two more people stood in the lower part of the underground hall. Two female Ef''i sat on the opposite end of the metal wall as they inspected the neers. Khan and the younger alien exchanged a long gaze, but they diverted their eyes when he decided to use the remaining time before the battle to rest.


    The soldier who had handled the bandages had also brought some food, and Khan digested it during the short meditation performed next to the metal walls. Lieutenant Unchai interrupted his rest when the battle was only a few minutes away, and the two remained silent while they waited for the event to start.


    The glow of the artificial lights then began to intensify, and Khan stood up to approach the ring. Lieutenant Unchai followed him, and the two Ef''i imitated them. The usual procedures before the battle went by in a few seconds, and Khan soon found himself alone with his opponent on the stage.


    The countdown appeared on the floor. Khan noticed that it was longer than before, but the Ef''i suddenly imed his attention by speaking in a decent human ent. "Khan, you will lose if you hold back."


    "[You know I name]," Khan replied as best as he could.


    "[I''m Mezmac]," The Ef''i announced as a smile appeared on her face. "[Give me a good battle]."


    Khan moved his eyes between his opponent and the countdown. He found no reason to answer, but his hands opened and closed as the battle drew close. The ufortable sensations and pain radiated by his injuries lost intensity as he focused on the mana in the area.


    Both contestants shot forward when the floor turned green. Khan was faster than his opponent, but thetter halted her steps before the two could sh.


    Khan didn''t let that event stop him, but his eyes widened when he saw the Mezmac using her momentum tounch her tail forward. The pointy limb was outside his range, but it threw a wave of mana when it cracked in the air.


    The attack had the shape of a sharp bullet that reached Khan in an instant. He had sensed his creation and arrival, but he didn''t expect something so fast. He had to duck to his right to dodge the projectile, but the sharp mana ended up leaving a shallow cut on his left shoulder.


    Mezmac used that chance to jump forward. Her body rotated as she performed a kick that Khan dodged easily by taking a step back. However, she followed that movement by cracking her tail andunching another bullet aimed at the center of his chest.


    Khan was faster than Mezmac, but her spell could match his speed. He dodged to his left, and the bullet left a long cut on his right side.


    Khan epted that dodging the bullets at that distance was impossible, but Mezmac didn''t give him the chance to adjust his position. She continued to advance and deliver fast kicks, punches, and attacks that made use of her ws, and her tail cracked whenever he reacted to them.


    Retreating made shallow cuts appear on Khan''s body, but he didn''t dare to counterattack. That would leave him in the open against the tail. Mezmac also made sure not to show any opening during her offensive, so Khan''s kick wouldn''t have the chance to hit her torso directly.


    Mezmac was making full use of her additional limb and knowledge of Khan''s abilities. She knew that a single kick on her torso could end the battle, so she made sure to force Khan into a defensive position. He didn''t let any severe injury appear on his body, but his situation remained troublesome.


    Khan eventually decided to change his approach. Mezmac threw a kick at him, and he responded with a kick of his own. Their feet met mid-air, and Khan used that sh to push himself backward.


    The superior speed generated by the sh wasn''t enough to escape the threatening tail. Mezmacunched a precise bullet after Khan and forced him to cross his arms in front of his chest before activating the [Blood Shield]. The attack tore his uniform and skin, but his defensive technique managed to prevent the appearance of deeper injuries.


    Khan escaped Mezmac''s range and reached the ring''s edge. The Ef''i couldn''t catch up with him, so she remained in her position and inspected her opponent going back in his stance.


    "[This won''t help you]," Mezmac stated while raising her tail above her head and umting mana on its tip.


    Khan didn''t answer. He had kept track of Mezmac''s mana during the previous exchanges. Her spell didn''t require much energy since she relied on the tail''s quick movements to add that sharp power. She could keep fighting for a long time, and his body would be the first to give in.


    His torso, shoulders, and arms featured many shallow cuts. They didn''t release much blood, but they could be dangerous if more of them were to appear. Still, Khan didn''t have a real tactic avable. Even his knife wouldn''t help in that situation.


    Mezmac''s tail was simply too fast. Khan could avoid its attacks from his current distance, but the cycle of dodges and injuries would resume once he approached her. Mezmac could also interrupt his spells easily as long as she didn''tmit mistakes, and Khan didn''t want to hope in his opponent''s errors to win.


    "[So, are you ready to fight me seriously]?" Mezmac asked as she bent her knees and prepared herself to resume her offensive. "[I know that you have something else for me]."


    Khan couldn''t help but show some hesitation now that Mezmac forced him to think, and she didn''t like that reaction. Her tail shot forward before stopping abruptly and releasing a fast bullet. Khan had enough room to dodge it, but his legs remained still.


    A broad smile appeared on Mezmac''s face when a red-purple glow shone in her vision. Excitement filled her expression before some confusion made its way among that feeling.


    The bullet had disappeared when Khan had moved his arm. A sharp membrane had appeared around his hand and had allowed him to cut the projectile. However, blood had spurted out of his fingers and palm as soon as hepleted the attack.


    "[That won''t be enough]," Mezmac whispered as she kept her eyes on the glowing hand, but her smile broadened when Khan raised his other hand and enveloped it in another sharp membrane.

 Chapter 288 - Injury

    The battle changed pace after Khan covered both his hands with sharp membranes. Mezmac immediately cracked her tail forward to fire a bullet, but Khan dodged it by sprinting to his left.


    Mezmacunched more attacks and even tried to predict his movements. Her offensive forced Khan to change the direction of his sprint often. He had to stop, turn, duck, and jump many times under the constant assault of the bullets, but his red-purple membranes never wavered during the process.


    Khan had confirmed that his version of the Divine Reaper could cut the projectiles. The [Blood Shield] also allowed him to endure the damage caused by his martial art, but that approach had a limit.


    The [Blood Shield] was too heavy for his body. Khan had to make each attack count, but he needed to find an opening in his opponent''s offensive first. Mezmac clearly had vast battle experience and confidence in her abilities. She even knew most of his techniques now, so eventual tricks had a high chance of failing.


    Mezmac was beyond smart. She knew that Khan would only dodge her bullets if she aimed them at his current position, so she tried to predict his movements. Khan had to turn left and right while remaining at the ring''s edges to keep avoiding that relentless offensive. He appeared cornered, but that couldn''t be further from the truth.


    Khan had sharpened his senses and sensitivity to mana to their limits to find a pattern. Every warrior had habits that only years of training and battles could remove. He was the same. He instinctively prioritized his left side when it came to attacks and dodges, so Mezmac probably had a simr w.


    The w didn''t have to be big or important. Khan only needed the chance to gain the upper hand in the battle and interrupt that relentless offensive. He would carve his path to victory with his own hands at that point.


    Khan danced among the bullets until he noticed something. Mezmac always fired her attacks at the same distance from his current position. Their side depended on where he was facing. In theory, he could understand exactly where the following projectile would arrive.


    Khan dodged the iing attacks a few more times to test his theory, and everything matched his findings. His behavior didn''t betray anything, so Mezmac remained clueless about his n.


    Mezmac began tounch another projectile. Her mana started to leave her tail when Khan abruptly turned toward her and shot forward. She couldn''t interrupt the attack, so her bullet ended up missing her opponent.


    Mezmac didn''t panic. She had enough time tounch another attack. Her tail cracked in the air and released a bullet aimed at Khan''s chest. She even jumped back to put some distance and gain the time to prepare a third spell.


    Khan had the chance to dodge and suffer only a slight injury or rely on the [Blood Shied] to block the bullet, but he opted for a different approach. He waved his left arm forward and cut through the projectile. The skin above the clotted blood vessels exploded into a gory mess, but he avoided wasting time.


    Mezmac managed tounch her third attack, but Khan cut through it with his right arm. He was basically on her by then. His kicks could reach her, and only half a step separated her from his hands.


    Mezmac didn''t have time tounch the fourth attack, and the situation wouldn''t change even if she could. Khan had reached her, but she wasn''t hopeless.


    Mana moved toward her hands before gathering on her fingertips. Khan began toplete the half-step, but Mezmac suddenly snapped her fingers and sent two bullets toward him.


    The fingers didn''t carry the same power of the tail, but their bullets still forced Khan to interrupt his movement to wave both hands forward. He cut through the projectiles, but that dy allowed Mezmac to attack with her tail again.


    Mezmac had kept part of her abilities hidden, and Khan could only improvise. He cut the new bullet and tried to follow with another attack, but she snapped her fingers again. Khan used his other hand to destroy one of the projectiles, but the other mmed on his shoulder and forced him to use the [Blood Shield] on that spot.


    The tailunched another bullet, and Khan cut it before having to face the fingers again. Mezmac continued to retreat, but it would take her a few cycles of attacks to reach the ring''s edges. Khan could already feel his chest growing heavy due to his abuse of the [Blood Shield], so he knew that he wouldn''tst until that point.


    Mezmac snapped her fingers and began to gather mana in her tail, but surprise filled her face when she saw Khan jumping forward while performing a partial rotation. One of the bullets missed him, but the other pierced his right arm and reached his side. A metallic taste immediately spread in his mouth, but he focused his everything on stretching his left arm.


    His glowing hand dug deeply in Mezmac''s chest. The injury made her lose her bnce and fall on her back, and Khan followed her on the floor. Her tail tried to shoot at his face, but he swung his left arm toward it. His fingers cut through her flesh as they came out of her and severed the pointy limb.


    Mezmac cried in pain, but Khan didn''t hear her. Dizziness filled his mind, and the world in his vision began to spin. His sharp membrane broke, but he was above his opponent, so he managed to close his left hand on her face.


    "Give up!" Khan shouted as drops of blood fell out of his mouth.


    His bnce was all over the ce. Khan had one knee on Mezmac and the other on the floor, but he felt about to fall. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears, and the Ef''i noticed his poor state.


    Mezmac suppressed her pain and began to raise her arms, but a red-purple glow suddenly filled her vision. Khan was pale. He breathed heavily, and he appeared about to faint, but his eyes carried a resolve that she took a while to recognize. She saw killing intent past the radiance spreading from the hand on her face.


    In front of the possibility of death, Mezmac lowered her arms before crossing them above her head. Khan needed a second to notice that gesture, but his entire body rxed at that point. His opponent had officially forfeited.


    The adverse effects of the [Blood Shield] took control of his body after he realized that he had won. Khan fell to his left and began to cough. Hey on the floor as pain took control of his senses. Everything hurt, and his heavy chest only worsened his condition. He found it hard to breathe for a while before he regained some form of control.


    The world around Khan began to reim its ce in his senses. His vision started to focus, and his heartbeat grew fainter. Yet, his awareness of his surroundings only brought new waves of pain as he became able to sense all his injuries.


    His hands were on fire, and the same went for the right side of his chest. Khan found it hard to move his right arm, and something inside him released a sharp pain. He had never felt so bad, and he fought back when he sensed a foreign touch on him.


    "Calm down!" Lieutenant Unchai''s voice eventually reached Khan''s ears, and he stopped struggling.


    A familiar figure slowly became clear at his side. Khan recognized Lieutenant Unchai and rxed his body. The soldier''s mouth moved, but pain and tiredness overwhelmed Khan''s mind. He didn''t want to faint, but he found no reason to remain awake either in his messy state, so his vision quickly went dark.


    The nightmare returned as clear as ever. Khan remained stuck in his memories of the Second Impact for a long time before he managed to wake up. His eyes took a while to focus on the area, but he eventually saw a scene that felt both familiar and unfamiliar.


    Khan found himself in arge cave with multiple ck pirs on its rocky walls and ceiling. He was alone in the room. He was lying on arge bed with a series of tubes attached to his body and machines around him.


    ''How did I end up in this situation again?'' Khan mocked himself as he inspected his state.


    His mind felt unnaturally light, but he addressed that state to one of the liquids poured inside his body through the tubes. The military uniform was nowhere to be seen, but a nket covered his naked body. Khan could see tight bandages around his hands, right shoulder, and chest, but he felt no paining from those spots.


    Khan closed his eyes to check his condition through his mana, and he immediately noticed injuries. His back had healed, but the skin on his hands had yet to regrowpletely. His right shoulder had a hole that his mana and a foreign substance were slowly closing, and the same went for his side. Still, he felt a faint uneasiness when he studied his chest.


    "You are awake," A female voice suddenly resounded in the room.


    Khan felt surprised to see that an Ef''i had appeared in front of the entrance. He didn''t hear the metal door opening, and her ent had been so perfect that he expected her to be human.


    The Ef''i wore a white medical coat and walked while checking the screen in her hands. Khan could see a series of stats from his position, but his chest began to hurt when he tried to lift his head to peek at the device.


    "Take it easy," The Ef''i ordered while approaching the bed and checking the various machines. "Your values are good, but you are recovering from internal injuries. I''m afraid you''ll need to be here a bit longer."


    "Internal injuries?" Khan asked in a rough voice before clearing his throat.


    "Your hands were better than I expected," The Ef''i exined while pointing at the bandages. "[Mezmac] took your shoulder, but the drugs are working, and your mana is reacting well to them. Yet, I noticed that your heart had suffered some damage during the battle. It''s not serious, but you shouldn''t push yourself for a few weeks."


    ''My heart?'' Khan thought as the memories of the battle flowed in his mind. He couldn''t find anything that involved his heart, but he eventually understood what had happened. The [Blood Shield] was to me for that.


    "Will I be okay?" Khan quickly asked.


    "Of course," The Ef''i chuckled. "I''ve checked you personally. You didn''t suffer anysting injury. Though you will carry a few marks."


    Khan heaved a sigh of relief. He didn''t care about the scars, but he didn''t want his journey to end due to his recklessness. He wouldn''t forgive himself if he let a Niqols'' technique be the cause behind such a tragic oue.


    "Since you are awake," The Ef''i continued, "My congrattions for winning the tournament. I almost can''t believe that you are only seventeen."


    "Thank you," Khan weakly replied. "How long have I been out?"


    "One week," The Ef''i revealed. "The official celebrations have already happened, but there will be an event for you once your condition improves."


    "Did-," Khan began to ask before gulping and continuing his question. "Did Mezmac survive?"


    The Ef''i couldn''t help but nod when she saw Khan''s concern for Mezmac, and her exnation didn''t hesitate to arrive. "She had to go through surgery to reattach her tail and fix her chest, but she will recover. Her days as a warrior aren''t over."


    Khan heaved another sigh of relief. He was mostly worried about his career, but he wouldn''t like to have killed someone over a mere tournament.


    "What happens now?" Khan asked.


    "You keep resting now," The Ef''i ordered. "You aren''t allowed to leave the bed until your internal injury heals. I won''t let your superiors enter this medical bay either, so focus on sleeping and meditating. I''ll leave you alone now."


    The Ef''i left the room quickly, and the metal door slid close behind her. Khan could finally understand why he didn''t hear it before. The entrance simply made no sound.


    ''I guess improving the [Blood Shield] now is just stupid,'' Khan thought as he fell into the meditative state. ''I hurt myself already. The next checkpoint might kill me.''


    The dangerousness of the Niqols'' old ways wasn''t surprising, but Khan had been overconfident in his resilience. He would have died on Ecoruta if a simr internal injury had appeared on the battlefield. He had been lucky that the tournament had happened on friendly terms.


    ''My body needs to get stronger to endure the technique,'' Khan sighed internally.. ''I need the [Blood Vortex] as soon as possible.''

 Chapter 289 - Opportunity

    The time spent recovering was lonely, and Khan also felt restless during the first days stuck in the bed. He had trained every day in thest period, so being bedridden bored him. He could meditate freely, but he often found himself forced to sleep, which annoyed him due to the nightmares.


    The following days went better. Khan came to terms with his situation and managed to make the best out of it. He had forgotten what it was to rest properly, but he slowly recalled it now.


    The short interactions with the alien doctor and the long hours spent meditating allowed Khan to keep track of his recovery. His hands were the first to heal, and his shoulder and internal injury followed in the next days.


    Khan ate and slept a lot, making sure to prioritize his rest over eventual attempts to perform his usual exercises. He wanted to resume his regr schedule after spending almost two weeks bedridden, but the Ef''i threatened to sedate him if he tried, so he gave up on the matter.


    The Ef''i cleared Khan after two and a half weeks. He could finally leave the bed, and his duties returned as soon as his feet touched the floor.


    The medical bay''s entrance opened as soon as Khan finished donning his new military uniform. He and the alien doctor turned to see a happy Lieutenant Unchai barging inside the room and reaching Khan in an instant to pat his shoulders. The soldier never stoppedughing during the process, and Khan let him have that moment.


    "You really did it!" Lieutenant Unchai shouted. "I can''t believe it! Incredible, incredible!"


    "I told you that I would have won," Khan chuckled. "How did the celebration go?"


    "They have been great!" Lieutenant Unchai shouted again before clearing his throat and lowering his voice. "It''s a pity that you couldn''te. You have lost the chance to meet many important figures."


    "That''s fine," Khan sighed. "It''s enough that they have learnt my name. I bet that Colonel Norrett has also left."


    "He has been one of the first to leave the," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "His duties stretch over multiples. He couldn''t remain here any longer."


    Khan nodded before walking toward the entrance. However, a doubt appeared in his mind when he was about to leave the room. He turned toward the smiling Lieutenant, and a question left his mouth. "What do I have to do now?"


    "What do you mean?" Lieutenant Unchai asked.


    "Do I have new orders?" Khan wondered.


    "Right," Lieutenant Unchai eximed. "There will be an event tonight. After that, you are free to do whatever you want."


    ''That doesn''t help,'' Khan thought while the Lieutenant approached him.


    Khan didn''t know what to do for his next step. Remaining on Onia felt pointless, but the same went for going back on Ecoruta. He had sort of made peace with what had happened on Nitis. He wasn''t happy, but he didn''t feel awful all the time anymore.


    "The Colonel has reserved a position for you," Lieutenant Unchai suddenly announced as he ced a hand on Khan''s shoulder and led him inside the corridor. "You don''t have to ept, but I think you shouldn''t miss that opportunity."


    "What opportunity?" Khan questioned as his eyes lit up, but a series of presences imed the two''s attention and interrupted their conversation.


    "Mezmac," Khan called when he saw two Ef''i approaching him from a side of the corridor. He recognized hisst opponent and her superior, and his eyes quickly went on her injuries.


    Mezmac was wearing a yellow robe that left her arms and most of her legs uncovered. Khan could see bandages from the opening under her armpit, but his attention eventually fell on her tail. The Ef''i had reattached what Khan had severed during the battle, but the solid white structure covering the tip area stated that she had yet to recover fully.


    "You healed faster than me," Mezmac said while wearing a proud smile. "No wonder I lost."


    "It''s nice to see that you are fine," Khan responded. "I hope that you''ll recoverpletely soon."


    Lieutenant Unchai pushed Khan toward the two Ef''i before whispering the reason behind his gesture. "They will be your guides today. We''ll see each other at the event."


    The sudden revtion surprised Khan, but he didn''t let the Lieutenant repeat himself. He nodded before approaching the Ef''i and following them across the corridor.


    Mezmac summarized their schedule, and Khan felt more than happy to follow it. The two Ef''i led him across the underground structure and back to the surface, where he met other aliens of a simr age. He also had the chance to meet a few older Ef''i, and everyone congratted him for his victory in the tournament.


    The schedule was pretty easy. Khan would have to spend the entire day with the Ef''i and follow their training. He approached the event with enthusiasm and joined every exercise the aliens threw at him.


    The Ef''i made use of Onia''s hot temperatures to bring their bodies to their limits. Khan found himself jogging around the camp for a few hours, performing many different exercises that involved the entirety of his muscles, and meditating among them to recover his breath.


    The tiring day reached a major break during lunch hour when Khan joined the Ef''i in a messy and loud meal. More meditations followed that event, and a long sparring session arrived next.


    Needless to say, Khan was pretty popr during the sparring session. All the Ef''i wanted to fight him, but their superiors made sure that they didn''t go all-out. They actually put rules to avoid turning those battles into something simr to the tournament.


    Khan obviously won every fight. His opponents were weaker than the Ef''i met during the tournament, and the rules of the sparring session allowed him to im victories as soon as hended a few kicks. He had retrieved his knife during the day, but the aliens never got the chance to test it.


    The long day spent among the Ef''i allowed Khan to gain deeper insights into that battle race. The Ef''i were rtively simple-minded, honest, and battle-thirsty. They didn''t care about the deeper uses of mana unless they could deploy them during their fights. Still, they had a profound respect toward strength, which put Khan on a pedestal during the event.


    Some Ef''i eventually led Khan toward one of the habitations in the camp, where he took a long shower to remove all the dirt, sweat, and sand umted during the training and sparring session. The same aliens then apanied him underground, in arge hall that contained many adult Ef''i and human soldiers.


    Khan also found the contestant of the tournament and Lieutenant Unchai in the underground hall, but he never got the chance to interact with them. The event was a dinner that saw many Ef''i approaching Khan to exchange conversations about his performance. He did his best to behave as politely as possible, but the messy nature of the aliens eventually affected his interactions.


    The long day and dinner allowed Khan to improve his ent and establish valuable connections among the Ef''i. He heard many names that night, but his conversations with those alien figures never involved deeper topics or proper political matters.


    The Ef''i only wanted to talk about the battles, and he could only go along. They even used a device to rey all the matches of the tournament, and Khan found himself forced to give his opinion many times.


    The dinner eventually ended, and the Ef''i led Khan back to the surface. The light had already returned on Onia by then, but it was still too early for the camp toe to life. The streets were empty and silent, with only asional soldiers and aliens patrolling them.


    The Ef''i began to lead Khan toward a habitation, but they left him when Lieutenant Unchai appeared on their path. The soldier took care of escorting him for the rest of the road, and the two didn''t hold back from conversing.


    "They are a lively bunch, aren''t they?" Lieutenant Unchaiughed happily.


    "They are indeed nice," Khan smiled. "I didn''t expect them to wee me so warmly."


    "The Ef''i only care about strength," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "They aren''t stupid, but they choose to remain simple. There''s beauty in that."


    Khan couldn''t help but agree. He had a good time among the Ef''i. None of them had treated him differently because he was a human. They were a bit too battle-oriented for his tastes, but they weren''t bad at all.


    "Well, the life of an ambassador isn''t too different from what you have experienced today." The Lieutenant stated. "Do you still want to go down that path?"


    "Of course," Khan honestly dered. "Learning about different cultures,nguages, and traditions is fun. The universe is so vast. Remaining ignorant feels like a waste."


    "Good answer," Lieutenant Unchaiughed while patting Khan''s shoulder.


    "What will you do now?" Khan asked. "Will you go back to Earth now that the tournament is over?"


    "Most likely," Lieutenant Unchai revealed. "I have a few options in mind, but I have yet to decide. I might find something temporary before joining a training camp at the beginning of the next academic year. The entrance tests are in less than six months."


    Khan sighed when he thought about those tests. He still recalled the fight against the Tainted boar. That battle seemed to belong to a different and simpler life.


    "You were only an idiot with a shovel back then," Lieutenant Unchai chuckled when he noticed Khan''s pensive expression.


    "A lot has changed," Khan stated before recalling something. "Right, you said that the Colonel had reserved a position for me. What was it?"


    "Oh, that," The Lieutenant eximed. "I''m sure a formal offer wille in a few days, but there is no reason to keep it from you. Istrone''s crisis has exposed a weakness in our education. The Global Army is adding a few courses meant for real-life struggles, and the Colonel wants you to teach one of them."


    "What?" Khan couldn''t help but shout.


    "In your case, the subject will involve the dangerousness of real battles," Lieutenant Unchai exined. "Many soldiers can fight, especially those from wealthy families, but it''s rare for them to develop killing intent before seeing the battlefield. Imagine how many would have survived on Istrone if they were all like you."


    The Lieutenant''s words made sense, but Khan still couldn''t ept them properly. He was merely seventeen, but the Colonel wanted him to be an actual professor.


    "How am I supposed to teach them that?" Khan asked.


    "I have no idea," Lieutenant Unchai admitted, "But I''m sure you''ll figure it out. You''ll also have the help of the other professors, so everything will be fine if you decide to ept."


    Khan thought about the matter for a few seconds, but his first instinct was to refuse the offer right away. He wasn''t a professor, and he didn''t want to go back on Earth. He wasn''t ready for the eventuality of facing his father.


    "I''m not ready for that," Khan revealed. "I wouldn''t even know where to begin. I''m just a soldier."


    Lieutenant Unchai scratched his chin without saying anything. The two eventually arrived in front of the tall building containing Khan''s habitation, but neither took a step inside.


    "Look, Khan," Lieutenant Unchai broke the silence, "You have spent thest year fighting. No one can question your prowess, but you need more skills to be an ambassador, and the battlefield can''t give you those."


    "But still-," Khan tried toin.


    "Besides," The Lieutenant interrupted Khan, "You deserve a break. Go back to Earth, teach other soldiers how you have survived until now, and study aliennguages on the side. You can do good by sharing your experiences, and your knowledge will only benefit from theck of battles."


    Khan wanted to finish hisint, but no words came out of his mouth. Lieutenant Unchai was entirely right, but Khan still felt hesitant in front of that opportunity.


    "Can I think about it?" Khan asked.


    "Of course," Lieutenant Unchai stated. "You can do whatever you want for now. No one will say anything even if you decide to spend time on Onia. I''m just saying that you should focus on your education for now."


    Khan nodded before stepping inside the building. The Lieutenant followed him, and the two soon stopped in front of arge t that featured multiple rooms andfortable furniture.


    "I''ve left the bottle you gave me here," Lieutenant Unchai exined before performing a military salute. "It has been an honor to be with you during the tournament."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan sighed before entering the habitation and sealing the entrance. He had a lot of thinking to do, and he needed to remain alone for that.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I ended up sleeping for 15 hours. I''m working now.. I''ll try to make up for what I missed yesterday.

 Chapter 290 - Peace

    The idea of returning to Earth had never crossed Khan''s mind during that period. Nitis had left him in pain, broken, and cynical. Thinking hurt, which was why he decided to throw himself into a battlefield.


    However, Lieutenant Unchai''s words made sense on many levels. Khan was only seventeen. He was incredibly strong for his age, but he remained a first-level warrior with no deep knowledge. He was even quite ignorant aboutmon subjects taught in the training camps.


    An ambassador required far more than strength. Someone in that position needed a vast knowledge of the political array, multiple social skills, and a good understanding of alien''s customs. Khan had nothing simr, but he was working on thest point.


    It was clear that the path was long, and Khan understood how traveling through battlefields wouldn''t give him what he needed. A peaceful period when he could study and fill his gaps appeared necessary, and Earth really sounded like his best option.


    The job was even quite fitting. Experiencing the life of a professor wouldn''t only give Khan the chance to expand his social skills. He would also establish many rtionships with descendants from important families. His subject was rtively new too, so he expected many recruits to join it.


    Still, Khan remained uncertain. He had no idea how to teach, and his experience with Rick barely counted. Moreover, everything would happen on Earth, which didn''t make him feel too excited.


    When Khan managed to look past his pain and desperation, he could see his true self. He was curious and open-minded. The chance to experience different cultures, species, customs, ands excited him. He also liked to fight and prevail over his opponents. Life in a safe environment didn''t suit him.


    Nevertheless, Khan had to work hard to achieve a type of life that matched his personality. Right now, his only value came from his battle prowess. The Global Army probably wouldn''t refuse his requests to visit differents, but he would be nothing more than a soldier there.


    His fame would also fade at some point, and his privileges would disappear with it. Khan could probably reach high positions inside the Global Army before that, but he would be unable to have total freedom if he remained a simple warrior.


    ''Do I really have to go back on Earth?'' Khan wondered while sipping the awful booze from the cap.


    Khan was sitting on hisrge bed while pondering about the issue. The Colonel''s bottle was on a small table next to him, and his free hand tapped his phonezily as he browsed thework. He was checking his alternatives, but he couldn''t find anything special.


    The Global Army had already updated his profile, but that didn''t improve his opportunities. The number of possible jobs had increased significantly, but they mostly involved roles as a foot soldier. The best ones saw Khan joining private toons meant to defend valuable shipments or locations.


    A few positions were vaguely interesting. Khan could be a student in specific academies that provided a higher level of education. He could even travel toward alien training camps and experience the uses of mana there. Still, those roles were beneath the position of a professor. epting the Colonel''s offer seemed the best option career-wise.


    Khan didn''t feel excited at the idea of bing a student again, and his role on eventual aliens would never reach the levels experienced on Nitis. He didn''t have any special skill or knowledge, so his position inside those training camps wouldn''t touch anything important.


    The matter would have been different if Khan had specializations in someplicated subjects that involved mana and tech. However, the simple nature of his abilities could only grant minor roles in ces where the Global Army had already established good rtionships.


    ''My career could suffer there,'' Khan sighed while removing the filters that showed the alien training camps. ''I would be a foot soldier among experts in multiple fields.''


    Khan didn''t share his father''s passion for technology and research. He had learnt to like to study the natures that mana could obtain, but only because it made him stronger. He was an adventurer, but he needed to stop traveling to acquire the skills that the Global Army required to give him that job.


    ''Do I really have to go there?'' Khan repeated in his mind as a groan escaped his mouth.


    The sole idea of meeting his father would shatter everything he had achieved in those months. Khan was feeling better after losing himself in the mana for so long. He had even started to enjoy battles and smile a bit more, but his pain was still there. He knew that Bret''s face could make everything resurge in an angry shape.


    Khan couldn''t make up his mind, so he decided not to think about the matter until the official offer arrived. The bottle ended that night, but he easily found a new one the next day. Every door in the camp opened for him, and no one ever dared to ask for money.


    Khan soon fell prey to his previous busy schedule. He spent his time inside training halls or sparring sessions. He didn''t want to think about his future or n his next move. The Ef''i''s lifestyle was simple and appealing for someone in his situation. Everything came to him as long as he won. Everyone looked up to him as long as he remained the best.


    Still, the time to make a decision arrived after spending two days fighting and training non-stop. Khan was about to fall asleep inside a training hall when his phone rang, and the message that he didn''t want to read arrived.


    The message came from a profilebeled "Global Army" and described the details behind the job. It turned out that co had yet to gain enough recruits to create new positions for eventual professors, so the offer saw Khan going to Reebfell, one of the big cities on Earth.


    The job was quite simple. Khan would have to coordinate the professors handling the physical subjects to create a ss that taught about the actual dangers of the battlefield. The position only upied a few hours every week. It also had a sry, but he didn''t understand whether that number of Credits was good or not.


    The message didn''t state precise details about the job. Khan would have to set them with the other professors handling simr subjects. Everything was vague since the position was new, and a lot could change throughout the years as the Global Army studied the results.


    Everything sounded far too perfect. Khan wouldn''t only get paid. He would also gain a t inside Reebfell''s camp and free ess to most buildings. Many books would even be at his disposal, and the position would grant him many discounts on things that required Credits.


    Only an idiot would refuse such a great offer, but Khan still hesitated. He wouldn''t have to face his father, but his destination remained Earth. Nothing would stop him from thinking there.


    ''Am I running away from peace?'' Khan wondered as he sensed that nothing managed to appease his hesitation. ''Am I afraid that everything I have experienced would be meaningless?''


    His hesitations had many reasons, but he still needed to make a decision. Khan bumped the back of his head a few times on the training hall''s metal wall before moving his finger near the twobels at the end of the message. One of them would mark his eptance of the job, and he pressed it after taking a deep breath.


    The decision was final now, but Khan didn''t feel better. Part of the painful emotions he had managed to suppress in thest period even returned after opting for peace. He was turning the page on a series of tragedies and awful experiences, but no happiness or relief arrived.


    A series of messages arrived after epting the job. The Global Army sent him indications meant for his return on Earth. Khan had to leave the camp to reach the nearest location with a teleport, which required a car and a code that the soldiers had to scan to confirm the truthfulness of his requests.


    Khan nced at the almost empty bottle near him. He wasn''t drunk, but he decided not to drive in that condition. His eyes closed and the nightmare went by as he rested and dispersed the effects of the booze.


    When Khan woke up, he reached his habitation and cleaned himself before taking a new military uniform. After leaving the building, he approached the parking area and showed the code to the soldiers guarding the cars. One of them offered to ride Khan to the teleport, but he refused.


    Khan still felt awkward in a car, but the solitary drive to the camp with the teleport allowed him to gain more confidence. The vehicle had a map that kept track of his position, so getting lost was virtually impossible. He didn''t even have a specific timeline to respect, so he took many detours to experience the hot wind on his face.


    The departure didn''t feature any grand salutations, and the drive alsocked significant events. Khan reached the other camp in a few hours. Soldiers weed him warmly, but he limited those interactions to short salutes.


    The building with the teleport quickly appeared in his eyes, and he reached the actual device after showing his codes to the soldiers inside it. The usual scans went by before Khan could step on the oval tform and sense the synthetic mana umting around him.


    The scenery changed in an instant. Dark metal filled Khan''s vision, but his eyes quickly fell on a series of excited gazes that had converged toward his figure. Many soldiers left their consoles to inspect him from head to toe.


    "Is this Reebfell''s training camp?" Khan asked to break free of that awkward situation.


    One of the soldiers wearing white medical coats snapped out of her daze and took a step forward. The middle-aged woman nodded before pointing at a corridor and voicing a short greeting. "Khan, sir, we were waiting for you. Please, wait in front of the building once you cross the scanners. A soldier will reach you shortly."


    Khan nodded and stepped out of teleport. He had long since grown used to the scanners by then, but the excited gazes of the soldiers handling the various machines felt awkward. His fame had already spread on Earth, and no one even tried to hide it.


    ''I wonder if Professor Norwell had to go through something like this,'' Khan cursed in his mind before looking at the results of the scanners.


    His attunement with mana had merely gone up by one point during his stay on Onia. The pace of his growth had slowed down as he advanced toward the next checkpoint, and the matter naturally annoyed him.


    ''Strange,'' Khan thought when he left the building and took a deep breath of Earth''s air.


    Khan still recalled what he had felt after leaving Istrone. His body had experienced a moment of bliss back then, but nothing simr happened now.


    ''Have I be too used to aliens?'' Khan casually wondered while inspecting the Reebfell''s camp.


    The camp showed a scene that Khan didn''t experience in a long time. It was almost night, but some light still filled the area. Clean streets andrge spots with well-kept grass expanded in his vision, but the many young soldiers in the distance remained the most surprising detail in the scenery.


    Memories inevitably surged in Khan''s mind. He recalled his time in co''s training camp with Martha, Lieutenant Dyester, Luke, and Bruce. Those peaceful events seemed to belong to a different life, but a smile still appeared on his face at the sight of such na?ve happiness. Most of those young soldiers had no idea what could happen once they left the safety of those buildings.


    ''I guess this is what I have to teach,'' Khan thought as he kept his gaze on those faint figures. ''I need to break their naivety.''


    A figure eventually grew close. Khan saw a young woman with two stars on each shoulder approaching him and performing a military salute as soon as she arrived near him.


    "It''s a pleasure to meet you, Khan," The woman announced. "I''m Amber Teldom. I''m sure working with you will be great."


    "Are you a professor, ma''am?" Khan questioned while inspecting the woman.


    Amber had long brown hair and green eyes. She was slightly shorter than him, but her physique was virtually perfect. She was slim but with curves in the right ces, and her face carried a faint sweetness. Khan found it hard to see her as someone who handled battle-rted courses.


    "I take care of a special course about spells," Amber exined as a sweet smile appeared on her face. "You don''t have to be so polite. We are peers right now. Actually, I think I might have to address you as "sir" soon."


    "Why is that?" Khan asked as the two started to leave the building.


    "The headmaster is about to give you a promotion," Amber exined. "He is the only one in this training camp who can award them. Don''t worry. We are about to see him."


    ****


    Author''s notes: Special thanks to hkuds for the Castle!

 Chapter 291 - Promotion

    Khan had requested a promotion, but he didn''t expect it to arrive so suddenly. He had read something about those events from Lieutenant Pouille''s books, so he knew that they weren''t anything major, especially for the lower ranks. Yet, Khan still believed that he would have had some time to prepare.


    Khan inspected himself. He had showered, but the drive back to the teleport had tainted his uniform with sand and dirt. He even raised his arms to sniff his armpits, and the effects of Onia''s heat quickly became evident in his nostrils.


    "Don''t worry," Amber giggled when she watched that scene. "It won''t be anything major, so you are more than fine like this."


    "I hope my promotion doesn''t cause problems," Khan stated while giving up on the matter and resuming the march.


    Amber was older than Khan, and she had two stars on each shoulder, but she had basically revealed that she was still a regr soldier. Khan would have to work with her, so getting a promotion before her could create envy and other issues.


    "I''m the only one to me for my position," Amber admitted. "I''ve spent all my life inside training camps or cities. I have only left Reebfell''s area a few times."


    "You must be outstanding as a professor then," Khanplimented to keep the topic on Amber.


    "I only have a good academic record," Amber exined. "Most soldiers ignore that mana can bring far more than destruction. The Global Army has developed countless minor spells that many ignore to focus on their stars."


    Khan could only nod. He had already tested the "enhanced reading"'' value, and he believed that the "simted mental battle" would also be extremely useful once he learnt how to deploy it. He could easily guess that the Global Army had other good minor techniques in store, and his broad approach to the mana strengthened that belief.


    "Though enough talking about me," Amber smiled. "You are the hot topic of the year, and I can be the first to question you."


    "My profile already says a lot," Khan sighed. "I''m still getting used to my fame."


    "You might want to do that quickly," Amber suggested. "Everyone in the camp has already learnt about your arrival. They can''t wait to see you."


    "I guess I need to prepare a good first lesson," Khan wondered.


    "You can''t possibly be scared of a few recruits after everything you have gone through," Amber teased.


    "It''s not that," Khan responded as his eyes began to wander through the camp. "I think I can really help some of the recruits. I wouldn''t im that my knowledge can save lives, but I might be useful. It would be a pity if I couldn''t convey what I''ve learnt due to my poor experience."


    Amber''s eyes widened in surprise. She didn''t expect such a mature answer. She had initially been worried that someone so young wouldn''t understand the responsibilities of a professor, but it seemed that Khan didn''t need any help there.


    Khan lost himself in his thoughts during those silent seconds. Reebfell''s training camp unfolded in his eyes, andplicated emotions filled his mind.


    The clean streets, the perfectly intact buildings, the joyful and carefree voices in the distance, and the overallck of tension in the air created a peaceful scenery that Khan had almost forgotten. He wasn''t used to that calm and safe environment anymore. Even Onia didn''t have that atmosphere.


    Amber had misunderstood Khan. He didn''t acknowledge his responsibilities due to his new job. He wanted the soldiers to hear him out because he had seen what ack of experience could cause.


    Khan had witnessed too many deaths, so he wanted to share his knowledge to prevent others from going through the same pain. He knew that most of those na?ve and innocent recruits didn''t deserve it.


    "It''s nice, isn''t it?" Amber eventually asked while gazing at the young soldiers in the distance. "I almost can''t believe how things can be so normal after Istrone."


    "I''m surprised some training camps recovered so quickly," Khan admitted.


    "The Global Army had to make many promises to reassure the various families," Amber exined. "I don''t know the details, but I bet that the wealthy families have requested far more than simple Credits."


    "Is your family wealthy?" Khan asked.


    "A bit," Amber said through an awkwardugh. "I feel a bit bad for how easy it has been for me. I didn''t have to go through what you guys have experienced."


    "Being lucky isn''t a sin," Khan reassured as his eyes kept inspecting the camp. "I''m sure none of Istrone''s survivors would wish that to happen to others. I know I don''t."


    Amber remained speechless again, and a warm smile inevitably appeared on her face. Khan was only being honest, but that was enough to reassure her. She could see that he had remained a good person even after everything he had gone through.


    "You sure know your way with words," Amber teased.


    "What do you mean?" Khan questioned while bringing his attention to Amber.


    "I''ve heard that you are quite popr with thedies," Amber giggled while covering her mouth. "I can understand why now."


    "Who is even spreading these rumors?" Khan frowned.


    "Well, you can''t stop soldiers from looking into you," Amber responded. "Besides, people like to spread gossips. I''ve heard the craziest things about you even before you got a job here."


    "Give me an idea," Khan insisted.


    "Are you sure?" Amber asked as herugh grew louder. "Some rumors see you in bed with Ef''i."


    "How would a human even do that?" Khan cursed while shaking his head.


    "I have no idea," Amber replied without bothering to hold back herugh anymore. "Still, they worship strength, and you won the tournament. Also, you already had experience with aliens, so-."


    "Alien," Khan interrupted. "One alien."


    Khan did his best not to reveal anything, but Amber understood that she had touched the wrong topic. She didn''t expect the atmosphere to change so drastically, but she quickly addressed the issue. "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to offend you. I''m sure everyone will understand the difference between the truth and the rumors once they see you."


    "It''s fine," Khan replied while wearing a fake smile. "I''m just a bit anxious about the promotion."


    Amber could see that something had changed. Khan had spoken honestly until now, so she recognized his lies. Still, she decided not to probe further since the topic had clearly annoyed him.


    The atmosphere between the two became a bit awkward, and Khan didn''t do anything to ease it. He continued to inspect the camp, but his eyes had long since stopped examining the various details of the scenery. A dark face filled his vision, and the memories of a cozy coldness had started to seep inside his mind.


    The two eventually walked near a group of young soldiers busy interacting with each other. Thetter''s first instinct was to wave their hands at Amber, but they stopped their gestures when they noticed Khan. He casually nced at them and performed a fake smile, but he quickly disregarded them to move his focus back on the various buildings.


    Simr scenes happened as the two crossed more soldiers. All of them tried to greet Amber, but Khan''s presence made them hold back from trying to interact with the duo.


    "They sure like you," Khanmented after witnessing the same scene four times.


    "I just do my best," Amber eximed happily. She couldn''t help but feel relieved to see that Khan didn''t take her previous words to heart.


    "That seems to be enough," Khan stated, and silence fell between the two again.


    It didn''t take much longer for Amber and Khan to reach arge building that seemed to stand at the center of the camp. Large windows and tall metal columns created an expression of modern architecture that the settlements on others struggled to have. Khan even guessed that the Global Army had renovated the structure recently.


    Amber led Khan inside the building. Therge corridors and halls connected to them were almost empty due to thete hour, but the two still met random soldiers busy patrolling the areas or activating the robots meant to clean everything. Those men and women limited themselves to nod at Amber, but they didn''t hold back from inspecting Khan from head to toe.


    The two climbed a series of staircases until they reached thest floor. Various locked doors filled the sides of the single corridor in the area, and Amber walked straight for the office at its end.


    "Headmaster Pitcus," Amber called after pressing on an interactive menu on the door. "It''s Professor Teldom. I brought Khan."


    The door took only one instant to unlock and slide open. Khan could soon see arge office featuring a long short table, two luxurious couches, two armchairs, and arge desk at its end.


    Khan''s eyes quickly went on the old-looking man sitting behind the desk. Headmaster Pitcus had long grey hair tied in a bun and thick eyebrows of the same color. Small sses tried to hide his brown eyes, and a short beard grew from his chin.


    Headmaster Pitcus appeared slightly overweight, but his figure retained the huge silhouette of a muscr man. Still, his threatening size didn''t match his amiable face. The corner of his eyes carried evident wrinkles, but they didn''t ruin his harmless vibe.


    Khan found it strange that the man''s military uniform didn''t have stars. Yet, he could vaguely evaluate the Headmaster''s level through his senses, and his inspection surprised him. The soldier appeared weaker than Colonel Norrett, but not by much.


    "Thank you, Professor Teldom," Headmaster Pitcus cleared his throat and stood up before pointing at one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Please, Khan, take a seat."


    Amber performed a military salute and left the office. The metal door closed behind her, leaving only Khan and Headmaster Pitcus in the room.


    "It''s an honor to meet you," Headmaster Pitcus eximed as Khan approached the door.


    The sudden statement made Khan interrupt his gesture for a second, but he quickly sat and voiced a polite answer. "The honor is mine, sir."


    "Nonsense," Headmaster Pitcusughed as he sat back on his chair. "I''m just a retired old man. I can''tpare to thetest champion of Onia''s tournament."


    ''An old man with the power of a colonel,'' Khan thought while performing the best fake smile that he could muster.


    "I won''t keep you for long," Headmaster Pitcus stated. "The promotion to Lieutenant is usually uneventful, and yours won''t be an exception. Things will change if you make it to Captain, but you will only get new offers and a monthly allowance for now."


    "That''s more than fine," Khan replied without dropping his smile.


    "Excellent," Headmaster Pitcus dered while activating a menu on his desk and browsing through a fewbels.


    Khan''s phone rang at some point, and Headmaster Pitcus gestured at him to take it. A message featuring a long text had appeared on Khan''s device, and he skimmed through it to get a vague idea of its contents.


    The message congratted Khan for his promotion to Lieutenant and described the benefits of his new position. The monthly allowance and the ess to better jobs were only some of the advantages. He could also use special discounts and offers for soldiers at his rank. Some services in the cities and other camps would also feature pros now.


    Everything sounded terrific, but Khan didn''t know what to do with it now. He nced at the list of possible jobs out of curiosity, but they didn''t change too much. He could be in charge of specific toons or have better pay in other locations, but that was it.


    "You probably are the youngest Lieutenant in the history of the Global Army," Headmaster Pitcus eventually said, iming Khan''s attention. "I feel quite lucky to be the one who has approved your promotion."


    "I''m the lucky one, sir," Khan politely replied.


    "Nonsense, your promotion ispletely deserved," Headmaster Pitcus scoffed. "I know Captains who have achieved half of your feats after being in service for decades. Keep working hard, and I''m sure that more promotions wille in no time."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan eximed.


    "Well, I will send you the details about your habitation and duties while you exit the building," Headmaster Pitcus exined while closing the menus on his desk. "There won''t be lessons tomorrow, so you can use that time to coordinate with the other Professors. Except for that, you can use the whole camp as you wish. I won''t pry in your personal life as long as it doesn''t affect your duties."


    Khan understood the hidden meaning behind the Headmaster''s words and stood up to perform a military salute. Then, he turned to approach the door.


    "Onest thing," Headmaster Pitcus called. "I know that you are young, but it''s not ideal for a Professor to hang around recruits. Try not to use your position to gain, let''s say, female attention."


    ''Why is everyone worried about that?'' Khan cursed in his mind, but his fake smile remained unaffected. He even managed to speak without letting anything tamper his voice. "I understand, sir. It has never been my intention."


    "Excellent," Headmaster Pitcus wore a broad smile while pressing a button behind his desk to open the door.


    Khan left in a hurry, happy that he could finally drop the act. The Headmaster seemed a decent person, but he preferred not to disclose too much of his personality until he learnt more about him.


    His phone rang while he was descending from the staircases. Khan could quickly learn where he would stay and his working hours. His courses barely upied fifteen hours of his week, so he would have a lot of free time.


    The night had fallen on the training camp, but the streetmps kept everything visible. The curfew didn''t apply to Khan, but he still decided to head directly for his habitation due to tomorrow''s inevitable meeting with the other Professors. Still, a familiar presence entered his sense''s range after he began to march toward his destination.


    Khan wouldn''t care about the soldiers who broke the curfew. He would just change road and pretend not to have seen anything. However, he could only halt his steps and focus on the figure sitting on a bench in the distance now.


    The figure noticed Khan only when he stopped walking. He could see it leaving the bench and sprinting toward him. It didn''t take long before he found Cora clung to his torso.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I basically didn''t celebrate the holidays for the past two years due to this job. I''m a mess this year, and the twenty-six hours spent sleeping in thest two days have proven that my body is at its limits, so I''ve decided to slow down during this period.


    I''ll go down to one chapter for Chaos and two for Demonic Sword for a few days (I''ll keep you updated), and I''ll probably skip the 25th entirely. I''ll let you know how I''ll handle new year''s eve inter chapters.


    In short, the next chapter will arrive in 10 hours.

 Chapter 292 - Ideas

    ''Cora, Reebfell, of course,'' Khan cursed in his mind as he let the girl approach him and take his torso in her embrace. ''How could I forget her city?''


    Cora Ommo had been one of the survivors in Khan''s group during Istrone''s crisis. She had initially been useless in the battles, but she had slowly managed to muster her courage and confidence as their travel across the forest continued. Still, Khan recalled her for very different reasons.


    Cora had been a warm and caring presence during Istrone''s crisis. Khan couldn''t appreciate her back then due to his mental barrier, but he had never failed to see her good heart. Moreover, she had fallen for him since the first desperate moments inside the forest, and her feelings had eventually made her steal his first kiss.


    Khan had always retained a good memory of Cora. Still, everything that had happened after the kiss had forced him to ignore the events connected to her. Martha''satose state, the release of the mental barrier, and Liiza had takenplete control of his mind after Istrone. Besides, he had firmly believed that the chances of meeting her again were basically non-existent.


    Everything returned while Cora tightened her embrace around his torso. Her worry, care, and timid promise resurfaced in Khan''s mind. He had the chance to inspect those memories through his new emotional spectrum now, and he had to admit that he liked her character, at least as a friend.


    ''Don''t tell me that her crush on me has survived,'' Khan hoped in his mind, even if his current situation seemed to prove him wrong.


    "What are you doing here after the curfew?" Khan asked while patting her back.


    Cora shook when she felt Khan''s touch, but the gesture was enough to remind her of her situation. She let him go and took a step back, but her annoyance overcame her shyness, so she crossed her arms and pouted.


    "Why didn''t you tell me that you wereing to Reebfell?" Cora asked in an annoyed tone that didn''t suit her blushing cheeks.


    Khan had the chance to inspect Cora properly now. She had always been pretty, and her beauty had only benefited from thest year. She had even done her best to prepare herself for the meeting. Her long blonde hair appeared as soft as silk, and her light make-up highlighted herrge green eyes.


    "I forgot that you lived here," Khan honestly admitted while voicing a shortugh. He didn''t want to pretend with Cora. She didn''t deserve his lies.


    "I knew it," Cora sighed while lowering her gaze to hide the sadness that was recing her pout.


    "Though I didn''t forget about you," Khan continued. "And I obviously still remember your kiss."


    The sadness vanished in an instant to make room for intense redness. The streetmps made it impossible for Cora to hide her embarrassment even if she kept her head lowered. She didn''t expect Khan to mention her kiss so openly, especially after his previousment.


    "What is it?" Khan teased while bending forward to try to enter Cora''s vision. "Did I say something wrong?"


    Truth be told, Khan''s behavior was taking Cora entirely by surprise. She had interacted with him while he was under the effects of the mental barrier, so she had never seen most of his sides. She was nowhere near ready for his teases.


    "Hey, can you look at me?" Khan whispered after his face almost arrived in front of Cora''s eyes.


    Cora gasped and took another step back, but she ended up losing her bnce. Still, Khan pulled her arm before she could fall on her back, but the gesture brought her on him again.


    "I didn''t think first-level warriors could be so clumsy," Khan continued to tease while keeping a hand at the center of her back to make sure that she didn''t do anything abrupt again.


    Khan didn''t need to use his senses to understand Cora''s level. She was wearing her military uniform, and the single star on both her shoulders reflected the streetmps'' light. She had clearly worked hard in that period, and he could only rejoice at that sight.


    "I''m not clumsy," Corained while raising her head and doing her best not to run away from that situation.


    Her arms were on Khan''s chest, and he was holding her. Moreover, his firm gaze was on her. Cora noticed that he had be taller and that she was exactly where she wanted to be.


    Khan had countless teases ready in his mind. Cora''s eyes also fell on his mouth every few seconds. He could almost hear her desires, and he knew that he could fulfill them at that exact moment.


    However, Khan had no intention to kiss Cora. He had gone through the same situation with Delia, but she was older and more experienced. Instead, Cora appeared as innocent as Khan recalled. She would probably do everything he asked, but he didn''t want to use her.


    A tinge of disappointment appeared in Cora''s eyes when Khan let her go and took a step back. She followed him with her longing gaze, but her hands tightened into fists when she decided to hold back.


    "Did you break the curfew just to meet me?" Khan asked before Cora could lower her head to hide her blush again.


    "Of course," Cora proudly announced. "I wanted to see you. It''s been more than a year."


    "What did you n to do about the guards?" Khan chuckled.


    "I-, I didn''t think about that," Cora admitted. "Everyone has always treated me nicely after Istrone, so they''ll probably let it pass."


    "I see," Khan whispered before raising his voice a bit. "Let me apany you back to your dormitory. I''m sure no one will say anything if they see you with me."


    "But you might be in trouble if you take detours!" Cora immediately eximed.


    "Nothing will happen to me," Khan reassured. "The Headmaster has just promoted me. I''m a Lieutenant now."


    Cora remained stunned for a second before wearing a broad smile. She appeared ecstatic to hear the news, and her genuine happiness almost overwhelmed Khan. He didn''t expect her to disregard her shyness so quickly.


    "That''s great!" Cora shouted. "You totally deserve it. I''ve kept track of your deeds. There is no one more suited than you for a promotion."


    "How often did you check on me?" Khan teased, and Cora realized that she had said too much.


    "Only from time to time," Cora exined while lowering her head, "Whenever I felt lonely. I''ve read about Ecoruta, the tournament, and Nitis."


    Khan noticed how Cora had hesitated before naming Nitis, and the reason for that was quite evident. Khan could only curse Lieutenant Kintea mentally for that cursed report.


    "But I didn''t check only you," Cora continued. "Ethel is doing fine with her prosthesis, and Dorian has also gained a few merits. I know that George has been with you on Nitis. I''m d you weren''tpletely alone there."


    Cora hesitated again during herst line. Khan nodded while deciding whether to address the issue, but he quickly chose to change the topic.


    "What about you?" Khan asked. "Did you spend thest year here?"


    "I didn''t do anything special," Cora revealed. "The camp was almost empty, and the Global Army never refused my requests, so I spent my time training. I kept thinking that more of us would have survived if I had been stronger."


    "Hey, you can''t me yourself," Khan stated while taking a step forward to ce a hand on Cora''s shoulder. "You did well on Istrone, and you worked hard to fix your ws afterward. You are strong, stronger than me."


    "Stop trying to make me feel better," Cora said while trying to escape from Khan''s grasp.


    "I escaped after Istrone," Khan admitted, and Cora stopped her movement to inspect his expression.


    "What do you mean?" Cora asked.


    "I couldn''t stand the sight of the empty streets," Khan revealed. "I couldn''t just go to bed after sleeping on wet mud for weeks."


    Cora didn''t know how to react in front of that open admission of ws. In her mind, Khan was unbeatable, unstoppable, and perfect, and his recent achievement had only fueled that image. Yet, he had weaknesses like everyone else, and he had decided to show them to her.


    Cora gave in and lowered her head toy it on Khan''s chest before whispering without stuttering at all. "I''ve missed you so much."


    Khan felt the need to hug her, but he held back. He couldn''t treat her as a simple friend since he knew what she felt for him. A wrong gesture might fuel her hopes and dreams, and he didn''t want that.


    Cora was like George. She had seen the dark side of the battlefield with Khan, so he instinctively treated her as apanion. She had also proven her goodwill, so Khan felt confident in considering her as a friend.


    Still, Cora also wasn''t like George due to her feelings, and Khan couldn''t give her what she wanted. Her appearance had nothing to do with the matter. Her character was even adorable, but that was one of the reasons why Khan felt the need to avoid ying around. He could hurt her badly, so he couldn''t be selfish.


    Khan heaved a sigh while caressing Cora''s shoulder. He wanted to say something to change the situation, but Cora acted before he could talk. She moved toward him and wrapped her hands around his torso again, leaving Khan no choice but to hug her.


    Khan let Cora stay in that position for a few seconds before tapping her shoulder and repeating his offer. "Let me get you to your dormitory."


    Cora remained still for a few seconds before nodding and leaving the embrace. She avoided Khan''s gaze, but she made sure to walk next to him as she led him through the camp. The two didn''t say anything, but the silence seemed enough to fill the night.


    Two soldiers guarded the entrance for Cora''s dormitory, and they immediately stood up when they saw two figures getting close. One of them wanted to shout something, but herpanion pulled her sleeve and interrupted her when he recognized Khan.


    The two soldiers ended up performing a military salute when Cora and Khan reached the entrance. Khan nodded before finding himself in another embrace that Cora broke quickly. She then showed her smile and turned to enter the building.


    Khan didn''t bother to look at the curious smiles that the soldiers had worn after Cora had walked past them. He knew how the situation looked like, and he didn''t care about the possible rumors that they might spread. He was sure there was far worse about him flying among the gossips.


    ''She wouldn''t have survived on Istrone without me,'' Khan thought as he strolled toward his habitation. ''My course is for this exact reason, but I can''t turn innocent soldiers into me with simple lessons. They would need to go through Istrone for that.''


    A solution eventually hit Khan. It was impossible to recreate situations that could generate other soldiers like him. He also wanted to avoid that since he knew how much he suffered. Yet, the project seemed doable when Khan took Doris, Luke, or even the old George as possible goals.


    ''Though they still need to taste real danger,'' Khan pondered, ''But how do I create that inside a training camp? The training halls won''t do. I need something alive, and I don''t count. The same goes for themselves.''


    The only alternative was with the Tainted animals that the Global Army used for the entrance tests. Ordinary soldiers who had yet to be first-level warriors would probably struggle in a pure one versus one against those creatures. Of course, the matter had different factors, but they woulde after Khan understood whether he could even gain ess to those beasts.


    ''I guess I can only see what the other Professors say tomorrow,'' Khan eventually thought before putting the matter in the back of his mind.


    Cora upied his thoughts for the rest of that lonely walk. Khan didn''t know how to make her give up on her crush without hurting her. Treating her poorly was also impossible due to how sweetly she behaved, and Khan had no intention of being a dick. However, that would only add fuel to her feelings.


    ''I''m in a damned pickle,'' Khan realized when his building unfolded in his view.


    There were different thoughts in his mind, and he heard them clearly, even if he decided to ignore them every time. Part of Khan knew that opening up with Cora probably wasn''t a bad option. Her inexperience was her only w, but her earnestnesspensated greatly.. She deserved love, and she could probably give more than any other partner, but Khan still silenced those ideas.

 Chapter 293 - Train

    The t was immense. Khan didn''t even know what to do with all that space. The habitation featured arge bedroom, aundry area with multiple spare uniforms, a reinforced room with a series of tools meant for physical exercises, a living room, and a dining room with a small fridge and a microwave.


    Luckily for Khan, he could find instructions for all the machines. Otherwise, he would have had a hard time understanding what some of them did. Still, his first night inside his new t allowed him to learn how everything worked, so it didn''t take him long to hit the bed.


    The rm rang at dawn, and a few messages arrived on his phone while he was in the bathroom. Amber had contacted Khan about the meeting with the other professors tasked with the new subjects, and Cora had also sent him something that his device didn''t immediately ept.


    Khan was a professor now. The recruits could contact him through thework, but he still needed to ept those requests. Of course, most soldiers would avoid bothering him, but Cora was different.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to ept Cora''s request. He actually felt surprised that she had been bold enough to send him something, but the message turned out to be a simple "good morning".


    A short conversation followed that message. Cora and Khan told each other their ns for the day, and she wished him good luck when she heard about the meeting.


    Amber scheduled the meeting a few hours after breakfast, so Khan had the time to handle a few things before that appointment. He reached the canteen, enjoyed arge meal, and purchased a few snacks and drinks to bring back to his t.


    The menus in the canteen had many items that required Credits, but Khan went for the free stuff that he happily carried back to his t. His fridge became full of cans and bottles that morning, but he soon disregarded them.


    Khan had been too early to meet other professors or recruits, and he had finished his meal a couple of hours before the meeting. He could spend that time doing some of his regr exercises and showering before leaving his t to head toward the appointed location.


    The streets of the training camp were full of life at that hour. It was a free day, so many recruits had decided to hang out on the many benches andwns that filled the area.


    The scene was beyond peaceful, and Khan found himself staring at the various happy and innocent faces that he met on his path. He had to admit that he had failed to enjoy those moments during his time in co''s training camp. His training with Lieutenant Dyester didn''t know breaks, and his state as a poor recruit had pushed him to work harder than his peers.


    ''I really missed a lot,'' Khan couldn''t help but think as those peaceful moments unfolded in his view.


    The Global Army could force the soldiers to face difficult moments, and the many lessons usually filled everyone''s schedule. However, the recruits were simple boys and girls at their core. They wanted to have a good time, socialize, and hang out whenever they had the chance. Khan and Martha had been exceptions back then.


    The recruits froze whenever they noticed Khan staring at them, but he promptly diverted his gaze every time. He didn''t want to add more rumors to his figure, but the peaceful scenes still captured his attention often.


    Amber had scheduled the meeting in a type of building that Khan never had the chance to visit in co''s training camp. The ce wasn''t big, but it featured a series of shops where recruits and professors could spend time enjoying warm drinks, booze, desserts, and other expensive meals.


    Khan found Amber inside a caf¨¦ featuring a series offortable armchairs and a few tables. Large windows acted as walls and made the environment bright. The clean grey floor and the other surfaces shone by reflecting the sunlight, and everything felt incredibly cozy due to the lingering warmth that filled the area.


    Khan found the caf¨¦ a bit too hot for his tastes, but he didn''t let that feeling appear on his face. His full attention soon went on the other two figures sitting at Amber''s table.


    One of the figures belonged to an elderly bald man with a long white beard. The soldier had a ck caneying on his armchair, and both his shoulders featured three stars. The many wrinkles on his face hinted at his old age, but his lively azure eyes gave a far different impression.


    The other figure belonged to a middle-aged woman with long brown hair, dark eyes, and olive skin. She was pretty stunning, and her slow but elegant gestures carried deep confidence. Her uniform also featured three stars on both shoulders, but she felt weaker than the man.


    "I thought I was on time," Khanmented while approaching the table.


    "Lieutenant Khan!" Amber eximed while standing up and pointing at her twopanions. "Let me handle the presentations. Captain Aaron Goldmon teaches war tactics, while Lieutenant Lydia Abaze is an expert in survival techniques."


    "Please, Khan is more than enough," Khan said before nodding at the two soldiers. "It''s a pleasure to meet you."


    "We finally meet," Lieutenant Abaze eximed while sizing Khan from head to toe. "You are more well-behaved than I expected."


    "He is just a good liar," Captain Goldmon scoffed. "I can smell the beast inside him from here."


    "Let him be, Captain," Lieutenant Abazeined. "Insulting him out of rumors doesn''t suit your experience."


    "I wasn''t insulting him," Captain Goldmonughed.


    Khan ignored that entric interaction and took his ce between Amber and Lieutenant Abaze. The armchair wasfortable, but Captain Goldmon''s intense stare prevented him from appreciating that sensation.


    "You don''t falter easily, do you?" Captain Goldmon asked.


    "Captain," Lieutenant Abaze sighed.


    "I''m just evaluating him," Captain Goldmon sneered while rolling his eyes. "Our recruits will have to learn how to fight from someone not much older than them. I need to be sure that he is the right man for the job."


    "And?" Lieutenant Abaze asked.


    "He looks good," Captain Goldmon stated.


    "Thank you, Captain," Khan said in the politest tone he could muster.


    Captain Goldmon snorted, and Lieutenant Abaze heaved a helpless sigh. Amber tried her best to hide her awkwardness, and Khan found himself inspecting the situation without a clear idea of what to do or say.


    "I guess it''s time to start this meeting," Captain Goldmon eximed.


    "Let''s order something first," Lieutenant Abaze replied.


    "They don''t serve what I want here," Captain Goldmon chuckled.


    "It''s far too early to drink," Lieutenant Abazeined.


    "Lieutenant Khan doesn''t agree, am I right?" Captain Goldmonmented, and three pairs of eyes fell on Khan.


    "I''mpletely new at this," Khan dered while wearing a fake smile. "I''ll follow your lead and learn what I can."


    "Boring," Captain Goldmon snorted.


    "Very well, let''s start the meeting," Lieutenant Abaze eximed. "The three of us have already introduced our respective subjects to the recruits since the second semester has started. I believe we all have different approaches, so imitating us won''t work. What did you have in mind?"


    Khan wanted to hear the different approaches before voicing his idea, but Lieutenant Abaze didn''t give him that chance. He felt forced to speak since the three soldiers had moved their attention on him again. "I was thinking about using Tainted animals."


    "For what?" Captain Goldmon asked.


    "Battle experience," Khan exined. "Most recruits use training halls, which pose virtually no threat. I want them to face fear."


    "We are still talking about recruits in their second semester," Lieutenant Abaze pointed out. "Mere Tainted animals won''t be a threat for many of them."


    "I was wondering whether I could handpick the Tainted animals to use in my lessons," Khan revealed. "I know that they aren''t worthy opponents, but a big beast might scare the recruits a bit. The army uses them in the entrance tests, so finding a suitable creature shouldn''t be a problem."


    "I actually don''t know where the Global Army keeps the Tainted animals," Ambermented.


    "I know," Captain Goldmon stated while caressing his beard. "Your idea isn''t bad, but you''ll be in charge of your students'' safety. Are you sure you can take care of that?"


    "I do n to make them suffer a bit," Khan honestly admitted. "Isn''t that the point of our subjects?"


    Captain Goldmon exploded into augh, and Lieutenant Abaze nodded. Amber limited herself to smile, but she understood that Khan''s statement had been on point.


    "There is only one problem with that," Captain Goldmon announced. "Most of the Tainted animals that the Global Army keeps near the training camp are rather harmless. You won''t find what you need here."


    "That''s easy to fix," Lieutenant Abaze responded while looking at her phone. "It''s still early. Let''s see a few shops in Reebfell. I also need to buy some provisions for my sses."


    "A trip to the city sounds nice," Amber smiled while standing up.


    "Wait, what?" Khan eximed as he watched Lieutenant Abaze and Captain Goldmon standing up.


    "Hurry up," Amber stated as her sweet smile broadened. "We should have enough time to hit a few shops before they close for lunch."


    Khan couldn''t help but feel a bit excited. He had lived in co, but he carried no memories of that period. The Second Impact had erased everything from back then, and only vague images that held no meaning had remained in his mind. Reebfell wasn''t co, but it remained one of the big cities on Earth.


    Captain Goldmon didn''t give Khan the time to think about the matter. The soldier''s cane hit the floor rhythmically as he hurried outside the shop, and Lieutenant Abaze followed him. Only Amber remained a bit behind to wait for Khan, but it was clear that she was pretty restless about the imminent trip.


    Khan could only put his doubts aside and follow the soldiers. He didn''t know how he would purchase the Tainted animals without Credits, but that problem fell in the back of his mind for now.


    Captain Goldmon''s cane appeared useless. The soldier was oddly agile, but he still tapped the floor with his metal stick to set the pace of the march. The group soon left the building and moved toward an area of the camp that Khan had yet to visit, which turned out to hold an underground parking hall featuring multiple vehicles.


    The parking area was as simple as possible. A series of artificial lights shone on the ceiling and filled the vast hall with a bright white glow that made the many dark cars shine. A series of tunnels also stretched from the four walls, and some clearly led to the surface.


    "Are we going to drive to Reebfell?" Khan asked as he inspected the various cars.


    "I wish," Captain Goldmon sneered, "But I believe thedies prefer to take the train."


    "Train?" Khan eximed, and the answer to his question arrived when the group moved to a lower floor.


    The parking hall was connected to a rtively small tform that featured a few benches and interactive walls. The area also featured a dark tunnel that stretched left and right, and Khan couldn''t help but peek inside it to inspect the structure.


    The bottom of the tunnel had two metal bs that seemed to stretch along with the whole structure. Synthetic mana also ran between them without ever expanding upward. Waves of energy flowed behind the circr wall of the channel, and Khan remained stunned in front of their sheer quantity.


    "Is this your first time seeing the train?" Amber asked while pulling Khan by his uniform.


    Khan nodded and retreated at the center of the tform before inspecting Lieutenant Abaze tinkering with the interactive walls. A countdown appeared on the menus after she tapped a fewbels, and the mana inside the tunnels also started moving oddly.


    ''Something ising,'' Khan quickly realized, and his gaze instinctively went on the right side of the tunnel.


    "Ooh," Captain Goldmon voiced when he saw that gesture. "The reports must be true. Your senses are on point."


    Khan nced at the old soldier, but thetter had already lost interest in him. Instead, Amber and Lieutenant Abaze inspected him with curious eyes. It was clear that Captain Goldmon''s seemingly casualment had improved Khan''s image in the women''s minds.


    A small cylindrical vehicle with a pointy front arrived before the tform when the countdown was about to reach zero. Its speed was so high that winds blew in the area while it stopped. A whooshing noise then followed as its metal doors slid open and revealed a small room with sixfortable seats.


    Khan inspected everything thoroughly as he followed his threepanions. The insides of the train appeared strangelyrge, even if the actual vehicle was rtively small. Bright lights and multiple menus also filled the ceiling and various surfaces. There was the chance to have drinks and meals, but no one chose to eat.


    The train set off after everyone sat. Belts even came out of the seats and fastened on their own. Khan experienced the sudden pressure caused by the incredible eleration, but everything became quiet and still rtively soon.


    The train made no noise, and it was hard to understand that it was moving. Khan tried to keep track of the synthetic mana in the tunnel outside, but the vehicle was too fast for his senses. His focus soon went on the menus and holograms that his seat created, and he eventually found a map that described the path.


    The vehicle would take less than half an hour to reach its destination, and the professors didn''t bother to spend that time talking. Captain Goldmon took a nap. Lieutenant Abaze inspected videos covering random topics while Amber read some of the news connected to the shops that she wanted to visit.


    Khan followed Amber''s example and inspected the list of shops on the train''s menus. It didn''t take him long to find something connected to the Tainted animals, and a few ads immediately imed his interest.


    It turned out that Khan''s knowledge of Tainted animals was far poorer than he expected. The Global Army had long since be able to replicate the same living beings that he had seen on Nitis. Khan could see artificially mutated beasts that featured various enhancements, both gic and bionic.


    The enhancements had different purposes. Most of them were battle-rted since the wealthy families wanted to create good training fields for their descendants. Instead, others could even affect the animals'' behavior, with some ads iming that their beasts were utterly docile.


    ''Where did I even live until now?'' Khan wondered as he inspected the menus.


    The number of possibilities was immense. Khan even found shops that performed custom-made enhancements. There was simply too much, and he barely had the time to absorb everything during the short trip.


    The train eventually stopped, and its metal doors opened to reveal a small tform simr to the one in the camp. Khan felt slightly disappointed when he saw that destion, but the scenery that unfolded when the group climbed to the upper floor surpassed his expectations.


    Arge staircase led to an immense hall full of people, lights, vehicles. Khan was sure that he wasn''t on the surface, but he still saw an incredible quantity of life and oddities.


    A cozy yellow light illuminated the whole area, but the glowsing from the banners of the many shops that filled both sides of the hall created a colorful spectacle. Stands and other stores upied specific spots where the people were forced to pass. Most of those men and women walked, but some used hoverboards, rollerdes, or small motorcycles to move around.


    The scene almost overwhelmed Khan. There was simply too much that he had never seen in that sole hall. The clothes that Reebfell''s citizens wore were enough to fill his mind with curiosity and confusion. He managed to spot only a few military uniforms while everyone else was donning something else, which could be entric at times.


    "Khan, focus," Lieutenant Abaze called while looking left and right to find less crowded paths. "Let''s go there. I''m sure that shop will be able to satisfy Captain Goldmon''s taste."


    "That''s a bit expensive for my pay," Amber admitted without hiding her faint shyness.


    "Don''t worry," Lieutenant Abaze responded. "The Captain might sound grumpy, but he is a gentleman. He never lets underlings pay."


    "And you made sure to use that to your advantage every time," Captain Goldmon snorted.


    "The ce also has an updated list of the best offers if you want to buy something," Lieutenant Abaze continued, ignoring the Captain''sment.


    Amber nodded happily, but Khan lost interest in that conversation. Marvel still filled his mind due to the incredible sight that the immense hall was providing. He didn''t expect a city to be so lively.


    "What is it, Khan?" Amber asked when she noticed Khan''sck of excitement. "I''m sure you must want something."


    "I don''t have Credits," Khan revealed. "The first pays have yet to arrive."


    "How did you spend everything earned in thest year?" Amber eximed.


    "Earned?" Khan frowned. "I''ve never earned anything."


    Lieutenant Abaze had listened to the conversation, and her elegant expression froze when she heard Khan''s words. A heavy sigh eventually escaped her mouth when she realized what had happened, and an order soon followed. "Professor Teldom, please escort Lieutenant Khan to a console. We''ll meet at the shop."


    Amber nodded before taking Khan''s arm and pulling him among the crowd of people to reach a different side of the underground hall. Everyone moved quickly, so it didn''t take the two long to arrive before a room with a series of consoles. The ce was empty, and Amber didn''t hesitate to push Khan inside it and ce his hand on one of the devices.


    The screen immediately recognized Khan through his gic signature, and it even weed him by mentioning his rank. A series of menus then appeared, and Amber pointed at abel that said: "withdraw".


    "Press it," Amber ordered. "It won''t work unless it''s you doing it."


    Khan didn''t know what was happening, but he followed the orders. After pressing thebel, a series of lines that described Khan''s various achievements went by. The console was basically listing the merits umted during his past missions, and a big number with five digits appeared when everything ended.


    ''Please, ce your phone on the console to withdraw thirty-two thousand one hundred fifty-seven Credits,'' Khan read on the screen when a new line appeared under the big number.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I caught a cold on the 23rd, but I''m better now.. It has been hard to focus on writing between the celebrations and my health, but I hope to publish another chapter today before trying to move toward a stable schedule.

 Chapter 294 - Expensive

    Khan remained stuck in front of that big number, but a frown soon appeared on his face. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he had no idea how valuable that sum was.


    "Amber?" Khan eventually called.


    Amber had helped Khan browse through the initial menus, but she had diverted her gaze from the screen once the console had started to calcte his merits.


    "You should keep your wealth private," Amber responded without turning.


    "Can you take a look, please?" Khan asked.


    Amber still hesitated, but Khan had sounded lost, and she also felt a bit curious. Her gaze slowly went on the screen, and her eyes trembled at the sight of such a sum.


    "I knew it would have been a lot, but that''s still surprising," Amber dered.


    "What do you mean by a lot?" Khan questioned.


    Amber frowned since she didn''t understand what there was to exin, but she tried her best anyway. "You can buy a small house in the city with these Credits. Though you wouldn''t be able to afford living there afterward."


    Khan nodded, but confusion soon reappeared on his face. He turned toward Amber and tried to wear his most serious expression as he voiced another question. "How many cans of spicy chicken can I buy with these Credits?"


    "S-spicy chicken?" Amber stuttered. She thought that Khan was joking for a second, but his firm voice forced her to take the question seriously.


    "Well, I think you can buy ten or fifteen cans for one Credit," Amber calcted while cing a hand under her chin. "I''m not sure. I''ve never bought cans of food."


    Amber nced at Khan to see whether her answer had solved his doubts, but she realized that he had long since stopped listening to her. His eyes had lit up, and his mouth had opened in astonishment.


    ''Ten cans of spicy chicken for each Credit!'' Khan eximed in his mind. ''That''s, that''s, that''s a lot of cans!''


    Khan almost threw his phone at the console after understanding how wealthy he had be. The machine did everything on its own. He only had to confirm the transfer on his device, and the Credits soon appeared on his profile.


    "I''m rich!" Khan eximed after retrieving his phone.


    "Not really," Amber promptly contradicted. "You have no idea how quickly those Credits can disappear if you are not careful."


    Amber had vaguely understood what was happening. That was Khan''s first time with Credits, so she could imagine the type of euphoria that had taken control of his mind. Still, that feeling could be dangerous, especially for someone who had no experience with money.


    "Let''s buy some stuff!" Khan eximed while turning and moving toward the crowd in the underground hall.


    "Wait," Amber called while grabbing his arm. "You don''t need to spend money right now. Focus on purchasing the Tainted animals you need, but don''t go overboard. The Global Army won''t refund those Credits otherwise."


    Khan turned toward Amber to show his frown and voice one of his doubts. "What''s the point of money if I don''t spend it?"


    "That-," Amber began to speak, but she quickly realized that she didn''t have a proper answer to the matter. Still, Khan continued to look at her, so she came up with a few responsible lines. "The Global Army won''t back you up forever. You''ll need a proper home at some point, and you alsock the support of a family. How will you buy better weapons and resources if you spend everything you have now?"


    Khan opened his mouth toin, but he soon closed it to lower his gaze. Amber was right, but he felt disappointed anyway. He finally had Credits, but spending them sounded like a waste.


    Amber noticed the disappointment in Khan''s face and heaved a deep sigh. She had never seen him like that, but the reason behind those reactions was obvious. Khan was famous for his many achievements, but something about him still belonged to a seventeen-year-old boy.


    "Let''s rejoin the Captain and the Lieutenant," Amber suggested. "I''ll help you browse through the offer. There must be something worth buying."


    Khan''s eyes lit up again, and he immediately nodded before shooting toward the crowd. Amber was still holding his arm, so she ended up rushing back into the underground hall with him.


    Amber felt the need to call Khan or force him to stop since he was going too fast for that crowded area, but those instincts vanished when she noticed that they never bumped into anyone. Khan flowed among the lines and small vehicles without ever stopping to inspect his surroundings.


    That performance was so surprising that Amber remained silent until the two reached their destination. Arge shop featuring many circr tables and simple seats unfolded in their vision. The area had no waiters, and multiple ads moved on the four walls.


    Captain Goldmon and Lieutenant Abaze had taken a table deep into the shop, and Khan didn''t hesitate to reach them. Most of the seats in the area were taken, but no one inspected him or Amber. Everyone appeared too busy talking with theirpanions, dates, or looking at the menus in front of them.


    "You don''t waste time, do you?" Lieutenant Abazemented when she noticed that Amber was still holding Khan''s arm.


    Amber gasped and let go of Khan, but he ignored thement and Captain Goldmon''sugh to take a seat. Having money had opened countless possibilities, and he couldn''t think about anything else right now.


    "I wasn''t, we weren''t-," Amber tried to justify herself.


    "I was only teasing you," Lieutenant Abaze interrupted before ncing at Khan. "Besides, he seems busy looking at the offer. I guess the trip to the console went well."


    "Thank you, Lieutenant Abaze," Khan eximed.


    "You can call me Lydia," Lieutenant Abaze replied as an elegant smile appeared on her face. "We have the same rank and position. There is no need to be so formal."


    "He is a few decades too young for you," Captain Goldmon mocked.


    "As if you knew my real age," Lieutenant Abaze calmly added.


    Khan limited himself to nod before moving his eyes back on the interactive surface of the table. The various menus didn''t only list the drinks he could purchase inside the shop. Manybels led to the multiple offers depicted on the walls.


    "Let''s order something to drink before going through the offers," Lieutenant Abaze reminded. "I''ll have this tea."


    Lieutenant Abaze pressed on abel, and her drink appeared on a list at the center of the table. Even its price was there, and Khan remained stunned when he read it.


    ''Two hundred Credits for a single drink?!'' Khan shouted in his mind before inspecting the shop''s menu.


    It turned out that Lydia''s drink was one of the most expensive items on the list. It even surpassed most of the shop''s meals, but the other cheaperbels didn''t reassure Khan.


    ''The life in the city is definitely expensive,'' Khan realized as he scrolled through the list.


    Many drinks required more than a hundred Credits, all of them involving a single cup. The shop didn''t sell entire bottles, even when it came to booze.


    Amber sat and picked one of the cheapest drinks, but Lieutenant Abaze immediately took it out from the central list before exining her reasons. "The Captain will pay. Don''t hold back."


    "I like that brand," Amber smiled.


    "Nonsense," Lieutenant Abaze stated while adding another expensive tea to the central list.


    Amber wanted to say something, but Lieutenant Abaze promptly shook her head and forced her to give up on the matter. Meanwhile, Khan was still busy getting over his amazement. Also, he couldn''t understand the differences among the various drinks on the list. The shops added descriptions, but they only increased his confusion.


    "Khan, I''ll pick for you," Captain Goldmon announced while Khan was still in the middle of his confusion and amazement.


    The event didn''t help Khan too much. Captain Goldmon added two drinks worth more than one hundred Credits each, and Khan inevitablypared them to the number of food cans that he would be able to purchase with the same money.


    ''I could be the king of the Slums by selling ten of these drinks,'' Khanmented in his mind before showing a fake smile to the Captain.


    Captain Goldmon confirmed the orders, and part of the menus disappeared from the table since four circr holes opened on its surface. Four drinks came out of them, and Lieutenant Abaze quickly distributed them.


    Khan''s drink turned out to be strong booze. It was terrific, even if it burnt his throat. He could taste multiple intense vors with a single sip, and the cozy warmth that spread through his chest brought his mind back to the happy moments on Nitis.


    The Captain also seemed to relive happy moments while he drank. Khan noticed that detail, but he didn''t know whether the booze was to praise for those effects.


    Lieutenant Abaze and Amber''s faces gained a slight redness when they drank their tea. Both of them licked their lips after every sip, and their eyes rarely left their cups.


    The table went silent, but no one found the situation awkward. The four professors enjoyed their drinks without ruining the moment with useless talks.


    "I guess it''s time to go," Lieutenant Abaze said when she noticed that everyone had finished drinking.


    Captain Goldmon had paid while confirming the order, so he didn''t hesitate to stand up. Khan and Amber imitated him, and the four soon returned inside the underground hall.


    "Khan, how was it?" Captain Goldmon asked while the group moved among the crowd.


    "Really good," Khan honestly admitted.


    "It''s said that only those who have experienced true hardship can appreciate that brand," Captain Goldmon exined.


    "I never thought that the humans could create such things," Khan whispered while focusing on the path ahead.


    The group reached a set of staircases and climbed them to arrive on the surface. The scene that unfolded in their vision ended up leaving Khan stunned again. There was so much to inspect that he ended up turning whenever something imed his attention.


    Skyscrapers made of ck and grey metal pirs divided byrge windows grew at the sides of immense streets. Vast sidewalks filled with people bordered those huge buildings, and vehicles shot left and right in an orderly manner.


    Khan immediately noticed the stark absence of wheels. All the cars floated right above the smooth and clean streets tainted only by the azure tubes that created a glowing spiderweb linked to the buildings. The streemps and sparse signboards also had connections with those small channels that carried synthetic mana.


    Still, the vehicles flying among the tall buildings remained the most surprising aspect of the scene. They weren''t fast, but they managed to ignore the crowded environment on the ground by moving in the sky.


    Khan remained captivated by the many flying vehicles. He even followed them with his eyes, and a few ended up entering some buildings through windows that opened remotely or proper tforms that came out from the metal pirs.


    "They are also extremely expensive," Amber exined when she noticed Khan''s interest in the flying vehicles. "You also need a special driving license for them, which isn''t cheap."


    "What about proper spaceships?" Khan asked.


    "They are even more expensive," Amber revealed.


    "But the Global Army can provide the training and driving license for them," Lieutenant Abaze added. "Are you interested in bing a pilot?"


    "I just miss flying," Khan admitted. "I guess it''s not the same without the wind blowing on your face."


    "Nothing beats flying through space with a spaceship," Captain Goldmon dered while tapping his cane on the floor. "The teleports have tried to turn that type of travel obsolete, but many still like theplete freedom found among the ckness above. Also, pilots are necessary to find new valuables and intelligent lifeforms."


    "So, should I try to get a spaceship?" Khan asked while continuing to inspect the many vehicles flying above his head.


    "It depends on the type of ambassador you want to be," Captain Goldmon scoffed. "Do you want to manage the rtionships that the Global Army has already established, or do you prefer to look for other species while exploring the immense but dark universe?"


    ****


    Author''s notes: I caught a cold on the 23rd, which turned out to be covid. I''m fine, but my holidays are pretty much over since I need to wait to get cleared. I''ll go back to the normal schedule since I''m at it.. There will be a second chapter in a few hours (hopefully 3-4).

 Chapter 295 - Negotiation

    The conversation ended there. Captain Goldmon stopped being in the mood to voice wise words, and Khan lost himself in the spectacr scenes that appeared in his view. As for the answer to the soldier''s question, Khan didn''t need to think about it. He had to find the Nak, which most likely involved exploring the depths of the universe.


    Amber noticed something deeper in Khan''s lost expression, but she wrongly addressed it to his marvel. Khan was utterly astonished by the majestic sight, but his real stupor came from his senses.


    Everything from the smallest banner to thergest building used synthetic mana. The symphony that Reebfell yed felt messier than any battlefield Khan had seen. Even the vehicles relied on that energy to move, which only increased the number of waves that Khan perceived.


    Khan grew used to that chaos in a few minutes. He had initiallypared Reebfell to a battlefield in his mind, but those thoughts soon disappeared. The mechanical nature of the buildings,mplights, banners, and vehicles prevented the environment from getting an authentic messy atmosphere. Everything eventually became predictable and oddlyme.


    Khan didn''t im to understand how the technology around him worked. He even knew that the current spectacle had required the efforts of multiple experts and various studies. Still, that use of the mana felt limiting.


    The reason behind that sensation was hard to find. The fusion between technology and synthetic mana gave birth to an unnatural environment that didn''t fully express the nature of that incredible energy. Of course, those ideas and sensations existed only in Khan''s mind, and it seemed that no one else was noticing that strangeness.


    ''Maybe I feel like this because I have seen how mana behaves when it''s free,'' Khan wondered.


    No one around Khan could solve his doubts. Liiza might have a few ideas, while Zalpa could probably give a grumpy exnation, but he had to remain in the dark for now.


    The group walked for a while, with Captain Goldmon leading everyone through the crowded streets. Cars whooshed above them and on their left, but no one paid attention to them. Even Khan soon epted them as the norm in that environment.


    Khan had browsed the menus in the previous shop while he remained immersed in his drink, but he didn''t understand what was worth pursuing. He didn''t even care about most of that stuff. His life in the Slums had made him lose interest in every item that could improve his time inside the camp. He could only consider knives, training programs, and techniques, but none of the offers suited him.


    Truth be told, Khan''s set of techniques was more than enough at his current level. He had two powerful martial arts, three spells, a defensive skill, a method that enhanced his training speed, and two more valuable abilities. Adding something else was pointless, especially since he still had to learn everything he owned.


    Generally speaking, his training should focus on perfecting his martial arts by increasing his proficiency level. Khan also had to achieve mastery of his spells and techniques, and the same went for the skills obtained on Nitis.


    Khan even had to deepen his understanding of the chaos element. His experience on Nitis had given him ideas on how to use his mana through the Niqols'' arts, but he needed training for that.


    His equipment and the techniques that didn''t have any elemental requirements were the only aspects that could benefit from the trip to Reebfell. However, the offers didn''t feature any knife or special abilities, but that turned out to be normal, ording to Amber.


    "Only specific shops can sell those goods since they need the authorization from the Global Army," Amber exined when Khan questioned her about the matter. "You must understand that no one here thinks about wars or battles."


    Khan nodded, even if he struggled to think like a citizen of a big city. His time inside the Global Army had consisted of battles and tragedies. Instead, his life in the Slums had mostly been about keeping his stomach full. The sole idea that someone could be interested in different phone models, cleaning robots, cars, or clothes was impossible to understand for his current mindset.


    "Don''t worry," Amber giggled when she saw Khan''s confusion. "It''s still early. I''m sure we''ll visit those shops."


    "Does the Global Army need to authorize everything connected to wars and battles?" Khan asked as his group continued to march through the streets.


    "Yes, well, there are exceptions," Amber revealed.


    "The Global Army is Earth," Lieutenant Abaze jumped into the conversation. "Everything you see exists because the Global Army wants it to exist. Yet, some powers linger slightly outside its influence."


    "The noble families," Khan responded.


    "The families in general," Lieutenant Abaze corrected. "The Global Army is Earth, but the many families make the Global Army. It''s only normal for them to have grey orpletely ck areas that normal citizens can''t touch."


    "What do you mean by normal citizens?" Khan asked.


    "Everyone living in the Slums or weak soldiers without backing," Lieutenant Abaze exined. "My family is quite wealthy, so I can have ess to goods and events that you''ll never see on the menus around here. Professor Teldom is the same, while the Captain is a few steps above us."


    "She forgot to say that I''m the reason behind my privileges," Captain Coldmon snorted. "I didn''t always have a family ready to wipe my a-."


    "Captain," Lieutenant Abaze interrupted.


    "What? They have both heard far worse," Captain Goldmonined.


    "It''s still rude," Lieutenant Abaze stated, and the Captain sneered before giving up on the matter.


    ''I guess I''m a normal citizen,'' Khan thought, ''Which means that I can''t gain ess to the really good stuff until I build significant connections or umte many achievements.''


    His thoughts went on Rick, Captain yman, Colonel Norrett, Luke, and George. Khan had met important figures in his life, and he had even established good connections with some of them. In theory, he also had favors to call in. Yet, they would have little to no value right now since his position inside the Global Army was rtively poor.


    Some of his connections also had to mature, especially when it came to Rick. Potentially, he could be his greatest trump card, but everything depended on whether he could achieve something inside the Rassec family.


    Casual lines flew among the group. Amber and Lieutenant Abaze had realized how poorly Khan understood the human culture, so they described a few peculiar shops or scenes that they found on their path.


    The train had stopped in amercial area that featured almost every type of shop. Khan could see an immense variety of items for sale. The goods could go from simple toys to entric tools. He smiled slightly at the sight of small flying puppets, but he frowned when he noticed glowing make-ups or dyes that changed color every few seconds.


    A lot of those items expressed the incredible fields that human technology had reached, but others highlighted its excesses. Khan could probably ept everything with his broad mindset, but some ornaments, clothes, or even shy essories on the vehicles felt utterly useless and ufortable. He couldn''t understand how someone would ever think to spend money over them.


    The strangest aspect of those entric items came from their poprity. Almost half of the people that Khan saw made him frown in confusion. The situation had reached the point when he had to concentrate on wearing his perfect poker face to avoid iming unwanted attention.


    Lieutenant Abaze left the group during the march, and Amber followed her. The former had to purchase materials for her subject, but she still wanted to visit girly shops, and Amber couldn''t refuse her request to apany her.


    Khan remained alone with Captain Goldmon, who spoke rarely. The soldier only exined that they didn''t take a taxi to show him the area. Khan had no idea what that was, but he used thework to solve his doubts instead of asking other questions.


    The shops with the Tainted animals usually stood at the edges of themercial district due to the awful scents that those creatures could release. The technology in the city easily took care of those odors, but Captain Goldmon exined how thatyout had be a tradition by then.


    Khan didn''t need the Captain''s warning or a banner to understand when the destination was nearby. It wasn''t hard for him to sense big lifeforms with a significant amount of mana among those predictable waves of energy. His eyes soon fell on a series of huge buildings that had vast entrances and banners that depicted dogs, bears, or other animals.


    "All this side of the district is rted to the Tainted animals," Captain Goldmon exined. "The first shops have the most famous brands, which are also more expensive."


    "Amber has said something about a possible refund from the Global Army," Khan stated. "Captain, how much do you think it will cover?"


    "A few thousand Credits, but only because it''s you," Captain Goldmon eximed.


    "Are they enough to purchase a Tainted animal?" Khan continued.


    "Tainted animals are simple to create," Captain Goldmon revealed. "You take a normal beast and force it to mutate. It takes little to no mana toplete the procedure, so they can be very cheap. Still, I think you are here for creatures worth more than a thousand Credits."


    "Which means that I''ll have to spend some of my finances," Khan continued.


    Khan had started to understand how expensive life in the city could be. He had read every price and offer during the walk. His thirty-two thousand Credits could vanish incredibly quickly.


    Moreover, there was an issue that had started to bother Khan. Amber''s responsible warnings had been on point, but Khan didn''t care about houses for now. Still, he minded his ability to purchase superior techniques, training methods, and spells, which could obviously be expensive.


    Saving was the best option. His double ie as a professor and lieutenant would give him one thousand and five hundred Credits every month, so his finances could increase rapidly. However, he cared about his role.


    "We can go directly to the cheap shops if you-," Captain Goldmon announced while wearing a curious smile.


    "No, bring me to the shops that might have suitable creatures," Khan interrupted. "You know the area and the level of the recruits better than me, so I''ll rely on your expertise."


    Captain Goldmon inspected Khan for an instant before nodding in satisfaction. The more the soldier looked at Khan, the more he believed that he would be a good professor.


    The Captain and Khan walked deeper into the areas with shops rted to Tainted animals until the former stopped in front of arge building with "Beasts'' King" written on its vast banner. That part of the city was less crowded, so Khan could inspect the whole structure from side to side before pushing open its tall doors.


    The entrance felt too light for its size, but Khan didn''t question the nature of its materials. His attention quickly went on the many huge cages that upied both sides of the building. They were mostly made of a dark alloy, but their fronts had barriers simr to those in Ecoruta''s underground structure.


    Each cage had peculiar specimens. Khan saw multiple odd Tainted animals as he walked through the clean path among the cells with the Captain. Dogs with scarlet eyes and metallic ws, hyenas with hard spiked fur, strange bears that stood on two legs, snakes with barrels instead of fangs, and much more filled the building.


    ''They are too weak,'' Khan thought as he walked past the cages.


    It didn''t take much for an animal to be "Tainted". As Captain Goldmon had said, the mana simply had to trigger mutations, but they didn''t necessarily need to bring physical improvements. Most of the creatures in the cages had barely earned their infamousbel. Even normal humans would have a high chance to defeat them.


    The building was devoid of customers, so the duo''s presence didn''t go unnoticed. A middle-aged waiter with an unkempt beard and messy dark hair left a desk in the middle of the floor to approach Khan and Captain Goldmon.


    "Sirs, sirs!" The waiter called while rubbing his hands. "Please,e this way. How can I help you?"


    Khan couldn''t help but notice how the waiter was wearing simple clothes. His yellow T-shirt and trousers featured a few dark spots and a couple of holes, and the same went for the brown apron above them. His figure contained mana, but Khan barely put him above the checkpoint for first-level warriors.


    "We are looking for Tainted animals suitable for recruits in the second semester," Captain Goldmon eximed without ncing at the waiter a single time.


    "You are in the right ce!" The waiter almost shouted. "Here at the Beasts'' King we have a great assortment of Tainted animals for that specific category. Most of our creatures have developed physical enhancement, and we have also decided to add bionic improvements to others to add some deadliness."


    "The beasts here are too weak," Khan said while ncing at the bottom of the hall. "Even those there won''t do."


    "How would you know without looking at them?" The waiter asked as a tinge of displeasure appeared on his face.


    "Because he said so," Captain Goldmon snorted while finallyying his eyes on the waiter. "Well, do you have something worthy of our time?"


    The waiter didn''t like Khan''s apparentck of respect due to his young age, but his expression returned extremely polite in front of the Captain. The man nodded a few times and rubbed his hands with more intensity before answering. "Of course. Do you mind following me to the second floor? The beasts there will surely meet your requirements."


    Khan had the instinct to frown, but his face didn''t reveal his confusion. He couldn''t sense anythinging from above, but he followed the waiter with the Captain anyway.


    One of the cages turned out to hold an elevator that the three didn''t hesitate to take. Khan''s eyes widened in surprise as soon as the metal doors slid open and the second floor unfolded in his vision. A series of new presences had appeared in his senses even if they had been impossible to perceive before.


    "Does the floor iste the mana?" Khan asked while tapping his foot on the dark surface.


    "Yes, the presence of stronger Tainted animals usually makes the weaker ones restless," The waiter exined before voicing a doubt. "How did you know?"


    "He knows because he knows," Captain Goldmon scoffed as his cane tapped the floor.


    Khan showed a fake smile to the waiter before resuming his inspection. The second floor was basically identical to the first, but the animals inside the cages were clearly stronger. Still, they also felt too weak for his subject.


    "Don''t you have something close to first-level warriors?" Khan asked after going through most cages.


    "We do have Tainted animals at that level," The waiter revealed. "However, many have developed abilities due to the mutations, and a few have even gone through bionic enhancements. I don''t think they are safe for recruits."


    "Do you have anything in-between?" Khan questioned while pointing at the cages. "These beasts are too weak. They''d die in a few lessons."


    The waiter stopped rubbing his hands to scratch his chin. He appeared conflicted about the matter, but he eventually came up with an option. "We have a few failed experiments like that, but they have no safe words or training. Their aggression is even off the charts. I don''t want our shop to create problems for the training camp."


    It was obvious that Khan and Captain Goldmon were working. They were some of the few people wearing military uniforms, so the waiter had immediately connected them to Reebfell''s training camp.


    "Safe words?" Khan asked.


    "We teach each Tainted animal to faint through abination of words," The waiter exined before turning toward a cage that contained a giant pig with a metallic skull outside its head. "Fly through the sky!"


    The pig''s azure eyes widened at those words, and its legs immediately went limp. The creature fell on its sides, and Khan could quickly confirm that it had fainted. Of course, the scene surprised him to no end.


    "How did you even teach that to Tainted animals?" Khan couldn''t hold back from asking.


    "Our shop has one of the best taming progr-," The waiter proudly announced, but the Captain interrupted him by clearing his throat.


    "Right," Khan said while suppressing his enthusiasm. "Show me these failed experiments."


    The waiter didn''t appear convinced about the matter, but he still led Khan and the Captain back to the elevator. The machine reached the fifth floor, which turned out to be slightly darker than the others. There were even fewer cages, and the area was generally a bit dirtier.


    Khan didn''t care about the illumination of the cleanliness. His attention immediately went on the cages, and his eyes also lit up when he sensed the power of the creatures inside them. One of them even imed the entirety of his attention and made him move without waiting for the man.


    The front of a vast cage eventually unfolded in Khan''s view, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face when he saw the massive ape inside it. The creature had no fur, and four bionic red eyes shone on its head. The beast was almost three meters tall, and its arms seemed bulging columns.


    The ape was sleeping, but it woke up when it heard Khan stopping in front of its cage. The beast didn''t like that event, and it immediately jumped on its feet to leap forward.


    The Tainted animal mmed on the barrier that locked the cage, but the event didn''t put an end to its offensive. It attacked a few more times before chattering in anger.


    "This one is definitely a waste," The waiter exined after reaching Khan with Captain Goldmon. "Its skin is incredibly tough, and the muscles under it are even scarier. It can endure the attacks of a first-level warrior for a few minutes, and its physical strength is far above average. However, the scientists up there have messed up during its growth. It''s too violent, which makes it impossible to tame."


    "How much for it?" Khan asked.


    "I can''t sell this one," The waiter immediately refused. "With all due respect, I don''t want the Global Army to close the shop because one of our animals has killed a recruit."


    "He asked for a price," Captain Goldmon snorted.


    "I''m sorry, sir," The waiter continued. "I really don''t want to disrespect you, but this creature can hold its ground against first-level warriors. Normal recruits will get badly injured or worse if they aren''t careful."


    "We still want to purchase it," Captain Goldmon dered. "Name a price."


    The waiter could only give up on making the two change their minds. He ced a hand under his chin again before naming a number. "Eight thousand Credits."


    Khan expected the price to be high, but not so high. Still, his face didn''t reveal anything. He even managed to bargain. "You said that this one isn''t for sale. Lower the price since you have no uses for it."


    "We can still feed it to other Tainted animals," The waiter calmly exined. "It''s a normal practice to save mana."


    The Captain nced at Khan. He waited a bit to see whether Khan coulde up with other ideas to lower the price, but it was clear that he had nothing else.


    Khan felt the need to refuse that price. Eight thousand Credits was simply too much, but Captain Goldmon spoke when he was about to say something. "Do you like having a training camp here?"


    "Of course, sir," The waiter replied as a confident smile appeared on his face. "Business and Reebfell as a whole thrive with so many recruits around."


    "Do you know why the camp managed to reopen so soon?" Captain Goldmon continued. "Do you know anything about Istrone?"


    "Istrone was a tragedy," The waiter responded as his smile disappeared. "Still, I don''t see how that''s connected to this negotiation."


    "He is the connection," Captain Goldmon dered while pointing his cane toward Khan. "He is the reason Reebfell even had survivors in the first ce."


    The waiter inspected Khan in confusion for a few seconds, but his eyes soon widened. His mouth opened, and he stuttered a couple of times before managing to voice aplete question. "Wait, are you Khan?"


    Khan had vaguely understood what the Captain was doing, so he didn''t hesitate to y along. His face turned cold as he corrected the waiter.. "Lieutenant Khan."

 Chapter 296 - Shopping

    The waiter remained speechless for a few seconds. Istrone''s rebellion had been a sudden and tragic event that had affected the entirety of Earth. The Global Army as a whole had suffered a huge blow, and the effects of the matter had spread past the various families that had lost descendants.


    Almost every business in the big cities had seen a decrease in their yearly ies. Only the shops that sold defensive gear or simr items had experienced a boom, but that had also quieted down quickly since the Global Army had taken everything into its own hands.


    The event had created such heavy consequences that basically everyone had done their best to know more about Istrone''s rebellion. Khan''s name had appeared in many reports, so many had learnt about him. Some interested parties had even started to follow his profile to keep track of his growth.


    The waiter wasn''t an interested party, but he knew about Khan and learning about his early promotion only deepened his astonishment. Yet, he quickly proved himself worthy of being part of one of Reebfell''s shops.


    "Congrattions!" The waiter eximed while recing his surprise with a broad smile that faked pure happiness. "No promotion has ever been more deserved! I''m sure you''ll reach even higher ranks."


    The sudden change in the waiter''s approach almost startled Khan, but he didn''t let anything appear on his face. His expression remained cold, and the same went for his steady gaze on the man''s figure.


    "My apologies," The waiter cleared his throat while adding an ashamed tone to his voice. "I have failed to recognize Istrone''s hero. It has never been my intention to offend you."


    "What about the price?" Khan asked without showing any reaction to those polite excuses.


    "I''ll obviously lower it," The waiter proudly announced. "I''ll even add a special discount to apologize for my behavior. Will four thousand Credits work for you?"


    Khan used the entirety of his knowledge in lies and pretenses to perform a slightly displeased pout while he turned his gaze on the Tainted ape. He faked hesitation, but he didn''t make it too evident. The waiter had to think that he could look through Khan.


    "I can go as down as three thousand and eight hundred Credits," The waiter continued after the heavy silence got the best of him. "I''m afraid I can''t lower the price any further. The shop would lose money otherwise."


    Khan was ready to ept, but he decided to let the silence fall among them again. The chattering and screaming of the Tainted ape only added tension to that situation, but Khan''s intentions went beyond the simple attempts to lower the price even further.


    The waiter had clearly underestimated Khan, which was a weakness that thetter wanted to remain. Khan pretended to nce at Captain Goldmon to look for his opinion, and the soldier yed along by performing a slight nod.


    "We''ll buy it," Khan stated while taking out his phone. "The shop will handle the transport to the training camp, right?"


    "Of course, of course," The waiter happily responded. "Customers usually have to pay extra for that service, but that obviously doesn''t apply to you."


    "Excellent," Khan voiced without showing any happiness. "We can handle the payment then."


    Khan had no idea how the payment worked, but he pretended to bepletely confident in the matter. The waiter didn''t notice anything, and he quickly led the two back to his interactive desk on the first floor.


    "Do you want to subscribe to the shop?" The waiter asked after he prepared the desk for the payment. "We''ll keep you updated on every offer and new product, and you''ll even receive a special permanent discount."


    "Maybe next time," Khan immediately refused as his eyes scanned the menus on the desk. Luckily for him, the various figures andbels were extremely clear. He only needed to ce his phone on a specific spot and confirm the payment.


    Khan''s funds went under thirty thousand Credits, but he didn''t feel anything about that loss. That currency was too ethereal in his mind. He couldn''t sense any attachment toward that money.


    The waiter voiced a few polite and excited goodbyes that Khan and Captain Goldmon dismissed as they left the building. Their pretense continued even after they began to walk back to the central areas of themercial district, but Khan eventually decided to speak honestly.


    "Thank you for your help, Captain," Khan said while adding a nod to his line.


    "Why did you look at me after he lowered the price?" Captain Goldmon asked. "You had the chance to improve your image in his mind."


    Khan remained slightly startled in front of the question, but he decided to exin his reasons. "I didn''t need to show off. The waiter might let something slip if I ever happen to go there alone the next time."


    "You nted a weakness," Captain Goldmon chuckled. "Not bad."


    "I''ll only be able to use it once," Khan added. "I might not manage to pull something simr off in the future either. I didn''t expect to be so famous even outside the training camps."


    "Istrone''s rebellion has been on everyone''s mouth for many months," Captain Goldmon revealed. "The Global Army lost a lot, so Earth as a whole suffered."


    Khan could only nod and let his eyes wander among the crowd as Istrone''s memories appeared in his vision. He still remembered the Kred, his first kill, the blood, and the cries. Still, those scenes couldn''t affect his mood deeply anymore.


    "You shouldn''t give others the chance to help you so easily," The Captain dered, forcing Khan to snap back to reality. "I''m too old to care about that stuff, but many won''t hesitate to use those asions to earn favors."


    "I understand," Khan honestly stated. "Thank you again, Captain."


    Captain Goldmon snorted and let the topic die before voicing another question. "Do you have something else to buy?"


    "I don''t want to impose, sir," Khan quickly replied. "I''m sure I''ll be fine on my own."


    "I don''t want you to get lost before your first lesson," Captain Goldmon sneered. "Besides, you don''t know Lieutenant Abaze. We have many hours to kill."


    "Wouldn''t you prefer to spend that time drinking somewhere?" Khan politely questioned.


    "Shut up and ept my help," The Captain ordered while loudly tapping his cane on the ground.


    "Yes, sir!" Khan eximed as a faint smile appeared on his face. "I''d like to purchase books and techniques connected to my path. I''d also want to use your presence to avoid getting ripped off."


    Captain Goldmonughed at that shameless announcement, but he nodded and began to elerate. The soldier quickly led Khan toward another area of themercial district, and the crowd''s general level revealed the different purposes of the shops there.


    Khan didn''t fail to notice how most of the people in the area were stronger than him. Those who had yet to be first-level warriors had strongpanions acting as guards or escorts. Almost all of them also wore serious and experienced expressions. It was clear that the shops there attracted citizens who had battle and war-rted interests.


    Everyone seemed to know each other. Khan often saw polite greetings or loud salutations. Reebfell was showing him its political array, but he couldn''t affect it for now. Those faces belonged to strangers he couldn''t approach without a valid reason.


    No one bothered to look at Khan. Captain Goldmon''s stars imed the gazes from some guards and experienced soldiers, but everyone soon went on their own way.


    Khan and Captain Goldmon could visit multiple shops without encountering any hindrance, and the crowds inside them prevented the various waiters from being expansive. Every interaction was short, direct, and often disappointing.


    ''How can a defensive technique weaker than the [Blood Shield] cost ten thousand Credits?!'' Khanined in his mind after leaving another shop. ''And what''s this fixation with sex-rted abilities? Why does every shop have them?''


    Khan''sints were a bit out of ce. Every shop had a vast assortment of techniques, and many of them were interesting. However, their price was exorbitant, and that wasn''t even the greatest problem. He already had better abilities in almost every field.


    Khan wanted to obtain new abilities, but he felt forced to postpone the matter for when his level increased. He had already guessed that his state was pretty good, but he had hoped that Reebfell could prove him wrong. Still, the situation turned out to match his initial evaluation.


    Everything changed when Captain Goldmon led Khan toward shops specialized in training programs. Everything was cheaper there since the human approach to mana was rather mechanical. Most soldiers didn''t care about improving their general control over their energy since they could directly focus on mastering specific techniques. Yet, that didn''t apply to Khan.


    "You could have found weaker versions of those training programs on thework," Captain Goldmon stated after he and Khan left a shop. "You didn''t need to spend almost two thousand Credits only to get the best ones for your level."


    Khan almost failed to hear the Captain since his eyes remained fixed on his phone. Two newbels had appeared in the special menu that listed his arts and training programs, and he couldn''t wait to try them.


    ''The "advanced perception" should bring my senses to the next level,'' Khan excitedly thought, but the light in his eyes intensified when he read the secondbel. ''Instead, "advanced control" might finally solve my problem with the [Blood Vortex].''


    The shop didn''t have anything directly rted to the maniption of mana. The humans simply didn''t use that approach, so Khan had to settle for something more general. Still, he felt pretty satisfied with his purchases. He believed that the two training programs would streamline his regr schedule.


    "Are the Niqols'' methods so good?" The Captain asked when he saw that Khan wasn''t giving any answer.


    Khan couldn''t help but stop looking at his phone. The question had taken him by surprise, and his body almost reacted on his own when he heard something rted to Nitis. Yet, the Captain''s calm expression showed nothing but interest, so Khan decided to answer honestly.


    "They are different," Khan exined. "They are definitely good, but I wouldn''t ce them above the human approach. I admit that the Niqols'' methods might be too difficult for most soldiers."


    "I see," Captain Goldmon voiced. "Did you manage to control the chaos element so quickly due to the Niqols'' approach to mana?"


    "I won''t answer that, sir," Khan responded.


    "Good boy!" Captain Goldmonughed before leading Khan toward his final destination.


    Khan had already obtained a good book about the most famous alien species, but he decided to purchase better ones. He also bought a few teaching programs to learn differentnguages, and he subscribed to a service that offered daily updates on the political environment in the universe.


    After that, Khan and the Captain left the area to enjoy another drink and wait for theirpanions.

 Chapter 297 - Fun

    Captain Goldmon knew Lieutenant Abaze well, especially when it came to her habit of spending entire hours shopping. She even stopped replying to the Captain''s messages at some point, so he and Khan ended up spending a long time in the bar that they had picked as their gathering point.


    Khan had learnt to know the Captain a bit during their time together. The soldier was often rude and grumpy, but he was never mean. Also, he was good toward his underlings, and he never failed to teach lessons when the situation required it.


    Captain Goldmon was a man of few words. He wasn''t the type of person who would start conversations to kill time, and Khan appreciated the silence between them. The soldier even bought new rounds of drinks whenever they emptied their cups, making hispany even easier to enjoy for Khan.


    The drinks were expensive, but their high quality justified their price. Khan and the Captain enjoyed their good booze in silence as memories resurfaced in their minds. They both had experienced events capable of making their gazes wander for a long time, and neither of them tried to probe the other.


    Some things couldn''t be said. Some things had to remain in the minds that had experienced them, and both Khan and Captain Goldmon silently agreed on that part. They let the booze get to their heads as they ordered one drink after another.


    Khan had no intention of getting drunk, but the situation turned out to be so favorable that he stopped controlling himself. Captain Goldmon was goodpany. He appeared as an old soldier who had chosen to ignore the political environment and possible promotions to be a simple man, and Khan could only appreciate him.


    Khan initially tried to ignore his phone out of respect for the Captain, but his hesitation slowly dispersed as his trust in him grew. The two didn''t need words to grow closer, so Khan soon decided to keep himself busy among his drinks and memories.


    Khan had spent a lot during that short morning, but his purchases felt worth it. He reviewed his two training programs without activating any hologram, and their exercises sounded interesting. He also started skimming through his new books with the "enhanced reading", but he soon had to stop relying on the technique since the booze was making him fail to perform it too often.


    Captain Goldmon didn''t say anything about food, and Khan also ignored the matter as he continued to drink. At times, Khan even tried to toast with the soldier and stare at his eyes, but theck of reactions from thetter reminded him that he wasn''t on Nitis anymore.


    "You handle your drinks well," Captain Goldmonmented from time to time, probably forgetting that he had already voiced the same lines in the past minutes and hours.


    Khan limited himself to wear a fake smile at everyment, and the Captain never failed to follow with a snort. It was clear that the soldier didn''t like that dishonest behavior, but Khan couldn''t trust him right away. He had partially lowered his barriers only because the Captain seemed to have no interest in ying political games with him.


    The morning turned into afternoon, and the sun eventually began to set. Khan tried to slow down on his drinking when he was about to approach his limits, but the Captain began to order new booze for both of them whenever he emptied his cup.


    At first, Khan tried to keep up with the Captain''s drinking speed, but his body couldn''t match the resilience of a third-level warrior. He had to voice his desire to stop when the situation became truly risky, and the Captain epted his request with one of his usual snorts.


    Lieutenant Abaze and Amber reached the shop one hour after Khan stopped drinking. Their faces revealed how fulfilled they both felt, but their expressions changed as soon as theyid their eyes on Khan and Captain Goldmon.


    Khan wasn''t too off. His head spun during the spikes of dizziness, and redness had taken control of his cheeks. His breath wasn''t great either, but he could prevent himself from mumbling. He also retained a good understanding of his situation, and the break from drinking had started to do wonders.


    Instead, Captain Goldmon was far worse. He was a third-level warrior, but he had drunk an uncountable number of cups after Khan had taken his break, and his face showed each one of them. His eyes were half-closed and red, his head went up and down, and vague mumbled words left his mouth from time to time.


    "I knew I shouldn''t have left you alone for too long," Lieutenant Abazemented.


    "You should contain your shopping drive then," Captain Goldmon responded in a surprisingly clear tone.


    ''Is he drunk or not?'' Khan wondered while showing his surprise.


    His doubts only increased when he saw the Captain abruptly straightening his head after he threatened to fall on the table. Khan didn''t know how to judge his state, but Lieutenant Abaze soon took the matter into her own hands.


    "I think it''s better to go," Lieutenant Abaze announced while approaching the Captain''s seat and tapping his shoulder. "Captain, we had to take the train."


    "I know," The Captain scoffed in a clear tone. He picked his cane to force himself to stand up, and Lieutenant Abaze wrapped her arm around his right elbow to support him.


    Khan stood up slowly to avoid falling prey to his dizziness. The world in his vision tried to spin, but he stayed still for a few seconds to find his bnce. He was fine, but he couldn''t stop thinking about the food cans in his fridge back in the training camp.


    "How are you feeling?" Amber whispered when Lieutenant Abaze began to lead the Captain toward the underground hall.


    "I''m fine," Khan chuckled. "I''m not stupid around booze."


    "I know that from your profile," Amber teased.


    "You have no idea how troublesome that is," Khan joked. "Every superior I meet tries to offer me a drink or two. I mean, I don''t mind it, but I''m not a drunkard."


    "Didn''t you just spend most of the afternoon drinking with your superior?" Amber asked as a giggle escaped her mouth.


    "We covered the shopping part first," Khan proudly revealed.


    "Did you find a suitable Tainted animal in the end?" Amber asked.


    "I did," Khan stated. "Yet, I''m still unclear about the teaching part. Everyone in the camp seems to love you. Do you have any advice, Professor Teldom?"


    "Stop it," Amberughed. "I don''t have any secret. Besides, our subjects are quite personal, so we all have different teaching methods. I treat the recruits honestly. I think that gave me a decent following and a good image."


    ''Is she unaware of her general sweet aura?'' Khan wondered, but his state prevented him from realizing that he had started to stare at Amber''s face.


    "What is it?" Amber diverted her gaze shyly.


    "Oh, sorry," Khan quickly eximed. "I was thinking about the other reasons behind your poprity."


    Amber frowned, but she blushed when she connected the previous stare to thest line. She tried to nce at Khan, but he had already moved his attention on the street.


    "Are you always this direct when you drink?" Amber questioned.


    "I''m always direct," Khan dered before a sigh escaped his mouth. "I have just developed bad habits in the Slums."


    "Like?" Amber continued.


    "The soldiers don''t care about the squabbles there," Khan exined. "Everyone is on their own, and many areas can be dangerous. There are rules, but they only work when you get caught. You end up learning to lie and hide your character since you can''t trust anyone."


    "Did I gain your trust then?" Amber asked while wearing a sweet smile.


    "Not at all," Khanughed before nodding at her when he noticed her surprise. "I''ve only understood that you are a good person."


    Amber wasn''t used to such directpliments, especially from Khan. Still, she felt at ease, and another question inevitably escaped her mouth. "Are you really seventeen? Where did you even get your confidence?"


    "Don''t fall for me already," Khan smirked before ncing at a random point in the distance.


    "I-, I didn''t mean that!" Amberined, but Khan onlyughed.


    His reaction made Amberin even harder until she started pulling his arm and triggering more teasing words. She let him go and pouted, but she eventually started to smile.


    Casual conversations and a few jokes flew between Khan and Amber until the group reached the underground hall. The four didn''t waste time and entered the tform where they could call the train, and everything fell silent once they took their seats inside the vehicle.


    Captain Goldmon fell asleep as soon as he sat, while the others killed time through their phones and the holograms generated by their seats. Khan could review his day. He had spent quite a bit, but his gains felt worth it.


    A few messages reached his phone during the trip back to the training camp. An unnamed soldier contacted him through an ountbeled "Global Army" to talk about the Tainted ape that had arrived. Khan had to look at his schedule to give proper indications, and the conversation ended soon after.


    Khan would have to host his first lesson tomorrow, and his schedule was already on thework. His subject wasn''t mandatory, and Headmaster Pitcus had ced it in thete afternoon, but he believed that many recruits woulde due to his fame. Still, keeping them there would be up to him.


    When the train stopped, Captain Goldmon left his seat and started to depart on his own. He voiced short goodbyes and climbed the stairs back to the parking area. Lieutenant Abaze''s salutations were more polite, but they were also short since she couldn''t wait to check everything she had bought in Reebfell.


    Khan was hungry, but Amber wasn''t in a hurry to get back to her habitation, and he needed her help for a small issue. It was only slightly past dinnertime, so the two returned to the surface slowly as they chitchatted and exchanged jokes.


    "How did you even survive for so long without knowing such basic features?" Amberughed while pointing at abel on Khan''s device. "Press there, then open that window. Do you see thatbel? It will lead to a menu where you have to write why the Global Army should give you a refund."


    "Writing isn''t my strong point," Khan admitted while wearing a pleading expression and ncing at Amber.


    "I had already nned to help you with that," Amber revealed. "I believe the Global Army will cover the entire purchase. As for the expenses for the Tainted animal''s maintenance, I think they will depend on your performance during the lessons."


    "Right, that thing again," Khan sighed. "I think I know how I want to handle my lessons, but many recruits will probably run away after the first one."


    "Don''t sell yourself short," Amber praised. "You might not notice it, but you have a charming character when you stop pretending. Just be honest with your recruits, and everything will be fine."


    Khan sighed again, but he didn''t waste that chance to tease Amber. "Do you feel charmed already?"


    "Shut up," Amber chuckled while getting closer to Khan to help him write the request for a refund.


    The two walked slowly through the streets of the training camp as they joked and finished handling Khan''s matters. Both of them were having fun, and the emptiness of the area allowed them to put aside the eventual stoic pretenses that meeting recruits would require.


    "Done!" Khan eximed after sending his request. "Thank you, Amber."


    "You are good with words," Amber stated. "I''m sure you''ll get the hang of the formal writing quickly."


    The two had no reason to walk together now that Khan''s problems were over, but he didn''t hesitate to voice an offer. "Let me walk you back home to thank you for today."


    "Shall I remind you that I''m stronger than you?" Amber teased.


    "Do you want to walk me home then?" Khanughed, and Amber shook her head while a smile appeared on her face.


    "My building is in that direction," Amber said while pointing toward a street and turning toward it.


    Khan limited himself to smile and follow her, and the two soon started exchanging jokes again. A few casual topics also appeared, and Amber even described part of her lessons.


    Khan didn''t know why, but he was having a good time. Amber was easy to talk to, and the booze was doing its job, but Khan still felt surprised that he could go entire minutes without experiencing his constant desperation. It would typically take a fight to achieve that, and theck of romantic interest toward Amber only intensified his amazement.


    Amber was definitely beautiful, but Khan was enjoying having a friend with whom sharing a light-heartedugh and ordinary conversations. Amber was giving him a taste of normality, and he felt able to ept it after a few struggles.


    However, the rest of the world seemed unable to let Khan have that moment. He and Amber found a recruit sitting on a bench when they reached the central areas of the camp. Their first instinct was to fall silent for a bit, but Khan stopped his tracks when he recognized Cora.


    Cora stood up and nced at Khan before diverting her gaze. She waited in her spot and didn''t make a single step toward him.


    "Is she here for you?" Amber asked since Cora kept ncing at Khan.


    "It''splicated," Khan sighed.


    "Don''t tell me that you kept your date waiting to be with me," Amber eximed as a tinge of annoyance began to seep into her tone.


    "Do you think I''m that kind of man?" Khan asked while fixing his eyes on Amber.


    The direct question made regret appear in Amber''s mind. She didn''t want to doubt Khan, but her words might have offended him. She opened her mouth to apologize, but Khan spoke before her. "Hey, it''s fine."


    Khan sounded reassuring, and Amber could only try her best not to appear awkward. She wore her sweet smile and nced at Cora before teasing him. "You shouldn''t y with a woman''s heart. Go to her. I''ll ask you how it went tomorrow."


    "What about my heart?" Khan whispered.


    Amber didn''t expect those words, but Khan began to walk toward Cora before she could ask anything. He only voiced short goodbyes in which he implied that he would contact her tomorrow.


    "Why didn''t you send me a message?" Khan asked when he reached Cora. "I might have missed you if I didn''t pass through here."


    "I didn''t want to disturb you while you were working," Cora exined. "I would have gone back on my own before the curfew."


    "You don''t need to be so careful," Khan sighed.


    "You might have avoided me if I asked to meet through a message," Cora responded while lowering her gaze. She had to muster the entirety of her courage to say that.


    Her boldness surprised Khan, but he soon smiled and bent forward to make his eyes meet hers. Cora blushed, but she forced herself to look at him without diverting her gaze.


    "I won''t leave you hanging, okay?" Khan reassured. "Just, don''t wait in the middle of the camp on your own anymore. It hurts knowing that you are doing it in the hope of meeting me."


    "Do you promise?" Cora asked timidly.


    "Just like I promised not to forget about your kiss," Khanughed, and the entirety of Cora''s face turned red.


    "I-, why do you keep bringing that up?" Corained, but Khan didn''t answer, and the two soon started walking toward her dormitory.


    ****


    Author''s notes: For those wondering, there will be a second chapter.

 Chapter 298 - Crowd

    The walk with Cora was uneventful. Khan teased her a bit, and she stole a hug before reaching the entrance of her dormitory, but that was it. Khan could hurry back to his t afterward, and his rumbling stomach saved him from falling prey to his messy thoughts.


    Khan wolfed four cans of food before moving his focus on his purchases. He had already skimmed through them while he was with Captain Goldmon, but now he had the chance to test them.


    The "advanced perception" and "advanced control" were training programs featuring different exercises meant for their specific topic. They would work on two of the three fundamental aspects of the Niqols'' approach to mana but from the human''s perspective.


    The different approach had both negative and positive aspects. Humankind didn''t treat the mana like the Niqols. Their understanding and general consideration of that energy were rtively shallow, so the training programs wouldn''t reach the same depths that Khan had seen on Nitis.


    However, that shallow approach also involved a broadness that would allow Khan to gain benefits in more than those two fields. He had even confirmed that part when he was at the bar with the Captain.


    The "advanced perception" involved exercises that the Niqols put in the control field, and the "advanced control" did the same with the maniption of mana. In theory, Khan would work on the entirety of his foundation, which was exactly what he desired.


    It was far past ten pm by the time Khan finished eating. The next day would see him hosting his first lesson, but he would have the entire morning and most of the afternoon free. He had enough time to recover from every hellish schedule that he decided to pursue, and the training camp even offered him the chance to go truly all-out.


    ''I shouldn''t skip sleeping entirely tonight,'' Khan concluded after reviewing his opportunities. ''Yet, I can''t waste eight hours like that either.''


    Khan almost couldn''t help himself as he pressed on the first exercise of the "advanced perception" and began to perform it. The training made him imagine the edges of his senses as a sphere that he had to expand by sending tiny tendrils past those limits.


    The exercise was efficient, even if it didn''t reach the levels of [The Pure Trees]. His senses expanded extremely slowly, but they went past their limits, and that was more than what he was achieving without a proper training method.


    Khan didn''t remain stuck in the exercise for too long. He went to the next one after half an hour and found something that far different requirements and tasks. The training program asked him to focus on a singlerge spot at his senses'' edges and push it forward.


    Khan didn''t take long to grow used to the exercise, so he quickly moved to the next one. The training program wanted him to imagine a series of spikes pressing on his senses'' edges, but he mastered that part in no time too.


    The "advanced perception" suffered from an issue that Khan had predicted even before deciding to purchase it. The training program was the best he could find for soldiers at his level, but it used human standards to set its difficulty.


    The first exercises were too easy for Khan, which was the reason behind his skimming through them. He wanted to find the training that suited his level before putting the program inside his schedule.


    The following exercises were harder versions of the first three. Khan had to imagine more tendrils,rger spots, or denser spikes, but hepleted all of them after a few tries.


    The difficulties arrived when the training program asked Khan to fuse the three types of exercises. He had to imagine tendrils, spikes, andrge spots at the same time, and his many failures made him smile. He had finally found his starting point.


    Midnight had passed by then, but Khan didn''t hit the bed. He moved to the "advanced control" to repeat the process, but he felt disappointed to see that the initial exercises were even easier there.


    The matter made sense when Khan considered humankind''s approach to mana. Control over that energy was a skill that the humans didn''t need to nurture since it was easier to master a single technique or spell.


    Still, Khan wasn''t a normal human. He even felt that his attachment to his species had done nothing but waver during thest year. He wanted his general ability to control mana to be far above the average, and the same went for the maniption field.


    Luckily for Khan, some of thest exercises of the training program turned out to be pretty tough. Khan had to create intricate diagrams around him with his mana and make them rotate in the air. Their movements also had to change from time to time, and theirplexity affected the exercise''s oue.


    Khan even made it harder for himself. The exercises in the "advanced control" involved a bit of the maniption field since he had to condense the mana to increase its stability. However, he also decided to alter its nature while he made the diagrams rotate to make the training moreplete.


    It was deep into the night when Khan found the starting point for both training programs. He didn''t feel sleepy, but he forced himself to hit the bed. Still, he set the rm so that he would wake up by dawn.


    The nightmare didn''tst long, and Khan jumped out of bed as soon as the rm rang. He had a lot to do and try out, and he didn''t forget the lesson that would arriveter in the afternoon.


    To Khan''s surprise, his phone had three different messages. One came from Cora in the form of a simple "good morning", another from Amber teasing him about Cora, and thest from the Global Army, which confirmed the total refund for the purchase of the Tainted ape.


    Khan had learnt how things worked with Credits. He left his t and reached one of the consoles ced near the central area of the camp to withdraw the money from the refund. He saw his finances getting close to thirty thousand Credits again, but the event created no happiness or satisfaction in his mind. It only confirmed that the Global Army would support him fully for now.


    It was too early for the training camp to get crowded, but Khan met a few recruits willing to make the best out of their day. Those boys and girls performed military salutes whenever Khan crossed their paths, but he only nodded at them since most of his attention was on his phone.


    Cora wanted to meet for a few minutes while Amber kept probing aboutst night''s events. Khan couldn''t refuse the former after his promise, so the two met in the canteen and enjoyed a peaceful breakfast. As for Amber, Khan didn''t mind talking with her, but he never revealed too many details.


    Khan found it funny that his only two friends in the camp woke up as early as him, but the matter didn''t bother him. Amber only wanted to have augh, and Cora would die rather than be a hindrance for him. The conversation with Amber ended after a few messages, and Cora went on her way happily after the breakfast was over.


    ''Now,'' Khan eximed in his mind as he watched Cora disappearing in the distance.


    The phone quickly appeared in his hand, and his fingers tapped the screen until they reached the map of the camp. Khan didn''t hesitate to head for the training halls. He had every intention to spend most of his day there.


    More recruits began to appear on the camp''s streets, but most failed to perform their military salute before Khan walked past them. He was basically running, and his destination was his favorite ce in the world.


    A few short buildings eventually unfolded in his vision. Reebfell''s camp had three structures featuring multiple training halls. The quality, type, and purpose of those spaces changed slightly from room to room, but Khan had already made up his mind about his destination.


    Khan went into the second building, which contained the elite versions of the training halls for soldiers at his level. He picked the only area with stats that could meet his requirements. His status as a chaos wielder gave him a stark advantage toward technology in general, so he had to choose something capable of enduring his mana.


    The training hall opened as soon as Khan ced his phone on its entrance. The interactive floor activated, but a few menus remained dark. When he put his phone in its the designed spot on the wall, more options appeared, but they had a price attached.


    ''I''m indeed too poor to spend all my time here,'' Khan concluded after evaluating the options in his mind.


    The training halls were expensive, especially when it came to programs that allowed spells and simr powerful techniques. Moreover, Khan''s status as a chaos wielder had only worsened the situation.


    Still, Khan could benefit from multiple discounts. He was a Lieutenant, a Professor, and the winner of Onia''s tournaments. He could see the original price of those programs, but their cost went down by more than half due to his status.


    The discounts weren''t enough to make the training halls affordable. Khan had a monthly ie of one thousand and five hundred Credits, but using those services at their fullest would cost him around four hundred and fifty Credits each week. He wouldn''t be able to save anything if he decided to go all-out. Yet, he could settle for a schedule that prevented him from going broke.


    Of course, that was his first day there, so he tested the best program that money could buy. Khan ended up facing multiple reinforced puppets made from an alloy resistant to mana. Those dummies could perform different martial arts, and they even knew how to apply simple battle tactics that made use of their superior numbers.


    The battles were harsh. Khan saw his seemingly unstoppable spells being unable to destroy his opponents in a single blow. Even his knife often failed to shut them down, but the Divine Reaper wasn''t to me. The puppets didn''t have weak points, so cutting their heads or openingrge cracks in their chests didn''t interrupt their offensive.


    Khan obviously lost himself in the mana around him. His experience in the city allowed him to grow used to the synthetic energy inside the puppets quickly, so he could stop thinking in no time and bathe in the feeling of having worthy opponents.


    A soldier brought Khan lunch directly in the training hall, so he never left the area until his phone rang to inform him that his time was up. His lesson would start in a few hours, and that required him to handle a few matters to prepare it.


    Khan returned to his t, showered, and responded to the messages that had arrived on his phone. The soldiers tasked with the maintenance of his Tainted animal knew that his lesson was approaching, so they contacted him toplete thest preparations.


    The meeting happened near the building that would hold Khan''s lesson. He needed a vast and reinforced hall due to the size of the Tainted ape, and the training camp had something suitable near its edges. It took him a while to reach that ce, but everything went smoothly afterward.


    Three soldiers moved arge cage covered by thick dark fabrics inside a building that resembled a hangar. The ce was clean, but itcked the sophisticated features of the halls in the central parts of the camp. Yet, it was perfect for Khan, so he didn''tin.


    "Are you sure that you don''t need help, sir?" The leader of the squad that had moved the cage asked after making their vehicle ce the item in the corner of the hangar.


    "You can remain in the area," Khan responded while taking a peek under the fabrics, "But I should be more than enough on my own."


    The Tainted ape didn''t like being kept in the darkness, but the arrival of the artificial light in the hangar angered it even more. The creature immediately leaped ahead, but the transparent metal of its entrance endured the blow perfectly.


    ''Good cage,'' Khanmented in his mind before letting the structure be.


    The soldiers performed a military salute and left Khan alone in the hangar. His lesson would start in less than an hour, so he sat next to the cage and began to meditate. As for the rms, he didn''t set any.


    Presences began to enter the range of his senses as he meditated. Khan saw a young crowd gathering inside the hangar, even if he kept his eyes closed. People seemed to flow endlessly, but they stopped entering the building after a few minutes.


    Khan waited a few more minutes before interrupting his meditation and straightening his position. The Tainted ape had mmed its head on the transparent part of the cage a few times while the recruits had gathered, and the event had naturally startled them, but Khan''s awakening imed the entirety of their attention.


    ''So many,'' Khan couldn''t help but think as his stern gaze moved among the anxious recruits. All of them tried to keep their eyes fixed on him, but many ended up looking at the floor during the inspection.


    A quarter of the hangar was full of recruits, which messed up Khan''s ns, but he quickly found a solution. He reached his phone and opened one of the long walls. The well-keptwns of the training camp unfolded in everyone''s view, but all the recruits turned toward Khan as soon as he cleared his throat.


    "Okay, raise your hand if you have read my profile," Khan ordered in an aloof voice.


    Everyone raised their arms, and Khan expected as much. The sheer number of recruits in the hangar was a direct consequence of his fame.


    "Well, we can skip the presentations then," Khan said in a loud voice as heid his back on the dark wall. His eyes fell on one of the recruits who didn''t divert his gaze before he voiced another order. "You, can you tell me why you are here?"


    The sudden question startled the young man. He inspected his surroundings to make sure that Khan had really pointed at him, but he couldn''t find any way out of that situation. He performed a military salute, cleared his throat, and shouted his idea loudly. "We are here to learn how to fight, sir!"


    "Wrong," Khan stated, and despair appeared on the young man''s face.


    "Let''s make this clear now so you won''tin if you decide to stay," Khan continued. "All of you know how to fight. I bet that some are close to reaching thepetent proficiency level, while others might be only one step away from mastering their first spell. Many of you even have experienced masters at your disposal."


    Everyone remained silent. Some recruits understood what Khan wanted to say, but they didn''t say anything.


    "Still, almost all of you wouldn''t be able to apply what you have learnt in an actual battle, let alone a war," Khan revealed. "Istrone has proven that a crisis can fall on you at any time and ce, and it''s my job to make sure that you are ready for it."


    Khan sighed before continuing. "I won''t hide that my sses will be dangerous. I''ll do everything in my power to make you experience the fear that only a real battlefield can provide. You will get hurt, so get out if you aren''t willing to go through that."


    The recruits steeled their faces and tensed their bodies to remain as still as possible. They wanted to show their determination and confidence, but that sight didn''t impress Khan.


    "Very well," Khan eximed while approaching the cage. "I''ll give you another chance to leave before the beginning of the lesson. Today you''ll have one versus one fights against this creature."


    Khan pulled the fabrics and uncovered the cage. The Tainted ape appeared in everyone''s view, and its angry screams filled their minds with fear.


    "This creature can kill you," Khan announced. "There is no point hiding it.. I''m the only one in this hall capable of defeating it, and I''ll also be the only oneing to your aid once you get overwhelmed. So, do you still want to stay?"

 Chapter 299 - Madman

    The recruits in the hangar didn''t have Khan''s senses. The ape was big, violent, and angry, but it remained a Tainted animal in their minds. They had fought something simr in the entrance test more than half a year ago, and they had also gone through months of training.


    The ape''s appearance was scary. Its four bionic eyes shone with a threatening red light, and its furless skin revealed its bulging muscles, but the creature remained a Tainted animal at its core, which gave the recruits some confidence.


    Khan kept track of the changes in the recruits'' expressions. That short inspection gave him an idea of his students'' current state. Some showed nothing but hesitation and fear, which stated theirck of confidence. Others gulped but did their best to appear ready for the battle, and a few wore traces of arrogance.


    Those reactions were within Khan''s expectations. He still recalled his days in co''s training camp and the level of his peers. He was off the charts, but Martha, Luke, and a few others could put up a fight. Other cities even had a few exceptions like George, who had learnt to cast spells during his first semester in the Global Army.


    Everything seemed to point toward the possible victory of some excellent recruits, but Khan knew the actual power of the Tainted animal. It was easier to view it as a proper first-level warrior to evaluate its dangerousness. Even he wouldn''t have been able to beat it back then.


    "None of you can beat this Tainted animal today," Khan continued in an attempt to quell the slight arrogance that had filled some recruits. "It''s not about your experience. You simplyck the ability to deal with it, but that''s the very reason behind this challenge."


    Needless to say, the arrogant recruits took Khan''s words as a challenge. Their confidence had different sources, but they still felt stronger than a mere Tainted animal.


    "Who is the strongest among you?" Khan asked while leaving the wall to approach the lines of recruits. "I''m talking about the special ss. You must have a few names in your minds."


    Khan could sense the amount of mana in the recruits, but he couldn''t see their prowess. He could gain a vague idea through their reactions, but that was far from enough.


    Many nces converged toward two recruits in the frontline. Khan also inspected them after following those gazes. One of them was a tall young man with a good physique and driven eyes. The other was a slender young woman with blonde hair tied in a bun, a pair of short swords at her sides, and an arrogant expression.


    "Which one of you wants to go first?" Khan asked while moving his gaze between the two. "Also, don''t be so tense around me. Many of you are older than me. Ask as many questions as you want."


    "Is it possible to know the Tainted animal''s abilities, sir?" The man shouted while performing a military salute.


    "No, you''ll have to find those by yourself," Khan replied.


    "How do we know that we have won, sir?" The woman continued.


    "You must push the Tainted ape back in the cage or kill it to win," Khan responded.


    "Are we allowed to use mana?" The man questioned in his loud voice.


    "Of course," Khan scoffed. "This isn''t a training hall or a test to show your prowess. I will let the ape break your bones before saving you, and trust me. You will need saving."


    "Permission to go first, sir," The man eximed before the woman could say anything.


    "Sure, go," Khan said in a in tone before turning toward the rest of the recruits. "All of you, get out of the hangar. Line up in front of that entrance and leave the floor to yourpanion."


    The recruits followed the orders and positioned themselves right outside the wall that Khan had opened previously. The tall man remained alone in the vast hangar, and Khan slowly walked toward the cage before jumping on it.


    The cage was more than four meters tall, but Khan had easily jumped on top of it. His performance surprised the recruits, but Khan spoke before they could lose focus on the test. "Move forward a bit. Line up with the transparent surface. We don''t want the ape to jump on yourpanions by mistake."


    The man nodded and took his position. The Tainted ape immediately started mming on the transparent surface when it saw the recruit, and its aggression seemed to make him falter a bit. Still, he tried his best to remain resolute.


    "Come on, get in fighting stance and prepare your mana," Khan ordered from the top of the cage.


    The man executed the orders. He half-turned his waist and bent his legs while raising his arms. His hands closed into fists, and mana moved slowly toward his knuckles and ankles.


    ''Not bad,'' Khanmented in his mind when he inspected the flow of the man''s mana. It was pretty smooth, which confirmed his status as one of the best recruits in that year.


    "I''m going to open the cage," Khan shouted. "Are you ready?"


    The man nodded, and Khan tapped his feet on the cage to interact with the menus. A vertical opening soon appeared on the transparent surface before its two halves opened outward.


    The Tainted ape voiced a scream before shooting toward the young man. The floor was sturdy, but the creature still managed to make it shake lightly. It didn''t exactly run. Its charge consisted of long jumps that ended with its two huge arms mming on the ground.


    The ape reached the young man quickly, but thetter didn''t let that huge figure scare him. The creature mmed its arms downward as it descended toward the recruit, but it failed to hit anything.


    The young man had flowed to his right when he saw the thick arms aiming at him. His fast dodge created an opening, and he didn''t hesitate to exploit it by punching the ape''s side.


    The recruit smiled when he sensed that his execution had been perfect. He had yet to reach thepetent proficiency level, but his dodge and attack had used mana correctly. However, something began to feel strange in his mind.


    The man realized the source of that strange feeling only after the ape swung its arms toward him. The recruit didn''t have time to dodge from that position. The happiness that hade from his perfect execution had made him blind toward an obvious detail. The Tainted animal didn''t budge when the attack hadnded on its side.


    The thick arms delivered a clean blow to the man''s torso. The recruit flew away for a few meters and slid on the metal floor after hended. Blood had begun toe out of his mouth, and fear had appeared on his face. However, the screams and noises that got close to his position forced him to struggle to stand up.


    The recruit went back on his feet only to find the ape descending toward him. The creature''s thick arms filled the entirety of his vision, and deep terror spread through his mind. He couldn''t dodge that attack. He didn''t even know if his arms would be enough to save his life.


    The man closed his eyes, lowered his head, and crossed his arms above him, but no attack arrived. Instead, angry screams and painful cries began to reach his ears.


    The recruit waited a few seconds before opening his eyes, and the scene that unfolded in his vision left him amazed. The Tainted ape wasn''t in front of him anymore. Something was pushing the beast toward the cage, but that figure wasn''t clear most of the time.


    The young man squinted his eyes and did his best to inspect the battle. Whenever the ape flew back, he managed to see Khan between its arms or at its sides. The recruit struggled to see Khan''s attacks, but he noticed the calm, collected, and even slightly bored expression of his Professor.


    The Tainted ape was incredibly strong for its level, but Khan had fought Stal that could rival second-level warriors. The beast''s size and physical strength were nothing in his eyes, and its attacks were too slow. He could flow between itsrge arms and kick it back toward the cage without even sweating.


    Of course, Khan made sure to push instead of breaking. His kicks could pierce the ape''s skin, but he didn''t want to inflict injuries. After all, the Tainted animal still had more than fifty recruits to face.


    The cage closed as soon as the entirety of the Tainted ape entered its boundaries. The beast mmed on the transparent surface in anger, but Khan didn''t even look at it. He turned and reached the young man in an instant, only to find him on his knees.


    "What? You thought that you had won afternding a single hit?" Khan asked before heaving a sigh at the sight of the tremors that ran through the recruit. "You are good for a training camp, but that behavior would kill you on the battlefield. Go back to yourpanions now."


    The man gulped and tried to stand up, but a violent cough took control of his body and made him spit blood on Khan''s shoes. The event terrified the young man, who immediately tried to apologize, but Khan pulled him up from his uniform and put a shoulder under his armpit to support him.


    "We don''t have all day, do we?" Khanughed while helping the recruit walk back to hispanions.


    Everyone was speechless. The young man and the other recruits had remained in awe in front of Khan''s prowess. He was their age, but his fighting ability, confidence, and generalck of fear in front of danger belonged to apletely different realm.


    His change of behavior also surprised the recruits. They had imagined Khan as a cold and stern professor, but hisugh sounded honest, and he didn''t care about his dirty shoes. He was even adjusting his pace to match the injured man''s state.


    "Sit here," Khan gently said when he reached the row of recruits with the young man. His eyes rose and stopped when theynded on the young woman from before, and another order left his mouth. "Get in. You are next."


    The woman nodded and stepped inside the hangar. The young man sat, but a cough retook control of his body. He spat blood again, and the event gave him the courage to voice a request. "Permission to go to the medical bay, sir."


    "Denied," Khan casually replied while walking toward the cage. "You don''t have medical bays on the battlefield. Meditate, but try to look at yourpanions'' battles too."


    The recruits finally understood the nature of Khan''s subject now, and the desire to run away inevitably filled their minds. Many even started to view him as a madman who had earned his current job by pure chance.


    "Are you ready?" Khan asked when he reached the top of the cage, and the woman nodded.


    The cage opened, and the Tainted ape shot forward. The beast reached the recruit in an instant, but she dodged the descending arms easily. She also swung her short swords during her evasive maneuver, and two long cuts appeared on the creature''s side.


    The Tainted ape tried to follow the woman with its arms, but she was too fast. She ran around the beast, swinging her des whenever she found an opening, but she always failed to leave significant injuries.


    The recruits'' eyes lit up at that scene. Theirpanion was doing it. She was overwhelming the Tainted ape, but the inevitable eventually happened. She failed to use her mana correctly during one of her dodges, which allowed the beast to m its arms on her.


    The woman flew away, and her swords left her hands. Her left arm bent unnaturally, and she remained still when she crashed on the floor. She turned only when the Tainted ape was about to fall on her, but Khan appeared between the two before the creature couldplete its attack.


    Everyone witnessed Khan''s overwhelming prowess again. He kicked the ape back inside the cage in no time before walking toward the injured woman. Yet, to his surprise, she forced herself to stand up on her own. She even returned to herpanions after retrieving her weapons without saying a word.

 Chapter 300 - Questions

    A few battles followed the woman''s fight, but the recruits stopped stepping forward after seeing the best warriors in their year losing and suffering injuries. They didn''t leave the hangar, but they found no point jumping into a situation that could leave them badly wounded.


    Khan could y the Lieutenant''s card and convince some of those recruits to go against the beast anyway, but that would be pointless. He couldn''t teach if his students didn''t want to learn, which was somewhat eptable. He had never expected his ss to be popr in the first ce.


    The six recruits who had the courage to go against the Tainted ape were meditating on thewn outside the hangar. They opened their eyes from time to time to check on the lesson, but their injuries remained their main focus. Their condition wasn''t too poor, but they would definitely benefit from a trip to the medical bay.


    Instead, most of the other recruits were clearly scared. Tremors ran through their bodies whenever Khan looked at them. They didn''t want to refuse his orders, but fighting the Tainted ape was out of the question.


    A few recruits had even worn cold expressions. They had developed a proper disgust toward Khan''s teaching methods, but he didn''t care about their opinions. He didn''t even bother to address it.


    "Is that it?" Khan asked while facing the row of recruits. "Is there no one else who wants to experience the terror of the battlefield?"


    The recruits diverted their gazes. They didn''t know what to expect from the madman in charge of the subject, and they didn''t want their actions to worsen their situation.


    "Good, no one should have the desire to experience that," Khanughed before turning toward the insides of the hangar. "Come,e, and help your woundedpanions. There won''t be other battles today, but I still need to make a speech."


    The recruits followed Khan''s orders and gathered around him when he sat next to the cage. They formed a half-circle and made sure to ce their injuredpanions in the front rows, but their attention often went on the angry Tainted ape screaming from the other side of the transparent surface.


    "I think the purpose of my subject is clear by now," Khan eximed once everyone took their ce on the floor. "You aren''t bad, especially you six. I''m sure you will do great inside the army, but the universe is full of dangers, and you aren''t ready to face them."


    Most of the recruits in the hangar had seen blood for the first time in Khan''s lesson, and almost everyone had understood the harsh truth that he had tried to teach. Many didn''t like his methods, but they had to admit that they had been effective.


    "Many of you have enough backing to avoid the battlefield forever," Khan continued. "Still, Istrone has proven that your wealth can''t protect you when it matters. I have been the poorest recruit during the Kred''s rebellion, but it''s thanks to me that the Global Army managed to send reinforcements before the situation worsened even more."


    Khan fell silent for a few seconds. He let the recruits absorb his words and ept the reality of the situation.


    "I know I cane out as ruthless," Khan revealed, "But that same ruthlessness has allowed me to survive on Istrone, prove myself on Nitis, excel on Ecoruta, and win the tournament on Onia.


    "I''m not asking you to be me. I wouldn''t wish that on anyone. Yet, I think I have something worth teaching, something that might save your life one day. I can''t force you to attend my lessons, but I suggest you do, even if you don''t join the various exercises."


    Khan did his best to convey his honest desire to prepare those recruits for the worst, and many understood that. His tone carried a faint sadness that was almost impossible to miss. He was only seventeen-year-old, but he had seen more than most soldiers twice his age.


    "You won''t fight the Tainted ape during my next lesson," Khan exined, "But I''ll still try to break your confidence. I''ll try a safer method to make sure that everyone can experience what I want to teach, so attend it before deciding to ditch my subject."


    Khan smiled, but his gesture didn''t reassure anyone. He was a big deal in the Global Army right now, so the recruits wanted to do well with him, but his standards seemed impossible.


    "Well, I don''t have anything else for today," Khanughed. "You can go if you want unless you have something to ask. I''ll try to be as honest as possible."


    The young man who had been the first to face the Tainted ape raised his arm, and Khan nodded at him. The recruit cleared his throat a few times before voicing a question. "Sir, do we get grades for this subject? How do we know if we passed?"


    Many nodded at that question, and Khan recalled that he had forgotten to exin that part. His subject was an extra in the normal education provided by the Global Army, so it didn''t have explicit benefits.


    "You''ll pass when you can kill the Tainted ape," Khan exined. "I can''t give you grades that have relevance to your education. I guess being prepared for the battlefield isn''t enough as an incentive, right?"


    No recruit nodded, but Khan saw their desire to do that. He chuckled yfully as he scratched his head. He didn''t actually think about that, but it didn''t take him long toe up with a solution.


    "What do you think about a written rmendation?" Khan asked. "I think I''m famous enough to give value to something like that."


    "Will the rmendation describe our personal qualities?" The woman with two short swords questioned.


    "Sure, anything you want," Khan immediately agreed. "I''m not great with that stuff, so just tell me what you prefer. I only want you to survive during a crisis or on the battlefield. You have no idea how easy it is to die there."


    Khan''splete disregard for the political consequences and benefits that his subject would have left the recruits speechless. He was really trying to do something good there, which granted points to his image.


    "How did you manage to do so well on Istrone, sir?" Another injured recruit asked.


    "My mindset is different from yours since Ie from the Slums," Khanughed, "And I have my master''s harsh training method to thank too. My element has also yed an important role in my preparation since I mostly focused on my martial art before Istrone."


    "Which was the worst battlefield in your opinion, sir?" The young woman from before questioned.


    "They were all bad," Khan stated. "I guess Istrone hit the hardest since I had to kill for the first time there, but the others didn''t make me feel good for sure."


    "Are the Stal on Ecoruta as big as they say?" Another recruit asked.


    "Most of them are as tall as the ape," Khan said while pointing at the cage. "Yet, they are easy to fight if you have spells or other ranged attacks. Their physical strength is a problem, but they are quite dumb."


    "What about the Guko?" Another question resounded from the audience.


    "They are emotionless aliens," Khan responded without hiding his displeasure. "They only act logically, so I don''t have a great impression of them."


    "And the Ef''i?" The audience continued.


    "They are a goodpany if you earn their respect," Khan exined. "They are messy and loud, but definitely good. Still, keep track of their tails if you end up fighting them. Those limbs are dangerous."


    The recruits continued with their questions about Khan''s many adventures, and they even became more confident as he kept giving honest answers. Many also stopped adding "sir" to their lines, and Khan didn''t scold them about that.


    The questions grew more personal, and Khan did their best to answer them. He tried to depict the cruelty and chaos of the battlefields he had seen in great detail. He didn''t hide anything, no matter how gruesome an image could be.


    "Why did you go on Ecoruta after Nitis?" A recruit eventually asked.


    "I needed to clear my head," Khan responded while wearing a fake smile. "Though jumping in another battlefield isn''t a great move, so don''t imitate me."


    "Was that about your girlfriend?" The woman with two des asked.


    Khan''s fake smile couldn''t help but freeze. Liiza was still a tough topic for him, but he didn''t want to create a wall between him and his students, so he forced an answer out of his mouth. "Yes, it was about her."


    The recruits'' eyes lit up, and many opened their mouths or began to raise their hands, but no one ended up speaking. They realized that their next questions would have been too personal, especially after Khan had admitted how much Liiza had mattered to him.


    The hangar fell silent. The recruits had gained a general idea of what Khan had gone through after co, so they only had questions that they didn''t dare to voice in their minds.


    Khan preferred to avoid waiting until the questions reached Liiza. He pped his hands and jumped on his feet before giving hisst order of the day. "Go back now. The lesson is over, and I hope to see you all in the next one. As I said, try toe before making your mind about my subject. Also, I''ll answer your questions again even if you don''t join the exercises, but let''s keep them on the battlefields and simr topics, okay?"


    The recruits understood the message and stood up to perform a military salute. Then, they left the hangar, and Khan finally had the chance to retrieve his phone to add a few notes.


    Khan had the list of his students on his phone, and he could add personal impressions that no one could read. His packed schedule would make his days full, so he had decided to update his notes after each lesson.


    Dinnertime had arrived, so Khan stuffed his stomach in the canteen before returning to his t. The soldiers would take care of the Tainted ape, and Cora didn''t ask to see him again that day, so Khan could dive into his training.


    His goals were clear in his mind. Khan wanted to master his remaining techniques through the two training methods and improve his overall foundation.


    The "simted mental battle" could make the training halls redundant, and the [Blood Vortex] was necessary to be a second-level warrior quickly. Hence, Khan focused on his training methods for most of the night. His next lesson would be in two days, so he could go all-out now.


    The only distraction that night came from Amber. She sent Khan a message to ask him about his first lesson, and he didn''t mind taking some time off to answer her.


    ''No one died, so I think it went well,'' Khan replied.


    ''I''m starting to take pity on your students,'' Amber said in her next message.


    ''Hey, I stopped everything after a few broken bones,'' Khan responded.


    ''I was wrong. I''m already pitying them,'' Amber joked.


    ''Come on. I think it went really well. They even asked many questions about Istrone and the others,'' Khan texted.


    ''That''s great, though I expected as much. You are their age. They must feel safe asking you that stuff,'' Amber exined.


    ''I hope they stick around,'' Khan revealed.


    ''I''m sure they will,'' Amber reassured.


    ''Are you getting all cute on me because of yesterday''s girl?'' Khan teased.


    ''Are you implying that I''m not cute normally?'' Amber asked.


    ''You win this round, Professor Teldom,'' Khan admitted.


    The two chatted for a few more minutes, but Amber eventually went to sleep. Khan continued to train all night, and he went for the canteen as soon as the sun rose. He met with Cora again, and she did her best to scold him when she heard that he didn''t sleep at all.


    Khan made Cora give up on the matter quickly. He had to apany her back to her dormitory to reassure her, and the soldiers that saw them inevitably gave birth to gossips.


    After leaving Cora in her dormitory, Khan went directly toward the training hall. He had nothing to do that day, so he nned to spend most of his time fighting puppets.


    His day went exactly as nned. Khan left the training hall when it was almost dinner time. He was in desperate need of shower and clean clothes, so he returned to his t instead of going directly to the canteen. Still, when he came out of the bathroom, he found more than twenty messages waiting for him on his phone.


    ''What the fuck?'' Khan eximed in his mind when he started to read the messages. They all came from unknown profiles, but he recognized theirst names. Many members of his students'' families had contacted him toin about his teaching methods.


    ****


    Author''s notes: We are already at three hundred chapters.. Thank you for your support! Chaos still feels new to write in many parts, especially the romantic ones, so I''m d to see that you are liking it. I hope you''ll keep enjoying the novel in the future!

 Chapter 301 - Consequences

    Khan''s political life had seen a minor incident with the ckdell girl and the four bullies during his time in co''s training camp. However, everything had been excellent afterward. Every door had been spread open for him after Istrone''s rebellion.


    Theints from his students'' families had taken him by surprise. Khan didn''t expect that reaction, and he immediately realized that he had no idea how to handle simr situations. He wasn''t even sure he understood why someone would be so angry over a subject that wasn''t mandatory.


    ''How do you dare put our boy in the same room with a violent Tainted animal without any safety measure!''


    ''I suggest you change your teaching methods, young man. You might be a hero for now, but my family has produced dozens of them throughout the years. I won''t remain silent while my Ca risks her life to gain extra points!''


    ''Who even decided to give this job to such a barbaric and ignorant youngling! Prepare yourself, young man. The Headmaster will hear me about that torture that you call teaching!''


    Those threats were only some of the messages that Khan had found on his phone. He didn''t even manage to connect those profiles to the students they represented, but he quickly fixed that issue by going over his ss list.


    Finding those connections turned out to be far from enough. Khan didn''t know how influential each family was, so he searched those names on thework, and the results made his expression freeze.


    ''Rich, rich, super-rich,'' Khan read as he looked through the public records concerning the families that had contacted him. ''Wait, this one isn''t considered wealthy. Estimate of the total assets: s-, two hundred million Credits! How should I even conceive that sum?! Fuck the food cans! I could buy the entire Slums with it!''


    Khan thought about the matter for a few seconds before cracking a joke in his mind. ''Who would even want to buy the Slums?''


    A faintugh escaped his mouth, but he didn''t forget his situation. Khan still had more than twentyints to address, and he didn''t know where to begin with them.


    Khan thought about the matter for a few minutes, but he felt lost. He wanted to ignore thoseints, but they involved influential families that could make his life difficult.


    It didn''t take Khan long to realize that hisck of knowledge was the issue''s core. He could go over thoseints all night, but he would still be unable to find a real solution.


    ''I need help,'' Khan concluded in his mind as he closed the messages and went over his contacts.


    Cora knew more than Khan, but he didn''t want to involve her in his problems. The same went for Amber. The two women were also so kind that they had probably never faced something like that.


    Lieutenant Abaze seemed the right woman for the job. Yet, Khan didn''t want to feel indebted to her. She had been nothing but gentle with him, but her interests in the political array were evident, and he didn''t want to be one of her pawns.


    ''I can''t find where the Captain lives,'' Khan thought after picking his phone and browsing through thework.


    His position as a professor granted him ess to information that regr students wouldn''t be able to find. Khan could easily find the location of Lieutenant Abaze''s habitation, but the same didn''t go for the Captain. Thetter''s rank made that knowledge ssified.


    Khan knew that the Captain lived inside the camp, and he was even sure that Lieutenant Abaze could point at his habitation. Khan sent her a short message, and she only took a few minutes to reply.


    ''I suggest you bring something good to drink if you want his help,'' Lieutenant Abaze wrote in her message while adding a map of the camp with a location marked.


    Khan didn''t mention anything specific in his message, but Lieutenant Abaze had understood the nature of his request anyway. That event made him feel right about his decision to avoid her as a helper. She was too interested in her position, which made Khan unable to trust her fully.


    It was still dinner time when Khan received Lieutenant Abaze''s message. He had yet to eat, and he took that chance to reach the canteen to find something good to bring to the Captain.


    The dy in his trip to the canteen forced him to meet many recruits. Khan kept a fake smile on his face and nodded whenever the soldiers performed military salutes, but his hurry was evident. He rushed through the camp''s streets and ate quickly. He even told Cora that he was busy before approaching one of the many menus in the building and going over the list of bottles.


    ''How can someone charge nine hundred Credits for a single bottle?'' Khan wondered when he looked at the price of the best booze that the canteen had to offer.


    Khan hesitated for a few seconds before purchasing the bottle anyway. He was asking a favor that would probably teach him important lessons. In his mind, that was the whole point behind money.


    Khan left the canteen in a hurry and marched through the camp''s streets to reach the location described in Lieutenant Abaze''s message. He didn''t know how to approach the Captain, but he hoped that the bottle in his hands would do most of the job.


    The outskirts of the camp had most of the structures that requiredrge and open spaces. Those buildings had vehicles, prisons, flying tforms, and big machines capable of creating holograms with almost no limitations in their range. The same technology Lieutenant Unchai had used during the entrance test.


    Instead, the camp''s central parts had most of the structures required by the recruits. The dormitories, canteen, training halls, and simr buildings upied those areas and were rtively easy to reach by anyone living there.


    The professors and other buildings meant for the soldiers with some important positions stood in-between those two circles. Khan''s t was there, and the same went for Captain Goldmon''s t.


    Khan knew that he had reached his destination when a short building unfolded in his view. Those structures were rare inside the camp. It was actually his first time seeing something simr. The Global Army always tried to make the best out of the avable space, but the house went against that rule.


    The two-story building hadrge dark windows on both floors and a t roof. Its entrance featured the usual menus, but it had the red words "restricted area" written on its surface. Khan couldn''t see anything that could connect the house to Captain Goldman, but that was the very clue that he was looking for.


    "Captain Goldmon," Khan said after cing his hand on the entrance, "It''s Lieutenant Khan. I need your help."


    No answer came from the other side of the door, and the menus on its surface didn''t budge either. Khan felt that exining his situation wouldn''t grant him a meeting, so he used a different approach.


    "I have a bottle of "Imperial''s nectar" with me," Khan revealed while keeping his hand on the entrance.


    "How old is it?" Captain Goldmon''s voice suddenly came out of the door.


    Khan had to read thebels on the bottles to find the answer. "It says twelve years."


    A series of mechanical noises came out of the door as soon as Khan finished saying the word "twelve", and the entrance slid open right after. Captain Goldmon''s figure unfolded in Khan''s eyes, and he remained surprised to see his superior wearing a simple id pajama.


    "Did you buy only one bottle?" Captain Goldmon scoffed after inspecting Khan. "That won''t grant you much time."


    The Captain turned to walk inside the house, and Khan followed him since the entrance remained open. The door closed after he stepped into the vast living room, and he performed a quick inspection before cing the bottle on the first table he saw.


    The room''s size didn''t surprise Khan. It was only expected for a captain to have a better habitation, but its emptiness felt a bit unnatural. Khan only saw a couch, a couple of armchairs, and a table, which left a lot of unupied space.


    "Don''t you have casual clothes?" Captain Goldmon shouted while returning to the living room with two sses and his cane. "I thought you didn''t have sses today."


    "I don''t have clothes except for these uniforms," Khan revealed.


    "Why didn''t you say something when we were in Reebfell?" Captain Goldmon asked as he approached the table, sat, and inspected the bottle.


    "Do I need to buy clothes?" Khan asked as he reached the armchair on the opposite side of the table.


    The question made the Captain inspect Khan in confusion. Khan appearedpletely clueless, and the Captain understood that his background was to me for that issue.


    "Leave it," Captain Goldmon stated while opening the bottle. "You might have to wear formal clothes during some big events, but you can stay like this if you don''t mind the uniforms."


    "Why would anyone mind the uniforms?" Khan questioned while pulling the fabric on his neck. "They are a bit tight, but they don''t have holes, and the Global Army always gives me new ones if I tear them."


    "I told you to leave it," The Captain snorted. "I wouldn''t know how to exin it to someone with your background anyway."


    Captain Goldmon poured the booze in the two sses and pushed one of them toward Khan before he could refuse. The soldier noticed his faint hesitation, so he exined his actions. "It''s always better to drink with someone. So, tell me why you are here."


    "The families of my students haveined about my teaching methods," Khan went directly to the point as he took out his phone and handed it to the Captain to show the various threats. "I honestly don''t know how to handle them, sir."


    Captain Goldmon only nced at the messages on Khan''s phone before wearing a frown and voicing a question. "I assume you asked Lieutenant Abaze for my address, am I right?"


    "That''s correct," Khan admitted.


    "Let me get this straight," Captain Goldmon cleared his throat, took a sip from his ss, and continued. "You seem to go along with Professor Teldom, and you even contacted Lieutenant Abaze, but you still decided toe to see me, right?"


    "Yes," Khan replied.


    "So, you picked an old man over two beautiful women," Captain Goldmon scoffed. "There''s definitely something wrong with you, young man."


    "Sir, Lieutenant Abaze is too old for me," Khan tried to y along while savoring the booze, "And my rtionship with Professor Teldom isn''t like that."


    "Only because you don''t want it to be like that," Captain Goldmon grunted.


    Khan pretended not to hear thatment and focused on the booze. The drink wasn''t as good as what the Captain had bought in Reebfell, but it was still good stuff.


    "What do you want from me then?" Captain Goldmon eventually asked.


    "Your advice," Khan exined. "I have no idea how to handle theseints. I don''t even know if they can affect my career."


    "Of course they can," Captain Goldmonughed. "Some of these names are really influential, but I still can''t understand my role in the matter."


    "What do you mean?" Khan asked. "You are an experienced soldier, sir. I''m sure I can learn a lot from you."


    "Probably," Captain Goldmon dered. "I might even put in a good word for you, but that would still require you to change your training method. Are you willing to do that?"


    Khan went over the matter for a few seconds before shaking his head. He didn''t know how to teach his subject without his harsh approach, and he really wanted his students to learn something.


    "See?" Captain Goldmon continued. "Did you expect the families behind your students to just go along with a young man like you putting their descendants in danger? Comining is their job."


    "What should I do?" Khan asked since the Captain''s words weren''t helping him.


    "Nothing," Captain Goldmon responded. "What can you even do? Our subjects aren''t mandatory. We can''t force them on the recruits. You can only do your best to make them understand how important they are."


    Khan nodded. That made perfect sense, but an issue remained, and he questioned the Captain about it. "What should I do about theseints then?"


    "Ignore them," Captain Goldmon said. "Nothing good cane from arguing with angry parents or representatives."


    "That''s it?" Khan asked. "Won''t this have consequences on my career?"


    "What? Did you expect that having the recruits'' future in your hands won''t lead to consequences?" Captain Goldmon snorted.


    Khan understood that part very well. It was the very reason behind his dedication to the job. He didn''t want other innocent recruits to experience what he had gone through. He desired them to be ready for the worst so that they wouldn''t have nightmares about corpses and blood.


    "I''ll tell you what will happen," Captain Goldmon sighed when he saw that Khan didn''t speak anymore. "Theseints will probably reach the Headmaster, who will be forced to n a meeting between you and these representatives.. You won''t be able to skip it, but you can also use it to exin your reasons."

 Chapter 302 - Mindset

    "My reasons?" Khan sighed as he tried to imagine a hypothetical conversation with the angry representatives.


    Khan could lie and pretend really well. It would take him almost no effort to y a role that the families'' representatives could decide to let off the hook. He only had to ask Captain Goldmon what would work, and the matter would be over.


    "Are you thinking of lying your way out of this?" Captain Goldmon asked in his rough tone.


    "Is that even possible?" Khan wondered.


    "Of course," Captain Goldmon sneered. "You aren''t a bad liar. I''ve only seen too many of them to get tricked by a kid like you. Still, getting those families to close an eye would be easy with the right words and promises."


    "Is there a "but"ing?" Khan asked.


    "But these meetings can be important for someone''s career," Captain Goldmon continued. "It''s a chance to create an image in the families'' minds, and you have to decide how you want to appear."


    ''It feels like he is asking me what kind of man I want to be,'' Khanmented in his mind as he drank and went over the matter.


    "I never thought that a course without mandatory attendance could lead to this," Khan admitted.


    "This reaction tells you how much they care about the subject," Captain Goldmon exined. "They wouldn''t be so angry otherwise. The subject itself might even affect only part of the matter. Anyone would want their descendants to learn from the most talented soldiers avable."


    Khan had a general understanding of the situation after that short talk. His subject wasn''t mandatory, but the families wanted their descendants to learn from him and earn eventual points for their profiles. His fame was the reason behind their anger.


    ''Professor Norwell was also pretty popr now that I think about it,'' Khan recalled. ''I even won Onia''s tournament at a younger age.''


    "Do you need help with something else?" Captain Goldmon asked.


    "No," Khan shook his head. "I only have to decide what to say at the meeting."


    "Do you want my advice?" Captain Goldmon continued.


    "No," Khan sighed. "Only I can decide that."


    "Good boy," Captain Goldmonughed. "Anyway, don''t overthink it. There are alwaysints when ites to new approaches. Also, you can''t please everyone and be your own man at the same time. I''ve known countless dicks who have climbed the politicaldder through achievements alone."


    Khan nodded while emptying his cup. He realized that shing with the families was inevitable, especially when trying to teach something so harsh. Yet, he didn''t want to keep his focus on himself. The Slums had taught him to be selfish, but the possibility of seeing his career suffer a bit was nothingpared to preventing his students from experiencing his hardships.


    It felt almost liberating to think selflessly. Khan could stop worrying about his problems and focus on the good he could do. He was turning his traumas and negative experiences into something positive for his students, and he liked those sensations.


    "Do you need anything else?" Captain Goldmon snorted while adjusting his position on his armchair.


    Khan shook his head again and left his ss on the table. He was about to stand up, but the Captain stopped him with a simple offer. "Do you want to finish the bottle with this old man?"


    Khan didn''t refuse, and the Captain quickly filled his ss. The two didn''t start any conversation. They remained in silence as their powerful bodies and the booze fought to take control of their minds. When the bottle ended, Khan stood up and performed a military salute before leaving the house.


    The curfew had already passed, so Khan could enjoy the solitary walk back to his t inplete silence. His mind felt clearer than ever, even if the booze was trying to affect his bnce. He knew exactly what he had to do during the meeting.


    .


    .


    .


    Khan trained, woke up, and dived into his packed schedule again before preparing himself for his second lesson. He wouldn''t rely on the Tainted ape that time, but the location for his ss didn''t change.


    The recruits heaved a sigh of relief when they entered the hangar and noticed the absence of the cage. Part of them had believed that Khan had lied to make sure that they attended the second lesson, but that worry turned out to be pointless.


    Khan was sitting with his back on the distant wall. He was meditating, and he didn''t open his eyes until the flow of recruits stopped. To his surprise, everyone had chosen to attend his second lesson, even if many were wearing hesitant expressions.


    The six recruits who had dared to face the Tainted ape were still carrying signs of their injuries. Their uniforms hid most of their bandages, but some wounds were impossible to cover. The young woman with two des had a metallic structure around her elbow. One of the men had something simr around his right knee, while another had a patch on his left eye.


    "I''m d to see all of you here," Khan eximed while standing up and wearing an honest smile. "I hope I''ll see more of you joining the exercise this time."


    "What will it be, sir?" John, the recruit who had been the first to face the Tainted ape, asked.


    "I want to ask you a few things before diving into the lesson," Khan revealed. "First of all, I know that many of youck the ability to keep up with my exercises. Yet, would you be willing to attend my sses even if you couldn''t actually join them?"


    The question confused the recruits. Khan''s lessons could only upy two hours, and the previous hadsted far less than that. Choosing to spend that little time in the hangar wasn''t an issue, but it could still be annoying for such young soldiers.


    "Why would anyone in that condition attend, sir?" Elsie, the woman with two des and a broken arm, asked.


    "Because recruits weaker than you have survived Istrone''s rebellion," Khan exined. "They weren''t strong, and they didn''t even have special talents. Yet, they have managed to develop the right mindset quickly, so they have preserved their lives and have even helped warn the space station."


    "Are you trying to say that we can make a difference even if we are weak, sir?" Laurel, one of the recruits who faced the Tainted ape, asked.


    "Well, what you said is true, but I wasn''t trying to make that point," Khan stated while moving his gaze among his confused students. "I want you to understand that the right mindset can be more important than strength."


    Those words didn''t convince the recruits, but Khan wasn''t done. "Would any of you willingly fight a first-level warrior to death?"


    The question made no sense even when the recruits tried to connect it to the previous topic. Many shook their heads, while others directly frowned.


    "No one, of course," Khan announced. "Yet, I did kill second-level warriors. Do you want to know how?"


    "Did you exploit the chaos of the battlefield?" Dwight, another recruit who faced the Tainted ape, questioned.


    "Precisely," Khan dered. "However, I managed to do that because I knew that I could defeat a second-level warrior in the right circumstances. I went looking for the situation that would have allowed me to aplish something so difficult."


    Many understood what Khan meant. He wasn''t trying to say that the weak could defeat the strong. The lesson was that nothing exceptional would happen if their minds didn''t conceive those possibilities.


    "All of you are different," Khan continued after letting the recruits absorb his words for a few seconds. "Some have good backgrounds, while others have incredible talent. You''ll improve at a different pace, but your minds don''t have those limits. If my experience can teach you something, I''ll dly share it even with those who don''t want to join my dangerous exercises."


    The selflessness in Khan''s words was impossible to miss. He didn''t care about talent or prowess. He only wanted those recruits to be ready for the worst, and his intentions reached them.


    "I think you enjoyed asking me stuffst time," Khanughed. "I think we can have those rounds of questions after every lesson. Do you like the idea?"


    Everyone nodded. The recruits'' feelings toward Khan''s teaching methods had nothing to do with their curiosity, so no one dared to refuse that offer.


    "Good, let''s move to another question then," Khan eximed. "This is mostly for those who have faced the Tainted ape, but the others can answer too. Did you notice anything different in your other lessons? Did something change after what you have experienced in my ss?"


    The question sounded vague, but Khan had done that on purpose. He wanted to avoid eventual liars or recruits making up stuff to gain points in his mind.


    To Khan''s surprise, the first to raise his hand was a young man who didn''t belong to the group of six. Khan nodded at him, and the recruit gulped before voicing his thoughts. "I have been too violent with my sparring partner during yesterday''s lesson. I didn''t even realize it until the Professor interrupted me."


    Khan nodded before ncing at the other recruits and reiterating his question. "Did anyone else experience something simr? It doesn''t have to be the exact thing. Even a slight change that you are noticing only now can work."


    "History of mana felt pointless yesterday," Elsie revealed without bothering to raise her arm. "I usually like that subject."


    "What else?" Khan asked.


    "I tried to use mana inside a training hall for the first time,"


    "I had nightmares about the Tainted ape,"


    "I couldn''t sleep until it was already deep into the night,"


    "I didn''tugh when a friend cracked the usual joke,"


    "My appetite has gone down since your lesson, sir,"


    "I was more focused during yesterday''sbat."


    Khan nodded whenever a recruit said something. Many of those lines had no connection with what he wanted to say, but he didn''t want to shatter the general confidence that had filled those young men and women, so he never interrupted them.


    "Okay, okay, let''s stop here," Khan eventually ordered. "The question was mostly for me. I wanted to see if my lesson had the desired effects, and I think some of you are experiencing them."


    "What effects, sir?" John asked.


    "The battlefield changes you," Khan sighed. "Those changes aren''t good most of the time, and they have somemon elements. It''s normal for soldiers who have seen war to struggle once they get back in peaceful environments. I experienced the same problem, and I don''t think I''ll ever go back to how I was."


    Khan fell silent for a few seconds before continuing. "I can''t teach you what I know without causing simr changes. I would typically refrain from tampering with your innocence and enthusiasm, but giving you the chance to survive a crisis has the priority.


    "I''m sorry if you stop enjoying what you currently like because of me. I suggest you don''t follow my subject if you care about that part of yourself because I''ll try to shatter it with everything I have. Still, it''s better to lose it here, in the safety of the training camp and among friends than on the battlefield."


    Khan moved his eyes among the recruits to make sure that everyone had received the message. He couldn''t stop eventual departures, but he could be as clear as possible so that his students would know what they would miss or join.


    "Well, I don''t have more questions for now," Khan eximed as he walked toward the center of the hangar. "The lesson will start now."


    "What will we do today, sir?" Keith, one of the recruits who faced the Tainted ape, asked.


    "That''s simple," Khan chuckled. "Form a line ande at me. You can take as much time as you need to prepare. I''ll obviously hold back before pointing out eventual ws in your approach once the exchange is over."


    Elsie''s eyes lit up, and she quickly drew one of her swords before jumping forward to be the first in the line. Khan couldn''t help but smile at the sight of her enthusiasm, but he still felt the need to add something.


    "None of you cannd an attack on me," Khan exined. "The point of the lesson is to develop killing intent. Come at me as if you wanted to kill me. I might forget to hold back if I see that you don''t take the task seriously."


    Khan wore his cold expression near the end of his exnation, which surprised the recruits. They had begun to feel somewhat rxed around him, but the tension that only a superior could generate returned now.. Many students hesitated, but others jumped behind Elsie to create the line.

 Chapter 303 - First

    Khan didn''t go too hard on the recruits. Hurting them wasn''t the point of the lesson, and he also wanted to reassure them a bit after everything that had happened with the Tainted ape.


    None of the recruits were first-level warriors, and their proficiency level was alsocking. Many failed to perform perfect executions of their martial arts even after spending an entire minute preparing for their attacks.


    Khan had some hopes for the six recruits who had faced the Tainted ape, but they turned out to be too innocent to express proper killing intent. Deborah came close to attempting a deadly blow, but she got scared near the end of her technique, leading her mana to disperse before her open hand couldnd.


    John, Laurel, and Keith used their mana correctly, but they tried to attack Khan''s waist or shoulders. Dwight failed to perform a proper technique, while Elsie''s enthusiasm was nothing more than a desire to test herself. She liked to fight, but that didn''t make her a killer.


    A few surprises appeared among the other recruits. Khan counterattacked with simple kicks that only flung his opponents away, so everyone mustered the courage to face him. A couple of boys aimed their techniques at his neck, head, or center of the chest, but Khan addressed their sess to personal problems and lingering anger.


    No one showed the intention to kill Khan or even did their best to seed in the task. Yet, Khan still used that chance to give pointers orment on their performance.


    Khan couldn''t actually tell the recruits how to improve their offensive. They used different martial arts, so their ws were connected to improper executions or weaknesses of their styles.


    Still, Khan never failed to scold the recruits whenever their attacks didn''t aim at vital spots. He understood why they held back or felt worried about the potential consequences of their offensive, but that wasn''t the point of the lesson.


    Killing was hard. Khan knew that far too well. Yet, developing the resolve to go all-out even if that could lead to an enemy''s death was doable, and he wanted to achieve that.


    The sparring was so harmless that the recruits agreed to go for another round. The second cycle of exchanges went better. Most students tried to deliver killing blows, but their fears to hurt Khan often took over their executions.


    Khan continued to dodge every attack easily, and the power behind his kicks increased after every exchange. Pain could help eliminate eventual hesitation and fear, but he saw the results of that approach only during the third sparring cycle.


    "Okay, let''s call it a day," Khan announced after the third cycle ended. "It''s actually past the time assigned to my lessons, so we''ll have to skip the round of questions. I''m sure you''ll have your chance to probe into my life the next time."


    A series of disappointed voices came out of the group of recruits. They had already gathered into a line to prepare for the fourth cycle of exchanges. It was clear that they didn''t want the lesson to end yet, but Khan couldn''t do much about it.


    "Come on, it''s only two days," Khanughed. "We even have a full semester in front of us. You''ll have other chances to get kicked by me."


    A fewughs resounded, and the line broke quickly. The recruits weren''t tired since they only had the chance to test their attacks three times. However, they couldn''t deny that it was already prettyte. They risked skipping dinner if they wasted time.


    "Will we fight you again in the next lesson?" John asked as the students prepared themselves to leave the hangar.


    "No, that will probably happen next week," Khan revealed. "I have something else in mind for the next lesson. It shouldn''t be dangerous, but that will mostly depend on you."


    "Will we fight the Tainted ape again?" A recruit asked, and his question spread a wave of fear among herpanions.


    "There would be no point in that," Khan stated. "You needed to see the Tainted ape to experience true fear. Putting you against it now will only lead to injuries. You''ll see it again when I feel that you can fight it properly."


    Smiles and nods happened among the recruits. No one wanted to face the Tainted ape so soon. Even Elsie refrained from voicingments about the matter.


    "Professor Khan," Deborah called as the group was about to approach the entrance, "Will you eat in the canteen?"


    "Of course," Khan casually eximed as he approached one of the walls to retrieve his phone.


    "Some of us are going there now," Deborah continued. "Do you want to join us?"


    Khan almost froze on his spot when he heard that question, but his movements remained smooth and natural. Still, he chose not to hide his hesitation when he turned to face the recruits. He wanted to build deep trust with his students, so he couldn''t resort to lies and pretenses.


    "I don''t know how proper that would be," Khan replied. "I''m a professor and your direct superior."


    "We could use this chance for the questions," Keith announced, and many recruits nodded in approval as curiosity filled their faces.


    Khan felt cornered by that enthusiasm. He wanted to get close to the recruits, but he acknowledged the need for a certain division between them and him. However, he was going to the canteen anyway. Also, his students would also have the chance to deal with their round of questions during the meal.


    "I guess it doesn''t sound like a bad idea," Khan responded as some hesitation still filled his tone. "Though I must warn you. I eat a lot, so I''d have to answer between a bite and the next."


    The recruitsughed since they took Khan''s line for a joke, and he smiled honestly in front of that general happiness. He liked seeing his students like that. He almost regretted that he had to create a crack in that innocence to deliver his message.


    The recruits gathered around Khan as they began to walk toward the canteen. A few left since they had other matters to attend or wanted to shower before dinner, but many with simr ns changed their mind after learning that Khan would join them.


    Needless to say, the questions started on the road, and Khan noticed how the general boldness of the recruits had intensified. The different environment was probably ying an important role in that change, but Khan liked to think that his rtionship with his students had improved.


    The questions covered random topics. Those recruits had only seen aliens through their phones, so they requested vivid descriptions. Surprised oohs echoed among them when they heard Khan speaking the Niqols''nguage, and Onia''s tournament also aroused interest.


    Khan learnt that some of his students had gotten their hands on the tournament''s recordings. The recruits didn''t snitch on theirpanions, but they revealed how everyone in the camp now had those videos.


    That worked in Khan''s favor, but it also increased the number of gossips around his name. The recruits didn''t mention the most personal of them, but they still probed Khan about things that kept their curiosity on fire.


    "Noment," Khan repeated while wearing a faint smile that tried to hide his sadness. "I don''t mind telling you about the battlefields, aliens, and some funny experiences, but my personal life will remain a secret. You can give up on learning more about my time on Nitis."


    "That''s unfair!" Deborahined. "Interspecies couples are so rare. Your experience might help many of us if we get stationed on aliens."


    "Why don''t you try to apply the same dedication to my lessons instead of using it to get answers?" Khan joked.


    Everyoneughed, even Deborah. The recruits could see Khan under a different light during the walk, and the event pleased them. Outside of the lessons, when Khan didn''t need to give orders or use his experience to teach something, he revealed his true self, which was a seventeen-year-old man who had witnessed many things.


    Khan also epted that the situation was far from awful. Those students were his peers in terms of age, and he found himselffortable among them. A few of them clearly had hidden motives behind their kindness andughs, but many were simply trying to get to know him as if he were an ordinary recruit.


    That was the social life that the six months in co''s training had never managed to offer. Most of it was Khan''s fault due to his packed schedule and general distrust of his peers, but the situation was different now. Khan saw what could have been back then, and he didn''t know how to feel about the event.


    The group eventually reached the canteen, and Khan stayed true to his words. The recruits remained speechless in front of the sheer quantity of food he could eat, and the random messages that reached his phone even upied the short periods among his bites.


    ''How did you end up eating with your students?'' Amber texted.


    ''I can hear youughing from here,'' Khan replied.


    ''That''s because I amughing really hard,'' Amber responded.


    ''At least everything seems to go well,'' Khan managed to write once he finished his fourth chicken wing.


    ''Oh, no, actually, you have my praises,'' Amber texted. ''I never expected you to be so good at this.''


    ''Someone was underestimating me,'' Khan teased.


    ''Shall I remind you that you have no teaching experience and that your whole life has been nothing but Slums and battlefields?'' Ambermented.


    ''I thought I charmed you enough to gain yourplete trust and devotion,'' Khan continued with his teases.


    ''Okay, the devotion part got me,'' Amber joked. ''You are funny, Professor Khan.''


    ''I am indeed a great man,'' Khan texted.


    ''Don''t get carried away, or I''ll have to stopplimenting you,'' Amber replied.


    ''Sure thing, ma''am,'' Khan stated.


    ''Shut up,'' Amber sent.


    The conversation between the two ended there, but neither was to me for that oue. Khan had also exchanged messages with Cora during the walk, and she reached the canteen to see him.


    "Hey, Khan," Cora smiled when she saw Khan turning while she was approaching his table.


    The recruits had left the seats next to Khan empty out of respect for his position, so Cora could reach them. The students'' curious eyes made her shy and forced her to keep her gaze on the floor during the walk, and Khan didn''t help in the matter.


    "She is Cora Ommo," Khan announced while Cora sat next to him. "I was lucky enough to have her on my crashing site on Istrone."


    The students had naturally heard about Cora since they were from Reebfell. The list of survivors from the Istrone was short, so it wasn''t hard to find her name in some reports. Still, the recruits never had the chance to identify her since she rarely spent her free time outside her dormitory or sses.


    "He is exaggerating," Cora quickly overcame her shyness to correct Khan. "I was basically useless there. He did everything by himself."


    The recruits saw the chance to gain a different perspective on Khan''s feats and didn''t let it slip. Cora only had to wait a few seconds to see countless questions flying at her.


    "He has the bad habit of being modest," Cora exined after gaining a general understanding of what Khan had said to his students. "You should have seen him. He showed pure confidence from the crash to our rescue. I have countless bad memories about Istrone, and I hate everything that happened there, but I''m d that I got the chance to watch him shine."


    Cora wasn''t a good liar. Her feelings appeared everywhere on her voice and face, but her words also carried a deep honesty. The students immediately understood that they could use her to learn more about Khan, and they didn''t hesitate to exploit her.


    "His first kill has happened there, right?" Elsie asked before herpanions could voice other questions. "How was it?"


    "I told you, I have been rather useless there," Cora responded. "Still, his battles were incredible. He never faltered, even when he failed to perform his martial art correctly."


    "Yet, how did he have that confidence on his first battle?" Elsie insisted before moving her gaze on Khan. "Did you go for the killing blow without hesitation? Was the Kred difficult to take down?"


    "I''d rather not describe that," Khan lied while wearing a fake smile.


    "The Kred couldn''t keep up with his movements," Cora described. "He was too fast and precise for them."


    "So, did you go for its head?" Elsie added.


    "I''m not too proud of my first kill," Khan continued with his pretense. "I''d rather speak about something else."


    "Why is that?" Elsie asked. "Isn''t this the point of your lessons, sir? Your first experience with death should be something valuable to share."


    Everyone''s eyes converged on Khan, and even Cora initially followed that trend. However, she suddenly recalled something, and her hand shot to squeeze Khan''s arm.


    Cora had an apologetic look on her face. Khan could see her trying to find the words that could get him out of that situation, but he had already made up his mind.


    "Because she was ten," Khan revealed while Cora''s grasp tightened.. "My first kill was a ten-year-old Kred."

 Chapter 304 - Courage

    The recruits had been forced to read about the Kred after Istrone''s rebellion. They knew that those aliens reached physical maturity quickly. Yet, the theory was different from reality, especially when it used words that were so easy to misunderstand for humans.


    The students didn''t think about the Kred when they heard Khan''s revtion. Their minds stopped at the word "ten", and their stomachs clenched as they absorbed it. Their knowledge quickly allowed them to connect that age to a fully-grown alien, but the bitter feeling inside them remained.


    Khan wore a sad smile as he saw hesitation, emptiness, and stupor recing the curiosity that filled the recruits'' faces. A slight tremor ran through Cora''s grasp as she tightened and rxed it depending on her worries. That was the exact reaction he wanted from his students, but obtaining it didn''t make him feel good.


    "I''ll leave now," Khan stated. "I hope to see you all the day after tomorrow."


    The statement forced the recruits to snap out of their stupor, but only a few managed to look at Khan. Many continued to divert their gazes, while others remained deep into their thoughts as they tried to imagine how it felt to kill someone so young.


    Khan stood up, and Cora followed him. She let go of his arm, but she remained at his side, and their shoulders often touched as they left the canteen and reached the camp''s streets.


    Cora remained silent. She felt guilty for having awakened bad memories, and her gaze wandered on the street. Still, her body moved toward Khan on its own, even if she tried to distance herself whenever their shoulders touched.


    Meanwhile, Khan went over various thoughts. He still recalled the emotions that had tried to make a hole in his mental barrier when he learnt the Kred''s young age. His first kill had been awful, but a long time had passed, and far more blood had fallen on his hands.


    Khan could review Istrone''s events with greater rity now. He had long since epted that the rebellion had left him with no alternatives, and he had even acknowledged the dark areas of his personality. Liiza had even allowed him to appreciate the murky depths of his character. He could be a monster if the situation required it, but he took no joy in that.


    ''I hope they understand it now,'' Khan sighed while thinking about his students. ''I have probably done it. I have created a crack in their innocence. I should get a reward for my teaching skills.''


    His thoughts had ended up in a mock. Khan didn''t like what he had done, but his actions felt necessary, especially in his mind. He knew what his students could face, and they had probably understood that now.


    ''Why does the world look so dark?'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''Why can''t I find a light as bright as you?''


    Cora stopped walking and forced Khan to snap out of his happy memories on Nitis. He turned only to find his friend looking at the ground and holding her right arm. Her grasp twitched, but she tried her best to make her fingers pierce her uniform.


    "What is it?" Khan said in a helpless tone as he bent forward to make his head enter Cora''s field of view.


    "Why are you apanying me home tonight?" Cora whispered.


    "The curfew is close," Khan exined without straightening his back. "We don''t want you to face troubles, do we?"


    "But I messed up tonight," Corained. "You don''t have to force-."


    Cora couldn''t finish her line because Khan hugged her. She didn''t know how to react to that sudden gesture. Part of her felt guilty for enjoying something like that after what had happened. However, Cora couldn''t find the strength to push Khan away anywhere, so she abandoned herself in his arms.


    Khan didn''t really think before hugging Cora. His mood had grown a bit sour after the recent events, but he knew that the slightest gesture would mean the world for Cora, so he went for it. Reasons, problems, and consequences failed to reach his mind in time to stop him.


    "Come on, we went over this," Khan chuckled while caressing Cora''s long blonde hair. "We are friends. Stop worrying about these small things."


    "You are way too good with me," Cora whined while moving her head left and right in a desperate attempt to dive deeper into Khan''s chest. "Why?"


    "I''m always good," Khan joked, but Cora grabbed the sides of his uniform and tightened her grasp. She wouldn''t let him go, not through emotionless words at least.


    "It''s hard to exin," Khan sighed as he epted that he had to be honest. "You have already suffered even if you didn''t deserve it. I don''t want you to have it hard again."


    "Am I only someone who needs your protection in your mind?" Cora questioned.


    "You have stopped needing it near the end of Istrone''s rebellion," Khan exined. "This is just me being selfish. I want to be good with you because I don''t like to see you suffer."


    A tremor ran through Cora before she frozepletely. Khan could sense her heart beating faster, and a whisper eventually vibrated on his chest. "You have no idea how good you make me feel."


    Cora finally lifted her head to watch the effect that her words had on Khan. She felt a bit pleased that he had remained speechless, and a satisfied smile even appeared on her face.


    "You should be careful about what you say," Khan said while diverting his gaze from herrge green eyes.


    "Why? I''m speaking the truth, and you know it," Cora dered as her tone gained some confidence. "You have known since Istrone."


    "Yes, I know it," Khan sighed. "But you also know how I feel toward you."


    "Yes, I know," Cora whispered as her grasp on his uniform tightened.


    "It''s not you," Khan honestly exined. "You keep finding me in bad moments. I was barely myself on Istrone, and now-."


    "Now you are still lost over the Niqols girl," Cora concluded, and Khan couldn''t help but move his surprised gaze on her.


    "How can you be sure of that?" Khan asked.


    "Khan, I watch you," Cora responded. "I could see theyers of pain you kept hidden on Istrone. I saw how much it hurt to y the part of the cold hero. I might not have realized it back then, but I had a lot of time to think, and seeing you again without that mask made everything clear."


    Khan gulped as he diverted his gaze again. He had initially believed that the change in his behavior had only surprised Cora, but it seemed that the event had far deeper repercussions.


    "I think part of me always knew," Cora exined. "That''s why I tried so hard to support you on Istrone. That''s why I knew I couldn''t im a ce in your heart when you were so worried about your friend. That''s why I''m certain that only someone capable of shaking parts of you that no one else has ever seen could make you decide to love."


    "I never said that I loved her," Khan replied.


    "But I can see it here and now," Cora giggled as a single tear fell from her eyes. "It''s the reason why you are trying to push me away. It''s the reason why you look so sad whenever someone mentions Nitis. It''s the reason you are sealing your heart so deeply under theyers of pain that you keep umting."


    "Cora, I don''t know what to say," Khan spoke to break her flow, but Cora seemed unstoppable now that her feelings had exploded.


    "You know, I''m really timid," Cora smiled. "You might think that I fell for you due to how strong or reliable you are, but the truth is different. I love you because you give me courage that I never thought existed inside me. The same courage that has forced me to abandon my hesitation now."


    "I can''t give you what you want," Khan almost begged. "I don''t want to see you suffer while you wait for something that might nevere."


    "You have no idea how happy I would be to make a single smile appear on your face," Cora chuckled sweetly. "My life would feel whole to know that I''ve granted you a single peaceful second. Just give me that chance. Don''t cut me away out of fear of the pain I might experience. I can assure you that nothing would ever make me hate you."


    Khan sensed his self-restraint crumbling. That situation felt simr to what he had gone through with Delia, but Cora''s emotions made it far different.


    Cora was warm. Her sweet voice could melt ice and make water boil. She wanted to give so much, but Khan had forced her feelings to m on thick walls. Still, she had persisted until her emotions had exploded and had fallen on him.


    ''Why did I even hug her?'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''Why did I let her get so close? Why do I keep desiring to feel good when I have already experienced true bliss? Why do I still feel bad whenever I think of someone else? Why did you leave me with this curse? Why am I about to trust her?''


    "You messed up big time," Khan stated in a cold voice that made Cora''s face freeze. She actually felt scared for a second, but everything disappeared when Khan trapped her in a deep kiss.


    Cora gave Khanplete control of everything she had. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him do whatever he wanted. His fingers tried to stab her lower back as he pulled closer to his waist. His tongue barged violently inside her mouth as if searching for the source of her sweetness.


    Khan''s kiss became almost suffocating for Cora, but she didn''t care. She bent backward as he kept diving on her. Intense redness filled her cheeks when she felt something hard hitting on her waist, but her shyness couldn''t reach her mind in that situation. She belonged to him, and she didn''t mind if he broke her as he searched for his happiness.


    Khan took a while toe back to his senses and leave Cora''s mouth. She breathed roughly, but she still forced herself to wear a smile and fix her gaze on him. He noticed the faint trace of tears in her eyes, but they didn''t seem toe from her sadness.


    Cora''sck of experience in those matters was evident. She had tried to go along with Khan''s kiss, but she had been clumsy, and he had been too aggressive for her to understand what to do.


    "It''s better if you return on your own tonight," Khan stated as his eyes ran over her figure. "I don''t know what I might do."


    "Y-you can do everything you l-," Cora mustered the entirety of her courage to say that line, and her cheeks even reached a new realm of redness during the process, but Khan kissed her before she could finish.


    The second kiss was soft and sweet, something that made Cora melt and ept Khan''s words. When he let go of her lips, she nodded and wore a sweet smile before turning to run through the street on her own.


    Cora was basically escaping now that her shyness had returned, but Khan knew that her mind was going throughplete happiness. He could sense it in the mana inside her body. Her energy was ying a cheerful tune that appeased even some of his most profound doubts.


    ''Fuck, I ended up doing it,'' Khan cursed as his hand reached his lips.


    Cora''s taste was still there. Part of Khan minded that vor, but another felt happy. He didn''t know if that feeling came from the incredible moment he had given to Cora or from something inside him, but he decided not to think about it that night.


    His mind could only go over a few deafening lines as he reviewed what had happened. Khan''s thoughts almost shouted as they made him swear a simple promise. ''Cora can''t be another Delia. I need to do this right.''


    A message reached Khan while he was still immersed in his thoughts. He picked up his phone almost unconsciously, but his attention felt forced to move on the screen when he saw the words "Headmaster Pitcus" on top of the notification.


    ''The meeting with the families will happen tomorrow then,'' Khan summarized after reading the message. ''I really can''t take a breath. Luckily I know how I want to handle this part.''


    ****


    Author''s notes: Shoutout to Warmaisach for the Magic Castle!

 Chapter 305 - Dumb

    Khan reached his t in no time. He wasn''t in a hurry, but he felt restless, and it took him a while to understand the source of that feeling.


    Initially, Khan med Cora and their kiss for his restlessness. After all, he had jumped into a situation where he didn''t have feelings for his partner. He hoped to develop them to make sure that Cora got what she deserved, but part of him desired the opposite oue.


    Still, his hesitation and uncertainty weren''t enough to make him feel like that. Khan even went over Headmaster Pitcus'' message again to see if the imminent meetings with the families'' representatives stirred something. Yet, he didn''t experience anything out of the usual. He actually sensed confidence brimming inside him.


    Khan could find the source of his restlessness only after eliminating those imminent problems. He had already realized that being selfless made him feel good, but the kiss with Cora revealed that a heavy price apanied that approach. It was easy to forget about himself when he focused entirely on others.


    That approach could work with men and women at the end of their careers or with no interests left. Khan could imagine versions of Lieutenant Dyester and Captain Goldmonpletely focused on their underlings. Still, he was different. He was barely seventeen. He had many desires that his various traumas and peculiar situation had suppressed.


    Those desires were the reason behind his violence during the kiss. They exined why Khan kept drinking whenever he had the chance, and they also revealed why he joked with Amber. He simply liked doing that.


    Khan was far from tired, but he didn''t want to spend the whole night immersed in his training programs. He had many books to study, but that wasn''t the right time to memorize aliennguages and customs.


    Khan left his t without even realizing that he had made up his mind. His feet led him in the areas with the training halls, and a sigh of relief escaped his mouth when he saw the metal door sliding open at the touch with his phone. Menus lit up under him, and he quickly tapped on a fewbels to choose the exercise.


    Thinking was too troublesome. Worrying about the messy desires and fears that filled his mind was too tiring. Khan set the rm to his phone and decided to shut his thoughts to lose himself in long battles. An honest smile even appeared on his face when the training hall released the first puppet.


    .


    .


    .


    "It was like this when I arrived," Khan swore while wearing the most honest face he could muster.


    "Then why did you wait almost twenty hours to contact me?" Headmaster Pitcus sighed while adjusting his sses to inspect the damage.


    The training hall''s state was as perfect as ever, but that only applied to its surfaces. The wall containing the workshop that built the puppets was open now, and Headmaster Pitcus could inspect the destroyed mechanical arms, drills, and tubes inside it.


    "Why did you even attack the training dummy before it became ready to fight?" Headmaster Pitcus asked while straightening his position and showing his frown to Khan.


    Khan didn''t know what to say. He had remained inside the training hall since the previous night, halting his battles only when his body needed breaks. That had allowed him to dive deeper into his instinctive fighting style, but it had also led to unexpected consequences.


    During real battles, Khan had always been forced to retain a basic level of control. He couldn''t allow himself to react solely to the waves of mana since he had to differentiate between allies and enemies.


    However, the training hall offered a safe environment where Khan could go all-out without worrying about eventual consequences, or so he thought. When he waspletely immersed in the waves of mana, he hadunched a chaos spear toward the workshops since he had sensed energy gathering in that spot.


    The training halls were resilient, and Khan had even chosen one that could endure his element. Yet, only its surfaces had that resistant factor. The workshop inside the wall had nothing simr, and it was even quite frailpared to the overall structure.


    Khan had realized what he had done only after he couldn''t find other opponents around him. It had even taken him a while to recall how he had destroyed the workshop, but he didn''t hesitate to contact Headmaster Pitcus afterward.


    "I went on auto-pilot," Khan admitted. "It wasn''t my intention to damage the camp."


    "I hope it wasn''t," Headmaster Pitcus chuckled.


    "Aren''t you angry, sir?" Khan asked.


    "It''s just a training hall," Headmaster Pitcus stated. "My superiors won''t even ask for a refund when they hear that you have been the one to break it."


    Khan heaved a sigh of relief. He probably didn''t have enough money to pay for the damage, and he didn''t want to be broke again so soon.


    "Let''s talk a bit about you instead," Headmaster Pitcus changed the topic while looking at Khan''s bleeding hands. "Are you okay? It''smon for soldiers to develop problems after wars. We have specialists here that might be able to help."


    "Oh," Khan eximed as he nced at his hands. "My hands are fine. My knife broke near the end, so I had to use these. Don''t worry. It happens all the time."


    "And you consider it fine?" Headmaster Pitcus asked.


    "They really are okay," Khan exined while closing and opening his hands, but the process only erged his superficial injuries and made more blood fall out of them.


    "Pay a visit to the medical bay when you get out of here," Headmaster Pitcus ordered while shaking his head. "And take a shower before heading for the meeting with the representatives. Remember to wear your military uniform. I''ll be there to intervene if something goes wrong."


    "Thank you, sir!" Khan replied while performing a military salute.


    "Go to the medical bay already," Headmaster Pitcus scolded. "The meeting is in two hours. Beingte won''t help your cause."


    Khan nodded and retrieved his broken knife and phone before leaving in a hurry. His blood fell on the device''s screen when he browsed through the unanswered messages. He had replied to Cora and Amber during his short breaks, but he had still left them hanging for a few hours.


    Needless to say, both Cora and Amber grew worried when they heard about his trip to the medical bay, but he reassured them quickly. Cora even asked if Khan needed her, but he exined how time wasn''t on his side.


    The nurses were more than enough to handle the shallow injuries on his hands. They applied lotions and bandages that didn''t hinder the movements of his fingers before letting him go back to his t.


    The rm that Khan had set the previous night rang while he was still in the middle of his shower. The event forced him to hurry even more and led to a long sprint across the camp''s streets.


    The meeting couldn''t happen in the central areas of the camp due to the political repercussions that the presence of the families'' representatives could cause to the professors. Khan would only end up at the center of more gossips if someone saw him attending a private meeting with those important figures, but the same would apply to any soldier.


    Headmaster Pitcus had designated an underground structure near the train area for the meeting. Khan reached it in an instant through his sprints, but he still arrived only five minutes before the scheduled time.


    The instructions on Headmaster Pitcus'' message were extremely clear, so Khan found his destination easily. Arge hall unfolded in his vision when the metal doors slid open, and a series of gazes immediately fell on him.


    Khan performed a series of polite nods as he walked inside the hall. Theyout of the room resembled the areas used by other subjects. He could see a desk on one side and a series of seats on the other with stairs running through them.


    Headmaster Pitcus was already sitting behind the desk, and the same went for the figures on the seats. Khan saw more than twenty figures wearing cold faces as they inspected him from head to toe. The atmosphere was more than tense, but Khan didn''t let it affect his thoughts.


    "Greetings, esteemed guests," Khan eximed before reaching a spot in front of the desk and performing a military salute to the families'' representatives.


    His behavior was impable, but that wasn''t enough to please the representatives. They only showed annoyance and scorn in front of his salute, and none of them dared to address it adequately.


    Headmaster Pitcus cleared his throat and stood up to announce the beginning of the meeting. "Now that everyone is here, Lieutenant Khan will answer your questions. I hope that by the end of the meeting you''ll feel reassured about his teaching methods."


    "That sounds hard since Lieutenant Khan can''t even manage to arrive before us," A middle-aged woman among the representativesined.


    "Does he believe that his duties are more important than ours?" A middle-aged man among the representatives asked.


    "I wouldn''t be surprised about that," Another representative added. "He is young, and his background didn''t teach him anything about Earth''s ruling ss. How long did he even spend studying in co''s training camp?"


    "I''m sorry, Headmaster Pitcus," A fourth representative continued. "I respect your figure and dedication toward Reebfell''s training camp, but I simply can''t understand how Lieutenant Khan can be a good choice for this job."


    Headmaster Pitcus wanted to respond, but Khan nced at him and nodded. The soldier could only reveal a smile and sit back on his chair while announcing his intentions. "That''s why we are having this meeting. You can redirect your doubts to Lieutenant Khan."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan quickly said before turning toward the representatives. "Esteemed guests, I must admit that bing a professor had never crossed my mind. Colonel Norrett offered me this position after winning Onia''s tournament, and I found no reason to refuse, especially since I believe I have something worth teaching."


    A series of snorts resounded among the representatives. They didn''t dare toin right after Khan mentioned Colonel Norrett, so they waited for him to continue and say something they could contradict.


    "I know that my teaching methods are unusual," Khan continued, ignoring the snorts and suppressed curses that followed his statement. "Still, the same goes for my subject. I wouldn''t know how to teach it without forcing my students to face calcted dangers."


    "It is my understanding that you have forced your students to face a Tainted animal with gic and bionic enhancements," One of the representatives eximed. "How can you consider that a calcted danger?"


    "It was calcted because I was there, ready to intervene," Khan exined.


    "Why did they suffer injuries then?" Another representative asked. "My boy told me that you didn''t even let them visit the medical bay afterward."


    "I did dy their trip to the medical bay to recreate the conditions of a battlefield," Khan dered.


    "Are you crazy?!" A third representative shouted. "Do you think we would like our descendants to experience a battlefield when they aren''t ready for it?"


    "With all due respect," Khan responded, "I don''t care about what you like. I never thought about you during my lessons. My whole focus must be on my students."


    The statement left the representatives speechless for a few seconds, but Khan soon heard a storm ofints flying toward his ears. They shouted, stood up, and mmed their palms on the small desks in front of them as they voiced their anger.


    Some representatives took Khan''s lines as an insult that didn''t respect their position. Others started to view him as a sadistic man. A few directly started to ignore him and called Headmaster Pitcus with bold requests. Khan heard the words "fire him immediately" seven times in less than thirty seconds.


    "Are you all dumb?" Khan eventually shouted, and the event surprised everyone so much that even Headmaster Pitcus stood up.

 Chapter 306 - Meeting

    Khan was definitely annoyed by those loudints. He felt that the families'' representatives had forced that meeting only to belittle him, and many of them didn''t even bother looking at him while they did that.


    His mood wasn''t even ideal. Khan had spent almost a day immersed in theplete freedom that only a battle against lifeless robots could give, so going back to the restrained political life in less than two hours had been irritating.


    Khan had also just epted that his selflessness wasn''t a solution to his desires and urges. In theory, his state could lead to a reckless and irrational statement, but his answer to the loudints had been calcted.


    Captain Goldmon''s teachings resounded in Khan''s mind as he inspected the stunned and speechless representatives. The political environment was full of liars who would stop at nothing to gain favors or trick Khan into fitting their ns. Moreover, all of them would be better than him at that game.


    Entering the political game as a liar would only work against Khan since he would have to face opponents with more experience than him. He could get away with it for now since he could exploit his young age and feats. Yet, the time woulde when he would lose those advantages.


    Khan didn''t know if he could learn everything he needed about the political game before his advantages ran out. Also, he wasn''t sure he wanted to. The sole thought of spending his entire life pretending among liars attempted to kill every motivation that his desperation had generated throughout the years.


    Building a political persona could work, but it went against Khan''s desires. His character might even suit that approach due to his experience in the Slums, but he didn''t like it. He couldpromise if the situation needed it, but he wouldn''t give up on himself to please more people.


    Headmaster Pitcus was as speechless as the representatives, but his role forced him to be on Khan''s side. Moreover, Khan didn''t seem to have lost control. His face was calm, and his eyes studied the area coldly. There was a n behind that expression, and Headmaster Pitcus decided to trust it for now.


    "What did you say?!"


    "Did you just insult us?!"


    "Headmaster Pitcus, I expect you to fire him after such a grave offense!"


    "This boy has no manners!"


    "Where does he think he is?!"


    Those were only some of the lines that the representatives shouted as soon as they snapped back to reality. Needless to say, they were far from pleased. They didn''t even try to contain their voices. They shouted and mmed their hands on the small tables before them to highlight how pissed they were.


    "Can you stay silent for a few seconds?" Khan shouted to make sure that his words reached the angry representatives. "And, please, stop trying to involve Headmaster Pitcus before hearing me out. I''ve shed blood for a year for the Global Army. I deserve some respect."


    The representatives'' initial instinct was to raise their voices, especially since Khan didn''t even try to justify his previous words. Yet, thest part of his statement reminded them of his achievements.


    His victory on Onia alone had brought great benefits to the Global Army and Earth as a whole, and he had also saved many lives during his other feats. However, the representatives had treated him like a kid right away.


    Khan nodded when he saw tinges of shames appearing among the audience. He had the representatives'' attention now, so he had to make his next words matter.


    "You are all wealthier than me," Khan announced. "I''m sure you''ll try to offer everything you can to your descendants. You''ll keep them safe and provide the best resources on the market. You''ll give them things that I can''t even pronounce, and I can only rejoice knowing that."


    Khan wasplimenting the representatives, and they knew that. Some displeasure and annoyance still filled their faces, but those words bought Khan a few seconds and improved the general atmosphere.


    "I''m also sure you''ll find good positions for them," Khan continued. "They will gather merits in safe environments and climb the military ranks without ever facing any danger. I know all of this because that''s what I''d do for my children or rtives if I had your wealth."


    "Get to the point, young man," One of the representatives voiced.


    "I have been with wealthy descendants," Khan revealed. "I''ve seen the difference that money and resources can make. Yet, they are dead while I''m here."


    "Are you insulting our descendants now?" Another representative asked.


    "Not at all," Khan promptly responded. "I could survive because that''s what I did my entire life. I had to fight over food, clothes, and even houses. When the rebellion on Istrone happened, I could react faster and better than my peers because I already had the right instincts."


    "We know what you are trying to say, Lieutenant Khan," A third representative, one of the calmest among the audience, revealed. "We even know what you are trying to aplish with your lessons. Still, you sent six recruits to the medical bay with injuries that need weeks to healpletely."


    "So?" Khan asked. "The next time my students find themselves with a broken arm or leg, they won''t freeze. They won''t panic. They won''t cry in front of an enemy or in the middle of the battlefield because they already have the experience needed to react."


    "That''s still too much!" One of the angry representatives shouted, and approving voices resounded among the audience.


    "How would you teach them that then?" Khan questioned. "I know that I''m young and that my teaching experience is non-existent, but I''m open to suggestions. I don''t want to hurt my students, but I can''t find a different method to prepare them for what the universe can throw at them. So, please, do tell me if you have better ideas. I''ll be happy to apply them."


    No one spoke, and some representatives even diverted their gazes when Khan looked at them. They all knew the sad truth about the matter. Only the battlefield could teach about the battlefield.


    "My son will never see the battlefield," One of the angry women among the audience eventually eximed. "His future is already set. He will nevere close to a fight, so I don''t see why he should face your barbaric methods only to get more academic merits."


    "Where will he go?" Khan asked calmly.


    "He will enter an academy specialized in building magic items," The woman proudly announced. "Reebfell is an option, but we''ll see if he can aim higher after spending two years in this camp."


    The other representatives nodded, and some even whisperedpliments to the woman. A political game had started, and everyone wanted a share, everyone except for Khan.


    "Let''s say that he does exceptionally well during these two years, and let''s say that I''m not in the picture," Khan theorized. "Your descendant enters this superior academy and shows great talent for its courses. However, the Third Impact happens right above the building, so he dies because he freezes in front of a Nak."


    "What do you kn-?!" The woman instinctivelyined before closing her mouth with her hands. Her anger had almost made her forget Khan''s history.


    "The Second Impact has been a tragic event," Another representative dered. "However, you can''t use it to prove your point."


    "Why not?" Khan asked while moving his gaze among the audience. "Do you know when or where the next Impact will happen? Can you predict the next rebellion? What if the Global Army finds a stronger alien species and loses the war with it? Can you tell me with absolute certainty that no major crises will happen in the next years?"


    No one answered. It was pointless since the representatives knew what Khan would say to reply. He didn''t experience only one crisis. His luck had been horrible, and nothing could prevent his descendants from going through something simr.


    "As I said before, I know that you''ll do everything in your power to keep them safe," Khan continued, "But I also know that it might not be enough. You canin all you want, but I will still try to prepare my students for the worst. At the end of the day, I only care that they have what they need to survive out there."


    Khan wasn''t being rude, but some representatives had the chance toin about that. Yet, they remained silent since everything he had said made sense. It would have been different with another professor, but Khan''s history added too much value to his words.


    "Anyway," Khan added after letting his words resound in the representatives'' minds for a few seconds," My subject isn''t mandatory. Tell your descendant not to attend it if you find it too dangerous. If something happens, they won''t be on my conscience because I know that I''m doing everything in my power to prepare them."


    Those final words acted as a death blow. Khan had made his position more than clear, and the representatives couldn''t argue with that. Everything would be up to them now.


    A few silent minutes passed before the representatives began to exchange whispers. Khan couldn''t understand what they said, but the various nods and general calm that filled the audience told him that the meeting had gone rtively well.


    A nce at Headmaster Pitcus also revealed that he approved what had happened. He nodded at Khan as soon as he met his eyes, and he even decided to take control of the situation after a few more minutes went by.


    "I think there''s nothing else to say," Headmaster Pitcus announced while stepping forward to reach Khan''s left side. "We can end the meeting here. Please, let me escort you all to the station."


    The representatives nodded and began to descend from the staircases as Headmaster Pitcus walked toward the entrance. Khan performed a military salute while remaining on his spot, and most of the audience nodded at him before going on their way. Still, a few decided to approach Khan to exchange some short lines.


    "I appreciate everything you have done for the Global Army and humankind, Lieutenant Khan," A representative said while wearing a warm smile.


    "The future of the Global Army seems to be in decent hands," Another representativemented in a dismissive tone.


    "I''m sorry for the initial rudeness," A third representative whispered. "Part of us was only testing you, and I think I speak for all of them when I say that you have given an outstanding impression."


    "Try to contain the number of broken bones, will you?" A fourth representative chuckled.


    "I can''t wait to meet you in friendlier situations," The fifth said.


    "My Elsie is about your age," A middle-aged woman hinted. "Try to watch her closely. She might need a man like you in her life."


    Khan wore a fake smile as those statements went by. That part turned out to be the worst phase of the meeting, but it ended quickly. When thest representative left the hall, Headmaster Pitcus nodded at Khan again before following those lofty figures.


    ''It''s over,'' Khan eximed in his mind as a sigh left his mouth. He soon realized that he didn''t care about the meeting''s oue. He only felt d that everything hade to an end.


    ''Maybe I''m not fit for the political environment,'' Khan wondered as he waited in the hall to put some distance from the representatives. ''I never thought that telling the truth could be tiring.''


    Khan spent silent minutes in the hall. He sent a few messages to tell Amber and Cora about the meeting and his first impressions, but his stomach eventually forced him to leave. He had yet to have dinner, so he went directly to the canteen.


    A familiar scene unfolded in his vision when he left the canteen. Khan noticed a figure waiting for him on a bench in the distance. The phone''s light illuminated Cora''s face as she waited for a message from her loved one.


    Cora almost dropped her phone when she heard steps disrupting the silence of the night, but a timid smile appeared on her face when she saw Khan walking toward her. Still, shyness soon reced her happiness, which forced her to lower her gaze.


    "Were you worried about me?" Khan chuckled as he stopped in front of Cora.


    "I knew you would ace the meeting," Cora responded while shaking her head. "I only wanted to see if you were okay."


    "My hands are fine," Khan stated while putting his hands in her line of sight. "I''ll take off the bandages once I get to my t."


    Cora began to reach for his hands, but her face suddenly turned scarlet, and her arms froze. She felt too timid whenever she thought about the previous night. She didn''t know how to face him.


    Khan smiled in front of those cute reactions, but he still decided to act. His fingers reached Cora''s chin and lifted her head while he bent forward. Cora let him guide her until she found his lips pressing on her mouth.


    The kiss was sweet, soft, and slow. The violence that Khan had shown the previous night didn''t appear, and Cora slowly grew used to that gesture.


    "I have already epted you," Khan whispered after making their lips separate. "Stop worrying so much."


    Cora wanted to say something, but Khan interrupted her with a quick kiss on her lips. A cute pout appeared on her face as her face reddened even more, but Khan melted it with a shortugh.


    "Let me take you home," Khan requested while straightening his back and showing her his open hand.


    Cora smiled and nodded before taking his hand. She left the bench, and the two began to walk slowly toward her dormitory.. They separated only when they were about to enter the patrolling soldiers'' vision.

 Chapter 307 - Blacksmiths

    "I think you should just abandon the idea of relying on first-grade weapons," Amber exined as she and Khan walked through Reebfell''s streets. "Even those resistant to your element don''t haveplete immunity. Go for a custom-made second-grade knife if you really need to buy something."


    "Do I even have enough Credits for something so valuable?" Khan asked.


    "The prices of the magic weapons have different brackets," Amber revealed. "You''ll probably go broke if you buy the best second-grade knife on the market, but you might be fine with something made by a rtively inexperienced cksmith."


    "Won''t that defeat the purpose behind my purchase?" Khan voiced his doubts.


    "It depends on the shop," Amber stated. "Some brands are popr for their reliable products, even when theye from apprentice cksmiths."


    "You know so much, Professor Teldom," Khan joked.


    "Can''t you just be happy that I''ve decided to apany you?" Amberined even if a smile appeared on her face.


    "I remember that you liked the idea of a trip to the city even more than me," Khan teased.


    "Shut up," Amber snorted in her sweet tone.


    Khan''s knife had broken during hisst time inside the training hall. His third lesson was also approaching, so he didn''t hesitate to contact Amber after dropping Cora at her dormitory. The Professor had been more than happy to n a morning trip to Reebfell, which had led to the current situation.


    "Why aren''t you with your girl anyway?" Amber asked after the two remained silent for a few seconds.


    "Why did you wait until we got to Reebfell to ask me that?" Khanughed. "Did you experience a sudden burst of jealousy?"


    "Come on, Khan," Amber said in a serious tone. "I don''t want her to worry about our rtionship. You are way too famous. I might end up at the center of gossips in no time, and I don''t want her to be surprised about them."


    "Your career might also suffer now that I think about it," Khan sighed.


    "I have an excellent reputation," Amber reassured. "Some gossips won''t ruin it. I''m only worried to cause problems for you two."


    "Why? Aren''t we friends?" Khan asked while wearing a stern expression.


    "That''s not what I meant," Amber responded. "She might-."


    "I know what you meant," Khanughed. "I was only joking. Cora couldn''te because of her lessons, and you are better than her at this stuff anyway. I told her that I wasing to Reebfell with you."


    Amber nodded. She wouldn''t worry as long as Khan didn''t start to lie to Cora when he hung out with her. She felt that he wasn''t that kind of man, but she wanted to be sure about that anyway.


    "Also," Khan continued, "I wouldn''t stop talking and going out with you even if she asked me that. I understand jealousy, but that shouldn''t prevent me from having female friends."


    "Do you think she will get jealous?" Amber questioned.


    "Do you wish to make her jealous?" Khan teased.


    "Khan,e on," Amberined. "Help me get rid of these worries. We can go back to the jokes afterward."


    "She doesn''t know much about rtionships," Khan revealed. "She is also quite shy. I think she''ll get jealous about almost everything initially, but time will give her some confidence."


    "I didn''t expect you to go for someone so innocent," Amber mocked. "Maybe there is a romantic heart under all the jokes and training."


    "I didn''t expect to kiss her either," Khan admitted, "But she is sweet and honest. I smile whenever I see her small efforts. I can trust herpletely."


    "You are so cute," Amber giggled.


    "Her appearance also helped a lot," Khan eximed. "I mean, did you see her? I must be the luckiest guy in the world."


    "You are a dirty-minded idiot!" Amber shouted and pped Khan''s shoulder asughs mixed with herints. "You just said that she doesn''t have any experience. I won''t forgive you if you push her too hard."


    "I should make a trip to the medical bay now that I think about it," Khanmented.


    Amber remained silent for a second, butints left her mouth again when she understood what Khan meant. She couldn''t be too explicit in the middle of the street, but she still found many vague synonyms for the word "condom".


    "I get it, I get it," Khanughed after Amber seemed set on ripping off his shoulder. "I have no intention of rushing her. I have to take this slowly to make sure that she is ready. Hurting her is thest thing I want."


    Amber wore a satisfied smile, but she suddenly recalled something that soured her mood. She still remembered the faint whisper that Khan had voiced when they found Cora waiting for him after his first trip to Reebfell.


    "What about your heart?" Amber asked in a worried tone. "What do you want?"


    Khan didn''t expect Amber to remember that line. It actually told him more about her character, which left him pleased. Amber really was a good person, so he decided to answer honestly.


    "I think I''m starting to ept that I won''t ever experience something so perfect again," Khan admitted. "I''ll remember it forever, and I''ll probablypare it to every other happy moment waiting for me in the future. Still, that shouldn''t stop me from listening to my desires and fulfilling them."


    "You aren''t talking about something naughty again, right?" Amber asked. "Also, you are only seventeen. You have a whole life in front of you. It''s basically proven that you''ll experience something better one day. Who knows? Cora might be the one behind that greater happiness."


    Amber didn''t know anything about Liiza. Only Cora had managed to connect the dots and uncover something, but she was also in the dark about almost every detail.


    Amber knew that Khan wasn''t the type to exaggerate, but she addressed his extreme statement to his young age. She believed that he had experienced something that had felt perfect in his mind, but she also assumed that life would eventually grant him better emotions.


    Instead, Khan had beenpletely confident in his statement due to the tattoo on his right shoulder. The Niqols never joked when it came to the mana, and Zalpa had even tried her best to make Khan and Liiza separate back then. However, his sess in the test and his permanent mark confirmed the sad truth he had just voiced.


    Still, Khan had been honest. He knew that his faint guilt and love would probably never vanish, but he couldn''t stop living because of them. His constant indecision when it came to rtionships also had to end. It was time to do his best to aplish some form of happiness.


    Of course, there was one thing that Khan could never even try to put in the back of his mind. That was the goal that no amount of happiness could ever make him forget. He had to find the Nak, or true peace would never arrive.


    The interactions between Khan and Amber went back to normal after that serious conversation. The two mostly cracked jokes and spoke about random topics as they walked through Reebfell''s streets.


    Since Amber had epted to apany Khan, they decided to go over her needs first. She didn''t have a proper goal in mind, but she didn''t hold back from looking for new clothes or some rare book that even her familycked.


    Almost all the shops in Reebfell could send eventual purchases directly to the camp, so Amber didn''t need to carry anything even if she bought a few things. Once she was done, she led Khan toward the part of themercial district that handled magical weapons and items in general.


    The change in the purpose of those buildings was evident. The structures there had transparent entrances, and some evencked them since many cksmiths liked to show their ability to the crowd.


    Amber exined how that was amon practice for cksmiths trying to make a name for themselves. They had to rent the stands inside those buildings, and the owners would give them a chance to be official members of their brand if they sold enough products.


    Every brand had different requirements and prices for its stands. Some focused on weapons, others on general reliability, and a few even in unpredictability. Amber couldn''t exin the matter too profoundly since that wasn''t her field, but she knew that the creation of magic items could have different approaches due to the various schools and branches belonging to the subject.


    The more Amber exined the more Khan''s interest rose, but he wasn''t the only one with that desire. Each stand had crowds, which mainly featured astonished kids with their parents. Khan managed to steal peeks from time to time, but he could only nce at random scenes of men and women crouched in front of a glowing anvil.


    "Don''t get lost among the stands," Amber giggled when she saw the intense interest and curiosity in Khan''s restless eyes. "These cksmiths are only trying to get epted to the actual shops. You need experts who have already proven their names."


    Khan let Amber lead him toward areas without the crowds to enter one of the buildings in that part of themercial district. The atmosphere immediately changed after entering the structure''s perimeter. The loud mess of the stands vanished all of a sudden, and a peaceful vibe unfolded.


    The stands were only a few meters away, and the building had no walls that divided them from the insides of its first floor. However, the noiseing from the crowds couldn''t reach those areas and allowed the few customers there to inspect the various items exposed on a rectangr transparent case.


    The mana radiated by those items attracted Khan''s attention, but Amber dragged him away after letting him wander for a few minutes. The first floor of the building had more areas, and their destination was in one of the rooms encircled by walls.


    Clinging noises began to echo through the air as soon as Khan and Amber crossed one of the few sliding doors on the first floor. Multiple cksmiths bent over glowing anvils unfolded in the two''s eyes, but Amber didn''t let Khan spend too long inspecting the area. It turned out that she knew one of those experts, and thetter didn''t hesitate to greet her as soon as she heard her steps.


    "Miss Teldom!" A middle-aged man covered in sweat and wearing a simple ck tanktop announced after Khan and Amber stopped in front of his anvil. "What a pleasure to see you here. You are as enchanting as ever."


    "Your tongue has grown even sweeter, Master Cansend," Amber eximed while wearing a polite but bright smile.


    ''Fourth-level warrior,'' Khan evaluated after sensing the mana inside the burly man.


    Master Cansend had the appearance of a brute. His sweaty bald head reflected the light radiated by his azure anvil, and his long ck beard had traces of dirt in its many curls. His dark gloves also had multiple spots and holes, but his behavior was impable.


    "Is the sir here your fianc¨¦e?" Master Cansend asked while ncing at Khan.


    "No, but he is a good friend," Amber exined. "I''m introducing him to the shop. He needs a custom-made magic weapon."


    "You havee in the right ce!" Master Cansend stated happily. "The cksmiths in the "Divine Architects" build the most reliable magic weapons on the market. Tell me, what can I do for you?"


    "I need a chaos-resistant second-grade knife," Khan quickly exined.


    "Chaos-resistant?" Master Cansend repeated as his brown eyes sharpened. "Are you Lieutenant Khan, sir?"


    "Yes, that''s me," Khan directly admitted.


    "Wow, I knew that you were young, but seeing you in person gives apletely different impression." Master Cansend eximed. "Thank you for your service. I can''t wait to get to work on your knife."


    "Master Cansend, Khan''s finances aren''t great," Amber intervened. "I''m afraid he won''t be able to request your services today."


    "Oh, that sounds about right," Master Cansendmented while cing his magic hammer on the glowing anvil and scratching his long beard. "Though I know someone who can help you. He is my apprentice, so I''ll take full responsibility for eventualints or mistakes."


    "I''m sure the "Divine Architects" will stay true to its name." Amber lowered her head as a sign of respect, and Khan imitated her.


    "That''s the main aspect behind our brand," Master Cansend dered before inspecting the anvils around him and releasing a shout. "Curtis, I have a client for you!"


    Master Cansend''s loud voice went against the gentle and polite image he had created with his impable behavior, but both Khan and Amber pretended that everything was normal. A tall, slender man in his twenties with messy ck hair soon approached Master Cansend''s anvil, and he performed a military salute at the sight of the two uniforms.


    "How can I help you, sir and ma''am?" Curtis asked while removing his hair from his forehead to show his dark eyes.


    "Lieutenant Khan needs a second-grade knife resistant to the chaos element," Master Cansend exined before Khan or Amber could say anything.


    "A chaos-resistant knife?" Curtis repeated.. "I''m not as expensive as my Master, but that weapon will cost a lot anyway."

 Chapter 308 - Discounts

    "How expensive are we talking about?" Khan asked.


    "Let''s move to my anvil first," Curtis eximed, and Khan and Amber nodded at Master Cansend before following his apprentice.


    Curtis led the two past a corner that hid a trapdoor and descended from the staircase connected to that opening. A vast underground hall with a far livelier atmosphere unfolded in Amber and Khan''s eyes, and they could immediately see that everyone there was rtively young.


    "Curtis, do you finally have a client?" A woman near the bottom of the hall shouted as soon as the trio left the staircase.


    "Shut it, Betty," Curtis snorted as he stormed through the hall. "I''m with Lieutenant Khan here."


    "That Khan?" Betty gasped as she and everyone else in the hall moved their eyes on Khan.


    "She is richer than me," Khanmented while pointing at Amber, but thement didn''t affect her polite smile.


    "Sir, thank you for your work out there!" An apprentice shouted.


    "Thank you, sir!" Another apprentice followed, and many others voiced simr lines.


    Khan had the chance to see how regr citizens viewed him from those reactions. He had often met superiors or soldiers at his same rank, but the various apprentices showed him how his fame was incredibly positive. He even noticed some reverence in a few gazes.


    "I''m sorry that you ended up with Curtis as your cksmith," Betty eventually stated.


    "Betty!" Curtis scolded.


    "Is he bad?" Khan asked.


    "Not at all," Betty responded through augh, "But we like to tease him about his style."


    ''Style?'' Khan wondered, but the answer to those doubts became evident when he reached Curtis'' corner.


    The underground hall was full of apprentices, and all of them had small cubicles with anvils at their center. The short tables that separated the various spaces had different materials and weapons in exposition, so Khan could quickly see some of Curtis'' weapons.


    The weapons were fine. Some were iplete, but they didn''t have any damage or crack. The issue was with their handles since Curtis tried to shape them like skulls.


    "No one understands my genius," Curtis scoffed as he sat behind his anvil. "A battle starts even before shing weapons. A mere sight at my creations will make the enemies cower in fear!"


    "How can anyone see this design if I have my hand wrapped around it?" Khan honestly asked.


    Curtis seemed to freeze, and the other apprentices also went silent for a second before exploding into loudughs. Mocks quickly followed, but Curtis appeared able to ignore all of them.


    Khan liked that lively atmosphere. He preferred it over the heavy political tension, but he still felt worried about the actual utility of those strange handles.


    Nevertheless, Curtis'' weapons subverted his expectations. Khan picked a sword on the table around the apprentice and noticed that its strange handle felt unnaturallyfortable. The holes for the skull''s eyes and nose didn''t hinder his grasp at all.


    "Why do you even need to shape the handles like this?" Khan asked. "I''m notining, just curious."


    "My genius cane out only when I''m free to work as I want," Curtis eximed. "It''s as if my mana knows that I''m doing something I love."


    Luckily for Curtis, Khan couldpletely understand that statement. The mana could react to feelings on its own if they carried enough intensity. It actually spoke for Curtis'' talent that he could express such effects without even realizing it.


    "The shop''s regtions force me to warn you that this is my first time building something out of chaos-resistant materials," Curtis admitted once theughs went quiet. "I worked on a few preparations with those metals for Master Cansend, but I never built aplete weapon with them before."


    "How much will it cost?" Khan questioned.


    "I can''t be sure unless I see its specifics," Curtis exined.


    Khan picked up his phone and browsed through the menus of the Divine Reaper''s program. A few holograms came out of the device when he reached the part that described which knives suited the martial art, and Curtis studied them thoroughly.


    "The current price of the chaos-resistant alloys isn''t too high," Curtismented. "Would you mind sacrificing some length to make the knife even cheaper?"


    "I would mind," Khan responded. "I don''t want to have problems with its range."


    "Are you sure you need it to be a second-grade weapon?" Curtis asked. "I know I can make a first-grade knife that canst for a few years even under the influence of the chaos element. I''m sure you don''t evenunch spells all the time in battle, so that might help lower the price."


    Curtis'' understanding of battles was correct, but it didn''t apply to Khan''s situation. His mana anomaly gave the properties of the chaos element to his energy all the time, so its destructive power affected his weapons even during his martial arts.


    Also, Khan didn''t want to remain a first-level warrior for so long. He would need a better weapon anyway once his attunement with mana reached the next checkpoint, so he nodded without considering other options.


    "These requirements don''t help you," Curtis sighed. "I need to hammer down manyyers to reach this level of sturdiness, which means more chaos-resistant alloys. The lowest I can go is nine thousand Credits."


    Khan couldn''t help but feel surprised about the price, but a nce toward Amber revealed that it was within her expectations. She even nodded to express her approval.


    "My Master would have charged you three times that, at least," Curtis revealed. "I can''t wait to gain his approval and start making crazy money like him."


    "I suggest you don''t speak like that in front of your customers once you move up," Amber chuckled.


    Curtis'' eyes widened, and an awkward smile appeared on his face as he nced at Khan. However, thetter had barely heard hisstment.


    ''Nine thousand Credits,'' Khan shouted in his mind, ''And the price will only go up once I start requesting better weapons. I guess I need to find a way to make money.''


    "Khan, this is the best deal you''ll find," Amber said when she saw that Khan remained silent.


    "I''ll take it," Khan eximed after snapping out of his thoughts. "How long will you need to make it?"


    "I can order the alloys now," Curtis dered, "And the project will have my full attention once they arrive. I think I''llplete the knife in a couple of weeks."


    "Do you need my payment now?" Khan asked.


    "First, I need your main hand for the measurements," Curtis responded.


    "Can you make it for both?" Khan questioned.


    "Of course," Curtis announced before using one of his tools to measure Khan''s palms and fingers.


    Amber and Khan left Curtis to his work afterward, and Khanpleted the payment on Master Cansend''s anvil. Khan''s finances decreased significantly, but he still felt no attachment toward money.


    "I need to pay a visit to the "Beasts'' King" now," Khan revealed after the two left the shop and returned to Reebfell''s streets. "You can go back to the camp if you want."


    "Don''t worry about that," Amber cheerfully replied. "I want to see how you pick your Tainted animals."


    "You must really like hanging out with me," Khan teased.


    "I do, actually," Amber grinned, "Especially now that I don''t have to worry about breaking your heart."


    "You would have totally fallen for me," Khan joked.


    "As if!" Amber scoffed. "I want my man to be smart and knowledgeable."


    "When did I be dumb?" Khan questioned.


    "Shall I remind you who showed you how to withdraw Credits from the consoles?" Amber sneered.


    "No one can look past my background," Khan sighed. "My poor heart will crumble among these biased rich people."


    Amberughed but didn''t say anything, and the two soon went back to their random conversations. The part of themercial district that handled Tainted animals wasn''t close to their position, but they didn''t mind walking.


    The two eventually reached the "Beasts'' King", and the same waiter from thest time weed them with a broad smile. He appeared ecstatic to see Khan returning after only a week.


    "I hope the Tainted ape didn''t cause problems," The waiter announced after the exchange of greetings.


    "No, it was perfect," Khan responded. "It broke bones as easily as advertised."


    The waiter didn''t know how to react to that statement, especially since it probably involved wealthy recruits. The man limited himself to rub his hands as he waited to hear the reason behind that visit.


    "I need a batch of Tainted animals this time," Khan quickly continued. "They don''t need to be as strong as the ape, but I don''t want to make it too easy for my students either."


    "I have exactly what you are looking for," The waiter eximed before leading Khan and Amber toward one of the cages at the end of the first floor.


    The cage contained five Tainted snakes that had gone through a series of bionic enhancements. Some of them had metallic attachments to their tails, others featured glowing fangs, and one even had a pair of small arms in the middle of its body.


    They looked as proper Tainted animals, but Khan sensed how little mana they had inside their bodies. They were little more than ordinary beasts, which gave him a chance to exploit the weakness ntedst time.


    "How much would these cost?" Khan asked while keeping his poker face firm.


    "I would normally sell these Tainted snakes for a few thousand Credits each," The waiter happily announced, "But I''ll apply a special discount since it''s already your second visit here. You can take all of them for three thousand and five hundred Credits."


    "That''s very generous of you," Khan eximed.


    "Nonsense," The waiter chuckled. "We offer nothing but the best, especially to such promising heroes."


    "Why would you charge so much then?" Khan asked as his tone became cold. "These snakes don''t have even a tenth of the ape''s mana, and I''m considering all of them."


    The waiter''s smile froze, and even his hands stopped moving. Amber didn''t seem to know much about Tainted animals, so he had thought to overprice the snakes a bit, but Khan had seen right through that rip-off.


    "It seems that the "Beasts'' King" is only interested in Credits," Khan sighed while wearing a disappointed face. "I can''t believe it doesn''t care about the soldiers'' future."


    "No, please, I didn''t-," The waiter stuttered.


    "Let''s go, Professor Teldom," Khan interrupted while turning to move toward the exit. "It''s clear that this shop doesn''t have the Global Army''s interests at heart."


    Amber yed along, but she had to walk past Khan and cover her mouth since an amused smile had appeared on her face. Still, that only worked in Khan''s favor since the waiter saw the strongest among the two trying to leave the shop in a hurry.


    "Please, wait!" The waiter called as he hurried after Khan and Amber. "I didn''t know the snakes were part of a bad batch! The people on the upper floors must have made a mistake!"


    Khan and Amber didn''t stop, and the waiter even failed to enter their field of view. He started to panic, which forced him to resort to drastic measures.


    "Why don''t I give you the Tainted snakes for free while you make a different purchase?" The waiter shouted. "I''ll obviously add a special discount to make up for this unforgivable mistake."


    Khan slowly stopped, and Amber imitated him. He turned, but she voiced an excuse to leave the shop since she found herself unable to suppress her smile.


    "What kind of discount?" Khan asked in a cold voice as soon as the waiter started to show some relief.


    "I''ll cut the price by fifty percent!" The waiter eximed.


    "That''s what you did with the Tainted ape," Khan shook his head. "It seems that the shop isn''t as sorry as I thought."


    Khan turned to leave again, but the waiter immediately started to increase the discount.. Khan pretended not to hear anything and stopped only when the words "eighty percent" resounded in the hall.

 Chapter 309 - Weight

    "How much did you rip him off for?" Amberughed when Khan came out of the "Beasts'' King".


    "I''m innocent here," Khan lied. "He did everything on his own."


    "How much?" Amber insisted as her smile broadened.


    "I might have gotten ten Tainted animals for less than two thousand Credits," Khan admitted.


    "You are a little devil," Amber giggled. "Why did you even go so hard on him when the Global Army would have refunded the purchase?"


    "I might need this shop in the future," Khan revealed. "They won''t try to trick me from now on. I might even gain ess to discounts whenever I mention today''s events."


    "You are a smart little devil," Ambermented. "Though, why would you even need them for? Our students are recruits. I don''t think they can face something stronger than Tainted animals."


    Amber''s question was reasonable, but she didn''t know that some of Khan''s techniques required blood and body parts. Mere Tainted animals wouldn''t be enough for the [Blood Vortex] and the higher checkpoints of the [Blood Shield], so he would have to purchase monsters or stronger creatures to perform them.


    The Global Army wouldn''t refund purchases that had nothing to do with the students, and Khan''s finances had already fallen significantly. Having a trustworthy shop that could provide what he needed at a low price felt almost necessary in his situation.


    "I have my reasons," Khan stated, opting for words that weren''t proper lies.


    Amber respected the need for privacy, especially in someone so exceptional as Khan. Almost every soldier preferred to keep the details behind their arts and spells a secret, so she limited herself to nod and changed the topic.


    "You know you could have waited tomission the weapon?" Amber asked as the two began to walk through the streets without a specific destination. "Who knows? The cost of the chaos-resistant alloys might have gone down in a few months. It would have helped save some Credits."


    "How would I even keep track of that?" Khan questioned.


    "I have someone in my family who handles that," Amber revealed. "I didn''t suggest it earlier because you seemed set on buying it right away."


    "Don''t worry," Khan reassured. "I wanted to get my gear as soon as possible anyway."


    "I thought you wanted to stay away from the training halls for a while after yesterday''s mess," Amber teased.


    Khan had revealed what had happened before the meeting. Amber had found the story funny, so she didn''t mind using it to probe into his mindset.


    "I feel naked without my knife," Khan eximed. "I can''t use my full power without it."


    "Why would you even use your full power?" Amberughed. "Reebfell isn''t a battlefield."


    Khan didn''t answer. He diverted his gaze and lost himself in the beautiful sceneries that filled his vision. He could see the greatness of human technology in every corner, but his senses instinctively kept track of the mana released in the environment. Khan was in a safe ce, but his mind was ready for battle.


    "I guess the battlefield is part of me," Khan whispered, and Amber found herself speechless.


    Amber often forgot that Khan had seen far more than her. He couldugh, joke, and talk normally, but he was also someone who had killed and had gone through awful struggles. His honesty toward her tried to hide the soldier behind his youthful face, but she inevitably saw it from time to time.


    "Let''s go eat something," Amber cheerfully announced to change the topic while grabbing Khan''s arm.


    Khan snapped back to reality and seized the opportunity to get back on teasing Amber. "Poor Cora. She had to pick such a popr guy."


    "I won''t pay for your food if you keep speaking nonsense," Amber giggled without letting Khan go.


    "My arm is yours, ma''am," Khan eximed in a polite tone, and the two soon went back to harmless jokes andugh.


    .


    .


    .


    Reebfell made it very easy to kill time. The many shops ced in distant areas of themercial district and its various attractions allowed Khan and Amber to spend entire hours simply looking at the showcased goods or chatting in front of tasty drinks.


    Some might see that as a date, but Amber and Khan had reached a silent understanding on that topic. They simply did their best to enjoy themselves as friends without ever overthinking their behavior.


    The sun had already started to set by the time the two returned to the training camp. Khan''s phone had rung non-stop due to the many Tainted animals that the "Beasts'' King" had sent, but he made the soldiers tasked with the matter ce every cage in his hangar. There was no need to feed those creatures since they had to die for the sake of his lesson.


    Khan only had a few hours to kill before his lesson, so he went straight for his t after separating from Amber. His mood felt oddly fantastic. He hadughed with a friend, taken care of his knife, and set the foundation for asting rtionship with a useful shop. It almost felt unreal that he had been in the middle of a battlefield just a week ago.


    A shower followed a few mental exercises. Khan made sure to reach the hangar early, and he didn''t hesitate to fall into his meditative state as he waited for his students to arrive.


    The recruits were on time, but a dozen of them didn''t show up. Khan knew that the meeting with the representatives had gone well, so he didn''t me himself for the event. He couldn''t force such young men and women to attend his lessons.


    A series of hesitant and worried faces unfolded in Khan''s vision when he opened his eyes. The sight of the ten small cages in the back of the hangar had made the recruits recall the lesson with the Tainted ape, which naturally scared them.


    "There is a difference between shattering your naivety and scarring you for life," Khan announced as he stood up and ced a hand on a cage nearby. "I''ve forced you to face opponents that you couldn''t possibly defeat, but today''s lesson will be different."


    Khan stepped forward and approached his recruits. He had already decided who would fight the Tainted animals, but he wanted to see whether the current inspection would make him change his mind.


    "Today''s Tainted animals are weak," Khan eventually continued. "All of you can defeat them. I know that because I''ve tested your ability. However, I don''t want to see a simple victory."


    The recruits didn''tpletely understand the meaning behind Khan''s words, and he didn''t give them the time to think. He turned to approach the cages, and a name left his mouth during the walk. "Celine!"


    That word surprised the recruits, but they all turned toward the young woman called by Khan. Celine was one of the weakest students in the ss. Her attunement with mana wasn''t great, and the same went for her proficiency level. Her instincts were also quite bad due to her timid character.


    "You are doing poorly, which is fine," Khan exined as he jumped on one of the smallest cages. "Yet, you won''t get anywhere until you gain some confidence. You''ll be the first to kill a Tainted animal today. I hope you are ready."


    "Sir, can I have the first round?" Elsie asked while Celine slowly stepped forward to leave the group.


    "No, you wouldn''t learn anything by fighting," Khan refused. "Your job today is to watch."


    The statement confused the recruits even more, but none of themined. The dinner two days ago had left some tension between them and Khan. He obviously didn''t address it, but the students didn''t feel like treating him in a friendly manner so soon.


    Celine left the group, and the other recruits moved toward the open wall to give her space. Khan nodded as he inspected the scene. Celine was clearly worried, but she took a battle position and prepared her mana for the imminent fight.


    "Ready?" Khan asked when he sensed that her mana was in the right ces.


    Celine nodded, and Khan touched abel on the cage. The structure still had a dark fabric over it, but a small shape started to press on it as soon as the entrance opened. It didn''t take long before a reptilian head came out from under that cloth and voiced an angry hiss.


    The recruits and Celine felt surprised once again at the sight of the Tainted snake. They didn''t see many Tainted animals in their lives, but their entrance test had featured something far more threatening.


    The Tainted snake was small, barely two-meter-long, and the short metallic arms growing from its body felt useless. It shot toward Celine as soon as it fixed its reptilian eyes on her figure, but its speed wasn''t great.


    Celine steeled her concentration quickly, and she threw a kick forward as soon as the snake tried to jump on her. The recruit failed to use her mana correctly, but her attack was precise and hit the creature at the center of its mouth.


    The sheer physical strength contained in Celine''s body was enough to send the snake flying away. The creature didn''t suffer any injury, and its aggression made it shoot toward the recruit in no time, but she responded with another kick.


    Celine kept failing to perform her martial art correctly, but she slowly grew used to those exchanges. She was faster and stronger than the snake, so her basic forms were enough to fend it off.


    Then, one of her kicks eventually managed to deploy mana correctly. Celine''s foot mmed right under the snake''s head, and a chunk of its body exploded into pieces.


    The creature flew away and struggled to control itself. A rtively thick chunk of flesh kept its head attached to the rest of its body, but it was clear that the damage was too severe. The snake had to thank its mutations for being able to survive such deep injuries.


    Celine revealed an ecstatic smile when she saw that the Tainted snake was unable to move. She even jumped on her spot to express her happiness. She had a defeated her opponent on her own, finally proving that she could also fight like herpanions.


    "What are you doing?" Khan''s cold voice interrupted that happy moment.


    Celine''s figure tensed up, and she even performed a military salute before focusing on Khan. She didn''t know why he was being so cold and detached, but she wouldn''t allow her behavior to be mable.


    "Why did you stop fighting?" Khan asked while pointing at the injured snake. "Your opponent is alive. Kill it."


    "Won''t you need it for other lessons, sir?" Celine honestly asked.


    "This is the lesson," Khan exined. "I told you. I don''t want to see victories. None of these Tainted animals have to survive today."


    Understanding finally dawned on the recruits. Khan wasn''t only trying to improve their confidence. He also wanted them to grow used to the sight of blood. If they didn''t hesitate to kill now, there was a high chance that they would do well on the battlefield.


    Celine also understood the purpose of the lesson. She gulped and walked toward the Tainted snake, but its poor condition made her hesitate.


    The snake couldn''t move properly, but it struggled. It never stopped trying to adjust its position, which only made it curl and spin on itself. Each movement tainted the floor with its dark blood, and its hisses often apanied those events.


    "Celine, do it," Khan ordered, forcing Celine to snap out of her daze.


    Celine didn''t take pity in a mere Tainted animal, but the scene was too ugly for her. She raised a foot and mmed it down to crush the snake''s head, but she missed her target since she closed her eyes at thest second.


    Khan didn''t say anything. Some recruits in the audience tried tough, but Khan silenced them through his cold re. Celine wasn''t doing well, but he wouldn''t let anyone break her concentration.


    Celine took a deep breath before raising her foot again. She didn''t close her eyes, but she failed to use her mana correctly, so her attack didn''t crush the snake''s head. The creature survived and forced her to repeat her technique.


    A third, fourth, and fifth kick stomp followed, but Celine always failed to use her mana correctly. She couldn''t help but lose her concentration in the middle of that pitiful scene, and each failure only intensified her restlessness.


    Celine wanted her battle to end, but the Tainted snake simply wouldn''t die. She kicked the creature three more times, but she was barely trying to muster her mana at that point. Whimpers and soft pleads even left her mouth as she begged the beast to stop breathing.


    The challenging aspect of the lesson became evident now. Defeating weak Tainted animals wasn''t a problem for recruits with enhanced bodies and martial arts. It was actually rtively easy. However, the actual killing was hard.


    Celine never performed her technique correctly, but the Tainted snake eventually died under her stomps. Her attacks continued even after the creature''s head had turned into a bloody pulp, and she fell on the floor to cry once she noticed that her battle was finally over.


    Khan reached Celine in an instant, and she didn''t hold back from using his shoulder to cry as soon as he voiced reassuring words. He had to help her stand up and walk back to herpanions, and one of her friends reced him afterward.


    "Killing isn''t easy," Khan announced when he saw that Celine wiped off her tears, "And it shouldn''t be. Learn to kill, but don''t ignore the weight of a life.. It''s a hard path, but I''m here to make it a bit easier."

 Chapter 310 - Date

    The recruits performed rtively well after the purpose of the lesson became clear. Some lucky ones managed to use their mana correctly right away, which led to quick kills, but most ended up in long battles that forced them to ovee their anxiety and disgust.


    Khan didn''t let the robots clean the hangar, so the floor grew dirtier after each battle. A few recruits had to attack while their opponents fed off the remains of the dead Tainted animals, which naturally affected their ability to focus.


    The lesson seeded in making the students experience part of the battlefield, and even those who didn''t fight gained something out of it. Defeating those Tainted animals was far too easy for them, but the actual killing was hard, especially when they had already won, and that was enough to aplish what Khan had in mind.


    The lesson ended in friendly terms. The recruits'' mood was awful, but Khan had shown kindness and care toward those who crumbled once their battles ended. The awkwardness and tension built after the dinner together vanished, and the students even felt closer to him when they left the hangar.


    The mood was too sour to ask for another dinner, and the disgusting scenes had also killed the students'' hunger. Khan didn''t mind that oue, and he used the event to enjoy some valuable time with Cora.


    "It''s heartwarming to see you so serious about your students," Coramented while Khan was busy wolfing his third te.


    "They have a lot to learn," Khan responded after gulping his bite. "Still, they are promising. I can see a few of them reaching good results by the end of the semester."


    "I wonder how youe up with your lessons," Cora said as her warm smile remained on her face.


    "I don''t n them," Khan revealed. "Maybe I should. I''m learning as I go."


    "I think you are doing great," Cora stated. "I hear the rumors about you. Some soldiers in my year are actually jealous about their juniors."


    "I can''t possibly be so famous," Khanughed as he ordered another te from the interactive table.


    "You definitely are," Cora alsoughed, but her cheek reddened when she recalled something.


    Khan noticed that reaction, and he didn''t hesitate to exploit the chance. He bent toward her seat and took her arm to whisper in her ear before she could retreat. "Are they also jealous about you and me?"


    "A bit," Cora whispered, and a kissnded on her mouth when she raised her head.


    "We are in the middle of the canteen," Corained when their lips separated. "Everyone can see us."


    "I don''t care," Khan said before kissing her again.


    Khan soon left her to focus on his new te, and Cora could only lower her head after noticing that a few curious gazes had converged on her. She pretended to adjust her long hair while she waited for her redness to disappear, but Khan saw the happy smile that she tried to hide.


    Khan didn''t take long to finish his meal, and the two could soon leave the canteen. Khan took Cora''s hand once they gained some privacy, and she began to walk slowly to enjoy her return to the dormitory.


    "You know," Khan voiced to interrupt the silence between them, "You don''t have to go back to your dormitory. You can always sleep in my t."


    Cora almost froze when she heard those words. She had obviously thought about that opportunity, but she also knew what it would involve.


    "I was kidding," Khan chuckled while leaving a kiss on her head. "We''ll get there eventually, but don''t feel forced."


    "I-if it''s you-," Cora stammered.


    "Hey," Khan interrupted Cora by pulling her hand and forcing her to face him. "It''s fine. Don''t even try to see it as a problem."


    "Khan," Cora whispered as her hesitation melted. She pushed her head forward and delivered one of her rare kisses that Khan happily weed.


    It wasn''tte, but the two had reached a rtively isted part of the camp during their walk, and Khan could sense that they were alone. The privacy allowed him to linger longer than usual in the kiss, and his free hand also reached Cora''s waist to pull her closer.


    Cora clung her free hand to Khan''s uniform. She had grown more used to their kisses, but her body tensed up when he began to caress her waist. The event made him decide to separate, but his lips dived on her again when she tried to voice a weak "sorry".


    Cora pouted when the second kiss ended, but Khan onlyughed at that scene. He even scolded her gently as he left her waist to caress her cheek. "I told you that it''s fine. Stop ming yourself."


    "Fine," Cora whispered before cing her head on his chest and enveloping him in a sweet hug.


    "Oh, right," Khan eximed as he caressed Cora''s hair. "Amber said that I should take you out for a date on the weekend. Are you free tomorrow?"


    "A date?" Cora asked. "Are you sure? I don''t want to get in the way of your training."


    "I won''t sleep topensate for it," Khan joked, but Cora promptly left his chest to re at him.


    "I''m kidding," Khan sighed. "I wouldn''t have slept anyway, but spending time with you would force me to take a break. You would actually help me."


    Cora didn''t seem convinced, but she liked the idea of a date, so she limited herself to repeating her previous question. "Are you sure?"


    "I wouldn''t have asked otherwise," Khan reassured while pushing Cora''s head back on his chest.


    "Then I''m free tomorrow," Cora whispered.


    .


    .


    .


    Khan had no idea how to n a date. His only real experience with a girlfriend came from Liiza, and the two had never needed to prepare anything. Everything had felt natural with her as long as they were together, but that didn''t apply to Cora.


    Luckily for Khan, Amber was an excellent friend, and she didn''t hold back from helping him n a proper schedule for his date with Cora. She even sounded happy to make that young romance bloom.


    The date started in Reebfell''smercial district. Khan and Cora spent hours walking hand in hand through the vast streets as they inspected various shops. At first, she felt shy to be among so many people with Khan, but she quickly grew used to her situation and managed to enjoy it.


    Khan liked to see Cora''s smile. He couldn''t exin how she had remained so pure after Istrone''s events, and that spoke greatly for her character. She was cheerful, sweet, and lovely beyond reason.


    Cora made sure that Khan also had his part of the fun. She apanied him through many areas that didn''t match her interests, and her smile widened whenever she saw Khan losing himself in the descriptions of some items.


    Themercial district was so vast that Khan felt to have seen only a tenth of it during his third visit in the city. He discovered many shops that didn''t appear on the train''s offer, but he failed to find something interesting.


    Reebfell''smercial district literally had everything, but only from the human perspective. Khan wanted to see if he could find something rted to specific alien arts or knowledge, but his search led nowhere. He had already purchased some of the best books in the field.


    The matter felt slightly disappointing, especially since Khan knew how useful some alien arts could be. The humans disregarded most of the knowledge carried by those species since their approach was more essible, but Khan didn''t want to remain so limited.


    Still, the trip through themercial district taught Khan that he couldn''t find that knowledge there. He even failed to find alternatives to the "Beasts'' King". A few shops sold exotic materials, but none involved blood or body parts from powerful creatures.


    The disappointment was only temporary. After all, Cora was the main reason behind that trip, and she managed to im the entirety of Khan''s attention most of the time. She was beyond happy, and her feelings seemed able to dig holes in Khan''s usually dark mood.


    The walk in themercial district was only the first part of the date. Amber named an amusement park that Khan and Cora visited right before lunchtime. They had to retake the train to reach that area, but everything turned out to be rtively straightforward, even for Khan.


    The amusement park blew Khan''s expectations. That was his first time seeing such tall and strange attractions. He and Cora could also gain ess to special discounts due to his position as a lieutenant and a professor, so the ticket for the various rides and games ended up being pretty cheap.


    The afternoon went by in no time as Khan and Coraughed, joked, and had fun in the various attractions. The amusement park was too big to see everything in those few hours, but they didn''t mind missing out on a few rides, especially since they gave them the chance toe back there during future dates.


    When the sun began to set and the attractions started to close down, Khan and Cora approached a building containing a series of fake spaceships attached to the floor through metal arms. Amber had suggested visiting that game, so he had saved some time before the inevitable return to the training camp.


    Khan didn''t understand the reason behind Amber''s suggestion. The fake spaceships initially made him curious, but his interest vanished when he saw kids on them.


    "Why did she even tell me toe here?" Khan wondered. "We can''t sit together on these rides."


    "I think I understand what she had in mind," Cora eximed while pulling Khan across the area to reach a waiter standing behind the fake spaceships.


    "I''m sorry, ma''am," Cora called the waiter, "Is the special ride still open? I hope we are not toote."


    "You are lucky!" The waiter happily announced. "We have enough time for onest ride. Do you want to give it a try?"


    "It''s not for me," Cora giggled while letting go of Khan''s hand to pat his shoulder.


    "What is happening?" Khan asked when he understood that both Cora and Amber knew something.


    "This attraction earned an award in the past," Cora exined. "They have one of the most advanced flight simtions, at least when ites to non-military equipment. Many families bring their descendants here to see if they have any talent in the field."


    ''Sneaky Amber,'' Khanmented in his mind. ''I have talked about bing a pilot only vaguely.''


    "We have only improved since the award!" The waiter revealed. "The Global Army would seize our program if we improve it any further."


    "How does it work?" Khan asked as he stepped forward. "I know nothing about spaceships."


    "The simtion is only about reflexes. You don''t need any knowledge about spaceships or simr vehicles." The waiter exined as she led Khan and Cora in a second area of the building.


    The second area was rather dark, and most of its illumination came from a circr tform with a single seat at its center and a vast hologram hovering before it. The hall had stages all around that structure, but Khan only noticed a few people there.


    "They are recruiters," The waiter whispered while wearing a beaming smile when she saw Khan inspecting the stages. "They keep an eye for young talents and enlist them in special branches of the Global Army."


    Khan nodded and did his best to appear amazed. Still, his senses told him that none of the soldiers on the stages was paying attention to the central structure. Many were even napping.


    "So, what do I have to do?" Khan asked once the waiter told Cora to remain behind and led him on the tform.


    "Sit here and strap in," The waiter ordered as she picked up her phone. "I''m inserting the simtion for first-level warriors. The holograms'' speed will increase as you keep dodging asteroids, and you only have three lives. Good luck!"


    "Asteroids?!" Khan called, but the metal arm under the seat suddenly pushed it in the air and brought him closer to the holograms.


    A metallic branch came out of the bottom of the seat and transformed into a straight handle. Khan instinctively grabbed it, but the holograms in front of him expanded and transformed during the process.


    The holograms quickly depicted a dark environment that Khan knew well. He saw the depths of space with its many glowing dots shining in the distance. However, a rain of dark objects covered that view, and a low noise suddenly came out of those images.


    "That was unlucky," The waiter shouted from the floor. "The asteroids are randomly generated, and one of them appeared before you as soon as the simtion started. Don''t worry. It won''t happen again."


    "How do I ride this thing?!" Khan shouted while pointing at the handle.


    "Push to dive and pull to ri-," The waiter couldn''t end her line since the holograms released a high-pitched noise and announced the start of another simtion.


    The waiter turned out to be right. The simtion didn''t immediately ce Khan in front of asteroids. He had the time to test the handle a bit and see how sharp the fake spaceship''s turns were, but he mmed on one of those big objects during the process.


    "Only one life left!" The waiter happily announced. She was actually making it hard for Khan on purpose since it waste and the attraction had to close down, but he didn''t answer now.


    ''Snow was better at this,'' Khanmented in his mind as he focused entirely on the holograms. He knew how the fake spaceship turned now, so he didn''t have to think about the handle anymore.


    The simtion started for the third time, and Khan began to dodge asteroids. They were slow at first, but their speed gradually increased.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s ability with the handle also increased as he kept dodging thoserge objects. His martial art forced him to attack and defend at high speed, and his period on Nitis had only deepened his expertise in that field. His reflexes were beyond sharp, and his instincts were incredible.


    Regr pilots would never experience what Khan had gone through. The spaceships were safepared to the Aduns. Those creatures couldn''t reach the same speed, but Khan had flown on them with only his legs as footholds.


    The level of confidence that Khan had reached when it came to high-speedbat and flight was breathtaking, and he showed it during the simtion. The fake spaceship felt clunky, but he made it work and dodged all the asteroidsing in his direction.


    The asteroids'' speed increased, but Khan''s reflexes kept up. Soon, minutes passed, but he had yet toe close to losing hisst life. The simtion even stopped elerating after half an hour.


    Cora didn''t mind waiting. Khan was smiling during the simtion, so she would be happy even if he spent entire days up there. However, her curiosity made her question the waiter after the asteroids'' speed stopped increasing. "What is happening? Won''t the game force him to lose now?"


    "This is a flight simtion that borders military standards," The waiter exined without hiding the amazement in her tone. "The asteroids are already about to cross the limits of what a first-level warrior can see. Now the simtion is testing his endurance."


    "I''d like a drink then," Cora requested.


    "What do you mean?" The waiter asked.


    "He will be up there for a while," Cora dered.


    The waiter didn''t immediately believe Cora. She had seen many talented kids and soldiers losing their cool after spending too long in the field of asteroids. However, her mouth opened in astonishment as the minutes passed and Khan had yet to make a mistake.


    The situation got so bad that the waiter''s boss had toe to check what was happening. She was another middle-aged woman, but her professional clothes revealed how her job wasn''t to handle clients.


    Khan didn''t care about what was happening under him. He was enjoying spending those minutes dodging asteroids at high speed. He couldn''t feel the wind on his face, but the scene still reminded him of his time on Snow''s back.


    Yet, everything suddenly went dark, and a scoreboard reced the field of asteroids. Khan didn''t understand what was happening until the seat began to descend and brought him back on the floor.


    "I''m mortified, sir," The waiter''s boss stated as soon as Khan focused on her. "The park needs us to close to shut down. I''ve already spoken with my superiors. We are happy to offer a free ticket to both of you for interrupting your game."


    "Oh," Khan eximed in a disappointed tone before wearing a smile when he saw Cora''s happy face half-hidden behind a big cup. "Don''t worry. We''lle earlier next time."


    The waiter and her boss voiced more polite lines, but Khan mostly ignored them as he reached Cora and took her hand. He didn''t realize howte it was, so he nned to leave right away, but the two women eventually forced him to turn.


    "Sir, sir!" The waiter called as she chased after Khan and Cora. "I need you to leave a name for the scoreboard."


    "Why would I leave a name?" Khan asked.


    "You broke one of the records," The waiter exined. "It doesn''t have to be a real name, but the shop has a vastmunity who would be happy to see the scoreboard change from time to time."


    "So, is it just for the sake of the game?" Khan continued as he tried to understand the purpose behind that practice.


    "Exactly!" The waiter stated, even if she felt slightly confused in front of Khan''sck of understanding.


    "Use "Snow" then," Khan responded before turning to leave the attraction with Cora.

 Chapter 311 - Offer

    Khan couldn''t possibly know that, but his performance in the flight simtion didn''t go unnoticed. After all, the recruiters on the stages were there for the very reason of finding promising pilots. Yet, a few reasons had forced them to let go of the matter for now.


    The recruiters had questioned the waiter and her boss when they woke up from their naps. Still, the unfinished nature of the simtion, theck of a proper name, and Khan''s advanced age were demerits that those soldiers couldn''t ignore.


    Khan was already part of the Global Army. His military uniform stated that, and the stars on his shoulders also showed that he had been enlisted for a while. The recruiters usually aimed at younger candidates who had yet to approach a camp since the real flight training required those boys and girls to reach different structures.


    In short, the interruption due to thete hour and the difficulties connected to contacting Khan made it easy for the recruiters to ignore the event. They would activate if Khan reappeared and showed potential again, but they did nothing for now.


    As for Khan, he returned to the camp with Cora and enjoyed the time before the curfew with her. They were both pretty happy about the day spent in Reebfell, and it felt nice to see Corapletely devoid of the usual shyness that usually filled her actions.


    Khan didn''t try to push her limits that night. The two exchanged long kisses on an isted bench in the camp''s street and enjoyed their harmless intimacy. Cora grew even more used to those interactions, and Khan liked to see her so happy over every little thing.


    Their separation allowed Khan to dive into his training. It didn''t feel right toin about the beautiful day, but he experienced some dissatisfaction for obvious reasons. Still, his many exercises dispersed that slight frustration.


    Khan wasn''t used to that slow pace in a rtionship. Things with Liiza had been different since it had been their first time, and they shared an evident restlessness. However, Cora was simply shy, hesitant, and scared.


    That state was pretty standard for an eighteen-year-old woman, especially since it was her first time going through a rtionship. Khan acknowledged that and foundfort in his training, which had a lot to offer.


    The purchases in Reebfell made Khan''s training schedule more packed than ever. The events with the training hall didn''t give him any additional free time since he could always fill his hours with the study of his many books.


    The mental exercises and the repetition of the forms of his martial arts were part of his very being by then. Khan barely thought when he performed them. Yet, studying the many alien species discovered by the Global Army during its expansion through the universe filled him with curiosity, and memorizing othernguages added interesting moments to his schedule.


    The night went by in no time, and Khan even forgot to have his breakfast as he lost himself in his schedule. There was so much to study, but his goals were clear. He had to expand his knowledge and learn how to perform the remaining techniques in his arsenal.


    A single night couldn''t give significant results, and the same went for the following day, but Khan''s resilience was inhuman. He took breaks, mostly to enjoy some time with Cora, eat, and exchange a few messages with Amber, but his training and studies imed the rest of his free hours.


    Khan decided to sleep only the night before his lesson. He didn''t prepare anything for his students, but he took that chance to make them fight him again. It was too early for another battle with the Tainted ape anyway.


    The students took those one versus one battles against Khan seriously. They tried their best to show killing intent, and he noticed decent results after the lesson with the weak Tainted animals.


    The recruits were starting to understand the true nature of the battlefield, and they had spent only a week with Khan''s subject. It was unclear what they would be after a whole semester, but he would be there to guide them on the path he considered correct.


    The days went by in the peaceful environment that only a training camp on Earth could provide. Khan found himself visiting Reebfell often and uncovering more of its marvelous features. He even had more meetings with Lieutenant Abaze and Captain Goldmon to write reports about their subjects.


    The reports weren''t too important since the real judges of the subjects would be the students and the families behind them. Still, Khan did his best to be urate, and Amber helped him. The two grew close as time flowed in the training camp, and they soon started to consider themselves proper friends.


    When Khan found himself unable toe up with valuable exercises for his lessons, Amber helped or joined him in trips to Reebfell to purchase specific books about teaching and simr topics. Her price was augh andpany during her inspection of various shops, and Khan didn''t mind paying it.


    Things progressed well on Cora''s side too. She was happier than ever with Khan, and her shyness with him became a rare event as the two kept spending time together. Khan eventually felt that she was almost ready to move their rtionship to the next level, but he didn''t pressure her or insisted.


    Truth be told, Cora had to consider herself lucky that Khan had a lot on his te. In a different situation, Khan would have been unable to ignore the slight frustration building up in his mind. Still, his packed schedule and many interests allowed him to give her as much time as she needed.


    Cora was also busy with her studies and training, but she always cleared her schedule whenever Khan was free. She also knew that they couldn''t keep exchanging kisses on benches for entire months, but she appreciated how Khan didn''t put any pressure on her, and that feeling eventually gave birth to a faint ardor.


    Something unusual happened near the end of Khan''s fifth week as a professor. On the first break day, Khan received a message from Headmaster Pitcus in which he requested a meeting in the afternoon.


    The message didn''t exin any detail, and Khan couldn''t find anything meworthy when he reviewed the past weeks. He had done nothing but training, holding sses, and visiting Reebfell in the past weeks.


    Cora was the only part of his life that could create problems for his role due to their different status. Still, everyone was closing an eye since they were both survivors of Istrone''s rebellion. They never announced their rtionship, but gossips had started to spread since he first apanied her back to her dormitory. Then the camp learnt about them when a soldier happened to see them kissing on a bench at night.


    ''I hope it''s not about the training hall,'' Khan thought as he walked toward one of the central buildings to attend the meeting with Headmaster Pitcus. ''It wouldn''t make sense after so long.''


    Khan instinctively caressed the sheath on his left as he thought about the training halls. He didn''t visit those structures at all in that period, but he missed fighting. Yet, the idea of facing puppets didn''t interest him, and he didn''t find the need to lose himself in his sensations.


    As for the sheath, it was a brand-new belt-like item that the "Divine Architects" had added when they delivered the new knife. Curtis had done an excellent job with the weapon. It had arrived slightlyter than nned, and its handle had a skull-like shape, but Khan found it extremelyfortable with both his hands.


    The amount of mana that the knife contained also surpassed Khan''s previous weapons by a lot. Curtis had shown which advantages a custom-made de could provide, and Khan had been more than satisfied when he first inspected it.


    The knife was slightly thick but also sharp. Khan didn''t know how Curtis had fused sturdiness and deadliness in such a short shape, but the secrets behind a second-grade weapon were too deep for his knowledge and senses.


    The knife wasn''t the only new arrival. Khan also received his first payment, which he had to withdraw from a console. One thousand and five hundred Credits weren''t much, but it felt a bit good to earn money and give them a proper value now that he couldpare them to the time spent in the lessons.


    "It''s Lieutenant Khan," Khan eximed when he pressed on the door of the Headmaster''s office. "Did you want to see me, sir?"


    The metal door slid open without giving any answer. Khan could see Headmaster Pitcus sitting behind his interactive desk and two soldiers on the couch before it. Their presence didn''t surprise Khan since he had sensed them from outside the room, but their slightly different military uniform attracted his attention.


    Both soldiers were slightly overweight middle-aged men. They appeared out of shape, but the three stars on their shoulders prevented Khan from underestimating them. Also, he noticed a few pins on their chests that reminded him of symbols read in some of his books.


    ''They are medals,'' Khan thought without recalling the specific meaning behind those pins.


    "Professor Khan!" Headmaster Pitcus eximed in a lively tone. "Please, sit. These gentlemen want to have a chat with you."


    Khan nodded and performed a military salute before approaching an armchair in front of the desk and turning it toward the two soldiers. Thetter smiled, but they spoke only when their silence became awkward.


    "Lieutenant Khan, I''ll go straight to the point," One of the soldiers said. "We have kept track of your performance in the flight simtion in Reebfell''s amusement park. Needless to say, we believe that your talents are wasted in your current job. We would like to offer you the chance to be a pilot."


    Everything became clear after those words, and Khan even connected the pins to the specific images seen in his books. Only pilots could get medals with those symbols.


    The event felt slightly surprising. Khan and Cora had gone to the amusement park a few more times, and he had obviously given a try to the flight simtion without time limitations. However, he had eventually grown bored of that exercise since it was too repetitive and detached from reality.


    ''I''ve only left my name two more times on the scoreboard,'' Khan thought. ''Is that enough to be a pilot?''


    "Finding you wasn''t easy," The second manughed. "We knew you were in the training camp due to the uniform, but that nickname forced us to go through the entrance logs of the park. Luckily for us, your fame came to our aid."


    "We are sorry for not contacting you sooner," The first man continued. "I''m afraid we are too old to understand these young trends."


    "Young trends?" Khan questioned.


    "Well, the nickname," The first man said. "The scoreboard used to feature real names in the past, not made-up ones."


    "It''s not made-up," Khan corrected. "It''s the name of my Aduns."


    The two recruiters had done their homework before visiting the training camp, and they had even heard about Khan before the simtion pointed in his direction. They didn''t need exnations about the Aduns.


    "We are sorry," The second man promptly intervened. "We didn''t mean to insult you."


    "Don''t worry, sir," Khan reassured while wearing a fake smile. "I would like to hear more about this offer. I don''t know much about pilots either, so an exnation would help."


    "Of course," The first man announced when he saw the chance to redeem himself. "A pilot can take care of many jobs. They can go from the simple transport of goods that can''t go through the teleports or the actual control ofrge battleships in the depths of space."


    "The possibilities are endless," The second man continued. "The Global Army will need pilots as long as the universe exists. Many ces and settlementsck teleports, and, most importantly, the human expansion requires talented young soldiers like you."


    "Like me how?" Khan asked while choosing to appear hesitant.


    "Brave in front of the danger," The first man responded. "Exploring the depths of the universe isn''t only dangerous. It''s a job that requires the steadiest minds since it can involve entire years of flight among pure darkness. It''s a chilling experience that only the best members of our species can ovee."


    The two recruiters appeared happy to speak about pilots. They seemed to miss those experiences, and Khan didn''t miss the small changes in their expressions.


    Truth be told, the two recruiters didn''t give Khan a good impression. The matter about Snow''s name had nothing to do with it. They appeared tired, old, and awkward, which didn''t suit their role.


    Still, everything became clear after seeing that excitement. The two soldiers weren''t real recruiters. They were just pilots who had be too old to be part of the dangerous missions in space.


    "So, it''s only about riding spaceships?" Khan asked, trying his best not to sound offensive.


    "Well, mostly," The second man admitted. "However, you often end up on aliens whenever you drive special convoys or unique goods. You won''tck adventure if you y your cards right."


    Khan couldn''t help but feel interested in the job. He didn''t actually like the idea of spending years alone in space or moving goods from one to another, but the freedom behind that position was appealing.


    Also, as much as Khan didn''t like it, exploring the depths of space might be the key behind finding the Nak or uncovering the location of the sr system in his nightmares. He needed freedom and to know how to handle a spaceship for that project, and training as a pilot could do the trick.


    Still, there was a high chance that the Global Army itself knew a lot about the Nak, and Khan needed to climb the military ranks to uncover those truths. Some alien species might even hold greater knowledge about them, but only an ambassador could dive so deep into their culture to learn their secrets.


    "What would the offer involve?" Khan asked after letting his mind absorb the recent exchange of lines. "Bing a pilot sounds appealing, but it might not fit my goals."


    "Initially, we would have you moved to a different structure," The first recruiter announced. "You wouldn''t immediately get to a space station, but I''m sure that you will end there in a year of training."


    "Training?" Khan questioned.


    "Bing a pilot is no easy feat," The second recruiter exined. "The terrestrial vehicles alone require long studies. The subject is only deeper when ites to proper spaceships, and I won''t even talk about the space stations."


    "That sounds like a lot of busywork," Khan admitted.


    "It is," The first recruiter responded. "The Global Army sends only the best of the best up there. I''m afraid you will have to let something go if you want to seed."


    "What did you let go of?" Khan asked. "If you don''t mind me probing into your lives."


    "No problem at all," The second recruiter eximed. "The Global Army provided the synthetic mana to keep the level up to standards, but many pilots end up with subpar battle prowess. It''s only natural when everything they do is about spaceships and flight in general."


    That was a problem that Khan didn''t expect. He knew that every unique field in the Global Army required deep dedication, but he was already doing the same with his techniques. He thought he could stuff something else inside his schedule as long as he worked hard enough.


    However, the situation was far different. Khan even believed that the recruiters were making it sound easy to tempt him into joining the offer.


    "I can''t give you an answer right away," Khan honestly stated.


    "We didn''t expect that," The first recruiter dered. "These decisions will affect your future deeply, so take all the time you need to think about the offer."


    "We shall take our leave now," The second recruiter announced as both soldiers stood up. "Headmaster Pitcus, it has been a pleasure. Lieutenant Khan, we hope to hear from you soon. Until then, may your stay on Reebfell be as fruitful as possible."


    Khan stood up and performed a military salute that he didn''t break even after the two soldiers left the hall. Many thoughts ran through his mind, but his first instinct felt quite clear. He believed that epting the offer would close paths instead of opening them.


    "Is something on your mind?" Headmaster Pitcus asked as a warm smile appeared on his face.


    "I''m sorry, sir," Khan said as he sat back on the armchair. "It wasn''t my intention to get lost like this."


    "Don''t worry about it," Headmaster Pitcus chuckled and adjusted his sses. "Rather, do you want to talk about what happened? I might not seem like it, but I am a good listener."


    ''You definitely look like a good listener,'' Khanmented in his mind while sorting out his thoughts.


    "How valuable is the position as a pilot?" Khan eventually asked.


    "Define valuable," Headmaster Pitcus replied.


    "How important is it politically?" Khan asked.


    "I didn''t take you for someone interested in ranks," Headmaster Pitcusughed.


    "I need to be interested in them," Khan exined. "That''s how the Global Army works."


    The honest answer surprised Headmaster Pitcus. He felt a bit sad to see that Khan had already started to view the politicaldder cynically, but that approach was fitting when he considered his history.


    "Pilots have an easy path toward the higher ranks," Headmaster Pitcus revealed. "Almost all of them get high positions in the Global Army after serving for a few years. You might be a colonel directly if you spend a decade traveling through the right routes."


    "But won''t that make me weaker as a soldier?" Khan wondered.


    "Is it necessary to be strong?" Headmaster Pitcus asked. "You won''t join battlefields as a pilot, not directly at least. You might have to give air support in wartime, but your individual power won''t matter much in those situations."


    Khan didn''t follow up with another question. Headmaster Pitcus was right, but Khan couldn''t ept to be weak, especially since his main goal was to find a species that had unleashed destruction on many known alien species.


    "Everything depends on what you want," Headmaster Pitcus continued when he saw that Khan remained silent.. "Do you want to fight? Do you want to fly? Do you want to interact with different species? You can do a lot but not everything."

 Chapter 312 - Call

    The meeting ended with those questions, and Khan left the building with his mind full of various thoughts. He didn''t really have doubts since his situation was unique, but he still took that chance to review his future.


    There was something that only three people in the universe knew. Bret, Zalpa, and Liiza were aware that Khan''s firm resolve and determination came from his recurring nightmares. The desperation that they forced him to experience every time he closed his eyes was the very drive that made him train and fight harder than his peers.


    Nothing could affect the nightmares. It didn''t matter if Khan was on a battlefield or in a peaceful environment. He would always return to the scenes of the Second Impact. He was a man constantly at war with something that he couldn''tprehend, and the only solution to his problem seemed to be outside his reach.


    Still, a few things were clear, even obvious. The Nak were somewhere in the universe, and they were strong. Khan couldn''t just give up on his training to explore space. Even if he found that species, he wouldn''t have the power to fight it.


    The pilot''s path didn''t suit Khan, but he had yet to decide what to do with his future. There was a high chance that the new subjects created after Istrone''s rebellion wouldn''t die in a mere semester or year. He could remain a professor for a long time if he wanted, but that was the core of the issue.


    Khan was enjoying the camp''s peace, but he also felt restrained. He didn''t yearn for the sight of more corpses, but he missed losing himself in the chaos of the battlefield. His flesh brimmed with power that he could never unleash, and some traits of his personality couldn''te out among innocent and happy soldiers.


    ''Am I really considering going back to a battlefield for the chance to act all broody and cold?'' Khan mocked himself as he walked through the camp''s streets. ''I guess I can''t forget who I am.''


    Cora knew about the unexpected meeting with Headmaster Pitcus, and Khan didn''t feel surprised to find her on a bench on his path back to his t. She smiled warmly when she saw his figure approaching her, but she noticed that there was something wrong with him.


    "What happened?" Cora asked while standing up.


    "Sit for a bit," Khan voiced in an aloof tone, and Cora ignored her confusion to do as he said.


    "Move a bit toward the edge," Khan whispered as he bent toward Cora and pushed her from her side.


    Cora understood what Khan wanted only after she reached his intended position. Her smile returned when hey on the bench and ced his head on herp. She instinctively caressed his hair, and he didn''t hold back from wrapping an arm around her waist.


    "Everyone can see us," Cora giggled without showing any shyness.


    It was still the middle of the afternoon of a break day. Soldiers and recruits roamed through the streets or used some of the camp''s vast spots to meet up. Khan was a known figure there, so every group that noticed his presence nced in his direction from time to time.


    His situation didn''t help. Khan was literally lying on Cora''sp in the middle of the camp. Everyone knew that they were in a rtionship, but that scene basically confirmed it.


    "What is it?" Cora asked as Khan fixed his eyes on the clear sky.


    "They asked me to be a pilot," Khan revealed.


    "Who?" Cora asked. "Did Headmaster Pitcus pull some strings?"


    "No, the offer came from two recruiters," Khan exined. "It seems that our trips to the amusement park didn''t go unnoticed."


    Cora stopped caressing Khan''s hair when she thought about the matter. She knew that pilots were kept in high regard by the Global Army. Receiving an offer for the proper flight training was already incredible, so she felt happy for Khan.


    However, Cora also knew what the flight training would involve. Khan would have to move to separate structures, with little to no free time. It was an arduous path that rarely left room for rtionships.


    "Stop worrying about it," Khanughed. "I''m not epting the offer."


    "Don''t take this offer lightly!" Cora scolded before lowering her voice and showing tinges of her shyness. "I don''t want you to reject this chance because of me."


    "You aren''t the main reason," Khan admitted while rubbing his face on Cora''s waist. "Still, I would have missed you if I decided to leave."


    "Khan!" Cora scolded again before exploding into a warmugh and resuming caressing his hair.


    That situation felt good. It wasn''t perfect, but Khan liked it a lot. His behavior was whimsical and even childish for a man in his position, but he didn''t care.


    Still, Khan knew that different soldiers wouldn''t be able to lose themselves in that behavior, especially in public. Everything would grow tighter as his position became more important, and he believed it would eventually feel suffocating.


    "Do you n on rubbing your face on me all day?" Cora eventually teased.


    "I can do more if youe to my t," Khan responded while leaving a kiss on her t waist.


    Cora''s face instantly turned red, but her warm smile remained. She lowered her head, and Khan turned to meet her lips. The two exchanged a soft kiss that Khan followed by squeezing her side.


    "People are watching us," Cora whispered as she straightened her back and took Khan''s hand to stop him from squeezing her any further.


    Khan heaved a soft sigh and wore a warm smile as he focused on the sky again. Many would kill to be in his situation. He had talent, a beautiful woman by his side, and a promising future. Yet, something told him that the camp would never be his home. He could express only part of him there.


    "Why are you so pensive?" Cora asked when she saw that Khan had a lot in his mind.


    "I''m thinking of ways to get you in my t," Khan lied. "I think you''d like the bed."


    "I would already be there if you didn''t care about me," Cora softly replied as she let go of his hand and resumed messing with his hair. "I won''t ask since you aren''t ready to tell me."


    Khan couldn''t help but feel moved by thatment. Cora had learnt a lot about him, especially when it came to what he didn''t say. She really looked at him, but she never insisted on what he didn''t want to reveal.


    A warm feeling spread through Khan''s chest when his eyes fell on Cora''s happy and caring face. He wanted to drag her to his t to enjoy what thatck of privacy prevented him from seeing. He wasn''t thinking about sex. He only desired to make her feel good.


    Still, his phone suddenly buzzed and diverted his attention. Khan picked up his device, and his eyes instinctively grew cold when he read the notification.


    "Is it Amber?" Cora asked. "Tell her that I''m free tomorrow morning. We can go to the shop she mentioned if she still wants to."


    "It''s not Amber," Khan said in an aloof tone.


    The message didn''t say much. Actually, it only had a single line. Captain yman had limited himself to write "It''s done", but those words were more than enough to exin everything.


    ''It has been more than a month now that I think about it,'' Khan thought as he put his phone back in his pocket. ''The guys on Ecoruta have been fast. I guess the anti-mana project is no more.''


    Everything seemed toe back. The corpses, struggles, and unrestrained releases of attacks created a starkparison to the peace that surrounded Khan. Those scenes belonged to two different worlds, and he knew where his instincts pushed him.


    "Your hair is getting long," Coramented when she saw that Khan didn''t say anything about the message.


    ''Why did you have to say this now?'' Khan cursed in his mind as he closed his eyes to hide eventual unwanted expressions.


    Cora couldn''t possibly know it, but that was the worst line she could say while Khan was in the middle ofparing the battlefield with the training camp. He didn''t answer and waited until he regained control of his face to open his eyes and straighten his position.


    "Khan?" Cora called. "Did I say something wrong?"


    Khan didn''t give any exnation. He stood up before bending toward Cora to leave an intense kiss. She was stunned, confused, and full of doubts, but he only left her with a short line. "I need to make a call. I''ll contact youter."


    Cora didn''t know what to say, so she watched as Khan left in a hurry. He was almost running. Something was obviously wrong, but she didn''t follow him. She knew that Khan needed time to open his heart, just like her for sex-rted matters.


    Khan barely noticed the world around him. He found himself inside his t without even recalling about opening the door. Still, he instinctively connected his phone to the wall and browsed through the menus until he could press on a familiar name.


    The wall lit up, and a screen even appeared on it. A series of ringing noises resounded in the room before a familiar voice shouted loud words that made Khan smile. "Son of a forgettable woman! It took you an entire month on Earth to call me!"


    "I missed you too, George," Khanughed as he fixed his eyes on the face that had appeared on the screen.


    George didn''t change. His cheeks were slightly flushed, and his hair had grown, but he was the same friend who had shared untold tragedies with Khan.


    "So, how is life as a professor?" George scoffed. "Your profile doesn''t say much about it. I bet you are swimming in women."


    "I''m actually with someone right now," Khan revealed. "Do you remember Cora Ommo from Istrone?"


    "Right, Reebfell, right!" George eximed. "You damned scoundrel. You always get the best ones, though you deserve them. Did you pop her cherry yet?"


    "Hey, I''m a gentleman," Khan joked.


    "Tell that to the marks you and Liiza left on each other," George sneered.


    George was probably the only one who could mention Liiza without making Khan feel sad. Still, the two remained silent for a few seconds as memories resurfaced in their minds.


    "Do you love her?" George eventually asked.


    "Can I even love after Liiza?" Khan chuckled.


    "Fair," George sighed. "Yet, I''m happy that you didn''t go all broody on me. Ecoruta, Onia, and now Reebfell. You even found yourself a nice girl. I''m proud of you, man."


    "What about you?" Khan questioned. "Did your family threaten to throw you in the Slums yet?"


    "If you are talking about my drinking habit, know that I only have a few cups after dealing with all the political stuff that my family throws at me," George proudly exined. "The cups might be really big, but that''s not the point."


    "You are the best," Khanughed.


    "I totally am," George dered. "Life is great. Women melt whenever I say my name. I''d like to have fewer political sheets to handle, but whatever."


    "It''s good to see that you are doing good," Khan honestlymented. "Make sure to be important so I can use your name to get out of trouble."


    Georgeughed, and Khan imitated him. It felt too good to talk with him. The two had simply gone through too much together, so they didn''t need to pretend at all during the call.


    "Khan, why did you call me?" George asked when the two stoppedughing.


    "I missed you," Khan joked.


    "Come on," George insisted. "Don''t make me force it out of your mouth."


    Khan sighed and lowered his gaze. He sorted out his thoughts before looking at the screen again to voice a simple question. "Do you have time for a drink with me?"


    "I wouldn''t refuse even if my parents'' lives were at stake," George responded.


    "You must really hate them," Khan teased.


    "Get your damned drink already," Georgeughed.


    Khan didn''t only pick a bottle and a cup. He even moved the couch and the table in the room so that he could sit while talking with George.


    "They offered me to be a pilot today," Khan revealed before taking a long sip from his drink.


    "What would you even do stuck on a spaceship for years?" Georgeined. "Did you refuse them already?"


    "I will soon," Khan dered. "I think I can get something out of it. Maybe they can teach me how to fly without forcing me to be a pilot."


    "The Global Army must be crazy since it tried to limit your potential," Georgemented.


    "It wasn''t the Global Army," Khan exined. "Two recruiters saw that I did good in a game in the amusement park. I think they are more interested in my figure instead of my actual talent as a pilot."


    "Yes, I can already see them using you to appeal to more soldiers," George agreed. "Tell them who you are, and use my name if needed. I''m sure they''ll get all worried and give you what you want."


    "I''ll probably go for that," Khan admitted, "Without using your family name."


    "What else?" George said, preventing Khan from falling silent.


    "Life as a professor is great," Khan sighed. "Heck, life in the camp is great. I like preparing my students for the worst, and the food is incredible. I can have or buy everything I want, and things with Cora are going well."


    "But?" George insisted.


    "But it''s not me," Khan admitted, "Not all of me, at least."


    "Do you miss the battlefield?" George asked before taking a long sip from his drink. "Do you miss the blood, the corpses?"


    "No," Khan stated. "I miss the freedom. What''s the point of training so hard when I can''t use my power?"


    "I feel you, Khan," George dered. "Maybe things aren''t as bad with me, but I experienced something simr."


    "How so?" Khan asked.


    "I''m a big-shot in my generation, right?" George eximed without showing any hint of shame. "Many families wanted their descendants to be my sparring partners, I guess for the same reasons behind your current job.


    "Well, my father eventually forces me to ept one of those requests. I get my sword, my defensive gear, and I even drink less than usual the previous night, but the battle ends in a single exchange. I swear, I barely touched the guy, but he was bleeding on the floor after I attacked."


    "Normal citizens don''t know what fighting means," Khanmented.


    "It''s not even about that," George corrected. "They hold back, always. They don''t know what it feels like to let their power run freely. They are a waste of synthetic mana."


    "I''m teaching that in my sses," Khan revealed. "They are doing good."


    "They don''t know how lucky they are to have you," George scoffed.


    Khan smiled and refilled his cup. The two drank for a few minutes in silence, but Khan eventually asked the question that had been in his mind before the call. "George, what should I do? I just can''t fit here. Everyone talks about clothes, beauty lotions, or useless essories. I need to search half of that stuff on thework to understand what it is."


    "You have already made your decision, right?" George asked. "Why are you even calling me?"


    "Because I need to know that I''m not crazy," Khan responded. "No one would give up on what I have now, literally no one, but here I am."


    "Khan, you are definitely crazy," Georgeughed, "But so what? I think I can slowly get used to this lifestyle, but you are different, so be different."


    "How did a drunkard even be so wise?" Khan wondered.


    "I''m not wise at all," George corrected. "I just know you. Stay on Reebfell for a while and teleport somewhere once you get bored. Don''t even feel bad about what you leave behind. If they can''t follow you, they don''t deserve to be in your presence."


    "ttery won''t get you anywhere," Khan chuckled.


    "I wasn''t trying to praise you," George dered. "Khan, you are amazing. A peaceful life will always feel too tight for someone like you. Don''t act like a sheep when you are a wolf."


    "Even if being a wolf leads me back among blood and corpses?" Khan wondered.


    "Going against your nature will only make you explode as I did with Paul," George sighed. "I initially thought you could grow to like peace, but it''s clear that you won''t. Don''t feel bad about it. It might not be pretty, but it''s still you."


    Khan emptied his cup and remained silent. He closed his eyes as he reviewed those words. He had already reached simr conclusions, but listening to George helped him ept everything.


    "How did you evene up with this wolf-sheep thing?" Khan eventually joked.


    "Booze made me wise," Georgeughed, and Khan soon imitated him.

 Chapter 313 - Success

    Khan and George ended up talking untilte. They mostly joked and reminisced about some funny events, and their cups became empty multiple times among theirughs.


    Khan couldn''t express how good it felt to be himself with no lies, no pretenses, and no restraints. He didn''t need to hide some of his faces from George, and he shared those emotions.


    When the call ended, Khan felt lighter. His doubts, hesitation, and restraints were no more. His responsibilities, pain, and new environment had ced a burden on his mind, but everything was gone now.


    That change was bound to happen anyway, but George had managed to trigger it without making Khan feel guilty or crazy. The metaphor about sheep and wolf had been perfectly on point, and Khan finally epted it.


    Who cared if Khan blew up a training hall? Who cared if the families'' representatives didn''t like his approach? Who cared if he couldn''t ept the peace of the training camp? Those parts of his personality shed with Earth''s ordinary life, but he was done worrying over them. Khan owed that to himself.


    ''I''m so drunk,'' Khan sighed while stretching on the couch and ncing at the two empty bottles on the table, ''But it''s not toote for that.''


    Khan forced himself to stand up and pick up his phone to send a simple message. The curfew would arrive in half an hour, so he didn''t have enough time to be with Cora in the camp''s streets. Yet, she could alwayse to his t.


    ''Khan, are you sure?'' Cora texted.


    ''Juste,'' Khan texted back before throwing his phone on the couch.


    Cora''s dormitory wasn''t close to Khan''s t. She would take a while to reach it, which would put her dangerously close to the curfew, but Khan knew that she woulde anyway.


    Someone knocked at the door fifteen minutes after the message. Khan hurried to open it and found a shy Cora standing in front of the entrance. She was already red, her gaze was on the ground, and she even yed with her hair to vent her anxiety.


    Khan couldn''t help but find the scene incredibly cute. Cora wanted to whisper something, but he took her arm and dragged her inside without saying anything.


    Cora didn''t even know how she ended up on the couch. Her mind was a mess. She could barely keep up with Khan''s kisses and curious hands. Still, she didn''t feel scared because she felt the gentleness behind his touch.


    "I-if you really want to do-," Cora stuttered during one of the rare moments when her lips were free, but Khan promptly interrupted her with another kiss.


    "Don''t worry," Khan reassured after leaving Cora''s lips alone. "I''m not taking your first time while I''m drunk. I just want more."


    Khan followed his statement by taking off the upper part of his military uniform. The event stunned Cora. She tried to divert her gaze from those firm muscles, but she lost against her curiosity.


    Cora had already seen Khan''s bare torso, but now the situation waspletely different. Her curiosity intensified as urges filled her mind, but Khan wasn''t in the mood to wait.


    "Cora," Khan whispered as he took her hand and ced it on his abdomen, "Do you realize that all of this is yours?"


    Cora seemed to stop functioning when that idea seeped into her mind, but Khan didn''t wait for her to recover. He bent down to resume kissing her, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face when he sensed Cora giving in to her urges. Her hands started to trace his muscles, and the force behind her touch intensified as she gained some confidence.


    The two didn''t go all the way. Khan had the chance to push Cora in that direction, but he remained true to his words. He wanted to treasure her, so experiencing such an important moment when he wasn''t in a decent state would be a waste.


    Cora went into Khan''s bed when everything was over. She initially tried to refuse that spot since the sole idea of sleeping with Khan could make her mind explode, but that feeling transformed into cute anger when she understood that she would be alone for the night.


    Khan dealt with her emotional state easily. A few kisses could do the trick since Cora wasn''t thinking straight. Everything that had happened that night made her quite docile.


    Khan spent the night in the training room, going over his many exercises. Everything felt better after shedding off his hesitation and worries, especially on his mental field.


    The following morning saw a few cute moments between Khan and Cora, but she eventually ran away. Khan onlyughed at that scene, and the same smile reappeared on his face when Amber began to assault him with questionster that day.


    It turned out that Cora had opened up a bit with Amber, and she had ended up sharingst night''s experience. Amber wanted to know more, but Khan kept everything for himself as he focused on his training.


    .


    .


    .


    Time went by peacefully in Reebfell''s camp. No significant events happened, so Khan could continue to focus on his training, his students, and Cora. Everything went well in those fields, but the slight changes in his behavior didn''t go unnoticed.


    The recruits noticed how Khan appeared generally happier. He was still strict and brutal if his lessons needed that, but smiles appeared on his face whenever he had had to push the Tainted ape back in his cage. He seemed to enjoy having to fight, even if that only involved an easy battle.


    Khan also began to sprint through the camp''s streets whenever he had the chance. In theory, the soldiers had to hold back from using mana outside the training halls and specific lessons, but he didn''t care. He ran when he wanted to run.


    Cora and Amber noticed the effects of Khan''s new mindset more than anyone else. Amber saw how Khan appeared light-hearted during their trips in Reebfell. His changes only affected a few answers orments, but she could feel that he was generally more open about himself.


    As for Cora, she ended up spending many nights inside Khan''s t. They never went all the way, but she began to feel some restlessness. She could also sense that Khan was putting more effort into reinforcing their connection, and she obviously loved that approach.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t feel any different. He had only stopped holding back or worrying about the consequences of his actions. He knew that someone might not like his freedom, but he remained a hero, so no one dared toin.


    Of course, Khan''s mental freedom never led to rude behaviors. He was simply more himself, and that felt amazing for him. The only issue came from his yearning for the chance to use his power properly, but his packed schedule took care of suppressing that drive.


    Something happened when it came to the recruiters. Khan contacted them through Headmaster Pitcus to exin his situation, but they didn''t ept his conditions. Still, they didn''t wholly refuse them either.


    The training to be a pilot required different structures due to the vehicles involved in the process. The Global Army couldn''t build something in Reebfell''s camp just for Khan, and it couldn''t waste money teleporting him multiple times every week.


    However, a cheap solution existed. The recruiters couldn''t provide practical training without the right structures, but Khan could work on the theory with the right books.


    The solution was quite simple. Khan would have to study on his own and pass theoretical tests to receive advanced books. Then, if he had time in the future, he could move to a specific structure andplete the practical part of his training.


    Khan''s workload increased. The subjects required to be a pilot were also quite dull since they went over different flying vehicles'' technical details and structures. He needed to know how to repair his ride if something happened, so the Global Army saw that knowledge as necessary.


    Pilots even had multiple regtions to follow. The universe had different jurisdictions, and the same went for Earth. The type of vehicles, the speed limit, and the other trivial matters had various rules that Khan had to memorize even before getting his hands on an actual steering wheel.


    The uneventful life of the camp allowed Khan to keep up with that amount of knowledge. His expertise with the "enhanced reading" inevitably rose as he continued to rely on the technique to study and his ability to control mana improved. He was growing in multiple fields simultaneously, and a long-awaited event finally arrived.


    Khan waited until deep into the night to leave his t and run past the edges of the camp. Arge backpack was on his shoulders, and a resolute expression filled his face. He had prepared for weeks for that moment. It was time to use the [Blood Vortex].


    Reaching the level of skill required by the [Blood Vortex] had taken Khan a long time. His fourth month as a professor had already begun, and his birthday was getting close. Still, his focus that night was entirely on the contents of his backpack.


    It was a break day, and Khan had already settled everything with Cora. She knew that he was working on a unique project, so they put on hold their intimate nights in his t. The event felt a bit disappointing since they were close to getting to proper sex, but Khan didn''t ept distractions now that his ability had reached the intended level.


    Khan ran until he reached the vast fields past the camp''s edges. Regr soldiers would typically use the flying tforms to visit those locations, but Khan''s speed allowed him to cross that distance quickly.


    That wasn''t Khan''s first time in the area. He didn''t only see something simr during his entrance test. He had also run there multiple times to study the environment''s mana in the past weeks.


    The [Blood Vortex] required mana with two different natures to create a connection between the user and the environment. Khan would have normally opted for a private and isted location, but he couldn''t perform the technique in the camp due to the vast amount of synthetic mana that filled it.


    The fields outside the camp were the only ce thatcked that contamination, which made them mandatory for the technique. Also, they were mostly deserted, especially at night, so Khan could have his privacy there.


    Khan checked that the mana around him matched what he had studied in the previous weeks. Everything met his requirements, so he dropped the backpack on the ground and began to empty it.


    The items that Khan took out of the backpack had been expensive. One of them was a special bucket capable of enhancing the properties of the mana that flowed into its fabric. Reebfell didn''t have cauldrons, but that first-grade item was even better than those traditional containers.


    The second item was a rectangr bottle filled with dark blood. Khan had actually brought three of them in case his first attempts were to fail, but his preparations didn''t end there.


    His time on Nitis had taught him well. Khan''s backpack had a couple of towels, a clean uniform, and a potion to ease burns or shallow injuries. He had everything he needed for his first solo experience with the [Blood Vortex], and he could barely contain himself at the thought of his imminent improvements.


    ''My attunement with mana has reached fifty-six percent in these months,'' Khan thought as he prepared the items for the procedure. ''I''ll be in my third year in little more than two months. This growth speed is too slow. I need to improve it, even if I go broke in the process.''


    Khan had to pay three thousand Credits for the first-grade bucket and five thousand for the monster purchased in the "Beasts'' King". His past ploy with the waiter had allowed him to buy something stronger than a mere Tainted animal cheaply. Still, the Global Army couldn''t refund something that he wouldn''t use for his lessons, so the payment had affected his finances significantly.


    In theory, Khan didn''t need a proper monster for the [Blood Vortex]. He could have picked a weaker creature and saved money, but he also had the [Blood Shield] in mind.


    The requirements for the two Niqols techniques had led Khan to purchase a creature that went past normal Tainted animals so that he could use it multiple times. The Global Army would take care of it anyway, so Khan only had to seize blood and flesh when he needed them.


    Khan emptied one bottle in the bucket and closed his eyes. His hands went on the item, and red-purple energy came out of them. The color of his mana immediately changed, but only partially.


    His mana already carried his aura, so he only had to pay attention to the environment and the fusion between the two natures. Khan had already performed many tests without the blood, so his execution turned out to be almost perfect.


    Still, almost perfect wasn''t enough for the [Blood Vortex], mainly since the blood belonged to a monster. Khan found it hard to rece the innate nature carried by that liquid, and his first batch failed to meet the technique''s requirements.


    Khan emptied the bucked on the ground without showing any disappointment. He took his time to clean the item with one of his towels and proceeded to pour the second bottle inside it.


    The second attempt seeded, and the bucket''s properties even shortened the time required by those preparations. The blood transformed into a dense dark liquid. It became the ink needed by the technique.


    ''I did it!'' Khan shouted in his mind as a helplessugh left his mouth and echoed in the darkness of the night.


    It had taken Khan more than a year of training in the Niqols'' fundamentals, but he was finally there. He had reached Liiza''s level.


    ''You must be even stronger by now,'' Khan sighed as he unbuttoned his uniform. ''I bet you would even get mad to know how far I''m willing to go tonight.''


    Khan remained in that pensive state even after getting naked. He was alone at night, in a field outside the training camp, and without anything to cover his body. The soft winds blowing in the area were cold, but he felt warm at their touch.


    His sess in recreating the ink for the [Blood Vortex] was too meaningful. Khan had to remain immersed in his thoughts for a while before proceeding with the technique. His phone lit up and created a mirror as he dipped his fingers in the bucket and began to draw symbols on his body.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Shoutout to Reblex for the Magic Castle!

 Chapter 314 - Investigation

    "What happened to you?" Cora asked when a half-naked scarred Khan appeared in her view.


    "It''s nothing serious," Khan reassured while turning to reach the couch in his living room.


    "I beg to differ," Corained while entering the t and letting the metal door close behind her. "How did you even hurt yourself so badly? These injuries are deep."


    ''And I even meditated all day,'' Khanmented in his mind as he checked his injuries.


    The [Blood Vortex] had gone well, but Khan had gone all-out since he had been alone. With no one to stop him, he had let the technique continue until the lines had dug deep injuries into his body.


    The wounds had been so deep that a single training session couldn''t make them fade. Khan''s body still showed clear marks even after a whole day had passed. He would have usually refused to see Cora that night, but she had sounded too worried to deny her request.


    "These marks are too precise to be random," Cora whispered as she approached Khan and inspected the wounds under his unbuttoned uniform. "You have them on your feet too. Are they due to the special project?"


    "It''s a unique technique that I learnt on Nitis," Khan revealed without adding any detail. "It looks bad, but it''s pretty useful."


    "It looks really bad," Cora added as her fingers traced the edges of Khan''s injuries without touching them. "Are you sure you''ll be fine?"


    "They will disappear after a training session," Khan reassured.


    Cora sighed before giving up on the issue. She didn''t like to see Khan in that state, but arguing with him wouldn''t lead anywhere. Yet, she wouldn''t remain still while he was suffering.


    "Come here," Cora said as she sat on the couch and patted herp.


    Khan smiled before lying on Cora''sp. She made sure to remove his hair from the injuries on his forehead before caressing him softly. She was clearly worried, but she tried to hide that feeling behind her warm smile.


    "You look disappointed," Khan chuckled when he saw that Cora''s gaze often ended on his bare torso.


    "Why would I be disappointed?" Cora asked, pretending to be innocent.


    "Maybe someone had naughty ideas about tonight," Khan teased.


    Cora blushed, but she didn''t contradict Khan. Her smile remained on her face as she kept caressing his hair.


    "Meditate now," Cora eximed in a loving tone. "I don''t like to see you like this."


    "Give me a kiss first," Khan requested.


    Cora didn''t even try to refuse. She bent forward and pulled her hair to make sure that they didn''t fall on Khan''s injuries before leaving a cute kiss on his lips. The two exchanged a meaningful nce afterward, and Khan cursed himself for his current state.


    Khan would jump on her right there and now, but she would probably be too worried about hurting him to enjoy the situation. He had to fall into his meditative state to avoid thinking about the issue, and Cora made sure to apany his training with warm caresses.


    The remaining mana umted under the marks began to fuse with Khan''s flesh. He could see his muscles and skin reaching the intended level far faster than during regr meditations. The [Blood Vortex] had been as effective as always, and his injuries healed quickly with that high concentration of energy.


    Khan opened his eyes a few hours before dawn. His injuries had disappeared, but Cora''s sleeping face imed the entirety of his attention.


    ''She is way too cute,'' Khanmented in his mind before straightening his position and lying again to make Cora rest on him.


    Cora woke up during the process, but a few caresses from Khan''s side made her ept her new position. She only needed a few seconds to fall asleep again, and Khan soon imitated her.


    The rm that Cora had set on her phone rang and woke up the couple. She had lessons to attend that morning, but she didn''t leave Khan''s chest after putting away her device.


    "You''ll bete," Khan reminded as he dug a hand in Cora''s long blonde hair.


    Cora trembled when Khan''s hand slid over her nape and neck. She tilted her head, and her big green eyes appeared in his vision. Her intense gaze carried a meaning that Khan soon shared.


    "You''ll skip your lessons today," Khan whispered as he straightened his back and lifted Cora.


    Words became useless at that point. Khan and Cora began to kiss on the couch. Some of their clothes fell on the floor in the process, and Khan eventually lifted her to reach his bedroom.


    Cora''s let everything happen naturally. She kissed Khan''s neck, chest, and shoulders without showing any shyness. Her fingers moved firmly on his back. There was no awkwardness or hesitation in her actions, which told Khan that the time hade.


    Moans filled the t as Khan and Cora experienced their first time together. Everything was slow at the beginning, but the two found their chemistry quickly. They could arrive at that level of confidence due to the time invested in strengthening their rtionship.


    Khan didn''t consider himself an expert in sex, but his experience was immensepared to Cora, and she benefitted from that. When everything was over, she almost hated Khan for having waited so long.


    Cora''s duties and Khan''s schedule vanished as they fell asleep again in each other''s arms. The two woke up near lunchtime, and they ordered something from thework before resuming enjoying each other''spany.


    Khan would have loved to spend the entire day with Cora. Neither of them was holding back now that their rtionship had taken a step forward, but he couldn''t ignore his duties as a professor.


    "Come back soon," Cora whispered when Khan left a kiss on her forehead and left the bed.


    "Only if you wait for me here," Khan teased.


    "I''m not going anywhere," Cora giggled as she curled under the sheets and took the pillow that Khan had used between her arms.


    Khan found himself hating his students for the first time since arriving in Reebfell. The bed was too tempting with Cora on it. The sheets highlighted her sexy curves and made Khan stare at her while he searched for clean clothes.


    "Stop," Cora eventuallyined. "Go be a good professor now. You can have me when you get back."


    "I will have you when I get back," Khan responded while approaching the bed to leave a passionate kiss on Cora''s mouth.


    Khan had to leave the t in a hurry afterward to avoid remaining in Cora''s tempting presence any longer. A stupid grin had taken control of his face, but he didn''t mind it. He was happy, and he found no reason to hide his state.


    It was a bitte, so Khan began to sprint through the camp''s streets. The hangar appeared in his vision in no time, and he found a few students waiting inside when he crossed its entrance.


    The event wasn''t surprising. Some of Khan''s students had be really attached to his sses in the past months, and they didn''t hold back from warming up in the hangar before his arrival. However, Khan noticed how all of them didn''t raise their eyes from their phones after his loud greetings.


    "What is happening?" Khan asked as he approached the small group of recruits.


    "Didn''t you hear, sir?" Elsie was the first to react to the question.


    "Hear what?" Khan questioned while ncing at the woman''s device.


    Scenes of explosions filled Elsie''s screen. mes and azure fumes shot in every direction as an announcer''s voice described the event. Still, Khan became almost deaf to those exnations when he recognized the Slums'' iconic houses among those images.


    "Is this happening in Reebfell''s Slums?" Khan asked as he picked up his phone to reach the menus with the news.


    "No, these images are from Dewwick," Elsie exined. "Someone had set ab in the Slums, but things went wrong."


    Khan didn''t need to question Elsie or the other students anymore after reaching the news'' menu. Everybel on his screen was talking about the event. He only had to press on one of them to obtain a general description of the matter.


    Khan wasn''t a simple soldier, so his phone showedbels containing ssified information. It turned out that theb had the purpose of creating Tainted animals to sell to the cities'' shops. Apparently, cing it in the Slums would avoid heavy taxes and unique tech meant to ensure the environment''s safety.


    The news went on talking about the damage suffered by the Slums. The Global Army had already isted the area and killed any rogue Tainted animal, but the fumes released into the environment were potentially toxic. Some citizens could even experience mutations due to the density of synthetic mana in the air.


    The chance of experiencing mutations wasn''t high since the synthetic mana''s infective properties didn''t match the Nak''s energy. The Global Army had even acted rtively quickly, so no one had remained exposed to the dense fumes for too long. However, the event remained a tragedy that the soldiers wouldn''t let go of so easily.


    "Sir, youe from the Slums, right?" One of the students eventually asked.


    "I''m afraid I can''t tell you much," Khan responded before the student could continue with another question.


    The news said that theb had been quite old. It had probably been in the Slums for many years. In theory, every city could have something simr since the Global Army didn''t notice it for so long.


    A message reached Khan''s phone while the potential consequences and problems connected to the event filled his mind. Headmaster Pitcus had called for a meeting, canceling any ss that would have usually taken ce in those hours.


    "I''m afraid we won''t have our lesson today," Khan eximed while storing his phone. "Warn yourpanions. I need to leave now."


    "Don''t worry, sir," Elsie reassured while showing a message that had arrived on her phone. "The Global Army has already warned everyone. There won''t be lessons tomorrow either."


    Khan nodded before leaving the hangar in a hurry. He found many of his students on their path to the hangar while he sprinted to return to the center of the camp. They connected the unclear and fast figure to him, but none of them had the time to voice questions.


    The meeting wouldn''t happen in the Headmaster''s office. Thetter had chosen one of the underground training halls for the event, and Khan noticed the presence of other professors when he arrived. Amber was also there, and he quickly reached her.


    "Khan, are you okay?" Amber whispered when Khan reached her.


    "I have no attachment to the Slums," Khan replied. "Besides, the explosions didn''t happen in co."


    "What do you think about all of this?" Amber continued.


    "I don''t know what to think," Khan honestly admitted. "Yet, there must be someone inside the Global Army behind it. The citizens of the Slums don''t have the connections or resources to have ess to so much synthetic mana."


    "I see," Amber sighed. "The problem might be bigger than we think then."


    "Do you think the other Slums have simrbs?" Khan asked.


    "It''s not that," Amber exined. "The soldiers stationed in the Slums are usually poor. They don''t have what it takes to build a properb or the knowledge to make it function for years. The criminals might be important figures in the army."


    Amber''s hypothesis made sense, and Khan could only nod after hearing it. Whispers and low voices resounded as the professors waited for everyone to gather inside the hall, but everyone''s attention went on the stage when the lights illuminated it.


    "I believe everyone knows about Dewwick''s events," Headmaster Pitcus announced from the stage. "I''ll make it short. The Global Army is worried that more Slums might have dangerousbs, so it''s putting together teams to investigate."


    Khan could almost predict the words that were about toe out of Headmaster Pitcus'' mouth. They made so much sense that he found them inevitable.


    "Lieutenant Khan," Headmaster Pitcus continued, "The Global Army wants you to be part of the investigation."

 Chapter 315 - Team

    Headmaster Pitcus moved on to exin ssified information about Dewwick''s events, but the meeting eventually ended with a summon directed to Khan.


    Headmaster Pitcus and Khan left under everyone''s gaze to walk toward the former''s office in silence. It was time to share specific orders and have a conversation about the actual investigation, so the two required a more private meeting.


    "What do you think about the mission?" Headmaster Pitcus asked as he sat behind his interactive desk and adjusted his sses to inspect the various reports before him.


    "I understand why the Global Army picked me," Khan admitted. "However, I''m unclear about the details of the mission, and investigating the Slums would be hard even if I were in co."


    "Why is that?" Headmaster Pitcus asked.


    "Well, the Slums rarely stay still," Khan exined. "This doesn''t only apply to its poption. Entire blocks can appear in one night with the right conditions. The only stable quarters are those near barracks or simr buildings upied by soldiers, but I guess eventualbs won''t be there."


    "I can question every soldier in the camp, and none of them would be able to say so much about the Slums," Headmaster Pitcus chuckled. "You are the right man for the investigation. I hope that you won''t feel lost in Reefbell''s Slums."


    ''I won''t go to co then,'' Khan sighed in relief after confirming that detail. He had started to desire a meeting with his father but waiting until he was readier remained a better option.


    "About the mission details," Headmaster Pitcus continued, "The Global Army will send specialists from the city to assist you. Other than that, you can pick soldiers from the camp or outside to create a team."


    "What about my position?" Khan asked. "Will I be in charge of the investigation team?"


    "You and the specialists will have equal authority over the forces in the Slums," Headmaster Pitcus exined.


    The Headmaster didn''t say anything about the soldiers that Khan would handpick, but that felt superfluous. Khan would naturally choose figures that would prioritize him over the specialists.


    "What about my students?" Khan questioned. "My sses are going well. It would be a pity to interrupt the program so abruptly."


    "The Global Army doesn''t care about these experimental subjects when potential traitors thrive inside its ranks," Headmaster Pitcus sighed. "You will have to interrupt your lessons, but you can bring your students to the Slums if you think you can ensure their safety."


    The Slums weren''t dangerous for those who had begun to harness mana''s power. Only a few squad leaders there were first-level warriors, and the robots that enforced order kept most of the citizens in check.


    Of course, the investigation probably involved rogue soldiers or proper traitors. Their level would be unclear, but Khan believed that they couldn''t be too strong. After all, the Tainted animals'' business could be profitable but only for rtively weak figures with a poor background.


    The matter changed with monsters or stronger beings since they had far higher value on the market. However, ab in the Slums would struggle to have the amount of synthetic mana required to create such strong creatures, and the risks wouldn''t be worth the betrayal for soldiers who had already earned three stars or more.


    Things could change if the investigation uncovered multiplebs in the Slums of different cities. That would hint at the presence of a proper criminal organization, which would naturally involve rtively wealthy families.


    Nevertheless, it would be straight-up stupid for such families to leave figures in the Slums capable of connecting them to the criminal organization. Everything pointed toward a weak enemy or force in the eventuality that simrbs existed in different locations.


    Khan remained silent as he went over the issue. Bringing his students into the Slums would only cause problems and affect his job since it would be hard to control and look over all of them. It was better to create a small elite team to reward the recruits who had done exceptionally well in his lessons.


    "Do you have more questions?" Headmaster Pitcus eventually asked. "The Global Army has yet to send the final details of the mission, but I''m sure I can solve some of your doubts."


    "How should I approach the investigation?" Khan responded before altering his question. "What does the Global Army want me to do with citizens found guilty?"


    "Capture and deliver them to the barracks for questioning," Headmaster Pitcus dered.


    "What if they try to fight back?" Khan continued.


    "Do you think they''ll try to hinder the investigation?" Headmaster Pitcus questioned.


    "Not at all," Khan eximed. "They will probably tell you everything they know on the spot. The Slums aren''t known for insurrections, let alone loyalty toward their own. I only want to understand how much the Global Army wished us to push to find answers."


    "Well, that''s up to you," Headmaster Pitcus stated. "You will be in charge of the investigation in the end. Still, the Global Army has authorized the use of deadly force under the right conditions. I believe this answers your question."


    Khan nodded. The Global Army wasn''t known for its mercy toward the Slums, but he still wanted to understand how seriously it was about the matter.


    The answer didn''t only confirm that the Global Army was keeping the investigation in high regard. It clearly stated that eventual criminal organizations had to go, and the same went for the families backing them.


    "How long do I have to create the team?" Khan asked.


    "Not long," Headmaster Pitcus sighed. "The Global Army wants soldiers investigating the Slums as soon as possible. You will receive specific orders by the end of the day, but I guess you''ll have to leave before the end of the week."


    Khan nodded again and performed a military salute before voicing polite words. "Permission to leave, sir."


    "Granted," Headmaster Pitcus eximed and began massaging his temples while Khan left the office.


    The camp felt restless as the news of Dewwick''sbs reached every recruit and soldier. Some even couldn''t avoid ncing at Khan and giving birth to new gossips as they saw him storming through the crowded streets.


    Khan was a hero, but everyone knew his background. His status as a member of the Slums wasn''t something that they could ignore after the crisis. The sole possibility that criminal organizations could exist past the training camps and have ess to synthetic mana forced them to treat Khan as a suspicious figure.


    It would also make sense for Khan to have connections with a simr organization as long as the soldiers were willing to stretch their rumors in that field. His prowess was exceptional, even unbelievable for a young man with such poor background. Yet, a previous training could exin everything.


    Of course, only those who didn''t know Khan at all or envied his sess could believe in such assumptions. His feats inside the Global Army and the many tragic events he had to ovee were enough to prove his loyalty. No one would go through so much and continue to serve instead of settling somewhere safe.


    The opposite view was also usible, but Khan didn''t care as long as those rumors didn''t get serious. After all, he only needed to work hard during the investigation to silence them.


    His pensive walk through the camp''s streets soon lost its privacy when a figure approached him. Amber reached his side and bumped lightly on his shoulder before questioning him. "Did you pick your team yet?"


    "What makes you believe that I have to pick a team?" Khan responded.


    "Is it co or Reebfell?" Amber continued, pretending that she didn''t hear his question.


    "Reebfell," Khan revealed.


    "So, do you have to create a team?" Amber asked while bumping on his shoulder again.


    "Why do you want toe?" Khan wondered.


    "I have remained in a camp or my family''s structures my whole life," Amber exined. "I want to take part in a proper mission."


    "Do you want to get a promotion?" Khan asked.


    "It''s about time, isn''t it?" Amber eximed. "The investigation might go nowhere, but I can still gain merits. They might help me be a lieutenant."


    Khan nced at Amber. The two stars on both her shoulders stated her power, but he knew that she had no real battle experience outside the training halls. However, she was basically asking him a favor, and he found no reason to refuse.


    "Stick to me in the Slums," Khan sighed. "I don''t want the Teldom family to get angry at me over losing its precious descendant."


    "You are so protective, Professor Khan," Amber teased while taking his arm. "Now I see what women like about you."


    "Please, you saw that when we met," Khan scoffed.


    "I''m telling Cora that you said that," Amber giggled.


    "You are ying the Cora card a lottely," Khan chuckled. "Are you running out of answers, Professor Teldom?"


    "Professor Khan''s power has be too overwhelming," Amber joked. "What can a poor and lonely woman like me even do in front of such blinding heroism?"


    "It hurt me to hear this," Khanmented.


    "I might have gone too far," Amberughed, and Khan soon imitated her.


    Amber ended up apanying Khan back to his t. She wanted to discuss the investigation with him, and she didn''t find it awkward to be in his ce. Even hearing about Cora''s presence didn''t make her give up on the matter.


    However, Amber didn''t expect the sight that unfolded in her vision when the metal door of Khan''s t slid open. He had warned Cora about their arrival, but thetter had built a good rtionship with Amber in thest months, so she didn''t feel the need to hide too much from her.


    Amber found Cora sitting on the couch in the living room. Cora had connected her phone to the wall to use the t''s screens to go over the Dewwick''s news, and the images of the event shed on her face.


    The situation would have usually felt normal, but Amber didn''t miss how Cora''s hair was clean and soft. Her skin was also rosy and warm, which hinted at a recent shower.


    Moreover, Cora wasn''t wearing her uniform. She had donned some clean clothes in Khan''s t, which were naturallyrge for her in certain spots. Her trousers were too long, and the chest area was tight.


    Amber opened her mouth, but she quickly closed it since everything crossing her mind sounded too awkward. Khan''s reaction didn''t help her either. She remained on her spot as she watched him reaching the couch and taking Cora in his arms to exchange a quick kiss.


    The overly affectionate gestures and natural cuddles of the couple told Amber that something had changed. Cora''s appearance even led her to obvious conclusions, and an excited grin inevitably appeared on her face. She even began tough softly, but she promptly covered her mouth.


    "Stopughing and get a bottle from the fridge," Khan ordered when he saw traces of shyness appearing on Cora''s face. "I guess we''ll eat here today."


    "Unless you want some privacy," Amber teased.


    "I tried to tell you that on the road, but you didn''t want to hear reasons," Khan scoffed. "You are here now, so let''s go over the investigation together."


    "I''m sorry," Amber whispered when she and Cora exchanged a nce, but thetter shook her head as she dived deeper into the embrace.


    It didn''t take long before the three of them sat on the couch with an open bottle on the table in front of them. Khan had his back on the armrest to keep Cora between his legs and arms, while Amber was on the other side, struggling to find where to let her eyes rest.


    "Do you have a spot for me in the team?" Cora asked after Khan exined the contents of the meeting with Headmaster Pitcus.


    "Are you sure that you want toe?" Khan asked. "It might get ugly."


    "I want to see how you lived before enlisting," Cora revealed, and Khan couldn''t help but caress her cheek.


    "You two are way too cute," Amber giggled as she brought her cup to her mouth before showing a disgusted face and cing it back on the table.


    "And you are in the way," Khan cursed.


    "What? Did you want to have Cora all for you?" Amber teased.


    "I have her all for me," Khan responded as heid his head on Cora''s shoulder.


    "Let her have fun," Cora smiled before leaving a kiss on Khan''s cheek.


    "You are too permissive with her," Khan sighed.


    "I''m not a kid!" Amber eximed, and the three soon shared a happyugh.


    The sound of a message interrupted the happy moment. Khan picked up his phone and skimmed through the text. The Global Army had sent him the details behind the investigation, revealing that Headmaster Pitcus had been too optimistic.. The higher-ups wanted Khan to leave for the Slums in two days.

 Chapter 316 - Home

    The investigation team took life quickly. Khan knew his students well, so he already had a list of potential candidates for the mission. He only had to decide how many to bring in the Slums, but Cora and Amber helped outline those details.


    The day before the departure set by the Global Army, Khan sent a series of messages where he exined the nature of his offer and what it would involve. He didn''t expect the chosen students to ept right away, but it turned out that their families had nothing against the mission in the Slums. They actually encouraged their descendants.


    Khan became only busier afterward. He had to visit Headmaster Pitcus'' office to convey the list of his team and finalize thest steps for the mission. Then, he had to exchange calls and messages with the representatives of the involved families.


    When everything was over, Khan discovered that the afternoon was almost over. He didn''t have time for his training or Cora, and his preparations had yet to begin.


    Luckily for Khan, his belongings were basically non-existent. His t contained the tools for the [Blood Vortex], but he wouldn''t need them in the Slums. The barracks in the Slums would provide habitations, clothes, and food, so he only had to bring his knife in the mission.


    The situation was different for his students, Amber, and Cora. Their families didn''t hesitate to purchase useful potions that could improve their lives in the Slums. Some of them went overboard, but that felt normal since that would be the first mission for the recruits.


    Amber wanted to go over the details of the mission again the night before the departure. She was excited about the imminent trip, but Khan didn''t ept reasons. He wanted to be with Cora, so Amber could only give up on the matter.


    Khan''s firmness in his rejection of Amber''s request had two different reasons. First, he wanted to have sex. It pissed him that the mission had arrived right after his rtionship had moved to the next level. He didn''t even know if the habitations in the Slums would give him some privacy, so he made sure to spend valuable hours with Cora.


    The second reason involved his training. Khan had just learnt to perform the [Blood Vortex], so that abrupt hindrance in his schedule had annoyed him.


    However, Khan wasn''t the type to take it easy. When Cora fell asleep, he left his t and hurried to the field outside the camp to perform the [Blood Vortex]. He obviously held back from leavingsting marks on his body, and he had even told Cora about his ns, so his return at dawn didn''t surprise her.


    "How do you even survive with so little sleep?" Cora whined when Khan got under the sheets to take her in his arms.


    "I have too much to do," Khan chuckled.


    "You stink," Corained before her vision focused enough to notice the red marks on Khan''s chest. "What''s this?"


    "I didn''t have time to wash the blood off," Khan revealed.


    "Did you hurt yourself so much?!" Cora shouted as she becamepletely awake.


    "Don''t worry," Khanughed. "It''s not mine. My injuries have already healed."


    "Go wash it off!" Cora ordered before wearing a loving smile and going back on her pillow. "Be quick. We might have an hour for ourselves."


    "I have a better idea," Khan whispered before pulling Cora back in his arms and lifting her from the bed.


    Cora initiallyined, but she ended upughing as Khan carried her in the bathroom. The two could make the best out of the short time before the departure, but they eventually had to leave the t.


    Khan''s first trip from the Slums to the entrance of the training camp had been on a flying truck. His return in those areas wouldn''t happen through such a poor ride. Still, the details about the vehicle had remained a secret during the day before the departure.


    The Global Army had given simple orders. Khan''s group had to gather on a field past the camp and wait for the ride to arrive. A pilot and the specialists from the city would pick his team up and drive everyone to the Slums.


    Khan, Amber, Cora, and four recruits reached the gathering point a few minutes before the nned hour. The situation didn''t allow the trio to have the usual light tones and jokes, but the atmosphere was far from tense.


    Elsie, John, Dwight, and Ashley were excited about their first mission, and Amber seemed to share that feeling. Meanwhile, Khan and Cora remained calm and showed faint smiles only when the restlessness of theirpanions became unable to ignore.


    A deep noise eventually filled the area. Khan and the others raised their heads to notice a big vehicle that many could easily mistake for a spaceship. However, the studies in the past months allowed Khan to understand the ride''s limits.


    ''Terrestrial ship,'' Khan thought as the vehicle descended toward the field, ''Medium size, unarmed. It should belong to the orbital rides'' category. Maybe it''s a C-13 or a C-14. I don''t remember.''


    Khan was testing his knowledge, but the ship revealed that he still had a lot to learn. The vehicle had a big, cylindrical shape with a curved front and a rectangr back. It had a single engine ced at its bottom and arge dark window in front of its cabin. Moreover, the code "C-15" was clearly visible on its side.


    ''Can they even park something so big in the Slums?'' Khan wondered as the shipnded and lifted open its side doors. ''The barracks'' roofs can''t hold it.''


    The C-15 seemed big enough to contain more than twenty soldiers. It was a valuable vehicle meant for long flights inside a''s atmosphere, and it could even survive in space for a few hours. The Global Army didn''t hold back in that part of the mission.


    Khan was the first to move. He was the leader of the group in the field, so it was his job to approach the C-15 and greet the soldiers inside.


    The atmosphere inside the ship felt tense. Khan saw two men in their thirties waiting right past the door. One of them had long blonde hair that reached his shoulders and icy-blue eyes, while the other had short ck hair, dark eyes, and dark skin.


    The blonde man was rather slim, while the other couldn''t hide his bulging muscles. His uniform seemed about to tear due to how tightly it pressed on his figure.


    The two men had two stars on each shoulder, but they didn''t feel too strong. They weren''t only newly advanced second-level warriors. Khan also failed to sense the usual battle intent that proper fighters usually radiated.


    ''Are they really elites?'' Khan wondered while his face showed one of the politest smiles he had ever worn.


    "Nice to meet you," Khan eximed while performing a military salute. "I''m Lieutenant Khan."


    "No need to be so formal, Lieutenant," The dark-haired man responded while showing a weing grin. "We are all lieutenants here. If we were to use achievements to dere a leader, you woulde out on top by far."


    "I''m Ethan Padridge," The blonde man continued while performing a simple nod, "And this smiling guy at my side is Grant Kentey. It''s an honor to meet the famous Lieutenant Khan."


    "The honor is mine," Khan chuckled. "It''s rare to meet specialists from the city."


    "Oh, please, we can''tpare our job to your service," Grant stated. "Bing inspectors might be hard, but our duties amount to very little in an environment as peaceful as Reebfell."


    "I''m d to hear that everything is going well," Khan eximed.


    "Exceptionally well," Ethan added. "Crime is at its lowest point of the decade. We can only hope that the mess in Dewwick is an isted incident."


    "Indeed," Khan agreed as he stepped forward and let hispanions enter the ship.


    The students, Amber, and Cora didn''t hold back from repeating the polite presentations. The four recruits showed everything their families had taught them about manners and politics, while Amber managed to have a casual exchange of lines since she was as strong as the specialists.


    On the other hand, Cora ended up in a pickle. Grant acted like a perfect gentleman due to her history on Istrone, but Ethan flirted openly with her right away.


    "What a splendid creature," Ethan eximed as he took Cora''s hand. "It''s hard to believe that something so pure has survived Istrone''s terrible events."


    Cora remained stunned, and her confusion only intensified when Ethan bent forward to kiss her hand. She turned to show her remorseful and panicked expression to Khan, but she discovered that he had already acted.


    Ethan immediately noticed that something was off. He expected his lips to meet the soft skin on the back of Cora''s hand, but he ended up experiencing a rough feeling. There was nothing smooth under his mouth, and he understood why when he opened his eyes.


    Khan had ced his hand above Cora''s at thest second. Ethan had kissed his calloused palm, which gave birth to a confused and questioning re.


    "I''m sorry," Khan exined while seizing Cora''s hand from Ethan''s grasp and pulling her closer. "She is with me."


    Cora blushed. She did her best to remain stoic, but she couldn''t hide the faint happiness that hade from seeing Khan''s jealousy.


    "I had no idea," Ethan quickly voiced. "I hope I didn''t make things too awkward."


    "You have to get rid of this habit of yours," Grant sighed before ncing at Cora and Khan. "Forgive him. The city has been too permissive with this guy."


    "I can''t help myself when I see something beautiful," Ethan exined. "Besides, I wasn''t doing anything improper."


    "Do you have a tactic ready?" Khan said to change the topic.


    The two specialists pretended to forget about the event and led the group deeper into the vehicle. The doors closed as everyone moved through the vast insides. The C-15 was really big andfortable, and it even featured a room with an interactive table ced at the center of multiple seats.


    "We have a map of Reebfell''s Slums," Grant announced as he approached the table and browsed through its menus to reach the map.


    "How old is it?" Khan asked.


    "The soldiers down there have performed thest inspection a few months ago," Grant revealed. "Though, I''m afraid they didn''t go too deep into the Slums. Also, they aren''t known for their diligence."


    Those words didn''t surprise Khan, who shook his head at the sight of the images on the table. The map marked the barracks, so their surroundings were probably urate, but everything else might have changed by then.


    "Lieutenant Khan, what do you think?" Ethan asked.


    "Khan is fine," Khan responded. "As for the map, I''m afraid it won''t be of any use. I don''t even know if it reaches the areas we want to explore. Can we make aparison with Dewwick''s Slums?"


    Grant didn''t hesitate from opening another menu and cing two maps side by side. It was evident that Dewwick''s images stretched far past those from Reebfell. The Global Army had to explore the first city''s Slums thoroughly after the explosion of theb, which created a vaster chart.


    ''We definitely can''t use it,'' Khan sighed in his mind while limiting himself to shaking his head to express his opinion.


    "We have a tactic," Grant revealed, "But we believed that discussing it with you had the priority. We are still foreigners."


    "I can only help when ites to the Slums'' customs," Khan admitted.


    "That will be more than enough," Grant responded. "We don''t even know if ab exists in these Slums."


    "I heard from the soldiers stationed there that it''s quite easy to get answers from the Slums'' citizens," Ethanmented.


    "It''s quite easy to get lies," Khan corrected. "A can of food can buy a lot there. I think we should hit the local leaders directly."


    "Which leaders?" Ethan asked.


    "Prostitution, drugs, and many other nasty things in the Slums have local leaders," Khan exined. "Some of them would know about a hiddenb, especially since they would have to provide the manpower necessary to operate it."


    The exnation surprised everyone. Grant and the others knew that the Slums weren''t a fairytale, but Khan was speaking about those activities as if they were normal. The group didn''t know how to feel when they understood that Khan had seen all of that while he was only a kid.


    "How do we find these leaders?" Grant eventually questioned.


    "That''s easy," Khan dered. "We only have to ask the soldiers in the barracks."


    "The soldiers the Slums might be spineless andzy," Grantined, showing a cold expression for the first time since the meeting, "But they remain members of the Global Army. You are using them of treason."


    "Do you think such nasty activities could exist under the strict control of mana-powered soldiers?" Khan calmly asked.


    Grant and Ethan didn''t need to address the question. The answer was more than evident. It was simply impossible for ordinary citizens of the Slums to set up those activities without the soldiers noticing them. Thetter would have to turn a blind eye or directly allow them.


    "We''ll start the investigation from the barracks'' captains," Grant eximed before reaching one of the seats around the table.


    The C-15 had already set off, but the consequences of the event had been minimal on its insides. Khan and the others had noticed the departure, but they didn''t need to sit or strap in to avoid getting hurt during abrupt turns.


    Ethan also took a seat, and the others quickly imitated him. However, they didn''t stop themselves from ncing at Khan and Cora. He had held her hand since the awkward situation with Ethan, and he didn''t let go even after they sat.


    Needless to say, Amber found the matter incredibly cute. She also felt amused to see that side of Khan, and his students could only go through simr reactions. The stoic, ruthless, and uncaring Khan was actually a protective boyfriend.


    Of course, Cora had it harder than the others. She had grown used to being in a rtionship with Khan, but being so open with him in public still awakened her shyness. The gossips and Amber couldn''t trigger those reactions, but the specialists and the students were different.


    Still, Cora didn''t want to look bad, especially since her actions might reflect on Khan. She had to y the part of the mature and confident woman to improve his image, and she got it partially right.


    The rest of the trip on the C-15 didn''t feature more conversations, and the vehicle didn''t take long to reach its destination either. Everyone noticed thending, and the group was already behind the doors when they lifted open.


    The group found themselves on the short roof of one of the Slums'' barracks. It was hard to locate the wall that divided the training camp from those poor areas, but Khan and the others struggled to divert their eyes from the streets right under them.


    The barrack''s roof was acting as anding tform barely able to contain the C-15. It didn''t even have fences, so the group could peek down and study the situation.


    A sea of small structures built with tiles of dirty metal and other fragile materials surrounded the barracks and expanded far past the limits of the group''s vision. The streets were full of dust, spots, trash, and puddles. People sat in corners to sleep, drink or smoke, and loud voices filled the whole area.


    For Cora, Amber, the students, and the specialists, the Slums appeared as a messy ce ready to crumble at the first seasonal rain. Yet, Khan experienced something different.


    Khan could feel the tension that the training camp couldn''t offer falling on his mind. The awful and pungent smells of the Slums filled his nostrils and shouts reached his ears.. That ce was far from peaceful, but that made it feel like home.

 Chapter 317 - Threats

    Amber and the others could only frown and show disgusted expressions at their first sight of the Slums. Cora was rtively better off since she had gone through Istrone, but that didn''t prevent her from feeling the need to take a bath.


    The Slums were too different from the city or the training camps. They didn''t have cleaning robots or normal hygienic standards. Everything was dirty, and the air also felt muddy.


    Of course, everything was different for Khan. The short time spent in clean environments didn''t make him forget what it was like in the past. He had also been on various battlefields, so the dirt, dampness, and general awful scent weren''t an issue for him.


    "Home sweet home," Khanughed when he turned toward hispanions and noticed their disgusted expressions.


    "Did you really live in a ce like this?" Amber couldn''t refrain from asking.


    "The areas around the barracks are the best you can find," Khan exined. "Everything gets worse as you dive deeper in the Slums, and that probably is our destination."


    Ethan and Grant didn''t expect the Slums to be so awful, but they hade prepared. They quickly covered their mouth and nose with masks previously stored in their pockets. Those items were nothing special, but they helped fend off the horrid scentsing in their direction.


    Amber also had something simr, and the same went for Dwight and Ashley. Dwight even went as far as wearing special sses to protect his eyes from the dirt that filled the Slums.


    ''I have seen fewer protections in alien atmospheres,'' Khan sighed in his mind before moving his attention on a trapdoor that opened next to the C-15.


    Two soldiers came out of the trapdoor and performed military salutes. They were tense in front of superiors and descendants from wealthy families, but Grant didn''t make it hard for them.


    Khan brought almost nothing in the mission, but the vehicle had provisions and other valuable tools that Grant and Ethan had prepared beforehand. The two soldiers from the barrack took care of unloading them, so the group could descend from the trapdoor in the meantime.


    The poor state of the barrack surprised Amber and the others once again. That was an official building, but its condition had nothing to share with the nigh-perfect structures of the training camps. The floor had dirt and mud that the robots had yet to clean, and the desks featured no interactive functions.


    The soldiers in the barrack had to work through their phones or special screens ced in specific spots. Moreover, everything felt way too calmpared to the mess outside. Everyone was ready for the group''s arrival, but it was evident that some of them had just woken up from their naps.


    "Wee to the Slums, sirs and ma''ams," A tall man eventually shouted before arriving in front of Khan''s group and performing a military salute.


    The other soldiers in the barrack promptly stood up and performed simr salutes. Everyone tried to appear dead-serious, but the women in the group ended up attracting a lot of male attention.


    The stars on Amber''s shoulders scared away most nces, and the mask on Ashley''s face prevented the soldiers from studying her properly. However, Elsie and Cora didn''t have that privilege.


    Elsie was pretty, but her grumpy look and the slight immaturity carried by her face eventually managed to put an end to that unwanted attention. Yet, Cora was the embodiment of cuteness, and her attractive curves made many soldiers lick their lips. Thetter obviously did their best to hide those reactions, but Khan saw everything.


    "Are you the soldier in charge of this barrack?" Khan asked while taking a step forward to interrupt those intense stares.


    The tall man didn''t expect Khan to lead the meeting, but he didn''t dare to be impolite. The soldier straightened his back even more before shouting his answer. "Yes, sir. I''m Cameron Jendon, at your service."


    Cameron was nothing special. He appeared in his forties. His build was rtively solid, and he had even done his best to keep his short ck hair clean for the meeting. Yet, the single star on his right shoulder revealed that his ability was quite poor.


    "Do you have an office here?" Khan continued. "I''d like to speak with you in private."


    "Of course, sir," Cameron shouted before ring at the other soldiers in the barracks.


    The soldiers went back pretending to work, but many continued tounch nces at the group. The few women in the barrack couldn''t help but eye Grant due to his imposing build, but Ethan also attracted some attention.


    Cora didn''t like those lecherous gazes, but she did her best to ignore them while following Cameron. The soldier brought Khan and the others in front of an office too small to contain everyone, but the group''s hierarchy made it easy to pick those who would join the meeting.


    Grant and Ethan entered the office while Amber took a step back with the students to wait in the corridor. Cora knew that her ce was with Amber, but Khan suddenly grabbed her from her waist and left a long kiss on her lips.


    Cora felt surprised, but she melted during the kiss. Her happy smile only broadened when Khan left her and red at the soldiers peeking from the other side of the corridor. He had basically marked his territory, and Cora had to muster the entirety of her strength to suppress the giggles attempting to leave her mouth.


    The mask on Amber''s face wasn''t enough to hide her smile. Khan knew that she would tease himter, but he didn''t care. Marking his territory was better than kicking those soldiers unconscious.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t expect his uneasiness to be so intense. Liiza was beautiful, but her unique position had scared away every soldier, and she had even been an outcast among the Niqols. When her rtionship became public, she and Khan had already obtained Yeza''s acknowledgment, so everyone respected them.


    Instead, things with Delia had never been too serious. The atmosphere in Ecoruta''s camps had also been different, and Khan had even gained enough fame to avoid troublesome situations.


    However, the atmosphere on Earth was more rxed. Ethan''s flirts were epted, and Khan''s fame didn''t reach the Slums. The soldiers in the barrack didn''t bother to learn his name since Grant and Ethan were the specialists from the city.


    Cora''s beauty only worsened the situation, especially among soldiers who didn''t care too much about ranks and manners. Khan also had a broader emotional range, which inevitably made him experience stronger versions of jealousy.


    The kiss was a warning that everyone understood, but only a few decided to follow. Still, the evident despise that Amber and the students showed toward those still trying to peek eventually put that situation to an end.


    Khan entered the office and waited for Cameron to reach the other side of the table. The soldier tried to sit, but he eventually decided to remain on his feet since Khan, Ethan, and Grant were doing the same.


    "How can I help you?" Cameron eximed. "Every resource of this barrack is at your service, and I can also contact nearby structures to help with the investigation."


    "Are you aware of what happened in Dewwick?" Grant questioned in a cold tone.


    "News takes a while to reach the Slums, but some of us have subscribed to newsletters," Cameron exined. "We learnt about Dewwick, but I don''t think something simr is happening here."


    "How can you be so sure?" Ethan asked. "Your soldiers don''t strike me as the brightest bunch."


    "Sir, it''s no secret that only the worst soldiers end in the Slums," Cameron politely smiled. "Yet, we are talking about a secretb with potentially deadly equipment and dangerous animals. We would have noticed the creation of something like that."


    "I can see ten ways to smuggle illegal equipment in the Slums," Grant scoffed. "And I''ve been here only a few minutes. I believe that number can reach one hundred in a few days."


    "Please, take no offense in my following words," Cameron eximed. "I''m afraid you don''t understand how things work in the Slums. The people here are scared of mana. They would never dare to get near something that could infect them."


    Cameron was beyond convincing. He appeared as honest as possible, and his politeness only improved his image. Ethan and Grant began to believe that Khan had been wrong, but they only saw coldness on his face when they nced at him.


    "Grant, Ethan, can I talk with Cameron in private?" Khan asked without looking at the two specialists.


    Ethan and Grant didn''t want to be left out of the core parts of the investigation, but they knew that a united front was necessary. They couldn''t show internal divisions to Cameron, so they nodded and left the office.


    "How can I help you, sir?" Cameron smiled once he and Khan remained alone in the office.


    "You can drop the act," Khan sighed as he approached a chair and sat.


    Cameron didn''t know what to say, but he also sat. His face showed nothing but confusion, but Khan knew how to get past it.


    "I''m from the Slums," Khan casually stated as his eyes ran among the office. "This barrack is far too clean. Did you prepare it for today''s meeting?"


    "You are correct, sir," Cameron admitted. "One of our cleaning robots broke some time ago, but the Global Army has yet to send a recement. We did the best we could yesterday, but some spots were too persistent."


    Khan nodded before taking out his phone and using it to project a hologram. The map of Reebfell''s Slums appeared between him and Cameron, but thetter didn''t understand his intentions.


    "I want you to mark every brothel and drug-dealing corner," Khan dered. "I also want you to tell me the names of those in charge of these activities."


    "Brothels? Drugs?" Cameron gasped. "I''m sorry, sir. I wouldn''t know where to find them."


    "Come on, I told you that Ie from the Slums," Khan sighed. "I know how things work here. Make it easy for me."


    "I understand, sir," Cameron nodded. "However, Reebfell''s Slums are different. I''m afraid you won''t find what you are looking for."


    "Fine," Khan snorted while putting his feet on the desk. "I''ll tell you what will happen. I''ll write a report to my superiors in which I''ll say that the situation is suspicious and the soldiers in the area aren''t trustworthy. In a week, a new toon will arrive and level the entire area."


    Cameron''s eyes widened. He wanted to say something, but Khan suddenly continued. "I know that you have probably told everyone to close shop for today. We won''t find anything on our own, but the new toon will uncover something, and you will take the fall for it."


    Another wave of surprise filled Cameron''s mind. Khan appeared young, but his mind was sharp, and his knowledge of the Slums was sound. The soldier couldn''t help but gulp while those threats reached his ears.


    "Do you know what''s the punishment for hiding criminals and allowing illegal activities?" Khan casually asked.


    "S-sir, every Slum had to reachpromises," Cameron exined.


    "I know," Khan announced. "However, this stuff about the secretb is making many important figures nervous. You can''t lie your way out of this, and you will end up in the crossfire. Of course, you can always choose to rely on me."


    Khan didn''t look at Cameron, but he could sense his anxiety growing. The Global Army had to reassure the citizens in the city, so someone had to fall. Cameron was the leader of a barrack, so his head was a valuable scapegoat.


    "The peace in the Slums is frail," Cameron warned.


    "I guessed as much," Khan dered while removing his feet from the table and fixing his eyes on the soldier. "Hear me out. The Global Army has authorized deadly force, but I don''t want to get in the way of innocent people. Point me to the various underground leaders. We''ll have a talk and be on our way."


    "They will go into hiding if they see youing," Cameron exined.


    "That''s why we need you to vouch for us," Khan stated. "I promise you that we won''t try to stop any illegal business unless we find connections to eventualbs. Nothing will change, and no one will get hurt, but I need everyone''s coboration for that."


    "Sir, I don''t know if you can promise all of this," Cameron said in a hesitant tone.


    "I''ll go out of your office now," Khan chuckled. "You will pick up your phone and search "Lieutenant Khan". Read thoroughly. I''ll be with the others in our habitations. I hope you have prepared something for us."


    "Of course!" Cameron stood up when he saw Khan leaving the chair. "I can call-."


    "Don''t worry," Khan interrupted. "I''m sure I can find someone willing to apany us on my own. You stay here. You have a lot to read."


    Khan left the office and closed the door behind him. Grant and the others tried to find answers on his face, but he didn''t talk about the meeting. Khan took Cora''s hand and gave a simple order while moving through the corridor. "Let''s reach our habitations first."


    Ethan and Grant decided to trust Khan. The group only needed to ask to find someone willing to apany them to their habitations. Amber and the others could experience their first walk through the Slums, and the experience only disgusted them. Still, the sight of their temporary houses managed to worsen their mood.


    The Slums had houses for the soldiers stationed there, but they were far from good. The short notice had also prevented the barrack from preparing something suitable for the investigation group. Still, to Khan''s surprise, the appointed habitation had managed to be decent.


    Khan and the others found themselves in front of a two-story building with multiple spots on its surfaces. The ces appeared dirty, but its insides were surprisingly clean. They didn''t reach the camp''s standards, but they were eptable.


    Moreover, the structure was solid and firm. The other houses in the Slums paled in front of that habitation. Only the best soldiers in the barrack could live there, but the arrival of the investigation group had forced them to move.


    The two-story building had multiple rooms, enough to fit the entire group, a simple kitchen, and two different bathrooms. Thetter were the worst part of the house, but some tools brought from the city allowed the group to improve the situation by a lot.


    The group spent a few hours improving the structure and preparing their rooms. Curiosity hovered among them since Khan had yet to exin the oue of the meeting.. Still, his answers became superfluous when Cameron visited the ce and informed everyone that he had set an appointment with the figure in charge of the brothels.

 Chapter 318 - Madame

    "How did you convince him?" Grant whispered while the group followed Cameron through the Slums'' streets.


    "I told him the truth," Khan vaguely exined.


    "A scary truth by the look of it," Ethanmented.


    Cameron had been far more respectful than before when he picked the group up, especially toward Khan. He even seemed to look for his permission whenever he had to perform a turn or make a decision.


    "Just, try not to make a scene," Khan warned. "I know that it doesn''t suit our roles, but we are guests here. Every door will close if we don''t y nice."


    "You promised him something, didn''t you?" Grant guessed.


    "I only said that nothing will change here as long as the investigation goes smoothly," Khan admitted.


    "So, do we have to ignore everything illegal?" Ethan asked.


    "I hope it''s not a problem for you," Khan stated.


    "Not at all," Ethan promptly replied. "I only want us to be on the same page."


    "The Global Army doesn''t care about the Slums," Grant added. "Finding theb is our priority. Our methods don''t matter."


    Khan nodded. He had guessed as much, which was the reason behind his promise. Moreover, a peaceful investigation would make everything easier for everyone, which was the best possible oue.


    Grant and the others didn''t have the chance to see the true face of the Slums. Most citizens ran away or hid at the sight of the military uniforms, so the group mainly witnessed empty streets. Still, that was enough to give them an idea of the quality of life in the area, especially as Cameron led them farther away from the barrack.


    The houses grew more fragile, the streets dirtier, and smelly puddles often appeared on the way. Everything felt normal for Khan and Cameron, but the others couldn''t believe how bad the situation was out there.


    The condition of the Slums was simply inhumane. A speck of the wealth moving in the city would be enough to improve the situation significantly, but the Global Army didn''t do anything to help the people there.


    Amber and the others found themselves staring at Khan from time to time. They couldn''t imagine how he had survived all of that, but his stoic expression never flickered in front of those scenes. Reebfell''s Slums were different, but everything felt far too familiar in his mind.


    Khan tried his best to find mana in his surroundings, but he failed to sense anything significant. Grant and Ethan were wielding sensors for the same reason, but their search also went nowhere.


    As the scenes worsened, Cora couldn''t hold back anymore. She jumped at Khan''s side and took his hand to express how sorry she felt that he had to experience all of that.


    Amber and the students experienced simr feelings toward Khan. Everything suddenly made sense. The Second Impact might have been the main reason behind his firm determination, but the Slums were to me for his craftiness and survival instincts.


    The city was expensive, but its districts had everything, and the same went for the camps outside it. Soldiers and citizens could find canteens, habitations, or other shops capable of fulfilling all their needs.


    Instead, the Slums were the exact opposite. They were full of life but also devoid of what could make that very life happen. The group didn''t even know where to begin to look for food, and the situation only worsened when they thought about bathrooms and houses.


    "It''s okay," Khan whispered while pulling Cora closer to leave a soft kiss on her head. "Life is far better now."


    Cora didn''t know what to answer. She wanted to hold Khan tightly to convey all the warmth that her body could muster, but the situation didn''t give them any privacy. She limited herself to hug his arm, uncaring of the gazes that her gesture attracted.


    ''That should be it, right?'' Khan thought once a two-story building appeared in the distance.


    The area was as dirty and fragile as always, but that two-story building had a few decorations. It also looked a bit better and firmer than the houses around it, and curtains covered every opening used as a window.


    Khan''s guess turned out to be correct. He had seen simr buildings used as brothels in co''s Slums, so his instincts had been on point. Cameron led the group straight for the two-story structure, but he stopped in front of its entrance.


    "What''s the issue?" Ethan asked after Cameron remained still for a few seconds.


    "The Madame is picky," Cameron exined without hiding his awkwardness. "She only lets in those that suit her, well, taste."


    "We are specialists from the ci-!" Ethan began to shout, but Grant interrupted him by cing a hand on his shoulder.


    Khan held back from ncing at the various openings on the second floor. He could sense people lifting the curtains and peeking at the group. The slim tiles of the buildings couldn''t stop his perception, but none of those mysterious figures had mana. Only one of them radiated something, but it was too far from him to inspect it clearly.


    A piece of the entrance eventually slid open, and two tired eyes appeared behind it. They moved among the group before a rough voice came from inside the building. "The two second-level warriors and the boyfriend cane in. The rest has to wait outside."


    Cameron nodded before taking a step back and leaving the entrance open. Grant and Ethan approached the door, and Khan followed them after kissing Cora.


    Someone inside the building lifted the metal tile that acted as a door and allowed the passage of the three men. Khan, Grant, and Ethan found themselves in a narrow corridor illuminated by a few candles. Still, their attention immediately went on the middle-aged woman that put the entrance back in its ce.


    "Follow me," The middle-aged woman said while breathing deeply from her simple pipe and coughing once smoke left her mouth.


    Grant and Ethan shrunk on the wall to let the middle-aged woman pass and avoid getting too close to her ragged clothes. Her hood covered part of her face, but the two men could see awful spots on her cheeks and mouth that only made them retreat even more.


    Khan didn''t really mind. The woman was avoiding physical contact on her own, and she was slim enough to pass without his help. The three could soon move through the corridor, and the nature of the building became evident after inspecting a few rooms.


    There didn''t seem to be anyone on the first floor, but the corridor was connected to multiple small rooms. Most of them had curtains covering their entrance, but some had holes where the trio could inspect the various areas.


    The rooms didn''t have much. The few that the three men could inspect only featured a few candles and dirty mattresses ced on the floor. The best ones had pillows withrge spots that would scare away anyone with a decent hygienic sense.


    The area also reeked of sex. The activities had clearly shut down only recently, but some of the spots on the floor had yet to drypletely.


    Khan felt honestly curious. He had never been inside a brothel during his time in co''s Slums, so he was using that chance toplete his mentalyout of the area.


    "We aren''t alone," Ethan whispered when the woman led the trio to a narrow spiral staircase. He was still wielding his sensor, and the device had finally caught something.


    ''Am I better than those devices?'' Khan wondered as his group reached the second floor.


    The areas on the second floor were slightlyrger. There were fewer rooms, and the corridor led to the only ce hidden behind a proper door.


    The middle-aged woman reached the door before moving aside and gesturing at the three men to enter. Grant promptly grabbed the knob, and the entrance released a creaking noise when it opened.


    "Close the door behind you," A firm sensual voice resounded as soon as Grant took a step inside the room.


    Khan closed the door once the three were inside the room. The area had a pile of pillows, a mat, and a bed hidden behind half-transparent drapes. The scene didn''t surprise Grant and Ethan, but that level of wealth told Khan that he was in the right ce.


    "Put away those devices," A voice came from behind the drapes as a silhouette moved on the bed. "I don''t want you people from the city to take pictures."


    Ethan and Grantplied, but Khan didn''t hold back from studying the figure on the bed. He could immediately confirm that she had gained ess to mana, but she remained many steps behind first-level warriors.


    "It''s hard to find such clean and healthy men nowadays," The woman behind the drapes sighed as she began to leave the bed. "I''m afraid that my girls might fall ill at this pace."


    A woman in her fifties eventually appeared in the three''s vision. She had long brown hair, and heavy makeup hid the eyebags under her dark-green eyes. Her revealing nightgown highlighted her curves but also masked the loose areas.


    "So, what brings you here?" The woman asked while taking a short breath from her slim pipe.


    "Are you aware of Dewwick''s events, ma''am?" Grant asked in a polite tone.


    "You can address me as Madame," The woman corrected. "Dewwick, Dewwick. Do you mean the mess from two days ago?"


    "Precisely, Madame," Grant replied.


    "What was all of that about?" Madame asked. "I''ve heard rumors about the presence of synthetic mana, but the news was far from clear."


    The Global Army had contained the spreading of news about theb. Those with a phone and ess to thework could learn about it easily, but those things were rare in the Slums. It also seemed that Cameron had kept his mouth shut about it.


    "The event involved synthetic mana, but I''m afraid I can''t say more about it," Grant exined.


    "That won''t do," Madame dered. "Things don''t work like this in the Slums. We don''t give away anything for free. You tell me something, and I might be inclined to share something back."


    Ethan didn''t like that attitude. He even opened his mouth toin about those terms, but Khan spoke before him. "It was a hiddenb with Tainted animals. I believe you know how dangerous something like that can be in the Slums."


    Every eye in the room converged on Khan, but his face remained firm, and the two specialists quickly epted that they had no other options. ying by the rules felt demeaning for soldiers in their position, but the Slums weren''t easy to traverse.


    "Ab with synthetic mana and Tainted animals," Madame eximed. "What? Do you think I have something to do with it?"


    "Not at all, Madame," Khan took control of the conversation. "We simply believe that an important figure like you might know something about it or point us toward someone who knows."


    "ttery is meaningless without belief," Madame scoffed while approaching the three men. "Though I must admit that it sounds nice when spoken by such a handsome face."


    Madame began to inspect the three men, and Grant immediately caught her attention. She couldn''t stop herself from cing a hand on his shoulder and voicingments. "What imposing muscles. You must be a real treat in bed."


    "I''m sure you had better, Madame," Grant smiled as he began to y along.


    "And you," Madame continued when she approached Ethan. "What a defiant gaze. Do the Slums disgust you so much?"


    Ethan tried his best to wear a polite smile, but his expression remained stiff. However, Madame appeared amused by his effort, so she let him go and moved on to Khan.


    "Young but mature," Madame eximed. "My girls told me that you came here with your girlfriend. I wonder if I should pick you today."


    Madame reached for Khan''s face, but he grabbed her wrist before she couldy her fingers on him. The event made the woman shake her head, but she seemed to notice something in Khan''s resolute expression.


    "Your actions just now might ruin this meeting," Madame teased. "Do you think that stopping me is the right choice?"


    "I stopped the most beautiful woman in the universe from doing the same once," Khan revealed. "Madame, you are enchanting, but I don''t seek beauty."


    "What a yer!" Madame giggled as she retracted her hand. "However, I''m afraid that I need you to prove yourselves. This stuff about theb might be a trick meant to get rid of my activity from the Slums."


    "Our motives are real," Grant stated. "Give us a chance. I''m sure we can prove ourselves."


    Madame seemed to like the general respect that the three soldiers were showing. Except for Ethan, Grant and Khan had been nothing but polite and gentle. Also, she acknowledged that the situation might be troublesome.


    "I''ll be blunt," Madame stated as she approached the pillows and sat on them. "The idea of ab hidden inside the Slums is scary. I don''t know anything about it, but I can think of someone who knows almost everything here."


    "Can you set up a meeting with this figure?" Grant asked as excitement appeared on his face.


    "Slow down, handsome," Madame chuckled. "You might be honest about theb, but that wouldn''t stop you from turning on me once everything is over."


    "Name a price," Grant voiced. "I''m sure we can reach a satisfying agreement."


    "What can you even give to me?" Madame scoffed. "Money is useless here, and I do well enough with my activity. I want you to satisfy a small whim of mine."


    "Which is?" Ethan questioned.


    "One of you has to entertain one of my girls," Madameughed. "I want to see the haughty soldiers from the city bowing before my activity, even if only for a few hours."


    The offer wasn''t too bad. Madame probably wanted to turn the three men into aplices to protect her activity, and the idea clearly amused her. She liked being in a position of power against soldiers from the city.


    Grant gulped and took a deep breath before stepping forward. He was about to dere his willingness to go through that trial, but Madame interrupted him. "Not you. There is no value in bending you. One of yourpanions has to do it."


    "What?!" Ethan eximed, and no one managed to interrupt him now. "Do you have any idea what the Global Army is willing to do toplete this investigation?"


    "What can it even do?" Madame snorted. "Will it send toons to destroy entire quarters? Will it imprison every citizen unwilling to answer? Most of us are starving, ill, or both. You can''t take anything away from us because we learnt to survive with nothing."


    Ethan wanted to contradict Madame, but Grant sealed his grasp around his shoulder before speaking. "There is no point in hurting us. Please, let me do it."


    "I see a point," Madame stated. "I want to reverse our roles with someone who will suffer from it. The boyfriend will have to sacrifice his loyalty, and the blondie will have to please the source of his disgust. Maybe they''ll learn something from their first experience with helplessness."


    Khan understood what Madame wanted, but he wouldn''t bend to her will. Ethan''s eyes lit up when he saw Khan unbuttoning his uniform. The specialist believed that Khan was offering himself for the task, but his expression froze when he saw the azure scar.


    "Is this helpless enough?" Khan asked as the faint light of the candles illuminated his bare chest.


    "How did it happen?" Madame questioned after a long breath from her pipe.


    "The Second Impact," Khan revealed.


    "Are you from co?" Madame continued.


    "I''m from co''s Slums," Khan corrected.


    Madame fell silent. She kept smoking, and her expression grew darker as she inspected the scar. She had to admit that she hadpletely misjudged Khan.


    "I''m sorry," Madame sighed. "I''m happy to see that you made it this far. I wouldn''t dare to ruin what you have obtained."


    "Thank you, Madame," Khan replied while closing his uniform.


    Ethan frowned, but everything inevitably became clear in his mind. Grant had been kind enough to dodge that punishment, and Madame had even cleared Khan from that task. Ethan was the mandatory choice now.


    "Ethan, give me your hand," Khan whispered as he browsed through his pocket.


    Ethan felt a glimpse of hope appearing on his path. He showed Khan his hand, but his expression froze when he saw the item that fell on his palm.. Khan had given him a condom.

 Chapter 319 - Clean

    Rhythmic moans interrupted the awkward silence that had fallen in the room. The brothel''s walls were too thin to block the soundsing from the other rooms, so Khan, Grant, and Madame heard everything happening on the other side of the second floor.


    Ethan had been forced to ept the bargain, so one of Madame''s women had picked him up and had led him in a different room. Madame didn''t punish Ethan with one of her worst prostitutes, so everything had gone rtively smoothly. Yet, the awkwardness that had fallen among the trio due to the moans wasn''t easy to disperse.


    Madame limited herself to smile and inspect the two men. She liked seeing Grant''s stiff expression, but she felt a bit disappointed in Khan''sck of reaction. He appeared used to that environment, but the reason behind his aloofness was far different.


    ''Synthetic mana can reach the Slums,'' Khan thought as he reviewed everything he had learnt and Madame''s faint hints.


    Khan had been too young, ignorant, and busy during his time in the Slums. Surviving had always been his priority, so he had never explored the depths of his environment since it could be too dangerous for a kid.


    However, reviewing everything with his new knowledge and experience revealed astonishing and worrisome truths. The mana wasn''t a privilege of those who joined the Global Army. Even the poor and ignorant citizens of the Slums could get their hands on that powerful energy.


    ''How?'' Khan wondered. ''The soldiers in the barracks don''t have the authority to move synthetic mana, let alone inject it. Meditation techniques and training programs are also heavily controlled by thework, so how did Madame get her hands on mana?''


    Madame''s level wasn''t high. She was actually pretty weak for a woman in her fifties. She might never be a first-level warrior in her life, but that wasn''t the issue there.


    The brothels were a popr activity in the Slums, but they also used food as a currency. Madame couldn''t possibly have the wealth needed to purchase synthetic mana or the tools required for the injections. She had to have a helper with connections in the Global Army.


    Still, a random helper would have no interest in the Slums. A wealthy figure would be in the same position. The cities didn''t advertise prostitution, but Khan believed that those activities existed there, so a rich soldier could gain ess to those services without having to travel to that dirty environment.


    The presence of a secret organization with hidden goals felt almost necessary now. Khan couldn''t exin everything he had seen otherwise. There had to be a family or multiple forces using the Slums for something, and he wondered how many higher-ups knew or were involved in those matters.


    Grant appeared slightly slow on that topic. He was doing his best to ignore the moansing from the other side of the floor, but Khan knew that he would eventually reach the same conclusions.


    After all, the heightened senses weren''t Khan''s exclusive. Every soldier had simr abilities. They often didn''t match Khan''s level because he had worked hard to develop his perception, but he was sure that Grant had understood that Madame had mana.


    The urge to leave and have a private conversation with Grant filled Khan''s mind. He wanted to see if the specialist from the city knew something, but Madame understood that desire from his firm nces.


    "How long did you spend in co''s Slums?" Madame asked.


    "Eleven years," Khan honestly replied.


    "And you are?" Madame continued.


    "I''m turning eighteen this month," Khan gave another honest answer.


    "Young but talented," Madamemented. "You can''t figure it out, can you? Why don''t you just ask? Are you afraid that I might go back on our deal?"


    Grant frowned, but understanding suddenly appeared on his face as he inspected the situation thoroughly. Then, disbelief arrived, and a drop of cold sweat fell from his forehead as wild thoughts began to run through his mind.


    "Will you?" Khan asked while retaining a perfect poker face.


    "No, but I won''t reveal too much," Madame sighed before breathing deeply from her pipe. "I am part of all of this in the end."


    "How can the Slums have mana?" Khan went straight to the point. "Bribing the barracks wouldn''t be enough, especially if you aren''t too important in all of this."


    "Did you really think that the Global Army could seal the mana behind the training camps?" Madame sneered. "It can limit our ess to that energy, but stopping itpletely is impossible."


    "What did you manage to build here?" Khan pressed. "Do you have secret academies,bs, training-?"


    "Calm down, young man," Madame interrupted. "Don''t let your mind run wild. The Global Army can''t hide the mana from us, but we remain the Slums. There''s a limit to how much we can obtain."


    "Still, you got it," Khan contradicted.


    "I had an illness that only mana could heal," Madame exined. "I didn''t search for mana. I only happened to stumble upon it to stay alive."


    Madame was doing her best to make the event sound like nothing important, but Khan and Grant could guess how hard it must have been for her. She had probably used the entirety of her authority to gain ess to the cure.


    "Do you smuggle mana from the city?" Khan questioned.


    "That would be truly impossible," Madame giggled. "However, Earth is farrger than some big cities. Let me ask you one question. The Slums expand around the training camps, but what''s after them?"


    "Farming areas, industries, and structures belonging to various families," Grant responded now that he had managed to calm down.


    "Correct, but also wrong," Madame eximed. "The families tried to take control of the entire, but somends were beyond salvation."


    Khan wasn''t hopelessly ignorant anymore. He knew that the First Impact had turned Earth into a hell filled with dangerous mana. The ten noble families had brought stability and had slowly expanded their influence to fix the entire, but they had left many nk spots.


    Still, the knowledge avable in the camps or cities stated that those nk spots were too hard to fix. The Global Army had left thosends to die, but Madame''s words hinted at a different truth.


    "Do the Slums use those routes to smuggle mana?" Khan asked.


    "How would I know?" Madame chuckled. "I''m only a proud owner of a few brothels. Mana is stuff for fairytales in my mind."


    Madame clearly knew more than that, but Grant and Khan couldn''t probe further. The time for answers was over, at least on that topic.


    "The figure that you mentioned earlier, the one who knows almost everything here," Grant changed the topic, "Who is it? What exactly does it know? How do we contact it?"


    "You are so much better than the other," Madame voiced in an amused tone. "Such a reliable character. Your world has probably fallen apart, but you are still trying toplete your job."


    "Madame, please," Grant whispered.


    "Don''t worry, handsome," Madame reassured. "I told you. I don''t like the idea of a secretb either, but I can''t give you names either. I''ll be the one to suffer otherwise."


    Khan and Grant remained silent while Madame smoked. They knew that pressing her might be rude, so they waited for her to speak.


    "I''ll tell you where to go," Madame eventually exined. "The Slums are livelier than you think. There are events every night if you know where to look. I know he always checks them, but he won''t appear if he sees military uniforms."


    "Going undercover isn''t a problem," Grant announced.


    "It will be for all of you, except him," Madame dered while pointing her pipe at Khan. "You are all too stiff, too disgusted. These events are for people who want to forget their condition and have fun. You don''t know what that means."


    "How would we find this man?" Khan asked.


    "He will find you if he is interested," Madame revealed. "Your tech won''t work on him either, and you shouldn''t bring it at all if you want to blend in."


    "Won''t they call off the event because of our arrival?" Khan questioned. The Slums couldn''t have missed the arrival of his group, so the interested parties might choose to hide.


    "I told you," Madame sighed. "These events are for people who want to forget. You would have to bring one of your robots to make them stop."


    The conversation ended there. Madame wasn''t willing to reveal anything else, and the two didn''t want to ruin the silent understanding created with Ethan''s sacrifice.


    The moans made the silence awkward, but Khan and Grant barely heard them. They had too much to consider. The true nature of the Slums and the imminent covert mission were enough to keep their minds busy.


    Yet, Ethan managed to distract the two from time to time. The issue wasn''t in the number or intensity of the moans. It was simply surprising that most of those sounds came from him.


    Ethan eventually returned to Madame''s room. His uniform was an untidy mess, and the same went for his hair. Thetter tried to hide a few marks on his neck, and he also kept his gaze on the floor to avoid meeting Khan and Grant''s eyes, but Madame smiled anyway.


    The three left the brothel only to find theirpanions wearing blushes or awkward expressions. They had heard the moans, and they had even connected them to one of the three men. Also, Ethan''s guilty behavior was a clue that no one missed.


    Grant took the situation into his own hands. He exined part of what he had learnt during the meeting, but he didn''t share the most troublesome details. He didn''t hide them either, but he wanted hispanions to develop ideas on their own.


    Preparing for a covert mission in the Slums was rtively easy, and Cameron did his best to help. He knew about the events mentioned by Madame, and he could also draw a map that could lead to the appointed location. Still, a minor issue appeared anyway.


    "Professor Khan, don''t leave us behind," Elsieined after learning that she and the other students wouldn''t join the covert mission.


    "It''s not about strength or loyalty," Khan exined. "No one is going to believe that you are from the Slums. Bringing you will only endanger the mission."


    "But you won''t carry phones," Elsie continued. "What if you need reinforcements?"


    "The Slums have turned out to be more dangerous than I recalled," Khan stated, "But they can''t be worse than Ecoruta or Istrone."


    Elsie couldn''t argue with that, and some relief appeared on her face when Cameron entered the building with the clothes needed for the mission. The group had gone back to their habitation to prepare, so Cameron had the chance to gather the required tools.


    The clothes stank heavily. They had different holes, and some of them were nothing more than rags with openings for heads, arms, and legs. The barracks didn''tck them, but they didn''t bother to clean or patch them up either.


    Theposition of the team for the covert mission was already set. Khan was obvious, and Grant had toe due to his position as a specialist. Ethan had decided to remain behind, and no one objected.


    With the students out of the picture, only Amber and Cora had remained as possible candidates for the mission. Khan wanted to reject both of them, but Amber could be useful due to her level, and Cora had more experience than the others.


    Moreover, Cora was stunning, and Amber''s beauty was only a few steps behind her. They could help attract the attention that the group sought.


    The four team members changed into their new clothes and gathered on the first floor of the building. They itched, smelled, and their holes revealed their skin, but Cameron helped where he could.


    It turned out that the soldiers in the barracks had nasal sprays and simr items that helped with the smell, and Amber and Grant didn''t hesitate to use them. Instead, Khan refused them, and Cora imitated him since she wanted to experience the Slums to their fullest.


    "I heard that everyone brings something to these events," Cameron said once everyone was almost ready to leave.


    Cameron opened one of the boxes that the soldiers had brought with the clothes and revealed a series of provisions. Most of them were food cans and bottles, but Khan also saw ordinary knives, intact garments, pillows, and much more.


    "What do you think?" Grant asked while ncing at Khan.


    "These events are parties, right?" Khan asked, and Cameron promptly nodded.


    "Well, you must bring booze to a party," Khan eximed as he picked up one of the bottles and opened it.


    The group felt confused when they saw Khan taking a sip from the bottle and showing a disgusted expression. The booze was awful, but the surprises didn''t end there.


    Khan took another sip before pouring the bottle on his head. He made sure to make the booze fall on his ragged clothes and broken shoes too.


    "Didn''t we already stink?" Amber asked.


    "We are still too clean," Khan dered. "Pour a few bottles on you, but roll yourselves on the streets before the booze dries out.. I can''t turn you into Slums'' citizens in an afternoon, but I can make you some of their dirtiest residents."

 Chapter 320 - Lucky

    The group''s unwillingness couldn''t beat how reasonable Khan''s idea sounded. Amber, Grant, and Cora poured booze on their heads and clothes before leaving the building to roll themselves on the dusty streets.


    Khan was obviously the first to go through the process, and he looked pretty bad by the end of it. His clothes had countless spots, his face was full of dirt, and his hair resembled straw. A yellowish shade has also covered his whole figure.


    Cora, Amber, and Grant soon ended up in Khan''s state. The three were ufortable in that condition. They found it hard to move with all that dirt on them, but Khan inevitablyughed at that sight. He almost understood Madame now.


    "We are on a mission!" Amberined. "Be serious!"


    "Sorry," Khanughed. "It''s just too funny."


    Grant was slightly better off, but Cora and Amber had issues, and they showed them, especially Amber. They kept adjusting their clothes or hair, even if their attempts only worsened their appearance.


    "Hey, I''ll leave you here if you keep trying to look good," Khan teased as he approached Cora.


    "Don''t, I''m dirty," Corained, even if she didn''t stop Khan from taking her waist.


    "Look up," Khan whispered since Cora kept her gaze lowered.


    Cora felt ufortable, but she couldn''t refuse Khan. She lifted her head and fell prey to a long kiss. The gesture felt awful due to the dirt and stench, but it also helped her get used to her state.


    "Shall we go now?" Khan asked after making their lips separate.


    Cora limited herself to nod, and the group began to move. They couldn''t go directly from the building to the event since someone might have seen them changing, so they took a detour and circled a few quarters before going on their way.


    "Don''t share your booze now," Khan scolded along the way. "Don''t look up too much either. Don''t inspect your surroundings, and don''t think about our road. We can always get back on the main path, but we shouldn''t stop."


    Those directives weremon knowledge when it came to the Slums, but Amber, Grant, and Cora found it hard to apply them. They didn''t know how to express the general diffidence iconic of every citizen in the area, and they were far too polite in their gestures.


    Khan could only force them to drink from time to time. He didn''t want them to get drunk, but the booze helped with their stiffness and eventually created a rxed atmosphere. The mission was still the priority, but the three began to take the walk toward their destination light-heartedly.


    The four had to leave their phones and tech back in the habitation, but they didn''t approach the mission empty-handed. Except for the few bottles and food cans, they also had hidden weapons or useful ointments under their clothes. As for Khan, he had to dig a hole in his underwear to bring his knife.


    The sky darkened as the group continued to walk and drink. Their surroundings slowly began to feature more people as they put some distance from the barrack and their habitation. They were genuinely blending in, but that inevitably led to drawbacks.


    "You are way kinder to Cora," Amberined while taking Khan''s arm.


    "I knew your true feelings for me would havee out eventually," Khan mocked.


    "She is too sweet for you," Amber scoffed.


    "I agree with you on that," Khanughed.


    "Don''t speak like this," Cora scolded while taking Khan''s free arm. "You are also sweet, but be kinder with Amber."


    "She likes when I tease her," Khan stated.


    "I''m telling Cora that you said that," Amber threatened.


    "She is right here," Khan eximed.


    "But it worked anyway," Amber giggled. "Also, you should be grateful that I don''t use different lines. I know how to hit your deepest spots since Cora tells me everything."


    "Amber!" Cora called.


    "This is a conspiracy," Khan gasped before fixing his gaze on Amber. "You aren''t sleeping with us. Well, I would have to put aside my integrity if Cora really wants to."


    "Khan!" Both Cora and Amber shouted, but Grant''sugh reached their ears and made them move their attention on him.


    "Madame was right," Grantmented. "You are a womanizer."


    "What exactly happened inside the brothel?" Amber asked in a curious tone. "What did you do to Ethan?"


    "I''m sure he''ll be fine," Khan chuckled.


    "I won''t say anything," Grant dered.


    "I hope you aren''t abusing Cora''s trust," Amber announced while pulling Khan''s arm.


    "Hey, I''m the most loyal boyfriend in the world," Khan rebuked.


    "He was pretty cool back then," Grant revealed. "Even Madame didn''t dare to touch him afterward."


    "Afterward?" Amber asked. "Do you mean that she touched him before? Hey, Cora, help me out here. Aren''t you curious?"


    Amber''s question found no answer. Three pairs of eyes converged on Cora and found her blushing as she held Khan''s arm tightly. There was no anger in her expression. She only wanted to stay closer to Khan.


    "Were you afraid that I would cheat on you?" Khan whispered while lowering his head to leave a kiss on Cora''s hair.


    "I never doubted you," Cora stated in the cutest tone in the world. "You would never hurt me."


    Cora and Khan fell prey to an intense stare. They seemed on the verge of making out, and their twopanions understood the true meaning of "third-wheel" while they stared at them.


    "Let''s go for another round," Amber cleared her throat and took a long sip from her bottle to interrupt that romantic moment.


    "Shouldn''t you let me go now?" Khan asked.


    "I wanted to," Amber revealed, "But I can make sure that you don''t ditch the mission to be with Cora like this."


    Grant limited himself tough and drink. Khan and Cora imitated him, and jokes soon resounded as the group moved toward their destination.


    The four took the wrong turns multiple times and even risked forgetting about their mission as they lost themselves in the cheerful situation. However, their stench and the people that began to fill their surroundings forced them to remain alert.


    Amber, Cora, and Grant could finally see the liveliness of the Slums as they disguised themselves deeper in that environment. Even Khan managed to find new aspects of that ce.


    The night had always been too dangerous for Khan back then, but he could see everything now. All the people around him were ill, dirty, drunk, or worse, but they also seemed beyond happy to head to the event.


    Khan found it hard topare his memories of the Slums to those scenes. He recalled his life there as a gloomy existence, full of dangers and mistrustful people, but the walk showed him a different truth.


    The four in the team had poor-looking backpacks on their backs. They released clinging noises due to the few bottles and cans hitting each other, but the citizens didn''t seem to care.


    Usually, those people would inspect the group to see if they could steal the backpacks. However, everyone seemed too distant or happy to care about that. A few lecherous nces fell on Cora and Amber from time to time, but that was it.


    That rxed and cheerful atmosphere only intensified when rhythmic noises started to echo in the night. It didn''t take long before the group found the source of those sounds, and the sight surprised them.


    The Slums'' houses were extremely easy to move. They were nothing more than metal tiles and other frail materials piled together, so dismantling them wasn''t an issue.


    The scene that unfolded in front of Khan and the others was the result of that dismantling. The citizens had removed many houses to create a vast square capable of holding almost a hundred people. Some had even brought buckets or other items to use as seats ced around a small fire.


    Some of the people in the square threw different items at the fire. Most of them consisted of almost-empty bottles, but a few even had paper, wood, or simr mmable materials.


    The peculiar aspects of the scene didn''t end there. A few piles of bottles, pillows, food cans, and other random items stood around the fire. Those that arrived in the square made sure to add something before finding seats. The most popr spots featured poor-looking drums and almost-broken guitars, but the other areas also had some people.


    The atmosphere among the group immediately grew tense. They had reached the event mentioned by Madame, so the covert mission had officially started. The faint dizziness that the booze had created wasn''t enough to keep them rxed now.


    "Another round!" Khan suddenly shouted as he let go of Cora and Amber to take a long sip from a bottle in his backpack.


    Khan had been loud enough to attract the attention of those in the square, but no oneined when he approached the fire to add two food cans to one of the piles. Everyone had stopped caring about him by the time he sat in an empty area.


    Amber, Cora, and Grant couldn''t help but feel grateful. Khan''s actions had given them the time to calm down and get back in their act. They quickly approached the fire to add items to the piles before reaching Khan''s spot.


    The three remained a bit stiff even after they sat, but Khan took the matter into his own hands. He initiated jokes and casual conversations that forced them to rx. Their role now was to enjoy the part and wait for suspicious figures to appear.


    Khan decided to go one step further after hispanions rxed. The event was simply too simr to Nitis'' parties, so he felt confident in his actions. There was a lonely figure near his group, and he didn''t hesitate to question him.


    "Hey, old man," Khan called while pretending to be almost drunk. "When can I take one of the bottles there? This is myst one."


    "I''ll tell you if you let me drink," The old manughed.


    "No way," Khan responded while hugging the bottle in his hands.


    "What about your friends?" The old man asked while moving his tired eyes between Amber and Cora. "I might answer if they ask nicely."


    "Don''t be naughty, old man," Khan scolded while wrapping his arms around Amber and Cora''s necks to pull her closer to his chest. "They are both mine. You can have him if you want."


    Amber and Cora didn''t know what was happening, but they remained silent and let Khan do his act. As for Grant, he frowned before ignoring the conversation.


    "Sadly, I''m not into that," The old man sighed. "Aren''t you too greedy? You''ll starve before satisfying both of them."


    "There are worse ways to die," Khan proudly eximed, and the old man exploded into a loudugh.


    "Young men these days are so canny," The old man stated without interrupting hisugh. "You can take something from the piles only when the fire is about to burn it."


    "Do I have to run for it?" Khan asked.


    "That depends on your luck," The old manughed, and the conversation ended there.


    "You are really good at this," Amber whispered when Khan let her go to focus on the fire.


    "I want to be an ambassador," Khan scoffed. "I would have no talent for it if I couldn''t achieve this much in my past home."


    "I''m still going to get back at you for using me for your act," Amber teased.


    "Shut up, woman number two," Khan joked as hey on Cora''sp to continue to drink.


    "You are enjoying this too much," Amber cursed, but Grantughed and made the whole atmosphere more cheerful.


    Khan yed around more than usual as the group continued to drink and managed to seize items from the piles. He seemed a proper member of the Slums, but Cora felt off whenever she looked at him. Even Amber noticed something, but she couldn''t put that emotion into words.


    Khan appeared beyond happy and drunk. Amber and Cora knew that most of that was an act, but some of his gestures also felt natural. He was used to those situations, and a longing expression even took control of his face whenever he lost himself in the flickering of the fire.


    Amber and Cora couldn''t possibly understand how much that situation meant for Khan, and he didn''t exin anything. That wasn''t the right moment to lose himself in his memories of Nitis, so he enjoyed himself as the Niqols taught him.


    The event grew messier as everyone became drunker. Khan even found himself among unknown groups of people, chanting unfamiliar songs and dancing without keeping track of his movements. He was so perfect that Grant and the others wondered whether he had forgotten about the mission.


    Their worries weren''t entirely unfounded. Khan wasn''t holding back in the celebration, and hispanions were only one step behind him. They had to behave like ordinary citizens, which meant getting drunk, dancing, and trying their best to have fun.


    "Khan, everyone can still see us," Cora whispered when Khan led her to one of the streets connected to the square.


    "Would it be fine if they couldn''t?" Khan teased as he led her behind a corner before pushing her on the wall.


    "You are drunk," Cora giggled before epting the kiss that fell on her lips.


    "You aren''t sober either," Khan joked as he moved to Cora''s neck.


    "Kha-!" Cora suppressed a moan as she wrapped her arms around Khan''s neck. "We should go back to the others."


    "Amber and Grant are finally having fun," Khan stated. "Let''s do the same."


    Cora couldn''t stop Khan, and part of her didn''t want to. She let him lift her from her butt as they continued to make out in that slightly isted spot.


    Khan''s hands became useless at some point. Cora wrapped her legs around his waist, and he pressed her on the wall with his body, so he didn''t need anything else to keep her lifted.


    "Not here," Corained when Khan''s hands slipped under her ragged pullover and explored her bare skin.


    "Why?" Khan whispered without stopping.


    Cora voiced another moan as Khan''s reached her chest, but she suddenly pulled his hair and forced him to retract his head. She even muttered a firm "no" in front of his disappointed expression.


    ''Liiza would have never stopped me,'' Khan sighed in his mind before forcing himself to calm down. ''What am I even doing? I shouldn''tpare them.''


    In the middle of his confusion, Cora pulled his head to kiss his cheek and whisper at his ear. "Hold back for now. I''ll make it up for you once we return to our room."


    The sweetness and faint shyness in Cora''s tone blew away the confusion that had filled Khan''s mind. He sobered up in an instant, and he felt so stupid for his previous thoughts.


    "I''m way too lucky," Khanmented while cing his head on Cora''s shoulder.


    Cora softly giggled and began to caress his dirty hair. She also felt blessed, but an unfamiliar male voice suddenly resounded at her right. "Did you stop already? What a pity."


    Khan instinctively grabbed Cora and threw a kick toward the source of the voice. Still, his attack didn''t hit anything. His senses also failed to find significant movements in the mana around him.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Shoutout to DaGrumb for the Magic Castle!

 Chapter 321 - Invisible

    Cora had seen Khan''s emotionless face, and she also remembered it well. Istrone''s events couldn''t just disappear from her mind, especially since her love for him was born during those days.


    Time had passed since those events. Cora had the chance to learn far more about Khan, and her love for him had only deepened with every new detail that she noticed.


    Cora adored his intense stares, naughty words, and careful touches. She felt protected and loved beyond reason in his arms. She believed that she liked everything about Khan, but that changed after he kicked the source of the mysterious voice.


    A silent, chilling killing intent had filled Khan''s face. That expression was different from the aloof and detached behavior on Istrone. It was a dark feeling that made Cora freeze.


    Cora felt scared. She didn''t know that Khan could make such faces. That was a part of him that Cora had never had the chance to witness up close. Still, she felt unmistakable warmth and love among that darkness and coldness.


    Khan''s touch had changed after hearing that mysterious voice. His yful and teasing hands had transformed into a firm grasp meant to keep Cora safe. He was holding her waist and shielding her with his body as he tried to understand what was happening.


    ''Was I too distracted?'' Khan wondered as he inspected the empty area pierced by his raised leg. ''No, that''s impossible.''


    Khan''s senses weren''t a switch that he could turn off. They were deeper than his sight or hearing. His mind lived among the waves of mana, so no amount of booze or excitement could make him ignore a change in that energy.


    His senses'' range had also increased after training hard. Khan had be able to perform the [Blood Vortex]. He had gone far beyond human standards, and he had even proven himself to be better than the specialists'' tools.


    Khan wasn''t in his peak condition, and he had been quite horny too. However, he had lived on Nitis. He had done far more in far worse states there. His senses couldn''t be faulty, meaning that the exnation behind that strange event had to be somewhere else.


    ''Is this due to a spell?'' Khan wondered among the silence.


    That guess had obvious issues. Khan would have felt the activation of a spell unless the mysterious man cast it outside his range. However, that figure couldn''t possibly know that the event featured someone with Khan''s perception.


    Khan even eliminated the possibility that the mysterious expert was hiding his presence. He would have sensed a void in the environment in that case. Instead, everything felt and appeared perfectly normal, as if that voice had never existed in the first ce.


    "Are you scared?" The male voice suddenly resounded from the opposite side, and Khan didn''t hesitate to kick toward its source.


    The attack failed again. Khan knew that he had kicked the exact source of the voice, but he didn''t feel anything, and the scene showed no reactions.


    "It''s normal to be scared in front of the power of darkness," The mysterious man said from a spot behind Khan.


    Khanunched another kick while keeping Cora in his embrace. He had left the wall now, but he didn''t dare to let her go.


    "You must be soldiers from the city," The voice resounded from a spot outside Khan''s range after the kick failed. "The soldiers in the barracks would have already run at this point. Your reactions are also incredible. You must be an elite."


    "And who would you be?" Khan asked while adjusting his grasp on Cora.


    "I''m an interested party," The male voice resounded from the previous spot. "I must admit that I didn''t initially recognize you as soldiers. Your act was really good. Luckily, I always make sure to overhear everyone''s conversations before deciding whether to reveal my presence."


    Khan''s expression grew colder. The event around the fire had been loud and messy. The mysterious man would have needed to be right next to Amber and the others to hear their conversations, meaning that he had approached them multiple times already.


    ''Is darkness his element?'' Khan wondered. ''Can he hide his presence to this extent due to a spell? No, it''s not hiding. He is probably blending with the environment in ways that even my senses can''t perceive.''


    "Do you always act like this?" Khan eventually decided to resort to baits. "Do you cast your cloaking spell before reaching each party? That must be exhausting."


    "I''m used to living among shadows," The mysterious man replied, and Khan confirmed that he had yet to move.


    ''He didn''t deny it,'' Khan coldly eximed in his mind as his thoughts went wild.


    Khan''s understanding of the ways of mana allowed him toe up with a decent hypothesis. He would have sensed the presence of someone with mana during the party, so the mysterious man probably was the cautious type. He activated his spell before reaching the squares, which exined why Khan had failed to sense his arrival.


    Still, the nature of the spell remained unclear. Khan knew that mana could achieve extraordinary things, but there were limits to that power, especially for someone in the Slums.


    ''Is he invisible?'' Khan wondered. ''That would make him at least a second-level warrior.''


    The mysterious man had dodged Khan''s kicks, so he was fast enough to react to those attacks. The Lightning-demon style was among the fastest martial arts in the army''s archives, so it was unlikely that the figure could have ess to something simr. His ability to avoid the blows came from his sheer reflexes and physical strength.


    Khan didn''t feel scared after that realization. His guess could be wrong, but he didn''t have solutions for the other options. Instead, if his opponent was an invisible second-level warrior, he had a chance to win.


    "Why didn''t you attack us or leave after realizing that wee from the city?" Khan asked. "Are you interested in what we have to say?"


    "Oh, I only wanted to see if you were bold enough to get at it here," The man casually responded. "I''m a bit disappointed. The women from the city aren''t as shameless as I heard."


    Cora didn''t blush. She obviously didn''t like that someone had seen her private moment with Khan, but the situation didn''t allow her to consider those feelings. Danger had appeared, so Cora had to be ready. She had already prepared her mana while she waited for Khan to drop her.


    "So, you aren''t from the city," Khanmented.


    "I might have revealed too much," The man coldly chuckled. "The sole fact that you are here means that someone from the Slums has done the same. I should pay them a visit one of these nights."


    The killing intent in that statement was impossible to miss. Having an invisible opponent was scary, especially after learning that he had spent part of the party overhearing conversations right next to each group.


    "Your business must have something to do with what happened in Dewwick," The man continued. "I have no interest in talking about that. I feel merciful today, so I''ll let you leave."


    "What if we didn''t want to leave?" Khan asked.


    "Are you sure you want to threaten me?" The killing intent in the man''s voice returned. "I can follow you to your habitation, and you wouldn''t even notice it. I can cut your girlfriend''s throat while she sleeps in your arms. I canugh right next to you while you fall into despair."


    The threat inevitably affected Cora, but she wasn''t to me. The danger posed by an invisible assassin was too great. Her body tensed up as the desire to run away filled her mind.


    Khan saw the situation differently. His experience and knowledge allowed him to find ws in those threats. Ordinary soldiers had limited mana capacity, and a spell that could hide someone''s presence to that extent had to be quite expensive.


    It was already deep in the night. Khan could guess that the mysterious man had inspected different parties before reaching that square. He had most likely activated that cloaking spell multiple times already, which would put him close to his limit.


    Of course, that guess worked only if Khan had understood the man''s power correctly. A third-level warrior might have limits beyond hisprehension, but the conversation had revealed subtle hints that added value to his idea.


    The threats were probably real, and it would even make sense for the mysterious man to let Khan''s group go. The death of soldiers from the city right after Dewwick''s matters would only force the Global Army''s hand.


    Nevertheless, the opposite situation was also reasonable. The mysterious man might be at his limit, and Khan wanted to test that possibility. The mission would go back to the starting point if he wasted that chance.


    "Go back to the others," Khan whispered as he rxed his grasp on Cora''s waist.


    "I can fight," Corained as her feet touched the ground.


    "I know you can," Khan stated without moving his eyes from the previous source of the male voice, "But I can''t let him turn you into a burden. I''m the only one fast enough to deal with an invisible threat."


    Khan''s choice of words had been perfect. He didn''t me Cora''s prowess but the situation, which made his orders easier to ept. Cora was scared, but she was ready to give her everything to help Khan. Yet, he was better on his own now.


    "Don''t get hurt," Cora whispered before hurrying back to the party.


    Khan waited a second before raising his hand and unleashing the Wave spell toward the previous source of the voice. Red-purple light filled the isted corner and destroyed everything it touched. The ground and the walls at his sides shattered instantly, and the small structures they supported soon crumbled.


    Cora saw the spell and heard the ruckus it created, but she didn''t ignore Khan''s orders. Themotion attracted the attention of those at the party, but they didn''t care if a few houses crumbled. That was amon urrence in the Slums.


    Amber and Grant didn''t give the matter much thought either. They remained in their act to avoid revealing their identity, and their position made it hard for Cora to reach them right away. She had a crowd to cross to warn them.


    Khan didn''t blink at all while the Wave spell unleashed its power. He didn''t divert his gaze even when the fall of the metal tiles at his sides generated a few clouds of dust. His attention remained on the previous source of the man''s voice as he searched for clues.


    "You are still there, right?" Khan asked before adding a lie. "The dust moved oddly."


    "No, it didn''t," The man spoke from a different position. "Why did you unleash something so dangerous here?"


    "I only wanted to prevent you from going after my girlfriend," Khan revealed. "You tried, didn''t you? Your breath was a bit ragged."


    Thest statement wasn''t a lie. The dust and mana carried by the Wave spell didn''t meet any obstruction, but the man''s voice had changed tone. The attack had probably taken him by surprise.


    "Do you desire me to kill you so despe-?" The mysterious man asked, but Khan suddenly shot toward the source of the voice and released a kick, interrupting the question.


    "You aren''t untouchable," Khan eximed as he drew the knife from his underwear. "You must also be quite tired. Come on, run away and deactivate your spell. I will sense it."


    That was a partial lie. Khan didn''t know if the man had enough mana to keep the cloaking spell active until he left his range. Still, Khan couldn''t do much more in that situation. He could only throw another bait and hope that the expert took it.


    The man didn''t speak anymore, but Khan had guessed as much. He calmly waited while holding his knife firmly. He was ready to react to any change in his surroundings.


    Nothing happened for a few seconds, but pain suddenly filled Khan''s mind. A warm sensation spread on his cheek and forced him to take a step back. The injury didn''t expand anymore, but he still found a long cut on that spot.


    ''I can react to this,'' Khan thought as he prepared himself for the next attack.


    A few silent seconds went by again before a painful sensation spread on Khan''s right shoulder. He didn''t immediately react and let the injury dig deeply into his skin before crouching to sweep his surroundings with a rotating kick.


    The attack didn''t cause any reaction, but Khan still stomped on a few spots around him. He didn''t know if the man''s spell prevented him from experiencing sensations when interacting with that mysterious figure. That possibility felt unlikely, but Khan didn''t want to take anything lightly.


    The silence returned, but Khan didn''t feel anxious. He had basically confirmed that the man wasn''t too strong. His reactions were good, but his attacks were slow. Khan even started to believe that the expert didn''t know any martial art.


    Then, pain spread from a spot on Khan''s left side, but he spun on himself as fast as he could. A red-purple membrane covered the knife as he waved it during the rotation, and a suppressed cry resounded during his attack.


    Khan quickly turned toward the source of the cry, and his eyes immediately converged on a bloody item on the ground.. Two dirty fingers had appeared out of nowhere.

 Chapter 322 - Deal

    Khan didn''t remain still in front of that initial sess. He shot forward and threw a kick in the spot right behind the source of the suppressed cry.


    A grunt followed his action, but he didn''t feel anything. Khan couldn''t confirm whether he had hit the man, but he stillunched another kick aimed at the source of the new sound.


    Nothing happened after the kick. The area remained utterly silent, but something eventually reached Khan''s senses. A few drops of blood materialized mid-air before falling on the ground.


    Khan''s thoughts ran quickly as he reviewed his initial guess. The mysterious man clearly had ess to something stronger than simple invisibility. It seemed that everything in the spell''s range blended with the environment and became impossible to perceive.


    Khan had never been in a simr situation. He believed to have hit the man with one kick, but he didn''t feel that event. He could only charge forward whenever blood appeared in his view and hope that his attacks reached his target.


    A strange fight unfolded. Khan kept chasing after every sound or item that appeared out of nowhere. The mysterious man resumed his attacks after he understood that the bleeding didn''t allow him to retreat. Still, he failed to inflict deadly injuries since Khan dodged and counterattacked as soon as he felt pain.


    Khan didn''t fail to realize that the battle would have been entirely one-sided if the man had ess to fast and powerful attacks. Still, he didn''t lose himself in those thoughts. He would win as long as his opponent ran out of mana.


    Each exchange was fast and only featured short breaks. Khan attacked if the man''s blood betrayed his position and remained passive when hecked clues. Yet, everything eventually went quiet for a rtively long time.


    Khan didn''t dare to move, but his body darted forward when a trace of mana appeared behind a house in front of him. That cluested for a mere second, and he didn''t find anything when he reached his destination, but a simr event happened after he waited a bit longer.


    Khan had immediately realized what was happening. The expert had reached his limit, so he was trying to run away. However, he had to disperse his spell to catch his breath from time to time, which gave Khan a chance to follow him.


    The man''s breaks started to happen more often. He had initially managed to go around a whole house before dispersing his spell, but that distance shortened as Khan continued to chase him.


    Meanwhile, Khan''s reactions quickened. He went fromplete stillness to full-speed in an instant, and his opponent began to feel pressured by his relentless chase.


    Eventually, Khan reached the source of thest trace of mana only to see a faint humanoid figure materializing in front of him. The event made him elerate right away to deliver a powerful kick at the center of that shape, and everything changed after that attack.


    Khan finally felt something. He sensed a sturdy and firm body under his half-broken shoe. He perceived the amount of mana that only a second-level warrior could have, and he even heard the thudding noise generated by his opponent''s fall.


    It was as if his kick had lifted the veil that prevented him from seeing the true nature of the environment. Khan could finally sense, see, and hear his opponent, and his power was in line with his initial guess.


    The man was face down on the ground. He had long hair, and the dirt on it prevented Khan from seeing its true color. His clothes were nothing more than the usual rags worn by the other citizens of the Slums, and the same went for his smell.


    The knife held by his injured hand was nothing special. It was sharp, but it didn''t contain any mana. The man didn''t have anything else worth mentioning either. He even looked poorer than other fellow citizens.


    Khan disregarded the man''s appearance after a quick inspection. He didn''t hesitate to m a kick at the base of his back and ce his other foot on the injured hand. It was time to start the interrogation.


    "Who are you?" Khan asked in a cold tone as his free hand reached the dirty hair to turn the man''s head. "What''s your role in the Slums?"


    The face of a middle-aged man unfolded in Khan''s view. The dirt on his skin covered eventual moles or simr traits, but Khan couldn''t miss his clear green eyes.


    "Why would I even answer?" The man voiced a weakugh.


    Khan pressed harder on the injured hand and lowered his knife. The sharp membrane covered the weapon as it approached the man''s nape. Khan could kill his opponent in an instant, but he didn''t need a corpse.


    "Do you not care about your life?" Khan threatened. "Do you have any idea what the Global Army will do to you once I bring you back?"


    "Actually, I don''t care," The manughed again. "Go on. Capture me. Theb will disappear as soon as I go missing."


    ''Is this a bluff?'' Khan wondered. He had never mentioned theb, but the man seemed to know something. Moreover, the amount of mana inside his body had to ce him among important figures in the Slums.


    "You are hesitating," The man teased. "How does it feel to be against someone who has nothing to lose? It''s terrifying, isn''t it? The Global Army has given you so much power only to see it be pointless."


    "Is there ab here?" Khan asked, ignoring the man''sst line.


    "Who knows?" The man whispered.


    Khan didn''t know what to do. The man had spoken the truth. Threats were useless against someone who had nothing, especially if he was willing to throw his life away. Khan couldn''t see a path.


    "Did you lose your tongue?" The man continued when Khan remained silent. "I bet you didn''t expect someone from the Slums to put you in such a difficult situation. My life must be worthless in your eyes, but you still can''t bend it to your will."


    "Let''s make one thing clear," Khan whispered as he bent forward even more. "I have fought and killed many times, but I''ve never considered a life worthless."


    "The knife on my neck says otherwise," The man responded. "Will you kill whenever your superiors give the order? You are so young, but the Global Army has already corrupted you thoroughly."


    "Do you think I fought you because of my orders?" Khan asked. "I have orders, but you decided to threaten my girlfriend. That''s enough to earn a death sentence in my mind."


    "You are quite dark," The man eximed in an amused tone. "Does your girl know about this side of you? You are way scarier than me."


    "That''s none of your business," Khan stated. "Now, time''s up. Tell me what I should do with you."


    "I told you," The man sighed. "I don''t care."


    ''This is pointless,'' Khan cursed in his mind. The man had put him in a pickle, but he didn''t have many options. Bringing that mysterious figure to a barrack was the only reasonable approach.


    "However," The man suddenly announced, "I might have an idea."


    "Speak instead of wasting my time," Khan ordered.


    "You can''t find theb without me," The man exined, "But you won''t find it even if you capture me. You need my help."


    "So?" Khan said in an aloof tone.


    "I want to cut a deal," The man revealed.


    "I don''t have the authority to offer something like that," Khan admitted. "I don''t even want you to get off lightly."


    "I''ve already lost two fingers," The manughed, "And I''m pretty sure you have broken something with those kicks of yours. Martial arts sure are interesting."


    "What do you want?" Khan asked while trying his best not to show any emotion.


    "I give you the location of theb, and you let me go right now," The man suggested.


    "How can I even trust you?" Khan snorted.


    "You can''t," The man stated. "This is a gamble."


    "A bad one," Khan shook his head.


    "Are you sure you want to miss this chance?" The man asked. "The Slums hide many things. Imagine how much there could be among these rotten houses and dirty streets. Some families might build entire cities, and you wouldn''t notice it."


    "You have started to sound desperate," Khan joked. "Maybe you do fear death."


    "I''d pick death over imprisonment," The man admitted. "Besides, are you sure you want me to fall in your superiors'' hands? I can tell you that you have chosen to give up on thebs to capture me."


    Khan kicked the injured hand to remind his opponent about their position, but thetter onlyughed. He had felt pain, but he had stopped caring about it.


    "How much is hidden in the Slums?" Khan asked.


    "I can''t say," The man replied.


    "Then all of this is pointless," Khan sighed. "You are just a liar hoping to pull a fast one."


    "You misunderstood," The man dered before showing his tongue.


    A series of azure lines had appeared on the tongue. Their light intensified and dimmed rhythmically, but the mana inside them didn''t belong to the man. Khan could sense two different energies now that those shapes hade out in the open.


    "Is this a restriction?" Khan asked.


    "I can''t confirm that," The man replied.


    "You talked about ab," Khan reminded.


    "I only hinted at its existence," The man corrected.


    "How would you even tell me how to find it then?" Khan questioned.


    "I can tell you to walk in a specific direction for a set amount of time," The man exined. "There is nothing wrong in helping soldiers move across the Slums."


    Khan had to deal with magical restrictions on Nitis. His father also had them, so he knew that loopholes existed. Yet, the main point behind that revtion was the presence of those techniques on a citizen of the Slums.


    The man had conflicting features. He was a second-level warrior, and he knew a spell. However, he didn''t have martial arts in his arsenal, and his weapons were also ordinary items.


    Khan didn''t know how to describe his opponent. The man could be a distant member of a family appointed to oversee the secret projects in the Slums. He could also be a citizen of those poor areas who had gotten lucky enough to know the right people and obtain his current job.


    Both options were possible, but the restrictions stood in the way of the truth. Khan believed that the Global Army could remove them, but that would take time.


    Moreover, if the theory behind the secret organization was real, the prisons and appointed structures might have had traitors and spies. The man might find a way out of the capture, leaving the Global Army without answers.


    ''I can''t let him go, can I?'' Khan thought as he reviewed the matter. ''He is dangerous, too dangerous. I won''t feel safe with him around.''


    Khan had already disregarded his mission. His thoughts now involved his person and those dear to him. Letting an assassin run freely throughout the Slums was simply dumb.


    "Would it be easier if I told you how to counter my spell?" The man asked while Khan was immersed in his thoughts.


    "Is it possible?" Khan questioned.


    "Of course," The man revealed. "My spell has a heavy weakness."


    "Which is?" Khan continued.


    "Why would I tell you?" The manughed. "I want you to promise me that you''ll let me go first."


    "It doesn''t work like this," Khan insisted. "It''s your time to take a risky gamble now."


    The man fell silent, but he eventually heaved a deep sigh. His figure began to blend with the environment, and Khan started to lose track of him. He prepared to press on the injured hand again, but his opponent suddenly spoke. "Wait. I can''t run away with you on top of me."


    "Why are you activating your spell then?" Khan asked.


    "I won''t be able to trick your senses anymore if you manage to look past my spell even once," The man exined. "I''m literally under you, so the process should be quick. You should get used to the spell in a few minutes."


    Khan decided to trust the man. Thetter''s figure disappearedpletely, and Khan even stopped sensing him. Yet, his feet didn''t touch the ground since they continued to stand on top of his opponent.


    Little by little, sensations started to reach Khan''s mind again. They were initially faint, but he eventually started to feel more and more.


    The matter was odd since Khan never became able to feel the man in his entirety. However, he began to feel his mana and its effects on the environment.


    In the end, a spherical membrane became clear in Khan''s senses. It was impossible to miss now. He believed that even soldiers without his sharp perception would be able to notice it now.


    "How could you work around such a significant weakness?" Khan asked.


    "It''s not easy to find," The man stated. "I don''t usually allow someone to study me for so long."


    "Is there a way for you to hide from me again?" Khan continued.


    "Who knows?" The man wondered. "I don''t have ess to your resources. I only know about this weakness."


    Khan remained silent. Hismon sense was telling him to capture that man. The mission was important, but he didn''t care too much about it.


    Still, finding clues about a secret organization in the Slums would add many merits to Khan''s profile. It would also grant him ess to ssified information that would typically require a higher rank. The mission could be his ticket for the hidden aspects of the Global Army.


    "Do we have a deal?" The man eventually asked.


    Khan put a foot on the ground. His leg became faint inside the spherical membrane, but he remained able to sense it. The same happened after stepping off the manpletely. He even felt his opponent moving under that spell.


    "If I sense you near my squad or me again, I won''t let you go," Khan threatened.. "Now give me those damned directions."

 Chapter 323 - Funny

    ''He would have been my first,'' Khan realized while walking back to the square.


    Khan had killed many times, but the mysterious man would have been his first human. Still, he knew that his resolve wouldn''t have wavered even if he had thought about that detail earlier.


    Humans, Niqols, Stal, Guko, Ef''i, and Kred were all the same in his mind. Some were dumb, others barely expressed emotions, but Khan couldn''t find differences among the value of their lives.


    The issue with the mysterious man had been pretty straightforward. He had threatened to kill Cora, so Khan had been ready to remove the danger. That was Khan''s true nature, and he didn''t find anything wrong with it. He was done feeling hesitant about himself.


    Khan sensed three familiar presences as he approached the square. Chasing after the mysterious man had led him deeper into the Slums, so Amber, Grant, and Cora were still searching for him. Yet, they didn''t hesitate to show happy smiles when they saw his figure in the distance.


    "Khan!" Amber and Cora shouted almost at the same time, but their smiles froze when they managed to inspect his state.


    Khan''s cheeks had two long cuts, with one dangerously close to his right eye. Two big patches of blood had tainted his sides, and simr spots upied his arms and legs. The deepest injury was on his right shoulder, but he had seen worse.


    Cora and Amber reached Khan in less than a second and inspected his injuries. Their worry was evident, and that feeling only intensified when they noticed the state of his shoulder.


    "I''m fine," Khan tried to reassure the two women. "My right feels a bit off, but it will heal in no time."


    "We should hurry back to the barrack," Amber eximed. "Your injuries might get infected with all this dirt on you. Hurry up and take off your clothes."


    Khan followed Amber''s orders, but the situation worsened when he took off his ragged pullover. The two women could inspect his state properly now. It was clear that Khan had gone through an intense battle.


    "I shouldn''t have left you alone," Cora whispered as her timid fingers traced the edges of Khan''s injuries.


    "What are you even saying?" Khan sighed while cing a hand on Cora''s head. "I won, but he escaped in the end."


    "Can you exin what happened?" Grant asked while approaching Khan.


    "Someone with a cloaking spell was spying on us," Khan revealed. "I managed to get a few answers, but I couldn''t capture him. I''m sorry."


    A series of questions followed. Grant wanted to know every detail about that potential threat, and Khan described almost everything. He lied only when it came to the deal.


    "I had him cornered," Khan sighed, "But I got distracted when he started answering my questions. I misjudged how much mana he had left."


    "Don''t me yourself," Grantmented. "You won against a second-level warrior and even got answers out of him. We are lucky you were on the scene. Another first-level warrior would have died."


    Khan nodded and let the pretense end there. He would tell the truth to Corater because he didn''t want lies between them. Amber also deserved his honesty, but the two women couldn''t think about the mission while he was in that injured state.


    The mysterious man had shared more than simple directions. He had also told Khan to wait one day before heading for that destination. He couldn''t reveal the reason behind that, but Khan wasn''t in the position to question him.


    Khan obviously didn''t like thatck of control. He had to trust an untrustworthy figure, but that was his best hope to find clues about ab or a secret organization. Still, the fight had revealed a w in his senses, and he nned to fix it right away.


    The group had no reason to remain at the party, so they hurried back to their habitation. They had a n, but they needed to prepare for it. Also, Khan needed medical attention.


    It was almost dawn, so the habitation was utterly silent. Everyone was asleep, but Grant summoned Ethan and the four students to update them about the recent developments.


    Meanwhile, Cora, Khan, and Amber went into their rooms to clean themselves. Then, Cora and Amber reached Khan to patch him up, and the situation inevitably gave birth to a series of jokes.


    "I didn''t think you would take the "woman number two" joke so seriously," Khan eximed. "Well, I won''tin as long as Cora is fine with it."


    "Can''t you be serious at least now?" Amber sighed. "You could have died out there."


    "Everything was under control," Khan stated while the two women tied thest bandages.


    "I won''t be a burden next time," Cora whispered.


    "What are you even saying?" Khan scolded in a loving tone as he pulled Cora in his arms. "The opponent was a tricky second-level warrior. You didn''t hesitate to do as I said. That saved me a lot of trouble."


    "Khan," Amber called while cing a hand on Khan''s shoulder, "I wish you didn''t endure everything on your own."


    The situation would have been incredibly awkward if the three didn''t have a good rtionship. Khan was on his bed, wearing only his underwear due to the injuries on his legs. Cora was between his arms while Amber was sitting at his side.


    "I have really funny ideas right now," Khan admitted as he inspected the two women.


    Cora didn''t say anything. She limited herself to hug Khan while making sure not to touch the bandages. Meanwhile, Amber didn''t react at all to the statement. She continued to stare at Khan while wearing her worried expression.


    "Can''t you rely on us a bit more?" Amber asked in the most earnest tone that Khan had even heard. "I thought we were friends."


    Cora''s hug tightened at those words. Khan felt assaulted from two different sides. Amber''s worried face filled his vision, while Cora''s warmth took care of his other senses.


    "He didn''t escape," Khan sighed. "I had him pinned down, but he suggested a deal. I know it''s dangerous and a bit stupid, but I know how to counter his invisibility now. I wanted to do some research about it before telling you everything."


    "What?" Amber gasped, and Cora separated from Khan''s torso to look at his face.


    "We would have never been able to continue the investigation without him," Khan continued. "I didn''t say anything to Grant because he might decide to me me if wee back empty-handed, but I trust you. I hope you''ll keep this a secret."


    Amber and Cora didn''t know what to say. They didn''t mind that Khan had taken that decision on his own, and they had no intention to rat him out. Still, they found themselves speechless now.


    "Is that enough?" Khan chuckled while patting both Cora and Amber''s heads.


    Amber finally realized her situation. Khan was basically naked, and she was far too close to him. The funny ideas he had previously mentioned appeared in her mind, and they turned her worried expression into a scolding re.


    "That''s my Amber," Khanughed while lying down and pulling both women with him.


    "What my Amber!" Amberined, but she didn''t push herself away out of fear of reopening Khan''s injuries. "Cora, tell him something!"


    Coraughed as she snuggled on Khan''s chest. The killing intent that Khan had shown before the battle had worried her, but she felt reassured to see that he was behaving normally.


    "You are an idiot," Amber scoffed while giving up and resting on Khan''s chest. "I''m d that you are okay."


    "Hey, I''m really strong," Khan inly said while caressing both heads. "Also, I would have run back to you all if the situation became too dangerous."


    "Let''s hope to find something tomorrow then," Amber sighed.


    Khan nodded and closed his eyes. He had yet to check thework for his research, and drowsiness was trying to take control of his mind. He also had his students to reassure, but all those matters could wait. It felt good to have people he could trust.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s self-restraint had a limit, and the presence of the two women on his bare chest made him approach a critical point quickly.


    "Unless you two want to fulfill one of my fantasies, I think it''s time to separate," Khan said in his yful tone.


    Amber straightened her back and sat at Khan''s side. She red at him, but her gaze eventually fell on Cora''s peaceful face. Amber ended up smiling, but she stillined. "You should scold him when he says stuff like this."


    "He won''t do anything bad," Cora eximed. "You are the same. I trust both of you."


    "You are way too cute for this idiot," Amber sighed.


    "The idiot would like some privacy with his cute girlfriend now," Khan joked as he hugged Cora and pulled her closer. "Make sure to send a detailed report. I hope the Global Army gives us something to counter cloaking spells."


    "I''m sure Grant has already taken care of that matter," Amber responded while leaving the bed. "We should get an answer soon."


    "I''ll see youter," Cora saluted.


    "Don''t let him off the hook so easily," Amber suggested before leaving the room.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to turn when the door closed. Cora ended up under him, and she revealed a warm smile in front of his intense gaze. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and a suggestion left her mouth. "You should meditate to close your injuries properly."


    "We are in our room," Khan whispered. "Time to make it up forst night."


    Cora was worried about the state of Khan''s injuries, but she knew that nothing could stop him now. Part of her didn''t even want him to hold back. Her mind went nk as soon as their lips touched, and everything became messy afterward.


    Khan did his best to remain wary of his injuries. He didn''t care if they reopened, but Cora would get worried, and he wanted her mind to remain focused on far different interactions.


    It was still morning when the two were done. Khan found himself with Cora resting on his chest. They were both beyond tired, but Khan was waiting for a message from the Global Army, and Cora was forcing herself to remain awake.


    "I have never seen you so angry," Cora eventually revealed the reason behind her struggles.


    "He threatened you," Khan didn''t hide anything. "I was livid."


    "What would have happened if he didn''t offer you a deal?" Cora continued.


    "I would have captured him," Khan eximed. "Well, I would have acted differently on a battlefield."


    "Differently how?" Cora asked without hiding her faint hesitation.


    "I would have killed him," Khan admitted.


    Khan didn''t fail to sense that Cora had raised her gaze to look at him. He could have worn a poker face during his answer, but he decided to show his resolve on the matter. He didn''t want to hide from Cora.


    "You are scary when you make that face," Cora dered.


    "Do I scare you?" Khan asked while meeting Cora''s gaze.


    "No," Cora shook her head. "I just didn''t know you could make that face."


    "That''s part of me," Khan said while turning to face Cora. "I can do bad things to protect myself, you, and my friends."


    Khan was at the peak of his honesty during that revtion. The lingering fears that George had appeased returned, and Cora noticed them. She could see how hard it was for Khan to say all of that. She also understood that Khan was worried about her answer.


    "I''ll make sure not to put you in a simr situation again then," Cora dered as her hands reached Khan''s cheeks. "I won''t let you be scary."


    Cora really was the epitome of cuteness. Her sweetness forced a loving smile out of Khan and made the two kiss again. Still, Khan thought about the issues with that statement during that gesture.


    Cora was epting Khan''s dark side, but she wanted to prevent its appearance. Her intentions were pure, but Khan knew that her approach had an important w. Cora didn''t understand that Khan wouldn''t give up on that part of himself.


    "I''ll show likable faces if you let Amber be here with us," Khan teased as he decided to change the topic.


    "See, I love this part of you," Cora giggled before diverting her gaze and wearing her timid expression. "Also, I''m already yours. Don''t hold back if you want more."


    Khan forgot about his worries and let his passion take over him. He felt forced to control himself only when a message reached the room.. The Global Army had finally sent studies connected to cloaking spells.

 Chapter 324 - Affection

    Many elements could lead to cloaking spells, and their strength changed ording to the situation. The darkness and shadow elements were more powerful at night since the environment favored them, but mana with features connected to light or colors worked better during the day.


    The report sent by the Global Army described a wide array of spells, and only a few of them shared the same weaknesses. A universal method capable of countering all of them didn''t exist, but Khan didn''t let the matter go.


    Thework struggled to reach those areas, but the building helped the phones connect to it. Khan could browse the various menus to find specific answers, but his search didn''t lead anywhere. He ended up purchasing a new training method for his senses, but that was it.


    The book would arrive directly to the camp, so Khan found himself with nothing to do. He meditated and enjoyed Cora''spany for a while, but other pressing matters eventually forced him out of his room.


    Khan didn''t sleep, but another night had to pass before the investigation resumed, so he didn''t mind leaving Cora on the bed to reach his students.


    Amber, Ethan, Elsie, John, Dwight, and Ashley had gathered in the main corridor of the first floor to have their lunch. Cameron and his underlings had brought a few tables and chairs to improve the area, but the food remained quite bad, at least for soldiers used to the camp''s canteen.


    Of course, Khan''s arrival attracted everyone''s attention. He had donned a clean military uniform, but the bandages on his cheeks were enough to confirm that he had gone through a tough battle the previous night.


    "Professor Khan," Elsie called in a pleading voice after the students performed a polite salute.


    "I won''t leave you behind tomorrow," Khan eximed before Elsie could voice that question. "All of us will be there, and I believe Cameron is already preparing more troops."


    "That''s right," Ethan revealed. "We can''t miss this chance. The directions you retrieved are vague, but we n to put out everything we have."


    Khan could only nod. Another covert mission probably was the best approach, but the Global Army couldn''t risk wasting those clues. Even if the investigation led to inferior results, the soldiers had to go all-out toe back with something.


    The nature of the Slums was forcing the Global Army''s hand. Finding clues was hard, especially since it was almost impossible to keep an ongoing investigation hidden. Khan''s group had already run out of options, so a rtively massive expedition seemed necessary.


    "We will have to be quick," Khan announced while approaching the empty seat next to Amber. "I can see a secretb with self-destruct mechanisms. It would only make sense."


    "Our priority is to retrieve clues," Ethan exined. "Theb and its tools aren''t important. We need to uncover which families are behind its very creation."


    Khan understood that point, so he nodded again. The conversation was over, but he found himself unable to focus on the food on the table.


    Ethan had retrieved his haughty mood after spending a day in the habitation, but he still struggled to look at Khan in the eyes. Meanwhile, the four students couldn''t keep their gazes away from Khan since they hoped to receive somest-minute lessons.


    As for Amber, she wanted to look pissed, but her worry appeared whenever she inspected Khan''s injuries. He felt forced to whisper a faint "I''m fine" to reassure her at some point, and the situation improved afterward.


    The two couldn''t go back to their usual jokes since a faint tension filled the group. The sole fact that Khan had suffered injuries proved that the imminent attack could be dangerous.


    Moreover, Amber and the students had never seen someone injured in a mission. Khan''s current state was a turning point in their minds. The five could finally realize that they were outside the safety of the training camp.


    The day went on quickly. No one was really busy, but everyone preferred to review their state and make sure to be at their peak the following morning.


    Khan didn''t need preparations, but his students required some attention. He had a long conversation with them to exin the tactic to deploy during the attack. They weren''t even first-level warriors, so they could approach the frontlines only if Khan, Amber, Grant, or Ethan were with them.


    Khan wanted to fool around with Cora or tease Amber after handling the students, but both women forced him to meditate for the rest of the day. Most of his injuries weren''t severe, but Amber and Cora remained firm on their stance.


    Of course, when the night arrived, Cora''s stance crumbled. She and Khan shared intimate hours in their room that swept away any trace of tension still lingering in her mind.


    A few minutes before dawn, Khan and the others gathered outside their habitation to wait for the arrival of Cameron''s forces. No one spoke, and the tension of the previous day returned stronger than ever. Still, they could at least rejoice about their appearance.


    The investigation group was wearing appropriate military uniforms. Their weapons and stars were in the open, and their sole sight was more than enough to scare away any citizens who didn''t know about the presence of that official building.


    Cameron''s forces didn''t take long to arrive, and the event reassured even the most worried and tense in Khan''s group. The toon was thirty men strong, and two tall, two-legged robots equipped with long rifles apanied it.


    Those more knowledgeable in the difference between the various levels could see that toon''s power wasn''t actually great. Khan didn''t even like the idea of bringing so many soldiers who had yet to be first-level warriors.


    A smaller group of stronger soldiers would have worked better for the attack, but the toon''s tasks didn''t only involve the possible battle. If ab truly existed, those troops would have to create a perimeter and evacuate the area to prevent the worst possible oue.


    The march began immediately. Khan''s group and Cameron''s toon had alreadye up with a battle formation. Grant, Ethan, and Amber would be in the lead due to their superior level, while the others would follow closely behind. As for the two robots, they would cover the backlines and intervene if the situation required it.


    Cameron''s toon had only a handful of first-level warriors, so Khan''s group remained united. The march was more than a simple walk across the dirty streets. The soldiers almost jogged as they followed the mysterious man''s directions. Soon, they went past the areas recorded during thest inspection, but nothing peculiar appeared on their path.


    The soldiers didn''t know what they were looking for. They only had directions, but sticking to them became troublesome after the march stretched for a few hours. Being unaware of the exact location of their destination made them feel lost and annoyed.


    Khan was the calmer in the group. None of hispanions shared his experience, but he still felt worried. The mysterious man might have lied, and Khan would be to me for that useless march.


    Khan obviously didn''t believe that a failed march could create problems in his career, but he liked his untouchable state. Seizing another sess would only improve his figure. Finding actual proof about a secret organization might make him enter an important environment even if his level wouldn''t normally allow that.


    The hours of the march went from three to six. Many soldiers from Cameron''s toon had long since begun to express their dissatisfaction, but the presence of specialists from the city forced them to keep their voices down.


    Those many murmurs inevitably reached the soldiers leading the group. Ethan had also started to have his doubts about the indication, but he retained a stoic expression. Meanwhile, Grant moved his eyes between the street and the device in his hands. He frowned from time to time, but nothing rming appeared on the sensor.


    Some soldiers began to feel pretty exhausted by the eighth hour of continuous march. Their bodies were approaching their limits, and the students felt ashamed to be in that situation. Their endurance was slightly better than Cameron''s underlings, but it remained quite humane.


    Still, the ninth hour brought a change. The Slums'' streets had always been empty since the group''s uniforms scared the citizen, but nothing too odd had happened. Yet, the appearance of a trail of ck smoke in the distance rekindled the soldiers'' hopes.


    The smoke was outside the range of Khan''s senses, but its appearance made the group hurry toward its source anyway. The fast-paced march became a proper sprint that forced some weaker soldiers to remain behind with the robots since they couldn''t keep up.


    Khan, Amber, Grant, and Ethan separated from the main group since they were faster. A massive and distinct surge of mana eventually entered the range of Khan''s senses and Grant''s scanner. The two immediately confirmed that the phenomenon was far from natural, which made them hurry even more.


    Citizens finally began to appear on the streets, but the four soldiers experienced no pleasure in that scene. Terrified men, women, and children ran as fast as they could to escape from the areas around the trail of smoke. Their screams filled the Slums, and their fears made them disregard the soldiers they met.


    Khan instinctively wielded his peculiar second-grade knife, and the two specialists also began to move their mana to prepare for a potential battle. The smoke was still too distant to evaluate the threat properly, but they didn''t dare to approach it carelessly.


    Then, a few inhuman cries resounded in the area and fused with the scared screams of the citizens. Khan only had to advance a bit further to sense multiple influences affecting the mana inside the smoke.


    His experience on many battlefields allowed him to reach a conclusion in an instant. Khan didn''t hesitate tounch a warning that intensified the general panic. "Tainted animals!"


    The four exchanged nces, but three pairs of eyes eventually fell on Amber. Someone had to warn the troops behind about the imminent danger, and she was the most suited for the task.


    "Don''t do anything reckless," Amber stated before turning to run toward the rest of the troops.


    "We need to assess the area involved in the event!" Grant eximed as the three continued to sprint forward.


    "We need to take care of the Tainted animals first," Khan dered as he interrupted the sprint.


    The torrent of smoke appeared immense now that the trio was about to approach it. Its source seemed to be as vast as a few buildings, and the creatures inside it affected the mana that flowed into the environment.


    Khan couldn''t sense the creatures clearly, but their influence on the mana told him that they were charging in different directions. The soldiers had to establish arge perimeter to contain those rogue Tainted animals.


    Ethan and Grant also stopped running, and their eyes widened in surprise when they looked at the scanner. They saw what Khan was sensing, and the scene terrified them.


    The issue wasn''t with the power of the Tainted creatures. The two specialists were second-level warriors, so those beasts couldn''t pose a threat to them. Yet, the sheer number of animals released in the area was astonishing and worrying. The sensor in Grant''s hands evaluated that there had to be at least twenty of them charging toward different directions.


    "We must establish the perimeter now!" Grant shouted as he turned to look at the iing soldiers. "Hurry up! Divide yourselves into four groups. We must run around the smoke!"


    "Our priority is to find clues," Ethan reminded while suppressing his voice.


    "What clues?" Grant eximed while pointing at the giant trail of smoke. "Everything is in pieces or will turn into dust in the next minutes. How are we supposed to retrieve something among that mess and Tainted animals?"


    "We must try," Ethan dered. "Fuck the perimeter. Let''s send everyone in."


    "The density of synthetic mana in the air is already too high," Grantined. "We risk experiencing the gravest infection since the Second Impact if we don''t focus on evacuating the area and killing the rogue Tainted animals."


    "Who cares?!" Ethan shouted. "Remember where we are. Let thosezy asses from the barracks handle this mess. We must remain on our target."


    "I''m telling you that it''s impossible!" Grant continued. "There won''t be anything left by the time we manage to make our way through the smoke."


    Part of Cameron''s toon arrived during that discussion. Amber, Cora, the four students, and the first-level warriors in the group could hear the topic of the argument, but the matter sounded hopeless.


    The smoke was too thick, and the presence of Tainted animals made everything more dangerous. Escaping those threats was already challenging. Retrieving something from that mess didn''t sound doable at all.


    "I can go in," Khan eventually stated. "The smoke won''t be a problem for me."


    Ethan didn''t want to leave that important task in Khan''s hands. Thetter had proven himself to be resourceful and strong, and their arrival to the smoke was also something to add to his feats. However, the Global Army had sent the specialists for that specific job. Relegating it to someone weaker than them would be improper and demeaning.


    "Can you really do it?" Grant asked without worrying about eventual political repercussions.


    "I can move rtively safely inside the smoke," Khan revealed, "But I don''t know if I''ll find clues. I can''t sense them unless they have mana."


    The two specialists didn''t have the time to think about the suggestion since a series of figures began to leave the smoke and charge toward their group. Four Tainted animals shot forward and voiced loud cries at the sight of the soldiers.


    The four creatures were nothing special. Khan saw a slightly tall wolf, a pig covered in scales, a winged mouse that didn''t seem able to use those body parts, and a white monkey. Those animals were far from strong, but their azure eyes and the energy they released confirmed the presence of mana inside them.


    "Prepare for battle!" Cameron shouted, and his underlings began to umte mana.


    "Stay back," Khan ordered as he joined his palms without letting go of his knife.


    Red-purple mana came out of Khan''s hands and took the form of a long spear as he separated them. The Chaos spear could umte far more energy, but he didn''t need much to take care of those four creatures.


    Everyone on the scene watched in awe as Khan threw the spell toward the four Tainted animals. The spear hit the ground in front of the scaled pig before unleashing its destructive power. A short pir appeared on the scene, and the creatures ended up caught in its might.


    Not much remained of the Tainted animals after the pir dispersed. The monkey and the mouse weren''t near the center of the explosion, but the attack touched them anyway, and entire chunks of their bodies disappeared.


    The mouse died due to the severe injuries in an instant, while the monkey managed to remain alive even if half of its body had lost its skin. Its flesh and a few organs were in the open, but the beast still charged forward.


    "Remember to be confident in your abilities," Khan dered as he walked toward the monkey. "Don''t underestimate your opponent, but don''t let it scare you either. Also, don''t hesitate when ites to delivering the finishing blow."


    Those words were for the four students, and they noted down everything as they kept their eyes on Khan. He didn''t appear ready to fight, but he suddenly elerated when the monkey became too close.


    The students remained in awe when they saw Khan reappearing behind the monkey. A long cut then opened on the creature''s head and neck before splitting those body parts into two halves.


    Khan remained silent for a second as he kept track of the mana that left the monkey''s body and mixed with the environment. He had returned to the battlefield, and he felt at peace there.


    Khan''s calm inspired the students and gave birth to deep respect in the weak soldiers'' minds. Amber, Grant, and Ethan also acknowledged Khan''s strength once again after witnessing how natural he appeared among that mess.


    Only Cora noticed the deeper meaning in Khan''s expression. He wasn''t merely used to the battlefield. He felt something toward it. That emotion almost seemed affection.


    Grant and Ethan exchanged a nce. Time was running out. The longer they hesitated, the farther the other Tainted animals would go. They had to make a decision quickly, and Khan looked like the perfect man for the job.


    Eventually, Grant and Ethan nodded at each other before performing the same gesture toward Khan. Other words were pointless. They would take care of containing the Tainted animals and leave the insides of the smoke to him.


    Khan couldn''t waste time in goodbyes or reassuring words. He winked at Cora and turned to face the smoke without waiting for answers. Everything disappeared from his mind at that point, and the symphony of the mana filled his thoughts.


    ''I can do it with this density,'' Khan thought as he sprinted forward.


    Waves of mana enveloped Khan as he approached the smoke. His figure was immersed in currents filled with power, but his gaze was on the dark gas right in front of him.


    Khan performed a long leap, and his figure partially disappeared among the smoke. Yet, hispanions saw how he didn''t descend.. Instead, Khan kept rising as if he was climbing a staircase.

 Chapter 325 - Colors

    Everything was dark. Waves of ck smoke surged and filled every corner of Khan''s vision, but he could still see. Of course, he wasn''t inspecting the scene with his eyes. He actually kept them closed as he let his mind experience the mana around him.


    The smoke wasn''t natural. A series of explosions might have caused such a vast and dense discharge of gas, but the mana told Khan a different truth.


    The mana didn''t simply hover in the area. That energy was part of the smoke and forced it to shoot upward. The pattern reminded Khan of a spell, but it had an artificial taste that he didn''t overlook.


    ''Someone wants the smoke to keep flowing in these directions,'' Khan thought as his light steps kept him above the surface.


    Khan was performing small jumps on the dense currents of mana around him. He couldn''t put too much strength since those footholds wouldn''t be able to endure it, but that didn''t change his situation. He was basically flying among the smoke.


    The artificial taste in the smoke reassured Khan and confirmed that the event didn''t have a mage behind it. The gas probably came from machines meant to cause those reactions. Hepared it to a cloaking spell that had the purpose of buying time for those inside the area.


    Still, the Global Army didn''t want hypothesis, and Khan didn''t throw himself into a possibly dangerous situation to have fun. He needed actual clues and answers, so he slowly descended when he felt to have reached the center of the wall of smoke.


    The currents became more violent as Khan drew closer to their source. He felt pushed back, but his weight allowed him to continue the descent. However, the situation slowly worsened and forced him to change his approach.


    Khan was only a newbie when it came to using the mana as a foothold. The habits developed in almost eighteen years of life also went against that new ability. Every human had to learn how to stand and walk, but things were different for Khan now.


    The footholds around Khan had multiplied. They were under him, at his sides, and above him. He could step on most of the currents of smoke that were enveloping his figure, which allowed different types of sprints.


    Khan could kick the smoke above him to descend. He could be upside-down but still, walk. His ability to step on mana had broken the bidimensional limits and had paved the way for tridimensional movements.


    Khan experienced a tinge of fear as he let his head rece his feet before performing his light steps again. His bnce felt off, and his movementscked the previous confidence, but he took it slow and easy.


    As Khan gained some confidence in that new type of movement, his descent quickened and transformed into more than a mere fall. He was jumping toward the surface and piercing the smoke that wanted to push him back up.


    The smoke eventually became strong enough to push Khan out of his intended trajectory, but that wasn''t an issue. Khan could easily kick the currents at his sides to adjust his position. He only had to spin and rotate on himself ording to his needs.


    The new type of movement wasn''t much different from swimming. Khan wasn''t good at that either, and his experience with water was almost nonexistent. Yet, he could find some simrities, and a smile inevitably appeared on his face when he thought about the differences.


    ''I might be able to do this with mere air one day,'' Khan thought as he continued to dive.


    Khan had loved his time on Nitis, and Snow had been one of the big reasons behind that. Flying was terrific, and Khan now had the chance to develop something simr with his own feet. Needless to say, that idea made him excited beyond reason.


    The excitement didn''t distract Khan from the mission. He continued to jump downward until he felt the presence of a firm wall that forced him to spin on himself. His feet violently touched the surface, and he straightened his back only to discover that he hadnded at the bottom of the area.


    Khan sensed less smoke in his surroundings, so he tried to open his eyes. Still, the area was too dark, and tears immediately started to form due to the pollution.


    Khan had to close his eyes immediately and fight the instinct to rub them. He had to advance blindly, but the situation wasn''t too bad. The area had less smoke, so less mana, but he could still inspect the various waves in his surroundings.


    The floor felt metallic when Khan tapped on it. That alone confirmed the involvement of powerful forces from the Global Army, but it wasn''t enough of a clue.


    Smoke shot upward from different spots around Khan. Its intensity and the amount of mana in its insides prevented him from inspecting distant areas, but a few details quickly became evident.


    Khan had to inspect the environment through the mana. Thergest gathering of energy acted as lights that illuminated their surrounding areas, but their radiance wasn''t immediate.


    The lights were waves that expanded and interacted with the environment. Every surface rejected the mana and pushed it back, which allowed Khan to get an idea of the various items and generalyout.


    The area had a series of cubical structures that contained a lot of synthetic mana. That energy flowed in items right next to those containers, which gave birth to the dense smoke that Khan had just crossed.


    Khan took a few steps toward the nearest container. He used his free hand to feel its smooth surface. It didn''t feel like metal, but it was definitely firm and sturdy.


    Instead, the machine next to the container was hard to define with only hands and mana. It had gears in its insides that made its surfaces tremble. Khan even felt levers and buttons, but he didn''t touch them out of fear of causing a mess.


    Technology was one of Khan''s weakest fields, but he could understand basic things. Machines needed fuel to work, so he covered his knife with the sharp membrane and pierced the container.


    The container had surfaces resistant to mana, but they couldn''t oppose the Divine Reaper. The synthetic mana in its insides began to fill the area as soon as Khan withdrew the knife, and the machine stopped working after a few seconds.


    ''Maybe I can clear the area,'' Khan thought, but an odd sound suddenly caught his attention.


    The area was quite noisy. The multiple pirs of smoke filled Khan''s ears with whooshing sounds that managed to cover anything released by the gears inside the machines. However, after Khan broke the container, a low growl pierced all of that.


    A vast shape eventually took form in Khan''s senses. He could feel something walking through the dense waves of mana and approaching his position. The smoke had prevented him from noticing that creature sooner, but it was impossible to miss now.


    ''A monster,'' Khan concluded as he prepared for the imminent fight.


    Khan bent his legs and raised his knife. His senses were powerful, but he failed to gain a clear idea of the monster''s edges. The mana inside its body told him that it was as strong as a first-level warrior, but he had to wait for the waves in the environment to fall on its form to understand its shape.


    The easier approach would be tounch a powerful spell at the creature. Yet, Khan wanted to preserve the environment as much as possible, so he waited for the monster to move.


    The creature took timid steps forward, but it stopped when it reached the wave of mana released by the container. It didn''t seem to have any interest in Khan. It only wanted to breathe the synthetic energy spreading in the area.


    Khan remained still for a few seconds before deciding to turn his back on the monster. That wasn''t the time to fight. The smoke alone wasn''t enough to destroy clues, so there had to be something else at work there, and he had yet to find it.


    Khan shed away his insecurities and began to move swiftly. It felt strange to walk and run without relying on his eyes, but the mana weed him with open arms.


    His senses grew sharper as he relied more and more on the mana. Khan had learnt to lose himself in those symphonies, but he had never limited his perception to them. Yet, he had the chance to test that new approach now, and the results were incredible.


    ording to Khan''s senses, the mana had the shape of a series of white currents in a ck world. Its different natures gave birth to various densities and forms, and they even triggered multiple feelings when Khan perceived it.


    Nevertheless, the currents of mana began to gain different colors as Khan devolved the entirety of his perception to them. Most of them turned azure, but some gained clearer shades when employed by the smoke.


    Eventually, a reddish figure appeared in that azure, white, and ck world. Khan sensed another monster next to the second container. The creature was mming its limbs on the structure, but its attacks couldn''t break it.


    Khan bent forward and sprinted toward the opposite side of the container, but something cut short his movements. He mmed on an item that shot in the distance after the impact. The event didn''t cause any pain, but it pissed him that he had failed to sense that hindrance.


    Khan let a few seconds pass to wait for the waves of mana to reach the item. A few edges slowly became clear until he recognized its nature. He had mmed on a chair.


    ''Calm down and focus,'' Khan scolded himself. ''Run through the bright areas and walk in the dark ones. I can do this.''


    Khan followed his own directives. The bright areas contained a lot of mana, which made it easy for him to find eventual items or furniture. Instead, the dark ones required him to walk carefully and wait for waves of energy to reach them.


    As Khan''s confidence increased, his exploration became faster. He sessfully reached the other side of the container with the monster and pierced it with his knife. The event attracted the creature, but the mana released by the structure allowed Khan to retreat silently.


    Only a few monsters upied that area. Khan counted four of them as he proceeded to break every container. The smoke finally stopped, but the area remained too polluted for Khan''s eyes.


    ''What now?'' Khan wondered as he tried his best to push his senses even further.


    Khan didn''t find anything special during his exploration. The machines might reveal something during a proper investigation, but he believed that they wouldn''t lead anywhere.


    It would be too stupid for a secret organization to leave clues in their hideouts. Still, the smoke was meant to buy time, so there was a chance.


    The issue was that Khan couldn''t inspect the area properly. His senses were incredible, but he needed to see to recognize eventual clues, especially if they didn''t contain mana. He couldn''t even find closed doors or simr passages in that state.


    ''Fuck this,'' Khan thought as he pushed his mana toward his skin and made it shoot outward.


    Khan opened his eyes and saw the wave of red-purple mana expanding from his figure. The cloud of smoke above the area kept everything dark, but the light released by his energy added some brightness to the environment.


    The properties of his element also removed part of the pollution, but his eyes became teary anyway. Yet, the situation was almost bearable now and allowed Khan to see a few details.


    Khan could finally gain a clear view of the machines and containers, but he quickly disregarded them. More lights appeared in his vision due to the synthetic mana expanding in the area, and the monsters next to them also became clear.


    The release of mana moved the monsters'' attention on Khan, but he ignored them for now. His priority was to find something that could connect the area to a family or an organization, and interesting items eventually appeared in his vision.


    Rectangr structures stood above each container. They had a series of square broken items on their insides, and the smoke had only worsened their condition.


    It seemed that someone had hit those items repeatedly with a bat. They were squashed, broken in half, or directly in pieces. Khan could see wires and gearsing out of the cracks on their surfaces, but the smoke had consumed their edges and covered them with dirt.


    Their position was clearly intentional. Someone had broken the items before cing them in the line of fire of the machines, and Khan knew why.. Those structures resembled the servers seen on Ecoruta.

 Chapter 326 - Limits

    More tears fell from Khan''s eyes. His mana couldn''t get rid of all the pollution in the air, and that affected his visions in ways that he couldn''t avoid.


    Khan''s peripheral vision grew unclear as he forced himself to inspect the environment. He couldn''t remain blind in that situation. The tall, rectangr items with the broken servers didn''t carry mana, so he couldn''t retrieve them with his eyes closed.


    A second wave of mana shot out of his figure to clean his surroundings. Khan felt slightly relieved, but his eyes continued to burn. Moreover, the monsters saw that new discharge of energy as a threat. They began to turn toward him and release low growls that hinted at their imminent charge.


    The monsters had different shapes and features. Khan saw a slightly tall dog with azure fur, a monkey with gruesome ws growing from strange spots, a really huge cat, and a small rat with two sharp fangs that leaked a dense liquid.


    Those creatures looked scary and angry. Their eyes and expressions revealed their innate aggression now that they had started to ignore the azure gas flowing out of the pierced containers. However, Khan barely viewed them as worthy opponents.


    The structures in the Slums couldn''t possiblypare to those in the big cities. Khan felt almost sure that none of those monsters had ess to special abilities. Yet, that wouldn''t make any difference in his mind.


    Khan had survived a proper apocalypse of monsters on Nitis, and he had grown far stronger since then. Four scary-looking creatures were nothing more than sacks of meat in his mind. The only problem was with their size, especially with the oddly big cat, since it could destroy the already broken servers during the fight.


    The tears made Khan''s vision too cloudy, so he unleashed another wave of mana, but the monsters didn''t remain still at that point. They shot forward, and the area suffered due to their reckless charge.


    The containers were beyond firm, but that didn''t apply to the machines next to them. The servers were even worse, and they fell as the monsters mmed on the various structures or directly jumped over them.


    Khan also shot forward to shrink the battlefield. He had to release another wave of mana to reduce the pollution in his new surroundings, but part of his energy remained ready for the imminent battle.


    The monkey jumped over a container and pushed the tall structure above it to charge toward Khan. The cat mmed a paw on the smoke machine to dash forward, which also made the servers fall.


    Instead, the dog and the rat avoided the structures, but they shared the other monsters'' destination. The four creatures were converging toward Khan, but he didn''t flinch. A red-purple light had already covered his raised knife, and his feet were only waiting the right moment to unleash mana.


    The rat was the first to reach Khan. The creature was incredibly fast, as fast as Khan, but its fangs were the only dangerous part of that tiny body.


    Khan calcted the timing perfectly before performing a spin. The rat voiced a high-pitched squeak as it leaped and opened its mouth, but a foot mmed at its side and flung it in the distance.


    Cracking noises reached Khan''s ears, but he disregarded them. He didn''t need to hear or see to know that the rat would die with his attack. His senses were also superfluous there. His knowledge came from sheer battle experience.


    The monkey and the dog approached Khan almost at the same time. The monkey had jumped on two more containers to reach him and perform a leap aimed at his right side. Meanwhile, the dog had run in a straight line toward his chest.


    Khan took a step forward and let the monkey fall behind him. His knife shed as he side-stepped the dog and used that short rotation to send power to his left leg.


    Khan had merely taken one and a half-step, but the dog lost half of its head, and the monkey found its neck crushed. His fighting style wasn''t only deadly. Itcked useless movements and maximized the effects of his terrific techniques.


    The cat reached Khan during the instant that he had lost to take care of thest two monsters. The creature stood on its two legs and reached a height of two meters before falling on his figure, but it only found the floor when itnded.


    The cat hissed in anger and turned to look at its opponent, but a warm sensation spread from its huge belly when it stood on its legs. The creature''s aggression made it ignore that feeling and shoot toward the human silhouette illuminated by the glowing light that had appeared behind it. Yet, its body lost power during the charge.


    The monster''s legs gave in and stopped supporting its huge figure. The cat fell on the floor, and a warm sensation weed it. The creature finally realized that Khan had cut its belly open and that its insides had already left its body.


    The cat hissed in anger and tried to crawl in that state, but Khan had already stopped caring about it. He felt the urge to wipe his eyes, but nothing about him was clean. Smoke and blood had tainted his figure, so he would only worsen his situation if he attempted something.


    Another wave of mana left his figure, but his eyes didn''t benefit too much from it. Khan''s vision was deteriorating quickly, but he couldn''t leave yet. He simply didn''t know where he was.


    ''Am I underground?'' Khan wondered.


    The descent through the smoke had made Khan lose track of his position, and the dark cloud above the area didn''t help. The sharp membrane around his knife brought some light, but he saw nothing more than metal surfaces.


    ''I need to get back in the smoke,'' Khan concluded as he tried to find something that could work as a staircase.


    His searchsted only an instant since the whole area suddenly began to tremble. A proper earthquake unfolded as rumbling noises filled the environment. The event immediately opened cracks on the floor, and Khan felt sure about its artificial nature at that sight.


    A curse resounded in Khan''s mind, but he didn''t remain still. The earthquake made all the servers above the containers fall, so he had to sprint toward the nearest to catch it before it crashed on the floor.


    The item was far from light. The four pirs at its edges weren''t an issue, but the servers attached to them were heavy. Moreover, the structure was as tall as Khan, which made transporting everything more challenging.


    Khan stored the knife and hugged the structure with the servers. He was strong enough to carry it, but the darkness had returned now, and the earthquake made his footing unstable. Still, he waited for something to happen as he focused on reducing the destructive nature of his mana.


    A wave of pale red-purple energy shot out of Khan''s head and brought some light. His mana rose toward the cloud quickly, and following its trail didn''t help his escape.


    Khan approached the closest wall and released more mana, but he still couldn''te up with a method to leave that ce. However, cracks eventually opened on the surface behind him, and dirt began toe out of them.


    ''What is even happening?'' Khan cursed, but the answer didn''t take long to arrive.


    The wall grew closer as the cracks multiplied. The whole structure was copsing on itself in a clear attempt to bury everything it contained.


    Khan didn''t know how much nning something like that had required. Building a structure capable of self-destructing and destroying every evidence without alerting the Global Army must have taken a long time and a detailed knowledge of the Slums. It also required ess to multiple machines and workers, but Khan didn''t linger on those thoughts now.


    The copse of the structure opened a path for Khan. He began to release mana like crazy as he dashed toward the center of the area and waited for one of the walls to reach him. As long as the cracks and dirt created vague footholds, he would have a chance to leave.


    .


    .


    .


    Grant had shown great leadership abilities. Four hunting groups hade to life in no time under his orders. The two-legged robots had to remain in their spot since they were too slow to catch up, and the same went for a few soldiers. Yet, everyone else had sprinted toward different positions after picking a team.


    Ethan had taken a few soldiers with himself before moving to the left side of the smoke. Grant had gone alone on the other side of the area since those weaker than him would only slow him down. Meanwhile, Amber, Cora, and the students had followed Cameron on the right.


    Setting a perimeter with such short notice was a messy endeavor. The Slums'' citizens had done the soldiers a favor by running away, but someone still upied the dirty streets and frail houses, and a few required medical attention.


    The soldiers had to ignore those in need for now since stopping the Tainted animals came first. The various teams split even further after reaching their appointed position to make sure to cover the entire area around the smoke.


    Of course, the perimeter was far from perfect due to theck of manpower, but those soldiers were enough for the number of Tainted animals spreading in the Slums.


    Battles quickly unfolded. Mere Tainted animals couldn''t do much against soldiers, but fear and ignorance ran strong in the Slums. Those who had yet to be first-level warriors didn''t know how the infections worked, which affected their efficiency.


    Luckily for them, Cameron and the other rtively strong soldiers were decent at their job. They also had specialists and knowledgeable people from the city to help them. A few battlessted more than necessary, but the Tainted animals soon stopped being a threat.


    Still, the earthquake arrived at that point. The event involved multiple quarters and made entire houses crumble. Ethan, Grant, and the team from the camp felt the need to prioritize their mission, so they all converged toward the dark cloud that still hovered at the center of the perimeter.


    The ground crumbled as the earthquake continued. Rivers of dirt flowed somewhere under the dark cloud and created waves of dust that hindered the inspection. Grant and Ethan didn''t know what to do, and Amber''s group was equally worried, but they were out of options. They actually had to retreat since the destruction spread.


    Then, Grant saw a scene that made his mouth open in surprise. He was retreating while the ground under his feet transformed into rivers of dirt when a dark figure left the cloud and jumped on one of the metal tiles flowing in his direction.


    The figure was carrying something almost as big as it, but that didn''t seem to affect its movements. Its steps appeared weightless as it jumped on every stable item that the ground carried in its violent flow under the cloud.


    ''It''s not the same,'' Khan thought as he performed small jumps whenever something decent appeared in his view.


    The ground was too frail and threatened to trap his feet if it failed to move ording to Khan''s prediction. It was unreliable, so he used only the metal tiles from the broken houses, the rocks, and anything that looked stable enough for his martial art.


    The careful approach forced Khan to go up and down those rivers of dirt. Still, the annoyance on his face didn''te from that. His mind was elsewhere as it tried to imprint the feelings experienced during his flight among the smoke in his memory.


    Jumping on unstable footholds was incredible, especially since Khan was carrying the heavy servers. Another first-level warrior with a simr martial art might have failed at that, but that wasn''t enough anymore for Khan.


    Walking, jumping, and running felt limited now that Khan had experienced the freedom of the tridimensional movement. Being in a straight position was only natural, but it had be an annoying restriction now.


    The ground eventually stabilized, and Khan had the chance tond.. The first good spot happened to be before Grant, who had remained with his mouth open even during his retreat.

 Chapter 327 - Slipping

    "Can you use this?" Khan asked while carefully cing the servers on the ground.


    Grant was still too shocked by what he had seen to hear the question. Khan had literally walked through rivers of dirt and smoke while carrying a heavy object as tall as him. He had resurfaced during an earthquake that had made a whole district crumble underground, and his appearance didn''t help Grant recognize him.


    Khan was a ck figure that revealed his true colors only on the spots cleaned by his tears. The smoke had covered his teeth with soot since he had opened his mouth from time to time. His eyes were also red and half-closed due to the pollution inside the underground structure.


    Many would struggle to recognize Khan right now, and Grant''s surprised state only slowed down his thoughts. The specialist kept moving his eyes between Khan and the tall item without understanding what was happening.


    "Grant?" Khan called as he pped his hands in an attempt to remove part of the dirt on them.


    Grant finally recognized Khan, and his focus went on the item after reying the initial question in his mind. The servers were broken, dirty, and far from usable, but they remained clues that the earthquake didn''t cover.


    "This-," Grant eximed before gulping and resuming his statement, "This is good, really good. The data might be impossible to recover, but the sole presence of servers in the Slums confirms the involvement of a family."


    "Are they so unique?" Khan asked before spitting on the ground to remove the dirt from his mouth.


    "Not all servers," Grant exined while approaching the tall item. "Yet, these are too good to be essible by someone without a connection to the families. They are quite good."


    "Hopefully, they are good enough to store information even in this state," Khan replied as his attempts to clean himself failed miserably. "Hey, is your uniform clean? I really need to wipe my eyes."


    "I have a tissue," Grant responded while taking a clean tissue from his pocket.


    Khan finally had the chance to remove some of the dirt bothering him. He could only continue to spit when it came to his mouth, but his eyes finally obtained some relief, and his fingers also became rtively decent at the expense of the tissue.


    "There were more servers down there," Khan revealed as he turned to inspect the cloud of dust and smoke growing thinner. "The area also had containers of synthetic mana and other machines. I couldn''t confirm much else, sadly."


    "No, no, you have already done a lot," Grant announced. "You saved the mission."


    "Did you catch the rogue Tainted animals?" Khan questioned.


    "I handled my side," Grant stated. "We must regroup to know how the others fared."


    "That might take a bit," Khan sighed as he did his best to inspect the cloud with his itchy eyes.


    The area involved in the earthquake had been quite big, and the machines had also released a lot of smoke. An entire quarter had fallen underground,pletely hiding the surface. It would take some time for everything to be clear enough to see the consequences of that destruction.


    Grant took his time to inspect the tall item as the dust settled. He was too afraid to touch the exposed gears and wires, but he still did his best to remove part of the dirt from the intact surfaces.


    His action didn''t lead anywhere, but they kept him busy until the area became clear. Khan and Grant could finally inspect the aftermath of the earthquake, and the situation turned out to be worse than they had imagined.


    Khan had understood that theb was underground during his climb, but the earthquake had pushed it toward deeper areas. A shallow gorge filled with piles of dirt had reced houses and streets. Khan could easily guess that it would take the Global Army an entire week to uncover everything hidden under those dunes.


    Still, the disappearance of the cloud also allowed Khan and Grant to inspect the areas handled by the other teams. Familiar figures appeared in the distance, and they didn''t hesitate to run toward the two soldiers when they saw them standing on their spot.


    "Khan!" Amber and Cora shouted at the same time as they approached Khan. Meanwhile, the rest of the soldiers gathered around Grant and the servers. Only the two two-legged robots remained behind.


    Khan inspected the two women briefly before taking Cora into his arms. They were both fine and without the slightest sign of injuries. Their uniforms had some blood, but that didn''te from them.


    "How did the fight go?" Khan smiled as Cora dug her face into his chest, uncaring of his dirty state.


    "We took care of every Tainted animal on our side," Amber happily replied.


    "Our side is also clear," Ethan added.


    "Same goes for ours," A first-level warrior from thest team eximed.


    "What happens now?" Khan asked while turning toward Grant.


    "Well," Grant sighed as he scratched the side of his head. "This whole area needs a fixed perimeter, at least until the experts confirm that there is no risk of infection. As for us, we need to deliver what you retrieved down there."


    "Wait, are these what I think they are?" Ethan questioned while pointing at the broken servers.


    "Indeed, Khan carried them out of that mess," Grant revealed.


    "That''s great!" Ethan announced. "We might get actual clues now."


    "You can leave the servers to my barracks," Cameron joined the conversation. "We can take care of delivering them to the city."


    "We won''t leave something so important in your hands," Grantmented.


    "Especially after seeing how you handle your side of the Slums," Ethan continued, and his tone carried clear annoyance.


    Cameron didn''t deny those usations and nodded before voicing a question. "What about the investigation then? Will youe back after delivering the evidence to the city? Will someone remain here in the meantime?"


    Grant and Ethan found themselves exchanging a hesitant gaze. The servers might be too broken to have any value as clues. Yet, the group had exhausted their leads now that they had found thebs. The area hidden by the piles of dirt could provide more answers, but digging them up wasn''t part of their job.


    "I guess we don''t have much else to do here," Khan spoke, forcing the two specialists out of their pensive state. "Unless the Global Army wants us to stay here and wait for the excavations to begin."


    "That''s unlikely," Grant dered. "The Global Army will probably set a camp here to inspect everything that reaches the surface. We simply aren''t qualified to help there."


    "We don''t have other options then," Khan stated before turning his focus on Cora.


    Ethan and Grant were still unsure about that conclusion, but Khan had already understood that they couldn''t do anything else in Reebfell''s Slums. He lifted Cora''s face and wiped out some of the dirt she had caught from his uniform before teasing her a little. "Silly girl, you are getting all dirty."


    "Not here," Cora whispered as she hid her smile in Khan''s chest again.


    Khan caressed Cora''s hair before moving to his students. Only two of the four recruits had blood on their uniforms, and Ashley appeared a bit shocked. Still, they didn''t say anything and respected that intimate moment that Khan was sharing with Cora.


    "I want to hear everything once we get back to the habitation," Khan dered. "Congrattions. You survived your first real fight."


    "Thank you, Professor Khan," The four students shouted while performing a military salute, and Khan limited himself to nod at that gesture.


    Grant and Ethan eventually epted the undeniable. The two specialists grabbed the servers carefully and carried them across the Slums'' streets as the group left the area.


    Elsie couldn''t hold back from talking about the battles, so Khan ended up receiving the four students'' reports during the walk. He even made sure to hold Cora''s hand and exchange a few jokes with Amber while going back to the habitation.


    The mission had been quite important for the students and Amber. They didn''t have to struggle much due to the poor level of the rogue Tainted animals and the help from Cameron''s toon. Yet, that day''s events remained their first real experience on the field, and Khan could confirm that they had done decently.


    As for Khan, he did his best to focus on his group, but his gaze often fell on his feet. He couldn''t help but experience some difort now that he was forced to walk, and that sensation never went away. He became used to having it in the back of his mind as a constant reminder of what he could achieve.


    Cameron''s toon and Khan''s group split up after reaching the habitation. Cameron had to coordinate the reinforcements to send on the pit while Khan and the others decided to rest and contact the Global Army.


    Grant acted as the middle-man between the superiors in charge of the mission and the group. The Global Army couldn''t send everyone back right away, but it did request detailed reports to review the state of the investigation.


    Needless to say, the group wrote the reports together to avoid differences in their stories. Khan wanted to keep his promise to Cameron, and the two specialists didn''tin at all. They didn''t even try to take some merit for retrieving the servers.


    The investigation team could only wait after sending the reports. It had already beente when the group returned to the habitation, and dealing with their duties had made the depths of the night arrive quickly. A fast meal and a series of baths were enough to put everyone far past their bedtime.


    "You have been great out there, as always," Cora stated once she and Khan found themselves naked and exhausted under their sheets.


    "My students told me that you have also done pretty well," Khan whispered as she pulled Cora on his chest and let her use that spot as a pillow. "Even Amber couldn''t keep up with you."


    "Don''t be hard on her," Cora scolded. "She had never been to a real battle before. I would have wasted thest year if I couldn''t do better than her. Besides, she has done well too."


    "You are so protective toward Amber," Khan joked. "Should I have hope for one of my fantasies?"


    "Stupid," Cora giggled, but her expression turned serious when she recalled something. "Did you hurt your feet down there? Why did you keep ncing at them?"


    "How did you notice that?" Khanughed. "I thought I was good at pretending."


    "You are good," Cora admitted, "But I can see you anyway. I''ve learnt to look at you properly."


    "Someone is obsessed with me," Khan mocked.


    "You know I''m yours," Cora whispered before leaving a kiss on Khan''s chest.


    "You won''t let me dodge the question, will you?" Khan sighed.


    "You don''t have to say anything if you don''t want to," Cora replied, but it was clear from her tone that she wanted to know more about the matter.


    "Let''s see," Khan eximed. "I think I''ve had a taste of what I''ll be able to do with my martial art in the future. It simply felt off to get back to my previous level."


    "Do you mean when you jumped on the smoke?" Cora asked.


    "I wasn''t jumping on the smoke," Khan exined while waving his free hand in the air. "I was using the dense currents of mana as footholds."


    "Is that part of your martial art?" Cora wondered.


    "Not really," Khan responded. "Well, my martial art doesn''t explicitly forbid it, but I think I''m growing in that direction due to my qualities."


    "Growing toward the advanced proficiency level already," Cora muttered.


    "I''m still far from that," Khan dered, "But I think to have found the path toward that goal."


    "Currents of mana," Cora repeated. "You have learnt to sense them on Nitis, right?"


    "Every soldier can develop sharp senses toward mana," Khan chuckled. "But, yes, Nitis made me grow a lot in those fields."


    "And you are still focusing on those fields," Cora sighed. "Nitis must have been unforgettable."


    Khan turned toward Cora. He saw the timid hesitation in her expression, but she avoided his gaze. Her eyes remained on the bandage around his shoulder as deep thoughts ran through her mind.


    "You know it was," Khan announced. "I''ve never hidden that from you. You have even noticed that on your own."


    "I''m not using you," Cora exined as she tightened her grip on Khan''s chest. "I ept that you don''t talk about your tattoo or your time on Nitis. I even admire you for pursuing alien paths together with human training methods. I''m just¡­ scared."


    "Why would you be scared?" Khan asked as he made sure to hug Cora tightly.


    "I feel that you are slipping away," Cora whispered.


    The entirety of the rtionship with Cora crossed Khan''s vision. He reviewed everything while wearing a frown, but he couldn''t find changes in his behavior. Khan felt pretty sure that he had done his best with Cora.


    "Is this because of the times when I leave at night to train?" Khan eventually questioned.


    "No," Cora muttered while hiding her face on Khan''s chest. "Leave it. You didn''t do anything wrong. I just felt something strange when I saw you on the field today. It was as if you were going somewhere really far away."


    Khan didn''t know what to say, so he remained silent. Cora''s intuition wasn''t off, but Khan didn''t feel the need to address it. Words were useless since she had already understood the core of the issue.


    The two slowly fell asleep, but the morning arrived quickly, and it brought happy news. The Global Army had dered the investigation on Reebfell''s Slums over.. The group would have to leave the area that same day.

 Chapter 328 - Surprise

    The departure from the Slums was quick. The specialists didn''t bring much, and most valuable equipment had remained on the C-15 anyway, so the group only had to empty their rooms.


    Khan, Ethan, and Grant didn''t waste time in pleasantries with Cameron. They had nothing to say to the soldier and scolding him for how he handled the Slums was pointless. Leaving was the only option, especially now that the Global Army had given the order.


    The flight was asfortable as ever, and it left little space for privacy. Yet, Khan managed to find the two specialists alone and have a conversation that the others probably weren''t ready to hear.


    "Do you think they''ll tell us anything about the other investigations?" Khan asked while looking at the two specialists on the other side of the interactive table.


    "That''s hard to say," Grant sighed.


    "It''s very unlikely," Ethan added. "We are talking about rogue families, secret organizations, and who knows what else. The higher-ups will probably keep every news limited to inner circles and trusted soldiers."


    "Aren''t you two specialists?" Khan asked. "You should be in the inner circle."


    "We remain lieutenants," Grant eximed. "This is a problem way above our paygrade."


    "Still,bs with synthetic mana in the damned Slums," Ethan shook his head. "This is Earth, our! How did we miss something like that?"


    "You didn''t miss it," Khan reassured. "I''ve lived in the Slums for eleven years without meeting anything simr. It''s not a matter of paygrade. I''m afraid the powers behind these structures are simply too strong."


    "Khan, it''s exactly because youe from the Slums that you don''t understand our frustration," Ethan scoffed.


    "Frustration?" Khan asked.


    "I don''t want to sound spoiled," Grant announced, "But we have lived our whole lives believing to be on top of the world. Wee from good families, and we have even worked hard to reach our current position. Yet, everything is different now."


    "Politics have never been easy," Khan argued.


    "But they have always been quite straightforward," Ethanined. "Ploys and betrayals have always happened, but the goal was clear. Everyone wants to get rich, and I don''t me them. Still, I can''t see the point of these hiddenbs."


    "Taxes?" Khan guessed.


    "You can''t be so dense," Ethan cursed.


    "Ethan, behave. We are all tense," Grant scolded before turning toward Khan. "Yes, buildingbs in the Slums avoids many expenses, but the risks aren''t worth it. There has to be something else, something that justifies going against the Global Army."


    Khan knew that Grant''s words made sense, but he couldn''te up with an answer. The two specialists were in the same situation, which was the reason behind their irritation.


    "I guess we''ll remain in the dark for a while then," Khan sighed.


    "I''m not sure I even want to find answers," Ethan admitted while lowering his gaze. "This trip to the Slums has been more than enough."


    Khan and Grant exchanged a nce and suppressed the smiles trying to appear on their faces. The seriousness of the topic made it easy for them to retain stern expressions, and Grant eventually rekindled the conversation. "Khan, what do you think they are hiding?"


    "How would I know?" Khan honestly replied. "In theory, buildingbs and simr ces in the Slums is far harder. I don''t see the point unless there is something shady going on."


    "That''s what I was talking about," Grant continued. "You have been to many aliens. Did you ever see dangerous alien technologies or simr things?"


    Khan immediately thought about the anti-mana project, but that didn''t fit the current situation. He didn''t know if Captain yman had told the truth, but the secret structures in the Slums were way too old.


    Moreover, the area uncovered by Khan didn''t have anything simr to what he had seen on Ecoruta. The structure might have been a real secretb meant to create Tainted animals at a low price, but that only gave birth to more questions.


    What was the point of creating ab if it wasn''t the main purpose of the secret organization? Something like that would only attract unwanted attention unless the force behind it really needed money to pursue its real goal.


    As for other technologies, Khan thought about the Niqols'' arts. He knew that the humans wouldn''t ept them so easily, but building secret locations to practice them felt too much. Risking to turn the entire Global Army into an enemy was just too dangerous.


    "I am as lost as you," Khan eventually dered. "I can''t see how forces as wealthy as the families would choose the Slums over their personal structures."


    "I mean, I cane up with crazy theories," Ethan rejoined the conversation. "The Global Army must have forbidden some practices over the years. Maybe the families behind these structures want to keep them going through the money made by the secretbs."


    "I''m also worried about what Madame revealed," Grant continued. "The Global Army has left many territories to die after the First Impact. I''ve never given them much thought, but who knows what humankind has built there during thest five hundred years."


    "Careful, Grant," Ethan intervened. "It almost sounded as if you were throwing the noble families in this mess."


    "Who would have the resources and knowledge to build something under the Global Army''s nose?" Grant asked.


    "I know that it makes sense," Ethan responded. "I''m just saying to be careful about what you say. Your career would end in an instant if our bosses were to hear you now."


    "You are right," Grant sighed.


    The trio went silent. There was far more to talk about, but everything was deep into theory territory. Theck of proper clues remained an issue that Khan and the specialists couldn''t ignore by brainstorming for a few minutes.


    The conversation was also dangerous since it probably involved influential forces. The noble families were too far away from mere lieutenants. Khan had been lucky with Rick Rassec, but that situation had deep problems too.


    In the end, Khan and the specialists dropped the topic and reunited with the others. The two groups separated when the C-15nded on the training camp, and everyone went on their way.


    Khan had every intention of catching up with his training since it was still early, but a message reached his phone right after his group began to march through the camp''s streets. Headmaster Pitcus had requested a meeting, so he had to leave Cora, Amber, and his students to reach one of the central structures.


    "Did you request for me, sir?" Khan asked after crossing the office''s entrance and finding the Headmaster''s big figure sitting behind the interactive desk.


    "Indeed," Headmaster Pitcus eximed while raising his gaze from the menus on the desk. "Please, heave a seat."


    "Is there a problem?" Khan questioned while sitting on one of the chairs in front of the desk.


    "Not at all," Headmaster Pitcus announced. "Actually, I read that your mission in the Slums went wonderfully. You have stood out once again."


    "I was merely following orders, sir," Khan politely declined thatpliment.


    "You were the right soldier for the mission in the end," Headmaster Pitcus continued. "The Global Army has already sent a suitable payment to your ount. You won''t be disappointed when you withdraw it."


    Khan sensed that something was off. The Headmaster was usually quite earnest and warm, but Khan now felt a hidden meaning behind his words. Also, getting paid a lot for a mission that hadsted only a few days sounded wrong.


    "Do you have something in your mind?" Headmaster Pitcus asked when he noticed Khan''s silence.


    "I''m just confused, sir," Khan stated. "I didn''t think such a short mission could be so profitable."


    "Of course, the payment isn''t for the mission alone," Headmaster Pitcus exined. "The Global Army wants you to remain silent about your findings. Yourpanions are receiving simr instructions right now."


    "Will they also get summoned?" Khan asked.


    "No, this meeting was only for you," Headmaster Pitcus revealed. "My superiors asked me to tell you the news personally."


    "Why is that, sir?" Khan questioned.


    "I suppose to show respect," Headmaster Pitcus answered. "I think the higher-ups want you to know that you aren''t a simple lieutenant in their eyes."


    "So, will I get updates on the investigation?" Khan continued.


    "Unlikely," Headmaster Pitcus chuckled. "Think of this meeting as a sign that the Global Army has acknowledged your value. You will have a great future as long as you continue to perform well."


    ''And keep my mouth shut,'' Khan continued in his mind while showing a fake smile. "Thank you, sir."


    "Also, your lessons are doing well," Headmaster Pitcus dered. "I''ve read about the performance on the field of your students. I think the Global Army is ready to make your subject a core part of the training camps. Try toe up with a detailed program before the end of the academic year."


    "A program?" Khan asked. "Something simr to my monthly reports?"


    "Yes, but don''t speak only about the results," Headmaster Pitcus ordered. "Other professors will probably use your training program, so add your reasons behind every exercise. You can even try to streamline it ande up with recements for your more challenging lessons."


    "I see," Khan nodded. "I''ll do my best, sir."


    "There is no hurry," Headmaster Pitcus eximed. "You still have more than a month to go. Learn what you can during the next lessons and write something that other professors can follow. Don''t worry. I''ll review it before sending it to my superiors."


    Khan nodded again, and the meeting ended. He could reunite with Cora and resume his training schedule after spending some time with her.


    Life went back to normal after the investigation ended, and time began to flow quickly.


    Khan turned eighteen and experienced a lovely birthday with Amber and Cora in the city. The three had fun for a whole day, and the couple made sure to make that night matter.


    The weeks that followed didn''t feature anything odd or unusual. Khan was more than busy with his training schedule, Cora, and lessons. He barely had free time, but he didn''t mind that situation.


    Every aspect of his life was fulfilling. His students improved quickly, his training progressed well, and his rtionship was in a perfect spot. Nothing was off on the outside, but Khan could feel the limits of that life slowly closing on him.


    The new training programs helped keep Khan''s mind busy, but various thoughts and urges inevitably appeared. He was getting stronger, but he couldn''t test his power. He was even taking it easy inside the training hall since he was almost ready to use the "simted mental battle".


    Studying was another great distraction, but that also became boring as Khan found no chance to use his knowledge. Even the pilot training soon failed to fill him with the interest that it used to generate.


    Nevertheless, Khan didn''t show any odd behavior. He had already stopped holding back, so his growing restlessness went unnoticed. Only Cora felt that something was brewing inside him, but he never let those emotions affect his rtionship.


    Khan benefitted from that peaceful time in multiple ways, but his desire for action continued to grow. Still, his attunement with mana rose steadily and at an incredible pace due to the [Blood Vortex], so he postponed ns.


    Bing a second-level warrior would open far more doors, so Khan avoided thinking about an eventual departure or a different job. He knew that the breakthrough would eventually happen, but putting those thoughts in the back of his mind allowed him to enjoy what he had to the fullest.


    Then, a strange and surprising event happened during the week before the end of his second year. The lessons were over since the students had various tests to handle, so Khan spent most of his time training and with Cora. He was with her in his t when a message from Luke reached his phone.


    "Luke ising to visit the camp tomorrow," Khan announced while looking at his screen. "He is bringing Bruce."


    "I don''t think I met Bruce," Cora replied while adjusting her position on Khan''sp. "It''s nice of them to visit you."


    "I don''t know," Khan said while checking the news depicted on the t''s wall. "Luke might be up to something. He is one of the really rich guys."


    "You have also saved him on Istrone," Cora added. "He might just want to catch up."


    "Maybe," Khan whispered before closing the menus on the wall and putting his phone away.


    "Did Grant say anything about the investigation?" Cora asked since she knew what Khan had searched for on the news'' menus.


    "He is in the dark," Khan replied while lifting Cora''s head to lie behind her on the couch. "No one seems to remember that Dewwick''s mess happened less than two months ago. It seems that the Global Army really wants to keep that matter a secret."


    Cora turned to face Khan, and he instinctively hugged her to pull her close. She had long since be used to that gesture, and her hands even went under his uniform during the process.


    "Does it say when they will arrive?" Cora asked before leaving a kiss on Khan''s chest.


    "During the morning," Khan responded while moving Cora''s hair to kiss her neck. "You can remain asleep if you want."


    "I''ll be sleepy, but I want toe," Cora dered. "We can even take it easy tonight."


    Khan raised his head to meet Cora''s gaze, and she let out a cute giggle when she noticed the desire in his eyes. The two quickly kissed, and Cora''sugh continued when they fell out of the couch.


    The morning arrived quickly. Cora and Khan walked hand in hand toward one of thending areas in the peripheral parts of the training camp. Luke had conveyed where and when he would arrive, so the couple could reach their destination in time to see a rtively small, triangr spaceship descend from the sky.


    The spaceship turned to show its back toward Cora and Khan beforending on arge metal tform. A few soldiers stood at its sides and kept their eyes on consoles to make sure that everything went well, but the event didn''t involve any problem.


    A whooshing noise came out of the spaceship as part of its back opened and transformed into a staircase. A few figures immediately became visible, and Cora frowned when she sensed a tremor running through Khan''s hand.


    Luke and Bruce were the first to appear in Khan''s vision. They had both grown since theirst meeting, but a short figure behind the two men quickly imed the entirety of Khan''s attention.


    The sight of long dark hair, big dark eyes, and familiar features brought Khan back to Istrone. His memories then showed him scenes from his first time on Onia and his months in co''s training camp.


    Cora wanted to tighten her grasp on Khan''s hand to question him silently, but her fingers found nothing to touch. Luke and Bruce only sensed wind blowing on their faces before they noticed that someone had appeared behind them.


    The few soldiers in the back of the spaceship prepared themselves for battle in front of that intrusion, but Luke promptly raised a hand to stop them. His focus then went on the figure that had appeared behind him. He wouldn''t let his underlings interrupt that reunion.


    "You have grown," Martha whispered while wearing a slight smile. Her eyes inspected every detail of Khan''s face. She noticed his surprise, and part of her felt happy to see how shocked he was about her reappearance.


    Simr shock ended up filling her mind since Khan took her between his arms without saying anything. Martha''s first instinct was to push him away, but her strength disappeared when she heard his line. "I missed you."


    Martha could only ept the hug at that point. She wrapped her arms around his back and ignored that everyone was looking at them to say a few words. "I''m sorry I took so long.. I''m awake now."

 Chapter 329 - Awkward

    Khan had seen incredible things during his travels on aliens. He had experienced unparalleled bliss and deep pain, and seeing Martha awake immediately went in the first category.


    Martha and Khan separated after a few seconds, and both of them smiled as they continued to inspect each other. Still, Martha''s level eventually forced Khan to voice an iplete question. "How did you-?"


    Martha had changed in that one and a half years. Her face had lost every trace of immaturity, and she had also grown thinner, but Khan''s question was directed at the amount of mana inside her body.


    Khan didn''t need to see the single star on Martha''s right shoulder to understand that she had be a first-level warrior. However, she had supposedly remained in aa until recently, so he couldn''t exin how she had managed to reach that level.


    "Luke helped me," Martha exined. "I''ll tell you the detailster if you have time. I know you have been busy while I was asleep."


    "A lot happened," Khan sighed while reaching for Martha''s right cheek. That part of her body was full of burns thest time he had seen her, but she waspletely fine now.


    "Hey, I''m fine now," Martha reassured while grabbing Khan''s wrist to lower his arm.


    That short interaction revealed a lot. Martha''s hand twitched when she lowered Khan''s arm, and she also stopped looking at him in the eyes during the gesture.


    Instead, Martha noticed that Khan''s expression carried an unfamiliar maturity. It was different from the Man-Khan that she used to find among his lies and jokes. She could almost see how much he had gone through in thest period.


    The insides of the spaceship were utterly silent during the reunion. Everyone could understand the solemnity of the situation by the meaningful nces that Martha and Khan exchanged between themselves, but they couldn''t remain there forever.


    One of the soldiers behind Martha took a step back and forced Khan to snap out of that meeting. He wasn''t alone, and he knew that his gestures could be misunderstood.


    "Luke, Bruce," Khan called while turning to show a smiling face to the two friends, "It''s nice to see that you are well. You have also improved since ourst meeting."


    Bruce and Luke''s uniforms had one star on each shoulder. The two had also matured. Decent muscles had grown under their skin, and their faces also carried manlier features.


    "Our deeds are nothingpared to your achievements," Bruce eximed.


    "You have surpassed everyone''s expectations," Luke added. "I knew you had a bright future in front of you."


    "Thank you, Luke," Khan replied while ncing at Martha, "For everything."


    "Nonsense," Lukeughed. "I didn''t do anything. Now, let''s get out of this ship. I need to have a talk with the Headmaster to finalize the terms of our stay in the camp."


    "Are you moving here?" Khan asked as the four descended from the staircase and reached the tform.


    "Not to study," Luke revealed. "I have some business to handle here in Reebfell. Though I would have loved to attend your lessons."


    "Who would have thought that you would have gone from ignorant recruit to professor in less than two years," Brucemented.


    "Life can take strange turns," Khan vaguely replied as Cora entered his view.


    Cora was wearing a warm smile. She appearedpletely happy for that reunion, but Khan had learnt to recognize her mental state from her seemingly unrted gestures. She was holding the edges of her uniform, and her posture revealed some slight tension.


    "You are Cora from Istrone!" Luke eximed as the four soldiers jumped off the tform. "The descendants of the Ommo family are famous for their beauty, but you definitely raise the bar."


    Luke''s statement acted as a wake-up call for Khan. He wanted nothing more than talk with the woman eyeing him from behind his back, but he had to make something clear first.


    Khan elerated a bit to walk around Bruce and reach Cora. He turned, wrapping an arm around her shoulder to pull her close before announcing the nature of their rtionship. "We are together. She is my girlfriend."


    Cora lowered her gaze as her smile broadened. Khan had dispersed her insecurities and fears in an instant, and she couldn''t help but feel grateful for that considerate announcement.


    Meanwhile, Khan inspected the reactions of his friends. Luke and Bruce appeared temporarily startled, while Martha''s smile saddened only for an instant before expressing honest joy.


    Khan felt the need to talk privately with Martha, but that wasn''t the right time. Faint awkwardness had also fallen on the group, and Luke and Bruce didn''t hold back from exchanging a meaningful nce. Yet, they quickly went back to acting normal.


    "That''s good news!" Luke eximed. "I''m not surprised you managed to find someone. You have nevercked the looks in the end."


    "Why don''t we handle the business part of our trip for now?" Bruce changed the topic. "Let''s catch up at dinner, maybe in the city. Khan, are you busy tonight? Of course, you can bring your girlfriend and other friends."


    "Tonight sounds fine," Khan nodded. "The lessons are over anyway. Why don''t I apany you to the Headmaster''s office now? Being your guide is the least I can do."


    "I wouldn''t dare to reject your offer," Lukeughed, and Khan pointed at a street as he began to lead the way.


    The other soldiers inside the spaceship began to unload various baggage. Khan noticed how Luke and Bruce didn''t travel light, but he quickly moved his attention elsewhere.


    Luke and Bruce walked next to Khan and Cora, while Martha remained slightly behind the former. Still, Khan didn''t let her stay outside of the conversation as he began to voice his questions.


    "So, when did you wake up?" Khan asked as he let go of Cora and slowed down to reach Martha''s side.


    "Not long ago," Martha revealed. "A bit more than a month. My family kept me busy for a while, but my career inside the Global Army had to continue, so here I am."


    "How was the awakening?" Khan questioned.


    "Quite harsh," Martha admitted as she brushed away her hair to look at Khan. "epting that one and a half years had gone by wasn''t easy, and my body still feels a bit strange."


    "I wanted to ask you about that," Khan didn''t hide his curiosity.


    "Luke knows more about it," Martha exined. "He put me into a medical program involving the use of synthetic mana for healing purposes. I basically woke up when I turned into a first-level warrior."


    "Synthetic mana?" Khan repeated while ncing at the tall man in front of him.


    "I know," Luke raised his palms as if to admit guilt. "Martha has alreadyined to no end. Sure, synthetic mana is expensive, but what''s the point of money if I can''t use it to help my friends?"


    "I''ll definitely repay you," Martha promptly added.


    "You have said that countless times," Luke joked. "I trust you, alright? Besides, your trip here is already removing Credits from your debt."


    "Don''t go easy on me," Martha ordered.


    "You are as earnest as ever," Khanmented without hiding how pleased he felt about that realization.


    Martha shot an annoyed re at Khan, but her expression rxed when she noticed his honest smile. She felt forced to divert her gaze, and ament inevitably left her mouth. "You have made quite the name for yourself in this period instead."


    "Did you read about me?" Khan teased.


    "It''s impossible not to hear gossips about you," Martha scoffed. "Winning the tournament on Onia would have been enough to make you famous, but you had to go far beyond that."


    "You know me," Khanughed. "I like to go all-out with stuff."


    "I thought you had matured a bit," Martha pouted in front of Khan''s carefree expression. "I guess I was wrong."


    "Aren''t you happy that I still know how to joke around?" Khan asked.


    Martha fell silent as her eyes went back on Khan. She turned serious as the two looked at each other and forgot about those around them. It became clear that something meaningful was happening when Martha whispered a weak "a bit" to answer Khan''s question.


    Khan didn''t know how to react. He recalled the message that Martha had sent to him on Onia after their visit to the medical bay. He could see the same honesty from back then on Martha''s face, and he suddenly remembered why the attraction between them had existed in the first ce.


    Martha and Khan diverted their gazes almost at the same time since the situation was bing too awkward. It was clear that they needed to talk, but the road was still long.


    Luckily for them, Luke was exceptional in chitchats, and his understanding of social situations was also incredible. He didn''t hesitate to take control of the conversation and prevent Khan and Martha from rekindling that awkwardness.


    Luke exined how life in co''s training camp had been after Istrone. Nothing significant had happened there, but he managed to stretch the story for many minutes, upying a big chunk of the walk.


    The rest of the walk mainly featured questions directed at Khan. Luke was smart enough to focus the conversation on the new subjects and Khan''s teaching methods, so everything went smoothly.


    The five eventually arrived in front of the building containing Headmaster Pitcus'' office. The time for a short separation hade, but the awkwardness returned when Khan discovered that only Luke and Bruce had to attend the scheduled meeting.


    "I don''t minding with you," Martha said to Luke in a quick attempt to solve the silent issue. "I don''t shine during meetings, but it shouldn''t be a problem as long as I remain silent."


    "I''m not against that," Luke replied, even if his expression said something very different.


    Khan had never been the type to let problems stick for too long. He preferred to face them directly, especially when they involved someone important to him.


    "Martha, why do you hang out with me?" Khan suggested before correcting himself. "No, please, join me for a walk. I want to talk with you for a bit."


    "I don''t want to impose," Martha responded while ncing at Cora.


    "Cora," Khan called as he took the woman''s hand and pulled her a bit closer, "I need to talk with Martha in private. Do you mind if I leave you alone for a bit?"


    "Not at all," Cora eximed in the most loving tone in the world. "I also need to study. Will you keep me updated about tonight''s dinner?"


    "Of course," Khan replied.


    "We should also invite Amber," Cora suggested. "She wouldn''t miss the chance to know your friends from co."


    "And I don''t want to hear herints," Khan joked.


    "I''ll go to my dormitory then," Cora said to specify that Khan had the t for himself.


    Cora began to retract her hand, but Khan gently pulled her closer to leave a quick kiss on her lips. She whispered a sweet "see youter" when they separated before turning and going on her way.


    "We''ll also go now," Luke announced after a few seconds. "I''ll leave Martha into your hands. I''ll let you know when we are done unpacking everything."


    "Sure, good luck with the meeting," Khan eximed.


    "See you soon," Bruce added, and the two men left to enter the building.


    Khan and Martha remained in their spot as they watched theirpanions'' figures disappear. Still, both of them felt the need to say something once Cora vanished behind a building in the distance.


    "Do you prefer my t or a training hall?" Khan eventually asked.


    "Do you have a whole t?" Martha asked in a surprised tone.


    "I have food and booze there," Khan added while continuing to stare at the building in front of him.


    "I read on some reports that you started drinking," Martha revealed. "Lieutenant Dyester would be proud."


    "He would probably kick my ass," Khanughed. "How is he?"


    "I think he started smoking less," Martha stated. "I only had the chance to talk with him once after waking up, and the prisons didn''t smell as bad as I recalled. Also, he likes to check your profile from time to time, but he would never admit that."


    "You sure gave me a caring master," Khan joked before wearing a serious expression. "He helped quite a bit after Istrone."


    "I''m d," Martha sighed. "Waking up was quite a shock, but you had to live through far worse during thest period. I got lucky."


    "I''m just d that you are fine," Khan stated while showing his honest face to Martha.


    "A training hall will do just fine," Martha eximed when the sight of Khan''s face became too much to bear. "I''m sure your t is dirty and smelly anyway."


    "I wonder if you have a different reason in mind," Khan teased, but Martha snorted and turned to walk on a random street.


    Khanughed and followed Martha. That was the wrong direction, but he would make sure to change it when they reached the first turn. Right now, he was simply happy to see that he could speak with her normally.


    ****


    Author''s notes: For those who don''t know, allnovelfull has invited me to Singapore. If everything goes well, I''ll be at the airport at this time tomorrow. Sadly, releases will get even more hectic than they currently are, but I didn''t want to miss the trip.. Anyway, there will be another chapter soon.

 Chapter 330 - Walls

    "You even know how to use Credits now," Marthamented when she saw Khan unlocking the training hall with his phone."


    "You taught me well," Khan joked as the metal door slid open and he stepped inside the hall. "I don''t even use these areas too often. I mostly spend money on books, food, and booze."


    "I thought you would have locked yourself inside a training hall as soon as you got your hands on Credits," Martha replied while following Khan inside the hall.


    "I tried," Khanughed, "But I decided to slow down a little when I broke one of them."


    "How did you even break a training hall?" Martha asked.


    "My hand slipped, and one of my spells ended up on the workshop inside the wall," Khan partially lied.


    "You are unbelievable," Martha couldn''t help butugh.


    "I didn''t do it on purpose," Khan swore. "I just reacted to the synthetic mana. Luckily, I''m famous enough not to face the consequences."


    "Khan, hero of Istrone and basically every he goes," Martha mocked.


    "The Global Army sure likes to put a face in front of its victories," Khan added. "Still, most of them are victories only for those who didn''t get involved in the mess."


    "Heroes usually are a miserable bunch," Martha responded. "We have known that since our first meeting with Lieutenant Dyester."


    "Everyone would be a hero otherwise," Khan sighed as he connected his phone to the wall and increased the illumination in the area.


    Martha noticed the change in Khan''s tone. The faint sadness seeping out of his voice announced the arrival of Man-Khan, which confirmed her initial sensation. That part of him was different from how she recalled it.


    "So," Martha eximed as she crossed her arms behind her back and took long steps into the hall, "Istrone, Nitis, Ecoruta, and Onia. You have been busy."


    "You sure took your time reading my profile," Khan joked while turning toward Martha.


    "I was worried," Martha admitted while continuing to walk through the training hall. "I only recalled the crash before everything went dark. I didn''t know what had happened nor who had survived. I obviously checked."


    "You did well back then," Khan stated. "Lesser soldiers would have died with your injuries."


    "The nurses kept saying that," Martha replied. "Still, I woke up in a different world and body. Most of the recruits I knew were dead, and you were away doing dangerous things or getting girlfriends."


    "Martha," Khan called, but Martha raised a hand to interrupt him.


    "Don''t get me wrong," Martha said. "I would have never wanted you to wait for me, especially since we had yet to be something. It''s just, in my mind, everything happened only a month ago. I''m still getting used to how much changed."


    "I wanted to wait for you," Khan dered.


    "I told you that it''s fine," Martha slightly raised her voice as she stopped walking to turn toward Khan.


    "Let me finish," Khan scolded.


    Martha saw the seriousness in his expression and showed her palm to let him continue. Yet, she turned to resume walking around the hall since she didn''t want to show her face while hearing about that topic.


    "I know you would have wanted me to move on," Khan sighed as a sad smile appeared on his face. "I imagined the conversation while standing next to your bed in Istorne''s medical bay."


    Martha stopped walking and crossed her arms. She lowered her head as she stared at the floor to let various thoughts take control of her mind.


    "Still, I really wanted to wait a bit to see how long you took to wake up," Khan continued. "Your injury hit me hard, and everything that happened on Istrone only made things worse."


    "But you moved on anyway," Martha eximed. "That alien girl must have been something."


    "Yes, she was," Khan admitted. "I don''t think others would have managed to make me decide to let you go."


    "Not even Cora?" Martha asked. "She looks nice."


    "Cora makes me feel lucky every day," Khan revealed, "But Nitis was different. [Liiza] was different."


    Martha tried to mutter that name, but her ent was far off. She felt curious about Liiza since she had clearly had a huge impact on Khan, but another emotion also appeared in her mind. Part of her liked that Khan didn''t rece her for a random woman.


    "How are you holding up?" Martha eventually asked. "You have gone through a lot."


    "I''ve started to drink," Khan chuckled before bing serious again. "Well, I guess I''m doing fine, but I''m considering changing job recently."


    "Why?" Martha asked while lifting her head and turning toward Khan. "You probably are the youngest lieutenant in history, and you are doing a great job as a professor, ording to Luke''s sources. Why would you leave?"


    "Did you ask Luke to check on me?" Khan teased.


    "I don''t need to ask," Martha scoffed before turning again. "He talks about you non-stop."


    Khan enjoyed seeing how easily he could piss Martha off. Her reactions were also genuine, and he seemed unable to get enough of them. He had really missed Martha.


    "Life in the camp is getting boring," Khan revealed. "I like everything I do here, but I miss the action."


    "Did you get dumb on the battlefield?" Martha mocked.


    "I guess I did," Khan sighed. "Still, we can''t change what we are."


    "He even says wise stuff now," Martha whispered before a tinge of hesitation filled her tone. "Does Cora know?"


    "I have yet to say anything about this," Khan exined. "I have yet to search for other positions even, but I think Cora understood something."


    "She must know you well," Marthamented.


    "I think that''s the issue," Khan stated. "Anyway, enough talking about me. What''s the problem with your body?"


    "It''s not really a problem," Martha sighed as she resumed walking across the hall. "I became a first-level warrior while I was sleeping. I have no idea how strong my body is. Everything feels off, and I even need to spend time absorbing all the synthetic mana properly."


    Khan understood what Martha meant. He still recalled his breakthrough and the uneasiness he had felt afterward. The event in Martha''s situation was far more drastic since she didn''t have the chance to experience the gradual progression that regr training usually gave.


    "You only need to get used to it then, right?" Khan asked while leaving the wall and taking a few steps toward Martha. "I can help with that. I can be your sparring partner until you feel like yourself again."


    "Khan, it''s more than that," Martha replied while stopping walking again. "I have to start over with my martial art since my habits are all messed up. I''m way behind my peers, and now I also have the debt with Luke on top of everything else."


    "I''m sure the Global Army can refund part of it," Khan stated as he continued to approach Martha.


    "You don''t understand," Martha eximed. "The medical procedure was crazy expensive. My family would have never made it to the selection, let alone afford it. The Global Army''s help doesn''t change that."


    "Then you''ll work and pay it off," Khan dered. "As for the martial art, being your sparring partner can only help."


    "Do you even have time to help others?" Martha wondered. "You must be pretty busy between your job, training, and girlfriend."


    "I don''t have a single second for myself," Khan honestly revealed, "But we are talking about you. I''ll make time to help."


    "You don''t owe me anything," Martha pointed out.


    "That''s a lie," Khanughed, "And I don''t care. You have also arrived on the perfect period since my students are busy with tests."


    "Does-," Martha voiced before taking a short break to sort her thoughts. "Does Cora know about me? Won''t she get angry if you start spending a lot of time with me?"


    "She has probably understood that," Khan announced, "But she isn''t like that. I''m not saying that she won''t feel jealous, but she won''t try to stop me."


    "I don''t want to be a burden or cause problems," Martha whispered.


    Khan had reached Martha by then. She still showed him her back while keeping her arms crossed. epting help was clearly hard for her, and the debt with Luke probably yed a big part in that issue. Yet, Khan was more stubborn than her.


    "Martha," Khan called while cing a hand on her shoulder, "Shut up and ept my help. I won''t take no for an answer."


    A tremor ran through Martha. Khan''s warmth, resolute words, and general concern for her situation created a crack in the walls she had erected to deal with her trauma.


    Martha wasn''t as fine as she imed to be. She had lost one and a half years of her life. Everything around her had moved forward while she had remained behind.


    Moreover, Martha had awakened in an unfamiliar body, recalling only the ugly scenes of the crash. Then, learning about everything that had happened while she was asleep only worsened her situation. After all, she was one of her family''s hopes.


    It didn''t take a genius to understand that her traumas didn''t stop on Istrone. Martha had continued to hear bad news after waking up. She was incrediblyte on her training schedule, the debt with Luke had obscured thepensation from the Global Army, and she was alone in a world that had left her behind.


    Nevertheless, Martha''s character had never been frail. She had been more mature than her peers even before enlisting, so she knew exactly what role she had to y after waking up. She had to pretend that everything was fine to avoid worrying her family and remain a valuable asset in the eyes of the Global Army.


    It was safe to say that Martha had never dealt with her trauma properly. She had a few therapy sessions, but she had managed to get cleared for duty quickly through lies and pretenses.


    The debt and her current level were burdens that she wanted to remove as soon as possible. Martha had to get a job and start earning Credits, even if that meant suffering in silence for an untold number of years.


    All of that crumbled now that Martha reunited with someone that she truly trusted. She didn''t even notice that her body tilted backward and ended on Khan''s chest. He didn''t avoid her, and his expression grew sterner than ever when she turned her head.


    "I''m afraid that my body will stop responding again," Martha whimpered as tears fell from her eyes. "I have been unable to move while I was awake for so long on Istrone. I''m afraid that I''ll remain stuck again if I let myself go."


    Khan couldn''t stop himself from wrapping his arms around her. She never turned to face him, but she didn''t refuse the hug either.


    "I wanted to be ahead of my peers to improve my family''s martial art," Martha continued to sob. "Look at me now. I can''t even control the mana inside my body properly."


    "I''ll teach you the footwork of my martial art," Khan promised as he tightened the hug.


    "But, I can''t steal from others to make up for what Ick," Martha rejected the offer, "Especially not from you."


    "What are you even saying?" Khan sighed. "Lieutenant Dyester gave me this martial art. My techniques are yours to take whenever you want."


    "I don''t want to be a burden in your life," Martha sniffed as she lowered her head to ce it on Khan''s arms. "You don''t deserve it."


    Khan snorted and broke the hug to force Martha to turn. She kept her head lowered as he held her from her shoulders, but his next statement forced her to raise her gaze. "I told you that I would be there for you when your trauma arrived, right?"


    "Do you remember that?" Martha asked, and her words carried a mixture of hesitation, surprise, and shyness.


    Martha seemed ready to fall apart, but Khan was there to pick her up. He recalled that promise on Onia, but his resolve had far deeper reasons. He wouldn''t leave Martha on her own after everything she had given him.


    "Of course, I remember," Khan warmly dered. "Come on. You have taught technology to an idiot like me. You are far from a hopeless case. I''ll put you up to speed in no time."


    "Oh Khan," Martha dashed forward and sealed her grasp on Khan''s uniform as she hid her face on his chest. She muttered a "thank you" that her sobs soon covered.


    Khan hugged her again and began to caress her hair as he waited for her to calm down. Martha''s state was awful, and it would require a lot of work to bring her up to speed, but the prospect didn''t scare him. She was awake.. Nothing else mattered.

 Chapter 331 - Methods

    Khan kept care of Martha until she calmed down. She didn''t take long to stop her tears, and their hug broke when they sat next to a wall.


    "Sorry for being such a mess," Martha whispered as she left Khan''s shoulder and wiped her eyes.


    "I told you that it''s fine," Khan reassured as he patted her head. "You shouldn''t hold back, not with me at least."


    "I didn''t want to depend on others after everything that happened," Martha admitted while fixing her gaze on a random spot in front of her. "Though it feels nice to stop wearing a mask after so long."


    "Masks are heavy," Khan sighed as he recalled his period in co''s training camp.


    "I''m d that you don''t lie as often as before," Martha stated as she tilted her head to shake off Khan''s hand. "I can''t say the same for your dumb side."


    "I thought you liked that I made youugh," Khan teased.


    "Don''t dig up the past now," Martha pouted. "You should focus on making your girlfriendugh."


    "I can handle multiple women," Khan bragged.


    "You are an idiot," Martha red at Khan, but she ended upughing when she saw his proud smirk.


    "Okay!" Khan eximed as he left the wall and crouched in front of Martha. "We can''t waste time. I think I know how to deal with your problems."


    "Are you afraid that I might have asked you things about the others?" Martha joked, but her expression froze when Khan took her hands and made her palms point upward.


    "Training first," Khan announced. "I''ll share some storiester if you really want to hear them."


    Khan was using his yful tone, but Martha heard the lingering resolve in his voice. He was taking the matter seriously, so she nodded and suppressed the slight embarrassment caused by his gesture.


    "Your problems aren''t actual issues," Khan continued while focusing on the mana inside Martha. "The medical procedure allowed you to ignore part of the time lost while you were asleep. Sure, you can''t use your power well, but you remain a first-level warrior."


    "I''ll probably have to spend many months relearning how to use my mana," Martha contradicted. "I''ll waste what the procedure allowed me to save."


    "That would be true if you stuck with the human methods," Khan dered.


    "What do you mean?" Martha asked.


    "The human methods are straightforward and simple," Khan exined while raising his eyes to meet Martha''s gaze. "They are easy to learn since they only involve repeating the same exercise countless times. However, you can''t even approach that training right now."


    Martha wanted to voice a snarkyment, but she held back since she felt that Khan might be onto something. After all, it was clear that his solution involved alien techniques.


    "The Niqols approach everything rted to mana very differently from humans," Khan continued as he raised one of Martha''s hands and pointed her palm toward him. "Keep it still. I''ll show you."


    Martha followed the order and put some strength in her arm. Khan nodded when he sensed her muscles tensing up before focusing on his mana.


    "With the right amount of control," Khan announced as red-purple mana covered his hand, "The Niqols can turn a punch into a caress and a light touch into a p."


    Khan demonstrated his exnation right away. His mana grew darker as he reached for Martha''s raised hand slowly. He merely touched her palm with a finger, but her whole arm shot back after the impact.


    "What?!" Martha couldn''t help but exim as she looked at her palm and saw that a faint bruise had appeared at its center.


    "Show me your hand again," Khan ordered without giving her the time to think.


    Martha followed the order, and Khan punched her palm as soon as it went back in its previous position. However, Khan''s mana had turned paler during the process, and the attack failed to push Martha''s hand back.


    Martha had seen that Khan didn''t hold back. He had delivered a regr punch on her palm, but the attack had felt like a faint caress that couldn''t make her budge.


    The scenes made no sense in her mind. Martha wasn''t stupid, but Khan''s actions escaped her knowledge. Mana could do wonders, but she had clearly seen him delivering a mere soft touch and a proper punch.


    "How did you do that?" Martha asked when she managed to snap out of her stupor.


    "The Niqols divide the training with mana into three categories," Khan exined while sitting on the floor and showing his right palm.


    Red-purple mana came out of Khan''s palm and began to change form. Even its shades went from dark to light as he altered its nature before following with an exnation. "This is an application of the maniption field. It allows to modify the purpose of mana and transform normal movements into something entirely different."


    Khan stopped changing the nature of his mana and amassed it into a series of small spheres that began to move across his hand. Of course, an exnation followed. "This is an exercise of the control field. We''ll focus on this for the time being."


    "What''s the third field?" Martha asked in an excited tone.


    "It''s about the sensitivity to mana," Khan revealed. "You can train your mind to react to that energy. It''s quite useful, and it can rece your senses in most situations."


    Martha nodded a few times. She had actually read something about Khan''s senses, and now she had received an exnation. Moreover, she could see how a dive into the Niqols'' training methods would be more beneficial than her traditional exercises.


    "I think you should ignore everything except for the exercises involving the control field for now," Khan dered. "You don''t need more mana for now, and you might develop bad habits if we start sparring right away. Focus on reiming control over your body for a while. I''ll tell you when to move to the next step."


    Khan didn''t hesitate to share his knowledge about the control field and the exercises involved in the topic. He had followed many lessons on Nitis, and his ability had also reached a decent level, so his exnations carried many details that helped Martha keep track of his words.


    Meanwhile, Martha noticed how Khan changed again during his exnation. She could almost sense his love for those exercises and teachings.


    "I think I want to hear about Nitis first," Martha eximed while Khan was in the middle of his exnation.


    The statement made Khan fall silent. He initially thought Martha wanted to know about Liiza, but her earnest expression told him that her interest was genuine.


    "Nitis wasn''t always nice," Khan smirked. "I have many dark stories about that."


    "That''s okay," Martha stated. "I want to understand why you grew so fond of it."


    Khan tapped the floor with his hand to check the hour on one of the hall''s menus. It was still early, and Luke had yet to say anything about the dinner.


    "I''ll share something once you are done with your exercises," Khan eximed while closing the menus.


    "I nned to prioritize them in the first ce," Martha rebuked.


    "Start with the first exercise then," Khan ordered. "Don''t try to seed on the first try. Focus on getting used to the training. I''ll step in if you need help."


    The training session began after that order. Martha had never been the type to ck off, and her situation was bad enough to fill her mind with firm resolve. Still, Khan had given her a path now, and she went all-out with it due to her trust in him.


    Khan couldn''t do much, but he still did his best to help. Martha couldn''t even summon her mana freely during the initial phases of the exercise, so he had to take her hands to push her energy out of her body.


    The process was nowhere near easy. Affecting someone''s else mana was an arduous task. Khan had to alter the nature of his energy to turn it into something dense enough to push out what Martha managed to gather in her hands.


    Nevertheless, Martha began to show some progress after a few minutes. Khan also revealed nothing but patience, which led to silent training. The two focused entirely on the exercise, and the distance created by thea shrunk until they forgot that one and a half years had even passed.


    A few messages reached Khan''s phone during the training, but he checked them only when Martha grew too tired to continue. Apparently, Luke had booked a table in a fancy ce in the city, and he had even set an hour for the meeting.


    Khan forwarded the message to Cora and Amber before discovering that Luke had sent something different to Martha. Her text mentioned a habitation for their stay at Reebfell''s camp.


    "Does Luke want to move here permanently?" Khan asked after reading the message Luke had sent to Martha.


    "I don''t know what he has in mind," Martha revealed while wiping the sweat from her forehead, "But it probably involves you."


    "You also reached that conclusion," Khan eximed while sitting next to Martha andying his back on the wall.


    "The mana treatment was crazy expensive," Martha uttered. "Luke wouldn''t spend so much out of mere friendship."


    Martha was a promising recruit, but she wasn''t amazing. Her time in thea would have usually ttened her value as a soldier. Spending so many Credits on her would make sense if they came from her family, but Luke had no deep connection to her.


    Instead, Khan''s fame had turned him into one of the most desirable assets at his level. The descendants from wealthy families and the soldiers aiming to increase their political weight would pay a hefty sum to add him to their squads, but they struggled to find some leverage.


    That didn''t apply to Luke. Martha and Khan had been pretty close during their time in co''s training camp, and everyone knew about that, especially Luke. Thetter knew that he had a chance to tie Khan to his ns as long as he saved Martha.


    The ploy was subtle due to how easily Luke could mask it as an act of goodwill, but Khan had never abandoned his paranoia, and Martha knew how politics worked. Finding Luke''s true intentions was only a matter of connecting dots for them.


    "I''m fine now," Martha broke the silence that had fallen between the two. "I only need you to write a training schedule for me, and I''ll be on my way. Don''t get involved with me any more than this."


    "Give it up already," Khan snorted. "I''m not leaving you alone while you are in this state."


    "But," Martha tried toin, but Khan suddenly revealed a confident smirk that made her fall silent.


    "Besides," Khan continued, "I guess I should hear him out at least. His offer might be interesting."


    "Do you want to use Luke for your goals?" Martha asked.


    "Isn''t that how politics work?" Khan shrugged his shoulders.


    "I really want to hear your stories," Martha dered without hiding her surprise in front of that mature and intelligent behavior.


    "We have a few hours before the dinner," Khanmented while checking the menus on the floor. "I need to clean myself up and change, but I can share a few stories before that."


    "He also cleans himself up now," Martha mocked.


    "I''m the cleanest man in the entire camp," Khan imed.


    "I don''t believe that at all," Martha sneered.


    "I do take showers regrly," Khan stated.


    "You only had to get a girlfriend to reach that point," Martha joked.


    "I would have been pretty clean even without Cora," Khan announced.


    Martha fixed her gaze on Khan. She didn''t believe those words for even a second, and Khan understood the feelings carried by that gesture.


    "Fine, I would have been a bit smelly," Khan admitted, and Martha exploded into augh.


    "Come on," Martha giggled. "Tell me about Nitis. I want to hear both the good and the bad."


    "It might get pretty grim," Khan revealed as his memories brought him back to a vige by ake.


    "Start with the good then," Martha insisted.


    "The good," Khan repeated while crossing his legs and wearing a longing smile as more memories surged in his mind. "I guess the first good thing involved Liiza and a certain eagle¡­."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I''m back home.. The second chapter will arrive in the next hours.

 Chapter 332 - Dinner

    Martha''s expression went through multiple changes as Khan''s stories piled on. She initially wore an honest smile seeing the love that Khan radiated whenever he spoke about Liiza, Snow, and the Niqols who had grown close to him. Yet, everything vanished when his tale reached grim parts.


    Nitis had been a hellish experience in many ways, but Khan didn''t want to lie to Martha. Even holding back some details would make him feel bad. She wasn''t George, but she remained a close friend that deserved his honesty.


    Of course, Khan didn''t reveal everything. Hecked time to do that, while other memories were too private to share with someone who had almost be his girlfriend. Yet, he didn''t omit the gory details, and Martha didn''t know how to take them.


    The vige near theke, the arrival of the sunlight, the long escape, and the final battle against the rebels depicted a bloodied picture of Khan''s time on Nitis. Martha couldn''t believe that he had gone through all that and still loved that dearly.


    Khan wasn''t expressing his emotions on purpose, but he couldn''t keep them back whenever Nitis was involved. Moreover, Martha could see right through him, and she even understood how he had managed to remain sane during those months.


    The answer was simple but significant. Khan had someone on Nitis who could make him willing to survive hell. Martha had seen love, and she even believed to havee close to experiencing it, but Khan was showing emotions that went far beyond the limits of her experience.


    Martha could voice many snarkyments, jokes, or even mock Khan due to how fondly he spoke about Liiza while in a rtionship with another woman. However, she couldn''t find the strength to open her mouth.


    Martha fell in a daze whenever Khan talked about his happy time with Liiza. The intimate moments experienced on the snowy mountain, the cave at the marsh''s edges, and the hidden castle were the most joyful part of his life. Something even told him that nothing could dethrone them from that spot.


    The intensity of the affection that Khan leaked out put Martha in a pensive mood. She had always liked Man-Khan, but those new faces brought that feeling to a new level. She even felt a bit annoyed that she wasn''t the target of that love.


    That annoyance neversted for too long since Khan always had new gory details to add to his stories. Martha could forget how attracted she felt toward him and go back to the disbelief generated by the hellish events.


    "That was a lot to take," Martha announced when Khan interrupted his tale due to thete hour. "It sure put my situation into perspective. I''m not too unlucky in the end."


    "And that was only one," Khanughed.


    "Were the others as bad as Nitis?" Martha asked.


    "Ecoruta definitely wasn''t good," Khan stated, "But Onia was nice. As for Istrone, you probably know enough to get an idea."


    "I do indeed," Martha sighed. "Though I feel a bit better. Even with all my misfortunes, I''m still alive. I only need to get in charge of my mana."


    "Look at you, rejoicing at others'' tragedies," Khan mocked.


    "I''m happy that you can joke about it," Martha dered as sheid her head on Khan''s shoulder.


    Khan smiled at the sight of Martha''s rxed expression. She probably could be so calm only because he was there, but that was a good starting point toward epting her trauma.


    "I guess I''ve grown," Khan sighed.


    "You sure did," Marthamented.


    The two remained in that position for a few minutes, enjoying the training hall''s silence and the overall privacy. The matters with Luke and other issues would return once they went out, but the dark walls were keeping them safe for now.


    Khan and Martha couldn''t stay like this forever, and they eventually stood up to leave the training hall. They didn''t say much along the way. Their main conversation was a short banter over Khan''s desire to apany Martha to her habitation, and she lost that discussion.


    The habitation that Luke had rented for Martha wasn''t fancy, but it remained a t that she could im as her own. The event didn''t please her too much due to her existing debt, but she quickly confirmed that the refund from Istrone''s crisis would cover those expenses.


    Martha''s t wasn''t close to Khan''s habitation, but it wasn''t far either. He could go back home, shower, and change quickly, especially since Cora was somewhere with Amber at that time.


    Then, when Khan was about to leave his t to reach the train area, Luke sent another message. The text changed his ns since Luke stated that they would go to dinner through his spaceship.


    The train was far from ufortable, but Khan found no reason to refuse Luke''s offer. Cora and Amber even sent Khan messages to express their excitement about the matter, so he moved toward thending area after leaving his t.


    Khan realized that he had gravely underestimated the dinner when he reached thending area and found his friends. Luke, Bruce, Cora, Amber, and Martha had donned elegant butfortable clothes that reeked of Credits, and the mood was even overly polite.


    Meanwhile, Khan was wearing his usual military uniform since he didn''t have other options when it came to clothes. He had also approached the dinner quite calmly only to find a tense atmosphere waiting for him.


    "Did you even change since this morning?" Brucemented as a shortugh left his mouth while Khan approached the group.


    "Khan doesn''t buy clothes," Amber dered. "Cora and I mentioned the issue a few times, but he always runs away when we are close to nning a shopping trip."


    "I don''t run away," Khan sneered. "My schedule is simply packed."


    "Cora will deny that," Amber contradicted Khan while wrapping her arms around Cora''s shoulders.


    "Amber," Cora called in a scolding tone.


    "Be on my side this time around," Amber pleaded while nearing Cora''s ear to whisper words that everyone in the area heard. "Don''t you want to see him all dressed up for once?"


    Cora wanted to reject those words, but her eyebrows arched when she thought about that image. By the time Khan reached her, most of her had already sided with Amber.


    "You two are spending far too much time together," Khan shook his head.


    "You can''t keep her in your t forever," Amber teased before realizing that herment wasn''t proper in that situation.


    Luke, Bruce, and Martha were basically strangers to Amber. She knew that they were Khan''s friends, but she didn''t want to give a wrong impression right away.


    Bruce and Luke wore awkward smiles as they exchanged a meaningful nce, while Martha appeared interested in Amber. She didn''t enjoy herment, but she liked her earnest character.


    Khan used that chance to get a good look at his friends. Bruce was wearing a neat ck pullover under an elegant blue jacket, while Luke had a white shirt under a dark-blue waistcoat.


    As for the women, Amber had a brown jacket and a darker shirt that slightly exposed her cleavage. Martha was wearing ck trousers and a tight, elegant sweater, while Cora had a nice, squared, grey dress that ended in a skirt. She had a belt-like item around her waist that highlighted her perfect body, and she was also using ck tights to cover her legs.


    Khan''s gaze fell on those tights almost immediately. He had to admit that Cora was a few leagues above Amber and Martha in terms of beauty, especially in that outfit. The dinner almost became an annoying hindrance in his mind since it prevented him from remaining alone with Cora right away.


    "I told you that he would have liked it," Amber whispered in Cora''s ear again.


    "How do I look?" Cora asked in her sweet tone while grabbing the edges of her skirt and bending her legs slightly to perform an elegant bow.


    "You are beautiful," Khan honestly admitted as he grabbed Cora''s waist and pulled her closer.


    Amber let Cora go, and the couple exchanged a quick kiss before taking each other''s hands. The previously overly polite atmosphere had disappeared by then, but a silent awkwardness had reced it.


    Luckily for the group, Luke''s ability to handle social matters went far beyond his age. He cleared his throat and pped his hands to attract everyone''s attention before voicing a question. "Shall we get on the ship? The ce won''t cancel my reservation, but I like to be on time."


    No one disagreed with Luke, and the group quickly moved toward the tform with his ship. The vehicle''s entrance was already open, and the pilot had was also waiting for everyone to arrive.


    "Khan told me that he will take care of your rehabilitation," Amber announced while approaching Martha''s side as the group entered the spaceship.


    "You did?" Martha asked while ncing at Khan, and thetter nodded. He had roughly summarized the situation during his texts to Cora and Amber.


    "I hope I''m not causing any problem," Martha eximed while ncing at Cora.


    "Not at all," Cora warmly replied. "You are important to Khan. It wouldn''t be right to stop him. Also, I like seeing his altruistic side."


    Cora and Khan couldn''t help but exchange a nce. He even caressed her cheek with his free hand. Everyone on the scene could see that the two shared actual feelings, but Martha noticed how Khan''s expressions didn''t reach the intensity from their talk in the training hall.


    "These two," Amber sighed before turning toward Martha. "Khan has a sharp tongue, but he is quite good as a professor. I''m sure he will know how to help you."


    "I''m already feeling better after today''s training session," Martha revealed while watching her hands. "Besides, I''ve had a taste of his sharp tongue. I know how to handle it."


    "Ooh" Amber eximed as she got closer to Martha. "We''ll have a lot to talk about then. I''m starting to lose my ground against himtely."


    "I can share my tricks ande up with new ones together," Martha smiled.


    "Deal!" Amber immediately epted.


    "Don''t join forces against him already," Corained, even if she had to cover her mouth to suppress faint giggles.


    "Hey, your help is necessary," Amber dered. "You are our main weapon against him."


    "Amber!" Cora called, but Khan left her hand and caressed her cheek again before whispering to her ear. "Just go and have fun."


    Cora smiled and kissed Khan''s cheek before sitting next to the two women. The spaceship''s insides weren''t ample, so their voices were pretty clear, but Khan ignored them as he turned to face Bruce and Luke.


    The two men appeared speechless at how easily Khan handled women. They knew that he had be famous, but they didn''t expect him to be so smooth.


    "Do you mind showing me around?" Khan asked before Luke could sit.


    "Of course," Luke eximed. "Bruce, make sure to keep our guests entertained."


    "I wouldn''t dare to do otherwise," Bruce stated as he sat on a seat behind him.


    "Please,e," Luke invited as he stepped toward the ship''s front. "This spaceship is rather small, but it''s perfect for traveling among cities."


    "This is an E-2, right?" Khan asked as he followed Luke and inspected the vehicle.


    "You know your stuff about ships!" Luke dered in surprise while turning to face Khan. "Are you interested in purchasing one? My family has good connections with multiple sellers. I''m sure I can help with the purchase."


    "I''m only studying spaceships for now," Khan honestly revealed. "I''ve cut a deal with a few recruiters to be partially inside the pilot training."


    "Only you could make those arrogant soldiers bow their heads," Lukeughed.


    "The recruiters have been polite during the meeting," Khan exined.


    "Because they wanted you to join their program," Lukeughed again. "Pilots generally have a bad reputation. Many abuse their privileged position inside the Global Army, but everyone gives them a free pass since their job is very dangerous."


    "So I''ve heard," Khan responded.


    "Anyway, I can show you the pilot''s cabin," Luke continued. "It''s a bit small in this model, but you might appreciate taking a look at the real deal."


    Khan limited himself to nod as Luke turned to approach the cabin. A metal door blocked the path, but Luke opened it by pressing his hand on its dark surface.


    Twofortable seats, a series of screens, many buttons, and two handles unfolded in Khan''s view when the door slid open. He also saw the pilot on one of the chairs, but he couldn''t identify his facial features due to hisrge helmet.


    "Don''t worry about us," Luke announced before the pilot could say anything about that invasion. "We are only looking around."


    The pilot didn''t dare to oppose Luke''s orders and continued to focus on themands. The soldier pressed a fewbels and buttons, and the ship set off slowly enough not to cause any reaction in its insides.


    Khan paid special attention to themands used by the pilot. He knew the function for some of them, but that wasn''t enough to make him understand everything. He could probably seed in turning one of those vehicles on, but flying them was a whole different story.


    "You can get closer," Luke reassured. "He won''t go too fast since the city is close. There are even restrictions in ce there, so the flight should be pretty smooth."


    Khan took that offer almost immediately and inspected the cabin without touching anything. He even made sure not to walk in front of the pilot, and his knowledge slowly expanded as he gained some familiarity with that equipment.


    Khan didn''t remain in the cabin for too long, and he soon found himself sitting next to Bruce and Luke. The three women were sharing gossip in front of them, but they only smiled when somements reached their ears.


    The spaceship didn''t take long to reach its destination, and Khan even got the chance to see it flying among Reebfell''s tall structures before ending on anding spot growing from the middle of a building.


    Everything that came after was mostly filled with Luke''s voice. The man went through many exnations while the group moved toward the dark window that separated the tform from the building''s insides.


    The exnations merely involved the ce''s history and fame, but itsyout immediately told everyone that they were inside a fancy environment. The dark window slid open and revealed a series of descending staircases, tables, private rooms, and dining areas on the lower floors.


    Everything was beyond elegant. The staircases had soft carpets on their steps and decorations on their railings. Soft yellow light shone from different spots and filled the area with a cozy atmosphere. Each chair had thick padding, and the table''s legs carried intricate carvings or specific images.


    A waiter reached Khan''s group as soon as the dark window closed, and Luke took care of that. It only took them a few seconds to enter one of the private rooms isted from the rest of the structure through a sliding, interactive brown door.


    The insides of the room were even better than the restaurant as a whole. Proper armchairs enveloped a table that had multiple options. The group could even cook there if they wished to.


    The dinner began after everyone sat, and Khan quickly became the main topic of the conversation. His fame had yet toe into y by that point, but Luke and Bruce had lived a rtively in life. It was only normal for them to be interested in Khan''s stories.


    The focus on Khan ended once the food arrived. He had ordered an expensive steak because Luke had already handled the bill, and its taste was simply superb.


    "I don''t think I''ve ever eaten something so good," Khan announced once he was done with his steak.


    "You still eat quickly," Lukeughed while taking sips from his soup through his spoon.


    "I''m surprised he doesn''t order another one," Marthamented.


    "Did he eat a lot in co too?" Amber curiously asked.


    "He put the supply of spicy chicken at risk," Martha joked, and Cora and Amber inevitablyughed since they had seen something simr happening in Reebfell.


    "We have so much to talk about," Amber said in a resolute tone as she took Martha''s hands.


    "Don''t leave me out," Cora giggled.


    "Okay, let''s hit the bathrooms," Amber suggested. "We can take some time away from prying ears while we wait for the dessert."


    "That sounds like a n," Martha quickly agreed.


    "I''ll see youter," Cora whispered as she stood up and followed the two women outside the room.


    Khan took a sip from his drink as he watched the door closing on its own. It was only men at the table now, but the situations strangely grew tenser, and Khan was to me for that.


    "Is everything okay?" Bruce asked since he sensed that something was off.


    "I''m only overwhelmed with thoughts," Khan exined as his cold mood affected his mana and intensified the tense atmosphere. "I know both of you are rich, but that treatment was too much for someone outside your family."


    "Martha is a friend," Luke announced while showing one of his best smiles.


    "She sure is," Khan added, "Yet, I believe you had more than that simple reason in mind."


    Khan took another sip and decided to look at the two men. Both of them had dropped their smiles by then, but they still hesitated to speak.


    Still, Luke eventually revealed the nature of his trip. "It wasn''t random, but it wasn''tpletely selfish either. I know you probably won''t believe me, but I really did want to see her get better."


    "What''s the offer?" Khan asked.


    "Well," Bruce eximed before Luke took control of the conversation. "My family has businesses almost everywhere, even in thewless zone.. That''s where I need to go to fix some matters, and I need the best team avable."

 Chapter 333 - Excitement

    Khan didn''t expect Luke to mention thewless zone, but he didn''t let anything appear on his face. He continued to look coldly at the two men as he browsed through his knowledge.


    Khan had studied a lot during his time in Reebfell''s camp, and he had even encountered the term wless zone" a few times. There were actually many of them throughout the known universe, and each of them featured different environments.


    The Global Army was powerful, and the humans as a whole were a respected species. However, their reach had limits, so they had to close an eye on areas that were tooplicated to control or seize.


    Those areas were either not worthy of the Global Army''s efforts or entangled in aplex political array. Still, Khan found them interesting, especially now that his desire to get some action was getting stronger than ever.


    "Whichwless zone?" Khan asked before hiding his mouth behind his drink.


    "Milia 222," Luke promptly replied.


    "I''ve heard about it," Khan admitted. "Is it the ce with asteroids?"


    "That''s correct," Luke said as his eyes lit up. The sole fact that Khan knew about the ce reaffirmed his belief that he had made the right decision with Martha.


    Khan had read a bit about Milia 222 while researchingwless zones. Itsyout was even peculiar enough to keep his attention glued on the topic for a while.


    Milia 222 wasn''t a. It was a series of colonies built on seven giant asteroids hovering slightly outside a sr system far away from Earth. It was a cold ce, where life was harsh and full of limits, but it had multiple valuable features.


    Milia 222''s environment made it unworthy of huge investments, but its asteroids'' location could change drastically. The light control from authorities only helped turn that ce into the perfect home for illegal businesses.


    Moreover, the humans weren''t the only ones on those asteroids. Khan had actually read that Milia 222 had five different species living there without counting the various visitors on short trips.


    Those features and diverse poption obviously made Khan beyond interested in Milia 222. Yet, he didn''t want to show any of that or give in so easily. No matter how good the offer was, Luke had still decided to use Martha against him.


    "What business does your family have there?" Khan asked.


    "I''m afraid I can''t say that," Luke stated as he wore his poker face.


    "Illegal then," Khan eximed while cing his cup on the table. "When did you n to rope me in?"


    "We would have never forced you-," Bruce announced, but Luke interrupted his line by raising a hand and shaking his head.


    Bruce heaved a sigh and stood up to reach the corner of the room. A few menus appeared on the wall after he tapped his fingers on it, and a drawer soon slid out of its smooth surface.


    A small hole also opened right above the drawer, and Khan could notice a fan inside it. That was his first time seeing something simr, but Bruce exined its functions by drawing a cigarette from his jacket''s pocket and lighting it up with his finger.


    "Istrone?" Khan asked.


    "We all had to findpromises to keep on living after Istrone," Bruce responded while pointing at Khan''s ss. "Isn''t the same for you?"


    Khan looked at the smokeing out of the cigarette flowing inside the hole. Nothing reached the table, and the room even released a pleasant scent to cover the smell caused by Bruce''s action.


    Khan didn''t answer and turned to look at Luke. The man still owed him an exnation, but it seemed that he wouldn''t have to work too hard to get it.


    "I nned to remain in Reebfell for a few months, maybe even half a year," Luke revealed. "I would have gotten closer to you to understand whether you wanted to leave or not before mentioning the mission. Of course, I would have used my money to make your life easier in the meantime."


    "What would have happened if I refused anyway?" Khan continued without flickering.


    "I would have used Martha," Luke dered. "She is a proud woman. She won''t remain here knowing that I have an important mission to attend."


    "And I would have followed her to make sure that she didn''t end up seriously injured again," Khanpleted the exnation.


    "Exactly," Luke eximed. "Though I didn''t expect you to have a girlfriend. That was a setback."


    Khan continued to eye Luke coldly. He had more doubts, but he let the tension caused by the silence build up for a few seconds before voicing his next question. "Why me? Don''t you have ess to evolved soldiers? They should be more suited for such an unstable ce."


    "The arrival of an evolved soldier on Milia 222 would attract a lot of attention," Luke dered. "The same goes for other known or strong soldiers. Instead, I can disguise the mission as a holiday trip with friends if I bring you guys and a few guards."


    "What about the soldiers who are already there?" Khan questioned.


    "I don''t trust them," Luke revealed. "They have spent too long in thatwless area, and I can''t allow people swayed by Credits to get close to this mission."


    "I don''t like the sound of that," Khan scoffed. "What would happen to Martha or me if we get too close then? Would you drop us in space to make sure that the Global Army doesn''t find our bodies?"


    "I would never do that," Luke eximed while raising his voice.


    Khan inspected the various reactions that ran through Luke''s face. Thetter was good at pretending. He had even gone through teachers in that field, but Khan still wanted to see if he could find traces of lies.


    The inspection didn''t lead anywhere. Luke appeared really offended by that im, which made sense considering his character. Besides, Khan had saved his life on Istrone, so the foundation for honest cooperation existed.


    Khan also knew that Luke wasn''t cruel or cold. The man had the mind of a businessman due to the education imparted by his family, but he was only neen and with limited experience.


    Scenes from Istrone appeared in Khan''s vision as he went over the issue. He had gotten a good impression of Luke during the rebellion. The man was talented, wealthy, and generally good-natured. His character wasn''t bad at all.


    The idea of killing Martha and Khan if they saw too much had probably never crossed Luke''s mind. Khan''s power was also something that Luke wanted to use in the long run. He had nothing to gain from disposing of his friends.


    "I''m expensive," Khan eventually stated. "And I want upfront payment."


    Luke and Bruce felt startled for an instant. They weren''t sure whether they had heard Khan correctly. It had sounded as if he had already agreed to join the mission.


    "Will you join me?" Luke asked in disbelief.


    "Probably," Khan dered, "But I can''t leave right away. I have students to attend, things to prepare, and other stuff."


    "Of course!" Luke eximed. "Take all the time you need. I also need to prepare for the trip there and pick other members for the team."


    "Don''t act as if I''ve already epted," Khan scolded. "Don''t even think for a second that I''ll join your future toon or something. The disguise as a trip won''t work either. I want merits added to my profile."


    "That can be arranged," Luke replied. "The upfront payment isn''t a problem either."


    "Wait until I bring up the topic again then," Khan stated.


    "What do you mean?" Luke asked, but the door suddenly opened and revealed the three smiling women that hade to dinner with them.


    "Did something happen?" Amber asked when she noticed that the atmosphere at the table had changed during the trip to the bathroom.


    "Luke was annoying me with political stuff," Khanughed as he crossed his arms behind his neck. "I must have told him to stop four times already."


    Luke understood Khan''s intentions and joined him in the lie. "I can''t help myself. Khan needs to learn how the political environment works, and he has to do it quickly. After all, I don''t expect his fame to disappear."


    "Oh, Khan only pretends to be bad at politics," Amber teased while returning to her seat. "His students'' families have forced him into a meeting once, but he kept his position just fine."


    "I want to hear that story," Martha announced as she shot an interested nce at Khan.


    "Don''t omit details," Cora whispered after sitting next to Khan.


    The dinner went on peacefully afterward. Theughs returned, and no one spoke about Milia 222 anymore. Yet, Khan shot meaningful looks at Luke and Bruce from time to time. He didn''t want them to forget that he was keeping an eye on them.


    The group eventually flew back to the training camp and said their goodbyes. It was far past the curfew, but Luke, Bruce, and Martha were basically guests, so they didn''t have to abide by those regtions. As for Cora, she was with Khan, so she could also ignore those limitations.


    "Your friends from co are nice," Coramented when she and Khan remained alone in the camp''s streets.


    "Don''t trust Luke and Bruce too much," Khan warned. "Their character isn''t bad, but they have their families'' agendas too. Try to remember that."


    "Did something happen while we were away?" Cora asked.


    "It did," Khan admitted, "But I don''t want to tell you more tonight."


    Cora revealed a strange smile, but she soon nodded and leaned on Khan''s shoulder. She had vaguely understood what was about toe, but she didn''t want to face that conversation yet.


    The couple returned to Khan''s t and made the best of the rest of the night. Khan eventually found himself staring at Cora while she slept on his bare chest. He couldn''t find any w on her face, but his thoughts often left the room and flew far away, toward a series of asteroids that felt beyond appealing.


    Khan heaved a sigh before leaving a kiss on Cora''s head and slipping out of bed without waking her up. He picked up some trousers and a bag before crossing the entrance and sprinting through what had be a familiar path by then.


    The night was cold, but that temperature felt cozy for Khan. The nostalgia in his mind only intensified when he reached a spot without synthetic mana and began to prepare to perform the [Blood Vortex].


    Khan had grown used to the procedure by then, but he felt different that night. He worked faster, his control over the mana was steadier, and even his movements were more precise.


    ''It''s as if my body knows that I''m about to go back to space,'' Khan sighed afterpleting the lines. ''I can''t believe I''m feeling so excited.''


    Cora''s face appeared in Khan''s vision as mana began to pass through the lines drawn on his body. He didn''t know how long the trip wouldst, but he felt that his decision to leave would be meaningful.


    Reebfell''s camp was giving Khan everything he could possibly desire, but he still felt ready to leave right away. That spoke clearly about his character, but he didn''t find anything wrong about it.


    ''Milia 222,'' Khan eximed in his mind. ''I have so much to prepare, and I can''t let Martha arrive there in her current state. I can''t leave Cora alone either, and Amber is impossible to ignore. Luke can also give me a lot during this period. I guess I''m saying goodbye to sleep.''


    The next months would probably be a busy mess, but an excited smile appeared on Khan''s face when he thought about them. He couldn''t wait for the mission to start. He wanted to be in a dangerous ce and interact with aliens. He desired to use all the power flowing through his body.


    ''Milia 222, I hope you give me an excuse to draw my knife,'' Khan thought before moving the entirety of his focus on the [Blood Vortex].. He almost begged the technique to work faster so that he could be a second-level warrior soon.

 Chapter 334 - Fight

    Time became the most precious resource in Khan''s life. He had a lot on his te, and his days only grew busier once he entered his third academic year.


    Khan had to oversee Martha''s exercises and improvements, take care of his training schedule, remain a good boyfriend, hang out with Amber, and check on Luke and Bruce. That alone was too much for a single person, but everything got worse once the lessons resumed.


    Khan even had to prepare for Milia 222, which involved multiple steps. Learning more about the asteroids'' colonies was obvious, but the presence of different species also pushed him to deepen his studies on aliennguages and customs.


    Giving each activity its deserved time was simply impossible. Khan had to mix things up when he could. He studied while overseeing Martha''s exercises, trained after putting Cora to bed, and dealt with everything else in the breaks between those moments.


    Khan forgot the meaning of the word "sleep". He never spent more than a few hours each week inside his nightmare, but his mind endured. He was too excited to stop anyway, especially when each second mattered.


    Strangely, Khan managed to deal with everything for a couple of weeks. His appearance didn''t worsen either since the [Blood Vortex] granted him far more mana than usual. He was always in a hurry, but that was it.


    Still, a few problems were nearby, and they eventually hit Khan''s lifestyle. The new year had brought a new batch of students, which led to a meeting with worried parents and representatives. The event went well, but the issues didn''t stop there.


    Headmaster Pitcus was an old fox. He had retired from the political life, but he could smell when someone had a personal agenda at work. Luke''s prolonged stay in Reebfell''s camp was also a clue that he couldn''t ignore, so connecting the dots turned out to be pretty easy.


    Luke had kept the real motive behind his visit hidden, but Headmaster Pitcus could understand that the matter involved Khan. The connection was almost obvious when he considered the rtionship between the two young soldiers. He felt sure that an offer was in ce, so he had to take countermeasures.


    Headmaster Pitcus could pressure his superiors to raise Khan''s sry, but that would force him to do the same for Amber, Lieutenant Abaze, and Captain Goldmon. The request wouldn''t sound insane due to the innovative nature of their subjects, but the Headmaster had a better idea in mind.


    Trying to match an offer from someone as wealthy as Luke was stupid. Headmaster Pitcus had to prepare for the possibility of losing one of his professors in the middle of the academic, so he asked Khan to write more reports.


    That wasn''t too much of a problem for Khan. He cared about his students, and he wouldn''t hold back when his efforts could save young lives. Yet, Headmaster Pitcus pushed his requests one step forward and asked Khan to review interviews from potential recements.


    Khan knew that the Headmaster had understood something, but he never mentioned the issue. Headmaster Pitcus never talked about the matter either since Khan kept cooperating willingly, so the two prepared a recement for the subject even before the news of the departure became official.


    The new tasks finally forced Khan to rethink his schedule. He couldn''t keep up with all of that even if he stopped sleeping forever. He had to sacrifice something, but that didn''t improve his situation.


    Khan couldn''t sacrifice his training or studies since his life might depend on them after reaching Milia 222. His lessons and Headmaster Pitcus'' tasks were also unavoidable, leaving only his social array in the target.


    Spending time with Cora was necessary, and the same went for Martha. Khan had to ignore Luke and Bruce to save some time, and he even felt forced to limit his moments with Amber to a few short trips to the city.


    On the surface, it seemed that Khan was doing it. His life wasn''t falling apart. Everything was actually going pretty well from a very basic perspective.


    However, those close to Khan noticed the changes inevitably caused by hisck of time. The rxed and peaceful trips to the city didn''t happen as often as before. Cora never woke up with Khan next to her, and many of Amber''s texts remained unanswered.


    It didn''t take a genius to understand that something was going on. Khan had even silently admitted that to Cora, and Amber was her best friend, so the two talked about it.


    Cora probably was the most understanding and permissive person in the world, but theck of proper answers on Khan''s side began to weigh on her mind. Moreover, he was too busy to notice or address the changes in her behavior, which only worsened the situation.


    It didn''t help that Khan eventually spilled the bean with Martha since he wanted her to be ready for the iing mission. The two began to spend more time together to study and learn about Milia 222''s situation and prepare if Luke really tried to get rid of them.


    The breaking point had to arrive. The event was simply inevitable, but Khan only saw iting when it was toote to do anything about it.


    One night during the second month of the third academic year, Khan returned to his t in a hurry. He had just gotten out of his lesson, and he was pretty excited about the iing weekend since it would grant him more time.


    Cora was in her usual spot on the couch. It had be a habit for her to wait for Khan''s return, and he often liked approaching her right away to move things to the bed as soon as possible.


    Yet, Cora turned away her face when Khan hugged her from behind and tried to kiss her cheek. He didn''t mind that his lips ended up on her hair, but he understood that the gesture hid something deeper.


    "What is it?" Khan questioned without breaking the hug.


    "Khan," Cora whispered before taking a deep breath to muster her courage, "I think it''s time we talked."


    "Talk?" Khan asked while breaking the hug to walk to the other side of the couch. "Is everything okay?"


    "I don''t know," Cora said while turning her face to avoid eye contact.


    "I''m not following you," Khan eximed before crouching in front of Cora and cing a hand on her leg. "What is it? Did something happen?"


    "Nothing happened," Cora stated as she crossed her arms. "I just don''t know what''s going on, and it worries me."


    "I still don''t know what you are talking about," Khan dered.


    Khan wasn''t being dense, but he was acting rather dismissive. He was instinctively counting the seconds wasted during that interaction. He wanted to pay attention to Cora, but he believed it was better to spend that time on the bed if the matter wasn''t serious.


    Khan''s wed perception of the situation came from his honest behavior. He had never lied to Cora. She was aware that he was up to something, so he didn''t consider that as a problem.


    Usually, Khan would have understood that he was relying too much on Cora''s permissive side. However, his restless state fused with his overly packed schedule had made him lose track of the passage of time.


    Cora would have been fine if the situation went on for a couple of weeks or even a bit more. Still, Khan didn''t realize that almost two months had passed since his routine became so messy. He had unknowingly pushed Cora to the limit.


    "You are spending more and more time with Martha," Cora continued.


    "I told you that she needs me more than ever," Khan replied. "I thought you were fine with that."


    "I am fine with that," Cora announced. "It''s not only that. It''s everything happening in this period."


    Now that Cora had mentioned Martha, Khan began to realize that his confidence was misced. He understood the nature of the issue, and he addressed it. "I know that I''ve been swampedtely, but I''ve always made sure to prioritize our time together. I''m sorry if you felt ignored."


    "No, you have been great," Cora promptly responded and finally met Khan''s eyes, but she quickly diverted her gaze again.


    "Cora, talk to me," Khan sighed. "I can squeeze more time out of my days and spend it with you if that''s what you want."


    "It''s not that," Cora repeated. "I simply feel that you are slipping away. I don''t remember thest time I woke up next to you. You have always worked hard, but now the situation has gotten far worse. When was thest time you had some decent sleep?"


    Khan had basically promised himself never to lie to Cora, so he tried to calcte the answer for her. Yet, the situation appeared far from good, and his expression showed those results.


    "You had to think about it to realize how bad all of this is," Coramented when she noticed that expression. "What is happening? What did Luke tell you?"


    Khan heaved another sigh before standing up. He had never found the right moment to talk about Milia 222 with Cora, but he realized that maybe that never existed in the first ce. The mission was a tricky topic matter how he put it.


    "Are you nning to leave?" Cora asked since Khan remained silent.


    The question prolonged Khan''s silence. It didn''t surprise him that Cora had understood what was happening, but hearing the topicing out of her mouth added a sad and tense feeling to the matter.


    "Luke offered me a spot in an interesting mission," Khan admitted. "I have yet to ept officially, but I''m nning to do it soon."


    Silence fell in the t again. Cora didn''t know what to say now that Khan had confirmed her guess, and they both took some time to sort out their thoughts.


    "Is it necessary?" Cora eventually asked.


    "Well, it can help my career," Khan exined, "And I find the destination interesting. It might give me things that I can''t find on Earth."


    "So, the life that you are having here isn''t enough," Cora eximed.


    "Wait, wait, I''ve never said that," Khan stated as he bent toward Cora to ce a hand on her cheek. "Life here is wonderful. Anyone would kill to take my ce."


    "Why are you leaving then?" Cora asked while raising her gaze to meet Khan''s eyes.


    Khan retracted his hand and took a step back. He nced at the floor before recalling his call with George. The event made him look at Cora again and state his position clearly. "I''m happy here, but I can''t stay. This has nothing to do with you or Amber or the job. It''s something that I must do."


    "Why is that?" Cora asked again while standing up. "It''s not because of your career since your job here is going great. You are even training freely and getting plenty of assistance from the Global Army. I can only think that Martha is the reason."


    "She is part of the reason," Khan admitted, "But not because of what you think. I care about her, but you are my girlfriend."


    "Khan," Cora called in a pleading tone while approaching Khan to cling to his uniform, "Can''t you give me a proper answer? I don''t want to fight, but I can''t remain silent anymore, and you are making this so hard."


    Khan couldn''t bear to see Cora in that state. He was being unfair. Protecting her from the truth wasn''t the right thing to do, so he voiced the most straightforward exnation he could think of. "I''m a warrior. I want to go out there and fight."


    "Are you willing to trade what you have here, what we have here for the chance to draw your knife?" Cora questioned as her grip on Khan''s uniform tightened.


    "Yes," Khan dered in the firmest tone he could muster.


    Cora stared deep into Khan''s eyes and knew that he wasn''t lying. The realization destroyed every lingering hope she had that she could fix the situation. Khan had made up his mind, and nothing could stop him now.


    "Cora," Khan called as Cora left his uniform and turned to take a few steps through the room. She didn''t go far, and she grabbed her right arm when she stopped.


    "I''lle with you," Cora announced.


    "It will be dangerous," Khan replied.


    "So?" Cora asked while turning to face Khan. "Didn''t I prove myself to you? Do you want me to attend your lessons?"


    "I didn''t-," Khan tried to exin, but Cora interrupted him with another question. "Did you try to stop Martha too?"


    Khan found himself in front of a tricky question again. He knew that he couldn''t defuse the fight, but that didn''t matter since he had no intention to lie.


    "She is forced to go," Khan exined. "I can only do my best to prepare her."


    "Why didn''t you make me join these preparations?" Cora questioned. "Did you decide by yourself that I wouldn''te?"


    "You wouldn''t like it there," Khan dered.


    "No one likes to go to dangerous ces!" Cora shouted. "But, I wouldn''t hesitate to go if that meant being with you. Was that so hard to imagine?"


    "I knew you would have tried toe with me," Khan revealed.


    "So, you didn''t want me toe," Cora eximed. "Why?"


    "Because that''s not your ce," Khan stated. "You don''t like fighting. You love it here. You are even about to join special courses. I don''t want you to put your career and life at risk only to follow me."


    "That''s not your choice to make," Corained. "It''s not up to you to decide if I want to risk everything for the man I love."


    "What about my feelings then?" Khan asked. "What happens when you get injured in a mission that you joined only because of me? Do you think I would enjoy that?"


    "Do you trust me so little?" Cora questioned.


    "I trust youpletely," Khan stated. "I simply know that you aren''t a warrior. You loathe fighting. You dread everything that happened on Istrone. I won''t force you toe to a ce that''s even more dangerous than that cursed. That''s not love."


    "Love," Cora repeated. "You know, you have never said that to me. Do you love me?"


    "I-," Khan was about to answer immediately, but he held himself back at thest second. When he thought about the topic, he could onlye up with one answer. "I don''t know."


    Cora saw the vulnerability on Khan''s face. She felt the need tofort him, but she suppressed that urge since she still had questions.


    "Would you have let Marthae if she had a choice?" Cora asked.


    "I don''t want to see her getting injured again," Khan dered.


    "What if she had never gone through Istrone''s events?" Cora wondered.


    "In that case, probably," Khan admitted.


    "What about Liiza?" Cora asked, and Khan''s gaze shot up to meet her eyes as soon as he heard that name.


    "You are still so sensitive to that topic," Cora sighed. "I see you ncing at that tattoo from time to time. I see you making faces that I can''t bring up whenever someone mentions Nitis."


    "And what about it?" Khan replied as some annoyance umted in his mind. "Are you going to use what you know about me to win an argument?"


    "No," Cora said in disbelief. "I''m just bitter. I don''t know what to do. All I want is to be enough for you, but, apparently, I''m unable to beat the memory of your ex."


    "It''s not your fault," Khan dered as he took a step forward before stopping as soon as Cora raised her hands.


    "You keep saying that," Cora whined, "But I still don''t understand. What did I do wrong? Why can''t you acknowledge me yet?"


    "What do you want me to say?" Khan almost gave in. "Should I ask you to join all my dangerous missions? I won''t stop. I will never remain on Earth. Do you want to spend the next years following me on different battlefields throughout the universe?"


    "I''d do it out of my love for you," Cora sniffed.


    "Love isn''t enough!" Khan shouted. "You can work as hard as you can and deal with everything the world throws at you, but that won''t be enough. It doesn''t matter how much you kill to protect it, how much you get your hands dirty. There are things that you can''t ovee."


    "Kill?" Cora wondered. "Who were you talking to right now?"


    "Leave it," Khan voiced an annoyedment. "I don''t want you to live a life that you would hate just because of me. I wouldn''t forgive myself."


    "Why can''t you let me try?" Cora pleaded.


    "You have no idea what can happen out there," Khan dered. "Do you think Istrone was bad? The things I''ve seen would make that crisis look like a simple exercise in the training hall. I don''t want you to experience all that!"


    "Khan?" Cora called while taking a step back.


    "What now?" Khan asked before noticing that Cora had stopped looking at his face to focus on his hands.


    Khan''s eyes widened when he lowered his gaze to inspect his hands.. Purple-red mana had started toe out of his fingers and palms on its own, and he felt unable to stop it.

 Chapter 335 - Worries

    ''What is happening?!'' Khan shouted in his mind as he took a step back while continuing to inspect his hands.


    The event escaped Khan''s understanding, and the fact that he didn''t sense it only worsened his reactions. The irritation caused by the argument with Cora vanished, and honest worry about what was happening reced it.


    "Khan?" Cora called without hiding the faint fear in her voice.


    Khan didn''t answer and tried to summon the entirety of his expertise to put the mana back into his body. However, he failed to take control of the energy leaking out of his hands.


    ''What is happening?!'' Khan repeated inside his mind.


    Controlling and manipting mana had be some of Khan''s best abilities. His confidence in those fields was beyond firm, so the event left him stunned. He couldn''t help but panic a bit when he thought about all the possible reasons that could have led to that issue.


    Khan diverted his attention from his hands only when Cora slowly retreated to approach the wall behind her. She trusted Khanpletely, but she was also truly scared about what was happening.


    Cora wasn''t to me for her reactions. In her eyes, Khan had summoned his mana during a fight. She didn''t believe that he would turn violent for even a second, but she couldn''t control the fear filling her mind.


    Khan wanted to raise his hand and reassure Cora, but he suppressed that urge. He didn''t know what that gesture would trigger, but something else became evident. He was too dangerous in that state.


    "Khan!" Cora voiced in a worried tone when Khan shot toward the entrance. Tears fell from her eyes, but they didn''t stop him from leaving the t.


    Cora wanted to follow after Khan, but her legs gave in. She sat on the floor as her back slid on the metal wall. Her sobs became impossible to suppress, and some anger even surged in her mind.


    That feeling had nothing to do with the argument. Cora was angry at herself for freezing in that situation. She couldn''t even muster the strength to go after Khan. She had literally proven Khan''s point.


    Meanwhile, Khan sprinted as fast as possible through the camp''s streets. Recruits still roamed around since the night was still early, but he avoided all the crowded areas.


    The situation made no sense. Khan could perform his martial art with his usual perfect control. He could move the mana inside his body freely as he had always done. However, part of his energy seeped out of his skin anyway, and he couldn''t put it back.


    Khan''s condition even worsened since the mana grew more violent. The energy didn''t stop at his hands anymore. It turned into short purple-red res that shot out of random spots of his body before dispersing in the air.


    The issue usually wouldn''t be too problematic. After all, simple waves of mana couldn''t do much harm. Yet, Khan''s energy never stopped carrying the properties of the chaos element, which made it dangerous for anyone in his surroundings.


    ''Why is this happening?'' Khan panicked a bit as he continued to sprint toward isted areas. ''What caused this? Is the mana anomaly getting worse? Is it something connected to the [Blood Vortex]?''


    Khan was aware of his condition, but that only confused him. He could identify multiple sources to his current problem, but he never managed to point his finger at one of them.


    The mutations caused by the Second Impact could always cause problems, and Khan''s issues didn''t stop there. The [Blood Vortex] remained an alien training method that might cause problems when abused by humans. He also had the [Blood Shield] inside him, which didn''t help his inspection.


    A few recruits and soldiers noticed Khan, but he never gave them the chance to stop him. He ran faster than ever and stopped only when he reached the empty areas past the camp''s edges.


    Khan sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes to focus on suppressing those reactions. The sprint seemed to have helped since the res stopped happening so frequently. His mana had also started to abandon his hands, but he didn''t dare to move yet.


    The stealthy properties of those reactions worried Khan deeply. He failed to sense his mana when it escaped his control. He couldn''t find countermeasures or prevent bad oues in that situation.


    Those properties prevented Khan from finding the source of the problem or solutions. He couldn''t do anything specific to suppress his mana. It seemed that his body was turning against him. The power that he had umted through many hardships was making him dangerous for those he loved.


    The violent reactions eventually quieted down on their own. Khan''s mana also stopped escaping his control and leaving his body. The event seemed to have ended, but he remained seated to inspect his condition for a bit longer.


    More ideas appeared in Khan''s mind as he reviewed the issue. His emotional state might have caused those unwanted reactions, and the same went for his overall tiredness. Cora was correct when she pointed out hisck of sleep.


    ''What do I even do now?'' Khan wondered after he failed to identify the source of the problem again.


    Khan was trying his best to find options, but everything crumbled in front of his inability to locate the issue''s core. He could only end up with two alternatives. One saw him isting himself, while the other involved a doctor.


    Of course, the idea of isting himself was unreasonable. Khan had thought about it only because he didn''t want a doctor to find out about the mana anomaly. Still, he couldn''t risk losing control over his energy again. He even had too much on his te to cut every connection with his friends, students, and superiors.


    Khan realized that the curfew was upon him when he checked his phone. A few worried messages from Amber and Cora had also reached his device during those hours, but he ignored them for now.


    Khan took a deep breath to calm himself down before standing up and straightening his clothes. A few holes had appeared on his uniform due to the res of mana, but he didn''t really care about his appearance. He was only wasting time to dy the inevitable meeting.


    That process couldn''tst long, so Khan eventually started his march toward the center of the camp. He walked slowly on purpose since he didn''t want to meet anyone on his path, and some hesitation filled his mind when he arrived in front of the medical bay.


    Khan checked his body once again. Everything seemed perfect, but he feared what could happen if his mana went rogue while inside the medical bay. His career could be at risk, and he might even hurt someone.


    Everything inside Khan wanted him to go away, but he knew that he wouldn''t solve anything like that. He had to see a doctor, even if that meant exposing his condition.


    The curfew had long since passed during the slow walk. The doctor in the medical bay wasn''t in his office, but one of the nurses allowed him inside anyway.


    Khan felt d that he could remain alone during the wait. The waiting room was almost empty, but nurses could still walk by, and Khan wanted to limit his interactions with others as much as possible for now.


    The doctor took almost an hour to arrive. He was a tall, slender, middle-aged man with short grey hair and an unkempt beard. It was clear that he didn''t like that sudden call, but he still did his best to be polite during his introduction.


    "Lieutenant Khan!" The doctor eximed when the office''s door closed behind him. "It''s a pleasure to meet you. I''m Doctor Boris ckburn. I hope you don''t mind my casual clothes. I was about to reach my bed when the nurse called.


    The doctor stretched an arm to shake Khan''s hand, but he took a step back to avoid it. Boris frowned, but Khan made sure to exin his gesture. "My mana is going out of control. I don''t know when the next violent reaction will happen."


    "Oh," Doctor ckburn gasped. "We better do a check-up right away then."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan replied and followed the doctor with his eyes.


    Doctor ckburn activated a few menus on his interactive desk before grabbing a scanner and approaching Khan. Thetter hesitated to let someone get close to him, but Boris wore a gentle smile before reassuring him. "I''m not wearing my stars, but I remain a second-level warrior. You aren''t dangerous to me."


    Khan could contradict the doctor, but he decided to remain silent. He closed his eyes and did his best to retain control over his mana while Boris pointed the scanner at his nape and other parts of his body.


    Holograms soon came out of the interactive desk and began to list some of the features found during the scan. Everything seemed rtively superficial for now, but Khan peeked at those words from time to time to make sure that nothing problematic appeared.


    ''My attunement with mana is at fifty-nine percent,'' Khanmented in his mind when that detail appeared on the holograms.


    The scan didn''tst long. Doctor ckburn went back to the interactive desk to tinker with some menus once he was done. Khan couldn''t read what he was doing, but he waited in silence for the process to end.


    "Oh!" Doctor ckburn eximed after a few minutes. "It seems that aplete scan won''t be necessary."


    "What''s the problem, sir?" Khan asked.


    "Your attunement with mana has risen sharply since yourst check-up," Doctor ckburn pointed out. "I don''t see any injection of synthetic mana. Are you using alternative methods?"


    "Yes, sir," Khan admitted. "Do you need its specifics?"


    "Not at all," Doctor ckburn stated. "I only wanted to make sure that your sudden growth wasn''t a spontaneous event."


    "Sir?" Khan called since an exnation had yet to arrive.


    "Right, how unpolite of me," Doctor ckburn uttered through a chuckle. "You must be worried. It''s nothing serious. Your body is simply failing to adapt to your sudden growth."


    "What?" Khan questioned.


    "Using alternative training methods doesn''t prevent the arrival of simr problems," Doctor ckburn exined. "I''ve seen a few soldiers in the same situation after obtaining multiple injections of synthetic mana in a short period. They didn''t give their bodies the time to adapt to their new power."


    "But my growth shouldn''t be too sharp," Khanined.


    "Are you kidding?" Doctor ckburnughed. "Increasing the attunement with mana gets harder and slower with each point gained. Yet, your growth has actually elerated in thest period. You are as talented as your fame ims."


    Khan didn''t want to spend time exchanging polite words. He was still worried, so another question quickly left his mouth. "How do I fix it?"


    "There are meds for your condition," The doctor responded, "But they are for conditions far worse than yours. I won''t hesitate to prescribe them if more problems appear, but I can only tell you to rest for now."


    "Only rest?" Khan asked.


    "Exactly," Doctor ckburn announced. "Give your body a break. Let your flesh absorb the mana that you stuff into it. I even suggest you turn this into a habit since you might break at this pace."


    Khan lowered his head as his worries dispersed. Nothing serious had happened, and he didn''t even hurt anyone. He could rx and try to suppress the awful feelings caused by theck of control over his own power.


    "I''ll contact the Headmaster and exin the situation," Doctor ckburn continued. "You aren''t dangerous, but it''s better if you aren''t around recruits for the time being."


    "I understand," Khan nodded again.


    "I think one week will be enough," Doctor ckburn added. "Make sure to rest properly during this time, and stop adding mana to your body. Just rx and enjoy the break."


    "I''ll do my best, sir," Khan reassured.


    "Excellent!" Doctor ckburn eximed. "Now, if you don''t mind, I have an appointment with the bed. Do you need anything else?"


    "No," Khan replied. "Thank you, sir."


    "I''m just doing my job," Doctor ckburn chuckled, and Khan didn''t hesitate to voice polite goodbyes. He even performed a military salute before hurrying out of the medical bay.


    Now that the worry had disappeared, Khan could focus on a happy aspect of the situation. A faint smile inevitably appeared on his face when he recalled the writings on the holograms.


    ''Fifty-nine percent,'' Khan thought as his hands closed into fists. He was only one point away from bing a second-level warrior.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I already exined my reasons on discord. In short, I''m focusing all my efforts on demonic sword to make sure that its ending doesn''t get dyed any further and using the rest of my time for chaos. Still, I often approach these chapters dead-tired, and I prefer to rest instead of putting out something with lower quality.


    It''s obviously a mistake on my end.. I failed to realize how hard handling two books would have been.

 Chapter 336 - Tears

    Resting wasn''t Khan''s strong point, but he couldn''t ignore Doctor ckburn''s orders. A week wasn''t too long in the end, and he only had to refrain from doing particr exercises.


    Meditating and relying on the [Blood Vortex] were off the table, and the same went for his time with Martha. Khan was too dangerous in his current state, so he made sure to exin the situation to Cora, Amber, and Martha before booking a training hall for an entire week.


    Cora would have understood if Khan requested to have the t all for himself, especially after their fight. However, Khan believed that Amber or Cora would have still checked on him, and he wanted to avoid that while his mana remained unstable.


    Only Headmaster Pitcus knew where Khan spent that week since he had ess to the camp''s logs. Theck of activities recorded by the training hall also reassured him. It seemed that Khan had really decided to rest, but the truth was far different.


    Khan found himself reviewing his fight with Cora multiple times during that week, but the process often left him sighing. The discussion had made their position clear, and it also hinted at the absence of solutions.


    Khan and Cora weren''t to me. They were simply two different people who had reached a crossroads in their lives. Cora wanted to remain on Earth, while Khan wished to resume his journey across the universe.


    The only conclusion that came out of those reviews was that Cora deserved the truth. She would probably me herself for her inability to match Khan''s desires, and he wanted to prevent that.


    Other than reflecting on the fight, Khan did his best to work on other projects. He had his phone, so he could write reports about his subject and prepare his recement. He could also continue to study Milia 222 and other topics.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s main focus was on the "simted mental battle". He had yet to master that technique, but he didn''t hesitate to dive deep into it now that he had free time.


    The "simted mental battle" was aplicated technique. It requiredplete concentration and control, and even Khan fell short in those fields.


    Still, the focus on the technique allowed Khan to achieve some initial sess. The main benefit of the "simted mental battle" came from the absence of external resources required to activate it. It was a portable training hall that could award greater results if performed at the highest levels.


    Khan managed to immerse himself in an empty area and materialize a few enemies. He wanted to prioritize the Ef''i since they were some of the strongest opponents he met throughout his life, but he failed to make them move properly.


    The Ef''i''s tail was a limb that Khan couldn''t imagine correctly, especially when it came to its movements. That affected the overall effectiveness of the "simted mental battle" and forced him to use a simpler type of enemy.


    The choice fell on the Stal. Those big aliens had an extremely simple fighting style, so Khan eventually seeded in imagining a fight against one of them. Still, he failed to make his body experience the entirety of the battle, so the results remained inferior to an actual training hall.


    The week went by quickly due to those many projects. Cora, Amber, and Martha sent messages every day to make sure that Khan was doing better, and he always reassured them.


    Khan didn''t lie in those messages. He had lost control of his mana a few times during the week, but those unwanted reactions stopped happening afterward. He was doing better, and he could sense those changes when he inspected his body.


    Even if Khan wasn''t meditating, the mana inside his body continued to affect his flesh. Still, the absence of a forceful approach made the whole process smooth and gentle.


    Khan could sense his flesh epting the mana and growing ording to its nature. The process made him experience ack of stress that he had never noticed in the past. His body was finally rxing, and Khan became able to feel the benefits behind that action.


    When the week ended, Khan decided to take a few more days off. The Headmaster didn''t refuse his request, even if he misunderstood the reasons behind it.


    Headmaster Pitcus believed that Khan wanted to rest a bit longer, but the truth was far different. Khan didn''t forget that his attunement with mana had reached fifty-nine percent. He only had to take a small step to be a second-level warrior, and he nned to do that during the break.


    The [Blood Vortex] would push Khan into the next level, but he wanted to avoid using abrupt methods that might cause problems. He limited himself to meditating during the additional break, and a change eventually happened.


    The transformation wasn''t as radical as the other one. Khan didn''t lose control of his body or physical strength, but he experienced the change anyway.


    Everything about Khan became stronger as the mana radiated by his flesh intensified. He could feel a new wave of power filling his insides and granting him a new level of power that he didn''t hesitate to test in the training hall.


    The change turned out to be more significant than Khan expected. His sheer physical strength had increased, and the same went for all his basic features. He was faster, and his endurance had reached a new level.


    Moreover, his mana flowed more smoothly than ever as he fought against the puppets generated by the training program. Khan''s attacks and senses had increased sharply. He felt utterly confident in battling against second-level warriors now.


    ''I finally did it,'' Khan eximed in his mind when the training program ended and he found no sweat on his skin.


    The breakthrough had been a sess. Khan had be a second-level warrior, and an ocean of options had opened in front of him now.


    Khan performed a few tests before confirming that his resistance to the [Blood Shield]''s drawbacks had increased greatly. He could rely on the alien technique more often now, and he also had the chance to improve it.


    His spells had grown stronger, but he wanted to deepen his knowledge in the field. In theory, Khan could have ess to attacks worthy of his new level and even add a star to his left shoulder, but he had to study a bit to see what could work.


    The improvement of his senses allowed him to work harder on the "simted mental battle". Khan felt more flexible when approaching the technique, which led to significant benefits and smoother training.


    Overall, Khan had improved his foundation andid the basis for significant enhancement. He only needed time to research those additions and work on them.


    A mere message to Luke would grant Khan everything he desired. The man couldn''t wait to hear the formal agreement to the mission of Milia 222, but Khan had to do something else first.


    It was already past the curfew. Khan had spent a total of one week and three days inside the training hall. The third month of his third academic year had begun, and the time to spill the beans with Cora had arrived.


    Khan sent a message to Cora before leaving the training hall and strolling through the camp''s streets. He didn''t feel surprised when he saw the familiar figure of his girlfriend sitting in front of his t. He could also see how anxious she was from a quick look at her face.


    The fight had been a significant event, but Cora didn''t mind it for now. She jumped on her feet and ran toward Khan as soon as she noticed him, and the two exchanged a long, tight hug that culminated into a few kisses.


    Khan found himself caressing Cora''s hair while she hid her face in his chest. The memories of the peaceful time spent together surged in his mind as he inspected her. He knew that he felt something toward Cora, but those emotions remained inferior to what he had experienced with Liiza.


    "Let''s go inside," Khan eventually whispered. "I want to talk with you about something."


    "Can''t it wait a little longer?" Cora asked.


    "Is something the matter?" Khan questioned.


    "I''m afraid that there won''t be any going back after tonight''s talk," Cora revealed, and Khan didn''t know what to say to reassure her.


    Khan let Cora remain on his chest for a few more minutes, but the two eventually entered the t and sat on opposite sides of the couch. They both stayed silent for a while as their sorted out their thoughts, but Cora turned out to be the first to speak.


    "I''m sorry for freezing," Cora stated. "Everything you said is true. I''m not a warrior."


    "That''s not a bad thing," Khan reassured in a loving tone while approaching Cora and taking her hands. "You are many incredible things, so don''t ever feel bad for being bad at something so messy and cruel."


    "But being bad at it makes me a hindrance in missions," Corained. "It makes me unable to follow you."


    "That''s just bad luck," Khan sighed. "We both knew that our characters were different, and I don''t regret a single second of our rtionship."


    "Is breaking up necessary?" Cora sniffed. "I can''t follow you, but I can wait. I don''t care if it''s entire years. I will still be here, ready to take you into my arms whenever you return."


    "Cora," Khan called before gulping and exining his situation.


    Cora almost couldn''t believe what she was hearing. Khan revealed everything about the nightmares, the unclear rtionship with his father, and Nitis'' events.


    Cora could only remain silent as tears fell from her eyes. The more Khan revealed, the more she understood that he would never stop exploring the universe. His adventurous character and the need to find answers about his condition made him unsuitable for a peaceful life on Earth.


    Khan could ept a long-distance rtionship, but Cora knew that she would only slow him down if he forced him into that situation. He had far bigger problems to handle, and she didn''t want to be a hindrance in the path toward the solutions.


    The more Khan talked, the more the break-up felt inevitable. Cora couldn''t hold back her tears even if she tried her best to make it easy on Khan. The two soon fell into a hug, but neither of them dared to kiss or do anything else.


    "Do you mind if we remain together until you leave?" Cora asked after the story ended.


    "Not at all," Khan stated. "I''ll do everything I can to make you happy until I''m gone."


    "Don''t force yourself," Cora sniffed. "You haven''t done anything wrong."


    "I could have refused you," Khan admitted.


    "I prefer it this way," Cora dered. "You made me really happy. I wouldn''t have been able to ept your departure if we didn''t spend this time together."


    Khan knew that Cora''s lines carried a hidden meaning. She wasn''t speaking about the departure. She was saying that she wouldn''t have been able to forget him if that rtionship had never happened.


    "What do you want to do now?" Khan questioned through a sigh.


    "Let''s pretend that everything is normal," Cora pleaded.. "I don''t want to waste time in tears while you are still here."

 Chapter 337 - Demonstration

    Khan''s days went back to being extremely busy, but an important event preceded the return to that routine.


    A simple check-up in the medical bay the morning after the talk with Cora was enough to award Khan with a second star on his right shoulder. Then, a few bystanders noticed the change in his uniform during his walk back to the t and spread the news.


    By the end of the morning, everyone in the camp had learnt that Khan had be a second-level warrior. Doctor ckburn had even updated his profile, so anyone could check that the matter was true.


    Khan was only at the beginning of his third academic year, but he had already be a second-level warrior. Moreover, he had aplished all of that without synthetic mana or a long period of istion.


    The achievement only added value to Khan''s figure. His fame skyrocketed once again and offers rained on his phone. Many of them were more valuable than his current position as a professor, but he ignored them since he had already set his gaze on something way more interesting.


    Except for the rekindled fame, Khan''s routine went back to the packed series of activities that had preceded the fight with Cora. He studied, attended Martha''s training, and grew used to his new level to prepare for the imminent mission.


    A few things didn''t go back to how they were. Khan refrained from abusing the [Blood Vortex] right after the breakthrough. He didn''t want to risk ending up in his previous condition, so he focused on learning to listen to his body while immersing himself in regr meditations.


    Khan wanted to recognize eventual symptoms of stress or simr issues before they became a problem. He even purchased a technique that allowed him to assess the state of his flesh and muscles. Learning it with his level of control took less than an hour, and he made sure to use it every day afterward.


    Of course, the purchase didn''t happen through Khan''s Credits. He had officially epted Luke''s offer after bing a second-level warrior, and thetter had been more than happy to take care of every expense that followed that decision.


    Khan didn''t hold back. He used Luke''s money to purchase even more books and time inside the training halls meant for Martha''s training. Also, he bought a series of manuals and studies connected to the chaos element to gain a clear idea of his prospects.


    The chaos element had many issues and a few positive aspects. Mastering it was a big problem for most soldiers, and the matter only became worse at the higher levels.


    However, Khan had long since distanced himself from the human approach. It was safe to say that he had never seeded in following the instructions left behind by other chaos wielders, so it was on him to forge a path that suited him.


    Khan wanted to earn a second star on his left shoulder before the mission to Milia 222, and his state as a second-level warrior granted him ess to the spells that could provide that achievement. Still, they were expensive and rare due to theplexity of his element, and his different approach didn''t help.


    Luke had great connections with basically every shop, so Khan could easily find tomes connected to his situation. He even managed to get his hands on detailed lists that described the various spells developed by the Global Army. Yet, he learnt something interesting during the research.


    Most spells had fixed power due to the precise methods required to cast them. However, the chaos element was an exception. The unclear approach to its abilities allowed the chaos wielders to tinker with the amount of mana poured in each attack, which obviously led to different results.


    Khan discovered that many chaos wielders preferred to limit the number of spells in their arsenal and develop stronger versions instead of recing them. It was easier to improve an existing attack than learn a new one in their case, and Khan followed their example.


    A long series of tests followed that discovery. Khan didn''t abandon the idea of getting new spells, but he preferred to pursue his personal path for now, which involved improving his current arsenal.


    His decision also involved his future. After extensive study, Khan believed that he would almostpletely abandon the human path at some point. The Niqols'' approach suited him far more, so he had to stop relying on the Global Army when he could.


    Reebfell''s camp had training areas meant solely for spells. They didn''t feature any workshops or programs. They only had big targets that evaluated the power of each attack and ced them into a specific bracket.


    Khan immersed himself in that testing phase. He had to find a new bnce among his emotions to cast stronger but stable spells. The process wasn''t easy, but his relentless efforts in the Niqols'' methods granted an advantage that anyone would envy.


    That advantage quickly led to results. Khan had nevercked mana, and the new level of control achieved after bing a second-level warrior allowed him to improve the power of his spells rtively easily.


    The Wave spell was the easiest to improve, at least when it came to its raw, spherical form. The attack was a violent expression of Khan''s desperation, so pouring more power inside it wasn''t an issue.


    The problem began when Khan had to restrain his mana through a mixture of sheer ability and emotions. Luckily for him, his training showed great results that quickly led him toplete the testing phase.


    "I didn''t expect you to contact me so soon," Headmaster Pitcus announced when he entered the training hall. "Only two months have passed since you gained your second star. Are you sure you aren''t overworking yourself again?"


    "I paid far more attention to my health after thest problem," Khan reassured. "Thank you for the concern, sir."


    Bing a second-level mage required a demonstration in front of a superior or someone with the right qualifications. Headmaster Pitcus met those requirements, so Khan didn''t hesitate to call him when he felt ready to show his progress.


    It was the night of the fifth day of the week. The academic year had already entered its fifth month, and Khan had been a perfect professor in the past period.


    Khan''s students were more than ready for the iing tests, so Headmaster Pitcus didn''t say anything when he received the message. He actually felt curious to see what Khan had achieved so soon after the breakthrough.


    "How many spells do I have to show?" Khan asked as he turned toward therge, rectangr metal target on the other end of the training hall.


    "Why don''t you start by showing me what you have?" Headmaster Pitcus gently said while crossing his arms behind his back.


    Khan nodded and took a step forward before joining his hands. Mana umted in his palms and gave birth to a spear when he separated them. Then, he threw the weapon forward, which hit the exact center of the distant target.


    An explosion followed the impact, and a gale flowed through the training hall. The bun on Headmaster Pitcus'' hair remained firm, and his eyes never twitched as he kept them fixed on the target.


    "The power of the chaos element is incredible as always," Headmaster Pitcusmented before moving his eyes on the screen next to the target. "Yet, you have yet to enter the realm of the second-level mages."


    The screen depicted the number "1", stating how the chaos spear was still within the limits of first-level mages. Still, that result didn''t surprise Khan.


    "I held back on purpose to show the difference between the two versions," Khan exined before joining his hands again.


    A massive surge of mana that made the Headmaster''s eyebrows twitch came out of Khan''s body and gathered in his palms. Khan waited for a few seconds before separating his hands slowly.


    The same purple-red spear came to life, but the Headmaster noticed the differences from the previous spell. The weapon was way brighter than before, and tremors ran through its edges.


    Headmaster Pitcus hid his faint surprise and decided to test Khan''s concentration through a question. "That doesn''t seem stable at all."


    "That''s the nature of the chaos element," Khan calmly replied without losing control of the spear. He even nced at the Headmaster to warn him. "I would take a step back if I were you, sir."


    "I''m fine where I am," Headmaster Pitcus gently chuckled.


    Khan limited himself to nod again and turn toward the target. He took a deep breath before raising the spear andunching it toward therge metal b in the distance.


    The throw wasn''t as precise as the previous. Itnded in the top-right corner of the target, but the explosion that followed the impact prevented Headmaster Pitcus from voicing ament.


    A violent gale followed the bright purple-red pir that covered the target. Headmaster Pitcus had to raise a hand to keep his sses still, but the bun opened, and his hair ended up fluttering in the wind.


    The training hall took a few seconds to return quiet, and the Headmaster didn''t feel surprised at all when he saw the number "2" appear on the screen next to the target. No first-level mage could everunch such a strong spell.


    Khan closed his eyes for an instant before reopening again. The emotional burden required to cast spells at that level was heavy, and an attentive soldier might notice something. Still, Headmaster Pitcus didn''t see anything since his gaze was glued to the target.


    "Your aim is a bit off," Headmaster Pitcusmented as he pulled his hair to restore the bun.


    "I''m working on that, sir," Khan stated. "Luckily, the other spells don''t require that level of control."


    "So, you do have other spells," Headmaster Pitcus teased. "Do you wish to keep them hidden?"


    "I wouldn''t mind revealing them to you, sir," Khan lied.


    "I expected that answer," Headmaster Pitcus chuckled. "Do not worry. What you showed me is enough to award your second star. I''ll update your profile and have new uniforms delivered to your t."


    "Thank you, sir!" Khan shouted while turning and performing a military salute.


    Headmaster Pitcus began to leave the training hall, but a sudden thought made him stop. He nced at Khan and voiced vague words that he didn''t fail to understand. "About that matter, wait until the end of the semester. It would only hurt your students otherwise."


    Khan knew that the Headmaster was talking about his recement, and he even understood the reasons behind that request. His face also revealed enough, so Headmaster Pitcus left the training hall before hearing an answer.


    Khan waited for the metal door to close before heaving a sigh of relief. He crouched and took out his phone to check the date. The time to leave had almost arrived. Less than two months separated him from that event.


    ''Almost there,'' Khan eximed in his mind as he automatically came up with a schedule for the following months. Still, his thoughts eventually reached sad areas.


    The departure from Reebfell would mark his break-up with Cora. Khan knew that the event was inevitable, but some sadness still appeared in his mind, especially when he reviewed what had changed in his rtionship during thest period.


    Cora and Khan had decided to enjoy their remaining time together, and she was doing her best to behave normally. However, Khan had noticed the sad and pensive stares that she threw at him from time to time.


    Those gestures weren''t only connected to the inevitable separation. Cora could now see Khan in his entirety, and she felt sad whenever she thought about what he had decided to reveal.


    Cora was very empathetic. Sadness overwhelmed her whenever she thought about Khan''s experiences. She almost felt guilty to have kept him on Earth for so long when he needed to find solutions to his nightmares.


    The stories about Nitis had also filled Cora with terror and a tinge of disgust. Knowing that Khan had been an important pawn in those events had also unsettled her.


    Cora respected and loved Khan more than anyone else in the world, but learning everything about him allowed her to ept the truth. They lived in different worlds that had been lucky enough to meet during those months. She could probably steal more time, but that would only hurt him.


    That lingering sadness had spread to Amber since she was Cora''s only confidant. Cora didn''t reveal Khan''s secrets, but Amber understood how serious the matter was from her tears and helplessness.


    That created a vaguely tense environment that Khan, Amber, and Cora decided to ignore. Addressing the problem wouldn''t lead anywhere due to theck of solutions, so they silently epted that their time together wasing to an end. Khan knew the role he had to y, but he still felt sad whenever he thought about it.


    ''Thest year has been quite lucky,'' Khan chuckled as he reviewed his time in Reebfell''s camp. He could sense the faint conflict inside him. Part of him didn''t want to abandon that peace, but the opposing feeling was too intense to ignore.


    Khan sent a message to Luke and straightened his position. The date for the departure was set, and restlessness filled his mind as he thought about the iing mission. The universe was calling Khan, and he wouldn''t make it wait.


    ****


    Author''s notes: The third volume will end here.. The fourth will start in the next chapter (which will arrive in a few hours).

 Chapter 338 - Departure

    Time flowed quickly without putting Khan in front of any significant event. He studied, trained, andpleted his duties as a professor until the date of the departure arrived.


    Khan woke up early in the morning alone in his bed, but the event didn''t surprise him. Cora had chosen to sleep in Amber''s room that night since she knew that she wouldn''t have been able to hold back her tears, and Khan didn''t stop her.


    The luggage had been ready for days by then. Khan only had to bring his second-grade knife and the items required by the [Blood Vortex] with him, and a bag was more than enough for them.


    Khan jumped out of bed, took a shower, and changed into a clean military uniform. Luke had promised to take care of the clothes, drinks, and food, so Khan didn''t need to add anything else to his luggage. He was ready to leave.


    ''I''ve spent almost one year here,'' Khan thought when he was about to approach the entrance.


    As Khan inspected every corner of his t, memories surged in his mind. Cora''s scent filled the area, but he also found traces of Amber''s passage. The reinforced room even had faint marks left by his long meditations and training sessions.


    One year wasn''t a long period, but Khan acknowledged how that t had grown on him. It still belonged to the camp, but he saw it as a home that reeked of memories and emotions.


    The cave in Nitis'' marsh inevitably showed itself and forced Khan topare it with the t. He knew which ce had been more meaningful to him, but he liked that his mind ced both of them under the same category. He felt finally sure that he had tried his best in Reebfell.


    Khan remained still only for a few seconds before tightening his grip on the bag and crossing the entrance. He had far harsher goodbyes. He wouldn''t hesitate to face what waited for him that day.


    A surprising sight unfolded in Khan''s vision when he left the t. Captain Goldmon, Lieutenant Abaze, and some of his students had gathered right outside his habitation and revealed broad smiles when they noticed him.


    "Don''t look so surprised," Lieutenant Abaze gently announced. "You have done a good job here. Did you really think that your students would let you go without saying goodbye?"


    The news of Khan''s departure had be public while the recruits were busy with the semestral tests. Khan had also prepared them for the arrival of a recement, but the crowded hangar where he had his lessons wasn''t the right ce for proper goodbyes.


    Moreover, many recruits simply didn''t get close enough to Khan, and the arrival of his second stars only put more distance between them. However, some students still decided to contact Lieutenant Abaze and Captain Goldmon to n that meeting. Even a few ex-students like Elsie and Ashley had decided to join it.


    "I''m not sure I deserve all of this," Khan honestly admitted. "Changing professor in the middle of the year might cause problems. I''m sorry my departure had toe at such strange timing."


    "Stop whining," Captain Goldmon snorted as he tapped his cane on the street. "I''ve reviewed your reports. Even an idiot could teach with something so detailed. Hurry up and leave so that I can go back to my duties."


    "Captain, manners," Lieutenant Abaze reminded.


    "It''s a free day," Captain Goldmon replied. "My manners exist only during working hours."


    The students felt a bit awkward to hear that conversation, but Elsie took the matter into her own hands to move the attention back on Khan. She stepped forward and performed a military salute before shouting. "Thank you, Professor Khan!"


    The other recruits followed her example, and a series of "Thank you, Professor Khan" resounded in the area. The scene inevitably made Khan smile. Nothing proved that he had done an excellent job better than that.


    "I should be the one to thank you," Khan happily eximed. "I''ve learnt a lot from being your professor. I hope you''ll find my teachings useful in the future."


    Khan exchanged nces with all his students before realizing that time was flowing quickly. His grip on the bag tightened again as he heaved a sigh and gave onest order. "Be safe."


    "Yes, sir!" The students shouted and kept their military salutes firm until Khan walked past them.


    "Professor Khan!" Elsie suddenly called and forced Khan to turn.


    "What is it, Elsie?" Khan gently asked.


    "I''ll also join missions in the future," Elsie eximed.


    "I expected as much," Khan stated. "Maybe we''ll find ourselves in the same mission one day."


    "I hope so, sir!" Elsie responded.


    "Professor Khan is as popr as always," Lieutenant Abaze chuckled.


    Khan nodded at Lieutenant Abaze before showing another warm smile at his students and turning to go on his way. No one followed him, but he sensed the group''s gazes on him until he was too distant to see clearly.


    The unexpected meeting put Khan in a happy mood that carried tinges of nostalgia. He knew he would miss his lessons, but that didn''t slow him down at all.


    The walk toward the teleport was long, but Khan was early, so he didn''t mind walking slowly to savor every scene that the camp had to offer. He knew he would have fond memories of Reebfell.


    A message reached his phone during the walk, and Khan felt surprised to see that it came from Headmaster Pitcus. The text was short and straightforward, but it added another good memory.


    ''Good luck on Milia 222,'' Khan read on his screen before putting the phone back in his pocket.


    Luke had kept his promise. He had dropped the idea of disguising the mission on Milia 222 as a simple holiday trip and had turned it into something official.


    The mission obviously had nothing to do with the Global Army, but Luke had yed his cards well. He had spread the news that the matter involved his family, and he had even listed Khan and Martha as hired soldiers.


    The contents of the deal with Khan and Martha were private, but the sole fact that Luke had hired them to handle his family matters spoke for their value. Moreover, he promised to hand reports about their performance to the Global Army to add them to their profiles.


    Khan couldn''tin in that situation, and the upfront payment had also been generous. His finances had basically doubled, bringing him close to a total of sixty thousand Credits. When Khan added the expenses handled by Luke in that period, he felt pretty lucky to have found such a good opportunity.


    It was too early to find recruits and soldiers roaming through the camp, so Khan''s walk was uneventful until he reached the teleport. The group he saw there didn''t surprise him, but those familiar faces put him in a strange mood anyway.


    Luke and Martha smiled at Khan, and Bruce tried to do the same, but a yawn interrupted his gesture. Meanwhile, Cora and Amber did their best to show happy expressions, but Khan noticed the sadness in their eyes.


    ''She has cried,'' Khan thought when he saw Cora''s face.


    Luke, Martha, and Bruce wanted to speak, but they chose to remain silent when they noticed that Cora had attracted the entirety of Khan''s attention. They knew that they needed some privacy, so they took steps back to leave the two alone.


    Amber did the same, but she remained closer than the others. Meanwhile, Khan reached Cora, and the two fell in each other''s arms without saying a single word.


    Khan forced himself to imprint everything he felt on his memory. He didn''t want to forget Cora''s warmth, the softness of her hair, the strength behind her hug, and everything else about her. That woman had been so good to him, and recalling her was the least he could do.


    A sniff forced Khan to break the hug and lift Cora''s face. Tears had already started to fall from her eyes, but she appeared as beautiful as ever. She was actually ming herself for losing control of her actions.


    "Will you be okay?" Khan whispered.


    "Don''t worry about me," Cora managed to smile while she reached Khan''s cheeks. "You are the one going in a dangerous ce."


    "I''m still worried about you," Khan softly responded.


    "Don''t be," Cora scolded. "You have pampered me a lot, and I still have Amber. Just make sure to focus on yourself. I want you to be happy."


    "I''ll do my best," Khan reassured.


    "No," Cora shook her head. "You must seed. All I want is for you to seed-."


    A sob interrupted Cora''s line and forced her to hide her face in Khan''s chest. She began to cry loudly, and Amber intervened before Khan could try to reassure her any further.


    "Be safe out there," Amber whispered while stealing Cora from Khan''s arms and securing her in a hug. "I don''t want to hear any bad news about you."


    "You know me," Khan teased, but his faint smile vanished when his eyes fell on Cora.


    "You should leave now," Amber stated while ncing at Cora. "I''ll take care of her."


    "Thank you, Amber," Khan eximed while wrapping an arm around Amber''s neck and making sure that he didn''t touch Cora. "You are the best."


    "Don''t forget to call," Amber whispered before leaving a quick kiss on Khan''s cheek. "Go now, and good luck."


    Khan left Amber, and the two exchanged a nod. Then, Khan hurried toward the building with the teleport, and his threepanions followed him silently.


    The building''s entrance slid open as the four crossed it, but Cora cried a loud "Khan!" that suppressed the noise caused by the door. Martha, Luke, and Bruce nced at Khan, but he showed a cold face as he proceeded forward.


    The soldiers inside the building performed the usual check-ups, but the four remained silent through the whole corridor. Khan didn''t say anything when he learnt that his attunement with mana had almost reached sixty-one percent. He only wanted to get to the teleport, and hispanions understood his feelings.


    The oval structure eventually appeared in front of the group, and the four jumped on it in no time. They had yet to say a word, but Khan noticed how Martha tried to grab his hand before retracting it at thest second.


    Khan grabbed Martha''s hand before it could return on her side, and the two exchanged a meaningful stare. He revealed a sad smile, and she said a silent "thank you" through her lips.


    ''I have gone back in time,'' Khan joked in his mind as the synthetic mana filled the structure.


    The scene was far too simr to what he had experienced before Istrone''s mission, but a lot had changed since then. He had the power to protect his friends now, and he wouldn''t hesitate to use it.


    Then, the teleport activated, and the scenery in the group''s vision began to transform. The mission on Milia 222 had officially started.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I wanted to make this chapter far longer, but the goodbyes took a while to describe, and what would have followed was nowhere near short. I would have risked getting close to 4000 words.. You''ll get the long one next time.

 Chapter 339 - Alien-lover

    Khan was obviously the first to recover from the teleport''s effects. He had barely felt anything due to the new power that ran through his body, and the scenery didn''t surprise him.


    Milia 222 was hard to reach, and its peculiar environment prevented the presence of teleports. The shortest path toward that location always involved a space station, so Khan knew he would be in front of grey surfaces illuminated by white light after leaving Reebfell.


    Still, Khan didn''t expect the teleport area to be so crowded, especially in a space station. Except for the usual scientists in white medical coats, he noticed a small group of young soldiers led by an old, slightly familiar face.


    "Wee to Neo Station!" The elderly man eximed when he noticed that Luke''s gaze had regained its focus.


    Martha let go of Khan''s hand as soon as she noticed that they weren''t alone. Instead, Khan performed a quick inspection of the group before focusing on the elderly man.


    "Ivor, am I right, sir?" Khan asked while jumping off the oval tform.


    "Oh, I didn''t expect you to remember me," Master Ivor eximed while stretching his arm forward. "I''m sorry that thest time I was too worried about Luke to express my gratitude properly. Thank you for everything you have done on Istrone and for the Global Army in general, Lieutenant Khan."


    "It''s a pleasure to meet you," Khan shook Master Ivor''s hand while showing one of his politest smiles. "I should be the one thanking you for training Luke so well. He has been a crucial ally on Istrone."


    "You are too kind," Master Ivor replied. "I''ve only done my job as one of the Cobsend family''s Masters. I''m unworthy of the praises of the most talented soldier in the Global Army."


    Khan limited himself to smile as he let go of Master Ivor''s hand. His gesture stated that he didn''t deny that title, and no one could me him. The two stars on both his shoulders were more than enough to prove that point.


    Khan had met Master Ivor after teleporting back on co. Their interaction had been short, but he could see that the elderly man didn''t age at all in those years. Even his grey goatee had remained the same.


    Nevertheless, Khan wasn''t a simple recruit anymore. Master Ivor wasn''t wearing any military uniform, but Khan could understand his level easily. The soldier carried enough mana to be a third-level warrior.


    ''Luckily, I''m not the strongest,'' Khan heaved a sigh of relief in his mind as his attention went on the other soldiers.


    Master Ivor''s group featured six young soldiers that Khan didn''t recognize. Four were first-level warriors, while the other two were as strong as Khan. They were also wearing casual clothes, but their power couldn''t escape Khan''s senses.


    Moreover, Khan noticed how a faint noble aura surrounded all of them. He had seen something simr with Bruce, so he could guess that those young soldiers were quite wealthy. It was also safe to assume that they had tight connections to the Cobsend family since they were part of the mission.


    ''So, this is Neo Station,'' Khanmented in his mind as his gaze tried to find peculiarities in the circr room.


    Neo Station was rather famous among the space stations since it was an important node in the vast array ofmercial and travel routes. Its domain involved many private destinations or locations thatcked teleports. It even acted as a resting area for many travelers or pilots.


    Neo Station''s peculiarities didn''t end there. The space station wasn''t as militarized as the others but focused on offering various entertaining activities.


    Khan knew that he would teleport there, so he had studied Neo Station a bit. The structure featured casinos, restaurants, and much more, with some activities meant only for really wealthy travelers.


    A space station with so many riches would generally fall in the target of thieves or other criminal factions belonging to different species. However, its peculiar location in the universe allowed it to have its hands in many illegal businesses that protected it from most dangers.


    Khan would have never learnt so much without Luke''s help. A sharp eye would have understood that Neo Station was the home of a few illegal activities, even from regr reports. Still, Khan had needed Luke''s connections to purchaseprehensive tomes that exined those matters.


    Khan obviously didn''t understand everything. Actually, many details were impossible to learn from outside the space station. Still, what he had found gave him a broad idea of the environment, which was more than enough.


    Luke, Bruce, and Martha jumped down the tform and exchanged polite greetings before a soldier escorted the whole group outside the circr room. Master Ivor took over at that point and led everyone across a few narrow corridors until a vast hangar unfolded in everyone''s vision.


    ''The true face of Neo Station should be a few floors above us,'' Khan guessed since he didn''t see anything peculiar on his way.


    Khan disregarded the matter and focused on the spaceship after entering the vast hangar. He could immediately find differences from the other space stations there. Only a few vehicles had military purposes, while the others were private rides focused on luxury rather than firepower.


    That alone gave Khan an idea of the type of people that filled Neo Station. Many of them had to be important members of wealthy families. He also noticed a few ships that didn''t belong to human technology, which hinted at the presence of aliens.


    ''I''ve really left Earth, haven''t I?'' Khan sighed in his mind as he let the different environment overwhelm his senses.


    The air was stale and reeked of metal and synthetic mana. The floor carried the unmistakable scent of cleaning products and simr items. The engines of the various vehicles assaulted Khan with their different mana signature, and everyone in the hangar appeared in a hurry.


    The scene was cold, almost robotic, but it reminded Khan of the severe and stiff environment of the army. He was far away from the warmth andfort of the training camp. He was back in the chaotic and unpredictable universe.


    ''I really can''t give up on this,'' Khan said to himself. ''This faint tension is addicting.''


    Even a peaceful and protected space station rekindled the instincts that Khan had developed through his many tragic experiences. The life in the camp had never dulled those habits, but they exploded with new power now that he had entered an unknown environment.


    The results of his training naturally fused with his habits and gave birth to a new level of alertness. Khan could finally express the entirety of himself, and he couldn''t describe how much he had missed that feeling.


    ''I''m sorry, Cora,'' Khan thought as he closed his eyes to bathe in his sensations. ''This is what I am.''


    "Khan?" Luke called from the head of the group, and Khan opened his eyes to find everyone looking at him.


    "Sorry," Khan eximed. "I was trying to list all the spaceships that I recognized."


    "Don''t worry!" Luke reassured. "That''s why I called you in the first ce. I''m sure you will like the vehicle rented for the trip."


    The group elerated a bit until Luke pointed at a huge ship in the distance. The vehicle was way too big for such a small group, and the amount of synthetic mana stored inside it left Khan speechless.


    The spaceship had a cylindrical shape that featured two huge circr engines ced at its sides. Its tip was round and featured metal protections that could slide away to reveal reinforced windows. Dark, mirror-like panels also covered the entirety of the structure and gave it a strange appearance.


    ''Isn''t this too shy for our mission?'' Khan wondered.


    "You probably won''t recognize it," Luke exined. "Only a few space stations have this model. Buying it is also pointless due to the amount of fuel it consumes. Even my family doesn''t have one of these."


    "Isn''t this too much for a simple trip?" Khan expressed his doubts.


    "I wanted to go for a cheaper model," Luke revealed, "But my father intervened. He even scolded me for bothering about money when the descendants of important allies are involved."


    "Luke, be sure to express my gratitude to your father," One of the women in the group announced. "This ship is majestic."


    ''They aren''t members of the Cobsend family then,'' Khan concluded.


    Khan still felt worried about eventual pirates or roguepanies during the trip, but the fact that the ship belonged to Neo Station reassured him. If the reports were correct, everything would be fine.


    "You are free to settle inside," Luke stated. "The pilots will take a few hours to arrive, so you can pick different cabins and get used to the ship in the meantime."


    The group followed Luke''s suggestion and approached the vehicle. Arge door rose and created an entrance on its side, and everyone could immediately get an idea of the luxury that expected them.


    Khan''s expression remained firm even if his mind failed to assess the level of wealth required to create something like that. A metal staircase stretched from the entrance and weed the group inside a brownish environment withfortable seats and soft surfaces.


    Leather and other precious materials filled Khan''s sight. The entrance led to a vast corridor that allowed the passage of three grown men. A series of seats and a few tables maically connected to the floor upied some slightlyrger areas, and Khan even noticed an interactive canteen in the distance.


    That was only one of the spaceship''s areas. Luke guided the group throughout the vehicle and described its various environments. The cabins were small and had limited water, but the recreative spaces werefortable and vast.


    Those who had created the spaceship were masters in managing the limited space those vehicles inevitably featured. They hadpressed multiple ts into something far smaller without making it appear cramped. Khan was honestly in awe of that level of perfection.


    "It''s a pity that this model has beds inside the walls," Luke uttered when the tour was almost over. "I guess the engineers believed that the travelers wouldn''t spend long on them."


    "Luke, please," Bruce called. "This ship is incredible. We might not meet each other in entire days due to how big it is."


    "Well, privacy is a big issue when ites to inteary travels," Luke stated. "This ship should solve it."


    ''It destroys the issue,'' Khan corrected in his mind as his eyes continued to wander among the various features of the vehicle.


    "Right, Khan," Luke eventually voiced, "The ship is built with materials resistant to the chaos element, so you can train freely. Though I''d avoidunching spells inside the training room."


    "Does it have a training room too?" Khan asked without hiding his surprise.


    "Yes, it''s on the back of the ship," Luke revealed. "It''s small, but its number of programs exceeds those found in normal training halls. Still, I''m afraid that some of them have nothing to do with the martial arts."


    Bruce and the others revealed knowing smirks, and Khan took a while to understand what Luke meant. The training halls could generate holograms, so some programs involved porn and simr activities.


    Khan found it funny that Martha was the only one to remain lost, and he didn''t miss that chance to approach her ear to whisper the exnation. "Sex stuff."


    Martha''s eyes lit up in understanding, but she pouted when she noticed Khan''s satisfied expression. "You sure are having fun."


    "Just a bit," Khan replied. "It reminds me of the old days, even if we have switched roles."


    "Enjoy it while you can," Martha scoffed before rolling her eyes and speaking in a serious tone. "Are you okay?"


    "I will be," Khan dismissively replied before resuming the tour.


    The group chose random rooms when the tour was over. Some directly went to sleep, but Khan decided to explore the spaceship a bit more after dropping his bag. As for Martha, she was already inside the training room.


    "Khan!" Luke called while Khan roamed through the spaceship.


    "You have outdone yourself," Khanmented as he waited for Luke to reach him.


    "I didn''t do anything," Luke dismissed thepliment. "This is all my father''s work. However, this is mine."


    Luke took a small casket from the insides of his military uniform and handed it to Khan. Thetter inspected it without opening, and a question inevitably left his mouth. "What is it?"


    "Open it," Luke chuckled.


    Khan opened the casket and found a small white disk inside it. The item resembled the training programs that Khan had obtained during his life, but he couldn''t understand the purpose of what stood in his hands.


    "Go in your room and test it," Luke suggested. "I''m sure you will like it."


    "Sure," Khan nodded and left for his room.


    The habitation didn''t have much, and it was pretty cramped, so Khan crouched to enter the bed inside the wall before tinkering with his phone.


    The device absorbed the disk, and a newbel immediately appeared in the menu with the magic items. Khan''s eyes widened in surprise when he read the new program, and his fingers pressed it before he could even go over the matter.


    "Flight simtor initiated," A female mechanical voice came out of the phone. "Please, pick a vehicle to start the simtion."


    ''How did he pull this off?!'' Khan shouted in his mind as he rolled out of bed to sit on the floor. ''This is military-grade equipment avable only in special structures meant for pilots!''


    Khan had only worked on the theory after his deal with the recruiters. He was progressing steadily, but he had never gotten his hands to a proper simtor, let alone one with so many options.


    Khan picked one of the names that he recognized from the holograms that hade out of his phone. Those images quickly transformed into a vast console that featured multiple keys, levers, and a few screens.


    ''This is like a real pilot''s seat!'' Khan eximed.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to test the console, but the holograms turned red when he touched the main handle. New images also came out of his phone and took the shape of instructions.


    ''Remove the security brake first,'' Khan read on the holograms and understood his mistake.


    That experience waspletely different from reading books. Khan could put to use everything he had learnt and build on that foundation with a program that followed his every step. Needless to say, he lost track of time as he tested the various features of the simtor.


    "Attention to all passengers," A male voice eventually resounded inside Khan''s room and forced him to interrupt the simtion. "We are about to leave Neo Station. Reach the main rooms or activate your monitors if you want to witness the departure."


    Khan didn''t hesitate to tinker with the menus in the room and activate the monitors. The vast hangar appeared on the screen, but the spaceship eventually set off and left toward the ckness of space.


    When the ship left the hangar, the cameras changed their target and moved to the space station. Neo Station soon became visible in its entirety, and Khan finally noticed its peculiar features.


    Neo Station was massive, and its upper part featured arge ring that rotated around its main structure. Ads shone on that spinning machine, and Khan could even see people walking behind them through the zoom of the monitor.


    ''So much wealth,'' Khan couldn''t help but think as Neo Station shrunk until it transformed into a mere bright dot in the ckness of the universe.


    .


    .


    .


    Milia 222 was at only nine days of flight from Neo Station, and the group spent that time enjoying the absurd luxury that the spaceship offered. Even Khan indulged in the good food and booze of the interactive canteen, but his main focus remained on his new simtor.


    Chances to interact with the other group members happened, and Khan didn''t miss them. He introduced himself to everyone, but those interactions never went past a few polite words.


    No one wanted to socialize during the short travel, and everyone seemed busy handling different matters. The width of the spaceship also offered a lot of privacy, so the atmosphere remained quite silent.


    Only a few meaningful meetings happened. Luke called them to give overviews of Milia 222 and exin part of the mission. The second asteroid was their destination, but they would still have tond on the first and proceed from there.


    Khan tried his best to gain an impression of hispanions, but only three of them showed something more than politeness.


    Master Ivor appeared a generally kind person with a lot of experience and an excellent social sense. He often left hispanions alone to let them enjoy their youthful conversations, and he showed nothing but respect toward Khan.


    Amanda Eerly was the woman who had expressed her gratitude toward Luke''s father. She was one of the four first-level warriors, and she came from Bruce''s family, but she didn''t share any blood with him.


    Her physical features also suggested ack of kinship. Amanda had long brown hair and green eyes, but she shared Bruce''s noble aura. Also, she had an evident romantic interest in Luke.


    Monica Solodrey was one of the second-level warriors, and she had been the first to introduce herself to Khan. Her skin was dark, and her long ck hair createdrge, elegant curls. Her eyes were icy-blue, and her refined manners reminded Khan about Lieutenant Abaze.


    Monica and Khan didn''t say much to each other during the flight. She was always busy reading the news or checking her phone, but she was the only one who lifted her eyes and showed gentle smiles whenever Khan arrived.


    Khan didn''t know if Monica was hitting on him or if her behavior hid a political agenda. Yet, he didn''t ponder too much on the matter since he kept himself busy with Martha''s training and his own exercises.


    Khan also wasn''t in the mood to flirt with girls right now. The break-up with Cora was still vivid in his mind, and the cold nights spent alone in his bed reminded him of what he had decided to abandon.


    Of course, Khan could raise the temperature in his room, but he kept it low. That cold was perfect for his mood and mind. It reminded him why the break-up happened in the first ce, and it added fuel to the excitement toward the mission.


    "Attention to all passengers," The pilot''s voice eventually resounded again through the spaceship. "We are approaching Milia 222. You can witness thending through your screens."


    Khan was with Martha in one of the areas with the interactive canteens. He was inspecting her progress with the Niqols'' methods, but they interrupted the training and activated the screens to watch the scene.


    Milia 222 resembled a small chain of stars in the distance, but it showed its true face as the spaceship got close. The seven asteroids eventually became clear, and the same went for theiryout.


    ''It''s prettier than the books make it out to be,'' Khan thought once he became able to see the various bright domes.


    The surface of the asteroids was barren, but life thrived inside domes that spread inside those vast rocks. Cities expanded vertically there, but Khan couldn''t see much from outside.


    The situation didn''t improve after the spaceship approached the first asteroid. One of the domes on its surface opened to reveal a giant hangar full of vehicles and people belonging to different species.


    Khan''s excitement rose when he saw that crowded environment. He left Martha and went to his room to take his bag before moving to the area connected to the entrance.


    The group quickly gathered around Khan. Luke and Master Ivor ced themselves in front of the entrance, and they didn''t hesitate to descend from the metal staircase once it opened.


    Air that carried the strong scent of synthetic mana immediately entered Khan''s nostrils. He was ready for that, but he didn''t expect such intensity. Even the space stations didn''t reach those levels.


    Apart from that, the environment reflected what Khan had read in the reports. His eyes soon lost themselves on the various alien faces and interesting details of the hangar, but a familiar aura eventually reached his senses.


    "Oh, the guides are here," Luke eximed while turning toward a small group of humans approaching the spaceship.


    Khan''s face turned cold as he sprinted forward to arrive in front of a member of the iing group. His hand went on his knife and grabbed its peculiar handle firmly as he voiced a question. "What are you doing here?"


    "Long time no see, alien-lover," Rodney chuckled while wearing a sneering smile.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I told you it would have been long.

 Chapter 340 - Cek

    More than a year had passed since Nitis'' events, but Khan recalled everything. Most memories featured Liiza, Snow, Doku, Azni, and George, but he couldn''t forget about the traitor from the human side.


    Rodney had been in chains thest time Khan had seen him, but the departure from Nitis had clearly benefited him. Rodney had developed burlier muscles, and the mana inside his body put him close to the limits of the first-level warriors. He must have had a lot of time to train, stating that he didn''t spend a single day in prison.


    "Better than being a traitor," Khan stated.


    "I''ve never betrayed anyone," Rodney sighed without dropping his smile. "I was doing my interests in the middle of a worldwide crisis. Can you really me me?"


    "I''m sure the Global Army didn''t," Khan snorted.


    "Oh, it did," Rodney contradicted. "I would be somewhere on Earth otherwise. Instead, I have to work in this ce until the Global Army is sure that my return won''t offend you."


    Khan had seen something simr happening in his early days in co''s camp when the Global Army expelled the four bullies. His talent had made him stand out, so his superiors had chosen to punish his enemies even if they belonged to wealthy families.


    Rodney had apparently suffered from the same fate. In the report, Lieutenant Kintea had been vague about him, but the Global Army had still decided to punish him, and Khan''s fame was probably to me.


    "The Global Army should have sent your ass to Ecoruta," Khan responded.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t hate Rodney too deeply. The soldier had tried to kill him, but that had happened after a tragic urrence. Forgiving him was impossible, but Khan could understand how and why he had snapped.


    Still, Rodney''s current behavior told Khan that he didn''t see anything wrong in his past actions. Actually, Rodney seemed to take pride in them now, and his previous words even aimed to mock one of Khan''s happiest moments.


    "You have be all righteous," Rodneyughed. "What is it? Did being the Global Army''s hero make you forget about what you did on Nitis?"


    "What are you even trying to say?" Khan asked.


    "I''m talking about the vige," Rodney dered. "Man, that was some twisted stuff. How can you even sleep at night?"


    Khan fell silent as the memories of that awful morning surged in his mind. He couldn''t believe that Rodney had chosen to mention them, and the event made him ept that the soldier was far too gone.


    "Fine," Khan eximed as he began to draw his knife out of the sheath. "I''ll kill you."


    "Hold on, young man," The stronger member in Rodney''s group, a tall, burly man, called as he approached Khan. "What do you think you are doing?"


    The man tried to ce a hand on Khan''s shoulder, but purple-red mana suddenly flowed out of that spot and interrupted his gesture. Khan slowly turned toward the guide, and a calm threat escaped his mouth. "What do you think you are doing?"


    The atmosphere immediately became tense. Khan appeared out of control, and the guides didn''t know how to approach him. The tall man was a second-level warrior, but the mana that hade out of Khan''s shoulder had filled him with terror.


    "Khan, what is happening?" Luke asked when he reached the guides with the rest of the group.


    "Did you know that he was among the guides?" Khan asked while using his free hand to point at Rodney.


    "I don''t even know who he is," Luke promised before turning toward the tall man. "Send him away. We don''t need his services, and I also expect a refund for this problem."


    The tall man wanted toin, but he eventually nodded, and amand quickly left his mouth. "Rodney, you heard him. Go back to the guild."


    "Sure, boss," Rodney shrugged his shoulders. "See you around, alien-lover."


    Khan felt the urge to make Rodney''s body explode with one of his spells, but he held back. Even his previous action had been nothing more than a pretense. Rodney wouldn''t have even seen the knife cutting his head if Khan really wanted to kill him.


    However, no matter how Khan wanted to jump at Rodney, he couldn''t ignore the threatening presence that hadnded on him right after his sprint. Master Ivor had been ready to intervene during the whole interaction.


    ''Ivor is strong,'' Khan concluded as he watched Rodney vanish in the crowded hangar.


    "Was that Rodney Semmut?" Luke asked after Khan let go of the knife.


    "I thought you didn''t know him," Khan pointed out while memorizing Rodney''s family name.


    "I didn''t connect the dots until I heard his name," Luke exined. "I swear. I had no idea he was a guide here. The hiring process happens through thework, and it only shows the captain of each team."


    "Do you know what he has done on Nitis?" Khan asked.


    "The reports are a bit sketchy," Luke revealed. "I know he did something bad, but his family is trying to silence the matter. Investigating any further could create hostility, so I didn''t use my connections. That was a bad choice."


    "Did you really not know?" Khan asked again.


    "I have no reason to lie," Luke dered.


    Khan inspected Luke''s expression for a few seconds, but he eventually sighed. "Then you made the right choice. Creating hatred between two families for him isn''t worth it."


    "It is for you," Luke stated, but Khan ignored thatment.


    The rtionship with Luke was still a bit tense. Khan vaguely trusted him, but he couldn''t forget that he had chosen to use Martha for his needs.


    The happiness that came from having Martha awake helped the situation, but Khan wanted to take things slow. He would probably understand his position toward Luke only after the mission was over.


    "Khan," Bruce''s turn to talk arrived when the guides began to move. "I understand that you have a history with the guy, but you can''t just threaten people. You can''t lose control so easily."


    "I have been perfectly calm for the entire time," Khan eximed as the group walked right behind the guides.


    "I''ve seen your mana," Bruce uttered.


    "That''s nothing more than a trick," Khan half-lied as he showed his forefinger and made a sliver of purple-red manae out of its tip.


    The group didn''t know what to say at that scene. Khan''s actions had left a few of them unsatisfied, but his current performance appearedpletely honest.


    "Khan, I trust you, but Bruce is right," Luke added at that point. "I need to ask you to hold back in the future before mentioning the matter in private. I promise I''ll do my best to help."


    The group seemed to agree with Luke''s words. Amanda and a few others even nodded to express their stance, but they grew confused when they noticed Khan''s frown.


    "Do you understand where we are?" Khan questioned. "This isn''t Earth. People disappear every day here, and no one asks too many questions. Showing strength is better than diplomacy."


    "Lieutenant Khan is right," Master Ivor voiced before anyone could contradict Khan. "Milia 222 is the home of many shady characters. Your status offers some form of protection, but this remains awless zone."


    Khanunched a meaningful nce at Master Ivor, and the two reached a silent understanding. They were both experienced warriors, and Khan basically said that he was reliable through that gesture.


    Master Ivor and Khan had spoken the truth. Milia 222 was closer to the Slum than to the cities. The various factions in ce and the widespread corruption could even make it more dangerous than some of the ces Khan had seen.


    Behaving as thugs had its benefits, especially when the backing was more than exceptional. Khan didn''t like that approach, but he knew that taking a firm stance right away was for the best. He was even sure that the guides would talk about the recent event and warn other activities.


    Luke and Bruce felt a bit ashamed after that reprimand, and Amanda didn''t like how Khan had put them in a bad light. Instead, the others renewed their trust in Khan, and Monica didn''t hold back from approaching him during the walk.


    "I''m afraid I overheard something," Monica announced.


    "Don''t worry," Khan reassured. "It''s old stuff that''s better to leave in the past."


    "I see," Monica said. "Though you must have many exciting stories."


    "Most of them are avable on thework," Khan joked.


    "The reports always get things wrong," Monica chuckled. "Besides, there is nothing better than hearing them from the main character."


    "I won''t sell myself short," Khan joked again, "But I was simply in the middle of powers far above me most of those times. My view of the events is probably wed."


    "Why don''t you let me judge that?" Monica asked. "Maybe in front of a drink. I''ll also tell some of my stories."


    Khan wore a slightly surprised expression on purpose. The group believed that he was feeling awkward in front of that explicit invitation, but Monica doubled down on the flirt.


    "I do have stories to tell," Monica insisted while covering her mouth. "Don''t you trust me?"


    "I guess I''ll see in front of a drink," Khan smiled without adding any superfluous emotion to his tone.


    Khan couldn''t refuse Monica, but he didn''t feel like flirting. He didn''t want another rtionship so soon after Cora, and Monica was no Liiza. Her beauty was on point, but shecked what had made Khan move on quickly in the past.


    The conversation still created an awkward atmosphere since everyone could hear it. Martha''s partially hidden re didn''t help either, but Luke''s mastery of social rtionships saved the day once again.


    An announcement resounded throughout the hangar while Luke was busy establishing a casual conversation. The mechanical voice repeated the contents of the message multiple times while switchingnguages and everyone disregarded it after understanding that it involved the imminent departure of a passengers'' ship.


    Only Khan tried to make that announcement echo inside his mind as he muttered some of the alien words in it. He had studied the most poprnguages of the area, but he obviouslycked practice in the ents required to speak them.


    "Do you know how to speak some of them?" Martha asked when Khan ended his muttering.


    "I have memorized the grammar and vocabry of all of them," Khan revealed, "But I don''t know if I can speak them."


    "All of them?" Monica didn''t miss that chance to join the conversation. "Milia 222 can have visitors from more than ten alien species."


    "But only five live here," Khan continued. "I focused on theirnguages. Some are quite easy, but others had me cough many times."


    As if to challenge Khan''s statement, a series of bubbling noises resounded next to the group and forced them to turn. Khan and the others found three strange creatures waving their tentacles at them.


    Those aliens were rtively short. None of them went above one meter and fifty centimeters, but their bodies were beyond odd from a human perspective.


    The upper part of their bodies was oval and featured many small cavities. Instead, their flesh transformed into multiple short tentacles in their lower part.


    Those aliens resembled huge jellyfish with far thicker tentacles and dark-green skin. Their insides were hidden, but specific lights could reveal their organs.


    "These are Cek," Lukemented. "They should be peaceful."


    "Were they calling us?" Amanda asked.


    "Hard to understand," Bruce stated. "Still, they are pointing their tentacles at us. It''s better to ignore them."


    "Does anyone know where the second deck is?" Khan asked.


    "What do you mean?" Luke questioned before looking around to find signals. "We came from the third deck, and this is the fourth, so I guess the second is past our ship."


    "So, after the big ship," Khan repeated before turning toward the three Cek and raising his forefinger.


    Khan twisted and bent his finger slowly, and he often halted his movements to dive into his memory. A few group members understood what was happening, and the guides expressed evident surprise at that scene.


    The Cek didn''t move while Khan was busy drawing different shapes with his finger, but a series of bubbling noises came out of their cavities when he lowered his hand. The aliens then waved their tentacles a few times before leaving in the direction of the group''s ship.


    "Exin," Martha announced once the Cek left.


    "They didn''t understand the previous announcement since it wasn''t in theirnguage," Khan revealed. "They asked me to trante. Apparently, their ship is about to leave."


    "But the Cek aren''t one of the aliens living here," Martha stated. "I thought you only learnt thosenguages."


    "Oh," Khan eximed before raising his finger. "This isn''t exactly anguage. It''s something used to convey simple messages. Only a few species have epted it."


    "That''s from the Ipina convention, right?" Monica asked.


    "Exactly," Khan nodded.


    "I didn''t recognize it from the tentacles," Monica admitted. "My family made me practice a few signs, but I didn''t understand anything of what you said."


    "I''m not sure I did it correctly either," Khanughed. "I might have even misunderstood their question. Fingers and tentacles aren''t the same things in the end."


    "Why did you learn it if it''s not popr?" Martha wondered.


    "It''s not hard at all," Khan revealed. "Also, I liked the idea behind it. Each species has physical limitations. Humans can never speak the Cek''snguage. We can learn how to make bubbles, but we can''t turn them into anguage even if we rely on mana.. The Ipina convention wanted to fix that."

 Chapter 341 - Future

    "So, that''s the signnguage from the Ipina convention," Luke eximed. "I found something about it before enlisting, but my father advised against learning it. He said that it was quite pointless in our current age."


    Khan couldn''t object to that point. Technology was widespread among the species engaging in inteary travel, so trantors and simr tools were easier to use. Their uracy also surpassed the signnguage, making them perfect for political matters.


    However, Khan had never relied much on technology, and he had also been in situations where his phone was useless. He wanted to have a method that could work when everything else failed, and the low standards of the signnguage quickly convinced him to learn it.


    "You did it correctly," Master Ivor stated when the conversation quieted down. "Some signs were a bit odd, but the Cek should have understood them anyway."


    "Do you know the Ipina convention''s signnguage?" Khan asked.


    "I think my version needs an update," Master Ivor humbly joked, "And I''m also quite rusty at it, but it was nice to see someone so young disying it well. Your fame doesn''t do you justice."


    "You are too kind," Khan replied.


    "He really isn''t," Brucemented. "When did you even find the time to learn all this stuff? I thought you would have been quite busy with Cora, your lessons, and everything else."


    "I''m am a true master of packed schedules," Khanughed.


    "I was quite confident in my preparations," Monica admitted. "I might have to rethink my position. I can''t wait to see what else you have in store."


    Khan smiled without adding anything, and the conversation died afterward. The group and the guides resumed their walk toward the hangar''s exit, but the atmosphere among them experienced another change.


    Now that the flight was over, Luke''s handpickedpanions actively initiated conversations, and Khan''s performance put him at the center of the attention. Even Amanda began to warm up with him when she understood the respect that Luke and Bruce felt toward him.


    Khan kept the conversations casual and never opened up properly. He was never impolite, but he wanted to understand hispanions'' characters before choosing who deserved his trust. Moreover, his surroundings distracted him from the many questions flying at him.


    The hangar wasn''t only big. It also featured a vastly diverse ethnicity that took control of Khan''s gaze. His head turned left and right as he connected everything he had studied in thest period with the interesting aspects of the scenery.


    ''That''s a group of Enos!'' Khan eximed when he noticed a series of short, humanoid pink aliens.


    Except for the pink color, the Enos didn''t particrly stand out as aliens. They were thirty to fifty centimeters shorter than humans on average, but they featured the same number of limbs and fingers.


    The Enos'' faces were a bit odd from a human perspective. They didn''t have noses or ears, but only two big round eyes and a wide mouth.


    ''What''s an Aphre doing here?!'' Khan gasped when he saw a solitary, dirty, humanoid giant in the distance.


    The Aphre were slightly shorter than the Stal, but they were nowhere near stupid. Their bodies were alwayspletely covered in dirt and slime, and their shy character conflicted with their huge size.


    The reports about the Aphre were vague and scattered. Khan couldn''t learn much about them. He only knew that their actual appearance was still a mystery since those aliens handled most of their political negotiations through thework.


    Khan found himself gasping and reviewing his knowledge multiple times during the walk. Milia 222 was a popr destination, and the first asteroid could feature the strangest creatures since everyone had tond there. That hangar was a paradise for those who wanted to see different aliens.


    Leaving the hangar didn''t change the busy atmosphere. Thanks to Luke, the group could skip many check-outs, and their eyes widened in surprise when they stepped inside the actual dome.


    A bright environment unfolded right outside the hangar. Noises of every kind, multicolored signs, and crowds assaulted the group''s senses and forced them to halt their steps in order to adjust to the messy scenery.


    Khan had grown used to Earth''s bustling cities, but Milia 222 managed to startle him. A constant pale-blue light shone from the curved ceiling of the dome and blended with the shing signs of the shops that filled both sides of the street.


    Vendors of multiple species shouted offers in differentnguages, but most people ignored them as they went on their way. The few who decided to purchase something fell prey to loud bargains that aimed to lower the prices.


    The street didn''t stand on any ground. In the spots without shops, Khan saw barriers and handrails that prevented the people from falling. Those structures stretched through the whole path, which ended in a cylindrical building connected to the ceiling.


    A few ships also flew around the cylindrical building. Some even came out from under the street and surprised the unlucky groups too close to the handrails.


    Khan had studied thatyout on Earth, so the scene didn''t surprise him too much. The first asteroid had a central pir that ran through its entire body and acted as a central point for the various streets and floors.


    The hangar had led the group to the first floor, which was nothing more than a colossal mall where anyone could purchase a spot and set up shop. The actual city started in the lower levels, which featured immense tforms that acted as the surface for various buildings.


    ''Books and holograms can''t beat reality,'' Khan thought. ''This ce is a beautiful mess.''


    The first asteroid was the mandatorynding area, so most of its structures, shops, and activities aimed to attract tourists. No species could take that ce as their home, but they shared the area rtively peacefully.


    Instead, the other asteroids had different percentages of certain species. The humans were the majority in the second, but their presence there didn''t prevent the existence of crowded groups belonging to the other aliens.


    "Be wary from now on," Master Ivor warned while the group was still busy inspecting the scene.


    The reason behind that warning was quite obvious. The crowds on the street were far from peaceful. Many were drunk or wasted, and a fight had even started somewhere in the distance.


    Moreover, dark-red aliens moved among the most crowded areas and pickpocketed any distracted traveler they found. Khan even managed to see thefts happening only a few meters from his position.


    ''They must be the Ots,'' Khan thought while watching the thief running toward the nearest shop belonging to a member of its species.


    The Ots were one of the species that inhabited Milia 222. They were humanoid but shorter than the humans, with the tallest recorded member reaching only one meter and forty centimeters.


    The Ots had two legs and arms but only four fingers on each limb. They shared the human''s facial features, but their ears and noses were long and pointy, and their heads were slightly bigger.


    Those aliens had no hair, but they usually donned piercings right above their eyes. They could learnnguages easily, but they were far from trustworthy. They were famous for being scammers, petty thieves, and disloyal, even among their kind.


    The Global Army had established a peaceful rtionship with the Ots, but it always put limits on trades and joint missions due to their famous disloyalty. Still, those aliens were one of the few species weaker than humans even before the evolution, so they never attempted to turn humankind into enemies.


    "I''ve never seen half of the things on disy here," Monica stated as the group moved through the street without nearing any stand or shop.


    "An expert might be able to find treasures here, especially from the shops owned by Ots," Master Ivor eximed. "However, most people would only end up with stolen, broken, or fake goods. I suggest you avoid buying anything on the first asteroid."


    "My mother used the same words," Monica revealed.


    "She must be a wise woman," Master Ivor politely replied.


    Khan ignored the conversations again to inspect everything he could. The shops on that main street didn''t belong only to the inhabitants of the asteroids, so he took the chance to set his eyes on as many aliens as he could. As for the items on disy, he didn''t know enough to consider a purchase.


    The lights, the noise, and the crowds were a bearable issue, but Khan needed time to get used to the waves of mana in the area. The dome was an immense machine containing countless buildings and vehicles, but that wasn''t the main problem.


    The main problem came from the different aliens in the area. None of them was too strong, but their mana radiated sensations that Khan had never experienced. The symphony that resounded in his mind had gained new sounds that temporarily destabilized his precise senses.


    The situation improved as the group followed the guides. Khan even helped himself through his eyes, ears, and nose. Connecting the unfamiliar waves of mana to certain species, events, or machines quickened the dispersion of his uneasiness and brought him closer to his peak.


    "Do you wish to visit the shops?" The tall guide eventually asked while turning toward Luke.


    "No, we''ll go directly to the city," Luke dered.


    "Let''s take this elevator then," The guide ordered while pointing at a small, rectangr building at the side of the vast street.


    The group followed the guides inside the building without asking many questions. The area felt a bit cramped with both teams stuffed in that small area, but no oneined.


    "Is any of you afraid of heights?" The tall guide asked while browsing through the interactive menus on the wall next to the entrance.


    Luke exchanged nces with everyone in his group, but he only saw shaking heads, so he reassured the guide. "We are fine."


    "Lower level 1, right?" The guide continued.


    "That''s correct," Luke responded.


    The guide pressed the correspondingbel on the wall, and transparent doors slid to close the building. Then, the whole room shook before falling at high speed.


    Khan saw the vast street raising far above him as most of the dome unfolded in his view. The room had transparent walls and ceiling, which allowed him to inspect the scenery as it descended along the four rails that stood at its corners.


    The true face of the first asteroid finally became clear. The central pir stretched past the main streets and descended toward a vast, circr tform filled with buildings. Those structures weren''t too tall, but they shone with the same colors as the shops found above.


    There was an actual city standing far under the previous street. ording to the reports, its width and poption didn''t match Reebfell or the other important settlements on Earth. Yet, its ethnic variety and diversity in activities were unmatched.


    "Why did no one ever give this city a name?" Khan asked as he lost himself in the lights radiated by the many buildings growing closer in his vision.


    "Because it doesn''t belong to anyone," The tall guide eximed. "Well, the other exnation also works. It can''t have a single name when it belongs to so many species."


    Khan had been curious about that detail since he learnt that the cities in the asteroids had no names. The reports didn''t seem to care about the matter, but he had finally obtained an exnation now, and it sounded beautiful in his ears.


    ''A city belonging to everyone,'' Khan sneered in his mind. ''That sounds unreal. I can''t wait to explore it.''


    The elevator reached the surface in no time, and itsnding was surprisingly gentle. The group left the room to find themselves in another vast and bustling street that separated the sidewalk from the vehicles'' path.


    That street also had multiple shops since it followed the path of the various elevators on the structure above, but the area wasn''t as messy. The tourists didn''t umte on a single road anymore, so the group could finally enjoy the vast open spaces of the first asteroid.


    "The cabs area is nearby," The tall guide revealed. "One of us wille with you, but you can kick him out when you are about to reach your destination if you want to keep your movement private."


    "We have nothing to hide," Luke smiled, and the tall guide nodded before resuming the march.


    The group crossed the street and took a few turns before reaching a parking lot with multiple terrestrial vehicles and a few long lines stretching from transparent rooms standing at the corners of the sidewalk. The purpose of those areas was unmistakable due to the people smoking inside them.


    "Is our cab here?" Bruce asked.


    "It will be here in a few minutes," The tall guide replied after he checked his phone. "The streets were jammed, so it''s running a bitte."


    "Luke, do you mind?" Bruce whispered.


    "Don''t even ask," Lukeughed, and Bruce left the group to get in line for the nearest smoking area.


    "Let''s take a look around while we are waiting," Luke announced before turning toward the tall guide. "Can you leave someone here for Bruce?"


    "Of course," The tall guide said before ncing at one of hispanions, who didn''t hesitate to walk toward Bruce.


    The streets that the group had crossed had a few activities, but none of them had attracted their attention. However, the guides knew what most tourists wanted to see during their first visit to Milia 222.


    The tall guide led everyone on the opposite street before turning a few corners. A few minutester, the group found themselves before a small stand that upied a tiny spot between two tall buildings.


    The stand wasn''t shy. Purple light shone from its sign and illuminated the few items on disy. They were nothing more than nes, bracelets, and ampoules, but they weren''t the shop''s main attraction.


    ''That''s a Nele!'' Khan thought when he noticed the beautiful alien behind the small desk.


    The Nele were one of the species that lived on Milia 222. They were basically humans with pale-green skin and hair of simr shades. Their eyes could have many odd colors, but their peculiarities didn''t involve their appearance.


    The Nele had a sad history caused by their innate gifts. Their skin carried pheromones that charmed anyone in their surroundings. They were beyond alluring, and that feature had been their doom in the past.


    The Global Army didn''t know everything about the Nele''s history, but it wasmon knowledge that they had lost their against another species in the past. Thetter had no use for prisoners, so they had turned the Nele into sex ves due to their innate features.


    Years of suffering had gone by until the Nele managed to rebel against their envers and reunite their species. However, theycked the numbers to reim their, so they established many small settlements in different locations, with Milia 222 being one of thergest.


    That tragic past had transformed the Nele from gentle and wise experts of mana into a prideful and deadly race. Khan had read that they killed anyone who dared to touch them without their consent. Also, they had developed the habit of having only one partner during their lives.


    "The Nele are beautiful, aren''t they?" The tall guide eximed without hiding his pride. "Milia 222 is one of the few locations where you can find them."


    "Are their pheromones as strong as the stories say?" One of the first-level warriors in Luke''s group asked.


    "Yes," The guide stated while pointing at the stand. "Do you see how the light of the shop doesn''t match its surroundings? You can see it from the other side of the street. It''s a warning for distracted tourists and citizens."


    "I know that they have developed ointments to suppress their pheromones," Martha pointed out.


    "But they won''t use them here, in their home," The tall guide exined. "The Nele''s pride is quite scary. They won''t stop anyone who tries to touch them, but they will kill without hesitation afterward. They decided that they weren''t to me for their beauty. It''s up to everyone else to develop self-control in their presence."


    "I remember that they were famous for more than beauty," Luke uttered.


    "Indeed," The tall guide agreed. "Their beauty is second only to their knowledge of mana. They can study it to predict future events, or so they im. Still, many tourists believe that, which makes the Nele fortune-teller business thrive."


    Whispers flew among the group, but everything went silent when Khan stepped forward and crossed the street to arrive in front of the purple shop. Hispanions called him, but he almost didn''t hear them.


    "Sir, he is already too close," The tall guide warned as panic seeped inside his tone.


    "I''m not worried about him," Luke dered, "But I don''t want to leave him alone. That Nele is a woman, so women should have a higher resistance to her pheromones."


    "Unless they are into women," The tall guide coughed.


    Martha snorted and stepped forward, but she wasn''t alone. Monica followed her, and she almost didn''t notice that Master Ivor was at her side.


    "You have yet to look at my item," The Nele said in a perfect human ent as she curled her long green hair. "You must be new here. You know, people used to pay a fortune only to take a look at my ancestors."


    Khan took a good look at the Nele. She was taller than him, and her eyes matched the purple lighting from the sign. She was wearing a loose dress covered in leaves and flowers, and she kept her slender arms crossed behind her back.


    ''I can sense her mana but no pheromones,'' Khan thought. ''How was it? I hope to pronounce it right.''


    "[I offer myself with nothing but respect]," Khan slowly said in a rough voice, paying particr attention to the ents that he had to highlight.


    The Nele''s eyes flickered, and surprise melted her cold face. Her arms rxed and went on her sides, revealing a sharp root firmly held in her right hand.


    "[You know our ways]," The Nele whispered. "[Come then]."


    Martha, Monica, and Master Ivor had reached Khan by then. The two women frowned when they stepped in the purple light. They instinctively gulped as their eyes moved on the Nele. The urge to feel her skin filled their minds, but they both resisted it.


    Meanwhile, Master Ivor appearedpletely fine, and he didn''t do anything when Khan took another step forward to approach the stand. Monica instinctively raised her hand to reach for him, but Master Ivor interrupted her by grabbing her shoulder.


    "Miss Solodrey, don''t worry," Master Ivor reassured. "Lieutenant Khan is in control of his actions."


    Monica could only give up on stopping Khan, and Martha imitated her after hearing Master Ivor''s words. The three remained behind Khan as they watched him reaching the stand.


    Khan stretched an arm past the stand. His hand moved dangerously close to the Nele''s chest, but his fingers never touched her dress. Instead, they plucked a petal from one of the flowers before bringing it to his mouth.


    "As expected from Lieutenant Khan," Master Ivor sighed in relief when Khan ate the petal. "He knows how to request for her services. His resolve is alsomendable. Even I would have problems at that distance without mana."


    "It''s not resolve," The Nele corrected. "Lieutenant Khan, I suppose. You don''t feel the attraction, right?"


    "I already had to go through a simr test," Khan responded.


    "That''s not it," The Nele dered as she pointed her free hand at Khan''s chest. "You have already found it, the one. Our gifts won''t work toward you."


    Khan initially didn''t understand what she meant, but the Nele slowly reached his chest and ced her whole palm on it. She made sure to feel his beating heart, and Khan finally got his answer. Liiza had done the same thing during their first meeting.


    "[Am I lying]?" The Nele teased while wearing a gentle smile.


    "Will you read my future now?" Khan asked, pretending not to understand the alien, but she didn''t appear fooled by his behavior.


    "I do not read the future," The Nele exined. "I study your mana and simte its interaction with an environment, Milia 222 in this case."


    "And what do you see?" Khan questioned.


    The Nele closed her eyes, and Khan saw all the mana inside her body flow toward her mind. She was only a second-level warrior, so the process didn''t take long.


    The Nele suddenly retracted her hand and dropped her smile as her eyes snapped open. She inspected Khan from head to toe while wearing an aloof face, but some wariness had appeared on it.


    "What did you see?" Khan repeated.


    "Chaos," The Nele revealed. "Imminent chaos."


    ****


    Author''s notes: Only one chapter today. The worldbuilding drained my mind, and I ended up crossing 3400 words again, so I just can''t write anymore.. I hope you understand.

 Chapter 342 - Bed

    A tense silence followed the revtion. Martha and Monica felt a bit skeptical toward the Nele''s prediction, but Khan and Master Ivor considered it seriously.


    Khan had studied Milia 222''s species thoroughly, and he had used Luke''s connections to get his hands on books that Reebfell''s market offered only to its premium clients. He had learnt a lot in the months before the mission, and the Nele had stood out.


    As a species, the Nele weren''t too special. Their innate gifts, customs, and tragic history made them famous, but they were rtively weak. Theycked a proper home, and their poption was small.


    However, Khan couldn''t help but find simrities between the Nele and the Niqols. They were both knowledgeable in the ways of mana and relied on methods that the Global Army found obsolete or tooplicated.


    The supposed ability to predict the future and those general features had made Khan very interested in the Nele. That''s why he didn''t hesitate to approach the stand as soon as he found the chance to interact with that species, and he had to admit that his initial idea wasn''t wrong.


    ''They are different from the Niqols,'' Khan thought as he reviewed the Nele''s words. ''They are warm, warmer than humans, but their touch is the same.''


    Khan instinctively passed his hand over the spot touched by the Nele. It was different, but he felt familiar vibes. Moreover, the alien had seen right through him easily. That couldn''t be the case.


    ''Maybe I can really expand my alternative methods by getting closer to the Nele,'' Khan concluded.


    Khan felt no affection toward the Nele. Their simrities with the Niqols made him respect them, and he even pitied their history, but that was it. Yet, when he studied them, he ended up thinking that they could grant him what Earth couldn''t in terms of alternative approaches to mana.


    The Nele stored the sharp root somewhere in the back of her dress to hold the hand that had touched Khan. Meanwhile, she kept her purple eyes on Khan, and he didn''t move his gaze away either.


    Martha and Monica felt that something strange was happening. It was as if Khan and the Nele had a connection that they couldn''t see. They moved at the same rhythm as if they belonged to the same species.


    "You are a strange human, Lieutenant Khan," The Nele said in a faint voice, revealing that she was as confused as Martha and Monica.


    "[Just Khan]," Khan eximed while trying to adjust his ent ording to the Nele''s words. "[You are]?"


    The Nele hesitated for a few seconds before stretching her hand and pointing her palm upward. Khan had read about that gesture, so he ced his hand above hers without applying any pressure.


    The Nele''s skin felt as smooth as silk. Her palm was soft and could make anyone desire to squeeze it, but Khan''s hand remained firm. The two remained in that position for an instant before she voiced a single word. "[Jenna]."


    Khan revealed a faint smile before retracting his hand. Jenna reached behind her back and drew her sharp root, but her eyes continued to follow Khan. She appeared slightly wary but also curious.


    "There you are!" Bruce''s voice resounded from the corner of the street. "Our ride is waiting for us."


    "I have to go," Khan stated. "It was a pleasure."


    "Do you n on going on the third asteroid?" Jenna asked.


    "Would I be wee there?" Khan questioned.


    "Do you have ill intentions?" Jenna wondered.


    "Don''t you know that already?" Khan continued.


    Jenna went silent before letting go of her wariness and giving an honest answer. "Anyone is wee as long as they wee us."


    "I''ll probably take a look if I have time then," Khan uttered as he turned to walk back to the rest of hispanions.


    Master Ivor turned immediately while Martha and Monica moved their eyes between Jenna and Khan before following theirpanions. They noticed how Jenna had yet to stop looking at Khan, but they let their doubts remain silent.


    "So, that''s a Nele," Bruce announced when the group reunited. "What were you doing there?"


    "Lieutenant Khan wanted to check his future," Master Ivor exined before Khan coulde up with a half-lie. "The Nele sees imminent danger."


    "I read that their predictions are far from urate," Luke stated. "Don''t think too much about it, Khan. I''m sure it''s nothing."


    "I''m not worried," Khan reassured while wearing a smile. "I only wanted to talk a bit with her now that I have the chance to practice my ent."


    "And flirt," Monica teased.


    "Remember that the Nele''s customs are quite strict in that field," Bruce warned. "You''d have to marry her if something happens."


    "I wasn''t flirting," Khanughed. "I was only being polite."


    "Make sure to be as polite with me during our drink," Monica flirted.


    "I was confident in my game before reuniting with you," Bruce uttered. "Now I feel that I still have a lot to learn."


    "Well, it''s Khan," Luke happily eximed. "Of course, he is amazing at that too."


    Khan limited himself tough to make that conversation end. He liked that none of hispanions had taken the omen seriously and were still easygoing. That would give him more freedom if he wanted to pursue personal matters.


    Yet, Khan noted down Master Ivor''s behavior in his mind. The soldier had reported everything almost immediately, which reminded Khan of the nature of their rtionship. Master Ivor was on Luke''s side. Khan couldn''t trust himpletely.


    Martha was the only one who didn''t join thoseughs and joyful conversations. Jenna''s words had left a mark that she couldn''t shake off, and that interaction had also made her feel strange.


    The premonition wasn''t an issue since Martha was somewhat skeptical about it. Still, the talk about Khan''s one and his apparentfort in those odd behaviors gave her strange doubts. Was that really the Khan that she knew? How could an alien draw out his honest self so easily?


    Those doubts never found a voice, and Martha soon ended up involved in some of the casual conversations of her group. She still searched for Khan''s gaze from time to time in the hope of findingmon ground outside of that pretense, but he often failed to give her time due to how much attention he received.


    Afortable ride led the group before a tall modern building that reeked luxury. That structure turned out to be part of the Cobsend family''s assets, and it had so many rooms that Khan and the others could have entire floors for themselves.


    A series of domestics had also prepared the building for Luke''s arrival. The group could enjoy Earth''s cuisine for dinner, even if it were costly on Milia 222. Still, the Cobsend family paid for everything, so no one mentioned the matter.


    The long travel had not been tiring due to thefortable ship, but the group still had to get used to Milia 222''s time. The domes never went dark, but it was custom to make the daysst thirty hours to please all the species living there.


    The busy work would begin right away, so Luke decided to let that night pass and move to his family matters the next day. He had yet to reveal the contents of the mission. Still, Khan guessed that some of hispanions already knew about it.


    Khan was nowhere near sleepy, especially with all the excitement inside him. He felt the urge to go out and explore the city, but he couldn''t act as a simple traveler for now due to the imminent mission.


    The building had almost everything a proper house would need, but itcked training areas. It had reinforced rooms, but they couldn''t endure too many spells, so Khan had to give up on tiring himself out.


    Luckily for Khan, he had many options at his disposal. Using the [Blood Vortex] there was impossible due to all the synthetic mana in the environment, but his busy schedule could resume anyway. Yet, he felt the need to check on someone before diving into his training.


    "It''s me," Khan announced while knocking at a door near his room.


    The entrance slid open and revealed Martha sitting cross-legged on herrge bed. She was wearing afortable and loose grey pajama, and the light of the interactive menus on the walls enveloped her in an azure halo.


    "Why didn''t you change yet?" Martha asked when she noticed that Khan was still wearing his military uniform. "I thought the domestics left a few sets of clothes in your room."


    "I wasn''t sure whether I would sweat," Khan exined. "I have so many exercises, but I also want to study a bit more. Today went well, but I still feel unprepared."


    Martha wanted to scold Khan for being a perfectionist, but she lost her voice while inspecting him. His performance that day had been outstanding. He wasn''t anything like the curious boy who didn''t even know about ambassadors. He had taken an impressive step on that path, but he still wanted more.


    "Why did youe here?" Martha asked when she thought about Jenna. "You should rest."


    "I wanted to check on you," Khan revealed as he entered the room and let the door close behind him. "The real deal starts tomorrow. I need to confirm that you are ready."


    "You checked me a few hours ago on the ship," Marthained.


    "Come on now," Khan seriously voiced as he approached the bed and sat on it. "Give me your hands. Let me see."


    Martha pouted, but she ced her hands in Khan''s palm before summoning her mana. She created a few tiny spheres of energy above her skin and made them move in various directions while ensuring that their shape remained stable.


    "Good," Khanmented. "You aren''t wasting any mana doing this. I think you are close to regainingplete control of your power."


    "I still can''t get your senses," Martha whined while retracting her hands.


    "I think my talent therees from the mutations," Khan sighed as heid his back on the bed and crossed his arms on his forehead. "You are already above human standards there. You''ll be fine."


    "There is still the maniption field," Martha stated. "And where do you think you are? This is my bed."


    Martha stretched her legs and ced her feet on Khan''s side to push him slightly. Khanughed and let her do as she wished while voicing an answer. "I''ll teach you the maniption field if you want, but that''s not necessary in your case. Your family already has many spells, and you can also use your grandfather''s notes."


    "True," Martha agreed as she stopped pushing Khan. "I''ll think about it once I get up to speed. I can''t invest time into things that I don''t need right now."


    "Do you n on getting your feet off me now?" Khan asked since Martha''s feet were still on his side.


    "Do you n on getting off my bed?" Martha asked.


    "Just five more minutes," Khan whined in a silly tone.


    "Then my feet will stay there," Martha dered.


    A silent second passed before both of them exploded into a shortugh. Martha ced her hands behind her to make her position morefortable, while Khan moved his arms under his nape to stare at the ceiling.


    "Hey, thank you," Martha eventually whispered while ncing at one of the menus on the wall.


    "For what?" Khan asked, but Martha kicked his side softly and made himugh.


    "You know for what," Martha continued before lowering her voice. "Thank you for all the help in these months. I would have never recovered so quickly without you."


    "I was only keeping a promise," Khan replied while ncing at Martha. "Besides, I''ve always enjoyed spending time with you. You know that."


    "I know," Martha sighed, "But you had a lot on your te. Cora, the job, your whole life. You have put a lot at risk for me, so, really, thank you."


    Khan revealed an honest smile. He could express how happy he was to have recovered that rtionship. Martha was important in his life, and helping her had been incredibly fulfilling.


    "How are you feeling?" Martha expressed her concern.


    "I''m good," Khan stated. "I''ll never find another woman like Cora, but that''s probably for the best. I am too messed up for someone so kind."


    "You definitely are," Martha eximed.


    "Hey, you shouldfort me," Khanined.


    "Go to Monica for that," Martha uttered.


    "Are you jealous now?" Khan teased while trying to turn toward Martha.


    "Stay down," Martha giggled while putting strength in her legs. "But, seriously, that woman has her eyes on you."


    "I can''t understand what she wants," Khan admitted. "I''m willing to talk about it if it''s about politics, but nothing else. I''m done with rtionships."


    "Says the one who flirted brazenly with the beautiful Jenna," Martha scoffed.


    "I was only being polite," Khan corrected, and the two ended upughing again.


    Silence fell in the room, but Martha eventually fixed her eyes on Khan and voiced one of her doubts. "Say, what was that stuff about the one?"


    "Ah, that stuff," Khan sighed as his gaze went on the ceiling. "It''s probably a Nele thing."


    Martha kicked Khan again beforeining. "I know when you lie."


    "I''m not lying," Khan dered. "At least, I think I''m not. The Nele have only one partner for their entire life, so their idea of love is different from ours. We can move on."


    "Can we?" Martha asked.


    "Sometimes we must," Khan sighed as one of his hands left his nape and touched the spot where Jenna had ced her palm.


    Martha obviously connected that gesture to what had happened with Jenna, so another question left her mouth. "Was Cora the one?"


    "No," Khan answered right away, and Martha didn''t need to ask anything else to solve her doubt.


    "Khan, you should leave now," Martha said as she retracted her legs to cross them.


    Khan nced at Martha and noticed the faint bitterness in her expression. He wasn''t an idiot. He knew where that feeling came from, so he left the bed and crossed the entrance while voicing a faint "goodnight".


    ''It''s still too early for her,'' Khan thought as he walked back to his room.


    Martha''s situation was troublesome. Her interest in Khan was evident before falling into aa, but she found him all grown up and with a girlfriend when she woke up. However, they still spent a long time together due to the problems with her body.


    Martha never had the chance to move on, and Khan''s growth didn''t help in the matter. The parts of him that she liked the most had improved a lot while she was asleep. Khan had surpassed her expectations, and now he was there, at his side, and free.


    Khan''s situation was troublesome too. He had just broken up with Cora, so jumping into another rtionship was out of the question. However, he liked spending time with Martha, but treating her only as a friend wasn''t always good enough for her.


    Khan could only give Martha space whenever she asked for it and hope that she would feelpletelyfortable one day. As for what would happen afterward, he honestly had no idea. He barely knew where he would be at that point.


    A door slid open, and Khan began to throw his clothes around as he entered his room. The vast windows that acted as a wall were dark to fend off the constant pale-blue light of the dome, but he tinkered with the menus to remove that cover.


    The room lit up in an instant, and Khan stood in his underwear before the windows to inspect the scenery. The city was still awake. People roamed its streets, and vehicles moved everywhere, but no sound reached Khan.


    The spectacle was incredible and gave Khan an idea of life in the big cities. He wasn''t sure whether he liked it or not, but he was inclined toward thetter for now. He enjoyed seeing such diversity, but the synthetic mana added a bad smell to everything.


    ''That guy is still there,'' Khan thought when he nced at the street under him.


    An Ots sat on a rtively hidden spot on the sidewalk right in front of the building. It resembled a beggar, but its eyes were lively and attentive. It also appeared quite interested in the entrance of the Cobsend family''s structure.


    ''Is it spying on us?'' Khan wondered. ''Am I being too paranoid?''


    Khan couldn''t find answers to his questions, and a knocking noise eventually resounded from his door and forced him to divert his attention from the windows.


    ''What is Monica doing here?'' Khan thought after recognizing the presence behind the door.


    Khan quickly darkened the room and wore a pair of clean trousers. He wanted to cover his torso too, but the knocking became louder. Monica sounded in a hurry, so he opened the door right away.


    "What is i-?" Khan didn''t have the chance to finish his line since Monica stumbled through the entrance before nting her feet on the floor and taking a few seconds to restore her bnce.


    The scent of booze filled the room in an instant, but Khan only needed to shoot a nce at Monica''s face to understand that she waspletely drunk. It was actually surprising that she had managed to get so wasted in the short time after dinner.


    "Khaan!" Monica shouted before rushing toward Khan.


    Monica stumbled and forced Khan to jump forward to catch her. She raised her head and giggled, and ament inevitably left her mouth when his muscles entered her vision. "Wow, no wonder you are popr with women."


    "Monica, what are you doing in my room?" Khan asked as he helped her straighten her position.


    "I wanted us to have our drink," Monica said without stuttering even once.


    "I think you already had enough for tonight," Khan dered. "Let''s go. I''ll bring you to your room."


    "Noo!" Monica whined while locking her arms around Khan''s torso. "I want to sleep here."


    "That''s quite improper," Khan responded.


    "So, this is the scar," Monica voiced while cing her head on Khan''s chest. "It''s not ufortable."


    "I don''t see any connection there," Khan frowned.


    No answer came from Monica. She even stopped struggling, which made Khan call her a few times. However, he had to hear a snore before understanding what had happened.


    ''Did she just fall asleep in my arms?!'' Khan cursed.


    Another curse resounded in Khan''s mind when he thought about the situation. He didn''t know where Monica''s room was, and asking hispanions would only create misunderstandings. The domestics were also out of the question.


    ''I should introduce her to George,'' Khan sighed in his mind as he looked at his bed. It seemed that he wouldn''t get to try it that night.


    .


    .


    .


    Jenna was still behind her stand when the night arrived. The dome didn''t go dark, but she knew that her time to sleep had almoste.


    As Jenna expected, a slender male Nele came out from one of the buildings next to the stand and approached her without saying much. He had just woken up for his shift, so he wasn''t in the mood for words.


    "[Uther, is the boss awake]?" Jenna asked without leaving the stand.


    "[He is getting ready to sleep]," Uther revealed. "[A big shipment ising tomorrow, and he wants to be in perfect form. Why is that]?"


    "[I need him to contact the leaders]," Jenna exined.


    "[Was it one of your predictions]?" Uther asked.


    "[Something will happen on Milia 222]," Jenna stated. "[Our kind has to stash supplies to prepare for the worst]."


    ****


    Author''s notes: One today as well.. Tomorrow I should be able to go back to two.

 Chapter 343 - Short-distance

    Khan ended up spending the whole night with Monica snoring in his bed. He obviously gave up on sleeping to opt for a long meditative session alternated by mental exercises and quick inspections at the Ots on the sidewalk.


    The Ots never went to sleep either, but Khan didn''t know if it had taken short naps while he was busy training. Still, that behavior convinced Khan to mention the issue to hispanions once the morning arrived.


    Khan had to use the menus on the walls to keep track of the passage of time. The environment outside the window couldn''t tell him how long he spent in the meditative state, and he was kind enough not to use rms to let Monica rest properly.


    A faint tremor ran through the synthetic mana in the room and pulled out Khan from his meditative state. He opened his eyes in time to hear a weak groaning from his bed. Monica had awakened.


    Monica raised her head and inspected the room, but her sleepy eyes widened when they fell on Khan sitting next to the window. She remained silent as she scoured her mind to search for the previous night''s memories, and she lowered her gaze after finding them.


    "So, yesterday wasn''t a dream," Monica whispered while sitting on the bed and wrapping her arms around her knees.


    "No, it wasn''t," Khan calmly replied as he stood up and reached the bathroom.


    A few secondster, Monica saw Khan entering the bedroom with a ss of water in his hand. That unexpected kindness left her surprised, and she remained silent as Khan reached her and waited for her to finish drinking.


    "Thank you," Monica said before clearing her throat and taking another sip.


    "How are you feeling?" Khan asked while remaining at the side of the bed.


    "Just a slight headache," Monica revealed in a faint voice. "I''ll be fine in a few minutes."


    "Do you want me to pick breakfast for you?" Khan questioned.


    "No need," Monica responded while diverting her gaze from the cup and ying with her curls. "I''ve already bothered you enough."


    "It''s fine," Khan reassured. "I''ve dealt with much more on Nitis. I was only a bit surprised to see you so wasted. I didn''t expect it from you."


    "It''s that idiot Francis'' fault," Monica exined. "He always uses special booze to get me drunk quickly."


    Francis Alstair was the second second-level warrior recruited by Luke. He was tall, with a skinny build, slightly long golden hair, and dark eyes. He never spoke too much. He limited himself tough at the jokes. Still, on the ship, Khan had noticed that Francis became more talkative when Monica was around.


    Khan had yet to get an idea about Francis. He was as polite as the others, but Khan couldn''t say anything else about him. Yet, Monica''s revtion added a feature that Khan didn''t like to his figure.


    "That doesn''t sound like something he should do," Khan stated, making sure not to be too explicit or harsh with his words. He didn''t know how Monica would take them, and Francis remained a member of a wealthy family close to Luke. It was better to tread that conversation carefully.


    "Don''t tell me!" Monica cursed. "I would have stopped talking to that bastard long ago if our families weren''t so close. We are childhood friends, and we basically grew together, but I hate the guy."


    "Not drinking with him is a good start," Khan suggested.


    "It''s not so simple," Monica uttered while turning to look at Khan. "Francis is an important member of the Alstair family, which is almost as famous as the Cobsend family. Being nice to him is almost a duty for me."


    "What if¡­," Khan began to ask before shutting his mouth and gazing at an empty spot of the bed.


    "He doesn''t have the balls to take advantage of me," Monica responded. "My mother would eat him alive if he tries. She wouldn''t care that my father wants us to marry to strengthen the friendship between our families."


    Khan knew that the life of the wealthy descendants wasn''t as easy as it looked, but he had only heard something about Martha''s situation before. Monica added a new perspective to that window into their life, and it looked far from good.


    "Thank you for worrying about me," Monica continued while wearing an honest smile that brought Khan''s eyes back on her.


    "It''s nothing," Khan replied.


    Monica and Khan stared at each other for a few seconds, and the silence slowly grew awkward. However, Monica eventually lowered her eyes to inspect the ck cardigan that Khan had worn. It didn''t take long before ament left her mouth. "You wore some clothes."


    "Of course, I did," Khan sneered.


    "What a pity," Monica whispered while bringing the ss to her mouth.


    Khan couldn''t help but shake his head, and a chuckle also escaped his mouth. Monica spat the water back inside the ss since his reaction made herugh, and Khan ended up exploding into a giggle at that scene.


    "Don''t!" Monicained asughs made her fail to muster a serious tone. "I''m trying to drink."


    "I''m sorry," Khan uttered as he suppressed hisugh and pointed at the ss. "Do you want me to change it?"


    The two exchanged a nce before exploding into augh again. The faint barrier that separated them seemed to vanish at that point. The politics became unable to poison their thoughts anymore.


    "Please, don''t be so worried around me," Monica requested once she stoppedughing. "I promise I won''t use anything you say to make problems for you."


    "I need to watch my back among these wealthy soldiers," Khan said in a joking tone.


    "Come on!" Monica giggled while reaching for Khan''s arm. "Sit with me, at least. This is your bed."


    "Fine, but no hugs," Khan dered as he sat on an empty spot of the bed.


    Khan was only joking, but Monica went silent when she heard his words. Her eyes darted back and forth between Khan and the windows in something that looked like embarrassment.


    "You didn''t need to be so explicit," Monica whined.


    Khan frowned before rxing his expression. Monica was behaving differently in the privacy of his room. Her elegance was still there, but herplete confidence seemed to waver, and she had also shown quite the foul mouth.


    "Stop staring and say something," Monicained in a cute tone.


    "You are different," Khan revealed.


    "I''m not different," Monica exined while looking at her ss. "I have an image to maintain in public. I need to be the refined and confident descendant of the Solodrey family, but the rude, whiny, and demanding me is the real me."


    "Why did you show it to me?" Khan asked.


    "I don''t know either," Monica sighed. "You have been so kind, even after everything I did. I felt safe, so I just stopped restraining my behavior."


    "I''ve only given you some water," Khan joked.


    "And your bed, and you chose not to change room even if that could lead to problems," Monica added. "You either are a creep, or you did that to make sure that nothing happened to me."


    Khan felt cornered. The building had so many rooms that moving into a new one would have been extremely easy. He didn''t even have much, so the luggage wasn''t a problem either. Still, Monica was right. Khan wanted to make sure that she woke up safely.


    "I didn''t leave because this is my room," Khan lied. "You can''t break the bond between a man and his room."


    Monica exploded into augh that continued until she felt forced to leave her ss on the bedside table. She managed to stop only after coughing a few times, but she didn''t forget to reply. "I''ve never heard something so stupid."


    "You don''t know what it''s like to grow up in the Slums," Khan dered in a serious tone. "Having a house was a privilege. I grow attached to them even now that money isn''t an issue."


    Monica felt terrible for having mocked Khan so openly. She stretched forward and ced a hand on his shoulder while doing her best to convey her regret. "I''m sorry. I didn''t know."


    "I was joking," Khan eximed before winking at Monica.


    Monica initially didn''t understand what had happened, but an angry "you!" left her mouth when she realized that Khan had tricked her. She couldn''t help but attempt to push him out of bed, but he grabbed her wrists and started tough.


    "Why did you trick me?" Monicained as the two continued to fight. "I wasplimenting you."


    Khan did nothing butugh while ying along. Monica seemed to forget about her situation, and a proud expression appeared on her face when she managed to lock Khan''s arms above his head.


    "I got you!" Monica eximed, but Khan wore a knowing smirk that made her realize where she was. She had ended up sitting on Khan''s chest during the fight.


    "Ah, I didn''t mean to!" Monica shouted before jumping off Khan''s chest and retreating toward the pillows.


    "So, you can drop your refined manner when you want," Khanmented.


    "I''m not talking to you," Monica said as she grabbed a pillow to hug it.


    "You do realize that you are still in my room, right?" Khan teased.


    "It''s my room now," Monica dered.


    Khanughed and left the bed. He approached the wall to y a bit with the menus, and he didn''t hold back from reassuring Monica. "I have already taken a bath. You can use the bathroom if you want."


    "Did you take a bath while I was sleeping?" Monica asked.


    "A certain drunk woman drooled over my chest while I put her to bed," Khan reminded her. "I had to."


    Monica fixed her eyes on the end of the bed and went silent. She couldn''tin at all. Meanwhile, Khan deactivated the cover from thest window and went to take a peek at the street. The Ots was still there.


    "I''ll go find Master Ivor and eat something along the way," Khan announced. "Are you sure you don''t want anything?"


    "Why Master Ivor?" Monica asked.


    "An Ots has been in front of the building for the entire night," Khan revealed. "I think it''s checking on us."


    "Oh, you shouldn''t bother," Monica eximed.


    "How so?" Khan frowned. The Ots had their hands in all sorts of shady businesses. Warning Master Ivor was the least he could do.


    "We expected someone to keep track of our movements," Monica exined. "We couldn''t keep our arrival a secret, so we just epted that some interested parties would spy on us. I wouldn''t have chosen an Ots for the job, to be honest."


    "Is this because of the mission?" Khan asked.


    "Partially," Monica replied. "Khan, we are all valuable members of important families. Having people spying on us is almost normal. The opposite would have felt odd."


    "But the spy is there," Khan uttered. "Shouldn''t we scare him away or something?"


    "It''s better to show this than something potentially problematic," Monica exined. "Besides, the interested parties would just send a better spy the next time, maybe someone that we won''t notice. This one is an Ots. I wouldn''t be surprised if it spread lies to get a better reward."


    Monica''s exnation had no ws, and Khan immediately epted to be inferior to her in that field. It was clear that she was used to dealing with those issues.


    "Your life sure sounds troublesome," Khanmented.


    "That''s nothing," Monica snorted. "Imagine pretending to like Francis all day long."


    Khan and Monicaughed, but they separated in the end. Khan left his room and found a domestic that led him to the room where breakfast would be served. He was alone, but the food arrived as soon as he sat, and he didn''t hold back.


    Master Ivor was the first to arrive, and Khan used that chance to mention the Ots outside the building. Master Ivor repeated Monica''s answer, so Khan decided to disregard the matter.


    Everyone eventually gathered for breakfast. Monica ended up being thest to arrive, and her appearance showed no trace of the previous night. She had taken a bath and had changed intofortable clothes meant for the bust work waiting for them that day.


    Monica''s behavior had gone back to the refined and slightly yful manners that she used in public. However, she red at Khan whenever she found him smirking at her.


    Of course, Khan never let the others notice his smirks. Even Martha remained unaware of those silent interactions, but she made it easy for Khan since she was in a pensive mood.


    The group finished their breakfast and separated to prepare for the imminent trip. Luke had yet to reveal the details of the mission, but no one raised questions, so Khan also chose to remain silent.


    An hourter, the group gathered before the entrance of the building. It was still early, but the streets already had people. Most stores on Milia 222 never closed, so that lively scene wasn''t surprising.


    "Our ride is here," Luke eximed when a long and luxurious floating car stopped in front of the building. "I hope you have taken everything you need. We might remain there for a while."


    "There where?" Khan couldn''t help but ask.


    "You''ll see," Luke smiled as he hopped inside the car.


    The ridested for a while. The car crossed the entire city and stopped before thest elevator avable. The tall guide from the previous day was waiting for the group there, and he quickly led everyone on the main street above them.


    Khan began to understand where they were going. The elevator had led the group on the opposite side of the hangar, where a simr structure grew. Yet, no inteary travel set off from there, which left only a destination avable.


    The group entered the hangar-like structure and found dozens of bright, rectangr doors that seemed made of pure mana. The amount of synthetic energy in the area was so massive that Khan almost gasped loudly. He had read about those machines but seeing them created apletely different image in his mind.


    "You should cover your head with mana, or your hair will go crazy," The tall guide warned as the group got in line to reach one of the bright doors.


    The area was crowded, but the lines moved swiftly. Each person who crossed the doorspletely disappeared, and Khan even sensed their mana vanishing into thin air.


    "It feels incredible that they can keep these teleports active all the time," Khan found himself eximing during the wait.


    "It''s a technology possible only in specific locations," Luke exined. "It''s still expensive, but the short distance makes it somewhat bearable."


    "There are also six or seven species working together to keep Milia 222 mana reserves always full," Bruce added. "They divide the expenses for these short-distance teleports, so they aren''t too heavy on the economy of this ce."


    Khan had studied all of that, but the matter still felt incredible. Milia 222 had short-distance teleports that connected each asteroid to the next, and, ording to the rumors, they had never gone down in years.


    "The Cobsend family has an industry on the second asteroid," Monica whispered to Khan when the others began to converse among each other.


    "Do you know what we have to do?" Khan asked, but Monica shook her head.


    "Well," Khan decided to tease Monica since the moment allowed it, "Make sure to cover your hair with mana. We don''t want you to waste the efforts of my bathroom."


    Monica didn''t reply, and herpanions'' conversations soon captured her. Still, she found herself ncing at Khan''s curious expression often. He appeared utterly mesmerized by that environment, and she thanked her dark skin for hiding her blush.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I''m working on the second chapter now.

 Chapter 344 - Reinforced Fabric

    "What happened to you?" Bruce eximed, forcing the entire group to look at Khan.


    Khan was wearing an aloof expression, and his clothes were a bit messy, but they were nothingpared to the state of his hair. He didn''t cut it during the past month, and the passage through the short-distance teleport had made it stand up.


    "That''s what happens when you don''t protect your hair with mana," The tall guide exined.


    "I was afraid that my element could cause issues," Khan revealed while trying and failing to put down his hair.


    "These important machines are obviously resistant to your element," Luke stated, making sure not to say the word "chaos" in front of the guide. "I thought you knew."


    "It''s better to be safe," Khan replied while messing up his hair even more in the hope it could solve something. It didn''t.


    Khan knew that his element wouldn''t affect the short-distance teleports, but he had no exnation for the color of his energy. People would think that he was casting spells, so he sacrificed his hair and masked his behavior with reasonable concern.


    Martha and Monica were at their limit. Monica had covered her mouth through a casual gesture to suppress herugh, but Martha directly snickered. Khan''s appearance was too funny to remain serious.


    "I look as good as ever," Khan imed before darting forward to follow the guide, uncaring of the suppressedughs of the two women.


    ''So, this is the second asteroid,'' Khan thought as he tried to find differences in the environment. ''The symphony of the mana is slightly different, but I wouldn''t have noticed the change if I didn''t know that I crossed a teleport.''


    Crossing the bright door had been oddly uneventful. Regr teleports always applied some pressure on Khan''s senses, but that didn''t happen there. He had taken a simple step forward, and the world changed.


    The short-distance teleport had led to another hangar-like building where people moved quickly. Outside it, a dome simr to the one seen in the first asteroid unfolded in the group''s eyes. A vast street stretched from their position until the central pir, and a city grew under all of that.


    The general internalyout of the asteroids was always almost identical since the domes shared the same technology. The only noticeable changes happened in the cities, the other tforms below them, and the overall vendors.


    Khan didn''t notice any significant difference on the main street of the second asteroid. Various shops owned mainly by Ots filled the sides of the path, and the general noise was also the same. There were fewer people, but not enough to hint at a change in the environment.


    "You look disappointed," Martha said while the guide led everyone toward the nearest elevator.


    "And you finally smiled," Khan responded. "Is it about yesterday?"


    "You aren''t at the center of my world," Martha scoffed before wearing her serious expression. "It''s just my first real mission after Istrone. I know I''m ready, but still."


    "Hey," Khan called while cing a hand on her head, "You''ll be fine. Also, I''m here. I''ll jump in if you freeze."


    Martha nodded and decided to enjoy how Khan caressed her hair for a few seconds. Yet, she eventually noticed that herpanions were shooting nces at the two of them, so she hit Khan''s side with her elbow and proceeded to reach the teleport.


    Khan smiled and shook his head as he followed her. Luckily for him, Luke and the others respected Martha''s past enough to hold back jokes, but he still noticed how Monica was ring at him.


    ''Don''t tell me that she likes me for real,'' Khan sighed in his mind. ''Why do I always get myself in these situations?''


    The first distinct change in the environment became clear when the elevator started to go down. The second asteroid had arge share of humans, and the architecture of the city in "Lower level 1" showed that.


    Many tall skyscrapers made out of dark metal separated byrge obscured windows filled arge part of the city. The overall tform where the various structures grew also appeared smaller than the one on the first asteroid.


    Moreover, a fewrger buildings became impossible to miss during the elevator''s descent. They didn''t look like houses or blocks of ts. They resembled some of Reebfell''s shops, the ones that required some post-production activities to happen directly in the city.


    Khan held back from asking questions in the presence of the guide, and hispanions did the same. The group kept themselves busy with casual conversation as a ride picked them up from the elevator and brought them deep into the city.


    "You can stop here," Luke eventually eximed while tapping on the metal barrier that separated the driver''s seat from the rest of the car.


    The driver parked the car next to the sidewalk, and the group jumped off it. Still, when the tall guide tried to follow them, Luke raised a hand to stop him. "We''ll be on our own from now on."


    The tall guide was slightly startled, but he remained polite in his answer. "Sure, sir. Feel free to contact me when you need something."


    Luke waited for the car to disappear before inspecting his surroundings whileparing them to the images on his phone. After a few seconds, his eyes lit up, and he began to lead the group across the sidewalks.


    "The industrial area begins there," Luke exined while pointing at a series ofrge buildings stretching in the distance. "My family has multiple activities there. Voices will inevitably spread once we reach our actual destination, but it doesn''t hurt to buy us some time. We might gain a whole day if we are lucky."


    Luke was talking about eventual spies and simr problems. It became clear that his mission involved only one of his family''s activities and his careful approach aimed at leaving the interested parties without answers as long as possible.


    "Won''t the industrial area have spies?" Amanda asked.


    "You''ll see soon enough," Luke stated, and the exnation arrived once the group arrived at the borders of the industrial areas.


    The vast buildings prevented the presence of many streets. The whole industrial area only had a few of them, which made it easy for guards to control the ess.


    Khan saw humans wearing military uniforms standing in front of the closest entrance to the industrial area, and he noticed that the same happened in the next one.


    "The Ots are too messy," Luke exined. "The Nele have their own businesses on the third asteroid. The Bise don''t like to have other species around, and the Tors are too secretive to risk revealing their arts. Only the humans and the Fuveall upy this industrial area."


    Luke was revealing information that even the special reports that Khan had studied contained. It seemed that the industrial area was unique even among Milia 222''s environment, and the presence of the Fuveall there made a lot of sense.


    ''I have only managed to catch glimpses of the Fuveall since my arrival,'' Khan thought as Luke approached the guards and showed them something on his phone. ''I hope to see them properly today.''


    The guards performed military salutes as soon as they looked at the screen. Luke''s group could enter the industrial area without meeting any hindrance, but the scenery appeared strangely silent from the streets. There was simply no one there.


    "Is everyone inside?" One of the first-level warriors in the group asked.


    "This area handles the production of many valuable items," Luke revealed. "The shifts are long and hard, and the workers inside don''t have much freedom in the city due to privacy reasons. Still, these areas are immense inside. They are like small districts."


    "Do the workers live here?" Martha asked.


    "Yes, most of them, at least," Luke continued. "It is my understanding that the various leaders of the factories leave every once in a while. Yet, I''m only repeating my father''s words. I''ve never actually been inside."


    "Are you finally going to show us why our families are paying so much for this partnership?" Monica teased through her elegant manners, but she didn''t hold back from ncing at Khan.


    ''Did she just do me a favor?'' Khan gasped without showing any reaction on the outside.


    Khan was holding back many questions out of fear of barging into the ssified territory. Those factories involved wealthy families, and Khan wouldn''t feel surprised to learn that the noble families were also a part of it.


    Learning secrets came at a cost, which could be steep depending on the parties involved. Khan was curious, but he refrained from asking directly. Yet, Monica took care of that issue for him.


    "I must," Lukeughed. "You need to know about it to be part of the mission."


    Luke had to use his phone to find the appointed building. The group had to walk for a while to reach it, and Khan saw his wish fulfilled when they were about to approach the tall entrance to a structure.


    A tall figure stood at the end of the street, many meters away from Khan''s position. However, the pale-blue light reflected by the alloys on its body made him sure that he had found a Fuveall.


    The Fuveall were humanoid, generally taller than humans, and very muscr. Their faces were almost human, except for shorter noses and ample foreheads. Their hair was usually dark, and their skin was blue-grey, but their eyes could carry odd colors like golden and red.


    Nevertheless, the Fuveall''s most striking quality came from the modification that they applied to their bodies. They were a species heavily oriented toward technology, and, ording to what Khan had read, they were the only ones who could fuse bionic imnts and mana perfectly.


    The Fuveall in the distance was a two-meter-tall woman whose right arm appearedpletely bionic. She had silver metal tes going from the base of her shoulder to the tip of her fingers, and the imnts didn''t hinder her movements at all as she brought her cigarette to her mouth.


    Khan cursed himself for being so far away. He wanted to sense the manaing out of the Fuveall''s bionic arm, but his duties came first. The building''s entrance opened when Luke put his phone before a scanner.


    The metal door opened outward but remained half-closed. Only a one-meter-wide gap had appeared and forced the group to enter the building one by one.


    Khan was thest to enter since he wanted to inspect the Fuveall a bit longer, but the thoughts about the alien vanished when he saw the building''s insides. A storm of noises and mana also assaulted his senses as workers moved left and right to handle their different tasks.


    The group had entered into something simr to a central hall divided into two areas. The left zone had a huge cauldron that hovered above a blue me, while the right had a giant container filled with an azure liquid.


    A track with multiple mechanical arms ran above the cauldron, and the robotic arms attached to itpleted different functions. They either carried, picked up, or dropped materials into the item while making sure not to make anything ssh.


    Meanwhile, many consoles with specialists wearing white medical coats encircled the cauldron to check on the process. None of those men and women turned when Luke and the others entered. They appeared wholly focused on their job.


    As for the giant, cylindrical container, everyone could understand its purpose. The item had a massive amount of synthetic mana in its insides, and the tubes connected to its base spread to the walls to enter them and expand somewhere in the structure.


    Khan saw consoles and specialists around the container too. It was clear that the building was producing something, but he couldn''t understand what from that quick inspection.


    "It''s time to remind you that everything you see here is ssified, even for the Global Army," Luke dered. "This is a private business, and parts of it are secret. I need them to remain like this."


    Luke didn''t mention anyone, but Khan and Martha knew that those words were for them. They were the only ones in the group without any share of the factory. They were the only ones who wouldn''t suffer in the case of a leak.


    "Good, let''s go," Luke eventually announced as he stepped forward and followed the instructions on his phone to reach the destination.


    The group crossed both cauldron and container to arrive in a corridor that seemed to lead to the next area. However, they never discovered whaty ahead.


    Luke activated a function on his phone that made it radiate a yellow light from the screen. He then inspected the corridor''s walls with that glow until he found a mark that the naked eye and even Khan''s senses couldn''t notice.


    Part of the wall opened when Luke pressed on the mark. A new elevator unfolded in the group''s vision, and they didn''t hesitate to jump on it.


    "The lower levels after the first mostly have shady businesses," Luke revealed as the elevator began to descend through the metal passage. "They are like undercities where the soldiers prefer not to go. They are probably like the Slums, but with mana and aliens."


    Khan''s eyes lit up in curiosity. He wanted to see those undercities, but the elevator turned out to lead somewhere far different. When its doors opened, Khan and the others could see more workers, consoles, and peculiar machines.


    "Let''s get straight to the point," Luke ordered before leading the group toward a specific area of the underground structure.


    The new area featured workers that used a special spray to cover with synthetic mana specific tissues. Khan counted more than twenty stands, and they all had different materials.


    A short man separated from the console when he noticed Luke''s group to approach them. The soldier was bald and slightly overweight, but his face was beyond excited.


    "Master Luke, Master Luke," The man called as he reached the group. "You have arrived. I''m sure you won''t be disappointed."


    "Do you have a prototype ready?" Luke quickly asked.


    "Of course," The man announced. "We left it in a reinforced room just like you asked."


    "Can we break it?" Luke questioned.


    "Obviously," The man replied. "We already have the form. Recreating it isn''t an issue, but I must warn you. It won''t be easy to break it."


    "I''m counting on that," Lukeughed before letting the man lead everyone in a separate room that was almost entirely empty. Only a table with a human-sized chunk of what seemed leather standing on it upied the area.


    "You can leave now," Luke eximed, and the man left the room.


    When the door closed, Luke pointed at the piece of leather hanging from two metal arms and nced at Bruce. Thetter already knew what Luke wanted, so he stepped forward until the table entered his range.


    Bruce stretched his hand as his mana moved toward his palm. Five lumps of fire came out of his fingers before shooting forward and turning into fiery projectiles.


    To everyone''s surprise, the bullets hit the chunk of leather but left no trace of their passage. They didn''t even burn anything. They just mmed on the item and dispersed when their fuel ran out.


    ''It blocked the spell of a first-level mage,'' Khan stated in his mind. ''Interesting.''


    "This is a reinforced fabric," Luke exined. "My family will perfect it, turn it into uniforms, and sell them to the Global Army. This n is failproof."


    "How can you be so sure of that?" A first-level warrior among the group asked.


    "Because Istrone happened," Luke dered. "Because the families will invest into something capable of protecting their descendants. Ladies and Gentlemen, we are standing before a monopoly that has yet to join the market."


    ''Reinforced uniforms,'' Khan thought as he tried to understand how something like that could be illegal.


    The others felt excited to learn that news, but Luke made everyone focus on him again with his next line. "Some of these prototypes have gone missing in thest period.. There is a spy inside the factory, and we need to find it."

 Chapter 345 - List

    The word "spy" seemed to echo longer than the others. That''s how Khan and the others experienced the revtion in their minds.


    Silence ensued afterward. Everyone inside the reinforced room fell deep into their thoughts as they reviewed the revtion and tried to connect it to what they knew about the situation.


    Sneaking inside the industrial area, entering the factory, stealing a prototype, and escaping without leaving any trace sounded impossible, even when spells were involved. There were too many obstacles to cross, starting from learning about the actual existence of the prototypes.


    Luke had exined how the workers basically lived inside the factories. Only their leaders could go out every once in a while to enjoy the city, and their privileged position immediately turned them into suspects.


    However, the leader appointed inside that specific factory had to be someone extremely trusted. Khan also felt sure that the Cobsend family had already investigated them deeply, but Luke had still brought his team there.


    ''The Cobsend family must have already proven the leader innocent and investigated all the workers,'' Khan concluded.


    "Are there cameras in the factory?" Francis asked while the others were still busy reviewing the situation.


    "There are cameras on the various entrances to the industrial area, but nothing after those points," Luke stated. "Before you ask, yes, my family has investigated everyone inside the factory thoroughly and found nothing."


    "But that''s-," Francis began to say.


    "Impossible," Luke interrupted Francis. "I know, but some prototypes have still gone missing, and my family can''t send official forces to scour the city. That''s where youe into y."


    "Do you want us to explore the city looking for clues about your missing prototypes?" Monica questioned.


    "Our missing prototypes," Luke corrected. "As I''ve already said, the whole point of this business is in its nature as a monopoly. All the Credits invested in the research for the reinforced fabric will be wasted if apetitor appears. We would probably still manage to break even, but I bet none of us wants that."


    ''It''s impossible for everyone inside the factory to be innocent,'' Khan thought. ''Even these wealthy descendants knew nothing about the reinforced fabric. Unless, of course, someone inside Luke''s family has leaked the information.''


    That still wasn''t enough to find answers. The Cobsend family would have noticed if someone important enough to know about the factory were to travel to Milia 222. They would have immediately turned into suspects, which brought the target back on the workers.


    ''It has to be a worker, or the leader, or both,'' Khan stated in his mind, ''But they would have never been able to create believable alibis on their own. Someone powerful enough to fool the Cobsend family must have helped them, someone who already knew that something was going on here.''


    A realization suddenly dawned upon Khan''s mind. Only a wealthy family with influence equal or slightly inferior to the Cobsend family could find ways to turn workers into spies and provide them with what they needed to appear innocent.


    However, only a family involved in the project could know that the factory had something worth stealing. Monica and the others came from families that had invested in the reinforced fabric, which turned them into suspects.


    Khan understood that Luke''s invitations had a hidden purpose. He didn''t only want to create a team that could pass unnoticed inside the city. He also needed all the potential culprits to be on Milia 222.


    ''It''s moreplicated than that,'' Khan thought as he dived deeper into the matter. ''Those in this team might know nothing about the thefts even if members of their families were involved.''


    Khan also saw the second hidden purpose behind Luke''s invitation. Thetter probably knew that Monica and the others were unaware of the shady ns run by their families, but bringing them on Milia 222 would make the real culprits nervous. That could lead to mistakes that could lead to the truth.


    ''Everyone except for Martha and I is a suspect,'' Khan concluded. ''Maybe Bruce and Amanda are to exclude due to their tight rtionship with Luke, and the same goes for Master Ivor.''


    Everything fell apart when Khan began to doubt hispanions. Monica''s behavior turned from interesting to worrisome. Khan didn''t know if she was only pretending to be attracted to him. Her story about Francis might have been a lie to bring Khan on her side and hinder the investigation.


    ''I can''t trust anyone,'' Khan eximed in his mind as he summarized everything he had learnt and guessed.


    Only someone inside the factory could know about the prototypes, but only someone from wealthy families could make the actual theft possible. Also, Luke would have probably learnt if his reinforced fabrics had hit the market, which meant that they were still hidden somewhere, probably on Milia 222.


    Khan soon understood what he had to do. The Cobsend family had alreadye back empty-handed from its investigations, so he had to start from the ces that it couldn''t reach. He had to find clues about the prototypes inside the city and connect them to the actual theft.


    "What do you know about the criminal organizations on the asteroids?" Khan eventually asked.


    "I will send you a report written by a trusted figure in my family," Luke stated. "It will list many locations known for their illegal activities. Other than that, I''ll support you as much as I can. I only regret being unable to join the search since I would stand out too much."


    "Isn''t the same with them?" Khan questioned while ncing at Bruce and the others.


    "No one knows about their shares in the factory," Luke revealed. "As far as the workers know, the Cobsend family is the sole owner, so eventual leaks would have spread that lie."


    ''How can something so secretive even get robbed?'' Khan wondered as he tried to imagine if the invisible man met in Reebfell''s Slums could pull that theft off. He surely would have an advantage in front of cameras and simr tools, but the factory''s doors would be enough to keep him outside.


    The first-level warriors voiced questions that Khan had already answered on his own, and Luke''s replies eventually made everyone understand that he suspected them. Luke never said anything specific about that, but their involvement was almost evident. Only an idiot wouldn''t make that connection.


    "Can I?" Khan asked while pointing at the reinforced fabric in the distance.


    "Sure, go ahead," Luke announced.


    Khan reached the reinforced fabric and walked around the table to study every inch of the item. The material didn''t seem to have anything special at first sight, but Khan observed with more than his eyes.


    The mana inside the fabric was odd, to say the least. Khan sensed the heavy presence of synthetic mana with different natures fused with something that felt natural.


    His first guess was that the scientists had added effects to an item that already carried favorable features. Still, Khan didn''t linger too long on his hypotheses and focused on memorizing the peculiar signature of the fabric.


    Khan actually had it easy there since he had never sensed a simr item during his life. The mana on it was too diverse, which created a unique signature that he would never fail to recognize.


    The inspection didn''t stop there. Khan''s methods went beyond human standards, and he had applied them to items far more disgusting.


    Khan approached the table and neared his head to the reinforced fabric. Initially, he limited himself to touching it and growing used to the sensations it caused on his fingers. Yet, he soon proceeded to sniff it and rub his face on its long sides.


    That behavior left the group in the distance surprised, but their mouths opened when they saw Khan licking the fabric. He made sure to experience the chemical taste lingering on the unique leather before ending the inspection.


    Khan kept his eyes on the reinforced fabric as he retreated toward the group. The uniqueness of the mana signature carried by the item allowed him to sense it clearly even when he wasn''t too close to it. A casket or any random container could probably cover that detail, but he still wanted to be ready.


    "Luke, what''s the illegal aspect of the item?" Khan asked once he returned to the group. "There might be a connection between that and the theft."


    "I''m afraid I can''t reveal that," Luke eximed. "I do trust you, Khan, but these restrictionse from above me. These secrets might tarnish my family''s reputation."


    "No problem," Khan reassured. "Yet, can you confirm that the illegal aspect has nothing to do with the theft?"


    "There can''t be a connection," Luke vaguely exined. "Different aspects of this business would have suffered otherwise. The culprits wouldn''t stop at a simple theft in that case."


    Khan discarded that option and went back to the initial hypothesis. Investigating hispanions wouldn''t lead anywhere, so he had to find the stolen leather and trace the culprit. He believed that everything would be clear afterward.


    "When do we start?" Khan questioned while picking up his phone. "Why don''t you send the report since you are at it?"


    "This reinforced room prevents ess to thework," Luke revealed. "Many areas inside the factory do the same. I''ll send it as soon as we go out."


    "Is it possible to have the results of your family''s investigations too?" Khan wondered. "I''d also like to know more about the workers and the leader of the factory."


    "Everything about the workers is ssified," Luke dered. "However, I can give you the reports of the investigations without the actual names. If you find something odd, you can just point it out, and I''ll ask my family to check again."


    "That works," Khan nodded.


    "Well then," Luke eximed, "Do any of you have other questions that are better to ask in this private area? Mind you. I expect the mission to start as soon as we leave."


    "What," Amanda said with evident hesitation in her voice, "What do we do if we find out that our family is involved in the theft?"


    Bruce red at Amanda, and the others also shot meaningful nces at her. The woman had expressed her worry since she feared that her family could ruin her chances with Luke, but she didn''t realize that everyone had kept the topic silent on purpose. Luckily for her, Luke had a silver tongue.


    "I''m sure none of your families are involved," Luke reassured. "It would make little to no sense to betray this economic alliance. My money is on the Fuveall since their factories are so close."


    Khan rolled his eyes after making sure that no one was looking at him. The Fuveall generally had straightforward and honest characters. Moreover, they were a species that specialized in technology. They would rather create a better reinforced fabric than steal it.


    Luke had clearly lied, but his words still carried some truth. There had to be a reason behind that potential betrayal, and Khan didn''t see it. He didn''t know enough about that field to understand how stealing prototypes could benefit someone inside the same financial alliance.


    ''There has to be something that makes the theft worth it,'' Khan thought. ''Unless I''m wrong about the involvement of mypanions'' families, which would leave me without any clear hypothesis.''


    Truth be told, the hypothesis didn''t matter too much. Khan only had to find the stolen leather. Everything else would be clearer afterward.


    The group decided to ignore the topic brought up by Amanda to ask a few questions connected to the nature of the investigation. It turned out that Luke didn''t care what they did as long as they achieved results. They hadplete freedom on the approach, and he would take care of all eventual problems.


    The group left the factory as quickly as they entered. The insides of the industrial area soon reappeared in their vision, and Luke didn''t hesitate to send the reports at that point.


    The reports listed many famous locations dealing with stolen merch and simr businesses. They even featured a few names and descriptions, which stated how they came from someone who deeply knew Milia 222''s environment.


    A second message reached Khan''s phone while he was busy studying the list. A frown tried to appear on his face when he noticed that the text came from Luke, but he quickly suppressed that reaction, and no one noticed the event since they had their heads on their screens.


    ''It''s not the Eerly family,'' Khan read on the message. Luke was basically clearing Bruce and Amanda from the possible suspects while confirming Khan''s initial guess.


    "I don''t know how you want to divide yourselves," Luke eximed. "I suggest you make teams of two or three to have someone watching your back. I''ll be here or in another house on the second asteroid. Just send me a message if you need anything."


    Exchanges of nces immediately happened among the group. The soldiers already had preferences, so forming teams wouldn''t take long. Only Khan found himself hesitant when he found Martha and Monica looking at him.


    Khan disregarded Monica and focused on Martha. He wanted to look after her, but he also knew that he would be better off on his own. His senses and Milia 222''s peculiar environment gave him an innate advantage that could be null if he was with someone who didn''t know how to blend in.


    "I think I''ll clear these ces faster if I go alone," Khan eventually spoke the truth, "But I won''t stop you if you want toe with me."


    Martha understood Khan''s abilities better than anyone else on the team, so she took no offense in his statement. After all, they were working. They couldn''t put the mission at risk because they preferred to be together.


    Yet, Martha was an outsider among that group of wealthy descendants. She wasn''t sure she could find someone to team up with, and part of her was still hesitant about remaining alone.


    "Don''t worry about us," Monica eximed before stepping next to Martha. "We will be fine. Go and do what made you famous."


    Martha couldn''t help but shoot a surprised nce at Monica. She had basically teamed up with her without asking anyone''s permission, but that ended up solving the issue.


    Khan wanted to keep his barriers against Monica high, but he couldn''t stop the faint gratitude that appeared in his mind. Even if Monica ended up being the spy, he liked to know that Martha wouldn''t remain alone.


    "Though, give me your contact so I can call you if something happens," Monica continued while wearing a teasing smile that told everyone about her real intentions.


    "I think you can find it on my profile," Khanined while approaching Monica with his phone in his grasp.


    "But I prefer you to give it to me," Monica stated without blinking.


    Khan didn''t reply and proceeded to exchange numbers with Monica before separating from the group. He already had a target in mind. He had to interrogate the most untrustworthy but knowledgeable species on Milia 222. Khan had to look for Ots, and the list mentioned a nightclub on the second asteroid that suited his needs.


    A message reached Khan''s phone while he was about to leave the industrial area, and he felt no surprise when he read Monica''s name on it. Yet, its contents managed to increase his confusion.


    ''The illegal aspect must be the material used in the project. I''ll tell you more if I find something,'' Khan read on his phone before putting it away.. He didn''t want to trust Monica, but his instincts were telling him that she was being honest with him.

 Chapter 346 - Nightclub

    Khan put everything connected to the spy in the back of his mind to focus on the mission. He wouldn''t get anywhere by overthinking the issue. It was better to prioritize goals that could lead to actual answers.


    More messages reached Khan''s phone while he left the industrial area and began to roam through the city''s streets. Luke sent him everything he had on the investigations performed by his families and Milia 222 as a whole.


    Khan found himself with rtively detailed maps and a lot to read, but he left thest part for when he had more time. Right now, he wanted to reach the nightclub as soon as possible.


    The city on the second asteroid was smaller than what Khan had seen on the first, but it was still too big to explore on foot. He could sprint through its streets, but the random use of martial arts and mana in general wasn''t appreciated in that environment.


    Khan felt forced to reach the nearest taxi area to get a car that could bring him to his destination. He decided to go for something high-ss since Luke would refund those expenses, but his human driver didn''t hold back from expressing his curiosity.


    "Aren''t you too young for [The Loophole]?" The driver asked from behind the ss that separated him from the passengers'' seats.


    The driver had sounded kind, which probably hinted at honest worry. After all, Khan was only eighteen, and he looked like it, even if his mature gaze carried traces of his harsh life.


    "What can you tell me about it?" Khan asked.


    "I''ve never been there," The driver responded through a faintugh. "My wife would kill me if I spent my days in a nightclub instead of working. I''ve only heard bad rumors."


    "Like?" Khan pressed.


    "Well, all the bad rumors connected to the Ots," The driver continued tough. "A lot of nasty stuff happens in [The Loophole]. It''s not a ce for respectable people."


    "I heard that the nasty stuff only happens in the lower level," Khan questioned, using some information read on the report.


    "You shouldn''t speak about it so easily," The driver warned. "Are you new on Milia 222?"


    "Is it that obvious?" Khan wondered.


    "Most of Milia 222''s underground activities aren''t a secret," The driver exined, "But no one speaks about them. Even asking questions can be dangerous."


    "Will you rat me out?" Khan joked, pretending to have a na?ve approach to the topic.


    "I want nothing to do with that world," The driver revealed. "Minding my business keeps my family safe, so that''s what I do. I only wanted to warn you since you look like a good kid."


    "I''ll be more careful," Khan promised before diving back into his screen.


    Reading the details of the investigation was pointless for now, so Khan focused on the other reports. Sadly, Luke''s trusted figure didn''t write much about [The Loophole]. The list identified it as the center of multiple illegal activities, but it didn''t say how to approach them.


    The ride took a while to reach its destination. It was already past lunchtime by then. Khan paid the cab through his phone and noted down the amount spent before jumping on the sidewalk and inspecting the area.


    That part of the city was filled with tall buildings that probably contained multiple residential areas, but one stood out due to its shorter size. The shining sign on its front also made its purpose pretty obvious.


    Khan couldn''t read all those bright symbols, but they matched the images in the report. Moreover, the sign had bright images depicting half-naked Ots, which told him that he was in the right ce.


    The building had no windows or guards. It would resemble an immense b of dark-azure metal if it weren''t for its tall door and big sign. Khan approached the entrance to see how he could get inside, and he found an interactive menu waiting for him.


    ''Language: human,'' Khan read on the menu as he tapped on preset answers. ''Level of service: VIP; Type of entertainment: Drinks and spectacle; Table for one.''


    An exorbitant price appeared on the interactive door after Khan finished selecting the various options. Even his second-grade knife didn''t cost so much, but he didn''t hesitate to pay it.


    A hole opened on the entrance afterward, and Khan inserted his hand inside it as per the menu''s instruction. Something gently tapped its back, and Khan found that a simple triangr ck mark had appeared on it.


    ''Show ticket,'' Khan continued to read on the menu before cing the back of his hand on the intended spot. The door scanned the triangr mark, and the entrance finally opened.


    An empty, dark corridor unfolded in Khan''s vision, but faint red lights lit up when he stepped forward and the entrance closed behind him. The metal walls blocked his senses and prevented him from inspecting anything past them, so he focused on the mark while he advanced.


    The mark wasn''t mana-rted, but it had tiny symbols at its edges that Khan guessed revealed the nature of his ticket. The corridor even forced him to show it again when he reached its end, and the true face of [The Loophole] showed itself afterward.


    The loud music was the first thing that hit Khan''s senses. The shing lights came next, followed by hundreds of different types of mana. The scene was so different from the silent and empty corridor that he almost felt to have crossed a teleport.


    Khan found himself on a long passage that encircled an immense dancing hall standing a whole floor under him. People of different species stood next to the handrails that prevented them from falling below as they exchanged conversations and held various drinks.


    A few tables even appeared in the distance, but the unstable illumination prevented Khan from seeing them clearly. The constant noise of the loud music also made it impossible to overhear conversations. Only his sensitivity to mana remained somewhat reliable, even if the area did its best to disturb it.


    ''This is messier than a battlefield!'' Khan shouted in his mind as he tried to inspect his surroundings.


    The people standing next to the handrails had nced at Khan, but they quickly lost interest in him. Some even decided to head for the staircases that led to the dancing hall or the two counters selling drinks. Actual bartenders worked behind them, and they mostly were women donning revealing clothes.


    The extravagance that Khan had seen only inside Reebfell reappeared there. Many inside the nightclub had dyed their hair with bright substances that changed color every few seconds. Others had shining tattoos that made them visible even when the lights went dark.


    The same went for a few clothes or other essories. A world that Khan knew nothing about had just appeared in his eyes, and the surprise that he experienced made him forget about the mission for a few seconds.


    ''Do normal people really spend their time like this?'' Khan wondered as the smell of booze, sweat, and puke reached his nostrils.


    Khan quickly realized that he had been a bit optimistic. He didn''t even know where to begin to search for illegal activities among that mess, but the day was still early. He could focus on inspecting the area for now.


    A tinge of confusion appeared in Khan''s mind when he began to think about his first steps, but a human waitress donning the same revealing clothes of the bartenders approached him before he could leave the door.


    "Sir, would you like me to apany you to your table?" The waitress shouted while making sure to bend toward Khan to expose her cleavage as much as possible.


    Khan nodded and began to follow the waitress. She led him to the other side of the area, where the deafening music strangely lost some volume. Khan couldn''t exin how that happened, but he guessed that some technology was involved.


    "Would you like one of the private rooms, sir?" The waitress asked while trying to add cute tones to her voice now that she didn''t have to shout anymore.


    "I''ll take one near the handrail," Khan replied as his eyes continued to wander through the area.


    "This way then," The waitress stated while pointing at a corridor covered by red curtains that led deeper into the building.


    It turned out that the dancing hall was only the first part of [The Loophole]. Its internal areas had other activities, and one of them was the spectacle that Khan had purchased.


    The overall structure of the second part of the building was almost identical to the first. However, instead of the dancing hall, the lower floor had a series of cubes with half-naked strippers dancing on them.


    The strippers belonged only to three species. Most of them were Ots, but Khan also saw humans and Fuveall. The lower floor also had a series of tables around the cubes where people drank, shouted, and tried to steal a touch from the strippers, only to find sizzling barriers blocking their way.


    The waitress brought Khan to a table with a perfect vision over the whole lower floor. Its surface was also interactive, which allowed him to order food, drinks, or leave tips to the strippers. It even let him choose to whom give his Credits.


    The table also had other not so respectable options. The pornography didn''t surprise Khan, but he remained a bit speechless when he saw that he could purchase actual sexual services from a list of strippers.


    That wasn''t even the end of it. Khan found a whole section dedicated to drugs, and he felt lucky that they had descriptions. He wouldn''t have understood what they were otherwise.


    ''I know for a fact that half of this is illegal!'' Khan shouted in his mind as he browsed through the various options. ''How can this ce even remain open?''


    The answer was pretty obvious. No one checked those ces because they knew they would find something illegal. Khan guessed that the Ots in charge had sealed deals with the authorities of the second asteroid to keep the soldiers outside the area.


    The waitress had left Khan alone as soon as he sat at the table, giving him the chance to inspect the area freely. Only half of the seats around him were full, but the people on them didn''t pay attention to him. Everyone minded their own business, which told Khan to do the same.


    Khan ordered a drink and some food before moving his eyes on the spectacle downstairs. Meanwhile, he relied on his senses to inspect what would be too problematic to look at.


    The number of people inside the nightclub was surprising due to the early hour, but Khan guessed that life on Milia 222 worked ording to different schedules. Telling the difference between day and night was impossible there, so its inhabitants had developed an odd lifestyle.


    The list had told Khan that the nightclub had an underground area where the real shady businesses happened, but he didn''t know how to enter it. The menus didn''t show any rted option either, and asking openly about the topic didn''t sound smart.


    That left Khan with no option but to continue his silent inspection. He ate, drank, and kept his senses ready as he watched the spectacle and waited for something odd to pop up.


    No one disturbed Khan, but he began to hope for someone to pick a fight with him as the minutes passed. He wanted to see a change in that messy but stale environment, but his wishes remained unanswered.


    ''Should I spend more?'' Khan wondered during those silent minutes. ''Should I try to order some special service?''


    Theck of experience in that field left Khan hesitant. He had no idea how to approach the businesses that could be rted to the stolen leather. He had overestimated his ability to blend in.


    ''What''s the thing that would attract the least amount of attention?'' Khan wondered as he watched new strippers taking over the cubical tforms.


    Khan found his answer but continued to wait. He didn''t want to make a mistake right away, but the situation never changed. He didn''t even see secret passages or simr paths from his favorable position.


    ''I have to expose myself, at least a bit,'' Khan eventually decided and pressed on the option to summon a waiter to his table.


    A different but equally beautiful human waitress reached the table and bent forward to express as much sensuality as possible. Yet, Khan remained serious as he voiced a vague but meaningful question. "I''m looking to purchase something that''s not on the menu. I heard this was the right ce."


    "Our menus offer all sorts of goods, sir," The waitress gently replied while showing a wide smile. "Are you sure that you can''t find something you like?"


    "Everything is perfect," Khan said in the politest tone he could muster. "I''m just looking for something more specific."


    The statement seemed to trouble the waitress. Her smile remained wide, but she hesitated for a few seconds before giving an answer. "I''ll ask my superiors and see what we can do."


    Khan hid his excitement as he performed a faint nod and ordered another drink from the table. Another waitress soon brought a ss full of a dark-yellow liquid, but she left without saying anything.


    Khan drank as he waited for something to happen, but an entire hour passed uneventfully. He felt the urge to contact someone again, but he held back to avoid looking desperate. He knew that his act was almost perfect, but his young age might betray something that he wanted to keep hidden.


    After two hours passed, the same waitress from before approached Khan''s table. She didn''t perform any sensual gestures at that time. She only voiced a simple request that Khan didn''t hesitate to follow. "Please, follow me, sir."


    The waitress led Khan back into the first area before descending from the staircase connected to the dancing floor. The two had to slip through the sweaty crowd and reach a spot that stood right below the entrance.


    "This way, sir," The waitress shouted while reaching a hidden corner next to the dancing floor and knocking on the dark wall.


    A sizzling noise tried to make its way among the loud music, but Khan only noticed how the wall retreated to create a secret entrance. The excitement almost became too hard to contain at that point, but he retained his stern face as he followed the waitress inside the area.


    The secret area was dark, but Khan sensed a few presences near its bottom. The smell of cigarettes also reached him, but the waitress elerated and forced him to follow her closely.


    Then, the waitress sprinted forward, and Khan failed to follow her since the whole area lit up. Yellow light filled the secret passage, and Khan could finally add faces to the presences felt along the way.


    Six Ots sat at the end of the passage and shot cold nces at Khan while the waitress continued to run toward them. When she reached the aliens, she hid behind them and ced her back on the metal wall.


    "[Don''t worry, sweety]," One of the Ots said to the waitress. "[Stay put and let us handle this guy. You won''t get any extra if you get hurt]."


    The Ots then turned toward Khan and shook its head. It clearly wanted to appear menacing, and Khan yed along by pretending to take a step back out of fear.


    "Curious young human," The Ots spoke in an imperfect human ent.. "Who told you about this ce? Give us a name, and we''ll let you go without hurting you too much."

 Chapter 347 - Mess

    Khan found it quite hard to appear scared. Two of the six Ots were second-level warriors, while the others were first-level warriors. In theory, they were enough to inspire fear, but Khan was different.


    The Ots were one of the few species weaker than humans before and after the evolution. Moreover, the six aliens at the end of the passage didn''t have the aspect of warriors.


    The six were all overweight male Ots wearing fancy suits. Three of them had fuming cigarettes in their mouths, and the piercings hanging from their eyebrows had pendants or jewels attached to them that hindered their vision.


    The mana inside their bodies could appear scary for an ordinary soldier, but Khan had fought in wars. He could barely feel any threat there, and the rtively narrow passage also gave him an advantage due to his powerful spells.


    "Don''t be shy," The Ots acting as the group''s leader spoke again while throwing his cigarette on the ashtray ced at the table at his side. "Remaining silent won''t help you here."


    "I, I only wanted to purchase some merch," Khan replied while doing his best to stop his cold face froming out.


    "Why did you think that we would have what you are looking for?" The leader asked before raising his voice. "Who told you about this ce?!"


    Khan pretended to shake under the shout, and the Ots appeared pleased by his reaction. He then muttered a few unclear words before mustering a weak voice. "I read about it in a report."


    "[He is lying]," One of the Ots snorted. "[No one outside Milia 222 knows these details]."


    "[We have been too lenient on travelerstely]," The leader replied.


    "[They can only spread rumors]," Another Ots added. "[They shouldn''t be enough to bring a kid here unless he is an idiot]."


    "[Should we interrogate him properly]?" A third Ots asked.


    "What merch did you hope to find here?" The leader questioned in his rough voice.


    "I wanted body armor," Khan responded.


    "There are shops for that," The leader pointed out.


    "But they have bad and overpriced stuff," Khanined. "I thought you could offer a better deal."


    "Why?" The Ots continued.


    "Because everyone knows that the Ots are the most resourceful species in the universe," Khan said in his scared tone.


    The faint praise seemed to please the six Ots. Khan had studied the ws in their character. They were weak against ttery since every other species insulted and underestimated them, but the leader didn''t appear convinced.


    "[Stop smiling like idiots]," The leader ordered as a proud expression appeared on his face. "[The kid has a good mouth, but the boss'' orders area clear. We can''t let someone speak so openly about our businesses]."


    "[What if he is someone important]?" The weaker Ots among the group asked.


    "[Are you dumb]?" The leader cursed. "[Did you forget how much trouble we had to go through when the humans came to question us about the illegal skin? It''s better to silence everyone right away]."


    ''Illegal skin?'' Khan tranted in his mind. ''Is that the material that Monica mentioned?''


    The four first-level Ots nodded and left their chairs to approach Khan. The corridor could only allow the passage of three of them at the same time, so one of the aliens walked in front of hispanions.


    "We''ll go easy on you," The first Ots said after stopping in front of Khan and cracking his knuckles. "Don''t make it hard for us."


    The Ots pulled his arm back to prepare a punch, but his whole world suddenly began to spin. He couldn''t see what had happened, and his senses stabilized when his back hit the short ceiling.


    Khan took a step to his side, and the Ots fell in his previous spot. He had gone easy on the alien, but thetter still shook and puked due to the heavy blow that hadnded on his fat belly.


    "[You mentioned an illegal skin]," Khan said in the best ent he could muster. "[I''d like to hear more about it]."


    The sharp change in Khan''s behavior left the Ots speechless. One of the second-level warriors in the back was still smoking, but his cigarette fell as his mouth drooped open in surprise.


    "[Take him]!" The leader shouted when he recovered from the surprise, but a body flew above his head when his line ended.


    The waitress voiced a scared cry as she saw the fainted Ots sliding on the wall to fall on the floor. Khan had kicked him toward the bottom of the passage, and the remaining two aliens before him didn''t even notice his attack.


    The Ots'' cowardly nature took over the remaining two first-level warriors before Khan. They turned to escape from his range, but they found a knife and a leg blocking their path.


    "[Stay put while I speak with your boss]," Khan threatened.


    The two weak Ots felt as if their bodies had turned into blocks of ice. They didn''t even see Khan jumping in front of them, and the same went for his knife. They noticed the sheath hidden under the cardigan only now that it was toote.


    "[Afsar, kill him]," The leader coldly ordered, and the second-level warrior at his side raised his hand to point two fingers at Khan.


    Khan sensed mana moving through the Ots'' body and gathering on his dark fingernails. A bright white light came out of them and suppressed the artificial illumination in the passage before shooting forward.


    The attack moved quickly, and Khan''s odd position prevented him from dodging it through a sprint. The advancing light also filled most of the passage, which blocked every escape path.


    The leader didn''t seem to care that his underlings were on the spell''s path, and Khan also disregarded them as he raised his free hand. A wave of purple-red light expanded from his palm and shed with the iing white radiance, creating an explosion that filled the passage with violent gales.


    The two first-level warriors still standing ended up losing their bnce and falling due to the winds. The waitress voiced another terrified cry as she crouched under one of the two tables and hid her head between her arms.


    Only Khan and the two second-level warriors remained focused on the scene, but the two Ots didn''t hide their surprise. They didn''t expect Khan to defend so well against the attack, and the passage also stated that his spell had won the sh.


    Khan couldn''t possibly know that, but the group of Ots used that location for its specificyout. The rtively narrow passage gave an advantage to the second-level warrior since his spell could cover most of it. The various surfaces were also mana resistant, so the team could take care of troublesome characters without holding back.


    However, Khan''s Wave spell had opened cracks on those dark walls. Some artificial lights had also fried under the effects of the chaos element, which created a dark area around him.


    The scene that formed after the sh left the two Ots significantly scared. Khan stood among the darkness, with theirpanions lying around him and cracks spreading from his position.


    The knife in his left hand also added an ominous detail to his figure. Khan resembled a proper assassin, and his cold expression only intensified the fear that the two aliens experienced.


    "[I want to know about the illegal skin]," Khan dered while dropping any form of pretense.


    The leader fell from his chair and began to m his fists on the wall behind him. Khan took a step forward, but the end of the passage suddenly opened and revealed a new team of Ots.


    The neers inspected the situation for a single second beforeunching an rm in theirnguage. Simr cries resounded from the new opening, revealing the presence of multiple aliens.


    Khan didn''t sense any menacing presence, but the retreat appeared mandatory when he saw that the Ots left the new opening to approach him. They were far from scary, but the passage''s structure made everything troublesome.


    Khan didn''t want to kill anyone, but remaining inside the passage would force his hand. The death of an Ots would also put a permanent end to his investigation, so he turned to shoot toward the entrance of that secret corridor.


    A kick mmed on the wall, but the entrance didn''t budge. Khan could understand with a single attack that he wouldn''t be able to get out through his martial art, so he made his mana flow toward his free hand.


    "[Get him! Get him]!" The leader shouted from the back of the passage, but the reinforcements halted their steps when they saw that a purple-red short sword had grown out of Khan''s fingers.


    Khan didn''t even look at his enemies. He stabbed his right hand in the wall, and cracks immediately opened around the hole he dug. Those fissures expanded as his spell remained active, and an explosion eventually resounded through the passage.


    The people on the dancing floor didn''t hear anything about the mess, and the loud music wasn''t to me. [The Loophole]''s walls blocked sound, senses, and scanners due to the illegal businesses that happened inside it, so the events inside the secret passage remained isted.


    Nevertheless, the people on the dancing floor couldn''t ignore the explosion that resounded in the hidden corner of the area. The whole hall trembled slightly as metal debris shot forward and invaded that open area.


    Some curious dancers peeked past the corner to see what was happening, but they only saw a shadow running past them. After their stupor vanished, they noticed therge hole that led to the secret passage and the many angry Ots inside it.


    The presence of a secret passage didn''t surprise the dancers, and even the Ots inside it weren''t enough to cause a violent reaction. However, the aliens'' angry behavior and rushed movements made someone panic, triggering an unexpected chain reaction.


    Khan heard cries and screams while he shot toward the staircase. The crowd on the dancing floor tried to escape, which blocked the passage to the upper floor. Some even relied on martial arts to advance, which only intensified the panic.


    When Khan reached the staircase, he jumped and began to step on heads and shoulders to advance. Curses flew in his direction, and someone even swung a punch filled with mana, but he was too fast to care about that.


    Reaching the upper floor only showed Khan that the panic had already spread there. He saw the path toward the entrance filled with people, but the mechanism of the metal door didn''t allow the crowd to cross it at the same time.


    Khan could still jump on everyone andunch a spell at the door, but he would risk hurting someone like that. He had to find another path, but Ots began toe out of the corridors and point at his figure.


    Chaos unfolded in every direction. Khan couldn''t move freely due to the general panic, but the Ots were in the same situation. Everyone felt trapped as they tried to leave the building or find alternative paths, which only left them stuck in even more crowded conditions.


    Khan moved left and right only to end up in his previous positions. He wasn''t in danger, but making his way among the crowd was impossible, and theck of a clear exit didn''t give him the chance to create an escape n.


    People tried to m on Khan as the minutes passed, but he swiftly dodged everythinging in his direction. He felt forced to store his knife out of fear of hurting someone, but the situation remained troublesome.


    Khan eventually decided that breaking a wall or two was better than remaining in that situation. He knew where the surface was, so he approached one of the spots without people and prepared his mana for a spell. Yet, an explosion resounded before he could start his n.


    Cries and screams overcame the music as the pale-blue light of the outside world entered the building and fused with the shing glows. Khan peeked past his corner and noticed that a giant hole had reced the entrance.


    Soldiers donning green uniforms and wielding small guns filled the hole and shouted orders that Khan couldn''t hear due to the music and screams. Yet, the loud songs finally went silent, and a few orders made their way among the crying crowd.


    "[What is this mess]?" The Fuveall soldier in front of the group from outside shouted in the Ots''nguage. "[Do you realize how troublesome is it for us toe here? That''s it. All of youe with us]!"


    The people standing right in front of the soldiers tried toin, but thetter didn''t care. The Fuveall lowered his gun and nodded at the Ots woman behind him, who raised a conical device and spoke inside it. "[The building is surrounded. Do not try to escape, or we will use force to capture you]."


    The Ots went on to repeat the speech in othernguages, leaving Khan conflicted. He didn''t want to get captured on his first day of investigation. Still, that was his way out of the building.. He was even sure that Luke could get him out of any trouble if the situation required it.

 Chapter 348 - Cell

    Milia 222 had a special police force due to its unique environment. That organization didn''t have an official power in the universe and could apply its authority only on the seven asteroids. It also had limitations when it came to private areas owned by influential families or simr groups.


    The authority of the police force came from the governments of the main species on Milia 222. The Ots, the Nele, the Fuveall, the Bise, the Tors, and the humans managed that organization through intricate inteary regtions that made sure to respect everyone.


    Of course, Milia 222''s unique environment had opened the way for corruption and simr issues, but every government turned a blind eye to them. Everything was fine as long as it didn''t involve big political problems that could affect the alliance among the species.


    Milia 222''s police force had green uniforms that didn''t feature stars to describe the soldiers'' power. Moreover, most members belonged only to four species since the Tors and the Bise preferred to remain on their own.


    Khan kept his alertness raised high as he followed the soldiers'' orders and got into messy lines that led outside the building. He noticed how those attending the spectacle and the strippers were nowhere to be seen, but the police didn''t seem to care about the deeper parts of [The Loophole].


    ''This is probably an act,'' Khan thought as the lines moved forward.


    The Fuveall in charge of the force didn''t bother to send any soldier inside the building. He even pretended to ignore the people who sneaked past the curtains that divided the two areas. Annoyance and trace of worry even appeared on his face whenever an Otsunched cold nces in his direction.


    Khan only wanted to get out of that situation, so he didn''t resort to any trick. The prisons were safer than [The Loophole], so he behaved as he continued to gather information through his senses.


    It turned out that the Fuveall policeman didn''t lie. Large floating trucks and multiple soldiers with their guns raised had surrounded [The Loophole] and had prepared for a massive arrest.


    The police didn''t handcuff Khan, but it still led him on one of the trucks. He found himself stuffed among a crowd of drunk and sweaty people who didn''t seem to care too much about their situation, and the vehicle set off once it became full.


    The metal surfaces of the truck didn''t allow Khan to inspect the outside world. They were mana resistant, but he could make holes inside them if he wanted. Yet, he remained still since he knew where the vehicle was going.


    The trip didn''tst long. The back of the truck soon opened in front of a vast hangar dug inside the central structure of the second asteroid. Most organizations that involved the various species on Milia 222 worked there, and the same went for the prisons.


    The police made the prisoners pass through scanners to divide them ording to their level. Khan noticed the surprised expressions of the soldiers reading his results, but he ignored those details as he inspected the pir''s insides.


    The central structure wasn''t any different from the space stations. It featured grey corridors, white lights, and narrow corridors meant to make the best out of the limited space.


    The density of synthetic mana was even higher inside the pir due to the different functions and structures it contained. Khan perceived it as a stench that attacked his nostrils relentlessly. The environment was definitely interesting, but he instinctively hated it.


    The prisons stood at the center of the cylindrical structure due to security reasons. Milia 222 never experienced actual jailbreaks since each government eventually took over eventual investigations of serious crimes, but it didn''t hurt to at least pretend to have working cages.


    It took a while, but the soldiers eventually led Khan to a vast cell that featured nothing more than a long metal bench. The prison didn''t have metal bars. It separated its insides from the rest of the area through three ck pirs that created two barriers made of sizzling energy.


    Khan couldn''t help but find simrities between that cell and what he had witnessed on Ecoruta. The barriers weren''t as seamless as those found in the underground structure, but they did their job decently without depleting too much synthetic mana.


    "Sir, remove your clothes," The human soldier that had escorted Khan to the area announced before they could enter the room with the cell.


    Khan followed the order and ignored the surprised gaze that fell on his scar. The soldier couldn''t help but be more polite after seeing that detail, but his expression changed again when he noticed the sheath tied to Khan''s torso.


    "Nice knife," The soldier eximed as he took the sheath and inspected the weapon inside it.


    "Take good care of it," Khan ordered. "I don''t want to see a single dent on it when I retrieve it."


    The soldier didn''t seem able to hear Khan''s words while he continued to inspect the skull-shaped handle and the other fine details. That probably was his first time getting his hands on a second-grade weapon, and Khan didn''t think too much about it as he proceeded toward the cell.


    The barrier of mana opened after the soldier gave a few orders through his phone and closed as soon as Khan crossed its edges. He had nothing but his phone and underwear, but he didn''t mind it as he sat on the bench and sent a message to Luke.


    The area was silent, and the metal surfaces pressing on Khan''s bottom and back were cold, but he found some nostalgicfort in all of that. Yet, his peace didn''tst long sinceints in variousnguages soon echoed in the area.


    Khan didn''t need to wait long to find the source of thoseints. More soldiers approached the area with different aliens that were entertaining themselves in [The Loophole]. They were all second-level warriors, but only a few of them ended up sharing Khan''s cell.


    The police did their best to split the prisoners belonging to the same species to add anotheryer of security. The few humans brought in the area ended up in the cells in the other three corners, while a wasted Fuveall was the first to join Khan.


    "[How''s going]?" The Fuveall weakly voiced in hisnguage before stumbling on the smooth floor and falling. A metallic noise resounded in the cell, but loud snores soon reced them.


    Khan shook his head while a smile appeared on his face. He couldn''t help but think about his father and his first period inside co''s camp as he inspected the copsed Fuveall.


    The alien''s naked state allowed Khan to inspect almost everything. The Fuveall had metallic imnts throughout his back, which culminated in silver protections standing all around his nape. His fingers also had metallic structures on their joints, and the sound of gears eventually apanied the loud snores.


    ''I''m surprised the humans didn''t end up like this,'' Khan thought as his father became a predominant image inside his mind. ''Dad can probably point out why their technology is so good.''


    A sigh inevitably escaped Khan''s mouth. He missed his father, but he still felt hesitant in front of the idea of a reunion. He had too many questions, and a lingering fear apanied most of them.


    ''How many lies did you tell me, dad?'' Khan wondered as he closed his eyes andid his nape on the metal wall.


    Khan felt forced to open his eyes when familiar presences approached his cell. The soldiers seemed to make an exception when they brought the two strong Ots from the secret passage directly past the barrier.


    "[The troublemaker is here]," Afsar snorted while ring at Khan as soon as the soldiers left the area.


    "[Shut up, idiot]," The leader scolded. "[He can speak ournguage]."


    "[Boss, look at his chest]," Afsar eximed as traces of surprise seeped into his voice.


    "[I''ve seen it]," The leader sneered. "[The mutations must have reached his head. Only a crazy Tainted could make such a mess]."


    "[Come on]," Khan teased. "[I went easy on you]."


    "[Watch your mouth]!" Afsar shouted while pointing his fingers at Khan. "[You won''t get the chance to defend against me in this small cell]."


    Khan revealed a cold smirk as he brought his hand closer to the barrier to his right. Faint traces of purple-red mana came out of his fingers and made the synthetic energy sizzle louder. It almost seemed that a hole would form if he touched it.


    "[Chaos wielder]," The leader whispered.


    "[You don''t look surprised]," Khanmented.


    "[Your kind always causes troubles]," The leader revealed, "[And I don''t know other second-level warriors who can break The Loophole''s walls so easily]."


    "[I must say that I liked the ce]," Khan admitted. "[I know that your species doesn''t have a good reputation, but I find it unfair. You are worthy of praises]."


    Both Ots snorted, but their proud smiles revealed that they liked thatpliment. Khan didn''t miss that detail, and the entirety of his knowledge flowed through his mind as he searched for a way to get information.


    "[It''s a pity you won''t get to see our greatness anymore]," Afsar dered. "[Just wait for us toe out. No Ots will ever ept you inside our clubs]."


    "[It wasn''t my intention to cause a mess]," Khan revealed. "[I apologize. I really wanted to buy merch]."


    "[Shut up]!" The leader ordered while lowering his voice. "[Don''t talk about that stuff so openly. I swear. I hate foreigners]."


    "[Money is not the problem]," Khan continued without caring about the leader''s words.


    "[I told you to shut up]!" The leader shouted before turning toward the area''s entrance.


    The soldiers brought more prisoners inside the area, but the leader shook his head when gazes fell on him. The police ended up moving the convicts toward other cells after that silent order, leaving Khan enough privacy to keep investigating.


    "[You even have influence over the police]," Khanmented. "[The other species are really underestimating you]."


    "[Our species has the potential to stand at the peak of the known universe]!" Afsar imed.


    "[Why do you ept the bad rumors about your kind then]?" Khan asked. "[They can''t be all false]."


    "[Why would we tell you]?" The leader chuckled.


    "[You are right]," Khan sighed. "[You are masters when ites to transactions. Do you want to make one with me]?"


    "[An Ots never backs out of a good deal]," The leader announced, "[But you can''t offer anything]."


    "[Maybe you shouldn''t care about what I can offer]," Khan eximed. "[You should care about what I can prevent]."


    Afsar opened his mouth in anger, but the leader raised a hand to interrupt him. Khan''s words had attracted his interest, but he didn''t say anything to make him speak again.


    Khan understood the meaning behind that silent interest and exined his position. "[My employers won''t stop until they get what they want. I can tell them that the clues lead to your species. It wouldn''t even be a lie]."


    "[Careful]," The leader threatened. "[Words can kill on Milia 222]."


    "[I''ve fought on Ecoruta]," Khan revealed. "[I''ve seen more death than I can count. I respect your species and authority, but you can''t scare me]."


    Khan made sure to add faint praises whenever he could, and his tactic seemed to work. The Ots'' respect toward him increased after every answer, and his demonstration inside the secret passage only proved that he could back up those statements with actual power.


    "[Let them look as much as they want]," The leader challenged. "[The Ots'' businesses arepletely in line with Milia 222''s regtions]."


    Khan nced at the wasted Fuveall on the floor, but the leader quickly justified that scene. "[We are not to me for what customers take before getting inside our activities]."


    "[I didn''t think I could find someone better than me at lies]," Khan stated. "[I owe your whole species an apology]."


    "[I''ve never told a single lie during my entire life]," The leader dered without wavering at all.


    "[Still, you misunderstood me]," Khan continued. "[My employers will stop at nothing to find what he needs. They will cause problems for you even if you hide all the evidence. I believe you prefer to preserve your ie]."


    The leader''s face finally went through a slight change, but he remained silent. His smirk also continued to fill his expression to prevent Khan from finding other clues.


    "[I''ll start with something simple]," Khan eventually eximed. "[I''m Lieutenant Khan, and the light wielder behind you is Afsar. What''s your name]?"


    The leader seemed to think about the question for a while before voicing a simple word. "[Sher]."


    "[Nice to meet you, Sher]," Khan smiled, but Sher snorted.


    "[Next question]," Khan continued. "[You are really powerful, especially on Milia 222. However, humans are also quite influential. It''s safe to assume that they can create real problems for you in the right conditions]."


    Sher hesitated to answer again, but a weak "[yes]" eventually left his mouth.


    "[I swear on my scar that I won''t tell anything to my employers]," Khan dered. "[I will say that my investigation led nowhere, but I need something from you]."


    "[I don''t know what you are talking about]," Sher responded.


    "[The illegal skin]," Khan whispered. "[I want to know what you didn''t say to the humans who came to question you]."


    Sher chuckled before sitting on the bench and crossing his legs. Afsar also smiled as he remained at his boss'' side. Khan noticed traces of mockery in their expressions, but his face remained serious.


    "[Young, young human]," Sher shook his head. "[The Ots are cursed by deep mistrust, especially inside our species, but our behavior is innate. Instead, you humans do it out of greed]."


    "[What do you mean]?" Khan asked.


    "[We didn''t hold anything back from the humans who came to question us]," Sher exined.. "[If you want answers, you should ask your species]."

 Chapter 349 - Thief

    ''Is he lying?'' Khan wondered as his first instinctpelled him to refute that statement.


    Still, Khan quickly realized that the Ots'' only reason to lie would involve their partaking in the theft. The two aliens would probably remain silent even in front of proper threats in that case, which forced Khan to consider other options.


    Sher''s revtion sounded far from misleading. Khan had a clear idea of the human''s greed and cruelty, and everything he had learnt about the investigation hinted at the presence of spies.


    However, Khan also felt pretty sure that Luke''s family had sent its best investigators to gather information about the theft. There probably wasn''t any spy among them, which put Khan in a pickle.


    The Ots could be lying, and the humans might have hindered the investigation. Both options had reasonable arguments, leaving Khan unable to find the truth.


    However, it was clear that Sher wouldn''t reveal anything else now that he hade up with a reasonable exnation. Khan could continue to insist, but that would only make him look desperate. More questions couldn''t lead anywhere, which forced him to prioritize a different issue.


    "[Thank you for your honesty]," Khan dered in the politest tone he could muster. "[I''ll make sure to leave your name out of my report]."


    Khan''s sharp change in behavior left the Ots surprised. The two aliens didn''t expect thatpleteck of surprise or shock, but the polite words that flew in their direction pleased them.


    Sher snorted, and Afsar joined him on the bench. They both considered the conversation to be over, but Khan rekindled it with another question. "[I hope we can both put tonight''s matters behind us once we get out]."


    "[You sure like to talk]," Afsarined.


    "[As long as you don''t cause more troubles for our activities]," Shermented, and Khan showed a meaningful smile. The Ots didn''t say anything specific, but Khan knew that he didn''t ruin his rtionship with that species.


    The cell tried to fall silent at that point, but the snoring Fuveall continued to disturb that peace. The metallic noises that apanied the sleeping alien''s voice also grew louder as time passed, and the Ots didn''t hold back from kicking him from time to time.


    Khan pretended to chuckle whenever the Ots kicked the Fuveall in their rude attempts to stop the snoring. He didn''t like what they were doing, but thetter seemed to appreciate hisplicity.


    That phase ended when the Fuveall stopped snoring and raised his sleepy face to inspect the cell. At first, he nced at Khan, but a smile widened on his face when he noticed the two Ots.


    "[Great party]!" The Fuveall announced in hisnguage before falling asleep again.


    Khan and the Ots stared at the alien for a few seconds, but they exchanged meaningful smirks when they confirmed that the snores weren''ting back. Khan even gave them the thumbs-up, which they received as a pleasantpliment.


    Khan''s efforts in pretending to be part of the gang rewarded him with a peaceful time inside the cell. The Ots didn''t even show the same mistrust they had before the conversation. It seemed that they had epted Khan, but he knew that their understanding was only superficial.


    The two Ots eventually decided to take a nap, and Khan used that chance to study what Luke had sent about the investigation. If the aliens had spoken the truth, there had to be something odd inside the various reports.


    A few hours had to pass before a change happened in that peaceful area. Khan heard a familiar voice echoing past the corridor connected to the hall containing his cell, and his senses soon became able to identify the whole group.


    The Fuveall soldier who had led the operation in [The Loophole] walked next to Luke and repeatedly nodded as thetterined loudly. Meanwhile, Martha and Monica followed behind the duo and inspected the area with their curious eyes.


    The four cells only had males, and most of them were still pretty drunk, so whistles and cheers resounded as soon as Martha and Monica became visible. The Fuveall soldier scolded the prisoners and mmed his reinforced arms on the ck pirs in his range, but that did little to appease the crowd.


    "Where was I?" The Fuveall cleared his throat when he rejoined Luke. "I''m sorry for the trouble, Mister Cobsend. The situation was pretty chaotic. We had to bring everyone in to avoid worse troubles. I promise that we''ll do our best to avoidmitting simr mistakes in the future."


    "That''s the least you can do!" Luke angrily shouted. "I''ll think about what to report back to my father after seeing how you behave in the next period. I hope you''ll show the respect that my family deserves."


    "Most certainly," The Fuveall soldier promised as he approached Khan''s cell and deactivated one of the barriers by pressing specific spots on the ck pir. "Lieutenant Khan, I''m sorry for the inconvenience. I take full responsibility."


    "And what would that even mean?" Luke voiced another angry remark.


    "It''s fine, Luke," Khan reassured while jumping off the bench and leaving the cell. "He was only doing his job."


    The Fuveall soldier shot a grateful nce toward Khan, and that emotion only intensified when he noticed that Luke seemed to drop the matter. Thetter remained pissed, but he stopped berating the poor alien.


    Martha and Monica didn''t hold back from inspecting Khan from head to toe. He was still in his underwear, which covered almost nothing. Both of them ended up blushing when their eyes fell on his crotch.


    "Is that my stuff?" Khan asked when the Fuveall handed him a simple bag.


    The question didn''t need answers since Khan noticed his good clothes when he opened the bag. They were even clean, meaning that the police had washed them before giving them back. Yet, that sight didn''t make Khan ignore that something was missing.


    "Where is my knife?" Khan asked while raising his face to stare at the Fuveall.


    "Knife?" The Fuveall wondered. "I''m afraid the bag contains all the items stored under your name."


    "My knife was a custom-made second-grade weapon," Khan stated. "You can''t have missed it."


    Luke red at the soldier, who understood that he had to say something about the situation. "It''s not rare for items to go missing during captures. Our inventory is quite messy, but do not worry. We are willing to refund the value of the lost weapon and even add an extra for the trouble."


    Luke seemed satisfied with that conclusion, but Khan felt unable to let it go. "I don''t want money. I want my knife."


    "I''m deeply sorry," The Fuveall announced. "I can send my soldiers to search for it, but this is Milia 222. Lost items rarely reappear."


    "[Lost]!" Sher snickered from inside the cell. "[I wonder why it''s always the good items that get lost]."


    Khan inevitably thought about the human soldier who had praised the knife when he undressed. Anger started to fill his mind. Khan didn''t want to overreact, but he felt unable to stop his emotions.


    It would have been slightly better if Khan could suspect one of the alien species on Milia 222, but the human soldier''sment continued to resound in his mind. He felt sure that he was the culprit, and that made him livid.


    Khan had fought wars for the Global Army. He had done unspeakable things for humankind''s sake, and he had mostly received bitterness as a reward.


    The Credits obtained through his service were one of the few positive aspects of those tragic events. Khan didn''t care about them, but they had some spiritual value in his mind. They described what the Global Army thought his efforts and struggles were worth.


    Khan had bought his second-grade knife with those Credits, which naturally passed that spiritual value to the weapon. Yet, he felt sure that a human had decided to steal it.


    The soldier wasn''t even a simple human. He was someone that had to enforce Milia 222''s regtions. He wasn''t a criminal or anything simr, which only worsened how Khan felt about the whole matter.


    "Where is the soldier who escorted me to the cell?" Khan asked as his face grew cold.


    "I don''t know who escorted you," The Fuveall admitted.


    "Find that out," Khan ordered.


    "I-," The Fuveall tried to speak in an apologetic tone, but Khan interrupted him before hearing that justification. "Luke."


    "You heard Lieutenant Khan," Luke promptly yed along. "We want a name, and we want it now."


    The Fuveall didn''t know what to say, but it was clear that remaining silent would only put a target on his head. His eyes darted left and right as he thought about the matter, and they lit up when he found something worth saying. "The shift is about to change. You can probably find your soldier in the locker area."


    "Lead us there," Luke ordered, and the Fuveall immediately turned to lead the way.


    Martha and Monica remained silent as Khan forgot about the bag in his hands and began to follow the Fuveall. He stopped only once to turn toward the two Ots and perform a faint nod.


    No one addressed Khan during the walk. He was still in his underwear, but something told Luke and the others that it was better to leave him alone for now. The soldiers along the path nced curiously at him, but they also felt that remaining silent was for the best.


    The Fuveall led the group into the outer areas of the central structure until he reached a damp space connected by a series of showers and locker rooms. Soldiers roamed among those rooms and felt embarrassed at the sight of women in the corridor, but Khan didn''t bother about those reactions.


    "Ah!" The Fuveall tried to call when Khan darted forward, but Luke red at him and interrupted any attempt to stop hispanion.


    Only five rooms stretched from the corridor, and Khan checked all of them. Peeking past the entrances was enough for him since he recalled his target''s aura, and he found it when he reached the secondst hall.


    A series of metal lockers filled the sides of the room, and soldiers of various species happily joked or madements about the end of their shift. They were ready to go home, but Khan''s arrival filled the area with a tense mood.


    "What are you doing here?" One of the soldiers close to the entrance shouted as he raised an arm to stop Khan. However, his hand ended up grasping mere air when he tried to close it on Khan''s shoulder.


    Khan reached the end of the locker room instantly and found himself in front of his target. The soldier gasped when his eyes focused on Khan''s figure, and a question tried to leave his mouth, but he didn''t get the chance to speak.


    "Where is my knife?" Khan asked in an aloof tone.


    "W-, what?" The soldier eximed, but something in his expression told Khan that his guess had been on point.


    "My knife," Khan repeated. "Give it back."


    "I don''t know what you are talking about!" The soldier announced in a more credible manner now that his surprise had dispersed. "You aren''t even supposed to be here. This is a crime."


    The anger boiling inside Khan''s mind only intensified. He couldn''t help but connect his struggles on differents and battlefields to the man in front of him. Khan had fought for him, but thetter didn''t even bother to respect his efforts.


    The soldier snorted and tried to ignore Khan, but a kick suddenlynded at the center of his torso. The man was a mere first-level warrior, so the attack flung him on the only wall without lockers.


    A series of angry voices resounded behind Khan. All the soldiers in the room cursed and tried to approach him, but a series of purple-red tendrils of energy suddenly came out of his figure and made the group stop.


    Khan turned to nce at the angry soldiers. There were a few second-level warriors among them, but they weren''t real fighters. The mana inside their bodies moved slowly, and the fear caused by the chaos element hindered its flow even further.


    "Come on," Khan challenged as mana continued toe out of his figure and mess with the room''s artificial illumination. "Take another step."


    Khan brought his attention back on his target without even bothering to look at the soldiers behind him. The man was coughing on the floor, and some blood mixed with the saliva leaving his mouth. He had clearly felt the blow, but Khan felt no pity.


    "My knife, now," Khan ordered.


    "Why would I have it?" The soldier said among his coughs.


    His performance was even better than before. It could trick most people, but Khan knew what he had seen during his first question, so he delivered another kick at the center of his chest.


    The soldier lost his breath for a whole second as he mmed on the wall again before falling back to the floor. He felt the urge to say something, but Khan suddenly ced a foot on the side of his head and began to apply some pressure.


    "My knife," Khan said slowly. "I won''t ask again."


    The pressure on the soldier''s head intensified, and terror filled his mind when he saw that no one wasing to help him. Even the Fuveall remained behind.


    "It., it''s in my locker!" The soldier eventually admitted as he pointed his hand toward one of the walls. "The third locker from the right. The code is-."


    "Keep your code," Khan snorted as he shot toward the designed locker and mmed a kick on its upper side.


    The locker bent and created an opening where Khan could insert his hand. He quickly took out his knife before cing his palm on the broken entrance.. Then, purple-red energy shot out, and the whole item shattered.

 Chapter 350 - Hurt

    Khan had contained the range of the Wave spell, but the attack expanded to the nearby lockers anyway. A vast hole formed among the line of grey items, and the destruction also spread on the wall behind them.


    The artificial lights in the locker room flickered as the chaos element expressed its power. Some directly broke, creating a dim illumination that added a threatening vibe to Khan''s actions.


    Most soldiers wanted toin, especially those who had lost their belongings during Khan''s attack, but no one dared to speak. They didn''t want to end up like theirpanion, and they definitely didn''t want to be the next target of that destructive spell.


    Khan didn''t feel any better after venting on the lockers, but he let the matter go. He turned to walk toward the exit, and the soldiers on the way moved to make room for him.


    Martha, Monica, Luke, and the Fuveall didn''t speak when Khan crossed them, but he felt able to read most of their thoughts from their expressions.


    The Fuveall did his best to appear apologetic, even if a tinge of fear had seeped into his expression. Meanwhile, Luke wore a cold and noble face to express how he was entirely on board with everything Khan had done.


    Instead, Martha seemed quite shocked and confused. She knew that Khan had changed, but that was different. His actions had been cold, resolute, and scary. Even she believed that he would have killed the soldier if he didn''t obtain what he wanted.


    As for Monica, her expression was the only one that Khan couldn''tpletely read. She didn''t seem to care about the soldier at all. She actually appeared curious about the depths of Khan''s character, and her eyes never stopped studying his almost-naked figure.


    Khan realized that he was still in his underwear only when he stepped into the corridor connected to the showers and locker rooms. The bag with his clothes was still on his shoulder, so he quickly dressed up.


    "I need a sheath," Khan stated after handing the empty bag at the Fuveall and showing his palms to prove that he couldn''t store his knife anywhere.


    "I''ll make my soldiers bring one right away," The Fuveall reassured while picking up his phone.


    "A good sheath," Luke reminded, "Something that can make us forget about your mess."


    "Of course, of course!" The Fuveall added, and the group resumed their walk as soon as he put his phone away.


    The walk toward the central structure''s exit was silent. No one was in the mood to talk, at least not when others could hear them. Martha, Luke, and Monica all wanted to have private conversations with Khan, while thetter had various thoughts afflicting his mind.


    ''Can I even find anything in the reports about the investigation?'' Khan wondered as he yed with the knife in his left hand.


    Khan had given a quick read to the reports during the peaceful hours inside the cell. They didn''t feature names or pictures, but they alsocked interesting information.


    The issue came from the very nature of the reports. They involved investigations about the workers inside the factory. Still, they didn''t y any part in the inquires that Sher had mentioned.


    ''Can I even investigate the investigators?'' Khan wondered. ''That''s impossible, right? Also, what would happen if I found something? I can''t question the loyalty of the Cobsend family''s trusted members. That''s far above my status and pay.''


    If Sher had spoken the truth, the investigators were to me for failing to find clues about the missing reinforced fabric. Khan could only see two exnations for that hypothesis. The soldiers appointed by the Cobsend family had either made a mistake or had lied about what they found.


    Both exnations sounded troublesome in Khan''s mind. He would use soldiers with great status if he brought the issue to Luke. At that point, the problem wouldn''t only involve Luke anymore. It would force the higher-ups of his family to step in, which would remove Khan''s favorable status.


    ''I can''t remain silent,'' Khan concluded in his mind, ''But I can''t put the me on someone without proof. I need to continue the investigation on my own until I find something worth mentioning.''


    "Luke, I''ll need the reports of the initial investigation," Khan said once the Fuveall left the group to get the sheath.


    "I''ve already sent you those," Luke pointed out.


    "I don''t mean the reports about the workers," Khan exined. "I want everything involving the investigation outside the factory, even if it looks useless."


    Luke wasn''t dumb. Actually, he was far smarter than Khan when it came to social and political problems. He could understand the meaning that Khan had tried to hide under his vague request, but he didn''t say anything specific and limited himself to agreeing.


    The Fuveall returned to the group in no time. Khan soon found a luxurious ck sheath in his hands. The item''s texture was soft and stic but also quite resilient. It almost felt like a first-grade item due to the mana used to enhance its overall structure, and the golden designs on its surface only increased its value.


    "This won''t do," Khan objected when he studied the actual storage space meant for the knife. "This cover takes too long to open. I want something meant for battles, not just for show."


    "I''ll find a suitable sheath immediately," The Fuveall excused himself as he took the ck sheath and left the group again.


    "Are you enjoying giving him a hard time?" Luke joked while looking at the Fuveall disappearing behind a corner in the distance.


    "I meant what I said," Khan imed. "What''s the point of a sheath if it stops me from drawing my knife?"


    Luke limited himself to chuckle, but Martha didn''t find anything funny in that. Khan''s exnation confirmed how much he had changed. It seemed that his whole mindset was battle-rted now.


    The Fuveall came back with a new sheath that satisfied Khan''s requests. The item was brown, mana resistant, andfortable. He barely felt it when he tied it around his waist, and its cover didn''t hinder the knife at all.


    The group left the central structure a few minutes after Khan obtained his new sheath. The Fuveall escorted them until the beginning of one of the vast streets above the city, and Luke refused his offer to get a police squad to apany them back home.


    The areas around the central pir had many parking lots due to their unique location, so Luke and the others found a cab in no time. Even if the dome still illuminated the city with its pale-blue light, it was deep into the night, so the group nned to return home and rest.


    Luke had obviously chosen one of the most luxurious cabs in the parking lot, and the privacy that it offered removed the faint traces of uneasiness that still lingered among the group. Khan had also dropped his cold mood, which eventually gave Martha the chance to voice her doubts.


    "What happened out there?" Martha asked while Khan browsed through the reports on his phone.


    Luke stopped tinkering with the interactive bar inside the cab, and Monica also disregarded her phone to focus on Khan. It was clear that they were both interested in the matter.


    "I went in [The Loophole] and got caught in a mess," Khan half-lied as he summarized his first day of investigation. "I didn''t get the chance to ask many questions, but I might have an idea of where to find a lead."


    "A lead?!" Luke eximed.


    "An idea of where to find it," Khan repeated. "I still don''t know anything. I''m not even sure I can trust what I found."


    "Well, that makes sense," Luke sighed.


    "How were things on your end?" Khan asked.


    "We have taken a long tour of the shops on the first floor," Monica exined. "I think we found a lot of stolen merch, but nothing simr to what we were looking for."


    "Something like that wouldn''t be in the open," Khan stated while making sure to remain vague to prevent the driver from overhearing something important. "I guess it was worth a try."


    "We already have a few targets in mind for tomorrow," Monica revealed. "Do you want toe with us? Your presence would help a lot."


    "I''ll remain in my room tomorrow," Khan dered. "I have quite a bit of studying to do."


    "Our drink will have to wait then," Monica teased, but she felt slightly disappointed when Khan didn''t give her any yful smirk or friendly reaction.


    "What happened with the soldier?" Martha continued before the conversation died. "I get that you were angry, but don''t you think to have gone too far? That''s still Milia 222''s official police force."


    The three had different ideas about Khan''s previous actions, but only Martha had the courage to address them. She would have wanted to remain silent until she and Khan were alone, but her doubts were too loud to suppress.


    "Too far?" Khan asked while showing honest confusion. "I''ve killed for people like him. I won''t stay put when they steal my stuff."


    The calmness shown by Khan didn''t reflect the depths of the topic. The three almost underestimated his words before understanding how serious they were.


    Contradicting Khan became impossible after that understanding seeped into the trio''s minds. Luke even lowered his gaze to hide his dark face. He had learnt what it meant to kill on Istrone, so he could guess what kind of anger Khan had felt when a soldier had tried to rob him.


    Khan''s words made the group fall silent, and the situation didn''t change until they reached their home. The building on the second asteroid was even better than the previous, but Khan didn''t pay too much attention to that luxury as he chose a random room and isted himself inside it.


    Sleep struggled to take control of Khan''s mind, and he didn''t even bother to try to rest. He connected his phone to the room and spread the various reports on the walls to continue his study.


    The second inspection didn''t reveal anything new, but Khan still tried to sort out those reports in different groups. He used the alibis to create various folders and divide the workers to have an easier time studying them in the future.


    Luke sent what Khan had requested as the morning approached. The sheer number of pages to read left Khan slightly stunned, but he understood the reason behind that quantity when he started to inspect them.


    Those new reports involved the investigations outside the factory, and they turned out to be extremely detailed. They had proper names and locations since they didn''t need to preserve the workers'' privacy, and they also had personal impressions added to each question.


    ''They are specialists,'' Khan concluded when browsing through the reports. ''I expected nothing less from the Cobsend family.''


    The reports were so detailed that Khan could almost imagine the faces of the aliens questioned during the investigation. The soldiers appointed for the process even connected their impression to the unique features of each species, so Khan struggled to find ws.


    Khan forgot to have breakfast due to how immersed he was in that pile of information. He organized the reports multiple times in the hope of finding a connection or a w that the investigators had missed, but everything seemed perfect. He even realized how he would have failed to obtain so many answers in those situations.


    The study eventually focused on the only vague lead Khan had found. He knew that the Ots had said something, but he couldn''t limit his research to the reportsing from [The Loophole].


    A familiar presence approached the room''s entrance while Khan was immersed in his study. He opened the door through the wall''s menus, and Monica''s figure became visible. She was wearing casual clothes, but Khan''s attention fell on the tray in her hands.


    "You skipped breakfast and lunch," Monica stated. "I thought you might be hungry."


    Khan realized how long had passed at that point, and his stomach even growled when he smelled the excellent food on the tray. He didn''t hesitate to jump on his feet and reach Monica before allowing her into his room.


    "You sure worked hard," Monicamented while inspecting the various reports on the wall.


    Khan sat on his bed and began to eat, but his eyes never left Monica. He wanted to see if she revealed something when looking at the reports, but she appearedpletely normal.


    "Why aren''t you outside with Martha?" Khan asked as he wolfed down the food.


    "We had an appointment with a broker," Monica exined without taking her eyes away from the reports. "We wanted to see if we could go undercover in some illegal operation, but the guy didn''t show up."


    "We do look suspicious," Khan admitted. "Anyone can see that we are outsiders."


    "I thought I could cheat my way in with my beauty," Monica joked as she turned and pulled the corners of her t-shirt while performing a half-bow.


    Khan inspected Monica from head to toe before bringing his attention back to the food. Monica frowned at that reaction. She expected a joke or something simr, but Khan directly ignored her.


    "Did something happen?" Monica asked as she took a step toward Khan.


    "What do you mean?" Khan asked in a casual manner.


    Monica understood that something was off and crouched in front of Khan. She felt a bit shy in that position, but she still ced a hand on Khan''s arm before voicing another question. "Did I do something wrong?"


    "What makes you think that?" Khan chuckled as he put away the tray. "Nothing could have happened in a day."


    Monica didn''t seem convinced. Her eyes went left and right as she tried to find an exnation, and she left Khan as soon as she realized what was happening.


    "You," Monica whispered as she retreated toward the wall and sadness filled her expression, "You think that I might be a spy."


    Khan didn''t think that Monica would have gotten there so quickly, but his face remained calm as he came up with a lie. "I never said that."


    "No, it would make sense," Monica continued as she crossed her arms. "The refined descendant of a wealthy family suddenly shows rude behavior in front of the famous soldier with a poor background. It feels too coincidental when everything about the investigation points toward a traitor."


    "Monica, I''ve never-," Khan tried to stop that speech.


    "No, no, I understand," Monica interrupted. "You can''t trust me so easily. It makes perfect sense. I guess I deluded myself when I thought that we had a connection."


    "Monica," Khan called.


    "Don''t," Monica interrupted again. "I don''t want to hear lies, not from you. I like you because you don''t care about my status and only look at the real me. I want to keep that memory intact until I prove that you can trust me."


    A tear began to leave Monica''s right eye, but she hid it behind her hair as she turned to approach the entrance. That realization had clearly shocked her, but Khan wanted to respect her wish.


    "I won''t lie to you," Khan sighed as Monica opened the door. "I can''t trust you right away, but my instincts tell me that you are a good person."


    Monica stooped for a second before darting past the entrance. The door closed, and Khan heaved a deep sigh as silence returned in his room.


    ''I''ve hurt her,'' Khan cursed in his mind before focusing on the wall.. He had found something vaguely interesting which pointed at the Nele on the third asteroid.

 Chapter 351 - Home

    Khan didn''t like how things had gone with Monica, and Martha''s judging and surprised nces had also be a permanent memory in his mind. Yet, he couldn''t do anything about both situations. Khan was simply himself. He wouldn''t be sorry about that.


    Meanwhile, there was a situation where Khan could do something. The reports had shown nothing but a perfect investigation. The soldiers appointed by the Cobsend family had been thorough, detailed, and even exceptional, but Khan found a vague w.


    That detail wasn''t a proper w. The investigators had really done their best and had pushed themselves into territories that Khan couldn''t even begin to approach. However, he had the chance to turn one of the marked dead ends into something more.


    ''The Ots told the investigators that they didn''t know anything about the stolen leather,'' Khan summarized in his mind. ''However, they stated that the Nele usually knew everything about illegal skin since it was a sensitive subject for them.''


    That answer made a lot of sense. The Nele''s tragic history would obviously make them rte to species that suffered from a simr fate. If the reinforced fabric used skin from intelligent beings, there was a high chance that the Nele would care about it.


    The vague aspect of the w cameter. The investigators had gone to the third asteroid to interrogate the Nele, but they didn''t receive any real answer. The reports even described those aliens as distrustful, distant, and annoyed about those questions.


    That also made a lot of sense. The Nele weren''t xenophobic, but they didn''t trust the members of the other species easily. They were overprotective toward their own kind, and they always prioritized their survival.


    The vague issue appeared at that point. The investigators had left the third asteroid empty-handed without confirming or refuting whether the Nele knew something. Those aliens were a lead that the soldiers couldn''t pursue, but Khan believed to have a chance there.


    ''Am I making this up because I want to go to the third asteroid?'' Khan wondered as he dived deep into his thoughts and checked his state through one of his techniques.


    Everything was normal. Even the anger from the previous day had disappeared. Khan knew that his desires had nothing to do with that n. There could be something worth pursuing on the third asteroid.


    Excitement started to build up inside Khan as he reaffirmed that decision. He couldn''t wait to see the Nele, but he couldn''t rush his departure either. He smelled, and it was wise to take a nap before something so important.


    Khan closed all the reports on the wall, took a bath, and went to sleep. He woke up slightly after dinner, but he disregarded the food as he wore some of the clean clothes in his room before darting outside.


    The building on the second asteroid was even bigger than the one on the first, but Khan couldn''t avoid meeting hispanions. The group had gathered in the living room right before the exit to talk about their findings, and Khan''s arrival inevitably attracted everyone''s attention.


    "Hey, where are you running off to at this hour?" Bruce asked in a yful tone.


    The smell of booze and smoke had reached Khan''s nostrils as soon as he left the elevator. Bruce and the others had upied threefortable couches that encircled a short table. Bottles, cups, and a fuming ashtray stood at their center, and some of the soldiers already showed signs of drunkenness.


    Master Ivor was absent, and Martha seemed the only onepletely sober. Luke appeared too busy reviewing things on his phone to drink, but he didn''t hold back fromunching casual smiles at Khan.


    As for Monica, she had joined Luke in those polite smiles toward Khan. She had also added a teasing look at his clothes, but her eyes darkened when she nced at her cup.


    Monica was pretending that everything was normal, but she couldn''t hide her hesitation in front of her drink. Francis was sitting next to her, and he had even stretched an arm on the back of the couch. He wasn''t touching her, but it was clear that he couldn''t wait to do that.


    ''Why am I already thinking of a way to help her?'' Khan cursed in his mind.


    "I''m going to investigate," Khan exined while slowly approaching the short table.


    "Khan, it''s alreadyte," Bruce added. "Take it easy tonight and tell us how you ended up in a cell."


    A fewughs resounded on the couches, and Khan also smiled. Even he found the topic funny, but he still had to fake his reaction since he had something far more important in mind.


    "Most of the illegal activities happen at night," Khan chuckled before pointing at the bottles on the table. "Is there a cup for me?"


    "I''ll tell the domestics to bring one," Luke eximed.


    "No need," Khan replied as he casually bent toward the table and seized Monica''s cup and the bottle next to it. "I''m in a hurry. I mighte back with something valuable if I''m right."


    "Hey!" Francis called, but Luke spoke before he could continue toin.


    "Good luck!" Luke shouted. "Don''t forget to send me the details of your expenses!"


    The sound of the sliding door suppressed the echo of Luke''s words and announced Khan''s departure. The group soon disregarded the event, but Francis couldn''t hold back fromining. "Why did he take my bottle?"


    Luke and Bruce exploded into augh. The event didn''t have much value in their minds but seeing that Francis cared about it added a fun aspect to the whole matter.


    "Don''t think too much about it," Luke exined when he suppressed hisugh. "Khan forgets about everything else when he has a precise goal."


    "You had to see him in co''s camp," Bruce continued. "He would always have bruises and whatnot at the beginning of each week."


    "Lieutenant Dyester is one of the reasons behind his current strength," Martha dered.


    "Oh, I''m not trying to offend anyone," Bruce responded. "I was just exining how Khan probably didn''t even realize that the bottle belonged to Francis."


    "And the cup to Monica," Francis added.


    "I''m sure Khan won''t mind that Monica drank from it," Lukeughed. "Don''t worry. I''ve already told the domestics to bring more booze and another cup."


    Francis couldn''t say anything at that point. He nced at Monica, but she wore a perfect smile as she shook her head gracefully. He couldn''t possibly notice that she had to use the entirety of her willpower to keep her hands still and stop her from sending a message to Khan right away.


    .


    .


    .


    ''This booze is really odd,'' Khan thought after sniffing the liquid inside the bottle for the fifth time.


    Khan was storming through the city''s streets. He had already thrown away the cup next to one of the cleaning robots, and his phone showed a map that pointed toward the nearest elevator.


    During the walk, Khan had taken his time to inspect the bottle. He knew that the item probably belonged to Francis due to its position on the table, and his senses found something surprisingly odd inside it.


    ''Is this mana?'' Khan wondered as he continued to inspect the bottle. ''Why is there mana inside booze?''


    Khan couldn''t believe what he was sensing. The liquid inside the bottle radiated faint traces of natural mana that were barely noticeable. He had to use the entirety of his concentration just to notice them.


    The phone ended up answering Khan''s doubts. He searched the matter on thework and discovered that some brands of booze relied on the influence of mana to affect high-level warriors. Still, their targets usually involved third-level warriors or above.


    Out of curiosity, Khan took a short sip from the bottle to experience its effects. The booze didn''t feel strong, but a quick inspection of his state through his technique revealed that his focus was slightly off.


    ''This drink is quite sneaky,'' Khan concluded before throwing the bottle at the nearest cleaning robot. ''No wonder Monica got so wasted. I''m surprised she could walk at all after a few cups of that thing.''


    That conclusion added a point to Monica''s alibi, but Khan decided not to draw conclusions so soon. His focus soon returned to the Nele and the third asteroid, and his excitement returned stronger than ever.


    Reaching the third asteroid was far fromplicated. Khan only had to use an elevator to get to the streets above and walk until he arrived in the hangar with the short-distance teleports.


    The soldiers inside the hangar only needed to scan Khan''s gic signature and some Credits to allow him in the lines. In a few minutes, Khan''s hair turned into a spiked mess that attracted the attention of the other people in the third asteroid''s hangar.


    Khan didn''t care about the surprised and interested gazes. He left the hangar in a hurry and inspected the new environment briefly before approaching the nearest elevator.


    The third asteroid shared the sameyout as the previous two, but its contents changed quite drastically. The four vast streets on the first floor weren''t nearly as crowded, and the number of shops was also a small fraction of what Khan had seen before.


    It was clear that the third asteroid marked a change in Milia 222''s trend. The area had stopped targeting tourists and travelers and had be an actual home, especially for certain species.


    Khan couldn''t help but notice many purple spots during his trip inside the transparent elevator. The city on the lower level was simr to what he had seen on the second asteroid, but the average heights of its buildings seemed shorter.


    A few spots in the city seemed empty, but they turned out to be small stands upied by Nele. Only a few had fortune-tellers, but those shops remained amon sight along the streets.


    Khan didn''t need to interact with anyone to find a path. The investigators had already given him everything he needed, so he reached a parking lot and took a cab to travel to the city''s center.


    The trip took a while. The city wasn''t too big, but the high density of smaller buildings slowed down the cars. Of course, Khan didn''t mind that slight dy since he could use that time to review the reports.


    When Khan left the car, he toured among the area to match what he saw with the descriptions in the reports. The neighborhood had multiple purple shops, and the Nele behind those stands didn''t hold back from following Khan with their eyes.


    Khan eventually found what he was looking for. A small shop with no windows stood between two stands, and its metal door didn''t need any unique process to open.


    Khan pushed the door open and found himself inside a strange environment. Wood reced the iconic metal floor of those ces, and nts stood on the furniture all around the small room.


    The shop had a single armchair, a carpet, and a sleepy male Nele resting on a transparent case that acted as a counter. Khan''s arrival alerted the Nele and forced him to straighten his position, but thetter didn''t speak as he crossed his arms behind his back.


    ''He''s wielding his weapon,'' Khan thought as he inspected his surroundings.


    The environment was definitely peculiar for a ce in the middle of space. nts and simr items usually were too annoying and expensive to preserve there, but Khan knew that the shop didn''tck money. It couldn''t when an entire species supported it.


    "[I offer myself with nothing but respect]," Khan stated as he approached the counter.


    "We don''t read the future here," The Nele responded in a perfect human ent as he inspected Khan from head to toe. He appeared surprised that Khan didn''t show any reaction to his pheromones.


    "I''m not here to know my future," Khan revealed. "I need to go downstairs."


    The fact that someone so young knew about that topic left the Nele speechless. Still, the alien recovered quickly and voiced a warning. "You''ll be alone down there. Many outsiders think to understand our ways, but most fail to respect them, which doesn''t end well."


    "Thank you for your concern," Khan politely replied, "But I still wish to go."


    "As you wish," The Nele sighed as he pressed on a spot behind the transparent counter to open a secret door on the wall behind him. "There are no handles. Don''t lose your bnce."


    Khan nodded as he entered the secret passage. The area was dark, and it turned out to be smaller than the elevators on the first floor. Yet, as it began to descend, all those details disappeared since a spectacr sight became visible.


    The secret passage was an elevator connected to the lower level, which wasn''t a simple tform. The Nele had built a separate dome under the city.. That was their true home.

 Chapter 352 - Tactics

    It felt strange to see Milia 222 under such dim illumination. The tform where the city grew hid the dome on lower level 2 from the constant pale-blue light radiated by the ceiling, but that didn''t mean that the whole area was dark.


    The tform on lower level 1 didn''t cover the entirety of the asteroid, leaving a few areas where the ceiling''s glow could pass. Moreover, the other side of the city had a few artificial lights that engulfed those lower areas in a dim, purple halo that stated who owned the ce.


    The underground dome also had a few lights on its metal surface, which allowed Khan to study the area during his trip on the elevator. He could immediately confirm that the lower level 2 was only a fifth of the city above, and he even saw small vehicles approaching it from different spots.


    ''They have secret entrances,'' Khan understood from that quick inspection.


    The dome couldn''t reveal anything else from the elevator''s perspective, but Khan still tried his best to memorize the location of the secret entrances. He guessed those vehicles came from even deeper parts of the asteroid, but the poor illumination prevented him from finding clues that could support his hypothesis.


    The elevator stopped right next to the dome''s base, and itsnding gave Khan an idea of the general heights of the structures inside. There couldn''t be skyscrapers there, which hinted at the presence of a rtively small poption.


    The elevator''s entrance opened together with a door on the dome''s metal surface. Khan stepped forward only to find himself in a bright chamber illuminated by the Nele''s iconic purple lights, but the various menus that appeared on the walls didn''t surprise him.


    The investigators had exined that procedure on the reports. Khan browsed through the menus before letting the chamber do the rest. A few holes opened on the metal walls and blew dense air that converged on his figure. A countdown that started from one minute also appeared in front of him.


    ording to the reports, that procedure aimed to remove any substance that could cause problems for the dome''s environment. Yet, Khan noticed that the chamber did far more than that. It also targeted the scent and brims of the synthetic mana that had remained attached to his clothes or body.


    Many questions appeared in Khan''s mind, but he answered all of them as soon as the chamber let him go. A long corridor unfolded past the exit, and his senses immediately noticed a stunning feature.


    ''This is natural mana!'' Khan gasped when theforting embrace of the energy inside the corridor enveloped him.


    ''How is this even possible?'' Khan wondered while focusing on the purple lighting out from the corridor''s corners.


    The corridor''s insides only had natural mana, but its artificial lights seemed powered by synthetic energy. Khan couldn''t be entirely sure about that detail since the metal walls hindered his senses, but a lot of the area pointed in that direction.


    ''The two energies don''t interact with each other,'' Khan confirmed as his inspection continued. ''The Nele must have invested on high-end channels to move the synthetic mana without letting any of it taint the environment.''


    A normal human wouldn''t understand that obsession toward natural mana, but Khan was different. He actually rejoiced when his thoughts went on his techniques. He had given up on using the [Blood Vortex] on Milia 222, but the Nele might open that option again.


    The environment after the corridor only confirmed Khan''s guess. A green scenery unfolded in his vision once the exit opened. Trees, general vegetation, and actual ground appeared in his eyes while a wave of natural mana filled his senses.


    Khan couldn''t believe what he saw. The dome had proper woods growing in its insides. He could also sense the presence of Tainted animals in the symphony yed by the mana, but he couldn''t understand anything specific from that position.


    The pure amazement couldn''tst long. Khan felt forced to focus when a series of intense gazes converged on his figure. A path stretched from the corridor''s exit. Multiple small houses or stands stood at its sides, and their owners had all peeked out of doors and windows to study Khan.


    That reaction wasn''t surprising. Khan expected something simr from a settlement entirely upied by Nele, and the investigators had also mentioned something simr in the reports.


    The Nele allowed ess to their home. They couldn''t forbid that on Milia 222. The seven asteroids only had a few private areas, which mostly involved special mansions or fabrics that required guardians with special agreements with the police.


    Still, even without regtions, it wasmon sense to refrain from going into certain areas for superficial reasons. The species on Milia 222 survived and lived together through silent agreements and general respect for their different customs, and those rules became more important in locations simr to the underground dome.


    A few na?ve, careless, or uncaring travelers would still disregard those silent rules, but things rarely ended well for them. In Khan''s case, no one would be able to find him if the Nele decided to make him disappear. The alien on the other side of the elevator could simply im to know nothing about the matter to put an end to the eventual investigation.


    The Nele that were inspecting Khan were trying to understand the reasons behind his visit. They were also paying attention to his movements to see whether he disrespected their home, but he didn''tmit any mistake.


    Khan remained on the path without vegetation as he studied his surroundings. The investigators had relied on a polite but slightly forceful approach during their visit. They had questioned every Nele willing to talk to them, but Khan nned to use a far different tactic.


    Khan didn''t interact with anyone as he walked through the path. His eyes darted left and right as he let his senses scan anything that didn''t end in his vision.


    The settlement seemed to have many houses with only a few shops. Still, thetter weren''t too umon along the path. Khan could see many stands with potions, pendants, or other simple items that radiated distinct and peculiar strands of mana.


    However, the areas outside the path seemed to contain the most interesting aspects of the settlement. Khan had to suppress the urge to step on the vegetation and explore the woods whenever vague traces of battles or training areas reached his senses.


    The general style of the buildings was as crude as possible. The Nele had tried to limit the presence of items that could affect the purity of the dome''s mana, so the houses and the shops mostly relied on natural materials.


    Wood, leaves, and metal bs without the slight trace of synthetic mana made most of the buildings and prevented them from growing past three or four stories. The settlement resembled an excellent and clean version of the Slums, with only a slight presence of technology.


    As for Khan, he felt to have gone back on Nitis'' environments. Everything under the dome was different from that cold. The temperature was quite high, the symphony of mana was unfamiliar, and the energy radiated by the Nele was unique, but Khan still found somefort while walking on the path.


    That feeling came from the general atmosphere that filled the dome''s insides. Khan didn''t know how, but he felt sure that the aliens living there had a deep attachment and respect toward the mana. He could almost sense that detail on his skin.


    Needless to say, the Nele didn''t share Khan''s calm and happy mindset. They were wary about his presence, and his seemingly unfocused behavior only intensified their worries.


    Any other human or alien would have asked questions by then. Even regr travelers would have visited shops or simr structures to interact with the poption. Yet, Khan ignored all of that to have a peaceful stroll on the path surrounded by woods.


    As the minutes passed, the Nele grew nervous. They were overprotective toward their kind and home, so they suspected Khan of harboring ill intentions. That wouldn''t even be their first time dealing with criminals visiting the dome only to understand its structural weaknesses.


    Eventually, the Nele decided to use one of their most effective ploys. They knew how powerful their pheromones were, and their customs gave them many reasons to kick out outsides as long as they met some conditions.


    A small group of beautiful Nele came out of the woods to step on the path and walk toward Khan. They were all young, stunning women, and they marched side by side to upy most of the road.


    Khan barely flinched at that sight. The group had no intention to space for Khan, but he stepped on the grass next to the path and used his light steps to leave the vegetation almost untouched.


    The women couldn''t help but feel surprised at the swiftness of Khan''s movements. He has sprinted around them without making any sound or hurting the grass. He didn''t even nce at the group to inspect their departing figures.


    The Nele inspecting the scene understood that they couldn''t use the pheromones to trick Khan, so they moved to their next tactic. A series of kids came out of the woods to follow a toy flying a few meters above their heads.


    The toy flew toward Khan, but he easily dodged it. However, the kids charged at him as if they didn''t realize that he was standing on the path.


    Of course, Khan had understood what was happening. He had long since sensed the Nele spying him from the woods, and the reports had also warned him. The investigators didn''t meet simr problems, but Khan expected his different tactic to cause that reaction.


    A simple evasive technique allowed Khan to avoid all the kids. He didn''t touch any of them, but the Nele''s ploy didn''t stop there.


    "[Ouch]!" One of the kids fell to the ground when she realized that Khan had crossed the group.


    Khan nced at the scene and sighed. He could guess what was about to happen, so he prepared for the imminent discussion.


    "Hey, you!" A male Nele shouted whileing out of a house near Khan''s position. "Yes, I''m talking to you. Can''t you understand your ownnguage?"


    Khan understood that he couldn''t avoid that problem since the Nele approached him. His first instinct was to wear a fake smile, but he dropped it when a question left his mouth. "What is it, sir?"


    "What do you mean?!" The Nele angrily replied. "You used a martial art among kids. Do you have no respect for my kind?"


    "It''s the exact opposite," Khan stated. "I''m in awe of what you have built here. I never expected to find a ce with such pure mana on Milia 222."


    Khan''s statement startled the adult Nele. He didn''t expect a human to sense the difference between synthetic and natural mana, but that only made Khan more dangerous in his mind. Someone like him really had the chance to find structural weaknesses in the dome.


    "Why did you use a martial art so recklessly then?" The Nele continued. "People like you aren''t wee here."


    "I have shown nothing but respect for your customs," Khan responded. "I hoped you would have done the same. My control over my martial art makes it far from reckless."


    "How can you say that when you made a kid fall?!" The Nele insisted.


    "Why are you ming me for something you told her to do?" Khan asked before ncing at the kid on the ground. "[Isn''t that right, youngdy]?"


    The kid almost nodded, but the adult Nele interrupted the scene with another question. "Are you calling me a liar?"


    "Well," Khan uttered. "I understand that you must be as careful as possible, but, yes. Technically, you lied."


    "[Arrogant human]!" The Nele shot forward while drawing something from his pocket.


    Khan noticed theck of killing intent in the Nele''s attack. The root he had taken out of his pocket only pretended to aim at his face. Khan could even dodge it easily, but he opted for a different approach.


    Everything ended in an instant. The Nele''s eyes widened when he saw that Khan had grabbed the alien''s wrist to move it closer to his face. The root had ended up piercing his cheek, and a trace of blood had started to fall from that spot.


    "You should at least aim properly when pretending to attack," Khanughed as he let go of the wrist and took a step back to make the root leave his cheek.


    "You touched me," The Nele whispered.


    "[Stop this]," A voice interrupted the event, and Khan smiled at the figure that hade out of the woods.. He couldn''t fail to recognize Jenna from the first asteroid.

 Chapter 353 - Learn

    Khan knew that his behavior could appear disrespectful and arrogant, but acting as a mere ambassador would only make the Nele treat him like a political figure from the human race. He didn''t want that, especially since his intentions went beyond the simple search for the reinforced fabric.


    Behaving normally without holding anything back was the only solution that Khan could find. Some Nele might not like his character, but he believed that they would appreciate his honesty once they epted him. That moment might never arrive, but Khan didn''t want that oue to be his fault.


    Jenna wasn''t wearing anything fancy. She had a loose dark-green jumper that covered the entirety of her waist, and her dark trousers were baggy. They also had a few holes and spots, which hinted at their extensive use in the woods.


    ording to human standards, that style wouldn''t do justice to her beauty, but Khan believed that she looked far better now than when he met her on the first asteroid. Those baggy clothes suited the rtively wild environment perfectly and almost turned Jenna into part of the woods, which was where the Nele''s true splendory.


    The man understood something from Khan''s smile and Jenna''s silent disregard for the recent event. Usually, the Nele would do everything in their power to kick out or even kill someone who had dared to touch them, but Jenna appeared fine with it.


    "[Is he the guy]?" The man eventually asked as he massaged the spot where Khan had grabbed his wrist.


    "[The leader will give an official announcementter]," Jenna announced. "[For now, she wants to talk to him]."


    "[If that''s what the leader wishes]," The man sighed before ring at Khan. The gesture was a clear warning, but Khan only performed a respectful nod to reassure the Nele.


    The Nele turned to approach the kids, and Khan wiped his cheek before dashing toward Jenna. She was standing on a patch of ground that the trees'' roots had lifted a few meters above the ground level, but Khan only needed to perform a short jump tond at her side.


    Jenna couldn''t help but stare at Khan for a few seconds before turning to walk inside the woods. Khan followed her, and he didn''t hold back from inspecting the trees now that he could take a closer look at them.


    The green color had control over most of the woods. Large green leaves created vast crowns that shielded the area from the purple lighting from the dome and shops on the path. Short grass filled the ground, and the trunks also carried dark-green shades.


    Khan felt surprised to see that the trunks were oddly soft. He could bend their surface by applying a weak pressure, and his mark disappeared as soon as he retracted his hand.


    A few purple flowers also grew next to the trees'' bases. They were a rare sight, but Khan couldn''t fail to notice them due to the high concentration of mana in their structure.


    The trees, flowers, grass, and even ground carried mana. They didn''t reach the levels of Istrone, but they clearly used that energy as a core part of their lives.


    "Do you like our woods?" Jenna asked when she noticed that Khan wouldn''t take his eyes off the vegetation.


    "They are a rare sight for humans," Khan replied.


    "That''s not the whole truth, right?" Jenna questioned.


    "I guess I connect them to important memories," Khan vaguely exined.


    "I see," Jenna whispered before falling silent.


    More interesting details appeared along the way. Khan noticed a rtively vast empty spot behind a few trees that contained young Nele. They weren''t doing anything. Actually, they were keeping their attention on Khan, which exined how the area was probably a training ground.


    Some small huts made of wood and leaves appeared in the distance from time to time. They didn''t seem to have any specific purpose, but their surfaces reeked of types of mana that Khan had never sensed.


    The most surprising sight came from the seemingly simplest areas. Khan noticed provisions and much more orderly amassed in the few paths that tainted the woods. He saw bottles, pills, and much more in those piles of goods, and a vague guess inevitably formed in his mind.


    "Shouldn''t you store provisions somewhere else?" Khan voiced a vague question that tried to hide his real doubts.


    "We stashed those goods in a hurry," Jenna revealed. "We have yet to relocate them to suitable areas."


    "Is it because of your prediction?" Khan directly asked.


    "Yes," Jenna uttered without adding anything else.


    "I thought your predictions were far from urate," Khan pointed out.


    "We have different types of fortune-tellers," Jenna exined. "Many pretend to know how to do them, while others simplyck talent. We can keep the real data among the species like that."


    Khan didn''t feel the need to speak anymore. That simple statement from Jenna had already exined a lot. In short, the Nele scammed most customers, but Jenna was the real deal.


    ''Imminent chaos,'' Khan thought as he recalled Jenna''s prediction. He didn''t have the time to give the matter much thought, but seeing how the Nele were already stashing provisions forced him to reevaluate the issue.


    Jenna slowed down when the two were about to reach arge hut that could probably contain fifteen people. The structure had a circr shape, with wood as its wall and leaves as its roof. Something like that would usually appear quite frail, but the mana reeking out of its surfaces revealed a far different truth.


    Jenna led Khan through a wooden door and pointed at one of the pillows on the wooden floor before leaving the hut. Khan sat, and the solitude of the structure gave him the chance to inspect his surroundings.


    The hut''s insides were extremely simple. A few soft mats and pillows covered the floor, and four small fires flickered in opposite spots next to the wall. The mes stretched on the wood and even covered it at times, but the material didn''t burn. It didn''t even turn dark.


    The wood wasn''t the most peculiar aspect of the hut. Khan felt almost drawn by the scenting out of the mes. He experienced a rxing effect whenever that strange odor reached his nostrils, and the mana carried by that transparent gas was also impossible to miss.


    ''Interesting,'' Khan thought as he inspected the fires.


    The Niqols mostly used cauldrons to concoct potions or substances that relied on mana, but the Nele seemed to rely on the mes to achieve simr effects. He couldn''t notice any unique material burning inside the fires, but his hypothesis sounded solid anyway.


    Of course, Khan didn''t believe to have discovered the depths of the Nele''s arts from that simple inspection. Yet, customs usually expressed the nature of a species, especially in aliens that had such a deep attachment to mana. He had found fire in the hut, so there was a high chance that the Nele relied on mes.


    Two presences approached the hut''s entrance while Khan was immersed in his inspection. He recognized Jenna even before she opened the door, but the other was unknown. Moreover, it felt deeper and stronger, and he ced it around the realm of a fourth-level warrior.


    "Sorry for the wait," Jenna announced while leading an elderly woman inside the hut.


    The woman''s green hair was pale, and some of its strands had also turned grey. Her eyes were also darkerpared to what Khan had seen inside the settlement, and a few wrinkles filled the corner of her eyes.


    Nevertheless, the signs of old age didn''t diminish the woman''s charm at all. She radiated a distinct elegance that even Monica couldn''t achieve. Her faint steps carried grace that Khan couldn''t imitate, and her presence as a whole felt like a pulling force that made Khan focus on her.


    "Nice to meet you, young man," The woman announced as she and Jenna moved a few pillows to sit in front of Khan. "I''m Caja, leader of this settlement."


    "Khan," Khan replied. "The pleasure is mine."


    Khan felt a bit stunned. He didn''t know why, but Caja strongly resembled Zalpa in his mind. He expected something simr due to the simrities between Niqols and Nele, but the intensity of that feature left him slightly speechless.


    "Whichnguage do you prefer?" Caja asked while crossing her legs and joining her hands on herp.


    "[Yours]," Khan responded.


    "You don''t need to be so polite," Caja said in a lively voice as a warm smile appeared on her face.


    "It''s not about politeness," Khan revealed. "[I only want to practice my ent]."


    Caja and Jenna remained a bit surprised, but Caja soon chuckled. "[As you wish]."


    Silence fell inside the hut, but Khan didn''t dare to break it. Caja was inspecting him, so he let her take her time.


    "[Jenna was right]," Caja eventually eximed. "[You are an odd human. Well, you aren''tpletely human, but that''s not the reason]."


    Khan''s eyes flickered, but he came clean right away. "[I part Nak due to an incident. I hope that won''t cause problems]."


    "[Why would it]?" Caja asked. "[The Nak are one of the purest expressions of mana in the universe. We respect them as a species]."


    Khan''s expression tried to turn cold, but he suppressed that urge. Yet, his internal conflict didn''t escape Caja''s attentive and prating gaze.


    "[Do you have a problem with what I said]?" Caja wondered.


    "[I despise the Nak]," Khan admitted.


    "[Oh, I wasn''t praising them]," Caja exined. "[I was only describing their nature]."


    "[Their nature is quite destructive]," Khan pointed out. "[Do you think that the mana as its core is destructive as well]?"


    "[Who said that the Nak have a destructive nature]?" Caja questioned. "[That species spread unfathomable pain throughout the universe, but that alone doesn''t express their nature. You should know it since you share their iconic element]."


    "[The chaos element destroys]," Khan stated.


    "[Does it]?" Caja asked. "[Is that all you know about your element? Maybe you are more human than I thought]."


    Khan had to drop his internal conflict and use Liiza''s words to answer Caja. "[I know that chaos is the freest of the elements]."


    "[You do know something then]," Caja announced. "[Did the humans teach you that]?"


    "[No]," Khan replied.


    "[I see why you are odd]," Caja dered. [You are part Nak, and you ept alien teachings. Calling you human doesn''t do you justice]."


    "[I don''t like to judge people through their species]," Khan revealed. "[I can''t see the difference among them]."


    "[That begs the question]," Caja voiced. "[Did you be like this because of the incident, or were you always supposed to achieve this mindset]?"


    "[I can''t answer that]," Khan responded.


    "[Try]," Caja ordered. "[Your manners are good, and your honesty is evident. Yet, I want to understand what kind of man you are before making my decision]."


    "[What decision]?" Khan asked.


    "[The Nele have gone through too much]," Caja dered. "[We can''t trust foreigners so easily]."


    Khan couldn''t argue there. He forced himself to review his life, and a few things immediately became clear. His nightmares, element, and life in the Slums had been core reasons behind his open mindset. Still, everything crumbled when he thought about Liiza.


    "[I would have reached this mindset one way or the other]," Khan dered. "[It might have taken longer without the incident, but I can''t imagine a different version of myself]."


    Caja fell silent, and Jenna didn''t utter any word either. It was clear that the leader needed time to think.


    "[This is indeed troublesome]," Caja announced. "[I should kick you out anyway due to the potential danger that you represent for the Nele. Still, something tells me that I won''t find another human like you]."


    "[I sorry, but I don''t understand what you mean]," Khan admitted.


    "[The Nele can''t live like this forever]," Caja sighed. "[Life on Milia 222 is too unstable. We have allies, but they don''t understand us. You might]."


    "[I''m ttered]," Khan couldn''t help but exim.


    "[Don''t you want to know how I reached this conclusion]?" Caja asked.


    "[Because you saw my pain, right]?" Khan guessed.


    "[You do understand us]," Caja whispered, and Jenna also ended up wearing a surprised expression.


    Caja diverted her gaze before moving her eyes back on Khan. She didn''t show any emotion, but Khan guessed that she was still conflicted about him.


    "[Why did youe here]?" Caja eventually changed the topic.


    "[I''m part of an investigation]," Khan revealed. "[Reliable sources said that you are aware of the activities involving illegal skin and simr materials]."


    "[Don''t insult me]," Caja snorted, and Khan widened his eyes in surprise. He really didn''t understand what he did wrong.


    "[Don''t talk about work]," Caja continued. "[I want to know your true motives, the same motives that made you approach Jenna]."


    Khan sighed in relief in his mind. It seemed that Caja was still studying his character, so he didn''t hold back from revealing his true reasons. "[I want to study your arts.. I want you to teach me what the humans can''t]."

 Chapter 354 - Friend

    It was clear that Caja had no interest in Khan''s mission or general reasons behind his presence on Milia 222. She only had her species in mind, so her questions aimed to uncover Khan''s true character and desires.


    Khan''s answer sounded quite vague in Caja''s mind. She felt proud of her species'' arts, but she couldn''t understand why Khan wanted them. Mere curiosity couldn''t exin his desires either.


    "[Why]?" Caja asked. "[Humans are ignorant to the ways of mana, but their methods are efficient. If it''s about power, your species already has worthy paths]."


    "[My element is troublesome to handle with only human techniques]," Khan exined before revealing something deeper, "[And I find their approach to mana too limited. I can''t stick to that after learning more expansive arts]."


    "[Show us what you learnt]," Caja ordered. "[I want to see these arts]."


    Khan didn''t expect that request, but he didn''t refuse it. He raised his hand, and the blood vessels on his palm popped out before transforming into a sturdy shield lying right under his skin.


    "[Interesting]," Cajamented. "[I''m not privy to this technique, but I know it''s not human. Doesn''t your species ban arts requiring tampered blood]?"


    ''She already understood the core material for the [Blood Shield],'' Khan thought before voicing a meaningful answer. "[I''m not sure, but I don''t need to worry about that as long as my superiors remain in the dark]."


    "[Remain in the dark]?" Caja whispered before ncing at Jenna.


    "[It means that his superiors don''t know about his alien techniques]," Jenna exined.


    "[Oh]!" Caja eximed. "[That makes sense. I''m sorry, young man. I spend most of my time among my species, so I don''t know every alien saying]."


    Khan couldn''t help but find that funny since it made him think about the Niqols and theirck of understanding of many gestures. It was actually surprising to see some of the Nele unclear about something after sharing Milia 222 with many different species.


    "[Anyway, I''m afraid that''s not enough]," Caja dered. "[Your openness to alien arts doesn''t make you suitable for ours. I want to see how you create those techniques. I''ll take my decision afterward]."


    Khan''s eyes lit up as an idea formed in his mind. He could probably trick the Caja into giving him what he needed to advance the [Blood Shield] to the next checkpoint. Still, his rtionship with the Nele would end if they discovered his tactic.


    "[I actually need to improve my technique]," Khan eventually decided to be honest. "[Can I use your resources to do it]?"


    "[Why would we even do that]?" Caja wondered.


    "[I paid a hefty price to get my hands on this technique]," Khan stated. "[It also has a deep meaning in my mind. I need something in exchange if you want to see it]."


    "[Should I remind you that you havee here looking for help]?" Caja chuckled. "[I praised you before, but don''t misunderstand my words. You are far from necessary to the Nele]."


    Khan didn''t know what to say. He felt conflicted about showing the procedure for the [Blood Shield] without getting anything in return. He didn''t lie about his emotional attachment to the technique. Revealing its secrets sounded like a partial betrayal toward the Niqols, so he wanted something to justify that sacrifice.


    "[Is the deep meaning connected to your one]?" Jenna asked while Khan was busy sorting out his thoughts.


    Khan felt conflicted once again. He had always avoided addressing the topic directly since that would make it real. A positive answer would confirm that Jenna''s words were true, which couldn''t be good for Khan''s mind.


    Caja noticed the conflict hidden behind the silence. She saw the longing and coldness in Khan''s face as the memories from Nitis took control of his thoughts. A human might fail to understand what that expression meant, but Caja was different.


    "[I see]," Caja sighed. "[I''m sorry. We will provide what you need as long as the price is reasonable]."


    Khan didn''t expect that answer, but he didn''t hesitate to describe what he needed. "[I need blood and flesh from a creature as strong as a first-level warrior if not stronger]."


    The human ssification of power wasn''t a secret. Most species that had interacted with the Global Army knew about it, so Caja didn''t need help understanding Khan''s words. Still, she wore a cold expression as she thought about the matter.


    "[You said creature]," Caja pointed out, "[Do you mean that a Nele would also work]?"


    The threat in Caja''s voice was impossible to miss, but Khan didn''t lie to her. "[Yes, a Nele would also work. I only need flesh and blood to carry enough mana]."


    "[I see]," Caja repeated as her expression rxed. "[I''ll see what I can find. Jenna, keep our guestpany]."


    Jenna nodded as Caja left the pillow and straightened her position to approach the hut''s exit. She didn''t add anything else as she left Jenna and Khan alone.


    "[She said that you are a guest]," Jenna eximed while wearing a gentle smile. "[That''s good progress]."


    "[Thanks]," Khan shortly replied.


    Jenna also left her pillow to approach one of the fires. She lifted her jumper to take out a few roots and leaves hidden under it before throwing everything into the mes.


    The process wasn''t as simple as it looked. Jenna was adding mana to those materials before feeding them to the fire. Thetter then caused a reaction that filled its flickering mes with a unique energy that Khan didn''t recognize.


    "[I can feel your gaze]," Jenna giggled.


    "[What are you doing]?" Khan asked.


    "[I''m making a drink]," Jenna responded as she tapped on a spot on the floor to reveal a hidden drawer. "[You humans would ssify it as tea]."


    Khan fell silent to continue his inspection of the procedure. Jenna took out two cups from the hidden drawer and ced them at the sides of the fire. Then, a dense dark liquid came out from the mes'' base and slowly entered the two items.


    Jenna couldn''t fill the entirety of the cup from that angle, but the liquid stopped flowing when they were only a quarter full. Jenna could remove the items from the fire at that point before returning to her pillow and handing one of them to Khan.


    "[We used tter cups back then]," Jenna exined while bringing her cut to her face to smell the liquid in its insides. "[We lost that tradition after everything we suffered]."


    Khan imitated Jenna. The drink was strong but not alcoholic. Also, it contained mana, so Khan felt sure that it would have some effects on his mind.


    "[The drink will calm you down]," Jenna revealed as if she could understand Khan''s thoughts. "[It will make you more honest but also clear-headed. It should be a good advantage in your imminent performance]."


    "[Do you usually drink things like this]?" Khan asked.


    "[Yes]," Jenna stated. "[We secretly despise anything that might hurt our ability to think or affect our behavior. We prefer showing our truer selves all the time]."


    ''That'' the exact opposite of the Niqols,'' Khan thought before correcting that idea. ''Well, maybe there is a simrity there too. They just have opposite approaches.''


    Khan took a sip from the drink as his thoughts flowed freely. The liquid was hot but not scorching. It filled his mouth, throat, and chest with intense warmth, and some sweat even appeared on his forehead.


    The drink''s taste was incredible. It was intense but also soft. Khan could experience the entirety of its vor without experiencing any burn or difficulty. The liquid was really easy to gulp down, and its effects arrived almost immediately.


    Khan felt a bit light-headed. The sensation resembled drowsiness, but he didn''t have the urge to sleep. It made him feel safe and inpletefort, but he managed to remain alert due to his fondness for cold temperatures.


    "[It''s delicious]," Khan dered. "[It''s a pity humans don''t have anything simr]."


    "[I can teach you how to make it if Caja epts you]," Jenna offered.


    "[I wouldn''t refuse the offer]," Khan announced. "[Though I''d probably go for booze most times anyway]."


    "[You don''t seem the type to enjoy losing control]," Jennamented.


    "[It''s not that]," Khan stated.


    "[It''s connected to your one]," Jenna interrupted.


    Khan felt forced to take another sip to avoid addressing the topic, but the drink only made things worse. He wanted to hold back his words, but they came out of his mouth anyway and revealed his true feelings.


    "[I wish you stopped mentioning this stuff all the time]," Khan eximed.


    "[What stuff]?" Jenna teased.


    "[You know]," Khan sighed, "[All the talk about the one. I understand it''s a big deal for the Nele, but things aren''t always so easy]."


    "[Maybe I''m too Nele to understand your view]," Jenna wondered. "[We see love, true love as the most important aspect of our lives. We wouldn''t even mind hurting our species because of it]."


    "[Isn''t that dangerous]?" Khan asked.


    "[Of course]," Jenna uttered. "[Yet, anything can be dangerous in the right conditions. We simply believe that we should do everything in our power to be happy, and that often involves our loved ones]."


    "[Love isn''t always enough]," Khan dered as he took another sip from his cup.


    "[Isn''t it]?" Jenna asked. "[Love is the greatest drive in the universe. It can topple entire civilizations. Why would you go against its nature]?"


    "[Love can hurt]," Khan eximed. "[Love can destroy. Love can kill]."


    "[Let it hurt]," Jenna responded. "[Let it destroy. Let it kill. All of that is fine as long as you can fulfill it]."


    "[It''s not so easy]," Khan repeated as his gaze fell on the floor.


    "[Easy]?" Jenna said in a questioning tone as she left her cup at her side before cing her knees on the floor to approach Khan.


    Initially, Khan started to retreat since he didn''t know what was happening. Still, Jenna raised her palms to reassure him, so he let her do what she wanted.


    "[Do you think we don''t have urges]?" Jenna asked as she reached Khan''s hands.


    Jenna''s slender fingers moved over the back of Khan''s hand before sliding toward his wrists. She also got closer as she reached for his cheek, hair, and neck.


    "[I''ve always wanted to try touching a human]," Jenna revealed as her eyes moved left and right to explore Khan''s face. "[You are so simr to us, but your customs arepletely different. I envy your emotional freedom a bit, but I also pity how easily you disregard it]."


    Khan didn''t expect his visit to the third asteroid to lead to that, but he didn''t reject it either. Jenna''s fingers were warm, warmer than humans, but they carried no lust. She was merely curious.


    "[How does my touch feel]?" Jenna asked as she sat right in front of Khan and took his hands in her grasp.


    "[It''s warm]," Khan stated. "[Maybe too warm]."


    "[Don''t you like it]?" Jenna asked. "[I read that humans would get aroused in no time if a Nele touches them]."


    "[I''m sure most humans would find it hard to control themselves in this situation]," Khan dered.


    "[Caja says that it''s even harder for us]," Jenna uttered. "[We hold back out of devotion to love, but it''s far from easy]."


    "[Why are you doing this with me then]?" Khan questioned. "[Why are you trusting me so much]?"


    "[Because you are harmless]," Jenna smiled, but the innocence in her expression made Khan snap.


    Khan left Jenna''s grasp and ced the cup at his side before grabbing her wrists. Jenna didn''t fight back and let him lift her arms. Khan then put a knee in front of her to approach her face and make their foreheads touch.


    Jenna gasped as Khan slowly pushed her back. It didn''t take long before Jenna ended up with her back on the floor and Khan above her. Their torsos weren''t connected, but that didn''t change the nature of the situation.


    "[Who is harmless]?" Khan asked. "[Nele and humans are different. I don''t have to hold back]."


    "[You can take me if you wish]," Jenna whispered as arousal filled her face, "[But will your feelings be okay afterward]?"


    Khan was only a few centimeters from Jenna''s face. She was even more stunning now that desire had appeared on her expression. She was clearly suffering from the years spent holding back her urges, and that only intensified her natural beauty.


    Still, her words felt like sharp des in Khan''s mind. Jenna had mentioned an issue that had afflicted him since his separation from Liiza. Even Cora couldn''t fix it after spending so long together. Khan couldn''t help but feel a bit guilty whenever he was with another woman.


    "Fuck," Khan muttered as he lifted himself before sitting next to Jenna.


    "[That was exciting]," Jennamented as she did her best to steady her breath.


    "[You really shouldn''t be so careless]," Khan scolded.


    "[It''s fine, right]?" Jenna asked as he straightened her back to sit at Khan''s right side. "[I feel that I can trust youpletely now]."


    "[I didn''t expect the Nele to be so twisted]," Khan scoffed.


    "[That might be me]," Jenna revealed. "[My talent as a fortune-telleres from my deeper understanding of mana. Yet, I''m afraid that it also makes my urges stronger]."


    "[That sounds like a curse]," Khan eximed.


    "[It might be]," Jenna agreed, "[But that''s what makes me who I am. I feel no shame in fulfilling part of my desires when I can. Would you]?"


    "[Depends]," Khan sighed. "[I told you. It''s not always easy, especially when you take politics and different customs into consideration]."


    "[Can''t you ignore all of them]?" Jenna wondered as she bent toward Khan and pressed her body on his right side. "[Do you wish to live your life for politics]?"


    "[It''s not that]," Khan stated as his expression grew cold. [I tried really hard to keep what I had. I''ve done everything I could and have gone to any length, but I failed anyway]."


    "[Did you]?" Jenna asked.


    "[I could have pushed harder]," Khan admitted, "[But that would have made her unhappy. Our separation was necessary]."


    "[We would justify anything if done in the name of love]," Jenna revealed.


    "[I''ve alreadymitted crimes and done untold things]," Khan dered. "[I''m afraid I could have turned into a monster if the situation required that]."


    "[So what]?" Jenna asked. "[Even monsters can love]."


    Khan sighed before turning to look at the alien lying on his shoulder. Jenna appeared utterly at ease right now, and Khan couldn''t help but shake his head.


    "[You are an interesting species]," Khanmented.


    "[You are an interesting human]," Jenna replied. "[It''s a pity you have already found your one. I might have fallen for you otherwise. I can feel that we arepatible]."


    "[I guess friends doesn''t sound bad]," Khan stated.


    "[No, it doesn''t]," Jenna agreed. "[I hope Caja lets you stay. Oh]!"


    Jenna suddenly eximed, and Khan also moved his attention toward the door. They had both sensed Caja''s presence drawing near, but they also noticed how she was carrying something containing a lot of mana.


    Khan didn''t know how to behave since Jenna didn''t leave his side. She actually wrapped her arms around his elbow to keep him close, and Caja inevitably showed a surprised expression when she entered the hut and saw that scene.


    "[We became friends]," Jenna exined before Caja could get the wrong idea.


    "[Forgive her]," Caja sighed. "[We grow up hearing stories about our species and in an isted environment. Most of us develop intense anger toward foreigners, while others forget about their manners once they establish trust]."


    "[It''s fine]," Khan replied while focusing on the bloody bag carried by Caja. "[I don''t mind it]."


    Caja inspected Khan deeply to search for clues that might hint at impure thoughts, but he appearedpletely calm. He didn''t ept the situation just to remain close to Jenna.


    "[I''ve brought what you have requested]," Caja stated as she dropped the bag in front of Khan and returned to her pillow.


    Jenna let go of Khan at that point and took her seat next to Caja. Meanwhile, Khan opened the bag and noticed a strange rat-like creature inside it. The animal was as big as a dog, but its belly was abnormallyrge, and its tail had spikes that released a bad smell.


    "[Its tail is poisonous]," Caja exined as Khan took out the dead creature and ced it on the bag.


    "[That won''t be a problem]," Khan dered as he crawled toward his cup before going back to the creature.


    ording to Khan''s senses, the strange rat was a monster, even a strong one. He would ce its power near the top of the first-level warriors'' bracket. It probably was enough for the next checkpoint of the [Blood Shield].


    Moreover, the creature was still warm. It had probably died in thest minutes, but Khan couldn''t find any injury on its dark fur. That detail was interesting since it could reveal something about the Nele''s techniques, but he forced himself not to think about the matter.


    "[Where can I operate]?" Khan asked while bringing his gaze on Caja. "[I don''t want to turn the floor into a mess]."


    "[Don''t worry about the floor or the carpet]," Caja announced. "[Do what you have to do]."


    Khan didn''t ask the question again. He emptied his cup and took a deep breath before drawing his knife and approaching the creature.


    In theory, a simple monster risked falling short when it came to the third checkpoint of the [Blood Shield], but the high quantity of mana inside the strange rat reassured Khan. Also, he could make up for those shorings by adding more blood.


    Khan removed part of the fur before opening a hole in the rat''s back. He didn''t add any mana to his knife since his element could ruin the material, but the weapon never met problems.


    Khan cut a thumb-sized chunk of meat out of the rat and ced it at the center of his crossed legs. Blood flowed on his trousers, but he remained calm as he summoned mana on his free palm and altered its nature.


    The purple-red mana grew clearer and dimmer as Khan suppressed its destructive properties. Then, he ced it right above the chunk of flesh to fore the blood to follow his demands.


    The chunk of flesh had lost a lot of blood, but what remained in its insides slowly converged at its center under the influence of Khan''s mana. The gory material began to break in some spots during the process, but Khan promptly adjusted his intensity to grow even gentler.


    The effects of the calming drink became evident during the procedure. Khan felt beyond clear-headed, and he could also sense how his control over mana had never been so precise.


    The boost of the drink couldn''tpletely make up for the inexperience in the procedure. Khanmitted a few mistakes that forced him to remove some tiny chunks of flesh, but he improved whenever he cut the rat open to add blood to his material.


    Khan''s trousers turned into a mess as the procedure continued, but the chunk of flesh eventually reached the intended power level. Khan could almostpare it to his second-grade weapon at that point, even if only in terms of mana.


    ''This should be it,'' Khan thought before cing his knife on the floor and seizing the chunk of flesh.


    Khan touched the item, pressed on its surface, smelled and licked it before feeling almost sure that the procedure had been a sess. He only had onest step toplete.


    "[Don''t worry about me]," Khan warned before throwing the flesh in his mouth and gulping hard.


    A heavy pressure immediatelynded on Khan''s chest. He felt as if his heart would stop, and breathing became impossible. He ended up crouching forward, worrying Jenna, who tried to reach him. Still, Caja interrupted her by cing a hand on her shoulder.


    Khan didn''t panic. He was used to those effects by then. He waited until his body adapted to the new presence in its insides and allowed him to breathe again.


    His ragged breath slowly calmed down as he regained control over his body. Khan performed his check-up technique and confirmed that everything was okay. Only his mind was oddly rxed, but the drink exined that detail.


    Khan exhaled loudly before pulling back his sleeves. Then, when he activated the [Blood Shield], Caja and Jenna noticed how blood vessels clotted throughout his arms. The two Nele actually couldn''t see how far they stretched.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I couldn''t make it for win-win, but I didn''t want to cut the chapter short either.. I hope you enjoy.

 Chapter 355 - Answer

    Khan could sense that his body suffered when using the [Blood Shield] at full power. He used the check-up technique while the clotted blood vessels covered his arms, so he could see how quickly some important organs deteriorated while the alien ability was active.


    Khan had to disperse the technique after a few seconds to avoid facing drawbacks. He took a few deep breaths as he unfolded his sleeves and calmed down. He would need to perform a few tests before using the [Blood Shield] in an actual battle, but he felt satisfied that the procedure had been a sess.


    "[So, you have improved the overall sturdiness and extension]," Cajamented while Khan calmed down. "[Still, the burden that your body has to carry to activate the technique has also increased. You might end up killing yourself if you aren''t careful]."


    "[These arts carry great danger]," Khan revealed, "[But they also grant great power]."


    "[Power]," Caja sighed as she ced a finger on her left temple. "[The Nele can''t condone such gruesome and dangerous practices. They go against our very nature]."


    Khan could only nod at that remark. He didn''t feel too disappointed. He had done his best to establish a good rtionship with the Nele. Khan couldn''t me himself if they decided to refuse him anyway.


    "[However, it''s clear that your understanding of mana goes beyond human standards]," Caja continued, "[Far beyond them actually. I never thought I''d live to see a human like you]."


    "[So]?" Khan asked when Caja''s silence stretched for a few seconds. Jenna also couldn''t hold back from staring at her.


    "[Jenna, do you realize how dangerous it is to ept an alien in our inner circle]?" Caja scolded since Jenna didn''t stop staring at her. "[It''s not a decision that we can take back, and it might even have heavy repercussions in the future]."


    "[I don''t think he would hurt us]," Jenna stated.


    "[Sadly, politics go beyond personal feelings and honest intentions]," Caja exined as she fixed her dark, piercing eyes on Khan. "[What would happen if your superiorspel you to reveal our weaknesses? How can I feel safe knowing that this seemingly simple decision might lead to our destruction]?"


    Caja was exaggerating, but Khan couldn''t me her. It was her job to consider the worst-case scenarios, especially when it came to aspects that had remained hidden from other species for a very long time.


    Khan couldn''t lie. He had no answers that could reassure Caja, and his promises weren''t enough since he couldn''t back them up with actual power or status. He was nothing more than a second-level warrior asking for something that went far beyond his reach.


    Still, both Caja and Jenna waited for an answer, especially thetter. Khan felt able to read Jenna''s meaningful expression. She wanted him to say something that could lead to Caja''s approval.


    ''Why is she even so into all of this?'' Khan wondered as he immersed himself in Jenna''s expression. ''We are talking about her species. I should be nothing more than an unnecessary risk.''


    The answer to those doubts was simple but deep, and Khan only had to ept it to find it. The mana was telling Jenna that he was trustworthy, and that was enough for her.


    ''They really are simr,'' Khan sighed in his mind as memories took control of his thoughts.


    "[I can''t address your doubts]," Khan eventually replied, "[I simply can''t. Yet, I know that I don''t want to see anything bad happening to your species. You don''t deserve that]."


    "[You barely know us]," Caja pointed out.


    "[But you resemble a species dear to me]," Khan responded. "[They are worthier than humans. I''m sure the same applies to you]."


    "[Are you asking me to trust you out of a mere resemnce to someone I don''t even know]?" Caja questioned.


    "[I''m asking you to trust my feelings]," Khan corrected.


    Caja fell silent, but her face showed no reactions. She didn''t expect Khan to bring the topic to a field so close to her species, but that could still be a clever tactic to gain her trust.


    However, it was impossible to miss how attached Khan was to the whole matter. He had also drunk Jenna''s tea, so there was a high chance that his words couldn''t get more honest.


    "[Humans aren''t like us]," Caja sighed. "[Their emotions can change drastically during the long life that mana grants. Still, what kind of Nele would I be if I rejected such honest feelings]?"


    Jenna smiled, and Khan''s eyes also lit up, but Caja spoke before they could jump to conclusions. "[I''ll watch you closely. Consider this as a testing period. You will gain ess to part of our culture, but you won''t get to its deeper secrets until I decide otherwise]."


    "[That''s perfect]!" Khan couldn''t help but exim. "[Thank you]!"


    "[Don''t thank me yet]," Caja snorted before turning toward Jenna. "[I believe you want to take care of this, right]?"


    "[Leave it to me]," Jenna eximed in a gentle but happy tone. "[I''ll introduce him to our world]."


    "[Good]," Caja announced while standing up. "[I''ll return to my duties then]."


    "[Thank you again, ma''am]," Khan repeated.


    "[Caja is more than fine]," Caja chuckled as she pulled her hair to show her proud expression. "[Don''t make me feel old. I''m still in my prime]."


    Khan smiled and followed Caja with his eyes as she left the hut. Soon, her presence escaped from his senses, which forced him to move his attention on Jenna.


    "[What happens now]?" Khan asked since Jenna limited herself to smile.


    "[I''ll do as I said]," Jenna revealed as she stood up and approached Khan to take his hand. "[I will introduce you to the Nele''s world]."


    Khan could only follow Jenna''s gentle pull. He grabbed the knife and stored it back in its sheath as he stood up and followed the Nele. Jenna didn''t let go of his hand even after they left the hut, and he didn''t oppose that decision.


    The two strolled among the woods, and Jenna smiled whenever the environment captured Khan''s attention. She seemed to enjoy seeing him so focused on her home, and she didn''t hold back from pulling him toward unique flowers or special features of the area.


    The stroll brought the two next to the training area and back on the main path. The Nele on the road remained stunned seeing Jenna holding Khan''s hand so casually, but her happy face told them that all of that was consensual.


    "[Won''t the other Nele get the wrong idea about us]?" Khan asked once Jenna led him on the woods on the other side of the main path.


    "[Caja will exin everything soon enough]," Jenna revealed while lifting the hand clenched to Khan''s palm. "[Why? Do you hate this]?"


    "[No, but we usually don''t do this with friends]," Khan stated.


    "[I want to do it]," Jenna calmly responded. "[Would you prefer me to hold back]?"


    "[I guess it''s fine if that''s what you want]," Khan sighed.


    "[I knew we werepatible]," Jenna giggled as she stepped closer to Khan toy her head on his shoulder. "[I wonder how this would feel with my one]."


    "[Peaceful]," Khan whispered as memories filled his mind.


    "[I hope this brings you part of that peace]," Jenna said in a serious tone.


    Khan nced at the face resting on his shoulder. Jenna appeared slightly worried. She didn''t only care about her urges with her behavior. She also wanted tofort Khan a bit.


    "[We might have really ended up together]," Khan sighed as a sense of defeat invaded his mind. He gave up on trying to evaluate Jenna through human standards and epted her for who she was.


    "[That shouldn''t stop us from enjoying what we can have]," Jenna uttered.


    "[That sounds so wrong]," Khanughed, but he let go of all the sensations that had no ce in that rtionship. Once he removed lust, curiosity, and other negative thoughts, he felt able to appreciate Jenna''s positive and wonderful aspects.


    "[That way]," Jenna eximed, and the two resumed their stroll.


    Khan experienced nostalgic feelings as he smirked, talked, and joked with Jenna. It was rare for him to have friendships with women that featured no sexual tension or simple attraction. Even Amber didn''t fit in that category.


    The only pure friendship that Khan could remember was with Azni. Things werepletely different with Jenna, and the two had even admitted that they liked each other, but Khan still felt simrities in how he could treat her.


    It felt liberating to ignore the potential consequences of certain actions. Khan could caress Jenna''s hair, pull her toward areas that made him curious, and ept her touch knowing that those gestures wouldn''t involve anything romantic.


    That rtionship had the potential to be one of the most honest that Khan had ever experienced, and he weed it with open arms. He actually started to embrace Jenna''s spontaneous gestures as the stroll continued.


    "[We are here]," Jenna announced when the two reached a smallke filled with greenish water.


    The water could look dirty at first nce, but Khan quickly noticed that its greenish color came from the vegetation nearby and on theke''s bed. The liquid was so clear that he could almost count the short nts growing inside it.


    "[How can you even have something like this here]?" Khan questioned.


    "[That''s a secret]," Jennaughed as she let go of Khan''s hand and approached theke''s shores.


    Khan felt curios, but all the feats achieved during the stroll crumbled when Jenna pulled her jumper to remove it and throw it on the ground. Her smooth and sensual back filled his view, and it didn''t take long before her lower half also became naked.


    "[What are you doing]?!" Khan eximed as his eyes inevitably inspected every inch of Jenna''s figure.


    Khan couldn''t stress enough how beautiful Jenna was. Shecked Yeza''s intense sensuality, but her figure carried a captivating harmony that made Khan''s gaze glued on her perfect pale-green skin.


    ''Don''t they have underwear or something?'' Khan cursed as he tried his best to calm down, but Jenna only worsened the situation.


    "[You have to remove the blood from the procedure]," Jenna exined while half-turning toward Khan. "[Do you need help undressing]?"


    Jenna had almost exposed the entirety of her front without any shame, and Khan had to fight against his deeper instincts to avoid having lustful thoughts.


    Khan needed a few seconds to realize that his fingers and trousers still had the strange rat''s blood on them. He had even passed some of that to Jenna''s hand, but she didn''t mind it. She appeared entirely at ease even while Khan inspected her from head to toe.


    "[I''m good]," Khan muttered as he removed his clothes.


    Jenna showed no hesitation in inspecting Khan''s nude figure. She shared his curiosity and lust, but she only revealed a bright smile and stepped inside theke when she felt to have looked enough.


    "[Aren''t youing]?" Jenna asked as she walked toward the center of theke.


    Khan''s mind was a mess, but he still decided to enter theke. The bed deepened quickly, but the warm water never crossed his shoulders. As for Jenna, she had half of her chest exposed as she waited for Khan to reach her.


    "[This is the best spot]," Jenna eximed as she lifted an arm out of the water and stretched it toward Khan.


    Khan felt defeated once again. He couldn''t get rid of his impure thoughts in that situation, but he did his best to suppress them as he approached Jenna and took her hand.


    "[You should be able to feel the difference if we are this clos-]," Jenna began to say as she tried toy on Khan''s right side, but a high-pitched moan escaped her mouth when her chest touched his arm.


    "[I''m sorry]," Jenna quickly followed as she slowly tried toy on Khan again. "[I didn''t expect the sensation to be so intense]."


    "[You are impossible]," Khan sighed as he reached for Jenna''s face to remove a wet strand of hair from her forehead. "[Don''t be so careless around others]."


    "[But I''m not around others]," Jenna pointed out. "[I''m with you]."


    The honesty and firm trust expressed by Jenna''s face were heartwarming. Her mind was probably even messier than Khan, but she was still doing her best to introduce him to the Nele''s world.


    Khan knew that Jenna was also fulfilling her curiosity, but he couldn''t me her for that. Slowly, the liberating feeling from before returned stronger than ever. If they could do that together, it was safe to assume that they could be sincere friends.


    "[I give up]," Khan whispered. "[Take your time. I''ll wait]."


    Jenna nodded as she slowly got closer. She hesitated from time to time, especially when she rubbed her sensitive spots on Khan, but she eventually calmed down.


    "[Do the Nele always teach mana like this]?" Khan wondered when he felt Jenna rxing on his arm.


    "[No, we rarely get so close since we grow used to how we feel when we are young]," Jenna revealed. "[Yet, you have already been introduced to mana, so I need something more drastic to make you notice our different approach]."


    "[And you are also having fun]," Khan dered.


    "[This is so exciting]," Jenna giggled whileying her head on Khan''s shoulder and tightening her grasp on his arm. "[I can''t wait to fall in love]."


    "[You are so naughty]," Khan joked.


    "[Aren''t you also like that]?" Jenna asked.


    Khan rolled his eyes. He couldn''t deny that statement when he thought about his sexual life with Liiza. Still, he only voiced a faint "[maybe]" to avoid triggering questions.


    Jennaughed when she heard that, but she understood that the time to go back to the main topic had arrived. She lifted her head and stretched her free arm to ce her palm on theke''s surface. Mana then left her figure, but her energy dispersed when it touched the water.


    "[I don''t know all the details of your arts]," Jenna announced. "[However, I''ve understood a few things while I watched you modifying the flesh. You imposed a specific behavior on the blood to make the technique express it]."


    "[That''s correct]," Khan admitted without showing any surprise toward Jenna''s sharp senses.


    "[Your fundamentals are sound]," Jenna dered. "[I think some of the most talented members of my species would have a hard time being your equal there. Still, our approach ispletely different]."


    The water a few meters from Khan and Jenna suddenly surged and created a short column that flew for a couple of seconds before falling back into theke. Some drops ended on Khan''s face, but he was too captivated to care about them.


    Something incredible had happened. The water seemed to have moved out of its own volition, and Khan had only sensed a faint burst of mana during the event.


    "[Do you want to see it again]?" Jenna asked.


    "[Yes, please]," Khan eximed as he prepared his senses to pay extra attention to everything happening in his surroundings.


    Jenna waited until she felt that Khan''s attention had reached its peak before rereleasing her mana. Strands of energy came out of her free arm and fused with theke. Initially, Khan had believed that the mana had disappeared, but he could sense how faint strands remained in the water.


    Those strands of mana slowly flowed toward a distant spot in theke before fusing and generating the same surge as before. Khan didn''t miss anything now, but that only intensified his shock.


    Controlling the mana when it was at some distance from the body was quite hard but far from impossible. Only a handful of soldiers would be able to use spells otherwise.


    However, the interesting aspect of Jenna''s performance came from the small quantity of mana used. Also, she didn''t activate any spell. She had only sent a faint input, but the water had reacted ordingly.


    "[Did you get it]?" Jenna asked.


    "[I know what happened]," Khan replied, "[But I don''t know how you did it]."


    "[I expected as much]," Jenna revealed. "[You have learnt to sense, control, and change the mana. You know how to impose your will through your energy, but you have never tried to talk to it]."


    "[Talk to the mana]?" Khan questioned.


    "[Exactly]," Jenna chuckled as she waved her free hand to point at the whole environment. "[Mana is everywhere. It has different natures and purposes depending on the area, but it can turn into almost everything if it wants]."


    "[What about the limits of the elements]?" Khan asked.


    "[Who said that elements have limits]?" Jenna wondered. "[Sure, someone with the water element will have an easier time talking to the mana nearkes and ponds, but that''s not absolute. Mana is mana. Its temporary shape doesn''t prevent it from changing]."


    Khan would have a harder time understanding what Jenna meant if he didn''t learn from Liiza how the Niqols used their spells. They focused on taking control of an area before activating the effects of their mana, but he could see how a subtler approach could work.


    "[Give it a try]," Jenna cheerfully ordered.


    "[It''s too dangerous]," Khan immediately refused. "[I might hurt you]."


    "[Don''t fail then]," Jenna responded as her head went back on Khan''s shoulder.


    Khan came up with countless excuses and even more replies, but something in Jenna''s calm expression told him that none of them would work. Resolve built up inside him at that point. In theory, he had everything he needed to seed.


    Khan ced his left palm on theke''s surface and took deep breaths before summoning his mana. Strands of purple-red energy began to leave his body, but the water suddenly churned and sshed all over Jenna and him.


    "[You must be gentler]," Jenna scolded. "[You aren''t using your mana to do something. You aren''t even giving orders to the mana around you. You are asking a favor to a stranger]."


    ''How do I even talk to mana?'' Khan wondered before closing his eyes to immerse himself in the environment''s symphony.


    The various strands of mana around Khan had different shades and filled the ck world seen by his closed eyes. He could understand where theke''s influence stopped to make room for the air and the various trees, but he didn''t know how to interact with that.


    The symphony became messy as soon as Khan released a strand of mana. The properties of his element seemed too intense to blend with the environment. The energy around him rejected his presence by shattering and giving birth to violent reactions.


    "[Gentler]!" Jenna scolded again. "[How did you approach us when you didn''t know how we would react? How did you touch me when you were still worried about our rtionship? How did you hold your one when you had yet to understand what she liked]?"


    Khan loudly exhaled as he let go of every intention or desire. Only a faint worry and shyness remained in his mind as he released his mana inside theke. He didn''t ask anything. He was merely focused on avoiding hurting the water.


    Something strange happened as Khan kept his eyes closed. The symphony stopped shattering and epted the addition of Khan''s mana. New colors appeared in the dark world inside his mind, and an intense purple-red shade eventually forced him to look at a distant spot.


    Bubbles came out a few meters in front of Khan before a proper hole opened. The water had merely carried the primal nature of his mana and expressed it in a different spot, but that seemingly meaningless reaction sounded like a proper statement to him.. It was as if theke had given an answer.

 Chapter 356 - Trust

    Khan couldn''t hide his surprise, or, rather, he couldn''t think about his reactions when the entirety of his attention was on theke. He wanted to give some meaning to the recent event, but he failed to trante that answer even after putting his whole self into it.


    "[What even happened]?" Khan wondered as he struggled to ept the recent event.


    "[The mana heard your request]," Jenna softly exined.


    Khan wanted more than that short exnation. He had already expanded his mindset once after learning the Niqols'' approach, but that new path went in apletely different direction.


    Understanding what had happened wasn''t too problematic. Khan knew that the mana as a whole was a deep andplicated topic. He would be the first to im that he was still ignorant about it, even if his knowledge was far above human standards.


    The issue came from theck of tangible connection between his action and theke''s reaction. Spells and simr techniques would always leave a trail of mana that Khan could study or follow, but the recent event almost entirelycked that aspect.


    Khan had sent mana into the water, and theke had reacted almost on its own. To put it into simple words, Khan had increased the amount of chaos in the environment until a natural reaction unfolded.


    That reasoning still had ws that Khan couldn''t ignore. Usually, the chaos element would cause abrupt reactions that messed with the environment''s harmony. However, the recent event had been in line with the symphony. It had been an active part of that melody.


    ''Can I actually destroy without destroying?'' Khan wondered as questions connected to the very nature of his element filled his mind.


    "[What is it]?" Jenna asked since Khan remained silent.


    "[I''m trying to make sense of what just happened]," Khan revealed.


    "[You won''t get anywhere if you use your human perspective]," Jenna scolded.


    "[But I need to try]," Khan stated. "[I can''t abandon my knowledge to embrace yours. I already carry two perspectives. I can add a third]."


    Jenna couldn''t argue with that. Khan wasn''t a Nele, and asking him to be one would be unfair toward his past experiences. Assimting different approaches and turning them into a single path was no easy feat, but she had to respect his decision.


    ''So,'' Khan tried to summarize, ''I can use the mana as mere energy, and I can acknowledge its different natures to manipte it ording to my desires. Yet, I can also obtain simr effects by talking to it. Does this make any sense?''


    It didn''t make any sense, but Khan couldn''t deny what had just happened and what Jenna had shown before. The mana could act on its own if he asked nicely enough.


    "[What can you do through this approach]?" Khan asked while ncing at the face lying on his shoulder. "[I understand that the mana consumption is low, but what are the limits of these arts]?"


    "[Do you mean in terms of power]?" Jenna questioned before raising her free arm and pointing her finger at a spot in the distance.


    Khan saw and sensed mana leaving Jenna''s arm to fuse with the water and flow alongside it. Theke didn''t oppose that invasion at all. It almost looked happy to ept the faint requests carried by Jenna''s energy.


    The mana gathered in a distant spot before creating two slim currents of water that left theke''s surface and intertwined as they rose higher in the air.


    The currents createdrge arcs whenever they touched, but they didn''t lose water during the process. They appeared almost solid as they continued to rise to build a simple and tall transparent structure.


    Jenna didn''t let the demonstration end there. She pointed her forefinger at the structure and waved it left and right as she sent more requests. She appeared connected with the mana in the distance, so the water reacted without dy.


    Drops fell from the various arcs and ended on the intersections below before giving birth to simple figures. A tree, a dome, and a hut appeared in the spaces delimited by the currents, but the structure never trembled during the process.


    The level of control necessary to build something simr made Khan''s mind go nk, but he quickly recalled that the demonstration didn''t involve that field. Jenna wasn''t using her mana to order the water around. She was asking theke to create that structure.


    The approach allowed Jenna to use less mana and limited her mental efforts. Something soplicated was easier than a human spell for her, and Khan could confirm that by how rxed Jenna''s body remained through the whole process.


    "[I realize it might be strange for you]," Jenna admitted as she lowered her free arm to make the structure crumble back into theke. "[Establishing a conversation with the mana and voicing requests is as easy as breathing for me. I barely have to think to do things like this]."


    "[Is the same with synthetic mana]?" Khan wondered.


    The Nele didn''t use those exact words to describe synthetic mana, but Jenna understood what Khan meant, so she quickly answered. "[The fake mana makes things both easier and harder. It''s easier to establish a conversation, but it''s harder to produce powerful effects through it]."


    "[Because itcks innate natures]," Khan dered.


    "[Exactly]," Jenna uttered while lifting her head to shoot a pleased nce at Khan. "[You did understand then]."


    "[I''m still wrapping my mind around it]," Khan sighed. "[I think I need to experience talking with the mana a bit more before getting a clear idea]."


    "[You can do it here]," Jenna revealed. "[We won''t kick you out after introducing you to our customs]."


    "[Thank you]," Khan smiled, and Jenna revealed a simrly warm expression.


    "[It''s quitete already]," Jenna eventually announced. "[Should we get out]?"


    "[Sure]," Khan limited himself to say, and the two slowly left theke. Of course, Jenna made sure to remain close to him through the whole process.


    "[Don''t wear those]," Jenna said when Khan wanted to reach for his clothes on the ground. "[I''m sure someone will bring new clothes when we wake up]."


    "[I think I won''t sleep]," Khan revealed. "[If it''s not a problem, I''ll spend the night training here. I can''t stop now]."


    "[So, we won''t sleep together]," Jenna added in a disappointed tone.


    "[Why would we sleep together]?" Khan scolded, but Jennaughed as she clung tightly to his arm.


    "[Fine]," Jenna continued tough. "[I''ll sleep on yourp while you try to talk with the mana]."


    "[Do you realize that we are still naked]?" Khanmented.


    "[You''ll have an easier time connecting with nature like this]," Jenna pointed out. "[Also, you''ll be too worried about hurting me to fail if I remain here]."


    "[I know that you have far naughtier thoughts]," Khanined.


    "[I know that you have already given up]," Jenna joked, and Khan could only sigh at that answer.


    "[You are impossible]," Khan eventually whispered.


    "[Aren''t you enjoying this]?" Jenna asked as she left Khan''s shoulder.


    Khan could see Jenna in her entirety again. She was still holding his hand, but his attention inevitably fell on the drops running over her smooth skin and curves. Many would kill to get a glimpse of that perfect beauty, but he was there, treating her as an honest friend.


    "[It''s really hard at times]," Khan admitted, "[But it bes incredibly rxing when I can ignore some stuff]."


    "[It''s the same for me]," Jenna eximed while ncing at Khan''s groin. "[I''m getting used to seeing it]."


    "[That''s not something you should brag about]," Khan scolded, but his voice transformed into augh when Jenna jumped on his neck to hug him closely.


    "[Thank you for indulging me]," Jenna whispered. "[I thought this stress would remain with me until I found my one]."


    Khan never underestimated Jenna''s urges. He was open-minded enough to understand that her curse had deep repercussions on her character, but he realized how profound they were only now.


    Khan didn''t do anything special in his view, but Jenna appeared genuinely grateful. His mind instinctively ignored the soft sensations pressing on his chest as he reached her hair to caress it.


    "[Don''t get so serious about it]," Khan sighed. "[We are friends, right]?"


    "[So, can I sleep on yourp]?" Jenna asked while breaking the hug to make their foreheads touch.


    "[Sure]," Khan agreed, "[But watch your hands. We don''t want your future loved one to say that I''ve defiled you]."


    "[I can''t fall in love soon enough]," Jenna cursed.


    Khanughed before sitting cross-legged on the ground. Jenna didn''t hesitate toy her head on hisp, and he adjusted it to make sure that it remained as far away as possible from his manhood.


    "[How does it work with attacks]?" Khan asked as he caressed Jenna''s hair and went back to the main topic.


    "[We fill the environment with more mana]," Jenna exined. "[I can use attacks even in the absence of water. The mana in the air can gain its nature easily]."


    "[What happens in the absence of mana]?" Khan wondered.


    "[We surround ourselves with our energy and create a small environment]," Jenna responded. "[Our attacks won''t be as strong in those conditions, but we won''t be powerless either]."


    ''Maybe that''s how they contained them during their years in very,'' Khan thought. ''I guess I can''t avoid learning their weaknesses.''


    "[What about your predictions]?" Khan continued.


    "[That''s aplicated topic]," Jenna stated as she turned to face the ceiling and seize Khan''s left arm in her grasp. "[All the Nele are born with innately high sensitivity to mana, but there are rare talents even among us. I''m one of them]."


    "[Do you sense deeper aspects of the mana]?" Khan guessed.


    "[No, it''s more about memorizing patterns]," Jenna exined. "[I''ve seen most of Milia 222. I know how its environments feel, so I replicate itsyout in my mind. As for the predictions, I add a variable to that and see how it transforms]."


    "[Chaos in my case]," Khan stated.


    "[I don''t know what it will involve]," Jenna revealed in a vaguely apologetic tone. "[I don''t even know if it will happen. I wish I could tell you more]."


    "[I wish you would let go of my arm]," Khan reassured Jenna through a joke.


    "[It''s like you are hugging me]," Jenna giggled as she squeezed Khan''s arm, uncaring that it pressed on her chest.


    "[Sleep already]," Khan ordered. "[We''ll have more time to talk tomorrow]."


    Jenna smiled before turning to her side and closing her eyes. Initially, she struggled a bit, and Khan could even feel her skin heating up. Yet, she eventually rxed and began to approach her slumber.


    Khan had to limit his caresses to Jenna''s arms since every spot around them would lead to impure thoughts. The fact that they were both naked remained a constant distraction too, but deeper thoughts made their way inside his mind as he managed to ignore those aspects.


    ''What would have happened if I met her before Liiza?'' Khan wondered while inspecting Jenna.


    The answer arrived quickly. Khan knew that he would have fallen for Jenna. Her honesty, beauty, and innate understanding of his situation weren''t details he could ignore.


    Jenna was also kind. Khan couldn''t see much during their short interaction, but he had realized how she tried to make himfortable even when she pursued personal interests.


    Moreover, Jenna''s radical idea of love matched Khan''s dark side. She was probably more extreme than her peers due to her talent as a fortune-teller, so Khan knew that she could ept him in his entirety.


    Yet, Liiza was even more than that. If Khan had topare the two women, Liiza remained above. She shared hisck of trust toward her own species, which made her unique even among the Niqols.


    ''Friends doesn''t sound too bad,'' Khan eventually thought. ''I might even prefer that right now. At least George isn''t here to mock me.''


    Jenna eventually rxed until she fell asleep, and Khan waited a few minutes before focusing on what he had learnt that night. He closed his eyes and spent a decent amount of time studying the environment before attempting to release mana.


    Of course, Khan''s approach to the training was extra careful. Jenna was defenseless right now, so a mistake on his side might hurt her seriously.


    Khan waited until he felt confident avoiding mistakes before striving to repeat what he had achieved in theke. He still recalled the sensations that had established the first connection with the mana, but replicating them turned out to beplicated.


    That oue felt almost natural since Khan had already experienced his first time. His worry mostly came from Jenna''s position, and his shyness couldn''t be as honest as before. Moreover, hecked actual favors to ask the mana.


    Khan didn''t want anything specific from the mana around him since he only knew how to destroy with the chaos element. He preferred to obtain a mere reaction in the water nearby or something simr instead of damaging the Nele''s home, so he focused on that.


    The immersion into the area''s symphony wasn''t too hard to achieve, but Khan had to invest hours in reestablishing a connection. Still, he rejoiced whenever his mana caused a faint gust of wind or a slight tremor on theke''s surface.


    Those small reactions were enough to give Khan an idea of what worked during his attempts. They slowly allowed him to establish a method that went beyond the mere "talking to mana" preached by the Nele.


    Ideas on how to fuse that approach with Khan''s arts appeared, but he kept them in the back of his mind for now. He wanted to prioritize getting used to and learning more about the Nele''s methods before findingmon points and building on them. Yet, everything felt promising, which made him work even harder.


    Spending entire nights training had be a standard part of Khan''s routine, and the new project made him forget about the passage of time. That isted environment didn''t help either since it replicated Milia 222''s constant illumination. The morning arrived, but he realized that only when a figure approached his position.


    "[Hi]," Khan announced when he turned to nce at a young Nele carrying changes of clothes.


    The boy wasn''t older than thirteen, and he expressed no curiosity for Jenna''s naked figure. He could only see her back from his position, but his attention remained fixed on how close she was to Khan.


    The boy ced the clothes on the ground when he managed to ignore that scene, but his attention eventually went back on it. He appeared hesitant, and Khan finally decided to address the matter. "[Is something wrong? Do you want to ask me something]?"


    The hesitation vanished at that question, and the boy stopped holding back. "[Are you two lovers]?"


    "[No, we are just friends]," Khan replied without forgetting to wear a reassuring smile.


    "[Can we trust you then]?" The boy continued.


    The curiosity and worry carried in the boy''s question left Khan speechless. That behavior perfectly expressed how the Nele felt about foreigners. They didn''t innately hate aliens, but they had grown up hearing awful stories about their history, which made them hesitant.


    "[I''ll do my best to earn your trust]," Khan dered since he couldn''t find better words.


    The boy seemed to like that answer. His face remained aloof, but he nodded before turning to run in the distance. A few voices mixed with the noise of the woods, but Khan couldn''t hear much. He could only guess that the young Nele had reached some friends.


    "[Why did you leave me on my own]?" Khan whispered as he stared at the spot where the boy had disappeared.


    "[I wanted to see your reaction]," Jenna replied in a sleepy voice. "[You are good with kids]."


    "[Don''t get strange ideas already]," Khan sighed.


    "[I had a wonderful dream]," Jenna eximed. "[We did so many things]."


    "[Let go of my arm, and get dressed]," Khan scolded before his expression turned serious.


    Khan couldn''t get the boy''s face out of his head. He felt terrible knowing that someone so young had to live in fear of everything and everyone past that small settlement. He almost didn''t realize that a few words left his mouth while he remained immersed in those thoughts. "[I meant it.. I''ll earn your trust]."

 Chapter 357 - Connection

    Khan and Jenna wore the clothes brought by the boy. The Nele didn''t seem to care about appearances in the settlement, so the two ended up with simr baggy dark jumpers and flexible trousers.


    The quality of the clothes was nowhere near what Luke had given to Khan. The jumper''s rough fabric scratched his skin, but he didn''t mind that. He had worn far worse in the Slums. Besides, everything felt quitefortable even if it was clearly cheap.


    Khan had developed the habit of nning schedules, especially for his training, but Jenna didn''t give him the time to think. As soon as they finished dressing up, she took his hand and led him across the woods to return to the main path.


    A surprising and slightly heartwarming sight unfolded in Khan''s vision when he reached the main path. The settlement had a rtivelyrge circr square at its center, and multiple Nele gathered there to have their breakfast.


    "[Come]," Jenna pulled Khan as multiple gazes fell on them.


    Khan couldn''t help but feel a bit out of ce in that situation. The square had fourrge tables on one side, and fires flickered on them. A few Nele fed ingredients to the mes before gathering the liquiding out of their bases into wooden bowls.


    Long lines stretched from the tables. The Nele in the settlement orderly approached the fires and grabbed the bowls handled by those in charge of serving the breakfast.


    It was clear that the procedure involved the Nele''s customs, so Khan didn''t want to join it after a mere day spent in the settlement. However, his opinion and desires didn''t matter when Jenna kept his hand firmly sealed in her grasp.


    Khan and Jenna got in one of the lines under everyone''s watchful gazes. No oneined, but it was still hard to ignore the only foreigner in that usually quiet part of the day.


    The Nele behind the tables didn''t hold himself back from inspecting Khan either. He looked as old as Caja but not as gentle or open-minded. He hesitated to hand a bowl to Khan, but Jenna seized it from his hands and put an end to the issue.


    "[They''ll get used to it]," Jenna reassured in an apologetic tone when she led Khan to a rtively isted spot in the square.


    "[I don''t me them]," Khan stated as he sat on the ground and briefly inspected his surroundings.


    Khan had sat because the Nele on the square had done the same. They had formed groups in different spots on the ground to enjoy their breakfast and talk. Still, their conversations were nothing more than whispers interrupted by random nces in Khan''s direction.


    "[It''s usually louder]," Jenna revealed as she sat on Khan''s right.


    "[I can imagine that]," Khan uttered. "[It''s fine. I would be far more suspicious in their situation]."


    "[Give them time]," Jenna sighed as she ced her head on Khan''s shoulder. "[They can sense what you are. They won''t take long to trust you]."


    "[Shouldn''t you eat]?" Khan scolded.


    "[I can eat like this if you stay still]," Jenna giggled as she neared her bowl to her mouth.


    The breakfast was nothing more than a fuming dark-green soup that radiated appealing scents. Khan sniffed his bowl a few times before taking a short sip.


    A storm of vors filled his mouth, but a hot sensation soon suppressed them. The breakfast was almost scorching, but it didn''t burn Khan. Moreover, it seemed to reinvigorate his slightly tired mind.


    ''Their cuisine is more than simple food,'' Khan thought. ''They use their arts even on soups.''


    Even the Niqols didn''t go as far as using the mana in their meals, but Khan could find a few exnations for that. The Nele''s approach suited those daily urrences more, and there was a chance that the Niqols had something simr in their old ways.


    Khan almost wolfed down the soup. It was delicious, and its high temperature didn''t hinder his actions. Yet, Jenna eventually joked and forced him to take a short break. "[Not so quickly. Enjoy it properly]."


    Even after the joke, Khan still emptied his bowl before everyone else. He couldn''t get rid of that old habit so quickly, but he swore to do his best when among Nele. He could see how they didn''t appreciate his quick meals too much.


    Jenna took her time with her bowl, and her head never left Khan''s shoulder. Khan tried to study his surroundings a bit more, but a bit of the soup spilled on Jenna''s cheek due to her odd position, which forced him to move his attention back on her.


    The Nele on the square almost couldn''t believe how naturally Khan pulled his jumper''s sleeve to clean Jenna''s cheek. His actions carried no hesitations, and Jenna''s behaviorcked difort or annoyance. Her evident eptance almost showed how deeply she trusted Khan.


    Caja had made an official announcement the previous night without adding many details. She had only stated that he wasn''t a threat, but the Nele on the square felt that there was more to it. Some even managed to connect his presence to their recent stashing of supplies.


    Curiosity inevitably built up in the Nele''s minds. They shared Jenna''s urges and interest in foreigners, but they didn''t feel ready to drop their barriers just yet. However, they didn''t hold back from studying the situation as much as possible.


    Jenna didn''t say much after finishing her meal. She continued to rest on Khan''s shoulder as traces of drowsiness appeared on her face. Khan didn''t know what to do without her directives, but the cute scene eventually led him to cuddle her a bit.


    Of course, those intimate gestures only intensified the curiosity and surprise in the Nele on the square. The whispers grew louder, but Khan never managed to hearplete sentences.


    Nele came and left the square as the breakfast continued, but all of them showed simr reactions at the sight of Khan and Jenna teasing each other. She oftenughed, while Khan mostly scolded her, but his hands never left her hair or neck.


    Jenna stood up only once the breakfast ended and the Nele began to remove the tables. She led Khan back into the woods and toward an isted small hut that worked as a public bathroom.


    The small bathroom featured a small pond that changed its water after every use and a hole that emptied itself on its own. Nothing there involved technology, which allowed Khan to confirm that the Nele could leavesting orders even in materials like ground or water.


    After that short stop, Jenna led Khan in an area they had already crossed a few times. The two soon found themselves at the edges of a rtively empty spot in the middle of the woods, with young Nele sitting on the ground as they listened to the words of an older alien.


    Khan and Jenna''s arrival made the older Nele fall silent, but Jenna promptly nodded to make her resume her speech. Khan quickly understood that the gathering was nothing more than a teaching session meant to instruct the younger generations about the Nele''s ways.


    A few core differences from the Niqols became evident as the lesson progressed. The Nele were born with high sensitivity to mana, but they still practiced to improve it. Yet, their exercises often involved personal conversations with the energy in their surroundings instead of a raw gathering of information.


    Simr differences appeared when the lesson moved to the control field. The Nele''s exercises focused on expressing orders and desires that the mana around them had to follow. They still delved into training aimed to enhance their overall ability to move their energy, but they appeared a bit superficial.


    The maniption field wasn''t any different. The Nele''s focus was on their surroundings since that''s where their arts expressed their power. They didn''t care about turning ps into punches or anything simr as long as the mana in the environment could fulfill their requests.


    Khan knew that everything exined during that lesson was quite secretive. The Global Army had gathered deep intel in the Nele''s arts, but hearing a proper teacher gave an entirely different perspective.


    Khan memorized all the words that reached his ears as he leaned on a tree at the training area''s edges. Jenna stood at his side, but she respected the silence of the lesson and held back from teasing Khan to let him concentrate on those exnations.


    Each lesson transformed and gained different shapes when it entered Khan''s mind. He had the unique advantage of inspecting the matter from three different perspectives, so he dissected everything he heard and studied it through his broader knowledge.


    Weaknesses inevitably became evident. Khan could see the shorings of the Nele''s approach without even looking too hard for them. The synthetic mana alone could lower their offensive power, and achieving true mastery of their arts required harsh training since youth.


    Still, the Nele''s innate talents made those weaknesses less relevant. Humans or even Niqols would have a hard time bing truly strong through those arts, but the Nele were an exception. That was the very reason behind the direction of their training.


    The lessonsted a few hours. The teacher alternated exnations to exercises when he corrected her students'' approach to the field. It was nothing special, but Khan still immersed himself in the scene since it brought him back to his time in [The Pure Trees].


    "[Today''s lesson is over]," The middle-aged teacher eventually announced before turning toward the tree where Khan and Jenna were standing. "[Jenna, do you want to add something]?"


    "[Sure]," Jenna gently eximed as she left the tree and showed smiles while walking among the sitting students to reach the teacher.


    "[You all know Jenna]," The teacher stated. "[She is often busy on the other asteroids to keep track of Milia 222''s situation, but her talent is greater than mine. Her insights in the mana are lessons that you can''t miss]."


    "[Thank you, Pascatte]," Jenna replied, "[But I won''t share my insights today]."


    Khan was enjoying seeing Jenna receiving so much respect, but his expression froze when she pointed at him and expressed her intentions. [Today, I want you to listen to a different perspective. Khan is a remarkable human. I''m sure you can learn something from him]."


    The situation became incredibly awkward when all the Nele in the training area turned to look at Khan. He didn''t expect Jenna to put him into that situation, but he forced himself to calm down and y along.


    Khan left the tree to walk among the students while paying extra attention not to touch any of them. He soon reached Jenna and Pascatte, but he only found curious and distrustful gazes waiting for him. Even Pascatte didn''t hide her reluctance.


    Khan had learnt a lot from his time on Reebfell, and he had even taught the Niqols'' arts to Martha. Still, holding a ss of Nele forced him to summon the entirety of his knowledge. He couldn''t expand on the topics touched during the lesson, but he didn''t want to make a pointless speech either.


    The students'' innocent faces made Khan forget about the eventual political implications of that situation. He focused on what he liked about his previous job and fused those emotions with the honest desire to help those young Nele.


    They deserved his lessons even more than the humans, so Khan didn''t hold anything back.


    "[Your approach to mana is marvelous]," Khan dered, doing his best not to ruin his ent. [However, it heavily relies on your environment and your innate abilities. I think you can improve the exercises targeting your individual control]."


    Khan showed his hands and pulled down his sleeves before summoning a small lump of mana on each palm. Then, he moved those small spheres over his skin and made them circle his fingers a few times.


    No one seemed to care about the odd shades of Khan''s mana. The students actually appeared captivated by how easily he moved his energy over his body. Even Pascatte didn''t hide her interest as she bent forward to get a clearer line of sight.


    Jenna smiled when she noticed those reactions and took a silent step back to let Khan im everyone''s attention. Pascatte could straighten her back at that point, and she even nced at her hands while thoughts ran through her mind.


    "[You all can do this]," Khan dered once his demonstration ended. "[Why don''t you try]?"


    The students nced at Pascatte, who nodded and triggered a series of attempts to replicate Khan''s exercise. Sadly, all of them failed since the young Nele instinctively tried to rely on the environment to achieve that level of control.


    ''They are too used to controlling the mana outside their body,'' Khan sighed in his mind. ''Maybe this exercise opposes their training too deeply.''


    "[Khan, right]?" Pascatte called, interrupting Khan''s thoughts. "[Can you show the exercise again]?"


    Khan didn''t expect that request, but he didn''t let that chance go. He promptly repeated the exercise, and Pascatte didn''t hesitate to get closer to him to study his hands carefully.


    "[This might have potential]," Pascatte whispered. "[Can you be more specific on the execution]?"


    Khan didn''t know how to fulfill Pascatte''s request. He could guide her through the exercise, but that would require physical contact. The only solution was to use Jenna as a middle-man.


    "[Jenna, give me your hand]," Khan requested as he turned toward Jenna.


    Jenna''s face seemed on the verge of lighting up due to how happy she was to see Khan slowly finding his ce in her home. She didn''t hesitate to step forward to help him out, but Pascatte surprisingly got in her way.


    "[Use me]," Pascatte eximed while stretching an arm toward Khan.


    The request left even Jenna stunned, but she didn''t say anything. She only felt a bit anxious to see Khan''s first real interaction with someone other than herself.


    "[Is that a problem]?" Pascatte asked when she saw that Khan hesitated.


    "[Not at all]," Khan quickly replied as he carefully took the back of Pascatte''s hand in his grasp.


    Some students gasped when they saw that interaction, and Khan also felt that Pascatte suppressed an instinctive reaction to keep her hand in his grasp. Still, he ignored all of that to perform his task to the best of his capabilities.


    "[Summon your mana]," Khan ordered. "[Let me guide it]."


    Pascatte made some of her mana seep past her palm, and Khan sent gentle waves of energy to give it a spherical shape and move it across her skin. Pascatte could experience the sensations generated by the exercise like that, and her knowledge would allow her to exin it to her students.


    "[Interesting indeed]," Pascattemented during the exercise.


    "[I can continue if you need]," Khan revealed.


    "[No, I think I got the gist of it]," Pascatte stated while retracting her hand. "[I need to study it a bit, but it should have the potential to improve a few exercises]."


    Pascatte inspected the back of her hand for a second before lowering it and fixing her eyes on Khan to express her thoughts. "[Thank you]."


    Khan nodded, and Pascatte kept her eyes on him for a few more seconds before turning to leave the training area. Her action told the students that the lesson was over, so they stood up and nced at Khan before disappearing among the trees. Some waved at Jenna during the process, and she replied through warm smiles.


    Once everyone left, Jenna jumped on Khan and hugged him from behind. He shared Jenna''s excitement, so no rebuke let his mouth. He even turned to show his happy face to her.


    "[That was great]!" Jenna giggled.


    "[She let me touch her]," Khan incredulously stated.


    "[I told you]," Jenna continued as she let Khan turn toward herpletely before squeezing his neck. "[The others will ept you in no time]."


    "[Maybe I can really help you out]," Khan guessed as he didn''t shy back from replying to the hug.


    "[Are you going all selfless now]?" Jenna teased before heaving a disappointed sigh.


    "[What is it]?" Khan asked since he couldn''t see Jenna''s face.


    "[You won''t be all mine anymore once the others start to trust you]," Jennained.


    "[I''ve never been all yours]," Khan snorted before ending up in augh.


    "[I need to make the best out of this time together]," Jenna eximed while rxing the hug to show her face to Khan. "[Let''s get naked again]."


    "[Slow down that naughty mind of yours]," Khan made their foreheads bump softly. "[We''ll still be friends. That won''t change even after you fall for someone]."


    "[You are so good to me]," Jenna sighed. "[Can''t we kiss or something]?"


    "[You know we can''t]," Khan scolded.


    "[I know]," Jenna giggled. "[Still, I im my right to pick your next partner. Don''t think that you can go around kissing everyone just because you are a human]."


    "[When did you get this right exactly]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Let''s go]!" Jennaughed as she seized Khan''s hand and began to pull him. "[We have to get naked]."


    "[You are impossible]," Khan gave up and followed Jenna through the woods, unaware that a happy smile had taken control of his face.


    Gossips spread throughout the settlement as the day went by. Caja''s announcement from the previous night, Khan''s statement to the young Nele, and the events in the training area created a curious picture that made everyone interested.


    Khan clearly had good intentions. Moreover, the Nele''s pheromones did not affect him. Jenna had also used her rtively prominent status to add value to Khan''s presence by spending time with him.


    Meanwhile, Khan and Jenna ended up in theke again, but the two focused on his training. They still exchanged jokes from time to time, and they were often naughty, but they never crossed the line.


    Khan noticed the changes in the general atmosphere as he attended lunch and dinner in the central square. Something was happening in the settlement, but a single day wasn''t enough to cause anything significant.


    .


    .


    .


    "[Good morning]," Jenna eximed in a sleepy tone as she stretched her arms before cuddling back on Khan''sp.


    "[You should drop this before it turns into a habit]," Khan scolded as he inspected how closely Jenna got to his exposed groin.


    "[I''ll stop if you sleep with me instead of spending the night training]," Jenna suggested.


    Khan studied Jenna''s seemingly pure smile before adding something. "[With clothes]."


    "[Naked]," Jenna bargained. "[It would be nice if you cuddled me too]."


    "[The cuddles onlye with the clothes]," Khan uttered.


    "[I''ll take naked then]," Jenna giggled as she adjusted her position on Khan''sp. "[I know you''ll cuddle me anyway]."


    "[Why do I even bother trying]?" Khan sighed as he caressed Jenna''s head.


    "[Don''t stop]," Jenna teased. "[It''s sweet to see you going all human on me]."


    "[I had to choose the most twisted of the Nele as my friend]," Khan cursed.


    "[I chose you]," Jenna corrected. "[And, no, you never had the option to reject me]."


    "[Someone is getting arrogant]," Khanmented.


    "[I''m opening up as I find new things I want to do with you]," Jenna revealed.


    Khan didn''t answer. He only felt happy that Jenna was having fun and was trusting him enough to show more of herself every day. Still, some concern suddenly appeared in his mind.


    "[I''m not keeping you too busy, right]?" Khan asked. "[Don''t you have some special tasks outside the settlement]?"


    "[The Nele have survived here even before my birth]," Jenna stated. "[I can take some time off. Also, I''m working closely with a potential future ally. That''s an important task]."


    "[You are giving a hard time to a potential future ally]," Khan mocked while ruffling Jenna''s hair.


    "[I think the potential future ally is harder than me]," Jenna giggled as she peeked at Khan''s groin from behind her messy hair.


    Khan shook his head as he pushed Jenna''s head back on hisp. Those jokes had no deeper meaning, and they were also bing the norm when they were alone.


    "[I''m more worried about you]," Jenna revealed when she stoppedughing. "[You came here with a group, right? Don''t you have to update them about your status]?"


    Khan froze when those words awakened thoughts and memories that had remained suppressed under the excitement toward the Nele''s arts. He had forgotten something important mentioned on the reports.. His phone had no connection to thework inside that hidden dome.

 Chapter 358 - Protect

    The new approach to the mana, the interesting customs of the Nele, theck of difference between day and night, and Jenna''spany had kept Khan so busy that he had forgotten about a key detail from the reports. His phone had be useless as soon as he entered the underground dome.


    Jenna understood something when she felt that Khan tensed up. She peeked past her messy hair to nce at his face, and she found him staring at her with wide eyes.


    "[Where can I get some connection]?" Khan promptly asked.


    "[Let''s go]," Jenna eximed, and the two immediately stood up to reach their clothes lying on the ground.


    Jenna didn''t take Khan''s hand at that time. She darted forward as soon as the two wore their baggy clothes, and Khan didn''t hesitate to follow her.


    Khan fished out his phone from his pocket, but he muttered a curse when he saw that the screen didn''t show any notification. He had hoped for something to be able to reach his device, but that wasn''t the case.


    Jenna was fast, and she knew the environment so well that she could use its mana to move swiftly among the trees. Khan could surpass her, but he had to remain behind her since he didn''t know where to go.


    The dome wasn''t too small, but the two could reach its edge in less than thirty minutes when sprinting almost at full speed. The metallic wall that marked the end of that environment soon unfolded in Khan''s vision, but he had to continue following Jenna for a bit longer to reach his destination.


    Jenna eventually stopped in front of a purple symbol on the metallic wall. Pressing it revealed an entrance connected to a small room, and Jenna''s exnation soon followed the event. "[You can link your phone to the walls inside, but we will keep track of your calls]."


    Khan nodded before shooting inside the room. Dim purple light enveloped him, but he disregarded the new environment to look for an opening for his phone. He found it in an instant, and the sounds of multiple notifications rang as soon as he connected the device.


    ''Fuck me,'' Khan cursed as he used the menus on the wall to expand his inbox and study it quickly.


    The oldest message belonged to Monica. She had expressed her gratitude the morning after Khan stole Francis'' bottle, but she didn''t add anything else. It seemed that she was restraining herself after understanding that Khan didn''t fully trust her.


    What followed was far more troublesome. Monica, Martha, and Luke sent worried messages to check on Khan, but theck of a connection to thework had made him unable to receive them.


    Luke had also called a few times, especially the previous night. He was clearly worried, and Khan felt forced to contact him now that he had the chance.


    The phone rang for a while, but a video soon appeared on the wall. Luke''s sleepy face became visible right before a question resounded from the speakers. "Khan! Are you okay?!"


    "Everything is fine," Khan reassured. "I''ve only lost track of the passage of time. It''s hard to tell when days end if I don''t sleep."


    "Where are you?" Luke continued as he adjusted his position on the bed and tinkered with the illumination in his room. "I checked Milia 222''s records. I know you have gone to the third asteroid, but I couldn''t find anything else."


    Khan nced at the entrance, and Jenna nodded. Khan could bring his eyes back on the screen as he summarized what he could. "I''m in the Nele''s home. I think they might know something useful."


    "The Nele?" Luke gasped before noticing Khan''s baggy clothes. "I see. How is the investigation going?"


    "I''m getting somewhere," Khan half-lied. "I''m sorry for disappearing. I realized that I had no connection only a few minutes ago."


    "Don''t worry about that," Luke sighed. "It would be strange if you got used to Milia 222 so quickly. Everything is fine as long as you are okay."


    "I''ll try toe back with news as soon as possible," Khan promised.


    "Sure, do what you have to do," Luke stated. "The others have yet to find anything, so don''t rush it. I never expected the investigation to end quickly anyway."


    "Do you have any news worth mentioning?" Khan asked.


    "Not really," Luke revealed. "Everyone is struggling to approach specific activities. I''m trying to use my influence to help them, but it''s too soon to know if it will work."


    "I''ll do my best on my end then," Khan dered.


    "Alright," Luke eximed. "I''ll tell the others that you called. Good hunt."


    Khan showed a confident smile before closing the call. A sigh escaped his mouth as he retrieved the phone. He felt lucky that Luke was so permissive toward him, but that emotion vanished when he recalled what he was willing to do to bring him there.


    "[Is everything okay]?" Jenna asked from outside the room.


    "[Yes, I''m good]," Khan replied as he browsed through the inbox. Martha and Monica probably wanted answers, but he would let Luke handle that part. He didn''t have the time to have long conversations anyway.


    "[He sounded rxed]," Jennamented as Khan left the room and the entrance closed behind him.


    "[That''s just because he was talking to me]," Khan exined. "[I think I need to get back on the mission]."


    "[Do you want to see Caja]?" Jenna wondered as she took Khan''s hand.


    "[Is it possible]?" Khan asked.


    "[She is definitely awake]," Jenna stated. "[Come. I''ll bring you to her]."


    The walk that followed was far more rxed. Jenna even respected Khan''s pensive state by remaining silent and letting him sort out his thoughts.


    ''I''m not here on holiday,'' Khan cursed himself for forgetting about such an important detail. ''I''m not free to do what I want.''


    Khan wouldn''t hesitate to exploit eventual opportunities, but the situation had been far different now. He had almostpletely forgotten about his mission, and he couldn''t allow it to happen again.


    Still, Khan knew how thorough and serious he was. He didn''t forget about Martha and the mission because he didn''t care about them. He had simply found something that he liked far more, which spoke loudly about his personality.


    ''I really love studying alternative approaches of mana and immersing myself in alien customs,'' Khan confirmed while ncing at Jenna. ''I guess that''s who I am.''


    "[What is it]?" Jenna asked when she sensed Khan''s gaze on her.


    "[Thank you]," Khan replied in a in tone.


    Jenna turned to search for an exnation behind that sudden statement, but Khan kept an aloof face while his eyes remained on the path ahead. Jenna didn''t get her answers, but she felt that atmosphere had warmed up, so she slowed her pace while cing her head on his shoulder.


    The two didn''t speak anymore. They resembled a lovely couple as they strolled through the woods, but they both knew that their rtionship only involved friendly affection.


    Khan didn''t want to put what he felt into words. Something told him that he would ruin that emotion if he tried. Still, his gestures expressed how grateful he was for how openly Jenna had weed him. Khan wouldn''t have reached that deeper understanding of his character otherwise.


    Jenna led Khan in a thriving area of the woods. The grass was taller there, and the presence of many trees forced them to jump or change direction to reach their destination.


    Everything felt vibrant there. Khan couldn''t help but notice how the vegetation seemed more lively, and he soon confirmed that the cause wasn''t internal. Something was giving the various nts more energy.


    The source of that strange phenomenon became evident when a crouched figure appeared in the distance. Caja had her forehead and hands on the ground while she sent delicate waves of mana into the whole environment.


    Khan wanted to get closer to inspect the procedure, but Jenna made him stop to avoid disturbing Caja. The two remained silent as they marveled at the massive amount of energy that Caja spread in her surroundings.


    "[It''s getting harder to influence everything with my power alone]," Caja announced at some point while straightening her position to sit on the ground. "[Someone will need to rece me in a few years]."


    Khan had already vaguely understood what Caja was doing, but her words brought a wave of surprise in his mind. Apparently, she was using her mana to influence and control the harmony of the environment under the dome.


    Khan had seen other fourth-level warriors. He had even met soldiers stronger than Caja. Yet, he felt sure that none of them could aplish something soplicated. They simplycked the amount of mana required by the procedure.


    However, Caja didn''t rely on the sheer power of her mana. The environment helped her and worked ording to her wishes. She only had to spread her requests throughout the woods, and thetter would do the rest.


    ''Amazing,'' Khan eximed in his mind since he felt unable to say anything.


    "[So, how does our humble home look]?" Caja asked while turning to face Khan and Jenna.


    Jenna finally led Khan forward, and the two joined Caja on the ground. Jenna sat next to her while Khan upied a spot in front of the two women.


    "[Your customs are incredible]," Khan admitted. "[I can''t express how grateful I am for this chance to learn them]."


    "[Pascatte told me that you didn''t only learn from us]," Caja responded before showing her hand and performing the exercise that Khan had taught the previous day. "[This is indeed interesting. The new generations will benefit from it]."


    "[I''m d that I could help]," Khan politely uttered. "[I''ll try toe up with other exercises as I learn more about your approach to mana]."


    "[That''s some determination]," Caja chuckled. "[Do you like us so much? Or, maybe, is this about someone in particr]?"


    "[We are only friends]," Jenna dered.


    "[You sure are having a lot of fun for being only friends]," Cajaughed. "[It must be nice to be young]."


    "[I wouldn''t dare to do anything improper]," Khan reassured.


    "[I think you have already gone past that]," Caja teased. "[It''s fine. I approve as long as you are both having fun. It''s actually heartwarming seeing a Nele and a human getting so close]."


    Caja heaved a sigh and stretched her neck to disperse the stiffness umted during the procedure, but a question soon left her mouth. "[So, why did youe to see me]?"


    "[I need to talk about work]," Khan exined. "[As much as I enjoy being here, I can''t disregard the reason why I flew to Milia 222 in the first ce]."


    "[Can''t you]?" Caja questioned. "[Do you have special obligations toward the humans? You didn''t seem too attached to your species]."


    Caja''s words revealed how she was vaguely inclined to let Khan remain there, but he couldn''t ept that offer. His nightmares wouldn''t go away even in that peaceful environment.


    "[I need the humans]," Khan revealed, "[At least for now]."


    "[I see]," Caja whispered and remained silent for a second before continuing. "[Well, that might be for the best. It can only benefit us if you gain some relevance among your species]."


    "[I won''t forget what you did for me]," Khan swore.


    Caja studied Khan''s expression for a few seconds before feeling satisfied. She nodded, and Khan expressed his request. "[Some human investigators came here months ago. A few Ots told them that you might have had answers, but you didn''t help them]."


    "[Oh, yes, I remember them]," Caja announced without hiding her annoyance. "[They were very human]."


    "[I''m here for the same reasons]," Khan dered.


    "[I remember them talking about stolen goods]," Caja uttered, "[Stolen goods that probably involved illegal skin. They thought we might know something about it]."


    "[Do you]?" Khan asked.


    "[We know by not knowing]," Caja exined. "[The other species on Milia 222 know that we don''t like the topic, so they try to avoid smuggling those goods in front of us]."


    "[So, you don''t really know]," Khan guessed.


    "[We might have a few leads]," Caja stated. "[Though, they might not involve what you are looking for. A lot of illegal materials end up reaching Milia 222. It''s not easy to search for something specific unless you know the right people]."


    Khan could only nod. He knew that questioning the Nele only had a faint chance to bring answers, but he had to try anyway.


    "[Why are you looking for these materials]?" Caja continued.


    "[It''s only a job]," Khan revealed. "[I was simply hired]."


    "[Are you okay with these practices]?" Caja wondered.


    "[I have learnt what the mission involved only afternding here]," Khan revealed.


    "[That''s not what I asked]," Caja coldly answered. "[Would you have epted the job if you knew what it involved]?"


    Khan kept his eyes on Caja and let her inspect him. He knew that the topic could create a crack in the rtionship built during those days, but he couldn''t lie now.


    "[Yes]," Khan dered. "[I had to look over someone dear to me. I had to join this mission]."


    "[Let me ask you something]," Caja sighed. "[If you learnt that the illegal skin came from the Nele, what would you do]?"


    Khan didn''t expect that question, but his gaze instinctively moved on Jenna. She showed nothing more than a warm smile, but Khan''s eyes grew cold when he imagined that someone could kill her to get her skin.


    The same went for the other Nele in the settlement. Khan didn''t establish deep rtionships with them, but they deserved peace. They had gone through too much to suffer again.


    "[That''s how we feel whenever we hear about these materials]," Caja revealed.


    "[I don''t condone these activities]," Khan replied as his gaze went back on Caja, "[But I''m too weak to do anything about them. I helped when I had the chance]."


    Khan was obviously talking about the Niqols, but Caja didn''t care. She had already made her decision, and she didn''t hesitate to voice it. "[We might be able to help you if we encountered this material before]."


    "[What]?" Khan gasped. "[Why]?"


    "[Because you will tell us what you learn]," Caja dered. "[You might be weak, but we have some influence here. Your information might give us a chance to do something]."


    Caja was basically asking Khan to double-cross the humans or act as a spy for them, and the suggestion didn''t sound too bad. The mission only involved the thief. In theory, it didn''t sh with Caja''s request.


    "[I can do that]," Khan announced. "[Just, I don''t want to be a sacrificial pawn]."


    Caja nced at Jenna, and thetter quickly exined. "[He doesn''t want us to sacrifice him for the sake of our mission]."


    "[Oh]!" Caja chuckled. "[I''m really out of touch. Don''t worry. That won''t happen. I don''t want Jenna to get angry at me]."


    The atmosphere rxed and allowed Khan to heave a sigh of relief. He nodded to express his stance, and both Jenna and Caja revealed smiles at that gesture.


    "[Generally speaking]," Caja eximed, "[Most illegal goods arrive directly on the fourth asteroid]."


    "[I thought the first asteroid was a mandatorynding area]," Khan pointed out.


    "[That''s a tricky topic]," Caja replied.


    "[The hangar on the first asteroid is too small for big merchant ships]," Jenna added. "[Besides, each species has its secrets, so they can''t let every ship reach public areas]."


    Khan didn''t know how to take that news. He knew that the fourth asteroid had an overall equal distribution of Milia 222''s species, but his reports didn''t reveal anything specific. Even the investigators didn''t mention anything simr.


    "[Don''t be so surprised]," Caja continued. "[Some knowledge is avable only to those living here or involved in specific activities. I''m sure your employers did their best, but even they couldn''t tell you everything to avoid breaking secret deals]."


    "[So, the fourth asteroid is a dock]," Khan summarized.


    "[It''s a huge dock]," Jenna exined. "[We don''t have the greatest structures there, but the other species transport various goods]."


    "[The initial idea was to control each other by having a single big dock]," Caja added. "[Yet, as time passed, we silently decided to do our best to ignore each other. Everyone could get a share of illegal activities like that]."


    Khan believed to have reached a decent understanding of Milia 222 by that point, but those revtions forced him to review everything he had learnt.


    On the surface, the seven asteroids were exactly as the reports described. Luke had even given Khan the best descriptions he could find. However, Milia 222 had an entire world hidden from the public that only those inside it could know.


    Khan had to admit that he didn''t find the matter surprising. He had seen how that underground dome had connections with ships that didn''te from the superior floors. Every species probably had something simr, and he wasn''t even considering the wealthy individuals who had unique assets there.


    "[I''ll reunite with my group and see if I can understand what the illegal skin involves]," Khan uttered. "[Thank you for your help]."


    "[The dock is quite secretive as a location]," Caja revealed. "[You won''t get there easily. We might have some connections]."


    "[I can''t involve you]," Khan immediately refused. "[I''m afraid my employers might me you for something]."


    Caja seemed to like that answer, and the happy tone in her following words highlighted that detail. "[You might still fail to interact with our forces there. My authority alone might not be enough to make the Nele help you]."


    "[I''ll take my time to win them over]," Khan dered, but Caja had something else in mind.


    "[Is this okay with you]?" Caja asked while turning toward Jenna.


    "[I would have suggested it if you didn''t say anything]," Jenna eximed.


    "[I''ll respect your wishes]," Caja nodded before turning toward Khan. "[Can I entrust her to you]?"


    "[What]?!" Khan almost shouted as his eyes darted on Jenna. "[No, I can ask-]."


    Khan couldn''tplete his sentence. He could already imagine what Jenna would say to convince him, and he knew that he couldn''t win against her.


    "[I''ll protect her]," Khan announced in a resolute tone.. "[I''ll protect her even from my species]."

 Chapter ?359 Attentions

    The conversation led to immediate preparations. It was still early in the morning, and Khan didn''t have much, so he and Jenna could depart from the underground dome in no time.


    Jenna decided to change clothes, and she obviously requested Khan''s help. She was going back to the surface, among other species, so she had to mind her appearance.


    Her choice fell on a greyish dress that left her shoulders uncovered and ended in a long skirt. Khan literally had to put those clothes on Jenna since she didn''t want to hear reasons, and some young Nele brought a simple backpack for her in the meantime.


    The two didn''t need anything else. Jenna led Khan toward the same elevator that he had used to reach the hidden dome. He didn''t have to go through the whole cleaning procedure at that time, so he could quickly gain ess to the spectacle hidden by Lower Level 1.


    The secret door inside the shop opened and revealed the familiar transparent counter. A rtively young Nele stood behind it, and he didn''t look surprised when he noticed Khan and Jenna. Khan actually felt to have seen him inside the dome.


    "[Be safe out there]," The Nele announced when Khan and Jenna left the secret elevator.


    Jenna revealed a smile as she led Khan toward the entrance. He only managed to exchange a nce with the Nele, but thetter made sure to nod at him during that instant.


    ''Maybe they are really starting to ept me,'' Khan thought before another event distracted him.


    Khan didn''t particrly mind that Jenna always tried to hold his hand. He had even learnt to gain somefort from that gesture during the past days, so he couldn''t help but notice how abruptly she let go of him.


    The whole aura around Jenna changed when she pushed the door open and left the shop. She went from her joyful and yful self to a stoic stance as soon as she stepped into the city.


    Khan inevitably thought about their first meeting on the first asteroid. He recalled how distant and wary Jenna had been with him, but the sudden change still left him somewhat disappointed.


    "[Do you miss me already]?" Jenna asked when she turned to look at Khan''s curious gaze.


    "[Maybe just a bit]," Khan admitted.


    "[I''ll remind you of these words once we are alone]," Jenna whispered as she suppressed the smile trying to make its way into her expression.


    Khan also decided to wear an aloof expression as the two went back on the streets. He found more open shopspared to hisst visit, but the scenery didn''t change much.


    There was only one odd detail in that scene, something that stood out from the otherwise purple environment. An Ots dressed as a beggar rested in a corner free of the purple lights, and its attention immediately fell on Khan and Jenna.


    "[Spies]," Khanmented while pretending to nce at one of the shops.


    "[It''s fine]," Jenna stated. "[This is our home. Ots can''t move too freely here]."


    Khan could only agree with that statement. The Ots probably had ointments or simr items that could help them resist the Nele''s pheromones, but their freedom would obviously be limited on the third asteroid.


    Still, the presence of the Ots revealed an incredible truth. Khan was more than sure that no one had followed him back then, but a spy had still managed to trace him there.


    ''How quickly do they even exchange information?'' Khan wondered before disregarding the matter to focus on more important issues.


    Caja had stated that the Nele might help Khan as long as he learnt which material the factory used to produce the reinforced fabric. However, that wouldn''t necessarily lead him to the thief.


    The issue was far moreplicated than that. Khan might find who smuggled the illegal skin and trace those who knew about it, but that would only set another starting point.


    Knowing about the illegal skin didn''t necessarily turn someone into a spy. The smugglers probably had nothing to do with the factory. Yet, the investigators had already cleared all the workers and chiefs. The absence of leads forced Khan to go deeper into the whole business.


    There was also a chance that the Nele had found the actual reinforced fabric, but Khan didn''t want to be too hopeful. He focused on his first step, which inevitably involved Luke.


    "[I know you don''t want to involve us]," Jenna eventually said as if she could sense what Khan was thinking, "[Yet, are you sure that your employers can get us into the dock]?"


    "[They must]," Khan replied. "[The mission would be impossible otherwise]."


    The walk through the city''s streets seemed normal, but Khan noticed how the Nele inside the various shops looked at him differently now. He didn''t know if Jenna''s presence had influenced them, but he could see how those aliens carried less mistrust toward him.


    Khan and Jenna didn''t remain in the streets long enough to make him study the situation thoroughly. The two quickly headed for a parking area, where they took a cab with a Nele driver. Their trip inside the car went on silently, and Jenna even held herself back from exploiting that temporary privacy.


    Everything changed when Jenna and Khan left the cab and used the elevator to reach the main street on the first floor. The third asteroidcked the diversity of the previous two, but it still featured a few aliens from other species, and they couldn''t keep their eyes off the scene.


    Khan and Jenna weren''t doing anything special. They were simply walking side by side, but that was enough to make the scene interesting.


    The event was quite rare, especially since Khan was too young to be a prominent figure in the Global Army who could handle political rtionships with the Nele. It didn''t take long before murmurs started, and some aliens even picked up their devices to inform their factions.


    "[Wait a second]," Jenna called before the two could enter the hangar.


    Jenna browsed through her backpack to take out a clip that she attached to a strand of her hair. A couple of taps on the item made it light up and spread a purple glow that warned everyone nearby about her presence.


    Khan''s expression flickered when he noticed the slight sadness and annoyance that ran through Jenna''s eyes. She clearly didn''t like that procedure, but it was necessary when leaving the third asteroid.


    "[I''m used to it]," Jenna reassured since she saw what Khan was thinking.


    "[You might deserve some cuddles]," Khan sighed.


    "[Another line to quote when we are alone]," Jenna joked, and the two entered the hangar to approach the short-distance teleports.


    The general surprise and interest from before reappeared in a more evident and intense version after the two left the teleports. The hangar had a very diverse crowd, but Khan and Jenna seemed mas able to attract everyone''s attention.


    "[What happened]?" Jennamented as a short giggle found its way out of her mouth.


    "[Oh]," Khan eximed when he understood that Jenna was talking about his spiked hair. "[I don''t want to show my mana]."


    Jenna and Caja knew about Khan''s mana anomaly since they had seen him in action. They didn''t address the issue, so Khan believed that his condition wasn''t a proper illness in their culture. Yet, his answer didn''t confuse Jenna, which revealed how she could connect his problem to his actions.


    "[I''ll be slow]," Jenna said in a sweet voice. "[Pay attention]."


    Jenna ced a hand on Khan''s head before sending faint requests to the synthetic mana around her. Her energy flowed slowly and culminated into a soft spark that made his hair fall.


    "[Did you get it]?" Jenna asked while bringing her hand back to her side.


    "[I might be able to replicate it with some training]," Khan confirmed.


    "[I''ll show it againter]," Jenna smiled before moving forward.


    Khan followed her, and he even did his best to keep his gaze straight, but his senses caught the many gasping eyes fixed on him. Jenna had touched him in public, and the crowd couldn''t hold back their surprise.


    The rumors spread, and they incredibly reached the hangar''s outsides before Khan and Jenna could exit it. The two found countless stares pointed at them as they made their way through the second asteroid, but they instinctively moved toward the nearest elevator to escape that situation.


    Khan felt a bit guilty when he found himself thanking the purple light that apanied Jenna. No one had dared to get close to them because of it. The crowd had actually moved away from their path as soon as they noticed them.


    "[Is every day like this for you]?" Khan sighed in the privacy of the descending elevator.


    "[It''s usually easier]," Jenna exined. "[It''s rare for us to walk with humans]."


    "[You would be stressed even without your urges]," Khan stated.


    "[That''s the price we have to pay for sharing this home]," Jenna replied while taking Khan''s hands. "[Though, Milia 222 has its perks at times]."


    Khan didn''t even try to hold back. Jenna''s sweet face carried too much, and the elevator was still far away from the city. He pulled her until she fell into an unexpected hug.


    "[Thanks]," Jenna softly whispered once she managed to immerse herself in the hug. She couldn''t express how rxing that gesture was for her, but she believed that Khan could understand her emotions.


    Thending of the elevator forced the two to separate. The streets that followed didn''t spare them from unwanted attention, and that problem continued during their wait in the parking area.


    It was hard to find a cab with a Nele driver on the second asteroid, but Khan and Jenna didn''t mind waiting a bit longer for something suitable to arrive. The alien didn''t hide his surprise when he saw Jenna with a human, but he decided to remain silent and lead the two toward their destination.


    Another problem appeared when Khan and Jenna stepped out of the cab. They had arrived in front of Luke''s building, but Jenna''s light wouldn''t do much in that closed environment. However, Khan had no intention of leaving her outside.


    "[I guess I need to use it]," Jenna announced even before Khan could mention the problem.


    Khan remained silent while Jenna took out a cylindrical item from her backpack. She appeared disgusted at its sole sight, and her expression didn''t improve when she pressed on its tip to spray a white gas all over her.


    Khan was immune to Jenna''s pheromones, but he couldn''t fail to notice how her natural aura affected her surroundings, especially in an environment with synthetic mana. Yet, the spray suppressed that ability and slightly dimmed her innate beauty.


    "[That''s the ointment for the pheromones]," Khan eximed once Jenna put away the cylindrical item.


    "[It always itches, especially on my face]," Jenna cursed without hiding her disgust. "[It''s also a pain to remove. You''ll have to scrub me properlyter]."


    "[Sure]," Khan replied, avoiding cracking jokes due to how disgusted Jenna appeared. "[Anything you ask]."


    "[I didn''t think you would turn so permissive]," Jenna uttered. "[I might decide to use this spray more often then]."


    "[Don''t push it]," Khan sneered. "[Come on. It''s time to work]."


    Khan only needed to show his phone to get him and Jenna inside the building. The main hall was empty, but waiters were probably on their way to wee them. Still, Khan sent a message to Luke before approaching one of the couches with Jenna.


    The waiters obviously arrived before Luke, and they showed their vast experience in the field by suppressing any type of surprise at Jenna''s sight. The youngest struggled a bit, but Jenna and Khan didn''t care.


    Khan sent the waiters away, but the main hall didn''t remain empty for too long. Familiar auras soon seeped out of the elevator, and the faces that followed failed to suppress their surprise.


    Luke, Bruce, Monica, Francis, and Martha entered the main hall and remained stunned to see Khan and Jennafortably sitting on the couch. The presence of a Nele inside the building was shocking, but the group also remained surprised at how close the two looked.


    "Khan!" Luke eximed after snapping out of his amazement. His social skills also kicked in and made him address Jenna with a polite "[Ma''am]".


    The others didn''t have poor social skills, but the surprising scene prevented them from using them to their full extent. They only nodded at Khan before imitating Luke''s "[Ma''am]".


    Jenna had gotten entirely into her part by then. She wasn''t Khan''s friend or a special guest now. She was a Nele inside a human structure, so she acted as detached as possible. She didn''t even answer since she knew that Khan would take control of the conversation right away.


    "Luke, we need to talk," Khan eximed as he stood up from the couch. "In private."


    "Sure," Luke replied as his gaze darted between Khan and Jenna.


    Khan bent toward Jenna to approach her ear and whisper words that hispanions couldn''t hear. "[I''ll take care of this quickly]."


    "[I''ll wait for you here]," Jenna whispered as she ced an arm behind her waist.


    Bruce and the others could only remain stunned once again. Khan didn''t actually touch Jenna, but that didn''t really matter when the two could get so close sofortably.


    Instead, Jenna''s stance revealed how she wasn''tfortable around the group. Khan left her to reach Luke, but she had no intention of socializing. Bruce and the others could only remain silent as Khan warned them through a cold gaze and followed Luke to the nearest room.


    "You are incredible!" Luke didn''t hold back from shouting as soon as the metal door closed. "How did you get so close to a Nele in less than three days? You could write a book and be rich in an instant."


    Khan didn''t share Luke''s happiness. He inspected Luke coldly for a few seconds before going straight to the point. "Why didn''t you tell me about the dock on the fourth asteroid?"


    Luke seemed to freeze, but he wasn''t the type toe up with lies once caught red-handed. He heaved a sigh and wore his business face as a simple exnation left his mouth. "I told you that a lot of stuff is ssified. Even I shouldn''t know about the dock. I had to threaten one of the investigators in private to learn about it."


    ''So strict,'' Khanmented in his mind before following with another cold remark. "Didn''t you think we would have found the information useful?"


    "Why?" Luke asked. "The dock sees all sort of illegal stuff, but it rarely exports. The reinforced fabric is also too precious to end up in that environment."


    "How can you know that?" Khan questioned.


    "Because the smugglers are easy to buy," Luke stated. "They usually refuse merch that is too hot, and you can''t imagine how quickly the rumors about a well-paid job spread here."


    ''I sort of can now,'' Khan thought while reviewing his trip back to the building. ''Also, the smugglers might not have known that the reinforced fabric was so precious.''


    "How would smugglers even get inside the factory?" Luke continued. "You have seen the ce. You can''t get in there without multiple authorizations."


    "I''m not saying that the smugglers have something to do with the thief," Khan pointed out, "But they might have leaked something to interested parties. I''m unable to look for all the potential culprits right now."


    "You wouldn''t get answers anyway," Luke revealed. "Smugglers rarely stay on Milia 222 for too long, and even the residents only do a few shifts a month. There are no official records either since everything is illegal, so finding who brought and unloaded rted materials is impossible."


    "I might have a way to find them," Khan stated before pointing at the door behind him. "The Nele might be able to help."


    Luke felt a joke surging inside his mind, but the conversation was too serious even to make it reach his current thoughts. He could only mutter a confused "why?" while his face remained serious.


    "Partial cooperation," Khan half-lied. "They help us search for the fabric, and we share information. They take things at heart when they involve skins and simr materials."


    "Khan," Luke called before taking a moment to sort out his thoughts. "That''s a dangerous game. They might me my family if the Nele end up causing some major problem."


    "I can act alone," Khan reassured. "Well, with Jenna. I only need you to get me in the dock."


    Luke appeared conflicted about the matter. Khan''s offer made sense, but it remained a faint hope. Moreover, it could lead to many problems if something goes wrong.


    "How do you intend to proceed?" Luke asked as he turned to his right and ced a hand on his forehead to think.


    Khan quickly voiced a simple list. "Enter the dock, question the Nele, question the smugglers, get new leads about the thief."


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "This sounds ridiculous," Luke scoffed. "If you are right, these smugglers had meetings with members or representatives of important families. Someone will warn them, and you''ll put yourself against powers that I can''t keep at bay."


    "Do you have other ideas?" Khan asked.


    Luke''s eyes darted back to Khan, but he didn''t speak. The mission had yet to go anywhere, and Milia 222 was so secretive that even his connections were failing to put hispanions inside illegal activities.


    Luke felt sure that he would eventually seed, but that would put hispanions in danger anyway. The mission was nowhere near easy or safe, so Khan''s offer was in line with its requirements.


    The vague doubt that Khan was pursuing his goals crossed Luke''s mind, but he had no right to voice it. He had basically forced Khan toe, so he needed to show trust to earn it.


    "I honestly don''t care about Milia 222''s politics," Luke eventually announced. "Still, it''s an important strategical point that my family can''t lose. You''ll need to lie if you get captured or worse."


    "That''s not a problem," Khan uttered.


    "Also," Luke continued, "If you do put the me on my family, I won''t be able to affect the eventual consequences. The same goes if you stay silent, but my family suffers anyway. Are you sure you want to do this?"


    "It won''t be hard to pretend that I fell for a Nele," Khan dered.


    Luke''s business face trembled for an instant, but it stabilized when he voiced a question. "Did you?"


    Khan wore a faint smirk that made Luke drop the matter and heave a loud sigh. He crossed his arms as thoughts ran through his mind. Khan had no idea how troublesome his request was, but that reaction revealed enough.


    "I need some time to get you in the dock," Luke eximed at some point. "Also, the others did investigate in these days. It might help to hear their reports before the leaving."


    "We can n meetings," Khan agreed.


    "Don''t mention the dock during those meetings," Luke warned. "And, yes, the Nele can be there. I guess that''s part of our cooperation."


    "Correct," Khan replied.


    "I swear," Luke dered. "I would have refused anyone. I agree only because you''ll be on the field."


    Khan wore his faint smirk again, but hisck of answer told Luke that the private meeting had ended. The two left the room to reunite with the group, and they found them in the same atmosphere as before.


    "[Ma''am]," Luke took control of the conversation right after entering the main hall, and his good ent surprised even Khan. "[I''ll have the best room in the whole building ready for you in no time]."


    "There is no need for that," Jenna spoke in her perfect humannguage as she left the couch.


    Bruce and the others opened a path for Jenna as she walked toward Khan, and their eyes widened in shock when she grabbed his elbow.


    "I''ll be with Lieutenant Khan," Jenna announced.


    "I''ll see you allter," Khan stated before ncing at Jenna. "[Let''s go]."


    Luke and the others couldn''t speak. They even held their breath as Khan and Jenna reached the elevator and disappeared behind its metal doors.

 Chapter ?360 Meetings

    "[Harder]," Jenna cried.


    "[It will hurt if I go any harder]," Khan grunted.


    "[Khan]," Jenna called in a pleading tone.


    "[Fine]," Khan whispered. "[Brace yourself]."


    Faint cries and even a few suppressed moans followed that exchange of words. Anyone would get a specific idea of what was happening when hearing that conversation and those tones, but that conclusion would bepletely wrong.


    Khan and Jenna were in the bathroom, under the shower, but they weren''t doing anything sexual. Jenna had simply wanted his help to remove the spray from her skin, and he quickly discovered that the process wasn''t as easy as it looked.


    The gas had almost fused with Jenna''s skin and hair, creating a slimyer that was hard to remove. Khan had to put real strength while scrubbing her with a soft sponge, but the process still took an entire hour.


    Khan was also to me for that lengthy process. He didn''t want to hurt Jenna or rip off her hair, so he needed her reminders to put some real effort into the scrubbing.


    "[I feel so clean]!" Jenna announced when she felt that Khan had removed all the itching gas from her.


    Khan heaved a tired sigh and threw the sponge on the wet floor, but he soon found his hands full. Jenna didn''t hesitate to jump on him to express her gratitude, and both of them had to muster the entirety of their self-restraint to suppress the urges caused by the naked hug.


    "[Let''s get you some clean clothes]," Khan stated as he stopped the water and left the shower while Jenna continued to cling to his neck and waist.


    "[Clothes won''t hide that thing pressing on my butt]," Jenna whispered to Khan''s ear.


    "[The others have no idea that your stoic face hides such a lewd mind]," Khan sighed.


    "[I like how I can speak my thoughts freely with you]," Jenna giggled as she hid her face in Khan''s neck while he carried her back into the bedroom.


    "[Hey, what are you sticking your tongue out for]?" Khan scolded.


    "[You taste good]," Jenna responded while leaving a deep kiss on Khan''s neck.


    "[Jenna]," Khanined before cing Jenna on the bed and grabbing her elbows.


    Jenna let Khan do as he wished. Khan lifted her arms while pushing her onto the bed. Jenna''s eyes half-closed as Khan made their foreheads touch. Their noses were so close that they could feel their breath spreading on their faces, and their wet bodies didn''t help defuse the situation.


    Khan was lying on Jenna, between her legs. She was weing that action, and both of them could feel their respective warmth. Their eyes didn''t hide their excitement either, and their faces seemed to grow closer with each passing second.


    Jenna and Khan seemed unable to stop. They could feel how they were both ready to go all the way. Their mouths opened to blow inviting warmth and wetness as they grew closer. They were almost on the verge of kissing, but Khan abruptly turned his head andid it on Jenna''s chest.


    "[That was close]," Khan cursed.


    "[That was so exciting]," Jennamented as she wrapped her arms around Khan''s head.


    "[Make some room]," Khan ordered as he pushed Jenna deeper into the bed.


    Jenna soon reached a pillow, but the two didn''t change position. Khan rested on her chest while she caressed his head. He even closed his eyes to enjoy that rxing moment.


    "[Do you want to sleep before getting back to work]?" Jenna asked.


    "[No, it''s fine]," Khan muttered. "[We''ll sleep tonight]."


    "[You can use my chest as a pillow]," Jenna teased.


    "[Shut up]," Khan scolded while pinching Jenna''s waist.


    "[You''ll leave a mark]," Jennained.


    "[You can at least try to sound disappointed]," Khan joked.


    "[Will my kiss leave a mark]?" Jenna asked.


    "[Will you kiss me again if I say no]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Maybe]," Jennaughed.


    "[You are impossible]," Khan cursed as he snuggled closer to Jenna''s neck.


    The two remained in that position for a while, enjoying the increasing affection that their time together was generating. They felt close even if they had known each other for barely three days, but the world eventually caught up to them.


    A cute groan left Jenna''s mouth when Khan''s phone rang. She tried to put more strength into her hug, but she had to let Khan go when he pinched her again.


    Khan went to the bathroom to find his clothes and retrieve his assets. He brought the knife back to a bedside table while checking his phone. Luke wanted to n the details of the iing meetings, and he also wished that Khan had told him more about Jenna''s situation.


    "[You are fine with human food, right]?" Khan asked while writing a short message. "[Luke will probably agree to anything you ask, so tell me if you want something specific]."


    "[Expressing requests would show eptance of the cooperation]," Jenna stated without forgetting to add her annoyance to her tone. "[It''s better if I remain detached and let you handle everything]."


    Khan nodded as he sent the message and connected the phone to the wall before approaching the entrance. He was still naked, so he stopped the door before it could openpletely before peeking outside.


    The corridor that expanded from the room was empty, but the waiters had already brought clean clothes. They had even prepared a few sets for Jenna to let her choose what she preferred.


    "[These look nice]," Khan eximed as he closed the door and ced the clothes on the bed.


    Jenna briefly inspected them before going back to pretending to be annoyed, but Khan knew how to handle her. Heughed as he reached the pillows and took Jenna in his arms.


    "[We can stay naked until the meetings]," Khan reassured while caressing Jenna''s hair. "[I''ll even help you choose what to wear]."


    "[Will you help me wear them]?" Jenna asked in an emotionless tone.


    "[You sure like to be spoiled]," Khan joked.


    "[You are the best]," Jenna eximed as she dived into Khan''s chest and let him cuddle her properly.


    The meetings would happen after lunch, which was still a few hours away. That time wasn''t enough for aplete training session, so Khan didn''t mind spending it in thefort that Jenna''spany generated. Still, it turned out that Jenna had other ns.


    "[Do you feel any difference]?" Jenna eventually asked while sliding her head closer to Khan''s face.


    "[Right]," Khan eximed as he raised his arm and closed his eyes to immerse himself in the synthetic mana that filled the room.


    Khan didn''t achieve much in the Nele''s arts, even if he had spent two sleepless nights training. The mana would reply at times, but those events were random.


    However, Khan now felt as if the distance between him and the mana had shortened. Faint purple-red strands of energy left his hand and mixed with the environment as he tried to establish a conversation, and a warm breeze eventually blew in the room.


    "[I never seeded so quickly]," Khan gasped.


    "[The synthetic mana is easier to talk to]," Jenna stated. "[Well, it''s not really a conversation]."


    "[I can feel it now]," Khan eximed. "[It''s still faint, but I can sense something different. I don''t know how to describe it. It feels shallow]."


    Khan wasn''ting up with random words. He had always felt an innate disdain toward the synthetic mana, but there was something else now. That energy felt almost simpler and lighter, but Khan knew that those words couldn''t properly describe its qualities.


    "[Shallow works for now]," Jenna uttered. "[You know the mana, but you are still a novice in our arts. You''ll manage to see different details after learning how to establish a conversation]."


    "[It''s still easier to control it]," Khan continued before releasing a far denser wave of mana from his palm.


    The light in the room flickered under the interference caused by the chaos element. Khan forced his mana to expand slowly and create a small cloud that influenced the environment.


    Khan frowned as he focused on using his mana to alter the energy in the room. That was already an advanced exercise, something that went beyond the requirement of the [Blood Vortex]. Khan wanted to take control of the synthetic mana instead of talking to it.


    That exercise didn''te from books or teachings. Liiza unleashed her spells through that approach, and Khan tried to imitate her. His control was stillcking in that field, but he was slowly getting there.


    Khan had to let his mana disperse at some point. Forcing his energy to affect instead of destroying was exhausting. He even felt that he was too violent in the process, but that was the best he could do.


    "[I think I can use your teachings to improve on this field]," Khan revealed. "[Faint mana capable of affecting arge area. That should be thest step]."


    "[Are you sure that''s all you want]?" Jenna asked as she lowered Khan''s arm to raise her own.


    Jenna released her energy, which dispersed immediately. Soft gales quickly started to blow in the room, and Khan widened his eyes in marvel when he saw that they gained different colors.


    "[The universe is big]," Jenna announced. "[Many intelligent species have developed unique arts connected to mana. I can''t im that ours is the best, but I can see its strong points]."


    The multicolored gales converged right above Khan and Jenna to create a small tornado that never abandoned its different shades. Jenna was only using the colors to highlight the various winds and show how she could prevent them from fusing.


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[Taking control and altering nature are different things]," Jenna exined as she made the tornado shrink andnd in her palm. "[You are forcing the synthetic mana to imitate the nature of your element, but that will only allow you to trigger destruction on arger scale]."


    Jenna closed her hand and brought it before Khan''s face. Khan instinctively took it in her grasp, and Jenna opened it to reveal the new shape of the tiny tornado. It had turned into a half-transparent flower with multicolored petals.


    "[The chaos element is violent]," Jenna continued, "[But there''s far more to it. I think you can get somewhere with your approach, but you should think about what you want to achieve]."


    Jenna lifted her head to blow on her palm. The flower dispersed, and its various colors quickly vanished into the air.


    "[That''s a tricky question]," Khan sighed as Jenna ced her hand back on his chest and he closed his eyes.


    The mana could aplish marvels, but Khan had always used it as a weapon. The nature of his element didn''t help even when he learnt alternative methods, but the Nele''s approach seemed to offer a new path.


    Still, having a new path didn''t bring answers. Khan wouldn''t know what to tell his mana to do even if he had alternatives. He could think of different weapons or uses, but they always involved destructive purposes.


    "[You don''t need to find the answer now]," Jenna reassured. "[Take your time. Learn. Study the world and yourself, but don''t put limits on your elements. They exist only in your mind]."


    Khan and Jenna didn''t speak anymore. The sheets became drenched, but they didn''t care. They let the room''s warmth take care of that as they rested in silence and waited for the meeting to arrive.


    Jenna pretended to be picky during the dressing part, and Khan let her have fun. She was using the clothes as an excuse to make Khan touch her all over, but she eventually opted for a simple ck hoodie paired with slightly baggy trousers.


    The first meeting was with Luke. Khan let him inside and saw him pushing a short cart with a few tes on it. The scenting out of that meal was so appealing that even Jenna raised her head to peek at it, but Luke''s smile flickered when he inspected the scene.


    Jenna and Khan weren''t hugging anymore, but they weren''t too distant either. They were sitting side by side, and Luke could recognize that they didn''t use any dryer on their hair.


    The sheets also showed signs of having dried up naturally. They were messy, and they almost showed the silhouettes that Khan and Jenna had created by resting in the same position for a few hours.


    Yet, Khan and Jenna''s clothes were clean and tidy. They didn''t get wet, which told Luke that the two had worn them only after drying up.


    Luke could only add those details to the idea that had already filled hispanions'' minds. Everything pointed toward the fact that Khan and Jenna were an actual couple, and Luke could only act ordingly at that point.


    Khan also inspected Luke, but for very different reasons. He was worried that Jenna''s pheromones would cause problems, but Luke seemed to havee prepared. He had applied a brown ointment under his nose, which allowed him to act normally even in the range of Jenna''s influence.


    "I cer if you want to enjoy the meal peacefully," Luke eventually eximed.


    "Don''t worry," Khan replied as he approached the cart to take two tes and hand one to Jenna.


    "Fine then," Luke announced. "I''ll add a few reports to your list. I just want to remind you that all of this is ssified."


    Luke approached one of the free openings on the wall and plugged his phone to create a series of images. Most of them were reports, but Khan and Jenna also saw pictures that could turn into holograms to inspect them better.


    "The material used in the stolen itemes from Tainted animals simr to chameleons," Luke exined while using holograms to add details. "Their skin has great flexibility, especially when ites to alterations that involve mana. It''s honestly the best of the best."


    "What''s the illegal part?" Khan asked. "I don''t see the problem with Tainted animals."


    "The location is the issue," Luke replied. "These chameleons live on a currently at war. The Bise are fighting with another species that shares their xenophobia, so exporting resources is sort of a taboo. That''s why we have to smuggle it."


    "How does that even happen?" Khan questioned.


    "The Global Army has no involvement in this," Luke revealed. "The Bise are the smugglers, but they only deliver the merch. Another criminal organization on milia handles the sale."


    Luke''s eyes often fell on Jenna, but she remained emotionless. She didn''t react to the exnation at all, which left Luke disappointed. He hoped to get some confirmation that she had interacted with the material, but she stood perfectly still.


    "Is that all?" Khan asked.


    "I''m afraid it is," Luke admitted. "I still don''t think this lead is solid enough to require an investigation. You know what kind of hindrances a thief has to ovee. Simple smugglers can''t do that."


    Luke was paying a lot of attention not to name the factory or the reinforced fabric. He didn''t know how much Jenna knew, but he didn''t want to reveal ssified information pointlessly. Leaving that knowledge to Khan was more than enough.


    "I''ll see what we can do with this," Khan stated. "I know it''s a long shot, but it doesn''t hurt to purse it while weck other leads."


    "I''m just worried about your safety," Luke smiled.


    Khan nodded to reassure Luke, but he quickly changed the topic. "Bruce should be next, right?"


    "I can speak for Bruce and Amanda," Luke dered. "They have worked under my supervision and reported to me after every trip. They have tried to enter a few inner circles in some clubs, but they never got past the first bodyguards."


    "Which clubs?" Khan wondered.


    "I''ll send you a list," Luke stated. "Their descriptions are quite thorough. You will appreciate them."


    Luke knew when his time to leave had arrived, so he didn''t hesitate to exit the room after exhausting the topics. The second meeting happened a few minutester, and it featured Darrell Armend, Isaac Foreters, and udia Palbeel, the other first-level warriors on the team.


    The three were young, and they all carried the same noble aura that Khan had noticed on Bruce. Darrell was the shortest of the group, with well-developed muscles, short dark hair, and green eyes. Issac was tall and slender, with dark skin, slightly long curly brown hair, and blue eyes, while udia had a fairplexion, long blonde hair, and dark eyes.


    Seeing Khan and Jenna sitting on the same bed shocked the three wealthy soldiers, but theycked Luke''s sharp eyes. They didn''t notice all the details that the sheets and hair carried, but they still reached the same conclusions.


    Khan felt d that the three had the same brown cream under their nose. He wasn''t sure descendants from wealthy families would ept to findpromises with seemingly random guests, but they behaved adequately and respected Jenna''s species.


    The three soldiers had clear limits due to their level. They had to act carefully on Milia 222, and most criminal organizations wouldn''t take them seriously even when they worked together, so they had focused on smaller operations.


    Darrell, Isaac, and udia had tried to investigate the drug traffic in the city on the second asteroid, with few results. They had failed to turn into dealers, but they had gathered enough information to give Khan a general idea of how to purchase those substances.


    That wasn''t much, but it still added details to Khan''s understanding of Milia 222. The city had far more than they showed, and he slowly uncovered parts of it as he heard reports and lived inside it.


    The third meeting was incredibly awkward. Martha and Monica had entered Khan''s room to reveal what they had learnt during their investigations, but each of their lines ended with faint nces at Jenna.


    "I know this isn''t much," Monica exined in a steady tone and through her elegant manners after exposing her report. "We will continue investigating and keep you updated. Luke is processing everything we bring to him, so he is the most aware of the bigger picture."


    "Every detail matters," Khanmented while looking at the many reports that had ended up covering the wall. "The answer must be somewhere here, on Milia 222."


    Monica knew how to separate her feelings from her manners, so she behaved politely even if she was clearly interested in the nature of Khan''s rtionship. However, Martha appeared slightly sad, and she couldn''t stop a pressing question from leaving her mouth.


    "Are you leaving soon?" Martha asked.


    "I don''t know how soon," Khan revealed without adding too many details. "It mostly depends on Luke."


    "It must be important if we can''t learn anything about it," Monica added, trying to keep the conversation on the main topic. "You might be onto something."


    "That''s hard to say," Khan admitted. "I''ll tell you if I find something."


    "I can''t wait for your call," Monica teased while showing one of her elegant smiles and retrieving her phone.


    Martha had to gulp to suppress further questions, and Monica helped by approaching the exit. The two women left without wasting time in goodbyes, but Khan heaved a sigh once the door closed.


    Both Martha and Monica didn''t send any message to Khan after his return to the building. He didn''t even talk to them to exin the nature of his rtionship with Jenna. He didn''t know how he felt about Monica, but he wanted Martha to learn the truth.


    ''Why is this always so troublesome?'' Khan cursed in his mind as hey down and crossed his arms on his forehead.


    "[Are the meetings over]?" Jenna asked.


    "[Yes, they were thest ones]," Khan replied. "[Now we need to sort everything out, update you on important aspects of the investigation, and wait for Luke to open the path for the dock]."


    "[That might take a while]," Jenna stated while taking off her hoodie. "[I don''t know how influential Luke is, but the dock isn''t easy to approach]."


    "[Are you undressing]?" Khan questioned when he heard Jenna.


    "[Of course]," Jenna giggled. "[You should too. It can''t be good to remain up]."


    "[You woke up less than ten hours ago]," Khan scolded.


    "[I''ll force myself to sleep to help you rest]," Jenna giggled. "[Though I''ll need an incentive]."


    "[Sleeping is a waste of time]," Khan imed before performing the check-up technique. He was still fine, but his mind was showing signs of exhaustion.


    "[I guess I''ll only put you in danger if I train in this condition]," Khan sighed.


    "[That''s exactly what I meant]," Jenna dered as she threw her clothes away and went under the sheets.


    Khan raised his arms to nce at Jenna. She was showing a pure smile, but he could see the thoughts hidden behind that expression. She was too easy to read for him now.


    "[Remember to watch your hands]," Khan warned as he removed his clothes and went under the sheets.


    Jenna didn''t hesitate to cling to Khan, and her legs ended up ignoring his warning right away. Khan and Jenna onlyughed at that interaction, but they soon rxed to attempt to sleep.


    "[Those two]," Jenna spoke before they could fall asleep, "[Martha and Monica, they both like you]."


    "[Martha and I have history]," Khan revealed. "[She is the reason why I came to Milia 222]."


    "[She seems nice]," Jenna uttered.


    "[She is]," Khan agreed. "[I''m lucky to have her in my life. As for Monica, I still don''t know what to think about her]."


    "[Why is that]?" Jenna wondered.


    "[Everything in the investigation points toward a spy]," Khan exined. "[She is a suspect]."


    "[I see]," Jenna whispered. "[I don''t know about the investigation, but her feelings seemed honest. I could sense her yearning without even looking too hard]."


    "[I can''t trust her so easily]," Khan sighed.


    "[So]," Jenna eximed, "[Who do you like the most]?"


    "[Between them]?" Khan asked. "[Definitely Martha. We were even about to end up together]."


    "[Really]?" Jenna wondered. "[I think Monica suits you more]."


    "[How]?" Khan asked.


    "[Martha seems really nice]," Jenna repeated. "[Maybe too nice for you. I can''t see her getting her hands dirty if the situation needs it]."


    "[She can fight]," Khan pointed out.


    "[It''s not about fighting]," Jenna exined. "[I''m talking about the dark parts, your dark parts]."


    The surprise that Martha had shown when Khan had threatened Milia 222''s soldier reappeared in his mind. Khan knew that Martha wasn''t na?ve, but she remained good at her core.


    Instead, Khan''s mindset was twisted. He had initially been afraid of those dark aspects, but Liiza had helped him ept them. They were part of his character, and he couldn''t throw them away.


    "[Are you saying that Monica can]?" Khan asked.


    "[She does feel more suitable]," Jenna stated. "[Of course, not more suitable than me]."


    Khanughed, and Jenna soon imitated him. The two snuggled closer and voiced a few more jokes, but they eventually let their drowsiness take over their minds.

 Chapter ?361 Invitation

    Khan found Jenna staring at him when he opened his eyes. The room was dark, and a nce at the wall told him that the dawn had yet to arrive. He had slept a lot, but the faint worry in Jenna''s expression made him disregard that thought.


    "[What is it]?" Khan asked while caressing Jenna''s cheek.


    Jenna closed her eyes as she immersed herself in the caress. She snuggled in Khan''s palm, but she eventually took his hand to hold it firmly on her face.


    "[What is it]?" Khan repeated.


    "[You have seen your monsters]," Jenna whispered as she opened her eyes and reached for Khan''s scar with her free hand. "[How often does that happen]?"


    "[Every time I fall asleep]," Khan admitted without even considering lying.


    "[I see]," Jenna sighed as she traced the scar''s edges with her fingers. "[Maybe that''s why you prefer Martha. It reminds you of what you can no longer be]."


    Jenna pushed on Khan''s chest and kept him down as she changed her position. The sheets slid away as Jenna climbed on Khan to sit on his abdomen. Shepletely exposed herself, and the faint darkness of the room didn''t hinder Khan''s vision.


    That position would normally push Khan to his mental limits. Jenna''s most intimate spot was pressing on his skin, and he could experience part of its captivating warmth. Still, the serious topic allowed him to divert his attention from that tempting sensation.


    "[Maybe]," Khan uttered as he reviewed his past rtionships. He had tried his best every time, but there was a lot of selflessness in his actions. He couldn''t confirm that his intentions had always been pure.


    "[I thought my curse was awful]," Jenna stated as she let go of Khan''s hand to reach his face with both palms, "[But yours is worse. I''m sorry for not noticing this until now]."


    "[It''s fine]," Khan revealed a reassuring but sad smile. "[I''ve gotten used to it. It''s part of me now]."


    "[Your dark parts]," Jenna whispered as she lowered her head without getting too close to Khan''s face, "[They were forced on you. No, you developed them to cope with your curse]."


    "[Maybe I''ve always been twisted]," Khan wondered. "[I don''t care anymore. I can''t find answers anyway. I only know that I can''t stop]."


    "[I can see it now]," Jenna whispered again.


    Khan still had one hand on Jenna''s face, and the other had instinctively gone on her waist. Jenna didn''t get too close, but her long hair created a soft curtain that filled Khan''s vision.


    The room seemed to disappear. Jenna''s green hair prevented Khan from looking elsewhere and almost forced him to stare at her beautiful purple eyes. They were so deep that Khan felt naked under their firm inspection. His whole mind was for Jenna to study.


    "[I want tofort you]," Jenna eventually stated.


    "[You are already doing that]," Khan reassured.


    "[I want to do more]," Jenna said as her thumbs caressed Khan''s cheeks.


    "[No]," Khan firmly refused.


    "[I wouldn''t mind it]," Jenna continued. "[I think I would even like it]."


    "[Jenna]," Khan called before heaving a sigh. "[Don''t throw away your values]."


    "[I''m not throwing them away]," Jenna responded. "[Lesser men and women had their way with my ancestors. My customs are a result of that abuse, not an unbreakablew. I''m sure Caja would also understand]."


    Khan saw the same selflessness that had afflicted his actions in Jenna''s expression. Still, her face carried much more than that. Her arousal was impossible to miss, and Khan obviously shared that feeling.


    Khan held Jenna''s waist firmly as he straightened his back to sit on the bed. Jenna ended up on hisp, and a suppressed moan left her mouth when her most intimate spot touched his groin.


    Jenna seemed to lose herself. Her palms grew warmer, and her mouth opened as she brought it closer to Khan''s face. Yet, he put strength on the hand on her cheek to stop her when she was about to kiss him.


    Khan moved his thumb over Jenna''s lips. At first, she let him experience their softness, but she soon closed them to leave a kiss on his finger. The gesture almost made Khan lose control of his actions, but an intense emotion allowed him to remain lucid.


    "[Do you remember what you told me the first time I almost kissed you]?" Khan asked while using the affection he felt for Jenna to suppress his urges.


    "[Will your feelings be okay afterward]?" Jenna recalled.


    Khan let go of Jenna''s face to wrap both arms around her waist. He pulled her closer to put some distance between their crotches and make their foreheads touch.


    "[I wouldn''t hesitate to take you now if I knew I could keep you happy for my entire life and more]," Khan dered. "[Yet, you said it yourself. I''ve already found my one]."


    Jenna''s eyes widened in surprise. Khan had always found it hard to talk about that topic, but he had openly admitted it now. That revtion allowed her to snap out of her strange trance and calm down.


    "[Oh, Khan]," Jenna called as she wrapped her arms around Khan''s neck to rest her head on his shoulder. "[I''m so happy we met]."


    Jenna seemed to have every intention to suffocate Khan, but he saw nothing more than honest affection in her tight hug. He couldn''t refrain from diving into her neck to get a better taste of that emotion, and the two silently decided to remain in that position for a few minutes.


    Khan understood that Jenna had gone back to her usual self when she started leaving deep kisses on his shoulder. He voiced a faintugh as hey back on the bed and seeped a hand into her hair. That wasn''t enough to stop Jenna, but it made her giggle softly.


    "[Enough, enough]," Khan half-joked. "[I will really take you if you keep this up]."


    Jenna finally stopped kissing Khan''s shoulder but only to approach his ear and whisper something far more tempting. "[You can use me however you please]."


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    Khan''s head instinctively turned to nce at Jenna''s smiling face. She had been serious. Her previous mood had not been something temporary. Jenna had decided that Khan could use her if that could bring him some peace.


    "[You will make me go crazy]," Khan cursed as he dived into Jenna''s chest and closed his eyes.


    "[That sounds exciting]," Jennaughed as she hugged Khan''s head and yed with his hair. "[Don''t worry. I''ll lower the bar for your future woman so you can vent sooner]."


    "[I don''t need to vent]," Khanined.


    "[It was about to explode before]," Jenna whispered as her knee went dangerously close to Khan''s groin.


    "[You are getting lewder with each passing day]," Khan stated while leaving Jenna''s chest to face her. "[I don''t want a woman only to vent. I''m not like that]."


    "[I know]," Jenna reassured. "[You would have already taken me otherwise]."


    "[Exactly]," Khan agreed.


    "[Sadly, I don''t know many women outside my species]," Jenna revealed before pushing Khan down and turning toy the back of her head on his chest. "[I want to know Monica better. I''ll give my approval if I like her]."


    "[Why would I even need you to get a girlfriend]?" Khanughed as he pinched Jenna''s cheek.


    "[Because you can''t refuse my whims]," Jenna imed.


    "[You are impossible]," Khan cursed as he covered Jenna''s eyes with his hand and made her explode into a cute giggle.


    "[Well, what now]?" Jenna asked as she seized Khan''s arm.


    "[I don''t know]," Khan admitted. "[Moving too much isn''t ideal due to the spies. It''s also impossible to remain unnoticed with you around. I guess we can only wait for Luke to open a path to the dock]."


    "[What do you want to do in the meantime]?" Jenna asked.


    "[Except retaining my mental sanity]?" Khan joked. "[Training sounds nice]."


    "[Right, let me show you the trick for the hair again]," Jenna eximed. "[I should be able to teach you a few things since we are among synthetic mana now]."


    The two proceeded to do just that. The synthetic mana in the room allowed Khan to achieve some results in the Nele''s arts. He learnt the trick for lowering the hair, but he also focused on the fundamentals behind establishing conversations with the mana.


    Jenna never let Khan alone. She guided him through every exercise and performed examples whenever he failed to grasp the theory behind the technique.


    The room wasn''t theke, and the synthetic mana was far easier to affect, but Khan managed to develop the correct habits thanks to Jenna. He still had a long way to go, but he was slowly getting there.


    Breakfast time went by quickly. Khan and Jenna didn''t even realize they had skipped it as they remained immersed in their training. Khan even interrupted the Nele''s exercises to perform his usual schedule, and Jenna either watched him or meditated in the meantime.


    Khan learnt how the Nele increased their attunement with mana during that training. Those aliens were born with mana, so they used a type of trance that forced their specific organs to expand and improve.


    Jenna actually let Khan feel how she moved the mana inside her body to improve her organ. She didn''t know if humans could use the same methods, but a few tests revealed that Khan couldn''t benefit from it.


    Khan didn''t know if that went for all humans, but he had no interest in researching the matter any further.


    Jenna had the chance to get a general idea of Khan''s knowledge while she watched him go through his various exercises. The two didn''t hold back from discussing them afterward in the hope of finding something that the Nele could use.


    It turned out that the Niqols had many theories that the Nele could study to develop better exercises. Khan had already shown something about the control field, but, ording to Jenna, the maniption also had potential.


    The theory was simple. The Nele had to talk with the mana around them, but they still needed to use their energy to send messages. Changing the nature of their mana ording to the environment could improve part of the conversation.


    Of course, Jenna alone couldn''te up with proper answers. She was one of the most talented members of her species, but she remained young, with limited knowledge. Caja or other leaders had to go through Khan''s techniques to decide if they could help them.


    Lunchtime also arrived and went by, but Khan and Jenna recalled asking for food at that time. Waiters left carts with impable tes that the two enjoyed in the privacy of their room.


    Luke didn''t remainpletely silent. He never suggested meetings or simr events, but he sent reports to Khan''s phone as the other team members went on with the investigation.


    Those reports mostly involved mere patrols, or questions asked to known criminal figures, and they all led nowhere. Khan''s view of Milia 222 grew slightly clearer, but that was it.


    The training, the review of the various reports, and the yful interactions with Jenna kept Khan busy most of the time. He couldn''t care about the world outside the room when he had so much to do, but a few worries inevitably appeared in his mind.


    Those worries obviously involved Martha. Khan knew that she was rtively safe and that she could use her mana correctly. However, he didn''t like how he had left things with her. They didn''t even talk at all after the events with the soldier.


    ''What should I even do with her?'' Khan found himself thinking during the afternoon while resting on Jenna''sp.


    Jenna was still deciding whether to fall asleep or not while she yed with Khan''s hair. Her free hand stood in front of her as she used the synthetic mana to create small structures on her fingers that could keep Khan entertained.


    Initially, Jenna limited herself to flowers, humanoid figures, or trees with multicolored air to highlight details. Yet, as Khan lost himself in worries, she started to create explicit images that forced him to pinch her leg.


    "[You always stop me at the best part]," Jennained.


    "[I was thinking about serious stuff for once]," Khan replied.


    "[Was it about Monica]?" Jenna announced as her eyes lit up.


    "[What Monica]?" Khan grunted. "[I was thinking about Martha. I need to talk to her to exin the situation]."


    "[What situation]?" Jenna whispered as she lowered her head to get closer to Khan''s face. "[Do you need to exin to her how we spend entire days naked on each other]?"


    "[Something like that]," Khan sighed while grabbing Jenna''s nose and gently squeezing it.


    "[Doesn''t she know you enough to understand what''s going on]?" Jenna asked after Khan let her go.


    "[She is very human]," Khan exined. "[She would misunderstand this as long as I don''t exin it]."


    "[Did you ever consider that she might be unable to understand this]?" Jenna wondered. "[You are atypical. You can''t expect every human to see the world through your eyes]."


    "[I need to try]," Khan stated, "[At least with her. She is important to me]."


    "[Sure]," Jenna eximed. "[I''ll avoid teasing her]."


    "[Who told you that you coulde]?" Khan sneered.


    "[I want to know the people important to you]," Jenna revealed. "[They must have something special since they managed to get close to you. Besides, how would I learn about Monica if I remain in this room]?"


    "[What is it with you and wanting to find me a girlfriend]?" Khan asked.


    "[I''ll probably get harder to bear as we grow closer]," Jenna admitted. "[I want to do something for you]."


    "[Jenna]," Khan sighed as he straightened his position to sit on the bed and face Jenna, "[I''ve juste out of a rtionship. I don''t want to jump into another one only to avoid using you. It wouldn''t be fair on many levels]."


    "[Oh]!" Jenna gasped as her face lit up with curiosity. "[How was she? Was she lewd like me]?"


    "[No]," Khan firmly stated as hey down again. "[She probably was the best woman on Earth]."


    "[Is it a good thing to be prudish]?" Jenna wondered.


    "[I wasn''t talking about that]," Khanughed as he reviewed his time with Cora. "[She was good, really good. She loved me deeply]."


    "[But you didn''t]," Jennamented as she put an arm around Khan''s head to hug him.


    "[I think part of me did]," Khan revealed, "[The part of me that she could see]."


    "[Khan]," Jenna called in her serious tone, "[Don''t get the wrong idea. When I talk about finding you a partner, I mean someone who can make all of you happy, not only part of you. Also, yes, she needs to be naughty, at least a bit]."


    "[Isn''t that a description of the one]?" Khan asked.


    "[Humans work differently]," Jenna sighed. "[I''ve seen enough of you to know that you did your best with your one. Maybe you''ll meet her again. Maybe you won''t. I only want to make sure that your curse doesn''t eat you up in the meantime]."


    "[So, I should use someone to feel better]?" Khan wondered without hiding his disdain for that n. He had already tried something simr. It had only hurt him.


    "[Do you think I''ll propose something simr]?" Jenna almost scolded. "[Your species can enjoy certain freedom. I want to redirect yours in the right direction]."


    Jenna''s words reassured Khan and allowed him to crack a joke. "[I''m sure most of those potential partners wouldn''t like us to spend so long together, especially with no clothes involved]."


    "[They won''t end in the list then]," Jenna scoffed.


    "[Would you like me to do this with someone else]?" Khan teased.


    Jenna rolled her eyes without answering. She limited herself to tightening her hug, which made Khan explode into augh.


    "[I don''t like this idea anymore]," Jennained. "[Are you sure you don''t want me]?"


    Khan continued tough, but his phone suddenly rang and forced him to drag Jenna for a bit so that he could reach the wall. The two ended up showing different faces when the contents of the message expanded on the metal surface.


    "[Are you sure that your species can''t alter the future]?" Khan asked as he skimmed through the short lines on the wall.


    "[That''s perfect, isn''t it]?" Jenna questioned.


    "[I want to remind you that my priority is keeping you safe]," Khan dered.


    "[Do you think she''ll try to hurt me]?" Jenna asked.


    "[No]," Khan stated. "[I don''t want you to face risks]."


    "[Khan]," Jenna called as she made their faces draw closer, "[I live among five other species that can''t resist the natural scent of my skin. Every day is dangerous for me]."


    "[I still don''t like it]," Khan uttered.


    "[It will improve your position among humans to be with me during this event]," Jenna teased.


    "[Don''t try to make this about me when you have far different ns]," Khan scolded.


    "[I can make this about anything I want]," Jenna replied. "[You have already given in anyway]."


    "[You are impossible]," Khan cursed as he reviewed the message again.


    Monica had sent a formal invitation to dinner in one of Milia 222''s exclusive restaurants. She had also mentioned in her message that Martha would join her.

 Chapter ?362 Perfec

    The dinner wasn''t scheduled for that very night. Monica could vaguely understand Khan''s difficulties, so she nned to have that event two days from now.


    That period would give Khan and Jenna the time to study the situation and prepare without hindering the eventual programs they had nned before they arrived at the building. It would also allow Martha and Monica toplete the missions they had in mind without risking pissing Luke off.


    Of course, Luke was granting the groupplete freedom, but his patience was limited, and Monica understood that very well. Manners were an essential part of those rtionships, and only soldiers like Khan could partially ignore them since he didn''t speak for entire families.


    Khan had to admit that he didn''t hate the idea of a proper dinner. All his worries had Jenna at their center, but nothing could change her mind. The event was already mandatory, so Khan began to see its positive aspects.


    Khan wouldn''t reject the chance to exin his situation to Martha, and Jenna was right. Appearing in public with a Nele at his side would definitely benefit his profile. Also, depending on who was invited, Khan might use the dinner to talk about deeper topics connected to the investigation.


    ''Who else ising?'' Khan sent through a message.


    Monica''s reply arrived almost immediately and reading it made Jenna giggle. Still, she quickly wrapped Khan in a tight hug when she realized what it implied.


    ''It can be only you and me if you want,'' Khan read on the wall.


    Khan let Jenna do as she wished while he tapped on his phone to send a simple answer. ''I prefer having only the four of us. It would be easier to talk.''


    ''I expected as much. I''ll send you everything I know about the location in the meantime,'' Monica responded.


    The message with all the information about the restaurant arrived on Khan''s phone after a few minutes. Khan and Jenna skimmed through everything, but he eventually heaved a sigh as he sent another text.


    ''Tell me if I need to save you from Francis'' booze again,'' Khan said in his message before cing his phone on the bedside table and studying the information thoroughly.


    The restaurant that Monica had chosen sounded perfect in every aspect. It wasn''t only high-ss. It also featured different services depending on the type of clients.


    Those services didn''t only involve the different types of nights that the clients wanted to have. They had specifics set-ups andyouts depending on the species that wanted to attend dinners or simply hang out in the restaurant.


    Khan believed that the reportscked the information connected to illegal services. Something so high-ss had to have prostitution and drugs avable for its most important clients, but he didn''t care about that. What he had read had already satisfied him.


    Monica didn''t answer, and Khan didn''t expect anything different. The silence had already exined enough since the rtionship between the two was quiteplicated right now.


    Jenna and Khan didn''t have much to do inside the building. Flirting, training, and reviewing the various reports were their only upations since they had to wait for Luke to start their task.


    As for going out, Khan preferred to keep Jenna in her room for safety reasons. Theck of interactions with the rest of the group would also thicken the aura of mystery surrounding that odd rtionship, which only benefited Khan''s figure.


    Experiencing the environment of a team with prominent soldiers granted Khan the experience that the battlefields had failed to provide. He wasn''t doing much. He was even actively avoiding deepening his rtionship with hispanions due to Jenna, but he still gained insights into that political field.


    Khan realized how his value significantly increased as long as he remained the only one able to interact so freely with other species. Being necessary granted him immense freedom and authority.?


    Luke had his family and all the money in the world, but Khan knew that he would remain the key figure of the team if the situation didn''t change. There was power in that behavior, and Khan understood that a good ambassador had to establish simr environments everywhere to be truly important.


    Khan took care of updating Jenna on his rtionship with Monica and Martha during those days. She was curious, and learning about the two women would help her decide how to behave during the event.


    The day of the dinner eventually arrived. Khan and Jenna left the room for the first time since their arrival at the building, and a deste atmosphere weed them.


    The dinner wasn''t a secret, but it wasn''t special either. Besides, those wealthy soldiers respected the need for privacy to establish meaningful rtionships, so they focused on the investigation instead of waiting for theirpanions in the main hall.


    Jenna had to light up her purple clip as soon as she left the room since she wasn''t using the spray. The restaurant had spaces meant for Nele apanied by members of other species, so she wouldn''t need to suppress her pheromones.


    The same didn''t apply to Martha and Monica, at least when it came to the trip. Khan and Jenna found the two women waiting for them right outside the building, and both of them had applied the brown ointment under their noses.


    "Can you enjoy the food like this?" Khan asked right after his eyes darted between the two brown spots.


    "We will remove this once we get into our room," Monica promptly exined while showing her elegant smile. "[I hope the ce is to your liking]."


    "The Kingsize is a famous location," Jenna replied in her aloof tone. "I heard good things about it."


    Monica seemed pleased that Jenna had dropped her silent behavior now that it was only the four of them, but Khan knew that she would have reacted like that. He took that chance to inspect hispanions, and he had to admit that the two women had surprised him in that field.


    Khan and Jenna were wearing rtively simple clothes. Khan had a tight blue pullover and dark trousers that highlighted his muscles. Meanwhile, Jenna had a dark-green sundress paired with ck tights.


    Martha was far more elegant with her bluish one-shoulder dress that ended in a rtively tight skirt that covered half of her bare thighs. She didn''t seem toofortable in those clothes, but she did her best to show confidence.


    As for Monica, she was wearing a white wrap dress that reached her knees, with only therge bow on it being scarlet. She appeared born for those clothes, and her smile slightly broadened when Khan spent a few seconds inspecting her.


    Khan had to admit that Monica was stunning. She would im the attention of all the people on the street if it weren''t for Jenna''s natural beauty.


    The matter didn''t only involve pure physical appearance. Jenna was in another league, but Martha merely fell one step shortpared to Monica. Yet, thetter expressed confidence that enhanced her already incredible features.


    Still, as much as Khan liked the view, he found himself lost in thoughts that expressed his doubts. ''How much of this is the real her? Is this also part of her education? I bet she was the one who convinced Martha to wear something so revealing.''


    The paranoia rekindled by the potential presence of a spy prevented Khan from enjoying the scene, but that situation didn''tst for too long. A triangr ship with a single engine and a long, cylindrical cabin descended toward the sidewalk and stopped when it was only three meters from the group.


    "This is our ride," Monica eximed. "The Kingsize surely has good taste."


    The ship carried the Kingsize''s name on its white side. It was one of the rides included with the restaurant, and the manaing out of it told Khan about the species of the pilot even before the cabin opened.


    The dark, cylindrical ss of the cabin partially opened, and four circr tforms made of grey metal came out. The four stepped on the items and saw thetter lifting them toward the vehicle before cing them on specific seats.


    Khan and Jenna ended up right behind the pilot''s seat. A middle-aged male Nele was in charge of the ship, and the alien exchanged a faint nod with Jenna when their eyes met.


    The pilot had used the spray recently. Khan could find its traces in the Nele''s aura, but thetter appeared used to the gas and didn''t address the issue.


    Martha and Monicanded on the seats behind Khan and Jenna. The ship only had room for five, but everyone could sitfortably without risking touching each other.


    The cabin closed, and the ship rose to leave the street. The ss wasn''t dark from the inside, so the group could watch the various buildings running through their vision as the vehicle moved toward the city''s edges.


    Khan didn''t bother to inspect the view. His attention was on the ship''s controls. He had recognized the vehicles, and he even knew that the various keys did. His eyes followed the pilot''s movements, and he rejoiced whenever he predicted what they would activate or trigger.


    The ship reached the tform''s edges before diving directly into the space between the city and the dome''s walls. The vehicle made the elevators useless as it made its way for Lower Level 2 while remaining on its path.


    Khan moved his attention away from the ship''s controls now that he was in front of an unfamiliar spectacle. The Lower Level 2 of the second asteroid featured a second city smaller than the one above. Even the tform where it grew was only half of the Lower Level 1.


    The hidden city seemed heavily focused on casinos and other shy attractions that bordered the illegal aspects of Milia 222. Bright signs shone from the various skyscrapers and smaller buildings to create a colorful spectacle that made it almost impossible for Khan and the others to study everything.


    The ship didn''t stop in the city. It continued to fly along the asteroid''s edges to reach an even deeper level. The smaller tform had many isted buildings and streets seemingly hanging on the void under it. Each structure resembled an ind floating in the faint darkness of Lower Level 3.


    Khan and the others knew that they had almost reached their destination. The vehicle finally stopped its vertical descent to fly toward an ind that carried a castle-like structure with four cylindrical towers instead of corners.


    The castle aimed to replicate an old type of architecture from before the First Impact, but it couldn''t hide its technological advancements. Its surface was dark and smooth, and lines of windows separated different groups of floors. The roof seemed to be the true VIP area, but the ship didn''t fly there.


    Khan felt to have seen structures with a simr shape during his first months in the academy, but he didn''t recall much about them. The castle was clearly unique, but he couldn''t find beauty in its uniqueness. He didn''t have a thing for architecture.


    The ship approached the upper part of the castle and stopped in front of a line of windows. One of those dark sses opened while the vehicle rotated on itself and the cabin allowed the seats to fly out gently.


    Khan, Martha, Jenna, and Monica''s seats flew inside the open window tond in arge room that seemed able to contain twenty people. Its walls showed different menus with a green environment as a background, and a circr table grew from its center.


    The table and its four seats were thick, and synthetic mana ran through them. Khan could sense the channels sending energy to that furniture and guessed that they could also transport meals or drinks. Still, his attention soon fell on a purple spot that upied a good chunk of the area past the window.


    Khan and the others jumped off their seats, and thetter automatically returned to the ship. The window closed at that point, and the metal chairs moved on their own to reach the four soldiers. One of them even shone with purple light during the process.


    "ording to the reviews," Monica announced, "This purple light is special. Its range changes depending on the reach of the Nele''s pheromones. Even the various menus are programmed to mark where the safe distance ends."


    There seemed to be some xenophobia in that programming, but Khan understood that the building had no ill intentions. As he approached the wall to study the menus, he realized that the many options were more suitable for official meetings among higher-ups from various species rather than a simple dinner among friends.


    ''What the fuck?'' Khan gasped in his mind as countlessbels and lists filled his vision.


    Calling the room interactive would have been an insult. Khan could modify theyout, atmosphere, and even structure of the area. He could decide whether to have stands handled by waiters, various spectacles, and real vegetation introduced during the dinner.


    Each option had countless variants. The spectacles alone had hundreds of options, and Khan felt lost just by looking at them. He had tounch a pleading gaze toward Monica to ask for her help in the matter.


    "Manners want us to prioritize our guest''s well-being," Monica eximed while approaching Khan''s right side.


    Monica also felt a bit lost in front of the sheer number of options. She skimmed through them before giving up on finding a suitablebination and drawing her phone to look through her inbox.


    "My parents havee here once," Monica exined while using the instructions on her phone to choose thebels on the menus. "It''s thanks to them that we can enjoy such a good room. As for the options, they had an expert list them up for me."


    Monica had lowered her voice during her exnation. Her tone had also grown cuter, which Khan saw as a change from the appearance she showed to the public. Martha and Jenna could still hear her, but it was clear that she wanted Khan to learn a bit about her life.


    "Clients on their first time usually hire someone from the Kingsize to choose options for them," Monica continued as she browsed through the menus. "There are real experts working here, but it doesn''t hurt to show off from time to time."


    The process took a few minutes since Monica had to choose more than twenty different options from various lists, but the interactive menus eventually disappeared. A simple line written in multiplenguages reced them. The room was asking Khan and the others to take their seats.


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan and the others followed the orders, and surprise appeared on their faces when they noticed that the metal surfaces of the chairs were extremelyfortable. Even Jenna''s aloof expression broke for an instant when she experienced the flexibility of that material.


    The chairs moved on their own after everyone sat. They brought Khan and the others to the circr table while the entire room began to change.


    Holes, drawers, and proper secret passages opened on the walls, ceiling, and floor. A long counter filled with drinks and two masked waiters came out of the other side of the room. The windows began to depict a forest filled with chirping birds that flew from branch to branch, but that was only the beginning.


    Flowers and nts inside long and deep vases filled every corner of the room. Some even came out of the floor to radiate a pleasant scent that forced the four to rx.


    Two more masked waiters appeared next to the counter and took a few seconds to build a rectangr structure that released a calming melody as soon as they touched it. The song changed ording to their movements, revealing how they were actively ying that instrument.


    More waiters came out from another opening while holding devices that featured multiple menus. They formed a line at some distance from the table before standing still and looking at the window while waiting for the clients to give orders.


    Khan focused on the mask, clothes, and level of the waiters. They were all first-level warriors and whore ck suits that almost hid their species or gender.


    As for the masks, they werepletely white and only had openings for the eyes. They aimed to create a sense of unity among the waiters, but Khan didn''t look with his eyes. The mana told him the difference among each employee and allowed him to confirm that none of them were Nele.


    "How expensive is this ce?" Khan whispered.


    "Don''t worry about it," Monica reassured. "My parents have already dealt with the bill. They wanted me to show the hospitality of the Solodrey family."


    "Wow," Khan couldn''t help but exim. Hispanions were in the same condition. They were all surprised about the amount of wealth concentrated in a single room, and their thoughts went wild when theypared that scene to the number of options they didn''t choose.


    No one felt in the mood to talk with so many waiters in the room. The four''s attention soon went to the interactive table to pick meals, but that turned out to be another impossible task due to the sheer number of avable tes.


    Khan had Jenna on his right, Martha on his left, and Monica in front of him. He exchanged nces with all of them before choosing the only reasonable option. He would fill a survey, and the chefs would prepare a menu ording to his decisions.


    Martha, Jenna, and Monica followed his example, and the meal finally started. The music changed as the waiters began to move to pick up the drinks from the counter and deliver them to the table.


    tes quickly arrived, and the waiters didn''t make their clients wait. The table soon became full, and everyone found it impossible to hold back in front of those delicacies.


    Khan''s eyes widened in surprise when he saw that his side of the table mostly had chicken or meat with simr vors. He remained stunned a second time when he realized that many of those tes were spicy. The survey had guessed his favorite meal right, but the quality of that food was something he had never experienced before.


    The same went for the drinks. The waiters seemed to pay special attention to his cup and refilled it whenever he was almost about to empty it. The bartenders always prepared new booze for Khan to try, and none of them disappointed him.


    Martha, Monica, and Jenna went through the same amazement. They were eating different meals and drinking various drinks, but they all seemed to satisfy thempletely.


    The food, the drinks, the music, the scent, and the scenery were so perfect that the four forgot to talk. Their thoughts also stopped afflicting them as they enjoyed one of the best experiences of their lives. The Kingsize offered only the best of the best, and they bathed in that wealth.


    The pace and size of every round of tes also seemed to express mathematical perfection. Khan became full at the same time as hispanions, after exactly one hour since the beginning of the dinner.


    Most of the waiters left through openings in the walls at that point. The vegetation and music also changed without creating the slightest chaos. Everything seamlessly transformed as if it was just another part of the meal.


    "Wow," Martha eximed during the transformation of the room. Herment was mostly due to the meal, but the change in her surroundings also left her amazed.


    "My parents said great things about this ce," Monica added, "But I didn''t think it could be so amazing. No wonder it''s so expensive."


    Jenna limited herself to nod. She had gone back to her aloof self in that unfamiliar environment, but her expression couldn''t hide how pleased she felt about the meal.


    "Everything was amazing," Khan added as heid back and the chair bent backward to apany his movements. "Though I was expecting a different type of dinner."


    "Oh, I''m curious now," Monica teased.


    "It''s a bit too crowded," Khan admitted.


    Khan wanted to talk, but the many waiters made any serious conversation impossible. He felt sure that most of them would spread rumors about the dinner, so he couldn''t speak freely, especially when it came to the investigation.


    "That''s just the first part of the dinner," Monica revealed as she pointed at Khan''s cup. "Your booze wasn''t strong, right? Mine neither. As per Kingsize''s tradition, the meetings happen only after the belly is full."


    The few remaining waiters understood the hidden order and disappeared behind openings in the wall. The counter and instrument also slid away to vanish inside holes, leaving only the vegetation and the fake environment depicted by the windows behind.


    The room didn''t stay still even after those changes. Dark metalyers slid over the walls, floor, and ceiling to cover all the menus without affecting the vases or scenes depicted by the windows. Soft music also resounded behind those new surfaces to suppress a vague sizzling noise.


    Khan and Jenna didn''t need exnations. They could sense that a thickyer of synthetic mana had appeared behind the new surfaces to iste the environment. Even the menus on the table had changed to offer a more limited list of products.


    Martha also sensed something, but her perception stillcked Khan and Jenna''s uracy. She could only nce at Khan to silently ask the reason behind his evident surprise.


    "A barrier is separating us from the menus," Khan summarized.


    "The Kingsize hosts countless secret meetings," Monica exined. "Privacy is a must, and the owners even im not to record anything. Still, they offer these protections to reassure the clients."


    "I also knew about this," Jenna spoke for the first time during the meal. "Members of my species have taken parts in meetings in this and many other simr buildings."


    ''These settlements are built on a foundation of criminal organizations,'' Khan thought as he inspected the area onest time before rxingpletely. ''I guess I had to expect something simr from one of their high-end activities.''


    "We can talk business now," Monica dered before voicing a faintugh. "We can also have our drink."


    Khan liked the idea of ending the night with strong booze, but he wanted to see if Jenna had other ns first. It turned out that the Nele had something in mind, but that went outside Khan''s expectations.


    "The Nele don''t enjoy booze," Jenna calmly announced as she stood up. "I think I''ll excuse myself for a bit."


    The purple light radiated by the chair and table followed Jenna by spreading on the floor and ceiling, but she only took a few steps before addressing Martha. "I''d like yourpany if you don''t mind."


    The offer surprised Martha, but she found no reason to refuse. Monica pressed on the table to summon a lotion that came out of its metal surface, and Martha picked it up to apply it under her nose.


    Meanwhile, Martha tried to find Khan''s gaze, but he was busy looking at Jenna. His eyes expressed curiosity, but Jenna remained expressionless. It was unclear whether they weremunicating, but Martha and Monica couldn''t answer those doubts.


    Martha and Jenna quickly left the area through an opening that led to private bathrooms. Khan managed to see that the ce was immense before the metal doors closed. He even noticed that the barrier spread there, which confirmed the overall privacy of the area.


    "Shall we have our drink then?" Monica asked as she browsed through the menu to press on abel.


    Khan did the same, and two drinks soon came out of the table. The mere scent leaking from those cups was enough to confirm the strength of the booze, but neither of them backed off.


    ''It''s good,'' Khan eximed in his mind after taking the first sip. ''How can such strong booze be so good?''


    Monica was also visibly surprised by the quality of the booze, but her elegant expression broke when she put the cup down. She slightly lowered her head before throwing a nce at Khan. Her pretenses were vanishing now that they were finally alone, but that made some problems return.


    "I think you are making a big mistake," Monice eventually stated.


    "About?" Khan asked while hiding his mouth behind his cup.


    "I know about the dock," Monica revealed.


    "How?" Khan frowned.


    "Khan, my family has invested many Credits in Luke''s factory," Monica uttered. "Getting the authorization to enter the dock is a big deal. Rumors spread when Luke requested it, and my parents questioned his parents after hearing them."


    "Are you all keeping track of each other?" Khan questioned without hiding the faint irritation that he felt.


    "Yes and no," Monica exined. "We are here toplete Luke''s mission, but our family won''t stay still in the meantime. They never stop ying their political games."


    The revtion was quite shocking, but it told something important to Khan. The dock was a truly secretive area, which made it incredibly interesting.


    "What mistake?" Khan asked after he spent a second sorting out his thoughts.


    "There must be a spy," Monica dered. "That''s obvious, but think about it. The factory''s security is incredible. Do you really think that smugglers could go past them?"


    "I''m not considering them," Khan revealed, "But they might have revealed something to powerful parties. Who knows? We allck leads anyway."


    "But there might be something you didn''t consider," Monica stated. "Going against powerful families, oveing tight security, and risking lives must have rewards. Alien parties wouldn''t gain much from seizing the reinforced fabric."


    "Why?" Khan asked. "That would create apetitor. I bet there''s a lot to gain from that."


    "Not if thepetitors are aliens," Monica corrected. "The Global Army might be willing to take a bad deal to keep the Cobsend family happy, but the same wouldn''t happen for alien forces. Our superiors would just buy one product and try to reverse-engineer it."


    "That might be impossible without the main material," Khan pointed out.


    "And why would the Global Army care?" Monica asked. "Soldiers have lived with normal uniforms for centuries. Dying improvements on that field to save Credits doesn''t sound like a bad deal."


    "So," Khan sighed when he understood where Monica was going, "You are saying that the thief must be human. Moreover, it must have deep connections with a seller that the Global Army can''t refuse."


    "Which most likely doesn''t include anyone from the dock," Monica added.


    Khan took another sip from his cup. The investigation still had too many dark areas. Nothing felt clear, and the doubts increased as discoveries popped out. Still, Khan inevitably focused on a specific detail revealed by Monica.


    "You said oveing tight security," Khan repeated. "How do you know if it is possible?"


    "I only know rumors," Monica sighed. "And I know that talking about them puts me under a bad light. After all, the spy would definitely know about this."


    "Monica," Khan called. Part of him wanted to add cold tones to his voice, but he suppressed that habit.


    "The Fuveall are unmatched when ites to fusing technology with mana," Monica revealed. "They might know how to handle those defenses. They might even know how to hack thework."

 Chapter 363 Memory

    ''So, there is a way,'' Khan thought.


    Thework was something that Khan had learnt to trust after his enlistment. He didn''t understand how it worked, but it was a core part of the everyday life of basically every member of the Global Army.


    Learning that thework could be hacked was a revtion that Khan couldn''t exploit. Still, he made sure to memorize it. If his future put him on a path that went against the Global Army, he wanted to be ready for the sh.


    The factory probably had barriers or protections that limited thework''s reach, but it was theoretically possible to breach through those defenses. That could create a w in the security of the building, allowing eventual thefts to go unnoticed.


    ''The Fuveall,'' Khan repeated in his mind.


    Khan already felt a great interest in the Fuveall due to their atypical use of mana and technology. Yet, Monica''s revtions strengthened that feeling. Part of him wanted to leave right away to study ways of entering the Fuveall''s society.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s interest in those aliens didn''t make him forget the main topic. Monica''s words carried truths that he could confirm with Luke easily. The thief might have received the help of different parties or species, but the mastermind had to be human and with deep connections to the Global Army.


    ''That hypothesis is a bit convoluted,'' Khan thought as he reviewed what he knew.


    Only two hypotheses sounded usible in Khan''s mind. The first saw one or more of the families involved in the factory nting spies among the workers and somehow avoiding the security to steal the reinforced fabric.


    Instead, the second saw the smugglers leaking information to interested parties that had relied on the Fuveall to enter the factory.


    The first hypothesis was far more reasonable. The families involved with the factory had a higher chance to learn about the reinforced fabric, and they would have also found it easier to nt spies.


    Meanwhile, the second hypothesis involved a series of leaks and ploys. There had to be interested parties with connections to the Fuveall and the Global Army. Moreover, even with all those possible factions, the culprits had to be humans.


    Khan knew that both hypotheses could havemon points. Maybe the families involved with the factory had relied on the Fuveall. Perhaps the smugglers had found a way to contact the workers. Khan couldn''t confirm or deny any of that. He only had doubts and ack of proof.


    "This is way above my paygrade," Khan sighed before emptying his cup.?


    "Forming a team like ours was a smart idea," Monicamented, "But I think Luke underestimated Milia 222. Either that, or he ns for us to stay here a long time."


    "I wouldn''t mind it," Khan admitted as he browsed through the menu to choose another drink. "Milia 222 is an incredible environment."


    "There aren''t many ces like this one in the universe," Monica agreed while forcing herself to keep her eyes on the table.


    Khan noticed how Monica had tried to look in the direction of the bathroom before halting that gesture. It didn''t take a genius to understand what was going through her mind, and Khan couldn''t help but stare at her while she emptied her cup and chose another drink.


    Two cups came out of the table, and Monica didn''t hesitate to take hers. Khan quickly imitated her, and faint helplessness filled his mind when he saw that she was still avoiding his gaze.


    "We aren''t together," Khan whispered.


    "What?" Monica asked while finally raising her gaze to inspect Khan.


    "Jenna and I," Khan exined. "We aren''t a thing."


    Monica had acted cool during the meeting in Khan''s room, but she had noticed almost everything there was to see. No one would believe Khan''s im under those circumstances, but she had practically begged him not to lie to her anymore.


    "She touches you," Monica pointed out.


    "We are close," Khan stated without revealing any detail, "Really close."


    "You sleep together," Monica continued.


    "You don''t know that," Khan dered in an unconvincing tone before hiding his mouth behind his cup.


    Monica didn''t need to say anything else to express her thoughts. Her expression told Khan that she didn''t believe him, and he couldn''t me her for that.


    "It''s Nele stuff," Khan half-lied. "I don''t want to go into details. I just want you to know that we are only good friends."


    "I-," Monica voiced before interrupting her line to sort out her thoughts. She didn''t know how to take that exnation. Honestly, she felt that only an idiot could consider true something so unreal.


    Doubts appeared in Monica''s mind. She wasn''t Luke when it came to social skills, and shecked Khan''s keen senses. Still, she had always been confident in her ability to read people, but that feeling wavered in front of Khan''s words.


    "What do you want me to say?" Monica eventually asked.


    Even if Khan were telling the truth, the situation wouldn''t change. He would continue to share his room with Jenna, and he still wouldn''t trust Monica.


    His words sounded like ame attempt to keep Monica''s interest in him alive while he yed around with other women. Monica didn''t want to think that of Khan, but it wouldn''t be her first time meeting untrustworthy men, and the situation felt oddly familiar.


    "You don''t have to say anything," Khan uttered. "I just wanted you to know how things are."


    That was the truth. Khan had no deeper reasons, and the idea wasn''t wholly his. He had decided with Jenna to partially exin the nature of their rtionship to Monica and Martha.?


    Of course, Khan had Jenna had different intentions. Khan wanted Martha to know the truth, while Jenna had pressed to give the same treatment to Monica. Khan could have refused, but he didn''tpletely dislike the idea.?


    Also, building a wall between Khan and Monica wouldn''t help anyone. He could give something away and use that to test Monica''s true character. Confirming that she wasn''t a spy would benefit the investigation, and Khan would happily take the chance to remove the awkwardness that had fallen between them.


    "Oh," Monica couldn''t suppress a faint gasp. She still didn''t know what to think, but Khan''s gesture seemed to show care. It almost felt like he wanted to reassure her.


    "Don''t get strange ideas now," Khan teased as soon as he saw that Monica diverted her gaze and started ying with her curls.


    "I''m not thinking about anything," Monica scoffed before shooting a worried nce at the closed door and turning toward Khan to show a knowing smile.


    Khan shook his head when hearing a tone that didn''t match Monica''s usual elegant behavior, but a faint smile quickly appeared on his face. He preferred that version of Monica. It was easier to talk to, and her reactions were adorable. Part of him even began to hope that she wasn''t pretending with him.


    "Are you drunk already?" Khan joked.


    "Hey, I''m still a second-level warrior," Monicained. "I''m even sure that Francis made my tolerance increase."


    "You should be careful around his booze," Khan warned. "I couldn''t find much from the bottle I stole, but I saw enough not to like it."


    "Right, I have yet to thank you properly for that time," Monica recalled.


    "I didn''t do that to get a reward," Khan stated.


    "Why did you do it then?" Monica asked in an aloof tone.


    Khan and Monica found themselves staring at each other. Khan didn''t have an actual answer. He had acted instinctively. He felt that he didn''t need reasons to do a good deed.


    "I didn''t want someone stealing my room again," Khan teased.


    "But you came back with someone upying your room," Monica responded in the same emotionless tone.


    "Are you jealous?" Khan mocked.


    "A bit," Monica admitted without showing any shame before taking a short sip from her drink.


    The answer startled Khan, but he wouldn''t let it silence him. Something told him that Monica was only teasing him, and he knew that he was better than her in that field.


    "Please," Khan sneered as he took a sip from his cup. "You would be too shy to spend the night in my room when sober."


    "Who said anything about spending the night in your room?!" Monica cried.


    Khanughed at that reaction. Monica seemed pissed, but her expression rxed when she inspected Khan. She even had to cover her mouth at some point since chuckles tried toe out of her throat.


    Khan could experience something simr to what had happened back in his room. The walls between Monica and him temporarily crumbled and allowed them to enjoy the moment.


    "You should have seen Francis'' face after you stole his bottle," Monica eventually changed the topic, but her tone now carried evident cheerfulness. "He was so pissed."


    "About the bottle or you?" Khan wondered.


    "I have no idea," Monica sighed as sheid back on the chair, and the metal bent to make herfortable. "I swear. I can''t understand what goes through his mind."


    "I don''t get what he is trying to achieve," Khan eximed as he imitated Monica. "It would make sense to take advantage of you since he is so set on getting you wasted, but he doesn''t do that."


    "I don''t know what to say," Monica stated. "I''ve known him for so long. I guess he developed this shady side after seeing that I didn''t belong to him."


    "That shady side only pushes you into other men''s rooms," Khanmented.


    "How long are you going to tease me about that?" Monica pouted. "It happened only once, and you are to me for appearing so trustworthy."


    "I''ll use it until I find something else to tease you with," Khan responded. "Wait, how is that my fault now?"


    "It''s your fault because I say so," Monica snorted.


    "These wealthy women are so difficult to handle," Khan sighed.


    "I am," Monica corrected. "I''m difficult to handle."


    Khan frowned. He didn''t understand what Monica meant, but he tried his best to y along. "Do you like to be the main topic?"


    "I don''t like youparing me to others with simr status," Monica revealed in a low voice while diverting her gaze. "I''m me. Tease me with something about me."


    Surprise swept Khan again, but an honest smile broadened on his face. Monica only wanted her true self to be seen by Khan, and he had no reason to refuse that.


    "Fine," Khan uttered, "But I''ll need to learn more about you to avoidparison."


    "Then do that," Monica timidly ordered.


    While Monica and Khan were busy drinking and teasing each other, Martha and Jenna explored the bathroom and lost themselves among its wealth.


    Martha couldn''t believe how much that area offered. The actual toilets and sinks were vast andfortable, but that space also featured proper bathtubs that could contain multiple people.


    That wasn''t even the end of it. The bathroom had luxurious services like saunas and so on. The Kingsize didn''tck anyfort, which also added sense to the rtively short time calcted for the actual dinner.


    Martha didn''t speak at all while following Jenna inside the bathroom, and she took the chance to relieve herself when herpanion disappeared behind one of the metal doors. Martha didn''t know what Jenna wanted, and the Nele''s peculiarities stopped her from investigating any further.


    The two women reunited in front of the sinks. They cleaned their hands in silence, and Martha was more than okay with that situation. She even started to believe that Jenna had requested her presence due to eventual insecurities caused by that unknown ce.


    Still, it became clear that Jenna wanted something more once she was done with the sink. Jenna turned to look at Martha, and she stared at her without showing any sign of wanting to interrupt her gesture.


    "Yes?" Martha asked when the stare became too much for her.


    Jenna didn''t answer. She kept her emotionless purple eyes on Martha to study her various reactions. Martha initially remained calm, but the constant and intense stare soon forced her to speak again.


    "Did I do something?" Martha asked.


    Martha had studied Milia 222''s environment with Khan. She didn''t know the Nele as well as him, but she was more than ready to face those aliens. Yet, that remained her first mission after Istrone, and Jenna''s situation was even peculiar since it involved Khan.


    "Is something the matter?" Martha continued since Jenna remained silent.


    Jenna didn''t answer, and Martha wouldn''t bother to ask a fourth time. She didn''t understand what was going on, but Jenna''s behavior was irritating, especially for what she represented in Khan''s life.?


    Martha suppressed a snort as she turned toward the exit of the bathroom, but Jenna finally decided to speak at that point. "You love him, don''t you?"


    A tremor ran through Martha and made all the annoyance vanish. The topic had changed, and she knew what Jenna had asked, but she still forced herself to mutter a clear "excuse me?" while turning.


    "Khan," Jenna promptly exined. "You love him, right?"


    "That''s none-," Martha interrupted her rash reply to calm down and voice something more polite. "That''s a personal matter."


    "Though you don''t love him," Jenna continued. "You are in love with a memory of him, a person that doesn''t exist anymore. Maybe someone who had never existed in the first ce."


    "Where are you getting at?" Martha said without hiding the faint anger building up inside her.


    "I''m curious," Jenna revealed. "He trusts you so deeply. I want to see why."


    "You should ask him," Martha coldly replied.


    "But I''ll miss the chance to know you like that," Jenna stated. "Also, I already have his version. I want to hear yours."


    Martha was getting genuinely annoyed, but she did her best to calm down. It was clear that Jenna''s mindset was too different from hers, so she bottled up her emotions and approached that tricky topic as politely as possible.


    "I''m sorry," Martha eximed. "I don''t want to share my version. I hope you can understand."


    Martha turned again at that point. She had every intention to leave the bathroom and escape that situation. She even prepared herself to ignore Jenna if she decided to speak again, but her resolve shattered in no time.


    "Khan told me about thea," Jenna announced. "He told me that you were about to end up together. He told me that he taught you alien arts to help you regain control of your mana."


    Martha halted her steps and turned to face Jenna. Disbelief and surprise filled her face. She felt betrayed. Khan had revealed some of her most personal secrets to an alien he had known for no longer than a week. It sounded as if those events weren''t important to him.


    "Do you think you know me because Khan told you a few stories?" Martha questioned as evident anger filled her tone.


    "No," Jenna replied.


    "What is it then?" Martha asked. "What are you trying to prove? Are you having fun of me?"


    "Not at all," Jenna calmly responded.


    "What''s all that stuff about love?" Martha asked. "Why did you even mention it? What do you want from me?"


    "I want to get to know you," Jenna stated.


    "I don''t," Martha snorted. "I don''t care what you have with Khan or what you two have nned, but leave me out of it. I don''t want any part in these games."


    "You misunderstood," Jenna pointed out.


    "Misunderstood what?!" Martha shouted.


    "Khan told me about you because she trusts me," Jenna exined. "Still, our connection mostlyes from the mana. It''s not founded on experiences or time. It''s simr to the connection he shared with Liiza."


    Hearing Liiza''s name snapped Martha out of her anger. Her insecurities and Jenna''s sudden revtions had made her doubt how much Khan valued her, but she knew that Liiza was no joking matter. He would never be friends with someone capable of using Liiza''s memory disrespectfully.


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Instead," Jenna continued, "He built his rtionship with you without any influence from the mana. Your friendship doesn''t carry any instinctive purity, but he still trusts you deeply. You probably are one of the most meaningful people in his life. I can''t fully understand how that''s possible without an innate connection."


    Martha struggled to follow Jenna''s words, but she could make some sense out of them after reviewing them in her mind. She didn''t know every detail of the Niqols'' methods, but she had learnt to approach the mana differently. She could vaguely understand what Jenna had said, but her purpose still escaped her thoughts.


    "I don''t understand what you want from me," Martha whispered as a tinge of tiredness seeped into her tone. Her anger had vanished, but she remained confused.


    "I want to know you," Jenna repeated while wearing a bright smile. "I want to understand why Khan trusts you so deeply. I want to hear stories about him, and I want us to discuss how to help him."


    "But-," Martha muttered.


    "Don''t you want to help him?" Jenna interrupted, and Martha found herself unable to answer. She ended up nodding since her honesty was the only emotion able to make its way among her confusion and stupor.


    "Let''s go then," Jenna happily announced.


    "Wait! Go where?" Martha asked as Jenna began to walk toward the exit.


    "We can go to Khan''s room to talk while he and Monica remain here," Jenna exined.


    "Wait, wait!" Martha repeated. "I barely know you. I don''t know if I''mfortable revealing Khan''s stories."


    Jenna stooped when she reached Martha''s left side and turned toward her to express her doubts. "He trusted me with yours. Isn''t that enough for you?"


    "I''m not Khan," Martha pointed out. "I can''t trust my senses yet, especially when ites to people."


    "I see," Jenna whispered before showing her hand and pointing her palm upward. "[I offer myself with nothing but respect]."


    Martha''s eyes widened. She had studied that custom, and she had even seen Khan perform it with Jenna on the first asteroid. She knew what that meant and what Jenna wanted from her.


    Martha hesitated as her eyes darted between Jenna''s palm and her serious expression. Martha''s right hand closed into a fist and rxed a few times, but she eventually raised it to ce it on Jenna''s.


    "[I''m Martha Weesso]," Martha said in the best Nele''s ent she could muster.


    "[Jenna]," Jenna replied before retracting her arm and walking toward the exit.


    Martha was in a daze. She followed Jenna, but her thoughts were elsewhere. Touching a Nele was a big deal in her mind, but the scene that unfolded in her vision after leaving the bathroom forced her to recover.


    Monica and Khan weren''t doing anything special. They were simply talking from their respective seats and enjoying their drinks, but the peace between the two felt a bit too natural in Martha''s eyes. Even she would fail to recreate that atmosphere with Khan.


    "We''ll take our leave," Jenna announced as soon as the bathroom''s entrance closed behind Martha and her.


    Monica promptly wore her elegant manners and voiced a few questions. "Did something happen? Did the Kingsize leave you unsatisfied?"


    Jenna didn''t answer. She limited herself to looking at Khan, and the two stared at each other for a few seconds. They seemed able tomunicate through their eyes, but the truth was far different. Khan was simply trying to understand whether Jenna had something strange in mind.


    "[I''ll escort you to the ship]," Khan stated as he skimmed through the menus to request a specific type of vehicle and pilot.


    Monica wanted to add something, but she understood that it was better to remain silent in that situation. Martha was the same, and she even felt trapped in the following events.


    Khan left his seat once part of the wall opened to reveal the windows and the areas past them. A triangr ship was hovering right outside thending tform, and threefortable chairs had already reached that spot.


    "[I''d like to speak with Martha Weesso alone]," Jenna said without adding a single emotion to her words while she, Martha, and Khan walked toward the chairs.


    Khan and Jenna exchanged another long stare, but Khan eventually nodded. Jenna and Martha sat on the chairs, which set off to enter the ship. Khan could see the Nele pilot from his position, but thetter remained perfectly focused on the path ahead.


    "[I''ll see you in our room]," Jenna said to Khan while the dark ss of the cabin closed above her.


    Martha shot a meaningful nce at Khan while the ss closed above her. She was asking for help, but she didn''t know that Khan was powerless in that situation. It was impossible to change Jenna''s mind. Khan would have found a way to make her wear clothes otherwise.


    The ship departed, and the windows closed. The wall that isted the area from the menus also reappeared, and Khan didn''t hesitate to reach the table at that point.


    Monica watched as Khan activated a few functions to keep track of the ship''s movements. He could see its trip through the second asteroid from inside the Kingsize. He knew that Jenna was more than fine on her own, but he still wanted to be sure.


    "You sure care about her," Monicamented as she kept her attention on the shing dot moving through a simple map of the second asteroid.


    "I care about both of them," Khan revealed.


    "You are overprotective," Monica teased. "You did the same with me."


    Khan ignored the joke and remained silent until the shing dot reached its destination. It didn''t take long before his phone received a message. Jenna had used Khan''s room to confirm her safe arrival in the building.


    "Monica," Khan called while sitting on the seat and closing the menu, "Can you keep what I told you about Jenna for yourself? I''d like the others to think that she is with me."


    "I was nning to do that anyway," Monica responded before lifting her drink with both hands. "I don''t think they would believe me even if I tried to exin the truth."


    "Thank you," Khan sighed as he also moved his focus back on his drink.


    "Yet, I want something in return," Monica eximed.


    Khan looked at Monica, and she shot a timid nce at him before voicing her request. "Don''t leave right away."


    "What are you saying?" Khan sneered. "I won''t leave a ce with these drinks so soon. Also, someone has nagged me for a date since our first meeting."


    "It was a drink, not a date," Monicained, but a sense of defeat filled her mind when she saw the warm smile on Khan''s face. She couldn''t even pretend to be angry at him when he wore those expressions.

 Chapter ?364 Date

    Martha felt tense during the trip back to the city. The vehicle wasrge enough to allow some distance between Jenna and her, but the two still sat side by side.


    Jenna''s silence didn''t help the situation either. Martha wanted to voice some of the questions filling her mind, but she suppressed them due to the presence of a stranger. Yet, keeping everything inside her head only made her thoughts go wild.


    The ship was fast, and the pilot took the shortest route back to Luke''s building, but the trip still felt endless to Martha. She shot nces at Jenna from time to time, but she only met a stern expression focused on the path ahead.


    Thending didn''t break that tension. Jenna remained silent as she led Martha inside the building. Thetter felt lucky that the path to the elevator was empty, but her mood didn''t improve since each step closer to Khan''s room reminded her of the imminent conversation.


    The entrance opened in front of Jenna''s gic signature, and the two women soon found themselves in Khan''s room. Martha couldn''t help but notice the clothes lying around the untidy bed, and she felt somefort in that mess. Everything there carried Khan''s mark.


    "You are tense," Jenna said as she approached the bed and threw the clothes to the floor before sitting near the pillows.


    Martha didn''t answer. She nced at Jenna sitting cross-legged on the bed just to discover that she couldn''t stand her gaze. Jenna had spoken the truth, but Martha still couldn''t understand what she was doing there.


    "Is it because of me?" Jenna wondered. "Is it because of Khan?"


    "You said you wanted to help Khan," Martha announced to dodge the question.


    Jenna revealed a smile before patting the bed in a spot in front of her. Martha understood the meaning behind the gesture, and she timidly climbed on the mattress to sit before Jenna.


    Jenna made it easier for Martha by turning toward the wall to activate a few menus. She didn''t have a phone with her, but she could still send a message to Khan.


    The anxiety in Martha''s mind reached its peak after Jenna sent the message. She was sitting right in front of her, and nothing stood in the way of the conversation now. The talk would happen no matter what now.


    Jenna fixed her eyes on Martha for a few seconds before diverting them to stare at a spot at her side. Martha felt surprised to see some hesitation in Jenna''s face, but the words that followed distracted her from that expression. "I have my reasons for helping Khan. I don''t expect you to share them."


    "What reasons?" Martha asked.


    "I," Jenna sighed, "Part of me wishes tofort him. It''s unbing of my heritage to be like this, but I can''t deny what I feel."


    "Comfort him?" Martha repeated since she couldn''t properly understand what Jenna meant.


    "I offered myself to him," Jenna revealed. "He refused."


    Martha''s eyes widened, and her cheeks reddened. Surprise, confusion, and embarrassment filled her mind as Jenna''s revtion gave birth to multiple thoughts that forced her to reevaluate everything she believed about the situation.


    "Wait, aren''t you two together?" Martha asked.


    "We are friends," Jenna exined while fixing her gaze on Martha and showing a gentle smile. "We can''t be more than that."


    "Why?" Martha questioned as her expression saddened. "You seem suitable for each other."


    "We definitely are," Jenna eximed. "I almost can''t believe that I found such a good match among humankind. It''s a pity that we can''t be together."


    "I don''t understand," Martha admitted before recalling a specific topic. "Is that due to the one you mentioned back then?"


    "Yes," Jenna nodded. "Khan mentioned her with you too, am I right? That Liiza must be quite interesting."


    "Liiza," Martha muttered. She had already reached a simr conclusion after her talk with Khan, but Jenna brought definitive answers.


    Faint sadness appeared inside Martha. She wasn''t stupid, and part of her had already epted the situation, but she couldn''t control how she felt.


    "Are youfortable now?" Jenna asked, forcing Martha to snap out of her thoughts.


    "You are so honest," Jenna giggled. "I can read your emotions on your face without even studying the mana around you."


    "I still don''t know what you want from me," Martha responded to dodge the topic. "You are close to Khan, and you see the mana as he does. Why would you need me?"


    "I told you already," Jenna dered. "He trusts you deeply, and he feels the same about me. We''ll both have to leave him at some point, so it''s our job to make the best out of our time together."


    Getting rid of the embarrassment had been easy for Martha. She only had to avoid thinking about anything sexual. The confusion was hard to kick out, but the surprise was slowly waning.


    However, coldness reced every emotion in Martha''s mind when she heard those words. The content of Jenna''s statement wasn''t too important. Martha simply felt pissed that Jenna could decide something so personal on her own.


    "Is this what you wanted from me?" Martha coldly voiced. "Don''t get me wrong. I wish the best for Khan, but I have to think about my life. I don''t have the time to participate in your selfless ns."


    The cold reaction surprised Jenna. She had initially believed that the two had reached an understanding in the Kingsize''s bathroom, but that answer revealed a different truth.


    Moreover, Martha was showing a different side of herself. She had tried to leave during the talk in the bathroom, but now she didn''t hop off the bed. It almost seemed that she wanted to argue.


    "I don''t understand what made you so angry," Jenna admitted.


    "How can you talk about these things so casually?" Marthained.


    "Which things?" Jenna wondered. "I only want to talk about helping Khan."


    "Not that," Martha responded before realizing that what she was about to say was a bit embarrassing. Her voice lowered, and her tone grew quieter as she gave a vague answer. "You can''t make such decisions on your own. I also have things I want to do."


    Jenna didn''t immediately understand what Martha meant. The issue went beyond words and involved the differences in their mindsets. Jenna dealt with feelings through the Nele ways, so it took her a few seconds to get an idea of what Martha was talking about.


    "You have yet to give up on him," Jenna dered, and Martha confirmed that guess by diverting her gaze and wearing a saddened expression.


    "You," Jenna spoke before interrupting her line. Her species gave a lot of importance to feelings, especially love, and she had basically disrespected that with her previous statement.


    "I''m sorry," Jenna eventually said. "I didn''t realize you were harboring hopes of getting with Khan."


    "I might have overreacted," Martha sighed. "I can''t even follow him anymore. These hopes are foolish, but I can''t get rid of them."


    Jenna bent forward and startled Martha by taking her hands. Martha saw a smile that seemed able to express the same emotions running in her mind. She could immediately understand that Jenna shared her sadness.


    "Love is foolish," Jenna uttered. "That''s part of its beauty. It''s so powerful that even monsters can''t resist its appeal."


    Martha nced at Jenna''s hands before raising her gaze to meet her eyes. That was the second time Jenna had touched her, and the simrities that Martha saw in herpanion eventually opened a crack in her walls.


    "How can you give up on him so easily?" Martha asked as a tremor ran through her fingers. "I mean, you like him, right?"


    "My species handles emotions differently," Jenna exined. "I know I can''t have him, so I want to do everything I can to make things easier for him, even abandoning my traditions, apparently."


    Martha blushed again when Jenna mentioned the "offering herself" part. She couldn''t help but take a good look at Jenna, and what she saw left her stunned.


    Jenna was truly beautiful. Martha could appreciate that part of her even without the influence of the pheromones. The sole thought that Khan had refused her was almost unbelievable.


    "I can''t be so selfless," Martha admitted. "Part of me still wants him. I keep thinking about the time we spent together and how I lost my chance because I ended up in aa."


    "It''s not easy," Jenna revealed. "I struggle when I''m with him too. Luckily, he also wants my well-being, so he stops me when things get too dangerous."


    "That side of him is troublesome," Martha sighed. "He can get so gentle out of nowhere. His honesty is also surprisingly good."


    Martha almost couldn''t believe that she was going along with that conversation, but she felt unable to remain silent. She actually thought about that while she talked, and an exnation for her unusual behavior became clear in no time.


    After waking up, Martha had to face countless problems, especially in the social field. Luke and Bruce were friends, but they remained people who had decided to help her to involve Khan in their ns.


    As for Khan, he had been up to the craziest stuff while Martha was asleep. He had also changed and had gone through many experiences. He was still a trustworthy friend, but he couldn''t pick up from where the two had left.


    In short, Martha had beenpletely alone ever since waking up. Amber and Cora had helped a bit in that field, but they remained people deeply connected to Khan and his rtionship. Martha couldn''t get too close to them due to that lingering awkwardness.


    However, Jenna was like Martha. The two basically were in the same situation when it came to their rtionship with Khan, which made it easier for Martha to open up a bit.


    "He is really earnest about many things," Jennamented. "It''s so unusual for a human to have such a broad mindset. It''s as if I can finally experience a normal friendship with someone outside my species."


    "You must have it hard here," Martha stated.


    "I take pride in my innate gifts," Jenna dered, "But it still feels nice to be seen for more than them. Khan does that, and he is so permissive with all my whims."


    "How do you deal with all of that while sharing his room?" Martha wondered. "I can''t remain alone with him for too long without getting pissed or sad."


    "I take small paybacks," Jenna revealed while wearing a sly smile. "He never refuses them, which makes it harder not to exploit his character."


    "Paybacks?" Martha asked.


    "I make him cuddle me while we sleep naked," Jenna stated. "That''s not nearly enough, but it''s better than nothing."


    Martha''s eyes widened as her embarrassment reached its peak. She didn''t know what to think, and Jenna''s sly expression only told her that she hadpletely misunderstood the Nele.


    Jenna appeared cold and detached in public. Martha had managed to see her interest in Khan during that short conversation, but thest revtion hinted at something far lewder. Jenna''s true character probably hid far more surprises, and Martha didn''t know how safe it was to discover them.


    "What is it?" Jenna asked in front of Martha''s silence. "Do you want that too? I think I can convince Khan."


    "No!" Martha promptly replied. "I''m fine!"


    Jenna liked that honest and innocent reaction. Something told her that Martha had finally started to feelfortable, so she let go of her hands to move to another topic.


    "You have known Khan before Liiza," Jenna announced. "How was he back then?"


    "Back then?" Martha repeated before wearing a nostalgic smile as memories appeared in her mind.


    "At first, I thought he was an idiot," Martha eximed. "He chose to wield a shovel during our first test since he didn''t know how to use other weapons."


    Jenna couldn''t refrain fromughing, and Martha also giggled. She missed that na?ve but driven boy. She didn''t even realize how much she treasured those memories until now.


    "Khan used to lie a lot," Martha continued. "He didn''t trust anyone, but his yful behavior always came out at some point. Iughed so many times with him, but he could also get all serious in an instant. I guess I never truly understood how deep those parts of him were."


    "He probably didn''t know that either," Jenna reassured.


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Probably," Martha sighed. "Everything changed after mya. Khan still joked around, but he had turned pretty serious. He wasn''t a lost kid anymore. He was actually a mature teacher. I don''t know how I could like him even more than before."


    "You also changed during thea," Jenna suggested. "Maybe, that''s why the new Khan was so appealing to you."


    "Maybe," Martha sighed again. "Did he talk to you about Nitis? Do you know what he went through there?"


    "I don''t know much about it," Jenna responded.


    "He saw and did things I can''tpletely believe," Martha revealed. "Half of that stuff is enough to leave anyone scarred for life, but he speaks so fondly of it. I think that''s when I understood that I was no match for Liiza."


    "I see," Jenna eximed. "I should ask him about Nitis, but I''ll leave that forter."


    Jenna took Martha''s hands again before showing her incredible smile. Martha experienced a sense of defeat in front of that expression. She knew that she would probably agree to Jenna''s next request. Luckily for her, she didn''t mind it.


    "Should wein about Khan while also trying toe up with ways to help him?" Jenna asked.


    "Comin?" Martha asked.


    "I bet you have something you don''t like about him," Jenna eximed. "For me, it''s his constant need to train even when I''m in need of cuddles."


    Martha chuckled before suppressing that reaction. She nced at her hands before looking at Jenna again. She liked where the situation was going, so she eventually nodded.


    .


    .


    .


    Khan and Monica enjoyed their drinks while Martha and Jenna talked in his room. The two didn''t have anything specific to discuss, but the booze made even casual conversations louder or generally more interactive.


    In short, Khan teased Monica to no end while he learnt more about her life. She also voiced questions to add details to everything described on thework. The two got to know each other through jokes and tant flirting.


    It turned out that Monica''s life had been far from happy or peaceful. The Solodrey family''s wealth had offered her the best education and countlessforts, but she had to face the harsh reality of her status pretty soon.


    The descendants of wealthy families were a powerful currency when it came to political alliances and simr. Monica had to deal with countless pursuers from a young age, and she couldn''t disrespect any of them for multiple reasons.


    Growing up in an environment full of untrustworthy people who only aimed at the family''s wealth or at a chance to brag about eventual sexual conquests was far from ideal for a kid. Monica was also beautiful, and the elegant manners that she had learnt due to her status only enhanced that aspect of her figure.


    The situation didn''t improve after Monica showed talent and determination toward mana. Her rise to power turned her into a desirable prize that many families aimed to seize.


    Her father made everything worse since he was a core part of that political game. Her mother was more protective, but she also expected her to behave like a proper daughter of a wealthy family.


    Monica had grown up without a single trustworthy person in her life. She was even smart, but that had only made her more detached. She could have probably managed to build good rtionships among servants or masters, but the fact that they belonged to her family prevented her from dropping her barriers.


    Khan had to admit that their lives shared manymon points. Monica didn''t have to go through physical hardships or traumas, but her surroundings had never been too different from the Slums.


    Sure, the members of important families were well-educated and polite. They also knew how to respect boundaries, but that intelligence made them more dangerous.


    A wanderer in the Slums could only do so much, but a powerful member of a wealthy family didn''t have any limit. Monica knew all the bad things that could happen to her if she trusted the wrong person, so she decided to wear her mask all the time.


    That was why Khan was such a big deal for Monica. He was someone outside of that toxic political environment, and he was also pretty impressive. His character wasn''t bad either, and his confidence with women only made him more interesting.


    Of course, Khan didn''t fully believe what he was hearing. Even if Monica were telling the truth, that would only confirm that her lying skills were incredible. He felt that she was being honest, but he hesitated to trust her.


    Monica learnt about some of Khan''s stories, but he never added too many details. Monica had to insist many times to get to the gory parts, and she faced them quite coldly even.


    That aspect of Monica surprised Khan. In theory, Monica didn''t have much experience outside the safe environment of her family, but she faced gory details calmly. She appeared pretty mature as a soldier, which earnt her some temporary respect.


    Second-level warriors had great tolerance for booze, and Khan and Monica were even unusual cases. However, they started to reach their limits as the dinner went on, and it became pretty clear that they had to put an end to it at some point.


    Khan and Monica didn''t need to speak about their departure. After emptying their sixth drink, they called a cab and left the Kingsize to return to Luke''s building.


    Khan didn''t say anything when Monica chose to sit next to him, and he remained silent even when she asked the ship tond a few blocks before their destination.


    "Thank you," Monica timidly said after the ship set off and the two remained alone on the sidewalk.


    "I told you I wouldn''t have left right away," Khan calmly replied.


    Monica wrapped her arms behind her back as she fixed her gaze on the ground and took long steps. She wasn''t walking quickly. Her pace actually was slower than usual.


    "It''s strange to see Milia 222 so empty," Khanmented as he inspected the almost empty streets.


    "It''s prettyte," Monica replied. "Maybe everyone is holed up in clubs or shops."


    "I bet you prefer it like this," Khan stated. "Your n to have me on a date is working perfectly."


    "It does feel like a date, doesn''t it?" Monica asked. "I only wanted to be with you a bit longer, but I didn''t expect the streets to give us some privacy."


    "You sure lose your shyness when you drink," Khanughed.


    "I''m too tired toin," Monica whined. "I can''t show you any cute reaction right now. You''ll have to settle for the bold, shameless me."


    "That''s not really settling," Khan uttered.


    "Ooh?" Monica voiced while turning toward Khan. "I thought you preferred the shy type."


    "I don''t have a type," Khan snorted.


    "Martha and Jenna are quite different now that I think about it," Monica stated while remaining turned. "Well, I don''t know much about Jenna, but she seems pretty bold. I envy her a bit, and her hair looks so soft."


    "You don''t have bad hair," Khan eximed.


    "Was that apliment?" Monica giggled. "Did I hear it correctly? You just said that you like my hair."


    "I said it wasn''t bad," Khan pointed out.


    "Come on," Monicained. "Give me an honest opinion."


    Monica stopped walking and tilted her head to show part of the back of her head. Khan could see most of her curls like that, and he found nothing bad with them.


    "I like it," Khan sighed.


    "It''s pretty soft too," Monica added while caressing her hair.


    "Do you want me to touch it?" Khan teased.


    "If you feel like it," Monica pouted before tidying up her dress and spinning on herself.


    "What is it now?" Khanughed.


    "Do you like this dress?" Monica asked. "I don''t enjoy wearing it, but it does highlight my figure."


    "Did you want to show off tonight?" Khan wondered.


    "Of course," Monica announced while performing another spin.


    "I think I''ve seen enough," Khan chuckled.


    "Are you sure?" Monica wondered. "I''ll do another just in case."


    Monica spun on herself again before stopping and voicing a shortugh. Khanughed too, but his arm instinctively went for Monica''s back when he noticed that she was losing her bnce.


    "Always so protective," Monica teased.


    "You are drunk," Khan sighed as he retracted his arm.


    "Yes, I''m definitely wasted," Monica stated in an unconvincing tone before taking Khan''s elbow. "I need help getting back home."


    Khan shook his head but let Monica cling to his arm. He even smirked when he noticed that Monica started to dodge his gaze. Her tipsy state couldn''t get rid of her shyness.


    "You have gotten oddly silent," Khan joked while bending toward Monica. "Is everything alright?"


    "Shut up," Monica whispered. "We should have drunk more."


    "And miss all of this?" Khan chuckled while bringing his arm closer to his side to force Monica to tighten her grasp. "Not a chance."


    "So, did you enjoy the date?" Monica timidly asked.


    "I did," Khan admitted. "You are fun."


    "I liked it too," Monica said as she clung even closer to Khan. "Would you like to do it again? Money is not a problem."


    "Are you trying to buy me off?" Khan wondered.


    "Don''t-!" Monica said in a high-pitched tone before retrieving her cool. "Go easy on me. I''m not used to this. I don''t know what to do or say."


    "Didn''t your family teach you how to date when you were seven?" Khan joked.


    "Nine," Monica scoffed, "But those are for the dates with other rich soldiers. They are political meetings, not something meant to be enjoyed. I don''t want to have those with you."


    Khan wore his smirk again. That had almost be an instinctive reaction whenever Monica went all shy and honest. Still, the topic forced him to think and realize that his experience in actual dates was pretty limited, especially when it came to women who had yet to be his girlfriends.


    "I''m not too sure either," Khan admitted. "Maybe we can check some popr spots without going for the high-ss all the time."


    "Did you just agree to more dates?" Monica questioned.


    Khan nced at Monica and found her staring deep into his eyes. Her face showed hope, but her grasp tightened and rxed to reveal her anxiety.


    "We had fun, right?" Khan vaguely answered. "Why would I refuse?"


    Monica wasn''t too happy about that answer, but she chose to see its positive aspect. Khan still didn''t trust her, but he wasn''t building a wall between them either. That was enough for now.


    Nevertheless, Monica got closer andid her head on Khan''s shoulder. She avoided Khan''s gaze while remaining in that new position, but she had no intention of getting off.


    Khan simply let her be. That slow pace was actually enjoyable. They both knew that they liked each other, but they were taking their time to establish the foundation of their friendship before moving to deeper topics.


    Monica slowed down as Luke''s building appeared in her vision. She tried to prolong that intimate walk as much as possible, but the two eventually reached their destination, which forced them to separate.


    Monica took a deep breath before her expression changed. She wore her elegant behavior as she and Khan approached thest steps that separated them from Luke''s building. They both knew that the date was over.


    However, a surprising scene weed the two once they crossed the entrance. The main hall was strangely loud, but Luke and the others weren''t the reason behind that noise.


    A group of six well-dressed Ots was standing in front of Luke, Francis, Bruce, and Master Ivor. The tones hinted atints, but the main topic escaped Khan''s understanding.


    Moreover, Khan couldn''t focus on the conversation right away since the auras of the Ots imed his attention. One of them was familiar, while another was strong enough to make Khan mentally prepare for a deadly battle.


    One of the Ots was Sher, the group leader from [The Loophole], but the head of that group was a third-level warrior, who didn''t hesitate to turn toward Khan and Monica after hearing the metal door closing.

 Chapter 365 Cruel

    The hall disappeared as the third-level warrior inspected Khan and Monica. The Ots was clearly angry, and its stare carried a pressure that forced Khan to disregard his surroundings to focus on that potential threat.


    The third-level warrior''s slightlyrger waist and bigger chest revealed its gender. The leader of that alien group was a woman, and her appearance was in line with herpanions.


    The Ots were wearing elegant ck suits, with ck shirts and ties. Jeweled earrings and piercings hung from their eyebrows, but only the third-level warriors wore them on her ears and nose too.


    "Khan! Monica!" Luke eximed to introduce the two. "I''m afraid you have returned at a bad time."


    "That''s an understatement!" The third-level warrior snorted while turning toward Luke. "You have caused trouble in my activities for days already. My customers don''t like having people prying around while trying to have fun."


    The nature of the argument became evident right away. Monica and Khan could understand that someone in Luke''s group had caused problems in one of the Ots'' activities. Sher was also pretending not to know Khan, so he excluded himself from the possible troublemakers.


    "Our interests simply happen to sh," Luke announced. "Also, I know that mypanions have done their best to preserve Milia 222''s peace. Don''t me them if your activities are losing money."


    Luke wasn''t backing down in front of the presence of a third-level warrior, and even Khan felt surprised to see such calm. Luke was facing the issue as a prominent member of a wealthy family, so he couldn''t show weakness, especially to other species.


    "We are back at it again," The third-level warrior cursed. "I have proof that your men have disturbed my activities."


    "What proof?" Luke asked.


    "My word," The third-level warrior imed.


    "You won''t rip me off so easily," Luke chuckled. "I don''t know you. How can your word have any value?"


    "I''m Awiza!" The third-level warrior angrily shouted. "Only a foreigner wouldn''t know my name."


    "Learning your name doesn''t change anything," Luke stated. "You can''t prove that mypanions affected your activities."


    It felt surprising for Khan to see Luke acting so disrespectfully. Thetter usually showed nothing but politeness. Yet, the situation seemed different now that the Ots were involved.


    ''Is this xenophobia?'' Khan wondered before disregarding that idea.


    Luke was a proud member of the human species, but Khan had never seen him show signs of xenophobia. Istrone''s events could have given birth to something simr, but Khan believed they had the opposite effects.


    Luke wouldn''t underestimate someone due to their species. His current behavior definitely had a different source and meaning. Khan guessed that his family''s pride couldn''t let him lose ground in front of mere gangsters.


    "I know your faces now," Awiza continued in a far colder tone. "I only need to spread a rumor to ban all of you from the Ots'' activities. I also have many friends among the other species. A mere word from me can close every door on Milia 222."


    "Are you threatening me?" Luke asked in the same cold tone.


    "I am," Awiza dered. "You are looking for something here. I bet you can''t do that with the entire underground world against you."


    Luke wore a cold face, but he didn''t give an immediate answer. The truth was more than obvious. He wouldck the connections to act freely on Milia 222 if the Ots started spreading nasty rumors about his team.


    Hesitating wouldn''t lead anywhere. Actually, dying the answer would only reinforce Awiza''s position. Political skills and simr abilities had no ce in an argument that had already reached its conclusion.


    Khan felt able to see helplessness filling Luke''s eyes. Thetter was about to acknowledge Awiza''s statement and start to find an agreement, but an idea suddenly appeared in Khan''s mind and made him step forward.


    Everyone was standing still, so Khan''s movement made many gazes fall on his figure. The gesture also surprised him since he had yet toe up with aplete n. He had only felt the urge to butt in and see if he could influence the situation. Luckily for him, he knew enough about pretenses to improvise.


    "[Sher]!" Khan eximed in the best ent he could muster. "[You should have told me that you wereing. I would have weed you properly]."


    The Ots and Luke''s group couldn''t help but turn toward the alien eyed by Khan. Sher didn''t know what was happening, and surprise took over him for an instant. Yet, his leader''s cold gaze soon forced him to calm down.


    "[Do you know this human]?" Awiza asked.


    "[Of course he knows me]!" Khanughed. "[We shared a cell for a few hours. I actually owe him one]. Luke, can you ask the servant to bring food and drinks?"


    Sher felt the urge to kill Khan right away. His expression remained cold, but something told Khan that he was pretty angry. That revealed a few details that Khan could exploit. He only needed Luke to y along.


    Luke was the most reliable soldier when it came to social interactions. Also, he trusted Khan deeply, so he didn''t hesitate to wear a bright smile and pick up his phone to send a series of orders.


    Meanwhile, Khan inspected the interactions among the group of Ots. They limited themselves to silent nces, but they revealed a lot and added information to the picture in Khan''s mind.


    ''Awiza doesn''t know everything about the prison,'' Khan concluded. ''I guess Sher kept his mouth shut, at least partially.''


    "[Please, sit]," Khan said in a cheerful tone despite the calctions happening in his mind. "[Let''s talk after eating something]."


    "We are not hungry," Awiza replied in her cold tone before ring at herpanions, who nodded to confirm that statement.


    "[A drink then]," Khan continued. "[I''m sure we can find bottles to your liking. You look like the type of refined people who wouldn''t say no to good booze]."


    The faintpliment eased the general coldness in the group of Ots, and even Awiza couldn''t help but nce at the seeminglyfortable couches pointed by Khan. The building was incredible, so the main hall appeared cozy and appealing.


    "[Please]," Khan repeated. "[I want to pay Sher back for his help. Offering you nice drinks is the least I can do]."


    "[Paying Sher back]," Awiza repeated while shooting another cold nce at Sher. "[Sure, let''s have a drink. I want to hear how Sher earnt this favor]."


    Khan kept a bright smile on his face as he led the Ots toward the couches. Waiters soon arrived, and Luke ordered them around to add furniture to the hall and allow everyone to sit around the same table.


    Soon, the six Ots upied two couches on one side of the table. Luke and Master Ivor sat on one of the short sides while Bruce and Francis went in front of them.


    As for Khan and Monica, the two sat on the other long side, right in front of the Ots. Everyone had fallen silent while the waiters filled the table with bottles and sses, but Monica still found ways to talk privately with Khan.


    "Khan," Monica whispered while suppressing a cuteugh and showing her phone to him.


    Khan understood what Monica wanted when he looked at the screen. She had written a text for him to read.


    ''What are you doing? Luke can settle this with Credits,'' Khan read on Monica''s phone.


    ''That might be hard to exin,'' Khan thought as he wore a fake smirk to pretend that Monica had shown him a joke.


    Truth be told, Khan had acted impulsively and without a clear n. He didn''t even have Luke''s interest in mind when he had stepped forward to join that discussion.


    The urge that had driven Khan''s action had a simple nature. He had moved out of curiosity. He wanted to see if his knowledge and ability could pacify that conflict. It was a challenge that only Milia 222 could offer under such favorable conditions.


    Khan waited for everyone to fill their sses and take short sips before moving his n forward. Awiza''s slightly satisfied face told him that it was time to speak.


    "[By the way, what happened here]?" Khan asked.


    "[Why don''t you talk first]?" Awiza questioned before switchingnguages. "Also, let''s use the humannguage. I know that most foreigners don''t bother to learn ours."


    The coldness had returned, but Khan didn''t let it worry him as he voiced a lie. "There is nothing much to say. Sher and I had a misunderstanding, but we solved it quickly. He even helped me out afterward."


    "What misunderstanding?" Awiza asked.


    "I came to [The Loophole] to ask a few things," Khan half-lied. "It turned out that you had already helped us in the past, so I agreed not to cause any problem."


    "Did you threaten us?" Awiza asked.


    "I just pretended to," Khanughed. "It was totally my bad. Sher saw through me in an instant and prevented any mess. I have to say I havee to respect your species a lot more after that meeting."


    "You sure know how to talk," Awiza snorted.


    "I''m not lying," Khan promised. "Anyway, what''s up with this mess? What happened?"


    "It happened that your friends came to my activities and started interrogating customers," Awiza dered while pointing at Francis. "Privacy is one of Milia 222''s golden rules, especially in those ces."


    "I-!" Francis tried to speak, but Bruce ced a hand on his shoulder to stop him. He even shook his head to force his friend to stay silent.


    "Mypanions know how to conduct themselves," Luke responded. "I can vouch for them since I handpicked this team."


    "It''s your responsibility to pay for their mistakes then," Awiza didn''t hesitate to go straight to the point.


    "Why don''t we rx a bit?" Khan jumped in before the situation could degenerate any further. "We have just begun to drink. Let''s not try to kill each other already."


    "Why would I choose to spend my time here instead of getting what I deserve?" Awiza wondered.


    "Because I know that the Ots understand when they are in front of something good," Khan lied. "I''m sure you can taste the quality of this booze."


    The Ots smirked, but Awiza did her best to remain cold and angry. However, her expression began to rx when she took another sip from her cup. She had to admit that Luke was treating her properly.


    "It is my understanding that my friends didn''t cause any significant problem," Khan said at that point.


    "That''s not for you to decide," Awizained.


    "I wouldn''t dare," Khan immediately responded. "Yet, I''m sure an influent species like yours would have already kicked us out of Milia 222 if we had caused real problems."


    The thirdpliment hit even harder than the previous. The good booze only helped, but it would take a while to make it influence a third-level warrior. Still, Awiza didn''t seem to mind where that conversation was going.


    "What do you mean?" Awiza asked as she drank from her cup again.


    "I think you came here to scare us before we cause real problems for your activities," Khan revealed. "I know you don''t need our Credits, so you can already call your mission a sess."


    Khan had to drink with Awiza to bring the two groups closer, but his time was short. He couldn''t keep his cool for too long in that condition. The dinner had already brought him close to his limits, so he had to mention the main topic right away to make sure that the conversation would reach its conclusion quickly.


    "You sure know how to talk," Awiza repeated. "I''ve met humans who could talk like you, but they always tried to trick me during meetings. I''d rather prevent eventual problems."


    "How?" Khan asked. "Let''s say that you get some money now. What would stop us from creating problems tomorrow?"


    "Are you threatening me?" Awiza coldly questioned. "Are you threatening my species?"


    "I''m only stating the obvious," Khan sighed as he emptied his cup. "If money can settle everything, we can''t be scared or worried. Isn''t it better to find an agreement?"


    "You wouldn''t talk like this if you realized how influential the Ots are," Awiza uttered.


    "I know that you could probably topple Milia 222''s government overnight," Khan voiced a fourthpliment, "But you can''t cut us off from the underground world. Our connections are too good."


    "The humans excel in many things," Awiza stated. "Finding secrets isn''t one of them. Instead, the Ots know how to hide things pretty well."


    "We wouldn''t rely only on humans," Khan replied.


    "Which species would even help you?" Awiza scoffed. "You are foreigners. You need months or years to build trust here."


    "Come on," Khan chuckled. "I know that you know."


    Awiza''s face froze for an instant, but she quickly hid that reaction by emptying her cup. Khan didn''t hesitate to refill her drink before doing the same for his ss, and the two never stopped staring at each other.


    "A human and a Nele walking side by side through Milia 222''s streets is a rare sight," Awiza pointed out.


    Khan showed his smirk without adding anything. He didn''t want to involve the Nele in that conversation. It was enough for Awiza to think that he had an agreement with them. That wasn''t even aplete lie in the end.


    "How did you earn the Nele''s trust?" Awiza asked.


    "I don''t know what you are talking about," Khan calmly replied as he grabbed his drink.


    "What kind of agreement do you have with them?" Awiza continued.


    "I don''t know what you are talking about," Khan repeated.


    "Will they help you if we try to stop you?" Awiza questioned.


    "I don''t know what you are talking about," Khan said again.


    Silence fell in the main hall. Khan and Awiza continued to stare at each other under theirpanions'' intense gazes. Seeing Khan in action was a rare sight, and the scene ended up captivating hispanions.


    The silence continued for a few minutes. The group drank without adding much. A few murmurs and words of appreciation for the booze resounded from time to time, but that was it.


    The situation grew awkward since the two groups weren''t interacting anymore. The conversation had yet to reach a conclusion. It had stopped at a threat, and Awiza felt no need to add anything else.


    "Right," Khan eventually eximed while ncing at Sher. "I didn''t tell you how things ended in the prison. A soldier tried to steal my knife."


    Awiza and the other Ots turned toward Sher, and thetter felt the need to say something now that he had ended at the center of the attention. "You can''t expect a soldier to give up on the chance to seize something good."


    "I can see that," Khan sighed before exploding into augh. "Sorry. I just recalled his face. I think he won''t steal anything else for the rest of his life."


    "A soldier tried to rob you?" Awiza voiced her curiosity.


    "Indeed," Khan revealed while pointing at the knife at his side. "He wanted to steal this beauty, but I made him understand that he had messed with the wrong person. I think he cried."


    Khan exploded into anotherugh that surprised hispanions. They didn''t expect him to take joy in that scene, but Luke and Monica noticed something odd. After all, they had been part of the audience when the beating happened.


    The Ots couldn''t help but snicker when they heard that. Some even decided to drink more now that the atmosphere had turned cheerful. Those reactions told Khan that he was on the right path, and Awiza gave him a perfect chance to continue.


    "Wait, aren''t you sure?" Awiza asked through her smirk. "How can you only think if someone is crying?"


    "His face was full of blood," Khanughed. "I couldn''t even see his eyes clearly. Though he sobbed a lot."


    The story made the Otsugh, and some even voiced their approval. They liked how Khan had acted, and they enjoyed how he described what had happened.


    "I had to stop beating him at some point," Khan eventually sighed. "I was afraid he would have pissed himself on the spot."


    Moreughs resounded. The Ots had stopped containing themselves and gulped down drink after drink. They had finally rxed, and Awiza even followed with a story of her own.


    It didn''t take long before all the Ots decided to share one or two stories. They always involved beatings or pitiful aftermaths of a battle, but the aliens never mentioned names or simr.


    Luke and Monica knew that Khan had lied, and the result of his approach told them why. The Ots seemed to love those pitiful stories. They rejoiced to hear how other people had suffered.


    That tant cruelty felt sickening, but the humans kept their smiles as bright as possible to avoid getting in the way of Khan''s n. Everything was going well, so they didn''t dare to ruin the situation.


    "You are a funny human," Awiza announced once the bottles on the table had be empty. "Come on. Give me a decent offer."


    "What are you talking about?" Khanughed, pretending not to understand what Awiza meant.


    "I can''t leave empty-handed," Awiza stated. "You must offer something else if you don''t want the initial agreement."


    "There has never been an agreement in the first ce," Khan chuckled before clearing his throat. "Look, I''m almost certain you have nothing to do with what we need. Why don''t you smooth things out for us? It would be far easier for us to get where we want with your help."


    "I thought you were going to give something to me," Awiza sneered, "Not the other way around."


    "Wait, hear me out," Khan continued. "You don''t want problems, but you know that we might cause them, so you are asking for advance payment. Why don''t we pay you for something more specific?"


    "Like?" Awiza asked.


    "You have great connections throughout Milia 222," Khan pointed out. "Use them to put us inside some activity. We can''t cause problems for you if we are busy with something else."


    "I have a reputation to preserve," Awiza snorted. "I can''t vouch for untrustworthy people. Everyone will take it on me if you cause problems."


    "Just me someone else," Khanughed. "I mean, you Ots are natural tricksters. I know you can find a way to make that work."


    Thepliment hit in the right spot and made Awiza fall silent. The offer was far from bad. It could actually set the foundation for decent cooperation.


    Of course, Awiza didn''t speak for all the Ots on Milia 222, but that made the offer more interesting. Establishing cooperation with Luke''s group now would give her priority over future deals, which could bring a lot of money.


    "What activities are we talking about?" Awiza asked, basically revealing how she was ready to ept that deal.


    "You should talk with Luke for the details," Khan stated while raising an arm to point at Luke. "I think it''s toote to discuss money right now too. Why don''t we n a meeting for another day when we have less booze inside us?"


    Awiza yed with the piercing hanging from her nose while her dark eyes darted between Khan and Luke. She seemed pensive, but Khan knew that she was only stalling to create some tension.


    "A meeting sounds nice," Awiza eximed while standing up. "We''ll take our leave then."


    "It was a pleasure," Khan stated as he left the couch. The rest of the groups soon imitated the two, and a series of short salutations unfolded before the Ots left the building.


    Khan''s expression changed once the metal doors closed behind the Ots. His cheerful face turned cold and detached, and his eyes half-closed now that his concentration wavered.


    "That was spectacr, Lieutenant Khan," Master Ivor dered during that peaceful moment. "You''ll be a great ambassador one day."


    "Thank you," Khan sighed while rubbing his eyes. "Luke, can I leave that stuff to you?"


    "Of course!" Luke imed. "You have given us a great chance. The investigation can really begin now."


    "I''ll hit the bed then," Khan weakly said before walking toward the elevator past the main hall.


    "I''ll also take my leave," Monica stated. "It''s been a long night."


    "Sure," Luke uttered. "I hope you enjoyed your dinner."


    "It was great," Monica showed her elegant smile as she began to follow Khan. "The Kingsize doesn''t disappoint. You should go there one of these days."


    "Monica, do you want to hang out a bit longer?" Francis questioned.


    "I''m sorry," Monica chuckled while covering her mouth. "I''ll take this chance to share onest talk with Khan if you don''t mind."


    Francis couldn''t say anything to that. Luke and Bruce shook their heads and smiled as they went back on the couch, while Master Ivor remained still as Khan and Monica disappeared behind a metal door.


    The world in Khan''s vision spun and blurred. His senses were off, and the same went for his bnce. He basically mmed his back on the elevator''s surface after crossing its entrance.


    Monica dealt with themands before reaching Khan''s side. She took his right arm and put it around her shoulders while he was busy looking at a random spot on the machine.


    Khan had never been so drunk. He had relied on the mental barrier and his sheer determination to remain in control of his body, but everything had fallen once he had rxed.


    Monica could limit herself to a single drink, but Khan had to be part of the meeting, which had required him to go beyond his limits. He was wasted, and his thoughts were a mess that he couldn''t hear properly.


    "When did you get there?" Khan asked when he noticed Monica under his right arm.


    "Let me help," Monica said as she wrapped her arm behind Khan''s back to prepare him for the arrival at the designed floor.


    "You must like touching me," Khan snickered before heaving a helpless sigh. "George would have a goodugh if he saw me in this state."


    "George?" Monica repeated.


    "That was awful," Khan ignored the question. "I feel so dirty. Fucking Ots and their bad tastes."


    "You have been great back there," Monica said as the elevator opened and the two walked inside the corridor.


    "Yeah, great," Khan scoffed. "So great. A lie after a lie after a lie just to get some money."


    Monica didn''t say anything there. She didn''t have a real answer, and she guessed that Khan wouldn''t even hear her out.


    "Is that what an ambassador does?" Khan wondered in aining tone. "That''s so sad."


    "You can always choose another path," Monica said as she continued to support Khan throughout the corridor. "Nothing is out of your reach."


    "I need to be an ambassador," Khan weakly replied. "I need to."


    "Why?" Monica asked.


    "I need to," Khan sighed. "That''s the price I have to pay."


    "Khan, is everything okay?" Monica questioned as she inspected Khan''s unfocused expression.


    "Nothing is okay," Khan cursed. "Nothing is ever okay. That''s my room."


    Khan pointed at a door a few steps from his position, but Monica didn''t immediately walk him there. She hesitated for a bit before her drunken state took over her shyness and made her ask a question. "Are you sure you want to go back to Jenna in this state?"


    "Yes, I want Jenna," Khan stated.


    "But," Monica began toin before interrupting her line and lowering her eyes.


    Khan''s confused gaze fell on Monica when the two reached the door. He was trying to take his phone, but he ended up focusing on Monica''s face. Her beauty was undeniable, but there seemed to be something else in her expression.


    "What?" Khan asked. "Were you trying to get me in your room?"


    "You are in no condition to tease me," Monica pouted.


    "You aren''t sober either," Khanughed.


    "Still better than you," Monica scolded. "Now, go back to Jenna."


    "Are you jealous?" Khan tried to use his teasing tone, but his drunk state gave strange ents to his words. Still, heid his free arm on the wall, leaving Monica stuck between his limbs.


    "What are you doing?" Monica giggled as she let the arm on her shoulders slide down until it reached her waist.


    "This is what you want, right?" Khan asked as he grabbed Monica''s waist and slowly pushed her onto the wall.


    "Khan, you are drunk," Monica stated in a cheerful tone as she took Khan''s face in her hands.


    Khan had slept with Jenna in thest days. It was safe to say that his lust had reached unhealthy levels, especially since he couldn''t vent it. However, he was drunk now, and Monica was right in front of him. Khan could feel her soft skin. Her captivating figure was within his reach.


    Monica''s hands were on Khan''s cheeks, but she didn''t put any strength in them. They even slid past his head and reached his neck as he lowered his face toward her.


    Monica initially smiled, but her expression turned serious once Khan got too close. She almost couldn''t believe what was happening, and she didn''t know how to take the event.


    "Khan, not like this," Monica pleaded, but she soon found Khan''s mouth on her lips.


    A whimper escaped Monica''s mouth during the kiss. She wanted to reject it, but she soon lost herself inside it. Her hands dug into Khan''s hair as she let him do as he wished.


    Monica snapped back to reality once their waists touched. She pulled Khan''s head back and looked at him in disbelief. That kiss had really happened.


    "What?" Khan asked. "Didn''t you like it?"


    A wave of anger ran through Monica and made her p Khan. The gesture carried no real strength, but it was enough to startle Khan and partially awaken him.


    However, Monica didn''t stop there. She pulled Khan toward her again to leave another deep kiss.


    "We are even now," Monica pouted as soon as their lips separated.


    Khan was at a loss for words. He could only watch as Monica freed herself from the arm on her waist and left the wall to walk toward the elevator. Khan followed her with his eyes, so he saw the exact moment when she turned.


    "Don''t you dare to pretend that this didn''t happen!" Monica shouted before turning again and jumping inside the elevator.


    A single p couldn''t remove all the booze running inside Khan''s body. His senses dulled as soon as the elevator closed and forced him to give up on thinking about the situation.


    Khan opened the door and entered his room only to find Jenna waiting for him under the sheets. She was still awake, and a knowing smile filled her expression.


    "[Did you have fun with Monica]?" Jenna teased.


    "[Not now]," Khan pleaded before kicking away his shoes and jumping on the bed to take his ce under the sheets. He didn''t even feel surprised to see Jenna''s naked body waiting for him.


    "[Won''t you take off your clothes]?" Jenna joked as she ran her fingers over Khan''s shoulder.


    "[Let me be]," Khan requested as he wrapped his arms around Jenna''s waist andid his head on her chest. "[I''ll sleep like this tonight]."


    "[What did you even do outside the room]?" Jenna asked as she hugged Khan''s head and started caressing him.


    "[I probably made a mess]," Khan admitted.


    "[That''s so exciting]," Jenna giggled.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 366 Drawn

    Memories returned before Khanpletely woke up. A series of images, sounds, and voices ran through his mind as soon as the nightmare ended.


    ''Shit,'' Khan thought before opening his eyes to find a worried, purple gaze fixed on him.


    "[How long did I sleep]?" Khan groaned.


    "[Longer than I have ever seen you sleep]," Jenna responded. "[Your monsters kept youpany for the whole time]."


    "[That''s how it is]," Khan sighed as he let go of Jenna''s waist and sat on the bed.


    Khan felt strangely well. He was thirsty but also full of energy. A quick use of the check-up technique revealed that his body waspletely rested and didn''t show the slightest trace of tiredness or instability.


    Jenna remained silent as Khan left the bed and reached the bathroom to fill a ss with water. He drank until his thirst disappeared, but the problems didn''t end there.


    Khan found Jenna''s meaningful stare waiting for him when he returned to the room. She was still under the sheets. It was clear that she was waiting for something.


    Khan rolled his eyes before undressing and jumping on the bed. Jenna giggled as Khan took her in a warm embrace, and a question came out of her mouth when he started caressing her.


    "[What happened with Monica]?" Jenna teased. "[I know you did something outside the room]."


    "[We kissed]," Khan said while lying deeper on the pillow. "[Well, I kissed her. Then, she pped and kissed me]."


    "[Exciting]," Jenna eximed while changing her position toy her waist on Khan''sp. "[How did it feel to kiss her? How did she taste]?"


    "[Don''t get so excited]," Khan scolded as Jenna basicallyid on him. "[It wasn''t anything special]."


    Jenna took Khan''s face between her hands before whispering. "[Tell me anyway]."


    Trying to deny Jenna''s whims was a battle that Khan had never managed to win, so he didn''t even bother to try. He patted her head to make ity on his chest beforeing up with a description.


    "[It was simple]," Khan voiced. "[I had too much booze to enjoy it. Though I liked the p]."


    "[The p]?" Jenna asked.


    "[The p]," Khan repeated. "[I didn''t think Monica could do something like that]."


    Jenna raised her head to show her confused expression. She stared deep into Khan''s eyes for a few seconds until a question left her mouth. "[Do humans hit each other while kissing]?"


    "[No]," Khanughed. "[I guess there are some things you can do, but I wasn''t talking about that. I just liked to see her reaction]."


    "[Would you hit me if we kissed]?" Jenna continued.


    "[Stop misunderstanding]," Khanughed again as he hugged Jenna to put her back on his chest.


    "[I think I would like a bite on my neck instead of a p]," Jennamented.


    "[Don''t get all lewd already]," Khanined. [You are partially to me for what happened]."


    "[How so]?" Jenna giggled as she ran her right hand over Khan''s waist.


    "[You are impossible]," Khan cursed before closing his eyes and wearing a smile as soon as he heard Jenna''s happyugh.


    The fun part ended there in Khan''s mind. He had joked a bit about what happened the previous night, but the time to face the situation seriously had arrived.


    Truth be told, Khan had excuses for what he had done. He was drunk, and his mood was on the ground due to the meeting with the Ots. Yet, he couldn''t deny the existence of real motivations behind his actions.


    Jenna had stuffed Khan with urges, which hade out during that moment of weakness. His drunk mind didn''t care about the potential threat that Monica posed. He had ignored all those issues, which left only a beautiful and funny woman behind.


    ''Do I really like her?'' Khan wondered. ''I mean, I know I do, but still. Why did I even do something like that?''


    Khan had a wonderful time during the dinner and the walk back home. He even had to admit that he and Monica had great chemistry. She didn''tck anything either, both in terms of maturity and beauty.


    However, a rtionship was out of the question, and the existence of a spy wasn''t Khan''s only worry. He didn''t want to get romantically involved so soon after Cora.


    "[I''ll only focus on you from now on]," Khan dered.


    Jenna was almost a perfectpromise since the two didn''t need to exin where they stood. Khan and Jenna could be intimate without hurting each other. Their rtionship caused problems when it came to urges, but that was the best path Khan could find.


    "[Denied]," Jenna announced. "[I won''t let you use me to hide]."


    "[Don''t you fear that I might do this with someone else]?" Khan teased as he hugged Jenna tightly.


    "[These tricks won''t work today]," Jenna stated as she snuggled closer to Khan''s chest.


    "[Can I at least have a say in this]?" Khan almost pleaded.


    "[You''d probably choose a path that makes you suffer if I leave it to you]," Jenna exined. "[That''s why I need to help you]."


    "[I''m not a masochist]," Khan scoffed.


    "[You said that the best part of the kiss with Monica was her p]," Jenna pointed out.


    "[That''s not what I said]," Khanined.


    "[Besides, Martha shares my opinion]," Jenna continued.


    That answer reminded Khan that Jenna and Martha had been in the building on their own for a while. The meeting with the Ots had alsosted quite some time, so it was safe to assume that the two women had a long talk.


    "[How did the talk with Martha go]?" Khan questioned.


    "[I think well]," Jenna replied. "[I like her. I now understand how you two got close in the first ce]."


    "[Did she tell you stories about the academy]?" Khan asked.


    "[Just a few]," Jenna revealed. "[Iughed quite a bit]."


    "[I was a desperate case back then]," Khan chuckled. "[She had to teach me the very basics behind the human society]."


    "[She speaks fondly of that time]," Jenna stated. "[You left such a good impression on her]."


    "[Those were good times]," Khan sighed. "[We just didn''t know that yet]."


    Jenna sensed the faint sadness in Khan''s voice and tilted her head to look at him. Khan felt her movements, and he even predicted her worry, but he kept his eyes closed as memories ran through his mind.


    The innocence of the first months in co''s training camp was impossible to retrieve. Khan had already experienced the tragedy of the Second Impact back then, but naivety still used to fill his thoughts.


    That hadpletely disappeared after Istrone and Nitis, so Khan couldn''t help but think about that time with joy and nostalgia. Everything used to be easier back then. He recalled how having a full stomach was enough to make him happy.


    "[You make it so hard for me]," Jenna whispered as she turned and spread her legs to sit on Khan''s torso. "[How do you expect me to contain myself when you are like this]?"


    Khan opened his eyes when Jenna''s hands fell on his chest. Her naked figure waspletely exposed to him, but he could differentiate between mere lust and affection now.


    Khan straightened his back and let Jenna slide on his abdomen as he reached for her waist. Jenna seemed to understand what he wanted, so she bent forward and lowered her head.


    Their foreheads touched, and the two remained in that position for a while. Words didn''t matter in that situation. Knowing that they both understood what was going through their respective minds allowed them to enjoy the moment.


    "[Can I crack a joke already]?" Jenna whispered.


    "[Is it about something lewd]?" Khan asked.


    "[What do you think]?" Jenna giggled.


    "[Then no]," Khan responded. "[Let me rest like this a bit longer]."


    Jenna''s smile widened as she wrapped her arms around Khan''s neck. She knew that he had a lot to think about, especially after the previous night, so she remained still to support him.


    Khan let Jenna''s warmth envelop him. Her forehead seemed able to radiate her affection and good intentions, and he used them to sort out his messy mind.


    It was already far past lunchtime. Khan had slept for a long time, which exined his rested state. Yet, his phone didn''t carry any message.


    The situation with the Ots was probably fine. Being present during the next meeting would definitely help, but Khan didn''t want anything to do with that. Those aliens'' taste for cruelty was sickening, so he would avoid the matter unless Luke explicitly asked for him.


    Khan wanted to know more about Martha, but he felt sure that Jenna would reveal a few thingster that day. Moreover, he had already epted the fact that Jenna wouldn''t tell him everything, which was obviously fine. She and Martha deserved to have their secrets.


    Monica was the only real problem, and Khan didn''t know how to deal with it. Avoiding her sounded bad and unfair, but Khan felt that seeing her would only worsen the situation.


    Khan had crossed a line. He had done something that he couldn''t take back, and he wasn''t even sure how much he regretted that choice. Khan honestly didn''t know how things would end up if he happened to be alone with Monica again.


    "[I''m a bit lost]," Khan admitted. "[I wonder if I have to me my element for putting me into these situations]."


    Jenna lifted her head, and Khan opened his eyes to inspect her expression. He found a bit of pity there, which left him confused and surprised.


    "[Khan, the mana affects us a lot]," Jenna exined. "[It alters our perception, feelings, and thoughts. It can add strange habits to our behavior and more, but I don''t think this is the case]."


    "[What makes you say this]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Khan]," Jenna called as she reached Khan''s cheeks, "[You are young, but you have already seen so much. You live with a curse that haunts you every time you fall asleep. Don''t me your element when you do something that you like]."


    Khan honestly found it hard to ept those words. He would have even disregarded them if they hade out of someone else''s mouth. However, he couldn''t contradict Jenna when it came to mana, and he even trusted her judgment a lot.


    "[Are you saying that I like to cause messy situations]?" Khan asked.


    "[I''m saying that it''s okay to want to rx a bit]," Jenna stated. "[You don''t need to me your element when you don''t act all perfect]."


    Khan didn''t know what to say, but his silence seemed to satisfy Jenna. She didn''t want answers, and she didn''t even care about discussing that topic. Making Khan aware of that idea was already enough.


    "[Right]," Khan eventually announced. "[We ran into some troubles with Ots after the dinner. I have hinted at our cooperation to gain some leverage and settle for a second meeting]."


    "[Caja has already put her trust into you]," Jenna eximed. "[I also know your true character. I''m sure you didn''t put my species in danger]."


    "[I still don''t feel too good about it]," Khan revealed. "[I don''t like the Ots either, but I couldn''t think of other ways]."


    "[Caja didn''t say anything specific]," Jenna responded, "[But you have already gained some authority among my species. Having our trust means that you can use it to benefit your situation]."


    "[That feels cold]," Khan uttered.


    "[Did you have bad intentions when you mentioned my species]?" Jenna asked.


    "[Not at all]," Khan stated. "[I mentioned you only because I knew that the Ots were already aware of your presence here]."


    "[Did you make things hard for us]?" Jenna continued.


    "[I wouldn''t be able to live with myself in that case]," Khan admitted.


    "[Why are you worrying then]?" Jenna giggled. "[I really found the oddest human in the universe]."


    "[What do you mean]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Power can be addicting]," Jenna exined. "[Humans are known for their greed, so seeing one of them who fears it so much is surprising]."


    "[I don''t fear power]," Khan frowned. "[I seek it]."


    "[I''m not talking about your mana]," Jenna pointed out as she left Khan''s head to run her fingers on his scar. "[You are selfless. I can also say that you are quite merciless toward yourself, but you get all worried when you have to rule over others]."


    Khan finally understood what Jenna meant. She wasn''t talking about his personal power. She was speaking about his current ability to speak for the Nele''s species.


    "[I-]," Khan said before hesitating for a second. "[I don''t want to rule over others. I don''t want that responsibility]."


    "[That''s not up to you to decide]," Jenna revealed a gentle smile. "[Different cultures and species have given birth to countless definitions, but that doesn''t change the truth. A true leader is chosen by others, and Caja decided to trust you for that role]."


    The word "leader" sounded strange in Khan''s mind. He usually preferred to act alone, but he found various reasons for that behavior, especially after reviewing it.


    Khan had often taken the mantle of the leader during tragedies, but he had never aimed to be one in normal times. He didn''t want any additional responsibility when he could barely take care of himself.


    Yet, it seemed that people kept adding value to his figure. Khan had experienced that on Nitis, Ecoruta, and even Reebfell due to his job as a professor. He refused the idea, but he had to admit that many were already willing to listen to his orders.


    "[Well, you can always run away]," Jenna chuckled while bringing her hands back to Khan''s face. "[I would evene with you]."


    "[I guess I still have a lot to learn about myself]," Khan sighed whileying back on the bed and letting Jenna fall on him.


    "[Isn''t that fine]?" Jenna asked. "[Your curse made you hasty, but you can''t rush some things. You know your dark and good sides. You should focus on expressing the entirety of yourself now]."


    "[I should train more]," Khan stated.


    "[I was talking about Monica]," Jenna pouted.


    "[I''m not in the right mind to deal with Monica]," Khan admitted. "[I''ll just make mistakes if I decide something now, and I don''t want to hurt anyone]."


    "[Are you sure you aren''t running away]?" Jenna asked.


    "[I don''t really know]," Khan replied, "[But that''s the problem, right]?"


    Jenna stared at Khan for a few seconds before heaving a sigh andying back on his chest. She wasn''t too happy about that oue, but she didn''t mind it too much either. After all, she could have Khan all for herself because of that.


    "[I''ll let you win this one]," Jenna eventually said, "[But be sure to cuddle me a lot]."


    "[I would have done that anyway]," Khan chuckled, and the topic ended.


    Khan and Jenna spent the rest of the day in peace, without worrying too much about the outside world. They exchanged a few details about the previous night, but they never lingered too much on those events.


    The waiters were quick, so Khan and Jenna nevercked food. No one bothered them either, so they could focus on casual talks and intimate moments.


    Still, it didn''t take long before Khan restored his tight training schedule. He had a lot on his mind, and hecked the power to solve many of his problems, so he immersed himself in what he did best.


    Jennained from time to time to get free cuddles, but Khan soon understood that she used her whims to enforce breaks on his training schedule. Moreover, she never failed to keep track of his progression and correct him during his exercises.


    The synthetic mana couldn''t make Khan experience the full potential of the Nele''s arts, but it allowed him to learn their fundamentals faster. Khan paired that training with his regr exercises, including those with the flight simtor, and time inevitably flowed quickly in his perspective.


    Theck of external influences, the room''s isted environment, and the building''s services allowed Khan and Jenna to ignore the outside world as long as they liked.


    Martha and the others were also busy with the investigation, especially now that they had gained ess to valuable connections to the underground world. Only Luke, Master Ivor, and Bruce had the chance to bother Khan, but none of them interrupted his time with Jenna.


    Days went by inplete peace. Khan''s phone never rang. No one disturbed his full immersion in his training, and his rtionship with Jenna managed to improve even further in that environment.


    Khan and Jenna struggled asionally, but they eventually reached a decent bnce. Their rtionship deepened, and they started to share personal secrets with stories about their lives.


    Jenna was an incredible consultant since she challenged Khan to explore the depths of his character. She actually did that on purpose to help him discover more about himself, which further deepened his connection with the mana.


    As for Khan, he helped Jenna with her urges. She also discovered new parts of herself during that period since Khan could give her an idea of what a rtionship was like.


    The peaceful time came to an end when Khan''s phone finally rang. Almost two weeks had passed since the meeting with the Ots, so Khan and Jenna didn''t feel surprised when they read the contents of Luke''s message.


    ''I have the authorization for the dock,'' Khan and Jenna read from the wall where Luke''s message was disyed.


    Khan exchanged a series of messages with Luke before starting to prepare. He and Jenna didn''t have much, and the fourth asteroid offered Milia 222''s standard services, so it didn''t take long before the two left the room to head down.


    Lunchtime was still a few hours away, so Khan and Jenna expected the main hall to be empty. Yet, Luke had prepared a surprise for them since the event was quite meaningful.


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan and Jenna found Luke, Bruce, Master Ivor, Francis, Monica, and Martha waiting for them in the main hall. The six were standing into two lines to create a passage, and they were even performing military salutes to add meaning to the departure. Also, all of them had brownish patches under their noses.


    That scene obviously wasn''t for Khan. Luke wanted to show utter respect toward Jenna and improve his rtionship with her species. Still, Jenna only showed an aloof face to underline the distance between her and that group.


    "At ease," Khan joked as he approached Luke. "I believe everything went well with the Ots."


    "Indeed," Luke revealed a smile as he broke his salute. "Darrell, Isaac, udia, and Amanda have already joined some illegal activities. Monica and Martha wille next."


    "That''s great," Khan eximed, but those words forced him to look toward Monica.


    Monica''s poker face was perfect as always. Her calm smile didn''t waver even when she met Khan''s eyes, but the two weeks of training showed their results at that point.


    The room was full of synthetic mana, but the people inside it affected that energy with their mere presence. The changes were slight, but Khan felt able to see them and understand what they meant in Monica''s case.


    ''She is livid,'' Khan concluded in his mind.


    "I''ll update you whenever I can," Khan promised while bringing his attention back to Luke.


    "Do it only if it''s safe," Luke warned, "And don''t worry about money. Pursue any lead with any method you can find."


    "I will," Khan replied before walking forward.


    Master Ivor and Francis were the next on the line, and Khan exchanged a simple nod with them. Jenna followed him closely, and she almost predicted that he would stop when he reached Martha and Monica.


    "Be careful out there," Martha voiced in a slightly cheerful tone.


    "I''m always careful," Khan joked.


    "I''m worried about your destination now," Martha responded.


    Everyone in the hall probably knew about Khan''s destination, but Martha still decided to be vague. Khan revealed a smile, and he bent forward to whisper words that only she could hear. "I''m only a call away froming back."


    "You don''t have to worry about me," Martha whispered while diverting her gaze to avoid looking at Khan''s intense eyes.


    "I can''t help it," Khan said. "So, try to be careful, and don''t hesitate to call me if you need help."


    Martha felt forced to raise her gaze. Her stubbornness wanted her to refuse or send Khan away through aint, but she gave in when she noticed Jenna in the corner of her vision.


    "Okay," Martha muttered, and Khan straightened his back to turn toward Monica.


    "Have a nice trip," Monica eximed through her elegant manners. She even performed a slight bow to appear more detached.


    Khan didn''t ignore the matter during his training. He didn''t even try to stop thinking about it. Exploring himself meant learning what he liked, which involved Monica.


    "Monica," Khan called in a serious tone. "Lend me your ear for a second."


    Monica''s eyes flickered, but she still obeyed. She removed the curls from her left side and let Khan bend toward her. She did her best to retain her aloofness, but a tremor ran through her when Khan''s warm breath hit her ear and neck. Yet, only Jenna noticed that reaction.


    "We''ll talk about that when Ie back," Khan whispered, and Monica retracted her head a bit to nce at his expression.


    Khan tried his best not to hide anything. He wanted to convey his real feelings through his expression, but that turned out to beplicated due to how unclear they were.


    Monica saw some hesitation, regret, and honesty on Khan''s face. However, she didn''t care about any of that. She simply liked that Khan had taken the time to address the matter. Confirming that the kiss had been more than a random action fueled by booze was more than enough for her.


    Khan didn''t linger too long in that gesture. He straightened his back and left Monica to exchange a polite nod with Bruce, who appeared on the verge of saying something before choosing to remain silent.


    The goodbyes ended there. Khan ignored everyone as he took Jenna''s hand and led her outside the building. The two picked up two backpacks that Luke had left for them in front of the exit before making their way toward the street.


    A luxurious car was waiting for Khan and Jenna. The two quickly went inside it and found a Nele driver who waited for the doors to close before setting off.


    One of the passenger''s seats had a metal casket resting on it, and its sight didn''t surprise Khan. He directly opened it to seize a rectangr dark-blue chip from its insides and ce it on his phone.


    The screen flickered as it absorbed the data stored in the chip until a symbol became clear. An image depicting seven spheres connected by a line that ran through their center appeared on his phone before vanishing as soon as Khan touched it.


    Khan browsed through his phone until he reached the magical item''s section, where he found a newbel added to the list. The words "222 passage" confirmed that he had obtained the authorization for the dock.


    Jenna and Khan spent the rest of the trip checking the contents of their backpacks. They had nned that matter with Luke, so they could find everything and more inside them. Clothes, ointments, and a few devices meant to help during the investigation ran through Khan''s vision before he closed the item.


    The car left Khan and Jenna near an elevator that brought them right before the hangar for the third asteroid. The two went through the lines quickly, and Khan even used his new knowledge to lower his spiked hair after crossing the short-distance teleport.


    Khan and Jenna attracted a lot of attention, but they ignored everything as they took another elevator to descend to the city. From there, they found a cab that led them right under the hangar for the fourth asteroid.


    Another elevator and another hangar went by before a familiar and unfamiliar scenery unfolded in Khan''s vision. The insides of the fourth asteroid were no different from the previous. Four vast streets stood above a shining city, but Khan had seen enough of Milia 222 to notice the differences.


    The fourth asteroid was equally split among the six species that inhabited Milia 222. Even the xenophobic Bise epted to live there due to the meaning behind that area.


    Except for the Nele, the various species couldn''t see Milia 222 as their real home. They had others, space stations, and more, but that didn''t prevent some citizens from gaining a special affection toward those asteroids.


    A significant part of Milia 222''s poption was sedentary and didn''t engage in inteary travels. That had given birth to something akin to national pride as time passed, which turned the fourth asteroid into a quasi-capital.


    Yearly celebrations and other events happened on the fourth asteroid due to its diverse poption. Its overall style resembled the first asteroid, but the stark lower number of tourists made it closer to Milia 222''s core culture.


    Khan had seen enough of Milia 222 to understand that he was finally in front of its real face. The first asteroid had too many tourists, the second was too human, and the third was too Nele. Yet, the fourth was a clear expression of how diverse that ce could be.


    The different shops, buildings, and people that ended in Khan''s vision were part of that expression, but he couldn''t linger too long in that inspection. Something felt off, but he struggled to find the source of that sensation.


    Khan took a deep breath before ruling out the air from the possible sources. He couldn''t even see anything special on the dome or in the distance, so the answer to his doubts became clear. The synthetic mana had to be to me for that strange sensation.


    Jenna noticed that Khan was looking for something, but that wasn''t the right moment to stay still. Everyone was looking at them, and the Ots even started to group up to exchange murmurs. The two had be the street''s main attraction, and she didn''t want to remain there for too long.


    "[Is everything okay]?" Jenna whispered.


    Khan eyed Jenna and frowned. She would typically be the first to sense something odd in the synthetic mana, and he knew that she wouldn''t hesitate to tell him what was happening in that case. However, theck of exnations meant that she was unaware of that feeling.


    "[Do you feel anything strange]?" Khan asked while moving his eyes through the pale-blue ceiling. "[It resembles a scent, but it''s fainter and not exactly bad. Just odd]."


    Jenna didn''t answer. She inspected Khan to check if he was okay, and she even pressed a hand on his chest to gain a better understanding of the flow of his mana. Of course, the gesture only intensified the murmurs resounding around them.


    "[You are in perfect condition]," Jennamented before ring at one of the groups of Ots near the edges of the purple halo created by her clip.


    "[So, am I imagining this]?" Khan asked.


    "[Maybe it''s a reaction to the sudden exposure to a crowded environment]," Jenna guessed. "[You did train in a room in the end. You might need time to get used to your new perception]."


    Both Khan and Jenna knew that the exnation didn''t quite fit. Khan would have felt something simr right after leaving Luke''s building otherwise. Still, he also grew annoyed by the current situation, so he temporarily dismissed the issue.


    The murmurs turned into gasps when Khan took Jenna''s hand and led her toward the nearest elevator. Jenna wore her aloof face during the walk, but she had to hide behind her hair when it became impossible for her to contain her smile.


    "[Everyone will think that we are a couple]," Jenna giggled once the two reached the privacy of the elevator. "[Well, they probably already thought that]."


    Jenna expected Khan to scold her or give her the chance to tease him again, but he appeared too distracted to hear her words. His eyes fell on the scenery outside the elevator''s transparent surfaces as soon as their hands separated. He seemed drawn by the sensation that only he could feel.

 Chapter 367 Nasty

    A sea of buildings with different styles filled Khan''s vision. He could easily recognize the tall and modern structures belonging to humankind and the various purple areas marking the presence of Nele.


    The same went for the buildings belonging to the Ots. They weren''t too tall, but their bright banners and shing signboards made them easy to spot even in a city crowded with structures. Someone would even describe them as vulgar.


    Khan wasn''t too familiar with the Fuveall''s architecture, but spotting structures that suited what he knew about that species wasn''t too hard.


    The Fuveall imed to have achieved a perfect bnce between technology and mana, and many shy structures carried those features. Those buildings shared part of the human style, but they added long and bright tubes over their surface. Azure mana flowed inside those channels and created a glowing spectacle that was hard to miss.


    Khan had to rely on his instincts and general knowledge to link other styles to the remaining species. The city still carried two more very different types of structures, and he actually had to use the absence of striking features to reach his conclusions.


    Some of the buildings were in, to say the least. They appeared rtively modern and shared a few details with the smooth and dark human architecture, but theycked the usualrge windows.


    Their metal also felt odd. Khan wasn''t an expert in that field, and the distance from the city could trick his senses. Still, something in the alloy''s slightly clearer color or seeming frailty made those in buildings appear out of context in such diverse scenery.


    Khan could only me the results of his training with Jenna for those sensations. He couldn''t pinpoint the exact reason behind his thoughts, but he believed that they came from the influence those buildings had on the synthetic mana in the area.


    The Tors were the only species suitable for that style. Those aliens were famous for their jealousy toward their arts, so it made sense for their architecture tock any detail that could reveal their customs, at least in that diverse environment.


    Thest style involvedrge pale-red buildings with yellowish tilesing out of their surface to mark the end of their floors. Those structures looked quite poorpared to their clearly modern peers, but Khan knew that appearances alone weren''t enough to evaluate their qualities.


    Khan didn''t see any shy signboards orrge banners on those red buildings. It almost seemed that they didn''t want to attract people who didn''t know what they meant. That allowed Khan to connect them to the Bise due to their xenophobic nature.


    The diverse and wonderful scenery couldn''t stop Khan from thinking about the odd sensation that had weed him as soon as he arrived on the fourth asteroid. He didn''t know what to do with it, and everything about it was so unclear that he couldn''t find anything to study.


    The elevator eventuallynded on Lower Level 1. Khan and Jenna exited the machine and found themselves on a vast sidewalk that provided good examples of what they could expect from the city. Jenna obviously didn''t need those reminders, but Khan greatly appreciated them, and some curiosity even made its way through his thoughts because of them.


    The streets in that area weren''t crowded. Jenna and Khan had descended on the city''s outskirts in the end. Yet, the two could still see a few groups hanging out in corners or in front of shops.


    Surprisingly enough, those groups didn''t stick to a single species. Khan didn''t see any Nele, but he noticed humans, Fuveall, and Ots walking or exchanging casual talks as they stood in lines or simply sat on partially hidden areas of the sidewalks.


    Everyone there was also quite young. Those groups weren''t doing anything special. They were only enjoying their time without letting the differences among their species get in the way of their friendship.


    Khan wanted to let that surprising sight overwhelm him with amazement and curiosity. Still, he felt unable to drop his guard due to the odd sensation that continued to assault his perception. His paranoia didn''t make things better either and forced him to fall into a battle-ready mindset.


    "[Did the sensation change after arriving here]?" Jenna asked.


    "[No]," Khan revealed. "[It''s basically identical, which only makes it stranger]."


    Jenna didn''t add anything. She inspected Khan before moving her attention to her surroundings only to bring her eyes back on Khan again. She wanted to find something that could help him, but her senses turned out to be useless in that situation.


    "Imminent chaos," Khan repeated the words that Jenna had said during their first encounter.


    Jenna didn''t want to add worries to Khan''s mind, but she couldn''t lie to him either. She performed a slight nod before reaffirming her position. "[I can''t know for sure. My prediction could be wrong too]."


    "[What about alternative causes]?" Khan wondered.


    "[There might be many of them]," Jenna eximed, "[But most lead back to your element. This asteroid sees many strange materials and items. There is a high chance that one or more of them caused a reaction in your mana]."


    Khan knew that Jenna''s hypothesis made sense, but that wasn''t enough to disperse his paranoia. Still, he didn''t have solutions either, so he could only hope to grow used to the new sensation before it started affecting his behavior.


    "[All of this might be a good thing]," Jenna eventually dered before showing her sweet smile when she saw Khan''s frown.


    "[If something really happens, at least I''ll be with you]," Jenna exined. "[We''ll also be among my speciester on. I can''t imagine a better situation where to face that problem]."


    The frown on Khan''s face instantly melted, and he stretched his arm to reach Jenna''s hand. The gesture didn''t go unnoticed, and most bystanders ended up focusing on them, but Khan ignored everyone as he led Jenna through the sidewalk.


    Luke had provided Khan and Jenna with precise instructions. The dock was right under the city and expanded until the bottom of the asteroid, but its entrances were rather secretive.


    Moreover, the six species had control over specific paths, and Khan had to use those handled by humans. Jenna could have asked the Nele to take care of that, but Khan had already decided to keep that official part on Luke and humankind.


    Finding a cab was never a problem on Milia 222, and the fourth asteroid wasn''t an exception. Jenna and Khan soon entered a car with a Nele driver and waited in silence for the vehicle to reach its destination.


    The city on Lower Level 1 had sections dedicated to the various species, but the shared areas made up most of it. Khan could get a good grasp of that diversity from the window, and his appreciation for the fourth asteroid only increased because of it.


    Khan even managed to get a good look at the Bise during the slow parts of the travel. Those aliens were humanoid, generally taller than two meters, but their faces made them unique from Khan''s perspective.


    The Bise had horse-like heads covered in short fur and with tiny horns growing right above their usually dark eyes. A pair of long, pointy earsy at the side of their faces, but their earing had no problems.


    The Global Army didn''t know much about the Bise, but Khan had still managed to learn important information regarding their overall power. Their physique was firm and burly, which made them stronger than humans before the evolution. Their nails and teeth were also natural weapons, which they often added to their martial arts or techniques.


    The Bise''s peculiar''s appearance obviously added fuel to Khan''s curiosity, but he knew that getting close to that species would be hard. The situation was even worse with the Tors, but he hoped that the dock would give him a chance.


    The cab dropped Jenna and Khan in front of a casino equally shared by humans and Ots. The building had a bright sign that hid the pale-blue light of the dome and filled the street with orange shades, and two long lines stretched from its guardedrge entrance.


    The addition of a purple shade to the scenery attracted the attention of the bored customers in the lines. Jenna had to wear her bright clip in that situation, and she even had to endure the many gazes that followed her and Khan as they turned the closest isted corner to get some privacy.


    Khan could only wear his most sympathetic expression while he watched Jenna covering herself with the spray that suppressed her pheromones. They were going into neutral territory, so that process was inevitable, but she still expressed how pissed she was with res.


    The two soon left the corner and went back to the casino. Luke couldn''te up with special authorizations, and standing out wasn''t ideal, so Khan and Jenna put themselves in the line and waited for their turn to arrive.


    The wait was uneventful, mostly due to Khan and Jenna''s wary behavior. Khan stood in line with a hand ced on his sheath while Jenna directly drew a sharp root from a hidden pocket of her dress.


    That behavior was normal for a Nele, and Khan was with Jenna, so no one in the lineined. The various bystanders simply kept themselves outside of the range of the purple light to avoid causing problems.


    A whole hour had to pass before Jenna and Khan could interact with one of the human soldiers guarding the entrance. Filling the simple form on the device that the man carried got them inside, and the shy spectacle of the casino finally ended up in their vision.


    Various noises, lights, and asional shouts created a messy but tidy environment. Slots machines filled with people glued to their screens upied the whole right side of the main hall, while different attractions stretched on the left.


    A red carpet filled every corner of Khan''s vision, and the yellow walls, paired with rtively dim illumination, created an environmentpletely different from the outside world. Jenna and Khan felt to havended on a new, but those sensations were normal on Milia 222.


    A waitress wearing revealing clothes tried to approach the two as soon as they entered, but Khan promptly waved his hand to send her away. His attention was on the two paths at the end of the hall. One led deeper into the first floor, while the other was a fancy staircase.


    Luke''s instructions had been pretty clear, so Khan and Jenna didn''t hesitate to move toward the staircase. Elevators appeared on their left before they could reach the second floor, and the two directly entered one of them.


    ''The scanner is above the buttons,'' Khan repeated in his mind as he picked up his phone.


    The doors closed, and the elevator began to move since someone else had called it. However, everything stopped when Khan showed the 222 passage to a spot right above the buttons.


    n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Mechanical noises came out of the elevator before a faint light shot out of the metal to fall on Khan''s phone. The scanner studied the image on the screen for a few seconds before the machine changed direction and started to dive at high speed.


    Jenna wielded her sharp root again. The instructions ended there, so nothing was certain anymore. Her species also upied the dock, but she had to go through the human channels first, which were far from safe for her.


    The elevator stopped after a while and opened in front of a long corridor filled with bright white light. Khan and Jenna couldn''t see anything else from their position, and their senses also failed to go past the bluish surfaces.


    The secrecy of the location felt normal, and the two couldn''t back down now. Khan and Jenna stepped forward and crossed the long corridor until they reached a turn that led to a metal door.


    "[Do you still feel it]?" Jenna asked while Khan took out his phone and prepared the 222 passage.


    "[I do]," Khan sighed as he showed the screen to the door. "[That makes it even stranger, right]?"


    "[It only means that the synthetic mana here carries the same nature that triggers that sensation]," Jenna tried to reassure, but it was clear that she didn''t believe that statement.


    The exit opened to reveal a small room that featured a counter and two doors at its sides. A middle-aged man stood behind the desk, and he didn''t hide his surprise when he saw Jenna.


    "I need to see your permit," The man muttered while his eyes remained glued on Jenna.


    Jenna showed nothing but coldness while Khan approached the counter and lifted his phone so that the man could see it. Thetter left his chair and inspected the screen through a transparent device with ck metal edges.


    The man murmured inaudible words while he rolled and inclined the device to inspect the screen from different angles. The process went on for entire minutes, and Khan had to suppress his curiosity to avoid asking questions.


    It sounded odd to put the same image through so many scanners, but Khan couldn''tin. The dock probably was one of the most secretive locations on Milia 222, so it made sense for forgeries to exist, especially with the Fuveall on those asteroids.


    The man took his time, but he eventually put down his device and gave one long look to Khan and Jenna before pressing a button under the counter.


    The door on the right opened and showed another long corridor. However, that path had a series of devices and even more scanners that wanted to go through Khan and Jenna''s items.


    The two followed the instructions until the corridor ended and finally opened into a vast area that resembled a hangar. Half-dismantled ships,rge boxes covered in stic materials, and various desks filled the ce. Still, Khan and Jenna''s attention inevitably fell on the many humans standing next to those items.


    The man behind the counter had only been a first-level warrior, and his appearance had also hinted at the fact that a long time had passed since hisst battle. Yet, the people in the hangar had a far different atmosphere around them.


    ''Are they all ex-soldiers?'' Khan wondered while performing a cautious nod.


    The hangar contained eleven men and women. Most of them appeared over forty, but none had traces of naivety or kindness. Their faces were cold, and their expressions carried pure distrust and wariness.


    ''Three second-level warriors, eight first-level,'' Khan counted in his mind as his wariness intensified since no one replied to his polite gesture.


    "Do I need to show my authorization to anyone?" Khan eventually asked in the hope of dispersing that tense atmosphere.


    "Oh!" One of the second-level warriors, a woman, eximed. "You are already inside the dock. You don''t need general authorizations anymore."


    The answer didn''t make Jenna and Khan rx. The woman had worn a smile, but her expression was firm, clearly forced. She wasn''t used to lying, and the two could see right through her, especially since they could sense the faint stench that her presence added to the synthetic mana around her.


    Khan was honestly unclear about the reason behind that tension. He could ept that the presence of a stranger could cause a simr situation, but its intensity was a bit off. There had to be more to it.


    The answer became evident after Khan witnessed casual and sporadic nces toward Jenna. The men and women in the hangar were doing their best to hide that gesture, but it happened so many times that Khan easily connected the dots.


    "We aren''t here to cause problems," Khan announced. "We just want to fit in."


    "Fit in?" Another second-level warrior, a man, repeated. "Where exactly?"


    ''Is this a trick question?'' Khan wondered.


    Truth be told, Khan was utterly in the dark at that point. Luke had granted him ess to the dock, but he was on his own now. He didn''t even know what kind of underground society the humans had established there.


    Mentioning the Cobsend family would do no good. Khan had to keep Luke outside of that mission. Still, he didn''t expect things to get so hard right away.


    "What do you want to let us pass?" Khan questioned while opting for a partially submissive approach. He couldn''t get cocky or risk someone''s anger while Jennacked any kind of support from her species.


    "Pass?" The man repeated before wearing a fake smile. "We aren''t guards or anything like that. You are free to go where you like."


    The man didn''t sound convincing at all, and Khan started to look around to evaluate the amount of wealth contained in the area. Life was cheap on Milia 222, but those goods weren''t. Fighting in that space could probably lead to a real mess.


    "Right!" The third second-level warrior, another man, suddenly eximed. "They have warned us about your arrival. Wee, wee. Why don''t you follow us to the next room?"


    That was a tant lie. Jenna and Khan knew that Luke didn''t contact anyone inside the dock. He simply couldn''t achieve something like that in such a little time and without involving the higher-ups of his family.


    Various hypothetical situations ran through Khan''s mind as he tried to figure out what those people wanted. He had seen simr behaviors in the Slums. There was a high chance that those men and women were simply hoping to rip off some newbie, but Khan couldn''t exclude nastier options.


    Theck of answers and options forced Khan to wear a fake smile and nod. He took Jenna''s hand while the third second-level warrior pointed his hand toward the end of the hangar, but the reactions of the people there didn''t match what he had seen everywhere else.


    The gesture surprised the men and women in the hangar, but Khan also saw glimpses of interest and excitement. The nastier options grew more probable in his mind as the group basically surrounded him and Jenna to escort them outside the area, but he was ready for the worst.


    The new area turned out to be simr to the first. It was another vast hangar without multiple items on its floor. A fewrge boxes stood in the corner, and the silhouette of a small vehicle stood out from under a ck nket ced on another side, but the ce was mostly empty.


    "I don''t want to know anything," The first second-level warrior, the woman, announced while spreading her arms and walking toward a door at the end of the hangar.


    "Come on, Goldie," The third second-level warrior called. "Thest time, you didn''t mind that she was a woman."


    "It''s different with a Nele," Goldie responded. "That shit is too hot."


    "Hot indeed," The second second-level warriorughed while inspecting Jenna from head to toe.


    "Well," The third second-level warrior uttered while approaching Khan''s free side and cing a hand on his right shoulder. "We can''t waste this gift. Good job, kiddo. What''s your-? No, wait. Did you at least prepare an alibi?"


    "Alibi?" Khan asked, pretending not to know where that conversation was going.


    "Oh, my," The third second-level warrior gasped as he squeezed Khan''s shoulder. "Don''t tell me that you came here unprepared."


    "Sir, I''m afraid I''m not following you," Khan responded in a firm tone.


    "Go ahead, Joel," The third second-level warrior mocked. "Make him able to follow."


    "Kiddo, how many know that you are here?" Joel, the second second-level warrior, questioned. "How many would know where to search for you?"


    Khan opened his mouth to answer, but the second-level warrior at his side raised his hand to interrupt him. He even used his head to point at Joel.


    "All of that doesn''t matter either," Joel continued. "You are here, alone. None of us will testify against each other. You just have to hope that we find something decent from your background check once we are done with your friend. Your very life will depend on it."


    "You wouldn''t care even if I were the descendant of a wealthy family?" Khan asked, trying to hint at the fact that he had a good background.


    "Wealthy kids usuallye down here with a full toon," The third second-level warrior scoffed. "You came without any leverage. Actually, you decided to bring a surprisingly good reward. Aren''t you too reckless?"


    "Leave him be, Jonathan," Joel smirked. "He is just a kid. How do you expect him to understand this stuff?"


    "You noticed that I''m with a Nele," Khan stated in a calm tone. "Aren''t you afraid that you might ruin some important political meeting? You risk dering war on two species."


    "Who is risking anything?" Jonathan asked while pulling Khan''s shoulder to bring him closer to his face. "I didn''t see anyoneing from the casino''s entrance today. Did you see anyone?"


    "Boring work as always, sir," Joel joked, and the rest of the crewughed.


    "See?" Jonathan asked. "You have never left that elevator."


    That tant lie wouldn''t work in most ces, but Milia 222 and its illegal dock on the fourth asteroid were an exception. No one kept tabs on those going and flying away there. Someone''s word had to be enough in the absence of proof.


    Luke could testify in Khan''s case, but the casino probably had no way to prove whether he and Jenna had actually gone to the dock or had lost themselves gambling.


    "Out of curiosity," Khan muttered in a tone that struggled to hide his real feelings. "What kind of protection do you have? Are you the leader of this crew?"


    Goldie burst into a loudugh, and many of her coworkers imitated her, but Jonathan took that mockery well. He only shook his shoulders while remaining silent.


    "We have a boss, obviously," One of the first-level warriors dered.


    "Shut up, you idiot," Jonathan snapped. "Do you want to take the kiddo''s ce?"


    "I''m sorry, Jonathan," The woman said before lowering her head.


    The attention quickly went back to Khan and Jenna. She was suppressing her pheromones, but the group still appeared able to eat her alive. The scene would fill anyone with immense difort, but she was used to it.


    "Where were we?" Jonathan questioned after things calmed down.


    "Which way is the actual dock?" Khan asked. "This ce can''t just be debris, broken ships, and vast halls."


    "It''s on that side," Jonathan dered while pointing at the wall at his right. "Why? Do you want us to drive you there? I knew there was something decent in you."


    Khan revealed his fake smile again, but his mana was behaving in ways that only Jenna could sense. She knew what was about to happen, and she couldn''t be happier.


    The many hypotheses Khan hade up with during the conversation had vanished when he understood what was happening. That group wanted to hurt Jenna, so his many options shrunk to a single one.


    "Now," Jonathan called while stepping in front of Khan to approach Jenna. "Why don''t we get to know each other?"


    Jenna remained still. Jonathan''s smirking face grew bigger in her vision, but that expression suddenly froze. Everything slowed down in her eyes. She saw the exact moment when Jonathan understood that something was off.


    Khan ced a hand on Jonathan''s waist and unleashed the Wave spell. A burst of purple-red mana came out of his palm and shattered the man''s clothes instantly before moving to his skin.


    Jonathan''s reactions were quite insane. He kicked the floor while releasing a significant amount of mana that made him shoot in the air and crash on the tall ceiling before falling near the wall.


    The others retreated at the sight of the destructive spell. They saw the wave of mana digging a long and deep hole on the floor, and they had no intention of ending in its range.


    "Who the fuc-?!" Jonathan tried to curse, but blood suddenly filled his mouth and prevented him from finishing his sentence.


    The event forced Jonathan to assess his condition. His eyes widened in terror when he nced at his left side. Arge patch of his skin had disappeared. He could even see some of his ribs among all the blood that flowed from there.


    The realization stopped the flow of adrenaline. Jonathan''s legs lost strength, and his knees hit the floor. A violent cough took control of his breathing, and his condition only worsened because of that.


    Khan couldn''t help but be surprised by Jonathan''s quick reaction. It was rare for a second-level warrior to survive the Wave spell from such a short range, but that had to be expected from people who had lived in a dangerous environment for a good part of their lives.


    Still, ws in the group''s behavior became impossible to miss during that critical moment. None of them appeared able to perform essential teamwork or make a joint decision. Half of them were stuck trying to understand what to do with Jonathan, while the others were preparing to fight Khan.


    Khan could feel his darkness trying to take over his mind. Those people had threatened Jenna. The sole idea of what could have happened to her filled him with cold bloodlust. He wanted to kill Jonathan and the others, but that would probably mark the end of his mission in the dock.


    Jenna didn''t share Khan''s restraints. She saw Joel pointing a hand toward Khan, so she threw her sharp root toward him. The man was too focused on Khan to notice the weapon in time to dodge it entirely, but he still managed to half-crouch on his right and end up with a long but shallow cut on his left forearm.


    Joel moved his attention to Jenna now, but his eyes widened in terror when he saw that his left arm wouldn''t move. Flowing mana through it only triggered a wave of pain that made ck bloode out of the injury.


    Goldie was keeping herself out of the fight, but the first-level warriors wanted to help. However, a tremor ran through the synthetic mana around them and disrupted their bnce. Some had to disperse their attacks to prevent them from backfiring, while others directly fell on the floor.


    Khan only needed one second to realize that he could press on. His target was clear, and he could pursue it now that Jenna had taken control of the situation.


    Jonathan managed to raise his head only to see a foot filling his vision. The attack flung him away from the floor and mmed his back on the wall.


    Khan reached Jonathan before his feet could go back on the floor tounch a precise kick on his crotch. Jonathan voiced a suppressed scream as he slid through the wall until he sat powerlessly in front of Khan.


    Purple-red light filled Jonathan''s vision. He felt weak, but he could see Khan''s right hand glowing and taking the shape of a short sword.


    Jonathan wanted to dodge and scream, but his body didn''t answer him. He could only watch as the glowing short sword grew closer to his forehead before his courage gave in and closed his eyes.


    A loud explosion resounded right next to Jonathan''s left ear. Pain immediately spread from that spot and made him lie to his right. His confused and teary eyes opened to check on what had happened, and he almost stopped trusting them when he saw the huge hole that had appeared on the wall.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to stab his hand into the wall again, and the firm metal shattered as if it was ss. The hole erged until a fully-grown man couldfortably pass through it.


    Loud noises came out of the hole, but Khan didn''t check them. He turned only to smile when Jenna was running toward him. In a matter of seconds, she was holding his hand and jumping past the wall with him.

 Chapter 368 Maban

    The scenery that unfolded in Khan''s vision was hard to describe with a single adjective, but "messy" was the most suitable word his brain could find.


    An immense and bright environment expanded from the hole and stretched way past the range of Khan''s vision. Countless different types of mana also hit his senses and made it hard for him to rely on them. He could only use his eyes to study everything while he was busy running.


    The area was mostly open. Khan saw buildings in the distance, but they were too far away to inspect them properly. The ceiling was t and illuminated everything with Milia 222''s iconic pale-blue light, but the smooth grey floor didn''t send back any reflection or glow.


    Khan could see multiple vehicles from his position. They were nothing more than small cars that hovered slightly above the floor while moving at high speed through that vast area.


    Thergest vehicles mostly consisted of small trucks with goods attached to their back. They flew farther away from the floor, but they remained dangerously close to it. There seemed to be some regtions at work there, but Khan couldn''t be sure.


    The vehicles appeared out of ce in that crowded environment. They flew without caring about the many people on their way, and it seemed that thetter didn''t mind them either.


    The crowd was up to different tasks. The area was only a small fraction of the city above, but it remained vast enough to contain hundreds of people. Multiple groups upied the floor, and most of them were pretty loud about their arguments.


    Khan was in a hurry, but he still noticed a few peculiar situations. He saw a group of Ots shouting at each other while standing next to threerge metal boxes. They were arguing about the price of those goods, and they sounded unable to reach an agreement.


    Another peculiar situation involved a proper fistfight. A human and a Fuveall were punching each other with a diverse crowd in a half-circle around them. An Ots moved among them while waving her phone and shouting odds. She was taking bets that the bystanders didn''t hesitate to ce.


    Another loud group involved a series of humans, Fuveall, and Otspletely wasted. They chanted and hugged each other while waving their cups left and right, uncaring that booze poured on the floor.


    The area was full of those messy events, and Khan couldn''t find a single soldier or guard. Complete anarchy seemed to reign, and a smile inevitably appeared on Khan''s face once he realized where he had ended. He felt the urge tough at those chaotic and funny sights.


    Of course, the situation didn''t allow Khan to lose himself in that mess. His senses had yet to get used to that new environment, but he didn''t lose track of the enemies behind him.


    Strangely enough, Joel had jumped through the hole and had started to chase after Khan and Jenna. Some of the first-level warriors in the previous room had even followed him, but Khan couldn''t exin that behavior.


    Khan and Jenna were in the open, and the area didn''tck witnesses. In theory, the n of kidnapping Khan and having fun with Jenna secretly had already failed, but Joel and the others didn''t give up on it just yet.


    The fact that the pursuing group had no chance to reach Khan and Jenna didn''t seem to be an issue either. Joel appeared almost desperate to catch up, even if his unresponsive left arm made him slower than the couple.


    The chaos in the area didn''t make Khan and Jenna pass unnoticed. Many nced in the two''s direction and even eyed therge hole in the building behind them. Yet, no one seemed to care. Everyone simply went on with their business.


    ''What is happening?'' Khan couldn''t help but wonder as he kept inspecting the area.


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Hypotheses flowed through Khan''s mind as details became clear in his vision. Soon, a few reasonable exnations survived among his jumbled thoughts, and all of them involved the absence of Nele in his immediate surroundings.


    The crowd was diverse, but Khan mostly saw humans, Fuveall, and Ots. He spotted a few tall silhouettes belonging to the Bise among that mess, but he failed to find his main target. Luckily for him, the Nele were too prideful to hide when dealing with other species.


    ''Do they hope to capture us before the Nele understand what''s happening?'' Khan wondered as he pointed with his head at the source of a purple glow partially hidden by the crowd and the ceiling''s light.


    The Nele were famous for their punishments toward those who tried to mistreat them. The desperation in Joel''s face felt understandable now that Khan realized what would happen once Jenna spoke to her peers.


    Nevertheless, Khan couldn''t help but see Joel''s efforts as pointless. The man was doomed. His desperation wouldn''t make him faster.


    "Ten thousand Credits if you catch these fugitives!" Joel suddenly shouted.


    The mess in the area dampened Joel''s voice, but his cry remained quite loud. Many heard it, and murmurs immediately started. It didn''t take long before Khan and Jenna found a series of greedy eyes pointed in their direction.


    "[We must hurry]," Jenna whispered as she tightened her grasp on Khan''s hand.


    Khan nced at Jenna, and his mind went nk. The time spent with her allowed him to see past her cold face. He could see fear in her beautiful eyes, and that was enough to force his hand.


    Khan abruptly halted his steps. Jenna didn''t know what he had in mind, but she trusted him enough to stop next to him. The two had already crossed multiple groups, which put them in the middle of the crowd, and the few interested in the bounty didn''t refrain from moving toward them.


    ''Even that Bise wants a piece,'' Khan sighed in his mind when he noticed a tall figure making its way among the various group to approach his position.


    "[Hop on me]," Khan ordered. "[Hide your face and protect your arms]."


    Most of the people close to Khan had no interest in the bounty. Still, many remained in their position to observe the scene. Some ced bets, while a few decided to retreat to avoid getting caught in the mess.


    A few words tried to reach Khan''s ears. A human, two Ots, and a Fuveall were already around him, and they tried to make him surrender peacefully, but his brain didn''t hear anything.


    One of the Ots was so wary about thepetition that he left hispanion and tried to step forward, but the appearance of a purple-red glow forced him to give up on that idea.


    Khan had joined his hands, and mana had started to leak out of his palms. The sight of the chaos element made many think twice about attacking him without a n, and what followed only intensified their worries.


    Khan separated his hands to create a long spear that brimmed with mana. The bright weapon shook violently as if it was about to explode, and many among the groups around Khan instantly retreated while voicing worried cries. Some even tried to reason with him, but he ignored those words.


    Jenna was the only one not scared of Khan in that situation. She disregarded the violent mana between his palms and jumped on his back before adjusting her position.


    The scene was quite incredible from the crowds'' perspective. Khan had summoned enough mana to blow up a rtivelyrge area. The groups near him knew that an eventual explosion would engulf them.


    However, Jenna snuggled on Khan''s back as if it was the safest ce in the entire world. She wrapped her arms around his neck, uncaring that the glowing spear was close to them.


    "[Your legs too]," Khan ordered when Jenna wrapped her legs around his waist.


    Jenna nodded by rubbing her cheek on the back of Khan''s head before hiding her face behind his neck. The synthetic mana in the area flowed toward her arms and legs, where it mixed with her skin and created a transparent membrane that resembled sweat.


    Khan''s senses still struggled to get aplete understanding of the area, but he could check his surroundings and the ces slightly past them. He couldn''t find any third-level warrior, and that filled him with confidence.


    Jenna was ready, and the various groups were retreating, so Khan didn''t hesitate. The glowing spear shattered and filled the crowd with intense panic. Screams resounded as people jumped to the floor in a desperate attempt to avoid the imminent explosion, but nothing simr happened.


    The spear dispersed into a harmless purple-red cloud, and Khan sprinted right through it. He had yet to test the full potential of his body, but he didn''t hold back a single whiff of mana in that situation.


    The edges of Khan''s vision became foggy. He couldn''t express his peak speed with all those people around him, so he jumped to use heads and shoulders as footholds.


    The high speed and the light steps made Khan''s passage almost impossible to track by the first-level warriors. Only the second-level warriors noticed something, but Khan had already disappeared by the time they turned or lifted their heads.


    The source of the purple glow grew closer as Khan advanced. Soon, he became able to recognize green figures among the sea of heads. He had finally found his target, and his eyes shone when he saw a vehicle floating on his path.


    Khan put more strength on his right leg as he stepped on a Fuveall''s shoulder. He performed a long leap beforending on the metal roof of the rectangr vehicle standing in his way.


    The vehicle''s windows went down, and two humans peeked out of them to check what hadnded above them. However, the whole car shook as Khan jumped and flew above the crowd beforending in front of a green figure.


    ''I might have pushed myself farther away if I had more confidence in the Nele''s arts,'' Khan thought as he straightened his position and nced at the vehicle behind him.


    The space crossed with thest jump was by no means short, but Khan felt that he could do better. Yet, he had spent too little training with the Nele''s arts to add them to his techniques. He had ideas, but he had never tested them out.


    Khan didn''t turn only to study his performance. The gesture allowed him to check Jenna''s condition. The membrane on her arms and legs had dried up during the sprint, but she was fine. Her right forearm had a small dark patch that resembled a burn, but the injury was superficial.


    On the contrary, Khan was far worse off, even if his condition remained quite healthy. The corners of his eyes, ears, nose, and the back of his hands itched. His skin had yet to get used to that speed, so burns had appeared on his extremities. Yet, they would all heal in a matter of hours.


    Of course, the sprint had made most pursuers lose track of Khan and Jenna. Only thending had brought the attention back to them, but those interested in the bounty were nowhere close.


    "[Are you okay]?" Khan asked since Jenna had yet to leave his neck.


    "[No, I''m deeply hurt]," Jennained as she tightened her embrace.


    "[You are impossible]," Khan sighed and began to turn toward the green figure, but the arrival of a powerful presence forced both him and Jenna to look past it.


    Khan hadnded in front of a Nele, but thetter was only a first-level warrior. The abrupt arrival had actually scared the alien, who had taken a step back to rejoin thepanions standing behind.


    Ten Nele equipped with pendants, bracelets, or clips that emitted purple light stood in front of Khan. There were two second-level warriors in that group, but Khan and Jenna couldn''t focus on them. Something stronger was about to show its face.


    A tall and handsome Nele walked past the two second-level warriors and crossed theirpanions to reach a spot right in front of Khan. His dark-green hair fluttered with each step he took, and his piercing purple eyes showed nothing but coldness as they remained fixed on Khan.


    The Nele didn''t look older than thirty. His delicate facial features fought against the anger that tried to make its way into his expression, but Khan couldn''t focus on any of that. The alien was a third-level warrior, and his intentions appeared far from friendly.


    "[Maban]!" Jenna shouted, but her voice failed to spread since the Nele spoke in an even louder tone.


    "[Filthy human]!" Maban eximed as his right arm performed a sharp movement. It moved behind his back to take something from his ck jumper before snapping toward Khan.


    Everything happened in an instant. Khan couldn''t follow that gesture properly, but his pupils shrunk when he noticed something flying toward him.


    The item moved too quickly. Khan didn''t have the time to identify it, but he could see where it was going tond. His abdomen was the target, so he activated the [Blood Shield] to prepare for the worst.


    Khan felt a hammer mming on his abdomen and trying to pierce the thickyer of muscles that protected his internal organs. However, the array of clotted blood held strong, so the item ended up flinging him away.


    The drawbacks of the [Blood Shield] hit Khan while he was still mid-air. He partially lost control of his body, and his chest grew heavy, but he forced himself to remain focused on his defensive technique.


    The item eventually lost its momentum. Khan fell with his butt on the floor and felt the urge to lie downpletely. Yet, he recalled Jenna at thest second, so he forced himself to keep his back straight.


    His chest didn''t like that effort. Khan felt unable to breathe, but he still saved Jenna from that fall. She wouldn''t have had any problem dealing with it, but Khan''s protective side was too powerful to suppress.


    Jenna didn''t hesitate to jump off Khan and step in front of him. She crouched toward him to check his condition, but he managed to muster a nod before a violent cough took control of his movements.


    Jenna reached for Khan''s abdomen and seized the sharp root stabbed in his clothes. She saw some blood on its tip, but the spot appeared insignificant. Yet, she still grabbed Khan''s pullover and ripped it apart.


    Khan was in no condition to stop Jenna. She quickly exposed his upper body and inspected his abdomen. She could find the injury opened by the root, but she couldn''t sense any infection or trace of foreign mana when she passed her fingers over it.


    Jenna sighed deeply after confirming that Khan was okay. His condition had yet to stabilize, but he didn''t suffer any severe wounds. Still, that calm moment didn''tst long. Anger soon took over her mind and made her snap back to her feet.


    "[What are you even doing]?!" Jenna shouted as she turned toward Maban.


    Maban didn''t know how to take that scene. He had acted ording to the Nele''s customs, but he had left some room for his doubts. He only wanted to make Khan unable to fight, but thetter hade out of the exchange with a mere scratch. Moreover, Jenna appeared beyond livid now.


    "[You can''t let a human touch you so casually]," Maban scolded, but his cold expression wavered a bit.


    "[He can do whatever he wants with me]," Jenna stated. "[Also, he was saving me from the real threats. Is that how we act toward those who help us]?"


    "[Real threats]?" Maban asked while his expression regained utmost coldness. Even Jenna had to put aside her anger at that sight since the matter involved her whole species.


    "[Some humans wanted to take me]," Jenna exined while pointing in the direction of the hole in the wall.


    Maban seemed to teleport next to Jenna. His footwork was interesting, but Khan was in no condition to study it. The Nele showed his palm, and Jenna scoffed while cing the root at its center.


    Maban didn''t use any technique as he walked past Jenna. He shot a curious nce at Khan before moving his attention to the crowd. Everyone in that area had taken an interest in the event, but the change in the atmosphere made them retreat and pretend to have nothing to do with the matter.


    The various groups retreated as the purple light released by Maban''s bracelet advanced toward them. The Nele inspected every face that appeared in his vision until he found a suitable target.


    Some of the pursuers had caught up with Khan during that time, and Maban only needed a nce to recognize those vile intentions. The Nele performed his sprint again, and Khan lost track of him.


    The Nele left behind by Maban stepped forward to encircle Khan and Jenna. They red at the people trying to look past them, but Jenna ignored all of that as she crouched toward Khan again.


    "[I''m okay]," Khan reassured while Jenna reached for his cheeks.


    The intimate interaction attracted the attention of the Nele around Jenna and Khan, but none of them spoke. They limited themselves to random peeks and suppressed gasps, but they tried their best to continue their silent guard.


    It didn''t take long before Khan could stand up. The drawbacks of the [Blood Shield] had intensified after reaching the third checkpoint, but Khan had also be a second-level warrior. Recovering after that short use wasn''t a problem, and he even believed that he could get used to it with some training.


    "[He shouldn''t have attacked you]," Jenna eximed as her sad eyes fell on the shallow hole in Khan''s abdomen.


    The azure scar was in in sight now, and many noticed it. Murmurs spread among the crowd, and even the Nele couldn''t help but peek at Khan more often.


    "[I got to see you angry at least]," Khan joked before wearing a guilty expression. "[I never thought things could be so bad down here. You might have-]."


    "[Don''t even say it]," Jenna scolded while taking Khan''s hands. "[It was my choice. You couldn''t stop me. You know it]."


    Khan sighed before wearing a faint smile. It had felt good to fight after so long. He took no joy in putting Jenna in danger, but having her at his side during a battle was nice. They made a good team.


    "[You will use this to ckmail meter, won''t you]?" Khan teased.


    "[Obviously]," Jenna proudly announced.


    "[You are im-]," Khan said, but the return of the strong presence interrupted his line and made him turn toward the crowd.


    Jenna and the other Nele also turned in that direction. The crowd there opened to create a path where Maban walked while dragging a pleading Joel from his leg. The human had a root stabbed on his right shoulder, which made him almost unable to use his upper body.


    "[Is he the one who tried to take you]?" Maban asked while throwing Joel forward.


    The Nele broke the encirclement before reforming it around Joel. The man remained on the floor and used his legs to turn belly-up. Tears fell from his eyes as he inspected the cold faces of the aliens.


    "[He is one of them]," Jenna stated.


    ''Will they interrogate him now?'' Khan wondered.


    "[I understand]," Maban dered before bending forward to grab Joel from his neck.


    Maban lifted Joel above his head before looking left and right. He didn''t need to say anything to convey his intentions. That was a warning to all the people watching the scene.


    Then, Maban reached the root inside Joel''s shoulder and took it out before stabbing it at the center of his chest. The human could only muster a weak "wait" before life abandoned his eyes.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Shoutout to IndraDeus for the Golden Gachapon. Thank you to all the others giving gifts too. I check all the notifications, and I''m grateful for them.

 Chapter 369 Favor

    Chapter 369 Favor


    Maban executed Joel publicly without bothering to listen to his version of the story. A mere line from Jenna had been enough to condemn him.


    Khan felt surprised in front of that driven show of dominance. Murdering someone supposedly was a big deal, especially when the matter involved different species. A proper race war could start on Milia 222 if big powers got in the way, but Maban didn''t care.


    Maban retrieved his root while keeping Joel lifted. Blood left the hole in his chest and flowed through his body before falling on the grey floor, where it created a small puddle.


    The crowd pretended not to see the scene. Everyone diverted their gaze, and some even moved on with their tasks. Yet, Maban kept the corpse lifted while his cold eyes scanned his surroundings.


    Eventually, Maban released the corpse, which fell into the puddle and sshed some blood on the Nele. Surprisingly enough, none of them tried to dodge it. They let their clothes get dirty while they continued to nce menacingly at the dispersing audience.


    "[You clean this up]!" Maban eximed to the crowd before turning toward Jenna and Khan. "[You two,e with me]."


    Maban nodded at the Nele, who broke the encirclement and went on with their tasks. Then, Maban walked past Khan and Jenna to move toward a building in the distance.


    Khan wanted to see how the crowd would react to the corpse left in the middle of the area, but Jenna pulled his hand, and the two began to follow Maban closely.


    A Nele and a human walking hand in hand remained an interesting sight that turned many eyes in Khan''s direction. The murmurs that spread the rumors about the recent event added fuel to that curiosity, but Maban appeared immune to the scene as he strode forward.


    Soon, the crowd''s diversity vanished to reveal a primarily purple environment. Nele began to fill Khan''s vision as the building grew close, and they didn''t hide their surprise when they saw how close to Jenna he seemed.


    Worries kept Khan''s mind busy, so he found it easy to ignore those familiar reactions. The gazes that fell on his exposed chest sounded far more troublesome, and the same went for the environment as a whole.


    Khan didn''t see enough of the dock to know for sure, but it seemed that the areacked the diverse style of the city above. The Nele building was identical to the one from where the couple had escaped, at least on the outside.


    Smooth grey metal grew seamlessly from the floor, creating a rtively short but vast building. Marks, symbols, and windows werepletely absent. The structure didn''t have anything unique except for the purple light that fell on its surface.


    A few groups of Nele busy with different tasks encircled the building. Boxes, one vehicle, and other items that Khan couldn''t see clearly stood next to the aliens who either checked them with scanners or moved them around.


    The area only had a couple of Ots in terms of other species. The two aliens were busy negotiating with a group of Nele, but their conversation stopped when they noticed Maban.


    The Nele didn''t worry Khan. Jenna held his hand in the open, announcing to everyone that he was an ally of their species. The few groups didn''t even have anyone at Maban''s level, but Khan still grew slightly tense.


    Caja had hinted at the fact that she couldn''tmunicate properly with the dock, which made sense considering everything Khan knew about the area. Themunity of Nele there was probably even stricter than usual to outsiders. Khan had to win their trust, and that task had just started.


    The exposed chest was Khan''s second worry. He knew he couldn''t remain unknown for long, especially with Jenna sticking close to him. Yet, the azure scar basically told his identity to everyone. He had already lost his partial anonymity.


    Of course, the problems might not start right away. The dock remained an isted areapared to the cities, but Khan felt the need to be extra careful now. If something happened, he would be identified immediately.


    Maban led Jenna and Khan alongside the building until they reached a door that blended almost perfectly with the smooth wall. Maban ced his thumb on the grey surface, and a small hole soon slid open to point at his face.


    Purple eyes moved on the other side of the hole. A Nele inspected Maban and unlocked the door after making sure that the situation was safe. The entrance slid open at that point, and a small room unfolded in Khan''s vision.


    The room could barely contain five people, and a simple chair already upied part of its space. A series of scanners and screens with unknown purposes also stood in a corner, lying on the floor. The ce resembled a closet, but the Nele inside it soon revealed its function.


    The Nele remained a bit surprised when she saw Jenna and Khan, but her doubts didn''t matter when Maban was there. She turned to pick one of the screens before cing it on the wall behind her and pressing a few symbols that appeared on it.


    A second door unlocked and opened, revealing what looked like a big warehouse. Its overall structure resembled the ce from where Jenna and Khan had just escaped, which reinforced Khan''s guess about the dock as a whole.


    The Nele stepped aside to let Maban and the others pass, and both metal doors closed behind them when they stepped into the warehouse. The ce was mostly empty. It only had a few covered items, but it didn''t have any Nele moving them.


    "You stay here," Maban said in a perfect human ent while ring at Khan.


    "[You can trust him]," Jenna replied almost pleadingly, but Maban remained unfazed.


    "[You know the procedure]," Maban stated. "[It''s better to get it over with it quickly. Other Nele might be in danger otherwise]."


    Khan didn''t know what Maban was talking about, but the matter sounded quite serious. Jenna even confirmed his guess by revealing a conflicted expression.


    "[Go ahead]," Khan reassured Jenna. "[I''ll wait for you here]."


    Those words didn''t make it better for Jenna, but they forced her to give in. She let go of Khan''s hand only to hold him into a tight hug and leave a sneaky kiss on his cheek.


    Khan couldn''t help but smile since he knew that Jenna was doing all of that to guarantee his safety. Yet, having Maban''s cold gaze on him didn''t make the gesture pleasant. Maban actually seemed to grow slightly pissed, but he hid his emotion quite well.


    Jenna broke the hug on her own after a mere second, and she shot a smile at Khan before turning to follow Maban to a door at the end of the warehouse. Khan only managed to see a part of a corridor before the passage closed, leaving him alone in the area.


    ''He didn''t leave any guard with me,'' Khan thought, hoping to find a positive aspect in that situation.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The peace of the warehouse finally gave Khan some time to think. He disregarded the thought of checking the items around him to avoid causing problems and chose a random empty spot to sit, take care of his shallow injuries, and sort out his mind.


    The scenes seen after the arrival on the dock made Khan both worried and excited. The area was more dangerous than he had expected, especially for someone without meaningful social connections. However, it was also messy and seemingly free, which suited Khan''s skillset.


    Khan was an expert at survival, and his social skills were exceptional. The dock''s messy environment also paved the way for more corruption, which he could exploit. He only needed a starting point, but he had to rely on the Nele for that.


    The shallow injuries healed quickly while Khan meditated. The hole on his abdomen took a bit longer, but it also disappeared. Khan even kept track of the process while reviewing the previous mess.


    ''I survived the attack of a third-level warrior,'' Khan thought as excitement overcame his worries and put a smile on his face.


    Maban didn''t show his true prowess, but the achievement remained incredible. The [Blood Shield] had be strong enough to touch the realm of third-level warriors, but its drawbacks forced Khan to consider his current weaknesses.


    The peaceful period on Earth didn''t weaken Khan. He had followed his training routine strictly. He had actually gotten stronger than expected due to the long time he could devote to his exercises.


    However, training areas and meditations couldn''t provide everything needed to survive in the real world. The peace had allowed Khan to umte power steadily and quickly, but it had failed in posing significant threats that could make him explore his limits.


    The [Blood Shield] was partially an exception since Khan had only recently pushed it to the third checkpoint. Yet, he had no excuses for the rtively poor resistance of his skin.


    ''Power is useless if I can''t use it,'' Khan scolded himself, but his smile remained broad, and his excitement didn''t diminish at all. It only increased since he had finally gone back to where he belonged.


    Being a professor had been fun, and Khan had even liked preparing the new generation of soldiers. Meeting new species and interacting with them was also an incredible experience, and Milia 222 was perfect for that.


    Yet, the dock had what Khan truly sought. Things would be dangerous and messy down there, but that was the nature of a battlefield, and he was perfect there. He could stop holding back and pretending for the sake of politics. Khan would have to be careful, but he could finally be himself.


    ''I must be really twisted to like all of this,'' Khan mocked himself without feeling any actual guilt. He didn''t know why he had be like that, but he wouldn''t suppress what he was.


    The warehouse''s walls stopped Khan''s senses and prevented him from understanding how long he would have to wait. Jenna didn''t return even after his injuries healed, but he kept himself busy by nning his next moves.


    New training schedules took form in Khan''s mind. He needed to add specific exercises to temper his body and get used to his new strength, but he knew he would probably fail to start them on the dock. The real dangers would have to rece them.


    As for the actual investigation, Khan had a few ideas. Cooperating with the Nele was mandatory, but they could only cover certain aspects of the mission.


    ''I need to find a way to interrogate the Fuveall,'' Khan concluded.


    The presence of a spy sounded almost necessary to aplish that feat. Still, Khan couldn''t exclude the possibility of external help, especially to go through the security measures in the factory.


    The Fuveall were famous in that field and even had factories near the crime scene. There was a high chance that they had some involvement with the theft. Even something minor, like providing the right tools to hack through the security measures, could lead to more clues.


    Khan also had personal reasons for wanting to meet the Fuveall, but he kept them in the back of his mind for now. He would decide how to handle his curiosity only after establishing meaningful rtionships with those aliens.


    The wait ended one hour after Khan''s injuries fully healed. The second door opened, and different auras hit his senses. Multiple first and second-level warriors entered the warehouse while wielding devices depicting vaguely familiar human faces.


    Khan jumped to his feet when the door opened, but the Nele ignored him and approached the building''s exit. Jenna also stepped into the warehouse and quickly split from her peers to reach Khan.


    Khan found his arms wrapped around Jenna''s waist in a few seconds. The two inspected that deployment in silence and waited for the Nele to leave the building before voicing their thoughts.


    "[Were those the faces of our pursuers]?" Khan asked.


    "[Those that I could remember clearly]," Jenna revealed. "[It''s a standard procedure for us. It''s too dangerous to let these things go]."


    "[Can they really catch them]?" Khan wondered while tightening his hug to console Jenna.


    "[It''s unlikely]," Jenna sighed, snuggling as close to Khan as possible to exploit his consoling mood to its fullest. "[If they are smart, they have already left the dock to prepare for their departure from Milia 222]."


    Getting on the Nele''s bad side was truly scary, but Khan felt no mercy for his assants. They had tried to hurt Jenna. They already deserved death in his mind.


    "[What happens now]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Maban is waiting for us in the other room]," Jenna stated.


    Khan tensed up. Making a third-level warrior wait for no reason was an awful political move, but Jenna didn''t withhold that information only to get some alone time with Khan. She was actually quite pissed.


    "[That''s what he deserves for attacking you]," Jenna pouted at the sight of Khan''s worry.


    "[Jenna, I should befriend the guy]," Khan wanted to sound serious, but he ended upughing a bit.


    "[Don''t worry]," Jenna reassured. "[I haven''t met him in years, but I remember him as a softie. He probably acts all cold only because he needs to]."


    Khan could only trust Jenna on that. He heaved a sigh, but he didn''t force her to hurry. She had to take the lead in that environment.


    Jenna didn''t abuse her power. She kept Khan for herself for a minute, but she eventually left the embrace and took his hand to lead him into the next area. The door had remained open, so the two could quickly cross the short corridor to reach a rtively big room with few tables and bright devices on them.


    Maban was waiting next to one of the room''s doors, and he opened it when Jenna and Khan appeared in his vision. The two followed him inside that new area only to find themselves in a small ce with only one metal table and a few chairs.


    "[He is an ally, not a prisoner]," Jennained, refusing to sit at the table even after Maban pointed at the chairs.


    "[He is a human]," Maban pointed out. "[I can''t bring him into areas that could reveal our secrets so easily]."


    "[It''s fine]," Khan whispered, seizing the initiative and taking a seat, basically forcing Jenna to imitate him.


    Maban sat on the other side of the table and fixed his gaze on Khan. His previous words didn''t carry the same coldness as before, and the same went for his current expression. Still, his face wasn''t friendly either.


    "[Jenna told me why you are here]," Maban announced. "[Finding a specific material among all the goods that reach the fourth asteroid is no easy task]."


    Khan couldn''t help but be surprised, and his question conveyed that feeling. "[Will you help me]?"


    "[I didn''t say that]," Maban corrected. "[I have no reason to help you, and I don''t care about your employers either. I won''t split my forces to handle your problem]."


    Maban had chosen his words carefully to avoid revealing important information, but Khan knew enough about the matter to understand a few things. The Nele probably didn''t have enough manpower to help him. They would have to abandon some crucial tasks to join the investigation, and a stranger couldn''t make them do that.


    "[However]," Maban continued, "[You did fight humans to help one of our own. Your affection toward Jenna is genuine. I understood as much]."


    Maban''s stare intensified. He seemed set on uncovering the depths of Khan''s mind with his mere eyes, but he eventually diverted his gaze to look at the table.


    "[I won''t ept you in ourmunity]," Maban stated, "[But I won''t reject you either. Normally, I''d never let a human use our channels, but I have to pay you back for my previous actions]."


    "[Channels]?" Khan repeated. "[Will you introduce me to some smugglers]?"


    "[No]," Maban exined. "[I''ll only bring you where the smugglers are]."


    "[I''m already here, right]?" Khan replied. "[This is the dock]."


    "[This is the storage area of the dock]," Maban revealed. "[You must go deeper to see the true face of the fourth asteroid]."


    The news shocked Khan, but it made sense when he thought about it. There had to be a ce where ships couldnd and unload the goods. Lower Level 2 probably was only a public market, but the actual illegal deeds happened under it.


    "[Come with me]," Maban eximed before leaving the table.


    Khan and Jenna stood up and followed Maban outside the room. Maban used one of the devices in the area to send a message, and a Nele carrying a simple ck helmet soon came out from one of the doors.


    "[You must wear this until we get to the elevator]," Maban announced while taking the helmet and handing it to Khan.


    Jenna wanted toin, but Khan shook his head before she could say anything. He seized the helmet and put it on his head obediently, but he remained surprised by the change the item brought.


    The helmet covered his ears and half of his face. Khan couldn''t see or hear anything, and the item also affected his senses. He felt cut off from the synthetic mana in the room, and nothing he did made him ovee that problem.


    Still, a familiar warmth soon spread from his hands. Jenna didn''t hesitate to take them and pull Khan to guide him through the area, and he trusted her enough not to stumble or slow down.


    The experience made Khan realize how deeply he relied on his sensitivity to mana during his everyday life. Having eyes and ears closed was annoying, but being unable to sense his surroundings made him feel lost. It was shocking to see that difference, and he hated that darkness.


    Luckily for Khan, the walk didn''tst long. Someone soon took off the helmet from his head, and the mana reappeared in his senses.


    Khan found himself before arge door that led toward a circr room. Jenna was on his right, and Maban stood behind him while wielding the terrifying helmet. Only a simple corridor stretched past Maban, preventing Khan from learning anything about that building.


    "[The Nele won''t see you as an ally]," Maban warned. "[Our trust is hard to obtain]."


    "[I expected as much]," Khan admitted. "[Thank you for granting me ess to the lower level]."


    Maban didn''t say anything. He couldn''t remainpletely cold when Khan was so polite. That behavior warmed Maban a bit, which eventually forced ament out of him.


    "[You are quite strong]," Maban praised. "[Maybe, if you prove yourself to be worthy, we will have another chat]."


    Khan nodded in gratitude. Maban didn''tpletely reject him. Khan still had a chance to get close to the Nele there.


    "[Right]," Maban continued. "[If Jenna gets hurt because of you, I won''t limit myself to a warning]."


    "[Maban]!" Jenna scolded.


    "[Go now]," Maban said, uncaring of Jenna''s anger. "[You aren''t wee in our buildings]."


    The message was only for Khan, but Jenna felt terrible anyway. She didn''t like seeing her species treating Khan so coldly, especially since she knew his pure intentions. Yet, she was powerless, which only worsened her mood.


    On the other hand, Khan had been fully prepared for the situation. Maban had even ovee his expectations with that simple gesture. The Nele had probably done that to keep Jenna safe a bit longer, but Khan appreciated it anyway.


    Khan wrapped an arm around Jenna to take care of her foul mood and led her inside the circr room. Maban revealed a bit more when he inspected the intimate interaction. Some curiosity appeared in his eyes, but Khan couldn''t see it.


    The room contained a surprise for Khan. A loose ck jumper stood on the floor, but the door behind him closed when he turned to thank Maban. The walls moved at that point, and the floor began to descend. It turned out that the ce was a big elevator.


    Khan donned the jumper quickly, and Jenna avoided joking around since the situation could be dangerous as soon as the elevator stopped. The two prepared for an eventual battle, but nothing simr happened once the doors opened.


    A slightly darker version of Milia 222''s iconic light illuminated a vast and messy environment. Arge street stretched from the elevator, and Khan became able to see many more of them when he stepped on it and looked around.


    The streets were simr to those found on the first floors of the asteroids. They were slightly smaller but retained some of their most iconic features. No pirs stretched from under or above them, but they remained in their position as if they could fly.


    Past the streets'' guardrails, Khan could see that some structures stretched below until they got pretty close to the bottom of the dome. He could inspect the lower side of that giant structure from there. Lower Level 3 seemed to be the very end of the fourth asteroid.


    The streets weren''t packed, but many diverse groups still upied them. Khan also saw various small stands and other buildings in the distance, but all of them appeared cheappared to the rest of Milia 222.


    Multiple elevators also appeared in Khan''s vision. The environment above was smallpared to the current area, so most of those structures had gathered in that quadrant. Truth be told, Khan didn''t expect to see so many of them. The scene made him reevaluate how much of a favor Maban actually did.


    The area didn''t have a proper ceiling. Khan could follow his elevator with his eyes to reach the bottom of Lower Level 2, but only darkness upied the spaces around it. The artificial light didn''t arrive there since it mostly came from under the streets.


    Being so close to the dome allowed Khan to reevaluate its beauty, but something far more interesting soon caught his attention. The lower part of that seemingly spherical structure had a big hole connected directly to outer space.


    A barrier made of mana covered the hole and prevented the artificial atmosphere from vanishing. Yet, its purpose became clear immediately since Khan saw a big spaceship cross it to enter the dome. He only needed to peek past the guardrail to follow the vehicle as it slowly flew until it reached one of thending areas stretching under the streets.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Birth of the Demonic Sword is over. Chaos'' Heir is my priority now.


    As a first step, I n to recover my stability. I want to publish one chapter a day, every day, at the same hour and reread the entire story to make sure that I didn''t lose touch with it.


    As a second step, I''ll see how much I can write every day. Chaos'' chapters are really long, so I don''t feel confident in moving to 2 chapters a day yet. I should also think about the privilege, but I won''t know what I''ll prioritize until I reach that point.

 Chapter 370 Vendor

    Chapter 370 Vendor


    The barrier didn''t prevent the passage of the spaceship. Khan didn''t recognize its model, but its shape reminded him of some of the cargo vehicles seen during his studies.


    The spaceship flew slowly andpletely stopped when it reached a specific area stretching under the streets on Khan''s right. The vehicle didn''t actuallynd anywhere. It only attached its side to a channel-like structure that managed to keep it lifted even after its engines shut down.


    Khan couldn''t see every detail due to the distance from thending area, but it wasn''t hard to recognize the Ots. A group of those aliens hurried into the channel and came out a minuteter while carrying multiple small boxes.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The Ots amassed the goods on a rectangr tform near thending area that shot up as soon as enough boxes gathered. The elevator reached a location right below the streets, where more Ots promptly got to work to load everything on a big cart.


    Khan followed the process until the Ots pushed the cart into a building that stretched below the streets. A big entrance opened to allow the crew inside before closing in the next seconds.


    The spaceship had more goods, so Khan could observe the process several times, but he eventually grew tired of it. His attention moved elsewhere, and he soon realized that he couldn''t get aplete understanding of the dock in those short minutes.


    Lower Level 3 seemed as big as the city on Lower Level 1. The array of streets made the environment quite open and easy to study, but Khan''s vision and senses had clear limits. He simply couldn''t inspect buildings and areas kilometers away from him.


    The environment didn''t stick to a single floor either. Multiple buildings and structures expanded under and above the streets. The dock had numerousyers that featured different activities, and Khan didn''t know how long it would take him to be knowledgeable about the environment.


    Khanpared the dock to Reebfell. He had lived there for a whole year, but he had barely got to see a few districts. Reebfell obviously was way bigger, but the situation in Khan''s mind didn''t improve even when he thought about the training camp. Thetter was far smaller, but Khan still didn''t know all of it.


    The dock wasn''t only bigger than the training camp. It also had a higher diversity of buildings even when Khan didn''t consider the various species. Those features depicted a troublesome picture that almost confirmed one of his initial guesses about the investigation as a whole.


    ''We''ll never get this done in weeks,'' Khan concluded. ''Even half a year might be too optimistic as an estimate.''


    Khan knew that his calctions only involved the current scenery. Things would worsen if the dock carried clues that led to multiple cities. The investigation could easilyst years in that case. By the time Khan found something, the reinforced fabric might have already left the asteroids.


    ''The investigation might have been impossible in the first ce,'' Khan admitted when he considered all the possible variables.


    It would have been fine if Milia 222 only had a few criminal organizations involved with thefts and simr activities. The mission would have been doable even with tens of them.


    However, it seemed that every asteroid had dozens of different organizations involved with countless illegal activities. The dock only highlighted that aspect since basically every crew in the streets had something to do with smuggling and other illicit tasks.


    The dock most likely didn''t have the same poption as the cities, but that still left Khan with thousands of potential targets that could help him with the investigation. Gaining enough trust to interrogate all of them was a project that a single person couldn''tplete.


    Khan realized that even his worst expectations might have failed to depict the actual difficulty of the task. Yet, he didn''t despair. The dock had always been a long shot. Even if he didn''t find anything, he would still experience something that no other could offer.


    ''The Bise deliver the merch,'' Khan thought about Luke''s words while trying to find buildings and ships connected to that species.


    Khan gave up on the inspection in a few seconds. That part of the dock had a few symbols and iconic marks that could lead to a specific species, but all the buildings and structures resembled each other.


    The ships were even worse. Khan could spot some vehicles under the streets from his position, but they didn''t carry any iconic detail, which made sense considering their tasks. Identifying some of them as non-human didn''t help either since smugglers could use that feature as a decoy.


    Jenna had also been busy inspecting the area, even if her thoughts didn''t involve the investigation. She showed pure curiosity about that part of her home that she had never visited, but many of its areas ended up worrying her. She would be in danger without the support of her species.


    Those worries slightly affected the synthetic mana around Jenna and made Khan turn toward her. Jenna showed a reassuring smile at that gesture, and she even rxed a bit due to the rtive safety of their surroundings.


    "[You are getting good at it]," Jenna eximed.


    "[Is that fear]?" Khan asked since he couldn''tpletely identify those changes due to Jenna''s good control over the synthetic mana.


    "[I was just studying the potential dangers]," Jenna exined. "[It''s a habit every Nele has to develop]."


    A sense of defeat invaded Khan. He couldn''t even begin to imagine how careful Jenna had to be every second of her life. The fight against Joel''s group had only been a single example of what could happen to her simply because of her species.


    "[Come here]," Khan whispered, and Jenna''s face lit up as she jumped on him.


    Khan wore a cold face while Jenna had fun on his neck. No one was trying to use his elevator, but the streets nearby had bystanders that didn''t miss the scene, and all of them met his warning gaze.


    "[How are you instead]?" Jenna muttered without leaving Khan''s neck.


    "[The sensation is still there]," Khan sighed.


    Jenna ced a hand on Khan''s chest, and her expression told him that everything was fine with his body. She had no idea why he felt like that, but their current location confirmed that the issue involved the entire fourth asteroid.


    "[Let''s find some Nele districts]," Khan warmly said while taking Jenna''s hand and officially starting their exploration of the dock.


    The entire quadrant had circr structures connected to Lower Level 2. Short paths and steps linked the various elevators to arger street that stretched left and right while branching out in multiple spots.


    Cheap-looking shops and stands stood near the main street''s guardrails. A few vendors even sat on the dark-grey floor and ced their goods on nkets or pillows. Khan mostly saw Ots, but he was surprised to find even a couple of Fuveall with their items in the open.


    Walking hand in hand with Jenna avoided Khan the trouble of dismissing eventual bold and annoying vendors. The Nele''s reputation and the surprising scene kept the travel rtively peaceful, but it also attracted a lot of attention.


    Of course, Khan and Jenna had long since grown used to those reactions, so they kept their attention on the streets. They didn''t have any maps, but the open environment allowed them to notice purple lights and walk in their direction.


    Most Milia 222''s species had upied streets and districts around the elevator area for obvious reasons, so the couple didn''t take long to reach a path with an electric purplemp hanging from its guardrail. Simr items stretched through that road, marking the arrival into a Nele district.


    Buildings of different sizes grew from the various roads illuminated by the purplemps. The district wasn''t big. It could contain at most a hundred people, but it appeared empty now.


    Khan and Jenna had to reach the center of the district to find a group of Nele sitting on the floor and busy exchanging metal bowls. The aliens were in the middle of arge street that branched in multiple directions, and they didn''t hesitate to stand up when they noticed the couple.


    The group mostly had first-level warriors, with only one of them as strong as Jenna and Khan. The Nele inspected the nearing couple while shooting multiple wary res at Khan, and Jenna did the same while searching for familiar faces.


    "[Nessa]!" Jenna announced when she recognized one of the Nele. "[It''s me, Jenna]."


    The Nele turned toward the woman targeted by Jenna''s gaze. Nessa was shorter than Jenna, and her hair carried darker shades of green. Her eyes were darker too, but she remained a perfect example of the Nele''s beauty.


    Nessa was one of the first-level warriors, so her authority there wasn''t too high. She whispered a few words to the second-level warrior while the rest of the group hinted at the couple to stop by cing their hands behind their backs.


    The second-level warrior eventually nodded and whispered something to another member of the group, who quickly ran into one of the streets. The leader then stepped forward, and Nessa walked at his side while theirpanions followed them closely.


    Khan couldn''t help but notice how the Nele felt stronger than the average first and second-level warriors. They looked even better than Joel and the others, especially the group leader.


    "[You came here unannounced]," The leader stated when he stopped a few meters from Khan and Jenna, "[And with a human]."


    Jenna was growing truly pissed at how her species treated Khan. She still had the spray on her too, which only worsened her overall mood. Yet, she kept her cool when interacting with the leader.


    "[Maban allowed us through]," Jenna exined.


    "[I''ve sent someone to contact Maban now]," The leader responded while moving his eyes on Khan. "[You can stay, but he must leave the area until Maban authorizes his presence]."


    "[I''ll leave with him then]," Jenna dered.


    "[We can''t have that]," The leader responded. "[It will put you in danger if you leave with him now]."


    The meaning of those words quickly became clear. Khan and Jenna sensed something that made them turn in time to see two spaceships flying toward them. The vehiclesnded on a spot behind the couple in a matter of seconds before opening their doors to reveal two groups full of second-level warriors.


    Khan didn''t need to know the Nele''s customs to understand the consequences of eventual rash actions. Many had seen the spaceships and were probably aware that they contained reinforcements. If Jenna was to leave the district with Khan, it might mean that shecked the support of her species or worse.


    ''We did enter a bit too easily,'' Khanmented in his mind before showing a reassuring smile toward Jenna.


    "[You don''t deserve this]," Jenna whispered in a tone that carried her deep sadness.


    "[I''m sure it won''t take long]," Khan uttered while caressing Jenna''s cheek.


    "[You know you can''t stop me]," Jennained.


    "[Coming with me is one thing]," Khan pointed out. "[Telling the dock that you aren''t with your species is way too dangerous. I''d rather leave than put you in that situation]."


    As always, Khan and Jenna''s intimacy made those in their surroundings feel awkward, especially when it came to the members of her species. The Nele on the scene didn''t even have Maban''s self-control, so curious faces and interested gazes inevitably fell on the couple.


    Even the leader couldn''t help but falter a bit. In theory, the sole fact that Jenna was letting Khan touch her vouched for him. The location was the real problem. Things would have been easier to handle without the constant tension of the dock.


    The leader nced in the direction where hispanion had run off once Jenna hugged Khan. He appeared conflicted about the matter and wanted Maban''s answer right away, butmunicating between floors on the dock was a troublesome matter.


    Khan noticed those reactions, and ideas flowed through his mind. He could probably exploit that internal conflict to his advantage with his political skills, but he disregarded those thoughts to keep his rtionship with the Nele honest.


    "[Before I leave]," Khan said while pushing Jenna away toply with the Nele''s order, "[Can you tell me where I can buy some food? I''d rather save my provisions]."


    The leader nced at Khan''s backpack and noticed that Jenna had something identical hanging from her back. The Nele even paid attention to Khan''s baggy jumper at that point. Those clothes clearly came from the Nele.


    "[Just stay here]," The leader eventually sighed. "[It would be easier to interrogate you in case Maban tells us to]."


    Khan didn''t expect that change of heart, but the leader didn''t wholly trust him either. The Nele gestured at the ships, and one of them closed its doors before setting off. The other remained there, and the team inside kept track of Khan''s every move.


    "[Get them something to eat]," The leader ordered before turning to walk where his team was eating before.


    Jenna brimmed with joy as she retook Khan''s hand and pulled him toward the guardrails. The two chose a spot close to the leader''s group, but they didn''t join them as they sat on the floor and waited for the food to arrive.


    One of the first-level warriors had hurried into a small building nearby, and it didn''t take long for him toe out of it with two bowls. The Nele approached the couple, and Jenna seized the meal from his hands before he could show any hesitation.


    Khan felt quite hungry. It was already past lunchtime, and the trip to that location had been far from rxing. He couldn''t wait to eat something, so he wolfed down the green soup while Jenna made herselffortable on his shoulder.


    Khan''sck of hesitation toward the food made the Nele more interested in his presence. Khan ate their food, wore their clothes, spoke theirnguage, and had the trust of a member of their species. He was the oddest human they had ever seen.


    The Nele who had run off before eventually returned and whispered something to the leaders'' ear. Thetter stood up and nodded at the remaining spaceship, which set off immediately while he approached Khan and Jenna.


    "[This area doesn''t have any special purpose in the dock]," The leader announced while staring down at the couple. "[It''s not a problem for you to have crossed these streets, but you can''t stay]."


    Khan put the bowl aside and stood up. Jenna imitated him. The two understood that the time to leave had arrived.


    "[Can you suggest a safe ce where to rest]?" Khan asked. "[We might stay here for a while]."


    "[I''m sure the humans can give you better answers]," The leader responded.


    "[I asked you because of her]," Khan exined while pointing a thumb at Jenna. "[I want the ce to be safe for her]."


    The selfless answer startled the leader, and Jenna''s affectionate gestures didn''t make it easier for him to reply. Khan''splete focus on the conversation even added some awkwardness to the scene.


    "[Money is not a problem]," Khan continued while taking out his phone. "[I just want to avoid putting her in unnecessary danger]."


    The leader nced at the phone, and his internal conflict finally ended. He turned to gesture at Nessa, and the Nele didn''t hesitate to leave her group to reach him.


    "[Take them to a trusted vendor]," The leader ordered. "[Bring some of the others with you]."


    Khan didn''t know what was happening, but the leader quickly exined himself. "[You should never purchase goods without protection, not here]."


    "[Protection]?" Khan asked.


    "[The vendor will exin this]," The leader responded. "[You must leave now]."


    Nessa summoned two first-level warriors and began to walk toward the street from where Khan and Jenna hade. The couple followed that group, but Khan asked onest question before leaving the leader.


    "[What''s your name]?" Khan asked.


    "[Piran]," The leader replied.


    "[I''m Khan]," Khan added, but Piran turned to reunite with his group without saying anything.


    Nessa and herpanions didn''t stop during Khan''s question, so the couple had to elerate a bit to catch up with them. The first-level warriors were wary about the human presence behind them, but they soon rxed a bit since Khan had eyes only for Jenna and his surroundings.


    Jenna was happy about the previous events, but she remained silent during the walk. Her cold face returned once the group left the streets illuminated by the purplemps and forced the first-level warriors to light up their pendants and bracelets.


    Khan did his best to memorize the streets in his view, but he didn''t know how much that would help since the open area allowed him to find better markers. His attention often went to the structures under him too, but he didn''t see anything shy. Ships arrived, and crews loaded or unloaded goods.


    The walk forced the group to cross different districts. Humans, Ots, Fuveall, and Bise upied sets of buildings above, below, and on the streets, and a few even had mixed species. Some ces were messy and loud, while others werepletely quiet. It was hard to put the dock under a singlebel, and Khan soon gave up on the task.


    ''It''s as if Reebfell and the Slums had a child,'' Khan eventually thought.


    Strangely enough, Lower Level 3cked the chaotic anarchy of Lower Level 2. Khan saw some groups arguing and going over familiar messes, but there seemed to be a certain rhythm to everything. Many worked seriously, even if their condition never came close to Reebfell''s lofty standards.


    After a bit less than thirty minutes, the group reached a short street with a single Fuveall vendor sitting on the floor. A series of items that Khan didn''t recognize stood on the nket stretched before the alien, and a big backpack hung from the guardrail behind him.


    The Nele approached the vendor without showing any hesitation, and Khan soon understood why they didn''t worry about their pheromones. The Fuveall had a holed, t, mechanical device instead of a nose, and simr openings filled the silver metal tes on his exposed forearms.


    "[My dear Nele]!" The Fuveall eximed in the Nele''snguage. "[How can Sen-nu help you today]?"


    "[The human needs the basic kit]," Nessa exined.


    "[A human touching a Nele]," The Fuveall stated while inspecting Jenna and Khan with his lively golden eyes. "[What a sight]. You must be the luckiest man on this rock."


    "[The Nele''snguage is fine]," Khan said since the Fuveall had changednguage mid-sentence. "[What''s the basic kit]?"


    "[Didn''t you tell him]?" The Fuveall asked while ncing at the three first-level warriors. "[The Nele can be so hard to deal with. They don''t dare to get too close even when I have these amazing imnts]."


    The Fuveall lifted his arms and wore a proud expression. A shortugh even left his mouth and made his long dark hair flutter.


    "[Sen-nu, don''t waste our time]," Nessa dered. "[You can brag about your imnts with the Ots]."


    "[The Ots listen to me only to lower my prices]," Sen-nu snorted. "[Sadly for them, Sen-nu is too smart to fall for their tricks]."


    "[Sen-nu]," Nessa repeated without showing any respect, uncaring that the vendor was a second-level warrior.


    "[Alright, alright]," Sen-nu uttered before turning toward Khan. "[The basic kit contains a fake ID generator, a device to hide your purchases, and another tool that masks your location during public calls]."


    "[Are they necessary]?" Khan asked.


    "[Of course]!" Sen-nuughed. "[Illegal stuff always exists within the loopholes of legality, but it must follow some of its rules, or at least pretend to. Purchases would leave tracks, so it''s better if they happen under a false name, especially here]."

 Chapter 371 Bounty

    Chapter 371 Bounty


    Khan had learnt a lot when it came to mainstream technology, but he still didn''t know enough to understand all the potential issues connected to the field. For example, he didn''t even consider that transactions with his phone could leave tracks.


    "[Why especially here]?" Khan asked to learn more about the matter.


    "[You really are a newbie, aren''t you]?" Sen-nuughed.


    "[Technology isn''t my strong point]," Khan admitted.


    "[That''s how you get along with the Nele]," Sen-nu joked. "[I could never understand you. Technology is the future. Metal will eventually rece the flesh]."


    A switch turned inside Khan''s mind. He wasn''t dealing with the Nele now, so he didn''t feel any remorse in deploying his political skills.


    "[I wouldn''t mind getting one of these]," Khan yed along as he crouched in front of Sen-nu and grabbed his left arm without giving any warning.


    Sen-nu didn''t expect that gesture, but he soon let Khan pull his arm to reveal the entirety of the bionic imnt. The silver metal tes were smooth, and Khan couldn''t find any opening when he pressed on their edges. They appeared fused with the blue-gray skin around the alien''s elbow.


    Khan''s interest went beyond the mere skin and metal. He paid attention to the mana flowing through those materials and inside the Fuveall''s body, and his findings were quite surprising.


    The blue-grey skin and the silver tes had the same type of mana flowing through them. The energy felt like a mixture of synthetic and natural mana, which Khan had never witnessed before.


    ''Do they alter it through training or technology?'' Khan wondered.


    Each species was different, but mana remained mana. Its various features didn''t affect its core qualities, but the Fuveall seemed able to tamper with them.


    ''They shouldn''t be born like this,'' Khan continued. He felt the urge to inspect newborn Fuveall to see how they changed after the imnts, but he knew that his wish would probably remain unfulfilled.


    "[It''s almost alive]," Khan couldn''t help butment when his attention went back to the silver tes.


    That metal imitated the behavior of organic flesh. It almost breathed alongside the rest of Sen-nu''s body. The rumors about the Fuveall sounded urate but also iplete. Their arts seemed to go beyond the simple fusion with technology.


    Sen-nu was proud of his imnts, but he was also a canny vendor. Khan''s true intentions became clear during the seconds spent inspecting the silver tes, which forced the Fuveall to retract his arm.


    "[Humans have weaker bodies]," Sen-nu stated without dropping his friendliness. "[You might reject our imnts]."


    "[How do you know]?" Khan asked as a knowing smile appeared on his face. "[Did you try in the past]?"


    Sen-nu''s smile froze for a second. His eyes remained fixed on Khan, and the atmosphere grew tense. Some things simply couldn''t be said, especially if they involved the secrets of a species, but the previous statement already answered part of the question.


    Sen-nu eventually exploded into augh, and Khan decided to giggle a bit too. The tension dispersed, and the Fuveall followed with a joke. "[You got a twisted mind up there]."


    "[Why especially here]?" Khan smiled, ignoring the joke to go back to the main topic.


    "[Knowledge is a currency here]," Sen-nu vaguely exined. "[Some vendors might keep track of their customers just to sell that informationter. Having no virtual proof of that event can create an alibi]."


    "[Can this happen outside of Milia 222]?" Khan asked.


    "[Depends on the regtions]," Sen-nu dered, "[But yeah. There is no perfect system, only different keys]."


    After learning that truth, Khan had begun to worry about all his purchases, but Sen-nu''s exnation reassured him. Earth and the Global Army as a whole probably had tight regtions that wouldn''t reveal openings without proof of illicit acts. Khan would most likely retain his privacy if he didn''t go against his superiors or important forces.


    "[Is there a way to avoid the problem altogether]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Newbie, knowledge is a currency]," Sen-nu repeated as his expression grew slightly serious. "[Sen-nu has shown enough free kindness already]."


    Khan nodded, and Sen-nu saw that as the signal to start the transaction. He reached for the backpack behind him but halted mid-way to voice a doubt. "[You have human gear, right]?"


    "[Yes]," Khan replied while taking out his phone.


    Sen-nu went back to the backpack and took out three small items. A rectangr cover, a silver card, and a small circr tool soon joined the other merch on the nket, but Khan remained lost.


    "[Give me your phone]," Sen-nu requested, and Khanplied.


    Sen-nu took the ck, rectangr cover and applied it to the phone. The item left bothrge sides of the device exposed while enveloping its edges.


    "[You can pay me now]," Sen-nuughed while handing back the phone and pulling out a square screen behind his back.


    Khan unlocked his device and checked its contents. Nothing seemed to have changed, but a few doubts appeared in his mind when he reached the magic items section.


    "[How do I know that you aren''t using this to spy on me]?" Khan asked.


    The flexibility of Khan''s mind surprised Sen-nu. Thetter thought that Khan was a lost cause in terms of technology, but that issue seemed to be nothing more than sheer ignorance. Khan had the chance to improve if he applied himself.


    "[You don''t]," Sen-nu replied. "[You can only trust me and those who brought you here]."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan nced at Nessa and her twopanions, but they didn''t show any emotion. The Nele were usually cold and aloof when dealing with other species, and the three first-level warriors perfectly stuck to the script.


    Sen-nu waited for Khan''s answer, and his friendly expression returned when he saw his customer stretching his phone toward him. Sen-nu tinkered with the screen until a number took form, and Khan paid it without hesitating.


    ''Five thousand Credits,'' Khan thought whilepleting the transaction. ''Less than I expected.''


    "[There are many vendors selling fake, malfunctioning, or tampered gear]," Sen-nu revealed when he stored his screen. "[Sen-nu isn''t one of them. I wish I could say this for every Fuveall, but we aren''t stranger to corruption, especially here]."


    Khan found those exnations odd, especially after the previous statements, so he voiced a probing joke. "[Are you going to charge me for this too]?"


    "[It''s in my interest to protect my customers]," Sen-nuughed. "[Anyway, use this when someone requests your ID, and ce this on the devices you use for public calls]."


    The silver card released a sizzling noise as soon as Khan touched it. Its color changed until a random name and personal information appeared on it.


    Only thirty seconds had to pass for the name and the personal information to change. The card generated another fake identity, which fulfilled Khan''s curiosity and made him move to the other item.


    The circr item was smaller than Khan''s thumb. It was dark and light, and one of its sides was sticky. He could attach it to his hand and clothes easily, but its functions were impossible to discern during that simple inspection.


    "[You want to protect your customers]," Khan repeated while storing everything but his phone in his pockets. "[What else do you sell]?"


    "[That''s what Sen-nu likes to hear]!" Sen-nu eximed. "[I have a wide variety of useful tools. Do you want to make a call without using public devices? Sen-nu can get you that. Do you need spying gear? Sen-nu has that. Make your request, and Sen-nu will give you a good price]."


    "[If there were a way around the dock''s restrictions, everyone would use it]," Khan pointed out.


    "[These devices don''t have one hundred percent uracy]," Sen-nu exined, "[But they can be instrumental in the right situation]."


    "[Sounds to me that they are unreliable]," Khan responded.


    "[Tough customers]," Sen-nuughed. "[They are Sen-nu''s favorites]."


    "[And here I thought every vendor preferred to pull off scams]," Khan joked.


    "[Tough customers are usually loyal when satisfied]," Sen-nu imed, "[And Sen-nu takes great pride in his products]."


    "[We both know that this ismon technology here]," Khan stated while pointing at the ck cover on his phone.


    "[But you will return to Sen-nu for umon technology]," Sen-nu dered. "[Go ahead. Name your desires, and I''ll fulfill them]."


    Khan didn''t know what to ask. Common sense would want him to check what Luke had left in his backpack again to make sure not to purchase items he already had. Yet, he eventually found something that interested him.


    "[The Global Army''swork]," Khan said while trying to sort out his thoughts, "[Can you hack it]?"


    "[Shh]!" Sen-nu promptly shouted while lowering his head and inspecting his surroundings. The street remained isted, but that didn''t quell his fear.


    "[You can''t talk about stuff like that in the open]," Sen-nu whispered. "[The streets have ears]."


    Khan didn''t expect that extreme reaction. Seeing fear appearing on Sen-nu''s face told Khan much about the Global Army''s influence and overall authority. His species was strong, even in a ce as distant as Milia 222.


    "[Is it possible]?" Khan pressed on.


    Sen-nu inspected his surroundings once again before fixing his gaze on Khan. He appeared conflicted, but a smile eventually broadened on his face.


    "[Many things are possible]," Sen-nu stated. "[It mostly depends on the task, the price you are willing to pay, and the consequences you''ll probably face]."


    The vague answer told Khan that Sen-nu wouldn''t go into details there, but it also hinted at something quite important. Hacking thework was possible, but the consequences were unavoidable.


    ''The Fuveall probably know how to breach the factory''s security,'' Khan concluded.


    The conclusion still carried problems, especially when it came to the consequences of such actions. The factory probably had top-notch security measures, so an eventual breach would leave tracks, but Khan couldn''t know for sure.


    "[That''s enough for one day]," Khan eventually stated while straightening his position. "[Can I find you here in the future]?"


    "[Sen-nu basically owns this street]," Sen-nu announced. "[I never leave for more than a few hours]."


    Khan nodded and instinctively stretched his right arm behind to hold Jenna''s hand. She didn''t refuse him, and she promptly added a line of her own. "[I also want the basic kit]."


    Sen-nu was pleased to hear those words, but Nessa had apletely different reaction. Her face snapped toward Jenna, and a vague question left her mouth. "[Jenna, really]?"


    "[Though I only need the fake ID]," Jenna continued, keeping her aloof face on Sen-nu and ignoring Nessa''s question.


    Sen-nu didn''t let that conflict get in the way of his sale. He quickly took another silver card from his backpack and handed it to Jenna through a stick.


    Khan paid for the item before Sen-nu could say anything, and thetter didn''tin. He only showed a broad smile when Khan said his goodbyes and left hand in hand with Jenna.


    The three first-level warriors didn''t waste time in pleasantries. They went after Jenna and Khan as soon as the transaction was over, and Sen-nu shouted onest "[See you soon]" before disregarding the matter altogether.


    Jenna and Khan weren''t trying to run away. The three Nele immediately caught up with them but waited until they reached a different empty street to address the recent events.


    "[Jenna]," Nessa called while the group was moving back to the Nele district, "[Can we have a word]?"


    Khan and Jenna stopped to face the three first-level warriors before moving toward the guardrails to avoid standing in the middle of the street. Nessa could speak at that point, but Khan''s presence made her hesitant.


    "[You shouldn''t show internal conflict before other species]," Jenna scolded since Nessa kept hesitating. "[You have gotten emotive too. I worry for you]."


    "[Worry for me]?!" Nessa snapped before eyeing Khan and suppressing her feelings again. "[You are walking hand in hand with a human, and you refuse to join our district. You know what can happen if the other species think we are getting careless]."


    "[The other species know far too well what our touch means to us]," Jenna stated.


    The statement brought up a topic that the Nele had chosen to ignore and respect ever since the couple''s arrival on the dock. Jenna was wearing the spray, but she was still allowing Khan to touch her. They could only find a possible exnation for that.


    "[I''m happy that you found your one]," Nessa sighed before stretching her hand toward Khan. "[I''m Nessa]."


    The other two first-level warriors appeared conflicted about that gesture, but they soon stretched their arms toward Khan and voiced their names.


    "[Branok]," The man said.


    "[Tekka]," The woman followed.


    Khan found three palms waiting for him to touch them. That probably was a Nele''s tradition connected to the "ones", which had to carry a lot of value since the first-level warriors were dropping their hesitation to perform it. Yet, that only put Khan in a difficult spot.


    "[Stop teasing them]," Khan almost pleaded while ncing at Jenna.


    "[They had no right to treat you so coldly]," Jennained.


    "[They had every right]," Khan replied. "[You know that]."


    Jenna and Khan exchanged a long gaze, but Jenna eventually sighed. Khan was right. Her feelings had simply gotten in the way.


    "[I can now understand how someone can betray their species for their one]," Jenna revealed. "[You left such a deep mark on me already]."


    "[You are teasing me now]," Khan uttered.


    "[But you did]," Jenna whispered whileying her head on Khan''s shoulder.


    Jenna had moved to a serious mood, but the three first-level warriorspletely misunderstood her. They kept thinking about the "[mark]" and the intimacy before their eyes, which pointed in a specific direction.


    Nessa, Branok, and Tekka didn''t retrieve their hands, but they tried to avoid looking at the couple. They were too embarrassed due to the thoughts flowing through their minds.


    "[I''m not her one]," Khan exined while immersing a hand in Jenna''s hair. "[We just happen to be good friends]."


    Khan had exined the situation to avoid misunderstandings, but the three first-level warriors showed more shock than he expected. Khan was still in the range of their pheromones, so they knew he had found his one. They also realized that he had probably lost her, which made everything worse.


    "[We are quitepatible]," Jenna added while bathing in Khan''s caresses. "[We just can''t¡­ you know. Still, I want to be with him]."


    Generally speaking, that revtion would push Nessa to insist even more on the separation. Yet, she understood the Nele''s urges, and the same went for herpanions. They could rte with Jenna and ept her position.


    "[Can you trust him this much]?" Nessa asked.


    Jenna revealed a sad smile. She took Nessa''s raised hand and slowly pulled it toward Khan''s chest. Hesitation and curiosity fought inside Nessa, but the faint sorrow on Khan''s face made her stop struggling against the gesture.


    Nessa didn''t have Jenna''s talent, power, or unique skill, but she remained a Nele. Her understanding of mana went beyond many alien arts, and touching Khan would allow her to gain a vague idea of his heart.


    Khan could oppose the inspection, but he trusted Jenna. She had had enough of keeping their intimacy hidden in a room. She wanted her species to acknowledge that rtionship and Khan.


    Nessa couldn''t get any detail, but she vaguely understood Khan''s intentions. Those feelings intensified whenever Jenna moved on his shoulder. Nessa could be almost sure that he would rather die than hurt her.


    The discovery startled Nessa again. She couldn''t understand how Khan could have such character. It honestly made no sense, but that only added value to Jenna''s statement.


    Nessa retracted her hand, and the two first-level warriors looked at her. They wanted to see what she would do, but she merely showed her palm again.


    Khan didn''t hesitate anymore. He ced his hand on Nessa''s palm and stated his name. The first-level warriors could only follow their friend''s example, and Khan soon exchanged traditional greetings with them too.


    Nothing changed. Khan was still an outsider, but that small step reassured Jenna. She knew that her species would soon acknowledge Khan. She believed that from the bottom of her heart.


    "[We know a safe ce where you can stay]," Nessa quickly changed the topic once the greetings ended. "[Though it''s not cheap]."


    "[That''s not a problem]," Khan promptly answered.


    "[Follow us then]," Nessa eximed. "[I''ll fill you in a bit too]."


    Nessa exined a few basic features of the dock during the walk toward the safe ce. As Khan had expected, the elevators toward Lower Level 2 weren''t too hard to use. Some were even shared among the species and only needed Credits to activate.


    If Khan wanted, he could go up and down the dock as long as he had money. The area applied no restrictions there, but some unwritten rules still existed.


    Since everything was illegal there, each species felt entitled to attack and kill any stranger approaching thending areas. Only authorized members of the appointed crews could stay in those specific zones.


    The dock always needed more workforce, so finding a job wasn''t a problem. ording to Nessa, clubs and simr buildings always had recruiters, but they often hired members of the same species.


    The Nele, the Bise, and the Tors were exceptions for obvious reasons. The Nele would need to be extra careful with strangers among them, while the Bise simply didn''t want members of other species.


    The Tors went even further. They had imed an entire area of the dock for themselves, and they never let anyone get near it. Many felt that such secrecy was unfair, but reasoning with that species was impossible.


    The dock also had different kinds of buildings. It was no different from the cities in that field. There were simply fewer of them due to most of its area being busy with workers and warehouses.


    Nessa revealed how the dock couldn''t have official maps since everything down there was illegal. Its inhabitant relied on their species for exnations that they had to memorize. Those teachings also changed due to the flexible nature of the area, so general meetings often happened to update everyone.


    The Nele didn''t officially ept Khan, so the couple couldn''t rely on them to get those indications. Still, Nessa did her best to mark a few checkpoints that could help them during their mission.


    The group eventually arrived in front of a building stretching above and under the streets. The structure didn''t have signs or banners, but its dark metal door showed a series of pale-blue symbols with numbers among them.


    "[That''s the number of avable rooms in everynguage]," Nessa exined as she took a silver card from her baggy trousers and pointed it at the door.


    Nessa and herpanions took a step back, and the couple imitated them. The door opened, and the first-level warriors waited for everyone inside the building to notice the purple light entering from outside before moving forward.


    The building was dirty on the outside. Its smooth grey metal was mostly intact, but stains, marks, and dents filled its surface, expressing total disregard for its condition. Still, that didn''t apply to its insides.


    A rtively small room unfolded in Khan''s vision. The hall had a soft ck carpet and interactive paintings that switched contents every ten seconds. A few seats and a table stood at the area''s sides, and a long desk upied its bottom.


    Everything looked clean and updated to modern standards. Even the people inside it behaved ording to Milia 222''s peculiar customs. The few humans, Fuveall, and Ots at the tables sat on the chairs next to the walls. That wasn''t a coincidence. They had moved at the sight of the purple light.


    The desk had a thin barrier made of mana covering its edges and the areas above it. The human behind it was an old man whozily smoked a cigarette and watched something on therge screen in his grasp.


    The cigarette''s smoke vanished as soon as it touched the barrier, but the event didn''t release any sound. When Khan inspected the area, he realized that he couldn''t hear anything happening on the other side of the desk. Even the video ying on the screen remained inaudible.


    Nessa approached the desk fearlessly, so the couple followed. The barrier clearly blocked the pheromones too, but that didn''t help with the awkwardness that followed. The contents of the video became impossible to miss at that distance. The old man was watching porn between a male Fuveall and a female human.


    ''They sure are serious about their imnts,'' Khan thought when he inspected the alterations that the Fuveall carried. Needless to say, they all had a sexual purpose.


    The old man noticed the customers, and a frown appeared on his face when he saw Khan looking at the porn. He quickly reached for something under the desk, and his rough voice soon resounded through the small hall.


    "Hey, I paid for this movie," The old man snorted. "You can''t watch it at my expense."


    "Sorry," Khan quickly replied while diverting his gaze. "It''s my first time seeing those things."


    "Ah!" The old man scoffed while shutting down his screen. "Gotta hand it to them. They know how to use their technology."


    The manughed, but his smile disappeared when he saw that Khan was holding Jenna''s hand. Disbelief appeared on his face, and even his cigarette fell from his hand.


    "I''ll give you this whole activity if you told me how you pulled that off," The old man shouted, uncaring of the shameful contents of his statement.


    "[How is this ce safe]?" Khan asked Nessa.


    "[He can''t afford to be kicked out of the dock]," Nessa coldly exined. "[He won''t dare to harm any species]."


    "[Of course. Of course]," The old man said in a poor Nele''s ent. "[So, how many rooms do you need]?"


    "[One]," Khan answered before adding something when Jenna softly squeezed his hand. "[Bed for two]."


    The old man froze for a second before clearing his throat and tinkering with keys hidden by the desk. The number "320" soon appeared on the barrier, and Khan didn''t hesitate to pay it.


    "[We don''t give refunds and want daily payment by the end of the day]," The old man exined. "[Don''t forget it, or we''ll keep your stuff until the money arrives]."


    The old man passed two ck cards to Khan at that point. The items had two sets of numbers, one marking the floor and the other pointing at the specific room.


    "[Be safe]," Nessa stressed before leaving the building with her twopanions.


    Khan and Jenna didn''t waste time in pleasantries or conversations. They entered an elevator at the side of the desk and used it to reach the marked floor.


    Finding the room wasn''t an issue, and its insides were as small as Khan expected. The ce only had a bed and a bathroom in different areas, but it would work. As for Jenna, she was happy as long as she could fit with Khan in the shower.


    It wasn''t toote, and the couple couldn''t waste time. Khan''s finances could keep him on the dock for half a year, but he would have toe out to get more money from Luke at that point. It was better to get to work right away.


    Of course, Jenna wanted to be spoiled now that they finally had a chance to rest. She basically dragged Khan under the shower to remove the spray that she would have to apply right after, but he didn''tin. Actually, he used that chance to make a point of the situation.


    "[I knew that the Bise would be hard to approach]," Khan revealed while scrubbing Jenna''s back with a sponge, "[But attacking any unauthorized member¡­ That''s way too difficult to solve]."


    "[There are always the buyers]," Jenna pointed out before releasing a soft moan. "[Right there]."


    "[We know they are probably human]," Khan sighed while indulging Jenna. "[They must also be quite important since they can deal with the Bise. We might be able to identify them, but working with them is another issue altogether]."


    "[My species will help at some point]," Jenna reassured. "[I know that. They won''t be able to resist you]."


    "[I only hope it doesn''t get more twisted than you]," Khan joked.


    "[I agree]," Jenna giggled. "[I didn''t expect to be like this]."


    "[It was heartwarming seeing you all pissed over me]," Khan admitted.


    Jenna retreated until her back touched Khan''s chest. She turned her head, and her warm breath blew on Khan''s face.


    "[You should take responsibility for what you make me feel]," Jenna joked through a sensual whisper.


    "[I''m sure it can''t get more twisted than you]," Khan stated, and Jenna exploded into augh.


    "[Would you prefer Monica to be here with you]?" Jenna eventually teased again.


    "[It wouldn''t be the same with her]," Khan responded.


    Jenna felt drawn by the seriousness that took control of Khan''s gaze. She turned and ced her fingers on his lips to trace their edges. A beautiful smile appeared on her face before sheid her ear on his chest.


    "[They can''t possibly refuse you]," Jenna whispered. "[I know that far too well]."


    Khan felt warm. Water fell on him from the ceiling and eased his many worries. Even in front of that impossible mission, his mind remained calm, and Jenna obviously yed a big part in that.


    "[You still have to do the front]," Jenna reminded without moving from Khan''s chest.


    "[You are impossible]," Khan chuckled.


    A shower, a change of clothes, and short nning of the next move preceded Jenna and Khan''s departure from the safe house. Nessa had given them enough to choose a target, and they didn''t hesitate to approach it since the day had yet to end.


    Jenna had to reapply her spray and even wore the usual hairclip that spread purple light. She approached a specific club while walking hand in hand with Khan, but the two didn''t enter the building. Instead, they took a series of streets that brought behind it.


    The area behind the club resembled a public square. Ots, Fuveall, and humans shouted from the two long guardrails at the edges of the rtively vast spot. Those people were recruiters, and their cries described jobs and requirements.


    As always, Jenna and Khan''s arrival attracted a lot of attention, but the recruiters soon imed most of it back. The couple remained silent to listen to everything they had to say, and the prospects didn''t look too good.


    Most recruiters wanted workers belonging to their species. Those that could ignore that issue needed people with specific qualifications. Khan was a warrior, and Jenna''s arts didn''t fit there, so the two struggled to find something.


    In the end, Khan and Jenna had to settle for an Ots who simply couldn''t refuse two second-level warriors. The job consisted of moving boxes from one cart to another. It was purely manual and with strict rules connected to privacy, but it remained easy. That''s why it only paid fifty Credits per shift.


    Khan didn''t really mind that issue, and Jenna only wanted to be with him, so the Ots soon brought them and the other workers found in the square toward a nearby street. The ce stood in the middle of twonding areas on a lower level, so the job only consisted in being the middlemen of the carts.


    ''Eight hours of this every day,'' Khan found himself thinking while he waited for a cart connected to the street to arrive at his spot. ''I can''t let itst for too long.''


    The big cart arrived, and the maic railroad on the street allowed it to stop precisely at the intended spot. Khan only had to bend over to lift one of the boxes piled on it and turn to reach the other side of the road.


    A cart was already waiting for Khan at the end of the path. The two items were synchronized and moved as soon as every box reached its destination.


    The process went on for the entire shift without breaks. The boxes were heavy, but Khan and Jenna didn''t have problems with that. The other workers didn''t bother Jenna either and only focused on their tasks, so everything seemed to go perfectly.


    However, Khan felt someone calling for him once the shift ended. He had already reached Jenna, but their coworkers had gathered on the other side of the street and were waving at him.


    Jenna let Khan go on his own. The workers were mostly Ots, with only one human among them. They didn''t seem to be bad people, but Khan changed his mind once he heard the reason for that summoning.


    "[Excuse me]?" Khan asked in the Ots''nguage.


    "[Mate, see this as a personal favor]," The Ots in charge of the group announced. "[You have a bounty on your head, and a group is already on its way. I''m simply offering a way out. The Nele would do anything for their loved ones, right? Make your friend work for us, and we''ll forget who you are]."

 Chapter 372 Hunters

    Chapter 372 Hunters


    ''How did I even get a bounty so soon?'' Khan cursed in his mind.


    Merely a day had passed since the arrival there, but Khan had already managed to get a bounty. The events in Lower Level 2 were obviously the reason for that, but Khan had no idea how the news spread so quickly.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Joel and the others mentioned a boss,'' Khan recalled before choosing to investigate a bit further.


    "[I''ve just gotten into the dock]," Khan said, feigning ignorance. "[I can''t possibly have a bounty]."


    "[Humans always underestimate us]," The Ots in charge chuckled.


    That vague statement answered Khan''s doubt, even if it left him surprised. The dock allowedmunications with the other floors only through public phones, which slowed down the spreading of information. However, the Ots seemed immune to the issue even when matters involved other species.


    ''I had to expect the smugglers to react like this,'' Khan sighed in his mind. After all, he had witnessed the Nele doing the exact same thing.


    "[Does she have a bounty too]?" Khan asked while nodding toward Jenna.


    "[No one would dare to put a bounty on a Nele]," The Ots snorted, "[But you can use her to solve your problems]."


    Khan mostly ignored thest part of the statement. His thoughts moved quickly as he tried to make a point of the situation and decide what to do.


    The fact that Jenna didn''t have a bounty was reassuring, but it also generated many questions. Khan didn''t know whether the Ots was going against his orders for personal gains or the whole matter was just a ploy to get to Jenna.


    Both options made sense. Khan could imagine Joel''s boss wanting to retaliate against the Nele. He could also see the Ots using an unrted matter to their advantage.


    There could even be options that Khan couldn''t consider due to hisck of knowledge. Everything sounded possible when he thought about it. Yet, none of that mattered. He only had to n his next step, which didn''t take long among the coldness that invaded him.


    "[I guess you revealed my position to this group]," Khan wondered. "[Do you all work together? Are our employers part of this too]?"


    The Ots reacted exactly as Khan expected. The alien in charge and two more Ots stepped forward and revealed proud expressions that exined what Khan wanted to know.


    "[I came up with this n]," The Ots in charge bragged.


    "[We did]," One of the Ots that had stepped forward corrected.


    "[Yes, we did]!" The third Ots added.


    "[So]," Khan announced as his gaze moved over the rest of the workers, "[Are you here just to watch the show]?"


    Khan focused mostly on the human among the workers to see if he could trigger some guilt or regret. However, the worker continued to wear his cold face.


    "[They are the alibi]," The Ots in charge shortly replied. "[Hurry up now. The bounty hunters should be almost here]."


    ''I bet they asked for something in return,'' Khanmented in his mind, but his thoughts already started to quiet down to highlight the mana in the area.


    The Ots in charge and one of those who had stepped forward were second-level warriors. The other was a first-level warrior, like the rest of the workers. The group was far from threatening in Khan''s eyes, but he couldn''t waste time chasing people around with Jenna still exposed.


    Every trace of hesitation disappeared from Khan''s mind as his mana flowed in a far too familiar pattern. He sprinted forward while his hand reached for the sheath on his left, and a line of blood suddenly sshed on the group.


    The workers needed a whole second to understand what had happened. They had been pretty confident before, but Khan''s sprint put doubts into their minds. Then, seeing half of their leader''s head sliding away and falling onto the floor gave pure panic.


    The other second-level warrior tried to say something. The contents of his line would have probably expressed his anger, but the group never had the chance to hear them. The Ots found a knife stabbed in his head before he could even realize that Khan had reached him.


    The panic reached the critical point when the knife cut through the Ots'' head even if Khan wasn''t moving it. The mana around the weapon was enough to pierce that flesh, and the alien soon fell to the floor.


    Everyone ran away at that point. Those first-level warriors knew they had no chance against Khan, but thetter only had eyes for thest member of the ploy.


    Khan sprinted before performing a leap once he got close enough to his target. His feetnded on the Ots'' head, and his mana descended to create a pressure that no first-level warrior could endure.


    Cracking and squashing noises reached Khan''s ears. He found his feet in a gory puddle created by the Ots'' smashed head, but he didn''t experience any disgust. He was simply too used to that scene.


    ''I''ve done it now,'' Khan almost mocked himself.


    Milia 222 was no stranger to murders and death in general, but Khan had tried to keep himself out of that. The events with Joel''s group had been an exception that didn''t offer him ways out, but the current situation was different.


    Nothing would have stopped Khan from grabbing Jenna and running away. No one would have caught him. Yet, that path wouldn''t have solved anything. The bounty wouldn''t have disappeared, and people would have still tried to use him to get to Jenna.


    Khan didn''t have backing inside the dock, so he had to resort to harsher methods to solve and prevent future problems. He would imitate Maban. He would make the organizations there too scared to approach him lightly.


    Of course, Khan wasn''t Maban. That approach could mark him as a target of some major forces in the dock, but he had felt the need to make a statement. That gamble could endanger his mission, but it was better than living in fear of his surroundings.


    Khan didn''t need to turn to know that Jenna had reached him, and a cold face unfolded in his vision when he did. Jenna had already drawn her root, and her eyes scanned the escaping workers.


    "[Apparently, there is a bounty on my head]," Khan revealed in a calm tone. "[A group is also on its way to get me]."


    "[Is this because of me]?" Jenna asked while fixing her eyes on Khan.


    "[Probably]," Khan admitted.


    Jenna''s cold expression grew sad. Her hand went on Khan''s knife to touch the drops of blood that had tainted its surface. That was already the second time her presence forced Khan to fight. The urge to give more of herself to him grew stronger, but she suppressed it for now.


    "[We don''t need to reach my species'' district]," Jenna announced while retracting her hand to focus on her surroundings. "[Piran won''t stay put when a Nele is in danger]."


    "[That''s the problem]," Khan pointed out. "[You don''t have a bounty, but fighting with me will force the Nele to react. I would involve your species if I let you stay]."


    "[That''s my choice to make]," Jenna stated.


    "[I made a promise to Caja]," Khan reminded Jenna.


    "[That doesn''t work with me]," Jenna smiled as her voice grew warmer. "[How do you expect me to leave you on your own]?"


    Khan reached for Jenna''s cheek, and she snuggled in his palm. Her calm felt almost surreal when enemies were on their way, but Khan had yet to ept her decision.


    "[I can''t be an ally of the Nele if I use them to avoid dangers]," Khan exined. "[I must consider their interests]."


    Jenna wanted to be stubborn. She knew that Khan couldn''t change her mind unless she wanted to. She was even set on making up for Khan''s selflessness, but the current situation was a bitplicated in that aspect.


    Khan was being selfless in his desire to avoid problems for the Nele, but that decision might work in his favor in the long run. The Nele might start to see his pure intentions and finally ept him among their social array.


    "[I want to fight at your side so badly]," Jennained while reaching for the hand on her cheek.


    "[Hey, I''ll be back in no time]," Khan reassured. "[Besides, I want to enjoy this alone]."


    Khan didn''t misuse his words, and Jenna didn''t miss that. Khan''s eyes revealed some excitement. He was looking forward to the imminent fight, and Jenna smiled at that sight.


    "[I''ll let you win this time]," Jenna eventually uttered.


    "[Do you have a way to contact your species]?" Khan wondered. "[I don''t know what will happen if you meet the group before reaching the district]."


    "[Don''t worry about me]," Jenna giggled before lifting her free hand and nearing it to her mouth.


    Synthetic mana gathered in Jenna''s palm until it gained pale shades. Jenna blew on that tiny, uneven sphere at that point, and the energy dispersed in the environment.


    Khan kept his attention on the technique for the entirety of its duration. He could sense the request that Jenna made to the synthetic mana. She wanted it to convey a simple call for help that she sent in the direction of the Nele''s district.


    "[I''ll think about suitable paybacks while you are away]," Jenna dered before hugging Khan.


    "[I didn''t expect anything less from you]," Khanughed. "[Go now, and be safe]."


    "[You too]," Jenna whispered before leaving Khan and turning in the district''s direction. The main streets were the fastest way there, but she opted for some smaller ones.


    Khan watched Jenna walk away and disappear in the distance before closing his eyes. The smell of the synthetic mana invaded his nose, but he went beyond that superficial sensation as his thoughts blended with his experience and perception.


    The Ots didn''t give any detail about the iing group, butmon sense pointed toward an encirclement. Eventual bounty hunters would use their knowledge of the dock to close Khan''s escape routes and ensure his capture.


    The symphony yed by the mana was far from peaceful. Multiple buildings and structures relied on that energy to function, creating different waves and colors. Still, none of them carried any notable power.


    The dock could have many peculiarities, but its shifts were quite organized. Most crews busy with lesser tasks worked at the same hours. It was also quitete, so Khan guessed that the streets were empty.


    The absence of interferences allowed Khan to stretch his sensitivity further and deeper than usual. Every unusual ripple in the symphony of mana carried greater meaning. The arrival of ships caused some of them, but the others were the result of iing sources of interference.


    ''They are indeed encircling me,'' Khan concluded as the ripples grew closer and started to happen more often.


    Khan opened his eyes, but his mind remained immersed in the mana. He couldn''t see anything in his surroundings, but he felt that someone wasing. He couldn''t count how many enemies wereing for him, but he knew they were all around him.


    The Nele''s district was on Khan''s left, so he sprinted to his right. The best way to avoid an encirclement was to prevent its formation. He only had to clear one side of that tactic to turn the assault into a chase.


    Unknown streets unfolded in Khan''s eyes, but he pressed forward, and some figures eventually appeared in the distance. Two Ots and a Fuveall were arguing next to the guardrail about the functioning of their screens. The two Ots seemed angry at the Fuveall, but Khan''s arrival made them drop the argument.


    Khan wasn''t easy to recognize during his sprints, but the distance and the trio''s level fixed that problem. The two Ots and the Fuveall were second-level warriors, and they didn''t hesitate to drop their devices when they saw him running in their direction.


    Time was short. Khan would reach the three aliens in a matter of seconds, but they didn''t panic. The Fuveall crouched to seize something from a backpack standing at his side, and a series of sparks ran through the metal tes on his arm before he cracked it forward.


    Dozens of small metal spheres flew toward Khan and released blue sparks once they touched the floor. Crackling noises took control of the street, and violent sensations invaded the symphony of mana, warning Khan about the potential danger of those items.


    Khan felt forced to interrupt his sprint before those blue sparks. The synthetic mana shattered as soon as it came near those items, and Khan knew that the same would happen to him if he touched them.


    The two Ots had wielded their weapons in the meantime. Khan saw two rifles pointed at him, and azure light promptly came out of them. The aliens had pulled the trigger as soon as he stopped, but he had faced enough bullets not to fear them.


    The bullets were a constant in a mess created by the sparks. Their trajectory was clear, and the same went for their power. They brought an order easy to track, and Khan followed its rhythm.


    Khan leaped forward as soon as the mana bullets left the rifles. He flew above the blue sparks before tapping softly below. His feet only needed to touch the projectiles for his jump to gain new strength.


    The Fuveall had taken a firing stance while the Ots fired their guns. He had grabbed the metal tes on his left elbow while pointing that arm at Khan. Mana flowed through the altered limb until sparks crackled on its fingertips. The alien was ready to fire a spell, but Khan didn''t follow the intended trajectory.


    The Fuveall had waited for Khan tond on the sparks, but the second jump messed up his ns. The alien tried to lift his arm to point it back at Khan, but thetter was already above his head by then.


    Khan spun in the air above the three aliens, and a purple-red spear shot out of him when hepleted a rotation. The Fuveall retracted his mana and crouched at the sight of the iing spell, and the Ots instinctively tried to hide under him.


    The chaos spear exploded, unleashing a pir of mana that partially hit Khan and pushed him forward. The impact would have usually destabilized his descent, but he had been ready. The symphony had told him what to do.


    The spinning motion allowed Khan to exploit the pushing force released by the spear. Hended on his feet, farther than anyone could expect, and mana flowed through his body as he prepared to run away.


    However, two traces of mana seeped through the purple-red pir and forced Khan to turn. The Fuveall and one of the Ots jumped out of the violent energy to leave the spell''s range. They had actually survived the chaos spear.


    The two''s condition was far from ideal. Imnts filled the Fuveall''s back, but most had crumbled, and blood had tainted them. As for the Ots, the skin in her upper body had disappeared, leaving her bones in the open.


    The Ots immediately copsed due to her injuries, but the Fuveall remained on his feet. nging noises came out of his body as the few working imnts on his back moved to stabilize his posture.


    Khan could sense the Fuveall''s struggle through the amount of mana he used in the process. The alien was basically using spells to remain on his feet, but that didn''t make himbat-ready.


    "How many are after me?" Khan asked in the humannguage for fear of failing to mispronounce some words.


    "I-If you spare my lif-," The Fuveall began to say, but a violent interference suddenly ran through the symphony of mana and forced Khan to jump ahead.


    A whooshing noise ran behind Khan as he hid behind the Fuveall. The alien felt too weak to do anything, so Khan could peek past him to check where the attack hade from.


    Khan had kept track of that sudden mass of mana moving at high speed through the air. He knew the general direction of the attack, but he didn''t see anything from his position. The streets in his view werepletely empty.


    Another interference ran through the symphony of mana. Khan felt surprised to notice that the attack aimed at the exact center of his forehead. He didn''t hear anything hinting at its arrival, but he knew it wasing.


    Khan pushed the Fuveall in front of him before sprinting back in his original direction. The attacknded on the alien''s back and came out of his chest, leaving a fist-sized hole. Blood and metal flowed out of the injury, and the Fuveall died in the next seconds.


    ''A sniper,'' Khan concluded as he continued to run.


    Khan was too fast for that long-range weapon. A couple of shots tried to reach him, but he only needed to slow down or elerate whenever the sniper attempted to predict his movements.


    The street opened into a square with many branches. Some led to slightly messier areas, while others dived deeper into the lower parts of the dock.


    Khan couldn''t risk enraging even more people. Thending areas were off-limits, especially with the mess that was after him, so he followed the path that kept him on the surface even if the symphony advised against that.


    After the square, Khan jumped into another main street, which turned out to have a tall figure at its end. A Bise taller than two meters was waiting for him. Voices came out of the screen at its feet, but the alien ignored them as it kept its dark eyes fixed on Khan.


    A broader picture formed in Khan''s mind. He didn''t know enough about the dock to understand howmon those events were, but he could guess that his enemies weren''t newbies.


    The screens hinted at some kind of thorough nning and experience. Moreover, there seemed to be multipleyers in that encirclement. Khan was moving too quickly for his enemies to catch up with him, which meant someone had always been stationed behind the first group.


    The synthetic mana reacted oddly to the Bise. The alien felt like a bright beacon when Khan looked at it through his sensitivity. An insane amount of energy was flowing through its body and was pushing the synthetic mana away, hinting at the arrival of a massive attack.


    Khan couldn''t back away. The interferences in the symphony behind him had grown more frequent. He could almost hear the steps connected to those tremors. Enemies were in his pursuit, so he had to advance.


    The Bise was a second-level warrior, but its presence was heavy. Khan felt that the manaing out of its body could block the entire street. The alien''s size and bulging muscles only worsened the scene. Khan could instantly understand that his opponent was strong.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s mind had no room for worries. Only the mana existed in his senses. He could feel the wall of energy standing in his path, and he knew that he could pierce it.


    The Bise shot forward, and Khan elerated. Purple-red light covered the second-grade knife, while a yellowishyer engulfed the alien and expanded to connect the two guardrails. The Bise even lowered its head to point its tiny horns forward and push the spell toward Khan.


    The wall drew close. Each step of the Bise pushed the synthetic mana away and made the guardrails release creaking noises. Its spell was a raw and dense mass of energy moved forward by sheer strength, and Khan faced it head-on.


    The Bise was too tall for Khan. He couldn''t aim for a clean kill, but that was thest of his problems. The alien''s spell was rudimentary, but it had umted enough mana to make its surface harder than steel.


    The Divine Reaper could pierce anything, especially with Khan''s mana anomaly. Yet, its techniques focused on small areas, and he had a whole wall to ovee.


    Khan followed the flow of mana and let his body rotate ording to its rhythm. He stabbed his knife at the Bise''s left side before sliding to the floor and continuing his cut.


    The knife pierced the yellowish membrane and opened a path where Khan could pass. However, the interference caused by his attack destabilized the mana past the firm surface, increasing its violence and surpassing Khan''s expectations.


    Khan had nned to jump on his feet as soon as he crossed the Bise, but the unexpected violence of the mana kept him on the floor and pushed him away. Actual winds fell on him, destabilizing his bnce and preventing him from using his momentum efficiently.


    A mere misstep could cause a disaster at that speed, and Khan experienced that. The slide transformed into an uncontroble rotation that brought him left and right along the street.


    Khan rolled on himself and crashed on the guardrails multiple times as he tried to retrieve his bnce. He protected his head, but his back, shoulders, and legs hit violently on the floor and metal structures that prevented him from falling below.


    The momentum eventually dispersed. Khan found himself at the end of the street with sore spots all over his body, but he was alive. Sadly, the same went for his opponent.


    Khan could sense the familiar pressure rebuilding on the other side of the street. The Bise was preparing another attack, and Khan wouldn''t face it again, at least not in those conditions.


    Still, a tremor ran through the symphony and warned Khan about another iing attack. The sniper had shot again, and he was in no position to escape its trajectory.


    Khan stretched his right arm behind him in time to make the bulletnd on his palm. Pain spread from his hand, and the impact pushed him away, but he didn''t suffer anysting injury. The [Blood Shield] had protected him.


    Khan jumped on his feet to run again. He didn''t know where he was going. He was only aware of what he was avoiding. Thending areas were off-limit, he had to dodge the sniper, and he had to escape the Bise chasing him with its mad charge.


    Luckily for Khan, the group didn''t seem to have a third encirclement. No more enemies appeared in front of him. Actually, unaware bystanders resumed filling the streets and became interested in the scene.


    That interest waned as soon as the bystanders noticed the Bise and its mad charge. The wall of mana that it created was simply too big, and screams of fear and pain soon reached Khan''s ears.


    Khan didn''t care about the dock''s inhabitants. He even managed to rx after a while since his pursuers had no chance to catch up with him. He could focus entirely on the mana, but that only made him aware of the changes waiting for him.


    Something was different in the areas before Khan. The environment was darker and filthier. No actual garbage filled the streets, but he felt that the very air had grown oily.


    The symphony of the mana also changed. Strange sounds that Khan had never heard fused with the simple waves of the synthetic mana to announce the arrival into a different atmosphere.


    The sniper began to fire like crazy. The person behind that weapon had always tried to make their shots count, but that behavior changed when Khan approached that new area.


    Darker streets and buildings unfolded in Khan''s vision. The style of the dock changedpletely, and multiple strange influences upied the areas, creating a unique symphony that carried deep tones.


    Khan had an idea of the situation, but the path didn''t give him alternatives. He had to press forward and enter that dark quadrant to find a way back, but his pace became erratic due to the many bullets flying in his direction.


    Eventually, the sniper managed to synchronize the shot with the movement of Khan''s legs. The bullet flew precisely toward where he wasnding, but he only needed to duck, slide, or jump to avoid it.


    However, a mass of energy suddenly flew out from a corner of a building and arrived at high speed before Khan. He didn''t hear any sound of steps, but he couldn''t deny what he was seeing. A two meters tall hooded figure hadnded in front of him.


    The sniper''s shotnded inside the hood, but its light didn''t illuminate its insides. Instead, a simr bullet with darker shades shot out of that opening and flew toward the attack''s source.


    Khan didn''t move even if the Bise was still charging. He couldn''t take his eyes off the hooded figure. He couldn''t see anything about that person, but that was the only proof he needed. He had met a Tors.

 Chapter 373 Oily

    Chapter 373 Oily


    Khan was right in front of the hooded figure. He only had to stretch his hand to touch the long cape covering the entire alien, but he remained still and relied on his sensitivity to mana to inspect that species.


    The Tors were beyond secretive. Khan couldn''t learn much about them even after reaching Milia 222, and his current situation didn''t help either. He could sense the amount of energy hidden behind the cape but nothing else. The synthetic mana in the environment appeared immune to that presence.


    ''The cape,'' Khan thought when he found the reason behind that strange feature.


    Khan''s sensitivity to mana had significantly improved after his encounter with the mysterious man in the Slums. The Nele''s arts had also added a newyer of understanding to that skill, so he could find details that many would easily overlook.


    Any trace of mana affected the rest of the energy in the environment. Nothing ever stood still in that invisible symphony, and the changes were greater when it came to strong presences.


    Powerful warriors would affect the mana in their surroundings without doing anything specific. Even standing still worked, but a shift in the emotions and simr events would produce stronger effects, especially when left unchecked.


    However, Khan couldn''t see anything simr around the Tors, and the cape exined that peculiar event. The synthetic mana flowed above that long mantle without ever interacting with the energy past it.


    The event didn''t only involve the fabric of the mantle. It spread through the hood''s opening, preventing the synthetic mana from interacting with the Tors. The clothing''s hidden features became more evident there, allowing Khan to sense the faint tremors that ran among the opening''s edges.


    The cape behaved like a mana barrier, forcing Khan to move his attention to the environment. The Tors were jealous of their arts, but they couldn''tpletely hide their influence in the ce where they lived. The district could reveal something, but the situation didn''t allow Khan''s mind to wander for too long.


    The Bise had almost reached Khan. Its mad charge and lowered head made it unable to see what was happening in front of it. A yellowish membrane powered by a vast amount of mana upied the whole street and moved toward Khan without bothering about the arrival of the Tors.


    The vast amount of mana and overall size of the spell made it slower than Khan. He could run past the Tors and let it deal with the Bise while he looked for a way outside of that district.


    Yet, Khan didn''t only learn about the Tors'' care toward their secrets. He had also seen them in action now. The second-level warrior had no reason to care about the sniper, but it hade out anyway to deal with the attack. Khan could guess what would happen to him if he ran even further.


    Adding enemies to the current mess would be idiotic. Khan found a single avable option and didn''t hesitate to pursue it.


    Khan turned to face the iing Bise. His previous sh with that giant spell gave him an idea of its overall power and told him that the Divine Reaper alone couldn''t deal with it.


    The chaos spear had enough power to fend off the Bise, but time was short. Khan could cast andunch his spell, but the explosion would happen before him. He would suffer injuries, and he would even affect the Tors.


    Khan shot forward. A purple-red short sword grew from his empty hand while clotted blood vessels covered everything from his fingers to his shoulder. His right arm transformed into a sturdy spear as he pointed it toward the Bise and elerated.


    The knowledge gathered during the previous exchange and the mana in the environment guided Khan''s actions. His right hand pierced the yellowish barrier and stabbed the Bise''s torso, but a pushing force immediately fell on him.


    Khan''s hand would have broken without the reinforcement of the [Blood Shield]. The damage would have also had the chance to spread through his whole arm and shoulder if the Bise managed to stop the purple-red short sword, but the Niqols'' technique prevented all of that.


    The chaos ws spell was so effective that the Bise''s charge pushed Khan''s hand deeper into its torso. Still, the alien ignored the severe wound and pressed forward, threatening to m on Khan with the entirety of its body.


    Khan had foreseen a simr event. The [Blood Shield] took care of the worst possible scenario, but his sensitivity to mana handled the best. He violently stomped his feet on the floor to disperse his momentum, and he added enough strength to match the Bise''s speed.


    The stomp made Khan fly backward alongside the Bise. The jump allowed him to keep his purple-red short de inside the alien while keeping it at a safe distance. The spell continued to express its effects, and a gory web soon opened on the Bise''s torso.


    The destruction of the chaos ws expanded while it remained inside the Bise. Its skin almost exploded as damage spread through its internal organs. The small wound soon transformed into a head-sized hole, turning significant chunks of the alien''s insides into a mess.


    Khan kept his cold eyes on the Bise. The alien showed its incredible resilience during the charge. Its spell remained active even when only small chunks of flesh kept its body in one piece, but everything soon started to shatter.


    The Bise slowed down, and the mana condensed behind the yellowish membrane started to disperse. The overall power of the spell diminished until the alienpletely stopped and fell on Khan.


    Normally, Khan could have easily side-stepped the falling alien, but the drawbacks of the [Blood Shield] hit him and froze him on the spot. The tall and muscr Bise crashed on him, pushing him to the floor, where he dealt with a cough and heavy chest.


    The drawbacks were harsher than thest time, but Khan could see the bright side. He had activated the Niqols'' technique twice before facing those issues. His body was already getting used to the power of the third checkpoint.


    Khan did his best to keep his attention on his surroundings. Dealing with the Bise didn''t solve all his problems. The Tors was still behind him, and the other bounty hunters were bound to reach that street sooner orter.


    As the drawbacks softened, Khan noticed that the Tors remained in its ce, and the sniper didn''t fire anymore. He didn''t know whether the alien''s counterattack had hit that hidden and distant enemy, but its silence was more than wee.


    Khan''s condition eventually stabilized enough to make him push away the Bise. Blood and gore fell on him as he lifted the corpse and flung it to the side. The baggy jumper became a dirty mess, but Khan cared only about his surroundings.


    The Tors tilted its head while keeping it under the hood. Its opening pointed at Khan and made him raise his knife to prepare for an eventual attack, but nothing came in his direction.


    "[Friend]?" Khan forced himself to say through a hissing ent that his cough promptly disturbed. He didn''t know how off his Tors''nguage was, but he hoped that the alien understood it.


    The Tors retracted its head before slowly nearing it toward Khan. Everything remained under the hood, and the cape stretched oddly as the alien crouched toward Khan without leaving its position.


    Khan and the Tors were almost two meters away, but thetter could get quite close to him without losing most of its height. When the hood reached the area above Khan, the Tors remained one and a half meters tall.


    "I came here by mistake," Khan tried with the humannguage. "I mean no harm or offense."


    The Tors stretched its head further down, but the hood''s darkness remained imprable for Khan''s eyes. The clothes'' opening was right above him, but he only saw ckness.


    The properties of the cape made Khan unable to sense the Tors'' intentions. He couldn''t even perceive whether the alien was moving its mana. He had the chance to attack, but that would turn the Tors into an enemy, so he stood still and prepared to move his knife or activate the [Blood Shield].


    Something finally became visible among that darkness. A forked dark-green item came out of the hood and timidly approached Khan. The tool never tried to touch his face, but it trembled up and down while remaining a few centimeters above him.


    Khan vaguely knew the Tors'' anatomy from his studies back on Earth. That dark-green thing was the alien''s tongue. That behavior was also one of the few pieces of information recorded in Luke''s materials. The Tors was studying Khan, and he hoped for friendly reasons.


    The arrival of foreign presences made Khan and the Tors move their attention to the street. The remaining bounty hunters became visible, but the same went for their hesitation.


    Five Ots, two humans, and two Fuveall appeared in the middle of the street. Except for one weak Ots, all of them were second-level warriors. Moreover, they had backpacks, rifles, and other items with them. They seemed ready to make Khan''s life difficult.


    Khan nced at the Tors still bent toward him before slowly sliding away to have enough space to stand up. The alien''s head snapped back on Khan, which made him stop his movement. Yet, theck of further actions from the Tors eventually gave him enough confidence to resume his careful gesture.


    Khan showed his most confident face when he stood up and faced his nine opponents, but his pain and difort told him a different truth. His back felt off. He knew that bruises covered his body, and his right arm was sluggish, to say the least.


    The enemies wouldn''t be as threatening if Khan could run away, but he couldn''t understand what the Tors wanted. Still, it seemed that the bounty hunters were in the same situation since they hesitated to dive deeper into the district.


    ''I''ve seen worse,'' Khan thought.


    Khan wasn''t joking or mocking himself. He only had to think about Nitis or Ecoruta to recall scenes where his condition and situation were worse. His experience allowed him to remainpletely calm and focused on the mana, but he still struggled to find suitable solutions.


    The silence that fell into the area retained its unchallenged domain for a while. Khan studied the bounty hunters while keeping track of the Tors, while thetter only seemed to care about the nine neers.


    As for the bounty hunters, their gazes moved left and right between Khan and the Tors. They appeared as conflicted as their enemies, and their grip on their items tightened and rxed without evermitting to either action.


    Khan didn''t mind waiting. His bruises couldn''t heal during that stalemate, but he would be happy as long as his right arm regained some mobility. Stretching it would help, but he didn''t dare to make harsh movements in that situation.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''They aren''t too scared,'' Khan noticed after a few minutes passed.


    The bounty hunters were hesitant, but ayer of confidence enveloped their stance. Khan guessed that their knowledge of the Tors partially reassured them, meaning that he couldn''t hope too much in it.


    The realization that the bounty hunters knew more than Khan about Milia 222 told him that he had to be the first to do something. After all, his enemies would do that if it would benefit them.


    The bounty hunters were in the chaos spear''s range. Casting and throwing it was the problem. Khan wouldn''t only need to summon arge amount of mana. He would also have to make a sharp gesture, and he didn''t know how his hooded friend would react to that.


    The Fuveall had also proven themselves quite resourceful. The two probably had something that could stop the chaos spear, at least partially, and Khan wasn''t fast enough to take them by surprise with that spell.


    Khan didn''t have anything else at his disposal. He would usually rely on his speed and attention to the symphony of mana to deal with the situation. Still, his enemies had already proven that they had items capable of stopping him.


    The tension intensified and almost reached a critical point, but a presence suddenly appeared on Khan''s right. He turned, and his gesture made the bounty hunters look in the same direction. A mass of energy had entered the range of Khan''s senses, and a hood soon became visible from under the guardrails.


    A second hooded figure climbed the guardrails tond on the street. Its movements were smooth, and nothing of its body appeared during the process. Still, its arrival revealed a corpse attached to something under the back of the cape. The Tors was dragging a headless Fuveall, and some hope filled Khan when he inspected her.


    The dead Fuveall had imnts on her legs and shoulders, but the rifle attached to her right forearm remained her most striking feature. The gun had an oddly long barrel and a big scope which made Khan connect the scene to the silent sniper.


    ''They killed her and seized her corpse,'' Khanmented even if he didn''t know the exact reason behind that behavior. Still, his thoughts barely lingered on that topic. His whole focus was on finding ways to exploit that development.


    Khan didn''t like to rely on hope, especially now that two Tors stood at its sides. The alien on his left was still bent toward him with its head pointed at the hunters, and the one on his right soon followed itspanion''s example.


    Some awkwardness enveloped Khan. He didn''t know the Tors'' stance, but he pretended to be their ally as he showed his most confident expression yet. The aliens didn''t seem to mind how the scene depicted him as a friend of their species, and he yed along as best as possible.


    The arrival of the second Tors destabilized the bounty hunters. The Ots were close to giving up on the mission, and that reaction only intensified when more hoods appeared behind the guardrails of the street.


    Khan wore a faint smirk that broadened whenever a new mass of energy entered his senses'' range. Inside his mind, his thoughts had turned into a chaotic mess of curses and reckless ns, but he kept everything outside his face.


    Soon four more hooded figuresnded on the street, two of them being very close to the bounty hunters. Thetter didn''t even try to negotiate with that species. They simply turned to leave and never looked back.


    Khan''s smirk froze when the six hoods eventually pointed at him. His knife was still there, and his right arm felt better, but his opponents were six mysterious second-level warriors. He didn''t know if his situation had improved or not.


    "Thank you for the help," Khan forced himself to say. He stuck with the humannguage to be safe, but the Tors didn''t react to his words.


    The Tors on Khan''s left lifted its head a bit before sticking out its forked tongue again. The Tors on his right did the same, and Khan soon found those two body parts trembling near his face.


    ''They don''t eat humans, do they?'' Khan wondered. ''I would remember that detail.''


    After a few seconds spent without knowing where to look, Khan heard a hiss that carried clear words in the humannguage. His surprised face even turned toward the sound''s source, and the Tors on his right didn''t hesitate to repeat. "Chaos wielder."


    "Chaos wielder," The Tors on Khan''s left echoed through the same hissing voice.


    A series of what sounded like gasps came out of the other Tors. The four abandoned their position on the street to reach Khan and stick out their tongues.


    Khan now had six forked tongues trembling around his face. In a different situation, he would have felt sure about the culinary tastes of those aliens, but their words revealed something deeper about their interest.


    "Come, chaos wielder," The Tors on Khan''s left eventually said before retracting its tongue and moving deeper into the district.


    The other Tors imitated theirpanion, crossing Khan and leaving him alone in his position. The path back to the known areas of the dock was finally open, especially for someone as fast as Khan, but he didn''t know if escaping was the right decision.


    "Chaos wielder," One of the Tors eximed when it noticed that Khan had yet to move. "Come."


    ''Well, there might be more Tors in hiding,'' Khan partially lied to himself as he decided to follow the Tors. He knew his curiosity was controlling his decisions, but finding a decent excuse helped him eliminate any hesitation.


    The Tors moved quickly and forced Khan to walk at a decent pace. The speed didn''t prevent him from studying the environment to the best of his ability, so he gave free rein to his curiosity since no one told him otherwise.


    Khan had initially seen the new symphony as filthy, but that was a misconception caused by his preference for the natural mana. The synthetic energy in the district was dark and oily, but that depended on the additional substances blended into it.


    The substances seemed to have the same texture as the synthetic mana, which exined how they could blend with that energy. Of course, that exnation only worked for Khan and his ignorance. He knew that there had to be other scientific rules at work.


    Khan didn''t even know what those new features did to the synthetic mana. It didn''t feel stronger or richer. It was simply different in ways that Khan couldn''tpletely identify or exin.


    The buildings and streets were slightly different too. Most of the dock often saw changes in ownership, which made any investment in structural changes pointless. However, that didn''t apply to the Tors district since they had basically colonized a chunk of Lower Level 3.


    The streets and the various structures carried properties simr to the capes. The synthetic mana flowed over those surfaces without suffering any alteration. Actually, the opposite happened since that energy seemed to leave something behind.


    Khan found himself half-crouching to swipe the floor with his fingers without interrupting the walk. The gesture didn''t leave anything on his skin, but he still felt a bit dirty.


    That sensation vanished quickly. Khan''s mana removed any stain of that untraceable spot, but the event still confirmed his guess. That altered synthetic mana was changing the environment, but he didn''t know how or why. Moreover, everything hinted at the presence of a specific source of those alterations.


    ''They are probably doing this on purpose,'' Khan let his mind wander. ''Do they need a specific atmosphere? Shouldn''t mana solve that?''


    Khan could only specte as his eyes and senses absorbed as much as possible from the environment. Main roads unfolded before him, but the Tors led him toward smaller ones. The alien carrying the headless Fuveall eventually split from the group, but the march didn''t change. Everything ended only after reaching a rtivelyrge building.


    Three of the Tors stopped before the building, one went inside, and one directly left to disappear somewhere on the dock. The open entrance didn''t reveal anything since the aliens stood in front of it, but Khan noticed how the synthetic mana grew slightly oilier due to the event.


    ''Is it waste from an experiment?'' Khan wondered as he reconsidered his previous hypothesis. ''Is it the actual product they are trying to create?''


    Those questions remained unanswered. Khan could only wait until the Tors left the building with a transparent container held by limbs hidden under the cape. The item could probably contain more than ten liters of water, and Khan tried to guess if the aliens could stuff his maimed corpse inside it.


    ''They might still want to eat me,'' Khan stated in his mind, even if the container felt a bit too small for that.


    The group changed direction at that point. Two more of the Tors left, and Khan instinctively followed the group with the container on a path that seemed to lead back outside the district.


    The trip didn''t allow Khan to see anything too peculiar, and the same went for the return toward the district''s edges. He didn''t even spot other Tors outside his team, let alone one without its hood.


    The symphony had just started to regain its typical properties when the two remaining Tors led Khan into an alley behind a tall building. His mind instinctively went battle-ready since the fear of being eaten still didn''t leave him, but the aliens had other ns for him.


    "Fill it," One of the Tors said while cing the container on the floor.


    "With what?" Khan asked.


    "Chaos," The second Tors replied.


    Surprisingly enough, the Tors were after Khan''s mana. He didn''t know why they wanted it, but he felt unable to refuse the request. The environment wasn''t even an issue. He saw that as a simple payment for helping with the hunters.


    ''Imminent chaos,'' Khan sighed in his mind as he approached the filter ced above the cylindrical container and released his mana. ''I''m totally giving them a weapon.''


    Purple-red energy left Khan''s right hand and flowed through the filter to umte inside the container. The Tors lowered their heads and part of their bodies to inspect the process, and Khan continued until the item was packed and started to reject his mana.


    One of the Tors seized the container before Khan could remove his hand and left in a hurry. The other moved its attention on Khan, and a surprising line came out of the hood. "Come back to give more chaos."


    Khan didn''t expect that request, and his first instinct was to nod. However, he had already paid his price. Anything more than that would require something in exchange.


    "What can you offer?" Khan asked while the Tors began to look away.


    "Come back, and we set deal," The Tors casually said before leaving in the same direction as itspanion. Khan could only watch as the hooded alien made a turn and vanished in that mysterious district.

 Chapter 374 Season

    Chapter 374 Season


    Khan continued to look in the direction where the Tors had disappeared even after that hooded figure left his vision. He honestly didn''t know how to feel about the previous events, but his curiosity remained strong and made him notice a few details.


    The Tors had dismissed Khan as soon as the container was full. He could see that behavior as apleteck of interest toward him, but he could also find alternative exnations that sort of made sense.


    The oily synthetic mana and the overall modifications applied to the environment hinted at the presence of experiments. Khan didn''t know if he could see that through a human mindset, but it could exin theck of interest. The Tors might be too captivated by their projects to care about him.


    That hypothesis only intensified Khan''s curiosity, especially now that he had found some leverage. He could use his element to build a rtionship with the Tors, but he couldn''t be hasty. He didn''t know enough about that species to develop a tactic.


    ''I need to talk with Jenna,'' Khan quickly concluded.


    Jenna wouldn''t only add insights to the Tors. She could probably spot eventual details that would exin those aliens'' interest in the chaos element. Khan needed her knowledge and perspective, which moved his thoughts on different problems.


    Khan left the alley and looked in the opposite direction of the Tors'' district. He could spot one of the markers mentioned by Nessa in the distance, but he remained in unknown territory. Moreover, he didn''t know if the bounty hunters were still around.


    The second-grade knife was still in Khan''s left hand, and he tightened his grasp on it as he checked his right arm. His limb had yet to get rid of its stiffness, and faint pain spread from his right palm. He also felt slightly tired, but he could fight as long as he avoided an encirclement.


    Nevertheless, his ignorance remained a problem. The bounty hunters could use the dock''syout to their advantage and encircle Khan before his senses could warn him.


    Khan didn''t have many options. He could only leave now that the Tors were done with him. He simply had to decide how fast he had to run, but his poor knowledge of the environment made that choice for him.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''I can''t risk getting lost,'' Khan sighed in his mind.


    Advancing slowly would give the bounty hunters the time to set a proper trap, but Khan didn''t want to end up in another dangerous district. He wouldn''t have it as easy if he bothered the Bise. He could only hope that his chaos spear would open a path through any encirclement his enemies tried to pull off.


    Khan kept his senses on the symphony of mana as he walked through the streets. He paid attention to any ripple that disturbed the flow of synthetic energy around him while remaining ready to unleash his best attacks.


    The dock sounded mostly peaceful. Milia 222 didn''t ce much difference in day and night, especially in that environment, but there seemed to be fewer crews at work.


    Khan obviously didn''t have enough data to be sure. Nessa didn''t have the time to tell him everything about the dock, but he sensed fewer ripples than before. Nothing seemed to move in his direction either, but he didn''t drop his guard.


    The slow walk allowed Khan to recover even more. He stretched and flexed his right arm from time to time to disperse the stiffness caused by the [Blood Shield]. A good sleep seemed necessary to fix that issue, but he still did his best to regain as much mobility as possible.


    The dock was mostly deserted. Khan spotted a few crews working innding areas below him, but the streets didn''t have any bystanders. shing banners marked the presence of clubs and hotels, and most night activities seemed to happen inside them.


    The Tors had left Khan in an area quite distant from his hotel, and a single marker seen from far away couldn''t give proper directions. Khan advanced slowly, but he couldn''t avoid ending on paths that made his trip longer.


    Theck of apparent threats was the only constion to Khan''s unfamiliarity with the ce. The symphony of mana sounded calm, but not in a strange way. Spaceships came and went, energy flowed inside buildings and streets, and nothing altered the picture they created.


    It took a while, but Khan''s hotel eventually appeared in his vision. Its sight tried to rx his tense mind, but nothing could make his battle-ready mindset waver.


    The Ots had managed to learn about bounties issued on Lower Level 2 in less than a day. It would make perfect sense for them to know where Khan stayed, so he approached the area slowly and even devised ns to deal with anything waiting inside. He didn''t know enough to trust Nessa''s judgment blindly.


    The hotel ended up reserving surprises, but not bad ones. A familiar presence joined the symphony of mana when Khan got close enough, and he only needed to look at the building''s entrance to find Nessa and Branok waiting for him.


    "[Is Jenna okay]?" Khan promptly asked when those two pairs of beautiful eyes fell on him.


    Nessa and Branok didn''t hide their surprise. Khan had spotted them before the opposite could happen. Their sensitivity to mana had turned out to be inferior to a human, but the worry that Khan showed made them put the issue aside.


    "[She is fine]," Nessa reassured while suppressing the approval she felt toward that honest worry. "[We are here to pick you up and bring you to her]."


    "[Did the Nele get involved]?" Khan wondered while Nessa and Branok left the hotel''s entrance to move toward the Nele''s district. "[That wasn''t my intention]."


    "[Your intentions have nothing to do with how we choose to live]," Nessa said in an aloof tone without bothering to turn.


    Khan understood that the time for words was over, so he followed Nessa and Branok in silence. The second-grade knife was still in his hand, but he rxed a bit now that the Nele were with him. He figured the bounty hunters wouldn''t risk getting on their bad side.


    The guess turned out to be on point. No one approached the trio during the walk toward the Nele''s district. Khan actually didn''t see anyone on the streets.


    Nessa and Branok crossed the street with the purplemp without saying anything, so Khan followed them inside. Faint tension filled the symphony of mana as small groups of Nele stationed at various intersections became visible. Khan even spotted some Nele running in the distance. The district was far more alive than before.


    Khan soon found himself in the spotlight. Every Nele who noticed him followed his movements. Even those busy running slowed down to inspect him, but he didn''t see theplete coldness from before. Some interest had appeared in them, but they made sure to hide most of it.


    The stares finally made Khan store his knife. His group reached the square where he met Piran and crossed it without exchanging words with the Nele stationed there. Nessa and Branok were leading Khan deep into the district.


    After crossing a few more intersections, Nessa and Branok took a turn to the right to reach a short building. Its walls hindered Khan''s senses, but a series of presences joined the symphony when itsrge doors opened.


    The dock''s iconic light illuminated the building and revealed the entirety of its insides. The entrance was big enough to disy most of the structure, allowing Khan to see the small toon of Nele standing there.


    The Nele weren''t alone. Khan spotted a few figures chained to the building''s sides and a single one in the back. Only thetter was still alive, but Khan found himself focusing on a different feature. He recognized all of them.


    ''So much for letting me win,'' Khan thought as he followed Nessa and Branok inside.


    The entrance closed behind Khan''s back while he inspected the prisoners. They were all Ots, and they all belonged to his crew. The Nele had caught five of them and were still interrogating thest one.


    "[Khan]!" Jenna''s voice resounded from among the Nele, and Khan could soon see her figure jumping toward him.


    Khan had to suppress augh when he saw Nessa and Branok hurrying to get out of Jenna''s way, but he soon had to do the same for a grunt. Jenna wrapped her arms around his torso and squeezed it, triggering some of the bruises and difort caused by the fight.


    "[Easy]," Khan chuckled while caressing Jenna''s hair. "[I told you that I''d be back]."


    "[The paybacks start now]," Jennained without leaving Khan''s chest.


    "[I thought you wouldn''t involve the Nele]," Khan almost scolded as the entire toon inspected that intimate gesture.


    "[I never said that]," Jenna replied, finally lifting her head. "[I let you fight alone, didn''t I]?"


    Jenna revealed her usual beautiful smile, but Khan recognized her yfulness behind it. He didn''t need more exnations after that. He knew that Jenna had made sure to tilt the situation in his favor.


    "[You are hurt]," Jenna followed as her smile vanished and her embrace softened.


    Jenna moved her hands across Khan''s back until she reached the edge of his jumper. She didn''t hesitate to dive under it to touch Khan''s skin directly, and her careful fingers allowed her to spot every bruise.


    "[Your shoulder]," Jenna eventually said before lifting the jumper and helping Khan take it off.


    Khan yed along, uncaring of the gazes on him. Denying Jenna''s whims had always been impossible, and the situation was even worse now that concern fueled her behavior.


    The azure scar appeared in the open and became the center of the attention, but Khan kept his eyes on Jenna. She immediately went on his right arm and softly flexed it while using her fingers to study its performance.


    Jenna directly stopped when she reached Khan''s right hand. Her fingers moved along tendons and joints, and she didn''t like what she found.


    "[Branok, get something from the medical bay]," Jenna ordered while keeping her attention on Khan''s hand.


    Branok was a first-level warrior, but Jenna had no authority over him, not in Lower Level 3. He diverted his attention from the azure scar to look at the toon, but a sharp change in the synthetic mana forced him to bring his eyes to Jenna.


    "[Branok]," Jenna called while turning to re at herpanion, "[Now]."


    Tension built up, and the symphony grew stiff. Jenna''s stance added traces of killing intent to the synthetic mana, and her reaction worried herpanions.


    Khan knew that he was the reason for Jenna''s extreme behavior, but he had an easy fix. He grabbed her waist and pulled until her backnded on his chest. Jenna wanted toin, but her coldness melted when she felt his teeth on her neck.


    "[Calm down]," Khan whispered when he lifted his head and made their foreheads touch.


    "[I did like it]," Jenna giggled as her fingers went for Khan''s lips.


    "[I knew you would]," Khan teased.


    The tension vanished, and the symphony grew warmer than ever. No trace of the previous change remained in the synthetic mana, but the toon had to watch as Jenna''s new mood fueled her boldness.


    Someone among the toon eventually cleared his throat and stepped forward. Piran revealed himself and imed the couple''s attention through a few words. "[The Ots is still alive]."


    The tension returned, but all the Nele added to it now. Even Khan did his part by focusing on the chained Ots. The alien had roots stabbed in both knees and ankles, but only a few drops of blood had fallen on the dark-grey floor.


    "[Branok, go to the medical bay]," Piran ordered, and Branok didn''t hesitate to execute the order at that time.


    Khan and Jenna neared the chained Ots while the entrance opened and closed behind them. Theck of blood and the location of the wounds hinted at a procedure that could keep the prisoner alive for quite some time. There was proper skill and study behind that torture, which Khan didn''t expect from the Nele.


    "[Jenna got the first one on her own]," Piran exined as he approached the couple''s right side. "[After learning what they tried to pull off, we went looking for the others]."


    "[I didn''t think you knew how to torture]," Khan admitted.


    "[We didn''t]," Piran stated. "[We learnt in very]."


    "[We loathe torture]," Jenna added as she left Khan to crouch toward the chained Ots. "[It taints the mana and forces us to see the pain we are inflicting. It''s disgusting, but it''s part of our legacy now]."


    "[Please]," The Ots said in a weak voice and through the Nele''snguage. "[I told you everything]."


    Jenna kept her cold eyes on the Ots as she straightened her position and returned to Khan''s arms. Khan could almost feel the disgust inside her, but his affectionate gestures brought somefort.


    "[The crew came up with the ploy to get to Jenna]," Piran revealed. "[We are still tracing the source of the bounty, but they probably didn''t want anything to do with us]."


    "[Does this make you a target]?" Khan asked.


    "[No one would think about that once we hang these corpses outside our districts]," Piran dered.


    "[Please]!" The Ots begged, but no one flinched.


    "[You can kill him if you want]," Piran said, and the entire toon turned toward Khan.


    ''Are they testing me?'' Khan wondered, but he didn''t care too much about that. That Ots had long since ended in his bad side.


    Khan let go of Jenna before performing a short eleration. His right footnded on the Ots'' head and squashed his face on the wall. The alien died in an instant.


    Theck of hesitation seemed to please the Nele, but Khan inevitablypared it to simr situations experienced in the past. He recalled the events with the Kred and Rodney, which showed him how much he had changed.


    "[I need to update Maban]," Piran dered while the Ots'' brains still slid through the wall. "[You can stay outside the building for the time being]."


    Khan nodded before retrieving his jumper and leaving the building with Jenna and part of the toon. Piran handled the cleaning operation without going out of his way to hide his orders from Khan, and the entrance opened and closed as Nele came to bring the corpses away.


    Branok returned with a fuming bowl during that process, and Jenna seized it from him to hand it to Khan. A warm feeling enveloped Khan whenever he took a sip, and that sensation became proper hot when it reached his injuries.


    The area grew calm while Khan bathed in Jenna''s affection and the soup healing''s properties. Hot spots enveloped his injuries and began to fix them. The stiffness on his right arm vanished quickly, and the same went for his hand.


    Once the couple gained some privacy, Khan went on to exin what had happened after the separation, cing special importance on the Tors. He wanted Jenna to understand his curiosity and worries, and she didn''t need him to repeat himself to voice her opinions.


    "[I don''t think it''s connected with my prediction]," Jenna revealed after hearing everything. "[Your odd sensation was here before you gave your mana to the Tors. Also, it didn''t intensify afterward, so the cause should be elsewhere]."


    "[Do you think I can find a good deal then]?" Khan wondered.


    "[That''s hard to say]," Jenna sighed. "[Sadly, only the Ots might know a bit more about them]."


    "[The Ots sure are resourceful]," Khan admitted. "[It''s quite lucky that they are their worst enemy]."


    "[I can''t hate them too much]," Jenna teased while rubbing her head on Khan''s left shoulder. "[They got me to try your bites. It was so exciting]."


    "[You are turning yourself into an exhibitionist]," Khan chuckled.


    "[I''m only discovering myself]," Jenna corrected. "[Besides, if I''m like that, you probably are the same]."


    Khan rolled his eyes. Scenes with Liiza and Cora crossed his mind. He wasn''t an exhibitionist, but he liked being a bit intimate in the open. He had to thank the Niqols for that habit.


    The two continued to joke around while they waited for Piran to return. A few serious lines managed to slip past their teasing, but none of them stuck long enough to turn into a proper topic. Moreover, Jenna only wanted to be spoiled now, and Khan couldn''t refuse her.


    Piran returned after some time, but he appeared sterner than usual when he approached the couple. He even stood in silence for a few seconds while inspecting Khan and Jenna sitting on the floor.


    "[I''ve spoken to Maban]," Piran eventually announced. "[He ims that two attacks on the same day require harsher repercussions]."


    "[What did he do]?" Jenna asked.


    "[He authorized a hunting season]," Piran revealed before looking at Khan. "[And he is free to join it]."


    "[Hunting season]?" Khan questioned.


    "[It''s almost a tradition]," Jenna exined as her face grew cold. "[We resort to it after serious crimes or when we feel that the other species started to underestimate us]."


    "[We know the ce where the Ots wanted you to work]," Piran eximed. "[It can''t be allowed to exist any longer]."

 Chapter 375 Blue

    Chapter 375 Blue


    The purpose of the mission was evident even if Piran didn''t exin its details. The Nele wanted to send a message to the whole dock to strengthen the fear and respect the other species needed to have toward them, and Khan was free to join.


    "[We leave in five hours]," Piran continued while keeping his eyes on Khan. "[Be in the first square if you decide to join the mission. You can remain in the district until then]."


    Piran left without adding more words. He had a lot to n before the mission, and time was short, but the district was already on the move. Nele ran left and right to prepare and get their tasks done.


    Small spaceships also reached the district and unloaded a few second-level warriors who immediately ran toward specific buildings. The overall mood grew tense as the news of the hunting season spread, and general coldness took control of the symphony of mana.


    Faint sounds ran through the symphony and captured Khan''s attention. He had seen Jenna''s previous technique, so he could recognize the tens of messages that flew through the district. He didn''t understand most of them, but the topic they discussed was quite obvious.


    Jenna had remained strangely silent after learning about the hunting season. She didn''t even take advantage of Khan''s interest in the various changes that enveloped the district. Her mind was elsewhere, and she eventually left Khan''s shoulder to fix her pensive eyes on him.


    Khan could feel Jenna''s emotions since she didn''t try to make the synthetic mana around her act normally. Her silence forced Khan to turn toward her, but she didn''t speak even at that point.


    Jenna took Khan''s left hand. His fingers were clean, but small spots of blood hadnded on his wrist. His palm even showed faint calluses that she knew far too well.


    That was the hand of a warrior, but Jenna knew the affection it could express. She had grown used to Khan''s tender caresses and careful touch, but her species was now asking him to go to battle. That wasn''t self-defense. The hunting season was a part of Milia 222 that Khan didn''t need to experience.


    "[What is it]?" Khan whispered when a tremor ran through Jenna''s grasp.


    "[You don''t need toe]," Jenna stated.


    "[I can take care of myself]," Khan reassured, grasping Jenna''s hand in the hope of quelling her worries.


    "[That''s not it]," Jenna sighed. "[Most people inside our target probably had no intention to hurt us. There might be many innocents. You don''t need their blood on your hands]."


    "[But you do]?" Khan asked.


    "[Ensuring our survivales at a price]," Jenna revealed while lowering her gaze. "[Our pheromones make us unsuited for this cohabitation, so we must resort to reprehensible actions]."


    "[I want to help you and your species]," Khan responded.


    "[Khan]," Jenna eximed while raising her gaze, "[I don''t want you to feel like a monster because of me]."


    Khan couldn''t help but show a warm smile. He understood Jenna''s worries, and it felt nice to see them. The Nele could only benefit from an outsider fighting on the frontlines since it would probably lower the number of casualties on their side, but Jenna was willing to give up on that to preserve Khan''s mental state.


    "[I''ve fought and killed many times]," Khan uttered as his smile grew sad, "[Really many times. Sometimes, I did that to survive, but I more than often simply executed orders]."


    Khan pulled Jenna closer. She wanted to fight back a bit, but her body didn''t allow that. She let Khan pull her between his legs and wrap his arms around her waist so that she could restfortably on his chest.


    "[I rarely have the chance to fight and kill for something I care about]," Khan continued, and his tone grew even sadder as Nitis'' memories flowed through his vision. "[This is one of them]."


    "[Do you need to fight at all]?" Jenna asked even if she knew the answer to that question.


    "[It''s my nature]," Khan replied as a bit of hesitation seeped into his voice. "[I do enjoy it. It lets me express all of myself]."


    "[Your curse never ceases to amaze me]," Jenna sighed again. "[If only I could-]."


    "[You are doing more than you realize]," Khan interrupted while resting his head on Jenna''s shoulder. "[Without you, I''d be merely following someone else''s orders. I can fight for what I want now]."


    "[You make it so hard for me]," Jennained before lifting her hand to caress the back of Khan''s head.


    "[I''ll rest for a few hours]," Khan whispered.


    "[I''ll be here when you wake up]," Jenna said.


    Khanpletely rxed as memories and feelings from the synthetic mana around him assaulted his senses. Scenes he had left in the dark corners of his mind surfaced and reminded him of everything he had gone through.


    Past conversations with Lieutenant Dyester became clearer than ever. Khan recalled his teachings and knew that they were right. Killing had truly be easy for him, but he still valued life, even if not in a way that the Global Army would appreciate.


    ''Even monsters can love,'' Khan thought as he let his faint exhaustion take control of him. He would typically skip sleeping, especially for such a short time, but Jenna would join the iing battle. He needed to be at his peak.


    Hours went by quickly while Khan was immersed in his nightmare. The souppleted its work and fixed his injuries while he was asleep. The Nele also became ready for the imminent attack, and a warm sensation eventually interrupted Khan''s rest.


    Khan woke up only to find Jenna''s lips leaving his forehead. She revealed a yful smile when she saw Khan''s open eyes, and he limited himself to a happy expression. Many would kill to have what he had, but it had be the norm for him.


    "[Is everyone ready]?" Khan asked while letting go of Jenna to rub his eyes.


    "[Judge for yourself]," Jenna giggled.


    Khan didn''t see much when he lifted his head. A warm bowl stood on the floor at his side, but everything else was silent. The streets were empty, without a single Nele in sight.


    However, the symphony of mana revealed a far different truth. Khan sensed a series of heavy tremorsing in the direction of the gathering point. He could almost feel the number of Nele amassed there.


    "[Nessa brought you breakfast]," Jenna exined. "[I bet she will ept you soon]."


    "[Don''t sound too excited]," Khanughed as he picked up the bowl and drank from it.


    "[I wonder how I''ll be once jealousy steps in]," Jenna wondered.


    "[You have already covered her arrival]," Khan pointed out. He would have sensed someone approaching him during his sleep, but nothing simr happened, and Jenna was obviously to me for that.


    "[I only wanted to let you rest peacefully]," Jenna pouted.


    Khan could only chuckle and focus on the bowl. Nothing about his sleep was peaceful, but he would let Jenna win. It was funnier that way.


    Jenna and Khan stood up once the meal was over and walked toward the district''s outskirts to reach the appointed square. The power andposition of the team for the mission soon became clear, and Khan could only feel satisfied at its sight.


    Ten second-level warriors stood in the square, and Piran was among them. The battle was imminent, but none of them caused any ripple in the synthetic mana in the area. They were perfectly calm and in control of their surroundings, which told Khan how experienced they were.


    "[Will this be enough]?" Khan asked as soon as he reached the group.


    "[The club we have to attack is quite small]," Piran exined. "[Also, no one knows about this n. We can expect little to no defenses]."


    The other nine second-level warriors inevitably inspected Khan. He recognized some of them from the toons inside the spaceships, but the general vibe remained cold.


    Khan didn''t me the Nele for that. Allowing strangers inside an experienced team wasn''t ideal, especially if thetter already had sessfully tested battle tactics. Khan was a variable that could disrupt their strategy, but he nned to stay out of their way. No one could reach him anyway.


    The team confirmed some details that Khan had noticed since reaching the dock. The Nele usually resorted to baggy clothes only in the privacy of their homes and opted for smarter and more elegant outfits in the presence of other species.


    Yet, the dock seemed to be an exception to that rule. The Nele dropped their haughty appearance to rely on something more functional. That baggy outfit wasn''t onlyfortable. It also allowed them to hide more weapons and items.


    The Nele did their best to control their influence on the synthetic mana, but Khan could still sense some masses of energy hidden under those loose clothes. They didn''t feel like anything spectacr, but Khan couldn''t underestimate them. After all, he had seen what a single root could do.


    "[I can''t share our tactic with you]," Piran said to Khan once he felt that the exchange of gazes hadsted long enough.


    "[I know]," Khan eximed before Jenna could voice herints. "[It might be better for me to act on my own anyway]."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[You can support us]," Piran suggested.


    "[No]," Khan stated. "[I''ll open a path. I believe no one willin about that]."


    The announcement surprised the Nele, but Khan was right. No one dared toin in front of a free decoy. Even Jenna remained silent since she had guessed that Khan would do something like that.


    "[Let''s hurry then]," Piran announced, and the entire team began its march.


    Khan didn''t know where the club was, so he remained in the middle of the group while Piran set the pace of the march. Jenna walked at Khan''s side, and her mood quickly reverted to the same coldness she had worn on the first asteroid.


    The time for intimacy and affection woulde, but the hunting season had the priority now, especially after Khan imed that he would fight on his own. Jenna already knew the Nele''s tactics, so she focused on the iing battle and forced herself to ignore everything else.


    Something magical happened during the march. Khan couldn''t miss it since his thoughts had gone silent to leave room for the symphony of mana.


    The Nele didn''t speak or make gestures, but the synthetic mana around them condensed while gaining the same properties of their shared mindset. Khan could almost hear hispanions'' intentions when listening to that energy. That was a proper technique that went beyond messages, but Khan couldn''t understand all its functions.


    Nevertheless, the situation, Khan''s basic knowledge of the Nele''s arts, and the intentions carried by the synthetic mana allowed him toe up with valid hypotheses. The technique seemed meant to enhance the group''s teamwork in ways that Khan couldn''t fully identify.


    The event showed Khan that he had barely scratched the surface of the Nele''s arts, but he expected that. He also knew that he wouldn''t be able to implement all of that to his set of abilities, but that was more than fine. His path probably was too unique for that anyway.


    The dock had just started toe to life. Workers from different species left their habitations or districts to begin their nned shifts. The elevators never stopped going up and down, and spaceships flew far above the streets to move toons or items in various areas.


    The crews stationed in thending areas under the streets were already working at the best of their capabilities. Orders resounded left and right, but everyone stopped focusing on their tasks whenever the group of Nele appeared in their sight.


    For the first time in a while, Khan felt invisible in the eyes of the bystanders. The Nele around him attracted far more attention. It almost seemed that the various crews could smell the iing trouble, and they all hoped it didn''t involve them.


    Piran elerated as more eyes fell on the group. The audience quickly understood that something was up, and many left their position to avoid getting caught in whatever the Nele were nning. Still, after reaching safe areas, those aliens resumed their inspection to keep track of the event.


    The group slowed down after reaching a rtivelyrge two-story building. The structure had a big shing sign on its front that exined the immoral purpose of the club, but Khan didn''t waste time studying every detail since the entrance suddenly moved.


    The entrance only half-opened to allow the passage of a first-level warrior. The weak Ots didn''t leave the building but remained between the two metal doors where she performed a shy bow.


    "[We are preparing the ce for your needs]," The Ots announced in the Nele''snguage, but a tremor ran through the denser mana around the group at that time.


    The tremor came from Piran and spread through the affected synthetic mana in an instant. All the Nele and Khan could immediately understand the order it conveyed. However, Piran turned out to be one step behind Khan.


    The partial opening of the entrance had revealed that the Ots suspected something. That made sense considering how resourceful that species was, so Khan acted ordingly.


    A heavier tremor followed Piran''s order, creating intense waves in the synthetic mana. The ethereal technique highlighted the source of that disturbance and even told the Nele that they wouldn''t have the time to study it.


    Khan elerated before performing a long leap. His body rotated mid-air and turned his stretched left leg into a hammer that fell at the center of the Ots'' head. The alien couldn''t withstand that attack, but Khan had another issue to solve.


    The Ots were smaller than the humans. The passage was a bit too narrow for Khan, let alone the entire group. The door had to go, so Khan moved his mana toward his hands while his left foot dug through the alien''s head.


    Two purple-red short swords grew from Khan''s hands. The length of the chaos ws didn''t match his usual standards because he didn''t dare to push his limits in that situation, but the spellpleted its task anyway.


    Khan was still falling, and the Ots'' weak body couldn''t stop his momentum. Stabbing his hands into the entrance would only push him away from it, so he neared the two short swords to the dark-grey metal without applying any unnecessary strength.


    The chaos ws spell wasn''t as sharp as the Divine Reaper, but it provided incessant destruction. The door''s surface caved in once it entered the short swords'' range, and cracks soon opened, allowing Khan to push his hand forward again.


    The Ots'' head almost exploded, and the same went for her neck. Khan''s foot stopped digging through her body only when it reached her upper chest, but that still didn''t stop his momentum.


    Khan pushed the now-corpse to the floor while his spell continued to ravage the entrance. His hands never touched the metal surface, but the mana around them still dug through it.


    By the time Khannded, the two damaged spots had be proper holes that allowed the passage of his hands. The short swords could express their true power at that point, and the door witnessed it.


    Evenrger cracks spread inside the door while Khan kept his spell active. Large shards and chunks of metal fell from the entrance until some of its parts directly exploded. The narrow passage was turning into a path asrge as two grown men, but Khan didn''t stop until he could stretch his arms freely.


    Multiple sounds, images, and feelings reached Khan''s senses during hisnding. The club''s insides were free for him to see now, but he had to disregard many details to focus on the most problematic features.


    The club resembled the [Loophole] in many ways. A dancing hall unfolded past its entrance, and balcony-like paths stretched above it. The short ceiling hid the second floor, and there seemed to be additional rooms in the back.


    Faint red and yellow lights alternated themselves in fending off the building''s darkness, but no music apanied them. Couches, chairs, and tables also upied specific areas of the dancing hall and streets, but Khan only noticed the Ots behind them.


    A series of first and second-level warriors had taken cover behind the furniture. Khan could count more than fifteen of them from his position and also noticed the mana contained in the weapons they wielded.


    The Ots kept their rifles and guns pointed at the entrance, and they fired some bullets once they noticed Khan''s actions. Azure masses of mana flew through the artificial illumination and converged toward Khan, but he touched the floor before they could get too close.


    Khan remained in his position as long as possible before sprinting forward. The corpse under him retained most of its shape when he stepped out of it, but the bullets that fell on that spot transformed everything into a gory puddle that weed the crumbling metal shards.


    ''Staircase,'' That single clear thought resounded in Khan''s mind as he dived into the dancing hall. Most of the Ots were on the streets above him, and jumping directly there would leave him exposed.


    The Ots were far from ipetent. The first-level warriors couldn''t follow Khan''s movements, but the second-level warriors tilted their guns and fired more bullets, with some of them even aiming to block his path.


    Khan could only cover a quarter of the room before the bullets closed the path ahead. He could summon the [Blood Shied] to brute-force his way through that attack, but his sensitivity to mana revealed a less tiresome approach.


    A leap followed by light steps allowed Khan to jump on the bullets and use them as footholds. He rose through the first floor before getting high enough to perform a jump that flung him directly on a wall above the streets.


    Khan''s back touched the ceiling, but his feet were firm on the wall. The alternating illumination disturbed his vision, but he didn''t need to rely on his eyes. He already knew where he had to go.


    The previous leap had put Khan behind the makeshift trenches used by the Ots, and thetter didn''t have the time to jump on the other side. A nging noise resounded under Khan''s feet when he pushed himself toward the nearest couch, and his knee rose during the flight.


    Khan''s target was a second-level warrior who had failed to adapt to his incredible movement. The alien instinctively raised its arms to cross them above its face, but cracking noises came out of them when the kneended.


    The Ots lost its bnce and crashed on the couch, which broke in half. Its arms had bent in an odd way, and its hands were unresponsive, so it couldn''t do anything when a purple-red light shed in its vision.


    Khan didn''t even look at the Ots. Once hepleted his sh, he pushed himself away to run toward his next target. As for the alien, it saw a cut opening in the broken couch and expanding toward its face. Everything went dark afterward.


    Khan''s improvements involved far more than his body. His mindset had changed when it came to his movements. He knew that sticking to gravity was only an option for him, and he could express thatck of limits to its fullest now that he had grown confident in his new power.


    A first-level warrior had been fast enough to change position while Khan was busy with itspanion. The alien jumped on the other side of its chair and pointed its gun at Khan, but its hands froze before the agility its enemy disyed.


    Khan had the wall on his right, a flimsy guardrail on his left, the ceiling above him, and the street under him. Those four surfaces were nothing more than parts of the club for the Ots, but they became footholds in the hands of Khan''s agility.


    The Ots saw Khan running on the floor only to perform a short leap toward the guardrail that almost teleported him to the ceiling. Khan was upside-down in that location, but gravity couldn''t take control of his movements when his feet touched that firm surface.


    Khan seemed to ricochet to the wall and floor in a single sprint that pushed his speed beyond his normal limits. The eleration made him reach the chair in no time, and a bright membrane promptly covered his knife.


    The first-level warrior died before seeing the chair''s back splitting into two halves. Its brain simply stopped registering information when Khan severed it from the rest of its body.


    Bullets flew in Khan''s direction, but none came close to hitting him. He was basically running behind the enemy lines, and his speed was unfathomable. Adding his free movements to the equation only created a target that the Ots couldn''t hope to catch like that.


    Khan would normally rejoice at his newfound freedom, but his mind was too immersed in the symphony of mana to make him care about that. His thoughts only featured the next target and the best path to reach it. Almost everything else was useless.


    The chaos created by Khan allowed the Nele to enter the building without facing any bullets. Surprised faces inevitably appeared among them after seeing the scenes on the intermediate floor. Khan had turned the entire toon of Ots against him, but he still had the upper hand.


    Piran didn''t let Khan handle everything on his own. His intentions seeped into the synthetic mana, and all hispanions sensed them. An order spread, and the group split to target different areas of the club.


    Khan sensed the arrival of the Nele but continued to ricochet among the various surfaces as he approached enemy after enemy. His second-grade knife never failed to sh with his iconic mana, and death followed his every gesture.


    The Nele cleared the dancing hall quickly since the few Ots there didn''t turn in time to dodge their piercing roots. Piran and the others opened a path toward the staircases in the back of the area in no time, and Khan saw that as the best moment to change location.


    The dancing hall only had staircases, but the streets above it featured one passage that led deeper into the building. Khan side-stepped a bullet before shooting toward that corridor, and it didn''t take him long to reach a small theatre-like area simr to what he had seen in the [Loophole].


    The streets on the intermediate floor were empty, but the stage had Ots busy moving boxes and other unclear items. Those aliens clearly had tasks that didn''t involve the current battle, but letting them go away probably wasn''t in line with the hunting season.


    Khan didn''t want to waste time chasing after the Ots below him, so he stored his knife and joined his palms. The chaos spear formed when he separated his hands, and his interest in the stage vanished when he tossed the spell downstairs.


    An explosion reached Khan''s ears while he searched for a path toward the second floor. The streets shook due to the violence unleashed by his spell, but the walls remained rtively stable, especially when it came to the back of the area.


    Khan followed the absence of tremors and soon found himself in front of a narrow passage connected to a circr staircase. The structure was quite small and hidden, and Khan stepped on its handrail to climb it since it saved him time.


    The circr staircase ended in front of a small door. The ceiling was even lower there, but Khan didn''t know if the area past the entrance shared those properties. Still, he had every intention to find out.


    Mana covered Khan''s right hand while he drew the knife again. The chaos ws spell was perfect to open paths in that metal, but he didn''t get the chance to use it since the entire wall at the end of the staircase suddenly bent toward him.


    The properties of the metal prevented Khan from sensing what was happening on the other side, but he knew that bending that metal was no easy task, especially when the process involved the entire wall. Something powerful had stepped forward, and he wouldn''t remain there to endure its full might.


    Khan jumped past the handrail to fall toward the bottom of the staircase, but an explosion resounded above him while he was mid-air. Blue mes pierced the thick metal, melting and shattering it as they expanded past the wall and enveloped the entire passage in their scorching power.


    The staircase melted and crumbled as soon as it touched the blue mes, and Khan promptly used that to push himself faster to the floor. A sprint immediately followed hisnding and tried to bring him out of that hidden passage before the attack could reach him, but a scorching force hit his back when the theatre area unfolded in his vision.


    Khan summoned the [Blood Shield] while the mes pushed him deeper into the theatre area. His skin melted under their heat, but the dense mana they contained allowed him to stomp on them to fling himself away.


    The longest leap Khan was capable of followed hisnding on the street. The mes chased him, but he used the wall to push himself farther away. The attack eventually exhausted its power and began to retreat, but the problems didn''t end.


    Khannded on the street only to see it falling apart. The mes had melted what kept it attached to the wall, so a big chunk of the structure crumbled, forcing Khan to perform a leap that brought him to the first floor.


    Pieces of the street followed Khan in hisnding, but he pushed himself to the floor and began to roll on himself while releasing formless waves of mana from his back. He had deactivated the [Blood Shield], but mes still burnt on his clothes, and the energy they contained kept them alive.


    Khan''s mana eventually put an end to the mes, but his jumper fell as soon as he stood up since it had lost most of its back part. His trousers were no better, but they seemed to hold on.


    Khan didn''t care about his appearance, especially since his whole back hurt terribly. He had been slightlyte in the activation of the [Blood Shield] since the targeted area had been vast, and the smelling from behind him didn''t hint at anything good.


    The powerful presence that joined the symphony of mana further distracted Khan from his appearance and condition. He had already guessed the power behind the previous attack, but the arrival of that new aura eliminated any doubt.


    An Ots slightly taller than average stood at the edge of the hidden passage. The street that stretched from that opening had crumbled, but the alien didn''t seem to care as he kept his angry gaze on Khan.


    Smoke came out of the six piercings above the alien''s eyes. Those jewels were bright red due to their high temperature, but the Ots didn''t seem to mind, and Khan surely didn''t have the time to think about it. He couldn''t waste any thought in front of a third-level warrior.

 Chapter ?376 Scorching

    Chapter ?376 Scorching


    A fuming crater stood mere meters from Khan, and melted metal encircled it. Corpses and debris upied the floor, and a few Ots too injured to move rested in corners or behind makeshift covers.


    The ground zero of the chaos spear provided an exact representation of its destructive power, but Khan couldn''t admire it. Even the few survivors couldn''t im his attention. His eyes solely existed to look at the Ots standing at the edges of the hidden passage above him.


    The Ots'' appearance was quite inpared to how entric those aliens could look. The third-level warrior had piercings on his eyebrows, but his ears and nose were clear. His clothes were also rather ordinary. He was only wearing a tight ck tracksuit that didn''t express any elegance or status.


    That wasn''t in line with what Khan had seen in the rest of Milia 222, but it showed how special the dock was. Still, his attention only skimmed over those details before going back to the mana at full power.


    The reactions of the synthetic mana allowed Khan to confirm that the six piercings were scorching hot. The same went for everything behind the Ots, but the alien endured the heat easily. He didn''t even seem bothered by it as he kept his arms crossed behind his back.


    The tracksuit''s intact condition and the state of the synthetic mana flowing over it revealed some of its properties. No amount of heat seemed able to affect it, which hinted at special features made precisely for the Ots'' element.


    The piercings were different since they felt like regr jewels with no unique purpose, but Khan didn''t waste timeing up with hypotheses about them. They weren''t magic items, so they didn''t affect the calctions happening in Khan''s mind.


    Regr soldiers wouldn''t even think about fighting higher-level warriors, but Khan was an elite with vastbat experience. He had already killed stronger opponents by relying on his deadly techniques and understanding of the battlefield.


    Moreover, the Ots were weaker than humans even before the evolution. Khan couldn''t hope to overpower the third-level warrior or use his speed to take him by surprise, but he believed that the physical gap couldn''t be too big.


    The problems came at that point. A shallower gap still put Khan at a disadvantage, especially in that open area. His opponent had the higher ground and virtually no obstruction in his line of sight. Also, the alien had already proven himself able tounch broad attacks.


    Fighting sounded stupid, but retreating wasn''t easy either. The passage to the previous area was on the intermediate floor, and the Ots had destroyed the street connected to it. Khan could still reach that opening through a jump, but the action would leave him exposed.


    Retreating would also bring the problem to the Nele. Piran and the others were probably already aware of the presence of a third-level warrior, and Jenna was bound to lead them to him since Khan was there. The whole group would soon join that battle, so Khan made up his mind ordingly.


    ''I might be unable to beat him,'' Khan thought as he tensed and rxed his back to check his state, ''But hurting him should be possible.''


    The adrenaline running through Khan''s brain spared him from part of the pain spreading from his back. He could feel injuries expanding whenever he flexed his limbs or moved in general. He shouldn''t fight, but he had already decided otherwise.


    The Ots snorted when he saw theck of fear on Khan''s face. He raised a hand, and blue mes came out of his four fingers to spin in his palm. A fiery vortex formed and amassed mana before the alien threw it at Khan.


    The vortex expanded while it flew through the area. Its rotation grew violent, and tongues of mes left its structure to shoot toward different parts of the floor. Its width surpassed four square meters when only a few seconds separated it from crashing on Khan, but that was enough for him.


    The spell wasn''t fast. Its size was annoying, and the heat it radiated was a problem. The random mes that detached themselves from the main structure were also quite troublesome, but all of that wasn''t enough to corner Khan.


    Khan''s attention had never left the Ots, so he had studied every passage in the creation of the spell. The mes were powerful but unstable. They were different from the seamless mass of mana that his chaos spear usually released.


    The mana inside the mes revealed structural ws. Some areas were weaker than others, especially when it came to the spell''s edges. Running around it was doable with Khan''s speed, but he had other ns. He had to bring the battle in his favor, and only a psychological blow could help him in that situation.


    Khan''s knife lit up as he shot toward the iing spell. The temperature increased rapidly and forced his eyes to close. His face burnt, but the scene depicted by the mana remained clear in his mind.


    The knife rose before performing a sharp downward sh. Khan saw a long gap opening in the scarlet mass perceived by his senses, and he didn''t hesitate to jump through it.


    Scarlet shades covered his body during the process and expanded even after he crossed the spell. The vortex exploded behind Khan and unleashed fiery res in random directions. Some flew toward him, but he remained calm and prepared his mana before stomping his foot.


    A purple-red membrane seeped out of Khan''s skin and took a spherical shape that expanded around him. The initial version of the Wave spell grew for a few meters, destroying metal, debris, and iing mes.


    The scarlet shades on Khan vanished, and the same went for the iing res. The floor still featured many examples of that color, but he ignored them as he opened his eyes. New burns had appeared on his body, and pain spread through them, but his cold gaze remained fixed on the Ots.


    The mental image created by Khan''s sensitivity to mana changed when he opened his eyes. The scarlet shades turned blue, and the air bent in multiple ces due to the intense heat. Yet, he left all that in his peripheral vision as he tried to express defiance with his gaze.


    "To think that the Nele would use a human for their dirty job," The Ots grunted as he pointed his hand back on Khan.


    Khan summoned the entirety of his acting skills to wear a mocking smile. He did his best to express contempt toward the Ots'' gesture and add blows to that mental warfare.


    The Ots were masters in social interactions. The third-level warrior knew that he had to ignore Khan''s obvious taunt, but that gesture gained more value due to the recent exchange.


    Mana had started to flow through the Ots'' arm, but Khan''s reaction interrupted it for a second. Khan saw that as an opportunity. He had found an opening and didn''t hesitate to exploit it.


    "Another long-range attack?" Khan chuckled. "Go ahead."


    The Ots only needed to push his mana past his fingers to summon another fiery vortex, but the second taunt stopped him. Khan had already proven that he could dodge that spell, and failing to kill him again would only hurt the alien''s pride.


    The third-level warrior retracted his mana before bringing his hands to his chest. His fingers created a circr shape that weed the arrival of new energy and condensed it between them.


    A tiny blue me materialized between the hands. Its size and overall appearance didn''t hint at anything powerful, but Khan didn''t let those features trick him. He knew how much mana the Ots was deploying. He would die if he underestimated the attack.


    No warning preceded the activation of the spell. The tiny me suddenly became too unstable and exploded into a series of fiery waves. Part of the blue fire engulfed the Ots, but most of it fell into the theatre area to create a scorching waterfall.


    Khan recognized the attack. It was the same spell that had destroyed the wall and the staircase in the hidden passage. He couldn''t let those mes touch him, but that was impossible in his situation.


    Part of the mes ran through the wall, while others bounced forward to reach deeper areas of the first floor. Due to its density, the spell behaved like proper water, and Khan instinctively retreated before its iing might.


    The theatre area wasn''t big but remained too vast for a single spell. The mes had only filled the hidden passage and part of the streets before, so Khan aimed to escape their range.


    However, the Ots had changed his approach for a reason, and Khan soon understood it. The third-level warrior had be impossible to see due to all the mes flowing out of the passage, and the mana they contained also hid his presence, but Khan sensed how more energy flowed inside them.


    ''He can extend its duration,'' Khan concluded as he kept running until the wall in the back of the area blocked his path.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The passage back to the previous area was on Khan''s right. He only had to jump to reach it, but the mes would probably catch up with him during the process. He would survive them, but that had never been the point.


    The third-level warrior released enough mana to make his spell cover the entire theatre area. Khan didn''t need to turn to see the iing fiery sea. Its raging waves caught up quickly, and he closed his eyes to immerse himself in their majestic power.


    The scene seen through Khan''s sensitivity was truly spectacr. Scarlet shades altered the various colors and reced them. The synthetic mana didn''t belong to the environment anymore. The Ots had turned it into an extension of his power.


    Khan couldn''t help but be in awe at the might that a single person could express. He had already seen higher-level warriors in action, but his improved sensitivity and the closed environment allowed him to appreciate that power in its entirety.


    Strange urges made their way through Khan''s silent thoughts. His mana reacted to his respect toward the Ots'' power and filled him with an instinctive desire.


    The Ots'' mana was expressing its most fundamental nature, and Khan wanted to do the same. Patters became clear among the fiery waves, creating a picture that Khan could partially predict. His urge intensified when the spell was about to crash on him and gave birth to a single clear thought.


    ''Flow,'' Khan heard through his own voice as he jumped backward without bothering to turn.


    mes engulfed Khan''s previous position and shed with the wall. Pirs surged through the air while he performed a backflip. The spell had turned any remaining safe spot into a scorching hell, but footholds existed for those willing to challenge the fire.


    The [Blood Shield] could save Khan for a few seconds, but the drawbacks would arrive before he could do anything with that. Retreating was still possible, but he would lose his feet in the process. Remaining among the mes was also foolish, but that was precisely what Khan had in mind.


    Khan sensed the arrival of a pir even before the spell generated it. Waves crashed somewhere under him, forcing a series of mes to surge until they upied a spot behind him.


    The main body of the spell carried most of its scorching power. The mes that left it lost heat and mana but remained strong enough to burn Khan on the spot. Yet, they also gave him a window that he could use.


    Khan bent his legs as his backflip was about to end. The mid-air rotation would bring him to the center of the new pir, but he didn''t n to crash on it.


    Khan''s legs seemed to lose their weight as he stretched them toward the fiery pir. Their movement felt incredibly slow, and Khan doubled down on that. His usual faint steps couldn''t save him from the mes, so he went beyond that.


    Speed and lightness fused with the me''s rhythm while Khan fully stretched his legs. A burning sensation enveloped his feet, but something somewhat solid eventually appeared in their range.


    Gravity returned. Khan jumped forward and rolled on himself tond with his feet on the wall. His front faced the ceiling, but he kept his eyes closed as he stored his knife and leaped again.


    mes were waiting for Khan once hepleted another spin, and his feet took even less to find something solid. He jumped again, and his palms met before his chest as he sent mana between them.


    Khan was getting faster and better. His martial art wasn''t actually improving. He was only tuning his techniques to his sensitivity and the mes'' rhythm.


    Nevertheless, the spell remained too strong to face without the [Blood Shield]. Even the mes that escaped the main body could burn Khan''s skin in an instant.


    Khan''s left shoe burnt during his second encounter with the mes. His right one vanished somewhere during the third. His exposed socks didn''t survive the scorching air, and the fourthnding forced his feet to endure the fire.


    The condition of Khan''s skin was terrible, and nothing could prevent another encounter with the mes, but hepleted his preparations by the fifth leap. His hands had separated, and a bright spear was floating among them.


    The mes hid the third-level warrior, but Khan didn''t lose his sense of direction. He could sense the source of the new mana, so he grabbed the chaos spear and spun on himself to throw it in that direction.


    Khan''s eyes remained closed as he fell back on the mes and used as much strength as possible to push himself upward. Meanwhile, the bright spear flew through the area and reached the source of the fiery waterfall, where an explosion unfolded.


    The chaos element had innate advantages when it came to destruction, but the waterfall''s source contained all the mana released by a third-level warrior. Khan''s spell couldn''t pierce that dense barrage of mes, but its explosion destabilized them enough to make the Ots interrupt his offensive.


    Mana stopped flowing toward the mes in the theatre area, which continued to flicker due to the remaining energy inside them. Waves and pirs still surged while Khan rose toward the ceiling, and, ording to his predictions, they would remain there by the time he fell.


    Khan couldn''t take even more damage. He spun backward to nt his injured feet on the ceiling and flung himself toward a street. The spell had melted and destroyed most of the structures on the intermediate floor. Still, some had survived, and Khan shot toward the nearest.


    A scorching sensation expanded from Khan''s hand as soon as he grabbed the street''s handrail. He quickly pulled himself over, only to experience an even stronger burning feeling when his feetnded on the path''s floor.


    The burning sensation made Khan aware of the poor condition of his feet, but he cut everything away as he remained focused on the battle. The mes started to shrink due to theck of additional mana, but the area remained crazy hot, and thest pieces of the street eventually gave in.


    Khan bent his legs as he fell with the street. The crash of the metal pushed away the weakened mes and created a safe spot where Khan couldnd. The floor was far fromfortable, but he still joined his palms to summon another chaos spear.


    The destruction caused by the sh between the two spells dispersed, and Khan opened his eyes to study the scene. The hidden passage had turned into a melted opening that showed cracks and maimed surfaces. Nothing was t anymore, but the powerful presence inside it remained clear.


    A few steps resounded among the flickering of the mes. The Ots showed a surprised expression when he peeked past the passage''s melted edges and noticed that Khan was still on his feet. The bright spear in his hands even revealed his ability to keep fighting.


    The Ots was honestly shocked. He didn''t have exceptional sensitivity to mana, and the mes would have hindered it anyway, so he had kept fueling his spell as long as possible to ensure Khan''s death.


    However, Khan was still there. His feet had turned dark, and his body showed more burns than intact skin, but he didn''t die, and he even had the time to summon another spell.


    On the other hand, the Ots didn''t suffer any injury. His piercings were still burning red, but the rest of his body was fine. A single line of sweat had fallen from his bald head, but the heat quickly removed its traces.


    "Get down," Khan threatened as he lifted the bright spear above his head and prepared tounch it.


    "Why would I-?" The Ots began to say, but Khan threw the spear before he could finish his sentence.


    Theck of mes allowed the spear to fly directly inside the passage, and the Ots had no other option but to jump. An explosion resounded above the falling alien, but he didn''t have the time to inspect it since Khan was running toward him.


    The Ots snorted and waved his hand. mes came out of his palm and apanied his gesture. The attack didn''t aim at Khan, but it still forced him to interrupt his sprint while pushing its caster away.


    The third-level warrior safelynded in an empty area away from Khan, but he didn''t rx. He lifted his palm to release mes that gathered into three different blue spheres.


    The wall of mes dispersed quickly, but Khan didn''t experience any joy when he managed to look at the Ots again. The alien had three head-sized fiery spheres floating at his sides and above him, and he had even worn a fighting stance. He was ready for the battle, while Khan had barely managed to draw his knife.


    "I know we didn''t do anything to offend the Nele," The Ots announced while Khan remained still. "This must be one of the famous hunting seasons."


    Khan didn''t answer. He bent his knees and raised his knife to prepare for his usual sprint. His back and feet released piercing pain whenever they moved, but he pretended not to feel anything.


    "Give up already," The third-level warriorughed. "I know you don''t have enough mana to cast another spell. Your troublesome element can''t help you anymore."

 Chapter 377 Surprise

    Chapter 377 Surprise


    Khan often forgot that mana cores had limits, but that wasn''t really his fault. His energy reserves seemed endless, and his body had always grown exhausted before he could fully test himself.


    However, the Ots was an experienced warrior, so he kept track of that feature. The fact that Khan could still stand was incredible, but the alien believed that the effort had exhausted most of his energies.


    Khan had almost given up on trying to hurt his opponent. The previous wall of mes had made him lose his initiative, leaving the third-level warrior in a battle stance and with spells floating around him.


    Khan had no way to bring the initiative back on his side. No matter what he tried to do, he would always be one step behind the Ots. Even sprinting would leave him exposed to those head-sized blue fireballs.


    Yet, the Ots'' statement revealed an unexpected opening. Khan coulde up with something as long as his opponent didn''t expect a spell from him. Defeating the third-level warrior sounded impossible even in that situation, but it allowed Khan to retain some hope.


    Khan had a general knowledge of various styles. His time in the training halls had given him an idea about many martial arts. He didn''t know them in great detail, but he could understand a few features from battle stances and simr postures.


    The Ots had a generic but functional battle stance. He had partially turned his body to limit the exposed areas, and he had even stretched his left arm to prepare for an attack. Meanwhile, his right arm was on his chest to deflect blows, and his legs were slightly bent to be ready for a sprint.


    That battle stance could lead to countless martial arts, but Khan only took note of itsck of ws. Except for the innate shorter range due to the Ots'' size, Khan couldn''t find anything to exploit.


    Cold realizations filled Khan''s thoughts. He had a chance, but seizing it would cost him greatly. There was no way around that.


    "Ooh?" The Ots voiced in a mocking tone when he saw Khan shooting forward.


    Khan''s feet hurt whenever they touched the scorching floor, and his back never stopped sending sharp waves of pain, but they only added power to his tight grip on the knife. He couldn''t achieve his peak speed, but he remained fast.


    Still, the Ots didn''t lose track of Khan. The alien turned without breaking his battle stance as he followed Khan sprinting at his left. It was clear that Khan was aiming to cross the raised arm to find an opening, but the third-level warrior didn''t let him.


    Khan kept a safe distance. He ran around the Ots without daring to approach him. Those blue fireballs were too scary, but the tactic wasn''t going anywhere.


    Moreover, Khan wasn''t getting any better. It was actually the opposite. His injuries expanded as he kept pushing his body to its limits. He had to go in before he became too weak to put up a fight.


    The Ots didn''t hesitate. As soon as Khan cut toward him, one of the fireballs shot forward. The spell even expanded and destabilized during the flight, turning into an explosive sphere that released raging mes.


    The fireballpletely exploded before touching Khan. He had to close his eyes again since the heat was too much to bear. mes shot in every direction and created a barrier that no one would dare to cross, but Khan had no other options.


    Khan covered his face with his arms and spread the [Blood Shield] through the upper part of his body before diving directly into the mes. His skin burnt, but his speed limited the damage to a single second. He ran past the fire and reappeared in the open, but another fireball was already flying toward him.


    The Ots didn''t predict that Khan would jump through the mes. He couldn''t even sense him. Yet, as soon as a figure became visible among the fire, heunched the fireball.


    The second fireball behaved like the first. It expanded and grew unstable. Khan was only a few seconds away from finding himself before another wall of mes, and he couldn''t keep the [Blood Shield] active for so long.


    The blood vessels lost their toughness as Khan recalled the [Blood Shield] and focused on the fireball''s rhythm. The spell was about to explode, but he elerated and sent mana toward his knife while performing an upward sh.


    The knife lit up and cut through the unstable mes, creating a narrow opening that Khan used to run through the spell. The fire still touched him and left burning marks on his body, but he got the chance to reach the Ots.


    Each step that Khan took intensified the surprise experienced by the Ots, but thetter didn''t let that feeling get in the way of the battle. His movements remained precise and virtually perfect.


    Thest fireball flew forward while the Ots lowered his left arm to make his elbow touch his torso. Khan was basically on him, but the spell wasing, and mana flowed toward his four fingers to prepare a killer move.


    The Ots'' calctions were perfect. The fireball wouldnd on Khan as soon as his opponent entered his reach. The alien didn''t fear his own mes, so he was willing to let the spell explode right in front of him.


    If Khan managed to get past that, the Ots would still have his left arm. His fingers would pierce anything that crossed his mes. The exchange was set in stone in his mind. Khan was bound to be helpless.


    Khan stuck to those calctions. He ran straight for the Ots, uncaring of the fireball descending on him. However, before the spell coulde too close or hinder his path, he stomped his foot slightly harder and released the original version of the Wave spell.


    A purple-red wave of mana left Khan''s body and expanded to create a sphere. The spell dug the floor and removed the mes still burning on his skin, but it couldn''t do much against the fireball. It only slowed down its descent.


    Khan knew that his spell couldn''t beat the fireball. He had already seen the chaos spear failing in that attempt, so he couldn''t hope something weaker to do better.


    Yet, the dy in the fireball allowed Khan to reach the Ots without facing the fire. His expanding spell had also surprised the alien, who abandoned the idea of attacking to opt for a rapid retreat.


    In normal conditions, the Ots would leave Khan''s range before any attack couldnd on him. However, Khan had moved knowing that his spell would create an opening, while the alien had merely reacted to that unexpected development.


    That allowed Khan to be one step ahead of the Ots. When thetter started to retreat, Khan was already pushing his glowing knife forward. Its tip actually managed to pierce the alien''s chest, but everything fell apart afterward.


    Thest fireball exploded, sending waves of mes crashing on Khan and the Ots. Khan disregarded them and tried to push his knife even deeper, but his opponent punched him on his belly before he could inflict any significant damage.


    The physical prowess of a third-level warrior was truly incredible. Khan felt a hammer mming on his abdomen and pushing him away. His feet left the floor as he flew for a few meters toward his left.


    Khan tried to remain focused on his attack, but he eventually lost control of the mana around the knife. His weapon slid through the Ots'' chest beforeing out and apanying him in his flight.


    The punch saved Khan from the rest of the mes, which enveloped the Ots and hid his presence. Khan didn''t want to miss that chance and tried to move his mana to prepare a chaos spear, but a tremor ran inside him as soon as hended and disrupted his concentration.


    The urge to throw up took control of Khan and made him bend forward. His legs began to shake, and the pain from his back reced any thought or sensation inside his mind.


    Khan tried to tighten his grip on the knife to retain some connection with reality, but he didn''t feel anything. He knew that his weapon was still in his hand, but his touch was failing him.


    The world in Khan''s eyes was unclear when he opened them. His peripheral vision barely recorded anything. He felt at the bottom of a well, with his sense of distancepletely messed up. Everything even tried to spin, but he kept it somewhat stable through sheer willpower.


    Khan knew what was happening. His body was falling apart. The punch had made him aware of all the injuries that had umted since the beginning of the battle.


    On the other hand, the Ots was barely affected. The mes dispersed and revealed his condition. He was perfectly fine except for a shallow cut on his chest. The dark tracksuit hid most of that injury, but Khan knew that it wasn''t significant.


    Khan struggled to remain on his feet, but he still noticed the anger on the Ots'' face. It was impossible to miss how livid the alien was, and Khan felt powerless before that scene.


    "You little-," The Ots began to curse, but something suddenlynded on his right shoulder and transformed his line into a short, painful cry.


    Khan was as surprised as the Ots, but his confused statested less than his opponent. The alien nced at the root in his shoulder before moving his gaze to the passage on the intermediate floor. Instead, Khan only had to sense familiar auras to understand what had happened.


    The passage on the intermediate floor wasn''trge enough to fit the entire team, but Piran, Jenna, and another Nele had peeked past it. Jenna didn''t hesitate to throw her root when she saw Khan''s poor state, and herpanions were about to imitate her.


    The Ots moved his attention to the Nele, but the sounds of steps quickly forced him to turn back on Khan. The alien found his opponent running toward him, and his anger exploded at that point.


    Khan was barely seeding in performing his sprints. He was far slower than usual, which gave the Ots enough time to react. However, when the alien tried to adjust his posture, he noticed that his body didn''t listen to hismands.


    The weakness caused by the rootsted only for a few seconds. The Ots'' body was too strong to be affected by Jenna''s arts for too long, but Khan was on him by then.


    The Ots voiced a battle cry as he stretched his arm toward Khan. His hand met his glowing knife and resisted long enough to deflect the attack, even if the alien lost half of it in the process.


    Khan felt on the verge of losing consciousness when he saw his knife cutting the alien''s palm in half and a chunk of his forearm before returning in the air. Thatst attack had also failed to kill the Ots, but the Nele didn''t stay still.


    The distraction created by Khan made the iing attacks impossible to dodge for the Ots. Two more roots flew through the area and hit the alien on his back, further limiting his movements.


    Khan stomped his right foot on the floor and summoned every remaining inch of concentration he had left to lift his leg and deliver a kick. The Ots tried to block it, but the missing part of his hand created an opening that granted Khan a path toward his chest.


    The Ots endured the kick without budging and even ignored the formless whiff of manaing out of it. His expression grew crazy as he crossed his arms and grabbed Khan''s leg. mes seeped out of his fingers, and a smirk broadened on his face as he stared deeply into Khan''s eyes.


    Still, that smirk froze for a second when the Ots saw more manaing out of the foot in his grasp and partially fending off the mes. Khanunched a straight version of the Wave spell through his leg, and the purple-red energy unleashed destruction on the alien''s body.


    The tracksuit shattered in no time, and the purple-red mana quickly moved on the skin. Cracks opened on the dark-red flesh as the spell expanded. A circr injury grew and stretched to the arms locked on the foot, but the alien didn''t release his grasp.


    The Ots shouted as he poured more power into his mes. The Wave spell couldn''t stop them, so they soon reached Khan''s leg. However, Khan kept his attack active and continued digging through the alien''s chest.


    The dark-red skin soon turned into a gory mess that had no resemnce to its original form. Layers of muscles and bones became visible, and the Wave spell didn''t hesitate to spread its destruction there.


    Khan gritted his teeth. Pain filled the entirety of his body and mind, but he put everything he had on his spell. Soon, a head-sized hole formed on the Ots'' chest and continued to expand.


    The purple-red mana eventually touched some vital organs, and blood filled the Ots'' mouth. The smirk slowly vanished, and the same went for the mes. The alien finally fell, and Khan joined him on the floor.


    Pure chaos ran through Khan''s mind. Thoughts tried to make their way through the painful sensations that had taken over him, but everything went silent when he lifted his head to peek at the Ots. Thetter wasn''t moving. He had finally died.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The adrenaline stopped flowing. Khan brought his head back on the floor and rxed. The intense painful sensations quieted down and transformed into a constant but almost bearable suffering that involved every inch of his body.


    Khan suddenly became aware of the sweat on his forehead. He lifted a hand to wipe it away even if the gesture caused him immense pain, but his gaze remained stuck on the linear burn on his palm. He didn''t even remember how he had gotten that, but he knew that the rest of his body was far worse off.


    ''I went overboard,'' Khan sighed in his mind as he tried to enter a meditative state to stabilize his condition. The attempt immediately failed since the pain he felt didn''t let him focus.


    Steps resounded around Khan at some point, and Jenna''s concerned face soon appeared in his vision. She wanted to touch him, but she held back and even squeezed her own wrist to keep her hands in check. She simply didn''t know how to approach him without triggering pain.


    "[We must go]," Piran eximed while also entering Khan''s vision.


    Jenna nodded before crouching toward Khan to whisper a few words. "[I will lift you now]."


    "[I can sort of walk]," Khan tried to chuckle, but only a rough voice came out of his mouth.


    "[You really shouldn''t]," Jenna stated while ncing at Khan''s feet. "[Endure until we get back to the district]."


    Jenna took Khan''s left arm and put it over her shoulders before straightening her position. She paid extra attention to avoid touching his back, but it was clear that carrying him like that would be far from easy.


    Still, Piran promptly reached Khan''s right side and imitated Jenna. The gesture surprised Khan, but he was too in pain to think about it. He could only focus on making himself less of dead weight as the two Nele carried him through the area.

 Chapter ?378 Oversee

    Chapter ?378 Oversee


    Khan did his best to help Jenna and Piran, but he couldn''t achieve much in his condition. He could only suppress his painful grunts as the two Nele carried him back to the intermediate floor and across the previous area.


    Scenes of ughter flowed through Khan''s vision, but he wasn''t in the right state to pay attention to them. He could only confirm that every Ots had died.


    Some members of the team stormed the ce to seize as much loot as possible, but Khan, Jenna, Piran, and a few other Nele disregarded the process to hurry back to the district.


    The streets around the club were packed with bystanders. The structure had hidden most of the noise and scenes, but its doors were open, so the dock''s poption had an idea of what happened.


    Seeing Khan''s poor state and the blood on hispanions only confirmed the rumors. The Nele hadunched a direct attack on the club, and many didn''t know why.


    Khan couldn''t really study the area. He let the two Nele carry him as his consciousness cked out every few seconds. He wanted to sleep, but the paining from his many injuries kept him awake.


    Streets went by, and none of the bystanders approached the team during the walk. Some hurried in random directions to spread the news, but it was clear that only time would tell what repercussions the hunting season would have.


    Khan couldn''t help but smile when purple halos appeared in his vision. The team brought him inside the district and crossed any area witnessed before to lead him into a hangar that contained whiffs of natural mana.


    That peculiar feature forced Khan to focus a bit, but the hangar didn''t have the exnations he sought. He saw boxes and some furniture, but nothing that could justify the presence of natural mana.


    The answers arrived when Jenna and Piran opened a trapdoor hidden behind some boxes. More natural mana flowed through the opening and entered the hangar, and descending the staircase revealed a series of green nts kept in small vases.


    The ce was a proper greenhouse. White lights stood above the various nts, and tubes that leaked water ran through each vase. The structure wasn''t overlyplicated, but it remained functional enough to keep that vegetation alive.


    The Nele on the upper floor sealed the trapdoor while Khan studied the area. For some reason, he felt more awake and able to focus, but the natural mana wasn''t to praise for that. The smell released by the nts was easing his mind and quelling his pain.


    The center of the greenhouse was rtively empty since all the nts stood next to the walls. That spot only featured a long mat, and Jenna and Piran carefully dropped Khan on it.


    A grunt inevitably escaped Khan''s mouth when he tried to sit. He didn''t want to lie down due to his injured back, but tensing up didn''t help either. Luckily for him, Jenna was already at his side.


    "[You must rx and let the nts do their work]," Jenna announced while pushing Khan down and exposing his back. "[A physician is also on her way. She''ll get you back on your feet in no time]."


    Khan nodded and closed his eyes when Jenna reached for his hair. Her careful touch expressed how worried she was about his condition, but he didn''t have the power to reassure her. His mind slowly went dark as the nts'' scent seeped through his nostrils, and the nightmare soon arrived.


    A wet sensation snapped Khan out of the nightmare and awakened him. He instinctively tried to turn to see what was happening, but Jenna kept him down by pressing on his head.


    "[This ointment will make you feel better]," Jenna reassured while proceeding to caress Khan''s head. "[Focus on resting]."


    Khan could only follow those orders, but his mind remained awake for a while, allowing him to go through some details. Jenna was next to him, so someone else was applying the ointment. Another Nele was freely touching him.


    The physician didn''t leave any burnt spots untouched. She went over Khan''s feet, back, and hands before performing a massage that helped with the absorption of that substance.


    Once the massage ended, the physician handed a fuming bowl to Jenna, who proceeded to spoon-feed Khan. The soup was dense, almost solid, and pretty hot, but Khan didn''t get burnt while eating it. He even had the chance to experience the cozy warmth the meal spread inside him.


    Jenna giggled from time to time. She was clearly enjoying herself, but some guilt always made her suppress herugh. She liked taking care of Khan, but she didn''t want him to get so hurt again.


    The meal gave some strength back to Khan, but he decided to remain in his position. Still, scenes from the fight against the third-level warrior reappeared in his vision and gave him the chance to study them through a calmer mindset.


    There was no way around it. The Ots had been way above Khan''s level. He had managed to survive for so long thanks to his sensitivity to mana, and the alien''s dispersive element had also yed a significant role in that part.


    Khan''s seemingly endless mana had been a critical element in the battle. He had managed to use the alien''s experience against him, which had made the whole survival possible. After all, his martial arts had be terrible during thest exchanges.


    ''Are my mana reserves really bottomless?'' Khan wondered while lying on the mat. ''That shouldn''t be possible, right?''


    The mana core wasn''t much of a container. It mainly produced energy that Khan could use for different reasons. The fact that he had yet to see its limits stated that the creation of new mana happened incredibly fast.


    ''Overcharging my spells is out of the question,'' Khan thought as he began to look for ways to exploit that quality. ''I''ll be unable to control them if I''m not careful.''


    Liiza''s voice resounded in Khan''s mind, and he mixed it with everything he had learnt about mana after Nitis. The chaos element strived for freedom in ways that Khan had yet to understand fully, and that prevented him from knowing how to canalize its power. He used his emotions to alter the human''s approach, but that couldn''t help him in the creation of spells.


    ''Maybe I need to study more spells to get ideas,'' Khan wondered, and multiple reasons backed that thought.


    First of all, the battle against the third-level warrior had revealed some ws in Khan''s arsenal. The chaos spear took too long to prepare, and the Wave spell had no range. Hecked quick and effective attacks that could cover some ground while retaining his element''s destructive power.


    Moreover, getting new spells would add details to Khan''s overall knowledge. Seeing how his approach would modify them might reveal something useful, eventually leading to the fusion of his various methods.


    ''I wonder what''s so secret about the Tors'' arts,'' Khan thought. ''I also need to speak with the Fuveall. It would be nice to get close to their species.''


    Countless possibilities unfolded as Khan thought about the dock. That environment could offer many priceless things, and he wanted to explore all of them. Time was a big problem, and his recent involvement with the hunting season joined that field.


    Jenna never left Khan''s side during his recovery. The two didn''t speak much since Jenna wanted Khan to focus on resting, but her affection remained evident through her touch.


    The physician returned a couple of times to reapply the ointment. Some Nele even delivered food three times a day for Jenna and Khan. He was being treated like a proper guest, but he didn''t know how long that wouldst.


    Khan recovered quickly in that peaceful and cozy environment. Soon, new skin reced the burnt flesh and made most burns disappear. He could feel his condition improving every day until he eventually felt confident enough to change position.


    "[You shouldn''t get up so soon]," Jennained when Khan left her to straighten his back and finally sit on the mat.


    "[How many days have I been down]?" Khan asked as he checked his condition.


    His back and feet still featured red spots that would probably never vanish. Burns had an annoying way of leaving marks, and even the Nele''s ointments couldn''t fix them, but Khan didn''t really care. He preferred those scars over the azure one on his chest.


    His hair was another casualty of the battle. The mes had been merciless there. Khan couldn''t find long strands even when he checked with his hand.


    "[A week]," Jenna revealed while getting closer to ce her hand on Khan''s chest. "[You recovered quickly, but notpletely. You are still tired]."


    "[I can feel that]," Khanughed as he stretched his neck. "[I guess that''s expected after a fight against a third-level warrior]."


    "[Why did you face him on your own]?" Jenna asked. "[You could have regrouped with us. We could have taken him down together]."


    Khan could only wear a fake smile that Jenna didn''t like at all. The hand on his chest tensed up as she got even closer and sat on hisp. Jenna enveloped Khan in a warm embrace, but her face hinted at more than affection.


    "[You are impossible]," Jenna sighed.


    "[That''s my line]," Khan joked while staring deeply into those beautiful worried eyes.


    "[I won''t ask you to give up on your selflessness]," Jenna eximed, "[But I will follow you closely from now on]."


    "[Closer than this]?" Khan teased.


    "[You''ll see]," Jenna giggled. "[Now cuddle me up a bit]."


    "[I thought I had to rest]," Khan reminded her.


    "[You are well enough to stand]," Jenna pointed out. "[You can handle my spoiled mood]."


    Khan felt defeated but in a nice way. He didn''t want to lie down again, but he couldn''t win against Jenna. She actually deserved that after staying by his side during his entire recovery.


    The greenhouse didn''t offer much privacy, so Jenna kept her clothes on while Khan dealt with her mood and made a point of the situation. He had yet to get anywhere with his original mission, and Jenna didn''t know enough about the consequences of the hunting season to help him out.


    The two couldn''t remain in the greenhouse forever, especially since Khan had yet to understand when the Nele''s hospitality would run out. He also wanted to stretch out a bit and learn more about what happened, so he eventually left the area with Jenna.


    The hangar on the first floor was empty, but life appeared as soon as the couple left it. The district was more active than ever, with tens of Nele running left and right. Still, Khan''s arrival in the open made most of them stop.


    Khan didn''t know whether that reaction was a good thing. He mostly saw curiosity and interest in those beautiful faces, but that didn''t confirm anything. He needed to have a chat with Piran, and thetter seemed to share that idea.


    A group of Nele moved toward Khan as soon as he left the hangar. He could see Piran and some of the aliens who had joined the hunting season. Nessa was also among them, but their intentions remained unclear.


    "[Come with us]," Piran announced without halting his march as soon as he reached Khan.


    Jenna wanted to voice a pissed remark at that apparent coldness, but Khan eased her by taking her hand. The couple simply followed the group of Nele until they reached another building that didn''t show much about its functions.


    The entrance opened to reveal a rtivelyrge area filled with interactive desks and screens. Nele stood behind them and studied the information they depicted.


    Khan could read the names of ships and goods together with hours and other writings. He could quicklye up with ideas about the nature of the ce, but something became clear before that. The area was definitely important in the district.


    "[Wear this]," Piran eximed once the entrance closed behind the group. A set of baggy clothes stood on one of the interactive desks, and Khan didn''t hesitate to take them.


    Getting close to the desk revealed more information. Records of shipments and other names that Khan couldn''t ssify appeared in his vision, and he didn''t know how to approach them. They sounded like secrets, and he couldn''t just close his eyes.


    Khan tried to focus on dressing up since the situation hinted at something positive. The Nele seemed ready to trust him, but he remained calm and waited for Piran to continue.


    "[We didn''t expect the club to have a third-level warrior]," Piran exined when Khan finished dressing up. "[It''s hard to surpass the Ots in terms of information]."


    "[I''ve noticed]," Khan admitted. "[They are quite resourceful]."


    "[You didn''t see everything]," Piran stated before reaching the desk nearby and tinkering with it until a video yed.


    Scenes that Khan recognized flowed on the interactive desk. He saw himself with the Nele from the hunting season walking toward a hidden camera that recorded the destruction of the club''s entrance.


    The video didn''t even stop there. The perspective moved inside the building, showing Khan''s initial assault and subsequent charge into the theatre area.


    The perspective remained on the first area, and Khan had the chance to witness the clean and swift ughter performed by the Nele. He even noticed how all hispanions turned at the same time once they sensed the presence of a third-level warrior, but the remaining Ots didn''t allow them to reach him right away.


    The video then showed a few Nele managing to reach the hidden passage anding back a few minutester with an injured Khan. The actual battle against the third-level warrior wasn''t part of the recording, but anyone who knew about the presence of such a strong Ots would make the necessary connection. Khan had survived for many minutes against him.


    "[I thought stuff like this couldn''t exist on Milia 222]," Khan uttered. "[Especially in the dock]."


    "[It doesn''t officially exist]," Piran revealed. "[We found it when we looted the ce, and we even confirmed that someone forwarded a copy somewhere. The Ots will probably add it to their database]."


    "[And spread it]," Khan guessed.


    "[It''s difficult to say]," Piran replied. "[They might find buyers, but that''s unlikely at the same time. You aren''t a high-profile figure]."


    Khan didn''t know what to say at that revtion. The battle in Lower Level 2 had already announced his arrival on the dock, and now the Ots had him fighting on tape. His anonymity never had a chance to exist.


    "[What happens now]?" Khan sighed.


    "[Nothing, really]," Piran responded.


    "[What]?" Khan eximed.


    "[Some factions among the Ots might want to retaliate, but others might be happy about what we did]," Piran exined. "[Their species is too divided to agree on something. I wouldn''t be surprised if they leaked information on purpose to give us new targets]."


    "[So, is the hunting season still open]?" Khan wondered.


    "[We hit two more ces while you were recovering]," Piran revealed. "[We will hit two more this week before letting things cool down]."


    Khan obviously noticed how Piran was being strangely open about those ns. That was far from normal unless something about his status had drastically changed.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Nevertheless, Piran didn''t say anything about that specific topic, and the matter was getting annoying. Khan didn''t want to sound disrespectful, but he eventually decided to stop holding back his tongue.


    "[Am I in or out]?" Khan directly asked.


    "[You can live with us]," Piran stated. "[Go get your things. We have a ce for you already]."


    "[Us]," Jenna corrected as she jumped at Khan''s side and took his hand.


    The Nele in the room found it hard to keep straight faces in front of that open affection, and Piran was no exception. He diverted his eyes for a second before performing a slight nod.


    "[As for the next two targets]," Khan continued. "[I''m not in perfect condition, but I can help]."


    "[We can''t be seen relying on a human so heavily]," Piran exined. "[Besides, you have different orders]."


    Khan was about to voice a question, but the building''s entrance suddenly opened to reveal a familiar figure. Maban stepped through the door and let it close behind him before coldly inspecting Khan.


    Maban''s arrival was a surprise even for Jenna, and his clear interest in Khan only added fuel to that feeling. Still, it also made Khan curious.


    "[I didn''t expect our second chat to happen so soon]," Maban announced. "[Trouble sure follows you. I''m starting to wonder whether you are trouble yourself]."


    Maban stepped forward, and Piran made room for him. Maban could approach the interactive desk and rewind the video a bit to see Khan being carried away.


    "[Jenna introduced you to our arts, right]?" Maban asked.


    "[She did]," Khan confirmed.


    "[It''s time to apply them properly then]," Maban ordered. "[If you want to live among us, you must pass for one of us]."


    "[I''ll put more effort into it]," Khan promised.


    "[No need]," Maban stated. "[Since I''m here now, I''ll take care of overseeing your training]."

 Chapter ?379 Pervert

    Chapter ?379 Pervert


    The news shocked Khan and Jenna, but it seemed that the rest of the Nele knew about that. Still, many of them didn''t appear too convinced, and Khan couldn''t me them.


    Khan didn''t know how important Maban was, but his level surely put him in some relevant position, especially in the dock. He probably shouldn''t waste time teaching a human, but the decision sounded final.


    "[Thank you]!" Khan promptly eximed, even if his confusion remained intense. "[Sir]?"


    Maban snorted to express his hate toward the "[sir]", and Khan wore a sorry smile. He wanted to remain polite, but the Nele had basically epted him. Holding back would only put barriers between him and that species.


    "[Take another day to rest]," Maban ordered as he left the interactive desk and approached one of the screens in the back of the room. "[We''ll start tomorrow]."


    "[Retrieve your stuff]," Piran continued. "[Someone will lead you to your ce once you get back]."


    Khan simply nodded and hurried outside the building with Jenna. She was on the verge of exploding, and even the synthetic mana around her began to show those emotions. It was evident that she felt ecstatic about the recent development.


    "[It was about time]!" Jenna almost shouted as soon as the door behind her closed. Her voice startled the Nele nearby, but she didn''t care and even jumped on Khan.


    Khan shared Jenna''s happiness. He caught and lifted her between his arms as she snuggled deep into his neck. The sound of kisses spread through the street, but Khan onlyughed at that event.


    "[Jenna, we got a room]," Khan happilyined. "[Hold back a little longer]."


    Jenna left Khan''s neck to show an engrossed expression. Her face descended on Khan in an attempt to reach his lips, but he promptly lifted a hand to cover her mouth.


    "[I''ll buy you a muzzle]," Khan scolded, and Jenna voiced a disappointed groan that the hand on her mouth suppressed.


    Still, Jenna soon wore a pensive expression, and Khan could feel a faint smile broadening on his palm. Something made Khan aware of what Jenna was thinking, and another scolding inevitably left his mouth.


    "[You are the most twisted Nele in the universe]," Khan sighed.


    A giggle resounded behind the palm as Jenna returned to Khan''s neck. He let go of her mouth, and she voiced a serious but warm statement. "[I''m so happy for you]."


    "[I know]," Khan replied as he lifted Jenna''s legs to make her easier to carry. "[I''ll drop you once we are about to leave the district]."


    "[You are the best]," Jenna eximed and rxedpletely to enjoy that spoiling.


    The curious gazes that followed the couple couldn''t distract Khan from his thoughts. He didn''t lie to Jenna about his feelings. He was genuinely grateful and happy about that oue, but there was also something else.


    ''My advantagese from my traumas,'' Khan recalled an old thought, ''And my happinesses from the blood on my hands.''


    Even after bing a second-level warrior and traveling far away from Earth, that system didn''t change. Khan didn''t prove himself to the Nele by normal methods. He had to kill to get where he was.


    "[What is it]?" Jenna whispered in Khan''s ear when she noticed the change in his mood.


    "[I once wondered if I could escape the cycle of tragedies and killing]," Khan revealed. "[I don''t know if that''s what I want now]."


    "[You are exceptional in so many things]," Jenna dered. "[Giving yourself time isn''t one of them]."


    "[I can''t be too perfect]," Khan joked.


    "[You are far from perfect]," Jennaughed. "[Your desire to save others from your same suffering is a toxicpulsion, and you can''t ept peace]."


    "[Don''t you justify anything if done in the name of love]?" Khan asked.


    "[ws remain ws]," Jenna pointed out. "[Our devotion toward love doesn''t make us blind. Well, sort of]."


    "[What''s the solution then]?" Khan wondered.


    "[The solution is that there is no solution]," Jenna exined. "[You simply find ws that match yours, even if they lead you to the goriest parts of the universe]."


    "[You sure can sound wise]," Khan admitted. "[I wonder what the other Nele would say if they knew your twisted thoughts]."


    "[I just ept myself and everything you are making me discover]," Jenna stated. "[Also, it won''t take long before I do something crazy in the open]."


    "[I''m really having a bad influence on you]," Khan sighed.


    "[Not bad]," Jenna corrected. "[I''m only discovering my own toxic sides, but this makes it so worth it]."


    Jenna rubbed her face on Khan''s neck and closed her eyes to bathe in his warmth. She felt really happy and at peace, and Khan experienced some of those emotions when he looked at her.


    However, the truth about that rtionship was impossible to deny. No matter howpatible Jenna and Khan were. They had to stick to friends.


    ''Did I make a mistake with Liiza?'' Khan wondered as Jenna''s words resounded in his mind. ''Could I have done something differently?''


    "[Stop ming yourself]," Jennained without opening her eyes. "[It ruins your scent]."


    "[You are impossible]," Khan chuckled.


    "[And you did your best]," Jenna added. "[I couldn''t be sure when I met you, but now I know. It''s not your fault]."


    Khan felt a bit saved, and he didn''t hesitate to express his gratitude to Jenna. She obviously enjoyed the process, but the end of the district eventually arrived and forced her to jump off of him.


    The mood instantly changed. Jenna wasn''t wearing her spray, so she donned her cold expression and lit up the purple clip in her hair. Meanwhile, Khan inspected the streets around the district, and he felt no surprise seeing a bunch of random groups paying attention to his location.


    Most of those groups were made of Ots, but Khan also saw a few humans and Fuveall. The dock had taken notice of the hunting season and had reacted ordingly. There was a high chance that the audience would have to warn their factions whenever they saw Neleing out of the district.


    Khan''s appearance triggered unique reactions too. He became the center of the attention, and some among the audience even faintly tugged their distractedpanions to notify them about the event.


    That reaction was understandable, especially among the Ots. Many of them must have seen the record from the club, but Khan couldn''t do much about it. He actually ignored the audience as he took Jenna''s hand and led her across the streets.


    The walk was silent and allowed Khan to focus on the mana. His sensitivity was almost at its peak, so the symphony unfolded itself for Khan. Yet, his attention went deep inside him in an attempt to replicate what had happened with the third-level warrior.


    Khan didn''t forget the word "flow" heard when the blue mes were flying in his direction. He didn''t know how conscious that reaction had been, but his doubts involved even deeper aspects of the event.


    ''Did I think that?'' Khan wondered. ''Did my mana speak?''


    A regr human wouldn''t even consider the second option. The sole idea that the mana could speak was crazy, but Khan didn''t base his knowledge on the Global Army''s teachings. Actually, most of his focus had been on alternative paths in thest years.


    Khan''s mind couldn''t provide an answer or replicate the mental state reached during that challenging situation. He couldn''t exin that phenomenon, but he knew that his understanding was growing deeper, and it was bound to deepen even more with Maban.


    The walk toward the hotel was uneventful. Many took notice of Khan and Jenna, and he even felt that simr presences remained in his surroundings, but no one dared to approach them.


    After reaching the hotel, Jenna executed the same gesture Nessa and the others performed. She let the purple light illuminate the building''s insides before proceeding to step inside. The scenery wasn''t much different from the first visit, and even the old man behind the desk was still busy watching porn.


    "[You are back]," The old man announced in a disappointed tone after pressing something under his desk.


    "[I hope you didn''t sell our stuff]," Khan calmly threatened.


    "[Not at all]," The old manughed, "[But I do need you to pay for the past days. It''s the house''s rule]."


    The old man had closed his porn and had even stood up to wee the couple. Traces of nervousness filled his face, but Khan wasn''t to me for them. Jenna got most of the tense stares, and the same went for the few aliens at the tables.


    It was unclear how many were aware of Khan''s performance, but almost everyone knew that the Nele hadunched brazen attacks without bothering to limit themselves to the guilty. Tension built up as the old man and the other aliens wondered how Jenna would react to the request, but Khan promptly took the lead in that conversation.


    "[We must check that our bags have everything first]," Khan eximed.


    The old man didn''t appear inclined to satisfy that request, but he still followed through. He bent behind the desk, and sounds stoppeding from the other side of the barrier until he reappeared with two familiar bags.


    The old man sent one bag past the barrier and waited for Khan to check its contents before opening a drawer to get the item back. He gave the second only after retrieving the first, and Khan confirmed that everything was in its ce.


    The sum to pay wasn''t low, but it didn''t affect Khan''s finances. He retrieved the bags and left the ce with Jenna right away to return to the district.


    The auras that Khan had sensed before returned in his sensitivity''s range. He couldn''t identify any of them, but he could guess that someone was following him, which made sense considering everything that had happened.


    The couple found Nessa waiting for them before the entrance of the Nele''s district. She retained her stern fa?ade in that exposed area, but her expression became quite curious once the three walked deeper into the purple halo.


    The dock''s stance toward the Nele wasn''t the only thing that had changed while Khan recovered. Even the Nele themselves had started to see Khan differently, which became clearer after Maban''s announcement.


    Nessa didn''t immediately give in to her curiosity. She wasn''t as bold as Jenna, and some hesitation still filled her mind. Yet, as the walk continued, her nces toward the couple happened more often until they became so evident that Jenna couldn''t hold back fromughing.


    "[She will tease you to no end if you don''t speak up]," Khan announced.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[I have nothing to say]!" Nessa eximed.


    "[How do you know he was talking about you]?" Jenna teased.


    Nessa snorted and elerated before slowing down when she reached a hidden area of the district. The streets there only had staircases that led to the lower floor, and she quickly approached one of them.


    After witnessing that area, Khan felt to have seen the entirety of the district. He didn''t walk on every street, and he didn''t check all the buildings, but he had gained an idea of the generalyout and overall width.


    The staircase led to a big structure that stretched under multiple streets. The ce had many passages connected to its upper part, but its dark-grey walls didn''t reveal anything. Khan could only see trapdoors connected to each channel.


    The trapdoor connected to the staircase opened as soon as Nessa tapped it. Khan and Jenna could jump on the big structure and watch its insides through that opening, but they could only see the dock''s iconic light from their position.


    A whiff of natural mana eventually flowed out of the open trapdoor, but Nessa didn''t waste time. She jumped into the passage to reach thedder attached to it and arrive at the bottom of the area.


    Khan and Jenna followed Nessa, and they soon found themselves inside a rtively small room that featured a single mattress in a corner and a transparent case in another. A purple substance filled the container, and a green root swam in it.


    The root was the source of the faint natural mana mixed with the synthetic in the room. It wasn''t much, but it reminded Khan of the hidden dome on the third asteroid. The scene made him guess that all the other rooms in that big structure had simr items.


    "[The room is interactive]," Nessa exined as she touched the wall and menus appeared. "[It''s not too advanced, but it features some useful functions]."


    Khan dropped his backpack on the floor before approaching the menus. Part of the wall transformed into a mirror after he pressed the correspondingbel, and the poor state of his hair became clear.


    ''How did this happen again?'' Khan cursed before drawing his knife and turning toward Jenna.


    "[Can you fix this for me]?" Khan asked, and Jenna did precisely as he had predicted. She happily jumped toward him but ignored the knife while she pushed him down.


    Khan put the knife back into the sheath and slid his fingers over the mirror to lower it before sitting on the floor. Jenna crouched behind him and stretched two fingers as she sent a simple request to the synthetic mana.


    The energy in the room gathered on Jenna''s fingertips and created a short, invisible de that required good sensitivity to notice. She had basically performed a far weaker version of the Divine Reaper without relying on any specific technique.


    Nessa didn''t know what to do in that situation. Jenna seemed to have the time of her life as she cut Khan''s hair, and thetter''s mind was elsewhere. The couple was immersed in something intimate, but they were clearly used to it, so Nessa felt out of ce.


    Nessa''s first instinct was to leave, but the azure strands of hair that Jenna''s de uncovered attracted her attention and kept her eyes glued on the scene. The curiosity from before returned, and an urge eventually took control of her movements.


    Khan and Jenna froze when Nessa stretched her arm forward. She was basically next to them, so her fingers only needed a second tond on Khan''s head. The gesture had no deep meaning, but the sole fact that it had happened revealed something quite profound.


    Nessa snapped out of her urge and retracted her hand while voicing a gasp. She held her fingers in surprise while exchanging nces with Jenna and Khan, but her eyes eventually went to the parts of her that had touched Khan.


    "[It''s already starting]," Jenna cursed. "[I thought I had more time]."


    "[Starting]?" Khan repeated, but Jenna suddenly straightened her back to hide his head behind her chest.


    "[He is mine]," Jenna dered.


    "[Jenna]," Khan tried to scold, but Jenna''s clothes suppressed his word.


    "[It''s different from when we do our traditional greetings]," Nessamented.


    "[It''s exciting, isn''t it]?" Jenna giggled before regaining her stern tone. "[But you can''t do it]!"


    "[Jenna, she just touched my hair]," Khan pointed out when he managed to tilt his head.


    "[You know how it will evolve]," Jenna snorted. "[The step between a superficial touch and sleeping naked is short]."


    "[No one is getting naked]," Khanined.


    "[I lost myposure before]," Nessa added. "[I''m sorry]."


    "[It''s fine]," Khan reassured.


    "[I disagree]," Jennained.


    Nessa crouched in front of Jenna and lowered her gaze before voicing a question in a timid tone. "[How is sleeping with him]?"


    "[It''s great]," Jenna giggled. "[We have to hold back, but we can also do a lot of stuff]."


    "[Don''t tell me you are as twisted as her]," Khan sighed.


    "[You know we have it hard]," Jenna whined.


    "[Can you at least pick a side]?" Khan cursed.


    "[Nessa did help us since we reached the dock]," Jenna pointed out.


    "[Do you n on trading me]?" Khan asked.


    "[A bit of sharing might not hurt too much]," Jenna stated. "[Wouldn''t you like it]?"


    Khan wanted to curse louder than ever, but Jenna and Nessa were staring at him. Having those beautiful women so close to him tried to make dents on his willpower, but he managed to keep a cool head.


    "[You]," Khan said while eyeing Nessa. "[Get out]."


    "[I think I wouldn''t enjoy sharing]," Nessamented.


    "[Out]," Khan repeated, and Jenna giggled as Nessa straightened her position to approach thedder. The woman shot onest nce at the couple before climbing out of the room and sealing the trapdoor.


    "[Am I vexed or excited]?" Jenna wondered while pushing Khan down and cing her ear at the center of his chest.


    "[You are a pervert]," Khan dered. "[I''m pretty sure she isn''tpatible with me either]."


    "[Maybe she ispatible with me]," Jenna guessed while tilting her head to show her warm smile.


    Khan remained silent as scenes appeared in his mind. Jenna had hinted at a specific situation, and he couldn''t help but imagine it.


    "[You are also a pervert]," Jennaughed.


    "[Shut up]," Khan grunted. "[You have yet to finish my hair anyway]."


    The day went by quietly. Jenna mostly had fun being with Khan, but she left him enough time to meditate in peace since he had yet to recover. Meanwhile, Nele dropped meals directly on the room''s roof, so the couple never had hunger problems.


    The next day arrived quickly, and the couple found Piran waiting on the staircase connected to their room. Jenna had different orders from Khan, so the two separated.


    Piran led Khan into one of the bigger buildings in the district. The ce didn''t show anything peculiar, but Khan recognized a secondyer of reinforced metal once he entered it. The vast empty room that unfolded in his vision resembled a training hall, and Maban''s figure at the center of it only added value to that hypothesis.


    Piran didn''t say anything as he left the building and closed the entrance. Dark-blue lights lit up and illuminated the big hall right afterward, but Khan''s attention remained on the synthetic mana. He didn''t know how Maban would train him, but his experience with Lieutenant Dyester made him prepare for the worst.


    "[Are you surprised]?" Maban asked while inspecting Khan from head to toe.


    "[Surprised about what]?" Khan wondered.


    "[That I chose to use my time with you]," Maban continued.


    The matter had been in Khan''s thoughts the previous day. Jenna saw Maban as a "softie", but Khan couldn''t rely on that vague evaluation, mainly since he belonged to a different species.


    "[Caja saw something in me]," Khan uttered. "[Maybe you did the same]."


    "[That''s a lie]," Maban stated. "[We won''t get far with lies]."


    "[I didn''t lie about Caja]," Khan announced.


    "[But you did lie about what you think]," Maban responded.


    Khan didn''t expect Maban to be so urate, especially since he didn''t have a clear answer either. He had various hypotheses, but no single reply could epass them.


    "[During our first chat]," Khan eximed, "[It sounded like you wanted to trust me. You simply couldn''t]."


    "[I''ll make this clear once again]," Maban stated. "[Earning our trust is not easy. You still didn''t in my eyes]."


    "[Did you decide to keep an eye on me]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Partially]," Maban revealed.


    "[Is Jenna involved]?" Khan asked as he went over one of his hypotheses. Maban had shown some protectiveness toward Jenna during their first meeting, so the guess wasn''tpletely unreasonable.


    "[Jenna is definitely special]," Maban admitted. "[Few Nele have her talent. I didn''t expect her to get so attached to a human, but I had never heard of a chaos wielder who can fight higher-level warriors either. I guess you do have something]."


    Khan didn''t like how Maban spoke, but he couldn''t figure out why. Something in his tone sounded demeaning, even if he had voiced apliment.


    "[You do have an idea of our arts]," Maban praised when he saw Khan''s confusion. "[You sensed the tone I hid in the mana]."


    Khan didn''t sense any shift in the synthetic mana. His feeling had been almost instinctive. His thoughts had reacted on their own without exining their reasons.


    "[Giving you a chance might not bepletely reckless]," Maban continued. "[As long as you follow my teachings, I''ll turn you into a Nele that our entire species would have no problem trusting and epting]."


    Khan found another problem in those words, but that didn''te from the mana. The actual meaning behind Maban''s statement was troublesome.


    "[I don''t want to turn into a Nele]," Khan openly admitted.


    "[What]?" Maban eximed.


    "[I want to learn your arts]," Khan exined, "[But I don''t want to change who I am. I have barely started to know who I am]."


    "[What if I gave you no choice]?" Maban voiced, and the synthetic mana in the area immediately grew heavier. That pressure eventually fell on Khan, and he experienced faint restrictions that tried to hinder his movements.


    Strands of purple-red mana immediately came out of Khan''s figure. He didn''t use the Wave spell. Instead, he relied on the innate properties of his energy to disperse the pressure around him and regainplete control of his body.


    "[You dare]?" Maban threatened when he saw Khan drawing his knife.


    Maban''s pressure and coldness were perfect, but Khan had learnt enough about the Nele to know they would never make such unreasonable requests.


    "[You want to test me out, right]?" Khan asked as he bent his legs and raised his knife. "[Go ahead. I''m right here]."

 Chapter ?380 Levels

    Chapter ?380 Levels


    Khan wasn''t at his peak. Even the rest from the previous day couldn''t fix the overall tiredness that filled his body. Yet, he had fought in worse conditions.


    Maban continued to express his pressure and coldness, but he eventually performed a slight nod. That reaction confirmed Khan''s guess. Maban wanted to test him out, which was reasonable considering the situation.


    The recording from the club didn''t show Khan''s battle. He could have made a secret deal with the Ots as far as Maban knew. Sure, the matter sounded unlikely since the third-level warrior had died, but Maban had to go over all his doubts before epting Khanpletely.


    Khan knew how the Nele fought, so his entire attention went on the symphony of mana. He didn''t care about sensing everything Maban did, but he wanted to reach a mental state that could trigger automatic reactions.


    As for Maban, his stern expression remained firm. The pressure and coldness that had permeated the synthetic mana vanished, and the environment slowly regained its previous state. Sounds still rang through the symphony, but theck of interferences created a rtively peaceful scenery in Khan''s mind.


    Maban didn''t hide his moves, but his intentions remained unclear. A tremor left his figure and spread through the synthetic mana. The whole symphony in the training room fell under the control of that soft shaking without triggering or activating any attack.


    Khan initially wanted to wait for Maban to make the first move. Thetter had already proven himself able of incredible speed, so charging ahead sounded reckless. However, letting Maban takeplete control of the mana in the area wasn''t far from that.


    Khan hesitated for only a second before sprinting ahead. The tremors in the synthetic mana didn''t affect his charge, but he couldn''t express his full speed anyway.


    Maban remained still and let Khan enter his range. He didn''t even draw his root while Khan dived toward him and covered his knife with the purple-red membrane.


    Khan didn''t want to hurt Maban, but holding back would prevent him from proving his point. He had to show that he was strong enough to survive for a few minutes against a third-level warrior, so he decided to attack seriously.


    The glowing knife strived directly for the center of Maban''s chest. Khan''s attack had been straightforward. He had merely fused the Lightning-demon style''s speed with the Divine Reaper''s piercing properties. The technique wouldnd if he were faster than his opponent.


    Strangely enough, Maban didn''t try to dodge the iing knife. Khan knew that the Nele must have been able to track its trajectory, but he didn''t move anyway. Maban remained perfectly still and let the weapon touch his chest.


    Khan rarely felt anything when performing the Divine Reaper. A perfect execution would meet virtually no hindrances, but Maban was a third-level warrior. Some strength would be necessary before that powerful flesh, but nothing simr happened.


    The knife pierced Maban''s chest and dug deep into his flesh, but no actual wound appeared. Khan felt as if his weapon had cut through the air, and his opponent''s figure revealed a simr answer.


    The hole dug by the knife didn''t expand. Its edges twisted until the entirety of Maban''s figure started to churn and transform into a tall vortex. Maban seemed about to copse on the spot hit by Khan, but that process only involved his colors since his flesh was nowhere to be found.


    The edges of Maban''s figure fused with the dark-blue light while his body continued to twist. His colors grew blurry andpletely vanished when Khan retracted his knife.


    Khan didn''t know how to exin what had happened, and his sensitivity didn''t help. Maban had disappeared right before his eyes, and the same went for his presence. Only the faint tremor remained in the room, but everything about Maban had vanished.


    "[You still need some rest]," Maban''s voice suddenly resounded beside Khan''s right ear. "[You were faster in the recording]."


    Khan instinctively spun on himself to wave his glowing knife toward the source of Maban''s voice, but his weapon couldn''t find anything. Even his eyes failed to spot anything remotely simr to a presence. He was currently alone in the training hall, but he knew his senses were deceiving him.


    ''Is he tricking me through the synthetic mana?'' Khan wondered while remaining wary of his surroundings.


    The tremor running through the training hall could work as a cloaking spell. Khan didn''t believe that a mere maniption of the synthetic mana could trick his senses, even if the caster were a third-level mage. Still, he couldn''t exclude anything against that peculiar species.


    "[Good reactions]," Maban praised, and his voice echoed all around Khan without ever highlighting a specific source. "[Many would tremble in fear after falling prey to this technique]."


    Khan didn''t have the time to feel happy about that praise. Maban was still out there, and nothing in the training hall hinted at his position. Yet, that wasn''t his first time fighting an invisible opponent, and his knowledge of the Nele''s arts gave him a clear path to follow.


    "[Again]?" Maban taunted when he saw purple-red light umting on Khan''s body, but he didn''t continue at the realization that Khan was up to something different than before.


    A spherical version of the Wave spell expanded from Khan and destroyed the synthetic mana around him. Even part of the floor crumbled under his might. The influences he added to the symphony also altered the tremor, which granted some rity.


    The tremor didn''t reach the space inside the Wave spell, so Khan felt able to rely on his senses there. The room seen from behind the expanding purple-red membrane didn''t carry anything peculiar, but a vague figure slowly became visible as he added chaos to the symphony.


    Khan didn''t hesitate. He shot forward even before the purple-red membrane could disperse. Sizzling noises came out of his clothes and short hair, but he ignored everything as he ran toward the vague figure disappearing in his eyes.


    The tremors took over Khan''s influence as soon as his spell dispersed, but that didn''t matter now. He only had to reach what he had seen from behind his attack, and his knife rose as soon as he fulfilled that task.


    Khan didn''t care if his eyes showed nothing, but disappointment flowed into his mind when he saw that his attack didn''t amount to anything. His glowing knife only cut the air. Maban had either been faster than him or had never been there in the first ce.


    "[The chaos element sure is powerful]," Maban''s voice resounded again. "[It might take by surprise even experienced warriors, but you survived for a few minutes inside there]."


    Khan ignored the taunt and repeated the previous process. The spherical Wave spell expanded and created a safe area outside Maban''s influence. The tremors changed under the influx of Khan''s mana, and their cloaking properties lost some power.


    A vague figure became visible again, and Khan didn''t hesitate to run toward it. His reaction had been faster than before, and his speed increased as his every thought focused on a single task. However, he found himself stabbing mere air once again after reaching his destination.


    "[That''s quite a dangerous technique]," Maban spoke, but the source of his voice came right next to Khan''s left ear.


    Khan didn''t fall for the same trick twice, but something different happened at that time. Part of the tremors that flowed through the symphony converged next to Khan and gave birth to Maban''s figure. The alien was literally bent over him to whisper in his ear.


    Khan immediately spun on himself and waved his knife, but the attack only created a mark on that figure. Except for a cut that severed the head into two halves, Maban remainedpletely intact, and he even had the time to perform a smile.


    "[Before you get the wrong idea]," Maban said through his smile as the missing part of his head reappeared, "[This isn''t solely the result of Nele''s arts. My element is ying an important part]."


    Khan lifted his free hand before closing it into a fist. Launching another spell was pointless. Maban wasn''t there. He was only making Khan see those scenes.


    "[Are you out of ideas already]?" Maban asked through his replica. "[I must say I expected far more]."


    "[I don''t want to destroy the entire building]," Khan calmly replied before closing his eyes.


    Speaking to the mana in that situation was probably impossible since it was already listening to Maban. Khan actually didn''t know how that energy would react with two conflicting wills asking favors. He could try to send a request, but that would make him waste time.


    Nevertheless, the situation was different when it came to his own mana. Khan didn''t have any suitable spell for that situation, but he could still try something.


    ''Flow freely,'' Khan ordered as he pushed his mana outside his body. ''Change this tune.''


    Khan didn''t know if his mana truly heard his request, but nothing would change his attempt anyway. His energy left his body from various spots before fusing with the symphony and flying through it.


    The process had no specific purpose. It wasn''t even a technique. Khan only wanted to create an interference capable of putting an end to Maban''s troublesome spell.


    The tremor was too soft to resist the arrival of that new violent and destructive energy. The symphony gained shrill tunes as Khan''s rtively harmless mana expanded through the training hall and added features that Maban''s influence couldn''t suppress.


    That went beyond the Nele''s arts but didn''t enter Niqols'' realm. Khan was merely relying on his mana''s intrinsic properties to make a mess out of Maban''s technique, and his experiment was bringing results.


    The parts of the synthetic mana affected by the Nele''s arts didn''t stand a chance against Khan''s mana. Those employed in a specific technique resisted and even managed to fend off part of the iing disturbances.


    A third group also existed. Khan could sense that part of the symphony didn''t change at all even after his mana reached those areas. The world in his sensitivity had suddenly split into three parts, and he knew exactly where to look for Maban.


    The areapletely unaffected by the chaos element was smaller than the others, but it remained pretty vast. Charging blindly would probably lead nowhere, so Khan only jumped toward it beforeunching a straight Wave spell.


    Khan opened his eyes during his offensive. He watched his purple-red mana making its way through seemingly empty space, but familiar clothing eventually appeared in the distance.


    Khan interrupted his spell and jumped forward before lifting his free hand. He had to be quick to limit Maban''s chances to hide again, so mana quickly gathered in his palm to prepare another straight attack.


    However, something suddenly hit Khan''s neck. The power behind that unexpected blow was too great, so the spell failed, and Khan lost his bnce as he flew toward his left.


    The world in Khan''s eyes spun. His bnce waspletely off. He couldn''t understand what was happening, but he knew he was in no position to do anything about it.


    Khan didn''t sense when he stopped. A few seconds had to pass before his senses stabilized and allowed him to realize that he was on the floor. Khan didn''t only fall. He had also slid for a while during his confused state.


    A regr opponent would have killed Khan during that time, but Maban was only testing him. Still, Khan acknowledged the difference between the two of them after that exchange. Maban was simply stronger than him.


    "[I''m faster than you]," Maban spoke, and his voice came from behind Khan. "[I simply went behind you while you were busy chasing me down]."


    Khan checked the area through his sensitivity and held back a curse when he realized that his interferences had vanished. Maban had brought peace to the training area while he was busy sliding on the floor. He had gone back to the starting point after losing a single exchange.


    Still, the new tremors that had filled the synthetic mana slowly intensified before converging behind Khan. All of them fused to create a familiar presence that made him turn to look at it. Maban was right on him, half-crouched and with a root pointed at the center of his forehead.


    "[Are you holding back]?" Maban asked through his stern face.


    Khan wasn''tpletely belly up. Only his face had turned, and he didn''t dare to move any further due to the sharp root that filled his vision. Maban could have something to do with the feelings that reached his senses, but something told him that the technique had ended. He was seeing the true Maban now.


    "[Are you worried about this structure]?" Maban repeated, even if he changed his words.


    "[This building must be useful]," Khan stated while his eyes remained on the sharp tip in front of him. "[I can''t take it from you]."


    "[We can survive this loss]," Maban continued.


    "[I don''t want to inflict it]," Khan replied.


    "[Even if your life is at stake]?" Maban coldly asked as he lowered the root until its tip touched Khan''s forehead.


    "[You don''t want to take my life]," Khan sighed. "[You want a reason to ept me]."


    Khan ignored the root and moved his eyes to Maban. Of course, the weapon hindered part of his vision, but he still managed to shoot a calm nce at the alien.


    Maban was quite surprised. Khan''s resolve and coldness in the face of danger were off the charts, and his insights into social and political environments were also exceptional.


    Khan didn''t do anything special. Maban''s pretense and presence were perfect, but his initial intentions had already betrayed his mindset. Maban only wanted Khan to prove that he could be trusted. That would be the happiest and overall best oue.


    Yet, Maban couldn''t give in so quickly, especially in front of that performance. Khan had definitely proven himself to be a capable second-level warrior, but he needed more to ept him.


    "[I won''t hesitate to take your life for the sake of my species]," Maban said in his usual stern tone, "[And you have yet to prove yourself in my eyes]."


    "[Fine then]," Khan stated as he joined his palms and started gathering mana inside them.


    "[I could stab you right now]," Mabanmented while Khan continued to umte mana.


    "[Testing me is the whole point of this]," Khan exined. "[This is how I survived the Ots in the club]."


    Maban couldn''t contradict Khan. He was right. The secret behind his survival against the third-level warrior was bing clear as the second passed, but the same went for the danger posed by the umted mana.


    The chaos spear was a truly dangerous spell, especially when cast by Khan. The amount of mana used and the overall destructiveness of its properties made it one of the best weapons avable to second-level warriors.


    Maban wouldn''t be safe at that distance, and the same went for Khan. Any sane person would interrupt that spell, but neither of them moved. The two seemed to have entered a staring game, and Maban was the first to flinch.


    "[Humans don''t feel like us]," Maban announced. "[Why are you so resolute]?"


    "[I might not be a human after all]," Khan responded as his hands began to separate.


    "[You seem to have a death wish]," Maban pointed out. "[I won''t let you use my species to add a meaning to your life]."


    The root remained still even after those words, and Khan continued to separate his hands. His left was already on the floor, so he had to stretch his right arm to create the spear.


    "[Why won''t you exin yourself]?" Maban questioned once the chaos spear was fully formed.


    Khan could remain calm for different reasons, but one of them became stronger than the others while he kept his eyes on Maban. He could see pure devotion and resolve in that alien warrior, but the foundation of those feelings was nothingpared to what Khan had gone through.


    "[I truly respect your species]," Khan revealed, "[But you found your strength on traditions. Most of you only experience fear instead of actual suffering]."


    "[Do you think insulting us is a smart idea]?" Maban threatened.


    "[All of you have only heard the stories about your terrible legacy]," Khan continued. "[I''ve been in many of them. I live inside one]."


    "[Filthy h-]," Maban was on the verge of snapping, but something inside Khan''s eyes made him stop.


    Khan wasn''t trying to hide anything. He wanted to be an open book as many tragic memories flowed through his mind, and Maban felt able to sense them. Khan''s life wasn''t something many could survive, and the dangerous but controlled environment of the dock couldn''tpare to it.


    Maban felt speechless. Khan looked so young, but his presence carried something he couldn''t describe. The sadness that infected the synthetic mana went beyond anything he had ever experienced. Even the oldest members of his species didn''t sound like that when they told their stories.


    "[I''m sorry, Maban]," Khan dered as his blood vessels created a dot-sized [Blood Shield] on his forehead that allowed him to touch the root without hurting himself. "[I wanted to y by your rules, but I guess I''m a bit tired of being polite]."


    Khan turnedpletely and showed the entirety of the chaos spear. Then, he straightened his back to sit. The dot-sized [Blood Shield] allowed him to push the root with his head without getting hurt, and Maban didn''t resist the process.


    "[Really, forgive me]," Khan repeated. "[We are simply on different levels]."


    That was Maban''s line, or, at least, it was supposed to be. He was still there, half-crouched toward Khan and with his root pointed at his head. A proper thrust would stab his weapon past the retreating [Blood Shield] and into Khan''s brain. He was the superior warrior, but a sense of defeat filled his mind anyway.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "[Do I really need to detonate this to prove a point]?" Khan wondered while ncing at the chaos spear between his hands. "[I might survive it, but I''d rather avoid getting injured again]."


    Maban looked at the glowing spear before lifting his gaze toward Khan again. Those azure eyes didn''t carry any trace of lies, and the synthetic mana confirmed that.


    "[I give up]," Maban sighed as he retracted his root and sat on the floor.


    "[Is this over then]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Yes]," Maban confirmed while storing his root behind him. "[Put that thing away now]."


    Khan obeyed and let the mana inside the chaos spear disperse. He even took the time to stretch his neck afterward. Maban didn''t hit him too heavily, but that spot still hurt.


    "[You can''t have possibly made a deal with the Ots]," Maban announced. "[You are way too intense for them]."


    "[I''m good at lying]," Khan admitted. "[I can totally fool them]."


    "[Are you undermining your own position now]?" Maban asked.


    "[I should list my skills to my new leader]," Khan stated while showing a shameless smile.


    Maban''s expression grew even sterner, but a faint chuckle seeped through it. The event was so sudden that even Khan remained surprised, but that only made him smile more afterward.


    "[You have a long way to go with our arts]," Maban changed the topic. "[Speaking to the mana isn''t a technique but a habit. It must be natural like moving a hand]."


    Khan could only nod. The synthetic mana was easier in that field, but he remained a novice. Besides, he had yet to think seriously about fusing the Nele''s arts with his current skillset.


    "[Still, you are fast]," Maban continued. "[I don''t know much about the human arts, but I might be able to teach you how I enhance my footwork. It should be easier to pick up in your case]."

 Chapter ?381 Theory

    Chapter ?381 Theory


    "[You are surprisingly bad at this]," Mabanmented.


    "Fuck!" Khan cursed as he stomped his right foot. "[Stop messing things up]!"


    "[Don''t me your leg]," Maban scolded. "[The issue is in your approach]."


    "[I know. I know]," Khan casually dismissed that line. He would never take Maban''s advice lightly, but he had already heard those same words too many times.


    Maban and Khan were still in the training hall. Maban sat next to a wall while Khan was near the center of the ce. The former oversaw the training, while thetter showed nothing but failures.


    Khan understood the theory behind Maban''s technique but couldn''t replicate it for different reasons. Some procedures went against the very teachings of the Lightning-demon style, while others directly opposed everything he had learnt before reaching Milia 222.


    Maban couldn''t teach Nele''s arts to Khan. That topic was tooplex for a novice, so he had limited his first lesson to a mere enhancement that could virtually work on any technique as long as performed properly.


    The enhancement relied on something Jenna had exined to Khan while they were on the third asteroid. The Nele used that method in the absence of mana. They surrounded themselves in a fake environment to gain ess to their normal techniques, and Khan had to create something simr around his legs.


    Covering his legs inyers of mana wasn''t too much of a problem. The Niqols'' arts had made Khan able to perform something simr long ago. However, he couldn''t simply throw energy there. He had already tried and failed.


    The Niqols'' arts wanted Khan to take control of the mana around him so that he could move and alter it freely. Yet, that approach made the energy heavy, turning it into a hindrance rather than an enhancement.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan could still force himself to sprint while retaining control of that mana, but the action wouldn''t amount to anything. The energy around his legs would only slow him down.


    The Nele''s arts solved that issue with their overallck of weight, but Khan had yet to master their basics. He could ask the mana to envelop his legs, but he struggled to voice clear requests that could help his sprint.


    Moreover, the Lightning-demon style wanted explosive power. Even the softest steps required sharp gestures that could easily disperse the light mana around the legs.


    Khan''s situation was incredibly peculiar. His martial art was human, his knowledge of mana was mostly Niqols, and the technique required Nele''s arts. He was in the middle of conflicting fields, methods, and approaches, and he had to find amon point to make them work together.


    ''Help my legs,'' Khan thought as he closed his eyes and released a faint trace of mana into the environment.


    The purple-red mana entered the symphony without destroying it, and slow reactions immediately happened as it dispersed. Synthetic energy flowed toward Khan''s legs and enveloped them inside an invisible membrane that didn''t carry any specific nature.


    Khan moved carefully. He bent his legs and managed the mana inside them to perform his usual sprints. The technique seeded, but the invisible membrane shattered before it had the chance to add any effect.


    Another curse tried toe out of Khan''s mouth, but he forced himself to remain calm. He was getting better, but that only revealed more ws. The membrane''s nature was a clear example of that. The synthetic mana didn''t know what it was supposed to do since Khan was in the same situation.


    "[How many times do I have to tell you]?" Maban eximed after witnessing another failed execution. "[The mana must work like additionalyers of muscles. Merely stuffing it around your legs won''t produce any result]."


    Khan already knew that, but his knowledge had limits. Maban had his own idea of muscles, while Khan had yet to find one that could work for him.


    ''Do I need to replicate my legs anatomically or just figuratively?'' Khan wondered. ''Should I even try to replicate them in the first ce?''


    Those doubts couldn''t have solutions since a steep wall divided Maban and Khan''s mindsets. The two could use the same words, but they would have different meanings inside their minds.


    "[Can you show me how you do it]?" Khan eventually requested.


    "[My martial art is different from yours]," Maban stated. "[Trying to copy me will only hurt your training]."


    "[I need a visual example]," Khan continued. "[I''m quite lost here]."


    Maban thought about the matter for a second before nodding and leaving the wall to stand up. Mana immediately left his figure and dispersed into the symphony to send requests, and Khan focused as much as possible to avoid missing details.


    The synthetic mana moved while Maban put his weight on his toes and lifted his heels. He was slowing down his gestures on purpose to help Khan out, and thetter noticed how the technique felt a bit odd.


    That stance couldn''t possibly express much momentum. Everything about Maban was already tense and straight. He had no practical way to push himself forward, but Khan remained silent to study the scene.


    The synthetic mana remained invisible, but Khan saw new shades appearing through his sensitivity. The energy that flowed toward Maban''s legs replicated the natural influence they expressed during that stance and seemingly widened their size.


    Maban was doing exactly what he had tried to teach to Khan. The synthetic mana was adding mass to his legs, but the process didn''t focus on flesh or gestures. The synthetic mana was simply ready to echo the technique.


    Maban let himself fall forward at that point. His toes remained his only connection to the floor, and his stretched feet made him unable to add any more strength.


    However, Maban''s feet suddenly trembled, and his whole figure slid forward. He was on the verge of falling, but an invisible force pushed his body and made him cover a long path in a single second.


    Maban didn''t speak after he nted his heels on the floor to stop himself. His eyes went on Khan, who was using every inch of his brain to study him. Words wouldn''t be able to reach him in that state, so Maban didn''t waste his breath.


    Khan uncovered secrets of Maban''s martial art during the inspection. The technique had high execution barriers, and the speed it generated didn''t make sense. That momentum came from the synthetic mana. Maban simply wore a stance that could allow him to slide on it.


    The enhancement had been impossible to notice even with Maban slowing down his execution, but Khan didn''t need to divide the two procedures. One reflected the other, so he had seen what he needed to see.


    ''This is troublesome,'' Khan thought as he sat cross-legged on the floor.


    Maban had made the synthetic mana express his movement technique, but Khan couldn''t use the same method. Maban''s martial art was in line with the Nele''s approach, while the Lightning-demon style remained very human.


    ''It might be possible to do something simr,'' Khan concluded, ''But not at my current level. I definitely can''t apply it to all my sprints. Maybe I should focus on one of them and add variations as I improve.''


    The idea made sense, so Khan quickly moved to the next part of his n. He needed to pick the sprint to enhance, but he required Maban''s help for that.


    "[Maban, how do Nele develop martial arts]?" Khan asked while raising his gaze toward Maban, who had remained still until now.


    "[Do you want to be a Nele now]?" Maban mocked through his stern tone.


    "[You couldn''t have possibly retained your knowledge during your very]," Khan continued. "[Milia 222 is a diverse environment with countless opportunities, but your martial art was in line with your approach to mana. Did the Nele develop it after their escape]?"


    very was a sensitive topic for the Nele, but Maban could remain calm since he acknowledged Khan''spleteck of malice. He was simply curious.


    As for the martial arts, they were a secret topic that no outsider was supposed to learn. However, Maban had already epted Khan, so keeping him in the dark didn''t make much sense.


    "[You are correct]," Maban announced. "[My species lost a lot during the very, including the records of our martial arts. Still, we evolved past that. Our approach is more personal now]."


    "[Personal how]?" Khan wondered.


    Maban remained silent for a second before spreading his arms and closing his eyes. Traces of mana left his body to fuse with the symphony, but Khan noticed something different in that energypared to before or the general theory of the Nele''s arts.


    "[Mana is more than energy]," Maban exined. "[We can learn a lot by just observing its behavior. Its nature is almost instinctive, and it carries deep knowledge for those willing to listen]."


    Khan took a while to realize what Maban had done differently. The mana sent into the symphony had been lighter than usual. There almost wasn''t enough of it to carry requests.


    Nevertheless, the synthetic mana reacted anyway. Seemingly random waves of energy flew toward Maban and attempted to push him around. They shattered before they could achieve anything, but Maban soon began to help them out.


    Some waves converged toward the arms, so Maban moved them forward until the mana stopped targeting them. Other chunks of energynded on his lower back, and he stretched himself to appease them.


    The process wasn''t intuitive, but Khan had already seen a slower version of the sprint, so he could find simrities. The mana was putting Maban into a specific stance. It was teaching him part of a martial art.


    "[Is this enough]?" Maban eventually asked, and Khan didn''t hesitate to nod.


    "[The fake mana has limits with this practice]," Maban revealed as he abandoned his stance and rxed his limbs. "[Even creating our roots is hard here]."


    ''So, they do create them,'' Khan confirmed in his mind.


    "[I think it''s enough for today]," Maban continued. "[You need time to recover and grow used to our arts. Also, I suspect you have a lot of thinking to do]."


    Khan could only nod again. He had to review his techniques and decide how to proceed. Maban''s enhancement was something he wanted to master in a short period, but he couldn''t neglect everything else for that goal.


    "[Let''s go]," Maban ordered as he approached the training area''s entrance. "[Eat with me]."


    Khan didn''t hesitate to stand up and follow Maban. The two returned in the open and walked until they reached a rtively crowded area of the district. It was lunchtime, so many Nele had gathered to enjoy their meals together, but Maban led Khan to an isted spot that offered some cover from prying ears.


    A Nele quickly brought fuming bowls to the two, and Khan noticed how he didn''t need intermediaries to pick them up at that time. He didn''t know if Maban had that effect on his species, but he liked to think that everyone had started to ept him.


    "[I can''t see Jenna]," Khanmented while wolfing down his soup. "[Is she busy with the hunting season]?"


    "[No, she has a more important task to handle]," Maban exined. "[It rare for us to have someone with her talent here. She isn''t a specialist, but her understanding of mana makes her perfect for the various nts]."


    "[nts]?" Khan repeated. "[Like Caja did on the third asteroid]?"


    Maban stopped eating to show a surprised face, and his words matched that expression. "[Did Caja show you her role on the hidden dome]?"


    "[I happened to pass by while she was busy affecting the environment]," Khan yed it nice.


    "[I see]," Maban stated in an unconvincing tone.


    The procedure was taxing for Caja, but she was a fourth-level warrior. She would have sensed Khaning. The fact that she had kept her technique active meant that she trusted Khan with that information.


    "[How long will she need]?" Khan changed the topic.


    "[Probably the entire day]," Maban revealed. "[Even two if she finds problems. You can visit her, but I think you would distract her]."


    "[I''ll refrain from going to her]," Khan promised.


    Silence fell between the two, but nothing about it felt awkward. Maban and Khan emptied their bowls and ced them at their side before losing themselves in the scenery.


    "[The material you are looking for]," Maban eventually broke the silence. "[What is it]?"


    "[Do you know] chameleons?" Khan asked as his eyes lit up.


    "[Never heard the word]," Maban admitted.


    "[I can give you more detailster]," Khan dered, "[But I think it''s better to focus on something else. The Bise deliver this material here, and someone, probably humans, buys it from them]."


    Maban fell silent as he processed the information. Khan didn''t give him much, but there was a vague foundation to exploit, especially with assets at hand.


    "[You don''t see Bise smugglers every day]," Maban revealed, "[But they aren''t rare. Yet, adding human buyers might shrink the field by a lot]."


    "[I thought you wouldn''t split your forces for me]," Khan reminded.


    "[I won''t]," Maban confirmed. "[However, with the hunting season going, we are forced to keep an eye on the entirety of Lower Level 3. Adding this small detail to those deployed through the dock isn''t a problem]."


    "[Thank you]," Khan honestly voiced.


    "[Don''t get your expectations too high]," Maban stated. "[You aren''t the priority around here. I''ll just tell the others to pay some additional attention to your matters]."


    "[It''s the best achievement so far]," Khan chuckled.


    "[That''s how Milia 222 works]," Maban eximed as he picked up the two bowls and stood up. "[I have other errands to handle. You don''t need me, right]?"


    "[I''m fine]," Khan replied, and Maban nodded before turning to leave toward more peripheral areas of the district.


    Khan watched Maban vanish in the distance before lifting his gaze. The ceiling was odd and clunky, but it remained quite cool and mesmerizing. Still, Khan barely looked at it as thoughts ran through his mind.


    Maban''s presence was truly unnecessary now. He could act as a supervisor, but Khan would never waste his time like that, especially since he already knew how to fix his problems.


    Khan didn''t only need to choose a specific sprint. He also had to improve his foundation as a whole. Maban''s teachings were clear. Khan had to practice until establishing a conversation with the mana became as natural as breathing.


    ''I could spend the afternoon inside the training hall,'' Khan considered before rejecting that tempting n. He had something far more interesting in mind. It was time to see the Tors again.

 Chapter ?382 Tubes and pipes

    Chapter ?382 Tubes and pipes


    Khan had never been the type to ck off. He could use the free afternoon to focus on his recovery, but Milia 222 made him restless. The dock offered so many opportunities that keeping his curiosity in check was simply impossible.


    Maban had cleared one of Khan''s main issues. The Nele knew Lower Level 3 way better than him, so he could leave Luke''s mission to them. He would only get in the way if he started asking questions randomly anyway.


    That left Khan with nothing official to do, which transformed into training time in his mind. Still, that field also offered many possibilities, and his priority was to get a general idea about all of them.


    The Nele''s arts were in line with what Khan had learnt from the Niqols. Their methods were different, but both species shared a deep understanding and reverence toward the mana.


    Khan wanted to tread that path, but he couldn''t close himself to alternative methods. The human arts had clear advantages that he was still exploiting, so it was safe to assume that simr approaches could offer equal benefits. They might also double down on them.


    The Tors had hit a nerve with their mysterious and secretive methods. Their interest in the chaos element had also opened a path, and Khan couldn''t refrain from attempting to explore it.


    Khan stood up and walked past the Nele busy with their meal. Those various groups followed him with their eyes, and some even performed nods at his passage.


    The scene inevitably warmed Khan''s heart. He had a long way to go, but he had finally taken a step in the right direction. The Nele had started to ept him, but that happy event strangely gave birth to conflicting feelings.


    Regardless of what Khan told himself, he still experienced burdens that only leaders would face. He virtually had no obligation toward the Nele, at least for now, but he had already begun to feel responsible for their well-being.


    The Nele were the perfect target of Khan''s selflessness. They had suffered a lot only to end up in an environment that never missed the chance to hurt them. The very universe seemed against those aliens, and Khan felt the need to bnce things out.


    Of course, those feelings were nothing but immature urges. Khan didn''t have the power or knowledge to help the Nele significantly. He could make their life easier by facing some of the dangers pointed at them, but that was only a temporary fix.


    ''I wonder how high I should climb to improve their situation,'' Khan thought as beautiful gazes continued to turn in his direction. ''Bing a normal ambassador wouldn''t be enough.''


    The politicaldder in the Global Army was hard to climb, and Khan predicted that his general stance toward the aliens wouldn''t y in his favor. Reaching a point where he could change things wouldn''t be easy. More battles and ploys were bound to arrive, and he had to be ready to face them.


    ''Power, knowledge, and political expertise,'' Khan thought as thest streets of the district appeared in his vision. ''I need all three of them.''


    Power didn''t need exnations, and Khan was always working on it. Knowledge was also another obvious field that Khan had constantly expanded in the past years. The political expertise was the only significant issue, especially since his lying skill were bound to stop being enough at some point.


    ''Why am I thinking about her now?'' Khan cursed as Monica''s face appeared in his mind. ''Damn you, Jenna.''


    Monica was the perfect ticket toward the actual political environment of the Global Army. Her family was important, and she had even received a thorough education when it came to that field.


    However, Khan didn''t want to use Monica''s feelings for his own benefit. He was willing to go quite far in countless fields, but not there. He saw himself as a monster, but he had his pride.


    ''Damn it,'' Khan cursed again as he recalled the kiss. ''I might like her temper.''


    Luckily for Khan, the scene that waited for him at the end of the Nele''s district forced him to put those thoughts in the back of his mind. Piran stood next to thest purplentern together with a few second-level warriors. Even Branok and Tekka were with him.


    "[Are you leaving]?" Piran asked when Khan got close enough.


    "[I should get back in a few hours]," Khan announced. "[Is that a problem]?"


    Piran shook his head before pointing at hispanions. "[Do you need an escort? It might be dangerous out there, especially for you]."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan didn''t expect that privileged treatment, but it didn''t feel too odd when he thought about it. Most Nele moved in groups. Piran was only making him part of that system.


    "[I need to do this on my own]," Khan partially exined. "[I think it will be safe as long as I''m alone]."


    "[Sure]," Piran quickly epted. "[Be careful. There are many eyes on us]."


    Khan couldn''t help but reveal a faint smile when Piran used "us". Things were really changing, which only intensified his desire to improve his influence, and getting stronger was the first step in that direction.


    Piran and the others let Khan through and watched him leaving the district. Khan didn''t look back, and his attention soon went to the symphony as he tried toe up with the shortest path toward the Tors.


    The dock was the same as always, but Khan noticed its few peculiar features. Workers from various species upiednding areas or other ces on the main floor, but some were clearly pretending to focus on their tasks.


    The hunting season had turned the Nele district and anyoneing out of it into the most exciting piece of news. Many factions were willing to pay good money for any relevant information about their movements, and the matter expanded to the other areas upied by Nele.


    Khan had already experienced that situation, and the week spent resting didn''t improve it. Actually, there seemed to be more groups keeping an eye on the district now, and the assets inside them appeared more experienced in the task.


    Being at the center of the attention was something that Khan had long since epted as part of his everyday life with Jenna. The situation barely affected him. He actually turned it into part of his training since it allowed him to keep track of the groups following him.


    Those spies never got too close to Khan, but they couldn''t hide their presence from the symphony. Their steps seemed to follow Khan when he inspected the sounds carried by the synthetic mana, and he expected the real world to reflect that behavior.


    The symphony depicted a crowded environment, but Khan''s walk remained peaceful. No one approached him. Many even tried to avoid meeting his seemingly lost gaze as he moved deeper into the dock to reach an area that almost everyone avoided.


    The return of the oily synthetic mana announced Khan''s arrival into areas upied by Tors. A darker environment unfolded in his vision as he strode forward. The same light as the rest of Lower Level 3 illuminated those buildings and streets, but they appeared cker and dirtier through his sensitivity.


    Khan tried to keep his gaze straight, but his eyes often fell on the guardrails. His senses were telling him that no one was hiding there, but he couldn''t quell the worry that Tors would suddenlye out from under the street.


    Nothing strange happened even after Khan dived deeper into the district. The same destion witnessed during his first trip there weed him. The streets were empty, and no presence stood in his senses'' range.


    Khan could go deeper into the district, but his calctions told him that he had already crossed the area where the Tors had stopped him in the past. Proceeding even further might be disrespectful, but he didn''t know how to summon the Tors otherwise.


    ''So much foring back,'' Khan sighed in his mind before sitting at the center of the street. He would wait there for a couple of hours and dive deeper into the district only if no one came to pick him up.


    Meditating was always a good option, especially in that situation. Khan had yet to recoverpletely, and the time spent with Maban slightly dyed that process.


    Minutes passed inplete peace. Those areas of the dock were rtively silent since the Tors didn''t handle their activities in the open, so Khan had the chance to focus on himself and the symphony.


    The synthetic mana revealed the presence of the spies. They were more distant than before, and Khan connected that issue to the Tors. Their fear of those aliens wasn''t enough to scare them away, but Khan weed that slightly positive feature.


    The wait turned out to be rtively short. A mass of energy eventually appeared under the street and made Khan jump on his feet. He didn''t peek past the guardrails, and some hesitation spread in his mind when the presence multiplied.


    ''Three Tors, second-level warriors,'' Khan calcted as he waited at the center of the street. He didn''t know why the Tors were hesitating, but he wouldn''t dare to make the first move in that situation.


    The masses of energy were basically identical in theirck of peculiar features. Khan felt sure that the Tors were wearing their capes. He couldn''t know if the aliens under the streets were aware of him, but their hesitation in showing their faces was enough as an answer.


    "I''m the chaos wielder," Khan eventually announced. "You told me toe to make a deal."


    The announcement produced the expected results. Three hoods peeked past the guardrails to inspect Khan. He found two Tors on his right and one on his left, and they all stuck out their forked tongues to examine him.


    Khan showed his palm and released a bit of mana. The purple-red shades given by the mana anomaly made his element unmistakable, which finally gave the Tors a reason to abandon their hesitation. The three hooded figures jumped past the guardrails tond on the street, and they all approached Khan.


    "Chaos wielder," The Tors on Khan''s left eximed in a hissing voice, and its twopanions quickly echoed the statement.


    "We met more than a week ago," Khan reminded. "I''vee with more chaos."


    The three Tors oddly bent toward Khan to make their trembling tongues get close to his face, but they eventually recalled them and straightened their position. The aliens then turned to walk deeper into the district, and only one of them stopped to voice a few words. "Come,e."


    "Wait," Khan called without making a single step. "I want to make the deal first."


    "Not in the open," The Tors that had stopped said in a dismissive tone. "Come, chaos wielder."


    The Tors didn''t remain still anymore and followed itspanions,pletely disregarding Khan in the process. Khan didn''t know what to do. Advancing into unknown territory was dumb from every perspective, but he had himself as leverage there.


    Khan heaved a deep sigh before deciding to follow the Tors. The three aliens weren''t hurrying, so he caught up with them in no time. A silent walk began, and scenes he had already witnessed during the previous week flowed through his vision.


    The width of the Tors'' district was unclear. Khan had to use the distance from the dome to gain an idea of the surface it covered. The area was quite big and probably contained all the Tors'' forces in Lower Lever 3, but its streets remained empty.


    Ideas popped in Khan''s mind as he followed the three Tors. If his hypotheses were correct, the Tors had probably modified many buildings in order to have enough private locations for their arts. The presence of secret passages was also possible, so he didn''t hope to see much from the walk.


    Khan''s expectations turned out to be on point. No matter how deep the group dived into the district, the streets remained empty. The whole area felt abandoned, but Khan knew that life had to exist somewhere, and the buildings around him were his best bet.


    "Can we talk now?" Khan asked when he felt that the group had gone deep enough into the district.


    "Still in the open," The same Tors that had spoken before said without bothering to turn.


    Khan felt helpless in front of that dismissive behavior. He couldn''t understand what the Tors thought, and following them remained his only option.


    More streets and buildings went by until the three aliens finally stopped before a small structure. The ce was nothing more than a tent-sized house, but Khan could see from the gaps in the streets that it stretched downstairs.


    "Come,e," The same Tors said while its twopanions approached the house. The entrance immediately opened, but its insides remained dark even after the two aliens moved in.


    The house shared the same properties as the capes. The open entrance didn''t even let out any mana. Khan couldn''t understand anything from his position, and something told him that questioning the remaining Tors wouldn''t lead anywhere.


    "Inside, chaos wielder," The remaining Tors eximed before stepping toward the entrance.


    "Are you sure we can''t talk here?" Khan tried onest time, but the Torspletely ignored him and disappeared inside the tiny house.


    ''How do they expect anyone to trust them?'' Khan cursed as he stared at the darkness past the entrance. ''Maybe they just don''t care or fail to see the problem altogether.''


    Only a crazy man would ignore all the red gs and step forward anyway, but Khan knew that he had already made his decision. Countless bad scenarios crossed his mind, but his curiosity was stronger than his fear. Besides, he could destroy everything at the first sign of danger.


    Khan took a deep breath before stepping forward and entering the house. The darkness vanished as soon as he crossed the entrance, and an azure environment unfolded in his eyes. Tubes carrying synthetic mana filled the walls and illuminated a small, empty room.


    The area didn''t have anything except for the tubes and the three Tors standing at its center. The mana flowing through those narrow pipes didn''t carry oily properties, but the energy inside the room did, so Khan naturally focused on the former, but the floor hindered his inspections.


    Most of the tubes carried the synthetic mana in the areas under the room. The traces of that energy even disappeared after crossing the floor. It was clear that something was up in that building, but Khan''s attention moved to the hooded figures as soon as the entrance closed behind him.


    Khan couldn''t help but grow a bit tense, but his expression remained calm. Even his arms remained in their ce. The urge to reach for his knife became intense, but he killed it as he repeated his previous question. "Can we talk now?"


    Three forked tongues left the hoods and began to tremble. The Tors remained silent as they inspected Khan, and he did the same while waiting for the situation to change.


    "We want chaos," The closest Tors to Khan eventually announced without retracting its tongue.


    "I won''t give it for free," Khan responded.


    "Make a deal," The same Tors replied. "Name a price."


    "I don''t want money," Khan revealed.


    "What do you want?" The Tors continued. "Name a price."


    Khan fell in a bit of a pickle there. He didn''t have a specific target for his requests since he knew nothing about the Tors'' arts. Yet, his social skills came into y at the right time.


    "I want to learn your arts," Khan eximed, knowing that his request was unreasonable.


    A series of iprehensible hisses came out of the hoods. They resembled gasps, but they grew quieter when the Tors turned to face themselves.


    ''Do they have a secretnguage?'' Khan wondered when he tried to make some sense out of the hisses the Tors exchanged.


    Khan had yet to master the Tors''nguage. He had memorized most of their vocabry and grammar on Earth, but the current scene hinted at a troublesome matter. It seemed that the Tors couldmunicate in ways that the Global Army wasn''t aware of.


    The matter was surprising but predictable at the same time. The Nele also had secretmunication methods, and some other species on Milia 222 were bound to have simr tricks.


    Still, the fact that Khan could remain calm after that discovery didn''t speak for his situation. The Tors could converse freely right in front of him. The chances of getting scammed had instantly increased.


    The Tors eventually stopped hissing among themselves and turned back to Khan, but only the closest spoke. "We don''t reveal our arts."


    Khan expected that reaction and immediately deployed his next move. "How can I pick something if I don''t know what you can offer?"


    "Credits," The Tors suggested.


    "I don''t want money," Khan repeated.


    "We don''t show our arts," The Tors reiterated.


    Silence fell in the room. The negotiation seemed to have reached a wall, but Khan knew that he still had a chance. The Tors would have simply kicked him out otherwise.


    "You don''t need to exin everything," Khan dered. "I just need to see the basics to understand if you have something that might interest me."


    The closest Tors wanted to refuse right away. A sharp hiss even began to leave the hood, but itspanions promptly voiced softer cries that imed its attention and made it turn.


    Another secret conversation happened in front of Khan''s calm eyes, but he inspected it with newfound confidence. The Tors were considering his suggestion, but he didn''t call it a victory just yet.


    The Tors turned toward Khan when their hissing whispering ended, and he prepared himself for the counteroffer. He didn''t believe that those aliens would be convinced so easily, but the following line went against his predictions.


    "We can show a bit," The closest Tors eximed, "For some chaos."


    Wariness immediately overtook Khan''s thoughts. He smelled a hoax, but he was also without alternative options. The situation wasn''t too bad either. At worst, he would give some mana for free and abandon the idea of cooperating with the Tors.


    "Okay," Khan said, and one of the Tors reached the room''s back before bending toward the floor and knocking on it with its hood.


    The knocking didn''t have any specific rhythm, but part of the floor slid open anyway. A trapdoor with nodder attached to it became visible in the empty room, and the Tors stuck its head inside it before voicing more iprehensible hisses.


    The symphony didn''t change, so Khan focused on the bent Tors. The alien was still standing on the first floor, but almost three-quarters of its body had crossed the trapdoor. In theory, no humanoid creature could remain on its feet in that position.


    The posture clearly wasn''t a problem for the Tors since it easily pulled itself out of the trapdoor while holding a transparent container. The limbs weren''t visible due to the cape, so Khan could only focus on the item''s size. It was smaller than the one in the previous meeting, which reassured him slightly.


    ''This shouldn''t be big enough for a scam,'' Khan thought as the Tors ced the container on the floor and he approached it to send mana.


    The three Tors bent toward the container and stuck out their tongues while purple-red mana flowed inside it. The process didn''t take long, and the aliens straightened their position as soon as Khan was done.


    Two of the Tors left the building right afterward. The scene surprised Khan, but he could only watch as the entrance opened and closed, leaving him alone with the alien that had spoken with him until now. The container was also still in the room, but he had already disregarded it.


    "Just a bit," The Tors repeated before turning toward the open trapdoor.


    Khan didn''t know what to do, and the Tors didn''t seem to care either. Most of its attention was on the full container, and its forked tongue shook to no end as it inspected it from different angles.


    "What should I do exactly?" Khan couldn''t help but ask.


    "Look at our arts," The Tors stated without moving its attention from the container, "But just a bit."


    Dots finally connected in Khan''s mind. He carefully walked past the Tors to approach the trapdoor, and the continuation of the azure tubes became visible. The lower floor appeared identical to the first, but differences became clear as he tilted his head.


    The trapdoor was too small to give aplete view of the lower floor. Khan nced at the Tors busy with the container before kneeling and cing his palms near the hole''s edges.


    Khan used his sensitivity to keep track of the Tors as he bent forward and peeked past the trapdoor. A new symphony unfolded in his senses as soon as he crossed the hole, but the scene that filled his view left him too surprised to check the mana.


    The lower floor featured a room with a tall ceiling. It seemed taller than four meters from Khan''s position, but that was only a meaningless detailpared to the target of his attention.


    Khan focused on the dark-orange scales and studied them as his eyes climbed through that strange body. A thick and coiled creature hung from the wall by relying on knobs and handles ced randomly over that surface.


    Two short and slim arms grew from the scales and tinkered with an array of tubes that converged at the center of the room, and a reptilian head studied it carefully. Its dark eyes evennded on Khan for a second, but they quickly returned to the pipes seemingly hoovering before them.


    ''That''s how they truly are,'' Khan eximed in his mind as his curiosity reached its peak.


    The Tors were far from humanoid. They had the appearance of thick snakes with tiny and slim arms growing somewhere in the upper part of their bodies. Their aspect was monstrous and scary, but Khan only felt excitement at that sight.


    Khan became able to see more details once his surprise waned. The Tors wasn''t exactly naked. It had wires and tubes around its body, which all converged toward a mechanical structure tied to its back.


    The machine wasn''tplicated, at least in its appearance. It was nothing more than a flexible metal line with a few small sks attached to its surface. Those items and the tubes contained synthetic mana, so Khan decided to see it as a weapon for now.


    The synthetic mana inside the sks and tubes attracted Khan''s attention. Each item had a different type of energy that didn''t limit its diversity to mere density. Khan noticed multiple behaviors and shades, which he instinctively connected to some elements.


    ''What is it doing with that mana?'' Khan wondered, but another event imed his attention and made him put those thoughts in the back of his mind.


    The tubes before the Tors shared the peculiarities of the sks. Different types of synthetic mana flowed through the array, and the alien paid great attention to them as it moved some pipes to connect them to other parts of the machine.


    The process never leaked any mana. The tubes seemed to have protections against that potential issue, and the flow of energy resumed as soon as they found new connections inside the array.


    The Tors yed with the tubes until one of them grew brighter than the others. Its tail left the wall at that point and stretched toward the floor, where it wrapped itself around a small sk lying there.


    The tail brought the sk into the slim arms'' range, and the Tors grabbed it before putting it under the bright tube. The alien separated the pipe from the array, and azure drops slowly fell from it.


    The drops were mana which didn''t hesitate to regain a gaseous form as soon as they ended in the sk. The item prevented the energy from leaking into the room, so the Tors could continue the process until most of the tube became empty.


    The Tors summoned its tail to grab the sk. The alien left the almost-empty tube alone as it lowered its head to let its limb ce the container on an opening in the metal line. Adding that item brought new power to the machine, but Khan found himself distracted once again.


    The almost-empty tube released its remaining synthetic mana and confirmed one of Khan''s guesses. The new energy that joined the symphony carried oily properties. It clearly was the waste from the machine.


    Nevertheless, being right didn''t bring any joy. Khan only had room for surprise and curiosity now, but a clear question managed to get past those emotions. ''What the fuck did I just watch?''

 Chapter ?383 Orders

    Chapter ?383 Orders


    Khan had never seen himself as a great expert in mana. He had a broader mindsetpared to most of humanity, but his knowledge remained rtively shallow. It simply involved multiple fields.


    Nevertheless, despite theck of deep and specific knowledge, Khan had seen his fair share of strange and peculiar stuff during his travels. He could immediately ce the Tors with the humans and the Guko. Their approach to mana was clearly scientific.


    As the surprise waned, Khan tried to make some sense out of what he had just witnessed. The tubes, the different types of synthetic mana, the Tors'' appearance, and the machine on its back were too much to take in a single meeting. However, his curiosity still pushed him toward possible exnations.


    The different types of synthetic mana were clues. The Tors was messing with that energy in ways that Khan couldn''t fully understand, but he could still gain some surface-level knowledge from looking at the process.


    The synthetic mana changed as it flowed through the tubes. Each pipe altered that energy differently, and rearranging the array allowed the Tors to generate what it needed.


    Khan wanted to see the tubes as filters, but that description didn''t include the entirety of their functions. Some pipes forced the synthetic mana to condense, while others made it expand. The process didn''t even stop there since parts of the machine seemed able to add or remove structural qualities depending on where the energy flowed.


    ''It''s like a smallb meant only to alter mana,'' Khan concluded, ''But it''s far from being perfectly optimized.''


    The artificial alteration of the mana had benefits over the maniption field. Khan couldn''t even begin to imagine the level he would have to reach to affect that energy so deeply.


    However, the process had drawbacks. The oily synthetic mana released by the tube after the transfer into the sk was a waste product that tainted the district as a whole. Khan didn''t know the long-term implications of that pollution, but they couldn''t be too good if even the Tors refused to use that energy.


    The purpose of the alteration remained unclear even after that reasoning, but the metallic structure on the Tors'' back was clearly involved. That dark-silver line tied to its body used the mana inside the sks as fuel for something that Khan couldn''t understand without actual examples.


    Khan couldn''t help butpare that metal line to the Fuveall''s imnts, even if they had noticeable differences. The Tors'' machine wasn''t nearly as invasive or sturdy. It actually resembled a weapon of some sort, and the sks could change its power.


    The Tors on the lower floor was a second-level warrior, and the machine on its back seemed to match the quality of Khan''s knife. Yet, the mana flowing inside it put it far above average weapons.


    ''The sks act as magazines,'' Khan found himself thinking, ''But they do far more than providing bullets.''


    Each sk carried a different type of synthetic mana. Khan also felt quite sure that the Tors had produced that energy through the array of tubes, so it was safe to assume that every container had specific purposes.


    The matter didn''t end with that diversity. The sks didn''t only carry specific types of synthetic mana. The metallic line blended them into its insides to create something newer and stronger.


    Khan knew that he was out of his depths. Technology had never been his strong point, and that machine even went beyond anything witnessed on Earth or others. Only the Guko''sb came close, but the Tors'' arts had something more peculiar ording to Khan''s guts.


    Strangely enough, the Tors'' appearance was the easiest part to ept. Those aliens were nowhere near humanoid. They were highly technological talking snakes equipped with small arms, but Khan quickly grew used to their features.


    ''What now?'' That question inevitably popped out in Khan''s mind once hepleted his superficial inspection.


    Khan had met the Tors for a reason, but the scene didn''t provide him with anything close to useful. He barely understood what was going on. He couldn''t possibly know what might help him.


    "Just a bit!" The Tors on the first floor eventually announced. "Enough looking."


    Khan wanted to remain immersed in the scene a bit longer, but contradicting the Tors wasn''t smart. He put strength on his arms to lift his head and sit on the floor, and the caped alien didn''t hesitate to approach the trapdoor to close it.


    "Price now," The Tors eximed while its attention returned to the container full of chaos.


    Khan struggled to keep his eyes on the hood after seeing what the cape hid. The cloaking fabric couldn''t stop him from imagining the coiled snake behind it, but that didn''t interrupt his thinking brain. He had to give an answer, but the truth was undeniable. His mind was nk.


    "Exin," Khan uttered. "Exin what I just saw."


    "We don''t exin our arts," The Tors said without turning toward Khan.


    "I can''t name a price if I don''t understand what you can do," Khan exined.


    "Credits," The Tors responded.


    "I don''t want money," Khan repeated for the third time.


    The Tors didn''t add anything. It remained focused on the container. It almost sounded like the negotiations were over, but Khan was still there, and the alien wasn''t kicking him out.


    "I cane here once a week," Khan suggested. "I only need something in return."


    The Tors retracted its tongue, but its hood remained pointed on the container. Silence regained control of the small room, and Khan waited until he felt the need to add something.


    "What did I just see?" Khan eventually asked.


    "Twice a week," The Tors bargained while finally turning to face Khan.


    "Sure," Khan quickly agreed before repeating his previous question. "What did I just see?"


    "Tors'' alchemy," The Tors revealed. "Rearranging mana to produce various effects."


    The exnation was beyond vague, but Khan was okay with that. He only cared about the Tors'' willingness to open up. He had one foot in the door, so the time to push a bit hade.


    "Why do you want chaos?" Khan questioned. "What''s so special about it?"


    An iprehensible hiss came out of the hood. The Tors didn''t like that prying question, but Khan was ready to justify himself.


    "It would reassure me knowing that I''m not giving you a weapon," Khan lied.


    The Tors remained silent. It turned toward the container before bringing the hood''s opening back to Khan and uttering an exnation. "The chaos element is more flexible."


    "That can''t be it, right?" Khan pressed on.


    "Very flexible," The Tors added.


    Khan couldn''t apply his social skills to the Tors. He didn''t know enough about that species to catch them lying, and the hood prevented him from learning to recognize any expression depicted by the reptilian head.


    Nevertheless, Khan was far from a fool. The Tors'' fame saw them as a highly secretive species. They wouldn''t open up for something as meager as flexibility. There had to be something else to the matter.


    "We''ll never get a deal done if you mix lies with your rare exnations," Khan dered.


    The Tors fell silent, but its hood didn''t return on the container. It was considering Khan''s words, and another iprehensible hiss resounded in the room once it epted that he was right.


    "Chaos is richer," The Tors eventually exined. "It''s easier to alter, and it can create various mana."


    ''They might use it for a weapon then,'' Khan thought.


    Khan felt able to understand something when he reviewed that exnation through his knowledge of mana, but the issue remained. He still didn''t know what to ask in exchange for his chaos.


    ''Easier to alter?'' Khan eventually repeated. ''The chaos wielders would have something to say about that.''


    It was honestly strange seeing the Tors having that opinion. Khan would have understood if the statement came from a species with a deep reverence toward mana, but the Tors had a scientific approach. They couldn''t possibly treat the chaos element lightly.


    ''Maybe they have special tools to contain it,'' Khan wondered. ''Also, splitting it into different strands of energy might not be as dangerous as casting a spell.''


    Khan epted that something simr was possible. After all, the Guko could concoct and contain anti-mana. It wouldn''t be strange for the Tors to do the same with the chaos element.


    Still, a vague idea formed in his mind when he thought about the matter. The Tors could alter the mana to make it suit their needs, and Khan required a simr service.


    "Can you alter spells too?" Khan asked once his idea fully formed.


    The Tors remained silent before voicing a vague "maybe".


    Khan joined his palms at that point. Mana flowed between them until it reached the intended amount and allowed him to separate his hands to generate the chaos spear.


    The Tors remained strangely calm before the casting of such a dangerous spell. The cape prevented Khan from noticing any reaction or emotion, but theck of tremors, gasps, or gestures as a whole hinted at the alien''s confident mindset.


    Soon, the purple-red glow took over the azure light in the small room. The chaos spear shone between Khan''s palms, and a question left his mouth. "Can you make it smaller?"


    The Tors finally moved. It bent toward the chaos spear and stuck out its forked tongue to inspect it. Its head moved left and right to study the spell from different angles, and Khan recognized the evident curiosity fueling those gestures.


    "Just smaller?" The Tors questioned without interrupting its inspection.


    "Weaker is also fine," Khan revealed. "I want shorter casting time."


    The Tors continued to inspect the glowing spear until it eventually recalled its tongue and retracted its head. Mechanical noises came out from under the cape, but nothing strange happened on the outside.


    "Come, chaos wielder," The Tors eximed as it ignored the container and approached the house''s exit.


    Khan turned the glowing spear into a harmless purple-red cloud before standing up and following the Tors. The two left the house and walked through the district''s streets until they reached another small building that stretched on the lower floor.


    The Tors entered the house without saying anything, and Khan followed. The building looked almost identical to the previous, but the alien didn''t hesitate to take off its cape once the entrance closed.


    The reptilian figure and the dark-silver machine attached to its back unfolded in Khan''s view. He could see the entirety of the alien and the sks connected to the structure tied to its body. The Tors only had two of them, and they justified the item''s overall lower power.


    ''It''s weaker than my knife,'' Khan thought.


    "Don''t peek," The Tors ordered while tapping on the floor to reveal a trapdoor.


    The Tors'' was quite big. Its reptilian body was thick, but that didn''t hinder its passage through the trapdoor. Its movements were actually pretty swift and controlled as it dived into the hole and upied the lower floor.


    Those movements were inhuman. Khan couldn''t even think about imitating them. The Tors could lift most of its body by using only a small part of its tail, and the flexibility it could express wasn''t something humanoid beings could replicate.


    The trapdoor remained open, but no sound or unusual strand of synthetic mana came out. Khan felt the urge to look at the lower floor, but he held back to respect the Tors'' orders.


    A few minutes passed before the reptilian head peeked past the trapdoor and voiced another hissing order. "Come down, chaos wielder."


    Khan followed along. The Tors left the trapdoor, so he could approach it and study how to handle his descent. That building wasn''t made for beings with arms and legs, but a four meters drop was easy to handle.


    Khan grabbed the trapdoor''s edges before stuffing his legs past it. His lower body followed, and the same went for his torso. He soon found himself hanging from that opening, and theck of footholds forced him to rx his grasp.


    The ceiling wasn''t too tall. Khannded on the floor without touching any tube or item lying there, and his curiosity immediately took over. He had seen a simr room just a few minutes ago, but the different perspective created an entirely new scenery.


    The Tors was hanging from a series of knobs ced on the wall. It was a whole meter above Khan, and its reptilian body allowed it to move freely even when relying on those small handholds.


    Tubes covered the walls and left them to amass before the Tors. The same machine that Khan had seen previously hovered near the center of the room, but itsyout was far different. The pipes didn''t create a thick array. Instead, they left a vast open space among them.


    "Summon the spell," The Tors ordered while making thest adjustments to the machine.


    Khan executed the order. A chaos spear soon formed between his hands and filled the room with its purple-red shades. The Tors partially left the wall to stretch toward the spell and study it for a few seconds before returning to the machine toplete itsyout.


    Each tube typically carried a different type of synthetic mana, but all the energy inside them seemed to harmonize when the Tors finished tinkering with the machine. Low sounds joined the symphony inside the room, and even the spear between Khan''s hands grew slightly more stable under their influence.


    The Tors used its head to push the machine down. The tubes stretched and moved freely without altering their overallyout, and Khan soon found them standing above him.


    "Put the spell inside," The Tors announced.


    Khan couldn''t help but nce at the Tors. Leaving the chaos spear unchecked would probably lead to an explosion, and the room didn''t offer hiding spots.


    Yet, the low sounds added to the symphony hinted at something, and Khan felt able to trust the Tors'' expertise. He grabbed his spear and slowly lifted it until it entered the array of tubes, and new changes happened at that point.


    The low noises had already made the spear more stable, and being among the tubes only intensified those features. Khan wanted to retain some control over the spell out of fear of an explosion, but everything remained calm even after he let go of the glowing weapon.


    It felt actually strange to see the chaos spear hovering among the tubes on its own. Khan wasn''t affecting it. Usually, the weapon would explode and release a destructive pir, but it retained its stability inside that machine.


    The Tors ignored Khan as it inspected the machine from different angles to gain aplete view of the spear. Faint hisses left its mouth during the process, and its tail eventually left the wall to search for items on the floor.


    Khan performed careful steps left and right to avoid the tail and dodge any item lying on the ground. Still, it turned out that the Tors wasn''t looking for any of that junk. A hidden drawer opened when the alien touched a corner, and a series of bright sks appeared in the open.


    The Tors didn''t give Khan the time to study the energy inside the sks. The alien used its tail to grab those small containers and attach them to the machine on its back. It even reced the almost empty ones from before.


    The dark-silver line grew stronger as the Tors added new magazines, but that wasn''t the end. Something changed in the nature of the machine, and those effects spread to the alien. An azure light filled its vertical pupils before expanding through the entirety of its reptilian eyes.


    Khan could sense the significant amount of mana flowing toward the Tors'' eyes. He couldn''t understand its effects, but it wasn''t hard toe up with ideas. The situation and the scene hinted at an enhancement to the alien''s sight.


    The effects of the machine didn''t stop there. More mana flowed out of the dark-silver line to reach the Tors'' head. The alien stuck out its tongue, which glowed with azure light while shaking and sending tremors toward the chaos spear.


    The spear''s surface destabilized as tremorsnded on it, filling Khan with the urge to run away. He eyed the open trapdoor and prepared himself to activate the [Blood Shield], but nothing dangerous happened.


    Strands of mana left the chaos spear and began to float among the array of tubes. The machine contained Khan''s energy while the destruction of his spell continued, and the weapon eventually transformed into a formless purple-red cloud.


    The Tors used its tail to rece two sks at that point. Its eyes continued to glow even after the dark-silver line sent its new energy, but its tongue began to release different types of tremors.


    The new tremors forced the purple-red cloud to condense. The Tors handled the process slowly, focusing on a single strand of mana before moving to the next. Then, after a few minutes passed, Khan became able to recognize the silhouette of his chaos spear among the tubes.


    The Tors was rebuilding the chaos spear from the same energy that had once made it, but Khan could see that the process wasn''t seamless. Some mana inevitably dispersed even if the tubes tried to contain it. Also, the spell lost many of its unique properties since the Tors couldn''t replicate Khan''s casting.


    The Tors repeated the process after turning the entirety of the cloud into a spear. The weapon shattered and reformed, and the alien immediately broke it again to go over everything once more.


    Khan waited patiently. The Tors was allowing him to watch everything, and he didn''tin, but the matter remained strange. That behavior wasn''t in line with the secretive fame that enveloped that species.


    ''Is this not important enough to remain hidden?'' Khan wondered. ''Did they partially ept me?''


    The second guess sounded unrealistic. Khan would find it easier to believe that the Tors had gotten too immersed in the process to care about him.


    ''Maybe it doesn''t consider all of this important,'' Khan thought.


    The Tors didn''t turn at all. It kept shattering and rebuilding the spear until the entirety of its mana dispersed. The container made of tubes finally became empty, but the alien kept staring at it with glowing eyes.


    Khan kept track of the consumption of mana. The dark-silver machine had never stopped pouring energy into the Tors'' body, and the state of its sks depicted the process since the fuel inside them had significantly diminished.


    "It won''t be the same," The Tors announced once its eyes lost their glow.


    "What do you mean?" Khan asked.


    "The spell needs to change," The Tors revealed. "Something is missing. It won''t be the same."


    Khan''s face remained calm, but his thoughts were already on the matter. The Tors had sounded lost, and Khan could guess the reason why. The chaos spear wasn''t the result of a mere gathering of mana ording to a specific pattern, so it made sense for the rearrangement to produce inferior results.


    "Can you do it?" Khan questioned.


    "Yes," The Tors confirmed, "But it won''t be the same."


    "I''ll choose that as a price then," Khan eximed. "We can find a new deal afterward."


    "No new deal," The Tors argued.


    "What reason would I have to bring you chaos after getting what I want?" Khan asked.


    The Tors remained silent for a few seconds before voicing a warning. "We won''t show more of our arts."


    "I''ll think about something before my next request," Khan reassured. "I won''t pry any further."


    "Twice a week or no deal," The Tors reminded.


    "I already agreed to that," Khan dered. "How long will it take to alter the spell?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "One or two weeks," The Tors revealed, "But it won''t be the same."


    "That''s fine," Khan uttered. "We have a deal then."


    The Tors didn''t answer. Its attention went to the machine on its back, and its tail moved to remove some half-empty sks. The energy flowing inside the dark-silver line changed, and its overall power fell.


    The silence left Khan in a pickle. In theory, he had yet to n a few details with the Tors, but thetter hadpletely lost interest in him.


    "How do I contact you?" Khan decided to ask.


    "You don''t," The Tors stated. "Come to the district. Give chaos."


    Khan gave up at that point. Trying to reason with the Tors seemed straight-up impossible. Their generalck of interest and secrecy made any attempt to start a conversation pointless.


    The Tors didn''t speak anymore. It sorted the sks in its drawer before closing it and bringing its attention back to the tubes. More synthetic mana flowed through them after the alien pressed on a seemingly random spot on the wall, but it didn''t modify the array.


    "Leave now," The Tors ordered, and Khan didn''t hesitate to follow the order. He performed a jump that made him reach the trapdoor, and the opening closed after he pulled himself up.


    ''I wonder how they really are,'' Khan found himself thinking while leaving the small house and studying his memories to find a way out of the district. ''Maybe I''m overthinking this. They might be too inhuman for my understanding.''


    The Tors'' coldness and indifference reminded Khan about the Guko, even if the former weren''t as emotionless. His curiosity wanted him to find out more about those aliens, but the environment didn''t work in his favor. He actually had to consider himself lucky to have seen them without a cape.


    ''They can dismantle and reassemble mana,'' Khan summarized as he walked toward less oily areas of the dock. ''That should be their foundation, so the machines on their backs should be catalysts.''


    The Tors appeared physically strong, but their machines were the real deal. Those aliens could increase their power and alter their nature as long as they had suitable mana. Their potential was probably limitless.


    A cold realization hit Khan during the walk. He recalled when a Tors sent back the shot from the sniper in the hunting team. The feat had been incredible, but it had also looked effortless.


    ''Did I just give them the chance to do the same with the chaos spear?'' Khan wondered. ''They should be unable to exin many important details.''


    Khan couldn''t be sure about that, but it was already toote to regret his decision. The Tors had studied the chaos spear. He had only himself to me if that species learnt to counter it.


    Nevertheless, seeing the Tors in action made Khan desire to avoid a conflict against them. They felt too troublesome to fight, especially when given the time to prepare.


    As for the negotiation, Khan was fine with getting a weak version of a lesser spell. His approach was different anyway, so he only wanted the Tors to develop a blueprint or general method. He would make the necessary changes by himself at that point.


    Some mental exhaustion assaulted Khan while he walked toward the Nele''s district. Training with Maban and dealing with the Tors while he had yet to recover fully had been tiring, and the ns that popped into his mind only added weight to that feeling.


    The hunting season, Luke''s mission, Maban''s technique, the deals with the Tors, and the training in the Nele''s arts were tasks that Khan didn''t know how to fit into his daily routine. More problems were also bound to appear as some situations evolved. He had a lot to do, and all of that would take time.


    ''Well, I never liked sleeping anyway,'' Khan mocked himself. He didn''t mind being so busy. It actually reminded him of happier times in his life.


    The walk back to the Nele''s district featured the usual spies who kept track of Khan''s movements. The symphony didn''t reveal their exact position, but Khan sensed their attention on him. Still, he would ignore everything as long as nothing came on his way.


    That strangely didn''t happen. A familiar presence joined the symphony before moving toward Khan. He raised his gaze, and Sen-nu''s smiling figure soon became clear.


    "[My human customer]!" Sen-nu announced in the Nele''snguage while spreading his arms.


    "[I thought you lived on that street]," Khanmented while showing a polite smile.


    "[Even Sen-nu has to move at times]," Sen-nuughed as he stopped and dropped his backpack on the floor. "[I have to show you something]."


    "[Were you looking for me]?" Khan said through his smile, but his thoughts inevitably grew cold. His left hand even approached his sheath to prepare for the worst.


    "[Look at this]," Sen-nu eximed after taking a screen out of his backpack. "[This is you, right]?"


    Khan carefully approached Sen-nu and gave up on his polite pretense once he saw the scenes ying on the device. He knew that video. It was the recording from the Ots'' club.


    "[So much for protecting your customers]," Khan insulted.


    "[Don''t me Sen-nu]," Sen-nu stated. "[Even I have to follow orders at times]."

 Chapter ?384 Dumb

    Chapter ?384 Dumb


    The fact that Sen-nu had gotten his hands on the video was quite surprising. Khan wasn''t a high-profile figure in the dock, and Piran had even reassured him on that field.


    Moreover, Sen-nu didn''t have the appearance or bearing of a leader. His behavior could be a pretense, but the alternative exnation that formed in Khan''s mind made more sense. Factions among the Fuveall had probably stepped in to purchase the video and reach out to Khan.


    Khan could understand all of that very well, but he remained confused. He didn''t see any real value in his figure. Threatening him with something rtively valuable made no sense in his mind unless Sen-nu and the Fuveall wanted to use his connection to the Nele.


    Of course, the realization that the Nele were the only possible exnation for that event made Khan''s thoughts even colder, but he refrained from violent outbursts. He didn''t want to jump to conclusions, and the situation was far from terrible.


    Khan had listened to the symphony during the entirety of his walk. His mind had been full of messy thoughts, but his attention had never wavered. The dock was keeping track of his movements, but he didn''t sense anything too out of the ordinary.


    Hunters could be waiting, and the Fuveall probably had technology that could defy impressive sensitivity to mana, but no one knew Khan''s prowess in that field. It wouldn''t make sense for those aliens to use advanced methods to counter something they weren''t aware of.


    In short, the symphony reassured Khan. He felt pretty sure that no trap was waiting for him. As for Sen-nu, the video was a threat but a weak one. He could spread it, but the interested factions had probably already purchased it.


    "[What orders]?" Khan said in his best version of the Fuveall''snguage. He had no reason to use it, but he wanted to improve since he was at it.


    "[Truly a resourceful customer]!" Sen-nuughed while also switching to the Fuveall''snguage.


    Sen-nu closed the video and bent toward the backpack to store the device, but Khan suddenly grabbed his left wrist, right at the end of the metal te. Sen-nu turned and pulled his arm, but Khan stepped forward and forced his struggle to an end.


    Khan was shorter than Sen-nu, and the Fuveall generally had stronger bodies. Their imnts could even grant additional physical strength. In theory, Sen-nu had no reason to interrupt his gesture.


    However, Khan wasn''t restraining Sen-nu through brute strength. His right hand was on his wrist, but his left was on the knife''s entric handle. He only had to draw it to reach Sen-nu''s unprotected abdomen.


    The tone of the conversation immediately changed. Sen-nu had tried to retain some friendliness, while Khan had held back his coldness. Yet, everything had grown tense and serious after Khan seized the initiative.


    "[Come on now]," Sen-nu chuckled, but some nervousness fused with his attempted chill tone. "[Sen-nu came as a friend]."


    "[What orders]?" Khan repeated, adjusting his ent ording to what he was hearing.


    The tense situation attracted some attention. Khan heard changes in the symphony while his gaze remained fixed on Sen-nu''s golden eyes. Sharper tremors expanded through the synthetic mana due to themotion that unfolded, but nothing came in his direction.


    "[Sen-nu only needs to bring you somewhere]," Sen-nu exined as his tone grew calmer.


    "[Where and why]?" Khan pressed on.


    "[Sen-nu can''t say]," Sen-nu replied.


    "[Why would I follow you then]?" Khan asked.


    "[Because we are friends]," Sen-nu joked.


    The concern for the situation had disappeared from Sen-nu''s tone at that point, and Khan couldn''t understand why. Nothing had changed, but the alien had lost his anxiety.


    Khan couldn''t have missed a shift in Sen-nu''s mana. Everything had remained still inside the alien, but the change in his behavior had happened anyway, and theck of exnations forced Khan''s hand.


    "[What are you hiding]?" Khan threatened as strands of mana came out from the back of his right palm.


    "[Nothing]," Sen-nu responded.


    "[Why are you so calm then]?" Khan uttered while pulling Sen-nu closer to make the knife''s handle touch his abdomen.


    "[You don''t want to kill Sen-nu]," Sen-nu exined as a smile broadened on his face. "[You want answers]."


    Khan had spoken simr words to Maban that same day, but they sounded like insults when they came out of Sen-nu''s mouth. Sen-nu didn''t really mean any of that. Still, Khan couldn''t let someone underestimate him so tantly.


    ''Does he think that I won''t kill him?'' Khan wondered as his mindset made the synthetic mana around him reek of killing intent.


    Khan had already concluded that Sen-nu and the Fuveall were after his connection to the Nele. He didn''t know how urate that guess was, but it sounded far more reasonable than any other exnation.


    A simr connection would often create a halo of mystery and respect around Khan. He would basically inherit those features from the species backing him up. However, Sen-nu had approached him fearlessly, which had deeper implications.


    Political maneuvers would typically involve proper members of the involved species, but Sen-nu hade to Khan. The gesture almost proved that the Fuveall saw him as the weak link in that faction, and he couldn''t let that stand.


    The Fuveall had a scientific approach to mana. They were different from the Tors, Guko, and humans, but they still belonged to that field. Sen-nu didn''t have the means to notice the changes in the synthetic mana, but his vast experience with countless customers warned him.


    Something was different on Khan''s face. A cold determination had descended on his expression and had filled his eyes. Any trace of pretense or emotion left his gaze as he set his mind on sending a message that the entire dock would have to listen to.


    "[Wait, wait]!" Sen-nu abruptly shouted as panic returned to his tone. "[Sen-nu meant no harm or offense]!"


    The sharp change in Sen-nu''s behavior dispersed part of the killing intent that had almost taken over Khan''s actions. Thetter had been ready to draw his knife to prove that no one could approach him so lightly, but the new development revealed a less bloody path.


    "[Start speaking then]," Khan ordered.


    "[Someone from my species wants to have a conversation]," Sen-nu exined. "[It''s nothing dangerous. Sen-nu swears]!"


    "[And why would I follow you]?" Khan continued. "[That video has already reached the dock. It poses no threat to me]."


    "[Sen-nu wanted to show his connections]," Sen-nu revealed. "[And that we know about your value]."


    ''Did I misinterpret it?'' Khan wondered.


    Khan had done his research on Earth, but books and reports always failed to depict certain details, especially when it came to other species. The humans often missed some traditions and typical behaviors. Sen-nu might have really used the video as a simple greeting.


    "[You still didn''t tell me why I should follow you]," Khan pressed on, hiding the doubts that had spread in his mind.


    "[Sen-nu thought you''d like to meet more Fuveall]," Sen-nu stated.


    A careful person would immediately reject that offer and walk away, but Khan was weak when it came to different species. He might never get another chance to get closer to the Fuveall, and they were even an essential aspect of his original mission. Duty and curiosity blended in his mind until what he wanted became obvious.


    "[I hope the streets there won''t have ears]," Khan uttered before letting Sen-nu go.


    "[We''ll let you choose them]!" Sen-nuughed as he picked up his backpack. He exchanged a meaningful nce with Khan before turning and leading the way.


    The two crossed streets that Khan didn''t recognize, but he remained aware of his general position in the dock. Checkpoints crossed his vision as spies followed along. It seemed impossible to get rid of them, but Sen-nu proved him wrong.


    The sounds that Khan had connected to the spies retreated when Sen-nu led him toward a tform that worked as an elevator. The machine went only downward, into a series of narrow streets connected to multiplending areas, and many Fuveall were visible from that position.


    "[Wait]," Khan called before he could step on the elevator. "[Not down there]."


    Khan was obviously curious about the Fuveall''snding areas, but his recklessness had limits. He couldn''t follow Sen-nu in such isted ces before confirming his intentions.


    "[Of course, of course]," Sen-nuughed before putting his backpack on the floor. Khan took a step back when the alien drew something from the item, but he rxed when he saw a device simr to his phone.


    Sen-nu tapped on the device before grunting and pping it a few times. Iprehensible curses followed as he waved the item and lifted it as if he was searching for something, but a happyugh eventually concluded the process.


    "[Communicating in the dock is always a problem]," Sen-nu exined as he put the device back into the backpack. "[Even the Fuveall can only make the uracy go up to seventy percent]."


    "[Seventy doesn''t sound bad]," Khan admitted.


    "[It works only with other Fuveall''s technology]," Sen-nu pointed out. "[Sen-nu might push it to seventy-five, or even eighty, but that would undermine its secrecy]."


    Khan could only nod. Interceptingmunications was a field too distant from his expertise, so he epted Sen-nu''s exnation without voicing any doubt.


    Sen-nu stepped out of the tform, and the elevator went down. The symphony warned Khan about the arrival of a few Fuveall, and they only took a few seconds to appear in his vision.


    ''No third-level warriors,'' Khan thought while he watched the four aliens stepping on the tform and activating the machine to reach the main floor.


    The group only featured one first-level warrior. The others were as strong as Khan and Sen-nu, but that didn''t reassure the former. Backpacks hung from their back, and one of them even carried a mechanical structure that featured six tall poles.


    Khan inevitably took a few more steps back. Fighting the Fuveall and their imnts was one thing, but he couldn''t risk getting caught by one of their items.


    The gesture told a lot about Khan''s stance, and the Fuveall could only y along. The alien carrying the mechanical structure nodded at herpanions, who promptly dropped their backpacks on the elevator and sent it down.


    "We only want to iste the area," The Fuveall with the machine announced while seizing one of the poles and cing it on the floor.


    The pole''s base expanded as soon as it touched the floor to create a stable foundation. Fissures even slid open at its sides, and a dark fabric came out of it.


    The fabric didn''t have anything special on the outside, but Khan''s senses revealed its functions. That material partially hindered his sensitivity to mana. That quality would probably improve after adding the other poles.


    Khan nodded while taking another step back to leave enough room for the machine. The Fuveall didn''t appear too happy about his evident suspicion, but they still moved toplete their preparations.


    The team ced the six poles on the floor and united the fabricing out of them to create a hexagonal tent-like structure. The same isting material got out of the item''s top at that point and allowed the aliens to build a roof.


    "Let''s talk inside," The same Fuveall from before said while pointing at the tent''s entrance.


    Khan nodded at the other Fuveall before bringing his eyes on the speaker, and thetter understood what he meant. She pointed at the tent, and herpanions went inside. She even red at Sen-nu when he showed hesitation toward leaving his backpack behind, but he eventually epted those terms.


    "Is this enough?" The female Fuveall asked once herpanions were inside.


    Khan''s paranoia would normally see him pick the Nele''s district for those meetings. After all, the Fuveall weren''t as distrustful and isted as the Tors. Yet,promises were necessary, and part of him preferred to leave the Nele out of eventual problems.


    "[Let''s go]," Khan eximed in the Fuveall''snguage while approaching the tent.


    Khan remained wary since the tent hid its insides, but he rxed a bit when he saw that the Fuveall weren''t doing anything strange. Sen-nu and the others were standing in the back of the structure, and they showed faint smiles once theirpanion joined them.


    Khan had the time to inspect the entire group during the building of the tent. There were two women and three men, but their bionic imnts appeared quite in. Sen-nu was the most peculiar among them due to his missing nose.


    "You are a guest," The Fuveall who had handled the conversation until now said. "You don''t need to use ournguage to please us."


    "[I''m just trying to improve in it]," Khan honestly exined. "[I have no other reason for that]."


    The answer sounded so dumb that the Fuveall didn''t know how to react to it. That was a quasi-official negotiation. Risking misunderstanding something should be the main priority, but Khan didn''t care.


    "[Sen-nu told you that he was a tough customer]," Sen-nuughed in the Fuveall''snguage.


    "[For what it''s worth]," The female Fuveall sighed while also switchingnguage, "[Sen-nu takes his job very seriously. He told us about you because he had no other choice]."


    "[About that]," Khan intervened. "[I still don''t know what you want from me. I don''t see how I can be worthy of so much]."


    "[Let''s start with the greetings]," The female Fuveall smiled. "[I''m Ta-ei, and I handle part of thending areas below]."


    Khan searched through his pockets before pulling out the silver card that generated random IDs. A name flickered on its surface, and he calmly voiced it. "Noah Balvan."


    Sen-nu snickered, but the res from hispanions forced him to shut up. Meanwhile- Ta-ei retained her smile and tried to establish a conversation once again. "[We truly have friendly intentions]."


    "[Tell me why I am here then]," Khan stated.


    "[We]," Ta-ei began to speak before stopping for a second to sort out her thoughts. "[The Fuveall are concerned about the hunting season]."


    Those words didn''t surprise Khan. The most reasonable guess had turned out to be urate, but Khan''s paranoia pushed his thoughts toward dark areas.


    "[Why]?" Khan coldly asked. "[Did you do something against the Nele]?"


    "[Not at all]!" Ta-ei eximed. "[We have no business with them]."


    "[Why are you worried then]?" Khan wondered. "[There is no reason for all of this if you are innocent]."


    Ta-ei turned to exchange nces with herpanions. Hesitation spread among the group, but Khan couldn''t exin it. He couldn''t be too scary for them.


    "[We don''t understand them]," Sen-nu eventually announced.


    "[They might be jealous of our imnts]," Ta-ei added.


    "[And our technology as a whole]," Another Fuveall followed.


    "[You can never know what they are thinking]," A fourth Fuveall said.


    "[Who knows what their nts tell them]?" Thest Fuveall stated.


    The tension and faint killing intent that had risen in Khan''s mind instantly dispersed at the sight of those honest nods. The Fuveall appeared genuinely concerned, but that wasn''t the point. Their fear came from a fundamentalck of understanding toward a species directly opposite to them.


    "[Why would their nts tell them to attack you]?" Khan couldn''t help but ask.


    "[Envy, obviously]," Ta-ei proudly announced.


    "[Technology is the future]," Sen-nu continued, "[And the nts might not want that]."


    "[Nature is wed but resilient]," A third Fuveall announced. "[Wood and metal are bound to sh]."


    "[Here he goes with his conspiracy theories]," Sen-nuughed.


    "[I''m telling you]!" The third Fuveall dered. "[A war ising]."


    "[Between nts and metal]?" Sen-nu snickered before turning toward Ta-ei. "[Why did you even bring him here]?"


    "[His rank is pretty high]," Ta-ei revealed. "[You should check his new imnt on the lower back. It''s quite the work of art]."


    "[Ooh]?" Sen-nu eximed before crouching behind the third Fuveall and lifting his T-shirt.


    "[It can affect organs without touching them]," The third Fuveall proudly exined. "[I''ve achieved a two-point reduction in the organic matter turned into waste]."


    "[Such efficiency]!" Sen-nu praised, "[And you even have room to rece the organs now]."


    "[Indeed, indeed]," The third Fuveallughed, and hispanions murmured while also checking his exposed back.


    Khan didn''t know how to behave in that situation. His face was expressionless. The Fuveall were acting like a bunch of children in front of a new toy. Still, something in the scene made a chuckle rise through his throat.


    Usually, Khan would have never let a simr reaction disrupt his cold face, but the previous conversation hadpletely dispersed any tension. The meeting barely felt like a negotiation anymore. Even his mind refused to take it seriously.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Fuveall continued to check the imnt, but Ta-ei didn''t miss the chuckle. She brought her focus back on Khan, and words promptly left her mouth. "[We didn''t forget why we are here]."


    Khan nced at the murmuring group before moving his eyes back to Ta-ei. She was the only one paying attention to him, but he didn''t mind that. He actually preferred that type ofid-back and friendly negotiation.


    "[You are quite dumb]," Khan dered as augh fused with his words.


    "[What]?" Sen-nu shouted while peeking from behind hispanion''s back, and the rest of the group also moved their attention to Khan.


    "[I meant no offense]," Khanughed. "[I''m dumb too. I just have other interests]."


    "[I really don''t understand the nature-loving people]," Sen-nu whispered.


    "[It''s a war]," The third Fuveall also whispered, but one of hispanions pped the back of his head to make him shut up.


    "[Did we prove our good intentions]?" Ta-ei asked since she understood the change in the atmosphere.


    "[I guess you''ll find out my name anyway]," Khan sighed while moving his eyes among the group. "[I''ll give you the answers you want, but I need something in return]."


    "[We expected that]," Ta-ei uttered.


    "[I have questions about your technology]," Khan revealed, "[Many questions and some will involve illegal fields]."

 Chapter ?385 Conclusions

    Chapter ?385 Conclusions


    "[You only need to scroll through the list until you find someone suitable]," Sen-nu exined while ying with the screen in his hands. "[Pressing on one of them will reveal additional information as well as purchase options for additional tips and clues]."


    "[Can you find me]?" Khan asked.


    "[Your bounty is quite recent]," Sen-nu muttered while changing the filters on the list. "[Oh! Here you are. Twenty thousand Credits, dead or alive. Though it has bad reviews]."


    "[Do people even leave reviews]?" Khan questioned.


    "[Bounty hunters don''t have it easy on Milia 222]," Sen-nu revealed. "[There often are countlessplications attached to most targets, the Nele in your case]."


    Khan read while Sen-nu scrolled through the reviews. Multiple anonymous ounts had leftints about the reward for the bounty. Twenty thousand Credits were too few for someone with connections to the Nele.


    A few reviews evenined about Khan''s element, arguing that chaos wielders deserved higher rewards. Most recent critiques also involved Khan''s sessful escape from the first wave of bounty hunters and used the event to request better pay.


    ''It''s so thorough,'' Khan thought as he reached for the screen and swiped up until he returned to the main page. His face was there, and the same went for many details about his physique, element, and general battle style.


    ''Fast and deadly,'' Khan read on thebels next to his picture. ''Avoid getting into melee range.''


    "[You shouldn''t be worried]," Sen-nu reassured when he saw how focused Khan was. "[This bounty has been received poorly, and the employer didn''t raise the reward to match the critiques. It won''t survive another week in the system''s main pages]."


    After the rocky start, Khan and the group of Fuveall had managed to bring the meeting under friendly terms, allowing him to ask pressing questions. Manners wanted to keep the illegal stuff forst, so Khan had begun his inquiries with the bounty system.


    Sen-nu''s backpack was outside the tent, so he had chosen to handle the exnation himself. He only had to bring the bag inside to show the item that could solve Khan''s doubts.


    It turned out that Milia 222 had a separatework for bounties. The hunters needed special items to gain ess to it, but many Fuveall, humans, and Ots sold them.


    The system was far from perfect, especially on the dock, due to its manyplications, but it worked, and some hunters could rely on it to make a living. The job was nowhere near easy, and many often lost more than money, but Milia 222 allowed its existence, even if not openly.


    "[Could I also ce a bounty]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Every devicees with an anonymous profile]," Sen-nu exined. "[You''d need an additional tool to send and receive money on your real ount, but nothing stops you from gaining ess to it]."


    "[What about the truly important figures]?" Khan continued. "[Can one of them end up on the list]?"


    "[Milia 222''s citizens tend to be smarter than your ordinary people]," Sen-nu dered. "[They won''t go against powers that could destroy them]."


    "[That''s not what I''ve seen]," Khan admitted. Even if the situation had often been in his enemies'' favor, many had thrown away caution in an attempt to make quick scores.


    "[You are an unknown variable]," Sen-nu stated, "[And you don''t stick to many rules. Even Sen-nu was surprised to find you hand in hand with a Nele. I can only imagine what the others thought at that sight]."


    "[How long will this surprisest]?" Khan asked. He might have the chance to exploit the situation as long as Milia 222 remained unclear about his potential.


    "[It''s already waning]," Sen-nuughed. "[This dead bounty proves that]."


    ''Pity,'' Khan thought. ''I guess there is no helping it. The dock is bound to adapt quickly.''


    "[There are otherworks]," Sen-nu continued his exnation. "[Many only remain up for a few hours, and there is no limit to their topics. Auctions and bounties are only a few examples of the stableworks]."


    Khan knew that technology was amazing, but he had no idea that it could be so deep. He had initially thought that mana could make itplicated and untouchable, but there seemed to be countless alternative paths in that field.


    "[These temporaryworks]," Khan announced, "[They can''t be too safe, right? They would remain up otherwise]."


    The group of Fuveall had partially ignored the conversation between Sen-nu and Khan. They were talking about topics that they knew far too well, and they had no interest in educating a newbie who had sided with a species with opposite priorities.


    However, the announcement showed that Khan wasn''t an idiot or a lost cause. His mind could make smart connections as long as someone exined the basics to him. His thoughts were strangely flexible, especially when it came to potential dangers or scams.


    "[You keep surprising Sen-nu]," Sen-nu eximed. "[Yes, theworks are wed. Technology as a whole is]."


    "[Do the Ots have separateworks]?" Khan questioned. "[I can''t understand how they exchange information so quickly]."


    "[No one truly knows]," Sen-nuughed. "[Well, the Ots know. It''s an innate quality of their species]."


    Khan heaved a sigh as he stopped looking at the device and raised his gaze. He was sitting on the floor, and the dark fabric of the tent filled his vision, but his eyes didn''t really look at that. His thoughts ran wild as he absorbed that new knowledge.


    The Slums had never forced Khan to face that reality, and Reebfell didn''t have those issues, at least from his perspective. However, Milia 222 had multipleyers, and one of them existed only online.


    ''How long would it take me to learn this stuff?'' Khan wondered.


    Truth be told, Khan wasn''t particrly attracted to technology. He respected it and acknowledged its greatness, but he liked the human side of life far more. Even after discovering how deep theworks could go, he didn''t feel any curiosity toward them.


    Still, remaining ignorant wasn''t an option. Khan could decide not to learn how to set up a smallwork, but he needed to know the various implications to that field. His very future depended on it.


    "[So]," Ta-ei joined the conversation during that silent moment. "[Are you sure that the Nele won''t target us]?"


    "[I told you already]," Khan repeated. "[Don''t give them a reason toe after you, and they won''t]."


    "[But how can we know what pisses them]?" The conspiracy theory Fuveall asked.


    "[You already know what they hate]," Khan uttered. "[Just don''t get involved with that]."


    "[Hmph]," The conspiracy theory Fuveall snorted. "[We don''t care about flesh-based materials. Our alloys are far more val-]."


    "[Atef, shut up]," Ta-ei interrupted. "[Don''t share unnecessary information]."


    "[I kind of wanted to hear about your important supplies]," Khan joked, and Sen-nuughed.


    "[Maybe one day]," Ta-ei dered. "[Depends on the terms of our cooperation]."


    Khan only smiled. Ta-ei was being polite, but he knew he couldn''t offer much. His connection to the Nele was the sole reason behind that friendly meeting.


    "[Let''s move to more interesting topics]," Khan announced. "[What do you know about the Tors]?"


    "[What''s there to know about the Tors]?" Sen-nu snorted.


    "[They also have technology]," Khan vaguely revealed.


    "[They are too secretive even to try to establish a conversation]," Ta-ei exined before bringing her meaningful red eyes on Khan. "[We were surprised to learn about your trip to their district]."


    ''I truly am an exception then,'' Khan confirmed before deciding to change topics again. "[What do you know about security systems]?"


    "[Security how]?" Ta-ei asked.


    "[Cameras, scanners, and such]," Khan described.


    "[We know a lot about them]!" Sen-nu snickered.


    "[The Fuveall have the most advanced programs]," Ta-ei added. "[Only the humanse close, but many purchase them from us anyway]."


    "[Won''t that create security issues]?" Khan asked, but the Fuveall revealed nk faces at his question.


    Ta-ei cleared her throat before exining. "[They wouldn''t keep them as they are. Many versions also exist. Vulnerability is a serious issue, so any buyer would improve on that]."


    "[Let''s say that these buyers are wealthy]," Khan stated. "[Which security program would they buy]?"


    "[Depends on the task]," Ta-ei responded. "[Chime is great in general. Cozy is cheap but functional. Jinx is superb butplicated. There is no superior option]."


    "[SegueX got a few interesting updates recently]," Sen-nu added.


    "[The new Hex is also worth looking into]," Atef suggested.


    "[It''s not useful down here]," A fourth Fuveallmented.


    "[But he might not have meant something for down here]," Atef pointed out, and all the eyes in the tent moved on Khan.


    Khan was utterly lost. Words reached his ears, but they didn''t turn into actual meanings. He could only keep a straight face while he mustered a question that tried to hide his ignorance. "[What''s the best in your opinion? For general security purposes]."


    "[Reverb, probably]," Ta-ei replied. "[It''s flexible and hard to breach. It''s definitely top of the line in that field]."


    "[Would you be able to breach Reverb]?" Khan pressed on.


    "[Sen-nu told you already]," Sen-nu intervened. "[Technology is wed. Still, breaching something so advanced would leave tracks and lead to consequences]."


    "[How long would it normally take to find these tracks]?" Khan asked.


    "[Which version of Reverb are we talking about]?" Sen-nu asked.


    "[Reverb 1 or 2]?" Ta-ei added.


    "[Expanded or standard]?" Atef continued.


    "[How many packages did the buyers add]?" A fourth Fuveall asked.


    Khan''s mind was fuming. He didn''t know anything about that. The Fuveall had switched to apletely differentnguage from his perspective.


    "[That I don''t know]," Khan managed to muster out of his mouth.


    "[The version is important]," Ta-ei exined. "[Some tracks might remain hidden for multiple days depending on that]."


    "[Wait]," Khan eximed. "[What do you mean by days]?"


    "[An improved version of Reverb might uncover a breach in only a few hours]," Sen-nu said, "[But Reverb 1 might take days to find it]."


    ''Days?!'' Khan shouted in his mind. He didn''t know how long had passed since the first theft, but it had to be entire months, if not more than half a year.


    ''This doesn''t make any sense,'' Khan thought before bringing his attention back to the Fuveall. "[Are you sure that leaving tracks is inevitable? Is there no way around that]?"


    "[With poorly programmed software, sure]," Sen-nu stated.


    "[Is there no advanced breaching method that leaves no tracks]?" Khan tried again.


    "[You need to study a program to create a suitable virus]," Ta-ei exined. "[As long as the program doesn''t receive updates, it''s possible to create something like that, but a wealthy buyer would know better]."


    The matter sounded impossible in Khan''s mind, but he couldn''t contradict a species that reced pieces of their bodies with metal. He had to trust their opinion, which led to a single, unbelievable conclusion.


    ''The theft didn''t alert the security system,'' Khan concluded. ''There has never been any breach.''


    That conclusion sounded unreal. A security system couldn''t ept a theft unless thetter weren''t a theft at all.


    "[If you are in control of a security system]," Khan questioned as his gaze fell on the floor, "[Could you remove records and simr stuff]?"


    Khan knew that hisnguage didn''t fit the field, but he was doing his best, and the Fuveall understood that. Ta-ei''s answer came quickly and confirmed what Khan was thinking. "[You can do pretty much anything if you control the software]."


    That was it. That was the final answer. Khan had gone far away to search for it, but the obvious approach had turned out to be correct. The theft had never been a theft. Someone with control over the factory had seized the reinforced fabric and had deleted the event from the security system.


    The realization forced Khan to reevaluate everything he had learnt about the mission. He had initially thought about spies or traitors with connections to the families involved in the factory, but the matter went far deeper.


    A mere worker couldn''t pull off something like that. Even one of the factory''s leaders probably didn''t have the means to alter the security system, and the same went for the other wealthy families.


    The theft had to involve someone with influence over the entire factory, and only one name fitted that requirement. The Cobsend family had to be the culprit.


    ''How is this possible?'' Khan wondered. ''How could Luke miss this?''


    Luke was bound to know more about technology. He had to be aware of those implications with the security system. Still, Khan actually believed him, which left him with two options.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Either Luke managed to trick me,'' Khan thought, ''Or someone inside his family tricked him.''


    Khan couldn''t find a reason to back up the first option, but the second had its own set of problems. He couldn''t tell Luke that his family was ying him. He didn''t have enough proof, and going against his employer was far from wise.


    ''What do I do now?'' Khan asked himself as he scoured his mind in an attempt to find a solution.


    Going back to Luke to report that was out of the question. Someone convinced him about the presence of an external threat, and Khan couldn''t change his mind with a mere talk with the Fuveall on his side.


    The answer to those doubts arrived, and Khan didn''t like it too much. Everything had changed in his mind, but his task didn''t. He had to look for undeniable proof to make Luke ept his conclusion.


    ''And get the fuck out of this mission right afterward,'' Khan eximed in his mind. He was a small fry caught in-between political maneuvers that involved wealthy families. He couldn''t let himself or Martha remain exposed for too long.


    "[Is everything okay]?" Ta-ei asked since Khan had remained silent for almost a minute by then.


    "[Maybe he is finally weing technology]," Sen-nuughed.


    "[Yes, everything is okay]," Khan stated as he calmed himself down and raised his gaze to face the Fuveall. "[Let''s change topics again. If you were humans and wanted to abandon the Global Army, what would you do]?"

 Chapter ?386 Pictures

    Chapter ?386 Pictures


    ''Merth 290,'' Khan thought as he crossed streets that would bring him back to the Nele''s district. ''That''s not a ce I can reach right now.''


    The talk with the Fuveall had gone exceptionally well. No exchanges or trades had actually happened. The aliens were only interested in their safety, and Khan had vouched for that.


    As for Khan''s curiosity, the Fuveall had fulfilled it, but notpletely. They had told him how to get around the control of the Global Army''swork, but the process was quite convoluted, and Milia 222 couldn''t provide a permanent solution.


    ''I''ll need my own ship in the future,'' Khan epted in his mind. ''Though I don''t know how soon.''


    ording to the Fuveall, hacking the Global Army''swork was possible, but the humans were bound to notice almost immediately. That was why breaching it wasn''t the right path. It was better to be a ghost who could still use that system.


    The problems started there. Turning into a ghost of thework was aplicated process that required specialized experts and expensive technology. Ta-ei told Khan that Milia 222 didn''t have them, and, ording to her, meeting those requirements in legal areas was straight-up impossible.


    Khan would have to reach a differentwless zone, Merth 290, meet the Fuveall living there, and pay for the process. That was one of the few methods to escape the Global Army''swork''s control without turning into a public enemy or losing everything in his ount.


    The problems didn''t even stop there. Getting a ship sounded like a distant dream, but Khan could very well see it fulfilled. However, he would have to fly the vehicle to Merth 290, and that alone was dangerous since the Global Army was aware of what happened there.


    ''Can I trust them to do something soplicated remotely?'' Khan wondered as he picked up his phone and studied the new contact.


    Milia 222 couldn''t solve that problem, but Ta-ei had given Khan the contact of someone who could. He would only need to call it and pay up to turn his ship invisible to thework and create a decoy that could cover him until he reached Merth 290.


    Khan had heard about Merth 290 during his research ofwless zones, but his knowledge was shallow. He would need to study the matter thoroughly without stopping at the location. A trip like that required many preparations, and he was in no condition to perform or afford it now.


    Of course, Khan had no intention to leave right away. He still needed the Global Army. Abandoning it now would just turn him into a lost human with no set path.


    Finding the Nak, umting wealth, expanding his knowledge and connections, and growing stronger were matters that required the Global Army''s incredible assets. Khan was working on bing independent, but it would take him years to achieve something like that.


    ''I can only take it slow,'' Khan sighed in his mind. ''I wonder what else I''ll be forced to do.''


    Truth be told, leaving the Global Army wasn''t strictly necessary, but Khan had long since started to notice inconsistencies that pointed him in that direction.


    The history of the First Impact had undeniable holes. The Global Army definitely had its reasons to keep part of the truth hidden, but Khan had seen enough to know that they couldn''t be good.


    The general attitude of the humans toward the other alien species wasn''t in line with Khan''s mindset either. In his heart, he knew he would never trust the Global Army. Also, his goal might go against it, so he had to prepare to leave. That was necessary.


    Nevertheless, problems remained, and one of them stood above all the others. Khan was only eighteen. His age added value to his achievements, but he remained a kid. Part of his cluelessness went away every time he learnt something or improved, but he was nowhere near ready to start a journey on his own. Khan didn''t even know where to go.


    Khan saw problems whenever he thought about the matter, but he forced himself to focus on the positive aspects of his life. He was improving quickly, his knowledge was growing, and the same went for his connections. He wasn''t in the position to establish meaningful alliances founded on his name, but he was getting there.


    It was alreadyte. Part of the dock had gone to sleep, but the spies were still there. The symphony carried their silent tunes, but Khan ignored them. He was tired, both mentally and physically, and his emotional state didn''t help.


    The sight of the purplemps brought some reassurance to Khan''s mental state. Beautiful eyes turned in his direction as he crossed the various Nele patrolling the district. The chance to socialize came up many times, but Khan ignored it as he hurried back to his room.


    The trapdoor on therge structure on the lower floor opened as soon as Khan tapped on it, and a familiar aura joined the symphony. Khan couldn''t help but smile before jumping through the opening and sealing the entrance above him.


    "[You took your time]," Jennained in a sleepy tone as she stretched on the bed and rubbed her eyes.


    Khan didn''t speak. He was hungry, but he didn''t want to eat. His clothes fell off as he walked toward the bed, and a warm figure snuggled into his arms as soon as he slipped under the sheets.


    "[You sound tired]," Jenna whispered when she ced her ear at the center of Khan''s chest, "[And lost]."


    "[Sometimes everything is a bit too much]," Khan sighed as he closed his eyes to immerse himself in Jenna''s warmth.


    "[You can use me, you know]," Jenna teased, but her tone soundedpletely serious, especially since her hands rubbed Khan''s abdomen. "[Use me to stop thinking for a bit]."


    "[I''ll eventually give in if you keep asking]," Khan chuckled.


    "[Well, get a grip on yourself because I won''t stop]," Jenna pouted. "[I won''t forgive myself if I became one of your worries]."


    "[I won''t give in]," Khan reassured.


    "[Though you could call Monica]," Jenna suggested. "[I bet she would be happy to help]."


    "[I could call Nessa too]," Khan joked, and augh came out of his mouth when Jenna pinched him.


    "[What am I even going to do with you]?" Jenna softly cursed.


    "[Stay like this]," Khan said as he brought Jenna closer. "[This is enough]."


    "[What will happen once you are gone]?" Jenna asked. "[I won''t be there to warm your nights]."


    "[I''ll cling to a distant memory]," Khan revealed, "[Like I did many times before meeting you]."


    "[Like you still do when we are together]," Jenna pointed out, but her voice carried no jealousy. There was only concern in her tone.


    "[I wish you could just run away]," Jenna continued, "[But your monsters live inside you, and I can''t reach them]."


    "[I will]," Khan swore. "[One day, I will reach them]."


    "[What will you do then]?" Jenna asked. "[Once everything is over, what will you do]?"


    "[I don''t know]," Khan admitted. "[I don''t have memories of a life without nightmares]."


    "[You''ll have to rediscover yourself]," Jenna stated. "[You''ll feel lost again, but you''ll eventually learn to live among peace]."


    "[Peace, you say]," Khan murmured. "[Every step I take leaves a trail of blood behind me. I wonder if my life will have room for peace once I get what I need]."


    Jenna opened her eyes, and Khan felt that, but he decided to remain immersed in her warmth. He knew what Jenna''s gaze was radiating. He could sense her worry spreading through the synthetic mana, and he didn''t want to see that.


    "[Hey, Khan]," Jenna eventually called.


    "[What is it]?" Khan asked.


    "[I need you to promise me one thing]," Jenna uttered.


    "[Anything for you]," Khan teased.


    "[For me]," Jenna repeated. "[Once you defeat your monsters, look for your happiness. Use that stupidpulsion of yours for yourself]."


    "[It takes me no effort to kill]," Khan announced. "[And that after less than three years in the Global Army. What else will be easy by the time I defeat my monsters]?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[Khan]," Jenna pleaded.


    "[A man like that]," Khan continued, "[What will he be willing to do to achieve his happiness]?"  .


    "[What''s necessary]," Jenna responded. "[Be it nting countless flowers or creating bloody rivers]."


    "[You''d ept me in any form]," Khan sighed.


    "[Yes]," Jenna revealed. "[And I''m not the only one, so don''t fight it]."


    "[I won''t]," Khan gave in. "[I promise]."


    "[That''s my Khan]," Jenna happily eximed as she finally closed her eyes.


    "[Let''s sleep now]," Khan chuckled. "[I really need it]."


    Days went by in the rtive peace of the dock. The hunting season continued and ended without raising additional problems. The Nele hit hard and fast, and no one dared to retaliate.


    Khan didn''t join those attacks, so he kept his entire focus on his many tasks. He trained under Maban''s supervision, delivered chaos to the Tors, and deepened his connections with the district as a whole.


    Of course, those were only some of the major tasks that kept Khan busy. Khan had never liked wasting time, and he didn''tck ways to fill it. The flight simtor and the mental battle technique required constant effort to master, and Khan didn''t shy away from that.


    The problems that had appeared in Khan''s mind after his talk with the Fuveall never disappeared, but Jenna did her best to help. Anyone would feel overwhelmed by the possibility of ratting out such powerful employers, but those problems had no real solution. Khan could only wait for more information to appear.


    A few joint events happened. Maban summoned many high-profile Nele a couple of times, and Khan also earned a spot in those meetings. One of them involved the so-called update on the dock''syout since the hunting season had changed the power bnce in some areas, while the other merely made a point of the situation.


    The Nele were toy low for a while. That didn''t involve actual hiding, but Maban stressed how they had to stay away from useless conflicts. Storing resources for the possible "imminent chaos" was the priority, and everyoneplied.


    Khan alsoid low. His many tasks kept him constantly busy, and he didn''t have anything special to do anyway. He only had to wait for the Tors toplete hismission and the Nele to bring back information about the Bise.


    The Tors wasn''t ready with the weakened spell even after one week passed, but Khan wasn''t in a hurry. However, the Nele surprised him once the second week wasing to an end.


    "[It does feel different indeed]," Piranmented after retracting his hand.


    "[I told you]," Nessa eximed. "[It''s quite the appealing sensation]."


    "[You don''t know the half of it]," Jenna proudly announced before moving to a scolding tone. "[Hey, enough already]."


    Nessa giggled as she put her hand on Khan''s head. She ruffled his short hair for a second, but her arm soon snapped back on her chest. She appeared both intrigued and scared of what she was feeling.


    "[Can''t you tell them something]?" Jennained.


    "[This soup is so good]," Khan said while gulping down thest drops of food in his bowl.


    "[I hate how this is bing normal]," Jenna cursed.


    "[Let them have fun]," Khanughed. "[No one else is getting in my bed anyway]."


    Khan had almost spoken casually, but the Nele around him took that as a romantic deration. Jenna knew the truth, but she melted a bit anyway and jumped on hisp to express her feelings.


    "[You never have enough]," Khan sighed as he held Jenna and adjusted her position to make her morefortable.


    "[You must take responsibility for making me like this]," Jenna replied.


    "[Sure, sure]," Khan sighed while caressing Jenna''s hair.


    "[His scent changed]," Nessa whispered as she reached for Khan''s head again, but Jenna pped her hand before she could touch him.


    "[You are getting more possessivetely]," Khan joked, but the arrival of a strong presence forced him to look away.


    The Nele around Khan also sensed that new presence, and they all turned in his direction. Maban strode through the district''s streets with a screen in his hands, and Piran stood up when he saw himing toward him.


    "[Take a look at these]," Maban ordered once he reached Khan and handed him the device.


    Jenna knew when the situation was serious, so she left Khan''sp and let him inspect the device in peace. The screen featured a series of portraits to scroll through. Most of them depicted humans, but a few Bise, Ots, and Fuveall also appeared from time to time.


    "[We can''t possibly have spotted all of them]," Maban exined, "[But they should cover a good part of the buyers]."


    "[You sure are efficient]," Khan praised.


    "[We became good at recalling faces]," Maban imed. "[A couple of groups are more than enough to gather information]."


    Khan could only nod. The citizens of the dock knew where the Bise handled their business. Actually, even Khan knew that due to the meeting. Everything else was a matter of finding out thending time of various ships and intercepting eventual buyers.


    The portraits were quite urate. They almost resembled pictures, but Khan only skimmed through them. Mere faces couldn''t tell him much. He couldn''t possibly recognize those strangers, or so he thought.


    ''What?!'' Khan eximed in his mind when the screen showed a familiar face. ''This shouldn''t be possible. Am I seeing this wrong?''


    Lying to himself had never been one of Khan''s talents. He recognized one man depicted in the portrait. It just felt unreal to see Rodney''s face.

 Chapter ?387 Spark

    Chapter ?387 Spark


    ''How can Rodney be here?'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''Shouldn''t he be a normal guide?''


    Khan smelled that something was off. It didn''t make any sense for a prisoner to be allowed in such secretive areas. Rodney wasn''t exactly in chains, but his presence on Milia 222 was supposed to be a punishment, and his ess to the dock hinted at far different truths.


    A headache tried to take control of Khan''s mind. Memories from Nitis flowed in his vision and reminded him of awful moments, but he fended off most of them to focus on the few connected to his current issue.


    ''Sly, unpredictable,'' Khan recalled what Professor Supyan said after Rodney went through the test in theke. ''That might be the worst type of opponent in this environment.''


    Rodney was smart, and he was bound to have deep connections on Milia 222. Entering the dock would have been impossible for him otherwise. The same went for dealing with Bise smugglers. Only a high-profile figure could get a simr job.


    Khan would typically leave the matter alone unless his investigation pointed in that direction, but the situation wasn''t so simple. Rodney had announced his enmity toward Khan, and he had to be aware of his presence on the dock. After all, Khan didn''t exactlyy low.


    ''He must know about me,'' Khan sighed as he stared at the portrait on the device. ''He is the type of person who would check bounties and temporaryworks.''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Discovering that the Cobsend family had to have something to do with the theft had filled Khan with problems, and Rodney''s presence only added issues to that pile. Khan felt his mind growing heavy, but some coldness straightened his thoughts and kept him focused on his goal.


    The dock was dangerous, but Khan could see threats everywhere. He had to remain wary and ready to act, but that almost was his usual mindset.


    However, the presence of an actual enemy pushed his mindset past that. Khan couldn''t stick to remaining wary anymore. The dock had turned into an active battlefield, and he had to find ways to win or survive.


    "[What is it]?" Jenna asked since she was the first to notice a change in Khan''s mindset.


    Khan didn''t answer. Options flowed through his mind as he tried to find any possible connection or consequence to Rodney''s presence. He even considered his potential involvement with the bounty, but that sounded like a stretch.


    After going through the potential personal problems, Khan moved to the main issue. Rodney''s presence in the dock was surprising and troublesome, but his connection to the Bise added deepyers to that situation.


    ''Rodney was important enough to get a spot on Nitis,'' Khan thought. ''He might have the social connections necessary to get hired for the Cobsend family''s dirty work.''


    Luke didn''t know everything. He might be aware of most procedures inside the factory, but there had to be a good deal of information that escaped his knowledge.


    Khan felt almost sure that Luke was unaware of the matters in the dock. That was the whole purpose of the secretive location, and many crews involved with the smuggling also changed often. He couldn''t know everything concerning the delivery and transport of the base material.


    ''Now that I think about it,'' Khan realized. ''The smugglers and crews might change, but the Bise remain xenophobic. They can''t trust every buyer.''


    Khan was willing to reject that point, but he knew he was getting somewhere. There had to be a trusted figure between the arrival at the dock and the delivery to the factory. Something so secretive and valuable couldn''t be left in the hands of random criminals that changed every month or less.


    The problems started there. Khan couldn''t confirm that Rodney was that trusted figure. It actually felt too coincidental that someone with whom he shared history had a part in his mission.


    ''Coincidence or not,'' Khan thought, ''He is my only connection to the buyers. Even if he has nothing to do with the factory, he might know who does.''


    Khan didn''t like that option, but there didn''t seem to be any alternative. He couldn''t do much with the portraits of the buyers and stalking them one by one would create problems, especially since he would need to interrogate them eventually.


    "[Khan]?" Jenna called again when she felt that Khan''s internal struggle had ended.


    "[I''m here, I''m here]," Khan reassured as he scrolled through the rest of the portraits. "[I just found something troublesome]."


    "[It''s nothing we can''t fix if we are together]," Jenna warmly stated as sheid her head on Khan''s shoulder.


    "[I can''t have you there]," Khan sighed before ncing at Jenna. "[I''ll definitely make a mess if you are with me]."


    "[You are always finding ways to remain alely]," Jenna pouted, but a cute giggle left her mouth when Khan wrapped his arm around her head.


    Khan confirmed that Rodney was the only familiar face and reopened his portrait before handing the device to Maban and voicing a request. "[Can you keep an eye on this one? I need a chance to talk to him]."


    "[Did you find what you were looking for]?" Maban asked while seizing the device.


    "[Probably not]," Khan admitted. "[Can you continue keeping track of the buyers]?"


    "[Surveilling one man won''t affect our manpower]," Maban exined, "[But you know that we don''t go unnoticed]."


    Passing by the Bise''snding areas could remain a random event for the dock''s citizens, but a group of Nele following a specific human would stand out. Khan quickly understood that the surveince would probably expose him. It was better to handle the matter quickly.


    "[Just tell me when I can approach him]," Khan changed his request. "[It doesn''t need to be too safe]."


    "[Why would our presence be a problem]?" Piran joined the conversation without hiding his coldness. "[Is he a potential enemy to our species]?"


    "[I don''t think so]," Khan replied. "[He simply knows how to make me angry]."


    The matter was clearly personal, and the Nele around Khan understood that. No one probed any further, but Jenna made sure to snuggle closer to express her support.


    "[I''ll let you know if he goes somewhere safe]," Maban concluded the speech and left without adding anything else.


    The happy atmosphere of the meal didn''t return after Maban''s departure. Khan was immersed in his thoughts, and Piran and Nessa didn''t share Jenna''s connection. Only she could remain in Khan''s arms without bing annoying.


    Khan let the Nele leave without exchanging any formalities or friendly goodbyes. His mind was elsewhere. The entirety of his journey on Nitis upied his thoughts and brought him to ces that even Jenna couldn''t reach.


    Tragedies, love, friendship, and much more transformed into a movie that made Khan experience Nitis again. Almost two years had passed since those events, but they remained close. His right shoulder felt heavier as he recalled everything, and killing intent filled him as he epted that the meeting with Rodney was inevitable.


    "[How can I help]?" Jenna whispered once the couple remained alone on the street.


    "[I''m fine]," Khan reassured. "[I just don''t know what to expect]."


    "[Maban will never admit it]," Jenna stated, "[But the Nele won''t stay still if something happens to you]."


    "[I''m not worried about my safety]," Khan exined. "[I''m not sure how much of a mess I''ll do if he sets me off]."


    "[I can prepare something to keep you calm]," Jenna suggested.


    "[I am calm]," Khan responded. "[I''ll remain calm, but that won''t stop me]."


    Jenna ended upughing at that resolute deration, and Khan couldn''t help but show his frown to her. Jenna had gone back on hisp, and she looked at him from thefort of his chest, but she only smiled.


    "[I might start a war]," Khan pointed out, "[And everyone knows about my connection with the Nele]."


    "[I don''t care]," Jenna giggled, taking Khan''s head in her hands. "[I like how you made up your mind]."


    "[Shouldn''t you talk some reason into me]?" Khanined.


    "[I''m not a human]," Jenna teased. "[If war is what you seek, start it without looking back]."


    "[You are getting more unreasonable with each passing day]," Khan sighed.


    "[Take responsibility for that]," Jenna voiced in a sensual tone as she drew her face closer to Khan''s. Yet, a hand covered her mouth before she could kiss him, and a suppressedint came out of it.


    Khan hoped that the Tors couldplete hismission before the inevitable meeting, but the Nele''s efficiency didn''t give him the chance to attend his weekly delivery.


    Only one day had to pass from the talk with Maban for a message to reach the district and spread among the high-profile Nele. It waste afternoon, so Khan was almost ready to make his trip to the Tors'' area, but Piran intercepted him before he could cross thest purplemp.


    "[Maban sends words for you]," Piran announced once he reached Khan. "[Do you remember where the sixth quadrant is]?"


    Khan looked past Piran to inspect the district. Maban''s arrival would have definitely caused amotion, but he didn''t see anything simr. Yet, Piran pointed his finger upward to exin that the message had arrived through the synthetic mana.


    "[Howplicated can those messages be]?" Khan wondered.


    "[He sent an image]," Piran exined. "[The image of a building in the sixth quadrant. It''s a tall structure with arge square stretching from its back. You can''t miss it, but I can send someone with you]."


    "[Don''t worry]," Khan replied. "[I should have an idea]."


    "[Be safe]," Piran uttered.


    "[I will]," Khan smiled, but his expression turned cold when he turned to leave. ''I can''t say the same for the other.''


    The meeting had given Khan a vague idea of the dock''syout. He didn''t recall the exact spot where the sixth quadrant began, but he knew its general location, and that was enough.


    The dock wasn''t famous for its tall structures, so finding the intended spot couldn''t be too difficult. Khan even confirmed that once he reached the sixth quadrant. He found a building that matched Piran''s description quickly. Its outsides didn''t reveal its purpose, but the line before its entrance marked it as a club.


    Spies had followed Khan since his departure from the Nele''s district, and he turned toward all of them before approaching the line. He couldn''t see every group from his position, but looking in their approximate directions caused a reaction in the symphony, which satisfied him enough to move.


    Rtively loud murmurs resounded as soon as Khan joined the line. Most Ots knew about him, and even those unaware of his feats during the hunting season learnt about them during the wait.


    The spreading of the rumors made the most fearful customers leave the line and depart from the area quickly. Khan had be a synonym for trouble, and his connection with the Nele only worsened his fame.


    Khan ignored those events. His eyes remained fixed on the entrance, and he showed no reaction to the shortening line. Even the murmurs that reached his ears didn''t affect his expression. His mind only had room for Rodney now, and he couldn''t let himself be distracted.


    The day after the meeting had given Khan the time to study his situation. Rodney was annoying to deal with, and Khan didn''t exactly haveplete freedom. He couldn''t speak openly about the Cobsend family since the factory was a secret.


    Not mentioning the factory wasn''t aplete solution either since Rodney had seen Luke and the others on the first asteroid. Khan didn''t know how much Rodney had investigated the matter, but he prepared to dodge eventual questions anyway.


    Khan reviewed his strategy as the line shrunk, but he reached the same conclusions as the previous day. He had to adjust his questions and behavior to Rodney''s reactions. He didn''t have the upper hand there. He was actually exposing himself, but the task left him no other choice.


    The guards in front of the club were human, and they only red at Khan for a few seconds before letting him in as soon as he paid. A messy and loud environment unfolded in his vision right after he crossed the corridor that divided him from the main area, but he had grown used to clubs by then.


    Deafening musing filled arge and crowded dancing area. Multicolored lights shed on the mass of people and joined the bright essories, dyes, and tattoos. Shouts andughter fused with the chaos that was the symphony of mana, but Khan felt a bit at home in that mess.


    His senses didn''t share that feeling. Khan took careful steps around the dancing floor as he let his sensitivity get used to the chaos in the building. Countless waves of synthetic mana assaulted him, but he remained calm and let his mind do its work.


    Meanwhile, Khan studied the generalyout of the building. Its style heavily resembled the Ots'' clubs, but Khan couldn''t find any secondary area past the dancing hall. He could only spot staircases leading to the upper floors.


    After a quick inspection of the dancing hall, Khan decided to move to the upper floor. His sensitivity had yet to grow used to the mess, but he could still confirm that Rodney wasn''t there.


    The second floor was nothing more than a few streets with a clear line of sight with the dancing area. The building resembled the Ots'' clubs in that aspect, but Khan decided to climb a bit more after failing to find Rodney.


    The chaotic illumination and general mess allowed Khan to go unnoticed. Most people in the club didn''t even bother to inspect their surroundings. Yet, he still decided to send a vague request to the synthetic mana when he approached the passage toward the third floor.


    "Hide me," Khan whispered while letting out a tiny whiff of mana.


    The synthetic mana around Khan reacted to his request and enveloped him in a frail membrane that slightly darkened his surroundings. That energy even dampened the sounds created by his movements, but it didn''t make himpletely invisible. It only helped him go unnoticed.


    The second-level warrior guarding the narrow staircase red at Khan when he approached him. A ceiling separated the second and third floors. The upper areas appeared more secretive, but the man left the path open as soon as Khanpleted the payment through his phone.


    The expensive ess to the third floor told Khan more about Rodney''s financial situation. He was faring more than well on Milia 222, which spoke loudly for his importance in that environment.


    The third floor was a vast hall filled with tables andfortable armchairs. Human waiters walked calmly among them, and two desks upied by bartenders stood next to walls on opposite sides of the room.


    The area didn''t match the dock''s messy and often dirty environment. It actually carried some style, but nothing could surprise Khan after the dinner in the Kingsize.


    Khan spotted a guarded staircase that led to the fourth floor, but he lost interest in it as soon as his senses warned him about the presence of a familiar aura. The music covered most of the voices echoing from the tables, but Khan didn''t need them to spot his target. He only had to turn to find Rodney sitting at one of the tables.


    ''When did he be a second-level warrior?'' Khan wondered as he walked among the tables without attracting anyone''s attention. Even the waiters failed to focus on him due to the synthetic mana around him.


    Almost two months had passed since the meeting on the first asteroid. Rodney had been a first-level warrior then, but he had also been close to advancing. Still, he looked a bit too strong for someone who had just improved, and Khan understood why once the table became close.


    Rodney reeked of synthetic mana. Part of the energy inside him was messy and didn''t follow the overall flow inside his body. Khan couldn''t be sure, but that felt like the result of an injection Rodney had yet to absorb fully.


    ''ess to the dock, expensive clubs, injections of synthetic mana,'' Khan thought. ''He is swimming in money.''


    Rodney noticed Khan only when he reached his table, but no surprise appeared on his face. A knowing smile broadened on his calm expression as he brought his drink to his mouth and took short sips.


    The table only had another chair. A first-level warrior, a beautiful woman, was sitting with Rodney, and she tried to turn when she noticed that the focus of his attention had shifted. However, a handnded on her exposed right shoulder, and the chilling word that followed made her entire body freeze.


    "Leave," Khan said while altering the synthetic mana around him to convey the seriousness of the situation.


    The woman slowly turned her head, and her eyes widened when she noticed Khan. He wasn''t looking at her, but she could feel watched. Something told her that she had to follow his order.


    The woman shot a begging nce at Rodney, who limited himself to a simple nod. Khan let go of her at that point, and she jumped on her feet to hurry outside of the club. She even left her fancy drink behind.


    Khan ignored the whole process and sat on thefortable armchair as soon as it became empty. An interactive menu appeared on the table, and he took his time to study it before choosing an expensive drink.


    Rodney remained silent, and his smile never left his face. The two seemed to have entered a diplomatic game that punished the first to speak. Still, Khan remained calm and brought his gaze back to Rodney only afterpleting his order.


    The two fell into a silent stalemate. They simply looked at each other. Khan had a cold face, while Rodney appeared entertained by his arrival.


    A waiter quickly reached the table to deliver Khan''s drink, and he seized it without looking at the beautiful woman carrying it. He even took a sip from the ss while his eyes remained on Rodney.


    "Nitis'' customs would want our drinks to touch," Rodney eventually spoke in a tone that barely overcame the music''s volume. "I thought you wouldn''t forget."


    "Are you sure you want to start this with an insult?" Khan asked.


    "You ruined my ns for tonight," Rodney revealed. "I should be allowed to have some fun."


    "Spending time with women," Khanmented. "I didn''t expect that from you."


    "I learnt from the hero of the Global Army," Rodney joked. "Though I''m still hesitant about aliens. Maybe you could convince me."


    "I''d rather keep you among humans," Khan responded, "In far nastier ces."


    "You are no fun," Rodney chuckled as his smile grew mean. "Share some knowledge with your brother in arms. Should I go for the cold or warm species?"


    A hammernded on Khan''s thoughts and tried to give birth to pure rage, but his face showed no reaction. Rodney had clearly hinted at the Niqols and Nele, and he had also revealed that he knew about Khan''s current situation.


    "You developed a twisted sense of humor," Khan uttered. "I liked how you were on Nitis."


    "Loyal, brave?" Rodney guessed.


    "In chains," Khan replied, and Rodneyughed.


    "You truly became all-righteous," Rodney stated. "I wonder how you manage to convince yourself when you betray your species at every chance you get."


    "The Niqols taught us a lot about feelings," Khan half-lied. "It''s a pity you never listened."


    "Feelings?" Rodneyughed. "You are truly heartless. Using your new girlfriend to corroborate lies. Maybe you don''t love her like Liiza."


    The interactive menus flickered, and a crack opened on the table''s surface as soon as Khan ced his ss. He didn''t put any strength in the gesture, but some mana had left him, and the synthetic energy had done the rest.


    "Always so emotional," Rodney teased. "This club is owned by humans, important humans. I''m sure even you understand the value of keeping them on your good side."


    "I''m sure you understand the importance of keeping your life," Khan retorted.


    "Empty threats," Rodney snickered. "For what it''s worth, your new girlfriend is definitely hotter. The Nele sure are a fine species."


    Khan sighed before diverting his attention and inspecting the hall. The ceiling wasn''t too tall, and an eventual fall from the third floor wouldn''t be too hard to withstand. The resilient surfaces were a problem, but the chaos element could solve that.


    "Pretending to be calm now?" Rodney asked. "Speak openly. What''s the point of being old friends otherwise?"


    "I was just checking the building," Khan exined. "I can kill you, blow a hole in the floor, and run away before getting into trouble."


    "You wouldn''t risk a political incident for a few jokes," Rodney calmly scorned.


    "How can you be so sure?" Khan asked while bringing his cold eyes back on Rodney. "You know what I''m capable of."


    Khan made the synthetic mana convey his killing intent. Rodney''s sensitivity wasn''t great, even by human standards, but a chill ran down his spine anyway. He hid any kind of reaction, but he knew that Khan wasn''t joking.


    "You are a mad dog on the Global Army''s leash," Rodney changed the topic. "I guess humanity needs warriors like you."


    "You must be really bitter at how things went down on Nitis," Khan insulted.


    "I used to be," Rodney admitted. "Though they were an eye-opener. Tragedies have the strange habit of showing your true colors, and surviving them forge you in one way or another."


    Khan hated to agree with Rodney, but both of them were clear examples of that statement. Rodney himself had gained a strange spark after Nitis'' crisis.


    Silence fell between the two. Their sses became empty, and both of them ordered new ones. Khan felt happy that the crack didn''t affect the functioning of the interactive menu, but his mood remained heavy due to theck of progress in the conversation.


    "I''m not going to say it," Rodney eventually announced.


    "What do you mean?" Khan asked.


    "You know what I mean," Rodney eximed. "You came all the way here to meet me, but that''s none of my business. You''ll have to expose yourself to im my interest."


    "Your words make no sense," Khan pretended ignorance.


    "Please," Rodney scoffed. "Luke Cobsend, Bruce Eerly, Amanda Eerly, Monica Solodrey, Francis Alstair, Darrell Amend, Isaac Foreters, udia Palbeel, and Martha Weesso. There''s also Ivor, the caretaker from the Cobsend family."


    Khan fell silent. Rodney had listed the entire team for the mission, and Khan didn''t know how to take that. It almost seemed that Rodney had more information than him.


    "Don''t overthink it," Rodney chuckled at Khan''s reaction. "I could recognize them instantly. Those are important faces, except for the Weesso woman, but I know her for different reasons."


    The silent implication was obvious, especially after the smirk that Rodney wore. Khan felt in a corner. He didn''t know how to respond when his opponent knew so much.


    "You didn''te here to follow your lovely girlfriend," Rodney continued after taking a sip from his new drink. "Choosing to meet me already exposed you, but that''s it from my end. I want to hear what Lieutenant Khan has to say before moving on."

 Chapter ?388 Letter

    Chapter ?388 Letter


    Khan had walked into the club knowing that the situation wouldn''t have been in his favor, but Rodney had only needed a line to show how bad everything was.


    Monica had already educated Khan on that topic, so he found it easier to ept the situation. Rodney came from a wealthy family. He had received social and political training since birth. He was probably below Khan in terms of adaptability and cunning, but those types of conversations were his reign.


    Khan felt cornered for obvious reasons. He didn''t have any leverage, and Rodney knew basically everything. The specifics of Khan''s mission might escape his knowledge, but they weren''t important now.


    Silent seconds went by as Khan tried to find a way to turn the conversation in his favor, but Rodney''s stance had no ws. Khan couldn''t defeat him there, and only one move could create a crack in an otherwise helpless situation.


    "I didn''t think they made injections of synthetic mana on Milia 222," Khan changed the topic. "Isn''t that dangerous? I would find it hard to trust the quality check."


    "What a disappointing response," Rodney sighed. "Do you think you are the only one with talent? I was on Nitis, just like you."


    "Ignorance sure gives a false sense of safety," Khanmented. "Your lies have no value when you reek of synthetic mana. Bold of you to be in the open without fully absorbing it."


    Rodney couldn''t help but freeze for an instant. He brought his drink to his mouth to hide part of his expression, but his gaze had lost its mocking confidence.


    Khan could practically read the thoughts running through Rodney''s mind. He knew he was reviewing everything learnt on Nitis to understand how something like that could happen. The coldness spreading inside Rodney even affected the synthetic mana and gave a clearer representation of that reaction.


    "You should have really paid attention to the Niqols'' teachings," Khan continued. "I can see the mana inside your body escaping your control. I''d say you have a twenty percent chance of failing to use it properly."


    Rodney''s surprise only intensified before that urate evaluation. He was naked in front of Khan''s gaze, but that wasn''t enough to make him lose his cool.


    "Alien tricks," Rodney finally spoke, but his smile didn''t return. "Sure, I''ve received injections, but so what? Why would that matter in this conversation?"


    "You im that your presence here is a punishment," Khan announced, "But you have enough money to purchase injections and spend nights in expensive clubs. You also have ess to the dock. Knowing your character, I''m pretty sure you are part of a shady business."


    "Again, what''s the point of this?" Rodney scoffed. "I might be the king of Milia 222. It still wouldn''t matter in this conversation."


    Rodney was right, and Khan knew that. His change of topic had been a diversion, but it had served its purpose. As long as Rodney lost some confidence, Khan could find the chance toe out on top.


    "You said that you recognized the others immediately," Khan eximed. "You know, I''m still quite ignorant, and I only have my upbringing to me, but you aren''t. Mypanions must be truly important to leave such a deep impression."


    "What are you trying to achieve?" Rodney chuckled. "Do you want to hide behind yourpanions'' names?"


    "Yes," Khan shamelessly stated. "I didn''t want to mention them, but you did it for me. I should actually thank you for that."


    "Fine, I want to hear this," Rodney responded. "You have importantpanions. So what?"


    "Your family is important, but not too important," Khan dered. "I bet exposing your role here won''t be a problem, especially when someone more important than you backs up those ims."


    "Is that even a threat?" Rodneyughed. "This is Milia 222. Merely denying ims against me would work as a defense."


    "You don''t have the power or influence to be your own boss," Khan attacked from a different angle. "I don''t want to imagine what would happen to you if you hindered your business. Well, maybe I''d like to see that."


    "You''d go after your brother''s wallet just to get what you want," Rodney sighed. "Truly a heartless man."


    "You are right," Khan uttered, and a chilling sensation that even Rodney could feel enveloped the table. "I am heartless, so I suggest you stop with these jokes."


    Fear inevitably spread in Rodney''s mind. That reaction was a direct consequence of Khan''s influence over the synthetic mana, and Rodney couldn''t shield himself from it.


    Nevertheless, Rodney found the strength to show his smirk and remain calm. He wanted to see if Khan had more to say, but it seemed that he was done, so the time to go over his words had arrived.


    Khan''s threat was quite empty. Luke and the others could definitely create problems for Rodney, but the process would take some time, enough for him to leave or deploy countermeasures.


    Moreover, in Rodney''s opinion, Luke wouldn''t ruin his rtionship with a fellow wealthy family for no reason. Khan would have to ask that as a personal favor, and Rodney felt that he wanted to avoid that option.


    In short, Khan had a clunky weapon that he didn''t want to use, and Rodney knew that. Yet, that threat existed, and Rodney didn''t want to leave it unchecked in the hands of someone as crazy as Khan.


    "You never told me what you want from me," Rodney decided to move the conversation to the main topic.


    Khan revealed a meaningful smile, but Rodney showed no reaction to that gesture. Khan had forced Rodney to ask the reason behind his presence there. The event was a small victory, and both of them knew that.


    ''What now?'' Khan thought as he brought his drink to his mouth.


    Rodney was exactly where Khan wanted him, and the time for an offer hade. Khan had to choose his words carefully, and his thinking from the previous day helped in the matter. He only had to adjust a few things to match what he had learnt during the conversation.


    "What are you doing in the dock?" Khan started with a vague question.


    "That''s my business," Rodney sneered.


    "It must be something pretty specific," Khan continued, ignoring Rodney''s contempt. "Building trust with the Bise can''t be easy."


    "That''s what you are after," Rodney eximed. "You want the Bise."


    "I couldn''t care less about them," Khan calmly lied. "They just prove my point. You have hands in something important."


    "For the third time, so what?" Rodney mocked. "Get to the point already."


    "I want to know what you are doing here," Khan gave another vague answer.


    "Why?" Rodney asked. "Why would you care?"


    "That''s my business," Khan replied.


    Rodney scoffed and spread his arms. "I guess we have reached an impasse, but I''m not the one who needs something."


    Rodney didn''t make any mistake. He knew where he stood, and he never forgot to remind Khan. Exploiting ws simply wasn''t possible in that situation. Khan had to give out something.


    "I want in," Khan stated. "I want to join your operation."


    "Where did thate from?" Rodneyughed.


    "You''ll never reveal the nature of your business," Khan exined. "I wouldn''t even trust you if you did. Getting on the field myself is my only option."


    "Well said," Rodney eximed. "Your only option. I don''t see how I fit in this n of yours."


    "You can vouch for me," Khan suggested.


    "And why would I do that?" Rodney asked. "I''m doing quite well on my own. I have no reason to put my position at risk."


    "This is the point when you name a price," Khan dered.


    "What if I didn''t want to?" Rodney wondered. "Trouble follows you. No price can cover for the damage you might do to my position."


    Khan knew the lie that was about toe out of his mouth. Those words were the only price that could make Rodney bend, but he hesitated to say them. Part of him didn''t want to give him that chance, and his killing intent made him aware of a far deeper truth.


    "You don''t want to remain in this shithole," Khan announced. "You want to get back on Earth and retrieve your privileges. I can give you that and more."


    An official statement from Khan could free Rodney of every punishment, and Luke could help him climb the politicaldder. Rodney had only to gain from an alliance with Khan and hispanions. Most importantly, he could profit in fields that truly mattered to him.


    Khan didn''t want to see a redemption arc for Rodney. In his mind, he had already decided that the man had to die. That was the whole point behind his hesitation. Khan had lied, knowing that he would try to kill Rodney before the end of his mission.


    "Lieutenant Khan!" Rodney voiced a surprised gasp. "I didn''t expect this from you. Can you really ignore your anger and make such a deal?"


    "Youbeled me as emotional," Khan stated. "You might have failed to understand my true character."


    "Maybe I did," Rodney replied before thatpleteck of emotions.


    Silence fell once again. Rodney studied Khan in an attempt to uncover his true intentions, but thetter was a wall. Khan''s poker face was perfect. It was actually Rodney who showed his real desires during that exchange of firm stares.


    The offer pleased Rodney, and Khan could see it. The few honest reactions on his face and the influence of his mental state on the synthetic mana created a picture that Khan could read far too well.


    "You clear my name," Rodney eventually dered.


    "That''s a given," Khan replied.


    "And you introduce me to your friends," Rodney continued. "I hope you know the kind of introduction I mean."


    "Of course," Khan uttered. "They will see you as a friend by the time I''m done with them."


    "I don''t mind that heartless side of yours so much now," Rodneyughed as he went back to his drink.


    "What about my side of things?" Khan asked. "When can I start?"


    "Calm down," Rodney sneered. "Your promises are empty as of right now. I won''t give you anything before confirming that you are willing to fulfill your end of the deal."


    "Do you expect me to clear your name from Milia 222?" Khan wondered.


    "Don''t be stupid," Rodney retorted. "I want a handwritten and signed letter from you right away. That will show your goodwill."


    The request made sense, but Khan needed to point out an issue. "I can''t really write."


    "What do you mean?" Rodney asked.


    "I never truly learnt," Khan admitted, "And everything was interactive in the training camps, so...."


    "You are hopeless," Rodney sighed. "Forget the letter. I''ll write something, and you''ll leave your gic signature on it. Is that eptable?"


    Khan hesitated again. Leaving something like that in Rodney''s hands wasn''t ideal, but refusing would only cancel the deal. It was also impossible to change the terms now.


    "It''s eptable," Khan agreed. "So, how will this work?"


    "You''ve seen me deal with the Bise," Rodney eximed. "Go there next week, early in the morning. You''ll sign the letter, and I''ll introduce you to the crew."


    ''One week,'' Khan thought. ''Plenty of time to prepare. Plenty of time for both of us to prepare.''


    "I''ll see you in one week then," Khan dered before emptying his drink and standing up. Rodney''s gaze remained fixed on him while he left the third floor, but he didn''t say anything about his missing payment.


    Khan left the club in a hurry. He felt dirty. He had sealed another annoying deal, and he didn''t know what he hated more about it. Rodney seemed able toe out on top easily, but Khan didn''t like his killing intentions either.


    The killing part wasn''t an issue. Khan simply didn''t like to have that hidden ploy in mind. He would rather be straightforward about the matter. Instead, he would have to cooperate with Rodney while searching for ways to dispose of him now.


    ''I''ll be a fucking incredible ambassador,'' Khan mocked himself. ''I''m already setting up political assassinations on my own. This should go on my profile.''


    The spies joined the symphony as soon as Khan left the club, but hepletely ignored them as he hurried through the dock''s streets. He had one more ce to visit before going back to Jenna''s embrace.


    Khan barely looked at the path ahead, but he reached his destination anyway. The synthetic mana grew oilier as he entered the Tors'' district and sat at the center of a hidden street. He had done the same during his previous deliveries, so he knew he only had to wait now.


    Presences soon entered the range of Khan''s senses, and one of them peeked past the guardrails to inspect him. A hooded figure and a forked tongue pointed toward him, and the words he hoped to hear finally came out of it.


    "Come, chaos wielder," The Tors said before jumping over the guardrails tond on the street.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to stand up and follow the Tors. That development was different from the previous deliveries. The Tors usually brought a container to him without leading him inside the district, and that change could only mean one thing.


    As Khan had predicted, the Tors led him in front of the small house where he had sealed the deal. The alien left, and Khan entered the structure without showing any formality. He was sure the Tors wouldn''t care about them.


    The entrance opened on its own, and Khan found an unlocked trapdoor waiting for him once he entered the house. Jumping into it brought him to theb, and the Tors hanging from the wall didn''t even bother to turn at his arrival.


    Theb had barely changed during those two weeks. Different junk upied the floor, and the array of tubes had a newyout, but nothing major.


    Only one bright detail created something that slightly changed the familiar environment. A purple-red glow tainted the azure illumination, and Khan found the source of that radiance at the center of the array of tubes.


    "It''s not the same," The Torsmented while keeping its glowing eyes on the item among the tubes.


    A needle-like weapon floated among the array of tubes. Its purple-red halo was quite dimpared to the mana in the machine, and its overall power was also unremarkable. It barely resembled a spell worthy of a first-level mage, let alone Khan, but he could feel the chaos element inside it.


    "Let me see it," Khan ordered, and the Tors used its reptilian head to push the array of tubes toward him.


    Khan studied the needle from different angles, and his sensitivity revealed its secrets. The weapon retained some vague resemnce to the chaos spear, but the amount of mana inside it was simply too low.


    "Something is missing," The Tors exined. "It''s not the same."


    "Don''t worry about that," Khan reassured. "Open this up. I want to hold it."


    "It will be unstable," The Tors warned.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "That''s how chaos is," Khan whispered as he watched the Tors moving a few tubes and creating an opening.


    A tremor ran through the needle''s surface, but Khan inserted his hand without showing any fear. He didn''t share any connection with the weapon, but the mana inside it was too weak to resist him.


    A sizzling noise resounded when Khan touched the needle. The weapon tried to tear through his skin but doing that exposed it to Khan''s influence. Needless to say, he took control of that mana before suffering any injury.


    An urge whispered to Khan''s ears. He felt the need to add mana to that weak spell. He wanted to make it reach its full potential, but that process was for another time.


    Khan closed his eyes and focused on studying the spell. The Tors had created a bnce that he would have never reached on his own. That structure and concentration of mana were a blueprint that carried valuable information. Khan only needed to trante them into images and emotions.


    ''A short burst of power before suppression,'' Khan thought. ''A sharp pain that doesn''t disappear. I know what to do.''


    The needle dispersed when Khan opened his eyes. The inspection had destabilized it too much, but that didn''t matter. He had obtained what he wanted.


    "Give chaos," The Tors didn''t hesitate to remind when it noticed that Khan was done.


    "I believe you don''t have spells of my element in store," Khan guessed.


    "We won''t show more of our arts," The Tors announced.


    "I know," Khan sighed. "You are free toe up with something on your own then."


    The Tors tilted its head and showed its tongue. It didn''t speak, but Khan felt able to imagine its confusion.


    "Invent a new spell for me," Khan exined. "It doesn''t matter if I won''t be able to use it."


    "Twice a week," The Tors reminded.


    "Of course," Khan agreed. "Our coboration will continue."

 Chapter ?389 Window

    Chapter ?389 Window


    Time always flowed fast when Khan was busy, and his number of tasks had only increased after the meeting with Rodney.


    The Tors hadpleted themission, but Khan had to spend time turning it into a part of his arsenal, and that didn''t only involve finding the most fitting emotions.


    Moreover, the deal with Rodney involved something technological. Khan didn''t know the possible ramifications of leaving his gic signature, but he had friends that could solve his doubts.


    One week wasn''t long, but it left room for some preparations. Khan only had to visit a familiar street to speak with Sen-nu and exin his doubts.


    It turned out that Khan''s worries weren''t entirely unfounded. The right expert equipped with the right technology could hack the Global Army''swork, so the same could happen with gic signatures.


    However, it was unlikely for someone like Rodney to have that. Sen-nu only had to warn about specific types of interactive letters to reassure Khan about the imminent deal.


    Thest day of the following week eventually arrived. The night almost turned into day, but Khan missed out on that. He had set the rm and had pulled an all-nighter in the training hall of the Nele''s district to prepare as much as possible, but someone joined him before his phone could ring.


    Khan dispersed his mana when he heard the entrance opening behind him. He didn''t need to turn to know that Jenna hade, and the appealing scent that reached his nostrils told him that she had brought something tasty with her.


    "[Hey]," Khan smiled when he turned to greet his friend.


    "[You are getting too good at leaving our bed silently]," Jennained as she approached Khan and handed him the fuming bowl in her hands.


    The entrance closed, and Khan sat on the floor to enjoy the meal. Jenna reached his side and tried to hide her concern when sheid her head on his shoulder.


    "[That''s a lie]," Khan joked. "[You heard me tonight too]."


    "[I was about to stop you]," Jenna revealed. "[It''s not wise to tire yourself before a mission]."


    "[But you let me go anyway]," Khan chuckled.


    Jenna wanted to scold Khan, but her sensitivity revealed a surprising truth. She reached for his chest to check him once again, but the results were the same. Khan was a bit tired, but nothing too problematic.


    "[I''m good, right]?" Khan asked even if he knew the answer to that question.


    "[Your stamina is off the charts]," Jenna sighed, "[Especially when ites to your mana reserves]."


    "[I know what you want to say]," Khan reassured. "[It''s fine. I sort of epted it]."


    "[Such oddbination]," Jennamented as her hand reached Khan''s nape. "[This sustain is not human]."


    "[I''m notpletely human]," Khan stated while taking the warm hand on his chest, "[Even at heart]."


    "[You know, you wouldn''t be able to stop me if I tried to kiss you now]," Jenna joked since both of Khan''s hands were busy.


    "[That''s why you won''t try]," Khanughed.


    "[You are getting too used to this]," Jenna pouted. "[Even the others are getting toofortable around you. I want to go back to when you were only mine and couldn''t refuse me]."


    "[I still can''t refuse you]," Khan pointed out.


    "[But you are going away more often]," Jenna replied. "[And I''d only cause problems if I followed you]."


    "[I''ll be fine]," Khan reassured again.


    "[I wish things were simpler]," Jenna sighed. "[I wish things for you were simpler]."


    "[I wouldn''t have learnt so much if they were]," Khan responded. "[Liiza, you, Milia 222. I would have missed so much if things weren''t like this]."


    "[Are you trying to find a positive side]? Jenna teased.


    "[I guess it has be easier to ept everything]," Khan admitted.


    Khan wasn''t pretending or lying in an attempt to reassure Jenna. His feelings had truly changed, even if only partially. He was still desperate to find the Nak. He was still willing to do the unthinkable to fix his curse, but there was love among that darkness, and he couldn''t reject it.


    "[Talking to the mana changed something]," Khan continued.


    Jenna smiled without adding anything. It was only normal for the Nele''s arts to alter someone''s mindset, especially Khan''s. He came from opposite teachings, so that different approach changed how he viewed his situation as a whole.


    Many of Khan''s advantages came from his tragic experiences. It could almost be said that he had the Nak to thank for his current power and fame.


    Khan''s desperation had pushed him to train and struggle more than his peers. That had led to achievements and feats otherwise impossible for ordinary soldiers. His mindset had also allowed him to learn arts distant from the human teachings, which had only added more power to his figure.


    That knowledge had initially soured Khan''s thoughts, but he had slowly learnt to take some pride in his inhumanity, especially after Nitis. Still, talking to the mana had brought more changes, which deepened as he improved in those arts.


    Khan finished his meal and ced the bowl on the floor before fixing his gaze on his open palm. A whiff of mana came out of it and remained above his skin without dispersing.


    The mana''s purple-red color revealed its element. That was the mark of a Nak, one of the proofs of Khan''s mutations. He should hate that bright shade and violent nature, but he couldn''t bring himself to do it anymore.


    The source of that power, shades, and behavior might be hateful, but Khan only saw himself in his mana. He could feel it when he used it to make requests. That energy expressed himself, even if in ways and shapes he didn''t fully understand yet.


    "[Your path is still long]," Jennamented. "[The Nak''s influence and your upbringing hinder your introspection, but you''ll get there. It''s a pity I probably won''t be there to see it happen]."


    "[Jenna]," Khan called, but Jenna hid her face in his chest.


    "[You know I won''t forget you]," Khan called again. "[I won''t forget the Nele. Maybe I''ll even have enough authority to help you all one day]."


    Jenna wanted to scold Khan again. She didn''t want him to add her species'' problems to his own, but his words carried an affection that made her melt. She found herself unable to speak, so she snuggled closer to express how she felt.


    Khan wanted tough and cuddle Jenna a bit, but his phone rang, and his mindset instantly turned cold. He had to leave to meet Rodney now. The time for those nice moments was over.


    Khan stood up, and Jenna followed him with her eyes before fixing them on a strange scene in the back of the hall. A few metal dummies stood next to the wall, and they all had holes and cracks. Some even had entire limbs or heads missing.


    "[Your uracy improved]," Jenna announced.


    "[It''s still hard to be precise]," Khan admitted as he picked up his phone and straightened his clothes.


    "[You can''t expect to be perfect in a single week]," Jenna dered. "[Did you try to use the mana to affect their trajectory]?"


    "[I tried and failed]," Khan mocked himself. "[I''m getting better at your species'' arts, but using everything together is still a problem]."


    "[You''ll get there]," Jenna stated. "[You''ll probably do better in an actual battle anyway]."


    "[Hopefully, it won''te down to that today]," Khan sighed.


    There wasn''t time for intimate goodbyes, and Jenna understood that. She remained on the floor, watching Khan leave the training hall and head for the district''s exit.


    Only a few Nele were aware of Khan''s imminent meeting, but he coulde and go from the district as much as he wanted. No one tried to stop him, and he crossed thest purplemp after exchanging nods and short greetings with all the aliens on his path.


    The outsides of the district brought the usual sensations. The spies were still wary of the Nele, and Khan was one of the main targets of that ongoing investigation. Yet, it seemed that some groups had abandoned the task.


    ''Maybe some of them were only interested in updating the bounty,'' Khan casually wondered as he moved toward his destination. He had never seen the appointednding area, but Maban had exined the path to him in the past week.


    The dock was often busy in the morning, and that day wasn''t an exception. Crews moved left, right, up, and down depending on their tasks, and multiple spaceships approached thending areas or flew above the array of streets.


    Many aliens and humans even used the elevators to reach Lower Level 3. Khan was in a hurry, but he could still separate the newbies from those who had been down there.


    The stupor and cautious excitement depicted by the newbies'' faces felt almost nostalgic to Khan. He had experienced simr emotions on his arrival, but they had waned during the past weeks.


    Khan knew that the dock still hid many secrets. Any building in his vision could be the home to multiple illegal activities, and he wasn''t even considering the various districts. That environment was truly unique, but he felt to have be part of ittely.


    The appointednding area became visible a few streets before Khan reached his destination. He only needed to peek past the guardrails to see a series of tforms hanging in the distance under him. They appeared pretty simplepared to others in different areas of the dock, but they probably did their job just right anyway.


    Khan ignored anything that didn''t concern his task and began searching for familiar faces. He didn''t know if Rodney was already there, but he recalled most portraits. Some of them were bound to belong to the same crew.


    Strangely enough, Khan didn''t recognize anyone. A couple of crews upied the long street connected to thending areas, but they were only made of Bise. No buyer from other species was there, and Khan''s arrival seemed to generate some tension.


    Being the only human in an area owned by aliens wasn''t ideal, especially when the Bise were the species in question. Their xenophobic stance was well-known on Milia 222, so Khan decided to wait for other buyers at the beginning of the street.


    Khan and the Bise crews were rtively distant, but that didn''t appease the tension. The aliens shot nces at Khan while murmurs resounded among them, but he pretended not to hear or feel anything. He kept his gaze fixed on a random empty spot ahead as he waited for Rodney.


    Minutes passed, and the situation didn''t improve or change. Rodney and his crew didn''t arrive, and the Bise were growing restless, ording to the synthetic mana. Spaceships were evennding in the areas below, but the aliens didn''t move, which only added tension to the atmosphere.


    Khan pretended to be outside all of that while his focus remained on the synthetic mana. He didn''t like the situation. Part of him even began to believe that Rodney had set him up, but that didn''t make much sense.


    Still, reason had no ce there. The Bise didn''t dare to move with an outsider standing so close to them. Khan was actively hindering their business. It wouldn''t be strange if they decided to attack to defend their territory.


    More minutes had to pass before a familiar aura finally entered the range of Khan''s senses. He turned his head in the direction of that sensation only to find a smiling Rodney and a human crew in the distance.


    Khan ignored Rodney''s smug smile and waited for his arrival calmly. The crew soon reached the long street above thending areas before splitting into two groups. Some went toward the Bise, while others remained around Rodney and Khan.


    "Did we make you wait?" Rodney asked in an evident mocking tone.


    "I''ve just arrived," Khan lied as he separated his back from the guardrails and inspected the human crew.


    The crew had some first-level warriors, but the humans around Rodney were all as strong as Khan. Moreover, Rodney''s condition had greatly improved during that week. The mana inside him was far more stable, which felt quite surprising to Khan.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Did they make trouble for you?" Rodney continued while ncing at the Bise. "Don''t worry. They are always tense and grumpy."


    "You have yet to tell me how younded this job," Khan questioned, uncaring of the fact that he was virtually surrounded.


    The men around Khan didn''t like his rxed behavior and direct questions. Everything in the dock was supposed to be a secret, especially something involving a coboration between Bise and humans. Still, Khan didn''t show any respect toward that.


    "Go help with the cargo," Rodney eximed before the situation could beplicated. "I have to speak with our newpanion in private."


    Khan kept his eyes on Rodney and ignored the silent threats shot by the rest of the crew. Everyone eventually left to reach the Bise and begin the transaction, but Rodney waited a few more seconds before pulling out something from arge pocket in his short coat.


    The item in Rodney''s hands resembled a screen, but Khan couldn''t see any interactive function. The device had a series of lines written on its surface and featured a glowing fingerprint in its bottom-right corner.


    "I think I did quite a good job," Rodney said while handing the device to Khan. "You can review it, but I won''t change it."


    Khan snorted as soon as he read the first line on the device. Rodney had written an entirely different version of Nitis'' events, and he had used Khan''s perspective to do so. Yet, he had filled it with so many praises that Khan felt the urge to break the item.


    The letter also put the Niqols in a bad light. Rodney had chosen not to be too explicit, but Khan could see how any ordinary soldier would appoint the Niqols as the true traitors after reading those words.


    As for the exnation behind that different statement, Rodney used Khan''s rtionship with Liiza as an excuse. Through the letter, Khan would basically admit that his feelings had made him me Rodney to protect his loved alien.


    ''He doesn''t only want to regain his privileges,'' Khan understood. ''He also wants to taint my reputation and insult my affection toward the Niqols. At least it should be safe to leave my signature here.''


    "How does it look like?" Rodney asked, knowing far too well how Khan would feel.


    "You are so petty," Khan sighed. "I almost pity you."


    Rodney didn''t like thatpliance, but he lost the chance to say anything since Khan ced his thumb on the fingerprint. The letter recorded the gic signature, and Khan handed it back to Rodney.


    "You sold out your loved Niqols so quickly," Rodney eximed as he checked the letter and stored it in his pocket. "I''m surprised."


    "Let''s talk only when strictly necessary," Khan responded. "My ears deserve better than your voice."


    Rodney fell silent, but he soon showed his smug smile. The two then turned toward the Bise since they had finally activated the elevator to reach thending areas.


    "So," Khan was the first to resume speaking, "Who is our boss?"


    "You are too curious for your first day," Rodney chuckled.


    "What are we buying?" Khan continued.


    "Knowing isn''t our job," Rodney replied.


    "Where should we deliver the goods?" Khan wondered.


    "You''ll see soon enough," Rodney responded.


    Silence fell between the two again. Khan didn''t expect to receive any helpful answer, and the conversation matched his expectations. His thoughts moved to other fields, but he couldn''te up with solutions right away.


    Khan had three main goals. Killing Rodney and retrieving the signed letter was mandatory, but he had to leave that forst. Now, he had to focus on identifying the purchased goods and gaining a precise picture of Rodney''s organization.


    The elevators eventually went up, and the Bise handed a series of metal boxes to the human crew. Those items were as big as a man''s chest, and the second-level warriors could lift them easily, but they were ufortable to carry due to their shape and size.


    The ce had more humans than boxes, and it seemed that no one would give one of them to Khan. The crew began to move as soon as it seized the goods, and even Rodney turned to follow hispanions in an unknown direction.


    However, Khan stepped forward as soon as a first-level warrior entered his range and ced a hand on his shoulder. The sudden movement almost made the surprised young man drop his box, but Khan made sure to help him keep it stable.


    "Give it to me," Khan stated once the man calmed down.


    "But, sir," The man muttered, but Khan spoke once again. "You''ll risk damaging the goods."


    The young man nced in hispanions'' directions until his eyes fell on Rodney. That gesturested for a mere second, but Khan didn''t miss it. Rodney was a great liar, but hispanions didn''t share his talent, and the first-level warrior couldn''t refrain from revealing his status.


    "Khan, leave it to him," Rodney intervened to interrupt that meaningful nce. "Carrying boxes is beneath you."


    "We must ensure the safety of the goods, right?" Khan asked without letting go of the first-level warrior''s shoulder.


    "Fine, give it to Michael," Rodney agreed while pointing at an empty-handed second-level warrior near him.


    "No, I''ll carry it," Khan said before taking the box from the first-level warrior''s grasp and cing it on his right shoulder. "Is that a problem?"


    Some hesitation spread among the crew, and Khan studied every reaction thoroughly. The humans were experiencing some difort before that scene, and more questioning nces converged on Rodney.


    ''He is indeed the leader,'' Khan confirmed as he adjusted the box to make it morefortable on his shoulder. The item was lighter than he expected, but carrying it like that kept his right hand busy.


    "No problem at all," Rodney promptly announced while showing his usual smile.


    Rodney turned at that point, and the rest of the crew did the same. The group walked in a messy line, and Khan limited himself to following his newpanions as his mind recorded anything he deemed useful.


    The crew had turned out to be a weakness since it had revealed its hierarchy. The events with the box had also tried to hint at something, but Khan couldn''t jump to conclusions without proof.


    As for the box, Khan had taken it for a couple of reasons. Testing the crew''s reactions had been one of them, but he had also wanted to obtain some form of protection in that seemingly hostile environment. Rodney''spanions might not fear him, but they wouldn''t do anything reckless when the goods could be at risk.


    The march didn''tst long. The group soon arrived in front of a short building that stretched on the lower floor. Its entrance was quite big, and it opened as soon as one of the humans knocked on its surface.


    Arge hangar unfolded in Khan''s vision, and he even spotted a few open boxes near the walls. Those containers seemed empty, but he didn''t get to inspect them since the crew went directly to the staircase at the bottom of the area.


    Khan didn''t like the idea of getting into a close area with potential enemies, but nothing blocked his sensitivity. The synthetic mana on the first and lower floor was clear to his senses, and he could confirm the absence of reinforcements or potential dangers.


    In the end, Khan simply followed the crew inside while making sure to have an escape path open. He stood at the back of the group, and he was also thest to descend the staircase.


    The lower floor revealed a surprise that Khan couldn''t sense due to the turned-off engine. A poor-looking ship upied the room, and one of the empty-handed men directly entered it to activate it.


    The symphony recorded the presence of the ship at that point. Its engine ran on synthetic mana, so Khan heard its sound clearly. Still, his attention was on different details. After recognizing the model of the vehicle, he began to worry about its purpose.


    "You can drop the box inside and leave," Rodney eximed before Khan could ask any question.


    "Don''t joke around," Khan responded. "I''ming with you."


    "As you wish," Rodney casually replied before pressing a button on the middle part of the ship to open its door.


    The ship was a cargo vehicle that could carry up to twenty people, but the boxes made only eleven members of the crew fit inside. Khan and Rodney were among them, but they didn''t speak even after setting off.


    The entrance closed, so Khan couldn''t see where the ship was going, and theck of handholds made the flight messy, but it didn''tst long. The central door eventually opened to reveal the vehicle''s location, and Khan couldn''t help but remain speechless for a second.


    The ship had flown far above the array of streets. It was closer to Lower Level 2, from what Khan could see, and it hovered right before the dome. Moreover, an entrance was visible on that bright surface, and the vehicle was getting close to it.


    "What''s this?" Khan asked.


    "One of the passages for the upper part of the dock," Rodney exined. "I hope you didn''t expect everyone toe through the central elevators."


    Khan didn''t add anything. He picked up a box and waited for the ship to reach the opening. The crew began to jump into it at that point, and Khan followed when everyone had left the vehicle.


    The passage was quite in. A dim azure light illuminated its insides, but Khan couldn''t see anything peculiar. The ce was simply a corridor that ran inside the very dome.


    The crew didn''t waste time, and Khan followed along. The corridor went deeper into the dome until one of its surfaces became transparent and revealed a stunning spectacle. The window showed the outsides of the fourth asteroid. Khan could see the universe expanding in his vision.


    "Don''t get lost," Rodney shouted as the crew marched forward. "This passage has multiple branches. You should follow closely."


    Khan could only hurry up to catch up with the others, but his eyes often fell on that transparent surface. He had believed to have gotten used to Milia 222, but thatwless zone still hid incredible surprises.


    The passage wasn''t a mere hole dug into the asteroid either. Khan noticed an important detail as he followed the crew. Some streets went up, but they became t as soon as he stepped on them. The same went for those pointing down. The ce had peculiar artificial gravity, so it was hard to keep track of the overall direction of the crew.


    Khan had to admit that he was enjoying the experience. The hidden passage with the universe standing right outside wasn''t something that normals could offer. The ce was truly marvelous, but something eventually ruined his mood.


    Rodney raised his hand when the crew reached a turn that featured two window-like surfaces. That part of the corridor offered a better view of the universe, but the mood that filled the area forced Khan to focus on hispanions.


    "What is happening?" Khan asked when his sensitivity told him that something was off.


    "These are high-quality windows," Rodney announced while turning to face Khan, "But they aren''t meant to endure spells. Normal attacks would probably only leave dents, but a chaos wielder would pierce through them at ease."


    "What are you trying to say?" Khan coldly questioned.


    "I''m exining the situation," Rodneyughed. "You shouldn''t use spells here. A single hole might copse the whole structure and suck you into space. Mana won''t save you there."


    Rodney was ready to exin some more, but Khan didn''t need anything else to understand. His gaze went on the transparent surface before going back to Rodney. He had fallen into a trap, but he didn''t feel any danger.


    "What are you even doing?" Khan casually asked while patting the box on his shoulder. "You can''t catch me even if I''m carrying this."


    Khan''s confidence remained strong until a few presences joined the symphony. Distant and faint tremors ran through the synthetic mana and reached his senses, but he uncovered their source only when they got close enough.


    "Thank you for showing me your progress in those alien tricks," Rodney said as the members of the crew that had remained behind appeared at the bottom of the corridor and blocked Khan''s escape path. "It seems that I made them wait long enough."


    The neers crossed the corridor and joined theirpanions to encircle Khan. He now had second-level warriors on two sides, the universe on his right, and a metal wall on his left.


    "I don''t get it," Khan admitted. "What do you want?"


    "Don''t y dumb," Rodney dered. "We both know how you want this cooperation to end. I''m just seizing the initiative."


    "You won''t get the rest of the deal like this," Khan pointed out.


    "I can deal with that by myself," Rodney sneered. "The letter is all I need to gain an audience. Well, your disappearance will also help."


    "I see," Khan voiced before bringing his attention back to the transparent surfaces. "Are you sure you want to do this here? I will blow everything up to catch you in the aftermath."


    "I know," Rodneyughed before retreating to jump on the rest of the corridor. "That''s why I''m leaving. You are free to blow everything up for all I care."


    ****


    Author''s notes: Shoutout to Wizfrobozz for the Magic Castle!

 Chapter ?390 Risk

    Chapter ?390 Risk


    "Don''t forget the goods," Rodney announced as he hurried through the corridor, "And try not to damage Khan''s box."


    Rodney''s voice echoed through the corridor while his presence grew distant. Khan had the urge to chase after him, but the second-level warriors tightened the encirclement as soon as he began to turn.


    Khan''s eyes darted left and right while his sensitivity to mana worked overtime. He had been on deadly battlefields. That situation was far from hopeless, but the threat of the windows shattered any idea connected to reckless behaviors.


    The crew waited until Rodney became a faint presence in Khan''s sensitivity before splitting into two groups. The second-level warriors carrying boxes also left to walk into deeper parts of the corridor and follow Rodney.


    Soon, only seven second-level warriors, Khan, and his box remained in that turning point of the corridor. The crew''s numbers had fallen drastically, but the situation didn''t change too much. Those men still had the ability to stop Khan and force his hand.


    Khan''s calm generated some tension among the crew. Milia 222''s smugglers weren''t inexperienced soldiers who fell prey to fear easily. Still, even with the situation clearly in the second-level warriors'' favor, Khan showed no fear at all. He actually appeared quite cool about everything, and that worried his opponents.


    ''Seven second-level warriors are a bit too much without spells,'' Khan thought as he casually approached the transparent surface on his right.


    Khan''s movements intensified the overall tension, but his opponents didn''t dare to move. They were also worried about the window, and that feeling became impossible to hide when Khan ced his free hand on it.


    A tiny, incredible minute whiff of mana left Khan''s forefinger. He summoned the entirety of his control to release the smallest amount of energy possible and make it hover above the transparent surface.


    Gasps resounded among the remaining crew, but Khan ignored them as he kept his focus on the window. His eyes didn''t reveal anything, but the symphony made him aware of tremors spreading through that surface.


    Khan''sck of expertise in the field prevented him from reaching any definitive answer. He didn''t know whether the tremors were the result of structural brittleness or intrinsic properties of that transparent material. Both exnations could be urate, but one of them would lead to his death if ignored.


    ''I can''t try my luck,'' Khan epted as he nced at the other transparent surface behind the crew. ''This area should even be one of the most fragile in the hidden passage.''


    "What are you doing?!" One of the men from the crew asked since Khan had yet to leave the window.


    "I''m doing some tests," Khan honestly exined. "You don''t expect me to trust Rodney right away, do you?"


    "Your tests can kill all of us!" The man shouted.


    "What?" Khanughed while turning toward the second-level warrior. "Did you expect me to ept my death and make it easy for you?"


    Khan shook his head and turned toward the window. His inspection had ended, but not looking at the men made some of them believe that he wasn''t paying attention to his surroundings.


    The synthetic mana was incredibly light. A mere gesture, sharp movement, or even intense thought could alter that energy. Khan''s sensitivity was quite incredible, so he didn''t miss the coldness that began to echo from one of the men behind him.


    Khan promptly turned to re at the man, and the gesture made thetter widen his eyes in surprise. Khan kept his cold face until some fear enveloped the second-level warrior before revealing a mocking smile and going back to the window.


    The symphony changed again as the second-level warriors exchanged worried and meaningful nces. Many believed that their silence would protect them, but others began to fear Khan''s alien abilities too much to join that process.


    Khan doubled down on those worries whenever he saw fit. His face remained on the transparent surface, but his eyes moved to inspect those who expressed more confidence. Those men also happened to be the ones more direct in their silent gestures, so his actions appeared far from random in his opponents'' minds.


    That understanding brought new waves of fear. The crew''s men had seen enough of Milia 222 to know that strange techniques and arts existed, but they had never seen a human wielding them so skillfully.


    The worry that would typically appear only in the presence of a Nele or other unique species spread among the crew because of Khan. He seemed to have eyes on the back of his head, and his calm behavior hinted at more unknown and mysterious powers.


    ''They should respect me enough to hear my words now,'' Khan thought once the symphony carried more fear than tension.


    "Alright," Khan casually announced while turning to face the crew. "Rodney was right. This window will shatter if I summon too much mana."


    Khan obviously couldn''t be sure of that, but the same went for his opponents. Yet, his previous actions had created a situation where the second-level warriors would believe any word he said.


    "Let''s see," Khan continued while moving his eyes across his seven opponents. "Which one of you knows me?"


    The question surprised the men, but Khan continued before they could answer. "I''m not talking about Milia 222. I want to understand if you know my profile."


    The exchange of gazes that followed the question provided an answer. The crew didn''t know about Khan, or, rather, didn''t know anything about his achievements and fame.


    "Rodney really tricked you," Khan joked. "How much is he paying for this suicide mission? I can offer double or even triple the amount if I feel generous."


    Khan wasn''t lying. A peaceful solution would solve all his problems and even advance his investigation. As for the money, he was sure that Luke could cover it.


    Sadly enough, the second-level warriors didn''t show the reactions Khan expected. They were worried, and doubts had filled their minds after the recent questions, but nothing on their faces pointed where Khan wanted. He actually saw some confidence returning in those expressions.


    ''I misinterpreted something,'' Khan understood.


    "Drop the box," One of the men eventually said. "We''ll give you the chance to fight fairly."


    "Fairly, you say," Khan chuckled. "You just don''t want to damage the goods."


    The taunt was on point, but Khan took no pleasure in that. The seven second-level warriors appeared truly set on pursuing that potentially suicidal mission. Money couldn''t buy that determination, so Khan gave up on achieving a peaceful oue.


    Khan had done more than keep track of his surroundings during the past minutes. He had gone over his imminent battle, and a strategy had even formed in his mind.


    Rodney had reassured hispanions about the windows, but it was very likely that the second-level warriors would hold back from using spells. Their determination couldn''t ovee their fear so easily. Khan believed that they would resort to dangerous attacks only if their lives were at risk.


    Khan could exploit that edge, but the ce still featured second-level warriors. He felt confident in his martial arts, but the rtively cramped area would inevitably make his opponents overwhelm him.


    Using spells to survive sounded mandatory, and Khan had something that might avoid the destruction of the windows. His uracy was an issue, but he could ignore it as long as he acted carefully.


    ''If only I had a few more weeks of training,'' Khan sighed in his mind before voicing a silent request. ''Protect the window.''


    A tinge of purple-red mana came out of the top of Khan''s head and dispersed into the corridor. The atmosphere was so tense that the entire crew noticed the event, but no one had the ability to sense what happened to the synthetic mana.


    The synthetic mana shook under Khan''s request before flowing toward the window. An uneven and messy membrane covered the transparent surface and created a weak shield meant to block iing tremors.


    Khan didn''t feel too satisfied with the barrier. Ideally, he would have gone for something specific for his element. He would have also chosen to deflect instead of block, but his skill still didn''t allow that.


    The size of the barrier was also a problem. The corridor wasn''t tall, but the synthetic mana only stretched for a few meters and even left many open spots near the floor and ceiling.


    The execution was far from perfect, but Khan couldn''t linger too long in those thoughts. The distraction created by his release of mana was his chance to seize the initiative, and he didn''t miss it.


    Khan threw the metal box on his left before reaching for his knife and summoning mana. His right hand closed into a fist as energy gathered among his fingers.


    Images appeared in his vision. Khan recalled the bird-like monster met in the valley on Nitis. He saw its bright feathers falling toward the ground and cutting anything in their path.


    Meanwhile, a sharp pain invaded his mind. Khan used the sorrow that surged inside him whenever he nced at his tattoo to fuel those memories and give shape to his new spell.


    Three needles began to grow among Khan''s fingers, and the process didn''t stop even after they became longer than his hand. Their brightness also intensified as their surface shook due to the instabilities caused by their size.


    The needles seemed ready to explode, but Khan waved his hand to throw them toward the men near the metal wall. The action matched the crash of the metal box on the second-level warrior, and Khan even added a sprint to that offensive.


    The second-level warriors were two steps toote. Theunch of the metal box had added another distraction that made them miss the creation of the needles. By the time they noticed them, they had already flown through half of the corridor.


    Moreover, the location pushed the crew to abandon its experience and run away. Those men recognized the needles as a spell, so they expected the window to shatter.


    Khan exploited every second of that chaos. The second-level warrior on his left had instinctively raised his arms to block the metal box, so Khan shed at his exposed abdomen during his sprint.


    Executing the Divine Reaper didn''t slow down Khan at all, so he reached his second opponent while he was still in the middle of turning to run away. The man noticed Khan and raised his arms, but the knife cut through them and reached his neck.


    The three needles reached the crew while Khan was busy cutting his second opponent''s arms. He didn''t have great control over his throw game, so the spell only managed to target two men, and one of them quickly ducked away from it.


    The man still on the spell''s trajectory tried his best, but he only managed to dodge one of the two needles flying toward him. The other hit his right cheek and pierced it without meeting any resistance.


    The two needles that missed their targetsnded on the metal wall and began to dig through it, but everything exploded at that point. The three bright weapons became too unstable to retain their shape and released their wild mana to create small, spherical versions of the Wave spell.


    The needle stuck in the man''s cheek ended up destroying three-quarters of his head during the explosion. The second weapon created a half-spherical hole in the metal wall, while the third turned out to be close enough to its target to touch him.


    The second-level warrior who had dodged the needle was still trying to make a point of the situation when something exploded above him. The purple-red sphere touched his head and dug through his skull, destroying a part of his brain.


    Khan didn''t turn. He sprinted through the opening he created while listening to the symphony. Everything had turned messy due to his offensive, but he only cared about the sounds caused by his mana.


    Deep and wild noises echoed through the symphony, creating bright shades that flew through the synthetic mana and expanded in the passage. Some reached the membrane on the transparent surface and pierced it quite easily.


    The event filled Khan with panic and made him shout a desperate request that he didn''t bother to keep in his mind. "Help my legs!"


    Mana left Khan''s body and fused with the synthetic energy, which moved toward his legs. He was ready to give his best attempt at Maban''s technique, but he halted his steps when he sensed the reaction of the window.


    The bright shades had lost some power during the sh with the membrane. Some had even changed direction, but something had definitely fallen on the window.


    Still, the transparent surface endured the sh without suffering any damage. It trembled a bit, but it soon retrieved its stability.


    Khan turned to check that his sensitivity wasn''t lying to him before sprinting back toward his enemies. The window had been more than able to endure the aftermath of his small spell, so his approach to the situation instantly changed.


    One second-level warrior was on the floor with his intestineing out of the long cut on his abdomen. Another was trying to cover his open throat, but his maimed arms couldn''t stop the bleeding.


    Two corpses stood a mere meter from those men. One had so little of his face left that no one could recognize him, while the other had a gory hole on the top of his head.


    The remaining three second-level warriors had run in the opposite direction of Khan but for the same reasons, and their panic took longer to disappear due to their weaker senses.


    Khan could reach the box while his opponents were still making sure that the window was intact. They weren''t distracted, but they weren''tpletely ready to fight either. Still, he decided not to pursue them.


    "You can say that you killed me," Khan eximed as he ced his left foot on the head of the man with the wounded neck, "But I suggest you hide afterward."


    "You-!" One of the men tried to say, but a cracking noise reached his ears and made him interrupt his line. His eyes inevitably went on Khan''s left foot. Hispanion''s head had turned into a gory puddle.


    "Hurry up," Khan ordered. "Leave already."


    The three men were stunned. Theplete coldness behind Khan''s actions froze their thoughts. He had crushed theirpanion''s head without showing any emotion. The sheerck of humanity in the gesture turned Khan into a fearsome monster in their vision.


    Khan could see that the three men were on the verge of running away, but their eyes revealed the source of their lingering hesitation. His opponents nced at the metal box before focusing on him again.


    "This one stays with me," Khan continued. "You can say that it fell in space if you need, but I won''t give it to you."


    Something powerful had pushed the crew to ept that dangerous task, but Khan had destroyed that resolve with his actions. Defeating more than half of the group in a single offensive and hisst chilling gesture had turned him into an alternative that the surviving men wanted to avoid at all costs.


    The synthetic mana gave an answer before the three men could act. Khan kept his cold face on his opponents and watched them leave in a hurry. He didn''t move even after they left his vision and waited until they disappeared from his senses'' range before lowering his gaze.


    Khan was no stranger to death and bloodbaths. He had seen far worse, but something in that scene made him pensive. He didn''t know if Jonathan had survived, but that didn''t matter anymore. He had undoubtedly taken human lives.


    The situation was still far from ideal, so Khan pushed those thoughts to the back of his head as he lifted the box and threw it toward the metal wall. The man under it was still alive, and coughs came out of his bleeding mouth.


    Khan ignored the man for now. His attention went to the box, and his knife lit up before digging a tiny hole in that tough metal. That dark material actually resisted the Divine Reaper for a bit, but it eventually pierced through.


    Khan withdrew the knife and focused on his sensitivity. No energy came out of the hole, and nothing strange happened when the synthetic mana entered the box.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Those results gave Khan the confidence to open the box. His knife dug a square opening that fell off with a simple pull and revealed its insides. A fewyers of insting material hindered Khan''s inspection but removing them granted a clear view of the actual goods.


    Khan saw a stack of dark-green fabric tied to the box''s sides. He could count nine sheets of that material, but something else attracted his attention, and touching it almost confirmed his guess.


    ''Dammit,'' Khan cursed in his mind while pulling out one of the sheets, uncaring that his gesture could tear it.


    The fabric turned out to be quite flexible. It stretched until the pressure reached the critical point and made it separate from the box. Khan ended up with the intact material in his hands, and his guess began to turn into certainty when he sniffed and licked it.


    Khan had only used his methods on the final product of a long and thorough alteration. He had never gotten the chance to do the same on the original material.


    However, the fabric in his hands matched what Luke had shown and exined. Moreover, Khan felt a vague and distant resemnce with the material studied in the factory. It really seemed that he had found the alien chameleon''s skin, which put Rodney in the criminal organization in charge of purchasing it.


    ''This can''t be a coincidence,'' Khan thought as he rolled the fabric and stored it under his loose jumper. ''Still, I might have nothing to do with this. A member of a wealthy family is a perfect middle-man in this situation.''


    A chilling feeling invaded Khan''s mind as he adjusted his position and left the box alone. His gaze turned on the coughing man busy keeping his bowel inside his body. The resilience of a second-level warrior was preserving his life, but that didn''t y to his advantage.


    ****


    Author''s note: I misused the word "mirror" in the previous chapter. The transparent surface is a window. I fixed the mistake, but some might have missed it.

 Chapter ?391 Fun

    Chapter ?391 Fun


    "P-please," The second-level warrior weakly said as his hands tried to keep the long wound on his abdomen closed.


    The blooding out of the injury made everything too slippery, and the intestine pushed toe out without muscles and tendons to keep them still. The man often lost his grip, and a gory spectacle followed every time.


    Initially, Khan remained silent. His cold eyes ran over the injured man without meeting his gaze. His inspection went past the mere flesh and tried to evaluate his opponent''s condition. The second-level warrior could survive as long as he received medical attention.


    "Do you want to live?" Khan eventually asked while crouching toward the man.


    The man tried to say something, but blood umted in his throat and turned his words into a cough. One of his hands reached for his mouth, but doing so made the gap on his abdomen open.


    The second-level warrior felt forced to bring his hand on his abdomen and catch his escaping bowel. As for the answer, he limited himself to a nod since his throat wasn''t cooperating.


    "Let''s start with the basics then," Khan eximed. "Why did you ept this mission? How did Rodney convince you to fight in this dangerous ce?"


    The man wanted to answer, but he ended up coughing. The gesture spat some blood on Khan''s clothes and face, but he remained utterly still. He didn''t even blink as those gory drops fell on his cheeks.


    "I-," The second-level warrior panicked. "I''m sorry!"


    "Answer me," Khan calmly reminded.


    The man needed a few seconds to calm down, and he also turned his head to spit the remaining blood in his mouth. His condition had temporarily stabilized when he moved back on Khan, but his voice still revealed his poor state.


    "I don''t know about the others," The second-level warrior exined, "But Rodney said that I could return to my family if I dealt with you."


    "Is he keeping your family hostage?" Khan wondered.


    "I-," The man began to say, but hesitation made him stammer for a second. "I can''t return to Earth. I''m a criminal."


    ''So, that''s how it is,'' Khan thought. ''The others must be in simr situations.''


    "What do you know about this business?" Khan pressed on without giving the man time to rx.


    "Nothing, I swear!" The second-level warrior did his best to shout, but his weak state got in the way. "I just carry goods."


    "Don''t you know anything?" Khan continued. "What about the actual goods?"


    "I''ve never opened a box," The man responded.


    "And your boss?" Khan asked.


    "Rodney handles that," The man replied. "I don''t know who stands above him."


    "Who established the connection with the Bise then?" Khan said, suppressing his vague irritation as much as possible. "That''s not an easy thing to do. You must have noticed something strange."


    "I swear, I didn''t!" The second-level warrior begged. "I''m just hired muscle. I don''t know anything."


    The man believed that his ignorance could save him. His desperate attempt to convey it to Khan came from that conviction, but he waspletely wrong.


    Khan didn''t care about the man''s involvement in the business. He wanted answers, and he couldn''t get any. He only confirmed that Rodney''s status was quite high, putting him directly under the figure in charge of the entire illegal activity.


    Pieces of a puzzle fused to create a picture. Dots connected in Khan''s mind as everything he had learnt since his arrival on Milia 222 flowed through his thoughts.


    Theoretically, Luke''s mission was simple. Someone had stolen precious goods, and a team had to retrieve them while finding the culprits.


    Nevertheless, the peculiar location added countless problems to the mission. Milia 222 had so many deeply rooted illegal activities that spotting a single theft in that sea of crime sounded impossible.


    The details of the theft were also problematic. The factory was overly secretive, and some of Earth''s wealthiest families backed it. Such importance required an equally important criminal since the theft had been a sess.


    The presence of a traitor or spy appeared necessary with those facts, but the Fuveall revealed a terrible truth. No thief could ovee those security measures without leaving tracks, so the culprit had to be among the factory owners.


    On the other side of the matter, buyers had to deal with Bise smugglers to obtain the reinforced fabric''s main material. Those crews often changed due to Milia 222''s nature, but it made sense for a few figures to remain stable in such a secretive project.


    Less than two years had passed since Nitis'' events. Rodney couldn''t have possibly been that stable figure, but his arrival on Milia 222 could match the beginning of the thefts.


    Rodney was the perfect inside man due to his wealthy background and poor reputation. Someone from the Cobsend family might have contacted him to learn more about the reinforced fabric business without attracting attention. He might have even been nted on Milia 222 for that exact reason.


    Khan couldn''t confirm any of that. He had only found odd coincidences. The material in the box, Rodney''s strangely high status, and the Fuveall''s testimony created a picture, but Khancked key info toplete it.


    ''There are at least two unknown variables,'' Khan concluded, ''And I can''t be sure about the motives either.''


    Rodney''s boss and the traitor from the Cobsend family were the two missing pieces of the puzzle. As for thetter''s motives, Khan couldn''t ask Luke, but he had someone in mind who could help him. The promise he had made to her was the only problem there.


    The mental summary onlysted for a minute in which the wounded men continued to shoot pleading nces at Khan. The gesture tried to appeal to Khan''s mercy, but he still wasn''t done with his opponent.


    Khan diverted his gaze to inspect his sides. He had only two paths now, and both of them featured problems.


    Continuing the march through the corridor would probably bring Khan to Lower Level 2. The path ahead also had to have multiple branches, but they were bound to lead to human structures. In the worst case, Khan might even reach Rodney and be surrounded by the members of his factions.


    Instead, the path back to Lower Level 3 had one major issue. Khan vaguely recalled where to go, but returning to the beginning of the passage would leave him far away from the streets. He would need to fly to cross that distance, and he still didn''t know how.


    Khan partially cursed himself for refusing the unreliable devices meant tomunicate on the dock. He believed that the passage would prevent that, but having something simr would give him hope.


    The same went for his ability with the Nele''s arts. Khan sort of understood the theory behind sending messages through the mana, but the distance from his allies'' districts was too great. Also, he wouldn''t know how to convey his position. The dome''s light hid the passage so much that even he would struggle to find it again.


    "What was the n?" Khan eventually asked while turning back on the wounded man. "Were all of you supposed to join Rodney on Lower Level 2?"


    The question sounded like a long shot, but it made perfect sense in Khan''s mind. A limited number of witnesses was key to keeping a business secret, and a ship did bring reinforcements into the passage. That vehicle might still be there, waiting for the crew.


    "We had to kill you and bring proof of your death to Rodney," The man said before coughing again. His condition was worsening, but Khan pretended not to notice that.


    "What about after that?" Khan wondered.


    "We had to return to Lower Level 3," The man exined while his eyes regained some vitality. "The ship shoulde to pick us up in half an hour. I can talk to the pilot for you."


    ''The ship ising back!'' Khan eximed in his mind before showing his true colors. His cold face gained some threatening features that revealed his intentions, and the man didn''t miss them.


    "Wait!" The man begged, but a glowing knife stabbed his head and ended his life before he could add anything.


    Khan retrieved his knife and waved it toward the floor. Some blood left its edge, and Khan handled the rest of those spots by wiping it on his jumper.


    Thoughts ran wildly. Khan came up with a n in no time before setting his priorities straight. The mission was important, but he had to find Rodney before he could make the letter public. That would prevent many headaches, and it would even give him the chance to interrogate him privately.


    Clothes flew through the corridor. Khan undressed before seizing a grey tracksuit from one of the corpses. His baggy jumper and trousers could reveal his identity, and his disguise didn''t end there.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan hid his sheath, knife, and alien chameleon''s skin under his clothes before reaching for the fabric tainted by his opponent''s escaping intestine. He tore away a long strand before putting it on his head like a hood.


    The fabric couldn''t cover Khan''s entire head, but he didn''t care. He only needed the dirty part to be in front of him. It would be easier to pretend to be injured like that.


    Khan didn''t waste any more time. He nced at the corpses once more before hurrying through the corridor and doing his best to recall the trod path. A moment to think about the recent events woulde, but that wasn''t it.


    The corridor had branches, but Khan had remained alert during the entirety of the march. He only needed a few breaks every time he was in front of multiple options to recall where to go, and the darker pale-blue light of the dome eventually appeared in his vision.


    Khan couldn''t see any ship hovering at the beginning of the passage, so he sat at some distance from it and waited. The bloodied hood covered most of his vision, but his sensitivity reached the entrance, and he relied on it while keeping his face hidden.


    Tense minutes went by as Khan remained on the floor. He waited and waited until something finally approached the entrance. The symphony was the first to warn him about that change, but the familiar sound of an engine soon reached his ears too.


    "Get moving already!" A shout resounded from the entrance and echoed through the corridor. "I''ll leave you here otherwise."


    Khan performed a weak gesture with his hand before slowly standing up. He pretended to be in terrible condition as he staggered left and right. He even crashed on the walls a few times to add value to his act.


    Meanwhile, Khan used the narrow holes on his hood to study the situation. His sensitivity had already confirmed that the cargo area of the ship was empty, and his eyes helped him tread the path toward that ce.


    "Are you the only one left?" The pilot asked through his open window when Khan slowly stepped inside the cargo area. "That guy must have been a tough one."


    Khan didn''t answer. He let the cargo door close before removing his dirty hood and inspecting the pilot''s cabin. He didn''t know the specifics of the ship''s model, but the engine and tank were on its back, so destroying a wall wouldn''t make it crash.


    The pilot sat on the ship''s right side, so Khan drew his knife and dived deep into his memories while activating the Divine Reaper. He had seen simr vehicles during his simtions, so he could imagine the cabin''syout in his mind.


    "Hey, what are you doing?!" The pilot shouted in confusion when he saw a glowing knife piercing the wall that divided him from the cargo area.


    Khan acted as quickly as possible. He dug a rectangr hole into the wall before pushing himself through it. The severed metalyer fell on the controls, and the abrupt event allowed him to adjust his position inside the cabin before the pilot could react.


    "What-?" The pilot tried to say, but a knife reached his throat and interrupted his line. Khan didn''t stab him, but his mana created a shallow cut anyway.


    "Easy now," The pilot said while moving his eyes between the knife and Khan''s dirty face. "I will bring you on the dock. Just don''t kill me."


    The pilot was strangely calm. His aspect didn''t give anything away. He was a in-looking middle-aged man with short dark hair and an unkempt beard, but his gaze showed deep experience.


    "You know what I can do, right?" Khan asked while sending as many chilling sensations as possible through the synthetic mana.


    "I''m just a pilot," The man responded. "I fly people when needed without asking any question."


    "I don''t trust you," Khan warned.


    "You don''t need to trust me," The pilot replied. "You need me to fly you on the streets."


    Khan would have usually pursued that interaction until he felt confident enough to ept the deal, but an idea slowly formed in his mind. The control desk had tens of keys, but he recognized many of them. A short inspection was enough to give him a vague idea of what they did.


    "Stand up," Khan ordered.


    "What?" The pilot asked, but Khan promptly pressed the knife to his throat. He had retracted his mana, so the weapon only slightly deepened the shallow injury.


    "Okay, okay!" The man shouted. "I''m about to move."


    The pilot slowly left his seat, and Khan guided him toward his left. A mere push convinced the man to crouch on the cabin''s floor, and Khan swiftly changed the position of his knife to sit in front of the desk while keeping his opponent in check.


    "What are you doing?!" The pilot panicked when he saw Khan using his free hand to tinker with the control desk, but another push from the knife made him shut up.


    "This is the handbrake, right?" Khan asked while pointing at a red key near the top of the control desk.


    The pilot wanted to voice another panicked remark, but Khan''s cold gaze pushed back his words and turned them into a slight nod. Khan smiled and pressed the key, and a tremor ran through the ship.


    "Please," The pilot begged when Khan grabbed the rectangr steering wheel with one hand. "I promise I''ll get you where you want. Just let me drive."


    Khanpletely ignored the pilot. His knife remained on his throat while he gave a slight push to the steering wheel. The vehicle immediately elerated forward, but its speed was barely noticeable.


    ''I can do this,'' Khan thought before giving a sharp push to the steering wheel.


    The eleration was violent at that time. The ship shot forward before hitting the dome''s curved surface and sliding through it. The screeching noises that resounded made the pilot close his eyes in fear, but Khanughed as he steered away.


    The upper part of Lower Level 3 was basically empty. The elevators connected to Lower Level 2 were too distant to be a problem, and no ship flew nearby. Khan was free to go where he wanted, and he used that chance to test himself out.


    Khan elerated and braked at will, turning, rising, and diving to see what the ship could do. The pilot opened and closed his eyes, but the knife on his throat put an end to any of his ns. He actually felt d that Khan could keep his weapon still during that reckless flight.


    ''This thing is too stiff!'' Khan cursed as he elerated even more. ''How can they call this flying?!''


    The pilot opened his eyes again only to see the ship diving at full speed toward the streets. Confused words came out of his mouth until they transformed into a scream. The vehicle was about to crash, but Khan abruptly pulled the steering wheel when a few meters separated him from the surface.


    The ship released a deep noise that resembled a metallicint as it tried to fend off the momentum umted during the dive. The few meters left from the street weren''t enough to disperse all of it, so the vehiclended violently.


    The dock''s streets were sturdy enough to remain in one piece, and the vehicle also bounced a few times while leaving deep holes or marks on the dark-grey floor. The multiple crashes eventually halted the ship, but the pilot was far from happy about thatnding.


    "Were you trying to kill the both of us?!" The pilotined.


    "Shut up," Khanughed. "I haven''t had so much fun in months."


    "Fun?!" The man shouted. "You must have many loose screws to fly like this!"


    "Well," Khan smiled as he stood up and forced the man to imitate him. "My teacher was an eagle."


    The man was at a loss for words. He had somehow managed to stay alive during that messy flight even if a knife had remained on his throat for the whole time. Moreover, Khan sounded genuinely crazy. He couldin more, but he felt that his luck would run out if he did.


    Khan opened the door and dragged the pilot with him. A crowd had already formed around the ship, and many groups inspected the damage suffered by the street. However, no one dared to reach Khan toin.


    "[Care to exin]?" A familiar voice resounded behind Khan while he was busy ring at the crowd.


    A purple halo filled Khan''s vision when he turned. He hadnded near the Nele''s district, and his sensitivity had already warned him. He didn''t feel any surprise seeing Maban, Piran, and a few other known faces standing behind him.


    "[I''ll exin everything]," Khan promised before pushing the pilot toward the Nele. [In the meantime, can you keep an eye on him? Also, I need to announce my imminent departure. I must return to the second asteroid]."

 Chapter ?392 Variable

    Chapter ?392 Variable


    The pilot had started to grow numb to surprises, but the purple light triggered the instinctive fear developed after living on Milia 222 for a while. Maban and his group didn''t wear their spray, so getting too close would definitely cause problems.


    Sadly for the pilot, Khan was in no mood to bother about those details. He pushed his prisoner into the purple light''s range, and the Nele''s pheromones took over.


    The pilot tried to retreat, but intense urges filled his mind as soon as the purple light shone on him. Evident struggle appeared on his face as he mustered the entirety of his self-restraint to escape, but Khan pushed him again and put an end to that attempt.


    "Please," The pilot begged as his internal struggle made him lose his bnce and fall to the floor. "I would never-. I swear. I wouldn''t-."


    The pilot never managed toplete a line. A crazy smile appeared on his face whenever he nced at the group of Nele. He waspletely aware of what was happening, but his body reacted on its own.


    Maban and the others showed nothing but disgust while watching the pilot crawling toward them. They knew that fending off their pheromones was no easy task. The man wasn''t really to me, but the Nele wouldn''t forgive him anyway.


    "[Piran, take care of the ship]," Maban eventually ordered. "[Khan, inside the district. Now]."


    Khan happily nodded as he stored his knife and kicked the pilot to push him back on the floor. Thetter''s condition was worsening, and even his eyes were growing crazy, so Khan had to keep him in check.


    The pilot didn''t cooperate. He struggled whenever Khan dyed his crawling toward the Nele, and he even started to summon his mana at some point. The man was set on fulfilling his urges, but a precise kick on his nape ended all of that.


    .


    Khan exchanged nods with Piran and the few Nele who remained behind to handle the ship before lifting the unconscious pilot. His smile remained on his face for the whole time, and he even turned to inspect the street while following Maban.


    The crowd didn''t disperse, but the arrival of the Nele made many groups retreat. Still, the scene was too interesting to ignore, so more people converged on the street to check the situation.


    The crashed ship had suffered some damage, and the hole dug by Khan didn''t help its state. Its engine had also turned off after the violentnding, but a lot could be salvaged there. The Ots and Fuveall in the area didn''t hide their interest in the vehicle, but the Nele''s presence made them give up on any im.


    Instead, the street''s condition was apletely different issue. The holes and overall damage involved the entire dock, and someone had to pay to repair them. Yet, Khan''s involvement with the Nele made that matter quite problematic.


    Khan knew that he had brought trouble to the Nele, but his mind couldn''t stop cheering. Flying had felt too good. The wind didn''t blow on his face, and the cargo ship wasn''t great, but he had still enjoyed himself more than expected.


    ''I can fly!'' Khan eximed in his mind. ''I need to start working toward buying my own ship now.''


    The project was a distant dream. Khan needed to get better, and his problems didn''t end there. Getting a flying license and the Credits to purchase such expensive items was no easy matter, but it didn''t sound too unreal anymore.


    The excitement couldn''tst forever, and Khan wasn''t the type to ignore his problems. His situation was far from good. Rodney had seen right through him and had decided to seize the initiative. His unexpected betrayal had almost cornered Khan, leaving him with limited time to prevent terrible oues.


    In theory, Khan should leave right away. Each minute spent in the dock gave Rodney more time to secure his position. He wasn''t even the type to rx at the news of Khan''s death, so an immediate reaction would be the intelligent approach.


    However, Khan had to take care of a few things first, and thinking about all of that soured his mood. Flying had made him ecstatic, but coldness soon returned. Luckily for him, someone didn''t let his good feelings disappear so quickly.


    "[That smile suits you]," Jennamented while leaving the guardrails to approach Khan. "[You should wear it more often]."


    "[I almost forgot how much I like flying]," Khan exined as Jenna reached his side.


    "[I''m getting jealous of a ship]," Jenna giggled.


    "[I took care of it for you]," Khan teased, and Jennaughed again.


    Jenna could immediately realize that something had gone wrong. She had learnt about the ship as soon as she left the room, and Khan''s appearance only deepened her worries. Blood was on his face and clothes, but his genuine smile filled her with pure happiness.


    That happy feeling didn''tst. Jenna''s expression turned cold when she nced at the unconscious pilot on Khan''s shoulder. The synthetic mana around her echoed her killing intent, which didn''t disappear even after Khan took her hand.


    "[They keeping for your happiness]," Jenna stated. "[I can''t forgive them]."


    "[And the problems aren''t over yet]," Khan sighed.


    Jenna inspected Khan''s souring mood before voicing a question. "[What do you need to do with him]?"


    "[Him]?" Khan repeated while shooting a nce at the unconscious pilot. "[He probably doesn''t know much, but I''m not sure]."


    "[Leave him to me then]," Jenna requested. "[You can tell me what happened after meeting Maban]."


    "[Jenna]," Khan called. He knew exactly what Jenna wanted to do, and he didn''t like the idea of putting her in that situation.


    "[I''ve already decided]," Jenna responded before showing her beautiful smile. "[You can only think of ways to make it up for me]."


    "[You are truly impossible]," Khan joked, and the two moved toward a specific building without adding anything else.


    The building opened as soon as Jenna approached its entrance. The prison-like area that Khan had seen after his fight against the bounty hunters unfolded in his view, and he proceeded inside to bind the pilot to chains.


    A few Nele entered the building while Khan was busy taking care of the pilot. Nessa led a small group inside and nodded at Jenna before drawing her root.


    "[Don''t make Maban wait]," Jenna said while her eyes remained fixed on the chained pilot.


    Khan couldn''t find any fitting word. Seeing Jenna so angry hurt him, especially since he was the reason behind that emotion. He felt as if his presence was a terrible influence that darkened anyone interacting with him, but he didn''t have the time to listen to those depressing thoughts.


    "[I''ll be back soon]," Khan whispered before pulling Jenna to leave a kiss on her cheek. The entire area immediately grew warmer, but he left the building before inspecting the various reactions.


    Maban didn''t mind Khan''s short stop. He waited for him in the district''s headquarters, and an exnation followed after they met. Rodney''s business didn''t involve the Nele, but knowledge was power, and Khan wanted Maban to have it.


    "[I see]," Maban voiced once the exnation was over. "[You shouldn''t waste time then. Leave already]."


    "[What about the street]?" Khan asked. "[I can pay for that once I get back here]."


    "[You damaged a street but brought back a ship]," Maban uttered. "[I say you have already paid what you owe]."


    "[Won''t my actions have political repercussions]?" Khan continued to voice his worries. "[The hunting season has just ended. The other species won''t be happy about today]."


    "[And what would change if you remained here]?" Maban snorted. "[Don''t think so highly of yourself. Focus on your mess and leave Lower Level 3 to us]."


    "[But-]," Khan tried to say, but Maban interrupted him. "[Enough! Do you want to be useful? Fix your problem before it ruins your career. I used my precious time for you, so you must be more than a simple soldier]."


    Maban had tried to be rude, but Khan had begun to learn to see past his cold and stern behavior. The Nele was hoping for his sess, and the event felt heartwarming.


    "[You really are a softie]," Khanmented.


    "[What]?!" Maban shouted.


    "[Nothing]!" Khanughed as he left the interactive desk to approach the entrance. "[I''ll try toe back soon]."


    Maban wanted to add something, but Khan left too quickly. Maban ended up heaving a helpless sigh, but the corners of his mouth soon turned upward to create a faint smirk. He even muttered the word "[softie]" before disregarding the matter and returning to his duties.


    Khan hurried toward his room and jumped into the trapdoor as soon as it opened. The faint trace of natural mana brought some relief from the constant stench that the synthetic energy caused, but his attention directly went to the backpacks lying on the floor.


    A quick search brought a square device into Khan''s hands. The item was a screen with grey metal handles on its four edges. A few keys also upied those areas, and Khan had to read the instructions left in the backpack to know what to press.


    The device eventually lit up, and Khan browsed through the menus before pulling out the alien chameleon''s skin from under his clothes. A cross appeared on the screen when he ced it over the dark-green fabric, and beeping noises soon came out of it.


    ''Dammit,'' Khan cursed when he read the words that appeared on the screen. ''I really found it.''


    The device confirmed that the fabric was indeed the alien chameleon''s skin used in the factory. Khan had found the basic material and the buyers involved in its delivery to the second asteroid. He was closing in on the true culprits, which made Rodney''s escape more troublesome.


    The device''s findings urged Khan to hurry even more, but he had onest thing to do before departing. He stuffed the item and the alien chameleon''s skin into the backpack before leaving the room and marching through the district. The walk brought him back to the ship, where he addressed Piran''s questioning face.


    "[I''m going out for a bit]," Khan announced. "[I''ll be back in no time]."


    Piran nced at the crowd busy inspecting the street before turning toward Khan. He didn''t need to say anything to express his thoughts, and Khan addressed the topic right away. "[You can''t follow me there]."


    "[Alright]," Piran eximed. "[Be safe]."


    .


    Khan nodded before listening to the symphony to find the least crowded street. Sadly enough, there were people everywhere, so Khan couldn''t avoid interacting with the bystanders.


    A group of Ots and humans upied the narrow street that Khan had chosen, and murmurs resounded as soon as he arrived. Khan could only make out the words "chaos wielder" before his cold expression made those bystanders split to let him pass.


    Khan didn''t run, but he still walked quickly. However, eyes and spies remained on him even after he left the crowded area. The groups who had decided to leave him be after theck of changes in the bounty returned stronger than ever, and many curious parties also joined that effort.


    Nevertheless, the Tors'' district remained a must-avoid area even in that peculiar situation. Many groups retreated when Khan stepped on the streets immersed in the oily synthetic mana, but he also had to stop before diving too deeply into the Tor''s domain.


    Minutes had to pass for a few presences to enter the range of Khan''s senses. Khan waited calmly until a hooded figure peeked past the guardrails and jumped on the hidden street to ce a transparent container on the floor.


    ''One week was obviously too short,'' Khan sighed as he stood up and poured his mana into the container. He had faintly hoped for his secondmission to bepleted already, but the idea had turned out to be too unrealistic.


    "I need to leave the dock for a while," Khan eximed while continuing to fill the container.


    "Twice a week," The Tors spoke from behind its hood. "That''s the deal."


    "Get me more containers now," Khan requested. "I''ll pay upfront for the next weeks."


    "Your new request will take a long time," The Tors pointed out.


    "You can decide the number of containers," Khan responded. "I just want our coboration to continue."


    "You don''t have enough chaos," The Torsmented.


    "Test me out," Khan confidently replied. "I''ll manage somehow."


    The Tors was speaking about the limits of a second-level mage, but Khan felt more than confident. He only needed the alien to give him a chance, which happened right after hisst line.


    The alien approached the guardrail and peeked past it to voice a series of iprehensible hisses. One of the Tors under the street left only to return a few minutester with a fewpanions.


    Khan didn''t waste time being surprised or negotiating. A few Tors jumped on the street to ce multiple containers in front of him, and he filled them without uttering a single word.


    Soon, eleven full containers stood before Khan. His upfront payment could keep the Tors at bay for more than a month, and he limited himself to watch as the caped aliens brought them away.


    Khan knew that giving so much without getting anything in return had been far from wise. The Tors could pretend not to care about his secondmission now, but he couldn''t find any other solution in that short time. If the Tors decided to betray his trust, he would simply have to ept his loss.


    The street became empty, and Khan left it without looking back even once. The spies returned, and the same went for the crowd once he arrived near the Nele''s district. Cold, scared, and curious faces followed his movements as he made his way through the groups, but he disregarded the mess as he hurried toward the prison.


    The scene that unfolded in Khan''s vision once the prison-like building opened matched his expectations. Jenna, Nessa, and a few other Nele stood around the chained pilot, who was begging for his life.


    Khan moved his gaze over the roots stabbed in the pilot''s legs before focusing on his face. Tears, blood, and utter fear fused to depict pure desperation. That expression announced defeat. The middle-aged man had probably revealed the entirety of his intel.


    "[He doesn''t know anything]," Jenna announced without turning. "[Your friend hired him without sharing any aspect of his n]."


    Khan kept his eyes on the pilot. Thetter could barely see due to the tears that filled his eyes, but a begging expression took over his face when he recognized Khan''s human features.


    The pilot hoped that a member of the same species would show more mercy than the Nele, but he would shake in fear if he could hear Khan''s thoughts. Khan was going over the matter, but everything pointed in the same direction.


    ''He isn''t like the crew,'' Khan thought. ''He is an innocent who happened to be in the wrong ce at the wrong time.''


    Those thoughts would be enough to show mercy in the absence of other issues. After all, Khan didn''t enjoy taking lives. It would actually make him feel better about his recent killing if he spared the pilot.


    However, the pilot had seen the Nele''s district and had gone through their torture. He was bound to develop hatred toward that species, and eventual enemy factions would benefit from that feeling. Even some of Khan''s secrets could be at risk in that case.


    The images of the human corpses appeared in Khan''s vision. He had killed fellow members of his species without showing any hesitation. He had crossed a line, but he didn''t feel any different.


    ''Humans, Nele, Niqols,'' Khan thought. ''They are all the same.''


    Khan had already reached simr conclusions, but he had confirmed them now. Doubts disappeared from his mind as he epted what he had to do. Every life had the same value, so killing a potential enemy to keep his friends safe soundedpletely reasonable.


    "I don''t know anything!" The pilot shouted when Khan approached him, but his suffering ended when a glowing knife pierced his brain.


    "[I need to go back to the second asteroid]," Khan announced while cleaning his knife and putting it back in the sheath.


    "[And]?" Jenna asked. "[This is the part when you try to keep me here]."


    "[You know I don''t lie to you]," Khan stated. "[It might be dangerous, but having you at my side might help]."


    "[There is nothing else to say then]," Jenna smiled as she took Khan''s hand and led him outside the building.


    Nessa and the other Nele felt the need to remain silent, but a trace of envy surged inside them while they watched the departing couple. The feeling carried no ill intentions. The aliens simply wanted a simr rtionship.


    Khan summarized the recent events to Jenna, who agreed to move quickly. Rodney had proven himself to be a problematic opponent in that environment, so Khan needed Luke''s support toe out on top, and having Jenna at his side could add value to his ims.


    The couple didn''t have time to be too thorough. Khan cleaned the blood from his face and hair before changing into some of the clothes in the backpack. Jenna also wore something elegant since she had to return to Lower Level 1, and she even donned the spray to avoid problems.


    Jenna and Khan left the district in a hurry after those short preparations. The backpacks were with them, and no one hindered their departure. Maban, Piran, and a few others voiced quick goodbyes, but that was it.


    It was past lunchtime, but the crowd was still around the district, and the couple''s departure inevitably attracted a lot of attention. Still, no one dared to bother Khan and Jenna, so the two could reach the elevators and leave that messy situation.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan and Jenna knew which elevators belonged to the Nele, so their return to Lower Level 2 happened swiftly and without additional costs. The Nele on the upper part of the dock also greeted them as friends and led them toward hidden lifts that would bring them to Lower Level 1 without leaving the building.


    The couple ended up in a small shop once the climbing was over. The ce resembled what Khan had seen on the third asteroid, but more Nele guarded it. Still, it seemed that they knew him, and Jenna''s presence made them leave without undergoing any additional security measures.


    The return to the city dispersed the heavy tension that had umted during the stay in the dock. Khan and Jenna had almost forgotten about it, but the sight of peaceful and rtively safe areas reminded them that Milia 222 could be very different.


    The dock wasn''t always chaotic, but murders and fights could happen anytime. The factions down there had properworks for bounties and other illegal activities, and all of them could happen in the open.


    Instead, the cities offered some apparent safety. Murders mostly didn''t happen in the open. The streets were full of ordinary citizens who did their best to avoid getting too deep into illegal businesses. Jenna and Khan could finally rx a bit, but that didn''t make them stop.


    The return to the city reestablished a good connection to thework, but Khan didn''t see any message, and he took that as a good sign. Someone would definitely contact him if Rodney''s letter became public, but that didn''t happen.


    A couple of cabs, a few elevators, and two crossings of the short-distance teleports brought Khan and Jenna back to the second asteroid. The strange sensation finally disappeared, but Khan didn''t have the time to think about that. The hand-in-hand walk also attracted the usual attention, but the couple barely noticed it.


    A third cab eventually brought the couple to the building owned by the Cobsend family. The afternoon had arrived by then, and some tension returned when Jenna and Khan approached the entrance. A potential mess was only a few steps away, and they walked toward it without showing any fear.


    Crossing the entrance made Khan''s sensitivity aware of multiple familiar presences. The couple soon entered the main hall, and a series of surprised faces turned in their direction. Bruce, Francis, Amanda, Monica, and Martha were sitting on couches, and their loud voices soon resounded in the area.


    "Khan, you are back!" Bruce eximed while standing up.


    "Khan!" Martha also eximed.


    Monica opened her mouth to imitate herpanions, but she quickly calmed down before voicing an elegant "wee back". Needless to say, her eyes expressed different feelings that Khan understood far too well.


    Gazes and expressions weren''t the only clues that Khan could read. His ability in the Nele''s arts had improved greatly, and hispanions didn''t know how to shield themselves from them. Their thoughts altered the synthetic mana and revealed their true feelings.


    Bruce appeared slightly troubled, Martha was happy, and Monica shared that happiness, but some annoyance tainted it. As for the others, only Francis was interesting since he conveyed intense anger.


    ''Great, more problems,'' Khan sighed in his mind while going straight to the point. "Where is Luke? I need to talk with him."


    Mentioning Luke generated an unexpected reaction. No one answered, and they all sent the same influence to the synthetic mana. They were conflicted about something.


    "Did something happen to Luke?" Khan asked.


    "You see," Bruce began to say, but the elevator behind him suddenly opened and revealed two figures. Luke was one of them, but Khan didn''t recognize the other. Still, he remained in awe of his power.


    "Khan!" Luke shouted as soon as he noticed Khan. "I''m d you are safe, and your timing is impable."


    Luke and the middle-aged man at his side left the elevator, but the former took a few more steps forward before continuing with the presentations. "This is my uncle Raymond Cobsend. Hended on Milia 222 two days ago."


    ''Fourth-level warrior,'' Khan thought as he fixed his eyes on Raymond.


    Time seemed to stop in Khan''s vision. One of the questions that had afflicted his mind since his recent discoveries found its answer. He felt almost sure that he was standing before one of the two unknown variables.

 Chapter ?393 Bold

    Chapter ?393 Bold


    Long strands of hair fell at the sides of a stern face, hiding ears and part of the neck. A bun kept the nape area uncovered, and two thick braids upied the side of the head.


    Raymond''s hair shared Luke''s distinctive grey color, and the same went for his brown eyes. Even his height was as remarkable as his nephew''s. A lot about that appearance hinted at belonging to the same family, but some differences existed.


    Raymond''s facial features were sharper than Luke''s, and he was also thinner. Still, his mid-grey suit and the ck shirt underneath matched his size perfectly, granting him a smooth silhouette that expressed pure elegance.


    A mere nce at Raymond was enough to convey his value. His expression, hairstyle, clothes, and demeanor created the picture of an important man, but Khan didn''t stop at those superficial traits. He could see past them and gain insights into Raymond''s actual character.


    Fourth-level warriors typically had the power to affect all the synthetic mana in a room and more. Their presence was simply too heavy to prevent that oue. Yet, Raymond barely left his mark in his surroundings, and Khan couldn''t see any technique at work there.


    The event was quite shocking. Most humans didn''t know about the implications of their heavy presence, but Raymond avoided them anyway. He appeared inplete control of his mental state, and what Khan learnt partially confirmed that guess.


    Khan couldn''t study evident alterations, but something still seeped into the synthetic mana. His focus went there, and he immediately experienced some instinctive fear. Raymond''s mental state resembled a bottomless and unreadable dark pit.


    Human words couldn''t describe that dark pit, and Khan didn''t sense enough to try. Yet, his instinctive fear exined a lot and warned him about the potential danger standing mere meters from him.


    Khan had always prided himself in his ability to read people, and the Nele''s arts only improved that skill. That very experience told him that words and tricks wouldn''t work against Raymond. Thetter was leagues above him in political games and pretenses.


    Raymond was simr to Rodney but had decades of experience and far more power than him. He was another example of a terrible enemy in that environment, so Khan moved to a defensive stand.


    Khan let Jenna go and crossed his hands behind his back to perform a military salute. He had already shown some hesitation, so he sent stern coldness to the synthetic mana to stick to that act.


    "It''s an honor to meet you, sir!" Khan eximed in his most serious tone.


    Raymond revealed a surprisingly gentle smile that was inplete opposition with what his mental state conveyed. Still, his performance was so perfect that even Khan wondered whether his sensitivity was tricking him.


    "There is no need for such formalities," Raymond chuckled. "Lieutenant Khan, your achievements are well-known. I''m the one honored to meet you."


    "Sir, I just did my job," Khan yed it politely.


    "Now, now," Raymond cheerfully scolded. "Humility is amendable quality, but a young man like you should know when to brag, especially among friends."


    "Sir, it would be disrespectful before a man of your caliber," Khan praised without abandoning his cold behavior.


    "Stoic until the end," Raymondughed. "I understand why Luke trusts you so much. You are the type of soldier who gets the job done no matter what."


    Raymond moved his eyes on Jenna during the silence that followed, and Khan felt forced to speak again. "Sir, she is Jenna, a friend and a key ally in our current mission."


    "And what mission would it be?" Raymond teased as his attention went back to Khan.


    "I''m afraid I can''t say, sir," Khan promptly responded.


    "I''m one of the pirs of the Cobsend family," Raymond stated, and his smile abruptly transformed into a cold expression. "Are you implying that I can''t question my nephew''s team?"


    "I''m sorry, sir," Khan uttered without showing the slightest trace of fear. "I report only to Luke."


    A tense silence filled the hall, but Raymond quickly shattered it with hisugh. He nodded a few times and even pped his hands before tapping Luke''s shoulder and voicing his praises. "You know how to choose your friends. Your father will be happy to hear this."


    Luke couldn''t contain his smile. The matter seemed a great deal to him, but Khan and Jenna hadpletely opposite reactions. Khan saw Luke''s respect toward Raymond as another ordeal to ovee while Jenna was busy containing her disgust.


    As a Nele, Jenna didn''t need to abide by social rules, especially when interacting with another species. Her detached behavior was more than expected, but meeting Raymond added more reasons to it.


    Jenna wasn''t as adept as Khan in spotting lies, but she had seen her fair share of ill-intentioned people. Raymond fit that description perfectly, even if she couldn''t exactly point out why she thought that.


    Luckily for the couple, Raymond didn''t care about Khan''s stern behavior and Jenna''sck of responses. His cheerful mood remained even after his interaction with Luke ended, and a series of polite goodbyes followed.


    "I have some matters to handle," Raymond announced as he straightened his suit. "Lieutenant Khan, Miss Jenna, we''ll have to continue this meeting another day."


    "Safe travels, sir," Khan eximed while stepping on his right to clear the way, and Jenna promptly imitated him.


    "You all keep up the good work," Raymond nodded as he walked past Khan.


    "I''lle back soon," Luke quickly said as he followed after Raymond. In a few seconds, both men left the building and disappeared from everyone''s view.


    ''Why is he here?'' Khan wondered while his gaze remained on the entrance.


    The rtively poor power of the team was the whole point of the mission. People would get suspicious if high-level and important warriors arrived on Milia 222, so Luke had handpicked an easily disguisable group of people for the investigation.


    Those involved with the theft would obviously know what was going on, but the disguise could trick the rest of the asteroids. Luke could feign ignorance and pretend that everything was okay since his team didn''t have any specialists or simr figures.


    However, Raymond''s arrival defeated that purpose. The man wasn''t only an extremely important figure in the Cobsend family. His personal power would make entire crowds turn and escape.


    Khan could link that event to in stupidity, but Raymond had given him the opposite impression. Moreover, the man suited his theory perfectly. He could be one of the missing pieces of the puzzle, but only Luke could confirm those guesses.


    "Khan, is something wrong?" Bruce called since Khan was still looking at the exit.


    "No, no," Khan reassured, wearing a fake smile and turning toward hispanions on the couches. "I was just surprised. He is a big shot, isn''t he?"


    "Indeed," Bruce sighed as he fell back on the couch. "His arrival was quite unexpected, but I''m sure Luke will exin everything soon."


    "Wait, you have yet to talk with him?" Khan asked.


    "Luke has been pretty busy since his uncle''s arrival," Bruce exined. "Bureaucracy stuff mainly. The two of them have shown their faces only to leave the building."


    "I see," Khanmented. "So, do you have other news? I''ve been away for quite some time."


    "Do you think we spent the past month getting drunk?" Bruce joked.


    "It sure looks like it," Khan pointed out.


    "Come, have a drink," Monica joined the conversation. "Let''s get you up to speed."


    The table only had one free seat left, so Khan didn''t immediately ept Monica''s offer. Yet, Jenna left his side and walked toward Martha before anyone could call the waiters.


    "Would you mind apanying me to Lieutenant Khan''s room?" Jenna asked while stretching her arm toward Martha.


    The gesture surprised the group, and only Monica recovered quickly enough to look at Khan. He wanted to roll his eyes, but he ended up captivated by how Monica hid her amusement behind her drink.


    "Sure," Martha voiced a confused reply as she took Jenna''s hand and left the couch. Her questioning face pointed at Khan while she moved toward the elevator, but he reassured her with a nod and waited for the two to leave the hall.


    An issue immediately appeared. Martha had left her seat, so Khan now had two options. He could choose the armchair and sit alone or join Monica on the couch.


    Any reasonable man in Khan''s position would choose the armchair, and even he was well aware of the best option. Francis'' anger wasn''t something he had to take lightly, and it didn''t sound fair to give false hopes to Monica since he had yet to make up his mind.


    However, Khan had gone through a strange day and had barely spent any time thinking about it. His growth in the Nele''s arts had also brought changes to his mindset, putting him in a position where he decided to be selfish.


    "I''m d my tasks ended early," Monica teased when Khan dropped his backpack and sat at her side. "I would have missed this drink with you otherwise."


    "Right, your tasks," Khan casually said while nodding at Bruce and pointing at the table. "How is our friend Awiza treating you?"


    "Don''t get me started!" Bruce snorted as he contacted a waiter through his phone. "She is always trying to renegotiate our deal. I swear. Every Ots has serious problems."


    "Did Luke deploy you too?" Khan wondered.


    "No, I simply manage things," Bruce revealed. "Francis, Monica, and the others are in the field."


    "Darrell, Isaac, and udia?" Khan asked.


    "Still busy with their shifts," Monica exined. "They had a rough week."


    "So, you actually did some work," Khan joked.


    "We even achieved some results," Bruce pointed out.


    "Such as?" Khan asked.


    "We marked the buildings on Lower Level 1 used as warehouses," Bruce revealed.


    "Wait, all of them?" Khan gasped.


    "It was a joint effort," Monica continued. "The Ots truly have countless connections. We might have gotten some buildings wrong, but we have a reliableyout."


    "That''s surprising," Khan admitted before smiling politely to the waiter who entered the hall and delivered a clean ss.


    Khan remained silent until the waiter left the hall before resuming with his questions. "Do we know which ones are connected to the factory?"


    "We isted some promising options," Bruce stated as he pretended not to see Monica filling Khan''s ss. "But you must understand that all of them might be innocent andpletely unaware of our mission."


    Khan''s questioning face pushed Monica to exin even further. "The factory is isted, but it still needs to purchase basic goods like food and water. It also has waste products that can''t stay in the industrial district, so everything is quiteplicated."


    Khan nodded before taking a sip from the drink. It was safe to assume that no stranger got inside the factory, but that didn''t apply to the industrial district. Even if it did, the area needed to import and export goods, which created amercial array tooplicated to study in that short time.


    An investigation also sounded troublesome to aplish. Most warehouses were bound to have illegal businesses, which limited the group''s ability to spy on them. Monica and the others needed more time to gather better intel.


    The news was surprisingly good. Khan could fuse the knowledge gathered in the dock with what hispanions had learnt to add pieces to his puzzle. At that point, he would onlyck the middle part of the operation, and closing on the culprits would be far easier.


    Meanwhile, Khan rejoiced at the apparent absence of deeper problems. He had been in a hurry to catch up with Rodney, but hispanions didn''t mention him, and they wouldn''t have forgotten such an important detail.


    ''He didn''te here,'' Khan concluded. ''Where is he then?''


    Raymond could be the perfect answer, but a high-profile figure like him couldn''t venture into illegal businesses unnoticed. If Rodney wanted to share information with him, he had to resort to a middle-man, which probably was his boss.


    Of course, most of that only existed in Khan''s mind. He had confirmed Rodney''s involvement with the alien chameleon''s skin, but he didn''t know if he had something to do with the theft. The same went for Raymond, even if his arrival sounded like a clue by itself.


    Khan had noticed how Francis and Amanda had remained silent, but he didn''t me thetter. Amanda simply felt out of ce in that important conversation. Instead, Francis'' stance featured different reasons that Khan couldn''t bother to address now.


    ''The third asteroid sounds unlikely,'' Khan thought. ''Rodney won''t go there since he is aware of my rtionship with the Nele. It''s either the fourth or the second asteroid unless I''m still missing something.''


    "That''s not fair, Lieutenant Khan," Monica teased since Khan was drinking in silence. "It''s your turn to share information now."


    Khan expected that question, but not from Monica. She knew about the dock, and the rest of the team probably shared her knowledge, but she was supposed to be on his side. She was aware that he couldn''t speak freely.


    "I might have found something," Khan yed it vague while showing his fake smile, "But I can''t say much without conferring with Luke first."


    "You have been away for a month," Monica pressed on. "I''m sure you can give us something."


    Khan wanted to frown, but he held back due to the many eyes on him. He didn''t understand why Monica did that until she hid a pout behind her drink.


    ''Ooh,'' Khan finally understood. ''She is pissed.''


    "I really can''t," Khanughed, "Not until I talk to Luke."


    "Maybe you are the one who ked off," Monica guessed. "I wouldn''t me you. Milia 222 is an interesting ce, and yourpany was peculiar."


    Monica was only venting, but Khan wasn''t the type to back down, and she couldn''t match him in those topics. He would dly apany her if that''s how she wanted to y.


    "Miss Solodrey!" Khan called. "You couldn''t possibly be jealous, could you?"


    The reply was a bit disrespectful but eptable among friends, especially since Monica had openly flirted with Khan multiple times. That interaction resembled a yful bickering rather than an actual fight, and Bruce even snickered during it.


    Monica blushed a little, but her fa?¡ìade remained perfect. The synthetic mana betrayed her thoughts, but only Khan could sense that. Yet, someone on the table didn''t like her intense look.


    "Lieutenant Khan, I must agree with Monica," Francis joined the conversation. "We worked non-stop to push the investigation forward. We only want to confirm that you did the same."


    Monica was ying around, but Francis had spoken out of spite. He probably also knew about the dock, which made him aware of the reason behind Khan''s secrecy. His question only aimed to create trouble for him.


    Bruce and Monica felt the need to intervene, but that wasn''t their ce. Getting in Francis'' way would iste him even further, adding fuel to his anger.


    "I report only to Luke," Khan calmly repeated the same words used with Raymond. "I''m sure he''ll set up a meeting where I can exin everything."


    Francis wanted to add something, but Khan abruptly gulped down his drink and picked up his backpack before standing up. He was in no state to deal with such pettiness, so he opted to leave right away.


    "I''m beat," Khan announced. "I hope you''ll excuse me."


    Khan didn''t wait for hispanions'' answer, but Monica red at Francis before standing up. Saying something would risk starting another petty conversation, so Khan remained silent while Monica entered the elevator with him and pressed one of its keys.


    "I''m so sorry," Monica eximed as soon as the elevator moved. "I didn''t think he would take it out on you."


    "What''s his problem anyway?" Khan cursed before shaking his head. "I can''t bother with him now. I have bigger things to think about."


    "I didn''t want any of this," Monica added, and Khan finally looked at her. She appeared genuinely concerned, but he couldn''t me her.


    "It''s not your fault," Khan reassured.


    "It might be," Monica whispered as the elevator opened. "I did eventually face him. It didn''t end well."


    "What?" Khan asked while following Monica out of the elevator. "What happened?"


    "It wasn''t my intention to escte things," Monica exined as she started ying with her curls. "I began to refuse his drinks, thinking he wouldn''t have the guts to talk about it, but I was wrong."


    "Monica," Khan called since Monica kept walking forward without turning.


    "Nothing serious happened," Monica reassured. "He just questioned me, and I spoke the truth. I used the mission as an excuse, but I think he med you anyway."


    "Monica!" Khan called again, but he reached for Monica''s elbow at that time.


    Monica felt forced to turn, but she kept her face lowered. Her thoughts were obvious even without looking at the synthetic mana. She hated that her issues had gotten in Khan''s way.


    "I didn''t want to cause trouble for you," Monica muttered.


    "He would have found a reason to hate me anyway," Khan reassured.


    "But then you sat next to me, and I recalled that you spent so much time with Jenna," Monica continued. "I wanted you to look only at me. I didn''t expect Francis to use that against you."


    "Hey," Khan said while reaching for Monica''s chin to lift her face, "I told you how things are between Jenna and me."


    Monica almost lost herself in Khan''s serious face, but the situation reminded her of a specific event that filled her with shyness. She couldn''t help but divert her gaze, and Khan smirked at that sight.


    "Don''t start already," Monica pouted. "I''m mad at you."


    "Why would you be mad?" Khan teased.


    "You know why!" Monicained.


    "Are you too shy to even say it?" Khan asked.


    "The-," Monica stammered a bit. "You kissed me."


    "I remember you kissing me too," Khan pointed out.


    "That was different!" Monica almost shouted as she finally looked at Khan again.


    "I barely knew where I was," Khan recalled. "You could have stopped me easily. I can''t say the same for what you did."


    "Shut up!" Monica blushed while leaving Khan and walking into the corridor.


    Khanughed, but a thought escaped his mouth when he noticed that something was off. "This isn''t my floor."


    "Stop speaking," Monica almost pleaded as she continued to walk. Khan had vaguely understood what was happening, so he followed her until they arrived in front of her room.


    Monica unlocked the door and entered the room without saying anything. She didn''t even turn as she strode forward until she reached the windows at the end of the ce.


    Khan hesitated a bit before crossing the entrance. The door closed behind him while he inspected the room. Additional mirrors and makeup filled a desk, and elegant sheets covered the bed. The ce was quite girly and suited his idea of Monica.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Countless jokes and teases ran through Khan''s mind, but he held back when he sensed how shy Monica had gotten. He couldn''t see her face, but he knew that she was blushing to no end.


    Khan looked around for a few more seconds before sitting on the bed and crossing his legs. The gesture finally attracted Monica''s attention, even if her reasons made Khanugh.


    "Don''t put your shoes there!" Monica scolded.


    "I gave you my bed when you were dead drunk," Khanughed.


    "That was your bed," Monicained. "Mine has different rules."


    "Come on," Khan sneered as he threw his backpack at his side andy down. "Let me rest a bit."


    "Get out of my room already!" Monica shouted.


    "You brought me here," Khanughed again.


    "I didn''t-!" Monica was about to shout again, but she suddenly went silent. Her shyness overcame her anger when she looked at Khan''s happy face, and strange thoughts seeped into her mind.


    Khan was probably as confused as Monica, even if his reasons were far different. Too much had happened that day. He wanted to rest and maybe drink a little among people who didn''t share hisplicated life, but Francis had prevented that.


    Thoughts kept Khan''s mind busy until he sensed something odd. Monica slowly approached the bed and took a deep breath before sitting on hisp.


    Khan lifted his head to show his frown. Monica was wearing one of her elegant skirts, but she had still spread her legs to sit on him. Her stance clearly aimed to seduce Khan, and she clung herself to her clothes to suppress her embarrassment.


    "What are you doing?" Khan whispered as he straightened his back and tried to reach for Monica''s chin. Still, she dodged his hands and kept her face lowered.


    "Are you drunk?" Khan wondered.


    "I''m not!" Monicained while lifting her face before instantly lowering it again.


    "Monica," Khan called.


    "Give me a few seconds," Monica requested in a cute tone. "Now I regret drinking so little."


    Khanplied. He waited until Monica calmed down and mustered the courage to lift her face. Her timid eyes fell on Khan and wavered many times, but she always brought them back on him.


    "May I have an exnation now?" Khan smirked.


    "I didn''t want you to return to Jenna so soon," Monica whispered.


    "That exins the room," Khan said, "Not this."


    "This is me being bold," Monica exined. "Is it so bad?"


    Monica was truly doing her best, and Khan could see her effort. A sigh left his mouth as he reached for her waist. Monica gasped when Khan pulled her closer, and her hands left her skirt to hold his shoulders.


    "You said that we would talk once you came back," Monica mentioned in her timid tone. "You are back now."


    "Did you n this while I was away?" Khan wondered.


    "I didn''t think it through," Monica revealed. "I just thought that you would leave without saying anything if I didn''t do something."


    "Monica," Khan whispered before lowering his gaze. He could think of many ways to get out of that situation, but that sounded unfair. Monica deserved an honest answer.


    "I didn''t have much time to think about you," Khan admitted while bringing his gaze back to Monica. "It was mess after mess down there."


    Monica remained silent, but her resolve wavered. She could understand where that speech was going. Yet, she steeled herself and decided to wait until Khan was done.


    "My problems have problems," Khan continued. "I can''t add you to my already messy life."


    "Am I a problem?" Monica wondered.


    "Don''t be stupid," Khan stated. "Dating you would be difficult, especially for someone with my background. Imagine adding my problems to that. It''s too much for me."


    "Are you using my political baggage as an excuse?" Monica asked. "You can just reject me, you know?"


    "That''s not what I meant," Khan replied.


    "And what did you mean?" Monica questioned. "Have the guts to tell me if you don''t like me."


    Khan felt slightly annoyed by that answer, but he remained calm and honest. "I do like you. It''s just stupid to add more problems to my life."


    "And here I thought you would consider me," Monica scoffed. "Instead, you have only taken my family into ount."


    "Look, what do you want me to say?" Khan asked while showing some of his annoyance. "I have countless problems that I can''t fix, and they only increase as time passes. Bing the target of not one but two powerful families isn''t exactly the smart course of action."


    "I really hoped you wouldn''t care," Monicamented, "But fear got to you in the end."


    "Are you insulting me now?" Khan uttered. "I get that you had it hard, but so did I. Yet, my life is on the line. You could destroy the Global Army, and your family would still make everything disappear."


    Monica wanted to respond, but she ended up diverting her gaze. She was angry, but not at Khan. He was there, so she had vented a little, but her family was the source of her current feelings. She couldn''t ept that her status was getting in the way of one of the few things she had desired in her life.


    Khan had nned not to lose his cool, but the conversation had taken a different path. His mental state wasn''t even great, so he had vented a bit. Truth be told, he wasn''t happy about that conclusion either.


    Then, new shades joined the symphony. Something had changed, and Khan found the source of that event in Monica. Thetter turned to face Khan, but her head remained lowered as she muttered a few words. "Let''s make this simple then."


    "Monica?" Khan questioned before noticing how Monica left his shoulders to wrap her arms around his neck.


    "We are not dating," Monica said, and her warm breath blew on Khan''s mouth when she approached his face.


    "That''s not what you want," Khan whispered.


    "Don''t think about that," Monica timidly stated. "Keep it simple."


    Khan could avoid what was about toe, but he didn''t. He kept it simple and followed his desires without thinking about potential and obvious problems.


    Monica used all her courage to lift her head and reach for Khan''s mouth, and thetter helped her when only a few centimeters separated their lips. Khan gave one slight pull, and the two fell into a kiss.

 Chapter ?394 Idealist

    Chapter ?394 Idealist


    Moments of pure rxation had escaped Khan''s life for many years. The Slums couldn''t provide them, co''s training camp didn''t either, and everything past that had been aplete mess which had left him in a constant tense state.


    Liiza had been the only true exception but experiencing that happiness had ended up cursing Khan. Reebfell should have given him peace, but he had never fully epted it since he had always known that his departure was set in stone.


    Jenna coulde close to Liiza, but her rtionship with Khan wasplicated. He couldpletely rx with her, but he also had to put clear limits on his behavior. They both had.


    However, when everything went away and the countless problems of the universe stopped shouting, Khan could see himself as an ordinary man. A man who happened to like a woman.


    That perspective was aplete lie, but it offered unbound freedom. Khan''s many problems still existed, but he could stop thinking about them while those timid lips rested on his mouth. The room had turned into a safe space, and he didn''t want to leave it.


    Of course, Khan couldn''t simply stop thinking. He wasn''t built like that. Exnations for that event formed in no time, but he left them in the back of his mind. He didn''t want his problems to return just yet.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Monica slightly lifted her head to study Khan''s reaction. She had spent all her courage, so she waited for Khan to do something. Her heart was in his hands, and he could shatter it with a single word.


    Khan didn''t speak. His hands left Monica''s waist to run on her back and pull her again. The two fell into another kiss, and Monica couldn''t contain her smile. The previous second had been terribly tense for her, but everything was fine now.


    The second kisssted longer and allowed Monica to rx a bit. She gradually grew used to that situation, which made her reactions more honest. She even voiced a cute whimper when a tongue slipped inside her mouth.


    Everything was cute, even romantic, but Khan had been beyond that for a few years. Kissing Monica felt nice, incredibly nice even, but he wanted more, and holding back would defeat the whole purpose of that safe space.


    Khan rubbed his fingers on Monica''s back before returning to her waist and reaching for the edges of her tight turtleneck sweater. His hands soon went under it to caress her bare skin, and he kept them there to wait for her to get used to them.


    Monica had tensed up under that direct touch, but that reactionsted only a few seconds. She soon rxed again and immersed herself deeper into the kiss.


    Khan saw that as the chance to move a bit forward. His hands crawled across Monica''s back until they reached her bra. Finding the hook wasn''t a problem, but Monica''s arms abruptly left his neck and grabbed his shoulders to separate herself from the kiss.


    "Wait!" Monica panicked before speaking again in a pleading tone. "Wait."


    "Too much?" Khan asked, and Monica eventually nodded.


    "I''m new to all of this," Monica exined as her gaze fell on Khan''s chest. "I don''t want to move too fast."


    Monica was an open book to Khan. Her honest reactions and thoughts created a picture that was easy to read for someone like him. She was a bit scared, but not of him. She wasn''t even thinking about her family. That simply was her first intimate experience, and she wasn''t ready to go all the way.


    A different type of panic reced the previous. Monica shot a nce at Khan only to lower her eyes again. She didn''t want to mess things up, but the same went for forcing herself.


    "You truly are shy," Khanmented.


    "I told you I''m difficult," Monica pointed out.


    Khan ended up chuckling. Monica could go from utter shy to bold in a mere second. Her mood seemed impossible to predict, and Khan found himself liking that.


    "What?" Monicained.


    "I found something else to tease you about," Khan smirked, fully expecting a loudint. Still, Monica surprised him.


    "Don''t make fun of me while we are like this," Monica whispered while lifting her head to match Khan''s gaze.


    Khan was ready to voice one of his many jokes, but his mind went nk. He ignored the bra and pulled Monica to kiss her again. Sheplied, and her hands left his shoulders to fondle his short hair.


    "You cut it too short," Monica scolded when the kiss ended.


    "I didn''t have a choice," Khan revealed as he made their noses touch. "I had to cut away the burnt roots."


    "Burnt?!" Monica eximed while retreating a bit to see the entirety of Khan''s face.


    "What can I say?" Khanughed. "I faced some problems in thest month."


    "How did you even burn your hair?" Monica asked.


    "I got hit by a spell," Khan exined. "Then I proceeded to jump on it. That probably didn''t help."


    "Wha-?" Monica gasped. "What did you even do down there?"


    "I''d rather not talk about it now," Khan stated. "I''m kind of in a different mood."


    Monica recalled her current situation, and she couldn''t help but panic a bit. Her position was so lewd, and she even noticed something new in Khan''s groin area. Also, his hands were still under her sweater, which didn''t help her mental state.


    "That''s enough for today," Monica announced while trying to push Khan away.


    Monica wasn''t putting any strength into her push, so Khanughed and slipped one hand out of the sweater to reach for her cheek.


    "Come here," Khan said in a serious tone, and Monica melted. The two kissed again, and Khan moved to her neck once their lips separated.


    Monica seemed to like the kisses sneaking under the turtleneck. She nestled in Khan''s hand until hermon sense returned and made her push herself away for real.


    "This is way too dangerous," Monica eximed. "You need to leave."


    "We were just getting to the fun part," Khan teased.


    "Fun?!" Monica raised her voice before jumping off Khan''sp and leaving the bed. "You definitely need to leave."


    "But this bed is sofortable," Khanined, "And you are so soft."


    Monica stuttered but didn''t get fooled. She grabbed Khan''s right arm and pulled him up before pushing him toward the door. He could oppose that, but it was funnier to let Monica get all worked up.


    "Not even a goodbye kiss?" Khanughed as the entrance drew near.


    "Shut up!" Monica shouted as she opened the door and pushed Khan past it.


    "I had a bag," Khan reminded while the door closed.


    Only a second had to pass for the door to open again and the backpack to fly out. Khan grabbed it, and the entrance closed in that instant. Everything had ended far too soon, but he found it hard to wipe his smirk from his face.


    ''She has quite a temper,'' Khan snickered in his mind. ''How fun.''


    Leaving the room made the problems return. Khan was outside the safe space, so thoughts started to assault his mind. Sorting them turned out to be challenging since his mood didn''t cooperate, but he eventually reached a satisfying result.


    How did Monica manage to create that safe space? That was Khan''s main question. His rtionships after Liiza had never been able to iste him from the outside world, and the matter didn''t only involve temporary pleasure. He had tried that with Delia, which had feltpletely different.


    Khan could find quite a few exnations, but only one of them sounded reasonable. Maybe, just maybe, he had finally moved on. Maybe, just maybe, he was ready to give the entirety of himself again.


    As for why, Khan med Jenna. She had pushed him toward finding himself and striving for something he truly desired. Her words alone couldn''t aplish that change in such a short time, but the Nele''s arts had elerated the process.


    Khan''s questions obviously didn''t stop there. He couldn''t take Monica''s status lightly, and the two had barely talked about their situation. Khan didn''t even know how he was supposed to act the next time they met. Yet, he looked forward to it.


    ''Is this how normal people behave?'' Khan wondered as he strolled through the corridor. ''Doing what they want without caring about consequences?''


    .


    Khan recalled the word heard during the fight against the third-level warrior. His mana wanted him to flow, and that probably didn''t only apply to external influences. Maybe he had to follow his desires without locking them up behind paranoia and worries.


    ''You would want me to be happy, wouldn''t you?'' Khan sighed. ''You would want me to try, wouldn''t you?''


    Khan entered the elevator while his mental speech continued. ''Fine. I''ll really try. I won''t care if I end up nting countless flowers or creating bloody rivers.''


    A tiny but significant change happened in Khan''s mind, but he remained unaware of that event. That wasn''t something he could sense. It was akin to a new posture developed after fixing an annoying injury. Some would simply call it growth.


    A familiar presence touched Khan''s senses before he reached his destination. Then, the entrance opened, and Bruce''s figure unfolded in his view. The man was smoking a cigarette on Khan''s floor, and his reasons appeared obvious. He was waiting for him.


    "I was toote," Bruce sighed, blowing smoke out of his mouth. The grey gas didn''t spread through the corridor. Instead, it moved toward the ceiling, where small openings sucked it away.


    Bruce''s timing was terrible. Khan was brimming with resolve and coldness, and his arrival hinted at his previous actions. He had left with Monica, but he had just reached his floor. Anyone could assume that he had been with her until then.


    "Easy, soldier," Bruce joked while raising his hands. "Ie in peace. I honestly thought you were in your room."


    "What are you doing waiting here?" Khan asked. "You could have called."


    "I wanted to give you some well-deserved rest," Bruce exined. "I can only imagine what you have been through in the dock."


    Khan didn''t falter at the mention of the dock, and his reply came swiftly. "Did you n on waiting here all day?"


    "Only a few hours," Bruce revealed. "Amanda would bug me if she found me in my room."


    Khan felt inclined to believe Bruce. The building had no cameras, so Bruce couldn''t have possibly known about Khan and Monica before that fortuitous meeting. Still, hesitation remained.


    Luke had vouched for the Eerly family, but Khan''s findings had put a target on the Cobsend family. Luke''s reliability was more than questionable, so the same went for Bruce.


    However, Bruce had just caught Khan red-handed, and his stance was unclear. It would only benefit Khan to have a talk and understand where hispanion stood.


    "What do you say about a drink?" Bruce asked before Khan could suggest anything. "I''ll even pull out a nice bottle saved for special asions."


    Khan remained silent for a few seconds before epting. "Lead the way."


    Bruce crossed Khan and used one of the specific drawers inside the elevator to throw away his cigarette. Khan soon followed him, and the lift rose until the veryst floor.


    The corridor was a bit different there. It wasrger and featured fewer rooms. Bruce walked directly toward one of them, and a beautiful meeting area unfolded once its entrance opened. The ce was at the building''s corner, so windows covered two of its walls and granted a fantastic view over Lower Level 1.


    A long interactive table and multiple chairs stood at the center of the room. Some furniture upied the metal walls, and Bruce opened one cab to take out a bottle.


    Bruce drew two sses from another cab before approaching the table and pouring the booze. Khan waited until the process was over to take his seat. The two men sat at the same edge, so only a meter divided them.


    "I wanted to say something before you left," Bruce began to speak after taking a sip from his drink, "But I decided to stay silent. I didn''t think you would have time for Monica between Jenna and the dock."


    Khan would typically feign ignorance before moving to the main topic, but he was in no mood for games. "Something about what?"


    "Francis," Bruce revealed. "It''s never wise to go against petty figures who hold a stupid amount of influence and money."


    "And how exactly am I going against him?" Khan wondered.


    "Come on," Bruce said. "You two have flirted sincending on Milia 222. The dinner made things worse, and I''m not even mentioning what happened today."


    "I wonder," Khan spoke. "What would you have done in my ce? Being rude and endangering my rtionship with the Solodrey family? Francis would have hated me even in that case."


    "You know your way with words," Bruce praised. "You could have found a path that didn''t put a target on your head."


    "So, I''m a target now," Khan chuckled.


    "You did this to yourself when you went out of your way to steal that damned bottle," Bruce scolded.


    "Is my life worth less than booze?" Khan asked.


    "As if you did that for the booze," Bruce scoffed. "I admit you fooled me back then, but everything became clear once Monica started refusing Francis'' drinks."


    "You are quite the observer," Khan mocked.


    "That''s my job," Bruce stated. "I let Luke handle the talks, but I''m also savvy in the political fields. Don''t forget that."


    "Forget," Khan repeated before emptying his drink. "I remember everything quite well. I recall how I saved everyone''s asses on Istrone, and I definitely didn''t forget how you awakened Martha just to get to me."


    "I wasn''t trying to belittle you," Bruce dered.


    "What exactly were you trying to do?" Khan asked. "That Francis guy already hates me. I can''t do anything about him now, which leaves me with only one question."


    "Which is?" Bruce questioned.


    "Will you side with him or me?" Khan asked, and his coldness tainted the synthetic mana to intensify the seriousness of his question.


    Bruce revealed his political skills by remaining calm under that threat. He was scared, but he hid that feeling truly well. Still, he drew a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with his forefinger before answering.


    "I can''t side with you openly," Bruce calmly stated. "You are only one soldier, while Francis can almost speak for an entire family. Yet, I can keep an eye on him and warn you if something is wrong."


    "How do I know you won''t do the same for him?" Khan questioned.


    "There are no reasonable ways to prove my stance," Bruce uttered. "Though I do have a line that might reassure you."


    "I can''t wait to hear it," Khan yed along.


    "You are only one soldier," Bruce repeated, "But that won''t always be the truth, am I right?"


    Khan stared deep into Bruce''s dark eyes to search for any clue that could reveal his real intentions. The synthetic mana around him helped in the inspection, but Khan couldn''t find anything out of the ordinary.


    Bruce seemed to have spoken the truth, but Khan couldn''t be too happy about it. The statement put Bruce on his side, but not as a friend. He was a political ally interested in Khan''s future and nothing more.


    Khan eventually moved his attention to the bottle and grabbed it to refill his drink. Bruce took that as an eptance of his stance, and he wasn''t wrong. Khan even recalled his coldness since that part of the meeting was over.


    "Are you ready to tell me about the dock now?" Bruce snickered when Khan handed him the bottle.


    "That intel is only for Luke," Khan exined. "Speaking about him, what''s the matter with his uncle? Isn''t our entire mission at risk now?"


    "I told you," Bruce reminded. "Luke has yet to say anything."


    "Luke trusts you more than anyone on Milia 222," Khan pointed out. "I know that you have something for me."


    "You are overestimating me," Bruce eximed. "It''s not about Luke and me. Mister Raymond is beyond my reach. Even if Luke knew something, he might be unable to say anything."


    "I''m only worried about the mission," Khan responded. "I''ve already spilled blood for this investigation. Having bad intel might kill me."


    "You shouldn''t worry about that," Bruce reassured. "From what I''ve heard, Mister Raymond is an idealist. Money is the least of his concerns. He probably doesn''t care about the factory at all."

 Chapter ?395 Families

    Chapter ?395 Families


    ''An idealist?'' Khan wondered. ''That soundspletely wrong.''


    Bruce''s description of Raymond Cobsend didn''t fit what Khan had sensed during their meeting. Someone with such a deep and dark mind couldn''t possibly have good intentions unless everything about him was a fa?ade.


    "Idealist?" Khan felt the need to investigate. "What do you even mean by that?"


    "The man is quite famous," Bruce revealed. "He is a known phnthropist and a certified genius, but all of this is no secret. You only need to type his name on thework to be overwhelmed by news and biographies."


    Khan took a mental note without picking up his phone. The news was truly odd and required deeper investigations, but showing hesitation would only give clues to Bruce.


    "Is that it?" Khan asked while taking care of his drink. "Do you really have nothing for me?"


    "I know Mister Raymond doesn''t sleep with us," Bruce added. "He is using another building, but that''s not a secret either."


    Finding Raymond''s building without questioning Luke and the others wouldn''t be a problem, so Khan dropped the topic. The conversation seemed to reach its conclusion, but both Khan and Bruce remained at the table and drank in silence.


    "So," Bruce broke the silence once he grabbed the bottle to refill both drinks, "How was the dock?"


    Khan waited until his ss was full before looking at Bruce and lowering his gaze again. He wouldn''t give details, but he knew a few words that could describe his experience down there. "It''s an interesting mess."


    "I can''t wait to hear your stories," Bruce announced. "I''m sure you have some."


    Khan voiced a quiet chuckle but fell silent right after. He had gone through quite a bit inside the dock, but some of his stories would never reach the surface.


    "What do you know about the fourth asteroid?" Khan casually asked. "I bet it has more secrets."


    "I wouldn''t know," Bruce replied. "You''d have to be a local to learn every custom and hidden area."


    Khan nodded, even if a sigh resounded in his mind. Jenna couldn''t sense anything odd on the fourth asteroid, so the strange feeling experienced there was definitely beyond ordinary citizens. The fact that Bruce couldn''t add anything to the topic was more than expected.


    Silence fell again. Khan had no intention of prolonging that conversation bying up with random topics, but the booze was good, and he had a lot on his mind. Ignoring Bruce gave him the chance to review his situation in thepany of a nice drink. Yet, Bruce had more to say.


    "Do you want to talk about today?" Bruce asked when he threw his cigarette in one of the table''s drawers. "I hope you don''t see that as another interesting mess."


    Khan didn''t reply. He could feign ignorance or deny any im. He could evene up with reasonable excuses, but his mood made him keep his mouth shut.


    "The social implications can be massive," Bruce continued in front of Khan''s silence. "A single wealthy family is too much to handle for anyone without a simr background. You might have to deal with many of them. She has many powerful suitors."


    Khan''s silence continued. He had already thought about simr problems, so Bruce''s words didn''t add anything new.


    "Khan, I have nothing but respect for you," Bruce added. "You are the first ally I''d choose for any dangerous mission, but we are talking about a political battlefield here. Lies and a few smiles won''t work there."


    Khan knew all of that, but his mouth opened only when he had to drink. He remained silent even when he refilled his ss. He appeared unable to hear Bruce''s warnings.


    "Dammit Khan!" Bruce lost his cool for the first time. "Do you think so little of the wealthy families? Monica''s father can get you killed for simply looking at her!"


    "I don''t get it," Khan finally spoke. "I thought we were past this topic."


    "This isn''t a topic I can just drop," Bruce exined.


    "Talk about useful things then," Khan casually replied. "Your warnings don''t help me."


    "They might talk some sense into you," Bruce stated.


    "I probably lost that on Nitis," Khan sighed as he lifted his legs to ce them on the table. "Though you made me think. How high should I climb to earn the respect of a wealthy family?"


    "You aren''t being serious now," Bruce cursed. "You barely know her."


    "I want to know when I can consider myself safe from the families," Khan requested. "What do I need to do to stop worrying about them?"


    Bruce calmed down when he heard that. Khan wasn''t talking about Monica. His interest was more general and involved topics that only someone with the right background could exin.


    "The families," Bruce repeated. "You know how Earth''s government works, right? The Global Army and the various families are deeply connected, but thetter can be more influential and powerful in many ways."


    "I know about the representatives and diplomats," Khan confirmed.


    "Perfect," Bruce eximed. "You only need to care about your rank inside the Global Army, but that doesn''t apply to the families. Background, personal wealth, and assets are more important for them."


    "Are you telling me that I''ll never be safe?" Khan asked.


    "It''s moreplicated than that," Bruce responded. "The families can''t straight up put someone to death. Confirmed criminals are an exception, but bribes remain moremon. They can ruin careers or send you into dangerous missions as long as you don''t have allies on the inside."


    "I bet the price changes depending on the achievements and rank," Khan guessed.


    "Precisely," Bruce announced, "But there are exceptions. The noble families and those with enough money or connections can develop intricate ploys or fabricate false evidence. Anyone would have a hard time escaping that."


    "Even generals?" Khan wondered.


    "Khan, a general probably has more connections than me," Bruceughed. "That''s the whole point of the political game."


    "But I am at a disadvantage there," Khan pointed out.


    "Theck of background is a big issue," Bruce agreed, "But it doesn''t doom you. Many families in decline or without worthy descendants would kill to have you."


    "Would they buy me off just to carry their name?" Khan wondered.


    "That''s umon," Bruce revealed. "They usually rely on political marriages."


    "I see," Khanmented. His understanding of the political field expanded when he absorbed those words. Bruce made perfect sense, and Khan had even seen a simr situation with Martha''s family.


    "You shouldn''t think about marriage so early," Bruce continued. "I''m sure you''ll get offers soon, but you should refuse them. If you make it to captain, some families might put you in charge of great ces."


    "What about colonel?" Khan wondered since he recalled a distant conversation with Lieutenant Dyester.


    "They''d probably offer you a minor space station for that," Bruceughed. "You might even end up controlling the entire family after a while."


    The speech was quite simple to understand. A higher personal value would grant better benefits after joining a family, but Bruce failed to address alternative paths. Khan could only guess that they didn''t exist.


    ''Marriage,'' Khan scoffed in his mind. ''I need to stay away from Earth.''


    "I hope this conversation gave you a better perspective," Bruce stated.


    "It did," Khan uttered before emptying his ss and cing it on the table. "I think we don''t have anything else to say."


    "You don''t need to be so cold," Bruce said.


    "I do," Khan corrected as his legs left the table and reached the floor to make him stand up. "That''s what you just taught me."


    "I wasn''t talking about Luke or me," Bruce exined. "Come on now. You know you can trust us."


    "I can trust your interest in my value as a soldier," Khan spoke openly.


    "That''s part of our different statuses," Bruce tried to justify. "It doesn''t prevent us from being friends."


    "Using Martha against me does," Khan reminded. "You can speak about friendship once you make up for that."


    "Luke granted your every wish," Bruce dered. "What else do you want? Name it, and I''ll make you have it."


    Khan began to leave without giving a proper answer, but something eventually popped into his mind and made him turn. "I''ll trust you more if you truly help me with Francis."


    Bruce and Khan exchanged a long gaze, and the former ended up nodding. Truth be told, Bruce understood Khan''s perspective, but his hands were tied. He was also a young man doing his best with what he had.


    "Take the bottle with you," Bruce said as he pulled another cigarette from his pocket. "This is the best I can do for now."


    Khan wouldn''t refuse free booze, especially of that quality, so he approached the table. Bruce ignored the process and turned toward the windows. His gaze wandered among the beautiful scenery, but he nced at his ss when something poured inside it.


    Bruce couldn''t help but look at Khan while he refilled his ss. He didn''t expect that kind gesture, and his expression gained meaningful tones.


    "We are all prisoners of our duties," Bruce stated. "My cage simply looks better."


    "I know," Khan nodded. "I hope you understand I''m only looking out for myself."


    "Don''t worry about that," Bruce reassured. "You are right, but my position requires a certain behavior."


    "I don''t envy you," Khan joked.


    "And don''t worry about the other thing either," Bruce continued. "I won''t tell anyone about you and Monica. Just be smart about it."


    "I never said I was with Monica," Khan smirked, and Bruce ended up smiling too.


    Both men knew that the meeting was over. Khan turned and left the room while carrying the bottle with him. Instead, Bruce turned once again toward the windows to smoke and think in silence.


    Khan took a sip from the bottle as soon as the door behind him closed. Picking up his phone came next, and thework opened with a few taps on its screen.


    Another sip matched the arrival inside the elevator. Khan pressed the key connected to his floor without moving his eyes from the phone. He had typed Raymond''s name on thework, and an insane number of articles had filled his vision.


    ''How many degrees does he even have?'' Khan shouted in his mind when he found a summary.


    The list of Raymond''s aplishments and studies seemed endless. The man had four different degrees connected to the mana''s influence. Some were quite broad, at least ording to their names, while others involved specific fields.


    The aplishments were no small thing either. Apparently, Raymond was behind the invention of many modern drugs that relied on mana to have better effects. He had also helped improve the safety of the infusions, and the list didn''t stop there.


    Moreover, thework stated that Raymond gave away most of his studies for free. He donated them to the Global Army even if their potential value was exorbitant. Khan could also find articles about attrition inside the Cobsend family due to Raymond''s selfless behavior.


    Raymond truly suited the description of a genius with no interest in money, but Khan found something odd. Some of Raymond''s degrees involved the alteration of organic tissues with mana. He even had many studies connected to the topic, and the reinforced fabric fell perfectly in that field.


    ''Did Bruce lie to me?'' Khan wondered, but he quickly disregarded that thought. He would have sensed an attempt to trick him, and it was possible that Bruce simply didn''t know much.


    Still, the matter remained suspicious. Raymond sounded like an expert that would suit the factory''s experiment perfectly. The Cobsend family couldn''t have ignored a genius of that caliber, especially since he was among its members.


    ''Idealist,'' Khan recalled. ''Maybe he didn''t like the financial purpose of the reinforced fabric.''


    Khan could find other exnations. Raymond was a famous figure, so he couldn''t be on Milia 222 for too long. His arrival in the industrial district would also tell everyone that the Cobsend family had an important project there.


    The internal conflicts could also exin that oddity. Luke''s father might have decided to keep Raymond in the dark on purpose due to his tendency to give away valuable stuff.


    Yet, Raymond was bound to have a stupid amount of power in his hands. Khan didn''t believe that a simr figure could remain in the dark for too long. His arrival on Milia 222 seemed to confirm that, which only added confusion to Khan''s mind.


    Khan was so immersed in his thoughts that he almost walked past his room. He had to thank the familiar auras inside it for the reminder, but they weren''t enough to suppress the surprise caused by the scene that weed him.


    Khan found Jenna and Martha on his bed. Martha had her eyes closed while her hands rested on Jenna''s palms. She was immersed in a meditative state meant to focus the entirety of her thoughts on her mana.


    Jenna wore a smile as soon as she sensed Khan, but her face showed a curious expression when he entered her vision. She could almost feel that something had changed, even if she couldn''t exin what.


    Khan rolled his eyes under that intense inspection. He would have to tell Jenna about Monica, and he didn''t look forward to herments. Still, he didn''t want to disturb Martha, so he sat beside the wall and continued to drink silently.


    Long minutes passed in which Jenna never diverted her attention from Khan. She could almost smell something, and her eyes eventually lit up. She found an answer, and Khan could only pretend not to notice her exploding curiosity.


    Martha eventually took a deep breath and opened her eyes. A satisfied expression unfolded on her face before freezing when she noticed Khan.


    "You are back!" Martha almost shouted.


    "Did Jenna teach you her arts?" Khanughed.


    "Only some training drills," Jenna responded. "We spent most of the time talking about you."


    "Jenna!" Martha scolded.


    "What is it?" Jenna asked. "I tell him everything anyway."


    "Everything?" Martha wondered.


    "Are you thinking about something specific?" Jenna teased, and Martha blushed to no end.


    "I have something to do," Martha hurriedly said while leaving the bed. "I''m happy that you two are back, but I must leave now."


    "Don''t let Jenna trick you," Khan chuckled as he stood up to reach the bed. "She has grown pettier in thest month."


    Jenna instinctively moved to make room for Khan and sit on hisp. She showed no shame when she snuggled closer andid her head on his shoulder. A giggle even left her mouth when Khan wrapped his arms around her.


    Martha could barely bear looking at the scene. It was way too intimate for her standards, and a tinge of jealousy still existed in her mind. Yet, she had already left the bed, so approaching the entrance was the only reasonable action.


    "Martha, wait a moment," Khan called before Martha could turn. "I need to tell you what happened in the past month."


    "Did you find something?" Martha asked, revealing her interest in the matter.


    "I found multiple things," Khan eximed while letting Jenna go to remove the backpack from his back and pull out the alien chameleon''s skin. "You need to listen to this."


    A long exnation began, and Martha never interrupted it. Khan told her about Rodney and the necessity of a traitor inside the Cobsend family without withholding his personal hypotheses. Both news obviously stunned her, and questions followed once the speech ended.


    "Do you really think Raymond came here because of his connection to the factory?" Martha asked.


    "It would make sense," Khan replied. "I still can''t see the bigger picture, but everything else seems to point in that direction."


    "A spy inside the Cobsend family," Marthamented. "How do we even convince Luke of something like that?"


    "Leave that to me," Khan reassured. "I n to keep that intel for myself until I find more clues anyway. Rodney is my priority now."


    "The descendant of the Semmut family," Martha sighed. "To think that you would meet again under such circumstances."


    "I should have killed him when I had the chance," Khan cursed as hey down. Jenna took his head and ced it on herp, but her thoughts couldn''t focus on him. She was also set on killing Rodney.


    Martha didn''t know what to say. She had seen that part of Khan in Milia 222''s prison, but she had yet to grow used to it. He was casually talking about murdering a fellow human, and it even sounded normal to him.


    "Tell me if I can do anything," Martha eventually decided to say. "I should be able to help with Rodney too."


    The changes in Martha''s mindset didn''t escape Khan and Jenna''s senses. They had noticed her sadness, so they appreciated her resolve even more. However, they also knew what she truly wanted.


    "She is so cute," Jenna eximed. "She should sleep with us."


    "You are a pervert," Khan sighed before ring at Jenna. "And don''t add anything else."


    "I should really go," Martha managed to say among her blushing.


    "Martha, there is nothing wrong in belonging to a different world," Khan announced when Martha turned. "You should treasure your ability to feel disgusted about some stuff."


    "You should too," Martha stated as she approached the door and left the room.


    Only a second had to pass from the closing of the door for Jenna to voice ament. "[She is way too cute. I''ll make her stay for the night the next time]."


    "[I''m d that you are spending time together]," Khan revealed as he adjusted his position on Jenna''sp. "[I can''t do too much for her at this point. She needs a friend withoutplications]."


    "[Did you forget that I''m an alien for her]?" Jenna joked.


    "[She doesn''t mind]," Khanughed. "[You wouldn''t like her so much if she did]."


    Jenna liked how deeply Khan knew her, but she couldn''t let him win that round. Moreover, she had yet to question him about the sensation perceived earlier.


    "[What are you doing]?" Khan asked, but his headnded on the bed by the time his question ended. Jenna sat on his chest, and she grabbed his arms to immobilize him.


    "[You have something to tell me]," Jenna uttered.


    "[Do I]?" Khan teased.


    "[I can feel it]," Jenna nodded. "[My Khan has be more attractive]."


    "[Your Khan is about to make you very jealous]," Khan responded.


    "[You need to tell me everything]!" Jenna dered in an excited tone. "[I want to know every detail]."


    "[Don''t you want to bathe first]?" Khan asked since Jenna had yet to remove the spray.


    Jenna and Khan had gone through simr interactions countless times in thest period. They had be so used to each other that Jenna couldn''t help but notice a slight increase in Khan''s resolve.


    "[What is it]?" Khan questioned since Jenna let go of his arms to ce a hand on his chest.


    "[You sound a bit different]," Jenna exined. "[No. This is you, just more of you]."


    "[I didn''t do anything special]," Khan revealed.


    "[And yet something changed]," Jenna pressed on. "[How do you feel? Lighter, heavier, happier, sadder]?"


    Jenna was concerned, so Khan took her question seriously. He closed his eyes and immersed himself in his thoughts to think about the recent events. As he reviewed his situation, problems piled on, and an urge eventually became clear.


    "[I feel like smashing anything on my path]," Khan admitted while opening his eyes and finding Jenna''s warm smile.


    "[Chaos yearns for freedom]," Jennamented.


    A meaningful silence fell in the room. The two didn''t need to add words to exin what they thought, but the buzzing noise of Khan''s phone distracted them.


    Khan picked up his phone, and Jenna jumped off him to check what was happening. An excited cry left her mouth when she read who had contacted him, and her enthusiasm only intensified when she read the message.


    ''Do you hate me already?'' Monica said through the message.


    ''When can I see you again?'' Khan promptly responded.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''I''m sure Luke will summon everyone once he returns,'' Monica said.


    ''I can''t pick up from where we left off in public. Unless you like that,'' Khan texted.


    "[You never say this stuff to me]," Jennained while waiting for Monica''s reply.


    "[Because I know the answer already]," Khan joked, but his phone buzzed again, and the two''s attention returned to the screen.


    ''Early morning should be safe,'' Monica replied.


    Khan smirked in satisfaction, and his fingers moved to n the next date, but Jenna grabbed his hands before he couldplete the message.


    "[Bath first]," Jenna ordered, and Khanplied, even if he managed to send onest message before entering the bathroom. Jenna obviously noticed that, so the shower ended upsting far longer than usual.

 Chapter ?396 Connections

    Chapter ?396 Connections


    Khan left wet footprints on the floor when he left the bathroom. Drops ran down his body, and drenched strands of pale-green hair fell from his shoulder to cover part of his chest. Jenna had asked Khan to piggyback her to the bed, and he didn''t refuse.


    A tempting scene unfolded when Khan dropped Jenna. She crawled on the mattress to reach the pillows, and her sensual moves kept Khan''s eyes glued to her naked beauty. He knew she was doing that on purpose, but nothing came out of it. That simply was one of their intimate games.


    "[Is your newfound freedom giving you strange thoughts]?" Jenna teased once she reached the pillows and turned toward Khan.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[I''ve always had strange thoughts]," Khan pointed out before addressing a serious topic. "[How are you holding up? You know it will get worse]."


    Khan had described what happened during the bath. Jenna had mostly been happy for him, but he knew she experienced emotions she couldn''t control.


    "[I can''t have the good without the bad]," Jenna giggled. "[That''s exciting too]."


    "[You can''t wait to cause problems]," Khan scoffed.


    "[I might not be the only one]," Jenna exined. "[I wonder how Monica will behave from now on]."


    "[Her family educated her thoroughly]," Khan stated. "[She won''t lose her cool over us]."


    "[Who knows]?" Jenna snickered. "[She might be more simr to me than you realize]."


    Khan didn''t even want to think about that oue. Dealing with two jealous women was too much even for him, and he worried about the potential consequences of that situation.


    Jenna''s jealousy was somewhat harmless. It couldn''t hurt Khan''s rtionship with her, but Monica was different. Her unexpected explosion might endanger the mission and ruin her potential future with Khan.


    Talking about Monica made Khan search for his phone. Jenna''s crawling had hidden it under folds in the sheets but finding it didn''t take long. Khan could see that Monica had replied when he unlocked the screen, but another message ended up iming his attention.


    The day had been beyond tiring. Khan had survived Rodney''s trap only to meet Raymond and remain entangled in a few meetings. He was ready to hit the bed, but the universe had different ns.


    ''Luke,'' Khan thought before reading the contents of the second message. ''Meet me on thest floor. I''ll probably be there all night.''


    Khan heaved a sigh and dropped the phone on the bed before going back to the bathroom to pick up some towels. Jenna read the contents of Luke''s message in the meantime, so she felt no surprise when Khan returned to the room and started dressing up.


    "[Luke won''t give me anything about his uncle with you there]," Khan announced when he approached the bed to stuff the alien chameleon''s skin into the backpack.


    "[I figured]," Jenna replied, showing her warm smile. "[Eat something while you are away, and don''t make me wait too long]."


    "[Right, food]," Khan cursed. "[Did you get any]?"


    "[I ate with Martha]," Jenna revealed, "[While you were getting all naughty with Monica]."


    "[I get it]," Khan chuckled. "[I''lle back soon]."


    "[Be safe]," Jenna stated. Khan wore the backpack and picked up the almost-empty bottle on the floor before nodding and leaving the room.


    Khan''s mood changed as soon as the door closed behind him. The imminent conversation was dangerous, and he had to approach it carefully, but he had to face it to decide what to do.


    Some hunger showed its presence after Jenna''s reminder. Khan had skipped lunch, and dinner time had already passed. He was actually starving, but his mind barely had room for that problem.


    Simtions of the imminent meeting yed in Khan''s mind and led to a single conclusion. He couldn''t devise a proper n until he saw what Luke was willing to reveal. In short, he would have to improvise.


    The tension around Khan appeared unbreakable, but some warmth managed to seep through it when he entered the elevator. After pressing thest floor''s key, he read Monica''s message and recalled a world without those problems.


    ''I''ll see you tomorrow then,'' Khan read the message and smiled. He wanted to answer and tease Monica a bit longer, but the elevator opened and put an end to that break.


    A familiar presence had touched Khan''s senses while the elevator was still moving, so seeing Master Ivor standing right before it wasn''t a surprise. The old man had waited for Khan, and he stored the phone to exchange polite greetings.


    "I''m sorry for making you wait so long," Khan announced.


    "Not at all, Lieutenant Khan," Master Ivor reassured. "It''s nice to see that you are back. The group missed you."


    "I heard the others did a good job," Khanmented before emptying what remained of the booze.


    "We made some progress," Master Ivor confirmed while beginning to lead the way across the corridor. "I''m sure your findings will help even more."


    "That''s the goal," Khanughed, and the two fell silent as they approached the end of the corridor.


    Master Ivor led Khan inside another room at the corner of the building. Windows covered two of its walls, but the cecked the long meeting table. Instead, a big, square, interactive desk stood at its center, and holograms came out of it.


    Luke and Bruce lifted their gazes from the table when Khan and Master Ivor entered. Except for them, the room was empty, so Khan concluded that the meeting would only have four people.


    "Thank you foring with such short notice," Luke eximed after the door closed. "You must be tired."


    "Just hungry," Khan stated before cing the bottle in an empty spot near the metal wall.


    "Bruce?" Luke called.


    "Already contacting the kitchen," Bruce responded while tapping on his phone. "I''ll have them deliver some snacks too."


    "Don''t forget the drinks," Khan reminded as he approached the desk. "What do we have here?"


    The azure holograms depicted a series of buildings that Khan had never seen. He could guess their purpose, but Luke''s exnation made those thoughts pointless.


    "This is a replica of Lower Level 1," Luke exined while performing amand with his fingers. "It''s easier to keep track of everything with it."


    The holograms reacted to the gesture and shrunk. More buildings filled the new empty spaces until structures that even Khan could recognize joined the scene. The process continued until the entirety of the city stretched over the desk.


    "Seems useful," Khan admitted, "And illegal."


    Maps weren''t illegal outside the dock, but Khan could predict why Luke had something so detailed. Luke smiled when he heard those words, and a few buildings turned red when he interacted with the desk.


    The process didn''t end there. Red shades stretched from the marked buildings and covered multiple streets before converging into the industrial district. The holograms highlighted the warehouses and the path they took.


    "None of this will ever leave the building," Luke dered, "But we still need to be certain before acting. We''ll expose ourselves as soon as we make a move, so we can''t make mistakes."


    Khan could only nod and focus on the holograms. It was safe to assume that they depicted every connection between the industrial area and the rest of the city, so the alien chameleon''s skin and the reinforced fabric must have passed through some of them.


    The high number of routes and warehouses was an issue. Khan could count at least fifteen structures meant to store goods, and they used even more streets to deliver or retrieve them. Finding the culprit among that array would be a challenge.


    "Can you connect any of them to your findings?" Luke asked.


    "I need more details," Khan replied. "You have more than this, haven''t you?"


    "It''s better to wait for that part," Bruce pointed out.


    Khan dropped his backpack during the wait. Master Ivor remained silent near the entrance while Bruce and Luke continued to y with the holograms without adding anything valuable.


    A few minutes had to pass before a buzzing noise came out of the entrance. Luke immediately turned off the table, and Master Ivor crossed the door to pick up the meals left by the waiter.


    Master Ivor pushed a metal table that hovered a few centimeters above the floor inside the room, and the three men quickly approached it. Khan found himself in front of a tasty steak, and he ate it all in a matter of seconds. His performance even made Bruce and Luke stare at him in surprise.


    The hovering table had much more. Junk food and a few bottles upied its surface, and Bruce took care of pouring the drinks. Master Ivor also had one, but he approached one of the metal walls right afterward.


    Khan didn''t miss that gesture. Master Ivor was privy to the investigation, and his experience could grant valuable insights, but he didn''t approach the desk. He was distancing himself from that meeting, even if only slightly.


    ''Is this a matter of status?'' Khan wondered while enjoying the booze and his full belly. ''Does he want me to know that Luke is in charge?''


    Khan wouldn''t usually care about those political games, but Master Ivor had be a suspect. He probably didn''t have the authority to join the theft, but he could act as a spy for other members of the Cobsend family, members like Raymond.


    "Okay then," Luke eventually eximed as he returned to the desk and reactivated the holograms. "I''ll give you everything we have."


    The city on Lower Level 1 returned, and the same went for the red shades. Yet, azure words appeared on them, and Khan learnt secrets when he read them.


    The holograms didn''t have too many details, but the group had done a good enough job. Each red building and path featured descriptions of the species using them, and some even had short lists of the known transported goods. Khan could see the results of thest month of investigation, and he didn''t feel disappointed.


    "You really did investigate," Khan couldn''t help but praise. He could already spot a couple of buildings that matched what he had found, even if none of them had illegal goods listed on the holograms.


    "The connection you created with Awiza gave us a great chance," Luke exined. "The fact that she is an Ots also allowed me to use my wealth. I could elerate promotions and grant authorizations."


    "I believe you all have decent roles in your respective activities," Khan guessed.


    "Monica and Francis had an easier time getting there due to their power," Bruce revealed. "Martha works with Monica, so she is also there. Instead, the others are taking longer shifts to gain favors."


    Khan rejoiced at that news. He liked hearing that Martha wasn''t alone on the field, and learning that Monica was sort of looking out for her added some warmth to his mind.


    "We can''t move toward these targets yet," Luke continued, "And we don''t have the manpower to investigate all of them at the same time. The slow approach can work, but I hope your findings will avoid it."


    Those words brought the focus to Khan. Luke and Bruce had shown their cards, so it was Khan''s time to give them something, and he knew exactly what.


    Khan reached for the backpack on the floor and took out the alien chameleon''s skin before throwing it on the desk. He even picked up the device that could confirm his ims and activated it under Luke and Bruce''s attentive gaze.


    When the device gave its results, Luke and Bruce couldn''t help but gasp. The dock was famous for its secrecy, but Khan had surpassed their expectations. He had found the basic material for the reinforced fabric without any apparent lead.


    "How did you-?" Luke asked before stopping to change his question. "Did you find any connection between this and the surface?"


    "That''s hard to say," Khan eximed. "I found the buyers, but I don''t know how far their faction stretches."


    Once the surprise waned, Luke and Bruce revealed some slight disappointment. Khan had aplished an incredible feat, but that alone didn''t help the investigation.


    "The buyers were human," Khan added, without mentioning anything about the Bise since he didn''t know how much he could say in front of Bruce.


    "They must be important then," Luke promptly followed as he added new filters to the hologram. "We should definitely focus on the warehouses owned by human factions."


    Some red shades disappeared, but they remained too many to give a clear direction to the investigation. The second asteroid saw a majority of human citizens, so it made sense for them to own most businesses, and the hologram reflected that.


    "Is that all?" Luke questioned once he realized that it would still take a long time to narrow down the list of targets.


    Khan sighed in his mind. He had reached the part he didn''t want to reveal, but his hands were tied. He had to give away something, especially since he had found valid clues.


    "Rodney was among the buyers," Khan uttered. "He even looked like the leader of the group."


    "Wait," Luke eximed. "Rodney Semmut? The guide?"


    "Yes," Khan confirmed. "He is one of the reasons why I found this skin so quickly."


    "I see," Luke voiced as he brought a hand on his chin. "This changes something. He isn''t exactly amon figure. The guides might be a cover-up for his actual role on Milia 222. I''ll tell someone inside my family to investigate."


    "Are you sure?" Khan asked. "Won''t that create friction between your families?"


    "We had no reason to do it before," Luke exined. "We do now."


    Khan had studied Luke thoroughly after his revtion. He was ready to pick up any clue that hinted at his awareness of Rodney''s situation. Yet, Luke had passed the test. He appeared entirely in the dark.


    "Did Rodney recognize you?" Bruce questioned.


    "Worse," Khan replied. "He recognized all of us."


    "That can''t be helped," Luke reassured. "Someone was bound to recognize us. I bet Rodney wasn''t the first."


    "Do you know where Rodney is now?" Bruce asked.


    "I thought I''d find him here," Khan admitted.


    "Why is that?" Luke wondered.


    "He should think that I''m dead," Khan smirked. "I guess he didn''t fall for that."


    Bruce and Luke didn''t know how to address those words, but they understood their hidden meaning. Khan didn''t want to exin every detail of that topic, and they would respect his wish.


    "Well, tell me if I can help," Luke eventually announced. "Anyway, good job. We will n our next move once I hear from my family."


    The meeting could very well end there. Khan only had to remain silent to return to his room. He could keep the stuff rted to the traitor and Raymond for himself as he had nned, but he wanted to push a bit more. His curiosity desired answers, and the investigation also needed more intel.


    "Luke, can we have some privacy?" Khan politely asked without adding anything else.


    Surprised faces unfolded at that unexpected request. Even Master Ivor lifted his head to focus on the desk, but Luke showed his political skills by recovering quickly and exchanging a few nods.


    Bruce and Master Ivor left the room without voicing anyint. Only a few seconds had to pass for Khan and Luke to remain alone in the room, and thetter even turned off the desk at that point.


    "Don''t keep me on edge," Luke joked.


    "I need to choose my words wisely," Khan spoke openly. "I can''t sound even remotely disrespectful."


    "I thought we were past that," Lukeughed.


    Khan heaved a sigh before fixing his gaze on Luke. He really didn''t want to talk about that, but it sounded necessary.


    "Your uncle''s arrival," Khan mentioned, "Won''t it ruin our initial ns?"


    "Oh, that," Luke replied. "I didn''t expect his arrival either. I won''t lie to you. It might be a problem."


    "Luke, we are talking about someone who I believe has more authority than you," Khan pointed out. "This is way beyond what I signed up for."


    "I get you," Luke agreed. "I can adjust your payment due to the recent developments."


    "It''s not about money," Khan dered. "I''m already risking my life to make the investigation advance. I can''t have your family going against it too."


    Luke noticed how Khan spoke more openly than usual, but he failed to connect that new behavior to his mana. He simply believed that the dock had brought its share of traumatic experiences, so he decided to reveal the truth.


    "I didn''t want to mention this," Luke voiced, and the synthetic mana echoed his concern. "You are the reason behind my uncle''s arrival."


    "What?" Khan eximed. He would typically go in full battle mode after simr revtions, but the synthetic mana reassured him enough to avoid falling for his paranoia.


    "Sending someone in the dock is a big deal," Luke exined. "The news reached our friends'' families, which started to question mine. I don''t hold enough authority to reassure everyone, so my uncle decided to step forward."


    The exnation left Khan speechless. He had never considered that option, but it made sense. Monica had also mentioned something simr during the dinner at the Kingsize. Raymond could have simplye to reassure the other families.


    Of course, Khan didn''t give up on his original theory. Raymond had the perfect alibi, but that didn''t remove him from the list of suspects. Actually, his decision to step forward could very well be a clue.


    ''Did I get close enough to worry him?'' Khan wondered while he processed that new information. ''Did hee here to make sure that no one gets to the culprits?''


    "Don''t me yourself," Luke reassured since he misunderstood the reason behind Khan''s silence. "It''s my job to call the shots, so I''m the one who has to deal with the consequences."


    "I read about your uncle on thework," Khan partially changed the topic. "Did he help with the creation of the reinforced fabric?"


    "This is a bit of a family secret," Luke sighed. "The factory used some of his studies to kick-start the experiment."


    ''Revenge can be a motive!'' Khan eximed in his mind as he carefully concocted his next question. "How did he take that?"


    "My uncle doesn''t care about who uses his studies," Lukeughed. "He isn''t your ordinary politician. From what I managed to gather, he argued with my father about the financial goal of the factory, but nothing came out of it."


    The casual tone that Luke had used didn''t hide any lies. It really seemed that the argument between those two powerful figures had not been a big deal, which defeated Khan''sst guess.


    ''Am I trying to force my ideas into this situation?'' Khan ended up wondering. ''Did I get everything wrong? It can''t be. There must be some truth in it.''


    Khan didn''t want to abandon his hypotheses, but both Luke and Bruce had spoken against them. Still, he couldn''t reject what he had discovered and felt either. Moreover,mon sense pointed toward a connection between Raymond and the reinforced fabric.


    "Is something wrong?" Luke asked since Khan fell silent, but thetter decided not to speak.


    Khan was actually conflicted. He had yet to reveal a few pieces of information, but he wanted to keep them for himself, at least for now. Still, that left him without anything to add.


    "Khan, do you have something else for me?" Luke pressed on.


    "I might," Khan spoke the truth, "But it''s better if I don''t say anything now. I can''t back it up with proof, and I don''t want to create unnecessary panic."


    "You shouldn''t stress out so much," Luke advised. "What you brought back from the dock will already elerate the investigation. It''s only a matter of time before we find the leak."


    ''Finding it might not be a good thing,'' Khan thought. ''If Raymond has something to do with the theft, we''ll have a fourth-level warrior as an enemy in a ce where murderes easy.''


    All in all, the situation had yet to be too tragic. It was even quite good for Khan. Rodney didn''t reach out to Luke, and Khan only had to wait to find the organization connected to the buyers. He would get to the unknown central pieces sooner orter.


    ''I might be able to take it easy for some time,'' Khan realized. ''I only need to find Rodney, but I can use Milia 222''s channels for that.''


    "Right, I should probably mention this," Luke continued while Khan was still silent. "My uncle expressed his desire to meet you properly. He made it sound like a whim, but you can think about it if you don''t have anything else to do."

 Chapter ?397 Father

    Chapter ?397 Father


    "Why me?" Khan couldn''t help but ask.


    "I told you, it sounded like a whim," Luke repeated. "Knowing my uncle, he might simply be interested in Nitis'' events."


    Khan voiced a faint "oh". Luke had politely decided not to add anything, but it wasn''t hard to connect the dots. Raymond''s expertise dealt with alterations caused by mana, so the mutations experienced by Nitis'' lifeforms had to be an interesting topic for him.


    Still, it became impossible to stop Khan''s paranoia. The Global Army didn''t make most of Nitis'' events public, but someone like Raymond Cobsend was bound to have ess to urate reports. He could probably get detailed exnations written by fellow experts through his position.


    Khan''s thoughts ran wild. A meeting with such an important figure could benefit his career, but it could also be a trap, and a fourth-level warrior was simply too much for him. He even imagined an oue where he found Rodney and Raymond waiting for him in that meeting.


    However, the matter had an even greater problem. Luke had made it sound like a trivial request, but Khan''s background remained quite poor. He didn''t know if his refusal would bring negative consequences. He wasn''t even sure if he could make that decision.


    Once the paranoia waned a bit, Khan managed to notice other emotions. He was worried and scared, but some curiosity existed inside him. He wanted to learn more about Raymond, and missing out on the chance of finding clues would be an insult to his recent struggles.


    ''Am I really going to ept?'' Khan wondered. ''When did I get so reckless?''


    Of course, recklessness wasn''t the only force involved in that decision. Khan''s doubts created some leeway. Raymond could be awful, but his behavior toward Khan might not reflect that.


    ''Dad would probably know more about him,'' Khan sighed in his mind. Problems he didn''t want to face revealed their presence as soon as he thought about Bret, but he fended them off by restarting the conversation.


    "He came here because of me," Khan announced. "Fulfilling his whim sounds proper."


    "Are you sure?" Luke asked.


    "Sure, set up a meeting," Khan confirmed. "I can only wait at the moment anyway."


    "Perfect!" Luke eximed before moving to a previous topic. "As for the panic you mentioned, does it involve my family?"


    "Luke, don''t put me in this position," Khan responded while retaining a perfect poker face. "It''s too dangerous to throw around usations. It would be even if I had proof."


    Luke was nowhere near stupid. He had understood something, and the matter troubled him. His expression didn''t show his feelings, but Khan saw them reflected in the synthetic mana.


    "Alright," Luke eventually announced. "I''ll trust you on this one."


    "Thanks," Khan weakly voiced before gulping down his drink. "I guess we are done here."


    "Yes," Luke replied. "I''ll let you know when my uncle sets up the meeting."


    Khan nodded as he left his drink on the interactive desk and picked up his backpack. He was ready to go, but he felt that a warning was necessary. "You know politics better than me, so don''t do anything reckless."


    "Khan, I''ll do what I have to," Luke stated. "My positiones with obligations."


    "You hired me to do the dirty work in your ce," Khan dered. "Jumping in the fray would only make it harder for me."


    Luke wanted to reject that statement, but Khan was right. Staying still was challenging but also necessary at times, especially when the issue involved something asplicated as a wealthy family.


    "I''m entrusting you with something extremely precious to me," Luke uttered.


    "Maybe I will take that raise," Khanughed before finally turning and approaching the entrance.


    Luke''s eyes never left Khan during his departure. He didn''t like to remain in the dark, but he was getting something in exchange. Khan was turning into the exact soldier he wanted into his personal force.


    Khan left the meeting room without addressing those gazes and finding Bruce and Master Ivor in the corridor didn''t change his mood. He was done for that day.


    "I''m hitting the bed," Khan eximed while waving at Bruce and Master Ivor.


    "Goodnight, Lieutenant Khan," Master Ivor politely said.


    Bruce limited himself to a nod, and Khan smiled before crossing the two men to stride to the elevator. A sigh left his mouth when the lift began its descent, and his cold expression broke due to the thoughts assaulting his mind.


    ''What a mess,'' Khan cursed.


    Raymond, Rodney, the Cobsend family, and Francis created a troublesome picture that would make anyone run away. The job was tooplex for a mere second-level warrior, and the problems didn''t even end there.


    Khan could ept Rodney''s situation. He was a criminal who had chosen to spend his punishment doing an illegal but financially remunerative job. There could be more behind it, but that was enough to exin his motives.


    The same went for Raymond. Khan was almost sure he was hiding something, but his alibi was solid. On the surface, Khan could believe that Raymond had flown to Milia 222 just to reassure the families involved with the factory.


    The unclear general motive of the theft was the greatest issue. Money seemed a reasonable exnation, but ws existed. The reinforced fabric would have probably already left Milia 222 in that case.


    Khan didn''t know how long it would take to reverse engineer the reinforced fabric, but months had passed since the first theft. It would make sense for something to pop up in that period unless theb was on Milia 222.


    Even if that exnation made sense, Khan couldn''tpletely believe it. His guts were telling him that something was off, and only further investigation could reveal the truth.


    ''Meetings, lies, and money,'' Khan mocked himself. ''That''s the life I''m trying to build.''


    Those thoughts would usually generate sour feelings, but Khan had reached his room by then. Jenna''s sensual figure weed him with a warm smile, and all of that vanished as Khan jumped in her arms.


    The rm cut the nightmare short. Khan woke up early and silenced his phone, only to hear Jenna''s groan. He could almost predict the torrent ofints about to fly on his way, so he left a kiss on her forehead to put her back to sleep.


    Khan dressed up in a hurry and left the room to head for the elevator. Problems tried to show their presence, but they failed to take control of his thoughts. He had something very different in mind, and a smirk even made its way onto his face.


    A short walk and a knock on a door made a splendid figure appear in Khan''s vision. Monica stood before the entrance with her shy expression and her lovely clothes. She was wearing a skirt again, but she had opted for a shirt that morning.


    "Don''t just stand there," Monicained before grabbing Khan''s right wrist and pulling him inside the room.


    Khan voiced augh while the door closed behind him. Monica left his wrist, but he grabbed hers before she could fall prey to her shyness. The gesture forced her to face Khan, and she lowered her gaze to mutter anotherint.


    "You came earlier than agreed," Monica muttered.


    "I wanted to catch you by surprise," Khan teased, "Maybe without these fancy clothes."


    "I needed to prepare for work," Monica pointed out. "I have to attend my shift today."


    "What''s your job?" Khan asked.


    "Bodyguard," Monica exined. "I surveil warehouses or shipments."


    "And you go dressed like this?" Khan joked.


    "I will change into a tracksuit," Monica scoffed while raising her gaze before realizing that she hadmitted a mistake. She lowered her face again, but it was toote by then.


    "So," Khan stated while pulling Monica''s arm to ce it on his shoulder, "You wore this for me."


    Monica slowly lifted her gaze while doing the same with her right arm. She wrapped herself around Khan''s neck before whispering a question. "Do you like it?"


    Khan could tease Monica a bit longer, but his mind went nk. He lowered his head, and the two exchanged a deep kiss in which Monica managed to be bolder than before.


    That kiss felt better that day. Monica was more at ease, which allowed her to bepletely immersed in the intimate interaction. She tightened up the embrace to keep Khan close, and she even dug her fingers into his hair to enjoy the moment as much as possible.


    Of course, the kiss couldn''tst forever, especially with Khan wanting more. His hands went on Monica''s waist and stayed there for a while before descending a bit.


    Monica let out a faint moan under Khan''s caresses, but she recalled where she was when he gave her butt a light squeeze. She didn''t mind that, but she still decided to push Khan away before things could get too dangerous.


    "You always stop me before the fun part," Khan groaned while Monica pressed on his shoulders to prevent him from getting closer.


    Monica gulped and lowered her gaze only for an instant. When her eyes returned to Khan, her voice became serious. "Is that a problem?"


    Khan frowned and brought one hand to Monica''s cheek before questioning her. "What''s the matter?"


    Monica''s resolve wavered. She nestled in Khan''s hand and even left a kiss there before showing her puppy eyes and exining her fears. "Am I going too slow? I don''t want to bore you."


    ''Oh,'' Khan thought while a warm smile forced its way on his face.


    "Say something," Monica pleaded since Khan continued to smile at her in silence.


    "Are you telling me that you''d do more than kissing?" Khan teased while pulling himself toward Monica. She could oppose him, but her arms carried no strength.


    "I didn''t-," Monica said before a kiss sealed her lips. The short gesture rxed her and left the two''s faces extremely close.


    "It''s pointless if you have to force yourself," Khan whispered. "We''ll get there when you are ready or when you find me worthy of a descendant of the Solodrey family."


    Monica''s eyes widened. Thest part of Khan''s line was extremely embarrassing for her. She wanted to exin that her family had nothing to do with the matter, but theugh that reached her ears told her that Khan already knew that.


    "You always tease me," Monica pouted, and Khan simply kissed her again. A smile appeared on her face after reaching that understanding. She felt lighter, which reminded her of another issue.


    "Khan," Monica called when the kiss ended. "Do you n on letting go of my ass eventually?"


    "Maybe we are going too slow," Khan joked, and Monica giggled as she grabbed the hand still clinging to her butt to ce it on her waist. Then, she pulled him to resume the kissing session.


    Peaceful days followed Khan''s return to the second asteroid. Hispanions were often busy with their shifts, so he had a lot of free time and no actual tasks to attend to.


    Monica couldn''t fill those gaps. Visiting her room early in the morning was safe since everyone else was asleep, but the night could be dangerous. Her shifts upied the rest of her day, so Khan had to settle for stealing a few minutes of her time before seeing her off to work.


    The group gathered in the main hallte in the afternoon or after dinner, which gave Khan a chance to rx, but he opted to avoid those meetings. He wouldn''t hold back from flirting with Monica there, and adding fuel to Francis'' anger wasn''t ideal.


    The decision didn''te easy. Khan''s new mindset would probably push him to face Francis. Yet, he had Monica to think about, and avoiding the meetings was the best option.


    Martha visited Khan at times, but she mostly spent time with Jenna. Khan left his room whenever that happened to give the two women some privacy, and the event never bothered him too much. He simply entered a different room to continue his training during those moments.


    Khan''s training ended up upying most of his days, except for one instance when he and Jenna left the building to visit members of her species. The couple handed Rodney''s portrait to the Nele so that they could start a side investigation and involve the Ots if necessary.


    The investigation worked on three differentyers at that point. Luke questioned his family and used its connections to find how Rodney had scored such an important job on Milia 222. The Nele searched for him through local methods, and the team continued to narrow down the suitable warehouses.


    Anotheryer existed, but only Khan could pursue it, and the chance arrived quite soon. By the end of the week, Luke notified Khan that his uncle finally had some free time, so the meeting could happen.


    Khan ate dinner in his room before wearing the fancy clothes Luke had prepared for him and leaving the building. The main hall was luckily empty at that time, so Khan could directly reach the ride waiting for him on the street.


    The car set off almost immediately, disregarding the street and flying above the buildings to cross the city faster. The vehicle didn''t actually have to go too far. Raymond''s building turned out to be only a few blocks away from Luke''s.


    The vehicle didn''t return to the street. Itnded on top of the building before letting Khan out. The ce didn''t have much except an incredible view and a circr tform.


    The rider had given Khan some instructions, so he stepped on the tform and remained still while it descended. The cylindrical metal wall didn''t reveal anything, but an opening appeared when the lift stopped.


    Khan found himself in an immense t once he crossed the opening. The elevator behind him climbed back to the roof, and its entrance closed, but Khan barely paid attention to it while he studied the area.


    The t seemed as big as a floor in Luke''s building, and most of its walls were transparent. Khan noticed a pool in a corner, a bath with a small waterfalling from the ceiling, a giant meeting area, and various rooms filled with couches or desks.


    Some areas had metal walls that shielded more than Khan''s vision. His sensitivity couldn''t go past them, and he didn''t let his curiosity take over. He was in the middle of a giant foreign environment, so he remained still while waiting for someone to summon him.


    No summons happened. Instead, the lift behind Khan started to move again and made him turn. Its metal surface soon slid open and revealed Raymond''s smiling figure standing on a circr tform.


    "Sir!" Khan eximed.


    "Let''s drop that, shall we?" Raymondughed. "Mister Raymond and Mister Cobsend are both fine in public, but you''ll use only Raymond when it''s just the two of us."


    Anyone would remain a bit speechless after that statement, so Khan took the chance to study Raymond. He was wearing a different suit, a ck one with a grey shirt underneath. He had a bottle in one hand and two sses in the other, but his mental state remained his most peculiar quality.


    Khan sensed the same dark and bottomless pit when he inspected the faint changes in the synthetic mana. Raymond was giving off the exact vibe perceived in Luke''s building, which was impossible even for skilled Nele. Only a true expert could have such thorough control, and it seemed that Raymond was one of them.


    "Raymond," Khan eventually announced without even trying toe up with pretenses. "It''s an honor to meet you again."


    "That''s it," Raymondughed again. "I hope you don''t mind if I drop the Lieutenant."


    "Not at all," Khan responded. "I admit it gets annoying after a while."


    "That applies to most rules in the Global Army," Raymond eximed. "Still, let me tell you a secret. The families are far worse."


    Raymond winked at Khan, and thetter could only nod. The scene was genuinely odd for Khan. His sensitivity painted a worrisome picture, but his eyes saw the very opposite scene. Raymond was both dangerous and amiable, and Khan didn''t know how to take that.


    "Oh, where are my manners?" Raymond stated when he noticed the bottle in his hand. "Come into my office. Let''s have a drink there."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Raymond crossed Khan before he could give any answer, and he followed him without adding anything. The two left the ce with the elevator and walked until they reached a room next to the immense meeting area.


    "I''m not the first to offer you booze before a meeting, am I?" Raymond joked when he ced the bottle on the desk at the end of the room. "Thework is a pain. You say you like something, and anyone interested in you will bring it to the meetings."


    "I don''tin," Khan yed along.


    "I bet," Raymond chucked as he started pouring the booze. "Nitis must have left a deep mark for you to like it this much."


    ''We started already,'' Khan thought before giving an honest answer. "It did."


    "I''m sorry for how things went there," Raymond stated while handing a half-full ss to Khan. "No one should go through so much in such a short time, especially at your age."


    Khan revealed a helpless smile before taking the ss. He didn''t have answers for that statement. Sometimes the universe was simply a terrible ce.


    "Cheers," Raymond voiced as he brought his ss to his face. He kept it under his nose to sniff the booze inside it before taking a short sip, which left him quite pleased.


    Khan didn''t have such elegant manners. His sip was far longer, but his eyes widened in surprise when the booze''s excellent taste invaded his mouth. Warmth spread through his throat and filled his chest with a cozy feeling without bringing any burning sensation. That definitely was one of the best drinks he had ever had.


    "Ah! You like it," Raymond almost shouted when he noticed Khan''s reaction. "I''m d. I picked it up myself from a canteen in this very building."


    "I''d better drink a lot then," Khan shamelessly announced.


    "I''d be offended otherwise," Raymond responded. "Anyway, I won''t pry on Nitis'' matters any further. You can rx."


    "I thought you wanted to hear my reports," Khan revealed.


    "I have a library of those reports," Raymond uttered. "Mutations with random mixtures of mana are an interesting topic, but humans have learnt to trigger simr reactions long ago. It''s not even a special field anymore."


    "Then, why am I here?" Khan expressed his doubts.


    "It''s really rare for me to getid-back meetings," Raymond exined as he moved toward one of the couches in the office. "I barely caught any sleep since my arrival here. I wanted to have something I might actually enjoy."


    "I hope I''m goodpany," Khan voiced.


    "You are already the high point of my week," Raymondughed. "Sit now, and don''t forget the bottle."


    Khanplied. He took the bottle and approached the couch in front of Raymond. The two sofas didn''t have any table between them, so Khan left the booze on the floor when he sat.


    "My nephew has nothing but praises for you," Raymond revealed. "I hope you are taking good care of him."


    "I''m doing my best," Khan replied, "But Luke also knows his stuff. I wouldn''t have gotten anywhere without his financial and logistic support."


    "Of course, he does," Raymond eximed. "He is a Cobsend. He must know how to deal with political and social issues."


    Khan couldn''t use his sensitivity, but his experience remained deep. Raymond had used a mocking tone, which probably was on purpose.


    "Don''t mind me," Raymond said when he noticed Khan''s hesitation. "My brother and I have very different ideas on how to raise a descendant and on many other topics."


    "But you dide to Milia 222 to reassure the families," Khan pointed out. "I hope that wasn''t too troublesome."


    "Khan," Raymond smirked, "There is a difference between political duty and familiar affection. On the surface, I came here as an envoy of the Cobsend family, but I''m only buying Luke time. I won''t steal any merit from him once hepletes the mission."


    The opposite aspects depicted by Khan''s senses only deepened as the conversation continued. Raymond wasn''t only cheerful and open-minded. He also sounded like a caring uncle.


    ''Where is the source of his darkness?'' Khan wondered, even if he knew he wouldn''t get answers.


    "Maybe I lied a bit," Raymond announced, interrupting the silent moment. "I did want a break from my meetings, but there are other reasons."


    Khan nodded, and Raymond continued. "You are a living example of one of the few mutations humans can''t recreate. I wanted to see you with my eyes."


    "Is the Nak''s mana so rare?" Khan wondered while choosing words that might answer some of his oldest questions. "I''ve always thought that the Global Army had samples or simr items."


    "The mutation isn''t the main point," Raymond exined. "I''m more interested in the process. You know, many call me a genius, but your father was simply better, and I can''t find any record of what he did to save you."

 Chapter ?398 Important

    Chapter ?398 Important


    Khan couldn''t help but fall silent when Raymond mentioned his father. His reaction was obvious, but he didn''t care. The topic was too close to his heart to hide his feelings.


    Three years had passed since thest meeting with Bret. Khan had grown a lot during that time, and not only in personal power. His knowledge had deepened, especially in fields connected to the Global Army and the mana.


    At first, Khan had simply believed that the scientific department of the Global Army didn''t need high-level warriors. Studies and experience could theoreticallypensate for an eventualck of personal power.


    Yet, getting stronger was rtively easy for aplished soldiers. The injections of synthetic mana could make up for azy character or a busy life, so only an idiot would believe that Bret had reached his previous position while remaining a first-level warrior.


    Talent could offer an alternative path, but Bret could imnt mana cores even after spending years as a drunkard in the Slums. He had summoned enough mana to perform surgery. Regr first-level warriors couldn''t do that.


    ''How deep are your lies?'' Khan wondered as memories of his father ran through his mind. ''How much did you hide from me? Why did you even do that?''


    "I was only a kid back then," Khan eventually managed to muster.


    "Did he mention anything about the event?" Raymond asked.


    "The Global Army ced restrictions on him," Khan exined. "He couldn''t even if he wanted to."


    "That''s sad," Raymond sighed. "What they did to your father was despicable. Locking such a great mind in the Slums is idiotic."


    Raymond''s phrase didn''t reveal anything, but Khan added it to the list of Bret''s lies anyway. The Global Army would support one of its best scientists, so being forced to move to the Slums due to mere bankruptcy didn''t make any sense.


    "Did you know my father well?" Khan asked.


    "We''ve only met a couple of times," Raymond revealed. "His character was quite peculiar. I think gruff describes him well."


    "He is still the same," Khan sighed.


    "I didn''t expect anything less from him," Raymond eximed. "It''s still surprising how he managed to get Elizabeth with that personality. I never thought he had the time for rtionships, let alone a family."


    "Did you know my mother too?" Khan asked without hiding his surprise.


    "I knew her pretty well," Raymond revealed. "She was an incredible woman. Her death shook us all."


    ''Us all,'' Khan repeated in his mind before voicing his doubts. "Was my mother important?"


    "She was definitely famous," Raymondughed. "No one could tell her what to do. I guess her character matched your father''s perfectly."


    "Did she cause problems?" Khan questioned. He didn''t remember much of his mother, so he couldn''t contain his curiosity.


    "She was a rebellious soul," Raymond reminisced as he lifted his gaze to stare at an empty spot on the wall. "You couldn''t go a month without hearing about her on the news."


    Khan felt a bit odd. He noticed simrities that made him frown. It seemed that he shared his father''s tastes in terms of women.


    "Everyone thought she would never marry," Raymond continued. "I still remember when your father announced their engagement. The event caused quite the uproar."


    ''Were my parents professional troublemakers?'' Khan couldn''t help but wonder.


    "Oh, I lost myself in my memories," Raymond added. "It must be hard to talk about this for you."


    "It mostly makes me curious," Khan admitted. "I never thought my parents had such influence among important people."


    Raymond smirked as he brought his eyes back to Khan. He drank a bit before lowering his ss. His face carried some interest, and Khan could see the dark depths of his mind reflected on it.


    "I might have said too much," Raymond announced as his expression regained its previous friendliness. "Those are redacted records. I might also get in trouble if I don''t watch my tongue."


    Khan didn''t believe that Raymond had chosen his words carelessly for even a second. His phrases hid a deeper meaning, which sounded quite evident to Khan. His parents mattered enough to silence even a fourth-level warrior from an extremely wealthy family.


    Still, Khan couldn''t understand why Raymond was giving him such obvious clues. The revtions could only make him curious, which didn''t amount to much.


    "I wish I could remember more things," Khan casually said to keep the conversation on the topic.


    "Maybe forgetting is for the best," Raymond suggested. "I can''t imagine how you must have felt during the Second Impact. I wouldn''t be surprised if you still had nightmares about it."


    A hammer mmed on Khan''s mind and shattered his thoughts. Disbelief tried to fill his face, but he held it back. Raymond had diverted his gaze again, but his words had been strangely precise.


    ''Does he know about the nightmares?'' Khan thought. ''Are they amon urrence with Tainted humans? Was he only speaking casually?''


    Khan couldn''t find answers to Raymond''s behavior, and thetter was quick to change the topic. "Anyway, enough with these sad tales. Let''s enjoy this meeting."


    Raymond tapped the floor, and an interactive menu appeared. He browsed through it with his feet until arge, azure screen materialized right past the couches.


    "I might as well exin my curiosity since you are here," Raymond stated as he continued to tinker with the menu to make new images appear on the holographic screen.


    Spheres of different colors materialized on the screen, and descriptions soon appeared next to them. They addedbels and behaviors to the various types of mana depicted by the holograms and divided them by element.


    "This is a bit beyond what they teach you in the training camps," Raymond exined. "Humans also aren''t too knowledgeable in this field, but bear with me for a moment."


    Khan nodded, even if the descriptions made a lot of sense. He had long since learnt that the mana had a sort of will, which changed depending on its element. The holograms simply put those details into words.


    "The mana isn''t like other energies," Raymond dered. "It''s miraculous in many ways. You could almost say that it''s a living being."


    The holograms changed to depict new scenes. They all showed the effects that different elements had on certain fabrics and the long-term advantages that some alterations could bring.


    "Try topare this to what you have seen on Nitis," Raymond continued. "The mutations there were mostly unstable, unlike these. Do you know why?"


    "Theplexity of the body to mutate?" Khan guessed.


    "That''s definitely a factor," Raymond stated. "Let''s go with this now."


    Raymond browsed through the menu, and the holograms changed again. The new scenes resembled the previous, except for an important feature. Animals had reced the fabrics.


    Khan couldn''t help but think about Nitis when the holograms showed the animals undergoing stable mutations to transform into stronger creatures. He had seen simr scenes, but everything on Raymond''s screen looked cleaner and smooth.


    "What do you think?" Raymond asked while more scenes yed on the screen. "These animals are mutating just fine. Why is that?"


    Khan felt quite drawn by the topic. It involved mana, so it interested him. Yet, he couldn''t sense what was happening in the holograms, so he had to rely on his knowledge toe up with an exnation.


    "You chose the element ording to the animal you wanted to mutate," Khan guessed. "The creatures on Nitis didn''t have that chance. The different types of mana inside them simply went wild."


    "Correct," Raymond eximed. "Different elements lead to different behaviors. Of course, this is a simplistic view. I can name ten different studies on the mana''s purity, and they wouldn''t be enough to exin how difficult it is to trigger a stable mutation."


    Raymond wasn''t saying anything new, at least for Khan. His knowledge had long gone past humankind''s limits. Most of it actually came from alien species.


    "Now, tell me," Raymond continued. "How is it that some creatures on Nitis still managed to stabilize their mutations?"


    "Innate adaptability?" Khan presumed.


    "Partially," Raymond replied while changing the holograms again. "The elements have a different level of dominance, which also changes depending on their mixture."


    Khan almost stopped hearing Raymond when new holograms filled the screen. A ranking that described the different levels of dominance appeared, and the chaos element came out on top. The second ce didn''t evene close to it.


    Raymond took Khan''s silence as his cue to resume speaking. "The chaos element is extremely invasive. In many cases, it takes over the hosts, but that power hides the key to fixing humanity''s greatest w."


    The holograms disappeared, forcing Khan to focus on Raymond. Thetter was wearing the same smirk from before, but his expression radiated some ambition now.


    "Which is?" Khan carefully asked.


    "We are one of the few relevant species who need external methods to wield mana," Raymond announced. "Our innateck of mana cores is a weakness, and we don''t have time to wait for our bodies to evolve naturally."


    "Do you think the chaos element can trigger that evolution?" Khan wondered.


    "It''s too early to say," Raymond sighed, and his expression regained its previous friendliness. "I would need the pure mana of a Nak for my experiments. Nothing beats their ability to trigger mutations."


    "I can''t generate that," Khan quickly exined.


    "I know," Raymond reassured. "Your presence here is mostly rted to the opposite field. I wanted to know how Bret stabilized your mutations, but s."


    "My father is still alive," Khan eximed. "Maybe you can ask him."


    "Maybe I should," Raymond uttered. "Though I bet he wouldn''t share my ideas, especially after what happened to you and your mother."


    Khan nodded and refilled his drink. He was locking most of his thoughts in the back of his mind to avoid showing his real emotions, but he didn''tpletely ignore them, and some questions eventually found their way to his mouth.


    "Raymond, if I may," Khan called. "Humans are stronger than most species after the evolution. Our innate w probablypensates for that."


    "Mana cores usually be useless after the evolution," Raymond casually responded, "And getting there is extremely difficult. That''s not really a solution."


    "What exactly happens during the evolution?" Khan asked.


    "You sure have a silver tongue," Raymondughed. "You''ll go far in the Global Army. The answers will eventuallye."


    A buzzing noise spread through the room at that point. Raymond drew his phone from his pocket and heaved a helpless sigh. He even shook his head before closing the call and tapping on the screen to send a message.


    "So unfortunate," Raymond voiced another sigh as he stood up. "I''m afraid something came up. I must go somewhere."


    Khan promptly stood up and reassured Raymond. "That''s only normal in your position."


    "I didn''t want our meeting to be so short," Raymond revealed. "I even made youe all the way here. Take the bottle with you. It''s the least I can do for wasting your time."


    Khan would typically try to refuse or offer a polite answer, but he didn''t bother. He emptied his drink and picked up the bottle before performing a military salute.


    Raymond wanted to say something, but his phone rang again. He rolled his eyes and pointed at his phone while wearing a funny face. Khan smirked at the scene, and his smile widened when Raymond rejected the call.


    "It will only get worse," Raymond cursed. "You know how to get back to the roof, right? I''ll activate the elevator for you."


    "It was a pleasure, Raymond," Khan mustered some polite words.


    "Same here, Khan," Raymond stated. "Let''s do this again."


    Raymond''s phone rang again as soon as he finished his line. He and Khan exchanged a nod at that point, and thetter turned to walk toward the elevator.


    An opening appeared on the cylindrical structure as soon as Khan reached it, and a circr tform was waiting for him inside. Khan stepped on it, and the lift rose until it brought him back to the roof.


    The car had never left, and the driver didn''t say anything at Khan''s early return. The vehicle''s door promptly opened, and Khan took a sip from the bottle as soon as the set-off began.


    ''What is his deal?'' Khan cursed in his mind.


    Raymond had mostly been as friendly and cheerful as possible, but Khan felt to have seen his true colors a few times. It was even likely that Raymond had chosen to show them on purpose for unknown reasons.


    ''He knows my family,'' Khan pointed out. ''He probably knows it better than me.''


    Khan couldn''t predict that his family would be one of the meeting''s main topics, but he could generally deal with that. Yet, he didn''t expect his father and mother to be so important. Raymond might have lied to him, but that wouldn''t make sense.


    ''And what was all that stuff about mutations?'' Khan wondered. ''I get that he is interested in the Nak, but he should ask the higher-ups of the Global Army for that.''


    A vague picture formed in Khan''s mind. He didn''t have any proof, but a few dots connected anyway. Raymond''s interest in the Nak, the reinforced fabric, Jenna''s prediction, and the odd feeling on the fourth asteroid seemed to have something inmon.


    ''It can''t be,'' Khan thought, ''But it might make sense if the fourth asteroid has ab.''


    Deep thoughts afflicted Khan''s mind throughout the flight. He didn''t only worry about Raymond''s potential implication with the investigation. His memories often resurfaced and made him reevaluate his life in the Slums. His father had always lied to him, but he couldn''t find any incriminating instance.


    Khan almost failed to notice thending, but he reacted before the driver could call him. The doors opened and left him on the sidewalk before Luke''s building. The meeting had been short but incredibly meaningful.


    A messy scene weed Khan''s return to the building. Luke, Bruce, Francis, Monica, and the four first-level warriors were upying a few couches and sharing multiple bottles. Their mood was quite happy, which didn''t change when Khan entered their vision.


    ''Martha must be with Jenna,'' Khan thought while waving at hispanions and bringing the bottle to his mouth. He wasn''t in the mood for pleasantries and intended to go straight for a free room.


    "You came back earlier than I expected," Luke announced before Khan could cross the couches.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "We got interrupted," Khan quickly exined. "Mister Raymond received a call."


    "That''s a pity," Luke responded. "Do you want to join us? It''s still a bit early."


    "I think I''ll skip today," Khan smiled. "I''m a bit tired."


    "Tired from what?" Francis snorted before Luke could say anything.


    Khan had suppressed a lot during the meeting. The talk about the Nak and his father could make him explode, but he had retained his calm and had ignored the whispers of his urges. Still, Francis''s words dug a hole that Khan had no intention of patching up.


    "Is something the matter?" Khan asked while stopping in his track. The couches were only one meter from him, and Francis was sitting on the closest, but he only showed his back.


    "I''m just saying," Francis stated while turning and cing an arm on the couch''s back. "You haven''t done anything for the entire week. How could you be tired?"


    "I''ve trained," Khan calmly exined.


    "Ah! Training," Francisughed through an evident mocking tone. "We all know who you have in your room. I''ll give you a clue. She is green."


    "Francis, drop it," Monica scolded.


    "Why should I do that?" Francis scoffed. "We all think that. We work every day while he gets to spend his time with his alien whore. How is that fair?"


    Francis'' slobbering voice revealed his drunken state, but Khan didn''t care. That open insult to Jenna made him drop his suppression and experience all the emotions from the meeting. Annoyance, uneasiness, anxiety, and anger emerged and found a perfect target.


    "Maybe you''d also get a woman if you spent less time trying to get them drunk," Khan mocked.


    "You can''t talk to me like this!" Francis shouted while standing up.


    "Why?" Khan smirked. "Because your family might get angry?"


    Francis'' face turned red in anger, but Luke, Bruce, and Monica stood up simultaneously to appease the situation. However, Khan sensed that Francis'' mana had started to move, so he prepared for the worst.


    "Why don''t we all calm down?" Luke eximed, but Francis lifted his arm before anyone could do anything.


    Mana gathered at the center of Francis'' palm to generate a series of orange sparks. Thetter shed with each other and released a lightning bolt that shot at high speed toward Khan.


    Khan had evaluated the power of the spell even before it took form. Francis was drunk, but he had still mustered something that came close to the second level. The attack was deadly but not unavoidable. Still, he opted for a psychological blow.


    The blood vessels on Khan''s right hand clotted while he raised his arm. His gesture perfectly matched theunch of the lightning bolt and made itnd on his palm.


    The [Blood Shield] could endure the spells from third-level mages now. Francis'' attack couldn''t even make a dent in the alien technique, but it enveloped Khan''s hand in grey smoke that hid its state.


    Monica gasped, but Khan acted before she could do anything. He brought his palm to his mouth and blew on it to disperse the smoke. Once the gas vanished, everyone could see that his hand was perfectly fine.


    "That''s it?" Khan wondered, and Francis couldn''t find the strength to reply. His spell wasn''t too powerful, but seeing it blocked by a bare hand was too much to take.


    Khan scoffed and shook his head before turning to approach the elevator. He couldn''t bother with that trivial stuff. He only wanted to drink and think about his meeting.


    "Get a grip on yourself!" Monica shouted as soon as she managed to face Francis. The elevator opened by then, and Khan showed no surprise when he saw Monica hurrying to follow him inside.


    "You shouldn''t be so obvious," Khan chuckled and brought the bottle to his mouth once the elevator''s entrance closed.


    Monica ignored Khan''s words and reached for his right hand. Her expression betrayed her surprise when she didn''t see any wound on the palm. A ck mark had appeared, but that was it.


    "You should also get a grip on yourself," Khan teased while retracting his hand to show its palm and back. "See, I''m fine."


    "Sorry for worrying about you," Monica pouted.


    "Hey, we are still in hiding," Khan pointed out. "You should hold back in public."


    "You can''t expect me to stay calm when my man gets attacked," Monica muttered as she reached for Khan''s hand again and tried to wipe the ck mark.


    "Your man?" Khan repeated as he closed his fingers on Monica''s hand and pulled her closer. "I thought we weren''t dating."


    "We aren''t!" Monica hurriedly stated before turning toward the opening entrance of the elevator. "Wait, not here."


    Khan took a step to his side and pulled Monica with him. He stood at the elevator''s entrance and prevented the closing of its doors.


    "No one cane now," Khan uttered. "What were you saying?"


    Monica lowered her gaze but brought it back to Khan right away, and cute words left her mouth. "I wouldn''t do that stuff with someone who isn''t my man."


    "So," Khan snickered while suppressing the urge to kiss Monica, "We aren''t dating, but I am your man."


    "Exactly," Monica nodded.


    "That doesn''t make any sense," Khan said.


    "It does because I say so," Monica responded.


    "How can anyone argue with that?" Khan sighed.


    "You definitely can''t," Monica voiced before her tone turned a bit timid. "Just ept it."


    "If I am your man," Khan teased as he wrapped the arm holding the bottle around Monica''s waist to pull her on him, "Does that make you my woman?"


    "What do you think?" Monica whispered before letting go of Khan''s hand to wrap both arms around his neck and kiss him.


    "Does my woman want to spend some time in her room?" Khan asked when the kiss ended.


    "I don''t know if I''m in the mood," Monica yed along before mentioning actual problems. "Someone might even find out."


    "Do you prefer me to drink this on a bed with Jenna?" Khan joked while lifting the bottle so that Monica could notice it.


    "Press on my floor''s key already," Monica snorted.


    "No need," Khan smirked. "We are already here."


    Monica turned toward the corridor before showing a helpless expression. Still, a bright smile broadened on her face when she noticed Khan''s shameless smirk. She ended up giggling and tightening her embrace to leave another kiss on his mouth.


    Khan wrapped his arms around Monica''s waist. She understood the silent request and jumped on him. Her legs also performed a hug and allowed Khan to carry her across the corridor. Needless to say, their kiss didn''t end even after they entered her room.

 Chapter ?399 Serious

    Chapter ?399 Serious


    A slightly unfamiliar ceiling unfolded in Khan''s vision when he opened his eyes. The sight tried to confuse him, especially since the nightmare had just ended, but his sensitivity reminded him of where he was.


    A smirk made its way to Khan''s face when he rolled himself to his right. A mess of curly hair hid a beautiful face sleeping on a pillow. Monica had yet to wake up, and snores escaped her mouth from time to time.


    ''She slept through my nightmares,'' Khan thought. ''Cute.''


    Khan didn''t return to his roomst night. He had remained with Monica until they both fell asleep. They didn''t do anything too intimate, but their rtionship had progressed a bit. His exposed torso and her open shirt proved that.


    ''It''s quite early,'' Khan thought when he checked his phone. Luke and Bruce had sent him messages, but he wasn''t in the mood to read them. Also, his mind instinctively calcted how long he had before Monica went to work.


    The room was utterly silent except for Monica''s breathing and asional snores. Peace reigned, but the rustling of the sheets disturbed it when Khan crawled toward Monica and wrapped an arm around her waist.


    A giggle left Monica''s mouth, and a cute groan followed when Khan kissed her forehead. Monica turned to her left to use Khan''s arm as a pillow, and a smile broadened on her face when her eyes opened.


    "Morning," Khan whispered, and Monica snuggled closer to leave a quick kiss on his lips. Khan left her waist to remove the curls from her face, but his gesture made Monica widen her eyes.


    "This isn''t a dream," Monica gasped while cing both hands on Khan''s chest to keep him away. "Why are you in my room?!"


    <sub></sub>


    "I asked nicely," Khan teased, "And you let me stay."


    "This can''t happen," Monica stated as panic filled her expression. "And where are your clothes?!"


    "You took them off yesterday," Khan chuckled.


    "No, you took them off!" Monica corrected.


    "See, you remember," Khan joked.


    Monica''s panic only intensified when she noticed her open shirt. Khan could see her bra, so she turned and hurriedly threw the sheets on her.


    Even during the turn, Monica didn''t leave Khan''s arm. Her head was still there, and Khan could sense her calming down when he caressed her hair.


    "You always take a bit to warm up," Khan snickered as he approached Monica again and hugged her from above the sheets.


    "It''s your fault," Monica pouted but didn''t oppose the kisses that Khan left on her neck and head.


    "Is it?" Khan whispered into Monica''s ear. "Am I to me for your dream too?"


    "We won''t talk about that!" Monica shouted.


    "But I want to hear the details," Khanined.


    Monica remained silent for a few seconds before turning toward Khan. She stared deep into his eyes, and a hand eventually reached his face to pull him down.


    The two exchanged a long kiss in which Monica didn''t hold back from running her fingers on Khan''s bare chest. At first, her touch carried some hesitation, but she quickly let her desire take over her actions.


    "The dream was nice," Monica whispered when their lips separated, "But this is better."


    Another kiss followed, but Monica soon pushed Khan slightly away. The gesture surprised him, but that feeling vanished when Monica slowly removed the sheets to uncover her open shirt.


    Some shyness tried to make its way to Monica''s face, but her expression carried far more, and its intensity limited Khan''s look at her bra to only a nce. He found her emotions far more attractive, and his eyes showed evident desire when they returned to her.


    The two didn''t speak anymore as they lost themselves in their intimacy. Monica''s shirt soon flew away, and she didn''t voice the slightestint. She was too busy messing with Khan''s hair or exploring his back to care, and his touch only deepened her immersion.


    The couple took a break only when it was clear they were about to cross another line. Monica had sat on Khan''sp by then, and her kisses grew slower and slower until she finally retracted her head.


    Words didn''t arrive even at that point. Monica caressed Khan''s cheeks and traced the edges of his lips while his hands remained firm on her waist. He was ready to push a bit more, but Monica ended up exploding into augh that distracted him from his urges.


    "What is it?" Khan asked with a smile.


    "My mother would kill me if she knew I slept with a man," Monica revealed. "Well, she would kill you first."


    "Remind me never to meet your mother," Khan replied.


    "She would like you," Monica reassured, "But she would still kill you."


    "The path to a wealthy woman''s bed is full of dangers," Khan sighed, "And yet here I stand."


    "You are an idiot," Monica giggled, "But you are the only one who wouldn''t take advantage of me even when I''m sleeping right next to you."


    "I''m not getting that bra off today, am I?" Khan questioned.


    "Not a chance," Monica smirked. "I will also kick you out soon."


    "So heartless," Khan sighed, but Monica onlyughed beforeying her head on his shoulder.


    "You sure like this position," Khan pointed out. That wasn''t the first time that Monica sat on him. They actually often ended up like that.


    Theck of an immediate answer made Khan turn toward Monica. He moved away some of the curls to uncover her face. Some of her shyness had returned, but she mustered the courage to reveal her thoughts.


    "You look only at me when we are like this," Monica exined.


    "Are you tempting me to keep my attention on you?" Khan asked.


    "What if I am?" Monica wondered.


    "Such bravery for someone who could barely kiss me only a week ago," Khan joked.


    "Shall I remind you that I started this?" Monica teased.


    Khan snorted and tightened his grip on Monica''s waist before pushing her to his right. Monica ended up with her back on the bed and Khan above her, and he didn''t hold back from voicing a tease of his own. "Should I be the one to end it?"


    Surprisingly enough, Monica didn''t panic at all. She hadughed during the abrupt gesture, and Khan could only see a warm smile when he rested upon her.


    "Disappointed?" Monica asked.


    "When did you get this bold?" Khan questioned.


    "I''m not bold," Monica exined, "Not now. I simply know that you won''t do anything bad."


    "Am I so predictable?" Khan sneered.


    "No," Monica replied. "You just make me feel safe."


    Khan could press on, but he didn''t want anymore, not after that statement. He lowered his head and ced it on Monica''s chest. She tensed up for a moment, but she began to caress his hair when she understood that he had no bad intentions.


    "I''m reaching my limit," Monica eventually mumbled, but her voice turned into a mixture of a moan and a shout when Khan left a kiss on the exposed skin right above the bra. "Khan!"


    "Alright, alright," Khanughed and lifted himself only to see Monica with her arms crossed above her chest.


    "I don''t feel safe anymore," Monica pouted, and Khanughed even more as hey beside her.


    Monica pretended to be angry, but she still let Khan pull her in his arms. She nestled on his shoulder, and her hands went back on his torso while she immersed herself in his cuddles.


    "I should kick you out right now," Monicained, even if her actions sent the opposite message.


    "Your rm has yet to ring," Khan pointed out. "We have time."


    "Did you check your phone?" Monica asked.


    "Luke and Bruce sent me something," Khan revealed. "I didn''t read it."


    "It''s obviously about Francis," Monica stated.


    "I was too busy hearing your snores to care," Khan teased.


    "I don''t snore!" Monica snorted, but Khan pulled her closer and interrupted her nextint.


    "Khan," Monica pleaded.


    "I can''t get enough of teasing you," Khanughed.


    "Come on," Monica said in her cute voice while pulling Khan''s head to make him face her. "You need to deal with the situation."


    "What situation?" Khan scoffed. "The guy can''t handle his booze."


    "He attacked you with a spell," Monica reminded, "In front of many witnesses. You''ll have Luke and me on your side. His family won''t be able to do anything."


    "Politics," Khan cursed. "I''ve killed for far less on the battlefield. He is lucky I have some self-control."


    "I''m sure he will think twice about attacking you after yesterday," Monica reassured. "Everyone was quite stunned."


    Something changed in the synthetic mana and made Khan nce at the source of that event. Monica had regained her intense gaze, and Khan couldn''t help but tease her.


    "Did you like what you saw?" Khan asked as he brought their faces closer.


    "I didn''t like seeing Francis attacking you," Monica eximed before her voice turned into a whisper. "Though you did look cool."


    "Did I?" Khan whispered before the two fell into a kiss that Monica immediately interrupted.


    "We did enough of that today," Monica scolded. "Let''s figure out how to deal with Francis before my shift starts."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Who said it was enough?" Khan tried to bring back the previous mood, but Monica defeated his attempt with her worried face.


    "Khan, this is serious," Monica pleaded.


    "You are so unfair," Khan cursed, and Monica snuggled closer to hide her shy smile. She was in his arms, wearing only her bra and a skirt. Khan couldn''t possibly refuse her.


    "How to deal with Francis?" Khan wondered. "Maybe I should really kill him. We are on Milia 222. Bad stuff happens."


    Khan was mostly joking, at least in that conversation, but Monica had an unexpected reaction. Her face grew slightly cold, and she stared at the ceiling while her thoughts ran wild.


    "We would have to make the corpse disappear," Monica added. "You can''t leave any trace against a wealthy family."


    "We?" Khan repeated as his attention went to Monica. "You can be quite dark."


    "I have no sympathy for that scumbag," Monica scoffed, "And he even had the gall to attack you."


    "You are cute when you are mad," Khan teased, but his tone soon turned serious. "Still, killing is a big deal. You shouldn''t take it lightly."


    "I''m the descendant of a wealthy family," Monica stated. "I''ve been trained to kill."


    "It''s always different when you are in the real world," Khan sighed. He still recalled his first kill on Istrone. He didn''t want Monica to experience that. If possible, he didn''t want anyone to experience that.


    "No, I did actual training for that," Monica exined. "At first, I started with normal animals, then Tainted creatures. My family never put me in front of a human, but I know it''sing."


    Khan could only praise that kind of training. It was simr to what he had taught on Reebfell, except for the human part. He would never force anyone to take a life.


    "A criminal?" Khan asked.


    "Criminals sentenced to death," Monica revealed. "Most families had stopped doing that. Istrone''s rebellion rekindled the market."


    "It makes sense," Khan admitted. "Many descendants died on that damned."


    Monica saw Khan diverting his gaze to lose himself in sad memories, so she brought his face back to her and reassured him. "Many survived thanks to you."


    Khan smiled. He appreciated Monica''s effort, but the mood was growing intimate again, and she didn''t have time for that, so he pinched her waist to distract her.


    "What was that for?" Monica whined.


    "Don''t jump into my problems already," Khan scolded. "I''ll tell you if I need help."


    "Do you think I''d be in the way?" Monica asked in a sad tone.


    "I think I''d have to face your mother if we get discovered," Khan joked.


    Monica didn''t let the joke distract them from the issue. She knew she couldn''t ask too much from Khan since they had only been together for a week. Yet, she didn''t want him to cut her out from a part of his life.


    "Are you so eager to see the dark side of my life?" Khan continued since Monica was still staring at him.


    "It''s still your life, isn''t it?" Monica replied. "Being with you only during the good sides would make this kind of meaningless, don''t you think?"


    Monica''s resolve stunned Khan. She could be shy, moody, and childish, but her actions showed her maturity. She had told Khan to keep things simple, but she didn''t make that decision lightly. She had already epted that they would face rough patches, most of which woulde from him.


    "Don''t look at me like that," Monica scolded since Khan''s intense gaze brought back her shyness.


    Khan felt devoid of thoughts. His desires took over and made him leave a quick kiss on Monica''s lips. She didn''t even try to refuse it, and the two soon rekindled their intimate moment. It even seemed more passionate than before, but the universe didn''t let them enjoy it.


    A groan escaped Khan''s mouth when Monica''s rm rang. He didn''t want that moment to end so soon, and she shared his feelings. Still, her hands were tied.


    "You need to go," Monica whispered while the rm continued to ring. "I need to shower and change."


    "We can do that together," Khan suggested.


    "Not a chance," Monica giggled before leaving a quick kiss on Khan''s lips. The time to kick him out hade, but she diverted her gaze and wore her timid expression while a suggestion came out of her mouth. "Though, maybe you cane earlier tomorrow."


    "Is this an actual request?" Khan teased.


    "Don''t tease me even now," Monicained, "And get off me already."


    Monica pushed Khan, and he let her win. He straightened his position and crawled out of bed, but his eyes remained on Monica.


    "Stop it," Monica voiced as she picked up a pillow and hugged it to hide her chest. "I''ll bete."


    Khan heaved a helpless sigh and finally diverted his gaze to search for his stuff. His elegant pullover was on the floor, while the sheath was on the bedside table. Wearing them took only a few seconds, and he didn''t hesitate to approach the entrance afterward.


    "Wait," Monica called before Khan could leave. She hurriedly left the bed to reach him and voice a request. "Give me onest kiss."


    "I got myself a needy woman," Khan stated before fulfilling Monica''s request. She was still hugging the pillow, so the kiss didn''t be too passionate.


    "I''ll see you tomorrow," Monica said once the kiss ended. "Come earlier, okay?"


    Khan obviously nodded, and Monica tightened her hug on the pillow. The two had understood each other without saying anything specific. They wanted to spend more time together, and that new agreement made both of them desire that tomorrow coulde faster.


    Khan felt the need to take a deep breath when he left the room. He knew something would have happened if the rm didn''t interrupt them. Even Monica had realized that. Her request probably came from that understanding.


    ''It''s getting serious quickly,'' Khan couldn''t help but think when he recalled the meaningful expression that Monica had worn after theirst kiss.


    Monica''s affection wasn''t necessarily a problem, but Khan knew that he had worn a simr expression, and that could be troublesome. He didn''t experience emotions like a human. He felt far more.


    ''I''m really getting into it,'' Khan acknowledged.


    Of course, that was a mere realization. It felt strange to be so involved in something like that, but the time for hesitation had long since passed. Khan was way past holding back now.


    The departure from the room opened Khan''s mind to the rest of his problems. Francis'' attack and the time spent with Monica had interrupted his review of the meeting with Raymond, but the walk back to his bed allowed him to resume it.


    Two main points immediately became clear. First, Khan''s parents were far more important than he had initially believed. Also, the nightmares probably were a known consequence of the Tainted status, at least among certain experts.


    Both points were deeper than they appeared. Bret''s banishment to the Slums had to hide something meaningful, which probably involved Elizabeth or the procedure used on Khan to stabilize the mutations.


    Khan didn''t have enough data to side with one of the two hypotheses. Both of them could be true as far as he knew. Still, when he added Raymond''s interests to the equation, he felt that the procedure had a greater role in the banishment and removal of his family name.


    The knowledge of the nightmares brought up equally deep questions. Khan still had to rely on Raymond''s interests and vague words to justify his ideas. Yet, if Raymond had nned his revtions, Khan could easily conclude that he wasn''t the only one cursed with the scenes of the unknown sr system.


    ''Am I in the middle of a fucking conspiracy?'' Khan wondered. ''How much is the Global Army hiding?''


    Sadly, the only ones who could answer Khan''s questions were unreachable. His father was the most essible expert, but his restrictions made an interrogation impossible. Moreover, Khan still didn''t know how he felt about him.


    That torrent of wild thoughts kept Khanpany even after he returned to his room. Jenna had woken up since she had sensed his arrival, and a predictable question soon left her mouth.


    "[I want to hear every detail]," Jenna requested before understanding that something was wrong. "[Khan, what happened]?"


    The question snapped Khan back to reality and focusing on Jenna helped him sort out his messy thoughts. He immediately jumped on the bed, and she entered his embrace while she waited for him to begin his tale.


    Khan told Jenna everything. She was the best consultant and friend in that situation since she saw mana like him. Her knowledge was actually deeper than Khan''s, so she could uncover details he might have missed.


    However, Jenna''s answer turned out to be quite disappointing. "[The chaos element is the best to trigger mutations, but trying to give them a direction would go against its nature. As for the Nak, I truly don''t know]."


    Truth be told, Khan had predicted a simr oue. Everything was too vague even for Jenna, but she was aware of the situation now. Khan could count on her senses to make up for what he missed.


    "[Anyway, we should definitely kill Francis and get Monica to help with his corpse]," Jenna changed the topic. "[No one will hear about him again]."


    Jenna radiated proper killing intent. Learning about Francis'' sudden attack had put a target on him. She didn''t even care about the words he had used. She simply couldn''t forgive him for trying to hurt Khan.


    Khan didn''t immediately address that killing intent. Other problems ran through his mind, and Francis wasn''t part of them. He still saw a vague picture, and only Jenna could tell him how reasonable it was.


    "[Hey]," Khan called. "[What do you think I would feel in the presence of a Nak]?"


    "[I think words wouldn''t be able to describe your reaction]," Jenna revealed.


    "[I''m talking on an instinctive level]," Khan exined. "[I can''t stop thinking about the fourth asteroid and that strange sensation. I don''t know. Your prediction and Raymond''s interest in the Nak seem to create a pattern]."


    "Imminent chaos," Jenna repeated the exact words said to Khan during their first encounter. "[It will most likely feel like an attraction, an instinctive sense of belonging]."


    "[I have felt drawn to that sensation]," Khan pointed out.


    "[Khan]," Jenna continued, "[I wouldn''t have missed the presence of a Nak. That''s something no one can miss]."


    "[What if there was amunication method used only by Nak]?" Khan wondered, "[Something simr to what the Nele use]."


    "[It would still cause visible changes in the mana]," Jenna stated. "[Still, it does feel oddly connected. There are some coincidences]."


    "[Especially if your prediction is true]," Khan added.


    The hypothesis put Jenna in a pensive state. Her predictions relied on patterns, which she created through her sensitivity. There was a chance that her senses had unconsciously perceived something and had added it to her mental image of Milia 222.


    Nevertheless, the matter remained unrealistic. Jenna was a rare talent among the Nele, but her superiors remained above her in many aspects. She might be unable to recognize or notice extremely faint sensations, but they wouldn''t escape Caja or other leaders.


    "[Whatever it is]," Jenna eventually spoke, "[We''ll face it together. I''ll be at your side before Monica can even arrive]."


    "[Your jealousy is getting worse]," Khanmented.


    "[I don''t care]," Jenna snorted. "[She must learn her ce. She must know that she can sleep with you only because I allow it]."


    Khan didn''t even try to argue with Jenna. Heughed and checked his phone to read the messages that had arrived during the night. Luke and Bruce had mostly expressed concern for his state and their support in an eventual political struggle, but a new text reached the device while he was still busying up with replies.


    ''What?!'' Khan shouted in his mind when he read Luke''s new message. ''Another theft happened? How is that possible?''

 Chapter ?400 Deployment

    Chapter ?400 Deployment


    Luke didn''t add any detail to his message, but its contents were more than clear. Another prototype of the reinforced fabric had gone missing, so a meeting had be necessary. The team had to gather to n the next move.


    Khan didn''t immediately leave his room. His eyes remained on the phone while his thoughts ran wild. He probably was the team member with the best understanding of the situation, but that only made it harder for him to ept what had just happened.


    The factory was an isted environment with limited space. The Cobsend family couldn''t add too many guards. Yet, it had probably implemented new security measures after the thefts.


    Moreover, Luke''s team had spent thest month tracking the various warehouses and vehicles connected to the industrial district. That action couldn''t go unnoticed, so the criminals involved with the thefts were bound to know they had eyes on them.


    Most criminals would choose toy low in that situation, and that without adding Raymond''s arrival and Khan''s attack on the buyers to the equation. The thieves were suffering attacks from both sides, but the factory had still lost another prototype.


    ''The theft must have been recent,'' Khan thought. ''We might be able to catch up with the criminals if we hurry, or so Luke will think.''


    Khan could guess what Luke had in mind. Thest theft had put a target on the vehicles that had recently entered the industrial district. Luke would probably send the team after them, but Khan''s guts told him that the effort would be useless.


    The criminals involved in the theft were by no means ordinary. They wouldn''tmit mistakes, and the very probable inside help would cover any trace.


    Luke''s n would probably make everyone waste time, but Khan couldn''t refuse to follow his orders. He had to y his part, so someone else had to handle the other aspects of the investigation.


    "[What do you need me to do]?" Jenna asked as soon as Khan turned toward her. She had read the message, and his expression had told her enough.


    "[Luke will probably deploy us]," Khan exined. "[You can''t stay here on your own, not with Raymond around. I need you among your species where no one can touch you]."


    "[Do you really think I''ll leave you]?" Jenna asked as she half-turned toy her left side on Khan''s chest. "[I need to watch your back now more than ever]."


    "[Jenna]," Khan called.


    "[Don''t Jenna me]," Jennained. "[You want to keep me safe, but so do I]."


    "[It''s not about keeping you safe]," Khan tried to justify.


    "[What is it then]?" Jenna asked as she grabbed Khan''s neck to push him down. Khan''s back ended up on the mattress, with Jenna pinning him down by pressing on his shoulders.


    Jenna wasn''t holding back. True strength flowed through her arms to prevent Khan from moving. He would have to fight back properly to break free.


    "[I will force you to ept my help if I must]," Jenna continued as her expression gained crazy traits. Even the synthetic mana around her echoed her seemingly frenzied state.


    Jenna would appear truly dangerous from the outside, but Khan ended up smiling at that scene. He knew what was happening. Her emotions had simply made her snap.


    "[Do you think I''m recing you with Monica]?" Khan joked.


    "[That''s not what I said]," Jenna pointed out. "[But, you aren''t sending her away, are you? You are even sleeping with her now. That ce belongs to me]."


    "[Listen to my mind]," Khan said while thinking about his affection toward Jenna. "[Listen to what the mana is telling you]."


    Khan''s attempt to calm down Jenna had the opposite effect. His affection added fuel to her frenzied state and made her grab his right hand to ce it on her chest.


    "[Take me]," Jenna almost begged. "[Make me yours and keep me at your side forever. Use me as you plea-]!"


    Jenna let out a surprised gasp when Khan squeezed her chest. The remaining arm on his shoulder lost strength, allowing him to sweep it away without hurting her.


    Jenna fell on Khan, but he stopped her before she could m her head on his. She immediately tried to kiss him now that they were so close, but a thumb stopped her lips before they could reach his mouth.


    "[Khan]," Jenna whined as she grabbed Khan''s head and tried to close the distance that separated their lips.


    "[You will do as I say now]," Khan dered, sending as much authority as possible into the synthetic mana.


    A tremor ran through Jenna when those words reached her ears. She stopped struggling to kiss Khan and remained still as she waited for his next order.


    "[Get up]," Khan voiced, and Jenna followed the order. She straightened her back to stand on her knees, and Khan used that chance to sit on the bed.


    "[Come here]," Khan continued while sounding even bossier. He was ying on Jenna''s desire to please him to make her calm down, but that was only the beginning of the process.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Jenna fell in Khan''s embrace, and he adjusted her position to make her right sidey on his chest. Warm cuddles followed, and Jenna shook whenever his fingers touched her skin. She had grown incredibly sensitive in her frenzied state, and Khan didn''t hold back from kissing her head from time to time.


    Difficult minutes went by. Jenna still experienced bursts of emotions that made her try to kiss or tease Khan, but he mustered the entirety of his self-control to avoid that oue. There would be no going back if he epted her even once, and that didn''t apply only to Jenna.


    Jenna''s breathing eventually grew ragged before slowing down to return to a normal pace. She nestled deeper in Khan''s chest as her emotions became quieter. She was finally calming down, and Khan kept cuddling her until she regained her sanity.


    "[I didn''t expect-]," Jenna muttered.


    "[It''s fine]," Khan interrupted her. "[We knew something like this would happen]."


    "[I''m getting too dangerous for you]," Jenna started to panic. "[I almost-]."


    "[Don''t even start]," Khan scolded while flicking Jenna''s forehead.


    Jenna went silent, but her beautiful eyes often peeked at Khan''s concerned expression. A smile slowly broadened on her face, and Khan felt the need to curse when he recognized the emotions she radiated.


    "[Are you about to jump on me again]?" Khan asked.


    "[I was just fantasizing]," Jenna giggled. "[I demand you get this bossy more often]."


    Khan shook his head, but he also heaved a sigh of relief. Jenna had gone back to her normal state. They had managed to avoid the crisis.


    "[That''s my lewd girl]," Khan teased while tightening the hug on Jenna. He had to leave to attend the meeting, but she had the priority. He needed to clear things up with her first.


    Khan wasn''t trying to sideline Jenna. He simply didn''t want her to remain alone in a building owned by the Cobsend family. Yet, he still needed her in the investigation, and he made sure to be as transparent as possible with his following words.


    "[I need you to join the search for Rodney]," Khan exined, "[At least while I''m away]."


    "[I get it]," Jenna sighed, "[But don''t leave me alone for too long]."


    "[I wouldn''t dare]," Khan reassured. "[Contact me if you find anything or need me to spoil you for a bit]."


    "[I won''t even try to hold back]," Jenna giggled.


    "[You are impossible]," Khan joined herugh.


    A few more minutes passed, but the couple eventually separated and dressed up. Luke sent another message in the meantime, but Khan ignored it as he hurried outside the room with Jenna.


    Nothing could escape the two''s senses, so they went straight for the main hall and outside the building. The path was clear since the team was busy with the meeting, so Khan could send Jenna away without alerting anyone.


    Khan went back into the building after the separation. Now that Jenna was outside the Cobsend family''s reach, he could focus on the investigation, so he didn''t hesitate to use the elevator to reach thest floor.


    The meeting was in the same room with the interactive map of Lower Level 1. Khan only had to knock on its door to enter a tense environment filled with sour faces and anger. The synthetic mana echoed everyone''s feelings, and Luke turned out to be the most intense of the group.


    "What took you so long?!" Luke shouted when the entrance closed behind Khan.


    "I had to deal with a problem," Khan vaguely exined.


    "What can be more important than this?" Luke scolded as Khan approached the interactive desk. "These criminals had the gall to steal a prototype with me here. This is a direct insult to my family."


    "Luke," Khan called while mustering the calmest words he could think of, "I came as soon as possible. You know I did."


    Khan''s evident honesty made Luke realize that his previous words had been too much. He didn''t address them to save face, but he took a deep breath to calm down and avoid falling prey to his anger. Sadly, he wasn''t the only one annoyed by Khan''ste arrival.


    The whole team had gathered in the room, and, except for Master Ivor, everyone was standing around the interactive table. Silence reigned, so the snort that followed sounded extremely loud. Francis didn''t add anything else, but his gesture expressed his stance.


    Khan wasn''t in the mood for games. His rtionship with Monica had yet to provide proper emotional and physical release, and the previous interaction with Jenna had only pushed him to his limits.


    Luke had also deserved a polite and collected answer, but Francis didn''t fall in that category, and Khan was already beyond holding back with him. Francis stood on the opposite side of the desk, and his eyes widened when a threatening figure suddenly jumped on it.


    "Khan!" Bruce shouted when Khannded on the interactive table and fixed his cold gaze on Francis.


    "Come on," Khan ordered,pletely ignoring Bruce. "Speak your mind."


    "Khan, this is not the time," Luke stated.


    Khan''s eyes remained on Francis for the whole time. Thetter kept a straight face, but the synthetic mana around him reeked of his fear. He was acting tough to save face, but his resolve shook as that chilling gaze remained on him.


    "I''ve killed things three times your size in Ecoruta''s trenches while bullets flew above my head," Khan slowly said as he crouched on the interactive desk. "Don''t fuck with me."


    "Khan!" Luke called as he stepped before Francis to hinder Khan''s path.


    "How do you expect me to work with him?" Khan asked, even if his gaze remained on Francis.


    "You won''t work with him today," Luke quickly exined. "I''m splitting you into different teams. You are with Master Ivor."


    "Master Ivor?" Khan repeated as he finally looked at Luke.


    Master Ivor was standing near the metal wall, but he left it to approach the interactive desk after Luke''s words. He walked until he reached Francis and even ced a hand on his shoulder.


    "We will go after the deliveries that happened in the past hours," Master Ivor said while wearing a polite smile. "We must deal with the only one handled by Ots."


    Khan shot another chilling nce at Francis before stepping down from the desk. The situation was slightly different from his initial prediction. He would understand the team''s deployment, but Master Ivor''s presence would tell everyone that the operation had the blessing of the Cobsend family.


    "There will be no turning back after this," Khan pointed out.


    "I need to make this attack official andpensate any innocent party," Luke summarized. "I will only turn my family into a public enemy otherwise."


    "What if we don''t find anything?" Khan wondered.


    "I will have to ept that the task is beyond me," Luke dered.


    Luke''s sad situation became clear after that short exnation. A theft had happened under his direct supervision. He had already failed in his task. The current assault was only a desperate move meant to save his reputation.


    "Alright," Khan nodded. "I won''t go easy on the Ots if that''s what you want."


    "Thank you," Luke sighed in relief.


    "Mister Alstair, if I may," Master Ivor continued while pulling Francis'' shoulder to make him half-turn. "Lieutenant Khan outranks you. It''s only proper for a descendant with your status to show some manners."


    Khan didn''t expect Master Ivor to scold Francis, and he felt even more surprised to see thetter listening to his words. Francis gulped before performing a military salute and mustering the politest tone he could. "I''m sorry, Lieutenant Khan. I''ve been disrespectful."


    Francis'' emotions didn''t match his words, but Khan couldn''t use them to contradict him. He nodded and let the matter go for now as he brought his focus to Master Ivor.


    "I can update Lieutenant Khan on the road," Master Ivor announced while letting Francis go. "We can''t waste time."


    "Is that okay?" Luke asked Khan.


    "No problem," Khan eximed.


    "Very well," Luke stated as he pped his hands. "It''s time to go. Don''t kill anyone, but don''t let these factions take you lightly either. Good luck!"


    The team split into different groups that hurried toward the exit. Khan could confirm that Monica and Martha were together, and he nodded when both of them shot concerned gazes at him.


    Khan moved once Master Ivor reached him, and the two left the room without saying anything. Only Luke and Bruce remained behind, but they didn''t add anything either.


    Master Ivor and Khan remained silent even after they left the building. A car was waiting for them on the street past the sidewalk, and they entered it without wasting any time.


    "Ecoruta," Master Ivor spoke once the car started moving. "I heard that the Stal are huge."


    "That''s not their strangest feature," Khan chuckled while trying to suppress the memory of the Stal''s sexual organs.


    "You sure have seen a lot for your young age," Master Ivor sighed. "It must be hard to contain yourself before such tant disrespect."


    "Why did you help me?" Khan wondered since Master Ivor mentioned the issue. "I''m grateful, but I don''t understand why."


    "Luke asked me to," Master Ivor revealed. "I am quite respected among wealthy families. I can scold Mister Alstair without putting any me on the Cobsend family."


    Khan appreciated Luke''s concern, but his rtionship with Francis remained extremely poor. It even seemed that nothing could fix it, especially since he had every intention to keep dating Monica.


    "Ivor, sir, lend me your experience," Khan eventually requested. "What do you think I should do with Francis?"


    "I''m afraid there''s nothing you can do," Master Ivor chuckled. "Mister Alstair seems set on hating you."


    "That''s not funny," Khan cursed, even if a shortugh ended up leaving his mouth.


    "Do not despair," Master Ivor reassured. "Earning the enmity of a wealthy descendant is amon urrence, especially for someone as popr as you."


    "Won''t that doom my career?" Khan wondered.


    "Sess creates enemies," Master Ivor stated. "It''s perfectly natural."


    Khan sighed, but Master Ivor promptly added something. "Lieutenant Khan, this old man thinks you did the right thing. Showing weakness would have only led to bullying. Sometimes, the clueless kids need to learn their ce."


    "Clueless kids?" Khan snickered. He didn''t expect Master Ivor to be disrespectful toward wealthy descendants.


    "I trust this conversation won''t leave this vehicle," Master Ivor casually uttered.


    "You have my word," Khanughed, and the car''s insides went silent.


    The vehicle took a while to reach its destination, but Khan and Master Ivor eventually found themselves before arge two-story building. The ce had a vast metal gate and no windows. Moreover, its surfaces hindered Khan''s senses.


    Two Ots guarded the gate, but both tensed up when they saw Khan and Master Ivor walking in their direction. Those aliens were mere first-level warriors without great sensitivity, but the pressure radiated by their opponents told them that they were outmatched.


    "We need to talk with your boss," Master Ivor announced after reaching the gate. "Let us through."


    "No human gets inside without previous authorization," One of the Ots eximed, even if his voice grew fainter as Khan added more coldness to the synthetic mana in the area.


    "I can create a path," Khan suggested while turning toward Master Ivor.


    Master Ivor didn''t get the chance to reply since the gate suddenly started to open. Its metal doors slid to create a narrow passage, and a stronger Ots became visible in that gap.


    "We don''t want any problem," The newly arrived second-level warrior stated, "But we will ask for some form ofpensation."


    "That won''t be a problem," Master Ivor quickly announced as he made his way through the narrow passage. Khan followed him, and a vast warehouse full of metal boxes and other items unfolded in his view.


    The warehouse had a straightforward design. Two staircases in the back of the area connected the first floor to the second, and a few crews of Ots moved the various items ording to their orders. Only five second-level warriors upied the ce. All the others were weaker than them.


    "Open these boxes," Master Ivor ordered without showing any trace of his previous friendliness. "We need to check them."


    "We can''t show you the goods," The second-level warrior who had weed the duoined.


    "And you can''t stop us from opening them by force," Master Ivor responded.


    The Ots frowned before Master Ivor''s serious stance. He didn''t want to follow his orders, but he appeared more scared of the consequences of his refusal.


    "The Cobsend family will have to pay a steep price topensate for this insult," The Ots threatened.


    "That won''t be a problem," Master Ivor replied. "Now, the boxes."


    The Ots kept his eyes on Master Ivor for a few more seconds before turning toward the other second-level warriors in the warehouse and nodding. Thetter gave new orders to the workers, who began to open the various boxes to show their contents.


    Khan hid his surprise but studied every reaction. The Ots stayed true to their fame by knowing that Khan and Master Ivor were working for the Cobsend family, and their decision to cooperate also spoke for their political skills.


    A fight would have only damaged the warehouse and the goods. Instead, epting Master Ivor''s conditions would give that faction the chance to ckmail the Cobsend family without losing anything. That was the smart choice, but Khan still found something odd.


    In theory, Master Ivor was the biggest threat and the figure with more authority. The Ots were also bound to know his level. Yet, Khan found himself at the center of most worried nces. Even the first-level warriors paid more attention to him.


    Everything became clear when Khan heard some of the faint murmurs exchanged by the Ots. The words "chaos wielder" exined how far his fame stretched. Those workers were probably aware of his actions in the dock.


    "It''s better to be feared in some cases," Master Ivor said while Khan was still immersed in his inspection. "Fame can be a good shield."


    "I''ll take that as apliment," Khan uttered.


    "It was apliment," Master Ivor chuckled. "Let''s go, Lieutenant Khan. We have many boxes to check."


    Khan could rely on his senses to check for the reinforced fabric since he had memorized its unique aura. Still, the boxes could have hidden drawers, and only a personal inspection could uncover them.


    The warehouse was big enough to contain hundreds of boxes, and the variety of items they held was also surprising. Provisions, magical weapons, and tools of various shapes and functions crossed Khan''s vision and awakened his curiosity, but he couldn''t find anything connected to the reinforced fabric.


    That result matched what Khan had initially predicted. The Ots weren''t on his target list in the first ce either, so he felt no disappointment once the inspection ended and left him empty-handed.


    "What now?" Khan asked after Master Ivor checked the hour on his phone.


    "Now, we hope the other teams find something," Master Ivor sighed.


    "And if they don''t?" Khan wondered.


    "You heard Luke," Master Ivor whispered to make sure that the Ots in the warehouse didn''t hear him. "Our stay on Milia 222 mighte to an end in that case."


    "Are you done?" One of the second-level warriors shouted since Khan and Master Ivor were merely standing at the center of the warehouse. "Our business must continue."


    "The Cobsend family will send a negotiator in a few days," Master Ivor promptly announced. "Thank you for your cooperation."


    Master Ivor turned to leave at that point, and Khan followed him. It was clear that the oue had left a bitter taste in the old man''s mouth. He probably wanted Luke to seed and gain some respect in the family, but the universe didn''t cooperate.


    Khan knew enough to keep the investigation alive even after today''s failure, and he considered whether to say something in the meantime. Master Ivor could be the perfect middle-man since Khan''s message spoke about a traitor in the Cobsend family, but something distracted him as soon as he left the warehouse.


    "I''ve called the car," Master Ivor revealed once the gate closed behind the duo. "It shoulde here in a matter of minutes."


    "You go ahead," Khan replied as he carefully inspected his surroundings. "I have something to do."


    "Lieutenant Khan, it might not be wise to act on your own," Master Ivor warned. "The general mood won''t be happy if the otherse back empty-handed too."


    "I''m afraid Luke will have to trust me on this one," Khan dered before making up his mind and facing Master Ivor properly. "Tell him that I''ll reveal everything once I get back."


    Master Ivor looked deep into Khan''s eyes for a few seconds before diverting his gaze. He seemed to lose interest in the matter as he said his goodbyes. "Good luck, Lieutenant Khan."


    Khan only needed to read the synthetic mana to know that Master Ivor was simply being protective over Luke. There seemed to be genuine affection between the two, but Khan didn''t linger too much in that inspection. He had to leave now.


    A familiar presence made Khan cross the street and turn a corner to end up in a rtively isted area surrounded by buildings. He was still close to the warehouse and could even sense Master Ivor from his position, but his entire attention ended up on a lonely car parked near the sidewalk.


    The car didn''t have anything special except for the familiar presenceing out of the slightly lowered window in the back. Other vehicles also crossed it and reassured Khan about the area''s safety, but he still walked around the district to avoid ending up in another trap.


    Once the inspection ended, Khan headed for the car but didn''t immediately approach the backseats. He stopped in front of the pilot''s window when he reached the vehicle and knocked on it before pointing down with his fingers.


    The window went down and revealed the human pilot behind it. The dark ss had blocked Khan''s senses, but he could now inspect the first-level warrior on the steering wheel. The middle-aged man seemed scared of him, and he took that as a good sign.


    "I''ll make this thing explode if you try anything funny," Khan threatened. "Are we clear?"


    The pilot slowly nodded, and Khan checked the reaction of the synthetic mana to confirm that his message had gotten through. His interest in the middle-aged man vanished at that point, and he turned to approach the backseats.


    A mere pull unlocked the door and revealed a luxurious ce. The back of the car featured a rectangr area with manyfortable seats, but Khan ignored everything to focus on the smirking figure that had unfolded in his view.


    "Your senses are something else," Rodney announced while inspecting Khan from head to toe. "Maybe I should have really listened to our alien teachers."


    "Give me one reason not to kill you right away," Khan threatened as his hand went on his sheath. He was still outside the car, but he was confident in killing Rodney before the pilot could set off.


    "Hey, hey," Rodneyughed. "You turned me into a prisoner, and I tried to kill you. The way I see it, we are even."


    "I turned you into a prisoner because you tried to kill me," Khan corrected.


    "Let''s not linger on old details," Rodney casually voiced. "You are alive, and I''m almost free. Nothing else matters."


    "One reason," Khan repeated. He wasn''t in the mood for games, especially with Rodney.


    "No fun as always," Rodney shook his head. "I''ll give you two reasons. First, if I don''t return, your signed letter goes public. I believe you don''t want to deal with that."


    "That''s easy to fix if you are nowhere to be found," Khan dered.


    "How cold," Rodneyughed. "I guess I need to use my second reason. It turns out that we are on the same side. We have to cooperate to get what we both want."


    "I''ll count to three," Khan warned. "One."


    "Calm down," Rodney eximed. "Look, I took this job to make quick cash and establish some political rtionship. I had no idea Raymond fucking Cobsend was involved. Isn''t that what you are worried about?"

 Chapter ?401 Curse

    Chapter ?401 Curse


    Nothing appeared on Khan''s face. His expression remained cold, but his thoughts shook. Rodney had actually named something that could lead to cooperation.


    The urge to kill Rodney was strong, but Khan felt the need to suppress it. Rodney was an annoying enemy, but Raymond was far worse. Thetter wasn''t someone Khan could handle on his own, let alone defeat him on a purely political battlefield.


    "Great minds think alike," Rodneyughed when Khan entered the car and closed the door behind him.


    Khan didn''t say anything. He slowly drew his knife as he took his ce on a seat in front of Rodney. He was interested in what Rodney had to say, but he wanted to keep the games at a minimum.


    Rodney''s smile froze when he saw the sharp knife, but no panic spread in his mind. He sighed before reaching for a drawer under the seat to his right. A bottle and a few sses came out, and he didn''t hesitate to pick them up.


    "You won''t refuse a drink, will you?" Rodney asked as he ced two sses on the seat and started filling them. "Don''t worry. I''ll drink before you."


    Rodney did exactly as he had announced. He picked up one of the sses and took a long sip. He even loudly gulped to prove that the booze was safe.


    Of course, Khan had already checked the safety of the booze through his sensitivity. Yet, coldness never left his expression. His stern gaze remained on Rodney even as he took the remaining ss with his free hand.


    "See, we can have a mature conversation," Rodney eximed. "We don''t always need threats."


    Rodney pretended not to keep track of the knife, but Khan could sense his lingering fear. Still, that reaction confirmed the honesty behind the meeting. Rodney was scared, which meant that he was really exposing himself in the hope of solving his problems.


    "Now," Rodney announced as soon as Khan took his first sip, "Why don''t we start with an exchange of information?"


    Rodney showed his usual smile, but Khan didn''t answer. He kept staring at him in silence to study his faintest reactions. Khan especially took note of the changes in his fear. It seemed that he wasn''t the only reason behind that emotion.


    "Didn''t we reach an agreement already?" Rodney felt forced to ask since Khan had yet to acknowledge him.


    "I see," Khan eventually spoke. "You must be really desperate to look for my help."


    Rodney''s smile disappeared. He tried to hide that reaction by bringing the ss to his mouth, but he quickly gave up on that. Khan''s senses were too troublesome even to attempt something like that.


    "Desperate," Rodney scoffed. "I know true desperation. You made me experience it."


    "Losing political privileges is nothing," Khan chuckled. "I think you finally met something that makes you truly scared. You wouldn''t evene close to me otherwise."


    "Think what you want," Rodney stated, "Just tell me when you are done gloating. I don''t have all the time in the world."


    "Me?" Khan asked. "You misunderstand. I don''t have to say anything."


    "Lies won''t get us anywhere," Rodney pointed out. "We both know I would already be dead if you had no intention of hearing me out."


    Rodney was showing proper resolve, which was quite surprising. Khan could almost feel able to trust him, but his tone remained cold. "Speak then."


    "I want an exchange of information," Rodney repeated.


    "I''ll decide whether to share something after I hear what you have to say," Khan dered.


    "That won''t work," Rodney regained his smirk. "You''ll just kill me once I reveal everything I know."


    "That''s not my problem," Khan uttered.


    "It is because you need my help," Rodney replied.


    "I''ll be the one to decide that," Khan stated.


    Rodney fell silent for a few seconds. He didn''t like how tense the meeting was getting, but the situation was hopeless. The two of them shared too much history to speak in friendlier terms.


    "Fine," Rodney epted. "I''ll trust you on this one."


    Khan voiced a faint scoff. He didn''t believe that Rodney would show all his cards for even a second, but he still chose to listen.


    "I got this job through my family," Rodney started exining now that the two had reached a silent understanding. "I knew I couldn''t get anything legal with my current reputation, but Milia 222 could still offer decent opportunities, so I epted without asking too many questions."


    "I don''t believe you," Khan interrupted. "You aren''t the type to jump blindly into a mission."


    "You didn''t exactly leave me in the best situation," Rodneyined.


    "I don''t believe you," Khan repeated.


    "It''s the truth," Rodney announced. "I knew it dealt with something illegal, but I couldn''t learn much from Earth. I discovered more only aftering here."


    Khan scanned the synthetic mana and confirmed Rodney''s version. Yet, he remained silent to keep the tension high.


    "My job as a guide was only a cover-up," Rodney continued, "A useful cover-up. It allowed me to keep track of the surface while I gathered information on the dock. I must say I learnt a lot during my time here."


    "And you have yet to say anything valuable," Khan pointed out.


    "I''m getting there," Rodney sneered. "Look, I realized I was dealing with something important the first time I saw the Bise. They are the reason behind my personal investigation. I don''t like to be in the dark when my future is at stake."


    "What could you possibly learn while working in the dock?" Khan asked. "I''ve also been there."


    Khan wasn''t trying to insult Rodney. Hisment merely hinted at the secrecy of the dock. Rodney had been there longer than Khan, but that didn''t change how hard it was to uncover illegal activities.


    "You''d be surprised," Rodneyughed. "Maybe you would have found out if you didn''t abandon the humans every time."


    "I''m not in the mood for your xenophobia," Khan threatened.


    "I''m serious," Rodney responded. "Do you even realize how far our influence spreads? We are so lucky to be born into our species. It''s a pity you never gave humans a chance."


    "I did," Khan voiced. "I even cleaned up their mess after they let kids transform into monsters."


    "Right, the dutiful Lieutenant Khan," Rodney mocked, "Always ready to jump into the fray, especially if he has a chick to protect."


    Khan felt incredibly tired. His patience had long since run dry. He wanted to hear what Rodney had to say, but he wouldn''t let him insult his feelings.


    A purple-red membrane enveloped the knife while Khan thrust it forward. He didn''t want to kill Rodney, but he didn''t need his legs to speak. Maybe that injury would even push him to get to the point.


    Nevertheless, Rodney pushed himself away before the knife could touch his left knee. The weapon pierced the seat and cut through the metal under it, but Khan promptly withdrew it to continue his assault.


    "I hired Ots to spy on themselves!" Rodney shouted as soon as Khan turned toward him. The sudden revtion made Khan stop, but he kept the purple-red membrane active to show his stance.


    "I didn''t stop there," Rodney hurriedly added. "I also hired humans and Fuveall. I bribed anyone I could to have my personal spies on different floors."


    "How much did you even spend?" Khan asked.


    "A lot," Rodney admitted. "I even considered forming my own faction before abandoning the idea. I have the wealth and the wits to aplish that. You know I do."


    "Why did you do all of this?" Khan wondered. "It''s way overkill."


    "And how would you know?" Rodney snorted. "You have no idea how families work. I fucked up on Nitis, so I became expendable. It was up to me to reinforce my position."


    Rodney''s words carried no lies. His situation probably wasn''t as bad as he tried to make it sound, but it couldn''t be good to have factions inside your family treating you as disposable currency.


    Khan could understand Rodney better now. He could imagine Rodney doing his best in his assigned task while also preparing for an eventual betrayal. His efforts had probably earned him some promotions too, which exined his importance in his business.


    Rodney''s reaction also revealed another important detail. Khan had been on the seat, so he couldn''t rely on his incredible speed, but Rodney had dodged his attack anyway. The man had developed good reflexes. His status as a second-level warrior wasn''t just for show.


    "So," Khan continued while withdrawing the mana around the knife and returning to his seat, "What did you discover?"


    "I told you I realized something was off when I first met the Bise, right?" Rodney repeated while straightening his position and picking up the bottle that had fallen during his escape. "I already knew that my boss couldn''t be the head of the operation at that point."


    "How?" Khan asked.


    "Because I didn''t know her," Rodney exined. "I don''t know everything there is to know about politics, but I always remember important figures. She was aplete stranger. She still is, if I''m being honest."


    "You can''t use your knowledge as proof," Khan stated. "This barely counts as a clue."


    "Please, see the threads already," Rodneyined. "My family put me in this business, a business that deals with Bise. The smuggled goods are also highly illegal and pricy. Amon criminal wouldn''t be in charge of all of that."


    "Did you open one of the boxes?" Khan asked in surprise.


    "I opened more than one," Rodney sneered. "To summarize, I was in the middle of an important business dealing with valuable goods. I obviously predicted the involvement of a wealthy family."


    Khan nodded. Rodney''s reasoning made perfect sense, especially from his perspective. Still, Khan had only learnt that Rodney''s boss was a woman for now.


    "Go on," Khan ordered.


    "I started investigating after reinforcing my position here," Rodney revealed as he refilled his drink. "I learnt secret paths and hidden alliances among various factions, but the real breakthrough happened when I found apletely hidden area between Lower Level 1 and 2."


    A tremor ran through Khan''s mind, but he hid that reaction. He remained as collected as possible as he voiced another question. "On the fourth asteroid?"


    "Where otherwise?" Rodney sighed. "I only managed to gaze at the ce from outside. It''s a stupidlyrge building, but I don''t know anything else."


    "Yes, you do," Khan uttered.


    Rodney shot an annoyed nce at Khan before continuing. "Really, I never got inside, but I found something odd. Some of our goods went there, but the ce also received different deliveries, deliveries from the surface."


    Everything fitted Khan''s hypothesis perfectly. Rodney was probably speaking about the ce where the stolen reinforced fabric went. It would actually be an incredible breakthrough if that intel were urate, but Khan didn''t forget who Rodney was.


    "These are just words," Khan announced. "They make an interesting story, but how can I believe you? As far as I know, you just want to send me into another trap."


    "You don''t have to trust me," Rodney dered, "But your actions speak loudly. You want to believe me because you know that something is off."


    "Not killing you is confirming some sort of conspiracy now?" Khan mocked.


    "Yes," Rodney said without showing any shame. "I initially thought your arrival was unrted, but everything changed when you sought me out. You even checked the box and stole the fabric. At that point, I was certain your group had something to do with my business."


    Khan wanted to refuse those usations, but any attempt would sound pointless. He had already announced his interest in the Bise, and the open box left in the secret corridor only confirmed his intentions.


    "The Cobsend family has many buildings on Milia 222," Rodney continued, "But you chose to settle on the second asteroid, so your mission involves the industrial district. Did something go missing? I can think of a ce where to retrieve those goods."


    Rodney''s reasoning was wless. Things were easier from his perspective, but Khan still felt the need to praise his efforts. Rodney had discovered the nature of Khan''s investigation with nothing but spies.


    "I don''t understand," Khan admitted. "You cane up with so many ideas. Why would you even be worried about Mister Raymond''s arrival?"


    "I can deal with criminals and other descendants," Rodney exined. "Raymond Cobsend is beyond me, and I don''t know if I''m on his side. Honestly, I wouldn''t like that either since I''m in no position to protect myself in that case."


    "What exactly do you want?" Khan went straight to the point.


    "I want to help you finish whatever you are doing here," Rodney dered. "I know you''ll leave once you are done, and the same should go for Raymond. I''ll let the situation calm down before redeeming your letter and returning to Earth."


    "Aren''t you overreacting?" Khan honestly asked. "Raymond Cobsend might have nothing to do with this. He isn''t even the type to deal with illegal business."


    "That''s where you are wrong," Rodney corrected. "You and I are easy to understand and even easier to predict, but Raymond is a different beast. That man will betray his own family to fulfill his goals."


    "Easy to understand?" Khan repeated as annoyance seeped into his voice. "You don''t know who I am."


    "Let''s not get back to the knife business," Rodney pleaded. "You are an emotional outcast. You will always put your loved ones above your species or organization."


    The description was strangely fitting, but Rodney continued before Khan could say anything. "On the other hand, I can only think about myself. No matter who I have to sacrifice, I will always take the path that will benefit me."


    Another urate description reached Khan''s ears and forced him to evaluate Rodney''s previous statement. Raymond was definitely intriguing, but Khan wanted to know what made him different.


    "Instead, Raymond is unpredictable," Rodney exined. "I don''t know why he came here, but I won''t get caught in the middle of his ns. The risks far outweigh the benefits."


    "You are willing to give up and betray everything you built here due to unfounded fear?" Khan couldn''t help but ask.


    "That''s what I need to do to survive," Rodney stated in the most serious tone he could muster. "I''m sure you can understand as much."


    Khan didn''t say anything. He still believed that Rodney was overreacting, which hinted at a trap. Yet, he couldn''t find any lie in Rodney''s words and thoughts.


    "I guess your offer involves the path to the hidden area on the fourth asteroid," Khan uttered. "Sure, I''ll take it."


    "Not so fast," Rodney smirked. "I would lose all my value if I gave you the path."


    "More ploys?" Khan sighed.


    "Nothing like that," Rodney reassured. "I will give you the path. I will actually show it to you, but not today."


    "I refuse," Khan directly replied. "I almost fell into space thest time I trusted you."


    "It will only be the two of us this time," Rodney exined. "I''m not allowed in that area either, so I''ll face the same risks as you."


    "Putting yourself in danger doesn''t reassure me," Khan scoffed. "Besides, I don''t want to give you time to prepare. It''s better if we go now."


    "There are too many guards now," Rodney revealed, "And I believe you want your team to be nearby to intervene, am I right? I can give you all of that."


    "I''m curious," Khan mocked. "How will you make my team move to the fourth asteroid?"


    "I won''t do anything," Rodney chuckled. "One of Milia 222 festivities is due in exactly one month. The fourth asteroid will be the center of those celebrations, and I''m sure the Cobsend family will have front seats."


    "You want to exploit the confusion of the celebrations," Khan understood.


    "The crews on Milia 222 aren''t famous for their work ethic," Rodney voiced. "I''ve been among them long enough to know that many will leave their posts to join the celebrations."


    "And the guards in this hidden area?" Khan asked. "They must be more trustworthy."


    "Some are," Rodney agreed, "But they are no match for the two of us. We''ll get past them in no time."


    Khan felt quite conflicted. Rodney was being honest, but everything was a bit too much to take in a single meeting. Khan had gone frompletely lost to having a real chance of retrieving the reinforced fabric. He only had to trust someone he wanted to kill.


    Still, one month was a long time. Khan could spend it looking for clues that would hopefully confirm Rodney''s story. Luke was the only problem since he might decide to pull the plug on the investigation if the other teams came back empty-handed.


    "I want to be able to contact you this time," Khan dered.


    "I''ll assign an Ots as my middle-man," Rodney eximed as his smirk broadened. He knew that Khan had already epted his offer.


    "I want weekly updates," Khan added, "Especially on this boss of yours. I need to know what she looks like."


    "Consider it done," Rodney agreed.


    "Onest thing," Khan said as his tone grew colder than before. "Don''t even think about getting out of my reach in the hidden passage. I will kill you and let my mission fail if I even smell that something is off."


    "No fun allowed with you," Rodney joked. "It''s fine. Getting all of you out of Milia 222 is in my best interest."


    Khan snorted without adding anything else. He stormed out of the car and closed the door before waiting on the sidewalk. The vehicle set off, and he watched it disappear in the distance.


    Trying to make a point of what had just happened turned out to be quite challenging. Rodney didn''t actually know much, but he had vital information that Khan couldn''t obtain due to his position.


    Raymond''s stance remained a mystery, but the presence of a hidden structure probably owned by the Cobsend family changed everything. That building might be the secretb working on reverse-engineering the reinforced fabric. If Rodney had spoken the truth, Khan might have solved the case.


    Nevertheless, going into a secret area with Rodney as the only ally sounded dangerous and ridiculous. Khan needed to prepare ordingly, and a second visit to the dock seemed necessary for that goal.


    Strangely enough, Rodney''s motivations were the only reassuring aspect of that new mess, but Khan couldn''t see them as a good sign. The situation was truly terrible if his enemy was the most trustworthy aspect of the mission.


    ''What to do now?'' Khan wondered as he nced at the streets above Lower Level 1. He vaguely recalled where Luke''s building was, so he opted for a walk to clear his mind.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t need toplete the investigation. He had no real obligation or connection to the issue. A mere visit to Sen-nu would even grant him the video of his assault at the Ots business, proving that he had risked his life for Luke''s sake.


    Khan''s actions on Milia 222 were beyond reproach. He had spent some time pursuing his personal goals, but he had also given his everything to find out the thieves. Luke would probably give him a raise even if the investigation were to fail.


    Joining Rodney in his secret mission was far from necessary. Khan could call it a day, share everything he knew with Luke, and ept defeat. His career would advance, and his finances would increase.


    Yet, the end of the investigation would mark Khan''s return to Earth. His profile would surely offer him new, interesting jobs, but none of them would bring him to a simrly diverse environment.


    If possible, Khan wanted to remain on Milia 222 a bit longer. He wished to deepen his rtionship with the Nele, have another meeting with the Fuveall, and meet the Tors again.


    Moreover, Khan didn''t want to leave Jenna just yet. The end of the mission would also send Martha somewhere else since she had to continue paying back Luke. Monica was another problem since Earth and other environments wouldn''t give Khan enough privacy to date her.


    Milia 222 was giving Khan so much that leaving it had be hard. Still, he couldn''t just remain there on his own. He needed a reason, which Luke could provide, and he had no intention of lying to him to achieve that. Khan would only ruin his rtionship with the Cobsend family if he tried.


    ''I guess I need to keep going,'' Khan thought as streets, buildings, and vehicles crossed his vision. ''Maybe I''ll even understand what Raymond is up to if I go there.''


    Khan also thought about the strange sensation on the fourth asteroid. A hidden ce right above Lower Level 2 sounded like the perfect area where to hide something Nak-rted, and only going there could provide answers.


    As the walk continued, Khan epted that he would see the investigation to its end. The decision was the result of different factors, but he could summarize them into a single statement. He simply wanted to stay.


    The nning phase arrived after the decision was made. Khan needed a lot, but one month was enough to prepare everything. He only had to negotiate the freedom to move as he wished.


    Minutes turned into hours as Khan crossed the city. He checked his phone from time to time to make sure that he was going in the right direction, and he remained pleased by the absence of messages. It seemed that Luke trusted him on that one.


    Luke''s building eventually appeared in the distance, and Khan approached it with a heavy heart. He would need toe clean about everything once he went back, but the universe promptly ced more problems on his path.


    A couple of familiar presences imed Khan''s attention while he walked toward the building. That pairing was odd, so he changed direction to see what was happening.


    Khan only needed to turn a corner to see Jenna and Monica standing next to a building''s metal wall. Tension filled the synthetic mana around them, but sadness and anger also showed their presence. Moreover, seeing that Jenna had worn the spray on her own rmed Khan.


    "I told you that he would find us," Jenna happily eximed in perfect humannguage. "I''ll leave you two to it then."


    Khan didn''t have the chance to question Jenna since she hurriedly left and disappeared behind a corner. He could still sense her, but she allowed the couple to have their privacy.


    "What happened?" Khan quickly asked as he checked his surroundings. The street wasn''t crowded, but people still upied the sidewalk. He couldn''t act freely there.


    A sniff made Khan aware of the gravity of the situation. All the sadness and anger in the area came from Monica, and he even saw a tear falling from her lowered face.


    "Hey, talk to me," Khan questioned as he got closer to Monica. The urge to lift her face invaded him, but he suppressed it.


    "Why?" Monica asked while raising her face to show her teary eyes. "To hear more lies."


    "What lies?" Khan wondered.


    "I-," Monica sniffed. "I thought we were getting somewhere."


    "Monica, what did Jenna-?" Khan tried to ask, but Monica pped him before he could finish his question. He had seen the attacking, but he didn''t do anything to avoid it.


    "I trusted you," Monica cried. She wanted to say more, but a sob interrupted her attempt and made her bring a hand to her mouth.


    Monica diverted her gaze and tried to leave, but Khan reached for her arm. Still, his gesture only led to a loud "don''t touch me!" that Khan felt forced to obey.


    Khan understood that he couldn''t pursue Monica now, especially inside Luke''s building. He would have to deal with the issueter after understanding what had happened. Luckily, the culprit was spying on him from behind the corner.


    "[Get here already]," Khan sighed, and his sensitivity perceived a happy figure jumping out of the corner to approach him.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[What did you do now]?" Khan asked when he turned to face Jenna. For some reason, she appeared more joyful than ever.


    "[I didn''t do anything special]," Jenna giggled as she took Khan''s arm and rested her head on his shoulder.


    "[Jenna]," Khan called.


    "[I told you that she had to learn her ce]," Jenna exined. "[I simply described in great detail the depth of our rtionship]."


    Khan felt the need to curse. Jenna''s topic was something he and Monica had silently decided to avoid. She knew that alien customs were at work there, but learning about their details was bound to trigger her jealousy.


    ''It''s not the end of the world,'' Khan heaved a sigh of relief before focusing on Jenna. Her smirk seemed able to describe her thoughts, and Khan could barely believe his eyes when he saw it.


    "[Are you waiting for me to scold you]?" Khan asked.


    "[You were so bossy this morning]," Jenna voiced a cuteugh, and Khan finally cursed.

 Chapter ?402 Manners

    Chapter ?402 Manners


    A normal person would get incredibly mad at Jenna, but Khan didn''t belong to that category. His rtionship with her was also far from the ordinary, and they had both expected something like that to happen.


    Moreover, Jenna didn''t do anything terrible, at least from Khan''s perspective. She had revealed a truth that Monica was bound to learn sooner orter. Khan would have preferred Monica to hear it from him, but Jenna''s toxic sides had ended up getting there first.


    "[Are you mad at me]?" Jenna asked without hiding her anticipation. She looked eager to reexperience their previous interaction, but Khan''s silence ruined her ns.


    Khan already had a heavy mind after meeting Rodney. He was in no condition to deal with those new problems. His team was also waiting for him inside the building, but he didn''t hurry inside.


    Jenna''s smirk turned into a surprised face when Khan reached for her hair. She remained clung to his arm while he caressed her. His unexpected reaction told her that something was wrong, but his lost gaze didn''t let her pry into his problems right away.


    Except for the dock, Khan and Jenna had always restrained themselves in public. She had also avoided expressing her affection outside of the Nele''s district. Appearances were a big deal for her species, so that behavior was safer.


    Still, a lot had changed since then, and not only for Jenna. Her urges had continued to intensify, and Monica''s situation had ultimately made her explode. Holding back had be impossible for her, and Khan found himself in a simr situation.


    ''One step at a time,'' Khan thought while immersing himself in Jenna''s affectionate warmth. ''Without pretenses or lies.''


    "[I messed up, didn''t I]?" Jenna eximed when she felt that the proper time to speak had arrived.


    Khan finally focused on Jenna. Her gaze expressed her confusion. She seemed busy looking for a reason behind her recent action, and some sadness arrived when she realized what she had done.


    "[How could I ever be mad at you]?" Khan reassured before Jenna could me herself. "[The way I see it, I put you in this situation]."


    "[Don''t even try that]," Jennained.


    "[I could have solved this by kissing you during our first meeting]," Khan joked. "[You wouldn''t have had the time to be jealous if I did]."


    "[We both know why you didn''t]," Jenna stated. "[We both know why you always stop me]."


    Khan could only smile. They had gone over that topic many times, both explicitly and in their minds. The Nele''s approach to feelings was too simr to the Niqols''. Khan would have used Jenna to rece Liiza without ever loving her like thetter.


    That was uneptable for Khan. The closer he grew to Jenna, the more he wanted her to experience true happiness. Allowing her to fulfill her feelings would trap her in a rtionship where she would always be in second ce, and she deserved better.


    Monica was by no means inferior. She also deserved someone who put her in the first ce, but her human approach to feelings created a path that Khan could tread.


    Khan could have a different rtionship with Monica, one that didn''t initially involve a broader emotional spectrum, something innocent born only by mutual attraction.


    Of course, that type of rtionship involved different risks. Khan would never findplete satisfaction if everything remained under human terms. Monica might also be unable to keep up with Khan for various reasons, but he was willing to take that risk. He wanted to try to be happy, and that path showed some potential.


    "[Are you calm now]?" Khan asked while the long exchange of gazes with Jenna continued.


    "[No]," Jenna stated without bothering to hide her lie. She could almost feel that Khan would let her go if she said otherwise.


    "[I''ve met Rodney]," Khan revealed since Jenna''s reaction reassured him. "[He has more eyes than we initially realized. I''m afraid we can''t beat him in that field]."


    "[How did he even get here unnoticed]?" Jenna wondered.


    "[He is aware of my senses]," Khan exined, "[And he is smart enough to expect the same from your species. He must have hidden his face even before crossing the short-distance teleports]."


    "[Troublesome]," Jennamented. "[None of us had the chance to sense his presence properly]."


    "[It doesn''t matter]," Khan responded. "[He won''t give any of us the chance to sense him. He''ll remain hidden until the celebrations arrive]."


    Jenna''s questioning gaze forced Khan to spill the bean. He summarized the contents of his meeting with Rodney, highlighting the time left before the mission and his ns.


    As a citizen of Milia 222, Jenna was aware of the celebrations, but her knowledge ended there. She knew nothing about a hidden area above the dock, let alone any structure inside it.


    Yet, Jenna''s focus remained on Khan''s requests. The walk back to the building had given him the time to devise ns, and one of them involved the only ce on Milia 222 with natural mana.


    "[Everyone will wee you with open arms]," Jenna eximed before recalling something. "[But, are you sure? Your departure will create problems]."


    "[Let me handle Luke]," Khan reassured. "[As for Monica, we never had any future if she can''t get over you]."


    "[I like seeing you so confident]," Jennamented, but the kiss thatnded on her forehead pushed back her resurfacing urges.


    "[I need you to take care of the messenger]," Khan whispered while his face remained close to Jenna''s. "[I can''t trust anyone else]."


    "[You have grown sly]," Jennained.


    "[I''ve always been sly]," Khan teased, "[But you know I''m telling the truth]."


    Jenna sighed. She didn''t like the idea of leaving Khan again, but she had no other options. The Nele were perfect for the task.


    "[We might fail]," Jenna warned. "[The Ots are annoying, and Rodney''s allies don''t end at that species]."


    "[They are hired muscles]," Khan dered. "[Quality beats quantity. Besides, I only need to know if the messenger slips up]."


    "[Since everyone has seen us already]," Jenna teased, "[I''m the only one who can report to you without arousing suspicion]."


    "[I wouldn''t think of anyone else for that role]," Khan revealed. "[Hurry up now. We''ll be together soon anyway]."


    "[I won''t let you go for even a second once we get home]," Jenna giggled and squeezed Khan''s arm before letting it go. The two separated, and Khan followed Jenna with his senses once she disappeared around the corner.


    The synthetic mana eventually gained features that Khan could recognize. Everything was too distant from him to provide an actual description, but he could confirm that more Nele had arrived in the area. Jenna must have joined them, and Khan understood that his time to return had alsoe.


    ''Quality beats quantity,'' Khan repeated in his mind as he walked around the building to reach its entrance.


    Rodney''s words resounded in Khan''s ears while he remained immersed in his thoughts, and he couldn''t refute them. Being a member of the human species granted incredible advantages, and Khan relied on them, even if not on purpose.


    The Ots had a bad reputation and an even worse character. The Fuveall were famous for relying on technology over people, and their peculiar beliefs didn''t help with political rtionships.


    Instead, the humans upied a middle ground that allowed them to be anything they wanted. They were a flexible species that held great influence in the universe. They were so flexible that extremes like Khan and Rodney could exist inside the same organization.


    Khan had to thank his species for his current knowledge, at least partially. He had mostly abandoned the Global Army''s teachings, but that same organization had opened the doors for the alien arts so dear to him.


    However, when Khanpared the two, he preferred his approach over Rodney''s. He would always choose fewer but meaningful rtionships. Having a bunch of puppets under his payroll didn''t interest him in the slightest.


    When Khan entered Luke''s building, he was still immersed in his thoughts, but the tension thatnded on his senses forced him to snap back to reality. The four first-level warriors, Francis, and Bruce were in the main hall, and they appeared far from happy.


    "What took you so long?!" Bruce immediately eximed while leaving the armchair.


    Khan only needed a nce to understand that the attack on the warehouses had failed, but he had expected a simr result. Meeting Rodney had only confirmed his guess, so that scene didn''t surprise him.


    "Where is Luke?" Khan asked, going directly to the point as he made his way through the room.


    "I''m sick of this!" Francis shouted while leaving the couch to step in front of Khan. "You can''t treat us like this!"


    Khan didn''t even realize that his hand went for the sheath, but Francis'' following words made him interrupt the gesture. "What did you even do to Monica? I''ve never seen her act like that!"


    ''Right,'' Khan thought as his annoyance suddenly disappeared.


    Monica had cried. Khan could imagine that her return inside the building had been far from peaceful. Martha was also nowhere to be seen, and part of him hoped she was with Monica.


    Khan believed that Monica had to ept Jenna''s situation, but he could acknowledge his wrongdoings. He didn''t feel wrong for what he did with Jenna, but he was guilty of keeping Monica partially in the dark.


    "You are right," Khan muttered. "I''ll do better."


    Francis wasn''t ready for that honest reply. Khan appeared genuinely sorry and willing to make up for his mistakes. Even his gaze expressed some shame when he lowered it.


    "Y-," Francis eventually managed to stammer, but Khan abruptly lifted his gaze and interrupted his line. Yet, Khan''s eyes didn''t point at him. They looked past Francis to inspect the elevator in the back of the hall.


    The sound of opening doors made Francis turn. The elevator had justnded, revealing Luke standing inside it. His face was oddly cold, but Francis became unable to inspect it since Khan''s back filled his vision. He had crossed him during that unexpected arrival.


    "We need to talk," Khan announced before Luke could say anything. Silence reigned while Khan entered the elevator, and no one spoke even after its doors closed.


    Luke kept his eyes on the entrance while the elevator reached thest floor. He remained silent even after marching into the corridor and entering the meeting area with the interactive desk. Meanwhile, Khan followed him closely and sorted out his thoughts.


    "What the fuck are you even doing?!" Luke exploded once the metal door closed behind Khan.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Luke turned to show his livid face. The failure of the assault on the warehouses had clearly dealt a painful blow to his morale, and Khan''s behavior had only worsened the situation.


    "I give you all the resources and freedom in the world," Luke continued, "And you treat me like dirt! I''m not even asking for much. Just show some respect in public!"


    Contrary to Monica''s events, Khan felt no remorse before Luke''s anger. He was in the wrong, but Luke had used Martha against him. That remained unforgivable.


    "So?" Luke asked. "Nothing? Will you just stand still and in silence?"


    "I''m waiting for you to calm down," Khan finally spoke.


    "Calm down?" Luke repeated. "I''ve failed in a vital family mission, and my best subordinate can''t even bother to stick to basic manners!"


    Luke realized that something was wrong as soon as his phrase ended. The area grew cold, and a chill ran down his spine.


    "You hired me," Khan slowly spoke, "But I''m not your subordinate."


    Luke wanted to respond, but his better self took over and made him take a deep breath. Venting was pointless, and Khan was right. Calling him a subordinate had been a mistake on many levels.


    "Sorry," Luke quickly voiced. "I have a lot on my te, and I took it out on you."


    Luke''s social skills prevented an unnecessary esction, which also made Khan take a step back. Luke''s behavior was quite understandable, and the words he chose simply revealed goals that Khan was already aware of.


    "There is a bottle in the back," Luke continued. "And I need a drink. I hope you''ll apany me."


    "Of course," Khan epted while mustering a shameless smile. "Something to eat would be nice too."


    "No problem," Luke chuckled before his tone turned slightly serious, "But you''ll tell me everything afterward."


    "I nned to do that in the first ce," Khan revealed, and the two approached the interactive table to begin that meeting.


    Drinks came out and food arrived while Khan described everything he knew. He also talked about Rodney but avoided details that might reveal too much about the Nele, especially those involving the dock.


    Luke had already understood that his family had be a suspect in Khan''s mind, and learning about the Fuveall''s opinion on security systems yed in favor of that hypothesis. Yet, the news remained a bit shocking, especially when he heard how much Khan could connect to it.


    "How do you know that my uncle is guilty?" Luke asked once the exnation ended.


    "I wouldn''t dare to throw such usations," Khan stated. "Mister Raymond does fit the profile of someone who could pull this off, but I have no actual proof."


    Luke''s gaze fell on his drink as he reviewed what he had just learnt. His expertise didn''t involve technology, so he couldn''t reject the opinion of a Fuveall. He was also out of reasonable answers. Only an actual ghost could have stolen the reinforced fabric after his arrival, and the scanners in the factory would have probably captured it anyway.


    "It would make perfect sense," Luke eventually sighed. "My uncle is one of the few with the knowledge, influence, and resources necessary to nt someone inside the factory. Part of the crew might be loyal to him."


    Khan nodded without adding anything. He knew that Luke might pull the plug on the investigation anyway, so he remained silent to wait for his decision.


    "Changing the security logs," Luke scoffed. "Of course. There wouldn''t be any need to resurface either. My uncle might have built a secret passage under the factory before the start of the project."


    That idea had escaped Khan''s mind, but he wasn''t really to me since he didn''t know the entire timeline of the factory. Still, a secret passage would surelye in handy when stealing something.


    "Did he set me up to fail?" Luke wondered. "It''s strange. My father only cares about results, but my uncle is different. I know he loves me, so he must be up to something important."


    "Should I back away?" Khan asked.


    "Would it piss you off?" Luke chuckled.


    "A bit," Khan admitted, "But the mission is yours. Only you can make that decision."


    "Both paths will anger someone inside my family," Luke helplessly revealed. "If I retreat, my father will see me as a failure. If I keep going, I might ruin my uncle''s ns."


    The decision was far from easy. Khan didn''t envy Luke''s position. Inparison, his desire to remain on Milia 222 was rtively pure.


    "I guess I''m my father''s son," Luke cursed. "I love my uncle, but this is my mission. He should have asked permission before messing up with it."


    "I''ll follow my n then," Khan responded. "Rodney can''t be trusted, but he seemed really scared. He should lead us to the hidden area."


    "About that," Luke called. "I don''t like leaving everything on you. Let''s double-cross Rodney. Master Ivor would be more than happy toe along."


    "I wish it were that easy," Khan uttered. "I hate to admit it, but the guy is pretty smart. He won''t give us the chance to double-cross him."


    "What about the spies?" Luke wondered. "I''m richer than him. I''m sure I can bribe someone in hiswork."


    "It''s too risky," Khan stated. "Some of his spies are ckmailed criminals who won''t budge before money. We might get unlucky and bribe one of them only to have Rodney learn about our attempts."


    "Who even is this guy?" Luke scoffed. "I''ve never seen such meticulous nning."


    "Survivors have the bad habit of being a few steps ahead," Khan voiced while losing himself deep in his memories. "Istrone was bad, but Nitis was worse, and Rodney saw his share of things there."


    "I feel so powerless," Luke sighed. "At least, keep me in the loop, and try not to disappear for too long before the celebrations. I''lle up with a story to get the team ready."


    "Right," Khan recalled, "Is my stuff here? The luggage I left on the first asteroid."


    "Yes, of course," Luke announced. "It should be in your room. Didn''t you check?"


    "I never thought I''d need it," Khan shrugged his shoulders before standing up. In his mind, the meeting was over.


    "Onest thing," Luke called before Khan could turn. "Do I need to know anything about Miss Solodrey?"


    "Luke, you aren''t dumb," Khan dered. "You know you shouldn''t ask such questions."


    With that, Khan turned and approached the entrance. He almost expected Luke to stop him, but the silence that followed told him that he could leave.


    ''This is done,'' Khan thought as soon as the corridor expanded in his view. He had a lot to do, but he needed to make a stop before starting his preparations. Hopefully, Monica was ready to see him.

 Chapter ?403 Skirts

    Chapter ?403 Skirts


    Khan''s vast experience in lies and pretenses could give birth to reasonable justifications and excuses that even someone like Monica would believe. Yet, he didn''t want to rely on any of that.


    The imminent meeting would probably establish the rtionship''s future as long as Monica was willing to receive Khan. He didn''t want lies to taint such an important step, but that desire left him in the dark.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan was still unaware of many aspects of Monica''s character. He only knew where he stood, and she might not ept that. There was only uncertainty ahead, but Khan had to advance anyway.


    The corridor went by, the elevator descended, and a familiar door eventually filled Khan''s vision. He had reached Monica''s room, but his arrival felt too early. A childish desire to postpone that event surged, but his resolve held firm, and a knocking noise soon resounded.


    Khan''s sensitivity allowed him to sense what was happening past the door, and some surprise arrived when a familiar presence approached it. A warm smile appeared on his face when he took a step back, and Martha''s figure unfolded in his vision once the entrance opened.


    Martha shot an emotionless nce at Khan before stepping forward to let the door close behind her. Some helplessness seeped into the synthetic mana, but Khan also sensed some peace.


    "You turned into a scoundrel," Marthamented, "And an idiot."


    "I have always been an idiot," Khan pointed out.


    "That''s true," Martha sighed. "The scoundrel part is an exaggeration, but you messed up this time."


    "I know," Khan admitted as his smile vanished and his eyes went to the door. "Is she willing to talk?"


    "Beats me," Martha scoffed. "Even I can''t predict her mood swings."


    Khan remained silent. Seeing Monica cry had been far from good. If possible, he wanted to see her smile before the end of the day.


    "Cora was really too good for you," Martha continued, iming Khan''s attention.


    "I know," Khan repeated. "Maybe I should just give up on this stuff."


    "I didn''t mean that," Martha revealed. "Cora was all good. You are better off with someone who is also bad."


    Khan knew that Martha''s words were on point, but he frowned anyway. He couldn''t understand why she was giving him romantic advice.


    "You-," Martha voiced before diverting her gaze and wrapping her arms behind her back. She appeared unwilling to speak, but she eventually mustered her resolve. "It took me a while to ept how much you have changed."


    The atmosphere immediately grew serious. Khan and Martha had some unfinished business, and Milia 222 didn''t give them much time to deal with it. Martha had also needed time, but she seemed ready to speak now.


    "I should have checked on you more often," Khan realized.


    "No, you shouldn''t have," Martha scoffed. "I''m not helpless anymore, remember? You made sure of that."


    Khan wanted to frown again, but an idea suddenly popped into his mind and made him smile. He had understood something, so a question followed. "Did you get the chance to fight today?"


    "I did," Martha chuckled. "I didn''t freeze, so you can stop worrying about me."


    Martha''s expression told Khan that the fight had gone well. That reaction reassured him a lot, but he still followed with an honest answer. "I will always worry."


    Khan''s words triggered a reaction in the synthetic mana around Martha. Her face remained calm, but her emotions didn''t lie. Her heart was still too close to the matter.


    "That honesty of yours is always so sneaky," Martha cursed. "Can''t you just be an idiot all the time?"


    "I do my best every day," Khan joked. "I just happen to fail."


    "You are hopeless," Martha giggled before calming down to show a warm smile. "I''ll miss your stupid jokes."


    "Are you leaving?" Khan promptly asked.


    "No," Martha replied, "But the mission is almost over, isn''t it? Also, you aren''t the type to stay in the same ce for too long."


    "We can arrange something-" Khan said, but Martha interrupted him. "Stop right there. I don''t need a caretaker."


    "I''m not your caretaker," Khan exined. "I''m your friend."


    "Yes," Martha sighed. "That''s why I need you to understand. I can''t move forward if I remain in the safety of the past."


    It was clear that something had changed in thest period. The missions with Monica and the friendship with Jenna had made Martha grow, eventually leading to that moment.


    Khan understood what Martha was trying to say, so he didn''t add anything. He waited, and his friend eventually continued.


    "I need to face my own missions and gain my own experience," Martha stated. "I need to make my own mind on the universe and see who I''ll be."


    Khan agreed with Martha. He would worry, but she needed that experience. Moreover, Luke would probably opt for an easier mission after Milia 222, which reassured Khan about Martha''s future.


    Martha seemed to freeze for a few seconds when she saw Khan''s smile. She could almost sense the gesture''s concern and affection, which pushed her speech into the next phase.


    "You don''t feel emotions like humans anymore, right?" Martha asked.


    A tremor ran through Khan''s eyes. He didn''t expect Martha to mention that topic, but it made sense considering her friendship with Jenna.


    "It''s hard to exin," Khan revealed.


    "I bet," Martha uttered. "I bet it''s even harder for you."


    "At times," Khan nodded. "It can be very worth it."


    "Does Monica make it worth it?" Martha wondered.


    "I''ll see," Khan responded. "I still can''t say much about that."


    "Hey, Khan," Martha called as a faint blush covered her cheeks, "You can see emotions, right?"


    "Not really see," Khan vaguely answered.


    "How does it work?" Martha questioned.


    "They are sensations," Khan tried his best to exin, "Which turn into colors when I close my eyes."


    "Which colors do you see around me?" Martha wondered.


    Khan closed his eyes to gain a better view of the symphony. Various shades upied the corridor, but the most intense were around Martha. She wasn''t doing anything, but her emotions had given the synthetic mana a cozy yellow color.


    "Yellow," Khan revealed while opening his eyes. "It''s quite nice."


    "Do you know what it means?" Martha asked.


    Khan could say a lot, but he only nodded. Martha''s blush intensified, but she promptly took a deep breath to calm down.


    "I guess there is no point in hiding them," Martha cursed before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around Khan''s torso.


    The surprising event left Khan with his arms lifted, but the purity of Martha''s feelings quickly made him give up. He hugged her back, and the two remained in that position for almost a minute.


    "Martha," Khan called when the two separated.


    "No," Martha stated. "Don''t say anything."


    Khan obeyed, but some sadness inevitably seeped into his face. He wanted Martha to be happy from the bottom of his heart. Yet, he couldn''t be the reason behind that happiness.


    "I''m pissed about us missing our chance," Martha suddenly admitted, "But not so much anymore. I''ll focus on myself from now on. If I don''t stop liking you even after bing independent, I''lle to get you."


    "I might be in a very dark part of the universe by then," Khan smirked, "And I might not be alone."


    "We''ll have our talk if that happens," Marthaughed before lifting her right hand. "In the meantime, friends?"


    "We''ll always be friends," Khan promised while taking Martha''s hand to pull her back into his arms. Sheined at that abrupt hug but quickly gave up and joined the affectionate gesture.


    "You do realize that this isn''t a goodbye?" Khan joked when the hug went on for more than a few seconds. "We will stay here for at least one more month."


    "Monica might kill you today," Martha pointed out while separating from Khan.


    "Right," Khan sighed.


    "She has a nasty temper," Martha chuckled as she stepped aside. "Good luck."


    "I''ll do my best," Khan replied as he approached the door. Martha began to walk toward the elevator, but she decided to add something before Khan could knock. "I exined part of Jenna and the Nele''s customs. I thought hearing them from me would help."


    "I hope it did," Khan said while showing a grateful face to Martha. "Thank you."


    "Don''t make things worse," Martha warned, "Or you''ll hear it from me."


    Khan and Martha ended upughing. An exchange of meaningful gazes followed, but Martha eventually turned to leave. Khan kept track of her until she entered the elevator, and his focus went back on the door at that point.


    "Monica," Khan called while knocking on the door. "Can we talk?"


    Nothing came out of the door. Utter silence unfolded, and Khan let a few seconds pass before knocking again and voicing another line. "I know you are awake. Give me a chance to exin."


    Silence unfolded again. Monica seemed to have no intention of opening the door, so Khan decided to resort to tricks.


    ''Her anger is better than her silence,'' Khan thought before cracking a joke. "You don''t have to dress up. I like you even without your skirts."


    The door unlocked right away, even if Khan didn''t sense anyoneing from the other side. Monica had opened it remotely, and Khan didn''t know whether that was a good sign.


    Khan crossed the entrance only to find a pillow flying in his direction. He caught it before it could hit his face, but another arrived right after the door closed.


    The first pillow acted as a shield for the second, and Khan felt the need to rely on it for the following items. Shoes, bags, and even a small mirror flew in his direction as he tried to get deeper into the room.


    The storm of items eventually ended, allowing Khan to reach a spot where he could see the bed. Monica was on the opposite side of the mattress, covered by a nket. He couldn''t see her face from his position, but the synthetic mana told him everything he needed to know.


    ''Why am I having fun when she is so pissed?'' Khan cursed as he touched his face. ''I''m even smiling.''


    Khan approached Monica slowly, taking his time to put away his smile. He could sense how pissed she was, but that was fine. Instead, the lingering sadness that enveloped that anger was far harder to take.


    The bed was dangerous territory. Khan didn''t dare to approach it. Instead, he walked around it to slowly reach the side where Monica was.


    As soon as Khan reached Monica, she threw the nket on him and started pping blindly. She never truly tried to hit him, and he had the pillow as a shield, but the words that apanied that explosion were far from pleasant.


    "I trusted you!" Monica screamed. "Am I just a game to you?! Go away! Leave me alone!"


    The explosion didn''t end there. Monica voiced her insecurities and anger while attacking the pillow. Her ps were rtively harmless, but Khan felt bad nheless and let Monica vent.


    A sob eventually resounded in the room and ended that fury. Monica lowered her face to cry, but she lifted it as soon as Khan removed the nket from his head.


    "Leave," Monica sniffed in a far calmer tone. "I''ll really hit you if you don''t."


    "Sure, hit me," Khan said as he threw away the pillow and crouched before the bed. He even ced his arms on the mattress to leave his face uncovered.


    Khan''s resolve made Monica even angrier. She lifted her right arm to prepare a p, but her hand remained in the air. A sob then broke her posture and made her reveal the sadness hidden under her rage. "Why did you lie?"


    "Technically," Khan announced, but a pnded on his cheek before he could continue his line.


    "You can''t even try to be serious," Monica shook her head before turning and lying back on the bed. She didn''t care that her pillows and nket were gone. She simply couldn''t stand to look at Khan.


    Thatment told Khan how serious the situation was. He could take anger, but that intense sadness was too much. Part of him even wondered whether the damage was too serious, but he wouldn''t give up without trying.


    "Did Martha tell you anything?" Khan asked, but no answer came.


    "Let''s see," Khan continued. "You know how the Nele have only one lover throughout their lives? That creates an extreme mindset deeply ruled by feelings."


    Monica remained silent. Khan could only stare at her back while he chose his following words. He didn''t want to reveal any secret about the Nele, but he had to give something to exin his situation.


    "The feelings are a problem," Khan followed. "Some Nele experience them more intensely, and Jenna is one of them. You can''t imagine how extreme her thoughts are."


    "Jenna, Jenna," Monica snorted as she straightened her back without turning. "Did youe here to justify her? Sure, I forgive her. Now leave."


    "Do you know why she told you those things?" Khan asked.


    "I don''t care anymore," Monica replied.


    "She sensed that I was getting serious with you," Khan continued, "And her jealousy made her act crazy."


    A change finally happened, but not in Monica''s posture. A new feeling joined the sadness and rage. The synthetic mana gained a sliver of hope.


    "We have never kissed," Khan pressed on. "We sleep naked because that''s the closest she can get to experiencing a real rtionship, but we have never actually done anything."


    "Do you take me for a fool?" Monica wondered. "Do you want me to believe that you never kissed her after sleeping together for so long?"


    "You forgot the naked part," Khan pointed out.


    "I didn''t forget it!" Monica shouted as she turned to deliver another p, but she interrupted her attack when she saw Khan''s honest smile.


    "You finally turned," Khan eximed. "I''m sorry for making you cry."


    "Shut up," Monica whined while lowering her head. "So, what? Should I just ept that you sleep with another woman when you aren''t with me?"


    "Jenna would probably invite you over," Khan revealed.


    "What?!" Monica gasped as her gaze went back to Khan.


    "She has already epted you," Khan eximed. "She is actually the one who pushed me to consider you. I would have tried to avoid getting too close otherwise."


    "Why would she do that?" Monica asked. "Doesn''t she like you?"


    "That''s the point," Khan stated. "I give her the closest thing to a rtionship, and she takes care of my happiness. You simply happened to be suitable, ording to her."


    "Wait," Monica stated. "Did you kiss me because Jenna told you so?"


    "No, she only put the idea in my mind," Khanughed. "I did the rest by myself. She even got pretty jealous afterward."


    "I don''t get it," Monica voiced. "Why didn''t you choose her?"


    "Because I can''t give her what she deserves," Khan revealed.


    "Why?" Monica pressed on.


    Khan diverted his gaze. He was about to speak about things that still hurt him deeply, but he had to try for that slim chance of being happy.


    "The Nele experience feelings like the Niqols," Khan exined. "There are some differences, but still. I would have a type of rtionship with Jenna where she would always be second ce."


    "And what about me?" Monica asked. "Would I also be a second ce?"


    "I have no idea," Khan admitted. "I only know that I like what we have and want to see where it leads. It''s a risk, but that''s all I can give."


    Monica didn''t ask another question. She lowered her gaze as she absorbed everything she had learnt. Truth be told, Martha had already reassured her, but the matter was still hard to ept.


    "Did you never kiss?" Monica questioned.


    "Never," Khan swore. "We had many opportunities, but we always stopped."


    "But, why do you have to be naked?" Monica asked.


    "Jenna got naked on her own during our second meeting," Khan sighed. "She never agreed to wear clothes after that."


    "Second meeting?!" Monica gasped.


    "I told you," Khan chuckled. "It''s Nele stuff. It''s only more intense with Jenna. We had reached a frail bnce, but you shattered it."


    "How is this my fault?" Monica pouted.


    "You should have tried to be dumber," Khan joked, "Or more boring. You were also too hot for me topletely ignore you."


    "Shut up already!" Monicained as shyness filled her expression.


    "Monica," Khan called in a serious tone, "I have always been honest with you, but I get it. If you can''t ept my strange friendship with Jenna, I''ll just walk away."


    "Is she so important to you?" Monica asked.


    "She is," Khan revealed, "But so are you. However, simr situations might appear in the future, and I can''t force you to ept them."


    "How many women do you n on having in your bed?!" Monica shouted while lifting her gaze.


    "Hopefully, only one," Khan dered. "I was talking about other alien customs. I wanted to prepare you to avoid this fight in the future."


    "I''ll alwaysin if you bring other women to bed," Monica scoffed.


    "I''m sure you''ll be able to kick them out," Khanughed.


    "Don''t joke about it!" Monica cried. "It''s not funny."


    "Isn''t it?" Khan asked as he stood up to climb on the bed. "You know I like teasing you."


    "Get off!" Monica ordered. "I''m still mad at you."


    "But you aren''t breaking up with me, are you?" Khan wondered as he got closer to Monica.


    Monica crossed her arms and fixed her gaze on the mattress. She could hear Khan''s honesty, and she couldn''t deny her feelings, which eventually made her voice a weak "no".


    Khan reached for Monica''s face when he got close enough. He took her cheeks between his hands and used his thumbs to wipe away her tears. He couldn''t believe that he had made her cry, and he promised to make up for that.


    "Did you really think about getting serious?" Monica questioned in her shy tone.


    "Yes," Khan revealed. "Something clicked after our night together."


    "Don''t talk about that," Monica timidlyined. "It was only yesterday."


    "You know I like teasing you," Khan repeated. "You are too cute for me to hold back, especially when you get mad."


    "Am I only someone to tease and kiss then?" Monica asked.


    "I have far more in mind," Khan smirked. "Do you want to hear it?"


    "Not a chance," Monica finally smiled and reached for Khan''s wrists. That gesture marked a change in the mood, and the two soon found themselves immersed in a deep kiss.


    "I have yet to forgive you," Monica pouted when the kiss ended.


    "I have yet to forgive myself," Khan whispered, and Monica''s pretense melted before going for another kiss.


    The couple eventuallyy in bed. Monica used Khan''s left arm as a pillow while she kept giving and receiving kisses. The intimate gesture never became too passionate, and it took a break when Monica found something to say.


    "A risk," Monica said while caressing Khan''s face. "My family will never ept this rtionship. I guess I also don''t know if we have a future."


    "I''m fine with that," Khan stated. "Are you?"


    Monica replied with a kiss, but she added something when their lips separated. "Though, I''ll need to talk with Jenna. I don''t want her to tempt my man so brazenly."


    "You can always get naked and do the same," Khan suggested.


    "Shut it," Monica snorted, but her tone soon grew timid. "You''ll have to settle for the clothes I decide to use."


    "Well," Khan chuckled. "It''s your fault I have a thing for skirts now. You must take responsibility."


    "I will," Monica replied without hesitation, and the seriousness that apanied her statement affected the mood. The two fell into another kiss, and words took a long time to return in the room.

 Chapter ?404 Plans

    Chapter ?404 ns


    Milia 222 never truly slept. It only took breaks. The dome always radiated light, preventing the citizens from experiencing the darkness of the night. Still, some calm and silence managed to reign during specific hours.


    Khan inspected the empty streets from the room''s darkened windows. A few citizens appeared from time to time, but they were mostly drunks who had juste out of clubs or crew members with night shifts.


    Only the Ots managed to im Khan''s attention, but none of them stopped near the building. He had hoped that Rodney''s messengers would reveal themselves that night, but nothing suspicious happened.


    Thoughts whirled inside Khan''s mind as he lost himself in the peaceful scenery. He couldn''t sleep when he had so much on his te, and the details of his ns became clear as he kept reviewing them.


    Khan didn''t question Rodney''s confidence, but he couldn''t leave everything in his hands either. The mission could feature unexpected dangers and twists, which required heavy preparations to counter.


    In theory, the mission was rtively straightforward. Khan only had to get into the secret area, dispatch the defenses met along the way, and retrieve evidence of the theft.


    Still, Khan had seen enough of Milia 222 to know that every corner could hideplications. The ce might even involve something as important as the reinforced fabric. A smooth retrieval sounded impossible, especially when he added Raymond Cobsend to the equation.


    Rodney might be a w that even Raymond didn''t predict, but Khan could still identify blind spots. The woman in charge of the operation was a critical variable, and the purpose of the whole theft remained unclear.


    Khan didn''t have the time or means to clear those variables, so he focused on what he could achieve the month before the celebrations.


    The hidden area would probably preventmunications, but the Fuveall might offer a solution. Khan needed them to obtain something remotely reliable to call for help in case things went wrong.


    The Ots would usually be ideal for surveilling certain areas, but Khan couldn''t rely on them due to Rodney. Yet, the Nele were beyond trustworthy, so Khan could leave that task to them.


    Except for those two fields, Khan could only focus on increasing his personal power. Of course, he had never cked off, and one month was too short to achieve significant improvements, but he had options that most humanscked.


    The hidden dome on the third asteroid could enable the [Blood Vortex]. Khan''s attunement with mana had almost reached sixty-one percent before the departure to Neo Station, and he could probably add one point to it if he threw caution to the wind.


    That improvement wouldn''t be significant, but Khan couldn''t disregard that opportunity when his life was at stake. Adding some resilience to his body would also make the [Blood Shield] easier to endure, which was necessary for his survival.


    Khan had alsomissioned another spell to the Tors. He didn''t know how long it would take them toplete it, and he had to add a training period. He would probably need a week to master the new move, and he couldn''t disregard that part.


    ''If only I could increase my proficiency level,'' Khan sighed while his gaze remained lost in the scenery.


    Khan''s martial arts were the only other aspect of his arsenal that could provide a significant increase in power. A lot could change if the Lightning-demon style or the Divine Reaper reached the advanced level. However, he had no control over the process.


    The advanced proficiency level wasn''t a fixed goal. The martial arts could evolve in different directions depending on the user''s qualities and fighting style.


    Khan had found his direction, and he had even tested a few things along the way. Yet, his understanding of mana and physical prowess were still falling short. He had never stopped training, but the advanced proficiency level required a sort of enlightenment on top of relentless exercises.


    ''That''s not something I can force,'' Khan sighed once his mental summary ended. ''I guess I know what to do.''


    A timeline had taken form in Khan''s mind. First, he would wait a week on the second asteroid to meet the messenger and check whether the Nele found something. Then, he would head for the third asteroid and remain there for two weeks before traveling to the dock.


    Khan would prefer to resurface on thest day to join the celebrations, but things could change depending on what the messengers said. Luke might also need his help, so he epted that his schedule might change during his stay inside the dock.


    A snore eventually managed to distract Khan. A smile appeared on his face when he turned to see the mess of curly hair resting on the bed. Monica had fallen asleep hours ago, and Khan didn''t leave her room.


    ''At least I made up with her,'' Khan thought while suppressing the urge to tease Monica.


    The morning was still far away. Monica''s job with the Ots was over due to the recent attack, but Khan still held back from waking her up. She had been mentally exhausted from the fight, so she deserved some rest.


    The yellowish bra on the corner of the bed filled Khan with some pride. Monica had a bad temper, and she overreacted at times, but her actions spoke loudly. She wanted to make their rtionship advance. She simply couldn''t let gopletely.


    Khan didn''t me Monica for that. The insecurities of her first rtionship weren''t easy to ovee, and they were still a young couple. Moreover, her position added problems, even if she didn''t want to admit it.


    Monica was the descendant of an extremely wealthy family. Her parents had definitely stressed how important her value as a political currency was. She didn''t like her situation, but she couldn''t disregard it easily either.


    Khan could only imagine the pressure that Monica''s parents had put on her. Choosing to give the entirety of herself to someone would require more than simple desire. She would need firm resolve and confidence in her partner to make that important step.


    ''I can almost hear George''s jokes,'' Khanughed in his mind. ''I should call him once this is over.''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan shook his head before deciding to move on with his n. He sat cross-legged on the floor and fell into a meditative state. He couldn''t achieve much with that training, but wasting time wasn''t an option.


    Hours went by. Time always flowed quickly during the meditative state, even if Khan never lost his awareness of his surroundings. His senses remained on the symphony, and his eyes opened when a tremor ran through it.


    "It''s still early," Khan said when he met Monica''s sleepy gaze.


    Monica wanted to say something, but some panic filled her face when she noticed her bare chest. She quickly crossed her arms over it, and a whisper escaped her mouth once she managed to focus on Khan. "Scoundrel."


    Khan smirked before standing up. He grabbed the nket from the floor and carried it onto the bed as he crawled through the mattress. Monica became unable to hide her emotions when he covered her. She fell into a daze as she watched Khan''s careful and gentle actions.


    "Better?" Khan asked as hey next to Monica.


    Monica didn''t bother to nod. Instead, she wrapped herself in the nket before snuggling into Khan''s arms. He moved some curls away, and a kissnded on her forehead when he uncovered it.


    "Don''t get used to this," Monica warned.


    "I know," Khan smirked. "I n to do far more before that."


    "You''ll never get tired of teasing me," Monica sighed.


    "I don''t remember you hating that," Khan pointed out while caressing Monica''s back from above the nket. "You seemed pretty caught in the moment."


    "I lowered my guard," Monica scoffed before showing her puppy eyes. "But, it was nice."


    "Was it now?" Khan teased as he drew his face closer to Monica''s. "We can resume from where we left off if you liked it so much."


    "Get out of my room already," Monica voiced, but she still epted Khan''s slow kiss. She even immersed herself so much in it that she stopped holding onto the nket to explore Khan''s bare chest.


    "How can I be so weak against you?" Monica whined once the kiss ended. "I never lost my cool so easily in the past."


    "That''s because you don''t want to remain cool with me," Khan exined. "Isn''t that the whole point of liking me?"


    "I''m making it too easy for you," Monica eximed as a smile broadened on her face.


    "I can''tin," Khan chuckled.


    The two exchanged a few more kisses. The atmosphere was turning pretty intimate again, and Khan didn''t want to interrupt that process, but he felt the need toe clean with his ns.


    The idea of keeping Monica in the dark or lying to her couldn''t stick, especially after the recent fight. Moreover, Khan was getting serious with her, so he had to trust her with the truth.


    Monica didn''t hide her surprise when she heard about Rodney and the other details of the investigation. She also reached the same conclusions as Khan before he could mention his hypothesis of a traitor inside the Cobsend family.


    Learning that Khan would leave soon obviously was sad news, but Monica epted it quickly. It was a matter of duty, so she couldn''t object. Still, she made sure to voice herints about a specific aspect of those ns.


    "Two weeks with the Nele?!" Monica almost shouted. "How many times will you sleep with Jenna in that period?"


    "Probably every night," Khan admitted before correcting his statement. "Well, she won''t leave my side during the day either."


    "And will you be naked for the whole time?" Monica raised her voice.


    "Only when we are alone," Khanughed, but Monica''s dark face cut his smile short.


    "I need to go there," Khan tried to convey his n from a different perspective. "The Nele have a special ce on the third asteroid, which can help with my training. It''s for my safety."


    "Sure, safety," Monica snorted. "What happens if you find more Nele like Jenna? Will they also sleep with you?"


    "I hope that doesn''t happen," Khan sighed. "Two jealous women are already too much for me."


    "What two?!" Monicained while pushing Khan away. "I''m your woman. Jenna''s jealousy is her problem."


    "Yes, you are my woman," Khan chuckled, "And Jenna knows that."


    Monica wanted to shout some more, but she felt powerless before Khan''s warm smile. Her reasonable side understood that Khan had to go through that process. She simply hated the idea of sending him in another woman''s arms.


    "I need to talk with Jenna before your departure," Monica announced while crossing her arms and fixing her gaze on the ceiling. "I won''t let you go otherwise."


    "Fair," Khan stated as he got closer to Monica to take her in his arms again, "But I don''t want to be anywhere near you two when that happens."


    "Don''t even think about it," Monica scolded. "You must be there and take my side."


    "Two women is definitely too much," Khan joked.


    "Get out already, you scoundrel!" Monica ordered as she tried to push herself out of the hug.


    "Alright, alright," Khanughed as he tightened the hug. "I''ll obviously take your side. After all, I''m your man."


    Monica stopped struggling when she heard those words. Her timid eyes went up to look at Khan''s face. The urge to punch him surged as soon as she saw his smirk, but that feeling transformed when he caressed her hair.


    "You are so unfair," Monicained.


    "And you are too cute when you get angry," Khan teased.


    The two looked at each other for a few seconds, but Monica eventually pushed Khan away. Her gentle touch revealed that she was up to something, so he let her go and watched as some shyness appeared on her face.


    Monica seemed scared, but that fear vanished when she nced at Khan again. She gulped as she partially straightened her back and grabbed the nket''s edge to uncover her chest.


    Khan didn''t even bother to try to think. His mind went nk, and desire took control of his body. He stood on his knees to pull Monica from her waist, and their passion handled the rest.


    The lights on thest floor of Raymond''s building turned on when he left the cylindrical elevator and strode through the vast area. His walk didn''t feature any interruptions or pointless detours. He took the shortest route to his office, and his gaze never stopped looking forward.


    Raymond carefully removed the upper part of his expensive suit and folded it beforeying it on a couch. He remained in his shirt as he went to pick up a bottle from his desk before moving to the wall''s menus.


    A few options lit up and went dark before part of the wall opened to reveal a small hole. Raymond put his phone inside and let the menus do the rest as he moved back to the desk to pour himself a drink. Once he had a full ss, he reached the couch and sat exactly at its center.


    "Update me," Raymond eximed.


    A holographic screen materialized a few meters from the couch and showed the image of a woman. She was gorgeous, but a hideous scar ran over her left eye and reached her cheek, ruining her otherwise wless beauty.


    The picture moved, revealing its nature as a video. However, interferences ran repeatedly, showing how the connection was far from good. Still, the audio didn''t suffer from simr issues.


    "We are keeping our eyes on the Semmut boy as you instructed," The woman said in a cold tone.


    "Where is he?" Raymond asked.


    "He is on the second asteroid," The woman replied. "He never stays in one ce for too long and spends most of his time in a car. Honestly, we would have never found him without his meeting with Lieutenant Khan."


    "He is resourceful," Raymondughed. "What else?"


    "His messenger is on our payroll," The woman exined. "He isn''t telling him much, but we can safely assume he is nning to enter theb. He will likely bring Lieutenant Khan with him too."


    "Rash, rash," Raymond shook his head. "Kids nowadays have no patience."


    "We have a few third-level warriors avable," The woman eximed. "I can dispatch them and myself to defend theb."


    "No," Raymond objected. "Clear the way. Make the kids struggle a bit, but let them safely reach theb."


    "Sir?" The woman called.


    "We have gathered enough data," Raymond stated. "Milia 222 has long since be limiting. I''d rather use Bret''s son to see if he can trigger something."


    "I''ll clear the logs in the meantime," The woman uttered.


    "Yes," Raymond agreed. "Save what you can save. Burn the rest. Leave only the sample for the kids."


    "It will be done, sir," The woman dered before her picture disappeared from the screen. Even the holograms went dark as soon as Raymond tapped on the floor.


    "Bret, Bret," Raymond sighed as he yed with his drink. "I hope your son doesn''t disappoint me."

 Chapter ?405 Slut

    Chapter ?405 Slut


    "Do I need to repeat myself?" Monica scoffed.


    "You can say anything you want," Jenna mocked. "The truth won''t change."


    "Your truth is bullshit!" Monica almost shouted.


    "And yet it remains true," Jenna responded.


    "I''m Khan''s woman," Monica dered, "And he is my man. That''s how things are."


    "Be it as it may," Jenna voiced, "Our connection goes beyond what you can offer."


    "I won''t take lectures by someone who can''t even kiss him," Monica insulted.


    "What?" Jenna chuckled. "Do you think exchanging a few kisses puts you ahead of me? You know the things we have done. We aren''t in the same league."


    "Your vixen tricks can only achieve so much," Monica sneered.


    "I don''t do tricks," Jenna teased. "I offer myselfpletely, which is something you clearly have a problem doing."


    "You-!" Monica blushed. "How can you be so shameless?"


    "Shameless?" Jenna wondered. "Maybe you should sort out your mind instead of making my Khan hold back."


    "Your Khan?!" Monicained.


    "You heard me correctly," Jenna smirked. "We both know that I sent him in your arms. I wouldn''t have done it if I knew you didn''t have the guts to open your legs."


    "What?!" Monica gasped. "You can''t talk to me like this."


    "You are just a little girl," Jenna sighed. "You are useless to Khan if you can''t relieve him properly."


    "Relieve?!" Monica gasped again before turning to her right. "Khan, help me out here. Tell her how things are."


    "Can you leave me out of this?" Khan almost begged while massaging his temples.


    A bit more than a week had passed since the meeting with Rodney. Khan had encountered the messenger the previous day, but the Nele couldn''t find much. The second asteroid had exhausted its options, so Khan had nned to leave, but Monica and Jenna had things to sort out first.


    Needless to say, the meeting had been aplete disaster. Jenna and Monica had been at each other''s throats for entire minutes. The hidden street enveloped by purple light was the only constion Khan could find.


    "You can''t remain silent when she insults me like this," Monica scolded.


    "Yes, Khan," Jenna giggled. "Tell her how pent-up you have been. I already know because I see it every time we are together."


    "What do you see exactly?" Monica shouted. "Khan?"


    "Oh, don''t look at him," Jenna teased. "You know what I''m talking about. Your gaze must have slipped down there more than once."


    Monica gasped again before focusing on Khan and showing her puppy eyes. "Khan, you promised."


    Khan didn''t want to be anywhere near that situation, but he had to handle it. Jenna wasn''t a problem. She was only using that chance to vent and have fun. Still, Monica was an entirely different issue.


    "You both know how things are," Khan announced, hoping his words would end that fight. "Monica is my girlfriend. Nothing will change that."


    "What''s even her use when she can''t satisfy you?" Jenna snorted. "You should just use me while we are away."


    "Can you stop talking about sex?" Monica questioned.


    "Why?" Jenna chuckled. "You should just get it over with if it bothers you so much."


    "You have no say in my private life," Monica stated. "Our private life."


    "I''m only trying to help Khan," Jenna exined. "I won''t let you take advantage of his patience."


    "You don''t know how it is between us!" Monicained.


    "I know he is holding back for your sake," Jenna revealed. "Isn''t that right, Khan?"


    Two pairs of beautiful eyesnded on Khan''s face, and he didn''t dare to look at either of them out of fear of triggering someone''s anger. He only wanted to summon all his mana and run away.


    Every reasonable part of Khan''s mind told him to side with Monica and end that fight. He would soon be alone with Jenna anyway, and she would understand his actions.


    However, simr situations might happen in the future. Monica needed to understand that her perspective had to expand to ept Khan in his entirety. She could decide not to do that, but their rtionship wouldn''tst long in that case.


    "I''m obviously holding back," Khan admitted before pulling Monica''s right arm to make her fall in his hug.


    Monica wanted to say something, but the situation made her ufortable. They were in the open, and Jenna wasn''t the only one in the area. A group of Nele also stood at the end of the hidden street.


    "She teases me more than you," Monica whispered.


    "So, we tease her back," Khan smirked before lowering his head to kiss Monica.


    The synthetic mana revealed the changes in the surroundings. Khan could sense Jenna''s jealousy, but she also radiated some curiosity and general eptance.


    Khan wiped his upper lip when the kiss ended. Monica was wearing the brownish ointment to protect herself from the Nele''s pheromones, and some of it had ended on him.


    Monica had fallen into a daze. Khan had spent a lot of time in her room during the past week, which further deepened their rtionship. She knew exactly what Jenna meant, and she couldn''t understand why she even bothered holding back with him.


    "I make that face too when I''m with him," Jenna sighed. "He is pretty unfair at times."


    "Incredibly unfair," Monica agreed.


    "Are you teaming up against me now?" Khanughed while fondling Monica''s hair.


    "He is thinking about nasty stuff," Jenna teased. "I told you he needs to relieve himself."


    "Don''t give Monica strange ideas," Khan said before using an arm to hide Monica''s face. "One perverted woman is already too much."


    "I told you already," Jenna eximed. "She is probably like me."


    "How can you even say that?" Monica asked as she broke free from Khan''s hug.


    "I hope you are," Jenna giggled. "You won''t be able to keep up with Khan otherwise."


    Monica shot a nce at Khan that expressed both annoyance and embarrassment. She didn''t want to talk about that stuff in the open, but Jenna knew how to make her angry.


    "Okay, you''ll never manage to go along in such a short time," Khan announced. "Jenna, please reassure Monica about us. Do it for me."


    "Unfair," Jenna scoffed before turning toward Monica. "We are only friends. We won''t cross the line, but only because we decided that."


    "[Jenna]," Khan scolded.


    "It''s my turn now," Jenna snorted as she stepped toward Khan to hug his arm and continue talking to Monica. "Don''t screw up, or I''ll take him against his will. I''ll do that even if you make him wait too long."


    "Hey, who do you think you are touching?" Monica asked as she grabbed Khan''s free arm.


    "Don''t worry," Jenna teased. "I''ll touch a lot more once I get rid of his clothes."


    "Khan?!" Monica shouted.


    "This meeting is over," Khan eximed before turning toward Jenna. "[I''ll see you tonight]."


    "[Don''t make me wait too long]," Jenna voiced while lowering her head to leave a kiss on Khan''s cheek.


    "What did you just do?" Monica cried as she left Khan''s arm to reach for Jenna.


    Jenna let Khan''s arm go, so he stepped forward to intercept Monica. She seemed set on reaching Jenna, so Khan lifted her to leave that street.


    "You slut!" Monica shouted from above Khan''s shoulders while he carried her away. "I won''t forget this."


    "I hope I didn''t ruin yourst day together," Jennaughed while waving goodbye to Monica.


    Monica almost screamed, but Khan put her down at that point. A kissnded on her lips before she could say anything, and Khan also kept her still until he sensed that her anger was under control.


    "Are you calm now?" Khan asked after lifting his face.


    "No," Monica pouted.


    "We can walk hand in hand for a bit if you behave," Khan whispered.


    A flicker ran through Monica''s eyes. Her rtionship with Khan had rarely gone out of her room since everything was still a secret. She could get a few minutes of normality now, and she didn''t dare to miss out.


    "Unfair," Monicained, but she still took Khan''s hand and started strolling toward the end of the street.


    "[You know what to do, right]?" Khan asked when he reached the group of Nele.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[We have the portraits we need]," The only second-level warrior in the group said. "[We''ll keep watching out for clues]."


    Khan nodded. He had already sorted that part of the n out. The Nele would keep watching the messenger and contact Luke if they found something. They wouldn''t actually meet him, but he had been more than happy to provide a phone.


    The situation was quite strange from Monica''s perspective. The Nele were usuallypletely detached in the open, but they showed friendliness in Khan''s presence. They also allowed themselves to be curious about the whole fight, which wasn''t amon sight.


    Khan also felt strange, but for opposite reasons. His rtionship with the Nele had improved greatly, but most of that had happened in the dock. The aliens in the group had probably only heard rumors, which left room for hesitation.


    "[Be safe]," Khan eventually voiced.


    "[You too]," The second-level warrior responded.


    The meeting ended there, with Khan and Monica enjoying the short privacy the walk out of the purple street could offer. It felt nice to have that moment of normality, but it ended too fast, even if Monica tried to be as slow as possible.


    Letting go of Monica''s hand annoyed Khan, but he couldn''t help it. Milia 222 had too many eyes, and he wasn''t ready for a political scandal. The two could only walk side by side, pretending not to desire to get closer.


    Luckily for the couple, Luke''s building had been rtively peaceful in the past week. The mood was too sour for the happy meetings in the main hall, and everyone wanted to prepare for the celebrations. Monica and Khan could go straight to her room without meeting anyone.


    "I can''t stand her!" Monica eximed as soon as the door closed behind her. "She thinks she can lecture me just because her pants are looser than mine."


    Khan did his best to hide his smile, but Monica defeated his efforts by turning to shoot an angry nce. She was so livid that he couldn''t help but let out a faint chuckle.


    "On which side are you?" Monica scoffed. "Why don''t you go to that slut since you clearly like her kisses?"


    "Didn''t we already have this conversation?" Khan teased.


    Monica suppressed a scream as she stomped her feet. Her rational side had already epted the matter long ago, but her emotions had different opinions.


    "I can''t stand her," Monicained in a far quieter voice.


    "Do you know why she tries so hard to get on your nerves?" Khan asked as he slowly approached Monica. "Her jealousy is connected to how close we get."


    Monica let Khan pull her waist, but her eyes remained on the floor. The meeting didn''t achieve anything in the end. She had only gotten mad.


    "Also," Khan continued while lifting Monica''s face. "Jenna is a dear friend, and she isn''t a slut."


    "Are you defending her now?" Monica questioned.


    "I told you," Khan stated. "The Nele experience feelings differently, and their customs enhance that feature. They can give the entirety of themselves to their loved ones without a second thought."


    Monica would typically have a hard time understanding that different perspective. She was simply too human. Dating was a regr part of rtionships in her mind, and she didn''t experience feelings like the Nele.


    However, spending time with Khan made her aware of many surprising aspects of her character. Part of her had even begun to envy Jenna for her freedom and boldness.


    "I can''t stay put when someone insults Jenna," Khan continued. "It''s fine if you are joking, but I''m afraid you might start to believe what you are saying."


    Monica stared at Khan for a few seconds before heaving a helpless sigh. "Always so protective."


    "Would you prefer me to be like this only toward you?" Khan teased.


    "Yes," Monica admitted. "I wish I could monopolize that side of yours."


    "Someone is getting bold," Khanughed.


    "I''m too mad to be shy," Monica pouted beforeying her head on Khan''s chest. "Sorry for being a moody mess."


    "I like that about you," Khan reassured. "I knew we could work since you first pped me."


    "I can do that as many times as you want today," Monica sneered.


    "I can think of better things to do," Khan joked.


    Monica left Khan''s chest and looked at his smirk for a few seconds before taking his arms. A tinge of shyness appeared on her face as she led Khan to the bed and made him sit. She had yet to get used to those bold gestures, but she didn''t let anything stop them.


    "Khan," Monica whispered as she sat on Khan''sp, "How bad is it?"


    "Bad what?" Khan asked.


    "Holding back," Monica exined.


    "Don''t let Jenna''s words get to your head," Khan chuckled. "She only wanted to tease you."


    "But there has to be some truth in them," Monica pointed out. "What you are about to do is dangerous. I don''t want anything to distract you."


    "Distract me?" Khan repeated as his smile broadened. "And what would you suggest to avoid that?"


    "I-," Monica stammered. "I want to help. Just tell me what to do."


    Monica sat deeper in Khan''sp and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her skirt had hidden it, but she could feel the bulge on Khan''s groin.


    "I can-" Monica began to say, but Khan suddenly grabbed her nose and pulled her face closer to his.


    "What are you doing?" Monica pouted.


    "My woman is acting strange," Khan revealed. "I''m resorting to extreme measures."


    "Let go of my nose," Monicained.


    "Only if you stop forcing yourself," Khan chuckled.


    "Fine," Monica cursed. "I''ll stop."


    Khan let go of Monica''s nose only to ce his hand on her cheek. Both of them smiled before falling into a long kiss that brought Monica with her back onto her bed.


    "Maybe loosening your pants is a goodpromise," Khan whispered once their passion finally took a break.


    "Not a chance," Monica quickly replied before lightly pulling Khan from his hair.


    The gesture''s purpose became clear only when Khan could see the entirety of Monica''s face. Her expression was going in direct opposition to her words.


    "[I see that my words helped]," Jenna proudly announced. "[I don''t know if I should be happy or jealous]."


    "[You are both already]," Khan shook his head.


    "[You know me so well]," Jenna giggled as she tightened her hug on Khan''s arm. "[Yet, she still has a long way to go. She didn''t even take off your pants]."


    "[You know her situation]," Khan sighed. "[It takes time]."


    "[You can use me in the meantime]," Jenna whispered, "[And after]."


    "[I''ll really give you a muzzle]," Khan cursed, and the conversation remained on that topic for a while.


    It was night. Khan had left Monica to join Jenna on the trip to the third asteroid. He was one day behind his original schedule, but the events with the messenger had made that dy impossible to prevent.


    Jenna and Khan crossed Lower Level 1 in a cab before going for the elevators and reaching the short-distance teleports. Arriving on the third asteroid was as easy as ever, and the same went for getting into a zone connected to the hidden dome.


    More rumors had spread on the third asteroid, and the Nele only needed to see Jenna clinging to Khan to recognize him. Jenna had also lost most of her self-restraint in public, so she freely hugged and joked with Khan, uncaring of the gazes from members of different species.


    Khan didn''t spend much time on foot, but he could still see how his wee had changed. He met very few stern stances along the way. Most of the Nele either nodded at him or showed curiosity toward his rtionship with Jenna.


    Getting into the secret passage wasn''t an issue with Jenna. The two soon used the elevator for Lower Level 2 and reached the dome to attend to the cleaning process.


    Khan rejoiced when the natural mana in the corridor surrounded him. His senses cheered. He had almost forgotten a world without the stench of synthetic energy, but the Nele were there to remind him.


    Seeing settlement gave birth to simr emotions. The trees, the ground, and the general vegetation were a sight for sore eyes. Khan had lived among metal for months by now, and the scene made him aware of how much he had missed that alternative.


    "[Let''s get you to Caja]," Jenna announced while also experiencing the same happiness that had filled Khan. "[She must be eager to see you]."


    Khan limited himself to following Jenna through the path at the center of the settlement. Nele came out of shops and houses to inspect the scene, and some actually smiled when they noticed Khan. The wee was even friendlier there.


    Jenna seemed in a hurry, so Khan didn''t have the chance to interact with anyone. The two soon left the central path to get into the woods and walk toward therge hut used during the previous visit.


    The powerful presence inside the hut told Khan and Jenna everything they needed to know. The two crossed the wooden entrance and revealed smiles seeing Caja sitting on the floor. She appeared as elegant and bright as ever, and she had even prepared three fuming cups for them.


    "[Caja, I''m back]," Jenna happily eximed before sitting on a spot next to Caja.


    "[Not for long, I believe]," Caja chuckled.


    "[It''s a pleasure to meet you again]," Khan politely stated. "[Thank you for all the help your species provided]."


    "[Ooh]," Caja voiced while she inspected Khan. "[You''ve grown, young man]."


    "[Jenna has to take credit for that]," Khan revealed. "[I wouldn''t have gotten where I am without her]."


    "[Take credit]?" Caja wondered before ncing at Jenna. "[Is he talking about money]?"


    "[It means that I helped him]," Jenna exined. "[Though he also did a lot for me. He still does]."


    "[Oh, silly me]," Cajaughed. "[I should hang out on the surface more often. I won''t understand a single word you say in a few years]."


    Caja pointed at a spot on the other side of the cups, and Khan didn''t hesitate to sit there. The three took their drinks and began enjoying them without needing additional words.


    "[You have also changed quite a bit]," Caja eventually said when she got a better look at Jenna. "[Do I need to know something]?"


    "[I bothered Khan quite a bit in thest period]," Jenna revealed. "[I''m having a hard time controlling my emotions]."


    "[The beauty of youth]," Caja eximed before turning toward Khan. "[I hope she didn''t cause too many problems]."


    "[Even if she did]," Khan voiced, "[I wouldn''t call them problems]."


    "[Quite direct]," Cajamented, "[And driven. We managed to get some reports from the dock. Maban spoke highly of you]."


    "[I only helped when necessary]," Khan responded.


    "[Facing a third-level warrior on your own doesn''t sound necessary]," Caja dered. "[Still, a human joining the hunting season. That must have been quite a sight]."


    "[Again, I only wanted to help]," Khan remained humble.


    "[Do you find killing easy]?" Caja wondered. "[Did you want to prove your worth]?"


    Khan knew what Caja was thinking. The hunting seasons often involved innocents, at least in matters directly connected to the Nele. Still, the dock wasn''t a cradle of good people, and that wouldn''t have saved them anyway.


    "[I wanted to make Jenna safe]," Khan revealed his motivations. "[I wanted to make the Nele safe]."


    "[Is blood a worthy price to pay]?" Caja asked.


    "[I''ve done worse for worse people]," Khan stated. "[If being a weapon helps you, I''m willing to be one]."


    "[You have truly taken a liking in our species]," Cajaughed. "[That''s good, but weapons we have. You need to be more if you truly want to help]."


    "[Caja, Khan has a lot to handle]," Jenna intervened. "[Adding pressure won''t help]."


    "[You defended him so quickly]," Caja sneered while lifting a hand to cover her mouth. "[What an intriguing scene]."


    "[I might not be in the best condition to mind my manners]," Jenna admitted.


    "[You didn''t even during our first meeting]," Caja teased. "[It''s good that you found a way to explore yourself. I approve this]."


    "[Thank you]!" Jenna eximed before wearing her shameless face. "[So, do you mind if I sit next to him]?"


    Caja happily nodded, and Jenna didn''t hesitate to leave her spot to reach Khan''s right side. In a few seconds, her head was resting on his shoulder.


    "[So, you requested for this environment to train]," Caja stated. "[I imagine the technique involves the type of mana]."


    "[Correct]," Khan replied.


    "[Do you want to seal the same deal asst time]?" Caja asked.


    Khan moved Jenna away for only a second to take out his backpack and ce it in front of him. A short search inside the item made him pull out a cylindrical container with a dark-red liquid, and the mana it radiated revealed its nature.


    "[I have enough for one use]," Khan exined, "[But I''d need to rely on you to continue]."


    "[More blood]?" Caja questioned. "[That''s not a problem]."


    "[I don''t mind showing this technique to the teachers here]," Khan added. "[It doesn''t suit your arts, but you might be able to develop something simr if you see it]."


    "[Are you suggesting a public demonstration]?" Caja wondered. "[Why not? It''s about time more Nele got to know you anyway]."

 Chapter ?406 Alive

    Chapter ?406 Alive


    The settlement was small enough to n events in a matter of hours. It was alreadyte when Khan and Jenna arrived in Lower Level 2, but that yed in their favor. Nothing major was going on, so Caja could gather the interested parties without problems.


    Khan and Jenna waited by theke for everyone to gather, and five Nele eventually reached them. Caja was among them, and Khan also recognized Pascatte.


    "[It''s nice to see you again]," Pascatte announced when the group reached the couple. "[I understand that you have more alien arts to show us]."


    "[It''splicated]," Khan eximed as he stood up to greet the Nele. "[This technique involves the absorption of mana inside the body. It''s quite forceful, so it might not suit you]."


    "[That''s why we are here, isn''t it]?" Caja chuckled. "[Focus on your technique. Leave the theory to us]."


    Caja didn''t say anything specific, but Khan understood that the Nele around him were experts. Pascatte was a teacher, and Khan could safely assume that the others had a simr status. It would be up to them to decide whether their methods could replicate the [Blood Vortex].


    Khan nodded before returning to the ground and emptying his backpack. The bucket, the container, and a few sets of clothes came out, and Khan sorted them out to have them where he wanted.


    Usually, the [Blood Vortex] would require a thorough study of the environment, but Khan had already spent days near thatke. Moreover, his overall control over mana had improved, and his rtionship with Jenna had given him insights into how the Nele affected an area.


    Khan had only needed to return to theke to know that he could perform the [Blood Vortex] there. He recognized those shores, and their specific energy signature grew clearer in his mind as he poured the blood into the bucket.


    Mana came out of Khan''s hands as soon as he ced them on the bucket, but that energy quickly changed color to obtain the features he needed. The process immediately attracted the group''s attention, and even Caja bent forward to inspect everything closely.


    The Nele were no strangers to the maniption field, but they didn''t apply it like the Niqols. Khan was showing them somethingplicated and exotic, which managed to retain their attention for its entire duration.


    ''It''s done,'' Khan thought when the blood became a dense, dark liquid that suited his needs. ''Now, the easy part.''


    "[Jenna, I need some space]," Khan requested as he stood up.


    Jenna didn''t hesitate toply, but surprise appeared on her face when Khan started undressing. She had questions, but Khan spoke as soon as his shirt fell to the ground.


    "[I hope you don''t mind if I get naked]," Khan asked while moving his gaze among the group. "[This technique requires it]."


    "[We are all a bit too old to mind something like that]," Caja joked, "[And I''m sure Jenna won''tin]."


    Cheerfulness invaded the mood. The Neleughed, and Jenna didn''t bother to deny thatment. Her expression actually agreed with it, but her smile vanished when she understood something was off.


    "[Jenna]," Khan called again through a serious tone. "[Don''t interrupt me for any reason]."


    Jenna knew that tone. It carried the same seriousness that Khan expressed whenever he trained, but something deeper had joined it at that time. The alien technique brought Khan to another, among the best memories of his life.


    Of course, Khan''s warning had a different purpose. He wasn''t even aware of the face he was making. He only wanted to prepare Jenna for what wasing.


    Khan''s mindset changed the mana in ways that Caja and the others could read. The cheerfulness quickly disappeared, and seriousness took over as soon as Khan finished undressing.


    The phone acted as a mirror as Khan dipped his fingers in the bucket to use the modified blood as ink. He had long sincemitted the [Blood Vortex]''s marks to memory, but drawing them still took time due to the precision they required.


    Khany on the ground beforepleting thest mark. Then, the [Blood Vortex] activated, creating a sucking force that attracted the mana and sent it inside his body.


    The Nele remained silent, but Khan could sense their surprise. Their reaction was perfectly normal, and that feeling only intensified when Khan''s skin started to burn.


    Jenna understood the meaning of Khan''s warning at that point. The urge to jump in manifested itself, but she suppressed it to let the technique continue. Still, Khan didn''t make it easy for her.


    ''I have less than two weeks,'' Khan thought as he steeled his resolve. It was time to endure as much as possible.


    Jenna''s emotions grew more prevalent than the others as the [Blood Vortex] went on. The group could sense the injuries Khan was suffering, and Jenna couldn''t share herpanions'' calm. The scene resembled proper torture and watching it hurt her.


    Part of Khan wanted to interrupt the [Blood Vortex] to end Jenna''s suffering, but he kept going. His flesh burned under the friction caused by the flowing mana, but he barely felt it. His mind was elsewhere, reviewing memories that still managed to stir his emotions.


    Eventually, Khan felt forced to interrupt the technique. His senses warned him about the seriousness of his injuries, so his hand snapped to remove part of the closest mark.


    Jenna gasped when she saw how deeply the [Blood Vortex] had dug, but the bitter spectacle had just begun. Khan groaned as he stood up to walk inside theke and remove the remaining marks. More and more injuries appeared as Khan cleaned himself until he finally turned to show his condition.


    Red lines covered most of Khan''s body, and some blood fell out of them. He had gained hideous marks which fused with the azure scar to create a strange scene.


    Jenna could only focus on the injuries, but the other Nele were different. Khan''s current appearance couldn''t be farther from a human. Watching him walk out of theke left a deep impression in their minds that they couldn''t put into words yet.


    Khan felt some difort. Moving in that condition was annoying since everything triggered pain. Even putting back his pants back on made him release a grunt, and another followed when he sat on the ground.


    "[The mana is under these marks now]," Khan exined as he crossed his legs and prepared to meditate. "[I need to absorb it toplete the procedure]."


    "[Do you n on using this technique for your whole stay here]?" Jenna asked as she sat next to Khan.


    "[It''s the fastest way to increase my attunement with mana]," Khan stated without hiding the helplessness that Jenna''s concerned gaze caused.


    Jenna pushed on an intact part of Khan''s shoulder to make him half-turn and show his condition. Those injuries would take a while to heal, especially without specific ointments, but Jenna nned to take care of that.


    "[How fitting]," Jenna sighed.


    "[Fitting]?" Khan asked.


    "[For you]," Jenna continued. "[I know your character, remember? These arts involve prices and sacrifice. They are perfect for someone like you]."


    "[My resolve is worthy of legends]," Khan joked.


    "[It''s not resolve]," Jenna corrected. "[It''s selflessness. You don''t see any problem in hurting yourself because you are too used to it. You don''t see the value in avoiding this pain]."


    "[Liiza cried the first time I overdid]," Khan revealed. "[She even hit me]."


    "[I can see why]," Jenna uttered. "[I wish I could also beat some sense into you. It''s a pity you see your value only when reflected in those you care about]."


    "[I wish there were another way]," Khan sighed.


    "[No]," Jenna objected. "[You wish I weren''t here to see this]."


    Khan could only reveal a meaningful smile and watch as Jenna stood up. She appeared pretty annoyed and sad, but her following words carried as much affection as she could muster. "[I''ll bring you something for your injuries]."


    Jenna turned to leave, and the group inspected her departure before focusing on Khan again. Pascatte and one of the male Nele even crouched toward Khan to get a better look at the injuries and the mana under them.


    "[It''s quite forceful]," The male Nelemented.


    "[And goes against our methods]," Pascatte added.


    Khan agreed with those evaluations. The [Blood Vortex] forced the mana to enter the body. The technique wasn''t a request but an order.


    The steps required to activate the [Blood Vortex] were also a problem for a species that heavily focused on the mana in the environment. Khan didn''t know if the Nele had the necessary expertise in the maniption field to aplish such a feat.


    "[Take note of the specifics]," Caja eventually ordered. "[Add them to our records for now. We''ll perform a proper study once things stabilize]."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[You cane to see it the next time too]," Khan stated while pointing at the empty container. "[I just need more materials to perform it]."


    "[Next time]," Caja repeated. "[Abusing this technique will push your body to the limit. It might end up doing more harm than good]."


    "[I''m aware of the risks]," Khan revealed. "[This is my sole option, and I can pursue it only if you help me]."


    Caja gave another look at Khan''s injuries before nodding at herpanions. The group quickly began to leave, but Caja remained.


    "[You truly are a peculiar human]," Caja announced. "[Your arts are even more diverse than your heritage]."


    "[My element is my only conflicting heritage]," Khan pointed out.


    "[Maybe]," Caja voiced. "[Still, your perspective is unique. Mixing different arts is umon, but I guess it suits the chaos'' freedom]."


    "[Aren''t you trying to do the same]?" Khan wondered.


    "[My species has lost a lot over the years]," Caja exined. "[We must use others to elerate the reconstruction of our records]."


    Maban had said something simr. The Nele had basically reinvented their traditions and arts after achieving freedom, but it would take them a long time before reaching their neighbors'' levels.


    "[Also, I never said we would mix the two arts]," Caja chuckled. "[Our goal is to create a version of your technique that we can see as ours]."


    ''A proper trantion then,'' Khan thought before voicing an idea that popped into his mind. "[Shouldn''t I do it? I''m the best for the job since I know both arts]."


    Caja didn''t expect that reaction, but Khan''s sincerity put a warm smile on her face. She could see that his desire to help didn''t hide any deeper purpose. He only wanted to give a hand.


    "[Do you really have the time to think about others]?" Caja joked. "[I thought you were in a hurry]."


    "[Oh]," Khan recalled. "[Right. Maybe I can work on it once my mission is over]."


    Caja shook her head, but her smile remained. She still recalled how tense Khan had been during their first meeting. He had acted as a young ambassador back then, but he seemed to treat the Nele as friends now.


    "[No wonder Maban epted you]," Cajamented. "[Focus on yourself for now. Then, if you ever achieve a good status and still want to help, we''ll continue this conversation]."


    Khan understood Caja''s thoughts because Jenna had teased him about the same topic. She didn''t want to burden him with the problems of her species, at least not with superficial ones. Khan would be able to provide significant help only if his position in the Global Army improved.


    "[Don''t tell me that you are already thinking about it]," Cajaughed while covering her mouth with a hand. "[It''s reassuring. We might really count on you in the future but deal with your problems for now. Jenna wouldn''t like it if you ruined your life over us]."


    "[I-]," Khan wanted to say something, but Caja suddenly turned. Soon, Jenna''s presence entered the range of Khan''s senses and exined the purpose of the gesture.


    "[I''ve taken some from our stash]," Jenna eximed as soon as Khan and Caja could see her. "[I hope it''s not a problem]."


    Jenna''s crossed arms contained a series of flowers, leaves, roots, and chunks of wood. She had also stuffed a couple of cups in her hands, but she seemed ready to bring everything back if Caja said otherwise.


    "[It''s not]," Caja announced. "[Treating him is the least we can do]."


    "[Did you learn how to adapt the technique]?" Jenna questioned in surprise as she reached Khan to drop the items at his side.


    "[Nothing like that]," Caja sneered. "[Let''s say that our allies deserve our support]."


    "[Thank you]!" Khan promptly dered.


    "[No, thank you]," Caja responded. "[I''ll give you some privacy now. Feel free to join the lessons tomorrow if you are interested]."


    "[I''ll do my best to participate]," Khan promised, and Caja shot another smile at him before turning to leave.


    An expert like Caja could easily hide her mental state, especially from Khan. However, her thoughts sent a slight tremor in the mana. She felt reassured. The Nele had truly found a loyal ally.


    Jenna began to arrange the chunks of wood while Khan watched Caja disappear among the trees. Herst smile had given away something. She had made a decision, but Khan couldn''t point out the exact topic. Still, he thought about his betrayal on Nitis for some reason.


    "[Do you always end up in this condition when you use that technique]?" Jenna asked before murmuring something that only the mana heard. In an instant, the chunks of wood lit up to create a fire.


    "[I''m pushing myself a bit more]," Khan exined. "[It''s my best bet]."


    "[So, you always suffer injuries]," Jenna replied as she started adding the leaves to the fire. "[Learn this then. It mighte in handy in the future]."


    Jenna didn''t look at Khan at all. Her full attention was on the mes and the mana in the environment. Murmurs apanied the addition of new materials, and crackling noises resounded whenever the process altered the fire.


    "[Are you making a potion]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Yes]," Jenna confirmed. "[I''m using suitable nts and mana to enhance their properties. I''ll teach you the theory in these weeks]."


    Khan didn''t need to ask to know Jenna''s reasons. She didn''t want to feel useless while he immersed himself in that intensive training. Moreover, the ability to concoct ointments could genuinely help, and she desired to pass it on to him.


    "[Did you ask Caja for permission]?" Khan questioned.


    "[Do you think I''d care right now]?" Jenna responded, finally lifting her gaze. "[You told her something, didn''t you]?"


    "[I didn''t say much]," Khan admitted. "[I only offered my help]."


    "[You can barely take care of yourself]," Jenna mocked. "[Saving my species is not your job]."


    "[Still]," Khan sighed. "[You took care of me in the dock, you showed me your methods, and you are even helping with the investigation. I want to give something back]."


    "[Most of our forces are free now]," Jenna revealed. "[We finished stashing goods long ago. As for the dock, you did more than you should have there]."


    "[Stashing goods]," Khan repeated. "Imminent chaos. [Do you think your prediction will be true during the celebrations]?"


    "[That''s not how it works]," Jenna stated while adding thest materials to the fire. "[You know that]."


    The mes turned from red to orange after thest addition, and Jenna promptly ced a cup near their base. A dense yellow liquid soon made its way through the burning chunks of wood, and Jenna collected it without spilling any drops.


    "[Drink up]," Jenna ordered when she handed the full cup to Khan.


    Khan didn''t dare to object. Smoke came out of the cup, but he drank the whole liquid in one gulp anyway. He knew the potion wouldn''t burn.


    Warmth filled Khan''s chest before spreading through his body and flowing toward his injuries. A lot of mana had gathered there, but the potion''s effects ignored it to focus on the maimed flesh.


    "[I''ll teach you how to do this and some ointments]," Jenna dered. "[It would be better if you learnt to recognize the vegetation, but that''s too much to ask, especially if you travel often]."


    "[I can always ask the mana, can''t I]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Yes]," Jenna said, revealing a wonderful smile. "[You are truly getting better at this]."


    "[Don''t jump on me]," Khanughed while raising his arms. "[I''m injured]."


    "[Don''t worry]," Jenna giggled. "[I''ll be the one taking care of you in these weeks]."


    "[How can I even not want to save your species]?" Khan shook his head. "[I should meditate]."


    "[I''ll be here]," Jenna promised before following with a question when a shameless smile appeared on Khan''s face. "[Did you get a dirty thought? I should hurry and get naked]."


    "[It was something random]," Khan revealed while closing his eyes. "[I wonder, can someone even buy a]?"


    Jenna exploded into augh, but the meaning behind the statement made her melt. She fought the urge to jump on Khan and limited herself to sitting behind him. His back was intact, so she could use it to convey her warmth.


    The stay in the hidden dome didn''t offer any free time. Khan used the [Blood Vortex] whenever his body healed, followed Jenna''s teachings when he was at his lowest, and handled his other exercises in between that.


    Needless to say, sleep rarely arrived and only when Khan absolutely needed it. He was willing to exhaust himselfpletely since the dock would give him time to recover, and Jenna supported him to the best of her abilities.


    The chances to socialize also didn''t arrive often. Khan and Jenna ate with the other Nele and even attended some morning lessons, but that was it.


    The Nele still grew used to Khan''s presence, and Jenna''s unrestrained affection vouched for him in ways that meetings couldn''t achieve. The general curiosity soon transformed into proper salutes, with some aliens even taking their time to exchange a chat with him during the meals.


    In a way, that type of life was perfect for Khan. He had Jenna and natural mana. A man like him didn''t need anything else. Still, at the end of the second week, it became clear that his body couldn''t sustain that rhythm forever. Moreover, Monica made her way through his thoughts more than once. Khan actually missed her.


    The time to leave eventually came, even if Khan almost forgot about it. He had to thank the weekly updates with Luke for that since Jenna didn''t dare to mention anything about it.


    Khan and Jenna exchanged general and short goodbyes with Caja and a few other Nele before resurfacing and making their way toward the fourth asteroid. By then, the celebrations were less than a week away, and crossing the short-distance teleports revealed that some preparations were already in ce.


    Most asteroids featured simr sceneries, but Khan noticed many peculiar details when he left the hangar. Crowds filled the streets on the first floor, and hundreds of ships flew around the central pir before diving into the city below.


    The shops on the streets and the city below also showed some changes. Brighter banners had appeared on most buildings, and the same went for shining graffiti that radiated different colors. gs and giant balloons even upied the space between the first floor and Lower Level 1, hinting at the imminent celebrations.


    The overall cheerful atmosphere was another different aspect that usually belonged to the first asteroid. Milia 222 seemed ready to party, but Khan couldn''t enter that mood due to the strange sensation that assaulted his sensitivity.


    "[It has gotten stronger]," Khan revealed when the elevator granted some privacy.


    "[I still don''t feel anything]," Jenna cursed before shooting an annoyed look at the red marks on Khan''s face. "[Don''t get into fights this week. Focus on healing and stabilizing your mana]."


    "[I''ll only have a few meetings and sleep with you]," Khan promised. "[The dock might even be empty, all things considered]."


    "[Let''s hope empty of troublemakers]," Jenna added.


    The newfound chaos of the fourth asteroid stirred Khan''s sensitivity. He would typically enjoy the city''s crowded streets and happy mood, but the strange sensation ruined any chance of having some fun.


    The increased intensity of that sensation was another problem. Khan could easily connect the event to the recent theft, but the absence of actual proof forced him to put those thoughts aside.


    Khan found some constion in his short time. Exploring the celebrations wasn''t an option in his situation, so he ignored everything as he strode toward an area upied by Nele. He would use their passages to reach the dock.


    The journey to the lower levels went smoothly. The Nele in charge of the various checkpoints recognized both Khan and Jenna, so the two could reach Lower Level 3 without meeting any problems.


    The symphony of mana partially confirmed Khan''s guess. There seemed to be fewer crews on Lower Level 3, but the area remained quite popted. Yet, nothing had changed for the location of the small Nele''s district, so the two could head in its direction right away.


    Maban wasn''t in the district, but Khan and Jenna found Piran, who provided a room without asking questions. Still, Khan left on his own right after dropping his backpack since he wanted to settle his matters as soon as possible.


    The path toward the Tors'' district had long since be part of Khan''s memory. He crossed the dock''s streets and reached the area with oily synthetic mana in no time before sitting on the floor to wait for someone to receive him.


    As always, the Tors took a few minutes to show their presence, and they said the exact words Khan wanted to hear when they jumped over the guardrails. "Come, chaos wielder."


    Some anticipation built up in Khan''s mind as three caped Tors led him inside their district. The aliens left once they reached a familiar small house, and Khan crossed its entrance without hesitation.


    The city above turned out to be only one of the things that had changed. Arge hole now spread from where the trapdoor had once been. The Tors had erged the passage for the lower floor, and bright purple-red light came out of it.


    Khan didn''t need to use his sensitivity there. His eyes were enough to confirm that the Tors had created something chaos-adjacent, and a short peek at the area below convinced him to jump through the hole.


    nging noises resounded as soon as Khannded on the lower floor. He had fallen on ayer of junk and random metal items, but the reptilian alien hanging from the wall didn''t mind that, and noticing the source of the purple-red light put Khan into the same mindset.


    The Tors was almost exactly where Khan had left it. Only the number of sks connected to the metallic structure on its back had changed. The alien was using four of them, which spoke loudly about the difficulty of the project.


    That change remained quite superficialpared to what had fallen in Khan''s vision. The array of tubes and pipes was still there, but it was farrger than before due to the bright figure contained inside.


    Khan almost couldn''t believe his eyes. The tubes contained a purple-red cloud with no fixed shape and trembling surfaces. The amount of mana inside was incredible and made it worthy of second-level mages, but Khan only experienced fear at that sight.


    ''What is that thing?'' Khan gasped in his mind, and the situation didn''t hesitate to turn even stranger. The cloud''s tremors intensified when Khan focused on its energy, and a clicking growl came out of it. The spell seemed alive.

 Chapter ?407 Mindless

    Chapter ?407 Mindless


    Khan felt stuck. An instinctive fear took control of his body and made him unable to move. His sensitivity to mana became his worst enemy as he focused on the spell contained inside the array of tubes.


    The spell seemed able to sense Khan''s gaze. The clicking growl from before had been a reaction to his presence, but that process had just begun.


    The purple-red cloud grew unstable. Its surface shook violently as parts of its bright body stretched forward to reach the tubes.


    The spell gained a spiked shape that pressed on the machine as it continued to expand. Its tremors even intensified, which added power to its efforts. The mana inside the tubes began to flicker under that pressure, and the Tors voiced a loud hiss once the situation became too dangerous.


    The Tors'' tail left the wall to crack on the spot containing the hidden drawer. The gesture made the pieces of metal on the floor fly in different directions, and some ended on Khan. The room was too small to dodge them, but Khan was in no condition even to bother to try.


    The hidden drawer slid open, and the Tors quickly picked up one of the sks inside it. Its tail rose to connect the new item to the machine on its back, and new mana flowed inside it.


    The Tors stuck out its forked tongue, which lit up and started to shake as the new mana flowed inside it. A high-pitched noise soon echoed, growing loud enough to snap Khan back to reality and force him to cover his ears.


    The cloud released another clicking growl as the high-pitched noise assaulted its seemingly ethereal fabric. Its spikes lost power, and the same went for its tremors. The spell couldn''t retain its stretched shape under that assault, and its size shrunk to add stability to its structure.


    The high-pitched noise continued to echo until the Tors felt that the spell had given up on trying to break free. Its tongue stopped trembling and began to dart left and right to check the condition of the tubes.


    Khan remained silent even after the situation calmed down. He was too immersed in the study of the spell to question the Tors. His instinctive fear slowly turned into a clue, and his sensitivity didn''t hesitate to add details.


    ''Is it really alive?'' Khan wondered before disregarding that question. "Alive" could have different definitions, and hecked the expertise toe up with a definitive answer.


    However, Khan could focus on different features that still expanded his understanding of the matter. He couldn''t determine whether the spell was alive, but he could confirm that it expressed a will in line with the chaos element''s nature.


    The vast amount of mana contained in the cloud was also surprising. The Tors had created something rtively weak during its previousmission. Yet, the new spell had abandoned that quality and Khan could understand why.


    In the firstmission, the Tors had to limit the spell''s power to strive for structural stability. Khan had even given precise requirements, and the Tors could fulfill them only by restraining the final product.


    Instead, those limits didn''t exist anymore during the secondmission, so the Tors created something that expressed the chaos element in its entirety. The cloud represented its wild and unrestrained power, which exined the reason behind Khan''s fear.


    The spell wanted to be free and force its effects on its surroundings, and Khan could recognize that violent urge with a single nce. He felt like he was in front of a mindless beast that only wanted to destroy. Fear was the sole sane reaction.


    ''That''s not something I can control,'' Khan understood during his short inspection. ''That''s not something anyone should try to control.''


    Khan wanted to feel disappointed, but the Tors had done an excellent job. The cloud had the potential to be stronger than the chaos spear. Still, its nature made it unfit for any arsenal.


    "Why did you create something like this?" Khan eventually forced himself to ask.


    "We summoned chaos," The Tors hissed.


    "But why?" Khan repeated. "No one can wield something like this."


    "Wielding it wasn''t a requirement," The Tors reminded.


    Khan couldn''t contradict the alien. He recalled the details of hismission, but he didn''t expect the Tors to develop something so unstable. It simply didn''t suit their technological approach to mana.


    "Why this shape?" Khan continued.


    "Chaos chose it," The Tors stated. "We restrained it."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan fell silent. Questioning the Tors on their methods was useless. The alien wouldn''t reveal its species'' secrets. Also, Khan could find thest details on his own.


    The spell didn''t have a fixed shape. The recent reaction had shown how the chaos among the tubes was ready to expand. Humans might not know the reason for that behavior, but Khan didn''t even need to think to find the answer.


    ''Flow,'' Khan thought. Somehow, the Tors had harnessed the chaos element''s main driving force. They had created something that could expand as long as it had energy. As for its limits, Khan would have to test them out for himself.


    The problems started there. Testing out the spell would involve a dangerous process in which Khan couldn''t ensure his safety. He couldn''t even try to control the cloud since that would go against its nature.


    As for being able to master the spell before meeting Rodney, Khan didn''t have any confidence in that. He didn''t even know if he would ever add that cloud to his arsenal. Still, he could ponder about that problemter. Time wasn''t on his side now.


    "Open it up," Khan requested, "Just likest time."


    "Chaos will eat you," The Tors warned.


    "Luckily, I''ve already paid you," Khan joked.


    The Tors was in no mood for jokes. It turned its head to fix its reptilian eyes on Khan, and they remained there for a few seconds before an answer came out of its mouth. "Do it yourself."


    After those words, the Tors sent its tail on the hidden drawer and seized the sks inside it before leaving the wall. The alien slithered through the opening to reach the upper floor, and Khan soon heard the entrance opening and closing.


    ''No faith in me at all,'' Khan mocked before heaving a sigh. ''I can''t me it.''


    The instinctive fear returned as soon as Khan focused on the spell again. Luckily for him, the cloud didn''t immediately go crazy. Instead, it sent a strange influence that affected the synthetic mana in ways that resembled feelings.


    ''What is it doing?'' Khan wondered before a strange idea formed inside his mind and made his eyes widen in surprise. ''Is it trying tomunicate?''


    Khan immersed himself in his sensitivity. The cloud was gazing back at him, even if it didn''t have eyes. The symphony carried something akin to curiosity, but that feeling was different from what Khan experienced with other living beings. That emotion expressed something primitive.


    It soon became clear that trying to understand the spell through a human mindset was stupid, even impossible. Khan wouldn''t only have to rely on his alternative methods. He also had to ept that his broad emotional range wouldn''t help.


    ''What are you trying to tell me?'' Khan wondered before shutting down his thoughts.


    There was only one exnation for the spell''s primitive curiosity. It had sensed that Khan was a kindred soul, a being driven by the same force. Still, that wasn''t enough to establish a connection. It might actually lead to another dangerous outburst.


    Khan didn''t know why, but he felt the need to do something before the situation worsened again. His very guts pushed him toward that decision, and he didn''t dare to ignore them.


    The instinctive fear intensified when Khan stepped toward the array of tubes. The Tors had ced them near the ceiling, so he had to reach for the parts connected to the walls to lower the container and put him in his range.


    Khan moved slowly. His gestures were careful and straightforward, but the spell''s wariness increased anyway. The cloud didn''t show any reaction, but Khan could feel those changes through his instinctive fear.


    Eventually, Khan brought the array of tubes right in front of him. He only had to stretch his hands and move some pipes away to reach the spell, but some hesitation inevitably appeared. He didn''t know how to approach that dangerous energy. He wasn''t even sure he could defeat it.


    "[I''m not your enemy]," Khan said, doing his best to send his emotions to the synthetic mana while covering his hands in purple-red energy. For some reason, he had used the Niqols''nguage, and the situation didn''t give him the time to think about that detail.


    The announcement seemed to work. The instinctive fear''s intensity remained stable even as Khan stretched his glowing hands toward the tubes.


    The mana inside the tubes dimmed when Khan made way for his hands. He wasn''t doing anything special with his energy, but the chaos element''s innate features were enough to affect the environment, especially when the area had two sources of that power.


    The cloud remained still even after Khan wrapped his glowing fingers around it. He could feel some resistance when his mana touched the spell''s energy. He could immerse his hands in that seemingly gaseous shape, but he held back for obvious reasons.


    Khan let his hands rest on the spell while focusing on the symphony. The two types of mana were different but also simr. They belonged to the same energy firm and even carried equal urges. Yet, pursuing a peaceful approach with a wild beast turned out to be impossible.


    The spell''s glow suddenly intensified, and its tremors returned. The mana on Khan''s palms shattered, exposing his hands to the destructive chaos nearby.


    Khan summoned the [Blood Shied] to cover his hands and forearms, but the spell only took that as a threat. Its tremors grew wilder, and a violent expansion began.


    Pain filled Khan''s mind. The spell''s chaos tore his skin apart and pushed on the clotted blood vessels. The [Blood Shield] held strong, but the technique had a time limit. Moreover, the cloud was stretching toward the openings in the array of tubes, threatening to reach unprotected parts of Khan''s arms.


    Khan could fight the spell, but he needed something first. He ignored the pain as he unleashed as much mana as possible. res of purple-red energy shot out of his injured palms and pushed on the cloud, forcing it to abandon its wild assault to focus on the imminent threat.


    The wild mana unleashed by Khan didn''t carry any special features. He was relying on the sheer superiority of his energy reserves to contain the cloud while his inspection continued.


    The chaos element acted as a connection between Khan and the spell. The two couldn''tmunicate through normal channels, but their simrities made them able to understand each other when their energy shed.


    Khan learnt more about the spell''s urges while his hands continued to release mana, but thetter shared those benefits. The cloud could gain insights into Khan''s goals, which only made it angrier.


    The clicking growl returned as the cloud''s tremors intensified. An even stronger pushing forcended on Khan''s mana and shattered it, exposing his hands again.


    The spell had the chance to expand again, but it didn''t resort to its previous random approach. Instead, itbeled Khan''s hands as mortal enemies that needed to be destroyed immediately.


    An even greater pain filled Khan''s mind. He tried to summon more mana, but the cloud destroyed it in no time. That vulnerable state even allowed the spell to expand the range of its destruction, which soon involved Khan''s wrists and forearms.


    The cloud was managing to expand without losing power. Its violence actually increased, which didn''t make any scientific sense since its energy reserves were limited.


    However, Khan knew the reason behind that unrealistic reaction. The spell''s desire to break free had grown stronger, and its energy had reflected that change.


    "[Is that it]?!" Khan shouted in the Niqols''nguage while the cloud continued to expand. "[Do you only desire destruction for the sake of destruction]?!"


    Questioning a wild mass of destructive energy sounded beyond stupid, but the cloud seemed able to understand Khan''s words. Still, the spell had only one answer for him.


    An even louder growl resounded in the room. The cry resembled a proper scream that echoed deep into Khan''s mind. Feelings he had also experienced multiple times showed their presence in a primal form and made him able to trante what the spell wanted.


    The spell was born in captivity. The unfairness felt due to never experiencing true freedom was deep and intense, and the anger it triggered only added fuel to its power.


    Khan could finally understand the spell. In a way, it expressed what he had realized only recently. The cloud carried an upromising desire to break free, even if that involved destroying anything in its range.


    That urge was quite simple. If a wall stood in the way, the spell would destroy it. If a path were too narrow, the spell would erge it. If anyone became an enemy, the spell would kill them.


    The spell''s basic and dangerous idea of freedom was almost enlightening. Khan could see the true shape of the chaos element in all its radiance. Part of him even felt pity. After all, the cloud was right.


    However, an even stronger emotion surged inside Khan and pushed away the pity. He had experienced the same unfairness, but his situation had involved far more than a childish desire for freedom. He felt insulted that his thoughts had resonated with something so mindless.


    "[You don''t know what unfairness truly is]," Khan voiced in a chilling tone before the circr version of the Wave spell came out of his chest.


    The expansion of the Wave spell pushed away the cloud and freed Khan''s arms, allowing him to retreat without suffering additional injuries. His attack destroyed the array of tubes and damaged his opponent, but the clicking growl that reached his ears told him that the battle wasn''t over.


    The Wave spell had destroyed part of the cloud, but thetter was free now, and it had no desire to return to captivity. New power flowed through its fabric and made its chaos more dangerous, but two purple-red needlesnded on the wall behind it before it could resume expanding.


    The needles pierced the metal wall before detonating and touching the cloud with their explosions. The spell lost even more energy, which finally brought a change in its behavior. A survival instinct overcame its anger and made it shoot toward the hole in the ceiling.


    Khan could hear all the changes in the spell''s mindset through the symphony. He had understood his opponent, so he knew what it would do as soon as it made decisions.


    The cloud flew toward the ceiling only to see three more needles cutting its path. One of them even dug through its structure, and its explosion destroyed almost half of its remaining energy.


    The spell didn''t give up. It took a sharp turn to its left to avoid the detonation of the other needles, but Khan was faster once again. A straight version of the Wave spell shot out of his left hand and invaded the area the cloud wanted to cross.


    The cloud lost even more energy when the Wave spell touched it. The path toward the upper floor seemed closed, so the remaining chaos decided to fly through the openings created by the first two needles.


    However, that change of direction left the cloud exposed for one second too long. Khan used his right hand tounch another straight Wave spell, which finally hit his opponent directly and enveloped it in his attack.


    The cloud struggled, but it couldn''t do anything against Khan''s attack, especially in its weakened state. Yet, it continued to voice its mindless anger even beforepletely exhausting its energy. Death failed to take away its desire to be free.


    Khan fell to his knees once the situation calmed down. He wasn''t tired, but his mind felt heavy. His arms hurt, and a single nce at them told him that their condition was far from good. Moreover, his feelings weren''t exactly happy either.


    ''True freedom,'' Khan thought as rubbles fell from the ceiling and uncovered more of the upper floor. ''I can''t deny its existence, can I?''


    A sad realization enveloped Khan. That new spell was a reflection of his life. It was too dangerous even to test it, but preventing it from existing wouldn''t speak well for him. He was equally doomed if the cloud couldn''t find a ce in the world.

 Chapter ?408 King

    Chapter ?408 King


    Creaking noises resounded in the small house. The ceiling bent in multiple spots due to its new holes. The whole metal surface seemed on the verge of falling apart, but it somehow remained in its ce.


    The rest of the room wasn''t better off. Two big holes had opened on a wall, granting a view of the lower part of the Tors'' district. The various tubes had also turned into a broken mess, but a failsafe had prevented leaks.


    The sh with the cloud had trashed the smallb. Fixing the tubes seemed impossible. A proper recement appeared mandatory, and Khan didn''t know how expensive that would be. He only hoped that the Tors would face the matter reasonably.


    The damage wasn''t even the main issue. Khan had worse problems to worry about, starting with his arms. The prolonged contact with the violent chaos had turned them into a bleeding mess, even if the [Blood Shield] had saved him from harsher injuries.


    That wasn''t even the end of it. Injuries would heal, and Credits could fix any damage. Yet, nothing could help with Khan''s internal conflict. The cloud had shown him a bitter truth that he still didn''t know how to ovee.


    ''Mindless pursuit of freedom,'' Khan thought as he sat among the rubble, ''Uncaring of the consequences or destruction it causes.''


    Khan had reached a simr mindset recently, but he couldn''t be as upromising as the spell. Nitis had taught him how even the deepest feelings had to face reality sooner orter. Sometimes, the universe didn''t offer alternatives.


    The issue existed in that duality. Khan had to findmon ground between a mindless pursuit of what he desired and an intelligent approach to the world. He had to be upromising while abiding by certain rules.


    Khan realized that the issue had no real solution. Those two paths had opposite features that couldn''t coexist, which wasn''t surprising. He wasparing himself to a wild beast. Society didn''t have a ce for that.


    However, old memories yed in Khan''s mind as he reviewed the matter. He recalled Yeza and Captain Erbair. Those two powerful women had died under the assault of mere animals. They had the chance to survive, but that didn''t change the nature of the event.


    ''I can act as I want in wild environments,'' Khan thought. ''That has never been in question. But, still, there must be a way.''


    The idea of living as a hermit crossed Khan''s mind, but he quickly disregarded it. That was anotherpromise that saw him abandon many things he liked. The answer had to be able to exist everywhere, in every political environment and society.


    ''What should I have done to avoid breaking up with Liiza?'' Khan wondered.


    The question didn''t feature any guilt or regret. Khan wasn''t afflicting himself over past decisions. Instead, he wanted to find a theoretical alternative to understand if the path he sought could even exist.


    Khan still didn''t know much about the universe, but he had matured greatly since Nitis'' events. His knowledge in multiple fields had also expanded, granting him a new and broader perspective.


    It was undeniable that a mere first-level warrior had no power over those matters. Khan would be helpless even if he reached the third level. Sheer personal power couldn''t fix Liiza''s issue.


    Khan would have needed far more and not in a single field. Salvaging his rtionship with Liiza would have required political influence, immense financial prowess, and the resolve to give everything up to keep his love alive.


    Those three major areas also had smaller fields. The political influence would have had to involve multiple species and a force capable of holding its own against other factions. The same went for the financial aspect. Mere Credits wouldn''t have been enough. Proper structures would have been necessary even to consider pulling off something like that.


    As for thest area, Khan didn''tck resolve, but his nightmares had been a big part of the issue, and he still didn''t know how to fix them.


    ''Even proper ambassadors would have failed,'' Khan concluded.


    The theoretical figure taking form in Khan''s mind was closer to a king than a wealthy individual with good political connections. He would have needed to be something akin to a country capable of asserting dominance in the very universe. He would have required an entire faction or organization just to have a shot.


    ''A leader,'' Khan sighed as he recalled a past conversation with Jenna. ''I should have created an organization for the sole sake of my love.''


    The matter sounded unreal and even quite unfair, but Khan couldn''t find a better answer. That was the solution provided by his new knowledge. That had to be his goal to achieve the unreasonable freedom the chaos element desired.


    ''I''m getting ahead of myself,'' Khan joked, even if his mind started to envision the details of that goal.


    Building an organization wasn''t too hard, at least theoretically. Money could purchase structures and soldiers, and achieving political influence would help establish the connections necessary to remain rtively independent.


    However, Khan didn''t want something so soulless. He wouldn''t be any different from Rodney or Luke otherwise. His ideal organization would need true loyalty, simr to what he had achieved among the Niqols.


    ''I missed using theirnguage,'' Khan chuckled. ''You''ll always be a part of me, won''t you?''


    Khan shook his head as he finally stood up. Strangely enough, he didn''t experience any sadness. Instead, some restlessness invaded his mind. He wanted so many things that staying still was simply impossible.


    ''So much for avoiding battles,'' Khan mocked himself as he focused on his arms. Nothing was broken, but he would still need time to heal.


    Khan instinctively reached for his trousers to rip them apart and create some simple bandages. An annoying pain spread while he covered his injuries, but his restlessness suppressed all of that.


    ''I need to get that cloud out of my head,'' Khan realized once the time to leave arrived. He even lightly pped his cheeks to calm down. Finding an actual solution had given him a purpose. His mind was full of various desires, and he didn''t know how much he could suppress them.


    Khan jumped on the first floor once he felt able to control himself, and a hooded Tors appeared in his vision once the entrance opened. The cape prevented any inspection, so Khan could only resort to words.


    "I can pay you back for the damage," Khan announced in an attempt to salvage his rtionship with the Tors.


    "Leave, chaos wielder," The Tors hissed from behind the hood. "No more deal."


    "Wait," Khan called as the Tors began to turn. "We can still-."


    "Too dangerous," The Tors interrupted. "No more deal."


    Khan didn''t want to lose that rare political connection, but reasoning with the Tors seemed impossible. The caped alien even left without bothering to escort him outside the district.


    The end of the cooperation wasn''t a real issue. Khan wouldn''t know what more tomission to the Tors, and his departure was close. He only felt annoyed to have missed the chance to establish a proper rtionship with the species, but the matter had probably been impossible since the very beginning.


    ''I really need to calm down,'' Khan thought as the desire to call the Tors again showed its presence.


    Khan took a deep breath before marching toward the district''s exit. He had to make another stop before returning to the Nele, so he crossed a series of streets until a familiar presence entered his senses'' range.


    "[What happened to you]?" Sen-nu eximed in the Fuveall''snguage when Khan stepped on his street.


    Khan had never given his appearance much thought, but he had to admit that he didn''t look good. His face still showed the marks caused by the [Blood Vortex], and the same went for his exposed legs. Also, the bandages on his arms were quite messy, which only worsened his image.


    "[I need your help with something]," Khan went straight to the point while taking out his phone. "[I hope your stash can meet my standards]."


    "[Ah]!" Sen-nu gasped. "[Are you making fun of Sen-nu now? Do not worry. The quality of my items is undisputed]."


    "[About that]," Khan stated as he crouched before the sitting Sen-nu. "[I don''t want the stuff you sell to random customers. I need premium items]."


    "[Sen-nu only sells premium items]," Sen-nu proudly imed.


    "[Come on]," Khan whispered. "[You must have something of slightly better quality, especially when ites tomunications in the dock]."


    "[My human friend]," Sen-nu chuckled, "[Your words reveal your ignorance. Any expert would acknowledge Sen-nu''s genius with a single look at my products]."


    "[So]," Khan continued, "[You don''t have anything better]."


    "[It''s not about quality]," Sen-nu exined. "[Communicating in the dock requires oveing specific jammers and hindrances. Even the best devices can''t achieve that with absolute certainty]."


    "[What do you suggest then]?" Khan asked.


    "[Sen-nu could give you something specific if you knew the exact hindrances to ovee]," Sen-nu suggested.


    Khan could only shake his head. He didn''t even know where Rodney would lead him, let alone the technical details of the area.


    "[I''ll go for the most reliablemunication device you have]," Khan sighed.


    "[If you only want reliability]," Sen-nu announced, "[You can sacrifice flexibility. Sen-nu has a pair of devices that can onlymunicate with each other. They are your best choice if you ept to have a single caller]."


    "[I''ll trust your expertise]," Khan nodded, and Sen-nu immediately reached for the backpack behind him to pick up the items.


    "[Sen-nu must warn you]," Sen-nu added while handing two phone-like devices to Khan. "[The reliability will decrease once the celebrations reach their most critical hour. I suggest you wait for things to calm down before handling whatever you have in mind]."


    ''Great,'' Khan cursed in his mind but purchased the items anyway. He had never nned to rely on the devices in the first ce, but refusing to prepare for the worst was simply stupid.


    "[Do you need anything else]?" Sen-nu asked when Khan stored the new devices in his pocket.


    "[That depends on what you can offer]," Khan smirked.


    "[That''s what Sen-nu likes to hear]!" Sen-nuughed, and the contents of his backpack soon filled the street.


    Khan ended up purchasing a few more items from Sen-nu. The alien sold him a tracker that could help hispanion follow his movements and an advanced scanner for the mana. Khan wouldn''t usually need something like that, but the strange sensation of the fourth asteroid convinced him to leave nothing to chance.


    The meetings were finally over at that point. Khan could return to the Nele''s district andplete his preparations, but a familiar figure waiting by the first purplemp told him that he would have to ovee a fight first.


    "[Weren''t you supposed to take it easy]?" Jenna scolded when she noticed the bandages on Khan''s arms.


    "[I''ll exinter]," Khan reassured as he dropped a bag to the floor. "[Can you take this into our room for now]?"


    "[Are you nning on training already]?" Jenna wondered.


    "[There is something I need to test out]," Khan revealed. "[I even need to ask Piran for permission]."


    "[Piran]?" Jenna repeated. "[Is it dangerous]?"


    "[A bit]," Khan admitted, "[But I''m not worried about me. I''m only afraid of the damage I might cause]."


    Jenna''s eyes darted up and down as she inspected Khan from head to toe. The Khan she knew would never consider causing problems for the Nele, but she didn''t mishear him. She could quickly conclude that something had changed again.


    "[Did something good happen]?" Jenna questioned.


    "[I don''t know how good that was]," Khanughed. "[It only forced me to think. I guess I can see my path more clearly now]."


    "[Which is]?" Jenna asked.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "[Being myself]," Khan shrugged his shoulders. "[That''s the only way to build meaningful connections. As for being a leader, only time will tell if I''m fit for that]."


    Khan''s speech didn''t make much sense, but Jenna felt able to understand him anyway. She had seen how lost he could appear, but that seemed impossible now. He had gained a new goal that made him brim with confidence and resolve.


    "[Do you know how hard it is for me to hold back when you look like this]?" Jenna teased as she picked up Khan''s bag and reached his side.


    "[Holding back is a pain]," Khan cursed. "[I should just give up on that altogether]."


    "[Are you finally ready to take me then]?" Jenna giggled as she grabbed Khan''s arm in a spot without injuries.


    "[I can''t wait for Monica to get this bold]," Khan snickered, and Jenna immediatelyined, making him explode into a loudugh.


    Jenna and Khan separated shortly after. Jenna had her duty with the vegetation in the dock to attend, and she also wanted to concoct some potions for Khan. As for him, Piran had granted him ess to the training hall, and he needed to make the best out of the short time before the mission.


    In theory, summoning an entirely new spell would require many attempts and a lot of thinking. Khan usually needed to find precise emotions and images that depicted what he wanted to express.


    However, the cloud was different. Thetter required aplete absence of those rules. Khan believed he could summon it by giving free rein to everything he had inside.


    When the night arrived, Jenna resurfaced while carrying a bowl containing a dense ointment. She wanted to apply it to Khan''s arms, but he had yet toe out of the training hall, and disturbing him wasn''t an option.


    Still, Jenna didn''t want to go back to her room already, and there was a high chance that Khan might need treatment once his session was over. So, she opted to wait in front of the training hall for him, and Piran''s arrival gave her the opportunity to kill some time.


    "[I didn''t expect you to agree to Khan''s request so quickly]," Jenna joked once the conversation reached that topic. "[Are you sure Maban won''tin]?"


    "[This district is far from vital]," Piran exined, "[Especially with most of our resources safe on the third asteroid. Also, how much damage can he even do]?"


    "[He did crash a ship in the middle of a street]," Jenna pointed out.


    "[That kind of damage is easy to fix]," Piran revealed. "[Besides, I''m sure he''ll be careful]."


    A loud explosion resounded as soon as Piran finished his line. He and Jenna turned in the direction of that noise only to see that a man-sized hole had appeared in a spot right next to the hall''s entrance.


    An intense purple-red glow invaded the area, and a clicking growl followed. The smoke released during the explosion quickly vanished, revealing arge, bright cloud hovering in the middle of the hole.


    Jenna and Piran prepared for the fight as soon as the cloud focused on them, but a glowing spear suddenly fell at its center and exploded to unleash the entirety of its destructive power.


    A pir of purple-red light enveloped the cloud and destroyed any trace of its presence, but part of the metal wall also fell prey to the attack. The man-sized hole transformed into a big and fuming opening, and a figure slowly appeared at its center.


    Khan wore a shameless smile when he peeked past the opening to look at Jenna and Piran. Jenna found it hard to hold back augh while Piran could barely believe what he had just witnessed.


    "[I''ll pay you back]!" Khan promised before inspecting the nearby streets. "[Maybe it''s better if you keep this area empty while I''m here]."


    "[Get out of the training hall already]!" Piran shouted, and Jenna''s self-restraint gave in, making her explode into augh.

 Chapter ?409 Return

    Chapter ?409 Return


    The mess caused by the cloud ended up locking Khan out of the training hall for the rest of his stay in the district, and he didn''t even try toin. The test had confirmed that a single week wouldn''t be enough to master the new spell, so Khan gave up on the project and focused on recovering.


    Peaceful days went by in which Khan did nothing but rest and stick to a rtively easy training routine. He let his body heal and absorb the absurd amount of mana gathered on the third asteroid while engaging in the usual social events of the district.


    Life during that week was truly blissful. The problems of the surface seemed unable to reach the dock, and the general cheerfulness caused by the iing celebrations added ayer of peace that prevented the arrival of crises.


    That peace allowed Khan to give free rein to his personality. The Nele weren''t treating him as an outsider anymore, so they slowly became aware of the shameless aspects of his character. Laughs often resounded whenever Khan teased Piran about the training hall, and simr jokes flew in his direction once everyone feltfortable enough.


    The situation could easily lead to multiple meaningful connections. The calm environment andck of duties could give Khan the chance to make proper friends in the district, but time wasn''t on his side, and the Nele also had to move at some point.


    As the celebrations drew close, the poption of the dock diminished. Entire crews and groups resurfaced to prepare for the event on the fourth asteroid, and Khan''s time arrived on thest day of the week.


    Khan took care of Jenna''s intense mood for most of the day before reaching the inevitable goodbyes. The two separated, and he left the district before going to the elevators handled by the Nele.


    Even without Jenna, the Nele granted Khan safe passage to the surface. He could return to Level Lower 1 without meeting any problems, and his phone started to buzz as soon as the dome''s light resumed shining in his vision.


    The return of the connection to thework would generally put Khan into battle mode, but the chaos that weed him on Lower Level 1 took priority. The celebrations were only one day away, and the streets perfectly depicted how close the event was.


    The shops owned by Nele usually scared away bystanders, but that didn''t apply now. Khan could barely keep track of the number of people that weed his return to the city, and his sensitivity also struggled to adjust to the mess.


    Many groups belonging to different species roamed through the streets, even filling the areas past the sidewalk. The ce was so crowded that Khan couldn''t spot any vehicle in his surroundings. He had to lift his head to see cabs still performing their job by flying among the buildings.


    The various groups were up to different activities, but the mood was overwhelmingly happy. People drank in the open, shared special smokes that gave off a strange scent, and wore entric essories, dyes, or clothes that suited the iing event.


    The messy state of the street forced Khan to rely on his eyes. He walked around the block to study the situation, but the scenery didn''t change. It seemed that the entirety of the city had fallen prey to that happy mass of visitors.


    Moving by foot turned out to be troublesome. The night had started, so the various groups Khan encountered on his path were overly friendly or straight-up wasted. He would have joined that happy mood in different circumstances, but his mission didn''t give him that chance.


    ''I guess getting picked up is impossible,'' Khan thought after gaining a general idea of the situation.


    Khan noticed a few concerned texts when he finally checked his phone. Luke would have preferred for Khan to resurface earlier, while Monica simply wanted to check on him. As for the actual updates on the messengers, the situation didn''t change. Khan was meant to meet Rodney tomorrow.


    The how and where of the meeting were still unclear, but Khan knew that Rodney would reveal himself at some point. The mess he was inspecting would also provide a nice cover, so the chances of getting spotted by interested parties would be low.


    ''Where are you?'' Khan sent to Luke once he found an empty corner where to wait for an answer.


    A few minutes had to pass before the phone buzzed again. Luke had replied. ''We are on the fourth asteroid, Lower Level 1. I can send someone to pick you up if you need.''


    ''No, just give me your location,'' Khan responded.


    A few seconds passed, and a new message reached Khan''s phone. Luke had sent an interactive map with a marked location. It seemed that the group had already settled in another building owned by the Cobsend family.


    ''Definitely not close,'' Khan thought before sending a message to Monica. ''Can you talk?''


    The reply arrived almost instantly, and Khan already came up with jokes while he read Monica''s answer. ''I can. Did something happen?''


    The walk to Luke''s building was bound to take a while. Khan would have to roam through the city for at least a few hours. He could spend that time deep into his thoughts, but a better idea had already popped into his mind.


    Khan rechecked the map before starting a call and bringing his phone to his ear. Ringing noises resounded as he walked through the crowd, and a familiar voice eventually came out of the device. "What were you thinking?!"


    "You told me you could talk," Khanughed.


    "I meant through texts!" Monicained. "I had to make a run for the corridor to avoid getting caught."


    "But you still picked up," Khan teased.


    "I thought you were in danger or something," Monica exined. "I''ll hang up if you called only to tease me."


    "I did miss teasing you," Khan admitted.


    "I bet Jenna filled that role more than well," Monica scoffed.


    "She surely did her best," Khan chuckled, "But your reactions are cuter."


    "I''m hanging up," Monica threatened.


    "Hey," Khan called before Monica could follow through. "I really missed you."


    Monica remained silent for a few seconds before voicing a faint whisper. "Liar."


    "I felt like hearing your voice," Khan continued. "I figured we could talk a bit while I make my way through the city."


    "Can''t Luke send someone to pick you up?" Monica wondered.


    "I already refused that offer," Khan revealed. "It''s a mess out here. A ship will only attract attention, and I''d rather sneak out without anyone recognizing me tomorrow."


    Silence fell again, but the call remained active. Khan couldn''t hear much with all the mess that surrounded him, but the fact that Monica had yet to hang up said a lot about her thoughts.


    "Did you really miss me?" Monica eventually asked.


    "Of course," Khan stated. "I thought about you many times."


    "Not all the time?" Monica asked.


    "Don''t get ahead of yourself now," Khan joked, and a giggle resounded from the phone.


    "It feels nice to hear your voice," Khan said. "I can''t wait to see you."


    "You won''t sweet-talk your way into my pants," Monica uttered.


    "I don''t need words for that," Khan imed. "I''m only going easy on you."


    "Damned scoundrel," Monica sighed.


    "You are the one who fell so hard for me," Khan pointed out.


    "Who fell for who?!" Monica shouted. "Argh, fuck you!"


    The loud curse only made Khanugh harder, but the silence that followed made him stop. Monica was up to something again, and Khan calmly waited to understand what she had in mind.


    "Give me one second," Monica soon continued. "I need toe up with an excuse to leave the others."


    "I''ll wait here," Khan replied, and faint voices started toe out of the phone while he continued to cross various groups.


    A few minutes had to pass before Monica''s voice resounded from the device again. "Are you still there?"


    "Never left," Khan responded.


    "The others will think I''m crazy," Monica cursed. "I had just joined them."


    "And they don''t even know your true colors," Khan voiced.


    "That''s your fault," Monica scoffed.


    "How is your temper my fault?" Khan wondered.


    "Because I say so," Monica pouted.


    "I got myself such a troublesome woman," Khan sighed.


    "Yes," Monica agreed as her tone grew warmer. "Now I''m your problem to handle."


    "This problem is lucky to be so cute," Khan teased, "And wait until you hear about that butt."


    "Don''t be so dirty on the phone!" Monica scolded. "At least wait until we are together."


    "Do you want me to say this stuff to your face?" Khan asked.


    "Shut up," Monica ordered before revealing her true feelings. "I''ve missed you too."


    "I''ll be there in a few hours," Khan reassured. "Why don''t you tell me how you have been in the meantime?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Time began to flow faster at that point. Monica shared what she had experienced in the past weeks, and Khan did the same. A few bits of the story inevitably led to some fights, but the call remained on friendly terms, especially since both of them couldn''t wait to see each other again.


    Khan didn''t forget to keep track of the streets during the call. He was crossing a good chunk of the city, and every block was as crowded as ever. Only the decorations changed, even if he had seen most of them when he first returned to the asteroid.


    The national pride took a specific shape as more graffiti and banners crossed Khan''s vision. The symbol seen when he first obtained the authorization to enter the dock turned out to be quite popr during the celebration. Every corner carried the images of the seven spheres connected by a line that ran through their center.


    ''There must be some factions that wantplete independence,'' Khan guessed before Monica imed the entirety of his attention again.


    Monica didn''t interrupt the call even after two hours had passed. She didn''t voice a singleint about the noise around Khan or the breaks he took to check the map. Also, she became more proactive as the conversation continued, allowing Khan to havepany throughout the walk.


    "Okay, I think I see Luke''s building," Khan announced when a five-story metal building became visible at the end of the street. "Which floor is your room again?"


    "Do you think it''s wise toe?" Monica asked. "Francis calmed down, but this ce isn''t too big. Someone might find out."


    "I honestly don''t care," Khan admitted, "But I''ll stay put if you are too worried."


    "You are so unfair," Monica cursed. "I can''t refuse after such a long call."


    "Are you dying to see me?" Khan teased.


    "Yes," Monica eximed in her shy tone. "So, hurry up with Luke. I''ll wait for you."


    "I''ll see you in a bit," Khan promised before ending the call and hurrying toward the building.


    The night was still young when Khan crossed the building''s entrance. Dinnertime had passed by a few hours, so he didn''t feel surprised to see some of hispanions in the main hall.


    Martha wasn''t there, and the same went for the four first-level warriors. The main hall only had Luke, Bruce, Francis, and Master Ivor, and they all turned when Khan arrived.


    "Khan!" Luke immediately eximed.


    "Wee back, Lieutenant Khan," Master Ivor followed.


    "You have been missed around here," Bruce joked while ying with the cigarette in his hand.


    Only Francis remained silent, but Khan didn''t feel the same hostility as before. The man appeared confused, but Khan didn''t have time to waste, and his words matched that mindset.


    "Luke, let me update you properly," Khan announced. "I''d rather make it quick and sleep early."


    "Of course!" Luke agreed as he left the couch. "Follow me. This building isn''t as modern as the other, but I''m sure it will please you."


    Khan nodded, even if he barely cared about those details. Moreover, the main hall, elevator, and corridor that unfolded afterward hardly seemed any worse than those in the other building. Everything carried the same modern and clean vibe. The current ce only felt less luxurious.


    Luke quickly led Khan into a meeting hall on thest floor. The ce was rtively small butfortable. Armchairs surrounded an interactive table, while simple furniture stood near the walls. The room didn''t have windows, but Khan felt sure that the menus could provide something simr.


    "I believe you read my messages," Luke announced while browsing through the furniture to pick up a bottle and two sses.


    "I did," Khan revealed. "It''s not surprising. It makes sense for Rodney to keep us in the dark until the veryst moment."


    "I thought you had a different deal with him," Luke pointed out.


    "And how should I enforce it?" Khan shrugged his shoulders. "Pulling myself out of the mission was my only option, but I can''t do that anymore, can I? I bet Rodney figured that out."


    "That Semmut guy is getting annoying," Luke cursed.


    "You don''t know the half of it," Khan chuckled. "Anyway, I bring gifts."


    Luke finished pouring the booze while looking at Khan, who dropped down his backpack and pulled out a few items. The special phones and the tracker appeared in the open, and Khan didn''t hesitate to ce them on the desk.


    "These should give us a better shot atmunicating while I''m away," Khan exined. "These will keep track of my position."


    "I could have provided simr items," Luke stated.


    "These are tailor-made for the dock and backed by Fuveall''s technology," Khan revealed. "They should be more reliable."


    "Don''t forget to send me the bill," Luke nodded. "You did great. Better safe than sorry."


    "I guess that''s it then," Khan dered. "I''ll take my leave."


    "Wait!" Luke called before Khan could start to turn. "We should discuss contingency ns and much more."


    Khan revealed a smile, even if he had already shaken his head in his mind. Rodney hadplete control of the mission. Luke simplycked the details to create contingency ns.


    "Luke, there isn''t much we can do at this point," Khan exined. "Once Rodney shows his face, the mission will be in my hands. Calling for reinforcements is the best I''ll be able to do."


    Luke wanted to do more, but the situation didn''t allow it. He had nothing to offer, and any information he could share now would be clear tomorrow anyway. He would keep Khan awake for no pressing reason if he decided to prolong the meeting.


    "I''m sorry," Luke eventually uttered. "I can''t do anything."


    "That''s not true," Khan corrected as he reached for the full ss near Luke and drew it to his mouth. "Mister Raymond will join the celebrations, won''t he? He is your mission."


    "Do you think I can make him talk?" Luke scoffed. "You met him. You know how skilled he is with words."


    "I don''t expect you to get a confession," Khan responded. "I only want you to keep him there. It''s in everyone''s best interest if he doesn''te near the hidden area."


    "I should be able to do this little," Luke promised.


    "Also, keep an eye out for the woman, Rodney''s boss," Khan warned. "You can''t follow us into the hidden area, but you can put someone near the entrance to check whether she shows her face."


    "I have already made preparations for that," Luke revealed. "In theory, you''ll also have air support."


    "In theory?" Khan repeated.


    "Lower Level 1 will be full of ships tomorrow," Luke exined. "I don''t know how much support you''ll be able to get with such traffic."


    "It is indeed a mess out there," Khan admitted as he drank from his ss. "Missing out is almost a pity."


    "We''ll all get our chance eventually," Luke dered. "Now, did you eat anything? I can make someonee here or send them directly to your room if you want."


    "I''ll think about that once I drop this stuff," Khan said while pointing at the backpack next to him.


    "Right, this building isn''t too big," Luke uttered. "Though I can get you a pretty room."


    "I''d like it on the second floor," Khan announced, "On the west wing."


    Luke nodded before wearing a frown and pointing his inspecting eyes at Khan. He respected everyone''s privacy, but he had inevitably learnt about the rooms chosen by hispanions, so he knew who slept in that area.


    "Are you sure I don''t need to know anything about Miss Solodrey?" Luke asked.


    "Luke, you know the risks I''m taking for your mission," Khan dered without hiding his smirk. "The least you could do is close an eye before this stuff."


    "Khan, do I need to exin the political implications of what you are doing?" Luke wondered. "It won''t be long before others notice something, and I won''t know how to help you at that point."


    "Well, I''m not the one who has to get even," Khan stated as he emptied his drink. "It might not take long, but you surely have time toe up with something."


    "Khan," Luke called, but Khan didn''t make him continue.


    "You are smarter than me in that field," Khan winked at Luke. "You''ll do great. I trust you."


    After saying that, Khan left the ss on the desk and gathered the items he needed before turning. Luke felt the need to keep that conversation alive, but no word came out of his mouth, and Khan''s figure soon disappeared behind the metal door.


    During the silence that followed, Luke realized that the past interaction had been quite odd. Khan didn''t show any of his hostility when hinting at Martha''s events. He had actually felt quite rxed, even if his behavior showed newfound confidence.


    Khan was obviously unaware of Luke''s realizations, but he didn''t care. ying the good soldier was fine, but only among strangers or actual superiors. Luke was closer to a friend than an employer, so he didn''t bother resorting to polite words or simr tactics.


    The elevator brought Khan to the second floor in a few seconds, and he crossed the corridor before choosing a random t close to where he wanted to go.


    The t''s insides werefortable and cozy. A big bed and a desk upied the main room, and a door connected it to a rtively spacious bathroom. A man like Khan couldn''t find anyint about the area, but his thoughts barely lingered on that scene as he threw his backpack away and immediately left.


    Monica had given precise directions, so Khan could find her room without contacting her again. Her presence also entered his senses'' range when he knocked on her door, and the entrance soon opened to reveal her exquisite figure.


    "How many skirts do you even have?" Khanmented when he nced at Monica''s red skirt.


    "Hurry up before someonees," Monica scolded as she grabbed Khan''s arm and pulled him inside the room.


    "Someone couldn''t wait to get her hands on me," Khan teased, and a smirk appeared on his face when Monica''s grasp on his arm grew softer.


    "Nothing?" Khan continued since Monica kept her face lowered, but that stance onlysted one more second. He could soon see Monica''s smiling face while she drew closer to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him.


    "Did you really miss me?" Monica whispered once the kiss ended.


    "You have no idea," Khan responded, and a giggle resounded when he lifted Monica to make her cling to his waist with her legs.


    The two didn''t use words anymore. They fell into a kiss as Khan carried Monica to bed. They both knew their time was short since the next day would mark the beginning of a dangerous mission.

 Chapter ?410 Warning

    Chapter ?410 Warning


    Rivers of vehicles hovered among the buildings, and a sea of people upied the streets below. Balloons and other decorations shone everywhere, and entire structures had changed color to match Milia 222''s iconic pale-blue light.


    Khan inspected the crowded scene from the calm of his cab. The general happy mood from the previous day was nothingpared to that morning''s chaos. The fourth asteroid had turned into a loud beast now that the celebrations had begun.


    "I didn''t expect it to be so messy," Lukemented while inspecting the scenery outside the cab. "We will never get there on time."


    "We won''t be the only oneste," Bruce reassured. "Also, it''s just a matter of taking our seats. The hard part should be over at that point."


    Bruce, Khan, Luke, and Master Ivor were in the same cab, and an almost identical vehicle flew behind them to carry the rest of the group. Darrel, Isaac, and udia had to remain behind, but that didn''t affect the n.


    "How do you n on leaving once we take our seats?" Luke asked while turning toward Khan.


    "I can''t say yet," Khan admitted. "I expect Rodney to have prepared something."


    "What if he didn''t?" Luke pressed on.


    "I''ll jump on heads until I find an empty spot," Khan exined.


    "Come on," Bruce chuckled. "Sharing information will only make our job easier."


    Khan stopped looking at the scenery to show his smirk to hispanions. Master Ivor ended up voicing a chuckle while Luke and Bruce heaved sighs and shook their heads. Khan had actually been serious.


    "Let''s do an item check right now," Luke announced.


    "We did it before getting on the cab," Khan pointed out but opened his backpack anyway to show its insides.


    The backpack didn''t have much. It only contained the phone meant for the dock and the scanner for mana. Khan had already put the tracker under his shirt, and Luke had the rest of the items.


    "Alright," Luke nodded after a few seconds. "We are truly ready."


    Khan didn''t say anything, but his expression showed his agreement with Luke. The items were ready, the Nele knew about the n, and a few vehicles would keep track of Khan''s movements once he left the celebrations. He only had to wait for Rodney to begin the mission.


    "This is it then," Bruce eximed.


    Khan and Master Ivor exchanged a nce but opted to remain silent. The pressure was getting to Bruce and Luke, but words wouldn''t calm them. Only the end of the mission could disperse that tension.


    "Just make sure to check the items every few minutes," Khan eventually said. "You can enjoy the celebrations in the meantime."


    "Enjoy the celebrations," Luke scoffed. "I have a lot on my te here, too much even, and this is the best I can do to help."


    "That''s why you called me," Khan imed.


    "Still," Luke sighed. "Something must change once all of this is over. I need to do and be better."


    Khan agreed with thatment, but he let his curiosity take over and bring his gaze back to the scenery outside. His vehicle was slowly moving toward its destination, so new interesting details managed to enter his vision.


    Luke had shared the details of the celebrations during a joint breakfast a few hours ago. The fourth asteroid would have multiple events that day, but Luke''s group would only attend the main one, which would happen in a big square modified for the asion.


    The square stood near the center of Lower Level 1, so the trip would usually be pretty short. Yet, the traffic slowed everything down.


    Luke and Bruce exchanged some casualments as the slow flight continued. The conversation helped them deal with the tension, and Khan didn''t bother to join it. He had gotten too used to those kinds of missions, so he spent his time lingering on various thoughts.


    Khan''s injuries had healedpletely, but he couldn''t say the same for his attunement with mana. He had improved too fast, and only a long period of rest would get him used to those changes. Still, his check-up technique didn''t show any significant red gs, so he didn''t see it as a big problem.


    Except for that, Khan was in great shape, both physically and emotionally. His body was stronger than ever, his arsenalcked weaknesses, and a strange mental rity had invaded his thoughts.


    Mastering the cloud would have further improved the situation, but Khan could see the positive side of his failed test. The spell had shown him a path, which had straightened his thoughts in ways he didn''t think were possible.


    That change didn''t only benefit Khan''s normal mental state. His rtionships had also improved due to that newfound resolve. He had gotten closer to the Nele, begun to show his true colors to Luke, and even taken another step with Monica.


    For once, the future didn''t look as grim as before. Khan knew he would face hardships, especially once politics became a deeper part of his life, but he didn''t let those thoughts sour his mood. Khan was ready to ovee both war and peace to build his path toward freedom.


    An entire hour had to pass before the vehicle made substantial progress on the flight. The tall buildings suddenly grew scarcer to create an open environment. The appointed square became visible, and Khan couldn''t help but gasp at its incredible design.


    The square was big, even too big for a city with limited space. Twenty or so buildings surrounded it to mark its edges, and multiple seats stood before them to create the arena that would likely host the celebrations.


    The seats immediately attracted Khan''s attention. The poorest ones were staircase-shaped structures as tall as six-story buildings. Then, various ships hovered above them and acted as tforms for the people inside them.


    Atst, actual tforms floated above the ships and created luxurious seats that allowed thending of small vehicles. Some of those structures even had crews that provided food and other services. Khan could only feel marvel at that sight, and a bitter smile appeared on his face when he epted that he would miss all of that.


    Luke knocked on the wall that separated the group from the driver''s seat, and thetter understood the silent order. The vehicle changed direction and rose a bit to reach anding area on a building nearby.


    The cab behind did the same, so both vehicles soonnded on the building. The cars opened, and the groups jumped out to regroup onest time before the beginning of the celebrations. Of course, the pilots didn''t join that event.


    "Let''s go over our seats again," Luke announced as soon as everyone stepped on thending area.


    Khan ignored the following exchange since he had already heard those same orders a few hours ago. Instead, he gazed at the giant square to get a clear picture of the area.


    The lights, the many vehicles, the decorations, the people on the various seats, the tforms, and the cylindrical structure in the distance created a breathtaking scene. Khan had seen many strange things, but that was the best expression of technology he had ever encountered.


    Moreover, Khan''s inspection went far beyond his eyes and ears. The symphony of mana created an incredible drawing that added fuel to the general happiness of the ce, and that feeling was bound to intensify as more people reached the square.


    "Khan?" Luke eventually called since he noticed that Khan wasn''t listening to him.


    "You and Ivor will go on a tform," Khan summarized. "The others will split on our ships while I''ll be on the staircases."


    Khan had sounded far from serious, almost pushing Luke to scold him. Yet, he hadmitted the details of the mission to memory, so reprimanding him was pointless.


    "Remember to contact me," Luke stated, and Khan simply nodded. The others didn''t know everything, so the two kept their interaction vague.


    Luke went on to give other warnings to the team, but his words became unable to reach Khan''s ears when he looked at Monica. She was beautiful in her pink dress, and the elegance she had learnt to radiate made her stand out.


    Monica was only pretending to pay attention to Luke. She had noticed Khan''s gaze long ago, and he was aware of that. He knew she would be embarrassed in that situation, so he continued to look at her to tease her a bit.


    Khan stopped when Luke pped his hands and prepared himself to give thest orders. The group had to split, and everyone was ready to jump back into the cars. However, a third vehicle suddenly approached the building andnded in the same area.


    Luke, Bruce, Master Ivor, and Khan understood what was happening before the new vehicle could give any hint. The car was too luxurious to hide its owner, and the powerful presence inside it gave Khan everything he needed to find his answers.


    A door on the side of the vehicle opened, and Raymond stepped out to greet the group with his broad smile. His expression depicted pure friendliness that made it extremely hard to suspect him of any conspiracy, but Khan continued to look past that, and what he felt wasn''t reassuring.


    "You are a sight to behold," Raymond eximed while reaching the group. "The future of the Global Army couldn''t look any better."


    "You are too kind, Mister Cobsend," Monica promptly thanked while performing an elegant bow.


    "I''m only speaking the truth," Raymondughed. "Well, how is my nephew treating you?"


    "I booked the best seats I could find," Luke exined.


    "I believe you," Raymond announced. "Still, some of you don''t have a tform, right? Mine is prettyrge. You are wee there."


    "We can''t ept such generosity," Bruce refused as politely as he could. "Besides, we wouldn''t want to disturb you during the spectacle."


    "Nonsense," Raymond scoffed. "Let''s get you all on a tform. I''ll unite two or three of them if we don''t have enough space."


    When Raymond picked up his phone toplete the new arrangements, some panic invaded Luke''s mind. He instinctively nced at Khan before suppressing any reaction that could take control of his face.


    Luke was in a pickle. He needed Khan on the ground, but he couldn''te up with a valid excuse. Also, contradicting his uncle wasn''t a smart political move. They could have the best rtionship, but members of other families would still see that as an internal conflict.


    Khan retained his calm, but his thoughts were equally wild. He considered the possibility that Raymond had uncovered the n, but he quickly disregarded it. Worrying about that now was pointless. It was better to focus on solving the imminent issue.


    "Mister Raymond, I''m afraid I have to refuse your offer," Khan dered before anyone could speak.


    "How so?" Raymond calmly asked.


    "I made the same request to Luke," Khan lied. "There is someone I have to meet. She is pretty important to me."


    "Are you choosing a woman over my kind offer?" Raymond questioned as his smile slowly faded.


    "She is not as reasonable as you," Khan tried to justify. "Her temper is impossible to deal with."


    Monica looked away. Khan wanted to make everyone think he was talking about Jenna, but his description matched Monica''s character, and she knew he was doing that on purpose.


    "Lieutenant Khan," Raymond announced, ultimately abandoning his friendliness as he stepped toward Khan. "Are you certain about this decision?"


    Khan pretended to struggle to choose his next words and spoke when Raymond reached him. "Please, sir. I really need to see her this morning."


    "I wonder what''s so important about that," Raymond insisted. "Exin yourself, Lieutenant Khan."


    "Well," Khan cleared his throat while his voice turned into a whisper, "I haven''t gottenid in a while, and we booked this room for the day."


    Utter silence fell in the area. Khan had whispered, but the noisesing from around the building didn''t cover his words, so everyone heard him.


    Luke and the others almost couldn''t believe that Khan had voiced such an idiotic line. Those words had no ce in a conversation with someone like Raymond Cobsend. They weren''t exactly impolite, but they covered topics that would make anyone feel awkward.


    The tension intensified as the silence continued. Everyone was waiting for Raymond to speak, but thetter seemed at a loss for words. His mouth even hung open as he tried to make some sense out of what Khan had just said.


    As for Khan, he didn''t mind showing his shameless and straightforward side. He had done the same on Onia with Colonel Norrett, and that behavior made sense at his age.


    Moreover, Raymond had shown his contempt for politics during their meetings. His behavior might have been a fa?¡ìade, but it would make sense for him to disregard those obligations and let Khan have some fun. It would even be in line with his profile.


    Augh eventually broke the silence. Raymond brought his hand to his mouth to suppress his outburst and turn it into elegant chuckles. His reaction reassured the group, and the words that followed ended that tense moment.


    "Sorry for pressuring you," Raymondughed. "I didn''t expect this. Of course! Even I wouldn''t choose to spend these celebrations on a boring tform with such an interesting alternative."


    "I would have rescheduled if I knew about this offer a little earlier," Khan lied again.


    "No need to add anything," Raymond eximed. "You go and do what you must do. Ah! Being young sure is fun."


    Khan wore a smile but didn''t say anything. He could feel hispanions'' gazes on him, but he decided to ignore them. Most of the team didn''t know about Raymond''s potential involvement in the theft, so their confusion was more than justified.


    Only Luke and Monica gave off notable reactions. Luke felt reassured, while Monica experienced a mixture of shyness and embarrassment. Khan had used her in his lie, and his words had carried a truth that made her blush.


    As for Martha, she understood that something was going on, but she also knew that the situation didn''t allow questions. She would have to wait until after the mission to learn the truth.


    "Very well," Raymond soon announced. "Since everything is set, why don''t we reach our seats? I''m confident I can arrange the tform while I take Lieutenant Khan to the staircases. Unless he wants to refuse this offer too."


    "I''ll dly ept the ride," Khan smiled.


    "I''ll see you in the tforms area then," Raymond dered. "Lieutenant Khan, with me."


    Khan turned toward hispanions to nod before hurrying after Raymond. Needless to say, Amanda and Francis were staring at him in disbelief, and their expressions didn''t change even after he entered Raymond''s car.


    The car''s insides reflected the luxury noticed outside. Khan found himself amongfortable and spacious seats, interactive menus, and a small selection of bottles locked in a transparent case.


    "You sure know how to make this old manugh," Raymond eximed after closing the door.


    "I was only telling the truth," Khan lied.


    "A woman with a bad temper," Raymond chuckled. "It does remind me of your parents."


    "Maybe it''s in my genes," Khan guessed.


    "It wouldn''t surprise me," Raymondughed. "Oh, do you have a seat already?"


    "Yes," Khan replied while taking out his phone to check one of Luke''s messages. "I''m on D344."


    "I''ll drop you there," Raymond responded as he tapped on the interactive menus to give new directives to the pilot.


    "Thank you for this, Raymond," Khan voiced.


    "Don''t even mention it," Raymond stated. "These celebrations are a joyful asion. I won''t let politics stand in the way of your fun."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Again, thank you for understanding," Khan added.


    "It''s fine," Raymond waved his hand dismissively. "You should pursue every opportunity you have at your age. It will be toote for that once you be important, and I know you will."


    Ships usually didn''t fly directly on the staircases, but Raymond''s vehicle ignored that rule. It entered the square and hovered above the lower seats until it stood right above Khan''s spot.


    "Send my regards to your girl," Raymond voiced when Khan opened one of the doors on the side.


    "I will!" Khan happily said before jumping down. Only three meters separated him from his spot, so thending didn''t cause any problem.


    Raymond''s vehicle took off right after thending, and Khan followed it with his eyes. The small ship flew directly toward the topmost area, where three tforms were hovering toward each other.


    Khan heaved a sigh in his mind before shooting cold nces at his surroundings. Hisnding had attracted a lot of attention, and the people nearby didn''t hold back from inspecting his figure. Some even whistled for no clear reason.


    ''So much for going unnoticed,'' Khan cursed before sitting on the spot with the symbols "D344" written in variousnguages. The people around him kept shooting nces in his direction, but they soon lost interest since he wasn''t up to anything interesting.


    The square was still empty, but the event was bound to start soon since the staircase area was basically full. The sky above was almostpletely packed too. The audience had arrived, so it was time for the celebrations to start.


    Khan ignored the square. He wanted to see what Milia 222 had in store, but he had to remain focused on his senses. There were so many people that identifying Rodney''s presence could be a problem, so he needed to keep his entire concentration on the matter.


    Some distracting scenes managed to make Khan falter for a few seconds. The purple areas on the staircases always attracted his attention, and familiar faces crossed his vision from time to time, even if they always disappeared among the crowd.


    Still, even with those random distractions, Khan''s awareness of his surroundings remained high, so he didn''t miss the arrival of a third-level warrior.


    Khan didn''t want to alert anyone, so he pretended not to notice that new powerful presence. However, he felt forced to turn when he sensed it sitting on the seat on his left, and what he saw shattered his confidence.


    A beautiful woman with long golden hair had taken her ce next to Khan. Her tracksuit did its best to make her appear in, but her beauty overcame that hindrance and made many gazes turn to inspect her.


    Shock often followed. Inspecting the woman''s face made the onlookers aware of the hideous scar that ran over her left eye and cheek. That wound acted as a turn-off for most of the audience, but Khan was an exception, even if for different reasons.


    Khan had never felt the woman''s presence or seen her on Milia 222, but Rodney had provided a portrait that looked exactly like her. She was his boss, and she had chosen to sit right next to Khan.


    The event couldn''t possibly be a coincidence. The staircases had too many seats for that. Moreover, Raymond had just dropped Khan there, which would exin how the woman knew about his spot.


    Khan diverted his gaze and stared at the square while his mind grew cold. Killing in public wasn''t a viable option, but striking now would grant him some degree of initiative, which could make the difference between life and death.


    Thoughts swirled. Khan slowly grew convinced that he had to do something before the woman could take control of the situation. Part of him even abandoned the idea of preserving the mission. He only had to decide how to handle the matter.


    "Don''t bother," The woman said before Khan could make up his mind. "You wouldn''t seed anyway, so don''t bother trying."


    Khan remained quite surprised by the coldness of the woman''s voice. It was deeper than emotionless. It almost sounded robotic, which matched what her thoughts radiated.


    The synthetic mana around the woman carried a chilling feeling. It expressed a peaceful but firm coldness that didn''t ept anypromise. That was the mind of an assassin.


    "Your presence confirms my guesses," Khan stated. "You''ll have to kill me to keep your secrets, and I won''t die without putting up a fight."


    "Do you think I learnt about your seat from thending?" The woman wondered in the same robotic tone. "I''ve known about it since your employer booked it. That''s the kind of power you have chosen to oppose."


    "So, you admit it," Khan voiced.


    "This must be your attempt to make me say a name," The woman dered. "How na?¡¥ve."


    "It was worth a shot," Khan chuckled.


    "No," The woman corrected. "Thinking that getting a name will change anything is na?¡¥ve."


    Khan scoffed before continuing with a question. "What do you want? I''m down to fight if that''s what you came here for."


    "I don''t fight kids unless ordered to," The woman announced. "I''vee here to warn you."


    "Are you on my side now?" Khan joked.


    "I''m warning you on behalf of my Master," The woman continued. "Don''t disappoint him."


    "Can you be more specific?" Khan questioned, but the woman directly stood up and began to leave.


    Khan kept his cold eyes on the woman until she reached the passages among the staircases and left the area. Even her presence escaped the range of Khan''s senses by then, but he continued to stare at the spot where she had disappeared.


    ''Master,'' Khan thought. ''It must be Raymond, but why would he want to warn me?''


    Khan couldn''t remain immersed in his thoughts for too long since a familiar presence suddenly reached his senses. The crowd muddled that sensation, but Khan was sure. Rodney had arrived in the area.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Some life updates. I''ve bought a house, which is good news, even if it will lead to time-consuming stuff like furniture and simr.


    My mainptop started crashing, which forced me to send it to the tech guy. It has been there for a week, and I have yet to hear anything about it.


    My backupptop worked fine for a few days before its screen went full psycho mode. I''ve posted some pics on discord. I''ve never seen anything like that. It basically flickers to no end or keeps a faded version of the previous page on the new one, or both. Strange stuff.


    So, that''s it. Things should get better soon, but this is my current situation.

 Chapter ?411 Hand

    Chapter ?411 Hand


    The symphony of mana was beyond messy. Countless energy sources added their influence to the environment and created a scenery tooplicated to contain in a single brain.


    However, one specific shade managed to stand out from the rest of the mess and attract Khan''s attention. The sensation was faint, unclear, and even disappeared at times, but Khan was sure. Rodney was in the area.


    ''Did he send her?'' Khan wondered while standing up to make his way through the crowd. Of course, he didn''t forget to update Luke about that development.


    Comints resounded around Khan as he bumped and squeezed himself through the crowd. Someone stood up to challenge him, but a cold gaze and an alteration of the synthetic mana were enough to put anyone back in their seats.


    Even among the res, Khan ignored the crowd to go over what had just happened. Appointing Raymond as the man behind the woman''s warning was almost obvious, but Khan didn''t want to leave any blind spot in his preparations.


    Did Rodney have the power to hire a third-level warrior? The answer was a resounding: Yes. Still, he probably didn''t have the means to learn about Khan''s seat right after the purchase, and having someone ready in the area sounded unreasonable without that information.


    Moreover, Khan was convinced that Rodney had been honest during their meeting. His fear had been authentic, and their bloody history only added value to that conclusion.


    ''Why would Raymond send someone to warn me after being so friendly?'' Khan ended up wondering once his thoughts moved to a new topic. ''What''s the point of continuing to pretend even now?''


    Khan couldn''t solve those doubts, but he knew what could. The warning had to have some connection with the mission. The secret area was bound to have the answers he sought.


    The staircases were immense structures that encircled the whole square, but they had a functionalyout. They were firm enough to endure the tremendous weight of the audience while also having passages in their insides.


    Khan spent minutes heading for another exit since he didn''t dare to follow the woman, and the audience almost fought against him when he climbed the steps that led to the passage.


    A simr issue appeared when Khan reached the passage. Staircases that dived directly into the structure stretched from the opening, but a crowd had imed them. Anyone too poor to purchase seats had settled there, leaving no room for those who wanted to cross the area.


    Khan had sensed that situation before he couldy his eyes on it, so he had already made up his mind. As soon as the crowd unfolded in his vision, he jumped forward and proceeded to use heads and shoulders as footholds to cross the area.


    The crowd hid the directions depicted on the walls, so Khan stuck to going down. Passages connected to lower seats appeared asionally, but he eventually found the opening that led outside the square.


    The situation didn''t improve even after Khan left the staircases. A river of people had invaded the streets around the square, forcing him to keep jumping from head to head until he reached the opposite sidewalk, where he finally found anding spot.


    Comints flew in Khan''s direction as soon as hended, but he ignored everything and closed his eyes. A torrent of different colors filled his senses and conveyed a seemingly endless stream of information, but he cut the useless noise out until he found a strand of mana that matched his needs.


    Someone had tried to approach Khan while he was immersed in his inspection, but the resolve conveyed when he opened his eyes made those people hesitate. The crowd hid his figure during that second, and theiners lost track of him.


    As for Khan, he squeezed through anyone on his path to follow the strand of synthetic mana that carried a trace of Rodney''s presence. That scent intensified as he advanced, and his sensitivity eventually brought him to a narrow street on the other side of the block.


    That street didn''tck people, but one hooded figure leaning on the metal wall managed to attract Khan''s attention. The man wore sunsses, and pale-blue tattoos covered his mouth, but his unmistakable presence brought Khan before him.


    "What are you even wearing?" Khan asked while inspecting the hoodie. Thetter was too loose to reveal the items hidden underneath, but traces of synthetic mana seeping out of it gave Khan a vague idea.


    "I had to take precautions," Rodney exined. "I''m sure my faction didn''t take my betrayal nicely."


    "Betrayal isn''t new to you," Khan mocked. "You''ll be fine."


    "You wouldn''t talk like this if you knew the full extent of Raymond Cobsend''s influence," Rodney scoffed. "You''d take even more precautions than me."


    "Like the gun under your hoodie?" Khan wondered, and a smirk appeared on his face when a tremor ran through Rodney''s mouth.


    "You have be a proper freak," Rodneymented coldly. "No wonder you can''t find your ce among humans."


    "I''ve been a freak since I was five," Khan corrected. "What''s your excuse?"


    "A freak chose an alien over a fellow human," Rodney stated.


    Even with the sunsses, Khan knew that Rodney was ring at him. Tension also fell around the two. They seemed on the verge of fighting, but neither made sudden moves.


    "You came to me for help," Khan pointed out. "Don''t forget that."


    "It was a negotiation," Rodney contradicted, "And maybe I should have given it a second thought. I can''t believe you sent your green friends to spy on me."


    "You can''t me me for not trusting you," Khan chuckled.


    "I me you for your poor judgment," Rodney exined. "Did you really think the shiest species on Milia 222 could spy on the Ots?"


    "It''s a matter of loyalty," Khan replied. "You wouldn''t understand."


    "I understand they did a poor job," Rodney dered. "At least I got my money''s worth."


    Khan could contradict Rodney. The meeting with the woman probably hinted that someone was aware of the mission, but Khan kept that information to himself. He didn''t want Rodney to run away before showing the secret area.


    "Let''s get moving," Khan uttered to change the topic. "I''d rather fight only after seeing this secret floor of yours."


    "You can''t even take a loss," Rodney sighed. "No fun as always."


    Khan snorted without adding anything, and Rodney voiced a faintugh before leaving the wall to dive into the crowd. Khan followed him closely, and the two began a silent walk that saw them cross many blocks.


    "They are endless," Rodney eventually cursed since people continued to upy every street.


    "You can''t me them for wanting to celebrate their home," Khanmented.


    "They live on rocks kept alive by criminals and synthetic mana," Rodney mocked. "What''s there to be proud of?"


    "Arrogance is a human w," Khan sighed.


    "Please," Rodney sneered. "Milia 222 is nothing more than a glorified space station. I geting here to enjoy its illegal activities but seeing it as a home... They must be delusional."


    "Most of these people have never gone outside the asteroids," Khan pointed out.


    "That''s their problem," Rodney dered. "The Nele are an exception, but the other species haves and other settlements. This pridees from ignorance and entitlement."


    "Entitlement?" Khan asked.


    "Some factions here are pushing for independence," Rodneyughed. "Can you believe it? They don''t even realize that their species are the sole reason they have enough time to waste on those useless thoughts."


    Khan couldn''t help but agree with Rodney. Milia 222''s independence was a nice dream for the natives of those asteroids, but none of them had the power to enforce and protect it without their species'' support.


    "These people don''t know the grim side of the universe," Khan admitted, "But I can say the same for a big part of humanity."


    "You are right about that," Rodney voiced. "Still, we don''t have idiots asking for independence. We know we are born on the lucky side of the universe."


    Khan remained silent, and Rodney turned to show his smirk. An insult seemed almost necessary after that exchange, and he didn''t hesitate to throw it.


    "Most of us know," Rodney mocked.


    "You really want me to kill you," Khan casually threatened while his eyes remained on the crowd.


    "I missed your empty threats," Rodney chuckled. "We both know you won''t do anything until we reach our destination, and I still have your letter after that."


    "I''m willing to bet that you have it on you right now," Khan guessed.


    "Why would I be so stupid?" Rodney wondered.


    "Because you wouldn''t trust anyone with something so important," Khan replied. "Your money and influence can''t buy that."


    Rodney didn''t give his usual immediate answer. Instead, he fell silent for a few seconds and turned to face the crowd again before voicing a whisper that almost lost itself in the surrounding noise. "It would still be stupid."


    Khan''s eyes shed with interest. Studying Rodney''s mental state among that mess was too challenging, but he knew he had struck a nerve. He only needed the right opportunity to test that out.


    The silence continued for a while until it became deafening. Rodney never stopped walking either, so Khan ended up restarting the conversation. "Where is this passage?"


    "Why would I even tell you?" Rodney sneered.


    "I still wouldn''t know how to reach the building you mentioned," Khan exined. "Unless the ce has only one path."


    "Are you trying to trick me now?" Rodney asked. "Look, Lower Level 1 is the home of many hidden passages. Most go to Lower Level 2, a few directly to Lower Level 3, and only one to the intermediate floor."


    "Are you sure it''s only one?" Khan questioned.


    "No," Rodney admitted, "But there can''t be too many since it would increase the chances of getting discovered. I bet there are at most three paths, with two of them known only to the leaders."


    "What about the guards'' situation?" Khan continued since Rodney''s exnation made sense.


    "That turned out to be quite lucky," Rodney revealed. "I expected many to abandon their post due to the celebrations, but not so many. We might have it easy down there."


    ''Don''t disappoint him,'' Khan repeated in his mind. The woman''s warning continued to make no sense, and Khan could only see his mission as a possible connection.


    "How far is it anyway?" Khan asked.


    "Don''t tell me that the pressure is getting to you," Rodney joked. "We are almost there."


    Rodney''s words turned out to be the truth. The two crossed a few more streets before reaching the corner of a block that featured multiple shops. All of them were closed except for a small door that still had writings flickering on its surface.


    "What now?" Khan asked while leaning on the wall to imitate Rodney.


    "One second," Rodney said while pulling out his phone and checking a few messages. "There should still be someone inside. We must wait for them to leave."


    Khan pretended to move his attention to his surroundings. Multicolored lights shone in the distance, but the many buildings prevented him from inspecting their true nature. The same went for the loud noisesing from different directions. The various events had started, but he couldn''t see much from his position.


    Of course, Khan wasn''t trying to catch a glimpse of the events. His gaze remained on the crowd, but his attention was on the sky. Many vehicles still flew among the buildings, and he tried to memorize as many of them to find eventual patterns.


    Luke should have sent orders for the ships on his payroll by then, but Khan didn''t know how far Rodney''s influence spread. He might have hired vehicles too, and Khan hoped to notice them before it was toote.


    The sky turned out to be too messy to spot patterns, at least with a short inspection. Instead, the ground reserved some surprises since someone left the still-open shop in those minutes.


    A human second level-warrior, a woman, left the shop and activated a few functions on its entrance before diving into the crowd. It didn''t take long before Khan lost track of her, and Rodney''s phone buzzed at that point.


    "Let''s go," Rodney announced after checking his phone.


    The two walked in front of the small door, which now showed no writings, and Rodney pulled out a second device before Khan could ask any questions. The ck screen started to buzz when Rodney ced it on the metal surface, and a mechanical noise soon resounded.


    Rodney stored the device and tapped on the door, which slid open without asking for any authorization. A seemingly ordinary shop with a small counter unfolded, and Rodney immediately led Khan inside.


    Khan''s wariness peaked as soon as the door closed behind him. He had just barged into enemy territory, and his currentpanion might very well be his worst opponent. He couldn''t allow distractions anymore.


    "Be ready," Rodney warned. "Even I don''t know what to expect from now on."


    A joke popped into Khan''s mind, but he suppressed it. He drew his knife to answer, and Rodney nodded at that gesture before lowering his hood and taking off his sunsses.


    "Shouldn''t you take out that gun of yours?" Khan wondered while Rodney went behind the counter and crouched to tap on the floor.


    "Are you getting worried about me now?" Rodney joked.


    "I don''t know how useful you are without it," Khan responded, but a clicking noise resounded and ended that bickering.


    "Hurry up," Rodney called while part of the floor went slightly down to turn into a tform, "And let''s avoid meaningless talks. Lower Level 2 isn''t exactly safe."


    "Wait," Khan eximed as he interrupted his step into the tform. "Lower Level 2?"


    "We must go through there to reach the hidden area," Rodney exined. "There might be other paths, but I don''t know them."


    The situation was different from what Khan had initially believed. Going to the hidden floor from the city was one thing, but lingering in Lower Level 2 was a problem, especially since the tform probably led to human areas.


    "Are you chickening out on me now?" Rodney mocked. "I hope you didn''t expect this to be too easy."


    "I hope you really have that letter on you," Khan sighed as he finally stepped on the tform.


    "Why is that?" Rodneyughed as he straightened his position and tapped on the floor.


    Khan waited until the tform began to descend to give his answer. "Because if I end up killing you down there, I won''t have to look through Milia 222 for it."


    Silence couldn''t fall due to the whooshing noise of the elevator. The tform was descending through a narrow channel, so every noise echoed between Rodney and Khan.


    Still, the two men remained silent as they entered a different world. They red at each other, fully aware that one might backstab the other at the first chance.


    Some might lose their nerves under the tension caused by that constant threat, but Khan found the situation quite reassuring. He didn''t need to think or review his stance there. He would show no mercy if Rodney attempted to do something funny.


    Rodney seemed able to read the insides of Khan''s mind, but he only showed a smirk. He wasn''t stupid. The letter was his sole advantage there, but it wouldn''t protect him if things turned rough. He had everything to lose, but his expression showed no fear.


    In a way, Rodney had earned Khan''s respect. Khan hated him on many levels, but he had to admit that no one else had been able to corner him so efficiently.


    Rodney didn''t have Khan''s power of fighting experience, but he still managed toe out on top. His strength came from pure wits and knowledge, and the current situation showed how those qualities could be more valuable than sheer battle prowess.


    The exchange of res ended when the tform entered a room. Rodney and Khan tensed up, but thetter immediately rxed since his sensitivity told him that the area was empty.


    The two men jumped off the tform when it reached the floor, and Rodney swept his surroundings before heading toward one of the two doors.


    Khan did the same while following Rodney. The area felt familiar. The ce was a small warehouse carrying the sameck of featuresmon on Lower Level 2.


    A quick inspection of the phone told Khan that he had no connection and confirmed the arrival in jammed areas. He didn''t know if he was precisely in Lower Level 2, but Rodney didn''t give him the chance to linger on those thoughts.


    The ck screen seeded in unlocking the door and allowed the two men to advance. They crossed an empty corridor that led into another warehouse full of items, but none of those goods managed to distract the duo.


    Rodney quickly approached another door, and an area that Khan knew far too well unfolded in his vision. A t ceiling and a grey floor enveloped an open space that expanded past the entrance. That was Lower Level 2, and Rodney expected them to cross it.


    "Hurry!" Rodney whispered as he crossed the entrance.


    Khan felt forced to follow Rodney, and the two soon found themselves in the open. They were right in the middle of Lower Level 2, with no other building nearby, and they weren''t alone.


    Khan was the first to notice the presence of multiple people. Fuveall, Ots, humans, and even Nele roamed through Lower Level 2. However, they seemed to belong to sparse groups with no interest in their surroundings. Even Khan and Rodney''s arrival only attracted their attention for a few seconds.


    Khan and Rodney instinctively wore their casual faces. They were both masters of pretenses, so they didn''t need words to opt for a slower but innocent walk that could avoid arising suspicion.


    The pretense worked. No one approached or even paid attention to the duo. Still, the path was long, and the destination remained unclear.


    ''Resurfacing on my own might be a problem,'' Khan thought while tightening the grip on the knife hidden behind his forearm, ''And I can forget the air support.''


    Developing escape ns had be second nature for Khan, and the slow walk through Lower Level 2 gave him all the time he needed to explore every option.


    The ships sent by Luke couldn''t do anything in that area. Khan didn''t even know if they had managed to follow him, but the need to cross Lower Level 2 had already cut them out of the equation.


    As for the escape n, Khan could only imagine himself running back to Lower Level 2 to find the Nele. Hisck of knowledge over the distance among floors didn''t leave any other viable option.


    Khan and Rodney walked for less than half an hour to reach a structure that seemed to border the edge of the floor. The ce wasrge andcked any peculiar detail, but its entrance opened before the duo could reach it.


    Rodney and Khan froze simultaneously when a group of humans crossed the entrance. The crew only had three second-level warriors among its eight members, but it remained too numerous to dispatch without attracting attention.


    Khan prepared for the worst, but the faint stench of booze suddenly reached his nostrils. His behavior immediately changed, and a smile even appeared on his face as the crew inevitably inspected him and Rodney.


    "Hey!" One of the women among the crew asked as she studied Rodney''s tattoos. "Did you juste down?"


    "We needed a break," Khan happilyughed before patting Rodney''s shoulder. "Can we find anything worthwhile in there?"


    "Everything is already inside our bodies," One of the men responded, causing a generalugh.


    "We might catch you in the city then," Rodney joined the conversation, smiling like Khan.


    "That sounds hard," A third member of the crew eximed. "I heard it''s a mess up there."


    "You have to see it to believe it," Rodney responded. "We also tried to enter the square, but you need a ship just to reach the lower seats."


    "I''m sure we''ll find something," The first woman dered as the two groups finally crossed each other. The crew advanced deeper into the dock while Khan and Rodney arrived before the building.


    Rodney quickly pulled out his ck screen and ced it on the door. Time slowed down as the crew''s steps grew louder. Someone could notice something if they took too long to enter, and one man even turned at some point, but the entrance opened before he could ask anything.


    Khan and Rodney basically jumped into the building and didn''t dare to rx until the door closed. They were alone in a small room that featured four exits, and Rodney didn''t hesitate to approach one of them.


    "You sure know how to handle drunkards," Rodneymented as he deployed the ck screen again.


    "Do you really want to insult me about Nitis now?" Khan asked, and Rodney snickered without adding anything else.


    A long corridor unfolded once the door opened, and Khan and Rodney hurried through it. They weren''t outside anymore, so they could run at a decent pace without bothering about the noise they made.


    Khan kept the synthetic mana in check to avoid surprises, but the path remained empty. The duo went through more corridors, warehouses, and simple rooms without meeting anyone. They continued to be alone even after reaching a passage that climbed through the building.


    ''Finally,'' Khan eximed in his mind as he pulled something from his backpack. Climbing meant reaching the intermediate floor, so he needed his scanner.


    "What''s that?" Rodney whispered when he saw the rectangr screen in Khan''s hand.


    "Don''t worry about it," Khan reassured as he turned on the device and activated its functions.


    The scanner took only a few seconds to light up and inspect the area. Multiplebels appeared on its screen to describe the types of mana perceived, but Khan couldn''t find anything odd. The device didn''t see anything connected to the chaos element.


    Rodney nced at the scanner before resuming the advance. The two climbed and made a few turns before climbing again. The absence of peculiar artificial gravity allowed Khan to keep track of his position, and it didn''t take long before the scenery changed significantly.


    A dark area weed the duo when they crossed another door. The artificial illumination created a dim environment in the shape of a narrow corridor, and Rodney''s increasing tension told Khan that they had almost reached their destination.


    The scanner''s results remained stable even after entering the corridor. A few percentages changed, but the metal element continued to im first ce. The values matched those found in any other environment, and Khan could only frown when he read them.


    ''How is this possible?'' Khan cursed in his mind. He still felt that odd sensation, but even the Fuveall''s technology was failing to pick up anything.


    The matter made no sense, especially since the fourth asteroid had theoretically exhausted its hidden areas. Khan had basically been everywhere now, but he still couldn''t find the reason behind that odd sensation.


    Rodney was obviously unaware of Khan''s internal struggles. His entire attention remained on the corridor and its various branches. Hecked Khan''s senses, so he had to rely on his eyes and ears to check the area. Luckily for him, that secret maze seemed empty.


    Khan remained rxed for most of the journey since his sensitivity to mana checked the corners before he could evene close to them. Yet, a change eventually happened. Two clear and intense mana sources joined the symphony and grew stronger as the duo advanced.


    ''Second-level warriors,'' Khan thought. His knife was ready, and he was fast enough to get the jump on those enemies. He could probably dispatch them without causing any ruckus, but he remained silent and pretended that everything was fine.


    The advance had slowed down after the change in environment. Rodney and Khan had put a limit to their noise, so nothing alerted the two warriors in the distance. However, they were getting closer, and Khan had yet to say anything about them.


    ''Three turns away,'' Khan counted as he crossed a branch. ''Two.''


    The countdown reached "zero" after the duo crossed two more turns. Rodney was the first to peek past the corner, and his whole body tensed up when he noticed the warriors sitting on the floor. Khan already knew that his opponents were distracted, but he refused to exploit that advantage.


    Three gasps resounded in the corridor. Rodney and the two second-level warriors remained stunned in front of those strangers, but a violent release of mana quickly reced that feeling.


    Rodney summoned his energy, and the same went for the man and woman busy leaving the floor. Rodney had the initiative, and his control over mana was surprisingly smooth, so his attack shot out before his opponents could stand up.


    A high-pitched noise resounded in the area and expanded until it reached Khan and the two second-level warriors. The sound made Khan''s mind go nk for an instant, and he found Rodney mid-air when he regainedplete control over his senses.


    Rodney fell on the two opponents, who lost their bnce due to their odd stance and messy senses. The second-level warriors mmed on the floor, and Rodney dived toward them once he regained a foothold.


    Khan couldn''t see much with his eyes, but his sensitivity revealed the truth. Rodney used his mana to turn his fingers into sharp des that pierced the warriors'' heads while they were still confused. The attack dug holes into their skulls and killed them on the spot.


    Rodney took a deep breath when he pulled out his fingers and wiped the blood on his hoodie. His gaze lingered on the two corpses for a few seconds, but he eventually turned to re at Khan.


    "You did it on purpose, didn''t you?" Rodney coldly asked.


    "What did you expect?" Khan questioned before changing the topic. "What element is that?"


    "We truly can''t trust each other," Rodney sighed. "I''ll tell you, but I don''t want other surprises."


    "Sure," Khan eximed without putting any seriousness into his tone.


    "Thoughts," Rodney dered. "I turn my thoughts into actions."


    Khan remained amazed for a second before scoffing. Those words didn''t exin much. They only described the nature of Rodney''s element without saying anything about its limits.


    "No wonder you told me," Khan shook his head.


    "Am I not allowed secrets now?" Rodney wondered.


    "Let''s move on already," Khan stated, and Rodney smirked before following those directives.


    Trying to make sense of that maze turned out to be a problem. Khan did his best to memorize the trod path, but the two crossed dozens of turns and changed directions multiple times.


    The general position inside the structure was the only thing that Khan could genuinely keep track of. He knew where he was all the time, so he could opt for breaking through walls if he got lost during an eventual escape.


    Except for a few instances, the march remained uneventful. Khan began to warn Rodney whenever he sensed new enemies, and they worked together to dispatch them. Needless to say, having the initiative made things way too easy for Khan.


    Rodney didn''t hold back either. He didn''t use his spells anymore, but his fingers were deadly. It was actually surprising that they could withstand such attacks, and Khan even guessed that the technique hid a lot since he had tested something simr first-hand.


    Also, the new enemies found along the way were weaker than the first team. Khan and Rodney never faced more than two opponents at the time, and they rarely had second-level warriors among them.


    ''This is the fifth team already,'' Khan thought while waving his knife to remove the blood on it. ''How far are we?''


    Two corpses stood before Khan and Rodney. They belonged to the first-level warriors they had just dispatched, and the blooding out of their deadly injuries created a puddle that forced the duo to jump over them.


    The corridor stretched a bit more, but a door eventually appeared and marked its end. Rodney relied on his ck device to open it, and a new scenery finally unfolded.


    A vast, dim area expanded past the corridor. The ce resembled an emptier version of Lower Level 2, except for the single,rge building standing at its center. The structure was tall enough to connect the floor and short ceiling, and its width made it able to contain multiple warehouses.


    "I told you it wasrge," Rodneymented, "Stupidlyrge."


    "And you never went inside," Khan recalled. "How did you even keep track of this area? It took us almost an hour to get here."


    "Money can buy a lot," Rodney revealed. "Come on."


    Khan and Rodney left the corridor to hurry toward the structure. The absence of windows or other notable details was in line with Lower Level 2''s style, and Khan even elerated when he confirmed that the area was empty.


    The structure''s front side had a big main door and a few entrances near its corners. Khan and Rodney opted for the smaller openings, and, to their surprise, they found that they were already unlocked.


    The discovery added a newyer of tension to the duo, and Khan even reyed the woman''s warning in his mind. He couldn''t shake off the feeling that everything had been too easy, but he couldn''t deny what he saw either. He had really reached the intermediate floor, and he had even found a secret building.


    The scanner''s results continued to remain stable. The only significant change involved the actual percentage of synthetic mana in the air, which had increased after entering the building.


    As for the scenery, the ce was an empty and immense warehouse. There was nothing there, and even the dust was absent. It almost seemed that someone had cleaned recently.


    "Odd," Rodneymented before that deste scene.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Let''s check the entire building," Khan suggested, hoping that the other areas would have something.


    Rodney nodded and moved toward one of the entrances that led deeper into the building, and his ck device turned out to be pointless again. The door was already open.


    Khan and Rodney could only exchange meaningful nces as they dived deeper. The next area featured a few broken consoles that failed to fulfill Khan''s goal. Yet, when the duo crossed another open entrance, they finally found what they were looking for.


    A big, cylindrical machine upied the center of a circr room. A container filled with greenish liquid and with multiple thick tubesing from its extremities stood tall and imed most of the avable space.


    The huge machine carried an imposing aura, but mere technology couldn''t match the item floating among the greenish liquid. Rodney had seen simr images and descriptions during his studies, and his gaze snapped toward Khan as soon as he recalled a scene from Nitis.


    "Khan, don''t do anything stupid," Rodney warned, but Khan had already stopped listening to the world around him.


    Khan simply couldn''t divert his attention. The machine contained an azure, six-fingered hand that seemed to havee out directly from his nightmares.

 Chapter ?412 Answers

    Chapter ?412 Answers


    Chilling emotions formed inside Khan and spread through every inch of his body. An instinctive reaction fueled by years of desperation engulfed him and tried to take over his actions. He was on the verge of attacking, but he remained still. He didn''t even blink.


    That stillness worried Rodney. Something told him that the faintest spark could escte the situation, so he suppressed the gulp rising through his throat and waited for Khan to move.


    Khan knew what he wanted. His urges had never been clearer, and that wasn''t even his first time experiencing them. The test on Nitis had been a perfect example of his stance, but the situation was different now. The hand in the container wasn''t an illusion.


    In theory, that would lead to even wilder reactions. However, Khan had matured a lot since Nitis. He didn''t have Istrone''s trauma looming over his mind anymore. He had actually found some long-deserved rity after the years spent suffering, despairing, and ming himself.


    That rity didn''t offer an alternative path. Khan had already made his decision. Still, his new maturity granted him the time to think before his inevitable reaction.


    The matter wasn''t as simple as it looked. Rodney couldn''t see the entirety of the situation, but Khan had spent the past months gathering clues. He knew far too much not to connect the dots.


    Raymond''s interest in the Nak suddenly made sense, and Khan''s realization went much further. Their private meeting gained a specific purpose, and the warning from the woman slowly revealed a meaning.


    The hand inside the container belonged to a Nak. Khan couldn''t fail to recognize it even if he wanted to. Yet, a few details became visible as the inspection continued.


    Compared to Khan''s nightmares, the handcked its azure halo. It was dead in ways that went beyond the simple absence of the rest of the body. That chunk of flesh and bones had mana in its insides, but that wasn''t enough to turn it into a Nak''s limb.


    Moreover, the hand wasn''t exactlyplete. Its skincked some pieces that left part of the muscles exposed to the greenish liquid. Long scars also covered its surface, but the container''s ss hid their features.


    The workers there had been up to something specific, and Khan had every intention to uncover what. He mustered the entirety of his self-restraint to divert his gaze and inspect the room, but the area didn''t have much. Even the tubes disappeared inside the ceiling or floor.


    Only a few metal boxes and smashed consoles existed around the huge container, and Khan approached them to check their state. The machines were useless in his eyes, but the cases had something that imed his interest.


    Inside one of the three boxes, Khan found strands and pieces of stic fabric. Their shape didn''t reveal much, and their broken state would be a hindrance even to an expert eye. Yet, Khan only needed a few seconds to realize what he had just found.


    ''The reinforced fabric,'' Khan eximed in his mind. He had memorized the material''s energy signature on the second asteroid, so he felt sure about his conclusion.


    A bitter feeling rose through Khan''s mouth. The investigation was finallyplete. Khan had found the stolen reinforced fabric after scouring Milia 222 for months, but that sess didn''t bring any happiness. It simply couldn''t with all the issues surrounding it.


    Rodney had remained silent even after Khan moved, but he couldn''t shake off the pressure that had fallen on him. He could almost taste the tension in the air, but he still didn''t know where it would lead.


    Nevertheless, Rodney had to abandon the careful approach when he saw Khan returning to the container with his knife ready to strike. His intentions couldn''t have been more transparent, so Rodney felt the need to intervene.


    "Wait! Wait!" Rodney eximed as he stepped forward to stand between Khan and the container. "Don''t get all intense as your usual. We must talk about this."


    "Move," Khan said in a chilling tone while advancing as if Rodney wasn''t even there.


    "Do you realize what we just found?" Rodney continued while lifting his arms and retreating a bit. "Do you have any idea how much this thing is worth?"


    Khan didn''t even bother to answer. His next step pushed Rodney''s back on the container. Khan was ready to strike whether Rodney was on his path or not, and thetter understood that very well.


    A curse came out of Rodney''s mouth as he jumped to his side to clear Khan''s path. Meanwhile, Khan reached the container and thrust the knife into the ss, but the attack didn''t produce any serious damage. Only a tiny crack opened.


    Rodney frowned. He didn''t have Khan''s senses, but his eyes worked perfectly well, and they had seen how hispanion didn''t summon his mana. Khan had only relied on his brute force during his thrust.


    The ss was obviously reinforced, so it made sense for it to resist the full physical prowess of a second-level warrior. Yet, Khan was a chaos wielder. His element was meant to destroy things, but he didn''t use it.


    Rodney understood that he was missing something, but he didn''t ask questions that Khan wouldn''t bother to answer. Instead, he remained silent and shook his head while Khan thrust his knife into the container again.


    At first, the knife only dug a crack. However, as the offensive continued, a proper hole opened in the ss, and the greenish liquid poured out of it. That dense substance didn''t stop Khan from continuing his assault, so the small gap slowly erged.


    Cracks spread past the hole''s edges during the offensive. The ss held strong, but its structural stability suffered blows whenever Khan attacked, and the gap''s expansion inevitably worsened that feature.


    The internal pressure caused by the greenish liquid deepened those cracks until a whole fifth of the ss shattered. Khan remained still as transparent shards immersed in that dense substance rained on him. He had already confirmed that the fluid was harmless, so he found no reason to move.


    The container emptied quickly as the greenish liquid spread over the floor. The Nak''s hand fell at the bottom of the machine, and Khan jumped through therge opening right afterward.


    The greenish liquid was dense enough to cover part of the hand even after most of it left the container, but Khan could get a closer look now. Moreover, a mereyer of that substance couldn''t hide details anymore, and some conclusive answers finally arrived.


    Khan loudly inhaled a few times and even bent forward to get a closer look at the hand before understanding the nature of the scars. They weren''t actual injuries. They were patches sewn to the very flesh of that alien body part.


    As for what the workers had sewn, Khan had already found the answer. The cut and torn pieces of the reinforced fabric exined everything clearly. Thatb had probably overseen the reconstruction of the Nak''s hand.


    ''They used the reinforced fabric instead of the basic material,'' Khan thought. ''It must have allowed them to skip a few steps.''


    Aplete picture formed in Khan''s mind. He could imagine Raymond purchasing a maimed Nak''s hand and moving it on Milia 222 to perform illegal experiments.


    The hand in its wounded state didn''t offer much, so Raymond set up ab to give it new life, and the reinforced fabric happened to be the suitable material for the process.


    Khan couldn''t be sure about the chronological order of some events. Raymond might have found out about the reinforced fabric''s suitability after the factorypleted it, or he might have been behind it from the beginning. Either way, the conclusion didn''t change. The hand was there, superficially fixed, but internally dead.


    ''Don''t disappoint him,'' Khan recalled the woman''s warning, which revealed its meaning now that the picture wasplete.


    The hand was dead. Its structure was fine, and its flesh was even quite impressive. Khan would normally ce it between the third and fourth levels in terms of sheer energy in the muscles and skin.


    However, Raymond wanted the power of a Nak, not a random body part, and Khan could be the key to that. He didn''t have the scientific knowledge to exin why he understood that, but he felt it. The odd sensation had tried to tell him that since his first visit to the fourth asteroid.


    Even when less than a meter separated the two, Khan didn''t feel any difference in the odd sensation. It was as intense as ever, but watching the hand so closely revealed its true nature and source.


    Jenna couldn''t find anything wrong with the fourth asteroid because the environment didn''t suffer from any pollution. The symphony didn''t have any unique mana that only Khan could feel. The odd sensation existed only inside him because he generated it.


    Khan stored his scanner and reached for his nape. He could feel it now. His mana core was the source of the odd sensation. His organ had reacted to the presence of another Nak, creating a calling meant to draw him into the hiddenb.


    ''It must be simr to the Nele''s pheromones,'' Khan concluded as his mind grew even colder, ''Something that only Nak share.''


    Of course, that realization put Khan intoplete killing mode. He wasn''t only part Nak. He was enough Nak to manifest some of their innate features, and he wouldn''t ept it so easily.


    Khan grabbed his knife with both hands and ced himself right above the body part. His experience with the cloud told him that his mana could trigger unwanted reactions, so he had held back while destroying the ss, and he nned to do the same now.


    ''I''ll disappoint you as much as possible,'' Khan eximed in his mind before diving toward the hand.


    The knifended at the center of the hand and pierced through its flesh easily, reaching the container''s bottom. Khan made sure not to touch that body part directly, and his weapon''s sharpness allowed him to draw it without risking any unwanted movement.


    Nevertheless, when the knife was about to leave the wound, a strange twitch ran through the hand. Mana left its flesh and became a fuel that the body part could use, and Khan jumped away as soon as he noticed that reaction.


    Khan didn''t use his mana, but he had put enough strength into his jump to fling himself out of the container. Still, his abrupt action had widened the injury, and the knife had dragged out some dark-blue blood when it left the hand.


    Drops of blood flew through the container and toward Khan while he was still in mid-air. They created a gory path that would fall to the floor in a second, but the hand didn''t need anything else.


    The world in Khan''s eyes slowed down. He saw mana squeezed out of the flesh shooting out of the injury and reaching the closest drop of blood.


    That energy wasn''t as clear as in his memory, but the drop of blood brightened and turned into a glowing azure dot once it absorbed it. Also, it acted as a bridge that sent the mana even further.


    The mana left the azure dot to reach for the next chunk of blood, which brightened and took life after it absorbed that fuel. The process then repeated itself, covering the entire gory path created by the knife until, eventually, Khan''s turn arrived.


    The mana had taken less than a second to cover the entire bloody path. Khan was still in mid-air by then, unable to perform escape measures. He could only watch as that azure energy shot forward onest time tond on the knife and spread until it reached his fingers.


    The impact didn''t hurt Khan. It barely tingled, and he would even fail to sense the event''s implications if he were a regr human since they were so imperceptible. Still, his sensitivity revealed how the alien mana stole a minute chunk of his energy.


    The bloody path broke in the following fraction of a second, but it was toote by then. The alien mana sent back what it had gained after Khan flew out of its range. The drops of blood in the container fell as the azure energy retreated to return inside the hand and deliver what it had stolen.


    Khan fell butt-first on the floor before quickly jumping to his feet, but the situation had changed again by then. The hand had started to release a faint glow which was brighter alongside the scars and the new injury. Its insides were also in turmoil. Its very flesh shook as if awakening from a long slumber.


    "What have you done?!" Rodney shouted, but his words couldn''t reach Khan.


    A straightforward goal filled Khan''s mind and made him disregard any other input. He had to stop that process and destroy the hand even at the cost of being careless.


    The knife alone couldn''t destroy the hand in one attack, so Khan joined his palms and summoned his mana. He nned to use the chaos spear to eliminate the threat, but the hand suddenly released a deep noise, and his concentration broke.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan would never let himself be distracted in battle, but the noise wasn''t a mindless cry simr to what the cloud did. It conveyed precise and intense meanings that resonated deep inside him. The hand expressed pure hunger, and Khan experienced that feeling for an instant, which ultimately interrupted his spell.


    More changes happened during those seconds. The hand''s brighter parts dimmed to create a homogenous halo that revealed the new state of its flesh. The holes and scars had disappeared, and its skin now appearedpletely intact.


    Khan didn''t give up on his n. As soon as he snapped out of the feelings that the hand had forced him to experience, he summoned his mana again, but his opponent turned out to be one step ahead.


    The hand''s glow intensified until a series of lightning-like res shot out of its figure. Khan and Rodney had to deploy evasive maneuvers, and loud, sizzling noises resounded once those attacksnded on the various surfaces.


    When Khan managed to look at the hand again, he found it floating in the middle of the broken container. Its azure halo had intensified once again, turning it into the spitting image of his nightmare.


    Another deep noise came out of the hand, and a spherical wave of mana apanied it. The attack couldn''t hurt Khan and Rodney, but the broken sspletely shattered.


    As for the noise''s meaning, Khan instinctively tranted it inside his mind. It was another expression of hunger, but it had something else now. It conveyed the firm desire to fulfill that urge in any way possible.

 Chapter ?413 Crumbling

    Chapter ?413 Crumbling


    Rodney couldn''t keep his thoughts straight. He had initially seen the Nak''s hand as nothing more than a valuable body part, but the current state of theb depicted a very different truth.


    The hand shone with azure light while floating at the center of the broken machine. The ss shards on the floor reflected that halo, almost encircling the body part into a bright crown, and smoke came out of the spots where the lightning-like res hadnded.


    The hand wasn''t a piece of merchandising that Rodney could sell anymore. It had transformed into an alien threat brimming with enough power to kill him on the spot. Retreating was the only option, but hispanion had different ideas.


    Khan inevitably saw more than Rodney. His sensitivity yed a big part in the matter, but his mutations added a deeperyer of understanding to the situation as a whole.


    The hand was definitely a threat, but not only for those inside the hiddenb. Its hunger wouldn''t stop anywhere soon. That feeling was bound to push the body part far past the intermediate floor, and even Khan didn''t know if that would be enough to satisfy it.


    ''Imminent chaos,'' Khan thought as his mind transformed into an icy environment that didn''t allow distractions.


    The entire fourth asteroid was at risk, and the celebrations worsened the situation. The body count could be terrible if the hand reached the surface, but Khan didn''t even get to those topics. He had only one goal, and he was willing to go to any lengths to aplish it.


    Khan joined his palms as he straightened his position. Purple-red mana umted between his hands faster than ever, and he separated them when the spear was ready to take life.


    The Nak''s hand had stopped moving after thest deep noise, but its glow grew even brighter during that stillness. It was sorting out its mana to prepare for the next move, but the appearance of the chaos spear attracted its attention.


    Heavy pressure fell on Khan, and a mixture of curiosity, hunger, and confusion spread through the synthetic mana. The hand didn''t have eyes or a brain, but it looked at Khan while adding its emotions to the environment.


    Khan didn''t miss any of that, but his course of action didn''t change. He lifted the glowing spear with his free hand, and he threw it without showing any hesitation.


    The Nak''s hand was rtively close, so missing it was simply impossible. The spear flew in a straight line and pierced the azure halo tond on that bright body part, but no explosions followed.


    Sizzling noises filled the room when the spear''s tip touched the Nak''s hand. Sparks came out of the alien body part and created circr structures around the glowing weapon that interrupted its momentum and prevented it from detonating.


    Khan could only watch as the spear dimmed. The sparks around the weapon were suppressing its unstable nature, and mana seeped out of it whenever the sizzling noises intensified.


    The spear leaked mana that the circr structures pushed toward their source. The Nak''s hand absorbed that energy inside its flesh, and the purple-red light soon vanished from theb, leaving only the azure color in its ce.


    The desperation that Khan knew far too well managed to pierce through the coldness of his mind and show its presence. The same powerlessness of his nightmares invaded him. The chaos spear had failed. The arsenal umted in the past years seemed useless before a mere piece of a Nak.


    "No!" Khan shouted as he joined his palms again. He couldn''t believe that his training had been for naught. He would show his desperation that he could vanquish it.


    Rodney watched everything from the sidelines. He had long since abandoned any n that involved selling or exploiting his findings. He only wanted to leave, but seeing Khan set on attacking the hand forced him to act.


    The Nak''s hand had grown brighter after absorbing the chaos spear, allowing even those without great sensitivity to mana to understand that its power had increased. Rodney knew what would happen if Khan used his spells again, so stopping him came before running away.


    Rodney used his mana to release a high-pitched noise that filled the room and continued to echo. The loud attack made the azure halo tremble and Khan frown. Thetter even struggled to remain on his feet, and Rodney used that chance to run toward him.


    However, Khan pushed against the noise assaulting his ears to regain control over his body. Blood flowed out of his nose as he struggled to remain on his feet and add fuel to his spell. His hands soon separated to give birth to the spear, but someone suddenly bumped into him.


    Khan had been in a frenzy. His eyes and senses had been on the Nak''s hand, severing his connection with the rest of the world. His incredible concentration had allowed him to resist Rodney''s spell but also left him open to other attacks.


    The chaos spear shook to no end when Khan fell to the floor. The outside world returned, forcing him to realize where he was. Rodney was lying on him, and his angry face hinted at the iing scolding.


    "Get a grip on yourself!" Rodney scolded. "You''ll only make it stronger with that!"


    The chaos spear flickered, forcing both men to look at it. The spell was reaching the critical point, threatening to explode while it was still between Khan''s hands. Its state filled Rodney with fear, but something even more dangerous distracted him.


    Rodney''s spell exhausted its energy when both men hit the floor, and the Nak''s hand took only one second to recover. The azure halo stabilized and brightened even more, transforming into a blinding glow that overcame the flickering light radiated by the chaos spear.


    The Nak''s hand released another deep noise filled with pure rage. Even Rodney understood that his recent attack didn''t please it, and the sizzling soundsing out of the blinding halo made his heart plummet.


    Twenty or so lightning bolts left the azure halo and flew in different directions, with at least three of them targeting the area where Khan and Rodney were. The two men were still on the floor, so running away wasn''t an option, but Khan couldn''t be taken by surprise in his current state.


    Khan threw the unstable spear toward the iing lightning bolts, and an explosion happened when the attacks touched. A purple-red pir expanded in the room and connected the floor to the ceiling, creating enough pressure to send the two men rolling away.


    Rodney stopped rolling when he mmed on the metal wall, and his eyes widened when he found Khan half-crouching before him. Khan didn''t lose his bnce even after the recent explosion, and he had even managed to retain his grip on his knife.


    Khan was still in a frenzy, even if a more controlled one. His desperation had almost made him lose control of his actions before, but Rodney''s intrusion and the result of the previous sh had brought new calm to his mind.


    The Nak''s hand didn''t absorb the second spear. Instead, Khan''s spell had managed to stop the iing lightning bolts. He had a chance to win. He only had to find weaknesses to exploit.


    "Khan, stop it!" Rodney shouted since he understood what Khan had in mind. "We have to run!"


    Khan heard Rodney but didn''t address him. The hand couldn''t be allowed to reach the surface, and Khan couldn''t ignore a Nak standing in front of him.


    The grip on the knife tightened as Khan closed his eyes and sprinted forward. The azure halo made his sight useless, but it contained so much mana that his sensitivity was more than enough to gain a clear image of the room.


    Khan instantly pierced through the blinding halo and jumped when he felt the Nak''s hand growing close. His knife descended as he fell toward that alien body part, but violent sizzling noises resounded when his weapon touched the azure skin.


    The light in the environment would normally prevent any inspection, but Khan was close enough to sense everything clearly. His knife''s tip was on the Nak''s hand, but a dense membrane prevented him from piercing it.


    Khan disregarded his techniques and grabbed the knife with both hands to force it through the membrane. The entirety of his physical prowess and body weight fused to add power to his attack, and the defensiveyer bent under it.


    Nevertheless, as the knife dug through the membrane, a series of sparks shot wildly through that gap. Marks appeared on the weapon, and holes opened in Khan''s arms. He lost his grip for an instant, but the [Blood Shield] activated to cover his limbs and bring new stability to his offensive.


    Khan and the Nak''s hand seemed to have reached a stalemate that no one could witness. The halo was so bright that Rodney had to cover his eyes while standing up. Truth be told, he was ready to leave, but he couldn''t see the exit due to that blinding light.


    As for Khan, he knew that the stalemate was only a temporary situation. The limits of the [Blood Shield] were an issue he couldn''t ignore, and the Nak''s hand had also started to prepare another attack.


    Masses of mana gathered all over the Nak''s hand. Khan had already sensed a simr reaction. New lightning bolts were about to shoot in every direction, but he remained in his position and waited for his chance to attack.


    Khan didn''t know why the hand didn''t absorb the second spear. The distance could exin the event, but the same went for the previous energy discharge.


    The Nak''s hand might be unable to absorb and release energy at the same time, and Khan wanted to test that out. Usually, he wouldn''t take those risks, but his physical strength had proven itself unable to pierce through the sizzling barrier. He needed his mana, so he decided to use it when it was less likely to fall under his opponent''s control.


    Only one second had to pass for the lightning-like res to shoot out. A mess of violent mana threatened to dig holes in the entirety of the hiddenb, but Khan promptly released a spherical version of the Wave spell while covering his knife in the purple-red membrane.


    The Wave spell crashed on the lightning bolts and made them explode. Of course, it didn''t reach all of them, but it created a safe area for Khan.


    Meanwhile, the arrival of the sharp mana allowed the knife to pierce the sizzling membrane and reach the hand. Thetter was nothing more than exposed flesh without its defenses, so the glowing weapon easily cut through it.


    Everything suddenly went silent and still. The azure halo stopped its seemingly endless brightening, and the sizzling noises also vanished.


    Khan wouldn''t let any second go to waste. His attack had only cut through a quarter of the hand, which wasn''t enough to kill it, so he swung his knife upward with the intention of severing a chunk of flesh away.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    However, the Nak''s hand suddenly became the source of an intense pulling force thatsted for less than a second. Khan''s feet slid over the floor, making him lose his bnce and miss the hand with his sh. He quickly stabilized himself to prepare for another attack, but a terrifying realization put an end to his offensive.


    The short burst of the pulling force had affected Khan, but he had never been its target. After stabilizing his footing, he realized that all the mana in the hiddenb had disappeared. Even the azure halo had vanished.


    Khan''s sensitivity promptly provided answers. All the energy in the room had entered the Nak''s hand, which had grown dimmer after the process. Still, its current darkened state didn''t reflect its power. The alien body part had actually never been stronger.


    The mana absorbed from the environment wasn''t healing the new injury or spreading through the flesh. The hand had umted it into a single spot at the center of its structure. Through the symphony, Khan could sense a blinding dot existing in almostplete darkness.


    It didn''t take an expert to understand what was happening. Condensing so much mana in so little space could only lead to one oue, and Khan didn''t have the power to withstand it.


    Rodney had started to move toward the exit after the unbearable illumination left the room, but a figure ran past him before he could reach the opening. Khan had actually beaten him in the escape, but that merely put him one step farther from the iing catastrophe.


    An almost imperceptible whooshing noise shot out of the Nak''s hand, carrying all the mana absorbed previously. The alien body part even used most of the energy inside its flesh during the attack, but Khan and Rodney only felt a faint gust of wind hitting their backs.


    Khan ran even faster than before when he sensed where all the mana had gone, but an earthquake suddenly took control of the hidden area and forced him to slow down. He evenpletely stopped at some point, which called for another scolding.


    "Get out of the way!" Rodney shouted as he caught up with Khan, but his foot ended up piercing the floor when he stopped before hispanion.


    Rodney nced at his foot in disbelief. The hidden area didn''t have thetest technology, but its structure remained firm. However, part of the floor had given in under his weight, and the hole he created even opened cracks that spread in multiple directions.


    The cracks seemed to spread randomly, but Khan knew that they followed precise marks left by the previous attack. The Nak''s hand had targeted the hidden area, and the consequences were about to reveal themselves.


    More and more cracks opened as the earthquake grew violent. The whole area past theb transformed into a mess of fissures that covered the floor, walls, and ceiling. Khan even knew that the damage spread outside the building, so he prepared himself for the inevitable destruction.


    Rodney only had the time to shoot a desperate nce at Khan before the floor under him gave in. The walls and ceiling followed the same fate until the entire hiddenb crumbled.

 Chapter ?414 Fall

    Chapter ?414 Fall


    Khan was strangely calmer than ever. Metal boulders were falling everywhere, and even the floor under his feet had crumbled, leaving him with an unstable foothold. However, his mind was at peace. He almost felt at home.


    The coldness caused by the meeting with the Nak''s hand and the mess in the environment fused to bring Khan''s mindset to the next level. Nothing escaped his senses, and his thoughts reached incredible levels of sharpness. He began to exist only to ovee that catastrophe, which gave him power beyond reason.


    The whole hiddenb transformed into a rain of metal boulders, and the same went for a significant chunk of the intermediate floor. An unfathomable weight fell through the fourth asteroid, spreading the destruction past the range of the hand''s spell. The lower levels suffered an absurd amount of damage, and Khan stood at the very center of that mess.


    Khan didn''t stop in a random spot before. He had been able to sense the cracks traced by the hand''s mana, so he had chosen a ce that would provide a rtively spacious foothold.


    The sensitivity to mana didn''t betray Khan. After everything crumbled, he found himself on a two meters wide chunk of metal. The makeshift tform was only one of the many boulders among that metal rain, and he could standfortably on it.


    Khan didn''t need to focus on a single aspect of his senses to get the best out of it. His eyes darted left and right while his sensitivity added details to his inspection. Everything worked at full power, providing a multicolored and detailed understanding of the situation.


    Boulders filled every corner of Khan''s vision. Some were as big as houses while others couldn''t even fit a child. The area was also dark since most artificial lights were among the rubble. The scene could make anyone despair, but Khan saw it as nothing more than an amusement park.


    That wasn''t Khan''s first time using falling boulders as footholds. He had never faced such an ugly situation, but he had also improved a lot. He could almost walk on mana now. He would mock himself to no end if he couldn''t do the same with metal.


    Thending wasn''t an issue. Khan could easily vanquish his momentum once a surface that could resist the metal rain revealed itself. Yet, he couldn''t simply jump out when he had an entire floor falling with him.


    The crumbled ceiling and the higher areas affected by the hand''s spell didn''t leave any safe spots. The rubble would squash Khan if he tried to run away after thending. He needed to climb through the rain to ensure his survival.


    sting the rubbles open with a series of spells was an option. Khan had the power to create a passage above him that would allow him to avoid moving altogether.


    However, Khan couldn''t pinpoint the hand''s exact location among that mess. Thetter had even depleted most of its mana during itsst attack. It could be right above him, and he wouldn''t know it, so using spells sounded too dangerous.


    Differently from Khan, Rodney didn''t retain a shred of calm. Everything under him had crumbled, so his body rotated and spun freely. His eyes even added fuel to his panic since they kept catching glimpses of the metal cage ready to submerge him.


    Rodney knew that he was falling to his death. He had been lucky enough to avoid a direct impact with any surface, but something able to withstand that incredible weight was bound to arrive, and his life would end at that point.


    epting death wasn''t Rodney''s style, especially after his awakening on Nitis. He wanted to find ways to survive, but his spells couldn''t do anything against the metal mountain ready to squash him. His element was also ill-suited against that sheer and brute weight, and theck of footholds added insult to the injury.


    Eventually, Rodney''s back hit a boulder, and his survival instincts roared for him to get a grip on it. He somehow seeded in clinging himself to that chunk of metal, but he found himself upside-down, in the same horrible situation as before.


    Still, the boulder prevented Rodney from spinning freely and allowed him to get a good look at the situation. The area was mostly dark, but random glows managed to enter the metal rain and send reflections on the various surfaces.


    Some might find beauty in that desperate scene, but Rodney wasn''t the type to waste time in those thoughts. He only wanted to survive, but that seemed impossible. His strength began to abandon him as he realized how doomed it was, but that changed when he caught a glimpse of Khan.


    The dim area didn''t let Rodney see every detail, but he knew to have found Khan when the faint reflections highlighted his figure. Khan was only a few meters above him, but his stance radiated apletely different vibe.


    Rodney''s panic went silent when he saw Khan calmly jumping upward. Thetter flew among the rubble and lightly stepped on various boulders to use them as steps. He climbed through the rain while making it look extremely natural and easy.


    Khan had sensed Rodney''s gaze but didn''t care enough to address it. His thoughts had transformed into sparks that exploded with ideas and paths whenever the rain of boulders changed. His mind contained theyout of that chaotic environment, and he used it to avoid dead ends.


    Step after step, Khan climbed through the rain. Each move had a precise purpose and direction. Each jump led him closer to the top of the mess, but the hand continued to escape his senses.


    A sense of freedom enveloped Khan. The boulders couldn''t offer endless footholds, but they created an environment where he could ignore gravity. He fell only when he wanted to fall. He was one with the rain but also the sole being who could bend it to his will.


    Rodney soon lost track of Khan due to the many boulders hindering his sight. Yet, seeing Khan turning certain death into nothing more than footholds brought a new wave of power to Rodney''s body. Khan had actually inspired him. Rodney wouldn''t give up just yet.


    The heavy rubble eventually crashed on the surface between the intermediate floor and Lower Level 2, and thetter didn''t even try to withstand its weight. The metal ceiling bent and shattered, adding power to the rain and sending everything to the grey floor.


    Light shone among the rain. Lower Level 2 had better artificial illumination, but that only gave Khan, Rodney, and any bystander a better sight of the catastrophe.


    The ceiling was short, so the rubble only took a second to reach the floor and make it suffer a terrible fate. Holes opened on the greyyer as giant boulders pierced it. Lower Lever 2 never stood a chance, and the many secret passages under it also crumbled to add weight to the catastrophe.


    The rain never managed to slow down permanently since its spreading destruction added weight to its overall structure, and the situation worsened once the path to Lower Level 3 opened. A long fall separated the boulders from the array of streets, which was bound to push their speed to disastrous levels.


    Khan reached the top of the rain only to widen his eyes in terror at the sight of the dome. He couldn''t keep track of everything during his climb, but that scene confirmed his arrival at Lower Level 3, which increased the amount of trouble he was in.


    The dome probably was sturdy enough to withstand all those boulders, but Lower Level 3 had a structural w. The gate at its bottom might break during the disaster and leave no barriers between the fourth asteroid and space.


    If the gate fell, most of the fourth asteroid would end up in space, which meant certain death. Khan couldn''t do anything to avoid that, but he could strive to reach areas outside of that catastrophe.


    Sadly for Khan, he had reached the end of the rain. He was out of boulders to use as footholds. He could only watch as the giant hole in the ceiling grew distant, without offering anything that might bring him into safe areas.


    Khan didn''t give up just yet. He didn''t have solutions, but he could still try a few things. He knew he could walk on mana as long as it reached a certain density, and he hoped that his request would be enough to get him out of that disaster.


    "Create a path," Khan asked while sending a whiff of his mana into the environment.


    The synthetic mana listened to Khan''s request and umted above him to create three irregr tforms. Of course, he had to use his sensitivity to see them, and they looked anything but stable, but they were the best he could aplish for now.


    Khan jumped toward the first tform, hoping that he could step on it. He even prepared another request for the synthetic mana. However, a pulling force suddenly affected his body, disturbing his trajectory and removing the invisible steps.


    The rain continued to fall, so Khan found himself floating mid-air, without any foothold. A single jump seemed to have doomed him, but he couldn''t focus on that detail for now. He was more worried about theplete absence of synthetic mana in the area.


    Khan steeled his resolve and summoned his mana. His body began to spin on its own, and he waited until he faced the broken ceiling tounch a purple-red needle.


    The spell didn''t go far. It exploded when Khan was still in its range, but he had already crossed his arms and activated the [Blood Shield]. The small detonation pushed him downward, mming him back on the boulders and granting him footholds again.


    Khan ignored the pain and straightened his position to inspect the area, and what he was looking for quickly touched his sensitivity. The Nak''s hand was also above the rain, and the mana it had absorbed made it impossible to miss.


    The hand was quite far away from Khan, but he could reach it rtively quickly with his speed. Nevertheless, the boulders hit the array of streets at that point, and the rain condensed for an instant, making him lose his bnce and eventual initiative.


    Khan was torn between two threats now. The Nak''s hand shone with an unfathomable amount of mana, and the heavy rubble pierced the streets to continue its descent toward the gate. The situation didn''t offer any right decision, so he let go of any restraint and let his urges take over.


    The mental state that Khan had managed to appreciate properly only on the battlefield returned to show its new depths. Khan transformed into a puppet ruled by his urges and shot at top speed toward the hand.


    The boulders shook as they separated once again, but Khan adjusted his steps to those tremors to keep sprinting at full speed. His face burnt due to the friction generated by his eleration, but he pressed on, adding even more power to his advance.


    The Nak''s hand quickly grew close. The sh with Khan was bound to happen in a few short seconds, but a deafening noise suddenly came out of the dome, and the pale-blue light of its surface began to sh with scarlet shades.


    Both Khan and the hand suffered under that noise. It was too loud, but it only brought positive news. Khan couldn''t see it, but some safety measures had activated, and a series of metalyers hade out of the gate''s edges to seal it.


    The rm rang to no end, and the rain hit the bottom of the dome when Khan managed to ignore it. A force ready to break his legs and squash him climbed through the boulders as they fell on each other, and he noticed that in time to perform his evasive maneuver.


    Khan jumped, putting as much power as possible into his gesture to disperse the momentum umted during the fall. Meanwhile, the rubblepletely crashed on the dome and transformed into a tall and unstable metal mountain.


    Somehow, the dome endured the crash and sheer weight of the rubble, allowing Khan tond safely on top of the metal mountain. Still, he wasn''t alone there. The Nak''s hand was also floating nearby.


    Khan didn''t have the time to sigh in relief. He raised his knife and prepared himself for the second round with the hand, but he wasn''t the only one wanting a piece of that alien threat.


    The rubble had covered a fifth of Lower Level 3. The celebrations had left it almost empty, but some crews still existed, and many had survived the catastrophe.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Multiple ships rose from the surviving streets and descended toward the metal mountain to surround Khan and the Nak''s hand. In less than a minute, Khan found seventeen vehicles floating around him.


    Warnings couldn''t work in that situation, and the Nak''s hand acted before Khan could even snap out of his peculiar mental state to develop a n. The azure halo intensified, and lightning-like res shot in every direction.


    The hand had far more mana now. It was safe to assume that most of the energy between Lower Levels 2 and 3 had entered its flesh. The alien body part might not havepletely absorbed it, but the superior power of its lightning bolts showed that it had used it.


    Khan jumped backward, deciding to fall through the mountain instead of facing the attacks, but the ships didn''t have his agility. The lightning bolts hit every vehicle and pierced them before continuing to fly toward the dome. Some also reached the streets, spreading even more destruction.


    Most ships exploded on the spot, while a few released ck fumes as they fell uncontrobly toward the streets, dome, or metal mountain. Another short pulling force also followed, draining the engines of the mana they had produced.


    The metal mountain kept Khan safe, and he regained his footing fast enough to run through the rubble and point his eyes at the hand again. However, he discovered that the alien body part had already escaped his reach. It had begun to float toward the hole in the ceiling since it felt manaing from it.


    Khan''s thoughts ran wildly. The intermediate floor was right under Lower Level 1. An opening might have appeared during the destruction, which would exin the presence of synthetic mana even after two attacks from the hand.


    Still, that also exined the hand''s next destination. It wanted to reach the city, and Khan couldn''t even imagine how strong the alien body part would be if it absorbed all the mana there. He had to stop it or at least warn everyone about the imminent threat, but he had to find a way to the surface first.


    Khan nced at the array of streets. Panic had spread among the surviving crews, but that yed in his favor. The disaster had made most workers abandon their posts, which left a few ships unprotected.


    The n formed on its own at that point. Khan sprinted through the rubble to reach an area that could bring him to the streets. Yet, a familiar presence suddenly entered his senses'' range and forced him to stop to look at its source.


    Khan turned only to see Rodney walking out of a narrow hole in the metal mountain. Heavy boulders floated around him and rotated to create simple shields, and blood flowed out of his nose non-stop.


    Rodney seemed able to sense something since he also turned to look at Khan, and a broad smile immediately appeared on his face. A trace of insanity invaded his eyes as augh escaped his mouth.


    "I''m in your debt once again," Rodneyughed. "So, are we going after that thing or not?"

 Chapter ?415 Slaughter

    Chapter ?415 ughter


    Rodney''s survival surprised Khan. In theory, thoughts couldn''t do much against metal, but there he was. Rodney even smiled proudly, and fervor filled his expression.


    The question also hinted at apletely different stance. Rodney seemed to have awakened his thirst for battle during the disaster.


    "What?" Rodneyughed as the boulders around him fell to the ground and joined the rubble. "Don''t tell me that this short fall made you scared."


    Blood kept flowing out of Rodney''s nose, tainting the tattoos on his mouth before reaching its hoodie. He didn''t care about any of that, but the event forced Khan to take notice of his state.


    The assault on the Nak''s hand had left Khan''s arms full of burns and holes. One injury even ran through his forearm, creating a hideous spectacle that leaked blood. The needle spell had also dug away chunks of his skin, and his nose and cheeks itched due to the previous eleration.


    The frenzy pushed away the pain radiated by those injuries and kept Khan battle-ready. Yet, that state was bound to have a time limit, which would arrive faster if he allowed himself to rest.


    Khan knew that his emotions would make him ignore his limits, but that was a danger on its own. He might kill himself if he went too overboard, but the situation didn''t leave room for those worries.


    "I''ll leave you here if you don''t keep up," Khan eventually announced before turning and resuming his sprint.


    Rodney scoffed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand before chasing after Khan. Rodney was obviously slower than Khan, but losing ground didn''t worry him. He was actually strangely calm and happy even while Khan got farther away.


    Khan ran as fast as he could while the recent events yed in his vision. He reviewed the hand''s attacks and actions, hoping to find a weakness to exploit, but the situation didn''t look good.


    The Nak''s hand on its own wasn''t too strong. It wielded the power of a third or fourth-level mage, but Milia 222 had equally strong warriors. They weren''t many, but they existed, and the celebrations had probably brought most of them to the fourth asteroid.


    However, the ability to absorb mana was troublesome. The Nak''s hand could ovee its structural limits with that skill. Moreover, removing energy from the environment would weaken some of Khan''s potential allies. The Nele wouldn''t be able to fight at full power without it.


    The destruction of the intermediate floor also created a worrisome picture. The hand had known exactly how to shatter that metal, meaning that it had studied its texture before unleashing its attack.


    In short, the Nak''s hand was a sentient opponent with overwhelming control over the mana. Its set of skills was unclear and probably boundless, and Khan''s most trustworthy allies would have problems helping him defeat it.


    Rodney could help spread awareness to the rest of Milia 222''s poption, but Khan could already predict how the various species would react. The Ots weren''t reliable, and the Tors and Bise would probably never ept to cooperate against amon threat.


    That left Khan with the Fuveall and humans, which wasn''t too bad. Both species were incredible in their own ways. Getting their help was the only issue, but Rodney could y a valuable role there.


    Khan kept his gaze straight, but part of his attention went on the man struggling to catch up with him. Something had changed inside Rodney, something that might make him useful in that catastrophe, but Khan hesitated to trust him.


    The metal mountain was mostly uneven, with spikes growing from every corner. Most of them were too short to be of any use, but a few created makeshift staircases that could lead to the streets.


    Khan went straight for the closest suitable path. The uneven and unstable terrain would usually slow him down, but he found himself growing faster and faster. Somehow, he already knew how the metal rubble would react to his weight, so he adjusted his steps ording to those sensations.


    Rodney was in the very opposite situation. He often lost his bnce and fell since the ground under him slid or caved in, but he always stood up and resumed his chase. He evenughed whenever sharp rubble ended up cutting him.


    Meanwhile, the chaos on the array of streets had intensified. The various crews were either running away or trying to contact their superiors. However, many knew how to reach Lower Level 2 only through the elevators, and they had crumbled or stopped working after the disaster.


    As everyone realized the amount of damage caused by the disaster, the panic spread even more, and theck ofmunication with the surface only worsened the situation. Those aware of secret passages for the superior levels found crowds chasing after them to avoid remaining stuck on the dock. Many even began to opt for the ships on the streets.


    Khan climbed on one of the metal spikes and leaped forward tond on a broken street. Sparks came out of its broken edges, and the floor''s dim light flickered due to the damage, but his attention immediately went to the mess that weed him.


    The surviving buildings didn''t allow Khan to gain aplete view of the area, but the shouts, screams, and cries that filled the streets described the situation well enough. Sharp surges of mana even happened in the distance, hinting at the presence of fights.


    Khan wasn''t there to bring peace to the dock, but that new chaos went against his goals. The array of streets had be dangerous, so he had to hurry to find a way out.


    Finding avable ships wasn''t too hard. The lower areas of the streets hadnding spots and simr tforms, but most of them contained cargo ships too big for Khan''s needs.


    Khan would settle for one of them if he ran out of options. Still, he had spotted suitable vehicles while on the metal mountain, so he ignored the closest ships to run toward deeper areas.


    Khan''s surroundings were mostly empty, but random people entered his vision or ran past him from time to time. No one bothered to waste time in pointless conversations, and the shouts continued to be the predominant sound in the area.


    Eventually, Khanid his eyes on something that met his standards. A district nearby had a small, triangr ship resting in a lower area. Yet, its streets weren''t empty. Three Ots were running through them to reach the vehicle.


    The Ots were closer to the ship, but they were only first-level warriors. Khan could probably catch up with them, and he didn''t hesitate to try.


    The Ots hurriedly descended the staircases connected to thending area and approached the ship. One of them opened the ss-like surface above the small cabin and jumped inside to tinker with the control desk.


    Meanwhile, the alien''spanions also jumped into the cabin and squeezed inside it before pulling down the ss. The ship only had two seats, but the Ots were small enough to fit.


    The single, spherical engine on the ship''s back turned on and released mana. Whooshing noises enveloped thending area as the vehicle began to set off. It even left the floor at some point, but a glowing spear exploded above it and pushed it back down.


    The ship didn''t suffer any damage during the forcednding. Still, the Ots inside it widened their eyes in fear when a figure flew from the streets andnded on the ss. A glowing knife even pierced that transparent surface, creating cracks that threatened to expand at the slightest movement.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan supported himself on the knife and ced his feet on the ss before smacking his free hand on it. The gesture attracted the three Ots'' attention, and Khan exined himself by pointing his thumb down.


    The gesture didn''t have the intended effect. Khan''s abrupt and violentnding only terrified the Ots, and the pilot even tried to set off again, but the ss shattered before the ship could leave the floor.


    The falling shards forced the Ots to raise their arms to protect their faces, and more fear arrived when they lowered them. The pilot wanted to get his hands back on the steering wheel, but he found a foot on it, and lifting his eyes revealed the rest of Khan''s figure.


    "Out," Khan ordered while standing on the steering wheel and cabin''s edge. His knife was already glowing, so the Ots didn''t dare to mess around.


    "W-, we can-" The pilot tried to say something, but the leg on the cabin''s edge shot forward to deliver a precise kick on his jaw.


    The attack made the Ots fly out of the seat andnd outside the ship. Khan had held himself back to avoid killing him, but the remaining two aliens understood that they had to go anyway.


    Khan jumped off the steering wheel once the two Ots left the ship and grabbed their faintedpanion to approach the metal staircase. Faint curses left their mouths, but Khan didn''t mind them. He had actually done them a favor, but he didn''t have time to waste exining himself.


    Khan used his foot to remove the ss shards from the pilot''s seat before storing the knife and sitting behind the steering wheel. He had already recognized the ship''s model. The vehicle was a fast ride with two small wings on its sides, and he knew how to pilot it.


    Keys beeped in Khan''s vision. The destruction of the ss had triggered a series of safety measures that hindered the set-off, and he took a few seconds to study the control desk to n his next move.


    ''Enforceplete manual control first,'' Khan eventually decided before scouring his memory to recall the code required for that type of ship.


    Khan pressed abination of keys until the control desk turned from azure to red. He had overridden the safety measures, so he began to insert newmands needed for the set-off.


    "Can you really fly it?" Rodney''s voice resounded from the streets above while Khan was still messing with the control desk. Of course, he had already sensed his arrival.


    Khan ignored the question, but a thudding noise followed it, announcing Rodney''snding next to the ship. He had jumped off the streets above, and he didn''t hesitate to climb on the vehicle to take his seat behind Khan.


    The engine whooshed before Rodney could ask another question, and the ship began to rise when Khan pulled the steering wheel down. The vehicle soon surpassed the streets, and Khan instinctively spread his legs to cling them to his seat''s sides.


    "Wait, aren''t you putting your belt on?" Rodney asked, and the ship gave him the answer he sought.


    Khan pressed a key on the steering wheel before pushing thetter forward. The ship immediately elerated, and a violent gust of wind blew through the cabin, sending away the shards lying at its bottom.


    Rodney grabbed Khan''s seat in panic, and that feeling only intensified when he peeked past it. A building that marked the end of the district was growing close, and the ship was on a collision course with it.


    "Turn! Turn!" Rodney shouted before regretting to have spoken those words.


    Khan couldn''t help but smile when he spun the steering wheel. The right wing rose to bring the ship to its side and allow it to perform a sharp turn. The vehicle dodged the building, but Rodney was in no position to enjoy the event.


    When the ship spun, Rodney slid away and risked falling off, but his grip on Khan''s seat ended up saving his life. He clung desperately onto the tough fake leather while his legs fluttered in the wind, and his desperate cry for help remained stuck in his throat when he noticed Khan''s thrilled expression.


    Khan could barely contain his emotions. The wind on his face and the strength required to keep him on his seat brought him back to Nitis. He didn''t have a feathered back under him, and metal surrounded him, but that was the closest he could get to what he had experienced with Snow.


    The ship was still in the buildings'' range, and another tall structure soon appeared on its path, but Khan promptly spun the steering wheel before pulling it as hard as he could.


    The vehicle regained its horizontal stance, pushing Rodney back into the cabin. Still, he only had the time to sit before the ship rose until it wentpletely vertical.


    Rodney recalled his training on Nitis during that sharp rise. He clung to the seat with his legs before reaching for the safety belts and fastening them in a hurry. He finally managed to rx at that point, but Khan made that feeling short-lived.


    The hole in Lower Level 3''s ceiling was immense, and the same went for Lower Level 2. However, Khan needed to go even higher, and he didn''t know if a passage that could fit his ship existed.


    The ship flew through the first gap and crossed Lower Level 2 in mere seconds before reaching the same heights as the intermediate floor. A mess of narrow and hidden passages had be clear after the disaster, but Khan kept his gaze straight to look for an opening.


    The areas above the intermediate floor had crumbled, but the path to the surface was still closed, at least for ships. A cracked ceiling with a few man-sized holes stood at the very edge of the destruction, and Khan''s ship was flying right into it.


    Khan quickly inspected the holes before relying on his sensitivity. The gaps were big enough for the Nak''s hand, and synthetic mana even seeped out of it. Moreover, that energy carried the countless features added by the celebration.


    That synthetic mana had probably attracted the Nak''s hand, and Khan saw it as proof that Lower Level 1 stood right above him. He only needed to create a passage.


    "What are you doing?!" Rodney shouted when Khan left the steering wheel and lifted his legs to crouch on the seat.


    The ship was vertical, so Khan slowly stood on the seat''s back while mana flowed between his joint palms. He knew he could dig a hole in that surface. That was one of the first things he had confirmed on Milia 222.


    Luke couldn''t refuse Raymond''s offer, so his group flew to the highest areas of the stage, where some workers had put together threerge tforms.


    The cabs had enough space tondfortably, and a few crews weed the group with drinks before escorting everyone to a long, interactive table with seats only on one side.


    The table had screens depicting the events on the square and enough room for food or other items. Luke and the others only had to choose how they wanted to watch the celebrations while the crews began to serve various refreshments.


    Small talks went by before the celebrations began. Seven multicolored pirs came out of the square, and smoke soon flowed inside them. The gas followed the lights and gained their shades until it spread to blend them.


    The smoke seemed alive as it followed precise directions that made the various shades generate incredible images. At first, the gas depicted the seven asteroids before zooming on the fourth and pressing on.


    The picturepletely changed after reaching the asteroid''s rocky surface. The smoke began to depict the first floor and the city below while continuing to zoom on a replica of the very square it was in. It even showed the tforms and staircases upied by the audience.


    Then, when the square filled the entirety of the picture, fireworks shot through the smoke and exploded among the staircases to create bright and moving images. Strange animals, gs, and other figures shone on the audience, who had already started to cheer and p.


    Luke couldn''t focus on the celebrations and often diverted his gaze to check Khan''s devices and his phone. The ships hired to follow him had seen him disappear inside a small shop, but no updates hade since then.


    The tracker on Khan worked for a long time but eventually went dark. Luke had to suppress a curse at that sight, but he didn''t let panic overwhelm him. That oue had always been a strong possibility.


    Minutes went by in which the celebrations continued peacefully. Luke did his best to appear happy and exchange casual chats with his uncle orpanions, but he never missed the chance to check his devices. Sadly for him, the tracker didn''t light up.


    Eventually, an earthquake hit the square and spread through the entirety of Lower Level 1. Luke and the others in the air actually had to hear the rest of the audience''s screams to notice it, but no one panicked or left the staircases. Many even believed the event to be part of the celebrations.


    That belief vanished when cracks opened on the square. A few crews were performing an athletically demanding spectacle there, and seeing them run away told everyone that the situation wasn''t scripted.


    Chaos spread on the square. The staircases were already packed, so leaving them quickly wasn''t an option. Most people remained stuck on those tall structures, but their problems had only begun.


    Luke and the others in the air studied the situation calmly. They were outside the danger''s range and had ships nearby, so they had no reason to run away until they understood what was happening.


    Random questions flew, but no answers arrived. The people in the air could only keep their eyes on the cracked square and wait. Still, when the source of the earthquake became clear, they also experienced the same panic as the rest of the audience.


    The square had fallen intoplete chaos by the time a glowing, six-fingered hand flew through one of its gaps and strode upward. The mess would typically make many people miss the event, but the Nak''s body part was too bright to ignore, so everyone turned to inspect it.


    The Nak''s hand rose until it reached the halfway point of the staircases. Silence fell while everyone held their breath to try to understand what was happening, and the alien body part seemed to share that mindset. Everything remained still, but the calm didn''tst long.


    Someone among the crowd eventually shouted the word "Nak" in theirnguage, and panic even stronger than before arrived. The messy and dangerous escape resumed, but the hand had decided what to do by then.


    Dozens of azure lightning bolts shot out of the hand to target many crowded areas. Some even flew toward the ships and tforms above the staircases, and a ughter unfolded.


    Luke widened his eyes when he noticed a lightning bolt flying toward his tform. He felt the urge to move, but he was too slow to do anything about the situation. His instincts made him nce in Master Ivor''s direction, but someone else stepped forward to deal with the threat.


    Everyone in Luke''s group stared in amazement at Raymond''s figure standing proudly at the tform''s edge. Smoke came out of his stretched right arm, but waving it revealed its intact state. Even his elegant suit had remained in one piece.


    The scene made the group think about Khan since he had done something simr with Francis, but the situation didn''t allow thoseparisons. A single nce at the square could fill anyone with dread. Raymond had been there for Luke''s group, but the rest of the audience wasn''t so lucky.


    Fuming and charred corpses now upied various areas of the square and staircases. Some ships and tforms fell due to the damage suffered during the attack, and the Nak''s hand even released a deep noise to announce its sessful offensive.


    Most of the audience continued its desperate escape, but a few figures decided to deal with that alien threat. Leaders from different factions stepped forward to show their stance against theirmon opponent.


    Second and third-level warriors took their ce on tforms, ships, and staircases and summoned spells that they didn''t hesitate tounch toward the hand. Attacks of various natures and colors flew through the square to converge on the alien body part, and someone even fired guns at it.


    However, the sh only generated loud sizzling noises that the crowd''s shouts and cries couldn''t cover. The Nak''s hand stopped the attacks before they could pierce its skin, and various sparks left its flesh to begin the absorption of mana.


    In a few seconds, the Nak''s hand sucked the spells dry andunched another series of lightning bolts fueled by the very mana it had absorbed. Needless to say, many died under that assault, but most of the warriors involved in the previous offensive managed to dodge the attacks.


    The various leaders held back from attacking again and did their best to exchange nces. One assault had been enough to confirm that a random offensive couldn''t take down the Nak''s hand. They needed a n, even if that meant cooperating with enemy factions.


    Of course, the hand didn''t stay still for long. It had taken a break to study the situation again, but it eventually decided on a course of action. The remaining mana inside it even moved to prepare for the attack, but something under it attracted its attention and interrupted the process.


    A piece of the square exploded into a mess of purple-red light and smoke, and a small ship flew through them. The vehicle waspletely vertical, so it only took a few seconds to cross the Nak''s hand and reveal the people inside it.


    Rodney had yet to decide if he was terrified or excited, but the ship was going too fast for him to think. Meanwhile, Khan stood on the back of the pilot''s seat, and his eyes quickly found the Nak''s hand before moving to another scene that imed his attention.


    Raymond was on the tform''s edge, so Luke''s group couldn''t see his face. Yet, when the two exchanged nces, Khan could study every detail in his expression. Raymond couldn''t look any happier.

 Chapter ?416 Landing

    Chapter ?416 Landing


    Time slowed down in Khan''s eyes. His efforts and the dangers faced in the past months led to that moment, with Raymond''s happy face waiting on the finishing line.


    A sense of defeat tried to invade Khan. Raymond had won. That much was undeniable. Khan had been nothing more than a variable immersed in a bigger n, and he had ended up delivering exactly what Raymond wanted.


    Nevertheless, the presence of the Nak''s hand made Khan unable to fall prey to the sense of defeat. His mental state was currently unshakable, but that only led to sourer conclusions. Khan could think clearly, so he knew that Raymond was his best bet at defeating that troublesome opponent.


    Raymond appeared almost proud to see Khan joining the battlefield. To Khan''s surprise, he even managed to muster a nod while the hand kept everyone distracted.


    The urge to jump at Raymond showed its presence, but Khan immediately disregarded it. He had bigger problems to handle, and they required him to swallow his pride for the time being.


    Raymond''s smile broadened when Khan diverted his gaze to assess the situation. The square was a mess of fuming corpses, cracks, and screaming people. Ships had crashed on the staircases, and trails of smoke surged behind them.


    There wasn''t much to say about the situation. Most of the people in the square were simply useless. They might even be a hindrance to any potential n, but the scene carried some hope.


    Khan''s arrival had been quite theatrical, and many of those who had tried to take down the Nak''s hand couldn''t help but focus on him. That gave Khan a vague idea of the number of warriors willing to fight, which turned out to be far higher than his initial prediction.


    The Tors were nowhere to be seen, but a few Bise disregarded the panicking crowd and held their ground while moving their eyes between Khan and the Nak''s hand. The same went for some Ots, who mostly wielded guns already pointed at the alien body part.


    Humans and Fuveall were the majority among those willing to fight, and a small group of Nele also stood proud while waiting to decide what to do next. Thetter actually was the calmer team for obvious reasons.


    Khan recognized some familiar faces among the various warriors. Awiza, Ta-ei, Maban, Jenna, and others who had interacted with Khan in the past months were in the square, and they were ready to fight.


    That group wasn''t too big and featured only a few third-level warriors. Still, the presence of almost every species could give birth to spectacr cooperation as long as everyone could express their innate qualities.


    The unexpected oue made sense when Khan thought about it. The celebrations brought together multiple factions with deep ties to the asteroids. It was only expected that they would defend it against any threat.


    However, the full power of those factions was still unclear since only a few leaders had decided to step forward. Moreover, it would take a miracle to establish proper cooperation. Khan also needed a reliable n, but he knew where to get that.


    "Khan! The street! The street!" Rodney shouted while Khan was busy inspecting the square.


    One of the giant streets on the first floor expanded in Khan''s vision when he raised his eyes. The ship was on a collision course with that massive structure, and the crash was bound to happen soon due to the high speed.


    Khan spread his legs to abandon his footholds, and the seat''s back almost instantlynded on his butt. The pressure generated by the high speed hindered his movements, but his training with Snow allowed him to adjust his position and get his hands on the steering wheel.


    Rodney shouted in excitement when the ship made a backflip that left it upside down. Khan smirked when he heard that cry, but his face regained its coldness as soon as he looked at his destination.


    Raymond was still at the tform''s edge. Chaos had spread everywhere, and the group behind him had also started to panic, but he remained unfazed. He behaved like a mere spectator to that terrible crisis.


    Khan couldn''t help but scoff as he dived toward Raymond''s tform while making the ship regain a normal stance. He had to ask that mysterious and unpredictable figure how to defeat the hand, and something told him that he would get answers.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s sudden arrival could only buy so much time. The Nak''s hand snapped out of its surprise and resorted to its most annoying ability in that confusing situation.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan''s eyes widened when he felt a soft pull. He didn''t move, and the same went for the ship, but he knew what had happened and what would follow.


    The synthetic mana in a radius that went far beyond the square disappeared, ending inside the Nak''s hand. Every trace of energy in the air vanished, and the many engines suffered a simr fate.


    Khan''s thoughts raced when he saw the control desk going dark. He could sense that the tank still had synthetic mana, but the sudden disappearance of energy from the engine had turned the ship off.


    The issue didn''t affect only Khan''s ship. The vehicles in the ability''s range and the tforms also went dark. Thetter even saw their tanks turning empty since they had fewer protections against those attacks.


    "Khan?" Rodney asked when he noticed that the ship began to turn downward.


    Khan pressed a few keys, but nothing worked. The ship had turned into a metal cage ready to crash on Lower Level 1.


    "We must jumpstart the engine!" Khan shouted once he found an option that might solve the problem.


    "Jumpstart what?" Rodney responded.


    "Hit the damn thing!" Khan exined.


    Rodney would typically avoid danger, but he was already strapped to a falling ship. Also, he felt heavily inclined to follow Khan''s orders after surviving the disaster, so he unfastened the safety belt and did his best to turn without losing his grip on the seat.


    The back of the ship wasn''t crawling-friendly, especially at that speed. Its surface was smooth,cking any handhold or simr spot. Still, the vehicle was small, so Rodney only had to cross a short distance to reach the engine.


    Khan would have never left that task to Rodney, but he needed to be behind the control desk once the engine turned on. As for Rodney, he revealed his resourcefulness, and Khan had the chance to admire it a bit when he turned.


    The back of the ship didn''t have handholds, so Rodney created them. He stabbed his fingers into the vehicle''s metal and pressed himself down through his thoughts while crawling toward the engine. His advance was clumsy and slow, but Khan couldn''t reallyin.


    Rodney was basically lying on the ship''s back when he reached the engine, and he mustered the entirety of his courage to let go of one handhold to deliver a p.


    The engine shook slightly, but nothing happened, and Rodney promptly conveyed his worry. "It didn''t do anything!"


    "Hit it harder!" Khan shouted. "Hit it until it turns itself on!"


    Rodney followed the orders even if he didn''t know the reason behind them. In short, the ps were meant to push some synthetic mana into the engine. The machine would handle the rest afterward.


    The second p didn''t lead anywhere, and the same went for the third. The ship continued to descend in the meantime, and its tip had started to tilt toward the floor. The crash seemed inevitable, but a whooshing noise reached Khan''s ears when Rodney hit the engine a fourth time.


    The control desk lit up, and Khan punched a few keys before pulling the steering wheel. The ship regained its horizontal stance, and Khan made it slow down so that Rodney could jump back on his seat.


    The chaos in the square intensified while Khan and Rodney tinkered with their ship. The absorption of mana had made many vehicles and tforms fall, bringing panic even where there had once been calm.


    Raymond had to move once his tform began to fall, and he nodded in approval when he saw that Luke had already led hispanions to the ships nearby. Those vehicles had been turned off, so the pilots could activate them without issues.


    The fall of the tforms forced the entirety of Luke''s group to gather on a single ship. The vehicle didn''t have enough room for all of them, but Master Ivor opted to go on the roof, and Bruce and Monica imitated him.


    Luke''s ship was fairlyrge, so it managed to set off even with that extra weight. As for Raymond, he performed an incredible sprint that brought him before another ship that the pilot had already turned on.


    The members of the crews on those tforms weren''t as lucky. They moved toward thest free ship when they saw that their employers had discarded it, but they weren''t as fast as Raymond. The floor under their feet soon tilted sharply, making them fall into the destruction below.


    The crews weren''t the only ones to fall. They actually had plenty ofpany due to the air traffic caused by the celebrations and disaster. Ships and tforms crashed everywhere, with merely a couple of them managing to jumpstart their engines to avoid hitting the city.


    Of course, most ships were crash-proof, and the city had enough buildings to dampen thendings. Theck of mana running through the various engines also prevented random explosions, which preserved many lives.


    Yet, the Nak''s hand was full of energy after absorbing the mana in that vast area, so an offensive arrived. Lightning-like res shot forward, and Khan barely had the time to prepare thending when one of those attacks crashed on the ship''s tip.


    A wave of ck smoke invaded Khan''s vision and forced him to close his eyes. The absence of synthetic mana in his surroundings made his sensitivity unreliable, so he used the pressurending on him to gain a vague idea of the ship''s movements.


    Sadly for Khan, the pressure alone wasn''t enough to make him fly blind. His hands remained on the steering wheel, but he could only do his best to keep the ship horizontal.


    Rodney voiced cries that Khan couldn''t describe with a single adjective. Some shouts made him sound excited, while others resembledints. Still, everything turned silent when the ship crashed on a firm surface, forcing both men to hold strong.


    The ship''s metal screamed as it bent and broke during the crash, but nothing flew toward Khan. When everything stopped, he didn''t sense any new injury on himself, but the smoke had increased, and it took him a few seconds to exit it.


    Khan took a deep breath when he gained ess to clean air. He rubbed his eyes before opening them, and his surroundings became clear. He hadnded inside the square, near the staircases'' base, and his ship had lost both wings.


    Rodney coughed as he stumbled out of the ship before straightening his position and coughing again. He reached Khan, but the destruction around him prevented him from speaking. He was at the very center of the chaos, with the Nak''s hand standing in the air behind him.


    Khan noticed how thetest attack had taken more lives while also bringing together a few factions. Part of the crowd had given up on escaping and had begun to reach the various leaders to create joint fronts. Some Ots had even teamed up with humans, but no one attacked just yet.


    Various gazes fell on Khan even after thending, but he only paid attention to the Nele in the distance before turning toward the whooshing noises above him. Two ships were descending toward him, and he recognized both of them.


    "Lieutenant Khan!" Master Ivor called from the top of one of the ships. "We must leave! Mister Cobsend''s ship has room for both of you."


    Master Ivor was sure that an evacuation was necessary, but the second ship startled him when it continued to descend until itnded on the lowest part of the staircases. Its side door then opened, and Raymond crossed it to enter the square.


    Khan ignored the first ship to march toward Raymond, and Rodney hesitated for a second before following him. Raymond calmly straightened his suit while the two men jumped on the staircase to reach him.


    "Rodney Semmut and Lieutenant Khan," Raymond announced once the two men stood before him. "You two make a surprisingly good team."


    Raymond showed a smile that made both men wear cold faces. They were at the center of a battlefield, but Raymond was perfectly calm. Even the sight of the corpses didn''t faze him.


    "Do we need to y these games even now?" Khan asked.


    "Oh, Khan," Raymond voiced. "Nothing I do is a game."


    Raymond nced at the Nak''s hand in the distance at that point, and the two men did the same. The alien body part had gone silent after itsst attack, but its break would end soon.


    "How do I kill it?" Khan went straight to the point as he brought his eyes back to Raymond.


    "Kill it?" Raymond wondered. "That thing is not alive."


    "Fine," Khan sighed. "How do I make it stop?"


    "Brute force should work," Raymond suggested, "As long as you can pierce through that defensive shield."


    "There has to be another way," Khan stated. "It must have a weakness."


    "It does," Raymond said, and a mysterious meaning joined his smile. "That hand can absorb mana from the environment. You should be able to do the same with its flesh."

 Chapter ?417 Assault

    Chapter ?417 Assault


    Rodney was out of his depth. He couldn''t follow the conversation, and standing before Raymond took the entirety of his courage. He wouldn''t even be able to pull that off without Khan. After all, Raymond had the power to destroy his hopes for political redemption with a single phone call.


    As for Khan, he struggled to ept Raymond''s words, but he had to admit that they made some sense. He had confirmed that he shared far more than azure shades with the Nak, and those simrities might make him able to replicate the hand''s annoying ability.


    Khan nced at the Nak''s hand before bringing his eyes back to Raymond. His level of control over the mana probably made that n feasible, but he couldn''t aplish it from far away. He would need to be as close as possible to hope to seed, and the sizzling barrier remained an issue.


    Thest discharge of lightning bolts gave Khan the time to think about the situation, but it wouldn''t be long before the hand decided to move again. He had to devise a n quickly, but distractions continued to arrive.


    The second ship had Bruce, Master Ivor, and Monica sitting on its roof. It had even gotten closer to the staircases after Raymond''snding, so everyone above and inside could see that Khan had no intention of escaping.


    Bruce and Master Ivor already had experience in disasters, so they kept their cool while waiting for the situation in the square to evolve. Yet, that was Monica''s first time in the middle of a tragedy, and seeing the poor state of Khan''s arms made her move before she could even realize what she was doing.


    Monica''snding attracted the trio''s attention, but only Khan noticed the surprised expression that shed on her face for less than a second. Monica couldn''t believe that she had thrown herself into the square, but she hid her confusion when she began to approach Khan and the others.


    Monica was thest person Khan wanted to see in the square since the area had turned into a dangerous, bloody battlefield. He wouldn''t have the power to protect or even check up on her while he fought, but it was toote to worry now.


    "You shouldn''t be here, Miss Solodrey," Raymond was the first to speak when Monica reached the group. "The situation is quite unstable."


    "That''s why I''vee down to help," Monica politely responded. "I wouldn''t be worthy of my family name if I just ran away."


    "Mister Raymond is right," Khan added. "We barely know what we are up against."


    "More firepower won''t hurt," Monica stated while smiling casually to hide her re at Khan.


    "Miss Solodrey, you might get in the way," Khan dered, hoping that his rude words could get through Monica''s stubbornness.


    "I am the proud descendant of the Solodrey family, Lieutenant Khan," Monica responded without hiding the faint annoyance seeping into her voice. "I''m afraid you don''t have the authority to tell me where I should be."


    "I was talking from a purely strategic perspective," Khan exined.


    "Which sounded like an insult to my training and status," Monica rebuked.


    "You know I didn''t mean that," Khan eximed.


    "And what did you mean?" Monica asked. "Besides, you have a better chance of bing a hindrance since your arms are about to fall off."


    "I''m fine," Khan reassured while stretching his arms. "I''ve fought in worse conditions."


    "And with less battle experience," Monica continued. "So, howe I shouldn''t get the chance to defend Milia 222?"


    Monica knew exactly what Khan wanted to say, even if he never voiced those words. He simply couldn''t in Rodney and Raymond''s presence. He could only hold his tongue and ept that Monica was now part of the battlefield.


    Rodney and Raymond could smell the awkwardness in the air. The Nak''s hand was still at the center of the square, ready to make its next move, but Khan and Monica had chosen to waste time bickering.


    Moreover, as much as Khan and Monica had tried to hide it, their conversation had still revealed something. The two didn''t say anything specific, but they sounded too used to bickering.


    "Where do you even find the time?" Rodneymented when a vague idea formed in his mind.


    "Lieutenant Khan, your profile doesn''t do you any justice," Raymond chuckled.


    Khan and Monica ignored thosements while their exchange of nces continued. They wanted to say far more, but their conversation would have to wait. Milia 222 might lose an asteroid if they wasted even more time.


    "Mister Raymond," Khan called when he diverted his gaze to look at the floating hand again, "Will you help us?"


    "What do you have in mind?" Raymond voiced.


    "Brute force," Khan announced, "And yourst suggestion."


    "It will take more than me to pull that off," Raymond uttered while looking at the hand. "Its shield seems quite strong."


    "We need the help of the entire square," Khan revealed before turning toward Rodney. "I need you to convince the various factions to attack simultaneously."


    "They just did," Rodney pointed out. "Adding people might not change anything."


    "That''s why we need to keep the assault going for a while," Khan exined. "That thing must have limits, especially when its fleshcks mana."


    "Flesh?" Raymond repeated. "Can you sense its state from down here?"


    Khan nced a Raymond before heaving a sigh and voicing a vague answer. "It''s hard to miss it."


    Raymond''s smile widened, but he didn''t add anything. He appeared proud, but Khan couldn''t confirm that due to the bottomless darkness radiated by his emotions. Reading him was impossible, so Khan could only hope for the best.


    "The square is a bit too big for me," Rodney admitted.


    "You''ll take care of the human factions," Khan ordered before turning toward Monica. "You dealt with Awiza. See if you can convince her and the Ots to stick around."


    "I believe you''ll take care of the Nele," Monica stated, wearing a fake smile that Khan did his best to ignore.


    "I''ll take care of protecting them," Khan revealed, "At least until I find my chance to dive in."


    "Dive in?" Monica promptly questioned, but Khan had already turned again to sprint toward the second ship.


    "Lieutenant Khan," Master Ivor called once Khan arrived under the ship, "It''s not safe down there."


    "Can you contact the Fuveall for me?" Khan asked. "I need them to join the offensive."


    "You know my priorities," Master Ivor dered.


    "You can drop the others in a safe area before sending the ship here," Khan suggested. "I just need someone to deliver the message."


    One of the windows on the ship''s side went down, and Luke peeked past it before announcing his stance. "Khan, just tell me what you need."


    "I need you to go somewhere safe," Khan dered. "The same goes for the other first-level warriors. They''d be dead meat if that thing shoots more lightning bolts."


    "Alright," Luke quickly epted, "But I''m sending the ship back to contact the Fuveall."


    "Make it fly low," Khan warned. "It might save it from an unexpected crash."


    Luke nodded, and the ship took off to reach the streets on the first floor. Meanwhile, Khan returned to hispanions on the ground to deliver onest order. "Hurry up before that thing does something."


    "Well, it can''t be worse than flying with you," Rodney announced before turning to run toward the closest human team.


    "Don''t do anything reckless, Lieutenant Khan," Monica said as her voice gained teasing tones. "You insulted my pride. You need to be alive to make up for it."


    "Hey, be careful," Khan voiced.


    "Right back at you," Monica smiled before leaving in the direction of the Ots.


    Khan stared at Monica''s departing figure before looking at Raymond again. Thetter had smiled during the entire process, and he seemed to have no intention of adding anything to the n.


    "That''s it?" Khan felt forced to ask. "You must have spent a fortune to purchase and fix this prototype. Are you really okay with us shooting it down?"


    "It''s too crowded to throw such usations," Raymond eximed. "Also, every scientist knows that field tests always be necessary at some point."


    "So, will you take this loss?" Khan wondered.


    "There is no loss," Raymond joked. "You should know why."


    Khan didn''t answer. Raymond wanted to see what would happen after Khan absorbed the hand, and that didn''t deserve a reply. Actually, it was better to cut the conversation short before his pride became too big to swallow.


    "We will need your support during the offensive," Khan warned before looking at the purple areas. The Nele were on the other side of the square, and Khan nned to take the shortest route to them.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The square had debris, corpses, and crumbled ships, but Khan could ovee all of that with his agility. The hand was the only real danger in that shorter route, but he felt ready to face it to reach the Nele.


    It felt strange to run in an environment so devoid of mana. The various people in the square and the vehicles'' broken tanks were slowly leaking energy, but that was still far from what Khan had grown used to.


    The environment appeared somewhat dead without its energy, but the many people on the staircases kept the symphony alive. Sadly for Khan, he wasn''t the only one able to sense them.


    The hand hadpleted its inspection long ago, but it had remained silent and still anyway. The remaining mana in its flesh flowed without showing specific patterns, so predicting its next move was impossible.


    Those movements didn''t cause any reaction in the outside world. Khan could run past the hand without sensing anything odd, and the faces immersed in the purple halo slowly grew bigger in his vision.


    Jenna had wanted to leave her team ever since Khan''s theatrical entrance, but multiple issues had forced her to remain. The lightning bolts and the sudden disappearance of mana had put her in a difficult spot, and Maban had chosen to restrain her when her emotions risked taking over her actions.


    However, Jenna calmed down when she saw Khan running toward her. She was about to reunite with him, and the seriousness on his face told her that she didn''t have to abandon her post.


    Jenna revealed a stunning smile, but a frown soon took control of her expression. She didn''t feel anything specific, but her gaze instinctively rose toward the hand. She could almost predict that something would happen, and Khan didn''t miss that meaningful gesture.


    Khan turned to look at the hand above him only to be interrupted by an abrupt pulling force. The techniquested for a fraction of a second but was far stronger than before, and the darkening scenery revealed its new features.


    The various buildings around the square went dark, and the same went for the streetmps, vehicles, and roads. Even the illuminated areas of the sidewalks lost their light.


    Khan was looking at the hand, so he could inspect the street on the first floor, and his mind almost froze when he saw it going dark. The pulling force had now affected a far wider area, and it didn''t stop at the mana in the air. It had sucked dry any structure or machine relying on that energy.


    A helpless shout tried to enter Khan''s mind but found no avable room. He felt only coldness and surprise seeing arge portion of Lower Level 1 losing its light. The Nak''s hand had gotten stronger, and it wasn''t clear if it would ever stop improving.


    Nevertheless, Khan noticed something strange. The Nak''s hand would typically store all that synthetic mana inside its flesh, but Khan found it lingering outside its skin. That huge mass of energy had created a vast, spherical area that spread faint azure light.


    At first, Khan believed that the improved technique featured limitations, but that thought crumbled when he sensed an almost clear voice echoing through the synthetic mana. He even recognized it. Someone had made a powerful request, preventing that energy from entering the hand.


    Khan only had to turn toward the group of Nele to find the source of that request. Caja stood on the dark staircase with an arm lifted into the air and eyes closed shut to achieveplete focus.


    The Nak''s hand released a deep noise that resembled an angry scream. The synthetic mana was right there, but the alien body part couldn''t absorb it as long as Caja''s spell remained active.


    Khan elerated as much as possible since the square had turned into a danger zone, but things didn''t go as nned. He had hoped to achieveplete cooperation among the species, but someone fired a gun once the scream ended, and many shots followed.


    The first bullet pierced through the synthetic mana andnded on the hand, which remained unaffected due to the sizzling shield. The second shot achieved simr results and the thirty that followed also failed to put a scratch on the barrier.


    The Nak''s hand even locked those bullets in their ce before generating the circr sparks meant to absorb the mana inside them. Still, more attacks arrived, which rendered Caja''s efforts useless.


    The synthetic mana stuck around the hand carried Caja''s request, and the attacks that flew through it disturbed its flow. That energy began to disperse and shoot in every direction, which ultimately made Caja''s spell too weak to affect that vast area.


    Mana flowed and expanded through the square, overwhelming the staircases and stretching behind them. Lower Level 1 regained its usual environment, but Khan didn''t take any joy in that, especially since the hand was still trapping many attacks on its surfaces.


    Khan ran as fast as possible, but the hand reacted before he could reach the Nele. All the attacks and bullets stuck in its circr sparks suddenly disappeared, and new ones quickly took their ce, but it was toote now. The alien body part had refilled its mana reserves.


    Countless masses of mana gathered around the hand while attacks continued tond on it. Some managed to interrupt the process, but many didn''t, so a storm of lightning bolts eventually shot out.


    Khan liked that he could rely on his sensitivity again, but the scene it depicted was far from happy. A rain of fast res shot in every direction, forcing him to zig-zag through the square while explosions reached his ears. Screams soon followed, but he found somefort in the fact that the Nele had mana to use.


    The offensive filled the square and staircases with smoke and holes. Seeing clearly became impossible, but Khan could movefortably as long as the environment had mana. He eventually reached his destination, and a warm figure fell into his arms before he could open his eyes.


    "[I''m not leaving you ever again]," Jenna announced as she tightened the hug on Khan''s neck.


    "[Jenna, floating hand that shoots lightning bolts]," Khan reminded.


    "[Coming here was dangerous]," Maban eximed as the smoke on the staircases began to disperse.


    "[I wanted to coordinate an attack]," Khan exined as Jenna left his arms and allowed him to turn toward the hand. "[That n failed]."


    Thetest lightning bolts had taken many lives, but the entirety of the square had gone to full battle mode afterward. Everyone fired weapons or threw spells at the hand without managing to achieve much.


    Someone always followed up with more attacks, so the joint offensive never stopped. In a way, the square was cooperating to take down the hand, but the sizzling barrier held strong.


    The never-ending offensive was preventing the hand from absorbing the mana from the city, but the attacks trapped on its surface continued to provide fuel.


    Khan joined his palms and poured mana between them as the offensive continued. As expected, the Nak''s hand soon released another wave of res, but he had the chaos spear ready by then, and throwing it forward generated a pir that blocked many attacks.


    Caja focused on sending the synthetic mana away while the rest of the Nele summoned attacks that the environment inevitably weakened. Still, Khan was among them, and he provided as much support as possible.


    The battlefield fell into a seemingly inescapable cycle. The people in the square would fire everything they had at the hand, and the sizzling barrier would block it, allowing the circr sparks to absorb that mana.


    The absorbed mana fueled lightning-like res that shot in every direction, and the cycle would restart. As long as the sizzling barrier existed, the Nak''s hand could endure any attack and turn it against its source.


    Khan focused on defense while continuing to study the situation. He threw chaos spear after chaos spear whenever he knew the hand was about to unleash its power, but that never fixed the initial issue.


    The whole offensive would be pointless if the barrier remained up, and Khan scoured his mind to find something that might work. However, he would need to get up close to execute those ns, and the hand was mid-air, surrounded by a barrage of iing attacks.


    Right now, the hand was unapproachable, and the messy state of the battlefield made a cease-fire impossible. Everyone was firing freely, hoping that their bullets would do something different than the previous.


    Khan killed his thoughts and immersed his mind in the chaos of the battlefield. He needed a viable path that could lead him to the hand, but he couldn''t find anything. There were too many iing attacks.


    That situation obviously couldn''tst forever. The lightning bolts always managed to kill someone, and the audience was bound to run out of mana eventually. That offensive wasn''t sustainable for too long, so Khan felt that he needed a solution immediately.


    Reinforcements arrived at some point. The central structure sent ships that encircled the square and added their firepower to the joint offensive. The hand was literally submerged in a wave of attacks, and its defenses finally started to give in.


    Khan was in no condition to rejoice, but new strength filled his body when he saw the offensive pushing the hand toward the floor. That cracked surface broke due to the many explosions, but the attacks kept flowing.


    The arrival of the ships made the offensive so intense that the lightning bolts struggled to reach the square. The hand waspletely overwhelmed, which forced it to switch tactics.


    Khan and some Nele were the first to notice the different behavior. The hand had stopped sending lightning bolts and had focused everything on amassing mana.


    The barrier inevitably suffered under that unrestrained assault, and holes opened in it, finally inflicting some damage on the hand. Of course, the area had too much mana and lights to check the alien body part''s condition, but the square was doing it. The audience was defeating that threat.


    Khan sensed that the hand was umting mana, but he couldn''t do anything about the situation. He had no influence over the offensive, so he prepared for anything that was about to arrive.


    The circr sparks around the hand expanded as more mana flowed into their structure. The number of spells they could trap increased, and the same went for the amount of energy absorbed.


    The Nak''s hand was optimizing its efficiency and range, and the amount of mana in its insides increased, turning it into a blinding spot in Khan''s sensitivity. He managed to sense it even among the barrage of attacks, and all that energy eventually exploded outward.


    The explosion resembled a soundwave simr to what the hiddenb had witnessed. Still, the attack also affected the entire barrage of spells. Darkness returned, and an earthquake took control of the city before opening cracks that spread throughout Lower Level 1.

 Chapter ?418 Priority

    Chapter ?418 Priority


    Everything shook. The staircases became unstable as mana traced lines that spread far beyond the square.


    Cracks opened on the already damaged surfaces and expanded to create an array ofrge chunks. The entire city seemed ready to fall, and the audience held their breath, hoping to dy that catastrophe.


    Khan, the Nele, and those able to sense the mana under them knew that nothing could prevent what wasing. The city continued to shake, and the floor screamed as its metal bent and shattered. It only took the fall of a minute piece to destroy the frail bnce and cause a chain reaction.


    The square caved in, and the same went for the staircases. The buildings past the area also crumbled before falling through the floor. The Nak''s hand had replicated the attack unleashed in the hiddenb, but its range went far past anything Khan had ever witnessed.


    Khan had been conflicted since the beginning of the joint offensive. A duality existed in his feelings. He wanted to kill the hand, but he couldn''t leave the Nele alone in that unfavorable environment.


    The nature of the offensive had ended up making that choice for Khan, but the crumbling of the city opened a new path. That chaos could give Khan a chance to reach the hand.


    The joint offensive had stopped during the earthquake, and Caja had taken care of sending synthetic mana away. The Nak''s hand had depleted its energy after thest attack and didn''t have any immediate way to refill its reserves.


    That could be the opportunity Khan had been looking for. The debris could create a path toward the powerless hand, giving him the chance to touch it directly.


    Khan had to make his decision quickly. The city had just started to fall, but the hand could fly. He would need to start sprinting now to hope to find suitable footholds along the way.


    However, familiar cries reached Khan''s ears as everything began to crumble. The Nele had moved ording to the traces of mana left behind by the soundwave, but they didn''t share his incredible bnce, so many fell off once the makeshift tforms tilted and spun.


    Jenna had been close enough to Khan to share his boulder, but she lost her footing when the ground under her became unstable. She let out a faint cry when she began to slide away, and a trace of regret appeared on her face when Khan turned to look at her.


    Jenna didn''t know everything, but she could understand how important the Nak''s hand was to Khan. The fact that her cry had distracted him from his mission made her feel guilty since she only wanted to support him.


    On the other hand, Khan partially snapped out of his extreme mindset when he noticed that Jenna was about to fall. His desire to kill the Nak''s hand wanted to be upromising, but he understood his priorities when he saw Jenna''s regretful expression.


    Khan had left Nitis because he needed the Global Army to fulfill his main goal, but that disaster was different. Taking care of his desperation was his priority, but he couldn''t let the people he loved pay the price.


    Jenna couldn''t help but smile when Khan shot in her direction. Her arms instinctively opened, and she closed them around Khan''s neck once he reached her.


    That wasn''t Khan''s first time sprinting at full speed while carrying someone. He and Jenna had actually already gone through something simr together, and their trust created perfect teamwork.


    Khan wrapped one arm around Jenna''s waist to lift her while he immersed himself in the surrounding chaos. The situation became clear, and his thoughts grew wild as he tried to decide how to handle it.


    The lower levels had a vast hole, but most of the audience had been on the staircases. The increased range of the Nak''s attack yed in their favor since the fall would probably lead everyone into intact areas of the intermediate floor.


    Still, the fall wasn''t safe. Many could remain trapped among the crumbling boulders, and the intermediate floor might also fail to withstand that additional weight.


    Khan couldn''t save everyone, and his thoughts never reached those topics. He worried about Monica, but she was in a different part of the square. He could only hope for the best while focusing on those within his reach.


    Jenna was safely in Khan''s arms, but that wasn''t enough for him. The Nele had long since be his people, so he wanted to do as much as possible to keep them safe.


    The symphony, the extreme mindset, and Khan''s affection toward the Nele fused to create a precise path through the chaos. His sight became pointless. Khan didn''t even move his eyes when he jumped to his left while stretching his free arm downward.


    A Nele weaker than Khan had lost his bnce as soon as the earthquake took control of the city, making him fall under the boulder he hoped to use as a foothold. In that position, the Nele would be submerged by the rubble, but Khan grabbed his stretched arm and pulled him along.


    Khan felt heavy when hended on a tilted surface. His feet threatened to slide on the smooth metal and push him under the boulder, but he jumped before he could lose his bnce.


    Carrying two people simultaneously was a problem, but Khan threw the Nele to his right during his leap. The alien looked at Khan in terror, but confusion reced that feeling when he ended up in Maban''s arms.


    Khan didn''t even bother to look at Maban. Hended on a boulder only to jump again in the direction of another Nele. Thetter had leaped when her boulder fell, putting herself in a free dive that was bound to kill her once the rubble settled.


    Panic had taken control of the Nele, but tears of joy fell from her eyes when Khan bumped into her. Jenna grabbed herpanion, and Khan proceeded tond on a boulder ahead.


    The Nele spoke, but Khan didn''t hear her. He felt heavy again, but his job wasn''t done, so he pulled the alien from her wrist and crouched to put her on his right shoulder.


    Caja, Maban, and other strong Nele didn''t let Khan do all the work. They also reached for theirpanions and deployed techniques or leaps to grab them. Soon, only a few Nele remained in dangerous positions, and Khan summoned the entirety of his strength to jump again to reach one of them.


    The left arm had Jenna, and the right shoulder had a Nele, so Khan could only use his right arm to catch another falling alien beforending on a tilted tform. That surface was too steep even for him, but he clung his leg to its upper edge to remaintched onto it.


    The situation was far from ideal. Khan was carrying three people, and he had an awful foothold. He would have to bear the weight of the fall and his baggage once his boulder hit the floor, and he couldn''t disperse the momentum in that stance.


    Yet, panic couldn''t enter Khan''s mind. He remained utterly calm and ready for his next move. He couldn''t perform the Lightning-demon style perfectly with three people on him, but he could still save everyone''s life.


    Most of Lower Level 1 fell. The soundwave didn''t affect the entirety of the city, but the damage ended up spreading on its own. The destruction of many pirs and important structures stretched the range of the disaster, almost fusing two floors during its duration.


    Khan waited and waited. nging noises reached his ears, but he remained still. He needed the right opportunity, and that came when most of the rubble under him touched the intermediate floor.


    The prediction had turned out to be on point. The hole in the intermediate floor became visible during the fall, showing how most of the audience wouldnd on intact areas.


    Khan''s boulder was no different. His tilted tform was on a collision course with the rubble umted below, which proved how the intermediate floor had withstood the new weight.


    Getting that proof pushed Khan to make his next move. When only a few meters separated his boulder from the rubble, he retracted his bent leg to make it slide over the tilted surface.


    The two Nele on Khan inevitably panicked. Thending wasn''t only imminent. Khan had also given up on their sole hope. However, Jenna remained calm since she knew that Khan had a n.


    Khan let his feet slide on the tilted surface until the friction with the smooth metal reached the level he needed. He could stomp on the boulder at that point, and cracks appeared under him as he performed a short jump.


    "Fuck," Khan softly cursed while mid-air. He had plenty of experience with those situations, so he knew he had messed up. The weight of three people had turned out to be too much even after training on the third asteroid.


    Khan flew diagonally for a single second before gravity captured him. He fell, and the ground didn''t hesitate to greet him. A thudding noise weed hisnding, but the pain that followed made him ignore it.


    The rubble that hadnded on the intermediate floor was unstable, and Khan was in no condition to retain his bnce. His legs gave in as soon as a metal tile under him slid, making him fall on the sharp and bent mess together with the three Nele.


    Jenna''spanions had it easy. They merely had to push themselves away while Khan fell. Theirnding remained messy, but they could avoid violent meetings with eventual sharp boulders.


    Jenna was calmer than herpanions, so she realized the situation Khan was in. Still, remaining on him would only worsen hisnding, so she also decided to push herself away at thest second.


    Instead, Khan basically crashed. His body even dived a bit into the rubble due to the momentum umted during the fall.


    A buzzing noise resounded inside Khan''s mind. The abruptnding had shattered his coldness and dampened his thoughts. He had a hard time realizing where he was or recalling what had happened, but someone promptly lifted him out of the rubble.


    Khan was still confused, but a warm sensation suddenly spread from his cheeks and brought rity. His vision stabilized, and his sensitivity returned, allowing him to see Jenna''s focused face standing right before him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Jenna had released her mana and had voiced specific requests before sending it inside Khan. Her energy didn''t have healing properties, but it brought some strength to Khan''s flesh, which resulted in that new rity.


    Nevertheless, being able to sense what was happening allowed Khan to study his condition. A lot hurt, especially his legs, and the check-up technique revealed that he was far from good.


    The violentnding didn''t only damage his legs. His left shoulder felt odd, and the same went for his elbow. Also, his left side was a mess of small metal shards stabbed into his flesh, and one of them went pretty deep into his torso.


    Khan reached for the longest shard stabbed inside him, but Jenna grabbed his wrist before he could pull it out. She even shook her head, which said enough.


    Jenna wanted to go back to sending mana to Khan, but they both sensed the arrival of a bright presence at that point. The Nak''s hand had descended with them, and a series of lightning-like res shot out before they could turn.


    The assault was unexpected. The hand had depleted its energy tounch the soundwave, but Khan didn''t have the time to think about those matters. Jenna''s face filled his vision, and he could recognize her expression. He was wearing it too.


    Jenna didn''t have Khan''s battle experience, but she knew what could happen if a lightning bolt hit him. The environment didn''t have much synthetic mana, but she was willing to use herself as a shield if the situation required it.


    A lightning bolt ended up flying toward Khan and Jenna. The hand had actually targeted every survivor, and it would only take an instant for its attacks tond.


    Jenna let go of Khan''s face and prepared to jump ahead, but he moved before her. Khan threw himself at Jenna, and the lightning boltnded on his back, sting them away.

 Chapter ?419 Hybrid

    Chapter ?419 Hybrid


    Familiar images yed in Khan''s vision. He found himself among mes, screams, and thick smoke, which carried details he had long sincemitted to memory. His recurring nightmare had started.


    ''I must have fainted,'' Khan realized when he recalled what had happened during the disaster.


    Khan had activated the [Blood Shield] right before the impact, but the lightning bolt had probably been stronger than his technique. Also, he had suffered multiple injuries, so fainting didn''te as a surprise.


    An azure halo came out of the crater and pierced the smoke. The Nak climbed the deep hole and turned its mana into branches that ravaged the remains of its spaceship.


    Khan had seen that scene countless times, but his meeting with the hand made him realize that something was off. The Nak from his nightmare had smooth control over its mana, which didn''t involve violent outbursts, even when used to destroy its broken vehicle.


    ''I can''tpare a severed hand to aplete Nak, can I?'' Khan half-joked, even if the scene continued to im his attention.


    The lightning-like res and the Nak''s technique were too different to belong to the same species. Khan didn''t know everything about those aliens, so he could ept his ignorance, but the hunch in the back of his mind grew stronger anyway.


    ''Maybe Raymond has something to do with it,'' Khan wondered.


    That conclusion sounded reasonable. The hand wasn''t only a severed chunk of a Nak. The reconstruction through the reinforced fabric might have been thest alteration, but Raymond had probably experimented far more with it. It made sense for that body part to disy different abilities.


    Finding reasonable answers didn''t change Khan''s situation. He was stuck in the nightmare, and he had long since learnt that nothing could make him escape it. He would need an external source to help him, but his condition made that oue unlikely.


    Still, Khan soon realized to have underestimated hispanions. A dampened voice began to resound inside the nightmare, and it grew louder until it became a clear word.


    "[Khan]!" Jenna shouted before breaking into a smile when Khan opened his eyes.


    Khan coughed, and his breath grew ragged. Countless sensations assaulted his sensitivity and made it impossible for him to concentrate. He was starting to panic, but Jenna promptly reached for his cheeks and forced him to focus on her.


    A familiar warmth invaded Khan and brought peace to his panicked state. Sensations still flew toward his mind, but they felt slower while he kept his eyes on Jenna''s face. He could even notice a few details there. She had cried.


    The pain soon returned. Khan''s legs and his whole left side hurt, and his back joined the party. He was a mess, and his check-up technique only confirmed that conclusion. Still, he was alive, and the disaster wasn''t over.


    Noises and bursts of mana managed to reach Khan''s senses once he grew used to his pain. Powerful presences and explosions upied his surroundings, and he recognized some of them.


    Everything was still confusing, so Khan relied on his eyes. He saw the wreckage caused by the soundwave, and some injured people upied the corner of his vision. Yet, when he tried to lift his head, Jenna pushed it back down.


    "[You are done with this fight]," Jenna stated, and her tone expressed far more than concern. She was angry and scared.


    "[Let me see]," Khan whispered.


    "[No]!" Jenna sobbed. "[You won''t stop if you do]."


    "[Jenna, I''m not sorry for protecting you]," Khan smiled.


    Jenna lowered her head as her voice turned into a whisper. "[I thought I lost you]."


    "[I''m not going anywhere]," Khan reassured as he mustered the entirety of his strength to immerse his right hand in Jenna''s hair.


    "[Don''t move]," Jenna scolded. "[You are a mess]."


    "[Help me move then]," Khan replied. "[I need to do this]."


    Jenna sniffed before diverting her gaze. She couldn''t look at Khan when he was so straightforward. She would decide to help him get back into the battle otherwise.


    "[Hey]," Khan called while caressing Jenna''s hair. "[I can''t do this without you]."


    A tremor ran through Jenna. Her eyes went on Khan on their own, and a sense of defeat invaded her mind. She knew she couldn''t refuse him, but she still expressed her annoyance.


    "[You are so unfair]," Jennained.


    "[I guess we are both impossible]," Khan chuckled.


    "[I jump in front of you the next time]," Jenna warned before moving herself away and carefully lifting Khan''s head.


    The state of the disaster quickly became clear. Khan saw what remained of the audience hiding behind the small hills created by the debris. Some even helped the injured, but everyone always shot nces at an area near the central hole.


    Khan''s vision also fell prey to the scene. A rtivelyrge area near the huge central hole had turned into a battlefield that only featured powerful yers. The Nak''s hand was one of them, but Khan recognized a few others too.


    Caja, Raymond, a powerful Fuveall, and a small group of Ots had surrounded the Nak''s hand. Thetter sent lightning bolts every few seconds, but its opponents fended them away whileunching their own attacks.


    The scene was mesmerizing. Caja danced among the iing lightning bolts while touching them to change their trajectory. She also stole some of their mana during those interactions before sending it toward herpanions.


    The Ots ducked and threw themselves on the debris whenever attacks flew in their direction, but they always stood up to fire their weapons. The group only had a couple of third-level warriors and a few second-level warriors, but their gunsunched bullets that could match attacks from third-level mages.


    The Fuveall was a fourth-level warriorpletely covered in silver tes. His clothes had disappeared, so Khan could witness him facing the lightning bolts head-on. Those attacks were unable to pierce his protective metal and allowed him to umte mana that he spewed back in the form of a dark beam.


    Those yers were expressing the best qualities of their species, but Raymond managed to outshine all of them. He crushed every iing lightning bolt with his bare hands and even found the time tounch dark needles. Still, that wasn''t the reason behind his apparent superiority.


    Caja was holding her ground, but it was clear that she was struggling. The area didn''t have much mana, so she mostly focused on defending the members of her species.


    The Ots were simply too weak. They could dodge the lightning bolts and fire back, but their weapons couldn''t pierce the sizzling shield. Their efforts only showed their incredible teamwork.


    The Fuveall''s performance was spectacr, but he appeared as powerless as hispanions. His silver tes had also started to darken, showing how he was heading toward his limits.


    Instead, Raymond appeared perfectly calm, bored even. He moved elegantly among the barrage of attacks without breaking a sweat. He also kept his suit intact, which sounded impossible after everything that had happened.


    It almost seemed that Raymond was holding back, and Khan confirmed that when the incredible happened. The handunched lightning bolts non-stop, but Raymond still managed to shoot a nce in Khan''s direction. He even smiled after seeing that he had regained consciousness.


    Khan didn''t have the time to think about the event since another important detail imed his attention. The Nak''s hand wasn''t absorbing mana from the environment anymore, but its attacks never stopped, and the reason behind that oddity became clear once Khan managed to focus.


    ''It''s producing mana on its own,'' Khan thought.


    As impossible as it sounded, the Nak''s hand could generate its own mana now. Moreover, it could refill its reserves quickly enough to keep up with its relentless assault. The alien body part had grown, and everything witnessed before told Khan that the process wasn''t over.


    The Nak''s hand had started as a damaged body part, but it had now turned into a terrifying threat. It grew with each exchange, and it wasn''t hard to figure out what it wanted to be. Its ability to produce mana was only one of the pieces it needed to turn into a fully-fledged Nak.


    Khan could see that the offensive wasn''t going anywhere. The hand was probably buying time, and it wouldn''t take long before the situation became impossible to contain. He had to do something, but he couldn''t do it alone.


    Jenna was already looking at Khan when he nced back at her. She had no interest in the fight when he was in that condition, and she also knew what he had in mind.


    "[No]," Jenna uttered.


    "[I need to stand up]," Khan said.


    "[You can barely breathe]," Jenna pointed out.


    "[I only need a clear mind]," Khan exined.


    "[I won''t let you kill yourself]," Jenna stated. "[I don''t care how angry you get]."


    "[Lend me your strength then]," Khan responded. "[I know you can]."


    Jenna went silent. She wanted to lie, but that was impossible before Khan. Leaving him wasn''t an option either, so she stopped thinking and let her emotions take over.


    "[This should make up for something]," Jenna teased as she lowered her head again.


    "[Wait]," Khan called when Jenna''s mouth grew dangerously close to his.


    "[You can''t stop me today]," Jenna whispered before nting her lips on Khan''s.


    Khan wanted to escape the kiss, but he didn''t have the strength to reject Jenna. Moreover, a blissful sensation invaded his mouth before filling his mind and spreading through the rest of his body.


    Jenna and Khan had been on the verge of exploding many times, and their kiss made them experience all those emotions in that single instant. The two could almost hear each other''s thoughts and understand the mad love they could share.


    Khan was no stranger to those emotions. He had actually predicted them when thinking about a possible rtionship with Jenna. He knew she could fill Liiza''s spot quite well, but that was the issue.


    Jenna experienced the same emotions, so the kiss made her realize Khan''s mindset. The two had already talked about it many times, but feeling it added a new perspective to the matter, which inevitably brought some sadness.


    The kiss didn''t only make Khan and Jenna share the same mental and emotional space. That had actually been an unexpected reaction caused by the movement of Jenna''s mana. The two could experience each other''s feelings when that energy entered Khan.


    Khan would lie if he said that he hated that moment. The kiss and the emotions it brought were incredible and reminded him of the type of love he sought. Yet, Jenna couldn''t be the one giving it to him, and she understood that.


    Jenna revealed a sad smile when she lifted her head, and Khan wore a simr expression. They had almost experienced the entirety of their potential rtionship during those seconds, so they didn''t need words toment on it.


    "[I hope Monica can give you more than this]," Jenna whispered.


    "[If she ever forgives me for kissing you]," Khan joked.


    "[She will]," Jenna reassured. "[She would be crazy not to]."


    "[Hey]," Khan called. "[Our love would have been wonderful]."


    "[It was wonderful]," Jenna giggled. "[I wish we could have experienced it during sex]."


    "[Don''t get naughty already]," Khanughed.


    "[Though, I''m d]," Jenna said while caressing Khan''s hair. "[You became mine for a bit]."


    "[You need someone to be yours forever]," Khan pointed out.


    "[And you need someone who can surpass Liiza]," Jenna continued. "[Monica will hear from me if she doesn''t try]."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[Monica needs to hear from you to justify this kiss]," Khan stated.


    "[I''ll tell her that you couldn''t contain your emotions in the middle of the battle]," Jenna teased, "[And that she needs to take care of your urges if she hopes to stick around]."


    "[You are impossible]," Khan sighed.


    "[And you are unfair]," Jenna replied before both of them exploded into augh.


    A lightning bolt hit some rubble nearby, causing an explosion and forcing Khan and Jenna to snap out of their intimate moment. The two recalled where they were and realized what they had to do.


    Khan wasn''t fine, but Jenna''s mana was keeping his condition stable. That didn''t make him battle-ready, but it brought him out of his powerless state.


    Jenna put her hands under Khan''s shoulders before helping him stand. Getting back on his feet made his poor condition even clearer, but he couldn''t let that stop him.


    Khan felt off. His footing was unstable, and his left side didn''t move as well as he had hoped. His back also hurt, and his missing shirt told him that the lightning bolt had burnt far more than his skin.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s attention remained on the fight. The hand was growing stronger, while its opponents were in the opposite situation. Only Raymond continued to hold his ground, and another faint smile appeared on his face when he noticed Khan.


    Caja was doing her best to keep herpanions safe, but her stamina was about to run out. Holding back from using the mana in the environment tired her faster too, but her species was counting on her, and she couldn''t let it down.


    Still, the situation was taking a bad turn. Caja''s understanding of mana told her that the hand was growing stronger, and it wouldn''t take long before her superior techniques became unable to keep up with the lightning bolts. She would eventually have to rely on the mana in the environment, but that wouldn''t ensure victory either.


    Anyone would give in to desperation in that situation, but Caja was different. Jenna''s prediction brought somefort to her mind. Even if everyone on the fourth asteroid was to die, her species had stashed enough resources in that period. The Nele were bound to do better than ever.


    The presence of the Nak''s hand remained the only problem. Goods would be useless if the threat reached the other asteroids, so Caja was ready for the ultimate sacrifice. If everything failed, she would make sure that her opponent ended up in space.


    Caja waspletely immersed in those thoughts when an abrupt mass of mana appeared behind her. She turned in time to see a purple-red spear fly past her and explode on a few iing lightning bolts, which granted her some breathing room.


    The fact that a spell from a second-level mage could fend off the lightning bolts was surprising, but Caja found her answers when she noticed Jenna supporting Khan. The chaos element was obviously more effective against the hand.


    That answer didn''t clear Caja of her surprise. Actually, she couldn''t believe her eyes, and her disbelief only intensified when Khan joined his palms to summon another spell.


    Caja knew how much Khan had fought. He had spent the time on the staircases defending the Nele, but that wasn''t the end. His violent fall and the direct hit from the lightning bolt should have put him out ofbat for good, but there he was.


    Jenna''s presence could exin Khan''s resilience. Caja knew how powerful emotions could be. Still, Khan''s mana reserves were simply unreal. They actually resembled her opponent''s.


    The scene from theke appeared in Caja''s vision. She finally understood why she had felt strange when she saw Khan covered in the [Blood Vortex]''s marks. She had never treated Khan as a human, but his uniqueness went beyond mere mutations. His diverse arts had turned him into a proper hybrid.


    Caja continued to look at Khan while he summoned another chaos spear and threw it with his right arm. The spell flew past Caja and exploded again, creating a shield the lightning bolts couldn''t pierce.


    Khan wasn''t done. He quickly prepared another spell, and Caja couldn''t help but acknowledge his resolve at that point. She nced at one of herpanions before nodding in Khan''s direction and turning to face the hand again.


    The third chaos spear took shape between Khan''s palms, but a familiar presence approached him before he couldunch it. Maban stepped in front of him and hindered his path toward the hand.


    "[Don''t burn yourself]," Maban ordered. "[Come on. We need to get out of here]."


    "[We can''t leave Caja here]!" Jennained.


    "[That''s what Caja wants]," Maban revealed. "[Hurry. We don''t have much time]."


    Khan wanted toin, but the Nak''s hand acted before he could speak. The alien body part had remained stuck in that stalemate long enough to study its opponents, and its following offensive showed its countermeasures.


    Two lightning bolts flew toward Caja, and she swiftly side-stepped them before stretching her arms to alter their trajectory. However, the attacks exploded when she touched them, flinging her away.


    A dozen lightning bolts flew toward the Ots, who promptly dived behind their cover. Yet, the hand''s attacks split into multiple res that exploded everywhere, even hitting the aliens'' hideouts.


    A thick, azure beam flew toward the armored Fuveall. Thetter faced it head-on, and its metal tes managed to endure the attack for a few seconds, but they eventually cracked, and the azure mana overwhelmed him.


    Raymond simply faced a higher number of attacks and found no problem dodging them. Still, once the offensive ended, he remained alone near the hand. The alien body part had wiped out everyone else.


    "[Maban]," Khan called among the silence and disbelief that had fallen on the destroyed intermediate floor, "[I need a favor]."


    The Nak''s hand focused on Raymond, but he showed no fear. A barrage of lightning bolts flew in his direction, but he sprinted ahead to duck under them and deliver a punch to the alien body part.


    The hand didn''t like that, and a chaotic mass of res promptly left its skin, but Raymond swung his arm to cut a passage through that mana. He even jumped into it, and another punch fell on the alien body part.


    To everyone''s surprise, Raymond was dealing with the hand on his own. His precise movements, sharp attacks, and incredible reflexes allowed him to remain one step ahead of his opponent. He even retreated when explosions threatened to overwhelm him.


    The experienced warriors in the audience were even more surprised than their peers. Raymond wasn''t using any specific spell or technique during the fight. He was only dodging, punching, and throwing needles without ever suffering any injury.


    Raymond''s calm face only added awe to his incredible performance. His battle sense was spectacr, but that alone couldn''t make him win.


    Understanding what was going on in Raymond''s mind was impossible, but his calm expression eventually broke to reveal a frown. Something in the area imed his attention, but his eyes darted left and right, unable to find that.


    A smile broadened on Raymond''s face when he understood what was happening. He swiftly dodged the iing lightning bolts while making his way toward the hand, and he threw a violent punch once it reached it.


    The Nak''s hand had withstood the previous punches easily. None of them had pierced the sizzling barrier, but Raymond''stest attack flung it on the floor and made it crash among the rubble. Its shield even flickered, leaving a big chunk of its flesh unprotected.


    Raymond retreated at that point, and his smile only broadened when Khan materialized next to the hand. Synthetic mana even appeared in the environment before returning to the source of the spell. Maban had created one of his illusions to help Khan reach his opponent.


    Khan''s legs gave in. He had run to get there, but that had turned out to be too much in his state. Yet, he had reached the alien body part and didn''t hesitate to throw his hands at it when his knees hit the floor.


    The sizzling barrier tried to stretch toward Khan''s palms, but he released his mana before the impact could happen. His energy created a connection between him and that body part, and a series of foreign urges invaded his mind.


    Khan felt on the verge of losing control of his energy, but he retained enough mental rity to abandon himself to his emotions. He let go of everything while sending even more mana into the Nak''s hand.


    That process would typically give birth to the cloud spell, but it caused a new reaction with the hand. Those foreign urges suddenly found themselves at home and stopped belonging to two different beings.


    As for Khan, he struggled to keep track of what was happening. His vision eventually went dark, and familiar scenes appeared. The nightmare showed itself again.

 Chapter ?420 Hair

    Chapter ?420 Hair


    Khan could remain lucid during his nightmares, but his thoughts failed to enter the scenes triggered by his interaction with the Nak''s hand. Only his consciousness reached the memories of the Second Impact.


    The fire, the corpses, the smoke, the crumbling buildings, and the scorching crater didn''t fill Khan with the usual desperation. He was still watching everything from his perspective, but a sense of peace invaded his mind.


    That peace was odd, almost inhumane, and a coldness that didn''t allow the presence of other emotions soon joined that sensation. Understanding dawned upon Khan at that point, and he hated to be unable to feel disgusted.


    Khan couldn''t think, but his mind still worked, so he could connect the dots. He knew where that inhumane coldness came from. He shared the same mental space as the Nak''s hand, so he could experience its perspective.


    At first, Khan hated that emotional detachment from the scene. Yet, as the memories flowed, a positive side to the matter appeared. He had been on many battlefields but had never reached that level of inhumanity. He was still different from a Nak.


    Of course, those realizations happened on an almost subconscious level. Answers became clear without ever turning into thoughts. Khan could only watch, and interesting details eventually appeared.


    The Nak''s perspective added a newyer to the nightmare. Everything happened as Khan recalled, but the sensations that enveloped those scenes werepletely different.


    It turned out that the inhumane coldness had something more than mere detachment. A faint sense of duty filled the whole area. Khan felt nothing because his attack had a higher purpose.


    Khan wasn''t too surprised about that discovery. He had long since suspected that the Nak''s attack had been more than a mere invasion, but the nightmare didn''t go past those faint sensations.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The nightmare moved forward. The Nak came out of the crater and ravaged its spaceship, but Khan couldn''t focus on that scene. His attention had fallen on the alien''s eyes as soon as they became visible.


    The Nak''s eyes had always been the most vivid detail of the nightmare, and the new perspective added value to that feature. The intense anger, desperation, and fear carried by that gaze turned into bright lights that conveyed confused meanings, and Khan couldn''t help but fall prey to their glow.


    The target of the Nak''s anger was easy to spot. The spaceship had something to do with it, hinting that a malfunction had happened. Maybe the crash had been a mistake, or perhaps the vehicle had something to do with that solitary attack.


    The desperation was harder to exin, but Khan couldn''t miss it in his current state. The Nak was alone, stranded on an alien. Its species was nowhere to be seen, and it seemed to know that reinforcements wouldn''t arrive.


    As for the fear, Khan could only experience it without understanding its reasons. He felt terrified about something, but he couldn''t exin why, and that emotion left a deep mark in his mind.


    The sense of duty returned when the Nak noticed Khan and pointed its finger at him. Azure shades invaded the scene, and the mutations began. Still, the new perspective added something surprising to the event. Khan heard words while under the effect of the Nak''s mana.


    "Potential... Hosts," A deep, hoarse voice resounded among the nightmare.


    Khan''s mind went nk. He could ept that his connection with the Nak''s hand had automatically tranted those words into the humannguage, but their potential meaning left him speechless.


    Suddenly, countless hypotheses formed and branched out to transform into vague scenarios. Khan had collected various clues throughout his life. Many involved a deeper understanding of the mana, but his old questions and Raymond''s exnations could give birth to something unbelievable.


    Why did the Nak attack Earth? Why did the Nak assault variouss? Why did they apparently lose most of those wars? Why did they disappear afterward?


    Simr questions had afflicted Khan for a long time, but he had always left them in the back of his mind. He simply didn''t know enough toe up with reasonable ideas.


    However, a seemingly solid hypothesis came to life when Khan put everything together. He had already found something odd with the First Impact, but now he had a potential exnation. The Nak''s intentions probably involved their element.


    The chaos element was unique, and the Nak''s mana could easily infect beings without control over that energy. The mutations were violent and often deadly, but someone was bound to survive, and others would even pass those alterations to future generations.


    Raymond had exined the importance of those mutations, and they gained even more value due to the peculiar situation of the Nak. Those aliens were the embodiment of mana. They might have reasons that went beyond what ordinary minds couldprehend.


    Nevertheless, that conclusion generated more questions. The Nak might have attacked to spread mutations and chaos, but their purpose remained unclear.


    Khan couldn''t help but focus on the Nak''s eyes again. The fear they radiated was almost unreal. He couldn''t understand how such a powerful creature could be so afraid, but that gave birth to a new guess.


    Bret had stressed how humans could surpass the Nak, and that couldn''t apply only to one species. There had to be others with higher potential, and the mutations could be the key to unlocking it.


    ''The Nak can''t be so selfless,'' Khan cursed before realizing something else. ''Wait, I can think now.''


    The nightmare had almost turned entirely azure. The sr system was about to appear, and Khan''s memories would restart from the beginning afterward. He hoped to wake up before that, but he didn''t have a choice in the matter.


    Yet, when everything turned azure, the sr system remained hidden, and that blinding color slowly dimmed to reveal surprising scenes. Metal debris became clear, and Khan held his breath when he saw the Nak''s hand held tightly in his grasp.


    Khan noticed that the hand had gone dark before his body started to convulse, forcing him to crouch on the floor. Retches rose through his throat as his muscles and organs shook, and a scorching sensation invaded every inch of his flesh, leaving him powerless.


    For some reason, Khan found himself unable to calm down or let go of the Nak''s hand. Meanwhile, his body continued to burn and shake, and pain soon joined the process.


    Everything began to hurt, especially the ces where Khan had suffered injuries. His knees seemed on the verge of falling off, his left side wanted to abandon his body, and his back burnt like never before.


    The process left Khan unable to do anything. He couldn''t even think. The intense pain threatened to make him faint, but he remained perfectly awake. His mind was clearer than ever, but that only made him experience everything more vividly.


    Khan puked, spewing out a ck and smelly substance that fell on the rubble and tainted his face while he convulsed. Screams tried toe out of his mouth, but his throat didn''t listen to his urges. The process was excruciating, but it quickly lost intensity, eventually allowing him to regain control of his body.


    A deep breath weed Khan''s newfound control over his lungs. He could finally let go of the Nak''s hand, but his palm went on the rubble while he tried to calm down. He nted his knees on the floor in an attempt to stand up, but his eyes began to burn, forcing him to close them and crouch down once more.


    The Nak''s iconic azure color filled Khan''s vision when he opened his eyes, but those shades slowly dimmed as the scorching sensation waned. A piercing pain located on his skull followed, and the reason behind it became clear when he managed to see again.


    Azure strands fell from Khan''s head and stretched until they reached the floor. Hair that radiated the Nak''s color grew until it replicated what Khan had witnessed in his nightmare. The mutations were taking over, but they didn''t feature the irregr patterns seen on Nitis.


    Khan''s condition continued to improve until everything stopped. The pain vanished, leaving him numb and confused. Something had changed, and a surprising scene unfolded when his senses returned.


    The injuries had healed. Khan felt that his left side and legs were brimming with strength now. Even the rubble that had stabbed his torso had vanished.


    The same went for Khan''s back. He didn''t feel any difort anymore. Actually, everything seemed to have grown stronger, but he couldn''t appreciate those changes since a troublesome detail kept filling his vision.


    Khan had been too confused to realize that before, but he couldn''t ignore the issue once rity returned. His hair had turned azure and had grown exponentially. It probably reached his waist, but that wasn''t the main problem.


    A series of worrisome thoughts invaded Khan''s mind. He feared that he was turning into a Nak even if everything told him that the process had ended, and his desperation gave birth to panic.


    Khan grabbed a strand of his new hair and ripped it off. Pain spread, but he didn''t care and reached for another to repeat his violent gesture.


    Still, a hand reached Khan''s wrist before he could rip off another strand. He lifted his gaze, and seeing Jenna''s warm face made him express his mental state.


    "[I can''t turn into a Nak]," Khan voiced as he put strength into the arm held by Jenna. "[I won''t allow it]."


    "[You are stable now]," Jenna reassured, but Khan couldn''t ept her words.


    Khan still didn''t know how he felt about Bret, but he was sure he had suppressed some mutations. Yet, everything had gone to waste now, and Khan''s instinctive reaction was to rip away the evidence.


    Jenna put more strength into her grip, but Khan turned out to be too strong for her. He pulled her down while he reached for another strand of hair, but her fall on him interrupted the process.


    Khan didn''t lose his bnce. He nned to rip off his hair even with Jenna on him, but she wrapped him into a tight hug, and the warmth she radiated forced him to snap out of that panicked state.


    Khan ended up with a strand of hair in his right hand. He wanted to burn it to erase any trace of that color, but helplessness eventually took over him. He couldn''t solve that problem through brute force.


    However, there was someone to me, and Khan''s raging emotions soon made him turn toward him. Raymond was rtively close, and his curious smile added fuel to Khan''s anger.


    Khan hurriedly stood up to march toward Raymond. Jenna knew that stopping him was impossible, so she followed along and prepared for an imminent battle.


    "What have you done?!" Khan shouted once he reached Raymond.


    "Me?" Raymond feigned innocence, and his smile also vanished. "I fought the hand. Didn''t you see that?"


    Khan was in no mood for games, but he couldn''t just jump on Raymond. The difference in power was too big, but holding back his anger turned out to be impossible.


    "Stop ying around," Khan muttered. "Did you know that this would happen?"


    "No," Raymond casually admitted. "I remember you not caring either."


    "Enough!" Khan snapped. "What do you know about this?"


    "They are mutations, obviously," Raymond continued with his pretense. "They seem stable."


    "What were you even trying to achieve?" Khan asked as he took a step forward, almost bumping into Raymond.


    "Lieutenant Khan," Raymond said while his voice gained a chilling tone. "Remember where you are and who you are talking to."


    Khan wanted to retort, but his senses warned him about the potential danger he was in. Raymond appeared ready to kill him, and even Jenna trembled before that potential threat.


    The situation wasn''t ideal. The battle had scattered the audience, but everyone was still on the intermediate floor, and Khan had be the center of their attention. Anyone could listen to his conversation with Raymond.


    Khan couldn''t care less about exposing Raymond, but he wasn''t alone. Jenna was with him, and the same went for the rest of the Nele. He also had to look for Monica, and he didn''t know how far Raymond would go to keep the experiment a secret.


    A snort eventually left Khan''s mouth before he turned to reach the Nak''s hand. Jenna continued to hold his wrist during the walk, and she said nothing when Khan stomped his feet on the alien body part.


    The Nak''s hand appeared virtually dead, and no mana flowed in its insides, but its flesh was still exceptional. Yet, Khan''s stomp dug a gory hole in its structure, and he repeated the process until only a bloody pulp remained.

 Chapter ?421 Changes

    Chapter ?421 Changes


    Khan stomped his foot on the bloody puddle a few times before taking a step back and fixing his eyes on that gory scene. The disaster had finally ended, but he couldn''t find the strength to celebrate.


    As for Jenna, she continued to hold Khan''s wrist to show her support. She knew how important the moment was for him, so she remained silent while he stared at the puddle, but her worries eventually took over.


    Jenna hesitated for a few seconds before reaching for Khan''s chest. She ced her hand at its center to feel his beating heart and closed her eyes to study the flow of mana inside his body.


    Anyone could guess that Khan had changed. His long, azure hair was too shy to ignore, but a lot had happened inside him too, and Jenna was set on finding out what.


    "[I know]," Khan announced while Jenna''s expression flickered. "[Not now]."


    Jenna opened her eyes to study Khan''s serious face. She wanted to say many things, but Khan had been clear. Moreover, he didn''t need her to be aware of the issue.


    Khan tried to ignore the matter, but his senses prevented that. Even looking at the bloody puddle revealed some of the changes that happened after his interaction with the Nak''s hand. He wasn''t ready to face them now, but they didn''t care about him.


    The world appeared brighter in Khan''s vision. The dome''s light reached the intermediate floor since most of the city had crumbled, but that wasn''t enough to exin what Khan was seeing.


    The faint reflections on the rubble resembled proper artificialmps, and the same went for the various illuminated areas. Even the puddle of blue blood somehow shone in ways Khan couldn''t exin.


    The brightness of the area wasn''t the only odd feature. Khan also noticed new details and colors. He could see more, even when it came to the rubble, and faint shades covered all of that.


    The area was slowly regaining synthetic mana, so the symphony returned, and Khan could see it without closing his eyes. The same went for his surroundings. He could sense the various colors in the back of his mind. He only needed to focus on them to learn more details.


    Khan quickly realized that his sensitivity to mana didn''t only improve. It had gone through a proper evolution, bing something closer to his vision or hearing. He hadpletely added it to his senses, and he couldn''t silence it even if he wanted to.


    That constant awareness of the symphony of mana could be overwhelming, but Khan strangely found itpletely normal. It was a core part of his being, or, at least, the new being he had be.


    The new sensitivity made Khan unable to ignore the changes in his body. His breath felt smoother, his muscles brimmed with strength, and a strange vitality filled his whole being. Moreover, his mana was restless, as if it couldn''t wait to be unleashed.


    Reasonable people would visit a doctor or lock themselves inside a training hall until they made sure that everything was okay. Khan had also already seen how dangerous sudden improvements could be. Yet, he couldn''t bear to face those changes now.


    Khan eventually forced himself to stop looking at the puddle and inspect the area. Many gazes were on him, but a big part of the audience had resumed helping the injured. The disaster was over, but the salvaging operation had begun, and no one knew how long it would take for Milia 222 to recover.


    The disaster didn''t only involve buildings and lives. The fourth asteroid was the true center of Milia 222 due to its dock, but everything was gone now. It would probably take months to restore the various illegal delivery channels, and Khan didn''t know how things would evolve because of that.


    One exception existed inside that mess. The Nele had stashed many resources after Jenna''s prediction. They could probably assert some financial dominance in the following period, and Khan rejoiced when he understood that.


    Of course, no happiness appeared on Khan''s face. His expression remained stern and distant. He could only muster a nod toward Jenna to reassure her before keeping his mind busy with different tasks.


    The area was a mess, but Khan understood his general location when he inspected his surroundings. The streets past the hole in the ceiling gave vague directions that Khan could apply to the disaster. He knew where Monica had gone, so he could guess where she had fallen.


    Khan began to march through the debris, with Jenna still holding his wrist. Gazes followed him, with Raymond''s being the most intense of them. Many were interested in Khan''s next move, and that attention slowly wore him off.


    The long strands of azure hair didn''t help. They kept falling in front of Khan''s eyes, and moving them away didn''t solve the problem. Khan''s patience eventually ran out, so he let go of Jenna and drew his knife to cut that nuisance.


    Jenna could only watch as Khan made a mess out of his hair. He didn''t follow any pattern or style. He simply cut anything that could cover his vision.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan nced at the azure strands among the rubble after sheathing his knife. He pointed his palm at them before closing his hand into a fist and voicing a suppressed snort. He wanted to destroy any trace of his hair, but he had already left some behind. Besides, Khan preferred not to use his mana before making sure that everything was okay.


    Caja came out of the debris in the meantime, and she didn''t take long to find Khan and Jenna. Surprise inevitably appeared on her expression at the sight of the azure hair, but Jenna shook her head, and that was enough to leave the two on their own.


    Jenna tried her best not to reveal her concern, but Khan could sense it far too clearly. He didn''t even need to look at her to feel the emotions that enveloped her. He was aware of everything, but he pretended not to notice it.


    Faint traces of familiar mana entered the range of Khan''s senses once he resumed his march. The area only had a thinyer of synthetic mana, but that was enough to give him precise directions that he didn''t hesitate to follow.


    Those sensations grew stronger until a peculiar scene unfolded in the distance. Khan hurried when he noticed Monica lying on a small pile of rubble. She was awake, but her left hand was on a dark-red spot on the right side of her waist.


    As Khan got closer, he saw a metal spike stabbed at the center of the dark-red spot, which made him hurry even more. Monica wasn''t in critical condition, but seeing her in that state made a mess out of Khan''s emotions.


    Khan reached Monica in no time and promptly fell to his knees to check her condition. Her mana flowed decently, and the blood loss had stopped, but she still needed to see a doctor.


    "What happened to your hair?" Monica weakly muttered as she began to stretch her free arm toward Khan before retracting it.


    Khan felt guilty seeing that gesture. Monica was keeping up with the pretenses even in that state, but he was past caring about them.


    "Hey," Khan warmly called while seizing Monica''s free hand and holding it tightly. "Don''t worry about me while you are like this. Why aren''t you meditating?"


    "I wanted to see if you were okay first," Monica smiled.


    The guilt inside Khan grew stronger. He needed to talk to Monica, but that wasn''t the right time. Moreover, he had to deal with the other familiar presence standing only a few meters from them.


    "I''m fine," Khan reassured while caressing Monica''s curls. "Rest now. I''lle back in a second."


    "Don''t leave me with her," Monicained.


    "She''ll take good care of you," Khan promised before turning toward herpanion, "Right, Jenna?"


    "Leave her to me," Jenna announced while crouching at Monica''s side. Luckily for her, the disaster didn''t remove her spray, so she could assist Monica without triggering any unwanted reaction.


    Khan softly pinched Monica''s cheek before beginning to stand up. Yet, she squeezed his hand and pulled it to make him get closer to her again.


    "He helped," Monica revealed when Khan put his ear near her mouth. "I might have died if he didn''t."


    Khan retracted his head to show a confused face, and Monica nodded to double down on her statement. The matter was surprising, but Khan ended up thinking about different topics. That long look at Monica reaffirmed his choice. He wanted to be with her.


    "[Go]," Jenna eximed before Khan could decide to discuss that troublesome matter now. "[I''ll stay with her]."


    Khan suppressed the desire to kiss Monica and stood up. He shot onest nce at her before turning toward the second familiar presence. Rodney was sitting among a pile of debris, and his ragged breath hinted at his exhaustion.


    The new sensitivity made Khan aware of Rodney''s state. He barely had any mana left inside him, and blood had covered the tattoos on his mouth. He appeared on the verge of fainting, but his resolve kept him awake.


    Khan walked toward Rodney while studying his options. Many eyes were still on him, but no one would stand in his way. If Khan wanted to, he could kill Rodney and solve that problem once and for all, but he had helped Monica for some reason.


    "I know what you are thinking," Rodneyughed as he tried to stabilize his breath. "I can read it in your eyes. So, why don''t we get it done already?"


    "Why did you help Miss Solodrey?" Khan asked while stopping right before Rodney.


    "Miss Solodrey," Rodney scoffed while mustering his remaining strength to stand up and face Khan. "Why don''t you drop the act?"


    "I won''t let you involve her in your politics," Khan wondered.


    "Always so emotional," Rodney snickered. "How stupid do you think I am?"


    "I''m not the one exhausted in the middle of rubbles," Khan pointed out.


    "Exactly," Rodney eximed. "I would have never left myself so exposed with you around."


    Khan knew that Rodney was telling the truth, but the issue remained, and he promptly voiced it. "Why then? What''s your grand n?"


    "There is no n," Rodney revealed. "I simply happened to be in the area when everything started to fall."


    The honest statement left Khan confused. He would expect that behavior from an ally, but Rodney had no reason to help him or Monica.


    "Oh, don''t look so surprised," Rodney cursed. "I only wanted to make us even. We can go back to hating each other now."


    "We aren''t even," Khan dered.


    "Right," Rodney voiced while reaching for something under his loose hoodie. The gesture alerted Khan since he knew about the gun, but Rodney promptly reassured him. "Easy soldier. We both know that there is no point in doing that."


    Khan let Rodney continue until he pulled out a familiar device from under the hoodie. Rodney really had the letter with him, but showing it only worsened his situation.


    "You were talking about this, right?" Rodney asked before holding the letter with both hands and mming it on his rising knee. The attack split the device in half, and Rodney even threw it on the floor afterward.


    "I don''t have anything on you now," Rodney announced. "Go ahead. Do as you wish."


    "What are you even doing?" Khan questioned.


    "I''ve watched you during the fall," Rodney revealed. "I was hopeless, while you were as confident as ever. I hated it."


    "We both know how poorly you handle crises," Khan mocked.


    "I won''t deny it," Rodney shrugged his shoulders. "Still, you showed me that I wasn''t so hopeless. I learnt something from you for the second time."


    "Get to the point," Khan pressed.


    "You are an idiot who can''t appreciate his species," Rodney eximed. "I won''t even talk about your background. You had every right to fail and die, but here you are, and here I am."


    Rodney lowered his gaze and fell silent. A lot happened in his mind, and Khan gave him the time to sort it out. He wanted to know where that conversation would go.


    "I med you for my failures," Rodney admitted, "And I nned to use you to regain my status. I''m not so weak. I''ll get to the peak of the Global Army through my own strength and make you regret turning your back on humanity."


    "Bold words from someone who should be begging for his life," Khan threatened.


    "I don''t do begging," Rodney chuckled.


    "The peak of the Global Army," Khan repeated. "You don''t even know how to get out of here with your life."


    "That''s not so different from where you started," Rodney uttered.


    Khan knew that Rodney had changed. He had seen that after the crash, and looking at his eyes now only confirmed that sensation. A burning resolve had been born inside Rodney, and Khan was the reason behind it.


    In theory, Rodney had grown more dangerous. Killing him remained the best option. Khan would prevent potential future problems if he ended things now.


    However, Khan''s sensitivity showed nothing but death. The Nak''s hand and the disaster had already killed so many people. He was tired of that scene, and he didn''t want to be the one taking another life.


    Memories appeared in Khan''s vision. His grudge against Rodney was quite deep, but only due to circumstances. Sure, Rodney had tried to kill him twice, but he could justify the first time with panic, and the second had actually been a smart move.


    Moreover, Khan ended up improving after the disaster. The audience had paid the price for his growth. Sparing a life wouldn''t only be a human act of forgiveness. It would also appease his guilty conscience since part of him felt to deserve problems.


    "Go before I change my mind," Khan eventually sighed.


    "I knew it," Rodney sneered. "Some honest words, and you get all teary."


    "Don''t push your luck," Khan threatened.


    "Please," Rodney smirked. "You have already made your decision, and letting me leave won''t change anything between us."


    "You really don''t know when to shut up," Khan cursed.


    "I was just gloating," Rodney exined. "I finally get a victory out of you."


    "You are still stranded here," Khan pointed out.


    "Watch me outrank you in a few years," Rodney imed.


    "As if I cared about that," Khan replied before voicing a potential issue. "Wait, how do I know the letter wasn''t a copy?"


    "You''ll have to trust me on that," Rodney joked as he turned to leave. "Goodbye, alien lover."


    Khan watched Rodney leave and disappear behind a tall pile of rubble. Thetter sat down as soon as he found a hiding spot, but Khan pretended not to sense that. The recent conversation had drained Rodneypletely, but that only added value to his words.


    The two halves of the letter imed Khan''s attention afterward. He studied them for a bit before stomping his foot a few times to turn everything into unreadable shards. That matter was finally over, but Khan continued to feel guilty.


    "You did what?!" Monica suddenly shouted, forcing Khan out of his thoughts. He wanted to turn in her direction, but another familiar presence entered his senses'' range and approached him.


    That wasn''t the end of it. A dozen masses of mana flew through the hole and filled the destroyed intermediate floor with whooshing noises. Khan only had to nce at the ceiling to see multiple spaceships descending into the area, and the smiling figure walking toward him seemed to be the reason behind their arrival.


    "I called for help," Raymond announced when he reached Khan. "Luckily, my name can get many things done. They''ll set up a medical bay here while the rest of the asteroid undergoes reparations."


    "You even want toe out as the savior," Khanmented.


    "Not at all," Raymond eximed. "Everyone knows you solved the crisis."


    "Your crisis," Khan whispered.


    "Who''s going to believe you?" Raymond chuckled. "Anyway, a piece of the reinforced fabric will magically appear during the reparations, so Luke''s mission will end in sess. I advise you to stay put and let things calm down. It''s better for everyone."


    "Better for you," Khan replied.


    "Lieutenant Khan," Raymond called, "I must say, the new look suits you. I''d only go for a different hairstyle."


    Anger filled Khan, but a loud groan from Monica attracted his attention and prevented any reckless action. The spaceshipsnded in the meantime, and doctors left them to start assisting the injured.


    "I told Luke to stay on the first floor," Raymond revealed while ncing at Monica. "You''ll have some privacy."


    "Do you expect me to thank you?" Khan asked.


    "You have no idea what I expect from you," Raymond chuckled before turning to leave without adding anything else. Khan wanted to say something, but he limited himself to looking at his back.


    Eventually, Khan put the matter in the back of his mind and approached Monica, but she weed him with harsh words. "I was even worried about you."


    "Monica, please," Khan almost begged.


    "I need to be alone for a bit," Monica coldly responded. "Jenna will tell you when I''m ready to talk."


    "Jenna?" Khan asked while ncing at Jenna crouched next to Monica.


    "[I''ll stay with her]," Jenna reassured. "[You deal with your condition]."


    That odd pair left Khan speechless, but far worse had happened that day, and he wasn''t in the mood to argue. He nodded as he turned to leave and ignored the concerned gazes that the two women fixed on his back.


    Doctors ran left and right while Khan roamed through the debris. He knew what he had to do but couldn''t find the strength to face it. He was afraid of what he would find, but he couldn''t dy it any further, especially with Jenna and Monica worried about him.


    Khan walked until he found an isted spot that hid him from the audience. He sat down while a helpless sigh left his mouth. He had too much to think about, but the universe didn''t let him focus on that just yet.


    Someone approached Khan''s isted location, and he didn''t show any surprise when Caja peeked past the debris. Her face expressed motherly concern, and her words carried simr feelings.


    "[Do you mind if I sit]?" Caja asked before reaching for a spot next to Khan when he shook his head.


    "[What you did was quite brave]," Caja eximed as she ced a hand on Khan''s chest. "[My species owes you a lot]."


    "[What if I told you I caused all of this]?" Khan wondered while his eyes remained on the rubble under him.


    "[Young man, you don''t have the power to cause such a mess]," Caja reassured.


    "[I did something alright]," Khan responded. "[And now people are dead, and my hair is blue]."


    "[The color does suit you]," Cajamented while retracting her arm.


    "[Because I''m a Nak]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Would it be so bad]?" Caja asked.


    "[Yes]," Khan stated. "[Yes, it would]."


    "[You almost gave your life trying to protect everyone]," Caja dered. "[No matter what you are, you should be proud of yourself]."


    "[I''m just happy Jenna is fine]," Khan sighed. "[I''m always the same. If there''s death, I improve]."


    "[Is that a problem]?" Caja questioned.


    "[No]," Khan admitted. "[I simply hate it came from a Nak]."


    "[Khan, we often can''t choose how to obtain power]," Caja exined, "[But we can decide how to use it]."


    "[I know]," Khan replied. "[It''s just-]."


    "[You aren''t a Nak]," Caja interrupted. "[You aren''t a human either. You are just you]."


    Khan couldn''t say anything when he looked at Caja''s earnest expression. He eventually mustered a nod, and Caja replied with a smile.


    "[I came to check on you]," Caja revealed as she stood up. "[You are stable, but you should face your monsters before returning to Jenna. She''ll worry otherwise]."


    "[I will]," Khan promised.


    "[Also, make sure to get somewhere in the Global Army]," Caja added. "[The Nele need a strong ally]."


    Some warmth spread inside Khan. He knew Caja was doing her best to reassure him, and she seeded. That official eptance from a Nele''s leader meant a lot to him, especially in his state.


    When Caja left the hidden spot, Khan pped his cheeks a few times before taking a deep breath. He could still feel the sensations inherited from the nightmare, but he put them aside for now. He needed to check his condition first.

 Chapter ?422 Tests

    Chapter ?422 Tests


    Understanding the attunement percentage during the meditative state was almost impossible, but that type of training still gave an overview of the body''s condition. Khan knew his muscles, so he could immediately confirm that they had changed.


    Khan couldn''t believe his eyes. The amount of mana radiated by his flesh was off the charts. It would have taken him months of training to reach that level, but interacting with the Nak''s hand had cut the process short.


    The amount of mana in the flesh wasn''t even the most significant change. Khan didn''t recognize his insides. His muscles had grown denser, tougher, and firmer, and that transformation didn''te from the new energy fused inside them.


    ''What happened to me?'' Khan wondered.


    Khan exited the meditative state and opened his eyes to check his body. He pinched his hands, pressed on his abdomen, and pulled his skin in the hope of finding striking differences. As a matter of fact, he noticed the results of the transformation, but everything felt normal.


    The situation was beyond odd. Khan would have expected something harsher than his breakthrough to the first level with that transformation, but nothing simr had happened. He felt better than ever andpletelyfortable with his new state.


    Khan''s inspection didn''t end there. He snapped his fingers near his ears, studied metal spikes grabbed from the floor, and tried to bend them to check his strength.


    It soon became clear that his body had gone through a qualitative change. Khan was stronger, his senses had sharpened, and his sensitivity had joined all of that to give birth to something more powerful.


    ''This isn''t the body of a human,'' Khan eventually concluded.


    The news wasn''t necessarily bad. Humans had ws and weaknesses. They had to rely on their flexibility and potential to match other species, so Khan''s growth would typically be a happy surprise.


    However, Khan''s issue with his current state didn''t involve his abrupt growth. He could even ept the many casualties of the disaster. He simply hated how it took a Nak to trigger that transformation.


    ''Fucking Raymond,'' Khan cursed before closing his eyes again.


    Khan wasn''t delusional. He knew he had only been a pawn in a bigger game. He could have never predicted the Nak''s hand to react in that way, but the issue remained. His mutations had returned, and he had left humanity farther behind.


    ''[We often can''t choose how to obtain power],'' Khan repeated Caja''s words in his mind as he dived back into his meditative state.


    The first attempt at moving mana went well. Actually, it went better than ever. Khan felt inplete control of that energy, even if it radiated a familiar wildness.


    Khan opened his eyes and summoned the wave spell. He mustered enough mana for its first-level version but ended up with something stronger. The attack didn''t reach the second level but came very close. Repeating the process led to the same results, so Khan dived back into the meditative state to search for exnations.


    Khan had made sure to use the usual amount of mana when summoning the wave spell, so its stronger effects could only have two exnations. Either his energy had intensified, or his new body had something to do with the event.


    A few more tests followed. Khan summoned the wave spell multiple times and even checked his other arts. Everything worked perfectly and was stronger than before.


    ''My feelings already stretched past the human spectrum,'' Khan eventually understood. ''Now my body does too.''


    Khan''s body had be a more suitable channel for his emotions, so his spells had improved. Still, that didn''t exclude his mana from the equation. The new intensity of his energy yed an important role, and Khan was unable to ignore it.


    The feelings inherited from the nightmare had left a deep mark. The anger and desperation were easy to handle, but the fear was different. It was a constant worry that Khan couldn''t exin or identify. It simply existed in the back of his mind and added fuel to his paranoia.


    Khan was no scientist, but he could still find reasonable exnations, especially since the trigger for the transformation was clear. He had evolved ording to his mutations. He had distanced himself from humanity to grow closer to a Nak.


    A conflict that had bothered Khan since his first days in co''s training camp returned stronger than ever. His simrities with the Nak were something he couldn''t escape, especially now. They were part of him, and a lot of his strength came from them.


    Khan left the meditative state for thest time and lifted his right hand. Purple-red mana came out of his palm and created a smoke-like trail that stretched upward before dispersing in the air. The new brightness of his energy shone in his eyes, but he retained a stern stance toward it as if he wanted to threaten it.


    "You might be simr to the Nak," Khan announced while keeping his eyes on the trail of mana, "But you are nothing like them. You are mine. No, you are me."


    The mana remained silent, but Khan didn''t expect any reaction. That statement was for himself. He couldn''t reject what he was. He could only live with it while he pursued his goals. As for what he would be on that path, he had long since decided not to care about it.


    Before Milia 222, Khan would have never managed to find peace so quickly, especially with something involving the Nak. He had matured emotionally, and he owed that to Jenna. Still, she couldn''t be at the center of his thoughts now.


    Solving the internal conflict put Khan in front of his current problems. The inherited fear wasn''t something he could fix, so he ignored it for now, but many issues remained.


    Raymond was still around. Khan didn''t know his n, but he could guess it had seeded, and he didn''t dare to imagine what to expect next.


    Khan had let Rodney go, but thetter was too canny and resourceful to ignore. Khan needed to check on him to avoid getting caught by surprise by eventual ploys.


    The whole fourth asteroid was a mess, and Khan wanted to help with the reconstruction and rescue operation. He felt guilty for multiple reasons, but his desire to give a hand went past that. It was the right thing to do for someone who knew the pain of the battlefield.


    A meeting with Luke and the others was mandatory. Khan had to provide an update and see where things would lead. In theory, the mission was over, but Luke might still require Khan''s services for the time being.


    Khan even wanted to speak with Milia 222''s various species. Many had witnessed his transformation, and only meetings could reveal what those aliens thought about it. Also, it was the duty of a real ambassador to take care of his politicalwork.


    Last but not least, Khan needed to talk with Monica. The fact that Jenna had gone with her reassured him, but he still wanted to handle the issue face-to-face. He also couldn''t wait for that matter to end since he craved some rxing intimacy with her.


    ''One step at a time,'' Khan reminded himself. He knew who his priority was. He only hoped she was ready to meet him.


    Khan stood up, and an annoying sensation hit his back. His hair was still too long there, so he drew his knife to cut it, but seeing his weapon after calming down made him notice the charred spots on its surface.


    ''Great,'' Khan cursed as he inspected the knife. The weapon was still intact, but he couldn''t ignore the damage inflicted by the sizzling shield. Recing it was the intelligent choice since money wasn''t a problem.


    Khan sighed before cutting the remaining long strands and sheathing his knife. Part of him didn''t want to leave the calm of his hiding spot since many new tasks were waiting for him, but a stronger urge guided his steps and made him jump in the open.


    Many gazes fell on Khan, but the new scenery imed his attention and eased his return to the world. Multiple spaceships hadnded, and various teams were handling the construction of simple tents for the medical bay.


    New ships were also descending through the vast hole to bring provisions and other useful items, and Khan lost himself in the melody of their engines. He only needed to look at them to hear the symphony, and, for the first time, he allowed himself to appreciate the effects of his transformation.


    Ordinary humans couldn''t even imagine what Khan was seeing. The various engines resembled small stars that sent faint res in multiple directions. Meanwhile, an even fainter sea enveloped the whole scene and immersed it in ayer that highlighted every detail.


    That was Khan''s new normality, and he felt born for it. The mutations had probably always wanted to push him into that realm, but Khan knew that he could appreciate it thanks to events unrted to the Nak. Sure, part of that came from those aliens, but its entirety was only his to im.


    ''Right,'' Khan thought as he recalled a specific event, ''I did my first real flight.''


    Khan shook his head to avoid smiling at that memory, but his mood improved anyway. Flying had been terrific, and the event had also confirmed an important detail. His training with Luke''s program had worked. It wasn''t official, but he was a pilot.


    The construction of the medical bay proceeded quickly, and Khan strolled among it to go back to where he had left Monica and Jenna. The return of synthetic mana in the area even made it easier for him to spot their familiar presence, so he kept walking until he arrived at a makeshift tent.


    The tent was nothing more than grey fabric connected to four metal pirs that created a rectangr structure. It had no ceiling, but it provided some privacy, which was enough for a medical bay built among the debris.


    Khan had seen many familiar faces during his stroll, but he had ignored them to focus on his priorities. Sadly, reaching the tent didn''t bring him face-to-face to his destination. Jenna was still inside, which meant that he had to wait outside.


    The area didn''tck short hills, and Khan chose one nearby as his waiting spot. Sitting in that rtively exposed ce only made more eyes fall on him, but he didn''t care. His stay on Milia 222 had made him used to that treatment anyway.


    Khan had not been away for long. His tests hadsted less than half an hour, and the stroll had barely upied a few minutes, so he expected Jenna and Monica to take their time inside the tent. However, the human doctor soon left the structure, and Jenna was with her.


    Jenna and the doctor talked briefly before splitting to go in different directions. Jenna moved toward Khan at that point, and she showed a bright smile when she noticed that his mood had improved.


    "[How is Monica]?" Khan asked before Jenna could start teasing him.


    "[She is stable]," Jenna announced as she climbed the short hill of debris to reach Khan. "[The doctor removed the shard and patched her up. She is asleep now, but she is in no danger whatsoever]."


    "[That''s good]," Khan sighed. "[Letting her rest is for the best]."


    "[She didn''t want to]," Jenna giggled as she sat next to Khan and hugged his arm, "[The doctor had to give her something to make her stay put]."


    "[Injuries can''t quell her temper]," Khan chuckled as he epted Jenna''s head on his shoulder. Her warmth feltforting among that mess.


    "[It''s a pity]," Jennained.


    "[What]?" Khan wondered.


    "[You aren''t all guilt-ridden]," Jenna pouted. "[I hoped tofort you with more than a kiss]."


    "[That would only make things worse]," Khan shook his head.


    "[Why don''t we test that out]?" Jenna asked, turning her head to show her shameless smile.


    Khan could onlyugh again, but some seriousness eventually arrived. He lifted his free arm to reach Jenna''s face, and warm words left his mouth. "[Thank you for before]."


    Jenna lost herself in Khan''s serious face. Her feelings had worsened after the kiss, but something made her hold back now.


    "[Don''t think that a single kiss can make up for what you did]," Jenna scoffed. "[Though I''ll forgive you if you take me properly]."


    Khan snickered beforeying his head on Jenna''s. The gesture surprised her, but she weed it happily. The sexual tension between them would probably never go away, but their feelings went far beyond that, and they knew they could rely on each other.


    "[Hey, Khan]," Jenna called after the two spent a few seconds resting on each other.


    "[No]," Khan promptly replied.


    "[I wasn''t talking about that]," Jenna continued.


    "[What is it]?" Khan asked.


    "[I told Monica what happened]," Jenna revealed.


    "[I figured as much]," Khan admitted. After all, he had heard Monica''s shout while he was talking with Raymond.


    Fear followed Khan''s words and made him turn toward its source. Jenna seemed terrified about something, and he could only caress her hair as he waited for her to exin what had happened.


    "[I told her everything]," Jenna eventually exined. "[I told her about our moment and your changes]."


    "[Jenna]," Khan called.


    "[I''m scared, Khan]," Jenna cried. "[You won''t be mine anymore once I let you go]."


    Khan understood Jenna''s feelings perfectly. She wasn''t only talking about Monica. The mission was basically over. The time for goodbyes had almost arrived, which would inevitably lead to their separation.


    "[You are truly impossible]," Khan sighed, reaching for Jenna''s shoulder to pull her on him.


    Caressing Jenna''s back never felt sadder. She shook whenever Khan touched her, but her reaction didn''t hide anything naughty. Her mind had reached an extreme emotional state, and her body could only suffer under it.


    "[Part of me will always be yours]," Khan announced among his cuddles. "[You know my heart, and I know yours. Mere distance can''t break our bond]."


    A sob resounded while Jenna snuggled in Khan''s neck and wrapped her arms around it. She wasn''t ready to say goodbye, and Khan probably wasn''t either, but he had to say those words now.


    "[You convinced me to pursue my own happiness]," Khan continued. "[No matter what I end up doing. You''ll always be part of that]."


    "[But I won''t be there to annoy you]," Jennained.


    "[You''ll get the chance to do that again]," Khan reassured. "[Caja wants me to be a strong ally. I can''t disappoint her, and I also need to check on you]."


    Jenna lifted her head and showed her teary eyes before voicing a question. "[Caja said that]?"


    "[She did]," Khan confirmed. "[She came to talk before. She sounded worried about you]."


    "[She is the best]," Jenna sniffed before leaving Khan''s neck to rub her eyes.


    "[She indeed is]," Khan agreed, "[And you''ll have to take her ce one day]."


    Jenna nodded before wearing a shameless smile that Khan knew far too well. She lost herself in her thoughts, and Khan eventually questioned her. "[What is your dirty mind thinking about now]?"


    "[I imagined a political union]," Jenna revealed as she brought her gaze back to Khan. "[The leader of the Nele united in marriage with a human ambassador. It was a nice picture]."


    "[I''m sure it was]," Khan sighed, "[But I know a picture which isn''t too bad either]."


    "[Tell me]," Jenna voiced.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[A naughty Nele and a hopeless soldier spending nights before ake]," Khan responded.


    "[You forgot that they were naked]," Jenna giggled, "[And you didn''t even talk about the nights in various beds]."


    "[Or days in the bath]," Khan added, and the two stared at each other before exploding into augh.


    "[I actually offered myself as a lover]," Jenna revealed once she managed to suppress herugh, "[But Monica almost tore apart the bandages when she heard that]."


    "[What did you expect]?" Khan chuckled.


    "[I had to try]," Jenna imed before taking a deep breath and mustering the entirety of her resolve to stand up. "[I made her promise to have another meeting. Maybe we''ll get to sleep as three for once]."


    Khan opened his mouth but closed it almost immediately. That topic always left him speechless for a second, and Jenna couldn''t help but giggle seeing that her joke worked.


    "[I''ll reach Caja to see if I can help]," Jenna stated as she began to descend the short hill. "[You do what you have to]."


    Khan nodded before recalling something important and conveying his doubt. "[Wait, what did she say about me]?"


    "[Let me see]," Jenna pretended not to remember to keep Khan on edge. "[It was something like]: I can''t stop him if he wants to visit me."


    "[I see]," Khan smirked. "[Thanks, Jenna, for everything]."


    "[You and I aren''t done yet]," Jenna dered through her smile before hurrying toward herpanions.


    Khan stared at Jenna''s back for a bit before standing up and heading toward Monica''s tent. The ce had a nurse standing before its entrance, but an earnest look from Khan was enough to grant him ess.


    The entrance was nothing more than a zipper that created an opening in the grey fabric once pulled down. Khan entered the tent under the nurse''s curious gaze, but the outside world vanished after he closed the passage and noticed Monica.


    Monica was lying under the sheets of a simple bed, and a screen behind her monitored her condition. Khan didn''t understand the numbers and symbols on the device, but his senses confirmed Jenna''s version of the story. Monica was fine. She only needed to rest.


    ''She isn''t even snoring,'' Khan thought as he approached the bed. ''She must have been exhausted.''


    Monica''s sleeping face was truly enchanting. Khan''s vision enhanced her beauty and filled him with the urge to hold her. Still, when he was about to reach for her hand, he retracted his arm and opted to sit on the floor. He would touch her only after they had their conversation.


    A snore resounded inside the tent as soon as Khan sat down, and augh escaped his mouth. He quickly suppressed it, but a smile remained on his face. He couldn''t wait for Monica to wake up.


    A cab picked Raymond up while the medical bay continued to take life. The vehicle was oddly big. It would resemble a cargo ship if it weren''t for its luxurious design and materials, and its passengers'' area featured far more than mere seats.


    Raymond showed no surprise when he found a beautiful, scarred woman waiting for him inside the ship. He simply sat down and adjusted his suit before showing his palm.


    The woman hurriedly pulled a bottle from under her seat and filled a ss before cing it on Raymond''s palm. Thetter sniffed the booze slowly until he eventually took a short sip from it.


    "Lieutenant Khan didn''t disappoint, sir," The woman eximed in her usual cold tone.


    "He sure didn''t," Raymond agreed. "It''s a pity the experiment ended so soon."


    "Lieutenant Khan might have inherited interesting traits," The woman pointed out. "Sir, is it wise to let him go without performing any test?"


    "He is exactly where I want him to be," Raymond stated. "Christal, a broken and torn hand would have never given satisfying results. I''d rather sacrifice it to open a new path."


    "Sir?" Christal asked.


    "I want to use the Nak to elevate humanity," Raymond exined, "And Lieutenant Khan might be an example of what I strive to achieve. His growth might give me the answers I need."


    Christal fell silent and let Raymond enjoy his drink, but thetter went back to business immediately.


    "Did you bring it?" Raymond asked.


    "Yes, sir," Christal announced before reaching the end of the vast passengers'' area to pull out a long metal staff.


    Christal tinkered with the staff for a few seconds until an azure line lit up at its center. The woman ced the device on the car''s floor at that point, and a series of holograms shot out of it.


    A screen took life, and the holograms inside it shook until they stabilized to create the torso of a man. His face didn''t appear among those images, but his military uniform was impossible to miss. He was a member of the Global Army.


    "What is it, Raymond?" A deep voice came out of the holograms.


    "It works," Raymond eximed. "I brought it back to life. I''m afraid most of the fourth asteroid paid the price."


    "I told you not to use the fourth asteroid," The man scolded. "Don''t tell me that it destroyed the dock."


    "You''ll have to schedule a few meetings with your smugglers," Raymond chuckled.


    "Dammit, Raymond," The man cursed. "Why can''t you do as you are asked to?"


    "I would consider your opinion if you dared to step on the field," Raymond dered.


    The man fell silent before changing the topic. "What about the sample?"


    "Lost," Raymond stated. "Lieutenant Khan absorbed what was left of it."


    "Bret''s son?" The man asked. "Then, you were right."


    "As if that''s surprising," Raymond sneered. "Anyway, Lieutenant Khan has been instrumental in defeating the threat. He should get a proper reward."


    "What do you suggest?" The man questioned.


    "Promote him," Raymond replied. "He is wasted as a lieutenant anyway."


    "Are you out of your mind?" The man almost shouted. "He is a kid, and he got promoted no longer than a year ago. The others will suspect something."


    "The entire fourth asteroid might have fallen prey to the sample without him," Raymond uttered. "The Global Army rewards heroic deeds. It would be suspicious not to give him a promotion."


    "You''d still need to find a superior willing to approve it," The man responded.


    "He made a good impression on Colonel Norrett during Onia''s tournament," Raymond announced. "I''m sure he won''t refuse after hearing what happened today."


    "Right," The man eximed. "This kid has connections that would make Majors jealous."


    "Another thing," Raymond continued. "He can pilot ships. Why doesn''t he have a license yet?"

 Chapter ?423 Making up

    Chapter ?423 Making up


    Raymond''s call continued until he went over every important detail, and an annoyed snort left his mouth when the holograms disappeared. His drink was empty by then, but Christal promptly refilled it.


    "Speak," Raymond said while bringing the ss to his mouth.


    "I''m confused, sir," Christal revealed.


    "About?" Raymond questioned.


    "Is it wise to withhold information?" Christal wondered. "He is your best connection in the Global Army."


    "He is also blind like the rest of those idiots," Raymond sighed. "His addiction to power is dangerous. Fulfilling it would make me disposable in his eyes."


    "Still," Christal continued, "He has the resources you need. You would save a lot of money with his involvement in more projects."


    "Freedom and secrecy have a price I''m willing to pay," Raymond announced. "Besides, he would only misinterpret aplete report."


    "There are other ways, sir," Christal pointed out.


    "Patience, Christal," Raymond scolded. "Bret managed to create a stable host. I can''t let savages get in the way of such monumental achievement."


    "What about his family?" Christal asked.


    "They have been more than clear multiple times," Raymond stated. "They don''t want anything to do with Khan after what happened to his mother. Though, his growth might force their hand."


    "Shouldn''t you step in before it''s toote?" Christal wondered. "Even you won''t be able to do anything if his family gets involved."


    "The kid has nightmares, Christal," Raymond dered. "I''ve seen it in his eyes. Now, I respect Bret, admire him even, but his ability alone couldn''t fix the issue altogether."


    "How is he stable then?" Christal asked.


    "I suspect there are multiple exnations," Raymond eximed. "Bret surely did something, but the kid''s experiences must have something to do too. Maybe that''s why we have always failed. Our approach to the issue was too human."


    "You want him to continue learning from other alien species," Christal understood. "It''s risky."


    "The Nak gave us mana for a reason," Raymond stated. "We have been in risky territory since then."


    Khan remained inside Monica''s tent, unaware of the incredible conversation inside Raymond''s ship. Snores reached his ears and improved his mood, but an unmovable barrier prevented him from experiencing actual happiness.


    The conversation with Jenna had left a bitter taste in Khan''s mouth, but someughs had managed to appear among it. Yet, the situation didn''t change. The fourth asteroid was still a mess of debris and corpses, and he had yet to hear from Monica.


    Minutes went by until they transformed into hours. Khan would typically meditate to make time flow faster, but he avoided that due to his new condition. He was stable, but he didn''t want to risk it with Monica nearby.


    Moreover, as stable as Khan was, he had still gone through a significant improvement. Resuming his training wasn''t wise, especially since he had already seen what could happen if his mana went rogue.


    The wait was tedious, and the fear inherited from the nightmare only worsened the experience. Khan couldn''t help but focus on that alien feeling since he didn''t have anything else to do, and theck of answers or exnations annoyed him beyond reason.


    Khan had grown used to hopeless feelings. His desperations had been a part of him for almost fourteen years, and the Slums had given birth to a paranoia he couldn''t ignore. However, that deep fear was somewhat different, and not only in terms of intensity.


    The environment didn''t help Khan''s mood either. His new sensitivity made him aware of events happening far outside the tent, which were far from happy. The faint groans, screams, and sobs that reached his ears fused with his sensitivity to depict a grim scenery. The disaster was still out there, and he couldn''t do anything about it.


    A tremor eventually ran through the synthetic mana, and Khan''s eyes lit up. A cute groan reced the snores, and Khan stood up to be there for the opening of Monica''s eyes.


    Monica appeared confused when she saw Khan''s worried face. She instinctively wore a smile at his sight, but inspecting the environment reminded her of where she was, which drained away any happiness from her face.


    Khan waited a few seconds while a series of words flowed through his mind. He coulde up with many lines, but Monica already knew what had happened, and he didn''t know where she stood.


    "You came," Monica whispered while Khan was still immersed in his internal conflict.


    "Of course," Khan eximed and tried to reach for Monica''s hand, only to retract his arm again.


    Monica noticed that gesture and diverted her eyes. She was aware of the elephant in the room, but she had to find the right words before addressing it.


    "You know," Monica eventually spoke, "I imagined my first rtionship far differently."


    "Was it better or worse than ours?" Khan asked.


    "Some parts were better," Monica revealed. "I expected my man to have many pursuers, but I never thought they''d be so dangerous."


    "I think wealthy women would be more dangerous than Jenna," Khan admitted.


    "Probably," Monica guessed, "But that would be cheating, at least. With you, I''m stuck epting the unthinkable."


    Khan remained silent. He had made it really hard for Monica due to his friendship with Jenna, and he wouldn''t me her if the kiss had depleted her patience.


    "How did I even get myself in this situation?" Monica cursed and lifted her arms to cover her face, but the gesture made her injury send waves of pain.


    Khan stepped forward at the sight of Monica''s suffering expression, but he held back from touching her once again. Monica didn''t miss that, and Khan''s hesitation pushed her to reveal her stance.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I''m so pathetic," Monicained as a smile appeared on her face. "I can''t even handle keeping you on edge."


    "Wait," Khan voiced when he realized something, "Aren''t you mad?"


    "Of course I''m mad!" Monica shouted before letting out a groan. "I''m livid. Jenna kissed you. How could I be okay with that?"


    "That''s my girl," Khan smirked. "I would have called the doctor otherwise."


    "Hey," Monica called, "Were you worried I''d break up with you?"


    Khan nodded, and Monica revealed a yful smile followed by a few words. "I can finally tease you about something."


    "Don''t get too used to it," Khan scoffed.


    "It will be my get-out-of-jail-free card for the next few years," Monica joked. "I''ll finally take the reins of this rtionship."


    "Few years?" Khan repeated, and Monica''s eyes widened since she knew she had let out more than nned.


    "I''m tired now," Monica lied while closing her eyes and turning her head away from Khan. "You can leave my tent."


    Khan ignored the lie and leaned on the small bed to continue teasing Monica. "Did you already n our next years together?"


    "Where do you think you are going?!" Monica snapped when she saw Khan trying to sit on the bed, but her violent reaction made her injury hurt again.


    "Don''t push yourself," Khan scolded as he reached for Monica''s cheek.


    The careful and affectionate touch made Monica calm down and melted Khan''s internal conflict. His worry vanished as the two looked at each other. They had long since reached an understanding, and the exchange of nces confirmed that everything was fine between them.


    Monica moved her eyes to Khan''s left side. She lifted her arm to touch his naked torso before tracing his muscles with her fingers. She seemed to search for something, but the area didn''t even have marks.


    "She really told you everything," Khanmented.


    "Let me look at your hair," Monica requested, and Khanplied. He left the bed and bent over so that Monica could reach his hair without effort.


    Warmth spread from Khan''s head while Monica''s fingers ran through his hair. She was actually quite cold, but the feelings radiated by her gesture made him experience her affection.


    "You made a mess," Monicained at the sight of that uneven hairstyle.


    Khan lifted his face, and his eyes ended in Monica''s. The two exchanged another meaningful nce that ended when Monica tightened her grip on Khan''s hair. That gesture triggered a kiss that made them both forget about their problems.


    The first kiss with the new sensitivity was beyond terrific. Khan couldn''t even put the emotions he experienced into words. He felt light after getting rid of his guilt, and that opened the path for wilder urges.


    The faint moan that escaped Monica''s mouth when the kiss grew too passionate forced Khan to think about his situation. He wanted to do far more. He desired to get even closer to Monica, but she was still injured. That wasn''t the time to think about his needs.


    Khan interrupted the kiss and turned his head to calm down, but Monica''s wet lips ended on his cheek and made him face her again. Ayer of shyness enveloped her expression, but she felt thrilled underneath all of that.


    "You need to recover," Khan whispered before giving Monica a quick kiss.


    "Are you worried about me?" Monica asked.


    "You have no idea," Khan admitted, "And I can''t wait for you to regain your strength."


    "Something tells me that you aren''t thinking about my well-being," Monica giggled as she wrapped her arms around Khan''s neck.


    "I told you," Khan teased. "You should have been uglier."


    "Not a chance," Monica replied. "Though I like seeing you so desperate. I deserve some payback."


    "Please," Khan joked. "You''d be already naked if it weren''t for your wound."


    "I wouldn''t-!" Monica began toin before turning his shout into a familiar curse. "You are a scoundrel."


    "Yes, and I''m your problem to handle," Khan stated, and Monica couldn''t help but smile when he used her words against her.


    "Make room for me now," Khan requested. "I want to stay here for a while."


    Khan''s straightforward request surprised Monica and made her forget any possible joke. She moved to her left, but the bed was small, so the avable space remained narrow.


    Noints came from Khan as he climbed on the bed and stretched himself to upy as little space as possible. Monica wanted to turn to give him more room, but he shook his head and kept her down since he didn''t want to make her ufortable.


    "You can''t befortable like this," Monica pointed out while Khan adjusted himself and ced an arm under her neck. "We can call a doctor and bring another-."


    "Monica," Khan interrupted Monica while carefully reaching for her waist, "I''ve never been better."


    Monica didn''t know what to say. Khan had basically left three-quarters of the bed to her and was even avoiding touching the bandages under the sheets. It couldn''t be good for him to rest in that position, but the peaceful expression on his face said otherwise.


    "You are so unfair," Monicained when Khan rubbed his face into her curls. "I''m forced to rest now."


    "Sleep," Khan voiced. "I''ll watch over you."


    "You didn''t even bother to clean yourself first," Monica snorted while snuggling closer to Khan.


    Khan couldn''t possibly fall asleep due to the new vitality that had invaded his body, but that position brought him peace. The outside world was still a mess, but calm reigned on that bed.


    "I did n our next years together," Monica revealed after spending a few minutes in that position. "Though, n isn''t the right word."


    Khan pulled himself out of Monica''s curls and waited for her to look at him before asking a question. "And?"


    "Promise not to tease me about it," Monica almost begged.


    "I won''t lie to you," Khan chuckled.


    Monica pouted, but the short kiss that followed made her spill the bean. "I have connections, you know? I''m sure I can find a post where we can be together."


    "Do you mean after leaving Milia 222?" Khan wondered. "And here I thought you were in your rebellious phase."


    "Idiot," Monica scolded before showing her timid face. "Don''t you want to be together?"


    "Of course," Khan reassured. "I just didn''t think about what''s next yet."


    "We can go over that together," Monica suggested. "Maybe at dinner."


    "Are you trying to bribe me, Miss Solodrey?" Khan joked.


    "If that''s what it takes to make you shut up," Monica scoffed.


    "Sure, sure," Khanughed while leaving a kiss on Monica''s forehead to melt her annoyance. "Let''s make ns together once this mission ends."


    "Really?" Monica asked as her expression lit up.


    "Really," Khan confirmed.


    A beautiful smile bloomed on Monica''s face before she started a passionate kiss. The answer seemed to have eased her worries, and she couldn''t wait for her next mission with Khan to begin.


    "You really should rest now," Khan dered once the kiss ended. "I might stop caring about your wound if we keep going."


    "Will you be here the whole time?" Monica asked.


    "Yes," Khan reassured. "I''ll be right here when you wake up."


    Monica''s smile grew even happier, and she did her best to get closer to Khan before closing her eyes. She wanted to recover as fast as possible, but another doubt hindered her peaceful rest.


    "Khan," Monica called while Khan''s shoulder partially hid her face.


    "What is it?" Khan questioned.


    "I don''t care about the color of your hair," Monica announced. "I only want you to feel able to talk to me."


    Khan didn''t answer right away. He could guess that Monica was talking about something discussed with Jenna, but he wasn''t ready to exin his whole story to her. The day woulde, but that wasn''t it.


    "That''s what I also want," Khan admitted.


    "That''s good," Monica eximed. "No hurry. I only wanted you to know that."


    "Monica," Khan continued.


    "What is it?" Monica asked.


    "I don''t care about the color of your underwear," Khan eximed, but a loudint resounded in the tent before he could continue the joke.

 Chapter ?424 Harbor

    Chapter ?424 Harbor


    Khan didn''t sleep. He simply couldn''t. His body was full of energy, and getting used to his new state took time. His sensitivity made the world too loud, and the inherited fear grew stronger whenever he closed his eyes.


    Nevertheless, Monica''s sleeping face brought peace, and her snores always made Khan smile. That small bed was a safe ce where he could ignore the outside world, and the problems inside it felt almost reassuring.


    Khan knew that things wouldn''t be easy with Monica. The two of them had actually briefly discussed the issue already. Her status prevented them from having a normal rtionship, and much of their future remained unclear.


    Monica couldn''t ignore her family, and Khan was problematic on his own. On the surface, their rtionship was doomed to fail, but that added value to their situation. The fact that two people from such opposite worlds could end up together was incredible, almost special.


    Of course, many could point out that Khan had already experienced something simr. Liiza hade from an actual different world, but the situation had been different there. Khan and Liiza shared a lot in terms of character and background, while Monica only had faint traits that touched that realm.


    Comparing Monica to Cora also felt natural, but Khan knew the truth. Cora was perfect, which was a problem. To quote Jenna, Monica had toxic sides that matched Khan or at least made himugh.


    Also, as troublesome as that rtionship could be, Khan couldn''t find the strength to worry too much. He had faced disasters and worse. The problemsing from a wealthy family feltughable inparison.


    Those and more topics ran through Khan''s mind while he was on the bed. He couldn''t help but immerse himself in his thoughts in that situation. Strangely enough, the future didn''t look too grim.


    A disaster had unfolded, but Khan had survived. A Nak had given him power, but he had also found clues that might eventually lead to answers. Moreover, his stance had never been firmer. For once, he wanted to advance withoutpromising on what he truly desired.


    Khan spent hours in that condition, but Monica''s awakening made the wait worth it. The two spoke for a bit, exchanged intimate moments, and conversed again before epting that Khan couldn''t remain inside the tent until Monica''s injuries healed.


    "No nasty business with the Nele," Monica warned.


    "I will be a good boy and wait until I can bring the nasty business to you," Khan casually teased.


    "You better!" Monica continued. "It''s about time I had some monopoly over you."


    "When am I going to get some monopoly?" Khan teased while leaning on the bed to bend over Monica.


    "Scoundrel," Monica pouted while wrapping her arms around Khan''s neck. "You already have that."


    "You know what I''m talking about," Khan joked as he traced Monica''s curves and reached for her waist without touching the bandages.


    "Idiot," Monica scolded. "Can''t you wait until I get better?"


    "I could barely wait the first time I kissed you," Khan responded.


    Monica''s expression broke into a smile. She adored being at the center of Khan''s attention and finding ways to refuse him turned out to be difficult. After all, she didn''t exactly dislike what they did under the sheets.


    "How did I let myself be captured by such a scoundrel?" Monica mocked herself before diverting her gaze. "I get so worked up even when I know you are joking."


    "And how would you know that?" Khan pressed on.


    "Khan," Monica called while bringing her gaze back to Khan. Her shyness appeared, but she forced herself to finish the line. "You could have pushed me many times. I know you are waiting for me to be ready."


    Khan smirked, but his eyes caught something strange. Monica''s stare deepened and gained a specific meaning that left Khan speechless. Her expression hinted at the fact that she was ready.


    "You have to be grateful for your injury," Khan joked.


    "Get out of my tent," Monica giggled while pulling Khan down to deliver a quick kiss, "But don''t be away for too long."


    "I''ll check up on you often," Khan promised.


    "And don''t exhaust yourself," Monica warned. "You must take care of me, remember?"


    "How could I forget my spoiled, wealthy woman?" Khan wondered.


    "That''s right," Monica eximed. "And I expect the spoiling to increase."


    "So needy," Khan pretended toin before leaving another kiss on Monica''s lips. The two slowly separated at that point, and they avoided adding more words to the intimate interaction.


    A different scenery weed Khan when he exited the tent. He had kept track of the changes in his surroundings, but seeing everything with his own eyes sent apletely different vibe, especially since the symphony had joined his vision.


    Khan had spent more than half a day inside the tent. The medical bay had long since taken form, and the clearing operations had begun.


    New ships equipped with big metal arms or tractor beams had descended into the intermediate floor to take care of thergest boulders. Meanwhile, various teams scoured the debris to search for survivors or valuable goods.


    Khan already had a n. He briefly inspected the area before heading toward familiar traces of mana. The walk brought him to a group of Nele led by Piran, and the team didn''t hesitate to make him part of the operation.


    The Nele had sharp sensitivity, so they had an easier time looking for survivors. Khan''s arrival only quickened the searching operations, and a grim scene eventually unfolded in his eyes.


    Khan and the others had done their best during the fall, but everything had been a mess. Saving everyone had been impossible, and the corpse dug out of the rubble proved that.


    Tinges of mana leaked out of the dead Nele. Thetter had only been a first-level warrior, but his condition didn''t reveal anything else. The boulders had smashed his face and limbs, leaving only a shadow of what he had once been.


    Piran nodded at hispanions while Khan stared at the corpse. The Nele hurried toward their dead friend and stripped him naked to salvage what they could. A ship even arrived afterward to take him away.


    The Nele''s behavior seemed heartless, but that couldn''t be farther from the truth. Their species didn''t have a home, so salvaging resources was a priority, especially after the disaster. Clothes couldn''t do much, but they were better than nothing.


    "[Give me that]," Piran requested before the team could disperse to store the goods.


    The Nele addressed by Piran reached him to hand out the loose jumper in her hands. Piran briefly studied it before lifting it toward Khan. Thetter had yet to wear anything on his torso, so the gift was fitting.


    Khan wanted to refuse. He didn''tck clothes. He only had to ask one of the doctors to get something, but the gesture meant a lot, so he snapped out of his stare and seized the jumper. An exchange of nods with Piran followed before Khan wiped his face and wore his new clothes.


    The salvaging operation resumed immediately after. Khan worked with Piran, Jenna, Maban, Caja, and many other Nele to save as many people as possible. Some turned out to be alive under the rubble, but the corpses remained more numerous.


    Khan was relentless in the excavation. He pursued any trail of mana he sensed and moved away boulders that weighed as much as him on his own. His stamina seemed bottomless, and he made full use of it.


    Eventually, an entire day went by, and then another. Khan took breaks only when someone delivered food or during his visits to Monica, but he kept digging otherwise. Soon, the Nele''s salvaging operation ended, so Khan moved to another species.


    "[You know I can cut your hair in the meantime]," Jenna joked while Khan made his way toward a group of Fuveall and humans working together to clear a quadrant.


    "[I promised Monica she could handle it]," Khan revealed. "[She is getting more possessive than you]."


    "[And you like it]," Jenna teased.


    "[She is recovering faster than I expected]," Khan changed the topic. "[It won''t be long before she can leave the tent]."


    "[I need to make my move quickly then]," Jenna giggled while grabbing Khan''s arm.


    "[You made plenty of moves]," Khan rebuked. "[I''m too busy helping anyway]."


    Jenna didn''t answer and reached for Khan''s chest. She checked on him only to discover that he was fine. He had worked non-stop for almost two days but could still keep going. That stamina was not human.


    "[Don''t push yourself too hard]," Jenna sighed when she retracted her arm. "[This death isn''t your fault]."


    "[I only want to help]," Khan reassured. "[I''ll rest properly once the situation is stable]."


    Jenna could argue that the fourth asteroid had already started to recover. The dock and most of the lower floors were still a mess, but the operation had picked up the pace. Everything was working smoothly now that the forces from the central pir had the time to sort things out, but she knew that her words wouldn''t stop Khan.


    "[I''ll call Monica if you keep being so stubborn]," Jenna scoffed.


    "[Since when do you need her help]?" Khanughed.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "[I don''t]," Jenna cheerfully eximed while tightening her hug on Khan''s arm. "[I''m simply working toward that shared night]."


    "[Women are going to be my doom]," Khanmented.


    "[They already are]," Jenna mocked.


    Khan smiled while focusing on Jenna. She appeared emotionally stable, but her affection toward him didn''t disappear. It was actually stronger than ever, but she seemed to have gotten a handle on it.


    "[How are you instead]?" Khan decided to ask.


    "[I still want to put you down and force you to take me]," Jenna announced.


    "[Straight to the naughty topics]," Khan voiced.


    "[You were thinking about them]," Jenna snickered before reaching for Khan''s ear to whisper tempting words. "[I know how you react whenever you feel my chest]."


    "[I''m not making it out of Milia 222 alive]," Khan cursed.


    "[You could convince Monica to have that shared night]," Jenna temped again. "[Anyway, our moment gave me perspective. I''m far stabler now]."


    Khan could sense the unspoken truth in Jenna''s influence over the synthetic mana. The kiss had brought some fulfillment to Jenna''s urges. Her emotions were still crazy intense, but she could point them in a constructive direction now.


    "[You are the best]," Khan couldn''t refrain from expressing his gratitude.


    "[No, I''m impossible]," Jenna corrected, and the two ended up sharing augh.


    Khan didn''t know any of the humans, but Ta-ei was among the Fuveall''s teams, so fitting in wasn''t an issue. Those groups were using scanners and ships to inspect the debris, but Khan and Jenna''s senses quickened the clearing operation and led to a few sessful rescues.


    The atmosphere among those teams was tenserpared to what Khan had experienced with the Nele. Many had witnessed his feats against the Nak''s hand, and his azure hair didn''t let anyone forget them. Somehow, he felt more alien than anyone else.


    Khan couldn''t me those teams. He would also be scared of himself. Part of him already was, but the issue had no solution, so he ignored it to focus on rescuing people.


    "[The forces on Merth 290 won''t care about Milia 222''s events]," Ta-ei whispered when she and Khan found themselves moving away rubble in a rtively isted spot.


    "[I thought the streets had ears]," Khan joked.


    "[The streets are tiles and shards now]," Ta-ei pointed out.


    Khan nced at Ta-ei. Her line could have multiple meanings, but Khan''s stance wouldn''t change anyway, so his answer remained the same.


    "[I just want to help]," Khan exined before diving back into the rubble.


    Milia 222''s poption showed its resilience during the clearing operations. The fourth asteroid took the shape of a giant beast working for the sole purpose of restoring normality.


    The differences and hostilities among factions vanished to leave room for cooperation. Crews banded together under the leadership of various crime lords or emissaries from the central pir. Everyone had the same orders. The fourth asteroid had to resume its functions as soon as possible.


    As much as the leaders wanted to fix the dock, other aspects of the asteroid came first. Rescuing people was obvious, but the looting often dethroned that task.


    The intermediate floor was a secret area even for most criminal organizations, and the goods hidden inside it were worth stealing. Paths opened in the crumbled passages and rooms once enough rubble disappeared, and many teams didn''t hesitate to explore them to retrieve anything valuable.


    Khan didn''t care about the riches hidden underneath the debris, but he had to face the issue once he tried to help the Ots. They were the most distrustful bunch, and Awiza didn''t take long to make Khan aware of their stance.


    A small team of Ots led by Awiza approached Khan while he was busy moving piles of metal tiles. He could feel the mass of mana hidden under him, and the scene in his sensitivity didn''t look good. He would probably find another corpse, but he continued to dig anyway.


    "This quadrant is under our jurisdiction," Awiza announced once her team reached Khan.


    "[I''m only trying to help]," Khan responded in the Ots''nguage without stopping digging.


    "You must leave," Awiza threatened.


    Khan felt forced to stop at those words and turning to look at the alien team made their stance clear. Awiza had three second-level warriors behind her and a few first-level warriors. She was ready to remove Khan by force if needed.


    The Ots were among the most heartless factions during the clearing operation, but Khan could see how Awiza''s stance went beyond the desire to monopolize the looting.


    Things had been rough with the Ots after Luke decided to deploy the team. He might have paid everyone back, but that didn''t change what he had done, and Awiza had probably gotten the short end of the stick due to her involvement.


    "[Look]," Khan opted for a diplomatic approach, "[I''ll hand over anything valuable I find. I just want to rescue as many people as possible]."


    "[You can''t be trusted]," Awiza stated, finally epting that the conversation would happen in hernguage. "[Leave now]."


    The Ots behind Awiza reached for their weapons after her words. The negotiations were over, and no one would me Khan if he decided to leave. Still, he had other ns.


    A tinge of anger rose inside Khan. He had never liked the limits of politics in the first ce, but Awiza was actively trying to stop him from saving lives.


    Khan knew the disaster wasn''t his fault, but he still wanted to make things right. His desire came from his knowledge of the suffering Milia 222''s poption was enduring. He wanted to spare them from that pain and was willing to fight for that.


    The Ots began to lift their weapons when Khan straightened his position, but their stance and mana reeked of fear. Only Awiza could retain her calm, but she couldn''t hide her worry, which spoke loudly to someone like Khan.


    The news of Khan''s fight against the third-level warrior had spread through the dock, and he could guess that the video had reached many channels controlled by Ots. Awiza and her team probably knew about his battle prowess, and the events with the Nak''s hand were bound to have deepened his fame.


    Khan moved his eyes among the Ots, and a tremor ran through them whenever they experienced his pressure. Awiza wore a straight face, but her worry intensified during that stalemate. She didn''t expect Khan to be so stubborn about the matter, but there he was.


    Fighting to get the chance to rescue people sounded contradictory. Khan had even decided to spare Rodney. He didn''t want to force his way through that blockade, but leaving wasn''t an option either.


    Khan lifted his arm slowly to avoid abrupt reactions from the Ots. The aliens studied his movements and eventually followed the direction pointed by his fingers. A small hill appeared in their vision, but the ce didn''t exin the reason behind Khan''s gesture.


    "[What]?" Awiza asked since Khan didn''t bother to speak.


    "[There is a big mass of mana under that rubble]," Khan revealed. "[It probably is a ship''s tank. I believe you''d be interested in seizing it]."


    Awiza kept her cold eyes on Khan, but the Ots around her exchanged nces, revealing their interest. Containers of synthetic mana were pretty valuable right now, and the possibility of finding an entire ship was tempting.


    Khan and Awiza remained locked in a stare until she nodded at one of the second-level warriors in her team. Thetter showed a confused expression that Awiza''s short order cleared. "[Check it]."


    The second-level warrior hurried toward the hill and began to move away the debris under Khan and the team''s watchful gazes. The process was slow and messy, but an engine eventually came to light and made Awiza send the rest of herpanions to the location.


    Soon, a broken ship came out of the hill of debris. The vehicle was useless in its current state, but many of its pieces were salvageable. Moreover, its tank had strangely survived the disaster, keeping the synthetic mana in its insides safe.


    Awiza red at Khan before reaching for the ship to inspect it. The finding was precious, but that wasn''t the point. The Ots would have retrieved the broken ship anyway. Khan had simply made sure that Awiza''s team got it.


    The Ots'' internal issues and fights were no secret to Milia 222. Khan could see Awiza rethinking her initial stance now that a better opportunity had appeared. She showed a cold face when she turned to look at Khan, but her emotions had already reassured him.


    Awiza left the wrecked ship to return to Khan, and an offer left her mouth when she got close enough. "[I want something valuable every hour]."


    "[I''ll point out anything valuable around the traces of survivors]," Khan stated. "[That''s the deal]."


    "[You don''t set the terms]," Awiza responded.


    "[I can always find an Ots who epts them]," Khan voiced before gazing at the rubble in the distance. "[It won''t be hard until I exin how much it''s hidden under all of this]."


    Awiza didn''t like Khan''s stance. She preferred his fake ttery over that conceited character. Yet, his offer remained good, and he was right. Someone else would benefit from Khan''s senses if she refused him.


    Two more days went by without anything significant happening. No one tried to obstruct Khan''s efforts anymore, so he focused on saving people and helping out wherever possible.


    Of course, as time passed, the number of survivors diminished. Khan spent hours digging out maimed corpses, and the few still alive were in terrible shapes that didn''t promise anything good.


    The depressing scene was nothing new to Khan. He actually felt d that he could finally do something valuable during a disaster. The deaths far outnumbered the survivors, but he had helped a lot, and that was enough.


    The almost four days of relentless work finally made Khan discover his new limits. He would typically ignore them, but Jenna and Monica never left him off the hook for too long, so a sleeping session ended in his schedule sooner than expected.


    Khan finished digging out another corpse before epting that his time hade. He would have his first night of sleep after the transformation, and he couldn''t avoid choosing Monica''s tent as the location of his rest.


    ''It should be fine,'' Khan thought as he headed toward Monica''s tent. He would have preferred to sleep in an isted area since his nightmares could have be dangerous, but refusing Monica and Jenna when they worked together was impossible.


    "Lieutenant Khan!" Someone called when Monica''s tent entered Khan''s vision.


    Khan turned to see a man hurrying in his direction. Thetter was quite young, only a few years older than him, but he was still a first-level warrior. Also, his uniform put him among the central pir''s forces.


    "Yes?" Khan asked since he didn''t recognize the man.


    "We found something during the excavation," The man exined when he stopped before Khan. "Mister Cobsend told us to give it to you."


    The man put his backpack down to pull out a metal folder, and Khan guessed what it was even before seizing it. Pressing a button made the narrow lid slide open, and the scent that invaded the synthetic mana confirmed Khan''s hunch.


    Khan nced at the intactyer of the reinforced fabric inside the folder before closing the lid. Raymond had been true to his word. Khan only had to contact Luke now.


    "Tell me more," Khan requested while picking up his phone. He hadpletely ignored it in the past days and seeing the many missed calls and messages didn''t surprise him.


    "We found it among a series of copsed buildings," The soldier exined. "Mister Cobsend thinks it was ab."


    "And Mister Cobsend is rarely wrong," Khan casuallymented while browsing his messages.


    "Sir?" The man questioned since Khan didn''t seem to take the matter seriously.


    "Good job out there," Khan eventually eximed while storing his phone. "Can you contact Luke Cobsend for me? I''m ready to see him."


    Khan could handle the task by himself, but leaving it to a random soldier would give him more time alone. Still, he soon realized to have underestimated Raymond''s nning. A new ship had descended through the hole, and Luke''s presence shone clearly in its insides.


    "Mister Cobsend-," The man tried to exin the situation.


    "I know," Khan interrupted the soldier before ncing at the iing ship. "Get some rest now."


    "Yes, sir!" The man eximed before performing a military salute and leaving the area.


    Khan suddenly felt tired. Learning about the imminent meeting drained him of his remaining strength and made him sit on the floor. Meanwhile, the ship continued to descend until itnded on an empty spot nearby.


    Luke wasn''t the only familiar face inside the ship. When its doors opened, Khan saw Master Ivor, Bruce, Francis, and Martha. Half of the team had flown down to check the situation, and their stunned expressions said enough.


    Luke and the others had been on the first floor until now. They had only heard reports about the disaster, but seeing the messy medical bay, the giant hole, and the various ships busy with the debris made them understand how tragic everything had been.


    Khan saw Luke exchanging a few words with hispanions before heading in his direction on his own. The messy scene managed to im his attention for most of the walk, but that changed once he noticed Khan''s new hair.


    "What happened to you?" Luke asked once he reached Khan.


    "Let me guess," Khan joked. "Your uncle told you toe down here."


    "It was a soldier, actually," Luke revealed. "Still, are you okay?"


    Luke wasn''t only speaking about Khan''s hair. The four days of work had made him sweaty, dirty, and had given him dark eye bags. Khan seemed on the verge of copsing, but he still had the strength to talk business.


    "I''m fine," Khan reassured while handing the metal folder. "This is for you."


    Luke didn''t really ept Khan''s reply, but opening the folder moved his attention to different topics. The stolen reinforced fabric was finally in his hands. That could be enough to please his father.


    "The connection to thework has gone on and off these days," Luke revealed while closing the folder and crossing his arms to hold it tightly, "Receiving updates from the second asteroid has been a pain, but we did find what we were looking for. There actually was a hidden tunnel."


    "The soldier who gave me that confirmed the presence of ab here," Khan added, making sure to keep everything vague. "I guess you have everything you need."


    "I do," Luke eximed without hiding his excitement and disbelief. "I need to confirm a few things, but the mission is over."


    Khan revealed a faint smile before cing his hands on the floor and lifting his face. The cracked ceiling, the hole, and the streets past them filled his vision, but he could barely see them. Luke''s words had officially put an end to the past months of struggle. Khan had done it but felt too tired to appreciate the aplishment.


    Master Ivor and the others reached Luke while Khan remained immersed in his feelings. His hair caught the group''s attention, and questions flew in his direction, but he ignored them for now. He wanted to enjoy the moment a bit longer and memorize that unique scenery.


    "Before we make everything official," Luke eximed. "Khan, have you thought about after Milia 222? Do you have anything in mind?"


    Khan felt forced to exit his pensive state at that question. He knew what Luke wanted to say, but he didn''t have a precise answer now, especially with Francis on the scene.


    "I just want to rest now," Khan stated as he stood up and searched for the Nele. They would take care of him since he couldn''t go to Monica''s tent anymore.


    "Wait, Khan," Luke continued. "You are too valuable to get caught in random jobs. Let me help. I can promise higher pay and the best support."


    Luke wanted to secure Khan before he could study different options, but he was too tired even to consider that topic now. Also, a familiar presence entered the area and made him ignore Luke altogether.


    Khan turned to his right, and his sharp gesture made the entire group look in the same direction. Surprisingly enough, Monica had left her tent and was on her way to reach Luke and the others.


    "You should be in bed," Khan scolded once Monica got close enough.


    "Lieutenant Khan, as much as I appreciate the concern, you are not a doctor," Monica politely responded.


    "What did the doctor say?" Khan wondered.


    "She cleared me for this walk," Monica revealed. "Besides, I couldn''t miss this reunion."


    "What happened to you?" Francis questioned. Monica was wearing clean clothes, but the talk about the doctor and her slightly uneasy steps revealed her injured state.


    "Everyone suffered injuries, Francis," Monica cut the topic short. "So, what were you talking about?"


    Martha could read the vibe since she knew more than herpanions, and she didn''t hesitate to say something that might help Monica and Khan. "Luke was offering Khan another job."


    "You don''t waste time," Monica giggled while covering her mouth. "Well, I can''t me you. Lieutenant Khan is a valuable asset."


    "The asset is going to sleep," Khanmented before voicing short goodbyes. "Luke, Miss Solodrey."


    "Though I should say you arete," Monica continued, ignoring Khan''s goodbyes.


    "What do you mean?" Luke asked.


    "I already found an agreement with Lieutenant Khan," Monica eximed, and Khan felt forced to interrupt his departure. "He will join me on the Harbor once the mission ends."


    "The Harbor?" Luke repeated, ncing at Khan to find answers on his face. Khan was as confused as him, but he pretended to bepletely aware of the situation.


    "The embassy there needed trainees," Monica exined. "Lieutenant Khan was the obvious choice."

 Chapter ?425 Mom

    Chapter ?425 Mom


    ''The Harbor,'' Khan repeated in his mind while his expression remained the embodiment of confidence. ''Where did I hear that name?''


    Khan had to go way back to find the memory he was looking for. That name belonged to a time before most of his many battles. It came from when he still attended lessons, even if he couldn''t exactly recall which ones.


    ''Right, the embassy on that moon,'' Khan eventually recalled and forced himself to suppress any abrupt reaction. ''Wait, did she really get me a job there?''


    "Wow," Luke eximed. "The Harbor is a good ce. You must have pulled many strings."


    "Luke, we both know I wasn''t the one doing the pulling," Monica responded.


    "Still, if I may," Luke continued. "That''s a lot, even for our families."


    "Are you implying that Lieutenant Khan isn''t worth the trouble?" Monica wondered while approaching Khan to ce a hand on his arm. "I recall you relying a lot on him."


    "I wouldn''t dare," Luke promptly dered. "I was surprised about your interest in the field. I thought you were avoiding it."


    "Milia 222 made me change my mind," Monica revealed, "And my parents couldn''t have been happier about that. I''m sure you can understand."


    "Of course," Lukeughed. "My father is still trying to convince me to get one of those jobs."


    Luke then moved his gaze to Khan before voicing anotherment. "It seems that you are already booked."


    "I couldn''t refuse Miss Solodrey''s offer," Khan replied. "Besides, I nned to split ways anyway. She simply found me at the right time."


    "Is everything okay?" Luke asked, obviously hinting at the problem with Martha.


    "I''d have to use your name every time if I rely on you to umte merits," Khan justified his lie. "I want to stand on my own."


    "That''smendable, Lieutenant Khan," Master Ivor intervened to prevent awkwardness. "With your record and talents, I''m sure you''ll shine anywhere."


    "Thank you," Khan nodded. "I''ll do my best."


    "Well, let me fix you an amodation at least," Luke offered. "Unless you n on staying with the Nele while I sort out thest details."


    "The Nele are busier than the other species in this period," Khan exined. "I''ll ept the amodation as long as it doesn''t interfere with the medical bay."


    "Are you nning on remaining down here?" Luke questioned.


    "I can help, so I will," Khan made it short. "As for now, I need to rest."


    "First, you muste with me," Monica intervened. "We must discuss a few important topics."


    Monica didn''t need to do anything special to make Khan y along. He immediately came up with an act and delivered it wlessly. "You are right. I forgot about that."


    "I must say," Monica eximed while elegantly covering her mouth to hide her smile. "Having you on my payroll is exciting. I guess getting you in front of a drink won''t be hard anymore."


    "I did join you once," Khan pointed out.


    "That hardly counts since I had a lot ofpetition," Monica rebuked.


    "I suppose drinks can improve work talks," Khan gave in.


    "I can''t wait," Monica giggled while letting go of Khan''s arm. "So, shall we go? The doctor didn''t give me too much free time."


    "Of course," Luke eximed. "Focus on resting. I''ll handle the rest out here, including Khan''s amodation."


    "I wouldn''t mind if Lieutenant Khan took a nap in my tent," Monica teased before performing a polite bow and heading toward her tent.


    Khan revealed a helpless smile when hispanions looked at him, but his prompt departure didn''t give them the time to address the matter. Even Francis remained silent since both Khan and Monica were in no condition to talk any further.


    ''I haven''t seen that side of her in a while,'' Khan thought as he followed Monica closely.


    The elegant but teasing fa?¡ìade that Monica wore in public had gotten Khan out of that conversation, but he remained curious about the topic. The Harbor was an interesting location. Still, Khan thought he would have discussed the matter with Monica before choosing a new mission.


    "Hey," Khan called once the two returned inside the privacy of the tent. "What''s this Harbor stuff?"


    "Shit," Monica cursed before hurrying toward the bed and searching for the phone hidden under the sheets.


    "Monica?" Khan called again. "Did you just lie to Luke?"


    "It won''t be a lie if I get us that job," Monica responded while sitting on the bed and crazily tapping on her phone.


    Khan couldn''t help but reach Monica to peek at her phone, and his eyes widened when she pressed on a contactbeled "Mom". The options for the call opened, and Monica activated the camera to inspect her appearance.


    "Are you serious?" Khan asked, knowing that he couldn''t leave the tent now. Luke and the others might get suspicious if he did.


    "It''s never too early to request a job in the Harbor," Monica exined as she ruffled her hair and wiped the corners of her eyes while tilting the screen left and right.


    "I get that," Khan said while sitting on the bed and wrapping an arm around Monica''s waist, "But we didn''t even talk. I thought we had to choose our next job together."


    "I had to improvise," Monica cursed while her inspection moved to her clothes. "Luke can be very persuasive, and Francis was also there. I had toe up with something they couldn''t join without the right motivations or preparations."


    That answer made sense, but the issue remained. Khan wanted to be with Monica, but he couldn''t ept a random mission because the situation demanded it. After all, the matter involved his future.


    "Stop for a second," Khan requested, pulling Monica closer to make her interrupt the inspection. "I don''t know much about this Harbor, and-."


    "Don''t mess up my clothes!" Monica snapped, interrupting Khan''s line. "I won''t hear the end of it if I don''t look remotely decent."


    "But-" Khan tried to speak again.


    "The Harbor is a literal embassy," Monica interrupted again. "It''s perfect for umting real experience and connections."


    The exnations left Khan speechless for a second, but that still wasn''t enough. Everything was happening too quickly, and it was reasonable to ask for a short conversation on the topic.


    "Monica," Khan called for the third time, but Monica cut him short again.


    "What? Don''t you trust me?" Monica almost shouted. "Do you think I would jeopardize your future over a lie to Luke?"


    "It''s not that," Khan responded.


    "What then?" Monica asked. "You want to be an ambassador, right? The Harbor can give you that and more."


    "Are you certain?" Khan wondered.


    "So much for trusting me," Monica scoffed. "You are no academic. You have no higher qualification. Someone like you wouldn''t even dream of getting a job in the Harbor."


    Khan frowned. Monica''s words were a bit offensive, and he could even sense her anger. His exhaustion didn''t help with the situation, so an irritated tone ended up joining his following question.


    "Are you angry or something?" Khan asked.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Of course!" Monica shouted. "I have to call my mother. How can I not be angry?"


    The faint irritation rising inside Khan vanished when he understood the true target of Monica''s anger. She was just anxious about facing her mother.


    "Dammit," Monica cursed when she nced at her reflection in the phone. She threw the device on the bed and grabbed Khan''s jumper to pull him closer before trapping his neck into a tight hug.


    Khan didn''t expect that sudden gesture. He was still thinking about the Harbor when he found himself immersed in a passionate kiss. Monica was out of breath when their mouths separated, but she didn''t hesitate to reach for his lips again.


    A few short kisses followed before Monica let go of Khan''s neck and reached for his hair and right cheek. She appeared conflicted and sorry, so Khan revealed an understanding smile.


    "Sorry if I sounded mean," Monica whimpered. "Trust me for now. I really need to call my mother before rumors start to spread."


    Khan sensed Monica''s honesty, so he put the matter aside. "Alright."


    "Out of my bed now," Monica ordered, raising her voice again. "Don''t try anything funny while my mother is on the phone."


    "It might be my chance to know her," Khan teased, but Monica pushed him out of the bed before he could wear his smirk.


    "Not a sound," Monica warned before going over her clothes again and finally starting on the call.


    Holograms came out of the phone to create a small screen. The quality wasn''t the best due to the poor connection, but the images were stable. A ringing noise started to resound inside the tent, and Monica''s anxiety intensified whenever she heard it.


    The ringing eventually stopped, and a beautiful woman who looked to be in her thirties appeared on the screen. She had Monica''s hair and the same dark skin, but her eyes were brown, and her face radiated evident aloofness.


    "Monica, dear, what is it?" The woman asked before her voice gained scolding tones. "Don''t tell me that you show yourself around in that state."


    "I''m fine, Mom," Monica snorted. "Thank you for asking."


    "Being in a medical bay doesn''t justify your appearance," The woman pressed on. "You are a woman of the Solodrey family. You should know better."


    "Everything is a mess around here," Monica exined. "Avoiding dust is the best I can do."


    "At least do something for your hair," The motherined. "How can you hope to get Luke otherwise?"


    "I don''t n on getting anyone," Monica coldly stated. "I''ve been clear about that."


    "So stubborn," The mother sighed. "Francis might be a strange kid, but you had Luke Cobsend and Bruce Eerly within your reach. How could you not consider them?"


    "I won''t get a boyfriend just because you say so," Monica dered.


    "I hope you made a good impression on Mister Raymond, at least," The woman voiced.


    "Mom, he is three times my age!" Monicained.


    "He is still in his prime," The woman pointed out. "You shouldn''t miss these opportunities. You won''t be young and beautiful forever."


    "Can we avoid this topic?" Monica questioned.


    "Sure, dear," The mother agreed. "So, why did you call me?"


    "I wanted to ask," Monica announced, "How are our connections with the Harbor?"


    "The Harbor?" The mother repeated. "Did you finally gain some interest in inteary politics?"


    "Sort of," Monica kept it vague.


    "Well, finding a spot for you won''t be a problem," The woman revealed. "I just need to make a call."


    "It''s not only for me," Monica uttered. "There is this soldier, Lieutenant Khan. I want to bring him with me."


    "The kid from Onia''s tournament?" The mother asked. "Why would you need my help? You can hire him as part of your guards."


    "I want him to be a trainee on the Harbor," Monica exined.


    "What?!" The mother eximed. "Why?"


    "You should see him, Mom," Monica replied. "He is a natural with alien species. We might groom an ambassador if we give him this chance."


    "He has no qualifications," The mother contradicted. "He wouldn''t know what to do in the Harbor."


    "That''s why trainee," Monica argued. "He''ll go there to learn the job."


    "He''ll be behind everyone else," The mother stated, "And no one knows whether he will catch up. Also, we can''t be sure he''ll work for our family after getting our help."


    "Mom, you know me," Monica eximed. "I wouldn''t ask if I wasn''t sure."


    Monica''s mother remained silent for a few seconds before heaving a deep sigh and giving her answer. "You have never shown any interest in anyone. Are you sure there isn''t something more with this Lieutenant Khan?"


    "Please," Monica sneered. "I admit that he is cute, but he is nothing more than a soldier. We are in different leagues."


    "At least you still remember your ce," The mother stated. "Well, Luke Cobsend holds him in high regard, and new rumors about his feats areing in. It''s never bad to gamble on these talents."


    "So, will you help me?" Monica asked as her eyes lit up.


    "You can give him the good news already," The mother dered. "Still, he won''t get any privileged treatment. His superior might very well kick him out before the end of the term if he isn''t up to the task."


    "Thank you, Mom," Monica said, ignoring the warning. "I think I''ll rest now. I want my injury to heal so I can get a bath."


    "There should be beauty salons on the second asteroid," The woman revealed. "I''ll send you a few names."


    "Sure," Monica kept her replies short. "Bye, Mom."


    "And wear something decent," The mother resumed the scolding. "You should be able to find-."


    Khan never heard the rest of the scolding since Monica closed the call and threw her phone toward the pillow. A helpless sigh left her mouth, and a worried expression appeared on her face when she turned toward Khan.


    "I know you had to say those things," Khan reassured while straightening his position. "Though I must admit that your mother looks great."


    "I don''t want to hear it," Monicained as shey down and covered her ears.


    "Herments on the Harbor are also quite reassuring," Khan continued while approaching the bed. "That ce sounds great."


    "So, it''s fine when my mother says it," Monica scolded.


    "You heard me then," Khan smirked as he climbed on the bed to ce himself on top of Monica. "What was that talk about Luke and Bruce?"


    "What?" Monica asked. "Are you jealous?"


    "Yes," Khan admitted without showing any shame. "I want you to show off only for me."


    Monica couldn''t oppose Khan when he was so straightforward. She reached for his hair, and the two kissed. Khan''s exhaustion and Monica''s injury seemed to disappear as the intimate moment went on, but reason eventually prevailed and made them stop.


    "Your mother doesn''t understand anything," Khan whispered when the kiss ended. "Your hair looks amazing."


    "You are saying this only to make me lower my guard," Monica giggled. "I know your scoundrel mind."


    "Someone should also tell your mother that you look better without clothes," Khan teased, and Monica delivered a soft p to his cheek.


    "Don''t put my mother in those lines," Monica pouted.


    "You sure like pping me," Khan chuckled.


    "You always deserve them," Monica imed.


    "Because you say so?" Khan wondered.


    "Exactly," Monica replied before diverting her gaze and deciding to address the previous topic. "Anyway, I had no intention of getting close to Luke or Bruce. My mother simply has her own ns."


    "I didn''t doubt you," Khan reassured while carefully lying down to ce his head on Monica''s chest. "I only wish we could be honest about our rtionship. I trust you, but jealousy isn''t exactly reasonable."


    Khan wasn''t speaking about that feeling from a human perspective. His irritation had grown stronger when Monica''s mother talked about Luke, and simr reactions were bound to happen in the future. Khan didn''t even want to imagine what he could do if he saw someone hitting on Monica in the open.


    "Jenna knows," Monica pointed out while caressing Khan''s head. "Martha is on our side too. We must keep our rtionship a secret, but we can be honest with them."


    "I''m starting to get tired of secrets," Khan eximed while rubbing his face on Monica''s chest.


    Monica giggled and lightly pulled Khan''s hair to stop him, but the gesture only made him climb back to her face to deliver another kiss. The two seemed unable to stay away from each other, and they both couldn''t wait to get better.


    "Still, it''s annoying," Monica announced when the two took a break from their intimate moment.


    "What is?" Khan asked.


    "The only trustworthy people are women," Monica continued, "Women who like you a lot. It''s not fair at all."


    "I might be able to fix that," Khan revealed. "I can add one man to the bunch."


    "Wait," Monica uttered, slightly pushing Khan away to stare at his entire expression. "Are you talking about telling someone else about us?"


    "Yes," Khan confirmed and supported himself on one arm to pick up his phone with the other. "I actually nned to call him once the mission ended."


    "Wait, wait!" Monica called. "Can you really trust him?"


    "With my life," Khan dered, and a serious expression made its way to his face.


    Monica didn''t expect such a strong reaction, and curiosity inevitably formed inside her. She remained a bit hesitant, but Khan''s seriousness also captivated her. She wanted to know the person who could make Khan behave like that.


    "Don''t feel forced to ept," Khan added, understanding that Monica could have a hard time in the matter. "It was just an idea."


    "No," Monica promptly eximed as a trace of shyness enveloped her face. "I want to know the important people in your life."


    Khan''s seriousness melted before Monica''s honesty. He couldn''t refrain from reaching for the pillow and taking Monica into his arms. Her pure intentions fueled his affection in ways he didn''t expect.


    "Can I adjust my hair first?" Monica asked. "I want to make a good impression."


    "You have never looked more beautiful," Khan praised.


    "Liar," Monica whispered before gaining a pleading tone. "Don''t tease me about this."


    Khan didn''t answer. His intense gaze was enough to trigger an affectionate kiss. The two remained locked in that intimate gesture for a while, and Khan started a call when it ended.

 Chapter ?426 Girlfriend

    Chapter ?426 Girlfriend


    "Son of a forgettable woman!" George shouted once the call stabilized. "Did anyone teach you that you don''t have to wait months to call me?"


    "I forget I have a phone half of the time," Khanughed. "Life sure is treating you well."


    The hologramsing out of Khan''s phone showed a nice scene. George was sitting on afortable armchair with a half-full ss lying on the right armrest. His face had gotten slimmer and his hair shorter, but that new look suited him and depicted a perfectly healthy man.


    "You look like shit instead," Georgemented. "Do you even sleep anymore?"


    "Thest few days have been a mess," Khan exined. "I was actually on my way to bed when I thought about calling you."


    "That bad, huh?" George guessed.


    "Usual mess," Khan kept it short, "But I''m good. I might have learnt to look at the positive side."


    "Did they rece you or something?" George questioned in a surprised tone.


    "Fuck you," Khanughed. "I''m just trying to move on for real this time."


    George fell silent. He knew how meaningful that step was for Khan. The process would obviously involve sad times, but he remained happy for his friend.


    "Are you forcing yourself?" George wondered.


    "Nah," Khan eximed while showing an honest smile. "It almost feels natural."


    "I''m d to hear that," George sighed. "You are one stubborn guy. I was afraid it would have taken you years to get there."


    "What can I say?" Khan shrugged his shoulders. "You were right. I had to leave."


    "Part of me wished I wasn''t right," George admitted. "But, hey, at least you don''t have problems gettingid."


    "It''s all women and booze with you," Khan joked.


    "You know me," George said with a smug face. "I''m also somehow seeding at this political stuff. I must be amazing."


    "Booze is giving you strength," Khan mocked.


    "How do you expect me to survive my parents otherwise?" George scoffed. "Theye up with new marriage proposals every month."


    "You should ept one of them and settle," Khan suggested. "You are getting too old to fool around."


    "You can''t have opinions on this topic," George rebuked. "And fooling around is part of my charm."


    "It must be hard to find someone who can keep you on a leash," Khan guessed.


    "It''s only vain women looking for the hero," Georgemented. "They don''t even bother to ask the price I paid for my fame."


    "You know how it is," Khan eximed. "They have no idea."


    "They truly don''t," George sighed before focusing on Khan''s empty hand. "Don''t they have booze there? I thought I could drink with you for once."


    "I''m in the middle of a medical bay," Khan revealed. "You''ll have to drink for me this time around."


    "That''s easy," George smirked before he and Khan exploded into augh.


    "Why medical bay?" George asked after taking a sip from his drink.


    "It''s too long to exin," Khan stated. "You''ll hear rumors soon enough. Just know that I''m fine."


    "Oh, that I know very well," George chuckled. "Going to awless zone doesn''t stop the flow of information, especially about you."


    "The life of a celebrity is hard," Khan imed.


    "Not too hard, I suppose," George snickered. "I heard you got with an alien again."


    "Wait, that''s not true," Khan tried to correct since someone behind him had tightened her grip on his jumper.


    "Come on, Khan," George called. "I read that the Nele areplicated, but you don''t need to lie to me. Nice catch, my man."


    "What catch!" Monica shouted while peeking from behind Khan to appear in the call.


    Monica was an expert in social interactions, but some anxiety had gotten to her after learning how important George was to Khan. She had nned to remain hidden behind him until the time for a proper introduction arrived, but the recent exchanges depleted her patience.


    "Hello?" George voiced, looking at Khan in the hope of finding exnations. However, Khan only shook his head.


    "That slut has nothing to do with Khan!" Monica shouted again while crawling past Khan to appear at the center of George''s screen. "I am his girlfriend!"


    "She is one of the reasons I called you," Khan added in a far quieter tone. "I wanted you to meet her."


    "She is a feisty one," Georgemented while bringing his ss to his mouth.


    "Who is feisty?!" Monica shouted for the third time and crawled even further, but Khan wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her onto his chest.


    "You are still injured," Khan said to Monica''s ear. "I don''t want to see you bedridden again."


    Monica turned her face toward Khan before voicing aint in a cute tone. "But he thinks that you are with Jenna."


    "The entire Global Army probably thinks that," Khan pointed out before wearing a smirk when he saw anger rising inside Monica.


    "You never have enough of teasing me," Monica whined.


    Khan chuckled and pulled Monica closer. She ended up between his legs, with two arms wrapped around her torso and his head on her left shoulder. She wanted to remain angry, but the affectionate gesture made her too shy for that.


    "Man, you have a gift," George eximed.


    "You shut up!" Monica snapped, but a faintment escaped her mouth when Khan tightened the hug.


    "Tell him that I''m your woman," Monica almost begged when her focus returned to Khan.


    "First, you need to correct what you said about Jenna," Khan scolded.


    "She is a slut," Monica snorted. "Any woman who likes you is a slut."


    "That''s a long list," George coughed.


    "Shut up!" Monica snapped at George again.


    "Monica," Khan called while bending backward a bit to make Monicay on his chest. She tried her best to avoid Khan''s gaze, but her position put her before his scolding eyes.


    "But she got naked on your second meeting," Monicained.


    George coughed again, but the re Monica shot at him prevented the arrival of anyment. Meanwhile, Khan''s expression remained firm, eventually forcing Monica to give in.


    "Okay, she is nice," Monica cursed before ncing at George, "But she is just a friend. I''m his woman."


    George shot a questioning look at Khan, and he wore aplicated expression. Monica didn''t miss that silent interaction, and her re immediately fell on Khan.


    "Khan?" Monica questioned.


    Khan exploded into augh before leaving a kiss on Monica''s cheek. The gesture made her blush since George was there, and she hid her face instead of continuing toin.


    George couldn''t help but smile when he saw that interaction. Deep feelings invaded his face as he lost himself in the scene. Khan''sugh and hisplicity with Monica were heartwarming. His friend seemed happy, and he could only rejoice to learn that.


    "She is my girlfriend," Khan announced while Monica kept her face hidden on his chest. "George, this is Monica Solodrey."


    Hearing Khan forced Monica to leave his chest to show herself to the holograms. She was still a bit flushed but did her best to stick to that introduction. As for George, he remained speechless, and his face perfectly described his state.


    "M-," George stuttered. "Monica Solodrey from the Solodrey family?"


    "Yes," Khan confirmed while cing his head on Monica''s shoulder to make their cheeks touch. "She is my feisty girlfriend."


    Monica pouted, but a faint smile eventually appeared on her face. She even rxed a bit since Khan was so close, but looking at George revealed that the topic was far from over.


    "Nice to meet you, Miss Solodrey!" George eximed in his politest tone. "I''m-."


    "I know who you are," Monica interrupted. "I''ve heard about you, George Ildoo. You don''t have the best fame, but you might be worse than that."


    "Wait, Miss So-" George tried to speak.


    "Some of my girlfriends have very strong opinions about you," Monica interrupted again. "You should know that women talk."


    "I''m innocent!" George eximed, and Khan couldn''t help butugh at his panicked reaction.


    Monica had also worn a confident smile, so George felt cornered. His best friend and Monica had joined forces, and he couldn''t say anything to escape that situation.


    "Khan, help me out," George eventually pleaded.


    "Alright, alright," Khan chuckled. "Monica is just ying around, aren''t you?"


    "Maybe," Monica snickered, but Khan''s gentle tug made her roll her eyes and stop the joke. "I won''t do anything. I even hate my girlfriends, so you can speak openly."


    George heaved a sigh of relief, and his reaction told Khan which family was stronger. That result wasn''t surprising, but it hinted at some of Khan''s future problems. Monica was truly important, so he would have to struggle to be with her in the open.


    "That was surprising," George eximed once he managed to get rid of his tension. "I knew the Solodrey family had a beautiful descendant, but I didn''t expect her to be so beautiful."


    "It''s toote for ttery, Mister Ildoo," Monica sneered.


    "I wasn''t trying to," George revealed. "Khan always gets the best ones, so everything makes sense now."


    Monica didn''t know how to take thatpliment, but she decided to ept it since it involved Khan. She liked thinking that her beauty had yed a part in Khan''s interest in her. He had even said the same multiple times.


    "Still, did you just get together?" George wondered. "I can''t imagine thework remaining silent about your rtionship."


    "Well," Monica voiced.


    "No one knows," Khan exined. "No one can know."


    "It''s tooplicated with my parents," Monica added.


    "Oh," George replied. "You sure have a thing for secret rtionships."


    "I''m getting too good at them," Khan sighed.


    "I can see that," George joked. "Getting privacy doesn''t seem to be a problem."


    "What are you implying?!" Monica shouted.


    "Don''t listen to this drunkard," Khan intervened to de-escte the situation.


    "As if you didn''t drink," George scoffed.


    "I wish I could get something here," Khan sighed. "I''ll probably have to wait until our date for a drink."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Don''t talk about our date so openly," Monica whispered.


    "I can talk about anything with George," Khan responded while nearing Monica''s ear, "But you remain too cute when you are shy."


    "Scoundrel," Monica scolded.


    "Someone else is calling you that," George eximed. "The world is learning about your true face."


    "Oh, shut up," Khanughed. "Anyway, I wanted you to know we were a thing."


    "He is serious with you then," George teased while ncing at Monica.


    "He is lying," Monica snorted. "Two others know about us, and they are both women who like him a lot."


    "Hey, I would have told George anyway," Khan contradicted.


    "I''m his wise advisor," George uttered.


    "He is an idiot like me," Khan corrected, "And my best friend."


    "We are the best idiots in the universe," George yed along.


    Monica had never seen Khan so rxed. She felt a bit jealous, but she ended upughing anyway. She didn''t expect Khan to have a simr friendship, but the thought slowly reassured her, especially since George was a man.


    "So," George announced, "What ns do you have now? Will you stay on Milia 222?"


    "Monica got me a job in the Harbor," Khan revealed. "Do you know it?"


    "The Harbor?!" George almost shouted. "Damn, she must have fallen hard for you."


    "What?!" Monica eximed. "I never said that!"


    "I seem to understand that it''s a good ce," Khanmented.


    "It''s a great ce!" George confirmed. "It might be exactly what you need for your future."


    "I can''t wait then," Khanmented while tilting his head to immerse it in Monica''s hair. "I hope finding privacy there won''t be too hard."


    "Stop teasing me," Monicained.


    "Oh, you are going together," George understood. "Well, you might want to be careful. There will be many important figures there."


    "I''m always careful," Khan imed.


    "You do get reckless when ites to women," George pointed out. "Did you forget when you threw yourself off a cliff?"


    "You did what?" Monica questioned.


    "I''d do it for you too," Khan reassured.


    "That''s not the point!" Monica dered.


    "I''d avoid cliffs if I were you," George stated.


    "Is it always like this with you two?" Monica asked while her eyes darted between Khan and the holograms.


    "We usually are drunker," Khan revealed.


    "Far drunker," George coughed.


    "I have always handled booze better than you," Khan added.


    "You have always had other priorities," George rebuked.


    "What priorities?" Monica questioned.


    "Nothing," Khan and George said at the same time. They tried to divert their gazes afterward, but they eventually exploded into augh that made Monica heave a helpless sigh.


    "Anyway, I should go," Khan stated. "She is injured, and I haven''t slept in four days."


    "Of course, man," George responded. "Make sure to have a drink with you next time, and try not to let an entire year pass."


    "I''ll do my best," Khan promised. "Still, you do look good. I''m happy for you."


    "Things couldn''t be better for me," George revealed. "So, go to sleep and take care of yourdy. When you need me, you know how to find me."


    "Thanks, man," Khan eximed.


    "Anytime," George voiced. "Be good, but not too good."


    "Same to you," Khanughed.


    "Miss Solodrey, it was a pleasure," George continued.


    "Monica is fine," Monica replied. "Nice to meet you, George. Maybe one day we''ll have a drink together."


    "I like her," George eximed.


    "Yeah, she is great," Khan said while hugging Monica tightly to prevent her iingint.


    "Well, I''ll see you around," George said before the holograms went dark. The phone even retracted them as the call ended.


    "Now it''s not only Jenna and Martha anymore," Khan announced as he broke the hug and let Monica turn toward him.


    Monica opened her mouth to say something, but the words remained stuck in her throat in front of Khan''s smiling face. She didn''t feel like speaking. She opted to bend forward and let her kiss express how she felt.


    Khan understood that the call had meant a lot to Monica. She didn''t only like that someone outside of Jenna and Martha knew about them. She was also ecstatic to have be part of a deeper aspect of Khan''s life.


    The kiss continued until the coupley on the bed, with Monica on top of Khan. Neither of them wanted to stop there, but she was injured, he was exhausted, and the tent didn''t offer much privacy. All the noises from the outside world still reached them.


    "Will you sleep here?" Monica asked without hiding her desire to remain with Khan.


    "You set me up with that joke about the nap," Khan chuckled and caressed Monica''s cheek. "Still, it''s safer if I sleep on the floor."


    "Not a chance," Monica promptly refused. "I''m far better, so it''s my time to take care of you."


    "Monica," Khan used his concerned tone, but Monica didn''t want to hear any of it.


    "You wouldn''t refuse Jenna," Monica stated before diverting her gaze and lowering her voice. "I will get naked if I must."


    Khan''s eyes lit up, but that only made a "Scoundrel!" escape Monica''s mouth. The shout led to augh followed by a sigh. The old Khan would have found a way to refuse, but he wasn''t that person anymore. He knew he couldn''t build a proper rtionship without allowing people into the dangerous aspects of his life.


    "If something happens while I''m asleep," Khan warned, "I want you to run away. Try to save me only after you are safe."


    "Khan," Monica giggled, but herugh didn''tst long.


    "I''m serious," Khan stated. "I won''t sleep here otherwise."


    Monica understood that something was going on, so she nodded. Khan rxed at that point, and affection seeped out of his face when he saw Monica adjusting his arms to nestle on his chest. She had already decided how she wanted to sleep, and Khan didn''t even think about rejecting that position.


    George remained silent for a while after the call ended. He didn''t move from the armchair and let his thoughts flow while he finished his drink.


    As a member of a wealthy family, George knew things ordinary students wouldn''t learn in their first years in the training camps. Some locations were too famous to remain unknown, and the Harbor was one of them.


    That very knowledge made George aware of the risks Khan might face. The Harbor wasn''t dangerous, but the people inside it might create problems for him.


    Khan would typically be able to handle those issues on his own, but he had a secret rtionship to keep alive now. His girlfriend wasn''t even someone who could avoid the social environment. Monica was bound to be extremely popr, and Khan would probably struggle in that situation.


    ''He needs an ally,'' George eventually realized and picked up his phone. His first instinct was to call Khan, but he quickly put the idea aside since he knew he would refuse.


    ''I guess I''ll make him a surprise,'' George smirked. ''It sure has been too long.''

 Chapter ?427 Birthday

    ?427 Birthday


    The first night of sleep after the transformation put Khan into a strange version of the nightmare. His consciousness was awake the whole time, and he could think, but he also felt the same deep emotions experienced when he absorbed the Nak''s hand.


    Those differences didn''t worry Khan. The nightmare didn''t actually change. It had only gained a new perspective that matched his current state.


    The only meaningful new details Khan could find came from the outside world. His senses had improved even further, and his sensitivity had fused with them, so he could keep better track of his surroundings while asleep.


    Those sensations and inputs were faint and muffled, but they gave Khan a vague idea of what was happening. Of course, he couldn''t understand much about the areas outside the tent, but he could confirm that the warm figure sleeping with him was still on his chest.


    A cracked ceiling weed Khan when he opened his eyes, but he quickly nced at his chest to inspect the mess of curly hair. Monica had slept through his tremors, sweat, and general movements caused by the nightmares, and some snores even escaped her mouth from time to time.


    ''Such heavy sleep,'' Khan smirked. ''Maybe it''s for the best.''


    Monica voiced a short whimper when Khan caressed her hair, but his careful touch allowed her to remain asleep. She actually grew more rxed under his cuddles, and he couldn''t help but enjoy her reaction.


    ''Years, huh,'' Khan thought while picking up his phone to check the time. His sleep had been far shorter than expected. He had barely been out for six hours but felt full of energy.


    The check-up technique confirmed that everything was okay. Khan waspletely rested. He had recovered from four days of work in a matter of hours, and his new state was obviously to me for that.


    That realization was good news, and Khan had to push aside the bitterness caused by its source to appreciate it. His new resilience came from a Nak, but he could use that strength to improve faster than ordinary humans, which was ideal considering his goals.


    ''Raymond fucking Cobsend,'' Khan instinctively repeated in his mind. ''He must have many answers, but reaching him is a problem. I can''t even force him to tell the truth.''


    Khan''s problems went beyond that. Even in the remote chance he could reach Raymond and receive answers, he wouldn''t be able to confirm their legitimacy. Raymond could lie to his face, and he wouldn''t notice it.


    That created additional dangers. Khan would risk falling into another ploy if he exposed himself, and Milia 222''s crisis had already proven that he couldn''t beat Raymond in that field. Going to him would be akin to willingly turning himself into a pawn.


    Nevertheless, Khan couldn''t give up on his goal. Raymond couldn''t offer a viable path, but he had confirmed something that Khan had suspected since his time in co''s training camp.


    The higher-ups of the Global Army were bound to know something about the Nak. Maybe many of them were in the dark, but someone had to be part of that conspiracy. Raymond couldn''t be the only one.


    Those thoughts led Khan to thework. The connection was unstable, but his phone still loaded news if he waited long enough, and various descriptions of the Harbor eventually appeared on the screen.


    ''This might be a turning point,'' Khan thought as informationnded in his eyes.


    The Harbor was as important as everyone made it out to be. It was an embassy that taught inteary politics to wealthy and promising students, but it was also the home to some ambassadors. Moreover, important figures flew by from time to time.


    Khan couldn''t only push his career further in the Harbor. He could also get the chance to establish meaningful connections. Since most people there came from wealthy families, he might meet someone who knew the truth about the Nak.


    ''Teachers, ambassadors, and superiors in general,'' Khan nned. ''I need to get close to them to learn their secrets. If that fails, I can only hope that promotions will arrive quickly.''


    Truth be told, Khan was conflicted about his new destination. On one side, he liked the idea of learning more about inteary politics. He had always been curious about the universe, and the embassy was bound to give him a general view of many species.


    However, the Harbor featured a major problem that Khan couldn''t ignore. He didn''t get any worse at lies and pretenses, but he had grown tired of them. He had opted for a new stance even before the transformation, so things didn''t look too good.


    The idea of spending months and possibly longer wearing a fa?¡ìade was troubling, especially since Monica was involved. Khan would have to hold back constantly, and the strict regtions found on thework didn''t reassure him.


    ''I''m getting kicked out for sure,'' Khan cursed. ''Unless I can make myself indispensable.''


    ording to thework, most of the Harbor was closed to the public, which made sense. Khan couldn''t even imagine the number of secrets it held. His experience on Milia 222 also made him predict the presence of factions and illegal activities.


    That secrecy prevented Khan froming up with ns, but his rank gave him ess to a list of courses and jobs he could join. The Harbor didn''t only have academics. It also featured various positions suitable for warriors, which better matched Khan''s experience and stance.


    Wealth went a long way, but Khan had learnt that military merits couldpensate forck of money or background. His fame could grant him some leeway that he nned to expand after reaching the Harbor. His new senses could help him fortify his position. He only needed to find something that his superiors valued a lot.


    Sadly enough, thework didn''t describe the Harbor''s priorities, and Khan couldn''t find them on the general list acquired through his rank. He would have to study the situation after his arrival, but he wasn''t worried. After all, he had spent thest months diving into secrets. Milia 222 had been the perfect training camp for his new mission.


    ''I only need to depart then,'' Khan eximed in his mind once he stored his phone.


    Of course, Khan couldn''t simply leave. Luke would surely need to talk to him, and a proper conversation with his otherpanions sounded necessary. His goal required that.


    Khan also wanted to have another heartfelt talk with Martha since their separation was inevitable. The same went for Jenna and the Nele in general, and Khan wouldn''t refuse another meeting with the other species.


    Moreover, the fourth asteroid was still in a poor state, and Khan wanted to keep helping until things started to improve. If it were for him, he would probably spend a few more months on Milia 222, but something told him that his departure would arrive sooner.


    ''I guess I can leave that part to Monica,'' Khan concluded. ''I should focus on everything else in the meantime.''


    A tremor in the synthetic mana eventually reached Khan''s senses and forced him to snap out of his thoughts. He turned in time to see Monica opening her eyes and wearing a timid smile. Warmth spread everywhere inside the tent, and it didn''t take long before the two fell into an intimate moment.


    Milia 222 rarely faced crises, but that didn''t make it unprepared. The soldiers in the central pir couldn''t often show their teamwork, but the disaster caused by the Nak''s hand gave them a chance that they didn''t waste.


    Most illegal factions wanted to prioritize the dock to restore the smuggling channels, but the asteroid''syout went against them. Milia 222''s soldiers had to start from the intermediate floor due to the danger posed by the debris, and that was only the first step in the clearing operation.


    Luckily for the illegal factions, Milia 222''s soldiers worked quickly and relentlessly. They also employed various ships that elerated the clearing operation and built multiple structures to reinforce the intermediate floor.


    The city followed. Many buildings had crumbled, destroying the goods in their insides. However, their materials could save a lot of time and money, so the soldiers began to gather everything they could before some criminals stole too many of them.


    The illegal factions helped in salvaging those materials. Quickening the restoration of the fourth asteroid would elerate the reopening of the dock, so they put their differences aside for Milia 222''s greater good.


    The looting mostly ended after the major criminals added their efforts to the cause, and the restoration sped up again. Khan saw first-hand how areas previously upied by piles of debris transformed into pirs or actual buildings in a matter of days.


    Reconstructing the hole in such a short time was impossible, so the fourth asteroid split into two. Part of its poption went on the first floor or used the short-distance teleports once they became fully operational. Instead, the others remained on the intermediate floor to continue to work on the damage.


    Raymond didn''t show his face again, and Luke went up and down the asteroid to handle various tasks. Soon, more news appeared on thework, including Khan''s involvement in defeating the Nak''s hand.


    Khan kept doing what he did best. His senses were a powerful weapon that many factions learnt to use as the days passed. He helped a lot while debris still upied the intermediate floor, but his presence became unnecessary as the clearing operations moved to other areas.


    ''He is still here,'' Khan cursed in his mind when he saw Monica discussing something with Francis in the distance.


    Almost three weeks had passed since the disaster. By then, the clearing operation had moved deeper into the asteroid, and only the people involved with different factions had remained behind. Khan could justify his presence through the Nele, but Monica and Francis were an exception.


    Monica''s injury was no more. She could have moved to the first floor to reach the rest of the group long ago, but she had chosen to remain behind to stay with Khan. Her social skills had allowed her to devise a reasonable excuse, and Luke and the others didn''t ask too many questions since they sort of knew about Khan.


    However, Monica''s decision pushed Francis to remain behind too. The man didn''tck money, so he had easily obtained a simple habitation to watch over Monica and question her about the Harbor.


    Needless to say, Francis'' presence had prevented Khan and Monica from seeing each other. They had shared random moments in those weeks, but nothing more than that, and their patience was running dry.


    Khan saw Monica picking up her phone, so he imitated her and waited patiently. A message promptly arrived, and a smile appeared on his face when he read its contents.


    ''He is back at asking me to talk with his father!'' Monica said through the message.


    ''That guy,'' Khan cursed again.


    Apparently, Francis'' parents knew about his obsession with Monica, which yed in Khan''s favor since they were ignoring his requests to gain ess to the Harbor. Still, that wasn''t enough to make Francis give up, which left the couple in that stalemate.


    ''Tell him that we have a date on my bed,'' Khan texted before enjoying seeing Monica remaining speechless at his message.


    Simr situations had happened multiple times during the previous weeks, so Khan knew that his joke wouldn''t go anywhere. He could only tease Monica from afar while waiting for the inevitable departure.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Monica and Francis eventually stopped fighting and retreated to their respective habitations. Monica had also purchased something for herself, and she wasn''t the only one. Khan was leaning on the wall of the small t Luke had gotten for him. He would usually go inside at that point, but the arrival of a familiar presence made him wait outside.


    "Still busy brooding?" Luke asked when he crossed the habitation''s corner and noticed Khan.


    "I don''t brood," Khan responded. "I''m simply annoyed."


    "Do you want to talk about it?" Luke questioned as he leaned in a spot to Khan''s right. "Wealthy women are my field."


    "I don''t know what you are talking about," Khan lied before changing the topic. "It''s getting boring here."


    The second line wasn''t exactly a lie. Francis'' presence had given Khan a lot of free time, which he had upied by meeting members of other species. However, he only knew the Nele well, and everyone remained busy, so his attempts to build more connections had been short-lived.


    "You won''t have to worry about that once you reach the Harbor," Luke eximed. "I''d be surprised if you could still go on with your personal business there, but you always find a way. I''m sure it won''t be any different this time too."


    "What are you doing here?" Khan asked, ignoring the obvious hint that Luke had thrown. "I thought you had business to attend to on the second asteroid."


    "I attended it," Luke revealed. "I just came back to deliver the news personally."


    "News?" Khan repeated while eyeing Luke.


    "I''ve talked with my father," Luke exined. "The mission is over. It''s time to go back."


    "When?" Khan asked.


    "Tomorrow," Luke stated. "The ship is ready and waiting for us on the first asteroid."


    "Oh," Khan voiced as his gaze returned to the environment. "It''s over then."


    "I''ve already prepared payments and bonuses," Luke dered. "They will go out once we reach Neo Station. If I understand correctly, we''ll split ways there."


    "Monica knows the details," Khan replied. "I didn''t care too much about them."


    "Monica?" Luke teased.


    "Miss Solodrey," Khan corrected himself. "She is handling the trip to the Harbor. Well, her family is."


    "I was joking," Luke chuckled.


    Khan didn''t need to inspect the synthetic mana to know that Luke''s mood was excellent. He hadpleted the mission and improved his image in his father''s mind. Nothing else mattered to him.


    "Do you have a mission for Martha yet?" Khan wondered.


    "She''ll work alongside Master Ivor until I find something more specific," Luke exined. "I still don''t know my next move. I''m thinking Earth, but my family might have something else for me."


    "Hopefully, it will be safer than this," Khan sighed.


    "That''s not hard to find," Lukeughed.


    Khan nodded, but his face grew cold when he looked at Luke again. Thetter sensed that something was off, and he immediately understood the reason for that tension.


    "I won''t put her in danger," Luke promised, "Not this kind of danger, at least."


    "Martha has her path to tread," Khan uttered, "But this doesn''t mean that I''d forgive you if something happens to her."


    "Do you want me to give her fake jobs?" Luke asked. "We can discuss that."


    "I expect you to be loyal," Khan responded. "Treat her with the same respect you use with me."


    "I nned to do that in the first ce," Luke revealed. "I know my record with her isn''t clean, but she remains a good soldier and an old friend. Besides, her debt still exists, and I need her alive and well to get my money back."


    ''And you want her around to get to me in the future,'' Khan thought while moving his gaze back to the environment. Luke wasn''t exactly trustworthy, but he remained Martha''s best option for now.


    "I wish we could have had time for a celebratory dinner or something," Luke announced since Khan remained silent. "Your birthday is also close, isn''t it? I seem to remember it was in this period."


    "It''s in a few days," Khan revealed.


    "I can n something in the ship," Luke suggested. "A small party is easy to organize."


    "Don''t bother," Khan refused. "I have something in mind already, but I need your gift in advance."


    "Sure, what is it?" Luke asked. "Anything you want."


    "Get Francis off this floor," Khan requested.


    "Ah!" Luke eximed as a smile made its way onto his face. "It''s better if I don''t ask, am I right?"


    "You know it," Khan replied.


    "Give me a few minutes," Luke stated while leaving the wall. "I promise you won''t see his face until tomorrow."


    Khan watched Luke heading for Francis'' habitation before focusing on his mana. A tinge of energy gathered in his palm, and he blew on it while thinking about a simple request. He had yet to master the Nele''smunication method, but Jenna would understand him anyway.


    A few hours after the conversation with Luke, Khan found himself in front of a tense scene. He was sitting inside his habitation, and two women stood before him. Jenna wore her teasing smile while Monica appeared beyond pissed, but they remained silent to wait for Khan''s exnation.


    "We are leaving tomorrow," Khan announced after sorting out his thoughts.


    "It arrived," Jenna sighed before sitting on the floor and approaching Khan.


    "Where do you think you are going?" Monica snapped, also jumping on the floor to grab Jenna''s stretched arm.


    Jenna was wearing her spray since the intermediate floor was still a neutral area, and she didn''t mind Monica''s touch. Yet, the situation involved Khan''s departure, so she wouldn''t limit herself to jokes.


    "I let you touch me because I respect your feelings," Jenna stated, "But Khan is leaving, and we have yet to say goodbye."


    "Go ahead," Monica snorted while letting Jenna go. "Hug him and leave."


    "We are far past hugs," Jenna sneered. "Such an important event deserves something special, and I know exactly what."


    "Don''t even think about it," Monica warned.


    "Why not?" Jenna wondered. "You aren''t giving it to him anyway. I can fill in until you are ready."


    "How would?!" Monica shouted before turning toward Khan. "Did you give her strange ideas?"


    "Trust me," Khan sighed. "She has always been like this."


    "You are so quick on asking for his help," Jenna teased as she approached Monica and slowly ced a hand at the center of her chest. "Let me deal with these insecurities."


    "Stop!" Monica retreated. "And I don''t have insecurities. I made up my mind already."


    "Oh?" Jenna voiced while ncing at Khan. "Did I interrupt something?"


    Khan didn''t bother to reply since he knew Monica''s shout was about to arrive, and she didn''t disappoint. "That''s none of your business!"


    "Khan''s well-being is my business," Jenna dered. "Though, if you are ready, I can suggest something together. He likes that fantasy anyway."


    "Toge-!" Monica stuttered. "I won''t share my man with a witch!"


    "What''s a witch?" Jenna asked Khan.


    "It''s her recement for slut," Khan exined.


    "So, you can convince her," Jenna pointed out. "Did you call us here for that?"


    "Convince her to do what?" Monica questioned. "Khan?"


    "Calm down, you two," Khan requested. "I didn''t decide anything. I can''t. It won''t be fair that way."


    Jenna and Monica fell silent and waited for Khan''s continuation. Still, they didn''t forget to shoot another re at each other in the meantime.


    "Monica, you know how important Jenna is to me," Khan began. "I can''t leave like this. Even if it''s just talking, I want our goodbyes to be meaningful."


    Jenna''s face lit up, and she began to turn to show her smug smile, but Khan interrupted her.


    "Jenna, you know I''m with Monica," Khan continued. "Our friendship has hurt her more than she lets out. I can''t ask for another day from her. Even a minute would be too much."


    Jenna and Monica didn''t know what to say. Khan''s words made perfect sense, but they didn''t lead anywhere. Waiting for him to continue also turned out to be pointless since he fell silent.


    "So?" Monica and Jenna ended up asking at the same time.


    "So, talk it out!" Khan cursed. "Reach apromise or something. If the decisiones from me, I can''t avoid hurting one of you, so find something that you can both ept."


    The statement surprised both women, but they soon revealed frowns. They stood on opposite sides and reaching apromise sounded impossible. Only Khan could put an end to their fight.


    "Do you expect to put this on me?" Monica asked without hiding her anger. "Does being your girlfriend mean so little?"


    "Monica, you liked my overprotective side," Khan stated. "What would you think of me if I had no problem hurting Jenna?"


    Monica opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. The situation annoyed her, but Khan was right. As much as she wanted Khan to pick her, it would go against his character to directly ignore Jenna''s feelings, especially after everything they went through.


    "You are leaving tomorrow," Jenna eximed. "I won''t be able to see you for a long time. How can you not give me onest night?"


    Khan noticed how Jenna''s affection was growing unstable. She would have never spoken like that otherwise. Yet, he had a suitable answer for her too.


    "Jenna, choosing you mightpromise my rtionship with Monica," Khan exined. "Do you really want to be a threat to my potential happiness?"


    The unstable affection immediately went quiet. Jenna''s feelings for Khan always put his happiness in first ce, even if that meant sacrificing herself. Guilt-tripping him into having another night together went against that.


    Silence fell inside the habitation again. Monica had her gaze on the floor since thest line had made her blush, while Jenna was deep into her thoughts in the hope of finding a loophole. Yet, it soon became clear that Khan was right. Only they could find a path that wouldn''t hurt anyone.


    "Monica," Jenna eventually called while turning toward Monica.


    "Witch," Monica eximed before correcting herself when she looked at Jenna. "[Jenna]."


    "We know how unfair your man is," Jenna announced.


    "Indeed," Monica found it easy to agree since Jennabeled Khan as her man, "But we knew what we were getting into."


    "So, how does this work?" Jenna asked.


    "Do you have ideas that don''t involve sex?" Monica questioned.


    "Very few," Jenna teased.


    "How surprising," Monica mocked.


    "I''m surprised you are so against them," Jenna responded.


    "I''m not a sl-," Monica stated before rephrasing her line. "I''m not a witch."


    "You wish you were as bold as me," Jenna sneered.


    "You wish Khan chose you," Monica rebuked.


    "Don''t forget who pushed him into your arms," Jenna scolded.


    "He would havee to me on his own," Monica imed.


    "Not if I kept him between my legs," Jenna dared. "I still have time for that."


    Monica mustered the entirety of her resolve to push away her shyness and deliver her next line. "I can do that too."


    "Khan prefers my legs," Jenna dered.


    "But he holds mine," Monica continued.


    The bickering was tense. It resembled a bomb ready to explode, and Khan only wanted to remain outside of it. He didn''t dare to move out of fear of bringing the focus on him. However, the buzzing of his phone betrayed him.


    Two intense gazes snapped at Khan and followed his movements while he reached for his phone. People would kill to have those two pairs of beautiful eyes for themselves, but Khan felt that his life was in danger during the process.


    "Don''t worry," Khan reassured after checking the message. "It''s just Luke with questions for my birthday."


    "Birthday?" Monica and Jenna repeated at the same time.


    "Right, you don''t know," Khan realized. "It''s in a few days, so Luke is pestering me about a party on the ship."


    Jenna and Monica opened their mouths in surprise before ncing at each other. A meaningful stare unfolded. The two women seemed able to speak without uttering any word, and they even reached a silent understanding in those seconds.


    "You got lucky," Monica stated.


    "Naked?" Jenna asked.


    "No," Monica promptly rejected.


    "How pure," Jenna mocked.


    "Underwear," Monica snorted.


    "Bra?" Jenna wondered.


    "On," Monica replied.


    "He has done more than seeing them," Jenna pointed out.


    "On," Monica remained firm.


    "I guess I''ll have to hug him tightly," Jenna sighed.


    "I decide where your hands go," Monica uttered.


    "We''ll see about that," Jenna challenged.


    Khan felt in danger again. His eyes darted left and right as the bickering went on, but he soon found those intense gazes on him again. Jenna and Monica even began to approach him, and the tension intensified during their crawling.


    "What is happening?" Khan asked.


    "Take off your clothes," Jenna giggled.


    "I''ll let this go only this once," Monica warned.


    Khan didn''t dare to oppose the two women, and it didn''t take long before he ended up on his bed. His arms had stopped belonging to him by then since Jenna had taken his left and Monica had imed his right.

 Chapter ?428 Surveys

    ?428 Surveys


    "Did something happen?" Martha couldn''t help but ask.


    "Why would you say that?" Khan wondered.


    "You are making a strange face," Martha pointed out.


    "It''s just my face," Khan stated.


    "I can see something other than idiocy today," Martha exined.


    "I''m conflicted," Khan revealed while ncing at the pale-blue dome, "Maybe confused is a better word."


    "Did you try sleeping?" Martha suggested. "I heard it''s good for your body."


    "My body is fine," Khan promised. "I can''t say the same for my mind."


    "I can see that," Martha smiled while nodding in Monica''s direction. "It seems you aren''t the only one."


    "So it seems," Khan casually voiced while keeping his eyes on the dome.


    Martha tilted her head in confusion. Khan always had a joke ready, but he appeared lost in his thoughts.


    "Hey," Martha called while softly bumping into Khan. "I thought we agreed on remaining friends."


    Khan snapped out of his stare and shook his head before focusing on the area. He was on one of the streets on the first floor, and most of hispanions were ahead. Only Martha had remained at his side. The ce was crowded, but the two had some privacy.


    "Right," Khan eximed. "How should I put it? Maybe it''s better if I don''t say anything at all."


    "Good or bad?" Martha asked.


    "I swear," Khan sighed. "I have no idea."


    Khan instinctively looked at the elegant figure ahead. Monica was discussing something with Luke and Bruce, but she fell silent when she noticed his gaze. She instinctively red at him, but a warm smile made its way onto her face and forced her to hide it with a fakeugh.


    "Are you up to no good again?" Martha asked after inspecting that interaction.


    "Sometimes the universe works in mysterious ways," Khan announced.


    "I''ll take that as a yes," Martha dered.


    "The path of a man is filled with dangers," Khan cursed.


    "That''s the idiot I remember," Martha giggled.


    "The idiot needs a vacation," Khan imed as he searched for Monica again.


    The previous night had been exhausting. Jenna and Monica didn''t let go of Khan for a second, and they had spent hours bickering or ring at each other.


    On top of that, Jenna had kept challenging Monica, leaving Khan with the tiring task of managing the situation while holding back. George would kill him if he dared toin, and every inch of his body went against that thought, but he had to admit that surviving the night had been far from easy.


    Monica seemed able to feel Khan''s gaze. She found the chance to turn to look in his direction, and another re shot out of her. Still, she wore her warm smile again, perfectly expressing her strange mood.


    ''She is so going to make me pay for that,'' Khan mocked himself. ''At least I have teasing material for ages.''


    Khan and Monica still needed to talk properly. Jenna had almost run away after the three woke up, and Khan and Monica had left right afterward since a ship hade to pick them up.


    The time to leave Milia 222 hade, so Luke had gathered everyone on the first floor before heading toward the short-distance teleports. The group wasn''t in a hurry, but the presence of the others had still prevented any meaningful talk. Remaining behind with Martha was the best Khan could do.


    "She really likes you," Martha pointed out when watching that interaction.


    "I really like her too," Khan admitted before diverting his gaze once a conversation forced Monica to turn.


    "I''m happy for you," Martha eximed, "Both of you."


    Khan peeked at Martha''s smiling face before voicing a question. "Are you sure?"


    "Of course," Martha snorted. "Who do you think I am?"


    "Women tend to go crazy around me," Khan joked.


    "Monica let you off the hook too easily," Martha replied. "Maybe I should talk to her while we fly back to Neo Station."


    "You can''t be more dangerous than Jenna," Khan yed along.


    "I don''t know," Martha sneered. "Can I?"


    "You wouldn''t," Khan challenged.


    "Jenna taught me the importance of emotions," Martha revealed. "Maybe I should vent just like she did."


    "Monica won''t get jealous over a few hugs," Khan stated. "Well, not too much."


    "I can always lie," Martha snickered. "Who do you think Monica will believe?"


    Khan fell silent for a few seconds before admitting defeat. "Alright, name your price."


    Marthaughed when she heard Khan''s serious tone, and he soon imitated her. Things weren''tpletely fine between them, but they had long since reached an understanding, and joking so casually felt nice.


    "To think that most people don''t know how dumb you can be," Martha sighed.


    "I try to warn everyone," Khan announced, "But no one believes me."


    Martha and Khan fell into augh again that the former tried to suppress once it started attracting the crowd''s attention. Instead, Khan didn''t bother to hold back, and a satisfied smile broadened on his face when the end of the street appeared in his view.


    Martha lost herself in that peaceful smile, but she quickly snapped back to reality. Some embarrassment tried to fill her mind since she knew that Khan could sense her emotions, but she already had another topic ready to distract her.


    "What about you?" Martha asked while ncing at the messy azure hair. "How are you doing?"


    "I''m used to disasters," Khan revealed. "I don''t know how good this is, but it''s the truth."


    "You won''t mope around then," Martha joked, even if she felt reassured. She didn''t see the battle against the Nak''s hand, but Khan''s morale seemed strong, and that was enough for her.


    Khan and Martha continued joking around until they arrived in front of the hangar. Luke and the others were waiting for them there, so the team regrouped to go through onest inspection.


    "Are you sure you have everything?" Luke asked before eyeing Khan. "Didn''t you have a backpack?"


    "It''s down there," Khan revealed while pointing at the destroyed city, "Together with most of the tools bought from the Fuveall."


    The disaster had taken the bucket and most of Khan''s belongings. Only the fake IDs and the cover for the purchases had survived since he had kept them in his pockets.


    "Remember to list anything I need to pay back," Luke eximed. "I guess everyone else is fine. We can leave."


    Luke turned to enter the hangar, and the others began to follow. Khan was also about to step forward, but the arrival of a familiar presence forced him to speak. "I''ll reach you all in a bit."


    Luke stopped halfway through the entrance to turn in Khan''s direction and question him. "Is there a problem?"


    The rest of the team also turned, but Khan didn''t need to say anything to exin himself since a purple light soon became visible behind him. The crowd was making way for Maban, who wore a cold face as he advanced through the street.


    "Let''s reunite on the third asteroid," Luke quickly announced, and Khan nodded before turning to greet his friend. By the time Maban arrived, the entire team had entered the hangar, which gave Khan some necessary privacy.


    "[Caja couldn''t make it]," Maban announced once he reached Khan.


    "[We already talked]," Khan reassured, "[And she has a species to handle]."


    "[Things are indeedplicated]," Maban admitted, "[But our future is bright. Jenna made sure of that]."


    "[Her prediction sure came in handy]," Khanmented before some sadness joined his tone. "[It''s a pity we couldn''t do more]."


    "[Leave it]," Maban scoffed. "[I won''t ept thesements after witnessing your efforts]."


    "[When did you be so kind]?" Khan smirked.


    Maban scoffed again, and a conflicted expression appeared on his face before he finally decided to wear a faint smile. Some pride even reeked out of him, but sadness quickly reced it.


    "[Jenna couldn''t]-," Maban began to say.


    "[Don''t worry]," Khan interrupted while performing a nod. "[I know why she didn''te. This isn''t my first time]."


    Maban didn''t know how to reply, especially since Khan''s face said way too much. The Nele couldn''t imagine that something simr had happened with Liiza, but it was clear that Khan was speaking the truth.


    "[You]," Maban voiced before stopping to sort out his thoughts.


    "[I know]," Khan stated before Maban could resume speaking. "[This never stops being hard]."


    A helpless sigh left Khan''s mouth as he lost himself in the scenes past Maban. The first floor was mostly intact, but the streets couldn''t hide the damage below. The hole, the missing buildings, and the various ships busy salvaging materials depicted a grim scenery, but Khan still smiled when he inspected it.


    The mission on Milia 222 had been shortpared to Khan''s most meaningful experiences. Yet, a lot had happened in those months, and the things he learnt were bound to stay with him.


    The matter went beyond mere interaction with multiple alien species. Khan had learnt a new approach to mana, had matured mentally, and had met important people he hoped to find again in the future.


    Moreover, Khan had made a promise. No one had dared to speak too much of it or even ce responsibilities on him. However, it existed, especially inside his mind. Khan wanted to be a valuable ally for the Nele and eventually help them find a proper home.


    When all of that crossed Khan''s mind, he couldn''t help but find beauty in that grim scene. Milia 222 and its citizens had given him so much that even the disaster caused by the Nak''s hand couldn''t taint his memories.


    "[If mana wills it]," Maban eventually uttered, "[We''ll meet again]."


    "[Make sure to be safe until then]," Khan requested.


    "[Don''t forget what you learnt from us]," Maban warned.


    "[How could I]?" Khan chuckled while reaching for one of the longer strands of his hair. "[I have a constant reminder of this ce]."


    "[It makes you look less human]," Mabanmented.


    "[Was that apliment]?" Khan teased.


    Maban snorted before stretching his hand and pointing his palm upward. He didn''t need to add anything to make Khan join that traditional greeting. The two saluted each other and exchanged a quick look before separating. Maban headed for the central structure while Khan entered the hangar.


    Scenes entered Khan''s vision, but he barely recorded them as he joined the lines behind the short-distance teleports. The goodbyes were always overwhelming after deep experiences, and they had only intensified due to his transformation.


    Memories flowed, and Khan couldn''t push them away. His chest grew heavy, tears tried to fill his eyes, and unreasonable anger showed its presence. He didn''t want that sharp separation. A childish desire to bring all the Nele with him expanded in his mind, but he kept it at bay.


    Khan knew he would miss Jenna. He had gotten so used to having her at his side that the sole thought of leaving the asteroids made him feel empty and lost.


    Milia 222''s freedom was another feature that Khan would miss. He had basically acted freely on those asteroids. Yet, his new destination would require the very opposite behavior, and he wondered whether he was ready to give up on something that had taken him so long to enjoy.


    The overall diversity in species also added fuel to those unreasonable feelings. Milia 222 had fulfilled Khan''s curious nature, and he didn''t want to leave it until he learnt all of its secrets. Still, higher goals required his presence, so he advanced, even if his eyes didn''t look ahead.


    Crossing the short-distance teleports only took a few minutes, but they felt like an eternity to Khan. Each step led him closer to his departure and intensified his unreasonable feelings, but he strode forward, and everything stabilized once Monica entered his senses'' range.


    The world suddenly returned. Khan found himself at the exit of the hangar on the third asteroid. He had just entered the street on the first floor when he noticed hispanions waiting on the guardrails nearby.


    Seeing Monica pushed unreasonable feelings on her. Khan wanted that intensity to happen because of her. Rtionships typically required time to reach those levels, but that didn''t apply to Khan''s standards. After all, he didn''t love like a human.


    Monica instinctively smiled before widening her eyes in surprise and diverting her gaze. She couldn''t let out anything in public, but she still nced at Khan again to show a scolding expression.


    ''I''ll probably explode once we are alone,'' Khan thought as he approached hispanions. ''I hope I won''t be too much for her.''


    "That was short!" Luke eximed once Khan reached the group.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "What did he want?" Bruce asked.


    "Nothing much," Khan kept it vague. "He is just a softie."


    The answer left Khan''spanions confused and surprised. They knew Maban was a big deal among the Nele, so they couldn''t believe Khan. Still, no one cared enough to address the matter. Only Monica was relieved when she confirmed that Khan was emotionally fine.


    Random talks, questions, and jokes went by as the group made its way through the asteroids, but Khan ignored most of them. His eyes remained on the scenery tomit to memory anything they saw. However, as often happened in those moments, the trip ended up being too short.


    Khan didn''t even listen to Luke''s speech when the luxurious ship''s doors opened. He climbed inside and chose a rtively isted room before closing himself inside. There would be time to socialize, but he was too unstable now, and he couldn''t risk exposing himself.


    The ship already had various clean sets of clothes, but Khan went for the military uniform prepared for him. He felt tight inside those garments, but that was fine. It was actually necessary to make his mind ept the imminent change in the environment.


    After changing, Khan found himself with nothing to do. He still didn''t want to train, so he sat on the floor and picked up his phone to browse specific sites. He had done something simr with the Niqols, so he knew exactly where to look.


    ''Let''s start with the Nele,'' Khan thought when a questionnaire opened on his screen.


    Khanpleted the questionnaire before moving to the next one. He had interacted with many alien species, some of which were pretty secretive. He could add points to his profile by adding information and showing his knowledge, so he did exactly that.


    Of course, Khan held back some pieces of information. He didn''t say anything about the Nele''s arts or even mention the Fuveall''s connection to a few illegal activities. However, he went all-out with the Ots and Tors. Khan fell short only with the Bise since he didn''t learn much about them.

 Chapter ?429 Present

    ?429 Present


    Spaceships weren''t exceptional when it came to privacy, but Luke had booked something that could solve the issue. Still, the amount of space andfort offered by the vehicle couldn''t prevent Khan from facing a few social events.


    Luke held a meal to celebrate the mission''s sess, and another party followed due to Khan''s birthday. The ship didn''tck food and drinks, and everyone wanted to relieve the stress umted in the previous months, so those events saw the team exaggerating a few times.


    Luckily for Khan, the general respect that the group had for him had deepened. His methods during the mission had been unusual, but his achievements were undeniable, so no one dared to criticize him openly or even hint at insubordination.


    Francis mostly remained silent, and the four first-level warriors limited themselves to asking random questions during the stories. Khan didn''t have the best rtionship with them, but his teacher instinct often kicked in to make him exin a few details. Those soldiers might find his advice useful one day, so he didn''t mind sharing his experience.


    As for Khan, he couldn''t help butpare those joyful asions to his time on Nitis. The parties on the ship had great booze, food, and seats, but theycked something important. The absence of true friends who could talk about anything often made Khan distance himself and fall into his thoughts.


    Of course, Khan had people close to him on the ship, but Monica wasn''t an option. The two could only perform their polite flirting or share a couch when they had the chance.


    Things with Luke and Bruce had also improved, but the former was often busy with his phone, and thetter already had his meaningful talk with Khan. They didn''t have anything important to say now that the mission was over.


    Martha was Khan''s only valid option, but she was busy preparing for her next task. Khan helped her when possible, but being on her own was the whole point of her new path, so there was a limit to how much he could do.


    Nine days weren''t a long time, but they felt endless for Khan since he didn''t have much to do. He kept himself busy with studies and other matters, but his boredom eventually forced him to resume training.


    The transformation brought changes to Khan''s overall strength, and his martial arts reflected those improvements. Everything also felt strangely natural, so Khan didn''t have to get used to his new power. He was simply better from the get-go, and his growth didn''t apply only to his moves.


    Khan didn''t know if the transformation was to me, but he found the execution of the "simted mental battle" far easier than before. He could almoste up withplex battles, and immersing himself inside them soon became addicting.


    It wasn''t long before Khan fell prey to a new packed training routine. His new resilience extended the time he could spend immersed in his exercises, and he didn''t hesitate to push himself. He still held back on the meditative sessions, but everything else returned stronger than ever.


    The nine days went by in a blink afterward. Khan almost missed the pilot announcing the beginning of thending, and he had to skip the shower to gather near the exit with his group.


    "Usual Khan," Lukemented at the sight of the sweaty and slightly smelly Khan. His line triggered a series ofughs, and Khan could only shrug his shoulders to join the joke.


    The exit opened right afterward, and the group descended through it to reach the hangar. Khan and Monica exchanged a meaningful gaze when no one looked, but the different environment soon captured his attention.


    Neo Station''s hangar had a lot inmon with Milia 222. The synthetic mana and the vehicles were nothing new for Khan, but he could smell the difference. The symphony was very human, which described the small number of aliens in the area.


    "Alright!" Luke announced once everyone left the ship. "I guess this is where we split."


    "You are going straight for the teleport, right?" Khan recalled.


    "Yes," Luke eximed. "I don''t n on staying on Earth, but that''s a mandatory stop."


    "Good luck with everything then," Khan smiled. "Don''t forget to keep me updated on future job opportunities."


    "I have twelve ready if you like," Luke teased.


    "Come on, Luke," Khan chuckled while stepping to his right to get closer to Monica. "Miss Solodrey has me booked for a while."


    "It''s time to admit defeat, Luke," Monica joked before cing a hand on Khan''s elbow. "Didn''t we agree on dropping these formalities?"


    "I remember refusing to avoid problems in the Harbor," Khan pointed out.


    "Are you implying that someone might get jealous of you?" Monica faked surprise before showing a smile. "Lieutenant Khan, you know you can praise me openly."


    "Give it up, Khan," Bruceughed. "You can''t win this one."


    "Ivor, help me out here," Khan requested.


    "I''m afraid you are on your own, Lieutenant Khan," Master Ivor chuckled. "You should know that Miss Solodrey isn''t the type to let the matter slide."


    "I give up," Khan sighed while ncing at Monica. "Do you need help unloading, Monica?"


    "I''ve already hired someone for that, Khan," Monica voiced an elegantugh. "Now, shall we go? We have a few shops to visit."


    "I guess this is goodbye," Luke dered while stretching his arm forward. "It was a pleasure, Khan, Monica. Thank you for everything, and good luck in the Harbor."


    "Good luck," Bruce added while also stretching his arm forward.


    Khan shook the men''s hands before nodding at the rest of the group. Francis avoided his gaze while the four first-level warriors performed military salutes. As for Master Ivor, he smiled back at him.


    "I''ll see you around," Khan uttered when his eyes fell on Martha.


    "Same here," Martha replied. "Don''t do anything stupid out there."


    "And you be safe," Khan added before ncing at Luke. "Take good care of her."


    "Khan!" Marthained due to how embarrassing thatment was, but her shout made the groupugh. Only Luke remained serious enough to nod back at Khan.


    "Goodbye then," Khan eximed before stepping back to wait for Monica.


    Monica performed an elegant bow before turning to lead the way. Khan didn''t hesitate to follow her, and a sigh escaped his mouth once his sensitivity confirmed that hispanions had stopped looking at them.


    "We are alone," Khan whispered. "Well, sort of."


    Monica was rather famous, and the hangar had multiple wealthy figures who recognized her. Her elegant clothes didn''t help disguise her identity, so many groups looked in her direction in an attempt to understand what was happening.


    "I think some of them are for you," Monica revealed since she also noticed those looks. "Your profile has be quite the topic in thest few days."


    "I feared as much," Khan sighed. "Things will probably worsen in the Harbor, especially if I use your name in public."


    "We have faced Milia 222''s disaster together," Monica rebuked. "It would be strange to remain so formal."


    "It will cause me a lot of problems," Khan uttered. "There must be more people like Francis there."


    "Am I not worth the hassle?" Monica asked, even if she kept her gaze straight.


    "I know how to answer," Khan voiced, "But not through words."


    Monica fell silent and covered her mouth to hide her shy smile. Meanwhile, her emotions ran wild. She was finally alone with Khan, and some privacy was bound to arrive soon.


    "Hey," Monica eventually called. "You have yet to tell me what you want for your birthday."


    "I thought I already received my gift," Khan replied. "You and Jenna made me the luckiest neen-year-old in the universe."


    "Don''t talk about that," Monica snapped, raising her voice before lowering it. "Actually, forget it already."


    "Impossible," Khan stated. "I can see the scene whenever I close my eyes."


    "Should I dig them out for you?" Monica threatened as a blush made its way onto her face.


    "I would still recall the sensations of that night," Khan joked. "So much softness."


    Monica forced herself to cough to suppress the shout rising through her throat. She couldn''t lose herposure in public, but remaining silent only intensified her embarrassment. Still, she ended up smiling when she saw Khan''s dreamy face.


    The two fell silent, and a middle-aged man with a star on each shoulder eventually approached them to lead the way. Monica had matters to attend to on Neo Station''s upper floors, and she needed a guide to help her out.


    Khan finally got a chance to inspect Neo Station''s true face, but its casinos, shops, and other activities were nothing specialpared to Milia 222. He had already seen simr scenes on a far bigger scale, and the mostly human poption made everything even iner.


    Still, Monica didn''t let that trip be too peaceful. It turned out that her tasks mostly involved the purchase of new clothes, and Khan had theplicated role of giving his opinion.


    "The red one," Khan calmly voiced.


    "Technically, it''s called candy," Monica corrected.


    "Pink," Khan stated.


    "It''s crepe," Monica corrected again.


    "The id skirt," Khan chose.


    "I think I''ll buy both," Monica considered while shooting a meaningful nce at Khan. "I really like skirts."


    Those and more interactions went by in the hours after thending. Monica visited six different shops, and Khan had to pretend to remain indifferent while giving his opinions under the middle-aged man''s cold stare.


    "Are you sure the teleport can handle so many clothes?" Khan whispered once Monica''s shopping spree finally came to an end.


    "I also lost a lot during the disaster," Monica replied in an equally faint tone before lowering her voice even more, "Including some of your favorite skirts."


    "You know I prefer you without them," Khanmented.


    "Miss Solodrey," The middle-aged man leading the two suddenly called as he halted his steps. "We are here."


    The man lifted his arm to point at the big shop on his right. The ce was a beauty salon that handled various activities, and multiple long lines stretched from its entrances.


    "This ce should do," Monica confirmed. "Let''s go, Khan. I''ve already warned them about our arrival."


    "Wait, our?" Khan wondered.


    "The messy outlook suits you," Monica joked, "But the Harbor has some of the wealthiest members of our generation. You need to look the part."


    "I''ll tell them you have arrived," The man stated before ignoring the lines to peek past one of the entrances and summon a waiter.


    "What did you get me into?" Khan whispered now that he and Monica were alone.


    "Bath, new clothes, and a haircut," Monica exined before ring at Khan. "Don''t you dare to request for women during your bath."


    "Wait, can I?" Khan honestly asked, and the anger expanding inside Monica gave him the answer he sought. A smirk tried to follow, but the man returned and interrupted that interaction.


    "They are ready for you," The man announced. "You can enter."


    "Thank you," Monica said while performing a half-bow and stepping forward.


    Khan could only follow Monica and ignore the res or curious looks from the people in the lines. He expected someints, but no one dared to speak.


    "Wee to the Daily Delights," A beautiful woman greeted the two as soon as they entered the shop. "Miss Solodrey, you can follow Ca. She will fulfill all your requests."


    A younger woman approached the first and pointed toward a different area of the shop before adding something. "Miss Solodrey, we can begin if you wish."


    "I''ll be in your hands, Ca," Monica thanked before following the second woman into a deeper area of the shop. The two even crossed a sliding door that prevented Khan from keeping track of them.


    "Lieutenant Khan, am I right?" The first woman asked once she and Khan remained alone.


    "Indeed," Khan responded while inspecting the ce. The room was vast, but it didn''t have much. He could only see a few seats and a long transparent desk filled with various beauty products.


    "Is this your first time in a beauty salon?" The woman continued.


    "Right again," Khan revealed.


    "I hope we can give you a memorable experience then," The woman eximed. "It would be unbefitting of your feats if we mistreated you."


    "I believe Miss Solodrey has already nned everything," Khan changed the topic.


    "Yes!" The woman confirmed. "Please, follow me."


    The woman led Khan deeper into the shop, in a room full of lockers and doors. The temperature was far higher there, and many young women handed out towels or simr items to the men sitting on various benches.


    "You can use an empty locker to store your belongings," The woman exined, "But we''ll take your uniform to clean it up. There are baths behind each of these doors. Just choose an empty one."


    "Sure," Khan voiced while unbuttoning the upper parts of his uniform.


    "Wait!" The woman shouted once she realized what Khan was up to.


    "What is it?" Khan asked while turning, uncaring that half of his chest was already in the open.


    "There are changing rooms inside the baths," The woman quickly exined while the azure scar captured her attention. "You don''t need to undress here."


    "But you need my uniform, don''t you?" Khan asked.


    "There is a drawer inside the changing room that we can open from outside," The woman revealed.


    "Oh," Khan eximed. "Well, I''m done anyway."


    Khan finished removing the upper part of his uniform before moving to his pants. He hung them up in a specific spot on a nearby locker before storing his sheath, knife, phone, and fake ID card. The container asked him to create a temporary password, and he quicklyplied.


    "How long do I have?" Khan wondered.


    "A-" The woman gulped while her eyes traced Khan''s firm muscles, "You can stay as long you want."


    "I won''t take long," Khan stated before heading for one of the doors. He wore nothing but underwear, so his walk attracted a lot of attention, especially from the waitresses. As for the men on the benches, they mostly looked at his azure scar.


    Khan ignored everything to enter one of the baths. The luxury waiting for him inside was nothing surprising or spectacr after the trip on Luke''s ship. He actually found fewer beauty products there, but he still knew how to use only one.


    The changing room turned out to be the big surprise of the ce. The area already had a clean uniform with two stars on each shoulder waiting for Khan, and the various drawers offered a wide variety of socks and underwear.


    Khan had seen simr stuff on Reebfell and Milia 222, and the sight didn''t interest him. He cleaned himself and picked up simple boxers before donning the military uniform and leaving the bath.


    The surprises arrived after leaving the bath too. Many waitresses had gathered in front of the door, and a few men had also joined them. Yet, the disappointed expressions followed and pushed Khan to find a way out of the situation.


    "Is something the matter?" Khan calmly asked, pretending not to understand what was happening.


    "No, no," The woman who had taken care of Khan until now replied while herpanions either blushed or diverted their gazes. "Let''s move on."


    Khan retrieved his stuff and followed the woman into another room that featured multiple clothes. ording to her, Monica had already given some instructions, which Khan appreciated since he didn''t understand the field.


    The woman''s eager expression pushed Khan to use the changing room at that time. He tried a few sets of clothes at the waitress'' request, but he bought only the bare minimum. The shopping session ended after he purchased two tracksuits and a pair of elegant garments.


    "We''ll deliver them to the destination appointed by Miss Solodrey," The woman exined before leading Khan into another room.


    Thest room had a series of seats attended by barbers apanied by automated carts. Thetter had mirrors, scissors, and far more to help with the task, and happy chats enveloped everything to create a joyful scene.


    "Miss Solodrey gave her inputs on possible hairstyles," The woman announced while apanying Khan to his seat. "Do you want to hear them?"


    "Sure," Khan casually replied.


    "Fringe up, undercut, faux hawk," The woman began to list, but Khan quickly realized how pointless that was.


    "Wait, wait," Khan interrupted. "I don''t know what those names mean."


    "I can show you pictures," The woman suggested.


    "Look, you are the expert," Khan stated. "Choose for me."


    The woman remained surprised, but she was a professional at her core. She reached for Khan''s chin and lifted his head to get a good look at his features.


    "Miss Solodrey has good taste," The woman praised. "Undercut it is."


    Khan let the woman handle everything. She summoned a barber, and the haircut began. Thetter tried to be friendly, but he felt a bit tense, and Khan''s short answers eventually killed any conversation.


    ''I''ve seen a few people with this hairstyle,'' Khan thought while inspecting his hair on his phone''s screen.


    A short fade had taken control of the sides of Khan''s head, and a slightly longer fringe left his forehead uncovered. The hairstyle looked good on him, but he expected it to lose that shape in a matter of weeks.


    ''Do they expect me to get a haircut every month?'' Khan wondered before ncing at the people in the lines.


    Khan had already left the shop, but Monica was still inside, which wasn''t surprising. He was waiting for her with the middle-aged man, and the situation gave him the time to inspect what the world saw as ordinary people.


    Neo Station had a rtively wealthy poption, and Khan couldn''t find a single messy outfit or hairstyle among the people in line. He couldn''t understand why such clean and tidy individuals would need to visit a beauty salon, but there they were.


    ''Maybe I should step it up in the Harbor,'' Khan wondered while storing his phone. ''I need to put rms for this stuff.''


    Khan and the man ended up waiting two entire hours outside the shop, but thetter didn''t dare to show his annoyance. He actually seemed used to that treatment. As for Khan, he fought against the instinct of sitting on the floor and let his mind wander through the symphony to kill time.


    "Wee back, Miss Solodrey!" The middle-aged man announced as soon as Monica left the shop. Khan had sensed her arrival and had even prepared a joke for when they would be alone, but he forgot it once he looked at her.


    Monica had changed into her military uniform, but her face and hair showed the results of the beauty treatment. Her curls had erged and softened, and her skin appeared far smoother.


    The partially warrior-like appearance fused with Monica''s enhanced beauty left Khan stunned. He found himself staring at Monica while wild thoughts tried to take control of his mind. His state told him that his imminent mission wasn''t starting in the best way.


    "I didn''t think I''d be in there for so long," Monica politely justified herself, "But they had so many interesting services. I couldn''t resist."


    "It''s no problem at all, Miss Solodrey," The man eximed. "Do you want another tour? There are other shops on the upper floors."


    "No, it''s fine," Monica responded. "I''ve wasted enough of your time already."


    "It was a pleasure," The middle-aged man stated.


    "You are too kind," Monica giggled. "Still, I must refuse. Lieutenant Khan and I have a ship to get to."


    "Of course," The man eximed, turning to show a cold expression to Khan. "I''ll lead the way."


    The guide didn''t hesitate to step ahead, leaving Monica and Khan slightly behind. The former could still hear them, but they resorted to whispers to avoid the issue.


    "What is it?" Monica asked since she noticed something in Khan''s expression. "Did something happen in the salon?"


    "No," Khan reassured. "Something happened afterward."


    "Afterward?" Monica repeated.


    "Let''s say they did a good job with you," Khan vaguely exined.


    Monica couldn''t help but smile and lower her gaze. The urge to grab Khan''s hand ran through her, but she held back for obvious reasons, and anger soon reced those warm feelings.


    Khan sensed the changes inside Monica, but he couldn''t do much about it. He was also in a difficult situation. His state almost felt nostalgic since he had experienced something simr with Liiza.


    The guide led Monica and Khan back to Neo Station''s lower areas, and the scanners that often preceded teleports soon unfolded past them. The middle-aged man remained behind while Khan and Monica went through them, and surprising results appeared on the screens once everything ended.


    "There must be a mistake," Monica eximed when she looked at the screen.


    "We can check again, ma''am," The soldier in charge of recording the results responded.


    "No need," Khan intervened in an aloof tone. "They are correct."


    Monica snapped toward Khan, but his expression spoke clearly. He had expected something simr to happen.


    ''Sixty-nine percent attunement with mana,'' Khan read on the screen. ''I''m almost a third-level warrior.''


    The soldier was confused to see that reaction, but he understood the reason behind it when he looked at other information on his device. His eyes widened in shock when he read Khan''s age. Those results were truly unbelievable.


    "Is the teleport ready?" Khan asked since he sensed the changes happening inside the soldier.


    "Y-," The soldier stuttered. "Yes! Everything is ready."


    "We should go then," Khan announced, and Monica nodded in agreement when he looked at her.


    The walk toward the familiar oval room was silent, and the same went for the umtion of synthetic mana in the machine. The teleport activated, and the scenery instantly changed.


    "Wee to Aegis Station, Miss Monica," A woman in her forties shouted as soon as Monica opened her eyes. "Lieutenant Khan, it''s a pleasure to meet you. I''ve heard many good things about you."


    Khan only needed a nce to gain aplete view of the woman. She was a slender and tall third-level warrior with long brown hair and dark skin. Her eyes were also dark, and her stance reminded him of Master Ivor.


    "Master Amelia!" Monica eximed while stepping out of the teleport to greet the woman. "I didn''t know you''d receive us."


    "Your mother insisted when she heard you wanted to fly to the Harbor," Master Amelia exined. "Miss Monica, why didn''t you teleport directly there?"


    "My mother should have read the reports about my mission," Monica politely replied. "A rxing trip is necessary after such a mandatory assignment."


    "I understand," Master Amelia stated.


    "The academic year isn''t due for another month either," Monica added. "I thought it was wise to prepare ordingly before reaching the Harbor."


    "I expected nothing less from you," Master Amelia smiled. "I''ve already loaded the ship with books and files suitable for the Harbor. I''m sure you have already memorized those topics, but reviewing them can''t hurt."


    "Thank you," Monica voiced. "Part of my luggage is also on its way. I believe it should arrive within the hour."


    "I already have a team ready to pick it up," Master Amelia stated.


    "Perfect," Monica uttered before stepping to her left to make room for Khan.


    "Master Amelia," Khan announced after stepping out of the teleport and performing a military salute. "It''s nice to meet you."


    "You are surprisingly young," Master Ameliamented, "And good-looking."


    "Ma''am?" Khan wondered.


    "I hope you don''t mind this old woman," Master Amelia teased. "I dreamed of meeting a man like you when I was Miss Monica''s age."


    Khan showed a polite smile, but coldness spread inside his mind. He could sense that Master Amelia had ill intentions. She didn''t want to hurt him, but her jokes had deeper meanings.


    "Master Amelia, be polite," Monica scolded. "Lieutenant Khan isn''t only a war hero. He is also my guest."


    "About that," Master Amelia said. "Lieutenant Khan must feel very lucky about this chance. I hope he understands what it means to receive the help of the Solodrey family."


    "Master Amelia!" Monica raised her voice. "This behavior is uneptable."


    Master Amelia''s eyes darted left and right to search for twitches in Khan''s smiling expression, but his pretense remained perfect. She eventually gave up on that probing, but she didn''t hold back from voicing onestment.


    "I hope you don''t mind my protective behavior, Lieutenant Khan," Master Amelia announced while turning to leave the teleport area. "Miss Monica is like a daughter to me, but she is too kind. She might convey the wrong idea, especially to men beneath her."


    "Master Amelia, you are dismissed," Monica coldly ordered. "I also forbid you ess to the ship. If my mother hasints, she can call me."


    "As you wish, Miss Monica," Master Amelia halted her steps and turned again. "Lieutenant Khan, it was a pleasure."


    Master Amelia left the teleport area afterward, and an awkward tension fell on the scene. The scientists and soldiers behind the consoles pretended to have missed the drama, but they couldn''t avoid peeking at Khan and Monica from time to time.


    "The Solodrey family''s hospitality has worsened in thest years," Monica eximed, trying to hide the irritation in her tone.


    "She was nice," Khanmented. "I hope my fellow trainees will be as kind as her."


    Monica tried to find the truth in Khan''s expression, but he limited himself to his polite smile. His poker face was as perfect as ever, which pushed Monica to hurry in the following tasks to obtain some privacy as soon as possible.


    Aegis Station was nothing like Neo Station. It was far smaller since the quadrant didn''t have any major destination thatcked teleports. It only featured a few hangars, a couple of training halls, and multiple habitations meant for the soldiers stationed there.


    Master Amelia had already left, but a team of soldiers had remained behind to guide Khan and Monica through the space station. The two quickly reached the hangar, and it didn''t take long before they arrived at a rtively big ship.


    Khan recognized the vehicle. It was anotherfort-oriented ship simr to what Luke had booked for Milia 222. It was smaller, but that made sense considering the lower number of crew members.


    "Departure is in a few hours, Miss Solodrey," One of the soldiers revealed while the rest of the team red at Khan. "You can enter to check whether the ship suits your needs."


    "I''m sure it will be fine," Monica almost dropped her elegant behavior since her patience was reaching its limits. The soldiers had red at Khan the whole time, and that behavior was getting on her nerves.


    A door on the ship''s side opened, and a metal staircase came out of it. Monica didn''t hesitate to approach it, and a soldier stepped forward to hinder Khan''s path when he tried to follow her.


    "Miss Solodrey can inspect the ship," The soldier warned. "You don''t have clearance."


    Khan''s face felt stiff. His polite smile had never left his expression, and that didn''t change even after the soldier''s rude warning. Still, Monica wasn''t the type to let the matter slide.


    "n, am I right?" Monica called from the first step of the staircase.


    "Yes, Miss Solodrey," The soldier confirmed.


    "Leave right now," Monica ordered. "This ship will fly without you."


    "Miss Solodrey, your mother-," n tried to exin.


    "I''ll bring the topic directly to my mother," Monica interrupted. "You are dismissed."


    "Yes, ma''am," n nodded and began to turn, but Monica called for him again.


    "Onest thing," Monica said. "How many people does this ship need to fly?"


    "The pilot, co-pilot, and three more soldiers for safety measures," n revealed.


    "I suspect the safety measures are for Lieutenant Khan," Monica said gently. "Let''s make it two since you have been so rude."


    "Miss Solodrey," n tried toin, but Monica interrupted him once again.


    "n, you have served my family for many years," Monica announced without dropping her smile. "I''m sure you can exin my decision to my mother. Now that I think about it, I don''t want to talk to her."


    "But," n attempted again, but Monica didn''t want to hear reasons.


    "That''s an order, n," Monica dered as her smile finally vanished. "And don''t bother choosing your best soldiers. Lieutenant Khan has defeated a third-level warrior. You simply aren''t up to the task."


    The team only had first and second-level warriors who showed disbelief at Monica''s words. It didn''t help that Khan continued to wear his fake smile. The scene went from tense to chilling, forcing n to agree to Monica''s requests.


    Khan eventually followed Monica inside the ship, which featured everything it promised. Its seats werefortable, its rooms rtively spacious, and its services up to the highest standards.


    "Eric and Stacy, do I recall correctly?" Monica asked when the two soldiers that would apany her on the trip entered the ship.


    "Correct, Miss Solodrey," The two soldiers said simultaneously.


    "I believe you have orders from my mother," Monica guessed. "I''m sorry to say that you aren''t as important as n or Master Amelia. I can get you fired if I want."


    The two soldiers couldn''t help but gulp under that tant threat. Monica was right. They had orders to keep track of Khan, but Monica''s mother wasn''t there to confirm whether they did their job.


    "We understand each other then," Monica stated before checking her surroundings. The group was in the ship''s central corridor, which divided the vehicle into two parts.


    "There are rooms on both sides of the ship," Monica announced as she reached one of the seats behind her. "You will take the rooms near the pilot''s cabin while Lieutenant Khan and I will settle on the other side. This corridor will be a neutral zone, but you can''t cross this seat."


    Monica''s requests were unreasonable, but she had already made herself clear, so the two soldiers could only nod in agreement.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Excellent," Monica eximed while revealing one of her elegant expressions. "Now, if you''ll excuse me, I have matters to handle with Lieutenant Khan."


    Monica didn''t hesitate to head for the back of the ship, and Khan followed her closely. Truth be told, he had also been on the verge of snapping, but seeing Monica so annoyed dispersed his anger and made him eager to have some time alone with her.


    The two crossed the corridor, and Monica waited until the door closed tounch a loud curse. "Those bastards! How can they treat you like that?!"


    Monica''s venting didn''t stop there. She turned toward the closed door and threw a kick at it. The metal endured the blow, but she didn''t try to break it in the first ce.


    "My mother this, my mother that," Monica continued. "Even Master Amelia insulted you. I''m so pissed!"


    Monica began to walk up and down the short corridor that led to the remaining room until she grew calm enough to focus on Khan.


    "I''m so sorry," Monica almost cried as she reached for Khan''s arms. "I had no idea they would-! Is everything okay?"


    Due to Monica''s annoyance, Khan''s fake smile wanted to turn into one of his usual smirks, but the arrival of some privacy transformed his feelings once again. She was there, more beautiful than ever, and her concern was genuine. An explosion was almost inevitable.


    "Khan?" Monica called again once Khan''s expression grew entranced.


    Khan lifted his right arm to reach for Monica''s cheek, and she instinctively gripped her hand around his wrist. He also lowered his head to make their foreheads touch, and her anger dispersed during that affectionate gesture.


    "Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?" Khan whispered. "I also can''t get enough of seeing you all worked up."


    "They mistreated you because of me," Monicained.


    "You are totally worth the hassle," Khan replied before delivering a quick kiss.


    "I''m sorry I told them about the third-level warrior," Monica whimpered before another kissnded on her lips.


    "I don''t care," Khan managed to say among the kisses, and the two immediately abandoned the topic.


    Soon, Monica found herself on Khan. Her arms were on his neck, and her legs were on his waist. She could barely hold back after the day they had, and Khan was in far worse condition.


    "It''s safer to wait until they deliver our luggage," Monica pointed out, but Khan ignored the warning.


    The rooms on the ship had beds dug inside the metal walls, which didn''t suit two people who wanted to do more than sleep. Khan had to settle for a rtively spacious couch nearby, and the kisses took a break when he ced Monica on it.


    The couple exchanged a long, meaningful gaze. Monica and Khan knew a change in their rtionship was imminent, but they let that momentst as long as possible to savor it in its entirety and confirm that they were sure about their decision.


    Monica was also too timid to make the first step, but her face said enough, and Khan had the perfect line ready. "I think there is no kicking me out today."


    The phrase would typically bring out Monica''s timid side, but she was too into the moment to even think about being shy or refusing. She could only muster one line before letting her feelings take over. "I think I found your birthday present."

 Chapter ?430 Shoes

    ?430 Shoes


    Cute snores weed Khan''s awakening, but he couldn''t see anything when he opened his eyes. He had to straighten his back to get out of the nest of curly hair and regain ess to his vision.


    Monica whimpered but didn''t wake up. Khan could sit and rub his eyes before falling prey to the sweet sight. Monica had her legs on hisp, a simple nket covered her body, and her expression embodied peace.


    ''I won''t be able to hold back anymore.'' Khan cursed, even if a smile remained on his face.


    Khan and Monica had taken a significant step forward. The event had been joyous, and Khan almost couldn''t believe how good it had felt.


    The restraints that Khan had to put on himself for many months could be the reason behind that pleasant surprise. He could also me the transformation for his enhanced sensations. Still, he liked to believe that Monica had something to do with that. After all, she had done a lot during that intimate moment.


    ''You can''t stop getting cuter, can you?'' Khan cursed again as he ran his fingers over the leg peeking out of the nket.


    Monica whimpered under that touch, and a pleased expression soon joined her peace. That reaction almost pushed Khan to wake her up, but he forced himself to divert his gaze and rest his head on the couch''s back.


    ''Jenna was right,'' Khan thought, recalling all thements Jenna made about Monica and that topic. ''We definitely arepatible. Now what?''


    The day had given Khan a taste of the rudeness he could face in the Harbor. Monica''s underlings were only worried about his potential rtionship with her, but his destination was bound to have people who disliked his background.


    Khan had already faced simr problems, especially during his time in co, but he had changed a lot since then. Dealing with Monica''s underlings had proven how he struggled to pretend now. He could show a poker face, but someone would eventually find a crack in it, and he couldn''t imagine what would happen afterward.


    Things would even worsen from now on. Monica was an emotional trigger that grew stronger as Khan got closer to her, and his own instabilities would eventually resurface. He would probably snap at some point, and the issue had no reasonable solution.


    ''Maybe, it''s for the best,'' Khan guessed. ''I need to build awork of people who respect the real me anyway. Surviving until then is the only issue.''


    The results of the scanners shed in Khan''s mind once that topic returned. The transformation had pushed his attunement with mana to sixty-nine percent. He only needed one point to be a third-level warrior.


    Khan was still holding back from making the meditative sessions a core part of his training schedule, but it seemed that the time hade. Finding something that would turn him into a necessary aspect of the Harbor would take time. Instead, his new star was right around the corner, and he might need it to avoid eventual punishments.


    Checking the phone revealed that Khan had only slept for a few hours. The ship had probably set off by then, putting the arrival in the Harbor a couple weeks from now. The trip would be pretty long, but time sounded short when Khan thought about his many tasks.


    The training was obvious, but Khan nned to take a look at the books left behind by Master Amelia. The new state of his rtionship also hinted at busy times, so Khan could already predict that his sleep would be rare and short.


    The odd position enforced by the couch eventually made Monica wake up. She opened her eyes only to feel Khan''s caresses on her leg. Turning in his direction also put her before his warm expression, and she couldn''t help but reach for it.


    Monica straightened her back while holding the nket on her torso. The two exchanged a kiss before Monica moved to his corbone and shoulder to leave wet marks that expressed her affection.


    "How are you feeling?" Khan asked.


    "Great," Monica reassured while leaving another kiss on Khan''s shoulder. "Maybe a bit lightheaded."


    "It would be strange otherwise," Khan teased. "We didn''t exactly hold back, especially you."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I''m d this area is soundproof," Monica giggled. Her shyness couldn''te out after herst barrier had crumbled. She had opened herselfpletely, so she couldn''t feel any tension or shame with Khan.


    That reaction shocked Khan a bit. He didn''t expect things to evolve so quickly, but seeing Monica in that state added fuel to the wild urges he had just fulfilled. He was ready to take her into his arms, but his emotions froze when her fingers touched the tattoo.


    Khan followed Monica''s movements closely. She stared at the tattoo while tracing its lines with her forefinger. Her touch expressed curiosity, but it also carried a great deal of care.


    "It''s incredible how this survived all your battles," Monicamented while keeping her eyes on the tattoo.


    "It''s made out of mana," Khan shortly exined, "And it''s part of me."


    "Jenna mentioned something about it," Monica revealed. "It''s connected to your ex, Liiza, isn''t it?"


    "It is," Khan confirmed as a sad smile made its way onto his face. "Humans don''t love like Niqols, so one of their shamans wanted to test my feelings."


    "Test?" Monica repeated. "Was it dangerous?"


    "I would have needed special surgery if I failed," Khan stated. "Still, everything went well, and now it''s there forever."


    "I see," Monica whispered. "Does it have a meaning?"


    Khan didn''t want to spoil the moment, but lying to Monica wasn''t an option either. Yet, he hesitated anyway. He didn''t look forward to hurting Monica.


    "In the humannguage," Khan announced, "Eternal love."


    Monica had never lifted her gaze, but Khan could still notice the tremor running through her eyes. He also sensed her emotions, but something odd happened there. Sadness spread inside her, but her rtionship wasn''t the target of that feeling.


    "So much pain," Monica voiced as she caressed the tattoo. "You fought for them, killed for them, but you still lost in the end. It''s so unfair."


    Khan frowned. He expected Monica to hurt or at least snap, but she didn''t do anything remotely simr. She only felt sorry for him.


    "And now my family is treating you like shit," Monica continued. "It''s so depressing and irritating."


    Monica finally lifted her gaze, and she felt surprised to see Khan''s frown. She couldn''t understand what was happening, and Khan''s silence eventually made her pout. "What?"


    "Aren''t you jealous?" Khan bluntly asked.


    "Of course I am," Monica snorted, "But not about your ex. I just wish you had more marks about me."


    Shock ran through Khan again. The moody Monica was showing a surprisingly understanding and calm behavior when it came to another woman. The scene was almost unbelievable.


    "Idiot," Monica snorted again whileying her head on Khan''s shoulder. "I can only imagine how important she was to you. I have big shoes to fill."


    Khan knew that Monica and Jenna had spoken after the kiss, but it took him that answer to understand how deeply their talk had gone. He could even guess what Jenna''s feelings had made her hint at, which wasn''t what he wanted.


    "You don''t have to fill anything," Khan called while moving his shoulder away to reach for Monica''s face. "You just have to be you."


    "But I have an annoying family," Monica cried, "And it''s because of me that we can''t be together openly."


    "Fuck your family," Khan stated as he held Monica''s face with both hands. "As for everything else, we''ll figure something out together."


    "Really?" Monica almost begged.


    "Really," Khan promised.


    Monica''s face lit up. A wave of life invaded her and pushed her arms around Khan''s neck. He pulled her closer, and the two exchanged a kiss before she snuggled on his neck.


    "So, how many tattoos are you getting for me?" Monica questioned.


    "Are we starting with the demands already?" Khan chuckled.


    "I think three is a good number," Monica continued beforeughing when Khan pushed her down to lie on top of her.


    "I know a better way to leave marks on me," Khan whispered, knowing that he had already gone over a simr topic with Liiza. Still, instead of the usual sorrow, he found himself appreciating how Monica had reached the same realm.


    Monica''s timid side shed on her face before she lost herself in Khan''s expression. She instinctively pulled him closer while spreading her legs to cling them to his waist, and words became useless afterward.


    As Khan predicted, the two weeks of flight ended up being quite packed. Studying the books on the ship, training, and Monica upied most of his time, leaving him barely any minute to sleep or rest.


    Khan''s new vitality came in handy, especially since things only escted with Monica. She grew bolder and more confident inside the privacy of the ship, which pushed Khan to be even more open about his desire.


    Monica couldn''t refuse Khan, and he didn''t even try to hold back when she used one of her meaningful looks. Their passion became impossible to contain, and Khan could only be thankful that the ship had enough condoms.


    Luckily for the couple, the soldiers had left Monica''s belongings in the corridor at the ship''s center, so the trip went by without any awkward interaction. Khan studied, trained, and let his passion run freely until the pilot gave the inevitable announcement.


    "Miss Solodrey, you can activate the external cameras if you want to inspect thending," The pilot said through the ship''s speakers.


    Monica groaned while rubbing her face on Khan''s bare chest. They were on the ship''s floor, where they had assembled a makeshift bed. Three bags acted as pillows while two sheets separated them from the cold metal and covered their bodies.


    "You go," Monica whimpered. "I''m not getting up."


    "It''s your turn," Khan pointed out.


    "It''s not," Monica rebuked.


    "Because you say so?" Khan asked.


    "Because I say so," Monica confirmed.


    "And here I hoped I could get a good spectacle," Khan teased.


    Monica had closed her eyes, but they snapped open to look at Khan''s intense gaze. She could see herself at the center of his attention, and she knew thatplying would deepen his stare.


    "Scoundrel," Monica whispered. "You are lucky I''m the best girlfriend in the world."


    "Let''s not get ahead of ourselves," Khan joked before grunting. Monica had bitten his chest, and she pushed on it to leave the sheets and stand up.


    The desire to add another joke orint left Khan. He fell prey to the sight that unfolded in his vision and even crossed his arms behind his head to appreciate it fully.


    Monica''s naked beauty shone under the ship''s artificial light. She showed her back to Khan and peeked past her shoulder to disy herplicit smile. She loved when he only had eyes for her, and he didn''t even try to hide his interest.


    The slow walk to an interactive menu on the ship''s wallsted far too little for Khan''s tastes, but the screens that popped out suppressed his disappointment.


    The external cameras captured an eerie grey moon with giant structures growing on its side. A series of transparent domes upied almost a quarter of the satellite and revealed the many buildings hidden underneath. White lights also shone past them, allowing the ship to see many details from a distance.


    The ce resembled an immense city divided into multiple districts. Its size didn''t surprise Khan after his experience on Milia 222, but the heavily human style created a more harmonious picture. The scene was beautiful, and eagerness inevitably spread inside Khan.


    The cameras eventually captured a series of ships leaving the dome to approach Monica''s vehicle, and the pilot didn''t hesitate to make another announcement. "Miss Solodrey, thending procedures have started."


    Monica pressed abel on the interactive menu before replying. "How long untilnding?"


    "Should be one hour," The pilot responded. "I''m confident I can save us at least twenty minutes."


    "Don''t worry," Monica reassured. "I need the extra time to make myself presentable."


    "As you wish, Miss Solodrey," The pilot confirmed before themunication ended.


    Khan lost himself in the scenes on the screens. Seeing the approaching ships with the massive dome in the background created an otherworldly and exciting picture. He had already witnessed simr events, but they never stopped triggering his wonder.


    "Hey," Monica called while sitting on Khan''s waist and nting her hands on his chest. "You aren''t looking at me."


    "What a needy woman," Khan sighed as he arched his back to make Monica lose her bnce and fall on him.


    Monica voiced a short cry, but a giggle followed when she found Khan holding her by her waist. Her head descended on her own, and Khan knew the perfect line to make her fall into a kiss. "Let''s use this hour well."


    ****


    Author''s notes: The fourth volume will end here. I think I could have handled some parts better, but I hope you liked it anyway. I''ll see you tomorrow in the Harbor, which will mark the beginning of the fifth volume, and, yes, we''ll eventually get a new cover too.

 Chapter ?431 Classmates

    ?431 ssmates


    "This way, Miss Solodrey," Eric announced from the bottom of the metal staircase. "Stacy is on her way to the teleport to gather the rest of your belongings. You''ll find them in your amodation."


    "Thank you," Monica eximed through her elegant smile as she approached the staircase to leave the spaceship.


    Khan followed closely behind Monica, but the environment quickly captured his attention. The ship had finallynded in the Harbor, and Khan couldn''t help but feel curious about his surroundings.


    Thework and Monica''s notes had given Khan a vague idea of the Harbor. He had been busy during thending, but he had still caught glimpses of the images captured by the external cameras, so he could somewhat understand the ce''s generalyout.


    From a distance, the Harbor shared many simrities with Milia 222. Its domes didn''t expand inside the moon, but those structures had a lot inmon with the asteroids.


    However, getting closer to the moon revealed how the domes were uneven. They had many branches and channels that stretched past the districts or created a wide array of connections.


    Of course, the transparent ss-like material enveloped any habitable area, but the buildings inside could change significantly ording to their location.


    Each dome marked a different district with a specific function. The Harbor had areas meant for producing essential resources, excavating important metals,nding spaceships, the actual embassy, and much more.


    Surprisingly enough, the Harbor was almost self-sufficient. It needed deliveries to obtain some vital goods, but it still limited the arrival of cargo ships for safety reasons. The quadrant was peaceful, but the embassy''s presence required additional care.


    As for the actual location, the Global Army had chosen that moon for multiple reasons. The almost self-sufficiency came from the many resources in that sr system. The quadrant was also close to the territory of alien allies, which added value to its position.


    The Harbor resembled Milia 222 on the outside, but its insides strongly reminded Khan of a space station. He was in a hangar that the ship had reached after crossing a short channel, and the area felt quite cramped. It was by no means small, but it couldn''tpare to the asteroids'' open spaces.


    The hangar also existed on a single floor. Khan guessed that the Harbor had many of them, but that specificyout still made everything feel smaller and isted, which resembled the other space stations visited in the past.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The corridors stretching past the hangar didn''t help with that feeling. Khan could partially see and predict how cramped those channels would be. They weren''t narrow, but they still carried a style he couldn''t appreciate after his time on Milia 222.


    An exnation quickly popped into Khan''s mind. Milia 222 was a proper home, while the Harbor was a glorified space station. Their main purpose was different, and theiryout reflected that.


    Nevertheless, the Harbor beat Milia 222 in one field. The harmony seen from the outside was a nice detail, but Khan found something far more intriguing after descending the staircase and lifting his head.


    The hangar had a rtively small dome, but its material remained transparent. Khan could see the universe when he lifted his gaze, and that dark spectacle added a mesmerizing vibe to the scene.


    ''How can I see the stars when the hangar is so bright?'' Khan wondered, and the answer sounded obvious.


    Pir-like structures that radiated a white light filled the hangar, and the floor reflected that glow. The ce was well-illuminated, but that didn''t affect the scene past the dome. The ss-like material probably filtered the internal brightness to grant an almost natural image of the universe.


    ''Incredible,'' Khan couldn''t help but exim in his mind.


    As for the synthetic mana, it was pretty in. It didn''t carry anything unusual, which led to a symphony that Khan had already gotten used to. Some colors were different, but they didn''t change things enough to destabilize Khan''s senses.


    The hangar was strangely empty. Khan saw many ships when he managed to lower his gaze, but very few people roamed in that space. The ce had a few guards and engineers busy checking the various vehicles, but nothing more.


    Monica and Khan waited next to the ship while Eric handled the unloading process. The two pilots even left their cabin to help, and a couple of guards from the Harbor joined them to provide a floating cart.


    The mesmerizing ceiling managed to keep Khan distracted during the wait, but captivating sensations oftennded on him. Monica was still flushed, and it took her the entirety of her self-restraint to avoid reaching for Khan. Yet, she couldn''t control her eyes, so meaningful stares shot out of her.


    Khan was no better than Monica. He had experience in secret rtionships, but he had just gotten out of two weeks of constant intimacy. Monica''s stares easily rekindled his desire and made him meet her beautiful eyes to convey his thoughts.


    The absurd size of Monica''s luggage came in handy. Eric, the pilots, and the two guards were too busy unloading the ship to notice Khan and Monica''s silent interactions, but their presence still limited their actions, and they both suffered under those restraints.


    ''I''m getting kicked out for sure,'' Khan cursed, even if he couldn''t feel too unlucky. The memories from the trip still warmed his mind. He could only hope to replicate them as soon as possible.


    As the unloading process continued, Khan struggled to keep his mouth shut. The cart was big, but Monica''s belongings seemed endless. The five men had to rearrange them often to make them fit on the floating tform, and they were only part of what Monica had sent to the Harbor.


    "Monica, isn''t that too much?" Khan eventually let out a joke. "The amodations here should haveundry areas."


    "It seems that the world of women still has some secret for you," Monica chuckled.


    "Poor cart," Khanmented.


    "The cart would understand if it knew how hard it is to have you at dinner," Monica joked.


    "I promised I''d make up for it," Khan yed along to keep the conversation alive. Nothing simr had happened, but talking in the open required some pretenses.


    "I''m sure you''ll make the wait worth it," Monica teased, and awkwardness fell on the scene. The five men could only remain silent since they couldn''t join that conversation.


    The issue didn''t onlye from Monica''s past threat. Eric could try to enforce Monica''s mother''s authority in an isted environment, but the area already had two guards from the Harbor. He couldn''t argue or rebuke Monica in the open since it would make her lose face.


    The same went for the pilots and the guards. They were in a heavily political environment where respect was paramount. They could gossip in private, but none could say a word when a wealthy descendant was on the scene.


    Monica had exined that theory to Khan, so he felt pretty free in his replies. He couldn''t interact with Monica as he wished, but he wouldn''t have to watch his back from soldiers with a lower status as long as his interactions remained polite.


    The five men took a while to load the cart, and only three led the way once everything was ready. The pilots remained behind since theycked clearance, and Khan and Monica paid them no heed.


    The group headed for one of the corridors, which confirmed Khan''s predictions. The passage was big enough to fit four carts, but it still felt cramped. The absence of the transparent dome above also added a ustrophobic vibe to the scene.


    That vibe was short-lived since the corridor soon opened into an immense area filled with rtively tall buildings. The transparent ceiling returned, and vast streets stretched left and right to divide the ce into different blocks.


    Most buildings shared identical features. They had the Global Army''s iconic ck metal and general modern style. The various streets also reminded Khan of a training camp, even if the ce had white pirs instead of streetlights. The area resembled a residential district, and one of the guards quickly confirmed that feeling.


    "Wee to the seventh district, Miss Solodrey," The guard announced. "This is thergest residential area in the Harbor, and its services meet the highest standards. Though, I''m sure you''ll opt for something closer to the embassy."


    "Is the distance an issue?" Monica wondered, knowing that Khan would probably need that information.


    "Not at all," The guard reassured while pointing to his left. "Each district has various kinds of transport. The trains are more popr, but we offer a cab service. You can also use your own vehicles as long as the regtions allow it."


    "So, this district is no different from a city," Khan guessed.


    "Indeed," The guard confirmed, even if his smile remained on Monica. "Prices can differ from Earth, and we might not have the same wide variety of services, but everything else is no different from a city."


    ''I''ll need a map,'' Khan thought before giving another look at the guards.


    Eric had been openly rude to Khan, but the guards didn''t share that attitude. Monica remained their focus, but that came from a difference in status. She was above Khan even after his achievements.


    ''No enmity from normal soldiers,'' Khan thought. ''That''s a decent start.''


    The arrival of a luxurious vehicle imed the group''s attention and interrupted the conversation. Khan and the others were on the main street, so they couldn''t miss the long limousine turning a corner to head in their direction.


    Khan also didn''t miss the trace of spite that appeared inside Monica. She felt tenser and irritated, but her face remained the embodiment of elegance.


    The vehicle stopped by the sidewalk next to the group before its passengers'' doors opened. Five young soldiers came out of them, three men and two women, and stepped off the street to gather in front of Monica.


    "Monica, I almost couldn''t believe when my father told me you wereing," The man in the lead of the neers, a blonde second-level warrior with emerald eyes, happily eximed.


    "Lucian, it''s a pleasure to meet you after so long," Monica wore a perfect fake smile. "I didn''t expect this wee."


    "It''s no bother," Lucianughed. "The Harbor always feels overwhelming on your first day. We thought it could help to meet friendly faces."


    The people behind Lucian smiled and nodded, and their elegant stances said more than enough to Khan. He inevitably thought about Luke and Bruce. Those men and women had toe from wealthy families.


    "Though, how did you know about my arrival?" Monica wondered. "I''m not insinuating anything. I''m just curious. After all, we came by ship."


    "Your mother shared your flight course with my father," Lucian revealed in a helpless tone. "You know how our parents are. Always plotting something."


    "Their plotting put them where they are," Monica praised. "We will have to learn from them sooner orter."


    "I''ll go forter," Lucian winked, and Monica covered her mouth before giggling.


    Khan used those seconds to inspect the group. A first-level warrior was among them, but the rest were on the second level. They were also wearing military uniforms, so he could see that all of them were mages. The stars on their left shoulders even matched those on their right.


    The inspection came to an end after Monica''s giggle. She had faked it, but she couldn''t hide the meaning behind it. Lucian was being polite, and she had to y along due to their status.


    Luckily for Khan, Monica used the silence that followed to take care of the faint jealousy growing inside him.


    "Lucian, this is Lieutenant Khan," Monica eximed while pointing at Khan. "He will join me in the Harbor."


    "Oh," Lucian voiced while frowning. He inspected Khan for a second, but his eyes eventually lit up, making him stretch his hand forward.


    "You won Onia''s tournament, am I right?" Lucian asked while waiting for Khan to shake his hand. "I''m Lucian Hencus. It''s an honor to meet you. Monica got herself an exceptional guard."


    Monica waited until Khan shook Lucian''s hand to rify the situation. "He is no guard. He''ll be a trainee with us."


    Surprise filled Lucian''s face, which turned into hesitation before Khan''s fake smile. The two were still shaking hands, and Khan did his best to sound polite. "I can''t wait to be ssmates."


    "ss-," Lucian began to repeat before clearing his throat and retracting his hand. "I''m actually in advanced courses, but I''m sure you''ll catch up in no time."


    "I''ll do my best," Khan promised. "It would be an insult to Monica if I wasted this chance."


    Khan knew exactly what he was doing. He was also aware that avoiding using Monica''s first name might have saved him some trouble. Yet, some basic form of jealousy pushed him to show that he was in the same field as everyone else.


    The group obviously didn''t fail to understand the meaning behind Khan''s words, and their reactions revealed how well they could lie. Instead, Lucian seemed earnest, but something dark existed inside him, and Khan couldn''t quite understand its nature.


    The surprises didn''t end there since another vehicle approached the area. Thetter didn''t use the street. Instead, it flew above the buildings and began its descent once it arrived within the sidewalk''s range.


    "Can we fly here?" Khan asked since he noticed the surprise experienced by Lucian and his friends.


    "Only professors and other important figures can," The guard exined while the small shipnded behind the limousine.


    The ship had a triangr shape, a single engine, and a small pilot''s cabin covered by dark ss-like material. Thetter released a whooshing sound when it opened, and a man in his thirties quickly jumped out of it.


    The man wore casual clothes, but they were pretty messy. His brown trousers had marks and small stains, his jumper had holes, and the shirt underneath came out of it in random ces. His ck hair was also a mess, and the same went for his unkempt beard.


    "Professor Nickton?" Lucian called.


    "Oh, Lucian, I didn''t see you," Professor Nickton casually said before walking past Lucian to stop in front of Khan. "Are you Lieutenant Khan?"


    Khan saw far more than ordinary humans. He had immediately sensed that Professor Nickton was a third-level warrior, but his mana reeked of something odd. There was something alien in his presence, but his body wasn''t the source of that feature.


    "Yes, sir," Khan eximed while crossing his arms behind his back to perform a military salute.


    "Did you write the report on the Tors on your own?" Professor Nickton continued.


    "I did, sir," Khan revealed.


    "Come with me then," Professor Nickton ordered while turning to approach his ship.


    Khan couldn''t help but nce at Monica at that unexpected development, but she was as lost as him. It took Lucian to give some rity to the situation.


    "He is assistant professor," Lucian revealed among the general confusion. "You should go."


    Khan looked deep into Lucian''s emerald eyes but found no lies. He could only nce at Monica again, and she didn''t hesitate to reassure him. "Go. I''ll handle your amodation and luggage."


    Khan nodded and forced himself to look at the floor to avoid throwing a warning re at Lucian''s group. He hurried toward the ship, and a leap brought him next to Professor Nickton''s seat.


    "Fasten your seatbelt," Professor Nickton ordered when Khan sat next to him.


    Khan obliged, and the cabin closed. The Professor swiftly pulled the steering wheel to make the ship rise into the air, and a sharp eleration unfolded once it crossed the buildings.


    "I read your profile after your report fell into my hands," Professor Nickton exined while setting a course on the control desk and letting the ship go on auto-pilot. "You have amassedmendable achievements on top of alien knowledge."


    "I like to remain open to alternative approaches to mana," Khan briefly summarized.


    "You didn''t make up what you wrote about the Tors, did you?" The Professor asked.


    "No, sir," Khan denied. "I wouldn''t dare."


    "Good," Professor Nickton eximed. "A man with your expertise might be what I need."


    Theck of clear exnations told Khan that Professor Nickton wouldn''t say more than that. Yet, he had other doubts, and the course depicted on the control desk didn''t seem short.


    "Sir, how did you-?" Khan began to ask.


    "Entering the Harbor is no easy feat," Professor Nickton interrupted. "I was notified about your presence as soon as thending started."


    "Did you -?" Khan tried to voice another question.


    "No, I didn''t n on consulting you," Professor Nickton interrupted again. "Still, since you were here, I thought you might elerate the process."


    "What process?" Khan asked quickly, managing to finish his question before the Professor could interrupt him a third time.


    "You''ll see," Professor Nickton stated as his brown eyes remained on the path ahead.


    The cabin was dark from the outside, but Khan could see everything while sitting inside it. The ship flew through the seventh district before entering a channel made entirely of the same transparent material as the dome.


    Khan wanted to ask more questions, but Professor Nickton''sst answer had said enough, so he remained silent and lost himself in the environment. The tunnel led to another district, but the ship eventually made a turn to enter another channel that brought it closer to the center of the Harbor.


    The third district reached by ship was small and contained fewer buildings than the residential area. However, they were all taller andrger, and the vehicle soon descended toward one of them.


    The dark window that enveloped the building side slid open to allow the ship''s passage. The vehiclended on the neenth floor, inside an empty room with glowingbels and reports on its walls. They didn''t mean much to Khan, but he remained surprised to spot his essay on the Tors among them.


    "Follow me," Professor Nickton ordered once the cabin opened.


    The two stepped off the ship and headed for one of the two doors. After crossing that passage, a simpleb unfolded in Khan''s vision, and the reason behind the strange mana on Professor Nickton immediately became clear.


    Theb had three long desks, all of which had alien flesh resting on their surface. Some were inside transparent cases filled with interactivebels, while others had a prison of holograms around them.


    "Here, in the back," Professor Nickton voiced while leading Khan to the back of the room.


    The area had a series of locked cases that Professor Nickton opened by cing his thumb on their dark metal. A series of strange tools and more alien flesh appeared in Khan''s vision, but his inspection was short since the Professor closed everything after retrieving an item.


    The Professor then moved toward one of the interactive desks and swept part of it clean with a sharp movement of his arm. Flesh fell on the floor, releasing blood and leaving wet marks on the interactive surface, but Professor Nickton didn''t care as he ced his item on it.


    The item had captured Khan''s attention even before that sharp gesture. It was a dark-blue tube bent in three different spots, each containing a specific type of mana. Moreover, openings existed on those corners, but Khan couldn''t understand why.


    "I''m trying to replicate a spell from an alien species," Professor Nickton exined as he crouched under the desk and opened a drawer to take out a rectangr case. "I just don''t seem able to find the rightbination of filters."


    Professor Nickton opened the case to show a series of disks that carried different kinds of mana. All of them were unique, and their size seemed to suit the bent tube. They actually looked perfect for the openings in the corners.


    "Do you want me to find the rightbination?" Khan understood.


    "Can you do it?" Professor Nickton asked while showing his eager face to Khan.


    "I don''t even know what I''m trying to replicate," Khan pointed out.


    "Right," Professor Nickton eximed while smacking his forehead. "Give me a second."


    Professor Nickton moved to the other side of the desk and repeated the sweeping gesture. More flesh fell to the floor while he began to tinker with the interactive menus, uncaring that his jumper had gotten wet and dirty.


    Holograms soon came out of the desk and created a 3D picture of a strange animal. The creature had a dog''s body, but a seemingly tough shell grew from its back and stretched until the base of its head. A forked tongue even hung from its mouth, and fur covered it.


    The image also had many stats. The holograms overwhelmed Khan with information that he only partially understood. Some descriptions and numbers were beyond his expertise, while others almost made sense when he applied them to his experience.


    ''A monster,'' Khan thought after gaining a vague grasp of the information.


    The holograms moved after a few seconds. A metal spear flew at the monster and pierced its shell, forcing one of its legs onto the ground. The creature''s tongue went straight, and its fur shook to release mana.


    The energy fused and swirled until a blue me appeared. The fire also expanded on the tongue, and the stats marked the lowering of the temperature.


    "It''s a cold fire," Professor Nickton exined once the holograms stopped moving, "A specific form of cold fire. I''ve tried to replicate it for months, but I don''t seem to get the process right."


    "What about the monster?" Khan questioned. The process would be far easier if he could look directly at the creature.


    "Those butchers killed it," Professor Nickton cursed. "The specimen had a rare mutation, and replicating it in captivity is almost impossible without witnessing the transformation. I have its flesh and organs, but my studies aren''t going anywhere."


    Khan nced at the bent tube before looking at the still holograms again. His eyes revealed a lot, but he could only see what the scanners had recorded, which might not be enough.


    "How are you approaching the experiment?" Khan wondered, and Professor Nickton reached for another drawer to pull out a transparent container full of synthetic mana.


    "Mana goes through the tube," Professor Nickton revealed while attaching the container to one end of the item, "And the filters change itsposition to replicate this data."


    Professor Nickton didn''t hold back from giving a demonstration. He activated another series of holograms before pressing a key on the container. Some synthetic mana left it, and the tube sucked it to lead everything toward the filters.


    Khan sensed how the synthetic mana gained new natures whenever it crossed a filter. The holograms also kept track of those changes, and a blue me eventually came out of the tube.


    Nevertheless, the blue fire created by the tube didn''t reach the same low temperatures as the monster. ording to the holograms, theirpositions were identical, but the replica remained far weaker.


    "Odd," Khanmented.


    "Truly odd," Professor Nickton agreed before ncing at Khan. "So, do you have any idea? It''s simr to what you described with the Tors, isn''t it?"


    ''Simr in the creation, maybe,'' Khan thought before looking at the hologram again. The tongue had clearly assembled different types of mana to generate the blue fire, but the Tors were a purely scientific species, while the creature was a monster driven by instincts.


    "Can I?" Khan asked while pointing at the holograms.


    "Do whatever you want," Professor Nickton announced while stepping aside. "Just fix it."


    The interactive menu was rtively straightforward. Khan could make the holograms y the scene again before pressing on the container to activate the tube. The creation process was truly simr, almost identical, but he noticed a difference. The monster''s expression gave away a detail he couldn''t miss.


    ''Intensity,'' Khan realized as his eyes snapped on the container. ''The synthetic mana can''t match something produced inside the body of a monster, especially when in pain.''


    Khan reached for the container before retracting his hand. His mana wasn''t a viable option, and it wouldn''t solve Professor Nickton''s problem. He had to make the experiment work with synthetic energy, which meant the Nele''s approach.


    "The next thing might look strange," Khan warned while showing a helpless smile.


    "Trust me," Professor Nickton stated. "You can''t surprise me."


    "Then, I need to open it," Khan revealed while pointing at the container.


    "Just press the key on its side," Professor Nickton exined. "You have a couple of seconds before it dispersespletely."


    Khan nodded and reached for the container. Removing it from the tube was easy, and the same went for finding the intended key. Then, he closed his eyes, opened the item, and voiced a simple request.


    "Live," Khan whispered while releasing a whiff of his mana.


    The purple-red whiff entered the container before changing the behavior of the mana in its insides. That synthetic energy grew slightly wilder, but it retrieved its previous state after Khan closed the lid.


    The holograms confirmed that the synthetic mana didn''t change. It almost had the sameposition as before. It only showed a trace of Khan''s energy now, but that was barely noticeable.


    Nevertheless, Khan reattached the container and activated the tube. The synthetic mana flowed through the filters beforeing out in the shape of a blue fire that made Professor Nickton exim in excitement.


    "It''s possible!" Professor Nickton shouted when he looked at the data gathered by the desk. The blue me wasn''t as cold as the monster''s attack, but it was far better than the previous experiments.


    Professor Nickton stared at the me until it exhausted its fuel and vanished. He moved to the holograms afterward but looking at the data only increased his confusion.


    "What did you do?" Professor Nickton eventually asked while turning to face Khan. "Theposition was almost identical. The differences shouldn''t have been enough to cause such stronger effects."


    ''How do I exin this now?'' Khan wondered until he came up with a vague exnation. "The mana in the environment is generally stronger. You should use that in your experiment."


    "Mana in the environment?" Professor Nickton questioned. "Are you talking about its purity?"


    "No, no," Khan denied. He fell into his thoughts for a bit, but he could onlye up with an unreasonable exnation in that short time. "The mana is alive. You can''t expect the same vitality from something created in ab."


    Professor Nickton appeared far from convinced. He diverted his gaze, and thoughts ran through his mind until his eyes lit up. Understanding dawned upon him, and he faced Khan about it.


    "The creature was creating something while in pain," Professor Nickton exined. "Stronger, you say. It''s not about density. It''s about intensity. The scanners must not have picked that due to the various minute parts."

 Chapter ?432 Party

    ?432 Party


    Professor Nickton nodded a few times before turning toward the interactive desk. Multiple menus popped on its surface as he tinkered with different settings. Khan couldn''t understand much about the process, but the curse that followed exined a lot.


    "It''s pointless," Professor Nickton muttered. "I can''t pull out data they didn''t record."


    "I can help replicate the process," Khan suggested.


    "No, you have done enough," Professor Nickton eximed while waving his hand to dismiss Khan.


    Random words left Professor Nickton''s mouth while his attention remained on the menus. He clearly didn''t give up on the matter, but Khan''s job was over, which left him with nothing to do inside theb.


    "The mana is alive," Professor Nickton scoffed. "Incorrect."


    Khan initially believed that the Professor was speaking to him, but those words turned out to be a randomment made while brainstorming. Professor Nickton seemed to have forgotten that Khan was in theb, and the situation grew more awkward as the minutes passed.


    "Sir?" Khan eventually called to remind the Professor of his presence.


    "Right," Professor Nickton eximed when he nced behind his shoulder. "I''ll award you some merit points."


    "Merit points?" Khan wondered.


    "It''s a currency here," Professor Nickton briefly exined while looking back at the interactive desk. "You can use them to purchase goods or ess certain courses."


    ''Like in the training camps,'' Khan understood.


    "You can leave now," Professor Nickton announced since Khan remained behind him. "I have work to do."


    "I don''t know where I am," Khan pointed out.


    Professor Nicktonpletely turned and looked at Khan''s helpless expression before voicing anotherment. "I''ll give you a map of the Harbor. Pull out your phone."


    Khanplied, and Professor Nickton also picked up his phone before performing a flicking motion. The gesture sent a file to Khan''s device, which turned out to be an interactive map of the Harbor full of valuable details.


    "You''ll hear from me again if I ever need another second opinion," Professor Nickton stated as the desk reimed his attention.


    Khan could see that the map described various means of transportation and routes that could bring him back to the seventh district. Still, the Professor wasn''t giving him time to study it. It sounded like he wanted him out right away.


    "How should I leave?" Khan felt forced to ask.


    "Use whatever you want," Professor Nickton responded without bothering to turn.


    "Can I take the ship to go back?" Khan tried his chances since Professor Nickton appeared quite easygoing.


    "Yes, yes," Professor Nickton said in a dismissive tone before turning to show a frown at Khan''s shameless smile. "No, that''s my ship."


    Khan shrugged his shoulders, and Professor Nickton heaved a sigh before picking up his phone again. He tapped on it to send a message, and his hand pointed at one of the doors when the process ended.


    "I''ve called a cab for you," Professor Nickton exined. "Go past that door and use the elevator on your left. Your ride will be here by the time you leave the building."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan dropped the shameless attitude to perform a military salute.


    "Yeah, yeah," Professor Nickton voiced as he faced the interactive desk once again. "Leave now."


    The Professor didn''t give Khan many options, so he hesitated for a few seconds before heading for the appointed door. Following Professor Nickton''s instructions led him into an elevator, which brought Khan to the bottom of the building in a matter of seconds.


    The building''s main hall was empty. It had couches, tables, and various seats, but the symphony therecked the marks people would usually leave. The ce felt abandoned, but it remained clean and well-kept.


    A quick inspection of the interactive map cleared part of Khan''s doubts. The district mainly featuredbs and other research facilities, and only specific personnel had ess to them. The ce had meeting areas and simr rooms, but the Harbor''s citizens probably didn''t use them since other domes offered better services.


    The street outside the building was empty. The cab mentioned by Professor Nickton wasn''t there yet, so Khan studied the map a bit longer while sending a message to Monica and going through the recent events.


    Getting merit points on the first day was great, but Khan preferred to see the situation from a different perspective. Professor Nickton didn''t have biases. Khan might be able to rely on him in the future as long as he worked on their rtionship.


    ''He can''t be the only one,'' Khan considered as the scope of the Harbor grew cleared in his mind.


    The Harbor was big enough to contain all kinds of people. Professor Nickton''s presence proved how there had to be more soldiers who didn''t care about status and background. Finding them was the only issue.


    ''I can''t stick to professors either,'' Khan thought as multiple possible scenarios unfolded in his vision.


    The professors would probably have an easier time disregarding Khan''s poor background, but he needed actual friends, and Monica''s connections weren''t the best way to get them. Lucian and his group had been polite, but a clear wall existed between them and Khan.


    ''I knew it wouldn''t have been easy,'' Khan sighed.


    The biases against Khan were no significant problem for him. They were annoying, but he could deal with them as long as they didn''t cross a specific line.


    However, Monica''s presence remained a big issue. The previous meeting had given Khan a taste of the flirtatious interactions the wealthy soldiers could exchange, and he couldn''t do anything about them.


    The situation waspletely different from Milia 222. Monica could handle Francis easily there, and the rest of the group didn''t get in Khan''s way. Yet, the Harbor was aplicated environment, and Monica was an appealing prize many wanted to get.


    ''It was actually easier with Liiza,'' Khan mocked himself as the arrival of a cab attracted his attention.


    Liiza and Khan had to keep their rtionship a secret for multiple reasons, but they could mark each other. They could show the world that they had someone. Instead, merely remaining alone with Monica might be a problem in the Harbor.


    "Lieutenant Khan?" The driver asked from behind her lowered window once the cab stopped near the sidewalk.


    "That''s me," Khan confirmed.


    "I have orders to drive you wherever you want," The woman exined, and Khan didn''t hesitate to make himselffortable in the passenger''s seat.


    "Where to?" The driver asked through a speaker ced on the metalyer that divided her from Khan''s seat.


    "Seventh district," Khan replied while reading Monica''s message. "Building 34A."


    "We''ll be there in thirty minutes," The driver revealed as the cab elerated.


    The cab didn''t fly, so it obviously went slower than a ship, but that gave Khan a chance to inspect the Harbor from the first floor. He even checked the interactive map to keep track of his movements, but his thoughts often wandered due to the many issues waiting for him.


    Nevertheless, the drive back to the seventh district ended up being quite pleasant. The cab''s turns and speed changes barely affected its insides, so nothing hindered Khan''sfort or thoughts.


    The cab had to cross a few districts before reaching the residential area, but the driver''s estimate turned out to be on point. Khan returned to the sidewalk after exactly thirty minutes, and one nce at the interactive map told him that he had arrived in front of Building 34A.


    ''She is inside,'' Khan understood after reading Monica''s next message.


    Crossing the building''s entrance put Khan inside a vast hall, where he immediately noticed that he wasn''t alone. A long desk stood past the luxurious couches, tables, and carpets, and a middle-aged man sat behind it.


    "Hello?" Khan called as he approached the desk.


    "I''ll need your identification," The middle-aged man announced as his wary eyes followed Khan''s every move.


    Khan didn''t mind that wary behavior. He ced his hand on the scanner on the desk''s surface, and his profile appeared before the middle-aged man.


    "Oh, Lieutenant Khan," The man eximed as his expression grew gentler. "Miss Solodrey informed me about your arrival. She is waiting for you on the fourth floor."


    "Thank you," Khan nodded while ncing at the desk''s sides. There were four elevators there, and they all looked empty.


    "Lieutenant Khan?" The middle-aged man called while Khan headed for the elevators.


    "Yes?" Khan asked while stopping in his tracks.


    "I had a nephew on Istrone," The middle-aged man stated without hiding the sadness blooming inside him. "Thank you for your service."


    That gratitude wasn''t fake. Khan could sense that the nephew''s fate had been grim, but the middle-aged man still respected his efforts.


    "I wish I could have done more," Khan admitted.


    "We all do," The middle-aged man smiled before pressing a key on his desk. One of the elevators opened after themand, and the doorman followed with polite goodbyes. "I hope your stay in the Harbor will be pleasant."


    Khan nodded before entering the elevator. Pressing on a key activated the machine, and sadness spread when its doors closed. Istrone felt like a lifetime ago for Khan, but some still carried scars from that terrible event.


    The sadness kept Khanpany through the short trip inside the elevator, but a warmer feeling reced it once the doors opened. A vast hall connected to multiple ts unfolded in his vision, and he could spot Monica at its end.


    Monica wasn''t alone. Lucian and his group were with her and sounded busy exchanging casual chats. Monica even resorted to her fake giggles. Khan didn''t like seeing her pretend, but he had to admit that her elegant fa?ade was enchanting.


    ''I do always get the best ones,'' Khanughed in his mind, recalling one of George''sments.


    The warm feeling didn''tst long. Khan couldn''t hear the conversation from his position, but it seemed that Lucian wanted to show Monica a portrait hung on the wall. However, he didn''t limit himself to pointing at it. He also ced a hand on Monica''s lower back to make her turn in that direction.


    Khan''s mind instantly went nk. His mana moved on his own as he stepped forward and performed a short sprint. He was ready to reach Lucian in the next second, but Monica showed herplete control over the situation.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Monica couldn''t be rude, but she knew how to handle those interactions. She stepped forward to separate herself from Lucian and turned toward him to change the topic.


    The gesture''s meaning was evident, and the entire group understood it. No matter how polite the touch was, Monica didn''t appreciate it, and Lucian feigned ignorance when he retracted his arm. The interaction was friendly and didn''t involve any scolding, but the vibe changed once everyone noticed Khan.


    Khan had stopped sprinting after seeing Monica dealing with the situation. He had crossed half of the hall by then, and the tense and confused looks shot in his direction revealed the group''s worry.


    Those looks eventually fell on Khan''s knife and made him realize that he was holding its handle. The weapon was still in the sheath, but his stance remained far from friendly.


    Khan''s experience allowed him to recover quickly. He drew the knife and waved it to his left while wearing a fake smile that tried to hide his cold tone. "Does the Harbor have cksmiths? My weapon needs fixing after Milia 222."


    The partial lie didn''t convince the group, but Lucian opted against calling Khan out and stuck to a polite reply. "Yes, but weapons aren''t allowed in the embassy."


    "Pity," Khan sighed while sheathing the knife. "I feel naked without this."


    "How was the meeting?" Monica promptly changed the topic. "What did Professor Nickton want?"


    "He needed someone with a different perspective on mana," Khan exined shortly. "He is an interesting person."


    "Professor Nickton doesn''t do much teaching," Lucian exined as the situation rxed, "But everyone praises his efforts in theb."


    "He seemedpetent," Khan admitted.


    "Everyone in the Harbor is," Lucian pointed out.


    Silence fell after thatment, and the tension returned. Khan was getting closer to the group, and Lucian''spanions couldn''t help but remain wary of his presence. After all, he had appeared unstable just a few seconds ago.


    "I think it''s time for me to go over my luggage," Monica eximed to distract the group from the awkward moment. "Khan, yours also arrived. I took the liberty of choosing a t for you."


    "So, you made up your mind," Lucian guessed.


    "I did," Monica confirmed before addressing Khan''s curious gaze. "Renting something closer to the embassy would suit my status, but the seventh district hosts many social aspects. It''s my job to be part of them."


    The group couldn''t argue, but Monica didn''t end things there. She approached Khan and ced a hand on his elbow before voicing one of her flirtatious jokes. "Besides, after everything we have been through, I feel safer with Khan nearby."


    "Monica likes to exaggerate," Khan yed along. "She has proven herself able to hold her ground multiple times."


    "Lieutenant Khan, was that apliment?" Monica giggled. "You''ll make me blush."


    "I was just speaking the truth," Khan gave a collected answer.


    The cheerful scene sent a message that the group didn''t miss. Monica had avoided Lucian''s touch, but she had no problem with Khan. The interaction didn''t prove anything, but it felt like a clear statement.


    "Your luggage is in my t," Monica eventually revealed while retracting her arm. "You won''t be able to deny me a drink today."


    "It''s still a bit improper," Khan dered.


    "Khan, you''ll give them the wrong idea," Monicaughed. "Though I don''t really mind that."


    "She likes to joke around," Khan exined to the group.


    "Oh, I know," Lucian imed. "That side of her never changed."


    Monica and Lucian exchanged a polite smile that made Khan''s thoughts go cold. He could force himself to wear a calm expression, but his stance added tension to the synthetic mana that even Lucian''spanions managed to feel.


    "That reminds me," Lucian soon continued. "I''ll host a party in my amodation during the night, and your presence is mandatory."


    "How could I refuse?" Monica promptly agreed before involving Khan in that matter. "We''ll be there."


    A series of surprised nces fell on Khan, but he pretended not to notice them. The invitation clearly didn''t extend to him, but Monica had taken care of the matter, and refusing him would be too rude now.


    "I''ll wait for you then," Lucian said to Monica before facing Khan. "I''m sure your stories will entertain many of my guests."


    Khan smiled without adding anything and followed Monica once she headed for her t. The door opened at her touch, but the cold emotions that spread in the hall made Khan turn to give onest nce at the group.


    Lucian and hispanions had dropped their friendly faces now that Monica wasn''t looking, and they didn''t hide their detachment. Someone showed proper contempt, while others experienced some fear. Only Lucian contained himself, even if his mana reeked of darkness.


    ''I''ve fucked up,'' Khan understood as he crossed the entrance and let the door interrupt those stares.


    "He is annoying," Monica cursed as soon as the t granted some privacy. "I tried to leave so many times, but he always managed to change the topic."


    Khan slowly turned, and the sight of the vast t distracted him from the raging Monica. The entrance led to a big living room connected to three more areas. Luke''s buildings on Milia 222 were luxurious andfortable, but the Harbor seemed to surpass them in that field.


    "Don''t worry about him," Monica eventually reassured. "Lucian is a bit pushy, but he knows his ce. He won''t try anything strange."


    Monica was heading deeper into the living room, but theck of answers from Khan made her turn toward him. His lost gaze confused her a bit, and she pouted when he focused on her.


    "What?" Monica asked as she began ying with her curls. She couldn''t help but feel weak when Khan showed his intensity.


    Khan knew that he had made a mistake. He would have typically managed to hold back, but the sudden sight of another man touching Monica had been too much.


    Of course, Khan also knew that he couldn''t allow himself to explode like that. Still, those problems only existed in the outside world. He could be honest in the privacy of Monica''s t.


    "I''ll cut his arm off if he touches you again," Khan warned before leaning on the door and rubbing the corners of his eyes. He had expected things to be tough, but he might have underestimated how much he could withstand.


    Monica blushed. She didn''t enjoy seeing Khan struggle, but she liked to be at the center of his emotional conflict. It proved how much he cared about her.


    "Are you jealous, perhaps?" Monica teased as she approached Khan.


    "Jealousy is one thing," Khan exined as he lowered his hand to inspect Monica. "Having to watch others hitting on you without being able to stop them is worse."


    "Khan," Monica called after reaching Khan and taking his left hand. "I can handle the likes of Lucian. You must trust me on this."


    "I do trust you," Khan sighed while lowering his head to make their foreheads touch, "But I still want to cut their arms."


    "Why is that?" Monica joked.


    Khan reached for Monica''s back and patted the spot where Lucian had touched her before pulling her close. Monicaughed and let go of his hand to wrap her arms around his neck.


    Monica pulled Khan''s face closer but tightened her grip on Khan''s hair before their lips could touch. Her warm breath fell on Khan''s mouth and drew him toward her, but she stopped him from delivering the kiss.


    "Say it," Monica requested.


    "Because you are mine," Khan stated, "And only I can touch you."


    "Who is needy now?" Monica teased while finally allowing Khan to kiss her.


    Monica''s firm stance melted during the kiss. She liked when she could have some authority over Khan, but her feelings always grew honest once their intimate interactions began.


    "I only want you to touch me," Monica cutely admitted once the kiss ended.


    The admission added fuel to their passion and made another kiss follow. Khan also reached for the edge of Monica''s uniform, which warned her about what was about toe.


    "Khan," Monica muttered among the kisses. "We have just done-."


    "I need to fill your head with me before the party," Khan exined.


    "Scoundrel," Monicained, but her emotions went in the opposite direction. She found herself tightening her hug and jumping to cling to Khan''s waist. That action had be so normal to her that she even took off her shoes while Khan carried her inside the t.

 Chapter ?433 Condoms

    ?433 Condoms


    "You did it on purpose," Monicained while looking at the hickey on her chest. The couple was still on the bed, but only Khan had started to dress up.


    "My mouth simply happened to be there," Khan deflected as he tied his shoes.


    "I wanted to wear a dress with nice cleavage," Monica pouted. "Now I can''t."


    "I''ll put the next one further down," Khan promised.


    "So, you did it on purpose!" Monica shouted as she leaned to her left to grab Khan''s arm and pull him.


    Khanughed and let Monica pull him. His head ended on her shoulder, and his smirk broadened in front of her pissed expression. Still, her feelings told a very different story.


    "It might help me remain calm knowing that you are carrying my mark," Khan exined, and Monica could only give up on her fake annoyance.


    "You could have told me," Monica whispered as she lowered her head and reached for Khan''s cheek. "I would have left something on you too."


    "Next time," Khan teased before weing the arrival of Monica''s lips.


    "I really wanted to show you that new dress," Monica revealed once the kiss ended.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "You can wear itter," Khan suggested, "When we are alone."


    "We both know where my clothes end when we are alone," Monica giggled.


    "I wouldn''t say no to a nice spectacle," Khan stated, and Monica knew that part of her had already epted that suggestion.


    "Scoundrel," Monica said through her happy smile. "Let''s not stay too long at the party then."


    "I hoped you''d say that," Khan admitted.


    Monica chuckled before pushing Khan down to deliver another kiss. His hands instinctively reached for her naked waist, but she pushed on his chest to separate herself and give a warning. "We''ll bete if you don''t get dressed now."


    "But your bed is sofortable," Khan joked while crossing his arms in front of his eyes.


    "You don''t have toe," Monica pointed out as she began to y with her curls. "I can deal with all my suitors on my own."


    "How many are we talking about?" Khan wondered.


    "Well," Monica voiced. "That depends on how big the party is. Yet, I''ll probably be the most sought woman in the room anyway."


    Khan lowered his arms to nce at Monica, and she wore aplicated expression. She knew that Khan wasn''t doing too well, but lying to him wasn''t an option.


    "Won''t they have fianc¨¦es?" Khan questioned. "I thought wealthy kids got engaged at a young age."


    "Some are," Monica confirmed. "Still, I remain a descendant from one of the wealthiest families, and you know how beautiful I am."


    "I do know that," Khan whispered as he reached for Monica''s belly button and traced his way up to the hickey on her chest. Monica grabbed his wrist but let him draw circles around that mark.


    "I won''t be able to keep up at this pace," Monica gasped once Khan ced his palm on her chest.


    "Your ship begs to disagree," Khan joked while moving his hand to Monica''s side to pull her down.


    "Khan," Monica called when shended on Khan''s shoulder. "We''ll get caught if we don''t slow down."


    "Would it be so bad?" Khan asked, even if he knew the answer.


    "My mother would really kill you," Monica scolded, and her tone sweetened when Khan immersed a hand in her hair to pull her closer. "Even if your achievements forced her to spare you, she would still send me away and do anything in her power to bury the story."


    "Bury the story?" Khan repeated. "I know my background sucks, but that sounds extreme."


    "I''m," Monica hesitated, and some shyness engulfed her when she pointed her puppy eyes at Khan. "Due to a certain scoundrel, I''m not pure anymore. Covering this up might improve my opportunities."


    Khan understood Monica''s point. He had actually already thought about the topic near the beginning of his rtionship. He knew how important that step had been for Monica, and her decision only added fuel to his feelings.


    "Are you too shy to say virgin?" Khan teased since the matter had no solution, and a grunt left his mouth when Monica bit his shoulder.


    "Idiot!" Monica shouted as she straightened her back and pulled Khan up to push him away. "Get dressed already instead of teasing me!"


    Khanughed and let Monica push him out of bed. The upper part of his uniform was on the floor, so he bent forward to pick it up. Still, some seriousness fell on him when he started to wear it.


    "Hey, Monica," Khan called as he approached his luggage in the corner of the room.


    "I''m not listening to you anymore," Monicained.


    "If something really happens," Khan continued while showing his back to Monica, "I''ll take the me for everything. With my background, it should be easy to convince others that I tricked you."


    Khan didn''t speak those words lightly. He had thought about the topic during the trip, and his selflessness had pushed him in that direction. That rtionship could ruin Monica, and he nned on protecting her if something happened.


    "What are you saying now?" Monica asked in confusion.


    "I''ll even deny having ever touched you," Khan added as he lifted his luggage and put it behind his back.


    Monica snapped. She didn''t even bother to take a nket with her as she left the bed and charged at Khan. Her hand reached for his shoulder, and his resolute face unfolded in her vision when she turned him.


    Khan was beyond serious, and Monica could read that in his expression. However, his resolve only intensified her anger and fueled a loud p.


    "Monica, think about it," Khan stated, ignoring the second p on his cheek. "At worst, they''ll send me to a battlefield and try to kill me there."


    Monica didn''t want to hear those words. She threw another p, but Khan blocked it by grabbing her wrist. She was ready to attack again with her free hand, but the following statements turned her anger into sadness.


    "I''m terrific on battlefields," Khan stated. "I''ll probably survive there ande back with more war merits. This is our best option."


    "My best option," Monica sniffed as tears filled her eyes. "I''d sacrifice you to avoid problems."


    "Your problems can''t be fixed by fighting," Khan exined. "A stain on your reputation would havesting consequences."


    "I don''t want to hear it," Monica sobbed.


    "I know," Khan whispered while reaching for Monica''s face and wiping her tears. "What we have is great, but we must be smart about it, which means preparing for the worst."


    Monica''s face fell on Khan''s chest, and her tears left wet patches on his uniform. The scene was sad, but Khan knew it was necessary. That talk had to happen sooner orter, and the arrival in the Harbor was the best time.


    "Khan, how much do you know about politics?" Monica asked while her face remained on Khan''s chest. Her sadness transformed into resolve, but her question didn''t give Khan the time to think about that change.


    "What are you talking about?" Khan wondered before giving an honest answer. "I still have a lot to learn."


    "Instead, I had multiple teachers educating me in all its aspects," Monica revealed.


    "I know," Khan frowned. "We talked about this already."


    "So, you know how much damage I can cause if I start acting crazy," Monica stated.


    "Monica?" Khan called, and Monica lifted her head to show her angry expression. She wasn''t faking it now. She was serious about her words.


    "If you sacrifice yourself," Monica announced while pointing her forefinger at the center of Khan''s chest, "I will create such a fuss that even the noble families won''t be able to cover it up. I will bring so much shame on myself that the Global Army will forget your name."


    "Monica, be reasonable," Khan tried to calm Monica down, but the effort was hopeless.


    "Reasonable?" Monica repeated. "You know my temper. I''ll go so crazy that Jenna will be a sweet memory."


    "And who is going to benefit from that?" Khan argued.


    "I don''t care as long as you drop your idea," Monica dered.


    "This is serious," Khan rebuked. "You have seen how I reacted before. We might get caught, and this is the best n to handle the crisis."


    "Then, we won''t get caught," Monica imed.


    "You don''t know that," Khan responded.


    "We won''t!" Monica shouted. "Mark me all over. Do anything you need. I don''t care, but we won''t get caught."


    Monica soundedpletely unreasonable, but that left Khan with no valuable arguments. Nothing he said would get through her temper.


    "You are a piece of work," Khanmented.


    "Yes, and I''m your problem to handle," Monica scoffed as she crossed her arms. "Just like you are mine."


    Khan and Monica entered a battle of res, but he quickly epted defeat. The sigh that left his mouth made Monica smile proudly, and she giggled when he pulled her into a kiss.


    The couple didn''t need words to know what wasing. Monica soon left Khan''s lips to descend through his neck, and he dropped the luggage to reach for his back pocket. However, a frown made its way onto his face when he found nothing.


    Khan scoured his other pockets and even threw away his phone to give himself more room, but the search didn''t lead anywhere. Monica also noticed something was wrong, so she stopped unbuttoning Khan''s uniform to shoot a confused nce at him.


    "I can''t find condoms," Khan revealed.


    "You had thest ones," Monica gasped.


    "I thought you took some during the trip," Khan voiced.


    "We used those," Monica eximed. "That''s why I told you to empty the ship before thending."


    "I did," Khan imed. "There was only one left."


    Khan and Monica couldn''t believe what was happening, but they knew neither was joking, and a sad realization soon fell upon them.


    "We are fucked," Monica announced.


    Khan tried to devise solutions, but every thought led to a dead end. The Solodrey family didn''t own the ship, so the couple had felt safe emptying its stash, but the Harbor didn''t offer that freedom.


    The Harbor obviously had medical bays and other shops that could sell condoms, but Monica was too famous to purchase them by herself. As for Khan, he didn''t have friends there, so anyone would find a connection if he tried to buy them.


    "Okay, let''s calm down," Monica stated. "I''m sure there is something we can do."


    "You are getting all worked up," Khan teased. "Did you grow to like sex so much?"


    "Shut up!" Monica snapped. "Don''t tease me even now!"


    Monica wanted to add something, but Khan took her into his arms before she could get any angrier. The situation was serious, but he didn''t want her to worry about it, especially after her recent speech.


    "I''ll find a solution," Khan promised. "Leave it to me."


    "You better!" Monica muttered while hugging Khan''s back. "Slowing down doesn''t mean never!"


    "I know, I know," Khan chuckled. "Besides, I never agreed to the slowing down in the first ce."


    "Scoundrel," Monica pouted. "You''ll never stop teasing me about this, will you?"


    "I''ll remind you whenever we are alone," Khanughed. "Though, it does make me a bit proud."


    "Get dressed already," Monicained while slightly pushing Khan away and tapping a finger on her lips. "I guess we won''t bete to the party."


    Khan left a goodbye kiss on Monica''s lips before retrieving his stuff. His sheath, phone, and luggage soon returned to him, and he exchanged onest smile with Monica before leaving her t.


    ''Condoms, condoms,'' Khan cursed as he turned to his left to approach the first door that appeared in his view.


    Monica had already booked a t for Khan. The prices in the seventh district were reasonable, but saving money at the expense of a wealthy family didn''t sound bad. Moreover, the purchase reinforced the idea that Khan would owe something to the Solodrey family, which was perfect due to Monica''s mother.


    Khan''s t was identical to Monica''s. It had the same four rooms and open spaces, which felt a bit too big considering the size of Khan''s luggage. He only had two tracksuits and a pair of elegant clothes, and no number of military uniforms could fill his new wardrobes.


    Of course, Khan didn''t care about any of that. He barely even inspected his t as he threw his uniform into theundry area and entered the shower. His mind was full of different thoughts, none involving hisfort.


    ''I need this party,'' Khan realized as a transparent liquid fell on his head and washed away Monica''s scent.


    Buying condoms when it was only Khan and Monica was impossible, but that would change as long as one of them made a trustworthy friend. Monica''s acquaintances weren''t an option, so it was up to Khan to find someone for the task.


    The party probably wouldn''t provide what Khan needed, but he needed to seize the opportunity. Getting to know Lucian''s friends would also give him a better perspective on the Harbor''s social array, which he needed for multiple reasons.


    As thoughts continued to flow, Khan found himself admitting that he felt better. The fight with Monica had ended with a terrible realization, but its contents had proven how they shared some crazy aspects.


    Khan didn''t want to see Monica go crazy, but her firm stance on the topic was reassuring, heartwarming even. Her emotions had also felt genuine during her speech, so Khan knew that she had spoken the truth.


    Holding back was troublesome, but Khan could find new strength if he added someone he cared about to the equation. The fear of getting expelled or exposing himself wasn''t always enough in his new state, but preventing Monica from suffering simr consequences could do the trick.


    ''She is growing on me,'' Khan thought as he wore his elegant clothes and ruffled his hair.


    Khan''s rtionship was young, barely a few months old, but that hardly mattered to him. He didn''t experience emotions like humans, especially with his girlfriends. He was extreme, and his behavior had probably affected Monica or ignited her true colors.


    Once the tight shirt was on, Khan nced at the sheath resting on the bed. He would rarely go anywhere without his knife, but it was safer to leave it there. He trusted the new strengthing from Monica''s crazy sides, but it might help stop the bad thoughts if his weapon was elsewhere.


    Eventually, Khan opted to leave the t without his knife, and the vast hall weed him. Its emptiness didn''t surprise him, and he didn''t even bother to check his phone. He knew Monica would take her time, so he waited.


    Many minutes had to pass before the door of Monica''s amodation opened to reveal her enchanting figure. She wasn''t wearing anything fancy, but her turtleneck sweater enhanced her t belly, and she had the id skirt that Khan had chosen on Neo Station.


    "I thought we had to be careful," Khanmented.


    "My style has the priority," Monica scoffed, "And I wanted you to see it on me."


    Monica performed one of her elegant bows that involved slightly lifting the corners of her skirt, and Khan didn''t even pretend to remain calm. His gaze stayed glued to the scene, and Monica showed her shy smile under his watchful eyes.


    "You better hurry up with those condoms," Monica whispered as she hurried toward one of the elevators.


    Khan shook his head, but his mood only improved while he followed after Monica. They didn''t dare to do anything outside their ts, but their happy expressions could send clear messages to anyone watching.


    "The cab should be already here," Monica announced once the couple entered the elevator. "Also, you should have bought something else. You can''t survive the social life here with a shirt and a pullover."


    "The uniforms are mandatory in the embassy," Khanined. "Why would I need more elegant clothes?"


    "I will have to attend many of these parties," Monica pointed out. "I believe you''ll follow me to all of them, so you''ll need more clothes."


    "Shouldn''t we focus on studying?" Khan cursed.


    "Says the guy who barely sleeps to train more," Monica pouted.


    "Are you sure I can''t wear the uniform at these parties?" Khan wondered.


    "Khan," Monica called in a scolding tone.


    "Alright, I''ll buy new clothes," Khan sighed. "We can use those trips to be together."


    "I''ll fill your wardrobe in no time," Monica giggled.


    "You just want to see me wearing different stuff," Khan teased.


    "Shirts do suit you," Monica whispered, and the two exchanged a meaningful gaze that the opening of the elevator forced to an end.


    The doorman was still behind his desk, and Khan nodded at him before proceeding forward and engaging in casual jokes with Monica. Still, the man ended up calling him before he could cross half of the hall.


    "Lieutenant Khan, a word?" The middle-aged man called.


    The event surprised Khan, but the previous interaction with the doorman made him nod at Monica and approach the desk. Yet, the middle-aged man didn''t speak even when Khan reached him. He remained silent while gesturing at Khan toe on the other side.


    Khanplied and walked around the desk only to see one of the interactive menus depicting his exit from Monica''s t. The recording didn''t have anything incriminating, but his idiotic smile could tell many things.


    "Only the elevators and the ts don''t have cameras in this district," The doorman exined, "And I can''t refuse to hand over recordings if requested."


    The recording wasn''t an issue, but Khan couldn''t exin why the doorman would mention it. Still, thetter promptly exined his reasons.


    "Soldiers must look out for each other," The doorman stated, and his feelings confirmed his good intentions. He was only a second-level warrior, so Khan could read him easily.


    The gentle purpose of that unexpected warning surprised Khan, but he wasn''t the type to refuse it. He couldn''t offer anything to the doorman, but he could show him some respect.


    "What''s your name?" Khan asked.


    "Perry, sir," The doorman responded.


    "Perry, you can drop the sir when we are alone," Khan dered, "And avoid the Lieutenant since we are at it."


    "I''ll ignore the second part, Lieutenant Khan," Perryughed, and Khan smiled back before leaving the desk to return to Monica.


    "What did he want?" Monica whispered once the building''s exit grew close.


    "We can''t sleep together," Khan replied while lowering his head to keep his lips hidden from possible cameras. "I''ll exin more in the cab."


    The cab was already outside the building, and Khan and Monica didn''t hesitate to enter. The passengers'' seats offered some privacy, so Khan exined himself, and a long conversation followed. The two tried to find solutions to the issue, but only a deeper knowledge of the Harbor could provide them.


    The trip turned out to be quite long. Lucian''s amodation was near the embassy, which stood toward the center of the Harbor, and the cab needed almost an hour to reach it.


    Once Khan and Monica got off the cab, they found themselves in a small district filled with vast but short buildings. Those structures had long, dark windows that seemed to act as walls for the ts in their insides, and the floors appeared taller from the outside.


    The illumination from the white pirs was also dimmer in that district. That different glow created a cozier environment and probably highlighted some of the areas Khan had spotted on the interactive map.


    Monica led the way since she was the only one with Lucian''s directions. She entered one of the buildings nearby and confirmed her identity on a scanner on an empty desk before gaining ess to an automatic elevator. Khan went with her, and the machine soon brought them to thest floor.


    The different quality and luxury of the district became clear as soon as the elevator opened. Therger buildings didn''t involve a higher number of ts. ording to what Khan saw, the ce had far fewer amodations, but their size was incredible.


    The elevator had opened at the center of a massive t that seemed to epass the entire floor. Some walls were almost transparent and allowed Khan to gaze at the windows in the distance, while others hid private areas that probably involved pools and simr services.


    The sight couldn''t shock Khan since he had seen something simr during his meeting with Raymond. Still, the many different strands of mana that reached his senses gave him an idea of the number of people on the scene, which was far from small.


    As for Monica, she was already aware of the t''s size, and she didn''t hesitate to leave the elevator to step into the big main hall. She nned to deal with her social obligations as soon as possible, but her status worked against her.


    "Monica Solodrey!" A woman from behind a half-transparent wall eximed before approaching a passage that gave her a clear sight of Monica. "I almost thought Lucian lied to me about your arrival."


    "Anita, it''s so good to see you," Monica responded as her elegant fa?ade activated.


    Anita approached Monica and delivered a kiss on both of her cheeks before taking her hands. Surprise mixed with her happiness when she inspected Monica''s figure, and praises soon left her mouth.


    "You look fantastic," Anita gasped. "How did you lose so much weight? I need to know your secret."


    "You know my mother," Monicaughed while using the entirety of her self-restraint to avoid ncing at Khan. "She always knows how to make me look good."


    "I would be jealous if I didn''t know how your mother is," Anita joked before joining Monica in herugh.


    "Oh, Anita," Monica voiced while turning toward Khan. "He is-."


    "Lieutenant Khan, of course," Anita interrupted while leaving Monica and approaching Khan to stretch her arm toward him. "I was confused about your poprity with women. Not anymore."


    "Pleasure to meet you," Khan politely smiled while shaking Anita''s hand.


    "You might be one of the few who actually deserves to be here," Anita stated. "Come, I have many friends who can''t wait to meet you."


    "Friends?" Monica promptly repeated.


    "Yes," Anita confirmed. "Gwen, Zoe, and Vida are here. Even Selma the slut is around, but she has probably already found a hidden corner and a man if you know what I mean."


    "Anita, don''t tell me that you are drunk already?" Monica joked.


    "How do you expect me to survive these events otherwise?" Anita scoffed while taking Monica''s hand. "Come now. Drop the hottie to the vixens so you can help me deal with those annoying suitors."


    The announcement would normally push Khan to join the conversation and find a way to remain with Monica, but a familiar presence suddenly touched his senses. That mana was somewhat different from his memories, but his feelings reacted before his mind could make a connection.


    "Wait, Anita," Monica continued tough. "Lieutenant Khan is my guest. I can''t just-."


    Monica interrupted her line after noticing how Khan had lost interest in the conversation. Something else had attracted his attention, and he walked toward it, uncaring of the fact that he was in an unknown environment.


    Khan entered the room where Anita hade from before ncing at a metal wall to his left. Only a half-closed door separated the two vast spaces, and a specific voice stood out among the murmurs generated by the many groups around him.


    Many voices flew at Khan, and people even tried to reach him, but nothing could make him stop. He advanced toward the half-closed door to cross it, and a sense of peace immediately spread inside him.


    "So, the Niqols delivered this amazing booze," A young man almost shouted from the bottom of the room while a group mainly made of women attentively listened to him, "And the entire dorm got wasted in a matter of hours. It was hrious."


    The womenughed due to the man''s loud tones and gestures, and one of them managed to ask a question before herpanions. "Didn''t you have a superior there?"


    "Well," The man grinned, but his mouth hung open when he noticed Khan. Still, his surprise onlysted for a second, and his smile widened again as his tale resumed. "A friend took care of that. Isn''t that right, Lieutenant Khan?"


    "Someone needed saving more than others," Khan stated. "Do you remember who he was, Mister Ildoo?"


    George exploded into augh and reached for a bottle on a table behind him before throwing it toward Khan. The sudden gesture made the women around him gasp, but Khan easily grabbed the booze mid-air and even opened it to take a sip.


    The room went silent, or, at least, Khan couldn''t hear anything. Only George existed in his senses as pure happiness invaded his mind. His journey in the Harbor had looked grim, but those problems instantly vanished. He couldn''t imagine himself struggling to face them if George was with him.

 Chapter 434 Discussion

    The people in the room understood that something meaningful was happening. Khan and George kept staring and grinning at each other without adding anything. Khan didn''t break the look even when he took a sip from the bottle.


    Of course, the people in the room weren''t entirely in the dark. George was a rtively famous figure, and many had heard about Khan. They even knew that the two had been together in a few crises, so making the connection wasn''t too hard.


    As for Khan and George, the two ignored the murmurs around them to continue inspecting each other''s expressions. They seemed able to speak without uttering any word, but the desire to talk eventually took over.


    "Are you nning on handing over that bottle?" George sneered.


    "I thought you made enough money to buy your own," Khan yed along.


    "Sharing it with you is priceless," George stated.


    "You got all sentimental in these years," Khan teased.


    "And you are wearing a shirt," George pointed out.


    The two exploded into augh that Khan interrupted by closing the bottle and throwing it back at George. George grabbed it mid-air and ced it on the table behind him before reaching for two empty sses.


    "Ladies, make room for the hero of Istrone and a bunch of other ces," George announced as he poured the booze into the two sses.


    Khan shook his head as he advanced toward the table, but George''s friends didn''tply. The women around him focused on Khan and inspected him from head to toe before wearing charming expressions.


    A surge of jealousy red behind Khan, but that wasn''t the time to address it. Besides, George had his back in that situation.


    "Come on," Georgeughed when he peeked past his shoulder and noticed that hispanions were still in the way. "Give us a few minutes. We''ll get back to you in no time."


    Being called out forced the women to step aside. Some felt embarrassed, while othersplied to save face. Nevertheless, Khan ignored their motivations and stepped forward to reach George''s right side.


    The two men faced the table at that point. The party was behind their backs, and the room grew louder, but they seemed able to create their personal space. George even doubled down on that by sliding one of the sses toward Khan.


    Khan picked up the ss and inspected the yellowish liquid before lifting it to his left. George had done the same by then, and the two performed a toast ording to the Niqols'' traditions.


    The event made both men fall into a daze but grins soon followed, and the same went for the emptying of their drinks. Khan and George ced the sses on the table almost at the same time, and thetter proceeded to refill them.


    "[You have blue hair]," Georgemented in anguage that triggered many of Khan''s memories.


    "[Are you really pulling the Niqols''nguage on me]?" Khan scoffed. "[I thought you would have forgotten it by now]."


    "[I didn''t get any better at it]," George stated, "[Differently from you. Do you still practice it]?"


    "[I''m just good]," Khan sighed.


    "[And humble]," George joked. "[At least we can talk freely]."


    "[That''s one perk]," Khan vaguely replied as he took the full ss and resumed drinking with George.


    Khan and George exchanged another look before fixing their eyes on the window past the table. The district expanded in their view, but neither saw the beauty depicted in the scenery.


    "[Why are you here]?" Khan eventually asked.


    "[I''ve grown to love the study of inteary politics]," George lied.


    George had be a second-level warrior in that period, but Khan could read his emotions easily. Moreover, he knew George well enough to understand the true reasons behind his arrival, and some gratitude inevitably spread inside him.


    "[You are the best]," Khan praised.


    "[I totally am]," George imed, "[And the Harbor is no battlefield. I''m not putting myself in danger or anything]."


    "[You do realize that you''ll have to study, don''t you]?" Khan teased.


    "[I''ll focus on studying a different subject]," Georgeughed while nodding in the direction of the women behind him. "[I also have the perfect wingman. I only hope he can tone his charm down]."


    "[I''m a faithful man]," Khan stated.


    "[Maybe that''s your trick]," George guessed. "[I think it wouldn''t suit me]."


    "[You don''t seem to have problems gettingid]," Khan chuckled.


    "[I bet that will change now that my wingman is here]," George dered. "[I speak for experience]."


    "[I have a girlfriend]," Khan pointed out.


    "[They don''t know that]," George responded. "[They probably wouldn''t care either. Unless they knew her name]."


    "[I have to wait for a few promotions before that]," Khan shook his head while cing his empty ss on the table. "[Maybe more than a few]."


    George also ced his ss on the table and seized the bottle to refill the drinks. However, he shot a nce at Khan to inspect him properly. His previous words had hinted at something, and George wanted to be sure to have understood their meaning.


    "[You look better]," George eximed.


    "[Are we still talking about my hair]?" Khan joked.


    "[Do you want to talk about it]?" George wondered.


    "[As if you didn''t read Milia 222''s reports]," Khan scoffed.


    "[You have booze and me now]," George announced. "[Even you loosen up with thisbination]."


    "[I-]," Khan began to sneer before taking the offer seriously. "[I''ll probably mention something when I''m drunker]."


    George nodded in satisfaction. He didn''t know a lot, but reports had spread from Milia 222. Moreover, he could see that Khan''s hair had the same color as his scar, and he even recalled what he had summoned in Nitis'' undergroundke.


    "[I wasn''t talking about your hair]," George eventually specified. "[I''d say that you looked happy if I didn''t know you]."


    "[Is that so]?" Khan sighed.


    "[I couldn''tpletely believe you during the call]," George continued, "[But now that I see you with my own eyes¡­ I''m happy for you, man]."


    "[What can I say]?" Khan wondered. "[Maybe enough time had passed, or maybe I changed]."


    "[You changed, alright]," George agreed. "[You look freer]."


    "[When did I even stick to rules]?" Khan pretended not to understand what George was saying to keep the drinks flowing.


    "[Count the women you had, and you''ll know how many rules you''ve broken]," George snorted.


    "[Breaking this one is going to get me killed]," Khan cursed, "[If she doesn''t kill me first]."


    "[Just how you like them]," George burst into augh.


    "[Dammit]," Khan sighed.


    "[Is she worth it]?" George wondered.


    "[I think so]," Khan admitted before his happy face turned into a shameless smirk, "[You''ll like her. She ps like Havaa]."


    "[I''ll like her as long as she makes you happy]," George dered, "[And does the things you like in bed]."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[About that]," Khan voiced. "[I need you to get me condoms. I ran out as soon as I got here]."


    "[Did you already pop her cherry]?" George gasped. "[Khan, you had to stick to teaching but on a different subject]."


    "[She will snap if you mention that]," Khan revealed, "[But I can''t trust anyone else here]."


    "[Why do you think I''vee]?" George proudly announced.


    "[Lascivious women looking for someone with actualbat experience]?" Khan wondered.


    "[I swear youe right after them]," George stated, and the conversation took a break since both men were too busyughing.


    "[So, were you serious about those condoms]?" George eventually questioned.


    "[There are too many eyes on us]," Khan exined. "[I don''t even know if I can find a ce where to be alone together without arousing suspicion]."


    "[You can always use my t]," George suggested.


    "[Where is it]?" Khan asked.


    "[This district]," George revealed. "[It''s not as big as this one, but it can do the job]."


    "[Am I really going to rely on you for this]?" Khan cursed.


    "[I''ll be the protector of youthful passions]," George eximed.


    "[You can barely handle yours]," Khan joked.


    "[I might be a lost cause]," George dered, "[But I''m not the one going full marriage as soon as I hook up with a girl]."


    "[What marriage]?" Khan scoffed. "[For now, I''ll stick to George''s cult: Booze, rx, and a woman]."


    "[Rx and you have never gotten along]," George chuckled before noticing that something was off. "[Hey, where did our bottle go]?"


    "[We drank it]," Khan chuckled at the sight of the empty bottle. Even the sses were long since gone.


    "[A sad fate]," George sighed. "[I guess it''s time to turn]."


    "[Go easy on the heroic tales]," Khan warned. "[Even I can''t sell myself short if you start telling the truth]."


    "[Oh, how I''ve missed this]!" George eximed as he finally turned and continued with his loud tone. "Ladies! Sorry for the wait!"


    "Do you know where we can find something else to drink?" Khan asked when he joined George. "I''m still new to these kinds of parties."


    "He is," George eximed while patting Khan''s shoulder. "He is a natural with interspecies politics, but actual parties aren''t his forte. I hope you teach him well."<sub> </sub>


    "Interspecies politics?" One of the women in George''s group eximed. "That''s so exotic."


    "George, you were telling us about Nitis," A second woman announced. "Was Lieutenant Khan involved in the meetings with the Niqols?"


    "Involved?" George scoffed. "He aced them, isn''t that right?"


    ''These women probably read my profile already,'' Khan cursed in his mind while showing his fake smile. "George likes to praise me. Still, yeah, we were part of a special envoy on Nitis."


    "We lived among them for months," George continued, "And Khan''s achievements don''t end there. He also served on Ecoruta, won Onia''s tournament, and yed an important role on Milia 222, thewless zone ruled by six different species."


    ''They definitely know about Onia,'' Khan cursed again while retaining his polite behavior. "George, they don''t want to hear about the gory details."


    "On the contrary," A third woman stated while cing a hand on Khan''s forearm. "It''s so rare for us to meet experienced soldiers. How could we miss the chance to hear their stories?"


    ''Don''t they have mansions full of them?'' Khan cursed a third time before opting to y along. "Well, get us a drink, and the stories will flow."


    "George has the bad habit of disappearing whenever we turn," The fourth woman revealed while focusing on Khan. "Can you promise us that you won''t run away?"


    Khan found four pairs of captivating eyes fixed on him. The four women couldn''t match Monica''s charm or Jenna''s astonishing beauty, but they were by no means ugly, and they knew how to handle men.


    Keeping those womenpany was an easy task for Khan, especially with George at his side. Khan had no problems ying along since his friend made that interaction fun. However, the re of jealousy past the group only intensified during the chat, and it soon reached a critical point.


    "There won''t be any need for that," Monica shouted from behind the group, making everyone turn. "Lieutenant Khan is my guest here. It would be shameful of me not to cover for him until he gets used to this environment."


    Monica strode forward while lifting the drink in her grasp, and the four women instinctively stepped aside, allowing her to reach Khan. A meaningful re unfolded when Monica handed over her ss, and Khan could only contain his smirk during the interaction.


    "Monica, as your guest, how could I leave you empty-handed?" Khan asked since Monica didn''t have anything else with her. Clearly, she had sacrificed her drink to get the four women away from him.


    "Oh, Khan," Monica giggled. "You really are new to these events."


    Monica''s eyes darted through the room and alerted all the curious people peeking at the scene. The fact that Khan and Monica used their first names openly instantly became the topic of many chatters, but her gesture pushed some of the men to reach for any drink in their range.


    In a matter of seconds, Monica, Anita, the four women, and George obtained drinks. Those interested in the scene even brought multiple bottles and many clean sses, turning Khan into the center of the room.


    ''She does have many suitors,'' Khan sighed in his mind. The scene had proven how important and sought Monica was. Even the women in the room didn''t dare to contradict her openly.


    "See?" Monica eximed while lifting her drink through her elegant manners. "You don''t have to worry about me. Actually, do it. You are cute when you get protective."


    "Miss Solodrey, with all due respect," George announced, "History tells us that Khan is more than cute."


    "I wouldn''t speak so freely if I were you," Anita snorted.


    "Anita, don''t take it the wrong way," George began to say.


    "It''s toote," Anita pressed on. "I''ve already taken it the wrong way."


    "[What did you do to her]?" Khan whispered in the Niqols''nguage.


    "[We had a date]," George exined. "[I forgot to call her back]."


    "Hey, you two," One of the women called. "No more aliennguages."


    "We only say good things about all of you," George lied. No one believed him, but Monica seized the chance to tease Khan.


    "Khan, you know I like my praises whispered to my ear," Monica joked.


    "Your friends might misunderstand," Khan politely addressed the issue.


    "Maybe I want you to understand my intentions," Monica used vague words to y along.


    Khan and Monica couldn''t help but fall into a daze. Monica was experiencing the same symptoms that had afflicted Khan just a few hours ago. Her jealousy had taken over, and Khan felt conflicted about the event.


    Monica''s jealousy was reassuring, and it even warmed Khan''s heart. However, that bold approach left him with no good answers. Dismissing her openly would cause problems, but he couldn''t let their open teasingst for too long either.


    Luckily for Khan, George also had sharp senses, and Monica''s stance told him enough to understand what he had to do.


    "Since we all have a drink," George announced, "Why don''t we toast ording to the Niqols'' tradition?"


    "Ooh, what''s that?" One of the women gasped in curiosity.


    "It''s pretty simple," George eximed, and his words mixed with the chatter and the surprised cries.


    Khan missed a lot of George''s exnation, and the same went for when the man started telling stories. Monica''s presence was too distracting for Khan, and she never missed the chance to make things hard for him.


    Of course, Monica had it even worse than Khan. She was the most sought woman in the room, but that made her almost untouchable. Instead, Khan had to deflect flirtatious offers left and right, and she couldn''t do much about them.


    George didn''t help in the matter. He was probably happier than Khan about that reunion, so he didn''t hold back with his stories. He didn''t say much about Khan''s girlfriends, but the tales of his heroic deeds had many details that made the audience''s eyes shine in amazement and respect.


    Khan was basically in the middle of that silent conflict. He had to remain polite to work on his social array, deflect Monica''s tant teases, andugh with George whenever his tales awakened funny memories.


    That stalemate continued for entire minutes, and the problems only increased as more people mustered the courage to voice questions. Some even left the other areas of the t to join that cheerful event, and the seemingly endless amount of booze added more fuel to the matter.


    "There you are!" Eventually, a voice resounded above the loud chatters, and the crowd in the room created a passage for that neer.


    "Lucian!" Anita eximed when Lucian did his best to cross the crowd without losing hisposure.


    The number of Khan''s mental curses had long since reached two figures by then, and seeing Lucian added another to the pile. The man reeked of jealousy, even if his face expressed pure friendliness, and his poprity immediately made him join the event.


    "I couldn''t find you anywhere," Lucian revealed once he joined the inner circle of Khan''s group. "So, what did I miss?"


    "Mister Ildoo was trying to figure out how tall the Stal were," One of the men nearby summarized.


    "Please, Mister Ildoo is my father," George waved his hand to dismiss that polite title. "George is more than enough."


    "The Stal?" Lucian repeated in surprise. "I didn''t know you served on Ecoruta."


    "I didn''t," George confirmed before nodding in Khan''s direction, "But he fought there before heading for Onia''s tournaments. Those aliens must be quite a sight."


    "Sight, sure," Khanmented, "But their physical strength is the real problem. One good punch can kill you."


    "Imagine if they were as smart as their counterparts," A man in the audience voiced.


    "They have Guko''s technology," Khan added. "They might not know how to use it very well, but it still increases their danger level."


    "It must have been scary to fight them," A woman stated while trying to reach for Khan''s arm, but Monica suddenly pulled the edge of his sleeve to force his attention on her.


    "I must add this story to one of the topics of our date," Monica suggested.


    "I thought it was a work-rted meeting," Khan deflected.


    "I like to call it a date since it''s you," Monica teased while covering her mouth.


    A series of surprised faces appeared among the audience. That wasn''t Monica''s first time making simrments, but they grew bolder as drinks went by. Some suspected that she had gotten drunk, but no one called her out.


    "I reckon that most fights on Ecoruta happen from the safety of the trenches," Lucian stated. "How did you get such a good look at the Stal?"


    "Our superiors made us attack enemy trenches at times," Khan exined, "And my team also fell prey to the enemy. Escaping that underground prison granted me more than enough looks."


    "Right, I recall that report," Lucian eximed. "Though, humans are superior to the Stal in every other field. A smart approach will always lead to victory."


    "I don''t know," Khan argued. "The battlefield has different environments, and some benefit the Stal."


    "Going into a territory that benefits your enemies is a tactical mistake on its own," Lucian uttered.


    "I simply followed orders," Khan exined shortly. "Anyway, you don''t want to end up in a trench with a Stal."


    "Long-range attacks are your friends," Lucian pointed out. "You should never get in the Stal''s range."


    "Sometimes you don''t have that option," Khan dered. "If your superior tells you to invade the enemy trench, you do it."


    "There are still ways to exploit their ws," Lucian remained firm on his argument.


    "Did you read that somewhere?" George wondered, doing his best to pretend that he wasn''t mad. "You know, Khan has actually been there. His words are as close to the truth as possible."


    "He might have simply forgotten in the heat of the battle," Lucian guessed.


    "I didn''t," Khan stated. "I had to face many Stal in meleebat, and they were powerful."


    The tones were getting heated, and Khan was in no condition to back down, especially since Lucian had been the reason behind his previous jealousy. George was also on his side, so a polite discussion took form.


    "I don''t want to insult anyone," Lucian warned. "I''m simply pointing out a tactical mistake."


    "You can''t keep your distance once inside the trench," Khan pressed on. "It''s too small, and the Stal are too big."


    "Let''s take a step back," Lucian uttered. "You are correct. I don''t know the size of the trenches. I was merely arguing about the advantages of tactics over brute strength. In theory, no human should ever lose to a Stal."


    Lucian was technically correct. Humans had spells that could burn Stal to a crisp from far away. Yet, Khan knew that the situation was moreplicated than that. Adding a rifle to the equation or a specific terrain could change the fate of that theoretical battle.


    Khan''s unconvinced stance added fuel to George''s irritation. The booze was starting to show its effects, and George couldn''t ept that a random wealthy descendant dared to open his mouth on topics that had imed Khan''s sweat and blood.


    "Let me tell you," George announced. "Things get messy quickly in a war. Only flexible tactics can survive there."


    No one dared to argue with George. After all, he had seen Istrone''s rebellion, and the various families still suffered due to that tragedy.


    "True," Lucian agreed. "It takes the right tool to ensure the survival of the tactic."


    "Could you do it?" George wondered without hiding his scorn for the word "tool".


    "Mister Ildoo, George," Lucian eximed, "We alle from incredible families here. We had the best educators and masters growing up. It wouldn''t be wrong to say that we were born for that."


    "Shall we test that?" George questioned. "My style is well-recorded, and the same goes for the best strategy to defeat it. I can pull out the file right now if needed. ording to what you just said, you could enforce it in a real battle, couldn''t you?"

 Chapter 435 Leash

    The open challenge made the room fall silent. Murmurs even spread past it since many were peeking from the entrance. Soon, the entire t learnt about the conversation, but Lucian still held back from answering.


    Most groups also stood still to wait for a development, but Khan wasn''t one of them. He shared George''s irritation since Lucian''s statements had partially insulted him, and the bold challenge made him let out a shortugh. His reaction didn''t hint at anything specific, but he hid it anyway by bringing his drink to his mouth.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Of course, the audience saw Khan''sugh differently. He was George''s friend, so his gesture seemed to disregard Lucian''s point.


    Khan had drunk a lot, but his senses were strangely clear. His mind was also perfectly stable, so he could keep track of the room''s emotional state. He immediately understood what hisugh had caused, but it was toote to do anything about it.


    At first, Khan regretted his reaction since causing drama wasn''t ideal in his situation. However, hisugh had been genuine, and there was more than simple politeness at stake. Also, it was fun to have an almost-drunk George next to him.


    "George," Lucian eventually felt forced to address the situation. "We are all tipsy, drunk even. Let''s drop this before things get serious."


    "Backing off already?" George scoffed.


    "It''s a simple matter of safety," Lucian argued. "Mana is dangerous. Incidents can happen."


    Lucian was perfectly right, and many agreed with him. Yet, Khan already knew that George wasn''t done.


    "So," George announced, "A bit of booze would make any tactic unreliable, right? Imagine what would happen in the chaos of the battlefield."


    George''s answer hit the mark. The people in the room had chosen to drink, but that was only one variable. A proper war would have far more, which made Lucian''s stance inurate.


    The situation grew tense. Refusing the challenge was the smart move, but reputation went a long way, and the room didn''tck important figures. Lucian would appear as a coward, especially after his previous ims. There were too many eyes on him. He had to ept.


    "Alright," Lucian eximed. "This district has a set of training halls. We can use them."


    "Perfect!" George shouted while gulping down his drink.


    "However," Lucian continued. "You need to sober up a bit. It wouldn''t be fair otherwise."


    "I think I''ll keep drinking while you read my file," George stated in defiance.


    "I don''t need to read it," Lucian revealed. "Some of my rtives had suggested a sparring session with you but ultimately changed their minds. Still, I prepared just in case."


    Khan didn''t hide his surprise when he nced at George. He knew that his friend had be a sought sparring partner among wealthy families, but that was the first proof of his fame. Until now, the rumors about George hade from women, and they weren''t too good.


    "Surprised?" George sneered after noticing Khan''s nce.


    "You actually did some work in these years," Khanmented.


    "Did you expect so little from me?" George wondered.


    "George, I expect the world from you," Khan dered.


    George didn''t expect such a straightforward answer, but a joke quickly left his mouth anyway. "That''s how you get your girls. Even my heart fluttered a bit."


    "Shut up," Khan scoffed.


    "He is so unfair at times," Monica whispered before realizing she hadmitted a mistake. "Anyway, is this fight happening? I''m mildly curious now."


    "George isn''t at his best," Lucian pointed out. "The battlefield might have many variables, but we should avoid them now."


    "A bit of booze won''t change anything," George fought back.


    "You aren''t thinking clearly," Lucian rebuked. "You simply can''t after all your drinks."


    "The Niqols would disagree," George snickered while poking Khan''s side.


    "He can fight," Khan confirmed. "Booze won''t get in the way."


    The stalemate returned, but the attention fell on Lucian. Khan''s statement didn''t prove anything, but everyone understood that it was Lucian''s time to make a move, and his choice seemed obvious.


    "We can''t bring everyone into the training hall," Lucian eventually dered. "The people in this room should be enough."


    A series of excited murmurs exploded while Lucian picked up his phone. The battle was happening. The people in the room were in for a show.


    "I''ve called enough cabs to bring us to the training hall," Lucian announced before storing his phone. "George, do you need a sword?"


    "No, my fingers will be enough," George proudly eximed, and the confidence reeking out of him made a few women bite their lower lips.


    Lucian had given up on trying to reason with George, so he nodded and began leaving the room. The audience opened a path for George and Khan, and the two didn''t hesitate to tread it. Everyone else followed behind them afterward.


    Envy and curiosity filled the t, but the people heading toward the training hall paid them no heed. Someone exchanged chats with the groups remaining behind, but those interactions neversted too long.


    The elevator was too small to bring everyone down in a single trip, so the group split into many teams. Lucian, Khan, George, Monica, and Anita ended up in the lift together, but no one spoke. George smirked teasingly, but everyone pretended not to notice him.


    Leaving the elevator didn''t change the silence. The group waited on the sidewalk while the elevator brought more people down, and long cars eventually arrived. Lucian and Khan''s team instinctively split up, and Monica did the same to avoid arousing suspicion.


    "Ignorant kids," George snorted when he and Khan settled inside a car. "They have no idea how the real world works."


    "They really don''t," Khan sighed before showing his palm.


    "What do you want me to do with that?" George asked while looking at Khan''s hand.


    "Take it out," Khan ordered. "I''m thirsty."


    George smirked before pulling out a bottle from behind his back. He had sneaked it out while leaving the t, and Khan had obviously noticed him.


    "I wanted it to be a surprise," George imed while putting the bottle in Khan''s hand.


    "You managed to find booze on the space station above Nitis," Khan reminded. "Stealing a bottle from a t full of them is hardly a surprise."


    "The power of a driven man," Georgeughed.


    Khan shook his head before taking a sip from the bottle and handing it back to George. Thetter didn''t hesitate to drink, and that exchange continued for the entire trip.


    "Hey, George," Khan called once the car stopped, "Let''s avoid killing him."


    "Don''t worry about that," George reassured. "I''ve gotten better at holding back."


    The two didn''t need to say anything else. George and Khan left the car only to find Lucian already waiting for them. The other cabs soon arrived, and the entirety of the audience gathered on the sidewalk.


    Lucian didn''t hesitate to lead the way, and Khan took that chance to inspect the area. The car had brought him to a vast building that stretched for a few districts. The structure wasn''t tall, and its ck metal walls didn''t reveal anything, but that style usually hinted at training halls.


    A mere flick from Lucian''s phone unlocked the vast entrance and allowed the group inside. A long corridor with numbered doors unfolded in everyone''s vision, and Khan recognized that familiar style. Each passage probably led to a different training hall.


    Lucian didn''t bother to choose a specific hall. He reached for the closest one and unlocked it through his phone before leading everyone in. A big and empty hangar-like room unfolded at that point, and multiple interactive menus lit up on the floor and followed Lucian.


    The group didn''t need directions. Lucian and George headed for the hall''s center while the others reached one of its walls. Khan showed no surprise when he found Monica next to him, and the two only exchanged a meaningful nce before focusing on the contestants.


    "Do we need to set rules?" Lucian wondered while tinkering with the menus under his feet.


    "What rules do we need?" George scoffed. "We will know once someone wins."


    "Alright," Lucian agreed whilepleting the hall''s settings. Khan wasn''t too close, but he could see the many glowingbels. Lucian prevented the area from recording the battle and slightly increased the overall illumination.


    "Is this really fine?" Monica couldn''t help but whisper now that the battle was imminent, but the change in George''s stance reassured herpletely.


    The audience experienced a simr surprise. Everyone had gotten a precise idea of George by then, but the arrival of the battle shattered those beliefs. George''s happy and drunken expression vanished as a coldness filled his face. Even his stance grew firmer, adding heavy tension to the hall.


    The sharp change left many stunned. George seemed apletely different person now, but the situation was different for Khan. That was George''s true face. It actually felt nostalgic to see it again.


    "Very well," Lucian announced while taking a step back to put some distance from George.


    Khan couldn''t help but nod in approval, and George also epted that Lucian knew his stuff. As a swordsman, George had the advantage in close range, so staying away was the intelligent approach. However, that alone wouldn''t ensure Lucian''s victory.


    George''s right foot slowly slid forward, and Lucian took another step back. His immediate reaction spoke for his concentration, but George''s offensive had yet to begin.


    George brought his right hand to his chest and stretched two fingers before cing his other palm on them. Dark-silver light gathered on them and gave birth to a sword when he lifted his left arm. His ethereal weapon was long, thin, and stable.


    The beauty of George''s spell gave birth to many suppressed praises. Some even voiced their surprise. The booze didn''t get in the way of George''s concentration, which was incredible after everything he had drunk.


    As for Khan, his attention went deeper. He had kept track of George''s mana, and its flow had been smooth. George had improved greatly since theirst meeting, and he wasn''t even showing his full power.


    On the other hand, Lucian had yet to muster his mana. He didn''t prepare any spell or attack. He was simply waiting for George toe, which didn''t make much sense.


    Khan knew the best way to defeat George. Thetter''s spell required firm concentration, so destabilizing him would leave him weaponless. Still, Lucian''s element was a mystery, and the same went for his fighting style.


    "I''ming," George warned while mana gathered inside his legs.


    Lucian leaned a bit back to prepare for the assault, and George didn''t make him wait long. George shot forward, closing the distance from Lucian in a few steps before thrusting his ethereal sword toward the man''s left shoulder.


    A sidestep to the right allowed Lucian to dodge the iing sword, but George was faster than him. His fingers followed Lucian and threatened to leave a deep cut on his chest, but thetter promptly jumped backward.


    George''s offensive didn''t end there. Lucian was retreating, but George was as fast as him, and a step forward put him back in the sword''s range.


    Lucian was at a disadvantage. He had yet to restore his bnce, and the same went for George, but the sword didn''t need a stable foothold. George had already lunged ahead, and Lucian would only fall if he tried to dodge again.


    That oue was predictable. Lucian had made a tactical mistake with his simple retreat. He should haveunched something back to stop George''s assault, but his passive response had left him open.


    Nevertheless, Khan noticed how Lucian remained perfectly calm. The sword was rushing toward his chest, but he didn''t flinch. His mana finally started to move in those seconds, and a high-pitched noise resounded in the hall when he pped his hands.


    The audience couldn''t experience the full might of the high-pitched noise, but Khan saw it clearly. The amount of mana released during the p was significant, and George had to bear its entire power.


    The dark-silver de shook while George closed his eyes and stomped his feet to retrieve his bnce. The noise had messed up his senses, and Lucian didn''t waste that opportunity.


    Lucian stopped retreating and shot forward, raising his right palm and moving his mana toward it to prepare an attack. However, George''s senses stabilized in those seconds, and the sword regained its stability while he waved it at the iing threat.


    Lucian had to interrupt his palm strike to jump on his left and dodge the iing de. He retreated just outside the sword''s range to prepare another sound attack, but fear filled his face when George pointed his fingers at him.


    The sword stretched as soon as Lucianpletely stopped. He was at his weakest now, and George knew that, so he poured more mana into his spell to increase its range.


    Lucian could only throw himself to his left, but even that wasn''t enough to avoid the depletely. The ethereal sword touched his cheek and dug a deep wound into it before returning into the air.


    George swung his hand to follow Lucian, but thetter pped his hands once his back hit the floor. The high-pitched noise resounded again, and the sword lost enough stability to shatter when Lucian punched it.


    Lucian didn''t bother to retreat. He straightened his back to throw a palm toward George''s waist, but thetter was ready. George recovered in time to kick Lucian away and make his attack miss.


    George jumped after Lucian while another ethereal de grew from his stretched fingers. Yet, Lucian rolled on the floor and snapped back on his feet through a long leap. By the time Georgended, Lucian had already put a few meters between them.


    "You are annoying," George eximed while waving his sword through the air. "I give you that."


    During those short exchanges, many gasps, suppressed cries, andments resounded among the audience. The battle was exciting, but Khan didn''t show any reaction. He remained perfectly still as his sensitivity gave birth to various thoughts.


    ''He isn''t using his element,'' Khan realized after the second sound attack.


    An ordinary soldier would think that the high-pitched noises came from Lucian''s element, but Khan knew the truth. The man was using a lot of mana in his attacks, but their effects were rtively weak. A proper spell would have deafened George by then.


    ''He is holding back,'' Khan understood. ''Well, so is George.''


    George used his free hand to scratch his ear, but his de never wavered. He kept it pointed at Lucian while studying the distance between them. Somehow, he knew that the battle would end with his next offensive.


    Lucian ignored the wound on his cheek and kept his hands ready. He didn''t even try to hide his strategy. He would rely on the sound attack again, and George''s expression grew colder at that sight.


    George didn''t have Khan''s senses, but his sensitivity stood far above ordinary humans. He also noticed that Lucian wasn''t using his element, and the obvious stance seemed to mock his prowess.


    Some killing intent started to join George''s presence. He wasn''t losing his cool, but part of him wanted to get serious to teach Lucian a lesson. Yet, Khan wouldn''t let him go too far.


    "George!" Khan shouted to interrupt the intensifying killing intent. "This is a sparring match."


    The shout surprised the audience since no one noticed the killing intent, but George understood what Khan meant. He didn''t say anything, but his mindset slightly changed. The coldness retreated as some resolve took its ce.


    A tremor ran through Lucian when George shot toward him. The assault was no different from the previous, so Lucian deployed the same tactic. When the sword swung in his direction, he dodged and pped his hands, and a louder high-pitched noise filled the hall.


    George had to stop and close his eyes to get rid of the noise ringing in his ears, and Lucian seized the change to deliver a palm strike. Still, George seemed unable to recover at that time. He could only bend to his right to make the attacknd on his left shoulder.


    Lucian''s palm strike wasn''t too powerful, but creaking noises resounded from George''s shoulder anyway. The attack would typically mark the end of the battle, but George suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed Lucian''s wrist.


    Surprise spread through the audience, but Khan knew exactly what was happening. George had faked his instability to catch Lucian unprepared. The battle could only go in one direction now.


    Lucian tried to deliver a palm strike with his free hand, but George swept his legs before he could do anything. Lucian could only fall to the floor while George pulled him, and a dark-silver sword soon filled his vision.


    Gasps resounded. George stood above Lucian, firmly holding his wrist while keeping the sword a few centimeters from his forehead. The weapon would pierce Lucian if he tried to move. That was checkmate.


    "Never underestimate the power of a sacrificial y," George announced as he dispersed his sword and let go of the wrist before showing his hand to Lucian. "A desperate opponent is all it takes to make any tactic useless."


    George''s cold face broke into a smile when Lucian took his hand. The two even exchanged a respectful nod when George helped Lucian to his feet. Meanwhile, the audience began to cheer, and some women evenunched bold praises for George.


    Khan was no stranger to those celebrations. He felt happy seeing George getting the praise he deserved, but the sudden movement of a light strand of mana made his feelings go silent and pushed him forward.


    George let go of Lucian''s hand to wave at the audience, but Khan suddenlynded between the two. His arrival surprised the men, but he gave no exnation when he grabbed George''s hand.


    The trace of mana grew clearer in Khan''s senses while he held George''s hand. A foreign strand of energy had entered his palm and had settled right under his skin, but its presence was too faint for George''s sensitivity.


    George was confused, but Khan''s serious face kept him silent. He trusted the man from the bottom of his heart, so he didn''t get in his way.


    "This will hurt a bit," Khan whispered while ncing at George, and thetter promptly nodded.


    Khan closed his eyes and let his sensitivity take over. The symphony became clearer than ever, allowing him to see the ck spot hidden inside George''s palm.


    A strand of mana left Khan''s hand and entered George''s arm before flowing toward the ck spot. George could oppose the process, but he let Khan do as he wished, ultimately leading to his energy enveloping that foreign mass.


    Khan kept his mana in that position for a while, but the chaos element''s innate destructivity appeared unable to remove that ck mass. So, he made his energy condense that foreign shade before forcing everything toe out.


    A chunk of George''s skin broke while Khan''s mana pushed out the ck mass. Khan opened his eyes at that point, and the strand of foreign energy became clear among the minor injury. That dark mana left George''s palm and rose through the air before dispersing into the hall.


    Khan didn''t sense any ill feeling in that dark mana. He couldn''t understand its purpose, but he knew its source, and George also realized that. His cold gaze didn''t hesitate to fall on Lucian, who appeared surprised about that development.


    "I''ll handle it," Khan stated while his eyes inspected the ceiling to study the faint remains of that dark mana.


    The inspection didn''t lead anywhere, forcing Khan to lower his gaze. He nned to talk to Lucian immediately, but the audience''s strange confusion ended up iming his attention first.


    Khan looked at Monica and the others only to find some scouring the ceiling with their eyes. Many wore frowns since they didn''t understand what Khan had looked for, and the scene brought a sad realization.


    The audience had imitated Khan, but none saw the world as he did. Only he could notice the dark mana with his bare eyes since his vision didn''t belong to humanity anymore.


    That sadness was short-lived. Khan disregarded the audience to turn toward Lucian, who weed his gesture with a cold face. Only the two of them knew what was happening, and theck of proof prevented open usations.


    "Can we talk?" Khan asked, making sure not to hint at anything.


    "Why not," Lucian vaguely replied before heading toward the hall''s exit.


    "Get patched up," Khan whispered to George before following Lucian. The wound on the palm was nothing serious, but his shoulder needed care.


    George didn''t say anything and followed Khan''s departure with his eyes before rejoining the audience. Meanwhile, Khan and Lucian left the training hall and walked a few steps through the corridor until thetter stopped.


    "What''s your deal?" Khan asked while Lucian turned to face him.


    "Your profile speaks greatly about your senses," Lucian eximed through a straight face. "I admit I underestimated them until now."


    "My senses have nothing to do with the matter," Khan revealed. "I met a simr cloaking technique in the past, so I prepared ordingly."


    Khan was speaking the truth. The dark mana inside George was faint, but he would have normally sensed it. However, that energy had cloaking properties that Khan had uncovered due to his past studies.


    "Oh, I thought the technique was alien," Lucian stated. "No one noticed my seeds in the past."


    "Seeds?" Khan wondered.<sub> </sub>


    "They aren''t harmful," Lucian announced while raising his arms to reassure Khan. "They only gather information. Mister Ildoo turned out to be stronger than expected, so I thought to keep track of him."


    Khan''s re remained cold. Lucian had sounded honest, but he didn''t trust the darkness inside him. There was something off about him, and Khan couldn''t exin what.


    "Am I that untrustworthy?" Lucian chuckled. "Don''t you have some alien techniques to check whether I''m speaking the truth?"


    The offer had sounded honest again, but Khan didn''t have anything specific for the task. Yet, an idea eventually popped into his mind, and his gaze fell on his palm while nostalgic memories unfolded.


    "So?" Lucian asked.


    "Stay still," Khan ordered as he approached Lucian and raised his hand.


    Lucian let Khan do as he wished, and a palm soonnded at the center of his chest. Khan closed his eyes as understanding dawned upon him. He finally realized why Jenna and Liiza were so fond of that practice. He could hear the entirety of Lucian with his hand there.


    "What are those seeds?" Khan asked while keeping his eyes closed.


    "They help me keep track of certain soldiers," Lucian exined. "There is nothing harmful about them, and they even dissolve in a matter of weeks."


    Khan confirmed that Lucian was speaking the truth, but the exnation revealed more details about his character. The darkness wasn''t evil. It didn''t carry any ill intention. It merely expressed detachment.


    "What about you?" Lucian asked when Khan removed his hand and opened his eyes. "What''s your deal?"


    "I''m simply looking out for a friend," Khan replied.


    "I''m not talking about that," Lucian said while wearing a meaningful grin. "What''s the deal between you and Monica?"


    "There is no deal," Khan scoffed.


    "I''ve seen Monica flirt around many times," Lucian revealed. "She always faked it, obviously, but it''s different with you. She actually loses her cool with you around."


    Khan hesitated as he inspected Lucian''s grin. The desire toe clean ran through his mind and grew stronger with each passing second, but he managed to ignore it. Telling the truth would only cause problems for Monica, and the fear of that oue beat his other feelings.


    "I''m not dumb," Khan mustered one of his perfect pretenses when rity descended on him. "She might like me, but we live in different worlds. I wouldn''t dare to touch her."


    "Really?" Lucian wondered. "So, no nasty affairs in Milia 222?"


    "We both had work to do there," Khan pressed on.


    "What a waste," Lucian sighed. "You won''t get another chance like this."


    "Why do you care so much about it?" Khan questioned. "If you are interested in her, you should just ask her out."


    "I admit we would be a perfect couple," Lucian dered, "But only on a political field. Still, she is too difficult to approach. I can find a better match who doesn''t have the same issues."


    "So, you are all about politics," Khanmented.


    "Look, you said it yourself," Lucian scoffed while spreading his arms. "You live in a different world. Don''t pretend to understand mine."


    "And how does yours work?" Khan wondered.


    "Don''t take this as an insult," Lucian warned. "You seem an incredible soldier, but I''ll eventually be the leader of one of the wealthiest families. I y a different game, and you aren''t in it."


    Those words expanded on the detachment felt before. Lucian simply didn''t care. His career was his only interest.


    "On this topic," Lucian continued, "You are someone worthy of his fame. I wouldn''t mind having you on my payroll."


    "I''m not that kind of soldier," Khan immediately refused.


    "Mister Cobsend managed to hire you for Milia 222," Lucian pointed out. "Are you sure you aren''t on his payroll?"


    "If you have a mission for me," Khan announced, "I''ll give it a look. I might even ept if the payment is right, but you can''t buy my loyalty."


    "Everyone has a price," Lucian grinned. "Maybe money isn''t yours, but what if I could give you Monica instead?"


    "As far as I know," Khan said, holding back the flicker trying to run through his eyes, "Her family is as wealthy as yours."


    "Sort of," Lucian admitted. "Yet, my n would involve you. I can grant you the status required to be with her."


    Khan couldn''t help but fall silent. He wasn''t speechless, but he couldn''t find a proper answer. Refusing Lucian would cut a potential political path while epting wasn''t even an option.


    In the end, Khan decided not to address the matter. He straight-up turned while giving onestment. "Don''t try anything funny with my friends."


    "I promise I''ll stay away," Lucian dered. "Don''t take too long to get to advanced sses."


    Khan ignored thement and returned inside the training hall only to find a funny scene. George had taken off his jumper, and his muscr body had be the focus of most of the women. Giggles and praises also resounded, and George oftenughed with them.


    "Oh, you are back!" George shouted when Khan entered the hall. Lucian soon followed, and the two eventually reunited with the audience.


    "Well, that was a good diversion," Lucianughed once he reached the group. "Mister Ildoo''s fame is well-earned. I wouldn''t havested a single exchange if he had a real sword."


    Lucian''sment garnered the respect of his peers. He had lost the battle, but acknowledging his defeat enveloped him in a mature vibe.


    George wasn''t in the mood to ept Lucian''s praises, especially after what had happened. Still, the alluring gazes that flew in his direction improved his temperament and made him wear a proud expression.


    "Now, my party is still going," Lucian continued. "Shall we go back to it?"


    The audience seemed to agree with the offer, but Khan had a different idea. George was also injured, so he didn''t hesitate to use him to justify his decision.


    "I think I''ll call it a day," Khan stated. "I even have to apany George to a medical bay. His shoulder is making strange noises."


    "I''m also beat," Monica didn''t waste that opportunity. "Lucian, I hope you don''t mind if I leave early."


    "Of course," Lucian replied. "You didn''t have the time to settle properly either. Don''t worry. There will be other chances."


    "Thank you," Monica performed one of her elegant bows.


    "It wouldn''t be fair if I left you alone now," Anita ended up scoffing while inspecting the reddening patch on George''s shoulder. "Besides, Lieutenant Khan doesn''t know the Harbor. I''ll escort you to the medical bay before taking my leave."


    "Did my performance surprise you so much?" George teased.


    "You are a long way from earning my forgiveness," Anita snorted.


    "George, I''lle too," One of the women in the group eximed.


    "He needs all the help he can get, doesn''t he?" Another woman announced.


    More women tried to join the trip to the medical bay, and George inevitably gloated at that attention. Yet, looking at Anita''s re made him decide to refuse those offers.


    "Ladies, I think it''s better to split up tonight," George dered. "I don''t want you to miss the party because of me. Don''t worry. You''ll see me around soon enough."


    "It''s settled then," Anita suddenly eximed. "Monica, will you ride with us?"


    "How could I refuse?" Monica smiled, and the four quickly left the group to approach the exit.


    The four didn''t speak during the walk. Only George let out a groan when he tried to wear his jumper before giving up on the task. His shoulder had started to hurt too much, so he avoided getting dressed.


    The street past therge building still had many cabs parked by the sidewalk, and the drivers only needed one look at Monica to open their doors. The group chose a random car, and a short discussion unfolded as soon as they settled inside.


    "To the medical bay," Anita ordered through the speaker.


    "No, let''s go to my t," George contradicted. "The fight sobered me up. I don''t want to sleep like this."


    "You need to get your shoulder checked," Anita pointed out.


    "It''s fine," George stated while slightly shrugging his shoulder. The process hurt, but nothing seemed broken.


    "What do you say, Khan?" Monica wondered.


    Khan already knew the state of George''s shoulder. The injury wasn''t too bad. The medical bay would help a lot, but George would probably heal on his own in a week. In theory, he didn''t need a doctor right away.


    "I''ll bring him to the medical bay in the morning," Khan sighed. "We can celebrate tonight. After all, he won against Lucian."


    "See?" Georgeughed.


    "Fine," Anita gave up. "Do you have guest rooms in your t? Hopefully, you won''t mind if I crash there tonight."


    "I thought I had to work harder for that," George admitted.


    "Lieutenant Khan still doesn''t know where the medical bay is," Anita exined, "And who knows if you''ll even go there once you wake up. You need a responsible person around."


    "Sleeping in the same t with two men is improper," Monica joined the conversation. "I''ll also stay. It might be fun to have somepany."


    "Oh, Monica, you are the best," Anita eximed while taking Monica''s hands. "We can share the same bed and exchange gossip all night. You also have to tell me everything about Lieutenant Khan."


    "I''m still here," Khan coughed.


    "It would be hard to miss you," Anita giggled before bringing her focus back to Monica. "I know you are hiding something, girl. Is the hottie here involved?"


    Monica and Anita fell prey to their gossip, and Khan and George could only exchange a helpless gaze in the meantime. Still, the atmosphere remained cheerful, and the trip felt short because of that.


    The four eventually left the cab and headed for the closest building. They crossed an interactive desk and used an elevator before finding themselves in a big t simr to Lucian''s. The ce wasn''t as spacious, but it remained immense nheless.


    "Well, we''ll be on our way to bed," Anita eximed once the group reached the living room. "Lieutenant Khan, don''t keep him up for too long."


    "We''ll sleep in no time," Khan promised. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Wildon."


    "Oh, call me Anita," Anita giggled. "Goodnight then."


    "Have a good night, George, Khan," Monica said in her usual elegant tone while exchanging a meaningful nce with Khan that Anita''s pull cut short.


    George and Khan waited until the two women disappeared behind a door before throwing themselves onto two different couches. The short table between them already had bottles, and they didn''t hesitate to open them.


    "So, how did it go with Lucian?" George asked while cing his legs on the table.


    "I can''t understand his kind," Khan sighed as hey on the couch and used the armrest as a pillow. "He''s all about his career."


    "Maybe it''s for the best," George suggested. "He won''t try anything anymore now."


    "Hopefully," Khan agreed. "Though he has good eyes. He suspected Monica and me."


    "She didn''t exactly hold back," George joked. "She must have fallen hard for you."


    "I don''t know how long we''llst at this pace," Khan cursed. "I can deal with my instabilities, sort of, but her mood is unpredictable."


    "Maybe try to say that without smiling," George mocked, and Khan voiced another curse when he noticed his own grin.


    "You sure like her too," George stated. "I haven''t seen you so happy in a while."


    "It might be just me being tired of moping around," Khan guessed. "Still, yes, she is definitely good for me."


    "How''s the sex?" George wondered.


    "Shut up," Khanughed. "Should I ask about Anita instead? She is into you, and she is far from ugly."


    Anita wasn''t as beautiful as Monica, and shecked some elegance, but her long blonde hair and deep dark eyes added a lot to her delicate features. Her figure was also quite sensual, which made her gorgeous.


    "I don''t know," George groaned. "She might be too much work. I have many easier women at my disposal."


    "Man, you need a leash," Khan joked, and both men ended upughing.


    "You are the one to talk," George eventually snorted. "I''ve read the reports, and I know you. That Nele woman wasn''t just a friend, right?"


    "Jenna," Khan sighed. "She helped me a lot on Milia 222. She reminded me of Liiza."


    "Damn," George eximed. "How did you not end up with her?"


    "I didn''t want her to be a recement," Khan revealed. "It wouldn''t have been fair to either of us."


    "So, not even a quickie?" George wondered.


    "The Nele''s love doesn''t work like that," Khanughed. "We literally couldn''t. Though there have been strange situations."


    "Like?" George asked.


    "Well, for my birthday," Khan began to tell before opting to hold back. "Actually, it''s better if I keep that for myself. Monica would kill me otherwise."


    "Wait, don''t tell me," George gasped. "You got them together!"


    "Not in the way you think," Khan corrected, but George had already fallen intoplete disbelief.


    "You are my hero," George revealed.


    "It''s not what you think!" Khan chuckled. "And not a word with Monica. She will really kill me."


    "I need details," George almost begged.


    "They will remain forever in my mind," Khan stated, "And only in my mind."


    "Damned, scoundrel," George snorted. "You couldn''t settle for one."


    "I settled for one," Khan imed, but his idiotic smile remained, and George could only join him in that reaction.


    The conversation went silent at that point, and the two men limited themselves to drinking. Still, George''s focus eventually fell on Khan''s hair, and a question soon followed.


    "I read about the disaster," George revealed. "That was the hand of a Nak, wasn''t it?"


    "It was," Khan admitted. "It''s lucky I could absorb it."


    "Lucky?" George repeated. "I thought you''d kill yourself rather than ept the Nak''s help."


    "I do hate my new hair," Khan dered while cing a hand on his chest, "Just like I hate my scar, but I can''t decide how to obtain power."


    The mature answer surprised George, even if he sensed some helplessness in it. Khan obviously didn''t like that oue, but he was doing better than George expected.


    "Besides," Khan continued, "This is better than benefitting from many deaths. I''ll be the only one to suffer like this."


    "Maybe you don''t have to suffer at all," Georgemented. "What am I even saying? We both know you are a masochist."


    "I remember you telling me to leave the peace and search for war," Khan pointed out.


    "There is something wrong in our heads," George uttered. "That''s not a surprise."


    "It would be strange otherwise after everything we''ve seen," Khan added.


    "At least we are together in this," George eximed.


    Overwhelming affection invaded Khan. He still needed to address the matter adequately, and that was a perfect time. "Hey, thank you foring. I needed a friend."


    "Don''t even mention it," George scoffed. "I needed to get out of home anyway. You gave me the right excuse."


    "Really, George," Khan pressed on while ncing at his friend. "Thank you."


    "My heart fluttered again," George joked. "You are dangerous even for a straight man."


    "I''ll give Anita a leash for you," Khan replied, and both menughed again.

 Chapter 436 First Lesson

    "Anita ising over," Monicained when Khan pulled her, "And we have yet to find an excuse for me."


    "What''s there to justify?" Khan wondered while Monicaid her head on his shoulder. "You came here a bit earlier to help me with my sses. Anita will buy it."


    "We both helped in the past week," Monica whispered, making sure that her warm breath ended on Khan''s neck, "And this isn''t even my first time staying behind."


    Khan had to agree with Monica. Almost two weeks had passed since Lucian''s party, and the Harbor had not been nice to them in that period.


    Nothing major or terrible had happened. A few parties had taken ce, but they had neversted too long. Khan hadughed with George, gotten to know many people, and dealt with Monica''s mood as well as he could. Yet, the chances for some privacy hade rarely.


    The Harbor''s vast array of cameras was to me for that issue. Monica and Khan could use George''s t, but they couldn''t be the only ones to enter the building. Monica couldn''t even stay behind on her own too often since it wasn''t proper for her to be in the same amodation as two men, and Anita was a presence she couldn''t ignore.


    Khan and Monica had limited their privacy to hours or minutes stolen during special circumstances. Anita''s social obligation had also granted the couple a few nights together, but they had been rare asions that couldn''t match the freedom experienced on the ship.


    The beginning of the lessons yed a crucial role in creating those special circumstances. Anita, Khan, and Monica had spent most of their time outside parties inside George''s t to n their courses, and they had often slept over, allowing the couple to seize some privacy when no one looked.


    Still, the morning before lessons had arrived. The days were bound to grow busier, so Monica decided to sleep over. Luckily for the couple, Anita had to attend to private matters the previous night, but she wasing now. The clock was ticking for Khan and Monica.


    "The risk was worth it, wasn''t it?" Khan teased since the situation didn''t give him a chance to say anything reassuring.


    Khan could feel Monica''s mouth broadening into a smile. She didn''t even try to deny his statement. Actually, she snuggled closer into Khan''s neck to confirm it.


    "I wish we could be truly alone," Monica whispered while her mouth left wet marks on Khan''s neck. "I miss the ship."


    Khan could only pull Monica closer at those words. He was leaning on a metal wall, and his fingers were clinging to her trousers'' edges while his other hand was on her waist. They had dressed up, but their passion wanted toe back.


    "You didn''t take too long to get used to George''s t," Khan kept teasing. "Your timid side barely came out."


    Monica mmed her palm on Khan''s chest, but the attack only made himugh. She wanted to punish him for his constant teases, but theck of loudints marked her agreement with those words.


    "It''s your fault," Monica eventually voiced.


    "Is it now?" Khan yed along.


    "You are always around sluts because of George," Monica exined. "I''m way too jealous to be shy once we get some privacy."


    "You are jealous in public too," Khan joked. "Even Anita has stopped calling me hottietely out of fear of getting in your way."


    "Shut up!" Monica shouted, hitting Khan''s chest again. "You can go to Anita if you enjoy herpliments so much."


    Even after thatment, Monica didn''t leave Khan''s neck. Still, her jealousy was genuine. That emotion had been a constant aspect of her mood since George''s fight.


    "Please," Khan whispered. "Even Jenna couldn''t keep me away from you."


    The jealousy slowly melted and made room for cozy warmth. Monica left Khan''s neck to stare deep into his eyes, and the two soon exchanged a long kiss.


    "It''s not fair," Monica pouted while her thumb traced the edges of Khan''s lips. "You have George while I''m all alone."


    Khan inevitably revealed aplicated smile. Monica was right. His emotional state had constantly improved due to George''s presence. He still experienced wild urges, but they didn''t take him by surprise anymore.


    The emotional stability had even almost convinced Khan that his rash reaction had only been a temporary consequence of the transformation. Enough time had passed, so his body and mind had probably gottenpletely used to his new state.


    Of course, that was only an idea. Khan didn''t let his guard down simply because everything was going well.


    "I know it''s hard on you," Khan admitted whileying his forehead on Monica''s, "But I like seeing you all worked up. It makes me happy."


    "Are you happy about my dwindling self-restraint?" Monica scoffed. "I''m a disgrace. My parents would disown me if they saw me acting like that."


    "I''m happy that we feel the same things," Khan revealed, and Monica couldn''t help but lose herself in his expression.


    "Unfair," Monica muttered before delivering another long kiss. Her fingers even peeked past Khan''s cor, and some buttons of his uniform opened under their weight.


    "After all the resolve it took us to dress up," Khan scolded as he tried to reach for Monica''s lips again, but she pushed on his chest to keep him away. Still, a teasing smile appeared on her face. She liked when Khan desired her so openly.


    "What?" Khan asked since Monica limited herself to inspecting his captivated expression. "We still have a few minutes."


    "I just want to look at you," Monica said as she pushed herself further back and began buttoning up Khan''s uniform.


    Khan let Monica do as she wished, and her happy expression slowly brought a strange silence to his mind. Monica rejoiced in adjusting Khan''s uniform and straightening it out to make it highlight his muscles. Some pride even joined her good mood once the process ended.


    "You definitely are a hottie," Monica stated as she ran her palms over Khan''s torso to straighten his uniform again. "My hottie."


    "Should I adjust your uniform too?" Khan asked while pulling Monica back on him.


    "You''ll have to leave to take out your fingers from my trousers for that," Monica teased.


    "They are part of the uniform now," Khan chuckled, and Monica joined him in hisugh while wrapping her arms around his neck.


    "So," Monica whispered while her lips were dangerously close to Khan''s, "What part of me kept you from going with Jenna?"


    "You really want to hear me praise your butt, don''t you?" Khan joked, and a p promptly arrived on his cheek.


    "I was talking about my personality, idiot!" Monica scolded, but Khanughed, and she couldn''t help but imitate him. She even pulled him to deliver another kiss, but menus suddenly lit up on the walls and interrupted that interaction.


    "You have to leave first," Monica groaned.


    "Give me another kiss first," Khan requested, and Monica didn''t hesitate toply.


    Khan left the room afterward. He had no choice. The menus had warned about Anita''s arrival, and he couldn''t let her catch him alone with Monica.


    The now-familiar t ran through Khan''s vision as he reached for the big living room. George was there, snoring on a couch with a half-empty bottle in his arms. He wasn''t even wearing his military uniform and probably needed a shower.


    "George," Khan called when he reached the couch and lightly kicked George''s foot, "Anita ising up."


    "Wha-?" George gasped due to the abrupt awakening. "Anita? What time is it?"


    "We have one hour before our first ss," Khan exined while George scratched his eyes.


    "One hour?!" George cursed. "Why didn''t you call me earlier?"


    "I was busy," Khan voiced, but the grin on his face exined more than enough.


    "Damned scoundrel," George dered. "You get all the fun while I''m relegated to this couch."


    "You have three empty beds in this t," Khan pointed out.


    "You," George stated while pointing his forefinger at Khan, "You win this one."


    Khan and Georgeughed, but they both got to work once the menus on the walls warned about the elevator''s arrival. George jumped on his feet and headed for one of the bathrooms while Khan sat on the couch and took out his phone to open specific pages.


    Anita soon entered the main hall, showing her perfectly tidy military uniform with two stars on each shoulder. Her hair appeared softer than usual, and she wore light makeup to be at her best for the sses.


    "Khan, good morning," Anita happily announced, but her smile froze when she saw the half-empty bottle on the table. "Where is the lost cause?"


    "He is in the bathroom," Khan exined. "He''ll be ready in no time."


    "I won''t wait for him," Anita snorted, but she still approached the couch in front of Khan and sat on it.


    "Excited for the beginning of the academic year?" Khan asked to make conversation and keep the topic away from Monica.


    "Anxious, rather," Anita sighed. "My family expects a lot from me. I need to pass every ss, or I''ll have private teachers waiting for me at home."


    Khan nodded before bringing his attention to his phone. He had actually already had that conversation with Anita and Monica. The two women were in a simr situation, which was both privileged and annoying.


    "You''ll be fine," Khan reassured. "Monica showed me the files about the advanced courses. With your preparation, you''ll ace them."


    "Did she?" Anita eximed in a teasing tone. "My girl sure lost her head over you."


    "She only indulged my curiosity," Khan lied.


    "The files about the advanced courses are partially ssified," Anita pressed on. "A nice treat like you deserves to be there, but receiving the help of Monica Solodrey is something else."


    The Harbor had many avable positions. Soldiers could find any kind of job there, and the embassy was no exception. The building offered many sses divided into basic and advanced, and only those who met certain requirements could join thetter.


    Monica and Anita had helped Khan choose suitable sses, and, in theory, he had already met the requirements for the advanced versions of many of them. Yet, the Harbor wanted to test him out personally, so he had to attend the basic lessons first.


    The situation was different for Monica and Anita. Their education hade from famous instructors epted by the Harbor, so they could go directly to the advanced sses. Monica couldn''t refuse that advantage, but she still decided to use her privilege to help Khan.


    "She is indeed kind," Khan tried to change the topic.


    "Your innocent face is cute but pointless," Anita giggled. "Everyone has seen how Monica behaves around you. I know you two are up to something."


    "And what would that be?" Monica''s voice resounded from the end of a corridor, and her figure soon appeared in the living room.


    "Monica, you are glowing!" Anita praised seeing Monica''s natural beauty. "Does this t hide some secret beauty treatment?"


    "You are too kind," Monica thanked as she approached Khan''s couch and sat next to him. "Sadly, I have no secret to share. I''ve merely bathed."


    "Bathed with two men in the same t?" Anita questioned. "Since when did you get this shameless?"


    "Don''t tease me," Monicaughed. "I arrived only one hour ago to help Khan sort out thest details."


    Anita bought the lie but still eyed Monica and Khan with interest. She, like many others, had begun to suspect that the two liked each other. She wouldn''t dare to believe they had a secret rtionship, but that didn''t make the situation any less interesting.


    "You have aliennguages first, right?" Monica asked as she elegantly leaned toward Khan to peek at his phone. The two didn''t touch, but it was clear that they werefortable with being so close.


    "Aliennguages in the morning," Khan confirmed, "Alien customs and alien environments in the afternoon. The bad ones are in the next days."


    "They aren''t as hard as they sound," Monica reassured, reaching for Khan''s phone to scroll through his schedule. "Inteary regtions merely are a mnemonic exercise, and the same goes for the interspecies treaties. The others require some instinct, but you have that."


    The Harbor''s sses went beyond five subjects. Khan would also have to study regtions rted to the Global Army and its allies. A few lessons even involved broad topics he had never studied too deeply due to ack of resources.


    Of course, the books in Monica''s ship had given Khan general knowledge that would help him a lot, but memorizing wasn''t everything in the Harbor. He would eventually need to apply those regtions toplicated situations, and the tests rarely had a single correct answer.


    "I''ll have to study a lot," Khan sighed, "And things will get worse once I reach the advanced sses."


    "Graduating from the Harbor will open many important paths for your career," Monica exined. "You might even get a job here as an assistant or join a crew to establish connections with newly discovered intelligent species."


    "I know," Khan nodded while scratching the side of his head. "I can hardly believe you had to learn all this when you were still a kid."


    "I didn''t learn everything," Monica revealed. "I was merely introduced to most of these subjects. My instructors added details only when I was ready to learn them."


    "She means all the time," Anita added. "Monica is famous for being a quick learner and a dedicated student. I remember my parentsparing myself to her whenever I failed a test."


    "You hated me so much back then," Monica joked while covering her mouth.


    "I was mostly jealous," Anita corrected, "Until I understood that she had it even worse than me. We instantly became friends afterward."


    "How many meetings did you have together?" Khan wondered.


    "Too many to keep count," Anita cursed. "Now that I think about it. I''m surprised Mister Alstair didn''t join you in the Harbor."


    "Our paths sadly led us in different ways," Monica vaguely exined.


    "That was lucky," Anita eximed. "You can have Khan all for yourself now."


    "That''s an oue I appreciate," Monicaughed.


    "I''m still here," Khan stated.


    "And so am I," George shouted from the bottom of the hall. He had just entered the area, and the upper part of his uniform was still open. Also, his hair was wet, and only a towel took care of drying it.


    "You''ve grown fond of showing your chest ever since your battle with Lucian," Anitamented.


    "Do you like it?" George proudly asked.


    "Cover it up," Anita ordered. "Someone might think you arepensating for something."


    "Two weeks, and you have yet to forgive me," George sighed as he let go of the towel and started buttoning up his uniform.


    "Do you think you''ve earned it?" Anita wondered. "You go back to the same nonsensical idiot whenever we go to a party."


    "Do you wish I focused only on you?" George fought back.


    "Nonsense," Anita immediately rejected. "Besides, everyone knows that booze is your true love."


    "Khan can trample that," George imed.


    "Don''t put me in the middle of this," Khan warned.


    "There is no this," Anita scoffed as she shot to her feet. "We''ll bete if we don''t leave now. I hope I don''t have to remind you how to button your uniform."


    "You could always offer yourself to do it since you care so much," George sneered.


    "Get a maid for that," Anita responded. "Though I''m sure you already have some back at your home."


    "Well," George voiced, and that word was enough to exin the truth.


    "Unbelievable," Anita snorted as she turned toward the elevator to leave.


    Khan and Monica smiled at the same time as they nced at George. Anita was doing her best to act responsibly, but George seemed to be her weak spot, and the couple rejoiced in seeing some drama outside their lives. Besides, George''s reactions were simply too funny.


    "Let''s go," Khan announced as he left the couch. "I''m actually a bit curious about the first ss."


    "How many aliennguages can you speak fluently?" Monica asked while also standing up.


    "Three or four, I guess," Khan replied. "Though I still mess up some ents, especially with the others."


    "You''ll ace the basic ss," Monica whispered, revealing one of the faces she showed only when they were alone.


    Khan remained a bit amazed. Anita''sment had been on point. Monica was truly glowing, and he was happy to see that, especially since he was part of the reason behind her mood. Still, the situation didn''t allow them to expand on that interaction.


    Monica, Anita, George, and Khan took the elevator to leave the building and found two cars waiting for them next to the sidewalk. The group had to split at that point, and a series of short goodbyes led to Khan and George settling in the same cab.


    Casual chats went by as the cab led the two men into one of the Harbor''s core districts. From the window seat, Khan could inspect the sharp change in environment and style. The domes abandoned the sleek and straight structures to focus on a single, massive building that upied the center of an immense area filled with parking lots, soldiers, and white pirs.


    Getting off the car gave Khan a better view of the scenery. The embassy''s district was far from small, but its open spaces seemed limited due to the monumental building at its center. A pyramid-like structure grew from the floor and almost touched the dome above.


    The structure''s surfaces didn''t draw a straight line. The building''s exteriors had the shape of massive steps featuring white pirs meant to highlight every corner. The embassy resembled a pile of giant, rectangr halls amassed together to create a triangr silhouette.


    The parking lots could only pale inparison to that colossal structure. Khan couldn''t even count the number of floors it had, let alone its capacity. He had read that the lessons were only a small part of the embassy, but that scene gave him a proper idea of how much it could offer.


    ''Amazing,'' Khan couldn''t help but exim in his mind as soldiers rushed toward him and George to handle their identification.


    Going through a few gic scanners granted the two men ess to the embassy''s perimeter. A group of soldiers escorted them toward the immense structure, and a few precise touches on its ck walls eventually uncovered a secret entrance.


    The ck metal slid open to reveal the embassy''s insides. An immense corridor expanded in Khan''s view and allowed him to notice the many offices stretching from it. Jobs he could barely conceive shone onbels on the various interactive doors, and that was only the lower part of the building.<sub> </sub>


    ''Alien fraud,'' Khan read as the soldiers escorted him and George through the corridor, ''Insurance against inteary deals, orbital fines, unauthorized parking. Wow, there''s even something for misunderstandings due to aliennguages.''


    Khan couldn''t see inside the offices. The white illumination shone on ck walls that didn''t reveal anything. Even his senses couldn''t go past them, but reading the variousbels gave him an idea of how big minor problems could be.


    The life of a soldier was rtively easy, especially for someone deployed on battlefields. Khan had barely scratched the surface of the many minor jobs required to keep an inteary alliance going, but that corridor worked as an eye-opener.


    The walk didn''tst long. The corridor seemed to stretch endlessly, but the soldiers eventually turned to unlock a secret elevator through the same precise touches as before. They didn''t follow Khan and George inside, and the opening of its doors revealed why.


    When the elevator stopped, apletely different environment expanded in the men''s vision. A sense of familiarity invaded Khan at the sight of staircases and numbered halls filled with young students donning military uniforms. That scene reminded him of his time in co. The embassy had replicated a training camp.


    "I don''t recognize any of them," Khanmented after leaving the elevator and inspecting the groups of students roaming through the area.


    "Many people live in the Harbor," George stated. "We have probably only met those going to the advanced sses."


    "I see," Khan voiced as hope bloomed inside him. He had initially been worried about the Harbor''s social array, but each discovery opened many possibilities. He could ignore the extremely wealthy descendants when he had so many people at his disposal.


    "Do you remember which one is our hall?" George wondered while rubbing his eyes. He had yet to wake up fully, and the trip had only dyed that moment.


    "Hall twenty-five," Khan replied without needing to look at his phone. "The interactive menus there should have directions."


    "Look at you getting all technological," George scoffed but still led the way towardbels flickering on a wall near the closest staircase.


    The interactive menus revealed another astonishing detail. Khan could sense that the area stretched for more than two floors, but the truth left him speechless. There were actually six of them full of halls and other services. The embassy basically had a piece of co built in its insides.


    "This is like a city condensed into a building," Khan eximed.


    "More like a big space station," George corrected, "A really big one."


    Merely thinking about the secrets hidden inside something so big made Khan''s thoughts wander. George also was in no speaking mood, so the two climbed staircases and crossed corridors in silence until they reached their destination.


    Hall twenty-five already had a line of soldiers slowly entering inside. Its door was narrow and could fit only two people at the time, but Khan counted more than one hundred young men and women waiting outside.


    The symphony even told Khan that the hall already had people in its insides. Its size had to be incredible, and his mind wanted to focus on that wonder, but an awful feeling eventually touched his senses.


    Khan and George had approached the line by then, but the arrival of that feeling forced the former to turn toward a small group waiting on the wall. The team was rtively small. It only had eight soldiers, with two of them in the second level. Yet, the awful sensation came from the weakest of them.


    "Oh," George voiced once he noticed where Khan was looking.


    "Do you know him?" Khan whispered while replying to the first-level warrior''s intense gaze. The man was barely above eighteen. His blonde curls covered his ears, and his azure eyes expressed purity, but his expression carried arrogance, entitlement, and hatred.


    "He might be annoying," George revealed.


    Khan scoured his memory but couldn''t find anything about the first-level warrior. He was sure they had never met before, but that hatred was genuine, and he didn''t know what could have caused it.


    "They''ll start admitting pigs at this pace," The man shouted while Khan was still immersed in his thoughts. "The Harbor will lose prestige if too manymoners invade it."


    The man had been far from subtle. The line was silent and orderly, so his shout had reached the entire group and even stretched through the corridor. Needless to say, countless eyes fell on Khan right afterward.


    ''And here I thought I could be anonymous,'' Khan sighed in his mind. No one had recognized him during his walk, but that event was bound to put a banner on his head.


    "Can I help you?" Khan directly asked through his poker face.


    "Oh, look," The manughed. "He can speak."


    The rest of the soldiers in the man''s group echoed theugh, and awkwardness immediately fell on the corridor. Many ignored the scene, while others actively diverted their eyes to avoid getting involved.


    Those reactions and the changes in the symphony exined a lot to Khan. The man had to be somewhat wealthy or wealthier than the people in the line. Also, a few seemed aware of what was happening, and George was one of them.


    "Did pigs teach you how to speak in the Slums?" The man continued with a taunt that triggered theughs of hispanions.


    "If the Slums had pigs," Khan earnestly replied, "We would eat them."


    The honest answer left the man and his group speechless. Some smirks appeared inside the line, and faint chuckles also echoed, but Khan remained serious.


    The man wanted to retort with another taunt, but one of his friends eventually whispered to his ear while eyeing George. The former couldn''t help but remain surprised, and no more insults came out of him, but he wore a smirk that counted for hundreds of them.


    As for George, his mind went into battle mode as soon as he found an enemy of Khan. His cold face also expressed his stance clearly, so the man''s group opted to avoid continuing with the insults.


    Khan didn''t ask anything and let the line flow inside the hall until he also got in. The ce turned out to be a massive half-circr room with steps made of interactive desks. The tallest of them was three-story high, and staircases ran among them to connect each seat.


    A long interactive desk stood at the bottom of the hall, near the wall and before a bright screen. That obviously was the professor''s seat, and a mere look at the area''syout told Khan that he wouldn''t have problems following the lesson even from the tallest spots.


    The silence continued while Khan and George proceeded inside and seized a rtively isted interactive desk for themselves. Headphones, folders for various devices, and other services were part of that machine, and the same went for cameras that could zoom in on the professor''s seat.


    "His name is Tobias Odse," George exined as soon as he and Khan sat down.


    "What''s his deal?" Khan asked. "The name doesn''t tell me anything."


    "He doesn''t have anything against you, specifically," George stated. "He just hates people whoe from the Slums."


    "I needed another entitled wealthy kid against me," Khan sighed.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t mind the event. It was annoying, but his newfound mental stability made it a minor threat. He could ignore men like Tobias easily without even going against his wilder urges.


    "His hatred ismon knowledge," George continued. "It was a big deal back then, at least among wealthy families. His father apparently left everything to run away with amoner, and that isn''t ideal when you run most of the internal businesses."


    "Oh," Khan whispered. "I guess the father is still MIA."


    "That''s not the main issue," George cursed.


    "Wait," Khan gasped as he recalled something. "Odse! Isn''t that the name of-."


    Khan couldn''t finish his line since a tall figure stormed inside the hall and headed for the professor''s desk. The man had Tobias'' blonde curls, but his eyes were dark. Still, the resemnce with the man was obvious once ignored the height difference.


    "Hurry to your seats," The man ordered while tinkering with the interactive desk to activate its functions. "We are alreadyte, and our course has to cover many topics. We won''t get over all of them if we start wasting time on our first day."


    George could only shrug his shoulders when Khan nced at him. He had finally understood the reason behind George''s silence, and the professor didn''t hesitate to make it clear to the whole room.


    "I''m Professor Oscar Odse," The Professor announced when variousbels appeared on the screen behind him. "I will teach you the most famous and useful aliennguages as well as a few alternative approaches to the topic. Now, sit down, and let''s begin."


    "Why didn''t you mention anything earlier?" Khan asked.


    "Someone was too busy in the other room to have a drink with his friend," George snorted.


    "We drank every single night!" Khan pointed out.


    "Time sure flies when you are having fun," Georgeughed. "On a serious note, Professor Oscar is just a distant rtive. He has no real connection with Tobias'' father."


    "But since Tobias is here," Khan added.


    "Yeah," George sighed. "Hopefully, the professors in the Harbor are beyond nepotism."


    George didn''t sound too convincing, but Khan found the matter unlikely. Corruption was bound to exist even inside the Harbor, but Khan had entered through the Solodrey family. His achievements were also undeniable. There was probably little the Professor could do to get in his way.


    Every student eventually took their ce and fell silent to wait for the beginning of the lesson. The entirety of the crowded hall focused on Oscar Odse, but the man didn''t flinch. He was only a second-level warrior, but he clearly had experience in that field.


    "Let''s go over a few basic questions," Professor Odse announced once the silence satisfied his standards. "I want to understand your general level before starting. There are merit points on the table, so I hope that your families invested well in your education."


    ''Right,'' Khan suddenly recalled. ''I have yet to see how many points Professor Nickton gave me. Luke''s payment should have also arrived.''


    "First of all," Professor Odse eximed after a short pause, "Who knows what the Ipina convention is?"


    Professor Odse pressed on the desks, and a series of menus appeared in front of each student. Khan saw a multiple-choice question lighting up on the interactive surface under him, and it only took him a look to know the correct answer.


    The interactive desk could trace Khan''s gic signature, and his name even appeared on the screen when he pressed the correct answer. However, the menu only buzzed at his touch and never forwarded his decision.


    "Well, I''m happy to say that quite a few of you got it right," Professor Odse dered while looking at the results from his desk. "I''ll send the merit points right away."


    "Professor, sir!" Khan didn''t hesitate to call before the Professor couldplete the action. "There is a problem with my desk. It doesn''t record my answer."


    Khan had been loud enough to make the entirety of the hall hear his voice, but the Professor didn''t flinch. He didn''t even raise his head as he forwarded the merit points and went on with the lesson.


    "Now, next question," Professor Odse continued. "Who actually knows how to use the Ipina convention?"


    The menus under Khan changed. A new multiple-choice question featuring hand signs appeared on the desk, but the same issue happened when he tried to answer. The program buzzed but didn''t record his choice.


    "This is always a tough one," Professor Odseughed when he read the results. "Still, not bad. I''ve seen far worse across the years."


    "Professor, sir!" Khan called again, but the Professor sent out the merit points without even bothering to look at him.


    The hall had understood what was happening by now, and many shot confused or even sympathetic gazes at Khan. The Professor was ostracizing him from getting any reward, and the culprit didn''t hesitate to show his face.


    A clearugh resounded among the general silence. Khan didn''t even need to turn to know that it came from Tobias. The short man had sat in the front row, and he sneered whenever he turned to look at Khan.


    Generally speaking, that wasn''t a major issue. Losing out on merit points was annoying, but Khan could deal with it. He wasn''t broke anymore, and he even had the support of wealthy friends.


    Yet, cracks appeared in Khan''s beliefs whenever that annoyingugh reached his ears. He could feel his emotions growing wilder at each echo of Tobias'' sneers. He wasn''t going to snap. He wanted to.


    The scene inevitably reminded Khan of his angry meeting with Milia 222''s soldier, the one who wanted to steal his knife. Even after all his feats, people still tried to find loopholes and tricks to undermine his future. He had witnessed so much death to umte his current knowledge, and a mere feud againstmoners was getting in the way.


    "Next up is," Professor Odse continued, but Khan had stopped listening to him by then. Only Tobias''ugh resounded in his mind, and that pushed him to ask a straightforward question.


    "George, how much can you cover for me?" Khan whispered as he stretched his neck. His wild emotions were bing ufortable to contain. He had to do something, but he wanted to remain in control.


    "Anything my family has to offer is yours," George dered without showing any hesitation. "You could also call the big guns. She''ll be happy to help."


    "No, it''s fine," Khan sighed. "I''ll see whether to call you depending on what happens."


    "Do you need a hand?" George questioned as his mind went into battle mode.


    "No, I want to do this myself," Khan stated, and George simply nodded. No matter what happened, he would support Khan.


    Tobias was ecstatic, and hispanions only made himugh even harder by adding jokes to the situation. Some mocked Khan by imitating his serious call for the Professor, while others rejoiced at the sight of their free merit points.


    Theughs became so hard to contain that Tobias had to close his eyes at some point. Yet, when he reopened, he discovered that his line of sight with the professor''s desk was no more. A pair of legs had fallen on it.


    "Wha-?!" Tobias didn''t have the time to exim since a hand grabbed his cor and lifted him out of his seat.


    Astonishment filled Tobias'' face when he found himself before Khan''s cold gaze. Their eyes almost shared the same color, but Khan''s expression was so chilling that Tobias couldn''t muster any word.


    Gasps resounded through the hall, but Khan acted before anyone could scream or call for help. He performed a sharp turn, putting as much raw strength as he could to throw Tobias past the seat and toward the Professor.


    Professor Odse could barely believe his eyes, and he definitely didn''t react in time. Tobias'' back filled his vision before flying past it to crash on the screen on the wall. Cracks inevitably appeared on the device, and sparks even came out of it as Tobias slid head-first into the floor.


    "What do you think you are doing?!" Professor Odse shouted, but his eyes betrayed him again. He had looked in the direction of Tobias'' desk, but Khan had already left it. He had justnded next to him.


    "You-!" Professor Odse suppressed his surprise to speak, but Khan was faster.


    "You can hear me then," Khan interrupted, showing his true colors and making sure that the synthetic mana echoed them.


    The statement made Professor Odse freeze for a second, but his experience allowed him to retrieve his cool. Still, as soon as he tried to move his mana, Khan''s eyes snapped to the exact position of that energy.


    The gesture could have been a fluke, but Professor Odse couldn''t believe that possibility. He felt naked under Khan''s watchful eyes. Thetter seemed able to see the very flow of his blood, and he had already shown to be fast enough to react to anything the Professor tried.


    A profound realization suddenly fell on the Professor. They might have the same number of stars on their shoulders, but Khan was apletely different soldier. Oscar had gotten his current position through his family and studies, while Khan had swum through blood and corpses.


    Of course, Khan had reached a simr conclusion even before his reckless action. He could smell the Professor''s faint traces of synthetic mana left behind by the infusions. The man was no warrior, and his energy was no threat to Khan.


    As dangerous as the situation seemed, the Professor still managed to muster his courage. He couldn''t beat Khan in a fight, but he remained an authority, at least in that hall.


    "The Harbor''s regtions are clear," Professor Odse announced. "Your punishment is set in stone."


    "I need to be part of this ss to be punished," Khan responded.


    "What are you-?" Professor Odse tried to ask.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Am I part of this ss?" Khan questioned.


    "O-of course!" Professor Odse stuttered.


    "Then I must report that my terminal had a technical issue," Khan exined. "It didn''t record my answers. I''vemitted the Ipina convention to memory months ago."


    "What?" Professor Odse asked in confusion.


    "My merit points," Khan conveyed. "I knew the answer. I want my merit points."


    "Merit," Professor Odse muttered before falling prey to his anger. "Who do you think you-?!"


    Khan moved before the Professor could finish his line, and his sharp gesture made the man gasp and take a step back. As for Khan, he reached for the confused Tobias on the floor and grabbed him by his nape.


    "What are you trying to do with him?" Professor Odse said before another gasp left his mouth. Still, his cry didn''t manage to echo in the hall since crashing noises suppressed them.


    Khan kept his eyes on Professor Odse while his right hand pressed on Tobias'' nape. Thetter''s face had mmed on the interactive desk, digging a small hole in it, and the sharp shards that had remained intact had opened cuts on his skin.


    Professor Odse didn''t know what to do. Tobias was bleeding on his desk, and Khan still held him tightly. Khan was inplete control of the situation.


    "Do you realize what you just did?" Professor Odse eventually let his anger take over again, but Khan only voiced a helpless sigh as he lifted Tobias and prepared to m him on the desk again.


    "Wait, wait!" Professor Odse shouted when he understood what was about to happen. "I''ll give your merit points. I just need to use my desk."


    Khan nodded toward the desk, and Professor Odse hastily tinkered with it to bring the first question to the intact part of its surface. Khan didn''t hesitate to answer, and Professor Odse promptly pressed on themand that delivered the merit points.


    The process repeated itself for the second question, and the third even appeared. Khan knew more than one aliennguage, so the Professor had to award him merit points again.


    Professor Odse looked at Khan in fear at that point, but thetter quickly exined that he wasn''t done. "Did you have other questions?"


    Professor Odse looked at the bleeding Tobias still in Khan''s grasp before nodding and moving to the desk again. Question after question popped out, and Khan knew the answer to all of them. Most of that knowledge came from himself, but he had to thank Monica for some of it.


    "The questions are over," Professor Odse stated once the process ended. "Now, let go of Tobias and ept your punishment."


    "Punishment for what?" Khan asked, showing a fake smile to feign ignorance.


    Anger tried to rise through Professor Odse again, but he managed to hold it back and convey a firm reply. "Assault of a fellow student, threats to your professor, and damage to the Harbor''s machinery. You''ll be lucky if they don''t kick you out of the Global Army entirely."


    "I didn''t do any of that," Khanughed as he pulled Tobias and forced him to turn toward him. "He tripped and broke your desk and screen."


    "I didn-" Tobias tried to mutter, but Khan mmed his face back on the desk before he could finish his line. Khan''s smile even disappeared, and the expression that Professor Odse fearer so much returned.


    "Let''s try this again," Khan eximed while pulling Tobias'' face out of the mess of broken ss and exposed wires. "You tripped and broke the equipment, right?"


    "Y-yes!" Tobias sobbed while pain filled his face. The injuries were mild, but some shards were still on him, and they hurt whenever his expression changed.


    "You have a confession," Khan dered as his smile returned. "Write it down."


    Professor Odse had given up on trying to reason with Khan at that point. He approached the intact part of the desk and wrote a report for Tobias. Khan let go of the injured man afterward.

 Chapter 437 Surprise

    Tobias fell to the floor, but Professor Odse moved only when Khan nodded at him. Oscar reached for Tobias'' arm at that point, and faint orders left his mouth. "Come on, Tobias. Stand up!"


    Professor Odse managed to get Tobias on his feet, but that didn''t help the young man. Tobias'' face was a mess of blood, tears, and ss shards, and standing up only revealed his state to the entire ss.


    Tobias sobbed louder when he noticed the many gazes that had fallen on him and even tried to hide his face in Professor Odse''s chest. Thetter was too angry to ept that shameful reaction, but his scolding didn''t lead anywhere.


    "Raise your head," Professor Odse scolded. "This isn''t appropriate!"


    Tobias ignored those orders, and his sobs eventually calmed down Professor Odse. The physical injuries were mild, but Khan had delivered a powerful mental blow to the young man. Orders couldn''t fix that.


    "I will bring Mister Odse to the medical bay," Professor Odse announced while looking at the ss. "ss is adjourned. I''ll see you all next week."


    Professor Odse didn''t hold back from ring at Khan when his announcement ended, but he only saw the same fake smile from before. Khan feignedplete innocence even while the Professor carried Tobias away and left the hall.


    An awkward silence fell in the hall. The students were bewildered by that development, and none left their seats. They inspected each other, trying to understand what to do, but the situation was clear. The lesson had ended.


    A sigh reced Khan''s fake smile. Raging emotions still surged into his mind and made him aware of how much he resented the recent events. The situation had beenpletely unfair, especially to him, and it was toote to take his actions back.


    A shortugh soon resounded among the awkward silence and made everyone turn toward a specific spot in the audience. George stood up and jumped on his desk before leaping over the others to descend through the various seats.


    Someints resounded whenever George risked bumping into the students or left footprints on their interactive desks, but he didn''t care. He quickly reached the bottom of the hall, and Khan''splicated smile weed his arrival.


    "You are as subtle as ever," George mocked, forcing Khan to shrug his shoulders.


    "I messed up earlier than I expected," Khan sighed again.


    "That guy was a dick," George snorted before wearing a serious expression when his gaze fell on the hall''s exit. "You should contact the big guns."


    ? "I''m," Khan began to say before epting that his mental state was still a mess. "I need some time to calm down and think."


    George had grown used to Khan''s confident side, so seeing him in that conflicted and confused state alerted him. George felt unable to do anything for his mood, but time was something he could provide.


    "Alright," George cleared his throat while approaching the professor''s seat and spreading his arms. "Since the Professor had aplication, I''ll take over this ss. You can address me as sir from now on."


    Someughs resounded among the audience. George''s idiotic announcement moved the attention on him and gave Khan some room to breathe.


    "Thanks," Khan whispered when he and George exchanged a nce before sprinting toward the exit. The students realized that he had left only when it was toote to do anything about it.


    Khan hurried through the corridor and descended staircases without bothering to inspect his surroundings. Luckily for him, the area was pretty empty since everyone was attending sses, so he could sprint freely without meeting any problems.


    The sprint didn''t improve Khan''s mental state. He was boiling inside. The sole thought that such a petty grudge could cost him the Harbor, George, and Monica made him angry beyond reason, and that feeling stretched to his cor and the walls around him.


    Everything felt too tight. No matter how freely Khan chose to be, limits still existed around him, and he was in no position to ignore them. He could handle a spoiled brat, but a mere professor probably was too much for him.


    ''Do I really need to involve Monica?'' Khan wondered once the elevator gave him better privacy.


    The anger didn''t diminish as the seconds passed, but Khan''s thoughts remained strangely clear. He could experience the desire to break everything without falling prey to it. His state would typically create a duality inside his mind, but that didn''t happen now. He was wild and calm at the same time.


    Monica was Khan''s first option but also his least viable one. Her family had already put him in the Harbor. Making them aware of his reckless behavior might force them to go back on their decision.


    Still, Khan''s options stretched far past Monica. He didn''t want to cause problems for George, but Luke wouldn''t miss the chance to earn a favor. The same went for Lucian, and Khan wasn''t even considering Rick for now.


    ''Asking favors that I can''t repay would only limit myself even more,'' Khan realized once the elevator opened and a couple of soldiers arrived to escort him out. ''I can''t resort to that so quickly.''


    The issue had no proper solution, and Khan couldn''t even take advantage of the situation. He had made a mistake. That was undeniable. He could only work toward limiting the punishments.


    Exiting the embassy was a breath of fresh air for Khan. His anger didn''t diminish, but being able to move freely helped, and leaving the district eventually put an end to his internal struggle.


    ''Fuck them,'' Khan cursed as he walked through the street connected to the next district. ''Fuck the professors, the families, and the Global Army. I''ll ask for help only if I can''t handle things by myself.''


    Reaching a conclusion allowed Khan to focus on his state, but he found nothing surprising there. He knew what was happening to himself. He had only hoped that the changes wouldn''t be so evident.


    George''s presence had brought stability, but Khan had simply changed. Pretending was fine, but his true face was bound toe out whenever someone pushed his limits.


    ''Holding back was never an option,'' Khan mocked himself as a faint smile appeared on his face. His mana cheered when he epted that point, and the anger transformed into a vague intensity that leaked into his presence.


    The path back to the seventh district was long. Khan could hop on a train, but he wanted to walk, and the idea of rejecting his desire didn''t even cross his mind.


    Nevertheless, Khan didn''t face the matter without thinking about its consequences. Someone would eventually approach him to discuss the punishments, but he remained a student until then, and sses were waiting for him that afternoon.


    ''I don''t have time to go home ande back as long as I walk,'' Khan calcted when he checked the map on his phone. Truth be told, he would love to spend those hours with Monica, but she was also busy, and it was probably better if he avoided meeting her right now.


    Khan eventually opted to kill time in his current district. The ce mainly contained shops, restaurants, and other services, but Khan spotted a few training halls on the map. He could eat and destroy some metal puppets while he waited for his next ss to begin.


    ''I should check how much I have now,'' Khan recalled when he began to cross the main street to head for the nearest restaurant. However, a peculiar sight suddenly caught his attention and almost made him forget to keep walking.


    A huge, ck spaceship left one of the channels meant for flying vehicles and hovered right under the dome as it crossed the district. The ship was too big to go unnoticed, and its shape forced Khan to scour his memory to connect it to a model.


    ''Isn''t that exclusive to the army?'' Khan wondered when his search didn''t lead anywhere. He had seen and memorized simr models but couldn''t find a name for the vehicle flying through the district. He could only findmon features with ships studied in the past.<sub> </sub>


    ''Some big shot must have arrived,'' Khan thought as he reached the opposite sidewalk and followed the ship with his eyes. He found no surprise when he saw it heading for the embassy''s district.


    Thinking about ships made Khan remember how much he liked flying, and the idea of purchasing something for himself returned stronger than ever. He was even in a shopping district, so he picked up his phone to recheck the map, but the big vehicle suddenly made a turn and imed his attention.


    Khan frowned at that sudden turn. The path to the embassy was right ahead, but the ship ignored it and began to descend. The scene kept Khan curious, but surprise reced that feeling when the vehicle stopped above him.


    The ship didn''t give Khan time to think since a circr tform detached itself from its bottom and descended at high speed before slowing down once the street became close. Khan saw the item expanding in his vision, and the sensations captured by his senses only deepened his surprise.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The tform carried four third-level warriors and a nk spot. Someone strong enough to trick Khan''s senses was descending toward the street, but the faint influence leaked onto the synthetic mana partially revealed his identity.


    ''Their response can''t be so quick!'' Khan shouted in his mind, but the tformnded in front of him before he couldplete that thought.


    The tform''s arrival confirmed the initial idea caused by the synthetic mana. The nk spot gained a face after thending, and Khan almost couldn''t believe his eyes when he saw Colonel Norrett.


    "I thought I recognized you," Colonel Norrett announced while jumping off the tform. "Your new hair almost made me ignore you."


    The four third-level warriors followed Colonel Norrett on the sidewalk and took firm stances at his sides. The group had two women and two men, and none bothered to inspect Khan. The street imed their attention, and they red at it as if threats could hide behind every corner.


    ''Why would a fifth-level warrior need protection?'' Khan wondered before voicing the first politement that popped into his mind. "You have good eyes, sir."


    "The scanners did most of the work," Colonel Norrettughed. "So, you were quick on getting rid of the job I found for you."


    Khan snapped out of his surprise and performed a military salute. Still, the words that came out of his mouth ended up being way too honest. "Sir, I''m grateful for your rmendation. I simply grew bored of the training camp after a while."


    The answer left the Colonel surprised, and he wasn''t the only one. Even Khan realized that he could have put the matter into better words. He simply didn''t want to.


    "Spoken like a true soldier," Colonel Norrett eventually voiced. "Is the Harbor treating you any better?"


    "Sir, didn''t they tell you?" Khan questioned. "Aren''t you here to punish me?"


    "Punish?" Colonel Norrett repeated. "What did you do?"


    ''I guess it was a coincidence,'' Khan thought before choosing to exploit that fortuitous situation. "I assaulted one of the students and threatened a professor."


    Colonel Norrett''s face remained perfectly still, but the four guards shot surprised nces at Khan. Their reaction told Khan that his actions were no joking matter, but he didn''t try to justify himself just yet. Somehow, he felt that waiting for the Colonel''sment was better.


    "Is there a reason for that?" The Colonel quickly asked.


    "They plotted to deny me merit points," Khan shortly exined. "They belong to the same family, which apparently holds grudges againstmoners."


    Colone Norrett scratched his beardless chin before scoffing. "Even the Harbor is no stranger to these issues. It''s sad. Give me their names."


    "Will you take care of this for me, sir?" Khan asked.


    "It will send the right message," Colonel Norrett revealed. "People need to understand that you have my support."


    Khan had hoped that exining his situation would have put the Colonel on his side, but the actual oue surpassed his expectations and made him understand that something was off.


    "What did I do to deserve your support, sir?" Khan asked before opting for a more specific question. "What brings you here?"


    "Winning Onia''s tournaments is no small feat," Colonel Norrett pointed out. "Still, I''m here because amon friend put a good word in for you. Your efforts on Milia 222 didn''t go unnoticed. I''m promoting you."


    Shock, confusion, and coldness rushed through Khan. The news was obviously good, but he didn''t share any friends with Colonel Norrett. However, he could guess who had enough authority to convince such a lofty figure.


    "Mister Raymond did this?" Khan couldn''t help but gasp.


    "You earned this," Colonel Norrett corrected before showing his palm to one of his guards. The woman quickly opened her backpack and took out a rectangr container that she didn''t hesitate to ce in the Colonel''s hand.


    "For the courage shown against our oldest enemy," Colonel Norrett announced while approaching Khan and handing the container to him, "I offer you this gift and a new rank. Congrattions, Captain Khan."


    Khan had yet to ept that development, but he still seized the container. At that point, the four guards turned toward him and performed a military salute, which made the situation more real in Khan''s mind.


    "Captain Khan," Khan whispered before the intensity of Colonel Norrett''s gaze increased, forcing him to focus.


    "Still wary of your superiors," Colonel Norrett chuckled. "Still too young."


    Khan wanted to question Colonel Norrett about those words, but thetter suddenly frowned and tilted his head. His eyes inspected Khan from head to toe, and the process only deepened his confusion.


    "Do we have a scanner down here?" Colonel Norrett asked while stretching an arm toward his guards.


    One of the men opened his backpack to take out a cylindrical item and hand it to his superior. Colonel Norrett pressed a few keys on the device before rotating his forefinger to voice a silent order.


    Khan obeyed. He turned to show his nape, and the Colonel ced the scanner there. A few seconds had to pass before Colonel Norrett broke the silence with a proud chuckle.


    "I knew it," Colonel Norrett eximed while pushing on Khan''s shoulder to bring them face to face. "Your uniform needs an update. You are missing a star."

 Chapter 438 Articles

    Khan peeked past his shoulder to look at the hologramsing out of the cylindrical item. The scanner wasn''t as detailed as those seen inside the medical bays, but its results were clear. The number "70" shone next to the attunement with mana and confirmed the Colonel''s statement.


    ''When did I be a third-level warrior?'' Khan wondered, but the situation didn''t let him fall into his thoughts.


    "I had just updated your profile," Colonel Norrett scoffed as he threw the scanner behind him, and one of the guards grabbed it mid-air. "It seems that I have to send another official report."


    "Updated?" Khan repeated, but his eyes immediately widened. He wanted to check thework right away, but the Colonel''s smile made that process pointless.


    "I approved your promotion a few hours ago," Colonel Norrett exined. "Thework received the news at the same time."


    ''I won''t hear the end of it,'' Khan mocked himself while nodding at his superior.


    "Well, I didn''t n our meeting to happen in the middle of the street," Colonel Norrett revealed, "But maybe it was for the best. My arrival herees with many obligations, and I''d rather handle them before our next meeting."


    "Will I see you again, sir?" Khan asked.


    "Tonight," The Colonel stated. "Promotions to captain and above require special celebrations. I''ll send an invitation with every detailter on. We''ll talk more there."


    The Colonel promptly turned to reach the tform, and his guards went with him, but he nced at Khan again when he recalled something. "Before I forget, give me the student and professor''s names."


    Khan opened his mouth to speak before going changing his mind. He had already punished Tobias, and Oscar was bound to go crazy after hearing about the promotion. Getting the two kicked out of the Harbor would only turn the Odse family into an enemy.


    "So?" Colonel Norrett asked while snapping his fingers.


    "I want a different incentive," Khan dered, using the same words that Colonel Norrett had voiced back on Onia.


    "Oh?" Colonel Norrett said in a curious and pleased tone. "Speak."


    "I want ess to the advanced sses," Khan revealed.


    "That''s still not special," Colonel Norrett sneered before nodding at hispanions. "Consider it done."


    The tform began to rise, and it soon elerated to exit the range of Khan''s senses. He saw the item return to the ship before the entire vehicle headed for one of the many passages stretching from the dome.


    Khan followed the ship with his eyes, and pure chaos fell on him as soon as it disappeared from his vision. He acknowledged everything that had happened in the past minutes, but he didn''t even know where to begin to sort that out.


    ''Fucking Raymond Cobsend,'' Khan cursed. ''Why did he help me?''


    The paranoia had the priority. Khan couldn''t rejoice about the event before worrying about its many implications. Raymond had pushed for his promotions, and there had to be a reason for that.


    ''What can he possibly get from my promotion?'' Khan wondered as his superficial knowledge of the Global Army ran through his mind.


    Truth be told, Khan saw nothing but contradictions. He knew that Raymond had a specific interest in him, but a higher rank would grant him more political influence and fame.


    Raymond would have a harder time exploiting, controlling, or even affecting Khan if his rank continued to improve. He wouldn''t be able to use him as freely as before if he started developing proper social defenses. Still, that probably was the core of the matter.


    ''There might be other parties involved,'' Khan coldly realized. ''This promotion might be Raymond''s way of protecting me from them. Well, preserving rather than protecting.''


    Raymond couldn''t be the only one interested in the power of the chaos element, and he had already proven himself ready to sacrifice an entire asteroid. Other parties might target Khan directly, and bing a captain could provide some political shield.


    Of course, that guess was purely hypothetical, but it made sense. The Nak were an important and secret topic, and Khan had shown the world that he had a lot inmon with them. His element also yed an important role there, so his reasoning didn''t feel crazy.


    However, that hypothesis led to a precise conclusion. The political shield would theoretically hinder Raymond too, but he had given it to Khan anyway, meaning that he could ovee it when necessary.


    ''Is he underestimating me?'' Khan wondered as some anger returned before vanishing once he found a different answer. ''No, Raymond is a political monster. He probably knows exactly how much he can push, and I can''t hope to match his knowledge any time soon.''


    Losing was unavoidable as long as Khan tried to fight Raymond on those terms. The political battlefield couldn''t give him a chance to win, and that situation wouldn''t change for many years. However, Khan had another weapon at his disposal.


    Khan tried to lift a hand, only to notice that he was still holding the rectangr container. His mind was elsewhere, so he sat on the sidewalk and ced the gift on the floor before resuming his initial action.


    A whiff of purple-red mana came out of Khan''s palm as soon as he opened it. He couldn''t notice anything odd in his energy, but the scanner didn''t lie. He had be a third-level warrior.


    ''Seventy percent,'' Khan thought as he closed his eyes to inspect the mana in his insides. ''Why didn''t I feel it?''


    Bing a second-level warrior had granted Khan a smoother flow of mana, but the recent checkpoint didn''t bring anything like that. Khan felt no different, but that could exin his situation.


    The transformation had been too radical. Khan didn''t even know how much of him still abided by human standards. All the data gathered in the past five hundred years might not apply to him anymore.


    Still, that could be the reason behind theck of significant benefits. Khan had already undergone tremendous changes, so his body had probably failed to notice the arrival at the new checkpoint. That goal simply wasn''t muchpared to the transformation.


    Khan obviously considered other options. His unstable and wild mental state could be a consequence of his new level, but his sudden growth could also exin it. His body could also face those breakthroughs differently now that the mutations had returned stronger than ever.


    Only proper experts could grant answers, but that would require actual inspections and check-ups, which Khan wasn''t willing to face. Raymond had given him a vague idea of his value, so making scientists aware of his condition was risky, especially in his current situation.


    ''I''m stuck,'' Khan realized. ''Getting stronger is my best option, but I can''t predict where that will lead me.''


    Questions and doubts raged inside Khan''s mind. He felt pretty sure that his reckless behavior was nothing more than a true expression of his character. Yet, he couldn''t avoid considering other problems.


    The check-up technique was a perfect example. Khan had confirmed that everything was okay multiple times, but the spell had human roots. It could be unable to grasp the entirety of his new being.


    ''No, no,'' Khan shook his head. ''Even Caja said that I was fine. Well, fine for Nele''s standards.''


    A helpless sigh that tried to transform into a shout escaped Khan''s mouth. All that thinking seemed pointless when he had so few viable options. Actually, attempting to contain or limit himself out of fear of what could happen made his wild emotions return.


    The internal fight between a collected approach and a mindless pursuit of power unfolded inside Khan, but his thoughts remained clear. His mind seemed made for that conflict, but that inevitably pushed him toward one extreme.


    ''Fuck it,'' Khan cursed. ''My mana won''t allow me to hold back too much anyway. I just need to keep increasing my value. No one will be able to touch me even if I mess up at that point.''


    The conclusion to the internal struggle raised another valuable point. Getting stronger through regr training was Khan''s best option, but George''s fight had taught him important lessons.


    Lucian had been no match for George, but he had still put up a decent fight without resorting to his element. The non-elemental spells had more value than Khan had initially thought. Getting ess to the good ones was the only problem.


    ''My element pushes me toward a specific battle style,'' Khan thought as another whiff of purple-red mana escaped his palm, ''But there must be non-elemental spells that can empower it. I can even try to modify them at my current level.''


    The more Khan thought about the matter, the more he acknowledged its value. He could partially ignore his hesitation toward increasing his own power by adding multiple techniques to his arsenal. Even if his search left him empty-handed, he could still gain a lot from that additional knowledge.


    Once the troublesome matters fell into the back of Khan''s mind, he found the time to focus on other topics. He picked up his phone, and a soft scoff left his mouth when he opened his profile. Thework had already reced his title, and it was only a matter of time before the news spread.


    ''Captain Khan,'' Khan scoffed again. He had barely spent three years inside the Global Army but had already reached an incredible goal. He had even surpassed many of the superiors met in previous missions.


    Some excitement inevitably surged inside Khan. Raymond''s involvement in the promotion had added a bitter taste to the matter, but the event remained incredible. The verywork was carrying proof of his growth. His efforts didn''t go to waste. He was getting closer to fulfilling his goals.


    Headmaster Pitcus'' words resounded in Khan''s mind. Something was bound to change after his promotion. His new rank would provide multiple benefits, and he couldn''t wait to read them out.


    However, as Khan browsed his profile, he found many articles attached to it. Thework had been aware of the promotion for a few hours, and various groups had already written pieces about it.


    The same pages Luke, Monica, and Bruce checked to remain updated about various meaningful events now carried Khan''s name. A quick search even told him that those articles didn''t stop at describing his achievements. Some went quite deeply into his life, even mentioning reports that should have been ssified.


    ''What?!'' Khan gasped as he read through the articles. ''Probably lost his virginity to an alien? How do they know this stuff?! Used his political skills to subdue the famous Nele? What?!''


    Some articles were urate, while others were aplete fabrication. A few even stated that Khan''s mother was an alien to justify his friendliness with other species. One also used his past rtionships to draw a chart about his tastes in women.<sub> </sub>


    The articles weren''t stand-alone pieces either. People could leavements, and Khan almost regretted reading some of them. Those statements were anonymous, and they only spread more misinformation and rumors.


    ''What the fu-?'' Khan barely had the time to curse when a call arrived. Luke was trying to contact him, but the storm of messages that followed almost made his phone give up on buzzing.


    Luke wasn''t the only one who tried to call. Bruce, Anita, George, Martha, and many more contacted him almost simultaneously while sending as many messages as possible. It seemed that the news of the promotion had reached every corner of the Global Army.


    ''Colonel Norrett even has to add my new level,'' Khan sighed as he nned to store his phone and ignore the mess. He didn''t think fame could be so troublesome, and he had no interest in dealing with it now.


    Still, a call that Khan felt unable to refuse reached his phone before he could put it away, and epting it led to a loud shout.


    "Did you make it to captain?!" Monica shouted as soon as Khan picked up the call.


    "It''s a long story," Khanughed while cing a hand on the street. Luckily for him, the area was empty due to the lessons, so he could enjoy some privacy even while sitting in the open.


    "And what''s all that stuff about you starting a fight?!" Monica continued.


    "George ratted me out," Khanughed again.


    "What ratted!" Monica scolded. "He was worried about you, and so am I. Where are you?"


    "Don''t you have sses?" Khan asked. "Can you really call me?"


    "I hid in the bathroom," Monica exined as her voice dimmed. "I swear. If you try to tease me about this-."


    "I don''t n to," Khan interrupted. "Listen, everything is a bit of a mess. It''s better to leave the exnations for when we see each other."


    "Khan, I''m your girlfriend," Monica dered, even if a trace of shyness appeared near the end of her line. "If you have problems, I want to be there for you. I want you to be able to rely on me."


    "Monica, it''s not that," Khan revealed. "Just, if I saw you now, we wouldn''t talk at all."


    Monica went silent for a few seconds before a whisper came out of the phone. "Scoundrel. I told you not to tease me."


    "I wasn''t teasing," Khan chuckled, and a giggle resounded from the other end of the call.


    "You might deserve a gift," Monica sneered. "Captain is an important milestone in your career."


    "Might?" Khan teased.


    "Shut it," Monica pouted, but her voice immediately grew sweeter. "When can I see you?"


    "Give me some time to cool down," Khan stated. "I also have a few things to handle, and I still don''t know about the afternoon lessons. I''ll keep you updated."


    "Don''t make me wait too long," Monica muttered.


    "Do you miss me already?" Khan joked.


    "Yes," Monica imed without adding any shame to her tone, "And it''s your fault, so take responsibility."


    "I''ll see after the gift," Khanughed.


    "You are lucky you have the best girlfriend in the world," Monica snorted.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I''ll see youter then, okay?" Khan changed the topic, and Monica only needed to hear his affectionate voice to understand that the teasing phases had ended.


    "I''ll try to stay put in the meantime," Monica promised. "Still, congrattions. No one deserves this promotion more than you."


    Khan couldn''t help but smile at that praise. The bitterness caused by Raymond''s involvement grew fainter when Monica conveyed her feelings. Khan almost decided to see her right away while her words resounded in his ears, but he eventually opted for something funnier.


    "You know," Khan announced. "You are the only call I picked up."


    Silent took control for a few seconds, but Monica''s question eventually arrived. "Really?"


    "Really," Khan confirmed.


    "What about George?" Monica asked.


    "Only you," Khan repeated.


    "Really?" Monica gasped.


    "Really," Khan confirmed again. "I have to go now. I''ll hopefully see you tonight."


    "Sure," Monica voiced. Other words appeared in her mind and tried to take form in her mouth, but some fear and shyness stopped her from speaking them. The call ended right after.


    Khan nced at his buzzing phone after the call ended. He had thought about the same words that had crossed Monica''s mind, but he was in no mood to think seriously about them. The time to sort out his feelings for Monica woulde, but he had other matters to handle now.


    Some hunger showed its presence, but Khan wanted to do something else first. He stood up, picked up the rectangr container, and reopened the map on his phone. His attunement with mana marked him as a third-level warrior, but he could add another achievement to that feat.


    Khan hurried through the almost empty streets, uncaring of the few gazes that fell on him or the cars that stopped to peek at his face. He had a clear destination, and he reached it in less than ten minutes.


    The doors of arge building opened when Khan moved his phone over their interactive menus. He didn''t even check how much the ess to the structure was as he rushed inside the corridor and entered the first empty area he found.


    A training hall unfolded in Khan''s vision. The ce was smaller than where George and Lucian had fought, but Khan didn''t care about those details. His feet moved quickly on the menus on the floor, and a reinforced circr target soon came out of a wall.


    ''I can''tck in control,'' Khan dered inside his mind while joining his palms and summoning his mana, ''And I can''t imagine a better state for my element.''


    The wild and cold mindsets were already one, and Khan drew power from both extremes while performing the chaos spear. He mustered more mana than ever before during the casting of the spell, and the spreading of his arms showed the results of that reckless action.


    The chaos spear took form, but its surfaces were far from stable. Short res left the glowing weapon and leaked part of its mana into the environment. Some purple-red dots even ended on Khan''s uniform and dug holes, but his skin could handle that level of destruction.


    The spell seemed ready to explode, but it didn''t. It remained between Khan''s palms while its small res continued to leak mana. A few tense seconds passed, but Khan eventually seized the glowing weapon and threw it toward the target.


    An explosion wilder than anything Khan had ever generated expanded on the circr target before giving birth to a violent pir. The purple-red light became almost blinding as the spell unleashed the entirety of its power, and it took a while for it to disperse.


    The target remained strangely intact, but many marks and cracks had appeared on its surface. Yet, Khan only cared about the screen near its base. The device showed the number "3", confirming his initial guess.


    ''I knew it,'' Khan imed. ''I can be a third-level mage right away.''


    The chaos spear still needed some tuning, and the same probably went for the other spells, but Khan had time. Almost half a day separated him from his next sses, and he didn''t even know if he had to attend them.


    Khan sat on the floor while the target remained in its position. He would get to the testing part, but many people had contacted him, and a few deserved answers.


    However, the container captured Khan''s attention before he could get to the messages. The brown metal box was as big as his arm andcked anybel, but Khan could guess what it carried, and he felt like drinking now.


    Khan moved a key to unlock the lid and lifting it confirmed his guess. The container carried an expensive bottle that made him desire to taste it right away. Yet, there was something else there. A small screen rested in the corner and lit up as soon as Khan touched it.


    ''Gic signature,'' Khan realized as words lit up on the screen. The device carried a letter, and its contents turned Khan''splicated excitement into a pure frenzy.


    ''Captain Khan,'' Khan read on the letter. ''For the exceptional service shown in many missions, the Global Army is honored to provide flying courses free of charge. We wish you good luck on your journey toward your license.''

 Chapter 439 Future

    ''Flying courses?!'' Khan shouted in his mind as both his hands went on the screen.


    The letter went on to exin how to redeem those lessons. Khan only needed to reach a hangar controlled by the Global Army, and the soldiers there would handle the rest. The device worked as an official permit, so he was good to go right away.


    ''Flying courses,'' Khan repeated while browsing through the letter once more. ''It''s actually happening.''


    Flying had been in Khan''s mind since his departure from Nitis, but learning about the various issues involved had forced him to postpone that interest.


    Bing an official pilot would cut Khan from a big part of the Global Army, which went against his main goal. As for paying for flying sses, he didn''t have the necessary money. Even if he did, he never stayed in one ce for too long, which would make any course pointless.


    However, the letter couldn''t havee at a better time. Khan was on a moon. The Harbor didn''tck spaceships, and he had even just arrived. Months of sses were waiting for him, so he could find the time to focus on that project. The free-of-charge part only added more benefits to the offer.


    Excitement built up inside Khan. He couldn''t express how much he liked flying, and seeing that idea bing a reality made his blood boil. He wanted to get to a hangar immediately, but his reasonable side made him aware of his priorities.


    ''sses, food, celebration,'' Khan repeated. ''I''m probably not even close to affording a ship. I need to take it one step at a time.''


    Khan couldn''t help but look at the metal target. He had decided to handle his other priorities, but the ship remained a loud thought, and he knew exactly what hecked to get it. He needed Credits, and his experience told him that working wasn''t always the shortest path.


    ''I''m already here,'' Khan smirked as he put away the letter and picked up the bottle.


    A captivating scent spread through the hall as soon as Khan opened the bottle. The booze smelled amazing, and taking a sip confirmed that sensation. That was the best thing Khan had ever drunk, and he made sure to taste it again before standing up.


    Khan knew his profile would offer incredible jobs once his breakthrough became official. He was also sure that he could find something worthwhile in the Harbor. Yet, he could get money through achievements, and turning into a third-level mage was bound to attract valuable attention.


    The next sses were in the afternoon, so Khan had time to kill, and training felt mandatory now that flying had be a real possibility. His spells needed to be up to par to get the additional star, and testing his new power sounded reasonable.


    Khan went over his entire arsenal, grinding through metal puppets and reinforced targets. He took breaks to drink, order food, and exchange messages with the most valuable people in his life, but training remained his main task.


    Testing out the limits of the new body turned out to be more than necessary. The transformation and the breakthrough had given Khan far more power than he initially realized, but the hours spent inside the training hall solidified his understanding.


    Being a third-level warrior was amazing. Khan could perform many techniques in a row without even getting close to feeling tired, but the power they expressed remained their most surprising aspect, and he didn''t know how much of it came from the transformation.


    Of course, Khan couldn''t separate the two things, so he limited himself to testing his limits. Everything felt normal, but seeing his new power in action left him stunned multiple times. He had vagueparisons due to his experience, and they told him that he was far stronger than he should be.


    The spells gave simr results. They weren''t as straightforward as the martial arts since they often strived for unstable forms, but their power was undeniable. Khan walked on a path that stood above humans, and his prowess reflected that feature.


    Eventually, a message that warned Khan about the change in schedule reached his phone. Colonel Norrett had stayed true to his word and had given Khan ess to the advanced sses, which excluded him from his afternoon tasks.


    Khan took the news happily since the training had long since captured his full attention, but the second part of the message hinted at troublesome consequences. Colonel Norrett had pushed for an update of Khan''s profile again, and he felt no surprise when his phone resumed its crazy ringing.


    "Yes," Khan said through his munching, holding his phone between his ear and shoulder, "The Colonel scanned me. I''m a third-level warrior."


    "And when did you n on telling me?!" Monica shouted, seemingly attempting to deafen Khan.


    "I told you I would talk to youter," Khan reminded while gulping down thest bits of food left in his tray.


    "I''d still like to learn this stuff from you instead of reading it from your profile," Monicained.


    "Did you check my profile the whole time?" Khan teased.


    "Idiot," Monica pouted. "Another article about you came out. I simply got a message."


    "What do they say about me now?" Khan wondered.


    "They say that you learnt some secret training technique through your alien girlfriends," Monica scoffed. "What girlfriends? Why do they always include Jenna there?"


    "They are not wrong," Khan chuckled before moving to serious topics. "Hey, they canceled my afternoon sses, so I''ll remain in the training hall. I''ll see you once Ie out, okay?"


    "Someone should tell them that Jenna wasn''t your girlfriend," Monica whispered.


    "Are you still hiding in the bathroom?" Khan joked.


    "It''s a different bathroom!" Monica shouted before gasping and opting for another whisper. "Yes, I''lle to your t once I''m done with sses. Tell George toe before me."


    "Of course," Khan reassured. "Later then."


    The call ended, and Khan couldn''t resist the temptation to check the new article about him. It turned out that Monica had gone easy on him. The piece even considered the possibility of a betrayal on Khan''s side, and thements weren''t any better.


    ''Wow,'' Khan thought. ''When did people be jealous of my life?''


    Khan didn''t waste too long on the article. Milia 222 had made him used to the attention, so he quickly disregarded his new fame to focus on his training.


    Hours went by until another message from Colonel Norrett put an end to Khan''s training. The soldier had finally sent the details about the meeting, and time was rtively tight.


    Khan hurried outside the training hall, but a surprising sight weed his arrival on the street. A crowd had gathered on the sidewalk, and the excited faces that spread through the audience told Khan that they were waiting for him.


    "Captain Khan!" A middle-aged man at the top of the crowd shouted. "I''m Carl, from the training district. I''d be honored to make your stay in the Harbor morefortable."


    "Don''t mind him!" A middle-aged woman next to the first speaker cried. "I''m ra, from the PR department of the embassy. I''d dly take care of your job offers from now on."


    "You are here because you suck at your job," The first speaker rebuked, and a third one seized that chance to throw another request at Khan.


    ''Right,'' Khan recalled as the crowd overwhelmed him with offers. ''The benefits of a Captain.''


    Khan''s new rank came with benefits that he had barely begun to read. Discounts and other free or cheaper services were obvious, but being a Captain also allowed him to hire soldiers under his payroll.


    As a captain, Khan could request a team directly from the Global Army, even if that often involved actual missions. Still, he could hire caretakers, drivers, and many more workers to make his life in the Harbor easier. Yet, he had no interest in those benefits.


    ''Another minor infraction can''t hurt,'' Khan sighed as he jumped over the crowd and stepped on heads and shoulders to sprint past that blockade.


    In theory, the Harbor forbade techniques and spells in its streets, but Khan felt sure that no one would punish him, especially after what he did that morning. His sprint brought him past the crowd and around a corner a few blocks away, where he felt forced to stop to call a cab. He would run all the way home, but time wasn''t on his side.


    Luckily for Khan, the cab that came to pick him up didn''t seem to have any interest in requesting a job. He could hop in and watch the scenery while the car brought him back to the seventh district.


    Truth be told, Khan had barely used his t. George''s apartment always had free beds, so Khan had never bothered to return to the seventh district.


    However, the t in the seventh district carried Khan''s name, so any delivery would go there. Colonel Norrett''s message said that a new uniform had arrived, so Khan knew that he had to go back home to get it.


    The situation in front of Khan''s building was no different from what he had seen outside the training hall, but the Harbor had luckily done something about it.


    A crowd had gathered, but soldiers stood on the sidewalk to create a safe passage toward the building. Khan could jump off the car and tread that path to get inside without meeting any hindrance, but he still agreed to exchange a few words with the doorman once he called.


    "Congrattion on the promotion, Captain Khan," Perry announced once Khan got close enough to the main desk.


    "Thank you, Perry," Khan smiled. "Any chance you can drop the captain?"


    "Not even one," Perry politely replied.


    "News sure spreads fast," Khan sighed. "I didn''t expect the crowd."


    "It will quiet down," Perry reassured. "Give it a couple of weeks."


    "That''s a couple of weeks too long," Khan joked as he reached the elevator.


    "At least, the fame is well-deserved for once," Perry praised before moving to the updates. "Mister Ildoo is waiting for you upstairs, and a package came in earlier."


    "The Harbor moves quickly," Khan threw another joke as the elevator opened.


    "Have a good night, Captain Khan," Perry eximed.


    "The night is still long," Khan cursed while entering the elevator. "Way too long."


    The elevator brought Khan to the fourth floor, where he found George sitting in front of his door. The man didn''t hesitate to jump to his feet, and a curse immediately followed.


    "You sure took your time," George cursed.


    "Have mercy," Khanughed while lifting the rectangr container. "I bring goods."


    "Ooh?" George eximed as his eyes lit up. "You might not be an awful friend."


    "I did drink most of it," Khan revealed once he reached George and unlocked his t''s door.


    "I won''t bail you out anymore," George scoffed as he followed Khan inside.


    The corridor had a package at its center, and Khan handed the container to George to check it out. A series of new military uniforms filled his view, and they all featured three stars on their right shoulders.


    "So," George announced as he jumped on the bed and began to open the container. "Did your fans do that?"


    "Fans?" Khan repeated before understanding what George meant when he inspected his uniform.


    The martial arts didn''t do much, but testing spells had ruined the military uniform. Khan found holes all around his chest area, and his sleeves had also turned into torn rags.<sub> </sub>


    "Hey!" George shouted while Khan was still busy studying the damage done by his spells. "Did you really drink this?"


    "Why?" Khan asked.


    "This bottle is for collection!" George revealed while taking out the booze from the container. "You are not supposed to drink it unless it''s a special asion."


    "What''s the point of booze that you can''t drink?" Khan frowned.


    "I have no idea," George stated as he opened the bottle and took a sip.


    "Don''t you have thousands of those in your holiday house?" Khan wondered as he also reached the bed.


    "My parents would kill me if I opened one of these," George said, handing the bottle to Khan.


    "I''m sure they won''t say anything if you get promoted," Khan suggested. "Why don''t you take the test? You are more than qualified to be a lieutenant."


    "Ranks are useless in my case," George exined, "At least the lower ones. I''d have to make it to major or higher to expand my family''s wealth."


    "Is that what you want?" Khan questioned. George could rely on his family for his future, but it seemed that he had yet to make up his mind.


    "I don''t know what I want," George groaned while lying on the bed. "I''m young and full of opportunities. I can think about that stuffter."


    "The life of a wealthy descendant sure is nice," Khan joked.


    "Sometimes I envy you," George admitted. "Having a purpose sounds nice, but then I remember how shitty you have it. Though, I''d take your luck with women."


    "Leave my women alone," Khanughed. "Well, you''ll get somewhere anyway. I can''t imagine you being a simple soldier."


    "Graduating from the Harbor will prevent that," George stated. "Right, you skipped the afternoon sses. Was it wise in your situation?"


    "I gained ess to the advanced sses," Khan revealed before rolling his eyes. "I sort of requested it for my promotion."


    "What?!" George cursed. "Are you leaving me alone in the normal sses?"


    "I know you were there only to keep mepany," Khan snorted. "How long will it take you to get to the advanced?"


    "A week," George dered. "And here I thought I could take it easy for a while."


    "How long did you think it would have taken me to advance?" Khan sneered.


    "More than a day!" George eximed, and both men ended upughing.


    The bottle ended in no time, and Khan and George killed some time talking and joking around. Still, the meeting was about to start, so Khan began to prepare to leave, but someone knocked on his door once he finished wearing a new uniform.


    "It must be Monica," Khan voiced as he pressed a menu on the wall to unlock the entrance.


    The door opened, and Khan peeked into the corridor to wee his girlfriend. Yet, the words remained stuck in his throat when heid his eyes on that enchanting sight.


    Monica had dropped the military uniform to wear an exquisite brownish sheath dress. The clothing only revealed her arms and half of her legs, but it was tight on the waist, highlighting her fabulous figure. It also fit her perfectly, giving her a mature and formal aura.


    The door closed behind Monica as soon as she entered the t, and Khan stepped into the corridor to get a better sight of the scene. His expression described his thoughts, and Monica revealed a shy smile under his intense gaze, but she still walked toward him.


    "You are stunning," Khan whispered when Monica reached him, and she performed an elegant bow before cing her hands on his shoulders.


    "Do you like it?" Monica asked while her eyes remained glued to Khan''s. "I took longer than expected to choose a dress for the asion."


    "It was worth it," Khan said without shame. "Come here."


    Monica didn''t dare to refuse. The two fell into a kiss that Monica felt forced to interrupt when things became too dangerous. Khan didn''t hide his disappointment at their separation, but he still smiled when Monica began to adjust his uniform.


    "That new star suits you," Monica whispered while her expression carried tempting meanings.


    "I''ll make sure to add another soon," Khan uttered before recalling the meeting. "Now I feel bad. I should have warned you. I have to join a celebration for my promotion tonight."


    "I know, stupid," Monica giggled. "It''s customary with promotions to captain and above. Besides, I''ve been invited."


    "Invited?" Khan repeated. "But they told me that the uniform was mandatory."


    "Only if you go as a soldier," Monica exined. "I''ve been invited as a member of the Solodrey family. Showing my best dresses is almost mandatory for me."


    The news was surprising, but Khan rejoiced nheless. He would have an ally that night. He only had a minor gripe about the matter.


    "What is it?" Monica whispered.


    "Part of me doesn''t want anyone else to see you wearing this," Khan revealed. "More than a part."


    "Don''t you want to show off your girlfriend?" Monica teased.


    "Not at all," Khan replied whileying his forehead on Monica''s. "I want to be the only one to know how beautiful you are."


    "The others get the dresses," Monica showed her bold side. "You get everything else."


    Khan and Monica were on the verge of kissing again, but George''sint interrupted them. "Can''t you do this in my t, where I can be three rooms away from this?"


    Monica pouted and hid her face in Khan''s chest while he voiced a joke. "I remember a different George on Nitis."


    "I had more booze there," George snorted. "Still, Monica, you are bolder than I expected."


    "What are you implying?!" Monica shouted as she tried to peek past Khan''s chest, but he kept her in his hug.


    "Feisty as always," Georgeughed.


    Monica wanted to respond, but her and Khan''s phones rang simultaneously. The two picked them up only to discover that their rides had arrived, so the time for jokes ended.


    "I''ll see you there," Monica whispered before adjusting Khan''s uniform again and giving him a kiss.


    "I''ll call you whenever I need saving," Khan dered.


    "You''ll do great," Monica reassured, giving Khan another kiss. "Bye, lost cause."


    "I think we are starting to bond," Georgeughed, and Monica snorted before hurrying out of the t.


    Khan let the door close and checked the hour on his phone. It was safer to wait a few minutes so the cameras wouldn''t pick up anything suspicious, and George used that time to throw morements.


    "She is so into you," George dered as he left the bed. "When is the marriage?"


    Khan leaned his back on the wall and lightly bumped the back of his head a few times. His expression said words George could read, which added some seriousness to his followingment.


    "I know that face," George sighed. "You love the problematic ones, don''t you?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "It''s too early to say," Khan responded.


    "That''s not what the Niqols taught us," George pointed out. "You know that better than me."


    "I''m," Khan hesitated. "I''m not sure."


    "That''s reasonable," George agreed. "Just don''t hesitate out of fear. It doesn''t suit you."


    "Do you have any idea how I''ll act if I truly fall for her?" Khan asked.


    "You have already assaulted a student and threatened a professor," George eximed. "Getting one or two families against you isn''t such a long jump."


    "It''s not like I can lie to myself anyway," Khan continued.


    "Remind me," George sneered. "How many days did youst with Liiza after Paul''s warning? Or was it hours?"


    "Paul," Khan chuckled. "I wonder if he ever made it to Lieutenant."


    "He did," George confirmed. "He is doing something somewhere now. I don''t really remember."


    "Good for him," Khan imed while leaving the wall. "Time for a political meeting."


    "Do you have any booze here?" George wondered.


    "I barely used this t," Khan shook his head as he approached the exit. "Warn me if you invite someone."


    "Good luck," George stated, and Khan waved his hand while the door closed behind him.

 Chapter 440 Killing Machine

    Leaving the building put Khan among the curious and loud crowd again. Surprisingly, those people had yet to disperse, but the Harbor''s soldiers kept a path open for him.


    Khan crossed the sidewalk only to find himself before a couple of soldiers guarding a long ship. The vehicle was another ck model exclusive to the Global Army, but its shape hinted at its inability to fly in open space.


    The two soldiers performed a military salute, and Khan nodded at them before crossing the ship''s open doors. He had seen far better insides, but the seats werefortable, and the closing of the entrance brought some cozy solitude. Khan couldn''t help but think about his conversation with George, and being alone helped.


    The ship set off almost immediately. People continued to shout from the outside, but the sses and metal blocked any sound. Khan was in a quiet environment, and the scenery from his window kept himpany while his mind wandered.


    The imminent meeting wouldn''t be Khan''s first political event. He had already faced something simr on Reebfell when various families sent representatives toin about his teaching methods.


    Khan had used facts and honesty to win over most representatives, but the imminent meeting didn''t involve concerned families. The important figures Khan would meet would be there due to his promotion, and he couldn''t predict what they would talk about.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A choice that Khan had met in the past showed its presence again. He had to decide how to approach the meeting. Wearing a political persona would be wise, but he had already opted against that, and his condition only pushed him further to that extreme.


    The trip was far from short. The meeting would happen in the embassy, and the seventh district wasn''t exactly close, so Khan could enjoy the silence for a while. He couldn''t find a perfect answer, but part of him had already made a decision.


    The gigantic triangr building eventually appeared, and the ship flew toward its top. From that height, Khan could spot many vehicles resting on the ceilings of the rectangr blocks, and his ride soonnded on an empty one.


    The two soldiers from before immediately left the ship to have their military salute ready for Khan''s arrival on the ceiling. Still, they couldn''t im his interest when he was in such a peculiar location. The vehicle had left him near the top of the embassy, and the scenery past the block''s edge was too captivating for him.


    ''So tall,'' Khan praised as his eyes darted among the parking lots,nding areas, and many white pirs under him. He had already guessed that the embassy contained an uncountable number of activities, but that new perspective increased his initial estimate.


    The opening of a wall on the other side of the rectangr block forced Khan to turn. The arrival of an empty spot had apanied the event, and Khan felt no surprise when he saw Colonel Norrett at the center of the new entrance.


    "The man of the hour," Colonel Norrett announced as he stepped on thending area and let the wall close behind him.


    "Sir," Khan voiced as he performed a military salute, and the two soldiers in front of him also turned to wee the arrival of the Colonel.


    "At ease," Colonel Norrett eximed as he waved at the two soldiers, "Especially you, Captain Khan. This night is for you."


    Khan and Colonel Norrett walked toward each other to stop at the center of the tform. Thetter gave him a long look before nodding in approval, and the soldiers entered the ship in the meantime.


    The atmosphere rxed with that newfound privacy. Colonel Norrett even stopped hiding his presence, and the appearance of his heavy mana forced Khan to focus on the five pairs of stars on his shoulders.


    "Still wary of your superiors," Colonel Norrett sneered. "Don''t worry. I''m thest person you have to worry about tonight."


    "Who will be there?" Khan asked.


    "The Headmistress," Colonel Norrett exined, "Some representatives from a few families, and a reporter. I''m sure you can handle this much."


    "Should I be worried about anyone?" Khan wondered.


    "All of them," Colonel Norrettughed. "You are the youngest Captain in history. Everyone can''t wait to find a weakness to exploit."


    Khan frowned, and his reaction prolonged Colonel Norrett''sugh, pushing him to continue. "I hope you didn''t expect this to be a simple dinner. What you do here will set the foundation of your political career."


    ''Reassuring,'' Khan thought as he diverted his gaze. The news wasn''t shocking, but the event sounded more important than he had initially predicted.


    "Is this too much for you?" Colonel Norrett questioned. "Did I give you this promotion too soon?"


    "Not at all, sir," Khan confirmed before taking his chances. "I was only wondering if you had some advice."


    Colonel Norrett shot a long look at Khan before bringing a hand on his chin. "There might be something worth mentioning."


    Khan''s eyes snapped on the Colonel, who remained silent for a few seconds before voicing his thoughts. "I bet you don''t see any difference between a representative and me. We must be the other side in your eyes."


    "Sir?" Khan asked.


    "The Global Army and the families are different entities," Colonel Norrett exined. "Connected, fused even, but still different. Keep in mind that you will be going in as a soldier while the others will be representatives."


    Khan felt able to understand something, but he continued with a question anyway. "What about you, sir?"


    "I''ll also be a soldier," Colonel Norrett stated. "I am a soldier, but I already went through this. It''s your turn now."


    Khan nodded, but an idea slowly crept into his mind, and a shameless smile appeared on his face when he decided to voice it. "Colonel, sir, since you approved my promotion, won''t a poor performance on my side affect your reputation?"


    The statement could have multiple interpretations, but the shameless smile revealed what Khan meant, and the Colonel didn''t miss that. His expression even froze for a second before breaking into a scoff.


    "Little shit," Colonel Norrett smirked. "I''ll only introduce you and step in if they go overboard, but the rest is on you, so don''t disappoint me."


    "Aye aye, sir," Khan stated while performing a military salute again, but his shameless smile didn''t disappear, and Colonel Norrett found that scene funny.


    "Hurry up," Colonel Norrett dered. "The Headmistress wants to have a talk with you before heading for the meeting. She is our first stop."


    Khan remained slightly surprised, but the Colonel was done with the talk. He headed directly for the wall, and Khan could only follow behind him.


    The wall opened as soon as Colonel Norrett approached it, and a small room unfolded. The area seemed nothing more than a big closet filled with screens closed behind transparent containers. Khan guessed that they were reports and simr items, but the Colonel led him into the next room before he could study the ce any longer.


    A door led the two soldiers into a big office, which brought another presence to Khan''s senses. The ce had identical transparent containers, a couple of big screens, and a desk, and an aura that matched Colonel Norrett''s power sat behind it.


    "You arete," The middle-aged woman sitting behind the desk announced while taking off her circr sses. "Our guests are already waiting."


    The woman left the sses on the desk before standing up, and Khan couldn''t help but inspect every inch of her figure. Her dark skin matched the color of her long straight hair, while her eyes carried a deeper ckness. She was slim and short, but her figure radiated heavy power, and her cold face highlighted that feature.


    "Waiting is what they do best," Colonel Norrett scoffed as he pushed Khan forward. "Captain Khan, this is Headmistress Holwen. She handles most of the embassy."


    "Pleasure to meet you, ma''am!" Khan eximed while performing a salute. The Headmistress was wearing a military uniform with five stars on each shoulder, so Khan found it proper to greet her like that.


    "Captain Khan," Headmistress Holwen called as she walked around the desk to reach Khan. Her presence changed during the process. It transformed into a cold aura capable of making anyone shake.


    "Yes, ma''am?" Khan asked while the Headmistress looked deep into his eyes. To her surprise, Khan didn''t shrink under her pressure, but she misunderstood the reasons behind his endurance.


    Khan had an easier time ignoring the fear caused by the mana, but he didn''t need to rely on that ability in the Headmistress'' case. He had gotten used to Liiza''s coldness, so that freezing aura only made him feel cozy.


    The Headmistress felt almost on the verge of praising Khan for keeping his cool, but she noticed something was up when he started to rx. She dropped her attempt to intimidate him at that point to move to the core of the matter.


    "Let''s make one thing clear," Headmistress Holwen stated while her eyes remained glued to Khan''s. "I don''t condone any violent behavior in my embassy. I don''t care about the situation or injustice. If you have a problem,e to me or one of your superiors."


    The Headmistress didn''t need to exin herself to make Khan understand what she meant. His actions against Oscar and Tobias didn''t go unnoticed, and Colonel Norrett''s intervention couldn''t save him from that reprimand.


    "That being said," The Headmistress continued as her chilling presence waned. "Your decision to let the matter go ismendable. Mister Odse and Professor Odse will receive punishments, but keeping things inside the Harbor is for the best. It''s always a mess when outsiders get involved."


    The Headmistress finally broke her stare to look at the door past the transparent containers, and her speech soon resumed. "The embassy is a frail ecosystem. Too many families have too many descendants here, and keeping track of everyone is impossible. We can only make them stay put."


    The "we" in the Headmistress'' speech added to what Colonel Norrett had said earlier. Khan''s background made him an outsider, but there were equally deep fractures between the soldiers and the families. Khan even guessed that they could be deeper than he could imagine.


    ''Soldier,'' Khan repeated in his mind as a sigh tried to escape his mouth. He knew how he would act in the meeting. He could only hope that his new rank would award him some basic respect.


    "Let''s not waste time then," Headmistress Holwen eventually dered as she focused on Khan again. "Young man, don''t punch anyone this time. Are we clear?"


    "Technically, I didn''t punch anyone," Khan pointed out, and his joke awarded him another re, but Colonel Norrett also fell prey to the Headmistress'' stern look when heughed.


    "Norrett, the warning applies to you too," Headmistress Holwen stated. "This is my jurisdiction. Try to be respectful."


    "Aye aye, ma''am," Colonel Norrett replied in the same words used by Khan previously, and he didn''t miss that detail. He didn''t turn toward the Colonel but felt that the two had reached a silent understanding.


    Headmistress Holwen''s eyes darted between Khan and Colonel Norrett before giving the okay to enter the meeting. "Follow me."


    "Onest thing," Colonel Norrett uttered when the Headmistress reached him. "Is the Princessing?"


    "Who knows," Headmistress Holwen sighed. "Last I heard, she was orbiting the moon."


    "Princess?" Khan asked.


    "Don''t worry about it," Colonel Norrett promptly stated before following the Headmistress toward the door past the transparent containers.


    Khan couldn''t see much from behind his two superiors, but his sensitivity drew a picture in his mind. His senses touched multiple masses of mana, some strong and some weak, while the symphony hinted at the presence of a big hall.


    The sensitivity turned out to be on point. Once the Colonel and the Headmistress got out of the way, Khan could see a big hall featuring multiple people and a long table filled with delicacies. Food and drinks spread their alluring scent in the area, but the tension that fell prevented Khan from appreciating that detail.


    Many gazes moved over Colonel Norrett and Headmistress Holwen before falling on Khan. Only the waiters standing next to the walls didn''t look at him. As for everyone else, their inspection was so intense that the synthetic mana moved toward him. Someone even attempted to throw a formless and invisible spell at him.


    Colonel Norrett''s mana moved as the slow spell flew toward Khan, but he held back from intervening. Hisck of actions told Khan enough, and he didn''t hesitate to release a tinge of energy while his thoughts sent a silent request.


    ''Disperse it,'' Khan thought, and the whiff of mana released from his back fused with the synthetic energy before flying toward the iing spell.


    The invisible spell wasn''t strong. The caster seemed to have sacrificed speed, power, and stability to focus on its cloaking properties. Because of that, Khan couldn''t find the source, but his simple request was more than enough to take care of it.


    Colonel Norrett wore a faint smile when he felt the invisible spell dispersing. Instead, Khan sent his gaze left and right to check whether someone reacted to his feat. Still, no one did anything suspicious. He could only see polite and cheerful faces.


    ''Political monsters,'' Khan cursed while stepping forward to match the Colonel and the Headmistress.


    "Dear guests," Headmistress Holwen announced as soon as Khan reached her. "I''m sorry for the wait. I present to you, Captain Khan."


    "As most of you might have heard," Colonel Norrett continued. "Captain Khan earned his promotion by serving on active battlefields and performing heroic duties during unexpected crises. I''m sure you can''t wait to know him."


    Colonel Norrett and Headmistress Holwen stepped aside, and the people in the hall formed three groups. The most numerous headed for the Colonel and the Headmistress, while only a few approached Khan directly. Monica was there, but she remained in the back and chose to go for the Headmistress for obvious reasons.


    The first to approach Khan was a slightly fat middle-aged man, a third-level warrior wearing an elegant red suit that matched the color of his curly hair. His face was the least cheerful of the bunch, but Khan felt a friendly vibe in his mana.


    "Captain Khan, it''s a pleasure to meet you," The middle-aged man eximed while stretching his arm forward. "I''m Robert Bizelli of the Bizelli family. I have to say. Your fame precedes you."


    "I hope the reality met the expectations," Khan kept it polite while shaking Robert''s hand.


    "How could they when you put a soldier outside his natural environment?" Robert wondered. "Still, I know Mark personally. He wouldn''t promote someone unworthy."


    "The Bizelli family builds many of the scanners used in the medical bays," Colonel Norrett exined while shaking another man''s hand. "Mister Bizelli here is a renowned surgeon who patched me up more than once."


    "He doesn''t call me Mister Bizelli in private," Robert revealed as a smirk formed. "You are so young, but you already performed priceless services to the Global Army. You have what it takes to reach the top. Keep working hard, and you''ll get there."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan honestly said.


    "I''ll be in the drinking area," Mister Bizelli voiced. "Look for me if you are interested in a path in the medical field. The doctors are never enough in these troubled times."


    Khan barely had the time to nod that Robert left the group to approach the table. A youthful blonde woman took his ce, and she lifted the edges of her long ck dress to perform a bow as soon as she arrived before Khan.


    "Captain Khan," The woman eximed through a clearly fake smile. "I''m Nadia Chaunac of the Chaunac family. I''ve already been authorized to book your first year after graduation from the Harbor. If you ept, you won''t worry about money or resources for the next two decades."


    "Hey, Nadia," A man from the back of the group shouted, "I thought we agreed on keeping the bribes forter."


    "Hector, ying dirty is only normal when the youngest captain in history is involved," Nadia Chaunac responded while peeking past her shoulder before bringing her eyes to Khan again. "The offer is negotiable. Look for me if you want to discuss it."


    Nadia left before Khan could utter any word, and someone else immediately took his ce. Another important name resounded in Khan''s ears, and a tempting offer didn''t hesitate to follow.


    The first attempt to bribe Khan pushed the others to match the initial offer. Khan rarely found the time to speak after the polite greetings since everyone tried to capture his interest by mentioning important names and wild promises. Someone was even ready to give him control of a small settlement, but he limited himself to nodding and smiling.


    Soon, Khan went through his entire group, but others made sure to follow. The people who had chosen Colonel Norrett and Headmistress Holwen as their first interlocutors moved to the other superior before heading for Khan, so his line never emptiedpletely.<sub> </sub>


    All the interactions were polite, but they grew colder as the group moved on. Thest in line didn''t have a considerable interest in Khan, but they still forced themselves to perform detached greetings. They also never forgot to say their names, and Khan struggled to remember them as time passed.


    Eventually, Khan met some troublemakers. As the line reached itsst group, a fat man who couldn''t be much older than Khan stepped toward him and crossed his arms before falling silent to inspect him from head to toe.


    The inspection added a bad scent to the synthetic mana that didn''t onlye from the man''s clear disregard for Khan. His actions and stance were even pretty explicit, and they seemed to aim to be disrespectful on purpose.


    "A captain at the age of neen," The man eventually spoke while his gaze kept going up and down. "I''m sorry, Colonel Norrett. I have to disagree with your decision. He is talented but too young to be a captain."


    "Mister Dunac, Captain Khan''s promotion is already official." Colonel Norrett stated. "We can only see how he performs from now on."


    "The families should have more control over promotions," Mister Dunac sighed. "Anyway, Captain Khan, I''ll keep an eye on you."


    "Sure," Khan replied, omitting the "sir" on purpose since Mister Dunac was only a first-level warrior. Thetter didn''t miss that faintck of respect, but he only hesitated for a second before leaving the line.


    The man that followed was so thin that his cheeks had caved in, but they were rosy due to the booze he drank before the meeting. His breath even reeked of alcohol, which added to his cheerful behavior.


    "The youngest captain in history!" The man happily eximed while shaking Khan''s wrist with both hands. "It''s an honor to meet you. I''m John Raulon from the Raulon family."


    "Pleasure to meet you," Khan couldn''t help but show a kinder side to that tipsy behavior. "I''m afraid I''m unaware of the Raulon family''s businesses."


    "We upy many fields," John revealed. "Mine involves the application of mana, and yes, I read your report on the Tors. Quite enlightening stuff."


    "Thank you, sir," Khanughed.


    "Don''t worry about the sir," John also chuckled. "Your insight into alien arts is spectacr. You should consider a position in the scientific department. I''m sure they''ll value you a lot there."


    The topic killed any happiness that friendly interaction had generated inside Khan. He knew he had to hold back, but his mouth moved before his smile could disappear.


    "Sir, don''t you know who my father is?" Khan asked. Colonel Norrett and Headmistress Holwen had left the entrance to entertain the other guests by then, but Khan''s question made them turn in his direction, and they weren''t the only ones.


    "Oh," John gasped when he realized what he had done. "I misspoke. I should let the others introduce themselves."


    Awkwardness fell on the scene and followed John until he reached the table. Some sneered when they saw him picking up more booze, and Khan couldn''t remain interested in him anymore.


    "Captain Khan, I''m Emilia Lamalot," An old woman with long white hairbed into a thick braid reced John Raulon. "Your achievements are as famous are your looks. You are a sight for these old eyes."


    Those words were ttering and polite, but Khan couldn''t show any friendliness due to the scent radiated by Emilia''s mana. Bitterness and a sense of superiority leaked out of the old woman and infested the synthetic energy, telling Khan how her intentions were far from gentle.


    "If I may," Emilia Lamalot continued after her polite bow. "I''d rethink your habit of ending up with aliens. You are at the right age to find a worthy woman, a human woman. You should quell your youthful curiosity and stop pursuing futureless endeavors."


    Someughs resounded among the people who had spread through the hall. It seemed that many were aware of Emilia''s character, and they had even looked forward to her meeting with Khan. Still, the suggestion sounded like a terrible insult to Khan, and his tongue promptly fought back.


    "Ma''am, with all due respect," Khan wore a fake smile. "Where I stick my dick is my own business."


    Sounds of coughing resounded. Part of the audience ended up choking on their drinks or food when they heard Khan''s reply. The others froze, Emilia included, and only a loudugh separated itself from that group.


    Headmistress Holwen red at theughing Colonel Norrett. Thetter had to clear his throat to calm himself down, but Emilia''s reaction triggered another chuckle.


    "I was only speaking in your best interest," Emilia scoffed as she turned to leave. "It seems that the Slums are still rooted inside you."


    Khan was too annoyed to heave a helpless sigh, and the youthful figure that followed didn''t give him the time to inspect the situation anyway. The woman had fair skin and long curly hair tied into a ponytail. Her brown eyes shone with curiosity, and she approached Khan while holding a device ready to note down words.


    "Captain Khan, I''m Katia from the Heavenly News," The woman announced. "If you don''t mind, I would like to ask you some questions."


    Khan didn''t read the news unless necessary, but his recent achievements had made him aware of many names in the field, including the Heavenly News. Colonel Norrett had also warned him about the presence of a reporter, so he immediately made the connection.


    "Didn''t you already make many articles about me during the day?" Khan questioned while ncing at Colonel Norrett. Thetter was also inspecting the situation, and his behavior told Khan that he had to be careful about what he said.


    "Having actual statements to corroborate articles always helps," Katia exined. "Don''t make me beg, Captain Khan. You faced aliens and monsters. I can''t be worse than them."


    Katia was wearing a revealing ck dress, and she didn''t hesitate to close her arms on her chest to enhance her curves. Her cleavage also went slightly down, making her attempt to sway Khan more than obvious.


    Intense jealousy surged behind Katia, and Khan could only pretend to ignore it. The reporter also leaned toward him during the wait, making it harder for him to reject her request or leave.


    "I can''t promise answers," Khan eventually replied, and Katia immediately straightened her position to bring her focus on the device in her hands.


    "So, how does it feel to be the youngest Captain in history?" Katia began with her questions.


    "I''m the same soldier I was yesterday," Khan honestly responded. "I need some time to notice the changes."


    "Why were you on Milia 222?" Katia continued.


    "That''s a private matter," Khan stated.


    "It really isn''t," Katia objected. "Mister Cobsend''s reports are open to the public."


    "It is for me," Khan stated without bothering to add more details. The articles from earlier had shown him how easily misinformation could spread, and he didn''t want to say anything Katia could use. Also, he wasn''tpletely lying about Luke''s mission.


    "Is it true that you faced the severed hand of a Nak on Milia 222?" Katia changed the question.


    "That''s ssified," Khan uttered.


    "That''s false," Katia dered. "The Global Army doesn''t have a monopoly over Milia 222, and the disaster there involved every species."


    "I don''t know what to say," Khan voiced.


    "Are you lying to me, Captain Khan?" Katia wondered. "Why do you feel the need to lie? Are you protecting someone?"


    "This is my first time receiving an interview," Khan revealed. "I''d rather remain silent than risk messing it up."


    "I see," Katia nodded while wearing an excited smile. "Let''s move to personal topics then. You should know how much you can reveal there."


    "It will depend on the question," Khan pointed out.


    "Is it true that you had an interspecies rtionship on Nitis?" Katia asked.


    "It''s true," Khan couldn''t lie about Liiza.


    "Why?" Katia wondered. "Did you use it to garner a political advantage over the Niqols?"


    "I''d appreciate it if you didn''t jump to disrespectful conclusions," Khan dered. "I loved her. That''s why I was in that rtionship."


    "Not love love, right?" Katia questioned as she browsed through her device to pull out reports. "ording to the soldiers stationed on Ecoruta with you, you entertained a short rtionship with an older woman before opting for something longer on Reebfell."


    "Ma''am," Khan called, but Katia didn''t give him the time to speak.


    "Milia 222 was no different," Katia continued. "You ended up with the famous Nele of all species. How do you exin that?"


    "I don''t understand the interest in my romantic life," Khan kept it cool even if wild emotions began to build up inside him.


    "Captain Khan," Katia eximed, "Your age and achievements make you one of the most sought men in the entire Global Army. You are top five among your generation, and it''s the job of the Heavenly News to provide as much help as possible to hopeful readers."


    "I''m not looking for a rtionship," Khan tried to cut it short.


    "Your record begs to differ," Katia stated. "So, what''s the truth? Did you love all your girlfriends, or were they simply bursts of passion?"


    "Ma''am, enough with the questions," Khan requested, but Katia didn''t stop.


    "Do human women have any hope after you had a taste of the Nele?" Katia pressed on.


    "I," Khan hesitated since he didn''t know if Jenna and the Nele as a whole would benefit from the truth. As for Katia, she saw his growing irritation as a sign that an interesting event was about to unfold.


    "Though it''s surprising," Katia dered in an attempt to make Khan reach the breaking point. "The Nele only love once. Did you leave with the promise of returning, or did you simply use-."


    "Shatter," Khan whispered, and Katia felt forced to interrupt her line since a crack opened on the screen in her hands. The fissure even expanded until the device crumbled into pieces.


    "Wha-?" Katia gasped, but Khan was faster at that time.


    "I suggest you choose your next words very carefully," Khan threatened as his whole being influenced the synthetic mana to apply pressure on Katia. "I''m young and inexperienced, but I won''t stand your insinuations."


    "What did you do?" Katia asked as fear built inside her. She was a second-level warrior, but Khan''s pressure was too much for her to handle after the surprising event.


    "What do you mean?" Khan tried to feign innocence, but his cold tone told the entire hall that he was pretending. "You shouldn''t bring damaged equipment around. You never know when it can shatter."


    Khan used the same word from before on purpose, and his decision paid off. Katia felt truly worried about her life under Khan''s chilling stare. His techniques were even unclear, which added fuel to her fear.


    "It has been a pleasure," Katia hurriedly muttered before turning to leave. She didn''t even head for the table. She directly reached for an exit on the other side of the hall.


    Colonel Norrett approached Khan after Katia''s departure, forcing Monica to wait for her turn a bit longer. He stepped on the broken device, disregarding the shards stabbing his shoes to stand before Khan. He showed his back to the hall in that position, which helped convey secret praises.


    "That was good," Colonel Norrett whispered. "Rude but good. Don''t let them step on you too easily, and have no mercy with the reporters."


    "Yes, sir," Khan imitated the whisper.


    "Now, stick to me," Colonel Norrett ordered. "We''ll have another conversation with all of them, but my presence will show my support. Even that old hag will have to be respectful."


    Something warm spread inside Khan. It felt nice to have a superior caring after him, and the Colonel also seemed a like-minded person. His mana didn''t lie either, which pushed Khan to trust him.


    "Still," Colonel Norrett smirked as he stepped aside, "I believe you must greet onest person. Miss Solodrey, I''m sorry for the interruption."


    "At ease, Colonel," Monica giggled while covering her mouth. "I''m lucky enough to be able to see Captain Khan whenever I want. I made an effort to let him socialize before iming him for myself."


    Colonel Norrett could only voice an awkwardugh while Khan held back from teasing Monica. The reporter had clearly pissed her, so she had already stepped up her jokes.


    However, before the Colonel could leave, the door behind Khan opened, and the entire hall felt shocked at the sight of the three neers. Khan also abruptly turned due to the threatening sensations one of them triggered in him.


    A woman who looked as old as Monica and two massive middle-aged men had entered the room. The trio wore elegant clothes, but Khan could sense that the two men were fourth-level warriors. Moreover, the one on his left seemed able to turn the synthetic mana dark with his sole presence.


    ''What is he?'' Khan eximed while inspecting the fourth-level warrior.


    The man was more muscles than body. His elegant suit suffered under his size, and no number of baths could fix his rough skin. A long scar ran through the right side of his head and created an area where the ck hair couldn''t grow. Still, the soldier kept it extremely short.


    "Blue hair," The woman between the two men casually voiced, forcing Khan to divert his attention.


    Another wave of surprise filled Khan at the sight of that astonishing beauty. The woman had long brown hair that resembled silk and bright green eyes. Her skin was smooth and fair, and her curves created perfect proportions.


    The woman''s beauty wasn''t as striking as Jenna''s or as elegant as Monica''s, but it carried a unique vibe that made her look perfect. Her very body radiated harmony, and the synthetic mana seemed to agree with that feature.


    "Princess Edna!" Headmistress Holwen eximed while hurrying toward the entrance, but the woman ignored her.


    "He must be Captain Khan," Princess Edna said before ncing at the huge man that had alerted Khan. "Jack, how is he?"


    The fourth-level warrior moved his gray eyes on Khan. His gaze carried no emotion, but Khan knew the weight of that void. He wasn''t in front of a man. The soldier before him was a perfect killing machine.


    "He knows death," Jack evaluated. "He might surpass me in five years."

 Chapter 441 Awkward

    Surprise spread through the synthetic mana and fused with the faint tension that had fallen into the hall. The entire meeting area froze, and even Headmistress Holwen halted her steps.


    Khan didn''t know where to look, but Jack''s eyes were great candidates. Still, his attention was on the entirety of the hall, and answers became clear in seconds as he listened to the symphony while adding what he had heard before.


    It didn''t take a genius to understand who Princess Edna was. Her title, the Headmistress'' prompt reaction, and the silence that had fallen on the hall said enough. Khan couldn''t even hear the usual whispers. The representatives and members of wealthy families didn''t dare to utter a word. Princess Edna had to belong to a noble family.


    Still, Khan''s understanding went past that obvious conclusion. Jack''s evaluation had made many eyes fall on him. Even the Headmistress and the Colonel had stopped focusing on Princess Edna, which didn''t make sense considering her status. Something was up. Jack had to be famous, and Khan found no surprise in that.


    "Preposterous," The man on Princess Edna''s left scoffed. "You gave ten years to fourth-level warriors. He''d be lucky to get there in five years."


    Jack ignored thement and lost interest in Khan. His gaze went to an empty spot in the room and remained there for no apparent reason. Khan even checked the area, but his search didn''t reveal anything.


    "Ron, you are smarter than Jack in almost everything," Princess Edna eximed while ncing at the man to her left, "But he is better than you in evaluating soldiers."


    Khan couldn''t help but inspect the second fourth-level warrior at that point. Ron was as tall as Jack and only slightly less muscr. Still, he wore his suit with far more grace, and his presence almost replicated the general atmosphere of the hall.


    Ron''s features were also gentler. He had long grey hair tied into a ponytail that fell on his left shoulder, and small sses covered his ck eyes. His skin was smooth and brown, and his face was slightly sharp near the chin and cheeks.


    "Princess!" Ron gasped as he adjusted his sses. "You shouldn''t reveal these details in public. Your enemies might find a way to exploit them."


    "That''s why you two are here," Princess Edna pointed out.


    "Being careful is a duty for you," Ron dered. "You represent-."


    "So, you are Captain Khan," Princess Edna stated,pletely ignoring Ron. "Jack praised you, so you must be as good as thework says."


    Khan still felt like a stranger in that situation, but the question made him snap out of his inspection. The Princess was talking to him, and he only knew one gesture that wouldn''t cause problems.


    "It''s an honor to meet you, Princess Edna," Khan uttered while performing a military salute.


    "I heard you fixed Rick''s wimpy attitude," Princess Edna continued as if she didn''t see the military salute.


    Hearing about Rick forced Khan out of his stern expression. Princess Edna had basically confirmed Khan''s initial guess by mentioning that name. After all, Rick came from a noble family.


    ''Is she from the Rassec family too?'' Khan wondered while his honesty took over. "Princess, do you know Rick? How is he?"


    "It''s Esteemed Princess Edna for yo-," Ron warned, but Princess Edna interrupted him again.


    "I only heard rumors," Princess Edna revealed. "We used to be ymates. It''s hard to believe he grew a spine."


    "Princess!" Ron called. "You shouldn''t speak about another-!"


    Ron interrupted his line when he realized that he was about to misspeak. Khan didn''t miss that, but Princess Edna kept talking as if Ron didn''t say anything.


    "The reports were true," Princess Edna switched topics. "You are quite a looker."


    "Thank you," Khan muttered. "You are quite charming yourself."


    Khan realized that he had said something wrong when gasps resounded in the hall. Many eyes also fell on him, and he couldn''t miss the surge of jealousy from behind. However, Princess Edna ignored thepliment to look at Ron.


    "I want to go shopping," Princess Edna revealed.


    "Princess, you should at least-," Ron began to say, but Princess Edna interrupted him again.


    "Call the car," Princess Edna requested.


    "No, Princess, you can''t-," Ron almost begged.


    "Jack, can you get me something to drink?" Princess Edna asked while turning toward the man on her right.


    "No," Jack stated. "I can''t leave your side."


    "I will take care of that!" Headmistress Holwen used that chance to join the awkward conversation.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Leticia, right?" Princess Edna asked while looking at the Headmistress. "If you would be so kind."


    "It would be my pleasure," Headmistress Holwen performed a bow as she hurried toward the table, and one of the representatives close to the booze didn''t hesitate to help with the task.


    Princess Edna didn''t bother to follow the Headmistress. She stopped looking at her after her request, and her gaze began wandering through the hall. She wasn''t searching for anything specific. That seemed her way of killing time.


    Khan found himself in an awkward position. He was the closest to the Princess, but Colonel Norrett''s silence told him that it was better to shut up. The general reaction to hispliment had also given him simr signals, but he didn''t take Monica into ount.


    "Miss Virrai," Monica stepped forward while performing one of her elegant bows. "It''s so nice to see you again."


    "Oh, Monica!" Princess Edna''s eyes lit up. "I almost didn''t see you. Though, I told you to call me Edna many times."


    The name Virrai resounded in Khan''s mind and confirmed his initial guess. Princess Edna dide from a noble family, and Monica sounded quite close to her.


    "That would be improper," Monica smiled.


    "Miss Solodrey''s manners are impable as always," Ron praised. "Princess, you should learn from her."


    "Where did you get that dress?" Princess Edna questioned, ignoring Ron once again. "I need it."


    "You can try it on if you wish," Monica giggled, "But I''m afraid you can''t have it."


    "Why don''t we go on a shopping spree together then?" Princess Edna requested as she stepped forward to take Monica''s hands. "Ron alwaysins when I get something sexy, and Jack isn''t much into fashion. I need a girlfriend''s opinion."


    "Decorum is a critical aspect of your status," Ron announced while stepping forward to reach Princess Edna''s left side. Jack moved even before him, forcing Khan to retreat.


    "You know I never refuse the chance to go shopping," Monica reassured. "I''ll be d to help you, but only if you do the same for me."


    "Of course!" Princess Edna beamed with joy. "Still, you are making me jealous. You have always been beautiful, but you are glowing now. Any dress will look better on you."


    "Thank you," Monica uttered, "But we both know who is the most beautiful woman in the Global Army. Half of the descendants fall for you with a single nce."


    "Don''t change the topic," Princess Edna pouted. "You did something. Tell me your secret."


    "I might be inclined to reveal something after securing a few cute dresses," Monica teased.


    "Let''s not waste time then," Princess Edna eagerly stated. "Let''s hit the shopping area right away. Ron?"


    "I''m afraid I can''t now, Miss Virrai," Monica refused before Ron could say anything. She even retracted her hands and took a step back to reach for Khan''s left elbow.


    Khan had kept track of the casual conversation without really paying attention to the words the two women exchanged. He was mostly d that Monica had saved him from that strange situation, but her actions brought new tension.


    "We are celebrating Captain Khan''s promotion tonight," Monica said while bringing another hand to Khan''s left elbow. "I want to be here for him."


    Khan''s eyes tried to widen in surprise and panic, but he retained a calm expression. Yet, the entire hall focused on him again, including Princess Edna and Ron.


    "Oh," Princess Edna voiced. "Do you prefer this boring event over going shopping with me?"


    "Princess!" Ron scolded.


    "I''m sorry, Miss Virrai," Monica remained set on her decision. "It''s not about you or the event."


    Princess Edna couldn''t help but focus on Khan at that point. Her beautiful green eyes went over his stern face before falling on the spot where Monica was holding him. Monica wasn''t doing anything too intimate, but her stance was clear.


    As for Khan, hecked the experience to know how to behave. He could only let Monica take the lead. Of course, he appreciated her decision to remain. He almost felt the need to hold her like a true lover, but he held back and hoped she would do the same.


    "Jack," Princess Edna eventually called. "Is he really stronger than me?"


    "Yes," Jack replied while his gaze remained on an empty spot in the hall. "You wouldn''t survive a single exchange."


    Khan frowned. He couldn''t understand why the Princess would try topare herself to him. The flow of her mana was extremely smooth, but she was only a second-level warrior.


    "Jack, don''t insult the Princess!" Ron scolded.


    "I guess you are not just stars and good looks," Princess Edna sighed. "Fine, I''ll stick around, but I want that date, and you need to tell me your secret."


    "Thank you for understanding, Miss Virrai," Monica performed a half-bow while squeezing Khan''s elbow.


    Khan understood the silent message and also lowered his head while voicing polite words. "I''m honored to have you here, Princess Edna."


    "Princess Edna," Headmistress Holwen approached the group now that the Princess had expressed her desire to stay. "Your drink."


    "Thank you, Leticia," Princess Edna stated but didn''t reach for the drink. Instead, Ron carefully took it from Headmistress Holwen''s hands and released an invisible spell to inspect it.


    Khan used that distraction to nce at Colonel Norrett, and thetter red at him while nodding a few times. His silent reply was clear. Khan had to go along with that development.


    Ron soon handed the drink to Princess Edna, and she promptly stepped forward to reach Monica. Thetter turned, forcing Khan to follow along since she didn''t leave his elbow, and Princess Edna''s guards could only adapt to the new situation.


    Jack took Princess Edna''s left side and followed her while his gaze remained lost in the hall. Instead, Ron felt forced to stand on Khan''s right due to ack of free spots, and his re rarely left him.


    ''What the fuck is even happening?'' Khan cursed as that awkward group approached the table with the various representatives.


    Khan was truly lost. Nothing in his life had prepared him for that development. Yet, he managed to exchange a nce with Monica, which revealed her hidden shy side. She was also doing her best, and he found new strength in the desire to be worthy of her efforts.


    The representatives around the table had long since gotten near the entrance. They had hoped for a chance to talk with Princess Edna, but the recent development forced them to wait for the awkward group to get to them.


    "Princess Edna," Robert Bizelli called since he was the closest to the awkward group. "Your presence here is a most-weed surprise. It''s an honor to meet you."


    Princess Edna nced at Ron, and he didn''t hesitate to exin. "Robert Bizelli of the Bizelli family. He is a renowned surgeon."


    "Oh, Bizelli," Princess Edna eximed while facing Robert. "I had a meeting with your matriarch two months ago. Your hospitality was impable."


    "I''m d you enjoyed it, Princess," Robert thanked. "Your funds won''t go to waste."


    "The Bizelli family never disappointed the Global Army," Princess Edna stated. "I''m sure this time won''t be any different."


    Robert performed a polite bow as the awkward group walked past him, but he lifted his head in time to exchange a nce with Khan. The man managed to nod in approval, and an honest smile even broadened on his face.


    Mister Dunac came afterward, and all the arrogance shown before vanished before Princess Edna. He even began to sweat as he muttered the best greetings he could think of. "Princess Edna, I''m humbled by your presence."


    "Mister Murray Dunac from the Dunac family," Ron exined when Princess Edna looked at him for answers.


    "Dunac," Princess Edna repeated. "You are the same age as Captain Khan. Jack, how is he?"


    Jack only took a look at Murray before voicing a single word. "Worthless."


    "What?!" Murray Dunac gasped. "How can you-?"


    Murray didn''t get the chance to finish his line since Princess Edna walked past him. The young man was mad, but he didn''t dare to say anything and even stepped aside when his presence threatened to hinder Jack''s way.


    Khan remained silent and let Monica lead him alongside the Princess. Needless to say, most representativespletely ignored him due to the presence of a descendant of a noble family. However, some looks fell on him, and very few of them shared Robert''s genuine happiness.


    Many representatives appeared interested in the rtionship between Khan and Monica. They never asked anything specific, but their faces and eyes revealed the truth.


    Instead, a few showed some envy toward Khan, which wasn''t exactly surprising. He was almost walking hand in hand with Monica, and Princess Edna had even silently epted his presence. Most representatives would kill to be in his position.


    Luckily for Khan, no one dared to insult or crack jokes aimed at putting him in a bad light. Princess Edna''s presence forced everyone to be respectful, but Khan knew that the event would have profound consequences, and he wouldn''t be able to study them until everything ended.


    Slowly but surely, Princess Edna exchanged a few lines with all the representatives in the hall. Those interactions had rarely given Khan a chance to speak, but that was for the best. Everyone would think highly of him after that night, and he didn''t have to utter any word to achieve that.


    "We are done, right?" Princess Edna asked once the round of greetings ended.


    "Princess, it would still be proper to remain-," Ron responded, but his lines never had the chance tost until their end.


    "So, we are done," Princess Edna announced. "Monica, let''s hit the shops now."


    "Miss Virrai, the dinner has barely begun," Monica pointed out. "Leaving already would be-."


    "If it''s because of Captain Khan," Princess Edna interrupted, "He shoulde with us."


    "What?" Monica gasped, and Ron echoed her question.


    "Princess," Ron continued. "A promotion is an important event deserving of celebrations. It would be disrespectful to everyone in this room to take away the main guest."


    "We should let Captain Khan decide," Princess Edna suggested, and the entire hall turned toward Khan.


    ''The universe must have something against me,'' Khan cursed. Princess Edna had put him in a pickle, but the matter had a positive side. No one would me him if he decided to leave. Spending a night with a noble family''s descendant would actually deepen his fame.


    "How could I refuse Princess Edna''s request?" Khan said as an honest smile made its way onto his face. He didn''t enjoy those formal meetings, so his true feelings came out.


    "Wait," Monica called before the situation could evolve. "It wouldn''t be fair for Captain Khan to leave because of me. I''lle on my own."<sub> </sub>


    Khan and Monica couldn''t help but exchange a meaningful nce. The two had inspected the matter from different perspectives and had reached opposite conclusions.


    Monica wanted Khan to establish connections with the wealthy representatives. Her previous actions had shown her support, and Princess Edna had even yed along. Yet, he didn''t get the chance to show his value, which went against the event''s purpose.


    Instead, Khan mainly considered his potential political shields. Spending a night with Princess Edna would create an aura of mystery that would prolong his untouchable state, giving him more time to amass value and power.


    Both paths were viable. There wasn''t any clear mistake in either of them. Khan and Monica had simply opted for the approach that matched their personality and knowledge.


    However, Khan had to admit that Monica was above him in the political field. He would dlyply if she thought that remaining in the dinner would benefit him the most.


    Monica only needed to look at the changes in Khan''s expression to understand that he had epted her approach. He even nodded to reassure her, so she let go of his elbow to prepare for her departure.


    Yet, Colonel Norrett approached the group before that decision could be final, and hisugh marked the beginning of his speech. "Please, don''t let us hold any of you back. Captain Khan, go ahead and apany the Princess. After all, keeping her happy is part of your duties."


    "Indeed," Headmistress Holwen promptly yed along. "Dutiese before pleasure. Besides, I''m sure no one here wouldin."


    A series of "of course!", "have fun", and "safe travels" resounded among the hall. All the representatives showed their gentlest and happiest faces while wishing the best to the group. They only wanted to avoid getting in the Princess'' way, but their actions solved the silent conflict between Khan and Monica.


    "It''s set," Princess Edna announced. "Ron, is the car ready?"


    "I still advise against it," Ron sighed.


    "We''ll be off then," Princess Edna eximed before turning without adding else.


    Monica and Khan couldn''t act like that. Monica made sure to perform an elegant bow to the crowd while Khan showed his military salute. He even took the chance to nce at Colonel Norrett during the gesture, and thetter''s nods couldn''t be more explicit. He was telling Khan not to waste that opportunity.


    Khan and Monica couldn''t linger too long in their goodbyes. They quickly turned to follow the Princess and her two guards. No doors remained closed on their path, and the group soon exited the embassy.


    "It''s here," Ron stated as a beautiful ship hovered toward the ceiling upied by the group.


    ''I thought that model had toe out next year,'' Khan gasped at the sight of the spaceship.


    The vehicle had a half-circr shape, with its curved surface made of ck ss-like material. Three engines whooshed on the opposite t side, and dark metal covered everything else.


    The ship wasn''t too long, and its insides also looked rtively narrow. Yet, it was tall, and Khan knew it was meant to be one of the fastest vehicles on the market.


    The vehicle showed its dark side while approaching the ceiling, and Princess Edna didn''t hesitate to walk toward it. A door soon opened on the ship, and a metal tform came out to create a path.


    Princess Edna, Jack, and Ron got on the metal path immediately, while Khan and Monica exchanged a hesitant nce before following along. The group soon reunited inside the ship, and Khan couldn''t help butmit its insides to memory.


    The ship''s insides were rtively small, but Khan didn''t feel cramped. Moreover, its height allowed the existence of three different floors connected by staircases dug into the metal walls.


    The control desk was on the central floor, but the seats there were empty. The ship was flying through an auto-pilot system. The Princess had basically brought only Jack and Ron with her.


    "To the shopping district," Princess Edna shouted, and the mechanical voice of a woman repeated the order to confirm it. A map of the Harbor appeared on the control desk, and the auto-pilot even drew the intended route before setting off.


    "Don''t forget about that secret," Princess Edna teased as she reached one of the seats on the central floor and took out her phone. "I will learn it, no matter of many clothes we have to buy."


    "You are forgetting the bags," Monica giggled, reaching for a spot next to Princess Edna. "I have yet to check the shops here, but I''ve seen some interesting items along the way."


    Monica and Princess Edna began to chat, leaving Khan, Jack, and Ron on their own. Jack seemed lost in his thoughts as always, while Ron remained wary. Khan couldn''t hope to get a conversation out of either of them, so he let his curiosity take over.


    ''We are going fast,'' Khan thought as he kept track of the ship''s movements on the map on the control desk, ''But I''m not feeling anything. I wonder how it would be at its top speed.''


    Khan''s attention quickly moved to the othermands. The steering wheel was pretty standard, and the same went for the other keys. Actually, that ship had fewer of them, which made it easier to pilot.


    The inspection filled Khan with random thoughts and fantasies, but all of that crumbled when a chilling sensation appeared and spread throughout the ship. He instantly turned, but a hand had alreadynded on his neck by then.


    Ron red coldly at Khan. His hand had taken the shape of a de while it remained on his neck. Khan felt the danger it radiated even without relying on his sensitivity. If he moved, his head would fall.


    "Why are you interested in the control desk?" Ron asked, making everyone aware of what was happening.


    "What is this?" Monica questioned while standing up.


    Princess Edna looked at Ron before focusing on Khan. He appeared strangely calm under that threat, but that didn''t change his situation. He had no chance to escape Ron.


    "Miss Virrai?" Monica called since Princess Edna was letting that stalemate continue.


    "Ron is never wrong about these things," Princess Edna eximed. "Captain Khan, why are you interested in the control desk?"


    "Permission to avoid hearing his lies," Ron requested.


    "Denied," Princess Edna replied. "Let him speak."


    The sudden development would leave anyone confused, but Khan was different. His thoughts worked faster than ever. He could understand that security had to be top-notch around the descendant of a noble family. Ron was probably a monster, so lying wasn''t an option.


    "I was wondering whether I could fly this ship," Khan admitted.


    "Lies," Ron snorted.


    "And?" Princess Edna wondered. "Can you?"


    "The control desk is pretty simple," Khan revealed, "Simpler than other ships. I can fly this ship."


    Ron''s re intensified, but he didn''t say anything. His mana stretched from his hand and tried to enter Khan''s neck, but nothing survived more than a few seconds. His scanning spell couldn''t ovee the chaos element.


    "I didn''t know you had a license," Princess Edna stated.


    "I don''t," Khan exined. "I just gained ess to the flying courses. They came with my promotion."


    "But you said you could fly this ship already," Princess Edna pointed out.


    "I learnt through unofficial methods," Khan revealed. "Someone helped me."


    "I want to see it," Princess Edna said while leaving her seat.


    "No, Princess-," Ron tried to warn.


    "He is telling the truth, isn''t he?" Princess Edna asked.


    "So it seems," Ron replied. "I can confirm it if you give me a moment."


    "You are not putting your mana inside me," Khan dered, entering a battle of res with Ron.


    "Ron, let him take the pilot''s seat," Princess Edna ordered. "Change of ns. Let''s go in orbit."


    "New destination confirmed," The female robotic voice of the ship responded, and a new route appeared on the control desk.


    Khan continued ring at Ron. He understood Ron''s wariness, but there was a limit to how much he would ept, and being the target of an unknown spell wasn''t it. As for Ron, he eventually retracted his hand, but his pressure remained on Khan.


    "Are you sure, Princess Edna?" Khan asked once Ron set him free. "I have minimal experience with actual vehicles."


    "There''s nothing to crash into in space," Princess Edna casually uttered. "Still, I must warn you. Ron will kill you if he feels that something is off."


    Khan nodded and showed a slight smile to Monica before heading to the pilot''s seat. Ron followed him to stand at his side once he took his ce, and both men waited for the ship to leave the Harbor.


    The long ss didn''t hide anything from its insides, and Monica and Princess Edna soon approached it to admire the scene. The ship flew through the passages among the districts before reaching one of the hangars and exiting the Harbor.


    The ckness of space soon filled the ss, and the ship continued to fly until the entirety of the moon became visible. From that spot, Khan could also see the orange that kept the Harbor inside its gravitational field. He knew the ce had some valuable resources, but his thoughts mostly radiated wonder.


    "Deactivate auto-pilot," Princess Edna ordered once the ship put enough distance from the Harbor.


    "Gic signature required to confirmmand," The ship requested, and Princess Edna didn''t hesitate to ce her hand on one of the screens.


    "The steering wheel is yours, Captain Khan," Princess Edna announced once hermand went through.


    Khan felt excited. Flying always put him in a good mood. He only wished that the situation was different, but he didn''t let Ron''s threatening attitude generate anxiety.


    The steering wheel soon fell in Khan''s grasp, and he confidently pressed a few keys on the control desk to takeplete control of the ship. He even pushed ahead, and an abrupt eleration unfolded.


    "Sorry!" Khan eximed as he hit the brakes to slow down the ship. "I knew this model was fast, but I didn''t expect it to be so sensitive."


    Khan kept the ship on a steady course toward a dark patch of space and avoided performing any turn. He didn''t know how much he could do in that situation, so he even held back from elerating.


    "Captain Khan," Princess Edna yawned. "I hope you can do more than flying in a straight line."


    ''You aren''t the one with two fourth-level warriors at your throat,'' Khan cursed while wild feelings scratched the back of his head. He wanted to push that ship to its limits but couldn''t be sudden about it.


    "Princess, Monica," Khan called. "Please, take your seats and fasten your belts."


    Princess Edna''s eyes lit up in excitement. She immediately reached for a seat and moved it right behind Khan. Monica did the same, while Ron took his ce next to Khan. Only Jack remained on his feet, but he had no interest in the matter. He only cared about being near Princess Edna.


    Once everyone had taken their ce, Khan pushed the steering wheel forward, causing a violent eleration that made everyone m on the back of their seats. Even Jack had to hold himself to a handhold to remain on his feet.


    ''Let''s see how it turns,'' Khan thought as he began ying with the ship to test its features.


    The ship turned out to be extremely nimble. It even surpassed Snow in terms of agility. It could go upside down and more in mere fractions of a second, and its speed only continued to increase.


    When the eleration reached levels that second-level warriors might find hard to withstand, Ron''s threatening aura returned, but Khan acted before he could speak. The ship slowed down to make the tripfortable for Monica and Princess Edna, and Ron didn''t hide his surprise.


    "What do you think?" Princess Edna asked during that deceleration.


    "It''s a beauty," Khan admitted. "I''ve never driven something like this."


    "Did you growfortable with itsmands?" Princess Edna questioned.


    "I think I did," Khan confirmed.


    "Show me what you can do then," Princess Edna ordered while stretching a hand past Khan''s seat to point at a cloud of asteroids in the distance. "Fly through that."


    "Princess!" Ron scolded.


    "Ron, learn to live a little," Princess Edna giggled.


    "That''s a C-ss danger zone!" Ron exined. "It takes a proper pilot to cross it."


    "This ship has incredible shields," Princess Edna pointed out. "Jack, do you think Captain Khan can fly through that cloud?"


    "There is no death on the path ahead," Jack stated.


    "See?" Princess Ednaughed. "What about you, Monica? Do you think Captain Khan can fly through it?"


    "I don''t have any doubt," Monica dered.


    "It''s decided," Princess Edna announced. "Captain Khan, cross that cloud."


    "Aye aye, ma''am," Khan agreed before Ron could say anything. He was actually curious about his flying skills, and those asteroids were bound to be an exciting challenge.


    Khan elerated as he pointed the ship toward the asteroids. Meanwhile, he pressed on the control desk to activate holograms that would help him in the crossing. A 3D map of the cloud materialized next to him, and his mana boiled under the imminent threat.


    ''Faster!'' Khan thought as he elerated again and dived directly into the cloud.


    The cloud was far from chaotic. The asteroids inside it followed a specific direction. Only their speed was different, and Khan could handle that.


    Khan''s eyes darted between the holograms and the scenery on the ss. He couldn''t sense the symphony of space, but his eyes saw it. That cloud had a faintyer of mana, and Khan''s sensitivity could use it to its benefit.


    ''Flow,'' Khan thought as his body rxed and his hands became one with the ship. The steering wheel became an extension of his arms, and he moved it ording to his sensitivity.


    The cloud was no different than a battlefield. Khan limited himself to following the stabler and fainter patches of mana. That approach allowed him to slip among the many asteroids without ever hitting any of them, and the ship''s nimbleness only helped in the process.


    The trip ended up being way too short. Khan barely realized when he arrived on the other side of the cloud, and it took Princess Edna''s excited cry to wake him up.


    "You are good!" Princess Ednaughed. "This is far better than those boring meetings."


    Ron felt the need to scold Princess Edna again, but the sight of her honest smile made him remain silent. It was rare for the Princess to enjoy herself, so he let that statement go.


    "Ron, how does my schedule look?" Princess Edna asked as she closed her eyes to enjoy the ship''s deceleration.


    "Packed as always, Princess," Ron revealed.


    "Cancel everything," Princess Edna ordered. "I''ve decided. I''m going to stay in the Harbor for a while."

 Chapter 442 Trouble

    "Princess," Ron sighed, "Can I say something first?"


    "No," Princess Edna eximed as she opened her eyes. "I''m having fun. I won''t give up on it so soon."


    "It wasn''t about that," Ron cleared his throat. "Your stay in the Harbor requires a purpose. I cane up with a list of jobs suitable for your status."


    "Monica, what are you doing in the Harbor?" Princess Edna asked.


    "Attending sses, Miss Virrai," Monica revealed.


    "What about Captain Khan?" Princess Edna wondered.


    "I just got ess to the advanced sses," Khan exined.


    "I''ll attend the sses too," Princess Edna dered.


    "Princess, the Harbor offers far better upations," Ron pointed out. "Besides, you are overqualified, even for the advanced sses."


    "I don''t want another boring task," Princess Ednained. "I want to be like everyone else and have fun."


    "I''m sorry, Princess," Ron uttered. "No ce can offer that."


    "Come on, Ron," Princess Edna pouted. "My parents will send me away soon enough. Give me some leeway to go shopping with Monica and Captain Khan."


    "Captain Khan?" Ron repeated while ring at Khan.


    "He doesn''t get too tense around me," Princess Edna exined. "Even you don''t scare him. He might be the first person I met who doesn''t have an agenda."


    Ron''s re inevitably intensified, but Khan could only shrug his shoulders under that inspection. He had barely spoken with the Princess. Ron couldn''t really me him.


    "I''ll contact your parents to warn them about your decision," Ron eventually sighed but still kept his wary gaze on Khan. It was clear that he didn''t like him.


    "Ship, activate auto-pilot," Princess Edna happily ordered. "Let''s go back to the Harbor."


    "New destination confirmed," The ship replied, and Khan lost control of the steering wheel. The vehicle turned on its own and chose a path around the cloud of asteroids to reach the Harbor.


    "Miss Virrai," Monica couldn''t help but call in the awkward silence that fell after the Princess'' decision. "Are you certain? We can go shopping without ruining your schedule."


    "Oh, Monica," Princess Edna giggled as she unfastened her belt to take Monica''s hand. "I''m putting myself in your hands, okay? You must show me around and bring me to all the fun events."


    Monica found herself in a difficult position. Ron had spoken the truth. Princess Edna''s status wasn''t something Lucian and the other wealthy descendants could ignore, but refusing her wasn''t an option either.


    "I''ll do my best, Miss Virrai," Monica could only smile as the entirety of her education crossed her mind to develop ns.


    "I''ll get you to drop that Miss Virrai," Princess Edna chuckled. "I know you also have duties, but I still want us to be proper friends. I feel that we arepatible."


    "Our taste in clothes is definitely simr, Miss Virrai," Monica giggled.


    "See?" Princess Edna announced while moving her seat closer to Monica and taking out her phone. "Let me show you something I bought recently. You''ll make me go through your wardrobe in exchange."


    Monica preferred that type of interaction, and the pictures on Princess Edna''s phone soon captured her attention. She began having fun as the two chatted about clothes and other items, leaving Khan in an awkward situation once again.


    Jack was still lost in his thoughts, while Ron didn''t drop his re for even a second. The two were so unapproachable that Khan considered joining Monica and Princess Edna. Yet, their conversation sounded like an aliennguage in his ears, so he remained silent and followed the ship''s route.


    Khan had been in control of the ship for less than an hour. Still, the auto-pilot didn''t go as fast, so it took longer for the Harbor to reappear on the ss. It wasn''t exactlyte, but midnight was approaching, so it was safe to assume that the dinner had ended.


    "Let''s go directly to Leticia!" Princess Edna announced once the ship entered one of the hangars.


    "Princess, it''s toote for these matters," Ron scolded. "I''ll n a meeting first time in the morning, but we should prepare an amodation now."


    "The night has flown quickly," Princess Edna eximed. "Yes, staying here definitely is the right decision."


    "You have also taken advantage of Miss Solodrey''s patience for too long," Ron continued. "It would be proper to give her a ride back home."


    "In which district do you two stay?" Princess Edna asked.


    "Seventh, but-," Khan began to say.


    "Drop us on the second," Monica continued. "We have amon friend waiting for us in his t."


    "I can''t wait to meet him tomorrow," Princess Edna stated. "Second district."


    "Second district," The ship repeated in its robotic voice.


    ''I need to warn George,'' Khan thought as a faint smirk appeared on his face. ''I can''t wait to see his face when he hears about all of this.''


    The smirk was short-lived since Ron''s re intensified and forced Khan out of his thoughts. The guard wouldn''t let any suspicious gesture go by, and Khan could only show a helpless expression at that constant inspection.


    The ship didn''t take long to reach the center of the Harbor, and it began to descend once it entered the second district. Monica even added directions during the flight, so the vehicle stopped right in front of George''s building.


    "I''ll see you two in ss," Princess Edna saluted while Khan and Monica walked through the metal passage to reach the sidewalk.


    "It was an honor, Princess Edna," Khan performed a military salute as soon as he jumped off the metal passage, and Monica also performed a bow. However, Princess Edna lost interest in the scene right away, and the ship set off before the two could finish their goodbyes.


    Khan and Monica watched the ship disappear before exchanging a careful nce. The sidewalk was empty. They were alone, but their minds were too messy to talk about what had happened in the open.


    The two didn''t need to say anything to decide their next move. They turned to head for George''s building, and their silence continued even when they entered the elevator.


    The arrival in George''s t didn''t change the situation. Khan and Monica heaved a tired sigh almost simultaneously, but their silence remained. Reaching the main hall also confirmed that George had yet to return, but the two didn''t find the strength to speak even then.


    Khan had too much to think about. He had to talk with Colonel Norrett and check the next articles about him to understand how the dinner had gone. Still, that was only one part of his problems. He now had to worry about Princess Edna and her overprotective guards too.


    Monica wasn''t any better. Princess Edna had put a troublesome duty on her. She had to find a way to entertain her in a world where everyone tensed up in her presence. She also had to be a friend without forgetting her family''s well-being, and her education might not be enough for that.


    Those were only personal problems. The situation grew grimmer when the couple considered their secret rtionship. Khan and Monica had just gained a friend they couldn''t hope to predict or stop. Their free time and privacy sounded on the verge of vanishing.


    Khan wanted to ask Monica''s opinion, but he acknowledged that she also had things to sort out. The same went for Monica. She didn''t want to waste that precious time immersed in her thoughts. Khan even needed her help, but she was pretty powerless.


    "The problems never end," Khan eventually broke the silence.


    "As if we had it easy before," Monica cursed.


    The couple heaved a sigh, but Monica spoke before the silence could fall again. "She is not stupid, Khan. She might not care about many things, but she sees everything."


    "I guessed as much," Khan admitted. "Her guards are also a problem. I''ve never met soldiers like them."


    "They are elites among elites," Monica exined. "Jack made a name for himself on many battlefields before being recruited by the Virrai family. As for Ron, I think he was brought up for that job, but I''m not certain."


    "I must be cursed or something," Khan mocked himself. "The universe doesn''t even hide it anymore."


    Khan and Monica would typically avoid getting into George''s t when he wasn''t there, but they both knew the strange night would cover for them. They didn''t even need to speak to reach that decision, and the area''s privacy slowly warmed them up for the inevitable conversation.


    "Did you really get flying courses for the promotion?" Monica questioned.<sub> </sub>


    "Yes," Khan revealed as he approached a couch to lean on its back. "It must be Raymond''s doing. Though I don''t know why he would help me so much."


    "Raymond?" Monica wondered.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Colonel Norrett told me someone pushed for my promotion," Khan exined. "I can''t think of anyone else with enough influence."


    "Oh," Monica voiced. She only knew a little about that topic, but Khan had given her a summary, so she reached the same conclusions.


    "He must want to protect you from other parties," Monica dered. "The flying license simply is additional value."


    "Must be," Khan sighed before lifting his gaze and changing the topic. "What about you? Can you survive the Princess'' whims?"


    "She isn''t too bad," Monica revealed. "Our families made us meet, but we found manymon grounds right away. We would be closer if she didn''te from a noble family."


    "Maybe her presence will be a good thing," Khan hoped.


    "You already lost a chance to talk with the representatives because of her," Monicained. "Tonight was your night, and she ruined it."


    "I''m sure those same representatives will contact me privately," Khan reassured. "Colonel Norrett must have had his reasons for pushing me away."


    "I still don''t agree with him," Monica stated. "The celebration was supposed to be your political milestone, not another gossip to add to your profile."


    "I''ve gotten used to those anyway," Khan shrugged his shoulders. "I got the flying courses and the advanced sses. It''s enough for now."


    Monica wanted to be happy for Khan, but she still didn''t like how things had gone. Moreover, a thought bugged her, forcing her past jealousy to show its presence again.


    "Are you sure you aren''t happy for another reason?" Monica pouted.


    "What is it?" Khan asked. He sensed Monica''s rising jealousy and annoyance, but he couldn''t connect the dots in the privacy of the t.


    "Princess Edna is considered the most beautiful woman in the Global Army," Monica revealed, "And she is wealthier than me. She is a better candidate for a secret girlfriend."


    "Monica," Khan chuckled.


    "No, no, I would understand," Monica scoffed. "It''s not like you are a stranger to two-timing. I guess you couldn''t help yourself after a month with a single woman."


    "I didn''t do anything," Khan uttered, but Monica still looked away.


    "Wait," Khan recalled. "You are talking about thatpliment, right?"


    "I don''t know what you are talking about," Monica snorted.


    "What is it?" Khan teased as he approached Monica''s back to take her into his arms. "Does the Princess threaten you?"


    "She has more influence," Monica whispered, "And her beauty-."


    "Since when was I with you because of money and beauty?" Khan interrupted as he ced his head on Monica''s shoulder. "Well, there is that matter about your butt."


    Khan was ready for a p or a shout, but nothing simr arrived. Monica just peeked past her shoulder to look into his eyes, and her worry became evident.


    "Princess Edna is indeed beautiful," Khan sighed while tightening the hug, "But I didn''t look at her in that way even once. I don''t work like that."


    "Should I remind you about Jenna?" Monica sneered.


    "That was before we reached this point," Khan exined. "I wouldn''t be able to give her much attention with you around now."


    "Really?" Monica asked.


    "Really," Khan confirmed. He was speaking the truth, and Monica could see it in his eyes. After all, she was feeling the same emotions.


    "You are such a scoundrel," Monica whispered as sheid her head on Khan''s. The two still had countless problems to sort out, so the silence returned, but they foundfort in being in each other''s arms.


    "You shouldn''t have said anything to that reporter," Monica eventually broke the silence. "Those people will say anything just to get a reaction from you."


    "I couldn''t lie about Liiza," Khan exined.


    "I know, but," Monica voiced.


    "I couldn''t," Khan interrupted. "I would have betrayed my feelings."


    "I see," Monica muttered as she began to y with her hair.


    Khan''s sensitivity revealed the changes inside Monica, but he would have understood them even without listening to the mana. Talking about an ex-girlfriend wasn''t ideal, especially when he added feelings to the topic.


    "Monica," Khan felt the need to exin himself, "My feelings are dangerous. You have seen how I acted with Lucian."


    "You stopped," Monica pointed out.


    Khan broke the embrace and pushed Monica toward the nearest wall. His hands went on the metal surface to block her way out. He wasn''t trying to scare her. He only wanted to make sure that she realized the gravity of the situation.


    "The first time someone found out about Liiza and me," Khan said as memories filled his thoughts, "My first instinct was to kill the witness, and she was a good friend."


    Khan wasn''t particrly proud of that event, but lying wouldn''t get him anywhere. He had really thought about killing Azni, and his emotional spectrum had only broadened since then.


    "Did you?" Monica asked without showing any fear. Khan''s actions had been sudden, but they didn''t scare or worry her. She trusted him too much for that.


    "No, but that''s not the point," Khan responded. "I''m not a good man. I have dark sides, and I don''t n on getting rid of them."


    "Why are you telling me this?" Monica questioned. "I know about all of that already."


    ''Why did I tell her that?'' Khan found himself thinking even if he knew the answer. It all went back to the conversation with George. Part of him was scared.


    The fear wasn''t rational. It didn''t evene from a single source. Khan was worried he would forget about Liiza if he allowed himself to love again. Also, he feared what could happen if he really fell for Monica.


    "Do you think I''d chicken out?" Monica asked as her hand reached for Khan''s cor to pull him closer. "I told you already, idiot. I''m yours. I''m ready to bring as much shame to myself as possible if I be a problem for you."


    "What if I be the problem?" Khan wondered. "What if I be too much to handle?"


    "Did you forget how I am?" Monica sneered. "I was ready to hit that slut reporter as soon as she tried to seduce you."


    Khan smirked. Seeing Monica experiencing the same intense emotions was genuinely reassuring. His broader emotional spectrum didn''t seem to be a problem with her wild mood.


    "Besides," Monica continued as her grip on Khan''s cor grew tighter. She even began to shake in hesitation, but she continued her line anyway. "It''s toote. I''m falling for you. Even I don''t know what I''ll start to do."


    Those words left Khan speechless. He wasn''t surprised about the statement. He had actually predicted that something like that was happening since he was experiencing the same emotions.


    However, the fact that Monica had decided to reveal her feelings so brazenly put shame on Khan. He was supposed to be the one with the broader emotional spectrum. He was supposed to be the one trained to love like Niqols. Instead, Monica had beaten him in that field.


    ''I guess thest step is the hardest,'' Khan mocked himself as thest barrier inside him crumbled. His love for Liiza would always remain a constant in his life, but his heart finally gained room for someone else.


    "You are in a world of trouble," Khan whispered, and his expression told Monica what was happening inside his mind. Needless to say, the two got very little sleep that night.

 Chapter 443 Early

    "Alright!" George shouted as soon as he left the elevator to step into his t. "Where are you two?"


    George''s voice could only reach the main hall, which was empty. Yet, the t had sent a notification for his arrival, and Khan soon left one of the bedrooms to greet him.


    "You damned scoundrel," George cursed when a shirtless and smiling Khan entered the main hall. "I leave you alone for one night, one single night, and you manage to get all dirty with a princess."


    "What dirty?" Khan groaned as he rubbed his eyes and approached one couch to lie on it. "I have been a perfect gentleman."


    "You don''t even know what that word means," George snorted while sitting on the opposite couch. "Come on. Give me all the details."


    "I seem to understand that new articles are out," Khan sighed as he searched for his phone. Still, his pockets turned out to be empty.


    "Many new articles," George revealed. "Even my father called me. Imagine getting drilled so early in the morning because you can''t stay put for a single night."


    "I''m innocent this time," Khan swore. "The Princess did everything by herself."


    "Somehow, I don''t believe you," George stated.


    "What about you instead?" Khan changed the topic. "Should I call a cleaning service before stepping back into my t?"


    "I merely fell asleep," George promised. "You might find bottles lying around, but nothing incriminating. I can''t say the same for you."


    George nced at a corner of the hall, forcing Khan to straighten his back to check the spot. Monica''s dress was lying on the floor, together with one of her shoes.


    "That''s where it was," Khan eximed. "How did it even end up there?"


    "You tell me," George responded before considering something. "Wait, is the Princess also here?"


    "Don''t even joke about it," Khan sighed. "One of her guards already wants to kill me as it is."


    "I read something about them," George exined. "They are special forces or something."


    "I can believe that," Khanmented. "I''ve never seen anything like that."


    "Strong?" George wondered.


    "Yes," Khan confirmed. "Definitely different frommon soldiers."


    "That''s not a job formon people," George dered. "Even my family would be happy if I secured a spot there."


    "I''d go crazy in a day," Khan muttered while crossing his arms behind his head and making himselffortable on the couch''s back.


    "So, how is she?" George questioned. "I heard Princess Edna is so beautiful she can make marriages crumble by blinking her eyes."


    "Is she?" Khan wondered. "She is by no means ugly, but I don''t see the need to be so dramatic about it."


    "Man, I''ve seen her pictures," George responded. "How can you even say that?"


    Khan looked at the ceiling while his thoughts wandered. Princess Edna was obviously beautiful, and that feature went beyond her physical appearance. Her mana created a charming aura that highlighted and enhanced her figure. She was stunning, but Khan couldn''t fall prey to her natural charm.


    "I must have grown used to beautiful women," Khan joked.


    "I really want to punch you," George cursed.


    "Count me in," Monica shouted as she stepped into the hall, "But not in the face. I kind of like it."


    Khan lowered his gaze to follow Monica. She had already worn her military uniform, and her bright smile fused with her sleepy expression to create a cute scene. She was also carrying the upper part of Khan''s clothes, and his phone was on top of them.


    "This thing doesn''t stop ringing," Monicained as she reached Khan''s couch and threw the upper part of his uniform on its back. She also handed him his phone, and the countless missed calls and messages became visible on the screen as soon as he touched it.


    "Oh," Monica voiced when she noticed her dress in the corner of the hall. "That''s where it was."


    Khan checked the messages while lifting his left arm. Monica sat right under it and snuggled closer when he began caressing her hair.


    George''s eyebrows arched in surprise. He had seen the couple during intimate interactions, but the scene carried something more than that. It was almost natural, and a happy smile made its way onto his face as he kept watching it.


    "Martha is so cute," Monicamented while checking Khan''s screen.


    "You know we have history, right?" Khan asked as he wrote a message to summarize what had happened.


    "But she is a friend," Monica muttered, "And she calmed me down when I wanted to kill you."


    "Luke is offering more money," Khan revealed when he moved to another message.


    "Did you even check how much he paid you for Milia 222?" Monica wondered.


    "I keep forgetting it," Khan said while moving his mouth on Monica''s hair, "And I''m always busy with something."


    "Bruce always follows," Monica giggled once Bruce''s name appeared on the device.


    "How close are their families even?" Khan questioned.


    "Pretty close," Monica groaned as she wrapped an arm around Khan''s bare torso and closed her eyes. "Their alliance goes back to their grandparents'' generation."


    "Even the others from Reebfell contacted me," Khan sighed.


    "Why are there so many women?" Monica pouted when she checked the messages.


    "I wonder why," George coughed.


    Monica red at George before focusing on Khan''s thumb since he added a short description for each name he pressed. "Ex-girlfriend, professor, professor, friend and professor."


    It was heartwarming to see how many people sent messages. Captain Goldmon and Lieutenant Abaze had merely conveyed polite salutes after hearing about the Princess, but Amber and Cora had taken the chance to check up on him.


    "Even more women," Monica gasped when Khan went past those messages.


    "You''ll get used to it," George coughed.


    Khan had also received messages from his students, Delia, and many other people he met during his missions. That pile of notifications represented how much Khan had traveled and achieved in those years. It was truly a lot when put together like that.


    "My new schedule also arrived," Khan announced. "I have general mana theories in the morning."


    "It''s really general," Monica exined. "I wonder where I should sit now that we are in the same ss."


    "You are sitting next to me," Khan stated without moving his eyes from the screen.


    "Okay," Monica whispered, and the cheerfulness in her voice was so evident that George shook his head.


    "Now, the bad part," Khan sighed as he moved to his profile.


    "They can''t be too bad," Monica reassured, but her voice disappeared when the overwhelming number of articles appeared in her vision.


    Khan only skimmed through the many articles. He read titles and pressed on a few but always went to the next when misinformation appeared. Needless to say, the majority involved his premature departure with Princess Edna, but the Heavenly News made sure to have a special piece about his interview.


    "How did she get her hands on these recordings?" Khan wondered when he saw the video attached to the Heavenly News'' article.


    The video saw Khan jumping on the heads of the crowd outside the training hall, and the article used it to prove his violent attitude. Katia was trying to depict him as a dangerous individual.


    "It''s hard to believe the Global Army puts so much faith in such a young and unstable soldier," Khan read out loud. "His record hints at a history of distrust toward humankind. His attachment to alien species is so deep that he resorts to violence whenever they are insulted."


    "You sure made an impression on her," George mocked.


    "She is not wrong," Khanughed when Katia''s signature appeared at the end of the article. "This might be the most urate article about me."


    "Who cares?" Monica snorted. "She is a slut. I''ll tell her a thing or two next time."


    "Do you think there will be a next time?" Khan asked.


    "Maybe not with her," Monica revealed. "I think you truly scared her. Still, more reporters are bound to reach out."


    "Does the same apply to you?" Khan wondered. "After all, we did end up with the Princess because of you."


    "I''ll let this joke slide because I''m in a good mood," Monica pouted while tightening the hug on Khan. "Anyway, my family usually takes care of those. You''ll see more of them because you are approachable."


    "Is this the time when you exin what happened yesterday?" George reminded.


    "Should we have breakfast in the meantime?" Khan suggested.


    "Yes," Monica let go of Khan and straightened her position while remaining under the warmth of his arm. "I''m starving."


    Khan and Monica exchanged a meaningful smirk after their statements, and George shook his head again. He even voiced a happyment due to how heartwarming the scene was. "You are lucky I didn''te with Anita today."


    "I''m not sure I would have cared today," Khan muttered, and Monica softly pped his chest before lifting her head to show her eager smile.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to kiss Monica, and she threw her legs onto hisp to sit morefortably. The two ended up in an even more intimate position, and Monica also closed her eyes to rest on his shoulder.


    "I''m still waiting," George coughed, and the couple exploded into augh before finally telling their story.


    The food arrived quickly, and the story continued even after the trio finished eating. Whenever George asked a question, new information always appeared, but Khan and Monica had nothing to hide. They updated their friend about everything, and shock inevitably followed.


    "Let me get this straight," George gasped. "You have a date with the Princess today?"


    "Supposedly," Khan confirmed.


    "She might forget," Monica hoped. "Something might alsoe up and keep her busy. I have yet to hear from her."


    "I expect the Colonel to contact me too," Khan added. "It''s odd that he has yet to ask aboutst night."


    "He is a busy man," Monica justified. "Still, he seemed to like you. He was nice to me too."


    "He does seem nice," Khan sighed, "But he''ll probably leave soon. He came just for my promotion anyway."


    "You''ll make new allies in no time," Monica reassured while pointing at Khan''s phone. "They saw you getting inside the Princess'' ship. That''s enough to make you a celebrity."


    "Imagine if they knew I piloted it," Khan wondered.


    "The entire embassy would try to get on your good side in that case," Monica revealed. "Maybe start with a handful of people first, and make sure that they have dicks. Otherwise, I will."


    "Exactly!" George shouted. "We don''t want more suitors for the Princess."


    "George, her guards will really kill you," Khan warned.


    "Let him go for it," Monica said. "George, take all the women in the Harbor since you are at it. Khan doesn''t need them."


    "You havee to the right man," George proudly imed.


    "When did you two team up?" Khan joked.


    "Don''t think about it," Monica pulled Khan from the arm wrapped around her head. "Let George handle the sluts and focus only on me."


    "I can have female friends!" Khan shouted.


    "Define friend," George coughed.


    "You''d be too busy with your incredible girlfriend anyway," Monica rubbed her face on Khan''s shoulder.


    "What a needy girl," Khan cursed, but his smile revealed far different emotions. He even let go of his phone to caress Monica''s cheek.


    "You sure got all lovely-dovely afterst night," George teased, fully expecting a shout from Monica.


    However, Monica diverted her gaze to show a shy look at Khan. Mentioning "love" reminded her of what she had said the previous night, and she was still getting used to that revtion.


    Instead, Khan only saw beauty in Monica''s genuine reaction. The honesty of her feelings made his emotions overflow, and his eyes instinctively checked the hour on his phone. He wished to have more time to spend with her, but the lessons were too close for that.


    "We have to prepare," Khan whispered as his caresses became more affectionate.


    Monica groaned, but she still grabbed Khan''s neck to pull herself toward him. The two exchanged a short kiss and a long look, but they eventually separated. Monica even left the couch to pick up the dress on the floor.


    Khan followed Monica with his eyes before looking at George once she left the main hall. George was wearing a smirk that described his thoughts, but his face mostly expressed happiness, and Khan felt the need to nod at that sight.


    Only a few seconds had to pass for both couches to be empty. George and Khan stood up, and thetter retrieved the upper part of his clothes to dress up.


    George didn''t have sses right away, but his phone was giving him hell, so he retreated inside a bedroom to handle the various calls. Instead, Monica and Khan left the building, and a car was already waiting for them when they reached the sidewalk.


    Luckily for Khan and Monica, the second district was too private to allow the presence of curious crowds. Hearing about the Princess had also added the expected halo of mystery around Khan, so no one dared to bother him. The couple could get in the car without meeting anyone, and a short trip eventually brought them to the embassy.


    The atmosphere changed as soon as Khan and Monica jumped off the car. The soldiers who weed them tried their best to remain detached and professional, but their tension was evident. The same went for the insides of the embassy. Many guards and workers left their offices to catch a glimpse of the couple once they heard about their arrival.


    Of course, none of those professional figures hindered the couple''s path. The embassy''s lower floorscked people with the guts or relevance to attempt building a rtionship with someone connected to Princess Edna. Still, that changed once the elevator brought Khan and Monica into the training camp area.


    The different schedules and sses allowed the training camp area to remain devoid of crowds. The various halls still contained enough people to fill the corridors, but that rarely happened due to the presence of the lessons.


    Yet, some groups roamed those areas, and many were even aware of the schedule for the advanced sses. Khan and Monica found many people simply standing in the corridors, seemingly waiting for their arrival, and he got far more attention than her.


    "This isn''t as bad as I expected," Khanmented as he walked among the stares and murmurs.


    Students, professors, and workers stopped whenever Khan and Monica appeared in their vision, but he sounded the main topic of the many gossips. That wasn''t surprising after everything that had happened, but Khan found some reassurance in the fact that no one was approaching him.


    "We are still inside the embassy," Monica whispered. "Only idiots would create a mess here."


    "I must have looked pretty cool while threatening Professor Odse," Khan voiced.


    "I wish I could have seen it," Monica joked.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I wouldn''t mind causing another mess to keep my woman happy," Khan teased.


    "Shut up, idiot," Monica cursed, but augh escaped her mouth anyway.


    The walk toward the appointed hall was uneventful until a familiar figure appeared in the corridor. The excited look on her face even told the couple what was about toe.


    "Monica, you sly girl," Anita eximed when she reached the couple. "Your mother taught you well."


    "I simply got caught in a strange development," Monica yed it humble. "The Princess was kind enough to offer us a ride in her ship, and the rumors did the rest."


    "Quite a lucky development then," Anita announced before turning toward Khan and performing an elegant bow. "Captain, congrattions on your promotion."


    "Thank you, Anita," Khan nodded. "Are we in the same ss?"


    "Indeed," Anita confirmed. "Though I think I just lost my seat."


    Monica was ready to throw a joke, but Khan spoke before her. "Do you mind if I steal Monica for a few lessons?"


    "Bold," Anita giggled. "I like that in a man."


    "Just for a few lessons," Khan repeated. "I need her help to keep up with some subjects."


    "You don''t even need to ask," Anita reassured. "Besides, my girl seems to have already made her decision."


    Monica was usually perfect during social interactions, but Khan''s straightforward request had made her divert her gaze. She felt shy and warm at the same time since her emotions had yet to cool down.


    "I couldn''t refuse him," Monica eventually managed toe up with an answer. "I''m sure you understand."


    "Of course," Anita stated as a teasing smirk appeared on her face, "But don''t think for a second that I believe you two. I know you are up to something. It grows clearer every day."


    "The Princess is also part of the reason," Khan dered while lowering her voice. "I will tell you, but it has to remain among us."


    "Update me already," Anita gasped while jumping next to Monica. "I want to know everything."


    "I have to go shopping with the Princess," Monica revealed, "And I somehow involved Khan."


    "You are so weak against him," Anita teased. "How cute."


    "She was only trying to help," Khan exined. "The dinner simply took a strange turn."


    "It sounds for the best," Anitamented. "Very few can meet a proper noble, let alone go shopping with her."


    "We don''t know if the Princess will have time," Monica warned. "Avoid spreading rumors."


    "I would love to," Anita chuckled, "But I guess a princess is too much. Well, I can''t wait to see your faces on the news."


    A few more jokes flew while the trio walked toward the appointed hall, but nothing serious happened. Anita was an expert at superficial talks, and Monica soon regained her A-game. Khan could sense that her emotions were still too warm, but he didn''tin since Anita never probed into the couple''s businesses.


    The arrival in front of the appointed hall revealed more familiar figures. Even Khan recognized many of the students waiting for the lesson to start. Lucian was there, and the same went for the wealthy descendants he met over multiple parties.


    "Captain Khan!" Lucian eximed as soon as the trio joined his group. "Congrattions on your promotion and enviable experience."


    A series of "congrattions!" followed. The entire group expressed their best wishes to Khan, and he couldn''t help but notice how many of them had grown politer. The women even tried their best to attract his attention through cute smiles or ying with their hair.


    Needless to say, Monica didn''t like that situation, but she was no stranger to it. She also received a lot of attention, mainly in the form of questions about the previous night. The Princess was no small matter, and those wealthy descendants would stop at nothing to get a piece of it.


    "Captain Khan," One of the men in the group said, "My parents expressed their desire to have you at dinner. It won''t be anything formal, but they will probably try to hire you."


    "Hey, we said no job offers," Lucianughed. "Captain Khan is here to study and get even better than he is."


    "Come on, Lucian," One of the women called. "Captain Khan will be untouchable after graduating from the Harbor. Mere job offers wouldn''t work for him anymore. We''d have to go straight for marriage proposals."


    The woman didn''t forget to blink at Khan once her line ended, and Anita immediately teased her. "Zoe, you shameless girl. Let Khan get used to his new status first."


    "But it will be harder to get him at that point," Zoeined. "Anyway, Captain Khan, I know a nice ce in the shopping district, and they always keep a table for me. Just give me a call if you don''t know what to do one of these nights."


    Zoe''s shameless behavior made the entire groupugh, and even Anita didn''t hold back from ying along. Everyone was mostly joking. Even Zoe wasn''tpletely serious. Still, that interaction revealed something vital to Khan. He could see how the wealthy descendants hadpletely epted him.


    Of course, that understanding came at a price. Khan could keep a fake smile, but Monica had long since reached the critical point. Her state was no surprise, and it had also be amon sight after the various parties. A few descendants were even waiting for her to snap, but Khan decided to take the initiative that day.


    "I''m grateful for the kind words and offers," Khan thanked, "But I''m nning to be a simple student for now. Also, I''m behind in many subjects, so I took the liberty of booking Monica for most nights. She will help me study."


    "Hey, I can help with those too," Zoe didn''t hesitate to intervene. "Monica, don''t keep Captain Khan all for yourself. Share him a bit with us."


    "I guess I''ve grown quite possessive," Monica managed to join the pretenses since Khan''s statement had melted her irritation. "Besides, my family granted Khan ess to the Harbor, so I have every right to keep him for myself."


    "Miss Solodrey," One of the men called, "Any family would support Captain Khan at this point. His achievements are undeniable, and we can all see that third star on his shoulder."


    "Well," Monica voiced while showing an eager face to Khan. "It''s true. He can decide to ept another offer. He has the status to do it now."


    ''Needy girl,'' Khan cursed in his mind. He knew exactly what Monica was doing. She wanted him to give another earnest statement.


    "First of all," Khanughed, "Let''s drop this captain thing. There is no need to be so formal around me."


    "But it''s sexy," Zoeined, triggering another generalugh. Even Monica found the need to nod at that statement.


    "I don''t need a title to be sexy," Khan winked at the group, and the generalugh continued. Still, when Monica saw some of the women agreeing or biting their lower lips, her elbow rose on its own to hit Khan''s side.


    The gesture surprised the group, and even Monica widened her eyes. She covered her mouth when she realized what she had done. Lucian and the others had no idea she and Khan were so close. They didn''t know about her moody personality either, but her reaction partially exposed her.


    "As you can see," Khanughed it off, "Monica is also the only one willing to do what she must to keep me in check. You know, I''m not a good investment if I get kicked out."


    Khan''s statement turned the tables, and Monica understood that she had to y along when many gazes fell on her. She showed an ashamed expression and even straightened her sleeve while shaking her head in disappointment.


    The group began to believe that Monica had been forced to act in such a rude way, and they couldn''t me her. Khan had started a fight on his first day inside the embassy, and a princess was involved now. Drastic measures were necessary.


    However, someone still saw through that deceit. Monica''s surprised reaction had been too authentic to be replicated easily. Still, when those few tried to find more ws in Monica''s expressions and pretenses, they found Khan''s re waiting for them.


    "Okay, let''s stop joking around," Lucian eventually announced. "There is my party on the weekend for that. Now, we should get in."


    Lucian''s words didn''t prevent the arrival of a couple of jokes, but the group entered the hall after them. The area turned out to be as big as where Professor Odse had held his lesson, but fewer students attended that ss, so Khan and Monica quickly settled in a rtively isted spot.


    Khan and Monica were by no means alone. They had chosen a front-row seat near the wall, but Lucian and Anita stood only a few desks away. Others had also sat behind them, which limited what they could do without getting spotted.


    "Thank you for covering me out there," Monica didn''t hesitate to whisper as soon as the two sat down.


    "It''s my job to look after my woman," Khan teased. "Though I didn''t expect you to lose your cool. I should joke more often if you keep reacting like this."


    "You can''t get enough of teasing me, can you?" Monica pouted.


    "You should stop looking so cute if you want me to stop," Khan stated.


    "That won''t happen," Monica imed. "I happen to be very cute."


    Khan smirked as his attention fell on the interactive desk. A few menus were active, but mostbels remained dark since the lesson had yet to start.


    "Besides," Monica continued, "I can''t get ugly now. I still have to give you a gift for your promotion."


    "Should I look forward to it?" Khan wondered.


    "Of course, idiot!" Monica cursed while doing her best to keep her voice down. "The wait must drive you mad, mad for me."


    "Maybe I already am," Khan whispered, and the two exchanged a meaningful nce.


    Randomughs echoed in the vast hall and made the couple aware of their public situation. Still, Khan ced a hand under the desk, and Monica understood the silent message. She imitated him, and they intertwined their fingers to express their rtionship in that private spot.


    "This is nice," Monica voiced in her timid tone.


    "It can get better," Khan teased as he reached for Monica''s leg. He was still holding her hand, but she didn''t put much resistance, so he could lift it until her foot ended on his knee.


    "Scoundrel," Monicained but still adjusted her position to make that new stance morefortable. Her leg remained on Khan''s knee, and he caressed it from time to time.


    The spot obviously had limitations, but the couple could hide that much, and warm smiles soon appeared on those interactive desks. Monica and Khan couldn''t be together in the open, but they had found another way to express their feelings during their daily life.


    That intimate moment didn''tst long since a slim man stormed inside the hall and captured everyone''s attention. Thetter had short dark hair and a slightly long beard of the same color. His eyes were also ck, and his seat confirmed his identity.


    "Hello, everyone," The man announced as he remained on his feet behind the Professor''s desk. "I''m Professor Boatbell, and I hold the course of general mana theories."


    A few polite salutes fell from the audience, but the Professor waved his hand to disregard them before continuing his speech. "I want to make a few things clear before we start, so listen to me because I will say them only once.


    "For starters, I know I will repeat topics you have already studied. It doesn''t matter if you heard them in the basic sses or at home. I will still mention them to make sure your foundation is solid."


    Professor Boatbell activated the menus on his desk at that point, and a short inspection of the images made him turn in Khan''s direction.


    "Captain Khan, am I right?" Professor Boatbell announced. "Congrattions on your promotion. It''s a pity to start on the wrong foot, but a warning sounds mandatory."


    "Sir?" Khan asked.


    "I''d like my ss to remain orderly," Professor Boatbell stated. "The moment you start a fight or disrupt my lesson, you are out."


    "I understand, sir," Khan nodded. He sensed no hatred in the Professor''s mana, and that thought reassured him.


    "Good," Professor Boatbell eximed. "On my end, I''ll do my best to remain fair to everyone. My duty is to prepare you for the strangeness of the universe. I won''t teach you anything specific, but what you learn here might help you not feel too lost."


    Professor Boatbell fell silent and ran his eyes over his students to make sure that everyone understood what he had just said. Monica and Khan were still in their odd position, but their gazes were glued on the Professor, so they didn''t raise any suspicion.


    "Very well," Professor Boatbell eventually dered. "Let''s start with something very simple: Humankind. I guess you know what that is."


    A fewughs resounded, and the Professor smiled, but he soon resumed exining. "Humankind is exceptionally new to mana. If we take away the centuries spent reverse engineering and experimenting, we are left with little more than two hundred years of actual independent development."


    Professor Boatbell stopped speaking for a second before voicing a question. "Who can tell me the reason for that?"


    Many hands went up. Even Monica raised her arm, but Khan remained still. He wasn''t sure about the question, and Professor Boatbell nodded at one of the students before he could review it properly.


    "Because we are behind in evolutionary terms," The student responded.


    "Partially correct," Professor Boatbell uttered. "We are indeed behind. It would be better to say that we are one full step too early. How did we get here then?"


    Khan lifted his arm before the other students could even understand that the Professor had voiced another question, and thetter promptly nodded at him.


    "The Nak," Khan replied.


    "The First Impact gave us ess to mana before our species was ready to wield it," Professor Boatbell dered. "We are different from species who have already lived with mana for thousands of years. Many of them have even adapted to that incredible energy. They are born with it."


    "So," Professor Boatbell continued. "Why are we so strong? So influential? So advanced?"


    Lucian and Monica were the first to raise their hands, and Monica got permission to reply. "We copy from other species, sir."


    "Humankind doesn''t have iconic arts," Professor Boatbell stated. "We simplified what we copied from others. It was very hit and miss at first, but things improved once we gained ess to alien knowledge."


    Professor Boatbell had begun walking up and down, but he stopped to m his hands on the interactive desk. His face grew stern and conveyed as much seriousness as possible.


    "It will take humankind thousands of years to obtain something remotely close to an art developed only for humans," Professor Boatbell announced. "We must also wait for our species to evolve to a more suitable form. Still, in the meantime, we must continue umting knowledge and tranting it into ournguage."


    The hall''s silence seemed to please Professor Boatbell since a faint smile appeared on his face, but his voice remained stern. "This is your universal job, your greatest duty. No matter what kind of position you''ll obtain, you must continue working for the greater good of humanity, and I''ll give you the foundation you need to do it.


    "In this ss, I''ll teach you our general knowledge of mana and how we simplify it so that one day you might turn it into something that only humans can use."

 Chapter 444 Mutations

    Professor Boatbell''s friendly behavior and passion for the subject helped retain interest throughout the lesson. His many questions also kept the ss engaged and allowed most students to show their knowledge.


    The initial topics were rather dull. Professor Boatbell''s exnations started from the First Impact and barely covered half a century by the time the ss was over. He had to establish a good foundation before moving to specific matters, and Khan felt he did an excellent job at it.


    The Professor didn''t talk about the invasion. His subject focused on how humanity adapted to mana, so the war wasn''t important. Instead, he went over the first attempts at employing and wielding that energy to give insights into what had worked and failed.


    The main goal of the subject had been clear since the Professor''s initial speech, and his following exnations further highlighted it. Understanding where humankind had failed would grant the students the right mindset when meeting alien arts. They would find it easier to trante them into human terms and add them to the Global Army''s knowledge.


    Khan had to admit that his teaching methods paledpared to Professor Boatbell''s smooth and witty speeches. The man was incredibly good at his job, which suited the privileged environment of the advanced sses.


    The Professor''s pleasant eloquence wasn''t the only feature Khan noticed. The exnations were highly detailed, especially when describing the risks and benefits of each approach. Khan was getting the education he had missed in the past years, and the catching-up process looked far from easy.


    It turned out that the tenpanies didn''t immediately get their hands on mana. The invasion had destroyed mostmunications, so the surviving groups of humans had to take the first steps into that superior field on their own.


    Needless to say, the records of that period were scarce and grim. The countless mutations triggered by the Nak''s mana had initially pushed the survivors to test that energy on themselves. However, that approach led to disastrous consequences due to theck of suitable technology and knowledge.


    The first true breakthrough happened when someone mixed mana with technology. Weapons that could harness that energy appeared and gave humankind a chance to reim Earth.


    The second breakthrough arrived once the noble families stepped in. They restored some form ofmunication and established cooperation among the survivors. They also added their resources, which quickened the development of weapons and machinery based on mana.


    The development took two separate paths at that point. The first and most reliable involved technology, and the debris left behind by the invasion helped a lot there.


    As for the second, the families used the various mutated creatures that had survived the invasion as guinea pigs to learn how mana worked. Many humans had also fallen prey to the Nak''s infections, and experimenting on them eventually set the basics for the mana cores.


    The ss ended on those topics, leaving the still-divided humans doing their best to rethink their way of life. Professor Boatbell had to go at that point, but not before sending everyone a longer and more detailed version of his lesson.


    Khan scrolled the text on the interactive desk while his phone downloaded it. He had read longer books, but those numerous pages involved a single lesson, and that was only one subject. His training schedule grew tighter just by imagining what was waiting for him.


    "That was truly general," Khanmented once the students remained alone in the hall.


    "I told you," Monica stated as she detached her phone from the interactive desk. "Most of it ismon knowledge anyway."


    "Is it?" Khan wondered, showing his helpless face.


    "It was part of my education," Monica giggled while pulling with the leg still lying on Khan''s knee.


    "It would be a pity not to put it into use," Khan joked. "What do you say about studying together tonight?"


    "A single night won''t put you on par with every ss," Monica teased. "You''d need months of private lessons."


    "Luckily, I know a ce where we can be alone as long as we want," Khan yed along while leaning on the interactive table to hide his hand caressing Monica''s leg.


    "How resourceful of you, Captain Khan," Monica eximed as she also ced an elbow on the interactive table and supported her head with her hand. "I hope you don''t have anything strange in mind."


    "Miss Solodrey, I have the purest intentions," Khan promised.


    "Somehow, I find that hard to believe," Monica snickered. "It must be the way you held my leg throughout the lesson."


    "Your leg?" Khan feigned innocence before ncing at hisp and gasping. "How did that even end up there?"


    "Didn''t you notice it?" Monica wondered. "Is my leg so meaningless that you actually missed it?"


    "Study with me tonight, and I''ll show you how much I appreciate it," Khan suggested.


    "I thought your intentions were pure," Monica whispered.


    "Purely bad," Khan smirked.


    "Such a scoundrel," Monica scoffed. "Though, it would be unbefitting of me to leave a ssmate in a dire situation. Captain Khan, you got your date."


    "Dates," Khan corrected. "I remember you saying that I needed months to catch up."


    Monica covered her mouth, but her fingers remained open enough to show her widening smile. Khan wanted to lose himself in that charming expression, but an annoying feeling reached his senses and forced him to put down Monica''s leg.


    Monica frowned, but her eyes soon widened in understanding. She even straightened her position when Lucian and other students walked toward her desk to approach the exit.


    "How was your first lesson in the advanced sses?" Lucian asked when he noticed Khan standing up.


    "Tougher than I expected," Khan admitted, "But I should manage as long as I lose some sleep over it."


    "I hope you don''t mind if we skip some parties in the next period," Monica announced while also standing up. "It is my responsibility to help Khan with these sses."


    "Of course," Lucian nodded. "I''ll also slow down with those soon. Hopefully, I''ll rece them with study groups."


    "I''m down if there are drinks," Zoe eximed, and the students around herughed. Even Khan and Monica joined that cheerful reaction as they approached the group.


    "The study groups neverck those," Anita giggled, and more jokes followed as the students left the hall.


    Those small talks rekindled the sense of eptance that Khan had felt before. He had be part of that elitist group, and no one dared to question his presence. Everything remained superficial, but that could already limit the pretenses on his side.


    Nevertheless, exiting the hall showed Khan that the wealthy side of the embassy wouldn''t forget his new fame so soon. As soon as he entered the corridor, he found Professor Boatbell waiting on the other side, and the man didn''t hesitate to call him. "Captain Khan, a word?"


    The many gazes that fell on Khan received a general nod. Khan only added a look at Monica before leaving the group to approach the Professor, and Lucian promptly led everyone further away to give the two some privacy.


    "Sir?" Khan voiced when he reached the Professor.


    "How was your first advanced lesson?" Professor Boatbell asked in his friendly tone. "I hope I didn''t go too fast."


    "I''ll get up to speed soon enough," Khan reassured. "I''m already nning study groups to double down on my efforts."


    "That''s good to hear," Professor Boatbell announced. "Also, I hope you didn''t mind my initial warning. I know what happened with Professor Odse. Mine was only a formality."


    "It would have been stranger if you didn''t mention anything, sir," Khan admitted. "I''m simply d my background isn''t a problem in your ss."


    "Of course, of course," Professor Boatbellughed. "You are all equal in my eyes, at least when I''m doing my job."


    "Sir?" Khan wondered since he felt that thest part of the Professor''s line hid a deeper meaning.


    "I know it might sound awkward after what I''ve said," Professor Boatbell stated. "I''m also in an odd spot, but duties are duties. My family pressed me to invite you to dinner, and they won''t stop asking until you ept. Can you do me this favor?"


    "Dinner?" Khan repeated.


    "I won''t be there as your professor," Professor Boatbell exined. "I''d just act an acquaintance meant to introduce you to some representatives of the Boatbell family."


    Khan didn''t know what to say. On one side, the invitation further proved his importance. However, going to the dinner would force him to ept any future offer, and he had already gotten some.


    "Don''t look so troubled," Professor Boatbell chuckled. "I know you must be busy, especially in this period. Just keep my offer in mind. It would mean a lot to me if you agreed."


    "I''ll keep you updated if you don''t mind," Khan answered honestly. "I have many things to sort out, and I''ve barely begun addressing the first ones. I even need to study."


    "Don''t even mention it," Professor Boatbell reassured. "Studying must be your priority. However, I hope you''ll take my advice. You''ll rarely find another environment so full of meaningful connections. Don''t miss this opportunity."


    Professor Boatbell was a second-level warrior, so Khan could sense the emotions carried by his mana. His advice had nothing to do with the dinner pushed by his family. It was a pure act of kindness.


    "I won''t, sir," Khan promised. "I''ll get my schedule in order and make time."


    "Good," Professor Boatbell praised. "Now, go eat something. The day is still long."


    Khan revealed a smile and returned to the group. Lucian, Monica, and the others were waiting down the corridor, and they understood what had happened without needing any exnation.


    "The Boatbell family isn''t among the wealthiest," Monica exined as soon as Khan reached her, "But it has produced a few talents in thest years."


    "The Professor is one of them," Lucian added. "He might not look like it, but he gained quite the reputation for his studies of the years after the First Impact."


    "I seem to recall reading some of his pieces," Anita joined the conversation. "They were very detailed."


    Morepliments resounded among the group. Everyone seemed to know Professor Boatbell and his achievements. Khan was the only exception, but no one med him for his ignorance.


    "Monica," Lucian eventually called, "Did your family provide him with a PR manager?"


    "I have the greatest respect for Khan," Monica announced, "But even I couldn''t predict his sudden promotion."


    "Then," Lucian continued while ncing at Khan, "I could handle that for you. I have good connections in the field."


    The offer sounded selfless, but Khan had seen Lucian''s true face, and he didn''t want any debt with him. He was even about to refuse, but Monica intervened before he could say anything. "He has me for that. I obviously won''t leave him on his own."


    "Are you sure you aren''t overworking yourself?" Lucian wondered. "A PR manager would also suit his new rank."


    "Khan is worth a few sleepless nights," Monica giggled in her usual elegant manner.


    "And you call me shameless," Zoe scoffed while looking at Anita.


    "I can''t argue with that," Anitaughed before taking Monica''s elbow into her arms. "Are you hiding something from us, Miss Solodrey?"


    "What if I am?" Monica teased, and a series of jokes followed.


    The group continued that teasing chit-chat while moving through the corridor. Khan and Monica soon stopped being the main topic, but someone always found something else to talk about, so the walk never became silent.


    Lucian and the others shared Khan''s schedule, but various obligations forced the group to split. Monica, Khan, and Anita remained alone when they left the embassy, and they didn''t hesitate to head for George''s t to order some food.


    The lunch was uneventful and short. Anita couldn''t stay for too long due to personal matters, and George was away. However, Khan and Monica didn''t have enough time to enjoy themselves properly, so they opted for a cuddling session in which she took a nap on hisp.


    Khan felt happy in caressing that mess of curls, but his mind often wandered. Gaining more insights into the world of the wealthy descendants changed some of his ideas about them, especially now that he had partially joined that elitist group.


    One advanced lesson had filled Khan with homework, andpleting it would only fulfill the bare minimum of what wealthy descendants handled every day. The situation also grew harsher when he added the various political duties and the tasks forwarded by the families.


    Khan had always trained harder than the wealthy descendants. However, he now began to consider theck of time as a possible reason. People like Lucian and Monica were bound to have had countless dinners. It was actually surprising that they had reached their current level with so many obligations to fulfill.


    Stepping into that world had filled Khan with the same obligations, if not worse. His political journey had basically just begun, so he had to condense years of meetings into mere months to catch up with the wealthy descendants.


    The situation worsened when Khan thought about his flying course and possible upations in the Harbor. He had so much to do that even skipping sleep for entire weeks wouldn''t give him enough time to train.


    Of course, the issue had no solution. Khan had to sacrifice something to make time for his new obligations, and his training was suitable for the task. Taking a break from increasing his attunement with mana would probably benefit him. Still, he hoped to find moments to solidify his skill with third-level spells and test the techniques learnt on Milia 222.


    An rm woke up Monica, and the couple only spent a few minutes enjoying the privacy of George''s t before departing for the embassy again. Khan''s new schedule had put "alien environments" in the afternoon, and he couldn''t wait to see how the advanced sses handled that topic.


    The scenes from the morning repeated themselves when Khan and Monica reached the training camp area. Students, teachers, and more kept track of their movements, but the reunion with the rest of the descendants put an end to most stares.


    The seats also ended up being almost the same. "Alien environments" happened in a different hall. Still, theiryouts rarely changed, so Khan and Monica could find another rtively isted spot in which they could express part of their rtionship. Her leg soon fell on his knee again, and he caressed it lovingly as he waited for the professor to arrive.


    Nevertheless, minutes passed, and the professor still failed to arrive. It got sote that the chatter grew louder since no one understood what was happening.


    "Is thismon?" Khan wondered when the chatters managed to capture his interest.


    "Not in the Harbor," Monica revealed. "Maybe we get to go home early today."


    The arrival of a familiar figure shattered Monica''s hopes. Khan recognized Professor Nickton, but the man didn''t nce at the students even once as he approached the main desk.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Professor Parver is ill again," Professor Nickton announced while activating the many functions of his interactive desk. "I''ll handle today''s ss."


    The students didn''t mind that change, but Professor Nickton''s appearance managed to create some frowns. The man was even messier than thest time Khan had seen him. His military uniform had many dark spots, and even his beard was dirty. He seemed to have juste out from hisb.


    "Okay," Professor Nickton eximed while his eyes remained on the interactive desk. "Alien environments aren''t my area of expertise. They are actually a broad subject. Instead, I specialize in mutations and rtive mana applications, so we''ll go with that."


    Changing the subject of a lesson didn''t sound ideal, but no one dared toin. Khan also liked the topic, so his interest rose.


    "Mutations are a perfectly natural part of the evolutionary process," Professor Nickton exined. "Radiations of various types and intensities can alter our cells, often turning them into something our bodies reject. Mana is no different. It''s actually many levels stronger than what our technology normally generates."


    Khan understood that statement perfectly. He had seen mutations happen before him, and his azure hair also embodied that topic.


    "Animals that evolved with mana are no different," Professor Nickton continued. "They are creatures that managed to achieve a stable form after the mutations. Some even developed unique and incredible abilities, but that doesn''t prevent them from mutating again."


    Professor Nickton cleared his throat before resuming his exnation. "Sometimes, you might end up in front of a unique mutation capable of producing breathtaking feats, and it is your job to secure those specimens for further study. As for me, I have to teach you how to recognize them.


    "The study of alien environments is one of the paths connected to this specialization. Being able to recognize patterns in foreign fauna and flora is key to finding unique aspects that are worth preserving."


    ''He really hates when soldiers kill valuable specimens,'' Khan joked in his mind.


    "We have a living example of patterns right here," Professor Nickton eventually stated as he finally stopped focusing on the interactive desk. "Lieu-, wait. Captain Khan? Am I reading this right?"


    "Yes, sir," Khan voiced, revealing the most honest smile he could muster. "My promotion happened yesterday."


    "I didn''t leave theb at all yesterday," Professor Nickton groaned. "Well, congrattions."


    "Thank you," Khan uttered.


    "Back to the lesson," Professor Nickton continued. "Captain Khan is a living example of what happens to those infected by Nak''s mana. His azure featurese from that alien species, and that color is so iconic that anyone in the universe can recognize it."


    Khan didn''t enjoy being used as an example, especially due to his connection to the Nak. Yet, Professor Nickton''s words were true. Khan did fit perfectly into the subject.


    "Now, mutations always alter something," Professor Nickton exined. "Be it the mind or the body or both. It is intrinsic to a mutation to turn something into apletely new material.


    "Usually, when the mutations affect the body, they stretch to the very species of the lifeform and be dominant features. Captain Khan will probably pass his azure colors and element to his children, just like it happened to other simr cases throughout history."


    Monica had to reach for Khan''s hand since he had tightened his grip on her leg. He didn''t hurt her, but she wanted to show her support. Khan had thought about that topic, and hearing Professor Nickton bringing it up didn''t feel nice.


    "Of course, only some of the changes might go to the next generation," Professor Nickton specified, "But that''s another topic. It''s important to know that these mutations can''t be replicated easily, or even at all in some cases, so you must be able to recognize some valuable ones that the Global Army always needs."


    Professor Nickton used the interactive desk to send a list of recorded mutations paired with detailed exnations and uses. The various names quickly captured everyone''s interest, but the opening of the entrance broke that concentration.


    Khan found another pair of familiar presences touching his senses and promptly pushed Monica''s leg down. His gesture matched Princess Edna''s careless entrance with Jack. The two headed directly for the professor''s desk, uncaring of the many students who stood up to perform military salutes.


    "Princess Edna," Professor Nickton called as the two approached his desk, "Are you interested in mutations?"


    "The Headmistress should send you a message soon," Princess Edna exined. "I''m joining this ss."


    "Oh, sure," Professor Nickton nodded. "Do you wish me to start the lesson from the beginning?"


    "No need," Princess Edna reassured before quickly turning to walk toward Khan''s interactive desk. As for Jack, he obviously followed her closely.


    "We can go shopping right after this mission ends," Princess Edna announced, uncaring that everyone in the ss could hear her voice.


    "Miss Virrai, I almost thought you had forgotten about our date," Monica joked. She and Khan had stood up to salute the Princess, and they remained on their feet during that conversation.


    "I never forget shopping dates," Princess Edna giggled before focusing on Khan. "I hope your tastes are as good as your flying skills, Captain Khan. I won''t let you drive my ship again otherwise."


    Khan had to look at the Princess while talking to her, but his senses were hard at work. Everyone had heard Princess Edna''s clear words, and gossip immediately spread, bringing as much attention as possible to Khan. The fact that he had piloted her ship was no longer a secret.

 Chapter 445 Children

    Khan could only watch powerlessly as the catastrophe unfolded. His eyes remained on Princess Edna, but the rest of his senses kept track of the hall, and the development threatened to give him a headache.


    The night spent with the Princess had been on everyone''s mind, but its details had remained vague. The descendants couldn''t even ask straightforward questions since a noble figure was involved. They could only guess what had happened, but thetest revtion surpassed their wildest expectations.


    Piloting the Princess'' ship was a big deal, but the shocking details connected to it went beyond that. First, Khan''s flying skills were in the open now. Also, he had somehow managed to get Princess Edna to acknowledge him.


    Some initial guesses had seen Monica as the main reason behind the previous night''s unexpected development. However, that changed now. Princess Edna seemed to treat Monica and Khan equally and even wanted both to join her shopping session.


    Khan was lost. Everything had been a mess since the previous night, but the Princess had managed to make things worse. He couldn''t fix that with lies and fake smiles. He could only y along and make the best out of it.


    "I''m sorry to say that my taste is quite poor," Khan honestly admitted. "I still can''t understand the need for so many clothes."


    "I had to force him to buy something beforeing here," Monica added. "He would only have military uniforms otherwise."


    "A nk te!" Princess Edna eximed. "How amusing."


    "Though he does have a good eye for women''s clothes," Monica revealed. "I rely on him when I can."


    "Don''t tell me that he is your secret," Princess Edna''s eyes lit up before ncing at Jack. "I wish he could be useful there too."


    "Oh, no," Monica giggled, and herugh ended up being partially honest. "I told you. My secret wille only after some shopping."


    Princess Edna seemed to ept the answer since she dropped the topic and walked around the interactive desk. Jack followed her, and the two soon found themselves next to Khan and Monica.


    "Princess, do you want to sit next to-?" Khan tried to say, but Princess Edna sat before he could finish his question. She ended up next to him, and Jack upied a spot at her side, creating the most awkward interactive table in existence.


    The gazes and gossip didn''t stop even after Khan sat down. Actually, they grew louder. Khan was between Monica and Princess Edna, so the descendants went wild with their guesses.


    Only three people ignored that development in its entirety. Jack stared at an empty spot, Princess Edna yed with the menus without caring about her surroundings, and Professor Nickton resumed the lesson as if nothing strange was happening.


    "If you would look at the list I sent you," Professor Nickton stated, but Khan partially ignored him to look at Monica. She was wearing the same lost expression, and the two found somefort in their equal state. Monica even pinched Khan''s side to show her support before adjusting her position.


    Needless to say, the lesson became hard to follow. Professor Nickton didn''t have Professor Boatbell''s incredible eloquence, but his subject was more interesting for Khan. Still, he had to resort to the entirety of his new senses to catch everything while remaining aware of his surroundings.


    Of course, the rumors lost volume, but they existed, and Khan couldn''t ignore them. The same went for the various shades added to the symphony of mana. The students almost stated their stances while thinking that Khan couldn''t sense them.


    Luckily for Khan, the Princess didn''t do much. She simply killed time with the menus, making the overall situation bearable. Khan didn''t dare to do anything with Monica but kept track of everything else without missing the valuable teachings.


    Professor Nickton continued exining the importance of mutations, using the list given to the students as a guideline. The variables could be endless, but some animals gave birth to simr organs and tissues, and the Global Army could turn those into potions or other valuable items.


    The topic went deeper when Professor Nickton focused on the unique mutations. What Khan had seen in hisb was only one of the many and least amazing examples. The list contained Tainted animals that had learnt to generate special alloys and more, and a single specimen could be worth a fortune.


    The Professor obviously didn''t care about those specimens'' financial value, but he mentioned it to highlight their importance. The key was finding patterns among the almost unpredictable mutations, and only true experts with decades of studies could im to be reasonably urate.


    A dreaded moment eventually arrived. The lesson ended, and Khan remained in his seat, almost waiting for another catastrophe to unfold. He sensed the descendants'' stance, so he knew they were ready to encircle his interactive desk.


    However, Princess Edna stood up as soon as Professor Nickton left the hall and walked around the desk with Jack to upy a spot in front of Khan and Monica. Her eyespletely ignored the eager students as they fell on the couple, and a question apanied her gesture. "The ship is ready. Let''s go."


    Khan and Monica didn''t need to check their respective intentions. They stood up and followed Princess Edna without uttering any words. They only managed to throw a polite salute at the ss before leaving it.


    The Princess'' uncaring attitude saved the couple from a lengthy interrogation, and Khan almost began to have hope for the imminent endeavor. Still, that feeling vanished when he spotted Ron waiting in the corridor.


    "Princess, I hope the lesson was enjoyable," Ron announced while leaving the wall and adjusting his sses.


    "It was boring as expected," Princess Edna sighed.


    "That''s inevitable in your position," Ronmented, "Which is why I suggested a different assignment. Attending subjects you have already mastered is a waste of-."


    "I studied the shopping areast night," Princess Edna eximed, uncaring that Ron had yet to finish his line. "I know which shop I want to see first."


    "Shoes?" Monica guessed.


    "You know me so well," Princess Edna giggled before peeking past Monica to look at Khan. "Captain, I hope your good eye doesn''t work only on Monica."


    "I will do my best to meet your expectations," Khan chuckled. He had every intention of being honest, but that didn''t save him from Ron''s re.


    Monica and Princess Edna fell into a private conversation about clothes and shopping, so Khan remained alone with Ron''s constant re. The general attention from the people in the corridor didn''t help distract him from that annoying stare either, so he let his mind wander to avoid falling prey to his mind''s worst sides.


    Professor Nickton''s lesson touched on themes that Khan had considered in the past. The threat of passing down his mutations had afflicted his thoughts at times. That issue had stayed away from his head since Liiza, but the Harbor had rekindled it.


    ''Children,'' Khan mocked himself as the walk led the group into a secret elevator. ''Am I really considering having them?''


    Professor Nickton was an expert, but Khan knew about alternative paths. The mutations weren''t absolute, especially when they came from mana. There had to be ways to prevent their hereditary properties.


    Khan was nowhere near understanding or gaining any control over his mutations, and his situation was also peculiar. Yet, in theory, he could find solutions. Building a family wouldn''t be impossible forever, but he needed more than simple gic clearance.


    The elevator brought the group into an isted area outside the embassy. The team didn''t reach the first floor. They were still near the middle of the giant structure, and the half-circr ship was already waiting past the ceiling''s edge.


    Khan remained immersed in his thoughts even after entering the ship. His gaze fell on Monica at times, but he always retracted it right away. He had gone through hell and back with Liiza before considering having children with her. It was too early topare that situation with Monica.


    Still, Khan wasn''t the only one full of wild thoughts. Ron was in the same situation, but his attention mainly involved Khan''s peculiar behavior. He didn''t feel any dangering from him, but the presence of the Princess forced him to be meticulous.


    When Ronid his hand on Khan''s neck, he had to snap out of his pensive state. The scene from the previous night repeated itself, and Khan almost rolled his eyes in annoyance but held back for obvious reasons.


    "You are up to something," Ron coldly stated.


    Monica immediately jumped on her feet, but a single look at Princess Edna told her that she wouldn''t help. Instead, the Princess pointed her curious expression at Khan while waiting for an exnation.


    "Sir, I believe I''m allowed to think about private matters," Khan tried to get out of that situation while retaining a veil of honesty.


    "You are in the presence of the Princess," Ron remained cold. "Any matter that I deem concerning loses its right to privacy."


    "Give up, Captain Khan," Princess Edna giggled. "I''m also interested in your thoughts now. Is it the ship again?"


    Anger built up inside Monica, but her expression conveyed only concern. She found that treatment unfair, but the sadness she experienced submerged her unreasonable mood swings and reced them with a supportive look.


    "It''s not the ship," Khan sighed again as his internal conflict became evident on his face. "It''s about Professor Nickton''s lesson. I was thinking about the risk of passing down my mutations to my children."


    Ron''s hand remained firm, but Khan felt the tremor that ran through his mana. Obviously, Ron didn''t expect the matter to be so private, and some regret even leaked out of his figure.


    Instead, Monica''s eyes widened in shock, and her blush became almost noticeable on her dark skin. Everything also intensified when Khan looked at her. She had gotten the wrong idea, and the headache became real when Khan thought about the discussions that would follow.


    "Aren''t your mutations good?" Princess Edna wondered. "Besides, the second generations rarely carry negative features."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Are you knowledgeable about Nak''s mutations, Princess Edna?" Khan questioned.


    "Knowledgeable enough," Princess Edna confirmed before reaching for Monica''s hand. "Get down. We had finally found something worth buying."


    Monica could barely speak in that situation. Her almost confession from the previous night and the topic mentioned by Khan turned her mind into a mess. Luckily for her, the Princess was quite talkative when shopping was involved, so she could sit in silence and let her do the rest.


    Khan resumed his battle of res with Ron at that point, but thetter immediately backed down. He even retreated his hand while inspecting Khan''s azure features. A "sorry" seemed about to escape his mouth, but he ended up remaining silent.


    An awkward atmosphere enveloped the rest of the flight. Ron continued to check up on Khan, causing many battles of res that rekindled the regret experienced before. Meanwhile, Monica shot timid looks at Khan while dealing with the Princess'' eager mood. Only Jack remained outside those interactions, but his uncaring behavior soon became the norm.


    Thending dispersed the awkwardness and reced it with pure chaos. The ship stopped on the sidewalk outside a shop, and a crowd had already gathered there. Yet, many soldiers were in the area to keep a wide path open.


    Princess Edna almost dragged Monica away, and the others followed closely behind. The group entered the shop only to discover that the cecked customers. Only the attendants and the owner were there.


    "Princess!" The middle-aged woman in charge of the shop announced as soon as the group crossed the entrance. "We have already taken out our best pieces and lined them up before the changing rooms."


    "Let''s not waste time," Princess Edna eximed, ignoring the luxurious wee to head directly for the changing rooms.


    A surprising scene unfolded in Khan''s vision once the group reached its destination. The shop had rearranged itsyout to create a series of long lines made of clothes and essories. Each led to changing rooms, building expensive corridors meant to show as many goods as possible.


    The shop''syout proved once again how important a noble family''s descendant was. Khan had received privileged treatment in Neo Station, but that went far beyond what he expected. The world seemed to revolve around Princess Edna, and she barely noticed the efforts shown by those workers.


    Ron''s re interrupted Khan''s thoughts and threatened to start another silent battle, but Princess Edna created a diversion that thetter couldn''t ignore.


    "You must try this," Princess Edna gasped while reaching for a beautiful dark-red dress and handing it to Monica.


    "Miss Virrai, why don''t you try it first?" Monica suggested even if she took the dress.


    "I want you to loosen up first," Princess Edna giggled while pushing Monica toward the changing room.


    The two women entered the isted area together, and Khan didn''t hide his interest in the imminent oue. He was a stranger to style and barely cared about it, but he knew how much Monica liked it, and her happy face was priceless. Besides, Khan wanted to see her in that dress.


    Minutes went by, and the attendants standing behind the lines of clothes grew tense during the wait. Their job seemed to depend on the Princess'' reaction, which probably wasn''t far from the truth.


    Eventually, the door of the changing room slid open, and Princess Edna pushed Monica forward to put her under the spotlight. The one-shoulder dress fit her perfectly and enhanced her natural elegance. The few exposed areas also attracted Khan''s gaze and kept him glued on the scene.


    Monica showed a shy smile under Khan''s evident appreciation. She lowered her gaze but covered that reaction with an elegant bow. Still, her performance couldn''t be as good as usual after everything that had happened since the previous night.


    Ron''s sharp eyes didn''t fail to miss that forced behavior. Monica seemed to be in trouble, and Khan clearly was the source of those issues, so Ron didn''t hesitate to unleash his hand again.


    "What now?" Khan groaned once Ron''s sharp hand ended on his neck. He quickly realized that his reaction had been rude, but his face appeared unable to wear a sorry expression.


    "Miss Solodrey, please, be honest," Ron announced. "Is Captain Khan ckmailing you in any way? You can trust us."


    Monica remained speechless, and the same went for Khan. However, Princess Edna exploded into aposedugh before either could speak.


    "Ron, you can be so blind at times," Princess Edna giggled. "Can''t you see it? They are secret lovers."

 Chapter 446 Candidate

    Silence fell among the group. Monica froze in terror, and Khan ended up in a simr situation. However, his stillness didn''te from the same feelings. The shock barelysted one second before turning into something darker.


    The same clicking growl that Khan had heard from the cloud spell became a background noise in his mind. Meanwhile, wild thoughts ran among it and gave birth to nefarious ideas.


    Princess Edna''s revtion had stunned Ron. That was the second time he threatened Khan for the wrong reasons. It was within his tasks to be so thorough, but regret inevitably piled on and distracted him for a few seconds.


    Khan didn''t miss that distraction. His sensitivity fused with his wild thoughts and battle experience to give birth to a n that could exploit that window. Ron was a fourth-level warrior with unknown prowess and abilities, but a Wave spell could surprise even the most troublesome opponents.


    Those thoughts went beyond taking care of Ron. Khan could only focus on preserving his rtionship now, and killing inevitably became a possibility. He had grown so used to that practice that his feelings made him consider it right away.


    Of course, Khan wasn''t thinking straight. His nefarious ideas were the result of unreasonable feelings. He was actually considering going against two fourth-level warriors and risking hurting a noble descendant to protect his rtionship. That was one of his darkest faces, and someone among the group immediately noticed it.


    Nothing had left Khan''s mind. His thoughts had merely been an instinctive reaction that had yet to transform into actions. Less than two seconds had passed since the shocking revtion, but a pair of empty grey eyes fell on him anyway.


    Khan snapped out of his wild state to focus on Jack. The soldier was looking straight at him. That emotionless stare almost spoke to Khan and told him that any attempt to escape would end in his death.


    The realization allowed Khan to calm down. The clicking noise vanished, but his emotions remained violent. Still, he could approach them with a chill mind, and a helpless sigh eventually escaped his mouth.


    ''What would you even want me to do?'' Khan mocked himself. ''Killing everyone in this shop? Should I also destroy the Harbor since I''m at it?''


    Khan''s mana was the target of his questions. He knew how unreasonable it could be, but he didn''t dare to me it for his wild reaction. After all, he had experienced something simr when Azni found out about his rtionship with Liiza. The transformation might exin the new intensity, but those dark thoughts were part of him.


    ''[Be it nting countless flowers],'' Khan yed Jenna''s teachings in his mind, ''[Or creating bloody rivers]. I guess I''ve gotten too used to thetter.''


    "Jack?" Princess Edna called when she noticed Jack''s reaction.


    Jack''s empty re lingered on Khan for another second, but he soon diverted it to regain his lost look. Khan had stopped being a threat to the Princess, so Jack didn''t need to watch him anymore.


    "He must really like you," Princess Ednamented. "I''ve never seen anyone considering going against Jack."


    The threatening sensationing from Ron intensified at those words. He still had his hand on Khan''s throat and was ready to unleash it at the first sudden move.


    Khan was strangely calm. He was ready to explode but alsopletely cold. Fighting couldn''t get him out of that situation, but he felt no fear. That crisis was an inevitable result. Someone had to find out about his rtionship sooner orter. Khan would have preferred things to unfold differently, but he had no regrets, especially now that he had chosen to pursue his happiness.


    "Miss Vir-," Monica eventually recovered, and her begging tone conveyed her stance. "Edna, please. Khan had nothing to do with this. I put him in this situation."


    "Did you force yourself on him?" Princess Edna giggled. "Monica, I didn''t think you were so bold."


    "I-," Monica''s first instinct was to exin herself, but the situation had other priorities. "I''ll do anything you ask. Just spare Khan from any trouble."


    Monica even reached for Princess Edna''s hands to convey her honesty, but thetter ended up frowning. She seemed confused about that development.


    "Monica, stop," Khan called. "It''s out. It''s toote to do anything about it."


    Khan didn''t need to inspect his surroundings to know that Princess Edna''s revtion had reached the attendants. The surprise leaking into the symphony confirmed that detail. Even if the Princess decided to ignore the recent events, the rumor was bound to spread.


    "Let me fix this!" Monica snapped before focusing on the Princess again. "Edna, I put Khan up to this. I take full responsibility for his actions."


    Khan hated seeing Monica like that. His mana began to boil as his cold re fell on Ron. Thetter replied with a simr stare, but his hand remained still. He didn''t attack even after that obvious enmity.


    "Princess," Ron spoke while inspecting Khan''s every move. "Captain Khan has shown clear hostility toward you. Permission to behead him."


    The fact that Khan didn''t move at all was his only saving grace. Ron would have attacked without waiting for the Princess'' permission otherwise.


    "Denied," Princess Edna stated as her eyes lit up and melted her frown. "Oh! Secret lovers! Of course!"


    Princess Edna''s statement confused the entire group, but she didn''t hesitate to exin herself. "You are afraid that I might reveal your secret."


    "You kind of already did," Khan pointed out while ncing at the attendants past the lines of clothes.


    "Ron, take care of them," Princess Edna immediately ordered.


    "Princess?" Ron wondered. "Captain Khan wanted to hurt you!"


    "He wanted to protect Monica," Princess Edna corrected. "She found someone willing to go against me if the situation requires it. I can only be happy for her."


    "But-!" Ron tried to say.


    "Hurry," Princess Edna pressed. "I want to keep shopping."


    Ron couldn''t refuse. He red at Khan again but eventually retracted his hand to approach the various attendants. He also summoned the shop''s boss before starting a speech that Khan couldn''t hear from his position.


    "I don''t understand," Monica admitted in confusion.


    "What don''t you understand?" Princess Edna asked.


    "Why did you reveal our secret if you had no intention of ckmailing us?" Monica exined.


    "Oh, that," Princess Edna eximed. "I didn''t realize you wanted to keep it a secret."


    "But you called us secret lovers," Monica reminded.


    "How to exin?" Princess Edna muttered before avoiding the problem altogether. "Ron,e to exin."


    "Yes!" Ron shouted before exchanging a few words with the boss and returning to the group. "The Princess'' education and character put her in a unique position. She is very perceptive, but her understanding of social interactions fails to meet proper standards at times."


    ''Is she an idiot?'' Khan wondered before putting that idea aside. His experience with alien species granted him a broader perspective. It didn''t take him long to ept that the Princess simply saw social interactions differently.


    Ron took out a device from his pocket and summoned the boss with a gesture. The middle-aged woman was all smiles as she approached the soldier and performed a polite bow to the Princess. She even left her gic signature on the screen before pretending to remain calm.


    The Princess also left her gic signature on the device before ignoring the matter altogether. She limited herself to smiling at Monica while Ron began his speech.


    "This shop and all its attendants now belong to Princess Edna Virrai," Ron announced. "I''ve already forwarded your new regtions, including the instructions to get the family brand. Some soldiers will pick you up once the Princess is done shopping."


    "You honor us," The middle-aged woman dered. "Enjoy your stay. I''ll prepare the crew for the trip."


    The middle-aged woman performed another bow and left the lines of clothes, but Khan and Monica''s questioning expressions forced Ron to give another exnation.


    "Princess Edna bought this shop and all its secrets," Ron voiced without hiding his scorn toward Khan, "Including yours. A mana restraint will prevent the entire crew from speaking about what they heard today."


    "What about the cameras?" Khan asked, forcing his amazement to remain in the back of his mind.


    "The cameras went dark as soon as the Princess entered the shop," Ron revealed. "Don''t be surprised. It''s a standard practice when noble descendants are involved."


    The influence and power that Princess Edna could express were stunning. Even Monica opened her mouth in shock. She wasn''t really surprised, but that development left her in awe, especially since she couldn''t understand why the Princess had gone so far to cover her secret.


    As for Khan, he felt awe, surprise, and shock, but his mind recovered quickly and focused on different topics. He didn''t know how much he could trust Princess Edna. Yet, the revtion had left him powerless, so he nned on understanding his current situation.


    "Princess Edna, do you mind answering a few questions?" Khan called.


    "I do mind," Princess Edna pouted. "It''s my turn to try one of these dresses."


    "I''ll tell you Monica''s secret if you wait a little longer," Khan tried his chances, and Princess Edna''s curious face told him that he had hit the mark.


    "Captain Khan," Princess Edna eximed. "You have my attention."


    Khan ignored Monica''s embarrassment and voiced his first question. "Let me get this straight. You had no intention of exposing us, right?"


    "I only wanted to clear Ron''s doubts," Princess Edna confirmed.


    "So, you have no interest in using this information for your benefit," Khan continued.


    "You would have to follow my orders anyway," Princess Edna casually dered. "I told you. I just want to have fun."


    Khan found it hard to believe that such a lofty figure could have innocent desires. However, Princess Edna''s uncaring character felt in line with that behavior, and her mana further confirmed that detail.


    "Princess, permission to drop the act," Khan requested.


    "Are you sure?" Princess Edna wondered while pulling her hands to leave Monica and turnpletely. "I thought you''d be interested in the political game."


    "What do you mean?" Khan asked.


    "Don''t you want to get close to me to use my political value?" Princess Edna questioned. "Dropping your act will lower your chances."


    Khan didn''t expect that honest speech. Princess Edna had sounded serious, and Ron''s stern stance added value to her words. She had stopped being a young woman focused on shopping. Now, she was a noble descendant.


    "Do I have that choice?" Khan couldn''t help but ask.


    "It''s fine by me," Princess Edna announced.


    "Princess, a Captain should-," Ron warned, but the Princess didn''t let him finish.


    "So, is this over?" Princess Edna wondered. "Do I get the secret now?"


    Princess Edna''s eager face put Khan before two paths. He could continue his usual polite act, hoping that his emotions would hold on, or he could drop everything and go with the flow, uncaring of what he might lose in the process.


    Khan knew where his mind wanted to go. Yet, he couldn''t disregard that chance. He had the opportunity to build a political rtionship with a noble descendant. People would kill for something like that. He couldn''t throw it away just to avoid pretending in her presence.


    The issue truly weighed on Khan. He spent entire seconds pondering about it. However, a decision arrived when he nced at Monica. She was still terrified, even if the situation had evolved past the previous problem. Her mind had suffered too many blows in the span of a single day.


    "Fuck this," Khan sighed while stepping forward. Ron prepared himself to intervene, but Princess Edna raised her hand before he could do anything. She had understood where Khan was going and had no intention of stopping him.


    "Will you calm down?" Khan scolded while taking Monica''s face into his hands. "You heard the Princess. We are safe."


    "Khan," Monicained. "They are watching us."


    Khan smiled to reassure Monica. The recent events had been an emotional rollercoaster, but the safety of Khan''s hands allowed her to rx. A few tears appeared in her eyes, but nothing serious followed.


    "Don''t cry," Khan whispered while wiping Monica''s eyes with his sleeve. "We both know how difficult you are if one of your mood swings arrives."


    "Shut up," Monica sniffed. "Don''t change the topic. You are not choosing this over establishing a connection with the Virrai family."


    "Do you think I''d miss the chance to be with you in public?" Khan teased. "You underestimate me."


    "Khan, it''s a noble family," Monica pointed out. "You won''t get another chance like this."


    "Actually, this is my second already," Khanughed as he pulled Monica into his arms. "Besides, I don''t care. I will have enough dinners as it is."


    Ron coughed, and Khan took that chance to address his behavior. "Can you stop trying to behead me? I''m a war hero. Show me some respect."


    "Khan!" Monica snapped while lifting her head and gabbing Khan''s cor. "You can''t talk to a noble guard like this."


    "We said no act," Khan scoffed, showing no shame for what he had just said. "Also, I''m the youngest Captain in history. Even Jack acknowledged me, right? Give me a few years, and I''ll have all the noble families begging me to join them."


    "We are in the presence of a Princes-!" Monica tried to scold, but Khan sealed her lips with a kiss before she could finish her line.


    Monica''s mood quelled during the kiss. It even dispersed the remaining tension that still lingered in her mind. Shepletely calmed down, and some shyness inevitably arrived.


    "Monica," Khan called once the kiss ended. "Did I tell you how much I like you in this dress?"N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "No," Monica pouted, "But keepplimenting me. You have a lot to make up for."


    "What did I do now?" Khan frowned.


    "It''s because of you that the Princess found out about us," Monica snorted. "What was that stuff about the children? Especially after yesterday!"


    "What happened yesterday?" Princess Edna joined the conversation.


    "Princess," Ron called. "Maybe it''s better if-."


    "This scoundrel needed a reminder of how far I am willing to go," Monica dered. "I even said that I was starting to fa-."


    Monica couldn''t finish her line since Khan ced a finger on her mouth. The gesture made her angrier, but Khan''s following words vanquished that feeling. "Those words are only for me to hear."


    Khan and Monica fell into a meaningful stare, but Princess Edna interrupted it. "Can I hear the secret now?"


    Monica looked at Princess Edna, and her eyes widened when she recalled what she wanted. Her face immediately went on Khan''s chest. She couldn''t deal with that embarrassing topic.


    "It''s a type of happiness that only a partner can give," Khan exined while caressing Monica''s hair. "I don''t know if you have someone like her in your life."


    "You are talking about sex, right?" Princess Edna asked without showing any shame, and her words made Monica tense up.


    "Sort of," Khan chuckled while lowering his head toy it on Monica''s hair. "Again, it''s happiness. It doesn''t matter how you get it."


    "Is that so," Princess Edna muttered and crossed her arms. "I guess I can''t get it. Whatever."


    "Princess, I''m sure you''ll find someone," Khan reassured, but Monica pushed herself away to show her re.


    Khan felt confused, and the Princess didn''t bother to pay attention to that topic anymore. It took Ron to clear those doubts. "The Princess knows her value as a political currency. Her education made sure of that."


    The exnation remained vague, and Khan didn''t initially understand how serious the matter was. After all, Monica had gone through something simr but had ended up following her feelings.


    However, things changed when Khan considered the Princess'' unique position. She was as old as Monica but had already mastered the embassy''s sses. Her education had to belong to a superior realm, especially regarding rtionships.


    "Oh," Khan voiced. A wave of sadness washed him over when he looked at the Princess. His upbringing had been awful, and the chaos element messed with his thoughts, but he was himself. Instead, the Princess seemed to have lost something during her education.


    "This dress looks cute!" Princess Edna eximed while seizing a dress from one of the lines. "Monica, what do you think?"


    Monica recalled the initial purpose behind the visit to the shop, and Khan nodded at her before she could ask anything. The two exchanged a kiss, and Monica left him to reach the Princess.


    Khan let his thoughts wander while inspecting the two women. They were both showing honest smiles over shallow topics. Still, that happiness felt special when Khan considered their lives.


    Monica''s upbringing had been a psychological hell, and Princess Edna probably had far worse. The expectations ced on them could suffocate anyone, but they were still able to smile.


    "It makes you want to protect these moments," Ron announced while approaching Khan. "Don''t you think?"


    Khan nced at Ron only to notice that he was also looking at the two women. A faint smile had broadened on his face too. Ron appeared happy, even if he did his best to hide that.


    "They aren''t the only ones with a difficult life," Khanmented, and his hesitation toward Ron was more than clear.


    "My apologies," Ron sighed. "I''ve acted within my rights, but my judgment might have been biased. Please understand that you are the perfect candidate for many jobsing from enemy parties."


    "Enemy parties?" Khan questioned. "Who can target a noble?"


    Understanding dawned before Ron could say anything. Khan felt incredibly stupid. Obviously, only a noble could target a noble. As for the motives, they weren''t important.


    "What makes me a perfect candidate?" Khan wondered.


    "Talent, drive,ck of background," Ron exined. "You have no loyalty to speak of. That makes you dangerous."


    "You sound knowledgeable about the matter," Khan hinted.


    "I was like that," Ron revealed. "That''s why someone hired me to kill the Princess. She showed mercy."


    Khan felt the urge to gulp, but his expression remained still. That revtion had to be something big, but Ron had spoken it anyway. The gesture probably was Ron''s way of making up for his previous behavior.


    "What about Jack?" Khan asked.


    "He is different," Ron exined. "He went too deep into the battlefield and can''te back. The Virrai family simply trained him to be a guard."


    Khan didn''t know what to say. He felt to have stepped into a bigger world. The realm of the noble families seemed even stranger and more dangerous than some of the aliens visited in his missions, but that made it interesting.


    "I''ll tell you if someone hires me to kill the Princess," Khan eventually joked, and augh escaped his mouth when Ron red at him. The two seemed about to argue, but Princess Edna called Khan before they could start. The night was long, and Khan had to help with many clothes.

 Chapter 447 Revelation

    The Princess'' greed was boundless, and her bottomless finances allowed her to give free rein to her desires. Monica didn''t hold back either, and Khan inevitably fell prey to that endless shopping spree.


    The few sets of clothes Monica had bought for Khan in Neo Station paled before that night''s purchases. He didn''t get nearly as many things as the two women, but his wardrobe still reached unprecedented levels.


    Of course, the shopping spree didn''tck random arguments or embarrassingments. Khan had dropped the act, so teasing Ron became the norm, and Princess Edna''s unrestrained statements often made Monica blush.


    However, none of those issues led to real problems. The group handled everything casually due to the new silent agreement they had reached, so the night went smoothly. Princess Edna even held back from revealing Khan and Monica''s secret for the rest of the date.


    The shopping dome was big, but Khan felt that the group had crossed most of it before the ship finally headed toward the second district. Usually, that practice would drain him mentally, but he felt strangely lively as George''s building appeared on the transparent surface.


    The sidewalk was a mess. No one knew the Princess'' ns, but everyone saw Khan and Monica leaving with her. The fact that the couple spent time in George''s t wasmon knowledge, so a crowd of people had tried their chances and had waited there.


    Soldiers kept the situation orderly, so the ship couldnd on the sidewalk without meeting any problems. Shouts resounded as soon as Khan and Monica showed their faces, and the whole area grewpletely chaotic when Princess Edna and her guards followed.


    The presence of such a lofty figure forced the crowd to fall silent shortly after, but everyone kept track of her movements. To their surprise, Princess Edna, Jack, and Ron followed Khan and Monica inside the building.


    No words flew among the group. Khan directly approached the elevator, and Monica timidly followed behind. The remaining three joined them in no time, and the lift soon brought everyone inside George''s t.


    Khan was ready to throw himself on a couch, but the symphony that weed him caused some hesitation. A specific warmth filled the air with feelings he knew far too well.


    ''What strange timing,'' Khanughed internally while turning toward the group to announce something meant to slow them down. "Are you sure you want to drink with us? We don''t have the best booze."


    "I''ve already called someone," Ron scoffed.


    "Ron, Captain Khan is buying time," Princess Edna giggled. "I''m curious."


    Princess Edna strode forward, and Khan gave up on his attempt. Monica tried to find answers on his face, but he only shook his head as he proceeded deeper into the t with the rest of the group.


    When the main hall unfolded in Khan''s vision, he found Princess Edna curiously inspecting the two people at its center. George was on his feet, with the upper part of his uniform hanging from his shoulders. He had begun to close it, but the Princess'' arrival had made that effort pointless.


    The second person was Anita, who didn''t stop moving even after noticing the Princess. Her uniform only had a few buttons open, but she quickly closed them and adjusted herself to perform a military salute.


    George promptly imitated Anita, but his exposed torso made the scene funny, and Khan didn''t refrain from smirking. His smile even widened when he noticed George trying to re at him while keeping his attention on the Princess.


    "George Ildoo and Anita Wildon," Ron exined while the Princess remained silent.


    "Princess Edna," Anita eximed. "It''s an honor to meet you."


    "It''s an honor, Princess Edna," George added.


    "Is he your friend?" Princess Edna questioned while ncing in Khan and Monica''s direction.


    "They are both our friends," Khan responded. "Still, yes, George is the owner of this t."


    Anita couldn''t help but panic. George''s appearance was unbefitting of a Princess, and she couldn''t speak highly of herself either. The Princess'' uncaring expression only worsened that feeling. Anita wasn''t ready for that meeting, so she opted for a tactical retreat.


    "Please, excuse me," Anita dered in the politest tone she could muster in her panic. "A personal matter is waiting for me, and I''m alreadyte. Princess Edna, I''ll dly make up for my disrespectful behavior with a dinner in one of my family''s estates."


    "You''ll have to set an appointment," Princess Edna casually replied before resuming her inspection of George. She didn''t even look at Anita hurrying out of the t.


    Monica wanted to say something but eventually held back. Too much had happened since the previous night, and adding Anita to the current situation would only create more problems. As for Khan, he nodded at Anita before showing his meaningful smirk to George again.


    Once the elevator closed with Anita inside, Khan heaved a tired sigh and headed for one of the couches. He even unbuttoned his cor and picked up one of the bottles lying around while making himselffortable on the pillows.


    George couldn''t understand what was happening but recognized Khan''s unrestrained behavior. A frown appeared on his face when he realized something was up, but the Princess beat him to it.


    "Jack, how is he?" Princess Edna asked.


    Jack nced at George, and thetter experienced something simr to what Khan had gone through during his promotion. His face went cold as his mind prepared for battle, but the presence of the Princess and Khan''s rxed stance forced him to remain still.


    "He knows death," Jack spoke familiar words. "He might surpass me in seven years."


    "Truly a gem among descendants," Ron praised.


    "Hey, you insulted mest time," Khanined.


    "Mister Ildoo is a respectable member of the Ildoo family," Ron exined. "I can only be happy that the Global Army has produced such a promising soldier."


    "Respectable," Khan joked.


    "Jack gave seven years to me too," Princess Ednamented. "How curious."


    Princess Edna quickly lost interest in George and headed for a couch in front of Khan. George didn''t dare to break his military salute, but his confusion intensified once Jack and Ron sat next to the noble descendant.


    That sudden development surpassed George''s wildest expectations. A noble descendant and two fourth-level warriors were in his t, sitting mere meters from him, and Khan didn''t seem to care about them. Nothing made sense anymore, but Khan pulled George next to him before his mind could explode.


    "What did I miss?" George eventually asked since Khan''s casual mood reassured him.


    "She is peculiar," Khan described while nodding toward the Princess and moving to the others on her couch, "He is uptight, and he is like us."


    "The Princess'' permission doesn''t give you any right to speak about her like this," Ronined.


    "It''s called permission for a reason," Khan muttered while eyeing Monica. She was still unclear on how to behave, but that look gave her the confidence to sit next to him.


    The situation reached a stalemate. Ron, Princess Edna, and Jack sat on one couch while Monica, Khan, and George upied another. The two groups faced each other, and neither appeared interested in speaking.


    Monica and Princess Edna ended up being the ones to break that stalemate. The Princess reached for another bottle lying around and handed it to Ron before taking it back once he checked that everything was okay.


    As for Monica, she remained tense until her pleading eyes fell on Khan. He immediately embraced her at that point, and she cuddled under his arm while he took sips from the bottle.


    Needless to say, George''s confusion skyrocketed. The Princess wasn''t behaving like a noble descendant, and Monica was being intimate with Khan in the open. Something had definitely happened that night, and George couldn''t understand what.


    "Alright, scoundrel," George eventually grunted while pointing his forefinger at Khan. "What did you do?"


    "I''mpletely innocent this time," Khan promised.


    "As innocent as a death convict," Monica whispered.


    "You know I didn''t do anything," Khanined.


    "I can count nine different infractions that could get you kicked out of the Global Army," Ron pointed out. "Ten if we add yourtestck of respect toward the Princess."


    "He secretly likes me," Khan joked.


    "Exin," George almost threatened.


    Khan scratched the side of his head with the bottle beforeing up with a simple summary. "The Princess was insightful enough to find out about us. We agreed on dropping any pretense after that, at least while there aren''t outsiders."


    "How did she even guess that?" George asked.


    "Well, Monica was all-!" Khan began to say, but Monica promptly pped a hand over his mouth to shut him up. The two fell prey to a cute scuffle that ended with Monica wearing a pissed expression and sitting between Khan''s legs.


    "She is cute when you tease her," Princess Edna''s eyes lit up. "Captain, do it again."


    "Edna, please," Monica pouted. "Khan already has enough fun as it is."


    "Didn''t you know that before forcing yourself on him?" Princess Edna wondered.


    "I didn''t!" Monica snapped. "That''s aplete misunderstanding!"


    "I was only an innocent boy back then," Khan sighed. "I couldn''t even try to fight back."


    "You?!" Monica cursed as she turned to resume the scuffle, but Princess Edna''s loudugh interrupted it before it went too far.


    "Wow," George gasped after finally gaining insights into the situation. "You really are women''s greatest weakness."


    "You can''t talk," Khan responded. "Do you think we''ll forget about Anita so easily? I guess she forgave you in the end."


    "We were simply studying," George snorted, "And it was hot."


    "Behave with her," Monica warned while her arms were still locked in Khan''s grasp. "You''ll hear from me otherwise."


    George opened his mouth to reply but closed it right after to nce at the other couch. He had yet to ept that situation, and his following whisper expressed his doubts. "Can we really talk so openly?"


    "The Princess doesn''t mind," Khan confirmed. "I think she will actually enjoy herself more like this."<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Do not speak for the Princess," Ron scolded.


    "Ron, let the Captain speak," Princess Edna ordered. "It''s fun not being treated as a princess."


    Ron sighed, but the Princess'' excited face made him drop any attempt to control the situation. Among the trio, only Monica wielded enough influence to create problems for Princess Edna, but her secret rtionship made her the weakest link. Ron didn''t need to worry about the possible consequences of those casual interactions.


    George could barely believe his eyes, but he couldn''t deny what was happening. Still, he didn''t immediately switch to his honest mood. He was a wealthy descendant, so he had to take proper precautions.


    "Princess Edna," George announced while standing up and performing a military salute, "I want to point out that my behavior during my private life doesn''t speak for my job ethic or family. I hope you won''t think less of me as a soldier and member of the Ildoo family due to actions performed during my free time."


    Khan revealed a happy smile. He knew George had matured in the past years, but that was the first true demonstration of his growth. He didn''t change, but that side of him had improved in ways that even Ron had to acknowledge.


    "I have no secret agenda, Mister Ildoo," Princess Edna stated. "Act as you see fit."


    "Thank you," George nodded before returning to his seat.


    "You should learn from George," Khan didn''t miss the chance to tease Monica.


    "Alright, enough!" Monica snorted while standing up and pulling Khan with her. "Edna, I need to have a talk with this idiot. Please, excuse us."


    Princess Edna merely nodded at the couple before losing herself in the inspection of the t. She held the bottle with both hands and studied every corner of the hall, uncaring that Monica was pulling Khan into separate areas.


    "Stop that!" Monica shouted as soon as the bedroom''s door closed behind the couple. "I feel that I''m going crazy already as it is, and you are only making things worse!"


    Khan initially smiled. He liked seeing Monica''s mood swings, but she radiated genuine anger now. Still, most of that feeling came from lingering anxiety.


    "Is this about the children thing?" Khan wondered.


    "No!" Monica cried. "Yes! I don''t know! What were you even thinking back then? You would have really died!"


    Monica''s voice broke near the end of her statement. Her anxiety took over and transformed her anger into a hysterical cry. Tears also started to arrive, dispersing any desire Khan still had to tease her.


    "Shit," Monica cursed while immersing her hands in her curls and fondling them violently. "I''m going crazy."


    Monica''s reaction was quite extreme. The recent events weighed on her mental stability, but everything had ended well. In theory, she had no reason to be so upset.


    Yet, Khan knew that things weren''t as simple as they looked. Seeing an example of how harsh the wealthy upbringing could be added value to Monica''s decision to be with Khan. She had chosen to face many risks, and her response to Princess Edna''s revtion had highlighted how much he mattered to her.


    Khan hated seeing Monica cry, but some happiness still arrived. His senses could confirm many things, but seeing Monica trying to shield him from eventual punishments had been undeniable proof. Some hesitation remained inside her, but her stance was clear. She waspletely on Khan''s side, and he wanted to take responsibility for that.


    "I didn''t realize how hard it was for you," Khan admitted while reaching for Monica''s hair, but she retreated and turned to get deeper into the room.


    "It''s not you," Monica sniffed as she approached the bed to sit in its corner. "I''m the one losing control."


    Khan walked toward Monica, but she kept her head lowered. Her curls hid her face even when Khan sat on the floor, and she had no intentions of showing herself.


    "What are you doing?" Khan whispered while taking Monica''s knee and moving it left and right. "me me already."


    "What?" Monica questioned while peeking through her messy hair.


    "I''m the reason you are losing control," Khan replied. "I''m guilty because you say so. Isn''t this what we do?"


    "This isn''t a joking matter!" Monica snapped, lifting her head to reveal her teary face. "The fucking Princess found out about us! What''s next? Anita? Lucian? Should we put out banners saying that we are together?"


    "Sure," Khan agreed. "Let''s do it."


    "You are not being serious," Monica scoffed. "Do you have any idea of what would happen?"


    "No," Khan admitted. He had epted that the world of the wealthy descendants still had many secrets, so he didn''t dare to im otherwise. However, his intentions had nothing to do with that, and he made sure to convey them. "But you are struggling, right? Let''s stop hiding then."


    Monica lifted her headpletely and stopped messing with her hair to reach for Khan''s left cheek. She caressed him, and he softly bit her thumb when it entered his mouth''s range.


    "Idiot," Monica giggled. "You just want to tease me in public."


    "Tease," Khan muttered while letting go of Monica''s thumb to snuggle in her palm, "Hold, kiss."


    "Such a scoundrel," Monica whispered as some shyness appeared on her face. "I''m not ready to have children, so get that idea out of your mind."


    "It wasn''t about that," Khan chuckled. "I was worried about the mutations. I don''t want to pass them down."


    "Your new hair looks fine," Monica reassured. "Besides, the Global Army has experience dealing with mutations. They won''t be a problem."


    Khan smiled but lowered his gaze. Some hesitation appeared in his mind but quickly went away. Somehow, he had already made a decision on the matter.


    "I have nightmares," Khan revealed while keeping his gaze lowered. "I see the Second Impact whenever I fall asleep. It''s mana-rted, so there is no real solution."


    "What?" Monica gasped. "What are you saying?"


    "My mutations cursed me," Khan continued. "I don''t know what the nightmares mean, but I keep having them. They probably have something to do with the true reason behind the First Impact, and the Global Army might have the answers."


    "That''s why you want to be an ambassador," Monica realized.


    "It''s a suitable career," Khan nodded. "It will allow me to learn more about mana while climbing the politicaldder."


    Monica didn''t know what to say. That revtion was too big for her to ept right away. Suddenly, most of Khan''s current personality and behavior made sense. He was basically trapped, and getting stronger was the only avable path.


    "I had no idea," Monica whispered.


    "Only a handful of people know about this," Khan added. "I''m pretty sure Raymond and some higher-ups of the Global Army have some answers, but I can''t just ask them."


    "No wonder you hate sleeping so much," Monicamented. "It makes sense. You don''t want your children to have nightmares."


    "Yes," Khan sighed as he finally lifted his gaze. "It wasn''t about you or anything. Professor Nickton''s lesson simply awakened old worries."


    Monica was lost. She needed time to process the revtion, and more questions piled up as she kept thinking about it. Yet, the situation didn''t work in her favor, and she had different priorities now.


    "You have this immense burden," Monica stated as she left the bed to sit on the floor with Khan, "And I''m hereining about getting teased. Sorry. I''m so, so sorry."


    "Hey, you didn''t know," Khan smirked while pulling Monica onto hisp. "You also have it hard. Being with me is no easy task, especially with your family and everything."


    "Nonsense," Monica scoffed. "Tease me all you want. Joke and have fun with me whenever you feel like it. Use me as you see fit as long as it keeps you away from the nightmares."


    "Use you?" Khan repeated. "You sure utter bold words from time to time."


    "I won''t go back on them," Monica pouted. "I meant what I said."


    "I wonder," Khan teased while pulling Monica even closer and sealing his grip on her waist. "How should I use you? I might have a few ideas."


    ? "What helpless scoundrel," Monicained before lowering her voice. "Just do all of them. I''m yours, remember?"


    Khan''s heart almost burst with affection. He kissed Monica, and she let out a cute moan while falling prey to that intimate gesture. They both knew what was about to happen, but the buzz of their phones forced them to take a break.


    ''George?'' Khan wondered when unlocking his phone''s screen to read the message. ''If you leave me alone, I''ll stop giving you condoms.''


    Khan and Monica exchanged a nce before exploding into augh. They kissed again but soon stood up to leave the bedroom.


    The situation in the main hall didn''t change during the couple''s short departure. Princess Edna was still lost in her inspection of the area, and her two guards didn''t leave her side.


    "Oh, Captain," Princess Edna eximed when Khan and Monica approached George''s couch. "So, is this it? Do you just drink to kill time?"


    "We also joke or tell stories," Khan exined as Monica cuddled under his arm. "George and I have gone through a lot together, so we have many interesting tales."


    "I want to hear them," Princess Edna stated.


    "Of course," Khan nodded. "Still, most of them aren''t happy. I''m afraid they might ruin the mood."


    "Captain, don''t bore me," Princess Edna ordered. "There is nothing I hate more than boredom."


    "As you wish," Khan sighed while ncing at George. The two men found a silent understanding that pushed Khan to begin his story. "I guess we should start from when we first met. Are you aware of the Istrone''s rebellion?"


    ****N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Author''s notes: Sorry for the long dy. I hope you enjoy the chapter.

 Chapter 448 Tests

    Princess Edna stayed true to her words. She officially joined the advanced sses and never missed the chance to sit next to Monica and Khan. She also followed them to George''s t every afternoon, leaving no openings for the rest of the students and teachers.


    Khan didn''t know whether that development was positive for his career. Still, going against the Princess was impossible, so he tried to make the best out of his new situation.


    The lessons were fine. The Princess was extremely well-behaved during those, and she barely paid attention anyway, so Khan could follow everything properly.


    The mana-rted sses belonged to the beginning of the week, but that didn''t make the following any easier, especially for Khan. Theory-heavy lessons filled the next days, with many going over every regtion the Global Army had. Khan only had to memorize them, but their sheer amountplicated everything.


    Princess Edna didn''t help there. She abhorred studying, so Khan couldn''t go over his lessons while she was in George''s t. He had to handle that whenever she left or in his spare time, which inevitably led to sleepless nights.


    Luckily for Khan, Monica never stopped supporting him. She didn''t only know most of the subjects already. Her family had also taught her useful studying methods that she didn''t hesitate to share with Khan.


    The subjects were another important factor in Khan''s diligence. The general topics could be boring, but most of them flowed into specific fields, including those involving ambassadors.


    The Global Army had developed countless rules over the years, and the ambassadors had to stick to many. Those regtions also changed depending on different situations, and Khan had to memorize all of them. That was the actual foundation for his career, and he was learning it from one of the best ces in the universe.


    The sleepless nights, almostpleteck of free time, and constant pressure caused by the Princess could make anyone go mad. However, Khan was no stranger to packed schedules, and he could also find positive sides to his situation.


    Princess Edna was unpredictable, but Khan could keep her entertained. He had many interesting stories, especially when he added George to the equation, so fulfilling her curiosity was never a problem.


    Monica''s feelings for Khan began to bloom properly after learning about the nightmares. They continued to keep their rtionship a secret, but she slowly grew used to being with him in front of the Princess. His need to catch up in many subjects also made her strangely obedient, which he never failed to point out.


    George risked getting the short end of the stick in that situation. After all, the Princess was basically invading his t, preventing him from having proper fun. However, he turned everything in his favor. He couldn''t see Anita often, but being the host of the Princess'' nights made him a celebrity.


    In short, things were far from bad, and Khan''s schedule almost stabilized once the first week of lessons ended. He had yet to talk with Colonel Norrett, but everything was going fine. However, he still had something to sort out, and the first of the two free days gave him the time to handle it.


    ''Good luck,'' Khan smiled when he read Monica''s message on his phone, but the stopping of the cab forced him to put the device away.


    When Khan left the car, he found himself in one of the Harbor''s hangars. The universe seen from the transparent dome managed to steal his attention for a few seconds, but he lowered his gaze as soon as he sensed soldiers nearby.


    "Hello?" Khan called as he crossed a few ships parked before him to reach the group of soldiers. They were only three first-level warriors, but it quickly became evident that Khan''s fame had arrived there.


    The soldiers grew stiff as soon as they noticed Khan''s azure hair. One didn''t bother to turn, but hispanions pulled him to im his attention. Needless to say, the three soon performed military salutes and didn''t move a muscle as they waited for Khan''s request.


    "At ease," Khan eximed while pulling out the letter for his flying courses. "I have to redeem this. Can you help me out?"


    One of the soldiers stepped forward to read the unlocked letter, but he shook his head when he understood its contents. "You must see the Lieutenant in charge of this hangar, sir."


    "Can you bring me there?" Khan politely asked, and a series of nods unfolded in his vision.


    The three soldiers escorted Khan to a separate area of the hangar. It took a few corridors, but the group eventually arrived in front of an office, and one of the first-level warriors knocked on its door.


    The door unlocked, and the soldiers stepped aside to open a path for Khan. Thetter walked inside, and a young-looking man busy tinkering with his interactive desk became visible.


    "Yes?" The man casually asked, but his demeanor changed as soon as he noticed the azure hair. He immediately stood up to perform a military salute, and far politer words followed. "How can I help you, Captain Khan?"


    "Lieutenant?" Khan questioned.


    "Shurpard, sir," The man replied.


    "Lieutenant Shurpard, I have to redeem this letter," Khan exined while handing the unlocked device. "Am I in the right ce?"


    Lieutenant Shurpard didn''t hide his surprise when he read the letter, and Khan used that time to ept the changes in his status. He had mostly been around wealthy descendants and professors since his promotion, but those soldiers'' reactions told him how important he had be.


    "C-congrattions, sir!" Lieutenant Shurpard soon eximed. "Free flying courses are a great honor, but I can''t think of anyone more deserving than you."


    "So," Khan continued, ignoring the praise, "Am I in the right ce?"


    "Of course!" Lieutenant Shurpard responded. "I can be your instructor if you are okay with that. Otherwise, I can summon a superior, but that might force you to wait."


    "Then, can I start now?" Khan wondered.


    "As long as you are fine with me, sir," Lieutenant Shurpard rified.


    Khan wasn''t picky, and some eagerness had also gotten to him. Besides, the Lieutenant was a second-level warrior. He couldn''t be a bad instructor.


    "Sure," Khan nodded. "No problem at all."


    "I''m honored, sir," Lieutenant Shurpardughed and hurried to the other side of the desk before addressing the soldiers standing outside the office. "Make someonee down to take my spot."


    The soldiers acknowledged the order, and Lieutenant Shurpard showed a big smile to Khan before leading him out of the office. Initially, Khan believed he would return to the hangar, but the Lieutenant brought him deeper into the dome to reach a big, cubical room.


    "This way, Captain," Lieutenant Shurpard called as he approached the room''s entrance and unlocked it with his gic signature.


    A vast, white space unfolded in Khan''s eyes once the two men entered the room. The area resembled a training hall due to its emptiness, but a single seat existed at its center. The ce even felt familiar to Khan, which caused some disappointment.


    "Is this a flight simtor?" Khan questioned as the Lieutenant approached the seat to activate its holograms.


    "Indeed, Captain," Lieutenant Shurpard confirmed. "These courses always have the first lessons inside a simtor. I''m sure you understand."


    Khan quickly lost interest in the matter, and the appearance of the holograms didn''t help. Those azure images depicted one of the many control desks he had studied with Luke''s simtor. He simply couldn''t learn anything from them.


    "Sir, if you would join me," Lieutenant Shurpard announced. "This is the general look of a control desk. Most modern ships have adopted this design, except for-."


    "Purely terrestrial vehicles," Khan interrupted. "Some hybrid ships still cling to old designs too, but they are getting rare."


    Lieutenant Shurpard remained surprised, but Khan decided to press on. Clearly, he was the most important person in the room, so he used that to his advantage.


    "That''s the handbrake," Khan stated while pointing at one of the keys. "The levitation lock is next to it, and you can find themunication panel above. I can go on."


    Khan barely looked at the control desk during his exnation, but his fingers always pointed at the correct keys. He seemed to havemitted them to memory.


    Lieutenant Shurpard didn''t know how to react. The flying courses had a schedule to follow, but Khan knew his stuff. Also, the rumors about him corroborated his expertise.


    "Captain," Lieutenant Shurpard eventually coughed, "Is it true that you flew Princess Edna''s ship?"


    ''The rumors have already gotten here,'' Khan sighed internally before showing a meaningful smile to the Lieutenant. He didn''t say anything, but his expression was enough.


    "I think we might skip a few passages in your case," Lieutenant Shurpard announced through his broad smile. "Why don''t you follow me back to the hangar?"


    "dly," Khan stated, and another walk began.


    The Lieutenant remained silent, but his mana said a lot. The same went for the few soldiers Khan met on his way. It felt strange to be held in such reverence by people much older than him, but that was his new status. Even the wealthy descendants would probably treat him like that once Princess Edna got out of the way.


    Still, that situation confirmed Khan''s initial idea. He didn''t care about that superficial politeness. He didn''t want those kinds of rtionships. They were necessary for his career, but he would rather have fewer meaningful connections over a sea of acquaintances.


    Of course, Lieutenant Shurpard was already off that list. He was too tense around Khan, and the situation didn''t improve even when they entered the privacy of a ship. The soldier wore a fake smile whenever their eyes met. He would never be able to look past ranks and fame.


    "Captain, this is a standard training ship," Lieutenant Shurpard exined while leading the way toward the control desk. "As you can see, I''ll also have a steering wheel. Mine can override your directives, but I''m sure I won''t need to use it."


    Khan inspected his surroundings. The ship was rtively old and chunky. It wouldn''t be his ideal choice, but he recognized the control desks, and that was enough. After all, he only had to get his license there.


    "Why don''t we see how you handle the set-off?" Lieutenant Shurpard asked. "Mind you. The Harbor has special procedures for departures and arrivals. We''ll have to go on auto-pilot to leave the dome."


    Khan remained silent as he approached the pilot''s seat on the left and made himselffortable. He even began activating the functions necessary for the flight, but the first scolding didn''t take long to arrive.


    "Captain," Lieutenant Shurpard called while sitting next to Khan. He sounded conflicted, but he still voiced his rebuke. "You should fasten your seatbelt before proceeding with the set-off."


    "Right," Khan sighed as he reached for the seatbelt. "Sorry, I like feeling the ship''s movements."


    "That''s dangerous, sir," Lieutenant Shurpard pointed out.


    "I know," Khan chuckled. "I guess I developed bad habits flying on Nitis."


    Nitis'' records were some of the most unclear parts of Khan''s profile, but the Aduns were no secret, and Lieutenant Shurpard couldn''t help but convey his curiosity.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Sir, if you don''t mind me asking," Lieutenant Shurpard announced. "Did you really ride a Tainted animal on Nitis?"


    "Mine was mischievous and petty," Khanughed without hiding his lingering affection for Snow. "He always rolled himself on the ground to get me all dirty."


    "Do not worry," Lieutenant Shurpard imed since he misunderstood Khan''s tone. "Ships are extremely reliable. The auto-pilot program is probably smarter than me."


    ''Snow was reliable,'' Khan scoffed in his mind whilepleting the procedures for the set-off.


    The auto-pilot stepped in when the ship left the floor, and a robotic voice came out of the control deck. "Authorization required."


    "Lieutenant Shurpard requesting departure from the Harbor," The Lieutenant answered through his control desk.


    A few seconds had to pass before the auto-pilot acknowledged the Lieutenant''s request and continued the set-off. Khan had no control over the maneuver, and even his fame couldn''t fix that. The Harbor''s regtions wanted those phases of the flight to be automatic.


    The ship left the hangar and flew through a few channels before leaving the dome. The autopilot turned itself off once the vehicle entered open space, and Khan''s hands were already on the steering wheel by then.


    "Do I need to do anything specific?" Khan wondered as he let the ship move in a straight line.


    "Let''s start with basic maneuvers," Lieutenant Shurpard dered. "Just do as I say, sir."


    Khan followed the instructions whenever they arrived. He elerated, turned, and performed simple maneuvers whenever the Lieutenant gave the order. Thetter was only testing Khan''s basic flying skills, and he did perfectly.


    "Captain, you definitely know your way around ships," Lieutenant Shurpard praised once Khan went over all the basic maneuvers. "Let''s move toward the moon. I want to see how you handle the proximity to a surface."


    Khan didn''t hesitate toply. He turned and elerated to enter a free dive toward the Harbor''s moon. The ship''s speed made the Lieutenant ufortable, and that feeling intensified as the rocky surface grew closer, but Khan made sure to slow down before he could receive another rebuke.


    "Same maneuvers?" Khan asked once the ship stopped less than five hundred meters from the surface.


    "Y-yes," Lieutenant Shurpard confirmed. "Though, try not to go too fast, sir. It''s dangerous, and this ship isn''t meant for sharp maneuvers."


    "I noticed," Khanmented while proceeding to repeat the previous maneuvers. He elerated, turned, and evennded on the rocky surface as soon as the Lieutenant ordered him to.


    "Well," Lieutenant Shurpard coughed while the ship remained parked on the moon''s surface. "Captain, your flying skills are surprisingly good. You could get your license in a few months at this pace."


    "Months?" Khan frowned.


    "Well," The Lieutenant coughed again. "Checking every step of the schedule is important. Regtions also want at least twentypleted flights before gaining ess to the actual test."


    "Does this count as one?" Khan wondered.


    "No, sir," Lieutenant Shurpard said in a sorry tone. "The test will want you to fly far closer to the surface and perform sharper maneuvers."


    Khan didn''t have to pretend. He felt disappointed and made sure to show that on his face. He knew that the Global Army had to be thorough, but he really didn''t need those training wheels.


    "I can boot a flight program to give you an idea of the test if you wish," Lieutenant Shurpard immediately bent the rules to gain Khan''s favor. "Protocol doesn''t allow me to mark it as your first sessful flight, but it might quicken the process."


    "Sure, go ahead," Khan uttered, and the Lieutenant yed with his control desk until holograms depicting a clear path came out.


    The holograms were interactive, so Khan could tinker with them to read all the requirements. The Harbor already had a training path that went over deep craters and simr environmental hindrances, but the speed required to meet its standards felt quite disappointing.


    "Do I need to go so slow?" Khan questioned once his inspection ended.


    "It''s just a training route, sir," Lieutenant Shurpard exined. "The actual test will ask you to go faster, but not above the speed limit."


    "Is there a speed limit here?" Khan wondered.


    "Only if you are close enough to the moon," Lieutenant Shurpard revealed. "The speed limit also changes depending on the quadrant or area. I''m sorry, but the Harbor is strict with its regtions."


    ''There probably are special permits for that,'' Khan guessed since he had read something simr in his books.


    Khan eventually took another look at the training route. It looked easy, but he didn''t want to go so slow. Yet, Lieutenant Shurpard could override hismands, which could be dangerous during sharp maneuvers.


    "Look, Lieutenant," Khan opted for an honest approach. "I want to push this ship a bit, but I''m ufortable when you can take over any time. It might make us crash."


    "You don''t have to worry, Captain," Lieutenant Shurpard reassured, uncaring that Khan''s words might have been offensive. "I have a lot of experience."


    "Alright," Khan stated. "What''s the speed limit?"


    "Captain?" Lieutenant Shurpard called. "Well, this is a training ship. It won''t exceed the limit even if you keep pushing the wheel."


    "Perfect," Khan muttered as he made the ship perform a sharp eleration.


    Lieutenant Shurpard mmed his back on the seat and reached for the steering wheel. His first instinct told him to interrupt that violent set-off, but some hesitation appeared. He had just reassured Khan, and going against him so soon was far from wise.


    Meanwhile, Khan ignored the Lieutenant to focus on the training route. He made the ship go faster and faster as he approached the various maneuvers required by the holograms.


    Lieutenant Shurpard had to fight against the desire to stop Khan whenever a mountain or a crater appeared. The ship was definitely going too fast for someone on his first ride, but the initial sessful maneuvers brought some reassurance.


    Khan soon reached the speed limit, but the ship''s poor agility made him slow down at times. He didn''t trust the vehicle enough to dive into reckless behavior. Still, he did his best to remain fast, and a sense of freedom eventually invaded his mind.


    In the end, Khan cleared the training route andnded on the rocky surface again. He remained slightly disappointed, but the Lieutenant had the very opposite mindset. Khan was no beginner, and the recent flight had proven that.


    "I should be able to go faster once I get used to this ship," Khan eximed to break the silence.


    "Faster?!" Lieutenant Shurpard raised his voice before regaining his polite tone. "Captain, there is no need for that. The test isn''t that harsh."


    "But I like going fast," Khan admitted through his shameless face.


    "Oh," Lieutenant Shurpard gasped. "Well, sir, the ship for the test won''t have the speed limit, so you might risk failing if you keep elerating."


    Khan showed his disappointed expression again. He knew there were regtions to follow, but he hoped they wouldn''t be so strict.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "There are ways to avoid regtions," Lieutenant Shurpard continued in an attempt to make a good impression on Khan. "Renting or owning fast ships can grant a certain clearance level. The same goes for pilots with specific permissions."


    "Rent?" Khan repeated.


    "The Harbor has many ships avable for rent," Lieutenant Shurpard exined. "They aren''t cheap, but you should have great discounts, sir."


    "What about buying one?" Khan questioned since the topic hade up. "Do I have discounts on that too?"


    "Yes," Lieutenant Shurpard confirmed, "But you''d still need tens of millions of Credits. I don''t know if-."


    "Tens of millions?" Khan repeated before heaving a sigh. That number of Credits was still a distant dream.


    "It''s not only that, sir," Lieutenant Shurpard continued. "Fuel is expensive, and the same goes for various permits. Docking in hangars also costs money, and I''m not even considering yearly maintenance and check-ups."


    Khan couldn''t help but stare at Lieutenant Shurpard. He had read a lot about the topic, but the soldier made it sound far harsher than he had initially believed. Keeping a ship almost sounded more expensive than purchasing it.


    "The renting part," Khan went back to the previous topic. "Can I go out alone if I have enough money to rent?"


    "You need at least ten flights for that," Lieutenant Shurpard exined, "And the auto-pilot won''t give you much freedom."


    "So, license first," Khan sighed.


    "I''m afraid that''s for the best, sir," Lieutenant Shurpard smiled in an attempt to reassure Khan. "The course doesn''t stop at the flights either. You''ll also have to surpass a theoretical and practical test."


    "Isn''t this the practical test?" Khan asked, pointing at the steering wheel.


    "A pilot must know basic emergency procedures," Lieutenant Shurpard revealed. "Crashes are rare, but they happen, and you must know how to survive them, sir."


    "How does someone survive a crash in space?" Khan questioned.


    "There are techniques meant to survive space-walking," Lieutenant Shurpard dered. "They can''t keep you alive for long, but they might give you enough time to repair eventual damage or call for help."

 Chapter 449 Rank

    Khan talked a bit longer with the Lieutenant before being forced to bring the ship back to the hangar. The conversation enlightened him about different parts of the course, but everything remained superficial since it was only the first lesson.


    The Lieutenant had to return to his post once the lesson ended, leaving Khan alone in the hangar. Usually, he would opt for a long, rxing walk back home, but his packed schedule forced him to call a cab to save time.


    Khan didn''t look past the window''s seat even once during the ride back to the second district. His eyes remained on his phone for the entire time due to the immense number of pages he had to study. He didn''t waste a single second in the past days, but he remained behind and didn''t know how many sleepless nights had to happen to fix that.


    Things changed inside the elevator of George''s building. Khan heaved a helpless sigh as he threw his phone into his pocket. He wanted to rest for a few minutes, but checking the t came first.


    Luckily for Khan, the symphony that filled George''s t depicted a rxing environment, and the main hall confirmed those sensations. Khan couldn''t see George, but Monica was on one of the couches, busy reading hologramsing out of her phone.


    "What are you studying?" Khan asked while heading straight for Monica''s couch.


    "I''m just reviewing aliennguages," Monica exined while moving toward the corner of the couch and tapping on herp. "I want to be ready for next week."


    "Such a good student," Khan chuckled as hey on the couch and used Monica''sp as a pillow.


    Monica put away her phone and focused on Khan. She caressed his cheek, and a cute "hey" came out of her mouth.


    "Hey you," Khan replied, and a smile bloomed on his face when Monica lowered her head to deliver a kiss.


    "How was the lesson?" Monica asked.


    "Not bad," Khan whispered while turning to dig his face into Monica''s waist. "I showed the Lieutenant there that I could fly. I just have many things to study on the side."


    "The pilot''s license is a big deal," Monica giggled. "It also expires every ten years."


    "I know," Khan groaned, enjoying the affection that Monica''s caresses conveyed. "The Lieutenant answered every question I had. I guess being the Princess'' friend helps. Where is she anyway?"


    "We have ns to go shoppingter," Monica revealed. "Only women she said. Apparently, she involved the Headmistress."


    "And here I thought I could have you all for myself today," Khanined while snuggling closer to Monica.


    Monica giggled again as she moved Khan aside to free her legs. Khan''s head ended on the couch, but Monica soony on him to deliver a far more passionate kiss.


    "Where is George?" Khan asked once the kiss ended.


    "In his room," Monica replied while taking Khan''s face between her hands. "Don''t look at me like this. I know you haven''t slept in four days."


    "I''m surprised you noticed among all that snoring," Khan teased.


    Monica pouted but quickly ignored the joke to deliver another kiss. Khan instinctively reached for her butt, but she lifted her head before the situation could degenerate.


    "Sleep," Monica whispered. "You can have me once you are rested."


    "You are so obedient these days," Khan teased again.


    "I''m the best girlfriend in the world," Monica proudly imed. "I must support my man when he has a hard time."


    "I should thank your family for educating you so thoroughly," Khan pressed on.


    "Enjoy it while itsts," Monica snickered as she let go of Khan to make herself morefortable. "I''m noting down every joke. I''ll take my revenge as soon as things get easier for you."


    "What will you even do?" Khan asked, letting Monica slide on his arm to keep her at his side.


    "You''ll see," Monica smirked. "You''ll have to beg me to stop."


    "That doesn''t sound too bad," Khan chuckled.


    "It won''t be pleasant!" Monica snapped but quickly calmed down. She even neared Khan''s mouth before voicing a whisper. "Just sleep and dream about me."


    "I wish," Khan cursed as he turned to face the ceiling. "I also have a lot to study."


    "Subject?" Monica questioned.


    ? "Regtions," Khan sighed. "More fucking regtions."


    "Let me think," Monica muttered while approaching Khan''s ear to speak tempting words. "Why don''t we move to a bedroom while I wait for Princess Edna''s message?"


    Monica''s suggestion could sound bold to a stranger, but Khan knew her real intentions. When he nced at her, he noticed a trace of concern in her charming and slightly shy expression, which further confirmed what he had felt.


    "Are you nning to tire me out?" Khan wondered.


    "I''d do anything as long as it helps you," Monica dered. "So, keep relying on me. Keep using me until I''m the only thing in your mind."


    Khan couldn''t contain himself at those words. Wild vigor filled his body as he straightened his back and carried Monica with him. The two found themselves sitting on each other, with their lips long since entangled in a long kiss.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s phone rang before he could start to unbutton Monica''s uniform. Their passion took a break and checking the device revealed that Colonel Norrett had sent a message.


    ''Dinner with me tonight,'' Khan read on his phone. ''A car will pick you up in three hours.''


    "He has finally contacted you," Monicamented.


    "He is probably leaving soon," Khan guessed. "I''m surprised he remained in the Harbor until now."


    Monica agreed with that statement, but the invitation ruined her ns. Khan would never go to sleep now. She could push for a nap, but Khan''s focus on the phone ended up annoying her.


    "Hey," Monica called, pulling Khan''s ear closer to her mouth, "You aren''t looking at me."


    Khan smirked and put his phone away before standing up. Of course, he lifted Monica, and she clung to him without needing warnings or words. Somehow, they had already decided how to spend those three hours.


    .


    .


    .


    A ship arrived to get Khan, just like the message had said. He only had to reach the sidewalk to find it and start the flight to where Colonel Norrett wanted to have the dinner.


    The passengers'' seats weren''t empty. One of Colonel Norrett''s guards sat silently before Khan, and her expression told him that she had no intention to speak. Still, her eyes showed some respect, which was more than appreciated.


    The ship left the second district and headed for the shopping area. Buildings that Khan had visited with the Princess ran through his vision, but his attention eventually fell on a tall structure covered withrge windows. One of those dark sses opened at the vehicle''s arrival and turned into anding area.


    Getting off the ship put Khan into a small hall with only one table and two seats. Meals were already resting on its surface, and Colonel Norrett was also upying a chair. Meanwhile, his other three guards were standing next to a wall.


    The woman in Khan''s ship reached herpanions right after thending, and Colonel Norrett stood up as soon as he noticed Khan. His arms spread to wee him, and augh left his mouth.


    "The man of the hour," Colonel Norrett announced, "Or is it a week already?"


    "Almost a week, sir," Khan confirmed. "I thought you would have left by now."


    "My original idea saw a far shorter trip," Colonel Norrett cursed as he pointed at the seat on the opposite side of the table. "Still, the Princess brought many duties with her, and it''s my job to see that they are fulfilled."


    "Duties, sir?" Khan wondered while approaching the second seat.


    "Security issues," Colonel Norrett exined while sitting down, "Performance reports, internal rearrangements, and so on."


    Khan joined Colonel Norrett at the table, and thetter promptly filled his cup with what smelled like strong booze before moving to his own ss. The two even drank and let a calm silence follow.


    "I''m sure you have questions," Colonel Norrett broke the silence as he proceeded to seize various meals and ce them on his te.


    "They are vague," Khan admitted as he also seized some food, "And numerous."


    "Didn''t Miss Solodrey clear many of them for you?" Colonel Norrett wondered. "I might be distant from the students, but rumors have a long reach."


    "Sir, I''m merely a valuable figure that the Solodrey family wants to keep close," Khan said without bothering to stop eating.


    "Try to breathe every once in a while," Colonel Norrettmented.


    "I''m hungry," Khan replied while continuing his feasting.


    Colonel Norrett smirked and brought a hand on his chin. He inspected Khan, and ament eventually left his mouth. "Not that young when ites to women."


    Khan pretended not to hear the joke, but the desire to change the topic arrived, and he had the right question for that.


    "Sir," Khan gulped down the remaining food in his mouth, "How should I handle my political situation?"


    "That''s for you to decide," Colonel Norrett stated. "What you do with your rank and connections will set the foundation for the kind of soldier you''ll be."<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "I want to be an ambassador," Khan opted for an honest reply. "That probably needs as many connections as possible."


    "Then go to every dinner and social event," Colonel Norrett dered.


    "I don''t have enough time for that," Khan pointed out.


    "Make it," Colonel Norrett responded. "Unless it''s too hard for you."


    Khan didn''t miss the Colonel''s challenging tone, and that detail made the answer clear. There were no easy paths. Khan would have to sacrifice something to fit everything inside his schedule.


    However, Khan didn''t stop at that understanding. The Colonel''s straightforward answer set a specific mood that made Khan''s shameless sidee out.


    "Sir, what ns do you have for me?" Khan directly asked.


    "I''m a Colonel," Colonel Norrett scoffed. "I don''t have ns for Captains."


    "Too young," Khan repeated words the Colonel had used in the past. "You must have something in mind. Does it have to do with your upation?"


    "I have many upations," Colonel Norrett rified, "And you are too young to hear them."


    "But I might end up on a path that doesn''t suit them if left on my own," Khan teased, hoping that the new approach would trigger a more helpful answer.


    "Little shit," Colonel Norrett snickered. "Well, you missed your big celebration, but having the Princess as a political allypensates more than enough."


    ''Political ally,'' Khan scoffed in his mind. He had probably be closer than many others to the Princess, but that didn''t make her an actual ally. Her personality was too erratic for that.


    "The Princess must be your starting point," Colonel Norrett continued, "But you must never give her away. You''ll lose value in the eyes of many representatives if you do."


    Khan couldn''t help but nod. He didn''t have the ability to give away the Princess, but it remained a piece of good advice. As long as the representatives thought they could get to her through him, he would have the advantage.


    "Learning to differentiate among families will alsoe in handy," Colonel Norrett added. "The smaller families will show you more respect, but you won''t get much from them. Instead, the wealthiest will try to exploit you in exchange for greater benefits."


    "What about exceptions?" Khan questioned. Monica, Luke, and Bruce were good examples, but Khan also considered Robert Bizelli and other figures that had made a good impression.


    "They exist," Colonel Norrett. "However, you''ll always thread a thin line while walking on the political journey. You must find a bnce among wealth, benefits, respect, and personal goals."


    Khan emptied his te and focused on his drink while losing himself in his thoughts. Colonel Norrett wanted him to expand his knowledge of the various representatives to choose who to prioritize. Yet, he was in the Harbor now. His current needs might not match his future ones.


    "Of course," Colonel Norrett eximed, "Seizing personal achievements remains your best option. You must hurry to establish yourself in the political environment only if your fame was a fluke."


    Khan lifted his gaze to exchange a meaningful look with Colonel Norrett. His statement was clear. Personal achievements were the key to a better political life. As long as Khan continued being amazing, he wouldn''t need to worry too much about his various connections. They woulde to him.


    "On that topic," Khan announced, "I might have something."


    "What is it now?" Colonel Norrett asked. "Did you hold something back from your experiences on Milia 222?"


    "It''s about my second third star," Khan exined. "I should be ready to get it."


    Colonel Norrett dropped the cheerful mood to wear a stern face. Khan had gotten his first third star less than a week ago. Achieving mastery over spells at the same level in such a short time sounded impossible, but Khan''s element could make it feasible.


    "Are you sure?" Colonel Norrett questioned. "I don''t go easy on liars."


    "I''m sure for one spell," Khan confirmed. "It should be enough."


    "Maybe in your case," Colonel Norrett replied, "If someone with enough relevance corroborates it."


    Khan showed his shameless smile, and Colonel Norrett shook his head. Still, he appeared amused. The more Khan opened up to him, the funnier those interactions became.


    "Let''s hit a training hall once this dinner ends," Colonel Norrett dered. "I have to leave anyway. A short stop won''t hurt."


    The Colonel nced at the table to check for more food, but he only found empty tes. Even the booze wasn''t where he had left it. Khan had the bottle next to him, ready to refill his cup.


    "When did you even eat all of this?" Colonel Norrett gasped.


    "I never stopped eating," Khan imed.


    "This talent should go on your profile," Colonel Norrettmented. "Oh well."


    Colonel Norrett stood up, and Khan imitated him. The two didn''t exchange words before heading for the vehicle in thending area, but the Colonel still left orders for his guards. "Prepare my ship. Pick me up once I''m done."


    The guards performed military salutes, and Khan nodded at them before following the Colonel inside the ship. The pilot was still inside, so the vehicle set off immediately to head for a district with training halls.


    The trip didn''tst long. The Colonel wasn''t picky, so the pilot headed for the closest training hall. Khan and Colonel Norrett soonnded in front of a familiarrge building and entered it without saying a word.


    Colonel Norrett scoffed when Khan reached an empty hall and revealed his shameless face again. He even crossed his arms behind his back. He had been the first to find an avable area, but he had no intentions of paying for it.


    "You should have enough money to pay for your own halls," Colonel Norrett joked while using his phone to unlock the training area.


    ''I should really check how much I have now,'' Khan cursed, recalling how he had yet to see how much he had earned from Milia 222.


    Preparing the hall for the test took less than a minute. Soon, a circr, reinforced target appeared in the distance, and the Colonel even took a step back to give Khan all the space he needed.


    Truth be told, Khan had barely trained during those days. His schedule had been a mess of lessons and studies, which didn''t give him any time to visit halls. Yet, he had already confirmed that the chaos spear met the requirements for his new star, and he trusted his control enough to be confident in his other spells.


    Khan didn''t wait for anyone. He joined his hands and poured as much mana as possible between them. He had cast the chaos spear so many times that mustering the necessary emotions felt natural, and the separation of his palms revealed his sess.


    An unstable purple-red spear took form between Khan''s hands. The weapon''s surface shook to no end but leaked no energy. It had found new stability after thest time Khan had tested it, andunching it proved its power.


    The bright pir that followed the spear''s crash on the target filled the training hall with wild winds. Khan and Colonel Norrett''s hair fluttered under those gales, but their expressions remained stern. The Colonel even applied his cloaking technique to his mana to avoid revealing his reactions.


    The mana contained in the spear eventually vanished, and peace returned inside the training hall. The target was still in one piece, but its deep cracks and darkened chunks said enough about the power of Khan''s spell. The number "3" in its corner was almost unnecessary in that situation.


    The Colonel''s stern expression didn''t break even after the target confirmed the spear''s power. Instead, his emotionless eyes fell on Khan, and a request followed. "Show me another spell."


    Khan lifted his right hand, and purple-red mana quickly covered it before stretching forward. A bright sword grew from his fingers, carrying the same unstable properties as the chaos spear. The spell had gotten longer, and its power had multiplied.


    "No need," Colonel Norrett stated as soon as Khan turned to approach the target. "I''ll update thework once I get to my ship. Your new uniforms should arrive in the next few days."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan said, dispersing the mana umted around his hand.


    "Truly a terrifying growth rate," Colonel Norrett muttered. "I don''t know how good that is."


    "I know about the risks of excessive training," Khan reassured.


    "It''s not that," Colonel Norrett exined. "Power leads to envy."


    The warning was vague but clear enough for Khan to understand it. Murray Dunac had already shown something simr, and there had to be more descendants like him.


    "Apany me outside," Colonel Norrett quickly changed the topic, and Khanplied.


    The two men left the training hall, and Khan expected the silence to reign until the inevitable goodbyes. However, Colonel Norrett broke it before they could reach the building''s exit.


    "You might be a student in the embassy," Colonel Norrett announced, "But don''t forget that you are also a captain."


    "Is this about representatives and soldiers?" Khan wondered.


    "Don''t put your rank away because you have unrted tasks," Colonel Norrett exined while opening the exit. "Make use of it."


    "Colon-," Khan called, but a circr tformnded on the sidewalk before he could finish his line. Colonel Norrett didn''t even bother to address the matter. He simply jumped on the item while waving his hand.


    "You are Captain Khan," Colonel Norrett shouted without turning, "Not student Khan."


    The tform set off as soon as that line ended. The machine brought Colonel Norrett above the buildings, where a ship was waiting for him. Khan recognized the big military vehicle seen before his promotion, and its disappearance from the district marked the departure of one of his best allies.


    ''My rank,'' Khan thought as his gaze remained on the area where the ship had disappeared. ''I know it''s far from useless, but still.''n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan couldn''te up with ideas right away, but something was clear. His finances were part of his power, so it was time to check how much he actually had.


    A quick look at the Harbor''s map told Khan where he could find a console. He only had to cross a few blocks to reach a rtively hidden area with protected rooms meant to give some privacy, and touching their dark surfaces revealed the machine he was looking for.


    Khan activated the console through his gic signature and browsed the menus until thebel "withdraw" appeared. Pressing on it showed his pending ies, and their amount made his eyes widen in surprise.


    ''Five hundred thousand Credits?!'' Khan managed to keep the shout inside his mind. Somehow, he had umted half a million.

 Chapter 450 Purchases

    The huge sum left Khan speechless. He had departed from Reebfell with sixty thousand Credits, but Milia 222''s rewards had multiplied that number in ways he didn''t expect.


    ''I can build a home with cans of spicy chicken now!'' Khan ended up shouting in his mind before serious thoughts took over.


    The console had all the details Khan could desire. The huge sum wasn''t the result of a single payment. Luke was the biggest benefactor, but multiple parties had joined their forces to create that half a million Credits.


    The families involved with the secret factory had handed out bonuses. Even Monica and Francis'' families didn''t shy away from that task. Also, the Global Army provided additional Credits for Khan''s heroic feat and promotion, ultimately leading to that huge sum.


    Many past conversations ran through Khan''s mind. He wasn''t a clueless boy from the Slums anymore, but his understanding of Credits remained vague, especially when it came to those huge quantities. He could only try to recall everything he had learnt and experienced on Reebfell to give actual value to the number on the console.


    ''Monica,'' Khan inevitably thought before rejecting the idea. Monica was busy with the Princess and the Headmistress now. He would ask for her advice, but onlyter on.


    George also came to Khan''s mind, and the idea of sending him a message grew stronger as the seconds passed. However, Khan''s phone ended up buzzing before he could take it, and the text on its screen ruined his ns.


    ''Give me some hours alone,'' George wrote.


    ''He must have waited for this chance,'' Khanughed before typing a reply. ''The condoms are in my room.''


    ''I obviously have mine,'' George replied.


    ''Good luck then,'' Khan wrote before adding something. ''Say hello to Anita from me.''


    George didn''t answer, but Khan could easily imagine his expression, which led to a chuckle. Truth be told, George deserved some fun time after having to deal with the consequences of Khan''s fame. Khan could only be happy for him.


    Nevertheless, George''s unavability kept the issue alive. Khan had just gotten his hands on an insane amount of money which he didn''t know how to use. Moreover, he had the Colonel''s words to address.


    ''Don''t put your rank away,'' Khan repeated. ''You are Captain Khan.''


    Captains had many benefits. They got better discounts and a higher sry, but Khan knew the Colonel wasn''t talking about that. Thetter wanted Khan to use the other advantages to be more than an ordinary student.


    ''Something that money can''t buy,'' Khan eventually thought as he proceeded with the withdrawal.


    A Captain could start missions and ask the Global Army to pay for eventual teammates. In theory, Khan could join or create jobs in the Harbor. He only had to study its environment and market to understand what could work.


    However, Khan''s schedule was hellish. The Colonel had told him to make time, but that topic involved political events. Even if the Princess left him alone, he still wouldn''t be able to fit actual missions into his daily life.


    ''What does he even want me to do?'' Khan sighed. ''Studying is enough to keep me awake every night.''


    Khan couldn''t find a correct answer, and ming his partial ignorance didn''t feel right. He knew what a Captain could do. Even some of his recent lessons had gone over the subject. Time was the main problem unless he was truly missing something.


    It quickly became clear that the aimless pondering wouldn''t lead anywhere. Khan simply decided to mention the issue to trusted friends. Still, in the meantime, he could deal with other matters, especially now that George''s t was off-limits.


    Khan left the private room and checked the interactive map on his phone. The shopping district was nearby, and some of its buildings became interesting now that half a million Credits were in his pocket. Of course, he wasn''t thinking about clothes.


    A cab came to pick Khan up in a few minutes, and he jumped inside without taking his eyes off the phone. He had three main targets, but finding the most suitable shops turned out to be quite challenging due to their sheer quantity.


    ''Where are the descendants when I need them?'' Khan cursed while browsing through the many shops'' descriptions, reviews, and general prices.


    Ideally, the most expensive shops would have the best merch, but that wasn''t always the case. Khan had learnt on Reebfell that brands could make prices skyrocket even if the goods were barely up to par. He really needed the help of someone knowledgeable of the Harbor, but his instinct had to do for now.


    The car left Khan before his first target. The building in front of him was tall and slightlyrge, with a decent number of customers noticeable from the transparent windows on the first floor. It wasn''t crowded, but it looked popr.


    Countless eyes turned in Khan''s direction as soon as his azure hair entered the shop. He ignored the customers to head for the main desks at the center of the first floor, but a waiter intercepted him.


    "Captain Khan!" The waiter almost shouted, showing her big smile. "You honor us with your presence. What can the Elite''s Refuge do for you?"


    "I''d like a catalog of your non-elemental spells," Khan went straight to the point.


    "Right away!" The waiter responded while pointing at deeper parts of the first floor. "If you would be so kind as to follow me. We have waiting areas that are a tad more private."


    The waiter even nced at the interested crowd of customers to highlight her statement, and Khan didn''t dare to refuse. He followed the woman inside a small room on the other side of the shop and upied one of the two couches.


    "I''ll be right back," The waiter dered before leaving the room.


    Khan made himselffortable, but the metal door slid open only a few secondster to reveal a second waiter carrying a cup of booze that she promptly left on the couch. The woman even performed a half-bow before leaving in a hurry.


    ''The Colonel probably didn''t mean this,'' Khan smirked while picking up the cup, ''But who am I to refuse?''


    The booze tasted good, and Khan savored it while waiting for the catalog to arrive. The Elite''s Refuge was an all-around shop, so he didn''t expect to find the best non-elemental spells, but it was a good starting point. Also, the warm wee told him that the waiters would probably answer his questions honestly.


    A white line eventually lit up between the two couches and created a series of holograms that matched Khan''s request. A long list of non-elemental spells apanied by suitable descriptions appeared in his vision, and discounted prices also hovered next to them.


    Khan took his time to study the list. The holograms had more than a hundredbels, but he cut them down to thirty by applying a few filters. Still, he had to spend minutes reading and considering everything.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t know what he was looking for. He wanted to fill gaps in his knowledge while hoping to find something interesting, but nothing caught his eye.


    Khan eventually used the holograms to summon a waiter, and the metal door soon opened to show the woman from before.


    "How can I help, sir?" The waiter asked.


    Khan could see many prying eyes behind the woman. His presence had be a popr topic among the customers, and the other waiters also paid attention to the scene. He couldn''t get honesty in that situation, so he opted for a different approach.


    "Can youe here for a second?" Khan questioned while gesturing to the waiter to enter the room.


    The woman was quite young. She didn''t have dazzling beauty, but no one would call her ugly, and Khan''s request made her blush. Her mana even radiated some excitement as she stepped forward to let the door close behind her.


    Khan understood what was happening but ignored that reaction to stand up and show a polite smile. His action intensified the woman''s excitement, who almost failed to hear the following question.


    "Do you know where I can find better stuff?" Khan asked.


    "What?" The woman gasped, but Khan continued before a frown could appear on her face.


    "I don''t know how all of this works," Khan partially feigned innocence while retaining a friendly face. "I want to purchase high-end goods, but I don''t know where to start."


    The waiter''s eyes widened in understanding, and some internal conflict soon followed. She even nced at the closed door behind her while thoughts ran through her mind. She wanted to make a good impression, but speaking about the shop''spetitors wasn''t ideal.


    "Is it too much?" Khan continued before the woman''s work ethic could ruin his n. "I don''t want to put your job at risk, so don''t overthink it. I''m just trying my chances."


    The waiter found Khan''s honesty heartwarming. He was a captain, but his rank had never joined that conversation. He treated the woman as his equal, which rekindled her excitement.


    The woman nced at the door again before whispering. "Do you have a map of the Harbor?"


    Khan''s smile widened as he took out his phone and opened the map. He even leaned toward the waiter to show the screen, and she carefully imitated him while her blush intensified.


    "How high-end do you want it?" The woman wondered.


    "Ideally, the best the Harbor can offer," Khan exined.


    "Non-elemental spells, right?" The woman continued.


    "Correct," Khan confirmed. He had other targets, but they probably were too specific for the waiter since she was only a first-level warrior.


    "You shouldn''t look for a shop then," The woman revealed. "I can point you toward something that has what you need, but getting in might be a problem."


    "You are already doing enough," Khan reassured through his friendly face. "Leave that part to me."


    Khan''s words added more fuel to the woman''s excitement and made her lower her eyes to continue the conversation without feeling too embarrassed. "You must look for an exclusive club. Go here and ask for Pandora."


    The woman pointed at a building on the screen even if the map had no descriptions attached to it. Khan marked it before storing his phone and straightening his back. The waiter imitated him, leaving the two awkwardly close.


    ''Is she expecting a kiss?'' Khan mocked himself while inspecting the waiter''s eager face. Her eyes often fell on his mouth, which said a lot about her intentions when paired with her emotions.


    "I should leave now," Khan said in the politest tone he could muster.


    "Of course," The woman gasped while stepping aside.


    Khan headed for the door, which opened as soon as he touched it. Still, the waiter made sure to im his attention onest time.


    "Captain," The waiter called while gently running a hand through her long brown hair to uncover her right ear. "I''m Marion. I hope you''ll visit us again."


    The entire floor noticed that interaction, and Khan could only smile before hurrying outside the shop. The car booked before was still there, and he almost jumped inside it while giving the new destination.


    ''Monica is going to kill me,'' Khan smirked when he thought about the rumors that would spread, but the matter quickly ended in the back of his mind. He had found something promising, and some eagerness inevitably built up.


    The club was inside the shopping district, and the car only needed a few minutes to reach the anonymous building. Khan crossed the sidewalk to enter what looked like a residential structure, but the powerful middle-aged man standing behind the main desk hinted at its secret purposes.


    "How can I help you, Captain Khan?" The middle-aged man announced while Khan was still crossing the hall. The doorman was a third-level warrior who remained strangely calm in Khan''s presence.


    "I''m looking for Pandora," Khan eximed, finally triggering some surprise in the doorman''s expression.


    "Last floor," The doorman recovered quickly and activated one of the elevators. "Though, your journey might be short."


    Khan nodded before heading toward the elevator. The doorman had already set themands, so the lift closed and climbed to thest floor on its own.


    From the outside, the building was nothing special. It appeared able to contain spacious ts, but that was it. Yet, the scene that weed Khan as soon as the elevator opened showed surprising details.


    Khan didn''t end in a t. The elevator brought him into a dim, short corridor connected to a small desk dug into the metal wall. A third-level warrior, a middle-aged woman, stood behind it and showed her emotionless smile at Khan''s arrival.


    "Hello," Khan announced since the woman didn''t say anything. "I''m looking for Pandora."


    "Of course you are, sir," The woman stated. "Anyone who ends up here is looking for it."


    "So?" Khan continued. "Am I in the right ce?"


    "We''ll see," The woman replied. "Excuse me for a moment."


    The woman left through a door behind her desk, leaving Khan alone in the corridor. He could only wait in that situation, but that didn''t bother him.


    A few minutes had to pass before the door reopened and the woman returned to her desk. Her expression appeared kinder now, which acted as a good omen.


    "Someone inside will exin how Pandora works," The woman stated while pressing a key under her desk to open a hidden door on Khan''s left. "Wee."


    Khan wanted to nod at the woman, but the intriguing symphonying out of the new passage distracted him. Some dizziness tried to spread in his mind due to the captivating scents and sensations leaking from the door. A dim environment had unfolded in his vision, and he fell prey to his curiosity while diving into it.


    The door closed as soon as Khan crossed it, leaving him in an open space as big as George''s t. The ce had various luxurious couches, armchairs, and tables arrayed to create different seating areas. Four desks upied the center of the hall, forming a square location meant for employees, and waiters roamed the ce to attend to the various customers.


    Khan''s arrival attracted some attention, but nothing as loud as his previous experience. The customers and attendants merely nced at him before going on with their days.


    As for Khan, he recognized some of the customers. He didn''t know everyone''s names, but he had seen those faces in the embassy. A few were his fellow students, while others seemed to be professors or workers encountered after his sses.


    The inspection couldn''tst long since an attendant quickly approached Khan. The man was a burly second-level warrior carrying the presence of an experienced soldier, but his smile remained kind while talking to Khan.


    "Captain Khan," The man eximed. "It''s an honor to have you at Pandora."


    "Thank you," Khan nodded.


    "I must inform you that your eptance is unusual," The man continued. "Pandora is usually out of reach for figures withcking background, but the boss made an exception in your case."


    "I''m grateful," Khan thanked again. "Can I rely on you to learn how Pandora works?"


    "Certainly, sir," The waiter stated. "Please, follow me to the central desks."


    Khanplied, and the man promptly activated the menus on the desk once the two reached it. A series ofbels went by before a waiter delivered a drink to mark the beginning of the exnation.


    "Pandora is an exclusive club, sir," The man exined while Khan was immersed in the drink''s pleasant taste. "As such, members are required to pay a monthly subscription fee, which has been greatly lowered in your case."


    "What are the benefits?" Khan wondered as the drink kept pampering his tongue and throat.


    "ess to goods that have yet to hit the market," The man revealed, "Including but not limited to items with an alien origin,pelling auctions, and services of various kinds."


    Khan didn''t need to ask what kind of services. He knew what wealthy people could do in their free time, and the topic didn''t interest him. However, the early ess to alien goods captured his attention.


    "Do the goods involve non-elemental spells?" Khan wondered.


    "Obviously," The man confirmed. "The list is quite long, and some items on it have yet to receive official authorizations. A few might never get them due to how dangerous they are."


    The revtion didn''te as a surprise. Khan had already seen non-elemental spells with foreign origins. His "enhanced reading" came from the Guko and hadpatibility issues, so it felt only natural that simr problems could appear with other techniques.


    "Is that it?" Khan decided to say. Milia 222''s dock basically offered simr things, and he had lived there for a while. Pandora''s services barely matched that environment for now.


    "Sir, with all due respect," The man announced, "Only the best goods end up in Pandora. You might have collected and encountered amazing things during your missions, but Pandora can top all of them."


    The man wasn''t lying, or at least, he truly believed his words. His confidence even managed to affect Khan. Pandora truly sounded like a box of wonders.


    "Additionally," The man continued, "Being a member grants you ess to exclusive ces. We also have branches in many space stations and cities. Still, the services in those locations might differ."


    Khan didn''t care about most of the exnation. Adding a new drinking area to his list was intriguing but unnecessary. Yet, the high-end goods remained an appealing topic, especially now that he had the money to purchase them.


    "Can I take a look at your inventory?" Khan asked.


    "I''m sorry, sir," The man uttered. "Only members have ess to it."


    "I see," Khan sighed. "How much is the subscription fee?"


    "For you, sir," The man eximed, "Ten thousand Credits."


    Khan wanted to choke on the drink but remained calm on the outside. The price sounded absurd, and it had probably gone through a severe discount due to his rtionship with the Princess. Amber had stated that thirty thousand Credits were enough to purchase a small house in Reebfell, but Pandora wanted a third of that every month.


    ''Is this a scam?'' Khan couldn''t help but wonder before rejecting that thought. The waiter in the Elite''s Refuge and the man in front of him had told the truth. There had to be good stuff in Pandora.


    "I need to think about it," Khan admitted. "I wonder, would it be possible to subscribe for only a month?"<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Yes," The man replied. "However, canceling the subscription might lead to higher fees in the future. Pandora likes loyal customers."


    "Understood," Khan sighed before pointing at the drink. "Can I remain here and maybe get another in the meantime?"


    "You are a guest, sir," The man smiled. "Tonight, Pandora is making an exception."


    Khan smiled back and followed the departing man with his eyes for a few seconds before focusing on the desk. The waiter had already prepared the menus for a subscription. Khan only needed to add his gic signature and pay to be a member.


    ''Ten thousand for a single month is insane,'' Khan cursed while taking sips from his drink. ''The actual goods will probably be as expensive too. There is no way I can afford asting subscription.''


    The high price was a problem, but Khan could ept it. He wouldn''t remain updated on Pandora''s various services, but a month was more than enough to get a general idea and decide what to purchase.


    ''These drinks are also delicious,'' Khan joked as he gestured toward one of the barmen behind the desk. Thetter only had to see him pointing at his cup to prepare another drink.


    The elevator opened while Khan was still immersed in his thoughts, and a familiar presence imed his attention. He peeked past his shoulder, and surprise appeared on his expression when he noticed Anita stepping in.


    Anita shared Khan''s surprise but showed a bright smile while approaching him. She even gestured at the same barman while taking a spot next to him.


    "I knew Pandora would have recruited you sooner orter," Anita eximed. "Who can me them?"


    "I actually came here by myself," Khan revealed. "I wanted better shops, and someone pointed me in this direction."


    "That someone was right," Anita stated. "Pandora is the best in many ways."


    "I didn''t know you were a member," Khan voiced.


    "I''m legacy," Anita replied, "Just like Monica and many other students. Though, I mostlye here to rx and have actual drinks."


    Anita tried to be as natural as always, but her mana didn''t lie. Khan and Anita had only seen each other during the lessons after the awkward moment in George''s t, and they had yet to talk about it.


    "Something on your mind?" Khan probed.


    Anita pretended not to hear Khan, but a sigh left her mouth when the new drinks arrived. Her gaze wandered over the tasty booze before she finally muttered words. "Capt-. Khan, you know that lost cause better than anyone. Tell me, am I wasting time?"


    "If you like it," Khan announced, "It''s not wasted time. That''s what the Niqols would say."


    "But I''m not a Niqols," Anita pointed out, "And neither is he. I know Nitis left a deep mark on him, but I need to know."


    Khan nced at Anita. She was still looking at her drink, but her internal struggle was real. She was also a wealthy descendant faced with an important choice.


    "George might sound and act like an idiot," Khan revealed, "But he is the most trustworthy person I know."


    "Is he now?" Anita whispered.


    "Do you want my advice?" Khan asked. "The more you hold back, the farther he''ll get."


    "I''m notpletely lost like my girl," Anita teased before diverting her gaze and ying with her blonde hair. "Though, he does look good with his uniform open."


    "He is a true soldier," Khan smirked, ignoring thement about Monica. "Any woman would be lucky to be with him."


    "And yet it seems that any woman can have him," Anita continued, "Differently from you. Monica sure is lucky."


    "George has found his peace," Khan exined. "He only jokes most of the time. Just hit him when it bes too much."


    "The idea has crossed my mind," Anita admitted.


    "Don''t hold back then," Khan uttered, "And put a leash on him since you are at it."


    "That would be a nice sight," Anita giggled. "Still, you are on his side. You don''t have my best interest in mind."


    "I would have told you to stay away if I thought you couldn''t make him happy," Khan imed in a serious tone.


    Anita felt forced to look at Khan. His seriousness was more than evident. He didn''t refute her previous statement, but it was clear that he had epted her.


    "Your looks are only part of your charm," Anita stated. "No wonder you could catch my girl."


    "That remains a misunderstanding," Khan dismissed the im. "Besides, shouldn''t you be in his t already?"


    "Beingte is the least I could do," Anita scoffed. "He still has to prove himself."


    "I won''t go to his t tonight," Khan reassured. "You''ll have all the time you want."


    "I''m not that shameless, Captain," Anita chuckled.


    "I know," Khan dered. "You pretend to be superficial, but you actually care deeply. You didn''t hesitate to stay with him when he was injured. I''m sure he also noticed that."


    Anita had to lower her gaze to hide her surprise. Khan had seen through her political persona in mere weeks, and talking about it in the open embarrassed her.


    "It''s fine," Khan continued. "I''m d he found someone like you."


    "Thank you," Anita muttered. "I should probably go."


    "Have fun," Khan chuckled as his focus returned to his drink.


    "That reminds me," Anita eximed once she lifted her head. "I forgot to thank you. Calling me a friend in front of the Princess was kind of you."


    "Anita, you are my friend," Khan smiled, and Anita smiled back as she began to leave the desk.


    "Wait!" Khan suddenly called when he recalled something.


    "What is it?" Anita questioned.


    "Do you know where I can get the best techniques connected to the pilot''s training?" Khan asked, revealing his second target. "I know the Global Army will give me some, but I don''t want to settle for freebies."


    "Oh," Anita gasped before approaching Khan again. "I''m not a pilot, but I heard good things about one shop."


    Khan pulled out his phone to show the interactive map of the Harbor, and Anita browsed through it before marking a shop. The ce''s name was "Ace High", and glowing reviews spread under it.


    "Good luck," Anita eximed once Khan retrieved his phone.


    "You too," Khan replied.


    "Right," Anita giggled while lowering her voice. "I don''t believe you two for even a second. I know you are hiding something."


    Anita stormed off before Khan could say anything, but a smile remained on his face. He had been honest with her. Khan really thought she would be good for George. He only hoped the two of them could see that too.


    That casual encounter had been pleasant and had also given something important to Khan. Anita had confirmed that Pandora was everything it imed to be and more. Spending ten thousand Credits to look at its goods sounded worth it now.


    Khan returned to his drink and filled the subscription to the club. His phone began to buzz after he added his gic signature to the interactive desk, and a new menu appeared. The name "Pandora" now shone among the magical items'' list, and clicking on it revealed dozens ofbels that would require time to study.


    "Congrattions," The barman closest to Khan stated as soon as the procedure ended. "New members have discounts on high-end drinks. Do you want to try some?"


    "I''ll have to refuse today," Khan politely denied. "Sadly, time isn''t on my side."


    Khan emptied the drink and exchanged a smile with the barman before approaching the elevator. His curiosity was deafening, but it was gettingte, and he still had two shops to visit.


    The car brought Khan to Ace High, where he confirmed Anita''s praises. Everyone was as professional as possible there, and it only took Khan a few questions to gain ess to more private areas where he could purchase better pilot-rted techniques.


    After leaving Ace High, Khan headed for his third target. He had to get a new knife since his old one was damaged and unsuitable for his current level, and his previous inspection had highlighted one of the biggest shops in the district.


    "Captain Khan!" A male waiter behind the main desk on the first floor almost shouted. "You honor the Steel Manticore with your presence."


    Khan was starting to feel the weight of his sleepless nights, and the previous drinks didn''t help. Thinking about all the matters he still had to attend also worsened his mood, so he opted to go straight to the point.


    "I have a question," Khan stated. "Compared to a city on Earth, how does your shop fare?"


    "Pardon?" The waiter asked in surprise.


    "I need a third-grade knife resistant to the chaos element," Khan exined. "Price is not an issue, but the quality is mandatory. Is your shop on par with Earth''s cities?"


    The waiter felt tense under the spotlight, and having Khan in front of him basically put all the eyes in the shop on him. Telling the truth might hurt the Steel Manticore, but lying to one of the most famous figures in the Harbor sounded crazy.


    "The Steel Manticore has the best cksmiths in the Harbor, sir," The waiter dered. "They are envied even on Earth. However, some shops in the big cities surpass them while retaining a lower price."


    "Thank you for your honesty," Khan sighed before deciding to reward that gesture. "What''s your name?"


    "Kyle, sir," The waiter eximed in excitement.


    "Kyle," Khan muttered. "Have a good night."


    Khan left the shop without adding anything else. He didn''t do anything, but that acknowledgment was bound to pass down some of his fame. Kyle would probably have a few lucky opportunities in the following days.


    "To the seventh district," Khan ordered once he returned inside his car. It was time to go home, but he couldn''t rx during the trip. He still had to handle the issue of his knife.


    It waste, but not toote. Dinnertime had ended by a few hours, so the shops on Reebfell were probably closed. Yet, he could rely on someone to deliver his request.


    Khan sent a message to Amber, and a long conversation followed. The two updated each other and joked before moving to the matter at hand. Amber obviously agreed to contact the Divine Architects for him, and inevitable goodbyes eventually arrived.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A tired sigh escaped Khan''s mouth when his building appeared in his vision. He had yet to hear from Monica or George, but that probably was for the best. He still had so much to do, and his exhaustion was quickly building up.


    Khan exchanged a polite salute with Perry before heading toward his t. He immediately threw himself on his bed, and the desire to sleep started to creep in. Yet, looking at the phone reminded him of his duties, so he forced himself to sit and inspect his purchases.


    Nevertheless, a call arrived before Khan could open Pandora''s menus. The name "Divine Architects" shone on the screen while his phone buzzed, and he quickly answered it.


    "Hello?" Khan eximed.


    "Captain Khan," A familiar voice came out of the phone. "I''m d you remember our humble shop."


    "Master Cansend!" Khan recalled. "I didn''t expect you to answer Amber''s request so quickly."


    "You are too humble," Master Cansend replied. "The Divine Architects will obviously warn me when such a high-profile customer arrives."


    "You are as kind as ever," Khan praised.


    "So, I''m guessing you are in need of a new weapon," Master Cansend announced.


    "That''s right," Khan confirmed. "A chaos-resistant third-grade knife."


    "Curtis can''t handle such a difficult project," Master Cansend warned.


    "My finances have greatly improved since we first met," Khan reassured.


    "That''s great," Master Cansend dered. "However, I''m afraid the project will remain expensive. I can apply a discount to my services, but the chaos-resistant materials have seen a sharp rise in price after Milia 222''s disaster."


    "Can you give me an estimate?" Khan wondered.


    "Is the project any different from Curtis'' creation?" Master Cansend wondered.


    "No," Khan uttered. "It only needs to be a grade higher."


    "I need to check a few things to give you an exact price," Master Cansend dered. "However, it won''t be less than eighty thousand Credits, shipment included."


    Khan''s mind went nk for a second. That was almost one-fifth of his finances. However, he wouldn''t hold back when it came to life-saving tools. Having the best weapon on the market could make a big difference during crises.


    "Can I give you my answer once you know the actual price?" Khan wondered.


    "Anything for you, Captain," Master Cansend agreed. "Still, if possible, can you send a 3D scan of your hands to this contact? I have Curtis'' notes, but you are young. You might have grown."


    "I''ll get to it right away," Khan promised.


    "I''ll hear from you soon then," Master Cansend said. "Have a good night, Captain Khan."


    "Thank you again for the quick call," Khan saluted, and the call ended.


    Khan cleared Master Cansend''s request right away. The phone could perform those simple scans, so he did a few of them of both his hands before sending them to the Divine Architects'' contact. Master Cansend even send a message to confirm their arrival, so Khan put the matter in the back of his mind.


    The time to check Pandora''s goods finally arrived, but the universe had other ns. Khan''s phone started to buzz again, but the calls and messages were unrted to his shopping spree, and a quick look at them revealed their purpose.


    ''Already?'' Khan cursed before ignoring all the people contacting him to check thework. Thebel "third-level mage" had appeared next to his profile, confirming that the Colonel had officially acknowledged the test.


    The news had filled Khan''s phone with curious people, and he was in no mood to mind them. The buzzing also distracted him, so he threw the device toward a pillow before lying down.


    ''This day is endless,'' Khan cursed again, but the universe had onest surprise. A knocking noise resounded from the door, and opening it revealed a furious Monica.


    "You didn''t waste any fucking time!" Monica shouted while storming inside the t. "You couldn''t wait to get rid of me to be all sweet with that waiter!"


    "Wait, Monica," Khan tried to call, but his attempt was pointless.


    "Shut up!" Monica shouted again while waving the bag in her hand. "You stay there. I''ll get to you in a minute."


    After the warning, Monica entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her. In theory, being inside Khan''s t without George was problematic, but he couldn''t care now. Also, the lessons were a perfect excuse.


    ''I knew it,'' Khan mocked himself while returning to thefort of the bed. He wasn''t worried since the matter was aplete fabrication, but his phone continued to buzz, which annoyed him to no end.


    Khan kept his head lowered when he heard the bathroom door opening, but the strange sensations flowing into the symphony eventually made him peek past the bed. All his exhaustion vanished at that point.


    Monica was showing a timid face that broke into a smile under Khan''s captivated gaze. She was wearing sensual, half-transparent lingerie that barely hid the skin underneath. The outfit even came with tights that made Khan forget to blink.


    "Congrattions on your promotion," Monica whispered. "I hope you like your gift."

 Chapter 451 Resistant

    Khan and Monica woke up at the same time, but thetter panicked as soon as she realized where she was. The two had ended up sleeping in Khan''s t, which looked terrible from a social perspective.


    "Shit!" Monica cursed while straightening her back to sit on the bed. "Shit, shit! This shouldn''t have happened."


    Khan let out a sigh while ncing at his phone. Countless missed calls and messages had umted on the screen, but the time was reassuring. It was still early morning, so he had the entire day to handle his many tasks.


    "Maybe we can erase the tape," Monica suggested. "Khan, you know the doorman. Can he-?"


    Monica couldn''t finish her line since Khan sat down andid his head on her shoulder. Merely thinking about everything he had to do was exhausting, and the childish desire to cuddle a bit longer took over him.


    The panic vanished from Monica''s mind. She smiled while taking Khan''s head between her arms. He rarely relied on her so openly, so the gesture filled the symphony with cozy feelings due to the affection they radiated.


    "How are you feeling?" Monica whispered while leaving a loving kiss on the top of Khan''s head.


    "Body is fine," Khan reassured. "Mind is getting better."


    "Stay here as long as you like then," Monica stated, and a giggle left her mouth when Khan took her waist to pull her onto hisp.


    Another kiss arrived on Khan''s head, but he continued to hide his face on Monica''s shoulder. He held her tightly, and she did the same while leaving loving caresses and running her fingers through his short hair.


    "My poor, tired captain," Monica muttered when Khan snuggled closer to her neck. "What can I do to lift your spirit?"


    "Make the days longer," Khan groaned while his lips were on Monica''s skin, "So I can stay like this for hours."


    Monica could barely contain her happiness. She adored being at the center of Khan''s attention, so she didn''t hesitate to state her support. "Sure. I''ll bend time for you."


    ? Khan began to lift his head, rubbing his nose on Monica''s neck until he finally reached her cheek. He pulled his face away at that point, but the two remained close enough to feel their breath.


    "What is it?" Monica whispered, taking Khan''s cheeks in her palms. "Is bending time not enough?"


    "Nothing will ever be enough," Khan teased, "But you did get pretty close to itst night."


    "Did I?" Monica giggled. "I guess I know what you like."


    "You did get a lot of practice," Khan joked.


    "Oh, shut it," Monicained, pushing Khan down. His back fell on the bed, but his eyes remained glued to Monica''s naked beauty.


    Monica wanted to pretend to be angry a bit longer, but her n crumbled under Khan''s attentive stare. He had eyes only for her, and she knew how to retain that interest.


    A smirk made its way into Khan''s face when Monicapletely turned to sit on his waist. Her hands ran over his abdomen, tracing the edges of his muscles until they reached his chest. Monica almost gasped when she felt Khan''s reaction under her butt, but she held back to enjoy having him all caught in the spectacle.


    "If you want," Monica eventually announced while slightly bending toward Khan, "We can spend the day here."


    "Ooh?" Khan voiced as he began to straighten his back. Monica supported herself to his shoulders, wrapping her legs around him once he sat again.


    "Though," Monica continued as some shyness finally touched her voice, "I want you to say it."


    "What should I say?" Khan feigned ignorance while diving into Monica''s neck.


    "Say," Monica gasped to suppress a moan. "Say that you want me to stay. Say that you want nothing but me for the entire day."


    "What happens when the day is over?" Khan teased once he reached Monica''s ear.


    "You say it again," Monica whispered while pulling herself slightly away to face Khan, "And I''ll stay for another day."


    "People will get suspicious if we hide in my t," Khan pointed out.


    "I don''t care," Monica replied.


    "What about your family?" Khan continued.


    "I don''t care," Monica repeated. "If you ask me, I won''t mind dealing with the consequences."


    "You must really like what we do when we are alone," Khan snickered, and his smile widened when a soft pnded on his cheek.


    "Idiot," Monicaughed before gulping. "It''s not that."


    "Don''t you like it?" Khan wondered.


    "Stupid!" Monica snapped and delivered another p before hammering her fists into Khan''s chest. "Idiot! Scoundrel! Donkey! Crook!"


    Monica''s fists mmed on Khan''s chest whenever she voiced a new insult, but he eventually grabbed her wrists to make her stop. Monica tried to break free but gave in when Khan lifted her arms and put his forehead on hers.


    "Unfair," Monicained since she was trapped.


    "Were you about to exin something?" Khan asked.


    "No," Monica scoffed. "You don''t deserve it."


    "Can I earn it back?" Khan questioned.


    "Ask me next month," Monica scoffed again.


    "But I can barely go one day without you," Khan admitted.


    "Really?" Monica used a sweet and honest tone.


    "Imagine calling me unfair when you can be so cute," Khan sighed. "Can I at least get a kiss?"


    "No," Monica pouted. "You give it to me."


    Khan didn''t dare to refuse. He let go of Monica as the two kissed, and the gesture soon brought them back on the pillows. Their passion was bursting, but an interruption eventually arrived.


    Groans escaped Monica and Khan''s mouths when buzzing noises filled the room. Monica''s phone was on the floor, so they both turned toward the corner of the bed, where Khan''s device was.


    "Every fucking time," Khan cursed while lowering his head to dive into Monica''s curls. Sheughed while her arms and legs remained clung to Khan''s neck and waist, but no words left her mouth. She limited herself to quick kisses on Khan''s cheek to reassure him.


    Khan picked up the phone only to discover that the number of missed calls had increased. He was getting three at the same time now, and he didn''t even dare to look at the messages.


    "What did you do now?" Monica asked when Khan threw his phone away.


    "It must be about the third-level mage," Khan exined while returning to Monica''s curls. "The Colonel updated my profile right before you barged in."


    "That exins why I''m also getting calls," Monica eximed as her caresses started to convey something different from affection.


    "What is it?" Khan questioned.


    "I was thinking," Monica announced, "Maybe it''s time I get another infusion. It should bring me closer to the third level."


    Khan lifted his head to inspect Monica''s expression. She was talking seriously, but her voice carried deeper meanings that Khan didn''t fail to notice.


    "You don''t have to force yourself to keep up with me," Khan scolded.


    "It was almost time anyway," Monica reassured. "Besides, you''ll check on me, won''t you?"


    Khan smiled faintly before focusing on Monica''s mana flow. He let go of the mattress to ce a hand at the center of her chest, but he eventually put his ear there.


    Khan''s ears had gone through the same changes as his eyes. Somehow, he could hear the symphony and add those details to his sensitivity. Being so close to Monica gave him a clear idea of her state. Nothing was amiss. In theory, she could receive an infusion right away.


    "Am I ready for the infusion, Doctor Khan?" Monica mocked once Khan lifted his head.


    "I can''t let you go until I perform a thorough check-up," Khan imed, and Monica''s giggle remained stuck in her mouth when a kiss sealed it.


    .


    .


    .


    Leaving the building was a hassle. With the update on Khan''s profile, a new crowd of soldiers and reporters had gathered on the sidewalk, but someone always made sure to keep a path open.


    Of course, leaving with Monica gave birth to wild gossip, but the couple was in no mood to care. They reached for their car without answering questions and separated after reaching George''s building.


    The separation was part of the couple''s n. As much as Monica and Khan wanted to stay together, they had many tasks to attend to, so they settled for half a morning in the t before going on separate ways. Monica would study with George and Anita, while Khan would hit a training hall.


    Having money to spend allowed Khan to catch up with his hobbies, and the training halls were one of them. The embassy''s subjects were interesting, but he couldn''t abandon his warrior side, and the fighting programs could solve that.


    However, Khan didn''t activate the programs even after sealing himself inside the training hall. A few issues still needed his attention, and he sat on the floor to attend to them.


    ''I might have underestimated the prices,'' Khan cursed while scrolling through the manybels on his screen. He had opened Pandora''s menu, and the situation looked far from good.


    Pandora''s menu had many sections which went over all kinds of things. Khan saw basic goods like booze and food but alsoplicated machines like cars and advanced projectors. Needless to say, many of those items crossed the million of Credits in terms of price.


    ''They want three million Credits for a single bottle?!'' Khan shouted while his browsing continued. ''Rich people are crazy.''N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The surprises didn''t end there since Khan found more expensive bottles, and the situation worsened in other sections. The money people would need to afford some of those items was unfathomable, which made him wonder about the subscription''s original price.


    ''This is pointless,'' Khan eventually admitted defeat and moved to the non-elemental spells. He would still give everything a look, but not now.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    The non-elemental spells followed a simr pattern as the other sections. Many items surpassed the price of a million Credits, which made them untouchable for Khan. However, knowledge had its value, so he read each description carefully and discovered interesting details.


    The list had deep descriptions attached to eachbel. They went over the effects of the spells as well as theirpatibility with humans, difficulty, and sheer power. A few imed to be as strong as actual techniques, which Khan didn''t find odd after witnessing Lucian''s fight.


    The inspection at the Elite''s Refuge and Pandora''s list ultimately confirmed Khan''s suspicions. The non-elemental spells could enrich someone''s arsenal in many ways, often in fields unrted to battles. Their variety was their scariest feature since they coulde in any shape or form.


    ''There is no such thing as getting an idea,'' Khan eventually epted. ''There are too many of them to predict what someone might have. I bet the descendants even have some spellsmissioned to fit their styles.''


    Princess Edna appeared in Khan''s mind. He recalled the words she had spoken during their first meeting. She hadpared herself to him while being a second-level warrior, which probably hinted at special techniques and spells owned only by nobles.


    The study wasn''t going anywhere, and the insane price tags worsened the situation. Khan wasn''t only confused. His poor finances also limited his choices.


    Nevertheless, the list had one saving grace. Khan could afford some of Pandora''s weakest spells, but he wasn''t thinking about them. A few items had extremely poorpatibility with humans, which greatly lowered their value, even if their effects were quite strong.


    The topic was quite troublesome for Khan, but he couldn''t ignore it, especially in that situation. He wasn''t entirely human. He had actually never been farther away from humanity. The transformation might give him ess to ipatible spells without needing modifications or research.


    ''This might work,'' Khan realized. ''The problem is, which one do I choose?''


    Truth be told, Khan''s fighting style was quiteplete. He had speed, deadliness, and reach. Trading with the Tors had already fixed his weakness, and his senses were a powerful asset that made many items on the list pointless.


    Getting something simr to Lucian''s sound attack was also useless. Khan had the Nele''s arts, which could produce far more creative effects. He could even copy Lucian''s spell if he put his mind to it.


    ''Did I waste ten thousand Credits?'' Khan eventually wondered before putting away that idea. Knowledge alone was worth the price, and he could still ask for second opinions. Monica could add a lot to that list, and George mighte up with battle-rted advice.


    Khan left Pandora''s menu at that point. He had something in mind, but another task came first. The techniques and books purchased from Ace High needed study, and he would dedicate the rest of the morning to them.


    ''Dangers of spacewalking,'' Khan read on his phone as he made himself morefortable.


    Before mana, humanity used spacesuits to survive in space. That dark environment was too cold for the human body and debris that flew faster than bullets could be deadly without protection. Radiations were also an issue, and the same went for oxygen.


    However, mana changed the way humanity approached space. The smaller ships and teleports almost made spacewalking outdated. However, some jobs still needed it, and malfunctions could always happen, so the pilots reced spacesuits with techniques and non-elemental spells.


    The cold was easy to fix. The Global Army developed advanced non-elemental spells capable of enveloping the body in ayer of kic energy. Khan had the best on the market, and one look at it told him that it wouldn''t be too hard to master.


    The debris was a problem that often required an additional technique or spell. Yet, Khan had purchased something that could deal with it while keeping him warm, allowing him to save money and time.


    The radiations belonged to the same field. They would often require more protections, but Khan''s purchase dealt with them too.


    In theory, pilots also explored a superficial version of the Niqols'' control since they needed the mana to float around. Still, the energy necessary to push a body in an environment without friction was so little that Khan didn''t even consider purchasing actual techniques. He only bought a general manual that confirmed his idea.


    Only the oxygen issue remained basically unsolved. The mana could make bodies able to extract it from hostile atmospheres, but space didn''t have any. There was no air to breathe in that ckness, and no spell could fix that.


    ''Every ship has emergency breathers containing up to three hours of air,'' Khan read in the manual. ''However, they can suffer damage or get lost during a crash, so a quick response in creating a personal atmosphere can be the difference between life and death.''


    The insides of the ships had artificial atmospheres that would vanish in case of a breach. Still, pilots could use their mana to seize some air and store it under their protective spells. The amount of oxygen depended on many factors, but even a tiny bit could prolong someone''s life during a crisis.


    ''I guess I should give them a try,'' Khan thought as he connected his phone to the floor and stood up.


    Khan reviewed the details of his techniques before summoning his mana. A thin strand of energy left his body and expanded to create ayer meant to envelop him. He had never performed anything simr, so he took it slow and focused on building a stable barrier.


    A faint purple-red radiance slowly covered every inch of Khan''s skin, leaving no connection between him and the outside world. He waspletely shielded from the training hall''s environment, but that was the easy part.


    Under Khan''s control, the purple-red radiance began to shake. The mana had to generate enough heat to fend off the space''s cold, so the tremors had to be quite intense. In Khan''s case, they had to make the barrier almost too hot to handle since it had to perform multiple functions.


    The menus kept track of Khan''s performance and updated him on the barrier''s temperature. He knew the level he had to reach, so he pushed his control to the limit while forcing his mana to follow his instructions. The chaos element liked to tremble but hated those limitations, and problems eventually arrived.


    A short re escaped the barrier and triggered a chain reaction that spread wild tremors all over its fabric. More mana burst out of the technique until everything turned into a bright cloud that left Khan''s skin. His execution had failed, leaving a few burnt spots on his uniform, but he rejoiced at that oue.


    ''I can master it quickly,'' Khan confidently imed. ''I just need practice.''


    Khan moved to the next part of his purchases, the technique for the personal atmosphere, which turned out to be slightly easier. He still needed to create a barrier, but thetter only required firmness since it had to contain air.


    The short tests proved that the techniques were nothing special for someone like Khan, but knowing how to cast them wouldn''t make him pass the pilot''s course. He needed responsiveness and fast deployment, especially when using both simultaneously.


    Of course, Khan didn''t need that level of mastery right away. The pilot''s course still wanted him toplete twenty flights, which would take months. He had time to learn his new techniques properly, so he could use the rest of the day for another task.


    Waiting to talk to Monica and George was a valid option, but Khan wanted to get his own ideas first. The transformation had changed him, and no significant battle had followed. He didn''t know his limits, but the training halls existed to test them.


    Khan moved his phone toward one of the walls before exploring the various fighting programs. He had money now, so holding back on important details wasn''t an option. He could choose chaos-resistant opponents that countered his style and see how it went.


    The mood changed as soon as Khan left the settings alone. Coldness spread through the training hall when he drew his damaged knife and looked toward the nging noises. Something was happening behind a wall, and a faint smile appeared on his face once it opened to reveal its contents.


    Many metallic arms released whooshing noises when they cut their connections with the ten training dummies inside the workshops. Synthetic mana ran through those metal puppets and activated their functions, making them step forward and line up before the closing wall.


    Khan''s eyes darted left and right. He could see the mana now. He could follow that synthetic energy running under and through the puppets'' reinforced ck metal, but the scene left him unsatisfied. Something told him that they wouldn''t be enough to test him.


    Stomping on the floor activated the fighting program and made the ten puppets shoot toward Khan. They were fast and nimble, and he let them get within five meters of him before making the first move.


    Khan gathered mana in his right hand, giving birth to three glowing needles that he immediately threw forward. The attacks targeted different puppets, but thetter crossed their metal arms to block them.


    The needles pierced the metal and exploded, but the event didn''t stop the puppets'' advance. The ten dummies'' initial n was to encircle Khan to use their numerical advantage, but he disappeared as soon as his spell detonated.


    One of the puppets targeted by the needle saw a shadow covering its red bionic eyes. A knee mmed on its head before it could understand what was happening, and the attack destroyed three-quarters of that structure.


    Khan straightened his position, using the puppet''s shoulder as a foothold while summoning more needles. His attack was already over, but the dummies had just started to turn in his direction. Somehow, everything felt too slow, but that didn''t apply to him.


    Three needles flew to Khan''s right while he jumped to his left. He reached another puppet before explosions could resound, and thetter delivered a punch to catch him in mid-air.


    Yet, Khan rolled on himself, shing down with his knife. His acrobatic gesture made him dodge the punch, and his glowing weapon cut the dummy''s head in half while he was upside down.


    The other puppets chased after Khan, with two of them ready to wee hisnding. One thrust its arms forward while the other lifted its leg to deliver a kick. Khan saw attacks flying toward his face, chest, and torso, but they remained slow.


    Khan was still rolling on himself, and the two puppets had even chosen an advantageous position. His legs were between the attacks and the floor, which theoretically made them useless. Yet, Khan only needed the faintest touch.


    Khan''s left leg rose to meet the iing kick. He was in no position to stop the attack, but his figure vanished as soon as his foot touched the ck metal. He had walked on mes, so that solid surface was more than enough to generate momentum.


    The second round of needless had exploded by then. Two had destroyed the upper part of a dummy, while the other could only damage a metal arm. Still, that created a structural weakness that the shadow passing through it didn''t hesitate to exploit.


    The puppet with the damaged arm saw its torso splitting in half, but Khan didn''t deign him a single look. He rushed toward the next dummy, and his senses had already warned him about the mass of mana umting in that position.


    The following dummy had a rifle instead of an arm, and a red bullet shot from it as soon as Khan reached it. Yet, he raised his free hand to make the attacknd on his palm, and the [Blood Shield] took care of it. As for the puppet, half of its head fell in the next second.


    The remaining five puppets tried to establish a new battle formation, but Khan was too fast. Those dummies could use mana to fuel weapons or enhanced attacks, but they paled before Khan''s speed, deadliness, and destructive power. He often crushed them before they could even show their abilities, leaving nothing but metal corpses in his path.


    Khan didn''t know what to think when he found nothing else to attack. The ten puppets had turned into broken rubble, ready to go back to the workshop. The fighting program had failed to be a challenge for him.


    The menus confirmed Khan''s old guess. He was beyond humans now. Standard training programs meant for third-level warriors and mages were beneath him. He would need something extreme to test his limits, but that would require more Credits.


    ''My fighting style is good,'' Khan eximed in his mind while scratching his head with the knife''s handle. ''I really can''t think of anything right now.''


    Having the knife so close made Khan notice the new damage. Cracks had spread through the holes in the dark metal, threatening to shatter the entire structure. Many came from the sh with the fabric of superior quality and power, but he knew his mana had helped in worsening the situation.


    ''It might not hold another fight,'' Khan sighed as he stored the knife. ''I guess I''m stuck at rehearsing my foundation.''


    Khan almost made up his mind about the matter when another idea appeared. He studied the training hall before retrieving his phone to do some research. The Harbor was famous for many things, and thework imed that its structures were state-of-the-art.


    ''Maybe I can try it here,'' Khan wondered while recalling the clicking growl heard with the Princess. The cloud spell was true to the chaos element, so it could show him something he had yet to realize. Besides, he had to see if he could make any progress with it.


    .


    .


    .


    "You know who I am," Headmistress Holwen coldly announced to the crowd of curious bystanders. "Make a path, or I''ll have all of you arrested."


    A few rumors spread and went silent in a matter of seconds. The Headmistress'' coldness was something that the crowd sensed very well, and a path soon opened on the sidewalk.


    Headmistress Holwen kept her gaze straight as she headed toward the building containing training halls. She crossed the entrance and searched for the number mentioned by Khan, but that became pointless when she noticed him sitting in front of a door.


    "Captain Khan," Headmistress Holwen called while approaching Khan. "Your rtionship with the Princess doesn''t give you the authority or privilege to summon me without sharing any relevant detail."


    Khan stood up and performed a military salute. Part of him wanted to joke about the fact that the Headmistress had answered his call so quickly, but he held back. It was better to keep her in a good mood after his actions.


    "So?" Headmistress Holwen eximed. "What''s this urgent matter that requires my presence?"


    "Well," Khan cleared his throat while eyeing the door next to him. "Maybe it''s better if you see for yourself, ma''am."


    Headmistress Holwen hated that prolonged mystery, but the Princess liked Khan, and he was also part of the reason behind yesterday''s shopping session. Khan had done an incredible service to the embassy, so she decided to y along and approach the door by herself.


    Khan cursed in his mind as soon as he felt the tremor in the Headmistress'' presence. Thetter had opened the door, and destruction had unfolded in her vision. The once perfect training hall now had channels dug into its walls, floor, and ceiling, with wires and sparksing out of its deeper holes.


    The menus were no better. The interactive floor had been thoroughly damaged, and the same went for the workshops behind the walls. The training hall had lost at least thirty percent of its functions, and the culprit didn''t even try to hide.


    "In my defense," Khan coughed when the Headmistress red at him, "The hall imed to have chaos-resistant materials. They weren''t that resistant."

 Chapter 452 Nippe 2

    "Captain," Headmistress Holwen announced, "It''s time for those details."


    "My trust in the training hall was misced, ma''am," Khan stated.


    "I''m in no mood for games," Headmistress Holwen pressed on.


    Khan didn''t know what to say. He had messed up, but not on purpose. The cloud spell''s power had surpassed his expectations, and taking it down had forced him to fight seriously, which led to the hall''s destruction.


    Headmistress Holwen''s intense re remained on Khan, but the sizzling and creaking noises from behind eventually made her turn again. The training hall was truly a mess. It felt almost unreal that a third-level mage could cause so much damage.


    As the amount of damage grew clearer in the Headmistress'' mind, a silent realization arrived. She knew how resilient the training halls were. The fact that Khan had been able to destroy so much confirmed his prowess, which deserved praise.


    "This isn''t your first time, is it?" Headmistress Holwen eventually asked. "You created a simr mess on Reebfell."


    ''And Milia 222,'' Khan thought before saying different words. "That''s correct, ma''am. Though the problem was different there."


    "Was it?" Headmistress Holwen scoffed. "I see the same results. You are a liability around training halls."


    Khan''s eyes widened. He knew where that conversation was going. Headmistress Holwen sounded one step away from forbidding him ess to the training halls, and he couldn''t allow it to happen so soon.


    "Headmistress, ma''am," Khan muttered while dropping his jokes. "I promise I''ll be more careful, but I need the training halls."


    "Do you have any idea how much the reparations will cost?" Headmistress Holwen questioned.


    "No," Khan admitted.


    "Do you have the money to fix all of this?" Headmistress Holwen pressed on.


    "Probably not," Khan remained honest.


    "Why should I allow you into a training hall again then?" Headmistress Holwen asked.


    Khan opened his mouth to speak but closed it right afterward. The Headmistress was right. He was dangerous, but stopping wasn''t an option, and he told her exactly that.


    "Ma''am," Khan cleared his throat. "I know myself. If I can''t use these halls, I''ll turn my t into a training ground."


    Headmistress Holwen initially dismissed those words, but only a second had to pass for her to realize what could happen. Her gaze snapped back to Khan as terrible thoughts ran through her mind. Khan had almost destroyed a training hall. If something simr happened in his t, the entire building risked crumbling.


    Khan could sense the doubt inside the Headmistress. Truth be told, he felt a bit guilty for putting her in that position. However, his training had priority.


    Headmistress Holwen diverted her gaze, and an unusual awkwardness apanied her voice when she spoke again. "Do you promise to be careful from now on?"


    "Yes!" Khan promptly shouted. "Of course! You won''t hear anything simr from me ever again!"


    "Somehow, I doubt it," The Headmistress cursed. "Still, I guess I can close an eye due to your services. Make sure this doesn''t happen again."


    "It won''t, ma''am," Khan promised.


    "Get lost now," The Headmistress ordered while stepping inside the training hall and pulling out her phone.


    "What about the reparations, ma''am?" Khan wondered since he feared the Global Army would make him pay something.


    "I said get lost," Headmistress Holwen repeated while peeking at Khan past her shoulder. "Unless you want to wait for me to change my mind."


    Khan wore a shameless smile and performed a military salute before hurrying outside the hall. He almost couldn''t believe that he had gotten away with it, but his happy mood vanished as soon as he saw the crowd waiting for him on the sidewalk.


    The people outside the building instinctively moved aside when the entrance opened, but seeing Khan on his own filled them with confidence. Shouts and requests soon left their mouths, but confusion followed when they noticed the poor state of Khan''s uniform.


    The battle against the cloud had been rough. Khan didn''t only attempt to talk with it. He also had to unleash his best abilities to put it down, and his uniform had paid the price.


    Khan''s sleeves had basically disappeared. They had turned into a mess of burnt and torn rags that hung from his elbows. The same went for his trousers. Anything under his knees was in the open, and even his shoes had disappeared.


    The holes covering Khan''s uniform distracted the crowd only for a few seconds. The shouts soon resumed, but Khan had disappeared by then. The soldiers realized what had happened when he had already turned the closest corner.


    Khan kept running until he felt sure to have reached a safe block. A simple message made a car arrive, and he jumped inside while giving precise directions. It was still early afternoon, so he nned to spend the rest of the day inside George''s t.


    The situation was no different in the second district. Khan found a crowd in front of George''s building, but soldiers were there to keep a path open. Khan could leave the car and cross the sidewalk safely without addressing any of the shoutsing in his direction.


    "Do you know how many problems you are causing me?" George shouted as soon as Khan entered the main hall. "I can''t take a single step outside without someone asking me about you."


    "Are you worried someone might find out about your secret businesses?" Anitained.


    "I have no secret businesses!" George snorted. "I told you already."


    "Wee back," Monica announced.


    Khan smiled when he inspected the scene. Monica, George, and Anita were on a couch, partially hidden by hologramsing out of the table in front of them. They were reviewing the International Regtions'' notes, and Khan knew he would join them soon.


    "What happened to you?" Georgemented when he peeked past the holograms and noticed the poor state of Khan''s uniform.


    "I might have overdone it in the training hall," Khan revealed while heading toward a free couch. "Come here for a bit. I need your help."


    The three exchanged a nce before reaching Khan. Monica and George took their ces at his sides while Anita looked at his phone from behind the couch.


    "I want to buy one of these," Khan exined while browsing through Pandora''s menus to reach the non-elemental spells. "What do you think?"


    "Can you even afford them?" George wondered.


    "I can lend you some money if you need it," Monica added.


    "You don''t even try to hide it anymore," Anita teased. "Mind telling me why you didn''te herest night?"


    "I had things to sort out in my t," Monica lied. "Also, I thought you two wanted to remain alone."


    "This lost cause has to work another year for that," Anita scoffed.


    "It didn''t look like thatst night," Georgemented, and Anita promptly delivered a p on the top of his head.


    "I me you for this," George red at Khan while pretending to be hurt.


    "Don''t make more problems for Khan," Anita scolded. "He already has a lot on his te with my girl and the Princess."


    Monica was in no mood to address the joke, especially after the previous night and the following morning. She remained silent but still grabbed Khan''s torn sleeve while adding a questioning look.


    "Can we go back to the topic?" Khan questioned. "I was thinking of going for items with badpatibility with humans to save money, but I don''t know what to choose."


    "Ideally," Anita eximed, "Non-elemental spells are perfect for utility. They can boost perception, for example."


    "Khan doesn''t need any of that," George stated. "Do you need new attacks?"


    "No," Khan replied. "I''m more than fine there."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Go for defensive spells then," Monica suggested.


    "But I probably have the best one already," Khan pointed out.


    "Do you mean that one?" George asked, making sure to remain vague.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yes," Khan confirmed. The two didn''t need anything else to know that they were both talking about the [Blood Shield].


    "These two and their secrets," Anita cursed. "Monica, we need to stick together against them."


    "Guys, the list," Khan called.


    "You should get something with a wider range," George suggested. "See if the filters help you."


    Khan tinkered with the menus until he isted all the defensive spells. The list had shrunk greatly, but he still had many options, especially on the expensive side.


    "How much do you have?" George couldn''t help but ask.


    Khan sighed before changing the filters again. His recent shopping spree had taken less than fifty thousand Credits from him, but he still had to hear from Master Cansend. Also, he would rather avoid going broke.


    "Two hundred," Khan revealed. "Maybe a bit more if the spell is worth it."


    "That''s not much," Anita admitted.


    "It''s worse than I thought," George continued.


    "I should be able to ignore somepatibility issues," Khan exined. "I might even modify the spell if needed."


    "Give me that," Monica eventually ordered while leaning on Khan''s shoulder.


    Khanplied, and Monica''s expert thumbs brought the phone to a different menu, which strangely had affordable prices. Yet, a second look revealed that the numbers next to the various items were starting bids. Monica had opened Pandora''s imminent auctions.


    "Monica, I understand wanting to help Khan," Anita eximed, "But this can''t work. Pandora''sst auction reached twenty-three million, and it was about wine."


    "It will work for Khan," Monica stated. "No one will try to raise the price once he shows interest in an item."


    "Oh, that''s smart," George eximed. "It might really work."


    "I didn''t think about that," Anita gasped. "Your mother truly taught you well."


    "What am I missing?" Khan asked, ncing left and right to inspect hispanions'' faces.


    "Khan, the entire Harbor wants to establish a good rtionship with you," Monica exined while browsing through the imminent auctions. "No one will bid against you over a non-elemental spell."


    "Oh," Khan understood Monica''s thinking. "Are you sure? Am I that famous?"


    "You don''t know the half of it," Monicamented before pressing on one of the items. "This sounds promising."


    Everyone gathered closer to inspect the item''s description. Monica had chosen a non-elemental spell capable of releasing a spherical shield that could theoretically deflect any iing attack. Its starting price was also one hundred thousand Credits, which was in Khan''s range.


    ''Lowpatibility with humans,'' Khan read while taking the phone from Monica''s hands. ''High consumption of mana. Even a suitable element might fail to provide the desired effects.''


    "With your control," Monica announced, "You should have no problem making it work."


    "It is quite good," George added.


    ''The mana consumption isn''t a problem,'' Khan thought while rereading the description. ''My mana anomaly should also help. I wonder how strong it actually is.''


    "The auction is in two weeks," Anita eximed. "You wouldn''t even miss the trip on Nippe 2."


    "Right, the trip," Khan recalled. "Is the Princess still set oning?"


    The advanced courses weren''t only about studying. They also involved trips and tests in specific locations, and the first woulde next week. As for Nippe 2, it was the orange near the Harbor.


    "She can hardly contain herself," Monica sighed. "She isn''t here today because of the many preparations her family requires."


    "What about you?" Khan asked while ncing at George. "Did you gain ess to the advanced sses?"


    "Sadly," George cursed. "I''ll be drowned in homework like all of you next week."


    "Don''t bezy about your future," Anita scolded.


    Khan wanted to add a joke, but his phone began to buzz. The Divine Architects was calling him, and he didn''t dare to refuse it.


    "Hello?" Khan eximed.


    "Captain, I hope I''m not disturbing," Master Cansend''s voice came out of the phone.


    "Not at all," Khan reassured. "Is this about the project?"


    "Correct," Master Cansend confirmed. "I have the estimate you asked me about. I''m afraid I can''t go under ny-five thousand Credits. Is it eptable?"


    "It is," Khan stated. "How should I proceed to the payment?"


    "I''ll send a message with the necessary instructions," Master Cansend exined. "As for the knife, I''ll get to work on it immediately. It might arrive before the end of the month."


    "That would be great," Khan eximed. "Thank you, Master Cansend. I can''t wait to see your creation."


    "You are too kind, Captain," Master Cansend replied. "Have a nice evening."


    "You too," Khan responded, and the call ended.


    "New gear?" George asked once Khan reopened Pandora''s menu.


    "I needed to change my old knife," Khan exined while drawing his weapon to show it to George. "It''s full of cracks already."


    "You forgot the holes," Georgeughed. "What did you even do to it?"


    "Milia 222," Khan exined shortly. "My element is troublesome too."


    "You might be able to sell it," Monica suggested while reaching for the knife. "There has to be a collector among your fans."


    "Why would anyone want a broken knife?" Khan asked.


    "Because it belonged to you," Monica exined. "The weapon that defeated the Nak''s hand. It should be a good selling point."


    "Oh," Khan realized as his eyes met Monica''s. "I knew consulting you was a good idea."


    "I''m the best g-," Monica smirked before interrupting her line. She lifted her gaze and found Anita looking at her in confusion and surprise, which made sense considering her position.


    Monica was basically lying on Khan''s arm. She didn''t seem to mind how her chest pressed on his shoulder, and their faces were also quite close. In theory, a wealthy descendant should never put herself in a simr situation.


    "We wasted enough time," Monica cleared her throat as she turned to face the holograms and left Khan''s arm. "We still have much to study, especially with the imminent trip."


    "And this couch is far too crowded," George scoffed while standing up and ncing at Anita. "Care to join me on the other?"


    "Someone has to make sure that you are paying attention," Anita stated and began to follow George, but she still shot a meaningful look at the couple.


    Khan feigned ignorance and turned to show a smirk when George and Anita weren''t looking. Still, Monica had the same idea and used that chance to give him a quick kiss before focusing on the holograms.


    "Needy girl," Khan whispered but soon eyed the holograms. He had handled most of his problems, so it was time to study.

 Chapter 453 Heavy

    Having George in the advanced sses didn''t change their atmosphere. The Princess'' presence always filled the lessons with faint tension no one could ignore. Khan''s rtionship with her had improved, but even he had to remain polite and distant in public.


    Things obviously changed whenever the group returned home. The atmosphere in George''s t was always cheerful, and Anita soon got a piece of that. Ron could only praise another well-mannered descendant, so she had no problem joining the Princess.


    The week went by quickly. The immense amount of homework kept everyone busy, and Khan had it worse than his peers. The Princess, his studies, training, and rtionship harshly affected his sleeping hours. He had to wait until after his flying lesson to get any decent rest, and even that was short-lived due to the trip.


    On the morning of the second free day, the students of the advanced sses gathered in one of the Harbor''s hangars to wait for their rides. The group barely reached forty people, so a couple of ships could be enough.


    "I never got the chance to say this," Zoe announced while approaching Khan, "But that third star looks great on you."


    "Zoe, at least try to hide it," Anita scolded.


    "You can''t have a say in this," Zoeined. "You didn''t hesitate to catch George as soon as the Princess got close to him."


    "Actually," George began to exin, but Anita''s re made him stop.


    "Thank you, Zoe," Khan eximed among theughs Anita''s gesture had caused. "Sadly, I''m still too busy to grant a dinner to anyone."


    "You don''t have to exin yourself," Lucian joined the conversation. "Still, my offer remains. I can provide a PR expert to help you in this difficult phase."


    "Monica would get jealous if I listened to anyone but her," Khan joked, and Monica pulled his elbow to get closer to his ear.


    The group couldn''t hear Monica''s whisper, but they felt awkward when Khan straightened his back and fixed his eyes on her. The couple had begun to be more open about their affection, and holding back while the Princess and the Professor had yet to arrive simply wasn''t an option.


    "Just announce it already," Zoe pouted. "It''s obvious anyway."


    "I was only reminding Khan of his homework," Monica feigned ignorance. "I didn''t want to bore you with those topics during such a joyous asion."


    "Anita, help me out," Zoe called while reaching to Anita and taking her hands. "You must know something."


    "I won''t say anything," Anita chuckled while winking at Monica, "So you can tell me what is going on."


    Simr chats followed, but the topic rarely shifted from Khan. The absence of the Princess gave those wealthy descendants a chance to improve their rtionship with him, and they didn''t dare to waste it.


    The arrival of four figures into the hangar put that rxed moment to an end, and the entire group turned in their direction to perform military salutes. Even the wealthy descendants had to abide by those political rules when dealing with a noble.


    "Captain! Monica!" Princess Edna eximed while hurrying toward the couple. Of course, Ron and Jack remained at her sides the whole time.


    "Princess," Khan called.


    "Edna, I hope you slept well," Monica added.


    "Let''s not waste time," Princess Edna stated. "Ron, where is the ship?"


    "Princess, Professor Leelli still has to make her speech," Ron scolded.


    "It''s fine, sir," Professor Leelli reassured. "The Princess can skip this briefing."


    "Anita, George," The Princess called, ignoring Ron and the Professor. "You''lle with us."


    "It would be our honor," Anita dered.


    "Thank you, Princess," George added.


    Princess Edna disregarded those polite replies to question Ron again. "The ship?"


    "It''s on its way," Ron exined while shooting a meaningful smile toward the Professor. "Professor Leelli should have the time to perform the briefing in the meantime."


    Khan held back a smirk. Ron had probably dyed the ship''s arrival on purpose, and the Princess didn''t seem to mind that. In theory, the trip was part of the advanced courses, so she stopped causing problems.


    "Alright, gather up," Professor Leelli shouted while tying her long golden hair into a bun. "First, I want to repeat what I already said during my lesson. This is no holiday. The trip is an active part of your education."


    "As such," Professor Leelli continued as her re fell on George, "I expect utmost seriousness. I don''t want any pubescent flirting on the field."


    "Understood, ma''am," George dered. "It won''t be pubescent."


    "Unbelievable," Anita cursed, but the group still exploded into augh at the sight of that familiar interaction.


    "Order," Professor Leelli shouted. "Second, I''ve talked to Professor Parver, and he agreed to use your experience on Nippe 2 as part of his test."


    A few groans resounded, but nothing too serious. Khan and the others would have to study Nippe 2 for Professor Leelli''s course already. Adding the topic to the alien environments'' lessons wouldn''t change the amount of homework.


    "It''s six a.m. right now," Professor Leelli continued when she looked at her phone. "We''ll be back by eight p.m. Try to learn as much as you can in these hours since there might be trick questions in my test."


    The students nodded, and the arrival of three vehicles ended the briefing. Khan recognized the Princess'' half-circr ship together with two vessels big enough to carry all the students.


    "Let''s split into two groups," Professor Leelli ordered as the shipsnded in the hangar. "Princess, I wish you a good flight."


    Princess Edna didn''t bother to nod at the Professor. She took Monica''s hand and began to head toward her ship, but someone interrupted her rush.


    "Miss Virrai," Lucian politely called while stepping on the Princess'' path, "Can I have a few seconds of your time?"


    "Lucian Hencus," Ron exined before the Princess could question him.


    "I remember," Princess Edna replied. "Anyone from the Hencus family is a friend."


    "I''m ttered," Lucian half-bowed and continued before the Princess could lose interest. "I know Miss Solodrey and Captain Khan are keeping youpany during these nights. I was wondering if you could grant me the same honor, maybe at one of my parties."


    "Mister Hencus," Ron tried to intervene, but Lucian already had an answer.


    "I''ve prepared everything ording to Protocol N12, sir," Lucian dered. "I''ll send you every detail and an administrator ount so you can check for yourself."


    Khan had followed Monica and the Princess, so he was in the perfect position to inspect the scene. His senses felt superfluous there. He understood Lucian''s intentions even before he finished voicing his offer.


    The Princess was a political shield but also an endless source of interest. Many wouldn''t dare to approach her due to the sheer difference in status, but the wealthy descendants were different, especially in Lucian''s case.


    In less than two weeks, Lucian had developed and employed a n to approach the Princess. Khan didn''t know what Protocol N12 was, but Ron''s face told him it had hit the mark.


    "When is the party?" Princess Edna asked.


    "Tonight," Lucian exined, "Right after our return to the Harbor."


    "Will it be fun?" Princess Edna questioned while turning toward Monica.


    Monica was at a crossroads. Involving Lucian in that strange rtionship with the Princess could cause many problems. It would be safer to keep her in George''s t, where she couldn''t expose anything. However, going against Lucian for no apparent reason might endanger her connection with his family.


    "Lucian''s parties are famous," Monica smiled. "I''m sure you''ll have fun."


    "We''ll have fun," Princess Edna corrected before turning toward Lucian. "Fly with us."


    "It would be my honor," Lucian replied, but the Princess resumed walking toward the ship before he could finish his line.


    Ron and Jack also crossed Lucian without addressing his words. Instead, Khan, George, and Anita showed helpless smiles. They knew how the Princess behaved, and Lucian had just tasted it first-hand.


    The group made itselffortable inside the ship, with Princess Edna iming Anita and Monica for herself. Jack and Ron stood by her sides, leaving George, Khan, and Lucian together on opposite seats.


    Khan wanted to kill time, but the situation wasn''t ideal. Monica, Princess Edna, and Anita had immersed themselves in a topic he couldn''t touch. Jack was Jack. Ron was busy reviewing reports on the ship''s screens, and Lucian wasn''t exactly a friend. Actually, things grew quite awkward since George was also there.


    "Aren''t we setting off?" Khan eventually asked since the ship was still in the hangar.


    "Security first," Ron said without diverting his gaze from the screens.


    "Ron, I want to see Nippe 2," Princess Edna stated.


    "I''m sorry, Princess," Ron responded. "The ship won''t leave the Harbor until everything is set."


    Strangely enough, the Princess gave up on trying to convince Ron. It seemed that she had no power over those matters, and her attention quickly shifted to another topic.


    "Anita, you are so beautiful," Princess Edna eximed, "But you aren''t glowing like Monica. You should tell George to learn something from Khan."


    A violent cough took control of George''s lungs while chaos spread throughout the area. Pure shock invaded Khan and Monica while confusion surged inside Anita and Lucian.


    "Princess," Khan called as his entire experience in lies and pretenses made hime up with something believable. "That was a secret shared in confidence."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Right!" Princess Edna eximed. "Still, Anita is your friend, and George should be up to the task."


    Anita had seen how Khan''s group behaved inside George''s t and in the Princess'' presence, so dots began to connect in her mind. An idea appeared, and the sole thought made her widen her eyes in embarrassment.


    Lucian was an outsider there, but nothing escaped his attentive eyes. Khan and Monica were doing a decent job at hiding their reactions, but their rtionship had been a famous gossip for weeks.


    Moreover, George''s overreaction and Anita''s following embarrassment were clues that added to Lucian''s hypothesis. He reached a conclusion in his mind but feigned ignorance anyway.


    Of course, Khan vaguely guessed what was happening inside Lucian. He couldn''t sense thoughts, but the shifts in his emotional state described a partially clear picture. Still, before Khan could think about the situation any further, Monica came up with an excuse.


    "Khan learnt a special massage technique on Milia 222," Monica lied while pretending to be embarrassed. "I request his services sometimes, but my mother doesn''t know about it. I hope you can keep this secret."


    Khan didn''t even need to look at George to know he was dying to crack a joke. He could almost hear the words running through his mind. Luckily for him, nothing escaped his mouth, and Lucian yed along to make the lie stick.


    "Captain, you are always so full of surprises," Lucian praised. "No wonder Monica grew so attached to you. Working on her beauty must be a straight path toward her heart."


    "Monica has always been beautiful," Khan chuckled. "I barely did anything."


    Lucian kept his eyes on Khan, but Anita didn''t miss Monica''s loving expression. For once, she began to consider that the two might be a couple, and problems inevitably appeared in her thoughts. Monica''s face made Anita desire to be happy for her, but she knew what issues that rtionship could cause.


    "I definitely agree," Lucianughed and exchanged a fake smile with Khan. The two reached a silent understanding, and the sudden set-off of the ship gave them a chance to change the topic.


    "Is everything set now?" Khan asked.


    "I still advise against this trip," Ron replied as he finally turned to face the group. "One week is too short to prepare for every eventuality."


    Ron hoped to im the Princess'' attention, but she had already made Monica and Anita look at her phone to go through her shopping list. Ron could only suppress a sigh and hide it behind his cold face.


    "How long does it usually take?" Khan questioned to prevent the arrival of dangerous topics.


    "That''s ssified," Ron stated.


    "Usually, no less than a month," Princess Edna revealed. "Still, knowing my family, I probably won''tst here that long."


    "Princess!" Ron scolded.


    "You have to get these shoes," Princess Edna stated while pulling Anita''s sleeve.


    "What about Protocol N12?" Khan continued.


    "It''s an approved safety measure involving soldiers and other security methods," Lucian exined. "We''ll study it soon enough."


    Khan nodded, and his gaze inevitably fell on Jack. Security measures sounded pointless when that fearsome man was around, but anyone attempting at a noble''s life probably had simrly powerful assets at hand.


    ''How many soldiers did they even deploy on Nippe 2 to protect the Princess?'' Khan wondered.


    "I hope you''ll also join the party," Lucian rekindled the conversation. "It might be a good moment to address the many social events waiting for you."


    "Attending is part of my duties," Khan joked.


    "It is," Lucian confirmed. "Maybe I''ll get the chance to give some advice. Who knows? I might be your PR guy."


    Khan and Lucian fell into a long stare that George didn''t hesitate to join. Everyone knew that there was more at stake than mere dinners there. Only Anita was unaware of key details, but the evident tension told her enough.


    The flight didn''t get any better after that point, but Khan appreciated the awkward silence that filled most of it. Monica did her best to keep the Princess focused on her shopping list to avoid dangerous revtions, so Khan only had to endure until the ship got close enough to Nippe 2.


    The appearance of the orange on the ship''s window attracted everyone''s attention and retained it during the descent. The darkness of space soon disappeared, reced by shades of that bright color that revealed their nature once the vehicle got close enough.


    Khan and the other descendants in the advanced courses had studied Nippe 2 in the past week. They knew its structure,position, and purpose in that sr system, but witnessing the entrance into such a strange atmosphere fueled Khan''s curiosity and almost made him open his mouth in amazement.


    The orange color opened, splitting into gales that moved due to the ship''s passage. Thick but soft winds enveloped Nippe 2 in a dense atmosphere capable of radiating light during the darkest nights. Metal particles blew alongside those bright rivers and tried to scratch the vehicle, but thetter''s shields kept everything away.


    The dive could be dull for many after a few minutes. The different shades of orange were spectacr but boring. However, Khan saw far more than that, and the desire to jump into that bright sea almost overwhelmed his rational thoughts.


    The winds were soft but contained enough mana to be a scary power. They appeared ready to unleash their might on the ground far below and the space on the other side, but they remained calm, almost still. They were a warmyer that kept Nippe 2 illuminated without leaving a single spot uncovered.


    The scenery changed after the ship crossed the denser winds. Visibility was scarce, but the vehicle''s scanners granted a better read of the view. The gales thinned, revealing tall volcanoes and deep canyons engulfed with orange smoke. Sandy and sterile ground encircled them, creating a destion that spanned as far as the eye could see.


    Before mana, humanity would have seen Nippe 2 as a dead, but that couldn''t be more different from the truth. Nippe 2''s core had never been livelier. The vast amount of energy hidden beneath the surface pushed metal and other heavy materials into the atmosphere, creating endless winds that carried no violence.


    Khan knew that bnce was bound to crumble. Nippe 2''s winds leaked materials into space, effectively losing part of the''s energy. Eventually, Nippe 2''s core would exhaust its fuel, and its heavy atmosphere would copse. Yet, for now, that marvelous spectacle endured, and Khan felt lucky to be able to witness it.


    As the ship neared the surface, immense structures became visible. Tall and vast dark buildings grew from the edge of a seemingly bottomless cliff, covering hundreds of meters both in height and surface. Factories that the Global Army had nted years ago extracted metal from the ground and sent it away, elerating Nippe 2''s inevitable downfall.


    Nippe 2''s metals were one of the Harbor''s main resources, and, as such, Professor Leelli included them in her sses. She taught inteary regtions, so seeing how humanity handled those materials could give her students an idea of all the rules involved in the subject.


    The shipnded near the southern factory, but Ron didn''t allow anyone outside. While Khan and the others yed with the scanners, he kept checking the screens.


    Visibility had gone down again due to the fumes escaping the cliff, but the ship could ignore the issue. Khan and the others could see the entirety of Nippe 2''s destion, and part of them remained captivated by that harsh environment. The air was heavy and made eyes burn, nothing could grow on that ground, but the scenery remained beautifully pure.


    Two more ships descended while Ron checked the reports, but they didn''t wait to unload their cargo. The many descendants and Professor Leelli stepped onto the sandy ground and gathered under the Princess'' vehicle. Khan noticed some of the weakest students coughing due to the heavy air, and many rubbed their eyes due to the dust entering them.


    ''Truly hostile,'' Khan thought as his curiosity increased. The desire to be among natural mana surpassed any worry about the atmosphere''s safety. Besides, he wanted to experience Nippe 2 with all his senses, and the chance eventually arrived.


    "We can get down," Ron announced as the screens in front of him went dark. "Still, we can''t approach the factory yet. We must wait for the reinforcements from the canyon."


    "Let''snd for now," Princess Edna eximed as she approached the ship''s exit.


    Ron and Jack instantly reached the Princess'' sides, and the exit opened. A metal passage stretched toward the orange ground, and the trio trod it to join the rest of the descendants. Khan and the others followed right after, and Nippe 2''s atmosphere finally showed its hostility.


    Nippe 2''s air felt heavy to breathe. Khan didn''t experience any difort but noticed the difference with the Harbor''s atmosphere. Yet, coziness soon arrived due to the overwhelming presence of natural mana.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan couldn''t help but close his eyes and smile. The calm winds washed away the synthetic mana lingering on him and enveloped him in Nippe 2''s natural energy. Compared to the Harbor, that atmosphere felt alive, and he could hear its colors clearly.


    The immersion in Nippe 2''s atmosphere couldn''tst long since a cough distracted Khan and forced him to turn. Monica stabilized her breath quickly, but a tear still fell from her right eye while her body grew used to the new environment.


    Khan instinctively reached for Monica''s cheek to wipe the tear away. Many could see him even among that low visibility, but he didn''t care. Still, only George noticed him since everyone else was busy dealing with the new atmosphere.


    "It''s blurry," Monicamented once her eyes grew used to the air. "Well, sort of."


    Khan could only agree. It was impossible to see distant areas, and those nearby suffered from simr problems. The metal in the air distorted images, making it hard to judge how close someone actually was to another person.


    Of course, Khan had more than eyes for that, so he had no problem adjusting. He even helped Monica through the metal passage while she continued to get used to Nippe 2, and their walk ended when they reunited with the Princess.


    "The extraction of metal should be interesting," Princess Edna stated at herpanions'' arrival. "I''ve never seen a simr factory."


    "The Virrai family owns quite a few like this," Professor Leelli exined. "I''ll do my best to show you around, Princess."


    "Thank you, Wendy," Princess Edna smiled. "Ron?"


    "They are on their way, Princess," Ron revealed.


    Khan continued to inspect the deste area while Monica remained clung onto his elbow, but Anita ended up approaching them. She even kept her voice down to prevent people from overhearing.


    "You two," Anita whispered. "We''ll talk once we get back."


    Anita was using her serious face and tone. Questioning her about her intentions was also pointless. She obviously wanted to address the conversation that happened on the ship.


    Khan and Monica had to decide how to handle Anita, but the appearance of four big shapes in the distance distracted them. Everyone eventually fixed their eyes on those huge figures making their way through the fumes and growing more visible as they approached the group.


    "The escort is here," Ron dered, but his faint smile disappeared as soon as Jack stepped forward to put himself in front of the Princess.


    "Protect the Princess!" Ron promptly shouted, but his warning arrived one second toote.


    A series of missiles flew through the heavy air and reached an area above the group to detonate. Khan had felt them, but dodging wasn''t an option, so he remained in his position when the explosion unfolded. The weapons didn''t release any destructive power. Yet, Khan''s senses went dark anyway.


    ****


    Author''s notes: I''m d I could upload something today. Merry Christmas!

 Chapter 454 Equipment

    The silence of darkness wasn''t something Khan could experience. Nightmares always afflicted his nights, so his consciousness never stopped working.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However, the missiles put Khan into a state many would link to deep sleep. He couldn''t sense or think, but the nightmares didn''t arrive. He was immersed inplete darkness, with nothing but faint coziness trying to spread through his fainted mind.


    That darkness was short-lived. An almost silent clicking growl began to echo among Khan''s thoughts and grew louder with each passing second. The cry intensified until it transformed into a deafening noise that split the ckness apart and allowed the arrival of Nippe 2''s orange shades.


    Khan felt the urge to throw up as his shambled senses crashed on his consciousness and made him aware of his state. Nippe 2''s light blinded his eyes, a ringing noise assaulted his ears, and tremors ran through his body in an attempt to make everything fall apart.


    Yet, a louder noise spread through Khan''s senses and forced him to remain on his feet. Khan found himself with his mouth open and pointed at the sky while the clicking roar came out of his throat.


    In a different situation, Khan would have interrupted his monstrous cry. Still, he had no control over his body. Only his urges existed, and they made him roar.


    A few seconds had to pass before Khan finally closed his mouth. He lowered his head in an attempt to study his surroundings, but everything continued to shake. He felt dizzy, his head spun, and the orange shades were too blinding for his eyes. Yet, he slowly improved, and everything eventually became clear.


    Khan was still next to the Princess'' ship, near his group and the other students. However, everyone was in an awful state. Monica, George, Princess Edna, and the others were either on the ground or on the verge of falling. Some of the weakest descendants had directly fainted, and foam leaked from their mouths while they convulsed in the sand.


    The nature of the surprise attack became evident as Khan''s messy senses gathered information from himself and his surroundings. The missiles had affected the mana, even inside the soldiers. Those weapons had turned that incredible energy into a wild and chaotic poison that attacked its hosts, making their bodies useless.


    That effect seemed only temporary and far from deadly, which exined how Khan had managed to recover so quickly. His mana had suffered from the explosion, but his element wouldn''t let foreign chaos take control of him.


    Nevertheless, the faint stability enforced by Khan''s chaos didn''t bring him back to his top shape. The poison had affected him for many seconds, so his senses were still a mess, but that didn''t make him powerless.


    Khan instinctively reached for Monica. She had remained on her feet, even if her eyes were closed and her ears couldn''t hear anything. She didn''t feel when Khan took her into his arms, and tremors continued to affect her while her body tried to stabilize.


    Monica wasn''t Khan''s only worry. George was also in a simrly messy state. He barely had the time to cover Anita with his body before falling prey to the nasty explosion, which left him unable to move.


    Khan stomped his left foot in an attempt to quicken his recovery and move toward George, but something managed to reach his senses and forced him to turn. He wasn''t the only one able to move. The Princess'' guards were also showing their skills.


    Ron had his right hand on the Princess'' forehead. His mana was far from stable, but he was using the little control in his grasp to improve the Princess'' condition.


    Meanwhile, Jack stood before them, like an unmovable mountain waiting for the enemies to arrive. The four huge shapes had gotten closer while Khan had been out, and he could identify them as cargo ships now that the fumes didn''t hinder his vision too much.


    The cargo ships continued to get closer until the fumes couldn''t hide most of their features anymore. They were rectangr vehicles that showed their long sides to the group of students. Their doors were also open, and many different auras leaked into the symphony to create a fearsome scenery.


    Khan was still fighting against his sensitive eyes and his ringing ears but saw enough to be worried. The cargo ships had an entire toon on them, and each soldier wielded rifles or guns. That wasn''t a force he could handle on his own, especially with the weapons those vehicles carried.


    That wasn''t the end of it. As the ships grew even closer, Khan became able to see more of the attackers'' equipment. They wore ck body armor that covered them from head to toe, and visors that leaked green light hid their eyes.


    A scary conclusion appeared in Khan''s mind. Those enemies didn''t only match the number of descendants on the ground. They also had equipment meant to counter Nippe 2''s hostile environment.


    The ships had reached Khan''s group by the time he finished his inspection, and the soldiers on them didn''t hesitate to open fire. Azure bullets rained on the ground, threatening to kill anyone in sight. However, a giant figure flew in their way to act as a shield.


    The pilots on the descendants'' ships had suffered due to the missiles, but the Princess'' vehicle had the auto-pilot, which involved safety protocols. When the enemies fired, it put itself in the bullets'' trajectory to block the iing azure rain.


    Khan used that chance to lift Monica and reach for George. His steps were still weak, but he had enough strength to kick his friend to the ground. George was covering Anita, so she also fell.


    A vast surge of mana forced Khan to turn again. He couldn''t see due to the half-circr ship blocking his view, but the detonation that resounded was impossible to miss. Something had crashed on the other side of the vehicle, and sparks flew in every direction due to the damage it had suffered.


    The Princess'' ship showed its value by remaining in its position, but the toon didn''t let it be an obstacle forever. Ropes fell from the cargo vehicles as the enemies decided tond, and bullets flew again once they regained the line of sight.


    The shots couldn''t be precise, but some fell on the descendants, hitting a few in the process. Gory holes opened on those almost-unconscious students, and Khan even saw a leg fly.


    The situation was more than clear in Khan''s mind. He couldn''t hope to fight against that toon. Things would have been different if he were alone and in perfect condition, but his friends'' presence didn''t give him many options.


    The descendants'' ships could offer some protection, but that was a temporary solution. Instead, the factory nearby could turn the tables of the battle and keep everyone safe. Reaching it was the only problem.


    "Go!" Ron shouted as he spread his arms to act as a meat shield for the Princess.


    Many enemies hadnded by then, and they had even lifted their rifles to aim properly. However, Jack jumped at the center of their formation to m both arms downward.


    Khan had seen fourth-level warriors in action, but the scene that unfolded in his eyes forced him to reevaluate his experience. Jack''s descending blow hit one of the enemies, squashed him into the ground, and created a crater that sent sand in every direction.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Even the ground shook under the might of Jack''s attack. He didn''t use anything special, but his sheer physical strength had been enough to put fear in the enemies'' minds.


    The sandstorm unleashed by the attack didn''t stop the enemies from firing blindly. Azure shots soon shone among the orange gales and flew toward the descendants. Yet, Ron stopped limiting himself to a human shield.


    Mirror-like circles left Ron''s hands and flew in the shots'' trajectory, acting as shields that absorbed the mana in those bullets. Then, in the next second, they sent that energy back to their source, and cries resounded among the hovering sand.


    Another shockwave followed and dispersed the sandstorm. A maimed body flew in the distance as Jack became visible again. He was right in the middle of the enemy toon, but only blood and gory corpses encircled him.


    Jack didn''t hesitate to jump toward his nearest enemy, and sand rose again. Khan''s sensitivity allowed him to keep track of what was happening, and shock took control of his mind. He could sense bullets crashing on Jack, but nothing seemed able to stop him.


    Khan remained in a daze only for an instant before snapping back into action. Ron and Jack were giving him an opportunity he didn''t dare to waste, so he reached George and mustered the entirety of his control to lift him.


    Monica and George ended up upying Khan''s shoulders as he bent onest time to grab Anita''s right foot. Carrying three people in that weakened state would be impossible for a human, but Khan managed to stride forward while aiming for the descendants'' ships.


    Khan couldn''t be fast, but the ships were nearby, so he reached them after the battlefield went through three more shockwaves. He hurried behind them and let Anita''s foot go before lying George and Monica on the ground.


    A louder explosion resounded, forcing Khan to peek past the ships. Dark smoke had begun toe out of the Princess'' vehicle, but it remained in the air. Instead, the ground showed a far different spectacle.


    Jack had killed more than fifteen people in those short seconds, but a worthy opponent had joined the field. A five-meter-tall robot piloted by one of the enemies had left the cargo ships to deal with that monstrous guard.


    The robot had thick arms and legs, with long rifles on both shoulders. A reinforced cabin stood at its center, allowing the pilot to see everything from a safe position. That machine contained enough synthetic mana to put fourth-level warriors to shame, and its offensive was strangely fast.


    Jack lifted his arms when the robot waved a hand in his direction. To Khan''s surprise, Jack remained on his feet and even stopped the attack after sliding for a few meters. Yet, the machine had another limb that quickly descended toward him.


    The robot''s left punch mmed on Jack''s head, but he remained straight. Blood flowed on his cheek while he used his right arm to push away the second mechanical limb.


    Khan felt in awe of Jack''s strength and resilience. The huge robot was trying its best to squash Jack, but he was keeping its arms away through sheer physical prowess. Still, that wasn''t enough to defeat the machine. Actually, the attackers could achieve their goal during that stalemate.


    Bullets continued to fly back and forth. Ron kept everyone safe and hit a few enemies, but thetter advanced during the opening created by the robot. Many shots rushed toward Ron at that point, forcing him to release more circr mirrors.


    Still, the attackers had more than simple bullets. While Ron focused on protecting himself, three metallic spheres rolled at his feet and unleashed a series of lightning bolts that pierced his shields.


    Ron tried his best to endure the lightning bolts, but more spheres arrived, and the sixth ended up making him fall to his knees. Those weapons had even affected the Princess since she was behind him, leaving her unconscious.


    The attackers hurried toward the Princess and lifted her before a couple of them pointed their rifles at Ron''s head. They were ready to execute him, but a robotic arm crashed into them before they could take the shot.


    Terror leaked into the symphony when the attackers turned toward Jack. The robot had lost one of its arms while the other was on Jack''s back. It was pinning him on the ground with its weight, but he tried to crawl toward the Princess anyway.


    The attackers gave up on executing the Princess'' guards when they saw the robot budging. They hurried back to their ships and grabbed the ropes still hanging from them to leave in the direction of the huge canyon. Even the robot''s pilot left the cabin to depart with the toon''s remains.


    The situation didn''t calm down once the battle ended. Ron was still trapped among lightning bolts, and the robot used the auto-pilot to keep Jack pinned down. Cries also resounded as the descendants started to awaken. That scenery was the embodiment of defeat, and Khan had first-row seats for it.


    A tremor ran through the symphony and made Khan turn in time to grab Monica''s stretched arm. She had reached for him as soon as she awakened, and he crouched to hold her.


    "Khan," Monica weakly groaned as she rubbed her eyes, "Is the Princess safe?"


    Khan opened his mouth, but no words came out of it. He could feel Monica''s panic. It was her duty to protect the Princess, and he knew what she would try to do if he told the truth.


    "Fuck!" Khan loudly cursed while gently pushing Monica down and straightening his position. He was fine now. His senses were slightly off, but his top shape was only seconds away.


    Monica shot a confused nce toward Khan, but he looked at George. Thetter had begun to straighten his position, and his head performed an instinctive nod when he noticed Khan''s serious face. The two only needed that to understand each other.


    "Wait, Khan!" Monica called and began to stand up when Khan turned to leave, but he ignored her. She would only put herself in danger if she tried to help in her condition.


    Khan''s sensitivity had been in a good spot for a while now. He knew exactly in which ship the Princess'' was and could also keep track of their speed. Those cargo vehicles weren''t too fast. He could theoretically catch up with them.


    Purple-red lights shed in the orange environment. Bright needles fell on the metal spheres around Ron while a glowing spear crashed on the robot''s remaining arm. Explosions soon followed, and Ron broke free of the lightning bolts only to notice a figure sprinting in the distance and leaving sandy winds on his path.

 Chapter 455 Order

    Nippe 2''s atmosphere fought against Khan''s eleration. The metal carried by the sand and soft winds transformed into sharp des due to his high speed, and scratches soon covered his exposed skin.


    Nevertheless, Khan only cared about going faster. The symphony and his senses worked together to make his steps more efficient, bringing him to levels of speed he had never touched before. His sprint left proper sandstorms behind him, but his eyes looked forward, toward the departing ships.


    Khan didn''t have a n, only problems to ovee. Jack and Ron had killed many attackers, but the ships still had almost twenty of them. Moreover, those vehicles were in the air outside Khan''s jumping range. The canyon was also getting close, and Khan couldn''t win against that.


    Nippe 2''s atmosphere was Khan''s sole advantage. The cargo ships definitely had scanners capable of piercing that heavy air, but Khan was alone, and his sprint was causing a mess of sand and gales. He could go unnoticed if he were lucky enough.


    ''I can''t stay hidden, can I?'' Khan cursed in his mind.


    A surprise attack would work in Khan''s favor. However, he needed to reach the ships first. Flying wasn''t an option, so he had to create a passage.


    ''Fuck,'' Khan cursed again while elerating even more to catch up with the ships. The Princess was on the secondst, and he waited until he was right below it to summon his mana.


    The soldiers on the ship were mainly thinking about leaving the area. The factory had vehicles that could intercept them, so they had to put as much distance as possible from the battlefield before moving on with their n.


    The casualties suffered during the assault also left the attackers without enough manpower to perform every duty. A small squad was surveilling the Princess. Another was checking the path ahead and the factory, while a third was tending to the injured. No one was scanning the road behind since the presence of threats sounded unreal.


    That changed when an explosion unfolded under the secondst ship. The attack didn''t touch the vehicle, but the purple-red pir that followed was too eye-catching to miss. Also, the chaos element''s annoying properties messed up part of the equipment, forcing the soldiers to scan the area.


    The attackers quickly found Khan, but a second chaos spear flew their way and replicated the previous offensive. The spell couldn''t reach the ships, but its explosion was violent enough to give birth to worry, which triggered a response.


    The symphony confirmed that Khan''s n had seeded. He sensed a series of figures peeking past the ships'' doors, and their magazines full of synthetic mana told him what was about to arrive.


    Azure lights shed among Nippe 2''s orange air. Bullets rained toward Khan, with many aiming directly at him. Those shots even tried to predict his advance, which blocked the path ahead, but he had no intention of going forward.


    When the bullets entered Khan''s range, he jumped and used his light steps to leap from one mass of mana to the other. The attackers realized what was happening soon enough, but they stopped firing when it was already toote. Khan had his path now.


    Khan had plenty of options. Enemies from all the ships had fired at him multiple times, creating a series of azure tforms he could use to go wherever he wanted. The doors of the secondst vehicle soon entered his vision, and surprise filled the symphony due to the emotions leaked by his enemies.


    ''Six,'' Khan counted while another part of his mind remained immersed in the symphony. ''Two third-level warriors and four second-level warriors.''


    The enemies couldn''t help but lift their rifles to aim at Khan, but he used thest bullet in his range to leap toward the ship. To the soldiers'' surprise, he didn''t target the empty areas. Instead, he charged directly at the left side, where two third-level warriors were guarding the Princess.


    The trip to Nippe 2''s was part of the lessons, so Khan didn''t have his damaged knife with him. Part of his fighting style was unavable, and he couldn''t go crazy either due to the Princess'' presence. Still, no hesitation appeared in his moves.


    Three purple-red needles grew from Khan''s right hand while he flew toward the ship. He threw the spell at the four second-level warriors right before his left foot touched the ship''s metal floor, but bullets also came in his direction.


    Explosions resounded on Khan''s right when the needles met the bullets. Only the shots fired by the third-level warriors remained, and one of them scratched his cheek when he dodged to the left. His sprint brought him onto the metal wall, which he used to fling himself toward the two enemies next to the Princess.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan was faster than average third-level warriors, but the two enemies next to the Princess had protective gear and weapons. Their visors allowed them to keep up with Khan and made them lift their rifles to counter his iing assault.


    Truth be told, Khan had no special interest in the Princess. He had gotten to know her better, but they weren''t actually friends, not yet, at least. He would have normally let her go to prioritize George and Monica.


    Yet, different emotions appeared now that Khan was deep into that reckless mission. The blood, the injuries, and Monica''s suffering face shed in his vision, and his mana boiled. Since he had decided to save the Princess, he would go all out.


    Dots connected inside Khan''s mind without ever turning into proper thoughts. He had no real n, but his thoughts were one with the symphony, and that gave birth to a tactic.


    The third-level warrior targeted by Khan lifted the rifle to use it as a shield. The weapon was sturdy enough to be a reliable defense. However, a purple-red light pierced its metal and flew toward the visor. The soldier only had the time to recognize fingers enveloped in clotted blood vessels before his vision went dark.


    A cracking noise resounded when Khan stabbed his right hand in the man''s head, and sharp pain followed. Something had broken, but that only made his mana rage louder.


    The intense emotions allowed Khan to ignore his injury andnd safely on the metal floor. The second third-level warrior pointed the rifle at him, but he did the same with the hand inside the enemy''s head, and his Wave spell ended up being faster.


    The straight version of the Wave spell destroyed the pierced head and flew toward the third-level warrior, engulfing the upper part of his body in its violent power. The rifle and the body armor gave the enemy enough time to retreat, leaving Khan alone with the fainted Princess.


    "Shoot him!" The third-level warrior shouted while pieces of his body armor fell off.


    Khan couldn''t help but be surprised when the second-level warriors fired their guns. He was standing right next to the defenseless Princess. Bullets could easily kill her, but those soldiers had attacked anyway.


    Time wasn''t on Khan''s side. He could dodge, but that would leave the Princess exposed, so he crossed his arms to protect his head and chest and summoned the [Blood Shield].


    The alien technique covered Khan''s arms and the exposed parts of his torso before the bullets could crash on him. His skin shattered under the attacks, but the [Blood Shield] endured. Still, the enemies kept firing, locking him in his position.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The third-level warrior didn''t stay still. Khan''s attack had broken his rifle, but he had spells. His mana started to move while Khan remained under fire. It really seemed that those enemies were willing to sacrifice the Princess if necessary.


    Thoughts were a luxury Khan couldn''t afford. Developing ns wasn''t an option when a spell was about to fly at him, so he pointed his right arm at the metal floor and released another straight version of the Wave spell.


    The gesture left Khan exposed for an instant, and a bullet flew through his right shoulder before the [Blood Shield] could protect it. More pain joined his thoughts, but his emotions continued to cover it, allowing a perfect execution of the spell.


    The purple-red light crashed on the metal floor and dug through it until a proper hole appeared. Khan didn''t stop there. He expanded the range of the spell until the entire surface risked falling apart.


    The soldiers kept firing while retreating, and the third-level warrior unleashed his spell. A first-sized, dark-green sphere flew toward Khan, carrying enough mana to alert him. The [Blood Shield] would probably break under that attack, so he ducked and interrupted his offensive.


    The spell flew past Khan and hit the wall behind him, piercing the metal and advancing toward the pilot''s cabin. Smoke also came from the melted edges, and a sizzling noise joined it. The attack was still corroding those surfaces, and an explosion soon resounded.


    The soldiers couldn''t sense it, but Khan only needed his ears to know that the engine had gone dark. Another explosion even resounded behind him, and the ship suddenly spun to its right, turning its open doors into the new floor.


    The sudden turn didn''t give Khan a chance to react. He lost his foothold and fell through the open door. He ended up in the orange air, but no sand stood under him. The ships had already reached the canyon.


    Something touched Khan''s senses before he could think about his situation. He turned his head only to see the Princess jumping from the broken floor to fly in his direction. She fell into his arms, and her calm face filled his vision.


    "What are you doing?!" Khan cursed.


    "Leaving my kidnappers," Princess Edna calmly replied before ncing at the bottomless canyon. "Are we going to die, Captain?"


    Khan didn''t answer. His thoughts ran at full speed to find a solution, but the situation seemed hopeless. Nippe 2''s air was quite dense, but it still couldn''t enable Khan''s flight.


    Requesting the mana''s help sounded like Khan''s only option, but another presence touched his senses before he could attempt that technique. He nced at the canyon''s edge and found Jack staring at him, but thetter diverted his gaze after a few seconds.


    ''Isn''t he worried about the Princess?'' Khan wondered.


    Khan was close enough to see Jack, but that wasn''t a distance people could jump. Even Jack''s monstrous physical prowess couldn''t cover that space, let alone reach the other side of the canyon.


    Still, apleteck of interest sounded wrong. There had to be something else to Jack''s gesture, and Khan soon found an answer.


    ''He doesn''t see death,'' Khan guessed as his eyes fell on the canyon''s depths once again.


    Khan was sure that no one could survive that fall. The canyon probably was kilometers deep. His transformation was incredible, but that was simply too much.


    The fumesing out of the canyon couldn''t help either. They were too soft for Khan''s Lightning-demon style. The gales at Nippe 2''s edges could have worked, but the air past them was too thin.


    ''Will I seed through the Nele''s arts?'' Khan wondered as his study of his surroundings went deeper.


    The symphony was everywhere. Khan could feel it, hear it, and even see it. He recognized every strand of mana running through the air. That energy was so real that being unable to touch it almost felt impossible.


    ''It''s right here,'' Khan eximed as his thoughts grew silent. ''It has always been here.''


    A tinge of Khan''s mana left his body and fused with the environment. He didn''t voice any request, but the energy around him began to move in his direction.


    Nothing special happened. Some gales grew denser but still failed to meet Khan''s requirements. Yet, he lowered his right foot anyway, and something solid eventually arrived.


    The Princess had to cling to Khan''s neck due to the sudden upward eleration. He rose through the orange air before kicking a soft wind under him to repeat the process.


    A mockingugh escaped Khan''s mouth when he pushed himself upward a third time. He couldn''t believe that the solution had always been in front of his eyes. He had simply been unable to recognize and seize it until now.


    "It has always been here," Khanughed as he stomped both feet on the air to push himself even higher. A sense of freedom enveloped him, and the desire to test himself showed its presence, but the Princess distracted him.


    "Good job, Captain," Princess Edna eximed. "Now, go after my kidnappers."


    "What?" Khan almost shouted.


    "That''s an order," Princess Edna dered.

 Chapter 456 Hunter

    "Princess, I-," Khan tried to say.


    "My kidnappers are getting away," Princess Edna interrupted.


    Khan instinctively nced in the direction of the ships. Three of them had almost reached the other side of the canyon, but the damaged one was struggling to fly straight. Smoke also came from the cabin as the vehicle lost height.


    "Did I misjudge you?" Princess Edna wondered, noticing the hesitation on Khan''s face. "Odd. I thought you would be mad because of Monica."


    The Princess didn''t need to add anything else to convey her idea. Khan had almost been ready to fight Jack for Monica, and that was just to keep his rtionship a secret. The kidnappers had done far worse to her, so the Princess believed that Khan wouldn''t hesitate to go after them.


    Khan was obviously livid. His mana alone echoed angry screams whenever Monica or George''s suffering faces appeared in his vision. Yet, there was a difference between protecting someone and going after people who hurt his loved ones.


    In theory, Khan had saved the Princess. He had no reason to pursue the kidnappers, and revenge wasn''t part of his character. Still, the Princess'' words stirred his already intense emotions, fueling his dark sides. If the Princess wanted to see the monster, Khan wouldn''t hide.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Princess, do you have defensive techniques?" Khan questioned as his tone lost every trace of emotion.


    "Yes," Princess Edna casually answered.


    "Use them," Khan ordered.


    Princess Edna showed a knowing smile and joined her hands before summoning her mana. Energy flowed out of her palms and expanded to cover her body. That was another non-elemental technique, but even Khan had to acknowledge its power.


    Khan let himself fall while the Princesspleted her technique. His speed increased and made him aware of his many injuries. He was far from good, but his mana fused with his desires and forced words inside his mind.


    ''Flow,'' Khan heard in his own voice. ''Fly. Freedom.''


    Khan''s falling speed increased while he remained immersed in his thoughts. The canyon drew him inside its depths, but worry couldn''t appear in his mind. After all, gravity didn''t exist anymore.


    A slow stomp flung Khan toward the departing ships, and another put him at his top speed. Something told him he could go faster, so mana leaked out of his body as he stepped harder into the air. His technique had every right to fail, but Khan elerated anyway.


    Questions managed to resound among Khan''s messy emotions. He didn''t know why or how he had seeded in flying. He underwent no revolutionary change during the chase but still aplished a long-desired feat.


    Khan''s transformation, general experience, or dangerous situation could exin that breakthrough. Probably all of them and more were to me for his sudden improvement. A singr answer didn''t exist. Khan had simply understood that the air had be a suitable tform.


    The reasons were unknown, but that didn''t apply to the result. Khan knew exactly what had happened. He had stepped into the advanced proficiency level for the Lightning-demon style.


    "Enlightenment," Khan whispered as confidence built up inside him and put more power into his moves.


    Each step was better than the previous one. Khan wasn''t new to that ability, but he still had a lot to learn, and the chase allowed him to test his limits. Some eagerness also appeared as he saw the damaged ship drawing closer to the ground. Another battle was about to unfold, and Khan couldn''t wait to put his new proficiency level to use.


    The ships had reached the other side of the canyon, but it was clear that one of them couldn''t fly anymore. The damaged vehicle crashnded on the ground, sliding for a while and creating a mess of sand and smoke before finally stopping.


    Seven figures came out of the crashed ship. The soldiers that Khan had fought, a pilot, and a wounded womannded and regrouped while another vehicle descended toward their position. Ropes fell from the open doors, and the team worked together to bring everyone to safety.


    The symphony kept Khan updated on the kidnappers'' situation. The wounded woman was slowing them down, giving him enough time to catch up. Yet, they still had a ship, which was a problem he had to handle right away.


    The Princess shouted a fewints when Khan reached the canyon''s edge and threw her on the ground. She probably wanted to join the battle, but he didn''t care. The iing battlefield was his training ground.


    Getting rid of the Princess allowed Khan to push his speed even more. He soon entered the ship''s range, causing shouts toe from its open doors. The kidnappers were warning theirpanions about his arrival, but their visors didn''t help when they didn''t know where to look.


    Khan ran higher and higher until he arrived above the ship''s cabin. A bright sword grew out of his left hand as he let Nippe 2''s gravity do its work. His figure ended up upside down, and he stomped his feet to generate a violent eleration.


    The kidnappers were on the verge of bringing everyone on the intact ship when the pilot''s cabin made a loud noise. The vehicle didn''t budge, but the woman at the steering wheel had to close her eyes due to the falling ss shards.


    Khan entered the cabin through the hole dug during hisnding and nted his bright sword on the pilot''s chest. His arm pierced her torso and reached the ship''s floor, where cracks immediately appeared and expanded.


    Various explosions resounded after a few seconds. The chaos ws unleashed their effects, destroying anything in their range and inflicting critical damage to the ship. Pirs of smoke flew in every direction as the vehicle lost height, and everyone jumped out once the crash became inevitable.


    More shouts resounded and mixed with the explosionsing out of the ships. The kidnappers did their best to regroup and create a battle formation, but their visors seemed useless. They looked left and right but only noticed the Princess in the distance.


    The second ship had three soldiers, with a single third-level warrior among them. Thending had even forced them to forsake the wounded woman, leaving only nine figures on the sand. That was no weak force, and weapons also increased their battle prowess.


    Still, before the kidnappers could create a circle, a figure crashed on the third-level warrior with the damaged gear. Khan used his insane momentum to deliver a descending kick on the soldier''s head, which remained intact even when itnded on the ground.


    The sandstorm generated by Khan''snding didn''t hide his figure. His offensive revealed his position, making the remaining eight kidnappers turn toward him. Weapons moved in his direction, and mana started to umte. Attacks were bound to arrive in the next seconds, but he still stomped his right foot to deliver a killing blow on the third-level warrior.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Khan had calcted that the kidnappers wouldn''t have the time to fire, but the remaining third-level warrior surprised him. Thetter released a beam-like spell from her right eye, and its speed forced Khan to resort to the [Blood Shield].


    The spell crashed on Khan''s left shoulder, burning his skin and dispersing the sand. The attack didn''t carry much power, but it still hurt and made smokee out of the charred flesh.


    The scene stunned the kidnappers. Their visors gave them a perfect view of Khan, and pure terror inevitably leaked into the symphony.


    The upper part of Khan''s uniform fell off, revealing an array of clotted blood vessels. He had one foot inside the gory remains of the third-level warrior''s head, smoke came out of his back, and his eyes almost shone when they looked at his enemies.


    The visors'' green filter worsened the mental blow the scene caused. Khan''s current state was barely human. He resembled an alien beast sent to hunt them down.


    "Monster," One of the kidnappers muttered before breaking the circr formation to retreat toward the crashed ship. The other soldiers did the same, but none dared show their backs.


    The retreat forced the second-level warriors to adjust their aim, but their strongerpanion didn''t need that. She seemed ready to unleash another beam, and Khan couldn''t waste time defending, especially in his injured state.


    "Help my legs," Khan whispered while turning toward the kidnappers and sending some mana into the environment.


    The third-level warrior didn''t lose track of Khan for even a second. Her spell didn''t hurt her visor, so the sand didn''t hinder her. Her mana moved quickly, umting in her right eye tounch a beam aimed at Khan''s head, but darkness abruptly filled her vision.


    The second-level warriors almost missed the event due to how quickly it had unfolded, but their position made that oue impossible. They were behind their strongerpanion, so they saw a figure teleporting on top of her. They even noticed Khan''s knee recing her head.


    Khan felt on fire. The sudden eleration generated by Maban''s technique made his injured skin scream in pain, but his mana continued to be louder and only allowed the arrival of warnings.


    The second-level warriors'' fear quickened their reactions. Multiple rifles moved in Khan''s direction, ready to fire whenever he touched the ground or jumped again. However, Khan had long since stopped ying by those rules. His movements weren''t something those kidnappers could predict or keep track of.


    Some bullets flew toward Khan''s position, but he stomped his feet in the air to disappear far above the battlefield. The kidnappers tried to search for him, but he ricocheted left, down, and right to deliver a spinning kick on one of them.


    Cracking noises joined the sand as the kick shattered the armor and broke the kidnapper''s neck, leaving Khan in mid-air. In the past, he would have used his opponent as a foothold to jump or push himself onto the ground. Yet, the air offered countless better options, and Khan didn''t hesitate to seize them.


    Khan went all-out, letting his raging emotions and the symphony in his senses dictate his moves. He jumped everywhere and delivered kicks without ever touching the ground. The Lightning-demon style transformed into an aerial art, and those second-level warriors couldn''t do anything against it.


    One of the kidnappers gave up when hisstpanion died in front of his eyes. He dropped his rifle and fell to the ground, almost waiting for death to arrive.


    Khan noticed theck of danger from hisst opponent and decided tond. He stopped before him and took a single step forward to nt his foot on his chest. A mere pressure from Khan would kill that kidnapper, but the arrival of a familiar presence made him stop.


    "Wait, Captain," Princess Edna called while reaching Khan. "I want to hear what he has to say."


    Khan kept his foot on the kidnapper as the Princess reached his side. His emotions finally began to quiet down to open the way for curiosity. He wanted to know more about the force that dared to attack a noble.


    "So, you are Captain Khan," The kidnapper scoffed whileying his head on the sand. "You sure epted the Princess'' leash quickly."


    "Talk," Khan threatened while applying pressure on the kidnapper''s chest. "Who are you? How did you know about this trip? How did you n to escape?"


    "What a disappointment," The kidnapper mocked as resolve reced his fear. "We kept track of you, you know? You are even better than we thought!"


    "Who is we?" Khan continued.


    "Well, there is time," The kidnapperughed. "You''ll eventually join us. Don''t worry. We won''t make it too hard on you."


    "Who are you?" Khan shouted, performing a stomp that pushed the kidnapper deeper into the sand. The attack was far from deadly, but the second-level warrior felt it.


    The kidnapper coughed, but his smile returned as soon as he managed to speak again. "We are the Hive, and we are everywhere."


    Khan suppressed a frown. The name didn''t mean anything to him, but intense mana red inside the kidnapper and brought his attention back to him. Something moved inside the man''s head, but everything ended before Khan could react.


    "A restriction," Princess Ednamented. "Boring."


    The mana inside the kidnapper told Khan what had happened. An explosion had unfolded inside his brain, killing him on the spot.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Thank you Ramginex for the Magic Castle and happy new year to everyone!

 Chapter 457 Hive

    The stillness of death filled Khan''s vision, leaving him speechless. That extreme gesture was a clue he couldn''t ignore. The kidnappers couldn''t be a random force if their members were willing to trigger deadly restrictions to avoid getting captured.


    Khan''s perspective had broadened after the events in Reebfell''s Slums. He knew about organizations that defied the Global Army''s leadership. Still, he didn''t expect that resolve from their members.


    Creating a secretb to make extra money was reasonable. Yet, the attack on the Princess carried something Khan didn''tpletely understand. The kidnappers were ready to ept death. In a way, they were better soldiers than most of those enlisted in the Global Army.


    ''What does it take to have this kind of resolve?'' Khan wondered while looking at the dead kidnapper. ''What were they trying to achieve?''


    "How long is this taking?" Princess Ednained. "I want to see the factory."


    "They areing," Khan revealed as his eyes remained on the corpse. He didn''t need to turn to sense the arrival of a few ships.


    Questions continued to resound in Khan''s mind when the Princess turned toward the canyon. He wanted to know more about the Hive and those kidnappers, but Ron and the others probably wouldn''t give him answers.


    "What is the Hive?" Khan decided to ask in that moment of privacy.


    "A terrorist organization," Princess Edna exined, uncaring whether Khan had the clearance to learn about the topic.


    "Terrorist?" Khan questioned, but the Princess ignored him since the faint shapes of three ships had appeared in the distance.


    "Princess, I deserve to know more," Khan pressed on.


    "Right!" Princess Edna eximed. "You did rescue me. Thank you, Captain."


    "Princess, the Hive," Khan reminded.


    "I''ll tell Ron to brief you," Princess Edna promised while patting her military uniform. "I''m all sandy."


    "I don''t know if I can learn that information," Khan finally diverted his gaze from the corpse.


    "It''s even in my hair," Princess Ednained while continuing to inspect herself.


    Khan couldn''t find the strength to curse. The Princess was impossible to deal with, and trying wouldn''t get him anywhere. He could only hope that Ron would handle the task.


    The iing ships moved fast, especially the one in the lead. They took less than a minute to reach Khan''s position, and two figures jumped out of them before they couldplete thending.


    "Princess!" Ron shouted right beforending on the sandy ground. Jack was with him but remained silent and hurried to the Princess'' side.


    "I want to see the factory," Princess Edna dered, and Ronpletely ignored her to check up on her state.


    The Princess was still a bit dizzy, but her bodycked any injury. She wouldn''t even need to rest to recoverpletely, and Ron heaved a sigh of relief when he confirmed that.


    That moment of peace was short-lived. As soon as the Princess'' well-being became a certainty, Ron moved his re at Khan, and a scolding followed.


    "Why didn''t you bring the Princess to safety immediately?" Ron questioned. "The scanners saw you chasing after the ships with her."


    "Don''t start," Khan groaned as he sat on the ground. "I was only following the Princess'' orders."


    "Captain Khan''s performance didn''t disappoint," Princess Edna added, "But he shouldn''t have left me so far behind."


    "Told you," Khan continued. "Completely innocent here."


    The pain made its way into Khan''s mind now that the situation had calmed down. The injuries suffered during the assault and chase showed their presence, and Khan closed his eyes to focus on moving his mana.


    "Captain," Ron didn''t let the matter go. "What you did was incredibly irresponsi-?"


    "What is the Hive?" Khan interrupted without opening his eyes.


    Ron went silent when the word "Hive" resounded in the orange air. He quickly hid his reaction, but Khan sensed his surprise anyway, confirming the topic''s importance.


    "Brief the Captain," Princess Edna ordered. "I promised you would tell him."


    "Princess," Ron muttered, but the Princess didn''t give him the time to finish his line. All the ships hadnded by then, and she hurried toward one of them. Of course, Jack remained at her side the whole time.


    Ron didn''t need to follow the Princess'' order. He had higher authority on matters that involved her safety. Yet,paring her perfect state to Khan''s injuries told him how much he had done to protect her.


    "Did you hear that name from them?" Ron asked, eyeing the corpses in the area.


    "They even told me I''d eventually join them," Khan half-joked.


    "One more reason to keep you in the dark," Ron snorted.


    "This secrecy might push me on their side," Khan responded. He couldn''t be bothered to pretend to be polite in that situation.


    Ron shot another re at Khan but eventually gave up. Khan''s feat deserved rewards, not punishments. Also, telling him about the Hive could help keep him on the Global Army''s side.


    "The Hive is a terrorist organization," Ron announced.


    "That much I learnt from the Princess," Khanmented.


    "Its goal is to change the current ruling system," Ron continued. "Taking down the noble families is only one of its targets. The Hive wants the very Global Army gone."


    "Why?" Khan asked.


    "The reasons are unclear," Ron sighed. "Different factions have different theories, but investigating properly is impossible. Every member has restrictions, and they don''t follow a set pattern. They can be mere guards or nobles."


    "Even nobles?" Khan couldn''t help but open his eyes.


    "The running theory is that the Hive has existed since the creation of the Global Army," Ron exined, ignoring the question on purpose. "It probably was an extremist faction made of all kinds of figures who ended up splitting from the main government."


    "What is it now?" Khan asked.


    "The main internal threat to humankind," Ron replied. "You probably ran into some members in Reebfell. They simply didn''t approach you back then."


    Reebfell''s matters were ssified, but a Princess'' guard could obtain detailed reports. Ron probably knew more about the hiddenb than Khan since he couldn''t gain ess to the rest of the investigation.


    "Are they nning to overthrow the Global Army with secretbs?" Khan scorned.


    "That''s the problem with the Hive," Ron exined. "It has many separate cells. Some might not even know that they belong to the Hive. Theb you found probably had nothing to do with it, but its members had to be on the scene."


    Khan had to reevaluate what he saw as the truth. Suddenly, the two specialists, Madame, and any soldier involved in the investigation became suspects. Even the Slums''mon citizens didn''t escape that idea.


    "Were you one of their members?" Khan asked when he gave up on finding suspicious behaviors in his memories.


    "I found out my cult had something to do with the Hive only after joining the Princess," Ron revealed.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Cult?" Khan repeated.


    "That''s the kind of faction I joined," Ron sighed and took off his broken sses to rub his eyes. "I told you. The Hive has many cells, which can take different forms. You can''t predict their behavior or identity unless you have someone on the inside."


    Khan wasn''t getting the answers he desired, but Ron''s exnation helped him understand the situation a bit better. In short, the Global Army and the families had powerful enemies with great reach, and they could work in Khan''s favor.


    The idea of going against the Global Army had been in Khan''s mind for a long time. He knew he would probably have to fight it to uncover the secrets he sought, and the Hive could be a valuable path.


    Still, those revtionsplicated Khan''s mental picture of Earth''s government. There always seemed to be more secrets waiting for him. Everything started with his doubts about the First Impact, but he had reached proper conspiracies now.


    "Did they offer you to join them?" Ron asked while Khan was immersed in his thoughts.


    "Not really," Khan chose to be honest while remaining partially vague. "Still, you were right. It sounded like I was a candidate."


    "That''s what they do," Ron confirmed. "They find valuable figures, approach them, and unleash a suitable indoctrination."


    "What would be suitable for me?" Khan scoffed.


    "Your mutations," Ron uttered. "The Nak, the Impacts. They won''t hesitate to draw you in with those topics."


    Khan believed his mental fortitude to be strong, but Ron had a point. Even Khan would falter in front of those topics. They weren''t enough to make him switch sides, but they definitely stirred his interest.


    "You," Ron continued but hesitated to change his initial line. "Captain Khan, I''ll make sure thework gets words of your deeds."


    "Thank you," Khan limited himself to say.


    "No," Ron performed a military salute. "Thank you."


    Khan showed a faint smile and nodded before a team of doctors left the ship to hurry toward him. Their arrival confirmed that the Princess was okay, so Ron rejoined her while those soldiers took a look at Khan.


    The injuries weren''t too severe but required attention anyway. Khan was scraped all over, especially on his face and hands. His arms carried traces of the bullets, and his left shoulder had burns due to the beam-like spell.


    Those were superficial wounds that an ointment could fix in a few hours or a day. Instead, Khan''s right hand and shoulder were worse off. His fingers hurt whenever he tried to move them, and the hole dug by the bullet wasn''t any better.


    The doctors patched Khan up on the spot, probably worsening his appearance due to all the bandages they used. Once they were done, Khan found himself with both arms, a cheek, and his forehead wrapped in white cloth. A few metal bars also kept his right hand straight, and a brace held his shoulder still.


    "Captain Khan," One of the doctors called when Khan stood up, "Make sure to visit the medical bay once you are back in the Harbor. They need to redo all the bandages."


    "Is it necessary?" Khan casually asked.


    "Nippe 2''s air tampered with these bandages," The doctor exined. "You risk an infection without clean ones."


    "Alright," Khan gave up. "Thank you."


    The doctors performed a military salute and remained at Khan''s side while he approached the ships. The Princess'' vehicle seemed off-limits for now, so he entered a different one, and the escort never left him.


    "Do you have people with the descendants too?" Khan questioned once the ships began the set-off.


    "We deployed all the factory''s medical teams to handle this emergence," One of the doctors reassured. "Mister Ron also contacted the Harbor. Reinforcements should already be on their way."


    "I believe they won''t only stick to doctors," Khan guessed.


    "That''s correct," The doctor confirmed. "It is my understanding that the reinforcements will have battleships too."


    Khan nodded and dropped the topic. Nippe 2 would probably be off-limits for a while due to the necessary investigations that would unfold. After all, the kidnappers wanted to bring the Princess somewhere. They had to have an escape n in mind, and the Global Army had to close that path.


    The doctors were tense due to Khan''s presence, but he was in no mood to ease their flight. He had too much on his mind, and it wasn''t all bad. Actually, the recent fight had brought a few happy oues.


    The advancement to the next proficiency level was the best news. Khan could finally bring his fighting style to new heights. He would require a lot of training to perfect it, but that was fine.


    The knifeless execution of the Divine Reaper had also brought decent surprises. Clotted blood vessels couldn''t rece metal yet, but Khan didn''t destroy his hand like thest time. One day, he might be able to forsake weapons and still retain his deadly martial art.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Saving the Princess was another important oue. Khan could already imagine the new wave of articles and offers that would reach his phone. He wasn''t a fan of his fame, but it was bound to help him during his imminent purchases.


    Still, helplessness lingered in the back of Khan''s mind. He had achieved a lot, but the discoveries made him feel exhausted. Humankind''s social and political environment had just gotten far moreplicated, showing once again how much he didn''t know about the topic.


    ''The Hive,'' Khan thought as the ships crossed the canyon and descended toward the first battlefield.


    The many thoughts that afflicted Khan grew silent once thending began. He stepped onto the sandy ground only to notice that the battlefield had turned into a busy medical bay with soldiers guarding every tent.


    The sky also showed surprises. Almost twenty ships crossed Nippe 2''s thick atmosphere and spread out in different directions. Five descended toward the medical bay while the others went looking for the kidnappers'' traces.


    Khan couldn''t believe how used he had gotten to those scenes. He had seen so many medical bays built on battlefields and simr locations that the scenery almost felt nostalgic. Luckily, the assault didn''t kill any descendant, but the Headmistress was bound to catch hell for that mess.


    The Princess'' ship remained closed, and three of the five vehicles descending into the area isted it to create a private medical bay. The others unloaded a toon of soldiers and doctors, who immediately attended to the various tents, improving the efficiency of those teams.


    Khan didn''t go unnoticed even in that mess. Many turned in his direction while he roamed among the various tents. His injured state was partially to me for that unwanted attention, but something told him that rumors had already started to spread.


    The unwanted attention couldn''t make Khan falter. He inspected the medical bay and nodded at familiar faces, but his focus remained on three sources of mana on the other side of the area. Khan had to cross one of the descendants'' ships to reach them, and the scene that unfolded in his vision made him smile.


    Two tents had appeared where Khan had left George and the others. Doctors were also running left and right to provide medication and check-ups, but a figure refused all of them to continue his vignt watch.


    George stood before the tents with a metal b held firmly in his right hand. He had yet to receive any medication but had no intention of epting them until his friend gave the okay.


    "You are the best," Khan praised as George finally let go of the metal b to sit on the ground.


    "Did you jump into a fire or something?" George mocked at the sight of Khan''s many bandages.


    "Those doctors have exaggerated," Khan chuckled while waving his right arm within the brace''s limits.


    "You don''t have to convince me," George shook his head before they both turned toward one of the tents.


    "Khan, is that you?" Monica called as soon as she left the tent, but thoughts abandoned her mind when she saw Khan. Her eyes widened in surprise, and the emotions Khan never wanted her to experience built up inside her.


    Anita peeked from another tent, but Khan didn''t even look at her. He went straight for Monica and pushed her inside before giving orders to nearby soldiers. "No one gets inside."


    The soldiers performed military salutes, and Khan sealed the entrance behind him without adding anything else. Anita remained stunned and searched for answers on George''s face, but he pretended not to see her and summoned some doctors to avoid talking altogether.


    ****


    Author''s thoughts: Thank you Mordiadies for the Magic Castle!

 Chapter 458 First Love

    Monica let Khan do as he wished. His obvious gesture was bound to create more annoying rumors, but she didn''t care. She simply couldn''t when so many bandages filled her vision.


    Khan sealed the tent and went straight for the bed inside. Pain and mental exhaustion fought to get a monopoly over his mind, but he remained full of energy. He wouldn''t be able to sleep even if he tried.


    Monica wanted to reach for Khan, but the many bandages scared her. She couldn''t see the full extent of his injuries, so she decided to stay away altogether.


    Khan had far different intentions. He stretched his hand as soon as he sat on the bed, and Monica obediently took it. Khan pulled her onto hisp, and her careful fingers began to trace the edges of his bandages.


    "Look what they did to you," Monica muttered. "I''ll get the infusion and help you the nex-."


    Monica couldn''t finish her line since Khan seized her nose and pulled her closer. Monica''s mood immediately improved due to the gesture, but not in a good way.


    "I was so worried," Monica pouted while her nose remained between Khan''s fingers. "Tell me where it doesn''t hurt so I can hit you."


    "What about a kiss instead?" Khan chuckled, and Monica didn''t dare to refuse. She carefully wrapped her arms around Khan''s neck, and her lips fell on him when he let go of her nose.


    A groan soon escaped Khan''s mouth. His face was scraped all over, and kissing rekindled those injuries. He wanted to exin his situation to avoid getting Monica worried, but she pulled him on her chest before he could speak.


    "My tired, injured Captain," Monica cuddled Khan with as much care as possible. "What even happened out there?"


    "I got the Princess," Khan exined, "But she asked me to chase after the ships. It was messy."


    "She will hear from me," Monica snorted before doubts forced her to ask questions. "How did you reach her? Did you hijack a ship?"


    "My martial art reached the next proficiency level," Khan summarized. "I can fly now."


    Monica felt the urge to tighten her hug but held back at thest second. She was ecstatic. Khan didn''t only perform an incredible feat. He had also gotten stronger, and she was happy for him.


    However, an idea appeared in Monica''s mind when she pictured Khan flying toward the ships. She could guess what had happened, and jealousy arrived.


    "Wait," Monica gasped as her voice grew louder. "Did you carry the Princess? Did you have your first flight with her?"


    "She literally jumped on me," Khanughed. "I couldn''t let her fall into the canyon."


    "You went out of your way to fly with another woman!" Monica almost shouted.


    "I''ll fly with you once I get better," Khan promised while leaving Monica''s chest to look into her eyes. "We can even go now if you want."


    Monica couldn''t remain angry in front of that honesty. She pouted again and tried to divert her eyes, but Khan''s gaze kept making her turn toward him.


    "You''ll have to work hard to earn my forgiveness," Monica eventually scoffed but still epted the iing kiss.


    "I should meditate for a bit," Khan whispered once the kiss ended.


    "Yes," Monica agreed. "You need to recover."


    "No, I just want to kiss you without hurting," Khan half-joked, but Monica went full girlfriend mode at those words.


    "Get better quickly," Monica voiced as her warm breath blew on Khan''s face, "And I''ll give you another gift."


    Those words awakened memories that fueled Khan''s desires. He suddenly stopped hurting, and his mouth reached for Monica, but she ced a finger on his lips before they could kiss.


    "Get better first," Monica smirked. "I''ll make it worth the wait."


    "You have gotten so naughty," Khan teased while diving back into her chest.


    "It''s your fault," Monicained, and warmth joined her voice once she resumed cuddling Khan. "So, take responsibility when you get better."


    .


    .


    .


    A few hours went by. The Harbor''s forces expanded the encampment until they had guards alongside the entire perimeter. Meanwhile, the doctors attended to the various injured, even sending the most critical ones back to the moon to get better medication.


    Khan spent those hours meditating inside Monica''s tent, and she remained by his side the whole time. No one disturbed them either, so they could preserve their intimacy as long as they liked.


    Still, as lunchtime approached, the couple felt the need to get something to eat. Monica offered to take care of the task for Khan, but they eventually decided to leave together to start addressing the rumors.


    "It sounds strange," Khanmented while approaching the tent''s exit.


    "You know how much I hate lies," Monica scolded. "I never heard about the Hive."


    "Your family should know," Khan pointed out.


    "Definitely," Monica agreed. "They might be forced to update me now."


    Nippe 2''s orange illumination shone on Khan''s almost intact face as soon as he left the tent. His shallow injuries had healed in the past hours, leaving only the bandages on his right hand and shoulder on him. He was still hurting, but the annoying part had passed.


    "It was about time," George eximed when Khan and Monica appeared in his vision. He was sitting next to the ship before the two tents, and a smiling Anita was at his side.


    Anita''s smile vanished as soon as she noticed the couple, and some embarrassment arrived. She couldn''t help but think about the previous scene and the conversation inside the Princess'' ship. Still, something else also fueled that feeling.


    "I told you he is trustworthy," Khan smirked. Anita had finally gotten a piece of serious George, and her mana said how much she liked it.


    "So," Khan announced. "What did we miss?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "The Princess and a few ships went to the factory," George revealed. "She got a private tour."


    "Do we have orders?" Khan wondered.


    "No," George stated. "Only sand and food. It''s a pity they didn''t bring anything to drink down here."


    Anita red at George but remained silent since Monicaughed at her reaction. They even exchanged a meaningful nce, and Khan didn''t ignore those clues.


    "George, let''s get something to eat," Khan suggested. "We''ll bring something for the girls too."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Sure," George stood up and eyed Anita. "I''ll see you in a bit."


    Anita nodded, and words remained stuck in her throat again when Monica sat next to her. It was clear that they needed to talk, and Khan quickly brought George out of their way.


    A stupid smile appeared on George''s face as soon as he and Khan crossed the ship. Pride leaked out of his mana, and an old line eventually left his mouth. "We are the luckiest men in the universe."


    Khan coughed and half-turned to show his state. His recovery had been quick, but his right hand and shoulder were still a mess.


    "Hey, you are gettingid," George stated. "Don''tin."


    "Anita looked pretty caught too," Khan pointed out.


    "What can I say?" George sighed. "My charm was bound to get to her at some point."


    "You could have just tried harder from the beginning," Khan suggested.


    "Khan, Khan," George shook his head and patted an intact part of Khan''s back. "You have your married man approach, and I have my tactics."


    "You are an idiot," Khanughed.


    "But I''m right," George eximed. "By the way, is Anita about to know?"


    "I''ll let Monica decide that," Khan replied.


    "Do you trust her?" George questioned.


    "You should tell me that," Khan rebuked.


    "I''ll believe anything she says as long as I get my sweet time," George proudly dered.


    "No wonder they get so angry at you," Khan chuckled before returning to the serious topic. "It should be fine. If it isn''t, we''ll find a solution."


    "I can''t imagine her going against Monica''s interests," George imed and reassured Khan. "It will be fine."


    The encampment had been quite active in the past hours. The reinforcements had taken away the many corpses, and Nippe 2''s winds had dealt with the puddles of blood. The area was by no means clean, but it didn''t resemble a battlefield anymore.


    George shot res left and right whenever Khan''s presence attracted the soldiers'' attention. He wasn''t trying to send warnings, but Khan''s injuries put him in a protective stance.


    The two crossed the encampment until they arrived at a big ship withrge open doors. Various goods rested inside, and Khan''s eyes lit up when he recognized one of them.


    "I can''t believe it," Khan muttered as he shot toward the ship and grabbed two cans.


    The general attention attracted by Khan made many descendants leave their tents to inspect the scene. They found him sitting next to the ship and gulping down one of the cans, which barely survived a few seconds.


    Khan immediately grabbed the second can, and George joined him on the ground. By then, a few descendants were heading toward them, and Khan felt no surprise when he sensed Lucian''s presence.


    "You have an appetite," Lucian eximed while reaching Khan with Zoe and other familiar faces. "That''s a good sign."


    "You never forget your first love," Khan joked before emptying the can and poking George to get another.


    "First love?" Lucian frowned.


    "Spicy chicken!" Khanughed and held the new can high as soon as George handed it to him.


    Someughs resounded, especially from George. As for Khan, he barely lifted his gaze since the food captured most of his attention.


    "Then, is Monica your second love?" Zoe couldn''t help but ask since Khan had mentioned the topic.


    "Training halls," Khan corrected and emptied the third can. George already had a new one ready for him by then.


    The answer left everyone speechless, especially since they wanted to hear more about Monica and Khan. Yet, the descendants couldn''t push Khan too much there. It wouldn''t be polite, and his injured state would worsen everything.


    However, someone with the ability to enforce her authority on Khan existed in the encampment, and her presence soon entered his senses'' range.


    "Captain Khan, "Professor Leelli called from behind the group around Khan. "A word?"


    Khan emptied his fourth can and stood up. The descendants opened a path for him, allowing him to leave with the Professor and reach an isted area behind a tent.


    "Mister Ron updated me," Professor Leelli revealed. "Captain, words can''t express how proud the Harbor is to have you as a student. Even the Headmistress wished to praise you in person, but problems are keeping her on the moon."


    "Thank you, ma''am," Khan replied, performing a military salute with a single arm.


    "We received orders to keep the attack a secret for now," Professor Leelli continued. "The Harbor will make an official announcement, but only afterpleting the investigation on Nippe 2."


    Khan nodded. He had already told Monica everything, but the Professor didn''t need to know that.


    "Lastly," Professor Leelli eximed, "The Harbor will provide suitable rewards for your feats. The Headmistress is also willing to sit with you to discuss specific matters."


    Khan couldn''t pretend to be surprised. He had expected something simr to happen. It seemed that money wouldn''t be a problem in the imminent future.


    "Is this all, ma''am?" Khan asked in front of the Professor''s silence.


    "There is one matter with no connection to the Harbor," Professor Leelli stated. "The Virrai family expressed the desire to meet you after learning about your feats."


    Surprise finally arrived. Khan knew his feat had incredible political relevance, but meeting with a noble family still felt too much.


    "You would only meet a representative," Professor Leelli exined to clear Khan''s surprise. "Princess Edna would still be more important."


    "Oh," Khan gasped. That was good news, especially if he could get the Princess to attend the meeting.


    "When is the meeting?" Khan asked.


    Professor Leelli''s expression grewplicated, and her green eyes fell on Khan''s remaining bandages. She appeared hesitant, but her duty eventually made her speak.


    "Tonight," Professor Leelli revealed. "The representative is already on her way."

 Chapter 459 Representative

    Khan couldn''t help but frown. It made no sense for a representative to be already near the Harbor. Actually, that behavior was suspicious in light of recent events.


    "Ma''am," Khan called but hesitated to speak. The matter was problematic since it involved a noble family, and he didn''t want to overstep or sound impolite.


    "How," Khan continued, "How can she be already here? Does the Virray family have estates nearby?"


    Professor Leelli didn''t initially understand what Khan was implying, but a realization soon arrived and made her chuckle. "Noble families have ess to private teleports. Don''t worry about it."


    "Oh," Khan eximed. "Thank you for your honesty, ma''am."


    "It''s no secret," Professor Leelli exined. "Anyway, a ship will fly you up soon enough. I talked to the doctors. I know you must visit the medical bay, but be clean and ready by seven p.m."


    "Military uniform?" Khan questioned.


    "Yes," Professor Leelli confirmed. "Finish your lunch now, and try to take a nap. You must be exhausted."


    Khan wore a fake smile and performed another military salute before leaving the isted area. Multiple shouts weed his return to the ship with the goods, but he headed directly for George due to the change in his schedule.


    "I have new orders," Khan exined while seizing two more cans from the ship. "I''ll leave soon."


    "They didn''t waste time," George announced, jumping to his feet. "Political meetings?"


    The Professor didn''t tell Khan to keep the meeting a secret, so he made the matter public to increase his fame. "A representative of the Virrai family asked for me."


    Lucian and the other descendants remained surprised, and murmurs immediately resounded. Still, Lucian recovered quickly enough to say something before Khan could leave. "Captain, you are truly putting all of us to shame."


    "I just have more experience in these situations," Khan dismissed the praise as his gaze wandered into sad memories. "There is nothing lucky about that."


    The audience remained captivated by Khan''s sad and mature answer. He had always been a hot topic in the Harbor, but his recent feat, his shirtless state, and the iing meeting enhanced his status, making most women consider him a potential partner.


    What had started as a partial joke was a proper option now. Having the backing of a noble family would remove Khan''s only social weakness. His poor background was bound to disappear, making him the perfect man to catch.


    "I''ll talk to my family," Lucian continued as Khan left the scene. "I''m sure I can find a job worthy of your expertise."


    Khan turned to nod but didn''t add anything. He left the area with George and returned to where Monica and Anita were staying. The two women were still on the ground, leaning on the ship''s side, and his appearance made silence reign.


    "So," Anita eximed while standing up, "You two were truly hiding something."


    "I hope you can understand," Khan stated.


    Anita looked at George before voicing another question. "You also knew, didn''t you?"


    "I don''t know what you are talking about," George coughed.


    Anita''s look turned into a re that no one took seriously since Monica smiled. Anita also noticed her at some point, and aint escaped her mouth. "Don''t expose me so soon."


    "Khan needs a break," Monica dered, "And only I can tease him."


    "You lost your head so thoroughly," Anita giggled as her gaze returned to Khan. "I knew something was up, but I didn''t expect you to have actually caught her."


    "I tried my best to stay away," Khan sighed. "I really tried."


    "Ooh?" Anita''s eyes lit up in curiosity as she took Khan''s left elbow. "So, it was my girl who pushed you into this."


    "It''s entirely her fault," Khan imed.


    "Hey!" Monica pouted.


    "Monica Solodrey!" Anita announced. "This hottie made you so shameless."


    "Let him go already," Monica scoffed while also standing up.


    "And jealous," Anitaughed while leaving Khan alone. "Everything is clear now. I''m surprised you let him go to parties."


    "Those sluts," Monica cursed while crossing her arms. "They never left him alone."


    "What did you expect?" Anita teased. "Good looks, talent, and potential. He was a nice treat even before today''s events."


    "I''m still here," Khan pointed out.


    "It would be hard to miss you," Anita joked. "My girl surely didn''t."


    Anita looked at Khan from head to toe without hiding her appreciation for that fit body. Still, her gesture made Monica step in the way of her inspection, and George coughed to im her attention.


    "What?" Anita asked. "Are you also jealous now?"


    "Of Khan?" George wondered. "Never. I know you only have eyes for me."


    Anita shook her head, but George reached her back to put an arm around her waist. She diverted her gaze to avoid giving him any satisfaction, but Khan and Monicaughed at that cute gesture.


    "Don''t believe for even a second that I''m done with you two," Anitained. "I don''t want secrets anymore."


    Khan and Monica rolled their eyes. Part of their intimate life would never hit the public, and Anita gasped when she understood that point.


    "You are a shameless coup-!" Anita interrupted her line when she realized where she was. Some soldiers were nearby, so she couldn''t speak too openly.


    "I''m feeling a bit tired," Khan voiced a tant lie. "I think I''ll take a nap."


    "Me too," Monica yed along. "Captain, do you mind following me in my tent? We need to discuss something."


    "How could I refuse?" Khan stated, and the couple showed meaningful smiles at Anita before heading for Monica''s tent.


    "She took it well," Khan eximed once inside the privacy of the tent.


    "Anita is a good friend," Monica revealed. "Though I think she has yet to ept everything."


    "Everything?" Khan wondered. "What did you tell her?"


    "The truth," Monica imed. "How you couldn''t stay away from me on Milia 222. How you can''t stop thinking about me. How I''m your entire world."


    Monica exploded into augh when Khan hugged her from behind. She would usually fight back, but Khan''s injured state made her immediately give in. She let Khan hold her and turned her head to exchange a kiss.


    "I''m d Anita knows," Khan whispered while throwing the cans on the bed to focus entirely on Monica. "You needed a friend."


    "You just like to have someone else covering for us," Monica joked.


    "That definitely is an advantage," Khan pointed out, making Monicaugh again.


    "Come," Monica muttered while escaping Khan''s hug and taking his hand. "Let me take care of you."


    The two ended up on the bed, with Khan resting on Monica''sp. Monica wanted Khan to sleep, but learning about the iing meeting with the representative made her start a useful lecture.


    Monica''s knowledge in those matters helped Khan get an idea of what waited for him. Thanking Khan for his feat was the easiest exnation, but Monica came up with different ideas. One even saw an offer to join the Princess'' guards.


    The two kept talking until a ship came to pick Khan up, and Monica joined the flight without meeting any resistance. The couple soon returned to the Harbor and headed straight for the medical bay since Khan needed new bandages.


    The doctors in the medical bay gave Khan a better brace and changed the metal structure keeping his right hand still before sending him off. The couple then headed for his t, and Monica couldn''t be bothered by the cameras when he needed her help.


    "Remember your manners," Monica warned as the couple entered the t. "You can''t risk ending up on the Virrai''s family bad side."


    "I saved the Princess," Khan eximed. "They should just praise me."


    "Noble families aren''t so simple," Monica exined while gently pushing Khan onto the bed to inspect his bandages. "They might deliberately insult you to see where you stand."


    "Stand how?" Khan asked.


    "Think about what Ron said," Monica replied. "You might have reassured the Virrai family on that topic, but nothing stops you from bing an advisor for other nobles. Actually, your rtionship with the Princess makes you a perfect candidate."


    "What do they expect me to say?" Khan scoffed. "I can''t refuse their orders anyway."


    "That''s why an invitation is usible," Monica stated. "The Princess'' guards have restrictions. Her family might consider applying a few to you."


    "No one is putting foreign mana in me," Khan cursed.


    "Don''t be stupid!" Monica scolded. "If a noble family wants you to have restrictions, you''ll get them."


    "I told you," Khan rebuked. "I''m not joining the guards. You know I can''t."


    "What if they have something to do with the Second Impact?" Monica questioned. "What if they know about your nightmares? What if they want to keep the matter a secret?"


    "I''ll use Princess Edna to get out of the situation," Khan said.


    "Yes," Monica approved. "Princess Edna will be your greatest ally, but the representative must know ways around her character."


    Monica finished checking Khan''s bandages and took his hand to pull him inside the bathroom. To Khan''s surprise, she went to her knees and pulled down his pants before moving to his shoes.


    "Monica?" Khan called.


    "Buy yourself time until the Princess arrives," Monica continued while taking out Khan''s shoes. "Maybe mix some honesty with your lies. Even the representative will have to buy them."<novelnext></novelnext>


    Monica finished taking away Khan''s pants once the shoes weren''t in the way anymore. He remained in his underwear, but she barely looked at him and began to prepare a warm bath.


    "You can also use your injuries as an excuse if the situation gets rough," Monica suggested. "Just don''t get on their nerves and pretend to be willing to do anything they say."


    Warm water soon filled the bathtub, and Monica kept checking the temperature until she felt satisfied. She moved to Khan''s underwear at that point, but he grabbed her hand before she could pull it down.


    "Monica," Khan called again, but his tone clearly expressed his intentions now.


    "M-," Monica muttered as shyness took over her voice. "My mother taught me how clean I must be before a meeting with nobles. You also need help with your injuries."


    Monica pulled Khan''s underwear down and pretended not to notice his reaction. She hurried on her feet and pushed him inside the bath, but he didn''t immerse himself in the warm water just yet.


    "Not a word," Monica warned as she unbuttoned her military uniform. She got naked in seconds before joining Khan inside the bathtub.


    "Scoundrel," Monica pouted as she put a stic cover around Khan''s brace before pushing him into the water. He let her do as she wished, and his gaze only intensified when she sat on him and wrapped her arms around his neck.


    "Don''t move," Monica whispered to Khan''s ear. "I''ll take care of you."


    .


    .


    .


    A few minutes before seven p.m., a ride came to pick up Khan at his apartment. He was clean and ready by then, and Monica had even helped him wear the upper part of his uniform, so he could leave right away.


    The ride wasn''t a terrestrial vehicle. It was an actual ship that gave Khan an idea of the meeting''s location, but he held back any questions during the flight. Only a pilot was with him, and he didn''t disturb him.


    The ship crossed a few domes until it reached one of the hangars. The vehicle eventually left the Harbor, confirming Khan''s initial guess, but the scene that unfolded afterward still managed to surprise him.


    A big, circr ship was waiting past the moon''s orbit. Khan''s vehicle flew toward it, and a docking area opened once thending was imminent.


    Khan''s ship entered the circr vehicle, and the pilot waited to open the doors until the docking area closed. No orders resounded, so Khan seized the initiative and crossed the exit on his own.


    A long corridor unfolded in Khan''s vision. Bright white light illuminated the area and the soldiers guarding every door on its sides. Only the entrance at the bottom of the passage was open, and Khan slowly advanced toward it while letting his senses roam free.


    All the soldiers in the corridor were third-level warriors who reeked of battle experience. Moreover, an even stronger presence came out of the room at the end of the passage. The atmosphere was inevitably tense, but Khan could only advance.


    The soldiers performed military salutes whenever Khan crossed them, and that pattern continued until he advanced through the corridor. At that point, he found himself in a circr room, with a beautiful middle-aged woman waiting for him at one end of a metal table.


    The entrance closed behind Khan as soon as he entered the room, leaving him alone with the woman. Thetter was a fourth-level warrior who reminded him about Christal. Her beauty was undeniable, but the coldness leaked by her mana made her almost unapproachable.


    "Captain Khan," The woman announced. "Take a seat."


    Khanplied and sat in front of the woman, who stretched her right arm forward. Khan didn''t initially understand what she wanted, but the gesture that followed made him put his hand on hers.


    "We''ll start now," The woman eximed. "Rx. Anxiety can affect the inspection."


    Mana came out of the woman and enveloped the table before Khan could ask any question. He found himself immersed in that chilling energy, and the representative even ced her fingers on his wrist to keep track of his heartbeat.


    Khan couldn''t help but give a second look at the woman. She had brown hair tied into a ponytail on her left shoulder, and her bottomless ck eyes never left him. Her entire focus was on Khan, and her mana echoed that behavior.


    Khan''s eyes darted left and right since he could see the symphony. The woman''s mana trembled whenever he moved and grew softer to adjust to his natural aura. That technique probably wanted to prevent lies.


    "You have keen senses," The woman said in a robotic voice. "Did you gain them from an alien species?"


    "Yes, ma''am," Khan confirmed, and the chilling mana remained still. It seemed that the truth wouldn''t cause any reaction.


    "Why did you chase after Princess Edna?" The woman questioned.


    "I-," Khan didn''t expect that sudden question, but the woman spoke again before he could sort out his thoughts.


    "The Second Impact tainted you, didn''t it?" The woman asked.


    "Yes," Khan replied. "That''s public knowl-."


    "Why did you chase after Princess Edna?" The woman repeated.


    "It was my duty," Khan dered, but a tremor ran through the chilling mana. That was a partial lie, and the woman''s technique didn''t miss it.


    "What''s the color of your hair?" The woman asked.


    "Blue," Khan responded.


    "Why did you chase after Princess Edna?" The woman repeated once again.


    "Everyone else was injured," Khan exined. "I didn''t want my friends to jump into a dangerous mission."


    The chilling mana didn''t react now. Khan had still kept something hidden, but the woman''s technique let it slide.


    "What''s the color of your eyes?" The woman questioned.


    "Blue," Khan uttered.


    "Where does your loyalty lie?" The woman continued.


    "I don''t understand the question," Khan stated without showing the slightest hesitation.


    "What''s your rank?" The woman asked.


    "Captain," Khan replied.


    "Where does your loyalty lie?" The woman repeated.


    "I''m not sure how to answer that," Khan admitted.


    "What''s your element?" The woman questioned.


    "Chaos," Khan stated.


    "Where does your loyalty lie?" The woman repeated once again.


    "With myself?" Khan wondered, and the chilling mana remained still.


    "Yourself," The woman finally slowed down before picking back up at full speed. "Saving Princess Edna added an incredible feat to your profile. In a way, the attack benefitted you."


    "I don''t have the connections to n something like that," Khan dered.


    "But you are surrounded by people who have them," The woman pointed out.


    "I would never make innocents suffer," Khan dered. "I know that pain far too well."


    The chilling mana grew softer after that reply, but the woman remained emotionless and continued with her questions. "Your tragic experiences can give birth to hostility toward the Global Army."


    "I''ve kept bleeding for the Global Army even after all my tragedies," Khan uttered while bending to his left to show his brace.


    "We''ve seen simr pretenses in the past," The woman revealed. "You aren''t the first putting his life on the line to get to the nobles."


    "I simply follow orders," Khan exined. "Also, with all due respect, bing a noble guard has never crossed my mind."


    "We wouldn''t be able to hire you for that anyway," The woman stated.


    "What?" Khan gasped.


    "We know you learnt about the Hive," The representative said. "How does it make you feel?"


    "Confused?" Khan wondered while his mind remained on the previous topic.


    "Order is necessary for the current state of the universe," The woman dered. "The Global Army is far from perfect but remains a necessary evil."


    "Wait," Khan decided to address his doubts. "Why can''t you hire me as a noble guard? Why are you telling me this?"


    "Because it benefits the Virrai family," The representative replied.


    "How?" Khan questioned.


    "Every word exchanged here is ssified," The woman ignored the question. "Revealing the contents of this meeting is akin to an action against the Virrai family."


    "Ma''am?" Khan called because he was struggling to follow the conversation. Yet, a door on the other side of the room suddenly opened, ending the meeting.


    "That''s not good, E!" Princess Edna scolded while entering the room. "I told you to skip this part."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "We were just having a nice conversation," The representative smiled, recing all the coldnessing out of her body with warm feelings. She even retracted the mana that had enveloped the table.


    "Ron, handle this," Princess Edna ordered, and Ron stepped into the room to bow in front of E. Thetter let go of Khan and stood up before disappearing behind one of the exits.


    "Come on, Captain," Princess Edna giggled. "My family pulled me out of the Harbor, but I still have this night. I have enough time for onest story."

 Chapter 460 Questions

    The Princess led Khan into a different part of the circr ship, where she made herselffortable to listen to his stories. Jack and Ron obviously were with her, and drinks never failed to arrive.


    "So," Princess Edna eximed, "They truly are big snakes."


    "I was surprised too," Khan admitted. "It''s easy to deal with humanoid aliens, but the Tors are different. Milia 222 is special in that sense."


    "It sounds exciting," Princess Edna announced. "Ron, prepare a trip for Milia 222."


    "Milia 222 is off-limits after the recent crisis," Ron exined. "You must also get off the grid until new security measurese online."


    "I want a beauty treatment," Princess Edna changed the topic.


    "I''ll tell the family estate about your wish," Ron replied while picking up his phone to send a message.


    "Captain, keep Monica beautiful," Princess Edna ordered. "I''ll take her with me otherwise."


    "I''ll take good care of her," Khan promised. "It''s a pity your stay in the Harbor was so short. You two were getting close."


    "Right!" Princess Edna recalled something. "I should get back at my family for that."


    "Princess, please," Ron begged, but his words rarely reached the Princess.


    "I''ll answer one of your questions before going back to the stories," Princess Edna stated.


    "Captain, you know the Princess'' character," Ron warned. "Don''t abuse it."


    "You were curious about the Nak''s mutations, right?" Princess Edna continued. "I should know things the Harbor doesn''t teach."


    "Princess, you are talking about ssified information," Ron scolded, trying to appeal to the Princess'' better side. "Captain Khan might get into trouble for listening to you."


    "Ron, learn to live a little," Princess Ednaughed.


    "This goes beyond national security," Ron pressed on. "Even you might face some trouble."


    "So, we won''t tell anyone," Princess Edna announced, revealing her excitement. She seemed to like breaking the rules.


    "Princess," Ron tried again.


    "I have higher authority on these matters," Princess Edna smiled. "Besides, Captain Khan saved my life. A lesser man would have refused after your constant harassment."


    "I was only worried about your safety," Ron imed.


    "Captain, the question," Princess Edna ignored Ron, "Before I change my mind."


    Khan didn''t expect that sudden turn of events. He knew he wouldn''t get another chance like that, but the matter was troublesome. He shouldn''t gain ess to that information.


    Curiosity was one thing. Khan could suppress it when it came to his safety, but the opportunity was too juicy. He could have a noble clearing some of his deepest doubts.


    Khan opened his mouth but closed it immediately. The mutations were a pressing matter, but he had something else in mind, something even deeper than that.


    "The Nak," Khan voiced. "What do you know about the Nak?"


    "You must be more specific, Captain," Princess Edna suggested. "I know many things about the Nak."


    "Are they still around?" Khan questioned. "Where are they?"


    "I have no idea," Princess Edna eximed, destroying Khan''s hopes. Still, her following words turned his world upside down. "Though, my family always talked as if they were alive. I wouldn''t be surprised if the Global Army had a few on Earth."


    "What?!" Khan gasped. "On Earth?"


    "Why not?" Princess Edna wondered. "You have seen a hand on Milia 222. It stands to reason that a full Nak can be on Earth."


    "That''s enough, Princess," Ron scolded. "Captain Khan already is a risky profile. We don''t want to push him against the Global Army."


    "The Captain will do anything he wants anyway," Princess Edna lectured. "So, are we done? Can I get more stories now?"


    "Anything you want, Princess," Khan voiced, doing his best to keep the shocking revtion in the back of his mind. He would think about them, but only after taking care of the Princess.


    .


    .


    .


    Khan could barely keep track of the ship''s flight. He had said his goodbyes to the Princess to head back to the Harbor, but his mind generated troublesome thoughts that made him unable to focus on his surroundings.


    Learning about the Hive had already changed Khan''s view of the universe. Humankind had a big enemy he might be able to exploit. Still, that remained a superficial topicpared to what the Princess had revealed.


    ''Nak on Earth,'' Khan cursed. ''Is this a joke?''


    Finding a broken hand on Milia 222 had already been a revolutionary discovery. Yet, ording to the Princess, Earth might have a few Nak.


    ''Is it so unrealistic?'' Khan couldn''t help but think.


    Raymond patched up a Nak''s hand on awless zone, so the noble families could theoretically do far more in their domain. They also had almost five hundred years of unchallenged rule on their backs, so it didn''t sound unreal for intact specimens to exist in secretbs or simr structures.


    Khan had always believed in the existence of a grand conspiracy but had never truly thought past that. Still, he couldn''t stop his mind now, and hypotheses piled up.


    After the First Impact, Earth had turned into a hell of mutated creatures and infective mana. Debris from the Nak''s spaceships had also been there, so it made sense for the actual Nak to end up in the nobles'' hands.


    As for their state, Khan couldn''t possibly know. The Nak could be dead, alive, in stasis, or in multiple pieces. All those options could be valid. He wouldn''t be surprised if they were all true simultaneously.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Another matter made its way into Khan''s mind once the Nak stopped being a priority. E had revealed something important during her interrogation. He couldn''t be a noble guard, and his family was probably to me for that.


    ''It can''t be,'' Khan cursed as a wild idea made its way through his thoughts. Considering that option felt crazy, but the clues seemed to fit.


    Khan''s thoughts couldn''t get anywhere. He was in no position to reach conclusions. He had simply learnt something that had once againplicated his idea of the universe.


    That eptance annoyed Khan a bit. He was the youngest Captain in history, but the valuable secrets of the Global Army continued to escape his reach. He didn''tck patience, but he wondered when he could actually start finding answers to his many doubts.


    The annoyance was short-lived since the return inside the Harbor finally distracted Khan from his messy thoughts. It wasn''t toote, and Monica was already studying in George''s t with Anita, so he nned to join them. Yet, the ship headed directly for the embassy, changing his schedule.


    Khan didn''t question the pilot. He knew why the ship was heading for the embassy, and he felt no surprise when he saw the Headmistress waiting for him on one of the roofs.


    "I''m sorry for the sudden summon," Headmistress Holwen announced once Khan left the ship. "You must be exhausted."


    "I believe you have it worse than me, ma''am," Khan stated.


    "It''s just paperwork," Headmistress Holwen reassured. "Come, let''s talk in my office."


    The ck wall opened when the Headmistress turned, and Khan followed her inside therge room before waiting for further orders. Headmistress Holwen sat behind an interactive desk, and her following gesture made Khan upy a chair on the other side.


    "I''m sure Professor Leelli already conveyed my praises," Headmistress Holwen eximed. "Still, allow me to reiterate them. Captain Khan, the Harbor is honored to have such a capable and talented soldier among its rank."


    "I was only doing my job," Khan yed it humble.


    "A job that even the Princess'' guards failed to aplish," Headmistress Holwen rebuked. "We were lucky the Hive didn''t take you into consideration."


    Khan remained silent. He didn''t expect the Headmistress to mention the Hive so openly, and his reaction spoke loudly.


    "Mister Ron updated me," Headmistress Holwen exined. "I know what happened down there, and the public will soon learn most of it since the investigation is over."


    "Did you find the other ships?" Khan questioned.


    "We found the ships," Headmistress Holwen revealed, "And the disposable teleport those kidnappers used to escape. Sadly, it was already toote when we got there."


    ''Disposable teleport,'' Khan repeated in his mind. He still had so much to learn, and the Harbor was the perfect ce to fill the gaps in his knowledge.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Thework will have no mention of the Hive," Headmistress Holwen continued. "As such, you won''t tell anyone about it either, understood?"


    "Yes, ma''am," Khan promised, even if he had already broken that vow.


    "Good," Headmistress Holwen sighed while tapping on the interactive desk to open countless reports. "We got lucky this time. This incident could have had untold political consequences."


    "Won''t it?" Khan wondered. No one died, but many descendants suffered injuries. He couldn''t imagine their families being happy about the Harbor''s security.


    "The Virrai family will take most of the me," Headmistress Holwen exined. "Princess Edna''s character is no secret. It was her recklessness that gave the kidnappers an opportunity."


    "Won''t that still cause political issues?" Khan asked.


    "On the contrary," Headmistress Holwen eximed. "The families of the descendants involved in the incident can''t wait to use the event to their advantage. Having leverage on nobles is a rare urrence."


    Understanding dawned upon Khan. The descendants were definitely important, but even they paled before the rtionships with the nobles. Those families probably wished their members suffered harsher injuries.


    "Now," Headmistress Holwen announced, "I have a lot of work to do, and you need to rest. Let''s sort out thest details before sending you off."


    "Ma''am?" Khan feigned ignorance.


    "I know your kind," The Headmistress stated. "You and Norrett are simr idiots, so I''ll get straight to the point. What do you want?"


    "I believe the money part is already handled," Khan guessed.


    "You believe correctly," Headmistress Holwen confirmed, "But that''s not enough. Ask something that only I can grant."


    Khan could hold back to remain polite, but the annoyance from before returned. He was advancing too slowly, so he would seize all the benefits he could get.


    "I want a t in the second district," Khan requested. "Possibly in the same building as George."


    "George Ildoo?" Headmistress Holwen asked. "Done."


    "My expenses in the Harbor must be taken care of," Khan continued. "I''m not talking about independent shops. I want free rides and unlimited ess to the training halls."


    "Try not to destroy them this time," Headmistress Holwen warned. "What else?"


    "Get rid of the annoying crowd for me," Khan added. "With the Princess gone, I won''t be able to move around without people following me."


    "I''ll set up a few teams," Headmistress Holwen promised. "Is this all?"


    "One flight a week is too little," Khan didn''t hold back. "I want two and refunds for when I start booking ships on my own."


    "The hangars usually have a separate jurisdiction," Headmistress Holwen revealed, "But I''ll deal with it. Anything else?"


    Khan didn''t know what to add. He felt that he had taken care of everything but still questioned the Headmistress to be sure. "What do you suggest?"


    "Increased sry and better food," Headmistress Holwen dered. "That should cover everything."


    "Thank you, ma''am," Khan said honestly.


    "I should be the one to thank you," Headmistress Holwen sighed. "If you didn''t retrieve the Princess, the entire Harbor risked closing down."

 Chapter 461 Auction

    A group of soldiers apanied Khan to his t once the meeting ended. They helped him gather his stuff and load it into a ship before heading for the second district.


    Khan gave his goodbyes to Perry and used the flight to warn Monica about his recent gains. Needless to say, congrattions reached his phone, and Monica also took care of giving him enough time to settle.


    George''s building had a few ts avable, and the Headmistress assigned one to Khan. He didn''t have much, so a single trip through the elevators was enough to bring all his belongings to his new home. The soldiers simply performed salutes and left afterward.


    Khan explored the t for a few minutes before disregarding the matter. The area was almost identical to George''s ce anyway. It only felt emptier since he was alone, but that was about to change.


    The decision to get a better t had nothing to do withfort. Khan would barely notice that. He had simply opted for something that could make being with Monica easier.


    Moreover, the Solodrey family was paying for the other t, so taking away that expense was bound to speak in Khan''s favor. Being closer to the embassy was another advantage, especially when his schedule was so tight.


    A sigh escaped Khan''s mouth when hey on a couch in the living room. It was alreadyte. He had wasted a lot of time with the Princess, the Headmistress, and the trips across the Harbor, but the following day wouldn''t have lessons due to the recent crisis. In theory, he could rest and focus on healing, but studying came first.


    The t warned Khan about the arrival of an elevator, and the symphony revealed the neers'' identity. Monica, George, and Anita entered the habitation and reached the living room, but Khan didn''t bother to lift his head.


    "Khan, this is a well-deserved improvement," Anita praised while politely waiting at the room''s edge.


    "I''ll finally have my t for myself," George announced while approaching the couch in front of Khan and dropping a bottle on the floor. "I figured you didn''t have this yet."


    Monica remained silent and happily hopped toward Khan''s couch. She carefully sat on him before leaning forward, and a cute "hey" left her mouth once their eyes met.


    "Hey you," Khan smiled as his left hand dug into Monica''s curls to pull her closer.


    Anita felt the need to divert her gaze in front of the kiss, but her eyes always returned to the couple. A curious smile fused with a gasp to create a strange face. She had learnt the truth about Monica and Khan, but seeing them openly express their affection hit her differently.


    "I know that look," Monica whispered when the kiss ended. "You need your girlfriend''s knowledge."


    "I do," Khan groaned while pulling Monica onto his chest, "Butter."


    "Not a chance," Monica refused to fall on Khan''s chest and pulled herself upward to take Khan''s head into her arms. "I''m taking care of you today."


    "You sure like it when I''m injured," Khan teased.


    "I like when you arepletely in my power," Monica corrected.


    "Am I not always like that?" Khan joked.


    "Sweet talks won''t get you anywhere," Monica replied, "But keep theming."


    Anita remained stunned. Khan was snuggling on Monica''s chest, and she wasn''t showing the slightest embarrassment. The two appearedpletelyfortable with each other, which revealed how far they had gone.


    George opened the bottle and took a loud sip as if nothing strange was happening, forcing Anita to divert her attention. She joined him on the couch, which gave her a better look at the loving couple. Anita didn''t know Khan too well, but seeing Monica''s true character was almost mesmerizing.


    Anita had known Monica for a long time, enough to get used to her elegant and polite manners. Personas weremon among descendants, but Monica had always worn that role perfectly. However, the scene unfolding in Anita''s vision went far beyond that. For a second, she almost believed to have someone else in front of her.


    Affectionate and rxed gestures had reced Monica''s elegance. She was lying on Khan, uncaring of how shameful that position was, and a bright smile shone on her face while she yed with his head.


    As for Khan, he was utterly captivated by Monica''s affection. His eyes remained glued to any trace of her brimming happiness. Her smile, her fingers running over his face or through his hair, and the meaningful nces she shot from time to time entranced him. He almost couldn''t believe how beautiful she was.


    "You are thinking about something nasty," Monica pouted when an instinctive smile made its way onto Khan''s face.


    Khan shook his head. "I just wished I could keep you this happy all the time."


    Monica almost froze. She suddenly became aware of Anita and George, and embarrassment crept in. Part of her wanted to hide, but Khan''s words made her unable to react.


    Khan began to straighten his back, and Monica slid onto his abdomen to sit on hisp. She nced at the other couch, but Khan''s intense gaze brought her attention back to him.


    Heightened senses and inhumane sensitivity were pointless in that situation. Khan knew how weak Monica became whenever he got serious. He had memorized most aspects of her personality, and they all felt beyond cute.


    The abrupt shifts in Monica''s mood, unreasonable threats, surprising courage, wits, and genuine affection were clear in Khan''s mind. He knew her well, and she had even proven herself. Somehow, he was sure he was with the right person.


    "Khan," Monica almost begged, but Khan didn''t stop looking at her. Something had clicked inside him, and ignoring it was impossible.


    Anita had covered her mouth to suppress her gasps. That scene was too romantic for her, especially since it involved Monica. She had never seen her in that state, but her evident happiness warmed her heart.


    As for George, he kept his bottle nearby while nodding in approval. He had already reached conclusions about Khan and Monica, and that scene only confirmed them. Of course, he was happy for his friend since he knew how much that mattered to him.


    Monica had to resort to the entirety of her political training to handle the situation. She mustered enough strength to hop off the couch, but her eyes never left Khan''s, and the same went for her hand. She pulled him toward her before finding an excuse for their friends.


    "I need to change his bandages," Monica exined, trying to keep her voice straight, "And I promised I''d help him study tonight."


    Monica didn''t give Anita and George the time to reply. She immediately headed for one of the corridors, pulling Khan with her.


    "Wow," Anita couldn''t help but exim once she felt sure the couple had left.


    "Khan has that effect on women," George smirked, reaching for Anita''s shoulder to pull her to his side. "I''m d he found someone like Monica. They look good together."


    Anita nodded and let George caress her arm. She even rxed on his shoulder while her mind did its best to ept the previous scene. Yet, she pushed herself away once she realized where she was.


    "What?" George asked since he found himself in front of Anita''s re.


    "We are in Khan''s t!" Anita scoffed.


    "So?" George questioned, revealing how clueless he was about the issue.


    "Unbelievable," Anita cursed, and a quarrel started as soon as George spoke again.


    .


    .


    .


    Monica and Khan studied, but only after dealing with more pressing urges. They basically had an entire t for themselves, and the morning wouldn''t feature lessons either, so they stopped holding back and took their time to enjoy their feelings.


    The time for serious talks also arrived. Monica was the perfect advisor when it came to secrets that might involve the Global Army''s upper echelon, so Khan didn''t keep any secrets from her.


    Sadly, Monica couldn''t provide definitive answers. She had no clue about the Nak''s location or whether the Princess had told the truth.


    The same went for the noble guard''s issue. Khan''s insane idea made sense, but there could be other exnations. Still, even Monica had to admit that E''s words were suspicious.


    Khan''s serious problems ended up dying theplete blooming of the couple''s emotions, and the insane amount of homework further got in the way. By the time they had some free time, the morning of the second day had arrived, marking the resumption of the lessons.


    Khan expected to find a gloomy atmosphere when he joined Professor Boatbell''s lesson with Monica and George. Instead, the descendants already inside weed him with a cheerful apuse that the Professor echoed. Nippe 2''s events had gone public, and the ss was showing its appreciation.


    Simr scenes happened in the following days. Professors, soldiers, and workers inside the embassy stopped Khan to offer genuine congrattions. Countless articles about him flooded thework, and many reporters tried to contact him.


    Khan used his injured state to deflect most of that attention. He knew he would have to address it at some point, but studying came first. His social tasks would have to wait a bit longer, especially since he had an important appointment the night before the two free days.


    "Help me with this zipper," Monica called. "It always gets caught in my hair."


    The request made Khan snap back to reality. He was in his t, in a bedroom with Monica, and they were getting ready for Pandora''s auction. Yet, his thoughts had wandered when Monica had started trying out dresses.


    "Khan?" Monica called again, diverting her gaze from the interactive mirror to peek at the bed behind her.


    Khan left the bed and reached Monica, grabbing her waist to make a cuteugh escape her mouth. She didn''t let the gesture distract her and tied her many curls into a ponytail before lifting it, but the kiss thatnded on her nape broke her concentration.


    "Come on," Monica giggled while reaching for the back of Khan''s head to pull him onto her shoulder. "We''ll bete."


    "I''m not the one who took one hour to choose what to wear," Khan teased before leaving a kiss on Monica''s exposed shoulder.


    "I thought you enjoyed the spectacle," Monica whispered to Khan''s ear.


    "Definitely," Khan muttered while his mouth was still on Monica''s skin. "I could look at you all day."


    Monica melted. She kissed Khan''s cheek and felt the urge to turn, but one look at the interactive mirror confirmed that they were trulyte, and she wouldn''t allow him to miss the auction.


    "The zipper," Monica reminded while doing her best to keep her hair lifted with one hand. "I want to show you how I look."


    Khan yed along and left Monica''s waist to reach for the zipper on her back. His right hand and shoulder had yet to heal fully, so he fastened the dress slowly, prioritizing saving Monica''s curls overpleting the process.


    Another kissnded on Monica''s nape when Khan was done with the zipper, and she finally turned to show her appearance. She was wearing a yellow drop waist dress ending in a rtively long skirt that aimed for elegance rather than sensuality. Still, Khan found both in that scene.


    "How do I look?" Monica asked, wrapping her arms behind her back to show the entirety of herself.


    "This might be the first dress I wouldn''t tear apart," Khan teased.


    "Really?" Monica wondered.


    "No," Khanughed while approaching Monica, forcing her to lean on the mirror, "But you do look beautiful."


    "Scoundrel," Monica giggled. "You can take it awayter, but don''t you ruin it."


    "As if you''d care once we are at it," Khan joked. Monica prepared a p, but Khan''s injured state made her hold back and opt for a passionate kiss.


    The couple left the t in the following minutes since Khan had already worn his tight ck suit. Those clothes were truly too elegant for him, but Monica didn''t ept anypromise. She even made him keep the brace to appeal to the audience''s better side.


    A hovering limousine was already waiting for the couple on the other side of the building''s sidewalk, and the absence of crowds made the trip into it peaceful. The Headmistress had stayed true to her word, granting Khan some privacy even in the open.


    Monica used the flight to review the auction''s regtions and procedures with Khan. She made sure he recalled all the hand gestures and signals necessary to be part of those lofty events, and he proved himself ready.


    Surprisingly enough, the limousine flew toward the embassy''s district and headed for one of the top blocks of the pyramidal structure. The vehicle quicklynded, and two guards dressed in white tuxes showed their scanners when Khan and Monica walked toward them.


    The scanners confirmed Khan and Monica''s membership to Pandora and opened the way inside a dim environment covered in dark-red carpets. A long and vast staircase unfolded in the couple''s vision and descended many floors to reach an illuminated stage, and hundreds of seats filled its sides.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The entrance closed behind the couple before they could understand where they were, and a cozy warmth immediately enveloped them. Captivating scents also reached their nostrils, and a few heads turned to look at them. The white tux standing on the first step even approached them to express his greetings.


    "Miss Solodrey, Captain Khan," The middle-aged man politely called while performing a bow as soon as he reached the couple. "Pandora is d you joined tonight''s auction."


    "We couldn''t possibly miss it," Monica showed her elegant manners while clinging to Khan''s left elbow.


    "Ma''am, sir, did you already choose your seats?" The middle-aged man asked, making sure to address Monica first every time.


    "We were hoping to find a few empty seats among the stands," Monica exined.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Ma''am, Pandora will find you a ce in the gallery if you wish," The man revealed. "It would be disrespectful toward you and Captain Khan to offer any less."


    "Please pardon my rudeness," Monica lowered her head in shame. "I nned to give Captain Khan aplete experience of the auction. I didn''t foresee this kindness from Pandora."


    "Oh, it''s no rudeness at all, ma''am," The man immediately smiled. "Your decision to introduce Captain Khan to this world speaks for your manners. Pandora hopes it can do the same in the future."


    "I''ll make sure of it," Monica promised.


    The man nodded and turned toward the stands. His expert eyes quickly found empty spots the couple could upy, and a nce at his phone helped him find the best ones.


    "Please, ma''am, sir," The man addressed the couple again once his search was over, "At least allow me to escort you to your seats."


    "With pleasure," Monica replied, and the man began to descend the enormous staircase to lead the way.


    Monica and Khan followed slowly behind the man, smiling and nodding whenever someone in the audience did the same. They both recognized many faces but only exchanged quick salutes.


    The white tux eventually opened a passage in the staircase''s handrail to lead the couple into a rtively spacious path among the stands. Khan and Monica didn''t disturb anyone while following the man, and they soon found themselves in front of multiple empty seats.


    "Enjoy your night, ma''am, sir," The man saluted before leaving toward the staircase.


    Monica took the lead at that point. She could choose seats near other people, but privacy was a luxury in the stands, so she opted for twofortable armchairs in the middle of the empty area.


    Khan had already inspected the area. He had seats in every direction, but they were empty for many meters. Moreover, multiple groups all over the stands were in a simr situation. Almost everyone opted for that kind of privacy.


    A screen came out of the seat''s right arm once Khan sat down, and multiple menus lit up. A list of the items on auction and many more goods filled his vision, but he had other questions to address before that.


    "Why didn''t we choose the gallery?" Khan whispered, and his voice didn''t travel far since many murmurs filled the area.


    "People might fail to see you up there," Monica exined while eyeing a long balcony stretching from the tall ceiling. Khan could see silhouettes from his position but nothing more.


    "We''ll have toe again and take those gallery seats," Monica sighed while connecting her phone to her seat''s screen.


    "Is this about earlier?" Khan wondered.


    "We can''t refuse an open act of kindness," Monica exined. "It''s rude among these circles. We must reassure them by epting their offer."


    "Sure," Khan immediately agreed. Monica was the master there, so he didn''t dare to object.


    "So, we must buy something now, right?" Khan checked. The entrance to the auction was free, but it was customary to order food or drinks to cover multiple expenses.


    "A few drinks each should be enough," Monica confirmed. "Spending more would usually grant us a better profile, but I''m legacy, and you are you, so we don''t need to."


    "Doesn''t the Harbor take a percentage?" Khan recalled.


    "How much do you have now?" Monica asked.


    "Around eight hundred thousand," Khan revealed.


    "Then, we can get more," Monica approved, "And don''t hesitate to ask me for money if needed."


    Khan connected his phone to the screen and began scrolling through the various menus. Everything was overpriced there, with drinks going for as much as tens of thousands of Credits, but Monica had prepared Khan for something like that.


    In the end, Monica and Khan ordered a couple of drinks for a few thousand Credits each, and a waiter in a white tux promptly delivered them. Thetter even brought a small table with ice and other refreshments, so those sses didn''t be a bother.


    "So," Khan announced once the waiter left, "How much can I tease you here?"


    "Shut it," Monica scolded. "I bet everyone is looking at us already."


    "They are," Khan confirmed. It wasn''t everyone, but many in the audience didn''t miss the chance to shoot nces in his direction.


    "You are about to make Pandora lose millions," Monica cursed. "Try to behave for a few hours."


    "You had this idea," Khan chuckled. "What does it say about you?"


    "That I''d do anything for my man," Monica responded, and the couple fell into an intense stare. Monica even enjoyed it more than Khan since he had to limit himself to look at her in that situation.


    A few more groups entered the hall, and the auction started when almost ny people had taken their seats. A trapdoor opened on the stage, and a tform rose to bring a man and a woman into everyone''s view.


    Khan quickly lost interest in the loud speeches and polite greetings shouted by the couple on the stage. The screen on his armchair took note of their words, so he only needed to look at it to keep track of every item.


    Truth be told, Pandora was offering fascinating goods. Booze and food cooked through special procedures involving mana, rejuvenating ointments from extinct species, weapons carrying the same power as spells, and much more reached the stage. In another life, Khan would have liked to take a look at all of that, but his position limited him to a single chance.


    Monica bidding on a bag made from the skin of a rare alien creature managed to distract Khan, but she gave up after raising the price two more times. The item ended up selling for eleven million, and the customary apuses that followed gave Monica a chance to exin herself.


    "Vrans'' bags always sell for more than five million," Monica revealed. "They would have never let me get away with my offers."


    "Did you y just to raise the price?" Khan questioned.


    "We need to participate," Monica stated, "Or at least pretend. Also, I had to show you how to bid properly."


    Monica showed another happy face when she saw Khan struggling to hold back. He couldn''t really help himself. She was doing so much for him, and her reactions remained too cute.


    "You are killing me," Khan cursed.


    "You deserve it," Monica giggled.


    The couple exchanged more jokes and ordered another round of drinks as the auction continued. It would take a while to reach Khan''s target, so he let Monica handle the pretenses. She proved herself perfect for the role, sometimes even managing to back out of a bid right before herpetitors ran out of money.


    "Won''t this get many families mad at you?" Khan wondered when Monica made anotherpetitor spend three additional million due to her constant bids.


    "Yes and no," Monica tried to exin. "These Credits will still go to the Harbor and Pandora, which will provide better services to the families. Besides, anyone here can afford to lose a few million."


    "Anyone but me," Khan snickered.


    "You are a special case," Monica dered as annoyance seeped into her voice. "I''m sure some slut here would happily act as your benefactor. No one should try after tonight."


    "Are you marking your territory?" Khan teased.


    "Yes," Monica scoffed. "You better not have a problem with that."


    "I wouldn''t dare," Khan joked. "Mark away, ma''am."


    The re that followed made Khanugh, and the atmosphere remained cheerful. Yet, it tensed up once Khan''s target became close, and a nod from Monica forced him to prepare.


    "Our next item consists of a partial spell copied by a rare species of Tainted animals," The male announcer dered through the microphone on his mouth''s side.


    "The spell''s range and efficiency can make it a trump defensive card against any iing attack," The female announcer continued. "It might need some tweaks and the right element to make it work, but Pandora strongly believes in its potential."


    A series of holograms rose from behind the announcers to show simtions of the non-elemental spell. Of course, those images depicted an imprable spherical shield that could envelop any caster, but more knowledgeable people knew it would take a while to reach that level.


    "Pandora sets its starting price at one hundred thousand Credits," The male announcer resumed once the holograms went dark.


    "Who offers one hundred and fifty thousand?" The female announcer followed.


    Khan had received precise instructions from Monica in the previous days. Bidding alone wasn''t enough. Matching the minimum price would appear as an open insult to Pandora, so he had to pretend to try.


    The screen was already on the right menu, so Khan only had to put his left hand above it and perform the corresponding gesture. The scanner in the device recognized it, and a notification reached the announcers.


    "We have Captain Khan for two hundred and fifty thousand Credits!" The male announcer shouted.


    "Congrattions on Captain Khan for his first bid tonight," The female announcer continued while triggering general apuse. "Pandora hopes you are enjoying the night."


    Khan nodded left and right, showing a fake smile to the many hands pping for him. He even stood up at some point to perform a half-bow, and the gesture highlighted his brace.


    The tension grew stronger once Khan returned to his seat. The announcers began to ask for higher bids, which he could theoretically still match. Yet, he would probably decide to keep his money if the price became too insane.


    "No one?" The male announcer asked once a few silent minutes went by. "Pandora hasn''t seen so much goodwill since thest visit from a noble."


    Laughs resounded, but the female announcer began the countdown. "Two hundred and fifty thousand and one, two hundred and fifty thousand and two, two hundred and fifty thousand and three!"


    A round of apuse started while the male announcer conveyed his congrattions. "Captain Khan wins! Pandora wishes you good luck with the spell!"


    Khan had to stand up again to address the apuse and could sit only after a few minutes. The screen drained his Credits in the meantime, and waiters soon arrived with his prize inside a luxurious casket.


    Monica and Khan exchanged a knowing smile once the waiter left, and her genuine happiness almost pushed him over the edge. However, they both had to stay still a little longer since the auction had yet to end.


    Another hour had to pass before the announcers went through the remaining items. Khan and Monica had a few more drinks and decided to leave only once most groups had reached the exit. That was another nned move since departing as soon as the auction ended could be seen as impolite.


    Still, the two announcers climbed the staircase and intercepted the couple when they were about to leave the passage among the seats. The two were all smiles, and their mana felt fine too, so Khan decided to pull Monica forward for once.


    "Miss Solodrey, we hope you enjoyed this night," The male announcer stated through a bow.


    "Captain Khan, congrattions on your purchase again," The female announcer continued while also performing a bow. "Pandora won''t consider it a loss since it arrived to you."


    "You are too kind," Khan did his best to sound polite.


    "You truly are," Monica added. "Though, Captain Khan might have something that could repay your generosity."


    Khan and Monica had prepared for that eventuality earlier, so he didn''t falter. He pretended to recall something and feigned some embarrassment when exining the matter. "I have this knife. It''s a second-grade weapon, but it''s damaged, and I''d just destroy it in a training hall. I wonder if Pandora can help."


    "A second-grade weapon?" The male announcer questioned.


    "It''s the same knife he used to kill the Nak''s hand," Monica partially lied. "Its cracks actuallye from that battle."


    "Ooh?" Both announcers gasped before exchanging a look.


    "I have no real use for it," Khan continued. "If Pandora agrees, I can sell it through your channels. I''d even take a lower share since you have been so good to me."


    "Captain Khan, don''t even mention it," The male announcer promptly eximed.


    "Pandora will happily make it a part of the next auction," The female announcer stated.


    "And don''t worry about this night," The male announcer added. "You''ll get the share you deserve. It would be shameful for Pandora to gain from your services and refuse to give you a fair share."

 Chapter 462 Dates

    Khan and Monica exchanged simple salutes with the announcers before leaving the embassy. The hovering limousine was already waiting for them on one of the roofs, so they could set off immediately.


    The limousine had all kinds offorts, from darkened windows to a small fridge, but Monica could only think of lifting the curtain between the pilot and the passenger''s seats. As soon as she established some privacy, she jumped next to Khan and took his left elbow in her arms.


    "Someone is happy," Khanughed as Monica curled on the seat to lie on his shoulder.


    "We did it!" Monica eximed, and giggles followed.


    "We indeed did it," Khan nodded, looking at the luxurious box on hisp. "Do you think they found out about our n?"


    "My n," Monica corrected. "Well, I only bid on things I might realistically desire, and your knife should settle the rest."


    "We can im that gallery offer and sell the knife on the same night," Khan suggested. "That should save us some time."


    "It would," Monica voiced, slightly turning her head to hide her face in Khan''s shoulder.


    "What is it?" Khan asked.


    "Nothing," Monica stated, but her tone said a lot, and Khan had already understood what was going through her mind.


    "Did you enjoy our night out?" Khan wondered.


    Monica nodded while keeping her face hidden. Still, she eventually turned to show a strange expression. She wanted to say something but remained silent, waiting for Khan to figure things out himself.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "We are spending a lot of time together now," Khan announced. Monica had settled in his t since the elevator didn''t have cameras. No one could know in which apartment she slept.


    "We are," Monica confirmed.


    "We are basically living together," Khan continued, leaving a kiss on the top of Monica''s head.


    "We are," Monica giggled, "Even if we barely leave the bed."


    Khanughed with Monica, and the two snuggled closer, but she eventually diverted her gaze. Something was still on her mind, and Khan spoke again to address the matter. "But?"


    "But," Monica repeated, "I would like, you know, to do more couple''s stuff."


    "Like?" Khan asked. He had an idea but wanted to hear it from Monica.


    "Walking hand in hand in the middle of the street," Monica responded, "Going on dates, being honest about us for once."


    Khan rubbed his cheek on Monica''s curls. He understood her struggles. He even shared most of them, but they both knew why they weren''t dating in the open.


    "I could get all cute for you before a dinner or something," Monica continued, smiling at the thought of the scene. "You know, couple''s stuff."


    "You are always cute," Khan praised.


    "But I want to be cute for you," Monicained. "It''s different."


    "What else?" Khan joked. "Will you also bring me to those social events you like so much?"


    "They are such a bother," Monica scoffed, "But picturing you at my side feels nice. I would finally have the chance to show off my boyfriend."


    "Am I that amazing?" Khan chuckled.


    "I chose you," Monica smirked, "So yes."


    Khanughed, leaving another kiss on Monica''s curls before speaking reassuring words. "We''ll get there."


    "I know," Monica stated. "I just felt like whining a little to my man."


    "Needy girl," Khan teased, and Monica wore a proud expression before closing her eyes. It waste, and the weekly free time had just begun, so it was normal to feel tired.


    Khan nced at the box on hisp before looking at Monica again. She was the sole reason behind his cheap purchase, and more Credits were bound to flow thanks to her. Monica had also been an endless source of help with his studies. Her support had been incredible, and she had never asked for anything in return.


    ''How much patience does she even have?'' Khan thought as his packed schedule appeared in his mind.


    "Hey," Khan eventually whispered.


    "What is it?" Monica asked in a sleepy tone.


    "Let''s do the gallery and the knife on separate nights," Khan suggested.


    "What?" Monica questioned, opening her eyes to look at Khan. "Why?"


    "To get two nights out of that," Khan exined. "They won''t be actual dates, but that''s the best we can do for now."


    "What about your schedule?" Monica wondered. "You are barely sleeping as it is."


    "Fuck my schedule," Khan responded. "I want to do something for us."


    Monica wanted to refuse, but her smile betrayed her. When she noticed it, she gave up on hiding her true feelings, and her arms quickly reached for Khan''s neck.


    The couple kissed, and Monica tightened her hug on Khan''s neck as her happiness became too intense to contain. Her lips soon found his mouth again, but she eventually returned to his shoulder.


    "Don''t take too long toe home tonight," Monica warned before closing her eyes again.


    "What?" Khan asked.


    "I know you want to try the spell," Monica voiced. "I''ll wait for you, but don''t overdo it. You are still injured."


    Warmth filled Khan''s chest, but he still decided to continue with a joke. "Do you have something nasty in mind?"


    "I just like to wake up next to you," Monica revealed, and the warmth spread through the entire car.


    The limousine dropped Khan in front of a building full of training halls in the second district before heading toward his t. The area was empty due to thete hour, so Khan entered the structure without wasting time.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Many of the Harbor''s services had taken note of Khan''s profile after his deal with the Headmistress. He only needed to show his phone to unlock countless doors freely, and the training halls were one of them.


    Soon, Khan entered thergest training hall in the structure and left his luxurious box on the floor. He even connected his phone and tightened the brace before closing his eyes to focus on the symphony.


    Khan quickly reopened his eyes and jumped upward. A tinge of his mana fused with the environment and slightly altered the symphony''s structure. The synthetic energy became a force he could manipte, allowing his feet to find tforms in the air.


    Another jump brought Khan closer to the hall''s ceiling, and a third made him shoot forward. He even kicked the air a few times to turn himself upside down and begin a reckless dive toward the floor.


    A violentnding seemed about to unfold, but Khan tapped on the air a few times to adjust his position and disperse his momentum. He stopped falling when he was only a meter from the floor, but gravity eventually brought him down.


    Khan wasn''t really training. His injured state didn''t allow him to see how far he could push his new proficiency level. He was only doing his best to remember the sensation of flying, but no problems appeared there.


    Something had clicked on Nippe 2. Khan''s mind had reached a level of understanding he couldn''t forget. His mind had expanded, and that change was forever. Flying was part of him now.


    ''If I can fuse Maban''s technique to all my sprints,'' Khan thought while adjusting the brace once again, ''I''ll probably be unbeatable in the third level.''


    The "probably" was superfluous. Khan had enough battle experience to know how powerful his new proficiency level was. Adding Maban''s insane speed to his flight would make him unstoppable.


    The desire to train harder showed its presence, but Khan knew his limits. Flying put a lot of strain on his limbs, which didn''t work well with his injuries. He had to wait a bit longer, but that didn''t make him powerless.


    Khan moved his attention to the box on the floor. He sat in front of it and lifting the lid revealed a few items. He saw a disk and a few screens, which forced him to reach for his phone.


    The disk fused with the phone once Khanpleted the usual procedure for magic items, and he lit up the screens in the meantime. Thetter had reports, exnations, and raw data about his purchase. It seemed that Pandora had already done its fair share of tests.


    Khan used the hall''s menus to bring up the video contained in the disk. Images started to y on the floor together with multiple stats. The footage depicted some otter-like creatures with fins and scales, and the recording highlighted their mana while adding many details to the scene.


    Some soldiers fired at the otters, but thetter instinctively unleashed their mana to create the famous spherical defensive spell. Still, their energy was denserpared to humans, and it even carried metallic properties that umted on the edge of the technique.


    The bullets failed to pierce those dark spherical shields, and thetter even deflected some of them. nging noises resounded through the hall as the otters used that chance to run into a river nearby to escape the assants.


    The video continued, showing a different but simr scene. The Global Army tried to capture those otter-like creatures once again but failed to inflict any damage to their spherical shields.


    The recording went on, showing glimpses of those Tainted animals in their natural environment. Everything was for the purpose of gathering data, which the Global Army definitely aplished. The video had countless details, especially regarding how the otters used their mana.


    Khan remained pleasantly surprised by the number of examples the video provided and yed it again once it ended. He focused on the otters'' mana andposition during his second watch, and more details became clear.


    A sigh escaped Khan''s mouth once his second watch ended. He hadpletely understood the spell''s advantages and shorings, which made him realize why it was so hard to apply to humans.


    The otters had a naturally metallic mana, so they only needed to push it outside their bodies to create a shield. Instead, humans would require an additional passage to obtain simr properties. Even Khan''s mana anomaly wasn''t enough to reach such strong effects.


    The high consumption was a known problem. The otters relied on their spell to escape from sudden attacks. They never used it in prolonged fights. They actually didn''t fight at all due to the nature of their species.


    Those features would usually push humans to stay away from something so troublesome, but positive aspects existed, and they were incredible. The spell''s power was terrific, but that still didn''t cut it. The unbelievable casting speed was the true gem of that alien technique.


    Of course, the otters could deploy their shields so quickly due to the absence of additional passages. They only had to release their mana, and thetter would do the rest. Khan needed to achieve something simr to retain the spell''s positive aspects, and a few ideas had already taken form.


    Khan skimmed through the screen to make sure he had understood everything correctly. The reports of Pandora''s tests confirmed his idea, so he eventually stood up to try a few things.


    At first, Khan followed the otters'' casting method. He concentrated on his mana for a few seconds before unleashing it from the entirety of his body. The execution only released uneven res that didn''t take the shape of a sphere, and even their power turned out to be disappointing.


    Khan expected a simr result. The otters already had mana in the right ces, so they didn''t need to control it. In their case, a simple release was enough, and Khan could reach simr speed levels only through training.


    The power was the only thing training couldn''t fix. Pandora''s tests had also shown simr results. Humans had a different type of energy, and Khan''s mana anomaly couldn''t fill that gap.


    The shape of the technique made Khan release the spherical version of the Wave spell. That was closer to what he was trying to achieve, at least in terms of power and effects. However, the casting time was too long and shortening it was impossible. He would have already done it otherwise.


    The short tests left Khan in a pickle. He stood between two extremes, with a useless release of mana on one side and an offensive spell on the other.


    Apromise wouldn''t work either since it would remove the otters'' spell''s good qualities. Khan needed that casting speed without losing too much power. Achieving it was the only problem.


    Khan scratched the side of his head while inspecting the hall. He had another idea, but the area might risk paying the price. Still, those worries couldn''t do anything against his curiosity.


    ''Alright,'' Khan thought while closing his eyes again. ''I know you are here, and I need that power.''


    The insides of Khan''s mind remained silent, but he didn''t let that fool him. There was a power inside him that could make the spell feasible. He only needed to learn how to harness it.


    ''Come on,'' Khan cursed. ''We are on the same side.''


    The silence remained undisturbed. No clicking growl arrived, but Khan knew it to be inside him.


    ''Fucking mindless cloud,'' Khan cursed again.


    The clicking growl had resounded when the Princess exposed Khan''s rtionship and had even saved him on Nippe 2. He didn''t know if the cloud or the transformation were to me, but that was part of him now. He was sure of it.


    The cloud had the strange ability to make the chaos element terrifying. It didn''t do anything special, but its mana could devour metal and pierce walls. That was the kind of energy Khan needed for the spherical spell to work.


    ''Fine,'' Khan thought. ''You asked for it.''


    The trigger for the clicking growl was evident, and Khan had no shortage of sad thoughts. He also knew how to y dirty, which he didn''t hesitate to do in the safety of the training hall.


    Memories from Nitis, Earth, and much more crossed Khan''s mind before his thoughts gave birth to entirely made-up scenes. He wondered what would have happened if the kidnappers had hurt George and Monica. Many things could have gone wrong during the attack, and Khan considered all of them.


    ''Here it is,'' Khan smirked when a faint sound began to echo in the back of his mind. His mana also started to boil, foreboding the iing wild emotions.


    Khan kept his imagination running until the clicking growl became loud enough to suppress his thoughts. He found it hard to control his fake scenarios, but the process had already been a sess, and he unleashed the otters'' method to see if something had changed.


    Wild res of purple-red mana escaped from multiple areas of Khan''s body. They carried no order and definitely didn''t create any spherical shape. However, the raging power they unleashed seemed able to destroy anything in their path.


    Khan''s mind went silent when the mana dispersed, but he smiled in satisfaction. That path could work. He needed to adjust many things, but it was a viable approach. Yet, a strange detail caught his attention when he thought about trying again.


    ''Where did my clothes go?'' Khan wondered since he found himself fully naked. Only burnt and torn rags had survived his res, and they were on the floor.


    ''I was wearing my good suit, wasn''t I?'' Khan shook his head while tinkering with the menus to request more clothes. It seemed that Monica would get an additional date since he nowcked things to wear in the following auctions.

 Chapter 463 Infusion

    "Man, I''m telling you," George cursed. "That woman is evil incarnate!"


    "Not gettingid sure is driving you crazy," Khanmented, keeping his eyes on his phone.


    "It''s been weeks already!" George shouted.


    "Two at most," Khan pointed out.


    "Two and five days!" George corrected. "More than three if you count the asional hookups!"


    "Are we keeping track of the hours too?" Khan wondered.


    "You talk like this," George scoffed, "But you would be more desperate than me in my situation."


    Khan lowered the phone to show a mocking expression. He wanted the best for George, but he only had himself to me for his predicament.


    "How did you even fuck up after Nippe 2?" Khan questioned.


    "A lot can happen in two weeks," George muttered.


    "You just had to remain serious for a few hours," Khan scolded.


    "It was more than a few," George rified. "The next day, we fought again, and somehow we kept arguing whenever we were about to go all the way."


    "Then, don''t fight," Khan casually said.


    "You should see her," George snorted. "She seems to sense when we are about to do it. Damned woman. Her timing is the worst."


    "Oh, shut up," Khan chuckled. "You love it."


    "I can''t love it when I''m not getting any," Georgeined.


    "Just drop the tactics and be serious," Khan sighed. "You are into her anyway. Stop acting so scared."


    "That''s biging from you," George rebuked. "Did you even tell Monica how you feel about her? Did she?"


    "If I tell her," Khan announced,ying his head on the couch''s back, "I go crazy. If she tells me, she goes crazy. We know. We simply aren''t saying it."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Sounds really brave," George mocked.


    "What do you want me to say?" Khan wondered as his eyes wandered among his t''s ceiling. "Things have calmed down for once. I''m not in a hurry to get back into the drama."


    "Oh, shut up," Georgeughed. "You love it."


    "I don''t love getting called all kinds of things by those reporters," Khan cursed while waving his phone. "I''ve read absurd articles. Some even think I''m the Princess'' sex toy."


    "She did go public saying she rewarded you on her ship," George pointed out.


    "She answered one question about the Nak!" Khan almost shouted. "One! How can people jump topletely different conclusions?"


    "You don''t exactly have a bad record with women," George coughed. "If I didn''t know you, I''d be the one spreading those rumors."


    "She is a fucking noble," Khan dered.


    "And you went fucking all around the universe," George teased.


    "Says the bane of wealthy women," Khan fought back.


    "It''s not about how many booties you tap," George exined. "It''s their quality."


    "I''ve never seen you with an ugly woman," Khan uttered.


    "You still get the best," George smirked. "Am I wrong?"


    "Leave my booties alone," Khan responded before throwing his phone on the couch''s corner and grabbing the almost-empty ss on his right. His injuries had healed, so he could move his hand and shoulder freely.


    "Khan," Monica''s voice resounded from the bottom of a corridor. "Cuddles."


    "Come on the couch," Khan shouted. "George is here."


    "How is she doing?" George wondered.


    "She should be fine next week," Khan revealed as steps resounded through the corridor.


    A sleepy Monica with a nket hanging from her shoulders hurried through the t toy on Khan''s couch. Hisp became a pillow for her, and he didn''t hesitate to start caressing her hair.


    The symphony in Khan''s eyes revealed a messy scene. Monica had gotten her infusion two days after the auction, and a full week had passed since then, but her body was still struggling to absorb that synthetic mana.


    That struggle had led to fever, shivers, and a series of other symptoms, forcing Monica to skip the past lessons. Yet, she was getting better, and her attunement with mana was bound to get close to seventy percent once the absorption ended.


    "What were you talking about?" Monica asked while adjusting the nket around her and getting closer to Khan''s waist.


    "George wasining about not having sex," Khan exined shortly.


    "Really?" Monica questioned while her eyes remained closed. "How did he fuck up after Nippe 2?"


    "That''s what I asked him," Khan revealed.


    "Don''t start working together," George warned. "I know all your secrets."


    "Khan, George is threatening us," Monica whined.


    "He is just desperate," Khan yed along, patting Monica''s head to pretend to reassure her.


    "Are you sure you don''t need to be in the medical bay?" George wondered. "Mana rejection can be dangerous."


    "The infusion was simply big," Monica muttered from the nket''s cover. "The doctor already checked me, and Khan is always at my side."


    "The medical bay gave her a special bracelet," Khan added another detail. "They keep track of her condition all the time, so it''s fine."


    "What if something happens and they find her here?" George asked. "What''s your excuse?"


    "Homework," Khan and Monica said at the same time, and thatplicity made themugh. Still, a tremor turned that cute cry into a groan.


    "Shh," Khan warmly scolded when Monica tried to turn. "Meditate. I''ll watch over you."


    "Do one of your alien massages," Monica ordered.


    "You know I don''t know any," Khan chuckled. "I might be able to do something with nts, but you would refuse that."


    "Why?" Monica questioned.


    "Because Jenna taught me that," Khan revealed.


    "Don''t say that witch''s name," Monicained. "Hold me!"


    "Sure, sure," Khan let Monica turn and abandoned his ss to hug her. Her condition had made her quite demanding, but he didn''t mind fulfilling those wishes. He found them cute anyway.


    "Right," Monica recalled. "I finished the list. It''s on my phone. Right pocket."


    Khan broke the hug to send a hand under the nket. He quickly found Monica''s phone but retrieving it didn''t give him ess to the list.


    "Can you unlock it?" Khan requested.


    "Kiss first," Monica pouted.


    Khan smirked andplied, leaving a loving kiss on Monica''s lips before taking her back into his hug. Monica seemed satisfied, so she unlocked her phone while it was still in Khan''s hands.


    "It''s in my notes," Monica voiced before returning to the warmth of her nket and cuddling on Khan.


    Khan reached Monica''s notes and found the list. The time to handle his many invitations to dinner hade, so Monica had graded all the families or important figures she could think of. Still, the name on the top added a sour feeling to her selfless effort.


    "Lucian," Khan sighed.


    "He has money," Monica exined, "And everyone holds him in high regard. No one willin if you choose him as your first."


    "I don''t know what to expect from him," Khan said things Monica already knew. "He might turn the dinner into a trap."


    "That''s why you have to contact him," Monica showed her political expertise. "Take him by surprise. I''lle with you, so he won''t have time to prepare."


    "You don''t have to get involved with this," Khan uttered, "And you are still unwell."


    "I''ll get better," Monica promised. "With me there, he''ll have to drop any ploy."


    "Monica," Khan called, but Monica groaned and rubbed her face on his waist. That marked the end of the conversation since Khan couldn''t argue while she was in that state.


    Of course, Khan appreciated Monica''s resolve, and his cuddles conveyed his feelings. Monica began to rx and get drowsy under that affection, but a notification hit the t''s walls and disturbed her rest.


    "It''s Anita," Khan put down Monica before she could peek at the walls, "And she has a package?"


    The elevator didn''t take long to open, and Anita soon reached the living room while carrying a chest-sized metal box. The container initially confused Khan, but rity arrived when he recalled his purchases.


    "Hi," Monica called while Khan''s waist hid her face.


    "How is she?" Anita asked, making her way inside the room to hand the box to Khan.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "She is getting better," Khan took the box and ced it on the armrest. "The fever is down, and her appetite is returning."


    "Khan is taking care of me," Monica added. "I should get ill more often."


    "Shh," Khan caressed Monica''s curls. "I told you to meditate."


    "Kiss first!" Monicained.


    "Sure, sure," Khanplied, and the cuddles that followed the kiss made Monica rx again.


    Anita felt slightly embarrassed to be so close to that intimate scene, but the evident affection made her smile. Seeing Khan being so protective added ayer of romance that Anita couldn''t help but like.


    "A soldier left this for you," Anita whispered while eyeing the box to avoid disturbing Monica. "I offered to take it up since I was there."


    "Thank you," Khan used the same faint voice and decided to ignore the re that Anita shot at George. She appeared angry at something, but George lookedpletely clueless.


    Khan moved his attention to the box and lifting the metal lid revealed an item he had been eager to receive. A long knife rested among luxurious sheets together with a matching sheath, a screen, and a small bottle.


    The screen lit up as soon as Khan took it, revealing a series of lines and a symbol with a signature on it. The device was a mark of authenticity, confirming that the weapon had been the work of a master.


    Khan stored the device and seized the bottle, which turned out to be a maintenance product. The instructions on itsbel wanted him to apply the liquid on the edges after every battle to preserve the knife''s sharpness.


    The sheath was simple but beautiful. Its dark leather had white designs that wrote "Captain Khan", and its shape allowed a quick draw. That wasn''t an item meant to hang on a wall. The battlefield was its ce.


    The light weight was the first thing Khan noticed when he lifted the knife. The weapon had no strange patterns or design choices. Its grey handle was thick, simple, and incrediblyfortable. It fit perfectly in Khan''s hand no matter how he held it.


    As for the ck de, it was thinner than Khan''s previous knife, but a single touch told him about its sturdiness. Its two edges also felt sharp enough to cut the very air, and its tip radiated a menacing aura he couldn''t ignore.


    Khan didn''t know much about magic weapons, but his senses had evolved, and they told him to fear that third-grade knife. That dark metal carried a level of perfection he couldn''t exin. It clearly was the work of a master.


    "That''s a nice de," George whistled. "I would have to go into my family''s armory to find something so fine."


    "Keep your head down," Khan whispered to Monica while cing the knife on his ss. The sharp edge began to pierce it without meeting any resistance, and Khan could notice the cut only after retrieving his weapon.


    Khan ced his free hand on Monica''s head to make sure she remained down and sent mana to the other. A purple-red glow enveloped the knife, which perfectly withstood the weight of the chaos element. He even tested it on the ss, splitting it in half without any effort.


    ''There is almost no hindrance in the metal,'' Khan realized while retracting and summoning his mana again. ''This thing seems to wee mana.''


    Anita had joined George on his couch during Khan''s inspection, so he had enough room to wave his knife a few times. The light weight was simply unbelievable, and Khan couldn''t wait to test it in an actual fight.


    "Should I apply this liquid already?" Khan wondered since he had cut the ss.


    "No," George replied, "But you should do it after a long session in a training hall. That de isn''t as frail as it looks, but better safe than sorry."


    Khan nodded while storing the knife in the sheath. He would trust the de expert on that point.


    "Did you get all of that for one hundred?" George questioned.


    "Ny-five," Khan corrected.


    "That''s a good deal," George eximed. "The price could have easily touched two hundred due to the chaos-resistant materials."


    "I guess being famous is saving me money," Khanughed.


    "No shit," George snickered before ncing at the mess of curly hair sleeping on Khan. "By the way, I''ve also contacted my family for the infusion. If I''m lucky, I should get it in a couple of weeks."


    "Isn''t it too early for you?" Anita expressed her worries.


    "My control over mana isn''t so shallow," George reassured. "I was just beingzy about it."


    Anita instinctively looked at Khan to confirm George''s story, and he nodded. George could definitely get the infusion.


    "Besides," George continued, "Everyone will try to get one once Monica shows up with a third star. That''s how these things work."


    "Most people in our ss aren''t that close to the third level," Khan pointed out before resuming his cuddles. "Even Monica might need an entire month toplete that breakthrough."


    "They''ll mostly do it to save face," George exined. "In my case, I''ll take a small one. I can handle the rest by myself."


    "Aren''t you just afraid to suffer mana rejection?" Anita snorted.


    "Afraid isn''t a word I''d associate with myself," George rebuked. "You should know that."


    "Maybe I was talking about a different type of fear," Anita pressed on.


    "Hey," Khan scolded. "No fighting while Monica is resting."


    "So protective," Anita giggled. "That''s how a man should be."


    George spread his arms in annoyance. He had literally guarded Anita on Nippe 2, but she pretended not to see his gesture now.


    "Khan," Monica called in a sleepy voice. "I''m cold."


    "You should go to bed and sleep," Khan stated while putting the sheathed knife back in the box.


    "Carry me," Monica whined, and Khan didn''t hesitate toply. He put both arms under her before standing up, lifting her with him.


    "We''ll take our leave," Khan announced, nodding at the couple before disappearing inside a bedroom.


    "Captain Khan is so romantic," Anita sighed as her dreamy eyes remained on the corridor where the couple had disappeared.


    "Romantic? Khan?" George gasped.


    "Unbelievable," Anita shook her head.


    "I call that intense," George argued.


    "Maybe I want a bit of intense," Anita replied.


    "How was Nippe 2 not intense?" George wondered.


    "In the Harbor," Anita exined, "Not among sand and doctors."


    "It would be easier if you didn''t shut me out every time," Georgeined.


    "Is this my fault now?" Anita raised her voice.


    "We both know you are the one running away," George uttered.


    "As if you aren''t relieved whenever I do," Anita responded.


    "You know I''m that kind of idiot," George cursed. "It''s not like I want you to do it."


    "Then, what do you want?" Anita asked.


    "I think you have a pretty good idea of what I want," George stated.


    "And that''s all you can think of," Anita sighed.


    "I don''t care about sex," George snorted. "I just wish we stopped hiding behind fights."


    Anita froze for a few seconds. George''s words had taken her by surprise, but something about them felt off, and she made sure to tell him. "I don''t believe you."


    "Okay, I care about sex," George admitted, "But can we at least talk openly? I thought I proved myself already."


    "Maybe I''m not sure yet," Anita revealed, diverting her gaze to hide her faint blush. "Maybe I need more time. Is it too much to ask?"


    George was no stranger to women or rtionships. In a way, he had more experience than Khan. When George looked at Anita''s blonde hair, he knew he was in front of a crossroads. One path led to a seriousness he had avoided in the past, while the other would make him lose Anita.


    "I knew you were evil," George heaved a helpless sigh.


    Sadness invaded Anita. She knew she wasn''t as bold as Monica, but she had still hoped George would see past her grumpy character. Yet, it seemed that his patience had reached its limit.


    Anita stood up, ready to leave the t while she could still hold back her sadness, but a hand seized her waist and pulled her. She fell at George''s side, and he even pushed her toward the elevator.


    "What are you doing?!" Anitained.


    "We are going to my t," George calmly exined. "You don''t like to make out here."


    "Make out what?" Anita shouted.


    "Right," George chuckled. "You call it stayingte."


    "Wha-?" Anita began to ask before changing her line. "Are you serious? Even after what I said?"


    "Yeah, yeah," George sighed. "You want to be spoiled, reassured, and everything. I me me and my stupidly good tastes."


    Anita frowned. She had to rey those words to understand that George had praised her.


    "I''m warning you," George continued once the couple entered the elevator. "I expect it at least three times a day once I earn that troublesome trust."


    "Unbelievable!" Anita gasped as the elevator''s doors began to close. "Don''t say such things!"


    "I said my piece," George cleared his throat, and Anita took a deep breath to begin her next rebuke. Still, a smile had appeared on her face by then.

 Chapter 464 Trap

    The auto-pilot went off, allowing Khan to perform a manualnding in the hangar. He handled the steering wheel carefully but firmly, and the engine became silent once the ship touched the metal floor.


    "Impable, sir," Lieutenant Shurpard praised. "You handled your eighth flight masterfully."


    "It''s the seventh for the Global Army," Khan corrected since his first flight didn''t count toward his license.


    "It still is an amazing achievement, sir," Lieutenant Shurpard did his best to praise. "I''ve never seen such a natural pilot in my life."


    "Ships are easy," Khan sighed, tracing the keys on the control desk with his fingers. "They are meant to be as easy as possible. Once you memorize themands, you only have to get used to the responsiveness."


    "Sir, trainees take years to gain confidence on the steering wheel," Lieutenant Shurpard pressed on. "You had it since your first day."


    Khan kept his eyes on themand desk as calctions happened in his mind. He had gotten his hands on the flight simtor even before reaching Milia 222, and Snow had been with him for months. In theory, he had put enough time into that training to justify his skills.


    "Do I need to wait two more weeks to book ships?" Khan eventually asked.


    "I''m afraid so, sir," Lieutenant Shurpard confirmed. "You should also pass an initial practical test for safety reasons. Still, the Headmistress has already reached out to handle eventual payments."


    Khan held back a sigh. That was already his fifth week attending those flying lessons, but the Global Army''s regtions still prevented him from going out alone.


    "Sir, look at the bright side," Lieutenant Shurpardughed, trying to change the topic. "This schedule isn''t getting in the way of your studies. I heard you did well on the tests."


    "Those tests were only an excuse to mark the end of the year," Khan exined, "And the middle of the ss isn''t what I''d call well."


    A week had passed since the arrival of the third-grade knife, and the year had changed. Khan had entered his fourth academic year, which the Harbor had weed with a wave of tests. His scores surpassed everyone''s expectations, but half of the advanced ss was still above him, including Monica, who was first.


    "Captain," Lieutenant Shurpard called, doing his best to find words that didn''t risk offending Khan, "You surpassed many descendants. I''m sure the next tests will go even better!"


    "Thank you, Lieutenant," Khan showed a fake smile. The Lieutenant couldn''t possibly know how wrong he was, but Khan didn''t me him. It had taken him weeks of group studies to learn the difference in raw knowledge between Monica and himself.


    "I believe in what I said, sir," Lieutenant Shurpard imed. "Now, I should return to my post. I hope you get a good rest tonight."


    "Oh, Lieutenant," Khan chuckled while leaving the pilot''s seat. "My day is far from over."


    The Lieutenant searched for Khan''s face, but he never turned. The ship opened when Khan touched the exit, and a metal staircase brought him to the hangar''s floor. A car was already waiting for him in another area, and he didn''t hesitate to reach it.


    ''I''ming back,'' Khan sent a message before checking the time. The scheduled dinner was still a few hours away, but time was always tight when Monica had to prepare.


    ''Hurry!'' Monica texted. ''I can''t decide what to wear!''


    ''That''s because you have too many clothes,'' Khan replied.


    ''Shut up and move your ass,'' Monica answered, and her angry tone resounded in Khan''s mind, making him smile.


    The hangars were quite distant from the second district, and the cab''s quality couldn''t affect the trip''s length too much. Khan knew he was in for a long ride, so he closed his eyes to meditate to make it pass quickly.


    Seeing the empty sidewalk in front of the habitation was always nice. The Headmistress was granting Khan some peace from the consequences of his fame, but chaos arrived as soon as he entered his t.


    "Khan, you are here!" Monica shouted from somewhere in the t as soon as the walls notified her. "Come quickly!"


    Khan scratched the side of his head and followed the symphony into a bedroom, where he found a pile of clothes blocking his way. He had to move them aside to enter the room, but more were waiting for him inside.


    "That''s why we never use this bedroom," Khanmented while making his way through the sea of dresses, shoes, and more. "This room belongs to your clothes."


    "Khan," Monica called in a pleading tone. She was in front of an interactive mirror, and two skirts hung from her hands.


    "ck is elegant but too tight," Monica exined. "Instead, cherry feels childlike."


    Khan couldn''t look at the skirts since Monica was only wearing an unbuttoned shirt and underwear. Truth be told, she had just started to recover from her infusion. The couple didn''t have sex in a while, and the scene reminded Khan about that.


    "Wait!" Monica shouted when she recognized Khan''s expression. "Tell me which skirt first."


    "Pleated red one," Khan promptly said while approaching Monica.


    "You always liked pleated skirts," Monica nodded before throwing away both skirts and jumping forward. Khan caught her mid-air, and her legs immediately wrapped themselves around his waist.


    Monica trapped Khan into a kiss but eventually pulled herself back and caressed his cheek to ask a sensual question. "Can we now, Doctor Khan?"


    Khan didn''t even try to hide his desire. He ced his ear at the center of Monica''s chest and closed his eyes to listen to the entirety of her body. She had yet to absorb all the foreign synthetic mana, but stability had finally arrived.


    Monica''s eagerness would usually push Khan to crack a joke, but he was in the same situation. When he left her chest, he showed a meaningful smile that she rewarded with another kiss. It didn''t take long before the two fell on the mess of clothes lying on the bed.


    However, the walls lit up before the couple could go any further. Monica and Khan groaned at the same time, but frowns took control of their expressions when they saw no names on the notifications. Someone was ringing, but the building didn''t reveal their identity.


    "Did Lucian send someone so early?" Monica wondered.


    "An escort would still announce themselves," Khan pointed out as he left Monica''s loving hug. "It''s better if you get dressed."


    Monica was pissed about the interruption but stillplied. The situation was strange. The couple had been pretty open about the iing dinner, and news always spread quickly when Khan was involved. The entire Harbor knew about their ns, so no one would dare to disturb them at that hour.


    Khan left the bedroom and reached the elevator to activate one of the menus. A camera on the first floor showed its images, and Khan''s eyes widened in shock when he recognized the face on the screen.


    "Who is it?" Monica asked from the open bedroom.


    "Monica, dress up now!" Khan shouted, and a gulp followed. He granted passage to that unexpected visitor before inspecting his clothes. His military uniform was a bit of a mess, and he used those seconds to sort it out as well as possible.


    Terror made its way into Khan''s mind as the elevator started to move. He could face monsters and stronger soldiers without breaking a sweat, but that situation put genuine fear inside him. He actually had to close his eyes for a second to calm down and perform a military salute.


    "Madam Solodrey!" Khan shouted as soon as the elevator opened to make sure that Monica heard him. "What a pleasant surprise!"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    A beautiful but aloof face that reminded Khan of Monica crossed the elevator and nced at him for a second before inspecting the room. Monica''s mother was actually there, in Khan''s t, and she appeared far from happy.


    "Captain Khan," Madam Solodrey casually spoke, "Is my daughter here?"


    Khan didn''t freeze but still hesitated to give Monica more time. Ideally, he would have left her mother downstairs, but that would have made everything more suspicious. Moreover, she was the main reason behind his enrollment into the Harbor.


    "She is getting ready, ma''am," Khan calmly exined. "She is apanying me to a dinner tonight, and I need her help choosing what to wear."


    "You are dining with Lucian Hencus tonight," Madam Solodrey eximed. "Imagine my surprise when I heard that from his father."


    Madam Solodrey was a fourth-level warrior, but Khan could read her mana. She was a bit pissed, but ayer of detachment enveloped her, making her emotions strange to sense.


    "Ma''am, why don''t I apany you inside?" Khan ignored that dangerous topic and wore a fake smile. "I can offer you a drink while we wait for Miss Solodrey."


    "You do have some manners," Madam Solodreymented while bending toward Khan to inspect his face. "Your looks are also as good as thework says."


    "Mom!" Monica called from the corridor as her hurried steps resounded in the t. It only took her a few seconds to reach the elevator, and a question promptly left her mouth. "What are you doing here?"


    "You will address me properly in public," Madam Solodrey scolded.


    "Mother," Monica corrected, digging out her elegant manners to perform a perfect bow, "What are you doing here?"


    Madam Solodrey kept track of the bow from start to finish, and a slight nod escaped her head. Monica had worn the pleated skirt and adjusted the shirt above, creating a picture that seemed to satisfy her mother.


    "I''m pleased to see you didn''t get shabby," Madam Solodrey voiced in her aloof tone, "But your hair needs work. I hope you didn''t n on meeting Mister Hencus like this."


    "The dinner is still one hour away," Monica exined, "And Lucian isn''t worthy of my best efforts anyway."


    "But Lucian''s father is," Madam Solodrey rebuked, causing a wave of shock to spread in the room. "Come, let''s talk inside while Captain Khan fetches us some drinks."


    Khan half-bowed and hurried inside, reaching the living room to prepare the wee. Luckily for him, everything was in order, and he had even used the Headmistress'' rewards to get good bottles.


    "I was on my way to this quadrant to catch Princess Edna," Madam Solodrey exined as she slowly walked toward the living room. "I couldn''t arrive in time, but I was close enough to attend this dinner."


    "Will Lucian''s father be at the dinner?" Monica couldn''t believe her ears. "He didn''t warn us."


    "It seems the Hencus boy wanted toy a trap on you," Madam Solodrey revealed. "Luckily, his father knows his ce and contacted me. Apparently, he had also started traveling toward this quadrant to meet Princess Edna."


    The two women reached a couch, and Monica immediately sat. Instead, Madam Solodrey gave a hesitant look at the pillows before deciding to join her daughter.


    Khan arrived with two half-full sses in the following seconds, and the look on Monica''s face told him what she was about to say. The presence of those two powerful figures would shift the focus away from Khan, and she didn''t like it.


    "Mother, this dinner is for Captain Khan''s career," Monica opposed that development while taking her ss. "You''ll overshadow him with your presence."


    "Did you expect me to refuse Mister Hencus'' invitation?" Madam Solodrey wondered while also seizing the ss. Still, unlike Monica, she only nced at it before putting it down.


    "You didn''t have to agree to this specific dinner," Monica pressed on.


    "Monica, dear," Madam Solodrey sighed, "I''m a busy woman. I must seize these opportunities. Besides, it was about time I met our promising investment."<novelnext></novelnext>


    Khan had remained at the couch''s side after delivering the sses. The conversation involved him, and he also wanted to take a better look at Monica''s mother. She carried a distinct elegance, but her aloofness made her feel unapproachable.


    The inspection ended after Madam Solodrey''sst words. Khan found two pairs of beautiful eyes on him, and his entire brain worked to generate a fitting reply. "Your interest honors me, ma''am."


    "You are the youngest Captain in history," Madam Solodrey eximed, "And you saved Princess Edna from a kidnapping attempt. Interested is the least I can be."


    "I did make sure Miss Solodrey was safe too back on Nippe 2," Khan added.


    "I''m sure you did," Madam Solodrey disregarded thement. "Please, sit. After all, this is your t."


    Khan performed a quick bow before reaching the opposite couch. He didn''t have the time to fill a ss for himself, and regret began to appear now.


    "Mother," Monica tried to call.


    "Dear," Madam Solodrey interrupted, "I''m talking with the Captain."


    Khan felt Monica''s worried eyes looking for him, but his gaze remained on her mother. Madam Solodrey was inspecting him, and he couldn''t risk giving anything away.


    "I admit I was skeptical when Monica contacted me," Madam Solodrey announced, "But I heard your tests went well. Maybe there is a student inside you."


    "Thank you, ma''am," Khan replied.


    "However," Madam Solodrey continued, "The middle of the ss is unbefitting of a figure rted to the Solodrey family. I expect you to be in the top five by the end of the semester."


    Khan held back a gulp. Meeting Madam Solodrey''s expectations in a few subjects wouldn''t be a problem, but the top five remained hard to reach. Still, only one answer was eptable in that situation. "I won''t disappoint, ma''am."


    "Good," Madam Solodrey eximed. "Now, Monica, go redo your hair. Get something more elegant too. I won''t lose face tonight because of you."


    A wave of anger surged inside Khan, but Monica stood up before it could turn into words or actions. Moreover, something felt off and managed to distract Khan from that disrespectful statement.


    Monica left, but Khan kept looking at her mother. Thetter was aware of the dinner and the tests'' results. She also knew that the t belonged to Khan. Telling Monica to change implied that she had suitable products and clothes in the habitation, which could easily lead to problematic realizations.


    As expected, the atmosphere changed as soon as Monica left. Faint tension filled the living room, adding a strange scent to the symphony. Madam Solodrey was dropping her fa?ade, and Khan''s face instinctively grew cold while he waited for her next words.


    "The Harbor is an isted environment," Madam Solodrey stated as her dark eyes fell on Khan, "But its rumors spread throughout the universe. I know what you are doing, and I''m telling you to stop it."


    "Ma''am?" Khan feigned ignorance.


    "Don''t y with me, Captain," Madam Solodrey warned. "I know my daughter, and a mutt like you isn''t worthy of her."


    ''Mutt?'' Khan repeated in his mind. ''Is she talking about my mutations or something else?''


    "I also know your kind," Madam Solodrey continued. "Congrattions. You gained my attention. Now, name your price and stay away from my daughter."


    Khan''s mana had already started to boil, but some coldness enveloped all of that. He could remain calm, but that didn''t lead to appropriate behaviors. Instead, it only made his tongue sharper.


    "Ma''am, I don''t think I can name a price," Khan opted for an honest approach.


    "I know your kind," Madam Solodrey repeated. "You used your opportunity well, but it''s time to end it. What did you have in mind when you tricked my daughter?"


    "You misunderstand," Khan remained polite. "I can''t name something that matches your daughter''s value."


    "Try," Madam Solodrey ordered.


    "I refuse, ma''am," Khan smiled.


    "I told you not to y with me," Madam Solodrey reminded. "I''ll get you to stay away one way or another."


    Khan had spent more than thest month immersed in regtions and descendants. His studies and Monica''s relentless teaching had deepened his knowledge of the political environment, which allowed him to notice clues in Madam Solodrey''s words.


    "I understand," Khan eximed. "You can''t use your authority to force me out. I must decide on my own, or everyone will get suspicious."


    "You have a wild imagination," Madam Solodrey scoffed.


    "Not at all," Khan admitted. "I''m probably dumber than the average soldier, but even an idiot would understand what''s happening. You can''t touch me directly. Doing that would hurt your family."


    The matter didn''t only involve Khan''s recent feats. Someone would understand something if he cut ties with Monica, which would lower her value. Madam Solodrey didn''t want that oue, especially when her daughter was so outstanding.


    "Don''t underestimate me, Captain Khan," Madam Solodrey threatened. "I get what I want."


    "And how much of yourself did you have topromise to get there?" Khan wondered while loudly sniffing the air. "I can smell your corruption. It makes it harder to understand whether your interest is purely toward Monica or your family."


    Nothing happened to Madam Solodrey''s face, but her presence suddenly disappeared. Her mana transformed into a nk spot Khan couldn''t sense.


    "It seems you were the one underestimating others," Khan chuckled. "Why don''t we change the topic? I''m interested in that mutt thing."


    "We''ll change the topic when I decide," Madam Solodrey stated.


    "Ma''am, I don''t want us to be enemies," Khan tried to bring some peace.


    "Most of the Global Army doesn''t want me as their enemy," Madam Solodrey smirked.


    "You misunderstand again," Khan shook his head. "I want us to go along for Monica. She would be sad otherwise."


    Madam Solodrey continued to hide her reactions, but a crack had opened in her belief. Khan didn''t look interested in political gains or using the Solodrey name to his benefit, and his answers sounded stupidly honest, especially those involving Monica.


    "Happiness is a luxury to people in my position," Madam Solodreymented. "You wouldn''t understand."


    "I hope I never do," Khan dered. "Still, shouldn''t you wish for your daughter''s happiness? I thought that was the job of a parent."


    "Don''t you dare lecture me on parenthood," Madam Solodrey snorted.


    "Why?" Khan wondered. "Because one of my parents abandoned their noble status?"


    A twitch finally ran through Madam Solodrey''s face. Khan had voiced one of his deepest doubts, and that slight reaction didn''t go unnoticed. Yet, it would take far more to make Madam Solodrey lose herposure.


    "You are in no position to make my daughter happy," Madam Solodrey went back to the previous topic. "You have no idea what that would imply either."


    "I''m trying to fix that," Khan stated. "So, am I a mutt due to my mutations? Or is my family to me for that?"


    "The Harbor alone can''t teach such things," Madam Solodrey ignored the dangerous topic.


    "Was it my mother?" Khan pressed on. "I heard she was a handful."


    Madam Solodrey didn''t answer, but her silence was deafening. She hade there to threaten Khan, but there he was, staring at her with his confident eyes. One single look told her that she couldn''t scare him away.


    "Did you think I would give you answers?" Madam Solodrey eventually sighed.


    "Not at all," Khan admitted. "I only wanted you to stop talking about Monica, ma''am."


    The shameless smile that followed almost made Madam Solodrey lose herposure. Khan had used such a hot matter to change the topic and seeded.


    Of course, that was what Khan wanted Madam Solodrey to believe. Part of him hoped to get answers, even if he knew the chances were slim. He managed to get a distraction and a twitch out of his questions, but that was it.


    "Why are you going to such lengths?" Madam Solodrey questioned. "You can get anything you want. I''m giving you that opportunity. Is it stubbornness?"


    "This might be hard to exin," Khanughed as some sadness seeped into his smile. "I lost everything a few times. It took me a while to make peace with that, and I''m in no hurry to experience it again. I have a fighting chance, so I''m taking it."


    Back on Nitis, Khan had only been able to fight. He simply had nothing else to offer to the Niqols or the Global Army. Yet, things were different now, so he made sure to use all his weapons.


    "Resolve alone can''t earn you the Solodrey name," Madam Solodrey stated.


    "I''m working on that, ma''am," Khan promised.


    "Such gall," Madam Solodrey chuckled. "I guess I''ll test you."


    "Ma''am?" Khan asked, but the opening of a door interrupted the conversation. Monica returned to the living room, showing far softer curls and a new turtleneck sweater. Still, she had kept the skirt chosen by Khan.


    "Is this eptable, mother?" Monica questioned, performing a bow when she reached her mother''s couch.


    "It will do," Madam Solodrey nodded while standing up. "Captain Khan, I hope my daughter taught you how to dress because we''ll leave in ten minutes."


    "Mother, the dinner isn''t due for another hour," Monica reminded.


    "The Hencus boy wanted toy a trap," Madam Solodrey announced. "Arriving early should disrupt his ns."


    Khan didn''t hesitate to stand up and head for a bedroom, but Madam Solodrey voiced anotherment before the metal doors could stop her voice. "This dinner just became interesting."

 Chapter 465 Beautiful

    Khan''s sense of style had never improved. He was still clueless about clothes and their value, but he didn''t fear Madam Solodrey''s judgment. After all, her daughter was the true owner of Khan''s wardrobe.


    Monica had arranged Khan''s clothes into sets, so he couldn''t make mistakes. He quickly retrieved a ck shirt, grey pants, and ck shoes from his wardrobe before wearing them. In a minute, he left the bedroom to rejoin the two women.


    "Is this eptable?" Khan used Monica''s words as soon as two pairs of eyes fell on him.


    "Far from it," Madam Solodreymented. "Teaching must not be my daughter''s forte."


    Monica showed a sweet smile to Khan before lowering her gaze. Some sadness seeped into her expression since her mother was taking it out on Khan. She didn''t mind when the insults targeted her, but involving Khan in her problems always soured her feelings.


    "On the contrary, ma''am," Khan responded. "Monica is the only reason I could score so high on the tests."


    Madam Solodrey was about to turn, but hearing Khan calling her daughter by her first name made her shoot a re at him. He responded with an innocent smile, which said a lot about his stance.


    "You will address my daughter with the proper respect," Madam Solodrey ordered.


    "I''m sorry, ma''am," Khan performed a military salute. "Force of habit."


    The second reply told Monica that something had happened while she was away. The discovery didn''t surprise her since she knew her mother''s character, but Khan''s challenging stance was problematic.


    Madam Solodrey snorted and approached the elevator. Meanwhile, Khan ignored Monica''s questioning gaze to reach her side and pinch her waist. The gesture granted him a re, but Madam Solodrey didn''t give the couple the time to clear things out.


    "I hope to see a car by the time I get down," Madam Solodrey announced, forcing the couple to hurry.


    Khan''s status made a ship arrive in a matter of minutes. The dinner would happen outside the Harbor, and he had already booked a suitable vehicle, so calling it early wasn''t a problem. Yet, Madam Solodrey began to reveal her intentions at its sight, and they were far from friendly.


    "Is this the best a Captain can get?" Madam Solodrey questioned at the sight of the ship. The vehicle wasn''t bad. It actually met some of the Harbor''s loftiest standards, but Madam Solodrey appeared displeased anyway.


    "Ma''am, I would have prepared something better if I knew about your arrival," Khan justified.


    "Are you implying my daughter alone isn''t worthy of your best efforts?" Madam Solodrey asked.


    "I didn''t-," Khan tried to speak.


    "You said enough," Madam Solodrey interrupted while heading for the ship.


    Monica gave Khan another sad look, but he shook his head to reassure her before following Madam Solodrey. He was starting to understand the kind of test Madam Solodrey wanted to have, and things were bound to get worse during the dinner.


    The ship only had a central room connected to the pilot''s cabin, but that was enough for three people. The seats could also move freely to create more space, but Madam Solodrey didn''t hold back her disgusted look when she looked at them.


    Luckily for Khan, Madam Solodrey didn''t voice anyment. She limited herself to a long inspection before choosing a seat at the center of the ship''s left side. Monica joined her while Khan decided to remain on his feet right outside the pilot''s cabin.


    "Should I set off, sir?" The pilot asked once everything was set.


    "Yes," Khan confirmed. "You received the directions, right?"


    "They are on the screen," The pilot revealed, and Khan peeked into the cabin to inspect the hologramsing out of the control desk.


    "Perfect," Khan eximed. "Let''s go."


    The ship left the sidewalk through a perfect set-off. Nothing reached its insides, and Khan clung to a handhold while moving his attention to the two women. Monica was still trying to understand what had happened while her mother found something else to criticize.


    "Dear, sit properly," Madam Solodrey scolded, forcing Monica to give up on her inspection and straighten her back.


    "Don''t press your hair on the seat," Madam Solodrey continued. "Do you want to see your work go to waste?"


    "Adjust your skirt," Madam Solodrey added another reprimand. "It will get full of creases otherwise."


    More reprimands arrived, and Monica obeyed all of them. The pilot could hear her mother, making her unable to refuse or object to anything she said.


    "Ma''am," Khan tried toe up with something to divert the attention from Monica, but Madam Solodrey didn''t give him any opening.


    "I''d focus on the dinner if I were you," Madam Solodrey warned. "As for me, I have to make sure my daughter doesn''t bring any shame on our family."


    Monica kept her gaze lowered, and some detachment joined her expression. That probably was her usual behavior among her family, and Khan couldn''t help but feel irritated since he knew her story.


    "Remember that we share many years of friendship with the Hencus family," Madam Solodrey added. "I expect you to treat Lucian ordingly. He is also one of your most valuable suitors."


    "Mother, we have already talked about this," Monica finally spoke.


    "And we''ll talk about it again until you make up your mind," Madam Solodrey stated, gently moving away some of Monica''s curls to caress her shoulder. "Dear, innocent flirting never hurt anyone, and you had so much practice."


    Monica couldn''t help but feel ashamed. The Solodrey family''s upbringing had taught her the manners proper of a female descendant, which involved political flirting. That behavior was almost an instinctive part of her character now.


    Khan had seen that side of Monica''s education on Milia 222, and the two had even talked about it. Lucian had also mentioned something simr after the battle against George, so Khan wasn''t surprised.


    The peculiar situation fused with those words to create a perfect environment for Khan''s jealousy, but he didn''t experience anything simr. Monica''s shame filled his senses and made his feelings unstable. He could remain cold during the conversation, but something escaped his control now.


    A buzzing noise ran through the ship as some lights and screens flickered. Nothing major happened, and the vehicle even continued to fly properly, but everyone noticed that event.


    "We must have touched an external interference, sir," The pilot reassured before anyone could ask questions. "Everything seems in order."


    "Such a cheap choice," Madam Solodreymented in an attempt to belittle the ship and Khan, but he couldn''t pay attention to her. His eyes were on his handhold and the ck mark that had appeared because of his mana.


    ''Not a good sign,'' Khan suppressed a sigh. Talking back to Madam Solodrey had been easier in the privacy of the t, but having an audience forced Khan to hold back, which he couldn''t do very well.


    Nevertheless, a worried gaze forced the coldness to take control of the wild emotions. Monica knew what had happened, and Khan could feel her eyes on him. He would surely fail to behave appropriately if he only thought about himself, but Monica gave him the power to seed.


    The interference strangely brought positive changes. Madam Solodrey fell silent, creating a tense and awkward atmosphere no one could affect. That mood was far from good, but Khan preferred it over the relentless scolding toward Monica.


    The uneventful flight led the group outside the Harbor, where a circr vehicle was waiting for them. Lucian had chosen to imitate the Virrai family, using a big ship that could provide the utmost privacy and show his finances, but no one was in the mood to remain surprised at its sight.


    A docking station opened at the center of the circr ship, and Khan''s vehiclended inside it. Breathable air arrived once the area severed its connection with the universe, and soldiers crossed multiple doors to prepare a wee worthy of the guests.


    Madam Solodrey was the first to cross the metal staircase and descend into the ship. Monica followed closely behind, and Khan left after her. Meanwhile, the soldiers waited at the room''s edges while two figures approached the group.


    "Anastasia!" A middle-aged man with short blonde hair and emerald eyes eximed while walking toward the group. Madam Solodrey showed a rare smile at his figure and stretched her hand to prepare herself for a polite greeting.


    "You are as beautiful as ever," The middle-aged man continued before leaving a kiss on Madam Solodrey''s hand. "I hope this invitation wasn''t too sudden."


    "Lionel, you know a married woman can''t receive thesepliments," Madam Solodrey giggled.


    "My words carry nothing but the truth," Lionel stated, letting go of Madam Solodrey''s hand. "Your husband and my wife know that."


    "Mister Hencus," Monica announced, reaching her mother''s side to make Lionel notice her, "Meeting you again is an honor, especially during such pleasant circumstances."


    "Miss Solodrey!" Lionel gasped loudly. "You have grown to be a match to your mother. The Solodrey family must be blessed with exceptional looks."


    "You are too kind," Monica smiled, performing an elegant bow.


    Lucian had let his father take the lead, but that didn''t stop him from shooting a meaningful nce at Khan. Thetter didn''t miss anything in that situation, but his mood was too jumpy to care about that gesture, especially when a far more interesting figure was on the scene.


    Lionel shared some features with Lucian. They had the same hair and eyes, but he was taller and burlier. His figure also was a nk spot in the symphony, but the mana that touched him revealed part of his strength.


    Khan had already seen simr reactions. They were weakerpared to what Colonel Norrett caused, but they belonged to the same realm. The smiling and polite Lionel had to be a fifth-level warrior.


    "Mister Hencus," Khan decided to im Lionel''s attention once his inspection ended, "Your presence here is a pleasant surprise. I didn''t think I''d have the honor to meet you so soon."


    "Captain Khan," Lionel gasped again, spreading his arms to highlight his happiness, "I longed for this meeting. I''m sorry I didn''t invite you directly. I worried I would ruin your schedule."


    "You wouldn''t have ruined it, sir," Khan reassured. "Finding the time to meet you would have been a happy task."


    "I''m d to hear that," Lionelughed. "Now, I''ll let my sonplete his political duties."


    "Thank you, father," Lucian nodded before stepping forward to reach Madam Solodrey''s stretched hand.


    "Madam," Lucian called after kissing Madam Solodrey''s hand, "You look younger with each passing year."


    "Lucian, dear boy," Madam Solodrey chuckled, "I told you to call me Anastasia many times. When will you drop these formalities?"


    "Maybe next year," Lucian guessed.


    "That''s what you saidst year," Madam Solodrey nodded in approval while retrieving her hand.


    "Miss Solodrey, you are as charming as ever," Lucian moved to Monica. He got close enough to try to take her hand, but she performed a bow before his polite greeting could start.


    "Lucian, we are ssmates who have known each other for years," Monica dered. "I''ll feel offended if you don''t drop these formalities."


    "Very well, Monica," Lucian agreed, "But let me say how beautiful you are again. This skirt is especially exceptional."


    "I had Captain Khan''s help when I bought it," Monica revealed. "You know he is my secret weapon regarding clothes."


    "Captain, does your talent even have limits?" Lucian wondered while approaching Khan to shake his hand. "I''m d you decided to schedule this dinner. We have a lot to talk about."


    "I can''t wait," Khan responded.


    "Perfect!" Lionel eximed as soon as Lucian finished greeting Khan. "The waiters should have arranged the dining table by now. Allow me to lead the way."


    The group exchanged a series of smiles before following Lionel. On the surface, the greetings had gone well, but the tension had already intensified. Khan couldn''t read Madam Solodrey''s mana now, but it was clear that she didn''t like Monica''sstment.


    In theory, the presence of Lucian''s father could bring some stability. There had to be a limit to how much Madam Solodrey could say in front of an equally important figure. Even scolding Monica publicly was off-limits due to the repercussions those actions would have on her family.


    However, Khan didn''t dare to underestimate Madam Solodrey. She had to be a political monster, and he was walking into her hunting area. She was probably preparing her next move, and Khan felt cornered.


    Lionel led the group across a few corridors that opened into a big rectangr room. A group of servants was waiting next to the walls with drinks and tes, and a long table upied the area''s center. Food and booze were already near each seat, and Lionel had even nned other arrangements.


    "Anastasia, one end of the table is yours," Lionel announced while reaching the other side of the room. "I''ll take this end and im Captain Khan for me. Is this disposition eptable?"


    "Of course," Madam Solodrey agreed, and some displeasure seeped into her face when Lionel searched for Khan''s approval.


    "How could I refuse, sir?" Khan smiled, approaching a seat on the table''s long side to be close to Lionel.


    "Miss Solodrey, Lucian, please," Lionel continued, pointing at the seats on the other long side.


    Everyone quickly took their ces. Khan found himself alone on his side, with Lucian in front of him. Monica and Lucian were close to their respective parents, and the waiters began serving Madam Solodrey to start the dinner.


    "My informants told me that the Virrai family''s representative invited you to one of these," Lionel used his cheerful tone to address Khan. "I hope my wee cane close to theirs."


    "The ship and this assortment are amazing," Khan honestly praised. After all, he had received nothing but questions and booze when the representative came.


    "They better be," Lionelughed. "You can''t imagine how expensive they are."


    The waiters continued to approach the guests in order of importance, leaving Lionel and Lucian forst since they were the hosts. Monica saw booze poured into her ss, and Khan came next.


    "Lucian tells me your tests'' results surprised everyone," Lionel continued. "Many expected you to struggle in the advanced sses, but you aced them."


    "I have to thank the Harbor''s teachers," Khan deflected the praise. "They are very good at their job. Also, I would have never caught up so quickly without Miss Solodrey''s priceless help."


    "Ah! Miss Solodrey!" Lionel gasped. "I almost forgot. Congrattions on being the first in your ss. You bring honor to your family."


    "Thank you, Mister Hencus," Monica lowered her head in respect. "Though Lucian deserves simr praises. He scored second while helping multiple members of the advanced sses with their studies."


    "Monica is too kind," Lucian promptly opted for a humble approach. "She scored higher than me while dealing with the aftermath of the infusion. I''m not sure I could have done the same."


    "They are such a good pair," Madam Solodrey praised. "Lionel, are you sure we can''t arrange something once the semester is over? It would be nice to see our kids grow closer in a different environment."


    "Anastasia, you only have to suggest," Lionelughed. "I''ll give the offer my undivided attention."


    "We''ll see where they are at after the semester," Madam Solodrey kept it vague. "I''lle up with something at that point."


    Monica smiled, but her mana told a far different story. Her mother was cornering her, and she had no moves at her disposal.


    Khan was in a simr situation. He couldn''t even pretend in front of those obvious implications, so he hid his mouth behind his drink. His emotions and coldness could live in harmony, but they started a fight now, and even he didn''t know who would win.


    "If I may," Lucian suddenly announced, "I''d like to include Captain Khan in any future project. His potential is unmatched, and it would be a pity to let him leave so easily."


    Khan gazed at Lucian from behind his ss, and the two seemed to converse during that silent exchange. Lucian had decided to help him on purpose, and his reasons were unclear.


    "Mister Hencus exaggerates," Khan deflected thepliment again. "I am a reliable asset on the battlefield, but I''m just getting used to the political field."


    "Captain, you protected me on Nippe 2," Lucian lied. "Don''t offend me with these formalities."


    "I''m sorry, Lucian," Khan yed along. "I might be a bit tense."


    "Nothing is scarier than politicians," Lionel snickered. "Still, Lucian is right. You are the most sought soldier in the entirety of the Global Army. It would be nice to monopolize you."


    "The Solodrey family was lucky enough to find him first," Monica intervened. "I might have to owe a favor to Luke Cobsend for giving me that opportunity."


    "I''m sure Luke feels the very opposite," Khan reassured. "Your help on Milia 222 didn''t go unnoticed."


    "Such a sweet tongue," Monica teased. "Everyone knows you handled everything on your own. You wouldn''t have be the youngest Captain in history otherwise."


    The back and forth between Khan and Monica was natural for the two. They had enough practice on Milia 222 and the Harbor to be experts at that teamwork, but they weren''t alone now.


    "Our kids are correct," Madam Solodrey spoke. "Captain Khan is indeed an extraordinary talent. I''m lucky my dear Monica recognized and secured his value before any contender. Still, I wonder if the Captain is willing to take things one step further."


    "Ma''am?" Khan asked.


    "Why don''t you formally join us?" Madam Solodrey questioned. "A simple contract would be enough to give you a taste of my family''s benefits. I can also add a time limit to provide an easy way out."


    Monica and Lionel''s poker faces remained perfect, but the former''s mana revealed clues Khan didn''t miss. Instead, Lucian dared to arc his eyebrows while focusing on his te. That was another intentional gesture that only Khan noticed due to the attention on him.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''Why is he risking so much to help me?'' Khan wondered. Monica''s mana and Lucian''s reaction told him the offer was no small matter. It was important enough to surprise the people at the table, and that said a lot.


    "A contract would be pointless, ma''am," Khan chose to show what he had learnt in thest period. "The Harbor and Miss Solodrey''s help are favors I n to repay. There is no need to sign anything to have me on your side."


    Khan had promised allegiance with the Solodrey family, but his words had the opposite effect. He had expressed his loyalty while preventing Madam Solodrey from making things official.


    "I think Captain Khan is too young and promising to make such decisions right now," Lionel stepped in to change the topic. "Why don''t you consider something small instead? My son actually came here with an offer."


    "Thank you for introducing the matter, father," Lucian eximed before addressing the curious gazes. "It''s true. I had an offer in mind far before this dinner. Captain, you once told me you''d consider it if I came to you with a mission. Well, here I am."


    ''Is he doing all of this to make me ept?'' Khan wondered. ''It can''t be. It''s too little.''


    Jobs were no big deal. Khan would have considered a good offer even if it came from a stranger, so Lucian''s behavior had to have deeper meanings. Still, for now, Khan limited himself to a polite reply. "I''m all ears."


    "I don''t want to discuss the boring specifics at dinner," Lucian eximed. "Yet, to add some context, I want to send a team on Lauter to establish an outpost. I''m sure you know what I''m talking about."


    Khan''s studies obviously involved the quadrant''s peculiar location and resources. Lauter was one of thes in the system, and the Harbor retrieved a special gas important for the ships'' engines there. Its atmosphere wasn''t as harsh as Nippe 2'', but extracting that resource was dangerous for multiple reasons.


    "I thought the Harbor had priority over the resources of this system," Khan expressed his doubts.


    "There are heavy taxes," Lucian exined, "In certain locations. Building an outpost outside them would provide a stable source of ie and help the future descendants of the Hencus family in the Harbor."


    Khan didn''t know nearly enough about Lauter to feel confident in a mission there, but that knowledge was easy to get. The payment wouldn''t be an issue either since the Hencus family was involved. Time and Lucian were the only problems, but Khan didn''t have the power to refuse right away.


    "Send the details over," Khan nodded. "I''ll study them, but I can''t promise I''ll be part of your team. It took me weeks to make the time for this dinner."


    "No, Captain," Lucian corrected. "It would be your team. I want you to build it since your qualifications exceed mine when ites to the field."


    That detail was the most surprising part of the dinner. Lucian was asking for more than a hired gun. He wanted Khan''s authority.


    ''The location must be hazardous,'' Khan realized. ''Still, the reward should match that.''


    "I''ll give it a look," Khan nodded again, but his words carried more conviction now. The matter was exciting and matched Colonel Norrett''sst directives.


    "Excellent!" Lionelughed. "Captain, I also heard your flights are going well. Who knows? You might be in charge of the ship by the time the mission starts."


    "Is the Captain already getting the license?" Madam Solodrey questioned. "I thought he just started attending the flights."


    "Captain Khan cut a deal with Headmistress Holwen to fly more often," Monica exined. "Besides, he already knew his way around ships on Milia 222. The regtions are probably slowing him down."


    "I understand and ept the necessity for regtions," Khan dered. "Yet, yes, I can alreadyplete the flight required by the license."


    "Incredible," Lionel praised. "I thought my son praised you too much, but I changed my mind. Captain, you deserve all your fame."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan replied. "Yet, I still have a long way to go."


    "It doesn''t seem that long," Lionel snickered. "Don''t you agree, Anastasia? Captain Khan might truly reach the peak of the Global Army at this pace."


    "And that would be a waste of his talents," Madam Solodrey sighed. "The Global Army is so narrow-minded. You should consider marrying into a good family and obtain true leverage on the universe''s politics."


    "I must agree with Anastasia," Lionel uttered. "Joining a family would broaden your perspective. I''m sure mine would be willing to suggest a few candidates, but they might not be worthy of your fame."


    "As Lionel said," Madam Solodrey continued, "The Solodrey family is blessed with good looks. We would dly offer the most beautiful figure in our reach to give you our name."


    ''Old hag,'' Khan snorted in his mind. Madam Solodrey had said the very opposite in his t. Still, she couldn''t have used worse words in that situation.


    "Ma''am, with all due respect," Khan announced, "I''m sure Miss Solodrey is the most beautiful figure in your reach. I actually wouldn''t limit her to that."


    Tension spread in the room. Madam Solodrey''s poker face remained perfect but also still. She froze in front of Khan''s guts, but the me was on her. She didn''t expect him to include Monica in that group or speak openly about it.


    "Captain Khan is right," Lionel exploded into augh. "Many recent rumors put Miss Solodrey and Princess Edna on the same level. You must be truly proud of your daughter."


    The tension intensified as Madam Solodrey remained still. Monica showed fake smiles left and right to deflect those praises, but panic had already taken control of her mind. Even she didn''t know how to defuse that situation.


    "Captain, don''t tell me that Miss Solodrey stole your heart?" Lionel''s unrestrainedugh prevented the arrival of the silence.


    "I wouldn''t dare to even hint at such a thing, sir," Khan promptly shook his head. "However, would anyone be surprised? The entire embassy turns when she appears."


    "Captain, you''ll make me blush," Monica giggled while covering her mouth, "And we both know they turn because of you."


    "Miss, I might be the most promising figure in the Global Army," Khan voiced a shameless self-praise, "But I know they don''t turn to look at me. I''ll keep a secret how I know that."


    Khan made his words self-exnatory on purpose. He wanted the table to know he was interested in Monica without actually saying it, and Madam Solodrey couldn''t even contradict him. After all, he was using her words to praise her daughter.


    "So, Anastasia?" Lionel teased. "I think Captain Khan would take your family name for your daughter."


    "Of course he would," Madam Solodrey snapped out of her stillness. "It''s my dear daughter we are talking about. However, Monica currently has no intention to marry, and her parents agree. We believe she must reach her full potential before considering partners."


    "Completely understandable," Lionel agreed. "Lucian and I reached a simr agreement. Marriage is off the table for now."


    "Who knows?" Madam Solodrey wondered. "Our kids might change their minds at the same time."


    "They might havepetition by then," Lionelughed. He didn''t look at Khan, but it was clear that hisment involved him.


    The dinner continued, but the conversations grew lighter. Madam Solodrey didn''t expose herself anymore since Lionel seemed to like Khan, and random topics flowed as tes and drinks arrived.


    Khan couldn''t help but get a good impression of Lionel, but his guard remained high. Being unable to sense his mana made him suspicious, and the connection with Lucianplicated everything. Something was probably up, but Khan couldn''t discover much, especially during the dinner.


    Lionel''s exuberance never allowed the table to fall silent. He seemed born to generate new topics, and Khan felt grateful for that. The constant talk dispersed part of the tension and awkwardness, allowing him to survive the entire dinner without losing control or causing political damage.


    The situation changed once Khan, Monica, and Madam Solodrey returned to their ship and flew toward the Harbor. A chilling tension enveloped the group and destabilized the air. Everything felt ready to explode, but only silence reigned during the flight.


    The ship dropped the trio in front of Khan''s building, and Madam Solodrey led the way inside. The silence continued even in the elevator, and the detonation happened once the privacy of Khan''s t arrived.


    "That was disrespect at its finest," Madam Solodrey coldly reprimanded once she turned to face the couple. "Captain Khan, I hope you had your fill of fun tonight because you won''t experience anything remotely simr ever again."


    "Mother," Monica tried to appease the situation, but her mother didn''t give her a chance.


    "Don''t mother me," Madam Solodrey scolded. "You must have been happy to put me in such a shameful position. Were yourughs honest when this mutt insulted me?"


    "Mutt?" Monica asked.


    "All the years invested educating you," Madam Solodrey cursed, "And you throw everything away for a soldier. I''m at a loss for words."


    "Mom, Khan isn''t-," Monica raised her voice, but that couldn''t work against her mother.


    "I know exactly who Captain Khan is," Madam Solodrey snorted. "Did you enjoy using that loud snake against me? I don''t know about your talent, but you are cold-blooded enough to survive politics."


    Monica opened her mouth to speak, but Madam Solodrey red at her. Her gaze then returned to Khan, but he continued to remain silent.


    "What is it?" Madam Solodrey wondered. "Are you finally afraid of me? Where are the guts you showed me earlier?"


    Khan continued his silent stare. He had a lot to say, but his mind wasn''t in the right ce, and Madam Solodrey looked even worse than him. Still, that could be another test, so he waited to see where the situation went.


    "Silence," Madam Solodrey scoffed. "I guess you only talk to spread lies about my family."


    "They weren''t lies," Khan couldn''t keep his mouth shut.


    "What?" Madam Solodrey asked.


    "They weren''t lies," Khan repeated. "Monica is the most beautiful figure in your reach. Honestly, I don''t see why people prefer Princess Edna to her."


    Monica lowered her gaze in embarrassment. Receiving thosepliments in front of her mother was too much, but her reaction was sincere.


    Madam Solodrey didn''t miss Monica''s reaction, and some surprise reced her fury. She had spent her life teaching Monica how to hide her true emotions, but there they were.


    "What else?" Madam Solodrey scorned. "Were you serious about the marriage too?"


    "I told the truth," Khan revealed. "I wouldn''t dare to even think about that. Monica is outside my reach."


    "Ooh?" Madam Solodrey pressed on. "You are the most promising figure in the Global Army. You said that yourself. How are you not at my daughter''s level?"


    "Being promising doesn''t trante into assets," Khan exined. "Maybe in the future."


    "And why shouldn''t I secure you now?" Madam Solodrey wondered. "My dear daughter has already shown herself unwilling to meet the family''s standards. I should just give her away."


    "Your daughter scored first in the Harbor''s tests while shivers made her unable to stand," Khan revealed. "She also helped me secure my spot while she was burning with fever."


    "We taught Monica the Harbor''s subjects as part of her education," Madam Solodrey pointed out.


    "Just like every other family did," Khan stated. "She still surpassed their descendants."


    Madam Solodrey finally fell silent, but Khan wasn''t done. "She has also secured a good friendship with a noble and skillfully manipted Pandora''s auction to her benefit. Herst infusion will put her above her peers in terms of stars, effectively making her the Harbor''s best student."


    Monica tried to hide the loving smile on her face, but her mother noticed it. She couldn''t help herself when hearing Khan acknowledging her efforts. He was the opposite of what her parents had gotten her used to.


    "And she brought no shame on you," Khan concluded. "She earned you countless praises without giving anything away. Isn''t that the definition of a perfect politician?"


    Madam Solodrey couldn''t even pretend to be angry when the speech ended. Khan had hit the mark, adding details about Monica that her mother didn''t know. Those revtions were praiseworthy, but Madam Solodrey didn''t dare to voice anypliment.


    "What a troublesome mutt," Madam Solodrey eventually sighed while eyeing Monica. "I guess I did raise my dear daughter to be worthy of the Solodrey name."


    Monica''s gaze darted at her mother, but thetter spoke before any question could arrive. "As such, her judgment can''t be too off. She knows her value, so you must be at least decent."


    "Ma''am?" Khan called.


    "I stand by my words," Madam Solodrey dered. "You aren''t worthy of my daughter. No Captain is."


    Khan felt able to read between the lines, and his shamelessness came out. "So, is Major enough? Lieutenant Colonel?"


    "If you don''t know," Madam Solodrey smirked, "You are still far away."


    Madam Solodrey walked between the couple and entered the open elevator. Her aloof stance intensified, and she even pressed a key to return to the first floor.


    "Captain Khan," Madam Solodrey called when the elevator began to close. "If I hear anything simr to a pregnancy, I will personally remove your testicles."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The elevator''s doors closed, reflecting Khan and Monica''s stunned faces. Madam Solodrey had finally left, but neither found the strength to move. Too much was happening inside their minds, and they were already exhausted.


    "I can''t understand your mother," Khan admitted.


    "I never could either," Monica sighed, taking Khan''s hand. "I still think she only sees me as a political currency."


    "Yeah," Khan joined the sigh, finally letting go of all the mental pressure and tension umted during the dinner. "I probably love you more than her."


    Khan took less than a second to realize his mistake. He had used a dangerous word, a word he shouldn''t have spoken. Still, his mental exhaustion and the sudden rxation had made his tongue slip.


    The faint possibility that Monica missed that word existed since she was in the same situation. However, her grip on Khan''s hand tightened, and her timid voice resounded in the room. "What did you say?"


    Khan slowly turned to face Monica, and her expression said everything. She was stunned but due to a different type of shock. Fear, hesitation, and disbelief had filled her eyes, but she still mustered the strength to repeat her question. "What did you say?"


    Monica''s tone told Khan that nothing could get him out of that conversation. The topic was in the open now, and his feelings took over.


    Truth be told, Khan had spent many nights and meditative sessions thinking about the matter. Love wasn''t an easy topic for him since it involved his time on Nitis. Still, he had long since realized how he felt.


    Partially, Khan believed he had be ready to love again. Enough time had passed since Liiza, and many meaningful events had happened in those years. Yet, that would make people like Cora and Martha able to rece Monica, which wasn''t the case.


    Monica wasn''t patient but had still shown that quality in unrealistic situations. She had survived Jenna, who could probably scare away any other human. That was no small thing, and her feats didn''t stop there.


    The ability to go against the Solodrey family''s indoctrination was incredible and gained more value after seeing Madam Solodrey. It had probably taken Monica immense courage to start her rtionship, and Khan wouldn''t disregard that.


    Everything else was a matter of time and effort. Small things that transformed into huge deals after days, weeks, and months. That process had already failed Khan, but Monica managed to make it bloom.


    "You heard me," Khan firmly stated. "I love you."


    Khan hade from a world of pain the first time he uttered those words. Instead, everything was different now. His love was the result of many happy moments umted over time.


    Khan''s current love was different from what he had experienced on Nitis. Yet, he couldn''t rate them. He couldn''t decide which one was better. He could only acknowledge what existed in his mind now, and Monica was at its center.


    "You said it," Monica muttered.


    "Yes, I said it," Khan sighed. "It slipped."


    Monica seemed unable to get past her disbelief, but an even stronger emotion took over her body when Khan began to divert his gaze. She pushed him onto the wall and delivered an almost violent kiss that sealed his lips and made him unable to breathe.


    That explosion was so messy that the couple fell to the floor, but that wasn''t enough to stop Monica. She kept her lips on Khan while he struggled to adjust her position.


    "Finally," Monica sniffed before storming Khan with more kisses. "I. Was. So. Scared."


    The kisses happened so often that Monica could only fit a single word into each separation. Her mana resembled a storm due to her emotional state, and the fear of negative consequences caused by the infusion forced Khan to end that fury.


    ? "Monica," Khan called before resorting to physical strength to push Monica away. "Monica!"


    Monica gasped for air while Khan kept her on hisp. She appeared far from stable, and worry piled up inside Khan. However, all of that vanished with Monica''s following words.


    "I thought I was going to ruin everything," Monica revealed as tears ran from her eyes. "I love you so much I was going crazy."


    Khan finally figured everything out. Monica''s frenzied state wasn''t the result of the infusion. It was an explosion of bottled-up feelings in front of someone that shared them. That understanding put Khan in the same situation, and a simple pull made that mad affection resume.

 Chapter 466 Packed

    Khan woke up a few hours before dawn, and the scene that unfolded in his eyes made him frown. That wasn''t his bedroom''s ceiling. He was in the living room, and his naked back soon noticed how cold the floor was.


    Memories flowed into Khan''s mind as soon as he tried to recall the previous night. Madam Solodrey, the dinner, and the chaotic time in his t became clear and filled him with a sense of exhaustion that didn''t match his actual state.


    A loving smile appeared on Khan''s face when he peeked at his chest. Monica was sleeping on him without a single nket covering her naked beauty. The couple had tried to reach the bedroom the previous night, but their location proved their failure.


    Khan caressed Monica''s hair and left a kiss on her head, which earned him a cute moan. Monica even snuggled closer without waking up, and he made sure to keep her stable on him.


    The rest of the room caught Khan''s attention at that point. He lifted his head to search for his stuff, but only chaos awaited him. Monica''s skirt hung from a couch, his shirty next to the elevator, her heels stood in different parts of the room, and his shoes were nowhere to be found.


    The scene turned Khan''s smile into a shameless grin, and his eyes lit up when he found his pants. Surprisingly, they were within his legs'' reach, and he used one foot to pull them closer.


    Monicained through a sleepy cry but didn''t wake up. Khan could seize his pants and retrieve his phone to check the time and other notifications. The lessons were many hours away, but the device carried something able to keep him awake.


    ''Lauter, Lauter,'' Khan sighed. Lucian had sent a message with all the mission details, and reading through them would take a while.


    Khan opened the message before getting distracted by troublesome thoughts. A lot had happened during the dinner, and Khan recalled Lucian''s explicit assistance. Still, he remained unable to exin that behavior.


    ''It can''t be just this,'' Khan thought while skimming through the message. ''It''s not important enough to deserve favors.''


    Ships didn''t run on simple synthetic mana. Their tanks had additional materials that increased the efficiency of that energy, and Lauter had one of them. The special gas on that was actually a key ingredient in the creation of fuel.


    The market couldn''t get enough of that gas, but its incredible demand didn''t make it rare or precious. Owning an outpost for its extraction was profitable, but that business couldn''t have much value in the eyes of the Hencus family.


    Khan could use the Harbor to justify the Hencus family''s interest in building the outpost, but doubts remained. The job wasn''t special. Khan only needed to open thework to find avable positions for simr tasks in the quadrant, so Lucian''s behavior had to have different exnations.


    Going over the dinner didn''t bring the answers Khan hoped to find. Lucian definitely had something in mind, but only an open talk might reveal his intentions.


    Khan''s attention returned to the message, but he couldn''t remain focused for too long. Lucian had sent multiple reports filled with details, and some even included potential candidates for the team. Khan couldn''t get over everything in those hours, especially since he wanted a second opinion before considering the offer.


    A quick search through thework brought Khan to the Harbor''s menus. Shops'' catalogs and much more opened on the screen, and he browsed them to reach areas where his rank had some value.


    The Harbor and the embassy mostly had descendants, but they were structures of the Global Army. Khan could obtain a series of documents and reports about Lauter for free due to his rank, and he nned topare them to what Lucian had sent.


    A sigh escaped Khan''s mouth once the process was over. He let go of his phone and stared at the ceiling while his mind wandered. He had yet to absorb all the previous night''s events, and that peace gave him a perfect chance.


    Monica was the first thing that came to Khan''s mind, not only because she was sleeping on him. The expression of their feelings had been an important event for both of them, and its conclusion had brought something Khan didn''t experience in a long time.


    Khan''s free hand joined the cuddles while he watched Monica sleep. He almost couldn''t believe he had reached that point. The very universe seemed to be against him, but he had managed to find some happiness, and Monica was an important part of it.


    Thinking about Monica inevitably made Khan review every word uttered by her mother. Madam Solodrey had been a real pain until the very end, but her goodbyes had given hope, which almost felt unreal after everything Khan had witnessed the previous night.


    Lucian was an issue Khan had already given up on figuring out now, but his father was another important variable. Lionel had worn the role of a friendly figure, but Khan didn''t miss Madam Solodrey''sment about him. She had called him "loud snake", which wasn''t hard to trante.


    ''He could keep up with everything without knowing the context,'' Khan realized. ''Maybe I''ve spoken too much.''


    In hindsight, Khan realized how reckless he had been. He had exposed rtively secret information to a potential enemy party, and the stuff about his family wasn''t exactly safe either.


    Khan didn''t know what had happened to his family. He had hypotheses approved by Monica''s knowledge, but there was no certainty in any of them. The matter could involve dark secrets that powerful parties would stop at nothing to suppress, and Madam Solodrey might be one of them.


    Of course, that was Khan''s paranoia at its worst. He couldn''t help but consider terrible scenarios, but there was some truth in them. He didn''t regret his behavior, but he realized he had to be more careful, especially as his fame increased.


    A doubt made its way onto Khan''s mind and brought his attention back to the phone. He browsed thework but found no articles about the previous night. The reporters had yet to hear from Lionel and Madam Solodrey, and Khan took that as good news.


    The tremor that ran through the symphony broadened Khan''s smile, and his gaze went to his chest when a hand covered the screen. Monica had woken up, and her loving expression added warmth to her following words. "You aren''t looking at me."


    Khan let the phone go and tried to take Monica''s hand, but she moved it to his chest to climb closer to his face. She even partially straightened her back before voicing a sensual order. "Carry me to bed."


    The idea of refusing the order didn''t even cross Khan''s mind. He straightened his back, and Monica slid her arms around his neck to prepare. Khan then took her waist and nted his feet on the floor before standing up.


    Monica wrapped her legs around Khan''s waist while her gaze remained fixed on him. Khan also looked only at Monica while carrying her to their usual bedroom. Their eyes could tell entire stories, but neither spoke during the walk.


    Khan eventually approached the bed, and Monica let go of his waist to make her feet touch the floor. She even took the lead, pushing Khan onto the mattress before slowly crawling over him.


    Monica ran her hands over Khan''s torso until she sat on his waist. Khan could feel everything, and Monica knew it. She was also in the same situation, but her teasing expression hinted at something different.


    "Say it," Monica gave another order while her palms remained on Khan''s chest.


    Khan didn''t need to ask any questions. He knew what Monica wanted to hear, so heplied. "I love you."


    Monica''s smile broadened, but she didn''t let that reaction ruin her n. Some yfulness made its way into her expression as another order left her mouth. "Say it again."


    The desire to tease Monica became impossible to ignore, so Khan straightened his back to sit on the mattress. Monica bent forward to make their foreheads touch, and her eyes closed as she waited for those beautiful words.


    "I love you," Khan whispered, and genuine happiness reced the yfulness on Monica''s face. She couldn''t help but deliver a slow kiss that allowed her to savor the entirety of the moment.


    Monica retracted her head during the kiss, and Khan soon moved to her neck. A gasp left her mouth as she reached for the Khan''s nape. She couldn''t express how blessed she felt, and burning passion filled her, making her push Khan back to the mattress.


    Khan chuckled, but any n to tease Monica disappeared in front of her intense gaze. She never stopped looking at him, even while she adjusted her position on his waist. Her face told Khan that the madness from the previous night had yet to disperse, and he weed it with open arms.


    .


    .


    .


    George barged into Khan''s t during the afternoon, and the scene that weed him exined why he didn''t receive any answer. The clothes lying around the rooms and furniture cleared his doubts.


    The mess didn''t scare George away. He merely nodded in approval and dived into the living room to search for a few bottles. Once he found them, he approached one of the couches and waited for the inevitable wee.


    A door eventually opened, and steps resounded. George finished filling a second ss before lifting his gaze. He had a joke ready, but his friend''s state made him change it.


    "And my women are violent," Georgemented.


    Khan rubbed his eyes and followed George''s gaze to understand what he meant. His military uniform was mostly open, which revealed the nail marks on his chest. Hickeys were also there, and their presence told Khan that his neck couldn''t be any better.


    "I knew you wouldn''t miss sses unless something happened," George pressed on while handing the second ss to Khan. "You always make me proud."


    "Are the sses already over?" Khan groaned while taking the ss and inspecting the room. He looked left and right until he found his phone lying behind a couch.


    "Damn," George eximed. "It must have been quite the experience."


    Khan ignored thement and sat on the opposite couch. He took a sip from the ss while his phone made him aware of the time and many messages. Only a few hours separated him from dinner. The couple had basically spent most of the day in bed.


    "Your girlfriend sure wears interesting underwear," George continued while eyeing the clothes in the corner of the room.


    "Jealous?" Khan joked.


    "Monica and Anita should talk more often," George suggested, "Especially about style."


    "Don''t let her hear you saying that," Khan chuckled, but the images on his screen cut his voice short. He was using his phone as a mirror, which confirmed the messy state of his neck.


    "It''s Nitis all over again," George teased.


    "Except for Madam Solodrey threatening to remove my testicles," Khan cursed. "Do you have the notes from today''s lessons?"


    "Anita is bringing them over," George revealed. "I read about Madam Solodrey crashing your dinner. How did it go?"


    "Read?" Khan questioned before realizing what George''s words meant. A short search on thework revealed many new articles, and a few imed to have Madam Solodrey''s direct quotes.


    "How bad is it?" Khan groaned again and closed his eyes. He didn''t want to deal with those problems now.


    "Bad?" George scoffed. "You received nothing but praises. The others even thought you skipped sses to let things calm down."


    "What?" Khan asked.


    "You attended a dinner, man," George exined. "The gates are open. You can''t avoid invitations anymore, and there is a mountain of them. I had to act as your secretary today to calm those spoiled brats down."


    "I don''t know how the Colonel expects me to attend all of them," Khan admitted.


    "Look at the bright side," George eximed. "Your balls should be safe with the other descendants."


    Khan shook his head and emptied his ss. Half of George''s drink had already disappeared, so Khan seized the bottle and refilled it before taking care of himself.


    "I guess you guys said it," George announced, searching for Khan''s eyes to perform the Niqols'' traditional toast. Of course, he met his gaze without needing to think about it.


    "It slipped," Khan exined after his sip.


    "How does something like that slip?" George questioned.


    "I don''t know," Khan sighed. "I was tired, and something came out. Everything got messy afterward."


    "I can see that," George chuckled.


    "Shut up," Khan snorted. "Don''t you have your rtionship to think about?"


    "A gentleman like me doesn''t need to think to make things go well," George imed.


    "Please," Khan snickered. "I can hear you dying inside."


    "We are almost there," George promised. "We must be."


    "George Ildoo in a serious rtionship," Khan joked. "It''s quite a sight."


    "A true friend would have stopped me," George scolded.


    "I only have your best interests in mind," Khan promised.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "When is the marriage again?" George rebuked.


    "We don''t talk about that today," Khan replied, "Or ever. That word is officially illegal in this t."


    "It must have been quite the dinner," Georgeughed.


    "You have no idea," Khan sighed while finally mustering the resolve to dive into thework again. He had gotten the hang of browsing through articles in the past weeks, so he quickly reached the important sites.


    ''Captain Khan obviously is a figure worthy of his fame,'' Khan read one of Madam Solodrey''s quotes. ''My daughter, the current best student in the Harbor, acknowledged his talent even before his heroic deeds on Milia 222 and Nippe 2, and I didn''t hesitate to provide my support.''


    ''Is she for real? Khan thought when he discovered that the other articles had simr quotes. Madam Solodrey had used the dinner to bring more fame to Monica and herself and had even stolen some of Khan''s words in the process.


    Lionel was also part of those articles and corroborated Madam Solodrey''s praises. Still, differently from her, he kept the focus on Khan, even iming that his talents stretched past what thework had managed to record.


    ''I really can''t understand her,'' Khan eventually closed thework and disregarded the matter. Madam Solodrey''s methods were annoying, but she had said good things about him, and that was enough for now.


    "I told you it went well," George stated when Khan lowered his phone. "Now you just have to repeatst night two hundred times."


    Khan couldn''t find the strength to curse. He had promised Madam Solodrey he would be in the top five by the end of the semester, which required more study, and that was only one of his tasks.


    The flights didn''t upy much time but took hours away from the free days. Khan also had two more auctions to attend toplete his unwritten contract with Pandora, and some dinners had to happen in the meantime.


    Khan couldn''t forget his training either, and Lucian had just added another task to that mess. Refusing the mission felt like a reasonable choice when he reviewed everything, but missing the chance to umte more money and fame couldn''t be the right path.


    ''War is so much easier,'' Khan cursed while moving to Lucian''s message. His schedule was so packed that even those seconds mattered.


    A tremor in the symphony made Khan interrupt his reading. He lifted his gaze, and a sleepy Monica came out of the corridor to enter the living room. George also nced at her, and his eyebrows arched in surprise.


    Monica had always minded her appearance, but her current state was the total opposite of that. She had worn one of Khan''s pullovers, forsaking her pants since the piece of clothing reached her thighs. Her hair was also a mess, but she didn''t care.


    "Morning, George," Monica yawned while walking directly toward Khan.


    "It''s almost dinner," George muttered, but his voice disappeared when he inspected the scene.


    Monica usually sat at Khan''s side, but he instinctively pulled himself back and opened his legs. Monica sat between them and cuddled in the hug that followed.


    Of course, George didn''t mind that intimacy, but the evident indifference in Monica''s actions was stunning. Anyone would understand what the couple had just done by looking at the couch, and she seemed proud of it.


    Monica ignored George''s surprised face and wrapped an arm around Khan''s head as soon as he put it on her shoulder. A loud kiss on his cheek followed, and she even whispered a cute "I love you" in his ear.


    Khan rubbed his face on Monica''s shoulder before turning to face her. The two exchanged a quick kiss and shared a giggle when their lips separated. The surprise abandoned George at that point, and only a genuine smile remained.


    "We skipped sses," Monica eximed as she made herself morefortable between Khan''s legs.


    "Apparently, it was for the best," Khan revealed. "Now I can pretend I foresaw the storm."


    "What storm?" Monica wondered while epting Khan''s ss and taking a sip.


    Khan soon reced the ss with his phone and led Monica to the various articles. She took even less than him to inspect them, and understanding dawned upon her mind.


    "My mother knows no shame," Monica snorted. "At least she praised you."


    "Instead, Lucian and his father are unknown problems," Khan added. "I need to talk with him."


    "Do it before the mission," Monica suggested. "I''ll worry otherwise."


    "You''d worry anyway," Khan pointed out, trading the ss for his phone again. "So, you think I should go."


    "You want to go, right?" Monicamented while holding the ss with both hands. "It''s money, social credit, and rank. It''s perfect for you."


    "And Lauter isn''t too bad," Khan continued, reopening Lucian''s message.


    "What''s the matter with Lauter?" George questioned.


    "Lucian offered Khan a mission," Monica summarized while Khan was busy reading. "He would also need to make his own team."


    "Why didn''t I get my invitation yet?" Georgeined.


    "Do you want toe?" Khan asked. "From what I''m reading, Lauter sounds beneath you."


    ording to Lucian and the Harbor''s reports, Lauter had a weing atmosphere. A calm sea upied most of the, with only small inds disrupting that blue spectacle.


    The valuable gas filled the inds'' underground caves and made them devoid of life. Only the sky and sea had threats due to the high number of Tainted animals and monsters roaming them.


    Khan would love to have George at his side on the battlefield, but mere Tainted animals couldn''t be a problem. Khan would rather leave George in the Harbor than take away time from his studies over a mission with no dangerous variables.


    "I''ll see it as holidays," George announced, "And Anita won''t be able to say anything if I use you as an excuse."


    "Hey, don''t lie to her," Monica scolded.


    "Khan truly needs my help with¡­," George tried to crack a joke, but a realization made him opt for a question. "What exactly do you have to do there?"


    "I''m still reading," Khan responded. "Short version, Lucian wants an outpost in a tax-free area. I don''t know the specifics yet."


    "Keep me updated," George voiced. "I''ll practice calling you sir in the meantime."


    The walls lit up and warned the group about Anita''s arrival. The elevator didn''t take long to bring her into the t, and the same surprise that had hit George filled her when she noticed the mess.


    "Anita, thank you," Khan called once Anita entered the living room, but she remained silent. Seeing Monica wearing nothing but a pullover while sitting between Khan''s legs was too embarrassing for her.


    "She brought the sses'' notes," Khan exined while Anita approached the couches.


    "Oh, thank you, Anita," Monica eximed. "I''m sorry I didn''t warn you."


    "It''s okay," Anita finally snapped out of her amazement. "I worried your fever had returned, but you look fine."


    "The dinner was exhausting," Monica responded before showing a meaningful smile to Khan, "And we lost track of time."


    Khan couldn''t refrain from kissing Monica, which only made Anita more embarrassed. Yet, the intimate gesture ended quickly, and she used that opening to reach the couple''s couch.


    A tinge of shyness spread inside Monica when Anita bent toward the couch, but she suppressed that feeling and began ying with her curls. Khan noticed that reaction, but the situation didn''t allow him to question her.


    "It might have been for the best," Anita revealed as she and Khan established a connection between their phones to begin the exchange of notes. "The articles caused quite an uproar. Everyone wanted to get a piece of you."


    "I''m sorry you and George had to deal with it," Khan said, going through the various authorizations required to receive the notes. "By the way, tell me if your family wants to meet me. You''d be on the top of my list."


    "Is this favoritism, Captain?" Anita teased. "I''m not humble enough to refuse these offers."


    "I''m only d I can prioritize a friend," Khan stated before peeking at the other couch. "The same goes for you. I don''t believe that your parents never asked for me."


    "I nned to postpone it until the very end," George revealed, "But you had to go all politician on me."


    "We could n something for the same night," Anita suggested, "To save Khan some time."


    Anita forced herself not to look at George, but the two smirksing from the couch were no better. Khan and Monica had understood Anita''s intentions. She wanted to use that chance to meet George''s family.


    Monica pulled Khan''s sleeve, and he showed a sorry expression to George before ying along. "That''s a good idea. We should definitely do a joint dinner."


    "If that''s what you prefer," Anita added, and George didn''t hold back from ring at Khan. Still, the eager look that Anita showed to George made him give in.


    "I''ll contact my parents," George sighed. "You win this one."


    Anita turned to hide her happiness and mimed a "thank you" with her mouth. The scene was cute enough to remind the couple of their feelings, which made them snuggle closer, uncaring of the audience.


    "Well," George announced and stood up since the situation was getting dangerous, "I actually had ns to study with Anita. We''ll take our leave now."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "We just-," Anita frowned.


    "Anita, Anita," George interrupted and seized Anita''s waist to keep her at his side. "Let''s go study."


    Anita understood the hidden meaning of that second statement and let George push her toward the elevator. However, she managed to voice a warning before the two could leave the t. "Don''t use this for nasty purposes. We will study."


    Khan and Monica exploded into augh when the elevator closed, and she dived deeper into his embrace now that some privacy had returned.


    "Anita is so cute," Monicamented. "I hope George treats her well."


    "He is the best once he gets serious," Khan praised, "And you are cuter."


    "And you are the best," Monica corrected. "The very best of the best in the entire Global Army."


    "You meant universe," Khan teased.


    "That''s me," Monica imed. "I''m the best girlfriend in the world, and you are lucky to have me all for yourself."


    "I am indeed lucky," Khan left a kiss on Monica''s curls. "Incredibly lucky."


    Monica immersed herself in that affection, but the disappearance of her shyness forced another statement out of Khan. "I thought you''d befortable around Anita by now."


    "Oh, that," Monica gasped before showing a yful face to Khan. She took his free hand and guided it toward her exposed legs before pushing it under the pullover.


    Khan didn''t initially understand what Monica had in mind, but everything became clear once he reached her lower waist. He hadmitted those areas to memory, so he didn''t miss the absence of underwear.


    "You naughty girl," Khan snickered, and Monica giggled when he threw away his phone to push her onto the couch.

 Chapter 467 Budget

    "I''m d you found the time to see me," Professor Boatbell announced while taking his seat behind the metal table. "I know things aren''t easy for you in this period."


    "Don''t even mention it, sir," Khan politely replied, sitting on the other side of the table. "I''m actually sorry I couldn''t n something with your family''s representatives. I hope this dinner won''t offend them."


    "Don''t worry about it," Professor Boatbell reassured. "I''ve already warned them, and they understand your situation. They even wish to express their gratitude for having this dinner in the first ce."


    Khan smiled but didn''t add anything. His return to sses had been messier than he expected, so he had used Professor Boatbell to escape the many invitations. The two had met in one of the Harbor''s restaurants the same night, and the ce had granted them a private room.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "As expected," Professor Boatbell sighed once the silence reached its fifth second. "I had a wealthy family''s education, but politics have never been my strong point. My mind is nk now that I have to start a conversation."


    "That''s surprising," Khan admitted. "Your lessons have given me the opposite idea."


    "That''s because I love the topic," Professor Boatbell exined. "Maybe I would have been better at this if I hadn''t spent so long studying alone."


    "If I may, sir," Khan eximed, "I''m d you did. Your lessons probably wouldn''t have been as good otherwise."


    "Thank you, Captain," Professor Boatbell replied. "Though you also deserve praise. Your tests'' results surprised everyone."


    "I have good teachers," Khan deflected the praise, "And I find most subjects interesting, especially yours."


    "History is fascinating," Professor Boatbell dered. "We must know it to avoid repeating mistakes."


    Khan nodded even if his interest in Professor Boatbell''s subject mostly involved the Nak. Learning about humankind''s evolution might reveal holes that hid the secrets he sought.


    "Shall we order something?" Khan wondered.


    "Of course," Professor Boatbell eximed while tapping on the table. "You must be famished."


    "I''m always famished," Khanughed as a series of menus lit up on the metal surface. The ce had many options, so the two took a few minutes to study everything and make their orders.


    "See?" Professor Boatbell called once the awkward silence returned. "nk again."


    "Sir, please, don''t force yourself," Khan smiled. "If it makes it easier, just drop the formalities and speak openly."


    "I could never disrespect you like this," Professor Boatbell stated.


    "I might prefer it," Khan revealed. "Besides, I have many formal dinners waiting for me. Something friendlier might be for the best."


    "Are you sure?" Professor Boatbell questioned. "I don''t want to risk abusing my position as a teacher. You outrank me outside the embassy."


    "It''s fine, sir," Khan reassured. "Just speak your mind."


    "Well," Professor Boatbell sighed. "Starting with some honesty will set the proper foundation."


    "Sure," Khan confirmed.


    "I know this dinner is a fortuitous event," Professor Boatbell revealed. "I''ve seen how yourpanions assaulted you after my ss. I''m here because you needed someone to upy your night."


    "I did n to ept your invitation anyway," Khan exined. "I simply thought I could kill two birds with one stone."


    "That''s totally understandable," Professor Boatbell uttered. "I''m not angry or offended. Being the only one here actually improves my position in my family. In a way, you turned me into a representative."


    "I guess we both got something out of this," Khan stated.


    "Indeed," Professor Boatbell replied. "Though, I hope we can still have a fruitful dinner. Honest but fruitful."


    "We are on the same page, sir," Khan agreed. "Again, meeting you has always been my intention."


    A notification lit up on the room''s metal walls, and Professor Boatbell unlocked the entrance. A waiter crossed the door and delivered drinks before performing a polite bow and leaving the two alone.


    "Captain," Professor Boatbell announced after performing a simple toast, "Have you ever considered the academic path?"


    "Bing a scientist?" Khan wondered. "Professor, I''m sure you are aware of my family situation."


    "I know," Professor Boatbell stated, "And I mean no disrespect mentioning it. Still, the Global Army has countless scientific branches, and you would probably shine in all of them."


    "I think you are overestimating me," Khanughed.


    "Not at all," Professor Boatbell pressed on. "I read your work on the Tors. It was amateurish but promising. You could do wonders afterpleting the Harbor''s education and spending a few years in the field."


    "Sir, I am a soldier," Khan exined. "Soldiers belong to the battlefield."


    "Most soldiers choose the battlefield due to ack of alternatives," Professor Boatbell pointed out. "They fight so they won''t have to fight anymore. You have already achieved that goal."


    "Maybe I enjoy fighting," Khan suggested.


    "That''s understandable," Professor Boatbell nodded. "I don''t understand it myself, but I can ept it."


    A notification lit up on the walls again, and Professor Boatbell unlocked the entrance to make another waiter enter the room. She delivered two steaks and a meal Khan didn''t recognize before leaving the area in a hurry.


    "You should add some green to your meals," Professor Boatbell voiced a friendly scolding when Khan seized the two steaks.


    "A bnced diet never was the priority in the Slums," Khan chuckled without hiding his desire to taste the steaks.


    "But you aren''t in the Slums anymore, Captain," Professor Boatbell replied. "Just like you aren''t on the battlefield."


    "Do you have something in mind, Professor?" Khan smiled before gulping down a big bite. "I thought we were being honest."


    "As a matter of fact, I do," Professor Boatbell dered. "Well, it didn''te from me. My family pressed me to mention how honored we would be to wee you among our researchers."


    Khan didn''t hide his surprise, but the sudden offer had nothing to do with it. The Boatbell family didn''t have specific scientific branches or contracts with the Global Army. It only had a few talents who happened to shine in those fields.


    "I understand your confusion," Professor Boatbell continued. "You could get far better offers and positions from the other students. Yet, you''d have undisputed authority in my family, and we''d also make sure to meet all your needs."


    "But, sir," Khan frowned, "I''m no scientist. I merely started my academic journey."


    "And yet your talent is evident," Professor Boatbell responded. "My subject might not suit your peculiar situation, but imagine what your insightful mind could provide to humankind. Honestly, I think you would be perfect for the job."


    Khan understood what the Professor meant. Khan''s mutations and element made him unsuitable for the human arts, but he had a broad perspective regarding aliens.


    Someone like Khan would find it easier to trante foreign methods to add them to humankind''s collection. He had already proven his talent with the Tors, and the Professor wanted him to apply that expertise to more alien species.


    "I can''t ept," Khan eventually admitted, "Not now, at least. I have too much on my te."


    "Of course," Professor Boatbell uttered. "I never expected you to agree right away. Actually, as your Professor, I advise you to focus on your studies. You are doing well, so keep working hard."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan replied.


    "I only want you to keep this offer in mind," Professor Boatbell continued. "The big families have more resources and better authorizations, but there is value in working for a smaller one. I''m sure you are already aware of the advantages."


    "I am," Khan confirmed without adding anything. Freedom was an important currency, and only smaller families could offer it without asking for anything in return. He could also aim to be a patriarch there if he yed his cards right.


    "Let''s drop the serious topics for now," Professor Boatbellughed. "Your food will get cold if-."


    Professor Boatbell couldn''t finish his line since a nce at Khan''s side of the table revealed two empty tes. He had already eaten his steaks, and his drink also needed a refill.


    "Do you want to order something else, Captain?" Professor Boatbell cleared his throat.


    "I wanted to wait for you to finish," Khan revealed. "Still, I wouldn''t mind another drink right away."


    "Please, feel free to use the menus," Professor Boatbell reassured. "Making this dinner satisfactory is the least I can do."


    "Bring my thanks to your family," Khan smiled while tapping on the table to activate the menus. "Though, I would appreciate hearing your opinions about your subject. I''m especially curious about the First Impact."


    "Captain, I might annoy you for hours if you are not careful," Professor Boatbellughed. "I lose track of time when I talk about the topic."


    "I don''t mind," Khan stated. "It would be a waste to miss this rare chance."


    "Sure," Professor Boatbell agreed, "But I have a condition. I''d like to hear more about Milia 222. You must have had the chance to interact with other alien arts during your time there."


    "We have a deal, sir," Khan chuckled, and the Professor showed a simr expression.


    .


    .


    .


    "I must say," Professor Boatbell announced once he and Khan stepped on the sidewalk, "This dinner was quite pleasant. Your insights into the Fuveall were captivating."


    "I also had fun," Khan praised. "Your knowledge of the events after the First Impact is deeper than I thought."


    "I built my career on it," Professor Boatbellughed. "It''s a pity it will be hard to meet again under these friendly circumstances."


    "I''ll do my best, sir," Khan promised.


    "Don''t force yourself," Professor Boatbell reassured. "I''m sure the next months will be hard for you."


    Khan couldn''t disagree. The Professor had given him a chance to escape the many invitations, but they were still there, and Khan needed to address them. He only wanted more time to prepare ordingly.


    A message reached Khan while the two waited on the sidewalk for their cabs. Monica was checking on him, and he didn''t hesitate to give her a summary.


    ''The dinner went well,'' Khan wrote. ''I''ming back now.''


    ''Hurry,'' Monica replied. ''I miss you.''


    ''I''ll be there in no time,'' Khan wrote, but the arrival of a familiar presence in the symphony made him cancel the message. A car with lowered windows was descending toward the sidewalk, and he knew who was inside.


    ''Something came up,'' Khan decided to send while the carnded. ''I''ll exinter.''


    Professor Boatbell understood that something was up, and the opening of the car''s doors answered his questions. Lucian came out of the vehicle, and a big smile shone on his face when he approached the two.


    "Professor, Captain," Lucian greeted.


    "Lucian," Professor Boatbell called. "Are you here for Captain Khan?"


    "Is it so obvious?" Lucian chuckled. "Still, yes, I was hoping I could have a talk with the Captain. We have a private matter to discuss."<novelnext></novelnext>


    Khan couldn''t help but show a cold face, but his expression grew warmer when the Professor searched for his eyes. Khan smiled and nodded to reassure him, effectively agreeing to Lucian''s invitation.


    "I should take my leave then," Professor Boatbell stated. "Don''t stay up too long. You both have sses tomorrow."


    "Of course, Professor," Lucian replied.


    "It won''t take long, sir," Khan added.


    An exchange of polite smiles happened before the Professor headed for the sidewalk''s edge. A car had arrived by then, and he entered it to leave the area.


    "This way, Captain," Lucian called while pointing at his car, and Khan followed him inside. The vehicle showed the luxury he expected from the Hencus family, and the passenger seats also had two soldiers he didn''t recognize.


    "Don''t mind them," Lucian dered. "I was dealing with something, and they happened to stick around."


    Khan only needed to nce at the two soldiers to figure them out. They were second-level warriors with battle experience, but their cold expressions couldn''t scare him.


    "Won''t you ask me how I found you?" Lucian questioned.


    "The entire Harbor keeps track of my movements," Khan revealed. "The Headmistress is taking care of dispersing the crowds, but that doesn''t hide me."


    "Someone made a site for that," Lucian exined. "It also has pictures and rumors."


    "I guess I''m a celebrity," Khan sighed. "So, why did youe to see me?"


    "Not here," Lucian stated. "Let''s go somewhere private first."


    Silence fell into the car while it flew among the buildings. The vehicle remained inside the shopping district but opted for a tall structure with anding area near its top floors.


    "You stay here," Lucian ordered the two soldiers while leaving the car. "Captain, with me."


    Khan followed Lucian past thending area to enter deeper parts of the building. A room with an assorted table eventually unfolded in his eyes, and Lucian didn''t hesitate to reach for one of the armchairs at its sides.


    "Please," Lucian called since Khan remained on his feet. "I''m sure you also wanted to talk to me. There is no point in this fake hesitation."


    Khan reached for an armchair on the opposite side of the table, but his hesitation remained. He was in an environment chosen by Lucian, and the metal walls hindered his senses. He didn''t know what to expect.


    "Don''t worry, Captain," Lucian eximed. "This room has no cameras or recorders. I''m willing to go through your alien technique to reassure you if necessary."


    Lucian''s mana confirmed that he was telling the truth, but Khan didn''t give him any satisfaction. He simply made himselffortable and reached for one of the bottles on the table.


    "Good," Lucian announced. "We won''t have the limitations of the political dinners here."


    "Why did you help me?" Khan went straight to the point. "You had no reason to take my side during the dinner."


    "I didn''t," Lucian corrected. "I took my side."


    "How?" Khan wondered. "I would have considered your offer anyway. Instead, your help makes it suspicious."


    "Oh, that," Lucian realized. "See it as my way of asking for forgiveness. I underestimated you, and I wanted to make us even."


    "What are you talking about?" Khan coldly asked. "You read the reports about Nippe 2''s events. The kidnappers simply didn''t prepare for me."


    "Yes, that report," Lucian voiced in a mocking tone. "As if anyone would trust it to describe the entire story. Anyway, I was talking about ourmon friend, the one you imed to have never touched."


    Khan didn''t answer. He knew the Princess had made Lucian suspicious about the nature of his rtionship, but he couldn''t speak openly about it.


    "I truly believed your lie," Lucian continued. "I mean, it made sense, especially considering Monica''s education. I didn''t expect to be so wrong."


    "I don''t know what you are talking about," Khan dered, "Or where are you going with this."


    "Nowhere," Lucianughed. "I was only exining my reasons. I felt sorry for underestimating you, so I decided to help."


    "In a political dinner with your father," Khan pointed out.


    "Captain, every descendant has their parents as their first enemies," Lucian exined. "Undermining their position while gathering more influence is part of the game. My father would be proud of me if he knew how much I''m not telling him."


    Lucian''s exnation had a deeper meaning. It wanted to tell Khan that he didn''t reveal anything about Monica.


    "Though, you sure didn''t do a good job hiding it," Lucian continued. "I had a hard time holding back theughs when you cornered Madam Solodrey."


    "I was only speaking the truth," Khan partially lied.


    "A dangerous truth," Lucian corrected. "Yet, I admire your guts."


    "The game," Khan mentioned to change the topic. "What is it? I don''t get why you would undermine your father."


    "To take his ce, obviously," Lucian stated, "And eventually get in charge of the Hencus family."


    "Isn''t that your birthright?" Khan wondered.


    "Each family has different methods," Lucian exined, "But all of them have many branches and descendants. Mana also makes us live long enough to witness the birth of new talents. Thepetition can only increase as time passes."


    Understanding dawned upon Khan. Lucian probably was the best descendant in his family, but that could change in the next decade. His father also looked quite capable and powerful, which made his ambition harder to aplish.


    "Don''t overthink it," Lucian uttered. "Every descendant has to y a simr game. Even Monica is in the same situation, but I''m sure you know that better than me."


    Khan kept his expression cold and suppressed any reaction. He had gotten an idea of the internal struggles of the families, but their specific situations still escaped his mind. He knew Monica''s issues but had never applied them past her parents.


    "On this topic," Lucian continued, "I think it''s time to talk about your mission. I need it to gather merit inside my family, so I''m eager to hear your opinion."


    The dinner with Lucian happened only two days ago, and Khan had been incredibly busy during that time. Still, he had given a better look at Lucian''s mission and had even started developing ns.


    "Unless," Lucian added in front of Khan''s silence, "You need more time."


    Khan and Lucian exchanged a look for a few seconds, but the former eventually took out his phone. Khan reached the mission details and activated some holograms before cing the device on the table.


    The holograms took the shape of a that shone on Lucian and Khan''s faces. More than half of that spherical object was red, while the rest carried an iconic azure color.


    "The Global Army has rights over most of Lauter''s empty areas," Khan announced while tapping on the azure parts to add yellow shades to half of them. "If you want to avoid taxes, you must build in these territories."


    Khan tapped on the remaining azure parts, and the holograms changed. The disappeared, leaving only a few dots and small bright patches above the table.


    "There are a few avable inds," Khan continued, pointing at thergest bright patch, "Especially here. Yet, these areas have the highest concentration of Tainted animals since the Harbor kicked them out of the other territories."


    "I know all of this, Captain," Lucian stated. "I personally reviewed these reports before sending them to you."


    Khan held back a sigh. In theory, the mission wasn''t too hard. Any rtively wealthy family had enough manpower and weapons to clear the packs of Tainted animals and establish an outpost. That huge mobilization simply wasn''t cost-effective.


    "If I have to be real," Khan dered, "It doesn''t sound possible toplete the mission without going above your ideal budget. The biggest chunk of the expenses simply can''t be avoided."


    Khan had done the math with Monica. The mission involved fixed expenses like fuel, ships, bullets, and weapons. Khan could save money when it came to manpower, but that would lower the mission''s sess chances.


    "I hired the most promising figure in the Global Army for that reason," Lucian exined. "It''s your job to make it possible."


    "Some of these locations have hundreds of Tainted animals," Khan rebuked. "Recent reports even confirm the presence of specimens as strong as fourth-level warriors. Any team would need air support."


    "Air support is expensive," Lucian revealed. "A few missiles can make the mission cross its budget."


    Khan knew that. He had actually remained stunned when he learnt about the cost of missiles, and that wasn''t the end of it. Bringing those weapons to the Harbor''s system required many authorizations, which weren''t cheap.


    "A high-level warrior might rece them," Khan suggested. "I''m sure your family has many under their payroll."


    "I''ve been clear in the reports," Lucian reminded Khan. "Asking my family''s help would take away merit from myself. Besides, high-level warriors are expensive, and descendants carry simr problems."


    Lucian had used precise words, and Khan didn''t miss their hidden meaning.


    "George would be cheap," Khan reassured. George wouldn''t join Khan for money, so he was the perfect candidate for the mission.


    "That''s not the point," Lucian rejected. "Involving another family would muddle the business'' ownership. George could even give me his word, but those above him would always be able to ignore it."


    "So, I can''t hire George," Khan sighed.


    "No," Lucian confirmed, "Or any other descendant."


    "Lucian, there are many Tainted animals down there," Khan tried to appeal to Lucian''s reasonable side.


    "You have experience with outbreaks," Lucian pointed out. "Who better than you knows the dangers that those creatures pose?"


    Khan''s gaze inevitably wandered on the map as memories filled his vision. He had a better understanding of the power wielded by high-level warriors now. He knew Yeza and Captain Erbair could have survived in the valley. They didn''t because Yeza wanted to save as many people as possible.


    "Captain, did I choose the right person for the job?" Lucian wondered. "I cane up with better incentives if that''s what you need."


    Khan didn''t bother to give those words any value. He would only y by Lucian''s rules if he did. Instead, his thoughts remained on the mission. In theory, sticking to its budget was impossible, but he could make a difference.


    "I need to redo the math and find suitable teammates," Khan eximed. "I won''t know for sure until then, but it should be possible."


    "That''s what I want to hear," Lucian stated. "Who knows? This might be the beginning of asting cooperation."


    "I''m just considering a job with good pay," Khan disregarded Lucian''s words.


    "For now," Lucian smiled. "It''s never bad to have the support of a big family, especially in your unique situation."


    "Are we done here?" Khan questioned, retrieving his phone and storing it in his pocket.


    "I think we are," Lucian confirmed while standing up. "Allow me to bring you back home. It''s the least I can do after imposing on your night."


    "There''s no need for that," Khan refused. "Just show me the way to the first floor."


    "As you wish," Lucian agreed. "Good night then, and make sure to bring my salutes to Miss Solodrey. I had no intention of making her wait for you."


    ****


    Author''s notes: Just a friendly reminder that any kind of feedback is wee here. I only want what''s best for the story, and your opinions help a lot. They also make me improve as an author, so don''t hold back.

 Chapter 468 Interviews

    "Article 190-11," Monica eximed while checking her phone from under the bed''s nket. "Section 7."


    "Stored weapons must have the safety engaged and the magazines removed," Khan stated from the bed''s edge while his eyes scoured the images on the wall. His t depicted Lauter''s possible targets and reports about the Tainted animals in those areas.


    "Article 190-8," Monica continued, adjusting her position to make the pillow morefortable. "Section 2."


    "The detention of captives must abide by thews described by the inteary intelligent beings'' rights," Khan responded. "Breaking suchws can result in the enforcement of punishments highlighted in the war crimes'' sections."


    "Unless," Monica pressed on.


    "Unless the captives belong to specific categories," Khan added, "Or their crimes involve customs and traditions the Global Army swore to respect.


    "In addition, the Global Army must abide by thews and customs of the local governments, especially when reckless actions might lead to inteary crises or wars."


    "That was good," Monica praised.


    "I still think it''s a bunch of crap," Khanmented while using the menus on the floor to change the images on the walls. "All these rules be useless when themanding officer decides to ignore them."


    "They are in the tests," Monica scolded, "So you must memorize them."


    "I know," Khan sighed. "I just wish they didn''t try to sound so smart when writing them."


    A giggle resounded from behind Khan while he kept tinkering with the images. He had isted one of thergest avable territories, and the reports connected to the area were both reassuring and disheartening.


    "The archipgo again," Monica voiced when she lifted her gaze to check the images.


    "It''s the most promising target," Khan exined while zooming in to make the walls highlight a series of inds. "Taking this location wouldpensate any expense above Lucian''s ideal budget."


    "It''s also the most dangerous location," Monica added, and whooshing noises followed her words.


    Khan kept inspecting the reports on the wall while Monica crawled toward him. She left a kiss on his tattoo before hugging him from behind. He dug a hand into her curls when she rested on his shoulder, but his thoughts remained on the mission.


    "The missiles should clear the way long enough to ce the turrets," Khan suggested.


    "You learnt about the missiles two days ago," Monica pointed out.


    Khan used the menus to start a simtion. The images changed, transforming into a simple picture of the sky above the archipgo. Many red dots hovered in the area, and a ck symbol descended among them before detonating.


    A simtion wasn''t the best method to describe a weapon''s power to Khan. He had a hard time converting the numbers on the images into actual events, but his ignorance didn''t make him blind. Even a child would understand how fearsome a missile was from those scenes.


    "Are missiles really this powerful?" Khan asked, ncing at the face resting on his shoulder.


    "Humans had weapons of mass destruction even before obtaining mana," Monica revealed. "Now, nobles can terraforms to turn them into holiday camps. Believe me. The Global Army has scarier things than missiles."


    "So, should I trust missiles or not?" Khan wondered.


    "There''s more to it," Monica sighed. "Some families might think you have aligned yourself with Lucian if you take the archipgo."


    "I''m just doing a mission," Khanined.


    "Some might see your willingness to face more risks as a sign of loyalty," Monica exined. "Lucian admitted it openly. He is doing this to garner merits, which opposing factions inside his family might not like."


    "Is every family soplicated?" Khan cursed, bringing his gaze back to the images.


    "The number of internal conflicts usually matches their wealth," Monica stated. "That''s how the political game works, and you can''t ignore it anymore."


    "What a mess," Khan cursed again.


    "It''s messier than you think," Monica eximed, "But also simpler. Enforcing order remains a priority, and everyone wants to get richer and more influential without creating big waves."


    "I''m starting to understand why the Slums are so poor," Khan admitted.


    "Many have to starve to allow a few to conquer the stars," Monica voiced. "That''s what my father always says."


    The tinge of shame that spread inside Monica expanded like a cloud in the bedroom''s symphony. She even turned her head to make her hair hide her face.


    "You know I don''t think so little of you," Khan dered, turning toward Monica again.


    "I''m still a piece in the machine that made you starve in the Slums," Monica uttered.


    "And I joined that machine when I enlisted," Khan added. "We are together in this."


    Khan felt Monica''s mouth turning into a smile, but a pout reced it when the images imed his attention again.


    "Article 111-14," Monica called. "Section 12."


    Khan scoured his memory until a frown appeared on his face. "The inteary regtions don''t have that article."


    "Civil regtions," Monica revealed.


    "Oh," Khan eximed, andughs tried to escape his mouth when he recalled the article''s contents. "Marriage certificates require the bride and groom''s signatures on the necessary papers to make the event official."


    Monica peeked past her curls to see if her n had worked, and her hug on Khan''s chest tightened when she found him looking at her. Still, Khan wouldn''t let her win so easily.


    "Article 112-14," Khan announced, "Section 1. Divorces require the appropriate documentation and signatures-."


    Khan couldn''t finish his line since Monica pulled him down and made him explode into augh. He ended with his back on Monica, and she tightened her hug again to keep him still.


    "You aren''t looking at me," Monicained, even if she was the reason behind those words.


    Khan seized Monica''s hands to break her hug. She let him do as he pleased and even weed him when he turned. Her wrists remained in his grasp, and a tempting expression bloomed on her face when he trapped her arms above her head.


    "You know what happens when I look at you," Khan stated, but Monica was already past words. She tilted her head to prepare for a kiss, and Khan didn''t make her wait.


    .


    .


    .


    Khan spent the rest of the week attending his usual duties, but a new task joined his already-packed schedule. Both Monica and George believed that Lucian''s mission could benefit Khan''s future, so he formally epted it and coordinated with the Headmistress to start interviews.


    "Sir, I hope your tenth flight went well," The soldier tasked with picking up Khan announced as soon as the two met in one of the hangars.


    "It''s the ninth for the Global Army," Khan corrected while eyeing the two stars on the man''s right shoulder. "Roger, right? The Headmistress said good things about you."


    "I''m ttered," Roger performed a military salute. "Sir, the car is ready for you, and the rest of the team is waiting in the appointed location."


    "Let''s not waste time," Khan nodded. "Lead the way."


    Roger led Khan to a car waiting in an empty area of the hangar, and a short trip began. The vehicle brought the two to the seventh district, before a building with the t provided by the Headmistress, and the crowd waiting on the sidewalk made Khan sigh.


    "The Headmistress released an official warning," Roger revealed in front of Khan''s annoyed expression. "However, many soldiers are willing to face punishments to get a chance to join your team."


    "They would be among the candidates if they met my requirements," Khanmented. He had used thework, Monica, and George to filter through the many applications, but that still didn''t stop the crowd.


    "I''ve contacted the team leader inside," Roger stated while storing his phone. "They areing down to help with the crowd."


    "There is no need," Khan uttered while leaving the car. "Just follow me."


    Shouts filled the area as soon as Khan appeared. Two lines of soldiers were keeping the path toward the building open, but the crowd threatened to break through them. The general excitement became palpable, but the arrival of a purple-red light turned everything into gasps and worry.


    Khan let his mana flow freely from his shoulders to create a harmless cloud that dispersed above him. He wasn''t hurting anyone, but the sight of the chaos element always forced the bystanders to reconsider their behavior, and the current crowd was no exception.


    Truth be told, Khan was sticking to the rules for once. The Harbor forbade that behavior, but the Headmistress'' involvement overruled those restrictions and gave Khan a lot of freedom. He could even use non-deadly force if necessary.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Roger followed Khan''s orders and stuck to his back, even if he was no stranger to the fear of the chaos element. His eyes darted up and down whenever a purple-red re threatened to get too close. Still, the walk didn''tst long, and Khan held back his mana once he entered the building.


    Four soldiers hurried out of an elevator in the main hall and showed their surprise when they saw Khan and Roger. They quickly approached the two to perform military salutes, and one of them decided to speak. "Sir, we were on our way to help."


    "It''s fine," Khan reassured. "Is everyone here?"


    "Yes," The soldier confirmed. "All the candidates are waiting in the appointed t. We can start as soon as you are ready."


    "Good job," Khan praised. "Give me five minutes, then send them over. Start with the Lieutenant."


    "Yes, sir!" The soldier eximed, and hispanions echoed those words.


    Roger apanied Khan to the elevator and led him to the fifth floor. Another hall unfolded in their vision, and the two approached one of the ts, which opened once Khan showed his phone.


    The soldiers had already arranged everything. They had turned the bedroom into an office with a few chairs and an interactive desk. The Headmistress had even made them leave a few bottles for Khan.


    "I''ll wait outside," Roger announced while Khan studied the area. "I hope the interviews go well, sir."


    "Thank you," Khan muttered as the door closed behind him. The ce was perfect, so he approached the desk to connect his phone before sitting behind it.


    A series of reports lit up on the desk when Khan yed with it. He had devised a n, so he knew the requirements his team had to meet. Finding the right people while sticking to Lucian''s budget was the only problem.


    A notification appeared on the walls exactly five minutes after Khan''s order, and he unlocked the t to make the first candidatee in. A tall and burly man in his thirties with short ck hair approached the desk, and the military salute that followed seemed to speak for his stern character.


    "Captain, sir," The man called, "It''s an honor to meet you."


    "Sit, Lieutenant," Khan ordered while highlighting the man''s profile on the desk. "My schedule is quite packed, so I hope you won''t mind if I keep things short."


    "Not at all, sir," The man confirmed.


    "So, Lieutenant yman," Khan began while fixing his poker face on the man. "Are you rted to Captain Jason yman?"


    "We share some blood, sir," Lieutenant yman exined, "But we have rarely interacted. I only know he speaks highly of you."


    "And I speak highly of him," Khan responded. "He was good to me on Ecoruta."


    "I''m happy to hear it, sir," Lieutenant yman added.


    "Well, do you know why you are here?" Khan questioned.


    "I hope because my profile meets your requirements, sir," Lieutenant yman said.


    "It definitely does," Khan confirmed while lowering his gaze to scroll through the man''s profile. "You are actually too good for my mission. Why are you so cheap then?"


    "Sir, my priority was to work with you," Lieutenant yman exined. "I thought epting a lower pay might give me more chances."


    Khan didn''t admit it, but Lieutenant yman''s n had worked. He was actually the only Lieutenant among the candidates, and his profile also shonepared to the others. Getting him at that price was almost too good to be true.


    "I''m ttered," Khan casually stated as his eyes returned to the Lieutenant, "But you must understand that your behavior makes you suspicious. How do I know you don''t have a hidden agenda?"


    Khan had to ask those questions since the mission involved a wealthy descendant. He had to be sure before hiring someone so qualified.


    "I''m afraid you can''t know, sir," Lieutenant yman bluntly dered. "You can check my rmendations, but nothing after that."


    Khan allowed himself to show his surprise. Lieutenant yman''s bluntness was refreshing, and his mana confirmed his honesty. The man was a second-level warrior, so Khan had no problem reading and acknowledging him.


    "Alright," Khan eximed while taking out a different menu. "You have experience on the field. Tell me what you think about this."


    Lieutenant yman lowered his gaze to inspect the menu. Khan was showing him an iplete version of his n, but he still took his time to study it. He raised his head only after ten entire minutes had passed.


    "Sir, I don''t see how this is possible," Lieutenant yman stated. "We can''t get the ind with such a small team and a single missile."


    Khan had eventually opted against attacking the archipgo, but the budget problem returned at that point. He had to cut expenses, limiting the number of weapons and teammates the mission would have.


    "We will," Khan dered. "I won''t share every detail, so you''ll have to take me at my word."


    Lieutenant yman browsed through the n again before showing his stern face. Strangely enough, he had already decided to trust Khan.


    "So, are you in?" Khan asked.


    "Yes, sir," Lieutenant yman uttered.


    "Sign this ande on the other side of the table," Khan ordered while pulling up another menu. "You can take your time to read through it."


    Lieutenant yman didn''t look at the contract on the interactive table. Instead, he kept his stern face on Khan to voice another issue. "Captain, from what I read, you don''t need me. I wouldn''t cover any specific role."


    The honest gesture improved Lieutenant yman''s image and made Khan speak openly. "I need a ranking officer to keep things in check. That''s your role."


    "I understand, sir," Lieutenant yman said before pressing his thumb on the contract. He ced his gic signature without even reading it.


    The Lieutenantplied with Khan''s remaining order once the contract business ended. He lifted his chair and reached for the other side of the table before sitting at Khan''s side. He also made sure to stay slightly behind him to highlight his authority.


    "This is the list of candidates with their profiles," Khan exined after tapping on the interactive desk. "Tell me what you think."


    Lieutenant yman dived into the list without saying anything, and Khan used that time to enjoy one of the bottles. The man''s dedication and seriousness were reassuring to watch, and Khan couldn''t help but see the mission in a more positive light because of that.


    "Sir, the pilot is unqualified for the task," Lieutenant yman eventually announced. "He has done poorly in the simtions, and his only real flight almost ended in tragedy. I can''t advise against hiring him enough."


    "He is pretty bad," Khan agreed while pulling up a copy of the pilot''s profile, "But he is incredibly cheap."


    The pilot''s profile had nothing but critiques. Apparently, the man panicked easily, which prevented him from getting more flight experience. He was a terrible choice, but Khan could make it work.


    "Sir, the pilot probably is the most important member in these kinds of missions," Lieutenant yman pressed on. "Instead, this man is a liability who can endanger everyone''s life."


    "He only needs to keep the ship afloat," Khan exined. "He won''t have to do any maneuver. He won''t even need tond."


    "Sir, he might panic once the situation gets rough," Lieutenant yman continued. "Actually, ording to his profile, he will likely panic."


    "It will be your job to keep him in check," Khanughed. "Look, the autopilot could fly this mission, but the Global Army''s regtions force me to hire a pilot. If things get bad, you''ll be able to remove the manual control."


    "I understand, sir," Lieutenant yman nodded.


    "What do you think about the others?" Khan wondered.


    "They look good, sir," Lieutenant yman stated. "Two gunners stand out from the others, which is the number the mission wants. This tech expert also has decent qualifications."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan agreed with the Lieutenant''s opinion. He had also identified those promising candidates, but the interviews remained mandatory. A profile wasn''t enough to convince him.


    "Are you ready to start with one of them?" Khan wondered while emptying his drink. "I want you to take the lead in these interviews."


    "Anything you need, sir," Lieutenant yman uttered. "Though, I must mention the main issue again. This team is too small, especially if you n to use a single ship and missile."


    "What would you suggest?" Khan asked.


    "Ideally, sir," Lieutenant yman stated, "Three pilots apanied by a main ship and two secondary ones, four to six gunners, two tech experts, and two missiles."


    "We''ll get it done with less than half of that," Khan reassured. "I''ll fill the other roles."


    "Sir, no soldier can rece ships," Lieutenant yman pointed out. "The secondary ones would be ideal for scouting the area."


    "I can," Khan dered. "I''ll personally handle that part of the mission."

 Chapter 469 Leadership

    The remaining interviews went rtively smoothly. The profiles had already given Khan an idea of the best candidates, and seeing them in person confirmed it. He assembled a decent team by the end of the process, but his schedule didn''t grow any lighter.


    The new week brought additional tasks. Khan fulfilled Pandora''s invitation to the gallery on the first day and forwarded the specifics of the mission on the second. Lucian was busy getting his infusion, but Khan needed him to deal with the various authorizations, especially those involving vehicles and weapons.


    The dinner with George and Anita''s families also gained a date. Khan nned to meet them on the weekend, but that didn''t make the other days freer. The mission had a team now, so simtions became mandatory.


    On the afternoon of the third day, Khan made his team gather in a special training hall near the hangars. The ce could simte most ships and environments, so Khan had no problem replicating the mission''s conditions. Still, issues remained, and hispanions were to me for that.


    "Boss, I have a question," Manuel, one of the gunners, announced. "What do you exactly mean by don''t shoot pointlessly?"


    "Sir, the assignment is indeed confusing," Leona, the second gunner, added. "How can we understand when firing is allowed?"


    Khan''s eyes darted left and right to inspect the two gunners. They were sitting on opposite sides of a holographic ship, and the lights around them created bright cannons. The hall provided a perfect simted environment, but that didn''t help with their doubts.


    Truth be told, Khan expected simr questions, but the gunners'' characters made them harder to solve. Manuel was a trigger-happy soldier looking for a chance to unload his magazine, while Leona wanted to improve her profile, which required actual shooting.


    "We are on a tight budget," Khan vaguely exined. "Your magazines are expensive, so you must hold back the bullets when possible."


    Khan had spoken nothing but the truth. He was doing everything in his power to cut expenses. He had also used the Headmistress'' support to get those training sessions for free. Yet, short exnations weren''t enough for the gunners.


    "Boss, I have another question," Manuel continued. "Why did you hire two gunners instead of one with more magazines?"


    ''Because the regtions force me to have at least two for safety reasons,'' Khan thought but decided to give a different exnation. "If things go south, the mission''s sess will be in your hands."


    "Sir," Leona called, "Knowing all the mission''s details would prepare us for that eventuality. It would also help us decide when firing bes necessary."


    "Focus on your current tasks," Khan ordered. "If I feel the need to share more specifics, you''ll know it."


    "You heard the Captain," Lieutenant yman stated from the center of the holographic ship. "Prepare for the simtion."


    Khan held back a sigh when Manuel and Leona turned to focus on the holograms. The two gunners were as confused as before, which could affect their performance. Still, Khan couldn''t risk telling the entirety of his n to people that enemy parties could easily buy.


    Moreover, Khan''s n wasn''t exactly easy to trust. A lot depended on his battle prowess, which many wouldn''t be ready to believe. His fame was incredible, but simple soldiers would still have doubts, especially when they were understaffed and theoretically ill-equipped for the mission.


    The chain ofmand forced the team to stick to Khan''s orders, but the symphony in his eyes revealed a disheartening scene. He could see his underlings''ck of trust and confidence. Even Lieutenant yman was no stranger to those feelings, no matter how much he hid them.


    Khan could find external aspects to me but decided to focus on his shorings. He had already experienced the weight of leadership multiple times, but that situation felt different. In a way, it also gave him a better idea of what it meant to be a Captain.


    Istrone, Nitis, and Ecoruta had featured crises in which Khan mostly needed to survive. That task wasn''t only straightforward. Khan also had the chance to show his prowess in those situations, which granted him the undisputed trust of hispanions.


    Teaching had a higher purpose, but Khan could use his goodwill topensate for his rough methods. Hecked the training and education to convey his subject properly, but he knew how to make his students experience it, which solved his problems.


    The mission in Reebfell''s Slums was a simple matter of experience. Khan didn''t really lead there. He was the only one who knew how that ce worked, so people listened to him.


    Milia 222 was the closest thing to Khan''s current mission. It had a purely financial purpose that didn''t affect Khan''s beliefs. Still, he had mostly acted alone there, and his interests in alien species and arts had often taken priority.


    Instead, Lucian''s mission featured a horriblebination for Khan. It had nothing to do with him, its goals were money-rted, and its budget was awful. The threat of political issues also prevented an open approach, which made earning the teammates'' trust quite tricky.


    ''Maybe trust is a luxury in these missions,'' Khan considered. ''I just need them to follow my orders in the end.''n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan coulde to terms with that idea, but that didn''t make it any happier. He knew he didn''t want to be that type of leader, and the current mission could set the right foundation. He just didn''t know how to do it from inside a training hall.


    "Sir, we are waiting for your orders," Lieutenant yman dered, forcing Khan out of his many thoughts.


    "Perfect," Khan eximed while peeking at the back of the holographic ship. "Seth, list the requirements."


    "The turrets need one minute to target thending area," Seth, the tech expert, exined, "Ten minutes tond, and two minutes to go online."


    "Tyler, when does the clock start?" Khan asked while turning toward the holographic pilot''s cabin.


    "As soon as the ship is in position, sir," Tyler, the pilot, replied.


    "Gunners, when is your window?" Khan questioned.


    "We go online once the ship releases the turrets, sir," Leona responded.


    "And we stop firing once they activate," Manuel added. "If the boss ever authorizes us to fire at all."


    "Manuel, don''t disrespect the Captain," Lieutenant yman scolded.


    "Alright," Khan shouted. "Start the simtion."


    Lieutenant ymanplied, tapping his foot to start the training program. The floor immediately changed color, creating a realistic distant sea. A few ck and many red marks also appeared to replicate the environment the team would find during the mission.


    "Calcte the ideal target," Khan ordered.


    "Calcting, sir," Seth imed, and a circr target appeared on the floor.


    New holograms shone in front of Khan to give him a better idea of where the target was. He saw that mark descending toward the red dots before stopping somewhere among them. It even changed color, and Seth didn''t hesitate to exin what it meant.


    "Ideal target found, sir," Seth shouted.


    "Fire," Khan ordered, and the hall''s ceiling helped depict the scene.


    A holographic missile came out of the ceiling and crossed the ship before fusing with the floor. Khan could keep track of its movement from the images in front of him, and the explosion that followed cleared most of the red dots.


    "Disenga-," Tyler began to say, but Khan interrupted him. "Negative! We must wait for the radiation to stop messing with our scanners."


    "Sorry, sir!" Tyler promptly stated, and Manuel couldn''t hold back a mocking smirk.


    "Scanners online, sir," Seth eventually stated.


    "Disengage main ship," Khan ordered, and Tylerplied.


    The holograms changed to replicate the ship''s movements during the mission. Four huge pirs also materialized at its sides while the images in front of Khan showed its trajectory.


    A few minutes had to pass before the ship reached its destination, and Khan had to hold back the desire to curse when silence reigned. Someone had forgotten his role.


    "Tyler?" Khan called, mustering his calmest tone.


    "Yes, sir," Tyler replied.


    "The ship is in position," Khan reminded.


    "You are correct, sir," Tyler announced.


    "Then, say it," Khan ordered.


    "The ship is in position, sir!" Tyler shouted, raising his voice in ame attempt to cover his mistake.


    "Seth, target thending area," Khan ordered, "And start the clock."


    "Yes, sir," Seth stated. "Targeting program engaged."


    "Tyler, keep us still," Khan dered. "Don''t move the ship for any reason."


    "Yes, sir," Tyler replied.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Gunners, study the area," Khan continued. "The explosion cleared the way, but new Tainted animals will arrive. Be ready for them."


    "Boss, I thought we weren''t supposed to fire," Manuel pointed out.


    "You fire today," Khan exined. "I want to see how you do."


    "Is there something at stake, boss?" Manuel questioned while exchanging a nce with Leona. The two gunners showed theirpetitiveness, and Khan didn''t miss it.


    "The most urate between you gets priority on the first necessary shot," Khan decided to add fuel to thepetitiveness.


    "Now we are talking," Manuelughed, and Leona responded with a snort.


    "Fire only when the turrets are in danger," Khan uttered.


    "Yes, sir!" Manuel and Leona shouted at the same time.


    "Sir,nding area targeted," Seth stated.


    "Launch the turrets," Khan ordered.


    "Launching turrets," Seth repeated, and the four pirs at the ship''s sides fused with the floor before turning into part of the scenery.


    Khan checked the holograms before nodding in approval. Tyler didn''t mess up during the discharge, but the mission had only begun, and the rest of the simtion would provide important data for his role.


    The floor didn''t show any change for now. The pirs descended safely and approached the ck mark at high speed. That peace allowed Khan to move his attention elsewhere, and he decided to point it at the pilot.


    Khan crossed the holographic ship to reach the pilot''s cabin. Tyler was so focused on the images in his vision that he didn''t notice his arrival, but that was fine. Khan preferred that over a panic attack.


    However, Tyler''s mana and his behavior showed red gs. A few drops of sweat had appeared on his neck, and his hands held the fake steering wheel too tightly. Khan could see him survive a simtion and the test, but an actual mission was bound to make him more anxious.


    ''It''s a miracle he got his license,'' Khan thought. ''Maybe he has connections with some higher-ups.''


    Of course, Khan didn''t voice those thoughts. The floor even imed his attention in the next seconds since red dots began to reappear in the area.


    The missile was bound to scare many animals, and the following radiation could keep packs away. However, Lauter''s Tainted creatures were very territorial and hated when foreign forces or items entered their environments.


    The turrets were safe, but the iing red dots were targeting them. There were only four of them, but their numbers were bound to increase in the next minutes, and the pirs still needed nine to reach the ck mark.


    "Boss, can we start firing?" Manuel asked as more red dots appeared in the previously cleared area.


    Khan didn''t immediately answer. He would already be down there during the actual mission, but his task was still a secret. He nned to use the simtion to get an idea of how many Tainted animals he would have to fight, and seeing the gunners'' performance wouldn''t hinder that project.


    "What''s your professional opinion?" Khan questioned.


    "Sir," Leona called, "If we don''t start firing now, too many enemies will enter the turrets'' range."


    "Alright," Khan announced. "Remember to focus on uracy. Fire!"


    Manuelughed while immediately pulling the trigger. Leona started firing only a second after him, and the hall applied their inputs to the simtion.


    A few red dots disappeared, but more reced them. There seemed to be no end to those enemies, and they all saw the descending turrets as their main targets. They charged recklessly at them, but the gunners contained their numbers.


    Khan kept track of the clock as the simtion continued. Manuel and Leona were doing a good job, but two gunners were too few for the mission. By the seventh minute, the first Tainted animal reached the turrets, and an unstoppable chain reaction followed.


    More and more Tainted animals escaped the barrage of bullets and reached the turrets, eventually destroying them. By the ninth minute, the four pirs were no more, and the simtion marked the mission as a failure.


    Curses and sighs resounded in the hall. The simtion had shown the limitations of such an understaffed team, and many gazes turned in Khan''s direction. He was the only one who could affect the mission, but he kept his eyes on the floor.


    ''Twenty to thirty Tainted animals,'' Khan calcted. ''Fewer if I can be a good bait. I can''t really miss either. It''s doable with some bullets, but the final two minutes might be troublesome.''


    "Sir?" Lieutenant yman called since Khan was still immersed in his thoughts.


    "Manuel has forty percent uracy," Khan eximed while checking the images. "Leona wins with forty-two."


    "Are you for real?!" Manuel cursed. "Boss, I fired more than her. If we consider the number of bullets-."


    "I can calcte how much money you wasted," Khan interrupted. "I told you to focus on uracy."


    Leona voiced a mocking scoff aimed at Manuel, but Khan didn''t let his speech end there. "Still, these numbers are too low. I want both of you to raise your uracy above sixty before the mission."


    The gunners revealed their shock, and Khan didn''t give them a chance to address the matter. He took out his phone to check the hour, and a curse resounded in his mind.


    It wasn''tte, but the lessons had ended only a few hours before that gathering. Khan had done some homework during the trip in the cab, but more waited for him once he left the training hall.


    Moreover, Khan needed to review past lessons with his friends, spend time with Monica, and train. He would usually resort to the simted mental battle during those busy periods, but a lot of the mission would depend on him, so he nned to hit the training hall once Monica fell asleep.


    The dinner with George and Anita also required some preparations that Khan had to stuff into his schedule, and he couldn''t take time away from the simtions. His team needed as many of them as possible before the mission.


    ''Depending on the number of questions,'' Khan calcted, ''Each simtion takes twenty to thirty minutes. I can fit five more of them before dinner. Hopefully, the others can remain focused.''


    "Sir, can we have a word in private?" Lieutenant yman requested while Khan kept looking at his phone.


    "Of course," Khan agreed. "Prepare another simtion and review your roles in the meantime."


    "Yes, sir!" Everyone shouted while Khan and Lieutenant yman headed for an isted corner of the hall.


    "What is it?" Khan asked.


    "Sir, I believe you should rethink your approach to the mission," Lieutenant yman went straight to the point. "The team isn''t ready, and I''m not sure the pilot will ever be.''


    "The authorizations will take a while to arrive," Khan exined. "I n to practice every day except for the weekend until then."


    "Sir," Lieutenant yman said as his expression grew sterner, "Failing this mission would put a red mark on your otherwise immacte profile. You won''t ruin your career, but many will question your leadership skills."


    "Thank you for your honesty," Khan replied, "But the opposite is also true. If I seed, many doors will open for me."


    "I understand, sir," Lieutenant yman nodded. "Though, I think you already have countless doors ready to wee you."


    "They are never too many," Khan chuckled as past conversations surged into his mind. He had gone over the topic with Monica and George. Seeding in the mission could give him ess to the jobs he truly sought once the semester ended.


    "I understand, sir," Lieutenant yman voiced without adding anything.


    "What about you?" Khan wondered. "You are almost a third-level warrior, right? Are you aiming for a promotion?"


    "If the Global Army finds me worthy, sir," Lieutenant yman responded.


    Khan nced at the rest of the team inside the holographic ship before turning to the Lieutenant again. Thetter definitely was the most qualified among his underlings. Having him as second inmand at such a low price was actually incredible.


    "I don''t know how much influence I have," Khan announced, "But set them straight, and I''ll try to make some calls. Of course, the mission must be a sess first."


    "I''m ttered, sir," Lieutenant yman performed a military salute as a twitch ran through his stern expression. "I''ll whip them into shape."


    "Go ahead," Khanughed, and Lieutenant yman immediately turned to reach the rest of the team. Orders also came out of his mouth, but Khan barely heard them. He had remained conflicted until now, but thatst gesture felt right.

 Chapter 470 Three

    A streak of busy days went by. Khan attended every lesson, practiced with his team, and spent his nights inside training halls to get asfortable as possible with his fighting style.


    Those tasks would usually leave ordinary soldiers with no free time. Still, Khan made sure to handle his studies during the long trips in the cabs or whenever he returned to his t.


    Reviewing the mission also wanted a piece of Khan''s day. His team had to perform almost perfectly to hope to seed, so he couldn''t stop improving many details, especially as the simtions provided more data.


    The simtions forced Khan to move some of his studies to the weekend, so he never got the chance to sleep properly. His short periods of rest turned into asional naps, and the first free day even prevented them. The flight didn''t mess up his schedule, but he had an important date that night.


    Khan, George, Anita, and Monica found themselves in the same luxurious car near dinnertime. They were all wearing their best clothes, and the faint tension in the area created a peculiar silence.


    "Come on," Khan eventuallyughed. "This can''t be worse than Istrone."


    "It is for me," George snorted. "Why did I even agree to this?"


    Thement saddened Anita and forced a helpless sigh out of George. He took her hand and did his best not to look annoyed before voicing affectionate words. "I just recalled why."


    Monica and Khan couldn''t help but smirk. George and Anita were an odd couple, but they were cute, especially in those moments. Besides, they looked happy.


    "I can still go back," Monica mentioned. "You don''t have to force yourself."


    "No, it''s fine," Anita shook her head. "My mother would demean me anyway. I''d rather have a friend at the table."


    The dinner with George and Anita''s families was happening that night, and Monica didn''t initially n to join it. Yet, Anita''s mother had insisted on her presence, ultimately forcing her to attend.


    Monica knew Anita''s situation better than anyone. Anita''s mother would probablypare the two women, but Monica''s refusal would have only hurt her friend. It would say that Anita didn''t have enough influence to bring Monica to dinner.


    Khan could only exchange a meaningful nce with George. Monica had spoken with the two to make them understand Anita''s situation. The dinner had every right to be an unpleasant mess, but Khan felt to have enough experience. Also, he had justpleted his tenth official flight, so his excitement was hard to quell.


    "Khan would have taken your side anyway," Monica dered. "I''ve trained him thoroughly for this dinner."


    "Yes, we don''t want anyone threatening my testicles this time," Khan nodded before grunting when Monica elbowed his side.


    "What?" Anita eximed, but Monica and Khan chuckled, refusing to answer. They lost each other in their respective eyes, and Khan put an arm above her shoulder to pull her closer.


    "What time are youing back tonight?" Monica whispered into Khan''s ear.


    "Probably by dawn," Khan replied. "I''m not sure either."


    "You still have to review general diplomacy''s notes," Monica reminded, leaving Khan''s ear to adjust her position.


    "I know," Khan sighed. "I''ll see how it goes, but don''t wait up for me."


    "I''ll wait up as long as I like," Monica pouted. "Take care of me by taking care of yourself."


    Monica crossed her arms, but Khan had a joke ready for her ear. "Do you want my good night kiss so badly?"


    Monica disregarded her pretenses and turned to mutter honest words. "Yes, I can''t sleep without it."


    Anita and George could only hear half of that interaction, and most of it sounded like cute flirting. They had no idea Monica was speaking the truth, but that part of her character was solely for Khan to experience.


    "I want one now too," Monica continued in the needy tone Khan knew far too well.


    The couple exchanged a quick kiss, and what followed made Anita shy. Khan''s expression betrayed his thoughts while his intense gaze remained on Monica, and she rejoiced at that undivided attention. She also yed along, reaching for his torso while lifting a leg to ce it on his knee.


    George cleared his throat to remind the couple about his presence, and Khan and Monica separated. The two didn''t appear any calmer, but their more appropriate position gave Anita a chance to speak.


    "Monica!" Anita gasped.


    "He is my man," Monicained. "I do what I want with him."


    "They are just jealous," Khanmented.


    "I''ll break up with you if I get this shameless," Anita warned while eyeing George.


    "Don''t worry," George stated. "That''s my role."


    "Breaking up or being shameless?" Anita questioned.


    "I''ll-," George began to speak before recalling where the car was heading. "It''s better if I don''t say anything tonight."


    The joyous moment ended with those words, and the tension returned. George and Anita clearly had issues with their parents, and their worry forced Khan and Monica to stay put. They were their close friends, so they wanted to prioritize their well-being.


    The car entered the shopping district and headed toward one of Pandora''s exclusive restaurants. The ce was masked as a regr mall, but its upper side featured secretnding areas. It also had private rooms, but Anita''s mother had pushed for an audience.


    Arge dark window above a bright banner slid open once the car hovered near it. Anding area unfolded in the scanners, and the vehicle flew into it to deliver the group.


    A waiter let the window close before approaching the group and leading them into deeper parts of the building. Khan and the others had to cross a few narrow corridors but eventually arrived at a dim dining area with enough seats to hold thirty people.


    Khan noticed Pandora''s iconic style. The dim illumination, the closed space, and the slightly isted tables were a distinctive signature of that exclusive club. Even its audience was respectful enough to avoid breaking into shouts whenever they recognized him. His group obviously received nces, but no one disturbed them.


    The waiter led the group to a table at the end of the room. That spot allowed aplete view of the area, but the opposite was also true. Anyone could see and keep track of those seats, which said a lot about Anita''s mother''s intentions.


    "We''ll start serving once everyone is here," The waiter politely said before departing as soon as Khan nodded at him.


    The guests had yet to arrive, but everyone knew the appropriate seating arrangements. Khan and Monica upied one long side of the table, leaving the other to George and Anita. The short edges were for the dinner''s main figures, and they remained empty while a silent wait unfolded.


    George barely had the time to fill Khan''s drink before two figures entered the dining area. A tall, middle-aged man who was the spitting image of George and a charming woman with Anita''s blonde hair walked among the tables while a waiter led them toward Khan''s group.


    The neers attracted the area''s attention, and Khan shared that feeling. He inspected his guests from head to toe, especially the man, and the symphony helped his senses in ways only a few people would understand.


    The woman had an elegant smile, but her figure was a nk spot. She was hiding her mana, but her interaction with the synthetic energy revealed some arrogance and pride. She seemed to like being at the center of attention.


    Instead, the man didn''t bother to hide his presence, which revealed only seriousness. He wore the stance of a soldier on the verge of joining the battlefield.


    Khan, Monica, Anita, and George stood up as soon as the neers reached the table, and different salutes left their mouths.


    "Madam Wildon, Mister Ildoo," Monica and Khan voiced at the same time.


    "Mother, Mister Ildoo," Anita followed.


    "Madam Wildon, father," George concluded.


    "I''m sorry for the wait," Mister Ildoo announced while lowering his head. "I lost myself in a pleasant conversation with Madam Wildon."


    "Mister Ildoo only indulged my whims," Madam Wildon took part of the me.


    "Please, after you," Mister Ildoo stated while pointing at the edge near Monica and Anita.


    Madam Wildon performed a half-bow before heading for her seat, and Mister Ildoo soon imitated her. The entire group sat down, and an exchange of politements unfolded.


    "Monica, it has been too long," Madam Wildon was the first to speak. "I can see that the rumors are true. You have turned into a beautiful woman."


    "Thank you, Eveline," Monica replied. "Though, this wouldn''t have been possible without Anita''s help. She made sure I could meet my mother''s requirements."


    "Anastasia is a hard woman to please," Madam Wildon chuckled. "I''m d my daughter could help. I wish she could achieve simr results, at least in her studies."


    Madam Wildon kept her eyes on Monica during herment. She didn''t deign her daughter with a single nce while putting her under Monica so openly, and thetter could only wear a polite smile to avoid rejecting her statement.


    Khan obviously could see more than hispanions. He noticed Mister Ildoo''s unfazed expression, George''s coldness, and Anita''s helplessness. Everyone epted Madam Wildon''s impolite words, no matter how deeply they affected them.


    ''Disgusting,'' Khan couldn''t help but think since he understood the dinner''s political array and consequences.


    The Wildon family was less wealthy than the Solodrey family but stood above the Ildoo family. Moreover, the etiquette prevented people from speaking about others'' businesses, which forced George to remain silent. His father could try to intervene if necessary, but that would be seen as impolite.


    Only Monica could have an influence there, but she remained a descendant. She couldn''t openly fight against Eveline since it might ruin the rtionship between their families. Khan was in an equally difficult position since he needed to show reliability and manners, especially in front of an audience.


    As for Eveline, she was simply bitter. In the political environment, her family was a cheap version of the Solodrey family, and the same applied to Monica and her daughter.


    "George, am I right?" Madam Wildon eventually continued. "I know you are also shaping up to be a worthy heir to your family''s power."


    "You are ttering me, ma''am," George coldly replied.


    "It''s the truth," Madam Wildon pressed on. "I initially thought you would have opted for a battle-focused path, but your performance in the Harbor changed my mind. You might be one of the most capable descendants."


    "I''m unworthy of these praises," George dered. "Miss Wildon is the one keeping me on par with the lessons. I would have scored far worse without her help."


    George didn''t address Madam Wildon with the proper respect, which earned him a re from his father. Still, George ignored it and proceeded to fill his drink.


    "It seems I raised a kind daughter," Madam Wildon eximed, finally looking at Anita. "Maybe show some kindness to yourself for the rest of the semester. Helping your friends is honorable, but you must prioritize your achievements."


    "Yes, mother," Anita promptly agreed.


    "Captain," Madam Wildon continued, turning toward Khan. "I hope you don''t mind me addressing you forst."


    "Not at all, ma''am," Khan opted for an aloof tone. "I am a simple soldier in the end."


    "Far from simple," Madam Wildon praised. "The entire Global Army is spreading tales about you, and every family wants you. That''s not what I call simple."


    "I''m d the army is acknowledging my efforts, ma''am," Khan responded.


    "I heard from Anastasia that you are considering wedding into her family," Madam Wildon announced. "Would it be disrespectful to ask you to consider my family too? I''m sure my daughter can match her candidates."


    Khan couldn''t even try to describe the changes in the symphony. Luckily for him, his friends didn''t put any me on him. They only felt angry at how quickly Madam Wildon was willing to give her daughter away.


    "I''d be the luckiest soldier in the Global Army if I married Miss Wildon," Khan chose his words carefully. "However, even Madam Solodrey agreed that I should focus on my career. I''ll consider these offers in the future."


    "Of course," Madam Wildon nodded as displeasure joined her tone. She even nced dismissively at Anita. She didn''t like how easily Khan had refused her daughter.


    An awkward silence followed. Madam Wildon had no intention of speaking, so Mister Ildoo let a few seconds pass before taking the reins of the conversation.


    "Captain Khan," Mister Ildoo surprisingly decided to address Khan first. "I''m d we could finally meet. You have done a great service to my son and my family, so let me express my deepest gratitude."


    "I''m the one who should be grateful, sir," Khan revealed an honest smile. "George saved me in ways his profile doesn''t describe. I''m lucky to have him in my life."


    "I think he would say simr words about you," Mister Ildoo guessed, and George promptly nodded. "I would be dead without him, and I''m not the only one."


    "That''s a fact, Captain," Mister Ildoo continued. "If you ever need anything, don''t hesitate to contact me. My family owes you a lot."


    "Don''t even mention it, sir," Khan shook his head. "I already consider your family as a close friend. If there is something I can do for you, be sure to tell me."


    "I''m d to hear you say this," Mister Ildoo showed a faint smile. "Still, please, call me Michael. I can''t bear to see you use such formalities among friends."


    "I''ll do my best, Michael," Khan uttered.


    "Now," Mister Ildoo moved to the other seats, "Madam Wildon and I already had our talk, so I should address my son''s ssmates. He is lucky to have such beautiful and capable women as his peers. I''m sure he is learning a lot from you both."


    "We are also learning from him," Monica stated. "It''s rare for our peers to have battle experience. His perspective is unique in the entire Harbor."


    "His reliability is worthy of praise," Anita added. "The official reports don''t mention it, but George protected us during Nippe 2''s awful events. He was among the first to stand up and set a defensive perimeter."


    "I was unaware of these feats," Madam Wildon eximed. "You raised an honorable son, Michael."


    "It''s hard to get mentioned when Captain Khan is on the scene," Georgeughed. "I simply took care of the closest problems while he was saving Princess Edna."


    "Don''t sell yourself short," Madam Wildon scolded. "You protected Monica and my daughter. I''ll make sure this news reaches the appropriate channels."


    "It''s not necessary," Mister Ildoo politely refused.


    "It is," Madam Wildon pressed on. "The Global Army should notice its talents."


    Madam Wildon couldn''t help but sound bitter again. Also, she was the one applying a different standard to her own daughter. After all, Anita had scored sixth on the tests, but her mother didn''t bother to praise her.


    Khan could remain mostly calm since the matter wasn''t too close to his heart. However, Anita''s sadness and George''s cold helplessness flicked a switch in his mind that almost made him speak.


    Still, a foot touched Khan''s leg before he coulde up with a suitable answer. Monica kept her face pointed at Madam Wildon but didn''t forget to watch over him and send a warning when she felt he could explode.


    "Mother, make sure to mention how Mister Ildoo didn''t leave his post even after the reinforcements arrived," Anita added. "He let the doctors visit him only once Captain Khan returned."


    "Quite the heroic behavior," Madam Wildon praised. "Anita, did you take a liking to Michael''s son?"


    Madam Wildon was just teasing, but Anita''s answer revealed clues about their strange rtionship. "I''ll consider him as a suitor if that''s what you want."


    "You are too serious, dear," Madam Wildon giggled and reached for Anita to caress her hair. George gulped down his drink in the meantime, and Khan and Mister Ildoo didn''t miss that gesture. As for Monica, she had to keep her fake smile on to avoid worrying Madam Wildon.


    Khan emptied his drink before anyone else could notice George''s gesture and refilled those sses. At that point, the two performed a quick version of the Niqols'' toast, and Khan found Mister Ildoo''s eyes on him when he began to drink.


    Mister Ildoo seemed to have no intention to speak, and waiters with food arrived in the next few seconds, changing the atmosphere at the table. The time for formalities ended, leading the political event to more superficial topics.


    Khan only had a few dinners, but the current event was simr to his previous ones. Mister Ildoo and Madam Wildon asked the same questions Khan had answered with Mister Hencus and Madam Solodrey.


    Of course, a difference in the tones existed. Among the questions about Khan''s missions and flights, he could understand the general stance of his guests.


    Madam Wildon didn''t hide her haughtiness. She remained polite, but her words sounded forced, almost rehearsed. Besides, she rarely missed the chance to send passive-aggressive reprimands to her daughter.


    The situation put Mister Ildoo in a tough spot, but he did his best to appear friendly, especially with Khan. He seemed truly interested in learning more about him, even if his stern character made him sound detached.


    Less than two hours went by in that suffocating atmosphere. Jokes and answers flew until the dinner formally ended. In theory, the group could remain at the table to enjoy drinks and continue their conversations, but Madam Wildon stood up, forcing everyone to imitate her.


    "You don''t have to end the dinner because of me," Madam Wildon expressed when everyone left their seats. "I simply have an appointment I can''t postpone."


    "Madam, it wouldn''t be fair or polite," Mister Ildoo dered. "Our children, Miss Solodrey, and Captain Khan also have to study. It''s better to end this dinner on this high note."


    "You are such a gentleman, Michael," Madam Wildon praised. "Now, a car is already waiting for me. I''m afraid I must hurry."


    "Travel safe," Mister Ildoo stated, and the others echoed his words.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Send my salutes to your wife," Madam Wildon giggled. "As for you, go to bed early. Mana keeps us young, but a good routine helps."


    Fake smiles broadened in Madam Wildon''s vision, and she merely nodded at them before heading for the exit. A lot of the tension vanished when she departed from the dining room, but no one dared toment on that.


    "My car is also on its way," Mister Ildoo revealed when the group turned toward him. "I must take my leave soon."


    "Travel safe, dad," George said.


    "Don''t worry about me," Mister Ildoo scolded. "You have good friends, but don''t abuse their kindness. Improve your scores and make us proud."


    Mister Ildoo didn''t wait for George''s answer as he turned toward Monica and Anita. "It has been a pleasure to be in yourpany. Your generation is lucky to have you."


    Anita and Monica performed the exact polite bow, and Mister Ildoo mustered a faint smile before turning toward Khan.


    "Captain, would you mind escorting me to thending area?" Mister Ildoo questioned.


    "It''s no problem at all," Khan responded, and Monica reassured him when he searched for her eyes. "We''ll take care of the ride."


    A waiter arrived to escort the group outside, but Mister Ildoo exchanged a few words with him to change his ns. The man led Mister Ildoo and Khan into the narrow corridors stretching out of the dining hall. Yet, the two didn''t arrive at thending area.


    The waiter made Khan and Mister Ildoo stop in the middle of a corridor, and a wall at their side slid open to reveal a small desk. A barman stood behind it, and she showed a bright smile while waiting for her orders.


    "I''m Michael Ildoo," Mister Ildoo dered. "Pandora should know what I want."


    "Of course, Mister Ildoo," The barman responded. "One or two sses?"


    "Two," Mister Ildoo replied.


    "They are on their way," The barman announced, and Mister Ildoo crossed his arms on the desk to wait for the drinks.


    Khan didn''t know why Mister Ildoo had brought him there, but thetter seemed to have friendly intentions. He only had a hard time showing them past his stern face, but Khan was willing to be patient toward George''s father.


    The barman took less than a minute to deliver two small sses filled with a yellow liquid. The strong scent of booze reeking from them spread throughout the corridor in a matter of seconds, and Mister Ildoo nodded at Khan to give a silent order.


    "Thank you, Michael," Khan said while taking his ss.


    "Don''t rush it," Mister Ildoo warned while also taking his ss. "Take short sips."


    Khan couldn''t help but be curious about the drink, and his first sip met his expectations. The booze was harsh on the throat and mouth but managed to spread its exquisite taste. It was strong, but Khan appreciated it.


    "My son likes it," Mister Ildoo revealed after his sip. "I figured you would also like it."


    "I do," Khan admitted. "I wish I had an entire bottle now."


    "Don''t look at me," Mister Ildoo sighed. "George emptied the entire canteen."


    Khan wanted tough, but surprise took priority. Mister Ildoo had cracked a joke, which was quite shocking after what Khan had witnessed during the dinner.


    "He," Mister Ildoo continued as his eyes wandered into the drink, "He was lost after Istrone. He didn''t show it, but I knew."


    "Istrone hit everyone hard," Khan stated. "For what it''s worth, George already knew what to do during the crisis. I guess you are to thank for that."


    "He showed talent at an early age," Mister Ildoo exined. "I prepared him ordingly. Still, I can''t imagine what happened down there."


    Khan took another sip but didn''t answer. He had gone over Istrone, but its events remained ugly. The sadness and desperation experienced there wasn''t something he could forget.


    "Nitis saved him," Mister Ildoo continued. "I don''t know how, but it did. Now, he is in the Harbor, studying among the best descendants. Maybe things ended well."


    "George has always been smart," Khan praised.


    "I know he came here for you," Mister Ildoo revealed. "He showed no interest in inteary politics until he learnt that you wereing. He even scored near the top ten. I don''t know if my son is a genius or an idiot."


    "I''d go for the former," Khan uttered.


    "Of course, you would," Mister Ildoo sighed. "Still, you are aware of his ws."


    "He just likes booze and women," Khanughed. "Who doesn''t?"


    "You are on his side, aren''t you?" Mister Ildoo asked while finally diverting his gaze from the drink.


    "Completely," Khan honestly replied.


    "That''s good," Mister Ildoo approved. "People at your age need good friends. Take care of my son, Captain."


    Mister Ildoo''s words carried his honesty and made Khan answer seriously. "I will."


    "If he doesn''t do the same for you," Mister Ildoo added, "Tell me. I''ll beat some sense in that idiot."


    "He is the most reliable person I know," Khanmented.


    "Didn''t Miss Wildon say something simr?" Mister Ildoo wondered. "Captain, is my son dating Madam Wildon''s daughter?"


    "Sir, I consider your family an ally," Khan showed a shameless smile, "But my loyalty is with George."


    "I see," Mister Ildoo stated. "I should prepare for a political incident. It''s better to avoid having the Wildon family as an enemy."


    Khan couldn''t refrain fromughing at that joke. Michael seemed to get his son, and it felt nice to joke about him. As for that isted drink, Khan guessed that Michael wanted to speak openly for a bit.


    The sses became empty after Mister Ildoo''sst joke, and a few words to the barman made a waiter arrive. Khan and Mister Ildoo returned to thending area and split to head to different rides.


    Khan, Monica, Anita, and George heaved a tired sigh when they found themselves inside the privacy of their ride. The dinner didn''tst long, but the exhaustion caused by those political events was hard to bear, especially when it involved their families.


    ''That wasn''t too bad,'' Khan thought when he reviewed everything that had happened.


    The dinner didn''t change anything in Khan''s situation, and Madam Wildon had been quite annoying. Yet, he had reached a silent understanding with Mister Ildoo, which was enough for him. Also, he hadpleted another mandatory political event, which made him feel lighter.


    Still, one person in the vehicle didn''t share Khan''s feelings, and the symphony soon made him aware of that. He lowered his gaze only to find Anita looking at the floor. She appeared spent, and a sob put panic into her eyes.


    "I''m sorry!" Anita gasped, but a second sob arrived and forced her to cover her mouth. Yet, that didn''t hide the tears falling from her eyes. She didn''t want to have that outburst, but her body had a different opinion.


    "I didn''t mean to-," Anita tried to say, but it was toote. She began to cry, and George supported her with a hug. Khan could only show aplicated smile when Monica looked at him before she also reached for Anita.


    ''It was bad for her,'' Khan realized in front of that sad scene. ''Descendants sure have it hard.''


    Expectations, political pressure, andpetition could crush the descendants under their weight. That probably wasn''t the first time Anita had cried due to her mother''s treatment, and it surely wouldn''t be thest.


    Khan pitied Anita but didn''t move from his seat. George and Monica were enough tofort her, and he didn''t know her well enough to join them. Still, his thoughts wandered, forcing him to grasp the sad truth of that environment.


    In a different situation, Monica, George, and even Khan would have sacrificed part of their goals to help Anita. However, they all had problems that pointed in the same direction.


    Monica would be in Anita''s ce if she didn''t do well in the tests or other political matters. George needed good scores too to please his family, and Khan was in a simr situation for multiple reasons.


    Entering the top five meant that someone else couldn''t get those spots. That was the nature of thepetition every descendant was forced to face. Khan would love it if he and his friends were to im them, but reality didn''t work like that, and he couldn''t think about others when things were already so hard on him.


    Anita calmed down during the flight back to the second district. She was actually fine. Her sadness had just been overwhelming for a few minutes. Still, her tears were dry by the time the group entered Khan''s t.


    "I''m so sorry for earlier," Anita eximed as the group crossed the elevator room.


    "Parents get to all of us from time to time," George reassured.


    "We know how you feel," Monica added.


    "Thank you," Anita said as a smile bloomed on her face. She was still in George''s arms, and genuine happiness shone in her eyes when she looked at him and Monica.


    "Monica," Khan called once that happy moment ended. He tried to be silent, but everyone ended up turning toward him.


    "Right," Monica heaved a worried sigh. "Promise me you''ll be careful."


    "I will," Khan promised, weing Monica into his hug. "Are you okay here?"


    "Yes, I''ll take care of her," Monica muttered. "Focus on yourself now."


    "I''ll be fine," Khan reassured, searching for Monica''s face to lift it toward him. "I''ll see you in a bit."


    "Kiss," Monica requested, and Khanplied. He even added a "love you" before returning inside the elevator.


    "He can''t take a break," Georgemented once the elevator''s doors closed.


    Monica wanted to add anotherment but found Anita staring at her when she turned. That reaction had nothing to do with the previous outburst. Instead, it expressed only shock.


    "Monica?" Anita spoke before Monica could question her. "Did I hear him right?"


    Monica initially didn''t realize what Anita meant, but understanding soon arrived. Anita had yet to learn how far Monica''s rtionship had advanced, but that instance was self-exnatory.


    "We have been together for months already," Monica exined while ying with her curls, "And we have grown quite close."


    Anita gasped and left George''s hug to reach for Monica''s hands. The matter was serious, and Monica''s shy behavior highlighted how important that was to her.


    "Are you two that serious?" Anita whispered.


    Monica couldn''t find the words to answer, so she limited herself to a nod. The gesture made Anita gasp again, and excitement soon followed.


    "Girl, we have to talk," Anita giggled before pulling Monica deeper into the t.


    George couldn''t say anything at that scene. He only sighed when he remained alone. Everything pointed toward a lonely night, but Anita didn''t let him down.


    "George, aren''t youing?" Anita called, and George couldn''t help but feel happy. He hurried toward his girlfriend, making a single stop to seize one of Khan''s bottles.


    .


    .


    .


    Excitement filled Khan''s mind, but he did his best to focus on the contents of his phone. A car was bringing him to the hangars, which were quite distant from the second district, and he used that time to review the general diplomacy''s notes.


    An almost empty hangar unfolded in Khan''s vision when the car dropped him off, but he followed the symphony to find a group of soldiers. Thetter were surprised to meet him at such ate hour, and that feeling intensified when he showed him his permits.


    "Sir, these are the avable ships," One of the soldiers exined after bringing Khan in front of three vehicles. "They all have limitations, but their tanks are full, so you can set off immediately."


    Khan''s options were far from ideal. He had to choose among a fat ship, a small hovering car modified for short trips in space, and a triangr vehicle with barely anyfort.


    Of course, Khan wouldn''t be picky in that situation. He also knew those vehicles'' specifics, so he opted for the triangr ship since it had a higher speed limit.


    "Sir, I must remind you-," The soldier tried to go through formal warnings, but Khan was too excited to let him finish.


    "Warn the control tower about my departure," Khan ordered. "Is the operating system ready to receive me?"


    "Well, yes, sir," The soldier stammered.


    "Good," Khan eximed. "I''m going in."


    The soldier''s eyes widened in panic, but hispanions shook their heads when he tried to speak again. Khan''s authority was overwhelming in that ce, so no one dared to go against his wishes.


    Khan showed his phone to the ship before cing his hand on its grey surface. The vehicle recognized his gic signature and permits, and its canopy opened. In a couple of jumps, Khan found himself in the pilot''s seat, and his fingers immediately went on the control desk to start the engine.


    "The vehicle is not cleared for set off," The ship''s mechanical voice warned when Khan tried to start the engine.


    ''Come on,'' Khan cursed before peeking past the open canopy to re at the stunned soldiers. They were still there, but Khan''s gesture made them hurry to contact the central tower.


    Khan almost counted the seconds as he waited for the authorization to arrive, and his eyes lit up when the control desk turned azure. He quickly handled thest necessarymands and made the canopy close before giving an order to the autopilot. "Take me out."


    The set-off started once the autopilot confirmed the order, and a smile broadened on Khan''s face. He was finally making his first solo flight, and his excitement was bursting.


    The slow and mandatory departure of the autopilot felt like a punishment. Secondssted for entire minutes in Khan''s mind as the ship flew through specific channels to leave the hangars and arrive in the open.


    ''Finally!'' Khan thought as soon as the ship left the transparent dome and the autopilot took the backseat.


    The eleven flights with Lieutenant Shurpard had filled Khan with confidence. He grabbed the steering wheel and pushed it down as hard as possible to make the ship elerate at full force.


    The sudden eleration mmed Khan''s back on the seat, but he onlyughed and descended toward the surface to make the flight more exciting. The moon''s rocky ground soon filled his vision and sensors, and he dived straight into a crater to test the ship''s limits.


    "Warning, approaching top speed," The ship''s mechanical voice dered while Khan climbed out of the crater and headed for a nearby mountain.


    "Fuck you!" Khanughed, elerating even more to reach that top speed.


    A reckless flight unfolded. Khan vented all the pressure umted in thest period through dangerous maneuvers and loudughs no one could hear. He was having genuine fun, but the ship''s limitations eventually got in his way.


    "Approaching tank''s critical level," The ship warned. "Crossing it will engage the autopilot."


    "I know, I know," Khan cursed before pulling up the scanners. The moon had a suitablending spot nearby, and he reached it without crossing the tank''s limit.


    ''Now,'' Khan thought once the ship stopped. He gazed at the darkness past the canopy and took a deep breath. He was about to do something hazardous, but his curiosity was impossible to quell.


    Mana left Khan''s body and covered every inch of his body. He cut his connection to the outside world before forcing that membrane to shake. The barrier grew warm, but Khan waited until his energy became almost scorching.


    ''That''s one,'' Khan thought and rechecked his non-elemental spell before moving to the following matter.


    "Open the canopy," Khan ordered.


    "The procedure is forbidden," The ship responded.


    "Overrule limitation," Khan continued. "Authorized by Captain Khan."


    "Processing," The ship stated. "Captain Khan doesn''t have the necessary clearance to remove canopy limitations."


    "Overrule limitation," Khan tried onest time. "Authorized by Headmistress Leticia Holwen."


    "Processing," The ship repeated, but the process took far longer. Khan almost had to wait an entire minute before the vehicle spoke again. "Canopy limitations removed."


    "Open the canopy," Khan ordered as more mana came out of his body and created a second barrier around his head.


    "Depressurizing cabin," The ship said as whooshing noises enveloped Khan. "Opening the canopy."


    Utter silence unfolded as soon as the canopy opened. Khan watched the dark ss rising but soon closed his eyes to keep track of his raging curiosity. That feeling almost threatened his spell''s stability, and he couldn''t be reckless about them.


    After checking everything, Khan reopened his eyes and unfastened his belt. Putting strength in his legs quickly revealed the lighter gravity, and that slight push almost sent him out of the cabin.


    Khan took things slowly. He waved his arms and bent his legs to get used to the different gravity before carefully stepping out of the cabin. He realized he had stopped breathing when he stepped on the ship''s tip, and augh tried to escape his mouth.


    ''Come on,'' Khan forced himself to calm down. ''I know the technique works.''


    Khan took a careful breath. The membrane around his head shrunk, but the gesture worked. He could breathe in open space, even if only for a few minutes.


    ''That''s two,'' Khan thought before lightly pushing himself to his left. The gesture generated a jump that made him cross the ship and slowlynd on the moon''s surface.


    ''Wow,'' Khan eximed in his mind as his mana blew away the sand umted on the rocky surface. He was walking on a moon, and the experience felt unreal.


    Khan forced himself to lift his gaze. He had limited time, and each second mattered, so he put strength into his legs to perform a real jump.


    The gesture pushed Khan far above his initial calctions. He rose for tens of meters, and the ship grew smaller in his eyes. However, he didn''t panic and released res of mana from his shoulders.


    The mana made Khan stop rising and pushed him down once his momentum dispersed. That lighter gravity didn''t allow him to fly freely but was enough to test his control, and he met his high expectations.


    Khan released res of mana from his sides, shoulders, and feet, obtaining the desired effects. Without gravity, that energy would give himplete control over his movements. Yet, on that moon, he eventually returned to the surface.


    ''That''s three,'' Khan eximed in his mind before checking the state of his membrane. ''I should have another minute.''


    Khan could test his techniques again, but one minute barely counted as training. He didn''t want to spend those valuable seconds like that, and the ship''s tip ultimately imed his attention.


    A weak jump brought Khan back on the ship, and he walked on its surface until he reached its tip. There wasn''t much space there, but Khan still sat down and crossed his legs.


    The universe filled Khan''s vision and made his thoughts wander. He almost couldn''t believe to have reached a simr point. Three years ago, he was nothing more than a boy from the Slums. Yet, now, even space couldn''t reject his presence.

 Chapter 471 Radola

    "Last chance!" The male announcer shouted.


    "Five million and one," The female announcer continued, "Five million and two, five million and three!"


    "No fucking way," Khan muttered, but the announcers'' following words forced him to ept the event.


    "Lord Vegner wins!" The male announcer dered. "Pandora congrattes you for adding such a promising piece to your collection."


    A round of apuse unfolded, but Khan''s gaze remained fixed on the stage. His mind struggled to realize how much money he had just earned while he watched his old knife disappear into the floor.


    "Khan," Monica called in a scolding tone from the nearby seat.


    Khan returned to reality and stood up, peeking past the gallery''s edge to find his benefactor. A heavily overweight man was searching for his figure from the seats below, and he performed a military salute to express his gratitude.


    "Can he even see me from down there?" Khan wondered.


    "Smile and let the apuse end," Monica ordered.


    Three days had passed since the dinner with George and Anita''s families. Khan had performed his second solo flight during the weekend, but the new week brought additional tasks, and the current auction was one of them.


    In theory, selling a second-grade knife was no big matter, but Khan''s involvement and presence made the apusest longer than usual. He had to remain in his military salute and exchange smiles with the other guests in the gallery for an entire minute before getting a chance to sit again.


    "Five fucking million," Khan sighed in disbelief as he almost crashed in his seat.


    "It''s three for you," Monica corrected. "Pandora will take forty percent, which is lucky in your position."


    "Three fucking million," Khan sighed again, making Monica giggle.


    "Who is that guy anyway?" Khan questioned once the amazement started to wear off. "Why is he a Lord?"


    "It''s nothing official," Monica exined. "It''s mostly a nickname meant to show respect. Lord Vegner has no family behind him, but his business made him rich enough to earn that title."


    "Which business?" Khan asked. "Is it rted to his crazy bid?"


    Khan''s knife had barely approached the three million when Lord Vegner made the winning bid. He raised the price by two million to secure the second-grade weapon.


    "Maybe," Monica replied, diverting her gaze when Khan looked for her eyes. "He is a famous benefactor of unknown artists and collector of strange items, so there might be no connection."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "What''s his business?" Khan asked again since he knew something was up.


    "Brothels," Monica revealed, finally showing her shy eyes to Khan. "He has many establishments, and rumors say a few can fulfill even the nastier requests."


    Khan''s face instantly grew cold. The topic wouldn''t usually trigger Monica''s shyness, so the matter had to be personal.


    "Is he trying to get to you?" Khan questioned.


    "His-," Monica diverted her gaze again, "His brothels only have male prostitutes."


    Khan frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Meanwhile, Monica peeked at him and covered her mouth to suppress a loud chuckle. Her previous reaction didn''te from shyness. She simply found it hard to exin the topic to Khan withoutughing.


    "So," Khan voiced as understanding filled his thoughts.


    "He might have taken a liking to you," Monica continued without hiding how funny she found the matter. "I don''t me him."


    Khan turned to face the stage and adjusted his position. He was no stranger to male prostitutes since the Slums also had them. Still, he didn''t expect to gain a benefactor for simr reasons, especially after bing a Captain.


    "Are brothels part of your family education?" Khan eventually joked.


    "I need to be aware of shady characters since it''s so hard to resist me," Monica yed along.


    "Someone is getting cocky," Khan teased while ncing at Monica. "Maybe I should stopplimenting you."


    "Rejected," Monica snickered. "If I get too cocky, you''ll have to deal with it."


    "You are such a handful," Khanughed.


    "And you love me anyway," Monica dered, stretching her right arm past the armchair to put it in Khan''s range.


    Khan had a joke ready, but his mood didn''t allow him to say it. He reached for Monica''s arm to take her hand since the gallery gave them more privacy, and his eyes remained on her. He had just gotten more Credits than he had ever hoped to earn, and Monica was the sole reason behind that.


    "I saw Lord Vegner''s business in action," Monica revealed as her attention returned to the stage. "It was Selma''s birthday, and she made her family purchase a spectacle. I can say Lord Vegner has good taste."


    Monica smiled and tightened her grip on Khan''s hand while waiting for a joke. She knew Khan would be jealous, but that would earn her the attention she loved. Yet, Khan''s silence eventually forced her to look at him.


    "Khan?" Monica called since Khan kept staring at her.


    "I will do unspeakable things to protect what we have," Khan warned.


    Monica didn''t expect such a serious statement during that joyous event, but its meaning was clear. She knew Khan didn''t love like a human, and his words proved how deeply he had fallen for her.


    "First, show me more of your love," Monica eximed. "Love me until I''m unable to go back."


    Khan performed a slow nod, and his eyes betrayed his desire. Monica fell prey to a simr feeling and forced herself to turn toward the stage. She couldn''t contain herself when Khan looked at her like that.


    "Just a few hours," Monica whispered words mostly meant for herself.


    Khan and Monica didn''t speak anymore. They had already decided what they wanted to do, so everything else moved to the backseat. They followed the auction, pped their hands when necessary, and drank, but they both counted the minutes that separated them from proper privacy.


    Khan''s knife wasn''t the main attraction. The auction was barely halfway done when that sale ended, so the couple had to wait almost two hours for the event to end.


    Sadly, the departure from the auction area reserved more surprises. Khan and Monica had just entered the main staircase when a big figure blocked their path.


    "Captain Khan, Miss Solodrey," Lord Vegner announced while performing a clumsy bow. "I hope I''m not interrupting anything."


    The couple''s stance wasn''t exactly appropriate in those circles. Monica clung to Khan''s elbow, keeping it tightly on her side. The Harbor had already seen them like that, but they were closer than usual that night, and anyone could see howfortable they were with each other.


    Khan could finally get a better look at the man. Lord Vegner was truly fat, and his belt only highlighted his ample belly. Still, his clothes were tailor-made for his size, which improved his tanned figure, and his short brown hair gave off a pleasant scent.


    Moreover, Lord Vegner was only a third-level warrior. Khan could feel the presence of a cloaking technique, but nothing escaped his senses. Strangely enough, the man expressed pure friendliness and interest.


    "Lord Vegner, right?" Khan felt the need to take the lead, especially since Lord Vegner had addressed him first. "You aren''t interrupting anything, sir. Actually, I''m lucky I got a chance to thank you personally."


    "Lord Vegner, it''s a pleasure to meet you," Monica stated without letting Khan go.


    "You have nothing to be grateful about, Captain," Lord Vegner chuckled as his chubby face created a harmless picture. "Your knife will be worth ten times what I paid it for in a few years. Mine was a simple investment."


    "I had the impression you were a collector, sir," Khan admitted.


    "I am," Lord Vegner revealed. "My estates are full of strange and exotic objects. If you are interested, I can n a tour."


    "I''m ttered, sir," Khan engaged in one of his polite responses, "But I don''t think I have the time. Though, I could settle for dinner."


    "I was only sticking to political formalities," Lord Vegnerughed. "You must be overwhelmed with homework, so don''t worry about the dinner. You don''t have to address me so politely either. I''m just a humble businessman."


    Khan and Monica kept their smiles wide, but the silence that followed brought awkwardness. Lord Vegner had yet to state the reason behind that conversation, and openly asking about it would sound impolite, especially to the man who had just given Khan millions.


    "Oh, sorry," Lord Vegnerughed again when he realized his mistake. "I''m actually a big fan of you, Captain. I have been since your exploits on Nitis, so meeting you in person makes me tense."


    "I''m not sure I''m worthy of such praises," Khan replied as his fake smile tried to falter.


    "Captain, I evaluate men for a living," Lord Vegner pressed on. "Trust me when I say that mere praises barely touch your value."


    "Lord Vegner speaks the truth," Monica found the chance to join the conversation. "Why do you think I''m keeping you close?"


    "It seems we stand on the same side, Miss Solodrey," Lord Vegner''s dark eyes lit up. "Do you mind sharing a few secrets about the Captain? I''m sure we can seal a fair deal."


    "Being the only one who knows Captain Khan''s secrets is the best deal," Monica giggled. "I''m sure Lord Vegner agrees."


    "A tough opponent," Lord Vegnerughed. "I guess I have to give up for now but don''t consider me defeated so soon."


    ''Give up on what exactly?'' Khan thought while trying to figure out Lord Vegner''s intentions. Everything pointed toward a simple, friendly talk, but it still felt too random.


    "Anyhow, don''t let me steal any more of your time," Lord Vegner continued. "I just wanted to meet you in person and state my allegiance. You have many friends in the Global Army, Captain, more than you realize."


    Lord Vegner performed another clumsy bow before going back to climbing the staircase. Monica and Khan let a few seconds pass before imitating him, and cold thoughts inevitably arrived.


    That wasn''t the first time Khan heard the word "friend" in those contexts. Colonel Norrett had said something simr before his promotion, which created a possible connection between Lord Vegner and Raymond.


    However, many variables had joined Khan''s understanding of the political environment. Powerful factions that went beyond the Global Army and families existed and operated in mysterious ways to reach different goals. The Hive was one of them, and Khan didn''t know whether to put Raymond and Lord Vegner there.


    ''He can''t be just a fan, can he?'' Khan wondered while leaving the auction area and reaching for the roof with his booked car. ''Is he interested in the Nak too? Did Raymond send him to help me financially?''


    Finding an answer to those questions was impossible. Khan could only develop vague hypotheses thatcked vital clues. He was learning a lot, but finding out the actual intentions of such influential and elusive figures required more than simple dinners and asional talks.


    ''Strange and exotic objects,'' Khan eventually repeated in his mind. ''Was that a hint? Does he have something Nak-rted?''


    Khan took a mental note about Lord Vegner. Thework had to have more clues, and he nned to find them. Yet, those thoughts couldn''t survive once the privacy of the cab arrived.


    Monica let go of Khan''s elbow to climb on him. She sat on hisp, taking his head between her palms while an entranced expression filled her face. Lord Vegner had been a distraction, but she didn''t forget the mood that had ruled thest part of the auction.


    "Do you have to go to the training hall tonight?" Monica whispered while closing her eyes andying her forehead on Khan''s.


    "Even I would copse after more than a week awake," Khan matched Monica''s tone and also closed his eyes to let his other senses experience her.


    Monica drew her waist closer before voicing another question. "What about the inteary regtion''s notes?"


    "Read them in the trips between the t and the hangars," Khan responded.


    "Interspecies treaties?" Monica continued.


    "I''ll review them before tomorrow''s lessons," Khan stated.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Basic diplomatic theories?" Monica pressed on.


    "I''ll study the notes in the breaks among tomorrow''s sses," Khan exined.


    "And review everything on the weekend," Monica added.


    "And review everything on the weekend," Khan repeated.


    "So," Monica announced, letting go of Khan''s head to wrap her arms around his neck, "Are you mine tonight?"


    "I''m always yours," Khan honestly said, and the symphony told him how much Monica liked those words.


    "You know what I mean," Monica held back a bit longer. "Can I let go tonight?"


    Monica didn''t hide her true self from Khan, but his many tasks forced her to limit her more annoying and time-consuming sides. She took small acts of revenge whenever a chance appeared, but Khan''s career remained her priority.


    However, Khan was about to have a free night in which he wouldn''t sleep much anyway. That was Monica''s chance to be a simple girlfriend in love, which she desperately desired. She only needed Khan to flick that switch since she was scared of unleashing her crazy side by herself.


    "I would be mad if you didn''t," Khan whispered, and Monica barely let him finish his line before trapping his lips into a long kiss.


    "I can''t wait to reach the t," Monica panted. "Khan, hold me."


    Khan had started to move before Monica''s words could reach his ears. He shared her mental state. He wanted to be a simple boyfriend for a night, so he grabbed her back to pull her into another kiss.


    A buzzing noise resounded among the passenger''s seats, forcing the couple to split. Khan pulled out his phone, and Monica didn''t refrain from expressing anger when she read the name on the screen.


    "Fuck you!" Monica shouted at the phone. "Do yourundry instead of ruining our night!"


    Monica''s outburst didn''t stop there, but Khan pulled her head on his shoulder to turn her shouts into muffledints. Meanwhile, he brought the phone to his ear and mustered the entirety of his self-restraint to avoid sounding pissed. "Professor Nickton, to what do I owe the pleasure?"


    "I''ve finished the report you requested," Professor Nickton exined. "Come to theb to get it."


    "Sir, it''s-," Khan began to say, but the Professor interrupted him. "Yes, it''ste, so hurry."


    Professor Nickton ended the call before Khan could add anything, and he instinctively bumped the back of his head on the metal surface behind him. Khan even stopped keeping Monica still, and the expression that appeared in his vision made his mana boil.


    "It''s okay," Monica whispered, trying her best to hide her disappointment. "I''ll wait-."


    Monica couldn''t finish her line since Khan sealed her lips with his thumb. Her questioning eyes followed him while he added new instructions to the car''s menus, and she widened them when hey her down on the seats.


    "Why wait?" Khan muttered while setting Monica''s mouth free and sliding his hands over her legs. She understood what was happening even before Khan lifted her skirt, but shyness didn''t arrive. Her fingers were already unbuttoning his pants by the time their lips met again.


    .


    .


    .


    Professor Nickton didn''t grant Khan''s car ess to the specifding area, so he had to reach the sidewalk, enter the building, and use the elevator to reach theb.


    Khan found Professor Nickton tinkering with hologramsing out of one of the three interactive desks when he entered theb. The ce was as dirty as always, and the Professor''s clothes weren''t any better.


    "Professor, I''m here," Khan called since the Professor seemed to have no intention of turning.


    "I know," Professor Nickton waved his hand dismissively without moving his eyes from the holograms. "Get your report and leave."


    "Sir, my request involved a short exnation," Khan revealed.


    "Did it?" Professor Nickton wondered, finally turning toward Khan. Yet, the dark-red mark partially hidden by the shirt''s cor made the Professor change his question. "Did you always have that mole?"


    Khan had to take out his phone and use it as a mirror to understand what the Professor meant, and seeing the dark-red mark opened the way for his shameless self. "Sir, it''s lipstick."


    "Oh, pity," Professor Nickton eximed, bending forward to make sure that Khan was telling the truth. "I thought it was an unknown mutation."


    "It would have been blue in my case," Khan pointed out.


    "That''s why I was interested," Professor Nickton replied before looking at an empty interactive desk. "You used your merit points for this, so I guess I can''t refuse."


    Professor Nickton approached the empty desk and yed with its menus to make them release holograms that reached the ceiling. The images took the shape of a strange bird that Khan had studied as thoroughly as possible in thest period.


    "This is a Rad," Professor Nickton exined. "It''s Lauter''s apex predator and king of its sky. We think the had other flying species in the past, but the Rad wiped them out."


    Khan already knew that, but thework didn''t have such a detailed image, so he lost himself in the holograms. The Rad was a giant bird, at least five meters long, with two pairs of big wings and a long but slim neck.


    The holograms didn''t show it, but the Rad had red feathers. They could be paler or darker, but their color was usually fixed. A few exceptions had appeared throughout the years due to mutations, but they were sporadic and often died soon.


    The Rad''s long and bulky beaks were an iconic feature of that species, but experts preferred to focus on another detail. Those Tainted birds had no legs or talons. Anatomically, they couldn''tnd.


    "Structurally," Professor Nickton continued, zooming in on the holograms to highlight the creature''s insides, "The Rad are fragile. These Tainted animals fly in their sleep since they can ride the softest gales, whiches at the cost of light bones and muscles. Their innate defense is rtively weak.


    "However, they move in packs, and their aggression is fearsome. They attack any foreign shape in their territory, and the same goes for members of their species with unusual shades."


    Khan was no stranger to those notions. In theory, the Rad''s innate aggression could be a big problem, but the missile put that feature on Khan''s side. Many specimens would gather around the falling weapon, increasing the overall number of casualties.


    "Their beaks allow them to swallow their prey whole," Professor Nickton added, and the holograms simted the Rad''s feeding process. "Their necks are flexible and stic. In theory, the Rad can swallow full-grown men, but their instincts make them avoid that."


    ''They only kill them and let them rot in the ocean,'' Khan thought before addressing the core of the matter. "Professor, I contacted you for your expertise. I need to learn their unique abilities and asional mutations."


    "Sadly," Professor Nickton eximed, "The Rad''s innate aggression makes any umon mutation or unique specimens go extinct. As such, their entire species only has two main families."


    ''Sadly for you,'' Khan thought. He understood Professor Nickton''s scientific perspective, but the limited number of variables in the Rad made his mission easier.


    Professor Nickton tinkered with the interactive desk, making the holograms split into two simr figures. Both images depicted Rad, but small differences existed.


    "Experts in the field gave this family the name hunters," Professor Nickton exined while pointing at the specimen on the right. "These Rad are slimmer, faster, but also weaker. They can bend light to turn themselves invisible to their prey in the sea, but their battle capabilities are quite poor."


    "The other family ismonly referred to as fighters," Professor Nickton continued when he moved to the specimen on the left. "They are bigger, tougher, and stronger than the hunters. They are slower but have actual offensive abilities. Their ice element gives them fearsome battle prowess near the sea''s surface."


    "Do you have examples of said battle prowess?" Khan questioned, and his interest in the matter made him forget about addressing the Professor properly. Of course, thetter didn''t even notice that.


    "No thanks to those butchers from the embassy," Professor Nickton snorted while ying with the desk once again. The two specimens grew smaller to make way for arge screen that stretched through half of theb and captivated Khan''s attention.


    A detailed video soon began to y on the screen. Six ships armed with four cannons each fired in precise directions to iste a small pack of Rad. The camera stood above them, so Khan could see the vehicles establishing a perimeter to corner those Tainted animals.


    Still, the Rad were close enough to the sea''s surface to use its water, and many icy pirs grew from it before flying toward the ships. The attack was far from coordinated but showed a fearsome battle prowess. Twenty or so Tainted animals had been able to create more than forty frozen bullets.


    The Rad''s offensive wasn''t precise, but the ship''s perimeter worked in its favor and made it hit a few enemies. Some vehicles saw their hulls pierced by those icy pirs, which forced a deadly reaction out of them.


    Of course, the Rad couldn''t do anything under the all-out assault of the six battleships. All the Tainted animals died in a matter of minutes, and the video ended.


    "Butchers," Professor Nickton cursed while turning off the interactive table.


    "Sir?" Khan called, hoping that the Professor had something else for him.


    "Just connect your phone to the desk to download the full report," Professor Nickton announced dismissively. "Leave afterward. I have work to do."


    Khan didn''t hesitate toply. He couldn''t wait to return to his t and enjoy his sweet time with his girlfriend before finally getting some rest. Yet, when he began to interact with the desk, Professor Nickton mentioned another issue.


    "Captain," Professor Nickton called, "If you get your hands on rtively intact specimens during your mission, bring them to me. I''ll give you merit points or something else. You decide."


    "Will you study them, sir?" Khan questioned, intrigued by that side mission.


    "Study, update the Harbor''s records, and smelt them into synthetic mana," Professor Nickton casually exined as a different interactive desk imed his attention.


    Khan was no stranger to that procedure. Beasts'' King''s waiter had already partially hinted at the topic, but Khan was in the same room with an expert now, and his curiosity was hard to contain.


    "Is that how mana is synthesized?" Khan asked. "Does the Global Army use Tainted animals?"


    "That''s one of the epted procedures," Professor Nickton replied, even if his eyes remained on the desk''s menus. "You can also filter it from the right environment or concoct it through a specific process."


    Khan couldn''t help but find the matter odd. The first two methods didn''t sound sustainable. They were bound to lead to an exhaustion of that resource, which forced a deeper question out of Khan.


    "Where does manae from?" Khan questioned. "Earth got it from the Nak, but where did they get it?"


    Professor Nickton ended up peeking past his shoulder to look at Khan. The question had attracted his attention since it involved an exciting topic, and his dismissive behavior didn''t arrive in that situation.


    "There are many theories," Professor Nickton eximed, turning to face Khan. "Aren''t you studying them?"


    "I want to hear your opinion, sir," Khan opted for a blunt approach.


    "Well," Professor Nickton muttered, scratching his unkempt beard. "It''s possible that mana has always been around, just far away from Earth. It''s a very aggressive form of energy, and expansion is in its nature, so it makes sense for it to end up on inhabiteds eventually."


    "Aggressive?" Khan repeated.


    "You should know better than most," Professor Nickton stated. "Mana infects any unprotected organism and changes it forever. The process might take longer in some circumstances but remains inevitable."


    "So, was it just out of reach?" Khan asked.


    "Probably," Professor Nickton partially confirmed. "Mana can also be the result of a mutation. A form of energy that evolved into a higher form of energy. Anything is possible."


    "The expansion part," Khan returned to the previous statement, "Wouldn''t that limit its range?"


    "It depends," Professor Nickton dered. "Organisms that carry mana often end up leaking some into the environment. You and I unconsciously do that, and the same goes for nts and other living beings. You are part of the cycle as soon as mana touches you."


    Professor Nickton avoided mentioning many details, but Khan didn''t me him. He was in no position to understand scientific speeches, and the exnation still conveyed the human perspective perfectly.


    "See yourself out," Professor Nickton eximed when he understood that Khan had nothing else to say, "And don''t forget my Rad. I want at least a few internal organs intact."

 Chapter 472 Tour

    Khan managed to stuff three dinners with his ssmates'' families in the two weeks that followed his meeting with Professor Nickton. Except for them, his routine remained mostly the same, with only the solo flights being a variable that disturbed his otherwise fixed schedule.


    Of course, those disturbances didn''t create many problems. After all, Khan could only spend a limited amount of time outside the domes. The ships'' small tanks always forced him to return to the Harbor quickly, but he didn''t dare to miss out on them, especially with the approaching test.


    When the week ended, Khan had seventeen official flights under his belt. He only needed three more to gain ess to the test that would grant him the license. He was almost done with that course, and his excitement kept him awake during one of the rare nights reserved for his rest.


    Khan''s eyes wandered around his bedroom''s ceiling without looking for anything specific. He wasn''t actually there. At least, his mind wasn''t. His thoughts had gone back to the afternoon when he was pushing the ship to its limits on the moon.


    ''Two more weeks,'' Khan thought, ''Three tests, and I''m done. Getting a shipes next.''


    Khan counted the days separating him from the next flight. The week would restart in the morning, so the situation didn''t look good. Still, he couldn''t find the strength to feel annoyed when his goal was so close.


    In theory, Khan didn''t need to limit his flights to the weekend. The Headmistress was paying for almost everything, so he could take ships out of the Harbor during school days. He didn''t because the mission was a priority now.


    The imminent license wasn''t the only reason behind Khan''s inability to feel annoyed. His day had been great, and his night had been even better. The woman sleeping on his right shoulder proved that, and her random snore eventually attracted his attention.


    When Monica''s sleeping face entered Khan''s vision, his thoughts seemed to disappear. That rare free night had given them a chance to express their feelings adequately, and the room''s symphony still carried traces of their affection. It was almost incredible how such wild influences could create such a cozy and peaceful environment.


    Monica''s mana grew peaceful whenever Khan resumed caressing her. She also let out soft moans and slightly snuggled on him from time to time to express herfort. Her sleep couldn''t stop those reactions, and Khan had long since memorized them.


    The urge to wake up Monica tried to make its way inside Khan''s mind. He wanted her. He couldn''t stop wanting her. Yet, watching her sleep fulfilled another side of his love, which he couldn''t refuse. The peace her presence created was almost intoxicating, and Khan couldn''t get enough of that.


    ''How did she even do it?'' Khan couldn''t help but wonder.


    Monica had been innocent in her approach to the rtionship. Her feelings had been genuine since her very first kiss, and that had never changed. That purity was odd for someone with a simr upbringing, but Khan could exin it.


    Outcasts had many forms, and Monica was a peculiar case. She hid her true character behind elegant and polite manners, but Khan had given her a chance to bloom. Her purity sounded obvious in that context. As for her courage, that was the astonishing aspect.


    ''You trusted me so openly,'' Khan thought. ''You must have been so scared.''


    Khan felt the need to leave a kiss on Monica''s head, and a smile broadened on her face afterward. She was still asleep, but her mana had felt that gesture.


    ''Now what?'' Khan wondered while pulling Monica closer.


    A nce at the phone told Khan that morning was still many hours away. He should sleep, but his brain was fully awake, and the desire to watch Monica a bit longer added fuel to his state. He could feel his umted exhaustion, but his thoughts didn''t let him give in to it.


    Out of habit, Khan unlocked his phone to check the news. Monica and Lucian had be third-level warriors, so articles about them hade out. Madam Wildon had also stayed true to her word, putting George at the center of many interviews, with some even reporting his recent infusion.


    Thework obviously had articles about Khan. He had stayed put in the past weeks, but his fame wasn''t easy to disperse. Multiple sites about him had appeared, and a few even spoke about his potential rtionship with Monica.


    Those sites didn''t have actual proof, but clues had started to umte. Khan found a picture of himself from when he met Professor Nickton. Someone had managed to take a glimpse of the dark-red mark on his neck, connecting it with the lipstick Monica wore that night.


    Thements were even worse. People kept track of Khan''s schedule and shared it on thework, inevitably involving Monica in it. Anyone paying attention could see that she never returned to her t in the seventh district, and the site made sure to report that.


    The old Khan would have found the matter surprising, but he had been famous for a while, and everything had escted after the Princess. He had learnt how that environment worked, so he didn''t worry. He would have to kiss Monica in the open to make things official, and people would hesitate due to her background, even in that case.


    ''Madam Solodrey might have to make an official statement at this pace,'' Khan found the matter funny.


    After reviewing the news, Khan moved to a topic that had caught his interest in the past weeks. He had ended up looking for information about Lord Vegner, even using his clearance to get ssified reports, and some of his guesses had turned out to be true.


    Incriminating connections grew firmer in Khan''s mind while he scrolled through a long list of pictures. He had found part of Lord Vegner''s collections, and many items featured mutations caused by the Nak''s mana. Rumors on thework even stated that he had a few Nak''s cores in one of his estates.


    Khan didn''t believe everything he read, but the connection with Raymond felt obvious. It would make sense for a collector interested in Nak-rted items to work with him. He simply didn''t know how that rtionship worked. It could be purely financial, as far as he knew.


    ''Why can''t people just tell me what they want?'' Khan cursed in his mind before disregarding his phone to turn toward Monica again. The exhaustion was finally getting to his head, so he nned to nestle among her curls and fall asleep.


    Nevertheless, a message reached Khan''s phone before he could proceed, and the name on the screen hinted at something urgent.


    ''The main ship just reached the Harbor,'' Lucian wrote. ''I can give you a tour.''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''When?'' Khan texted.


    ''Meet me in hangar 3 in two hours,'' Lucian replied. ''Unless you want to postpone.''


    ''I''ll be there,'' Khan promised and put away his phone. It seemed that the very universe was against him resting that night.


    Khan tried his best to be silent, but Monica was on his shoulder, and the pillows were in random spots in the room. Monica remained asleep when he sneaked out of bed, but her eyes opened when he put a cushion under her head.


    "Is it morning already?" Monica asked in a sleepy tone.


    "Lucian called," Khan exined shortly, rubbing Monica''s cheek to ease her way back to sleep. "I have to go."


    "Kiss," Monica whined.


    Khanplied, leaving a kiss on Monica''s lips and forehead before adjusting the pillows. He even pulled up the messy nket to make her morefortable.


    "Kiss for good luck," Monica whined again, but a smirk appeared on her face at that time.


    "I have this for good luck," Khan whispered, slipping a hand under the nket to squeeze Monica''s butt. She giggled and reached for Khan''s face to pull him into another kiss.


    The two separated shortly after, and Khan went into a different bedroom to get a clean military uniform. He left his t in a matter of minutes, and a car was already waiting for him when he arrived on the sidewalk.


    The second district was distant from the hangars, but two hours were more than enough to reach them. Khan would actually have to wait for Lucian. Still, he was on par with his studies, so he took a nap during the trip.


    The driver''s voiceing out of the speaker interrupted the nightmare and awakened Khan once the ride was over. The nap didn''t disperse all his exhaustion, but he rubbed his eyes and left the car anyway to make his way into the hangar area.


    A look at the phone told Khan that he was early, but a familiar presence touched his senses once he entered hangar 3. Lucian was there, wearing a military uniform with three stars on his right shoulder and talking to a group of soldiers.


    Khan was approaching Lucian from behind, but the soldiers'' reactions revealed his presence and made him turn. A vague smile appeared on Lucian''s face, and the words that followed expressed his satisfaction. "Captain, early as expected."


    "I couldn''t sleep," Khan casually said before nodding at the military salute performed by the soldiers.


    "I hope I didn''t interrupt anything," Lucian said in a polite tone, but his voice gained a teasing purpose when it reached Khan''s ears.


    "I was killing time on thework," Khan feigned ignorance. "Are we allowed to speak here?"


    Khan was genuinely curious about the ship, but the soldiers could be outsiders. Speaking openly in front of unwanted ears might lead to problems.


    "No," Lucian directly stated. "Follow me. They should be ready by the time we get there."


    Khanplied, following Lucian silently while he made his way through the hangar. The two ended up walking into the many corridors outside the area, and Lucian didn''t hold back from starting a casual conversation once some privacy arrived.


    "The doctors have yet to clear me," Lucian voiced while patting his left shoulder, "But I''m confident in getting my second third star once that happens."


    "I''m sure your family already has tailor-made spells ready for you," Khanmented.


    "It does," Lucian confirmed. "We actually have a vault with many spells collected over the years. I think it''s almost a century old now."


    Khan pretended not to notice the hidden meaning behind that boasting, and Lucian was smart enough to take the silence for an answer. Wealth couldn''t make Khan falter, and human spells weren''t too interesting for him.


    "Did you check your site?" Lucian wondered. "You gathered quite the fanbase. They even know when your team practice ends."


    "The tech expert is leaking info," Khan revealed. "He takes pictures of me whenever I leave the training hall."


    "Why didn''t you fire him?" Lucian frowned.


    "He is good and cheap," Khan exined. "He should ask five times his current pay, but I never heard a singleint."


    The tech expert was a core part of the mission. That role was more important than the gunners due to the many calctions and responsibilities it involved. Khan was willing to trade a few harmless pictures for the sake of his career. Besides, firing Seth wouldn''t save him from the consequences of his fame.


    "Compromises," Lucian praised. "The foundation of good leadership."


    "I''m not really leading," Khan admitted. "I''m just putting most of the mission on my shoulders."


    "Is that the right choice?" Lucian questioned.


    "You didn''t give me much to work with," Khan stated. "I hope the unavoidable expenses are worth it."


    "You''ll be the judge of that," Lucian teased, and Khan couldn''t help but feel interested. He didn''t have the best rtionship with Lucian, but ships had priority.


    The conversation ended on those words. Lucian opted for silence since he knew Khan preferred it in that context. He would have attempted to talk a bit more under normal circumstances, but risking worsening things with Khan wasn''t worth it when his mission was at stake.


    The walksted for minutes, and a few soldiers even escorted the two when they reached specific corridors. It took a bit, but Khan and Lucian eventually entered a circr hall with a familiar oval machine at its center. The consoles near the walls almost were an unnecessary clue there. Khan knew he was in front of a teleport.


    "Come here," Lucian called when one of the soldiers at the consoles searched for his gaze. "I''m sure you''ll like the scenery."


    Khan followed Lucian to the console, and his eyes widened when he looked at the screen. The monitor showed a giant ship flying toward the Harbor''s moon. ording to the numbers on the machine, that vehicle could fill an entire dome by itself.


    "The Harbor doesn''t have hangars for this ss of ships," Lucian exined. "They usuallynd on the moon when the situation requires it, but we are sending it directly toward Lauter."


    "Does it have a teleport?" Khan asked due to the current location.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yes, even if with limited range," Lucian revealed. "Don''t worry. These expenses won''t add up to your mission."


    "Sir, we have established a connection," One of the soldiers on the consoles shouted toward Khan and Lucian.


    "Good job," Lucian praised while ncing at Khan. "Captain, do you want to see how it looks from the inside?"


    Khan didn''t want to give Lucian anything he could use, so he limited himself to nodding. The two stepped on the teleport, and synthetic mana filled the machine before activating its functions.


    The teleport couldn''t do anything to Khan. He didn''t experience any side-effect after a different circr hall unfolded in his vision. The environment had changed, and his senses never stopped studying the environment.


    Khan''s eyes darted left and right. The new teleport area couldn''t reveal much, but the people on the consoles were the first clue. They had white medical coats instead of military uniforms. They were specialized personnel who didn''t show allegiance to the Global Army.


    "Master Lucian," A bald, middle-aged woman bowed when Lucian''s gaze focused on her. "The ship is ready for the inspection."


    "Give us a tour, Vi," Lucian ordered, jumping off the teleport. He didn''t need to nce at Khan since he followed closely behind him.


    Exiting the teleport showed more differences. Many saw the Harbor as a glorified space station, but it limited the number of ustrophobic areas iconic of those structures. Lucian''s ship didn''t even try to do that, and the narrow corridors and cabins Khan noticed confirmed that idea.


    The personnel met during the walk also added value to Khan''s initial impression. The group encountered many soldiers with no special tasks, and they all prioritized showing respect to Lucian. The Global Army''s ranks didn''t seem to matter much up there.


    Those thoughts vanished when a long and spacious hall unfolded in Khan''s view. He entered an area divided into two floors connected by simple metal staircases. The lower part mostly had consoles and specialists, while the upper side had multiple holographic screens and a structure he recognized.


    ''How big is that control desk?'' Khan shouted in his mind at the sight of the machine standing at the center of the second floor.


    "Vi, it seems we got Captain Khan''s interest," Lucianughed. "Come and take a look. I''m sure the boss won''t mind."


    Khan snapped out of his amazement when Lucian headed for one of the metal staircases. He followed him and even ignored Vi performing a military salute and waiting on the lower floor.


    Lucian nodded left and right whenever the personnel called his name. Those interactions neversted too long, and the soldiers always went back to their tasks afterward, but the situation changed when the duo approached the control desk.


    "Master Lucian, the control desk is a private area," The burly man standing in front of the central machine scolded without bothering to turn, "Not a tourist destination."


    "Boss Edcoll is the pilot and Captain of the ship," Lucian exined while stopping a few meters behind the burly man. "Boss, this is Captain Khan. He is weeks away from getting his pilot license."


    Khan didn''t really care about Boss Edcoll. That spot at the center of the upper floor granted him a unique perspective on the various holograms. He felt unable to lower his gaze when so much was happening in the scenes around him.


    On the right, multiple holograms were keeping track of the ship''s course, obviously including the gravitational pull and other interferences of thes in the system.


    On the left, the holograms kept track of the ship''s integrity, from the hull to the multiple engines and central core. Khan even saw a corner checking the state of the weapons onboard.


    As for the holograms in the hall''s front, they showed what the ship''s scanners were recording. Khan could see the universe and the Harbor in the distance, and the onboardputer even added a grid to make everything easier to understand.


    Khan couldn''t help but look at the control desk once his inspection of the holograms ended. He even tilted himself to his left to peek past Boss Edcoll''s big figure, and his eyes darted to no end.


    The ship''s control desk was at least four times what Khan had grown used to during his flights. Such a big vehicle obviously had more functions, but it still felt odd to be unaware of the purpose of so many keys.


    "He is a lively one," Boss Edcollmented before Khan''s evident excitement.


    "Is that area meant for weapon control?" Khan wondered while pointing at the control desk''s left side. "What''s the purpose of the consoles down there?"


    Boss Edcoll showed some surprise, and Lucian nodded when he nced at him.


    "Leviathan ss ships have many security protocols," Boss Edcoll exined. "Especially when involving weapons."


    "But you can overrule them, right?" Khan questioned while still checking every corner of the hall. "Protocol 201-1 enforces martialw and gives the ship''s Captainplete control over most functions."


    "This ship doesn''t belong to the Global Army," Lucianmented.


    "But this quadrant does," Khan pointed out, "So the ship falls under the Global Army''s regtions."


    Lucian''sment had been an instinctive boasting that carried no real value, but seeing Boss Edcoll''s slow nod revealed that Khan''s words were spot on. He actually knew more than Lucian in that specific field.


    Of course, Lucian didn''t feel annoyed or angry. Seeing another proof of Khan''s expertise put a confident smile on his face. He had chosen that figure for his mission. He deserved a share of the praises.


    "Captain Khan, did you get your fill of the main desk?" Lucian eventually questioned.


    "I''d need days for that," Khan admitted. Still, time was short, and the morning was only a few hours away, so he straightened his position and nodded at his employer.


    "Until next time, Boss Edcoll," Lucian politely stated before heading toward the metal staircase. Boss Edcoll didn''t bother to perform salutes but exchanged a simple nce with Khan when he smiled at him.


    Vi resumed her role as a guide once Khan and Lucian reunited with her, and the group left the main desk to head to the lower parts of the ships. It took a few minutes, but they eventually reached a maic railroad with cabins able to cross most of the vehicle in a short time.


    Lucian knew that speaking was pointless, but his confident smile remained. Khan couldn''t hide his interest in that immense vehicle, and noticing Lucian''s reaction didn''t do much to his state. He couldn''t care about giving things away in front of such magnificence.


    Most of the math behind Lucian''s mission became clear as Khan''s knowledge fused with the images captured by his eyes. A leviathan ss needed a crew of at least a hundred men to operate, and Lucian''s ship probably had more than that. When Khan added fuel and weapons to those costs, the expenses stated in the reports actually felt too low.


    The cabin led the group to a vast hangar filled with multiple ships, and Vi led Khan and Lucian among them to show off the Hencus family''s wealth. That area alone seemed to contain more Credits than the entire Harbor, and Lucian had been able to summon it with his influence.


    "Oh, there it is," Lucian eventually announced when a small battleship unfolded in the group''s vision. The vehicle was rectangr, with four cannons at its sides and two engines on its back. Its metal was also pale blue, probably meant to mask it on Lauter.


    Vi stopped in her tracks while Lucian and Khan approached the ship. Its side doors were open, so the two could inspect its insides and check its general state. A mere look at its control desk told Khan he could fly it, and his knowledge added details that only a test ride could provide.


    ''This is quite fast and nimble,'' Khan thought while spreading his arms to gain a better grasp of the ship''s size. ''It''s a good ship.''


    "You''ll get down with this during the mission," Lucian announced during Khan''s inspection. "I hope it matches your requirements."


    "It might be too much even," Khan admitted, entering the cabin to memorize its contents.


    "It depletes the same fuel as other ships," Lucian exined. "I found no reason to hold back. Obviously, any damage will lead to expensive reparations."


    "I have established a security protocol for that," Khan revealed.


    "That''s reassuring," Lucian stated. "Still, if the situation requires it, I can afford to lose this ship as long as I get the outpost."


    Another hidden message reached Khan''s ears, and the privacy of the ship made him voice a rather straightforwardment. "I get it. Your family has more of these."


    "Not as many as you might think," Lucian dered, "Especially this leviathan ss. I think we have only four or five of them."


    That was a lie Lucian didn''t even bother to hide. Khan knew he would never reveal the true number of ships his family owned. Lucian was only giving Khan a vague idea of how rich he was.


    Khan ignored Lucian and continued to inspect the ship, but thetter decided to speak more openly. "Captain, why don''t we stop squabbling? We can help each other. We simply have to allow ourselves to do it."


    "I might still fail at this mission," Khan remarked. "You should wait for after my sess for additional offers."


    "If you seed," Lucian eximed, "The Solodrey family will get to you before anyone else. This is my only opportunity to get an edge over them."


    Khan couldn''t help but shoot a cold nce at Lucian, and thetter didn''t hesitate to exin himself. "Don''t take me wrong. This goes beyond that interesting topic of yours. Even without Miss Solodrey''s involvement, her family would still have priority."


    Lucian''s words were urate. Khan had gotten his spot in the Harbor thanks to the Solodrey family, which granted them multiple advantages when trying to recruit him. It would be seen as offensive to refuse offers after what they had given him.


    "I''ll see after the mission," Khan didn''t change his mind. "It''s pointless to make ns right now."


    "On the contrary," Lucian objected. "Still, I respect your decision. I just want you to keep something in mind."


    "Which is?" Khan asked.


    "You''ll always be apdog if you make things too easy for them," Lucian dered, "Andpdogs don''t get the princess."


    Khan wanted to resume inspecting the ship to hide his reactions, but those words touched the right keys in his mind. Lucian was onto something. To paraphrase, Khan needed the Solodrey family to see him as more than a soldier to get Monica.


    "Let me guess," Khan voiced. "You want to help with that."


    "I could give you an insane offer right below the Solodrey family''s limits," Lucian suggested. "I''d obviously make the matter public, which would force their hand."


    Khan didn''t need to ask if that n would work. He knew it would since Lucian had suggested it. The problemsy elsewhere.


    "All of this to get me on your payroll," Khanmented.


    "I changed my mind about that long ago," Lucian scoffed. "You can be a valuable ally and push me into the upper echelon of my family. You just have to choose what kind of rtionship we can have."


    Khan didn''t answer. He simply couldn''t in that situation. His silence was his best weapon when his opponent wielded all the avable cards.


    "Captain, everyone knows your goals," Lucian stated. "Scoring a job in the embassy will put you on the right path. With my family or Monica''s help, you''d even get into a proper diplomatic office. You just have to choose how you want to y it."


    ****


    Author''s thoughts: Shoutout to DaGrumb for the Magic Castle!

 Chapter 473 Mission

    Lucian''s words lingered in Khan''s mind more than he wanted to admit, but other problems required his attention. With the leviathan ss in the Harbor''s system, the mission could officially start, and dying it would only increase the overall expenses.


    The team could benefit from more simtions, but everyone had already met Khan''s requirements, so he finalized the preparations and got everything ready by the end of the following week. When the weekend started, the mission went online.


    Khan, Lieutenant yman, Tyler, Leona, Manuel, and Seth teleported into Lucian''s ship early in the morning and followed Vi toward the appointed vehicle. The leviathan ss had reached Lauter by then, so the team only had to take their position to greenlight the mission.


    Tension inevitably spread when the team reached the rectangr ship in the hangar. Tyler''s mana was a mess, and the two gunners weren''t any better. Seth was somewhat calmer than hispanions, but even he showed signs of anxiety. Only Lieutenant yman appeared perfectly still, but his easy role could justify that.


    As for Khan, he was far better than hispanions, without a tinge of anxiety in his mind. He actually felt rxed since he could finally carry his knife in the open. Also, the imminent arrival in an area full of natural mana put him in a good mood.


    "Come on, people," Khan called when he saw the initial procedures falling behind schedule. "We only have to confirm that everything is how we left it."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "The cannons are loaded and ready, sir," Leona announced.


    "And we won''t empty them, boss," Manuel reassured, without hiding his joking tone.


    "Security protocols ready for activation, sir," Lieutenant yman added.


    "All of them?" Khan questioned.


    "All of them," Lieutenant yman confirmed.


    "The turrets are in position," Seth continued. "I''ve started a simtion. Once it ends, we are good to go."


    "Tyler?" Khan called.


    "The ship''s tank is full," Tyler stammered. "The control desk is online. We are ready for set-off."


    "Alright, stand by," Khan ordered. "We must wait for Seth''s simtions."


    The tension intensified in the following seconds. The team hadpleted many simtions and checked the actual ship in the previous days, but the real deal hit differently. Still, they found reassurance in the fact that most of them wouldn''t face any danger.


    Multiple nces fell on Khan during the wait. Most of the missiony on his shoulders, but he was the calmest of the bunch. He remained perfectly in control while holograms shed in his eyes and updated him about the preparations.


    ''Lapdog,'' Khan sighed in his mind. ''Maybe it has always been impossible to get there on my own.''


    "Simtion twenty percentplete!" Seth announced.


    ''Do I have topromise myself?'' Khan wondered. ''Is it necessary?''


    "Simtion thirty percentplete!" Seth continued.


    ''That''s better than killing,'' Khan realized. ''It can''t be worse than the vige by theke.''


    "Simtion fifty percentplete!" Seth added.


    ''For love, it would be worth it,'' Khan considered.


    "Simtion seventy percentplete!" Seth shouted.


    ''But is Lucian the best I can get?'' Khan wondered.


    "Simtion ny percentplete!" Seth eximed, and silence spread among Khan''s thoughts.


    "Simtionplete!" Seth eventually followed. "We are good to go, sir!"


    "Calcte the ideal target," Khan ordered.


    "Calcting, sir," Seth responded.


    The tension reached a critical point in those seconds. There would be no turning back after the next order, but no one panicked, at least not openly. Khan''s presence seemed able to suppress those reactions now that pure seriousness reeked out of his figure.


    "Ideal target found, sir," Seth stated.


    A few gasps resounded, and even Khan hesitated. Seconds went by as he reviewed the holograms in front of him, but the data confirmed Seth''s words, ultimately forcing him to give the critical order.


    "Fire," Khan muttered.


    "Fire!" Lieutenant yman echoed, and Seth sent a message through the ship''s menus to confirm the order.


    "Initiate set-off," Khan continued. "Let''s get out!"


    The simtions had perfected the mission''s execution. The ship wouldn''t wait for the scanners to go online anymore. Instead, it would approach Lauter''s atmosphere in the meantime to save some time.


    Of course, Khan didn''t leave that task to Tyler. A dy or a mistake would make the ship go off route, wasting time instead of saving it, so he left everything in the hands of the autopilot.


    "Initiating set-off!" Lieutenant yman echoed, mming his palm on a menu at his side to activate the previously nned protocol.


    The autopilot voiced robotic words before making the ship leave the metal floor and approach the mana barrier at the end of the hangar. The vehicle crossed it as fast as possible before diving toward the blue under it.


    The scanners gave Khan aplete view of the dive and even located the descending missile. He saw the weapon falling at high speed toward Lauter''s atmosphere, and the vehicle followed it. Yet, it never got too close to avoid radiation-rted problems.


    Khan inspected everything closely. He was actually captivated by the scene. The universe always managed to stir his interest, but a different type of curiosity filled his mind now. He had only seen the missile in action during simtions, so he couldn''t wait to witness the real deal.


    The scanners couldn''t pick up much, especially once the missile entered the atmosphere. Also, the ship had to stop outside the explosion''s range, and the radiation was bound to mess up the equipment. Still, a few images remained, and they were enough to keep Khan captivated.


    The spot chosen for the mission was quite cloudy, but all of that disappeared once the explosion unfolded. An azure sh overwhelmed the other shades and expanded to create a circr shockwave.


    Khan didn''t forget that he was watching a. The messy data on the holograms and the rted images showed an insane range. The missile looked too strong even when he looked at its effect from outside Lauter''s atmosphere.


    "Scanners stabilizing," The ship reported as the shockwave began to disperse. "Initiating descent."


    The ship dived toward the center of the shockwave in the now purely blue sky, andplete emptiness unfolded in the scanners. Nothing had survived in the area affected by the missile. There were only inds and a raging sea in the scene below.


    ''One of these could wipe out Reebfell,'' Khan thought while moving his seat near the ship''s side doors, ''And the Global Army must have stronger weapons.''


    Suddenly, Khan felt small. He was strong, incredibly strong for his level, but the missile belonged to a superior realm. That wasn''t something people could oppose. Even fifth-level warriors would die against that weapon.


    ''Could evolved beings survive this?'' Khan wondered before rejecting that idea. He didn''t know how strong evolved beings were, but nothing in his experience came close to the missile''s power.


    Khan had already reached simr conclusions, but seeing the missile in action forced his mind to ept them. Still, the situation didn''t allow him to ponder on those matters. After all, he had a task to aplish.


    The ship dived at full speed through Lauter''s sky while the scanners created a holographic picture of its surroundings. The area was clear, but things were bound to change soon.


    The sea was the only source of prey, so the Rad never flew too high. That was an instinctive behavior, and their bodies had also evolved in that direction, so the ship could get close to the targeted ind without entering danger zones.


    "Adjusting calcted destination," The ship voiced at some point. "Reaching appointed destination."


    The autopilot pulled the brakes as hard as possible, creating a violent stop that made the ship interrupt the dive and gain a horizontal position. That was also meant to save seconds, but the team felt the consequences of that bumpy ride.


    "Seth!" Khan shouted while hispanions had yet to recover.


    "Targeting program initiated, sir!" Seth coughed while adjusting his safety belt. "Starting the clock."


    "You know your orders," Khan announced while unfastening his belt and approaching the side doors. "Tyler, keep the ship steady at all costs. Leona, Manuel, fire only when necessary, and don''t miss. Seth, update me at the agreed checkpoints."


    "Yes, sir!" Tyler, Manuel, Leona, and Seth shouted simultaneously.


    Khan opened the ship''s doors, and a soft wind blew in his face. Due to the missile''s effects, the air was cold and full of synthetic mana. However, he could catch whisps of natural mana among that mess, and his senses rejoiced.


    "Keep the channel clear of useless talks," Khan stated. "Lieutenant, the deck is yours."


    "Good luck, Captain," Lieutenant yman stated, and his loud voice resounded in the ship as soon as Khan jumped into the sky. "Silence!"


    Lieutenant yman knew Khan''s n. Instead, the rest of the team had only gotten hints and vague clues, so the Lieutenant shouted before Khan''s seemingly reckless gesture could make everyone lose their cool.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The shout worked, but only for Tyler. Manuel, Leona, and Seth showed no shock when Khan jumped. There was some surprise in their eyes, but that didn''te from the unexpected event. They simply couldn''t contain that reaction when they saw Khan actually pursuing that path.


    "The rumors are true," Leona ended upmenting without diverting her gaze from the cannon''s scanner. "He can fly."


    "He is only freefalling for now," Manuel pointed out while also studying his cannon''s scanner.


    "It shouldn''t be a spell," Seth joined the conversation. "It probably is an alien technique or an evolution of his martial art."


    "Wasn''t hepetent already?" Manuel asked.


    "He must have reached advanced," Seth suggested. "Might, at least. I wish Nippe 2''s factory revealed more."


    "The nobles were involved," Leona sighed. "We were lucky to get rumors at all."


    "But, isn''t the Captain only neen?" Tyler stammered in disbelief. "How can he be advanced already?"


    "Can you really be surprised anymore?" Manuel snorted. "Some say he even fucked Princess Edna."


    "I won''t allow such dangerous rumors in Captain Khan''s absence," Lieutenant yman scolded.


    "Come on, Lieutenant," Manuelined. "You must also be curious."


    "We have an official report for Nippe 2''s events," Lieutenant yman remained stern.


    "It''s obviously fake," Seth dered before tapping on themunication device inside his right ear. "Landing area targeted, sir."


    "Launch the turrets!" Lieutenant yman ordered.


    "Launching turrets," Seth echoed, pressing on one of the menus and muting hismunication device to resume the previous topic. "For Captain Khan to have a chance to save Princess Edna, her guards must have been incapacitated, and kidnappers would obviously opt for the gorge."


    "Maybe he learnt to fly there," Leona guessed.


    "And got a sweet reward out of it," Manuel snickered. "Amoner fucking a noble. That''s a man I want to follow."


    "That''s just a groundless rumor," Seth exined. "The evidence about Miss Solodrey and him is more urate."


    "Hey, Miss Solodrey isn''t hard on the eyes either," Manuelughed.


    "Gross," Leona scoffed.


    "Enough!" Lieutenant yman shouted.


    "Lieutenant, the sky is still clear," Leona stated, "And I know you are aware of the rumors."


    "I bet he also knows what they call him," Manuel added.


    Lieutenant yman had a stern disposition, but that part of the mission gave the team a chance to talk, which could help disperse their tension. The gunners had nothing to do as long as the scanners didn''t reveal any Rad.


    "The monster of Nippe 2," Lieutenant yman ended up whispering, and his words intensified the team''s attention on the screens. Everyone wanted to see what Khan was capable of.


    Khan let his body fall through the sky while his team gossiped about him. He was upside down, with his eyes fixed on the distant ind below, but his senses were everywhere.


    The ship could get quite low due to the Rad''s innate behavior, but the distance to cross remained long. Khan would burn himself to death if he didn''t affect his momentum, but a n to dy that moment already existed in his mind.


    Khan let his body experience the fall. He had never been at such heights without a ship or Snow, but no fear existed inside him. The synthetic mana released by the missile enveloped him and provided all the reassurance he needed.


    The wind blew on Khan''s face, slowly getting warmer due to his increasing falling speed. Ripples spread through the symphony as his figure and distant creatures affected it. He was one with the sky, and thinking about the iing battle granted him peace.


    Khan couldn''t even try to hide it. He loved flying, especially without a ship. There was something priceless about experiencing the wind''s friction and the symphony. He could lose himself in the environment and be free, freer than any space station or city could ever allow.


    The warmth on Khan''s face eventually turned into a scorching sensation that forced him to close his eyes. Yet, that didn''t affect his senses. He could still see everything, especially the limits of his body.


    ''I can still go on,'' Khan thought as a deafening whooshing noise started filling his ears.


    Khan let the situation continue until Seth''s report resounded through the device in his right ear. His eyes opened at that point, and tapping the air twice dispersed his momentum and put him in a horizontal position.


    ''Ten minutes,'' Khan thought when he saw the ship releasing the four pirs. Small engines also activated on their top, generating an eleration that pushed them toward their intended destinations.


    Khan inspected the turrets for a few seconds before turning upside down again and mming his feet in the air. The gesture made his figure elerate, pushing him closer to the still-distant ind, but he nned to get far closer before the first enemies arrived.


    The n was rtively simple. Khan was nowhere as big as the turrets, but being closer to the surface would attract the Rad''s attention. He only had to make sure that they noticed him first.


    Khan activated one of the pilot''s techniques to create a warm barrier around him. That defensive spell couldn''t protect him from actual attacks but did wonders for the friction, allowing him to elerate even more.


    "One minute!" Seth shouted in Khan''s ear.


    Khan had to slow down every few seconds, but a new eleration unfolded whenever he dispersed his momentum. He also activated the barrier only when necessary, optimizing his overall speed.


    "Two minutes!" Seth shouted through the device.


    ''They areing,'' Khan sensed before the ship''s scanners could give any warning. The area was still clear, but ripples were running through the symphony, hinting at something Khan knew far too well.


    Khan kicked to his left, pushing himself toward the source of the ripples. His senses couldn''t actually reach those areas, but he could get a general direction out of them, and that was enough.


    "Three minutes!" Seth shouted.


    Khan kept elerating until vague figures appeared in the distance. The number of ripples also increased. There was probably an entire pack ahead, but only a few specimens would enter the cleared area in the ten-minutes-window.


    "Boss, two Rad entered the perimeter," Manuel warned through the device, and Khan didn''t say anything since he was flying toward them.


    Eventually, two big figures becamepletely clear in Khan''s vision. He finally saw the Rad in all their might, and those creatures also noticed him. The Tainted animals fell prey to their aggression, changing their course to dive toward the foreign presence, which sealed their fates.


    Khan basically ran in the air, adjusting his steps'' strength to keep his high speed bearable without the barrier. Meanwhile, the Rad grew closer, and the mana inside them affected the light in the surroundings to hide their figures.


    The ship had scanners capable of seeing through that cloaking technique, and Lucian had even provided special goggles to circumvent the issue. However, Khan didn''t need any of that. His eyes were one with the symphony, granting him a vision that even some equipment would envy.


    ''Hunters,'' Khan recognized from the cloaking technique while drawing his knife.


    "Four minutes!" Seth warned, but Khan put those words in the back of his mind since the sh was only a few seconds away.


    The Rad''s invisible properties could be scary for many, and even Khan didn''t see every detail. Still, his senses allowed him to distinguish their body parts, and the mana inside them created a picture that matched his preparations.


    The missile had scared many Rad away, so the leaders of the nearby packs wouldn''t face eventual invaders directly. They would send underlings and scouts, which had a limited amount of strength.


    In Khan''s case, he was against two specimens that barely touched the realm of first-level warriors. They were big, fast, and hard to see, but all of that looked like child y in Khan''s eyes.


    When the first figure got close enough, Khan kicked the air to dive under it. His movements were too fast for such a weak Rad, and a long red mark appeared in the seemingly clear sky when he shed his knife upward.


    The red mark didn''t remain still. A cascade of blood fell out of it, and the cloaking technique broke, revealing a Rad doing its best to fly straight even if its belly was already open.


    Khan didn''t waste a single second on an opponent he had already defeated. He kicked the air again, surging through the sky to reach the second invisible creature. The Rad couldn''t see him from its position and lost its neck before it could realize what had happened.


    The second Rad''s cloaking technique deactivated, revealing its headless corpse. Its wings were still unfolded, so it kept flying, but Khan couldn''t consider it a threat anymore.


    "Sir, you have one iing North," Leona warned, but Khan was already on his way back to the turrets, and those ripples soon entered his senses.


    "Boss, two more from East," Manuel didn''t take long to give a second warning. "There''s one more South too."


    "Five minutes!" Seth shouted a few secondster.


    Khanpiled that information and applied it to the symphony. In theory, the Rad that would approach the cleared area during the turrets'' descent wouldn''t be dangerous. Yet, they could attack from any direction, and Khan alone wasn''t enough as bait.


    The first offensive had given Khan a chance to seize the initiative, but that window had closed now. He wouldn''t have the time to return to the turrets if he tried to intercept every iing enemy. He could only stick to them and deal with any threat.

 Chapter 474 Racial Trait

    Khan was faster than the weaker specimens converging on the turrets. Their flying speed wasn''t even in the same realm, so he reached an area quite below the pirs before any Rad could get close.


    The symphony and the team on the ship kept sending updates. The turrets had fallen for six minutes now, but more Tainted animals had entered the cleared area. The iing Rad had be six, and only a few had chosen Khan as their target.


    ''The turrets are just too big,'' Khan cursed as his eyes darted left and right while he let his body fall.


    The turrets were faster than Khan due to the engines, so they would eventually catch up with him. Yet, that event would mark their entrance into the battlefield, putting them in danger. If possible, Khan wanted to keep them away and safe until theirnding became imminent.


    Still, the Rad didn''t have Khan''s interests in mind. They were aggressive beasts that attacked the first foreign figure they noticed. Khan could only try to attract their attention by ying on their instincts.


    Half a minute had to pass before the iing Rad got close enough to Khan''s ideal reach. He couldn''t fly too far away from the turrets, but that distance granted him some room.


    The Rad''s arrangement was the only issue. Three were East, two were North, and one South. Moreover, only two from the East and one from the North were diving toward Khan. The others were targeting the turrets and would reach them if Khan ignored them.


    Khan tried to find an ideal attack n, but the situation didn''t look good. Flying toward the turrets would give him a better chance to defend those valuable goods, but it would also lock him in that position for the rest of the mission.


    A few more seconds passed while Khan made up his mind. That dy allowed the Rad to get closer to their targets, but that worked in Khan''s favor. He joined his palms while softly tapping the air to slow his descent, and a purple-red spear soon shone in that blue environment.


    The appearance of the chaos spear made the Rad diving toward Khan angrier but didn''t affect the others. So, Khanunched his spell, making sure that it would explode exactly where he desired.


    The turrets were state-of-the-art equipment, obviously featuring chaos-resistant materials. They were also sturdy enough to survive many attacks from weak creatures, but design ws existed.


    The engines on the turrets'' tops were weak spots that ordinary Tainted animals could affect. Their arrangement for thending area also required troublesome precision, making attacks that could put them off route quite dangerous.


    However, Khan was still decently distant from the turrets, and they were showing their bases to him, so heunched the spear toward their center. The spell exploded before reaching them, creating a bright pir that the Rad couldn''t ignore.


    The explosion didn''t affect the turrets. When they reached the purple-red light, Khan''s mana had already started to disperse. They crossed that energy without altering their course or suffering any damage, but the Rad couldn''t ignore the event.


    The Rad spread their wings to halt their reckless descent when the chaos element expanded in their view. Then, when the explosion dispersed, they found another source of purple-red light. Khan was releasing his mana freely, and all the Tainted animals in the area decided to target him.


    ''Good,'' Khan thought when he saw the other three Rad changing their course to dive toward him. ''Now, hurry.''


    The three Rad that had targeted Khan from the very beginning converged toward his position only to lose track of his figure. They couldn''t follow his movements, and one of them lost its head while they were still confused.


    Khan flew toward the Rad on his right and severed its neck with a swift sh. It was easy to deliver those deadly blows when the Tainted animals had no idea about his position, which wasn''t hard to achieve against weak opponents.


    A series of screams filled the area when the two headless Rad bumped into each other and started freefalling. Purple-red light also shone on their previous spot, revealing Khan''s position to the remaining Tainted animals. He made sure to have all the eyes on himself before sprinting toward the nearest opponent.


    Thest Rad that had targeted Khan from the beginning was a hunter, but no cloaking technique covered it. The Tainted animal didn''t feel the need to hide after Khan disappeared, so everyone could see a purple-red sh running through its open beak and reaching its head.


    Khannded on the Rad''s back while the severed half of its head slid off. The unfolded wings kept the beast afloat, and Khan''s weight didn''t affect its flight. He could stand on that feathered bed and nce at the other enemies above him without using a tinge of mana.


    "Seven minutes!" Seth shouted, forcing Khan to peek past the Rad''s wings. The ind was getting closer, and the same went for the new Tainted animals that had entered the perimeter.


    The peek onlysted a few seconds. Khan jumped without looking above him, and his gesture ruined the corpse''s bnce, making it fall. Meanwhile, three Rad converged toward his back, but their target disappeared before they could get a chance to reach him.


    The team on the ship could see the entirety of the battle due to the powerful scanners, and those images left everyone stunned. Even Lieutenant yman didn''t dare to blink in front of such a spectacr performance.


    "Is he a human or a bird?" Manuel couldn''t help but gasp.


    "Gunners, don''t get distracted!" Lieutenant yman scolded.


    "Are we even needed?" Manuel wondered without moving his eyes from the cannon''s scanners.


    "Manuel, the Captainnded on the turrets," Leonamented.


    "I know, I know," Manuel cursed while pressing on the device in his right ear. "Boss, you have inbounds from every direction. The scanners show eight of them."


    "First shot on me," Leona reminded.


    "I won''t use this thing, will I?" Manuel sighed.


    "Eight minutes!" Seth shouted, bringing that conversation to an end.


    Khan couldn''t stay away from the turrets anymore after dealing with thest Rad. Even sprinting toward the ind below wouldn''t put any distance from that equipment. The pirs were falling faster than him, and the air under them had also turned red, highlighting their incredible speed.


    After killing thest three Rad, Khan let himself freefall until the turrets caught up with him. Quick and precise movements followed, cing Khan on a pir''s side with his body almostid on that metal surface. He could keep up only if he used the equipment as footholds, but that would be troublesome soon.


    Warnings reached Khan''s ear as hispanions updated him on the situation. The turrets only needed two minutes tond, but more enemies had appeared, and he had already been aware of them for quite some time.


    Eight Rad approached the turrets from every direction, and Khan couldn''t hope to intercept all of them. Some were already below him, which forced him to wait for the right opportunity to strike.


    A Rad misjudged the turrets'' speed and missed its opportunity to attack, but another flew directly toward one of them, seemingly aiming to pierce it with its beak.


    Khan was on the opposite turret, but that wasn''t an issue. He activated the barrier and forced his figure to stand horizontally to use the metal surface as a foothold. A single jump was enough to cross the distance between the other pir, and a few quick steps followed to put him on the other side.


    The Rad was almost about to hit the turret when a violent kicknded on its beak, shattering it in the process. The impact even pushed the Tainted animal away, forcing it to adjust its bnce. The beast was still alive, but that dy put the pirs out of its reach.


    Khan''s palm slid on the metal surface for a few meters before he managed to restore his bnce. Multiple momentums were at work there, and kicking wasn''t ideal due to the rebounding force that would hit him. Yet, the Rad was about to crash on the turret, so he had to push it away.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Two more Rad rose to reach the turret to Khan''s right, and he moved ordingly. He got closer to the pir''s base before jumping to end up in a simr position and summon a chaos spear.


    Khan threw the spell at the iing Rad, but thetter dodged the attack. Still, the explosion that followed engulfed one of them and pushed the other off course. The Tainted animal missed the turret by less than a meter but remained in Khan''s range.


    A torrent of blood fell on Khan. He had only needed to stretch his arm to make his glowing knife pierce the Rad''s belly. The Tainted animal had continued to fly upward, but its insides didn''t follow it.


    That small victory didn''t give Khan any chance to rest. The high speed also hindered his vision, but he forced himself to nce at the turrets before performing another jump.


    The metal surface weed Khan in time to make him perform a straight kick. His foot crushed the beak of a Rad in a collision course to the turret, and the head behind it suffered a simr fate. However, the rest of its body bumped into the turret, which held strong due to the momentum Khan had dispersed.


    Khan had to jump again in the next second since another Rad was in a collision course with a turret. The Tainted animal was aiming directly for the pir''s base, which forced Khan to run downward and cross the scorching area to intercept it.


    Burns appeared on Khan''s body, but he ignored them while spinning mid-air. He eventually stretched his leg, and his heel fell on the iing Rad, crushing its head in the impact. The attack also pushed it away, making it cross the empty area among the turrets.


    The pir''s scorching base ended on Khan''s back right after the attack, but tapping on the air allowed him to push himself away and return to a safe surface.


    Thest two Rad were targeting different turrets, and Khan knew that his normal speed wouldn''t be enough to deal with them. A whisper left his mouth, and mana gathered around his legs to grant him an eleration that surpassed his limits.


    Khan almost teleported near another turret, and his kneended on a Rad''s wing. The violent impact pushed the bird away, but Khan managed to kick its back with his free leg to fling himself onto the metal surface. He even prepared another sprint empowered with Maban''s technique, but an azure sh unfolded before he could move.


    A bullet had crashed on thest Rad before it could touch the tower. Leona had decided to fire since Khan seemed unable to reach the Tainted animal. She was wrong, but Khan was to me since he didn''t share detailed exnations about his strength.


    "Nine minutes!" Seth shouted in Khan''s ear.


    Khan raised his hand to show his thumb while ncing at the ind below. A violentnding was about to unfold, but he had to hold the fort a bit longer.


    More Rad had entered the perimeter. There were at least forty of them, but only a handful had a chance to reach the turrets before theirnding, and Khan made sure to deal with them.


    The gunners shot two more bullets during those seconds but stopped firing once twenty seconds remained before thending. No Rad could reach the turrets in that window, and Khan would be more than enough afterward.


    Khan put the entirety of his strength into an upward jump once the time was right. He dispersed most of the turrets'' momentum while they crossed thest meters that divided them from the surface. Many Rad were above him, diving after the pirs, but a loud noise arrived before they could meet.


    Smoke and crumbling noises filled the area when the turrets touched the ground. The violence unleashed during thending seemed able to make the very air tremble, and the event forced the Rad''s dive to a stop.


    A few weak specimens lost control of their bodies during the chaos, and the smoke that enveloped them worsened their situation. Instead, the others flew upward to escape the grey cloud and wait for everything to calm down.


    Khan had to perform a few more jumps in the air to disperse the entirety of the turrets'' momentum, but the grey cloud eventually turned into his perfect hunting ground. He could see perfectly in that environment, so he cleared it as soon as he regainedplete control of his movements.


    The winds were stronger on the surface, so the grey cloud didn''tst long. The four turrets eventually appeared in all their magnificence, marking the corners of a perfect square, with Khan performing short jumps above them.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "One and a half minutes for the turrets to go online," Seth updated while Khan stared at his imminent opponents.


    The absence of speed-rted problems would make things easier for Khan, but the Rad also had advantages. More than ten minutes had passed since the missile. Many Tainted animals had entered the cleared area, and a considerable number of them could reach the turrets before their activation.


    Khan was mentally ready to fight an entire swarm. He was perfect for the job, but Lauter''s fauna surprised him. Many screams filled the sky, but a louder screech pierced them and enforced an eerie silence.


    On the ship, the team was at a loss for words. Khan''s performance had surpassed their wildest expectations. Even the most unbelievable rumors about him didn''t do him justice. Yet, the scanners eventually warned them about something dangerous.


    "Boss, you have something biging your way," Manuel warned before leaving the rest of the details to his superior.


    "Sir, the scanners put this Rad near fourth-level warriors," Lieutenant yman said through the device in his ear. "Correction, it''s a match for fourth-level warriors."


    "Beginning descent-!" Tyler shouted since he thought Khan needed air support.


    "Remove manual control!" Lieutenant yman dered before Tyler could perform any maneuver.


    The ship''s robotic voice informed Lieutenant yaman that his requests had been approved, and the autopilot took over. The vehicle didn''t move and stuck to the parameters set by Khan in the past few days.


    "Captain, do you need air support?" Lieutenant yman questioned once everything on the ship was in order.


    Khan could have a better view of the scene from his position. The symphony had already warned him about that powerful presence, so seeing it cross the Rad gathered above him didn''t bring any surprise. Instead, the weaker specimens'' behavior managed to stir Khan''s interest.


    There were mostly weak Rad above Khan. They were part of the initial scouts sent after the missile, and their strongest specimen barely came close to second-level warriors.


    Still, all those creatures didn''t dare to move when a Rad far stronger than them gave the order. They only pped their wings and let that superior specimen fly past them.


    ''They don''t belong to the same pack,'' Khan thought. ''Is it a racial trait? Does it want to be the only one hunting me?''


    Khan couldn''t find exnations for that odd behavior. Even Professor Nickton''s notes didn''t describe anything simr. However, Khan felt intrigued by that apparent challenge. If the powerful Rad wanted a one versus one, Khan would at least think about it.


    ''I know,'' Khan thought when Lieutenant yman''s evaluation echoed in his ear. ''It contains as much mana as a fourth-level warrior, but is it as strong as one?''


    "Captain, do you need air support?" Lieutenant yman''s question eventually reached Khan, and his mana rified his inner desires. Khan felt a need to test himself against that powerful opponent.


    "Negative," Khan stated while tapping the air to take a step toward his new opponent. "Stay where you are and stop updating me. I want to focus."

 Chapter 475 Cocktail

    The stronger Rad crossed the weaker specimens before pping its wings to stop its advance. It lifted its long neck and pointed its big beak at the sky tounch another loud screech, and the Tainted animals behind it echoed it.


    Khan was genuinely bewildered. That behavior went against everything he knew about the Rad. ording to the reports, they hunted in packs, and their aggression was impossible to keep in check. Yet, the very opposite was happening.


    The weaker specimens'' cries and the main Rad''s stance gave clues that quickly built a hypothesis inside Khan''s mind. Those Tainted animals hunted in packs, but that wasn''t a hunt. It was a formal challenge from one king of the sky to another.


    Everything Khan knew about the Rad and the information captured in those seconds fused to give him an idea of his opponent''s strength. Those creatures had frail bodies, and their packs were their biggest advantage. Still, the monster looked anything but weak when Khan inspected it.


    The Rad was seven meters long, with a wide body and wider wings. Its beak was bigger than Khan''s torso, and its feathers shone bright red in the middle of that blue sky.


    The mana inside the Rad didn''t only grant Khan an understanding of its level. It also allowed him to notice the differences with the other specimens. He couldn''t be sure when all he had were reports and holograms, but now he knew. His opponent was a fighter.


    Khan kept his gaze straight and tapped the air to remain in his position, but his senses spread elsewhere. The ind was big, but the turrets hadnded near its shores. The sea was close enough for the Rad to use its spells.


    In theory, Khan didn''t have to face the Rad. Time was still flowing, bringing the activation of the turrets closer. His opponent also belonged to the slower family. Khan could probably run circles around it until the countdown reached zero.


    However, more inconsistencies became clear as Khan studied the situation. It didn''t make sense for such a strong specimen to have joined the scouts so soon. The Rad must have decided to fly toward the turrets for a specific reason, and Khan only found himself as an exnation.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''I won''t get another chance like this anytime soon,'' Khan thought as his gaze tried to wander toward the ship in the distance. He knew what was waiting for him after the mission. He didn''t hate it, but it couldn''t satisfy himpletely.


    Khan closed his eyes, and his senses rejoiced. The natural mana had finally reced the missile''s synthetic energy, his knife felt weightless, and the sky was his yground. He had nothing to fear.


    The Rad eventually screeched, pping its wings to fling itself toward Khan. He opened his eyes at the same time, and a tinge of mana left his body while he sprinted ahead.


    Khan''s face burned when he touched levels of speed that his body couldn''t endure properly. Maban''s technique pushed him beyond his limits and made him reach the iing Rad instantly. A frontal sh seemed inevitable, but that idea had never crossed his mind.


    Milia 222''s events had granted Khan experience hard to find elsewhere. He had already faced someone stronger than him, so he knew the dangers of the battle. The Rad probably didn''t have the Ots'' superior spells, but its reflexes were bound to be powerful, so Khan couldn''t challenge it head-on.


    Khan stomped a foot in the air before he could crash on the Rad, and the mana in the environment enhanced his move. The monster didn''t expect that sudden eleration but reacted in time and tried to throw its beak after him. However, its neck couldn''t keep up with Khan''s speed.


    Khan crossed the Rad, reaching its left side before performing a third eleration. Another stomp unfolded, making Khan spin in the air and deliver a descending kick on the base of the monster''s wing.


    Surprisingly enough, the Rad felt the attack. That was Khan''s most powerful kick, executed after relying on Maban''s technique three times in a row, and the monster bent under it.


    Khan''s knife lit up at that sight. He had attacked the first pairs of wings in an attempt to limit the Rad''s movements, but another reason existed. Aiming directly for the monster''s neck would have been dangerous due to its reflexes and flexibility. Instead, if Khan forced the Rad to lose the initiative, he could seize the upper hand.


    The Rad''s neck was long enough to reach the first pairs of wings. Khan was still in its beak''s range, so it made sense to expect that type of attack. He also had his knife ready for the event, but the Rad resorted to a different tactic.


    An immense and seemingly unstoppable force fell on Khan''s leg. The Rad was lifting its wing to fling him away, and the sheer physical strength carried by the move made him unable to counterattack.


    Khan found himself rolling away before he could even realize what had happened. The Rad had unleashed enough strength to send him flying and even pped its wings to chase after him. However, one of them failed to work correctly.


    A gentle tap on the air dispersed the momentum and made Khan stop. He was upside down, but that stance didn''t hinder his inspection. The Rad had tried to reach him during that moment of weakness, but the damage suffered by the wing turned a dangerous eleration into something he could notice before it was toote.


    Khan hurriedly kicked the air to fling himself downward, and the Rad crossed his previous spot in the next second. An angry screech followed that miss, but the Rad kept track of Khan''s movements and folded its wings to follow after him.


    No thoughts ran through Khan''s mind, but a realization arrived anyway. His kicks could hurt the Rad but left him too exposed. He couldn''t give the monster a chance to make him lose his bnce again, and a new n formed.


    The ind''s surface grew dangerously close during the descent, but Khan didn''t change course. He slightly held back to bait the Rad into elerating, and his n worked.


    Two bodies fell at high speed toward the rocky surface while the distance between them shortened. The Rad almost caught up with Khan, but he threw a powerful kick to his right to change his direction at thest second. The Rad tried to do the same by unfolding its wings, but the damage suffered by one of them turned that attempt into a violentnding.


    The Rad crashed on the rocks, and Khan pushed himself upward before joining his palms and turning toward his opponent. A chaos spear took form when he stopped mid-air, and he instantly threw it toward the monster.


    Being urate while flying was hard, but the chaos spear didn''t need to be too precise. The spell''s explosion engulfed thending area, filling everything with a blinding purple-red light. The symphony shook in the aftermath of the attack, but Khan remained still and waited for his senses to capture anything.


    A huge and fuming figure came out of the bright pir before it could lose power, and a screech followed. The Rad had survived Khan''s best attack but had suffered injuries.


    That damage didn''t stop the Rad from unleashing a fearsome speed, which Khan weed with open arms. His knife lit up as he waited for the perfect opportunity to move, but his mind grew cold when he noticed a familiar scene.


    The Rad wasn''t as fast as before, but more was at work during that flight. Mana left its figure and stretched toward the nearby shore in an attempt to create a connection with the water. The sea wasn''t too close, but the Rad''s energy found and reached it easily.


    Khan was already aware of that ability. The Rad belonging to the fighters'' family could easily contact the sea, but seeing their methods with his own eyes reminded him of the Niqols. There were heavy differences, but Khan couldn''t control how his mind worked.


    The Rad soon reached Khan, making him jump to his right again while swinging his knife. He dodged the attack, and the monster did the same by retracting its wings and escaping his reach. The two crossed each other without inflicting any injury.


    Khan only needed a few steps to turn and prepare for the next attack, but the Rad continued to fly straight. Burned feathers also left its body and removed the smoke hiding its figure. Khan became able to see exposed flesh as well as bloodied wounds.


    The Rad shortened the distance from the sea, reinforcing the mana channel connecting the two. Its energy also spread through the water, giving it control of that liquid, which began to freeze.


    Khan was too distant to see all of that, but his senses generated that image in his mind. He knew what was happening because Liiza did something simr.


    In that situation, a smart soldier would put as much distance from the shore as possible. After all, fighting a stronger opponent in its element was simply mental. Khan had no reason to chase after the Rad, but his body moved on its own.


    Khan''s emotions went wild while his mind remained cold. The Rad had Liiza''s element, simr methods, and even resembled the monster that cut her arm. That was a perfect cocktail to stir Khan''s anger, and he fell prey to it almost willingly.


    Maban''s technique activated almost on its own. The mana in the environment reacted to Khan''s intentions and helped his sprint to push him beyond his natural limits.


    Khan ran toward the shore, disregarding that more Tainted animals had gathered above him. Those specimens respected the one versus one battle, and he did the same. His focus never moved from the powerful Rad.


    The wounded Rad turned to face Khan once it reached the shore. Its wings pped weakly to keep it in position, but its screech continued to retain immense power, and figures soon surged from the water below.


    Three icy pirs grew from the shallow waters and left the shore to fly toward Khan. Those structures weren''t big, but they shattered mid-air to turn into a rain of sharp shards.


    Khan had continued to fly toward the Rad in the meantime, so the rain of shards unfolded right before him. His speed made dodging the entirety of the attack troublesome but not impossible. Yet, the symphony warned him about a second spell brewing the sea, and that wasn''t the end of it.


    The frozen rain was fast. Each shard didn''t contain much mana, but the entire attack was fearsome enough to put the turrets behind Khan in danger. He didn''t know if the spell could reach them, but facing that risk was pointless, especially since his feelings had other ns.


    Khan opened his mouth, and his wild feelings took the form of a clicking growl that echoed in the area. A seemingly random release of mana apanied the monstrous cry, enveloping Khan into a purple-red mass that expanded from his figure.


    Many shards survived the impact with the wild mana but crumbled before they could reach Khan. That type of attack was perfect for his new spell, and its performance didn''t disappoint.


    Khan could continue to sprint freely and without worrying about the turrets. However, the Rad''s second spell had taken form by then, and a giant pir left the shore to fly toward Khan.


    The Rad didn''t stay still anymore either. It flew after the pir, which was only a few seconds from crashing on Khan. The amount of mana it carried almost forced him to dodge, but the monster behind it was a problem he couldn''t ignore.


    Destroying the pir was a possibility. The Rad''s spell wasn''t too strong when performed without a pack. Khan felt sure that his knife could pierce it. Yet, that would leave him defenseless, creating an opportunity for the monster.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Dodging also featured simr issues. The Rad could follow Khan''s movements, so it would most likely intercept him on his escape route.


    Instead, retreating could be a wise choice since it would give Khan the time to deal with the Rad, but he didn''t opt for that path. When the pir was about to reach his chest, he dodged to the right and unleashed the spherical version of the Wave spell.


    The expanding purple-red sphere pushed the pir away and opened cracks in its structure, but the Rad didn''t care. It dived straight into the spell and pointed its big beak at Khan.


    The glowing knife stabbed the beak before it could reach its target. However, Khan couldn''tplete the sh, which left his weapon stuck inside that tough body part.


    Time slowed down in Khan''s vision. He saw his spell eroding the Rad''s already damaged tissues, but the monster''s angry eyes told him nothing would stop that assault. The hand on the knife''s handle even gave him an idea of how strong that impact would be if he let it happen, and he wasn''t sure his rib cage would survive that.


    During that desperate situation, Khan held strong on the knife and kicked the air with both feet to match the Rad''s momentum. He began to fly backward, using the monster''s tough body part to remain outside of its reach.


    The Rad didn''t initially understand what was happening. It continued to fly forward, but Khan didn''t grow any closer. He remained right in front of it without ever entering its range.


    Khan acted before the Rad coulde up with another n. He used the knife as a handhold and mmed his knees on the beak''s lower part. The monster didn''t like that and began to struggle, but Khan summoned his strength to remain attached to its head and keep hammering it.


    Cracks eventually opened on the beak, and ast attack with both knees shattered it. Khan had nned to destroy only its lower part, but his legs broke the upper side too due to the damage already inflicted by the knife.


    The knife became free and took away Khan''s handhold, allowing the monster to get closer. Khan had justpleted an attack and didn''t have the time to perform a sprint, so he summoned the [Blood Shield] and waited for the inevitable impact.


    The Rad had slowed down during its struggles and had even tilted its head. What remained of its beak had gained many sharp edges after shattering, but only its smooth side crashed on the clotted blood vessels on Khan''s torso.


    The impact made Khan''s internal organs shake. He felt the urge to puke as his body flew toward the ground. His senses also became unreliable, but he managed to hear a beeping noise apanied by a series of nging sounds.


    Khan crashed on the rocky surface while more noises filled his ears. Hell seemed to have broken loose around him, and he forced himself to straighten his back to understand what was happening.


    A huge figure fell in front of Khan as soon as he managed to sit, and blood sshed on his face. His senses stabilized while he wiped his eyes, and the scene became clear once his vision returned. Bullets were flying everywhere, and the many Rad in the area were powerless against them.


    Khan looked past his shoulders to inspect the scene. The four metal pirs had opened, revealing sixteen rotating cannons that automatically targeted and fired at the enemies in the area. Soon, no Rad would dare to approach the ind.


    A sigh escaped Khan before a cough forced him to cover his mouth. Blood fell on his palm due to his internal injuries, but the corpse in front of him imed his attention anyway.


    The strong Rad had been the first to die under the cannons'' assault. Bullets had pierced its head, wings, and torso, killing it on the spot. The turrets had taken care of something so strong in the short seconds that Khan had needed to recover, showing once again how strong the Global Army''s weapons were.


    The barrage of bullets continued for entire minutes, and Khan watched everything unfold. He probably had to meditate and see a doctor, but the scene was too captivating for him. That abundance of screams, blood, and death was his home, at least one of them.


    The Rad''s aggressive behavior made many dive toward the turrets, but none survived. Corpses filled the rocky surface, andrge puddles of blood expanded, creating something resembling small rivers.


    ''[Be it nting countless flowers],'' Khan repeated Jenna''s words, ''[Or creating bloody rivers].''


    Khan reached for the dead Rad before him and patted its head. Their battle had been good, and the monster had even shown him how part of his feelings would never change.


    The insanity that Khanbeled as "dark sides" would never leave his character. It could only grow deeper, especially after inheriting the Nak''s fear. His desperation would always make him extreme in ways humans couldn''t understand.


    Still, that wasn''t the end of the matter. The anger experienced during the battle confirmed Khan''s remaining affection for Liiza. Loving another woman didn''t make him forget her, which he found strangely reassuring.


    ''I guess I can be happy without cutting you away from my life,'' Khan smiled before his intense feelings made him curse in his mind. ''I can''t wait to see Monica.''


    That introspection didn''tst long since familiar tremors spread through the symphony and made Khan lift his gaze. The cannons had stopped firing by then. The area was clear, so a square outpost with four engines had left the leviathan ss to reach the ind.


    ''He didn''t waste time,'' Khan snickered and closed his eyes to perform the check-up technique. There didn''t seem to be any internal bleeding, but he meditated anyway.


    The outpost took a few minutes to reach the ind, and itsnding raised a cloud of smoke that Lauter''s winds needed a while to disperse. An earthquake also spread, but nothing could disturb Khan''s meditation.


    When everything calmed down, Khan opened his eyes to look at the new structure. The outpost was nothing more than a short metal building with a square base that had fused perfectly with the turrets. Thetter stood at its corners and would protect it throughout the following operations.


    The outpost''s door opened, and the presence that joined the symphony made Khan stand up to approach it. Lucian left the structure, and a broad smile bloomed when he noticed Khan walking toward him.


    "Captain, I must say," Lucian announced. "You surpassed yourself."


    "Did we stay within the budget?" Khan questioned.


    "You saved me more money than you think," Lucian stated. "Now,e inside. I brought doctors for you."


    Khan nodded and began to follow Lucian, but two soldiers left the outpost before they could enter. The two men were third-level warriors who reeked of battle experience, and Lucian didn''t hesitate to address them.


    "Start cleaning the area," Lucian ordered. "Gather the corpses and deploy the equipment."


    "Yes, sir," The two soldiers responded and began to inspect the scene, but Khan didn''t let that continue.


    "On that matter," Khan called. "I''d like to take these corpses."


    The statement brought some tension, forcing the two soldiers to focus on Khan. Even Lucian had to turn to inspect his face, and the scene surprised him a bit.


    Khan''s appearance was a mess. His military uniform had holes everywhere, and its upper part had almost turned into mere rags. Blood had also fallen all over him, and he didn''t bother to wipe it.


    Moreover, the wild feelings from before still ran through Khan''s mind, which added a certain intensity to his presence. His words almost sounded like threats because of that and his bloodied face.


    "Captain, this area belongs to the Hencus family now," Lucian pointed out.


    "So, will you stop me if I take them?" Khan wondered in a tone that gained mocking features when it reached Lucian. The statement definitely wasn''t ideal in a political environment, but Khan felt especially uncaring at the moment.


    The two soldiers stepped forward to reach Lucian''s sides. Their stance told Khan they were ready to fight, potentially putting three third-level warriors against him. Yet, no fear appeared inside Khan. Actually, those guards'' mana showed the hesitation they felt in front of such a fearsome opponent.


    "You have good guards," Khan admitted before sighing and opting for a calmer approach. "Look, just see it as a favor if you really need to."


    Lucian''s eyes lit up at those words. He read between the lines and understood that Khan was ready to join the political game with him. He only wanted those Tainted animals in exchange.


    "In that case, how could I refuse?" Lucian chuckled before boasting his deep knowledge. "Make sure to convey my regards to Professor Nickton when you deliver them."


    "Since you are already here," Khan ignored the boast while a shameless smile appeared on his face. "Can you pack and deliver them for me? The leviathan ss should have all the equipment ready."


    "No problem at all, Captain," Lucian promptly replied, showing no hesitation.


    "Right," Khan pretended to recall something and turned to point at the stronger Rad. "Don''t send that specimen to Professor Nickton. Leave it in a private area for me."

 Chapter 476 Leak

    "Your ribs took a good hit," The doctor said while scanners rotated around the bed to inspect Khan, "But there is no internal bleeding. Though, you have many burns. You should get an ointment for them."


    "I''m used to burns by now," Khan reassured as his eyes darted left and right. The outpost''s insides were simple but functional, featuring a single open space split into different areas. A corner had the medical bay, while the others had equipment, supplies, and other useful items.


    "We do have something for them here, Captain," The doctor pressed on.


    "Leave it," Khan shook his head. "The burns will heal soon enough."


    "Then, I can only advise you to rest," The doctor eximed. "Sleep a lot, and don''t forget to eat. I''d skip the lessons for a few days to stay in bed."


    "I''ll see about that," Khan chuckled, and a grunt followed when he stretched his legs to leave the bed. With the adrenaline gone, he felt how stiff his torso was, and bending it caused some pain.


    The doctor could only nod and leave the bed, and another soldier reached for Khan. Thetter had a clean tracksuit in her arms and kept her gaze lowered to avoid looking at Khan''s messy state.


    "Captain," The young woman called, "Mister Hencus apologizes for the outpost''s state. The bathroom needs another hour to be operational."


    "It''s fine," Khan replied, seizing the tracksuit to change on the spot. He couldn''t return to the Harbor with a tattered uniform full of blood and Rad''s insides.


    "We-!" The woman gasped and covered her eyes when Khan started undressing. "We can set up a changing area!"


    Khan ignored the soldier and proceeded to get changed anyway. His burns stung a bit during the process, but the situation didn''t look too bad. Nothing was broken for once.


    The soldier had peeked at Khan through her fingers, so she noticed when he nodded at her and walked toward the exit. Another gasp escaped her mouth as she performed a military salute, but Khan waved his hand without turning and ended that interaction.


    The rest of the personnel in the outpost lowered their heads or performed military salutes at Khan''s passage. He left the outpost without encountering any resistance and found Lucian giving orders to a small team busy setting up metal tents.


    One of the soldiers noticed Khan and warned Lucian, who turned to wee his return outside. "Already on your feet, Captain? I was under the impression you needed rest."


    "I''ll rest in the Harbor," Khan stated. "I believe the leviathan ss'' teleport is still online."


    "Of course," Lucian responded. "It will remain online for the next weeks due to all the resources and structures this outpost needs."


    "I''ll take my leave then," Khan revealed.


    "You can rest here for a while," Lucian suggested. "There is no hurry. You can sleep, take a bath, and maybe exchange a few words with me afterward."


    "I have homework to do," Khanughed. "I also have reports and other bureaucratic stuff to handle. I''m sure you understand."


    "Certainly," Lucian confirmed. "I guess we''ll have our talk another time."


    "Sure," Khan nodded. "As for-."


    "Professor Nickton will get his Rad by midnight," Lucian interrupted, "And I''ve already requested special equipment for your specimen. I''ll text you its location once it reaches the Harbor."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Perfect," Khan stated. "Thank you, Lucian."


    "This is the least I can do for a friend," Lucian replied with words full of hidden meanings. "I''ll contact Boss Edcoll to get you a morefortable ride."


    "No need," Khan reassured while pointing at the ship far above the ind. "I want to have a briefing anyway."


    "I guess I''ll see you in the Harbor then," Lucian smiled. "Once again, wonderful job, Captain Khan."


    Khan granted Lucian a simr friendly smile before jumping upward. He returned to his yground, and the soldiers busy with the tents couldn''t help but stare in awe as he flew higher and higher.


    The flight highlighted the doctor''s diagnosis. Khan''s face burned when the wind blew on it, and the blood covering his skin only made things worse. The same went with his torso, which hurt whenever he performed wider moves, but his thoughts wandered elsewhere.


    The fight with the Rad had revealed details that the training halls couldn''t provide. It was painfully clear that Khan couldn''t handle Maban''s technique perfectly. His skin needed conditioning, even after the transformation.


    Moreover, the Divine Reaper had finally shown its limits. The Rad''s beak was the hardest part of its body, but Khan had been confident in his skills, especially with his new knife. Yet, reality had turned out to be very different.


    As for everything else, Khan could consider himself pretty satisfied. His new defensive spell had performed well, and his overall battle prowess had been incredible. He was leagues above ordinary third-level warriors. He only needed to perfect a few details.


    The ship with Lieutenant yman and the others had remained in its original position, and gossip had filled the wait. Still, silence fell as soon as the scanners noticed Khan, and the Lieutenant didn''t hesitate to open the side doors afterward.


    Khan took his time to reach the ship, and cheerful voicesnded on his ears as soon as he stepped on its entrance. Praises flew from all his teammates, and even Lieutenant yman showed a rare smile.


    "Alright, calm down," Khan ordered through augh. "I need to go back to the Harbor."


    "You heard the Captain!" Lieutenant yman shouted. "Enable manual control."


    The ship''s robotic voice confirmed Lieutenant yman''s order while he exchanged a meaningful nce with Khan. He only needed that to understand that the pilot had messed up.


    "Bring us back to the ship, Tyler," Khan stated while closing the door behind him. "Lieutenant, I expect a full report by tomorrow."


    "You''ll receive it this afternoon, sir," Lieutenant yman dered.


    Khan nced at the Lieutenant''s stern face once again. He wanted to talk openly about what had happened while he was away, but that wasn''t the right time.


    The ship began to rise, and Khan reached for one of the seats before fastening his belt. The mission was over, so he didn''t owe anything else to the team, but a short speech sounded mandatory with all those glowing eyes on him.


    "I didn''t set anything with Mister Hencus," Khan announced, "But I''m sure the crew on the leviathan ss will treat you nicely. If you don''t have anything urgent, you can take advantage of their hospitality."


    "Boss, we should go out drinking to celebrate," Manuelughed.


    "I''m not going anywhere," Khan rejected in a happy tone. "Doctor''s orders."


    "Sir," Lieutenant yman called while bringing his seat next to Khan to hand him a wet handkerchief. Khan took it and used his phone as a mirror to remove the blood on his face.


    "I''ll write individual evaluations once I get the Lieutenant''s report," Khan revealed while throwing the handkerchief in a trash bin at his side. "Anyway, gunners, you did well. The tech part went smoothly too, Seth. I just wish you took fewer pictures of me."


    Khan''s happy tone softened that revtion, but Seth''s eyes widened in surprise anyway. He experienced some fear but still mustered an apology. "I''m sorry, Captain. Disrespecting you wasn''t my intention."


    "I let it slide because it didn''t affect the mission," Khan continued, "But I expect some privacy next time. If there will ever be a next time."


    Seth went from scared to grateful. He had pursued a personal agenda, but Khan didn''t only forgive him. He also expressed his willingness to work together in the future.


    Truth be told, Khan was mainly testing Seth''s reaction. If he felt any darkness, he would have cklisted Seth from his potential tech experts.


    "Sir," Leona called before Seth could add anything. "I''m sorry for firing so soon. I-."


    "It''s fine," Khan interrupted. "Actually, it''s my fault. I withheld information, so you couldn''t possibly know I could reach that Rad."


    "No, sir, you have been incredible," Leona couldn''t bear to see Khan taking part of the me.


    "She is right, boss," Manuel added. "You kicked some bird''s asses down there. Even fourth-level warriors can''t stop you."


    "I would be dead if I had to face a fourth-level warrior," Khan snickered. "Trust me on that."


    "Still, boss," Manuel continued, "If you even need someone to fire for you, I''m your man."


    "Same here, sir," Leona stated. "And you know who aims better."


    "I thought we were on the same team!" Manuelined, and Leona scoffed before ignoring him.


    Khan smiled at those interactions but didn''t add anything. Building a trustworthy team was an important task for a Captain, but he had to look at the reports first. For now, he would limit himself to public evaluations, at least for those who performed well.


    The team wanted to exchange more words with Khan. Their excitement was palpable, but he wasn''t in the mood for frivolous talks. He closed his eyes to meditate, and hispanions respected his need to rest.


    Tyler couldn''t do much damage in that part of the mission since the autopilot kicked in when thending became imminent. The ship entered the leviathan ss'' hangar safely, and a weing party approached the team once they reached the metal floor.


    Vi and a group of good-looking men and women dressed in revealing clothes smiled at Khan''s team. A cart with a few refreshments stood behind them, and the alluring gazes they shot said a lot about their intentions.


    "Master Lucian wishes to congratte you," Vi announced while her group opened a path for the cart. "We have already prepared a room with more refreshments. You can rest there if you wish."<novelnext></novelnext>


    Refusing official invitations was always problematic when they involved important families, but Khan had the perfect words for the asion. "I''m afraid the Harbor is waiting for me, but my team is more than willing to ept Mister Hencus'' generosity in my ce."


    The statement granted Khan a few surprised looks from his team, but he ignored them to focus on Vi, and she didn''t disappoint.


    "Of course, Captain," Vi responded. "I''ll personally escort you to the teleport while mypanions take care of your team."


    "I''m sure they''ll enjoy your hospitality," Khan stated, finally ncing at hispanions to deliver a wink.


    Manuel couldn''t hold back from grinning, and the others had simr but more polite reactions. Khan had used them to get out of those political obligations, but they didn''t dare to contradict him since the event wasn''t exactly a punishment.


    The two groups split, and something curious happened. Leona, Manuel, Seth, and Tyler followed Vi''spanions, but Lieutenant yman remained at Khan''s side.


    Vi wore a questioning expression that transformed into a polite smile as soon as Khan nodded in approval. She began to lead the two men across the ship at that point, and a silent march eventually brought them to the teleport area.


    "Farewell, Captain Khan, Lieutenant yman," Vi eximed once the two men were on the teleport. "Until our next meeting."


    Lieutenant yman performed a military salute, and Khan limited himself to a nod. Synthetic mana soon filled the tform, and the teleport activated, bringing them back to the Harbor''s hangar.


    The soldiers on the various consoles voiced loud salutes as soon as Khan and Lieutenant yman appeared, but the two didn''t linger in the area. Khan even refused an escort as he led hispanion into the many corridors past the room.


    "So, what do you have to report?" Khan asked once the corridors granted some privacy.


    "Sir, the team engaged in slightly disrespectful gossip after you jumped," Lieutenant yman exined.


    "What was that about?" Khan casually questioned.


    "Rumors, sir," Lieutenant yman revealed. "Rumors about you."


    "Bad rumors?" Khan wondered.


    "Depends on the perspective, sir," Lieutenant yman responded.


    "I understand," Khan sighed. "What about their performance?"


    "The gossip didn''t hinder the mission, sir," Lieutenant yman dered. "Both gunners and the tech expert performed well."


    "But not Tyler, right?" Khan asked.


    "The pilot tried to provide unauthorized air support, sir," Lieutenant yman summarized. "I had to activate one of the protocols."


    "You did the right thing," Khan reassured. "I guess I won''t praise everyone in the evaluations."


    The conversation ended on those words, and the two crossed corridors until they arrived at a hangar. Khan had already sent orders, so he found two cars waiting for him in the area, but Lieutenant yman decided to add something before the inevitable separation.


    "Sir, what I witnessed today was the most breathtaking battle of my life," Lieutenant yman said while performing a military salute. "I''m honored to have received the rare chance to see you in action."


    "Thank you, Lieutenant," Khan nodded. "Now, get some rest. Don''t stress too much about those reports."


    "They''ll be ready in the afternoon, sir," Lieutenant yman repeated.


    "Alright," Khan chuckled. "By the way, good job back there."


    At that point, Khan headed for one of the cars, and an annoyed grunt left his mouth when he sat. He needed to rest, but sleeping was out of the question. Still, his injuries made it hard for him to attend the pilot''s lessons, theoretically freeing him of most duties.


    ''I guess I''ll study today,'' Khan thought before sending a message to Monica to warn her about his imminent return. After that, he was about to store his phone, but another idea popped into his mind and made him search for a different contact.


    ''What should I even say?'' Khan wondered while staring at Colonel Norrett''s contact. He couldn''t think of anything specific, so he limited his text to short and honest words. ''Lieutenant Joe yman is good.''


    Khan didn''t know if his message would do anything, but his influence ended there. His eyes also closed as his mind slipped into a meditative state, and the long drive transformed into mere minutes in his perspective.


    Seeing the familiar building rekindled some of the feelings experienced during the battle. The previous anger didn''t return, but its intensity was there, even if applied to a different emotion.


    Leaving the elevator reinforced that emotion. Khan found Monica waiting for him at the end of the room, and the mixture of worry and happiness on her face made her figure irresistible.


    "Khan!" Monica cried and almost jumped on Khan, but the sight of the tracksuit made her stop at thest second. She knew he had gone out with his uniform, and its absence could mean only one thing.


    "Are you injured?" Monica questioned, refraining from cing her hands on Khan''s chest. Yet, a better view of his face told her everything she needed to know. Khan still had red marks on him, which answered Monica''s doubts.


    "Kha-," Monica tried to call, but Khan''s intense gaze interrupted her words. She lost herself in theplete attention she was receiving and didn''t oppose the kiss thatnded on her lips.


    A muffled moan left Monica''s mouth when Khan gently pushed her into the wall without interrupting the kiss. She had countless questions, but the intimate moment made her mind nk.


    Someone eventually cleared his throat to im the couple''s attention. Khan calmed down, leaving ast quick kiss on Monica''s lips before turning toward the room''s entrance. George and Anita were standing there, and the two wore very different expressions.


    "Sorry to interrupt," George grinned.


    "Girl, show some self-restraint," Anita scolded before mustering some politeness. "Khan, wee back."


    Monica was almost ready to leave the wall, but Khan pulled her closer. The gesture hinted at his mood, and she didn''t even try to oppose it. She reached for his neck, and her warm breath spread on his skin while she rubbed her nose on it.


    "Another time," Khan said to his friends without even trying to sound apologetic. "We need to take a bath now."


    Anita blushed and prepared a re for George, but he wrapped an arm around her waist and spoke before she could do anything. "We''ll postpone the celebratory drink."


    Khan couldn''t find the strength to nod at George. Monica was so impossible to resist in his current state that he turned toward her without saying goodbye. Of course, George had countless jokes for the asion, but he held them back while pushing Anita into the elevator.


    "You stink," Monicained once privacy arrived, but thement didn''t stop her affection. She didn''t even notice that her hands got dirty when she ran her fingers through Khan''s hair.


    "And I need help in the bathtub," Khan whispered when he managed to stop assaulting Monica''s lips.


    Usually, Monica would take that as another hint about Khan''s condition, but she was powerless in that situation. Khan was dictating the rhythm, and she felt trapped in it.


    Some actual realization arrived when Monica was on the verge of jumping on Khan. He stopped her before she could attempt the leap, which told her how bad it was. Still, she didn''t have the time to ask questions since Khan''s passion soon overwhelmed her again.


    Needless to say, reaching the bathroom ended up being problematic. Khan was at his wildest, and Monica indulged his every move. The only break happened when the two ended up naked in the bathtub and Monica could see the extent of his injuries, but even that did little to quell their mood.


    Minutes turned into hours, and the bathroom rarely fell silent. The two weren''t even trying to clean each other up, but that happened anyway due to how much they moved.


    It took a while, but the couple eventually calmed down. Khan found himself at the edge of hisrge bathtub with Monica sitting on hisp. His arms were wrapped around her waist, and she often turned her head to request kisses.


    "Again?" Monica giggled when she felt a reaction under her. "I thought you were wounded."


    "A few cracked ribs and some burns aren''t a big deal," Khan teased. "They stop hurting as soon as I look at you."


    "Then, don''t you dare to look elsewhere," Monica used her tempting tone. "I''ll help."


    Monica left Khan''sp and turned to show the entirety of her beauty, but buzzing noises resounded in the bathroom. The couple''s pants were near the bathtub, and both phones were going crazy.


    Khan groaned and stretched his arm to seize his phone. Meanwhile, Monica crawled back to Khan''s chest, nting her lips on his cheek and reaching for his crotch. She knew mere messages wouldn''t stop them that day.


    The urge to get rid of the phone as quickly as possible filled Khan when he felt Monica''s hand, but the nature of the notification made him frown. George was telling him to check thework.


    Khan connected the phone to the wall to use morefortable menus and opening thework immediately told him what George meant. He didn''t need to apply any filter or keyword. His name was on top of the news with a video attached to it.


    Monica also focused on the screen on the wall when she saw Khan ying the video. Surprisingly enough, a recording of the mission had reached thework, and skimming through it told Khan that the images covered most of the turrets'' descent and activation.


    "What the fuck?" Khan couldn''t help but curse. The video featured all his battles, but that wasn''t its most surprising feature.


    The excellent angle, high definition, and clear sound weren''t details Seth could capture with the ship''s scanners or his phone. That quality required better equipment, which only the leviathan ss had. It seemed that Lucian had recorded Khan''s battles only to release them anonymously on thework.

 Chapter 477 Evaluations

    Monica couldn''t hold back her curiosity. She reached for the menus and restarted the video to watch it in its entirety. As for Khan, he focused on thework to see what the various sites said about the matter.


    A sea ofments had already appeared, which wasn''t surprising. Still, their contents turned out to be more extreme than Khan had expected, at least when it came to a fraction of those anonymous users.


    Khan had gathered a few haters after his many exploits. His background, general fame, and women had attracted a series of jealous and resentful people who saw everything wrong with the Global Army in him.


    An opposite side existed, and the fight between the two gave birth to nastyments. Moreover, the video generated more rumors and made many conversations degenerate.


    In the meantime, Monica fell prey to the video. Khan was a fantastic warrior, and seeing him in his element deepened her arousal. Still, worry arrived whenever Khan got hit, and her hands instinctively went for the spots highlighted by the images.


    Monica checked Khan''s back when one of the pirs hit him there. She carefully touched his face when his fast sprints caused burns, and her gaze fell on the big bruise on his chest after the strong Rad''s blow.


    The inspection took as long as the video, which gave Khan the time to read tens ofments. He almost couldn''t believe the things he saw, and his mood ended up suffering.


    The haters used Khan''s mutations and powerful techniques to insult his battle prowess. In their eyes, he was nothing more than a kid who owed his strength to the Nak and his alien lovers.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Instead, the fans saw Khan as the best expression of human potential. He was a source of inspiration for any young soldier, especially those without background.


    Those sides weren''t too bad on their own, but the shes in thements led to awful topics. Xenophobia, arrogance, death threats, and much more filled the sites, putting Khan in a sour mood.


    Khan wouldn''t usually let fame affect him, but that scene was depressing. Strangers who knew nothing about his life shouted random opinions and even fought because of them. One side wanted to put his face on a banner, while the opposite was ready to exile him.


    ''Is that all I amount to?'' Khan couldn''t help but wonder. ''Is this all I have achieved in the past years?''


    The side didn''t matter. Haters and fans alike coulde up with hurtful and insultingments. Most of them had clearly never been on the battlefield but still felt entitled to give their biased opinions.


    Khan saw his worst memories flying through his vision. All the death, killing, struggles, and desperation needed to achieve his current power had led to that pathetic scene. His life had turned into a show with an unknown audience spouting judgments about things they didn''t know.


    A specificment ended up standing out from the others. Khan finally learnt his nickname, the monster of Nippe 2, and those words deepened the expanding depression.


    ''Is this my reward?'' Khan wondered. He hated the idea of strangers spreading misconceptions about his life, but the fact that somements hit the mark annoyed him even more. He knew what he had be to pursue his goals. He knew the word "monster" suited him.


    Monica realized that something was off when the video ended, and one look at thements told her everything. She immediately grabbed Khan''s head, making sure to avoid his burns while turning it toward her, and her careful touch conveyed her affection.


    "Hey," Monica called in a scolding tone that managed to sound lovely. "Look at me. Look only at me."


    Of course, Monica couldn''t understand how deeply Khan had been affected. After all, shecked Jenna''s senses. Her reaction hade from how well she knew him, which managed to have some effect.


    Khan had almost begun to doubt the value of his struggles, but one look at Monica reminded him of the truth. He had killed out of desperation and survival instincts, but there was something else in his life, something he valued a lot more, and that had taken him a long time to ept.


    For someone so used to suffering, striving for personal happiness was a big deal. Liiza had created that path, Jenna had pushed Khan into it, and Monica had fulfilled it. Nothing could make Khan forget his desperation, but that beautiful face covered in curls granted him a type of peace that allowed him to smile honestly.


    Khan lowered his head, and Monica weed it in her chest. It was rare for her to see him in that vulnerable state, and unreasonable anger filled her mind when thements fell into her vision again. Even Monica didn''t know what she would be capable of if those anonymous users entered her reach.


    Monica''s reasonable side quickly prevailed, mainly because Khan needed her. She turned off the menus and pampered the head on her chest with affectionate caresses. She even left a kiss on that wet hair, and her mouth remained there to show her support.


    The Niqols'' traditions kicked in soon enough. Khan knew the best cure for his mood, and Monica turned out to be a natural in the treatment. The two were so caught in their passion that theypletely ignored the bathtub''s water getting cold.


    .


    .


    .


    The doctor had told Khan to rest, but he interpreted the order in his own way. His tasks wouldn''t just disappear due to a few injuries, so he spent what remained of the afternoon reviewing Lieutenant yman''s report on his bed, surrounded by wet sheets.


    To no one''s surprise, Lieutenant yman had been extremely thorough in his recollection of the mission''s events. His descriptions even carried precise timestamps with minutes and seconds, and many files from the ship''s scanners apanied them.


    Khan didn''t focus on the mission for now. His priority was to evaluate his team, and the report confirmed his initial guess. Except for the pilot, everyone had done well.


    ''What should I even write?'' Khan wondered as Lieutenant yman''s name shone on the device between his hands. ''Reliable, trustworthy, unflinching. That should do.''


    Seth, Leona, and Manuel received simr praises that Khan added to their profiles. He could be more urate and even nitpick on certain details, but adding negative reviews to his teammates wasn''t part of his ns.


    Tyler was the only troublesome topic. Khan could lie and praise him anyway to improve his image as a Captain, but that could lead to dangerous consequences. He didn''t want someone to rely on that pilot because of his evaluation.


    However, leaving negativements could also create problems. Khan already suspected that Tyler had received external help to pass his pilot''s test, which hinted at a powerful background he didn''t want to mess with.


    In the end, Khan decided to ignore that evaluation. It wasn''t mandatory, and experienced soldiers would understand the meaning of ack of praise anyway. He simply avoided delivering the killing blow to that already catastrophic profile.


    Usually, Monica would help Khan deal with those tasks, but her mood was far from ideal. She wasn''t even on the bed with him. She was pacing left and right through the bedroom, and the symphony reeked of her fury.


    "I''ll nuke his fucking outpost," Monica muttered once Khan lowered his device. "Who does he think he is? He is mocking us openly!"


    The previous hours had been full of passion, but the couple had found the time to talk a bit. Khan had shared his thoughts on the leak, and Monica had agreed with his guess. Lucian had to be the culprit, and Monica seemed ready to skin him alive.


    "Monica, let it be for now," Khan teased, knowing how his girlfriend would react. "The video might actually do wonders for my career."


    "That''s not the point!" Monica snapped and crawled on the bed to point an admonishing finger at Khan''s face. "He has to ask permission for that stuff. He muste to you first and then beg me to agree."


    "I kind of like it when you get all bossy," Khan joked, and his words carried some truth. The two didn''t even dress up yet, which made the whole scene sexier.


    "Shut it!" Monica almost shouted. "This is serious!"


    "Alright, ma''am," Khan chuckled. "I''ll threaten him properly next time I see him."<novelnext></novelnext>


    Khan''s casual behavior added fuel to Monica''s anger, who squinted her eyes before jumping off the bed. She stomped her feet through most of the t as she went to retrieve her phone, and a statement left her mouth when she returned to the room. "I''ll call someone from my family."


    "Wait, wait," Khanughed but still hurried outside the bed to seize Monica''s phone. In the past hours, the device had buzzed to no end, and Khan almost answered a call in the following struggle.


    "Give it back!" Monica ordered while trying to retrieve the phone Khan was hiding behind his back.


    "Calm down," Khan snickered. "Let''s not involve your family."


    Monica didn''t want to listen to reason and continued her attempts to seize the phone. Yet, she ended up bumping into Khan''s chest during that yful struggle, forcing a groan out of him.


    The anger instantly dispersed, and worry reced it. Monica gasped and carefully reached for Khan''s cheeks to make sure he was okay, but the tongue he showed after pretending to be hurt made the fury return.


    "You damned scoundrel!" Monicained, forgetting about the phone to push Khan onto the bed. "You are always teasing me, even when the situation is so serious!"


    Monica crawled on Khan and kissed him, trapping him in a suffocating hug. It was unclear whether she wanted to choke him or have sex again, but he was having too much fun to interrupt her.


    "I would have never called my family," Monica snorted while straightening her back to sit on Khan''s abdomen, "But we must do something."


    "I might be to me for the leak," Khan realized in that moment of peace. "I might have told Lucian I want to work with him."


    Khan and Lucian had never exchanged those exact words, but the hidden meanings in theirst conversations were enough for people like them.


    "What?" Monica frowned. "Why?"


    "Because thepdog doesn''t get the princess," Khan sighed.


    "Princess?" Monica questioned. "Are you talking about Princess Edna?"


    "I''m talking about you, dummy," Khanughed. "I don''t want to wait ten years to be with you in the open."


    Monica knew the political environment better than Khan, so she could understand everything with that hint. Khan could get Monica on his own, but that would take a lot of time, which Lucian could shorten.


    "For me?" Monica asked as disbelief filled her face and her hand reached for her curls.


    "I didn''t expect him to release a video," Khan exined. "We didn''t actually talk about anything, but yes. For you."


    Monica melted. She yed a bit longer with her curls before getting down and cuddling at Khan''s side. Sheid on his shoulder and wrapped her left arm and leg around his torso to keep him close.


    "You shouldn''t make these decisions on your own," Monica tried to scold, but her tone came out too sweet. "You should also consult me before epting any n. Lucian is skilled."


    "I never nned to do otherwise," Khan dered.


    Monica lost herself in that smiling face. Her feelings seemed on the verge of bursting out of her chest, and a random thought suddenly popped into her mind, making her shy.


    "What is it?" Khan obviously noticed that reaction.


    "You know I''m on birth control, right?" Monica decided to reveal as anticipation mixed with her shyness.


    "You told me your mother epted your request," Khan eximed. That news was recent, but Khan followed with a simple question. "So?"


    Monica almost felt disappointed, but a realization arrived when she looked at Khan''s clueless face. He probably didn''t know anything about the topic or what it implied.


    "So," Monica announced, diverting her gaze but snuggling closer, "It means you don''t need to use-."


    Monica couldn''t finish her line since multiple letters lit up on the walls and a ringing noise spread through the bedroom. Someone was calling Khan''s t directly, which only professors and simr figures could do.


    "Voice only!" Khan promptly ordered and forced himself to sit. The menus confirmed that his directive had gone through, and the call started without needing to answer.


    "Captain Khan," Professor Nickton''s voice came out of specific areas of the wall. "Did you lose your phone?"


    "I was asleep, sir," Khan lied. "Is something the matter?"


    "Write aplete report of Lauter''s events and send it to me," Professor Nickton stated. "Also, Professor Parver requested your presence in tomorrow''s meeting. Someone will text you all the details."


    "A meeting on the weekend?" Khan felt confused. "Sir, what is it about?"


    "You discovered an unknown racial behavior in the Rad," Professor Nickton exined. "Professor Parver will probably give you ess to a private course as a reward."


    Khan opened his mouth in surprise and prepared another question, but Professor Nickton spoke before him. "Don''t forget my report."


    The call ended at those words. Professor Nickton had hung up since he didn''t care about the conversation anymore, leaving a speechless and confused Khan staring at the empty wall.


    "I should probably get my phone," Khan eventually sighed.


    Dinnertime was close, and Khan had yet to review some notes, but another task had appeared. Still, the situation didn''t look too bad since his injuries would keep him in the t all night.


    Khan prepared himself to retrieve his phone in the bathroom, but something in the symphony made him turn toward Monica. Her mana almost called him.


    "What were you telling me about birth control?" Khan somehow knew the right question for the situation.


    Monica remained shy but still sat on the bed to approach Khan''s ear. Whispers entered it, and his eyes widened, but that surprise onlysted a second since his lust took over him. Part of him had already decided to move the report to the night.

 Chapter 478 Bedridden

    With the simtions, flights, and nights inside the training halls out of the equation, Khan managed to attend to all his tasks without forsaking his rest. He caught up with his studies, sorted through the many messages reaching his phone, and even took a long nap.


    As for the report requested by Professor Nickton, Khan managed to write it during his rare breaks. The task didn''t upy much time since Khan knew what the Professor wanted and could copy notes from Lieutenant yman''s story.


    The chaos caused by the leaked video didn''t vanish the following day. Actually, Khan found an even greater number of people attempting to contact him for various reasons. Some reporters directly imed to be on their way to the Harbor to meet him. His fame had touched insane levels now that everyone could see his strength.


    Khan ignored almost every call since he had already sent reassuring messages to his friends, but the Headmistress wasn''t someone he could refuse. When her name appeared on the t''s walls, he immediately reached for his phone lying right past the mattress.


    "Headmistress!" Khan eximed as soon as he put his phone on his ear and returned to his pillow.


    "Captain, does your phone need fixing?" Headmistress Holwen questioned.


    "No, ma''am," Khan stated. "I was merely resting."


    Headmistress Holwen seemed able to smell the lie in Khan''s statement, which prompted her following words. "The Harbor would be happy to provide a PR manager to handle your calls."


    Khan could only hold back a sigh. He wasn''t equipped for that kind of fame. In theory, he should have already hired a professional. He had hoped things wouldn''te to that, but the situation gave him no choice.


    "I will set an appointment in the embassy next week," Khan promised. "Ma''am, can I ask for your advice in terms of firms?"


    "The Global Army has good specialists," Headmistress Holwen announced. "However, you might require someone at the level of the descendants."


    Khan lowered his gaze. Monica was lying on his abdomen and going through the news on her phone. She could partially hear the conversation and nodded when she noticed Khan''s gaze, so he gave a simple answer to the Headmistress. "Understood."


    "Now, about the reason behind my call," The Headmistress continued. "How are your injuries?"


    Khan didn''t expect the Headmistress to be worried about him, especially since she had seen the video. The question made so little sense that Khan understood it had to have a hidden meaning.


    "I''m fine?" Khan wondered. He was telling the truth. All his burns had healed during the night. Only his ribs still needed some care.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Wrong," Headmistress Holwen rebuked. "You are bedridden and in agonizing pain. Are we clear?"


    "I''m bedridden and in agonizing pain," Khan repeated, and Monica couldn''t hold back a giggle that made her put away her phone. She started scratching Khan''s chest to tease him, and he pretended not to notice her to ask a question. "May I know why, ma''am?"


    "Your stunt on Lauter attracted too much attention," Headmistress Holwen exined. "You aren''t answering your phone, so that attention falls on me."


    "Oh," Khan uttered as some shamelessness joined his voice. "Thank you for taking care of me, Headmistress."


    Theck of attention annoyed Monica, but she couldn''t speak during the call. Yet, one nce at Khan''s groin told her how to solve that problem.


    "Quit it," Headmistress Holwen scoffed. "I need you to stay put for a few days while I handle this mess. There are some people I can''t refuse, but the rest only requires time."


    "Who-?" Khan began to ask, but a grunt he had no intention of voicing left his mouth and forced him to lower his gaze. He could only see a mess of curls hiding his lower waist, which told him everything he needed to know.


    "Captain?" Headmistress Holwen called.


    "Yes, I''m sorry, ma''am," Khan promptly said while closing his eyes to save some attention for the conversation. "May I know who these people are?"


    Khan was genuinely curious. The Headmistress held incredible authority in the Harbor, and most wealthy descendants were his ssmates, so they didn''t need to go through her. He couldn''t think of anyone outside of a few figures who could force the Headmistress'' hand.


    "I''ll give you a list once I''m done," Headmistress Holwen stated. "I''m only sure about a few reporters for now since they have high clearance."


    "I''ll be in your hands, ma''am," Khan uttered without thinking whether his answer made enough sense. It was hard to concentrate while Monica yed with him.


    "Though, there is this one persistent man," Headmistress Holwen continued. "Mister Chares is pulling every string to speak to me directly."


    "Chares?" Khan repeated. "Is he rted to Tyler, my pilot?"


    "He is his uncle," Headmistress Holwen revealed, "And he didn''t sound happy."


    ''I knew it,'' Khan cursed in his mind. He had done his best to remain polite, but theck of official praises was too easy to spot. Tyler''s family''s intervention felt almost inevitable.


    "Ma''am, how can the Chares family affect you?" Khan wondered. He had done a background check on his teammates, so he knew that Tyler''s family wasn''t too influential.


    "It doesn''t," Headmistress Holwen dered. "It''s only this Mister Chares. He has surprising connections."


    The wording told Khan that the Headmistress didn''t know that man. She probably was also in the dark, which wasn''t ideal.


    ''He did receive help to pass the pilot''s test,'' Khan felt sure. Still, the problem remained, and Monica wasn''t exactly helping him think straight.


    "There is one thing, ma''am," Khan decided to change the topic. "I have a meeting tonight. I''m not sure I can refuse."


    "I''m aware of Professor Parver''s invitation," Headmistress Holwen revealed. "I''ve already arranged everything. A car will pick you up after dinner."


    "Perfect," Khan eximed, but his tone carried something that made the Headmistress suspicious.


    "Captain, did you understand what I said?" Headmistress Holwen unleashed her cold tone.


    "I''ll stay put, ma''am," Khan confirmed. "Is there anything else?"


    "No, that''s all," Headmistress Holwen concluded. "Have a good recovery, Captain Khan."


    "I won''t leave the bed, Headmistress," Khan promised, and augh arrived from under him right after the call ended.


    Khan threw away his phone in time to watch Monica turn to face him. She even supported her head with a hand while her elbow was on his waist, and her yful smile spoke louder than words.


    "Do you know anything about the Chares family?" Khan used thest shred of reason to ask that question.


    "Your pilot''s family?" Monica frowned. "What''s there to know?"


    "Nothing," Khan replied. Monica''s ignorance matched Khan''s background check, which reassured him about that variable.


    It still felt odd that a member of that family could annoy the Headmistress, but Khan didn''t know where else to look for answers. Moreover, the yful smile that returned on Monica''s face made him forget about the matter.


    .


    .


    .


    The Headmistress'' order made Khan decide to forsake his flight. He had been conflicted about it before that due to his injuries and the dy that the test would have. Yet, he could only obey and use his free time well.


    The idea of having a celebratory drink with George crossed Khan''s mind, but that would imply clothes, which the couple had forsook since the end of the mission.


    Luckily for Khan, George understood the situation perfectly and even approved it. The two only needed to exchange a few messages to decide to postpone that drink.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Khan ended up spending his day between his studies and Monica, often mixing the two since the couple never left the bed. Still, the car appointed by the Headmistress eventually arrived, forcing Khan to wear his military uniform and head outside.


    The sidewalk was surprisingly empty, but Khan hurried inside the car anyway to avoid risks. As soon as he closed its doors, the vehicle set off, and he pulled out his phone to review some notes or kill time.


    Needless to say, messages and calls were stilling, but Khan only scrolled through the names without addressing anyone. The entire Global Army wanted to talk to him, but an exception existed. Lucian had yet to contact him.


    The matter annoyed Khan a bit, but he let it slide. He would simply take things into his own hands if that situation continued for too long. Besides, the new outpost was a perfect justification for theck of messages.


    The flight took less than Khan expected. The car didn''t head for the district where Professor Nickton had hisb. Instead, it reached a small dome with sealed entrances, which happened to be near the embassy.


    Khan had memorized the Harbor''syout by then. Only authorized personnel could enter that small district, but there he was, and his curiosity inevitably took over in thest phases of the flight.


    The district resembled a military camp. Tent-like structures covered its surface and divided it into four blocks. Soldiers also roamed among those short buildings, but not out of fun. They were patrolling the area to protect what stood under the floor.


    ''There is an entire battalion down there,'' Khanmented in his mind as the car began to descend. The vehicle reached the western district andnded in a specific area toplete the trip.


    The pilot didn''t leave the car, but a couple of soldiers were already waiting for Khan outside the specific area. Military salutes unfolded when he reached them, and the two managed to remain respectfully silent while leading him toward one of the metal tents nearby.


    The building was only as big as one of Khan''s bedrooms, but he understood its purpose as soon as he saw its empty insides. He felt no surprise when the floor began to descend, but wonder arrived when the district''s true face revealed itself.


    The elevator was simr to what Khan had witnessed on Milia 222. It descended through a transparent channel that granted aplete vision of the outside world, which turned out to be an immense area as tall as the embassy.


    A huge tree that connected the floor to the ceiling was the first thing that fell in Khan''s vision. The nt''s huge brown trunk and immense green crown were too eye-catching to notice anything else, especially when descending into the area. Still, that was only a small part of the vegetation.


    The upper floor was split into four sections, and the same went for the lower. The underground version of the western area was a vast garden that almost matched the borders of the block above.


    Khan saw all kinds of nts growing around the giant tree. Scarlet bushes, yellow woods, purple flowers, and much more filled the garden, creating a colorful spectacle that didn''t match the Harbor''s usual style. It almost felt like an actual, but the other details of the area soon broke that belief.


    The elevator was too distant from the other sections, but Khan recognized huge warehouses in the distance. He even noticed immense containers surrounded by scientists in another corner, and cars ran everywhere, partially filling the generally wide roads stretching in multiple directions.


    Moreover, the ceiling had tracks that mechanical arms, cranes, and other machines used to reach their appointed destinations. Many carried metal containers as big as trucks, while others had proper ships in their grasps. That was Milia 222 all over again, or at least, that was what Khan felt due to his experience.


    The soldiers stayed in the elevator once it reached the floor, but Khan didn''t remain alone. A car simr to what he had driven on Onia was waiting for him, and the soldier on the steering wheel only had to perform a military salute to get his attention.


    "How much can you tell me about this ce?" Khan questioned as soon as the car started advancing. The driver was a young man, a second-level warrior, so Khan hoped to establish a friendly conversation.


    "I''m sorry, sir," The soldier responded, destroying that hope. "I''m not authorized to share any information."


    "I see," Khan sighed, focusing his entire attention on the symphony. The ce had a mixture of natural and synthetic mana, allowing him to learn a lot with simple nces.


    The ride didn''tst nearly as long as Khan had hoped. The car soon reached the garden''s edge, which consisted of an interactive metal wall surrounded by tables. Only one of them was upied, and the vehicle stopped in front of it to let Khan jump out.


    Khan had obviously inspected the table while the car was getting close. Four people were sitting at it, and he recognized two of them. One was Professor Nickton, who had surprisingly worn clean clothes. Instead, the other was the often-ill Professor Parver, who had tubes stretching out of his right forearm and ending in a rectangr machine behind him.


    "Professors," Khan performed a military salute afternding on the floor. Still, he couldn''t hide his curiosity toward the machine, and Professor Parver didn''t miss that.


    "Captain Khan," Professor Parver announced, revealing an amiable smile interrupted by a violent cough.


    That scene was far from unusual. Everyone in the advanced sses knew that Professor Parver was chronically ill. Khan had only seen that skinny and pale man twice in the lessons, and violent coughs had afflicted him both times.


    "Is everything okay, Professor?" Khan couldn''t help but ask once the cough had ended.


    "Captain, don''t worry about me," Professor Parver reassured, cleaning his mouth with the handkerchief in his chest pocket. "I''m actually sorry for asking you toe while you are still injured."


    Khan shook his head to reassure the Professor. Truth be told, he had a good impression of the man. His mana described him as a gentle and passionate person, and his lessons reflected that. Even Khan''s peers agreed that the alien environments course was far more engaging when Professor Parver attended it.


    "Let me introduce you to my friends," Professor Parver continued, pointing his hand at the only woman at the table. "This enchanting woman is Ca Bevet. She specializes in alien botany and takes care of the garden behind me, among other things."


    Ca Bevet looked only a few years older than Khan, but her mature gaze hinted at a different truth. She had short brown hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin, and she wore a genuine smile when she stood up to shake Khan''s hand.


    "Captain Khan, it''s a pleasure to meet you," Ca announced. "I admit I am a bit of a fan."


    "I''m ttered, ma''am," Khan chuckled.


    "And don''t mind Professor Parver," Ca continued. "He is too kind with his words. I''m only one of the experts in charge of the garden, and the enchanting part is also arguable."


    "I beg to disagree, ma''am," Khan joked.


    "Oh, such a yer," Ca giggled while returning to her seat, "Just like the rumors say. If only I were thirty years younger."


    ''Excuse me?'' Khan shouted in his mind without letting a single twitch reach his face. ''Thirty what?''


    "The gentleman here is John Nore," Professor Parver continued, pointing at the white-haired man in front of him. "He specializes in robotics but also manages countless functions of the Harbor. His team is the very best."


    "Captain Khan," John stood up, showing a firm and lively grip when he shook Khan''s hand. "Your battle with the Rad was inspiring. I''m d the new generations have someone like you to look up to."


    "I still needed to rely on the turrets, sir," Khan remained humble.


    "I would have put my money on you even without the turrets," John chuckled, and his smile highlighted the many wrinkles on the corners of his mouth and bionic eyes.


    "You already know Professor Nickton," Professor Parver added once John returned to his seat. "He told me you gave him a shipment worth of Rad yesterday."


    "Mostly maimed Rad," Professor Nickton corrected.


    "He isn''t angry at you," Professor Parver winked at Khan. "It''s the turrets that he hates."


    Khanughed, but an awkward silence followed. He had yet to take a seat since it wouldn''t be proper without an explicit invitation, and the purpose of that meeting was still a mystery. Luckily, Professor Parver didn''t let that situation continue for too long.


    "Captain," Professor Parver stated, "If you allow it, I''ll keep the first part brief."


    ''It''s not just one thing,'' Khan realized while far different words left his mouth. "Certainly, sir."


    "You have a unique insight into alien environments and species," Professor Parver dered. "I would like you to lend me that power."


    Khan had to hold back a frown. Professor Parver had spoken the truth, but Khan remained unqualified for those scientific tasks. He wasn''t even sure he could exin what he felt to people loyal to the human arts.


    "Sir, I''m just a student," Khan tried to exin his situation in the best way he could.


    "Far from it," Ca giggled.


    "Indeed," Professor Parver continued. "Besides, you want to be an ambassador. With my rmendation and the experience umted in these tasks, you''ll score a job in the embassy''s offices as soon as the semester ends."

 Chapter 479 Offers

    The entire Global Army knew about Khan''s goals, and that wasn''t even his first time receiving simr offers. He firmly believed they would increase in number as his fame spread, but the core issue remained.


    Khan''s broader perspective and deep understanding of mana were priceless qualities in the scientific field. He could provide insights that even advanced machines couldn''t notice. Yet, he had no foundation in those subjects.


    However, Khan also knew he had to start somewhere, and the Harbor was one of the best ces in the Global Army for that. Some of the embassy''s offices would need to deploy him, which was what he wanted to achieve.


    That knowledge wasn''t the result of a single research. Khan had studied the topic and questioned his friends multiple times during the past months. He was almost sure that the Harbor''s embassy was ideal for his goals. He only wanted a more fitting starting ce, but reality rarely matched his desires.


    "If I may, sir," Khan decided to probe into the matter a bit more, "What tasks?"


    "Why don''t you take a seat in the meantime?" Professor Parver invited, pointing at the empty seat next to John Nore. "Linus, can you help the Captain understand?"


    Professor Nickton cleared his throat and took out his phone while Khan sat down. Holograms soon came out of his device, creating a long list that shone above the table.


    Khan had already seen many of the list''s tags. They were job offers located in the Harbor with the addition of a few tasks that even thework didn''t show.


    "This system has sixs," Professor Parver exined while Khan browsed the list. "You have already seen Nippe 2 and Lauter, but the others also have valuable resources. This list shows all the possible tasks that concern them."


    Professor Parver wasn''t saying anything new. Khan had learnt that weeks ago, but the exnation put the conversation on a path he recognized. It seemed that Professor Parver wanted Khan to take over all those tasks.


    "Do you want me to handle them, sir?" Khan wondered as some disappointment joined his thoughts.


    Khan had already considered those jobs, but they felt beneath him now. The fact that the Professor was considering him seemed to show how little he thought of him.


    "I wouldn''t waste your talents over these," Professor Parver promptly revealed. "I only wanted to give you an idea of how valuable this system is."


    "That''s one of the reasons behind the Harbor''s location," Khan stated. "Most courses highlight this."


    "For good reason," Professor Parver continued, nodding at Professor Nickton to make him put away his phone. "Still, there are ssified jobs that thework will never show, and I can''t think of a better expert for them."


    That ttery didn''t affect Khan. He was no expert. He was just alien in many ways. Also, the nature of the offer featured a problem he couldn''t ignore.


    "I mean no disrespect," Khan announced, hoping that the Professor wouldn''t take it the wrong way, "But won''t a specialized team be better for them? I''m not sure these jobs suit me."


    The question went beyond Khan''s qualifications. He was willing to do random jobs to get money and fame, but they wouldn''t push him closer to his goals. He wanted something concerning alien rtionships or simr fields when it came to real offers.


    "Captain, you have good senses, don''t you?" Professor Parverughed.


    "Rtively speaking," Khan yed it humble. He was good even among aliens, but the Professor didn''t need to know that.


    "Tell me what you see," Professor Parver requested.


    Khan didn''t take the matter too seriously but still pretended to focus. After all, he had already studied the Professor. Thetter was a fourth-level warrior who didn''t rely on cloaking techniques, so Khan had memorized his presence.


    However, a new presence suddenly appeared among Professor Parver''s mana. Khan frowned when he saw a different shade joining the man''s energy and shing with it. That foreign mana was located in the Professor''s lungs and pushed on the rest of his organs toe out.


    The process wasn''t as simple as it looked. Both energies belonged to Professor Parver, but one was violent and wild, almost angry. It always tried to expand, and any sess made a small chunk of the man''s peaceful and gentle mana disappear.


    "Is your mana eating itself?" Khan couldn''t help but ask.


    The question made Ca, John, and Professor Nickton shoot stunned gazes at Khan. They appeared genuinely surprised that he could see so much, but Professor Parver only showed a confident smile.


    "Mana allowed us to get rid of many incurable illnesses," Professor Parver revealed as the hostile presence inside him vanished, "But also brought new ones. I caught this one during my reckless phase, and I''ll probably spend the rest of my life needing machines and treatments to suppress it."


    A violent cough took control of Professor Parver''s throat at that point. Ca even left her seat to attend to the machine and change some parameters. It seemed that revealing the illness had weighed on the Professor''s health, forcing him to take a minute to calm down.


    "It''s truly amazing," John praised in the meantime. "We are aware of Professor Parver''s illness, but for you to learn about it with a simple nce¡­ Truly stunning."


    ''I''m surprised he could keep it hidden from me at all,'' Khan thought as his gaze remained on the Professor. He suspected the treatment had something to do with it, but the matter amazed him nheless.


    "That''s my whole point," Professor Parver spoke again as random coughs interrupted his lines. "Most teams would need special scanners and expensive equipment. You wouldn''t even require teammates."


    ''So, it''s about money,'' Khan concluded. Professor Parver was right, but that didn''t make Khan more inclined to ept his offer. It only forced him to be straightforward with his next line.


    "Professor," Khan eximed, "I''m ttered, but I don''t see how this will help me get into the embassy. I''m obviously not talking about your rmendation. It''s just, the Global Army already knows I have muscles and senses."


    Strangely enough, the Professor didn''t show any disappointment. Actually, his gentle smile grew brighter after that honest refusal.


    "I knew you had brains, Captain," Professor Parver praised. "Linus, can you please call a car for us?"


    Professor Nickton picked up his phone again, and Professor Parver stood up. Ca helped him and even removed the tubes attached to his forearm.


    "I hope I can steal a bit more of your time, Captain," Professor Parver requested.


    "Of course," Khan replied while also leaving his seat.


    ? "Well," Ca eximed, stretching her arm above the table to shake Khan''s hand again. "I enjoyed this brief encounter. May it be one of many."


    John also stood up, and knowing words left his mouth when he shook Khan''s hand. "It was a pleasure, Captain. Professor Parver is a hard man to refuse, so I''m sure I''ll see you around."


    "I just want to make sure the Captain understands the entirety of the situation," Professor Parver chuckled. "I''ll ept any decision afterward."


    A jeep with no canopy approached the tables while those respectful salutes resounded, and Professor Parver reached for it before voicing another question. "Captain, can you drive one of these?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan felt curious. He nodded, and the driver left the car to perform a military salute before leaving the area on foot. The Professor was asking for a private meeting, and Khan wanted to hear what he had to say.


    "Do you need help, sir?" Khan wondered when the Professor opened the car''s door.


    "Don''t worry about me," Professor Parver reassured. "Take the wheel. I''ll give you directions along the way."


    Khanplied and reached the driver''s seat. The jeep had simplemands simr to what he had used on Onia, so making it start and elerate wasn''t an issue. The wide streets of the floor also allowed Khan to avoid other vehicles.


    "I understand your concerns," Professor Parver announced once the jeep put enough distance from the tables. "Being a delivery boy isn''t the best starting point, but this particr offeres with great advantages."


    "Such as?" Khan questioned, making sure not to go too fast due to the Professor''s poor health.


    "You would build connections with the Harbor''s specialists," Professor Parver exined. "Miss Bevet and Mister Nore are only some of the important figures you''d work for. You''d gain a reputation among most offices and only for the tasks that really matter."


    ''Most descendants can offer that,'' Khan thought.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "These jobs woulde from the Global Army," Professor Parver said as if he could read Khan''s thoughts. "They wouldn''t have any connection to the families, at least in your specific tasks. You''d be able to climb the politicaldder without pledging allegiance to any faction."


    That point was genuinely interesting. The political environment wasplicated, and Professor Parver was offering Khan a way out, even if only temporarily.


    "Also, these connections would help once you start working in the Harbor," Professor Parver continued. "The various offices would already trust you at that point. Oh, take this left."


    "But, sir," Khan felt the need to intervene while entering the street stretching on his left, "An ambassador mainly requires knowledge of multiple alien subjects. What kind of value would I have in an office if I entered it as a simple errand boy?"


    Khan was ignoring his feats on purpose to make his question clearer. His best grades were on subjects that involved alien species or environments, and he had already proven himself on the field a few meaningful times.


    "Specialists on Earth study for years to get a chance to be deployed," Professor Parver dered. "You''d take the opposite path, being deployed and filling the gaps in your knowledge in the following years."


    "Is this feasible?" Khan wondered.


    "It''s rarer," Professor Parver admitted. "Many offices tend to hinder the careers and ambitions of simple soldiers to prioritize specialists from Earth or families. However, you are a special case."


    Khan couldn''t help but take his time to consider the offer properly. The advantages were real and great. The job would even y on Khan''s skills without cornering him in the political field. He simply didn''t know if it was the best for him.


    "I need more time," Khan eventually stated. "I can''t ept right away."


    "I never expected you to," Professor Parverughed. "Take the next right."


    The car left the garden area to enter a block with a few buildings and narrower streets. Those structures were simple enough to be habitations, but the unique location probably granted them a deeper purpose.


    "Not so brief as a first part," Professor Parver joked in front of Khan''s silence. "I''m sorry. I might have miscalcted a bit."


    "It''s no problem, sir," Khan reassured. "If I may, how many parts there are to this meeting?"


    "Only two," Professor Parver revealed. "The second involves an invitation to a private ss. It''s an intensive course for those wanting to deepen their understanding of alien environments and their branches."


    "I guess the invitation goes alongside the offer," Khan voiced.


    "Not at all," Professor Parver. "Your grades make you suitable for the intensive course, so you can join it even if you refuse my offer."


    Khan fell silent again. Everything was too much to take in a single meeting, and he had yet to consider the biggest problem. Even if he wanted to ept the offer, he would need to figure out where to stuff those tasks in his schedule.


    "Oh, stop there," Professor Parver eventually ordered while pointing at a nearby building. "That''s myb."


    Khanplied, and Professor Parver stepped out of the car once it reached the building. The entrance required his gic signature and phone to open, which he provided while Khan watched him from his seat.


    "Follow me, Captain," Professor Parver ordered. "Let me offer you a drink while we finish our conversation."


    Khan became a bit suspicious. The Professor had already shown that he could hide part of his mana. Khan felt unable to trust his senses anymore against him, and the structure even isted them. The invitation could be a trap, but orders were orders.


    The entrance closed behind Khan when he stepped inside a small office with two interactive desks, a few chairs, and a full bookcase that covered one of its long walls. The room had another door that led deeper into the building, but Professor Parver didn''t use it.


    "Your reservations are reasonable, Captain," Professor Parver announced while reaching for a drawer under one interactive desk to take out a bottle and a couple of sses. "Why would you waste your limited timepleting these tasks when you can ept one of your many offers?"


    Khan remained silent and joined the Professor on the chairs. Thetter left the sses on the floor to pour the booze before picking them up to hand one to Khan.


    "I''m sure your past only makes you more hesitant," Professor Parver continued, gulping down the entire ss in a single sip. "My offer is closer to scientists than ambassadors. What happened to your father will make you look at it in a bad light."


    Khan had yet to reach those topics, but the Professor was right once again. If he epted the offer, it would make more sense for him to expand his scientific knowledge, which wasn''t his priority.


    "If you know so much," Khan decided to speak, "Why did you make the offer in the first ce? You must already have someone for those tasks in the end."


    "The Harbor does," Professor Parver confirmed, "But I feel you are underestimating the length of our procedures. We can waste months waiting for scouts and teams toe back with anything."


    "My senses don''t make me able to aplish miracles," Khan uttered.


    "So you say after bringing back key knowledge about the Tors," Professor Parver pointed out, "Or discovering hidden racial traits of a species we observed for decades. Your survival instincts and general strength are also off the charts. I can''t name a better scout."


    "But I''m aiming higher than scout," Khan pressed on.


    "Ambassadors have scouts in their teams," Professor Parver responded. "Many learn scouts'' skills themselves during the job. The Global Army will most likely send someone with those abilities when dealing with new or unfriendly species."


    Khan didn''t know what to say. The more he thought about the matter, the more sense it made. Yet, he had to put it among his other opportunities andpare the benefits before deciding.


    "Is your head fuming already?" Professor Parver joked. "Take your time, Captain. I''ll be happy as long as you fulfill your potential. That''s my job as your Professor."


    The kindness carried by the Professor''s words made Khan''s mind wander. The drink was strong enough to help the process, so the silence that followed didn''t feel awkward.


    The Professor coughed a few times before heaving a deep sigh and adjusting his position on the chair. He appeared tired, and his wandering eyes highlighted his paleness. The Professor almost seemed to grow older during the silence.


    "You know," Professor Parver eventually muttered, "I knew your father. He was one of the best scientists the Global Army has ever enlisted. I owe some of the treatments that keep me alive to him."


    ''He isn''t dead yet,'' Khan thought before diverting his eyes. ''Probably.''


    "Scientists tend to be entric," Professor Parver chuckled, "But he went beyond that. His grumpy character was legendary, but true skills backed it up."


    Khan didn''t know how to take those praises. Things with his father were still odd, and he felt unable to face them until he gained ess to the knowledge he sought.


    "It''s a pity the new generations won''t learn about him," Professor Parver continued. "The Global Army disgraced him. Though I believe he doesn''t regret it."


    Khan lifted his gaze to look at the Professor. Thetter wasn''t looking at him, but something felt strange.


    "The Global Army has many secrets," Professor Parver dered, "Especially in the scientific fields. There are horrid and disgusting things that will never reach the public.


    "Some rumors even involve Tainted humans. It is said that the first generations always go crazy in a few years. I don''t know how much I can believe that after seeing you."


    ''Crazy?'' Khan wondered. ''Is he talking about the nightmares?''


    "However," Professor Parver added, "Your father was one of the few experts able to fix this problem, probably the only one. He would have even had every reason toe up with a miraculous solution."


    "What do you mean?" Khan couldn''t remain silent anymore.


    "Bret only loved one thing more than science," Professor Parver revealed, "And you look exactly like her."

 Chapter 480 Burn

    ''What is he trying to say?'' Khan wondered as his paranoia kicked in.


    Professor Parver seemed to have good intentions, but his words sent mixed signals. They almost hinted at the secrets Khan was seeking, but their vagueness made the whole revtion suspicious.


    Somehow, Khan couldn''t believe Professor Parver only wanted to state how much Bret loved his mother. The part about the Tainted humans added a deeper meaning that touched on the right topics, and Khan couldn''t hold back from asking more questions.


    "Why are you telling me this?" Khan questioned, ignoring whether he was being disrespectful. "Is there something I should know about Tainted humans?"


    "Many things, obviously," Professor Parver chuckled in his usual kind tone. "The entire scientific field is flooded with reports and theories."


    The answer didn''t say anything. Professor Parver could have remained silent, and nothing would have changed. Still, Khan saw something different in it. Actually, he found two hidden meanings inside it.


    Professor Parver coughed before Khan could ask more questions, and that violent reaction continued for almost half a minute. Even with the paranoia, Khan epted that the man''s suffering was genuine, which enforced his silence.


    "I''m sorry, Captain," Professor Parver eventually spoke while some lighter coughs still afflicted his throat. "It seems that I reached my limit for today."


    The illness'' good timing deepened Khan''s suspicion, but his hands were tied. If the Professor didn''t want him there, he had to leave.


    Khan would lie if he said that he didn''t consider violent paths. Yet, the Professor was a fourth-level warrior who had shown nothing but kindness to him. Besides, the unique location prevented any rule-breaking behavior, making Khan disregard those dark thoughts and depart.


    The jeep was still outside theb, and Khan felt to have every right to ride it. He recalled the road back to the elevator, so he started the engine and let his mind wander.


    The Professor''s secondst line told Khan two things. The Tainted humans'' topic had many secrets, and the scientific field could uncover them.


    Those hidden meanings could be a ruse to make Khan ept the Professor''s offer. They could also be the result of his paranoia in front of an honest answer that didn''t n to have any secret purpose. Anything was possible, and Khan could only try to guess the truth from the vague pieces umted throughout the years.


    Khan had gathered many clues since his enlistment. He had yet to find proper answers. Yet, something had begun to take form in his mind, and those thoughts kept him busy even when he returned to the car in the western district above.


    Elizabeth, Khan''s mother, was probably a noble. He could quote Madam Solodrey, E, and maybe Raymond to prove his point. That lofty status would even exin the harsh punishments applied to his family, so Khan decided to start from there.


    Princess Edna couldn''t be sure, but her idea of Nak on Earth could make sense. It would also stand to reason that the Global Army had learnt how to control them, and that reasoning made the Second Impact suspicious. The existence of a rogue Nak''s ship was possible, but Khan inevitably thought about conspiracies. He had learnt how strict the nobles were, so the Second Impact could have been a punishment for his parents'' unauthorized union.


    Of course, the fact that the Second Impact had happened when Khan was five went against that hypothesis. A noble family would have acted far before that if they were against his parents. Still, Khan felt the need to keep that option open to avoid missing details.


    With Elizabeth gone, Bret had done anything in his power to save Khan, and no one seemed to know exactly what. Both Raymond and Professor Parver had confirmed that, but Khan couldn''t exclude other possibilities. Someone inside the Global Army or families could be aware of Bret''s methods.


    Professor Parver''s vague words also added value to Raymond''s interest in Khan. ording to the former, first-generation Tainted humans always went crazy, which could hinder eventual studies. Khan didn''t know why they were special, but the Professor''s revtion was something he could agree on.


    ''Could the nightmares make someone crazy?'' Khan wondered as the car headed toward the second district. ''They definitely made me crazy.''


    Khan realized that the Professor was probably talking about a different type of crazy. Yet, when he added his father''s unknown procedure and the nightmares'' secrets scenes uncovered on Nitis, he could find a few exnations.


    ''What if he suppressed part of the nightmares to help me retain my sanity?'' Khan questioned in his mind. ''What if my current nightmares were always supposed to be their true version?''


    The other Tainted humans probably didn''t experience the Nak''s hand''s influence, but no one had suppressed their mutations either. Maybe, Khan would have obtained his current appearance and nightmares after the Second Impact if Bret didn''t intervene.


    ''But, why?'' Khan asked himself while looking at his palms. ''The following generations still get the mutations. Even Professor Nickton said that I''d pass them down. Unless there is something specific that only the first retain.''


    Khan saw the nightmares as a possible answer once again. They didn''t only weigh on his sanity. They also carried a map or, rather, a picture of a system. Maybe, Raymond and others inside the Global Army were after it.


    There were other possible answers, and Khan realized his unique position after considering them. The following generations could probably get the nightmares, but that would likely lead to madness too. Maybe, he was special because he could retain his sanity without forsaking that crucial mutation.


    Khan obviously knew that his idea was frail since he had built it on guesses and vague clues. Getting a single thing wrong could make everything fall apart. However, that was the best he coulde up with after being enlisted for more than three years.


    The situation wouldn''t look too bad if Khan had a few concrete answers, but no one wanted to give them. He had even found possible leads, but they were impossible to pursue for now. The families'' upper echelon, the nobles, and the top of the Global Army were out of his reach, and his other options were far from ideal.


    ''Raymond is a big no,'' Khan sighed. ''He can trick me too easily. Lord Vegner is probably connected to him, so I don''t know. Is Professor Parver really the best I have?''


    Khan couldn''t help but find the situation annoying, andnding in front of his building only deepened that feeling. He realized he wasn''t alone as soon as he stepped on the sidewalk. Another car was there, and the luxury it reeked revealed the owner''s identity.


    "Captain, the Headmistress-," The car''s pilot tried to call Khan when he saw him heading toward the other vehicle, but the re thatnded on his vision made him shut up. The gesture had generated an instinctive fear that made him unable to speak.


    Khan reached the second car and entered it without bothering to knock. His expression didn''t change when he found Lucian and a few soldiers inside, but his mana had a different reaction, which he managed to suppress for now.


    "I''m sorry I couldn''t call earlier, Captain," Lucian announced. "Lauter''s outpost kept me quite busy."


    "Just go," Khan stated as his gaze fell on the window. "We''ll talk once wend."


    Lucian smiled and gave the order to the pilot, who set off to head toward the private location used in the previous meeting. Lucian made his guards stay behind when the vehiclended, and Khan followed him into a familiar private room.


    "I think apologies are in order," Lucian eximed as soon as he sat at an interactive table. "I wanted to warn you, but the timing was more important."


    Khan sat on the other side of the table without uttering a single word. He could almost hear his mood worsening before Lucian''s casual behavior. The explosion was imminent. It only needed a trigger.


    "Still, things went perfectly," Lucianughed. "The video went viral in mere minutes."


    Lucian showed a satisfied smile, but his expression froze when the interactive table flew on his chest and mmed him into the wall. The impact made him unable to breathe for a few seconds, and the hand that reached his throat prolonged that state.


    Khan held Lucian''s throat in his right hand and pulled him out of the table to m him into the wall again. He was lifting him with a single arm, and his fingers didn''t move even when Lucian tried to open them.


    Monica could make Khan feel better about the video''sments, but those emotions remained. The previous reasoning had also put him in a bad mood, which fueled those extreme reactions.


    Truth be told, Khan acknowledged the value of Lucian''s actions. He simply hated to be a pawn in someone else''s game. That had already happened with Raymond, and Professor Parver looked ready to imitate him, so Khan decided to vent on Lucian.


    Lucian''s training kicked in. He calmed down and lowered his arms to pour mana into them, but Khan tightened his grip and disturbed his concentration. His cold re remained on Lucian for the entire time, and thetter finally experienced some genuine fear.


    "Snap your fingers," Khan threatened, "And I''ll snap your neck."


    Khan softened his grip when he saw that Lucian understood his situation. Some air managed to reach his lungs at that point, but Khan didn''t put him down. He kept him on the wall as new threats formed inside his mind.


    "What is it?" Khan questioned. "Did you think that an infusion put you at my level?"


    Lucian''s eyes had long since widened. The situation felt unreal. Khan''s reaction was way too extreme, and inspecting the room only reminded Lucian that the area had no cameras.


    "You left your guards outside," Khan continued, "And money can''t save you here."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "K-Khan!" Lucian whispered, but Khan didn''t let go. Too many people were trying to use him, and he couldn''t stay put anymore. Lucian''s case was also worse since many of his ploys involved Monica.


    "I thought I was the monster of Nippe 2," Khan scoffed. "Isn''t that what you wanted everyone to see? If you wish, I can show you the monster."


    "Y-you can''t-," Lucian tried to argue, but Khan tightened his grip to interrupt the line.


    "I can''t what?" Khan asked. "No one can stop me here. Before you get any ideas, your guards wouldn''t make any difference either."


    Softening the grip allowed Lucian to breathe again, and he didn''t hesitate to speak. "Will you ruin your life just to punish me?"


    There was some scorn in Lucian''s tone, which told Khan how he had yet to understand the nature of the situation. Luckily for Khan, he only had to be honest to clear that confusion.


    "Do you think I care about my life?" Khan chuckled. "I killed children for Liiza. I can kill you for Monica."


    Lucian didn''t want to believe those words, but Khan''s eyes weren''t lying. That was a crazy truth he had to ept. If things really went south, Khan was willing to go far and beyond.


    Khan waited until Lucian''s mana released the desired scent before voicing onest threat. "No more games."


    Lucian could only nod, and Khan let him go afterward. Lucian''s legs gave up as soon as they touched the floor, but Khan ignored that crash and returned to his seat.


    A few coughs resounded in the room. Lucian took some seconds to calm down and clear his throat, and a worried expression followed. Yet, he quickly suppressed it to sit on an empty chair.


    "You could have just told me," Lucianined, stretching his neck to disperse the soreness caused by Khan''s grip. "Though, I''m d we are finally speaking openly."


    "Do you think it''s wise to joke right now?" Khan wondered.


    "I''m not joking," Lucian stated, pulling the table closer to open one of its drawers. "We can''t be allies if we keep holding back our words."


    Khan''s attack had shattered the sses in the drawers, but the bottle had survived, and Lucian drank from it. He even handed it to Khan once he was done.


    "You have some crazy in you," Khan admitted while taking a long sip from the bottle. "I just threatened to kill you, and you talk about being allies."


    "I''m a proud descendant of the Hencus family," Lucian dered. "I''d be unworthy of my name if I let this much scare me away."


    Khan had to admit that some respect had appeared inside him. Lucian had stones.


    "What?" Lucian asked. "Did you think I''d run away?"


    "I only wanted to make my position clear," Khan revealed. "What happened afterward wasn''t my problem."


    "I understand," Lucian stated. "I won''t act on my own anymore. You have my word."


    "I don''t know how much it''s worth," Khan openly mocked before changing the topic. "So, the video was your first move. What''s your grand n, and how does it involve Monica?"


    "It''s quite simple, really," Lucian snickered. "Your value already skyrocketed due to the video. You only need to get closer to a different family to force the Solodrey''s hand."


    "Another family?" Khan asked. "Do you mean yours?"


    "Oh, no," Lucian shook his head. "I''d lose face if you got close to mine just to return to the Solodrey. You need someone you can abandon, someone you can afford to offend."


    "I''ll think about it," Khan replied as ideas already formed in his mind. "What then?"


    "You get close to them," Lucian exined, "You keep increasing your value, and you wait for the Solodrey family to make their move."


    "What if they don''t?" Khan questioned.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I''ll give you another mission," Lucian revealed. "It probably won''te directly from me, but it will give you another chance to show your strength. Of course, a second video will reach thework at that point."


    Lucian wanted to make the Solodrey family scared of losing priority over Khan, which could work. However, there was a key aspect that Lucian still needed to exin.


    "What''s in it for you?" Khan asked.


    "I already got my outpost," Lucian responded. "This friendly rtionship is another big reward. If something happens, I''lle to you as a friend and ask for your help."


    "What if I ignore you?" Khan wondered. "Will we go back on veiled threats?"


    "Ca-," Lucian began to speak before choosing to use different words. "Khan, you can threaten me all you want, but I know you at least try to do the right thing."


    "How is plotting against my girlfriend''s family the right thing?" Khan mocked himself.


    "I call that normality," Lucianughed. "Wee to the political game. I hope you enjoy the ride."


    Khan and Lucian exhausted their topics at that point. They took a few more sips from the bottle but eventually decided to leave. It was gettingte anyway, and Khan couldn''t stay outside for too long.


    The arrival in the building''s main hall put Khan into a pensive state once again. Lucian''s n was reasonable, but Khan could y with that. He could establish a game within the game.


    If Khan epted Professor Parver''s offer, he would grow closer to the Global Army without risking offending other families. Moreover, he would also build connections that might help him against powerful forces if necessary. He would grow independent while sticking to Lucian''s n.


    The idea lingered in Khan''s mind during the climb in the elevator, but his actions against Lucian eventually reappeared. He felt better after venting, but some negativity remained. He had shown his true face, and hiding it didn''t feel right.


    The t didn''t agree with Khan''s mood. The cheerfulness that filled the symphony invaded him as soon as the elevator opened and almost washed away his negative feelings.


    A series of steps resounded through the t before three faces appeared past the elevator area. George, Anita, and Monica showed broad smiles before shouting simultaneously. "Surprise!"


    Khan was at a loss for words, but Monica didn''t hesitate to approach him to exin the situation. She had worn a new dress, and the sight almost made Khan unable to hear the words she whispered to his ear.


    "It''s to celebrate your mission," Monica revealed. "There is even a cake."


    "Ask him where he keeps the good bottles," George called while Khan was still busy looking at Monica in disbelief.


    George''s words put a smile on Khan''s face, and Monica grew happier seeing that. She kissed his cheek before taking his elbow and voicing a request he couldn''t refuse. "Shall we go?"


    Khan nodded and let Monica pull him. He couldn''t help but feel happy, and the return of his previous thoughts didn''t ruin his mood anymore. They only filled him with atent resolve. He knew he would burn the entire world to protect those smiling faces.

 Chapter 481 Bastard

    Khanplied with the Headmistress'' directives in the following days. He stayed put, even skipping lessons to let her handle the consequences of his fame.


    That peaceful and rxed period did wonders for Khan''s injuries. His ribs healedpletely, and the benefits of the rest didn''t stop there. The additional free time allowed him to study more and even gave him a chance to consider his many opportunities.


    Khan was overwhelmed with options. He could join any family he wanted or stick with the Global Army. He could also ignore all of that and focus on his studies. The entire political environment was within his reach. It was only waiting for his decision.


    The break also helped Khan''s mental state. He had gradually gotten more honest with his actions and words since his arrival in the Harbor, and that trend didn''t stop. The outburst with Lucian only pushed him further in that direction. His fame was giving him a chance to be closer to himself, and he didn''t refuse it.


    Once the Headmistress gave the okay, Khan stuffed as many tasks as possible on the day before the weekend. He didn''t want anything else to get in the way of his license, so he sacrificed an afternoon to deal with matters that had be mandatory.


    The embassy opened upon Khan''s arrival. Military salutes unfolded left and right as he followed a couple of soldiers through the structure''s immense corridors, but he only nodded at them. Thest lessons had ended quitete, so he wanted to save time to avoid finishing up way past dinnertime.


    Luckily for Khan, the embassy was easy to cross due to its many specific elevators. He only had to climb two to reach the offices he sought, and the appointment set the previous day allowed him to enter them without waiting in line.


    "Wee to the Hyper-Privacy corporation," An attractive woman in her thirties donning elegant clothes weed Khan into her office before closing the metal door. The ce was rtively small, featuring only an interactive desk and three chairs, but it didn''t feel cramped.


    "Captain Khan, make yourselffortable," The woman said while pointing at one of the chairs. "I''ll get to you in a moment."


    Khanplied, taking his seat while the woman went to the other side of the table. The surface had multiple menus open, but she picked up a rectangr screen and a bottle before returning to Khan.


    "Allow me to convey my gratitude for choosing us," The woman announced while pouring a drink and handing it to Khan. "Hyper-Privacy is d to have such a high-profile figure as its client."


    "I have yet to choose you," Khanughed before bringing the drink to his mouth. Monica had vouched for that corporation but making it too easy for them might increase his expenses.


    "Of course," The woman smiled while leaning on the desk. "Though, we are ready to satisfy your every request to get you to sign. You only have to ask."


    The woman shot a charming nce at Khan while cing a hand on the surface behind her. Her stance highlighted her exquisite figure and tight short skirt, hinting that her duties could go beyond the menus.


    "Ma''am," Khan called.


    "Please, Captain, call me Jenny," The woman interrupted.


    "Jenny," Khan corrected. "I''d like to know how this works and what advantages you can give mepared to a family."


    "Families usually have private PR programs," Jenny exined. "They limit their services to their descendants. They can offer good deals to prominent outsiders, but their political neutrality is questionable."


    "Isn''t yours also questionable?" Khan wondered. "You are a corporation inside the Global Army in the end."


    "Hyper-Privacy has multiple protocols in ce," Jenny responded. "You''ll receive a detailed list. Still, in short, we take the same political stances as our clients."


    "What if your clients are criminals?" Khan questioned.


    "Well," Jenny eximed, remaining strangely calm in front of that problematic question. "Hyper-Privacy can''t refuse the Global Army''s direct orders. If they want to learn about a client, they will. Yet, it might take them some time to gain ess to everything."


    Jenny''s smiling expression didn''t change, but Khan could read between the lines. Her mana also exined the entirety of the story, which partially reassured him.


    "I find it hard to believe that you can stop the Global Army," Khan pointed out.


    "We can''t," Jenny stated. "We don''t even try. There simply are automatic security protocols that even we can''t breach."


    ''That sounds interesting,'' Khan admitted in his mind.


    "So, how does this work?" Khan repeated.


    "Once you sign with us," Jenny announced, seizing the bottle on the table to refill Khan''s ss, "You''ll give us a list of the people allowed to contact you so we can filter out the others. We''ll also sort through them and provide a weekly summary highlighting anything relevant."


    "That''s it?" Khan asked.


    "Our summaries take the entire political environment into consideration," Jenny dered. "We give real-time stats of various families and markets while adding prospects. Captain, you wouldn''t have to do personal research anymore."


    "Does that include job offers?" Khan wondered.


    "Job offers," Jenny confirmed, "Career advice, and even marriage proposals. If you wish, we can also tell you in which direction you should expand your profile to reach your goals more easily."


    "I''m not nning on marrying for now," Khanughed.


    "If you were our client," Jenny replied, "We would agree with your decision. Your potential is too great to waste it on your current offers."


    "Current offers?" Khan repeated.


    "They aren''t official," Jenny exined, reaching for a menu on the table to activate a few holograms. "However, we predict that twelve families will present them given the right opportunity. That number will increase in the next weeks, and you can even add to it by requesting simr offers."


    Khan recognized the names on the holographic lists thanks to Monica''s training. They belonged to middle-ss families with little to no influencepared to Khan''s ssmates.


    "Did you learn so much about me in a single day?" Khan questioned.


    "We have kept track of your growth for years already," Jenny revealed. "Captain, you became relevant to our services since Istrone''s rebellion."


    ''Makes sense,'' Khan thought without letting any reaction reach his expression. He didn''t have much influence back then, but his feats had already made him famous, which could affect part of the political environment.


    "I believe the army''s higher-ups won''t need my authorization," Khan went back to the previous topic.


    "They won''t," Jenny confirmed, "But they''ll still need to pass through us. You''d also receive a warning from ourpany in that case."


    Khan had made his decision before attending that meeting, and Jenny''s overall preparation confirmed it. Hyper-Privacy sounded as good as Monica had said. Khan only needed to see if he could get a discount.


    "I''m interested," Khan openly admitted. "I wonder, how expensive are your services?"


    "We have prepared tailor-made ns for you," Jenny''s eyes lit up as she activated the rectangr device in her hand to show a series of offers. "This list already contains discounts for your rank, services, and potential. We also took the liberty to lower the price a bit more due to our desire to have you among our clients."


    Khan had already looked for Hyper-Privacy''s general prices, and the numbers on the list were far below them. Some ns could ask for up to five thousand Credits per month, but that was within Khan''s range. After all, his finances had entered the millions.


    "Our standard n involves-," Jenny began to exin, but Khan interrupted her. "I''ll take the deluxe n."


    Khan showed a shameless smile after the sudden statement, and Jenny could only feel surprised while retrieving the device. It was clear that Khan had also done his homework about Hyper-Privacy.


    "Perfect!" Jenny eximed once she retrieved her cool. "I''ll forward the application immediately. I only need your gic signature."


    Jenny hurried to the other side of the table and connected the device to show the intended forms. Khan skimmed through them before applying his thumb to the appointed spot. His signature went through in a matter of seconds, officially turning him into a client.


    "Now, if I can have your attention," Jenny uttered while keeping her gaze on the desk.


    "I''m sorry," Khan interrupted again while leaving his seat. "I''m actually in a hurry. Just send everything to my phone."


    "But, Captain," Jenny gasped, "What about your contacts?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Don''t you have a list of my friends already?" Khan asked.


    "Yes," Jenny replied, "But you need to appoint a manager for your profile."


    "Weren''t you going to offer yourself for the position?" Khanughed. "I''m fine with that."


    "Oh," Jenny eximed as her political training kicked in and made her perform an elegant bow. "Thank you, Captain. I won''t disappoint you."


    "I''ll hear from you at the end of the week," Khan casually said and began to turn, but Jenny suddenly reached for his hand.


    "Captain, it''s customary in Hyper-Privacy to celebrate every new high-profile client," Jenny stated, wearing an expression that shouted her true intentions.


    "I''ll have to break the tradition," Khan politely refused. "I have two more appointments today, and I''m alreadyte."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I understand," Jenny nodded, letting go of Khan''s hand and straightening her back. "However, if you ever need me, I''m avable every hour of every day. You can call me ore directly to this office."


    "I''m sure we''ll see each other again," Khan promised. "It was a pleasure, Jenny."


    "Anytime, Captain," Jenny voiced as some disappointment spread through her mana. She had hoped for the meeting to end differently, but Khan had never given her an opening.


    Jenny''s behavior set a pattern that followed Khan throughout the afternoon. His next appointment involved a haircut, which two women handled as slowly as possible to fit countless tempting jokes.


    The situation didn''t change even when Khan met two reporters in another part of the embassy. They were both women wearing elegant and slightly revealing clothes, and their mana told Khan things that would make Monica snap.


    "Captain Khan!" The two reporters eximed when Khan entered the isted office. They had left their couch and stood up as a form of respect, but that couldn''t impress him.


    "Hi," Khan casually said while reaching for the couch in front of the two reporters. "I hope you don''t mind having this interview together. I don''t have time for two different appointments."


    "Captain, we have already settled this in your absence," The brown-haired woman stated. "We even agreed on several questions."


    "Indeed," The blond-haired woman continued. "Also, allow me to apologize in my colleague''s ce. The Heavenly News had no intention to insult you."


    "And here I thought you hated me," Khan joked.


    "On the contrary," The blonde-haired woman replied. "Captain, you are the most talked about figure in the entire Global Army. We can only adore someone like you."


    "Precisely," The brown-haired woman added, "And we from the Untold Tales have always supported your growing fame. We didn''t write a single negative article about you."


    "I beg you to understand, Captain," The blonde-haired woman pleaded. "The Heavenly News doesn''t take stances. We like to report every possible truth and give our audience a chance to make up their own mind."


    "Every possible truth," The brown-haired woman scoffed. "Most are simply rumors or tant lies."


    "When was thest time the Untold Tales matched our ratings?" The blonde-haired woman asked


    "Okay, enough," Khan sighed. "Let''s start the interview."


    "Certainly," Both women said before the brown-haired one took the lead. "Why don''t we start from the beginning? How was your life in the Slums?"


    "There isn''t much to say," Khan stated. "I worked for food until I was old enough to enlist."


    "It must have been tough," The blonde-haired woman pointed out, adding a fake concerned tone to her voice.


    "Enlisting didn''t make my life any easier," Khanughed. "My profile speaks for itself."


    "But you showed impressive survival skills on Istrone already," The blonde-haired woman continued. "Did you develop them in the Slums?"


    ''It''s the power of desperation,'' Khan mocked himself while giving apletely different answer. "The reports exaggerate my role during the rebellion. I had the help of many students with far better survival skills. I was only fast."


    "Do you mean George Ildoo?" The brown-haired woman asked. "Madam Wildon praised him greatly in a past interview. Are her words urate?"


    "No," Khan corrected. "George is even better than what she described."


    "Captain, you have such a good opinion about him," The blond-haired woman announced. "Do you n on joining the Ildoo family in the future?"


    "Let''s leave my career out of this," Khan requested. "I''m not nning on joining any family for now. I''ll perform a few jobs for the Harbor and review my situation once the semester ends."


    "Though, you should have an idea, right?" The brown-haired woman questioned. "With your fame, even the noble families aren''t too out of reach. Some say you have been invited to be their guard already."


    "You should interview the nobles if you want to learn about that," Khan responded.


    "Talking about rumors," The blond-haired woman eximed. "The entirework is flooded with clues about Miss Solodrey and you. Do you want to address them?"


    "No," Khan firmly said.


    "What do you mean?" The blond-haired woman gasped. "How should we interpret your refusal?"


    "You shouldn''t," Khan stated, "But you will anyway, so I''d rather not say anything at all."


    The coldness in Khan''s tone told the reporters that the time to change the topic had arrived. The two exchanged a nce, and the gesture made them opt for the main reason behind their visit.


    "You must be aware of the video about your battle," The blond-haired woman uttered.


    "It would be hard not to," Khan nodded.


    "The Untold Tales hired experts to review it," The brown-haired woman continued, "And the results were incredible. They think you are the best third-level warrior in the history of the Global Army."


    Some old teachings umted throughout the years popped into Khan''s mind. ying it humble could solve problems, but arrogance was necessary at times. Khan didn''t like to pretend, but only truths left his mouth.


    "I don''t know about the best," Khan dered, "But I should be the strongest, excluding the nobles. I wouldn''t be Nippe 2''s monster otherwise."


    The bold statement filled the two reporters with excitement, but Khan opted for a passive approach for the rest of the interview. He had only wanted to own his nickname to add some pride to his efforts. Everything else was pointless in his mind.


    The reporters tried their best but eventually gave up on getting anything else out of Khan. That alone wouldn''t make them interrupt the interview, but Khan had already made ns with the Headmistress, so a soldier eventually summoned him to grant an escape route.


    Surprisingly enough, Khan managed to return to the second district by dinnertime, and his silent phone eased some of his mental exhaustion. If it were up to him, he would spend his entire time training and studying, but his fame came at a price, and the interviews were only part of it.


    When Khannded, he found a slightly overweight middle-aged man waiting in front of his building. In theory, the Headmistress was dealing with the issue, so his presence alerted Khan. Still, a name appeared in Khan''s mind and told him that figure''s identity.


    "Mister Chares, I suppose," Khan called while approaching the man.


    "I''m ttered," The man politely lowered his head. "I didn''t expect Captain Khan to know me."


    Khan showed no fear, but his senses worked at full power. Mister Chares was a nk spot in his sensitivity, but many emotions spread through the mana that touched him. Khan saw resolve, coldness, and anger.


    "I can''t attend any meeting right now," Khan announced while studying the man''s long ck hair. "Yet, if you set something with the Headmistress, I''ll make sure toe."


    "I don''t need anything so official, Captain," Mister Chares stated. "I''m only asking you to reconsider Tyler''s evaluation. He is a good kid."


    ''Straight to the point,'' Khanmented in his mind. "Sir, I avoided giving him a negative review. That''s as far as I''m willing to go for him."


    "But Captain," Mister Chares pressed on, "A positive evaluation from you would do wonders to his career."


    "He might get someone killed if he keeps flying like that," Khan openly revealed. "I''m sorry. I don''t want that weight on my shoulders."


    Khan turned toward the building''s entrance, but Mister Chares stepped in his way and forced him to stop.


    "Captain, I''m sure we can reach an agreement," Mister Chares eximed. "My family isn''t wealthy, but our reach might surprise you. Just name a price, and I will provide it."


    "I''m not interested," Khan refused. "You should invest your resources in training Tyler. He might still be a decent pilot in a few years."


    "I''m afraid I can''t wait a few years," Mister Chares revealed. "Please, Captain, what do you desire?"


    Mister Chares inspected his surroundings before covering part of his mouth and lowering his voice. "If alien women are your thing, I can-."


    "Be very careful of your next words," Khan interrupted as pure killing intent left his figure and filled the symphony.


    Mister Chares'' pleading expression vanished, but no fear reced it. He coldly epted that his approach had failed and straightened his back to voice his goodbyes. "Have a good night, Captain."


    Khan followed Mister Chares'' departure with his eyes but eventually decided to enter the building. As for Mister Chares, he crossed a few blocks before picking up his phone and making a call.


    "He was uncooperative," Mister Chares sighed while holding his phone to his ear. "Yes, the bastard noble is perfect for the job. He should enjoy ruining our upstanding Captain."

 Chapter 482 Reaction

    The unexpected meeting with Mister Chares upset Khan but also gave birth to worries that couldn''t be ignored.


    The Headmistress had great power inside the Harbor, but Mister Chares had still managed to enter it and meet Khan. That was no easy feat, especially for someone without a massive political influence. His apparent anonymity only worsened that problem, adding ayer of suspicion that forced Khan to consider him a real threat.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However, the study that unfolded once Khan returned to his t didn''t lead anywhere. Even involving Monica and George didn''t change that situation. ording to thework, Mister Chares was no different from the average political figure. He wasn''t even a Patriarch, which made everything more suspicious.


    It didn''t help that Mister Chares'' motivations were rtively shallow. A rmendation for his nephew wasn''t worth Khan''s enmity, especially after the recent events. Eventual overprotectiveness could exin that behavior, but nothing in Mister Chares'' history matched that pattern.


    Theck of avable information eventually forced Khan to give up on the matter. He simply couldn''t do much about it, and there still was a chance that he was overthinking the issue. For all he knew, Mister Chares could be one of the inevitable crazy consequences of his fame.


    Of course, the issue never left Khan''s mind, but the peace that followed the meeting helped him ignore it. The video had made him more than a celebrity in the Harbor. Smiles broadened anywhere he looked, and every door opened for him. His status seemed impossible to affect, but trouble hit sooner than he expected.


    A week after meeting Mister Chares, during lunchtime, Khan left his ssroom with the rest of his peers. More lessons would follow in the afternoon, but everyone chose to use that break to rest or handlemon political interactions.


    "You must do my family next, Captain," Zoe whined. "My parents will disown me if I can''t get you toe to dinner."


    "I was already nning on doing that," Khanughed. "Is next week fine with you?"


    "Don''t let Zoe trick you so easily," Anita sighed. "She will say anything to get you."


    "Anita, don''t take his side," Zoeined. "You are already spending enough time with the Captain as it is. Leave something for us."


    "Trust me," Anita eximed while eyeing Monica walking closely at Khan''s side. "I have a hard time talking to him too."


    Zoe turned to look at Monica, and the ssmates around them imitated her. Those nces didn''t carry anything serious. They were mostly yful gestures belonging to what had be a reurring joke, and Monica''s stance only added fuel to them.


    "I might have be possessive," Monica imed while seizing Khan''s elbow.


    "Anita, it''s fine," Khan reassured. "I nned to meet Zoe''s family anyway."


    "We''ll finally get some privacy that night," Zoe giggled.


    "I''lle too," Monica promptly stated.


    "I''m sorry, Monica," Zoe responded. "My parents have family-rted matters to discuss with him. I''ll make it up to you another time."


    Zoe''s sly smile revealed a different truth that everyone noticed. She had probably used that lie to get Khan toe alone, and no one could call her out publicly. It would simply be disrespectful.


    "I guess I''ll go alone," Khan voiced.


    "No, you aren''t," Monica responded as a tinge of jealousy joined her tone. "Zoe, I''ll contact your parents. I''m sure your mother can''t wait to hear from me."


    "I guess I won''t go alone," Khan eximed, and a wave ofughs filled the group once Zoe''s eyes widened, marking her defeat.


    "The best third-level in history sure looks hopeless," George joked.


    "Aren''t you supposed to help me?" Khan yed along.


    "I''m not getting anywhere close to your women''s problems," George shook his head. "It''s way too much trouble."


    "George, what women?" Monica asked. She had worn a smile the whole time, but a scary vibe had joined her expression now.


    "It''s unbelievable, really," George sighed. "Every time we are on the streets, he gets hordes of-."


    "Anita, you shoulde over tonight," Monica interrupted. "I miss our girl talks."


    "Of course, Khan never looks at them!" George coughed. "I actually think we should use the cabs more often. You know, privacy reasons."


    "You must teach me that move," Anita uttered.


    "What move?" Monica feigned innocence. "I only wanted to catch up with you."


    "Way too much trouble," George whispered before turning to focus on the corridor to ignore Monica''s re.


    Khan couldn''t help butugh at those cheerful interactions. He couldn''t express the entirety of himself yet, but his social life had reached a good spot. He couldn''t consider his ssmates as true friends, but none of them had ill intentions toward him, and that was enough.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Hello?" A loud voice eventually resounded in the corridor, forcing the big group to turn. Usually, no one approached the members of the advanced sses due to the many important figures among them, so discovering that a young man was behind the call added some confusion.


    Nevertheless, the man''s surprising good looks eased that reaction and put the group in a positive mood. He was tall, handsome, and with flowy ck hair that reached his shoulders. His innocent face also added some charm to his figure.


    "Are you from the advanced sses?" The man shouted again while approaching the group. Everyone became able to see the three pairs of stars on his military uniform at that point, which deepened their interest in that seemingly casual encounter.


    "We are," Lucian stated, jumping on the group''s lead. "And you are?"


    "Wayne," The man stated, stopping when he reached Lucian, "Wayne Mauder. I should have joined your ss but got lost along the way."


    Wayne finished his line with a carefreeugh, but no one joined him. Everyone in the group had undergone thorough political training, which kicked in and led to more confusion. The Mauder family wasn''t wealthy, so Wayne''s presence in the Harbor was suspicious, and he looked too young to be a specialist of some kind.


    "Mister Mauder," Lucian quickly decided to investigate further, "What do you mean by that? Are you a student?"


    "Oh, yes!" Wayne eximed. "I just transferred here. You are Lucian Hencus, right? It''s a pleasure to meet you."


    Wayne stretched his hand, and Lucian hesitated for only a second before shaking it. That short exnation obviously didn''t convince him, but he still behaved impably since he was in the open.


    "And you must be George Ildoo!" Wayne voiced another excited line when he spotted George. "I heard your swordy is incredible!"


    George couldn''t muster the same fake face as Lucian. His expression remained cold when he shook Wayne''s hand, but thetter didn''t seem to mind.


    "And that''s Captain Khan!" Wayne continued, almost jumping to approach Khan. "I''m your greatest fan, sir."


    Khan had developed the habit of inspecting everyone''s mana, and the events with Mister Chares had even intensified his social paranoia. However, he sensed nothing odd about Wayne. His energy was heavy but warm. The man seemed filled with nothing but happiness and excitement.


    "Pleasure to meet you," Khan muttered, epting Wayne''s hand.


    "Wow!" Wayne gasped when his eyes fell on Monica. "You are Monica Solodrey, right? I read you were beautiful, but those shallow praises don''t do you justice."


    "Thank you, Mister Mauder," Monica engaged in her elegant manners while shaking Wayne''s hand. "I''m d I can bring praises to the Solodrey name."


    Wayne proceeded to salute every member of the advanced ss, taking a minute to name all of them and add praises to those casual introductions. It was rare to see such straightforward manners in those circles, but that apparent honesty felt refreshing, and no one dared to refuse freepliments.


    "I''m so d I could find you," Wayne exploded into anotherugh once his round of salutes ended. "I would have spent the entire day wandering through the embassy otherwise."


    "Why didn''t you ask the soldiers for directions?" Lucian questioned. "They would have been happy to help a member of the advanced sses."


    "I''m shy," Wayne exined with a bright smile.


    No one would ever describe Wayne as shy after seeing how quickly he had approached the group, but his expression was more than honest. He seemed to believe in his words.


    "Well, we were heading for lunch," Lucian revealed. "Do you want to join us?"


    "Certainly!" Wayne eximed, rushing through the group to reach its lead. He stopped when he reached Monica and put his arm around her shoulders before using his innocent voice again. "Let''s go!"


    Wayne''s arm remained on Monica for less than a second. Khan''s hand had instinctively snapped to grab Wayne''s wrist and lift it, inevitably attracting the entire group''s attention.


    Of course, Khan''s reaction wasn''t the only reason behind that attention. Wayne''s gesture had been improper and disrespectful. Even Monica''s close friends didn''t dare to act like that with her, especially in the open.


    Khan''s expression had grown cold, but he found himself unable to focus on Wayne since another event imed his attention. The mana in Monica''s hand shook a bit, and tiny red marks appeared on her dark skin. That reaction wasn''t harmful, but Zoe gasped in shock when she followed Khan''s eyes and noticed it.


    "Monica, isn''t that," Zoe voiced before recalling to lower her voice. "Are you on birth control?"


    Zoe had tried to whisper, but the entire group heard her anyway. Monica''s hand became popr, and more gasps resounded. Every female descendant and many men seemed able to recognize those red marks and connect them to birth control topics.


    "That''s my fault," Wayneughed, uncaring that Khan was still holding his wrist. "Things tend to go bad when I''m around."


    "Monica, why would you-?" Zoe began to ask, but looking at Khan was enough to clear her confusion. Everyone liked to joke about Khan and Monica, but that still sounded unrealistic. However, they had tangible proof now.


    Khan''s mana boiled, but a surprising realization dawned upon him while Wayne''s wrist remained in his grasp. He could get a better idea of Wayne''s presence while touching him, and his senses made him aware of the immense raw strength running through that arm.


    "You said you were the strongest third-level warrior, right?" Wayne asked, almost as if he felt Khan''s thoughts. "I always believed that to be me."

 Chapter 483 Crazy

    Everyone heard Wayne''s statement and linked it to a potential enmity with Khan. However, Khan had apletely different impression of the matter. Wayne''s mana had no bitterness, envy, or other negative emotions. He was simply saying what crossed his mind.


    That wasn''t enough to make Khan calm down. He didn''t mind enemies, but Wayne had done something to Monica. Still, the raw strength running through that arm managed to dy his outburst.


    Khan couldn''t put what he felt into words. A deep realization unfolded in instinctive parts of his mind. Something told him that Wayne was strong and that his power didn''t onlye from a mere amount of mana and element. Wayne reeked of the same experience that Khan and George wielded.


    The dy onlysted one second. Khan''s thoughts screamed and remained calm at the same time as mana gathered into his grip. The suspicious situation granted him some special permissions due to his rank, but he couldn''t actually kill, especially in the open. Still, even the Headmistress wouldn''t say anything if he limited himself to capturing Wayne.


    Nevertheless, Khan lost control of his mana before it coulde out of his palm. He didn''t sense any external influence, but his energy had gone rogue anyway.


    "I told you," Wayne chuckled as if he could sense what had happened inside Khan''s hand. "Things go bad around me."


    A purple-red light shone in Wayne''s vision as soon as he finished his line. Mana erupted out of Khan''s hand, adding dangerous properties to his grip. He wasn''t hurting Wayne yet, but prolonged exposure to his energy was bound to shatter his skin.


    "I just have to use more mana then," Khan coldly dered during that stalemate. He wanted to fight and interrogate Wayne on the spot, but his surroundings prevented that.


    Wayne showed some surprise at the sight of the purple-red mana, but a bright smile soon broadened. Genuine happiness and excitement reced his shock and flowed into his following words.


    "I knew you were as good as the rumors said," Wayne eximed. "I can''t wait to get to know you better."


    Khan couldn''t help but feel confused, but another event attracted his attention. Monica wasn''t the type of woman to freeze under unexpected situations. She even knew Khan''s ws, so she approached him before things degenerated.


    "Mister Mauder, I don''t enjoy being touched without permission," Monica warned, retaining her elegant vibe and taking Khan''s free hand. "If something like this happens again, I will report it to the Headmistress."


    Khan had been ready to fight, but Monica became his priority. He retracted his mana and let go of Wayne''s wrist when Monica pulled him. She was using her unmarked hand, making the walk ufortable, but Khan quickly adjusted his position to remain at her side.


    "Monica, are you and Khan-?" Zoe blurted when Monica and Khan were about to cross her.


    "What I do with Captain Khan is none of your business," Monica firmly stated, "Nor how many times I do it."


    Khan calmed down. He could feel Monica''s mood swings trying to break through her elegant persona, and augh attempted to escape his throat. Still, the other conflicting emotions kept his face cold and his gaze straight.


    Needless to say, Monica''s statement triggered another series of gasps, but the couple didn''t linger in the area to witness the consequences. Even George followed them after shooting a re at Wayne, and Anita joined him before he could get too far.


    No one spoke once the privacy of the elevator started. Anita checked Monica''s marked hand and wrote something on her phone, but no words escaped her mouth. Monica sighed at some point as worry and sadness invaded her, but the reassuring kiss that Khan left on her hair improved her mood.


    The group was in a hurry. They left the embassy only to find a cab already waiting for them. Anita had called it since she knew what the situation required, which wasn''t a swift return to the t.


    Khan let Anita handle everything and focused on Monica. She remained silent while resting on his shoulder, but her eyes wandered to empty areas of the car. A lot was going on in her mind, and Khan did his best to show moral support.


    The cab flew toward a medical bay in a nearby district andnded on its roof to gain ess to its private areas. Those structures had exclusive rooms and doctors for people with wealthy backgrounds, and one look at Monica made her instantly gain ess to them.


    "You two wait outside," Anita ordered in a worried tone while Monica entered her private room.


    Khan and Georgeplied and headed for a waiting area nearby. The ce was empty, with only a few nurses crossing it from time to time. The two were basically all alone, and words inevitably flew after they spent a few minutes on simple seats.


    "Do you have any idea of what just happened?" George questioned while keeping his gaze straight.


    "No," Khan admitted. "I couldn''t sense anything odd. Honestly, I''m not sure that guy did anything."


    "It might be his element," George guessed.


    "That''s what I concluded," Khan sighed, "But I don''t know. He didn''t even have a special aura."


    "I see," Georgemented. "So, what do we do now?"


    George''s unyielding loyalty warmed Khan''s heart, but he couldn''t find the strength to rx right now. Too much had happened in mere minutes, and confusion still reigned in his mind.


    "He looked strong," Khan revealed. "How can someone like him remain anonymous? I thought our ssmates knew everyone."


    "There are special cases," George exined. "Some families hide their talents to reveal them at the right time."


    "Isn''t every family looking for fame?" Khan asked.


    "Again, it''s rare," George continued, "And there can be multiple exnations. That guy might be part of a declining branch that isn''t allowed to steal fame from the main family. He might very well be a loaned descendant."


    "Loaned?" Khan repeated.


    "Big families loaning talents to small families," George summarized. "It''s moremon than you think, especially when there are internal conflicts. He might be too talented for his own good or have a problematic bloodline."


    "Do you think he is a bastard?" Khan questioned.


    "I have no idea," George admitted. "I''m just listing options here."


    Khan fell silent as George''s exnation fused with his knowledge and granted him a new perspective on the event. The Mauder family was too small to disregard the opportunity to show a simr talent. Instead, the loaned option made sense and created more problems.


    "Did you n to kill him in the open?" George wondered.


    "The idea did cross my mind," Khan uttered. "I probably wouldn''t have hesitated to attack him for real if I sensed actual enmity. Still, I eventually opted to capture him."


    "How mature of you," George teased.


    "Hey, I''m stabler than I was at the start of the semester," Khan imed. "Besides, if I throw everything away, I''ll lose Monica. That thought is enough to keep my mana in check."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "That''s not what the others have seen," Georgemented. "The next articles won''t be kind."


    "I''d be happy if they only talked about me," Khan responded. "By the way, how did everyone realize Monica was on birth control?"


    "Those red marks are a possible side effect," George exined. "They might appear if the body rejects the treatment."


    "Wait, rejects?" Khan gasped as his eyes widened in terror. One possible consequence of that exnation put true fear in his mind.


    "Who knows?" George snickered. "It might be a good thing. Madam Solodrey will have to acknowledge you at that point."


    "Don''t even talk about it," Khan cursed. "It''s way too early for that."


    "And here I thought you two had already chosen the names," George joked.


    "She knows I want to understand my mutations better first," Khan revealed.


    "Wait," George gasped. "Did you actually talk about it?"


    "It came out," Khan nodded.


    "Man, you really go all out," George dered. "Can I help choose the names?"


    "Shut up," Khan heaved a helpless sigh. "Why do you even know so much about birth control anyway?"


    "My father forced me to learn everything about it for some reason," George feigned innocence. "It''s quiteplicated. Apparently, women need tailor-made treatments since their mana can get in the way."


    "Is it dangerous?" Khan asked.


    "It can be," George replied. "That''s why everyone was so surprised. I mean, I''m sure Monica had the best doctors, but people usually avoid those treatments, especially wealthy descendants who shouldn''t be in any rtionship."


    Khan felt like an idiot. He didn''t realize the topic was soplicated, and Madam Solodrey''s initial refusal made sense now.


    "She really loves me," Khan sighed, bumping the back of his head on the metal wall behind him a few times. He felt overwhelmed by love, which made him angrier about the recent events.


    Khan''s phone buzzed before he could remain stuck in those thoughts, and reading the name on the screen hinted at problems.


    "What is it?" Khan asked after answering the call.


    "Captain, you might want to make a public statement," Jenny stated. "The rumors about you have exploded in thest minutes. This might get bigger than your video."


    Jenny didn''t need to be explicit. Khan knew what she was talking about, but his prioritiesy elsewhere. Monica was the one suffering, so he wanted to be there for her.


    "Just keep blocking outside calls," Khan ordered. "I''ll deal with the situation soon enough."


    "As you wish, Captain," Jenny responded. "However, I advise you to hurry. It won''t be long before the families get involved and turn this into a political incident."<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''Political incident,'' Khan repeated those words in his mind while closing the call. ''It''s too sudden.''


    Khan knew that the event was no small matter. The implications of Monica''s treatment were bound to affect her political value in many ways. She had actively hurt her family, and Khan didn''t wield enough influence to make that loss worth it.


    ''I just needed a few more years,'' Khan thought, bumping his nape into the wall again. ''Maybe even one.''


    A door opened, interrupting Khan''s reasoning. He jumped on his feet and peeked into the branching corridor to spot Monica, Anita, and a female doctor. The three exchanged a few words before splitting and heading in different directions.


    "Is everything okay?" Khan questioned as soon as he reached for Monica''s cheek.


    "It was just an outburst," Monica nodded while showing her right hand. The red marks had already disappeared.


    "So, did the birth control work well?" Khan asked, doing his best not to be too explicit in Anita''s presence.


    "I''m not pregnant," Monica exploded into augh. "What? Disappointed?"


    The tease tried to hide Monica''s worried state, but Khan could see it. He didn''t even reply. He just brought her closer to wrap her in a tight hug.


    "It''s going to be okay," Khan whispered as Monica rubbed her face on his chest. She finally showed some worry inside the hug, but her resolve also grew stronger in the meantime.


    "I''m not worried about myself," Monica revealed.


    "Hey, don''t even say it," Khan scolded. "We are together in this."


    Monica left Khan''s chest to lift her face, and her lips instinctively strived for his mouth when she noticed his affection. The two kissed right in the middle of the waiting area but separated quickly.


    "Let''s go home," Monica voiced when she dived back into the hug.


    Khan exchanged a nce with Anita, and she nodded before picking up her phone. Only a few seconds had to pass before the group returned to the roof to enter their cab and head toward the second district.


    The second trip shared the same silence as the previous, but the general mood had changed. Monica became cuddlier, but her gaze remained lost as ns formed and shattered inside her mind. As for Khan, he ended up reviewing memories that felt painfully simr to his current situation.


    Confirming that Monica was fine allowed Khan''s mind to wander. Losing privileges or gaining new political enemies were troublesome developments, but he couldn''t think about that when his rtionship was at stake.


    The Solodrey family could decide to recall Monica to contain eventual political problems. They might even force her to break up with Khan to save him from potential repercussions. He was a liability for her status, and she wouldn''t hesitate to sacrifice herself to protect him.


    That development would mark the second time external events hade in the way of Khan''s meaningful rtionships. He couldn''t help but hear Yeza''s words while he recalled how broken he had been after Nitis. He dreaded that possibility, not only for the pain it would cause.


    Khan had been nothing more than a lost kid on Nitis. The alien, the interspecies politics, and his toxic love had been problems that even his greatest efforts couldn''t ovee.


    Yet, years had passed since those events. Khan had be a Captain and had established an enviable array of rtionships. His strength had also increased greatly, making himpletely different from the hopeless kid from back then.


    If the worst possible oue truly happened, Khan wouldn''t just give up. It would be an insult to his efforts to let things unfold as they did on Nitis. He would fight, resorting to almost any method to retrieve and protect what he loved.


    The silent trip eventually ended, bringing the group back to Khan''s t. George immediately headed to retrieve a bottle since he knew the situation needed it, while the two women settled on the same couch. Khan nned to sit at Monica''s side to discuss the matter, but another call reached him.


    "Headmistress, it''s not a good time," Khan hastily said while closing his eyes to sound as polite as possible.


    "You bet it isn''t," Headmistress Holwen scoffed. "Come to see me. We need to talk."


    "Can we postpone?" Khan almost begged. "I really need to be somewhere else."


    "Captain, it''s an order," Headmistress Holwen stated before closing the call.


    Khan felt the urge to throw his phone away, but Monica left the couch and took his hand before he could snap. He found it hard to look her in the eyes with all the painful memories running through his vision, but she tilted his head and forced his gaze to focus.


    "Go see the Headmistress," Monica whispered, pulling Khan from his neck to make their foreheads touch. "I''ll be fine."


    "Don''t do anything crazy while I''m outside," Khan gave up.


    "I''ll be as crazy as I want to," Monica giggled. "I thought you learnt that by now."


    George and Anita could hear those whispers, but the couple didn''t care. Now that a real threat to their rtionship had appeared, they spoke freely and honestly.


    "I''m-," Khan said, hesitating for a second before admitting how he felt. "I''m scared."


    "Me too," Monica replied, and her voice risked cracking. "I''llin and cry a lotter, so make sure toe back and take responsibility."


    "Don''t you dare to start without me," Khan joked, forcing a giggle out of Monica that ended when their lips met.


    Khan wanted to remain immersed in that affection forever, but even his mana agreed that other tasks required his attention. The unreasonable desire to fix everything took control of him and made him leave the t in a hurry.


    The Headmistress had already sent a flying car, so Khan hopped in and prepared for the iing conversation. He didn''t know what he would say, but resolve leaked out of him and filled the symphony. He was ready to cut any deal to preserve what he had.


    The short trip led Khan to the embassy''s roofs, where a soldier opened the path for the Headmistress'' office. He found her behind her desk, staring at the countless notifications that popped among the menus, and recognizing some of the names warned Khan about the gravity of the situation.


    "I received a basic briefing of today''s events," Headmistress Holwen announced without moving her gaze from the desk. "I thought you couldn''t miss anything."


    "Wayne Mauder didn''t do anything," Khan exined. "Nothing specific, at least."


    "Damned families," Headmistress Holwen cursed. "First, Mister Chares slips past my additional securities. Now, a random student causes a political incident. This smells of nobles or worse."


    Khan didn''t need to ask for additional exnations. He had already considered simr options. The Hive or other secret organizations might be involved in the strange recent events, even if he couldn''t understand why.


    "Do you realize what you have done?" The Headmistress eventually eximed, lifting her gaze and unfolding her cold presence to fill the entire office.


    "I held back, ma''am," Khan responded, uncaring of his partial lie. He had hesitated against Wayne only because Monica needed him more.


    "I''m not talking about that!" Headmistress Holwen shouted. "What were you thinking? As if ying the married couple with Miss Solodrey wasn''t enough. You also had to tell everyone that she wasn''t a virgin anymore."


    Headmistress Holwen was being unreasonable. Khan didn''t do anything simr, but the recent events had led to those conclusions. His innocence wasn''t important at that stage.


    "Now I have dozens of families worried that you''ll corrupt their descendants," Headmistress Holwen continued.


    "I thought they couldn''t wait for me to marry their descendants," Khan snorted.


    "As if that''s the same thing," Headmistress Holwen scolded. "Do you have any idea how many families have their eyes on Miss Solodrey? They''ll do anything in their power to use the situation to their advantage."


    Khan had learnt enough to imagine those consequences, so he limited his answer to a few cold words. "Let theme."


    "Don''t be stupid," Headmistress Holwen cursed. "Do you think the Solodrey family will have your back? They''ll turn you into a scapegoat to regain some face in no time."


    "You could always promote me to make me worthy of Miss Solodrey," Khan suggested.


    "Enough with the games!" Headmistress Holwen shouted again. "Do you even realize the position you are in?"


    "Yes," Khan nodded, "So tell me what to do. I''ll take any mission and task. I''ll join any battlefield you want. Just help me."


    "You can''t be serious," The Headmistress uttered, finally lowering her voice. Still, Khan''s face cleared her doubts. That resolve wasn''t something he could fake.


    "Why would I help you?" Headmistress Holwen decided to ask. "The stability of the Harbor is my priority. If I have to throw you to the families to keep it, I will."


    "Because I''m the best," Khan imed without showing any shame. "You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. I''m the best investment that has evernded at your doorstep."


    Headmistress Holwen fell silent. She was surprised at how Khan was speaking about himself. He wasn''t trying to brag or improve his status. He was selling himself as if he were nothing more than a weapon.


    "Besides," Khan continued. "It''s safe to link the recent suspicious events to me. If you want to get to the bottom of the issue, you''ll keep me around."


    "Are you willing to y the bait?" Headmistress Holwen questioned.


    "Oh, ma''am," Khan chuckled. "Words can''t express what I''m willing to do."


    Silence spread as Khan and the Headmistress fell prey to a contest of stares. They had reached a stalemate, but the buzzing of their phones broke it, bringing their attention to the new notification on the interactive desk.


    It turned out that Khan wasn''t the only one equipped with resolve. Actually, in terms of craziness, Monica surpassed him at that time.


    ''Monica Solodrey admits to secret rtionship,'' Khan read the headline on the interactive desk. ''In our article, we provide an exclusive and detailed interview about the hidden life of the Solodrey family''s beautiful descendant and the famous Captain Khan!''

 Chapter 484 Doubts

    The Headmistress and Khan reached a silent understanding and interrupted their conversation to read the article. Khan headed for a seat while picking up his phone, and the words that appeared in his eyes after opening thework left him stunned.


    Monica didn''t limit herself to simple answers. She had performed a video call with a reporter to add value to her revtions, which were far from harmless.


    In the interview, Monica ced the beginning of her rtionship with Khan during the trip to the Harbor. She also imed to have been the one to push for it, highlighting how Khan tried to refuse her multiple times before falling prey to her romantic advances.


    Monica even added spicy details. She never openly admitted how far the two had gone, but it was easy to read between the lines. Somehow, she also managed to praise Khan''s performance without being explicit.


    Of course, Monica mixed lies to most of her revtions to keep Khan''s private businesses outside the interview. She wanted the entirework to focus on her, and her finishing lines expressed part of her n.


    ''I think I initially took it as a challenge,'' Khan read on the video''s subtitles, ''But the more I learnt about Captain Khan, the more my heart ached. He looked past my status and family, making me feel like my own woman. I couldn''t help but fall for him, and now I only wish to protect him.''


    Monica ended that statement with a sob and even hid her face to deepen the emotional impact that gesture would have. She was doing anything in her power to sell that performance, but Khan knew that her tears were genuine.


    Khan understood Monica''s approach. She wanted to y on the positive PR that her revtions would generate. Audiences loved gossip, and a rtionship between amoner and a wealthy descendant always put many people on the couple''s side.


    Monica and Khan were also famous figures with many fans, so it would make sense for them to gain the public''s general approval. The birth control issue even yed in their favor since it revealed how the Solodrey family was aware of their rtionship. Going back on that decision wouldn''t be the best political move.


    That obviously was only one of the possible scenarios. The Solodrey family was powerful enough to disregard bad PR. They could go against the public''s will and focus on their benefits. Even if other families banded together to support the couple, they had the wealth to silence them.


    Khan kept staring at his phone long after the video ended. His thoughts were so messy that he didn''t even bother to check thements. Monica''s move had left him speechless, and the love he felt for her couldn''t cover his other negative emotions.


    That negativity intensified when a familiar name appeared on the screen. Amber was calling, reminding Khan of other problems. He had been so focused on Monica that he didn''t even consider how Cora would take that revtion.


    "I need to take this," Khan whispered before bringing his phone to his ear. "Hey."


    "Khan, is it true?" Amber directly asked.


    "Yes," Khan didn''t hide anything but still lowered his gaze before asking a specific question. "How did Cora take it?"


    "She''ll be fine," Amber promised.


    "I''m d she has you," Khan sighed.


    "Don''t sound so sad," Amber eximed. "Though you really stepped it up. I guess even Miss Solodrey couldn''t survive your silver tongue."


    "Amber, I''m sorry," Khan stated. "I never nned to move on so soon."


    "Stop it," Amber ordered. "We only want you to be happy. Are you happy, Khan?"


    "I''m working on it," Khan admitted.


    "That''s good," Amber replied. "Cora and I will cheer for you, but don''t forget to call."


    "I''ll do my best," Khan uttered.


    "I''ll leave you to it now," Amber said. "Good luck."


    "Thanks," Khan voiced, and the call ended.


    "Just like Norrett," Headmistress Holwen scoffed when Khan lowered his phone. "Rascals and womanizers."


    Headmistress Holwen didn''t use her scolding tone. She was merelymenting on the situation while her mind did her best to process Monica''s interview. However, Khan saw her words differently.


    Amber had tried to reassure Khan, but he knew how Cora would react to the interview. He could almost hear her cries, which made him feel despicable. He had pushed people he cared about to tears on his path toward happiness.


    It didn''t help that the current issue was far from over. Khan''s problems had just begun. He would have had an easier time epting Cora''s tears if things with Monica had ended well, but his rtionship had gone back to the starting point with a single troublesome event.


    A burst of anger made Khan throw his phone away. The device remained intact when it crashed on the wall and floor, and the gesture told the Headmistress that something was wrong. Seeing Khan taking his head into his hands even confirmed that belief.


    "I wonder if I should just stop," Khan muttered while keeping his head lowered. "I should just give up and focus on fighting."


    The Headmistress remained silent since she knew more words were about to reach her ears, and Khan didn''t disappoint.


    "The battlefield is simpler," Khan continued. "We hurt each other until someone wins, but people are different. No matter what I do, everybody loses."


    Khan had already reached conclusions about those problems. He hade to terms with his desire to be happy and the difficulties of the social environment. His words were onlyints triggered by how powerless he felt.


    A realization dawned upon Headmistress Holwen when she saw Khan in that state. His level, rank, feats, and general maturity always made him look older than he was. Yet, in a few ways, he was still a young man going through the same struggles as people of a simr age.


    "Many lost their way in the dreadful wars that fill the universe," Headmistress Holwen eximed. "Still, seeing someone so young preferring bloodshed remains sad."


    Headmistress Holwen couldn''t put Khan above the Harbor, but his mindset affected her a bit. She was aware of his challenging life, but seeing how far it had pushed him made her waver. She couldn''t believe someone would opt for the battlefield to avoid spreading suffering among his loved ones.


    "So," Headmistress Holwen continued. "Will you give up?"


    "Headmistress," Khan called, finally lifting his face to show a strange smile, "Giving up has never been among my options."


    The statement sounded arrogant, but the Headmistress couldn''t see any trace of that feeling in Khan''s smile. The expression carried a sad and lonely vibe that she couldn''t exin.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "What then?" Headmistress Holwen questioned.


    "My girlfriend went through all this trouble to protect me," Khan eximed, standing up to retrieve his phone. "Being with her is the least I can do while I think about my next move."


    Headmistress Holwen''s eyes flickered. Khan had already adjusted his mindset to the recent interview, openly calling Monica his girlfriend. Even descendants as wealthy as Lucian would add more weight to the matter, so Khan''s casual approach felt surprising.


    "You won''t get far on your own," Headmistress Holwen stated when Khan began to turn toward the exit. "They will eat you alive."


    "Ma''am, just move to your offer," Khan chuckled, showing his knowing expression to the Headmistress. "You have an idea, so say it."


    The vague disrespect in Khan''s attitude tried to affect Headmistress Holwen''s patience, but another realization reached her. She was finally in front of the true Khan, the Khan who didn''t care about politics, ranks, or families. All his cards were in the open, so he didn''t bother to hide anything.


    "You said you wanted to y the bait," Headmistress Holwen decided to go to the previous topic.


    "That or any other n you can think of," Khan responded, returning to his seat.


    "During normal circumstances," Headmistress Holwen announced, "I''d never consider such ploys. You wouldn''t even be my first choice since your interest in the matter has nothing to do with the Harbor."


    Khan didn''t even try to refute that im. He knew the Headmistress was about to open a path for him, so he showed pure confidence while waiting for her following words.


    "However," The Headmistress continued, and her tone grew colder due to Khan''s stance, "Someone is making fun of my authority, and I can''t allow it to continue. I want these people identified and punished."


    "Anything you desire, ma''am," Khan voiced.


    "Silence," Headmistress Holwen scoffed. "You talk big, but you''ll only be able to attract small fish right now. I need a bait who can uncover the true culprits behind these events."


    Khan wanted to challenge Headmistress Holwen''s order but eventually decided to remain silent. That wasn''t the time to test her patience.


    "To do that," Headmistress Holwen continued, "You need to berger than life. You must be so untouchable that any threat to you will cause tall waves."


    "But, ma''am," Khan couldn''t help but frown, "I''m already doing that. If there were a way to elerate the process, I would have already pursued it."


    "Will you take your pilot''s test this week?" The Headmistress asked.


    "If the Harbor allows it," Khan nodded. He only needed onest flight to meet the test''s requirements. He could handle both on the weekend if Lieutenant Shurpard cleared him.


    "So, you''ll be able to attend to Professor Parver''s tasks on your own starting next week," Headmistress Holwenmented. "ording to my understanding, that was your original n."


    "I was still keeping other options open," Khan revealed, "But, yes. Working for the Global Army keeps me neutral among the families, so I was nning to ept the Professor''s offer."


    "Stick to that," Headmistress Holwen ordered. "I''ll contact Professor Parver in the meantime. He initially wanted to give you easier tasks, but we don''t have time for that."


    "It sounds perfect, ma''am," Khan stated. "Thank you."


    "Don''t thank me," Headmistress Holwen snorted. "You won''t feel any gratitude inside Honides'' storms or Abora''s poisonous swamps."


    Those names belonged tos inside the Harbor''s system, which Khan had already studied. The Headmistress had mentioned dangerous environments, but Khan only felt curiosity toward them, and Monica''s interview added resolve to all of that.


    "Also, remember that I''m using you for the Harbor''s sake," Headmistress Holwen added. "If you fail to meet my expectations, I''ll throw you to the families."


    "Did you grow emotional on me already?" Khan teased. The Headmistress didn''t need to remind Khan about his position, but her gesture revealed some hope. Maybe, she wanted him to seed and be a valuable figure in the Global Army.


    "Get out of my office before I change my mind," Headmistress Holwen ordered.


    "As you wish, ma''am," Khan held back augh while standing up and performing a military salute. "I won''t disappoint you."


    The Headmistress felt annoyed, but seeing Khan approaching the exit made her put away her rank and position for a bit. Truth be told, she didn''t doubt Khan''s value as a warrior. His mental and emotional state was her main worry.


    "Captain," Headmistress Holwen called before Khan could reach the exit, "Getting away from everything might be an appealing solution, but you can''t control people''s feelings. You can''t stop others from trying to save you."


    "I''d be happy if I could save others from what I experienced," Khan admitted as his hand stopped right before the metal door.


    "That''s noble," Headmistress Holwen praised, "But others will be noble too at times. You have someone who brought the entirety of thework on herself to keep it away from you. I wouldn''t waste time in doubts if I were you."


    "I know," Khan couldn''t help but smile. "With your permission, I''ll go be a good boyfriend now."


    "Permission granted, Captain," Headmistress Holwen stated.


    "Also, can we talk about my promotion since we are being so honest?" Khan wondered. "I''d also ept a ship to celebrate our new bond."


    "Get out of my office already!" Headmistress Holwen shouted, leaving her seat to m her hands on the interactive desk.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khanughed and hurried out of the office, and the Headmistress heaved a tired sigh when the metal door closed. She felt the urge to curse when she returned to her seat, but her tone gained different properties when she nced at the countless notifications on her desk.


    "A ship might be doable," Headmistress Holwen muttered before disregarding the idea and focusing on her desk. That political crisis had just begun, and she needed to get on top of it.

 Chapter 485 Brother

    The conversation with the Headmistress had left a few topics open. She didn''t say much about Mister Chares and Wayne Mauder, and her n to use Khancked many details. Still, he couldn''t think about that right now. A very different job was calling for him.


    A sigh of relief escaped Khan''s mouth when he saw the empty sidewalk. Everyone was too busy absorbing the interview to give in to their excitement, which worked in Khan''s favor, granting him an uneventful return to his t.


    The scene that weed Khan into the t differed from the peaceful sidewalk. The symphony carried clear clues, and the loud voices that reached the elevator exined what was happening.


    "Mom, I swear," Anita shouted. "I had no idea they were that close."


    "Dad, can''t we do this tomorrow?" George groaned. "It''s not like we can do anything about it until the situation calms down."


    Anita and George were so busy with the respective calls that they almost missed Khan''s arrival in the t''s main hall. However, seeing him forced them to put down their phones.


    "I''ll get back to you in a minute," Anita stated, closing the call to face Khan. "I had no idea she would have gone on record. I would have stopped her otherwise."


    "Dad, I''ll shut down my phone until tomorrow," George said, also closing the call to address Khan. "Man, your woman made a mess. My father thinks the Solodrey family is sending a ship as we speak."


    Khan raised his hand to stop following words before asking what truly mattered to him. "Where is she?"


    "She''s in the bedroom," Anita exined, nodding in the direction of one of the corridors, "But her mother called her a few minutes ago. I don''t think they are done."


    Khan barely let Anita finish speaking before heading toward the corridor. Monica had locked the bedroom, but Khan could override those directives, and an admonishing tone reached his ears as soon as he opened it.


    "Do you have any idea of the shame you brought to our family?" Madam Solodrey''s voice came out of a screen on the wall that featured her angry face. "We could have handled everything silently, but you had to go on record saying all kinds of lies."


    "They weren''t lies!" Monica cried from the bed''s edge.


    "I don''t care what they were," Madam Solodrey uttered. "You are lucky that your father is busy with-."


    "Good evening, Madam Solodrey," Khan interrupted, sitting at Monica''s side to appear in the video call.


    "There you are," Madam Solodrey eximed. "Once I''m done with my dear daughter, I''ll turn you-."


    "Goodbye, Madam Solodrey," Khan interrupted again, reaching for the phone in Monica''s hands to close the call.


    The screen disappeared, bringing some darkness into the room that didn''t hide Monica''s teary face. She nced at Khan in shock before trying to restart the call, but he seized her phone to prevent that.


    "Give me that," Monica gasped. "My mother-."


    "Will still be angry at you tomorrow," Khan stated, hiding the phone behind his back and taking Monica''s cheek into his hand as soon as she leaned toward him.


    Monica felt able to forget about her mother in front of that loving face, but other problems appeared in her mind and forced her to speak. "Khan, I''m sorry. By the time Anita left the room, I was already contacting the reporters."


    "It''s fine," Khan reassured, using his thumb to wipe some of Monica''s tears. "It''s my fault for not expecting this. I knew you would have tried to protect me."


    "But I did something-," Monica whined.


    "Crazy," Khanughed, interrupting Monica again. "That''s just how you are. I wouldn''t love you so much otherwise."


    "Khan," Monica gave in, diving into Khan''s chest to let some sobse out. She had been so stressed that tears fell from her eyes as soon as she found some peace.


    "There, there," Khan reassured, caressing Monica''s hair while the desire to tease her overtook him. "I''m actually surprised you could keep a straight face during the interview. Some of the things you said were pretty embarrassing."


    "Don''t mention that now," Monicained, lifting her face to show her shyness.


    "What was it?" Khan pressed on while diverting his gaze. "It was hard to leave after the first night. Captain Khan has a way of making himself addictive."


    "Stop it!" Monica shouted, pushing Khan down and climbing on him. "This isn''t the time to joke about that."


    "I know," Khan uttered as his expression grew serious. "They could take you away at any moment, so don''t even think about sleeping tonight."


    Just like Monica did in the past, Khan was giving her a chance to ignore all the outside world''s problems and focus on what she liked. She also found it impossible to ignore Khan in her stressed state, so her head soon dived into his lips.


    In the meantime, George and Anita had remained in the main hall, wondering what to do next. Khan''s sudden entrance didn''t help either since he disappeared without giving directives. Yet, the moan that eventually reached them brought an unsettling realization.


    "What?" Anita gasped while turning in the direction of the corridor.


    "They forgot to close the door," George exined, nodding in approval at that development. He shook his head and wore an admonishing expression as soon as Anita red at him, but the arrival of a second moan forced the two to look for more private areas.


    .


    .


    .


    The days that followed Monica''s interview were as chaotic as everyone expected. Thework never went silent, and countless articles appeared. Reporters interviewed all kinds of people connected to Khan or Monica, increasing the number of rumors about the topic and spotting the truth quite often.


    Monica couldn''t hide from her family, but waiting one night led to calmer tones in the calls that followed. The situation remained serious, but the overwhelming positive PR generated during her family''s silence dyed possible harsh reactions. She still received orders to stay put, but her presence in the Harbor wasn''t currently at risk.


    Anita and George opted for a simr approach. They avoided showing their faces in the open while waiting for the situation to calm down. Luckily for them, it was the weekend, so no duty required their attention.


    Things were quite different for Khan. He had businesses to attend to, so he couldn''t wait for the storm to calm down in the safety of his t. He had to show his face, which gave him a vague understanding of the consequences of the interview.


    Fame obviously was the first and most ring consequence. The Headmistress could keep crowds away from the second district, but the areas outside the hangars were a different issue. Those ces were the homes of workers, simple soldiers, or poorer descendants, and the Harbor didn''t have the manpower to stop them.


    The second consequence carried some positive aspects. Monica''s explicit involvement in the rtionship forced Khan''s boldest fans to stand down. It was one thing to risk enraging a rtively famous figure with no background, but Monica''s presence added the weight of her family, scaring away the most aggressive supporters.


    Monica''s involvement also put an end to the flirtatious behavior that usually reached Khan. No woman wanted to get in her way. He became more than taken, ording to public opinion.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The third consequence involved the families interested in the event. Jenny felt forced to send daily reports to keep Khan updated about the many offers that reached her office, but he avoided addressing them for the time being.


    That chaos added five hours to Khan''sst mandatory flight. The Harbor''s soldiers spent half of that clearing a path for his cab and finding a hangar that could safely allow the unfolding of that procedure. Khan then needed the rest of that time to leave, turning a rtively short task into something that made him waste an entire day.


    The experience helped the Headmistress create countermeasures. Her influence forced Lieutenant Shurpard to have all of Khan''s tests on thest day of the week and even provided enough manpower to keep the involved areas clear.


    First, Khan demonstrated mastery of the pilot''s techniques in a null-gravity area. Scanners studied him the whole time to confirm the excellent execution of those skills, and his training during his solo flights made him pass with flying colors.


    The practical flight followed, and Khan had no problems there either. He had long since memorized the test''s route, allowing him toplete every task perfectly. The external inspector who joined Lieutenant Shurpard never found the chance to note down mistakes due to Khan''s good performance.


    Completing the theoretical test forced Khan to wait for the results in one of the offices among the hangars, with multiple soldiers acting as guards. Lieutenant Shurpard was the only familiar face in the area, but his presence didn''t affect the tense silence.


    "I passed," Khan eventually stated without breaking his military salute.


    "Captain, I''m sure that your test went well," Lieutenant Shurpardughed to hide his awkwardness, "But we must wait for the results before giving you the license."


    "No," Khan corrected, nodding toward one of the empty corridors stretching from the office. "I passed."


    Lieutenant Shurpard followed Khan''s gaze and frowned seeing the empty corridor. However, a figure suddenly turned the corner to appear in his view, and his hurried pace hinted at the positive message he carried.


    "Sir, sir!" The soldier called, rushing through the corridor to reach the office. "The results of Captain Khan''s theoretical tests are out."


    The soldier handed the screen in his hands to Lieutenant Shurpard, and thetter turned it on to check its contents. A list of all the correct answers and the overall score lit up, confirming that Khan had passed the test.


    Lieutenant Shurpard couldn''t help but nce at Khan in shock. He had read about his senses, but that felt inhuman. Ordinary soldiers would have required techniques to achieve simr results, but he had only needed a look to understand what was about to happen.


    Nevertheless, the Headmistress had given specific directives. Everything had to unfold swiftly and quickly since she couldn''t enforce peace for too long, so Lieutenant Shurpard cleared his throat and performed a military salute.


    "Congrattions on passing the theoretical test, Captain," Lieutenant Shurpard announced. "Please, follow me inside to obtain your license."


    Khan limited himself to a nod and entered the office to stand in front of the interactive desk. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Shurpard tinkered with the various menus and even connected the device to insert thest authorization that the process required.


    A whooshing noise soon followed. A rectangr piece of the interactive desk caved in to allow the arrival of a metal card that carried Khan''s name, picture, and other information. Lieutenant Shurpard picked it up, and an exnation followed when he handed it to Khan.


    "This is your license, sir," Lieutenant Shurpard stated. "It will keep track of your infractions and feats, but you won''t need it to prove your status. I''ve already sent an update to thework. To the Global Army, you are already a pilot."


    "I''ll try to remember to write praises about you," Khan promised, seizing the license to store it in his pocket. "You have been good to me, Lieutenant."


    "I''m not worthy, Captain," Lieutenant Shurpardughed. "If I may, my superiors have requested to meet you in the event of a positive oue. What should I tell them?"


    "Have them set an appointment through the Headmistress," Khan said while turning. "I''m sorry, but I don''t have time today."


    "Someone escort the Captain outside!" Lieutenant Shurpard ordered as soon as Khan began to leave. A few guards immediately followed him, but he barely looked at them while heading toward the closest hangar.


    A cheering crowd weed Khan''s arrival at the hangar. The soldiers there had created a metal barrier to keep those people away from the ship, but that didn''t stop them from filling the area with shouts.


    The shouts grew louder when Khan appeared, and many of the questions he had heard the previous day reached his ears. He usually ignored all that, but his fame had to increase, so he took out his license and waved it at the crowd.


    The crowd''s excitement skyrocketed, forcing more soldiers to approach the metal barrier to keep it steady. Some even drew tasers to stop people from attempting to jump toward Khan.


    Khan disregarded the chaos to get on with his day, but the appearance of a familiar aura in the symphony forced him to approach the metal barrier. The rumors had spread so much that the crowd went silent when it understood what was happening. Everyone wanted to hear what Khan and Wayne would say to each other on their second encounter.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Congrattions, Captain Khan!" Wayne eximed in his usual happy tone as soon as Khan reached the metal barrier. "I knew you would pass the tests."


    "How did you know Monica was on birth control?" Khan went straight to the point, uncaring of the people around him.


    "I didn''t," Wayne revealed. "I was as surprised as the others."


    Khan inspected Wayne from head to toe but found no trace of lies in his behavior or mana. That smiling man was the embodiment of honesty.


    "So, are we going to fight now?" Wayne wondered. "We came pretty close to thatst time."


    "I can''t waste time on you," Khan sighed. That was the truth. He had to prioritize the Headmistress'' assignment to uncover the real culprits behind that ploy. Besides, he couldn''t feel angry at someone with no bad intentions.


    "Of course!" Wayneughed. "I guess we''ll get to know each other in ss."


    "Why are you interested in me?" Khan couldn''t help but ask. "Who sent you?"


    "I can''t reveal that," Wayne openly stated. "They only told me to get close to you, which I would have done anyway."


    "Why?" Khan questioned.


    "Because we are like brothers from different families," Wayneughed again. "However, you got to grow in the light while I was raised in darkness."


    Khan instinctively fell silent as his eyes darted among the crowd. That statement didn''t have any specific meaning, especially to random people, but Khan understood something that couldn''t be discussed in the open.


    ''Fame first,'' Khan cursed in his mind before resuming his walk outside the hangar. A car was already waiting for him, and his pensive state almost made him miss its set-off. His interest in Wayne had grown greatly during that interaction, but other priorities called for his attention.


    The car didn''t head for the second district. Getting the pilot license was a big deal that required celebrations and interviews, but Khan had toplete another task first, and the embassy was the only ce with enough privacy.


    The long ride toward the embassy allowed Khan to rece those messy thoughts with resolve. By the time he reached a private training hall inside the immense triangr structure, only one goal had survived in his mind.


    ''I can''t postpone this any further,'' Khan thought while sealing himself inside the training hall and approaching the huge cage at its center. ''I must be at my best before diving into Professor Parver''s tasks.''


    Tapping on the cage made one of its surfaces open. Freezing air blew on Khan''s face while that metalyer rose, and an awful smell followed. Still, he wore a confident smile when he checked its insides. The powerful Rad was a gory mess, but the long wait in that container didn''t worsen its state.

 Chapter 486 Pride

    Since Nitis, the [Blood Shield] had been Khan''s most powerful defensive spell. It had saved his life many times, even when against opponents he wouldn''t normally be able to face.


    Still, the alien spell had harsh requirements and drawbacks. It was heavy on the body, especially as its power increased, and the materials necessary to improve it grew rarer at each new checkpoint.


    For once, Khan felt able to ignore those issues. His fame and wealth would grant him the necessary materials even without the powerful Rad. Also, the transformation and his new level were bound to make him suitable for the [Blood Shield]''s next checkpoint, allowing him to put the problem aside.


    However, a ring issue remained, and the Rad''s level was to me for that. Khan''s control had never stopped improving, but the Tainted animal remained a material in the realm of fourth-level warriors. He might need multiple attempts to create what he needed. He might even fail.


    The cage had preserved the Rad''s corpse by freezing it and creating an isted environment, making it currently unsuitable as a material. Khan needed to wait for the ice to leave, and the machine could help him with that.


    Khan tapped on the floor to open the training hall''s menus. The structure was already connected to the cage, so he could tinker with the area''s temperature to elerate the defrosting process.


    In the meantime, Khan started another procedure that made him approach a wall. The training hall requested his gic signature and scanned his eyes and nape before generating a few results.


    ''Seventy-one percent,'' Khan read on the wall. ''I knew it.''


    Almost three months had passed since the promotion, but Khan''s attunement with mana had barely moved. He had taken it slowly only in the first period before going all-out with his training again, but that didn''t change the oue.


    Khan couldn''t im to be surprised. Increasing the attunement with mana became harder and slower at the higher levels, and he also was a special case.


    Meditating could lead to good results, but even humans found it too slow. Khan was beyond them due to the transformation, so it made sense for his growth to fall behind his peers.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It didn''t take a genius to reach simr conclusions. A superior machine required more fuel, and bodies were no different. Khan had also long since epted that the human methods didn''t work too well for him. He needed something stronger topensate for his inability to use infusions, and a suitable technique already existed in his arsenal.


    ''I need the [Blood Vortex],'' Khan concluded in his mind, and his thoughts immediately flowed toward possible solutions.


    The pilot license gave Khan the opportunity to fly into environments with natural mana. Yet, reaching others in the Harbor''s system took time, which he didn''t have.


    The moon would have been perfect for Khan''s needs, but its poor atmosphere made it almost devoid of mana. He would have already considered using a respirator to fix the air issue otherwise.


    The garden in the Harbor''s hidden floor popped into Khan''s mind, but that couldn''t do either. Synthetic and natural mana lived together there, which would affect the [Blood Vortex]''s performance. Special areas there might be able to meet his needs, but only a deeper rtionship with Professor Parver would reveal them.


    ''Maybe I can dedicate a few hours during the missions,'' Khan guessed. ''It might be doable once I know what I''m dealing with.''


    Khan let his mind wander a little longer before reapproaching the cage. A few touches confirmed that the defrosting process was over, so he used another menu to make the training hall provide multiple tools.


    The Rad''s body was rtively weak even if it belonged to the warriors'' family, so Khan had no problem cutting it with the saws and knives provided by the hall. The issues started when he had to squeeze out the clotted blood from the previously-frozen flesh, but his mana and the other menus eventually solved that.


    The procedure took time, and Khan''s careful approach slowed it down even more. The Rad was big enough to grant multiple attempts, but he wanted to avoid mistakes anyway, which wasn''t easy with that powerful flesh getting in the way of his control.


    Nevertheless, Khan showed exceptional patience and slowly worked his way toward a decent product. Touching, smelling, and licking it told him that the procedure had failed, but getting so close on his first try gave him hope.


    Khan put aside the failed product and prepared himself to restart the process, but a call reached his phone. Reading Jenny''s name on the hall''s menus hinted at something urgent, so he answered while most of his attention remained on the Rad.


    "Captain, I''m afraid I can''t dy this any further," Jenny went straight to the point while her voice resounded from the floor.


    "What is it now?" Khan cursed.


    "It''s Mister Solodrey, sir," Jenny exined. "He has tried to contact you since you got your license."


    "I understand," Khan sighed, massaging his temples to prepare his mind for the iing conversation. "Send him through."


    Jenny didn''t add anything. She closed the call to deal with the matter, and Khan approached a wall in the meantime. He wanted to take a good look at Monica''s father, so he prepared the hall for a video call.


    It didn''t take long before a new call arrived, and Khan immediately answered it. Still, his dirty hand appeared in his view at that point, and his messy appearance also became evident once the hall''s cameras activated. The alien procedure had covered Khan in blood, even tainting his face, but it was toote to do anything about it.


    A rectangr face soon appeared on the hall''s wall. A stern expression featuring brown skin, dark, bottomless eyes, and short ck hair filled the screen, releasing a pressure that Khan felt able to experience.


    "It''s a pleasure to meet you, Mister Solodrey," Khan announced, disregarding the pressure to focus on being polite. After all, that was Monica''s father. If possible, he wanted to get on his good side.


    "I''m afraid I don''t have time for pleasantries," Mister Solodrey stated in his deep voice. "You have already wasted my afternoon, Captain, so I''ll keep this short."


    "As you wish, sir," Khan nodded, partially d that Mister Solodrey wasn''t even looking at his appearance. His eyes wandered left and right without focusing on the call even once.


    "Your rtionship with my daughter lost me money," Mister Solodrey exined. "I''ve done the math, and the amount is in the billions of Credits."


    Khan couldn''t even imagine suchrge sums, but Mister Solodrey''s detachment was impossible to miss. The desire to keep things polite vanished at that realization, and a scorning tone joined Khan''s reply. "So, it''s about money."


    "I don''t expect you to understand," Mister Solodrey casually responded, "But I will get that money back, one way or another."


    "Sir, you could just give Monica to me," Khan suggested. "I''ll take care of her and cut your losses until I''m able to pay you back."


    "You misunderstand, Captain," Mister Solodrey eximed. "That''s the value my daughter lost when you took her virginity. As a whole, she is still worth a lot more."<novelnext></novelnext>


    Anger surged inside Khan. Mister Solodrey was treating Monica as nothing more than a valuable item, but he didn''t get a chance to vent since the call ended. Mister Solodrey had left right after saying his piece.


    "Good talk," Khanmented before punching the wall. He didn''t hold back, so the skin above his knuckles broke, leaving a red mark on the metal surface.


    The pain caused by the injury brought some rity. Sadly enough, Khan knew that Mister Solodrey''s math was correct. He had learnt enough about the descendants to understand where that sum came from.


    Mister Solodrey wasn''t speaking about mere Credits. As a political currency, Monica could earn her family many assets and allies, ultimately bringing her value close to what Mister Solodrey had calcted.


    Monica wasn''t the only one in that situation. Everyone inside the Global Army had a value connected to their position and achievements. For example, Khan''s financialwork was worth far more than the actual Credits in his profile.


    ording to that reasoning, Monica forsook some opportunities when Khan took her first time. That quality wasn''t too crucial with poorer families, but Mister Solodrey could have used it to increase her value, which exined the financial loss.


    Khan hated himself for even understanding those topics, but that was the political game, and he had to y it. Still, knowledge alone wouldn''t get him anywhere, and sheer strength also had its limits.


    ''I need all the help I can get,'' Khan acknowledged. Merely thinking about that option made him angry, but he had far higher priorities. His pride couldn''t exist when Monica was at stake.


    Khan sent a simple message before returning to his main task. Failing to improve the [Blood Shield] wasn''t an option anymore, so hepletely immersed himself in the procedure. His mana seemed able to feel his mental state, and his control grew firmer as a consequence.


    The second product failed to meet Khan''s requirements, and the same went for the third. Yet, on the fourth, Khan obtained something that could work, and another sessful round of tests made that gory item end up in his mouth.


    Khan prepared himself for the usual harsh reaction that improving the [Blood Shield] caused, but something different happened at that time. His chest felt heavy and tried to make him unable to breathe, but that weight moved, splitting in multiple directions to reach every corner of his body.


    A grunt escaped Khan''s mouth when the blood vessels in his throat clotted and forced him to lift his head. The instinctive desire to puke eventually made him end on all four, but he closed his teary eyes to keep the contents of his stomach in check.


    Clotted blood vessels appeared in Khan''s view as soon as he reopened his eyes. The alien technique was moving through his hands, eventually reaching his fingertips before slowly dispersing its weight.


    A simr process unfolded everywhere in Khan''s body, leaving him gasping for air once the weight dispersed. Saliva fell from his open mouth while the soreness of his skin filled his mind. He felt as if a firm object had crawled through his flesh, but that ufortable sensation slowly waned.


    Khan summoned the [Blood Shield] as soon as he managed to sit. The blood vessels in his right palm clotted as usual, creating the defensive ability he knew far too well. Everything was working as intended, which put the me for the unexpected reaction on something else.


    ''Is it because of the transformation?'' Khan wondered, unbuttoning his uniform to check his chest. Everything was fine there, and the same went for the rest of his body.


    Khan performed a few more tests before disregarding the matter. It made sense for his body to react differently to the [Blood Shield]. It basically confirmed how much he had changed after absorbing the Nak''s hand.


    The old Khan would let those realizations afflict him a bit longer, but he immediately moved to other tasks now. Dinnertime had already passed, and he needed to regroup with his friends to establish a n of action. The lessons would resume the next day, so they needed to be on the same page.


    Khan left orders to store the remains of the Rad before departing from the embassy. His dirty appearance shocked a few soldiers along the way, but no one hindered his return inside the cab. A few mustered praises for his license, but that was it.


    Under normal circumstances, Khan''s t would have the most cheerful symphony, but the consequences of Monica''s interview were nowhere near waning. Even at thatte hour, Khan found Monica, George, and Anita busy with three different calls that almost made them miss his return.


    The event made the three interrupt the calls, but seeing Khan''s appearance generated different reactions. George whistled and prepared another ss, Anita gasped, and Monica approached him without showing any hesitation.


    "Congrattions," Monica whispered once the customary kiss ended. "I knew you would pass."


    "That''s not everything," Khan snickered once the two separated. "Your father called."


    "What?!" Monica, Anita, and George eximed at the same time.


    "I think it went well," Khanughed. "I kind of proposed, but he refused."


    "You did what?!" Monica shouted before shyness overtook her and made her lower her face. "We agreed to wait a few years for that."


    Anita and George''s mouths hung open. They didn''t know what surprised them the most. The fact that the couple had already discussed that topic was shocking, but Monica''s apparentpliance surpassed that.


    "I just wanted to tease him," Khan reached for Monica''s cheek but hesitated when he noticed all the blood on his fingers.


    Monica understood what was happening and grabbed Khan''s wrist to bring his dirty hand to her cheek. She even snuggled on his palm, uncaring of how dirty she got, and the gesture made them fall prey to their respective eyes.


    The situation didn''t allow the couple to do as they wished, and George''s cough eventually forced them to separate. The notification that reached the t''s walls also changed the topic, pushing Khan to reassure his friends.


    "It''s fine," Khan stated. "I called him."


    "Are you sure?" George questioned without adding anything specific.


    "We need more brains," Khan sighed. "Also, I can''t only rely on the Headmistress, can I?"


    Anita and Monica wanted to ask more questions, but the opening of the elevator forced everyone to turn. Tension spread when Lucian stepped forward, and his smile carried confidence even in front of that evident distrust.


    "I finally made it to the inner circle," Lucian announced while inspecting Khan''s group. "I should probably bring a date next time."

 Chapter 487 Errand Boy

    "The Harbor is an extremelyplex environment," Lucian announced, using the hologramsing out of his phone to make his exnation clearer. "Even the families don''t know how many activities choose it as their home."


    Lucian leaned forward, leaving his armchair to reach for the phone on the table among the group. Hismands made tens of routes light up on the holographic representation of the Harbor''s system, adding enough info to trigger the worst headaches.


    "We can assume the issue involves anything requiring a pilot," Lucian continued. "Sadly, the Harbor''s nature and position attract all sorts of simr activities, and these are only those I''m aware of. There is a good chance our friends'' business doesn''t appear here."


    George, Anita, Khan, and Monica inspected the holograms with as much concentration as they could muster, but no revtion dawned upon them. Things were as Lucian had described them. They knew too little about Wayne or Mister Chares to spot a motive in that messy scene.


    Khan was the first to divert his gaze from the holograms to inspect hispanions. George and Anita were on the opposite couch and looked as lost as he was. The same went for Monica, who sat closely at his side, uncaring of his unbuttoned uniform.


    Lucian looked like the only one happy to be in that situation, and Khan didn''t miss that. Thetter had partially updated him about the recent issues, obviously omitting the Hive and other private matters to keep his knowledge in check. Lucian suspected as much but didn''t show any displeasure or hesitation.


    "Of course," Lucian stated, "This business might be secret enough to be among these. There is nothing like hiding in in sight to catch your opponents by surprise."


    Monica let her eyes linger on the holograms for a few more seconds before looking at Khan. Her expression said everything he needed to know. She couldn''t help him, and her face gained an apologetic vibe because of that.


    Khan showed a reassuring smile, reaching for Monica''s cheek to clean a faint trace of blood left during the previous interaction. He had already washed, which exined his open uniform, and Monica didn''t hold back from holding the hand on her face.


    The scene was nothing surprising for Khan''s friends, but Lucian didn''t hide his amazement. He had teased Khan about Monica often, but that was his first time seeing them dropping their fa?¡ìade, and the event shocked him a bit.


    Lucian''s reaction didn''t go unnoticed, and George immediately voiced his suspicion. "Why do you know so much already?"


    "I obviously did my research days before Captain Khan''s message," Lucian dered. "I don''t enjoy remaining in the dark during such exciting times."


    George didn''t like that answer, and Lucian even retained a challenging smile. It was evident that more was happening inside their minds, and Khan didn''t even need to look at them to understand their reasons.


    Lucian saw that invitation as an opportunity to exploit the unexpected situation. Being in the front rows after Monica''s interview and a possible ploy that involved the entire Harbor was simply too appealing to him.


    As for George, he was being protective of Khan. He realized thatpromises were necessary, but the invitation had been too sudden. Khan didn''t even give him the time to prepare for Lucian''s arrival.


    "We still can''t confirm a connection between Wayne and Mister Chares," Khan eximed to change the topic. "This might have nothing to do with Tyler and pilots in general."


    Khan made himselffortable on the couch, and Monica didn''t miss the chance to im a spot under his arm. Lucian inspected everything thoroughly, and his eyes grew wider at each explicit sign of affection.


    "Stop staring," George warned. "It''s not like you didn''t know about them."


    "You must forgive me," Lucian cleared his throat. "After knowing Miss Solodrey for so long, I find adjusting to her real character quite hard."


    Monica red at Lucian. She shared George''s protective and untrustworthy stance, but Khan made her turn toward him by covering her eyes and leaving a kiss on the top of her head.


    An annoyed groan left Monica''s mouth, but Khan''s following words covered it. "Lucian, I invited you because I need your brain, but we are ying by my rules. So, drop the Captain and Miss Solodrey''s stuff."


    "As you wish, Khan," Lucian responded while his amazement remained evident. "Still, I wasn''t lying. This is truly shocking for me."


    Khan let Monica''s eyes go, and she immediately pointed them at Lucian. Yet, the evident shock on his face made her slightly shy. That was her first taste of how the outside world would react to her openly being Khan''s girlfriend, and the faint happiness she felt generated a cuddly mood.


    "Take your time," Khan whispered to Monica''s ear when he realized what was happening. "It''s better if you get used to it before facing Zoe again."


    Monica''s cheeks went on fire when she recalled herst words to Zoe, and Khan inevitably became the target of herints. "I said that because-! It''s your fault!"


    "I didn''t expect you toy everything out so openly," Khanughed.


    "Shut it, you scoundrel!" Monica shouted, almost climbing on Khan''sp to start a scuffle.


    The bickering didn''t stop there, and Lucian''s mouth hung open as surprising words and scenes reached him. He had always suspected that Monica''s elegance was a fa?¡ìade, but her current behavior was the exact opposite of that.


    "Are they always like this?" Lucian couldn''t help but ask while turning toward George and Anita.


    "They''ll calm down in a minute or two," Anita exined, trying her best to avoid taking sides.


    "Unless they go on all night," George snickered and brought his drink to his mouth to hide from Anita''s re.


    Khan and Monica held back due to the nature of the situation but still ended up in a rtivelypromising position. Monica sat on Khan''sp with her arms crossed and his uniform''s edges in her hands. She pretended to use his clothes as a nket while Khan hugged her and kept his chin on her shoulder.


    "Well," Lucian coughed, doing his best to bring back the topic to Khan''sst statement. "It''s hard to ignore a possible connection. Mister Chares proved himself able to slip past the Headmistress'' control, showing us that he has the means to nt someone like Wayne."


    "But that creates more problems," Khan pointed out. "Even if the birth control incident happened by mistake, sending someone after me would still be overkill. It can''t be cheaper than finding a new pilot."


    "That depends on the nature of the business," Lucian dered. "If, for example, Mister Chares had something to do with the kidnapping attempt, it would make sense for him to want trustworthy assets."


    "Nippe 2''s events happened weeks ago," Monica uttered, "And the Harbor already scoured the. I can understand the Headmistress'' security having holes, but not when the nobles are involved."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Though, it would make sense," Lucian pressed on. "An organization able to n a kidnapping attempt on a noble would have the means to ignore the Harbor''s security."


    Khan kept his gaze on the holograms, but his thoughts ran wild. He didn''t say anything about the Hive to Lucian, so that hypothesis could be his way of probing his secrets. Yet, Khan also had to admit that the connection would make sense.


    "Let''s say you are right," Khan announced. "What are they trying to achieve by targeting me? It can''t be just out of spite."


    "Realistically speaking," Lucian responded, "You still can''t know what they are trying to achieve, especially if what happened with Wayne was an incident. The real offer might arrive only after their first clear move."


    Khan fell silent. Lucian was right, but Khan had put Wayne''s mana through his senses. Thetter didn''t seem to have any idea about his role in that ploy.


    "Destabilizing Khan''s fame might make his evaluations unreliable," Monica suggested. "With the right moves, they could turn Tyler into the hero who dared to call him out."


    "I thought about that," Lucian voiced, "But that would take months to aplish. Khan said that Mister Chares can''t wait years, so a simr ploy might also be too much."


    "I''d exclude it altogether," George stated. "That might have been their original n, but Monica made it unfeasible with her interview."


    The topic was still embarrassing for Monica, but she had to agree with George. Her romantic involvement with Khan made his fame airtight.


    Silence fell into the t, and Anita experienced some shame at herck of opinions. She couldn''t ignore her position like George, Monica, and Khan, and her intentions had no hidden purpose like Lucian''s. She wanted to help her friends, but that troublesome environment threatened to make her head explode.


    "I might provide better support if I knew everything," Lucian eventually broke the silence.


    "I''d tell you more if you were trustworthy," Khan responded without bothering to look at Lucian.


    "We are on the same side here," Lucian chuckled.


    "Your side?" Khan wondered.


    "Our," Lucian corrected.


    "You know," Khan sighed, looking past Monica''s curls to eye Lucian, "It would be far easier to trust you if you didn''t sound so maniptive."


    "You want my brain," Lucian uttered, "You get my maniptive side."


    "So," Khan didn''t let that statement scare him, "What does your brain suggest?"


    "Go off the grid," Lucian suggested. "Wayne can''t do anything to you if you aren''t there."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I still have to attend sses," Khan pointed out. "Differently from you all, notes aren''t enough for me, and her mother will never acknowledge me if I get bad grades."


    "You need good grades to score a suitable job," Monica corrected, tilting her head to face Khan.


    "You are better than any job," Khan teased.


    "I''m already yours," Monica whispered before approaching Khan''s ear, "And I have yet to give my favorite pilot his gift."


    Lucian couldn''t disperse his surprise in a single night but adapted quickly to that intimacy, so he spoke even if the couple wasn''t looking at him. "In that case, be unapproachable. I can help during the sses, but the rest is up to you."


    Khan didn''t answer. He had simr ns, and hearing Lucian agree with them confirmed their alliance. Khan didn''t know how long it wouldst, but keeping that path open sounded necessary in the current situation.


    Monica agreed with Khan on that alliance. Yet, differently from him, she could use threats that went beyond simple violence.


    "Lucian, I want us to understand each other," Monica called, leaving Khan''s ear to show one of her fake elegant smiles to Lucian. "I appreciate your help, no matter how honest it is. However, if I ever sense ill intentions, I''ll use the entirety of my influence to take you down."


    Lucian remained calm, and his smile didn''t flicker, but some fear appeared. He felt able to smell the crazy hidden behind Monica''s elegant expression, and Khan didn''t need introductions. The couple represented the best and worst of two worlds, and a single misstep could turn Lucian into their enemy.


    Still, excitement soon arrived. Lucian knew that Khan and Monica were his tickets to greatness. Being their consultant was the role his family had trained him for.


    "She really will," Khan added, "And her family already hates me as it is, so try to y nice. I''d like my crazy girlfriend to give interviews only about things I can tease her about."


    A message reached Khan''s phone while Monica turned toin. She was ready to ignore the event but reading the Headmistress'' name on the screen forced her to remain silent.


    "Speaking about going off the grid," Khan announced once the message''s contents became clear. "Do you know any avable side business on Honides? I''m kind of in a hurry to make some money."


    Monica began to y with her curls since she knew the purpose of Khan''sst line, and George and Anita opened thework to study the topic. Only Lucian decided to question Khan. "Honides?"


    "I''m flying there next weekend," Khan exined, showing his phone to let Lucian read the Headmistress'' message. "I guess I''ve be the Harbor''s official errand boy."

 Chapter 488 Storms

    The brainstorming session ended without reaching any meaningful conclusion. The group only agreed on a joint approach and a few more details before splitting to face the tense night waiting for them.


    Khan obviously had it worse than his friends. Hispanions were outsiders or trusted allies who could feign ignorance, and Monica had even received orders toy low. She wouldn''t attend sses, so Khan would have most eyes on himself.


    It didn''t help that Khan had ns of his own. Lucian had been right, but Khan couldn''t ignore a chance to learn more about his family and secret organizations. Wayne probably knew something, so Khan couldn''t avoid him altogether.


    The morning arrived faster than Khan had hoped and leaving Monica''s worried hug felt harder than ever. They had to spend a bit reassuring each other, but Khan eventually entered a cab heading for the embassy.


    Due to the unique situation, Khan had received the Headmistress'' authorization to reach the ssrooms area through more remote paths. His presence would cause a scene that she couldn''t fully control otherwise, but that didn''tpletely prevent the arrival of unwanted attention.


    Khan entered the embassy through one of the ceilings and used private elevators to reach the ssrooms area, but people still upied those corridors. Besides, his azure hair was too eye-catching, so countless gazes fell on him as soon as he showed his face.


    Luckily for Khan, most people in the corridorscked the status to approach him. The embassy was also different from the Harbor''s streets, so some decorum was mandatory. Yet, the situation changed once he arrived in front of his ss.


    The dy with Monica and the alternative path had made Khan slightlyte, so Lucian, George, Anita, and everyone else had already gathered in front of the hall''s entrance. No one had tried to take their seats either, and Khan didn''t even need to look at the symphony to exin that behavior.


    A series of "Captain" and "Captain Khan" resounded while Khan made his way toward the group. George, Anita, and Lucian approached him before their ssmates, but that didn''t stop the other students from gathering around him.


    "Captain," Zoe managed to take the reins of that gathering, "Allow me to apologize for my past behavior. I''ve also been impolitest time. I let my surprise take the best of me."


    Khan knew that those words weren''t directed at him. His ssmates had shown nothing but respect in the previous months, but Zoe''s tone conveyed something different now. Khan could smell some fear, and Monica was to me for that.


    ''As expected,'' Khan sighed in his mind at that predictable oue.


    Zoe had always been quite explicit in her interest in Khan, and herments from the previous week had made things hard for Monica. The possibility of ending on the Solodrey family''s bad side scared her in more than one way, so she seized the initiative and apologized.


    "It''s not your fault," Khan reassured, wearing a genuine smile. "Actually, I almost want to thank you. My girlfriend can be too serious at times, and you gave me something to tease her about."


    Khan was following a previously nned script, and his ssmates'' reactions matched his predictions. He had confirmed that Monica was his girlfriend while also showing vague insights into his rtionship. The audience could only gasp at that gentle openness.


    "Oh, is she now?" Zoe let her curiosity take over. "I can''t imagine Monica Solodrey getting teased."


    "You are missing out," Khanughed, "But I''ll keep that part of our life private."


    The gossip-hungry crowd couldn''t help but yearn for more, especially when it came to the women in the group. They wanted to learn everything about that seemingly forbidden romance, and the frail peace built by Zoe''s initiative crumbled under the torrent of questions.


    "Is everything she said in the interview true?" A woman asked.


    "Did she really make romantic advances?" A second woman questioned.


    "Did she coerce you into this rtionship?" A third woman followed. "Captain, you can tell us."


    "She couldn''t have been the one to make the first move, could she?" A man wondered.


    ? "Do you think the Captain would have had a chance otherwise?" The first woman scoffed.


    "To put Miss Solodrey in a simr situation," A second manmented. "Captain Khan must have a special talent."


    "I don''t think the Captain had much choice," A fourth woman guessed. "Monica is beautiful, and her family must have educated her in that field."


    "Don''t be lewd," The second woman scolded.


    "I wasn''t!" The fourth woman stated.


    Khan couldn''t do much against that barrage. He retained his smile, waiting for the general enthusiasm to wane while doing his best to ignore the questions that made him angry. No one dared to insult Monica, but the implications that the rtionship could have political motives remained annoying.


    "Please, calm down," Khanughed again once some peace tried to arrive. "I know you are curious, but I don''t have the liberty to speak freely. I''m sure you understand."


    Khan kept his words vague on purpose to use the Solodrey family''s silence to his advantage. The descendants were no strangers to those politics, so they thought that Monica''s parents wanted things to remain private until they were ready to make an official announcement.


    A series of nods unfolded in Khan''s view, but he made sure to speak again to add a personal touch. "Besides, I''m the jealous type. I want to be the only one to know Monica''s cutest sides."


    A wave of surprise swept the audience before a fewughs unfolded. Smiles also broadened, and more nods followed. Everyone seemed happy with those terms. Actually, many women in the group appeared quite charmed by Khan''s upfront and slightly protective approach.


    ''Stop smiling at me like that,'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''Monica will really kill you otherwise.''


    Khan obviously kept those words to himself. Monica''s interview had allowed him to be more open, but his ssmates remained influential figures. He still had to show some politeness and suppress his rudest sides.


    "Alright, let''s not forget why we are here," Lucian announced to change the topic. "Captain, shall we?"


    "When did Lucian make a move?" Zoeined before eyeing George and Anita. "Why didn''t you invite me?"


    "Zoe, you are bad with secrets," Anita joked.


    "And Miss Solodrey also is the jealous type," George muttered.


    "George?" Zoe called, and her eyes lit up in front of that potential chance to learn more about Khan''s rtionship. "Why don''t we spend more time together? Of course, only if Anita doesn''t mind."


    "He can spend time with whoever he wants," Anita stated in a in tone, but everyone could see her true intentions.


    "Hey, I didn''t say anything," Georgeined, but Anita pretended not to hear him and hurried inside the hall.


    The gesture generated moreughs and made the group head toward the hall. Khan was no exception, but one more matter required his attention before he could focus on the lessons.


    "Sit with us," Khan eximed as soon as he reached Wayne. "It should give us a chance to get to know each other."


    The interaction didn''t go unnoticed, and Khan wasn''t trying to hide it anyway. Many grew interested in Wayne''s answer, while Lucian mostly showed surprise since Khan''s offer wasn''t part of the agreed n.


    "Of course!" Wayne promptly agreed. "I''m a bit behind, so I hope you''ll show me around."


    Khan didn''t add anything, and everything followed the agreed n afterward. Wayne''s presence was the only exception, but he didn''t create problems. Khan saw nothing more than an excited student after sitting next to him.


    The lesson unfolded smoothly. Khan could sense some awkwardness in the Professor, but thetter didn''t mention anything about his rtionship. As for Wayne, he behaved like a perfect student, paying utmost attention to the subject and even whispering questions to Khan when he didn''t understand something.


    A few strange but minor events happened. The screen under Wayne flickered twice for no apparent reason and resumed working properly almost immediately. That alone didn''t mean much, but Khan made sure to add it to his mental map of clues.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Except for Wayne''s invitation, Khan stuck to the agreed n and spent as little as possible in the open. He even rode cabs in the breaks between lessons to avoid political interactions before ultimately returning to his t.


    That routine repeated itself for the entirety of the week. Khan focused on gathering information and studying while using the Solodrey family''s silence as a shield for his privacy. Monica also never left his t, so hepleted all the lessons without facing problems.


    Still, the time to attend to the Headmistress'' task arrived at that point. Khan jumped into a cab as soon as hisst weekly lesson ended, and a long trip brought him to a hangar. He handled a sweet call with Monica in the meantime, but his stance showed pure seriousness once he left the vehicle.


    "Good evening, Captain Khan!" A series of soldiers performed military salutes as soon as Khan appeared in front of them, and he merely nodded to save time. The Headmistress had kept his new job a secret, so he could advance without dealing with the usual crowd.


    "This way, sir," One of the soldiers called while leading Khan deeper into the hangar.


    The man stopped after reaching a rtively small ship with a rectangr shape and two big engines. That was a fast vehicle meant for inteary travels, and its full tank created a bright spot in Khan''s vision.


    "It is my understanding that the Headmistress already briefed you about your ride," The soldier dered.


    "That''s right," Khan confirmed. "Is it ready to fly?"


    "Yes, sir," The soldier stated. "We only failed to ask you whether you''d like a different paint. If this isn''t to your liking, we can change it in under an hour."


    The ship didn''t match Khan''s tastes. Its rectangr shape hinted at a spacious trunk, making it a small version of a cargo vehicle. He wanted something purely meant for speed, so he couldn''t feel any ownership toward that booked ride.


    However, the ship''s dark-grey surfaces ended up putting Khan in a pensive state anyway. That wasn''t his vehicle, but he had a preference when it came to colors. He couldn''t imagine any different shade when it came to flying.


    "Don''t worry about today," Khan uttered. "Just make sure it''s white for my next flight."


    "White, sir?" The soldier questioned.


    "Yes, white," Khan responded without moving his eyes from the ship. "As white as snow."


    "It will be done, sir," The soldier uttered, performing another military salute.


    Khan already had his directives, so he pressed his hand on the tall canopy and took out his license to gain ess to the ship. A rectangr door opened, and a metal staircase stretched to the floor. Khan only had to jump on it to enter the vehicle.


    The solitude of the ship felt almost reassuring, but Khan didn''t let it dy his set-off. Tapping on the control desk and answering a few questions to the autopilot''s robotic voice made the engines activate and start the automatic departure.


    The flight inside the Harbor''s channels was slow, and Khan had no power over it. Yet, his hands remained on the steering wheel, ready for the universe to unfold in his eyes.


    "Set route for Honides," Khan ordered, and holograms appeared at his side to keep track of his flight.


    Thest of the Harbor''s channels eventually reached its end, and Khan counted the seconds before the autopilot would finally take the backseat. His grip on the steering wheel tightened during that seemingly endless wait, but a beeping noise eventually arrived, putting a smile on his face.


    ''Finally!'' Khan almost shouted in his mind before pushing the steering wheel forward. The ship immediately elerated, and he made an upward turn to depart from the moon.


    Nippe 2 soon appeared in the corner of the transparent canopy, but Khan ignored it to elerate even more. He nced at the holograms to confirm his route before the universe recaptured his attention. The ckness and the distant stars seemingly waiting for him captivated the entirety of his senses.


    "I want to reach Honides before midday," Khan shouted as some pressure fell on his body due to the high speed.


    "Calcting," The ship''s robotic voice announced. "Captain Khan, your level is unsuitable for such speeds."


    "Yeah, yeah," Khan scoffed. "Calcte it anyway."


    "Sir, required speed and path calcted," The ship quickly eximed, adding a series of numbers to the holograms.


    Khan nced at the holograms before elerating even more. The pressure became ufortable and was bound to increase, but that didn''t make him slow down in the slightest.


    "Sir, your heartbeat-," The ship didn''t have the chance to finish its line since Khan deactivated those vocal inputs. He limited them to necessary information before pushing the vehicle a bit more.


    The pressure began to affect Khan''s ability to breathe. He felt heavy and struggled to move properly, but that was still bearable. He would be able to reach Honides the next morning if he kept that up, and saving time was one of his priorities.


    Of course, that was no way to fly. The body had limits, even with mana. Khan was risking a series of internal injuries, especially in his brain. He was going past what average third-level warriors could endure, but those calctions only applied to humans. Since he couldn''t escape his Nak''s traits, he would use them to his advantage.


    As the ship approached the intended speed, Khan let his gaze wander for a few seconds. The ckness of the universe made him feel incredibly small but not lost. Even his negative sides had to acknowledge that the flight was a significant achievement. He only wished to have more time to appreciate the event.


    "Open Monica''s notes," Khan coughed to make his voice loud enough for the ship. He had already connected his phone to the control desk, so new holograms appeared after his directives.


    A series of pages about that week''s lessons opened before Khan. The weekends usually hosted his longest studying sessions, and he nned to stick to that. Monica had even prepared special notes for him to streamline the process.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Studying in those conditions was far from ideal, but Khan couldn''t move anyway. He alternated reading and meditation while the holograms kept him updated on the ship''s position and state.


    Space had no friction force, so the speed remained stable even after Khan turned off the engines. The tank also showed enough fuel to perform multiple trips between the Harbor and Honides, especially in that period when the two were so close. Khan only had to worry about eventual asteroids, but the ship would warn him in that case.


    The night went by faster than Khan had expected, and half of the morning suffered from a simr fate. He studied during most of the trip, but the appearance of a grey on the windows eventually distracted him, forcing him to beginnding procedures.


    Honides was famous for its storms, and the initialnding attempt confirmed how violent they could be. Khan brought the ship inside the''s atmosphere, and problems immediately arrived.


    "Sir, the winds below are full of metal shards," The ship warned. "The engines might not survive them."


    ''Fuck,'' Khan cursed, but a call reached the control desk and diverted his thoughts from the issue.


    "Captain Khan, am I right?" A male voice came out of the speaker when Khan answered.


    "In the flesh," Khan replied. "Who is this?"


    "I''m Richard Murrow from the extraction nt right below you," Richard exined. "Headmistress Holwen warned us about your arrival, but Honides is acting out today. You might need to wait a few days tond."


    "I don''t have a few days," Khan stated.


    "I can''t control the weather, sir," Richard responded. "I''m sorry, but your ship can''tnd in these conditions."


    Khan mmed his fist on the control desk to close the call but giving up never crossed his mind. He used the holograms to study Honides'' weather a bit before shouting a few orders and isting himself in the cargo area.


    "Open the back doors," Khan ordered once everything was in ce. The ship tried to give a warning, but he overruled it. The vehicle''s back opened, and storms sucked him into Honides'' atmosphere.

 Chapter 489 Drills

    The ship''s scanners had told Khan how violent Honides'' weather was. The winds at that altitude could almost lift cars, and the metals they carried made them dangerous for the engines.


    That quality only involved specific gales. Honides wasn''t as in as Nippe 2. It had many elements and features, especially in its atmosphere.


    ording to the scanners, the ship only had to descend a bit more to get past those metallic winds. A hundred meters would have been enough to bring it into areas it could cross. However, going against that initialyer would create a threat that Khan couldn''t afford.


    Ordinary soldiers would have to wait for the surface to send special ships or for the weather to calm down. Even Khan would have opted for those approaches under normal circumstances. Waiting wasn''t a big issue, all things considered, but that would go against his main goal.


    The entire Global Army knew that Khan was more than ordinary, but he had to step it up. To use the Headmistress'' words, he had to berger than life, which required inhumane feats.


    Khan kept his eyes closed while the winds absorbed him in their violence. He could barely move, and the high speed threatened to turn his insides into a bloody pulp. Metal shards also surrounded him, but the symphony shone in his mind.


    The winds were a mess that only advanced technology could predict, but Khan was an exception. The tremors, lights, and general atmosphere created a scene that Khan felt able to navigate. His mana even cheered at that chaos, but he spoke to himself before that energy could.


    ''Flow,'' Khan thought, almost ordering his whole being to be one with the symphony and pursue his personal goals.


    Khan''s eardrums threatened to explode, and a couple of his uniform''s buttons flew away, but he saw only the bigger picture. His mana made sure of that, and its intensity almost suppressed the chaos outside.


    Survival instincts and resolve fused to give birth to a powerful reaction. Khan was trapped but felt stronger than ever. Everything grew clearer, and confidence flowed through his body. Somehow, he knew what to do and how to aplish it.


    Getting out of the rivers of metal shards was the priority, but harsh movements would turn that rubble into sharp knives. Khan had to go along with it until an opportunity showed itself.


    Of course, that n didn''t stop Khan from affecting his trajectory. He had to reach cold, descending winds, which his senses had already highlighted. Moreover, there was more than one gale around him, so he used slow and faint ankle movements to dive into those that suited him.


    Diving wasn''t the exact word either. Khan wasn''t pushing himself into specific gales. He was only tilting and slightly moving his figure so that those winds would absorb him.


    The process was slow, and the storm never failed to mess up Khan''s bnce. He rolled wildly, lost his foothold multiple times, and even held his breath during the most violent phases, but his n always moved forward.


    After what felt like an eternity, Khan arrived at the bottom of the metallicyer. He was still one with it, flowing across Honides'' atmosphere ording to its momentum, but an escape route existed below him.


    Khan didn''t hesitate. He leaned backward and used the gale to apply a spinning motion to his body. The metal shards threatened to stab him at that point, but he kicked the air and unleashed his mana before any of them could cross his uniform.


    A crackling growl resounded in Khan''s closed mouth as his mana expanded in every direction, protecting him from the debris. Meanwhile, his body dived through a few gales, bringing him into equally violent winds that didn''t carry any danger.


    Khan fell prey to the storm again, but a chunk of his tension disappeared. He had crossed the main danger. The surface was quite distant, and a few threats still existed, but the hard part was over.


    The wind''s violence prevented Khan from diving straight toward the surface. He still had to alternate between flowing and altering his course, but theck of metal shards allowed him to perform sharper movements.


    The descent proceeded smoothly for a few minutes, but small yellow dots appeared in that otherwise brown symphony. A few flew in Khan''s direction, threatening to converge on him, but he had expected a simr event.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Honides'' storms never ceased. They only calmed down. A simrly chaotic environment would usually make the uninhabitable, but life had triumphed with the help of mana.


    One yellow dot grew close enough to pass right next to Khan, but the winds protected him. He only heard a faint screech while a gale carried that threat away.


    Instead, a second yellow dot managed to jump on the right gale and head directly toward Khan, but fingers closed around it before the impact. Khan trapped the threat in his firm grip, and clearer screeches reached his ears during the squirming on his palm.


    ''So, this is a Viliet,'' Khan thought as his senses and studies about Honides gave him aplete picture of the Tainted animal in his grip.


    Honides'' harsh environment had pushed its fauna toward smaller shapes that could avoid fighting the storms, and the Viliet were a perfect example of that. They were small and almost t fish-like animals with flexible insides that allowed them to survive the winds. Only their teeth were sharp and firm, and they used them to change their course.


    That small shape obviously had weaknesses. The Viliet had evolved to survive and eat the winds, so nothing in their bodies made them capable of fighting off Khan. The captured specimen was as strong as a first-level warrior, but he only had to tighten his grasp to pop it like a balloon.


    The blood that sshed on Khan''s hand and face instantly dried up due to the storm, and he even let go of the corpse while continuing his descent. More yellow dots filled the symphony, and a few threatened to reach him, but he barely minded them. He had left his knife in the Harbor, but his bare hands were enough for those Tainted animals.


    The rtively easy descent allowed Khan''s thoughts to reappear. He didn''t need to focus so heavily on the symphony or his mana anymore, so his mind wandered a bit.


    Khan was no idiot. He knew that his gesture had been beyond reckless, but the strength that flowed through his body almost justified his actions. That unusual confidence made him feel whole as if he had unlocked something he didn''t previously own.


    It took some thinking and introspection to find answers. Khan had to acknowledge that the Harbor had never given him a chance to bepletely unleashed. Even Nippe 2''s events had gone against his priorities since he had to leave his friends to save the Princess.


    Instead, the current mission allowed Khan''s sides to gather under the same banner. He wasn''t only traveling and facing dangers out of curiosity and desire to fight. He was also doing his best for his rtionship, creating a powerful mixture between his innate inclinations and feelings.


    Using all his abilities and power for the benefit of love was Khan''s best expression of himself. His mana cheered, a sense of fulfillment invaded his feelings, and pure confidence filled him to bring his strengths to their peak.


    Some minutes and a few Vilietter, Khan crashed on all fours on a firm surface. His eyes remained closed, but moving his hands on thatyer and listening to the symphony revealed his position. The storm was still blowing, but he had reached the ground.


    Khan forced himself to stand up but remained partially crouched to let his senses run freely. He had long since lost track of his position, but the symphony carried traces of his destination, and the many winds marked by it told him where to go.


    The winds hindered Khan''s advance, but he staggered forward, keeping an arm in front of his eyes to give his eyelids some rest. Dust blew on him, and faint tremors ran through the rocky ground, but his steps never halted. Nothing could stop him when his mind, feelings, and body were one.


    The tremors grew stronger during the advance. They never turned into a proper earthquake, but Khan felt them anyway. Moreover, a loud siren eventually made its way through the deafening winds, helping Khan pinpoint his exact destination.


    ''They must have found me,'' Khan realized, and confirmation arrived a few minutester. The symphony brought him before an immense structure reeking of synthetic mana, and following the siren made him find an open gate.


    nging and whooshing noises resounded while the gate closed and the siren stopped, eventually bringing some blissful silence. The tall door blocked the winds, isting Khan inside a metal room. He could finally wipe his face and open his eyes, but theck of illumination kept him in the dark.


    The darkness and silence didn''tst long since a second gate opened, showing the structure''s insides. Khan had to p his hands and rub his eyes some more to get rid of all the dirt, but the vast environment eventually fell into his view.


    A spacious hall unfolded from the second gate. Khan saw multiple consoles, staircases, and intermediate floors around a tall transparent container full of white crystals. Shocked soldiers had also gathered before that entrance, and Khan''s cough made them snap out of their amazement to perform military salutes.


    "Wee to Honides, Captain Khan!" The soldiers shouted simultaneously.


    Truth be told, the soldiers didn''t recognize Khan. They simply couldn''t with all the dust that had umted on him. Even his skin had turned grey due to that amount of dirt. Still, there was only one person currently on Honides capable of performing thatnding.


    Khan ruffled his hair and scratched his ears to remove more dust, but one voice among the group attracted his attention. He quickly pointed his eyes at a middle-aged man with messy brown hair, and his question made the soldier pale. "Richard?"


    The man froze. He had only exchanged a few lines with Khan, but they had not been too polite. They had not been rude either, but Khan''s current state, incrediblending, and the rough voice caused by the storms terrified him.


    "Y-yes, sir!" Richard eventually managed to muster out of his mouth, even if his voice grew loud only toward the end.


    "Prepare a ship for my departure," Khan promptly ordered, patting his uniform to remove even more dirt. "You only need to bring me back to my ride."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "B-but, sir," Richard stuttered again, "With Honides'' current weather, we might lose track of your ship."


    "Right," Khan eximed, sending a hand inside his underwear to take out his phone. "I''m still connected to my ship. You can use this to track it down."


    Khan expected some hesitation when he handed his phone to the closest soldier. After all, he didn''t store it in the cleanest ce in the world. Yet, the man immediately seized it before hurrying toward one of the consoles.


    The event made Khan realize how impactful hisnding had been. The soldiers weren''t only in awe of his prowess. They also felt some disbelief, which brought proper fear. Somehow, the group failed to see Khan as a fellow human.


    "Alright," Khan announced, avoiding wasting even more time. "Richard, show me this wall."


    "Yes, sir!" Richard finally spoke in a firm tone. "This way, please."


    The soldiers moved away and retained their military salutes while Khan walked past them. No one dared to speak or falter in his presence. Honides had people capable of matching Khan''s rank, but thending had turned him into the most important figure in their eyes.


    Richard hurried toward a passage on the other side of the vast hall but slowed down when he realized that Khan was showing some curiosity toward the huge container. Those white crystals shone on their own, and Khan seemed able to look past their bright surfaces.


    ''They really contain natural mana,'' Khan could barely hide his surprise. The entire hall reeked of synthetic mana, but he found the natural version of that energy inside those crystals.


    "Beautiful, aren''t they?" Richard asked after approaching Khan to join him in his inspection of the crystals.


    "Achite," Khanmented. "Mana in the form of minerals."


    "I didn''t know you had an interest in minerals, sir," Richard eximed, trying to make his words sound like praises.


    "I don''t," Khan admitted, "But seeing them in person gives a different effect."


    "Achite," Richard nodded, "Or white gold. It''s probably the most valuable resource of this system."


    "I heard extracting the mana inside is quite expensive," Khan voiced.


    "These crystals look pure," Richard exined, "But they gather many toxic substances during their formation. Simply breaking them wouldn''t do."


    Khan didn''t need that exnation. Even his studies for the mission felt superfluous since his eyes were enough to uncover those secrets. He could see that the mana inside the crystals had gained an opaque color due to the long tampering it underwent.


    "Let''s go," Khan eventually ordered, diverting his gaze to head toward Richard''s previous destination. Thetter wanted to add something but felt forced to follow.


    A series of corridors and a few halls unfolded from the container area, and Richard led Khan across them until a muffled grinding noise filled the structure. The two walked for a few more minutes, and the source of the tremors felt before eventually became clear.


    One of the corridors featured transparent windows pointed at an immense machine with four huge legs that kept it above a vast hole. A giant drill even stretched from it, diving deeper and deeper into the ck ground while taking out dirt and other materials.


    "Does it ever stop?" Khan asked when he was about to cross thest window.


    "Rarely, sir," Richard revealed, "And that''s not the only one on Honides. This nt alone has three main drills, which stop digging only when they find something."


    Khan fell silent. He had already studied most of that, and his mission didn''t require great knowledge anyway. Yet, Richard felt awkward while their steps resounded on the metal floor, and doubts soon left his mouth.


    "Sir, if I may," Richard cleared his throat. "While I''m ecstatic about this chance to meet you, there was no need for such urgency. The new drill is set to arrive in two months."


    "Mister Nore wants his alloys," Khan dered. "He isn''t willing to wait two months plus delivery."


    "But, sir," Richard continued. "This job is beneath you."


    "And yet," Khan casually replied, "I''m the only one who can aplish it in such a short time."


    Richard was timidly looking for Khan''s eyes, but thetter never paid him attention. Khan only wanted to get the job done and depart. Everything else was temporary curiosity.


    The two walked until they reached a second colossal drill. Richard had to grab his phone to send a series of directives at that point, and the machine slowly stopped rotating, granting safe ess to its area.


    Khan jumped on the ck ground andpared it to the metal ceiling. Tremors reached his feet due to the other drills across the structure, but everything remained bearable. That vast room had no floor but could keep things rtively stable.


    Richard approached one of the machine''s legs, which opened to release two soldiers. The three began to talk while Khan reached the hole''s edge to look down. That cavity was asrge as a building, but even his senses couldn''t calcte its depths.


    "Captain, this way," Richard called while Khan was still busy staring at the dark hole, butmps suddenly lit up and kept his gaze into those depths.


    The entirety of the drill became visible, and the same went for the hole''s wall, but Khan still struggled to see the bottom. He couldn''t, no matter how much he squinted his eyes. That machine simply went too deep.


    Khan eventually diverted his gaze and found Richard and another male soldier on a circr tform floating above the hole. The machine had released it, and the azure light from its new cavity marked the connection with that elevator.


    Khan didn''t waste time and jumped on the tform. He ignored the military salute of the new soldier and remained calm while that hovering elevator descended into the hole.


    The descent resembled a freefall, but that wasn''t Khan''s first time on simr machines, so he simply waited to reach his destination. That happened a whole minute and a few hundred meterster when the tform arrived in front of a hole stretching into the wall.


    "Is it here?" Khan asked when the tform stopped.


    "Yes, sir," Richard confirmed. "The old drill broke after digging this opening. We only needed it to go forward for a few more meters."


    "It''s okay," Khanmented while jumping into that opening, showing no fear for the deadly fall that would have waited for him if he failed that leap.


    "I only need to take down this wall, right?" Khan questioned as soon as the passage''s bottom appeared in his view. That hole was barely a few meters deep, so he didn''t need to move to spot it.


    "Y-yes!" Richard eximed, experiencing some fear when he reached the tform''s edge and looked below. "Sir, I''ll show you the exact-."


    "No need," Khan interrupted, lifting his right hand and covering it with bright mana that gave birth to a sword. "It''s better if you stay away."


    ****


    Author''s notes: To rify the previous chapter, you feel any form of eleration in space but not constant speed. I worded a few things differently to make it clearer, and I''ll make sure to exin it more in-depth in the future.

 Chapter 490 Departure

    Richard and the other soldier had to suppress a gasp in front of that bright purple-red light. They felt utmost respect for Khan, especially after hisnding, but that color remained a synonym for danger. Even experienced warriors would hesitate before the chaos element.


    Khan noticed that but didn''t care. Generating those reactions was actually for the best. Acquiring a superhuman state was the first step toward the status he required. That would raise a wall between him and ordinary soldiers, but he was willing to pay that price.


    The wall at the end of that short passage looked sturdier than the other surfaces. Khan couldn''t exactly see through rocks. He only felt a vague vibe that gave him that impression. Also, he could see the mark left by the previous drill, so he knew where his spell had to go.


    The cavity''s size reassured Khan. It wasn''t as big as the main hole, but four full-grown men could easily fit inside it. Something far bigger than Khan had drilled there, so he didn''t worry about the passage potentially crumbling on him.


    Khan stabbed his glowing sword on the mark left by the old drill without putting much strength in his gesture. The chaos ws spell was different from the Divine Reaper, and he knew exactly how to unleash its full potential.


    The glowing tip met some resistance when it touched the conical cavity in the wall, but the chaos element promptly got to work. The rocks began to give in, shattering and manifesting fissures that expanded as Khan stabbed his arm deeper. A crackling spiderweb grew, and the entire surface fell prey to it.


    ? Khan barely looked at the actual effects of his spell. He was more interested in the chaos element''s behavior. The thorough, deep, and endless instability it caused expressed some of its most iconic traits. Its mindless violence was almost inspiring. Nothing seemed able to match it in terms of raw power.


    In a way, the chaos element was the perfect weapon for Khan''s goals. Only something that strong could keep up with his growth and achievements.


    The wall tried to oppose Khan, but the energy invading its fabric was simply unstoppable. Some areas required slightly more time, but they eventually gave in, crumbling into a cloud of smoke and dust.


    Khan dug until his hand found nothing else to destroy. There was an underground room behind thatyer of tough rocks, so he kept his spell active until a narrow cavity formed.


    Dust and smoke were still in the air when Khan retracted his mana. The drill''s light pierced through that, but the area inevitably grew darker. Things were worse in the underground room he had just uncovered, but that didn''t stop him from crossing the cavity.


    Khan moved slowly, diving into the darkness of the new passage while retaining stable footholds. The rocks were uneven, both frail and firm, with some even having sharp surfaces, but Khan''s light steps allowed him to avoid injuries or falls and safely enter the underground room.


    The area expanded, allowing Khan to stretch his arms without meeting any rock. Mana also flowed into the underground room, giving him a better understanding of that new space. It was quite big, but the primarily rockyposition ended up requesting his eyes.


    Khan lifted a finger and released a constant whisp of mana that dispersed after flying for a few seconds. He wasn''t casting any attack, but his energy was bright enough to illuminate most of the room.


    Various lights shed in Khan''s vision. The underground room was mostly made of dark rocks, but a few spots sent back the glow radiated by his mana. There seemed to be a few minerals in there, with the biggest one being a chest-sized triangr boulder stretching from the ceiling.


    Khan didn''t only read the Headmistress'' briefing. He had also conversed with Lucian about Honides'' opportunities. Those underground rooms were almostmon knowledge for the soldiers on the, and Khan had learnt enough about them to identify the valuable resources.


    ''That should be what Mister Nore wants,'' Khan thought, eyeing the boulder on the ceiling. ''As for the others.''


    Khan followed the reflections, approaching the walls to check what kind of minerals caused those effects. He was by no means an expert in that field, but Lucian had given him a summary that was easy to remember.


    ''Green is for the Global Army,'' Khan recalled while inspecting the various surfaces, ''Blue is risky, and red is good.''


    The light radiated by the chaos element wasn''t ideal for distinguishing between colors. The dark rocks further hindered Khan''s search, but he eventually identified a few minerals he could take.


    Steps resounded through the narrow passage while Khan was busy with his inspection. A white light even shone through it at some point, allowing him to retract his mana. Richard and the other soldier eventually stepped into the underground room, bringing electric torches and their amazed expressions.


    "You''ll take care of erging the passage, right?" Khan questioned without lifting his gaze from the walls. "I can do it for you if needed."


    "Don''t worry, sir!" Richard hurriedly eximed. "You have already done enough!"


    "I''ll need a big bag then," Khan continued, straightening his back to retreat a bit.


    Khan delivered a powerful kick on the wall before Richard could speak. A chunk of rocks crumbled during the impact, releasing rubble that umted on the room''s floor. Khan didn''t hesitate to crouch toward it, and a tiny dark-red pebble upied his palm when he stood up again.


    "Do you mind if I take these?" Khan asked, showing the pebble while heading for another spot with faint red reflections.


    "They have never been here, sir!" Richard dered, showing a knowing smile that Khan didn''t bother to look at. Instead, the other soldier noticed it, and Richard exchanged a nod with him.


    The soldier hurried outside the passage and used the tform to return to the surface. Meanwhile, Khan delivered a couple of kicks in another spot to break the rocks and seize a second dark-red pebble that had fallen to the ground.


    "I believe your scanners didn''t pick these up," Khanmented while moving toward another red shade.


    "No, sir," Richard stated. "We only found this room and that boulder. By the way, do you need help digging it out?"


    Khan finally turned and followed Richard''s eyes toward the ceiling. Thetter was looking at the triangr boulder, which was the main reason for Khan''s presence. Its size and position made it annoying to retrieve, which exined the question.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "It''s fine," Khan muttered, kicking the ground tounch himself toward the triangr boulder.


    To Richard''s amazement, Khan rolled on himself during the leap and turned the room''s ceiling into his new floor. He was upside down but remained able to walk even if his movements defied gravity. Moreover, Khan didn''t stop at mere steps.


    Khan tapped the ceiling a few times before putting real strength into his moves. He delivered a kick at the boulder''s base before hurrying to the other side and repeating the process.


    The boulder''s metallic properties made it endure the kicks, but that didn''t apply to its base. After four kicks, a chunk of the ceiling broke, making that triangr shape fall to the ground.


    Khan delivered a descending kick on the boulder when he headed for the floor. His attack shattered some of the rocks still clinging to its base, turning it into a smaller shape that would be easier to carry around.


    "Get this out while I clean the rest of the room," Khan ordered, and Richard didn''t hesitate to approach the boulder.


    The boulder was still heavy, and the narrow passage didn''t help, but Richard did his best while Khan found more spots to kick. The second soldier returned in the meantime, and the three eventually reunited back into the main hole.


    Khan crouched on the cavity''s entrance in front of a small pile of dark-red rocks. A yellow backpack stood next to him, and he filled it with those pebbles. He left only two outside to pick them up and throw them at the soldiers.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "That''s for you," Khan eximed, closing the backpack and straightening his position. Richard and the soldier were too surprised by the sudden throw to show gratitude, and Khan had already returned to the tform when they realized theirck of manners.


    "Thank you, Captain!" Richard and the soldier shouted anyway, and Khan waved his hand to dismiss their gratitude. Still, that didn''t stop the two from hurrying onto the tform and making it climb back to the surface.


    Richard took care of leading Khan to a different area of the structure and carrying the boulder. He even respected Khan''s silence since receiving one of the minerals had put him in a good mood.


    The two had to walk for a while since the nt''s hangar stood at the center of the structure. They even had to ride a small automated car to shorten the journey, but a series of ships eventually unfolded in their vision.


    The hangar was pretty empty. Only one area had a strangelyrge team of soldiers busy preparing a rectangr ship with metal covers around its four engines. The process seemed to have more manpower than it needed since almost half of the group was merely watching theirpanions working.


    Khan''s arrival turned those idle soldiers into a weing party. They arranged themselves into a straight line and performed military salutes before shouting his name, forcing theirpanions to ignore the ship and imitate them.


    "At ease," Khan nodded as soon as he reached the group, and one of the soldiers left the line to hand him his phone. The device didn''t have a single stain, showing how the team had taken care of cleaning it up.


    "We have a clean uniform ready, sir," The soldier who handed the phone proceeded to reveal.


    "There''s no need for that," Khan shook his head. "I just want to return to my ship."


    "Everything is ready for set-off," The soldier stated. "You can depart immediately, Captain."


    "Let''s do that," Khanughed, and the soldiers created a path toward the ship''s cargo area, which featured an oddly ced seat, probably moved specifically for Khan''s umon situation.


    That arrangement was obviously enough for Khan. He entered the trunk and bound his backpack to the wall before strapping himself on the seat. Richard also joined him to secure the boulder on another surface and voice polite goodbyes.


    "I''ll see you around," Khan uttered in front of Richard''s military salute, and thetter smiled before leaving the trunk. The cargo area closed at that point, and the pilot''s voice resounded through the speakers.


    "Shall we depart, Captain?" The pilot asked.


    "Positive," Khan casually said, clinging to the seatbelt while the set-off began.


    Khan didn''t experience much in his position. He couldn''t even watch the departure due to the absence of screens in the trunk. He could only wait, and the arrival of turbulences marked the ship''s encounter with the storms.


    The shaking continued for a while, and even the arrival of a nging noise didn''t put an end to it. Yet, the statement that followed made Khan smile.


    "Sir, I''ve connected the two ships," The pilot conveyed through the speakers. "When you are ready, I can open the doors."


    Khan unfastened the belt and retrieved the backpack before grabbing the boulder. He voiced an order, and the backdoors slowly opened to reveal a familiar dark-grey color. Khan only had to approach it to make his ship''s side doors open.


    A short leap brought Khan back into his ship, and he immediately dropped the boulder to deal with a few mandatory tasks. He closed the doors and unlocked the cargo area to ess the cabin. Some dust flowed into the room due to the remains of his reckless departure, but everything was working as intended.


    "I''m good here," Khan eventually said through a channel that connected the two ships. "Thank you for the lift."


    "Anytime, Captain," The pilot responded. "Have a good trip."


    "You too," Khan replied and waited for the second ship to depart to attend to other tasks. He bound the backpack to a seat and secured the boulder before returning to the cabin to activate every necessary function.


    "Calcting," The ship''s robotic voice resounded as soon as Khan brought the vehicle out of Honides'' atmosphere. Lunchtime had already passed, so he needed a new route to return to the Harbor.


    When the holograms appeared, Khan elerated, bringing an ufortable pressure on his body. That weight grew heavier and heavier, but he felt able to endure a bit more than before after what he had experienced among the storms.


    Notes had alreadye out of the control desk, and Khan began to read them while the ship continued to elerate. Khan felt able to move only once the speed became constant since the pressure disappeared, and he reached for the backpack at his side after turning off the engines.


    ''How can these rocks be so valuable?'' Khan wondered while browsing through the backpack''s contents, but the arrival of a call distracted him from the task.


    "So," Lucian''s voice came out of the control desk when Khan answered, "How was my intel?"


    "Quite urate," Khan responded. "You earned your fifteen percent."


    "Did you weigh them already?" Lucian questioned. "Wait, which minerals did you find?"


    "I''ll show you once I return to the Harbor," Khan said as a beeping key attracted his attention. "I need to close this. The Headmistress is calling."


    Khan didn''t give Lucian the time to add anything else since he directly closed the call to answer the Headmistress.


    "I believe everything went well," The Headmistress stated.


    "Exactly as nned," Khan responded.


    "And you didn''t happen to steal anything, am I right?" Headmistress Holwen continued.


    "I don''t know anything about rocks, Headmistress," Khanughed.


    "Predictable," Headmistress scoffed as if she could smell the lie in Khan''s tone. "Well, you can use the trip back to study your new mission. Do you remember when I mentioned Abora''s swamps? You are going there next week."

 Chapter 491 Abora

    A long report reached Khan''s ship once the call with the Headmistress ended. Intel about Abora and details about the mission filled the holograms, upying many pages that the control desk couldn''t show simultaneously.


    Khan could only sigh as his satisfied smile vanished. He had expected things to take that turn. After all, Professor Parver had introduced him to multiple experts, and he was working for all of them now. The Headmistress simply acted as a middleman tasked with delivering as many challenging missions as possible.


    ''This shoulde from Ca Bevet,'' Khan thought before skimming through the pages to find the mission''s target. ''Great, I have to retrieve a nt now.''


    That was an inurate summary of the mission. The nt was the target, but its location made it unreachable for ordinary and unequipped soldiers. Abora''s poisonous swamps were only one of the hindrances to ovee. That had a rich and dangerous ecosystem, where even the vegetation fought for territory.


    Khan enjoyed visiting, exploring, and learning about news. He would prefer to interact with other intelligent species due to personal inclinations and goals, but having a chance to fly on his own was already enough, at least for now.


    The generally boring targets weren''t even a problem. Khan didn''t mind being an errand boy since Monica was the prize. Still, the immediate appearance of a new mission hinted at a pattern. There was a high chance the Headmistress would overwhelm him with tasks that left little to no free time.


    Khan was no stranger to packed schedules. Yet, he risked spreading himself too thin. He was working on multiple political and non-politicalyers to achieve different goals. Not giving each of them the proper time could make him fail at everything.


    A response ran through Khan''s mana while those thoughts upied his mind. The unreasonable desire to pursue everything without leaving anything behind filled him, and his resolveplied.


    ''I will get rid of these nightmares,'' Khan dered, ''And I won''t lose Monica.''


    Two goals fueled by opposite emotions dispersed Khan''s vague exhaustion. Desperation and love fused to create a firm peace. Nothing could disturb Khan now. Only his studies, the mission, and his training existed.


    .


    .


    .


    The missions'' secrecy would theoretically keep the rumors in check, but the soldiers liked to talk. They couldn''t reveal those tasks'' purpose, but the gossip about Khan had no limitations.


    Khan found it easy to ignore the rumors. His ssmates were more interested in his rtionship with Monica anyway, and he spent his time outside lessons inside his t. As for Monica, she was still in hiding, and the descendants'' patience held on only due to her status.


    Once thest weekly lesson ended, Khan returned to his t to retrieve his knife. Meeting Monica before a mission led to predictable oues, but he still managed to reach the appointed hangar by dinnertime.


    The soldiers had long since been ready for Khan''s departure by then. They had even painted the borrowed ship white, so Khan could set off without wasting too much time.


    Abora was more distant than Honides, but the ship could still reach it in a day. A greenish entered the range of Khan''s scanners on the weekend''s first night, and he followed the Headmistress'' instructions to coordinate with the outpost he had to reach.


    Diving into Abora''s atmosphere revealed many of its details. Khan crossed a thickyer of dark clouds before finding himself immersed in heavy rain that tried to hide the''s true face. Still, the ship''s scanners ignored the weather and gave aplete view of the surface.


    Abora''s surface wasn''t actually visible. Tall trees with dark, green, and yellowish crowns covered the ground and partially shielded it from the rain. The only areas without them were vast and dark-green swamps resembling immensekes.


    Khan''s destination was another exception. An area slightly away from the rain''s range featured an odd hole among the immense crowns, and flying above it revealed its nature. The Global Army had dug out all the trees in that rtivelyrge quadrant and had reced them with a big, square outpost.


    Replying to a transmission that reached the ship put it on autopilot to begin thending procedures. Khan left his seat while the vehicle descended toward the center of that three-story tall structure. The building''s t roof opened to reveal a vast hangar, and Khan only needed a few minutes to reach it.


    When the roof closed, Khan left the ship to meet the usual weing party. Still, the tense and stern symphony that touched his senses described an environment that reminded him of the battlefield. Abora''s soldiers seemed more than simple workers and scientists.


    The soldiers'' appearance deepened that first impression. The cold gazes, overall calm attitude in Khan''s presence, and various visible scars told him that those warriors had seen battles. They had probably grown ustomed to it after being deployed on that.


    ''Nice ce,'' Khan couldn''t help butment without meaning any sarcasm. He preferred true soldiers over simple guards or political monsters, and Abora provided just that.


    "Sir, this way, please," One of the soldiers, a burly and tall man with a hideous circr scar on his cheek, called while stepping out of the weing line.


    Khan appreciated thatck of political pleasantries and followed the soldier outside the hangar. Silence reigned for most of the walk, but the meeting with a worker wearing a white medical coat marked the beginning of the briefing.


    "Captain, I believe Headmistress Holwen gave you a thorough briefing already," The scientist announced while joining Khan and the soldier in their walk.


    "Correct," Khan confirmed. "I also have the map with the necessary markers. I only need a container, the antidotes, and a lift to the targeted location."


    "If I may, sir," The scientist didn''t hide his hesitation toward Khan''s preparation, "Abora''s vegetation can be confusing to an outsider. I''d like to go over the target in your presence."


    "Go ahead," Khan nodded, and the scientist picked up arge screen from his deep pocket.


    "This is a Dridie," The scientist eximed, bringing a picture to the screen and showing it to Khan without interrupting the walk. "It''s a rare nt here on Abora, and the mutation you have been tasked to retrieve is even rarer."


    Khan recognized the image on the screen. The Headmistress had already sent him simr intel, but he studied it again anyway. The device showed a small, short bush filled with tiny purple leaves that stood out from the rest of the greenish vegetation.


    "Its color is quite striking," Khan stated. "I don''t see how I could miss it."


    "It''s really smallpared to its guards, sir," The scientist pointed out. "The same goes for the surrounding trees, and the swamp''s fumes won''t help your search."


    "Wait," Khan called. "What guards?"


    The scientist touched the screen to bring out a different image. A leafless nt with thick, spiked, pale-green branches that ended in scarlet flowers appeared, and the man even zoomed in to reveal the Dridie hidden behind its base.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ording to the Headmistress'' reports, the mutated Dridie was at most twenty centimeters tall, and theparison with the spiked nt surprised Khan. Thetter was bound to be at least twice his size, if not more.


    "Why didn''t they appear in the reports?" Khan questioned. "And how are they protecting the Dridie?"


    "These are parasitic nts called Feicox," The scientist exined, opening a different image to show the spiked nt in its entirety. "Abora is full of their spores, so they appear whenever an environment bes suitable for their growth."


    "And the Dridie is to me for that," Khan understood. ording to the report, the Dridie was an excellent fertilizer, and its mutated version intensified those qualities.


    "Exactly, sir," The scientist eximed. "Our probes havee back just recently, and they spotted three Feicox around the Dridie. There might even be a fourth growing as we speak."


    "Can the Feicox really develop so quickly?" Khan wondered.


    "Not under normal circumstances," The scientist revealed. "The Dridie is enabling such fast development."


    "Derek, get to the point if you are in a hurry," The soldier scolded.


    "Yes, I''m sorry," Derek, the scientist, uttered. "Captain, I''m afraid the matter is quite urgent. The more the Feicox develop, the weaker the Dridie bes. We might lose the mutation if we don''t hurry."


    "I nned to leave right away already," Khan revealed. "Unless there is something else I should know."


    "I''m afraid there is, sir," Derek sighed. "The rains are moving in this direction. It won''t be long until they cover the entire quadrant."


    The Headmistress'' report obviously involved that topic too. A big part of Abora''s fauna used the rains to expand their territory, especially when it came to the Tainted animals in the swamps. Since Khan had memorized that intel, he knew that his destination involved those environments.


    "How long do I have?" Khan directly asked.


    "Four hours," Derek responded. "Maybe less."


    "Let''s not waste time then," Khan dered.


    "Sir, I must stress out how frail the Dridie is," Derek continued while the trio entered a new hangar solely filled with terrestrial vehicles. "Your element might destroy it by simply standing next to it."


    Khan couldn''t help but nce at Derek. Thetter appeared genuinely sorry about the situation. He was asking a lot from Khan, but that was part of his job.


    "These Feicox," Khan voiced, understanding the hidden meaning behind Derek''s words. "Are they dangerous?"


    "Yes, sir," Derek nodded. "Very."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "A Feicox gave me this," The soldier added, pointing at the scar on his cheek. "Calling them nts doesn''t do them justice. They are damned turrets."


    The soldier was a second-level warrior that Khan had already acknowledged in terms of battle experience, so seeing him speak so highly about the Feicox felt troublesome. Khan was stronger, but the situation would basically prevent him from using spells.


    "It''s alright," Khan reassured. "I''ll take care of it."


    Khan''s confidence acted like a virus that spread among the group and even touched the team they were approaching. A series of soldiers had gathered around a jeep, and a tall bag stood at their feet.


    "Here, Captain," Derek called, hurrying toward the bag to take out a half-transparent and rectangr machine. "You just need to ce this on the Dridie. The extractor will handle the rest."


    Khan reached Derek to study the extractor. The machine had dark and circr pieces on its two sides, featuring spacious openings. It seemed he could use both to retrieve the Dridie.


    "Here," Derek eventually said, storing the extractor in the bag and handing it to Khan. "Take this too. It will track your position and confirm the target."


    Derek gave his screen to Khan as soon as he put the bag on his shoulders. Khan activated it and spent a few minutes growingfortable with its menus before storing it in the backpack.


    "Onest thing," Derek added, stretching his hand toward one of the soldiers, who delivered a small sk containing five violet pills.


    "This is the antidote for the fumes," Derek exined. "Take one pill once marks appear on your skin. It will make the poison harmless but won''t stop you from getting infected again."


    Khan seized the sk and stored it in his free pocket before voicing a simple question. "Anything else?"


    "No, sir," Derek shook his head before wearing a serious expression and performing a military salute. "I wish you good luck."


    "Good luck, Captain!" The soldiers behind Derek echoed.


    Khan nodded at the group before jumping into the jeep. A pilot was already on the steering wheel, and the vehicle advanced as soon as Khan upied his seat.


    The jeep headed for one of the walls, which opened to reveal the outside world. The Global Army had created afortable path after removing many trees, but thetter still existed, and reaching them alerted the entirety of Khan''s senses.


    Abora''s vegetation wasn''t simply full of life. Its environment radiated different strands of mana, probably belonging to Tainted animals and dangerous nts. Thetter weren''t even passive inhabitants. As soon as the jeep rode on a path among the trees, hundreds of eyes converged on Khan.

 Chapter 492 Stain

    The tension of the battlefield fell on Khan, but he felt something different in that symphony. Animals and nts experienced emotions differently, and the colors in Khan''s eyes reflected that.


    The trees conveyed a primordial vibe. Khan found no reason in that symphony. Only lingering aggression and wariness existed in that environment, and he became their main attraction.


    Khan could also feel how the many hidden eyes were disregarding the jeep and the pilot. Everything was on him, and only one exnation existed for that instinctive behavior.


    ''They know I''m the main threat,'' Khan understood as the jeep dived deeper into the trees.


    Reports couldn''t match the magic of Abora''s environment. The trees'' pale-brown trunks stood tall and straight, even if they gave off flexible vibes. All kinds of nts encircled them, assaulting Khan''s eyes with green, purple, and yellow colors.


    Flowers with odd and umon shapes grew from bushes or directly from the ground. Transparent drops rested on their petals or leaves, showing how the rain could pierce the thick crowns above.


    A prevalent wetness that the iing rains were bound to intensify also filled the area, and the ground reflected that. Dark-green mud sshed in every direction when the jeep''s tires ran over it, creating slimy puddles all around that path.


    The jeep''s tires tried to cover that swampy forest''s sounds, but nothing escaped Khan''s ears. The environment''s hissing, chirping, croaking, and buzzing were constant and overwhelming. Abora was a breathing and living, and the outpost''s presence couldn''t tame its wild aspects.


    Khan couldn''t help but feel invigorated. He had spent so long inside space stations or environments tamed by the Global Army that he had almost forgotten what authentic wildness was. Besides, that was his first time witnessing it with his new senses, and the scene was blinding.


    Mana flowed in every direction. Every nt, animal, and even part of the ground radiated that energy and applied their influence. Khan''s senses had to work overtime to capture everything, but his brain could take it. An ordinary human would faint under that assault of information, but he felt born to live among that harmonious mess.


    ''Istrone should be simr to this,'' Khan thought as the jeep advanced.


    The path led deeper into the forest, growing narrower and muddier. The forest was slowly erasing that mark left by the Global Army, but the jeep could still advance. Yet, Khan knew his time was approaching.


    Drawing Derek''s screen could keep Khan updated on the remaining path, but he preferred to continue looking at the forest. The tension remained constant, with nothing attempting to attack the jeep. Everything was waiting for something, and Khan wanted to be ready for that.


    Swaying motions appeared in the environment as the jeep advanced, and a foul smell also reached Khan''s nostrils. The darkness of the night tried to hide the source of that strange event, but Khan felt unable to miss it. He could see therger puddles and the wet chunks of the ground around the trees releasing gases full of mana.


    Khan instinctively grunted as those gases seeped into his body, and the pilot also brought a wet tissue to his mouth. A bitter taste spread on Khan''s tongue and made him lower his gaze. He could feel that foreign mana invading him, but no marks had appeared on his skin yet.


    "It will get worseter on, sir," The pilot warned through his wet tissue. "I won''t be able to bring you any closer at that point."


    "It''s fine," Khan grunted again, stretching his neck due to the vague difort he experienced. It felt odd to have that invader running inside him, and forcing his mana to flow seemed unable to fix the issue.


    ''Maybe I should get healing techniques next,'' Khan wondered, but the path continued to retain most of his attention.


    The swaying motion intensified, but Khan didn''t experience any dizziness. The foreign mana also continued to expand, uncaring of the chaos element''s hindrance, but Khan soon grew used to that difort. That process never stopped, and the car eventually stopped.


    "I can''t go any further, sir," The pilot coughed while tinkering with the jeep''s menus to check his coordinates. "You must proceed East for three hundred meters to reach your target."


    Khan checked the map on the jeep''s menus'' before drawing Derek''s screen. The device showed the same directions, so he lifted his gaze to look at his route. He would have to abandon the path and dive into the forest to reach his target.


    "You can go back," Khan said while adjusting his backpack, checking his pockets, and jumping out of the jeep. When his feet dug into the mud, a sshing noise resounded, but his bnce didn''t falter.


    "Sir, if the rains arrive," The pilot announced.


    "You won''t be able to pick me up," Khan interrupted. "Don''t worry. Go before you faint on me."


    "Thank you, sir," The pilot nodded before another cough forced him to trail the path in reverse gear.


    Khan kept his eyes on the trees while the jeep disappeared. His eyes started wandering left and right when he couldn''t hear the tires anymore. He almost expected something to happen once solitude arrived, but everything remained still.


    ''What are they waiting for?'' Khan wondered before taking a careful step forward. Nothing happened, so he advanced again, leaving the muddy road and crossing the first line of trees to immerse himself in the forest.


    Three hundred meters were nothing for Khan, but he couldn''t exactly sprint forward. There were too many trees on the path ahead, and a sudden release of mana might affect that tension. A chain reaction could unfold if he weren''t careful.


    Nevertheless, the constant tension slowly affected Khan''s patience. The symphony felt on the verge of exploding on him, and that vibe intensified with each step that sshed on the mud. He didn''t like being the prey of unknown opponents, so he decided to make the first move.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''I can y this game too,'' Khan thought before eyeing a rare short tree on his right.


    The tree''s yellow crown was perfectly still, and no sound came out. Yet, Khan knew that something was waiting among thoserge leaves, and his left hand went on his knife''s handle while he sent some emotions forward.


    Altering the mana had be as natural as breathing for Khan, so he easily conveyed aggression to the creature inside the crown. No response arrived, but Khan kept his focus on that spot and waited for a reaction.


    The creature inside the crown didn''t have Khan''s patience. It didn''t even have intelligence. The aggression felt simply triggered its instincts, forcing it to pounce at that threat below.


    A huge yellow snake pierced the crown to dive toward Khan. Its big mouth was already open, showing the two rows of curved fangs ready to stab its prey. Purple drops fell from those teeth, but they never found any skin.


    The snake froze when an unbreakable grip seized the base of its head and prevented it from diving any further. Khan held the creature above him, uncaring that the fanged mouth could probably swallow his head in a single bite. He felt no fear either. He couldn''t be afraid in front of a Tainted animal as strong as a first-level warrior.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''You are big,'' Khanmented while ncing at the flexible body stretching from the crown. The snake had shown four meters of its figure, but much more seemed to remain inside the branches.


    A sudden change in the mana inside the snake forced Khan to draw his knife. The creature''s tail came out of the crown, pointing its sharp tip at the center of Khan''s forehead. However, a purple-red sh unfolded before the Tainted animal couldplete the attack.


    Khan let go of his prey and waved his hand to shake off the dense blood that had covered it. Meanwhile, the snake''s two edges hung lifelessly from the branches, and blood fell from one of them to reach the severed head on the mud.


    The encounter with the snake didn''t force the forest''s hand. Everything continued to remain still, and the same went for the tension. Khan didn''t know how to feel about that, but his mission had priority, and the iing rains made him decide to avoid wasting any more time.


    Truth be told, Derek had given Khan a four hours window. The jeep had barely taken twenty minutes out of that, so even a poor estimate would still grant Khan a lot of time. However, he didn''t know how hard it would be to retrieve the Dridie yet, so he yed it safe.


    Khan crossed one hundred and fifty meters without encountering any danger. Many eyes were still on him, but the general stillness made him advance without worrying about those weak threats.


    The environment changed at that point. The ground grew even muddier before transforming into a small, greenishke that appeared filled with slime.


    ''It can''t be too deep,'' Khan considered while looking at the muddyke.


    Khan stopped by theke''s shores and put some strength into his right leg. His foot dug into the ground easily, diving for at least ten centimeters before finding a firmer surface.


    ''Theke is bound to be worse,'' Khan thought. ''Flying should be better, but.''


    Khan diverted his gaze, letting his eyes wander on that mostly still surface. Some bubbles popped in a few areas, but nothing truly moved. Yet, he sensed that theke''s poption was far from zero.


    ''Annoying,'' Khan cursed. The snake from before and theke confirmed how Abora''s fauna had exceptional cloaking abilities. Khan could still sense those creatures, but identifying the exact number of threats was impossible under that slimy cover.


    Khan inspected his right and left while calctions ran through his mind. Theke was rtively small. He could walk around it in a few minutes and avoid risking alerting its inhabitants.


    Derek''s device fell into Khan''s hands while he crouched on the shore. The map on the screen confirmed his idea, but the marker about his target appeared oddly close.


    Khan lifted his gaze and tilted his head to gaze at the opposite side of theke, but the trees there hindered his vision. He straightened his position and walked alongside the shore to find a better spot, and a familiar nt eventually fell into his view.


    A thick, spiked branch peeked out of a tree on theke''s opposite side. Khan couldn''t gain aplete view of the scene, so he trailed the shore a bit longer until he could see the entire Feicox.


    ''Is that it?'' Khan wondered while tinkering with the screen to activate its camera.


    Khan pointed the device at the Feicox and used its zoom function to inspect it. The screen recorded a series of stats and highlighted a faint purple shadow stretching behind the nt''s base.


    With the map and the camera active, Khan moved a bit more and eventually found what he was looking for. The device captured a clear picture of the Dridie. He only had to cross theke to reach it.


    ''What now?'' Khan wondered.


    Everything would be easier if Khan could use spells, but the Dridie''s frailty worked against him. He didn''t expect the nt to be so close to theke either. He risked starting a war between vegetation and Tainted animals if he wasn''t careful.


    ''I can''t even see the other Feicox from here,'' Khan thought while trying to peek past the trees in front of his target. ''Where are they?''


    The device ended up solving the issue. An icon lit up on the screen, attracting Khan''s attention. A square moved on a trunk in the distance until a scarlet flower peeked past it, and part of its spiked branch soon became visible too.


    ''That''s the second,'' Khan eximed before a ripple flowed through the symphony and made a chill run down his spine. His eyes remained on the screen while the tension intensified. He saw the flower pointing in his direction while a hole opened at its center.


    Khan instinctively jumped to his side, using as much strength as his body could provide. A bullet reached his previous position, and its impact on the muddy ground created a fuming dark-green puddle that released sizzling noises.


    The symphony went crazy after the attack. The forest awakened, and countless cries reached Khan''s ears while he was still in mid-air.


    Khan prepared himself to retreat, but something flew toward his back. A light tap on the air put him in a spinning motion, and his glowing knife severed the head of a snake-like creature that hade out of a bush in half.


    The dangers didn''t end there. Something came out of theke''s shore, forcing Khan to turn. A slimy tongue shot forward and crossed many meters to reach Khan, only to have a violent kick interrupting its motion. Khan even shattered that body part with his attack, making it explode into a cloud of blood.


    Another dangerous sensation spiked in Khan''s senses, making him swing his knife upward. A yellow bird-like creature had dived toward him, but his weapon cut it in half. Yet, something else flew toward him in the meantime, forcing him to leap away from theke.


    Khannded behind a tree nearby, sshing mud in every direction. He sat on the dirt, uncaring of the stains and wetness spreading on his uniform. He didn''t hold back during his previous sprint, but his right arm told a chilling tale.


    A hole had appeared on the screen in Khan''s hand, and smoke came out of its edges while the dark-green liquid''s corrosive properties continued to work. A simr stain had upied Khan''s right forearm, and the sizzling noise it released filled his mind with pain.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Sometimes, I post the chapter while editing to stick to Webnovel''s reset time (it''s for the win-win event). If you spot tant mistakes or odd lines, I''m probably reviewing them at that very moment, and you may need to reload the chapter to see the fix.


    As always, I might miss something during the edit, so pointing it out here or on discord is greatly appreciated.

 Chapter 493 Superior Firepower

    All hell broke loose. Multiple creatures emerged from theke, trees, and bushes to create a chaotic battlefield. Meanwhile, the Feicox shot corrosive bullets toward anything that dared approach their territory.


    Khan was just outside the battlefield''s range. His butt and back grew cold while he remained on the ground, and a constant stream of information assaulted his senses. However, his injury kept his attention away from the mess.


    Mana seeped into the dark-green stain while the broken device fell into the muddy ground. Khan released his energy, turning it into a re that shot out of his forearm to overwhelm the corrosive attack.


    The chaos element did its job, but the process was far from pleasant. Khan''s head shook as he closed his eyes and let his mana eradicate that threat. The corrosive liquid fought back, using every second it had to damage Khan''s flesh, and almost a minute had to pass before the purple-red light removed any trace of it.


    Khan''s breathing turned into grunts. He opened his eyes only to see drops of sweat falling from his eyebrows. He had to wipe his face with his left arm to check the injury, and the scene that fell into his view made him gulp.


    The dark-green liquid had removed the superficialyer of skin, exposing the flesh and muscles. Thetter had also suffered under the attack''s corrosive properties, creating an injury that still sent pain to Khan''s mind.


    ''This will leave a scar,'' Khan thought before disregarding the issue. His body already carried marks of his many battles. Adding another barely mattered at that point.


    Nevertheless, the danger the Feicox posed was more than clear now. Their corrosive properties were scary, and Khan could find a worrying matter capable of topping that. He had used his full speed during the evasive maneuver, but the bullet had still hit him.


    ''They really are damned turrets,'' Khan cursed. He still found it surprising that a mere nt with barely enough mana to match a second-level warrior could achieve so much, but reality spoke for itself.


    The mess unfolding behind Khan made him curious enough to peek past the trunk, but an iing corrosive bullet forced him to retract his head. The Feicox wasn''t only keeping track of his position. It also had insane reflexes that truly resembled a machine.


    ''How do I solve this?'' Khan wondered while sitting deeper in the mud.


    A distraction was out of the question. Thest bullet had shown Khan that the Feicox saw him as the main threat, which wasn''t surprising. If he were to look at the battlefield through his senses, he would see himself as a blinding presence, and those nts probably viewed something simr.


    Maban''s technique could help, but Khan''s hands were tied. Without his spells, he would have to approach the Feicox directly, limiting his attacks to his knife and kicks. Besides, he had to mind the extractor, and the poisonous fumes were another annoying variable.


    Khan nced at his backpack. The extractor wasn''t too big or heavy, but he couldn''t speak for its resilience. He could probably avoid putting it in danger with Maban''s technique, but his speed might damage it on its own.


    As for the poison, Khan could sense the foreign presence spreading even further, but marks had yet to appear on his skin. His sk of antidotes was still full too, so he could ignore the issue for now.


    The idea of giving up never crossed Khan''s mind. Only simtions upied his thoughts, and they didn''t look too good.


    Going straight for the Dridie was doable. The Feicox were fearsome but remained nts. Khan believed that a single kick in the right spot could kill them.


    The aftermath was the issue with that simtion. Killing the Feicox wouldn''t fix the battlefield. It would probably make many Tainted animals strive toward the Dridie, turning Khan into its new guard.


    That wouldn''t normally be a problem, but the Dridie''s frailty undermined Khan''s confidence. He didn''t know if he could fill the Feicox''s role without his spells. It was probably better to keep those nts alive until he could safely extract his target.


    ''So,'' Khan thought as he understood how to seed. He had to take care of the battlefield first.


    Khan''s incredible senses made him aware of the many creatures that had joined the fray. None was strong enough to be a threat, but they were too many to consider anyplicated tactic. Khan could only opt for the most straightforward approach.


    ''I''ll kill them all,'' Khan stated inside his mind, and a n automatically formed.


    Khan opened and closed his right hand. The new injury upied a quarter of his forearm, so flexing his fingers hurt. His grip was also shaky, but everything worked well enough to make it useful.


    Standing up came next. Khan left the mud and nced at the trunk behind him until his eyes reached its crown. That mess of leaves was tall enough to be a safe area, so he kicked the ground to fly toward it.


    Khan paid attention not to leave the trunk''s cover and dived headfirst into the green leaves almost thirty meters above him. Branches broke and flexed during his passage, spreading a rustling noise that stopped once Khan''snded at the tree''s top.


    An awkward silence unfolded. Khan stood at the base of a branch in front of a snake-like creature entangled around a chest-sized strange bird. The former had even started gulping its prey, but Khan couldn''t leave anything alive.


    A purple-red light shed, killing the snake and the bird to make the crown safe. At that point, Khan removed his backpack and bound it to a few branches before checking the area again. The Feicox appeared unable to notice him at that height, but things would probably change if he got closer.


    Still, those nts would have to wait. Khan''s focus was on theke. Strange toads, snakes, birds, and much more had fallen prey to an all-out battle that knew no sides or alliances, and Khan had to bring peace, even if it meant erasing that environment from existence.


    Khan checked the area onest time before leaping ahead. He crossed the crowns, savoring a whiff of clean air that carried no fumes or wetness while joining his palms.


    The chaos spear took form during the short flight. Then, Khan kicked the air above him to dive back into the crowns and let theke fill his view. He could see two Feicox from that position, and they also noticed him. Bullets immediately flew in his direction, but he released the spear before rising once again.


    Khan crossed the crowns to reappear in the clear night sky, but the iing masses of mana forced him to kick forward. The attack pushed him backward, allowing him to avoid the three corrosive bullets that shed in his previous position.


    The three bullets fused, sshing a few drops before falling prey to gravity. That dark-green liquid soon returned to the crowns, unleashing its corrosive properties on those harmless leaves.


    Only Khan noticed that event since an explosion unfolded at the center of theke and attracted everyone''s attention. A purple-red pir grew high and unleashed destruction in every direction. Loud cries resounded, even reaching Khan''s ears, but he only cared about creating another spear.


    The opening created by the corrosive liquid allowed Khan to aim his spear without diving back into theke area. His precise throw made the spell cross that gap and reach another spot on the battlefield, filling it with its iconic purple-red light.


    The symphony added details that Khan couldn''t see from his position. The destructive pirs were scaring away most survivors, with many heading toward the Feicox. Thetter could easily take care of those threats, leaving Khan with only one side to worry about.


    Khan created another spear before diving through the opening. His previous spells had split the battlefield into two main sides, so he threw his attack toward the shore without Dridie.


    The third spearnded and exploded, creating another violent pir that further split the battlefield. Khan could now see five different popted areas alongside theke''s shores, but two were near the Feicox, so he focused on the others.


    Khan went upside down and dived at full speed toward the closest shore. The Feicox were too busy with the iing enemies to mind him, so he flew straight for arge frog-like creature enduring the relentless assault of two small birds.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The three Tainted animals were too busy escaping and fighting to notice Khan, so he stomped the frog and one bird with a single kick. The attack made the two creatures explode, and his knife followed, cutting thest enemy''s head.


    Khan used what remained of the two corpses to jump to his right, where another battle between two Tainted animals was unfolding. A kick and a sh killed them both, allowing him to sprint toward a third fight.


    The spears had caused waves that sshed mud and dirty water everywhere. The various fights only intensified that mess, and the fumes hindered the visibility. In theory, keeping track of individual battles was impossible, but Khan had the symphony on his side, and following it made that chaos his home.


    Khan killed almost ten Tainted animals in a short minute before heading toward his second target. His sprint brought him to another battlefield in seconds, and his attacks flew everywhere to optimize his killing time. Yet, his luck ran out soon enough.


    A tremor ran through the symphony while Khan was shing his knife toward an unaware bird-like creature with scales instead of feathers. He needed less than a second toplete his attack, but the iing danger forced him to sprint ahead.


    Two corrosive bullets reached Khan''s previous position, with one hitting the previously targeted bird. More attacks threatened to arrive, and time in Khan''s mind almost slowed down as he kept track of them.


    Activating Maban''s technique and flying above the crowns was the intelligent choice. It would allow Khan to escape the Feicox''s focus and dive directly toward his next targets. However, the chaos gave birth to a reckless idea, and Khan didn''t hesitate to pursue it.


    Khan leaped forward instead of rising, flying behind four Tainted animals fighting in the mud. The iing bullets missed, but the Feicox sent more of them. Still, Khan had a shield now.


    The bullets crashed on two Tainted animals, hitting a third with their sshes. Meanwhile, Khan kicked the fourth creature before heading toward a different battle.


    Now that Khan knew how fast the bullets were, he could adjust his movements and pace to use them to his advantage. He only needed to sprint right before the firing. That was a dangerous game, but Khan felt unbeatable in that mess.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan used Maban''s technique as soon as the second battlefield was no more. In the Feicox''s perception, he basically teleported into another crowded area before slowing down, almost challenging them to fire again.


    The Feicox had no pride or emotions. They existed only to protect their suitable environment, so they didn''t hesitate to target the biggest threat again. Khan couldn''t even dare to catch a breath since the battlefield and bullets kept himpletely busy. He had to wait for that third area to be clear to take a break.


    Khan used Maban''s technique again when he couldn''t find Tainted animals in his immediate surroundings anymore. The sprint brought him above the trees, outside the Feicox''s range, but the symphony told him that his job was far from over.


    Theke had dried up in a few areas. The spears had left three huge holes with fuming terrain rather than mud, and the Feicox''s many bullets had worsened the rest of the environment.


    That area wasn''t suitable for life anymore, and its previous inhabitants had understood that. Most had died during the escape and battles, but the trees around the shores were still safe and viable.


    That wasn''t even the end of it. The survivors had upied those trees, but other Tainted animals had already imed them as their territory. Battles soon unfolded again, and they remained too close to the Dridie for Khan to ignore them. He simply couldn''t focus on his target just yet.


    ''A forest isn''t easy to tame,'' Khan sighed. He had miscalcted that environment''s resilience, but his n didn''t change. He had mana, and strength still ran through his legs. He had no reason to stop now.


    Since the battles had spread past theke''s shores, Khan could rely on more destructive methods. He had to limit the number of chaos spears before, but that distance from the Dridie gave him unrestrained freedom.


    Khan went up and down the crowns, throwing a chaos spear whenever the path ahead became clear. His superior firepower became evident in that phase, and explosions resounded everywhere as bright pirs reced trees and ground.


    The wet environment couldn''t take fire, but grey and dark columns of smoke rose everywhere. The flourishing forest turned into a scorching wastnd under the relentless assault of Khan''s spells. He had to throw more than ten of them to clear everything, and the Feicox took care of vanquishing the remaining threats.


    Khan returned above the crowns once the symphony grew emptier. His air support and the nts on the ground had wiped out an entire ecosystem, but the mission was far from over. Humidity even reached the air past the trees, forcing him to inspect his surroundings.


    ''Can I finish in time?'' Khan wondered, ncing at the iing dark clouds in the distance. It had taken him almost an hour to clear the entireke, and the rains had never stopped advancing.


    The sight of the clouds forced Khan to focus. He turned himself upside down, and the mana in his surroundings flowed toward his legs while his feet stomped the air.


    The Feicox couldn''t see much among that mess of smoke, but missing Khan''s arrival in their range was simply impossible. Those nts'' branches flexed to point at that iing blinding presence, but thetter teleported before they could shoot.


    Khannded above a scarlet flower, shattering it and destroying a part of the branch below in the process. Time slowed down at that point. That was the closest he had been to the Feicox, and his eyes finally caught a glimpse of his true opponents.


    Three fully-grown Feicox encircled the small Dridie, and a fourth was growing in an empty spot nearby. Trees surrounded them, but Khan only looked for the red color. Except for the newborn, each nt had four flowers.


    Khan noticed the two pale-red buds growing from the newborn but moved before it was toote. The mana around him flowed toward his legs, giving him abnormal speed that made him crush two flowers during his evasive maneuver.


    A series of corrosive bullets flew everywhere, but Khan was too fast for them. He jumped toward the Feicox again as soon as hended on a trunk, and Maban''s technique activated when more attacks converged toward him.


    Khan destroyed three flowers with that second sprint, but bullets suddenly shot out of the newborn''s buds, forcing him to retreat. The messy escape maneuver interrupted his offensive and put him at the center of the Feicox''s assault. He used a tree as cover, but the corrosive liquid that fell on it destroyed the trunk.


    As the trunk fell, Khan went upside down and used it as a path that shielded him from iing bullets. The crown eventually appeared in his view, and Maban''s technique pushed him past the leaves and outside the Feicox''s range.


    Khan ended up behind another tree, with his butt in the mud again. His hands quickly went on his left shoe since a few drops of the corrosive liquid had fallen on it. He didn''t hesitate to throw it away, and his bare foot soon disappeared in the mud.


    ''The buds broke,'' Khan thought, recalling the previous scene. ''They shouldn''t be able to fire anymore, which leaves six flowers.''


    Khan took a deep breath and prepared himself for his next sprint, but the difort inside his body suddenly intensified. He opened his uniform to check his chest, and a sigh escaped his mouth when he saw that purple spots had appeared on his skin.


    The sk with the antidote immediately fell into Khan''s palm, and he opened it to gulp one of the pills. Khan stored the container right afterward, but his chest grew heavy before he could peek past the tree.


    Khan wanted to breathe, but his chest grew heavier and heavier, preventing him from sending air to his lungs. Cold sweat umted on his face and back as he did his best to remain behind the tree, and the arrival of retches eventually put him on all fours.


    The mana inside Khan surged through his throat and converged into his mouth. Khan puked saliva mixed with violet shades that reminded him of the pill, and intense dizziness took control of his mind.

 Chapter 494 Poisoned

    The world in Khan''s eyes spun, and his bnce grew unstable. He felt on the verge of fainting, but more retches took control of his stomach and made him puke again.


    Khan''s stomach was basically empty, limiting his retches to mere spitting. His saliva still carried those odd violet shades, but they eventually disappeared, and the same went for the puking urge.


    The weight on Khan''s chest eased, but the dizziness remained, and his gaze grew unclear. Tunnel vision fell on him, but he could still notice the spreading of the purple marks on his hands. He forced himself to look at his open uniform too, where he saw that his torso was full of simr spots.


    The symphony added details, giving Khan a vague idea of his condition. The odd color in his saliva cleared any doubt. His body had rejected the antidote, triggering the opposite effects.


    Khan could feel the foreign mana ring inside him. The poison was showing its effects, and his body appeared unable to contain them. A sense of weakness even arrived, and Khan swayed to his left as his bnce gave in.


    As soon as Khan''s left arm peeked out of the trunk''s cover, a corrosive bulletnded on his elbow, making him lose his grip on the knife. The weapon fell into the mud as pain filled his mind, bringing enough rity to push him back into the tree.


    A purple-red re engulfed the dark-green liquid, erasing it before it could do too much damage. Khan even tore away the broken sleeve to check the injury. It wasn''t too deep, but his grip felt shaky and weak. Even flexing the arm was troublesome. The Feicox had hit him well, probably taking out his left hand from the rest of the battle.


    The dizziness returned as the pain waned, and Khan took a deep breath to muster the entirety of his concentration. He slightly crouched forward and eyed the small hole in front of him before snapping his right hand at it.


    A bullet flew into that spot, but Khan''s limb ended up being faster. The knife returned to his hands while the corrosive liquid dug through the mud. He had retrieved his weapon, but the sense of weakness returned stronger than ever, forcing him to lie on the trunk.


    ''Don''t faint,'' Khan cursed as the weakness intensified. ''Don''t you dare faint.''


    Khan''s body didn''t listen to that order. He was burning. He had to use the entirety of his concentration to remain on the trunk, but his mind was shutting down.


    "Don''t faint, dammit!" Khan shouted, mming his injured elbow on the trunk. The wave of pain that followed brought rity, temporarily awakening him.


    Khany the back of his head on the trunk as grunts and gasps left his mouth. He could feel the weakness returning and attempting to remove his rity, but that window gave him the time to think.


    "[Jenna, help me]," Khan ended up whispering in the Nele''snguage, and the mana in the environment moved toply with that request.


    Khan''s eyes widened as a trail appeared inside the symphony. The mana wanted him to go deeper into the forest, toward a nearby spot his senses could barely reach.


    Moving felt hard, but Khan still mustered all the avable strength to straighten his position. He slid on the trunk to help him stand up, and resolve fell on his expression as mana, both outside and inside his body, flowed toward his legs.


    An inhuman sprint unfolded, and bullets flew on the path Khan crossed. Nothing hit him, but a sudden surge in his dizziness made him trip and crash in the mud. The wet ground couldn''t disperse his momentum, so he slid and rolled on himself until his backnded on a tree.


    A loud grunt left Khan''s mouth as he hurried to his knees, but no bullets flew at him. It seemed that he had left the Feicox''s range with hisst sprint, so his eyes went on the symphony to follow the trail it conveyed.


    After a few seconds, Khan''s gaze fell on a green bush in the distance. The symphony wanted him to go there, but he felt too weak to walk, so he crawled through the mud until he reached his destination.


    Khan grabbed the bush and pulled to bring himself closer. It turned out that the symphony wasn''t targeting that nt. The mana had led Khan to the bluish flowers hidden behind it.


    Jenna had taught Khan how to make potions and ointments, but he didn''t have the strength or time to perform those arts. He put the knife in his left hand while his right reached one flower, pulled it out of the ground, and sent it into his mouth.


    Khan munched, uncaring of the mud lingering on the flower''s roots. The nt''s texture was too stic, so he eventually forced himself to gulp everything. His stomach was weak, but the Slums'' habits kicked in, making it ept that umon meal.


    The foreign mana screeched when the nt''s properties spread through Khan''s body, but that single meal wasn''t enough to defeat it. The bush still hid two bluish flowers, and Khan didn''t hesitate to seize them to eat once more.


    The second meal had a greater effect on the poison and stopped its expansion. Yet, it didn''t fix Khan. It only stabilized his symptoms without solving any of them.


    Khan remained weak, with tunnel vision and precarious bnce. The purple marks were still there, and he had yet to leave the poisonous fumes. He didn''t know if he could get infected again.


    The mission was another problem, but Khan epted that he was in no condition toplete it. He crawled past the bush to lie on the tree behind, and his knife returned to its sheath while he drew his phone.


    ''Two hours,'' Khan thought while setting the rm. ''No more.''


    The phone returned inside Khan''s pocket when he closed his eyes. His consciousness faltered, but he still put himself in a meditative state to let his mana handle his condition.


    The meditations always made the time pass faster, but Khan felt to have spent less than a minute in that state when the rm rang. He drew his phone to check whether he hadmitted a mistake, but the numbers on the screen didn''t lie. Two hours had passed, but the purple marks were still there.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The marks weren''t the only lingering symptom. Khan still felt weak and feverish, but the world had stopped spinning. He could also retain some rity without hurting himself.


    ''The Dridie,'' Khan thought while using the trunk behind him to get back on his feet.


    Khan''s bnce was still slightly off, but he could stand and run, which was enough for mere nts. The symphony even told him that theke area had retained its deste state during the past hours. He could stillplete the mission if he hurried.


    Khan drew his knife, but the grip on his left hand felt too weak and flexing his arm hurt. He had to switch palms to hope to perform the Divine Reaper decently, but another problem arrived.


    A kick brought Khan in the air, and a second stomp tried to make him cross the crowns. However, his foot pierced the invisible mana, failing to provide a foothold and interrupting his flight.


    Khan lost his bnce and crashed headfirst into the mud. He had fallen from a considerable height, but the soft ground had deadened the impact. The cold wetness that spread on his face also brought somefort and allowed him to ignore the faint soreness in his limbs.


    ''I can''t fly in this state,'' Khan quickly epted while standing up again. His bnce was too off to allow his most advanced technique.


    Mud ran over Khan''s face while he took deep breaths. He would normally wipe that dirt away, but the coldness it released felt nice, so he left it there. Meanwhile, his senses reached for the symphony to locate his targets and prepare a suitable route.


    ''Six flowers,'' Khan thought, and a tinge of mana left his body to fuse with the environment and empower his sprint.


    Trees shed in Khan''s tunnel vision. He always felt on the verge of crashing into them, but his figure managed to slip by, eventually arriving in front of familiar spiked nts. The Feicox noticed him, but he ran past them before they could shoot.


    Three flowers exploded during Khan''s passage, and bullets flew after him. However, he used the tree directly in front of him to run toward its crown and dodge them.


    The Feicox adjusted their aim as their corrosive liquid dug through the trunk, but Khan flung himself toward them, diving directly toward one of those dangerous nts. A descending kicknded at its base, destroying its branches and killing the two flowers on them.


    The kick was so violent that mud sshed in every direction, creating a hole in the ground. Still, there was another flower, and Khan''snding gave it a chance to aim properly.


    A corrosive bullet flew toward Khan, but he limited himself to throwing his knife at it. The weapon was incredibly sharp on its own, so it pierced the dark-green liquid and reached the scarlet flower behind.


    However, the knife''s edge was too thin to take care of the entire bullet. Thetter continued to fly forward, hitting Khan on the right side of his chest.


    Khan held back a shout. Pain invaded his mind, creating the urge to get rid of the new injury. Yet, he couldn''t release his mana so close to the Dridie, so he jumped away and crashed on the ground before sending purple-red energy to his chest.


    The chaos element destroyed the dark-green liquid, and exhaustion tried to take over Khan, but he didn''t let himself rest. He struggled to his feet and approached the Dridie to check the area. A few buds had appeared during his meditative session, but his kicks destroyed them and the branches underneath.


    Khan fell to his knees at that point. He was still burning, and the dizziness had never vanished. The sense of weakness was there too, but the empty area brought some reassurance. He couldn''t see any Feicox in his surroundings. Only the tiny Dridie had remained.


    ''Come on,'' Khan cursed in his mind while crawling toward his knife. ''Just a bit more.''


    Khan retrieved the knife and supported himself on a trunk to stand up. He wasn''t getting any worse, which was good, but he needed to rest, and the forest wasn''t the ce for that.


    The barrage of chaos spears had removed most of the mud and slimy water, so Khan could cross what remained of theke without faltering. His tunnel vision got in the way, but the symphony helped him find his old tree, and a series of deep breaths happened when he reached its base.


    Khan stored the knife and jumped on the tree''s trunk, running over it to reach its crown. His backpack was still there, and he retrieved it before leaping and doing his best to slow down his descent.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The mud helped soften thending, but Khan still fell on his butt. His bnce was too unstable to perform acrobatic feats, but the backpack remained safe in his arms, and the mission''s end finally appeared in his view.


    Khan crossed theke again before taking out the extractor. cing it on the small Dridie activated its functions, which made it dig into the mud to seize the nt, its roots, and part of the ground underneath.


    Once the process was over, Khan put the extractor inside the backpack and secured it on his back. He had lost Derek''s device, but the path was nearby. He only needed to reach it to find his way back home.


    ''I did it!'' Khan couldn''t help but exim in his mind. That mission had pushed him to his limits, and he couldn''t wait to return to a safe ce.


    Yet, a sttering noise suddenly spread, and a drop fell on Khan''s face when he lifted his head. The forest also awakened once again since the rains had arrived.

 Chapter 495 Limits

    Abora''s outpost had a clear chain ofmand, and a Lieutenant stood on top of it. The ce also had many soldiers busy with different tasks, but a good chunk of them had left their posts and had gathered in a control room to keep track of the outside scanners.


    The Lieutenant in charge, a bald and burly middle-aged man, inspected the various screens on the wall, but nothing specific happened. The scanners only recorded rain and the forest immersed in it.


    "How long has he been out there?" The Lieutenant asked without diverting his gaze from the screens.


    "Six hours, sir," Derek replied. "Two hours since it started raining."


    "And what''s your professional opinion?" The Lieutenant wondered. "Should we send probes?"


    "Lieutenant Monton," Derek called before lowering his head. "If he is dead, the Feicox wouldn''t have left much of him."


    "We are still talking about a Captain," Lieutenant Monton cursed, "A Captain in bed with the Solodrey family."


    "Should we prepare for the worst, sir?" A soldier in the room asked.


    "We don''t know if this outpost will survive the Solodrey family''s anger," Lieutenant Monton stated, "Or the nobles for what it''s worth. Still, the mission came from Headmistress Holwen. She might need to find a scapegoat, so start running if you wronged her in the past."


    A series of exchanges of gazes unfolded, but no one left the room. The soldiers there were too low on the chain ofmand to earn a meeting with the Headmistress. Even Lieutenant Monton had never been in her office.


    "O-our," Derek stammered as a realization fell upon him, "Our data was perfect. Captain Khan agreed to the mission willingly."


    "Yeah," Lieutenant Monton sighed. "Be sure to tell the Headmistress that if she everes down here."


    "Sir, there is something in the third quadrant!" A soldier suddenly eximed, bringing all the eyes in the room to the fourth screen.


    The scanners picked up a presence that could match Khan''s signature, but the soldiers didn''t let those stats reassure them. They waited and waited until a trunk at the forest''s edge trembled, and a limping Khan came from behind it.


    The soldiers didn''t immediately recognize Khan. Mud and blood covered him, and his uniform was long since gone. He was only wearing his ragged pants and his dirty sheath, but the backpack hanging from his shoulders revealed his identity.


    "Send a medical team outside!" Lieutenant Monton shouted, breaking the tense silence. "Now!"


    The room took life, and everyone exited it to resume their tasks. Only a few soldiers headed toward the hangar closer to the third quadrant to retrieve medical equipment and attend to Khan.


    As for Khan, he felt drained. His feet were heavy and dug into the mud, and every drop that fell on him threatened to make him copse. The fever had gone up, and he could barely focus on the outpost ahead, but his legs kept moving forward.


    A team of soldiers left the outpost when Khan was almost in front of it, and a series of shouts followed. A few questions even reached Khan''s ears, but he didn''t care enough to force himself to answer.


    When the team reached Khan, he removed the backpack to hand it to the first soldier in his reach. Another tried to grab his arm to support him, but he pulled it away to keep moving forward on his own. He was on autopilot, which didn''t allow anyone''s help.


    The soldier who seized the backpack hurried inside to check its contents. Meanwhile, Khan limped forward, and his bnce threatened to crumble when a metal floor reced the mud. He staggered, but a wall was nearby, and he used it to support himself.


    The sudden loss of bnce made a soldier reach for Khan, but he grabbed the iing hand before it could touch him. His cold eyes also went on the woman, which turned her worry into fear.


    ''Right,'' Khan thought as the autopilot took the backseat. ''I made it back.''


    Khan looked at the scared woman for a few more seconds before letting go of her hand. He also pushed himself away from the wall to keep walking, but more people arrived.


    "Captain!" Lieutenant Monton called while hurrying through the corridor. "We thought to have lost you out there."


    Khan ignored the Lieutenant, but Derek was also with him, and he didn''t miss the purple spots. He approached Khan, and a worried question left his mouth. "Did you lose the antidote, sir?"


    "It doesn''t work on me," Khan weakly whispered, browsing through his right pocket to take out the sk with the pills. Derek promptly epted it, but that didn''t ease his worries.


    "Sir, the medical bay is just around the corner," Derek stated, and Lieutenant Monton followed with another offer. "You can stay here as long as you want!"


    "No, I need to go back to the Harbor," Khan voiced another whisper. "Is my ship ready?"


    "Sir, you can''t-," Lieutenant Monton muttered.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I can," Khan interrupted. "Prepare my ship."


    "But, sir," Derek added.


    "I have sses tomorrow," Khan said before Derek could add anything. He even continued to advance, but his unstable stance depicted a clear picture of his condition.


    Lieutenant Monton and Derek exchanged a nce before looking at Khan again. They could see how weak he was, but nothing seemed able to make him stop. The scene was actually a bit pitiful and shed light on Khan''s true state.


    Khan was nothing short of a celebrity. Everyone in the Global Army had heard about him, and the soldiers in that outpost were no exception. Still, his fame told stories of an incredible warrior who coulde out on top of any threat, which wasn''t what Lieutenant Monton and the others saw.


    The soldiers around Khan couldn''t help but gain insights into his situation from watching that scene. He could barely stand, but his worries were on the Harbor''s sses. That wasn''t resolve or work ethic. That was an obsession fueled by something too deep to see.


    Lieutenant Monton wanted to object, especially after seeing through Khan, but thetter outranked him. If Khan wanted to get on the ship, the Lieutenant couldn''t do much to stop him.


    However, Derek forgot ranks and status. He was a worried scientist, and the scene made him put that feeling into words. "Captain, the poison is still active. We can''t clear you to fly without checking you."


    "My ship," Khan voiced, uncaring of Derek''s argument. He only wanted to go back to his t right now.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Sir, you might be contagious!" Derek shouted, tantly lying about the poison''s properties. Everyone in the area knew the truth, even Khan, but he was too tired to recall that detail, and the possibility of infecting his friends made him give in.


    "Alright, check me," Khan nodded, "But prepare my ship in the meantime."


    "You heard the Captain!" Lieutenant Monton raised his voice, and the soldiers in the area hurried through the corridor to reach the hangar. Meanwhile, he remained with Derek and escorted Khan toward a medical bay nearby.


    Derek ran scanners over Khan''s figure while he sat on a simple bed. It was hard to tell whether he was conscious since his half-closed eyes were always lost somewhere, but no one dared to interrogate him. Clearly, he was too tired, so the soldiers respected his silence.


    A soldier even tried to give Khan a warm and wet towel, but he ignored it. He was beyond dirty, but returning to the Harbor was the sole thought that existed in his mind.


    "Sir, can I have a moment of your time?" A soldier interrupted the silence to call for Lieutenant Monton, and thetter followed him outside the room. A few minutes had to pass for him to return with a shocked expression and a device.


    "Captain," Lieutenant Monton called before clearing his throat. He didn''t know how to put his thoughts into words, but looking at the screen again forced him to continue.


    "Sir, did you do this?" Lieutenant Monton eventually managed to ask while showing the screen to Khan and Derek.


    Khan''s gaze focused on the device, which conveyed a far too familiar scene. The screen was showing the destroyed and still fumingke area, and its state made Derek open his mouth in shock.


    "Theke was in the way," Khan limited himself to exin before eyeing Derek. "Are we done?"


    "Oh, yes!" Derek gasped. "Your body is naturally building resistance to the poison. You won''t gain full immunity, but a few nights of rest will get you back to your feet."


    Khan jumped off the bed at those words. Derek had basically cleared him, and he couldn''t wait to leave.


    "Is my ship ready?" Khan asked.


    Lieutenant Monton was still shocked by the scene on the screen. He couldn''t believe that a single man had caused so much destruction. It was actually scary to think that, but his duty eventually had the better of him.


    "Yes, sir," Lieutenant Monton replied. "I don''t advise it, but you can depart immediately."


    Khan didn''t say anything else. He left the room and followed a soldier toward a hangar, where a weing party was already waiting for him. He obviously ignored those military salutes and entered his ship to begin the set-off procedures.


    "Use the same speed as yesterday," Khan ordered the ship. "I''ll leave the trip back to you."


    "Sir, such levels of speed in your condition-," The ship''s robotic voice tried to give a warning, but Khan silenced it by pressing a key on the control desk.


    Khan managed to rx only when the set-off started. A tired sigh escaped his mouth when the ship left the metal floor, and his consciousness faltered. The nightmare was calling him. He was ready to sleep on that very seat, but his hand promptly rose to deliver a p to his cheek.


    "Pull out the notes," Khan ordered, delivering another p to himself to remain awake. His mission was over, but his duties were still there, and wasting time wasn''t an option. His body couldn''t have limits when so much was at stake.

 Chapter 496 Clothes

    Khan''s trip back to the Harbor was rough. He studied most of the time and even meditated a bit, but the real improvements arrived when he took a short nap.


    The ship alerted Khan about his imminent arrival at the Harbor, waking him up in the process. He still felt tired, and the fever had yet to leave. However, checking his skin confirmed that the purple marks had disappeared, and the same went for the foreign mana.


    ''I should be fine by tomorrow,'' Khan thought, stretching his back and voicing an annoyed groan at the vague weakness that filled him. A tremor even ran through him due to the fever, but he felt well enough to survive a day of lessons.


    The trip had taken a full day, and thending procedures wasted more time. It was already early morning when the ship entered the Harbor''s hangar. The lessons were only four hours away, and returning to the second district was bound to upy one of them.


    Luckily for Khan, he had sorted things out with the Headmistress. The call during the trip back to the Harbor had given her the time to prepare the hangar for his arrival and immediate departure. A cab was already waiting for him next to hisnding area, and he could get in without attracting annoying attention.


    Of course, some soldiers still saw Khan leaving the ship to get into the car, but his messy appearance worked in his favor. No one dared to approach him. Many even struggled to recognize him. Yet, the scene was bound to hit the news sooner orter, and Khan also knew that Abora''s outpost would spread rumors about his feats.


    As soon as Khan sat in the cab, he took out his phone as if waiting for Jenny to call. Yet, his device remained silent, allowing him to check other details that he was too weak to study during his flight.


    The knife ended in Khan''s hands, and he cleaned its edge on the seat''s fabric to get a good look at it. The de had endured the corrosive bullet perfectly, but marks had appeared on the handle.


    That small damage didn''t make the knife any worse. Khan could barely notice it when he wielded it, so he eventually stored it in the sheath. His phone was also still silent, so he used that window to meditate.


    Only a handful of people knew about Khan''s return, and the trip back to the t wasn''t enough to ovee the Headmistress'' preparations. When the cab stopped, Khan found an empty sidewalk and swiftly headed to the elevator to avoid potential onlookers.


    The arrival inside the t broke the peaceful silence that had filled Khan''s trips. George, Monica, and Anita were waiting for him, and their excited calls turned into confused and worried gasps when they noticed his state.


    "I need to take a shower," Khan stated, lifting a hand to stop the iing Monica and open a way through his friends.


    George didn''t dare to question Khan. He even pulled Anita away since she was too shocked to move at Khan''s passage. As for Monica, she followed Khan silently and entered the bathroom while he undressed.


    The dirty and broken pants fell on the bathroom floor, and the sheath quickly followed, leaving dark stains in that otherwise clean room. Khan forgot to remove his right shoe but entered the bathtub anyway, and a warm liquid soon fell on him.


    The dried mud, blood, and dirt took a while toe off, but the intensity of the shower eventually won. All the stains caused by the journey on Abora flowed away, revealing the skin underneath and the various injuries.


    Khan didn''t like that iing warmth when fused with his fever. Still, something even warmer eventually spread on his back, and peeking past his shoulder revealed his worried girlfriend.


    Monica entered the bathtub without removing her clothes. Her simple pullover and yellow skirt became drenched in a few seconds, and her curls suffered from a simr fate, but her eyes never moved from Khan''s body.


    Khan showed an apologetic expression when he turned to face Monica. He had only notified her about his return without adding any detail about his state. Yet, he couldn''t hide anything now.


    Monica moved her fingers around the injury on Khan''s chest before heading for his right forearm. She traced that wound''s edges before checking his left elbow. Those marks were hideous, and only time would turn them into scars. Besides, they looked painful.


    "You said you wanted marks about you," Khan joked. "I got three, just like you asked."


    "Not this kind," Monica whispered as her hand went on Khan''s forehead, and her face darkened as anotherment left her mouth. "You are burning."


    "The poison is already gone," Khan exined shortly. "I''ll be fine soon enough."


    Monica didn''t react to those words. She let go of Khan''s forehead before crouching in the bathtub to reach his shoe. Khan finally noticed it and supported himself to the wall to let Monica remove it.


    "Turn," Monica said while straightening her position. "I''ll wash your back."


    "Monica, there is no-," Khan began to refuse, but the re that unfolded in his view made him shut up. Monica was strangely calm, but that gesture told him that she had already snapped on the inside.


    Monica''s anger wasn''t directed at Khan, but he yed along anyway to avoid bing its target. He let Monica help clean him, and she even hurried outside once she was done to retrieve new clothes.


    "Monica, you know that the Headmistress has nothing to do with this, right?" Khan asked while wearing the clean tracksuit. "I''m the one epting these missions."


    "I know," Monica replied in an emotionless tone. "I won''t say anything to her."


    Khan sighed in relief. He was worried Monica would take her anger on the Headmistress, but that didn''t seem to be the case.


    "Hey," Khan called again since Monica was too detached. "I have to attend lessons, but we''ll talk tonight, okay?"


    Monica looked at Khan, finally showing something different from apathy. She appeared surprised, but that feeling vanished when she performed a nod.


    "You still have a few hours," Monica pointed out. "Wait for me in our bedroom. I have to pick up something."


    "Sure," Khan said while trying to take Monica''s hand to im their usual kiss, but she stormed out of the bathroom before he could reach her.


    ''She is pissed,'' Khan sighed in his mind. He knew what was happening in Monica''s thoughts. She didn''t like seeing Khan pushing himself so hard while she remained in the safety of the t.


    Khan understood how useless Monica was probably feeling, but the situation didn''t allow any different approach. He was the one who had to raise his status to be worthy of the Solodrey family. There was no way around that problem.


    Leaving the bathroom put Khan in front of George and Anita, but he shook his head to convey his intentions. He wanted to remain alone with Monica for a bit, and George understood him with a single nce.


    ''I have two and a half hours,'' Khan thought after entering his bedroom and checking his phone. He should probably rest a bit longer, but studying and his girlfriend had the priority. He even took out a clean military uniform and ced it on the bed during the wait.


    Monica didn''t take long to reach the bedroom while carrying random clothes. She even sealed the entrance before throwing all that on the bed and showing a yful smile.


    "Monica, I don''t think we have time," Khan snickered, even if his senses told him something was off.


    "You don''t get to have an opinion," Monica giggled, reaching Khan to push him onto the bed. She even climbed on him and sat on his waist before adding another order. "Close your eyes now."


    "Monica, I might infect you," Khan objected, but Monica crossed her arms and showed another re that forced him to give up. He didn''t know what she wanted to do, but letting her have fun sounded fine.


    Still, a frown appeared on Khan''s face when Monica seized his right wrist and tied something around it. At that point, Khan couldn''t keep his eyes closed anymore, and ncing at his arm revealed what Monica was up to.


    "Are you tying me up?" Khan questioned while Monica finished the knot on that soft fabric and bound his hand to the bed''s metal edge.


    "Of course!" Monica snorted, straightening her back to pick up one of her clothes and move to Khan''s left hand. "You are full of injuries and have a fever but still speak about lessons. The only way to make you rest is to tie you up."


    "Monica," Khan called while Monica leaned over him to tie his left hand. "How can these clothes even hold me? I can easily rip them off."


    "Do it then," Monica pouted, "But you''ll lose your favorite skirt in the process."


    "What?" Khan asked before ncing at his right hand again. It turned out that Monica had used one of her skirts to tie him up.


    "And your favorite underwear," Monica continued once she was done with Khan''s left hand.


    Khan looked at his left wrist and confirmed what Monica was saying. She had actually used her underwear to tie him to the bed.


    "Do you recognize these?" Monica added when she picked up more clothes and showed them to Khan.


    "That''s my favorite tights," Khan recognized.


    "Your favorite tights!" Monica repeated, turning to reach Khan''s left ankle. "If you want your left leg back, you must break them!"<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Monica,e on," Khan called, but Monica ignored him and finished the knot on his ankle before picking up more clothes.


    "I think you know this too," Monica eximed, letting a bra hang above Khan''s face.


    "That bra is innocent," Khan pleaded.


    Monica bent toward Khan''s face to let him experience her warm breath before whispering yful words. "And you''ll have to break it if you want your right leg back."


    Khan could only watch as Monica turned to tie his right ankle to the bed. Once she was done, she resumed her sitting position on Khan''s waist and crossed her arms again to convey her firm stance.


    "You used your skirt and underwear on my hands on purpose," Khanmented.


    "Obviously," Monica scoffed. "Those are your favorite, so you must break one to untie the rest."


    Khan wanted tough. It was so lovely seeing how deeply Monica understood him. If possible, he would spend the next month like that, but other tasks required his attention, and Monica had to understand that.


    "Monica, I need to attend sses," Khan tried to exin. "Wayne will be there, and showing my face will improve my fame even more."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Rip my clothes apart and go," Monica didn''t waver.


    "Come on," Khan called. "You know I''m right."


    "You are," Monica nodded, "But I won''t let you kill yourself."


    "I''m fine," Khanined, but a sniff reached his ears and made him drop his casual attitude. Monica also bent forward to take his head into her hands, and a few tears fell on his face when she got right above him.


    "I don''t want you to get those kinds of marks," Monica sniffed. "I''d rather break up with you than let you suffer alone."


    "Don''t even say that," Khan uttered.


    "I don''t care!" Monica cried. "I don''t want to be happy by sacrificing your health. I''d rather take all the pain away with me."


    Khan recognized Monica''s feelings because he also experienced them. He was willing to give his everything to his girlfriend, and she shared that stance. They had the same mindset. The situation simply didn''t allow Monica to do much.


    "How do you think I would feel without you?" Khan asked while Monica closed her eyes above him to hold back her tears.


    "Safe," Monica cried, "Without my stupid family causing problems for you. You would be-."


    "Sad, lost, lonely," Khan interrupted. "Definitely heartbroken. Thest time I lost the woman I loved, I threw myself into a war. I''d probably do worse things now."


    "T-then," Monica stuttered while opening her eyes.


    "Then," Khan interrupted with a sigh. "I should focus on what''s truly important. We need your family''s approval, but I can''t make you sad."


    "So?" Monica wondered as some hope seeped into her sad expression.


    "So, I''ll rest today," Khan exined. "The fever should go down by tomorrow. It''s probably for the best to hide my face until Jenny updates me."


    "Jenny," Monica snorted, straightening her back to cross her arms. "Why is it always women with you?"


    "Jealous?" Khan teased.


    "Incredibly," Monica pouted before shooting a meaningful nce at Khan. "I can''t leave my man alone for even a day."


    "Am I still your man, then?" Khan wondered.


    "You would be even if I broke up with you," Monica imed.


    "How does that even work?" Khanughed.


    "It works because I say so," Monica dered.


    "Sure, sure," Khan chuckled. "Now, will my merciful girlfriend untie me?"


    "No," Monica rejected. "Never trust a scoundrel!"


    Monica leaned forward after her statement and reached Khan''s left shoulder to turn it into her pillow. She made sure not to touch any injury before speaking sensual words. "And you know I enjoy it when you are in my control."


    "Naughty girl," Khan joked. "Can I at least get my wee-back kiss?"


    Monica didn''t hesitate to reach for Khan''s lips. The two exchanged a long kiss interrupted by many short ones. It actually took them a few minutes to separate.


    "You''ll get much more once you feel better," Monica whispered, running her tempting fingers over Khan''s mouth.


    "This fever can''t vanish quickly enough," Khan voiced, making Monica explode into a cute giggle.


    "Well, how does this work with food?" Khan questioned. "I can''t eat like this."


    "I''ll feed you," Monica eximed as her eyes lit up. She liked the idea so much that she straightened her position and hurried outside the bedroom to grab some food.


    Khan shook his head, but a smile remained on his face. Getting spoiled for once felt nice, and he loved the idea of spending the day with Monica. He knew calls and studies would eventually distract him, but that wouldn''t be enough to ruin his intimacy.


    Still, a familiar presence arrived at the bedroom''s entrance before Monica could return. Khan lifted his head to nce at that spot, and a serious request quickly left his mouth. "George, untie me."


    George would normally never hesitate to help Khan, but his sly gaze immediately recognized the type of clothes binding him to the bed.


    "Kinky," Georgemented without moving from the entrance.


    "Come on," Khan called, "Before shees back."


    "Man, I consider us brothers," George stated, "But here is where I draw the line."


    "Stop joking," Khanined. "Help me out of here."


    "Kinky, kinky," George muttered, shaking his head. He even left the entrance, and Khan could only m his head back on the pillow. It seemed he wouldn''t break free any time soon.


    ****


    Author''s thoughts: I hope you like the new cover as much as I do!

 Chapter 497 Space Pirate

    Khan woke up in the middle of the afternoon sweaty as ever, and the odd rity that filled him conveyed a reassuring message. His fever was gone, and the same went for most of his exhaustion. He could benefit from another nap, but resting too much wasn''t his style.


    Tempting thighs upied Khan''s vision and distracted him from his thoughts. Monica had freed him, offering herp as a pillow. She was wearing a skirt, so Khan''s struggles during the nightmare had partially uncovered her legs.


    ''I told her not to stay like this,'' Khan sighed, kissing Monica''s thigh before turning. She had fallen asleep without putting a single pillow between her back and the metal wall, and her head hung to her left while random snores left her mouth.


    Khan lowered his gaze and opened his tracksuit. The hideous injury on his chest became visible, and he touched it to check it out. The wound still hurt, but some flesh was already growing over it. There might only be a faint mark once the healing process ended.


    Repeating the process for the other wounds showed simr results. Khan''s healing properties were incredible and didn''t let him down. It had only taken him two days to make an almostplete recovery.


    Khan closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his head on Monica''sp before forcing himself to sit down. A sleepyint left her mouth while she snapped awake and showed her confusion, but a smile arrived when Khan took her in his arms.


    "See," Khan whispered, holding Monica''s shoulders to keep her right before him. "You fell asleep."


    "I was watching over you," Monica pouted. "How is your fever?"


    "I''m fine," Khan responded, lowering his head to reach for Monica''s lips.


    "Check it," Monica stated, turning her head to make Khan''s kiss end on her cheek.


    "As you wish, ma''am," Khan sighed, and Monica turned to face the wall while he tinkered with the menus. A function activated and checked Khan''s temperature before giving a satisfactory result.


    "I told you," Khan said. "I''m fine."


    "Check again," Monica ordered.


    "What?" Khan asked, pulling Monica closer to his right shoulder. "Do you want me to be sick?"


    "I like taking care of you," Monica revealed. "You never let me when you are fine."


    "I can always get sick again," Khan suggested.


    "No," Monica whined,ying her head on Khan''s shoulder. "I like when you take care of me too."


    "Speaking of which," Khan chuckled, turning to reach for Monica''s waist. Yet, Monica''s arm rubbed his chest, where his injury was, making him groan and interrupt the gesture.


    Monica immediately realized what was happening and opened Khan''s tracksuit to check his chest. That slight touch didn''t worsen anything. It only caused pain.


    "It will be sensitive for a while," Khan guessed.


    Monica couldn''t do much for that injury but didn''t let its location discourage her. She quickly slipped from Khan''s arm and crawled behind him to reach his left side. His elbow was also wounded, but she could get under it without touching that painful spot.


    "I''ll take my kiss now," Monica requested, and Khan didn''t hesitate toply.


    The couple moved by the force of habit at that point. Khan turned to sit by the metal wall, and Monica put a pillow there before climbing on hisp. They were so used to being together that they already knew what they wanted and how.


    "Check your phone," Monica whispered while her mouth went on Khan''s neck. "It rang a few times."


    Khan lost himself in Monica''s loving kisses while taking out his phone. He didn''t receive any calls, only messages from Lucian and Jenny. The former wanted to know if he had retrieved special flowers that Pandora might desire, while Jenny had merely updated him about the recent events.


    Opening Jenny''s message confirmed what Khan had already suspected. Abora''s outpost had shared the pictures of theke area without adding any details. It only stated that Khan had caused that destruction.


    The pages about Khan had gotten to work with that information. A video of the fumingke and a vague picture of his return to the Harbor created a clear story. He had gone all-out on Abora, and his fans didn''t hesitate to use the word "monster" as praise.


    Monica had stopped ying with Khan''s neck to check his phone, and reading thosements saddened her for multiple reasons. She didn''t like how the entire Global Army was ignorant about Khan''s best sides but hated even more that his fame was necessary. After all, only a monster could hope to stand in the same realm as the Solodrey family.


    "I''d love you even if you were a real monster," Monica uttered while returning to Khan''s neck. "Do you know why?"


    "Because I''d be your monster?" Khan wondered.


    "That," Monica giggled, "And because I''d be the only one to know how lovely you are."


    "I''ve never been called lovely in my life," Khan scoffed, throwing his phone in the corner of the bed.


    "You are so sweet and protective," Monica continued. "Truly the best kind of scoundrel I could catch."


    "I let myself be caught," Khan stated.


    "I had to fight a witch and throw myself at you just to get your attention," Monica snorted.


    "You also invaded my room," Khan added, "pped me a few times, and forced me into a date."


    "I''d do that and more to get you," Monica imed. "You are worth it."


    Khan couldn''t help but nce at Monica, and her captivating gaze drew their lips together. Monica left Khan''s neck during the kiss, and her hands went on his hair while she imed ownership of hisp.


    "You might want toe up with something new," Khan joked when their lips separated. "I might grow bored of this position."


    "You love me too much for that," Monica yed along.


    "Someone is getting arrogant," Khan eximed, reaching for Monica''s lips again while pushing her down. "It''s almost a pity that you are also right."


    Monica giggled, forsaking words to wrap herself around Khan''s neck and waist. The two finally had more time for themselves, and neither wanted to waste any second of it.


    However, Monica''s phone rang while the two were still busy kissing, andints inevitably resounded. Khan limited himself to a loud groan while Monica directly shouted.


    "How does this keep happening?" Monica cursed. "Do they have cameras waiting for us to fuck?"


    "Who is it?" Khan asked, leaning to his right to give Monica enough room to pick up her phone.


    Monica browsed her skirt''s pocket and pulled out her phone before wearing a surprised expression. She showed the screen to Khan and reading her mother''s name made him give up on speaking again.


    "Mom, what is it?" Monica asked once the phone reached her ear. "I apologize. Mother, what is it?"


    Khan smirked at Monica''s annoyed expression and kissed her free cheek before moving downward. Monica caressed his hair, but Khan soon escaped her reach and arrived at her knees.


    ''Where did I see this?'' Khan couldn''t help but chuckle as his lips fell on Monica''s soft, smooth skin. The same scene had happened with Liiza inside their cave, and those simrities only reaffirmed his feelings for Monica.


    "How long am I supposed to remain hidden?" Monica asked, shooting a re at Khan that didn''tst long under his affectionate gestures.


    "Yes," Monica eventually whispered, throwing her head on the mattress and closing her eyes to enjoy Khan''s forey. "I''m listening."


    Khan''s smile broadened when Monica opened her legs and reached for her skirt. She grabbed that soft fabric in preparation for what wasing, and the gesture partially uncovered Khan''s inevitable destination.


    "What?!" Monica suddenly eximed, slightly straightening her position to grab Khan''s hair and interrupt his descent. "Do you want to talk with Khan?"


    Khan frowned, but Monica appeared as confused as him, and the nod she performed told him that their intimacy had to wait. Khan felt forced to leave Monica''s legs alone and wait for her to hand over her phone, but Madam Solodrey had other ns.


    "Us together?" Monica questioned. "Mother, Khan just came back from a difficult-. Yes, I understand. I''ll wake him up."


    Khan spread his arms in confusion, but Monica received more questions. "I never agreed to return to my t. Besides, the entire Global Army knows we sleep together."


    Monica lowered her gaze to listen to more questions, and the faint words that managed to reach Khan''s ears allowed him to predict her reaction. As expected, Monica grew livid and raised her voice.


    "I don''t care how shameful it looks!" Monica shouted. "And not living with the man I chose would send the wrong message. You taught me that!"


    Madam Solodrey added moreints, and the word "marriage" also came up, but that only made Monica angrier.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I''m sorry, mother," Monica snorted. "I didn''t think being your daughter meant losing control of my pus-!"


    Monica couldn''t finish her line since Khan leaped to seal her mouth. The conversation was fun to listen to, but he was already on Madam Solodrey''s bad side, and letting Monica fight with her was bound to worsen his position.


    Khan stole Monica''s phone in the middle of her muffledints and brought it to his ear to make the call move to the next topic. "Madam Solodrey, what a pleasure! I heard you wanted to talk with me."


    "I wanted to talk to you," Madam Solodrey corrected, "And my stubborn daughter. Put me on the screen."


    "As you wish, ma''am," Khan responded, shooting a meaningful nce at Monica to calm her down. Sheplied without hiding her annoyance, but Khan ignored her to connect her phone to the room.


    "Wait!" Monica gasped when she realized what Khan was doing. "I''m a mess."


    Monica didn''t attend to her appearance after Khan''s shower, and he had even slept on her. Her skirt was full of creases, her pullover had a few dark stains, and her hair didn''t carry its usual volume.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "You are as beautiful as ever," Khan reassured, starting the video call and hurrying back to the bed. Monica wanted toin a bit longer, but the appearance of her mother''s face on the wall forced her to stay put.


    "Good evening," Madam Solodrey announced to abide by political pleasantries. "Ideally, I would have discussed this in person, but my dear daughter''s reckless actions made me busier than usual."


    Monica diverted her gaze. She knew how deeply the interview had affected her public image, and her family had obviously faced annoying consequences. From a political standpoint, her actions had been a mistake she had been willing to make to protect Khan.


    "It''s saddening to see how harshly you let yourself go in these two weeks," Madam Solodrey continued, targeting Monica''s appearance. "Your political image would crumble if someone saw you like this."


    "Monica has just finished tending to my injuries," Khan intervened, opening his tracksuit to show his injured chest. "I can''t imagine anyone minding their appearance during that practice."


    "That''s because you are an ignorant mutt," Madam Solodrey responded. "Any member of the Solodrey family must be able to show their superior status even in the middle of a swamp."


    ''Is this an attack on me?'' Khan wondered. His appearance after Abora''s mission was already public news, so Madam Solodrey had probably seen it.


    "Mother, please refrain from insulting my boyfriend," Monica said, conveying as much seriousness as possible. "If you have a problem with him, bring it to me."


    "I wish it was so simple," Madam Solodrey sighed. "I would have pulled you out of the Harbor already otherwise. Sadly, it seems I raised you well."


    "Mother?" Monica asked while taking Khan''s hand. Those words hinted at something hopeful, and even Khan could feel that.


    "Your stunt cornered us," Madam Solodrey revealed. "Splitting you from the Captain would say that my rebellious daughter tricked her family. We can''t appear as fools when the entire Global Army is looking at us."


    "You could have smeared my reputation," Khan suggested, pretending not to see Monica''s re. "I know you considered that."


    "We obviously did," Madam Solodrey confirmed. "However, that would still say that the Solodrey family made a bad investment or let a simple Captain trick them. It would also ruin my daughter''s prospects since she would be at the center of the issue."


    Khan understood that reasoning. The Solodrey family would have to sacrifice something to remove Khan from the equation. Monica would be the smallest price, but that remained too much due to her relevance among her generation.


    "So?" Monica questioned, tightening her grip on Khan''s hand.


    "As regretful as it is," Madam Solodrey eximed, "I must give my public approval of your rtionship."


    Monica couldn''t hold back an excited cry when she heard those words. She even jumped on Khan due to the unstoppable happiness she experienced. Monica touched many of Khan''s injuries when she threw herself at him, but he didn''t dare to show any pain in front of her mother.


    "What''s the catch?" Khan wondered while keeping Monica steady in his embrace.


    "There is no catch," Madam Solodrey replied, uncaring of the steady gaze that Khan continued to point at her. "However, being my daughter''s official partneres with obligations that must match the Solodrey family''s standards."


    "Khan is-," Monica tried toin, but Khan sealed her mouth and brought her on his shoulder to let Madam Solodrey continue.


    "I''ll provide precise instructions after this call," Madam Solodrey exined. "Still, to summarize, we expect proper conduct in public. We can''t have any shameful behavior connected to the Solodrey name. Actually, we want every family to envy my daughter''s decision to have you as her partner."


    "What else?" Khan questioned.


    "You''ll be under thorough scrutiny," Madam Solodrey continued. "You didn''t earn the Solodrey name yet. You aren''t even my daughter''s fianc¨¦. No matter what we announce publicly, you are just a soldier who was given a chance."


    "What else?" Khan repeated, knowing that Madam Solodrey was far from done.


    "We are aware of your duties with Headmistress Holwen," Madam Solodrey stated. "Yet, we''ll treat you as an asset of the Solodrey family from now on. That includes tasks within your missions or duties that require your rank and expertise."


    Khan nodded. The Solodrey family wanted to leave their brand of ownership on him. That wasn''t ideal, but Khan expected a simr oue.


    "Also," Madam Solodrey added, "As my husband already mentioned, you are indebted to the Solodrey family. We expect half of your future earnings as temporarypensation for the interest amassed until now."


    Monica couldn''t stay put anymore. Madam Solodrey wasn''t only after Khan''s money. She would also take it just to fill the interest rate without actually affecting the overall debt.


    "There''s the catch," Khan chuckled, using both arms to keep Monica put and silent.


    "It''s no catch," Madam Solodrey scoffed. "This is preferential treatment. Any other soldier would have been imprisoned, sold, or forced to work for the rest of his life."


    "I guess I should be ttered of such concern," Khan joked.


    "I definitely expect gratitude," Madam Solodrey revealed. "Though, I want to see it in your actions. Words and promises are useless to me."


    "I''ll match your expectations, ma''am," Khan promised.


    "More words," Madam Solodrey scoffed. "Consider yourself lucky, Captain Khan. It''s not my style to offer a path to redemption."


    Monica grew even angrier. Khan didn''t do anything wrong, but her mother continued to im moral superiority, and he was letting her take it.


    "I am lucky," Khan dered. "I have the chance to make your daughter happy without resorting to ploys."


    "Oh, did you even have ploys?" Madam Solodrey didn''t hide her haughtiness.


    "Of course," Khanughed. "I''m among the best students in the Harbor with meaningful connections stretching to the nobles. I was far from cornered."


    Monica calmed down to focus on Khan. She didn''t know where he was going with that speech, but the topic interested her.


    Truth be told, Khan was partially lying. He had a possible n but had never moved to implement it. That reasoning simply was the result of his umted experience and knowledge.


    "And how would you use these qualities?" Madam Solodrey questioned.


    "Nothing tooplicated," Khan stated. "I''d simply have kidnapped your daughter, stolen a ride, and lived the rest of our days as space pirates."


    "I''m in no mood for jokes, Captain," Madam Solodrey warned.


    "I''m not joking," Khan pressed on. "You''d be surprised by how good your daughter looks in leather boots."


    "Captain," Madam Solodrey called, not knowing how serious Khan was about that topic. "I expect you to refrain from wasting my time in useless talks from now on."


    "They aren''t useless if they can make Monica happy," Khan dered.


    Madam Solodrey inevitably nced at her daughter. Khan wasn''t restraining her anymore. She had calmed down enough to feel a bit embarrassed about that straightforwardpliment, and a genuine smile had also filled her expression.


    "I told you already," Madam Solodrey announced. "Happiness is a luxury for us and you too now."


    Khan wanted to speak some more, but Madam Solodrey closed the call, making the screen on the wall go dark. At that point, a message reached Monica and Khan''s phones, and the room''s menus confirmed that the instructions mentioned before had arrived.


    "I''ll buy new boots if you like them so much," Monica whispered now that privacy had arrived.


    "I prefer your skirts," Khan teased, lifting Monica to put her on hisp. "Still, I wouldn''t be against trying something new. I''m sure anything will look perfect on you."


    "Scoundrel," Monica giggled, stretching her legs andying her head on the intact part of Khan''s chest. "What was that pirate thing anyway? If you wanted to get on my mother''s nerves, I could have helped."


    "I was serious," Khan revealed. "Well, it was just a vague idea."


    "What do you mean?" Monica questioned, lifting her head to look at Khan''s mysterious expression.


    "Escaping is hard but not impossible," Khan exined. "I''d just need a short window to get outside the system and into outer space. I still have much to learn about those paths, but there must be one leading to somewless zone."


    "And you would kidnap me for such a long and dangerous journey?" Monica wondered.


    "Definitely," Khan stated, lowering his head to face Monica. "You are stuck with me now, and I''m not easy to get rid of."


    "Wasn''t that my line?" Monica questioned.


    "I stole it," Khan imed, "Just like I''d steal you from your family."


    "Alright, space pirate Khan," Monica giggled, pushing on Khan''s shoulders to make his back hit the mattress. "We have many regtions to review, but I think celebrations are in order."


    "Oh?" Khan feigned ignorance. "What''s there to celebrate?"


    "The fact that you got the best girlfriend in the world," Monica responded, "And I got the best boyfriend in the world."


    "We already had that," Khan continued to y dumb while Monica leaned on him and nted her hands at his head''s sides.


    "But we can be that in the open now," Monica stated, "Without resorting to your kidnapping n."


    "I guess I can put my great escape aside for now," Khan nodded before a meaningful smirk appeared on his face due to how intensely Monica was looking at him.

 Chapter 498 Open

    "Tense?" Monica asked while her fingers remained tightly entangled with Khan''s.


    "I should be the one to ask that question," Khan pointed out.


    "I am," Monica didn''t even try to pretend, "But I also feel-."


    "Happy?" Khan interrupted, and the two exchanged an excited smile.


    "I''ve dreamed about this for months," Monica revealed, sliding on the cab''s seat to snuggle closer to Khan.


    "I know," Khan stated. "Don''t lose your cool."


    "I should be the one to say that," Monica giggled.


    "I wouldn''t worry about that," Khan responded. "I can''t be jealous when you can be at my side."


    "The same goes for me," Monica voiced, but Khan rolled his eyes.


    "What?" Monica scowled.


    "Just try not to kill anyone," Khan coughed. "They are allowed to invite me to dinner, even if they are women."


    "It''s only proper to ask the girlfriend first," Monica dered.


    "You will definitely kill someone," Khan sighed.


    "It might be within my rights," Monica snorted before calming down and resting on Khan''s shoulder. "It''s a pity we can''t be all lovely-dovely in public."


    "Your mother wants us to show manners proper of the Solodrey family," Khan eximed, reviewing the many obligations memorized the previous night. "I can wait for the lessons to end to kiss you."


    "Can you?" Monica questioned.


    "Probably not," Khan admitted. "But it''s either that or my testicles."


    "Technically," Monica wore a yful smile, "Those are officially mine now."


    "George said that happens only after marriage," Khan recalled. "Knowing you, I''m actually a bit scared."


    "What do you mean knowing you?!" Monica shouted.


    "Oh, we arrived," Khan announced, and the two nced at the window in front of them, which showed one of the embassy''s roofs.


    The cabnded, dispersing the yful mood and bringing back some tension. That was only the second day of lessons, but a monumental event was about to unfold. Monica and Khan were about to appear in the open as an official couple for the first time.


    Monica tightened her grip on Khan''s hand, and he pulled her to make her turn. The couple didn''t need words. They instinctively exchanged a passionate kiss that had to be enough for the rest of the morning.


    "I love you," Monica whispered when the kiss ended.


    "I love you," Khan repeated before delivering another kiss. The two then looked at the door''s handle for a few seconds before deciding to open it.


    The Headmistress had opened a private route inside the embassy for the couple, but Monica remained a respected member of the Solodrey family. A few soldiers wouldn''t do as a weing party. A whole team was waiting on the roof, and none dared to lower their gazes to look at the neers.


    Khan could sense the difference from his usual weing party in the symphony. The roof carried more than respect. Fear and tension that surpassed what the couple was experiencing filled the area, adding value to the event.


    Monica had already worn an elegant smile to keep up with the political fa?ade, while Khan wentpletely cold. He was the one being tested, so his behavior couldn''t convey any hesitation or tension. He had to look the part of a man worthy of the Solodrey name.


    The change in status became more evident once the team of soldiers allowed the couple inside. Khan had always attracted a lot of attention, but that gained a different nature now. The corridor had workers, Professors, and other students, but no murmurs resounded while Khan and Monica crossed them, walking hand in hand.


    The audience seemed to hold their breath to avoid disturbing the couple''s passage. Monica and Khan had never managed to generate that reaction on their own. Yet, everything had changed now.


    ''Madam Solodrey only said that her family was always aware and in favor of our rtionship,'' Khan thought. ''Imagine if she actually made me Monica''s fianc¨¦.''


    Of course, things wereplicated at that level of the political environment, and Khan knew it far too well. Someone with Monica''s status getting into a public rtionship was a big deal that usually led to marriage and other important benefits.


    Khan could obtain untold riches and assets if his rtionship went well, which was likely to happen in the public eye since the Solodrey family had given their official approval. It would actually be hard for the couple to break up after the event.


    The wall that usually separated Khan from ordinary soldiers and students had grown even taller, and it took two elevators to reach an environment that didn''t have a simr tension. Soon, many polite smiles broadened before the couple, and excited cries and questions followed.


    "Monica, congrattions!" Zoe was the first to leave the group of students to approach the couple, but everyone else soon followed her.


    "Monica, we want to know every detail," A couple of women announced as soon as they reached Monica.


    "Count me in," A fourth woman stated.


    "How did you get your parents'' approval?" A fifth woman questioned. "I''m asking for a friend."


    Anita was also among that female group but remained slightly behind to let herpanions have fun. That process was a mandatory political procedure, and she didn''t need to wait her turn due to how easily she could meet Monica.


    Khan couldn''t remain outside that procedure, but it took a different shape for him. The group of students had split into two parts, and he got all the men, who mostly shook his hand and offered polite congrattions.


    "Thank you, Mark," Khan smiled. "John, thank you, thank you."


    The different nature of those congrattions forced the couple to split. Khan and Monica ended up on opposite sides of the corridor to attend to unique conversations.


    "To gain the Solodrey family''s approval truly shows your worth, Captain," Mark, one of the students, eximed once the round of congrattions ended. "I now understand why none of us could ever hope to get close to Miss Solodrey."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "You haven''t been paying attention, Mark," John, another student, stated. "Miss Solodrey chose the Captain. Though I can also see why."


    "Indeed," Markughed. "Well, celebrations are in order. Why don''t we gather at Pandora tonight? My treat."


    "It is a good chance to discuss the recent scarcity of Asnian," John agreed. "Captain, what do you think about that?"


    ''What the fuck is an Asnian?'' Khan cursed in his mind, but someone intervened to help him.


    "Don''t bore Khan with your financial issues already," Lucian announced, stepping into the frontlines to join the conversation. "Let''s stick to wishing him good luck."


    "I agreed when I heard drinks at Pandora," George also joined the conversation.


    "Mark, it seems Lucian wants to keep all the financial talk for himself," Johnined.


    "It''s our fault for not recognizing the Captain''s value soon enough," Mark pointed out.


    The interaction wouldn''t look special to an outsider, but Khan noticed stark differences from his previous treatment. His ssmates had always been polite to him, but that was the first time anyone ever mentioned financial investments and simr topics.


    ''I see,'' Khan realized. ''I''ve entered the inner circle.''


    Khan''s official status as Monica''s boyfriend didn''t only give him ess to the Solodrey family''s wealth. It also made him able to affect certain markets since his girlfriend''s assets epassed an immense array of transactions.


    The group even arranged themselves ording to their status. Lucian, Mark, and John could interact with Khan directly since their families were close to the Solodrey family in terms of wealth and influence. Instead, anyone behind them could only hope to be part of the social events they organized.


    Of course, the public was unaware of Khan''s actual situation, but he had to y along to match the Solodrey family''s standards. He was unprepared for anything beyond simple dinners and other specific topics, but fixing that issue had be a priority. In the meantime, he would have to rely on George and Lucian.


    "I think I''m free tonight," Khan revealed. "Though I''m still recovering from my trip on Abora, and I only have war stories. I hope that''s not a problem."


    "Oh, the Captain thinks we want to hear about that," John chuckled. "How cute."


    "John, those are talks for after we are properly wasted," Mark scolded.


    "Don''t think you''ll get this one drunk so easily," Georgemented, pointing his forefinger at Khan.


    "George, can''t you help your brothers out?" Johnined. "We are young men in desperate need of advice from the best Casanova on the market."


    "Howe no one asked me?" George snorted.


    "Anita terrifies us," Mark admitted, and John nodded behind his shoulder.


    "Guys," Khan called, lowering his head and voice to make the conversation more private. "Please, keep these jokes for yourselves. Monica doesn''t enjoy how popr I am."


    "I feel the sudden urge to punch you," Georgemented.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Khan could have phrased it better," Lucianughed.


    "He is the chosen one," John gasped.


    "Man," Mark eximed before coughing to correct his words. "Captain, you really need to have a drink with us."


    "Only if you stop calling me Captain," Khan yed along, and the group reached a silent understanding.


    On the other side of the corridor, Monica was going through very different questions, and the many voicesing in her direction had already turned into whispers.


    "Is it true what they say about the Captain?" One of the women around Monica asked. "That he has inhumane stamina?"


    "Lucy!" Anita scolded. "That''s not proper at all!"


    "But Monica kept him for herself all this time," Lucyined. "We deserve details."


    "I''m with Lucy here," Zoe nodded. "And, Anita, don''t lie. We know you are keeping your secrets."


    "I''m more interested in another part of the topic," Another woman in the group announced. "Miss-, Monica, I was nning to talk to my mother about something, but I don''t know how to mention it to her."


    "Oh, more gossip," Zoe gasped. "Tell us, Marcia. Tell us."


    "Your enthusiasm is heartwarming," Monica decided to speak through her elegant persona. "To tell the truth, I was worried you might judge me poorly."


    "Don''t even joke about it," Zoe stated. "We can''t imagine what you had to go through."


    "That''s right," Lucy added. "We are happy for you."


    "As long as you are happy," Marcia continued.


    "Yes, I am," Monica confirmed, showing an embarrassed smile and ying with her curls. "Everything still feels like a wonderful dream."


    "My girl is so lost," Anita teased.


    "I can''t help it," Monica did her best shy-girl performance. "It''s my first time feeling like this. Please, go easy on me."


    Monica''s pretense was so perfect that even her ill-intentionedpanions melted a bit. She was the embodiment of an innocent woman struggling with her first love, and her ssmates wanted to cheer for her.


    "Don''t worry!" Zoe announced, taking Monica''s hands. "We''ll take care of you properly. In exchange, you''ll give us a few secrets."


    "I don''t know what you are talking about," Monica giggled.


    "Oh, don''t y dumb," Zoeined. "Don''t think you can escape after that interview."


    "Is Khan okay?" Monica pretended not to hear Zoe''s line as she hurried toward Khan.


    Khan was still busy with the chit-chat when he felt Monica getting close. He turned in time to grab her hand, and she didn''t hesitate to hold the entirety of his arm before addressing the other ssmates. "I hope you are treating my man well."


    "We wouldn''t dare to do otherwise," Mark promptly said. "By the way, congrattions, Miss Solodrey. You found a great partner."


    Simr congrattions followed as the two groups became one again, but Khan and Monica soon focused on each other. She had actually pulled him to get his attention, and a question escaped her mouth when she grabbed his uniform''s edges. "Are you already making ns without me?"


    "The guys invited me out tonight," Khan exined. "We are going to Pandora."


    "But we had that thing tonight," Monica yed it vague, pulling the edges of Khan''s uniform again without adding anything. She only wore a fake pleading expression that Khan could easily unmask.


    ''Needy girl,'' Khan thought. He didn''t have anything nned for that night, but Monica seemed set on making a statement.


    "It seems I won''t be able to join tonight," Khan apologized to his ssmates, stretching his arm behind Monica''s back to reach the other side of her waist. "Shall we postpone to tomorrow?"


    "You do you, Cap-, Khan," John stated. "We wouldn''t dare to get in the way of¡­ anything you need to do."


    Monica wore an obvious triumphant expression and began to pull Khan away. He could only show another apologetic face at hispanion while heading for the ssroom, creating a scene that made the audience reach the same conclusion. Khan truly seemed the embodiment of helplessness.


    However, Lucian was interested in any matter rted to Khan and couldn''t leave that vague topic alone. "Is this a thing I should know about?"


    "Oh, no," Khan eximed, turning to face Lucian. "Monica just wanted you to see that she is my priority."


    "Khan," Monica pouted, but Khan broke her expression by pinching her cheek.


    "But you are my priority," Khan confirmed, and Monica gave up in front of that honesty. She lowered her gaze to hide her smile and let Khan guide her inside the ssroom. She was simply walking, but everyone imagined her hopping happily.


    "Did he just pinch Monica Solodrey?" Mark gasped.


    "And she liked it," Zoemented.


    "Don''t tell me he won her over," Lucy wondered, "Not the other way around."


    "The chosen one," John announced.


    Lucian could only shake his head. He was a master of social interactions but still needed time to ept Monica''s true face. He couldn''t see through her, and his ssmates didn''t help.


    Khan and Monica took their seats, and the other ssmates followed. George, Anita, and Lucian sat near the couple, and a small group formed behind them. Only one exception existed in that arrangement.


    "I''m sorry I couldn''t join the congrattions," Wayne announced, reaching for the seat on Khan''s left that he had left empty on purpose. "I got lost again."


    "How did you get lost after attending sses for two weeks?" Khan asked, pretending that everything was normal.


    "One elevator brought me to the wrong floor," Wayneughed, "And it took me a bit to find the way back here."


    The sole idea that an elevator could malfunction was unrealistic, but Khan had seen simr small issues around Wayne in the past weeks. They were mostly minor technical problems that had be an odd pattern since Wayne continued to be at their center.


    "Also, I wish to apologize, Miss Solodrey," Wayne stated, peeking past Khan to look at Monica. "I will never touch you without your permission again."


    The conversation didn''t go unnoticed. After all, Khan wasn''t the only one with doubts about Wayne''s identity. The events with Monica had made most students reach out to their families to investigate, but no one came back with answers.


    "I thought you would have apologized for exposing my birth control," Monica directly uttered, uncaring of the implications that her words could have.


    "Was that me?" Wayne wondered. "I guess it''s possible. I''ll apologize for that if you feel it''s needed."


    "No need," Monica disregarded the matter. "Besides, you have only exposed the obvious. You might have actually brought Khan and me in the open faster."


    Khan had a hand on the interactive table, and Monica took it since the Professor had yet to arrive. The two even exchanged a nce at that point, but that cute gesture couldn''t distract the audience from other topics.


    Many students had suspected that Wayne had something to do with the birth control''s strange reaction. Theck of proof had dyed eventual investigations, but Monica appeared convinced of his involvement, and her ssmates noted that down.


    "Oh, Captain," Wayne eximed. "You became a pilot and even got the woman of your dreams. Is there anything you can''t achieve?"


    "Are you jealous now?" Khan performed a fakeugh.


    "Maybe," Wayne wondered, lifting his gaze to browse his thoughts. "I don''t really have those feelings, but you might be able to trigger them."


    "Do you want me to?" Khan questioned.


    "I don''t know," Wayne shrugged his shoulders. "I''m just curious. I like everything, and bad things still happen. I wonder how I would react to someone I envy."


    Khan tried to look into Wayne''s innocent face but found the usual honesty. The man knew something, but that secret was immersed in genuine feelings that depicted him as a simple student.


    A message suddenly reached Khan and forced him to interrupt the inspection. He pulled out his phone only to see that the Headmistress had sent a briefing for his next mission.


    "Let me guess," Wayne spoke while Khan opened the message. "They are sending you to Induna this weekend."


    Khan''s gaze tried to flicker, but he kept it on the phone. He knew Wayne couldn''t look at the screen from his position, but the name on the message didn''t lie. The next mission was on Induna.

 Chapter 499 Gig

    The ability to see the symphony was almost a double-edged sword. Khan couldn''t help but be confused by Wayne''s presence. That steady, cheerful mana grew stranger every time he inspected it but continued tock clues.


    Nevertheless, Wayne stopped being Khan''s priority after the statement. Monica could read the Headmistress'' message, and Wayne''s spot-on guess made her wary and worried for Khan''s safety.


    "Will I see you there?" Khan spoke before Monica could do anything. He even drove her hand to his mouth to kiss it. That was already bordering the limits of what Madam Solodrey allowed, but it sessfully calmed Monica down.


    "Why would I be there?" Wayne questioned, showing his usual innocence.


    "It doesn''t matter," Khan said before ncing at the hall''s entrance. "Oh, the Professor ising."


    The conversation ended at that low point, and the mandatory social interactions that filled the rest of the day didn''t give the couple time to think about it.


    Surprisingly enough, even the Professors congratted Khan and Monica before continuing their lessons. The event was so big that no one could shy away from it, and its consequences created mandatory tasks.


    Monica''s needy character could only dy the inevitable. The next night, Khan and Monica had to separate to attend different social events, and neither was too excited about them.


    The female side of the advanced sses invited Monica into arge t rearranged for the asion. Soft carpets,fortable couches, and a few armchairs filled the vast main hall, and the students gathered there while servants delivered drinks and light food.


    "Now that we are all served andfortable," Zoe announced as every eye in the hall converged on Monica. "Details!"


    A series of "yes!" and simrments followed. Monica covered her mouth to hide her fake smile and wore a shy expression. That development was predictable, so she already knew how to handle it.


    "I''m so embarrassed," Monica revealed. "I feel I''m forgetting my entire education."


    "My, my," Lucy gasped. "Even Monica Solodrey loses her cool when her man is involved."


    "I''m unfit for my family name," Monica sighed. "It''s just. I can''t help it, you know?"


    "We don''t know," Zoeined as her friends leaned forward to get closer to Monica''s couch. "That''s why we want you to tell us."


    "I think Anita can be calmer than me," Monica finally showed her smile.


    "You won''t involve me in this," Anita chuckled, leaning on the back of Monica''s couch. "Come on, girl. Our parents can''t reach us here."


    "I guess there is something I can share," Monica pretended to give up while taking a sip from her drink. "I know I said we got together during the trip to the Harbor, but our rtionship started a bit earlier."


    A series of gasps resounded, even if many were fake. The decision to fly to the Harbor was a clue to that truth, and Monica''s ssmates had already noticed it.


    "How did it happen?" Marcia asked. "Did you really push for it?"


    "Initially, it was just curiosity," Monica revealed, ying with her curls. "I mean, how could I not be interested in him? Khan already had a great reputation, and you should see him without a shirt."


    "Thework is full of those pictures," Zoeughed while exchangingplicit smiles with her friends. "We are all with you there."


    Monica retained her smile, but some annoyance began to arrive. She didn''t like how everyone could drool over her boyfriend so openly.


    "Anyway," Monica continued. "I sought chances to talk alone and even took him out on a date. He was so different from my other suitors. It was the first time someone treated me as Monica without the Solodrey."


    "Is that when you two got together?" Marcia asked.


    "No," Monica chuckled, showing a genuine smile. "He had juste out of a long rtionship. He only wanted to focus on Mister Cobsend''s assignment and protect his old friend. Then, the Nele epted him, which made everything moreplicated."


    "You must admit that the Captain has a knack for getting closer to aliens," Lucymented.


    "He is a natural," Monica confirmed. "He spoke, ate, and slept like them in a few weeks. He is truly unbeatable on the field."


    "That sounds troublesome," Zoe eximed. "Why go through that hassle for someone not interested in you?"


    "If I want something," Monica stated, "I get it. That''s what my mother taught me."


    "The Captain couldn''t win against Monica''s pride," Lucy joked, and a series ofughs resounded.


    "I wish," Monica sighed. "He never offended me, but I couldn''t attract his attention with expensive dinners and good drinks. Only honesty made him falter."


    Silence spread in the hall as Monica lowered her gaze. She had spoken the truth, and her friends understood that.


    "Well, honesty and nice clothes," Monica cheered the mood. "He liked me. That just wasn''t enough to move him."


    "You wouldn''t think that from his record," One of the women in the hall pointed out.


    "He is pretty serious about everything," Monica exined, running her finger on her ss'' edge. "He doesn''t notice half-measures. Yet, the more of my education I put aside, the less I could retain my cool in his presence."


    "This sounds like one of the books I used to read when I was younger," Marcia dered.


    "It reached the point when I didn''t even think about my position," Monica continued. "I just went for it, hoping he would ept me."


    "So bold," Anita couldn''t help but exim.


    "How did you know he wasn''t ying with you?" Zoe wondered.


    "I wouldn''t be tricked by something like that," Monica proudly stated before lowering her gaze again. "Khan never cared about my wealth of influence. He never asked for any favor. He just likes me."


    Monica had partially dropped the act during her exnation. She had revealed small truths about her rtionship, and her expressions inevitably became honest. Still, she appeared more elegant and beautiful than ever because of that.


    "Who knew that the path for Monica''s heart was to treat her as a simple woman?" Lucymented without hiding her surprise.


    "I wouldn''t have epted any man," Monica corrected. "I''m sure you are aware of his feats and skills. No one in the Global Army or families evenes close."


    "Still, Monica," Zoe voiced. "Weren''t you worried about his background? Having fun is one thing, but now that your family has acknowledged him, marriage isn''t too unlikely."


    "Zoe is right," Marcia added. "I understand your feelings, but did you stop to think about it properly?"


    "My friends," Monica eximed, "I''m a proud descendant of a Solodrey family. I chose Khan because I can imagine myself standing at his side for the rest of my life."


    Another wave of gasps resounded. Those wealthydies were no strangers to asional hook-ups and believed that Monica had initially chosen to do the same with Khan. However, herst statement made her sound ready for marriage.


    "I might have spoken too much," Monica realized.


    "You just told the truth," Anita giggled. "It was adorable."


    "I might have also meant that as a warning," Monica alsoughed. "Khan naturally attracts women for some reason. It feels necessary to say that he is mine."


    "Is this Monica Solodrey''s jealous side?" Zoe joked, not realizing how serious Monica''s words were.


    "It is," Monica stated. "I know you wouldn''t dare to do anything that might hurt my rtionship. Still, a reminder sounds mandatory. Don''t you think so, Zoe?"


    Zoe''s smile froze. She was one of the few who had openly tried to flirt with Khan, and it was clear that Monica didn''t forget it.


    "Of course," Zoe voiced an awkwardugh. "You said it yourself. We could directly treat Khan as your husband."


    "I''d appreciate that," Monica agreed, and her elegant smile began to leak some coldness. Somehow, her kind words sounded like a threat.


    "We need another round!" Anita announced since she knew where that situation was going. "And I think it''s time to move to the spicy details."


    .


    .


    .


    Khan had a slightly different version of Monica''s social gathering. Mark had booked a room in Pandora''s main building to host the event, and only a handful of the advanced sses'' male poption had been allowed to join it.


    Moreover, the conversations had never focused too heavily on the rtionship with Monica. Actually, that topic had yet toe up even after multiple rounds of drinks.


    "Can you see this number here?" Mark questioned while pointing at a number on the top-right corner of the holograms in front of the couch.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Two million assets," Khan confirmed before adjusting his position on the couch, "And the number next to that is their value in Credits."


    "Correct," Mark eximed, cing a hand on Khan''s shoulder. "Now, look at what happens."


    Mark opened a series of menus featuring graphs and many values before hitting a key marked "sell". The number of assets immediately went to zero, but the Credits in Mark''s wallet increased for the corresponding amount.


    "What should I see?" Khan wondered. He was no expert on those sales, but there was nothing strange in Mark''s procedure.


    "Here," Mark called, opening a different menu. "The price of that material plummeted since I filled the market with it. There is no demand anymore, so how should I spend the Credits I just obtained?"


    "Do you save them?" Khan guessed.


    "I could," Markughed, "But that''s money to throw away, not save. I filled this ount to see how long I could y with it before running out of Credits."


    ''Money to throw away, he says,'' Khan thought, hiding his disbelief. Mark''s ount had more than fifty million Credits. That amount would set anyone for life, but Mark was ready to waste it to kill time.


    "Ideally," Mark exined, "You should buy another resource that has fulfilled its demand some time ago. Its production would have restarted by now, so you can try to monopolize it and wait until its price skyrockets."


    "Do you mean altering its rarity?" Khan asked.


    "Something like that," Mark nodded. "Of course, you need an understanding of many socio-political events to predict whether the demand for your assets will return."


    "It sounds like gambling," Khanmented.


    "It''s not gambling in the hands of an expert," Mark proudly imed.


    "Mark often forgets to exin how his family owns many of the factories involved with the production," Lucian said from the other side of the room. "It''s easier to win bets when you are a few steps ahead of everyone else."


    "Lucian is right," Mark showed a shameless smile. "The game is rigged in my hands, but that''s the beauty of being rich."


    "I can think of a few other benefits," John announced while smoking a smelly cigarette on another couch.


    "That guy spends a fortune in a certain brothel," Mark joked.


    "Only the finest women in the universe," John shouted, blowing grey smoke out of his mouth. "Maybe that''s why my parents have yet to find me a fianc??e."


    "Why would you want it?" George scoffed from the other edge of Khan''s couch. "It bes too troublesome to get lovers once you are engaged."


    "Mister Ildoo is so wise," John groaned. "How did you convince Anita to go out with you with your reputation?"


    "I don''t know what you are talking about," George feigned ignorance, focusing on his drink.


    "I think you set some record in descendants dated in a month," John exined.


    "It''s not my fault if my charm makes women crazy," George sighed.


    "Did you steal that line from me?" Khan frowned.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "If you used it first," George announced, "It''s because I inspired it."


    "I preferred when Havaa hit you," Khan joked.


    "She did throw nice punches," Georgeughed. "You don''t find those women among humans."


    "Lucian, they are speaking in code again," Markined.


    "They have a special connection," Lucian uttered. "Who are we to break it?"


    "That''s right!" John added, lifting his arms to the ceiling. "They might reveal the secrets of the universe!"


    "What is he saying?" Khan asked.


    "John, are you high?" Mark questioned.


    "What do you expect?" Johnughed, throwing his cigarette into an empty corner of the room. "They sold me this as the best product on Abora, but it''s quite bad."


    "You should always use a trustworthy dealer," Mark sighed. "Speaking of Abora, I heard you had it pretty rough there, Captain."


    "nts aren''t as harmless as they look," Khan nodded. "Though, I''ve mostly recovered already."


    "I heard the strange guy, Wayne, talking about Induna," John announced. "Did the Global Army assign you a mission there?"


    "Yes," Khan confirmed. "Yet, I can''t tell you the details."


    "I don''t care about the details," John shrugged his shoulders. "I just don''t understand why you do it."


    "I need merits and Credits," Khan summarized.


    "I think John is saying those missions are beneath you now," Mark tranted. "Isn''t that right, guys?"


    "Captain Khan has always been too qualified for them," Lucianmented. "Still, if he says that he needs them, then he needs them."


    "Am I missing something?" Khan remained confused.


    "Khan, the Solodrey family acknowledged you," Mark stated. "You could book space stations freely if you know your way with words."


    Khan didn''t hide his confusion. He knew how wealthy the Solodrey family was, but a space station remained too big. It went far beyond the money Mark had in that ount.


    "Oh, wow," John gasped while leaning on the couch''s arm. "He really doesn''t know."


    "Mark is a perfect example," Lucian intervened. "He received a space station for his thirteenth birthday."


    "An entire space station?" Khan asked.


    "It wasn''t as straightforward as Lucian made it sound," Mark said. "A small family gifted it to improve their chances of marrying into us. They initially aimed for me, but my father directly refused."


    "So," Khan tried to understand, "You got a space station without giving anything in return."


    "We did take their most promising descendant," Mark exined. "We married it off to a small branch of my family. Still, the space station was quite old and poor, so my father gave it to me as a personal project."


    "Did everyone in the other family change their name?" Khan chuckled, still incredulous before those big political moves.


    "No, we only took the descendant," Mark revealed. "The family crumbled afterward, and other organizations absorbed anything worth saving."


    Mark wasn''t showing any arrogance. He wasn''t even trying to brag about his wealth. He had described the death of a small family as amon urrence that didn''t deserve any second thought.


    Khan struggled to adjust his perspective. He liked Mark, but that side of him belonged to a world he couldn''t judge. Also, ording to the conversation, Khan had just joined that side.


    "Do you really own a space station?" Khan changed the topic to mask his internal conflict.


    "Yes," Mark nodded, tinkering with the holograms to make a small space station appear. The image also had multiple branches that exined the various functions of the structure, the people in charge of them, and how expensive they were.


    "It''s nothing great, really," Mark continued. "I''m barely meeting expenses since there isn''t much on it. Still, we can visit it one of these months. Its hospitality is one of its best aspects."


    Mark''s casual tone highlighted once again how distant Khan was from that world. The student wasn''t even twenty-five but owned such an incredible structure.


    "That''s why I asked," Johnmented. "People will lend you more than space stations if you wave the Solodrey name around."


    "But I don''t own much," Khan pointed out. "Monica and I aren''t even engaged yet."


    "It doesn''t matter," Mark stated. "Actually, it might grant better offers."


    "You are between the touchable and untouchable right now," Lucian continued. "Since you have the Solodrey family''s approval, many organizations will fight each other to earn favors from you."


    "And here I was worried about making a good impression on Monica''s parents," Khan mocked himself.


    "Did you?" George asked.


    "Oh, yeah," Khan scoffed. "I''m like a son for Madam Solodrey."


    "You can''t me her for having her reservations," Lucian dered. "I believe you understand why now."


    "I always understood her," Khan sighed. "I might prefer that even. Since she acknowledged me, she knows I can be good for her daughter."


    "This guy got the daughter and defeated the mother," John voiced his disbelief. "You are built different, my man."


    "I am part Nak," Khan joked, pulling a strand of hair to show its azure color.


    "It is trulymendable," Mark praised. "Everyone expected Monica to end up with Lucian or someone at the level of your friend Luke Cobsend. No offense, but you weren''t even on the list."


    "There was a poll too," John revealed. "You made everyone lose their money."


    "I bet some girls got it right," Lucian guessed.


    "I know they did," George confirmed.


    "How did you two even get together?" John asked. "I thought you were into aliens."


    "John!" Mark scolded.


    "It wasn''t an insult," John lifted his hands to convey innocence. "I''ve seen pictures of the Nele when the rumors about you pointed in that direction. I''d never look at another woman again if I had a chance with them."


    "Looks sure help," Khanughed.


    "As if you ever had an ugly woman," George snorted.


    "I was saying," Khan cleared his throat. "I wasn''t nning on getting into another rtionship. Only Monica could make me change my mind."


    "I heard the craziest stuff," John stated. "Did she pay you to get you into dates?"


    "What? No," Khan shook his head. "Monica would never resort to that. It was a gradual process that eventually led us to the current situation."


    "Wasn''t the Alstair guy also there?" John wondered, looking at hispanions to confirm that information. "How did you find the time with that dog clung to her legs?"


    "John, Francis is our friend," Mark scolded.


    "Whatever," John sighed. "That guy is weirder than Wayne."


    "John," Khan called, and John''s bloodshot eyes fixed themselves on him before widening in fear. The room''s temperature had suddenly grown cold, and palpable killing intent had fallen on him.


    "Y-yes?" John felt forced to ask as rity spread in his mind.


    "No one clings to Monica''s legs but me," Khan said, showing a smile that radiated far different emotions.


    "Of course," John coughed. "I was just saying-."


    "Don''t," Khan interrupted. "I won''t speak badly of Mister Alstair. He simply has nothing to do with Monica or me."


    "Alright," John stated. "Still, since we are on the topic, how is life with Monica Solodrey?"


    "Don''t take it the wrong way," Mark added. "We have known Monica for years. We are just curious about her character outside social events."


    "And you will remain curious," Khanughed as the mood grew more cheerful. "I want those sides of her to be only mine."


    "Why does he look cool when he says that?" John wondered.


    "Don''t let him fool you," George warned. "He goes full husband material. That''s why he is so secretive."


    "We are already seeing surprising scenes in public," Lucian chuckled. "I believe we''ll have fun for the rest of the semester."


    "You should n more private parties," Mark suggested. "They might give us a chance to know each other."


    "That''s a good idea," Lucian agreed. "I only wish Khan wasn''t so busy."


    "Didn''t you change your mind yet?" Mark questioned. "You don''t need to kill yourself for status anymore."


    "It''s not that," Khan uttered, deciding to reveal something to sow seeds that could bloom in the future. "The wealthy life sounds fun, but I want to find the Nak, which means exploring the universe and learning from aliens."


    "The Nak?" Mark asked while everyone showed confusion. Only George shot a knowing nce before focusing on his drink.


    "It''s something I must do," Khan remained vague. "You do what you want with this information."


    Khan paid attention to the symphony, but nothing strange appeared. He sensed curiosity, detachment, and interest, but none was as intense as he wished.


    "It''s understandable," Mark stated, even if he didn''t pinpoint the reason behind Khan''s goal. "I guess you''ll visit Induna on the weekend."


    "That I will," Khan nodded.


    "You know," Mark continued. "Induna has interesting shells under its ice. If you found some-."


    "Hey, hey," Lucian interrupted. "Khan already has a deal with me."


    "And Lucianes first again!" John eximed before lying down.


    "We''ll stick to parties then," Mark shrugged his shoulders. "Cover yourself on Induna. I don''t want you to use a cold to ignore our invitations."


    "I''m good with cold," Khan dered. "Also, we won''t hide from social life anymore. Appearing in public as a couple is part of the gig."

 Chapter 500 People

    Meeting the descendants after achieving that new status gave Khan a broader perspective on the amount of wealth they actually held. Calling them worlds apart almost didn''t fit the description. No one could umte that sum in a single lifetime, especially without a background.


    The situation appeared hopeless, but Khan could find a positive side. The reality check made him give up trying to match the descendants in that field. He would never achieve that, so he had to prioritize the only thing theycked, which involved the Global Army.


    When thest weekly lesson ended, Khan jumped on his ship with a newfound resolve. Theck of alternatives made the path toward his goals easier to pursue, and his body reacted to that mindset, allowing him to fly faster than before.


    Induna was farther than Abora and Honides. A cheap ship would generally take two full days to cover the distance that separated it from the Harbor, but Khan saved twelve hours due to his incredible resilience.


    After one and a half days of flight, a pale-blue appeared in the ship''s scanners, forcing Khan to endure the deceleration procedures. Calls also arrived to coordinate hisnding, and it didn''t take long before the vehicle pierced Induna''s atmosphere.


    A bluishndscape unfolded on the canopy''s windows. Ice spread everywhere, creating frozen mountains, ins, and canyons. Pale-blue snow fell from grey clouds that covered the entire, making it hard for Khan to spot the outpost with his eyes.


    The ship obviously had scanners for the task, and the autopilot had also coordinated with the targeted outpost, so Khan could let go of the steering wheel. His eyes wandered to the windows as Induna''s details ran through his thoughts. Still, the scenery confirmed that there wasn''t much to know about that.


    ording to the reports, Induna was a lifeless that the Harbor mostly used to dig out water. Valuable metals and minerals existed under the ice, but nothing was vital to the Harbor''s survival.


    The findings hidden in the ice were the only exception to Induna''s otherwise in environment. Fossils and much moreing from before that ice age filled the, and many scientists were interested in them. Yet, their retrieval could be troublesome and expensive, which exined Khan''s presence.


    The autopilot led the ship behind a huge frozen mountain and toward its base. Something moved there, and a ck building became visible once the gate at its center opened, making the snow above it fall.


    The ship crossed the gate andnded on a vast hangar, mostly featuring small terrestrial vehicles. Soldiers wearing long ck coats and thick hats waited in the area, and the usual military salutes unfolded when Khan appeared in the open.


    "Sir, please, wear these," One of the soldiers left the weing party to approach Khan and hand a coat and a hat.


    The temperature in the hangar was strangely low, and the gate''s opening had made it fall even further. Khan had no problem enduring that cold, but his mission would involve the outside world, so he wore his new clothes.


    "I''d rather hurry," Khan announced since the soldiers had yet to break their military salute. "Is everything still as stated in Headmistress Holwen''s report?"


    The trip had taken a while. It was early morning of thest day of the week, making it impossible for Khan to return for the first lessons. Yet, he could still save a few hours if the mission didn''t feature problems.


    "Yes, sir!" The soldier that had handed the winter clothes responded while leading Khan into a different part of the hangar. "The snow never stopped, but we have machines that keep the area clean."


    "Let''s see this cave then," Khan ordered, and the hangar began to move to start the mission.


    The soldier led Khan to a closed jeep that could hold up to eight people. However, only five entered it to leave Khan alone on the backseats.


    That preferential treatment was nothing unusual after Madam Solodrey''s announcement. The soldiers didn''t know whether to see Khan as a Captain or a descendant, so they did a bit of both in their manners.


    No one spoke unless called. No one turned unless Khan''s requests required that. Everyone in the vehicle acted like the slightest mistake could lead to a death sentence, and the symphony conveyed their tension.


    Khan yed along with that treatment. He preferred silence anyway since it let him study the environment in peace, but Induna didn''t offer much in that field.


    The Global Army had dug multiple roads that stretched from the outpost to the various extraction nts. Small and big automated vehicles filled them to deliver any retrieved goods, mainly consisting of blocks of ice. Induna didn''t have anything else. Khan could only enjoy the cold piercing into the jeep and wait.


    Almost half an hour had to pass for the jeep to reach a small in. An encampment made of metal tents filled it, and a vast path divided it in half, leading to a big opening in the wall of ice in the distance.


    Pale faces, drooling noses, and tremors unfolded in Khan''s view. The encampment''s weing team had more than twenty soldiers, and snow had covered them. Those warriors were freezing, but no one dared to move.


    "At ease," Khan announced as soon as he left the jeep. Induna''s cold reached him at that point, threatening to make his entire body shake. Snow also fell on his face, attempting to hinder his vision.


    "Return to your tents," Khan continued. "I only need my escort."


    Sighs of relief followed Khan''s order. Many soldiers in the weing line split to hurry back to their tents. Only a few remained outside, and the team from the jeep joined them to create Khan''s escort.


    "This way, sir," One of the soldiers in the team announced while pointing at the opening in the distance.


    To Khan''s surprise, the in''s ground wasn''t slippery. Ayer of snow had covered it, but finding stable footholds wasn''t a problem. The Global Army had probably done something to the ice below, which made the walk toward the cave morefortable than he expected.


    That changed as soon as the team crossed the cave''s entrance. The Global Army had dug through the ice to create a vast descending path that could fit a jeep. There was even a metal staircase on its left side, but Induna''s cold had made its steps slippery.


    The escort''s soldiers knew their way around that environment, so they supported themselves on the staircase''s handrail to avoid losing their bnce. As for Khan, mere ice couldn''t affect his feet, so he waited for hispanions to advance.


    The staircases went on for hundreds of meters and even turned a few times. Rocks eventually appeared on the various surfaces, leaving the job to fend off the darkness to the many electricmps hanging from the ceiling.


    On the fifth turn, the staircase ended in a narrow and dark crevice that could barely fit a full-grown man. Khan peeked through the gap, but his heightened eyes couldn''t see much. He only noticed that the hole stretched quite deeply.


    "The scanners on the surface show an underground room in a branch of this hole," One of the soldiers exined. "Sir, the fossil shouldn''t be bigger than a fist."


    "Remind me why you didn''t erge this opening," Khan ordered.


    "The cave isn''t stable enough for that," The soldier responded, "And we don''t have the best probes on Induna."


    "There isn''t much to probe," Khanmented. "I''ll need a bag."


    "Sir?" The soldier asked. He had just exined how small the fossil was, so Khan''s request didn''t make sense.


    Khan only needed to look at the soldier to make those doubts useless. The team was carrying a couple of backpacks, but they were full, so they emptied one on the spot toplete Khan''s request.


    The warm coat and hat fell on the ice with the backpack''s contents. Khan undressed to make the passage through the hole morefortable and even shook his head when one of the soldiers tried to give him a torch.


    "It won''t take long," Khan announced, suppressing the tremor the cold tried to trigger.


    Khan jumped into the hole and let the cold seep through his uniform to reach his skin. He slid through that dark cavity for tens of meters until the space grew big enough to fit a whole jeep.


    Khan kicked the icy surface behind him to stop sliding and freefall. Of course, his feet promptly moved to slow him down, and he even lifted a finger to release some mana and illuminate the area.


    The symphony and the mana''s illumination allowed Khan to find the mentioned branch quickly. He only had to descend a bit longer before finding himself before another narrow passage that led into a vast underground room.


    The cold began to get to Khan at that point. The temperature had dropped even further, threatening to affect his ability to move. He had to activate the kic barrier to keep himself warm, which began to melt the ice around him.


    Khan believed that the cave would survive that little warmth. Still, he was no expert, and facing pointless risks wasn''t ideal at those depths. Also, he wanted to hurry back to his ship, so he put his senses to work and scoured the area.


    The underground room was uneven, with many hidden corners and small cavities. Yet, the surfaces were made of simple rocks and ice, so Khan easily spotted unusual items. Anything that didn''t properly reflect the membrane''s purple-red light could contain something valuable.


    Khan used his technique''s warmth to melt those surfaces and retrieve the items inside but often ended up with mere rocks. However, a few exceptions existed. Khan found three rectangr shells that the ice had preserved quite nicely, a few broken ones, and what looked like bones.


    Khan''stest findingpleted his mission. The wall at the end of the room hid a blue crystal containing a mosquito-like creature. That was what the scanners had picked up, and Khan dug through the ice to retrieve it.


    A second inspection of the room didn''t reveal anything, so Khan left and flew back to the initial cavity. The escort team was still waiting for him, and surprise spread when the soldiers saw Khan returning so soon.


    Some doubts inevitably appeared, but Khan silenced them by taking out the blue crystal from the backpack. A soldier used one of the tools on the ground to inspect it, and confirming its authenticity marked the mission''s sess.


    Khan wore his winter clothes again and climbing the staircase warmed them up. The encampment eventually appeared, signaling his return to the surface. It seemed he could prepare for his departure immediately, but the arrival of a small triangr ship hinted at problems.


    In theory, Induna had ships flying from outpost to outpost. Yet, many were automated and mostly meant for transporting cargo. Instead, the vehicle that had descended toward the encampment could barely fit a small team.


    Khan''s escort team shared his surprise, especially since the ship neverpleted its descent. It stopped a few meters from the ground to hover above the metal tents.


    The situation was so unusual that some soldiers left their tents to inspect the ship. Still, the vehicle didn''t make any official announcement. It only rotated to point its back at the cave''s entrance and open its backdoors.


    ''No fucking way,'' Khan cursed when a familiar figure appeared at the center of those open doors. Wayne stood there with his usual smile, ignoring the snow that fell on his military uniform.


    ''How did he even get here so soon?'' Khan wondered.


    Wayne had attended Khan''sst lesson, and thetter had left the Harbor right afterward. His ship''s speed theoretically made it hard for anyone to reach Induna as fast as him, and his dive into the cavested less than an hour.


    Khan and Wayne kept their eyes on each other while the rest of the soldiers remained confused. The two young men were the only ones with a vague idea of what was happening, but neither moved.


    "You keep these," Khan eventually announced while handing his backpack to the nearest soldier, "And prepare my ship."


    The escort team was confused, but the idea of contradicting Khan never crossed their minds. They simply performed military salutes, but he ignored them before leaping toward the ship.


    A few jumps through the snow made Khan reach the ship andnd at its entrance. Its passengers'' area was empty and devoid of any tools. Only Wayne and the seats stood there.


    ''I should have brought my knife,'' Khan thought while Wayne continued to show his excited smile. The man appeared happier than usual, and no darkness tainted its presence.


    "I thought you wouldn''t havee," Khanmented.


    "I didn''t expect it either," Wayneughed. "They only told me to hop on this ship."


    "From the Harbor?" Khan questioned.


    "I can''t reveal that," Wayne replied.


    "Who told you that?" Khan pressed on.


    "I can''t reveal that," Wayne responded.


    "What can you reveal?" Khan directly asked.


    "Nothing, really," Wayneughed. "I know as much as you from now on."


    "And what does this now stand for?" Khan wondered.


    "Youing with us," Wayne stated. "I don''t know why or where."


    Khan kept his eyes on Wayne, but his senses reached for the environment. The backdoors were still open, and Khan could feel the many eyes on him. More soldiers hade out of the tents, and he had be the main attraction.


    As for the ship, Khan couldn''t sense anything strange. The cabin had a wall that separated it from the passengers'' area, but Khan could still feel the second-level warrior in the pilot''s seat. The vehicle had only that.


    "Why would Ie?" Khan asked.


    "I don''t know," Wayne admitted. "They only told me that you would."


    Khan had long since suspected Wayne of being part of arger conspiracy involving Mister Chares and possibly the Hive. Still, in the weeks since Wayne''s arrival, Khan had been unable to find a single clue about his identity or goal.


    The Headmistress and Lucian were in the same situation, and the other students were no different. No one seemed to know where Wayne hade from. His grades were good, but theck of background and meaningful connections made him suspicious.


    Realistically, Khan had no reason to follow Wayne. His dutiesy elsewhere. He was a student, so it was in his interest to return to the Harbor as soon as possible.


    Yet, Wayne seemed to know something about Khan''s family, and events with Monica had added fuel to his curiosity. That might have been a coincidence, but it still happened.


    ''Why do I feel like I won''t learn anything if I don''t follow him?'' Khan wondered. Somehow, he knew that he had to face risks to uncover truths. Luckily for him, he was no coward.


    "Lead the way," Khan eventually gave up.


    "Wonderful!" Wayne eximed before mming his fist on the ship''s side. The pilot understood the meaning of that gesture and closed the doors to begin the flight.


    "You are happier than usual," Khanmented, inspecting anything he could sense.


    A lot of snow had entered the ship due to how long its backdoors had remained open. Khan was wearing a coat and a hat, but even he felt cold. However, Wayne appeared perfectlyfortable without winter clothes.


    "It''s nice to be just the two of us," Wayne responded. "Isn''t it?"


    "It would be nicer if I knew who you really were," Khan uttered.


    "I''m not at liberty to reveal that," Wayneughed.


    ''Predictable,'' Khan thought before opting for a different approach. "What about the raised-in-the-dark stuff? Can you tell me about that?"


    "Oh, that''s easy," Wayne eximed. "I was promising, so they did everything they could to make me the best."


    "What do you mean?" Khan asked.


    "I''m like you," Wayne stated, "Modified and enhanced. Just, I could never gain any glory from my sesses."


    "An incident mutated me," Khan pointed out.


    "I guess yours was a coincidence," Wayne admitted, bringing a hand to his chin and diverting his gaze. "Mine wasn''t. I lost count of the injections and trials they put me through to give me this strength. You sure are lucky."


    Khan''s mana shook a bit at those words. No one truly knew how desperate the nightmares had made him, and beingbeled as "lucky" felt like an insult. Still, Wayne had revealed something that made him ignore that anger.


    "Did they experiment on you?" Khan questioned.


    "Oh, yeah!" Wayneughed, reaching for his uniform''s buttons to uncover his chest. "I still have scars from those procedures."


    Khan had to hold back a frown. Wayne''s muscr body carried cross-shaped scars, and Khan could only see those on his chest and shoulder. They also looked like old wounds that had started to fade, but missing them was impossible.


    "Why?" Khan couldn''t help but ask.


    "Talent, I suppose," Wayne wore his innocent smile while buttoning his uniform.


    ''Maybe,'' Khan thought as a random idea popped into his mind.


    "You said we are like brothers," Khan reminded. "Does it mean you are half noble?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I can''t reveal that," Wayneughed.


    Khan couldn''t find more questions, but his mind continued to run. George''s hypothesis of a loaned descendant appeared in his thoughts and made him create shocking scenarios.


    Wayne had to have powerful backing. His sudden arrival at the Harbor alone could confirm that, but better clues existed. It simply didn''t make sense that the Headmistress and the other descendants couldn''t find anything about him.


    That left Khan with three options. Wayne could be a member of a secret organization, a wealthy family, or a noble family. Only those forces had the power to create such a convincing fake identity.


    Wayne''s words made Khan inclined toward the nobles since he suspected his mother had a simr status. Moreover, it would sound more reasonable for forces at the peak of humankind to achieve all of that.


    Of course, Khan knew that those options could blend. Wayne could be part of an illegal faction of the Hive built by the very nobles. The edges weren''t too clear on that topic, and Khan couldn''t find answers just by thinking about the matter.


    Theck of other avable topics created asting silence. Khan and Wayne remained on their feet, staring at each other in a stalemate that involved a cold face and the embodiment of happiness.


    The flightsted longer than Khan expected. He didn''t check the time but could feel that at least twenty minutes had passed before the ship began its descent.


    The ship eventuallynded, and its backdoors opened into a snowy environment. Wayne directly jumped out, while Khan took a few seconds to inspect his surroundings. He couldn''t find anything strange. He actually didn''t find anything at all. The vehicle had reached another frozen in thatcked any trace of technology.


    Wayne didn''t say anything. He simply looked at Khan with his usual smile, eventually making him jump out too. The two ended up in that frozen destion, and the ship''s doors closed behind them.


    Khan nced at the ship when it set off. He could intervene, break its doors and take control of it but held back. That dangerous development confirmed the importance of the event, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.


    The ship quickly disappeared among the snow, leaving Khan and Wayne seemingly stranded on Induna. The two didn''t know where they were, but something else happened before any of them could speak.


    A whooshing noise fused with the snow blowing when warm air seeped from a nearby frozen spot. ck lines appeared on the ground to create a square that descended to reveal a metallic structure underneath.


    "I think it''s for us," Wayne announced, heading directly for that new opening.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan inspected his surroundings once more but eventually followed Wayne. The two reached the opening and found a descending metal corridor equipped with staircases and electricmps. The ce reeked of synthetic mana, and its entrance closed as soon as Khan left its range.


    Wayne and Khan''s steps on the metal staircase echoed through the corridor, revealing its size. The two had to descend for a while before finding a change in the environment. A door eventually unfolded in their view, and its opening revealed its purpose as an elevator.


    ''Even deeper,'' Khan took a mental note while entering the elevator with Wayne. The machine''s entrance closed on its own before moving down, but the descent didn''tst long.


    Khan didn''t know what to expect from that underground structure, but the opening of the elevator didn''t disappoint. An immense hall filled with piles of boxes, long assembly lines, and workers unfolded in his view. The area was crowded, and many eyes fell on him.


    Wayne stepped out of the elevator, and Khan waited a few seconds before following him. He knew he was walking into a trap, so escape ns formed and broke inside his mind.


    Khan nced at the tall ceiling before feeling forced to lower his gaze. Some workers ignored their assembly lines to show pure awe at his arrival. Proper reverence also filled the symphony, and neither of those feelings targeted Wayne.


    ''Do I know these people?'' Khan wondered while going through the vast path at the hall''s center.


    The workers weren''t wearing military uniforms, but their bodies radiated mana. Khan mostly sensed first-level warriors, but a few powerful auras existed somewhere. The symphony carried traces of people as strong as him, but he seemed unable to recognize anyone.


    The awe and reverence weren''t isted cases. Every worker showed those emotions as soon as they recognized Khan. A few dropped their boxes or posts on the assembly lines to step toward the path. No one approached him, but a group began to form around him.


    The situation was strange, but that feeling transformed into coldness once Khan noticed something familiar. Huge shelves became visible after crossing a few assembly lines, and the items on them made Khan stop in his tracks.


    Body armor, visors, and rifles Khan had seen wielded by the kidnappers on Nippe 2 filled the shelves. Their numbers were in the hundreds, and workers stuffed them into boxes before sealing those containers. A shipment appeared in motion, and Khan couldn''t even begin to guess its recipient.


    Wayne noticed that Khan had stopped and imitated him. He even followed his gaze but found nothing familiar in that military equipment. The man only felt curiosity, which was his general feeling toward almost everything.


    "Where are we?" Khan felt forced to ask, even if he knew his question was pointless.


    "I wouldn''t know," Wayne replied. "It looks like a warehouse."


    "An illegal warehouse," Khan corrected.


    "And who deemed it to be illegal?" A familiar voice resounded behind one of the shelves, and Khan and Wayne turned toward its source.


    Khan had kept track of the symphony, so he felt no surprise when a third-level warrior, a tall man with a sword hanging from his waist, became visible. Yet, the worker was carrying a rectangr device that radiated holograms, and the face in those images made Khan instinctively reach for his missing knife.


    "Mister Chares," Khan saluted. "It has been a while."


    "Almost five weeks," Mister Chares said through the holograms. "I told you I couldn''t wait that long, Captain."


    "You should have contacted me sooner," Khan suggested.


    "The change in your status got in the way," Mister Chares exined. "By the way, congrattions. Miss Solodrey looks like a lovely girl."


    A tremor ran through Khan''s mana, but he remained calm enough to continue the conversation. "To answer your previous question, I''ve seen this equipment during a kidnapping attempt on Princess Edna. Owning a warehouse full of it tells me it''s illegal."


    "I never said I owned it," Mister Chares pointed out. "I''m not even there."


    "And where are you?" Khan asked.


    "That''s not important," Mister Chares stated. "What''s important is my schedule. I must make a delivery soon, which stillcks a pilot because of you."


    "You can have illegal warehouses on Induna," Khanmented. "You can find a recement for your ipetent nephew."


    "Sadly, this business requires trust," Mister Chares sighed, "And clearance in the Harbor''s system. That''s not easy to find with Headmistress Holwen reinforcing her security with each passing day."


    "It seems you are toote," Khan uttered.


    "On the contrary," Mister Chares dered. "I have the perfect recement right here."


    "Why would I help you?" Khan questioned.


    "Because it''s your legacy," Mister Chares responded. "Look around you. These are your people."


    Khan kept a straight face but still diverted his gaze. A big group had formed around him, and a few took Mister Chares'' words as the signal to step forward.


    "Captain Khan," A middle-aged woman announced when she left the group. "It''s wonderful to meet you. You truly represent the best of us."


    "Who is this us?" Khan asked.


    "People wronged by the families, obviously," The middle-aged woman revealed.


    "Captain, sir!" A man called while also leaving the group. "I''m from the Slums, like you. The Global Army left me to die, but the organization saved me."


    "Me too, sir!" A second man called. "My family was destroyed long ago, but the organization took care of all its descendants. They have mana now."


    The first calls caused a chain effect. Khan soon found multiple people in the group searching for his attention through stories of how they had escaped the Slums of bad situations thanks to the organization''s help.


    "Why do they call it organization?" Khan questioned among the shouts. "Is Hive too hard to remember?"


    "The Hive is a terrorist faction," Mister Chares exined. "This organization has a different purpose."


    "Which is?" Khan pressed on.


    "Giving a chance to those abandoned by the Global Army," Mister Chares continued. "You are living proof thatmoners have the same or more talent than any descendant."


    Khan began to understand the situation. His background had turned those workers into fans since they saw the realization of something impossible in him. After all, Khan had touched the nobles whileing from the Slums.


    "I don''t do charity," Khan eventually said, "And I definitely don''t work in the dark."


    "You only need to name a price," Mister Chares repeated the words he had used during their first meeting.


    "When is the delivery?" Khan asked.


    "I''ll tell you if you join," Mister Chares replied.


    "What should I deliver?" Khan continued.


    "I can''t say until you ept," Mister Chares stated.


    "What''s the purpose of the delivery?" Khan pressed on.


    "Join," Mister Chares voiced, "And the answers wille."


    Khan didn''t like that. He had already been a pawn in someone else''s game, and the experience had been far from enjoyable. Besides, coborating with a criminal organization wasn''t ideal in his current political situation.


    "I have answers that might truly interest you too," Mister Chares showed a knowing smile. "I know the names your parents were forced to abandon."


    Khan''s expression tried to flicker, but he suppressed any reaction. He embodied detachment, even if curiosity had already filled his mind.


    "Out of curiosity," Khan said. "What if I refuse?"


    "Captain, let''s not do this," Mister Chares retained his smile, but his tone went cold.


    "Answer me," Khan ordered.


    "Very well," Mister Chares uttered, and part of the holograms changed to depict a familiar scene. Khan saw himself in the device. The hall had recorded his arrival.


    "Linking me to illegal organizations?" Khan wondered. "No one will believe that."


    "Are you sure?" Mister Chares asked. "Doubt is a powerful weapon. It might break even the most powerful bond, especially when so much is around it."


    Khan''s mana shook again. Mister Chares was clearly hinting at his rtionship with Monica. His friends and trusted superior would never believe random ims, but the Solodrey family might decide to distance itself due to such dangerous rumors.


    "I think I''ll leave," Khan turned toward the elevator.


    "Violet forty-six," Mister Chares promptly said, and Wayne''s eyes lit up. He performed a long jump tond between Khan and the elevator, and his excitement exined his stance.


    "I''m afraid I can''t let you leave," Mister Chares dered.


    "Do you think you can stop me?" Khan scoffed, lifting his hand to make mana flow out of it. "Do you know who I am?"


    "Captain," Mister Chares said as his smile disappeared. "We are a few hundred meters underground. You might destroy the ceiling and escape, but what would happen to the rest of the people here?"


    Mister Chares'' words hit the mark. Khan kept his eyes on the holograms, but his senses ran through most of the hall. More than a hundred people had to be down there, and the symphony didn''t g them as ill-intentioned terrorists. Actually, many feltpletely innocent.


    "Captain, don''t endanger your people," Mister Chares continued. "They respect you so much. It''s only proper to fulfill their feelings."


    Those emotional tricks couldn''t work on Khan, but he had simr problems to handle. Mister Chares was right. If he went wild, he risked submerging most workers in the rubble.


    "I''ll just use the elevator," Khan announced, retrieving his mana and stepping toward Wayne. "Move."


    "Make me," Wayneughed, and Khan didn''t hesitate. The synthetic mana in the area moved toward his legs to create an inhuman sprint.


    Khan delivered his fastest kick at the center of Wayne''s chest. Yet, to his surprise, Wayne managed to react to it. He lifted his arm in time to intercept Khan''s foot, and the impact made him slide on the smooth metal floor.


    Wayne slid for a few meters, and his smile broadened once he stopped. Instead, Khan felt stunned. Wayne didn''t only endure his best kick. An ordinary third-level warrior would have a few bones broken after that impact, but Wayne didn''t even lose his bnce.


    "You definitely are faster than me!" Wayne eximed, seemingly unable to contain his excitement.


    "Captain, I only need to keep you here," Mister Chares spoke again. "If I release this recording now, you''ll be on the clock to prove your innocence. In half a day, the Solodrey family will have retracted its acknowledgment."


    ''You should really stop mentioning my girlfriend''s family,'' Khan cursed in his mind as his dark sides grew louder and louder. He could almost hear the clicking growl rising through his spine, but sanity still prevailed.


    "Evacuate," Khan whispered as a hand reached his temple to massage it.


    "What did you say?" Mister Chares asked.


    "Evacuate!" Khan shouted, turning his head left and right to look at the crowd. "Evacuate now if you want to live."


    "Captain, be reasonable," Mister Chares pleaded.


    "Reasonable?" Khan chuckled, pointing his intense gaze at the holograms. "I''m ready to paint this red."


    "Cap-," Mister Chares tried to call, but Khan spoke before he couldplete his line.


    "Please!" Khan shouted at the crowd. "Leave now! I beg of you! Don''t make me do it!"


    "You are surrounded, Captain," Mister Chares stated as more strong auras joined the group. "I don''t know what you have in mind, but you can''t escape on your own."


    Khan had to admit that the situation didn''t look good. There was a total of four third-level warriors in his surroundings and tens of weaker workers. Wayne was also an annoying variable, and Khan didn''t even consider the many weapons on the shelves.


    ''On my own, he says,'' Khan thought as the clicking growl inside his mind grew louder. He had already decided what to do but retained enough sanity to speak onest time. "I''m really sorry for what''s about to happen."


    Khan stretched an arm at his side, and mana gathered into his palm. That mass of energy expanded until a clicking growl began to resound in its fabric. The cry grew loud enough to make some shelves tremble, and a gust of wind blew through the hall when that purple-red mass left Khan''s hand.

 Chapter 501 Ankle

    ''ying with other people''s lives,'' Khan thought. ''I''ve had enough of this shit.''


    Unreasonable desires invaded Khan''s mind. The cloud was in the open now, and Khan experienced its feelings. A faint connection between the spell and him had appeared, which affected them both.


    Khan''s restraints quickly waned. He felt as if he had held himself back for multiple lifetimes. No matter how much he pushed himself, people still attempted to threaten the important parts of his life, be it his girlfriend or his goal to find the Nak.


    The situation felt beyond unfair, and the cloud enhanced that feeling. Khan knew he had jumped head-on into that trap. He knew he could have been more careful. He knew the ce had innocent people who had ended up there due to equally sad coincidences. Yet, none of that mattered anymore.


    The gust of wind released by theplete appearance of the cloud had put fear into the crowd. After all, the chaos element was deadly in everyone''s mind. However, the spell stood still after its creation, partially reassuring the audience.


    "What is that?" Wayne asked without hiding his excitement.


    "An attempt to find my ce in the world," Khan whispered vague words that made sense only to him.


    Mister Chares remained silent. His cold eyes moved from Khan to the cloud before returning to him. Ideally, he would avoid a battle, but something told him the negotiations were over.


    "Seize him," Mister Chares coldly ordered, and something clicked inside Khan''s mind. His wild feelings exploded, and the cloud reacted ordingly.


    A deafening clicking cry escaped the cloud, almost covering thest part of Mister Chares'' order. The spell dived toward the floor, destroying its metal before making its way toward the swordsman with the holographic device.


    Meanwhile, Khan resorted to Maban''s technique to sprint forward and jump. Wayne brought his arms to his sides, preparing for the imminent attack, but his eyes widened in excitement when he realized what was about to arrive.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan spun twice mid-air before stretching his right leg. The entirety of his momentum converged on his heel as it descended toward the unprepared Wayne.


    Wayne''s arms snapped upward to intercept the descending kick. He crossed them before the impact, but the attack still made his knees bend. However, he didn''t fall.


    Khan couldn''t help but be surprised once again. Wayne''s physical strength was off the charts. He had endured two of his best kicks with his bare hands, and his body had barely wavered in the process.


    A cry suddenly spread through the hall. The cloud had dug a channel through the metal floor before reaching the swordsman, who dropped the device to draw his weapon. He even retreated to create some space, but a spike stretched from the spell to catch up with him.


    The spike touched the swordsman''s arm, and its tip became the new center of the spell. The cloud almost teleported on the third-level warrior, enveloping his limb in its destructive properties.


    The swordsman didn''t know what to do. Pain spread from his entire arm as his skin broke and shattered. Every inch of the cloud had destruction as its sole purpose, and the third-level warrior''s flesh was experiencing its full power.


    The event made most of the hall panic. No matter what Mister Chares imed, many workers weren''t warriors. Some had actually never fought in their lives, so seeing one of their strongest members struggling against that strange spell rekindled the fear.


    Khan and Wayne were the only onespletely unaffected by that descent into a panic. They stared at each other without letting anything distract them, and Wayne ended up being the first to make a move.


    Wayne''s right hand opened and turned to stretch his fingers toward Khan''s ankle, but he kicked the air to push himself away. Khan flew backward, and the ceiling filled his vision while he joined his palms.


    The chaos spear took form, and Khan didn''t hesitate to throw it at the ceiling before turning toward the floor. Many had searched for a hiding ce, some had reached for the gear on the shelves, and only a handful had converged toward the cloud, but Khan knew all of that even beforeying his eyes on it.


    The spear exploded on the ceiling while six glowing needles materialized in Khan''s hands. Theoretically, he could pursue a more pacifistic approach and focus on escaping, but his mind had rejected reason. He wanted to deal a blow to his enemies and leave, even if pursuing both paths simultaneously wasn''t wise.


    Khan swung his arms to send the needles downward. He had targeted the third-level warriors and a couple of shelves, but his aim felt off. Four of his spells ended up on empty spots on the floor, one only scraped one of his prey, and another hit a weak worker right in her chest.


    The needle expanded inside the young woman''s chest, bing a spherical force that destroyed her insides. She was only a first-level warrior, so her heart crumbled right away, killing her on the spot.


    Khan didn''t miss a single detail. He had just killed an innocent woman who had no intention to fight. She probably didn''t even know about Mister Chares'' ploy. Her only fault was being in the wrong ce at the wrong time.


    ''Is this what I must be ready to do to achieve my goals?'' Khan wondered while lowering his head to peek at Wayne. The poor aim was probably his fault, but Khan didn''t feel right ming that kill on him.


    ''Bloody rivers,'' Khan thought as his unreasonable sides took over.


    Another chaos spear materialized between Khan''s palms while he was still mid-air. He promptly spun on himself to throw it on the ceiling before kicking the air above him.


    Thest kick flung Khan on the floor. Hended in the middle of a crowded area that had the previously-scraped third-level warrior. Weaker warriors were all around Khan, and he forced himself to look at them before summoning his mana.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The spherical version of the Wave spell expanded from Khan''s figure and reached the unlucky bystanders before stretching even further. Retreating wasn''t an option since many people fell or hindered theirpanions. Only the third-level warrior reacted fast enough to jump, but Khan''s attack hit him anyway.


    The decision to hit a crowded area had multiple purposes. The main was to sow chaos and turn the battlefield into something that Khan could manipte and traverse more easily. Instead, the others had a deeper connection to Khan''s state.


    Flowing wasn''t enough anymore. The wild feelings wanted Khan to be one with the symphony while leaving his mark on it. The chaos element had basically tainted Khan''s battle style with its aggression, leading to that deadly attack.


    Thest and most important purpose of Khan''s attack was connected to his mindset. He would do anything to protect his situation, even killing innocents, and that decision required a deration.


    Khan remained unfazed while the Wave spell destroyed skin, flesh, muscles, and bones, revealing the clueless bystanders'' insides. That was different from theke on Nitis. He could have avoided killing so much now. Yet, he needed that gory deration to silence his hesitation once and for all.


    The spell cleared the area, pushing everyone away and killing those stuck in its range. The third-level warrior was one of the survivors, but his previous jump turned out to be a fatal mistake.


    The third-level warrior was still flying when Khan appeared in front of him. His arrival had also been too fast, and theck of footholds made the soldier unable to react to the precise kick aimed at his neck.


    Khan diverted his attention when the soldier''s neck released a cracking noise. The attack had only paralyzed him, but Khan had more important business to attend to.


    Another spear appeared between Khan''s palms while he kicked the air to push himself toward the ceiling. He threw the spell upward and prepared himself to return to the battlefield, but something surprising attracted his attention.


    Khan''s ability to fly gave him a stark advantage against anyone stuck on the ground. He was unreachable by martial arts, and no one could focus on aiming spells at him with the cloud and the general mess.


    However, Wayne wasn''t anyone. He couldn''t keep up with Khan''s speed, but thetter had to slow down when throwing his spears at the ceiling.


    Wayne had done his best to follow Khan until he found his opportunity. Right after Khan paralyzed the third-level warrior, Wayne climbed on a shelf nearby and threw himself at Khan.


    Khan''s senses had noticed the entire event. Wayne''s leap had been quite incredible. Even Khan would struggle to jump that high without relying on his martial art. Yet, the sky was his reign, and only people with wings could try to dethrone him.


    Khan lightly pressed on the air, intending to side-stepping Wayne''s leap. Yet, his foothold suddenly grew unstable. He didn''t fail his technique, but the mana under his feet shook, forcing him to waste one second to retrieve his bnce.


    Wayne managed to reach Khan''s right foot during that window. He wrapped his hands around his ankle and applied a force that threatened to crush his bones.


    Khan held back a curse while delivering a stomp with his free leg. His attack hit Wayne at the center of his face, but he didn''t budge. Wayne continued to smile even as blood flowed out of his nose.


    Mana immediately flowed through Khan''s body to prepare a spell, but a crack eventually resounded, filling him with pain. Wayne had broken his ankle, making his right foot hang powerlessly from his leg.


    Wayne didn''t hesitate to exploit that second window. He began to climb Khan''s leg, but a purple-red spere expanded on his face. Wayne''s skin began to break under the effects of the Wave spell, but his grip remained firm. It took another kick from Khan to make him fall.


    Khan tried to fly with one leg, but the floor had grown too close during the struggle, granting some bystanders a clear line of sight. Before he could realize what was happening, two metal spheresnded on his back and released lightning bolts that made him lose control of his body.


    The spheres'' stunning properties finally brought Khan to the floor. He crashed violently, but the pain released by his broken ankle kept him awake.


    More lightning bolts came out of the spheres, but a clicking growl spread inside Khan''s mind, sending new strength to his body. A tinge of rity spread, allowing him to unleash res of mana that destroyed the weapons on his back and the new iing bullets.


    A buzzing noise filled Khan''s ears once his mana dispersed, but he struggled to his knees to point his intact foot at the floor. He could fly with one leg if he had enough space, but the bystanders wouldn''t give him time.


    The cloud had sessfully killed the swordsman and had proceeded to pursue anything in its range. Its assault was random, so the two remaining third-level warriors could ignore it to focus on Khan. The weaker workers who had managed to grab a weapon did the same, and a series of bullets and spells flew toward him during that moment of weakness.


    Khan sensed everythinging his way. A giant snake made of yellow mes and tens of bullets converged toward him, making a mess out of the symphony. Moreover, mana gathered around him, giving birth to dark water that took the shape of a sphere and trapped him.


    Escaping was impossible in that situation. The bullets and giant fiery snake crashed on the dark sphere, destroying a good chunk of the metal floor and turning the spot into a fuming mess.


    Silence tried to spread. The audience held their breath as they waited to see the result of their attacks, but painful cries filled the hall. The cloud was still going wild, chasing after anything that moved, and its aggression attracted a lot of attention.


    Nevertheless, the arrival of a blinding purple-red color forced everyone to focus on the column of smoke. That grey gas quickly dispersed, and a monstrous sight reached the audience''s eyes.


    Khan reappeared, showing his burned body covered with clotted blood vessels. His coat, shirt, and most of his pants had disappeared, granting a full view of his charred flesh. Still, he was standing, even without the help of his right leg, wielding two blinding spears in his hands.

 Chapter 502 Side

    Gasps and cries tried to resound, but the audience felt unable to breathe. A monster hade out of the smoke, and they feared what it could do.


    Khan stood on his left leg, with his right slightly bent to prevent his broken foot from touching the floor. The [Blood Shield]''s full power had been unable to protect his entire body, so some areas were worse than others. The alien technique didn''t do anything to the superficialyer of skin either, so burns covered him all over.


    The worst burns still let out tinges of smoke, with the most hideous one being on the left side of Khan''s head. His ear had survived that assault, but a third of his hair had disappeared, reced by charred skin.


    The smoke enhanced Khan''s monstrous appearance, and the retreat of the clotted blood vessels helped even further. Everyone could see the [Blood Shield] disappearing inside Khan''s body. It seemed he could control systems no ordinary human should be able to affect.


    As for Khan, he struggled to retain a sane mind. Pain invaded him from every direction while wild feelings pushed against that. A proper war had started inside his mind, and his element was winning, granting him the necessary rity to keep fighting.


    ''What is that stupid cloud doing?'' Khan cursed. The spell was ignoring him to satisfy its desires. It was still helpful for attracting part of the crowd away, but Khan would have better uses for it if he could control it.


    A buzzing noise distracted Khan from the symphony, and the appearance of holograms made a few people move aside. It turned out that the swordsman''s holographic device had survived the cloud''s assault, and new images came out while it rested on the ground.


    "Why do you struggle so much?" Mister Chares'' voice came out of the device before the holograms could stabilize. "All this killing is pointless. We are on the same side, Captain."


    "There is only one side," Khan spoke in a hoarse voice. "My side."


    Khan straightened his position, uncaring of his injuries or the single leg keeping him standing. He appeared ready to crumble, but his eyes werepletely open, and he pointed them at the holograms before throwing the spears upward.


    Explosions resounded while Mister Chares'' flickering face and Khan stared at each other. The ceiling could support the entire underground structure, but Khan''s spears were beginning to affect its stability. Cracks and holes had already opened, and a single fatal w would be enough to start a chain reaction and make everything crumble.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "The cameras are still recording," Mister Chares continued in his cold voice. "How do you think the Global Army will take your actions?"


    "Go ahead," Khan stated, joining his palms to create another spear. "Release the footage and show everyone how I respond to threats."


    Mister Chares fell silent and watched as Khan threw his new spear to the ceiling. Clearly, Khan was beyond threats. He had also killed, so there was no point in trying to talk reason into him. He had already crossed the line.


    "We could have been good allies," Mister Charesmented.


    "Next time, send a bottle," Khan scoffed, generating another chaos spear.


    "If there is a next time," Mister Chares stated, and the holograms disappeared.


    Khanunched the new spear upward, uncaring of the conversation. He had only one goal, and destroying the ceiling was the way to achieve it.


    Instead, the audience didn''t take Mister Chares'' words too well. In their minds, Mister Chares had left them on their own, and noticing another stunning detail intensified their panic.


    Khan didn''t even wait for the spear to explode before generating another one. That was his eighth big spell, and he had cast it after suffering injuries and intense fighting. In theory, he should be almost exhausted, but the surprises for the audience were far from over.


    The audience saw Khan throwing the spear at the ceiling and summoning another without bothering to catch his breath. His resilience and appearance had already entered the realms of monsters, but his mana pool seemed to surpass that.


    "S-shoot him down!" One worker stammered in her panic, and the rest of the audience snapped awake. All their fears fused into a single goal. They had to kill Khan before he made the ceiling crumble.


    Khan threw the spear at the ceiling while a barrage of attacks converged on him. He could feel them getting closer and threatening to turn his injured body into a charred pulp, but no fear existed in his mind. He only felt anger.


    "I told you to evacuate!" Khan shouted, and a clicking cry fused with his voice as res of mana shot out of his body.


    The defensive spell took care of the bullets, but the third-level warriors'' attacks were too much for it. Yellow mes had gathered around Khan to create a dangerous vortex that grew stronger with each rotation, and a dense dark sword had materialized above him.


    The mes and sword drew closer, piercing the purple-red res in an attempt to crash on Khan at the same time. Meanwhile, a clicking cry continued to escape his mouth, sending more power to his mana and conveying something that only his ally could understand.


    A second cry joined Khan''s shout while the spells made their way through the defensive technique. The cloud heard Khan''s anger and echoed it while flying at full speed toward him.


    The cloud didn''t abide bymon sense. Shelves, boxes, and people stood in its way, but it flew straight through them, leaving a trail of destruction behind.


    When the attacks grew too close, the spherical version of the Wave spell expanded from Khan''s body, pushing away the res still lingering around him. The yellow mes couldn''t hope to fight the chaos element''s destructive power, and only the de survived for a bit before crumbling under Khan''s offensive.


    Khan sent mana to his right hand while the Wave spell expanded. A de grew from his fingers, and he didn''t hesitate to point it at his side.


    Wayne had charged forward, uncaring of his broken skin or threatening mana before him. He had mmed head-on on the Wave spell, using his bare hands to carve a path through its destruction, but his eyes widened in surprise when he found the glowing de pointed at his face.


    Khan couldn''t really move in that situation, but Wayne didn''t have it any easier in the middle of the Wave spell. The de had made him stop his advance, dispersing his umted momentum and forcing him to give in to the chaos element''s push.


    Wayne flew away, and the Wave spell dispersed. Only the glowing de in Khan''s hand was still bright when the cloud reached his side.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Took you long enough," Khan said in a hoarse voice before stabbing the de into the cloud. His gesture carried no ill intentions, and the spell suffered no damage. Instead, it absorbed that bright mana to grow even stronger.


    As soon as the cloud sucked the de dry, Khan joined his palms to summon another spear. The action brought all the attention back on him and almost led to another barrage of attacks, but his ally managed to distract his opponents.


    The cloud released a deafening cry while its surface grew unstable. The spell seemed on the verge of exploding, and bumps that looked like bubbles ready to burst rose on it.


    The bumps grew while the cloud''s cry continued to echo through the hall. The event made the crowd step back and lose their grip on the weapons, but the spell attacked before they could retreat.


    The bumps transformed into spikes that stretched from the cloud to reach the audience. There were less than ten of them, but their destructive power appeared immense since they pierced metal, flesh, and bones without meeting any resistance.


    The spikes didn''t stop at the first opponent. They stretched for many meters, reaching deep parts of the crowd before moving in multiple directions. People got cut left and right without ever getting a chance to defend themselves.


    Khan''s position didn''t allow the cloud to cover the entirety of his surroundings with those spikes, but his focus was elsewhere. No one was attacking him, so he threw the spear at the ceiling before preparing another.


    However, when Khanpletely summoned his new spear, a peculiar tremor ran through the symphony and made him lift his gaze. The detonation of his previous spell was still unfolding, but a crack soon peeked past the purple-red radiance and spread through the rest of the ceiling.


    The crack''s edges bent, and new fissures spread from them as the ground above pressed on the ceiling. The metal screamed, and the hall began to tremble. Then, a small chunk of bluish ice fell, causing a chain reaction that made everyone forget about the battle.


    More ice fell as the ceiling bent in different spots before breaking altogether. Many artificial lights went dark as the small debris transformed into proper boulders. Chaos was descending into the hall, but Khan only saw a path toward the outside world.


    The cloud shared Khan''s feelings and didn''t hesitate to interrupt its offensive to shoot upward. After all, freedom was its deepest desire, and Khan exploited it to create the path he needed.


    Khan jumped with one leg and repeatedly stomped it after ending in the air. He chased right behind the cloud, ready to support it with his mana if its power faltered. Yet, he wasn''t the only one with simr intentions. Wayne had never once panicked, and seeing Khan fly away made him follow him.


    Wayne obviously couldn''t fly. He had to jump on a shelf and a falling boulder to hope to reach Khan''s broken ankle. However, a blinding glow filled his vision when he was almost about to arrive at his destination. Khan had let go of hisst spear, which exploded in Wayne''s face and pushed him back to the floor.


    Khan didn''t turn even once during the climb. He kicked and kicked, sending mana in every direction whenever the cloud created a path too narrow for him.


    Ice, rocks, and chaos element filled Khan''s vision. Sometimes, debris managed tond on his body and rekindled the pain in his injuries, but nothing reached his mind. He existed for a single purpose now, so he kept looking up and kicking the air.


    The cloud seemed unable to lose power. Its unreasonable desires increased the might of the energy in its insides, and mere ground couldn''t hope to oppose it. Yet, that mana had limits, and the spell eventually shrunk during its mindless digging.


    Khan didn''t miss the event, but his right hand had long since been ready. A sword had covered his fingers, and he stabbed it at the center of the cloud to help with the digging.


    The cloud drained some of the sword''s power before ignoring it. Meanwhile, Khan kept his arm straight, working with his spell to escape that dangerous situation.


    The climb didn''tst long but felt like an eternity in Khan''s mind. He almost couldn''t believe his eyes when a new light source appeared above him, but those emotions didn''t affect his digging. Actually, the cloud grew even wilder now that the outside world was in sight.


    Natural mana, cold, and clean air invaded Khan''s senses while he and the cloud crossed thest chunk of ice to reappear in the in. The ground around them was still crumbling, and new cracks appeared as more space opened below. Still, neither cared while continuing to fly through the snow.


    Khan and the cloud flew higher and higher before separating. The spell shot to its left,pletely ignoring Khan. Meanwhile, Khan remained in his position as the incredible strength of his wild feelings began to leave room for his pain.


    ''I can''t stop here,'' Khan thought as information flowed through his mind. Mister Chares would have never brought him to a ce the Global Army could track. The in must have had jammers or simr items, meaning that no one would be able to find Khan there.


    The symphony didn''t carry anything unique, and Khan only saw snow in his surroundings. He was stranded, so he picked a random direction and flew in a straight line to put as much distance from the crumbling in as possible.


    Khan had be basically naked after the battle and climb. Thest surviving rag had long since slid through his leg, hanging on his knee. Nothing protected him from the snow, but he found some reassurance in that cold due to the many injuries on his body.


    Eventually, the pain became too intense, making Khan unable to advance. He could only slow down his descent before ultimately crashing on the side of a snowy peak.


    Khan tried to straighten his position before giving up and lying on the snow. He instinctively reached for his pocket before remembering that his clothes were no more. His phone was under the debris with all the illegal equipment and corpses.


    ''I need to get a new one,'' Khan sighed, immersing his head in the snow and letting the cold overtake him. His faint connection with the cloud even disappeared, signaling its dispersion.


    Minutes went by, in which Khan went in and out of the meditative state. The cold was helping him with the pain, but he feared falling asleep while he was so weak.


    A tremor eventually ran through the symphony, and Khan forced himself to sit down. He didn''t know if Mister Chares had another illegal hangar nearby, so he prepared for a second battle even if he was in no condition to fight.


    Still, the object that appeared in the distance reassured Khan. He even smiled at that white figure flying through the snowy and cold environment.


    ''White is the right color,'' Khan nodded in satisfaction as his ship grew closer to the snowy peak.

 Chapter 503 Barging

    Induna''s soldiers had gone looking for Khan as soon as they reported back to the Headmistress, and finding him in his injured state caused quite an uproar. The entire outpost ended up moving to get him doctors and someone who could fly him to the Harbor.


    "Are youfortable, Captain?" The pilot asked when the ship was ready for set-off.


    Khan didn''t know what to say. He found his situation annoying, but George wouldn''t be able to hold back theughs at it. He was on his ship but not in the pilot''s seat. Induna''s soldiers had loaded a bed in the cargo area, and he was stuck on it.


    A doctor had put a metal structure around Khan''s ankle to keep it still before bounding it to the ship''s ceiling, forcing his leg to stay lifted. A slimy ointment that radiated a pungent smell covered his body too, causing an itching sensation that annoyed him to no end.


    That wasn''t even the worst part. Due to Khan''s extensive injuries and reckless behavior, the Headmistress had put the outpost''s strictest doctor in charge of him. She was a middle-aged woman with curly red hair tied in a bun and a mean face, and Khan seemed unable to defeat her.


    "Ma''am, if I could at least-," Khan called.


    "Captain Khan," The doctor interrupted. "I ordered you to sleep. People asleep don''t make requests."


    "But I really need to study," Khan almost pleaded, but the doctor ignored him and continued to browse her phone from the seat on the other side of the ship.


    "Ma''am, I''m a Captain!" Khan tried to pull ranks, but the doctor promptly drew a cylindrical item that ended in a long needle from her pocket.


    "Headmistress Holwen authorized me to sedate you," The doctor dered. "I respected your wish to meditate because it helps the healing process, but I won''t hesitate to use this if you don''tply."


    The doctor let a few seconds pass before adding a "sir" to her threat. Khan could see her mana, so he knew nothing would work against her. He could only give up.


    A sigh escaped Khan''s mouth as he mmed his head on the pillow. The soldiers had loaded his backpack on the ship, so the mission and his side businesses weren''t in danger. Yet, he didn''t want that free time. He would rather study than face his thoughts.


    "Sir?" The pilot called again.


    "Any chance I can decide the ship''s speed?" Khan asked.


    "None," The doctor firmly responded without lifting her eyes from her phone.


    "Just set off," Khan sighed and closed his eyes. It wasn''t even dinnertime, but the ship would take more than two days to reach the Harbor at the rmended speed, so Khan had to give up on being a perfect student.


    The images from the past battle flowed in Khan''s vision while he kept his eyes closed. His fury was still there. His unreasonable feelings had never disappeared, but no power came from them. They had simply settled in the back of his mind, ready to resurface when the situation required it.


    ''Dammit,'' Khan cursed as more problems popped into his mind. He had left a simple message for Monica, but they couldn''t have a proper conversation without his phone or ess to the control desk. She would get worried, and Khan was powerless about it.


    ''I really did it this time,'' Khan thought as his focus returned to the previous battle. ''I killed innocents just because they stood in my way.''


    It almost felt strange how easy killing had gotten, but Lieutenant Dyester had warned Khan about that. Mana gave a chance to be gods among ordinary men, and Khan was a special case on top of that.


    ''I let my emotions have the best of me many times already,'' Khan recalled past teachings, ''But killing isn''t meaningless to me yet.''


    Khan knew how he truly felt. He couldn''t get rid of the sour emotions generated after taking a life. It was simply impossible with his ability to see the symphony.


    ''Still, that wasn''t a war,'' Khan admitted, ''And I killed anyway. Am I just at war with the world?''


    Khan quickly disregarded that idea. It could be urate, but he didn''t want to follow that reasoning.


    ''Am I justifying killing now?'' Khan mocked himself. ''Isn''t that what murderers do?''


    A sad answer arrived. No matter what Khan told himself, he had felt like a murderer since his first kill. He had yet to forget that young Kred, and part of him hoped he never would. In a way, he was grateful for his senses since they continued to make him feel bad about taking lives.


    Simr thoughts ran through Khan''s mind while the ship left Induna and flew toward the Harbor. He knew a thorough briefing awaited him but preparing for it felt pointless. He would rather spend the trip meditating and focusing on his mental state.


    Two days passed in a blink since Khan spent most of his time meditating and sleeping. His body greatly benefitted from that constant rest, but he remained far away from aplete recovery. His superficial injuries had healed, but his ankle remained a mess, and the left side of his head continued to show burned flesh.


    On the third day of travel, a short hour before dawn, the ship finally reached the Harbor and headed directly for a medical bay waiting for Khan inside one of the hangars.


    More doctors visited Khan and upgraded his bandages. They reced the metal structure on his ankle with special braces that closed themselves around his foot and half of his leg to provide better support. He could touch the floor with that new item, but walking remained difficult, and fighting was out of the question.


    After redoing the other bandages and getting clean clothes, a special cab set off to bring Khan to the embassy, where the Headmistress was waiting for him. By then, he had gotten rid of the strict doctor, but theck of a phone prevented him from studying or contacting his friends.


    The cab crossed most of the Harbor beforending on one of the embassy''s roofs. A team was already waiting for Khan, and a soldier approached the vehicle to open his door and hand crutches.


    Khan could only go along with that situation. He put the crutches under his armpits and let the team lead the way toward the now-familiar office. The Headmistress was already behind her desk, but her head remained lowered on her many reports even after the soldiers left them alone.


    The Headmistress'' silence didn''t affect Khan. He staggered on his crutches until he reached a chair before the desk and sat on it. Bandages still covered the left side of his head, so he supported his chin on his right hand while waiting for Headmistress Holwen to start the briefing.


    The symphony told Khan that the Headmistress didn''t like his carefree attitude. She was only pretending to look at the reports, or, rather, she preferred to deal with them instead of Khan. However, the two couldn''t just waste the morning like that.


    "What did you think you were doing?!" Headmistress Holwen shouted, mming her hands on the interactive desk and standing up.


    "You told me to y the bait, ma''am," Khan replied. "I baited."


    "How is going off on your own baiting?" Headmistress Holwen questioned.


    "Wayne was there," Khan exined shortly. "They were trying to contact me, so I followed to see what they wanted."


    Khan had stuck to a simple report while he was on Induna. The was alreadypromised, so the Headmistress wanted to leave the details for her office, and she couldn''t help but get curious now.


    "Tell me everything," Headmistress Holwen ordered, returning to her seat.


    "Didn''t you scour the ce I mentioned?" Khan wondered.


    "You can''t expect Induna''s forces to dig out everything in two days," Headmistress Holwen said. "Besides, I''m waiting for my trusted team to get there before starting the real digging operations."


    "That''s probably for the best, ma''am," Khan agreed. "Anyway, how should I exin this."


    Khan kept his exnation short but didn''t miss any detail. The Headmistress was ready to sacrifice him if necessary, but her stern character made her trustworthy, and Khan needed powerful allies.


    Confirming the connection between Mister Chares and Wayne tried to fill the report with positive vibes, but the rest of the exnation soured the mood. Another criminal organization was doing business in the Harbor''s system, and they even had secret warehouses capable of arming rebels.


    Of course, the Headmistress heard Khan''s description of the crowd. He told her how many people the underground hall held, but she ignored that detail to focus on the Harbor''s businesses.


    "I need to ask for reinforcements," Headmistress Holwen admitted. "Kidnappers, unclear identities, and now secret warehouses. This system isn''t safe."


    Khan remained silent while the Headmistress yed with her menus. He had said his piece, but the meeting was far from over.


    "Captain, you can''t be so reckless," Headmistress Holwen warned. "I don''t know much about your private affairs, but you are Monica Solodrey''s partner. Your death in a ssified mission might bring the Solodrey family to the Harbor to ask forpensation."


    "I wonder how much you''d pay for me," Khanughed.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Stop joking, Captain," Headmistress Holwen warned. "This is serious. You should know the extent of the Solodrey family''s reach by now."


    "I am serious, ma''am," Khan replied. "Still, we both know you have some of the answers I want. I ept that you can''t tell me, but don''t me me for looking for them on my own."


    Headmistress Holwen''s face grew colder, but Khan knew the true emotions inside her. Some hesitation and even a tinge of guilt had appeared.


    The Global Army couldn''t exactly wipe the memory of anyone born before the Second Impact. There had to be many higher-ups who knew about Khan''s parents, and the Headmistress had confirmed to be one of them with her mana.


    "You must understand-," The Headmistress announced.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I do," Khan interrupted, "But you must also understand my reasons."


    "And how good are they if they make you do such things?" Headmistress Holwen questioned. "If that''s your chosen path, you''ll have to kill much more than that."


    Khan scoffed before lowering his head. He had already reached simr conclusions. His battle prowess was his best quality from the Global Army''s perspective, so it made sense for him to exploit it to climb the ranks faster.


    "On Istrone," Khan announced, "I killed Kred to survive. On Nitis, I killed Niqols save pain from my loved one. On Ecoruta, I killed Stal due to orders. On Milia 222, I killed for multiple reasons."


    Headmistress Holwen remained silent since she knew Khan''s line wasn''t over. Still, even if she knew about Khan''s history, the list of his achievement continued to amaze her.


    "This time, I killed for myself," Khan continued. "The threats and the survival instincts were still there, but I could have yed it differently. Instead, I chose to kill."


    "Was it the right choice?" Headmistress Holwen asked.


    "It was my choice," Khan replied, shrugging his shoulders. Right or wrong didn''t matter as long as he followed his desires.


    "Well," Headmistress Holwen sighed, "You clearly can''t join missions for a while."


    "Ma''am, I can-," Khan tried to object.


    "You can''t," Headmistress Holwen reprimanded. "End of discussion. It''s also better to keep you in the Harbor since we know they are targeting you, at least for now."


    Khan had to give up. The Headmistress was right, but he didn''t want to pull the brakes on his fame. Yet, she controlled the very ship he used to fly through the system. Khan couldn''t go anywhere without her support.


    "About the footage," The Headmistress continued. "Mister Chares didn''t release anything, but what do you suggest I do if my team retrieves something?"


    "Release it, ma''am," Khan firmly responded, knowing that the Headmistress had simr intentions. "Just send it anonymously to one of my sites."


    "Are you sure?" Headmistress Holwen asked. "ording to what you told me, it doesn''t depict a nice picture."


    "It will serve as a warning," Khan confirmed, "And you can spin it in my favor. You can pass it as if I stumbled upon a warehouse with the equipment used against Princess Edna and took matters into my own hands."


    That was precisely what the Headmistress wanted to do. With that approach, she could bring awareness to the entire system and push criminal organizations into hiding.


    Khan''s fame would also improve due to his feats, but the ughter might put some factions and families off. Praising his battle prowess against Tainted animals or kidnappers was easy, but the footage saw him killing seemingly mindlessly.


    "As you wish, Captain," Headmistress Holwen eventually stated. "Mind you. I expect you to return to your missions as soon as you heal. My help has a price."


    "I expected nothing less, ma''am," Khan dered.


    "Onest thing," Headmistress Holwen promptly added. "Do you think we might find survivors? Or someone who managed to escape with you?"


    The battle flowed before Khan''s eyes. He was certain no one hade out with him, and rubble had already filled the underground hall by then. Theoretically, escaping was impossible, but one face continued to appear in his vision, and he had to consider eventual alternative routes.


    "If someone was lucky enough to¡­," Khan began to say before a realization dawned upon him. The matter sounded absurd, but mana could aplish miracles. He had probably figured out Wayne''s element, but nothing escaped his mouth.


    "To?" The Headmistress pressed.


    "To reach the elevator shaft," Khan quickly came up with a partial lie. "Also, the hall might have had other floors downstairs or additional escape routes. I can''t be sure."


    "I''ll tell my team to scour the underground area too," Headmistress Holwen uttered. "I''ll keep you updated about any finding."


    "Thank you, ma''am," Khan voiced.


    "Now," Headmistress Holwen said, preparing to stand up, but her office''s entrance suddenly opened, and a presence that put a smile on Khan''s face stormed inside.


    "Two days without a single call!" Monica shouted. "More than two days-!"


    Monica stopped shouting when her eyes met Khan''s. A nce at his figure told her the extent of his injuries, and all her anger vanished to make room for worry.


    "Miss Solodrey!" Headmistress Holwen scolded while leaving her chair. "This is a ssified meeting in a private area of the embassy. You are trespassing!"


    "I apologize for my disrespectful behavior," Monica performed one of her elegant bows. "However, I haveints of my own. Headmistress, you don''t have any right to hold a secret meeting with Captain Khan without warning me first."


    "Miss Solodrey, I manage the Harbor," Headmistress Holwen stated. "I have every right to request an immediate briefing."


    "Not at the expense of Captain Khan''s health," Monica coldly remarked while reaching for Khan''s shoulder. "Maybe the Solodrey name has so little value in your mind that you think you can mistreat my boyfriend without facing any consequences."


    Khan could almost see an angry answer forming inside Headmistress Holwen''s mind, but nothing left her mouth. She opted for silence before one of the wealthiest descendants in the Harbor.


    "We are leaving, Headmistress," Monica dered in front of that silence. She even stretched her right hand toward Khan, but he showed a sorry smile when he reached for the crutches.


    Monica didn''t initially notice the crutches, and that sight deepened her worry. So much had happened that weekend, and the sole idea that Khan might have died tried to put tears in her eyes.


    Khan stood up and handed one crutch to Monica, who seized it in confusion. Still, everything became clear when Khan took her right hand to kiss it. The gesture reassured Monica and made her unable to fight with the Headmistress anymore.


    "We were done anyway," Khan whispered, seizing back the crutch and turning toward the Headmistress, "Right, ma''am?"


    "Yes, this meeting is adjourned," Headmistress Holwen stated. "I''ll keep you updated."


    "Right, I need a new phone," Khan recalled.


    "I''ll have one delivered to your t," Headmistress Holwen responded.


    "Chaos resistant," Khan reminded before turning toward Monica. "Let''s go home."


    Monica was an emotional mess but mustered a nod and another elegant bow before heading for the exit with Khan. Headmistress Holwen soon remained alone in her office, and mental exhaustion fell on her, making her return to her seat.


    "What a troublesome pair," Headmistress Holwen couldn''t help butment before acknowledging another detail. "They make a good couple."

 Chapter 504 Social Event

    Khan wanted nothing more than put Induna behind him and immerse himself in his girlfriend''s love. Yet, he felt obliged to tell her everything first. He would kiss Monica only if she still epted him.


    Monica held Khan''s hand while a cab flew them to the second district. Her gaze remained lowered while tales of Induna''s events reached her ears. Her expression didn''t shake even once, and her grip remained steady.


    Khan''s tale ended with the briefing with the Headmistress. Thetter wanted their conversation to remain ssified, but Khan couldn''t keep things from Monica.


    "That''s everything," Khan eventually said, lying deeper into the seat''s back. He wanted to add something but remained silent to let Monica process his tale.


    "Is this why you have yet to kiss me?" Monica wondered, lifting her gaze to show her teary eyes. "Were you worried about my reaction?"


    Khan wanted to say something, but Monica lifted her free hand to reach for the right side of his face. She was a bit angry, but her worry was far stronger, and a smile even broadened on her expression when a sniff resounded.


    "I told you already," Monica did her best to hold back her tears. "I''d love you even if you were a real monster, and you aren''t. You are deeply scarred, but your actions are never cruel. You just do what you have to do."


    Khan reached the hand on his cheek to hold it. Even after learning about what he had done, Monica didn''t change her opinion of him. It actually pained her that he had worried about that.


    "Maybe I was waiting for your approval to move on," Khan exined. "I''m sorry. Bad habits are hard to kill, especially when I make so many problems for you."


    "Dummy," Monica sniffed, escaping Khan''s grasp to punch his chest. He barely felt her attack due to how little strength she had put into it, and more followed.


    "Idiot, stupid, scoundrel!" Monicained, continuing to hit Khan''s chest. "Cause as many problems as you want. Kill whoever you need to kill. Just make sure toe back to me."


    Monica couldn''t hold her tears anymore. She exploded, and Khan intercepted her new attack to pull her into his chest. Strength abandoned Monica''s body, leaving her powerless in Khan''s embrace.


    "Were you worried?" Khan whispered, caressing and kissing Monica''s hair to help her calm down.


    "I couldn''t sleep at all," Monica whimpered. "Last time you returned, you were a mess. You are even worse today. I''m afraid you won''te back from the next mission."


    Monica wrapped her arms around Khan''s torso and tightened her hug. She initially held back from applying her full strength for fear of potential injuries, but Khan''s calm demeanor eventually reassured her.


    Monica didn''t mention it, but Khan knew that theck of calls had worsened the situation. He couldn''t even imagine how worried she had been during those days.


    "I''lle back," Khan reassured. "I''ll alwayse back for you."


    Monica lifted her head to show her teary face. Khan hated himself for making her cry again, but Monica seemed to sense that instinctive reaction, so she pushed herself forward to reach his lips.


    "I was going crazy," Monica revealed once the kiss ended. "I thought they would have brought you back in a coffin."


    "You won''t get rid of me so easily," Khan reassured, reaching for Monica''s cheeks to wipe her tears. "You are stuck with me."


    "Good," Monica eximed. "I wouldn''t know what to do otherwise. The bed isn''t the same without you on it. The t feels empty when you aren''t around. My days don''t start if I don''t hear your stupid jokes."


    "My, my," Khan gasped. "It seems you have gone mad."


    "You made me like this," Monicained. "So don''t you dare die on me."


    Another wave of sobs arrived, but Khan was ready to take Monica in his arms again. So much blood was on his hands, but Monica didn''t want to be anywhere else. Shepletely epted him, and he couldn''t help but feel saved.


    "You''d be d to know the Headmistress grounded me for a while," Khan chuckled.


    "I''m not," Monica whined. "I don''t enjoy seeing you getting hurt all the time."


    "I thought you liked taking care of me," Khan teased.


    "I don''t like it anymore!" Monica snapped, pointing her pleading expression at Khan. "So, stop getting hurt."


    "Alright, alright," Khan instantly agreed. "Come here now."


    Khan pulled Monica closer to make her stretch her legs over hisp. She was basically sitting on him, and he cuddled her to disperse what remained of her worry.


    "How did you get into the Headmistress'' office anyway?" Khan eventually asked.


    "I threatened all the soldiers I found until one led me to the office," Monica exined.


    "That sounds like my lovely girlfriend," Khan nodded, and a giggle resounded in his arms.


    "By the way," Khan mentioned. "Shouldn''t you be in ss?"


    "I''m not leaving your side today," Monica stated. "I don''t care what you or my mother say."


    "Is that so?" Khan smirked. "I was about to say that I don''t really want you at my side."


    Monica recognized Khan''s tempting tone and nced at the braces around his leg. Her gaze then moved to the bandages on his face. He was still hurt, but Monica could see how full of energy he was.


    "And where do you want me to be?" Monica yed along since Khan looked mostly fine.


    "I can think of a few ces," Khan whispered, lowering his head to make their noses touch, "But on me sounds like a good start."


    .


    .


    .


    The trip to the Harbor had made Khan fall behind on his studies, but Monica brought him back to speed while he was bedridden. She even skipped sses to focus on him while Anita and George took care of delivering notes.


    Ideally, Khan would attend sses in his injured state, but the Headmistress required time to spin the story in his favor. Being outside would work against him, so he opted forplete rest, meditation, and intense study.


    Still, as much as Monica and Khan would love to spend the entire week alone, mandatory social events remained. Khan''s injured state also prevented him from moving too much, leading to a strange situation on the weekend''sst day.


    "Remind me why we are doing this," Khan sighed, straightening his position on the crutches.


    "Social connections require constant nurturing," Monica exined, adjusting Khan''s casual clothes. "We can''t allow ourselves to disappear anymore."


    "But why so many?" Khanined.


    "They are the best and wealthiest in the advanced sses," Monica stated. "Their friendship is a priceless asset among our generation."


    "What are the chances that we''ll get any studying done?" Khan questioned.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "None," Monica giggled, "But we''ll be together in a more restrained environment. We won''t need to stick to my mother''s rules so thoroughly."


    "Someone is eager to take me out," Khan teased. "We shouldn''t have been sote then."


    "That''s your fault!" Monica scoffed, stomping her feet and crossing her arms. "You should have let me go when the first rm rang."


    "I remember it the other way around," Khan chuckled, leaning forward to approach Monica''s pouting face. "You almost broke my new phone when you threw it away."


    "It''s still your fault," Monica giggled, taking Khan''s face in her hands. "You should feel bad about it."


    "How could I when you make such cute sounds?" Khan joked, but Monica showed no shyness. Instead, her hands slid on Khan''s face to take his neck in her embrace.


    "Only sounds?" Monica asked.


    "Your expressions are worth mentioning too," Khan whispered while Monica pulled him into a kiss.


    "Praise me more," Monica muttered, and Khan let go of the crutches to limp toward the bedroom''s wall, pushing her in the process.


    Monica let out a cute gasp when her back hit the wall, but Khan''s lips soon sealed her mouth. All their duties and worries suddenly disappeared to make room for their mad passion.


    However, a message lit up above the couple, and its light was bright enough to distract them from their intimacy. They both lifted their gazes andughed when they read those angry words.


    ''I''m going to tell everyone about that kinky game of yours if you don''te out,'' George said in his message.


    "We should show our faces," Khan sighed.


    "How can George convince you when I can''t?" Monicained. "Should I be jealous?"


    "George doesn''t have this," Khan joked, softly pping Monica''s butt. She let out another cute gasp, and an intense expression followed, but reason had the better of her.


    "You can have it once everyone leaves," Monica whispered tempting words before kissing Khan and escaping his embrace to pick up his crutches.


    "Ready?" Monica asked once Khan had worn the crutches, and he gestured a simple nod to make her open the bedroom.


    A series of cheerful cries resounded when Monica and Khan appeared in his t''s corridor. New couches, seats, and tables had appeared in the main hall, and multiple familiar faces filled them while calling for the couple.


    "You took your sweet time," Zoeughed.


    "We can excuse Khan due to his injuries," Lucian stated.


    "Right," George scoffed. "His injuries definitely are the problem."


    "It''s umon for the host to bete," Lucymented.


    "We can give the Captain some leeway," Mark announced. "After all, this is his first time."


    "But not Monica''s," Anita sighed. "My girl is on a bad path."


    "I might be a bit envious," Marcia admitted.


    "Khan, can we smoke here?" John shouted, even if a lit cigarette was already in his mouth.


    "Allow me to apologize for the dy," Monica announced when she and Khan reached the array of couches and seats. "I took longer than expected to prepare."


    "She couldn''t choose a dress," Khan added, stopping his limping to face the entire room. "I told her she would look perfect in any of them, but arguing with a Solodrey is impossible."


    "It''s still cute when you try," Monica giggled, reaching for Khan''s cheek to kiss it. "Never stop."


    Laughs and morements resounded in the hall, forcing Monica to perform an elegant bow that highlighted her yellow sundress. She didn''t have the time to prepare thoroughly for the social event, but her figure remained the embodiment of harmonious beauty.


    "You guys, sit down," Lucian called. "We are all friends here, so there is no need for ceremonies."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "And I''ve already filled your drinks," George added, pointing at the empty couch and the sses on the table before it.


    Khan and Monica exchanged nods and smiles while reaching their couch. Khan immediately picked up his drink while Monica folded her legs on the pillow and leaned toward his head to adjust his bandages.


    "You need to change them soon," Monica voiced, carefully stretching the cloth over the padded area.


    "I''ll remove them soon anyway," Khan responded. "My hair is already growing back there."


    "I''ll take you to a saloon once you do," Monica stated.


    "Eager to have a date?" Khan teased.


    "Very," Monica replied. "I want the entire Harbor to see me with my man."


    Thefort and intimacy shown by the couple silenced the hall. Lucian, George, and Anita had gotten used to that behavior by then, but Mark and the others felt shocked.


    "By the way," Lucian cleared his throat to break that awkward silence, "I''ve taken a look at what you brought back. You can sell most items in the shopping district, while Pandora might be interested in the bones."


    "Pandora?" Khan repeated. "How much are they willing to pay?"


    "Not much," Lucian admitted. "You might be able to make two hundred thousand, but that''s mostly due to your name."


    "Wait on the sale," Khan ordered. "There is a chance Pandora might want the shells too."


    "Is there something I should know?" Lucian wondered as his eyes lit up.


    "I guess a lot," Mark joined the conversation. "Khan has been so cryptic about his mission on Induna. Even the Global Army has yet to release an official report."


    "You''ll learn everything soon enough," Khanughed, and the buzzing of his phone put a smile on his face. "Perfect timing."


    ? Only a few seconds had to pass for everyone''s phones to ring. The descendants opened that notification, and their eyes widened in surprise when they realized what it was. The video of Khan''s battle in the underground hall had just hit thework.


    "So, what do you think?" Khan asked as his expression went cold.


    "I think," Lucian hesitated due to the amazement those images caused. "I think I need to contact Pandora again."

 Chapter 505 Revelations

    Khan kept a cold face while inspecting the symphony. That was a good chance to see how influential descendants reacted to his actions. He might be able to divide between potential allies and enemies in the next few minutes.


    Everyone remained glued to their phones, even Monica, and Khan peeked at her screen to see what had actually hit thework. As he had expected, the underground hall''s footage wasn''t perfect due to its damage, but a few interesting details still existed.


    The conversation with Mister Chares was absent, and a reurring flickering affected the video''s rity. Wayne was also always turned or unclear. No one could take a good look at his face in the footage, which felt fishy.


    Khan left those thoughts in the back of his mind while his attention remained on his guests. The goriest parts were strangely clear, too clear for some descendants. Marcia directly closed her phone when a worker''s insides filled the screen, and Lucy covered her mouth for fear of how her stomach might react.


    Anita and Zoe were no better, and Mark also wore a suffering expression. He didn''t like what he saw, but diverting his gaze wasn''t an option due to his status.


    Only a few managed to handle the video well. George''s mindset had switched at the sight of blood, allowing him to focus on Khan''s performance. Lucian was also calm and reviewed every detail he could notice. As for John, he appeared strangely excited, and low cheers escaped his mouth.


    "Damn, Khan," John eximed. "You are hardcore."


    Khan ignored thement but paid attention to the reactions it caused. The room featured a lot of disgust, which wasn''t surprising due to how little battle experience those descendants had. Still, some awe appeared, and the same went for respect.


    Monica was the only exception. She had gotten used to blood after Milia 222''s events, but seeing Khan getting hurt still affected her. Tremors ran through her back whenever an attack threatened to reach Khan, but he ced a hand on her leg to reassure her.


    Silence reigned even after the video ended. Lucian, John, and Monica opted for a second watch to review more details. Instead, the others avoided each other''s gazes, and only George stretched forward to slide a bottle toward Khan.


    "You improved again," George praised. "Am I even suitable for watching your back anymore?"


    "The whole point of sending you to your family was to end your time on the battlefield," Khan reminded, taking the bottle to refill his ss.


    "Was it?" George wondered. "I don''t seem to remember anymore."


    "George, we talked about this," Khan sighed.


    "Maybe we need to have that talk again," George stated, gesturing toward the bottle, which Khan didn''t hesitate to throw.


    Only Khan and George understood the context of their conversation. The shared experience of Istrone and Nitis created an unbreakable bond that put them on the same wavelength. In a way, they could understand each other better than anyone else.


    "Did the Global Army release an official statement?" Lucian asked, finally lifting his eyes from his phone.


    "I''m checking now," Mark revealed.


    "This is disgusting," Lucymented, struggling to return her phone to her pocket. "Why is the Global Army allowing such things to enter thework?"


    "Would you prefer censorship?" Johnughed. "I think we should have more things like this on thework."


    "It was a criminal organization," Khan exined. "I stumbled on it by chance and took care of the threat."


    "Couldn''t," Marcia cleared her throat in an attempt to sound as polite as possible. "Was this necessary?"


    "You have seen the equipment in the video," John pointed out. "Those guns blew Erika''s leg off and helped kidnap Princess Edna. Khan dealing with them was mercy."


    "Yes, Headmistress Holwen released a speech," Mark dered. "It was a branch of the criminal organization involved with Princess Edna''s kidnapping attempt."


    "On Induna?" Anita gasped. "How did the Global Army miss it?"


    "They could n a kidnapping attempt on a noble," Zoe pointed out. "Hiding a warehouse doesn''t seem much inparison."


    "What does this mean?" Marcia asked. "Is the Harbor even safe anymore?"


    "It wasn''t safe to begin with," Lucymented while a strange idea formed in her mind. "Khan, how did you say you found this ce?"


    "Lucy, I don''t like what you are insinuating," Monica snapped.


    "I''m just curious," Lucy responded. "I think I speak for everyone when I say I want an exnation."


    "Are you implying that I misunderstood what you meant?" Monica questioned as her voice lost any trace of emotion. "Am I that dumb?"


    Lucy had only feigned ignorance, but Monica was forcing her to take a stand. Lucy couldn''t possibly insult Monica due to her status, so she looked at the rest of herpanions, hoping that someone would support her.


    "What''s with this tension?" John wondered. "Khan met some bad guys and dealt with them. What''s wrong with that?"


    "I''m simply pointing out inconsistencies," Lucy justified her stance. "I never meant to doubt Khan''s loyalty."


    "I''m not dumb then," Monica uttered. "I was worried my social skills had gotten rusty."


    "You must admit it''s quite the coincidence," Mark stated. "Saving Princess Edna only to find a criminal organization connected to her kidnapping is truly odd."


    "Maybe this isn''t the right ce to talk about it," Lucian stated. "These political incidents are above Khan''s pay grade. No offense."


    "Lucian, we all know why you are saying this," Zoe dered. "I respect and admire Khan''s performance, but wanting answers has nothing to do with that."


    "I''m with Zoe," Marcia added, lowering her gaze for fear of looking in Khan and Monica''s direction. "It''s scary to think that criminals live so close to us."


    "These guys don''t know what true fear is," George chuckled, heaving a helpless sigh when he saw Anita''s worried expression.


    "It''s because of Wayne," Khan revealed. "He appeared as soon as I finished my mission, and following him led me to the warehouse."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Wayne?" John questioned.


    "Is the Headmistress aware of his involvement?" Mark asked. "Why didn''t she make it public?"


    "Khan, these are serious usations," Lucian pointed out.


    "It''s true," Khan dered. "He was there. He''s the man who broke my ankle."


    Khan lifted his right leg to ce the braced foot on the table. The sudden gesture made everyone take out their phones to study the video. The footage had the part when Wayne broke Khan''s ankle. The former was simply turned.


    "It might be him," John eximed.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I wish I could see his face," Lucyined.


    "It''s him," Khan confirmed.


    "Khan, are you sure this isn''t personal revenge?" Zoe asked. "using someone without proof is dangerous, even for you."


    "Is my man a liar now?" Monica pointed her smile at Zoe, but her expression carried no happiness.


    "Monica, please," Mark called. "No one is attacking Khan. We are just trying to understand."


    "The Headmistress opted to keep Wayne''s involvement a secret," Khan exined. "These are ssified topics that need your parents'' clearance to unlock. I simply decided to tell you in confidence."


    The Headmistress would probably get quite mad at Khan for that decision. His actions could potentially hurt her position in the Harbor and push for her firing. Yet, that was the political game, and Khan sometimes needed to y both sides.


    "You must understand that this revtion must remain among us," Monica deepened the topic. "Headmistress Holwen wouldn''t dare to endanger us, but making Wayne''s involvement public might put his connections on the run. Keeping it a secret increases the chances of finding more criminals."


    "That''s understandable," Lucian nodded.


    "Our families would have learnt about this anyway," Mark continued. "Still, learning about it earlier surely helps. Thank you for trusting us, Khan."


    "Just doing my job," Khan rejected that gratitude. "It''s mostly a warning in case Wayne tries to contact any of you."


    "Is he alive?" John asked. "I thought you made a mountain fall on him."


    "He was strong," Khan admitted. "I survived, so there is a chance he did too."


    "That strong?" George wondered.


    "That strong," Khan confirmed. "I think he wasn''t serious about it either."


    "You should stop leaving your knife here," George stated.


    "Consider it done," Khan nodded.


    "What are you two saying?" Anita asked. "This is a matter of public safety, and Khan is injured. You should spend the rest of the semester here and leave the job to specialists."


    "We are specialists," George scoffed. "We just don''t carry that name."


    "So, what?" Anita wondered. "Do you n to ignore your sses to chase after these criminals?"


    "That would be more interesting than studying," Georgeughed.


    "No one is going anywhere," Khan stepped in. "I shared this information with you, but I''d prefer if you kept it to yourselves. General panic won''t help anyone."


    "Are you asking us to lie to our parents?" Zoe wondered.


    "Mark said it himself," Khan pointed out. "Your family will learn about it, eventually."


    "He is quite good at this," John eximed. "You wouldn''t believe he came from the Slums."


    "I don''t mind having a source of intel faster than my parents''," Lucian chuckled.


    "I''m with Lucian here," Mark stated. "I can''t miss the opportunity to build something independently."


    "I''ll stay," Marcia dered. "Just don''t show me that video anymore."


    "I won''t tell anyone," Lucy dered, "But I don''t like these methods. I''ll take my leave early tonight."


    "Lucy," Zoe called, but Lucy shook her head while heading for the t''s exit.


    "I," Anita voiced among her hesitation. "I think I''ll leave too. I''m not feeling too well."


    "Anita?" George called. "Do you need help?"


    "No," Anita reassured. "I just need to rest. I''ll see you tomorrow."


    Anita also left the t, and a new tension descended into the hall. The atmosphere had changed into something that Khan understood very well. He could almost smell the arrival of ploys and secrets, but some sadness remained. George and Monica had made their decision, but they didn''t expect to see a friend turn her back on them.

 Chapter 506 Possibilities

    "She''lle around," Zoe reassured after the group spent a few seconds in silence.


    "Maybe it''s better if she doesn''t," George sighed, lying deeper into his couch''s back and gulping down what remained of his drink.


    "No need to get all depressed," Mark joined Zoe.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    George shook his head before shooting an annoyed nce at his empty ss. He didn''t want to go over those topics sober and with those people. Yet, he couldn''t pass for someone who didn''t care about Anita either, which put him in a pickle.


    "It''s not like that," Khan intervened. "Our world has blood and corpses. It''s not a ce you want your loved ones to know."


    Khan let go of Monica''s leg to immerse his hand in her hair before continuing. "I definitely didn''t want her to know mine and share its problems."


    "But you couldn''t keep me out," Monica whispered, turning her head toy it on Khan''s palm.


    "Not forck of trying," Khan sighed, rubbing his thumb on Monica''s cheek while memories resurfaced. He lost himself in that beautiful face, and the kiss that Monica delivered on his palm put him deeper into that state.


    Khan didn''t forget Monica''s injury during the battle with the Nak''s hand. That wasn''t strictly Khan''s fault, but he still put it on himself, and things got worse afterward due to the political implications of their rtionship.


    "You were ready to remain unhappy to spare others from your pain," Monica muttered, leaving Khan''s hand to reach his shoulder. "I loved how protective you were, but someone had to beat some sense into you."


    "You should have been uglier," Khan cursed, closing his left arm around Monica''s head to bring her closer, "And not being so cute when you are angry."


    "Khan, they can hear us," Monicained, but Khan retained his pensive expression while seizing her nose with his right hand. Monica felt weak before that face, and only a whispered whimper escaped her mouth. "Stupid, kiss me already."


    Mark, Zoe, Marcia, and even Lucian remained stunned before the kiss. The gesture alone was surprising enough to be on the front page of every news and seeing Monica''s submissive side added fuel to that feeling.


    John couldn''t help but leave his couch and sit beside Mark to be closer to that interaction. He even took out his phone to capture the kiss, but Mark promptly covered and lowered the device.


    "He tamed Monica Solodrey," John gasped, gazing at Mark. "He is the chos-."


    "Before we continue," Khan spoke before John could finish his line. "I don''t know Lucy too well. Should I worry?"


    "I''ll talk to herter," Zoe stated. "Though it would be better if Monica came with me."


    "It''s not a problem as long as she apologizes to Khan," Monica dered.


    "Monica," Khan scolded.


    "Lucy must mind her tone in your presence," Monica exined. "It would be disrespectful toward my family and me if she didn''t treat you with the appropriate respect."


    "Monica is right," Lucian joined the conversation. "Khan, you aren''t a simple Captain anymore. Any action toward your figure is reflected on the Solodrey family, and ignoring offenses would show that you don''t respect your new status."


    Khan didn''t expect Lucian to be on Monica''s side. He preferred things to be friendlier, especially in that isted environment. Yet, a single look at the room told Khan that his otherpanions agreed with Monica too.


    "I see," Khan epted, ncing at Monica. "Maybe we should meet her together then. It could be an opportunity to have a group date."


    Monica''s eyes lit up when she heard the word "date", but she forced herself to remain calm due to herpanions'' presence. She adjusted her position in Khan''s embrace and put her hands on her folded legs before responding casually. "If that''s what you want, we can n something out."


    Khan had a hard time containing his smile, but his efforts were pointless before that audience. Those descendants had received the best type of political and social education. They couldn''t miss how excited Monica was at that idea.


    "I thought you had plenty of dates already," Marcia announced, leaving her couch to sit next to George and be closer to the couple.


    "We would have known about that," Mark pointed out.


    "What did you do instead of going out?" Zoe teased. "Don''t tell me you jumped into his arms without getting to know him."


    "It wasplicated," Monica giggled, trying to reject those statements. "Mister Cobsend''s mission had the priority, and Khan was always busy being Khan. We only stole moments and a few nights before deciding to give us a chance."


    "It sounds like Zoe is right," John eximed, lighting a new cigarette and crossing his legs on the couch.


    "We had our moments," Khan revealed. "A drink now and then, a few honest talks, and I clearly remember a p."


    "We don''t talk about that," Monica voiced an awkwardugh, reaching for the bottle on the table to refill her drink.


    "Why not?" Khan teased, showing his empty ss to Monica. "I knew I liked you after that."


    Monica wanted to snap and go full whiny girlfriend mode, but the situation prevented that behavior. She still didn''t know if she could trust her ssmates, and that meeting was about Wayne and the criminal organization now. As much as she wanted to monopolize Khan, she knew and respected her other priorities.


    "Unfair," Monica limited herself to whispering, filling Khan''s ss, "But you are taking me out to buy a dress first."


    "Anything you desire," Khan immediately epted, and Monica brought her ss to her face to hide how happy she was.


    "Shall we go back to the main topic?" Lucian eventually cleared his throat.


    "Don''t ruin the mood," John booed.


    "Joking around is fine," Mark eximed, leaving his couch to reach the nearest wall, "But the situation is quite serious."


    Mark yed with the t''s menus until holograms appeared on one side of the array of couches. He even approached them to make the images disy the Harbor''s system, and red marks spread on those azure lights whenever his fingers touched them.


    "The kidnapping attempt happened on Nippe 2," Mark stated, leaving a red spot on the mentioned. "Then, Wayne joined the advanced sses, only to lead Khan into a secret warehouse on Induna."


    Red spots appeared on the Harbor and Induna after Mark''s touches. The map still felt too empty, but that was a start.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Do we know anything else?" Mark asked, turning toward his ssmates. "Khan, do you know why they contacted you?"


    Khan could sense Lucian''s gaze on him. The two had already spoken about the topic, and Lucian had even provided a better version of that map.


    "They wanted a pilot," Khan revealed before nodding at Lucian.


    "I''ve already assembled all the routes I could find," Lucian dered, also standing up to connect his phone to the room.


    New holograms appeared, and Lucian reached Mark to make them fuse with the map. The red spots remained, and many routes joined them to create aplicated scenery. Even after isting the Induna and Nippe 2, the options remained too numerous.


    "A pilot means goods to transport," Mark continued. "Possibly, illegal goods. The equipment used during Princess Edna''s kidnapping attempt is an obvious answer, but we can''t exclude anything."


    "Drugs are always valuable," John pointed out. "Abora is full of strange nts and whatnot. The illegal substances might be in the hundreds."


    "And we can''t exclude Abora," Zoe pointed out. "These criminals had a warehouse on Induna. They probably have simr structures in the rest of the system."


    "Valuable metals," George announced. "Weapons are hard to smuggle, especially after the kidnapping attempt. Instead, the alloys used to build them don''t have those problems."


    "Metals," Mark repeated, using an empty part of the holograms to note those suggestions.


    "They might simply want to cover their tracks," Monica guessed. "The nobles won''t let go of the kidnapping attempt anytime soon. Maybe these criminals want to get rid of the hot merch to resume doing business."


    "What about an attack at the Harbor?" Marcia wondered. "The embassy contains countless ssified documents. A force with enough influence can create multiple political incidents with them."


    "The embassy and the Harbor are well protected," George dered. "Even an entire fleet will struggle to invade it."


    "These criminals have ess to disposable teleports," Khan revealed. "Any chance they can teleport an army inside the Harbor?"


    "The idea of an invasion is unrealistic," Lucianmented. "The nobles would blow up the entire system if it really fell into criminals'' hands."


    "So, are we safe?" Marcia asked. "I can''t imagine a foreign force strong enough to face the nobles, but the kidnapping attempt still happened."


    "It''s not too foreign," John chuckled.


    "Not foreign at all, I bet," Zoe sighed.


    "We would have learnt about their existence long ago otherwise," Monica nodded.


    "What?" Marcia gasped. "Do you mean there are traitors among us?"


    "Lucian?" Mark called, and Lucian nodded before clearing his throat to attract everyone''s attention.


    "It''s no secret that nobles and families stand above the Global Army," Lucian exined. "However, conflicts are the very foundation of that political array. It might be in someone''s interest to create a criminal organization to affect the bnce of power in some fields."


    "Your family alone can create six or seven of them," George dered.


    "Indeed," Lucian agreed. "Except for Khan, we are all privy to theplex internal struggles of our families. It''s perfectly reasonable for a weak faction to resort to criminal methods to earn favor."


    "How is that reasonable?" Marcia questioned.


    "That''s what I''d do," Lucian stated. "If I were a criminal, of course."


    "About the drugs, the alloys, and the cover-up," Khan changed the topic. "Which do you think is more valuable?"


    "Potentially?" Lucian asked. "All of them."


    "Then they aren''t what we are looking for," Monica responded. "Such rash behavior can only involve things these criminals can''t afford to lose or fail. It must be something we would ept as the sole answer as soon as we learnt about it."


    "Only the embassy matches those requirements," Zoe pointed out.


    "And criminals wouldn''t mess with interspecies treaties," Mark added. "Even they must fear the potential consequences."


    "I feel Monica is up to something," John stated. "They wouldn''t have exposed themselves over drugs and weapons. They aren''t worth it."


    "Lucian just said the opposite," Khan eximed.


    "I''m not talking about their value in Credits," John exined. "They showed themselves, forsaking their secrecy, which should be priceless for criminals."


    John''s statement made so much sense that the entire room fell silent. Once again, Khan and the others found themselves without enough clues. They could exclude many options, but what remained was still too much for them.


    "I''ll tell you if I learn anything," Khan eventually eximed. "There might be something privy only to the Global Army."


    "And how would you uncover that?" Marcia asked.


    "I''m sure you all know about Professor Parver''s intensive course," Khan uttered. "I''m injured, so this is a good chance to join it."


    "Khan, there is a reason most of us don''t attend it," Lucian voiced. "Most info about the Harbor is public or not ssified enough for our parents."


    "Well, I''m the youngest Captain in history," Khan stated. "That should be worth something in Professor Parver''s eyes."

 Chapter 507 Perfect

    The group brainstormed and drank untilte at night without ever getting answers. They didn''t have enough clues, but Khan still obtained something from the social event. Deepening his rtionship with those wealthy descendants and gaining insights into their characters was a valuable experience on its own.


    Khan heaved a tired sigh when the elevator closed for thest time, granting him some yearned privacy. He wasn''t alone yet. Monica and George were still in the t''s main hall, but their presence was the opposite of exhausting, especially when they were only the three of them.


    The crutches'' short noises resounded through the t as Khan returned to the main hall and threw himself on Monica''s couch. She weed him with open arms but ended up lying on his shoulder since the situation required more drinks.


    "You have been great," Monica praised, kissing Khan''s cheek while George dealt with the empty sses. The tables among the couches already had multiple bottles, but a single social event couldn''t deplete the t''s stash of booze.


    "So," George announced, sliding two sses over the table to make them stop right before Khan and Monica, "What do you think?"


    "I think I''m getting sick of this fake politeness," Khan cursed, seizing his ss to lie on the couch''s back. "I mean, they always respected me, but it took Monica to push them toward an earnest attempt to get closer."


    "That''s what happens when you have the best girlfriend in the world," Monica giggled.


    "I can think of a few things that make you the best," Khan voiced, "And none involves these events."


    "Just a few?" Monica teased before forcing herself to change the topic. George''s presence wasn''t a problem, but Anita''s departure was still fresh. Her gesture had affected her enough to put restraints on her mood.


    "Mark seemed pretty honest," Monica eximed to establish a suitable conversation. "His reputation isn''t bad either. He can be a good ally."


    Mark''s short light-brown hair, green eyes, and friendly face appeared in Khan''s mind. Monica was right. Mark had been a perfect acquaintance ever since the Solodrey''s family announcement. His expertise, position, and family made him a valuable asset to add to Khan''s connections. Khan simply didn''t know how strong that bond could be.


    "He''s Lucian without the ploys," Khan stated.


    "I''m sure he has ploys of his own," George pointed out. "My money is on Zoe and John. They are too stupid or uncaring to attempt a betrayal."


    Zoe''s long blonde hair and brown eyes filled Khan''s vision. She was good-looking, and her random childish approaches granted her some charm. Yet, her explicit respect came from her past advances to Khan. Zoe felt she had already offended Monica, so she wouldn''t dare to attempt any ploy.


    Instead, John was a strange case. The man had short ck hair, dark eyes, light-brown skin, and a mature face that didn''t match his careless behavior. Khan almost saw him as a drunker version of George who had taken a liking to him.


    "Zoe is just scared about Monica," Khan exined. "John is peculiar. I give him that. I simply don''t know how helpful he can be."


    "You love peculiar types," George pointed out.


    "I guess I do," Khan sighed, scratching the healthy side of his head. "He''s worth keeping around."


    "What do you mean by that?" Monica scoffed as her eyes darted between Khan and George.


    "Khan has a type," Georgeughed.


    "Khan?" Monica called in the hope that her boyfriend would defend her.


    "Monica, you chased after me and chose to be my girlfriend," Khan stated. "That''s the definition of crazy."


    "Is it now?!" Monica snorted. "I hope you enjoy your crazy girlfriend getting angry then."


    "I do enjoy that very much," Khan said with a nk face. It looked like he was stating the obvious.


    Monica wanted toin even more, but that statement wasn''t surprising. She wasn''t clueless about her mood swings. She had actually been the first to warn Khan about it, and seeing him reiterating his eptance of those crazy sides made her give up on the matter altogether.


    "Why can''t I ever win against you?" Monica pouted, almost mming her head back on Khan''s shoulder.


    "Because you love when I sweet-talk my way back into your arms," Khan revealed, immersing his face in Monica''s curls.


    Monica couldn''t even pretend to be angry. She smiled and let Khan pull her closer. That interaction usually led to intimate times, but the conversation still required their attention.


    "What about Marcia?" Monica questioned.


    "She sounds sweet," Khan dered, recalling every memory of that woman. Marcia had a rtively muscr figure that went againstmon beauty standards, but her long brown hair and big dark eyes added enough cuteness to make her feminine.


    "And desperate," George chuckled.


    "She is so into a guy she can''t date!" Monica eximed. "I pity her a bit."


    "Just a bit, I hope," Khan added. "I don''t expect every descendant to have your guts, but seeing her looking for your approval is sad."


    "I''ve be an icon for impossible loves," Monica joked. "I can probably create a business to handle those problems."


    "They told me something simr about a different topic," Khan recalled.


    "I will hit you if it''s about women," Monica warned.


    "I have bad news for both of you," Georgemented.


    "Does it count if they are alien?" Khanughed, and Monica turned to deliver a harmless punch that he easily intercepted.


    "Just think that among all my opportunities, I still chose you," Khan uttered, lowering his head while pulling Monica''s arms above him.


    "Can''t you let me be mad for a few minutes?" Monicained as their faces drew dangerously close.


    "Oh, that''s easy," Khan nodded. "Just think that those women are still out there."


    Monica had to suppress an angry cry, which she surprisingly managed to aplish. She went silent before turning again to rest on Khan''s shoulder. Her arms were crossed, but her face said that she was ready to continue the conversation.


    "Are you noting down these jokes forter?" Khan whispered.


    "I''ve started noting them since you returned from Induna," Monica proudly imed. "Now, that leaves us with Lucy."


    "She was disrespectful to Khan," George dered. "No way around it."


    "I kind of like her," Khan revealed, depicting that tall and athletic figure in his mind. "She was the only one with the stones to use me."


    "What did I tell you about his type?" George eyed Monica. "The moreplicated they are, the faster Khan jumps into their arms."


    "And they are always women," Monica cursed. "Luckily, I''m the mostplicated woman Khan will ever meet."


    "How is that good?" George shook his head.


    "Because it''s me," Monica stated, "And Khan loves everything about me."


    "How is that an answer?" George scoffed, and Khan simply shook his head from behind Monica. When she reached that point in her arguments, making her change her mind became impossible.


    "I obviously can''t understand who to trust in a single meeting," Khan rekindled the conversation. "I''m actually more worried about Anita. Is everything okay between you two?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    Monica dropped any joking attitude to focus on George. The topic couldn''t help but make her sad, and George probably was the only one with the answers she sought.


    "I don''t know either," George sighed, gesturing toward the bottle that Monica didn''t hesitate to push toward him. "Things are good, but this is no small thing."


    "I''m sure everything will be fine," Monica tried to reassure. She liked that their best friends were a couple. It made her private world cozier, and George and Anita appeared happy together too.


    However, Khan knew George far better and could even see his mana. He understood his internal conflict since he had experienced something simr on Reebefell.


    "Is she too good?" Khan wondered.


    "She can be a real pain," George snorted. "Still, yeah, she is truly good."


    Monica didn''t initially understand what was happening, but one look at Khan gave her an idea. After all, George and Khan were simr in many aspects, so it was easy for her to connect the dots.


    "How is that a problem?" Monica questioned. "You found a good woman. Shouldn''t you be happy that she shares your feelings?"


    "Do you realize that youe after Khan''s perfect girlfriend?" George mocked. "Khan, did you even tell her about Cora?"


    "Monica, he is right," Khan sighed. "You know he is."


    "But Anita-," Monica gasped.


    "Would only suffer if things don''t work out," Khan interrupted. "Or George would sacrifice himself for years until the inevitable explosion."


    "I knew I shouldn''t have opted for something serious," George cursed. "You should have stopped me."


    "It made you happy," Khan stated before diverting his gaze. "Maybe part of me wanted you to be happy with her to stay away from the battlefield."


    "I don''t miss it," George revealed as more exchanges of bottles happened. "I don''t miss the corpses, the death. Still, I look at these walls, these structures, and know what to expect from the rest of my life."


    George stood up to gulp down his ss and m it on the table. He spread his arms, and a helpless expression filled his face as his gaze wandered over the hall''s walls.


    "These walls will never be us," George announced. "We desire the thrill of battle. I don''t hate peace like you, but knowing that this will be my future remains depressing, especially with someone who can''t understand."


    Khan recalled the exchange of lines between him and George when the video arrived. He knew his mana didn''t change, but a question felt necessary. "Do you regret your decision from back then?"


    "I don''t," George sighed. "It''s what I want. It simply has consequences, boring consequences."


    "Just think it through," Khan warned. "If anything happens, I have booze."


    "That you must," George chuckled. "Alright, I''m off. I''ll see you tomorrow."


    "Night, George," Khan voiced.


    "Goodnight," Monica managed to say before the elevator closed, but her angry eyes soon ended on Khan. That reaction wasn''t one of her mood swings. Her feelings were genuine since they involved one of her closest friends.


    "Why did you tell George that?" Monica questioned.


    "I don''t lie to George," Khan stated, "Or you for what matters."


    "You basically told him to break up with Anita!" Monica continued. "I thought she was your friend!"


    "She is!" Khan responded in an equally loud tone, "And so is George. That''s why I want them to be happy."


    "Can''t they be happy together?" Monica cried.


    "I don''t have any idea!" Khan shouted. "It''s up to them. I simply know that Anita isn''t like you."


    "Like me how?" Monicained. "Perfect like Cora?"


    "Perfect for me!" Khan scolded, ending in a loud sigh. "Perfect for George."


    Truth be told, Monica and Khan already had a simr conversation. He had told her almost everything about his past rtionships, and she had even received Jenna''s advice. Monica was angry because the matter involved Anita, but Khan wasn''t the problem. He was actually her solution.


    "I just don''t want her to suffer," Monica admitted.


    "If it were up to me," Khan added, "I''d make them live happily ever after, but love many times isn''t enough."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Monica looked at Khan. He was diverting his gaze for reasons she knew far too well. That wasn''t her first time hearing that line, and she hoped from the bottom of her heart that it would never apply to them.


    Khan''s gaze focused when a hand reached for his cor and gently pulled him down. He found himself lying on Monica''sp, and she even adjusted his legs to make him stretchfortably on the sofa. Sadness shone in her expression, but happiness filled her eyes when she looked at him.


    "Do you hate peace so much?" Monica wondered.


    "I enjoy fighting," Khan answered honestly. "I enjoy using my power. I love the struggle, the sweat, the sh of forces that have taken years to form."


    "Do you love me because I''m difficult?" Monica giggled.


    "No, you are just cute," Khan said, closing his eyes when Monica carefully caressed his hair.


    "You know," Monica muttered. "I''m d my family made me suffer so much. I would have never been a good fit for you otherwise."


    "I hate that you have been alone for so long," Khan responded without opening his eyes.


    "It was worth it," Monica stated. "After hearing George, I realized that I''m the same. My family has my future nned out for me. These walls are my legacy. I can take breaks from them, but something far stronger than me will always bring me back."


    "We can still be space pirates," Khan pointed out, making augh resound above him.


    "You are the first thing I truly desired for myself," Monica continued. "I never disobeyed my family so much before you. I was nothing more than a puppet until I fell for you."


    "Arguably, I led you on a bad road," Khan stated.


    "No," Monica shook her head. "I still don''t know what I want from my future, but one thing is certain. You are my beginning, and I hope with my entire being you''ll be my end."


    "Don''t cry," Khan said, opening his eyes since he felt the tears umting above him. "Don''t let bad thoughts distract you from what we have."


    "I''m just emotional, dummy," Monica sniffed. "Tell me that you love me, or shut up."


    Khan couldn''t find the strength to tease Monica any longer. He straightened his position and did everything in his power to convey the entirety of his feelings to his beautiful, moody girlfriend.

 Chapter 508 Backdoor

    Khan resumed attending lessons the day after the social meeting, and his arrival at the embassy gave him a better idea about the public reception of the footage. The Headmistress had depicted it as a heroic act that granted him more poprity, but some lingering fear had appeared due to the nature of his actions.


    The situation was different inside the advanced sses. In theory, Khan''s battle had directly benefitted those wealthy descendants since they believed themselves to be the targets of those criminals. Some still had reservations, but no one dared to announce them publicly.


    Khan limited his answers and contained himself in those public situations, using Monica or his injuries to spend as little time in the open as possible. The day went by quickly thanks to that, but the arrival of the night brought new tasks, and not only for him.


    Monica was alone in Khan''s t when the elevator opened to bring a friendly figure. She left the bedroom in a hurry, and a smile bloomed on her face when she saw a confused George in the main hall.


    "George!" Monica eximed, trying to adjust her messy hair and creased tracksuit. "I wasn''t expecting you."


    "Right, Khan is with Professor Parver tonight," George recalled. "I''ll return in a few hours."


    "No, please, stay," Monica eximed. "I''ll get you a drink right away."


    George didn''t have the chance to refuse since Monica stormed away, hurrying outside the main hall to retrieve one of the many bottles. He could only sigh and approach a couch to wait for her return.


    Monica came back in a few seconds, handing a clean ss to George before pouring booze into it. She had a cup for herself too but waited until she reached the couch on the opposite side to attend to it.


    "You know you don''t need these ceremonies with me, right?" Georgemented when Monica tried to assume an elegant sitting position and adjust her hair again. "I thought we were past that after I''ve seen your underwear and bra all over this t."


    "I''m sorry," Monica stated, diverting her gaze in embarrassment. "I just don''t know how else to approach this."


    "What is it?" George asked, bringing his ss to his mouth.


    "I wanted to apologize for yesterday," Monica exined. "It wasn''t my ce to lecture you about rtionships."


    "What?" George frowned as if he couldn''t understand what Monica was talking about.


    "It wasn''t my ce to speak about Anita and you," Monica rified. "I''m sorry."


    "Oh," George finally understood. "Anita is your friend. It would have been stranger if you stayed silent."


    "But still," Monica pressed on. "I shouldn''t have spoken to you like that just because my rtionship is doing well. I had no right."


    George scratched the side of his head before opting for a straightforward question. "Monica, are we friends?"


    "Of course!" Monica promptly replied.


    "Then, you had every right," George continued. "We can''t be friends if you don''t speak your mind."


    Monica smiled. George was rarely serious, but his wise moments always carried truth. Monica had also developed proper respect for him after Nippe 2''s events. He was Khan''s closest friend for a reason, but thinking about that reminded Monica of the problems the potential break-up could cause.


    "I''m surprised you didn''t go with Khan," Georgemented. "Professor Parver can''t really refuse you, can he?"


    "We agreed it was better for him to go alone," Monica exined. "My presence would have lowered his chances of getting answers."


    "Better for me," Georgeughed. "I can steal his booze freely."


    "You are richer than him," Monica pointed out.


    "Stealing gives an additional taste," George imed before looking at his half-empty ss, "And the Headmistress is sending him excellent stuff. Such a lucky bastard."


    Monica didn''t take offense at those words. She knew George meant no harm. He was probably the only one who could talk about Khan like that.


    "You can bring his bottles to your t," Monica suggested, lowering her voice to hide her lingering worry. "Anita might want some too."


    George looked at Monica, but she hid her gaze. The signs were there, and anyone could see them. George hade to Khan''s t alone, hinting at a bad oue.


    "We didn''t break up," George announced, making Monica''s face snap back up. "We talked, I yed dumb, and she got angry, but we eventually understood each other. We don''t know if we''ll separate, but we are still a couple for now."


    Monica smiled again but decided to remain serious. No matter what George said, she still nned to leave his rtionship alone. It simply wasn''t her business.


    "If you do break up," Monica mentioned, "I can leave some nights to yourselves. I know how you guys like to drink together."


    "Weren''t you the clingy type?" George joked.


    "Did Khan tell you that?!" Monica snapped before shaking her head to calm down. "I''m serious. I don''t want Khan to have to choose between you and me."


    "We can just drink together," George pointed out.


    "But you know how we are," Monica voiced without hiding how pleased she was about her connection with Khan.


    "A true man would never stop his friend from gettingid," George imed, mming his fist on his chest to add value to his statement.


    "George!" Monica cried.


    "What?" George wondered. "The entire Global Army knows that you have sex. Khan even promised me a chance to pick your child''s name."


    "We are not calling him George Junior!" Monicained.


    "He actually told you," George snickered. "You two really are a married couple."


    George expected Monica to snap even further, but she diverted her gaze to y with her curls. Her behavior didn''t say much, but George knew her enough to understand what she was hiding.


    "Are you getting married?" George gasped.


    "No!" Monica shouted before showing her shy side, "But I did tell him I wanted to spend my life with him yesterday. Sort of."


    "How long have you been together exactly?" George questioned.


    "It''s too early, isn''t it?" Monica asked, cing both hands on her cheeks. "I made a mistake, right? Did I scare him away? I''m going crazy."


    "No, no," George shook his head. "You''re already crazy, alright."


    "What do I do now?" Monica pleaded.


    "Knowing Khan," Georgeughed, "Get crazier. He loves that stuff."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "But what about you?" Monica asked.


    "You should have seen him on Nitis," George smirked. "He used to ignore his surroundings to whisper jokes with Liiza. You are just louder."


    "George, please," Monica whined.


    "You are lucky he isn''t the polyamorous guy," George continued. "He would have had a harem by now. Such a waste."


    "George!" Monica shouted.


    "This is way too easy," George chuckled. "No wonder he is having so much fun with you."


    "I still have Anita on my side," Monica reminded George.


    "Hey, I''m joking here," George lifted a hand to signal his surrender. "Still, I hope that you get my point. I never expected Khan to be so happy after Nitis. I''d never get in his way."


    "How," Monica voiced while calming down. "How was he there? How was he before?"


    "Didn''t he tell you?" George questioned.


    "I want to hear it from you," Monica stated. "He doesn''t hide anything from me, but his perception can be distorted."


    "That''s a nice way to put it," George scoffed before a sigh took control of his voice. "He was different, even on Istrone. He had this force that made him react faster than anyone. I''m not exaggerating when I say the rebellion would have had far more casualties without him."


    "I know you had it hard after Istrone," Monica uttered. "I can''t imagine what you must have seen down there."


    "You kind of can, can''t you?" George replied. "I read Milia 222''s reports. That was an outright mess."


    "You were kids," Monica pointed out.


    "We still are in many ways," George eximed. "Well, I was pretty lost after Istrone, and Khan was no different. Yet, he still had that strange force pushing him forward."


    Monica knew about the nightmares and desperation, so she could immediately connect the dots. However, that understanding saddened her. Her education was nothingpared to Khan''s life, but those events had affected him anyway.


    "Don''t get me wrong," George continued. "The guy is an idiot. He is the dumbest man in the entire Global Army. He is so stupid that he thinks he can take everyone''s pain on his shoulders and go on with his life."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "His protective side surprised me too," Monica agreed.


    "It was probably worse back then," George exined as his gaze wandered through the room. "Khan believed himself to be the only one entitled to pain. Luckily, Liiza was there for him."


    Silence fell into the hall as the two let their thoughts wander. It almost didn''t seem real that Khan had gone through so much at such a young age, but his profile didn''t lie.


    "You know," George smirked. "He initially felt guilty about Liiza. He had this girl on co-."


    "Martha," Monica interrupted. "I met her on Milia 222. She was nice."


    "Right," George recalled as a curse left his mouth. "He really had the harem ready for him."


    Monica red at George, and he felt forced to show a shameless smile, but she quickly calmed down. She would rather hear more about Khan than let her emotions get the better of her.


    "How can I be better than Liiza?" Monica couldn''t help but ask. "I know I''m not supposed to fill anyone''s shoes, but I still want to do my best."


    George didn''t expect that question, but Nitis always made some of his seriousness appear. Besides, Monica looked beyond resolute, which deserved an honest answer.


    "You probably can''t," George admitted. "Not because you are inferior or anything. The two of you are simply different. He isn''t even the same anymore. In a way, he reminds me of Liiza now."


    "So, what am I supposed to do?" Monica questioned. "Being myself around him is easy, but I want to do more, and you know him better than anyone."


    "Can''t you just stick to that kinky y I spotted the other night?" George wondered. "I can give you more ideas too. Most women don''t want to try it because it hurts, but you probably don''t apply."


    "What are you even saying?!" Monica shouted, taking off a shoe to throw it at George. "Stop it with this stuff."


    "Hey, it''s perfectly natural," George pressed on. "Just some lube and-."


    George had to interrupt his line since Monica threw her other shoe at him before moving to her ss. He had to jump behind the couch to protect himself, but hisughs continued to resound among Monica''s angry shouts.


    "There might be one thing!" George shouted, daring to lift his arm past the couch to attract Monica''s attention.


    Monica stopped shouting, and George mustered the courage to peek past the couch. She stood with the bottle firmly held in her grip, ready to throw it at him, but her expression gave him enough confidence to leave his hideout.


    "You know Khan will never stay put," George cleared his throat. "It''s not in his genes. So, when the timees, don''t leave him alone. Don''t make him relive what happened with Liiza."


    "I won''t be able to follow him everywhere," Monica muttered.


    "Not in that sense," George rified. "You''ll understand once the situation arrives."


    Monica didn''t fully understand, but George had spoken honestly, so she nodded in agreement.


    "You are a good friend, George," Monica eximed, putting the bottle back on the table.


    "I''m the best of friends," George announced. "Well, that title probably belongs to Khan. He saved me in many ways, so make him happy. He deserves it."


    "He really does," Monica sighed before showing a genuine smile. "Drink with us as many times you want, even if something happens with Anita. He is happier when you are around."


    "My heart will always follow booze," George proudly imed. "Anyway, the backdoor isn''t as dirty as everyone thinks. You can have a lot of fun with it."


    Monica frowned, but her eyes widened in anger when she understood what George was saying. Her hand instinctively went on the bottle on the table, but the t''s walls lit up and interrupted her gesture.


    "Is it Anita?" George asked.


    "The t knows her," Monica shook her head while heading for one of the menus. "Who is this?"


    "Monica, it''s me!" A male, pleading voice came out of the menu. "Please, let me in to exin myself."


    Monica immediately recognized the voice, and a headache threatened to appear. She knew exactly who was speaking. Francis Alstair was right inside the building.

 Chapter 509 Calls

    Professor Parver held the intensive course inside hisb on the hidden floor since Khan was the only student. The room''s privacy gave them more freedom, allowing them to share a few drinks while going over the lesson.


    Khan drank and took notes while Professor Parver exined and expanded on the many hologramsing out of the two interactive desks. The man had to take many breaks during his illness'' outbursts, but the lesson flowed smoothly nheless. Khan could onlyin about its contents.


    Professor Parver''s course aimed to educate on the immense field of alien environments. The subject had more branches than specialists, so the Professor had to start from its very foundation, opting for a broad and general topic that would span for many days.


    Khan didn''t exactly hate that idea, but many of Professor Parver''s initial exnations covered topics he had already learnt in the advanced sses. They were more detailed in the intensive course, but that didn''tpletely justify the time spent reviewing them.


    Of course, a few interesting points appeared throughout the course. ording to Professor Parver, every environment enhanced by mana followed specific patterns. Thetter were quite broad, and the Global Army didn''t im to know all of them, but a deep knowledge of those topics could make the difference between a good and bad scout.


    "Sir, there is something I don''t understand," Khan announced once Professor Parver stopped coughing. "Why are we going over the procedures to identify said patterns? I only need my senses for that."


    Khan could have said "eyes" instead of "senses" but preferred to keep the details of his sensitivity to himself. The Global Army didn''t need to know how alien he actually was.


    "Yes, you indeed are an exception," Professor Parver showed his kind smile while immersing his hand in the holograms. "These teachings are probably useless for you."


    "Then, why should I study them?" Khan wondered, ying with his almost empty drink while skimming through the holograms. "It would save both of us a lot of time if we skipped this topic."


    "Captain, you might only need a nce and some knowledge to identify a pattern," Professor Parver stated, "But your team won''t be able to understand you. Studying this will help you exin what you sense to them."


    Understanding dawned upon Khan. The Professor was educating him to be a scout, which involved a team of specialists and an ambassador. In that arrangement, he would be the first to acquire information, which required amonnguage to convey to his eventual teammates.


    "Besides," Professor Parver continued, "Eventual discoveries must be tested and proven by the Global Army''s methods. The scientific field won''t just take your word."


    "That sounds slow," Khan pointed out.


    "It is," Professor Parver confirmed. "Science moves slowly and only when it''s certain that a phenomenon works ording to its descriptions. We don''t allow mistakes. We merely strive to clear the darkness of our ignorance."


    Khan didn''t share Professor Parver''s passion for the scientific field but could acknowledge its strict requirements. It was the same with the many regtions covered by the advanced sses. Aliens might not need them, but they were necessary to humankind.


    Coughs took control of Professor Parver after hisst statement. The violent reaction forced him to lean on a desk nearby and almost made Khan stand up. Yet, the man lifted a hand to stop him and let that outburst go away on its own.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I''m afraid I reached my limit for tonight," Professor Parver used his kind tone before clearing his throat.


    "Is the schedule I requested too harsh for you, sir?" Khan asked. He was still grounded, so he had asked Professor Parver to have those lessons every night.


    "No, no," Professor Parver chuckled. "It''s perfectly fine. Exhaustion is a small price to pay to enlighten such a bright mind."


    "Sir," Khan couldn''t help but feel a bit bad, "You know I''ll never pursue the scientific path."


    "Don''t overthink it," Professor Parver reassured, reaching for a seat and retrieving his full ss. "I don''t expect you to do anything. I only want to share my knowledge with someone who might benefit from it."


    Khan nodded but remained silent. Truth be told, he had learnt to agree with Professor Parver''s idea. Starting as a scout didn''t sound too bad. The job didn''t only suit him. His status would also make promotions and advantages arrive sooner.


    "Anyway," Professor Parver eximed after taking a sip from his drink, "How are your injuries?"


    ? "The doctors said I''d need a full month," Khan revealed, tapping on the floor with his braced foot. "I think I''ll be fine in a couple more weeks."


    Khan was actually staying humble. His grounded status gave him a lot of time to meditate, and his body''s recovery speed surpassed humans. He might need less than fourteen days to heal.


    "That''s good to hear," Professor Parver said. "What about your tasks? ording to the reports, you are surpassing everyone''s expectations."


    "They are easy," Khan admitted, "Easier than war, at least."


    "Few can say that," Professor Parver revealed before heaving a deep sigh. "I feel I must apologize. I initially nned to gradually increase your tasks'' difficulty, but the situation-."


    "I asked for this, sir," Khan shook his head. "It''s better for me anyway. I would have questioned the value of your tasks if I spent months retrieving rocks from caves."


    "Those rocks are worth tens of thousands of Credits," Professor Parverughed. "Mister Nore and Miss Bevet can''t wait for you to recover. They have praised you to no end."


    "I''m d I''m helping," Khan stated. "I''ll get back to work as soon as the Headmistress clears me."


    "Excellent," Professor Parver eximed. "I also wish you to have another meeting with the Harbor''s specialists. Everyone is eager to meet you."


    "I''ll make the time, sir," Khan promised. He couldn''t leave anyway, and meeting potential future employers was for the best.


    "So," Professor Parver announced. "You''ve seen most of the Harbor by now. What do you think of this system?"


    "I have been meaning to ask," Khan said since the Professor mentioned the topic. "I know the Harbor has many valuable resources, but I was wondering if there was something truly special in the system."


    "Are you referring to your recent endeavor?" Professor Parver questioned. "I''ve seen the video. Awful stuff. I''m d you are okay, Captain."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I was simply wondering why a criminal organization would be so active here," Khan rified. "Princess Edna left weeks ago."


    "Oh, you are asking if there is something worth these risks," Professor Parver dered. "The Harbor is mostly self-sufficient due to the resources in its system. Yet, I can''t think of anything unique or priceless."


    "Even from a political standpoint?" Khan pressed on.


    "Captain, I''m a scientist," Professor Parver smiled. "Those fields don''t concern me, and my illness keeps me more away than my peers. I''m afraid I can''t help you."


    Khan kept track of Professor Parver''s mana but didn''t notice anything wrong. He knew the man could mask and hide part of his presence, but his answer didn''t feel like a lie.


    "Thank you for your honesty, sir," Khan decided to answer.


    "Anytime, Captain," Professor Parver eximed. "Now, you should go back to your lodging. Don''t let me get in the way of your recovery."


    "It was a pleasure, sir," Khan nodded, retrieving his crutches to stand up. "I''ll see you tomorrow."


    "Good night, Captain," Professor Parver revealed ast kind smile before the two separated. Khan left the privateb and found a jeep waiting for him outside. The vehicle also had a driver ready for him, so his trip back to his t started immediately.


    The long elevator brought Khan back to the upper floor, where he found another vehicle waiting for him. The cab set off immediately, marking the end of that peaceful night.


    ''Nothing from Professor Parver either,'' Khan sighed inside the privacy of the cab. ''Maybe John is wrong. Maybe they are just trying to relocate somewhere safer.''


    Various thoughts ran through Khan''s mind, but nothing put him closer to the truth. He felt unable to find the true reasons behind those criminals'' behavior from the Harbor. Those results made sense when he considered that the Headmistress was as clueless as him.


    ''Do I just have to wait for them to make the first move?'' Khan wondered.


    Khan''s phone rang while he was immersed in those thoughts, and seeing Jenny''s name on the screen confused him. Her updates only arrived on the weekend, meaning something odd had happened.


    "Sir, I''m sorry for the sudden call," Jenny announced as soon as Khan brought his phone to his ear.


    "What is it?" Khan directly asked.


    "There is this strange contact," Jenny revealed. "It''s not trying to importunate you, but I can''t find its identity. It''s only requesting a minute of your time."


    "Can''t it be a crazy fan?" Khan questioned. ording to Jenny, he received hundreds of those requests every week. Someone tech-savvy enough to get noticed had to appear sooner orter.


    "I don''t think this is the case," Jenny revealed. "This contact surpassed many security measures just to show that it could before making its request."


    ''Mister Chares?'' Khan immediately thought. ''Is he trying a politer approach?''


    "Get it through," Khan ordered. "I''ll deal with it immediately."


    "As you wish, sir," Jennyplied, closing the call to make another reach Khan''s phone.


    Khan answered right away, but only silence came out of his phone. No one spoke, but he wouldn''t make the first move. If that was a polite request, he had to wait for the contact to expose itself.


    "Captain Khan," A voice that almost made Khan''s mana boil eventually resounded in his ear. "The new title suits you."


    Khan''s mind went nk for a second. He didn''t expect that man to call him now, but two words still escaped his mouth. "Mister Raymond."


    "Raymond is fine in private," Raymond chuckled. "I hope you didn''t forget that."


    "How could I?" Khan wondered. "I haven''t forgotten anything about your involvement in Milia 222''s crisis."


    "As expected from you, Captain," Raymond uttered. "Still, I heard strange rumors. It must be awful to have criminals in your neighborhood."


    "Do you know anything about them?" Khan went straight to the point.


    "I know many things," Raymond revealed. "I know you think they are after goods. You are close, but not by much."


    "Just tell me what you want," Khan eventually ordered.


    "You can''t possibly imagine what I want," Raymond spoke words simr to hisst interaction with Khan. "However, I suggest you take another trip to Honides. I heard the winds in its eleventh quadrant are beautiful."


    "What-?" Khan began to ask, but Raymond closed the call before he could finish his question. His phone went silent, and Khan felt the unreasonable urge to throw it away.


    However, another name appeared on the screen, making the device ring again. The Headmistress was calling, and multiple messages followed the event, with manying from Khan''s ssmates.

 Chapter 510 Guards

    Monica didn''t immediately answer. Countless thoughts ran through her mind as the entirety of her political knowledge worked toward a singr goal. She had to decide how to handle Francis, which wasn''t as easy as it sounded.


    Francis'' family was extremely wealthy, basically at the same level as Monica''s. Talks about their possible engagements had gone on for years, ever since Monica''s childhood. The Alstair family had been the main force behind those offers, but the Solodrey family had always yed along due to the value such a political alliance could have.


    Of course, none of those talks had ever taken into consideration Monica''s opinion or Francis'' behavior. Their parents and the trustworthy figures in their inner circles knew about those social struggles, but no one had given them much thought due to the descendants'' young age.


    Nothing had ever been set in stone, and Monica''s parents had always pushed her toward better suitors. Still, that effort had never been too forceful since no one expected Khan to join the fray. The Solodrey family believed to have far more time to n Monica''s future, but Khan had ruined all that.


    Khan''s involvement had spread chaos inside a big faction of the Solodrey family, and the Alstair family had suffered from a simr fate, at least when it came to the forces betting on Francis. Monica''s public rtionship had dealt a significant political blow, ruining ns older than her.


    That and more ran through Monica''s mind as she tried to find the ideal approach. Refusing Francis had been easy in the past due to her explicit unavability. Yet, things had changed now. Her reputation wasn''t as pristine as before, and the slightest missteps would inevitably send ripples toward Khan.


    "I''ming down," Monica eventually announced through the t''s speaker before studying the hall. Her gaze remained lost even when she found her shoes, and seeing her reflection on one of the metal surfaces made her stop in her tracks.


    Monica donned her shoes and inspected her tracksuit before running toward a bathroom. The hesitation intensified when she reached a proper mirror. Her clothes, hair, and general appearance were unworthy of her social status, but making Francis wait wasn''t an option.


    "It''s trouble, isn''t it?" George broke his silence when Monica left the bathroom to head for the elevator.


    "Just stay here," Monica ordered while her eyes continued to dart left and right. "I''ll deal with it."


    "Do you need help?" George asked.


    "It''s better if I go alone," Monica remained vague. "It would be dangerous for you down there."


    Monica wasn''t trying to belittle George''s prowess. Her tone carried no mockery or scorn. George''s family was outssed down there, and eventual rash reactions could create immense problems for him.


    George understood that words were useless. He crossed his arms and watched the elevator bring Monica downstairs. Yet, as soon as the lift stopped, he headed for the menus on the walls to see what the cameras had captured.


    A simple search on thework linked the face on the footage to the problematic man that Khan had mentioned a few times. George was aware of Francis, and recognizing him put him in a pensive mood.


    Differently from what many believed, George knew his way around the political field. He didn''t like it, but that didn''t make him ignorant. Something in that event was off. It simply didn''t make sense for such a wealthy descendant to arrive unnoticed in the second district, especially in a period when Khan was thework''s main topic.


    ''Someone let him in,'' George understood. ''Maybe the Headmistress chose to ignore his arrival on purpose.''


    That exnation would match what George knew of the Harbor. The Headmistress had to prioritize peace, which prevented her from taking sides. If a conflict between two big families had to happen, it would make sense for her to turn a blind eye and let those powerful forces deal with the problem.


    ''He''s the desperate guy,'' George recalled as much as possible, and a smile slowly broadened on his face. ''This sounds fun.''


    George turned toward the elevator before recalling something else. His eyes went to the table, where a bottle and a ss had survived Monica''s rage. She had destroyed the other, but George could still drink with what he had.


    Monica heaved a helpless sigh when she reached the first floor. The empty main hall gave her insights into Francis'' intentions, and crossing the entrance confirmed her suspicions.


    Francis stood at the sidewalk''s center, with four luxurious cars parked behind him. Six guards wearing elegant clothes had alsoe out to remain on the street. There were no onlookers in the immediate surroundings, but it was clear that Francis wanted that meeting to be as public as possible.


    "I hope you can ignore my appearance," Monica announced as soon as the entrance closed behind her. "I preferred respecting your time than dressing up for the event."


    Francis had worn his best suit, and the new muscles developed after his infusion filled it perfectly. His ck clothes gave him a smooth, firm figure that radiated a mature aura. He had prepared for the event, but Monica''s appearance stunned him.


    Monica was by no means shabby, but her casual clothes, messy hair, and unmatched shoes went against anything Francis thought to know about her. That wasn''t the same woman he had grown up with. She was a beautiful stranger he could recognize only from her familiar manners.


    "We have known each other long enough to ignore these ceremonies," Francis said, clearing his throat to stick to his n. "You look as enchanting as ever, Monica."


    "Thank you, Francis," Monica nodded in respect. "I''m happy to see that you are doing well too."


    "I had to put some effort after Milia 222," Francis revealed. "I couldn''t let myself be unprepared any longer."


    "I can see that," Monica stated, but her eyes never stopped at Francis'' figure. They went past it to study the guards waiting by the cars.


    "I''m sorry for the sudden summoning," Francis promptly stated to bring Monica''s attention back to him. "I was afraid you would have avoided me if I tried to n a meeting."


    "Why is that, if I may?" Monica questioned. "As you said, we have known each other for a long time. I see no reason for refusing a proper invitation. It would have spared me from this shameful act."


    "I apologize for forcing your hand," Francis uttered, clearing his throat once again. "However-."


    The entrance opened, interrupting Francis'' line. George stepped onto the sidewalk and shot a nce at the scene before leaning on the building wall. He had the bottle and his ss in his hands, and booze fell into it as he calmly prepared a drink.


    Monica let George distract her only for a second before pressing Francis to speak. "However?"


    "However," Francis cleared his throat a third time, "I now feel these circumstances perfectly express the issue in my mind."


    "Francis, would you be so kind as to get to the point?" Monica showed a fake smile. "Each second I spend dressed up like this is a blow to the Solodrey family''s reputation."


    "I''ve set things straight with Headmistress Holwen," Francis reassured. "These are to be considered as private matters between families. No onlookers ormon soldiers are allowed in the area."


    "You underestimate the power of curiosity," Monica scolded in an emotionless tone, and Francis inevitably nced at George at those words.


    George wore a carefree smile as he proceeded to enjoy his drink. No one knew the reason behind his presence there, not even him. Still, he had booze, so he drank to sort out his thoughts.


    "Francis, the reason for your visit," Monica felt forced to remind.


    "Y-yes!" Francis stammered before gaining a firm and deep tone. "It is my duty as one of your oldest friends and an ally of your family to help you during this rough patch. I''m here for you, Monica."


    "Help me how?" Monica asked.


    "It''s possible that Milia 222 inflicted serious traumas on your psyche," Francis exined. "Your behavior and decisions in the past months have shown clear differences from your old self. Many experts I contacted believe you have post-traumatic stress disorder."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Excuse me?" Monica voiced.


    "The signals are evident," Francis continued. "You are pursuing actions that go against your family''s values and reputation, which never happened before. You make rash decisions that endanger everything you have built in thest years, even going as far as requesting interviews to spread news faster."


    Monica wanted to snap at that very moment, but that would only work in Francis'' favor. Thetter had yet to mention Khan, which was ideal for Monica. She would consider the event a sess if she could send Francis away without involving her boyfriend.


    "Your concern is heartwarming," Monica summoned her elegant fa?ade, "But I can''t help but find your usation distasteful and disrespectful. I currently am the best student in the Harbor, and Princess Edna can vouch for my sanity."


    Bringing up a noble was a dangerous y, but Monica knew that no one would dare to question her. Princess Edna herself would find the matter funny. In a way, she was the perfect shield, but Francis turned out to be more persistent than expected.


    "Monica, I''vee here as a friend," Francis sighed. "I wish our tones to remain friendly."


    "I don''t understand the reason behind such caution," Monica''s voice grew colder. "I believe you remember where I was during Milia 222''s crisis. I fought alongside the asteroid''s inhabitants. I can handle direct words."


    Monica could use that chance to insult Francis. After all, he had been in the safety of the first floor during the crisis, but she decided otherwise. The Harbor was watching her, so Francis had to be the first to overstep to justify an eventual angry reaction.


    "It seems you are more lost than I feared," Francis muttered before pointing a hand at Monica. "Monica, look at yourself. The old you would have never worn such unbefitting clothes in public. The old you knew the importance of reputation."


    "I didn''t change out of respect," Monica stated. "Now I know my sacrifice means nothing to you."


    "Monica, you wouldn''t have needed to change in the past," Francis pressed on, abandoning some of the moral superiority that had filled his speech. "The only reason you are dressed like this is-."


    Francis halted his mouth and lowered his head to suppress his worst sides. He was about to mention the only topic that could make that conversation pointless, but Monica wouldn''t simply ignore that mistake."


    "Is?" Monica asked. "Please, enlighten me."


    "Monica, be reasonable," Francis lowered his voice. "Come with me. My family has already prepared a team of specialists for your rehabilitation. We are willing to satisfy your every demand. Just return where you belong."


    "All of this in exchange for my hand, I suppose," Monica guessed.


    "That''s not up to you or me to decide," Francis dered. "If our families find an agreement, then yes. If they don''t, I''ll be happy to know that I helped a friend."


    "That''s impossible," Monica immediately refused. "I''ve already gotten my parents'' approval, and I mustplete the semester. It would be disrespectful and unbefitting of the Solodrey name to give up."


    "Monica, when was thest time you visited your t?" Francis asked. "This news reached me far before I even nned this trip. How can you not acknowledge your problem?"


    "It''s hard to see it as a problem when you can''t speak openly," Monica eximed. "What is it? Are you worried about the consequences of your actions?"


    "Why would I fear Captain Khan?" Francis took the bait. "He is an outstanding soldier. No one is questioning that. My issue is with your status. It pains me to see you reaching such lows."


    "What lows are you talking about?" Monica smiled again.


    "These," Francis stated, moving his stretched arm up and down to point at the entirety of Monica. "You are disregarding your status to fall to his level."


    "Oh?" Monica feigned surprise while grabbing her tracksuit''s edges and pulling them down. "Do you mean these clothes? Do you think I wear these to make Captain Khan morefortable in my presence?"


    "Why else would you show yourself in such improper attire?" Francis asked. "This is only one of the many clues that fill your past months."


    "Francis," Monica giggled, partially covering her mouth. "I don''t wear clothes when I''m serving Khan."


    The statement silenced Francis and tried to kill any desire to keep the conversation under friendly terms. Yet, he suppressed his rasher reactions since the forces at work there were scary even for him.


    The Headmistress had not been the only one to give her authorization for that meeting. She alone didn''t have the necessary authority, and Monica had long since understood that. She knew her family had taken part in that ploy.


    A tense atmosphere fell on the sidewalk, and even the experienced guards near the cars remained startled. Monica''s straightforward answer was shocking, to say the least, especially for someone as emotionally involved as Francis.


    Still, a snicker soon broke the silence, bringing many gazes to the wall next to the building''s entrance. George couldn''t contain himself in that situation, and the booze didn''t suppress his voice. He openlyughed at that tant mockery and seeing Francis'' face added fuel to that reaction.


    "I''m really sorry," George did his best to apologize, lifting his hands only to wave his bottle and ss left and right. "I didn''t mean to interrupt. Please, continue."


    "How dare you even attend this meeting?" Francis diverted his irritation on George.


    "I live here," George shrugged his shoulders, closing the bottle with his thumb to use it to point at the building. "I think you should have chosen a more private location."


    "Who do you think you are?" Francis couldn''t contain himself.


    "George Ildoo," George calmly revealed, "And you are the guy who has to get women wasted to getid."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "What?!" Francis gasped.


    "You know," George continued, ignoring the re that Monica was shooting at him, "I could give you some pointers. Humbly speaking, I''m quite good."


    Francis knew who George was, which intensified his stupor. It didn''t make sense for someone from an inferior family to show such disrespect, especially during their first interaction. Still, George only continued to pour more booze and snicker with himself.


    Francis seemed so lost that one of the guards left the cars to intervene, but an empty ss flew in his direction before he could cross the sidewalk. The soldier easily dodged the item, but seeing it shatter on the floor made the tension skyrocket.


    "Protect Mister Alstair!" The guard that had stepped on the sidewalk shouted, and hispanions left the cars to approach Francis.


    "What are you doing?" Monica couldn''t help but ask, but seeing George drinking directly from the bottle made her lose any hope of finding a reasonable solution.


    "Look," George announced as soon as he lowered the bottle. "I understand the Mister doing what he wants, but you are guards, and this is the Harbor. You showed enmity, so don''t be surprised when someone reacts."

 Chapter 511 Extreme

    George knew his ce in the political environment. His family was good, but Francis, Monica, and many ssmates were beyond his reach. Even Anita was an incredible step-uppared to his usual women.


    However, the situation didn''t involve politics, at least not strictly. Francis wasn''t a student in the Harbor. Technically, he had no right to be in the second district, especially if he intended to harass the people living there. His family''s influence could give him some leeway, and eventual secret pacts helped even further, but that deal didn''t apply to his guards.


    George didn''t initially n to intervene, and Monica didn''t need help there. No matter what Francis said, he couldn''t force her to leave. Monica had to ept on her own, which wasn''t easy when she took pride in acts that would usually bring shame to her figure.


    Still, the conversation had been too funny, and George couldn''t hold back from joining it. Besides, he had been bored for quite a while already, and Francis had given him the perfect opportunity to blow off some steam.


    Francis'' guards encircled him to create a defensive line that could shield him from any threat. Only the man who had initially moved didn''t join that arrangement and stood on the path between George and Francis.


    George smirked at that scene before taking another sip from the bottle, but Monica interrupted his drink by approaching him.


    "What are you doing?" Monica scolded. "I can''t protect you if you act like this."


    George wanted to voice a witty remark, but noticing Monica''s genuine concern forced him to take her words seriously. She would hate involving George in her problems, and he could see that feeling on her face.


    "No wonder he couldn''t stay away from you," Georgemented. "Even I would falter in front of a face like this."


    "What?" Monica gasped, taking a step back. For a second, she thought George was hitting on her, but he used that chance to cross her and voice a loudugh.


    "George!" Monica called, almost losing her cool in front of that childish action.


    "You and Khan worry too much," George chuckled without bothering to turn. "Besides, I''m not doing this for you two."


    Monica was conflicted. On one side, George''s interference worked in her favor since it would keep Francis focused on him. Yet, George was a friend she had long since started to appreciate, and his close rtionship with Khan made the event harder to ignore.


    "Francis," Monica called after making up her mind. That was her problem, and she would handle it before anyone got hurt. However, an item flew toward her, and her arms instinctively shot forward when she realized what it was.


    "Nice catch!" Georgeughed, peeking past his shoulder to confirm that the bottle was safe in Monica''s hands. Her eyes carried pure irritation, but he felt satisfied for having stopped her advance.


    "So," George announced once he got close to the guard outside the defensive encirclement. "Do you have something to say?"


    The man frowned and remained silent. He didn''t know what George had in mind, but his position wasn''t ideal. The soldier didn''t personally show any hostility, but Francis'' stance wasn''t friendly, so it would be easy to misunderstand his actions.


    "Well?" George pressed on. "You entered the second district uninvited and started disrespecting its residents. The least you could do is apologize."


    George used his arrogant voice on purpose but addressed only the guards. His earlier statement had already been too much against someone with Francis'' status. Now, he could only respond to tant provocations or focus on people with poor relevance.


    "Mister Alstair and Miss Solodrey agreed to the meeting willingly," The guard responded.


    "You forgot a sir," George chuckled before looking at the defensive encirclement. "What is happening there? I didn''t know sses could be so dangerous."


    The guards didn''t like that not-so-veiled insult, and Francis wasn''t any better. George was mocking that extreme response, which was fitting, and Francis couldn''t ept losing face in front of Monica.


    "I will not ept this behavior any longer," Francis scoffed. "Seize him. We''ll see how arrogant he is once I report this to Headmistress Holwen and his family."


    The guard outside the defensive encirclement nced at Francis and exchanged a nod with him before turning toward George. However, a dark-silver light suddenly shed in his view, and pain followed.


    George looked disappointed when the guard nced at his chest and panicked at the long mark that crossed his entire torso. The man gasped and jumped back, but the action opened the injury, which spurted blood and made him lose his bnce.


    The guard fell and opened his suit to check his state. A long, oblique injury had appeared, and blood continued to flow from it. The wound wasn''t too deep, but the scene remained scary.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Just take a deep breath," George sighed. "You''ll live."


    "What is the meaning of this?!" Francis shouted as soon as he realized what had happened.


    "I barely touched him," George said, spreading his arms to express innocence. "I only used one finger."


    The situation immediately degenerated. The guards couldn''t believe that George had actually used deadly force in the Harbor, so they tightened their defensive encirclement on Francis.


    Francis was as stunned as his guards and felt unable to think straight. None of that was part of his n. He only wanted to convince or coerce Monica into following him to let their families deal with the situation, but George had ruined everything.


    As for Monica, she shared that surprise, but the sight of blood didn''t stun her. She was worried about George but also epted that the situation had escaped her control.


    "What?" George asked. "There should be a few regtions in my favor. How can you look so surprised?"


    Francis had to focus on George. Truth be told, George was technically correct, but that reaction remained extreme. Moreover, letting a descendant from a superior family do as he wished was the norm, but Georgepletely ignored those customs.


    "Sir, you should go back to the car," One of the guards said during that stalemate. "It isn''t safe here."


    Francis was about to nod, but a distant pair of eyes suddenly appeared in the corner of his vision. Someone from the next block had peeked past their building to inspect the scene, and that was only the initial example of that trend.


    Heads and eyes began to pop from every distant corner, and a few people even came out in the open to approach the building. The second district had rtively important residents, and some didn''t care about Francis'' status enough to stay away.


    That wasn''t the end of it. Flying cabs also approached the area and stopped above the buildings around the block. They simply hovered there without ever descending, but that was enough to give Francis an idea of the attention he had attracted.


    Moreover, the surrounding buildings had useful functions. Anyone could spy the scene from behind therge windows without getting spotted. The people in the open were probably the minority of the actual audience, and Francis understood that very well.


    Francis was in a pickle. He had initially hoped to get the invitation done within a matter of minutes, but things had gone way past that. One of his guards was also injured, which made returning home empty-handed too troublesome. If he failed so badly, he would be aughing stock inside his family.


    "I''m a descendant of the Alstair family," Francis eventually cursed to the guard that had spoken. "I won''t be sent away by such a despicable character!"


    "But, sir-," One of the guards uttered.


    "Francis, just leave," Monica stated, interrupting the guard. "Let''s do this another time and through the proper channels. Also, don''t forget to invite my fianc¨¦."


    The word "fianc¨¦" made Francis'' group open their mouths in shock. Even George turned to show his surprise, but Monica faked a panicked gasp and promptly corrected herself.


    "I meant boyfriend," Monica voiced. "I apologize. I got carried away. Still, you will invite him if you think I deserve your respect."


    "I don''t think this one has the stones to show his face again," Georgemented, knowing what his words would trigger.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I had enough of you!" Francis shouted at George.


    "I was talking to that man," George feigned ignorance, pointing at a random man among the defensive encirclement. "I''m sorry for the misunderstanding."


    No one believed George, but seeing a faint giggle from Monica made Francis lose his cool and shout again. "Seize this man! I want to bring him in front of the Headmistress now!"


    The guards couldn''t reject a direct order, but leaving Francis alone wasn''t an option either. The five in the encirclement exchanged nces before two abandoned Francis and reached for their injuredpanion.


    It turned out that George had spoken the truth. The guard''s injury wasn''t deep. A single night could be enough to close itpletely. Yet, he was in no condition to fight, so the two soldiers left him be to turn toward George.


    George didn''t have Khan''s inhumane senses, but his sensitivity was far from bad. He had long since surpassed what ordinary humans could see, so he had no problem evaluating his opponents.


    The injured guard was a second-level warrior, and the same went for two inside the encirclement. Instead, Francis and the remaining soldiers were on the third level, just like him.


    George couldn''t help but smile at that development. He didn''t lie to Khan. He didn''t want to return to the battlefield. Yet, boredom had umted after spending years in safe environments, and his asional sparring sessions couldn''t appease his fighting drive.


    "I thought you would nevere," George snickered, cing his left palm on two stretched fingers before lifting it to create a dark-silver sword.


    The two guards shot cold nces at the ethereal sword. Their orders were to restrain George, but he had put a deadly weapon against them. Moreover, the soldiers couldn''t badly hurt George. Francis had given his directives, but George remained a famous descendant in the advanced sses.


    "What?" George didn''t waste the chance to insult his opponents some more. "Are the members of the Alstair family scared of a single man?"


    "Get him already!" Francis shouted, and the two guards felt forced to shoot forward.


    George waited calmly as the two middle-aged men ran toward him. His opponents split to approach him from opposite sides and wore offensive stances once they got close enough.


    The man on the left opened his hands and leaped forward, bringing his right arm to his waist. Meanwhile, the other guard let his knees reach the floor to slide toward George before rotating on himself tounch a rising kick.


    The kick was the fastest of the attacks, so George prepared himself to swing his de at it. However, a dangerously high amount of mana gathered on his left, forcing him to jump backward.


    The guard on the left stretched his right arm forward, and a wave of mana came out of his palm before he couldnd. The attack was dense enough to stop at George''s previous position without stretching toward the other enemy, who could exploit that sudden retreat.


    The sliding guard let his leg rise and lift his entire body. He performed a handstand before throwing two descending kicks at the retreating George.


    George didn''t let that sudden attack surprise him. He swung his sword at the iing kicks, ready to endure both if necessary. His recklessness forced the guard to hesitate, but that worked against him.


    The guard interrupted his descending kicks and folded his legs. Yet, his action had been too slow, so the dark-silver sword hit his left shinbone, almost cutting his limb in half.


    George stomped his left foot behind him to interrupt his retreat and lunge forward, but the second guardnded in the meantime. Thetter didn''t hesitate to unleash his left palm, which engulfed George into a trembling wave of mana.


    The tremors destabilized George''s insides, and his control over his sword also wavered. However, his eyes remained open and fixed on the injured guard. Thetter was still standing on his hands, so he couldn''t retreat too quickly, and George wanted to exploit that.


    George brute-forced his way through the shaking mana, uncaring that his sword shattered in the process. The injured guard was close, so George only needed to take a step forward to reach him, and his swordless fingers descended toward him.


    The injured guard prioritized protecting his legs, so he bent backward. However, that gesture exposed his waist, and George didn''t hesitate to m his fingers at the most sensitive spot in his reach.


    A painful cry resounded on the sidewalk when George''s fingers stabbed the man''s groin. His handstand immediately broke, and he crashed on the floor to hold his injured jewels.


    The attack had left George exposed, and the second guard didn''t hesitate to strike. Still, after seeing George''s deadly attacks, the man put more mana than necessary into his blow, resulting in a low sound.


    George tightened his left arm on his side, but his eyes widened in surprise when the guard''s palm hit his elbow. The low sound and his senses warned him about the imminent danger, so he jumped to his right to avoid part of the attack.


    Nevertheless, George lost his bnce afternding. The guard''s mana had crossed his elbow to enter his side, messing up with his insides. His left leg suddenly wasn''t as responsive anymore, and blood started to umte in his mouth.


    The guard chased after George and leaped again when he was about to reach him. Meanwhile, George recreated his sword and pointed it at his iing assant.


    The man had to release his palm strike mid-air, sending dense mana forward to destabilize the ethereal de. The sword shattered, but George closed his hand into a fist that weed the guard''snding.


    The simple punch couldn''t take the guard down, even when hitting him on the nose. The man retreated as blood flowed from his nostrils, but his offensive stance returned. He was still full of energy and at the peak of his game, and the same couldn''t be said for George.


    George struggled to get rid of the effects of the palm strike. He spat to empty his mouth of some blood, but more surged through his throat. He wasn''t fine, and his left side didn''t follow his instructions. He could only summon his sword and wait for his opponent''s offensive.


    The guard knew that the situation was in his favor and didn''t bother to hide his intentions. He pointed his eyes at George''s left side, almost telling him where he would attack.


    George would understand the guard''s n even without that obvious hint. Only an idiot would attack the side with the sword, and the man had to know how much damage he had done. However, George ended up frowning and rxing due to an unexpected development.


    The guard was about to shoot forward when a tight grip closed itself around his right wrist. He turned, and his eyes widened in fear when he saw a smiling Monica keeping his arm still. She was wearing her usual elegant expression, but clear coldness reeked out of her.


    "Miss Solodrey!" The guard muttered.


    "What do you think you are doing?" Monica asked as her grip grew tighter.


    "M-Mister Alstair-," The guard stammered.


    "I heard what he said," Monica interrupted, "But you know who I am, and you still decided to attack my friend without asking my permission."


    "Miss Solodrey, I didn''t-," The guard tried to justify his actions, but fear filled his face when he saw grey smokeing out of Monica''s grip.


    "If your next words have nothing to do with an apology," Monica interrupted again, "I will take your hand."


    The guard froze in fear. He would typically ask for Francis'' opinion before pursuing any action, but Monica seemed ready to cut off his hand as soon as he moved.


    "I should warn you," Monica continued. "Silence will lead to the same oue."


    The guard opened his mouth to hurry with his apology, but a series of short noises suddenly echoed on the sidewalk. Monica, the guard, George, and Francis'' group turned toward their source but only found a couple of crutches lying on the floor.


    That confusion didn''tst long. A suffocating coldness followed. The entire sidewalk seemed to have fallen underwater due to how hard breathing became, but nothing stood still. The very air shook under that tension as if everything was about to explode.

 Chapter 512 Domineering

    "I had topromise," The Headmistress announced as soon as Khan brought his phone to his ear.


    "What do you mean, ma''am?" Khan asked.


    "I hope you understand," Headmistress Holwen continued. "The peace of the Harbor alwayses first."


    "Ma''am, what is happening?" Khan pressed on. He had understood that something was off as soon as he saw the Headmistress'' call, and that vague exnation intensified his worries.


    "I''m not sure either," Headmistress Holwen stated. "Forces that I can''t hope to contain have stepped forward. I had to grant them some time."


    "Time to do what?" Khan raised his voice. "And who are these forces?"


    "A suitor''s family," Headmistress Holwen revealed, "And your girlfriend''s family. As for what they have in mind, I can only suggest you go look at it yourself."


    Khan had countless questions, but the Headmistress cut the call short. "I have to prepare for the political implications. Good luck, Captain."


    "Wait!" Khan shouted, but the Headmistress was gone. The call had ended, leaving Khan with the many messages that had reached him in the meantime.


    Khan quickly skimmed through those texts without learning much. His ssmates had sent prying and worried messages, with Lucian exining the situation a bit more in detail. However, Khan could only understand that some political factions had chosen to act.


    "Hey!" Khan promptly called, mming his fist on the wall that separated him from the driver. "Hurry back to the second district."


    "Sir," The driver spoke through the speaker, "We are already bordering the speed limit."


    "This is a direct order from Captain Khan," Khan dered. "Article 61-14, section 3. During emergencies, drivers can ignore the speed limit and other regtions if a superior deems it necessary."


    The driver had long since forgotten those regtions, but the second punch thatnded on the wall forced him to agree. He also knew his passenger''s identity, so he stepped on the elerator and surpassed the speed limit.


    The sudden eleration barely affected Khan. He nced past the window seat before looking at his phone again. He sent messages, but no one replied, and anxiety built up as bad thoughts umted in his mind. Having just received Raymond''s unexpected call didn''t help either, and the atmosphere around him grew heavy as he prepared for the worst.


    Even with those vague clues, Khan could gain an idea of what was happening. Monica had educated him on the field, and they had both expected retaliations to happen sooner orter.


    Monica''s parents had publicly agreed to her rtionship, but her family was immense. Many factions inhabited it, and it stood to reason that a few didn''t like Khan since he brought them no benefits. Those forces might have heavily invested in Monica, only for Khan to ruin their hopes of getting their money back.


    The same went for the suitors. Monica was beautiful, her manners were impable, and she wielded incredible influence. She was the closest thing to a noble, and many families wanted her. Some had already spent quite a bit getting their descendants close to her, and Khan had made that investment pointless.


    Of course, Khan wasn''t a fianc?? or a husband. He wielded a temporary status that carried weight only if his opponents gave it value. There was still hope for those investments as long as he got out of the picture, which probably was what those factions aimed to aplish.


    Khan''s mental state deteriorated during the wait. His grip on the phone tightened, threatening to break the screen, and his eyes often darted to the window seat. The cab was too slow for him, but flying wasn''t an option. The situation had gotten political, so he had to avoid easy mistakes.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    That apparent calm was only one side of Khan''s thoughts. An opposite force existed and showed its presence as bad ideas popped into his mind. His unreasonable and wild desires began to growl, and the wait made them louder.


    The trip felt endless, but reaching the second district gave Khan ideas about the state of the situation. He noticed cabs hovering in the distance and small groups of people carefully converging toward his building. It was clear that something big was happening, and his mana almost roared during thest minutes separating him from his destination.


    Khan''s mind tried to go nk when he became able to see his building from the window seat. His eyes couldn''t do much at that distance, so he opened the door to get in contact with the symphony.


    The many random influences vanished as Khan focused on known auras. He could sense George, Monica, and another familiar presence. He immediately recognized Francis, and rity arrived as the cab grew closer.


    When the cab stopped above the sidewalk, the unreasonable desires almost gained a proper voice. Khan saw the two injured guards, Francis, his defensive encirclement, George, and Monica, and the symphony handled the rest.


    A battle had unfolded, and the general vibe was far from friendly, but Khan only focused on his friends. Monica was livid, and George''s seemingly injured state made Khan''s feelings re.


    The driver said something that Khan couldn''t hear. His mind only had room for one voice that filled him with violent goals. Superior powers were ying with him once again, and he became ready to repeat what had happened on Induna.


    ''I''ll kill them,'' Khan instinctively thought. ''I''ll kill them all.''


    Those thoughts degenerated and began to target the entire block. Khan''s actions on Induna had been a deration that those enemies had ignored, but he would be happy to give them a reminder. Francis and his guards had tainted the sidewalk with their disrespect, and Khan couldn''t let something like that exist in his world.


    The crutches at Khan''s side fell when he leaned further to get a better view of the scene. The sudden event made his aggression skyrocket, and his presence tainted the weak synthetic mana in the area, giving it his properties.


    Khan had almost made up his mind. He would destroy everything. He would make the very floor pay for that insult. However, his reasonable side stepped forward at thest second and reminded him that his friends were still on the sidewalk.


    ''I want to lose control,'' Khan thought as his internal conflict reached its peak, ''But that won''t get me anywhere.''


    The internal conflict suddenly ended, and the faint clicking growl in the background went silent. Khan had reached a conclusion, so he jumped forward and let the artificial gravity do its work.


    A single and faint step in the air flung Khan toward George. He materialized at his side without making any sound. George actually had to rely on his senses to realize that Khan had arrived.


    "You are early," George snickered, but Khan ignored those words to put a hand at the center of his chest.


    George''s state grew clear in Khan''s mind. He couldn''t sense the injuries, but the flow of mana created a troublesome picture. George had been hurt badly, and the wounds probably required professional help.


    "You need to see a doctor," Khan stated before looking at one of the cabs hovering above the sidewalk. "You. Get down."


    The order was slightly more than a whisper, but everyone could hear it. Even the driver inside the cab targeted by Khan understood its seriousness, so she didn''t hesitate to bring the vehicle down.


    "I can''t be bothered with medical bays," Georgeined.


    Khan didn''t react but adjusted his request to suit George''s wish. As soon as the cab reached the sidewalk, one of the windows went down to reveal a scared middle-aged woman who nodded at Khan''s immediate order. "Get a doctor to my t."


    "Yes, sir!" The driver said before closing the window and setting off toward the nearest medical bay.


    At that point, Khan turned toward the two injured guards. He ignored the man holding his groin to approach the soldier with the oblique cut on his chest. His walk was slow due to the braced foot, but the metal sounds that his uneven steps caused intensified the overall tension.


    Khan reached the injured guard and inspected him from head to toe. The man had calmed down during George''s battle, but Khan''s arrival had rekindled his panic. Still, his long wound had already stopped bleeding.


    "Sir, I-," The man stammered before looking at Francis. He couldn''t hope to face Khan on his own, but Francis didn''t lift his gaze. Khan''s presence was too suffocating, so he left the guard alone.


    "Do you know me?" Khan asked in an emotionless voice, making an invisible boulder fall on the guard''s chest.


    The guard wanted to search for Francis'' gaze again, but the pressure radiated by Khan suddenly intensified. The man knew he had to keep his eyes on him to prevent something terrible from happening.


    "Answer me," Khan pressed on.


    "Y-yes!" The guard coughed. "You are Captain Khan."


    "Good," Khan stated. "Where is my military salute?"


    "W-what?" The guard gasped.


    "A Captain is in your presence," Khan exined. "Stand up and salute him."


    The guard wanted to refuse, but Khan''s intense eyes never blinked. He appeared ready to inflict a deadly blow at the slightest misstep, so the soldierplied. He struggled on his feet, uncaring of the reopening of his injury, and wrapped his arms behind his back to perform a military salute.


    "Now," Khan continued. "Did you hurt Mister Ildoo?"


    "No, sir!" The guard promptly replied. "I swear, sir!"


    Khan could spot lies, so he knew the guard was telling the truth. Besides, the man was a second-level warrior. He couldn''t have possibly hurt George.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The tension remained as Khan turned. The guard began to rx, but Khan''s gaze snapped back at him to interrupt the process. The second-level warrior didn''t need words to know that his military salute had to stay.


    Khan kept his eyes on the soldier for a few seconds before turning again and heading toward the guard with the injured groin. Thetter was in pain but had witnessed the previous interaction, so he struggled on his feet even if more blood flowed over his legs.


    "Captain Khan, sir!" The man shouted, performing a military salute to wee Khan''s arrival.


    "Did you hurt Mister Ildoo?" Khan went straight to the point.


    "No, sir," The guard stated. "I swear, sir!"


    The guard was telling the truth, but his mana carried something odd that made Khan change his question. "Did you attack Mister Ildoo?"


    "S-sir," The guard stammered. "Yes, sir, but Mister Ildoo skillfully dodged my-."


    The guard couldn''t finish his line since Khan delivered a powerful kick on his left knee. Khan had used the braced leg in the attack, and the impact between the metal protection and the joint generated cracking noises.


    Pain tried to reach Khan''s mind, but his feelings fended it off. His gaze remained steady while he watched the guard fall on the floor and turn into a mess. The man didn''t know whether to hold his broken knee or bleeding groin.


    "Where is your gratitude?" Khan asked, unfazed by the man''s sorry state.


    "W-what?" The guard managed to mutter through his pain.


    "You attacked a descendant," Khan exined, "And a student of the advanced sses on top of that. You are guilty in front of the Harbor and the Ildoo family. I''d get a reward if I executed you right here."


    The guard knew how bad the situation was and looked for Francis, but thetter kept his gaze lowered. Without Francis'' help, the man was nothing more than a soldier who hadmitted a grave crime, and that realization quickly dawned upon him.


    "Are you going to thank me or not?" Khan pressed on.


    "Thank you, sir!" The guard mustered the entirety of his strength to shout.


    "Thank you for what?" Khan questioned.


    "T-thank you," The guard hesitated, "For showing mercy."


    The look of defeat on the guard''s face satisfied Khan. He didn''t feel any better. He didn''t like treating people like that. That behavior actually disgusted him. However, he needed everyone to understand that messing with him had consequences, heavy ones if his friends were involved.


    Khan finally turned toward Monica and the other guard, and slow steps unfolded again. The metal braces were a hindrance, but that odd walk didn''t interfere with his presence. Everyone remained too scared of Khan and the aura he radiated to even look at his intense eyes.


    Monica was an exception. Francis'' group felt pure terror, but she smiled as she let go of her prisoner. That domineering behavior perfectly suited Khan''s new status. No other man could stand so proudly at her side, and knowing what had triggered that reaction made him incredibly attractive in her eyes.


    ''He is born for power,'' Monica thought while her education kicked in. Her submissive side red at that serious and intense gaze. She stepped back and performed a respectful nod to give Khan full control of the matter.


    "Captain Khan, sir," The guard announced when Khan reached him and even performed a military salute to give an appropriate wee.


    "Did you hurt Mister Ildoo?" Khan questioned.


    "Yes, sir," The guard stated, going to his knees while keeping his arms behind his back. "I''ll ept any punishment you see fit, sir."


    That straightforward approach slightly surprised Khan, but he didn''t falter. Monica had seized the guard''s hand before his arrival, so he could guess what he used to attack, and his following question matched that understanding.


    "Which hand did you use to hurt him?" Khan asked, lifting his left arm to cover it with the purple-red sword.


    The guard had lowered his head, but the arrival of the chaos element made him peek at Khan. That glowing sword could only mean one thing. He was about to lose a hand. Khan was simply giving him a chance to choose which.


    "Both, sir," The guard revealed, breaking his military salute to show both arms to Khan.


    Khan hid his surprise, but his senses confirmed the absence of ploys. The guard was simply being honest. He was performing his role dutifully and respectfully without showing any bias for Khan''s status or background.


    ''Interesting,'' Khan couldn''t help but think before changing approach. "Stand up. You work for me now."


    "Sir?" The guard gasped, lifting his gaze to check how serious Khan was.


    "I gave you an order," Khan dered, lifting his glowing hand a bit higher. "Unless you prefer losing both hands."


    "C-captain, it''s not that," The guard stammered. "I''m under contract with the Alstair family."


    "Rescind it," Khan ordered.


    "Only a member of the Alstair family can rescind the contract, sir," The guard exined.


    "That won''t be a problem," Khan uttered, dispersing his mana to look at Francis.


    From an outsider''s perspective, the scene didn''t make any sense. Khan was alone and without a leg, while Francis'' group still had two active third-level warriors and Francis himself. They stood a good chance to fight, but no one dared to move in Khan''s presence. Everyone was too scared to even look at him.


    Only the people on the sidewalk could understand what was happening. Their subservient behavior wasn''t out of choice. They simply felt too scared for unknown reasons. The very air was telling them to respect the threat that Khan posed.


    "Mister Alstair," Khan called while slowly walking toward the main group. "I''ve taken a liking to one of your guards. I hope you don''t mind giving him to me."


    Francis dared to lift his gaze but immediately lowered it at the sight of those cold eyes. Memories from Milia 222 resurfaced and reminded him about the difference between him and Khan. Francis was outssed in every way. In that situation, he could only obey.


    "I''ll rescind his contract," Francis whispered.


    "You heard him," Khan said, turning toward the guard. "Go assist George. Bring him into my t."


    "Y-yes, sir!" The guard initially hesitated, but one look at Francis made him shoot on his feet and approach George. Thetter didn''t want help, but he pointed at the bottle Monica had left on the floor while he walked toward the building''s entrance.


    "Mister Alstair," Khan continued, turning toward Francis again. "You are with me."


    "What?" Francis gasped, finally looking Khan in the eyes.


    "We have matters to discuss," Khan exined. "We''ll do that in my t."


    The three guards around Francis would prefer not to help him after his treatment of theirpanions. However, they had duties that went beyond a simple descendant, so the third-level warrior among them decided to speak.


    "Captain, sir," The guard announced, but a needle suddenlynded at his feet and turned into a small spherical version of the Wave spell.


    The sudden attack made the guard retreat, and his gesture pushed hispanions back, Francis included. The two second-level warriors lost their bnce due to the abrupt movement and fear, and Francis fell with them.


    "You will speak only when spoken to," Khan ordered.


    The guard wanted to argue, but the fuming spot before him made him gulp in fear. Somehow, he knew Khan had missed on purpose. He would have taken both his feet otherwise.


    "I have orders for you too," Khan continued. "Clean this mess and bring the injured to a medical bay. Also, remove these cars from my sidewalk."


    "Sir, we must stay with Mister Alstair," The guard exined.


    "No, Mister Alstair will follow me alone," Khan stated. "If you have something against that, I''ll simply make you unable to be with him."

 Chapter 513 Prisoner

    The third-level warrior gulped. Khan''s upromising behavior was impossible to deal with, and he had already shown where a refusal would lead. The guard could only ept that he had to decide between suffering a severe injury or betraying his duties.


    "Mister Alstair, if you don''te by yourself," Khan pressed on, "I''ll get you personally."


    Khan''s despotic behavior wasn''t giving the guards a chance to think, and Francis was in a simr situation. Thetter knew that following Khan was a bad idea. Still, Khan wasn''t in the mood forpromises, and the sole thought of him approaching Francis was too scary to consider.


    "I''ll go," Francis agreed. "Do as he says and report back."


    The three guards didn''t even try toin. They immediately abandoned Francis to assist theirpanions. Meanwhile, Francis stood up and kept his head lowered while slowly approaching Khan.


    "Mister Alstair, get my crutches," Khan ordered before limping toward his building.


    Monica hurried to Khan''s side and matched his pace to walk with him. They didn''t turn even once to check Francis'' actions, but he had his fair share of onlookers. The audience and his guards noticed how he obediently retrieved the crutches and followed the couple without daring to reach them.


    Entering the building brought some privacy but didn''t disperse the tension. Khan and Monica continued to walk silently and entered the elevator, and Francis soon reached them. The couple still didn''t speak, and the situation didn''t change even after the lift began to move.


    The t unfolded in Khan''s vision, and Monica waited for him to take the first step inside before going along. The two crossed the elevator room and reached the main hall, where George was waiting for them on a couch. The newly hired guard was also there, but he was on his feet, messing with some menus on the wall.


    "Sir, I took the liberty of activating the cleaners," The guard stated, pointing at a rectangr robot sucking ss shards from the floor. "I hope that was the right decision."


    "It was," Khan confirmed, ignoring the faint reaction in Monica''s mana. He understood she had something to do with that broken ss, and seeing George''s amused expression marked him as an aplice.


    "You can sit," Khan said to the guard.


    "I prefer to stand, sir," The guard responded, performing a military salute and taking position behind the biggest couch.


    Khan liked that behavior, but his face didn''t show anything. He remained cold and emotionless while approaching the biggest couch and sitting at its center.


    Monica hurried into another room while Francis entered the main hall. She returned with sses and a bottle in a few seconds but only filled one of them to offer it to Khan.


    "Sit, Mister Alstair," Khan ordered, taking the ss while keeping his gaze on the couch before him. His eyes didn''t move even when Monica sat at his side and focused on matching his vibe with her posture.


    Francis didn''t need to ask where to sit. He entered the array of couches and leaned the crutches on the table before reaching the seat eyed by Khan. He upied its center and ced his hands on his knees to wait for Khan to speak again.


    "Tell me about your n," Khan gave another order. "I want to know every detail."


    Khan''s heavy presence had never wavered, so Francis could only lift his gaze briefly before lowering it again and beginning his tale. "The n was to force Monica out of the Harbor, applying pressure on her psychological and political state if necessary."


    "Why?" Khan questioned.


    "In a different environment," Francis exined, "We could have seized some leverage. With Monica in our possession, we could have kept you separated for years, if not indefinitely."


    "Who is we?" Khan asked.


    "My parents," Francis didn''t hide anything, "Many factions inside my family, and a big part of Monica''s family."


    Khan already knew that the ploy involved many prominent figures, but that confirmation didn''t sound any easier to ept. The Headmistress had warned him about those consequences, and they had finally arrived.


    "Details," Khan reminded. "Describe the kind of pressure you wanted to apply."


    Francis hesitated, but looking at Khan was scarier, so he eventually spoke. "We have many specialists on our side, and they are all willing to diagnose Monica with trauma-rted illnesses. Some-."


    Francis interrupted his line, but Khan wouldn''t let him fall silent. "Continue."


    "S-some," Francis stammered, "Some involve abuse and violence on your side."


    Monica snorted angrily but didn''t add anything. It made sense for the interested factions to target Khan, and his recent video could also help create the picture of a violent man.


    "Your chances of forcing her hand were slim at best," Khanmented.


    "We counted on an unbefitting reaction on her side too," Francis exined. "We only needed enough to involve higher-ups."


    "Or my side, I suppose," Khan guessed.


    "Kha-," Francis lifted his gaze and decided to correct his line. "Captain Khan, I swear, I never nned to involve you in this."


    The statement surprised Khan, even if his face showed no trace of that feeling. Francis had spoken the truth, which didn''t make much sense. In theory, Khan was the weakest link in that political situation, so the families shouldn''t hesitate to target him.


    "Tell me," Khan left that topic forter. "Did you obtain the unbefitting reaction you sought?"


    Francis hesitated, but that reaction alone was enough for Khan. Francis timidly looked at Monica, but her cold stance made him focus on the table before uttering something bound to make the couple angry.


    "Maybe," Francis responded. "It will depend on Monica''s family."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan calmly drank from his ss and reviewed the new information. For once, it seemed people didn''t want to mess with him, but he remained involved. Those factions wereing after his girlfriend now.


    "I want to talk with these factions," Khan eventually announced. "Arrange something."


    "What?" Francis gasped.


    "Do your ears have issues?" Khan asked.


    "N-no," Francis shook his head. "I''ll reunite with them and convey your wish."


    "No, you''ll say here," Khan exined. "You are my prisoner now."


    "C-captain, I-," Francis stammered.


    "I want a meeting with the representatives of these factions," Khan interrupted. "Face to face. They can have you back once we have talked."


    "But-!" Francis attempted toin, but Khan had only threats for him.


    "I can always send them your head in a box if you don''t like these arrangements," Khan dered, and Francis lost any desire to speak.


    "Leave now," Khan ordered, pointing at one of the corridors stretching from the hall. "Take the bedroom on the right. You aren''t allowed outside unless I say so."


    Francis could see that Khan was an unbreakable wall. Nothing would get past him now, and he was willing to use violence to fulfill his goals. Francis had to stand up and approach the corridor, but a tinge of resolve red inside him and made him turn before he could leave the array of couches.


    "Monica," Francis called as desperation and courage fused on his face, "Believe me when I say that I only want your well-being. I-, I love you. I always have."


    The sudden deration had no deeper meaning. The situation felt like a permanent goodbye, so Francis wanted to speak before it was toote. However, Monica wouldn''t give him the answer he hoped to receive.


    "Your feelings tter me," Monica showed her impable, elegant manners while cing a hand on Khan''s leg. "However, my body and heart belong to Khan. I hope we can remain friends."<novelnext></novelnext>


    Francis looked at Khan, but thetter had never moved his eyes from the couch before him. It almost seemed that the matter didn''t concern Khan. He calmly drank as if he knew the oue.


    "I understand," Francis whispered before hurrying outside the hall and entering the appointed corridor. The sound of a metal door sliding close eventually resounded, marking the end of that strange night.


    "Can you really imprison him?" George asked while drinking from the bottle that the guard had salvaged.


    "I don''t care about what I can do anymore," Khan stated, allowing himself to rx a bit and lying deeper on the couch. "If they want him back, they must show their faces."


    "Sounds like a n," George chuckled.


    Khan couldn''t help but nce at George. He was clearly not fine, but his mana was more lively than usual.


    "Did you have fun?" Khan asked.


    "A bit," George snickered, nodding toward the guard. "The guy here hit me good. I should carry my sword around more often."


    "I apologize for attacking you, Mister Ildoo," The guard uttered. "Though, your swordsmanship deserves praise."


    "I was just waving my hand randomly," George scoffed. "It''s not real swordsmanship without a sword, but I guess I can say the same about yourck of spells."


    "Mister Alstair had only ordered us to restrain you," The guard reminded.


    "Pity," George sighed. "You do look decent."


    "You," Khan recalled, lifting his head to look at the guard behind him. "What''s your name?"


    The guard entered the array of couches and crossed the table before Khan to give him a clearer view. The man had reached the middle-age, but his face carried no wrinkles. His brown eyes were firm and focused, and his short ck hair had no grey strands. He was also quite burly, even if his suit tried to hide that.


    "Andrew Durarel, sir," The guard stated, performing a military salute. "At your service, sir."


    "Andrew, what''s your story?" Khan questioned.


    "Ie from a small family, sir," Andrew exined. "I served in multiple ces and some battlefields, Ecoruta included. The Alstair family eventually acknowledged my talent and hired me."


    ''Right,'' Khan recalled. "How much did they pay you?"


    "Twenty thousand Credits a month," Andrew revealed.


    ''The private sector sure pays well,'' Khan thought. That sum was far higher than his Captain''s allowance and matching it was the wise move. Loyalty issues could arise otherwise.


    "I''ll pay you twenty-five a month," Khan dered. "Is that eptable?"


    "I''m ttered, sir," Andrew voiced. "Thank you, sir."


    "Don''t mention it," Khan eximed. "Your first job is to take care of Mister Alstair. Make sure he stays in his room and gets enough food. I''ll deal with the contract tomorrow."


    "As you wish, sir," Andrew responded and turned to reach Francis'' corridor. There was another bedroom there, so the guard wouldn''t have problems finding a ce to sleep.


    "You have be rich," George teased.


    "A family offers benefits I don''t have," Khan exined. "Increasing his pay is necessary."


    "Quite the politician," George smirked, but writings lit up on the wall and distracted him from that conversation.


    ''The doctor,'' Khan thought and began to stand up, but Monica pressed on his leg to interrupt his action and take care of that guest.


    Monica hurried toward the elevator room, granting Khan a clear line of sight with George. Thetter showed a meaningful smile that carried lewd jokes Khan understood perfectly but chose to ignore.


    George''s smirk disappeared when Monica, a middle-aged woman, and Anita entered the main hall. George immediately stood up, but the abrupt gesture made him groan in pain and cough some blood on his hand.


    "Are you okay?" Anita gasped, hurrying to George''s side.


    "It''s only a scratch," George reassured, wiping the blood on his casual clothes. "I''ll be fine after a good night of sleep."


    "The doctor will decide that," Anita scolded, stealing the bottle from George''s hand and leaving it on the table.


    "I''m certain I can drink," George said.


    "That''s never a good option if medications are required," The doctor stated, adjusting her small sses before browsing through her bag.


    George wanted toin, but Anita''s puppy eyes carried genuine worry. She probably also wanted an exnation, which was bound to get in the way of a night spent drinking with friends.


    "Let''s do this in my t," George sighed. "Khan, I''m leaving early."


    "I''ll see you tomorrow," Khan responded, fully understanding what was happening. He wanted to show a friendly smile too, but his domineering stance had yet to wear off.


    George tried to take the bottle during his departure, but one re from Anita made him put it back on the table. The couple and the doctor eventually left, and silence fell in the main hall.


    Monica didn''t immediately return to the couch. She yed with the t''s menus to close Francis'' corridor and iste that side of the habitation. Privacy spread in the main hall, and Monica calmly reached Khan''s side to regain her elegant posture.


    Khan couldn''t help but heave a tired sigh. That night had finally ended, but its consequences were bound to stretch through the entire week or more. He also had to think about Raymond''s call and contents, which didn''t hint at anything good.


    ''At least this statement should go a long way,'' Khan thought.


    Khan''s domineering behavior had not been entirely natural. It aligned with his feelings, but he had exploited his lying skills and sensitivity to enhance it. That character was basically a persona that reflected an unreasonable side of Khan''s personality. He didn''t like it, but it was better than killing.


    "What''s up with you?" Khan asked, turning to look at Monica. "You are awfully quiet."


    Monica had begun to show her true colors now that they were alone, but Khan had long since sensed the reactions of her mana. She was a mess of happiness and arousal. Still, she was holding back for fear of ending that incredible scene.


    "I saw you ready to fight," Khan continued, reaching for Monica''s cheek. "You know you shouldn''t use your element here. It''s too dangerous."


    Monica remained silent and snuggled in Khan''s palm until his thumb entered her range. She took it into her mouth, and her tempting eyes returned to Khan while wet sensations invaded him.


    "Oh," Khan voiced, leaving his drink on the table before pulling Monica closer. Monica gasped at the sudden gesture, but noints resounded. Her eagerness intensified, and the thumb in her mouth experienced part of it.


    "I wonder," Khan feigned ignorance. "What should I do with you?"


    Monica let the thumb escape her mouth and kissed it before speaking tempting whispers. "My Captain can do anything he wants with me. I''m his to use as he wishes."


    "Is that so?" Khan asked, bringing Monica onto hisp. She was ready to explode, but Khan was in control, so he let her boil and pant above him until he couldn''t take it anymore.

 Chapter 514 Hostage

    Buzzing noises disturbed the nightmare and awakened Khan. He opened his eyes, but his vision was hazy. A cozy feeling also invaded his senses, tempting him to go back to sleep.


    Still, the phone never stopped buzzing, and a cute groan joined that sound, bringing new energy to Khan''s mind. He snapped up, sitting on the mattress while some mental exhaustion showed its presence. He felt drained, and an exnation arrived when the haziness dispersed.


    Khan rubbed his eyes before the messiest bed he had ever seen unfolded in his vision. The nkets had disappeared, and a big part of the mattress was uncovered. He also spotted a pillow in the corner of the room while the heavy scent of sex invaded his nostrils.


    The scene made Khan a bit proud and looking at the naked figure on his right intensified that feeling. Monica was sleeping belly down, without anything covering her beauty, and pieces of her beautiful face peeked past her curls.


    The relentless buzzing forced Khan to lean past the mattress and grab his phone. Countless calls and messages had reached his device, with manying from the Headmistress. That reaction wasn''t surprising considering the previous night''s events, but Khan had no intention of dealing with that just yet.


    Khan silenced the phone and left it in the corner of the mattress before lying over Monica. He grabbed her waist to pull her closer while immersing his head in her curls. When Khan found her cheek, he kissed it and smiled at the loving moan it caused.


    "I can''t feel my legs," Monica whined.


    "That''s because you have been a good girl," Khan whispered to Monica''s ear.


    "Was I?" Monica innocently asked.


    "Yes," Khan confirmed. "So, rest a little longer."


    "I want to be with you," Monicained, but a soft pnded on her butt and made her gasp.


    "Stay," Khan said in a firmer tone. "I have things to handle."


    "Yes, Captain," Monica giggled and slightly lifted her head to let Khan kiss her. She returned to the mattress afterward, and Khan straightened his back while running a hand through her hair.


    Khan couldn''t hold back from prolonging that caress when he touched Monica''s neck. He ran his fingers across her back, and another proud smile appeared when he noticed the faint bite mark on her butt.


    ''Maybe I exaggerated,'' Khan wondered before dismissing that thought. The night had been too great to regret it. Besides, he had done worse with Liiza, and Monica had clearly been into it.


    Khan shook his head and crawled out of bed to escape that tempting sight. He had silenced his phone, but those calls were still there, and he needed to address them before giving in to his desires again.


    Finding underwear or pants in the messy room was impossible, so Khan retrieved his phone and went into another area to get a clean uniform. The main hall was his next destination, and entering it showed some missing clothes.


    Khan rubbed his eyes again before limping toward the array of couches. He found Monica''s underwear on the floor, and her socks were on the table. Monica''s bra had ended under a seat, and her tracksuit had reached the other side of the room for some reason.


    Tapping on the floor a few times activated the cleaning functions. Three rectangr drawers opened in different areas of the hall and released robots. Those machines dealt with the dirt, spots, and dust while Khan retrieved all the clothes he could find.


    The process took a few minutes, and Khan merely threw the retrieved clothes into another bedroom before moving on with his next task. He unlocked Francis'' corridor, and the metal wall slid open to reveal a familiar figure.


    "I should have been more specific," Khan admitted seeing Andrew standing firmly before Francis'' bedroom. It was clear that the guard didn''t go to sleep at all, which was theoretically in line with Khan''s orders.


    "Mister Alstair didn''t leave his room all night, sir," Andrew reported.


    "Good job," Khan stated. "Follow me."


    Khan led Andrew into the main hall and pointed at a couch before sitting down. Andrew decided to remain on his feet and perform a military salute, and Khan only nodded at him before making a call.


    "Captain, you finally called!" Jenny''s voice came out of the phone. "The situation needs your immediate-."


    "Jenny, not now," Khan interrupted. "I have another pressing task."


    "What is it, Captain?" Jenny asked, even if her tone carried the anxiety caused by the previous night''s events.


    "Can you handle contracts?" Khan questioned. "I need to hire someone."


    "Is he by any chance Mister Alstair''s guard?" Jenny questioned.


    ? ''Rumors spread fast,'' Khan thought before speaking. "Indeed. His name is Andrew Durarel. I''d ratherplete this now."


    "I can send a universal form with your data," Jenny revealed, "But the Alstair''s contracts require-."


    "Mister Alstair will rescind his contract to his family," Khan interrupted again.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    A few silent seconds had to pass before Jenny spoke again. "As you wish, Captain. I''ll send the form to your phone."


    The call ended, and a new message arrived right away. Khan sent its contents to the t before summoning some holograms. A standard contract appeared between Khan and Andrew, and the two immediately began to fill it.


    Khan didn''t have much to write. He only had to insert the previously agreed remuneration. As for the contract''s length, he set it to one year to be safe.


    Once the two were done, Khan sent the contract to Francis'' room and waited. He didn''t know whether Francis was asleep or hesitant about the matter, but a signed version of the form returned in a mere minute. Everything was in order now, and Khan forwarded the document before checking his profile.


    Those official procedures were public, and thework updated quickly, so Khan could immediately confirm Andrew''s employment. He now had a guard who made his monthly expenses way heavier.


    "You can rest now," Khan announced once the matter ended. "If you need food, just order it from the room. As for the drinks, almost any drawer in this t has some."


    "Sir, I can keep guarding Mister Alstair," Andrew stated.


    "There is no need," Khan firmly reassured. "I''ll be here anyway. Now, go."


    Andrew didn''t argue anymore. He rxed and reperformed his military salute before entering Francis'' corridor and picking a random bedroom. Khan isted that area again afterward but didn''t forget to give Andrew special authorizations inside the t.


    ''Now,'' Khan thought while skimming through the many messages to get an idea of the situation.


    The streets had cameras, so Francis'' arrival didn''t gopletely unnoticed. The Headmistress and families had prevented videos from reaching thework, but it was only a matter of time before the public learnt about those events.


    Of course, Lucian and the other wealthy descendants had special channels, and their parents didn''t like to remain in the dark. That political incident was relevant for many reasons, and the messages on Khan''s phone conveyed that general interest.


    ''It''s notpletely out yet,'' Khan thought. ''I can use that.''


    It was still morning. The lessons had begun, but attending them wasn''t an option during the current crisis. Still, Khan didn''t know how long his leverage wouldst or if he even had any, so his next call began to address the issue.


    "How dare you answer just now?!" Headmistress Holwen''s loud voice came out of Khan''s phone. "This is insubordination on multiple levels! Release Mister Alstair at once!"


    "Mister Alstair stays here until I meet the interested parties," Khan responded.


    "I''m not ying around, Captain," Headmistress Holwen eximed. "This is a direct order. Release him immediately!"


    "Ma''am, I''m afraid he might fall from the stairs so early in the morning," Khan joked.


    "It''s midday," Headmistress Holwen stated, "And your building doesn''t have stairs."


    "Then," Khan said as his tone lost any trace of emotions, "I''m afraid he might fall headfirst on my knife."


    Silence unfolded. The Headmistress had seen the footage but didn''t expect Khan to answer like that. She was his superior inside the Harbor, but he was explicitly disobeying her orders.


    "You are ying a dangerous game, Captain," The Headmistress eventually uttered.


    "I''m not ying," Khan responded. "They came after my girlfriend while I wasn''t there, and you gave them that window."


    "I warned you," Headmistress Holwen reminded. "I told you many families have their eyes on Monica Solodrey. The Alstair family is only the first to make a move."


    "And I will use it as a statement," Khan answered, "So that no one else gets any strange idea about my girlfriend or me."


    "Your achievements must have made you delusional," Headmistress Holwen uttered. "The families have ess to high-level warriors that I can''t stop, let alone you."


    "If theye," Khan announced, "I can still take the entire district with me."


    "You are joking," Headmistress Holwen said, even if her voice lost part of its power.


    "Am I?" Khan questioned. "Ma''am, take a good look at my profile. You know I can and will if cornered."


    "This is terrorism," The Headmistressmented.


    "I don''t care what you call it," Khan dered. "I only care about protecting what I have."<novelnext></novelnext>


    Silence unfolded again. The statement sounded like a bluff, but the Headmistress wasn''t ready to call it. Khan wasn''t exactly predictable, and the recent events were bound to add fuel to the resolve she had seen in a past meeting.


    "Ma''am, I know you can''t take sides," Khan eventually continued, opting for a calmer tone. "I''m not asking you to. Still, I have Monica''s parents on my side, at least publicly, and multiple descendants'' support. You can stay out of this withoutbeling me as a traitor."


    The Headmistress'' obligations began and ended with the Harbor. She only had to maintain stability, and forcing Khan to free Francis was the simplest and most immediate solution.


    However, that wasn''t the Headmistress'' only option. She could easily y both sides and let Khan do his game. That approach wouldn''t make her look too good, but the alternative also had problems since the Alstair family could ask for reparations.


    "A hostage and my silence can''t buy you much time," Headmistress Holwen exined. "You need real pressure to make this go how you want to."


    "I''ll deal with that this very night," Khan promised. "I only need you to keep my profile clean."


    Khan added a respectful "ma''am" after a few seconds. He was angry at the Headmistress but also understood her position. He was even asking another favor, and threatening to blow up the entire district wasn''t the way to do it.


    "You are a ma for trouble, Captain," Headmistress Holwen dered. "I''m starting to wonder why I''m even helping you."


    "I might have a lead on Mister Chares'' organization," Khan decided to reveal.


    "You do?" The Headmistress didn''t hide her interest. "Tell me."


    "I refuse," Khan replied. He wouldn''t know how to exin Raymond''s call, and that information was leverage. Luckily for Khan, the Headmistress was savvy enough to understand the second part.


    "Very well," Headmistress Holwen eximed. "I''ll stay out of this as long as possible, but you should hurry. I''ll personally open your t''s doors if they corner me."


    "Thank you, Headmistress," Khan uttered. "I''ll repay this favor one day."


    "You shouldn''t worry about what you owe me," Headmistress Holwen warned. "You should mind what you are about to promise."


    Khan nodded, even if the Headmistress couldn''t see him. Still, that didn''t matter since Headmistress Holwen closed the call, leaving Khan with his thoughts.


    ''An interview might buy me more time,'' Khan considered revealing the previous night''s events to the public, ''But it might also antagonize potential allies.''


    Revealing private information about Francis and his n would show that Khan wouldn''t hesitate to ignore the families'' privileges. Involving the public in the matter might improve his image but ruin potential rtionships with the forces that could genuinely help him.


    ''It''s not big enough anyway,'' Khan sighed. ''I need the other descendants and that.''


    Khan put his phone aside to y with the t''s menus. New holograms soon appeared before him to depict Honides. Raymond had basically told him to fly there, but the eleventh quadrant didn''t feature anything special.


    ''Can I justify a trip there?'' Khan wondered.


    Khan stared at the holograms for a few minutes while various thoughts upied his mind, and his eyes didn''t move even when Monica entered the main hall. Still, a id pattern eventually appeared in the corner of his vision and distracted him from that topic.


    "How do I look, dear?" Monica asked, slightly lifting the corners of her ided red skirt to perform a bow. She had worn ck tights and a jersey too, creating a simple but elegant look ruined only by her messy hair.


    "Dear?" Khan couldn''t help but repeat.


    "I might have called you my fianc¨¦ yesterday," Monica revealed, brimming with excitement as she sat at Khan''s side. "If I''m going to be your wife, I need practice."


    Khan smiled, pulling Monica on his shoulder and cing a hand on her chin to tease her properly. "Are you letting your imagination run wild again?"


    "Always," Monica whispered, "Until it''s not my imagination anymore."


    "What''s next on your vision then?" Khan asked.


    "Being a woman worthy of you," Monica responded. "Both in appearance and behavior."


    The statement exined the elegant attire, but Monica wasn''t done. "I still have to fix my hair, but I''m waiting for our bath. Did I make the right decision, Captain?"


    "You did," Khan nodded. "I must watch you closely. Otherwise, I''d worry your legs would give up at the wrong time."


    "You must hold me very tightly," Monica giggled, and the two fell into a long kiss.


    The current crisis and the previous night''s outburst allowed the couple to hold back their passion. When the kiss ended, the two focused on the holograms, but Monica spoke words that had nothing to do with them.


    "I can''t see my parents being in the dark about yesterday," Monica dered. "They didn''t warn us on purpose."


    "Did they hope Francis took you away?" Khan asked.


    "I''m not sure," Monica admitted. "It might have been a test."


    "The test isn''t over," Khan reassured, kissing Monica''s head before leaving the couch. "We can''t stop them froming at us, but I can give them a taste of the consequences."


    Monica stood up and followed Khan as he limped around the table with the holograms. She recognized Honides but seeing Khan highlighting and zooming in on the eleventh quadrant confused her.


    "Why Honides?" Monica eventually asked.


    "Raymond called," Khan revealed. "He basically told me to go there."


    "Raymond?!" Monica gasped. "What did he want?"


    "I can''t possibly imagine what he wants," Khan sighed. "That''s what he said."


    "Do you think it''s Nak-rted again?" Monica questioned.


    "I would have sensed it," Khan guessed, "Probably. Still, I think it''s rted to Mister Chares. That''s what Raymond tried to hint at."


    Monica''s confusion deepened, but only on specific topics. She didn''t question how Raymond knew about Khan''s missions or the criminal organization. The man had ess to a Nak''s hand. Illegal activities were nothing inparison.


    "Why is he trying to help you so badly?" Monica wondered. "There is only so much he can do before it bes suspicious."


    "I be suspicious," Khan corrected. ording to thework, he was terrific, and the reality was really close to that evaluation. However, a major feat aplished randomly would solidify the hypothesis that Khan had something to do with those criminals.


    "You can''t take this bait so openly," Monica warned, continuing to trail behind Khan.


    "I can get a few additional tasks the next time they send me on Honides," Khan suggested, "With one casually close to the eleventh quadrant. At worst, I''ll say I was using the storms to condition my skin."


    "That," Monica eximed before hesitating a few seconds, "Can work, but take someone with you. Mister Durarel is perfect for the job."


    "I''ll consider that," Khan promised, even if Andrew had no ce in those tasks. After all, they were ssified missions set directly by the Harbor''s specialists, and only Khan could fly rtively freely among Honides'' storms.


    "Do you want me to send invitations for tonight?" Monica changed the topic.


    "I need you for Anita and Lucy," Khan nodded. "Maybe I should leave all the women to you."


    "It''s for the best," Monica agreed.


    "Another study session where no one will study," Khan joked. "I also need to check on George."


    "We need," Monica corrected. "He might have had his reasons, but his actions still helped me."


    "The doctor probably told him to stop drinking until he healed," Khan chuckled. "He''ll need us."


    Monicaughed at thatment, and the two continued to walk around the table a bit longer. Yet, Khan eventually stopped in his tracks.


    "Monica," Khan called while his eyes remained on the holograms.


    "Yes?" Monica replied.


    "Why are you following me?" Khan asked, peeking past his shoulder and noticing the intensity of the icy-blue eyes fixed on him.


    "I can''t stop if I see you," Monica responded, taking her cheeks in her hands. "I''m burning already."


    Khan couldn''t find the strength to scold Monica. She looked too excited and happy about her feelings to stop them. In a way, that extreme mood was the perfect match for Khan''s love, and he wouldn''t dare to suppress it.

 Chapter 515 Friends

    As much as Khan wanted to attend Professor Parver''s private lesson that night, he had to prioritize the study session to reinforce his political stability. Moving with Francis inside his t also wasn''t ideal, so Monica helped him send invitations to his ssmates for the meeting.


    Everyone was eager to learn more about the matter. Khan''s phone threatened to explode whenever he allowed it to ring, so he found no surprise seeing his ssmates epting the invitations. Even Lucy agreed toe, clearing thest variable about that night.


    Monica put more effort than before into the preparations for the meeting. Khan was basically about to ask favors, and the Solodrey family had educated her for those asions. She rearranged the main hall, ordered food, and even forced the robotic cleaning services to work overtime to make everything perfect.


    That additional effort risked giving away Khan''s intentions before he had a chance to speak, but Monica knew how to bnce things out. She kept the general setting casual and weing without going under the standards proper of wealthy descendants.


    That process continued even after Khan and Monica had a long and lovely bath together. Monica personally handpicked Khan''s clothes, which consisted of simple trousers and a casual turtleneck that gave him a dignified vibe. She also made sure to match his presence with her shirt dress and short heels before the inevitable wait began.


    As dinnertime arrived, the t warned the couple about the arrival of the first round of guests. Khan and Monica immediately headed for the elevator room, but reading their identity on the menus made her step back to stand on the backlines.


    An athletic figure with short ck curls and dark skin appeared once the elevator opened. Lucy stood tall inside the lift, but some hesitation arrived when she noticed Khan.


    "Thank you foring, Lucy," Khan announced, ignoring that faint awkwardness. "You are the first to arrive."


    "I came early on purpose," Lucy revealed, stepping out of the elevator and joining her hands above her waist. "I stand by my past words, but I expressed myself poorly. I wanted to use this chance to apologize."


    Khan honestly didn''t care about the matter. He actually respected Lucy more because she had dared to use him. Yet, he needed people to acknowledge his status, so he couldn''t dismiss the eventpletely.


    "I understand my recent exploits have odd coincidences," Khan stated, "But that shouldn''t undermine all my efforts for the Global Army."


    "You arepletely right," Lucy responded. "My tone was out of ce."


    "It''s all good," Khan nodded before ncing at Monica behind him. "Well, almost."


    "Monica," Lucy gasped, hurrying toward Monica. "Allow me to apologize to you too. I meant no disrespect to you, your family, or your partner. I''d like to me the video, but my behavior remains unbing."


    Monica was different from Khan. She didn''t have to enforce her status on others because her family already imed general respect, so her reply featured kinder tones.


    "It''s alright," Monica uttered. "I should also apologize for reacting so rudely. I can''t think straight when Khan is involved."


    "I guess we are both unbing of our status," Lucy giggled, taking Monica''s hands. "Yet, your position is understandable. I can''t imagine what you had to ovee to be with Khan publicly."


    "You were only pointing out the obvious," Monica said. "Your concerns toward our safety shouldn''t be a matter of pride and respect."


    "Why don''t we put this behind us?" Lucy wondered. "If it''s not too much to ask."


    "dly," Monica eximed, and her eyes lit up when she recalled something. "Khan actually suggested a group date. It might give us a chance to rx."


    "Khan suggested a date?" Lucy teasingly asked, turning toward Khan. "That''s a tempting offer. I''m not sure I''m allowed to refuse it."


    "I don''t want to impose," Khan chuckled, reaching Monica''s side to caress her cheek. "I only thought it could be a good opportunity to make her happy and know you better."


    "I won''t hide it," Lucy stated, letting go of Monica''s hands. "My family pressed me to establish a good rtionship with you, especially after the many rumors. Still, I''d very much like to keep things friendly."


    "That''s ideal for me too," Khan agreed before addressing another topic. "When you say rumors, do you mean what I sharedst time?"


    "That," Lucy nodded, "Andst night''s events. All the big figures paid good money and called in favors to get their hands on this district''s recordings. Mister Alstair sure is a bold one."


    "It was a predictable reaction," Monica sighed. "I''m only sorry it had to involve Khan."


    "I''m not," Lucy giggled, fixing her tempting ck eyes on Khan. "You told me about his protective side, but I never expected it could take such shapes. It was quite the intriguing watch."


    Khan could sense Monica tensing up from the fingers on her cheek, but only a smile broadened on his face. Truth be told, he didn''t know how to deal with that obvious interest without being disrespectful, especially when Monica was at his side.


    "Lucy, stop looking at my boyfriend like that," Monica warned.


    "Oh, my," Lucyughed. "You do lose your cool when Khan is involved. I can''t help but look forward to our date now."


    "I have to step in here," Khan wore a fake smile and moved his hand on Monica''s opposite shoulder to pull her closer. "Only I get to tease her."


    "The boyfriend is no different," Lucy joked. "You make a good pair."


    "We should get to drinking already," Khan suggested.


    "But Khan," Lucy pressed on. "I''ve known Monica for years. I''m sure you''d be interested in learning about her many suitors."


    Khan was about to turn, but those words made him stop, squint his eyes, and speak. "Keep talking."


    "I was thinking about inviting Mark to our group date," Monica intervened. "It should be nice with just the four of us."


    Lucy had to abandon her teasing stance at that suggestion, and the three exchanged meaningful nces before exploding into augh.


    "Let''s find an agreement tonight," Monica happily dered.


    "I''m counting on you for those names," Khan reminded.


    "Khan, I was joking," Lucy revealed. "Every man from every family is Monica''s suitor."


    Khan groaned, and the gesture made the two womenugh. The three entered the main hall on that happy note, and drinks flowed as the wait for the other guests returned.


    More rounds of arrivals eventually unfolded. Lucian, Mark, and John were next, followed closely by Zoe and Marcia. Khan and Monica exchanged casual conversations with them before heading for the main hall, and everyone avoided the pressing topics to wait for the remaining guests.


    Khan and Monica had a different approach when George and Anita arrived. As usual, the couple met their friends in the elevator room, but friendlier and more honest words resounded during their interaction.


    "Anita, I''m d you could make it," Khan weed before looking at George. "Are you any better?"


    "Same as always," George scoffed. "Might as well cuff me and throw me in a cage."


    "Anita!" Monica eximed, falling into a hug with her friend. "How are you feeling?"


    "Monica, you know my reaction wasn''t about Khan or you," Anita stated. "I just wished someone else had to face those dangers, and I still do."


    "I share the feeling," Monica admitted, "But we don''t always have that choice."


    "We do," Anita pointed out before fixing her warm eyes on George, "But I guess it wouldn''t be the same. I''m d George acted like George."


    "She likes you more than me," George added.


    "Only an internal injury could stop him from drinking," Anita sighed.


    "Technically," George voiced, but Anita''s eyes immediately gained a scolding vibe and forced him to interrupt his line.


    "How are you anyway?" Anita asked. "It must have been shocking to see Mister Alstair summon you so suddenly."


    "I''m fine," Monica shook her head, separating from Anita. "George is the one who deserves your attention."


    "I admit I received a lot of that," George revealed, and Anita showed a rare embarrassed face while diverting her gaze.


    Monica and Khan didn''t need to ask to understand what had happened. They could read that on their friends'' faces, and seeing that things were still working out for them brought some happiness.


    "Why don''t we go inside?" Anita muttered. "Before the lost cause gets any strange idea."


    "I only have strange ideas," George proudly imed andughs apanied their walk into the main hall. Cheers arrived once they reunited with the other descendants, and more polite exchanges unfolded.


    "We were so worried about you," Marcia eximed. "I hope everything is okay."


    "Anita isn''t the kind of woman to get discouraged so easily," Lucymented.


    "Maybe George is her weak spot," Zoe giggled. "You guys should pressure him a bit."


    "We only talk business when we are all guys," Mark joked.


    "Anita is on our not-to-mess-with list," John announced, leaning sideways on his couch to put his legs on its arm.


    "We are simply d everything is well," Lucian added. "Thoughpliments are mandatory. George, you were quite heroicst night."


    "I was only having fun," George disregarded the praise while upying an empty couch with Anita. He instinctively reached for a bottle nearby, but Anita''s promptly seized his wrist and showed a scolding expression that made him give up.


    "Are you blushing, Anita?" Zoe inquired. "I hope it involves George''s well-deserved reward."


    "Zoe, you are so lewd!" Marcia gasped.


    "You are the most curious about all of this," Zoe pouted.


    "It''s always the quiet ones," Khan sighed.


    "Khan, not you too!" Marciained.


    "The Captain is finally getting used to us," Markughed.


    "I suppose his girlfriend had a hand in that," Lucy guessed.


    "I can hardly stop his jokes," Monica revealed. "Bear them for me, so I''ll get him all seriouster."


    "You know I never have enough of teasing you," Khan stated, seizing Monica''s hand to lead her to thest empty couch.


    Monica showed no annoyance. She was happy to see Khan make those public statements, and their fingers remained entangled even after they sat down.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I''m guessing Khan also received his reward," Zoe giggled.


    "They are always like that," George revealed. "Lucian can confirm that."


    "I admit I''ve seen a few surprising scenes," Lucianughed. "Still, their chemistry is so good I''m almost envious."


    "I get what you mean," Marcia uttered. "They almost came out of fairy tales."


    "If we don''t count the political hurdles and other struggles," Lucy added.


    "Which I wish they didn''t face," Anita sighed. "However, things would have been impossible if Khan wasn''t who he was."


    Anita lightly bumped into George''s shoulder after herment, and he understood that subtle message. His arm went around her shoulders to wrap her into a hug that she timidly epted.


    "Speaking of which," John eximed, putting a cigarette into his mouth. "You two went crazyst night, especially you, Khan."


    "Problems sure arrived at the worst possible time," Mark said, "But your response wasmendable."


    "It was quite despotic," Marcia admitted.


    "And necessary," Lucian added. "Khan doesn''t deserve such disrespect."


    "I''m with Lucian here," Zoe stated. "You don''t go after someone else''s girlfriend."


    "We all know there is more to that," Mark pointed out.


    "Indeed," Lucy agreed. "We wouldn''t be here craving information otherwise."


    "Yeah, we want details," John announced, blowing up the cigarette''s smoke above him. "Share the secrets of your coolness."


    Anita remained outside those requests since George had already updated her a bit. Yet, she remained curious about other details, especially the sealed corridor in the hall''s back.


    "So," Khan spoke, bringing all the attention to him, "You have all seen the footage."


    "Our families got to work as soon as themotion spread," Mark exined.


    "I''m sure you understand how big the event is," Lucian added.


    "My parents called me in the middle of the night," Marcia revealed.


    "Our entire ss probably knows already," Zoe stated.


    "Which is good," John dered. "Everyone knows not to mess with you now."


    "Do they?" Khan asked. "I feel these attempts won''t stop unless I do something radical."


    "What do you have in mind?" Zoe asked. "You can''t marry Monica yet, no matter how much she wants it."


    "Zoe, don''t expose me," Monica pretended to be embarrassed. "Khan and I n to wait anyway."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "You could use Monica''s birthday to announce your rtionship properly," Lucy suggested. "It''s soon, isn''t it?"


    "In three weeks," Khan confirmed. "Yet, I don''t want to use the event to bolster my position. I''d rather make the day about her."


    "So romantic," Marcia gasped.


    "Don''t fall for him," Monica warned before showing her needy face at Khan. "Don''t stop either."


    "I''m actually in trouble," Khanughed. "I''m struggling to find an appropriate present. Can you girls help out?"


    Anita, Zoe, Marcia, and Lucy instantly showed excitement, but Monica quickly poured cold water on it. "You are not going on a date with all of them, especially alone."


    "What do you want then?" Khan asked.


    "A mark of ownership," Monica''s eyes lit up before quickly correcting her line. "I meant belonging. I want something that makes everyone know I''m yours."


    "I don''t know anything about jewels," Khan admitted, ignoring the gasps surrounding him, "And your mother will kill me if you get a tattoo."


    "I was thinking about a ring," Monica revealed, showing her left hand and lifting her fourth finger. "Something to put here."


    Everyone in the room knew what Monica meant, even Khan. He knew the problems that could arise, but Monica looked too excited to reject her.


    "I hope you won''t mind me dying the next day," Khan joked.


    "It''s just a ring," Monica feigned innocence but still took Khan''s arm in her hug.


    "I said they are a married couple," Georgemented.


    "I gave up on them," Anita sighed.


    "As happy as I am for you," Mark stated, "I think we have more pressing matters to discuss."


    "Mark, don''t interrupt them," Johnined. "Every move he makes is a priceless lesson."


    "The night is still young," Lucian said. "We can allow ourselves to take it easy."


    "No, Mark is right," Khan responded. "I do have pressing matters to attend to and would really appreciate your suggestions."


    "To do that," Lucy eximed, "We first need to know the whole situation."


    "Especially regarding ourmon friend," Lucian added, looking past his couch to eye the sealed corridor. "Is Mister Alstair still here?"


    "He is," Khan directly revealed. "I''ll keep him here until I get a meeting with the factions involved withst night''s crisis."


    "Fuck around and find out," John snickered. "The guy deserves to be in that position."


    "John, it''s not so simple," Mark scolded. "Khan, with all due respect, I''m not sure a meeting is enough to discourage simr ploys."


    "It might actually open the way for more of them," Lucy dered.


    "It''s so sad," Marcia sighed.


    "It''s the weight of the Solodrey name," Zoemented. "I''m sure they both expected something like that to happen."


    "Still, there are proper ways to do it," Anita responded, showing some anger. "Starting a fight in the Harbor is too much."


    "Khan, what do you n to do with him?" Lucian forced the conversation to stay on topic. "His actions have been out of line, but he remains an influential descendant."


    "Honestly," Khan eximed, wearing a cold face when his gaze fell on the sealed corridor, "I''m pretty sure I''ll have to kill him. The interested factions won''t take me seriously otherwise."


    A tense silence suddenly filled the hall. Happiness had reigned until now, but a singlement from Khan destroyed all of that. Besides, his face matched his words, and his history corroborated them too. Everyone instantly believed that he would stay true to his statement.


    "Quite hardcore," John broke the tension. "I like it."


    "John, don''t joke about it," Mark scolded. "Mister Alstair is our friend, and a murder like this is bound to cause more problems. Khan, I know you must feel angry, but violence can''t get you out of this."


    "That''s why I''m asking for your opinions," Khan exined. "Realistically, I only know how to killpared to all of you. Might as well put that into use."


    "Khan, problems wouldn''t just disappear," Lucian warned. "Murdering Mister Alstair wouldbel you as a criminal. You''d get apprehended in no time."


    "So?" Khan questioned. "Should I just kill everyone involved in the ploy? I''m sure using Mister Alstair will eventually grant me a meeting with them."


    The group didn''t know how to take those statements. Khan was talking about killing as if it were no different than drinking. That terrifying mindset was his normality, and his ssmates finally epted it.


    Eyes darted left and right. The descendants tried to look for George, but he shared Khan''s cold stance. He had also prepared Anita ordingly, so she kept her head lowered to avoid those stares.


    "Monica, can''t you say something?" Marcia couldn''t contain herself. "Killing is-."


    "I know how bad it looks," Monica admitted. "However, we weren''t the offenders. They came after me without minding my parents'' announcement. I''d rather pursue less extreme paths, but I''m not sure we have many options."


    "Would you condone Khan''s actions?" Lucy questioned.


    "He is a hero of multiple battlefields," Monica dered. "He learnt to kill because the Global Army asked him to, and now the families are ying with him. To speak the truth, I''m quite livid myself."


    "But, Khan," Mark muttered, "You''ll lose everything if you pursue this approach. The only way out is political."


    "I considered that," Khan revealed, "But these factions are massive and powerful. I''m sure part of Monica''s family is also involved. I''d need equally influential figures behind me to talk on an even ground."


    Mark and the others saw the meaning behind those words. That was the very purpose of the meeting. Khan wasn''t looking for opinions. He wanted those descendants to support him publicly to scare away the other factions.


    "Let''s be honest for a bit," Khan continued. "I know most of you aren''t here because you like me. I don''t care about that. I actually ept it."


    Khan altered his presence to make the synthetic mana convey his seriousness. The air thickened as the tension intensified. Khan was speaking as calmly as possible, but his words still sounded like a threat.


    "Yet, if you want me as a friend," Khan added. "You know what I need."

 Chapter 516 Factions

    The atmosphere changed, invaded by a suffocating tension. That wasn''t a casual event driven by social rules anymore. With a few words, Khan had turned the entire situation political.


    Lucian, Lucy, Mark, and the other guests stopped being casual acquaintances and became proper descendants capable of incredible influence. Khan had forced that transformation, and the changes didn''t end there.


    Murder was an unknown world to those descendants. They knew it existed, and their families had also prepared them for that eventuality. However, Khan had talked about killing someone who shared their status without showing any hesitation or regret.


    Gulps resounded. Someone held their breath while others feigned calm. That wasn''t the first time those descendants had to deal with political issues, but their meetings had always involved fellow young prominent figures or people interested in their families. Those interactions didn''t allow much freedom, let alone consequences.


    Instead, Khan was forcing the descendants to consider the issue on a personal level. They would have to take a stand against any family ready to get in the way of his rtionship. Still, that decision could happen only if they epted to deal with someone bordering psychopathy.


    Cloaking techniques activated. Mark, Lucian, and Lucy tried to hide their mana and reactions, but nothing escaped Khan''s senses. He saw everything and kept track of the slightest ripples in the symphony while his face remained stone-cold.


    In the seconds that followed the announcement, Khan excluded a few descendants from his potential helpers. Marcia was too insecure about the matter, and something told Khan that she disagreed with his murderous stance.


    The same went for Anita, even if her problemsy elsewhere. Her position was too unique due to her mother. Even if she tried to help, her family would get in the way.


    Khan also excluded George from his list in advance. His father would probably help, but dumping such heavy problems on a smaller family would only sink it, and Khan didn''t want that. He would refuse even if he could make things safer for them.


    Only Zoe appeared ready to make a decision among the remaining candidates, and Khan understood why. She didn''t like Khan''s stance but still owed something to Monica due to her past flirting, so supporting their rtionship felt mandatory and necessary.


    Khan inspected the undecided descendants since everything else was quite clear. John had worn a surprisingly serious face, Mark was calcting something in his mind, Lucian appeared amused by the opportunity, and Lucy looked pensive.


    "Khan," Lucian decided to break that silence, "Do you realize what you are asking us?"


    "Partially," Khan admitted. "I can''t tell you what to do because I don''t know what''s the best move."


    Studying and knowing how to lie didn''t make Khan a political powerhouse. He had grown way past his old self, but those descendants remained leagues above him. Only they could see the entire issue and learn how to handle it.


    "Still," Lucian continued. "This is no mission or secret deal. Helping you would require us to involve our families or the influence we inherited from them."


    "I thought you wanted valuable allies for your goals," Khan reminded. "Do you n on getting them through simple missions financed by pocket money?"


    Lucian''s pocket money was an unthinkable number of Credits for Khan, but that wasn''t the point. Lucian wanted allies able to push him to the upper echelon of his family, and Khan couldn''t be one of them bypleting his simple missions.


    "Is that what you''ll be if I help you?" Lucian wondered. "A valuable ally?"


    Khan didn''t answer. Those descendants wouldn''t help him for free, and his silence could be useful as long as he received better offers.


    "Realistically speaking," Mark joined the conversation with his t tone. "Completely stopping suitors is impossible. Our interference might have produced good results with a different partner, but Monica is a unique case."


    "Mark is right," Lucy added. "While few factions are willing to go against us, they still exist. Also, we don''t have the power to speak for the entirety of our families. The next ploy might very welle from one of us."


    "Precisely," Mark nodded. "The best and most immediate way to deter ploys is to gain the Solodrey family''s approval, not only Monica''s parents''. A proper engagement is also a good option."


    "Mister Alstair wouldn''t have approached me without my family''s permission," Monica stated. "As for the engagement, it would make me happy, but-."


    "It''s a bit too early," Khan interrupted, breaking his cold stance to nod at Monica, "And I''d rather not use it as a political move."


    ? "Of all the riches people would get marrying me," Monica sighed. "You are the only man who would do it out of love."


    "It''s the only reason I need," Khan whispered, "The only reason I want."


    Happiness invaded Monica, but sadness also arrived. Those problems were her fault, and Khan was paying the price. Since part of her family was also to me, she could only hug his arm tightly and wait.


    "I''m not sure we can interfere with the Solodrey family''s internal conflicts," Mark brought the conversation back on topic. "It might actually be disrespectful for us to speak on the matter."


    "I figured as much," Khan revealed. "That''s why I considered murder. A few corpses are bound to work as a deterrent."


    "The families won''t get threatened by a Captain," Lucian announced. "Maybe it''s time you take things a step further."


    "Are you nning on taking Khan into your family?" Lucy scoffed. "They''ll make him break up with Monica in no time."


    "Depends on which faction he joins," Lucian stated, showing a knowing smirk, "And his contract."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Lucian, I wouldn''t speak such words if I were you," Monica warned.


    "I was only suggesting," Lucian feigned innocence. "After all, Khan has yet to decide what he is willing to sacrifice."


    "If it''s possible," Khan chose to take the bait, "You only need to name a price."


    "It''s sort of possible," Lucian dered. "Still, Mark is right. You''d need a noble to make the families behave, and I''m sure Princess Edna didn''t give you her contact."


    ''A noble?'' Khan thought. ''That might not be impossible.''


    "Fine!" John finally spoke, mming his head on the couch and lifting his arms at the ceiling. "I''ll help you."


    "What?" Mark eximed, and many echoed his question. Even Khan couldn''t help but feel surprised at that sudden statement.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Khan will be a Major in a few years," John exined, "Lieutenant Colonel in ten. It would be stupid not to do a single interview for a simr ally."


    "Think about your family," Mark scolded.


    "Theyin about anything I do anyway," John groaned, curling on the couch. "Besides, the Global Army is the families'' first shield, and Khan earned many merits already. I say he deserves some help."


    Lucian, Mark, and Lucy were ready to interrupt John. Letting him speak would endanger their position in the deal, but Khan knew that and acted to stop them.


    "What do you mean by a single interview?" Khan promptly asked. "How can that even stop ploys against Monica and me?"


    "That''s easy," John announced. "You just have to appeal to the factions against Monica. I can praise your rtionship while reassuring them at the same time."


    "Should I turn them into allies?" Khan didn''t understand.


    "No, no," John snorted. "You must tell them how poor and politically unreliable you are. Those factions don''t want Monica to gain any power inside her family, so her union with someone like that will work in their favor."


    ''Is he a genius?'' Khan wondered, almost overwhelmed by his own incredulity.


    John had mentioned something precious. Like Lucian, Monica was only one of the Solodrey family''s descendants. There had to be factions that didn''t support her, so discrediting her value would turn those enemies into allies.


    "I''d still need to y both sides," Khan eximed as understanding invaded every corner of his mind. "I can''t just bring Monica down."


    "Isn''t that normal?" John questioned. "That''s the foundation of politics."


    Lucian feigned calm, but his mana didn''t lie. Mark and Lucy''s reactions also added value to those exnations. John had spoken the truth. His maneuver could work. Khan only had to think about ways to implement it.


    "John, you shouldn''t agree to these requests so soon," Mark scolded again.


    "Why not?" John asked. "I made up my mind, so I spoke."


    "But you have to mind your surroundings," Lucian added. "This should be a joint decision if we really hope to help Khan."


    "We represent different families," John casually replied. "Belonging to the same generation doesn''t make us a joint force. Also, I''m sure you all want different levels of exposure."


    "How much are you willing to expose yourself for Khan?" Lucy asked.


    "I can''t involve my family," John admitted, straightening his back to sit. "Among us, only Lucian and Mark can do that, but with heavy limitations. So, I''ll just tell the truth and use the right keywords."


    "I don''t know what to say," Khan gasped. "Will you do this without asking anything in return?"


    "You asked for a friend, right?" John wondered. "Right now, you are politically useless, so requesting anything is pointless. However, once you get a high rank and marry Monica, you''ll gain a lot of value."


    John didn''t say a single lie during his statements, and Khan also noticed the absence of ill intentions. John''s speech had been purely practical. His investment would be only a fraction of what he could gain.


    Khan wanted to add something, but his phone rang, and an interesting name appeared on the screen. The timing was also odd. It didn''t make sense for Luke to call him now without sending a single warning message.

 Chapter 517 Idea

    Monica rxed her grip on Khan''s arm when she read the caller''s name. Khan reacted ordingly, slipping out of her hug to hold the phone with both hands. They knew that timing wasn''t a coincidence, and Luke could even help a lot in their situation.


    "I need to take this," Khan announced. "Excuse me."


    Monica performed a reassuring nod when Khan looked at her. She even moved to the center of the couch when he stood up. With her in charge, the meeting was in good hands, so Khan limped out of the hall to attend to the call.


    "Luke!" Khan answered the call when he entered the privacy of a bedroom. "I don''t know if this is good or bad timing."


    "I hope perfect timing," Luke responded, conveying pure friendliness. "It''s been a while."


    "I do try to reply to every message," Khan stated. "Things have just been messytely."


    "I''m well aware," Luke eximed. "Not a week goes by without receiving news about you."


    "That''s why you wanted me on your payroll," Khan reminded. "I''m not that cheap anymore."


    "I expected nothing less from you," Luke dered. "I wasn''t shocked even when Anastasia gave her public approval about you and Monica."


    "Straight to the main topic," Khanmented.


    "Would you prefer to chit-chat first?" Luke chuckled.


    "No, I''m actually busy," Khan sighed.


    "I figured," Luke uttered. "I''ll get straight to the point then. Francis visited Monicast night and is currently in your t."


    Barely a day had passed since Francis'' ploy, but Luke already knew everything. It was almost incredible how quickly news could spread, especially in those wealthy circles, but Khan couldn''t feel surprised anymore.


    "He is my prisoner," Khan exined. "If necessary, I''ll use him as a hostage."


    "I understand," Luke sighed. "What''s your goal?"


    "Preventing future threats to my rtionship," Khan replied. "Ideally, stopping people from trying to mess with mepletely."


    "I don''t know about thetter," Luke voiced, "But I suspected you needed help with the former. It''s the reason I called."


    "How would you help?" Khan questioned. He had yet to make up his mind about his future approach, so he needed to be sure that Luke wouldn''t go against any possible n.


    "I''ll state myplicity," Luke exined. "I''ll say that I facilitated your rtionship and even covered for it. I''ve also talked with Bruce, and we are on the same page."


    "Wait," Khan called, suppressing any trace of surprise or gratitude. "Won''t this create problems for you? This kind of public support will get you many enemies."


    Khan wasn''t only referring to the factions interested in Monica. Luke risked endangering his position inside his family due to such an unwise political decision.


    "Monica''s parents acknowledged you," Luke dered. "Even if that were a lie, my statement would y into it in the public eye. Her parents themselves would have to praise my foresight."


    Understanding washed over Khan. Luke could pretend to have done Monica''s parents a favor while also showing his public support for the rtionship. His family couldn''t condemn such a move.


    "That''s," Khan hesitated. He still had reservations about Luke, but his help was necessary, so he swallowed his lingering anger and spoke again. "What do you want for this?"


    "As far as I recall," Luke eximed, "I owe you one."


    "I''m not trading Martha for Monica," Khan warned.


    "That''s not what I meant," Luke sighed. "I''ve been useless on Milia 222, but the political world is my yground. Let me do this. You can decide whether we are even or not afterward."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan fell silent. Truth be told, he didn''t know if he could refuse the offer. He needed all the help he could get, and Luke could be more influential than the descendants in the t. Adding Bruce to the equation might even force everyone''s hand.


    "How is Martha doing?" Khan asked.


    "She is great," Luke revealed. "She became a second-level warrior before reaching this space station. She also said she''ll beat you up if you don''t ept my offer."


    "Monica will be happy to hear that," Khan smirked. "Thank you, Luke."


    "Don''t mention it," Luke uttered. "Between Milia 222, Martha, and Istrone, I feel I have something to prove."


    "Bring my thanks to Bruce too," Khan mentioned before deciding to reveal something. "Also, your uncle called."


    "Problems?" Luke snapped as his tone grew firmer.


    "I''ll let you know," Khan promised. "I have other matters to handle now."


    "Keep me updated," Luke responded. "As for the previous topic, I suggest you check thework in a few hours."


    Luke ended the call without waiting for Khan''s additional thanks, but a faint smile still bloomed on his face. The rtionships built in the years enlisted in the Global Army were bearing fruit, and Khan still had another option left.


    The conversations in the main hall had never moved past the previous issue during Khan''s call. Lucian, Lucy, and Mark were stillining about John''s independent decision, and Zoe had made things worse.


    "I''m just saying we should be on the same page here," Lucian exined. "It won''t do Khan any good to show a divided front."


    "I wouldn''t want to take anything from Khan anyway," Zoe stated, knowing what Lucian was trying to achieve. "I can''t be Monica''s friend and exploit her boyfriend at the same time."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Thank you, Zoe," Monica eximed, sliding to the couch''s edge to reach for Zoe''s hand.


    "But you are a descendant of the Brolon family first," Lucy pointed out. "I''m not against helping them, but I''d like us to agree on a n."


    "Especially considering potential repercussions," Mark added. "Our generation doesn''t hold much power yet, but this choice might follow us for years. It''s simply unwise to make rash decisions."


    "And I''m telling you I already made up my mind," John snorted. "It doesn''t take a genius to understand the potential benefits at stake."


    "Are you trying to earn or be Khan''s friend?" Lucian questioned. "You didn''t make that point clear."


    "You are just buying yourself time," Zoeined. "If you are so against this, just refuse."


    "I''m sure no one is against this," Lucian dered. "Khan is one of us, which is why I''m insisting so much on this point. Doing him a random favor is no different from treating him as a simple soldier."


    "Man, you are so good with words," John praised. "Just help him and think about spinning the story in your favorter."


    "Sadly, we can''t be so careless," Mark sighed. "It''s very likely that factions inside our families had their eyes on Monica too. Taking her side might make us fall out of favor."


    "Thank you!" Lucian dered. "I thought everyone understood that, but apparently, a reminder of who we are was in order."


    "Maybe this meeting was too sudden," Khan announced, returning inside the hall. "For that, I apologize."


    "Is everything okay?" Monica asked, peeking past her couch and following Khan''s return with her eyes.


    "More than okay," Khan revealed, slowly limping back toward his previous seat. "Luke and Bruce will reveal how much they helped us on Milia 222."


    Monica only needed those vague words to understand that she had to y along. She promptly gasped, letting go of Zoe''s hand to reach Khan and speak fitting lines. "Really? But I thought we agreed on keeping that a secret."


    "Your dear mother gave them the opportunity to speak due to her public approval," Khan exined through words meant for the entire room. "Luke said your parents might actually have to thank them for facilitating our rtionship."


    "Luke is so sweet," Monica praised, cing both hands on Khan''s leg to improve her fa?¡ìade. "Remind me to call himter."


    "I will," Khan nodded. "We''ll call Bruce too to thank him properly."


    "I also wonder how Martha is doing," Monica said. "We haven''t talked in a while."


    "ording to Luke," Khan chuckled, "She threatened to beat me up."


    "If it''s Martha," Monica muttered, "I can let it slide."


    "On which side are you?" Khanined.


    "Martha is our dear friend," Monica eximed, "So we are on her side."


    "We," George coughed.


    "Khan, wait a moment," Lucian intervened. "Are Luke and Bruce-?"


    "Luke Cobsend and Bruce Eerly," Khan interrupted, regaining his cold stance and showing his face to the guests. "They supported Monica and me since our first kiss."


    "Such gentlemen," Marciamented.


    "They are good friends," Khan agreed. "Apparently, the rumors reached them too, and Luke decided to help."


    Lucian, Lucy, and Mark couldn''t help but put an end to their discussions. John and Zoe were isted cases that could be controlled under certain circumstances. However, Luke and Bruce were different. They weren''t only outside the Harbor''s reach. Their influence was on par, if not above, Monica''s.


    "I thought about the issue while I was in the other room," Khan revealed. "John is right. I need to y both sides to seed in politics, so I have a suggestion."


    "We are all ears," Mark stated.


    "If you want to gain something out of this situation," Khan continued, "You can say that your support is necessary to prevent a tragedy."


    "I suppose by revealing what you were willing to do to Mister Alstair," Lucian guessed.


    "It would be the truth," Khan said, "At least partially. You would appear as the wise descendants keeping me in check while spreading rumors about my character. I can''t see many factions approving my behavior, which is exactly what John mentioned."


    "That''s smart!" Johnughed. "Pretending to be a ticking bomb to garner support from multiple sides. It''s great."


    "John, I appreciate your enthusiasm," Khan eximed. "However, make no mistake. I am a ticking bomb."


    The statement sounded like a threat, and Khan let it rest for a few seconds before continuing. "I''m sure this isn''t an easy decision, so why don''t we call it a day? I know you want to talk without me, so go ahead."


    As much as the descendants wanted to object, they felt forced to ept Khan''s escape route. Even John and Zoe couldn''t disregard the opportunity to reorganize their thoughts and evaluate the best method to support Khan''s rtionship.


    Soon, only Khan, Monica, Anita, and George remained inside the hall. That night seemed to have reached its end, and most of the group was ready to rx. However, Khan had onest idea in mind.


    "Guys," Khan called when he was about to return to his couch. "Hypothetically, how would someone contact a noble?"

 Chapter 518 Boss

    "Khan, the Princess can''t help us here," Monica announced. "The Virrai family would stop her from speaking, and my family would intercept any request."


    "It''s not for the Princess," Khan remained vague. "Just tell me how it should be done."


    "What do you have in mind?" George questioned.


    "Maybe all my fighting wasn''t for naught," Khan sighed before waving his phone at his friends to remind them about his question.


    "It''s not something we can do," Anita exined. "We don''t have the authority to reach the nobles."


    "Even my family has a special figure appointed for the process," Monica continued. "I couldn''t learn much, but I know my parents have to refer to this middle-man if they ever have a request that involves the nobles."


    ''So, nothing,'' Khan thought before speaking again. "I''ll be right back. I have something to check."


    "Do you need help?" Monica asked.


    "It''s better if I''m alone," Khan revealed, and some understanding touched Monica. Khan had never hidden anything from her, and a past conversation popped into her mind after seeing those clues.


    Khan limped into a bedroom before sealing himself inside. He didn''t know if his idea would seed, but it was safer to take precautions when the nobles were involved.


    After sitting on the bed, Khan began scouring thework for information. In theory, he had established a meaningful rtionship that the higher-ups wouldn''t bother to regte. That was the whole reason behind that opportunity.


    ''Rassec, Rassec,'' Khan thought as his thumbs typed madly on the screen.


    Thework had a limited number of articles when it came to nobles, and the Rassec family was no exception. Learning anything valuable from that public channel was simply impossible. Khan couldn''t find a single contact that could bring him closer to his past acquaintance.


    ''How do I call someone that can''t be found?'' Khan wondered.


    Even the Solodrey family needed a middle-man, so Khan quickly gave up on contacting his target directly. He had to find a simr mediator, but the official channels were outside his reach.


    ''What was her name?'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''Lu, Lu, Lucille!''


    Typing the woman''s name on thework didn''t help much, but Khan slowly recalled a few details. Lucille said to have sisters and had served on Ecoruta around his time. Applying those filters gave far fewer results, and a picture featuring messy red hair eventually caught his attention.


    ''Lucille Edhold,'' Khan read on the screen. ''It doesn''t say much.''


    Lucille''s profile didn''t have much after Ecoruta, which was suspicious enough to make Khan call her. It wasn''t toote, so Khan hoped to receive an immediate answer, but his phone kept ringing even after minutes had passed.


    ''This must be a good sign, right?'' Khan wondered, looking at the ringing phone on the mattress. ''If experts are checking my call, it means that she got high enough to afford them.''


    Of course, Khan considered the possibility of Lucille being busy or not having anything to do with his target. Still, she was his only real option, so he waited for someone to pick up the call.


    The wait stretched for more minutes, and Khan eveny down at some point. The meeting ran through his mind as he closed his eyes and let the mattress''fort invade him. Having Luke, Bruce, John, and Zoe on his side was already a significant achievement, and he believed that his other ssmates would soon budge. Yet, a price might still be necessary.


    The ringing suddenly stopped and pulled Khan back to reality. A female voice came out of his phone, and he threw himself to his side to seize it.


    "Hello?" Khan eximed. "It''s Captain Khan here."


    "I can read your name on my phone," The familiar female voice resounded. "You still can''t keep it in your pants, Captain Khan."


    "Lu!" Khanughed. "Rumors sure run fast."


    "Especially if they are about you," Lu stated. "Well, it''s not like I had a choice."


    Khan took that reply as a good sign and investigated the topic. "Listen, I didn''t know who else to call. Do you happen to know how I can contact Rick?"


    "Why do you think I should know?!" Lu shouted. "I''m not his girlfriend or anything!"


    Khan didn''t expect a simr reaction, but Lu''s tone revealed clues he knew far too well. His very girlfriend had made him an expert in those types of women.


    "Is he treating you properly?" Khan questioned.


    "No!" Luined. "He is too dumb to know what that means. He only smiles like an idiot whenever I talk to him and runs away when we are alone."


    "Why don''t you just jump on him?" Khan suggested.


    A few silent seconds had to pass before a shy voice came out of the phone. "A woman shouldn''t make the first move. That''s what my mother always says."


    "Why don''t you let me speak to him?" Khan asked. "Maybe I can still teach him a few things."


    "No," Lu firmly refused. "You won''t corrupt him."


    ''My reputation with women can''t be so bad,'' Khan thought before opting for a different approach. "If you don''t do anything now, Rick might get too far away. Even Princess Edna praised him when I met her."<novelnext></novelnext>


    Silence unfolded andsted longer than before, but a positive statement eventually arrived. "I''ll call him."


    "Thank you, Lu," Khan dered before waiting for the speaker to change.


    nging and whooshing noises reached Khan''s ear. Lucille was clearly changing location, and the iconic sounds of engines eventually arrived. The woman was probably in a hangar or space station, but silence returned after a few minutes.


    The call grew messy enough to force Khan to distance the phone from his ear, but everything eventually calmed down, and a new familiar voice arrived. "Boss! I missed you dearly!"


    "You are still too loud, Rick," Khan chuckled. "You don''t have to call me Boss either. Actually, I should be the one addressing you properly now."


    "You''ll always be my Boss!" Rick shouted before recalling Khan''s admonishment and lowering his voice. "I''ve regained ess to my family thanks to you. My gratitude will alwayse first."


    "I''m d things are working out for you," Khan uttered. He truly believed his words. Rick had a good heart, so he was happy for him.


    "Things are going really well for you too, Boss," Rick eximed. "You are the youngest Captain in history! I''m sure you''ll break even more records."


    "Well, maybe," Khan admitted, "But things aren''t as perfect as they look."


    "I know everything about the recent crisis with Mister Alstair," Rick revealed. "I check the news every day for you. Those families have no respect for your efforts at all."


    ''That''s what Lu meant,'' Khan realized before clearing his throat. "Yes, Mister Alstair and the factions behind him put me in a tough position. That''s why I called. I was wondering if you could help."


    "I''ll be happy to!" Rick announced. "What do you need me to do?"


    "I don''t know how much influence or power you have," Khan replied. "However, I''d be happy with anything capable of discouraging future threats to my rtionship."


    "I''ll get to work on it immediately," Rick promised.


    "Wait, Rick!" Khan called, worried that Rick might close his phone. "We didn''t agree to any strategy. Maybe it''s better if you told me what you n to do."


    "I have an expensive advisor now!" Rick revealed. "She will study the situation and tell me what to do. I''ll update you as I learn more myself."


    "Oh," Khan gasped. "That makes sense. Thank you, Rick."


    "Don''t mention it, Boss," Rick eximed. "I have been dying to find a way to repay my debt. I''m so d you called."


    "Speaking about debts," Khan said, forcing himself to remain on topic. "I noticed how Lucille is with you. Are you two still sparring?"


    "We have to do it in secret now," Rick revealed, "And I must hide my injuries. My other Masters would kick her out otherwise."


    "It seems you care about her," Khan investigated.


    "She is my dearest friend!" Rick stated. "Only the Boss is above her."


    "Rick, she likes you," Khan sighed, "And you like her. I know that you run away when you two are alone."


    "B-Boss!" Rick stammered.


    "Listen, I''m not a good teacher when ites to this stuff," Khan announced. "The entire Global Army knows that my rtionships are a mess and, at times, problematic. This call proves that."


    "But the Boss-!" Rick tried to justify Khan, but he didn''t let him.


    "Don''t interrupt me," Khan scolded.


    "Yes, Boss," Rick gasped. "I''m sorry, Boss."


    "I was about to say," Khan continued. "You learnt to face punches. Feelings can hit harder, but remaining hidden is against their nature."


    "But, Boss," Rick muttered. "I''m a noble. It''s better for her if I keep paying her. Nothing good wille if we, if I."


    Rick went silent beforepleting his line. It seemed that part of his cowardly character was still there, and Khan couldn''t feel surprised. Rtionships and feelings were tougher than battles. He had long since learnt that.


    "Are you making this decision for her?" Khan asked. "Besides, I thought I taught you how not to run away. Maybe I didn''t do a good job."


    "Your job was perfect, Boss!" Rick shouted. "Don''t let my failures change your mind!"


    "I''d rather be happy about your sess," Khan pointed out. "So, don''t run away."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I won''t!" Rick promised. "I won''t run away anymore. Lucille!"


    Thest shout was louder than the previous, and a thudding noise followed. The call survived a few more seconds before shutting downpletely, leaving Khan looking at his empty screen.

 Chapter 519 Talk

    Khan was almost sure that countless calls would follow, but his phone remained silent. He stared at the empty screen as if orders would arrive at any second, but no one contacted him.


    ''I did a good thing, right?'' Khan wondered. ''Right?''


    The call had been too short to learn about Rick''s current status, but he remained a noble. Khan was experiencing first-hand the problems connected to rtionships with someone at Monica''s level. It stood to reason that Rick and Lucille would have it far worse.


    ''Maybe they''ll let Rick do as he wishes to keep him out of the main family,'' Khan considered. ''I couldn''t help myself, could I?''


    Khan sighed deeply, putting the matter in the back of his mind and storing his phone. The Niqols'' ways had shaped his life, so he couldn''t go against them. He could only hope that things would work out for Rick.


    The return to the main hall showed a quiet environment. George was bored out of his mind without his drinks, and Anita couldn''t face Monica due to her unclear position. As for Monica, she madly browsed her phone, looking for answers and news that thework couldn''t provide.


    "So?" George eximed as soon as Khan limped into the main hall.


    "I might have caused a political incident," Khan revealed. "Love truly is my weakness."


    "Problematic love is," George scoffed, and noticing Anita''s re made him spread his arms. "What? His record is my witness."


    "Khan?" Monica voiced in a worried tone, peeking past the couch to follow Khan''s return to her side.


    "It should be fine," Khan summarized. "I don''t know how much it will do, but I secured another ally."


    Monica wanted to be happy, but her education made her aware of the issues connected to the topic. Khan was calling in favors that could have otherwise helped his career or other aspects of his life. Seeing him exhausting his resources for his rtionship filled Monica with guilt.


    "You are overthinking this again, aren''t you?" Khan scolded, seizing Monica''s nose to pull her closer. "You aren''t only worth the trouble. This is something I need to do for myself."


    Monica usuallyined at that gesture, but her expression remained still. She limited herself to looking at Khan, holding the tears back to show nothing but love.


    "I can''t do much now," Monica muttered, her voice cracking a few times, "But, once we get past this, I''ll involve my family and secure your status. I''ll threaten to leave them if they ask anything in return."


    Monica''s statement took into consideration their situation. Her parents would get in the way if she tried to do anything now. However, if Khan could stand his ground against enemy factions, the couple could gain some leverage and value in the political world.


    "But you would lose your status," Khan pointed out. "I don''t know if I''ll find you attractive without your money."


    Monica didn''t y along. She only showed a faint smile. She had long since learnt to love Khan''s stupid jokes, and they had a reassuring effect now.


    "Let''s just go to bed," Monica suggested, seizing the hand on her nose to free herself. "My Captain must be tired after so much politics."


    "On that," George announced, leaving his couch, "I agree. Resting is a vital part of our daily lives."


    "How much do you even miss drinking?" Anita shook her head but also left the couch.


    "That''s code for sex," George exined. "It was an easy guess."


    "You-!" Anita gasped. "Don''t say that stuff in front of our friends!"


    "Right," George snickered, looking at Khan and Monica. "We really have to mind our decorum with them."


    "Get better soon, George," Monica saluted, "And thank you again for yesterday."


    "Take care of him for us," Khan stated, eyeing Anita. "We''ll talk more tomorrow."


    "I will," Anita promised, taking George''s elbow and wearing a helpless expression. "No."


    "I didn''t say anything," Georgeined.


    "No," Anita repeated. "Let''s go home now. I know you are hurting."


    George could only give up before Anita''s concerned face, and nods unfolded as the couple left the main hall. The elevator soon opened and closed, bringing privacy to the t.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I wonder," Khan voiced, staring longingly at the elevator room. "Did they grow closer because they found a solution or because they know it''s ending?"


    Monica didn''t like that topic, but the two had already gone over it. They couldn''t make decisions for George and Anita, and their problems were too big to think about others.


    "You see so much," Monica whispered, letting go of Khan''s hand to turn his face toward her. "Don''t turn it into a curse."


    "Is this the time when you tell me to look only at you?" Khan teased.


    "I want my Captain all for myself," Monica revealed, "Every minute of every day. Even now that we are facing so many problems, I can''t stop burning."


    Monica''s hands and her mana confirmed her words. The situation saddened her but seeing Khan iming his rightful political position was too appealing.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I had such a bad influence on you," Khan stated.


    "Influence me more," Monica almost begged. "Mark me so deeply anyone would be able to tell I''m yours with a single nce."


    The temptation reached its climax and attempted to break the little self-restraint Khan had managed to muster. Still, Monica stayed true to her word and interrupted the interaction before it could get in the way of Khan''s goals.


    "But do itter," Monica continued. "You have something else to do tonight, don''t you?"


    "I wonder if I should blow everything up to gain a few more seconds with you," Khan said. "I know I want to."


    "Do what you must, my Captain," Monica nodded, retracting her arms and standing up to perform a bow. "I''ll wait for you on our bed."


    Monica began to leave the array of couches, but her self-restraint faltered for a second, making her lean toward Khan to whisper in his ear.


    "I''ll wear the thing you like," Monica''s seductive tone invaded Khan''s thoughts. "I hope you won''t make your good girl wait too long, dear."


    Monica had to hurry outside the main hall afterward since her arousal threatened to explode, and Khan had to thank her for that. He was in a simr state, and looking at the sealed corridor made those feelings add power to his firm stance.


    Khan stood up and approached the sealed corridor to unlock it. Andrew was still awake, performing a military salute before Francis'' room. His attention had never faltered, and even Khan''s arrival didn''t distract him.


    "Mister Alstair never left his room, sir," Andrew stated.


    "Good job," Khan praised. "Get some rest now."


    "Sir, thank you, sir!" Andrew shouted, facing Khan to perform another military salute before heading toward an empty bedroom.


    Khan waited for the door to close before limping toward Francis'' bedroom. No hesitation showed its presence when his fingers reached the metal surface. The entrance opened, and a stern feeling blew on Khan''s face as the ce''s synthetic mana mixed with the symphony.


    Francis was still awake, and Khan''s arrival didn''t interrupt his meditative state. The man was sitting cross-legged at the bed''s edge while wearing the elegant clothes from the previous night. Empty trays of food upied the floor, but Khan noticed how the bottle of booze was still sealed.


    "I need that meeting," Khan eventually stated, uncaring that he might disturb Francis'' meditation.


    "I contacted the factions I could reach," Francis replied without breaking his cross-legged stance. "They are still refusing."


    "Maybe you should remind them about my threat," Khan said. "Your head is at stake here."


    "I told them," Francis revealed. "They ignored it."


    "Maybe sending a few fingers will make them take me seriously," Khan threatened.


    Francis didn''t react to the threat, and his mana remained calm. He showed no fear or resolve, but that wasn''t a result of his guts. Khan saw nothing more than an empty shell when he looked at Francis.


    "Pitiful," Khan scoffed. "They used you as a puppet for their schemes. Being angry is the least you could do."


    "They turned me into a puppet because I''m useless," Francis said, finally opening his eyes to stare at the empty wall. "It''s what I deserve."


    "For your information," Khan uttered. "Monica didn''t choose me over you. You were never on her list."


    "I know," Francis weakly muttered. "I don''t me her. I wouldn''t be with myself either after what I did to her."


    "At least you realize this," Khan vaguely praised. "If you survive, you''ll get away with an important lesson."


    "I''m not as dumb as I look," Francis dered. "I knew what I was doing. I wish to me my family''s pressuring me to get Monica, but that would only add shame to my character."


    Khan felt no pity for Francis. Part of his mind was already set on killing him. However, he had learnt the difficulties that wealthy descendants faced during the past months, so he could understand where Francis'' toxic behavior came from.


    "Self-pity won''t get you anywhere," Khan mocked. "Everyone sucks in one way or another. You aren''t special."


    "I know," Francis sighed, "But you are. I think I have envied you for a while, but I understand now. You are more of a man than I''ll ever be."


    "What?" Khan snorted. "Because I wave my knife better than you? Pathetic."


    "You can vent on me," Francis closed his eyes again. "I deserve it."


    Disappointment invaded Khan. Francis was supposed to be a wealthy descendant, but he saw nothing more than a man ready to throw his life away. He obviously didn''t care what Francis did. Yet, he needed someone with a bit more guts to get the meeting.


    "There was a time when I also felt like this," Khan began to say. "Powerless, empty. I wanted to lose myself so badly that I jumped into a war...."

 Chapter 520 Best Man

    Francis was in no mood to speak, but Khan''s story attracted his attention, diverting his empty gaze from the wall and adding surprise to it. Francis'' mouth even hung open in shock at some point, and he never bothered to close it.


    "This," Khan revealed, taking out his turtleneck and showing his right shoulder. "This isn''t a normal tattoo. A Niqols made it through dangerous arts that risked taking off my shoulder."


    "D-does," Francis finally spoke and cleared his throat to continue. "Does it have a meaning?"N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Eternal love," Khan exined, his gaze losing focus when he peeked at the tattoo. "At least in the humannguage."


    Francis found it hard to hide his emotions. Everyone knew Khan''s story, but few were aware of its many details. Khan had omitted a lot from his tale but had included theke''s events, which left Francis stunned and captivated.


    "Mana itself had blessed our union," Khan said in a tone that reeked of sadness, "But I had to let her go anyway. Our love wasn''t enough."


    Francis was speechless. Khan had done all kinds of despicable deeds only to lose everything anyway. Inparison, his life had been a fairy tale stained by a couple of disappointments.


    "You know the rest of the story," Khan stated, wearing his turtleneck and leaning on the open entrance. "I felt dirty whenever I touched Delia. I lied to myself when I was with Cora. I wanted nothing to do with Monica either, but the Niqols'' ways are stronger than me."


    Khan couldn''t help but smile as his many memories with Monica resurfaced. Sometimes, he still struggled to believe how far he hade. He had been so lost after Nitis that his current happiness felt nothing short of a dream.


    However, that unexpected development was the reason for Khan''s firm stance. He would seal any deal andmit all kinds of crimes to protect what had taken him years to find.


    "I lost everything once already," Khan continued, making the temperature in the room and corridor fall. "If I have to fill the Harbor with corpses to prevent that from happening again, I will."


    Francis could only lower his head. He saw Khan in a new light, but his situation and mental state didn''t change. He was a simple puppet with a broken heart caught in problems far bigger than him.


    "You tried to take Monica away," Khan dered, stepping into the room to arrive before Francis. "Every fiber of my body is demanding your head."


    Khan let his right leg slide backward and bent the other to crouch. He lowered himself enough to look into Francis'' eyes, but thetter remained hidden behind his golden hair.


    "But," Khan sighed, and the atmosphere rxed enough to make Francis lift his gaze. "I need you for that meeting, and killing you probably isn''t the best idea."


    Khan hated to admit it, but Mark was right. Publicly killing a descendant would leave a permanent stain on his profile. Even if he could somehow avoid imprisonment and simr criminal charges, his career and overall future would be doomed.


    The tale had turned part of Francis'' feelings toward Khan into proper respect, and seeing him asking for his help so bluntly was a powerful scene. However, it wasn''t enough to affect his mental state.


    "I told you," Francis whispered, lowering his head again. "I''m just a puppet. I don''t hold any power."


    "I know," Khan nodded. "Because you are useless, just like I was on Nitis."


    Francis didn''t react to the insult, but thest part of Khan''s line made him lift his head again. He seemed to understand something, but Khan stood up before they could have a friendly moment.


    "If you really want something," Khan stated, limping toward the exit, "Do anything in your power to achieve it, be it nting flowers or creating bloody rivers."


    Khan let those words linger in the room for a few seconds before continuing. "If you feel that your life is over, just die without causing problems for others. The choice is yours."


    Francis watched Khan limping outside the room and disappearing past the entrance while motivation invaded his mind. Khan had experienced a terrible life but had stille out on top. Francis was nowhere near his level, but his problems were also shallower. If Khan had seeded, maybe there was still hope for him.


    Yet, before Francis could immerse himself in those new thoughts, a hand grabbed the entrance''s edge and wed deeper into the room. A purple-red halo also encircled it, eventually digging cracks in the metal wall.


    Khan peeked past the entrance. The purple-red glow illuminated his dark face, and his eyes reflected it to create a chilling scene.


    "Of course," Khan warned, "I was talking about being a man. If you as much as breathe Monica''s air, there won''t be families or politics capable of stopping me."


    The cracks expanded, stretching deeper into the room, but Francis couldn''t move his eyes from Khan. His whole being had frozen before that threat.


    "Are we clear?" Khan asked.


    "Y-yes!" Francis instinctively muttered.


    "Say it," Khan ordered.


    "I-," Francis gulped. "I won''t create problems for Monica anymore."


    Khan red at Francis for a few more seconds before retracting his head and dispersing his mana. His hand also disappeared behind the entrance, and the door closed to seal the room.


    A few metal shards fell from the wall and released clinging noises when they hit the floor. Meanwhile, Francis remained stunned. Even a man who had given up on life would experience fear in that situation.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Khan slowly limped outside the corridor and sealed it again. His mood didn''t change even after crossing the main hall. The talk might lead nowhere, but he had to try. Yet, he had truly exhausted his sources now, and waiting was his only option.


    Entering the appointed bedroom made Khan forget about his problems. A single nce at the tempting figure on the bed''s corner was enough to remove all his exhaustion, worries, and thoughts.


    Monica was sitting on the mattress with her legs folded to her side. Her short skirt barely covered her captivating thighs, enveloped in dark fis stockings. Her transparent bra carried the same pattern, and she showed it proudly by keeping her arms behind her back.


    "This is the time when I tell you to look only at me," Monica used her sensual tone, stretching her legs to leave the bed, "Or do my best to earn that."


    Monica approached Khan slowly, pulling her hair behind her shoulders to show her ck choker. The ne was nothing more than a strand of cloth, but Khan found it incredibly sexy on Monica''s neck.


    "Maybe I should give you a chance," Khan wondered, reaching for Monica''s neck to slip a finger under her choker. "How would you earn that?"


    "You just have to ask," Monica whispered, "And I''llply."


    Monica had a hard time controlling her breath. She was on the verge of panting, and Khan pushed her over the edge by pulling the choker. The gesture made her gasp and almost trip on him, but she steeled her bnce to keep looking into his eyes.


    "I wish I could wear this in the open," Monica revealed, reaching for the choker and sliding her fingers over it until she touched Khan''s hand. "I love how you look at me when I do."


    "I''m sure you''ll love the ring even more," Khan stated, sliding his hand over Monica''s neck to pull her from her nape and trap her in a kiss.


    "Heal faster," Monica whined when their lips separated. "I miss jumping on you."


    Khan promptly grabbed the sides of Monica''s torso and lifted her. She let out a cry that transformed into a giggle when she crossed her legs around Khan''s waist. The two kissed again, and Khan slowly limped toward the bed. The braced foot slightly hurt, but he couldn''t feel that pain.


    The worries, arousal, and other emotions umted during the day transformed into fuel for the couple''s mad passion. Clothes flew left and right, and cries filled the t. Khan and Monica had forgotten to lock the bedroom again, but the sealed corridor saved Andrew and Francis from their shouts.


    The outside world stopped existing that night. Khan had eyes only for Monica, and the same went for her. Neither heard their ringing phones, and they disregarded them when they did. A lot could happen in the following days, so they didn''t dare to waste any second together.


    Nevertheless, when morning began approaching, Khan and Monica noticed that their phones had yet to go silent. The two initially tried to ignore them to delve into affectionate and soporific cuddles, but the incessant ringing eventually forced them to move.


    "Who can it even be?" Monicained, rubbing her face on the only surviving pillow. "Don''t they know that the night is for sleep and sex?"


    "It''s your mother," Khan revealed when he found Monica''s phone in the corner of the bedroom.


    "Fuck her," Monica cursed. "She didn''t bother to warn me about Francis, so I''ll im my cuddles first."


    "I''m sorry, Madam Solodrey," Khan said, ignoring the call and leaving the phone on the floor. "Your daughter has priority when she is naked."


    "I still have my tights," Monica giggled. "I don''t know how you took out my underwear with these in the way."


    "I ripped it off," Khan casually exined as his search resumed. "You were too busy clinging to my hair to notice."


    "That exins the holes," Monica replied, peeking at her torn tights. "By the way, your hair got longer again. Should I apany you to a saloon?"


    "I''ll call someone here," Khan reassured, "Or have the Headmistress put someone in my cab the next time I attend Professor Parver''s lesson."


    Khan''s eyes lit up when he found his trousers and promptly went for their left pocket. His phone ended in his hands, but seeing the multitude of messages and missed calls made him frown.


    ''What happened?'' Khan wondered, abandoning his rxed mood to study the matter.


    Khan only had to skim through a few messages to end on thework. A series of curious headlines had taken control of many articles, and a few mentioned his name in the titles.


    "What is it?" Monica asked, understanding that something was off. She even left the pillow to crawl toward the edge closer to Khan, and he sat on it to show her the screen.


    The phone was ying a video featuring two people that Monica didn''t recognize, butbels hovered above them to state their identity. One of them was Rick Rassec, while the other was Lucille Edhold.


    It was rare for nobles to hold such public interviews, but exceptions existed, so Monica didn''t feel too surprised. However, the video''s title talked about an official engagement, which was obviously a big deal at those levels.


    Still, the most surprising detail had yet to arrive. Rick and Lucille were merely answering simple and scripted questions, but the former eventually took the initiative to dere something.


    "The wedding will be next year," Rick dered, "And I wish Captain Khan to be my best man."

 Chapter 521 Blackmail

    Khan froze, keeping his phone lifted even after the video ended. Instead, Monica leaned forward, crawling over Khan''sp to touch the screen and make the interview start again.


    The couple rewatched the footage from start to finish without uttering a single word. The interview didn''t have much. The many generic questions and answers barely carried any detail, with Rick''sst statement being the only exception.


    Monica would open her mouth in surprise if she weren''t supporting her chin with her hand. The video was shocking for multiple reasons, and she couldn''t even begin to list them in terms of relevance.


    The engagement was extraordinary news bound to fill thework for the next few weeks or months. A noble holding an interview was also unusual, especially since the matter didn''t involve the Global Army. Rick had merely announced his rtionship through public channels, which didn''t y well with his status.


    Atst, mentioning Khan and involving him in such a high-profile event would improve his image by leaps and bounds. The interview had made his rtionship with Rick public, bringing to two the number of noble families in his social array. That was unheard of for a simple Captain.


    "So," Monica voiced, letting go of her chin to point at the screen. "That''s the Rick you told me about."


    "That''s him," Khan nodded.


    "What exactly did you do to him?" Monica questioned. She knew that Khan had trained Rick, but that reward sounded too much.


    "I had him beaten up," Khan revealed.


    "What?!" Monica gasped, cing both hands on Khan''s right thigh to slightly lift her torso.


    "By her," Khan continued, pointing at Lucille on the screen.


    "Wha-?" Monica gasped again but couldn''t finish her sentence. She froze, and her eyes darted between Rick and Lucille, hoping to make sense of that situation.


    "Did I break you?" Khan asked, half-turning to caress Monica''s head.


    "You can''t tell anyone," Monica warned, fixing her serious eyes on Khan. "Who knows about this?"


    "The beating?" Khan wondered. "A few soldiers from my time on Ecoruta, a Captain, and my ex."


    "We must kill your ex," Monica nodded.


    "Did you just ignore the others?" Khan asked.


    "Your ex is more important," Monica replied. "We must get rid of all the sluts in your life."


    "What about you?" Khan questioned, sliding his hand across Monica''s hair to pinch her cheek. "My lovely, favorite slut."


    Monica pouted and seeing Khan''s teasing smile made her roll her eyes. Yet, she still crawled forward to straighten her position and sit beside him.


    "Scoundrel," Monica muttered.


    Khan chuckled and pulled Monica closer. Usually, she would y hard to get, but his braced foot made her quite cooperative. A giggle even left her mouth when Khan put her between his legs and kissed her nape.


    "Stop it," Monica happily whined, forcing herself to keep her arms crossed even when Khan hugged her from behind. "We have to talk about this first."


    Khan groaned, rubbing his face on Monica''s neck before bringing it to her left shoulder. She didn''t hesitate to wrap an arm around it and kiss his cheek a few times, but the two eventually turned toward the still-lifted phone.


    "Is this a problem?" Khan questioned, looking at Rick''s pure face. "Can nobles get engaged so freely?"


    "Not at all," Monica replied. "They usually host many secret meetings with the involved families before holding an exclusive event for the official announcement."


    Monica didn''t know the details about Rick''s rtionship but added anotherment before Khan could speak. "It''s rare for people of our generation to hear about it until the deed is done. Few of us can even attend those events."


    "Did you?" Khan questioned.


    "Never," Monica uttered, "But my family prepared me for the eventuality. I''ve also had to study these subjects since the nobles might have been interested in me."


    Khan didn''t need to ask for details. Monica was beautiful, talented, and from an extremely wealthy family. She was a perfect candidate outside of the nobles.


    "Can you even refuse if a noble wants you?" Khan wondered.


    "It wouldn''t depend on me," Monica exined. "My family would have thest word on the matter."


    "Wouldn''t they ept right away?" Khan asked.


    "It''s not as straightforward as it seems," Monica sighed. "Marrying into the nobles improves rtionships but sacrifices a descendant. Instead, a union with a simrly wealthy family will provide riches and more profitable alliances."


    "And I bet many families want to avoid giving more power to the nobles," Khan added.


    "Indeed," Monica nodded. "On the surface, everyone respects and obeys the nobles, but schemes are always in motion."


    Khan wrapped his right arm tightly around Monica''s waist and tilted his head toward hers. He didn''t say anything, but that gesture spoke words Monica could hear. She knew he was d he had found her before those ploys could reach her.


    "I''m sure these two didn''t even kiss beforest night," Khanmented as the screen imed his attention, "And now they are engaged."


    "Really?" Monica frowned. "You told me the Rassec family didn''t acknowledge him as a Prince, but this remains hasty."


    "Do you think they went through the proper channels?" Khan asked.


    "You don''t have different options at that level," Monica exined. "Besides, getting an interview requires authorization. The Rassec family probably allowed this to exclude him from the main family."


    "I hope he didn''t do it for me," Khan sighed. "Though, being his best man is bound to make everyone worried about getting in my way. I wonder if I can ept already."


    Khan closed thework to check his messages but couldn''t find anything from Rick or Lucille. He didn''t get any officialmunication either.


    "It''s not something you ept or refuse," Monica stated. "The Rassec family will contact you when the time is ready."


    "You mean us," Khan corrected. "They must allow me to bring someone, and you are on top of my list for now."


    "For now?" Monica grimaced, slightly retracting her head to look at Khan.


    Khan didn''t show his usual teasing smile. Different thoughts upied his mind, and he voiced them when his eyes met Monica''s. "Say, are we taking it too slow?"


    "What do you mean?" Monica questioned.


    "Those two have barely been together but are already engaged," Khan responded. "We are approaching one year."


    "Should we get married, dear?" Monica teased.


    "I don''t know," Khan remained serious. "Should we? What''s the proper timing in your world?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Wait," Monica instantly blushed. "You are not being serious."


    "Am I?" Khan wondered. "I don''t know what to think."


    Monica couldn''t keep her eyes on Khan anymore. She took her head in her hands and shook it a bit before peeking at Khan again. That had sounded like a proposal, and Monica felt overwhelmed by the thoughts it caused.


    "We''ve barely dated at all," Monica whispered, diverting her gaze again. "I mean, if you really wanted to, I could think about-. No! It''s too soon! But if you asked me properly-."


    "I really broke you now," Khanmented, leaving his phone on his thigh to tilt Monica''s head toward him.


    "I''m not even twenty-three," Monica panicked. "I can''t get pregnant so soon."


    "How far did you even go?" Khan scolded.


    "We should have two kids at most," Monica continued. "The birth control treatment will take a few months to wear off, so if we keep track of my ovti-."


    Khan sealed Monica''s mouth with his hand, but she kept saying words that his palm blocked. He had never seen her so caught in her thoughts, but the scene looked cute.


    "Calm down," Khan eventually stated. "I was just confused. I don''t know how long people with your status take to get married."


    Monica tried to say something, but Khan kept her mouth sealed. He also gave a silent order with his expression, so she took a deep breath and began to calm down.


    "That''s it," Khan praised, slowly retracting his hand. "That''s my cute girlfriend."


    "It usually takes years," Monica exined, wearing a pout. "The engagement cane first, but the couple doesn''t marry until it has a stable footing, like jobs or political positions. They can also make that step to im businesses or assets."


    "So, Rick is the strange one," Khan nodded, putting his worries in the back of his mind. Still, he was the only one to do that. Monica wasn''t ready to let go of the topic so soon.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Then," Monica sniffed. "You weren''t proposing. You don''t want me as your wife."


    "Monica, we agreed on waiting," Khan reminded.


    "What about our children?" Monica whined.


    "What children?!" Khan cried before exploding into augh and pulling Monica closer. Confusion still filled the room, but the two found stability in their kisses.


    "Your mother also wants me to get a better status," Khan sighed while Monica half-turned to let him lie his head on her chest. "And your father thinks I owe him a fortune. They''ll never ept me now."


    "Let''s ask them," Monica stated, seizing Khan''s hand to ce it on the phone resting on his thigh. Many calls were stilling, and Monica answered the one carrying her mother''s name.


    "Mon-!" Khan tried to warn, but Monica had already answered the call, and only a second had to pass for Madam Solodrey''s voice toe out of the phone.


    "Captain, you finally answered," Madam Solodrey dered. "You owe me an update on the recent events, and get my daughter to look at her phone."


    "I''m here, mother," Monica spoke before Khan could say anything.


    "Monica, dear," Madam Solodrey eximed. "Not keeping up with your calls is a bad habit. I hope it doesn''t happen again."


    "Mother, can I marry Khan?" Monica went straight to the point,pletely ignoring her mother''s scolding.


    "What?" Madam Solodrey gasped. "Where does thise from? You know Captain Khan is in no position to enter our family, and you can''t be a wife yet."


    "But you didn''t mind setting me up," Monica pointed out. "Were you hoping I''d leave with Francis quietly?"


    "I prepared you for the political life," Madam Solodrey uttered. "You should have known that my public statement wouldn''t have been enough to protect you."


    "I know you didn''t even try," Monica replied.


    "These usations are unfounded and disrespectful," Madam Solodrey scolded. "Did Captain Khan put you up to this?"


    "My Captain spent thest two days fixing this mess," Monica exined, "And he did, didn''t he?"


    "Monica, dear," Madam Solodrey opted for calmer tones. "If you could let me speak with Captain Khan for a second."


    "He will speak to you," Monica dered, letting a silent second pass before continuing, "After meeting the involved factions in our family."


    "I will not bargain with my daughter," Madam Solodrey scoffed.


    "I''ll opt for ckmail then," Monica uttered. "Make the involved factions step forward or prepare yourself to be a grandmother."


    "What?" Madam Solodrey raised her voice. "Monica, are you pregnant?"


    "Get the involved factions," Monica repeated, "Make them apply pressure to the Alstair family, and we''ll talk."


    "Monica!" Madam Solodrey shouted, but Monica closed the call and crossed her arms to wear a firm stance.


    "I can say goodbye to my testicles," Khanmented, "But it was nice seeing you standing up to your mother."


    "I was protecting our family," Monica scoffed.


    "What family?" Khan asked before giving up on the matter. Madam Solodrey had been nicer than usual, showing the effects of Rick''s announcement. Khan probably had the upper hand now, so he could allow himself to joke a bit.


    Monica nced at Khan''s phone. Calls were still flowing, and the same went for messages. A noble had gotten involved, and everyone wanted a piece of the news. Her man''s poprity had skyrocketed again, and she couldn''t even attempt to control herself after the recent outburst.


    Khan watched as Monica threw his phone away before cing a hand on his chest. Her curls hid her face, but she applied some pressure, and Khan let her push him down.


    Monica slowly escaped Khan''s legs to sit on him and slide toward his chest. She didn''t say anything, but Khan could feel everything without relying on his senses.


    "I thought it was time for cuddles," Khan announced.


    "That was before my Captain resorted to a noble to protect our rtionship," Monica replied, sliding a bit further.


    "My, my," Khan yed along. "Don''t tell me that my girlfriend only cares about status."


    "Shh," Monica whispered, cing a finger on Khan''s mouth. He smirked, and Monica took that as the signal to keep sliding until her waist reached his head.


    Needless to say, the couple remained unavable for the rest of the morning, and their studies took over after they managed to rest. Meanwhile, the political world shook. Rick had forced everyone''s hand, and more public statements in Khan''s favor arrived, ultimately making the meeting mandatory and giving it a date.

 Chapter 522 Scared

    Luke and Bruce were the first to appear publicly after Rick''s interview. They had to slightly dy their n due to themotion the announcement caused, but things still worked in Khan''s favor.


    iming a part in Khan and Monica''s rtionship yed into Madam Solodrey''s announcement, turning Luke and Bruce into insightful figures with a great understanding of the political environment. Madam Solodrey''s partial lie worked against her, elevating Khan''s most influential allies and solidifying his position.


    John and Zoe came after, and their interviews covered different topics. Zoe focused on praising Monica to add value to her decision to be with Khan. Meanwhile, John stuck to the original n,plimenting Khan''s prowess, growth, and resolve while highlighting his rash decisions.


    That development forced Lucian, Lucy, and Mark to take a stand. Khan almost didn''t need them anymore for his goals, so they appeared in the open to reap part of the benefits.


    The three descendants yed into John''s interview, emphasizing how Khan''s true potential coulde to light only with expert supervision. They avoided being as harsh as they had initially nned, but their statements still tried to build a firm connection to Khan.


    Thework went on fire in those days. That huge mobilization of young descendants was unusual, especially when involving such high-profile figures. It almost seemed that a new alliance had formed, and Khan stood at the very center of it.


    Monica ghosted her mother in those days. Thetter could confirm with the appointed doctor that the birth control was going perfectly, but the public pressure and Monica''s lingering threat weren''t something she could ignore. Khan was gaining too much relevance, so Madam Solodrey had toply with the ckmail to prevent the worst possible oue.


    The internal pressure from the Solodrey family fused with everything else and granted Khan his wish. In the middle of the week, a message reached Francis, confirming that the meeting would happen on the weekend.


    Khan and Monica holed themselves in their room once the news became official. Preparations were in order due to the event''s political relevance, and failure wasn''t an option. Summoning representatives with such short notice was bound to be expensive, so it was safe to assume that Khan wouldn''t get any redo.


    When the weekend started, on the morning of the appointed day, Monica adjusted Khan''s military uniform andbed his new haircut three times before sending him off. A cab was already waiting for him downstairs, so his trip to the embassy began immediately.


    Khan would be lying if he said that he wasn''t tense. Much depended on the meeting''s oue, with his rtionship only being the most immediate aspect. That encounter would shape his career and political future, risking dying or destroying his goal to find the Nak.


    The passengers'' area went cold as Khan''s mental state deteriorated. The clicking growl showed its presence while silence reigned around him. Utter calm and ferocity joined their forces to fill Khan''s mind with something stronger than both. He was ready, but the representatives would be readier than him.


    The cab reached the embassy''s district and used a secret entrance to park directly inside the pyramidal structure. A team of stern soldiers was already in the area, but the opening of the vehicle''s doors made their stance falter. The air itself warned them that something dangerous had arrived.


    When Khan appeared, the soldiers held their breath to fight the desire to step back. He had left his crutches in the t, but the braces were still there, forcing him to limp. However, his odd pace didn''t affect his proud and firm posture in the slightest.


    The weing team forgot to say anything, and Khan didn''t care enough to admonish them. The soldiers had created a path for him, so he trod it to dive deeper into the embassy.


    A metal wall opened, leading to a vast corridor that Khan didn''t hesitate to enter. He wasn''t waiting for anyone, and the weing team snapped out of their stupor when the door was about to close. They hurried at Khan''s sides to lead the way, but none felt in charge.


    The team split when they arrived in front of an elevator. Two soldiers followed Khan inside and led him to the appointed floor. A rtively big hall unfolded once the lift opened, and Khan noticed the Headmistress waiting for him on the other side.


    The soldiers remained inside the elevator while Khan headed for the Headmistress. Thetter wore a grim face, and some helplessness joined it when Khan reached her. Khan didn''t look at her even once, and his eyes remained fixed on the door before him after he stopped.


    "You yed your cards well," Headmistress Holwen praised. "A noble from the Rassec family.... Truly resourceful."


    Things were still tense between Khan and the Headmistress. The two had only exchanged officialmunications during the week, so they had yet to talk properly. Headmistress Holwen''s praise wanted to be a step in the right direction, but Khan was in no mood for hollow pleasantries.


    "Is everybody here?" Khan asked.


    "Yes," Headmistress Holwen confirmed, "All forty of them. If you wish, I can announce you."


    "I must do this on my own," Khan stated.


    "I hope you have a good n," Headmistress Holwen sighed. "You won''t find allies in that hall."


    Khan didn''t show any emotion. Truth be told, his n wasckluster. He had nothing substantial to offer, and his leverage was almost non-existent. Francis was still in his t, but killing him wasn''t really an option.


    Moreover, the representatives in the hall had to rely on multiple teleports and fast ships to get to the Harbor on time. Those expenses put Khan at a disadvantage even before the meeting had started.


    Khan eventually nodded, and the Headmistress understood that silent order. She pressed on the door, which opened to reveal a big hall simr to those used for the lessons. Seats and interactive desks created an elevated half-circle around a central square that Khan didn''t hesitate to approach.


    Scoffs, faint murmurs, and a fewughs resounded while Khan limped toward the central square. He didn''t look at the seats even once, but his senses updated him on the general arrangement. His guests had split into two groups, upying different areas of the hall to state their allegiances.


    The central square had a small tform with a long desk and chair, and Khan jumped on it. Still, he didn''t sit. He walked before the table, leaning on its edge before turning toward the audience.


    Khan crossed his arms and kept his head lowered. His eyes were closed, but the audience couldn''t see that. He pretended to sort out his thoughts while his senses did their job, and faint mockeries resounded once a few seconds passed.


    The meeting truly had forty people, and their power was quite shocking. Khan couldn''t find a single second-level warrior among them. Everyone was either in the third or fourth level. That was a show of force, but Khan could immediately realize that only a few were actual representatives.


    The audience was using cloaking techniques, but Khan could see past the third-level warriors, and those in the fourth level affected the symphony anyway. He could easily differentiate between experienced soldiers and mere politicians, and that detail joined his vague n.


    "Thank you foring with such short notice," Khan eventually stated, lifting his gaze to look at the audience. "Though I believe none of you had any choice."


    The faint insult stunned the audience, and Khan used that time to inspect them a bit longer. The group on his right had darker skin tones, with some sharing facial features with Monica and her parents. Instead, Khan spotted multiple golden heads on his left, marking their belonging to the Alstair family.


    Of course, exceptions in appearances existed, but they were few, which couldn''t be a coincidence. Even those Khan had marked as soldiers carried easily recognizable features, which told him how the representatives had probably handpicked their guards.


    ''Anything to look oppressing,'' Khan mocked in his mind as a man among the Solodrey group stood up to m his hands on the desk. Others imitated him, and a series of shouts flew in his direction.


    "How dare you talk to us like this?!" The first man to stand up cried.


    "Insolence!" A woman in the Alstair group shouted.


    "Who does he think he is?" Another womanined.


    "I should leave immediately!" A man dered.


    "That would teach him!" Another man agreed.


    The storm of cries didn''t end any soon, but Khan didn''t falter even once. He kept his cold face on the audience, moving his eyes whenever someone spoke. He didn''t show any trace of emotion. Those empty threats couldn''t impress him.


    "Are you done?" Khan asked once the hall began to quiet down and everyone resumed their seats.


    "I wouldn''t talk like this, young man," A middle-aged man from the Solodrey group warned, pointing at Khan. "Coming here was a favor, so show some gratitude."


    "It''s Captain Khan," Khan corrected, "Not young man. I thought you lofty figures would know how the Global Army''s ranks work."


    The audience grew angry again, but Khan continued to speak before anyone could interrupt him. "Besides, this is no favor. I forced you toe here."


    Grim faces filled Khan''s view. Some wentpletely cold too. He had spoken the silent truth, and those representatives couldn''t argue against him.


    "Youn-," A man in the Solodrey group began to say, but Khan''s instantaneous re made him correct his approach. "Captain Khan, why don''t we get to the point? What do you even want to achieve with this meeting?"


    "Mister?" Khan questioned.


    "Solodrey," The man proudly announced. "Tobias Solodrey."


    "Mister Solodrey," Khan eximed. "My goal is quite simple. I want your factions to stop plotting against my rtionship. Actually, I want you to protect it."


    Khan then turned to his left to address the other group. "As for you, I want you to drop your schemes against my girlfriend. You lost your opportunity long ago. ept defeat with dignity."


    Stupor filled the symphony butughs soon disrupted it. The entire audience exploded into snickers and mockingments. They almost couldn''t believe that Khan had made theme so far just to give unreasonable orders.


    "Captain, on what ground are you asking this?" Tobias Solodreyughed.


    "Fame must have gotten to his head," A woman from the Alstair side mocked.


    "Maybe hisst injuries affected his brain," A man in the Alstair group imed. "How does he expect us to take him seriously?"


    "Captain Khan, we gathered forty representatives as a show of respect," A woman in the Solodrey group eximed. "We expect you to do the same."


    "Twelve," Khan responded.


    "What?" The woman asked, but Khan suddenly stomped his right foot on the floor, releasing a purple-red cloud that shattered his braces and sent them flying.


    The abrupt gesture and the appearance of the chaos element made the guards in the audience drop their act and stand up to protect the real representatives. Some even jumped on the interactive desks to shield their employers from eventual attacks,pletely giving out their identity.


    "There are only twelve representatives here," Khan calmly exined, unfazed by the guards'' prompt reaction, "And I''m not injured anymore."


    Khan lifted his right leg to show his bare foot. He twisted his ankle and stretched it forward, proving how he had regained full mobility in his limb.


    The representatives were shocked beyond their minds. Initially, they thought that information about their strategy had leaked, but that wasn''t possible. They had been careful during their preparations, and Khan didn''t have the connections or time to uncover them.


    The possibility of a spy appeared but was quickly discarded. Khan had never met the people in the hall. He didn''t evene close to getting their contact, let alone learning their identity. His inhumane senses were the only exnation, which remained stunning since the meeting had barely gone on for a few minutes.


    "I''ll overlook your attempt to scare me," Khan continued once the representatives were ready to hear his words, "But the guards have to go. They can''t attend this meeting."


    Hesitation spread, but Khan added words bound to corner his guests. "Unless you don''t feel confident in being alone with me. In that case, I would let them stay."


    The representatives had an impossible choice to make. Forcing the guards to stay would state that Khan was strong enough to worry them. Yet, that would add value to his figure, ultimately giving him the relevance he needed for his requests.


    The representatives nodded, whispered, and exchanged silent orders with their guards to send them away. The soldiers descended the staircases among the desks to reach the square and red at Khan before heading toward the exit.


    Khan didn''t let anything affect his expression. Fourth-level warriors sent silent threats, but he kept looking at the representatives. The guards didn''t im his attention even once.


    The hall felt empty after twenty-eight people left all at once, and Khan remained silent even after privacy returned. He almost looked bored in the eyes of the representatives. Also, shockingly enough, he seemed to have gotten in charge of the event.


    "I suppose we can talk openly now," Khan struck while the iron was hot. "You went to the trouble of disguising guards as representatives. I must truly scare you."<novelnext></novelnext>


    The representatives couldn''t ignore that emotional blow. Khan had humiliated them publicly and was also correct. They had underestimated Khan''s connections, which was why they had tried to scare him with a show of force.


    "Captain," Tobias ended up being the first to speak. "Maybe we got off on the wrong foot."


    "No," Khan stated. "You did exactly what you wanted to do. I just surpassed your expectations. The Alstair side is getting used to that."


    Khan nodded at the group to his left while keeping his gaze on the Solodrey faction. He was hinting at the events with Francis, mocking those representatives to create a gap he could exploit.


    Tobias remained serious, but a woman behind him smiled, and the Alstair representatives didn''t miss that. They said nothing, but that little gesture had created a small crack between the two groups.


    "I never expected such arrogance from a single Captain," A woman in the Alstair group dered. "Since you mentioned it, the Alstair family expects reparations."


    "For?" Khan questioned, ncing to his left.


    "We invested a good deal of Credits and efforts into establishing the rtionship between Francis and Miss Solodrey," The woman exined. "You didn''t only ruin it. You are also actively preventing any further investment."


    "You bet on the wrong person," Khan responded. "That''s not my problem."


    "You have humiliated our descendant for the entire duration of your stay on Milia 222," The woman imed. "You are even keeping him hostage at this very moment!"


    "I protected Monica from the mana-tampered booze Mister Alstair forced her to drink," Khan corrected, looking at the Solodrey faction. "She knew about the tampering but drank anyway to keep up with her social duties."


    "We never agreed to anything like that!" One of the women in the Solodrey group cried, ring at the Alstair representatives.


    "We never cleared him for anything like that either!" A man in the Alstair group shouted.


    "But you did clear him for your scheme," Khan pointed out, looking at the Alstair group before ring at the Solodrey representatives, "And you epted that deal. How is iming Monica''s insanity better than being with me?"


    "You have no ce in this conversation!" One of the Solodrey representatives scolded.


    "I forced you to gather here," Khan reminded. "This whole meeting is my ce."


    "Don''t push it," Tobias warned.


    "Why shouldn''t it?" Khan asked. "I surpass the Alstair candidate in many fields by leaps and bound. Mister Alstair couldn''t have summoned you here, but I did. How is it that you still refuse to ept me?"


    "Preposterous!" Someone in the Alstair group voiced, and simrints resounded from that side, but Khan only looked at the Solodrey representatives.


    "I''ve already established friendly rtionships with two noble families," Khan continued. "Who else can im the same?"


    The representatives could think of a few figures, but Khan was still special. Hisck of background made his current position incredible. It was impossible to predict how far he could go.


    "Monica''s parents publicly epted me," Khan added. "It won''t be hard for you to switch sides, and I''m only requesting protection from future suitors."


    "You are asking us to trust you," One of the women in the Solodrey group said.


    "I''m telling you I''m better than any possible suitor," Khan dered, "But you already know that. You wouldn''t have sent someone you have no intention to ept to mess with me otherwise."


    "How dare you speak for the Solodrey family?!" Someone in the Alstair group said, but confusion arrived when she noticed that the representatives from the other family didn''t join herint.


    The Solodrey representatives remained silent and inspected Khan from head to toe. He was right once again. His potential was terrifying, so they had opted for such a hasty ploy. He risked escaping their reach if he continued to grow at that pace.


    "I''ll bring honor to the Solodrey family," Khan promised, "As well as wealth, political relevance, and status. Eventually, at least."


    The six representatives from the Solodrey family remained still a bit longer before exchanging nces. Some even used the desks to send silent messages. They were considering the matter, and Tobias eventually conveyed their decisions.


    "You do realize this is no final decision, don''t you?" Tobias questioned. "Also, we are only some of the factions of the Solodrey family. This solution is far from permanent."


    "I''m well aware," Khan nodded. "Time is all I need."


    "Very well," Tobias uttered, crossing his muscr arms to wait for the rest of the meeting to unfold.


    The Alstair group understood what was happening, and it wasn''t their ce to oppose that decision. They still belonged to a different family, so Khan was the only avable outlet for their anger.


    "Captain Khan," A woman from the Alstair group called. "Do you realize what you are doing? It''s not wise to have us as enemies, especially in your position."


    "You should be d I didn''t kill Mister Alstair on the spot," Khan scoffed. "It''s what he would have deserved."


    "You don''t have any authority on the matter," A man from the Alstair group stated. "Instead, it''s within our right to see you as the reason behind our wasted investments. Personally, I expect bonuses too."


    "On that topic," Khan eximed, almost hating himself for what he was about to say, "I have a proposition."


    "Did we finally scare you?" The previous woman sneered.


    "Political enemies are inevitable," Khan rejected that question. "However, I might know how to fix the problem in your case."


    "What problem?" An Alstair representative snorted.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "You wasted many resources on a descendant," Khan said. "If I give him back to you like this, that investment will remain a failure."


    Khan was once again correct. Francis had never been too exceptional, and the recent events had greatly affected his mental state. The Alstair family would probably fail to find any use for him in his current state.


    "What are you suggesting?" A representative questioned.


    "Let me train him," Khan offered. "I''ll turn him into a proper warrior who might make you proud one day. Your Masters have already failed, so I''m your only real option."


    "You held your position as a teacher for less than a year," A woman in the Alstair group pointed out. "What makes you think that you could aplish something like this?"


    "Rick Rassec can vouch for my training methods," Khan responded. "You can ask him if you have doubts."


    Mentioning a noble always caused surprise, and Khan''s statement was no exception. However, rumors started to run after Rick''s announcement. Many finally connected Princess Edna''s words during Khan''s promotion to that man from the Rassec family, ultimately confirming the validity of the training methods.


    "We won''t let you use our descendant as a source of Credits," A representative eximed.


    "Don''t give him money then," Khan suggested. "I can cover the expenses of his training. You can just leave him to me."


    The Alstair representatives began to converse among themselves. The offer was quite good since it allowed them to exploit Khan''s fame. Besides, they didn''t want to lose a descendant at the center of multiple investments. It would hurt their position against enemy factions otherwise.


    "Very well," One of the Alstair representatives stated, "But we expect great results. We won''t ept someone barely able to match a guard."


    "Understood," Khan showed somepliance.


    "It seems we have all reached a conclusion," A Solodrey representative announced, standing up. "Should we end this meeting, Captain Khan?"


    "Let''s call it a day," Khan nodded. "Thank you for your time."


    "May this be the beginning of a long cooperation," The standing representativeughed, and the others joined him, leaving their seats. The Alstair group did the same, and Khan remained on the tform to watch everyone depart.


    "Captain, could I have a second of your time?" Tobias called when the other representatives were about to leave the hall. "Alone."


    Khan nodded again, ncing at the departing representatives and waiting for the entrance to close to jump out of the tform. He approached Tobias fearlessly, even if the middle-aged was a fourth-level warrior with a huge, muscr figure.


    "I wanted to take this chance to warn you, Captain," Tobias said, lowering his head to face Khan and highlighting his tall figure. "We agreed to your requests, but your behavior was uneptable. Remember that the Global Army itself would justify our decision to punish you."


    Khan remained emotionless. Tobias'' square face filled his vision, but he looked at it as if it were nothing more than a wall.


    "Also," Tobias continued, "Many factions among the Solodrey family would be happy to see you disappear. Don''t give us an excuse."


    "Kill me now, then," Khan stated.


    "What?" Tobias frowned, slightly retracting his head.


    "We are alone," Khan said, "In front of each other. You could kill me with one attack if you wanted to."


    "Do you realize what you are saying?" Tobias questioned.


    "But you don''t want to kill me," Khan continued. "This is ast attempt to teach me my ce. Well, it''s not working."


    Tobias arched his eyebrows in surprise beforepletely straightening his back. A satisfied smirk appeared on his face, and he kept wearing it even after he turned toward the exit.


    "Some representatives aren''t as nice as us," Tobias dered when he was about to reach the exit. "What will you do when someone calls your bluff?"


    "I''ll block the first attack," Khan calmly exined, "And make the entire embassy crash on them."


    Tobias wanted to keep his eyes on the exit, but Khan''s statement made him look at him. Surprisingly, Tobias didn''t find any lie in Khan''s expression. He truly believed he could stop the attack of a fourth-level warrior.


    That surprise was short-lived. Tobias was a busy man, so he put the conversation in the back of his mind and crossed the exit, leaving Khan alone in the hall.

 Chapter 523 List

    Khan stared at the closed exit before heaving a deep sigh. He walked toward the nearest wall and sat on the floor to let the metal chill his thoughts.


    The cold was good. The cold had been good for Khan since Nitis, and some tension waned as he closed his eyes and rested his head on the wall.


    The meeting didn''t lead to any written deal, but that was the norm. The political world worked through mutual respect, fame, face, and the value of one''s word. Gentlemen''s agreements were moremon than actual contracts, and their value wasn''t inferior in the least.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The representatives could go back on their word, but their credibility would vanish in that case. That wouldn''t be too important when dealing with an inferior political figure, but Khan had already proven to have good connections. He was almost certain he had achieved his goals, meaning he had to stay true to his side of the deal.


    ''Training Francis,'' Khan listed in his mind, ''Develop the rtionship with the other descendants, reach an understanding with Madam Solodrey.''


    Cold enveloped Khan''s bare foot, making him open his eyes and spread his knees to look at it. He had healed faster than anyone could have predicted, but that sight reminded him why he wasn''t wearing his right shoe in the first ce.


    ''Wayne,'' Khan continued to list, ''Mister Chares, Raymond, Honides.''


    The deal with the representatives was only one side of Khan''s duties. He still had to work for the Headmistress to keep increasing his value, advance his career, and repay his debt.


    ''Professor Parver,'' Khan recalled, closing his eyes again and lightly bumping his nape on the wall. ''I also need to ask him for a room suitable for the [Blood Vortex].''


    Khan''s duties couldn''t get in the way of his training. His level and prowess were the backbones of all his achievements and current status, so raising them had the priority.


    ''Studying,'' Khan thought about thest item on his list. ''I can''t slow down when the semester is so close to ending.''


    Less than two months separated Khan from the end of the semester, and two waves of tests were waiting for him. His grades were good, but he needed to be more than that to match Madam Solodrey''s expectations and secure a job that could put him closer to finding the Nak.


    The situation looked far from good. Khan could avoid sleeping, but his time remained limited, and his tasks were too many for the average soldier. Sacrificing something seemed necessary, but Khan couldn''t afford that, and everything would be pointless if he ended up ruining his rtionship chasing political sess.


    ''No one can do so many things simultaneously,'' Khan thought. ''That''s why I need to seed.''


    Being infallible was the most direct path toward Khan''s goals. It was hard, impossible even, but Khan could say the same for his aspirations. He had started below everyone else, so he had to put in far more effort than anyone.


    Khan wanted a drink, Monica, or anything that could distract him from his thoughts, but wasting time wasn''t an option. Even that short break was too much. Still, the entrance opened before he could stand up.


    "It seems the Harbor won''t fall today," Headmistress Holwen announced, letting the exit close behind her, "And that without dishonorably discharging you."


    Khan nced at the Headmistress before closing his eyes and casually addressing her. "They had already agreed to help me. They wouldn''t havee otherwise."


    "That''s the power of a noble," Headmistress Holwen stated. "It can move mountains and change the most stubborn of minds."


    "I just need time," Khanmented, "And they know it. They won''t get the chance to treat me like this in a few years."


    Thement was arrogant, but the Headmistress couldn''t refute it. If Khan kept it up at his current pace, he would truly be untouchable.


    "About our private business," The Headmistress mentioned, stopping before Khan.


    "I''m sorry, Headmistress," Khan uttered, opening his eyes to look at the woman. "It''s better if I keep the details for myself."


    "As long as you solve this," Headmistress Holwen eximed. She couldn''t oppose Khan''s decision right now. Their rtionship risked shattering if she pushed him.


    "I see you are better," Headmistress Holwen continued, eyeing Khan''s bare foot. "I take it you are ready to resume working."


    "I am," Khan nodded, standing up while sliding his back on the metal wall.


    The Headmistress inspected Khan from head to toe. He looked ready to jump on his ship andplete his next mission, but she knew when she had to slow things down.


    "Next week," Headmistress Holwen said, shaking her head. "You''ll resume working next week. Go home now."


    "Thank you, ma''am," Khan stated. "Also, I''ll take care of Mister Alstair from now on. I hope my privileges can extend to him."


    "The representatives updated me already," Headmistress Holwen revealed. "Consider it done."


    "I''ll need a t for him too," Khan added. "I can''t have him living in mine."


    "I''ll take a look at the avable habitations in the district once I get back to my office," Headmistress Holwen said.


    "Thank you, ma''am," Khan voiced, performing a military salute before heading toward the exit.


    The Headmistress hesitated while watching Khan leave. She didn''t want things to remain so cold, but her position was difficult, and Khan was at fault anyway.


    "Captain," The Headmistress eventually called before Khan could leave. "The Harbor will always be my priority, but if I could choose sides-."


    "It''s fine," Khan interrupted, facing the Headmistress but lowering his gaze. "I put you in an impossible position, so it''s fine."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "You did," Headmistress Holwenmented. "However, it wasn''t right for the families to disrespect you so openly. You are still a soldier."


    "Right or wrong doesn''t matter," Khan lifted his gaze and wore an empty smile. "It''s all about power."


    "Captain," Headmistress Holwen called again but failed to find the right words. She wanted to reassure Khan, but he was correct, and it would be wrong to lie to him.


    "Ma''am, I should probably go," Khan dered. "My girlfriend''s mother is still worried about a possible pregnancy. The Harbor will truly fall if I keep her in the dark any longer."


    "What?!" Headmistress Holwen gasped. "What did you say to Madam Solodrey?"


    "We were just teasing her," Khan chuckled, turning toward the entrance and waving his hand dismissively, "And it was really sexy to see my girlfriend take the lead."


    "I don''t need to hear these things!" Headmistress Holwen scolded.


    "I wasn''t talking about that," Khanughed as the entrance opened. "I didn''t expect you to have such a dirty mind."


    The Headmistress was ready to shout, but Khan left the hall before she could speak. He had run away after his stupidment, and the Headmistress couldn''t help but feel pissed about it.


    "Scoundrel," Headmistress Holwen scoffed, but a smile followed. She was happy that the political world didn''t crush Khan''s yful side.


    Khan hurried outside the embassy and rode the first cab he found to return to the second district. The trip was rtively short, but the news of his meeting had already spread, and his t showed part of its consequences.


    "Are you sure you are not pregnant?!" Madam Solodrey''s voice reached Khan''s ears as soon as he left the elevator.


    "Mother, I''m sure," Monica reassured, looking at the holograms depicting her mother, "But I expect more protection on the family''s side now. I won''t mind letting him knock me up to achieve that."


    "Don''t use such crude words," Madam Solodrey sighed. "To think my dear daughter would go against me over a man."


    "I''m impossible to resist," Khan imed, entering the main hall to reach the back of Monica''s couch. "Though your daughter is cuter."


    "Captain," Madam Solodrey scoffed, and her expression grew colder when Khan stretched his arms past the couch''s back to hug Monica. "I heard your meeting went well."


    "News run fast," Khanmented.


    "They always do," Madam Solodrey stated. "I didn''t expect you to be able to involve the Rassec family. That was a smart move."


    "Is that apliment?" Khan gasped. "Are you ready to be my mother-inw?"


    "What?!" Monica and Madam Solodrey cried at the same time.


    "Admit it," Khanughed. "I''m growing on you."


    "I don''t know where this impudencees from," Madam Solodrey said, "But I won''t ept getting addressed so disrespectfully."


    "Come on, ma''am," Khan whined. "We are all one big family. We should be friendlier to each other."


    "What family?" Madam Solodrey cursed. "You are an outsider crawling his way into my daughter for political influence!"


    "I actually like her butt more," Khan revealed.


    "Khan!" Monica scolded, peeking past her shoulder to shoot an admonishing re.


    "Well," Khan continued, focusing only on the holograms. "I''m very busy, so let''s do this another time."


    Khan let go of Monica to jump on the other side of the couch and close the call. Madam Solodrey and Monica didn''t have the chance to stop him, and the former even failed to voice onestint.


    "What are you saying to my mother?!" Monica shouted, pulling Khan''s arm to make him turn toward her.


    "The truth," Khan shrugged his shoulders. "She can''t do anything to me right now, so I felt like showing my true self."


    "But you can''t talk with my mother about that!" Monica shouted again, and her anger increased before Khan''s amused face. He was having fun teasing her as always.


    "You are terrible!" Monica cried, pulling Khan closer. "I almost don''t want to give you my gift now."


    "Ooh?" Khan asked, kneeling before the couch and crossing his arms on Monica''s legs. "Do I get a gift now?"


    "Only if you tell me how much you love me," Monica jokingly snorted, "And prove it too."


    Khan smirked and crawled his way to Monica''s face. She pretended to y hard to get, but her anger melted as soon as their lips touched.

 Chapter 524 Princesses

    Francis retreated, jumping backward to put distance from his opponent. Meanwhile, orange sparks gathered at the center of his palms and shed with each other to generate an explosive reaction.


    George wore an annoyed expression as he slowly chased after Francis. Thetter was fast, faster than him, but the training hall''s wall would eventually arrive. There was a limit to how much Francis could retreat.


    The explosive reactions ended with Francis snapping his arms forward. Two orange lightning bolts flew at high speed and with extreme precision toward George, but he only needed to twist his fingers to cut them in half.


    Loud crackling noises filled the hall as the lightning bolts exploded, sending sparks everywhere. A blinding orange sh hindered Francis'' vision, but his eyes widened in shock when he saw George sprinting through it.


    Francis retreated once more, but a gasp escaped his mouth when his back hit the metal wall. He inspected his surroundings to find an escape route, but George elerated, making the next sh inevitable.


    Orange sparks gathered in Francis'' palms to prepare an offensive, but George sent more mana to his right hand while taking a deep breath. His arm rose, performing a smooth, seemingly slow waving motion that sent a dark-silver sh forward.


    A nging noise resounded when an oblique cut opened above Francis. The attack distracted him, disrupting his mana and dispersing his sparks. He quickly tried to summon his spell again, but a dark-silver sharp tip suddenly reached his throat.


    "You are dead," George dered, pointing two fingers at Francis. A five-meter-long ethereal sword stretched from them, and the slightest gesture could make it pierce Francis'' throat.


    Francis was no stranger to that oue. George had already defeated him twice that morning, so he retracted his mana to mark his surrender. He lowered his head in defeat, and George snorted before dispersing his sword.


    "You failed to mind your surroundings again," George scolded, "And you keep escaping. You are faster than me, so you can face my sword head-on."


    "I understand," Francis weakly said.


    George rolled his eyes. That wasn''t the face of someone who had truly understood his words, and ncing at the hall''s stalls didn''t help. Khan was there, immersed in his phone''s screen and seemingly unaware of the sparring session. He was studying the notes Monica had prepared for him, and his gaze didn''t move even once during the battle.


    "Review our exchanges," George ordered, dismissively waving his hand. "We''ll resume in five."


    Francis nodded and looked at the uncaring Khan for a few seconds before sitting on the floor. Menus opened, allowing him to review the battle and gain additional information due to the hall''s scanners.


    Meanwhile, George walked toward the stalls before jumping on them to reach Khan. He hadints ready, but Khan spoke before him. "You are going too easy on him."


    "You got the okay to train him only yesterday," George pointed out. "His mind isn''t into it yet."


    "Then, rough him up," Khan said, keeping his eyes on the phone. "He won''t learn anything if he keeps escaping all the time."


    "Did you grow eyes on the sides of your head now?" George snorted. Hisment carried no insults but hid genuine concern. It was hard to see Khan as a simple human when he saw so much.


    "Peace and women made you soft," Khan joked, lifting his gaze to smile at his friend. "Maybe you should show him your sword."


    "Don''t even joke about it," George shook his head, performing a grabbing motion toward the bottle at Khan''s side. "I''ll really hurt him if I use it."


    "I thought you learnt to control yourself," Khan teased, throwing the bottle at George.


    "Since you are so full of wisdom and orders," Georgeined, catching the bottle, "Why don''t you train him yourself?"


    "I don''t trust myself," Khan said, putting away his phone to wait for the bottle to return. "Besides, I thought you would have enjoyed this break."


    George took a long sip from the bottle before sitting beside Khan. He handed Khan the booze, who also drank. Neither bothered to mention the early hour, and the time for serious talks naturally arrived.


    "She still worries," Georgemented.


    "They never stop worrying," Khan said. "We aren''t exactly the brightest and most careful soldiers in the world."


    "We do have good looks," George stated, epting the bottle.


    "That we have," Khan nodded. "Luckily, Monica isn''t weirded out by my hair."


    "Do you think she was serious about the pregnant thing?" George asked.


    "Probably," Khan voiced, showing his palm to wait for the bottle. "It''s not like we are being careful. Her birth control made us lose any self-restraint."


    "As if you ever had any to begin with," George snickered. "You would have robbed medical bays if I weren''t here to solve your condom issue."


    "It was way easier on Nitis," Khan cursed. "Why can''t humans invent reusable ones? How hard can it be?"


    "So people can use their parents'' condoms," George teased.


    "We don''t talk about that," Khan warned. "Well, I guess things are better than ever now."


    "Monica''s parents hate you," George listed, "Most descendants want to ride your fame, the Harbor is using you as an errand boy, and you are stuck training your love rival. Things couldn''t be any better."


    "You forgot Wayne and the criminal organization," Khan reminded.


    "That''s the cherry on top," George chuckled.


    "At least I have you," Khan stated, showing a faint but genuine smile.


    "Don''t do that," George warned. "Keep your puppy eyes for Monica."


    "She is just jumping on metely," Khan sighed as the exchange of booze continued.


    "That must feel terrible," George snorted, "So terrible I feel like punching you."


    "I''m not the one putting kinky ideas in her mind," Khan pointed out.


    "That''s what friends are for," George imed before squinting his eyes when he noticed that Khan was lost in his thoughts. "Wait, did it work?"


    "I''m not telling you anything," Khan eximed.


    "You had your eyes on her butt for a while," George snickered. "Maybe her lying skills are better than I imagined."


    "Shut it," Khan scoffed. "Focus on Anita instead. You know you don''t need to break up with her, right?"


    "It would be a crime to keep all this greatness away from other women," George joked.


    "It''s not like you''ll get deployed or anything," Khan continued. "It''s time to settle, start a family, and take over your father''s position."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Kill me already," George cursed.


    "It can''t be so bad," Khanughed. "Peace, love, and money. What more can a man desire?"


    "More love, more money," George dered. "Anyway, we both know you are saying this to keep me sheltered and safe."


    "How is that bad?" Khan wondered.


    "That''s your dumb side speaking," George scolded. "Don''t worry about others when you have so much on your te."


    "Hey, I''m doing far better," Khan imed. "I''m not as dumb as I used to be."


    "Says who?" George chuckled. "You are just wearing better clothes in my eyes."


    "I''m-!" Khan wanted toin, but George was right. It was easy to find simrities between his behavior with Liiza and Monica, especially in its extreme aspects.


    "Just shut it," Khan sighed, "Or I''ll tell Anita about your kinks."


    "You can''t possibly know them all," George proudly stated before a memory popped into his mind and made him smile. "Do you remember Kelly? She really gave you a hard time."


    "She somehow survived," Khanmented. "I guess Nitis'' crisis was an eye-opener for her."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Imagine meeting her now," George chuckled. "It would be fun to m your rank in her face."


    "I wish I could do that to Monica''s mother," Khan cursed, but his phone rang, and drawing it showed an annoying name. "I guess her ears were burning."


    "Have fun with that," Georgeughed, leaning toward Khan to steal the bottle only to find out that all the booze had disappeared.


    "Anastasia!" Khan eximed, answering the call and showing his tongue to a disappointed George. "Not even a day has passed since ourst call. Did you miss me already?"


    "Captain, I never authorized you to drop your formalities," Madam Solodrey scolded. "It''s ufortable to see such friendliness from you."


    "As you wish, ma''am," Khan announced. "I''ll stick to mother-inw."


    "I hope for your own good that no one else is hearing this call," Madam Solodrey threatened, and George showed his thumbs at those words before leaving the stalls.


    "I would never betray your trust, ma''am," Khan lied before changing the topic. "Is there a specific reason behind this call?"


    "I wouldn''t waste time calling you otherwise," Madam Solodrey revealed. "I wanted to inform you that the Solodrey family reached an agreement. We won''t ept any suitor or allow any ploy for now."


    Khan didn''t expect to receive simr news so soon. Merely a day had passed from his meeting with the representatives, but the Solodrey family had already taken a stand.


    Moreover, that stand didn''t only involve a few factions. It seemed that the entirety of the Solodrey family was on the same page now, even if for different reasons.


    "I appreciate that," Khan honestly eximed. "Thank you, Madam Solodrey."


    "So, you know what respect and manners are," Madam Solodrey uttered.


    "You won''t regret it, ma''am," Khan promised. "I''ll make your daughter happy."


    "Happiness is-," Madam Solodrey began to say.


    "A luxury to people in your position," Khan interrupted. "Still, that''s my main goal. If bing worthy of the Solodrey name is the way to do it, I shall."


    Madam Solodrey fell silent. She was the most understanding of Monica''s parents, and a tinge of proper parenthood still existed inside her. She wouldn''t hold back from cheering for the couple if Khan could be worthy while making Monica happy.


    "Captain," Madam Solodrey called, carefully choosing her words, "Earning our name is no easy feat. However, were you to seed, you would be privy to some secrets otherwise unattainable inside the Global Army. I''m sure I don''t have to say anything else."


    "You don''t, ma''am," Khan perfectly understood what Madam Solodrey meant. "Though these incentives are unnecessary. I''m serious about your daughter."


    "I would have had your head on a te if I doubted that," Madam Solodrey sighed. "Sadly, you took your stubbornness from your mother. I guess we''ll see whether that''s a good thing or not."


    Curiosity invaded Khan, but he held it back. He knew Madam Solodrey had no intention of answering his questions. She was just throwing baits to deepen Khan''s reliance on the Solodrey family.


    "Have a good day, Captain Khan," Madam Solodrey continued. "I expect tonight''s date to go well, and my husband is also waiting for your next payment. Don''t falter, and remember that we are always watching."


    Madam Solodrey closed the call before Khan could voice any salute. Watching the empty screen, Khan could almost feel the political stringstching onto his limbs and hindering his movements. Protection and control went hand in hand in that world, and the pressure intensified as Khan dived deeper into it.


    A message from the Headmistress arrived, confirming that she had increased the security in many districts. Khan and Monica would go out with Lucy and Mark that night, making those measures necessary. The event could be a friendly meeting, but Khan knew Madam Solodrey wanted him to push his political connections forward.


    "That''s what you get for chasing princesses," George announced. He had returned near the stalls, and one look at Khan''s expression told him everything he needed to know.


    "Do you think nobility is hereditary?" Khan wondered. "Maybe I''m attracted to political influence."


    "You just love problems," George snorted, "Especially when they have a nice¡­ face."


    Khan sighed. He couldn''t go against his nature, and the problems with Monica had positive sides. Without her, Khan would have taken far longer to leave his mark on the political world, let alone receive his current education.


    "I admit there is something else," George continued. "Probably, you only fall for women who can stand proudly at your side."


    "I''m a nobody from the Slums," Khan dismissed that vaguepliment. "Anyone can stand at my side."


    "Then," George voiced, "How is it that wherever you go, people start following you?"


    "Not everywhere," Khan shook his head, reopening Monica''s notes to resume studying.


    "My father once tried to go all philosophical on me," George revealed. "He said that a king needs a queen, but very few women can be queens."


    "He was just trying to make you stop fooling around," Khan pointed out.


    "Maybe," George spread his arms and turned, "But Liiza was almost royalty, and Monica is no different. That makes it two out of two."

 Chapter 525 Group Date

    A team of waiters wearing suits weed Khan, Monica, Lucy, and Mark when they stepped out of the cab. The vehicle had flown the group to the top of one of the tallest buildings in the Harbor, and the attendants soon led them into the isted room that would hold their dinner.


    The Kingsize''s shy luxury and the past dinners had made Khan used to high-end restaurants, but he could still appreciate the beauty of the ce. The waiters had led his group into a vast room featuring two giant windows that granted a perfect view of the district. The ceiling was also transparent, allowing the guests to see the universe past the dome.


    "We''ll take it from here," Mark announced, nodding at the waiters to send them away. Only the four students remained in the room, and Mark took it upon himself to lead the way toward the short table in the corner.


    "It''s lucky that we could n something so quickly," Mark eximed, reaching one of the armchairs to stand behind it. "I thought you would be swamped after the recent events."


    "I am swamped," Khan revealed, imitating Mark, "But I can''t go around breaking promises. I''m d Pandora found us a good ce with such short notice."


    "Don''t be surprised," Lucy stated, pulling back an empty armchair beside Mark and epting his hand to take her seat. "You are too famous to ignore. Pandora craves your presence."


    Khan imitated Mark once again, letting Monica pull back her armchair before taking her hand. The couple exchanged a knowing smile at that poised gesture and relied on their eyes to convey their thoughts.


    "I suppose you also wanted to see Monica in a dress," Lucy teased before clearing her throat and lifting her chin to attract Mark''s attention while pretending to ignore him.


    "You are beautiful tonight, Miss Saurac," Mark promptly eximed, lowering his head toward Lucy in respect.


    "Thank you, Mister Bonnelli," Lucy used a pleased tone, lowering her chin to show a cute smile. "You are quite charming yourself."


    "I didn''t forget you like green," Mark remarked, adjusting his dark-green waistcoat while taking his seat.


    Everyone had worn elegant clothes that night. Lucy was almost blinding with her one-shoulder golden dress, and her lips and eyelids matched its color. Monica had gone easier on the makeup, but her red halter dress could capture anyone''s gaze, and her exposed back was bound to trap it there forever.


    Instead, Mark and Khan had gone for a less shy option. Mark had a ck shirt under his waistcoat, while Khan had a blue zer and a dark jumper that matched his pants.


    Mark and Lucy noticed how Khan and Monica didn''t break eye contact while the former took his seat. They seemed able tomunicate with looks alone, and the intensity of those gestures told a story their friends could read.


    "The flight clearly wasn''t enough for Khan," Lucy giggled, "Or Monica."


    "Oh, Monica does spoil my eyes very often," Khan revealed, stretching his arm over the table.


    "He just didn''t see this one until thest minute," Monica added, gently cing her hand in Khan''s palm. "We would have beente otherwise."


    "We can always postpone," Mark jokingly suggested.


    "It''s fine," Khan reassured, finally looking at his friends but keeping Monica''s hand in his palm. "We are just happy."


    "This is quite new to us," Monica continued. "I admit I couldn''t wait for us to date properly."


    "It must have been a real struggle," Lucymented, noticing how Khan rubbed Monica''s fingers with his thumb.


    "It had its ups and downs," Khan exined. "It still has them, but that''s how rtionships are, especially when they involve wealthy women."


    "I knew he could take it," Monica praised. "I knew I could trust him with one look."


    "Did you?" Khan teased, peeking at Monica.


    Monica didn''t reply. She supported her head with her other hand and let her tempting eyes reveal her thoughts. Happiness seemed on the verge of exploding out of her figure, but her expression never lost its elegance.


    "I might be a bit jealous of them," Lucymented.


    "Why don''t we order something in the meantime?" Mark suggested.


    "Ipletely agree," Khanughed, and the group used the table''s menus to decide the kind of treatment the restaurant would provide.


    It didn''t take long for a notification to appear on the table, and waiters entered the room when Mark touched it. The attendants delivered drinks, and Khan and Monica made sure to hold their hands openly during the process.


    Once the waiters left, Khan and Monica abandoned that public disy of affection to focus on their friends. As much as they liked their new situation, they still had to build on that, which involved social obligations and some effort.


    "So," Khan was the first to speak after everyone got a taste of their drinks. "Monica tried her best to exin your situation, but I''m afraid I don''t get it yet. Are you engaged or not?"


    "Khan, it''s embarrassing," Lucyined, but her giggle added a joking vibe. "You shouldn''t ask such things so bluntly."


    "It must be hard to understand from your perspective," Mark had a calmer approach, even if a smile always upied his expression. "Our families have a silent agreement, but nothing is official yet."


    "Why not make it official?" Khan wondered. He was only pretending not to know the entire situation to make conversation, but part of him was still curious about Mark and Lucy''s reactions.


    "It''s a long process," Lucy exined, "And our families are still waiting to see who can gain the most out of this union."


    "You would," Monica eximed, "Both families would focus on you at that point."


    "You must consider our financial standpoint," Mark mentioned.


    "You have a space station," Khan pointed out.


    "That''s not nearly enough," Mark revealed. "Besides, the space stationes from my father. It''s mine only in name."


    "But you should have ns, right?" Monica asked.


    "Maybe after the Harbor," Lucy guessed, showing some rare shyness. "I''ll start working more with my family, iming a few businesses along the way."


    "Same here," Mark added. "I have a financial n ready. I just don''t know how easy it will be to implement it."


    "How much of your family opposes your union?" Monica asked Mark.


    "A good chunk," Mark revealed. "Those factions know they won''t get the chance to oppose me once I obtain the Saurac family''s support. That''s why they are dying things."


    "I''m equally stuck," Lucy continued, "And if I¡­. Well, if I happen to lower my value, my family would push me away."


    "And my family would y hard to get to im more benefits," Mark uttered.


    Lucy and Mark weren''t speaking too openly, but Khan could read between the lines. Basically, Lucy couldn''t date since sex was a risk, and that would hurt her political position, which Mark''s family could exploit.


    "Wow," Khan eximed. "That sounds annoying."


    "It''s normal for us," Mark exined. "If we both reach the right political and financial influence, our families will give the okay."


    "You two are the anomaly here," Lucy teased. "Monica, how did it really go? Even with Khan''s charm, it must have taken a lot of courage to, you know."


    The more Khan learnt about descendants, the more his surprise intensified. Monica had truly taken a considerable risk on Milia 222 and had barely made Khan experience its weight. She had even let him hang around with Jenna while she knew about all the problems that could fall on her.


    "I wanted it," Monica proudly imed. "A Solodrey doesn''t need other reasons."


    Khan couldn''t give clues about his partial ignorance, so he limited his gestures to loving nces at Monica. She pretended to miss some of them, but her smile always broadened at that attention.


    "What about you, Khan?" Lucy retained her teasing tone. "Monica must have left quite the mark for you to fight so hard to keep her."


    "Marks are my weakness," Khan stated, "Especially when theye from her."


    "Khan," Monica pretended toin but covered her mouth to hide her smile. "That''s between you and me."


    "I''m not giving any details," Khan reassured. "I''d get jealous if someone knew."


    "That''s good," Monica nodded, "Because they belong only to you."


    Mark and Lucy didn''t know how to react when Monica and Khan fell into an intense stare again. They would feel bad for getting in their way, but something told them it was better to interrupt them.


    "By the way," Mark announced, "Congrattions are in order. I heard you gained the Solodrey family''s protection."


    "It''s not even a day since that," Khan sighed, facing his friends again, "But yes. There shouldn''t be any more Mister Alstair scenarios in the next period."


    "How is the training going?" Lucy wondered. "It must be hard for you, considering what happened."


    "That''s the easy part," Khan revealed. "My charm will also defeat her mother sooner orter. However, her father is a tough one."


    "What are you going to do with my mother?" Monica almost snapped.


    "Oh my," Lucy gasped. "He is bold indeed."


    "I wish I could sell my boldness," Khan cursed. "Mark, you excel in many businesses. Do you know an easy way to make a few billion Credits?"


    "If it''s money you need," Mark''s eyes lit up, "You just have to ask. I can make you partner with many of the Bonnelli family''s businesses. How much can you put upfront?"


    "Not much?" Khan wondered.


    "Why don''t we start with a loan, then?" Mark suggested. "I can set you up with a barely noticeable interest rate."


    "Mark, stop thinking about money," Lucyined. "Excuse him. It''s a side effect of his education."


    "Don''t worry," Monica reassured. "We are actually grateful for his offer, but Khan can easily ask my family too."


    p¨¤§ád¨¢-¨¾?¦Í¨º¦É.§ã¨®§® "That would increase his debt with the Solodrey family," Mark pointed out. "If I understood correctly, that''s what Khan wants to avoid."


    "We won''t get a debt with another family," Monica refused. "We don''t need it to be together."


    "She is using we a lot," Lucymented.


    "She likes when she can speak for both of us," Khan exined.


    "I would almost say she has a bossy character," Lucy continued, "But I''ve seen how she acts around you."


    "It''s my duty to look out for my man," Monica dered.


    "Still," Mark eximed, "Involving the Rassec family was a bold move. I had no idea you had such a connection."


    "My life before the Harbor wasn''t useless in the end," Khan chuckled.


    "You did the Global Army multiple honorable services," Lucy praised, "And seeing you redeem all those favors for Monica was quite inspiring."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I wish he didn''t," Monica sighed. "I''m so ashamed of the happiness I feel."


    "Hey," Khan called, leaning to his right to reach for Monica''s hand. "You being happy gives value to all my efforts."


    "Marcia would have loved to see this," Lucy gasped as the couple fell into another loving stare. "Khan sure is a hopeless romantic."


    "Things worked out in the end," Mark added. "Even our families are pressing us to get closer to him. He will umte new favors in no time."


    "Madam Solodrey is also pushing me to deepen my rtionship with you all," Khan revealed, letting Monica go. "Though I admit I''m not a fan of shallow friendships. I wonder if we could avoid that part altogether."


    "Anything you wish," Lucy stated. "I am quite curious about your true faces too."


    "Honestly, Khan," Mark smiled, "We can''t really refuse you anymore. I also feel we owe you an apology for how our interviews ended up being."


    "That''s for the best," Khan reassured. "They will keep you stuck with me, which is what I need."


    "And I''ll make sure none of you get any strange idea," Monica almost threatened. "Khan might not have my family name yet, but I expect the same respect you show me."


    "No offense, Monica," Markughed. "We might have to show him more respect than that."


    "It''s no offense at all," Monica uttered. "It would actually please me a lot."


    "Don''t tell me I''ll also be like this if things be official," Lucy teased.


    "I wonder," Khan eximed. "Why don''t you just date anyway? I can give you tips if you need them. I''m something of an expert in secret rtionships."


    "I''m afraid I can''t afford the risk," Mark immediately refused. "Miss Saurac is beautiful, and I''d be lucky to have her as my fianc¨¦e, but I must look out for my family first."


    "You''ll make me blush, Mark," Lucy politely replied, nodding at Khan. "I don''t mean any disrespect, but what you did was truly dangerous. I can''t risk making my family lose face."


    Khan expected a more human reaction from the two descendants, but their firm stance told a different story. They liked each other. Their mana confirmed that. Still, their loyalty toward their families and the political environment was too strong to follow their feelings.


    Khan acknowledged that different perspective, but his feelings didn''t allow him to understand it. He knew he could never be like Mark and Lucy. The scene actually saddened him enough to avoid the topic for the rest of the dinner.


    The conversations during the dinner covered different topics but remained superficial. Mark disclosed more of the financial world, and Lucy talked about her ns, but no deals happened. The group simply focused on getting to know each other toy the foundation for eventual cooperation.


    The dinner ended with the two couples staring at the district from the room''s huge windows. They all had drinks in their hands, but their stances revealed the different nature of their rtionships.


    Mark and Lucy faced the left window, standing side by side without falling into any affectionate gesture. Their elbows touched from time to time, but the two always split afterward, tainting the symphony with their helplessness.


    Meanwhile, Khan and Monica were in a far more loving position on the right window. Khan had his palm glued to Monica''s bare back while she rested her head on his shoulder. The two swayed a bit as if on the verge of dancing, and the beautiful scenery in their eyes barely distracted them from their respective warmth.


    The dinner wasn''t the date''s climax. After eating and drinking, the four took another cab to fly to the shopping district. It was prettyte already, and the Headmistress'' security measures made the streets even emptier, allowing the two couples to wander inplete safety.


    The different stances remained during the slow walks. Lucy clung to Mark''s elbow, but the two didn''t dare to break the limits of their political personas.


    Instead, Monica and Khan were an actual couple, and anyone could tell that. The two walked hand in hand into multiple shops to make the entire Harbor aware of their rtionship. Monica''s happiness even took over at some points, turning her into a simple girlfriend that imed the entirety of Khan''s arm for herself while dragging him around.


    That was simple normality. Countless couples could experience it freely, and Khan had his fair share of that with Cora. Yet, the faces that Monica made told him how that was her everything.


    Khan almost couldn''t believe how happy Monica was. Her smiles were blinding, and her voice became the most pleasant melody Khan had ever heard. He was speechless, unable to refuse the slightest request that reached his ears. That date was Monica''s everything, and her joy became his.


    "What is it?" Monica eventually asked. She had noticed Khan''s pensive gaze long ago but had to wait for them to enter a shop to voice her question.


    Khan remained silent, looking at Monica holding his arm tightly. She was the embodiment of happiness, and Khan made sure to burn that image into his memory.


    "We can have as many dates as you want," Khan promised. "I''ll take you out every time."


    Monica only needed a look to know that Khan''s promise had deeper meanings. The urge to kiss him on the spot invaded her, but her mother had given precise guidelines. The shop was almost empty, but waiters still roamed it and peeked in their direction, preventing any form of explicit affection.


    "I love you," Monica whispered to make sure no one could hear her words. "Come here a bit."


    Monica led Khan toward a counter while Mark and Lucy entered the shop. The transparent desk didn''t have much, but Khan could immediately spot what Monica wanted. The ss hid a series of rings, with some havingrge jewels.


    Khan didn''t understand anything about jewels but knew those rings were expensive. He was almost sure he couldn''t afford some of them, but the idea of refusing Monica''s whim never crossed his mind.


    The waitress behind the counter widened her eyes in shock when she saw the couple inspecting the rings. She knew who Monica and Khan were. She had recognized them immediately, and doubts on whether she was authorized to sell such items to them filled her mind.


    Nevertheless, Khan didn''t give the waitress a chance to speak. Only Monica existed in his mind, and his question was as direct as possible. "Which one do you want?"


    Monica knew Khan''s financial situation better than anyone else. Besides, her family could give her all kinds of jewels with a simple request. shy rings didn''t interest her. She only wanted something that told everyone that she belonged to Khan.


    "That one," Monica said, pointing at a simple blue ring partially hidden by the other shy jewels. "I want to try it."


    "S-size?" The waitress stammered.


    "Five," Khan replied before Monica could say anything. Needless to say, his knowledge generated a few gasps among the onlookers, and even Lucy didn''t hold back her excitement.


    The waitress could onlyply. She crouched behind the counter before standing up to ce a ring on the transparent surface. Khan knew what Monica wanted him to do, so he seized the item and let his fingers memorize its texture.


    The ring was quite in. It was nothing more than a round piece of metal carrying a shade simr to Khan''s hair. Some would even call it cheappared to the other jewels under the counter, but Khan knew Monica had already made up her mind.


    When Khan nced to his right, Monica let go of his arm and faced him. Eagerness built up inside her when she lifted her left hand, and a tremor ran through her when Khan seized it.


    Khan didn''t waste time in ceremonies. He slipped the ring on Monica''s fourth finger before kissing the back of her hand. Monica threatened to jump on him as soon as he let her go, and it took the entirety of her self-restraint to limit herself to a hug.


    "I love you," Khan whispered while partially immersing his face in Monica''s curls. He didn''t kiss her, but her hug tightened anyway. She seemed ready to squish his torso to a pulp, which made him happier.


    "Are more congrattions in order?" Lucy teased as she and Mark approached the counter.


    "Lucy," Monica giggled, leaving Khan to approach her friend. She didn''t hesitate to show her ring to Lucy, and the two began to exchange high-pitched whispers while smiles invaded their faces.


    Instead, Mark simply nodded at Khan, and he lowered his head as a sign of respect. That gesture wasn''t anything official but worked as a statement that the entire Global Army was bound to understand. It could cause problems, but Khan couldn''t regret his decision when Monica looked so happy.


    That was almost perfection. In a life without nightmares, Khan would have given anything to make that momentst forever. He would have made Monica''s happy face his entire world. However, his problems stretched deeply, and his phone never forgot to remind him about them.


    Monica and Lucy didn''t hear the buzzing noise. Even Mark missed it since the picture the two excited women created was too maic. Khan was in the same situation, and his eyes remained on Monica while he drew his phone. Still, looking at the screen brought coldness to that intense happiness.


    Jenny had sent her weekly report earlier than usual to highlight one specific message. The text was anonymous, but that alone revealed the sender''s identity.


    ''Congrattions on your engagement,'' Khan read, forcing himself to keep his head lowered to avoid acting suspicious. Madam Solodrey had told him they were always watching, so it was safe to assume that Raymond could do the same, and the proof had just reached Khan''s phone.

 Chapter 526 Greenhouse

    "That''s enough for tonight," Professor Parver announced, sitting behind one of hisb''s interactive desks. "I''d like to keep you here longer, but we can''t get in the way of your normal studies."


    "I wouldn''t mind remaining here a few more hours," Khan revealed, removing his phone from his desk. "As long as it isn''t too much for your condition, sir."


    "No, no," Professor Parver refused, waving his hand. "Doing too much would only confuse you. I must give you the time to absorb what you learnt today. Besides, you must prepare for next week''s tests."


    "As you wish, sir," Khan said, standing up to prepare for his departure from theb. "I have yet to hear from the Headmistress for the next mission."


    "It should probably be Abora again," Professor Parver stated. "Miss Bevet can hardly contain herself from sending you right away."


    ''No Honides,'' Khan thought before changing the topic. "I have been meaning to ask, is there a secluded ce I could use to meditate on this floor?"


    "Is there a problem with the training halls?" Professor Parver asked.


    Khan rarely wanted to overshare, but telling the truth was the fastest way to achieve his goals. "I have an alien technique I can''t use around synthetic mana. I was wondering if you could suggest a ce without it."


    "Without it inside the Harbor?" Professor Parver didn''t hide his surprise but still spent a few seconds thinking about the topic. "Maybe a greenhouse will do. You should ask Miss Bevet about it."


    "Could you mediate for me, sir?" Khan requested.


    "dly," Professor Parver showed one of his kind smiles. "She should be in the western sector. I can contact her while you head there."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan voiced, performing a military salute and leaving theb.


    Since Khan''s injuries had healed, he didn''t need soldiers driving him around anymore. He had also gotten used to the underground floor''s generalyout, so he promptly jumped in the jeep outside theb to head toward his new destination.


    The giant garden grew closer in Khan''s vision, and a soldier near it eventually waved in his direction. Khan approached the woman, and thetter led him into a more private part of the sector to leave him in front of ab.


    The soldier left the jeep to send a notification inside theb, and its entrance soon opened. Ca Bevet''s exquisite figure appeared in the open, and her slightly dirty tracksuit allowed Khan to see her in her natural element.


    "Captain, you already arrived," Ca announced, showing a genuine smile. "I just finished talking to Professor Parver about your request."


    Khan left the jeep to perform a military salute, and politeness filled his voice when he spoke. "Thank you for seeing me so quickly, ma''am. I hope I''m not imposing."


    "I''m the one who''s sorry for showing myself in this state," Ca replied.


    "You shouldn''t, ma''am," Khan shook his head. "It elevates your beauty to see you immersed in your job."


    "Always such a yer," Ca giggled, letting theb close behind her to reach Khan. "You sure know how to make women fall for you."


    Khan ignored the teasingment, and Ca crossed him to enter the jeep and extend an invitation. "Let''s go for a ride, Captain."


    The soldier remained in front of theb while Khan and Ca left with the jeep. Ca only pointed in a general direction, so Khan rode forward without making any turns.


    "I read about yesterday''s events," Ca teased. "You made this old woman''s heart skip a beat."


    Khan could only show an awkward smile. No matter how often Ca joked about her age, she still looked almost as young as Khan.


    "So," Ca continued, "Between you and me, did you get engaged?"


    "It was just a gift for her birthday," Khan calmly exined.


    "A ring is much more than that," Ca pressed on. "Don''t tell me you are up to no good again, Captain. It would fit your character to have a secret marriage."


    "I always y by the rules, ma''am," Khan joked. "Monica simply wanted a ring."


    "And you bought it for her," Ca stated, "You even put it on her finger. You must know how it looks."


    "I''m not sure what you are implying, ma''am," Khan feigned ignorance. "I just wanted to make my girlfriend happy."


    "Captain, don''t make me beg," Ca chuckled. "At my age, gossip is one of my few remaining guilty pleasures, and you know I''m a fan of you."


    "Miss Bevet, as much as I''d like to please you," Khan announced, "Monica is my priority. I wouldn''t be worthy of her if I went around revealing our secrets."


    "Such respectable dedication," Ca praised. "Pity. It only makes me more curious."


    Khanughed to avoid giving a precise reply, and Ca understood it was time to drop the topic. She focused on providing directions from that moment onward, and the signal to stop the jeep arrived in minutes.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Linus told me about your bias toward synthetic mana," Ca said, stepping out of the jeep to approach a nearbyb-like building. "I don''t know if this ce can meet your requirements, but it''s worth a try."


    Ca unlocked theb with her gic signature and phone, and Khan followed her inside. A simple room with a few interactive desks unfolded in his vision, but Ca headed directly for an elevator on the other side.


    The two descended for less than two seconds. The elevator brought them to a lower floor that turned out to be far bigger than the upper. A long and quite vast room stretched from Khan''s position, and ten huge tables filled with peculiar pale-grey nts upied it.


    Khan could immediately feel the difference from the outside world. The ceiling had many white lights fueled by synthetic mana, and tubes stretched over the nts to create an irrigation system reliant on the same energy. However, very little leaked into the room, making the natural mana far more abundant.


    "There are many greenhouses like this in the Harbor," Ca exined, leading Khan into the room. "Does it meet your requirements?"


    "It might," Khan nodded. "Though my intentions involve bringing foreign materials here. Would that be a problem?"


    "Are the materials toxic in some way?" Ca questioned. "Can they affect this atmosphere?"


    "They shouldn''t," Khan reassured. "It''s just a blood-based liquid."


    "It''s no problem then," Ca stated. "This greenhouse isn''t too valuable even, so feel free to request new arrangements if needed."


    "Thank you, Miss Bevet," Khan uttered. "How can I repay you?"


    "Don''t even mention it," Ca rejected the question. "You are providing great services to the Harbor already. This is just me repaying favors."


    "Thank you, ma''am," Khan repeated. "If you wish, we can set up an appropriate schedule right now."


    "This greenhouse ispletely automated," Ca exined. "I check it only once a month, so you cane here whenever you want."


    "That would be perfect," Khan dered as his eyes threatened to light up.


    "I''ll add you to the authorized personnel immediately," Ca stated. "You won''t have to ask anyone''s permission that way."


    "Thank you so much," Khan said. He didn''t expect to get that opportunity so easily, so his gratitude was genuine.


    "Captain, I know you are hesitant about the scientific field," Ca eximed, "But many experts consider you part of it already. It''s only normal to grant you ess to some of our special structures."


    Khan wasn''t anywhere close to being a scientist, but the Harbor had made him part of that environment. He was a mere cog in that big field, but that was enough for some specialists.


    "You can contact me directly if you have any problem," Ca continued. "As for now, I have to get back to work, and you need to rest. I seem to remember that the tests are getting close."


    "They are," Khan nodded. "You have been incredibly helpful, ma''am. I won''t waste any more of your time."


    "It''s always a pleasure, Captain," Ca giggled. "I look forward to our next proper meeting."


    "Me too, ma''am," Khan stated, ending the exchange of pleasantries. Ca only needed a minute to update the greenhouse''s security settings, so the two could leave right afterward.


    Ca refused Khan''s offer for a lift, and the two split, allowing him to go on his way. In theory, he had to go back and study some more, but his new opportunity caused a change of ns.


    Khan still had part of the Rad inside a hangar, so he headed there after a quick stop in the shopping district. He had lost his special bucket on Milia 222, but his skill had improved since then, so he didn''t bother to order a new one. He only purchased some essential equipment necessary for his alien technique.


    The special box had kept the dead Rad in decent condition, but retrieving enough blood after so long was challenging. Luckily for Khan, he could use the hangar''s tools to help himself. The menus actually provided a precise procedure once he marked suitable settings.


    Khan was ready to start the procedure right away. He left his new sks on the floor before entering the box. Yet, he remembered his position when he was on the verge of getting dirty.


    ''I can''t go around looking like a mad beggar anymore,'' Khan sighed.


    Khan left the box and removed the upper part of his military uniform, throwing it on the floor. A smile broadened on his face when he saw the three lipstick marks on his torso. Monica had made sure to leave them before he could attend the private lesson, and they were still there.


    As if hearing Khan''s thoughts, a call carrying Monica''s name reached his phone, and he didn''t hesitate to answer while continuing to undress.


    "Will you bete, dear?" Monica asked before Khan could say anything.


    "Professor Parver and Miss Bevet found me a ce for my technique," Khan exined. "It will be prettyte by the time I''m done with it."


    "Miss Bevet," Monica whined. "Are my kisses still on you?"


    "They never left," Khan chuckled. "I can still feel your lips if I close my eyes."


    "Close them then," Monica teased, "And don''t open them until you get back to the real thing."


    "I will," Khan promised. "Don''t wait for me. We have lessons tomorrow."


    "I can''t sleep without your goodnight kiss," Monica stated. "I''ll prepare more notes and a bath for you in the meantime. If I feel alone, I''ll just look at my hand."


    "You sure have nothing but me in your head," Khan joked.


    "You made sure of that," Monica replied. "So, hurry and let me take care of my Captain."


    "I''ll see you in a bit," Khan promised. "I love you."


    "I love you too," Monica responded, and Khan closed the call to get back to his project.


    Calctions happened in Khan''s mind when he looked at his tools and materials. He couldn''t attend the lessons with evident injuries, so the [Blood Vortex] couldn''t remain active for too long. Still, the trips across the Harbor were bound to eat away some time, dying what could have been a shorter training session.


    ''I should use my trip to Abora too,'' Khan considered. ''Purchasing Tainted animals here is a pain, but Pandora and the shopping district should have what I need.''


    A new schedule took form. Khan had to step on the elerator, especially since Raymond wouldn''t let him rx. His attunement with mana had to increase drastically, and Khan wouldn''t hold back now that he had regained ess to his best training method.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Sorry for missing yesterday''s release. A friend came back from Ukraine, and I ended up spending the entire day with her.

 Chapter 527 Fight

    Khan had the chance to experience a peaceful and rtively normal life in the weeks that followed his agreement with Ca Bevet.


    The first week mainly focused on studying and finding a bnce with the [Blood Vortex]. Khan didn''t care about his appearance, but his rtionship came with obligations, so he had to make sure his face didn''t carry any injury or mark of the alien technique.


    Of course, the focus on those practices didn''t stop Khan from attending to his other duties. The lessons, Francis, and the social gatherings still happened, especially with the approaching tests. Everyone worked overtime now that the semester had reached itsst phase, and Khan obviously had it worse than hispanions.


    The second week featured the tests and more of the usual routine. Studying, training, and deepening the social array became the norm for Khan, interrupted only by the missions. Luckily for Khan, those tasks didn''t involve anything dangerous or too time-consuming, so he couldplete them without encountering problems.


    Andrew dealt with multiple chores, saving Khan some time and easing the effort required by his packed schedule. He could do almost everything without risking exhaustion, and rewards arrived by the third week.


    "Khan!" Monica shouted, almost ripping Khan''s sleeve to make him lean toward her phone. "You are first! You are first!"


    "It''s just aliennguages," Khan stated, happy to see his girlfriend so excited about him. "You are still first in alien customs."


    "You scored second there," George snorted, browsing his phone. "You actually made Lucian third."


    "And you are third in alien environments," Anita added, also looking at her phone. "Lucian beat you there, but it''s still a great achievement."


    The test''s results were scheduled toe out on the night of the first day of the week, so the four had gathered in Khan''s t to drink and wait. Needless to say, everyone remained glued to their phones in the minutes that followed the event.


    ''I''m still not good enough with the mnemonic subjects,'' Khan realized when Monica reached those topics.


    Khan had aced the alien-rted subjects, but those involving regtions were still a pain for him. He didn''t perform poorly. His lowest score put him in eleventh ce, but his average had yet to match Madam Solodrey''s requirements.


    ''Eighth,'' Khan read his overall score on Monica''s phone. ''Dammit.''


    Khan held back a helpless sigh while diving deeper into the couch. He didn''t want to distract Monica, but she noticed his suppressed reaction and didn''t let him remain alone. Khan''s left arm was still in her grasp, and she put it on her shoulders to join him.


    ''Damned regtions,'' Khan cursed in his mind, keeping his eyes closed while pulling Monica closer.


    Memorizing hundreds of regtions was easy. It took time, even with the Guko''s reading technique, but Khan had spent months studying and reviewing them with Monica.


    The memorization wasn''t the issue, at least not in Khan''s case. His experience as a soldier got in the way when facing the tests'' tricky questions. Many rules went directly against what he had seen on the battlefield, making hismon sense his greatest enemy.


    Familiar movements happened on Khan''sp, forcing a smile out of him and opening his eyes. Monica had stretched her tempting legs on him, and her proud gaze shone while she rested her head on his shoulder.


    "I know it''s good," Khan reassured, reaching for Monica''s legs to adjust her position. "I just wanted more."


    "I don''t know what you are talking about," Monica feigned ignorance. "I was simply mad you weren''t looking at me."


    Khan gave in and slightly pinched Monica''s leg to y with her ck tights. She showed a pleased smile and put her phone before them. Still, as soon as Khan lowered his head, she leaned forward to whisper into his ear.


    "And if my mother says something," Monica made sure to keep her voice down, "We can bring up my pregnancy again."


    Khan couldn''t help but peek at Monica when she pulled back her head. She was only teasing Khan, but some shyness forced her to lower her gaze. She tried to look at him a few times, but her mind didn''t allow that eye contact.


    A chuckle escaped Khan''s mouth. He knew the reason behind that reaction. The recent events had made Monica consider that topic seriously, and those ideas came back whenever she mentioned the issue.


    Khan had to admit that he wasn''tpletely immune to the idea either. His right hand moved on its own, leaving Monica''s tights to reach for her phone. He obviously didn''t care about the device, and Monica couldn''t keep her gaze lowered anymore when he touched her ring.


    The two exchanged a gaze full of meaning. Khan and Monica didn''t need words to know what they were thinking. They understood each other in a few seconds and resumed looking at the phone in a far cuddlier mood.


    The new advanced sses'' rankings shone on the screen. Monica was still first, and Lucian and Mark upied the spots below. Lucy was fourth, and Marcia was fifth, but the name of the sixth ce saddened the couple.


    The top five didn''t change in the new tests, putting Anita in the sixth position once again. That achievement was far from bad. Many would even consider it exceptional, but Anita''s mother was bound to have a different opinion.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "You got eleventh," Anita announced before anyone could feel pity for her. "You could have been in the top ten if you worked a bit harder."


    "I can''t express how boring studying is," George scoffed, storing his phone. "I don''t even need most of these subjects for my family''s businesses."


    "Why do you even bother then?" Anita sighed, and a trace of regret appeared on her face as soon as she realized how spiteful her question had been.


    "Mostly because you care about that," George revealed.


    The regret on Anita''s face intensified as her eyes snapped to George. She opened her mouth in surprise before her expression broke.


    "I didn''t mean to," Anita muttered, her voice breaking. "I''m sorry, George."


    Anita jumped on her feet to leave the couch. She knew her mother would call her soon, andshing out at her friends wasn''t the way to prepare for that. She would rather go back to her t than spread her bitterness.


    However, a hand reached Anita''s side before she could even attempt to leave. George had stood up with her, and his voice gained a proud tone while he waved his hand at the ceiling.


    "See?" George announced. "You care too much about this stuff. Luckily, I like you enough to teach you how to solve this problem."


    "What are you waving at?" Anita questioned.


    "It''s a metaphor," George groaned, "Or whatever it''s called."


    Anita showed a nk face. A helpless sigh formed in her throat, but what came out took the shape of augh. That reaction surprised her so much that she covered her mouth to suppress it, but George''s proud face ended up winning.


    "You are so stupid," Anita snickered. "Metaphor¡­. Why am I evenughing?"


    Anita slowly calmed down, eventually heaving a sigh. She rubbed the corners of her eyes before looking at George again. Seeing his face made her smile again and reassured her enough to show some weakness.


    "George, I have to call my mother," Anita revealed. "Could you be in the room with me?"


    George''s first instinct was to refuse, but the faint wetness under Anita''s eyes dyed that reaction. Two heavy res also reached his figure, making him give up on the matter altogether.


    "We''ll take a bedroom," George sighed, ncing at the ring couple. "Be right back."


    Monica and Khan nodded simultaneously and followed their friends'' departure with their eyes. Still, their expressions rxed once they remained alone, andughs resounded when they looked at each other.


    Buzzing noises eventually arrived. Khan pulled out his phone and saw that his ssmates had sent him kind messages for his new score. Everyone congratted him, and he took his time to reply to each text.


    Monica put away her phone and watched Khan''s different replies. Sometimes, ament would fly, and both wouldugh. That was their normality, and they weed it with open arms.


    "Shouldn''t the Headmistress brief you about your next mission?" Monica asked once Khan was done with his phone.


    "Your birthday is on the weekend," Khan reminded, letting go of his phone to reim Monica''s left hand. "The Headmistress will probably do us a favor and leave it free."


    "That''s not really a favor," Monica pointed out, kissing Khan''s shoulder when he saw that he had started to y with her ring. "She is just trying to get even."


    "At least I''ll get to spend the day with you," Khan sighed. "What do you have in mind? Date, dinner, or bed?"


    "All three of them," Monica whined, hiding her face in Khan''s chest. "I want to cross the entire Harbor hand in hand, have a dinner just you and me, and stay between your arms all night."


    "Needy as always," Khan chuckled. "Just like I love it."


    "I also want everyone to see us," Monica continued, "During the walk, at dinner, and in bed."


    "Did you turn into an exhibitionist?" Khan teased.


    "I want everyone to ept that you are all mine," Monica groaned. "If they lose hope, I won''t have to worry about the sluts anymore."


    "Is the ring not enough?" Khanughed.


    "Never!" Monica eximed. "You need a mark too. Get tattooed my name on your forehead."


    "You wouldn''t like me anymore with something like that on my face," Khanmented.


    "It would be worth it," Monica imed.


    Khan continued tough, and a few cuddles followed. Monica remained on him, deep into his chest, and he caressed her hair, following the rhythm he knew she loved.


    Different thoughts arrived after a few minutes went by. Khan stopped ying with Monica''s ring to wield his phone, but thework and his inbox had nothing valuable. Even checking the Harbor''s jobs showed little promise.


    "What is it?" Monica asked, her words making Khan''s skin shake. "I''m no Jenna, but I know when you stop thinking about me."


    "It''s curious that you would mention her so close to your birthday," Khan joked.


    Monica delivered a soft punch to Khan''s torso as soon as his line ended, and hisugh inevitably followed. He couldn''t get enough of teasing her.


    "You can get all of me whenever you want and without limits," Monica stated, lifting her head to show her threatening eyes, "But let another woman touch you, and I''ll go really crazy."


    "That''s," Khan hesitated before continuing, "Tempting."


    Another punch arrived, and a third followed. Monica snorted while resuming her position on Khan''s chest, and an arrogant statement left her mouth. "You won''t trick me. I know you spend every second wanting me. You love me too much even to consider being with someone else."


    "That''spletely true," Khan casually said.


    "Sound more convincing," Monica pouted, and Khan couldn''t refrain from cuddling her a bit longer.


    "I''ll never get a chance to get back to Honides at this pace," Khan revealed once his attention returned to his phone. "I wonder if I should just go there in the middle of the week."


    "Now that I think about it," Monica said. "Why don''t you go this week since the Headmistress is leaving it open?"


    "How would I justify leaving you alone on your birthday?" Khan questioned. "I don''t want to miss it either."


    "Let''s just go together then," Monica suggested.


    Monica was sitting sideways on Khan, and the two looked at each other after that statement. Monica was being serious. Her mana confirmed it, but that made Khan refuse even faster.


    "You are not getting down there with me," Khan dered. "It''s too dangerous."


    "Do you think I like the idea of you going alone?" Monica asked. "What happens if it''s Induna all over again? What happens if it''s worse?"


    "Better to me than you," Khan didn''t falter.


    "You know I can get there whenever I want, right?" Monica snorted. "I feel like calling my family immediately when you say that stuff."


    "Monica, we are talking about Raymond Cobsend," Khan warned. "His mess on Milia 222 injured you. I''m not letting his next scheme kill you."


    "I don''t care," Monica dered. "I''ve decided. You only have to choose if you want to fly alone or with a ship tailing you."


    "Monica," Khan called.


    "Don''t Monica me!" Monica shouted, slightly straightening her position to grab Khan''s hair. "This is a constant reminder of how poorly things could have gone on Milia 222, and you want me to let you go alone."


    "I''m stronger," Khan pointed out.


    "Oh, Captain Khan, the unmatched genius," Monica mocked, jumping off of Khan and grabbing his cor with both hands.


    A firm pulling motion tore apart Khan''s jumper, exposing his chest. Monica continued to break his clothes until his entire torso was in the open before upying hisp to keep him still.


    "This!" Monica shouted, almost stabbing her finger into a visible red mark on his chest. "This is your genius."


    "You know it''s not a big deal," Khan pleaded.


    "And this!" Monica continued, pointing at another red mark on Khan''s torso. Those were the remains of the injuries caused by the [Blood Vortex]. Khan wasn''t going all-out with the technique, but that allowed him to use it more often, leavingsting signs on his skin.


    "And this, this, this, and this!" Monica cried, pointing at the various marks visible from her position. "Hurting yourself is your fucking genius."


    "Okay, you made your point," Khan cursed. "I''ll hire a team or something, but you can''te."


    "You can''t hire a random team for this mission," Monica dered. "Only the people who won''t share your secrets can go."


    "You can''te," Khan ordered, but Monica was beyond reason. She reached for his trousers and tore them open to uncover more skin.


    "And this!" Monica shouted, pointing at the first new red mark that appeared. "Did you think I wouldn''t notice? I count them whenever I suck you off!"


    Khan knew that Monica had noticed. He couldn''t possibly miss shifts in her emotional state, especially during heated situations. She had never said anything because the marks weren''t proper injuries, but holding herself back became impossible in front of Khan''s stubbornness.


    "You are noting," Khan repeated.


    "You can''t stop me," Monica stated, grabbing Khan''s hair again.


    Khan had to admit that he was in a pickle. He had been unable to refuse Monica''s help on Milia 222, and the two shared proper love now. Khan knew Monica wouldn''t stay put unless he found a reasonable justification.


    "If they link you to Raymond''s businesses," Khan announced.


    "I''m only going for a trip with my future fianc¨¦," Monica stated, using calm tones to pretend to be in an interview. "I never said this to anyone, but he is irresistible behind the steering wheel."


    "How would you justify the unusual location?" Khan asked.


    "I was sharing the seat with him," Monica continued her pretense, "And I tilted the wheel by mistake, pushing us into the wrong quadrant."


    "No one will believe you," Khan uttered.


    "They will when I describe our position in great detail," Monica said, nearing Khan''s ear. "After all, it''s one of our favorites."


    Beating Monica in that game was simply impossible. She knew no shame or limits when it came to helping Khan. She could also stay true to those threats, and her past interview proved that.


    The sliding of a metal door resounded from a corridor, but Khan and Monica continued to stare at each other, and she didn''t hesitate to add another threat.


    "If you keep me in a cage," Monica voiced, "I''ll only be a shadow of the woman you love. You must let me help you."


    "I agree," George''s voice resounded from the corridor before his figure appeared in the main hall. "You must let us help you. Though, what are we doing exactly?"


    "Khan will fly us to Honides'' eleventh quadrant this weekend," Monica exined.


    "Wait, I never agreed-," Khan tried to say, but interruptions felt mandatory.


    "I''ll finally have a chance to bring out my sword," Georgeughed. "Oh, you should add Francis too. Seeing a real battlefield can only help."


    "If Francis dies-!" Khan spoke, but interruptions arrived again.


    "You have a hired guard," Monica reminded. "I know you want to assign Andrew to me, but not a chance."


    "So, it''s the five of us," George eximed.


    Khan''s eyes darted between George and Monica. He actually had to turn to look at George, but the situation didn''t need that visual aid to reveal its conclusions. It seemed that a team for the weekend had formed in those minutes.

 Chapter 528 Bomb

    As much as Khan hated the idea, Monica was right. Using her birthday as a cover-up story wouldn''t only provide the perfect justification for the sudden trip. It would also force the Headmistress to grant more support, which took the form of a surprisingly nice ship.


    Once the weekly lessons ended, the unlikely team returned to their habitations to retrieve useful gear before making their way to the appointed hangar. The ce was empty due to the Headmistress'' help, and only one shining vehicle stood at its center.


    "Oh," George gasped, stopping in his tracks when the entirety of the ship entered his view. His loose backpack even slid through his right arm, falling on the floor.


    "You don''t have to be so dramatic," Monica giggled. "It''s nice, but the Harbor should have better models."


    "It''s not the model," George exined, ncing at Khan''s back. "It''s the paint."


    Monica, George, Andrew, and Francis stopped to inspect the ship. The vehicle had a triangr shape due to its pair of wings, but its body was quite thick, having enough room for a spacious cabin and cargo area.


    Still, the color was the ship''s shiest detail. That pure-white shade was unusual for those vehicles, and Khan wouldn''t have it any other way.


    "[Always a romantic]," Georgemented in the Niqols''nguage.


    "[It''s not like you didn''t know about it]," Khan snorted, approaching the ship without deigning hispanions with a single nce.


    "[I didn''t think it was so urate]," George admitted. "[You took your time choosing it]."


    "Hey, no aliennguages," Monicained before hurrying to Khan''s side. She held back from taking his hand, but a question still left her mouth. "Was it really that white?"


    "Just like snow," Khan muttered, finally breaking his firm stance to nce at Monica. He still didn''t like the current arrangement, but her loving expression made him feel helpless.


    Monica continued to hold back even when the group entered the ship. Khan let them in through the side door connected to the cargo area, which contained seats and special protective suits perfect for Honides'' bad weather.


    "I briefed you on the suits," Khan announced, pointing at the gear hanging from the ship''s walls. "If I ever clear you tond, wear them and wait for their menus'' approval. Don''t forget to activate the lights either."


    Honides'' winds were dangerous, so the red suits had hermetic locks to block debris and metallic dust. Various lights also covered their surface to enhance their visibility, and filters upied their backs to allow the passage of safe air.


    "You might have to help me wear it," Monica attempted a tease.


    "If I ever clear you tond," Khan repeated, avoiding looking at Monica to head for the cabin.


    Khan had inspected the ship in the previous days, so the arrival in that spacious area didn''t bring any surprise. He had already studied that half-circr control desk and spherical canopy. He knew his way around that environment, so he headed for the pilot''s seat as soon as he stored his backpack.


    The knife hanging from Khan''s belt didn''t get in the way of the ample andfortable seat. He could immediately activate the control desk and start the check-ups for the set-off. Numbers and words soon appeared on a window to his left, but the symphony eventually distracted him.


    The sound of steps echoing through the cabin forced another sigh out of Khan. He knew who had gotten inside, so he mustered a cold voice for his warning. "ording to the regtions, you can''t be here."


    "Why?" Monica asked.


    "Because you are a distraction to the pilot," Khan exined, forcing himself to focus on the control desk.


    Monica felt a bit guilty for the happiness she experienced. Differently from herpanions and their tracksuits, she had dressed properly, wearing a skirt she knew Khan liked. Those clothes didn''t suit the iing mission, but her backpack carried a change she nned to use before thending.


    "I guess I''ll test your skills today," Monica eximed, sealing off the cabin and reaching for a seat on Khan''s right.


    Khan pretended to ignore Monica. He let the ship do its check-ups and reviewed the results before establishing a connection with the cargo area.


    "Andrew, talk to me," Khan requested.


    "All the goods and gear secured, sir!" Andrew responded through the ship''s speakers. "We are taking our seats now, sir."


    "Tell me when you have fastened your seatbelts," Khan ordered. His group only had third-level warriors, but he still wanted to go slower than usual, which made saving time his priority.


    A few silent seconds had to pass before Andrew spoke again and confirmed that everyone was sitting properly. Khan also wore his belt at that point, but ncing to his right revealed that Monica wasn''t doing the same.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Wear your safety belt," Khan ordered.


    "I don''t know how," Monica tantly lied.


    Khan wanted to curse but steered his resolve and unfastened his belt to stand up. He reached Monica and secured her on her seat, ignoring the gasp she let out when he sealed the lock on her waist.


    "Thanks," Monica whispered, but Khan kept ignoring her to return to his seat. He checked with Andrew once again and started the set-off after confirming that everything was ready.


    The auto-pilot handled the departure from the Harbor, and Khan elerated once he gained control of the ship. The control desk had already nned a route, and he followed it while maintaining bearable speed levels.


    The pressure vanished once the ship reached the intended speed. Khan tried to rx, but the situation inside the cabin kept him on edge, so he summoned notes to distract himself with some study.


    Sadly for Khan, Monica wouldn''t let things fall silent. She had loved the confidence Khan had shown with the ship, and his detached mood prevented her from conveying those feelings.


    "How long are you going to be angry at me?" Monica eventually questioned.


    "I''m not angry," Khan revealed, pretending to be immersed in the notes. "I''m worried."


    "I''ve already fought at your side," Monica stated.


    "We went over this," Khan responded. "I trust you, but this is an unnecessary risk."


    "You could be in danger," Monica pointed out. "That makes it necessary for me."


    Khan pretended not to hear those words. That argument had be the norm in the past days, and conclusions had yet to arrive. The two simply stopped talking about it when the conversation became pointless, and their feelings usually took over at those points.


    Movements happened during the silence. Monica lifted her left leg to ce her foot on the seat, exposing most of her tights. Khan forced his eyes to remain on the notes, but his senses told him what was happening, and resisting that temptation took the entirety of his self-restraint.


    Minutes passed, and a familiar scent took control of the cabin. Khan recognized every aroma and even listed them in his mind. He could understand which beauty products Monica had used as well as identify her natural trace.


    The situation was agonizing. Khan and Monica''s passion didn''t take any break in the past days, but they were probably flying toward danger, which enhanced any lingering feeling.


    Then, a stronger and clearer scent arrived. Khan barely needed to smell it to know what was happening, and an instinctive gulp took control of his throat.


    "Sorry," Monica muttered. "You looked too cool, and my mind did the rest."


    Khan opened his mouth to speak but closed it right afterward. He used the entirety of his self-restraint to enter the meditative state, but his senses continued to make him aware of his surroundings. Monica never stopped looking at him, and her mana cheered seeing him resting.


    An rm eventually rang, snapping Khan out of his meditative state. He drew his phone and looked at the screen for a whole minute before saying words he knew would bring a change to the atmosphere.


    "Happy birthday," Khan announced, finally looking at Monica. "I love you."


    A tremor ran through Monica. She had spent hours looking at him, and that moment made everything worth it. She gave up holding back, unlocking her belt to stand up and approach Khan.


    "You looked really cool," Monica whispered when she reached Khan''s side. "You still do."


    "Is it so hard to understand that I want to keep you safe?" Khan asked.


    "Is it so hard to understand that I want to do the same?" Monica questioned, cing a hand on the arm on the armrest.


    "I can''t avoid this," Khan stated. "You can."


    "You know I can''t," Monica shook her head. "Your problems are my problems, just like mine are yours."


    Khan knew Monica was right. He hated the idea of putting her in danger, but that was his life, and she had decided to be a part of it. Just like he had to deal with her family, she had to face his Nak-rted issues.


    It was unclear who made the first move. Monica started leaning forward, and Khan began to rotate his seat. Her hands went for his safety belt, unlocking it to pave the way toward his open arms. She sat on him, and he hugged her tightly as if worried she would disappear if he let her go.


    "Use your spells even if I''m nearby," Khan ordered while Monica immersed her face in his neck. "I can survive them."


    "But you''ll get badly hurt," Monica uttered, "And the others-."


    "I''ll protect George," Khan interrupted. "I don''t care about the others enough to risk losing you."


    Monica pulled her head back and slightly straightened her position to face Khan. She could see the worry in his eyes and attempted to reassure him. "You know my family developed contained versions."


    "Weaker contained versions," Khan pointed out. "Monica, promise me, and I''ll let this matter go."


    "I was growing fond of angry sex," Monica teased, but Khan''s expression didn''t falter.


    "Promise me," Khan repeated.


    Monica couldn''t refuse Khan when he wore that face. She gave up, and a sigh followed. "I promise. I''ll look out for myself out there."


    Khan pulled Monica closer and ced his ear on her chest. He confirmed that she was telling the truth, and his gesture transformed into a tight hug.


    "Stop it," Monica stated, caressing the head rubbing on her chest. "You are going to make me cry."


    "It''s your birthday," Khan said. "You can do anything you want."


    "Anything?" Monica asked.


    "Anything," Khan confirmed.


    "Are you so scared of losing me?" Monica questioned.


    "More than anything in the world," Khan revealed.


    "Then," Monica voiced, pulling Khan''s head away from her chest to look him in the eyes, "Hold me and never let me go."


    "Monica," Khan almost begged, "If we start now, you''ll be-."


    Monica ced a finger on Khan''s mouth to interrupt his line and take the lead in the conversation. "What would you do if these were ourst hours together?"


    Something clicked inside Khan''s mind. His self-restraint didn''t even try to show its face. The mere thought of losing Monica gave birth to a series of steamy hours that ended only when Honides appeared on the ship''s canopy.


    Monica wore her tracksuit while Khan got the ship ready to enter Honides'' atmosphere. The grey was behaving that day. The scanners showed calmer windspared to his previous visit, but he still waited for everyone to confirm that the safety belts were on before announcing hisnding to the outposts below.


    "Activate the shields," Khan ordered, "And show me the path to the eleventh quadrant."


    The shipplied, using its fuel to create a membrane that shielded it from Honides'' winds. Tremors still ran through the metal, but the vehicle remained stable, allowing Khan to fly directly toward his target.


    Reaching the surface was far easier with a ship suitable for that environment, but arriving in the quadrant confirmed what Khan had seen during his study. The area didn''t have anything special. It was a simple and barren in invaded by violent winds.


    "What now?" Monica asked since she kept track of the scanners.


    "I need to go down there," Khan calmly epted, leaving his seat to prepare for his task.


    "Khan, if you even consider leaving us up here," Monica began to threaten, but Khan reached her seat and lifted her chin before she could finish.


    "I trust you," Khan stated, warmly kissing Monica. "I''ll pull you down once I figure out what''s happening."


    Monica could only muster a timid nod, and Khan returned to the desk to tinker withmands. He set the signal to make the shipnd and established a connection with his phone to activate the remote control.


    Khan unlocked the door to the cargo area, revealing his sittingpanions. Andrew was calmly waiting for orders, Francis was tense, and George was bored. Thetter yawned while holding his ck sheath, but his eyes lit up when he noticed Khan.


    "Are we going down?" George asked.


    "Not yet," Khan stated, heading for the back of the cargo area.


    "Boring," George groaned. "You know I had to fight with Anita to get here. The least you could do is deploy me."


    "I''ll just check the surface," Khan reassured. "If there is any action, you''ll be part of it."


    George yawned again before mming his fist on the ship''s wall. Holograms came out, creating a screen that depicted the environment below. The scanners enhanced the image, but the scene appeared empty anyway.


    Khan reached the back of the ship and touched the wall. A narrow door opened, showing a cylindrical room that could barely fit one man. That mechanism allowed people to exit the ship without letting the winds inside, and he nned to use it to scout ahead.


    "Hey, Khan," George called before Khan could enter the small room. "Something is happening."


    Khan turned and frowned when he looked at the holograms. The scanners still didn''t pick up anything, but the scene was changing. A long fissure had opened on the surface past the winds, and its two halves moved to create a deep underground passage.


    ''What is happening?'' Khan wondered, hurrying back inside the cabin to get his hands on the controls. He was ready to leave the area at the first sign of danger, but nothing came out of that new passage.


    "The scanners don''t see it," Monica gasped while inspecting the images in the canopy. "Do you think-?"


    "They are inviting us in," Khanpleted the sentence, and wild thoughts followed.


    It didn''t make sense for a criminal organization to reveal its secretir willingly. Khan couldn''t help but consider an involvement from Raymond''s side, which probably meant Nak.


    Khan instinctively nced at Monica before lowering his gaze. The already strange situation had be even stranger, and he didn''t know what to do. He had gotten badly hurt thest time he followed his curiosity, but there was more at stake than himself now.


    "Can I really put your life at risk?" Khan felt forced to ask while his eyes went to the scanners'' images.


    "I''m yours to use as you wish," Monica responded, "Even fight if necessary."


    "George?" Khan called.


    "Just go down already!" George shouted, and Khan didn''t hesitate anymore. He made the ship descend through the passage but kept the speed low to be ready for any eventuality.


    The passage was dark, but the ship''s lights illuminated it, allowing everyone to inspect it. That rectangr metal channel went down for two hundred meters and ended in another metalyer.


    The entrance above began to close once the shippletely crossed it. Khan killed the urge to get out, and artificialmps lit up once the tunnel sealed off the outside world. The scanners also began to work properly, revealing a door at the end of the passage.


    Khan made the shipnd at the bottom of the tunnel and waited. Nothing came out of the door, and the vehicle''smunication devices remained silent. No one was trying to reach out to him, leaving only one avable option.


    "Let''s head out," Khan ordered, leaving his seat to march toward the cargo area. Monica promptly followed him, and the same went for Andrew and George. Only Francis hesitated, but seeing hispanions waiting before the metal wall made him stand up.


    Khan pressed on the wall to open the ship''s side doors, and a metal staircase stretched from them, stopping when it touched the tunnel''s floor. He was the first to peek out of the vehicle, but the symphony showed nothing dangerous.


    "Stay close," Khan ordered, drawing his knife while descending the staircase.


    The gesture changed the group''s mood. Tension spread as everyone became alert. Monica remained behind Khan, ready to intervene. Andrew and Francis followed a few meters away, and George took care of the end of the line, wielding his sheath with his left hand while his right was on the ck handle.


    Khan showed no surprise when the door opened as soon as he approached it. That clearly was an invitation, and he studied the symphony for a few seconds before diving into the new corridor.


    Artificialmps lit up as the group advanced into the rtively narrow corridor. Synthetic mana filled the area, but Khan couldn''t find any clue in it. He could only march forward, and a new door eventually appeared.


    Khan slowed down his advance without losing a tinge of seriousness. The door opened when he approached it, revealing a vast hangar immersed in yellow light. He had to cross the entrance to see it in its entirety, and confusion arrived when he felt the absence of living beings.


    ''What is even happening?'' Khan wondered as the entirety of the hangar filled his view. ''What is this ce?''


    The oval area had tens of consoles growing from its walls, andrge dark tubes stretched from them to converge into a huge central structure. The item was eight meters tall,rge, and deep, giving it a spherical shape disrupted only by its many t faces.


    ''What is that thing?'' Khan thought, carefully advancing into the hangar and jumping past any tube on the way. His group imitated his every step, even if their movements generated far more noise.


    Khan ignored the faint ruckus to get closer to the central structure. His experience told him that the ce was no hangar. It resembled ab, but that oval shape added details that tingled the back of his mind.


    The slow advance eventually put Khan before the central structure, revealing more details. The machine was standing on a circr tform connected to the various tubes, and strange symbols made of squares and circles upied its faces.


    "I can''t feel anythinging from it," George was the first to break the silence. "Khan?"


    "It must be stealth tech," Khan guessed. "Even I can''t feel anything."


    "I''ve seen these symbols somewhere," Monica cursed, frowning while scouring her memory.


    "This is the Thilku''s alphabet," Khan revealed. "I can''t read it, but I''m sure of it."


    "The Thilku Empire?" Monica gasped. "What''s alien tech doing here? And why is it hidden?"


    "Because it''s a bomb," Francis dered, making the group turn toward him. "This weapon can blow up the Harbor and half its moon."

 Chapter 529 Teleport

    Khan didn''t initially believe Francis. He had no respect for the man, but the fear radiated by his mana was undeniable. Francis'' eyes were also wide open, highlighting how scared he was of the tall, spherical structure.


    The time for questions ended at that realization. Khan turned to inspect the machine, but only confusion appeared when he reviewed what he knew of the Thilku.


    Humankind didn''t have proper enemies. Wars had happened in the past, and some battlefields like Ecoruta still existed, but they didn''t take anything away from the current rtive peace.


    However, strange and tense rtionships existed, especially with fellow colonizers. Things were even worse with species that could match humankind''s prowess, and the Thilku were one of them.


    Khan had studied the Thilku in his lessons since the Harbor''s location had something to do with them. That species'' territory was nearby, making the system an ideal political outpost. Still, that knowledge didn''t help Khan much.


    ''The Thilku are allies,'' Khan thought. ''Why would they give humanity a bomb?''


    The experience umted in the previous years allowed Khan to create different hypotheses. Many species didn''t have joint political ideals. Khan had seen that with the Kred, the Niqols, and humans, so it made sense for the Thilku to have simr factions.


    Yet, smuggling required two yers. Some factions had chosen to purchase that bomb or simply allow its presence in human territory, and Khan couldn''t find a suitable motive.


    ''Contraband?'' Khan wondered. ''It makes no sense with these kinds of weapons. It must be easier to achieve the same results with human technology.''


    Khan wasn''tpletely sure about that point since he didn''t know all the regtions connected with dangerous weapons. Still, it stood to reason that interspecies smuggling was harder than simple smuggling, at least in theory.


    ''If it''s not about the weapon itself,'' Khan considered, and a new round of hypotheses arrived.


    The bomb''s danger wasn''t its only striking feature. Its belonging to an allied species added a newyer to the finding, and scary thoughts appeared as Khan dived into it.


    If a simr bomb exploded in human territory, the Global Army would have to question the Thilku Empire and demand reparations. It was a simple matter of pride and face. Humankind couldn''t show weakness before such incidents.


    Yet, the Thilku were famously proud. Khan had learnt enough about them to know they wouldn''t just ept to pay reparations if only a few criminal factions were to me. The Global Army could push them, but that would endanger their peaceful rtionship.


    ''Are they trying to start a political incident?'' Khan wondered. ''Why? Where did they n to detonate this thing?''


    Khan was sure that the bomb was meant to explode. The criminals'' behavior fit that hypothesis too much to allow doubts. They had also searched for a trustworthy pilot, so it was safe to assume that Honides wasn''t the weapon''s target.


    Of course, Khan remained immersed in his thoughts only for a few seconds before opting to leave. He was curious, and the answers seemed close, but his loved ones were next to a literal bomb, so getting back to safety was the priority.


    "Let''s get back to the ship," Khan ordered. "Hurry!"


    No one spoke or dared toin. As soon as the order resounded, George turned and took it upon himself to lead the group back to the corridor''s entrance. Yet, predictably, the door remained closed.


    "Move," Khan stated, lifting his right arm to gather mana in his palm.


    "I wouldn''t do that," A robotic voice suddenly came out of the ceiling, invading the underground hall and echoing in its air.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Francis gasped, eyeing the ceiling to search for the source of the voice, and the others imitated him. Still, Khan immediately lowered his gaze and retracted his mana to address the previous statement.


    "Mister Chares, I suppose," Khan stated. "Don''t tell me you didn''t make this room chaos resistant."


    "The bomb is not as stable as it looks," The robotic voice exined. "We don''t want your talent for destruction to set it off."


    Khan''s thoughts ran at full speed. Mister Chares didn''t confirm his identity, but using tools to mask his voice gave clues. He probably didn''t want Monica and the others to learn too much about him, stating how he wanted the group to survive.


    "Why did you let me in?" Khan asked, keeping his gaze on the bomb. There seemed to be a path to survival, but some doubts remained.


    "It was to prevent you from digging with your spells," The robotic voice exined. "This ce isn''t the bomb''s target."


    "What''s its target?" Khan questioned.


    "You''ll see," The voice dered. "Your spy forced my hand by sending you here. It seems you got caught in the crossfire, Captain."


    The statement went against what Khan initially believed. That was a proper threat, and Khan couldn''t ignore it anymore.


    "George cut it open," Khan ordered.


    George didn''t say anything. His right leg slid forward, and his torso half-turned toward the door. His sheath stretched past his left side, and his hand reached for the handle.


    "Are you sure you want to risk it?" The robotic voice wondered. "You will die if you set it off."


    "George?" Khan called.


    "The hall won''t feel anything," George revealed. "Just get ready to grab the falling pieces."


    "I can''t allow that," The voice dered, and metallic sounds followed.


    The floor suddenly started to move, retreating toward the bomb to create a gap near the walls. Metalyers emerged from those openings and rose to the ceiling, nning to envelop the entire hall.


    The sudden movement destabilized George''s bnce, but he quickly regained it and drew his sword. A fast and almost unnoticeable gesture unfolded. George shed his weapon forward and sheathed it instantly,unching a dark-silver sh that crashed on the new wall.


    Sadly, the entirety of the group noticed that the wall didn''t budge. George''s quick sh didn''t even leave a mark. They needed something stronger to pierce that surface, but their best weapon risked setting off the bomb.


    "I thought you weren''t a terrorist!" Khan shouted while the new walls finished isting the hall. "How is detonating a bomb any different?"


    "Our faction will merely transport it," The robotic voice exined. "Sadly, your adamant refusal forced us to use unreliable methods."


    The tubes detached themselves from the tform under the bomb, generating whooshing noises and releasing faint azure clouds. That color disappeared in less than a second, but its effects continued to spread, and Khan could sense them clearly.


    The tubes were filling the hall with more synthetic mana. Something else also moved from behind the new walls, sending the group into disarray. No one knew where to look, but it was clear that they were stuck there.


    "Wait!" Khan shouted. "I''ll fly the bomb. Just let mypanions out."


    "It''s toote for deals, Captain," The robotic voice stated. "In another life, don''t y with powers you don''t understand."


    p¦Á§ád¦Á-¨¾?¦Í¨º|¡¤§ã¨®§® "Wait!" Khan shouted again, but no answer came out of the sealed ceiling.


    "Mister Chares!" Khan called after a few seconds, but no answer came.


    "What do we do?" Francis muttered, visibly scared about that development.


    "Risk it, Khan," George dered. "Blow this thing open."


    Monica didn''t say anything. She simply nodded at Khan to convey her trust. Andrew also remained silent, but the hall continued to im his attention.


    Khan didn''t have much choice. He made his way through the group to approach the new wall with the intention of piercing through it. Yet, a random thought formed when he looked at the floor. Khan knew that oval shape. It was actually absurd how he didn''t recognize it until now.


    "Khan?" George called since Khan turned to show his frown. Thetter appeared interested in the ceiling, but his eyes were elsewhere. He was looking at the hall''s symphony, and the increasing density of synthetic mana eventually answered his doubts.


    "This is a teleport," Khan announced, lowering his gaze to inspect the floor again.


    Khan''spanions followed his gaze, and surprised gasps resounded when they also recognized that familiar oval form. It even made sense since Khan had refused to fly the bomb through normal methods. Yet, problems remained.


    After confirming that the hall could be a teleport, the group focused on the bomb. They didn''t know whether that practice would set off the weapon, butbining it with Khan''s spells didn''t sound ideal.


    "Where are they teleporting us?" Francis couldn''t refrain from asking.


    "Probably where they want the bomb to explode," Monica guessed.


    "It''s almost done, right?" George questioned, letting his gaze wander through the room.


    "Maybe," Khan nodded, keeping track of the umtion of synthetic mana. "I''m not exactly a scientist."


    A spark suddenly red on the bomb''s surface, making the team step back. A second followed, and more materialized around the weapon as the concentration of synthetic mana created instabilities.


    Francis was desperate for a solution, but no one spoke. He inspected hispanions, hoping to find something, but everyone had different mindsets.


    George had already given up on the matter. He stood straight and coldly with a firm grasp on his sheath. A battle could be waiting on the other side of that teleport, and he wanted to be ready for it.


    Andrew could retain his calm. His battle experience told him that panicking was pointless, so he wore a stance simr to George''s to prepare for eventual dangers.


    Khan studied the symphony. He wasn''t hoping to find a way out of the situation, but his options had waned. He had no alternative but to inspect the bomb''s behavior.


    However, warmth spread on Khan''s right palm, making him turn. Monica had reached his side and had taken his hand to hold it tightly. A beautiful and peaceful smile also bloomed on her face when Khan looked at her. She didn''t seem to have a single regret in the world.


    "Don''t you dare feel sorry," Monica cheerfully threatened. "I''m d I''m with you."


    Khan could only give up. Monica knew how Khan thought, so she spoke to stop his selfless ideas. Her statement also worked, making Khan tighten his grip on her hand and move his gaze back to the bomb.


    More sparks umted around the bomb as the synthetic mana''s density increased. That weapon seemed ready to explode, but nothing changed in its structure. That electricity didn''t damage it either, sending some hope to the group.


    However, the array of sparks suddenly grew unstable, generating a lightning bolt that flew directly toward the ceiling. The metalyer endured the attack, but more followed, and their directions happened to bepletely random.


    The group instinctively half-crouched, but Khan''s eyes widened in shock when he saw a lightning bolt flying in his direction. He could react faster than hispanions, so he kicked Monica away and used her to jump on the other side.


    George also jumped, and Andrew threw himself over Francis to put both on the floor. The lightning bolt crossed them,nding on the metal wall without inflicting any damage or injury.


    "Khan!" Monica called as soon as she managed to straighten her position. Khan''s kick didn''t hurt her, but she had still flown for a few meters. The same went for him, leaving the two quite distant from each other.


    Khan hadnded on his feet and was ready to fly toward Monica, but more lightning bolts shot out of the bomb, crashing in many spots and preventing any movement. The entirety of the group was stuck in their ce now, and an even greater change arrived before they could do anything about their situation.


    The hall suddenly disappeared. Khan''s senses went messy, making him lose track of his surroundings. Chaotic and random strands of mana reached his mind, but none granted any clue. He also experienced ufortable pressure, which didn''tst long.


    Everything began to stabilize when Khan felt a solid surface spreading below him. He quickly realized he was lying on rocks, and his senses filled him in on the rest of the environment. When he turned, he saw a blue sky, and the faint sound of waves reached his ears. However, an aura quickly imed the entirety of his attention.


    "I knew it," Khan coughed, standing up to stare at an opening in the rocky ground a few meters before him. "I knew you could survive that."


    "Things tend to go bad when I''m around," A tall figure walked out of the opening, letting the light shine on his handsome face. "I wonder whether this applies to you or me."


    Khan tightened his grip on his knife. Luckily, he didn''t lose his weapon during that scuffed teleport, and looking at Wayne''s excited face told him he would need it.

 Chapter 530 Alive

    Khan kept his eyes on Wayne, but his mind worked at full speed. He had breathed that air and sensed that symphony. He knew where he was without needing additional rifications.


    ''Lauter,'' Khan realized. ''It makes sense.''


    The bomb probably was part of a terrorist ploy, and Lauter was a perfect target due to its connection to the ships'' fuel. The weapon would inflict a lot of damage to the Harbor if it exploded there.


    Moreover, Lauter was mostly automated. It had many outposts with teams of soldiers and scientists, but the poption density was rtively low. The casualties would be minimal, even with such a powerful bomb.


    Traces of synthetic mana stretched in the distance and leaked out of the underground passage behind Wayne. Khan could confirm the presence of outposts or simr human settlements. He could also conclude that the bomb must havended nearby. Yet, a problem remained.


    "Where are mypanions?" Khan questioned. He was alone, and too little had passed from the teleport. His friends'' auras had yet to affect the symphony, and their location might even dy that event.


    ''If I had to guess,'' Khan thought, ''They ended up underground. I would have sensed something otherwise.''


    A teleport, especially one so scuffed, had to leave traces, but Khan couldn''t find anything. He sensed the tremors caused by his arrival, but that was it.


    "Oh, you weren''t alone," Wayne eximed. "Of course. Captain Khan haspanions willing to follow him into danger."


    Wayne sounded happy about Khan, but something darker had joined his mana. That detail was faint but seemed to carry enough energy to grow stronger.


    ''He doesn''t know,'' Khan realized, ignoring Wayne''s mana for the time being. Other priorities required his attention, preventing him from dealing with that unexpected reunion.


    "Wayne, your organization teleported a bomb here," Khan announced. "We must evacuate immediately."


    "I''m aware of that," Wayne dered. "My job is to defend its location until its detonation."


    "Wayne," Khan frowned, "You''ll die if you stay here."


    "I know," Wayneughed. "I guess my cover is impossible to restore, so they chose to dispose of me here."


    "Who are they?" Khan questioned.


    "Beat me, and I''ll tell you," Wayne challenged. "I''ll tell you everything I know if you do."


    "I can''t waste time with you," Khan snorted, "And I know you can''t promise that."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "This is myst mission," Wayne exined. "I''ll be free afterward, whether I fail or seed."


    "Free to let a bomb kill you," Khan pointed out.


    "That''s my ce," Wayne dered, "Just like yours is to bathe in the light of fame."


    The darkness inside Wayne grew stronger, but Khan''s priorities remained. He was curious, but death was looming above him and hispanions. He couldn''t afford to waste time.


    Theck of signs of the teleport forced Khan to consider underground options, and the passage behind Wayne was the closest target. He could start exploring from there and fly elsewhere if his search went nowhere.


    "Thinking about leaving already?" Wayneughed.


    Khan ignored thement. He was far faster than Wayne, so thetter would never catch up with him. His current location was the only issue, but he was confident that a spell would force the man to move.


    "That''s it!" Wayne eximed as soon as Khan''s face grew colder. "That''s the spirit. Come here and show me why you are better."


    Khan ignored thement again, gathering mana into his hand before snapping it forward. Two needles materialized and flew in a straight line toward Wayne, but a tremor suddenly ran through the area, making them explode before they could reach their target.


    Wayne''s smile broadened, and the darkness inside him intensified. Khan also felt surprised. That was the first time he had managed to sense the effects of Wayne''s element, but they had been too short and random to draw any conclusions.


    "I''ll fight you," Khan opted for a different approach to save time, "But only after bringing mypanions to safety."


    "My life will end in five minutes, Captain," Wayne announced. "I can''t wait that long."


    "Why five minutes?" Khan asked, dreading the ominous feeling that those words carried.


    "Because that''s the bomb''s timer," Wayneughed.


    Khan''s mind went nk. His thoughts disappeared as he shot upward, taking position ten meters above the rocky surface and joining his palms to summon his mana.


    The symphony almost talked to Khan due to how quickly his senses worked. He instantly became aware of the ce''s size. The ind under him was big, cing it near the center of the Global Army''s territory and giving him an idea of his current location. He had studied Lauter thoroughly for Lucian''s mission, so he knew that quadrant mostly stretched underground.


    That realization could be wrong, but Khan didn''t have time to linger in doubt. He didn''t even care about how much he had to destroy to achieve his goals. He separated his palms, giving birth to a chaos spear he instantly threw toward Wayne.


    Pure excitement invaded Wayne as his darkness grew. A deeper tremor expanded from his figure, stretching through the symphony around him and altering its functions. Khan saw shades changing in his eyes, and his spear suffered in that environment.


    The spear only managed to cross half the distance between Khan and Wayne before exploding. The wild pir it generated forced Khan to fly to his left, but the mana under his feet suddenly ignored his requests, making him lose his foothold.


    Khan found himself freefalling diagonally, getting farther away from the underground passage. He tried to reestablish a connection with the surrounding mana, but that energy actively ignored him, preventing his ability to fly.


    Wayne didn''t stay still. His eyes lit up at the sight of Khan''s free fall, and he charged ahead to intercept him. His speed couldn''t match Khan''s, but his body generated a scary momentum that peaked when he leaped.


    Khan couldn''t avoid the imminent impact. Wayne was flying toward him, ready to unleash the entirety of his momentum in a reckless attack. Nothing could stop that exchange, so Khan sent mana to his knife to prepare a simr offensive.


    Wayne joined his hands and lifted his arms above his head. Meanwhile, Khan shed his glowing knife forward. The two attacks happened simultaneously. Wayne was taller, but Khan''s weapon granted him superior range. Still, that wasn''t enough to select a winner.


    The knife''s tip pierced Wayne''s right side, digging into his rib cage and rising across his chest to aim at his neck. Meanwhile, Wayne lowered his arms, threatening to m his joint fists on Khan''s head.


    Khan tilted his head to his right without interrupting the sh. He was ready to endure the blow to kill his opponent. However, Wayne''s muscles suddenly thickened, and the mana around the knife faltered, slowing Khan''s attack.


    Wayne''s fistsnded at the base of Khan''s neck as soon as the knife reached his throat. The impact sent Khan flying downward, removing the weapon from Wayne''s flesh and putting an end to that exchange.


    Cracking noises reached Khan''s ears, and pain tried to enter his mind. However, a clicking growl filled his thoughts and kept those distractions away, allowing him to focus on hisnding.


    Khan sent mana in every direction, creating tforms that even Wayne couldn''t affect. Yet, he was going too fast, and the single stomp he managed to perform only slowed down his inevitablending.


    The rocky surface held strong when Khan mmed into it. The violent impact forced him to bend his knees to endure the remaining momentum, and his muscles bulged as he forced himself to remain on his feet.


    Only a second had to pass for Khan to understand his condition. His left shoulder was unresponsive. Wayne had broken it with his blow, but the situation was in Khan''s favor now.


    Wayne''s attack had been too strong, stopping him mid-air while instantly sending Khan to the ground. Khan could exploit that window to deliver a deadly blow to Wayne, but time was against him, and that opportunity would be hard toe by again.


    Khan sprinted forward, elerating as much as possible while seizing the knife with his right hand. Wayne was still above him, leaving the path toward the underground passage open, and he couldn''t miss that chance.


    "Yes, yes!" Wayne shouted, almost uncaring that Khan was ignoring him. "That''s how it should have always been!"


    The symphony reacted to the shouts, sending unclear tremors toward the ground. Khan nned to outrun them but ended up mistiming a step, slipping on a smooth rock, and stopping to regain his bnce.


    Khan didn''t me himself for even a second. He didn''t make those mistakes. It was simply impossible with his experience. That event had been Wayne''s doing, but his window had yet to close.


    "Help my legs!" Khan shouted, sending as much mana as possible into the environment while leaping forward. He had no confidence in his alien technique, but everything would work as long as Wayne''s strange skills targeted it over his sprint.


    However, Wayne didn''t stay still either. He had begun to fall, and the entirety of his mana suddenly descended toward his left foot, adding power to his momentum and generating a sprint that could almost match Khan''s speed.


    Calctions happened in Khan''s mind and led to annoying conclusions. He took a step forward before stopping to swing his knife upward. Wayne fell before him, and the weapon dug into his crossed arms, halting its advance when it touched his firm bones.


    Wayne''s violentnding made the surface tremble. Rocks shattered all around him, creating cracks that reached Khan''s feet. Khan was ready to run around Wayne, but the symphony shook, telling him his sprint would fail.


    Khan opted to retreat, jumping backward to return to stable ground. Wayne also stopped moving, limiting himself to lowering his arms. His left forearm had a deep cut that reached his bone, and his chest carried an oblique injury that connected his side to his throat. Yet, blood had already stopped leaking from them.


    "Do you understand what you are doing?" Khan cursed. "We will both die at this pace."


    "That''s fine, isn''t it?" Wayneughed. "The great Captain Khan alwayses out on top of these situations. People praised you even when you ughtered simple workers."


    p¦Á§ád¦Á-¨¾?¦Í¨º|¡¤§ã¨®§® "I''m not to me for your situation," Khan dered.


    "I know," Wayne stated as a tinge of craziness joined his expression. "However, here we are, two extremes of the same environment struggling toward our own goals."


    "You have orders," Khan pointed out, "Not goals."


    "Why do I feel like this, then?" Wayneughed. "The experiments couldn''t make me experience this. Killing didn''t either, but I''m already feeling more alive after a few months with you. I need more, brother."


    Khan''s mind didn''t allow thoughts, but realizations arrived anyway. He only needed one look at Wayne to know that avoiding the battle was impossible. Wayne was ready to throw his life away for the sake of that confrontation.

 Chapter 531 Pain

    Khan didn''t know how long had passed since the beginning of the battle, and keeping track of the flow of time was simply impossible. Wayne was a formidable opponent that didn''t allow distractions. A single mistake would result in broken bones or worse.


    Still, one thing was clear. Khan had to hurry if he hoped to do anything about the bomb and hispanions. It was probably toote for the weapon already, but he would be fine with the terrorist attack as long as he saved his friends.


    Khan and Wayne stared at each other for a few seconds. Wayne merely smiled while Khan did his best to gain as much information as possible in that short time.


    Wayne''s element was a mystery. Khan had his hypotheses, but they were useless in that situation. He simply didn''t have time to find and exploit specific weaknesses.


    Instead, Wayne''s body was something Khan could study and understand in a short time. The darkness inside him and the mana flowing through his flesh were bright lights in Khan''s eyes, and they brought their fair share of surprises.


    Khan had cut Wayne twice but had failed to pierce his bones both times. The wound on his chest had severed the flesh, but the rib cage had protected the organs underneath. Wayne had also stopped the attack before the knife could touch his throat, making the injury far from fatal.


    The same went for the wound on Wayne''s left arm, even if the knife had cut deeper there. A chunk of flesh hung from Wayne''s forearm, ready to fall. Khan could almost see the bone. Yet, Wayne''s dark tracksuit got in the way, limiting Khan''s inspection to theck of leaking blood.


    The previous exchanges made thatck of blood easier to believe. Khan had cut all kinds of flesh but had never found something as unique as Wayne. His body wasn''t only unreasonably strong and tough. It also showed functions that normal human beings shouldn''t have.


    Khan''s perspective was quite broad. He had met multiple species, and his very body was unusual. epting that Wayne''s flesh didn''t stick to human standards was the easy part. Instead, understanding its limits was hard, especially when it seemed that his muscles instinctively reacted to iing threats.


    A realization quickly spread in Khan''s mind. The amount of mana inside Wayne''s body and its flow created a precise and sad picture. Even after the transformation, Khan couldn''t hope to overpower Wayne, and that annoying element seemed to lock him out of any spell-rted approach.


    "Are you hesitating, brother?" Wayne asked. "Don''t tell me that you built your fame running away."


    There was a time when Khan would have considered that option. After all, survival instincts were a core part of every living being, and even someone as hurt as Khan still experienced their effects.


    However, Khan dreaded a different kind of pain over his own death. He had lived the life of a survivor who lost everything and would do anything to avoid returning to it. Dying was almost easy when hepared the emptiness of his nightmares to the recent period''s happiness.


    "You talk about fame," Khan coldly said, "Feelings, light, and darkness. It''s time you learnt about desperation."


    Wayneughed, but Khan materialized in front of him before he could say anything. He lifted his glowing knife, aiming directly at the center of Wayne''s rib cage, but the debris under him moved, making his feet dig into the rocks and disrupting his bnce.


    The mana around the knife also lost power, but Khan pushed it forward anyway. The weapon missed its initial target but stabbed Wayne''s left side right under the rib cage. The de dug deep into the flesh before the muscles tightened their grip on it, stopping its advance.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Wayne appeared unperturbed by that new injury. Excitement shone on his face as he spread his arms. The broad movement opened the wound on his chest and revealed his rib cage, but Khan ignored that sight to focus on his mana.


    Khan let go of the knife when he felt the obstruction of Wayne''s muscles. Mana gathered in his palm right afterward, transforming into a re that tried to take the shape of a spear. Another tremor arrived, destabilizing and attempting to disperse that energy, but Khan doubled down on his attack.


    Wayne was closing his arms, aiming his open palms at Khan''s head. Yet, the purple-red mana between the two grew blinding, making them unable to see. Khan even sent more energy to that unstable re, triggering an explosion before Wayne couldplete his attack.


    A bright pir reced the two men, flinging them away in opposite directions. Wayne quickly tried to restore his bnce, sliding on the rocky ground to stop his momentum. However, his abdomen couldn''t umte strength, making him fall headfirst into the ground.


    Wayne nted his hands on the rocks to stand up, but his body went against that move. He couldn''t send power into those muscles, so he relied on his back to sit on his knees, revealing the reason behind his recent failures.


    One peek at the torso told Wayne everything he needed to know. Charred, fuming, and missing flesh filled his vision. His abdomen and chest had be a mess of injuries, making certain moves anatomically impossible.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>


    Wayne didn''t let that damage discourage him. His back and legs were still fine, and he would keep fighting even if his waist fell off. However, a fuming figure suddenly materialized before him, and its horrid state left him speechless.


    Khan had deployed the [Blood Shield] before the detonation, but his skin had still paid a hefty price. Clotted blood vessels covered his right arm, torso, and face but didn''t hide his injuries. His skin had disappeared in many areas, and even his head carried the consequences of the scorching attack.


    "What?" Wayne gasped when he saw Khan stretching his right arm to summon his mana again. A tremor tried to disperse it, but that only made Khan send more energy, ultimately generating another explosion.


    Wayne''s face burned as he rolled backward. The explosion wasn''t as intense as the previous one, but hecked the muscles to interrupt the force it generated.


    As for Khan, he also flew backward. His eyebrows, eyshes, and hair burned as he slid on the rocky ground. He couldn''t move his fingers, and pain assaulted his mind from every direction. However, he didn''t falter. His legs still worked, and nothing else mattered.


    The rocks'' friction force eventually stopped Wayne. He found himself belly up, with the knife stabbed deeper into his side. His body was mostly unresponsive, but he could see Khan elerating toward the underground passage.


    Azure mana red out of Wayne''s body, enveloping his entire figure into thin threads that became invisible once the technique wasplete. Then, his back oddly bent upward, allowing him to nt his feet on the ground and straighten his position.


    The underground passage was about to enter Khan''s range when a bright figure appeared on his right. Wayne was running at full speed as if all his muscles were still intact, and a quick calction told Khan that he would intercept him.


    Wayne wasn''t actually shining. That was only a side-effect of Khan''s superior vision. He could see the mana around him recing his muscles and allowing him to move normally. Those threads were clearly part of an incredible non-elemental spell, but Khan only took notice of theirck of defensive features.


    Khan lifted his fuming hand to summon mana. The spear managed to take shape at that time, but another annoying tremor escaped Wayne when he jumped forward.


    The glowing weapon lost its stability, threatening to detonate on the spot. Khan tried to wield it, but his fingers didn''t answer, so he limited himself to pushing it in Wayne''s direction.


    The spear exploded, generating a violent pir that sent the two men flying away. Khan resorted to the [Blood Shield] to protect himself from fatal damage, and Wayne crossed his arms for a simr purpose. However, his long hair and eyebrows burned under the heat released by the attack.


    Khan flew, lightly tapping on the air a few times tondfortably on the rocks. He could use his martial arts to their fullest when Wayne was distracted and far away, but his body rebelled, generating violent coughs that made him bend forward.


    "I see, I see!" Wayne''s hoarseugh resounded from the other side of the dispersing bright mana. "You are amazing, brother. I''m feeling so much I might explode!"


    Khan forced himself to peek at the dispersing mana while coughs still controlled his throat. The radiant energy vanished, revealing Wayne''s standing figure walking toward him. His condition was far poorer than Khan''s. Some of his organs were literally in the open, but only a small amount of blood escaped his body, and none of that damage hindered his movements.


    "However," Wayne continued, spreading his arms and showing even more of his hideous state, "Luck is my reign. You shouldn''t have challenged me in that field."


    "So," Khan coughed onest time, "It was luck."


    "Bad luck, to be precise," Wayne dered, his voice carrying the seriousness of his injuries. "Things go bad because I exist, but you are showing me new heights!"


    "New heights," Khan scoffed, straightening his position. "You are so clueless."


    "We''ll see about that," Wayne shouted. "Come! Fight away the pain and show me more!"


    "Pain," Khan sighed, a clicking growl fusing with his voice. "You have no idea what pain really is."

 Chapter 532 Memories

    Wayne''s mana reacted to Khan''s statement, sending more tremors into the environment. The symphony shook, causing consequences that even an expert in the field would struggle to believe.


    A wave crashed on the distant ind''s shores, sending drops everywhere. The wind picked up one of them and flew it toward Khan and Wayne''s location, releasing it between them.


    The drop fell on the ground, hitting a crack that dug deep into a rock. The event made the item break, destabilizing the bnce of that firm surface and causing faint movements that only scanners could pick up.


    Khan followed the event through his senses. He saw the movements stretching toward him, destabilizing the ground under his feet. He lightly pressed on his right foot, sending a rock into the surface to remove his foothold.


    The event didn''t affect the battle. It was too slight to have any effect when the two men were so distant from each other. Yet, noticing it finally shed light on the power of Wayne''s element. It was almost limitless in an environment that could break in his favor.


    Khan absorbed that information and put it in the back of his mind. The range of Wayne''s element was shocking, but Khan couldn''t experience that emotion now. His mind only had room for the joint power of his coldness and wildness.


    Still, one detail was worth noticing, and Khan didn''t miss it. The statement had intensified Wayne''s influence. Maybe, there was a connection between his view of Khan and his power. That hypothesis would also fit with his burning interest in Khan.


    "Did I make you angry?" Khan didn''t hesitate to employ his talking skills. Clicking cries still fused with his voice, but nothing happened while he continued to talk. "Let me guess. The experiments on you hurt a lot, and now you feel entitled to unload that pain on everyone else."


    "Not everyone else," Wayneughed. "For once, I found a worthy target, and my element finally agrees."


    Khan''s eyes almost lit up at the arrival of that second clue. He knew a lot about unruly elements, and Wayne seemed to be in a simr situation, which created an opportunity he wouldn''t miss.


    "Was it worse than this?" Khan questioned, nodding in the direction of Wayne''s torso.


    "Much worse," Wayne eximed, seemingly excited to discuss that topic. "My muscles burned for weeks afterward, and they spoke loud words directly into my brain when I slept. I lost count of how many times I changed."


    Khan didn''t know much about that field. He could imagine the existence of terrible training programs meant to enhance a soldier''s power. Yet, the specifics escaped his mind.


    However, Khan had experienced simr pain, and his transformation had worsened it. His nightmares were his greatest curse, and he nned to use them as a weapon now.


    "Do you know what my mana thinks about that?" Khan scoffed, stretching his arm to summon mana. The tremors tried to get in his way, but his energy released a clicking grow that grew louder and louder until a purple-red cloud materialized in his palm.


    Khan didn''t need to add anything. The clicking growl released by the cloud was the best answer he could muster, and Wayne''s smile brightened at that sight. Still, his darkness also intensified, making him elerate to shoot at full speed toward Khan.


    The cloud wasn''t necessarily Khan''s ally in that situation, but they still shared deep feelings. They both wanted to eliminate the man blocking their path, so the spell didn''t hesitate to fly toward Wayne.


    A wild sh unfolded. Wayne faced the cloud head-on, closing his palms on it to prevent the impact. However, the spell was almost formless. It epted Wayne''s hands in its insides and let the chaos element do its work.


    Wayneughed loudly, uncaring of the chaos element turning his skin into a spiderweb of wounds. He kept pressing on the cloud as if his attack could squash it. That was theoretically impossible, but the tremors released by his body ended up affecting the spell.


    The cloud cried in anger, expanding over Wayne''s arms and reaching for his chest. The chaos element destroyed many of the thin threads, making Wayne''s attack lose power, but more materialized and restored his strength.


    "Did you catch it?" Khan questioned, appearing on Wayne''s right with a fully formed chaos spear in his palm. "It thinks that you can''t match our pain."


    Khan pushed the spear toward Wayne before retreating at full speed. The spell was already unstable, so the first tremor it encountered triggered an explosion that engulfed Wayne and the cloud.


    A bright pir grew toward the sky and illuminated the area, filling it with its purple-red light. Some rocks melted and shattered under the power released by the spell, and winds blew in every direction.


    Khan was ready to head toward the underground passage, but a fuming figure flew out of the pir, shooting toward him. He tried to summon his mana, but the tremors in his surroundings told him that nothing would work. Even walking would trigger Wayne''s bad luck and put him in a disadvantageous position.


    Staying still and preparing for the imminent sh was the only way to contain Wayne''s element, so Khan did exactly that. The cloud had disappeared to fuse with the pir, so he was alone against the fuming body descending toward him.


    Khan half-crouched and half-turned, stretching his right arm forward. His fingers didn''t listen to hismands, but that was still fine. The fuming body crashed on him, but he was ready to receive it.


    Wayne stretched his arms forward, nting them on Khan''s shoulders. Still, thetter let that impact push him backward, making the two men fall and roll on the ground.


    The surface had rocks of all sizes and shapes, but all the sharp ones ended on Khan''s back during the roll. When the two men stopped, Wayne found himself sitting over Khan''s abdomen, and his excitement skyrocketed as he lifted his arms.


    "What pain?" Wayneughed, joining his fists to prepare his attack. "You lived in the light, found love and fame. You can''t speak about pain!"


    Wayne was too entranced by the conversation to notice Khan''s hand on the knife on his side. Khan''s fingers didn''t really work, but his thumb could create a weak grip, and the weapon''s sharpness handled the rest.


    While Wayne lowered his arms, Khan shed the knife upward, sliding it over his rib cage to aim for his neck. The weak grip worked in his favor, preventing the weapon from diving too deep into Wayne''s remaining muscles and avoiding their hindrance.


    Wayne couldn''t focus on his attack anymore. The knife was about to hit his throat, so he manipted his technique to make his back arc unnaturally. The sudden movement made him escape the weapon but also gave Khan an opportunity.


    The sh missed, but Khan promptly let go of the knife to perform a sharp movement. His palm ended on the handle''s tip, and he pressed it to stab the weapon in Wayne''s chest.


    The knife stabbed Wayne''s deeply, puncturing his right lung and halting his breathing for a second. Khan used that chance to arc his back and send Wayne to the ground. He ended up on top of him, and his stretched hand already had mana flowing out of it.


    "I''m talking about nightmares," Khan exined as mana gathered on his palm. "Whenever I sleep, I relive the Second Impact with all its death and pain."


    Wayne''s smile finally shook. Surprise flowed into his expression, but the purple-red light soon hid it. An explosion unfolded between the two men, sending Khan flying away and digging Wayne deeper into the ground.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>


    Khan almost fainted. The pain from his burning flesh kept him awake, but his body was reaching its limits. He had sessfully protected his limbs and fingers once again, but his heavy chest became a hindrance.


    Landing on the ground worsened Khan''s condition. He opened his mouth to breathe, but no air flowed through his throat. His body was paying the price of abusing the [Blood Shield], and only time could solve that situation.


    The mana helped. Khan''s energy responded to his emotions, boiling and forcing his body to recover quickly. His chest slowly lightened, allowing him to struggle to his feet. His bnce felt off, but he still stepped forward, using all his awareness to eye the underground passage.


    However, Wayne''s element was as troublesome as always. A rock under Khan''s suddenly moved, making him slip and fall to the ground. He quickly forced himself onto his knees, but his vision grew blurry, and his senses depicted a sad scenery.


    "Since when?" Wayne''s hoarse voice came from the explosion''s glowing mana lingering on the ground.


    "Since the Second Impact," Khan sighed. "Whether I faint or sleep, I experience it again."


    "You can''t take a break," Wayneughed, the manapletely dispersing to show his sorry figure. "I guess you have it bad too."


    "We all have it bad," Khan scoffed. He tried to stand up but swayed to his right, having to nt his arm on the ground to remain on his knees.


    The darkness inside Wayne retreated, and his element''s effects waned. The tremors stopped, and the symphony regained its natural flow. Yet, Khan couldn''t find any happiness in that sight. That change was toote to have any use.


    "I don''t know who they are," Wayne revealed, a cough interrupting his exnation. "My family is involved, but I don''t know the full extent of the organization."


    "Nobles?" Khan asked, doing his best to remain awake.


    "On my father''s side," Wayne exined. "My mother was from a small family, but they killed her when she tried to im nobility."


    "And they turned you into a weapon," Khan understood.


    "You had it better," Wayne stated. "The nobles epted your parents, but your mother''s death made them cut any connection."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Was my mother a noble?" Khan questioned.


    "Yes," Wayne confirmed. "Though I don''t know from which family. They just shared that information with me to fuel my resolve."


    "I knew it," Khan chuckled. It felt good to be right, no matter how pointless that information was now.


    "The five minutes are almost up," Wayne mentioned. "The bomb should explode soon."


    "I figured," Khan sighed. "Do me a favor. Let me enjoy a silent death."


    Wayne surprisinglyplied, and Khan closed his eyes to immerse himself in his thoughts. His pain vanished as his life flowed through his vision.


    ''It has always been impossible, wasn''t it?'' Khan mocked himself.


    It felt annoying to fail after suffering for so long, but Khan could ept it. He had done his best, killing, lying, struggling, and even performing political acts. However, he remained a single man in the middle of immense organizations that didn''t want him to uncover their secrets.


    Khan simply couldn''t find the strength to me himself. In another life, he would have gotten closer to the Nak. He would have even reached them if he had more support. Yet, the reality was very different, forcing him to make peace with his desperation.


    Khan''s thoughts inevitably moved to Monica. He hated that he had basically killed her. Still, those were hisst moments, and some selfishness arrived. He would have loved to die in her arms if possible, but the two had the chance to hold hands before the teleport. That was more Khan believed to deserve, so he was fine with that conclusion.


    As the seconds slowly flowed, another thought popped into Khan''s mind. Long white hair flowing in the cold wind and glowing eyes able to pierce any fog filled his vision. He could see a dark and aloof face breaking into a smile as soon as it looked at him.


    ''[Liiza],'' Khan thought as a nostalgic coldness washed over his body.


    Khan loved Monica. He was certain about that. His thoughts about Liiza came from his current selfishness. He could ept failing to find the Nak. He couldn''t have stopped Monica, and the two had a decent goodbye. His only regret involved Liiza. He would have given anything to see her onest time.


    Loving memories invaded Khan. He recalled the coldness of Liiza''s kisses, how she slipped her hands under his clothes, and her cute blush. Their separation had been unfair, and Khan couldn''t find peace because of that.


    The ground began to shake, disturbing Khan''s memories. He could feel the end growing close and hoped his love could reach Monica during those final moments. His eyes opened, almost searching for her in that blue environment, but he only saw his opponent standing a few meters away.


    "It''sing," Wayne dered, almost knowing what Khan was thinking.


    Khan looked at the sky. He wasn''t ready to go, but that was a death he could ept. The earthquake intensified, and he almost closed his eyes to bathe in the imminent explosion. Yet, a sudden burst of dark and red gas in the distance distracted him.


    Wayne and Khan pointed their eyes toward the big cloud forming in the distance. It almost seemed that something had erupted in that location, sending fuming and scorching boulders into the sky. Some darkness reced the overall blueness, and Khan couldn''t help but smile when he realized what was happening.


    "Is that the bomb?" Wayne asked.


    "No," Khan chuckled. "That''s my girlfriend."

 Chapter 533 Volcano

    After the teleport, Monica awakened inplete darkness. Rocks pressed on her face and right side, and her head hurt like during a light hangover. Yet, memories of the recent events quickly invaded her, forcing her to put aside the difort and straighten her position.


    Monica''s first instinct was to call for Khan, but he would have reacted faster than her in that situation. She could immediately realize that he wasn''t there, and making noise wasn''t ideal when she had yet to understand where she was.


    While standing up, Monica came into contact with more rocky surfaces. A whole wall was on her right, and stretching her arms upward revealed a short ceiling. She was in a tunnel of some sort, and theck of sounds in her surroundings told her she was alone.


    ''Did the teleport split us?'' Monica wondered, drawing her phone to check the time. Only a minute had passed since the teleport, but the device showed more important news. The current location had no connection to thework.


    ''This is a hideout,'' Monica quickly understood, storing her phone and closing her eyes to summon her mana.


    Monica''s eyes burned a little when mana gathered there. A blue color took over and gained different hues when her eyelids opened. Her technique dispersed the darkness, adding shades of azure to the world in her vision.


    The shades were quite detailed, allowing Monica to differentiate among rocks, ceiling, and ground. The technique also granted a good sense of distance, effectively making her able to see in the darkness.


    The technique confirmed Monica''s initial guess. She had ended up in a narrow tunnel, but the area didn''t have other clues. She could see the passage branching out in the distance, but nothing added information about her actual location.


    Inspecting and feeling the rocks didn''t help either. Monica epted that finding out where she was had the priority, but her n stretched past that. Her headache didn''t make her forget about the crisis.


    Reuniting with Khan and the others would be ideal, but the bomb posed a threat Monica couldn''t ignore. She couldn''t just abandon the issue to follow her feelings. Actually, part of her wanted to solve everything to make things easier for Khan.


    ''The bomb must be nearby,'' Monica guessed, ''Which means specialists.''


    Monica didn''t know about the timer, but her teleport had been scuffed, so it stood to reason that the bomb had suffered a simr fate. The area had to have personnel charged with retrieving and managing the weapon, and she nned to find them.


    Slow and careful steps unfolded as Monica made her way through the tunnel. She helped herself with her hands and prioritized remaining silent in her advance. Her technique gave her a big advantage in that darkness, and she nned to retain it.


    Monica halted her steps when she reached the first branches. The tunnel split into four almost-identical channels, and her quick inspection didn''t reveal anything valuable. Still, she followed the most reasonable approach, walking into the passage that grew bigger in the distance.


    The approach paid off. The tunnel grewrger until Monica spotted faint light from a branch in the distance. She deactivated her night vision, and the white color of that illumination confirmed its artificial nature.


    Monica took a deep breath and half-crouched, slowly advancing and minding her steps to avoid slipping on the rocky ground. Her training allowed her to be perfectly silent, and peeking into the illuminated branch revealed apletely different environment.


    The illuminated and short tunnel ended in a vast underground hall. A smooth and clear floor reced the rocky surface to create a bright environment full of consoles. Monica even spotted a circr tform from her position, and faint, distant voices reached her ears from time to time.


    Nevertheless, the man standing at the tunnel''s edge soon captured Monica''s attention. He stood mere meters from her, smoking a cigarette while keeping his eyes on the hall. He appeared in the middle of his break, but his position turned him into a perfect target.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Monica inspected the man and the area past him for a few seconds. The soldier looked in his forties, and nothing about his clothes revealed his level. Still, his smoke was almost over, and the underground hall didn''t seem to have other guards nearby, so she chose to strike.


    The man breathed the smoke deep into his lungs, doing his best to appreciate the faint intoxicating sensation rising into his brain. He even stretched his left armzily, but his throat suddenly stopped working.


    The soldier began to panic, but that worsened his situation. Only faint grunts and smoke left his mouth while he lowered his gaze. A hand had appeared before his throat, and its middle finger was pressing at its base, interrupting his breathing ability.


    The man tried to move his left arm but found it stuck too. Monica was holding his shoulder with a precise grip that prevented any movement. The soldier could still use his other limbs, but Monica pressed her middle finger deeper into his throat before he could get any strange ideas.


    "Come with me," Monica whispered, taking a better look at the hall. The underground area had two more soldiers, but they were too busy with the consoles to look at the tunnel.


    Monica pressed harder on the man''s throat and pulled him back. That light struggle gave her an idea about the soldier''s physical strength, cing him among second-level warriors. She could easily overpower him, and nothing stopped her from leading him deeper into the tunnel.


    After crossing a corner, Monica delivered two precise kicks on the back of the man''s knees. The soldier fell on the rocky surface, and she kept her finger on his throat to prevent any loud cry.


    "Where are we?" Monica questioned, pressing on the man''s left shoulder to keep him on his knees. She also softened the pressure on his throat to let him speak but continued to apply enough strength to feel threatening.


    "L-Lauter," The man stammered.


    Monica knew as much as Khan about the Harbor''s system, so she reached the same conclusions, which made her anxious. Lauter was a good target for a terrorist attack, meaning the bomb would probably explode there.


    "Where is the bomb?" Monica continued. "How do I disarm it?"


    "I-I don''t know," The man gasped for air that the finger on his throat continued to block.


    "Answer me," Monica threatened.


    "The teleport," The man tried to gulp, only to be interrupted by the finger. "The teleport malfunctioned. Soldiers went looking for it."


    Hope invaded Monica. If those criminals had yet to retrieve the bomb, she might be able to disarm it. Her knowledge was the only issue since she was ignorant about the topic.


    "Who is in charge of the bomb?" Monica questioned. "Who knows how to disarm it?"


    The man didn''t answer. To Monica''s surprise, the soldier directly closed his eyes and rxed. His fear seemed to vanish, which made her press harder on his throat.


    "I asked you a question!" Monica stated, slightly raising her voice to convey danger.


    "The teleport started the timer," The soldier revealed. "A quarter of the will vanish in a few minutes."


    Monica froze. She didn''t have Khan''s senses, but the soldier''s apparent calm spoke for his honesty. That wasn''t the behavior of a man doing anything in his power to escape the situation. That was faith and deep loyalty.


    "There must be someone who can stop it," Monica didn''t give up.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Maybe," The man chuckled. "Maybe not."


    Monica did her best to remain calm and reviewed what she had learned. A discrepancy in that story soon appeared, and she didn''t hesitate to mention it.


    "Why would soldiers go look for a bomb set to explode?" Monica asked. "What''s the point of finding it?"


    "We are the Hive," The man chanted, wearing a peaceful smile, "And we are everywhere."


    "I don''t care what you are!" Monica shouted, flicking her middle finger into the man''s throat to make him feel pain. "What''s the point of finding it?"


    The man coughed, but Monica promptly stopped his breathing again. She even showed her face to convey her resolve. Her expression told the man that she would do anything in her power to get the answers she sought.


    "That ce," The soldier gasped for air, pointing toward the hall. "That ce ensures the best st radius."


    Monica couldn''t help but freeze again. ording to that story, stopping the bomb was impossible. She could only limit its destructive power, which was probably pointless considering its range.


    "Josh, what''s happening?" A male voice echoed through the tunnel while Monica was immersed in her thoughts. Steps also resounded, getting closer with each passing second.


    Monica didn''t know what to do. Escaping that situation seemed impossible. She didn''t have any option, but an idea soon appeared. A slim chance that Khan had ended up outside the bomb''s range existed. He might also be busy leaving the area, so she wanted to do anything in her power to make things easier for him.


    Of course, Monica was simply desperate. She knew Khan would never escape on his own. He wouldn''t leave her. He would probably prefer to die with her than survive alone. Still, a slim hope existed, and Monica didn''t hesitate to pursue it.


    Monica let go of the man''s shoulder to m two fingers on the back of his neck. The soldier gasped before fainting on the spot, and Monica let him go, uncaring of the noise his fall generated.


    "Josh?!" The voices in the tunnel grew closer, and the same went for the sounds of steps. Still, Monica faced that threat head-on, crossing the corner and sprinting through the tunnel.


    Two soldiers hade looking for the kidnapped man, a third and a second-level warrior. The artificial light shone behind their backs, creating some darkness inside the tunnel, and Monica''s sudden appearance left them surprised enough to give her the initiative.


    Monica sprinted forward, instantly reaching the two men. The soldier on her right was shorter, so she aimed her stretched fingers at his throat. Meanwhile, the enemy on her left was too tall for that swift attack, so she targeted his knee.


    The man on the right became unable to breathe. His throat transformed into a wall that blocked the passage of air. His blood failed to flow, making him light-headed and eventually faint.


    Instead, the other man lost control of his left leg, violently mming one knee on the ground to stabilize his position. He tried to stand up right afterward, but a precise blownded on the back of his head, making his mind go dark.


    Monica briefly looked at the two fainted men before hurrying into the hall. The ce was empty, so she approached the console closer to the circr tform to learn more about its functioning, but more voices arrived before she could reach it.


    "What was that noise?!" A female voice resounded into the hall.


    "Hurry!" A male voice followed, and Monica could only stop in her tracks as a team of six soldiers came out of another passage and fixed their eyes on her.


    "What is happening?" One of the two women on the team asked.


    "Wait, I know her," A man on the team stated. "She is Monica Solodrey!"


    "Miss Solodrey?" A second man questioned.


    "She has been all over the news for the past months," A third man dered. "How can you not recognize her?"


    "I don''t watch the news," The second man shrugged his shoulders.


    "Shut up!" The second woman ordered. "Restrain her!"


    The team eyed Monica, but she pped her hands toward them to send a scorching heatwave. The spell engulfed them, but no one retreated. Hair burned, and small mes appeared on a few tracksuits, but the soldiers suffered no significant damage.


    "What was that?" One of the men asked.


    "Was that a spell?" One of the women questioned. "Wasn''t she a third-level warrior?"


    "I guess the families truly are overrated," The second manughed. "How long to the explosion anyway?"


    "Fifteen seconds," The second woman revealed after drawing her phone.


    "No point fighting," The third man sighed. "The Hive wins."


    "That''s right!" The second man shouted, eyeing Monica. "Did you see, Miss Solodrey? Your family can''t do anything against the Hive!"


    The team wanted tough, but Monica had closed her eyes. Smoke had also started to emerge from her figure, and its grey color grew darker as the seconds passed.


    "I guess I''ll die a murderer," Monica sighed, but a smile soon bloomed on her face. "At least I''ll be more simr to you."


    Monica opened her eyes to look at the team. Thetter couldn''t help but gasp when they saw the bright red color they radiated. mes seemed on the verge ofing out of her pupils, but her face carried only love.


    "Tell me," Monica voiced as her smile grew sad. "Can you do anything against a volcano?"

 Chapter 534 Spirit

    George groaned as his senses came back. A light headache invaded his mind and caused dizziness, attempting to disrupt his bnce. Yet, the sheath was still in his hands, and he tightened his grip on it to gain awareness of his current strength.


    That awareness spread to the rest of George''s body. He slightly bent his knees and steadied his legs to stabilize his bnce. He also found a tough surface to his left and used it to help himself during that ufortable situation.


    George kept his eyes closed to focus on the process, but auras eventually touched his senses and forced him to open them. His dizziness made the white artificial light thatnded in his view blinding, but only a few seconds had to pass for him to get used to it. Still, the surprises didn''t end there.


    The artificial illumination shone on a corridor full of metal and rocky columns. The passage itself was narrow, so those hindrances made crossing it quite annoying. The pirs also stood two meters apart, revealing their connection to the ceiling''s stability.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Nevertheless, the columns were only part of the problem. A team of seven soldiers between the second and third levels stood behind those pirs, blocking the way forward.


    George instinctively leaned backward but found a rocky wall waiting for him. He didn''t need to turn to know that advancing was the only way out of the situation, and another groan escaped his mouth when he went over the problems with that approach.


    Using a sword in that narrow environment was problematic. A quick inspection told George that he could cut through those pirs, but that would be pointless if the ceiling ended up crumbling on him.


    George''s senses also warned him about the threat posed by the team. His perception wasn''t as urate as Khan''s, but he knew that dealing with so many opponents without his sword would be difficult.


    Thoughts about the location and situation barely touched George. He didn''t care about where he was. The teleport had happened in enemy territory, so he instantlybeled those soldiers as opponents. Everything else was pointless for now.


    "Come with us quietly," The man closest to George stated when he realized that words would reach him, "And no one will get hurt."


    "I have a counteroffer," George snorted, pressing his left thumb on the sword''s guard to partially sheathe it. "The first who tells me how to deal with the bomb gets to live."


    George''s mind had already gone battle mode, so his voice carried no sarcasm. However, his face still showed the annoyance of the scuffed teleport, adding a careless vibe that made the soldiers underestimate him.


    The man near George nced at the sword before looking at the two rocky walls at his sides. A quick calction happened in his mind and gave positive results. Even if George could unsheathe his weapon, the corridor would get in the way of his techniques.


    The soldierughed at that realization, and hispanions echoed that cry. George''s sudden appearance had initially startled them, but it was now clear they had the upper hand. They would never let him dictate the pace of that encounter.


    "Let''s just kill him," A woman behind the first soldier suggested. "He is useless to us anyway."


    "Do you think a random guy could find the location of the teleport?" The first soldier cursed, ncing at the speaker behind him. "We can interrogate him and share information with the other cell before everything explodes."


    "Is the bomb already active?" George questioned, heaving a helpless sigh and scratching the side of his head on the wall. "How is Khan getting into these situations all the time?"


    "Listen, boy!" The first soldier shouted, facing George. "Do you know who we are? We are the Hiv-!"


    The soldier couldn''t finish his line since a dark-silver ethereal sword pierced his forehead, crossing his head. The man died on the spot, and George seized that chance to sprint toward his still-standing corpse.


    The rest of the team didn''t initially understand what was happening. The white illumination also partially hid the ethereal sword, and the corridor''syout made it hard for the soldiers to notice George''s advance.


    George had already taken into consideration all of that. His careless behavior didn''t make him any less of a master of the battlefield. He had also devised a n, and that moment of surprise gave him a chance to implement it.


    The team peeked past the pirs and got closer to their deadpanion when George disappeared behind him. Yet, an ethereal sword pierced the corpse''s torso and grew until it reached a woman behind it.


    The sword hit the woman at the center of her chest, piercing it to reach her heart. She only had the time to gasp before blood spurted from the wound. She tried to close it with her hands, but her organ had already suffered fatal damage.


    George had been smart enough to make the sword disappear right after the attack, but the team wasn''tpletely clueless. Even if some had yet to understand how George was fighting, it was clear that he had be a threat, which required a response.


    "Kill him!" One of the soldiers shouted, triggering a chain reaction that made multiple spells fly toward the standing corpse.


    Scorching bullets, wind shes, snakes made of water, and ice shards flew toward the corpse. A rocky worm also grew from the ground and crawled forward to explode into a storm of debris. The attacks made a mess of the end of the tunnel, digging holes into the dead soldier and sending blood in every direction.


    George had initially used the corpse as a shield, but the spells quickly pierced it, forcing him to move behind a nearby column. However, that barrier also crumbled, mming him back at the end of the tunnel.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The storms of attacks didn''t end even after cornering George. The explosions had actually lifted enough smoke to hide his features, so the team keptunching spells to ensure his death.


    After four rounds of spells, the team finally showed signs of slowing down, and one soldier eventually voiced a loud "Stop!" that interrupted the offensive. Silence broken only by the crackling noises of the rocky surfaces unfolded at that point, forcing everyone to wait for the smoke to disperse.


    The silence grew deafening. The tension intensified, and each falling and breaking rock almost made the team resume their offensive. No one dared to advance, but an exchange of gazes soon unfolded, reassuring the most anxious soldiers.


    A mere look was enough to remind those soldiers that the bomb was about to explode. Their death was set in stone, so worrying about that intruder was pointless. Even keeping him in that corridor was superfluous, but growingcent so close to the sess of their mission wasn''t an option.


    Strangely enough, the smoke didn''t show any ripple. A breathing body would disturb that slow dispersion, but nothing simr afflicted the grey cloud. Complete stillness filled the tunnel, seemingly hinting at George''s death.


    Two minutes passed in that situation, eventually dispersing part of the tension. A chuckle even resounded among the team when the smoke grew thin enough to allow the inspection of the tunnel''s end.


    A standing figure slowly became visible, and the never-ending dispersion of the smoke added more details as the seconds passed. The team could see George lying in the deepest corner of the tunnel, wielding his sheath with both hands while his arms protected his chest and face.


    Injuries soon became visible. George''s abdomen had a few bloody spots, and the same went for his legs. His arms were no better, showing burns and icy shards still stabbed in his flesh.


    The scene reassured the team, but the most experienced among them raised their hands to prevent reckless behavior. George was clearly injured, but his body didn''t carry anything fatal. Even a second-level warrior could survive those wounds, and he had already shown to be stronger than that.


    The fall of a small rock next to George''s shoulder startled the team and distracted them for an instant. Yet, nothing moved afterward, bringing more reassurance. George appeared to have really died, putting an end to that invasion.


    Still, a murmur eventually resounded. A faint voice spread through the tunnel, forcing the team to lean forward in an attempt to hear it. It clearly came from George, but no one saw his lips moving.


    The voice grew louder, but George remained still. However, that was enough for the team. They understood he was still alive, so they pointed their hands forward and summoned their mana to prepare their next offensive.


    Nevertheless, George''s lips finally moved, and a firm voice capable of filling the entire corridor escaped them before spells could fly in his direction. "My spirit burns."


    Dark-silver shes reced the artificial illumination at that point. George performed a series of shes before his opponents'' mana could turn into spells. His sword barely appeared in the open, returning into the sheath as soon as the instantaneous attack ended. His right leg also kicked the wall behind him, pushing him forward to perform a fast sprint.


    Everything had been too quick for those soldiers. The shes and the sprint had barely upied a few seconds. They managed to react only when George approached them, but their bodies refused to move. Even their mana didn''t answer theirmands.


    George ran as if his life depended on it. He ignored the soldiers, sprinting past them and even bumping into a few to make his way forward. Still, the first impact triggered a chain reaction that spread throughout the corridor and affected the entire team.


    The first impact happened with a woman. George mmed on her shoulder to open his path, revealing that her torso wasn''t connected to her abdomen. The upper side of her body fell, bringing part of the column behind her down with it.


    Rocks fell, generating tremors that caused more reactions in the tunnel. Cuts opened on all the soldiers, pirs, and walls, making everything crumble and aim for the ground.


    The ceiling grew unstable and soon caved in. Boulders fell, umting on the ground and covering the tunnel. George had to jump to escape a big rock aimed directly at his head, but his speed turned out to be high enough to make him escape the danger.


    Everything trembled as George fell to his knees and slid on the rocky ground, ultimately mming into a wall past the tunnel. He peeked past his shoulder in time to see the copsed passage stabilizing and transforming into another firm surface. No one would understand that the ce used to have a cave, but a detail of its past existence stood at its base.


    George''s eyes grew colder when he looked at the base of the new wall. A head, an arm, and a pair of shoulders were peeking out of a boulder that a fused with the ground. The soldier at the end of the team had fallen backward, allowing part of his body to touch the safe area.


    Blood umted under the man''s head, but George only looked into his eyes. That lifeless gaze full of surprise, fear, and terror was a familiar sight for him. George recalled the battlefield very well, and a conclusion popped into his mind after re-experiencing it.


    ''I didn''t miss it,'' George realized, nodding in approval.


    A grunt escaped George''s mouth at that point. His injuries were very real, and ncing at them made him aware of the copious amount of blood they leaked. He tried to stand up, but his legs had given everything during thest sprint. He needed to rest before being able to move again.


    However, an earthquake suddenly invaded the area, making George inspect his surroundings. He was in another illuminated passage, but nothing exined the reason behind those tremors. He knew they weren''t his fault, and his brain could only muster one answer.


    ''What did Khan do now?'' George cursed.

 Chapter 535 Sparks

    A loud thudding noise reached Francis'' ears and awakened him from his slumber. A sharp headache weed him and made the white artificial illumination hurt his sleepy eyes. He caught a glimpse of a dark figure standing before him, but his stomach soon opposed that effort.


    The urge to puke invaded Francis, and he sumbed to it. He opened his mouth only to notice that rocks were standing under it. He instinctively put strength into his arms to push himself away. Still, the struggle intensified the retches, turning his stomach upside down by the time he separated himself from the ground.


    Francis puked, but only saliva and gastric fluids escaped his mouth, forming a yellowish puddle on the ground. The uneven rocks tried to push that liquid toward his chest, making him turn to his right to dodge it. Still, the sudden gesture mmed him into a wall, hurting his head in the process.


    A painful cry escaped Francis'' mouth, but a hand promptly sealed it. The event initially scared him, but calm arrived as his teary vision grew clearer. His breath also stabilized when he recognized Andrew, and memories returned during that break.


    Francis recalled everything. The underground hall, the bomb, and the teleport filled his thoughts, bringing awareness about his current situation. A quick inspection of the area also added clues, and noticing the body behind Andrew confirmed most of them.


    Andrew and Francis were in a rtively spacious tunnel. The rocks on the ground were quite smooth, and a few metal pirs also stood near the walls to improve the area''s stability.


    Those details told Francis that the tunnel had seen a lot of action, but the body behind Andrew remained the main attraction. A middle-aged womany on the ground a few meters from them, and the blood flowing out of her open mouth hinted at the worst.


    "We are in an underground hideout of some sort, sir," Andrew whispered, slowly retracting his hand when he saw that Francis had calmed down. "I took out a criminal who spotted us, but we should remain quiet."


    Francis'' eyes darted between Andrew and the woman. Thetter''s weak breathing confirmed that she was still alive, allowing Francis to focus only on hispanion. The side effects of the scuffed teleport also waned, dispersing what remained of his anxiety and forcing him to review the situation.


    Andrew''s exnation had been superfluous. Even while heavilycking in experience, Francis was a descendant who had received a thorough education in all kinds of fields. He could easily understand the danger and think about appropriate responses. epting and employing them was the only problem.


    "W-where are we?" Francis stammered before steading his voice. "Where did we get teleported?"


    "I''m not sure, sir," Andrew shook his head, straightening his position and showing wariness. "It''s hard to say from here."


    Francis wiped his mouth with his sleeve while using his other arm to support himself on the rocky wall. He stood up and inspected his surroundings, but nothing revealed his location. He only knew that the ce was dangerous, and the presence of a bomb cleared the rest of his doubts.


    "We must leave," Francis dered. "This isn''t safe."


    "Sir, I must prioritize reuniting with Captain Khan," Andrew responded. "His life might be at risk."


    "Captain Khan is probably on his way to orbit already!" Francis pointed out.


    "Sir, I must remind you to lower your voice," Andrew scolded, cing a finger on his mouth.


    "Andrew," Francis called, keeping his voice down, "Captain Khan assigned you to me for this mission."


    "Captain Khan ordered me to protect you, sir," Andrew reminded. "I must preserve your life, but epting your orders isn''t part of my duties."


    Francis wanted toin, but looking at Andrew''s serious face reminded him of everything that had happened. He could barely call himself a descendant right now. He was at Khan''s mercy, with no authority or influence. His very family had agreed to that oue.


    Nevertheless, Francis knew that he was right. Khan was amazing, but a bomb wasn''t something people could defeat. Only a specialist could deal with it, and Francis was certain no one in his team belonged to that category.


    Running away and warning the superiors was the only reasonable approach. The situation was too big for simple descendants and students. Convincing Andrew was the only issue.


    "Andrew," Francis whispered. "Something malfunctioned, or we would still be with the others. You also saw how the bomb reacted to the teleport. That thing might go out of control, so we must leave."


    "Sir, leave to where?" Andrew questioned. "Even if we escaped these caves, neither one of us knows how to pilot ships. We must reunite with Captain Khan to get off the."


    Andrew had raised a reasonable point that Francis didn''t consider, but there were other options. The fainted woman near them embodied one of them. The two could simply kidnap a pilot to leave the.


    Nevertheless, Francis quickly realized that he was being na?ve. He didn''t know where to look for ships. He wasn''t even sure the hideout had any. The bomb was the only certainty.


    Francis instinctively went for his pockets and heaved a sigh of relief when he found his phone. A smile even appeared on his face when he saw that the scuffed teleport didn''t break the device. Yet, noticing the absence of connection to thework destroyed that temporary hope.


    The education received when Francis was still young kicked in. As a descendant, his Masters had taught him how to deal with crises, and hisck of options made developing a n even easier.


    "We risk getting lost if we dive any deeper," Francis warned, recalling to keep his voice down. "Let''s try to resurface first. It will be easier to decide what to do there."


    "There might be an enemy base on the surface, sir," Andrewmented.


    "That''s unlikely," Francis shook his head. "The Harbor''s system has never been so full of soldiers. Hiding a base on the surface is impossible with all the attention these criminals have attracted."


    "Sir, we might not be in the Harbor''s system," Andrew voiced.


    "We didn''tnd in any specific tform," Francis pointed out. "The teleports don''t have much range without a connection on the other side. I''m confident we didn''t leave the system."


    Andrew excelled on the battlefield, but his education wasckluster. He had specialized in a few fields after the Alstair family hired him, but nothing involving teleports. That information was for people with a higher status and the means to purchase it.


    After reviewing the suggestion for a bit, Andrew nodded in approval. Francis'' idea made enough sense to be worthy of a few attempts. Andrew obviously didn''t abandon his priorities but epted that making a point of the situation would improve his chances of survival and finding Khan.


    "Where to, sir?" Andrew eventually stated.


    Francis checked both directions, even trying to rely on his nose to find any trace of clear air. Yet, the tunnel didn''t carry any enlightening detail. Only one hint existed but was so faint that Francis almost held back from mentioning it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "The path on the left is slightly elevated," Francis eximed. "It''s worth checking it out."


    Both Andrew and Francis knew that a difference in elevation didn''t mean much when technology made artificial gravity possible. However, the absence of clues forced the two men to stick to that option for now.


    Francis and Andrew didn''t waste time exchanging pointless words. Silence reigned while they made their way through the tunnel, and the arrival of branches made them follow their initial approach. The area didn''t have striking clues, so they entered any path that seemed to go upward.


    Different thoughts ran through the men''s minds during the slow advance. Francis simply wanted to get out of there while Andrew thought about other issues, and his battle experience came in handy.


    Andrew had taken out a criminal, so there was a high chance that the previous area had been within the hideout''s domain. Theck of simr encounters during the advance seemed to confirm that. Secret organizations usually had patrols and tight security, so their absence meant that he was leaving their influence.


    The continuous presence of artificial illumination worked against Andrew''s hypothesis, but a change in the environment eventually brought hope. When Andrew peeked past the seventh corner, he noticed an unusual blue color in the distance, something that even the white light couldn''t cover.


    Clear air also reached the turn, convincing Andrew they had found their destination. He turned to perform a meaningful nod at Francis before crossing the corner and advancing toward the blue light. Francis remained a few meters behind him, but that unusual sight quickly filled him with hope too.


    Francis elerated, closing the distance with Andrew to hurry outside. Yet, Andrew abruptly stopped when he was about to cross the tunnel''s edge, and Francis mmed on his back.


    "What did you do that for?" Francisined, but theck of answers from Andrew told him that something was off. The guard also gulped, highlighting how serious the situation was.


    Curiosity overtook Francis, who walked past Andrew to peek at the surface. The tunnel performed a sharp rise in that spot, but Francis was tall enough to look past the opening, and the environment that unfolded in his eyes made him freeze.


    Francis saw what could best be described as a chunk of rocks surrounded by waves. The ce was too small to be considered an ind, and the tunnel led at its very center.


    Nevertheless, the item stuck on the shores made that patch ofnd extremely relevant. Francis almost couldn''t believe his eyes when he saw the tall bomb standing mere meters from him.


    That wasn''t even the end of it. The bomb wasn''t simply standing on the shores. Sparks still ran over its surfaces, and the many symbols on its various faces had also started to glow with a red light. Francis wasn''t an expert in Thilku technology, but that sight would make anyone think that the weapon was about to explode.


    "We are dead," Francis gasped. "We are dead. We are dead!"


    A heavy p reached Francis'' right cheek as soon as his loud statement ended. Andrew couldn''t react in time due to how stunned he was, and his attack barely had any effect.


    "We are fucking dead," Francis continued, turning and leaning on the elevated part of the tunnel to stop looking at the bomb. "Dead, dead, dead!"


    Andrew was ready to deliver another p, but ncing at the bomb told him how pointless that would be. He didn''t want to spend hisst moments scolding a descendant.


    "Why did it have to be Thilku technology?" Francis cursed. "What is Thilku technology even doing here?"


    Andrew initially ignored those words, but his eyes lit up when he realized something, and his hands promptly reached for Francis'' cor to pull him up.


    "What did you mean by that?!" Andrew questioned before adding a polite "sir".


    "What?" Francis gasped, his expression lost in helplessness.


    "What did you mean by Thilku technology?" Andrew asked. "Would human technology make any difference?"


    "I-," Francis gulped. "My element allows me to deal with some weapons. My family developed special techniques for that specific purpose."


    "Sir, can you apply them to this bomb?" Andrew questioned.


    "How should I know?!" Francis shouted. "It''s Thilku technology! I never tested any of them on something like this."


    "Try anyway, sir," Andrew ordered.


    "It doesn''t work like that!" Francisined. "I might very well cause the opposite reaction and kill all of us. As far as we know, this is just a safe side effect of the teleport!"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Andrew and Francs stared at each other for a few seconds before turning toward the bomb. The crackling of its sparks and its bright red symbols told a very different story. Even a child would think that the weapon was about to explode.


    "Alright," Francis gulped. "I''ll try."


    "I''ll guard this entrance, sir," Andrew dered.


    Francis didn''t have the strength to reply. He took a deep breath and climbed over the exit to reach the surface. His legs felt weak, but he still stood up and carefully approached the bomb.


    The shore was close enough to make Francis reach his target quickly. Sparks filled his vision at that point, and his ears rang as the crackling noises invaded them. The alien symbols'' brightness also made it hard for him to look at the bomb, but he didn''t need his eyes toplete his task.


    Francis took another deep breath, and sparks umted in his hands before flying toward the ground. The rocks broke while absorbing those attacks, and Francis kept going until he dispersed enough of his mana.


    Then, Francis closed his eyes and forced the remaining mana inside him to move in a specific pattern. His energy generated a suction force that targeted the power running over the bomb, and the sparks on its surface soon fell prey to it.


    The sparks left the bomb to fly toward Francis'' waist, which absorbed them without suffering any damage. His tracksuit burned and broke, but his flesh ate that electricity and slowly drained the weapon of its dangerous energy.


    The process didn''t end at the bomb''s surface. The energy inside the weapon took the form of sparks that leaked through the red symbols and flew toward Francis'' waist. The amount of mana absorbed during the technique was immense, but Francis endured everything easily, dispersing what he couldn''t handle on the ground.

 Chapter 536 Restrictions

    "Your girlfriend?" Wayne questioned, spitting a lump of blood that had made its way through his throat.


    "Indeed," Khan confirmed without adding anything. Monica''s element wasn''t exactly a secret, but it was better if few people knew about it and its ws.


    The earthquake continued to rage as the dark and red cloud rose, expanding in the sky. Fuming boulders split from the massive main pir of smoke, flying in every direction and bringing chaos into that otherwise peaceful environment.


    A scorching boulder flew toward Khan''s ind and crashed on its shores, lifting more smoke and debris. Khan and Wayne watched everything unfolding, but neither moved. They simply couldn''t in their condition.


    ''She won''t be able to move afterward,'' Khan thought, mesmerized by the huge cloud. ''I must help her.''


    Khan put strength into his abdomen, steading it to struggle to his feet. However, his bnce gave in before he could stretch his legs, making him fall to the ground behind.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A grunt escaped Khan''s mouth when he stopped himself from lying down. He sat on the rocks, but the world in his eyes grew even blurrier. He was losing focus, and the pain was finally making its way into his mind. That suffering kept him awake, allowing him to understand how exhausted he was.


    Khan didn''t give up so soon. He pushed himself forward, mming his hand on the ground in an attempt to stand up. Yet, his broken shoulder moved oddly during the gesture, bringing more pain and depriving him of the strength he had mustered.


    "Do you keep her in a bunker?" Wayne asked as the cloud shone on his eager eyes. "Don''t tell me you two sleep on the same bed."


    "Just die already," Khan groaned. He had fallen, and hitting the ground rekindled his injuries. Everything burned, and his face was part of that mess.


    "I won''t die so easily," Wayne tried tough, but his punctured lung got in the way, making him cough. "My body is already stabilizing."


    The statement surprised Khan, distracting him from the cloud. He focused on Wayne, and his senses confirmed his version of the story. Wayne''s remaining mana had already gotten to work to seal his injuries. His muscles weren''t regrowing just yet, but it seemed that the process could start soon.


    "Are you sure you are human?" Khan couldn''t help but ask while pushing on his numb hand to sit again.


    "I don''t know," Wayne tried and failed tough again. "This is how they made me."


    Khan couldn''t help but sigh. He couldn''t bring himself to hate Wayne after epting how brutal his training had been. That man was simply a guinea pig that his organization had employed as a pawn.


    "You should seize this chance to kill me," Wayne dered. "I''m at my weakest."


    "Your element will probably make me slip and die if I try," Khan cursed. "Captain Khan, killed by a rock."


    "My job is done," Wayne revealed, "And I don''t feel that envy anymore. My element shouldn''t be that strong."


    "Do you want to die?" Khan wondered.


    "I don''t know!" Wayne finally managed tough. "But that''s what you do, isn''t it?"


    "I''m not killing you," Khan sighed. "I don''t enjoy killing."


    "That''s a surprise," Wayne eximed. "I think I don''t either."


    Khan began to close his eyes to slip into a meditative state, but Wayne''s words kept them open. Truth be told, Khan could see a lot of himself in Wayne. They had simply happened to be on opposite extremes of the Global Army.


    "Do you have restrictions, trackers, or other things?" Khan asked.


    "All of the above!" Wayne announced. "I also underwent psychological training. A few words, and I''ll fight even if my heart stops beating."


    "Why do you sound happy about it?" Khan groaned.


    "That''s how I sound!" Wayneughed.


    Khan shook his head. He lifted his numb hand to scratch his hair, but his skin burned when he touched it. He couldn''t find his azure strands either. The recent fight had made him bald, among other things.


    "Look what I had to do to beat you," Khan cursed.


    "I''m pretty strong," Wayne proudly imed.


    "Yes," Khan nodded, "Strong enough for the criminals to want you back."


    "It''s a possibility," Wayneughed.


    "No," Khan contradicted. "If we get out of here alive, you''ll start working for me."


    The ground stopped shaking, bringing peace and silence. Only the waves in the distance continued to make noise, but none of that got in the way of Khan''s words. Wayne had heard him clearly, and his surprise prevented him from speaking right away.


    "So, you are not killing me," Wayne guessed.


    "That''s right," Khan confirmed. "You''ll work for the actual best third-level warrior."


    "Oh," Wayne gasped. "You are petty, aren''t you?"


    "Who is petty?" Khanined. "It''s a joke."


    "So," Wayne voiced, "You aren''t the best third-level warrior."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "That part was true!" Khan cursed. "Couldn''t they stuff some social training during their experiments?"


    "That happened on the weekends," Wayne exined. "The other days, it was mostly needles and other machines."


    "You make me want to drink," Khan sighed.


    "Can we drink together once you hire me?" Wayne asked, his eyes showing nothing but pure innocence. Only a monster would have the strength to refuse him.


    "Of course," Khan chuckled. "Drinks, friends, and jokes. Who knows? You might even get yourself a girlfriend."


    "I have been trained in the art of pleasing men and women!" Wayne dered. "They made me go through that once a month with different-."


    "I got it," Khan interrupted. "I already know you''ll be a handful."


    "Don''t you want to hear more of my stories?" Wayne asked.


    "Can you let me meditate?" Khan scolded.


    "But this is so exciting!" Wayne eximed. "I''ve never been free."


    "Aren''t you tired or something?" Khan questioned.


    "I''m always full of energy!" Wayne dered.


    "You''ll be a handful," Khan sighed.


    Khan tried to slip into the meditative state again, but his senses suddenly warned him about the arrival of foreign auras. His cold gaze fell on the passage nearby, and figures soon appeared in its darkness.


    A middle-aged woman peeked past the passage before wearing a surprised expression. She gestured at the people behind her to follow until a team of four soldiers appeared in the open. They weren''t too strong, and only one was a third-level warrior, but Khan was in no condition to fight.


    Khan nced at Wayne before focusing on the team again. The criminals were a mixture of hesitation, excitement, and resolve. The third-level warrior was also quite angry, and it was clear that Khan was their target.


    "Let me guess," Khan decided to speak first to feign strength, but his hoarse voice partially ruined his pretense. "You think I had something to do with the bomb."


    "Shut your mouth," The third-level warrior, a burly man, ordered. "This n has taken years to prepare, and we can''t allow it to fail so badly."


    ''Years?'' Khan thought before speaking again. "The bomb didn''t explode. You can tell Mister Chares to rely on human technology next time."


    "Mister Chares is a mercenary," The man snorted. "Don''t mistake us for that petty criminal."


    "That leaves the Hive," Khan guessed. "Unless there are more criminal organizations I''m unaware of."


    "Many," The man revealed, stretching his arm forward, "But you won''t be around to mess with them, Captain Khan."


    Smoke came from the man''s stretched fingers as mana flowed toward their tips. Even in that burned state, Khan''s scar revealed his identity, making the criminal decide to take him out.


    Khan could sense a powerful spell forming. He was in no condition to dodge it, but the [Blood Shield] was still by his side. He didn''t know if his body could take another use of the alien technique, but giving up wasn''t an option.


    Nevertheless, familiar tremors that only Khan could sense spread through the area. Khan initially hesitated but eventually decided to trust that ability. After all, he had suffered more than a bit because of it.


    The man''s fingers shone with white light before releasing blinding beams. The spell was incredibly fast, instantly reaching Khan, but nothing hit him. The attack missed his still figure and crashed on the ground behind him.


    "What?" The man gasped, and the rest of the team looked at him in confusion.


    Khan''s thoughts ran quickly. He was sure Honides'' scanners had noticed the disappearance of his ship. He didn''t know whether the teleport had made something pop out on Lauter, but the column of smoke was bound to attract attention. Even a secret location and jammers couldn''t hide it.


    Teams of soldiers had to be on their way to check what was happening. Khan was sure of that. He only needed to buy time, and his talking skills came in handy.


    "You must work on your aim," Khan teased. "You are giving criminals a bad name."


    "Shut your mouth!" The man snorted, sending mana to his fingers again, but Khan made sure to talk again before he could prepare that spell.


    "That won''t really work," Khan revealed, nodding in Wayne''s direction. "That guy over there has bad luck as his element. You''d miss even if you ced your fingers on my face."


    "Kill him," The man promptly ordered, nodding toward Wayne.


    "I wouldn''t do that," Khan dered as soon as the other criminals started to move. "The rocks here are pretty sharp, and his element will make you slip. You don''t want to stumble and die."


    "He is just buying time," The man snorted. "Hurry up!"


    "Sorry," Khan uttered as his coldness returned. "It''s pointless to hurry."


    The man wanted to say something, but whooshing noises suddenly invaded the area. Four ships reached the ind and stopped above it before he could lift his head. That sudden eleration even sent winds toward the ground, pushing Khan to his injured side and making him groan.


    The ships had cargo purposes, and their sides opened to reveal multiple teams of soldiers wearing body armor and wielding rifles. Orders also echoed from them and invaded the ind, but the criminals didn''t show any fear. Their face brimmed with resolve as a sudden burst of mana red at the center of their brains and killed them on the spot.

 Chapter 537 Words

    The following events were confusing, to say the least. Khan had reached his limits, and the sense of safety brought by the arrival of the four ships affected his struggle to remain awake, threatening to make him faint a few times.


    Khan knew that he couldn''t sleep just yet. He had yet to see hispanions, and Wayne''s situation needed rification. However, he had already gotten inside the cargo ship by the time he managed to awakenpletely.


    Shouts and noises filled Khan''s ears as his vision stabilized. He found himself on the cargo area''s floor, with two soldiers applying bandages to his many injuries. Wayne was also there, but the team merely pointed their rifles at him while crying questions that he didn''t bother to address.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Are we moving?" Khan groaned while peeking to his left. The side doors were still open, but the world remained still. Ropes hung from the floor''s edge too, hinting at the fact that soldiers were on the ind.


    "Sir, stay still," The soldier on Khan''s left announced. "You have suffered many injuries, and your left shoulder is broken. We need to stabilize you before flying to the nearest medical bay."


    "Negative," Khan said in his hoarse voice, shaking his intact arm to dismiss those soldiers. "We must retrieve mypanions and evacuate."


    "Evacuate?" The soldier questioned. "Sir, this is Lauter. We can''t-."


    "Criminals have smuggled a bomb here," Khan exined, purposely hiding the bomb''s origin and nature. "It didn''t explode yet, but the area might still be unsafe."


    The word "bomb" silenced the two soldiers at Khan''s sides and applied the same effect to anyone who heard him. Murmurs immediately spread through the cargo area, bringing everyone''s eyes to Khan.


    "Did you say bomb, sir?" The soldier on Khan''s left asked.


    "Yes," Khan cursed, waving his arm toward the soldier on his right. "Help me on my feet."


    The soldiers were still stunned by the revtion, so theyplied with Khan''s request and pulled him up. Some unfinished bandages fell, but Khan ignored that development to peek past the open doors.


    Khan''s senses had regained rity by then. He could look past the limits of his eyes to study the symphony and gain a vague picture of the area. The dark cloud was still there but had lost its red shades. Monica''s spell had ended, meaning that she had probably fainted.


    "I need a ship to fly at the bottom of the eruption," Khan ordered, doing his best to retain the little strength that had returned. "Send more rescue teams in the area if you didn''t already. I''m missing fourpanions in total."


    Khan turned toward Wayne at that point. The soldiers around him were looking at Khan, but their rifles were still pointed at the floor. It was clear the team saw him as a threat.


    "Put your guns away," Khan ordered, waving his numb hand toward Wayne. "He is with me."


    The cabin''s door opened before the soldiers couldply. A tall man who wore no defensive gear stepped into the cargo area, and his loud voice promptly followed.


    "What is happening?!" The man shouted. "Why is the Captain on his feet?"


    "Sir," A soldier called. "The Captain was just exining that there is a bomb on Lauter."


    "A bomb?!" The man gasped, fixing his dark eyes on Khan. "Is this true, Captain?"


    "Yes," Khan confirmed without wasting time on pointless exnations.


    "Send the order to evacuate!" The man promptly shouted. "And contact the Harbor. We need specialists here!"


    "Don''t evacuate yet," Khan ordered. "I must rescue mypanions first."


    "Sir, with all due respect," The man cleared his throat, doing his best to choose the right words. "You are heavily injured. You should leave these matters to the rescue team."


    "I will," Khan stated, "Once I know mypanions are safe."


    "But, sir," The man tried toin, but Khan interrupted him.


    "Commanding officers should know what orders are," Khan raised his voice as much as possible, "And stop pointing those fucking guns at my subordinate."


    The soldiers around Wayne immediately lifted the rifles before looking at theirmanding officer. Thetter was as stunned at them, but refusing Khan''s orders wasn''t an option. He didn''t only outrank him. His fame alone could make mountains move.


    "You can evacuate if you are scared," Khan continued, moving toward the cabin. "I''ll fly this rescue mission myself if necessary."


    "No, no," Themanding officer eximed, stepping in front of the cabin''s entrance to block Khan''s path. "We''llplete the rescue mission, sir. What can you tell us about the situation?"


    Khan inspected the man''s face for a few seconds. Thetter was a second-level warrior with nothing special to show, but Khan''s opinion clearly worried him. He wouldn''t be Khan''s first choice for a rescue operation, but his condition made him unable to take over, and recing themanding officer would just waste time.


    "Alright," Khan sighed, approaching the open doors again. "Monica Solodrey should be at the bottom of the eruption. Francis Alstair, George Ildoo, and Andrew Durarel should also be in the area. Send teams in the tunnels to find them and get out of there quickly."


    "What about the bomb?" Themanding officer asked.


    "Start the evacuation and contact Headmistress Holwen," Khan ordered. "She''ll know what to do."


    "As you wish, sir!" Themanding officer stated, performing a military salute before turning toward the cabin. "You heard the Captain. Contact the other ships and call Headmistress Holwen. We need help coordinating the evacuation."


    Khan nced at the man and diverted his eyes only when he isted himself inside the cabin. At that point, he sat at the doors'' edges, and a simple nod toward the closest soldier made hime closer.


    "What can I do for you, sir?" The soldier questioned, half-crouching toward Khan.


    "You can resume patching me up," Khan announced. "My subordinate must receive the same treatment."


    "Yes, sir!" The soldier eximed.


    "Also," Khan continued, "Update me. Why are you here, and how much do you know?"


    "We belong to Lauter''s first response teams," The soldier exined, gesturing to hispanions to take care of Wayne and Khan. "We moved as soon as the scanners showed a strange reading, and the eruption eventually led us here."


    ''They don''t know anything,'' Khan concluded. ''Maybe it''s for the best.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Khan stopped asking questions and let the soldiers patch him up. He remained on the floor''s edges, but his eyes soon closed to make room for his meditative state.


    The recent events ran through Khan''s mind while he focused on recovering. Luckily, the Headmistress had filled the entire system with additional soldiers. The rescue team would have never arrived so quickly and in such numbers otherwise. Yet, his thoughts barely lingered on those topics due to the seriousness of the overall situation.


    Mentioning the bomb wasn''t ideal, but Khan couldn''t keep that information a secret. The rtionship with the Thilku might suffer once the news spread, but the situation didn''t allow Khan to control that aspect of the crisis.


    Wayne was another big problem, but Khan knew he could persuade the Headmistress. A long discussion was waiting for him, but he didn''t fear it.


    On the other hand, Khan knew that the Solodrey and Alstair families were bound to annoy him. He couldn''t have predicted the presence of a bomb, but the situation didn''t change. He had put those descendants in danger. Monica''s parents wouldn''t miss the chance toin.


    Those thoughts inevitably converged toward Raymond. Khan didn''t mind walking into obvious traps to learn more about himself and the Nak, but the bomb made everything different. It almost seemed that Raymond wanted him to die in the mission, which didn''t match his previous behavior and the idea Khan had about him.


    ''What is even happening?'' Khan cursed during his meditation, and the situation worsened when he thought about Wayne''s revtions. He had finally obtained proof of his noble heritage, but that information sounded useless for now.


    Someone approached Khan before he could delve any deeper into those thoughts, and he opened his eyes to greet the soldier. Thetter was surprised about that passive awareness, but she still gulped to convey the updates.


    "We are about to move, sir," The woman announced.


    "Did you retrieve mypanions?" Khan questioned.


    "We just received confirmation," The soldier stated. "Miss Solodrey is exhausted but healthy. Mister Ildoo suffered injuries, but nothing worrying. Mister Alstair and Mister Durarel are also fine. We are currently moving everyone to the closest medical bay."


    "What about the bomb?" Khan asked.


    "The embassy teleported specialists in the area," The soldier exined. "They isted the weapon already. It''s no longer at risk of exploding, so the evacuation has been called off."


    "I understand," Khan nodded. "When do we move to the medical bay?"


    "As soon as you give the order, sir," The soldier uttered.


    "Let''s go, then," Khan responded, ncing in Wayne''s direction before closing his eyes again. The soldiers had patched him up, so Khan could focus on his meditation.


    The ship began to move while Khan was busy recovering. He noticed that part of the rescue team remained in the area, but that was to be expected. The Harbor had to scour that underground hideout to find clues, even if their presence sounded unlikely.


    The rescue teams had fast ships, so Khan reached his destination in minutes. The vehiclended on a rtively big ind that featured a huge outpost equipped with turrets and multiple facilities, and a squad of doctors weed his arrival.


    More confusing moments unfolded. The team changed Khan''s bandages, fixed his shoulder to a metal brace, and applied specific ointments to his burns. All of that while moving him inside the outpost, where a few beds were ready for him and hispanions.


    By the end of the process, Khan''s upper part was nothing short of a mummy. The bandages had holes before his eyes, but recognizing him was impossible.


    Meditating would usually be Khan''s priority, but he couldn''t stay put before seeing hispanions. The doctors had put Wayne in his room, but thetter was sound asleep and full of meds. He was out of danger, so Khan didn''t need to worry about him.


    The medical bay was an isted section of the outpost with little to no personnel. Few doctors and nurses roamed through its corridors, and none outranked Khan. Besides, the bomb had made everything messy, especially as the rumors started to spread, so Khan could walk out of his room without meeting any hindrance.


    Lauter''s outposts followed fixed arrangements that Khan had studied before Lucian''s mission. He barely needed to inspect his surroundings to understand where he was and how to find rooms that probably held hispanions.


    A short walk proved Khan''s knowledge right. He crossed a corridor and peeked into a few empty rooms before finding a familiar figure on a bed. The man had his legs, waist, and arms wrapped into tight bandages, but the funny look on his face spoke for his well-being.


    "What happened to you?" George chuckled, recognizing Khan even with all his bandages.


    "Are you okay?" Khan asked, ncing at the sword leaning on the bed''s right side.


    "Never better," George dered. "It would have been nicer if your girlfriend didn''t destroy the tunnel I was in, but whatever."


    "Did you see Monica?" Khan promptly questioned.


    "I was on a ship when they pulled her out of the crater," George exined. "Warn me if you ever cheat on her. I want to have the time to get off the."


    "Don''t you have to reassure Anita?" Khan snorted. "Do you know where they put her?"


    "Take the next right," George revealed. "I''ve seen the doctors with her going there."


    "Thanks, George," Khan stated. He was about to leave the room''s entrance, but a peculiar feeling radiated by George''s mana made his curiosity re.


    "What happened?" Khan asked.


    "Nothing much," George groaned, adjusting himself on the bed. "I just confirmed something."


    "Was it good?" Khan wondered.


    "I guess," George sighed.


    Khan knew George like the back of his hand. He only needed a look to understand his issue, and a smile inevitably bloomed on his face.


    "You might have to settle for real now," Khan teased.


    "Oh, shut up," George cursed. "Don''t tell me what I already know. Go see your girlfriend already."


    "I''m happy for you, man," Khan stated, leaving the room''s entrance to go on his way.


    George let a few seconds pass while watching the empty entrance. He was happy for himself too, but a sadment still left his mouth. "I can''t wait to say those words to you."

 Chapter 538 Rest

    Khan followed George''s instructions, reaching a different corridor that featured only a few rooms. One of them was closed, and the symphony told him the others were empty, so his destination became clear right away. Still, an angry shout weed him when he approached it.


    "I said I don''t want to be disturbed!" A familiar voice invaded Khan''s ears as soon as the metal door slid open. Many would cower in fear due to the anger conveyed by the shout, but Khan''s first reaction was to smile.


    The room was rtively small, containing three beds and some medical equipment. Only the mattress on the farthest corner was upied, and the nest of curls peeking from the nket confirmed the person''s identity.


    A thick smell of smoke filled Khan''s nostrils, and his attentive eyes didn''t miss the ash mixed with the curls. That wasn''t the hair Khan remembered. It was dirty, crunchy, and without any light, but it still belonged to the woman he loved.


    "Close that door already!" Monica shouted again since she had yet to hear the entrance shutting close.


    "I can''t get enough of seeing you pissed," Khan sighed, and Monica gasped before turning and lifting her head.


    Khan had already inspected Monica''s mana, but seeing her face added important clues. The same went for Monica. She had understood something from Khan''s hoarse voice, and noticing his bandages made her jump out of bed.


    The two inspected each other while Monica advanced. She had worn clean clothes, but they couldn''t hide her poor state. Her skin had gotten dry and cracked, evident bags stood under her red, teary eyes, and light burns filled her face. Her aura was also weak, conveying the almost absence of mana.


    "What happened to you?" Monica whispered, reaching Khan and lifting her hands before holding back from touching him. She didn''t want to hurt him by mistake.


    "You are as beautiful as always instead," Khan teased.


    "Don''t," Monica cried. "Tell me what happened to you first."


    "I got into a fight with Wayne," Khan exined shortly. "This is the price I had to pay to beat him."


    Monica brought her hands to her mouth. Her eyes darted up and down, unclear on where to focus. She couldn''t even imagine how injured Khan was under those bandages, and seeing him with metal braces again brought more sadness.


    "It''s no big deal," Khan reassured. "I''ll be fine in a few weeks."


    "I''ll kill Raymond myself," Monica cursed.


    "That''s a truly strange detail," Khan nodded. He still couldn''t exin Raymond''s behavior, but something else attracted his attention.


    "You," Khan called, reaching for Monica''s cheek only to recall that his fingers didn''t obey him.


    Monica saw Khan''s hesitation. His hand stopped at mere centimeters from her face, and his fingers shook when trying to bend. The battle had made him unable to hold his girlfriend, but she was happy to cover for him.


    Khan''s gaze flickered when Monica pulled his hand to her cheek. She even rubbed her face on his palm, uncaring that the gesture deepened the cracks on her skin. Khan felt some pain, but nothing could reach his mind when so much love was in the air.


    "Did you kill someone?" Khan finished his previous question.


    "Maybe," Monica lowered her gaze and voice. "I probably did."


    Khan didn''t need to ask anything else. He knew that was Monica''s first kill. Her family had prepared her for that, but the reality was different. Khan still recalled Istrone''s events so clearly for a reason, and Monica was experiencing that now.


    Monica held back from tightening her grip on Khan''s hand, and he mmed his foot on the entrance to close it. His attention soon returned to Monica, but she understood what was happening and tried to oppose it.


    "No," Monicained. "You are injured and-."


    "Shh," Khan whispered, taking Monica into his arm and slowly pushing her toward her bed. The hug hurt due to his burns, but he felt no pain.


    The two reached the bed, separated, and hugged again once their heads hit the pillow. The mattress was small, but they snuggled close to fit on it. Khan couldn''t im to befortable lying on his right side, but Monica was in his arm, with her face on his chest, so everything was fine.


    A few minutes had to pass, but Monica eventually gave up. Traces of tears appeared in her mana, but her voice remained steady as her story began.


    "There were these criminals," Monica exined. "I was in ab or something. They had this tform to maximize the explosion''s range, but I got cornered before reaching the consoles."


    Khan caressed Monica''s hair, and its poor state was impossible to miss. A single bath wouldn''t be enough to remove all the ash and dirt from her curls.


    "You made me promise," Monica continued, a sob breaking her voice, "And I thought destroying theb could help."


    "It did help," Khan confirmed. "I knew you were fine the moment I saw the eruption."


    "I-," Monica added, seemingly unable to hear Khan. "I don''t know what happened to the criminals. I can''t see much when I-. When I-."


    "I know," Khan intervened, hugging Monica closer. "You told me."


    Khan and Monica had obviously talked about her element. He had initially hoped to provide alternatives to her weaknesses, but even alien arts had limits, especially with something with such a specific nature. After all, a volcano could only erupt.


    "Now I''m ugly," Monica cried, "Both outside and inside."


    "Does that make me ugly too?" Khan asked, knowing that his question would work better than anypliment.


    "Stupid," Monica sobbed. "Can you stay here a bit longer?"


    "I won''t leave at all," Khan reassured. He knew the emptiness of the first kill, and his life had provided a single solution. Only love could fill that gap.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Monica didn''t exactly cry. She let out sobs and sniffs every few minutes but mostly remained silent. Memories and wild thoughts assaulted her, but Khan tightened his hug whenever he felt she had it too rough.


    It took a while, but Monica eventually fell asleep, and her snores made Khan join her. The nightmares arrived on time as always, but Khan found some reassurance in the faint warmth that reached his senses.


    That peace didn''tst long. Someone knocked on the room''s door only a few hourster, awakening both Khan and Monica. She had it a bit harder, gasping and inspecting her surroundings as if she didn''t recall where she was, but Khan''s hug quickly brought her back to reality.


    "I''ll go," Khan whispered when Monica''s sleepy eyes fell on him. "Be right back."


    Monica limited herself to a nod, returning to the pillow as soon as Khan left the bed. She didn''t want to fall asleep until he came back, but his lingering warmth and scent were too cozy to reject.


    Meanwhile, Khan reached the door and opened it to show his cold face. He didn''t like that soldiers were interrupting Monica''s rest, but the figure that appeared in his vision dispersed that seriousness.


    Andrew stood before the entrance, already performing a military salute. He was holding something in his hands, but Khan couldn''t see what from his position.


    "Andrew," Khan eximed. "I''m d to see you are fine."


    "Thank you, sir," Andrew stated with his usual seriousness. "The doctors told me to deliver this, sir."


    Andrew broke the military salute to show the items in his hands. A broken sheath, a knife, and a phone stood in his palms, and Khan recognized all of them.


    "Oh," Khan chuckled, ncing at his pants to notice that his pockets had disappeared. "Thank you."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Khan retrieved his belongings and checked their state. The sheath needed fixing, but his knife and phone were fine. Luckily, no calls had reached him either.


    "Where is Francis?" Khan asked. "I only heard he was fine."


    "He didn''t suffer any injury, sir," Andrew confirmed. "The rescue team is currently briefing him, sir."


    "Why would they brief him?" Khan questioned.


    "Mister Alstair yed a key role in defusing the bomb, sir," Andrew revealed.


    "Did he?" Khan didn''t hide his surprise


    "I''ve seen it with my own eyes, sir," Andrew dered.


    Khan found it hard to believe Andrew, but thetter wouldn''t lie to him. Moreover, if Francis had truly taken care of the bomb, he deserved some honest praise. He had basically saved everyone''s life.


    ''He doesn''t know about Raymond''s involvement,'' Khan thought, ''But.''


    "Join the briefing," Khan ordered. "Make sure Francis doesn''t reveal any sensitive information about us."


    "It will be done, sir," Andrew responded, performing another military salute. Khan merely nodded at him, and the meeting ended on that gesture.


    Khan sealed the door with his foot again and threw the sheath on a nearby bed. He even ced the knife inside it, which wasn''t too easy with the current state of his fingers. He was ready to get rid of the phone too, but a call ended up reaching it.


    "Jenny," Khan answered, putting his phone between his ear and working shoulder while returning to Monica''s bed.


    "Captain, I heard you were involved in an incident on Lauter," Jenny replied. "I wholeheartedly hope you are fine."


    "Did you call to check up on me?" Khan wondered, sitting on the bed''s edge and caressing Monica''s head.


    "No, sir," Jenny went straight to the point. "It''s that strange contact again. I can dy it if you are busy."


    "No, let it through," Khan ordered. "I was expecting a call."


    "As you wish, Captain," Jenny stated, closing the call to let another arrive.


    "Captain Khan," Raymond''s voice soon left the phone. "I still have to receive aplete report, but I''m confident you performed as perfectly as always."


    Khan remained silent. His mana boiled, and many feelings filled his mind. He couldn''t express how angry he was about the recent development, but losing his cool would be pointless.


    "Raymond," Khan eventually said, awakening Monica. "I want to be as clear as possible to avoid misunderstandings. Once I gain enough power, there won''t be politics, families, or weapons able to stop me from killing you."


    "Calm down, Captain," Raymond chuckled. "I understand why you are angry, but let me reassure you. You have never been in danger."


    "The bomb would say otherwise," Khan stated, keeping the weapon''s origin a secret. He didn''t know how much Raymond knew, so he didn''t want to risk revealing sensitive information.


    "The Thilku bomb would have never exploded," Raymond revealed as if he could read Khan''s mind. "The teleport disarmed it."


    Khan couldn''t help but fall silent again. Raymond didn''t only know the bomb''s origin. He was also aware of the teleport, and something told Khan that he had something to do with it.


    "Did you tamper with the teleport?" Khan questioned.


    "That''s a conversation for another time," Raymond dered. "For now, you should focus on reaping the benefits of your sessful mission."


    Khan had many questions. He didn''t know what Raymond wanted, and hisst words could carry various meanings. Still, he limited his reply to a simple statement.


    "I will never trust you," Khan uttered.


    "I don''t expect you to," Raymond responded. "Though, I can assure you one thing. I''m humankind''s servant. Everything I do is for its sake."


    Khan wanted to say something, but the call ended before he could utter anything. He could only let the phone slide through his shoulder and fall to the bed, but Monica caught it before it hit the mattress.


    "You heard him, right?" Khan asked, keeping his eyes on the metal wall before him.


    "I did," Monica whispered, straightening her position to sit behind Khan. "I''m not sure I understood him."


    "That''smon with Raymond," Khan sighed, peeking past his intact shoulder when he felt careful kissesnding on his bandages.


    "What is it?" Khan asked.


    "Let''s go back to sleep," Monica muttered, "But I''ll hold you this time."


    Monica sounded partially asleep. Her eyes weren''t fully open either. After the recent events, she seemed to have lost part of her usual fire.


    "Stop worrying," Monica said, seemingly able to understand the expression hidden by the bandages. "Well, do it when it''s your turn."


    "Do we take turns now?" Khan chuckled.


    "Please," Monica voiced. "I want to do something good."


    That shy request was umon for the current stage of the couple''s rtionship, but Khan couldn''t reject it. He could understand what was going through Monica''s mind, so he fulfilled her wish.


    Khan pushed Monica down before lying on his right side and sliding deeper into the nket. His face ended on Monica''s chest, and she held it carefully but firmly. He became her anchor in that delicate emotional phase, and being able to help him saved her a little.


    "There aren''t cameras or anything here, right?" Khan asked.


    "They''d never put me in a room with those," Monica confirmed information that Khan already knew. "Why?"


    "I must mention something," Khan eximed.


    "If it''s about my butt," Monica warned, "Wait until you heal to say it."


    "It''s not that," Khan announced. "Wayne kind of confirmed something after I won. Apparently, my mother was truly a noble."


    "What?!" Monica shouted, distancing herself from Khan to peek at his head. That statement had been enough to make part of her fire return.

 Chapter 539 Return

    Needless to say, sharing Wayne''s revtion caused deep shock, especially to someone with reverence toward the nobles. Monica had received special education in that field, so learning that Khan probably was one of them left her more than speechless.


    Of course, the surprise wasn''t Monica''s sole reaction, but Khan''s injuries and her own emotional state prevented her from exploring that revtion any further. The couple could only talk about it for a bit before forcing themselves to sleep.


    More peaceful hours went by. Khan wasn''t fond of resting, but being emotional support for Monica allowed him to sleep for a long time. That was the longest break he had taken in recent weeks, and his tired body rejoiced at it.


    The couple woke up by dinnertime since soldiers knocked on their door to deliver food and new orders. The Headmistress was recalling everyone to the Harbor to get better medications and eventually provide updates. She didn''t expect the team to meet her immediately, but getting them out of Lauter was a priority.


    "She''ll need a cape," Khan ordered as soldiers began to move Monica''s bed, "Or anything that can cover her face. She can''t be seen like this."


    "Yes, sir!" The soldier in charge of the team appointed with the Headmistress'' task stated. "However, the doctors wish you to be in bed too."


    "I have matters to attend to," Khan stated, nodding as the soldiers entered the room and hid Monica under a nket.


    "We have a ship ready outside the outpost," The soldier in charge continued. "Can you find your way on your own, sir?"


    "I''ll be there shortly," Khan confirmed, leaving the room and crossing the team to dive deeper into the medical bay.


    Simr scenes unfolded in Khan''s vision as he explored the medical bay. He saw a team moving George''s bed to bring him to the ship. Thetter noticed Khan and the two exchanged a simple nod before going their separate ways.


    Khan continued his exploration with a precise goal in mind. Raymond''s call had added doubts while creating a new problem that Khan had yet to decide how to handle.


    The medical bay didn''t have the person Khan wanted to meet, but that matched his orders. He had to approach the outpost''s exit to find it, but that area showed problems too.


    Lauter''s outposts had hangars near their entrances for utility reasons, and a messy scene weed Khan when he stepped into it. Ships and teams filled his view, and anyone who noticed him performed tense military salutes. His bandages made looking at him in the eyes difficult, but those soldiers showed nothing but respect.


    That attention didn''t surprise Khan. He had long since gotten used to it. The problems stood past the vast and tall entrance. Khan saw more teams and ships, and the symphony told him the sky above them was even messier.


    Khan held back a sigh and ignored the saluting soldiers on his way to reach the exit. Lauter''s dark sky tried to wee him, but it was hard to focus on it with all the ships hovering above. Khan counted at least fifteen vehicles in the air, waiting for their chance to reach the surface.


    The ships'' sses and shapes revealed their nature. Khan could easily differentiate between military vehicles and those with different purposes. He couldn''t be sure, but the current arrangement gave him reasonable ideas.


    ''Reporters,'' Khan concluded, seeing how the military vehicles had formed a barrier that blocked the other ships'' path.


    That development wasn''t surprising. It only took one leak to stir many reporters. Some probably were already on Lauter, and they didn''t hesitate to fly toward the area, hoping to be the first to report the news.


    Khan quickly lost interest in the crowded sky after finding his target. Andrew was standing a few meters past the entrance with his arms crossed and his eyes fixed on a group farther away. Francis and multiple soldiers were there, busy interrogating him about the recent events.


    ''He looks happy,'' Khan thought when he noticed Francis, but Andrew remained his first target.


    "Andrew," Khan called when he reached the guard.


    "Sir!" Andrew eximed, facing Khan and performing a military salute. "I''ve kept track of Mister Alstair, sir."


    "Good job," Khan praised. "Now, you told me you saw Francis defusing the bomb."


    "Yes, sir," Andrew confirmed. "We were together after the teleport, and I looked after him just like you ordered me to, sir."


    "Come here for a moment," Khan requested, nodding toward a rtively private spot alongside the outpost''s wall. "I want a full briefing about the mission."


    Andrewplied, following Khan and telling his story once they obtained some privacy. Khan stared coldly at the many soldiers ncing in his direction while words reached his ears. He quickly became aware of everything Andrew and Francis had faced, gaining thest required details.


    "You did well out there," Khan announced once the story ended. "I need to speak with Francis alone now. Summon him for me."


    "Yes, sir!" Andrew stated, performing his usual military salute.


    "If someone tries toin," Khan added, "Mention my name."


    "It will be done, sir," Andrew dered, leaving the isted spot to head for the group of soldiers interrogating Francis.


    Khan allowed himself to appreciate the scenery during the wait. Lauter was beautiful at night. Soft winds blew on his face, and the sound of distant waves massaged his ears. Artificial lights disturbed its perfect darkness but created an equally enchanting scenery that Khan couldn''t help but love.


    ''I''ve spent too long on a space station,'' Khan admitted, and Francis'' arrival brought new focus to his gaze.


    "Khan," Francis eximed, a broad smile filling his face. "I mean, Captain Khan. Did you ask for me?"


    "I did," Khan nodded. "I heard what you did out there. That was good."


    "Thank you!" Francis uttered. Anyone could see how happy he was, and for a good reason. He had gone from being almost discarded by his own family to aplishing a major feat during a mission, at least in theory.


    Khan didn''t need his senses to confirm Francis'' happiness. The man didn''t even flinch before his bandages. He felt too ecstatic to address them. Still, Khan would have to destroy that emotion now.


    "A reliable source told me that the bomb wouldn''t have exploded in the first ce," Khan directly announced.


    "What?" Francis gasped, his broad smile showing traces of disbelief.


    "You heard me," Khan stated. "The bomb wasn''t a threat."


    Those few words were enough to destroy Francis'' happiness and transform it. Intense anger reced it, filling Francis and raising his voice to a dangerous level.


    "I see how it is!" Francis snorted. "Only Captain Khan can aplishmendable feats. Everyone else has to shut up and follow."


    "Lower your voice," Khan warned.


    "Why would I?" Francis shouted. "I bet that wasn''t even the truth. You are simply jealous someone stole your spotlight!"


    "Francis," Khan called, the symphony around him gaining a cold, terrifying vibe. "Saying this gives me no pleasure."


    Francis wanted toin, but Khan''s aura kept his mouth shut and forced him to think. Even if the situation felt unfair, Khan wasn''t that petty. Francis wouldn''t be alive otherwise.


    "Differently from your family or our superiors," Khan continued, "I won''t lie to you. You can always expect the truth from me."


    Francis mustered a nod, but his insecurities took over, and he conveyed them. "So, I didn''t do anything valuable again."


    "On the contrary," Khan dered. "You tried to defuse it, didn''t you?"


    "Yes, but," Francis muttered.


    "Trying is everything," Khan interrupted. "You saw a chance, and you took it. That''s more I can say for most of the Global Army."


    Francis nodded again but didn''t appear convinced. Nice words didn''t change the truth. He believed himself to have taken a step forward, but the reality was different.


    "Do you understand why I decided to tell you this?" Khan questioned.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Because you tell the truth?" Francis wondered, lost in his thoughts.


    "To show you that you aren''t the only puppet," Khan announced. "Luckily, everything went well."


    Francis frowned. Khan was nothing short of a mummy but had sounded genuinely relieved. No one in his condition would say the same, but Francis quickly connected the dots. Monica was alive and well. That was enough for Khan.


    "Keep at it," Khan eximed. "Maybe you''ll really defuse a bomb next time."


    "Next time?!" Francis gasped, but Khan chuckled, ignoring the question to walk past him.


    "Right," Khan uttered, stopping to turn toward Francis. "Let''s stick to the story that you defused the bomb. It''s better for everyone."


    "But," Francis tried to speak, but Khan interrupted him again.


    "You will get fame," Khan exined, "Which will extend to me since you are in my care. Everybody wins."


    "Even if it''s a lie?" Francis questioned.


    "I wish there were another way," Khan admitted. "Still, to stop being puppets, we must eptpromises."


    Francis lowered his gaze to think about the matter, but Khan kept speaking. "Can you do it?"


    "I-," Francis gulped, "I think I can."


    "Good," Khan voiced. "Your family might want you back once the news spreads. You''ll have the chance to leave at that point."


    "Should I?" Francis asked. His insecurity was evident, but Khan couldn''t make that decision for him.


    "If you think what we did is enough," Khan stated. "If you want to keep improving, you should stay."


    "I''ll stay," Francis promptly responded. "I''ll stay."


    "Then, take care of the political side for now," Khan ordered. "We''ll resume training once we recover."


    Khan didn''t wait for Francis'' answer. He left the isted area to approach the first soldier on his way, and thetter gave directions for the imminent departure.


    The Global Army had prepared a big ship under the Headmistress'' orders. The vehicle was asrge as a t, containing multiple private rooms for doctors and patients. A team tasked with escorting the injured was already on board, and Khan also had a bed reserved for him.


    Khan watched as soldiers brought everyone inside and gave the okay once the process was over. He also kept track of the set-off before heading for Monica''s room and resuming their cuddly rest. The ship was rtively slow, so the two had the chance to stretch their break by a lot.


    Lauter was close to the Harbor, but the ship flew slowly to make the tripfortable for everyone, so the group approached their home on the morning of the new week.


    The day had lessons, but none of the soldiers mentioned them. Medical teams equipped with special vehicles picked up Khan and the others to fly them to specific hospitals, where doctors changed bandages and medications.


    At that point, the group split. George remained in the hospital since he had no reason to leave. Francis returned to his t, and Khan assigned Andrew to Monica and Wayne since they had to get back to more private areas for political reasons.


    Khan would have happily followed Monica to continue their rest, but the Headmistress summoned him as soon as his new set of bandages was done. She had also prepared a private ride for him, which flew to the embassy tond on one of the roofs connected to her office.


    "Ma''am," Khan announced as soon as he stepped into the Headmistress'' office and saw her behind her desk.


    "Captain, sit," Headmistress Holwen ordered, standing up to point at a chair before her desk.


    "I''m fine like this," Khan reassured.


    "I''m not going to repeat myself," Headmistress Holwen uttered, her hand still pointed at the chair.


    ''She is pissed,'' Khan understood,plying with the Headmistress'' orders, ''But not to me.''


    "I want aplete update," Headmistress Holwen ordered, returning to her seat as soon as Khan sat down, "Including details about your mysterious source."


    "I think it''s better to keep that a secret," Khan dered.


    "Captain," Headmistress Holwen called, her voice growing colder. "A criminal organization delivered a weapon capable of blowing up moons into one of the Harbor''s most important locations. This is terrorism."


    "I understand, ma''am," Khan spoke the truth. "However, revealing my source''s identity would force you to pursue it, which wouldn''t be good for the Harbor."


    There wasn''t a single lie in Khan''s statement. That act of terrorism required thorough investigations and heavy punishments. Raymond could easily pass for an aplice since he knew about the bomb, but the Harbor didn''t have the power to incriminate him. His family alone was enough to stop the Headmistress.


    "I see," Headmistress Holwen eximed. "It seems you finally understood our delicate position."


    "I do," Khan nodded, but the Headmistress suddenly stood up, mming her palms on the desk.


    "Then, why did you spare Wayne Mauder?!" Headmistress Holwen shouted. "Do you know how many trackers they found inside him?"


    "The doctor wouldn''t tell me," Khan casually replied.


    "You brought an unknown threat to the Harbor," The Headmistress continued, "And I heard you n to hire him. Are you out of your mind, Captain?"


    "I need him for personal reasons, ma''am," Khan stated. "I also n to get rid of any psychological training he went through before granting him some freedom."


    "What happens when someonees to question him?" Headmistress Holwen asked. "He is a criminal. He should be handed to the Global Army."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Technically," Khan voiced, but the Headmistress mmed her palms again. She knew thest video had blurred Wayne''s face, but rumors had already spread. Anyone wouldbel him as a criminal.


    "He won''t stay here for long, ma''am," Khan promised. "I only need you to cover for him until I find a better solution."


    "You are asking a lot from metely," Headmistress Holwen snorted.


    "I found the bomb, didn''t I?" Khan questioned. "I had to put my friends and girlfriend at risk to clean this mess. I think I deserve some help."


    Headmistress Holwen fell silent. Truth be told, Khan had stayed true to his word, getting to the bottom of the matter and paying the price with his own body. The Headmistress wished to clean everything up and never talk about it again, but Khan had earned some leeway.


    "I still expect aplete update," Headmistress Holwen scoffed, returning to her seat. "We both need to be ready for what''sing."


    "What do you mean, ma''am?" Khan asked.


    "I had to notify the specific offices when I learnt about the bomb''s origin," Headmistress Holwen exined, "Which in turn notified our alien friends. The Thilku are a proud species, so they sent a team to join the investigation."


    "The Thilku areing here?" Khan gasped.


    "This is a political incident even if the bomb didn''t explode," Headmistress Holwen revealed. "I''d learn some Thilku. As themanding officer of your mission, you have to be there to meet them."

 Chapter 540 War

    Khan briefed the Headmistress on what he knew. He mentioned that two criminal organizations had their hands on the failed attack, with Mister Chares being a mere carrier of the actual bomb. Still, after that, the Headmistress let him go to focus on the political repercussions.


    The Headmistress wasn''t the only one who had to deal with politics. As soon as Khan got in the cab, a call reached his phone and looking at the name on the screen made him heave a helpless sigh.


    "Mother-inw," Khan eximed when he answered the call. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"


    "Captain, I remember telling you to stop calling me like this," Madam Solodrey snorted. "What happened to your voice? Are you free to speak?"


    "Don''t tell me you are worried about me, ma''am," Khanughed. "I truly grew on you."


    "Nonsense," Madam Solodrey coldly said. "I mentioned that because of my dear daughter. Is she okay?"


    "She didn''t suffer any injury," Khan reassured. "She was forced to use her element, but I didn''t reveal any specifics during the mandatory briefings. I also made sure to hide her appearance."


    "That wasmendable," Madam Solodrey stated, "For a mutt."


    "I merely followed your instructions, ma''am," Khan responded. "I''ll be the perfect son-inw."


    "I wish you stopped bringing that up," Madam Solodrey sighed. "Anyway, I expect an update from my daughter once she is presentable. Usually, it takes her a few days topletely recover."


    "Leave this to me, ma''am," Khan dered. "I''ll scrub her clean every day to elerate the process."


    "Captain, what do you mean by that?!" Madam Solodrey gasped.


    "It seems I have to go," Khan casually voiced. "It''s always a pleasure, mother-inw."


    Madam Solodrey didn''t get to add anything since Khan closed the call and let the phone fall on the seat to his right. Another sigh escaped his mouth as he kicked a drawer in the passenger''s area to reveal a bottle. All the high-end cabs offered that service, and he wouldn''t refuse it right now.


    Khan''s fingers had partially recovered during the flight, so he wielded the bottle and took long sips that tainted his bandages while thoughts assaulted his mind. A lot had happened, and that trip back to the second district gave him a chance to review everything.


    Raymond was the most striking detail. That mysterious and knowledgeable man clearly had ns for Khan, and he couldn''t decide how to handle him. Khan couldn''t ignore him either since he was the only figure in his life who seemed to know about the Nak.


    The existence of multiple criminal organizations was another big problem. The Hive was on the terrorist spectrum, while Mister Chares seemed to work as a mediator. Khan didn''t forget how the soldier on Lauter called him a mercenary, and that was the best guess he could muster.


    Khan''s political array had also grown moreplicated. Adding Francis and Wayne to his life brought heavy responsibilities requiring constant attention. He even had to report to the Solodrey family for almost everything, further worsening his situation.


    The meeting with the Headmistress was only thest of Khan''s new problems. The Thilku were humankind''s allies. The Global Army needed to protect its rtionship with that species without appearing weak, and Khan had somehow gotten involved with it.


    ''Wait,'' Khan considered. ''Don''t tell me Raymond nned this.''


    Khan''s growth was happening. It had never stopped, whether in terms of personal power or political relevance. However, he had yet to rify his direction, which could be anything due to his many options.


    Any family would hire Khan, and the Solodrey family also had priority in that field. Khan had worked for the Harbor to avoid involving himself with that aspect of the political array, but it existed and remained strong.


    Still, getting formally close to a family risked locking Khan out of his prospects and dying his goal of finding the Nak. His best bet was to make his achievements as a student lead into ambassador-rted jobs, and the recent mission seemed to have done just that.


    ''I''m just joining a meeting for now,'' Khan thought. ''The final testse before looking for a job.''


    Of course, a meeting with a Thilku team sent for a political investigation was a big deal. Khan needed to prepare ordingly, which was exactly what he did in the week following the meeting. The injuries also shielded him from eventual visits, giving him more time to focus on his studies.


    Since everyone was injured, tired, or bedridden, Monica and Khan got the chance to iste themselves. Andrew was keeping track of Wayne, while George had to deal with Anita, so the couple enjoyed their privacy without forgetting about Khan''s imminent duties.


    The week went by quickly, and the same went for the three days that followed. Yet, on the morning of the fourth day, Khan found himself before the t''s entrance with a figure clung tightly to his waist and seemingly unwilling to let him go.


    "Monica, the cab will arrive in minutes," Khan sighed.


    "So, we can spend more minutes together," Monica muttered, rubbing her head on Khan''s back while tightening her hug even more.


    "You just adjusted my uniform," Khan chuckled, peeking at the mess Monica was making.


    "I''ll adjust it again," Monica pouted.


    "You just did," Khan reminded, "And that was the second time already."


    "You would remain messy with just one," Monica pointed out.


    "That''s true," Khanughed, tapping on Monica''s arms to make her rx.


    Monica understood the silent gesture and rxed the hug without breaking it. Khan turned, and the two faced each other to fall into a deep look.


    Khan had mostly healed during the past days. His bandages were gone, but his shoulder was still broken, and the metal brace was there to help it recover. His hair, eyebrows, and eyshes had yet to regrowpletely, but someone hade to the t to adjust his appearance the previous day.


    As for Monica, she had regained her natural glow. Her skin was smooth, her curls shone with softness, and her eyes carried their usual fire. The many days spent alone with Khan had actually intensified that part.


    "I don''t want our honeymoon to end," Monica whined.


    "I hope our actual honeymoon won''t have so much study," Khanmented, reaching for Monica''s left cheek.


    Monica reached for Khan''s hand, rubbing it to show her ring. The item had a small crack now due to her eruption, but she still wore it proudly.


    "Don''t get in any fight," Monica lovingly warned.


    "It''s a political event," Khan reassured.


    "You always manage to get into fights," Monica stated, "And suffer injuries."


    "I''ll be the embodiment of peace," Khan promised.


    "And don''t get close to any woman," Monica continued. "Cover your eyes if you see one."


    "You should just carve them out at this point," Khan suggested.


    "No," Monica shook her head. "I love your eyes."


    Khan smirked, sliding his thumb toward Monica''s mouth to y with her lower lip and add a genuine "I love you".<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "No nasty alien business either," Monica added. "You have a weak spot for them."


    "You have seen the Thilku," Khan dered. "They are too tall."


    "Jenna was tall," Monica pointed out.


    "They are not you," Khan changed tactics, and Monica couldn''t help but remain speechless. Still, that peace didn''tst long.


    "You should have said that they don''t have my butt!" Monica cried, pulling Khan''s hand to put it on her butt.


    "I miss how shy you were about that," Khan chuckled, pulling Monica closer to exchange a goodbye kiss.


    "I''ll prepare more notes while you are away," Monica whispered once the kiss ended. "Come back soon."


    "I will," Khan promised, separating to let Monica adjust his uniform. "I know that my girlfriend needs me."


    "And your girlfriend needs you every hour of every day," Monica nodded. "She is showing mercy in sharing you with the rest of the world."


    "But not for too long," Khanpleted.


    "Exactly," Monica imed, ncing at Khan to check his appearance onest time and nodding in approval. "Go now before I make a mess again."


    Khan and Monica kissed again but eventually split. It was early, so he had to wait a few minutes on the sidewalk for his cab, but his trip to the embassy began on time.


    The tension of the imminent meeting reached Khan inside the solitude of the cab, but some excitement also showed its face. He couldn''t wait to learn more about the Thilku. As Monica said, aliens were his weak spot.


    After arriving at the embassy, the cabnded on one of the topmost roofs, and a team of soldiers weed Khan. He expected to see a grand hall perfectly decorated and prepared for the asion when he reached his destination, but the reality turned out to be quite different.


    The soldiers led Khan into a simple hall. The ce was as big as two living rooms, but no seats or tables upied it. Menus shone on the walls, but the areacked any decoration or furniture. Khan had seen training facilities more furnished than that.


    However, the people inside the hall confirmed that Khan was in the right ce. He saw the Headmistress with four soldiers he didn''t recognize, and only one of them was a fourth-level warrior. Everyone else looked stronger.


    As for the clothing, everyone but one wore military uniforms. The exception was an old-looking man donning a thick red cape, dark shirt, and pants. That was the Thilku''s iconic color, and Khan recognized it.


    "I hope I''m notte," Khan announced, his eyes drawn by the red man. His face was wrinkled, and his white hair and short beard had lost any trace of vitality, but his burly figure radiated pure strength.


    "You are perfectly on time, Captain," Headmistress Holwen eximed, pointing at a spot on her right. "Though I''m afraid the introductions will have to wait. I received word that the Thilku team is already on its way."


    Khan didn''tin or add anything. He headed for the spot pointed by the Headmistress, and she gave further instructions in the following seconds. Soon, a formation that put the Headmistress and the caped man under the spotlight took form while Khan and the other three soldiers stood at their sides to create lines.


    No one spoke. A tense wait unfolded, and theck of nces intensified that feeling. Everyone fixed their gazes forward, wearing their most serious expressions to prepare for the meeting.


    A menu eventually lit up under the Headmistress'' feet, and she tapped on it to open the hall''s entrance. A team of soldiers became visible, but the red color behind them soon imed everyone''s attention.


    Five big figures walked behind the soldiers. They were all between two and two and a half meters tall, and their tight dark uniforms highlighted their burly shapes. They also wore thick red capes simr to the old man''s, but Khan quickly moved to different details.


    The aliens had t noses, big, wrinkled foreheads, and dark-red skin. They merely had holes for ears. Their mouths were oddly big, while their eyes were small. Their rectangr heads also didn''t have much hair except for that growing from their napes.


    ''So,'' Khan thought, ''These are the Thilku.''


    Khan''s eyes fell on the Thilku''s hands when the escort team joined the two lines. That species had six fingers with two opposable thumbs. That was their most alien feature except for their dark-red skin.


    "[Wee, friends]," The caped man announced, grabbing the right edge of his mantle and stretching his arm to perform a bow.


    "Thank you for having us," The Thilku in the lead eximed in an almost-perfect human ent, performing the same gesture which hispanions imitated.


    Khan had studied that gesture. That bow was part of the Thilku customs, and his senses picked up more than that. The Thilku didn''t have striking differences between men and women. Their bodies were almost identical, except for their sexual organs and hair color. Men tended to have white shades, while women had golden ones.


    ''Three men and two women,'' Khan counted as the symphony provided more information. ''Only three are fourth-level warriors. The others are in the third level.''


    That was a perfectly decent team, but the force deployed by the Global Army far outssed it. The Headmistress alone could defeat all the aliens, and the area had three more soldiers as strong as her. A stranger would think the Harbor was trying to show off, but Khan knew that was a form of respect toward the Thilku.


    "If you don''t mind," The Thilku in the lead continued, "We would like to see the bomb to confirm it has Thilku origins."


    "Our specialists already checked it," Headmistress Holwen joined the conversation. "It''s Thilku."


    "A Thilku bomb would have exploded," The alien imed, and his big mouth broadened into a smile that showed his long canine tooth.


    "Luckily," Headmistress Holwen stated, "A capable team was in the area and defused it. We exined that in our report."


    "You did," The Thilku agreed, crossing his burly arms on his chest. "However, it''s hard to believe it."


    A Thilku behind the speaker, one of the third-level warriors, snorted when he heard those words. His scarlet eyes even peeked at Khan, but he didn''t dare to utter anything without explicit approval.


    "It seems your subordinate has something to say," Headmistress Holwenmented. "Why don''t we hear him?"


    The Thilku in charge turned toward the third-level warrior and voiced a hoarse order that sounded like a threat. "[Speak]."


    "Blue hair can''t defuse bomb," The third-level warrior said with the best human ent he could muster.


    "Captain Khan aplished incredible feats multiple times," Headmistress Holwen dered. "This simply is another one."


    "Thilku stronger than human," The third-level warrior continued. "Blue hair can''t strong enough for bomb."


    Khan understood that political move even before it becameplete. The Thilku wanted to challenge Khan''s report by undermining his figure. They were technically telling the truth too, so calling them out would hurt their pride.


    "Well," Headmistress Holwen uttered, pointing her gaze at Khan. "Captain Khan, do you have anything to say in your defense?"


    Many eyes fell on Khan, including those belonging to the Thilku team. Yet, he only looked at the third-level warrior while a n formed in his mind. The Thilku wanted tobel him as weak, so he had to find something that proved the opposite and, ideally, bound him to that field.


    "Blue hair can talk?" The third-level warrior asked since Khan had spent a few seconds silent.


    Khan cleared his throat and summoned his best ent before speaking. "[You war me. You die]."N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 541 Strong

    Khan''s statement had been an obvious challenge. Some might find it insulting, but his choice of words had been precise and specific for the current situation.


    Passing as weak wasn''t an option. Khan wouldn''t only lose face if he let those statements go. The Global Army would also have a problem since the Thilku wouldn''t have a reason to take the matter too seriously.


    Still, words were pointless, especially if spoken by Khan. He held no political relevance in that field, so fighting was his only option, and openly challenging a Thilku was bound to lead there.


    Silence spread in the hall. Many weaker soldiers widened their eyes in shock, but the more experienced ones remained calm. The Headmistress and her fellow higher-ups even held back approving nods. They knew what Khan was up to and agreed to that path.


    Instead, the Thilku showed different reactions. The third-level warrior that had insulted Khan appeared livid, and a couple of hispanions shared that emotion. As for the man in charge, he looked amused.


    "Why don''t you see Captain Khan''s prowess by yourself," Headmistress Holwen suggested before the situation could degenerate. "We could arrange a fight."


    The Thilku in charge had to stop looking at Khan. He could ignore ament from a simple soldier, but the Headmistress held too much authority. Besides, a response was necessary now that the offer was in the open.


    Refusing wasn''t an option for the Thilku. After all, they were famously proud, and the alien group made that clear with their reaction. Soon, all the Thilku nced at their leader, eager for him to ept the offer.


    The alien leader turned toward Khan. His dark-red eyes inspected him from head to toe before lingering on his metal brace. Clearly, Khan was still injured, but his expression conveyed pure confidence.


    "[Beat him]," The alien leader eventually uttered, and the third-level warrior exploded into augh before pointing his eager gaze at Khan. He appeared ready to kill him, but Khan didn''t flinch.


    "Clear the room," Headmistress Holwen ordered. "The fight will happen here."


    "Yes, ma''am!" Many soldiers shouted, performing military salutes before heading for the exit. The hall regained its partial emptiness, leaving only the original teams behind.


    "This way, please," The Headmistress eventually ordered, pointing at one of the walls. "The two contestants can go to the center and await further orders."


    The Thilku and the Headmistress''panionsplied, approaching the wall to give Khan and the third-level warrior some room. Meanwhile, thetter stared at each other for a few seconds, one conveying pure coldness while the other as burning as possible.


    Khan shot a bored look at his opponent before heading for the hall''s center. The Thilku didn''t like that, but one nce at his leader told him he had to hold back for now. The alien eventually followed Khan, and the two faced each other once they reached their destination.


    "There will be no killing on Harbor ground," Headmistress Holwen warned. "Is that clear?"


    "Yes, ma''am," Khan eximed while the alien limited himself to a loud scoff.


    Silence fell. Khan pretended to inspect the alien while various thoughts filled his mind. He had a precise n which required his lying skills to implement. Yet, first, he had to make the Thilku understand the difference between their strength.


    "You can start!" Headmistress Holwen shouted, and the third-level warrior exploded into anotherugh while spreading his muscr arms.


    "Come, blue hair," The Thilku announced, clearly wanting Khan to make the first move. "Attack Thilku!"


    Khan decided to remain silent for a few more seconds, conveying disregard for the threat posed by the alien. That made the Thilku angrier, but Khan spoke before he could break that stalemate.


    "Remove your cape," Khan said, nodding at the alien''s thick mantle.


    "Thilku don''t need to," The third-level warriorughed. "Thilku strong!"


    "As you wish," Khan sighed. "Help my legs."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Wha-?" The Thilku began to ask, but his voice transformed into a grunt before he could finish his line. His red eyes even widened in surprise. He had lost track of Khan, and something heavy hadnded at the center of his torso.


    The Thilku lowered his gaze only to find Khan under him. He had delivered a precise kick to his belly, and his leg was still in the air. The alien wanted to grab it, but his body opposed that gesture and tried to crouch forward.


    Khan didn''t know much about Thilku''s anatomy, but the mana told him that his attack had dealt enough damage. He could probably finish the fight with his next move, but a simple victory wouldn''t be enough. He had to destroy his opponent to im respect.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The leg in the air surged upward, hitting the descending alien''s chin and straightening his position. However, Khan didn''t stop there. He immediately lowered his limb and crouched forward before delivering another kick.


    Khan focused on pushing rather than destroying. His kicknded on the alien''s abdomen, lifting him from the ground. Another attack followed, sending him upward. The Thilku escaped Khan''s range at that point, but he jumped and continued his offensive.


    A series of kicks unfolded. Khan focused on the Thilku''s abdomen and chest to push him higher and higher. The alien''s back eventually hit the ceiling, but Khan kept going.


    Needless to say, that overwhelming performance left the Thilku on the floor speechless. They were a proud species, but no one could me them for that performance. Khan was simply too strong, especially in the eyes of the fourth-level warriors who had kept up with his speed.


    The human side had opposite reactions. Those higher-ups couldn''t help but feel proud before such an overwhelming disy of skills. Khan''s performance surprised them too, but they preferred to focus on the political benefits that would arrive.


    Khan kicked and kicked until the metal behind the Thilku bent. He had damaged the ceiling, which was enough to prove his strength.


    ''The ending now,'' Khan thought, tapping on the air to spin on himself and deliver a kick that sent the Thilku toward the floor.


    That round kick wasn''t random. Khan didn''t only n it. He had also aimed it with a precise purpose in mind. The Thilku flew directly toward his alienpanions, who moved away and made him crash into the wall.


    No one helped the third-level warrior. The aliens stood still since the battle had yet to end, and the fourth-level warriors among them soon found something else to watch. Khan had immediatelynded among them to stand before his opponent.


    Khan didn''t deign the other aliens with a single look. His attention remained on his opponent. The third-level warrior had slid on the floor, unable to stand in time for his arrival. One of his arms was also on his abdomen, hinting at his pain. Yet, his eyes were still clear and ready for battle.


    ''I went easy on him,'' Khan thought without showing any reaction, ''But he is tougher than I expected.''


    Khan wanted the Thilku to look a bit more roughed up, but that part of the n didn''t work his way. His offensive had hurt the alien but didn''t break his resolve. It had actually intensified it.


    ''Time for the finale,'' Khan thought, and the coldness on his face vanished, reced by a genuine smile and a tinge of excitement. He had learnt how to deal with the Ef''i long ago, so he hoped simr behavior could work with the Thilku.


    "Wow," Khan eximed, stretching his hand forward and clearing his throat. "[Thilku strong]!"


    The sudden switch in behavior left the Thilku surprised but slightly pleased. Khan had every right to make the third-level warrior pay for his previous insults but had opted for respect. The praise didn''t fit the battle''s oue but had great value in that political environment.


    The third-level warrior seemed inclined to take Khan''s hand right away, but his broadening smile froze when he recalled something. He nced at his leader and resumed that gesture only when he nodded in approval.


    "Blue hair strong too," The third-level warrior eventually announced, taking Khan''s hand and letting him help with the standing process. The alien even followed with a formal bow to show respect.


    "I trust this demonstration proves Captain Khan''s worth," Headmistress Holwen eximed, reaching the Thilku group with herpanions.


    "He is an exceptional soldier," The alien leader praised, facing the Headmistress to perform a customary bow. "The Global Army is lucky to have him."


    "It is," Headmistress Holwen nodded. "I believe we can put the previous topic aside."


    "Indeed," The alien leader confirmed. "However, checking the bomb will be necessary at some point. A Thilku opinion can only help."


    The conversation''s vibe hadpletely changed. The alien leader was basically making the same request as before, but his words had gotten far politer, and he didn''t add any veiled insult or praise to them.


    "Of course," Headmistress Holwen agreed. "Cooperation is mandatory in this investigation. That''s the foundation of our alliance."


    "And friendship," The alien leader continued. "With our forcesbined, this investigation will be short and easy."


    Smiles broadened on both sides, but facial expressions couldn''t blind Khan. He saw beyond those political gestures to look directly at the mana, and the auras from both aliens and humans told him that no one believed in that statement.

 Chapter 542 Path

    The politeness and mutual respect remained strong for the rest of the meeting. Headmistress Holwen, herpanions, and the alien leader exchanged basic pleasantries typical to that political environment without going too deep into the investigation''s details or specifics.


    Khan didn''t expect anything different. The Thilku and the Global Army were testing the waters to see where they stood. Actual political actions would require further authorizations, preparations, and deals which the people in the meeting didn''t have the authority to grant.


    Khan could only remain silent while those pleasantries flew. His role in that meeting was over, so he focused on the mana and other details to better understand the situation.


    The possibility of a cross-species investigation scared both sides for obvious reasons. Any criminal presence would make a party lose face in front of its allies. None of that could hit the public eye. Heavy repercussions could unfold otherwise.


    Nevertheless, the existence of that bomb had to lead somewhere. The investigation had to happen. Only the how had yet to be clear.


    Khan could easily understand the Thilku''s perspective when hepared it to the human situation. The Global Army had much to learn from the alien criminals since they would be aware of political secrets and hidden routes. The same went for the Thilku, but the fact that humankind had the bomb put them at a disadvantage.


    If an investigation were to happen, the Global Army would probably push for it to stretch into the Thilku''s domain. That was a natural consequence of the current situation, and the Thilku could only dy the inevitable.


    ''They''ll probably try to give us scapegoats,'' Khan understood when the meeting seemed about to end. ''That will make everyone happy and give them a chance to perform private investigations.''


    Of course, nothing simr ever escaped the teams'' mouths, but Khan had studied enough to understand those details. Monica had also walked him through those topics, so he knew his hypothesis was reasonable. Khan actually didn''t mind that development. He only wanted to benefit from it.


    "I think it''s time for you to see the bomb," Headmistress Holwen eventually announced, distracting Khan from his thoughts. "Don''t you agree?"


    "It would move this meeting forward," The alien leader agreed.


    "Please, then," Headmistress Holwen stated, pointing at the hall''s exit. "We already have a ship ready, and the team is in position. Why don''t you make yourselvesfortable for now?"


    "We can''t allowfort during a mission," The alien leader dered. "However, we''ll do our best to enjoy your hospitality."


    "That''s enough," Headmistress Holwen uttered. "We''ll see you in a few minutes."


    The only fourth-level warrior among the human team led the aliens outside the hall, leaving the Headmistress, her threepanions, and Khan inside. Those higher-ups''posure slightly rxed when the exit closed, but Khan saw their eyes converging on him right afterward.


    "To think you''d challenge a Thilku to a fight," The old man wearing the Thilku''s clothing eximed. "I heard about you, Captain Khan, but it looks like the rumors don''t do you justice."


    "This is Mister Cirvags," Headmistress Holwen intervened. "Hemands all the Harbor''s offices connected to the Thilku. The Thilku themselves consider him as a friend as stated by his clothes."


    "I have been in this field for over fifty years," Mister Cirvags revealed. "I must say, this is the first time someone has made such a good impression on the Thilku."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan uttered, performing a military salute with one arm. "I have a way with aliens."


    "I heard that too," Mister Cirvags responded, scratching his short beard. "Though, your actions have been reckless. Were you to lose, the meeting would have gone far differently."


    "I knew I could take him, sir," Khan dered, "And so did you."


    Khan''s confidence didn''t trigger any scolding. The Headmistress scoffed, Mister Cirvags kept scratching his beard, and one of the other men smiled. The mana also confirmed that reaction. The group liked Khan''s answer.


    "The confidence is on point," Mister Cirvags stated, "But your ent is way off. I don''t allow ckers into my offices."


    "He still has more than a month," The smiling man announced. "By the way, I''m Cecil Usten, Captain. I oversee any interspecies operation in the Harbor."


    "And I''m rk Onsai," Thest man dered. "I''m Professor Parver''s boss. Well, I oversee most of the Harbor''s scientific department, and many specialists are willing to vouch for you."


    Khan could vaguely understand where that conversation was going but still asked a question to rify that point. "What are you offering me?"


    "That''s a talk for another time," Headmistress Holwen intervened again. "You should focus on studying now. We can talk once yourst tests'' results are out."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Correct me if I''m wrong, ma''am," Khan voiced, "But it seems it would be better if I studied the Thilkunguage and politics too."


    "If you can handle it," Headmistress Holwen remained vague. "Many doors will open for you after your graduation. You''d only have to choose one."


    "I understand, ma''am," Khan nodded.


    "Now, your presence isn''t necessary for the rest of the meeting," Headmistress Holwen revealed. "A ship will be ready for you in a few minutes. If I were you, I''d go home and put my business in order."


    Khan didn''t say anything but understood what the Headmistress meant. He would have to make important decisions about his future in the next months, and his home still had responsibilities that could affect them.


    "It was a pleasure, Captain Khan," Mister Onsai stated, slightly lowering his head in respect. "If the situation were any different, my offices wouldn''t have hesitated to send a few offers of their own."


    "I concur," Mister Usten added. "Still, hopefully, you''ll be free soon enough. I''m sure we''ll have another conversation at that point."


    "Let''s not make our guests wait," Headmistress Holwen reminded. "Captain, it''s better if you wait for the appointed team to summon you. You don''t have clearance for most of these areas anyway."


    "It was a pleasure, Headmistress," Khan politely eximed. "Sirs."


    The group nodded and exchanged pleased expressions before heading for the exit. Khan kept his head lowered the whole time, but the closing of the metal doors made him lift it. Still, his eyes never looked at the metal. He had too much to think about to care about the hall.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''A job with the Thilku,'' Khan immediately realized. ''That''s my ticket into the ambassador''s field.''


    The Headmistress and herpanions had kept everything vague, but their words had sounded more than obvious to Khan. He also knew his unique position. He had yed a key role in discovering the bomb, so it made sense for the Global Army to want him as part of the investigation.


    ''A political job,'' Khan thought, unable to stop the excitement rising in him. ''A real political job.''


    That was the first real step toward Khan''s main goal. The Thilku were only one of the alien species the Global Army had rtionships with, but that didn''t change the truth. Joining that world would give Khan political power and knowledge over interspecies politics. He could really start investigating the Nak from there.


    Of course, everything had a price, and the Headmistress''panions had vaguely mentioned them. Mister Onsai and Mister Usten were leaders of different areas willing to offer Khan more positions. By opting for the political field, he would close those doors for an unknown amount of time.


    Khan didn''t forget how everything had started with Raymond either. Thetter could have very well predicted that oue and prepared ordingly. There was a chance Mister Cirvags'' offices had spies or proper criminals. It would actually be reasonable since a Thilku bomb had managed to reach the Harbor''s system.


    ''Though I can''t refuse it, can I?'' Khan considered. ''It''s too good for my career.''


    An ordinary soldier wouldn''t have the chance to refuse direct orders, but Khan didn''t belong to that group. He had many families on his side which could offer valuable alternatives. Nothing forced him to continue working for the Global Army, but that probably was his best option. He risked losing his freedom otherwise.


    Khan carefully adjusted his brace. His shoulder had hurt a bit during the battle, but nothing serious had happened. Yet, that pain reminded him about Monica''s warning and the problems connected with that situation.


    ''They might send me out of the Harbor,'' Khan thought, ''And I can''t leave Francis and Wayne alone. It would reflect poorly on my image.''


    The Headmistress had been clear on that point, but Khan didn''t need her warning. He had already considered multiple options for hispanions. Francis was rtively easy to handle, but Wayne was a big problem, and Khan needed help with him.


    ''I have to call another political meeting, don''t I?'' Khan cursed.


    The sole thought of having so many descendants in the t again tried to trigger a headache, but Khan couldn''t find better options. Wayne needed specialists to undo Mister Chares'' psychological training, and only the families could offer that service without asking too many questions.


    ''More meetings,'' Khan sighed, ''More study, more politics.''


    Khan couldn''t look forward to the next period, but a new determination appeared in that mess. If he yed his cards well, he would get on the path that could finally bring answers to his greatest curse. He might finally find the Nak.

 Chapter 543 Future

    Khan followed the Headmistress'' instructions, leaving the hangar only when a team of soldiers summoned him. A cab was also waiting for him, so his trip back to the second district began immediately.


    Quelling the excitement wasn''t easy, and Khan even failed to put it down for good. It was simply impossible for him to suppress that feeling. After all, he had spent more than three years getting where he was, and his efforts were finally about to pay off.


    Still, the excitement didn''t stop troublesome thoughts from filling Khan''s mind. He couldn''t ignore his problems when he was so close to stepping onto his sought path, and those ideas afflicted his thoughts even when the elevator brought him to his t.


    "Khan?" Monica excitedly called as soon as the t notified her, and Khan didn''t hesitate to hurry into the main hall to meet her. She came out of a corridor to greet him, but her broad smile vanished when she saw him.


    Monica squinted her eyes and approached Khan to smell his uniform. She even inspected his brace and shoes before ring at his face.


    "You fought," Monica stated.


    "How did you-?" Khan questioned.


    "I knew it!" Monica eximed, reaching for Khan''s uniform to unbutton it. She even lowered his pants to check whether he had suffered any injury.


    "I''m fine," Khan reassured, crouching to grab Monica''s side and pull her up with him. "Monica, I''m fine."


    "How can you always get into fights?!" Monica scolded, stomping her feet.


    "The Thilku didn''t believe I defused the bomb," Khan exined shortly. "I had to show them what I can do."


    "I''ll call the doctor," Monica dered, pulling up her phone.


    "I''m fine," Khan repeated. "Well, not as fine as him."


    Monica frowned, but Khan eventually nodded toward a spot behind her. She turned only to see a smiling Wayne standing at the corridor''s edges. Thetter was the embodiment of excitement, and his eyes often fell on Khan''s lowered pants.


    "Wayne, remember what we said about privacy?" Monica snorted, quickly pulling up Khan''s pants to cover him.


    "So," Wayne announced, "The woman pulls down the man''s pants as soon as he gets home. I get it. I get it."


    "Wayne!" Monica shouted.


    "Don''t take anything we do as normal," Khan chuckled, pulling Monica onto his chest. "She is just on the lewd end of the spectrum."


    "Khan!" Monica cried.


    "I see!" Wayne''s eyes lit up. "I have to adjust my idea of Miss Solodrey."


    "Stop using Wayne to tease me," Monicained, hiding her face in Khan''s chest. "It''s fine only when we are alone."


    "This is what I call a low blow," Khan exined to Wayne. "Now I can''t find the strength to tease her anymore."


    "Taking notes!" Wayne nodded, and Khanughed when Monica let out a suppressed scream.


    "Okay, okay," Khan uttered, rubbing Monica''s hair. "Let''s sit for a while. I have to talk to you two."


    Wayne smiled, sprinting through the hall to perform a precise leap that ended right at the center of a couch. He even put his hands on his knees, seemingly excited about the iing talk.


    Khan and Monica didn''t miss that gesture, and simr thoughts invaded their minds. Wayne had been far worse off than any of them but had recoveredpletely in half the time.


    "I wish you could heal that quickly," Monicamented.


    "He just needs to go through the same experiments!" Wayne responded. "The needles aren''t too bad, but-."


    "I changed my mind," Monica interrupted, taking Khan''s face in her hands to deliver a short kiss. "I''ll get you a drink, dear."


    Khan couldn''t help but wear a dumb smile as he watched Monica leave his chest to head for one of the hall''s drawers. She even peeked at him during her slow walk, and her expression revealed how pleased she was that he was looking at her.


    A helpless sigh escaped Khan''s mouth as he headed for a couch before Wayne''s. Thetter waited patiently, but his face was the image of a hyperactive kid ready to start a game.


    "Where is Andrew?" Khan asked.


    "He is sparring with Francis," Wayne revealed. "They should be back soon."


    Khan nodded before lifting his gaze when Monica approached the array of couches. She delivered a full ss to Wayne before sitting on Khan''s right to make sure he could hug her. Of course, the couple also got their respective drinks.


    "So," Khan announced, clearing his throat. "Nothing is official yet, but I''m pretty sure I''ll get to work with the Thilku once I graduate."


    "Is it because of the bomb?" Monica asked.


    "Precisely," Khan confirmed. "I don''t know the details, but it makes sense for the Harbor to want me on the field. I''m the most informed about the human side in the end."


    "Which isn''t much," Monica sighed, ncing at Wayne. "Are you sure you can''t tell us more about the criminals? You might know useful details."


    "Even if I knew," Wayneughed, "I might be unable to reveal them. I lost count of how many restrictions they put on me."


    Monica and Khan couldn''t help but show sad smiles. No matter how many times they heard Wayne''s story, his life remained terrible.


    "That''s one of the things I wanted to talk about," Khan said. "Holing myself in the t while I''m a student is fine, but an actual job will probably require my presence. They might very well send me out of the Harbor."


    "I''lle with you!" Wayne eximed.


    "The Headmistress made it very clear that you are still a criminal in the Global Army''s eyes," Khan exined, "And I don''t have the authority to clear your name. Once I''m out of the picture, many families will probably ask for your head."


    "My neck can survive all sorts of cutting!" Wayne proudly imed.


    "It''s not about that," Monica intervened. "You''d only slow Khan down right now. You need to get your head fixed so we can finally learn more about his heritage."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "He is a noble," Wayne stated, "Just like me."


    "Yes," Monica sighed, "But his situation doesn''t make much sense. You im they had epted his parents. How can a single incident make them cut ties?"


    "Maybe there is more to the Second Impact," Khan guessed.


    "I understand the Global Army having more connections to the Nak than it lets out," Monica voiced, "But you are talking about conspiracies. There are cleaner ways to kill important figures."


    "Even nobles?" Khan wondered.


    "Only the nobles know that," Monica shook her head. "Though, I think sending a Nak ship with a living Nak inside is too much. It simply draws too much attention."


    "That''s true," Khan agreed. That wasn''t the first time they had that conversation, and the clues always pointed in the same direction. The Second Impact couldn''t have been part of arger ploy.


    "How is the Nak in your nightmares?" Wayne asked. "Tall? Strong? Stronger than us?"


    "Scared," Khan revealed. "I can feel its fear but can''t exin it."


    Monica ced a hand on Khan''s leg to make him feel her presence. Her words were useless in that situation, but her warmth could help.


    "I heard my mother was a troublemaker," Khan recalled, kissing Monica''s head to thank her for that gesture. "Maybe her family couldn''t wait to cut her away."


    "Maybe," Monica uttered. "I don''t think you can learn anything concrete right now."


    "You are right," Khan heaved a helpless sigh, lying his head on the couch''s back. "I need to focus on studying anyway. Your mother wants me to do well."


    "You also need to focus on me," Monica whined. "We won''t be able to see each other too often once the semester is over."


    "And me too!" Wayne eximed. "Let''s spend every day together!"


    "You are not sleeping in our room," Monica scolded.


    "But the bed is big enough for the three of us!" Wayne stated.


    "I''m not doing this again!" Monica cried.


    "Again?" Wayne asked.


    "It''s nothing," Monica promptly voiced, ring at Khan since he had worn a teasing smile. "Right?"


    "Right, right," Khanughed, but a notification lit up on the hall''s walls and distracted the trio.


    Khan, Monica, and Wayne nced toward the elevator room, and George soon walked out of it. He had also recovered, but aint escaped his mouth as soon as he reached the hall.


    "You started without me," George snorted.


    "You aren''t exactly easy to track these days," Khan teased. "Something tells me you are too busy with Anita as your nurse."


    "Never tell her that," George warned, heading for an empty couch and grabbing the bottle Monica had left on the floor.


    "So," Monica giggled, unable to hide how happy she was that things were working out for her friend. "Anita isn''t telling me much, but I heard she skipped a few lessons."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "She must have been busy studying," George vaguely said.


    "Busy?" Wayne repeated. "Khan, he meant sex, right?"


    "He did," Khan confirmed.


    "Come on, man," George scolded. "It''s me she gets angry at when you tease her like this."


    "We are teasing you," Khan pointed out.


    "Enjoy it while itsts," George snorted, seeing the three happy gazes pointed at him.


    "Are you going somewhere?" Khan questioned.


    "Well," George cleared his throat. "The semester is almost over. As boring as it sounds, I might have to return to my family and deal with some jobs."


    "When did you get so responsible?" Monica joked. "I thought you would have used any loophole toze around a bit longer."


    "Wait," Khan noticed something. "Is Anitaing with you?"


    "Maybe," George lowered his voice and hid his mouth behind the bottle. "She wants to meet my mother. You know, politics."


    Khan and Monica didn''t believe for a single second that the event was limited to politics. It had far deeper importance, especially when considering George''s character.


    "Stop looking at me like this," George cursed. "I bet you also made ns to keep being a married couple."


    "I wish," Khan stated, beating Monica. "We''ll see. Wayne is my biggest problem for now."


    "I''m the greatest problem!" Wayne proudly echoed.


    "I''m thinking about doing another meeting with the other descendants," Khan exined. "I can''t use the Solodrey family''s resources for his treatment. They''d just chain me tighter to them."


    "But the big families have a higher chance of having connections with the criminals," George pointed out. "Why don''t you send him to mine? It would be easier to control the process."

 Chapter 544 Shy

    "Are you sure?" Khan couldn''t help but ask. "I''d rather not cause problems for your family."


    "I don''t see other trustworthy options," George pointed out. "As far as we know, any family might have criminals."


    "Even yours," Khan added.


    "Yes," George nodded, "But my father would offer genuine support without cost or ploys."


    "That''s one of the reasons why I''d avoid it," Khan exined. "It''s impossible to transfer Wayne secretly, and epting him can create many enemies, not only among criminals."


    "I''ve been on many missions!" Wayneughed. "If they leak information about me, many families would request my presence."


    "We can''t be sure they''ll expose themselves so much," Monica eximed.


    "I should have died on Lauter," Wayneughed again. "Exposing my activities might lead to the same result."


    Wayne had a point. He had already infiltrated an environment filled with descendants. The criminals only had to release sensitive information about him to force the families'' hand. That ploy would also make sense since Wayne probably knew too much for his own good.


    "It''s too dangerous," Khan shook his head. He preferred to make a bad deal with the Solodrey family rather than involve George.


    "Oh, stop being so stubborn," George snorted. "You are not alone in this, and I have tons of debts to repay."


    "Having you here solved all of that," Khan announced.


    "Please," George snickered. "I came here toze around and rx."


    "Let''s not do this now," Khan cursed before that tant lie.


    "Khan," Monica called, tightening her grip on Khan''s leg. "Let him help. Let us help."


    Khan''s eyes darted between Monica''s pleading expression and George''s firm face. He didn''t care about the Solodrey family, but George was his friend. Ideally, Khan would keep his problems away from him, but that was his selfless side speaking.


    "I''ll entrust him to you," Khan eventually gave up, "But notify me if something happens. I''ll step in right away."


    "We''ll see about that," George teased.


    "George," Khan called in a scolding tone.


    "What?" George smirked. "I thought you trusted me."


    Khan opened his mouth, but George''s statement didn''t allow replies. Thetter was aware of that, and his smirk broadened when he noticed that Khan remained silent.


    "You should be wary, Mister Ildoo," Wayne announced, breaking the silence. "Things go bad around me."


    "Khan told me everything about your element," George stated, waving his hand dismissively. "I''m bringing a woman back home. Things have already gone bad."


    "I thought that was a good thing," Wayne eximed. "Miss Wildon''s family outsses yours. Isn''t that called a nice catch?"


    "It is," Khan confirmed. "George is just shy."


    "I see!" Wayne dered. "I have to adjust my idea of Mister Ildoo too!"


    "Don''t put strange ideas in his mind," George cursed.


    "And you make sure to treat Anita properly," Monica warned. "You''ll hear from me otherwise."


    "She is just meeting my mother," George casually said. "It''s nothing serious."


    Khan and Monica pointed their smirks at George, and Wayne joined them. He wasn''t trying to tease George, but his face revealed that he was aware of that lie.


    "My father has already annoyed me to no end about this," George snorted, standing up. "I''m not staying here to hear the same things all over again."


    "Come on, George," Khanughed. "Don''t be shy."


    "A responsible man has a superior charm," Monica praised. "Maybe you are ready for my teachings."


    "I have also been trained in these arts!" Wayne joined the conversation. "I can help, Mister Ildoo."


    "Fuck all of you," George cried, hurrying toward the elevator room before peeking at his friends and speaking in a far calmer tone. "Is the meeting with the descendants still happening?"


    "We have to reappear in public sooner orter," Khan exined. "It''s better if we deal with that first."


    "Alright," George eximed. "Just let me know when."


    "Can we trust you to pass the news to Anita?" Monica teased.


    "You''ll marry before me anyway," George cursed, hurrying toward the elevator to leave the t.


    Khan and Monica exploded into augh once George left, and Wayne echoed it out of habit. The couple felt forced to turn toward him, and some sadness returned as they thought about his situation.


    As much as Khan wanted to help, hecked the expertise, knowledge, and tools to help Wayne. Thetter needed professionals to deal with his traumatic training before slowly pushing him back into society. Khan could only make the period before that as pleasant as possible.


    Yet, Khan couldn''t drop everything for Wayne. His days had just gotten busier now that he had to add the Thilku''s subjects to his studies. He couldn''t abandon Francis either, and his political life remained a big problem.


    "Wayne," Khan eventually called, "You know you can drop the Mister and Miss with us, right? I told you that."


    "I''m sure I''ll drop it in a few days!" Wayneughed.


    "Is it part of your training?" Monica questioned.


    "Social studies say that acquaintances turn into friends after ny hours spent together," Wayne exined. "It''s safer to assume double of that with descendants and political figures."


    "But we gave you explicit permission," Monica pointed out.


    "It''s fine," Khan intervened, letting Monica go to stand up. "Wayne,e with me a little."


    Wayne''s eyes lit up as he shot to his feet. He eagerly followed Khan to the edges of a corridor as if expecting something incredible to happen.


    "Look," Khan voiced, stopping at the corridor''s edges and facing Wayne. "I wish I could spend more time with you, but my studies are calling me, and Monica has priority over you."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I understand!" Wayne eximed. "Fianc¨¦ese before friends in the political array."


    "Yes, well," Khan sighed. "It''s not that strict, but that rule works in his case."


    "The Harbor''s ts offer a great deal of privacy," Wayne revealed. "You can lock me up too."


    "I''m not locking you up," Khan scolded. "You are not my prisoner."


    "I told you," Wayne chuckled. "You should have killed me when you had the chance."


    "Shut up," Khan scoffed. "Don''t think about that anymore. Actually, I want you to focus on yourself."


    Wayne kept smiling but remained silent. He didn''t know what Khan meant by that but understood that he was about to exin himself.


    "I know you can feel envy toward me," Khan stated. "You don''t have to hold it back."


    "If I let myself experience that," Wayne announced.


    "Yes, bad things will happen," Khan interrupted, "But I''ve defeated you anyway, didn''t I?"


    "You keep reminding me," Wayneughed. "Brother, you are petty."


    "Just trust me on this," Khan uttered. "We won''t be able to be together for too long. I don''t want you to hold back in this period."


    "I can do that," Wayne nodded, "But now you want me to leave, right?"


    "I have to talk with Monica in private," Khan confirmed.


    "Is that code for sex too?" Wayne eximed.


    "Most likely," Khan stated.


    "I can hear you!" Monica shouted from the couches, making Khanugh.


    "Go now," Khan ordered. "I''ll call you for dinner."


    "Sure!" Wayne eximed, diving into the corridor to enter his bedroom. Still, when the entrance tried to close, it remained stuck mid-way.


    "Khan!" Wayne called, peeking past the half-closed entrance.


    "It''s fine," Khan reassured, waving his hand. "Leave it like that."


    "Alright!" Wayne shouted, disappearing into his room again.


    Khan heaved a helpless sigh as he returned to the array of couches. Monica wanted to wear a pout, but seeing his tired expression made her give up on that yful anger.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Hey," Monica called, weing Khan on herp. Heid his head on her thighs and closed his eyes to sort out his thoughts, but the caresses that reached his hair made him reopen them.


    "You are not abandoning him," Monica reassured when that tired gaze fell on her. "He needs to do this to live a normal life."


    "What kind of normal can he even experience?" Khan sighed. "I wish I could do more for him after dragging him all the way here."


    "He is among people working for his well-being," Monica stated. "That''s more he has ever gotten in his whole life."


    "I don''t know," Khan uttered. "It doesn''t feel like much."


    "You just can''t settle when ites to others," Monica giggled. "You even promised an entire to Jenna. I hope you won''t get moody about that too."


    "I''m surprised you can mention her without getting jealous," Khan teased.


    "I''ve more than made up for that," Monica replied, "And I still have time."


    "We do," Khan nodded, reaching for his head to take one of Monica''s hands. "So, what are your ns after the Harbor?"


    "I could stay here and be the good housewife," Monica joked, blushing a little since the idea formed in her mind.


    "Monica," Khan lovingly scolded.


    "I don''t know," Monica sighed, ying with Khan''s fingers. "My parents will want me to appear in some social gatherings. I might also have to close a few deals for them."


    "Will there be suitors there?" Khan questioned.


    "Of course," Monica stated. "Are you jealous?"


    "Immensely," Khan groaned.


    "Don''t be," Monica reassured, letting go of Khan''s hand to show her ring. "You put this on me for a reason."


    "I should buy you another before your motherins," Khan suggested.


    "No!" Monica snapped, bringing her left hand to her chest. "This is my treasure. You can rece it only once we get engaged."


    "Would you let me rece it at all?" Khan asked.


    "Probably not," Monica pouted.


    "I knew it," Khan chuckled. "Still, I''ll miss you."


    "Don''t be so unfair," Monicained.


    "Alright," Khan feigned ignorance, pulling his phone to ce it before his gaze. "I guess I''ll start studying then."


    Only a few seconds had to pass before familiar fingers wrapped themselves around the screen and pushed it aside. Monica looked a Khan wearing an expression he knew far too well, and he didn''t hesitate to let go of the phone altogether.


    "Should I still n the meeting?" Monica whispered.


    "Yes," Khan confirmed, "But make themete."

 Chapter 545 Last Stretch

    The meeting could happen any day, but Khan preferred to have it that very night to elerate his return to the lessons. He risked falling behind in his studies otherwise.


    Themotion caused by Lauter''s crisis didn''t wane in the previous weeks, so a single message from Monica made the descendants clear their schedules and gather in Khan''s t. Lucian, Lucy, Marcia, Zoe, John, Mark, Anita, George, and even Francis took their seats in the main hall, and Monica delivered drinks to everyone before officially starting that meeting.


    "Well," Lucian announced, leaving his armchair and lifting his full ss. "I think I speak for everyone when I say congrattions are in order. You aplished a major service for the Global Army and all of us, Captain."


    Approving statements resounded in the main hall as the other descendants stood up and lifted their sses. Only Khan remained on his couch and respectfully lowered his head to ept that praise.


    "Please, sit," Khan chuckled, lifting his ss to join that toast. "Any soldier would have done the same in that situation."


    "But few would have seeded," Mark stated. "All our families wanted us to convey their gratitude. We were waiting for this opportunity."


    "I''m ttered," Khan eximed. "Still, I''m tired of congrattions. I''d rather move to the friendly part of the meeting."


    "And he decided to brag," Georgemented, returning to his seat. "You know, it''s happening more often."


    "It''s not my problem I continue to be awesome," Khan joked.


    "Can he be any cooler?" John whined, also falling back to his seat. The other descendants soon imitated him, putting an end to that toast.


    "You are about to fall for him, John," Lucy teased.


    "My heart is already his," John dramatically said, lifting his ss and cigarette toward the ceiling. "Mark, can''t we kidnap him or something?"


    "You can try," Monica hid her threat behind an elegant smile.


    "I knew Monica would have jumped in his defense," Zoe giggled.


    "She doesn''t need to hide it anymore," Anita pointed out.


    "You don''t either," Marcia added. "You must be excited about your next trip."


    "Hey, we don''t talk about that today," George dered, keeping his gaze on the wall while Anita slid a finger into his palm. He took it but still pretended to be annoyed.


    "We''ll have time to tease George," Khan eximed, pointing his drink at Francis. "For now, I think the mission''s true hero also deserves praise."


    "I didn''t do much," Francis politely smiled as everyone looked at him. "It''s lucky that my family''s training worked in that situation. I wasn''t certain it would have with-."


    Francis interrupted his line, but inspecting the descendants told him everyone knew the mission''s details. Even something involving ssified interspecies rtionships couldn''t escape those families'' reach.


    Of course, Khan knew about that general awareness. The Headmistress didn''t make much public, but the news had already leaked. The Harbor had hidden some details, but the political world''s upper echelon had learnt everything. Madam Solodrey and Francis'' family would have spread everything themselves otherwise.


    "You did a lot," Lucian praised. "Dealing with alien technology is no small feat, especially when it saves countless lives and one of the Harbor''s main businesses."


    "I kind of hated you after your stunt with Monica," John added, "But I guess you had your redemption arc."


    "John, show some respect," Mark scolded.


    "That''s exactly what I did," John spread his arms to convey innocence.


    "Lucian is right," Zoe announced. "My family asked me to extend their praise and an invitation."


    "Count me in on that," Lucian added. "A dinner should be enough for a few conversations."


    Morepliments and invitations resounded, and Khan let everyone have their moment with Francis to solidify his position. Francis didn''t have it too easy selling the lie, but his performance was good enough in those minutes.


    "Okay, okay," Khan eventually intervened. "No one is taking Francis out without my supervision. His family put him in my care in the end."


    "Do you have something to hide, Khan?" Lucy wondered.


    "You have no idea," Khanughed.


    "We have all learnt enough," Lucian announced. "It''s rare for a Captain to meet a Thilku delegation. Actually, it''s almost unheard of."


    Khan wasn''t surprised, but traces of that feeling still appeared inside him. Only half a day had passed since the meeting, but the symphony told him those descendants were already aware of his presence there.


    "He''s not just a Captain," Monica stepped in, casually showing her ring. "Our union proves that."


    "My presence was necessary due to the recent events," Khan exined shortly. "I''m sure you would have guessed that even without receiving specific information."


    "We guessed far more than that," Lucian voiced.


    "Rumors have already spread," Mark continued, bending forward and cing his drink on the table to join his hands. "I heard the embassy is building a political team, and you are part of it."


    "I have nothing official to say," Khan remained vague. "I bet you all will learn about it before me."


    "Goodbye to my hopes of spending the holidays together," John cursed.


    "Didn''t your family assign you to that luxury moon already?" Lucy wondered.


    "I could have arrivedte," John sighed. "There is no point now."


    Laughs resounded in the hall, but some of the most interested yers remained focused. Lucian, Mark, and Lucy often nced at Khan since they knew they had more to discuss.


    "Khan," Lucian called once theughs waned. "The Thilku territory is not as secretive as you may think. Branches of my family are even doing business there."


    "You beat me to it," Lucy revealed. "My family was waiting for the chance to expand there."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "If it''s business," Mark announced, "You can consider me interested."


    Khan knew what those descendants wanted, and the symphony told him that most of the hall shared those feelings. Information was a valuable currency that he would obtain first-hand if the investigation included him. Theoretically, he would be able to provide vital data to the families in the future.


    The idea of leaking information for the right price was tempting, but Khan couldn''t immediately agree. The hall had too many ears, and he wasn''t sure he wanted to betray the Global Army''s trust so soon.


    However, those descendants had helped Khan in the past. Using Rick had forced their hands, but they had still yed a key role in salvaging his rtionship with Monica. Lucian had also sold the items retrieved in the missions, further deepening Khan''s debt.


    The debt and Mister Solodrey''s financial request left Khan unable to refuse right away. He had chosen to link his life to that political environment, and the bill had arrived. That was the price he had to pay to get where he was, and going back on it would ruin his image among his best potential allies.


    "There is nothing official yet," Khan yed it safe. "Besides, it''s better to discuss these topics in different locations."


    "It will be hard to get a hold of you once the semester ends," Lucian pressed on.


    "I''m not refusing," Khan stated. "However, even your esteemed families can''t predict where I''ll go. It''s pointless to strike deals until then."


    "On the contrary," Lucy dered.


    "Your fame never stops rising," Mark continued. "There mighte a time when we''d have to involve our parents to talk to you."


    That vague statement had a hidden but clear meaning. The descendants wanted to strike deals before Khan escaped their reach. It was a simple business move aimed at securing a source of information before it became too expensive.


    "That will never be necessary," Khan opted for a political approach, cing a hand on Monica''s folded legs to rify his statement. "You helped me when I needed it. Even if your parents were to call, I''d still request for you."


    Khan was only offering his word without adding heavy promises or agreements. Yet, that was enough in the political environment as long as he could deal with the consequences or stick to it.


    Lucian and the others had the vague idea of adding something, but Monica''s calm smile made them drop it. They knew she was ready to respond ordingly to show her support to Khan, and everyone wanted to avoid that predictable reaction.


    "There is something else," Marcia timidly stated, changing the topic.


    "Right," Zoe added, ncing toward the sealed corridor. "If it weren''t for you and Monica, I''m not sure I would have epted this invitation."


    "Isn''t this the same as Francis?" John groaned before looking at Francis'' armchair. "No offense, buddy."


    "It''s not," Mark corrected. "Housing a criminal is a serious matter. You are putting everyone in the Harbor at risk."


    "Wayne is not a threat," Khan dered.


    "How can we be sure?" Lucy asked. "A criminal of that caliber should have better security."


    "There is no better security than me," Khan responded, a stern expression recing his polite smile. "Unless someone disagrees with that."


    "No one is trying to insult your prowess," Lucian reassured.


    "It does sound like that," Monica pointed out.


    "Monica, he is a criminal," Mark rified. "He belongs in a cell with specialists scouring his brain."


    "Wayne will soon end up in my care," George intervened. "My family will handle that process."


    "Khan, on what authority are you moving him?" Lucian questioned.


    "Mine," Khan calmly imed. "He is my subordinate. I don''t need anyone else''s authority."


    The descendants knew that there was more to the matter. The Headmistress and their own families could oppose the process and pull strings to force Khan''s hand. However, that would sour their rtionship with him since he hadbeled Wayne his subordinate.


    "Of course," Khan continued to throw a bone at the descendants, "Any discovery will be made public once you deem it worth it."


    "Are you implying our families will be the first to receive information?" Mark asked.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I''m implying you will be the first," Khan corrected.


    Mark and the other descendants couldn''t refrain from exchanging meaningful nces. Khan was giving them priority over their parents. That was a valuable advantage they coveted.


    However, everything had a price in the political environment. Khan didn''t need to add anything, but those descendants knew their role. They would have to reassure their families and let Khan do as he wished to retain that priority.


    Khan was showing uncanny wisdom for a man who had spent less than a year deep in the political environment. Still, he wasn''t the only reason behind that surprising quality. The descendants knew the woman sitting at his side had added more than her simple presence.


    "I guess Khan earned the Global Army''s trust multiple times already," Lucian was the first to break the tense silence. "If he says the Ildoo''s family is up for the task, we can only ept it."


    "The situation is not ideal," Mark added, "But I don''t see any problem with that."


    "Unless problems arise," Lucymented, wearing a smile that conveyed her agreement, "Of course."


    That implicit and tense agreement finally ended the political part of the meeting. Khan and the others could move on to far lighter topics, exchanging jokes and discussing their respective ns after the semester.


    Khan did his best to memorize everything, but far different thoughts arrived once the meeting ended. The departure of thest descendants marked the beginning of a long period packed with rtively easy tasks.


    Days basically disappeared as Khan split his life among his various tasks. The advanced sses stole many hours from him, and Professor Parver''s lesson seized another piece of the pie. His studies worsened that, and many nights went by in the istion of Miss Bevet''s greenhouse.


    The general effort spent on the final tests was Khan''s only saving grace. With the end of the semester in sight, the invitations to political dinners vanished, and the same went for the Headmistress'' missions. A few actual study groups still happened, but Khan could fit them into his schedule since they matched his needs.


    That busy period made time flow so quickly that Khan almost didn''t notice the six weeks that went by. His efforts didn''t diminish even after the final tests, and his first break arrived only once the results hit thework.

 Chapter 546 Confirmation

    When the weekend after the tests began, Khan, Monica, George, and Anita gathered in the main hall to wait for the results. Wayne and Francis were also there due to the event''s relevance, and no one dared to mention the early hour when ncing at the bottles on the tables and floor.


    The morning was mostly silent, but the notification that reached the students'' phones broke it, intensifying the overall tension. Everyone immediately dived into their screens, unlocking their devices to see whether their efforts had paid off.


    Khan skimmed past the individual scores to reach his average. Differently from hispanions, he had a specific goal to achieve. Yet, seeing the advanced sses'' overall scoreboard brought disappointment.


    ''Sixth,'' Khan read on the screen. ''Dammit.''


    Having gotten so close to Madam Solodrey''s goalpost didn''t reassure Khan. He knew Monica''s mother. In her mind, sixth ce was the same asst. Any achievement was pointless without being in the top five.


    Monica had also skimmed past the overview to reach the overall scoreboard, and reading Khan''s ce made her want to reassure him. However, he ignored his surroundings and closed his eyes while bringing the phone to his forehead.


    The previous failures were insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but thetest was final. The semester had ended. Khan wouldn''t have more opportunities to improve his score. He had simply failed.


    Khan''s reaction told even those who didn''t reach the overall scores that he had failed to enter the top five. Still, no one spoke. It was simply pointless to throw empty words at him.


    As if to add fuel to the fire, a call reached Khan''s phone and forced him to open his eyes. Lowering the screen showed a predictable name, and Monica opened her mouth to speak when she peeked at it.


    "I got this," Khan said, beating Monica to it. "I''ll be right back."


    As much as Monica wanted to say something, she remained silent and watched Khan leave the couch. He quickly dived into a corridor and isted himself inside a bedroom to get some privacy, and a helpless sigh escaped his mouth when he brought the phone to his ear.


    "Madam Solodrey," Khan eximed. "I didn''t expect you to call so soon."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Madam Solodrey?" Madam Solodrey scoffed. "Are you worried about something, Captain?"


    Khan didn''t reply and let his thoughts run freely. A carefree and teasing approach wouldn''t work in that situation. He needed something else to avoid beingpletely passive in the conversation, but his options were limited.


    "To think it takes so little to make you show respect," Madam Solodrey pressed on. "I''m almost disappointed."


    Khan went over his allies and position. He could opt for threats if Madam Solodrey attempted to do something, but that was far from ideal. Monica''s family had barely begun to ept him. He couldn''t act as an enemy in such a delicate moment.


    "Headmistress Holwen called to ask for permission to hire you," Madam Solodrey continued, her tone growing politer. "I''ve taken the liberty to ept and set up an appropriate sry."


    "What?" Khan broke his silence, frowning in confusion.


    "Of course," Madam Solodrey added, "Having authority over those agreements was our prerogative, to begin with. I''m only showing basic respect by giving it to you like this."


    "I''m," Khan muttered, "I''m not sure I''m following, ma''am."


    "What are you not following, Captain?" Madam Solodreyined. "My time is limited, and you are wasting it."


    "I didn''t make it into the top five," Khan bluntly said. He didn''t add anything, but his hidden meaning was clear. He expected insults, admonishments, or some form of punishment from the woman who set that goalpost.


    "It would have been an insult to the Harbor and most families if you truly entered the top five," Madam Solodrey snorted. "I never expected you to get there. We would have had to rethink how we educate our descendants otherwise."


    "But," Khan voiced, but Madam Solodrey didn''t give him a chance to argue.


    "Captain, how long did you spend studying?" Madam Solodrey questioned. "I''m not talking about your time in the Harbor. Since your enlistment, how many lessons did you even attend?"


    Khan opened his mouth but remained silent. His year in co''s training camp had been rtively full of lessons, but things had started to go south afterward. He had studied on Nitis for a while, but his superiors'' orders had eventually forced him to abandon a regr education in favor of the rtionships with the Niqols.


    The following period never gave Khan a chance to study either. He didn''t even need to since his jobs stood outside the purely academic field. At most, he could count a grand total of two years of lessons, and that number was rounded up.


    "Exactly," Madam Solodrey stated, almost knowing the calction that had happened inside Khan''s mind. "Did you really think you could match descendants who have begun their studies as soon as they could read?"


    Khan could argue that he had surpassed most of those descendants, but that wasn''t the ce for arrogance. Madam Solodrey had made her point clear, and something told Khan that she didn''t want to linger on that topic any longer.


    "About the job," Khan mentioned, clearing his throat. "What does it involve?"


    "I''m sure you can guess that," Madam Solodrey uttered. "Thework overflowed with rumors about the Thilku in the past month."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Ma''am, I need details to prepare ordingly," Khan said, sighing and rolling his eyes when he found the right words to add, "And to avoid bringing shame to the Solodrey family."


    "Is that how you tricked my daughter?" Madam Solodrey scoffed.


    "I like to think she would have fallen for me anyway," Khan responded.


    "Children," Madam Solodrey sighed. "Headmistress Holwen hired you as a scout for her new political team. You''ll be on the frontlines during the investigation about the Thilku bomb."


    "Do you know my tasks?" Khan wondered.


    "I thought you learnt the scout''s duties in your lessons," Madam Solodrey replied. "Am I mistaken?"


    ''She is enjoying this,'' Khan cursed before continuing his polite approach. "Not at all, ma''am. I was only wondering if you knew the job details already."


    "I don''t," Madam Solodrey revealed. "Passing information to the family is your job. I expect monthly updates. Weekly if the situation allows it."


    ''So much for deals with the other descendants,'' Khan thought without feeling surprised. He had already predicted that the Solodrey family would have imed priority on that information. It only made sense considering his public allegiance with them.


    "Is that a problem?" Madam Solodrey questioned.


    "It''s not," Khan dered. "You can count on me, ma''am."


    "Good," Madam Solodrey eximed. "The Thilku territory has profitable business opportunities. Many factions inside the family are eager to exploit them."


    "I''ll look out for them," Khan promised.


    "I don''t expect you to recognize them," Madam Solodrey exined. "Focus on givingplete and extensive reports. Our specialists will handle the rest."


    "It will be done, ma''am," Khan stated.


    "Now," Madam Solodrey continued. "About my dear daughter."


    Khan fell silent again. He knew the Solodrey family had ns for Monica, and she had even gone over them in the past months. The possibilities were almost endless with her position and education, so it was up to her mother to decide where to send her.


    "Ideally," Madam Solodrey announced, "I would send her far away from you and keep her there for a long time, hoping that a prolonged separation would put an end to this childish behavior."


    Khan remained calm. He had dealt with Madam Solodrey enough times to know she wasn''t done. That statement was only a veiled threat she was ready to implement if things took a bad turn.


    "However," Madam Solodrey continued, "The public eye wouldn''t like that, and we don''t want dangerous rumors to spread. As much as it pains me to admit it, we must show unity in our approval of your rtionship."


    "So?" Khan couldn''t refrain from asking.


    "My daughter will leave the Harbor," Madam Solodrey stated, "But I''ll n reunions when the situation and your job allow it. Of course, these events will require a very specific behavior."


    "We''ll make sure to appear in public," Khan promised, understanding what Madam Solodrey meant. "The entire Global Army will know that the Solodrey family is facilitating our reunions."


    "Perfect," Madam Solodrey eximed. "Headmistress Holwen will send details about the missionster during the day and probably summon you next week. I''ll hear from you soon, Captain."


    "I can''t wait, Madam Solodrey," Khan lied, and the call ended.


    The urge to cry in excitement invaded Khan. He didn''t only obtain confirmation about the political job. Madam Solodrey had also conveyed her continued support for his rtionship. That was the best-case scenario, and the desire to celebrate filled his mind.


    Khan threw the phone on the bed and hurried toward the main hall. A series of worried gazes fell on him, but he didn''t give them the time to inspect his excited face as he headed for Monica''s couch.


    Monica had leaned past the couch''s back to inspect Khan, but he went directly for her armpits, lifting her to ce her on his shoulder. A series of questions andints reached his ears, but Monica understood everything when she got a decent look at his face.


    "We''ll be back in a few minutes!" Monica hurriedly said, lifting her back to look at herpanions still on the couches.


    "Try a few hours," Khan voiced without looking back, carrying Monica until they disappeared inside a bedroom.

 Chapter 547 Ambassador

    Khan wasn''t the only one to receive good news. The results showed a change in the top five, finally rewarding Anita for her efforts. She had imed the fifth spot, making Marcia lose two positions due to Khan''s equally incredible achievements.


    The other positions didn''t change. Monica was always first, with Lucian, Mark, and Lucy following behind in that precise order. As for George, he got tenth, breaking his previous record, but his interest in the topic vanished as soon as he read it.


    Needless to say, the following days featured celebrations that included Lucian and the other descendants in a few instances. The Harbor also issued official certificates, which didn''t hesitate to appear on thework. Still, the parties were short-lived since the imminent departures required preparations.


    On azy morning in the middle of the week, Khan rested on a messy bed with his right hand supporting his slightly lifted head. His elbow dug into one of the pillows, thefortable mattress massaged his naked side, and his attentive eyes never left the enchanting figure rummaging through the furniture.


    "When did I even buy all this stuff?" Monica cried since every drawer she opened showed more clothes. Even the wardrobe was packed, and she still had another room to inspect.


    Khan had long since lost himself in the scene. When Monica left the bed, she had worn underwear and a bra, but her figure remained too captivating. That disorder also annoyed her, and Khan could only like her more when she was in that state.


    "A single ship will never be enough," Monica cursed, stomping her feet and cing her hands on her waist to inspect all the clothes still stuck inside the open drawers and wardrobe.


    "Don''t you have guards for this?" Khan wondered.


    "I can''t let the guards see these," Monica snorted, diving a hand into a drawer to take out a pair of fancyce underwear.


    "I remember those," Khan chuckled.


    "I''d be angry if you didn''t," Monica giggled, peeking behind her shoulder to look at Khan. Thetter was under a nket that had almost abandoned him, but Monica only focused on his intense gaze. She couldn''t get enough of his undivided attention.


    "You could always help," Monica suggested, throwing thece underwear into the open luggage near the bedroom''s entrance. "Unless looking at me stuns you."


    Monica turned toward Khan to show herself, and his expression conveyed all thepliments he could think of. He couldn''t describe how beautiful she was, and the idea of losing that routine soured the happiness of the interaction.


    "You''ll be ready sooner if I help you," Khan sighed, lying on his back and crossing his arms behind his head to stare at the ceiling. "You won''t if I don''t."


    Both Khan and Monica knew that wasn''t relevant. Her departure was set in stone, so it didn''t matter how ready she was. Still, Monica liked the sound of those lines and felt drawn to the lying figure on the mattress.


    The rustling of sheets reached Khan''s ears and made him lower his gaze. Monica sat at his side, cing a hand on his uncovered abdomen. Her fingers traced the spaces among his defined muscles, but her eyes looked into his.


    "No suitor will dare to approach me," Monica reassured. "I''m not sure I can call them suitors anymore since my family supports us."


    "I thought you''d be the one to need reassurance," Khan admitted. "I expected you to make more of a fuss."


    "I did," Monica stated, blushing a little when she spotted traces of their passion still lingering on the bed, "And I''m not leaving just yet, not until I cry,in, and cry some more."


    "Which is my responsibility," Khan added.


    "You know it," Monica whispered, sliding closer to Khan''s head as her fingers reached his chest. "You chose this noisy mess and even made her happy. Nothing can save you now."


    "I remember the noisy mess assaulting me," Khan teased. "Twice."


    "You deserved it for all your fooling around," Monica scoffed.


    "I didn''t even know you," Khanughed.


    "You should have predicted the arrival of the best girlfriend in the world and prepared ordingly," Monica imed.


    "Is that so?" Khan wondered.


    "Yes," Monica nodded. "You should have loved me even before knowing me."


    "Well," Khan voiced, grabbing the hand on his chest. "I love you now."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Monica melted and dived forward to kiss Khan. The two cuddled for a few seconds, and another whisper left Monica''s mouth when her lips became free. "I forgive you."


    Khan snickered and weed Monica on his left shoulder. Shey on his torso, and Khan reached for her waist to secure her position.


    "When do you have to go to the embassy?" Monica asked, closing her eyes to immerse herself in Khan''s scent and warmth.


    "After lunch," Khan revealed. "A cab wille in a couple of hours."


    "Did you put the rm?" Monica questioned.


    "I did," Khan confirmed. "The clean uniform is also somewhere in the main hall."


    Monica softly moaned in approval, rubbing her cheek on Khan''s shoulder. He began to caress her side, and his eyes closed as Monica''s scent and presence invaded his senses. The two seemed about to fall asleep, but Monica had more to say.


    "I considered giving you a ring," Monica revealed, "But you''d destroy it or worse."


    "What''s worse?" Khan wondered.


    "You''d hurt yourself to protect it," Monica replied. "I don''t want you to have that burden during a fight."


    "I''m sure the Thilku won''t let us have a say in those parts," Khan reassured.


    "You always end up in fights," Monica sighed. "A tattoo would have the same problems. It''s a pity humans can''t do something assting as the one on your shoulder."


    "I''ll learn the next time I fly to Nitis," Khan uttered.


    Silence unfolded. The couple had talked about the mission and had revealed theirst thoughts. Khan had told Monica everything, including the parts that might hurt her.


    "Do you miss her?" Monica asked.


    "I don''t think I can stop missing her," Khan admitted, "But she would be happy for me."


    "What about your happiness?" Monica timidly asked, the hand in Khan''s grip shaking lightly.


    "That''s why she would be happy," Khan exined. "She loved me, so she would approve of how happy you are making me."


    "Scoundrel," Monica softlyined while rxing. She knew she was different from Liiza. That was the whole point behind Khan''s refusal of Jenna. Yet, her insecurities red at times and required reassurance.


    "Better?" Khan asked, even if Monica''s mana had already answered.


    "For now," Monica unleashed her needy tone. "Also, since you''d destroy anything I give you, I''ll settle for a call every hour, and I''m being merciful."


    "That''s impossible," Khanughed. "They''d fire me in no time."


    "Fine," Monica sighed. "Only a call a day, but it mustst at least twelve hours."


    "How is that any better?" Khan wondered.


    "It is because I say so," Monica stated.


    "Of course," Khan snickered, turning his caresses into a tight hug. "What do you think about calling you whenever I''m free?"


    "I hate it!" Monica dered before lowering her voice. "But, it might be enough if you make those calls really worthwhile."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Any call with me is worthwhile," Khan joked.


    "Screw you," Monica snorted, opening her eyes and pushing herself away to sit on Khan''s abdomen.


    "Is there something you want to ask?" Khan feigned innocence, also opening his eyes to stare at the beautiful face hanging closely above him.


    "Not ask," Monica shook her head, her tone growing affectionate. "I just want to say how much I love my noble Captain."


    "Are you worried I might forget that while you are away?" Khan wondered, his hands sliding over Monica''s legs to return to her waist.


    "I''m unforgettable," Monica pouted. "Still, if I can''t mark your body, I''ll be sure to imprint myself in your mind forever."


    Messy hours went by as Khan and Monica kept themselves busy with what they did best. A cuddly and romantic lunch also happened in the privacy of the bedroom, but Khan eventually left to attend to his duties.


    A cab flew Khan directly to the embassy, and a team of soldiers led him inside, guiding him into areas he had never seen. He could guess he was in one of the building''s upper sections, but that information did little to help his sense of direction.


    Nevertheless, Khan didn''t need to know where he was. That probably was still ssified for him, but the long march among vast corridors, multiple staircases, and a few elevators granted some clues. Thebels on the many offices he crossed told him he was in a section focused on interspecies politics, and his destination matched his conclusions.


    The soldiers stopped when they reached the end of an oddly narrow corridor. The ce was bustling with people going in and out of arge room featuring interactive desks, cubicles, and more Khan couldn''t see from his position. That clearly was an office, and the Headmistress'' barely visible figure from the entrance vouched for the ce''s relevance.


    "Headmistress, ma''am," Khan announced, entering the office as soon as the soldiers opened a path.


    The ce revealed more of the furniture Khan had spotted from outside. The room had twenty interactive desks equipped with simple chairs, headphones, and other tools useful for concentrating. Two rows of cubicles stood on opposite sides of the area, and a door in the back led to a spacious private office meant for themanding officer.


    "Captain, you are here," Headmistress Holwen weed, barely paying attention to Khan''s military salute. "This will be your base of operations. You''ll handle all the bureaucratic side of the investigation from here and ording to your superior''s directives."


    "Is the superior here?" Khan questioned, even if he could guess the answer from the symphony. He only sensed first and second-level warriors in the area. None of them could have authority over him.


    "He ising," Headmistress Holwen revealed. "You''ll know the entire team in the following days, but your position forced this initial meeting. I expect exemry behavior."


    "Of course, ma''am," Khan promised. "Might I know more of my superior in the meantime?"


    Khan barely had the time to finish his question. A powerful presence suddenly attracted his attention, making him turn toward the entrance. The Headmistress noticed that gesture and held back her reply. She had learned enough about Khan to know what was happening.


    The area was loud due to all the working soldiers. Thudding noises also filled it since the personnel was moving heavy furniture inside and outside the office. Yet, Khan managed to iste a specific sound from that mess. He could hear firm and confident steps getting closer to the entrance.


    Khan performed a military salute that matched the arrival of those steps to the entrance. A slightly slender and tall figure appeared at the center of the spacious door and stopped at its edges to inspect the area. His green eyes darted left and right to catch every detail, but seeing the Headmistress and Khan made them flicker in surprise.


    "Headmistress Holwen," The man announced, crossing the entrance to perform a military salute before the Headmistress. "I''m d we could meet again. Sadly, the circumstances aren''t the happiest."


    "Ambassador Abores," Headmistress Holwen eximed. "You have done well in these past years. Even Mister Cirvags praised you."


    Khan used that chance to inspect the rtively young man more in detail. Ambassador Abores had short blonde hair arranged in a perfect haircut, and his military uniform didn''t feature a single crease. His appearance was spotless, which matched his role. After all, he had to be humankind''s face.


    "I doubt it, ma''am," Ambassador Abores said, lowering his head in respect. "Mister Cirvags''pliments are rarer than promotions."


    "They indeed are," Headmistress Holwen stated, pointing at Khan. "This is Captain Khan. He is the appointed scout for the team."


    "I heard a lot about you, Captain," Ambassador Abores eximed, wearing a sterner tone. "I hope you understand interspecies politics aren''t the ce for reckless behavior or solitary actions."


    ''Is he scolding me already?'' Khan wondered, forcing himself to keep his eyes on the Ambassador. He didn''t even look at the four stars on his shoulders before mustering a polite reply. "I do, but I probablyck experience. I hope I can rely on your guidance in the future."


    "Our roles are very different," Ambassador Abores dered.


    An awkward silence spread. Ambassador Abores seemed to have something against Khan, and he couldn''t understand what. Even reading the man''s mana only showed a tinge of arrogance and a sense of superiority.


    "I must leave now," The Headmistress quickly broke the silence. "Other matters require my presence. I''m confident you can take it from here, Ambassador."


    "Of course, ma''am," Ambassador Abores confirmed. "Have a safe trip."


    The Headmistress nodded at Khan and the Ambassador before leaving the office. Thetter followed her departure with his eyes but eventually faced Khan again, rekindling the previous awkwardness.


    "Don''t misunderstand my hesitation, Captain," Ambassador Abores eximed. "I respect your services for the Global Army and find your rise to fame inspiring. I simply wouldn''t have chosen an inexperienced scout for such an important investigation."


    That surprising politeness didn''t feel too honest, but Khan forced himself to appreciate it. Truth be told, Ambassador Abores was right. Khan had experience with multiple alien species, but none of his jobs had ever featured something so official.


    "I''ll do my best to match your expectations, sir," Khan promised.


    "You will get no preferential treatment from me," Ambassador Abores continued. "Do your job and do it well. I''ll ask for a recement otherwise."


    "I understand, sir," Khan stated. "If I may, what is my first task?"


    "My secretary will update you," Ambassador Abores dered, turning toward the entrance. "rissa, bring the files."


    A woman who looked to be in her twenties crossed the entrance, carrying a series of screens in her crossed arms. Khan had sensed her arrival but had disregarded it since she was a second-level warrior. Still, her stern icy-blue eyes and shining, long golden hair made her stand out from the other soldiers, granting her a serious but maic figure.


    "Update Captain Khan on his duties," Ambassador Abores ordered. "I''ll be in my office in the meantime."


    The Ambassador didn''t deign Khan with a single nce as he headed for the separate office in the back. Meanwhile, rissa approached Khan and handed him one of the screens.


    "The mission''s details are listed here," rissa stated, her calm voice embodying professionality. "Every information is ssified, so spreading it will lead to punishments described at the end of the contract."


    Khan seized the device and unlocked it with his gic signature. He had already read the terms of his contract, so that exnation didn''t add anything new.


    "Where should I start?" Khan wondered, skimming past the initial menus shown by the device.


    "The Global Army has already isted seventeen potential destinations for our first meeting with the Thilku delegation," rissa exined. "The device contains any information you might need, so memorizing it is mandatory."


    "Should I prioritize any of these destinations?" Khan questioned, hiding his surprise at that huge number.


    "All of them," rissa responded. "Your position also allows you to have a secretary. If you have yet to choose one, I can name a few suggestions."


    "Francis Alstair will be my secretary," Khan casually said, immersing himself in the device''s information. The screen seemed to have a lot, and the Ambassador probably wanted him to memorize everything by the next week.


    "I''ll handle the paperwork," rissa uttered, performing a polite bow. "Until our next meeting, Captain Khan."


    rissa headed for the Ambassador''s office before Khan could lift his gaze. The two had left him in the middle of that busy office without adding any directive. He was on his own there, which matched his role. His preparation was the only problem.


    ''I better start studying,'' Khan cursed, approaching one of the interactive desks to connect the device. ''Again.''


    ****


    Author''s notes: The fifth volume will end here!


    I know this part of the story has been controversial for various reasons. Still, I hope I managed to convey its importance for Khan''s career and, most importantly, that you enjoyed reading it.


    As always, thank you for your support. The story will continue tomorrow in the sixth volume!

 Chapter 548 Goodbyes

    The weekend arrived quickly, and a series of departures unfolded with it. Out of politeness, Khan attended the set-offs and teleports of his closest ssmates, exchanging simple promises that prepared the ground for future cooperation. More of those events happened by lunchtime, but Khan didn''t take those lightly.


    George, Anita, Wayne, Khan, and Monica had gathered in a simple hangar. A few teams roamed through the area, but most of the soldiers appointed to the location were outside to keep the crowds of curious onlookers away from the ships.


    A rtively big ship stood before the group, and a few soldiers walked up and down its metal staircase to arrange the luggage. They were almost done with the task, so the time for goodbyes inevitably arrived.


    "Son of a forgettable woman," George scoffed, his voice turning into a sigh when he saw the soldiers loading thest luggage. "Try to call more than once a year."


    "I wonder if the new you will have time for friends," Khan teased. "They grow so fast."


    "Shut it," George cursed, "And get someone to watch your back. We both know how dumb you get around aliens."


    "I have a simr warning," Khan chuckled, ncing at the two women on his left.


    "Ignore them," Monica giggled, taking Anita''s hands. "Call me when you get to Aegis station. I know many good shops that you must visit."


    "I will," Anita replied. "I can''t believe we are actually leaving after being here for so long."


    "The Harbor almost felt like home, didn''t it?" Monica agreed.


    "It was home," Anita corrected. "I''ll miss being able to see you every day."


    "Me too," Monica uttered. "I''m a bit jealous of your break. I wish Khan and I could do the same."


    "My mother couldn''t refuse me after getting into the top five," Anita exined, "And you two have to work."


    "I know," Monica sighed, leaning toward Anita to whisper. "Don''t hold back on the gossip. I want to know how it goes with his family."


    "I''m a bit tense about that," Anita admitted. "Do you think they''ll like me?"


    "They''ll love you," Monica reassured. "Isn''t that right, George?"


    "My mother still can''t believe it," George revealed. "She''d probably adopt you on the spot."


    "Don''t say it like this," Anitained before looking at Khan. "Be safe out there. I know you can hold your ground in any situation, but Monica will worry if you get hurt."


    "I''ll be careful," Khan promised, "But don''t worry about me. Focus on enjoying the break."


    "I will," Anita nodded, letting go of Monica''s hands to reach for George. "You''ll take care of me, won''t you?"


    George ignored the teasing smiles that broadened in his vision and nodded at Anita, taking her hand to convey his feelings. She liked that gesture and reached for his elbow to stand proudly at his side. She was still a bit shy, but only Khan noticed that.


    "As for you," Khan eximed, facing Wayne, "Try not to make the ship crash."


    "I''ll do my best!" Wayneughed, his eyes lighting up when Khan stretched a hand toward him. Wayne immediately shook it, and his smile broadened at that interaction.


    "I''m sorry I couldn''t do more for you," Khan announced. "Still, this isn''t a goodbye. I''ll see you as soon as you get better."


    "Don''t worry, brother," Wayne dered, mming his free hand on his chest. "I''m an expert at experiments. I''llplete the psychological training in no time."


    "I know you will," Khan uttered. "After all, you are the second-best third-level warrior in the Global Army."


    "Petty as always," Wayneughed again.


    "Wayne," Monica called, also stretching her hand toward the man. "I wish you good luck."


    "That sounds funny," Wayne eximed, letting go of Khan to shake Monica''s hand. That interaction didn''tst long since Monica decided to address George right afterward.


    "Thank you for everything," Monica stated, performing an elegant bow.


    "What is this?" George snickered. "I thought we were friends."


    "You helped both of us greatly," Monica replied. "I just wanted to express my gratitude."


    "Khan, what is this?" George groaned.


    "A threat ising," Khan exined.


    "Yes," Monica imed, straightening her position to point her finger at George. "If you mistreat my friend, I''ll know it and make you pay."


    "Shouldn''t you defend me?" George whispered to Anita.


    "A few threats can only help," Anita giggled.


    "Alright, alright," George sighed, pulling Anita toward the metal staircase. "Time to go."


    A generalugh unfolded as George dived into the ship. Anita never left his side, and Wayne followed closely behind. Soon, the three entered the vehicle and turned to face the couple on the hangar''s floor.


    "You owe me a semester," George joked as the ship''s doors began to close.


    "I owe you more than that," Khan responded, and the two exchanged a meaningful nce that conveyed all their thoughts. George and Khan didn''t need anything else to understand each other.


    "Have a safe trip," Monica eximed, waving her hand until the doors closed. The engines also activated in the following seconds, and soldiers cleared the area to secure the set-off.


    Khan was used to goodbyes, but it was impossible not to feel sad. Anita and Wayne''s departures were easy to ept, but losing George marked a stark change in the Harbor''s environment. He was his best friend, and drinking together was one of the things he enjoyed the most. Yet, their separation was necessary.


    Monica was worse off but didn''t show it. She was in the open, which required specific behavior. She could only take Khan''s arm and walk with him toward the ce that would feature another inevitable separation.


    Khan and Monica walked slowly on purpose and refused any escort as they made their way through the corridors stretching out from the hangar. They didn''t talk either since they had already said everything that needed to be said. Still, as much as they tried to dy it, their destination eventually unfolded in their view.


    "Miss Solodrey!" A scientist eximed as soon as Khan and Monica entered an oval room. The area had multiple soldiers busy with their respective consoles, but that shout made them lift their eyes to inspect the couple.


    "Everything is ready," The scientist exined when he reached the couple. "We can teleport you as soon as you step onto the tform."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Give me a moment to say goodbye to my boyfriend," Monica requested.


    "Of course, Miss Solodrey," The scientist immediately agreed before nodding at Khan. "Captain."


    Khan also nodded, but Monica soon imed the entirety of his attention. She let go of his arm to take his hands, and her gaze went to the floor as she leaned forward.


    Khan didn''t let Monica be alone in that gesture. He lowered his head until his forehead touched Monica''s, and his eyes closed to immerse himself in that gesture. Monica''s presence invaded him, and he burnt that sensation into his mind.


    "I''ll call you tonight," Monica whispered.


    "I''ll wait for you," Khan promised.


    "I already miss you," Monica revealed.


    "We''ll meet again soon enough," Khan stated. "I''ll make sure of that."


    "Do you promise?" Monica asked.


    "I''ll fly a ship directly to you if anyone tries to get between us," Khan imed.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I like that," Monica smiled, but the threat of tears made her change the topic. "I have to go."


    "I know," Khan sighed. "I love you."


    "I love you too," Monica promptly said, lifting her head. The soldiers in the room were doing their best to focus on their tasks, but she knew they were keeping track of her. Yet, nothing could stop her from having a proper goodbye.


    Khan opened his eyes in time to receive Monica''s lips. The two kissed before the soldiers, but the outside world disappeared. The couple''s love isted them, but their gesture ended quickly.


    Monica was ready to jump on the tform as soon as the kiss ended, but Khan reached for her cheek and stopped her. His thumb wiped the single tear that had fallen from her eyes, and she couldn''t refrain from kissing his palm.


    Monica was ready to spend an entire lifetime in that loving gesture, but her resolve won, making her escape Khan''s hand and jump on the tform. She even nodded at the scientist before fixing her gaze on Khan.


    Khan didn''t blink at all. His eyes remained on Monica while synthetic mana gathered on the tform. He knew she was ready to cry, but nothing appeared on her beautiful face. She was as stoic as possible until the moment she disappeared.


    The sight of the empty tform dealt a massive blow to Khan''s mindset. All the love and peace experienced in the recent period were gone. His happiness had just left the Harbor, and his aura changed due to that realization.


    The soldiers almost froze in fear when Khan nced at them. He wasn''t doing anything specific. He wasn''t even trying to scare them. Yet, the symphony reflected his mental state and those innocent bystanders couldn''t help but shake under its weight.


    Khan realized what was happening and opted to leave in a hurry. He knew he shouldn''t be among people now, but his job required his presence. A cab was also waiting for him outside the hangars, and he didn''t hesitate to get inside to fly toward the embassy.


    A drink quickly fell into Khan''s hands once the privacy of the cab arrived, but a call disturbed that peace. Still, a smile broadened on his face when he read the name on the screen.


    "Didn''t we say tonight?" Khan teased when he brought the phone to his ear.


    "I miss you so much!" Monica cried, sniffing loudly.


    "There, there," Khan reassured. "I''m in a cab right now. Why don''t you keep mepany until I get to the embassy?"


    Monica didn''t even try to refuse, and a long call unfolded. The couple talked about anything just to hear their respective voices, and Khan''s mental state benefitted from that. He remained quite stern and cold, but his intensity waned as he calmed down.


    The arrival at the embassy put an end to the call. Soldiers were also already waiting for Khan, so he quickly made his way through the many corridors and staircases to reach his office. It was the weekend, so the area was rtively empty, but the interactive desks featured a few figures.


    "Did they leave?" Francis asked when he noticed Khan entering the office. He was behind a desk, rearranging the data Khan had given him, and his job was almost done from the look of it.


    "They left," Khan sighed, ncing at the separate office in the back. He could see the Ambassador and his secretary from the transparent walls, but neither looked in his direction.


    "I''m almost done with the reports you gave me," Francis continued, following Khan with his eyes as he headed for an empty interactive desk.


    "Send everything to me once you finish," Khan ordered, using his gic signature to unlock the desk and gain ess to his profile. "What about Andrew?"


    "He is in the shopping district," Francis replied. "He is going over the list you gave him."


    Khan nodded as the manybels that appeared in his vision imed his attention. With Francis handling the paperwork and Andrew purchasing the items required by the [Blood Vortex], he could focus on his job, which still needed more study.


    Truth be told, anyone in Khan''s position would be ecstatic. The job wasn''t only important. The pay was also great, especially in Khan''s case.


    Khan was receiving three different sries. His rank came with a monthly allowance, and he was the team''s scout and official pilot. Madam Solodrey''s involvement had also worked in his favor, granting him far more Credits than he deserved. The fact that she took half of them was the only drawback.


    Of course, Khan didn''t care about money. He was willing to separate himself from all his savings to protect his rtionship, and his current situation was far better than that. Even with the Solodrey family taking half his Credits, his ie had greatly increased.


    ''Thilku history,'' Khan read one of thebels on the interactive desk before pressing it. He had already finished that book, but the Guko''s reading technique wasn''t perfect, so reviewing it again was necessary for good memorization.


    The Thilku were simr to the humans in many ways. They had a scientific but bnced approach to mana. They weren''t like the Fuveall but took pride in their achievements. Their empire was a simple consequence of that characteristic.


    Many experts even believed that humankind would follow the Thilku''s evolutionary path. That species had also started with external mana cores until their bodies naturally developed toward a shape that didn''t need them anymore.


    That development had obviously taken thousands of years but remained an excellent example of how quickly things could change with mana. ording to the experts, a few centuries might be enough to give birth to the first human with mana. That mutation could be far from stable, but the event would be monumental nheless.


    Khan didn''t let his thoughts wander too much and focused on learning as much as possible during those hours. Still, his senses eventually warned him about a change in the office''s peace, and his eyes abandoned the interactive desk to look at the door in the back.


    "Captain," Ambassador Abores eximed when he left his personal office and noticed Khan. "It''s good that you are here."


    "Did something happen, sir?" Khan questioned.


    "Are you aware of the Thilku''s [Hunt]?" Ambassador Abores asked.


    "It''s a game," Khan exined. "Two teams set loose a Tainted animal and fight each other to capture it."


    "It''s also used as a formal greeting when dealing with other species," Ambassador Abores added. "I hope your Thilku is good because their delegation invited us to y."

 Chapter 549 Career

    ''So soon?'' Khan couldn''t help but wonder at that revtion. The political team was barely one week old, but the Thilku had already sent a formal invitation.


    "Is something the matter, Captain?" Ambassador Abores questioned, even if nothing had appeared on Khan''s face.


    "It sounds hasty, sir," Khan admitted. "Did the Thilku predict a joint investigation?"


    "Worrying about that isn''t part of your duties," Ambassador Abores scolded, "Especially with the iing [Hunt]. Can you tell me why?"


    ''Is he testing me?'' Khan wondered but still proceeded with a simple reply. "The Thilku Empire features all kinds of environments. Predicting which one they will choose is virtually impossible."


    Khan didn''t need to add the most important detail in that conversation since his role was clear. As a scout, Khan would have to prepare for every possible environment. He would be too swamped with reports to think about the Thilku''s intentions.


    "It is impossible," Ambassador Abores nodded. "However, I''d still like to hear your professional opinion."


    Khan opened his mouth but quickly closed it. He couldn''t get away with a simple answer. His exnation needed to stretch past mere alien environments and include the Thilku''s innate behavior and their history with humankind.


    "The Thilku can easily choose a favorable environment," Khan eventually stated. "Their resilience will greatly benefit them in hazardous locations, especially those with cold temperatures."


    "I didn''t ask you to show off," Ambassador Abores sternlymented.


    "I believe they will choose a neutral environment, sir," Khan responded.


    "Why?" Ambassador Abores asked.


    "Belittling us would make the investigation start on the wrong foot," Khan exined. "Our rtionships with the Thilku are good, and they are in the wrong here. Refusing to use their home advantage would be their way of doing us a favor while showing that they can win on even ground."


    Ambassador Abores didn''t falter nor nod, but his mana was enough for Khan. He knew his answer had been well-received. The Ambassador was actually surprised Khan could understand the Thilku so well.


    "Then, what''s your next move?" Ambassador Abores questioned.


    "Isting the possible destinations ording to this information," Khan responded, "Preparing for their biomes and fauna, and summarize everything in a form ordinary soldiers can understand."


    "I expect simr summaries even on unlikely destinations," Ambassador Abores said. "I want my team to be prepared for everything."


    "It will be done, sir," Khan promptly eximed as his eyes fell on the interactive desk. The Ambassador didn''t give him a deadline, but the [Hunt] had sounded close, and the amount of work was by no means small.


    "Another thing, Captain," Ambassador Abores called.


    "Yes, sir," Khan stated, looking at the Ambassador again.


    "As the team''s scout," Ambassador Abores announced, "It will be your duty to join the game. You''d have to set up the ground for the capture of the Tainted animal."


    "I''m aware of that, sir," Khan dered. The Thilku''s [Hunt] coulde in many versions, and Khan didn''t know every rule, but the past studies had given him a general understanding of that game.


    "The Thilku are very proud," Ambassador Abores continued. "Your stunt in the past meeting might have bought you their respect, but we aren''t aiming for that now."


    Khan fell silent. He understood what the Ambassador wanted him to do, but rifications were needed. After all, his political image was at stake there.


    "Are you asking me to lose, sir?" Khan questioned.


    "I''m asking you to do what''s best for the investigation," Ambassador Abores stated. "Can you understand what it implies, Captain?"


    "I do, sir," Khan confirmed.


    "Will you do it?" Ambassador Abores added.


    "Won''t the Thilku be suspicious, sir?" Khan wondered.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "They will," Ambassador Abores said, "If your performance isn''t convincing enough."


    Khan held back a gulp. He didn''t fear the Ambassador''s prowess, but the consequences of that pretense could stretch far past the investigation. Yet, that request had put him in a pickle.


    "Can I trust you, Captain?" Ambassador Abores asked. "Can I trust you to put humankind before your goals?"


    "You can, sir," Khan immediately replied.


    "I expect your lies to be more convincing during the [Hunt]," Ambassador Abores snorted. "Get everything ready by the end of the week. The game is set for the next weekend."


    Ambassador Abores didn''t wait for Khan''s reply. He didn''t even turn when Khan stood up for a military salute. rissa also hurried outside the separate office to follow after her boss and the two left the area to disappear inside the corridor.


    Khan kept his gaze on the exit and ignored the eyes that had fallen on him. Francis and the few soldiers on the interactive desks didn''t miss that talk, and misunderstanding it wasn''t really an option. Everyone had guessed what was happening, but Khan didn''t bother to address those onlookers.


    A sigh tried to escape Khan''s mouth, but he held it back as he fell on his chair. A few taps on the interactive desk generated holograms that hid his face, and he pretended to look at them while his mind wandered.


    ''It''s not like they didn''t warn me,'' Khan thought.


    Commanding officers often hindered the careers of promising soldiers to make room for specialists from Earth or wealthy families. That was even more true in the political field. Ambassadors held unique positions in the Global Army, and scouts rarely seeded in making the jump toward that different role.


    Khan didn''t believe Ambassador Abores was trying to hinder his career. He didn''t feel any spite in his mana, and that approach made sense. Losing against the Thilku would put them in a good mood and create valuable opportunities. The human team could learn a lot if the aliens underestimated them. Still, the issue remained, at least for Khan.


    ''Losing would taint my fame,'' Khan considered, ''But winning would put me on the Ambassador''s bad side.''


    Ideally, the Global Army would contain the news or directly understand the political team''s n. However, thework didn''t work like that, especially when it came to public opinion. Khan could already imagine Madam Solodrey using that crack in his fame against him.


    ''This is so fucked,'' Khan sighed. ''Shut up already.''


    Khan wasn''t talking to anyone, but his mind had a second speaker. His mana wanted to give its opinion on the matter, which was as predictable as possible.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''If the Thilku spread rumors about me,'' Khan realized, ''I might have a chance. Ambassador Abores is the only problem. I can''t see him giving up his position without a fight.''


    Khan was nning ahead. His past experiences with aliens had taught him that he was good at the job, and his relevance was bound to improve if he did as he wished. Still, problems would arrive if the Thilku started to value him more than Ambassador Abores.


    ''What am I even thinking?'' Khan cursed. ''I just have to lose on purpose. How hard can it be? I''m the best liar in the entire Global Army!''


    That might have been true in the past, but Khan knew he had changed. He was still good at lying, but it didn''te as easy anymore. His being simply opposed that behavior.


    Things got worse when Khan added his situation to the equation. An ordinary soldier had the chance toy low, but he had to keep seeding. That was his greatest quality from the Global Army''s perspective. His presence was synonymous with victory.


    ''It''s pointless,'' Khan admitted. ''I can''t find the best path now. I can only adapt to what the Thilku throw at me.''


    That was another lie, but Khan pretended not to notice it. Instead, he immersed himself in his work, which was far from little. The Ambassador didn''t specify it but probably expected Khan to list all the possible Tainted animals for the game alongside the various environments.


    Francis couldn''t help with those tasks. Khan was on his own, but Professor Parver''s lessons came in handy. Thetter had prepared him for a simr job. It was almost his specialization by now.


    Reports after reports crossed Khan''s eyes as he reread and isted any vital information connected to each possible destination. Initially, hepiled all of that into messy groups that only he could understand, but that simply was the first phase of his approach.


    After dividing into messy groups, Khan began to rearrange everything ording to the patterns learned from Professor Parver. The summaries that came out were still unreadable for most soldiers, but that was inevitable. A trantion was necessary, and Khan handled it during the third phase of his approach.


    The process was far from fast. Each possible destination required hours of work, writing, and reviews, but Khan''s resilience was inhuman. He didn''t take breaks even when Monica called him. He only made sure to have those conversations when the office was empty or during his trips back and forth to the embassy.


    After two days of incessant work, Khan made Francis review everything and apply the necessary corrections before finally delivering his results to the Ambassador. Thetter pointed out more mistakes, but Khan fixed them in the following hours and repeated the process until his superior gave the okay. Only the [Hunt] waited for him at that point.

 Chapter 550 Acarro

    Khan couldn''t im to love a desk job, but its benefits arrived as the weekend approached.


    The Thilku revealed the ce that would host the [Hunt], and Ambassador Abores developed a series of tactics founded on Khan''s work before picking up his team members. More study happened during the week, but the appointed soldiers eventually made their way toward one of the Harbor''s teleports to fulfill their political duties.


    Khan kept his gaze fixed ahead while standing on the oval tform. Ambassador Abores and seven third-level warriors were at his sides and shared his stern vibe. Yet, none could match his intensity, no matter how much he tried to suppress it.


    That development was inevitable for Khan. The separation from his loved ones had changed his mindset, and the imminent game had worsened it. He knew he risked making a mess and going against the Ambassador''s direct orders, and his mana reflected that awareness.


    Luckily for Khan, humans didn''t have the best senses, and the team was tense enough to mistake the tension around them for their own. The umtion of synthetic mana on the tform also helped hide Khan''s intensity, and the change in the scenery eventually distracted everyone.


    It was early morning, but Khan didn''t expect to see its effects so soon. The cold light thatnded on his face surprised him. His body cheered at that natural presence, and his senses worked overtime to study his surroundings.


    Khan had memorized every possible destination and even inspected them through holograms and reports. However, experiencing it with his senses was apletely different story, and his mouth almost curved into a smile at the touch of natural mana.


    The destination featured another oval tform with big mechanical horns growing past its vertices. Consoles also stretched all around it, but no metal walls separated the area from the outside. The teleport had brought the team into an open space filled with green and enjoyable cold.


    The teleport stood at the center of a in filled with short green grass. Hills that carried a simr color grew in the distance, and the symphony warned Khan about the presence of a river nearby. He could also spot a few human buildings from his position, and the same went for a small number of soldiers roaming among them.


    ''So, this is Acarro,'' Khan thought, slightly stretching his legs to experience the''s gravity. It was pleasantly lighter than Earth or the Harbor, which was in line with its rtively small size.


    Ambassador Abores didn''t hesitate to jump to the ground, and his team followed him. He also ignored the military salutes of the scientists on the consoles to head for the two soldiers running toward him. Thetter were wearing dark uniforms that reminded Khan of the Thilku butcked their thick capes.


    "Ambassador, sir!" The soldiers announced when they reached Ambassador Abores and performed military salutes. "We are bringing the ship into the area at this very moment."


    "It should have been here already," Ambassador Abores scolded.


    "I''m sorry, sir," One of the soldiers eximed. "We noticed a malfunction that took all night to fix."


    "You are lucky we are early," Ambassador Abores scoffed. "Let''s start the other procedures since we have to wait."


    "Yes, sir!" Both soldiers shouted, before exchanging a look and splitting, leaving the team in the middle of that grasnd. The Ambassador scoffed again but eventually turned to face his underlings.


    The seven soldiers snapped up, straightening their backs to prepare for imminent orders. Only Khan continued to let his gaze linger on the environment. He was aware of his surroundings, but studying the area was literally his job.


    "How are we doing, Captain?" Ambassador Abores questioned.


    "It''s smaller than I thought, sir," Khan admitted. "Permission to inspect the area from above."


    "Permission granted," Ambassador Abores responded, and Khan immediately kicked the ground to send himself into the air. He flew upward in a straight line and continued to move his legs until he reached a satisfying height.


    Acarro was a inside the Thilku Empire''s domain. Those aliens had allowed the Global Army to build an outpost there but had ced heavy limitations on the soldiers and equipment they could bring. It was a concession meant to tighten the rtionships between the two species, but Khan barely saw any military value in those buildings.


    More details entered Khan''s view and senses from that height. He spotted the river he had felt before and noticed a woody valley between two hills. The clear blue sky also made the system''s soft star shine on his figure, creating a beautiful scenery both in terms of sight and symphony.


    ''It''s a natural paradise,'' Khan thought before focusing on the outpost.


    The Global Army''s territory on Acarro was minuscule. ording to what Khan had studied, the hills in the distance already belonged to the Thilku Empire, like the rest of the. Humankind was confined in that grasnd and a few areas past it, but the political limitations prevented it from filling them.


    A small cargo ship eventually appeared in the distance, and Khan watched it as it flew toward him. The vehicle had no weapons, just like the buildings under him. The few soldiers looked strong, but their main task was to protect scientists and political figures. If a crisis were to happen, running would be their only option.


    Khan dismissed his worries and let himself descend back to the ground. The soldiers with foreign uniforms had returned by then but kept their gazes lifted to follow Khan. The team and the Ambassador were no exception. Even if they knew about Khan''s skills, a flying human remained a surprising sight.


    "Well?" Ambassador Abores asked when Khannded among the team, clearing his throat to make everyone snap back to reality.


    "I don''t see anything unusual, sir," Khan firmly exined. "We can proceed as nned."


    Ambassador Abores looked deep into Khan''s eyes to search for any trace of dishonesty but couldn''t find anything. Khan''s stern expression hid his thoughts too well. He was the embodiment of a perfect soldier, eventually forcing the Ambassador to give up on the matter.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Let''s proceed, then," Ambassador Abores ordered, nodding at the two soldiers stationed on Acarro. They had brought a metal box and a scanner, and the team created a line to make their task easier.


    The Ambassador had already briefed his underlings. Khan and the others let the first soldier run the scanner over them to check for illegal technology or forbidden equipment while the second collected everyone''s phones. The Ambassador was also part of that inspection, but no problems arose.


    Khan didn''t give much thought to the separation with his phone. He had already warned Monica, and the knife was at his side. He could wholeheartedly focus on the [Hunt], and the ship''s arrival drew it closer.


    The team knew their orders. As soon as the shipnded, the Ambassador led his underlings toward it and waited for the pilot to leave the canopy to load everyone inside.


    The cargo area felt cramped with seven soldiers, but Khan avoided that in the cabin. He took his ce behind the control desk and ran the necessary programs to check that everything was okay before conveying his findings to the Ambassador.


    "We are ready to set off, sir," Khan called, and the Ambassador crossed the cabin''s entrance to approach the control desk.


    "Did you open a channel?" Ambassador Abores asked.


    "They are ready for you, sir," Khan stated, pointing at a beepingbel on the right side of the desk.


    Ambassador Abores went straight for thebel and pressed it before stating his intentions. "This is Ambassador Abores from the Harbor, Global Army. Requesting coordinates to fulfill agreement XR345."


    The channel went silent, but a notification soon reached the control desk, and Khan made it appear in the form of holograms. The Thilku delegation had sent coordinates for the game''s location, and Khan looked at the Ambassador to wait for his orders.


    "Bring us there, Captain," Ambassador Abores ordered.


    "Yes, sir," Khan stated, pressing on a key to talk with the cargo area. "Set-off will start in five, four, three...."


    The engines whooshed, and the ship left the ground. Khan made it rise until its height matched the safety regtions before elerating. Themunication had precise directives, so he made his route and speed stick to them.


    The flight was silent. Ambassador Abores didn''t take a seat and remained at Khan''s side while he led the ship to the appointed location. The vehicle crossed more of Acarro''s enchanting and peaceful environments, and traces of life appeared after half an hour.


    The scanners and transparent canopy gathered a stream of information that Khan sent to the cargo area to update the team. The destination consisted of a vast in standing at some distance from thick woods. A short hill grew at its center, and a vast gazebo upied its peak. Khan also spotted various terrestrial vehicles at its base, and Thilku were already near them.


    The instructions were precise, so Khannded the ship on an empty spot near the hill''s base. Ambassador Abores led the team outside, and a curious symphony reached Khan''s senses.


    Natural mana was predominant in the area, but traces of synthetic energy still existed. It had been the same with the human outpost, but Khan noticed a slight abundance of that in the in.


    Those traces were mostly on the ground due to the vehicles, but the sky also had some, and Khan couldn''t refrain from looking in that direction. Small circr drones were hovering in the air, acting like birds.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Cameras,'' Khan thought. The ship had already noticed those machines, and seeing them confirmed their purpose. The Thilku were recording the game.


    ''How am I supposed to hold back with those things?'' Khan cursed. ''And they aren''t the only problem.''


    The team turned toward the hill''s peak since a hovering square tform descended from it. A tall Thilku stood on it, illuminated by the red symbol shining under her feet, and her firm stance broke into a traditional bow when she reached the in.


    "Wee, dear guests," The Thilku announced in a hoarse ent.


    "[Thank you for having us]," Ambassador Abores stated in a perfect Thilku ent, performing a simr bow.


    "We are ready to receive you," The Thilku continued, straightening her back. "Your team can take ce near the vehicles."


    The Ambassador only had to nce at his underlings to make them move. Khan and the others performed military salutes before heading toward the terrestrial vehicles spotted before. Meanwhile, the Ambassador jumped on the tform, which flew toward the hill''s peak to bring him under the gazebo.


    Khan did his best to keep his gaze straight, but his senses didn''t shut up. He knew how many Thilku were in the area and was also aware of their attention. Even after Ambassador Abores'' reached the hill''s peak, all the aliens continued to look at him, conveying theirpetitive spirit.


    That didn''t change even after the human team reached the terrestrial vehicles. Khan and the soldiers found each other before an equal number of tall Thilku who didn''t hide their interest in his blue hair. It was so obvious that Khan felt pity growing inside hispanions.

 Chapter 551 Speed

    The hill was short enough to allow aplete view of the gazebo and the environment under it. A circr table with two chairs on opposite sides stood at its center, and a Thilku upied one of them. Aliens were behind him, wearing firm stances or wielding rectangr screens featuring menus or the cameras'' recordings.


    The Thilku who had picked up Ambassador Abores led him to the table before pointing at the empty seat. The man sat down with the intention of starting a cordial conversation, but the tant focus on Khan kept him silent. It was obvious themanding officer was more interested in Khan than the Ambassador.


    That behavior was predominant across the aliens. The team on the hill and the Thilku at its base only had eyes for Khan for reasons everyone could guess. He had defeated a Thilku during the previous meeting. Such a proud species simply couldn''t let that go.


    Khan was surprised to sense a generalck of anger. It seemed the Thilku didn''t mind their previous defeat. They only wanted a chance to prove themselves during the current game. Khan liked that healthypetitiveness since it reminded him of the Ef''i, but his problems remained.


    The vehicles were nothing special. Standard motorbikes and jeeps upied the hill''s base in two different spots. The human and Thilku teams had ess to the same number and type of rides, and thetter didn''t have any adjustment for the aliens'' size. The Thilku wanted a fair contest, even going as far as opting for disadvantageous equipment.


    Khan couldn''t help but nce at the gazebo due to the incessant stares. He recognized one of the standing Thilku. He had been themanding officer in the past meeting, but the sitting alien imed his attention. Thetter was another fourth-level warrior, but the silver ring around his almost bald head separated him from hispanions.


    ''That''s a crown,'' Khan thought at the sight of the simple-looking item. He knew the Thilku had royalty and simr statuses, but they also awarded titles to performing soldiers. Khan couldn''t pinpoint the reason from his position but decided to stop looking to avoid causing problems.


    The sitting Thilku had the same idea. He stopped inspecting Khan and began interacting with Ambassador Abores. The two exchanged basic pleasantries Khan couldn''t hear, and his interest in the conversation quickly waned too.


    The contest of stares with the opposing team never ended. Khan''spanions inspected the Thilku, doing their best to assess their prowess. They were evenly matched in mana, but the aliens'' size remained a scary sight. Their interest in Khan was the soldiers'' only constion.


    Silent and tense minutes went by under the soft morning breeze. Acarro seemed unaware of the imminent conflict and continued to bathe the teams with pleasant sensations. Khan would love to lie on the ground, rx, or meditate, but his job had very different ns.


    A trace of synthetic mana eventually joined the symphony, making Khan lift his eyes to nce in the distance. Hispanions followed his gaze, and the Thilku felt confused about that gesture until whooshing noises reached their ears.


    A rtively big ship became visible in the clear sky and flew in the teams'' direction. The vehicle was triangr and resembled human technology, but the red runes on its wings revealed its belonging to the Thilku Empire. Those two symbols weren''t enough to make its design unique, but the cage hanging from its base kept everyone''s gazes glued on it.


    A series of thick metal bars created a three-meter-tall square cage that didn''t hide its insides. The box contained a huge creature that grew clearer as the ship closed its distance with the teams. The animal had six muscr legs, yellow fur, a tiger''s body, and a three-eyed pig''s head. Its size was impressive, but its fleshcked any trace of fat.


    The odd creature was enough to keep everyone interested in the ship, but Khan''s inspection went past the simple flesh. His sternness intensified when he sensed the Tainted animal''s level. That monster was as strong as him.


    ''They aren''t holding back,'' Khan thought. He had studied the past [Hunts], so the choice of the Tainted animal said a lot about the Thilku''s intentions. They wanted the game to be tough and challenging.


    "It''s an Ilqiex," Khan announced, ncing at hispanions. "Do you remember the tactic we nned for it?"


    "Yes, sir," One of the soldiers faintly said before the others echoed his statement. Nods unfolded, and Khan checked their mana to confirm their knowledge. Still, the inspection also revealed a generalck of confidence.


    ''I can''t really me them,'' Khan thought, holding back a sigh as his eyes returned to the Ilqiex. ''That thing is dangerous.''


    The Ilqiex didn''t stay still. It repeatedly bumped its head on the metal bars, uncaring of how pointless its efforts were. The ship remained unaffected by that aggression, but Khan didn''t let that fool him. He could sense the strength behind those attacks. No second-level warrior could survive a direct hit.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The ship changed direction when it was about to reach the teams and flew toward the woods before stopping at its edges. It left the cage on the ground and set off again to disappear somewhere in the distance.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The Thilku in front of the alien team wore a broad grin that showed his long canines, and Khan replied with an emotionless stare. The two looked at each other for a while before the Thilku finally broke eye contact to nod at hispanions.


    The gesture made the Thilku approach the vehicles. The motorbikes were the most popr choice, but two opted for the jeep. As for the alien in charge of the group, he remained in his spot and resumed his stare toward Khan.


    Khan could only imitate the Thilku. He nodded at hispanions, who approached the vehicles to prepare for the [Hunt]. Four took two different jeeps, while three opted for the bikes, but Khan didn''t hesitate to scold them.


    "The Ilqiex will run into the wood," Khan exined. "Ignore the cars."


    The woods in the distance weren''t too thick, but a jeep would still have problems navigating them. Instead, the bikes offered more flexibility, and the soldiers followed Khan''s orders since they understood his point.


    The alien team leader seemed to approve of that choice but didn''t say or do anything to convey that feeling. His stare was unfazed even when engines began to resound in the area, and Khan didn''t let him be alone in that gesture.


    Once everyone was ready, the cage opened on the side facing the woods, and the Ilqiex stormed out of it. The creature headbutted a tree, taking it down before running deeper into the new environment.


    No one moved. Khan didn''t bother inspecting the woods either since his senses were taking care of that. His gaze left the Thilku only when thetter looked at the hill to await orders.


    The crowned Thilku exchanged a few more lines with the Ambassador before standing up to show his huge frame. He was taller than the average alien, and his face conveyed pure pride that his simple smile couldn''t attenuate. The Thilku walked outside the gazebo to make himself more visible, and a short cry eventually escaped his mouth.


    The cry had no meaning, but both teams were ready for it. Bikes and a single jeep shot forward, elerating at full speed toward the woods. Their tires left heavy marks on the ground that disrupted the beauty of the ce, but no one dared to decelerate.


    Khan and the Thilku in charge remained at the hill''s base as they inspected their teams hurrying toward the woods. They could move, but the alien didn''t, and Khan yed along. He wasn''t interested in gaining that advantage when the Thilku wanted a direct face-off.


    The Thilku nodded at Khan''s decision, and his grin broadened even more as hepletely turned toward the woods. He crouched forward, cing his six-fingered hands on the ground and bending his knees. His mana also moved, and crackling noises resounded as ck sparks seeped past the thick cape.


    Khan pretended to prepare to sprint too, but his attention remained on the alien. The Thilku saw mana like humankind, but Khan still found the topic interesting. He wanted to see a Thilku in action. Sadly for him, his eyes couldn''t do much in that situation.


    The sparks'' noises intensified before thundering altogether. A roar-like sound filled the in as the Thilku shot forward. His eleration was incredible, and the grass burned whenever his feet touched the ground.


    The Thilku instantly caught up with the vehicles before disappearing inside the woods. That speed was more than inhumane, managing to leave Khan speechless too. His mouth would hang in surprise if he didn''t force himself to remain calm.


    ''Is he faster than me?'' Khan wondered, but the mes rising from the grasnd forced him to ept the truth. He couldn''t achieve that explosive and destructive eleration even with Maban''s technique. The Thilku Empire had simply found him a perfect opponent.

 Chapter 552 Chase

    ''What now?'' Khan wondered. He couldn''t help but hesitate before that insane eleration, but his thoughts soon wandered toward different topics.


    Time slowed down in Khan''s eyes. His gaze remained on the woods, but his senses conveyed the entirety of the symphony to his brain. He could feel the cameras buzzing in the sky and the attention hisck of movements had attracted. The [Hunt] had begun, but he was still at the hill''s base.


    ''How much should I reveal?'' Khan thought, even if the answer was already clear in his mind.


    The Thilku had spread rumors about Khan. Holding back might endanger that meeting and ruin possible future rtionships. Besides, the still-burning grass told him he had to try his hardest for that game to be close.


    ''Help my legs,'' Khan thought, heaving a sigh apanied by a trace of his mana. The symphony listened to his request and sent energy toward his legs, allowing him to generate an inhumane sprint.


    Differently from the Thilku, Khan''s sprint didn''t cause any disturbance in the environment. The grass barely moved, and the ground didn''t experience the sprint. Yet, his figure almost teleported halfway through the in, advancing and rising into the sky.


    Out of habit, Khan drew his knife and held it firmly in his left hand. Meanwhile, his eyes and senses scoured the area below. He could feel cameras following after him to record the [Hunt], but they couldn''t affect his decisions anymore.


    A few vehicles had yet to enter the woods, but that didn''t affect Khan''s inspection. The many trees had rtively shallow green crowns that failed to hide the ground below. Khan could see past the many holes in that array of small leaves, and the symphony provided an even more urate scenery.


    The bikes, jeep, and the Thilku''s explosive eleration had left a deep mark in the symphony. Missing their traces was impossible for Khan. He could close his eyes and seal his ears, but his advance wouldn''t falter.


    Khan remained in the sky, kicking the air under him to fly above the woods. He wasn''t as fast as the sprinting Thilku, but his speed was by no means negligible. Moreover, his ability to fly was an advantage he couldn''t dismiss, especially since his senses removed any drawback.


    Acarro''s peaceful environment worked in Khan''s favor. Each disturbance was a bright light that Khan could easily sense and follow, and that wasn''t limited to the teams. The Ilqiex was also leaving tracks of its violent advance, and Khan headed directly in its direction.


    The [Hunt] prevented using guns and simr weapons, but that was the end of the strict rules. Spells and martial arts were allowed, just like the fights between teams.


    As for the win conditions, there were only two. A team had to drive the Ilqiex back to the cage or capture it with their bare hands and return it. The Thilku gave more value to the second approach, but that was far from mandatory, especially since it involved several issues.


    ''If we capture the Ilqiex first,'' Khan thought, ''The Thilku might steal it back. Yet, that''s probably for the best.''


    Being the first to capture the monster before losing it would prove strength without leading to victory. That was the bestpromise Khan could find with his knowledge and inspection, but another appealing option existed.


    The Harbor had arranged a capable team, but the Thilku had the advantage due to their stronger bodies. Khan was the only one who could make a difference, which was bound to improve his position if he seeded.


    ''I''ll just see how things develop and adapt,'' Khan put an end to that internal monologue. ''I''m not confident in getting to the Ilqiex first anyway.''


    Khan released more mana in the environment to ask for the symphony''s help, and that energyplied. He performed multiple full-speed elerations while flying above the woods. That went on for entire minutes until a change eventually happened.


    The Thilku in charge and Khan had put some distance from the vehicles. They weren''t only faster. The woods also didn''t hinder them. Khan wasn''t even on the ground, so he never needed to dodge trunks or adapt to the terrain.


    Still, the Thilku eventually slowed down, and Khan noticed that. The explosive eleration from before waned, and the symphony added information Khan processed a full speed.


    ''Does that technique have a time limit?'' Khan wondered, trying to understand the Thilku''s state from above the woods. ''He doesn''t feel tired. Maybe there are other limitations.''


    Theck of a clear answer didn''t discourage Khan. The Ilqiex was still distant, and the Thilku''s deceleration created a window Khan didn''t hesitate to exploit.


    Khan kept elerating with Maban''s technique, doing his best to put as much distance from the Thilku as possible. He wanted to get to the Ilqiex first to decide what to do, and his legs never stopped kicking the air to aplish that n.


    The Ilqiex didn''t continue running in a straight line for too long. It eventually changed direction, making Khan''s job easier. He quickly closed the distance with that monster, and that process elerated when thetterpletely stopped.


    Khan dived toward the woods in a location distant enough to avoid getting noticed by the Ilqiex before advancing on the ground. The terrain under the crowns was quite even, but the symphony told him his time was limited. The Thilku and the vehicles were getting closer.


    ''Killing it is against the rules,'' Khan recalled, ''But something that strong should survive without a few legs.''


    Incapacitating the prey, calling the allied team, and distracting the opponents while returning to the in. That was one of the agreed tactics that Khan nned to implement, and problems already stood in his way. The Thilku was closer than both teams, but he would worry about himter.


    Shades of green and brown filled Khan''s vision as he made his way through the woods. His steps didn''t make any sound, but his presence was impossible to hide. He asked the natural mana around him topensate for his intensity, but something told him that the request wouldn''tst long.


    Yellow shades eventually fused with the woods'' scenery. Khannded on a branch and half-crouched before peeking forward. The Ilqiex had calmed down and sat in a rtively empty area, and Khan could see it in all its magnificence.


    ''The rear legs are exposed,'' Khan went through what he had studied about the Ilqiex, ''But the front ones handle the bnce.''


    The two targets would lead to opposite oues. Damaging the rear legs would only slow the monster down while attacking the front ones would incapacitate it. Ideally, Khan would aim for thetter, but preventing the Ilqiex''s movements wasn''t ideal when he had more enemies to handle.


    ''Rear it is,'' Khan stated in his mind, and his mana reacted to his decision, disturbing the cover provided by the symphony.


    The Ilqiex had crouched on the ground, but its head suddenly snapped upward. The monster also stretched its front legs while its protruded t nose trembled. It had noticed something and a hoarse squeal left its mouth to announce the event.


    Nevertheless, Khan was faster. His leap brought him behind the monster, and the following step sent him toward its butt. The Ilqiex couldn''t react at all. The pain arrived before it could even notice what had happened.


    Khan''s glowing knife pierced the Ilqiex''s right rear leg, digging a hole in its knee. He could have opted for a sh to maximize damage, but hisckluster knowledge of that creature''s anatomy made him hold back. Such a strong Tainted animal wouldn''t die so easily, but it was better to be safe.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The Ilqiex cried in pain and tried to stand up, but Khan was faster once again. The monster''s flesh posed no resistance to the glowing knife. He could swiftly withdraw his weapon, jump toward the other rear leg, and stab its knee.


    The monster instinctively stood on its front legs and kicked behind in a desperate attempt to catch Khan, but he was too fast. He had already withdrawn his knife and retreated when the Ilqiex attacked, but his job wasn''t over.


    Dark blood tainted the Ilqiex''s fur as it straightened its remaining legs and sprinted ahead. The monster''s priority was to escape that invisible threat, and Khan was okay with that. He only needed it to go where he wanted to.


    The Ilqiex''s top speed was scary, but its eleration was manageable. Khan sprinted forward, relying on Maban''s technique to catch up with the monster and fly above him. His body even began to spin mid-air before descending to deliver a heavy kick.


    Khan had studied multiple reports in the past week, but the reality was always different. As soon as his heelnded on the Ilqiex''s nape, he gained aplete understanding of its strength. The creature''s muscle density and overall structure were so monstrous that simple kicks wouldn''t do much.


    As if to confirm Khan''s understanding, the Ilqiexpletely disregarded the kick and continued elerating. That violent movement sent Khan flying backward, but he only needed to tap on the air to find his bnce.


    ''They aren''t close yet,'' Khan thought as he continued to tap on the air with his eyes closed. His body naturally crossed the crowns to return in the clear sky, and he straightened his position to chase after the Ilqiex.


    Buzzing noises reached Khan''s ears again. He was being watched, but that didn''t matter. His kicks couldn''t make the Ilqiex change direction, so he would use something stronger.


    The Ilqiex charged madly ahead. Its injured knees made it slower than usual, but that didn''t stop it from taking down the trees on its path. The monster only wanted to escape and be free, but a shining spear suddenly fell a few meters in front of it.


    The monster didn''t give the event much thought, but the blinding pir that followed made it squeal in fear and stomp its legs. Its feet dug through the ground as its huge body struggled to stop.


    The abrupt stop still didn''t bring the Ilqiex to safety. It had simply run too fast to avoid the ring pir altogether. The monster had to give up on sliding to jump to its right, diving through part of the purple-red mana to continue its escape.


    The meeting with the chaos element burned part of the Ilqiex''s fur. Its left side turned ck, but that damage wasn''t enough to interrupt its sprint. Yet, another bright spear fell, and the Ilqiex didn''t underestimate it at that time.


    Khan followed the Ilqiex from above the crowns and adjusted his aim depending on its reactions. His first attack had been too close, but his following ones matched his desires. He didn''t want to hurt the Ilqiex any further. He only had to make it change direction.


    The Ilqiex was focusing on escaping, so merely seeing pirs or spears was enough to make it turn. It didn''t always go where Khan wanted, but he achieved his goal with his eighth spell.


    Acarro''s beautiful scenery had turned into a fuming and burning spectacle. A pir was still stretching toward the sky too, but Khan barely paid attention to it. His focus was on the Ilqiex and the powerful aura roaring in its direction.


    ''So, he can use it again,'' Khan understood as he let his body fall past the crowns. His loud assault was bound to attract attention, and the Thilku in charge didn''t shy away from his responsibilities.


    Khan could get to the Ilqiex before the Thilku but decided to wait and see the sh. That was an excellent opportunity to gauge his opponent''s strength, and checking how the Thilku usually handled the [Hunts] wasn''t a bad idea in the first ce.


    The Ilqiex continued to advance, unaware of the imminent threat, but the thundering noise eventually grew too loud. The monster tried to change direction again, but a big figure stormed out of the trees before it and aimed for a frontal sh.


    Khan''s mouth risked opening in surprise again when he inspected the sh from a secluded branch nearby. The Thilku rushed toward the Ilqiex, spreading his muscr arms and mming his chest directly into the creature''s head.


    Surprisingly enough, the Thilku didn''t fly away. The momentum umted by his insane sprint made the Ilqiex stop on the spot and the ground under them crack. Grass flew in every direction, but the Thilku didn''t budge.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Thilku didn''t seem immune to the sh, but a hoarse battle cry left his mouth, and his mana moved toward his arms as he lifted them above his head. He quickly hammered them down, hitting the Ilqiex''s head and triggering a reaction in the rest of its body.


    ''He made it faint,'' Khan immediately understood from the mana''s behavior.


    The Thilku stepped back, allowing the fainted Ilqiex to fall to the ground. The monster''s dark blood had umted on his chest, and he spat some of his own before wiping his mouth with his sleeve. He had taken a good hit, but his body could endure it.


    ''Is he stronger than the one I fought?'' Khan wondered.


    Khan partially lost himself in his thoughts as he waited for the Thilku to do something. He wanted to see how he would react now that the prey was ready for the taking, but more surprises arrived.


    "[Blue hair]!" The Thilku suddenly shouted, lifting his chin to spread his hoarse voice through the woods. "Blue hair! [Come out]!"


    Khan had understood the Thilku the first time, but that didn''t affect his surprise. That was a direct challenge for reasons Khan couldn''t be sure of, and the buzzing noise that reached his ears only made it harder for him to think straight.


    ''Fuck it,'' Khan cursed, jumping down the branch without bothering to hide his movements.


    The rustling of leaves attracted the Thilku''s gaze, and his mouth broadened into a smirk when Khan walked out of a tree. The alien appeared unable to contain himself but still did to let Khan approach him.


    Khan walked slowly, taking careful steps forward. The Thilku didn''t move even after Khan entered the rtively empty spot he had upied. He even let him get close to the fainted Ilqiex before finally saying something.


    "Me challenge you!" The Thilku shouted, crossing his arms before his chest and straightening his back to look bigger.


    "[I understand yournguage]," Khan said in an ent he could only describe as awful.


    "[You defeated Cnabr]!" The Thilku shouted again, adding a scoff at the end of his statement. "[Amox isn''t as weak]!"


    ''Is he Amox?'' Khan wondered, and the Thilku''s smirk seemed to confirm that guess.

 Chapter 553 Respect

    ''Is this out of pride?'' Khan couldn''t help but wonder before that stalemate.


    Amox didn''t falter nor move. He stood still and proudly in a stance that would intimidate any ordinary soldier. However, Khan had been in the Stal''s trenches. Size alone couldn''t scare him.


    Instead, the fainted Ilqiex lying between the two was a far scarier sight. Khan had tested the monster''s prowess first-hand, and seeing Amox taking it down so easily spoke for his strength.


    Of course, things weren''t that simple. Amox''s first sh with the Ilqiex had carried his sprint''s momentum. His sturdy body had handled the rest.


    As for the blow that ultimately put the Ilqiex out ofbat, Khan could only feel respect toward it. Those thick arms could crush any ordinary human. Still, even then, Khan had survived a frontal sh with a Bise. He couldn''t feel scared.


    The woods prevented the arrival of Acarro''s pleasant breeze. Everything stood still in that rtively empty spot. Only the Ilqiex''s heavy breathing disturbed the stalemate created by Amox and Khan''s intense stares.


    On the surface, Khan and Amox wore opposite stances. Amox was on fire, perfectly embodying intensity and pride. His very life was on the line there, and he showed it.


    Instead, Khan appeared detached, cold, and almost uncaring. His presence would be barely noticeable without the natural tension leaked by his figure. His intentions were impossible to understand, but his insides showed a different picture.


    The limitations imposed by the Ambassador and the overall political tension had put Khan in a tough spot, and his mana simply wanted him to let loose. He also wished to test himself against Amox, and a friendly battle that didn''t involve killing was the perfect opportunity.


    Khan tightened his grip on his knife but rxed it right afterward. He probably couldn''t defeat the Thilku without his weapon or spells, but nothing stopped him from trying.


    "[I''ming]," Khan warned, but the Thilku didn''t spread his arms.


    Khan released a tinge of mana in the environment anyway, and the Thilku lost track of him. The next thing he noticed was the heavy kick thatnded on his right shoulder. His firm stance faltered, and his arms began to leave his chest, but Khan''s offensive didn''t stop there.


    The direct hit told Khan about Amox''s overall muscle density and structure. The alien was indeed strong, but nothing he didn''t face before. Besides, his slow reactions put him at Khan''s mercy.


    Khan relied on Maban''s technique to sprint again. Ground or air no longer mattered to him. He could keep the same inhumane speed while flying behind Amox. His body began to spin to umte momentum, but something changed inside the alien at that point.


    The mana inside Amox grew wild, generating sparks that seeped past his uniform. Khan''s heel was ready to hit Amox''s nape, but thetter bent forward before the impact, and his body spun incredibly fast.


    Thunder roared in the middle of the woods. Amox''s body reached unfathomable levels of speed. It turned out that he didn''t only bend. He had taken a proper step forward before twisting his torso and stretching his right arm.


    Khan sensed that massive limb flying in his direction while his kick was still about to descend. Amox wasn''t doing anything specific. His attack was merely relying on physical strength and speed, but his powerful body made it dangerous.


    Thoughts had already abandoned Khan''s mind, but he understood. Amox could only perform bursts of speed, and they weren''t limited to mere sprints. He could enhance his reactions and gestures, surpassing anything Khan could handle.


    The huge limb flew toward Khan while his leg was still descending. A sh seemed unavoidable, but Khan forcefully used his other foot to tap on the air and send himself upward.


    That light tap couldn''t disperse Khan''s momentum. He continued to spin while flying upward, but his abrupt rise into the sky made him escape Amox''s reach. Thetterpletely turned only to hit the empty air.


    Khan adjusted his position, stopping his spinning motion and straightening his back. He stood a few meters above Amox, lightly tapping the air to keep hovering there. Ideally, the Thilku would follow him in his domain, but nothing simr happened.


    Amox appeared excited at the fact that Khan could fly. He lifted his head and fixed his happy smirk on him without jumping after him. Khan had already shown enough flexibility in the air, so it made sense for an experienced warrior to choose to remain on the ground.


    However, no stalemate arrived. Khan lifted his right hand, and three glowing needles appeared between his bent fingers. Amox also moved, stretching his left arm toward Khan and summoning more sparks.


    Amox''s two thumbs bent, creating a crackling ck spark that connected their tips. Mana gathered inside it, thickening its figure, loudening its noise, and increasing its power before he reached for it with his right hand.


    The sparks were still elerating Amox''s movements, which gained a stark fluidity Khan didn''t miss. The Thilku had probably repeated that gesture thousands of times, achieving a certain harmony Khan couldn''t help but respect.


    Amox touched the thicker spark with his right hand, pulling it toward his chest. That crackling ck thread stretched, gathering more power that shot forward as soon as he released it.


    Khan had watched everything attentively, but his eyes widened in shock when Amox released the spark. After that gesture, something flew toward him, forcing him to kick the air to his right to fling himself away.


    Khan''s reaction had been instantaneous, but something touched his chest anyway. He was still flying away when he lowered his gaze and noticed that a long cut had appeared on his uniform. The attack had only grazed his skin, but burns had appeared on his clothes.


    Amox summoned his mana again, following Khan with his stretched left arm. He was ready tounch another attack, but Khan didn''t remain passive anymore.


    Khan kicked the air under him to fly past the crowns. His ascension had been too fast to follow, leaving Amox clueless about his position. The Thilku waited patiently for his return with his left arm pointed at the sky, but something far different came down.


    A glowing spear pierced the crowns before exploding mid-air. Amox kept his eyes open, uncaring of the purple-red color trying to blind him, but that didn''t help.


    Khan dived back into the crowns, using the blinding pir to hide his presence. His knife glowed while he flew toward that thick, stretched arm, and its tip soon pierced the back of that huge hand.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Amox noticed Khan only when the knife stabbed his hand, and his fast reactions kicked in. The Thilku pulled his arm away, jumping to his right to distance himself from his opponent. Still, as the pir''s glow waned, he noticed three purple-red needles flying in his direction.


    The Thilku had to dodge again, which wasn''t a problem with his speed. Amox jumped to his left, leaving the needles'' trajectory and escaping their explosion. Yet, he suddenly noticed that he had lost track of Khan, and the pain spreading from his shoulder told him where he was.


    Khan had used the spear and needles as distractions, which had paid off. Even with Amox''s fast reactions, Khan still injured his palm. That wound wasn''t deep, but it remained something.


    Now, Khan had his knife stabbed into Amox''s left shoulder. He didn''t aim for a simple thrust at that time. He had performed a proper sh, and his weapon was still running through that strong flesh when the alien noticed it.


    Amox didn''t hesitate to perform another escape maneuver. Cracks came out of his figure as he stepped forward and prevented Khan frompleting his sh. However, something flew after him and turning put his face in the middle of the conical Wave spell.


    The Thilku''s skin and clothes vanished under the effects of that destructive spell, but he didn''t stay at its center for long. Amox quickly sprinted to his right to escape the chaos element but found Khan waiting with his knife pointed at his left shoulder.


    Khan''s strength was remarkable, and his spells were scary, but that alone wasn''t enough to put him among the best third-level warriors. Still, his battle prowess remained terrifying.


    Amox understood the reason behind Khan''s strength very well during those exchanges. His flexibility, both on the ground and in the air, made his fast movements his greatest asset. That was the backbone of his battle prowess, turning even the simplest attack into a potentially fatal injury.


    No one could match Khan in that field. Amox could only react and surpass his speed for a short time. Yet, now that he had lost the initiative, retrieving it without reckless actions was impossible.


    Amox steeled his resolve at the sight of the iing knife. He could dodge it, but that wouldn''t change his situation. It would only add another injury that would further weaken his condition. So, he decided to step forward, driving his shoulder into the weapon to gain the chance to attack.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan saw everything, from Amox''s move to his resolve, and thetter speed prevented him from doing anything about it. The knife stabbed the Thilku''s left shoulder, digging deep into his flesh before far more sparks came out of his body.


    Thunder resounded in the middle of the woods as scorching sparks flew in every direction. Amox had released a proper explosion to catch Khan in its destructive power and stop that incessant offensive.


    Khan released his mana as soon as he noticed what was happening. Purple-red res shot out of his body to create an uneven defensive sphere that shed with the iing sparks and dyed their advance.


    The dy allowed Khan to retreat, but some sparks still managed to pierce his mana in the meantime. Charred dots appeared on his uniform, stretching toward his skin at times but without ever inflicting serious damage.


    The sh between the two spells was stunning from the outside. Amox had created a crackling and ck dome, and a foreign purple-red sphere slowly escaped its rage.


    The ground and trees nearby ended up paying the price for that sh. Grass took fire as sparks fell everywhere, piercing trunks and digging holes in the terrain. That natural paradise couldn''t survive the battle between two third-level warriors, but neither cared.


    The sparks quickly lost power, but Amox didn''t move. Khan also let his mana disperse and opted for a simplending. The two stood still, refraining from attacking any further to inspect each other.


    The long cut on the chest and the many new holes had made Khan''s uniform baggy. It wasn''t too torn but remained quite unfit for the situation.


    Instead, Amox was far worse off. His sparks and Wave spell had damaged his uniform and cape, which barely managed to remain on him. Moreover, blood had covered his left shoulder, his skin had cracked in many spots, and the injury on his palm had yet to close.


    Even with those injuries, Amox remained the embodiment of excitement. He liked that Khan had put him in that position, and the statement that followed confirmed that fleeing.


    "[Blue hair is strong]!" Amox imed before opting for a question. "[What''s your name]?"


    "Khan," Khan stated, unable to hold back the smile rising toward his expression. "Captain Khan."


    "[Khan]!" Amoxughed, his right hand going for the cape to remove it. He threw that traditional garment away before reaching for the upper part of his uniform and ripping it off.


    Khan''s smile broadened at that sight, and his hand instinctively went for his uniform''s buttons. He imitated Amox, exposing his chest to prepare for the imminent sh. His defined muscles paled before the Thilku''s burly figure, but neither took that detail into consideration.


    "[I''ming, Khan]," Amox dered, using the same words Khan had spoken before the battle. That was a show of respect that Khan didn''t miss, but something distracted him from that exciting moment.


    Amox summoned his sparks, but Khan promptly raised a hand to shout the best "[Wait]!" he could muster. The Thilku stopped and tried to follow his gaze but couldn''t see anything. After all, Khan was looking at the ground.


    An earthquake arrived in the following seconds, and cracks spread on the ground, creating rtively deep fissures that continued to erge. Amox spread his arms, ready to fight anything that came his way, but Khan suddenly appeared on his chest and kicked him away.


    Initially, Amox believed that Khan had used that distraction to attack him. Yet, theck of pain from the push told him that there was more at stake, and the huge figure that shot out from his previous position confirmed that guess.


    Khan had also pushed himself away during the exchange but was close enough to inspect the scene. A big, ck creature hade out of the ground. The monster had the body of a worm, with a big circr mouth full of teeth and six long ws stretching from its edge.


    The monster was only as strong as a third-level warrior, but more came out of the ground. Soon, seven different worms appeared in the area and released screeches as they waited for their bodies tond.

 Chapter 554 Hole

    ''Orze!'' Khan immediately understood. He had studied Acarro''s environment, including its fauna, so it only took him a nce to realize what had arrived.


    The Orze were worm-like hunters that relied on tremors to find prey. They were blind and mostly lived underground. Their big mouths and silver ws made them natural diggers, and their appearance on the surface could only mean one thing. A whole pack had surrounded the area.


    Generally, the arrival of a pack would be a serious threat. The surface already featured seven specimens, with most of them being as strong as third-level warriors. However, Khan had experience with outbreaks, and the [Hunt]''s regtions didn''t extend to Acarro''s fauna. There was no no-killing rule on the Orze.


    Khan was still flying backward when the seven Orze jumped from the ground. More monsters were also hiding under the surface, but Khan only smiled. Fighting Amox had filled him with excitement, and the arrival of those new opponents had given him worthy targets.


    The Orze closest to Khan was two meters long and half a meter thick. The screech leaking out of its mouth worked as a sonar that scanned its surroundings. It had already noticed Khan and its body began to twist in his direction. However, he was far faster than that creature.


    Khan asked, and the symphony moved, giving him the means to generate an inhumane sprint that teleported him before the Orze. His right leg was already stretched, and his foot mmed on the worm''s squashy body, digging into it until its wet skin gave in.


    The Orze''s screech turned high-pitched as Khan''s leg dug into its body. He had hit the worm at its center, making it bend oddly. Yet, his offensive was far from over, and the glowing sword that grew from his right hand soon joined it.


    Those worms didn''t have the best bodies. They were actually weakpared to the Ilqiex. As soon as the chaos w got close to the Orze, its wet skin crumbled and opened the way for its insides.


    Khan stabbed his spell into the worm, and blood and gore followed. The Orze exploded as soon as half of the glowing sword entered it, leaving only a lifeless body and a maimed mouth.


    ''That''s it,'' A thought managed to appear inside Khan''s brain. ''That''s the feeling.''


    Khan didn''t enjoy killing, but that battlefield was different. He felt no pity or mercy toward simple monsters. The Orze were giving him a chance to use his power and sensitivity, allowing him to let loose without experiencing an ounce of remorse, and he loved it.


    The previous execution had barelysted a few seconds. Khan had dealt with the Orze quickly and smoothly before itspanions could return to the ground. He had the chance to kill some more, and the symphony told him the path toward his next target.


    Khan used his left leg to kick himself forward, uncaring that part of the Orze''s corpse was still hanging from his right foot. That gory body part flew away as soon as he began to spin, and his now free limb delivered a round kick thatnded on a monster that had appeared before him.


    The new Orze bent under the kick. Its skin shattered, and its insides didn''t even try to stop the attack. Khan almost cleaved the monster in half, but his attention didn''t remain there. He closed his eyes and let his back face the cracked ground before pushing himself away.


    Khan flew through the battlefield until another big figure appeared in his path. That Orze had almost touched the ground, but a purple-red sh happened before that inevitable event. The monster eventuallynded, but a third of its mouth fell off, carrying gore and muddy dark blood.


    Amoxnded in the meantime. Normally, he would check the ground to make sure that the cracks didn''t hinder his footsteps. Yet, his eyes couldn''t leave Khan. His perfect execution of every move was toopelling to miss.


    That execution wasn''t limited to mere attacks or power. Khan never wasted time. Each of his steps was perfect and with a precise purpose. He was dancing to a song only he could hear, leaving Amox in awe.


    Amox wanted to help. Taking care of that assault had the priority since both teams needed a clear area to move forward with the [Hunt]. However, Khan suddenly opened his eyes to nce at the fainted Ilqiex, and Amox recognized the emotions conveyed by his face.


    That was the third time Khan had diverted his gaze for seemingly no reason, and Amox had seen all of them. The first had happened at the hill''s base when the ship arrived, and the second before the Orze left the ground. There was a pattern there, so Amox didn''t hesitate to follow Khan''s eyes now.


    Seeing the Ilqiex said everything that needed to be said. Amox understood what Khan had sensed and moved to prevent it. The two gained a joint goal and sprinted toward the fainted monster at full speed.


    Amox used his ck sparks and instantly reached the Ilqiex. Khan was right behind him, but the ground suddenly trembled again, and a series of holes opened under the fainted monster.


    Those holes affected the many cracks, stretching and erging them until most of the surface crumbled. A series of underground passages became visible as debris fell on them, but Khan and Amox only looked at the many ck figures partially hidden by that mess.


    That general inspection was short-lived. An Orze had started to resurface below the Ilqiex. Its long ws had already closed themselves around the fainted monster. Its mouth was also getting closer, threatening tond on that defenseless prey.


    Amox had lost his foothold when the ground crumbled. However, he was big and had already reached the Ilqiex. The Orze under the monster was within his reach, and he didn''t hesitate to stretch an arm toward it.


    The Thilku''s big palm touched the rising Orze before a thundering noise filled the area. The monster directly exploded, sending fuming gore in every direction and saving the Ilqiex from that assant.


    Khan reached Amox at that point, but he and the Ilqiex were still falling. Too much of the area had crumbled for Khan to push them away. Hecked the strength and time to do so. Yet, that location was dangerous, especially if the trio ended up at its bottom.


    "[Let''s take them, Khan]!" Amox suddenly shouted, ending in a loudugh.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Khan inspected the Thilku. He was brimming with excitement while ncing at the crumbling debris before him. He didn''t even bother looking at Khan while his body was still falling.


    "I thought you''d have me do all the work," Khan scoffed, using humannguage since he wasn''t sure he could convey the joke properly.


    Amox''sugh grew louder, and Khan didn''t do anything to stop the inevitable fall. The terrain continued to crumble due to the many unstable tunnels, but stability eventually arrived, allowing the trio tond.


    Khan had no problem securing a stable foothold. He actually never touched the ground until the whole fall stopped, but his feet eventually reached the new surface. The terrain was a bit sandy, and the slightest pressure risked making it cave in, but that wasn''t a problem for Khan.


    Amox was in apletely different situation. He wasn''t only far heavier than Khan. He alsocked his smooth and weightless footwork, leaving his legs halfway into the ground after thending.


    The Ilqiex was in a simr situation. It had fallen t on the new surface, digging into it for a good meter. It was still safe and asleep, but the iing battles risked submerging it with debris or worse.


    As for the area, a good chunk had caved in by a few meters. The trio was basically at the bottom of a big hole that didn''t stay still. More ground crumbled due to the digging of the Orze. It wouldn''t take long before they attacked.


    Amox and Khan didn''t need to say anything. Amox faced one side of the hole, and Khan had opted for the opposite. They had instinctively decided to split that outbreak since salvaging the Ilqiex was the priority.


    Soon, five figures pounced out of the ground, leaping toward Khan, Amox, and the Ilqiex. Those Orze had no unique offensive pattern. They only wanted to stab their prey and drag it underground, but their opponents wouldn''t allow it.


    Khan was the first to move. Two Orze had jumped out of his side of the hole, making it his job to take care of them. He leaped forward, stopping before the monsters and lifting his left hand.


    The conical Wave spell engulfed the Orze, and their weak bodies could only crumble under its power. The insidious chaos element dug through them, turning their skin and insides into dust and leaving maimed corpses behind.


    Khan waited for the symphony to confirm the Orze''s death before flinging his right hand to his left. Two needles had appeared between his fingers, and the gesture made them fly toward the Ilqiex to intercept the worm pouncing at it. The spells hit the monster''s mouth, exploding and destroying a third of its body.


    Amox also had two Orze flying toward him, but his legs were temporarily inconvenienced. At least, that was what Khan believed. The Thilku had a very different idea since he crouched forward and jumped, lifting a big cloud of dirt in the area.


    The Orze were blind, so the cloud didn''t hinder their offensive. However, the hands thatnded on them did. Amox had reached for the worms'' mouths, grabbing their opposite edges to m the two monsters against each other.


    The worms suffered damage but didn''t die. Yet, Amox was still holding them, and thending gave him the opportunity to m them into the ground. Another cloud of dirt rose, and blood fused with it.


    A second wave of Orze arrived. The worms decided to attack from every direction without targeting anything specific. They just wanted to make the entire area crumble to have that fight underground.


    Khan counted eight worms. Usually, he would rely only on himself to keep the Ilqiex safe and clear the area, but Amox was quite trustworthy and capable. Besides, Amox was still eyeing his half of the hole, so Khan decided to stick to his side.


    Three needles flew to Khan''s right as he jumped ahead. The spells hit two worms and exploded, killing one and heavily injuring the other. Meanwhile, Khan lifted his knee and covered that body part with the [Blood Shield] before mming it inside the third Orze''s mouth.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The Orze''s upper part exploded during the violent impact, and Khan didn''t hesitate to use his free leg to kick himself to his left. Two worms were pouncing at the Ilqiex, and he couldn''t let that happen.


    Amox didn''t stay still during the exchange. ck sparks came out of his body, making his movements surpass Khan''s top speed. Three Orze were closing on his position, and he waited until they got into his range to take care of them.


    Thunder roared in the hole as the three Orze exploded, leaving only gore behind. Amox sprinted toward the Ilqiex as soon as his feet touched the ground, reaching fainted monster at the same time as Khan, and the two instinctively went for different targets.


    Of the two Orze pouncing at the Ilqiex, one saw a deep cut opening through half of its body, while the other directly exploded. A rain of dark blood followed, and Khan and Amoxnded among it, uncaring of how dirty they got.


    The pack of Orze was almost out of specimens, but Khan sensed their desire to keep attacking. Still, the symphony created a stronger urge inside him. He couldn''t help but nce to his left to meet Amox''s proud smirk and match that expression with a challenging smile.


    The two had reached an understanding other than mutual respect. Yet, the problems weren''t over, and Khan''s eyes suddenly snapped at the Ilqiex. A hoarse squeal followed as the monster cried and struggled to its feet. The creature had awakened, forcing Khan and Amox to recall the [Hunt].


    Nevertheless, as Khan and Amox focused on the Ilqiex, the four remaining Orze jumped at them from behind. Khan was the first to turn with his glowing knife and needles ready, and his prompt reaction pushed Amox to do the same.


    In a few seconds, the four remaining Orze either exploded or died due to heavy injuries. Khan and Amox found themselves side by side before those new corpses but didn''t exchange any nce. They both peeked behind their shoulders only to see a deep channel leading to the hole''s edge. The Ilqiex had left again.

 Chapter 555 Reactions

    The symphony showed traces of the Ilqiex''s sudden escape. The monster was still nearby, but each passing second made it put more distance from the hole.


    Khan and Amox shared the desire to exchange another smirk before getting back to the [Hunt], but something else attracted the former''s attention. Khan nced to his left to inspect one of the hole''s edges, and the sound of tires eventually reached the area, updating Amox about the situation.


    A series of bikes appeared on the hole''s edge. Humans and Thilku peeked into the big cavity only to remain stunned by the sight that weed them. The many maimed corpses of the Orze created a disgusting scenery, but the two standing figures caused more shock.


    Khan and Amox had dropped the upper part of their clothes long ago, but that only worsened their appearance. A lot of the Orze''s muddy blood had fallen on them, adding a dark and disgusting touch to their overall presence.


    "Go after the Ilqiex already!" Khan scolded, pointing in the direction where the monster had escaped.


    "[Don''t stand still]!" Amox gave a simr reprimand, also pointing toward the channel dug by the Ilqiex.


    The two teams snapped back to reality and turned their bikes toward the Ilqiex before elerating. Khan even heard a single jeep in the distance following along. Soon, the hole''s edge became empty again, leaving only the two scouts.


    At that point, Khan and Amox finally exchanged their smirk, which ended in a joint snicker. They were in no hurry to chase their teams, and Amox seized the chance to show his respect.


    "[You are a formidable warrior, Captain Khan]," Amox stated, performing a customary Thilku bow even in the absence of his mantle.


    "[You too, Amox]," Khan announced, imitating that bow. He had practiced it in the previous weeks, leading to a wless performance.


    "[Good bow]!" Amox praised,ughing in approval. "[Shall we]?"


    "[Of course]," Khan responded, tapping the ground to send himself into the air. "[I''ll go first]."


    Amox didn''t mind that gesture. The two had reached an understanding there. They knew how fast they were, and that slight advantage couldn''t change the situation.


    Khan sprinted toward the woods, flying above the trees while Amox half-crouched. He nted his hands on the ground and summoned his ck sparks before thunder resounded in his spot.


    The symphony kept track of Amox, but Khan could easily do it with his eyes too. Amox''s inhumane sprint moved the trees and burned the grass, creating a fuming trail anyone could notice.


    Khan felt no surprise when Amox surpassed him. The Thilku caught up with the teams in no time before running past them. That insane sprint was impossible to match, and Khan could y a battle of endurance with it.


    ''He can''t have much mana left,'' Khan considered, sprinting at full speed above the woods. He soon surpassed the teams but remained behind Amox, and thetter put more distance between them.


    That wasn''t an oue Khan could affect. Amox was simply faster than him. Yet, possible ns formed in his mind. If Khan managed to make Amox run out of mana, he could leave him behind for good, gaining a stark advantage over the [Hunt].


    Implementing that n wasn''t easy. With killing out of the question, Khan had to hold back his deadliest moves, which also happened to be his best. Even if he wanted to, he didn''t know if he could win that game, especially since a lot depended on his team.


    ''Those things should have recorded enough already,'' Khan thought when a buzzing noise reached his ears. ''Maybe losing won''t be bad as long as I keep myself busy.''


    Khan made peace with his internal struggle and decided to pursue the only path to victory he could find. Either way, the me wouldn''t be on him.


    Louder thunderous noises eventually resounded, marking an event that the symphony conveyed to Khan. Truth be told, he could predict the nature of the matter even without his senses, but Acarro''s natural mana confirmed his guess.


    Khan flew toward the noise source, descending through the crowns at full speed to meet his opponent. Amox was waiting for him, standing next to the fainted Ilqiex. He had caught up with the monster again, but his arm was on the sky, ready to unleash his fast spell.


    Amox adjusted his aim as soon as he noticed Khan and more sparks surged as he pulled the mana between his thumbs. Something flew after Khan in the next second, but he had predicted that oue, and two needles were already blocking that trajectory.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Thilku''s spell destroyed the needles, barely slowing down at all. Still, Khan didn''t need anything else. The fraction of a second gained over his opponent''s attack allowed him to dodge it and disappear.


    Amox didn''t even consider pressing on with that tactic. His left arm didn''t only hurt due to the injuries on his shoulder. He had also lost track of Khan, so he knew he wouldn''t get the chance to keep his distance anymore.


    As Amox had predicted, Khan appeared behind him and stabbed his knife into his left shoulder. Khan nned to render the entire limb useless but sparks thundered, allowing Amox to react as soon as he felt pain.


    The Thilku stepped forward and turned, stretching his arms in an attempt to catch Khan. Yet, the two had already gone through a simr exchange, and the experience didn''t lead to different oues. Khan stomped his feet tounch himself upward before ricocheting through the air and reaching for Amox''s back again.


    Amox''s attack missed, but his insane reactions made him turn again as soon as Khan''s knife touched his skin. Due to the iing thick arms, Khan couldn''t remain in his position anymore. He kicked the air under him to escape once more, but his leg stretched at that time.


    The Thilku had already elerated his reactions to respond to the knife, so the leg took him by surprise. He tried to lean backward, but the tip of Khan''s foot hit his chin, lifting his head in the impact.


    Khan rose in the air and let himself turn upside down to dive directly toward Amox. His previous blow had opened a window he didn''t hesitate to seize. However, Amox wouldn''t let himself be passive anymore, and arge quantity of mana umted inside him.


    Khan''s eyes widened. He had seen a simr move during the previous battle. Amox wanted to release his explosion again to interrupt Khan''s offensive. Khan could deal with it, but a prolonged sh would create problems since the Ilqiex was so close.


    A snort left Khan''s mouth as he suddenly changed direction, ricocheting through the air tond on the fainted Ilqiex. His steps were so light that the monster didn''t feel anything, but he didn''t look at the creature even once. His eyes remained on Amox, who turned to show his confident smirk.


    "[You are smart]," Amoxmented.


    "[You could have killed it]," Khan groaned.


    "[Could I]?" Amox feigned ignorance, but his pretense worked since it instilled doubt.


    Khan couldn''t be sure about Amox''s control over his defensive technique. He didn''t even know if the Thilku had something that simply resembled his previous spell. Too many variables were at y there, and he couldn''t be reckless when the Ilqiex''s life was at stake.


    Realistically speaking, Amox wouldn''t use something with such destructive might near the Ilqiex. However, that slight doubt made Khan hesitate, which was enough for Amox since he had interrupted the offensive without using any mana.


    "[Let''s not do that again]," Khan eventually stated, and the two shared a meaningful stare before something else attracted his attention.


    Khan nced at the trees behind Amox, and the sound of tires soon followed. A few figures became visible among the trees, but crackling noises followed.


    Amox sprinted ahead, trying to catch Khan by surprise. He interrupted his advance right before the Ilqiex, performing a piercing motion with his right arm. Yet, his hand only touched empty air. Khan had disappeared as soon as Amox had summoned his sparks.


    The Thilku didn''t even need to ask where Khan had gone. He turned toward the trees behind him and sprinted at full speed. Soon, a predictable scene appeared in his view, and he moved to stop it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Khan knew dealing with Amox quickly was impossible, but the teams'' arrival had opened a different path. He could give hispanions an advantage if he reduced the number of opponents they would have to fight.


    A series of vehicles appeared in Khan''s view when he crossed a row of trees. The two teams had almost blended due to the equal starting point, but a few Thilku were in the lead due to their experience with those games.


    Khan saw two Thilku bikes mere meters ahead. The one on the left was advancing in a straight line, but the other was busy dodging a trunk, and Khan didn''t hesitate to go for it.


    The Thilku on the bike noticed Khan, but avoiding him was impossible. She had already decelerated to dodge the tree, and pressing the brakes wouldn''t help. Khan was faster than her anyway, and his leg was already aiming for the front tire.


    However, a thunderous noise resounded before Khan could hit the bike. Amox appeared beside him, ready to stab his thick arm into his body. His hand had stretched to take the shape of a de, and Khan knew that a direct impact would put his ribs in danger.


    The rider almost froze in fear. She even forgot to press the brakes as her brain tried to understand what was happening. Yet, before her thoughts could reach a conclusion, Khan disappeared, leaving only herpanion at her side.


    "[Keep moving]!" Amox shouted as the bike ran past him. Hispanion searched for his face to understand how angry he was, but he didn''t look at her even once. Amox''s eyes had already returned to the trees to look for Khan''s next appearance.


    Khan flew through the crowns, sprinting through the branches to hide his figure. The symphony had already found a new worthy target, and he dived toward it as soon as the right moment arrived.


    The new Thilku targeted by Khan was near the end of the two teams. He was riding a bike too, and his attention was on the woods due to the many trunks ahead. He didn''t even notice Khan diving toward his front wheel.


    However, the Thilku''s eyes widened in surprise when thunder resounded at his side, revealing Amox. Thetter was already swinging his right arm, and looking at its trajectory made the alien notice Khan.


    Khan was upside down, pointing his glowing knife at the bike''s front tire. His weapon could almost touch it, but Amox''s reactions had been as incredible as always. If Khanpleted the attack, Amox would hit him for sure.


    ''Screw it,'' Khan thought, steeling his resolve and summoning the [Blood Shield], covering his left side as he continued to descend.


    The Thilku on the bike was powerless. He could only watch as Khan''s knife cut through the front tire and split it in half. Amox''s blownded on his side right afterward, flinging him away.


    The bike''s front dug into the terrain now that its tire was gone. The vehicle''s back began to rise, threatening to send the Thilku on it flying. Yet, Amox caught him by his cape and pulled him away.


    The Thilku''s eyes remained on the damaged vehicle, which rolled on the ground before mming on a trunk. Metal shards flew everywhere, and important pieces of the bike also fell off, making it useless from that point onward.


    "[Go]," Amox ordered, putting hispanion to the ground and pping his shoulder. "[Go help the others]."


    The Thilku only needed to look at Amox''s serious face to nod and run after the teams. He had lost his ride, but his job wasn''t over. Hispanions were busy capturing the Ilqiex, and he needed to help.


    Amox immediately lost interest in hispanion and focused on the woods. He had seen Khan mming on a trunk and piercing through it. He was sure he had suffered some damage, but it was unclear whether he was out ofbat yet.


    The Thilku eventually decided to run without the help of his sparks. He dived through the trees, crossing the trunk broken by the previous attack. He almost expected the area to be empty, but the standing figure waiting for him told a different story.


    Khan was there, lying on a trunk while his hand massaged his left side. He looked in pain, but Amox couldn''t see any injury on his body. Khan also stretched his back, showing how the attack didn''t affect his flexibility.


    "[That hurt]," Khanined, his back hurting due to the sh with the tree. He could have avoided it, but that development would make the rest of his n more believable.


    "[You are tough]," Amox praised, almost d that Khan was still on his feet. "[Can you fight]?"


    "[Can you]?" Khan asked, smirking and lifting his knife, which glowed with his mana.


    All things considered, that was the best oue for Khan. He had weakened the Thilku team and showed his prowess while removing himself from an active role in the [Hunt]. He knew Amox wanted to keep him there to avoid messing with hispanions any further, which was perfect for him.


    As Khan had predicted, Amox summoned his sparks to sprint forward. The Thilku teleported before Khan, and his right arm lunged ahead.


    Khan was ready for that. He had actually started dodging before the attack could unfold, allowing him to half-crouch to his right when the arm tried to m on his chest.


    Amox''s stretched hand dug into the trunk, and Khan lifted his knife to exploit that window. The weapon aimed for Amox''s right elbow, but he employed his quick reactions to throw himself forward.


    The Thilku''s huge body mmed on Khan, interrupting his attack and sending him backward. He had retracted his head in time to avoid getting hit on the nose, but his chest felt the blow.


    Nevertheless, Khan could easily endure those clumsy attacks. He never lost his bnce but let himself fly backward for a few meters before sprinting. He used the trees to hinder Amox''s vision, and thetter noticed him only when a powerful kicknded on his right side.


    Amox grunted and bent. He could react to the pain inflicted by the knife, but the kick unleashed its full power in a single instant. That didn''t give him a chance to dodge or run away before it was toote, but his body could endure that much.


    Sparks left Amox''s dark-red skin and elerated his movements. Two steps brought him to Khan''s left side, ready for a descending blow with two arms. Theoretically, his speed made his attack unavoidable, but his limbs only hit empty air.


    Amox was genuinely confused. That wasn''t the first time Khan had dodged his attacks, but he still couldn''t exin how. He was faster than Khan, and those short exchanges couldn''t give him a chance to react. However, the reality told a very different story. Amox had managed to hit Khan only when he decided to trade his body for a bike.


    That confusion never waned, but Amox didn''t have the time to think about it since his knee began to hurt. Khan had appeared under him, delivering a sneaky kick the Thilku couldn''t hope to dodge.


    Amox used his sparks to try to cut Khan''s escape path and gain any form of initiative over him. Yet, Khan wasn''t limited by gravity. Trapping him was simply impossible, and he continued to slip away right before Amox''s attacks couldnd.


    The Thilku couldn''t possibly know that Khan had long since stopped reacting to his attacks. He wouldn''t have the time to dodge if he waited to see what wasing after him. His only option was to predict his opponent''s moves, and the mana helped him with that.


    Khan began to escape as soon as Amox''s mana tried to give birth to the sparks. That was the signal Khan used to remain one step ahead of his opponent, and that approach never failed him throughout the battle.


    Amox and Khan exchanged blow after blow. The Thilku always failed to hit his opponent, but Khan was in a simr situation. He delivered kick after kick, targeting joints and weak spots, but Amox never fell or slowed down.


    The Thilku showed the full might of his body in the battle, and Khan did the same with his superior prowess. The two never stopped fighting and always did their best to take each other down. Still, a loud siren eventually resounded, filling the woods with its deafening noise.


    Khan was about to deliver a descending kick on Amox''s left shoulder, but the arrival of the siren made him push himself away. He kept spinning until his leg mmed on the ground, dispersing his momentum and sending dirt everywhere.


    Amox could use that chance to attack but remained still. He nced at Khan before lifting his gaze to the sky. Khan did the same, and a buzzing noise eventually joined the siren. A camera descended between the two, stopping above them to convey a message both could understand.


    "The [Hunt] is over," A robotic voice came out of the t, circr machine. "[The Hunt is over]."

 Chapter 556 Lord Exr

    Khan and Amox stared at the circr camera before heaving a joint sigh. The machine began to fly away, remaining under the trees and restraining its speed to act as a guide, and the scouts followed it.


    Amox was taller, so he instantly reached Khan''s side before matching his pace. Khan stored his knife in the meantime and nodded at Amox when he patted his left shoulder.


    "[Good fight]," Amox stated. He was probably holding back, but his hand still felt heavy on Khan''s shoulder.


    "[You are a resilient one]," Khan praised before wearing a pensive face. He wasn''t sure he had used the right words, and Amox noticed that.


    "Me understand humannguage," Amox said, inviting Khan to switchnguage.


    "[It''s training]," Khan exined, adjusting his ent as well as possible. "[I need to learn]."


    Amox was slightly taken aback but quicklyughed, resuming patting Khan''s shoulder. The gesture was closer to punches than friendly exchanges, but Khan endured it.


    "[You hurt my shoulder]," Amoxined, finally retracting his arm to inspect his injuries.


    "[You hurt my back]," Khan pointed out as the two continued to follow the camera.


    "[Only because you wanted to destroy the ride]," Amox stated.


    "[I''m still hurt]," Khan responded, and the two exchanged nces before snickering.


    The camera didn''t announce the winner, but Amox and Khan didn''t care. They strolled through the woods without minding their belonging to different species. The game had been a formal greeting meant to bring the two groups closer, and their respective stance made it a sess.


    Khan and Amox didn''t add anything else. They limited themselves to that casual walk in Acarro''s beauty, bathing in the light that managed to cross the crowns. The morning on that was lovely, and the two scouts began to recover under it.


    A familiar scenery eventually appeared in the distance. Amox''s eyes lit up, but Khan couldn''t feel surprised since the symphony had already updated him. The trees ahead grew scarce, showing a in that hosted some ruckus.


    Khan and Amox elerated without ever running, and the scene quickly grew clearer. The two scouts noticed their respectivepanions together with their vehicles. The big cage was also there, and the Ilqiex was trapped inside.


    The Ilqiex was awake, but the many metal threads wrapped around its body were keeping it still. Those ropes bound its thick legs, mouth, and ankles, preventing it from struggling any further. The cage had also closed, making any effort pointless.


    The monster retained Khan and Amox''s attention only for a few seconds. The two scouts soon inspected the cage''s surroundings, which revealed the game''s oue. The Thilku were congratting each other and cheering while the humans stood on the side, wearing dejected and tired expressions.


    It didn''t take a genius to understand that the humans had lost, but Khan couldn''t help but be curious. The Thilku were one vehicle down after his sacrificial y. Theoretically, hispanions had a stark advantage, but he didn''t know whether they had failed or avoided exploiting it.


    ''I need to look at the recordings,'' Khan thought, instinctively heading toward the human team only to find Amox''s big hand on his shoulder again.


    "[Come,e]," Amox dered. "[We must feast now]."


    Khan didn''t know what to do, but refusing a direct invitation from the enemy scout wasn''t an option. He showed his helplessness to hispanions while heading for the cage with the Thilku. Amox let him go to exchange a fewughs with the other aliens, but they all eventually moved toward the hill, and the humans followed.


    A separation happened during that walk. The humans remained slightly behind and didn''t dare to mix themselves with the Thilku, but Khan was an exception. Amox reached for his shoulder whenever he risked leaving his group, putting him almost in the middle of the aliens.


    The other Thilku didn''t hide their interest in Khan, but only respectful and curious looks flew in his direction. No one spoke to him, and even Amox temporarily ignored him to exchange cheers with hispanions.


    Khan decided to go with the flow, and the hill''s base eventually attracted his attention. Someone had set up a long, short table and ced multiple pillows at its sides. Drinks and food already upied its surface, and big barrels stood nearby.


    The customs in that phase of the game changed asionally, but Khan imitated the Thilku around him, ultimately finding himself on an empty spot before the hill. Both teams were with him and created a line, either performing military salutes or traditional bows.


    Khan opted for the military salute and waited. Soon, Ambassador Abores and the crowned Thilku stood up to leave the gazebo and make themselves more visible, but the former politely remained one step behind.


    "You showed us an incredible spectacle," The crowned Thilku announced in a hoarse voice. "Congrattions!"


    The crowned Thilku tranted the announcement into hisnguage before switching again. "Now, wash yourselves, eat, and drink. You''ve earned it!"


    After the crowned Thilku tranted his second statement into hisnguage, the aliens broke the line to cheer, and Khan followed suit. He wanted to limit himself to a smile and a few nods with hispanions, but Amox''s hand fell on his shoulder once again.


    "[Come, Khan]," Amox called, leaving the group to head for the barrels. Khan followed him, splitting from both teams, which approached the table.


    The barrels were open, and Khan could see his reflection when he peeked into one. A water-like liquid filled those containers, and Amox didn''t hesitate to dive his head into it.


    Amox washed his face before using his hands to take care of the rest of his body. Khan watched him for a few seconds before doing the same, removing all the muddy blood, gore, and sweat lingering on his skin.


    That rudimentary bath wasn''t ideal, but Khan had experience from the Slums and Nitis. He did a decent job at cleaning himself, even if his pants ended up drenched.


    Khan didn''t care about that, and Amox didn''t either. The Thilku ended up in a simr state, nodding in approval when he inspected Khan, and his hand didn''t hesitate to reach for his shoulder again.


    "[Sit with me]," Amox requested, and Khan didn''t dare to refuse.


    The two headed for the table, which depicted a predictable scene. The humans and Thilku had sat on opposite sides and had yet to start eating. However, Amox had different ns and pushed Khan toward one of the short edges before sitting beside him.


    Khan could feel many gazes falling on him as soon as his butt ended on a pillow. He was at the head of the table with the alien scout. That position had meaning even in their culture, but no oneined.


    "[Take this]," Amox said, reaching for bowls, cups, and tes nearby to ce them before Khan. He did the same for himself, and Khan soon had aplete view of what the banquet could offer.


    Khan had studied the Thilku thoroughly, so that umon food didn''t surprise him. The bowls had worms or insects of various kinds, with some still moving. The tes had bread-like meals or rare meat, while the cups held a dark, dense liquid that Khan recognized as booze.


    "[To our human friends]!" Amox eventually eximed, lifting his cup into the air. The Thilku immediately imitated him, and the human side soon did the same, exchanging a public toast that marked the beginning of the banquet.


    Khan took a short sip from his cup only to be invaded by a harsh and strong scent. The dense liquid was booze not meant for humans, but that wasn''t Khan''s first time with something simr. The Ef''i and Niqols had already trained him for those drinks.


    Amoxughed when he saw Khan going for a longer second sip. He patted his shoulder again before taking a handful of worms and stuffing them into his own mouth.


    Khan noticed the gesture and let go of his cup to try those worms. His hand and mouth showed no hesitation, and his eyes lit up when a pleasantly pungent vor covered his tongue. That food was actually good, and he didn''t hesitate to get a taste of everything.


    The other humans didn''t share Khan''s enthusiasm. The Slums and Nitis had made him used to odd meals, but they couldn''t adapt on the spot. They opted for the bread and meat but avoided the meals that were too disgusting-looking.


    Amox continuedughing and eating, appreciating how much Khan was enjoying the banquet. He didn''t expect such a flexible reaction from a human, and his inspection eventually attracted Khan''s attention.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "[Shouldn''t you get that treated]?" Khan asked after gulping down a mouthful of insects and nodding toward Amox''s left shoulder.


    "[Eating first]," Amox eximed. "[I''ll be fine by tonight anyway]."


    "[I agree on the eating]," Khan chuckled. "[This stuff is good]."


    "[Fill your stomach]," Amox cheerfully ordered. "[You must recover your energy after our battle]."


    Khan agreed with Amox and wolfed down anything that ended within his reach. Meanwhile, Amox acted as a perfect host, refilling Khan''s cup whenever he emptied it or bringing more tes to their side of the table.


    To the Thilku''s surprise, Khan ate as much as them, stopping only when the table was devoid of food. He leaned backward at that point, cing a hand on the ground while wielding the cup with the other. Having a full stomach and a drink under Acarro''s light felt fantastic, and he made sure to enjoy it to its fullest.


    "[Did you like our food]?" Amox asked, half-turning toward Khan while wielding a cup. The table was a bit short for him, so he rested his elbow on it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[It was great]," Khan praised. "[I''m fully recovered]."


    "[I only hit you once]," Amoxughed. "[You are a slippery foe]."


    "[My]," Khan said, falling silent for a few seconds to recall the word he wanted to use. "[My girlfriend gets angry when I get hurt]."


    "[Ah]!" Amox eximed, chuckling. "[I know what you are saying. My wife tries to kill me every month]."


    "[Why]?" Khan asked, alsoughing.


    "[Thilku women have a temper when they are in love]," Amox proudly stated. "[I''d be worried if my wife stopped fighting me]."


    "[I know the feeling]," Khan admitted. "[Do you have kids]?"


    "[Two]," Amox nodded. "[A small boy and a girl as scary as her mother]."


    "[That''s good, right]?" Khan questioned.


    "[She makes me proud every day]," Amox snickered, gulping down his drink and reaching for the jug with the booze.


    "[Do you have kids]?" Amox asked, refilling Khan''s drink before tending to his cup.


    "[No]," Khan revealed, respectfully lifting his drink toward Amox before taking a sip. "[It''s too early]."


    "[Do you love your girlfriend]?" Amox questioned.


    "[I do]," Khan opted for honesty.


    "[Then it''s the perfect time]," Amox dered.


    Khan lifted his gaze, trying to think of a concise way to exin his situation before going for something vague. "[It''splicated]."


    "[I see]," Amox let it go but reached for Khan''s shoulder again. "[Well, a warrior like you will solve any problem]."


    Khan ignored the red spot that had appeared on his shoulder due to the repeated ps and politely addressed Amox''s praise. "[You are strong as well. The Thilku never fail to surprise me]."


    "[Ah]!" Amox snorted. "[You didn''t point your knife at my face even once]."


    "[And you didn''t show me everything you can do]," Khan responded, and the two fell into a meaningful stare that conveyed some of the excitement created during their previous sh.


    "[It''sforting knowing that you''ll be at my side during the investigation]," Amox changed the topic. "[The humans are indeed capable]."


    Khan''s eyes lit up in interest now that Amox had mentioned the investigation. He had expected the Thilku to leave that kind of talk to the people under the gazebo. Still, the topic was in the open now, and he wanted to know more.


    "[What do you know]?" Khan asked.


    "[I know about the bomb]," Amox revealed. "[It''s the work of filthy criminals]."


    Amox ended his line by spitting on the ground. The gesture conveyed his deep disgust for the criminals, and Khan couldn''t help but find it interesting.


    "[I didn''t think the great Thilku Empire had blind spots]," Khan said, hoping that his statement didn''t offend Amox.


    "[Don''t talk like that now]," Amox snorted. "[Even the Thilku have criminals. Their shameful behavior is a stain on the greatness of the Empire]."


    "[Sorry]," Khan made sure to say. "[I''m still figuring you out]."


    "[The Thilku are proud but not delusional]," Amox exined. "[We are stronger than humans, so we have better criminals]."


    Khan avoided agreeing or disagreeing with Amox and limited himself to memorizing that information. The Thilku were more mature than he had initially expected, and he didn''t know how to take that news.


    "[So]," Khan changed the topic, "[Do you have any idea where we''ll begin investigating]?"


    "[Are you looking for ssified information]?" Amox snickered.


    "[It might help prepare the human team]," Khan feigned innocence.


    "[Ah]!" Amox eximed before lowering his voice and looking at the hill''s peak. "[Only Lord Exr can discuss those matters. I''m sure your Lord will update you once you are gone]."


    "[Lord Exr]," Khan muttered, also ncing at the hill''s peak. He couldn''t see much from his position since he was sitting, but the symphony filled the nks.

 Chapter 557 Picture

    The meeting didn''t continue for long once the food was over. The [Hunt] had given Ambassador Abores and Lord Exr enough time to talk and set the terms of their cooperation. Some details changed after the game''s oue, but the two handled them during the banquet.


    After that, Khan only had the time to empty a few jugs with Amox before being summoned away. His conversations with the Thilku never went too deep in any field, but the two broadly smiled when they said their goodbyes.


    The square tform brought Ambassador Abores to the bottom of the hill, and he performed a traditional bow toward his escort before heading for the human ship nearby. His team had already gathered there, weing him with military salutes, and they followed him inside as soon as he nodded.


    The cargo area was as cramped as before, but Khan faced no problems inside the cabin. He also covered his chest with one of the spare tracksuits stored there, and the set-off began once the Ambassador obtained the Thilku''s clearance.


    "Sir," Khan tried to call during the flight since the Ambassador was in the cabin with him, but the man promptly shut him down. "Not here, Captain. The briefing will happen in the Harbor."


    Khan could only remain silent after that reprimand and focus on driving the ship ording to the Thilku''s instructions. The human outpost eventually appeared, and Khan led the vehicle to the appropriatending spot.


    Soldiers greeted the team and gave them back their phones. Khan stored the device without looking at the screen while waiting for Ambassador Abores to exchange inevitable pleasantries. Doctors also checked everyone up, but their clearance arrived quickly.


    The scientists had prepared the teleport in the meantime, so the team could directly step onto the tform when they reached it. Synthetic mana gathered on it as soon as the Ambassador gave the okay, and the machine activated, bringing everyone into a far different environment.


    Khan had to hold back a helpless sigh when the stench of the synthetic mana filled his nostrils. That issue went beyond the energy amassed by the teleport. The metal walls and artificial illumination that filled his view told him that he had returned to a ce that didn''t fit his tastes.


    ''Home,'' Khan mocked in his mind. Now that Monica was gone, the Harbor had lost most of its charm. He could keep himself busy with work and training, but Acarro''s morning still shone in his thoughts and created a standard that the metal environment couldn''t match.


    "Let''s move," Ambassador Abores ordered before Khan could lose himself deeper into his thoughts. The team left the tform and teleport area to cross a series of corridors, and one of the Harbor''s iconic rides waited for them when they reached a hangar.


    The team jumped inside and rejoiced at thefortable seats that weed them. Only Khan remained focused on the synthetic mana. It was simply annoying for him to go through that significant change, but Ambassador Abores made sure to distract him.


    "You all did well today," Ambassador Abores announced inside the privacy of that passengers'' area. "Once wend on the embassy, you can take the rest of the day off."


    Many eyes lit up at that statement. Lunchtime had already arrived, but it was the weekend. Most soldiers wouldn''t want to spend it working.


    "Except for Captain Khan," Ambassador Abores continued before cheers could hide his voice. "I know you must be tired, but a short briefing is in order."


    "It''s no problem at all, sir," Khan politely responded.


    Ambassador Abores didn''t nod or add anything. He looked at Khan for a few seconds before losing interest. That was in line with his usual behavior, but Khan couldn''t help but find it slightly gentler.


    That difference made Khan curious, and that feeling intensified during the slow flight toward the embassy. The hangars were quite distant, so it took a while before the ship couldnd on one of the rectangr roofs.


    The team jumped out to perform military salutes, but only Khan and Ambassador Abores advanced inside. The two entered the embassy while theirpanions reentered the ship to fly to their respective homes.


    Silence unfolded again as Khan and Ambassador Abores crossed the path that separated them from their office. They met many soldiers and workers along the way, and Khan''s blue hair always attracted a series of polite salutes or nods. Ambassador Abores didn''t earn the same attention since many didn''t know him, but that didn''t affect his mood.


    The appointed office eventually appeared, revealing its almost empty state. Only rissa and a few soldiers were inside, and the Ambassador headed directly for his private room, even voicing an order as soon as he entered it.


    "rissa, give us some privacy," Ambassador Abores ordered, and the woman hurried outside, closing the door to leave her boss and Khan alone.


    Ambassador Abores slowly walked toward his desk, sliding his fingers over its surface. Menus lit up at his gic signature, but he didn''t press any of them. He didn''t speak either, and Khan waited patiently near the entrance for that briefing to begin.


    "I had my doubts, Captain," Ambassador Abores eventually revealed, still sliding his fingers on the desk and ncing at the empty wall behind. "However, I''m forced to acknowledge your value. You are the best third-level warrior I''ve ever seen."


    "Thank you, sir!" Khan promptly stated. That was a properpliment, but Khan held back his happiness. Even with the newfound kindness, Ambassador Abores remained quite aloof.


    "You could have defeated him, right?" Ambassador Abores questioned. "That Thilku you fought."


    "Probably," Khan remained vague. "The no-killing rule put many limitations on me."


    "I can only imagine," Ambassador Abores casually said. "Your strength impressed the Thilku. I could reach many advantageous agreements because of that."


    "Which agreements, if I may, sir?" Khan asked.


    "Knowing that isn''t part of your duties," Ambassador Abores scolded. "You should only worry about the next mission."


    "Did Lord Exr give us something?" Khan asked, and Ambassador Abores'' face snapped on him.


    "How do you know that name?" Ambassador Abores gasped.


    "I have good ears, sir," Khan lied, avoiding involving Amox.


    Ambassador Abores didn''t believe Khan for a single second. He could even guess how he had gotten that information. Yet, calling him out wasn''t proper, especially after his performance.


    "What else do you know?" Ambassador Abores questioned.


    "I know less than you, sir," Khan stated.


    "I would hope that," Ambassador Abores responded. "I''d be a failure otherwise."


    "I never hinted at that, sir," Khan uttered.


    Ambassador Abores inspected Khan for a few seconds before heaving a loud sigh. He reached for the back of the desk and activated its menus, which created a holographic map that involved multiple systems.


    The Harbor had taught Khan how to read star maps, but he failed to recognize many of the systems depicted by the holograms. Still, he found Acarro and the Harbor, allowing him to draw vague conclusions.


    "Do you know what this is?" Ambassador Abores asked.


    "I can only guess, sir," Khan admitted.


    "Then, guess," Ambassador Abores ordered.


    "These," Khan said, stretching his hand toward the holograms to mark a few systems, "Are the bordering territories with the Thilku Empire. It''s reasonable to think that the alien criminals havee or are stationed in some of these systems."


    "Indeed," Ambassador Abores confirmed, pressing on abel to change part of the holograms. Most of the map turned red, highlighting the Thilku territory in all its greatness.


    The Harbor''s location had a strategic purpose, but the map showed its ws. Being so close to the Thilku Empire left countless paths open. The criminals could have smuggled the bomb through any of them, turning the idea of a proper investigation into a delusion.


    "Lord Exr believes the leakes from his domain," Ambassador Abores revealed, pressing on anotherbel that turned a small part of the red zone yellow. That new shade only highlighted three systems, significantly reducing the eventual area to inspect.


    "Is the information trustworthy?" Khan wondered.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "That doesn''t matter," Ambassador Abores dered. "Lord Exr speaks for the Thilku Empire, so our investigation will happen where he decides to have it."


    Those short lines transformed into a world of possibilities when they entered Khan''s brain. Lord Exr could be correct, but lying would also work in his favor since the Global Army would help him clean a random mess, leaving the actual criminals to the Empire''s inside investigation.


    "I understand, sir," Khan eximed. "I''ll prepare reports for these systems."


    "No," Ambassador Abores announced, zooming in on the map to point at a single in the yellow zone. "You''ll prepare a thorough report on Neuria and study the other systems by yourself. You''d only risk confusing the others otherwise."


    Those lines transformed once again. The Ambassador didn''t say it, but his statement was basically apliment. It meant that Khan could take that amount of information.


    Moreover, the risk mentioned by the Ambassador could exist only if the next deadline was close. Ambassador Abores didn''t specify it, but Khan could guess the investigation would start soon, probably in the following weeks.


    "It will be done, sir," Khan promised.


    "You''ve set a high standard for yourself," Ambassador Abores warned, falling on the seat behind the desk. "The Global Army already expected great things from you, but you involved the Thilku. They''ll demand perfection, and failure to match what you showed will result in immediate discharge from the investigation."


    "I''m d I held back, sir," Khan responded, silently praising himself. Ambassador Abores noticed that but decided to ignore it.


    "You are lucky Lord Exr used to be a soldier," Ambassador Abores continued. "A proper Lord might have ignored you."


    "So, he isn''t true nobility," Khan eximed.


    "No," Ambassador Abores exined, waving his hand at the red holograms. "He received his title from the Lord of these quadrants. From what I understood, he gained enough militarymendations to earn authority over those systems."


    Khan quickly connected the dots. Helping Lord Exr meant doing his superior a favor. That idea was a stretch but could work as a first step toward deeper and more relevant parts of the Thilku Empire.


    "I know you want my chair," Ambassador Abores changed the topic, and the room''s vibe tensed. Khan also looked at him, doing his best to hide his true colors.


    "There is no need to hide it," Ambassador Abores stated. "The entire Global Army knows you want to be an Ambassador. I think it''s too early, but you might change my mind by the end of this investigation."


    "What if I do, sir?" Khan asked.


    "I''ll write a suitable report," Ambassador Abores exined, "Maybe vouching about your capabilities."


    "That," Khan gasped, but the Ambassador continued speaking before he could express his gratitude.


    "Of course," Ambassador Abores stated, "Your current job has priority, and with thates obligations and limitations. Don''t y Ambassador without authority or counsel. You''ll only get in my and the Global Army''s way."


    "Certainly, sir," Khan eximed. "I won''t disappoint you, sir."


    "We''ll see about that," Ambassador Abores coldly scoffed. "Now, I have yet to receive all the details, so the official briefing won''t happen today. You can take the rest of the day off."


    "With your permission, sir," Khan stated, "I''d like to start studying Neuria right away."


    "Suit yourself," Ambassador Abores responded. "I hope you won''t use your exhaustion as a justification if I find mistakes."


    "There won''t be mistakes, sir," Khan promised.


    "As you wish, Captain," Ambassador Abores sighed. "Leave now. I''m waiting to receive a few important calls."


    Khan performed a military salute before storming out of the private office. His desk was empty, but he went for one of the cubicles to achieve better istion, hoping it would lead to a faster study.


    The gic signature gave Khan ess to his profile, allowing him to search for information otherwise ssified. It took him only a few seconds to find reports about Neuria, but his thoughts began to wander at that point.


    Ambassador Abores'' warning was on point. The Thilku would show no leniency toward failure, especially if they were tricking the human team into a fake investigation.


    Due to Khan''s shy profile, he would be the target of everyone''s attention and eventual reprimands. His performance could very well decide the fate of his team.


    Khan didn''t overestimate himself. He actually had a deep understanding of his strength due to his experience with multiple alien species. He was way above average, but the Thilku were also surprisingly resilient. The best of the humans might not be enough to impress them.


    ''How much can I achieve with the [Blood Vortex]?'' Khan considered before refusing that idea. He would still train with the alien technique, but the investigation had sounded close, which didn''t give him the time to make significant improvements.


    An idea then popped into Khan''s mind. He went over it for a few seconds before peeking past his cubicle. The office was almost empty, and no one was paying attention to him.


    Khan returned to his seat and hid his right hand under the small interactive table. His bright mana appeared, making the screen above him flicker and threatening to reveal his misdemeanor. He quickly retracted his energy and peeked past the cubicle again, and curiosity invaded him when he confirmed that no one had noticed him.


    Khan hid his hand under the interactive desk once again before flexing his fingers to create a U-shaped gesture. Mana left his thumb and forefinger, fusing to create a single, gaseous thread.


    The Niqols'' teachings had long since be part of Khan''s skillset, and he showed his mastery over them in that experiment. His mana''s nature changed, condensing, thickening, and gaining stic properties. Its color also brightened, but its surface gained umon stability.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan reached for the thread with his free hand, pinching and pulling it backward. His mana bent under his gesture, turning into a string ready to snap back to its original position.


    ''I can do this,'' Khan thought, but faintints suddenly reached his ears. The few soldiers in the office were having problems with their screens, forcing Khan to disperse his mana.


    ''I need to hit the training hall tonight,'' Khan smirked, straightening his back on the chair. His eagerness wanted him to go right away, but that would look bad after his bold ims with the Ambassador.


    ''Right,'' Khan recalled, pulling out his phone. ''Monica.''


    The phone showed no messages, but Khan sent one to Monica to update her about the [Hunt]. She had been waiting for that text, and a reply arrived in the next few seconds.


    ''Are you sure you aren''t hurt?'' Khan read on his phone, smiling at the love those words were able to make him experience.


    ''I swear,'' Khan wrote. ''I''ll show you the recording if I can get my hands on it.''


    ''You do that,'' Monica replied. ''For now, are you alone?''


    ''I''m still in the office,'' Khan exined. ''Sadly, this cubicle isn''t sound-proof.''


    ''But you are alone, right?'' Monica asked.


    ''I am,'' Khan began to worry. ''Is something the matter?''


    Khan''s worry vanished in the next second. A picture reached his phone, and his eyes widened. Desire and lust invaded him at the sight of the captivating pose and clothes Monica had worn for him.

 Chapter 558 Training

    Being busy helped Khan ignore the drawbacks of his situation, but one look at the picture destroyed that fake bnce. Khan''s mouth opened, his eyes didn''t move, and his grip on the phone tightened to reflect his internal state.


    Barely a week had passed since Monica''s departure, but staring at the picture made Khan experience the entirety of her absence. That was his first time dealing with the distance issue in his rtionship, and his mana told him he wasn''t good at it.


    ''Is everything okay?'' Monica sent another text due to Khan''s silence. ''Did I do something wrong?''


    Love overcame lust, allowing Khan to put aside the picture to reassure his worried girlfriend. ''You just reminded me of how much I love you.''


    Monica also went silent, but only for a short minute. A message soon reached Khan''s phone, and a warm smile filled his face when he read the single word on his screen. ''Scoundrel.''


    Khan lost himself in his thoughts for a bit, but a new message reached his phone. Monica couldn''t leave that conversation at a simple joke and followed with a simr expression of affection. ''I love you too.''


    A sigh escaped Khan''s mouth as he brought his phone to his forehead. He closed his eyes and fought the urge to find loopholes that could make him fly to Monica right away. He wanted to see her. He yearned for her touch and love, but the Nak were the priority, and his job was his best shot at getting close to them.


    Khan eventually calmed down. He lowered his phone, and the two main aspects of his life filled his view. The screen carried Monica''s loving message, while the interactive desk had a series of reports on Neuria. That was his duality, and he wouldn''t give up on anything.


    ''Are you free tonight?'' Khan asked Monica through a message.


    ''We''ll have our call, right?'' Monica questioned.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''I want it to be longer,'' Khan admitted. ''I miss you.''


    ''You are going to make me cry, dummy,'' Monica scolded.


    ''Don''t cry when I can''t hold you,'' Khan ordered.


    ''I won''t,'' Monica promised. ''The call canst as long as you want. Forever even.''


    ''I wish it were forever,'' Khan teased.


    ''I''m really going to cry,'' Monicained.


    Khan smirked and exchanged a few more messages with Monica before postponing their next conversation. His job required his attention now, and he nned to get something done before dinnertime.


    Neuria was famous in the Harbor for multiple political reasons. The had a special embassy focused on the rtionships with the Global Army, and its many docks made it a valuable node for the shipment of goods and simr tasks.


    However, unlike Milia 222, Neuria was almost solely popted by Thilku. The Empire wasn''t exactly weing regarding different species in their territory. That wasn''t out of xenophobia or simr issues. The Thilku simply had strict regtions enhanced by their pride, making them hard to approach.


    ''It reminds me of Earth,'' Khan thought, skimming through the many reports on his desk.


    The embassy and docks were only Neuria''s highlights. The rest of the had cities, training camps, and military structures that weren''t much different from Earth. The Empire was still working on popting that ce and building more settlements, but that didn''t make it less of a home for the Thilku.


    The only peculiar aspect of the was its darkness. Neuria was simr to Nitis there due to the three moons that shielded it from any form of sunlight. That made the ce quite cold, but nothing a coat couldn''t fix.


    ''Criminals will probably live in empty areas or territories still in construction,'' Khan guessed once he gained a general understanding of the. ''Just like the areas the Global Army left to die.''


    The simrities with Earth were striking, but Khan didn''t let them blind him. His study didn''t ignore any detail or possibility, giving him an idea about his report by the time dinnertime arrived.


    Khan took notes in the next hour before finally leaving his cubicle. The office had gotten empty during the afternoon, and only Ambassador Abores and rissa were still working. They were too busy to look past the windows, so Khan departed without exchanging any salute.


    Finding a cab in the embassy barely took minutes, so Khan soon flew toward a nearby district featuring excellent training halls. He also ordered food and drinks once he isted himself inside it, and some tinkering with the menus kept the scanners active but forbade recordings.


    Khan didn''t need to worry about the training hall''s rates thanks to his agreement with the Headmistress, but that didn''t make himzy. His thoughts got to work as soon as the area was ready, and memories of his battle with Amox filled his mind, trying to bring valuable clues.


    Replicating a particr behavior was child''s y for Khan. His mana was wild and unreasonable, but his control was equally powerful. Bending his energy to his will didn''t match his instincts, but it was doable.


    However, imitating something wouldn''t necessarily lead to the same oues. Each element had a specific set of spells for obvious reasons. Mana worked differently depending on its nature, and that affected the effects it could generate.


    In Khan''s case, imitating the process and gesture of Amox''s attack wouldn''t lead anywhere. He could turn his mana stic and give it the properties of a bowstring, but that wouldn''t create a matching spell.


    ''It''s not imitation,'' Khan eventually concluded, breaking his meditative state to get to the real thing. ''I must trante it to express my element''s properties.''


    Mere control wouldn''t do. Khan''s chaos used his emotions to transform without losing its effects, and a mental image of a scene that matched what he wanted to achieve usually helped. Finding those aspects was the only problem.


    Khan usually used his negative emotions in those tasks, so he started with them, testing different feelings to see how his mana changed. He needed something flexible but explosive and, most importantly, fast.


    The training hall kept track of the passage of time, but Khan barely looked at it. He had rms ready, so he immersed himself in his training, changing the pace only when a call reached his phone.


    Khan answered through the hall''s menus since he had connected the phone to the ce, and a holographic screen appeared on a wall. A familiar smile filled it, together with curls he had learned to love.


    "Tell me again how much you love me," Monica ordered, eager to hear Khan''s voice.


    "Can you even sleep without me?" Khan teased, remaining at the hall''s center to continue his training. "I remember someone revealing her addition to my chest."


    "I can''t," Monica revealed, avoiding jokes to convey her feelings. "It''s hard without you."


    A sniff tried to interrupt Monica''s line, but she suppressed it. Still, Khan noticed it, and his longing eyes inevitably fell on the screen.


    "We''ll see each other soon enough," Khan reassured, "And I won''t let you go for a single second in those days."


    "Will you hold me the whole time?" Monica showed her needy side.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I will," Khan promised.


    "Swear it," Monica said.


    "I swear," Khan stated. "I''ll make up for all the time we spent separated."


    Monica wanted toin a bit longer to enjoy Khan''s reassuring words. Yet, she knew how busy he was, so she steeled her resolve and held back, moving the conversation to different topics.


    "This isn''t your t," Monica pointed out.


    "Did you have something dirty in mind?" Khan teased, summoning mana in his right palm to inspect its properties.


    "Yes," Monica whispered, "And it''s your fault."


    "I''m starting to feel proud about that," Khan chuckled, dispersing his mana to try again. "I wonder what thework would think if it knew about your message."


    "Shut it," Monica pouted. "That''s only for your eyes."


    "I''d be jealous otherwise," Khan dered.


    "How jealous?" Monica giggled.


    "Immensely," Khan sighed, dispersing his mana again and peeking at the screen. Monica had taken her face between her hands, and her happy smile seemed able to shine on its own.


    "Am I a distraction?" Monica wondered, feeling conflicted about that point. On one side, she liked that Khan was weak to her presence. Yet, she didn''t want to get in his way.


    "Yes," Khan admitted, "But I prefer it over not talking to you."


    "Did you get more romantic after I left?" Monica teased.


    "I''m the romantic," Khan imed. "You are the dirty one."


    "Did you call me just to tease me all night?" Monicained.


    "If it''s not too much to ask," Khan didn''t refute the question. He even nced at the screen again, showing a face that conveyed his feelings.


    "Tease me all you want," Monica shook her head, "As long as you want. I''m yours, remember?"


    "I''m not used to this distance," Khan cursed, "Or selfishness."


    "My noble Captain can ovee anything," Monica praised. "What are you doing?"


    "Trying to do," Khan corrected, stretching his neck before removing the upper part of his tracksuit. "I''m trying to create a spell."


    "Isn''t it dangerous with your element?" Monica grew worried.


    "A bit," Khan said, "But they''ll probably send us to Neuria soon. I want to be prepared."


    "Neuria?" Monica asked.


    "It''s in the Thilku''s territory," Khan exined shortly. "The investigation should be about to start."


    "What should I do with this information?" Monica asked.


    "I don''t think it''s valuable right now," Khan stated. "Yet, Neuria is still in construction. Many parts of the are empty. I might overhear business opportunities once I get there."


    "I''ll see if my parents know something," Monicamented. "I''ll update you once they answer."


    "Sure," Khan voiced, heaving a deep sigh to steady his mind and opt for a different emotion. He attempted to summon his mana again, but that energy went out of control, generating a small explosion that dispersed its power.


    Khan didn''t get hurt and only waved his right hand to disperse the smoke lingering in his palm. Those shorings were unavoidable during experiments, but Monica might not take them lightly. Yet, one look at the screen revealed a far different picture.


    Monica had fallen into a daze. Her eyes were fixed on Khan''s figure, and her full attention moved between his naked chest and serious face. She even looked livelier, and Khan hated being unable to feel her mana.


    "Won''t you get bored looking at me training all night?" Khan asked, revealing a tinge of insecurity.


    "It will be the highlight of my week," Monica reassured. "I love seeing you like this."


    "Are you getting addicted to something new already?" Khan teased.


    "Khan," Monica called, her tone growing hesitant, "Is it bad to want every night to go like this?"


    Khan remained stunned for a second before dropping the teasing mood. Monica was experiencing the same longing as him, and seeing the emotions on her face warmed his heart.


    "What are you even saying?" Khan chuckled. "I remember my girlfriend being needier than this."


    "I''m trying to be mature, idiot," Monica cried but quickly calmed down to mutter affectionate words. "Khan, I love you so much."


    "Me too," Khan smirked, turning to focus on his training. Still, he added one of Monica''s iconic lines before proceeding. "Make sure to look only at me."

 Chapter 559 Block

    The long calls became a new addition to Khan''s routine. They weren''t the healthiest habit since they involved sleepless nights, but Monica and Khan were willing to pay that price to deal with their distance. The couple was adapting to their new situation, and that worked for now.


    Theck of sleep wasn''t a problem for Khan, so the long calls never got in the way of his other tasks. He still trained and worked, prioritizing his studies of the Thilku Empire to excel in his job. Soon, his reports spread throughout the office, and new developments arrived.


    As Khan had predicted, the next mission''s deadline was close, only three weeks after the [Hunt]. The Thilku Empire was requesting the presence of a human team on Neuria, and Ambassador Abores had to work overtime to get everything ready.


    Of course, the Headmistress helped, facilitating preparations on multiple levels. She provided equipment, clearance, and more to get everything ready by the deadline.


    Khan, thepanions from the [Hunt], and Ambassador Abores gathered before a teleport in the middle of the appointed week. Luggage apanied them, and a few wore sleepy faces due to the early hour. Yet, a re from the Ambassador dispersed that drowsiness and made everyone jump onto the oval tform.


    Getting submerged in synthetic mana wasn''t the greatest experience, but Khan couldn''t help but feel excited. He was about to reach an alien world in alien territory. His curiosity always skyrocketed during those events.


    The machine brought the team inside a space station that the Headmistress had moved near Neuria''s system. Getting clearance to teleport directly to the took longer, so the human team opted to fly there. Soldiers had even prepared a ship, so Khan and the others only had to hop on it.


    Khan took care of the steering wheel, but the mission didn''t allow much flexibility. As soon as he left the small space station, he had to follow a precise route within a specific speed range to approach the nearby with three moons.


    "How are we doing, Captain?" Ambassador Abores asked, peeking into the cabin.


    "We are on route and on time, sir," Khan eximed. "We should see the appointednding area in a few minutes."


    "Can you go any faster?" Ambassador Abores questioned.


    "Is something the matter, sir?" Khan wondered, peeking past his shoulder to look at the Ambassador''s face. "I thought we had to follow Lord Exr''s orders to the letter."


    "Thinking isn''t part of your job," Ambassador Abores scolded. "Answer my question."


    "I can elerate a bit," Khan said, "But the Thilku want us tond at a precise time. We''ll have to wait above the city if we arrive early."


    "Do it," Ambassador Abores ordered.


    "Is it fine to challenge them over a mere minute, sir?" Khan questioned.


    "What did I say about thinking, Captain?" Ambassador Abores rebuked.


    Khan didn''t take those words seriously. That banter had actually be the norm between Ambassador Abores and Khan, and thetter was slowly testing his limits. After all, that yful side was part of his character.


    The precise restrictions didn''t allow much leeway, but Khan had held back on the ship''s speed, so elerating a bit didn''t break the rules. He followed the Ambassador''s orders, doing his best to gain a single minute over the nned arrival, but that effort didn''t distract him from his surroundings.


    The ship''s scanners worked at full speed, recording details of the locations they crossed. The vehicle had to fly around one of Neuria''s moons before heading for the, and multiple structures became visible on that satellite in the meantime.


    Khan noted down those details without ever stopping. It wasn''t surprising for the Thilku to build on a moon. Humans did it too. Still, it was interesting to see the types of structures erected there, which turned out to be defensive weapons ready to take down any invader.


    The ship quickly dived into Neuria''s atmosphere, revealing its dark, mostly cloudy sky. Rain soon fell on the canopy, but darkness never arrived. Artificial lights filled the distantnds and part of the vast seas, turning that permanent night into a colorful and bright environment.


    The instructions led the ship toward the edges of a big continent, and getting closer to the surface showed a big bright city growing near the coastline. One block had long pirs of smoke rising to the sky, and Khan''s destination was close to it.


    The restrictions prevented Khan from bringing the ship down. He had to stop at some distance from the city, but his position granted him a good view of the area below, and he pressed a few keys to make his team see that.


    Multiple screens lit up in the passengers'' area to show what the scanners were picking up. The Global Army couldn''t record anything, but studying the environment was different, and the reality was always better than reports.


    A modern and technologically advanced city unfolded in everyone''s view. Short and tall buildings alternated themselves in blocks that fulfilled specific roles. Big streets also divided them, making room for many terrestrial vehicles that hovered near the surface.


    The heavy rain added a gloomy vibe to the area, and the artificial lights somehow worsened it. Khan had seen the coziness of an endless night, and Neuria didn''t achieve it. The bright banners and signs added a robotic taste to the environment, dehumanizing it and turning the city into one big machine.


    Khan had hoped for something different, but no sighs escaped his mouth. That city was surprisingly closer to Milia 222 than Reebfell, but he could work with that. He could work with anything.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Clearance eventually reached the control desk, allowing Khan to dive into the city. The instructions led him toward a rtively empty block that featured anding tform surrounded by four Thilku toons. The area had almost two hundred soldiers, but they weren''t there for the human team.


    A stage covered by a gazebo stood beside thending tform, and Khan recognized the Thilku under it once the shipnded. Lord Exr was there, sitting behind a row of soldiers. Thetter were familiar faces since they belonged to the team from the [Hunt].


    One of the Thilku under the gazebo jumped forward and headed for the ship as soon as its doors opened. The alien reached the metal staircase that descended and opened the umbre in his hands to wee the most important guest.


    The human team had gathered before the doors by then. Rain and cold seeped into the ship, but everyone was wearing warm dark-blue military coats that carried their stars. Khan was no exception, and he stood aside with his teammates to let the Ambassador advance.


    The Thilku weed the Ambassador under the big umbre. Its transparent, curved cover sizzled whenever drops fell on it, but both the alien and the Ambassador remained dry. The two even headed for the gazebo, while Khan took that chance to lead his team outside.


    The cold rain fell on Khan''s face as soon as he peeked past the ship. Hispanions suffered from a simr fate but didn''t share his reactions. Khan enjoyed that weather due to all the natural mana it brought to the area, but the stench of the synthetic energy was impossible to miss.


    One of the toons split to step on thending tform while Khan''s team headed for the gazebo. The Thilku would take care of the ship and luggage inside while Lord Exr handled the political side. Khan and the others didn''t have precise orders from that point onward, but they were bound to arrive.


    Khan and hispanions performed a line before the gazebo and wore military salutes. Heavy rain fell on them, but no one budged. Only Ambassador Abores had ess to that private area, and the Thilku with the umbre had already brought him next to Lord Exr.


    The two leaders exchanged a few friendly lines that the rain made impossible to hear. Khan didn''t even try to listen and let his senses spread elsewhere. He was in an alien city, so his interest was impossible to quell.


    From above, the city didn''t look anything unique or different from what Khan had seen on Earth or Milia 222. However, details appeared now that he was on the surface, and many red lights fell in the corner of his eyes, threatening to distract him from the gazebo.


    The Thilku liked huge and vast buildings capable of leaving any onlooker in awe. Yet, the city only had a few of those since a lot was still in construction. Besides, its homes mostly had workers. A training camp could show a traditional style but not that settlement.


    Nevertheless, the Thilku technology was inherently different. Most machines and anything in that field relied on the strange runes Khan had seen on the bomb. Those symbols were cores capable of containing and releasing energy for specific purposes, and Khan could feel many of them in the blocks nearby.


    Khan''s inspection was short-lived since Lord Exr soon left his seat to convey orders to the soldiers under the gazebo. A series of hoarse cries seeped past the rain, but nothing specific ever reached the human team.


    Still, the Thilku soldiers moved at that point, diving into the rain to reach the human team. Khan felt no surprise when Amox approached him. He was ready to perform a traditional Thilku bow, but the alien interrupted it by mming his hands on his shoulders.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "[Khan]!" Amoxughed, uncaring of the rain falling on him and drenching his thick mantle. "[We are in the same team]."


    "[Team]?" Khan repeated. He wasn''t sure about his role there, so he hoped Amox could fill the gaps.


    "[That district showed suspicious behaviors in thest period]," Amox exined, turning Khan to point him toward the block releasing pirs of smoke. "[We must go door to door to search for illegal equipment]."


    "[Is this safe]?" Khan couldn''t help but wonder. "[Won''t my presence cause problems]?"


    "[The humans are here under Lord Exr''s invitation]," Amox imed, continuing to pat Khan''s shoulders. "[You have the same authority as us]."


    Khan didn''t trust that statement. The city had ordinary citizens who had probably never seen an alien. Having a human bossing them around couldn''t feel good, but Khan couldn''t refuse either.


    Something distracted Amox while Khan was busy inspecting the fuming district. The Thilku stopped patting Khan''s shoulders and dug his fingers into them as if to start a massage.


    "[What is it]?" Khan asked, peeking past his shoulders to look at the Thilku.


    "[Did you get stronger]?" Amox questioned.


    "[It must be the coat]," Khan lied, chuckling to dismiss that statement. He had slightly abused the [Blood Vortex] in those weeks but didn''t expect Amox to notice.


    "[Well, it''s good if you did]," Amox stated, finally letting go of Khan''s shoulders to step at his side. "[We are in charge of a dangerous zone]."


    "[Do you expect resistance]?" Khan asked.


    "[If they are guilty]," Amox smirked, confidently crossing his arms before his chest.

 Chapter 560 Inspection

    Khan didn''t like that situation. He was an alien for the Thilku, but Lord Exr expected him to enforce regtions. Many problems could arise from that, especially from an emotional standpoint.


    Khan''s broader mindset had often made him disregard his human heritage. He barely considered himself a member of that species. However, he wasn''t blind to the many differences, both on a physical and cultural level.


    ''Orders are orders,'' Khan thought, trying to seal his emotions into a deep part of his mind, only to fail immediately. That oue was worrisome, forcing Khan to hope the situation never pushed him past his limits.


    "[Follow me]," Amox announced once all the Thilku paired themselves with a human. The cooperation between the two species had given birth to mixed couples that would handle different areas, but they wouldn''t be alone in the task.


    As Khan and Amox walked past thending tform and jumped onto the vast street below, a few squads from the four toons reached for them, stopping a few meters away to build a formal line. Those troops upied both ends of the road and remained still, conveying nothing but seriousness.


    The heavy rain couldn''t hinder Khan''s inspection. He could almost smell those troops'' resolve, intensifying his bad feelings. Something told him that he wouldn''t enjoy that job.


    "[They are with us]," Amox exined, pulling up his sleeve to uncover a device bound to his forearm. "[They''ll support us and provide back-up if necessary]."


    Khan didn''t even nod. He nced at the troops onest time before inspecting the device on Amox''s forearm. It looked like a metal armguard, but red holograms came out when Amox ran his fingers on some of its rune''s lines.


    The holograms depicted a small map with dots and markers that Amox tinkered with by tracing more of the armguard''s rune. That symbol worked like an array of menus, which Khan didn''t have the time to master in thest period.


    "[Is that our district]?" Khan questioned, showing his interest in the device.


    "[Yes]," Amox confirmed. "[We must go past the factories to reach the workers'' houses]."


    Amox didn''t say it, but a map was a map in every culture. Khan couldn''t read some of its symbols but could guess hispanion''s intentions. Amox was nning how to approach the targeted blocks, and Khan waited for him to finish.


    "[Alright]," Amox eventually nodded, mming his hand on the holograms to put them back into the rune. He was ready to get going, but Khan''s interest in the device made him voice a question. "[What is it]?"


    "[I still don''t know much about those]," Khan said, hesitating a bit before finding the word that could express what he meant, "[Runes]."


    "[Oh]!" Amox chuckled, twisting his forearm to show the device. "[The theory is simple. Each symbol has multiple purposes, and webine them to activate a function]."


    "[It soundsplicated]," Khan admitted.


    "[Maybe for humans]," Amox stated, waving his fingers over the rune. "[It''s faster and more direct than your technology once you learn how to use it]."


    "[How many symbols should I learn]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Two to three thousand should be enough if you are interested]," Amox exined. "[There are older symbols even I don''t know, but the Empire rarely uses them anymore]."


    ''It''s interesting,'' Khan thought. That technology still relied on synthetic mana but had a deeper approach to the whole field. It resembled a less scientific version of the Tors'' arts.


    "[Let''s discuss this another time]," Amox eximed, pulling down his sleeve and covering the device. "[We must work now]."


    Amox''s eyes snapped on the fuming district and darted left and right a few times before his legs began to move. Khan followed closely at his side, putting some strength into his steps to match hispanion''s pace. The troops appointed to them also began to march but remained politely behind.


    Khan had seen vehicles filling the city''s streets from above but couldn''t find anything simr on the roads before him. It seemed that the Thilku had restricted ess to cars in the targeted districts to facilitate the investigation.


    Amox led Khan directly into the district by walking at the center of one of its main roads. The rain continued to pour, making the metal surfaces slippery, but the scouts never lost their foothold. Their shoes got drenched, but their attention remained on their surroundings.


    The district had tall and short structures, many featuring open andrge entrances that revealed their insides. Ramps probably meant for vehicles connected them to the street, but their absence allowed Khan to inspect everything.


    Therge halls connected to the ramps featured heavy machinery of all kinds. Khan saw power hammers, mobile lifts, cranes, and much more powered by the Thilku''s red runes, but the people managing them captured most of his attention.


    Sweaty and often bare-chested Thilku stood before the heavy machinery. Orange and yellow lights flickered on their faces, hinting at the presence of fire or heat sources. They seemed to work ording to a precise schedule, but Khan''s passage often interrupted it.


    Many gazes fell on Khan whenever he walked past the factories'' open entrances. The Thilku inside them stopped in their tracks to inspect the human figure partially hidden by the rain, and their reactions fit a specific stance.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan sensed the heat from those factories, but a cold feeling always joined it. The Thilku''s distrust toward the human presence was evident, and some of those emotions often led to anger, making a few workers spit on the floor to express it.


    Amox noticed a few of those disrespectful gestures, and hoarse groans left his mouth. res at the workers in question apanied them, but he never went past that. After all, the factories weren''t his target.


    Still, the scene confirmed what Khan had initially guessed. He was an alien there, especially for such a proud species. It wouldn''t be odd for those workers to feel that the Empire was betraying them by cooperating with the Global Army on such a level.


    The district was quite big, so Khan saw no shortage of expressions of distrust. However, the buildings eventually grew scarcer, showing almost empty blocks only filled with heavy machinery and materials. Those parts of the city were still in construction, and Khan asionally found a few teams among them.


    The air grew heavier and the rain dirtier due to the waste materials released by those construction nts. The symphony showed the consequences of technology and the price the environment had to pay for its benefits, which Khan''s body instinctively rejected.


    "[That''s our target]," Amox announced once the two crossed thest empty blocks and saw a few rows of short buildings in the distance. "[We must search those houses]."


    "[Why are they dangerous]?" Khan asked. "[You have yet to tell me that]."


    "[Only if they resist]," Amox exined shortly.


    "[But why]?" Khan repeated. "[Are they more than simple workers]?"


    Amox hesitated to answer. That actually was the first time Khan had seen the alien in a simr condition. The topic involved issues Amox didn''t want to or couldn''t talk about. Yet, a reply eventually arrived.


    "[Neuria is near the Empire''s edges]," Amox exined. "[It''s an honor to popte it and oversee its construction, but not everyone is a volunteer]."


    "[Criminals]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Some]," Amox revealed. "[Others are retired or discharged soldiers]."


    "[I understand]," Khan said, avoiding probing any further. It was clear Amox didn''t want to add details about the matter since it involved the Empire''s internal structure, and Khan respected that.


    "[If we meet resistance]," Khan moved to a different topic, "[How should we handle it]?"


    "[Suppression]," Amox stated. "[We are authorized to use lethal force if necessary]."


    "[But you''d avoid it]," Khan added, sensing Amox''s concerns.


    "[They wouldn''t take it lightly]," Amox said, nodding toward the closing buildings but remaining vague.


    Khan didn''t need anything else. A human killing in Thilku territory couldn''t look good, especially considering that species'' pride. The event could start a revolt depending on the workers'' mood.


    The street grew dirtier as the scouts approached the block. Those areas seemed to have yet to implement automatic cleaning services, but Khan mostly focused on the troops behind him.


    Those Thilku soldiers had never left Khan and Amox alone, but their prowess was unclear. There were only first and second-level warriors, with some having guns and simr weapons under their coats. They could be useful, but the two scouts remained the main force.


    Once the group reached the targeted block, Amox called the soldiers and gave orders. Some of those twenty troops had to block eventual escape paths, while others had to remain on the two streets that divided the district into four areas.


    Khan used that chance to inspect his surroundings. The district had four rows of three-story-tall buildings that stood on a metal surface mmed there to act as a stable foundation. Barren and muddy ground encircled it, marking the end of the city.


    The buildings had a few runes on their surfaces, but Khan couldn''t see windows. Those structures were nothing more than ck, rectangr houses erected for the sole purpose of providing warm beds to their inhabitants.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The area risked being dark due to its distance from the city, but the many streetmps made it quite bright. Those metal pirs had glowing red cubes at their top that shone on the buildings, dispersing Neuria''s eternal night.


    Khan couldn''t help but find the area gloomy. If the city was Reebfell, those buildings were its Slums. They were cleaner and in a far better state than what he had seen on Earth, but their vibe was the same.


    "[We should start]," Amox called while Khan was still immersed in his inspection. "[Don''t draw your knife unless something happens]."


    Khanplied, resting his hand on the sheath instead of the weapon''s handle. Meanwhile, Amox strode toward the nearest door, and Khan made sure to remain behind him.


    "[Open up]!" Amox shouted, cing his hand on the red rune beside the metal door. "[By order of Lord Exr, we must perform an inspection]."


    A few seconds had to pass before a hoarse male voice came out of the door. "[Do you have any authorization]?"


    Amox pulled up his sleeve and activated the device on his right forearm before pointing its rune at the symbol on the wall. The two exchanged information, which convinced the house''s owner since its door opened.


    Amox stepped forward when the tall entrance opened, and Khan followed. A simple room with carpets, a staircase, and a single couch became visible. A wall also had a holographic screen, but Khan couldn''t help but focus on the tall figure staring at him.


    The house''s owner was an old Thilku with only a few white strands left on his nape. The man''s wrinkled skin spoke for his age, but his size remained imposing. He wasn''t only on the upper end of the Thilku''s average height. He also had impressive muscles visible from under his baggy and ragged clothes.


    The old Thilku appeared pissed about that inspection, but Khan''s arrival transformed that feeling into contempt. He didn''t like having a human in his home, and his mouth quickly moved to convey that.


    "[Since when does the Empire ask for human help]?" The old Thilku snorted, ring at Amox.


    "[You will address Lord Exr''s guests properly]," Amox scolded, stopping in the middle of the small room to wear a firm stance. "[Unless you want the soldiers outside to teach you how]."


    The old Thilkupletely ignored Khan to exchange a challenging gaze with Amox. Still, he eventually snorted and retreated toward a wall, waving his hands toward his furniture.


    "[I have nothing to hide]," The old Thilku dered. "[Hurry and get out]."


    Amox didn''t like that reply but let it go and began to browse through the furniture. Admittedly, he went for a rough approach, lifting the carpets and throwing them away before doing the same with the couch.


    Khan let Amox handle the bad-cop part and relied on his senses to search for anything unusual. That room had nothing suspicious, so he approached the staircase, but a reprimand flew toward him as soon as he stepped on it.


    "[Human]!" The old Thilku shouted. "[Where do you think you are going]?"


    The old Thilku was only a second-level warrior, so Khan wasn''t worried. However, Amox took the matter seriously and approached the fellow alien to threaten him.


    "[Are you hindering the investigation]?" Amox asked, standing firmly before the old Thilku.


    The old Thilku''s mouth opened to show the long canines. He hated that situation, but contradicting Amox wasn''t an option, so he remained silent.


    Khan saw far more due to his senses, and his broader emotional spectrum inevitably made him empathize with the old Thilku. He knew he had a job to do, but things wouldn''t get anywhere at that pace.


    "[It''s fine, Amox]," Khan called, stopping in his tracks. "[Sir, you can apany me upstairs if you feel ufortable]."


    "[He even pretends to speak ournguage]," The old Thilku mocked, shaking his head when Amox stepped back. "[Taking orders from a human]."


    Amox interrupted his retreat and lunged forward, lifting his elbow to deliver a precise blow at the old Thilku''s chin. Thetter immediately lost his bnce, falling to the floor.


    The old Thilku tried to stand up, but Amox grabbed him by his neck and dragged him toward the entrance. A second-level warrior couldn''t do anything against Amox, so the two ended up outside.


    "[Come here]!" Amox shouted, throwing the old Thilku in the middle of the street. "[Restrain him]!"


    The order was for the troops left on the street, which didn''t hesitate to reach the old Thilku and grab his arms to keep him on the ground. The alien wanted toin, but his experience told him to hold back.


    Khan left the staircase and peeked into the street while that situation unfolded. The absence of windows didn''t mean that the various residents couldn''t see. Some of the runes on the buildings had to have those functions, which didn''t bode well for the investigation.


    Amox stared at the restrained Thilku briefly before returning inside the house. Khan let him go ahead, and the two climbed the staircase to reach the second floor.


    Due to the Thilku''s size, the ceiling and furniture were taller and bigger, but their general function didn''t change. Khan could recognize beds, couches, wardrobes, and far more without opening any drawer, and the absence of the old Thilku made him help Amox more directly.


    "[Khan, you can''t be soft]," Amox admonished while the two scoured the bedroom.


    "[They have an alien going through their stuff]," Khan pointed out. "[How would you react]?"


    "[It''s their duty to respect Lord Exr''s orders]," Amox dered. "[Chain ofmand is everything in the Empire]."


    Khan decided not to reply. As much as he didn''t like it, he also had orders. He had experienced a lot of freedom in that field ever since Ecoruta, but his new job reminded him of his position as a soldier.


    The bedroom had nothing suspicious, but Khan''s eyes lit up when he reached the third floor. The area featured boxes and more wardrobes that Amox didn''t hesitate to approach, and Khan shared that hastiness at that time.


    Amox couldn''t help but notice the difference in Khan''s behavior. He had lost his initial hesitation, and something told Amox that a good reason existed for that. He stopped his search to follow Khan, and his eyes widened when hispanion opened a big box.


    Khan had followed his senses there. He had felt the presence of magazines full of synthetic mana, and opening the metal box revealed three guns and a rifle. They weren''t anything major, but only Amox could confirm that.


    "[What do you think]?" Khan asked.


    "[They aren''t necessarily illegal]," Amox revealed, "[Especially for an ex-soldier]."


    Amox pulled up his sleeve and reached for the red rune on the room wall. He inserted a fewmands into his device before connecting the two symbols. His armguard drew information from the house before allowing him to check it.


    "[He has permits for three S50 and an MS14]," Amox read, returning to the box to check whether the weapons matched those permits. "[He is clean]."


    "[We should move to the next house]," Khan suggested.


    "[Khan]," Amox called, cing a hand on Khan''s shoulder before he could turn toward the staircase. "[He insulted you]."


    "[Do you want to punish him for that]?" Khan asked.


    "[I have orders to preserve the rtionships with the Global Army]," Amox exined, feeling slightly pissed about the words he had just uttered.


    Amox couldn''t possibly know it, but Khan had already gained a general idea of his character due to his mana. In Khan''s mind, Amox was a good man doing his best during aplicated job. His manners were rough, but that was the Thilku''s approach.


    "[I won''tin to my superior]," Khan reassured, chuckling to convey his meaning better. "[Besides, we want to avoid chaos, right]?"


    "[Ah]!" Amox scoffed. "[I don''t like it when you speak like that]."


    Amox was talking about Khan''s political persona. He preferred Khan when he acted like a simple soldier but still epted the value of his words.


    "[Let''s just get this over with]," Khan stated, covering the box and heading for the staircase. "[Hopefully, we''ll get the chance to eat something together afterward]."


    "[Now you are talking right]," Amoxughed, hurrying behind Khan to m both hands on his shoulders. The blow would have made an ordinary human fly away, but Khan had gotten used to that by now.

 Chapter 561 Reinforcements

    The inspection of the other houses didn''t go any better. In many ways, Khan actually felt worse about the situations he was forced to face.


    The solitary, old, or recluse ex-soldiers and criminals were fine. Amox could always handle those who opposed human presence in those political activities. The scene with the first Thilku also deterred resistance, allowing Khan to go on with his job without feeling too bad.


    However, the situation was entirely different whenever families were involved. Simple couples were still okay, but the presence of children made Khan''s heart plummet.


    One house, in particr, had a young Thilku who couldn''t have been older than ten. The long golden strands from the nape marked her as a girl who was quite well-behaved and calm. Still, her eyes never left Khan during the inspection, and the feelings hidden behind her emotionless face left a mark on his already moody thoughts.


    The fear, faint curiosity, and confusion created by a youthful mind hit Khan deeply, and those emotions apanied him throughout the inspections. The sadness of being a simple gear in a big and heartless machine didn''t match his mindset, but his desperation was stronger, so he was ready topromise himself for his goals.


    Mindset aside, the inspections didn''t reveal anything incriminating. That wasn''t ideal for the Global Army, but Khan couldn''t help but rejoice at that oue. Theck of punishments preserved the tense peace in the block, which he preferred over battling simple workers.


    That trend almost gave Khan hope since only a few houses were left. He was a few minutes away from calling it a day, but one of those habitations ended up featuring problems.


    A middle-aged male Thilku weed Amox and Khan without making any fuss. He didn''t evenunch the usualments about the human presence. Yet, that didn''t save him from Khan''s senses.


    Khan''s sensed that something was off as soon as he entered the small living room. His eyes snapped on the metal floor, and Amox noticed that reaction.


    "[What is it, sirs]?" The middle-aged Thilku asked, seeing that both inspectors were eyeing the floor.


    "[There is something down there]," Khan exined shortly, trying to find more clues on the floor.


    "[Ah]!" Amox eximed, lifting his huge arm to prepare a descending blow.


    "[Amox]," Khan called, and Amox interrupted his attack to look at him. The symphony guided Khan''s steps, making him reach a carpet he uncovered with his feet.


    A trapdoor became visible after the gesture, and Amox immediately approached it. However, loud steps resounded in the room, making Amox turn toward the entrance. The middle-aged Thilku had disappeared, and, to Amox''s surprise, Khan had also left the living room.


    Khan had moved as soon as the Thilku showed the urge to escape. The alien crossed the door, but somethingnded on his back, disrupting his bnce and pushing him forward.


    The middle-aged Thilku fell on the street and slid due to how slippery the rain had made it. He tried to stand up, mming his palms on the ground to push himself, but somethingnded on his nape, flinging him back down.


    Khan stood on the Thilku with his right foot glued to his nape. He was ready to apply pressure at the slightest movement, but the alien was only a first-level warrior, and the previous struggle taught him the difference in power.


    Amox peeked past the entrance only to nod in approval. Khan wasn''t giving the Thilku any chance to escape, and reinforcements were also arriving.


    "[You good]?" Amox shouted.


    "[I''m good]," Khan confirmed, and Amox returned to the house to explore the trapdoor.


    Soldiers reached Khan and grabbed his prisoner''s arms, allowing him to step on the wet street. Those troops applied metal handcuffs to the middle-aged Thilku, which thetter didn''t like. His face morphed into a cold expression, showing his long canines when Khan fell into his view.


    Khan took his time to inspect the Thilku. Two soldiers were pressing on his shoulders, keeping him on his knees, but his eyes never fell. The alien matched Khan''s gaze, even if his inspection happened on apletely different level.


    The Thilku''s mana told Khan a story only he could hear. Khan tried to use that energy to assess the type of criminal before him, and the inspection disappointed him. The Global Army was looking for aliens with the guts to smuggle bombs into the Harbor''s system, but the Thilku didn''t fit that profile.


    ''A small-time criminal,'' Khan concluded. ''This guy can''t be part of an organization with connections to the Harbor''s system.''


    Khan could be wrong, but that eventuality wouldn''t lead anywhere. The Thilku couldn''t know much, even if he belonged to the targeted organization.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''What are we even doing here?'' Khan couldn''t help but wonder, diverting his gaze from the Thilku to inspect the district. ''How can someone at that level get caught by a simple inspection?''


    Smuggling a bomb was no small feat. The criminal organization in question probably was as resourceful as the Hive. Its members would have fled as soon as Lord Exr restricted ess to vehicles.


    An exnation for that odd situation existed. On the surface, the Thilku were cooperating with the Global Army, but catching the actual criminals wasn''t necessarily what the aliens had in mind.


    The Empire probably wanted to handle the serious issues internally, and the Global Army would be fine with a scapegoat and reparations. Meanwhile, Lord Exr could use Ambassador Abores'' team to fix problems in his domain before orders from above changed his approach.


    Khan knew all of that, but his knowledge didn''t make him feel any better. He basically was doing the Thilku''s dirty work for political credits.


    Amox left the house carrying a metal box in his arms while Khan was deep in his thoughts. The alien approached the prisoner and mmed the case on the street, uncaring of the rain falling inside it.


    The box contained a few guns, food, and what looked like a grenade. All in all, that wasn''t the worst, but Amox had a different opinion about that.


    "[Where did you get all of this]?" Amox questioned, grabbing a piece of meat sealed in a transparent bag from the box. "[This is contraband]."


    Khan didn''t know Neuria''s social structure, but Amox''s words told him that the districts had different food. The city could have precise rationing, making that meat illegal in those houses.


    The prisoner pretended not to hear the question. He wore a smug grin and lowered his head to express his silence. Yet, Amox threw the meat back in the box and delivered a rising p that made the Thilku lift his chin again.


    "[Where did you get this]?" Amox pressed on, reaching for the prisoner''s white hair to keep his head lifted.


    The prisoner had felt the p. A few drops of blood had started to fall from his lower lip, blending with the rain. A first-level warrior was powerless in that situation, but he still didn''t speak.


    "[Answer me]!" Amox shouted, delivering a second p with the back of his hand. The prisoner groaned, but the attack did little to break his silence.


    Amox growled in anger. He was ready to deliver a public beating, but the Thilku''s pride went both ways. There was a good chance hurting the prisoner still wouldn''t give him answers.


    So, Amox opted for a different approach. He let go of the prisoner''s hair and spread his arms, turning toward the rows of houses to shout an announcement. "[Since you have been found guilty of housing a criminal, the entire district will receive a pay cut for a month]!"


    The prisoner gasped but quickly lowered his head again. He hoped the rain would cover his reaction, but Khan noticed it and conveyed it to hispanion. "[He seems to care about the district]."


    Khan hoped to bring the focus back to the prisoner, but his words had the opposite effect. Amox shouted again, and his threats involved something else at that time. "[And since you know how to get food by yourselves, the district will receive fewer rations for the same amount of time]!"


    "[You can''t do that]!" The prisoner finally broke his silence. "[There are families here]!"


    "[I know]," Amox stated, turning toward the prisoner, "[And they have decided to stay silent about the contraband. They are as guilty as you]."


    Khan couldn''t feel any happiness inside Amox. Hispanion didn''t enjoy saying those words, but they felt natural when they escaped his mouth.


    ''I underestimated them,'' Khan understood. Notions of good and evil were simr between humans and Thilku, but thetter were used to tougher methods. In their minds, it was right to rule with an iron fist as long as it benefited the Empire.


    "[Why don''t you start talking]?" Amox asked. "[We''ll see what happens to the district afterward]."


    Khan could only stay still and let hispanion handle the conversation while he adjusted his mindset. He knew the Thilku were strict, but that bordered cruelty, which he hated.


    The opening of a few doors distracted Khan from his mental process and made him inspect his surroundings. Thilku started toe out of their houses, shoutingints that spread the news throughout the district.


    Amox also noticed the event and promptly pulled up his sleeve to send orders through his device. "[Gather in the fourth block. We might have a riot]."


    The shouts grew louder as more Thilku dived into the street. Theirints fused with the rain, but the soldiers and Amox didn''t hear them. They only focused on the number of people that had appeared, which was troubling.


    ''That''s almost fifty Thilku,'' Khan counted. ''This doesn''t look good.''


    "[Why do we have to pay for someone else''s crime]?" One Thilku shouted.


    "[Do you know how many hours we spend in the factories]?" Another Thilku added. "[How would I notice criminal behavior]?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "[I served the Empire for forty years]!" A third Thilku said. "[I''m still serving it here]!"


    Someints involved the children, while others addressed the factories'' conditions and sries. The situation looked far from happy, and Khan memorized anything that reached his ears.


    The crowd was slowly getting closer, approaching the political group from both sides. Only four soldiers were with Amox and Khan, and two were keeping the criminal down, making it impossible for them to handle the situation.


    Tension spread as the soldiers wore their most serious stances. They were ready to give their everything to quell that riot, and Amox was with them. Khan was on the same page, but something red in the symphony, making his hand shoot toward Amox''s back.


    A whooshing noise pierced through the heavy rain, turning the soldiers'' heads. Amox also peeked past his shoulder and saw Khan''s stretched arm. The alien didn''t initially understand what was happening, but the smoke lingering on Khan''s hand gave him a clue.


    Thinking turned out to be unnecessary since a blue light shed among the crowd and flew toward the soldiers. Thetter could recognize the bullet now, and Amox raised his right arm to intercept it. Still, Khan''s leg ended up being faster.


    Khan delivered a rising kick, perfectly matching the bullet''s speed and trajectory. His foot mmed on the mass of mana, dispersing its power and overall threat.


    "[Iing fire]!" Amox shouted, speaking to the device on his forearm. "[We need riot control forces now]!"


    "[Watch the criminal]," Khan ordered, waving his right hand to disperse the smoke. The [Blood Shied] had protected it from the bullet, so he could immediately shoot ahead.


    Khan sprinted, basically teleporting above the bullet''s source. Part of the crowd had screamed in fear and had run toward the houses, making Khan''s job far easier.


    The assant was an old male Thilku who conveyed nothing but bitterness. He had fired through the crowd, uncaring of who he could hurt, and that resolve remained even after his second shot.


    The alien was about to fire again, but a footnded on his lifted gun, shattering it. The Thilku was a second-level warrior, so hecked the reflexes to react to the event. He didn''t even notice the kick moving toward his face.


    Khan kicked the alien, holding back enough to avoid killing him on the spot. His foot hit the center of the Thilku''s face, sending blood in every direction and flinging him away.


    The Thilku flew backward before mming his back on the street. He fainted, but no one in the area had Khan''s senses, and his bloody face hinted at something very different.


    Khan knew what wasing even before the crowd. The symphony kept him informed on the changes in the general vibe, and it didn''t take long before a predictable shout pierced the rain.


    "[The human killed him]!" A random Thilku among the crowd cried, triggering an unstoppable chain reaction.


    "[He''s dead]!" Another Thilku cried.


    "[The Empire sent a human to kill us]!" A third Thilku shouted, and more echoed that feeling.


    Khan was ready to escape into the sky to minimize the damage, but more res appeared in the symphony, forcing him to sprint to his left. Three bullets pierced his previous position, spreading more chaos among the crowd.


    Many Thilku hurried toward their homes. Some jumped on the ground, hoping to avoid the shots. Yet, the district had several weapons, and a few aliens didn''t hesitate to draw them in their anger.


    Khan sensed the guns even before they fired. Mana moved toward his legs, generating a sprint that brought him to the other side of the street. Bullets shot forward at that point, but Khan had long since disappeared.


    As the bullets pierced the rain, Khan dived into the crying crowd, moving too fast for anyone to notice him. He had already spotted the three shooters, and his speed increased as he ran toward them.


    The three shooters were in different spots on the street, but their guns exploded simultaneously. Khan also reappeared near thest one, stunning him. The Thilku''s legs lost strength when he noticed Khan, making him end butt-first on the street.


    Khan didn''t dare to attack anyone else in that general panic, but another re appeared in the symphony. He recognized it since it belonged to a weapon he had already cleared, and turning to his left confirmed that guess.


    A big mass of azure mana was flying in Khan''s direction. That bullet belonged to a shoulder-fired missile Amox and Khan had found before. The Thilku was authorized to own it, but Khan had never thought he would fire it at him.


    Khan didn''t have problems dodging the bullet. He jumped backward, and the missile flew past him. Its trajectory didn''t even endanger hispanions, so Khan was ready to disregard it. However, his eyes widened in worry when he realized where it wouldnd.


    The panic had made many Thilku fall on the ground, leaving more people than intended outside. A family of three was among them, with the young child doing her best to help her parents on their feet.


    The child''s father lifted his face only to see the iing missile. The azure light it radiated threatened to blind him, but that worry didn''t exist in his mind since his child stood between him and the bullet.


    The father tried to pull his child away, but the street was wet, and he had only managed to nt one knee on the ground. His panic made him slip, failing to grab his daughter properly and pull her away.


    The missilended a mere meter from the father, exploding and sending scorching mana in every direction. The Thilku could only jump toward his right to cover his partner with his body, but his eyes quickly opened to check the area.


    Tears left the father''s eyes when he noticed the empty spot before him. The scorching mana had burnt his baggy clothes, setting them on fire, but he felt no pain. He couldn''t experience any emotion looking at the fuming and empty metal.


    "[Papa]!" A familiar cry suddenly resounded, and the father gasped. He inspected his surroundings but only saw emptiness or fellow panicked Thilku. He realized what was happening only when his crying partner pulled his sleeve and pointed at the sky.


    Khan had used his top speed to grab the child before the explosion could engulf her. The ce didn''t have safe areas, so he flew her into the sky with him. He had risen for many meters due to the umted momentum, but the young Thilku didn''t mind it.


    The missile''s explosion had brought nervous peace to the street. The crowd put the panic aside to inspect the situation, noticing Khan''s descending figure. He had wrapped an arm around the child''s torso while his graceful steps slowly brought them down. He was flying, and that feat filled everyone with shock.


    Khannded on a safe spot beside the two parents and let the child go. The young Thilku wanted to jump at them right away, but Khan grabbed her right shoulder before whispering a single word. "Disperse."


    The mes flickering on the father''s clothes released a whooshing noise, disappearing on the spot. That fire was surviving the heavy rain, but a single word from Khan dispersed them.


    The father noticed his injuries after the event. His mind made room for pain, which didn''t hesitate to arrive due to the burns on his left arm and back. Still, before he could react, Khan put a knee on the ground before him and grabbed his wounded limb.


    "Help him," Khan said, his eyes wandering among the injuries before rising to inspect the rain.


    The father couldn''t understand what was happening, but his eyes suddenly shot on his arm. The burns were still there, but the pain had waned. He only felt an annoying itch now.


    The Thilku couldn''t help but focus on Khan again. Yet, Khan was busy admiring the mana with his bare eyes. He had seen what that energy had done to help the alien, and the sight had been mesmerizing.


    "[You need a doctor]," Khan eventually said, straightening his position and patting the child''s back. Thetter had frozen when Khan had restrained her, but that gesture made her jump toward her parents.


    The family was happy about their child''s well-being, but the father only looked at her briefly before focusing on Khan. He had already shown his back to the group, but the Thilku couldn''t stop studying him.


    Part of the crowd shared the father''s shock. Many couldn''t see much due to the rain, but those who did were enthralled. Khan had flown, saved a child, and helped an injured Thilku. His gestures also carried grace, almost forcing the aliens to feel awe.


    A loud cough broke the silence. The fainted Thilku woke up and turned to his side to throw up. Only a few aliens noticed that, but rumors quickly spread, even reaching Khan''s side of the street.


    Soon, everyone realized that Khan didn''t kill anyone, which added value to his graceful moves. The crowd began to see Khan in a different light, but he didn''t hesitate to ruin that image.


    Khan performed slow steps toward the Thilku with the shoulder-fired missile. A few aliens who had used their weapons on Khan were nearby, and none dared to move during that steady walk. Khan''s performance had left them stunned, but fear reced that feeling.


    The rain began to echo Khan''s mindset, growing heavier and colder. His eyes remained on the Thilku with the heavy weapon while he drew his knife. The de was already glowing with purple-red light, and needles with a simr color appeared in his right hand, joining that glow.


    Khan spread his arms, showing his knife and spell while approaching the criminals. He even crossed his fellow soldiers, who didn''t dare to utter a word. Anyone could see how bad his mood was. It seemed that the faintest noise could make him explode.


    The rain, the purple-red glows, and Khan''s cold face created a terrifying picture. No one in the crowd wanted to deal with him, and even the Thilku with the shoulder-fired missile dropped his weapon, throwing it away to nt his knees on the street.


    Many imitated that gesture, expressing their desire to surrender, and that reaction spread throughout the crowd. Soon, everyone was on their knees, ready to face the consequences of that riot.


    Khan felt the urge to vent, but the symphony warned him once again, making him put away his spells and weapon. A loud, whooshing noise followed in the next few seconds, and red lights fell from above, bringing more artificial illumination to the street.


    One look at the sky revealed the presence of a big, circr ship. Reinforcements had arrived, formally putting an end to the riot.

 Chapter 562 Type

    Riot control forces descended into the district, filling it with soldiers that sent everyone back home. Amox updated those reinforcements, isting the problematic individuals who ended up in handcuffs.


    After a short briefing, Khan and Amox resumed their inspection. The few remaining houses didn''t oppose any resistance due to the lingering awe toward Khan, allowing the two scouts to finish their task quickly.


    All in all, the inspection led to a handful of arrests aggravated by the riot. Khan and Amox found a few illegal items but nothing that could connect that district to the bomb.


    Khan didn''t know what the Thilku would do with the prisoners, and part of him wanted to remain ignorant. His mind wasn''t exactly stable after the recent events. He yearned for a break. Still, Amox had to deal with more briefings once the inspection was over, and Khan waited for him in the street, relying on the rain to cool down his thoughts.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Amox exchanged words with the soldiers and riot control forces, giving a more detailed report. Meanwhile, a few Thilku connected their armguards to the streetmps, obtaining the images recorded by those machines.


    Awestruck gazes fell on Khan as the troops watched the recordings, but the matter ended there. The riot control forces eventually returned to their ship with the prisoners while the other soldiers started patrolling the district.


    Only Amox and Khan remained on the street, but the former wasn''t alone. The riot control forces had left a strange ride beside the Thilku, and he didn''t hesitate to hop on it to move toward Khan.


    More details became visible as the ride grew closer. The vehicle was a motorbike without wheels or engines. A big, spinning tire encircled its two seats and interactive controls, acting as a cover from the rain and a driving force.


    The tire was big enough to leave enough room for Amox. His head wouldn''t touch the ceiling even if he stretched his backpletely. The same went for the seats. That vehicle had the Thilku''s size in mind, looking quite spacious from Khan''s perspective.


    "[Hop in]," Amox called when he stopped beside Khan. "[Let''s eat something]."


    "[Shouldn''t we report back]?" Khan questioned, inspecting the ride''s insides. The seat behind Amox was empty, and his hands were on handles dug into the interactive controls.


    "[Lord Exr has already cleared us for the rest of the day]," Amox exined. "[I''ll drive you to the human building once we are done]."


    Khan couldn''t find any reason to refuse. He wanted to blow off some steam and talk to Amox privately, so he hopped on the back seat, sealing his hands on its side handles.


    Amox waited a few seconds before elerating. A circr metal surface separated the seats from the actual tire, and its spinning motion generated whooshing noises. Sshes also resounded due to the wet street, but the rain couldn''t touch Khan inside that vehicle.


    The bike was quite fast, and Amox made it run around the district before diving into the previous main street. The two scouts crossed the factories in a few minutes, but Amox didn''t stop at thending area and rode deeper into the city.


    The inspection from the ship couldn''tpare to a ride among Neuria''s districts. The bike went fast, but Khan still gained insights into the city''s true face, and his senses added details.


    The Thilku seemed to love open, big spaces. Many shops along the way had vast entrances without doors or windows that could hinder the view of their insides.


    That didn''t only apply to cheap-looking stands where Thilku focused on drinking. Restaurants and shops selling various items preferred those open entrances and didn''t care about the weather or cold that could seep in.


    That stylish choice repeated itself and became the norm as Amox drove into better parts of the city. It seemed that the Thilku would always opt for the open spaces when they had the chance, and that wasn''t limited to the first floors. Khan saw many short balconies offering simr services, even if they could probably seal themselves when needed.


    The ride through the city had a calming effect on Khan''s mana. His mood improved as he became more aware of the new environment. That truly was an alien city, and he was in the middle of it.


    Amox eventually stopped the bike and parked it in a specific space beside the sidewalk. The two scouts were in the corner of a block featuring a big shop with red and yellow signs, and a simr illumination filled its insides.


    Simr signs upied the building''s upper floors and stretched on both sides of the corner. The shop was multiple stories tall, and its insides had a few rows of stalls attended by a couple of waiters each.


    The ce was quite crowded. Thilku filled the stools before the stalls, drinking, eating, and chatting. The insides were loud, and Khan couldn''t see a single empty seat. Yet, that didn''t stop Amox.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "[Come]," Amox called, leaving the bike to approach the shop.


    Khanplied, jumping out of the bike to follow Amox. The rain had never stopped falling, so the scouts'' shoes left wet marks on the shop''s clean floor, but circr cleaning robots immediately came out of the walls to attend to them.


    The robots captured Khan''s attention only for a second since something more interesting happened. The loud chatter began to wane as the customers noticed Amox and wentpletely silent when Khan entered their view.


    Khan had expected a simr reaction for him, but the fact that Amox was part of it triggered his curiosity. Amox wasn''t any different from the other Thilku. His clothes were his only peculiarity, and the many looks at his drenched cape gave Khan explicit clues.


    The customers didn''t have the baggy and poor-looking clothes Khan had seen in the targeted district. They were rather well dressed, or, at least, that was what Khan could guess from that short inspection. After all, he wasn''t an expert in Thilku''s style.


    However, the absence of red capes said enough. Khan was almost certain the shop didn''t have soldiers. The customers'' reactions also told him how respected that job was since Amox''s mere presence could make an entire floor go silent.


    Amox didn''t mind those reactions and continued to advance, and Khan imitated him. No waiter arrived, so the two reached the end of the shop uninterrupted and began to climb the metal staircase they found.


    The second floor was almost identical to the first, except for the shorter and fewer stalls. They were the equivalent of smaller tables that tried to offer some privacy, but the open space slightly defeated that purpose.


    The new area had far fewer customers. Khan only spotted three groups on different stalls, with two being couples seemingly out on a date and one having three old Thilku. Thetter looked drunk but still lifted their heads and nodded when Amox appeared.


    The two couples imitated that reaction, and Amox didn''t refrain from giving a general nod. The groups also inspected Khan and experienced some surprise, but that study onlysted a few seconds. It didn''t take long before everyone focused on their businesses.


    Khan couldn''t find red capes on the second floor either but put the matter aside when Amox approached a rtively isted stall in the room''s corner. The spot was between two open balconies pointed at the street below, and the rain''s noise filled Khan''s ears as he sat with hispanion.


    The stalls on the second floor didn''t have waiters but featured heaters and other cooking equipment on one side. They also had a red rune on their metal surface, which Amox touched to order a few meals.


    The surface took life once Amox finished the order. Drawers opened, and mechanical arms came out to prepare the meal. Cups also appeared alongside a metal jug reeking of a harsh and strong scent Khan recognized.


    "[Are you sure we can drink on duty]?" Khan asked as the mechanical arms captured his attention.


    "[We are clear for the rest of the day]," Amox reminded, grabbing the jug and cups to pour the booze, "[And we deserve a feast]."


    "[I''ll be in your care]," Khanughed, seizing the cup and lifting it with Amox to join that toast.


    "[To a job well done]!" Amox shouted, disregarding whether his loud voice disturbed the other customers.


    Khan chuckled before letting the booze deal with his remaining lousy mood. That situation was leagues above the previous task, but he had just gotten to Neuria. The following days would probably feature simr jobs.


    "[Ah, finally]!" Amox eximed when the mechanical arms pushed two fuming bowls toward the other end of the table. The tes had meat and other meals Khan didn''t recognize, but that didn''t stop him from eating.


    The Thilku ate with their bare hands, and Khan and Amox followed those traditions. They wolfed down the meal, apanying it with the strong booze, and rxed only when the bowls were empty.


    "[Khan, you sure are surprising]," Amoxughed, patting Khan''s left shoulder before half-turning toward him. "[I didn''t know humans had shamans]."

 Chapter 563 Team

    The feast went on for longer than both Khan and Amox had predicted. They ate, drank, and chatted some more until dinnertime drew near and forced them to leave the shop.


    The Empire probably had regtions about drunk driving, but Amox didn''t mention them, and Khan didn''t ask. The two simply hopped on the bike and dived back into the city, uncaring of thews they might break.


    Of course, third-level warriors didn''t get drunk so easily. Amox even had insane tolerance due to his Thilku body, and Khan was by no means inferior. The two were tipsy, but that didn''t affect their awareness and abilities.


    Khan let his thoughts wander during the ride. He didn''t ponder about anything specific. He only used his tipsy state to appreciate Neuria without involving politics or other problems.


    The rain still fell, and Khan weed it. At times, he even let go of the handles and spread his arms to dig his hands in the cold wind. In those moments, he was free from everything, but the bike eventually stopped, forcing him to return to the real world.


    "[Your stop]," Amox announced, waving a hand to his right. "[One of Neuria''s finest buildings]."


    Khan inspected his surroundings. He was in one of Neuria''s nice districts, but the building pointed by Amox felt out of ce. The structure wasrge, tall, and rectangr, featuring only a few red runes on its smooth, dark metal surface. The absence of windows and balconies was striking, and Khan understood the reason behind that.


    "[It''s very human]," Khanmented.


    "[Don''t let the symbols outside fool you]," Amox exined. "[Your Lords implemented the Global Army''s technology inside. It basically is a political building]."


    "[I see]," Khan voiced, mming his hands on Amox''s back. "[Thank you for the ride and feast. I''ll see you on the next job]."


    "[Which can''te too soon]," Amoxughed, watching Khan leave the bike.


    "[Don''t forget to call your wife]," Khan joked, strolling through the sidewalk while waving his hand.


    Amox''s snickers reached Khan''s ears as he advanced through the sidewalk. The space before the building was vast, but he crossed it in a few seconds. The bike had left by the time Khan reached the entrance, and he lifted his face to wash it under the rain before pressing his hand on the metal surface.


    "Vocal recognition," A robotic voice came out of the entrance.


    "Captain Khan," Khan stated, and the two halves of the metal door slid open to reveal its insides.


    The entrance led to a simple hall featuring couches slightly too big for humans. An interactive desk also stood at its bottom, with two elevators stretching at its sides.


    The hall was empty, so Khan quickly crossed it to reach the interactive desk. Pressing his hand on its surface opened a drawer that contained his phone. He had left it on the ship after thending, but the Thilku had moved it there.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    A message appeared on the interactive desk when Khan retrieved his phone, and a sigh escaped his mouth. The menus informed him about Ambassador Abores'' summon, even describing the floor and room he had to reach.


    Ignoring direct orders wasn''t an option, so Khan rubbed the corners of his eyes and headed for one elevator. He drew his phone out of habit, but the empty screen andck of connection with thework made him sigh again. He was truly alone there, and his tipsy state pushed his thoughts toward obvious destinations.


    Khan''s fingers moved on their own, opening a folder in his phone containing a collection of pictures he couldn''t show to anybody. Monica didn''t leave him dry before his departure. She had actually spoiled him a bit, and her captivating poses worked like a charm.


    The opening of the elevator brought Khan back to reality, making him immediately throw his phone into his pocket. The sudden gesture turned out to be pointless since the corridor before the lift was empty, and Khan inspected it to get on with his duties.


    The corridor was vast. It almost resembled a hall of its own due to its size, and only a few rooms stretched from its sides. All those spaces were quiterge, and human numbers and letters stood above their entrances to mark them.


    Khan followed the desk''s instructions and arrived before a room at one end of the corridor. He showed his phone to the menus there, and a waiting message appeared since the person inside had to authorize that entrance.


    Only a few seconds had to pass before the room''s entrance opened, showing a slightly barren environment. The ce had the iconic furniture of an office, with a desk, a few chairs, and a series of drawers, but they were as simple as possible from an aesthetic standpoint.


    Ambassador Abores was behind the desk, with his head lowered on the many reports on its menus. Khan approached the table''s opposite side, wrapping his arms behind his back to perform a military salute.


    "Sir," Khan eximed.


    "One moment, Captain," Ambassador Abores voiced, tinkering with the menus to rearrange the reports. "I expected you to return hours ago. When you didn''t, I decided to get some work done."


    "I''m sorry I caused problems, sir," Khan stated.


    "It''s nothing major," Ambassador Abores said, lifting his head. "I was with Lord Exr when he gave you the rest of the day off. In a way, you were following my orders."


    Khan didn''t reply. An outsider would find Ambassador Abores'' words slightly bitter, but Khan saw the truth. The man was simply tired, and work was still waiting for him.


    "We were still together when the reports from your district arrived," Ambassador Abores revealed. "A video came too. You handled yourself well out there."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan responded.


    "It''s a pity you decided to waste half a day drinking afterward," Ambassador Abores eximed. "The whole team would have benefitted from hearing your findings."


    The rebuke was almost inevitable and didn''t surprise Khan. He took that scolding like a pro and also had a reply ready. "I was deepening the rtionships with the Thilku, sir."


    "I can smell that," Ambassador Abores scoffed. "It''s beyond me how you can drink that stuff."


    Khan wore a fake smile. He could throw a joke or try to exin himself further, but the Ambassador didn''t seem to care.


    "So," Ambassador Abores continued. "Did you learn something from your teammate? His name was Amox, am I right?"


    "You are right, sir," Khan confirmed, avoiding any form of hesitation before continuing with a lie. "Sadly, he wouldn''t answer my questions about ssified information. Amox is very loyal to the Empire."


    Ambassador Abores tried to find the truth in Khan''s face, but his fa?ade was impable. Even his mana agreed with the lie since he put friends above politics.


    "I expected as much," Ambassador Abores sighed. "I would have written a rmendation for you on the spot otherwise."


    Khan didn''t fall for that trap. His expression didn''t twitch nor move, forcing Ambassador Abores to give up on the matter.


    "At least Lord Exr liked how you saved that kid," Ambassador Abores sighed. "Maybe he''ll stop wasting our time soon."


    "Sir, do you know something?" Khan asked, his eyes lighting up.


    "It''s my job to know more than you," Ambassador Abores dered. "Instead, yours also involves leading the human team, which you haven''t been doing so much."


    "I prepared reports ording to their preparation, sir," Khan exined.


    "You could train them directly instead of spending your days drinking with the enemy," Ambassador Abores voiced.


    Khan began to frown, and Ambassador Abores let that reactionpletely unfold before continuing. "You heard me correctly. I hope you didn''t forget that the Thilku nted a bomb in our territory."


    That description was inurate, but Khan could understand the general vibe. The Ambassador didn''t want to hearints.


    "I''ll go to mypanions immediately, sir," Khan promised.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Not like this," Ambassador Abores replied. "Go to your room, clean yourself up, and change clothes. Your amodations suit your rank, so I''m sure they''ll satisfy you."


    Khan nodded and prepared himself to leave, but the Ambassador spoke again. "The team is in a hall on the fifth floor."


    "Aren''t you joining them, sir?" Khan asked.


    "I have work to do," Ambassador Abores replied, pointing his face back at the desk. "Leave now, Captain. I''ll see you at the morning gathering."


    "Goodnight, sir," Khan said, leaving the office and waiting for the door to close to abandon his fa?ade.


    A cold expression inevitably arrived. The Ambassador had reminded Khan of how unique his perspective was. Khan didn''t see differences among species, but the rest of humanity didn''t agree.


    The current political issue added value to the Ambassador''s words, but Khan couldn''t agree. He couldn''t me an entire species for the sins of a few criminals. He couldn''t treat Amox as an enemy simply because he was a Thilku.


    ''This will never end,'' Khan cursed before searching for the closest opening in the corridors'' walls. He connected his phone to it, and a stream of information arrived.


    Khan learned about his room''s floor and number and retrieved his phone to head toward it. As much as he resented the Ambassador''s words, the part about the human team was correct. Khan could do more for hispanions, starting with getting to know them.


    A trip through an elevator brought Khan to the seventh floor, and following the directions on his phone led him to the end of its corridor. He unlocked the door before him with his gic signature, revealing a big hall that had multiple rooms connected to it.


    Khan spent a few minutes inspecting the t before throwing himself in the shower. The habitation shared the office''s simplicity and was smaller than his house on the Harbor, so he quickly lost interest in it.


    The t already had a set of new uniforms and casual clothes, and Khan opted for thetter once he was clean. His knife was useless inside the building, but he kept it at his side as he left the t and headed for the fifth floor.


    Finding the hall mentioned by the Ambassador wasn''t a problem. The symphony guided Khan toward an open door that leaked shouts and variousments. Some involved Khan, which didn''t stop since no one could hear his steps.


    "I''m telling you, they were scared shitless!" A man shouted while othersughed. "Look at him! Who wouldn''t be scared in that situation?"


    "He didn''t get his fame out of luck," Another man said. "Though, is he really neen? I swear. He speaks Thilku better than me."


    "That''s because you fall asleep whenever you start studying," A woman responded. "Besides, the Captain graduated from the Harbor''s advanced sses. Don''tpare him to the likes of us."


    "And he is almost twenty," Another woman added. "Soldiers with his status are already married by that age."


    "Isn''t he basically married?" A third man asked. "I thought the Solodrey family had sealed the deal."


    "He isn''t engaged yet," The previous woman stated. "Not yet."


    "Pictures of Miss Solodrey''s ring are all over thework," The second man said, "And the Solodrey family didn''t do anything about that. That''s a silent approval."


    "I know," The second woman sighed. "It''s toote already."


    "Did you have your eyes on him or something?" The first man joked.


    "I wouldn''t dare," The second woman denied. "Though, if he ever felt alone here, I guess I wouldn''t mindforting him."


    "It''s good that my girlfriend isn''t here," Khan announced, leaning on the entrance. "She is the jealous type."


    The temperature in the hall instantly dropped as seven heads turned toward the entrance. Recognizing Khan deepened the soldiers'' shock, who shot on their feet to perform military salutes.


    The people involved with the gossiping did their best to wear straight faces, especially the woman who had spoken the bold remark. Still, it seemed that a single re from Khan could make their fa?ade crumble.


    Luckily for the soldiers, Khan had no intention of scolding them. He merely ran his eyes over them before speaking reassuring words. "At ease."


    A few suppressed sighs resounded, but no one dared to return to their seats. Some nced at the wall behind them in panic, but moving wasn''t an option. Khan didn''t only hear them. He had also seen the images depicted by the hall''s menus.


    The hall was as simplistic as the other rooms. It had a few couches and tables, but nothing special. It was big, but the soldiers had gathered on its left side with drinks, empty tes, and food.


    As for the wall in question, the menus had yed a video Khan could recognize. The recording had stopped on an image depicting him wielding his knife and needles. That picture came directly from his targeted district, meaning that the soldiers had gained ess to the streetmps'' footage.


    "I hope you had it easier than me," Khan eximed, reaching for an empty desk nearby. The table was connected to the floor, and he linked his phone to it to gain ess to the building''s services.


    "Yes, sir, Captain, sir," One of the soldiers said before the others mumbled simrly confused words. They were still tense about Khan''s presence, which was inevitable after the recent events.


    "Why don''t you brief me on your day?" Khan suggested. "Maybe I can give some useful advice after hearing you all."


    Khan''s casual approach partially reassured the soldiers, who grabbed chairs and gathered around him. Yet, he added something that reminded them about his rank. "Right, turn off that thing."


    The woman who had voiced the bold remark gasped, snapping on her feet to reach the wall. She deactivated the menus and returned to her seat quickly, fearing what Khan could say about her previousment.


    "Don''t be so tense," Khan said, leaning on the seat''s back to be morefortable. "I don''t mind if you smoke here and keep drinking too. Actually, give me a ss of something since you are at it."


    The woman from before snapped on her feet again, causing a few chuckles in the hall. The soldiers tried to cover their mouths and hide them, but that effort was futile.


    Soon, the woman brought a few bottles to the new gathering spot without forgetting the sses. She had even prepared one for Khan, which she handed personally.


    "Thank you, Adele," Khan said, smiling and seizing the ss, "And don''t worry about what you said. Just avoid saying it from now on."


    "Of course, Captain, sir," Adele almost shouted, hurrying back to her seat.


    "And, you, Elvis," Khan continued, looking at one of the men who had spoken before. "If you have problems with the Thilkunguage, I can write you some notes."


    "Thank you, sir," Elvis stuttered. "However, it''s not necessary for-."


    "It is," Khan interrupted. "This is a political mission, and it''s my job to make sure you are prepared."


    In theory, Khan''s job as a scout had ended when he finished his reports about Neuria. Yet, the Ambassador wanted more from him, and he couldn''t disappoint.


    "You know how this goes," Khan stated. "The Ambassador scolds me, and I have to scold you. Let''s pretend I already did that, shall we?"


    The new statement dispersed most of the tension, especially since Khan had worn a genuine smile. He was leading without abandoning his carefree personality, which the soldiers preferred over stern and cold superiors.


    Nevertheless, before the soldiers could begin their briefing, Khan yed with the desk to gain ess to a specific subject. Soon, a simple Thilku rune appeared under him, and he skimmed through its exnation while hispanions told their stories.

 Chapter 564 Runes

    The soldiers didn''t have it as hard as Khan. They still met their fair share of resistance but no riots or violence. Some were only tasked with patrols even, which prevented them from facing Neuria''s citizens in the first ce.


    Khan noted down everything, heard eventualments, and gave advice when possible. Slowly, the meeting grew more rxed and cheerful, but thete hour forced it to an end before it could progress any further.


    The oue was still favorable for Khan. Showing a more active presence in the political team was almost necessary for his goals. He had reservations about leading, but his career needed him to shoulder responsibilities to reach positions of power.


    As for getting to know the soldiers, Khan opted for a professional approach. After hearing the problematicments, a single meeting couldn''t be enough, and other issues held Khan back too.


    The soldiers in the political team were elites in the Global Army. They almost represented the best humanity had to offer when background and wealth were out of the equation. They were also third-level warriors, which was an excellent achievement for ordinary troops. Still, all of that hade at a price.


    Khan was an exception who had benefitted from his tragedies, at least politically. Ordinary soldiers needed far longer to reach simr achievements, making hispanions far older than him.


    Adele was the youngest of the seven, but Khan was still twelve years below her. The mana had kept her appearance youthful, her fair skin smooth, and her long dark hair bright, but that didn''t change the reality of the situation.


    ''I''ll tell Monica about her only when I''m sure she won''t kill her,'' Khan thought, smirking as he headed back to his t.


    The booze''s effects had yet to wane, especially since Khan had kept drinking, but the night was still young, and the morning briefing didn''t worry him. He would be up no matter what, so he nned to study some more now that he had found something interesting.


    The t offered the same services as the hall, so Khan settled in a room that tried to resemble an office before connecting his phone. He was on an armchair too big for him, behind an interactive desk capable of releasing holograms, and red runes soon came out of it.


    Khan had gone over the topic in the past months but had hastilybeled it as technology. His knowledge in the field was so shallow that attempting to understand its alien version would require years of study, which he didn''t have.


    However, after getting into contact with the red runes and studying them a bit more, Khan felt intrigued. Those symbols did belong to the technological field, but there was far more to it.


    As Amox had exined, each rune carried multiple meanings which could activate various functions. They were like numerous words fused into a single symbol which could producepletely different sentences depending on their iterations.


    Of course, the field was far moreplicated than that. The runes required specific materials and precise amounts of synthetic mana to represent each word. They also needed constant energy to remain active, effectively marking them as technology.


    Still, reading about meaning, purpose, and strands of mana tickled Khan''s curiosity. His guts told him he could achieve something simr to the runes with his level of control.


    Khan obviously couldn''t base that on technology. He would have to invent a version of the Thilku runes founded on mana. Also, he would have to find a purpose for that experiment. Following his curiosity was fine, but his time was limited and prevented him from having useless hobbies.


    ''Realistically,'' Khan thought, moving to the next holograms, ''These runes can do anything I program them to do. The question is, what would I make them do?''


    Thinking about the use of a technique that still didn''t exist was pointless in many ways. Khan wasn''t even sure his idea would seed, let alone lead to results he could apply. His knowledge of the Thilku runes was also superficial, but he felt the need to consider his options before giving in to his curiosity.


    ''What now?'' Khan cursed. ''I''m intrigued already.''


    Khan stared at the holograms a bit longer before removing his phone from the desk. That didn''t lock him out of his studies since he had already authorized them. It only allowed him to use his device more freely, and his purpose turned out to be predictable once again.


    Sexy lingerie and a captivating expression filled Khan''s view, but no lust appeared on his face. The Harbor had gotten him used to having consultants all the time. He couldn''t even describe how much Monica had helped him, and being unable to talk with her created a void in his life.


    ''You''d tell me to sleep after the day I had,'' Khan thought, his eyes glued on the screen. ''You''d even bribe me.''n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan couldn''t help but snicker before heaving a deep sigh. He recalled Ambassador Abores'' words about setting a high standard with the Thilku. In a way, that already forced him to be better.


    ''Or maybe my brain is trying to push me toward this,'' Khan considered, his eyes leaving the phone to return to the holograms. ''Why am I even pretending to have a choice?''


    Khan sighed again, kissing his screen before linking it to the desk again. He ruffled his hair and crossed his legs on the big armchair as his entire focus went on the holograms. Learning those runes could be useful as long as he worked with the Thilku, and that was enough for now.


    The night transformed into the morning, which held a mandatory briefing with the team. The Ambassador hosted it and reviewed the previous day''s events, using them to congratte the troops.


    The briefing ended there due to the absence of additional orders from Lord Exr. The Thilku needed to deal with the consequences of theirst tasks, reorganizing districts, troops, and workers to keep Neuria''s construction n on track. The human team had nothing to do with that, so they remained in their appointed building.


    Khan wasn''t exactly stuck in the building. He could make an excuse and leave to explore the city, but Ambassador Abores had already scolded him about that. Moreover, he had found a new hobby that kept him more than busy, especially since he paired it with familiarizing himself with hispanions.


    Days went by in the istion of the building. Life wasn''t bad there. The soldiers had food, drinks, and privacy which kept them entertained. Yet, boredom eventually arrived, even if no one dared toin.


    Ambassador Abores and Khan were the only exceptions. The former was always busy with something connected to the mission or the Harbor. He received calls every hour, sometimes even during mandatory briefings.


    As for Khan, he didn''t have proper tasks, but finding ways to upy his days had never been a problem. He couldn''t use the [Blood Vortex], and the buildings'' training halls weren''t chaos resistant, but that didn''t stop him from filling his schedule.


    Drops of sweat fell from Khan''s forehead as he sat cross-legged on the cold metal floor. His bare torso was in a simr state, and his muscles bulged and rxed from time to time. Even his fingers twitched while grunts and coughs left his mouth.


    Khan''s eyes were closed, but no darkness filled his view. His mind was immersed in a battle of his creation, and he fought it with every tool at his disposal.


    Sweating so profusely wasn''t the norm for Khan, but the simted mental battle allowed him to push his limits without heavy repercussions. He could stay immersed inside his mind for hours as long as his body and mind held strong, which they did.


    Nevertheless, a ringing noise eventually resounded inside the hall, forcing Khan''s eyes to open. He gasped, and his breath grew ragged due to the abrupt awakening from his mental technique, but his gaze quickly focused on the notification on the wall, calming him down.


    The Ambassador had sent someone to summon Khan for a meeting. Still, when he checked the time on the floor, he frowned due to thete hour. It was the middle of the night, which didn''t bode well.


    Khan jumped on his feet and picked up the upper part of his tracksuit from the floor. He even retrieved his phone before heading toward the entrance, only to realize to havemitted a mistake when the door opened.


    Adele''s eyes widened when Khan appeared before her. He had yet to close the upper part of his tracksuit, leaving his torso exposed, and Adele didn''t hesitate to study it. She had already seen him bare-chested, but having him so close and with sweat still running down his skin had apletely different effect.


    "Stop this," Khan scolded, closing his tracksuit to cover himself.


    "I''m sorry, sir," Adele gasped, lowering her head in shame and wrapping her arms behind her back to perform a military salute.


    "I let it go the first time," Khan continued, "But I''ll request a recement if this bes a problem."


    "I understand, sir," Adele promised, keeping her head lowered.


    "No, you don''t," Khan said, leaning forward to whisper. "I yed all sorts of games with all sorts of powers to get where I am. I''m not risking it because you like my abs."


    "I''m sorry, sir," Adele repeated, shaking a bit under Khan''s serious tone.


    Khan inspected Adele from head to toe. Truth be told, he was slightly mad. He was okay with jokes, but his position was still frail in multiple areas, and he had to make hispanions understand that.


    "I''ll write a report at the next misconduct," Khan stated. "Make sure it doesn''t happen."


    "Yes, sir," Adele eximed, lifting her head to show her resolve.


    Khan looked at Adele briefly before turning to his left. The elevator was in that direction, and he guessed the meeting would be on the Ambassador''s floor.


    "Do you know why the Ambassador summoned us?" Khan asked as the two headed toward the elevator.


    "I was only told to get you," Adele revealed. "Sir."


    "It''s fine," Khan said dismissively. "The scolding is over."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "If I may then," Adele announced, elerating to reach Khan''s side. "Miss Solodrey is lucky to have you."


    "I''m the lucky one," Khan replied. "That''s why I can''t mess it up."


    "Did you n your reunion already?" Adele probed.


    "You''ll read on thework when it happens," Khan cut the probing short.


    Adele was disappointed but respected Khan''s privacy. She also avoided looking at him during the trip in the elevator, and the same polite behavior remained when the two made their way toward the hall usually employed for the briefings.


    The ce was big, like every other room in the building, and two rows of interactive desks stood before arger table, leaving the space between them empty. Ambassador Abores was already there, on the main seat, and the other soldiers had also upied their assigned spots.


    "Sir," Khan and Adele announced as soon as they entered the hall, separating to head to their assigned spots. Khan''s desk was right before the Ambassador''srger table, and he reached it to perform a military salute.


    "At ease, Captain," Ambassador Abores eximed. "Adele."


    Khan and Adele took their seat and exchanged nods with the other soldiers before gazing at the Ambassador. Thetter began to tinker with his desk, and holograms soon came out between the two rows.


    "I apologize for summoning you at such ate hour," Ambassador Abores announced. "I got the okay from the Thilku Lord just one hour ago, and it couldn''t wait."


    "Good news is wee at any hour after a week stuck here, sir," Khanmented, gaining the approval of hispanions. The rows had sleepy faces but nothing that could disrupt their interest in the meeting.


    "Indeed, Captain," Ambassador Abores said, pointing at the holograms. His gestures made many heads turn toward the images, but everyone struggled to understand them.


    "This," Ambassador Abores continued, pressing on the desk to alter the holograms, "Is the building we''ll visit tomorrow morning. Well, in a few hours. It''s out of the city, in a military area."


    The holograms transformed into a vast building that resembled a warehouse. It was hard to grasp its actual size withoutparisons, and its outsides didn''t reveal much anyway.


    "What''s the matter with this building?" Khan asked, making sure to speak the question everyone had in mind.


    "It''s a factory," Ambassador Abores exined, "A weapon factory that recently lost a bomb."


    Gasps resounded in the hall. The news was incredible. It sounded like the Thilku were opening the real crime scene. However, Khan couldn''t share hispanions'' excitement. He knew too much to be misled by that little info.


    ''Do the Thilku even build such weapons here?'' Khan wondered. ''Aren''t they focusing on colonizing the?''


    Of course, the Thilku''s harsh methods could exin their focus on the war industry. Still, doubts remained in Khan''s mind. He couldn''t believe Lord Exr was ready to cooperate so openly after a mere week on Neuria.


    "I''ll send the details to your devices," Ambassador Abores dered. "I suggest you memorize them thoroughly before this morning''s departure. The meeting is adjourned."


    The seven soldiers snapped on their feet, performing military salutes before leaving the hall. Khan remained in his seat, and some nces fell on his figure, but none of hispanions dared to question his behavior.


    The hall closed after the troops'' departure, leaving only Khan and the Ambassador at their respective interactive desks. Ambassador Abores ignored Khan''s presence and focused on the reports before him, but a question soon arrived.


    "Do you ever sleep, sir?" Khan questioned.


    "I could ask you the same question, Captain," Ambassador Abores casually replied without lifting his head from the desk.


    "What are the chances this is the factory that produced our bomb?" Khan changed the topic.


    "What did I say about thinking?" Ambassador Abores asked.


    "I don''t know what this inspection can bring," Khan admitted, ignoring thement. "What do we have to gain from seeing the factory?"


    "Probably nothing," Ambassador Abores said, lifting his head to look at Khan. "Unless those senses of yours are as miraculous as everyone says."


    A flicker ran through Khan''s eyes, but not because of thement. Something else in Ambassador Abores'' words caught his attention, and he mentioned it. "Is this the actual factory?"


    "It''s very likely," Ambassador Abores sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Lord Exr gave us a significant number of reports that confirm that im."


    "I didn''t expect he''d move to serious business so soon," Khan muttered.


    "Our specialists didn''t just stare at the bomb," Ambassador Abores exined. "We gained enough data to apply some pressure. Everything else was a matter of goodwill from our alien neighbors."


    "Is that apliment?" Khan frowned.


    "Yes, your heroic actions helped," Ambassador Abores scoffed. "Now, leave me. We both have work to do."


    "Yes, sir," Khan stated, leaving his seat before adding something. "I must warn you. I''m not sure I can find anything. Too long has passed."


    "It was a joke, Captain," Ambassador Abores cursed. "I don''t expect to find anything."


    "I didn''t know you could make jokes, sir," Khan gasped.


    "Leave before I dishonorably discharge you," Ambassador Abores threatened.


    "I''ll go get ready for the inspection, sir," Khan eximed, heading for the exit.


    "Right, Captain," Ambassador Abores called, making Khan stop and turn. "I''ve seen from your logs that you are spending many nights studying the Thilku symbols."


    "It won''t get in the way of my duties, sir," Khan promised, "And I can take skipping a few nights of sleep."


    "How is it going?" Ambassador Abores questioned. "Can you use that on the field?"


    "I just started," Khan shook his head. "I can barely recognize a hundred symbols, and only the easy ones."


    "One hundred?" Ambassador Abores asked, partially hiding his surprise. "How many do you n to learn?"


    "Amox said three thousand," Khan revealed, shrugging his shoulders. "I''m not sure I can get there during the stay on Neuria."


    Ambassador Abores didn''t know what to say. Learning that Khan had memorized one hundred runes in a week was surprising. Still, his ns went far beyond that. He actually wanted to master that field during his stay in Neuria.


    "Just make sure to take breaks," Ambassador Abores cleared his throat. "I told you already. The Thilku will demand perfection from you. You don''t want to fail them due tock of sleep."


    "It will be done, sir," Khan promised. "With your permission, I''ll study the reports now."


    "Granted," Ambassador Abores eximed and watched Khan performing a military salute before leaving the hall. Still, anotherment left his mouth after he stared at the closed door for a while. "He is something alright."

 Chapter 565 Perspective

    There wasn''t much to study about the factory. The Thilku had shared the building''s basic nimetry and production output without diving too deeply into the types of weapons it made. It was useful information for the Global Army, but Khan''s team didn''t know what to do with it.


    Still, everyone studied and prepared before the morning arrived, forcing them to gather outside the building. A Thilku flew the human ship there to pick them up, bringing them in the air.


    The ship left the city and headed to the countryside. Khan and the others couldn''t activate the vehicle''s scanners, but their reports contained the factory''s location, giving them details about their destination.


    Minutes went by as the team sat in the passengers'' area. No one was tense about the imminent mission. It was quite understood that the visit to the factory was just a political formality, so worrying about it was impossible.


    Only Ambassador Abores appeared a bit lost in his thoughts. He wasn''t distracted, but something had captured his attention and kept him locked on that topic.


    ''He probably has directives from the specialists to keep in mind,'' Khan understood with a single nce but didn''t say anything about it. Letting the Ambassador concentrate was the best he could do.


    The ship eventuallynded, and its side doors opened to show familiar faces. The Thilku political team hade to greet Khan and the others and wee them to that new area.


    Ambassador Abores was the first to jump out of the ship, and his team followed to create an orderly line and greet the Thilku properly. Amox and hispanions performed their bows before opening the way to the building in the distance.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to breathe in the new environment as soon as the greeting ended. He was in a vast, open space, with the factory seen in the reports before him. Metal streets covered the ground and didn''t leave a single spot exposed, but everything felt quite empty.


    Adele and the others also noticed thatst part. Except for the factory, the area was empty. They couldn''t see vehicles, soldiers, or other buildings. The ship seemed to havended in the middle of nowhere, but the truth was far different.


    The area before the factory had many streetmps that radiated the Thilku''s iconic red color. However, Khan looked past them, inspecting shades only he could see. The symphony stank of artificial mana and the lights were only a small part of that.


    ''The factory alone can''t create this,'' Khan thought, his gaze diving deeper into Neuria''s eternal night. ''There must be jammers and holograms all around this area.''


    That realization wasn''t surprising. The ce was a military area, and the Thilku had only authorized the human team to see the factory. Everything else was probably ssified and needed to remain hidden from that alien force.


    Ambassador Abores cut the inspection short, heading toward the Thilku team and forcing hispanions to follow. Amox and the others promptly acted as escorts, leading the humans toward the factory. The group had to walk for a few minutes to reach the building, but its immense door eventually filled their view.


    The door slid open, slowly revealing the factory''s insides. The group could see heavy machinery, containers, staircases, upper floors, and more, but their attention focused on the two Thilku waiting for them before the entrance.


    "We wee you to the factory," One of the Thilku announced in an oddly good human ent before performing a bow with his cape.


    "The tour can begin immediately if that''s what you wish," The second Thilku added, imitating herpanion.


    Ambassador Abores performed a simr bow before lifting his head and speaking polite words. "If you''d be so kind, we can begin immediately."


    The two Thilku smiled before turning to lead the way and throwing a series of expositions. The entrance closed while they pointed at the machines in their surroundings and exined their purpose in great detail.


    Khan wanted to pretend to be interested, but all that technology-rted talk quickly bored him. The runes on the equipment, walls, and other tools soon captured his attention, and he inspected them while attempting to understand their purpose and functioning.


    Of course, Khan''s preparation didn''t allow him to understand those runes. The symbols in the factory didn''t only belong to a field he knew nothing about. They were also far more intricate than those he had started studying with.


    At times, Khan managed to recognize one or two lines in a few runes, but his luck ended there. He was simply out of his depth, but that didn''t stop him from trying to apply his short studies to the environment.


    The two Thilku led the group deeper into the factory, climbing on the upper floors and crossing multiple sections that handled different parts of the assembly line.


    The factory was almost entirely automated, requiring only a few workers for each section. Some were directly empty, limiting their workforce to scientists that overviewed the situation.


    As expected, Khan couldn''t sense anything odd. The weapons in the open made him slightly curious, and he even spotted a bomb identical to the one seen on Honides. However, his senses didn''t pick up on anything, which wasn''t a surprise.


    "We can switch up the pace now," One of the Thilku leading the group announced, stopping before the Ambassador. "We have been authorized to give individual tours if that''s eptable."


    The Thilku didn''t have to add anything for the Ambassador to understand the meaning behind his words. Separating him from the group would create the opportunity to share ssified information which hispanions probably couldn''t hear.


    "It''s eptable," Ambassador Abores agreed, turning to re at hispanions. "We''ll match this courtesy with our best conduct."


    "Yes, sir!" Khan eximed, performing a military salute and making hispanions imitate him.


    Ambassador Abores inspected Khan briefly before facing the Thilku again and nodding at them. The two aliens started to lead the way, splitting the Ambassador from the group to show him more of the factory.


    The Ambassador wasn''t the only one to get that treatment. The Thilku political team also split, reaching for one human each to handle individual tours. The pairs matched the arrangements of the first day on Neuria, and Khan didn''t need to rely on his senses to understand what was about to happen.


    The muscles on Khan''s left shoulder instinctively grew firmer before a huge handnded on them. Amox''s usualugh reached Khan''s ears as he went over that friendly approach, and the two soon exchanged a knowing smile as they left the group.


    "[How did you find the factory]?" Amox questioned as soon as he and Khan put some distance from the group. "[This is peak Thilku technology]!"


    "[It does look imposing]," Khan praised, his gaze wandering across the heavy machinery in his surroundings.


    "[It does]," Amox proudly agreed. "[Our war industry makes the entire Empire proud]."


    "[Are you war-oriented]?" Khan asked.


    "[Don''t start with that now]," Amox scoffed, iming Khan''s shoulder again. "[Let''s enjoy the tour before getting something to eat]."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[Do you think we''ll have free timeter]?" Khan wondered, sensing that something was off in Amox''s mana.


    "[Maybe]," Amox remained vague before pointing at a door in the distance. "[This way]."


    The vague reply deepened Khan''s confusion and made him slightly wary. There was more at y there, but Amox''s mana couldn''t give him specific answers. Moreover, Khan was alone in a Thilku factory now. He couldn''t avoid what wasing for him.


    The wariness intensified when the two crossed the door and ended up in an almost-empty storage area. Only a few metal boxes upied the big room''s corners, clearly showing how there was nothing to see there.


    Khan''s face grew cold when the door closed behind him. He almost reached for his knife only to suppress that urge. Showing hostility would do him no good there, and one look at Amox told him that the situation didn''t involve danger.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Amox shook his head as soon as Khan looked at him, but the opening of another door distracted them. Khan''s eyes widened even before a huge figure could cross that entrance. The symphony told him what was happening, and he struggled to believe it.


    Khan hastily bowed ording to the Thilku''s customs, and Amox did the same to wee Lord Exr''s arrival. Thetter stepped into the room and let the door behind him close before nodding at Amox.


    "[I''ll take my leave]," Amox announced, avoiding looking at Khan while crossing the entrance to leave him alone with Lord Exr.


    Khan didn''t know what was happening but remained in his bow for safety reasons. That situation felt surreal, and his thoughts tried to find an exnation or motive. Still, they came back empty-handed every time.


    "Lift your head, Captain Khan," Lord Exr ordered in a slightly hoarse human ent.


    "[I understand yournguage, my Lord]," Khan stated, straightening his stance to inspect Lord Exr. He had never been so close to him, and his huge frame appeared even taller at that distance.


    "You are a guest," Lord Exr said. "Using yournguage is basic courtesy."


    "I appreciate that, sir," Khan tried to sound as polite as possible. "To what do I owe the honor?"


    "Personal interest, I suppose," Lord Exr revealed. "Amox is a good soldier. I wanted to see the human he learned to respect."


    "I consider Amox a friend, sir," Khan dered.


    "And he does the same with you," Lord Exr replied, slowly approaching Khan. "It''s odd, isn''t it? A human and a Thilku bonding so quickly."


    Initially, Khan believed that Lord Exr was using Amox of something. However, his mana had no barriers or cloaking techniques. Khan could sense theck of ill intentions in Lord Exr''s presence.


    "Are you checking me, Captain Khan?" Lord Exr wondered, almost amused by the idea. "Amox told me you were a [shaman]. I never thought the Global Army could produce one."


    Lord Exr was walking slowly, but his long legs made him reach Khan quickly. Soon, he stood before him, showing the sheer pressure generated by his impressive size.


    "I''m no [shaman], sir," Khan corrected. "I told Amox the same thing."


    "And yet," Lord Exr responded, "You checked me."


    Khan didn''t answer. He didn''t know what to say in that situation, and his senses weren''t a secret either. It was pointless to lie or try to justify his behavior.


    "Do not worry, Captain Khan," Lord Exr reassured. "I have benevolent intentions."


    "I''m not sure what you might want from me, sir," Khan admitted.


    "Just honesty," Lord Exr stated. "Soldier to soldier."


    "Honesty about what, sir?" Khan asked.


    "Nothing specific," Lord Exr said, turning to wander into the empty room. "I appreciated how you protected my citizens. I didn''t expect that from a human."


    "Mypanions would have done the same, sir," Khan announced.


    "Maybe," Lord Exr sighed. "Though, they wouldn''t have gotten epted so quickly."


    "Sir?" Khan called.


    "I''ll be blunt, Captain Khan," Lord Exr eximed, interrupting his aimless wandering to look at Khan. "I loathe politics. I would have died a soldier if my Lord didn''t order me to rule these sectors."


    Khan remained silent. Thatment reminded him of something Jenna had said in the past, but the memory quickly vanished. Khan was too focused on Lord Exr to let his thoughts distract him.


    "Ambassador Abores is a qualified human," Lord Exr continued. "However, he is no soldier. We struggle to see, how was that human saying, eye to eye."


    "Ambassador Abores is a good leader," Khanplimented. "I''m sure it''s only a matter of time before you understand each other, sir."


    "See," Lord Exr voiced. "I''d rather have someone who already sees eye to eye with me. It would make future cooperation easier."


    ''What is he even implying?'' Khan cursed in his mind.


    "Captain Khan," Lord Exr called. "I''m not trying to insult your superior. I''m just saying that you and I might be a better match. I''m sure the Global Army won''t mind a shift in authority as long as the investigation runs smoothly."


    Khan had understood Lord Exr''s intentions, but exining them was far harder. He didn''t believe Lord Exr only wanted him for his perspective. There had to be more to the matter.


    ''Does he want a less experienced Ambassador?'' Khan considered. ''Someone he can trick as he wishes?''


    "I hope I didn''t offend anyone," Lord Exr added. "Our cultural differences can be hard to keep in mind."


    "You didn''t, sir," Khan smiled. "I''m ttered you considered me as a recement, but I''m afraid I''m not qualified."


    "And who decides that?" Lord Exr wondered. "I don''t think the Global Army would hesitate to put you in charge were I to make an explicit request."


    Khan knew that Lord Exr was right. The Thilku held all the authority in their territory, and the Global Army would do anything to please them.


    "That would help your career, right?" Lord Exr asked. "I seem to remember that''s how things work in the Global Army."


    "If I may, sir," Khan eximed. "In exchange for what?"


    "As I said," Lord Exr stated, "Honesty. I feel our cooperation would be smoother because of our simr perspective."

 Chapter 566 Negotiations

    The development had taken Khan by surprise. He couldn''t have predicted something simr even in his wildest dreams. Yet, here he was, receiving an offer that anyone else in his position would kill to obtain.


    Humankind was no stranger to those political maneuvers. The Harbor had taught Khan that they were the norm in certain fields, and he had also yed simr roles in the past.


    However, Neuria was no Nitis or Milia 222. Khan wasn''t a random soldier with no responsibilities or relevance. He was ying a key role in a small team, making his actions valuable on multiple levels.


    Khan couldn''t do as he wished, and keeping his actions a secret wasn''t an option either. ying both sides with Amox would have been possible in a different situation, but Lord Exr''s direct involvement added too much political pressure.


    ''This stuff could get me discharged,'' Khan thought. ''What is he even thinking?''


    "Think about what I said, Captain Khan," Lord Exr continued, resuming his casual stroll among the room. "You can give your answer to Amox when you are ready."


    "How long do I have, sir?" Khan asked.


    "Not long," Lord Exr replied, approaching the other exit to face Khan again. "Farewell for now, Captain Khan."


    Lord Exr slightly lowered his head, and Khan promptly performed a traditional Thilku bow. The alien seemed to like that reaction but didn''t add anything as he left the room.


    Khan lifted his head only when the door closed. He had remained alone in the room, but his eyes barely recorded that. His thoughts had grown wild, preventing him from considering anything outside his mind.


    ''What the fuck just happened?!'' Khan cursed as the urge to break something showed itself.


    Khan almost red at one of the metal boxes before shaking his head. He instinctively reached for his pocket only to recall that he had left his phone in the political building. He was alone in that decision, and the entirety of his experience and studies barely helped.


    Something moved behind Khan, distracting him from the chaos inside his mind. Amox returned to the room, and Khan weed him with a pissed expression.


    "[What was that]?" Khan didn''t hesitate to ask.


    "[Lord Exr expressed his desire to meet you]," Amox exined. "[Orders are orders]."


    Khan was slightly angry at Amox for putting him in that situation, but his reasonable side realized he wasn''t to me. Khan would have done the same if Ambassador Abores had given the order. After all, they were both soldiers doing their superiors'' bidding.


    "[Do you know what we talked about]?" Khan asked, rubbing the corners of his eyes to calm himself down.


    "[I don''t like that political stuff]," Amox proudly imed. "[It''s better to stay away from it]."


    "[I agree]," Khan sighed, pointing a finger at Amox. "[You owe me a drink]."


    Amoxughed, finally reaching Khan to pat his shoulders. The Thilku appeared relieved by that development and resumed his friendly behavior while pushing Khan outside the room.


    "[We have time for a feast today]," Amox revealed as the two returned to the factory''s open areas.


    "[I need to handle this problem today]," Khan shook his head. "[Let''s do it another time]."


    "[A feast can clear your mind]," Amox pointed out.


    "[My mind was far from clear thest time]," Khan chuckled, and Amox wore a proud expression while resuming harassing his shoulder.


    The chitchat with Amox distracted Khan, but part of his mind remained on the problem. The factory''s imposing beauty and runes crossed his vision without triggering any emotion. Khan could pretend to be calm, but his thoughts remained a mess.


    The individual toursted a while, but a reunion eventually happened, bringing both teams back together. The group explored more of the factory afterward but left the building once lunchtime approached.


    Formal goodbyes unfolded before the human team returned to their ship. The Thilku in the cabin set off as soon as everyone had taken their ce, marking the end of that political task.


    During the flight, Khan wore his poker face, but his attention split toward two main tasks. Much of his mind remained on Lord Exr''s offer while his senses tried to identify the faintest details in Ambassador Abores'' mana.


    The Ambassador had lost his initial tension but remained focused on topics only he was aware of. The tour had left him partially satisfied, but Khan could see that nothing major had happened.


    That silent stalemate ruled the entirety of the flight, and thending didn''t break it. The team had to enter the political building before Ambassador Abores decided to break the silence.


    "Good job today," Ambassador Abores announced, crossing the building''s main hall to head for one of the elevators. "I''ll summon youter. Enjoy lunch now."


    "Thank you, sir," Khan and the others eximed, donning military salutes and waiting for the Ambassador to enter an elevator before moving again.


    The Ambassador''s departure created a far friendlier atmosphere. Sighs resounded left and right, and an invitation didn''t take long to arrive.


    "Captain, will you eat with us?" Elvis asked, making seven gazes fall on Khan.


    "I have something to handle today," Khan smiled, politely rejecting the offer. "I''ll see you all at dinner."


    "Good luck, sir," Elvis stated, and hispanions echoed those words. They also wore military salutes again, and Khan nodded at them before heading for an elevator.


    Khan leaned on the elevator''s wall as soon as its doors closed. He bumped his head a few times on that metal surface without pressing any key. He didn''t know where to go, so he used that temporary privacy to think.


    Usually, Khan would take the side of the aliens. It wasn''t on purpose. He simply didn''t like humankind very muchpared to other species.


    However, the Thilku didn''t match Khan''s inclinations. They were simr to the Global Army, and the current political situation waspletely different from what Khan had experienced in the past.


    A political maneuver aimed at dethroning Ambassador Abores had a high chance of working with Lord Exr''s support. Khan could skip years of ordinary jobs and move his career to the next level. Yet, that approach involved multiple risks.


    The political environment heavily relied on fame and the value of one''s word. Khan had taken part in partial betrayals, but overruling Ambassador Abores would set a serious precedent that would stain his profile forever.


    Cooperating with fellow experts would be a problem if Khan decided to press forward with Lord Exr''s n. He had the connections to suppress eventual rumors, but the Ambassador probably did too. Khan would create a distrustful aura around himself, and every higher-up would know why.


    The actual job was another considerable risk. Khan was good butcked the qualifications and knowledge to rece Ambassador Abores. He might risk messing things up with the Thilku, creating another troublesome precedent that would take years to clean.


    The other side of the issue also had problems. Lord Exr had personally approached Khan. That was no small matter, and an eventual refusal would require careful words and actions.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t know how to approach that option without endangering his current position and rtionships with the Thilku. The offer had put him in a lose-lose situation that he had no idea how to handle.


    Khan had retrieved his phone from the hall''s main desk, but that device was useless on Neuria. In a different situation, he would have contacted the Headmistress or Monica. Even Lucian and the other descendants would have been decent counselors, but that path wasn''t an option now.


    ''This might be too much for Monica even,'' Khan realized. ''I''d have to ask her parents to understand what to do.''


    Khan was in a pickle, but the situation wasn''tpletely hopeless. Neuria had one figure who might know the best path forward. Picking him was the same as making a decision, but Khan didn''t see other alternatives.


    A gesture apanied Khan''s decision. He finally pressed a key, and the elevator rose, bringing him to the intended floor. The building''s vast corridor weed him, but he barely inspected his surroundings while heading to an office he knew quite well.


    Khan held back a sigh when the waiting message disappeared. The metal door opened, showing Ambassador Abores with his head lowered on the interactive desk. The group had just returned from the factory, but the man was already deep in his work.


    "What is it, Captain?" Ambassador Abores questioned, keeping his eyes on the desk. "I''m busy right now."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It''s urgent, sir," Khan exined, remaining on the entrance''s edge.


    Ambassador Abores realized something was off, so he disregarded his reports to inspect Khan. Thetter''s face didn''t reveal anything, but the Ambassador still weed him. "Come in."


    Khan advanced, letting the entrance close while approaching the office''s desk. He skipped the military salute to take his ce before the Ambassador, and some hesitation arrived.


    "I thought it was urgent, Captain," Ambassador Abores pressed.


    "I met Lord Exr during today''s tour," Khan went straight to the point. "He offered to support me as the new leader of the political team."


    "What are you saying, Captain?" Ambassador Abores asked.


    "Lord Exr wants me to rece you, sir," Khan exined.


    Ambassador Abores fell silent as his green eyes tried to dig through Khan''s skull to inspect his thoughts. His attempt failed, but his experiencepensated for theck of understanding of Khan''s intentions.


    "I see," Ambassador Abores whispered, leaning backward to get morefortable in his chair.


    The silence returned, and Khan didn''t dare to break it. He and the Ambassador looked at each other, almost waiting for someone to make the first move.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Why are you telling me this?" Ambassador Abores eventually questioned. "This was your chance to get my chair."


    "I don''t like to be a pawn in someone else''s ploy," Khan revealed. "And I''m not sure I can handle your chair right now."


    "Wasn''t it worth the risk?" Ambassador Abores asked. "Ambassadors are rare toe by, and you could probably do decently at your first attempt."


    "You said it yourself, sir," Khan reminded. "I set the bar too high. I must aim for perfection because a single failure might destroy me."


    "How frail fame can be," Ambassador Abores scoffed. "To think that a single problem could humble you down so quickly."


    Ambassador Abores'' attempt to mock Khan didn''t cause any reaction. Khan''s expression didn''t even twitch while those words echoed through the office.


    "This was a careless move," Ambassador Abores continued. "Relying on me gives me full power over the situation. I might very well send you back to the Harbor to secure my position here."


    "You won''t, sir," Khan finally spoke.


    "Why is that?" Ambassador Abores asked. "Are you giving me orders now?"


    "Even if we don''t consider the Thilku," Khan exined, "I''m not someone you can screw over."


    Khan didn''t need to add anything else. The entirework knew he had the Solodrey family''s support and many wealthy descendants as allies. The involvement in Rick''s marriage was only the cherry on top of his political figure.


    "Captain," Ambassador Abores called, sounding irritated as he stood up. "Your arrogance is misced. You are alone here."


    Ambassador Abores was a fourth-level warrior with a remarkable political position. Any ordinary soldier would shrink down before his cold approach. However, Khan had dealt with far scarier figures, and power alone couldn''t worry him.


    Khan''s calm slightly surprised Ambassador Abores. It was in line with Khan''s profile, but seeing it first-hand left a deep impression. Words and veiled threats didn''t work with Khan.


    "I knew you would have caused problems," Ambassador Abores sighed, returning to his seat.


    "I didn''t do much, sir," Khan admitted.


    "Apparently, you did," Ambassador Aboresmented. "I guess we can use this to our advantage."


    Some warmth returned to Khan''s face after those words, and Ambassador Abores didn''t hesitate toment. "What? Did you think getting me on the same side would have been harder?"


    "You are the proud type," Khan voiced. "Sir."


    "Lord Exr''s offer might not have anything to do with you," Ambassador Abores snorted. "I might have poked the correct spots and asked the right questions."


    "Anything you say, sir," Khan stated.


    "You are enjoying this, aren''t you?" Ambassador Abores asked.


    "I can''t hold back from teasing stiff characters," Khan imed, using his most serious tone.


    Ambassador Abores opened his mouth to speak but promptly closed it and shook his head. That wasn''t the time to deal with Khan''s idiocy. The situation was actually quite serious.


    "Tell me exactly what Lord Exr said," Ambassador Abores requested.


    "He wanted to deal with a soldier," Khan exined shortly, "Not an Ambassador. At least that''s what he imed."


    "I expected as much," Ambassador Abores nodded. "That''s quite perfect too."


    "How so?" Khan didn''t hold back his curiosity.


    Ambassador Abores was tempted to keep Khan in the dark. Yet, that opportunity existed because Khan had chosen to be open. The reasons behind that decision weren''t exactly pure, but Ambassador Abores felt that he owed Khan some honesty.


    "Lord Exr has a Lord above him," Ambassador Abores revealed. "I''d be willing to leave things to you as long as I can establish a connection with his superior."


    ''Oh,'' Khan understood. Ambassador Abores wanted to get something out of that political maneuver, and his career would only benefit from sess.


    "I''ll poke harder," Ambassador Abores continued, "Before presenting my counter-offer. I''ll only request an introduction to increase our chances."


    "Sounds reasonable, sir," Khan eximed. "Then, I''ll wait for your rmendation letter before filling in for your absence."


    Ambassador Abores had begun to lose himself in his thoughts, but Khan''s words pulled him back to reality. The two fell into a challenge of stares that forced the Ambassador to speak again.


    "Are you negotiating now?" Ambassador Abores asked.


    "I also want a detailed report about how you intend to proceed," Khan added. "With your guidance, I''ll be able to take over your job properly."


    "And me me if you fail," Ambassador Abores pointed out.


    "I don''t want to fail, sir," Khan said. "It''s in my interest to perform well in your absence."


    The stalemate returned, but both sides understood each other now. Ambassador Abores wanted to benefit from that unexpected development, and Khan was willing to help, but that came at a price.

 Chapter 567 Knowledge

    Both Khan and Ambassador Abores had a lot to gain from their alliance. Their career could get to the next level if everything went ording to n. However, a few differences existed.


    Ambassador Abores couldn''t immediately gain benefits from the alliance. Actually, he would have to pressure Lord Exr to n a meeting before even hoping to achieve his goals.


    Instead, Khan could only wait for the time being, but that didn''t mean standing still. If the n were sessful, he would inherit Ambassador Abores'' current position, which required heavy studies and preparation.


    Those studies couldn''t happen overnight. Khan would be toote to the party if he started as soon as the n seeded. He would have to begin to prepare immediately to hope to be ready for that new job.


    The negotiations had that purpose. Ambassador Abores couldn''t move without Khan, which made him vital to the n. Khan could exploit his position to get benefits in advance, which was exactly what happened.


    Khan seized a few bottles from the canteen, returned to his room, and settled behind his interactive desk. The Ambassador had sent vital information during the meeting. Still, a single nce at the menus told Khan that he had heavily underestimated the amount of work he had to do.


    Tens of reports, summaries, notes, and more became avable to Khan''s gic signature. That info didn''t only involve Neuria. It went over the Thilku as a whole and contained many personal opinions that Ambassador Abores had written down as he gained experience.


    ''This is a treasure trove,'' Khan eximed as awe spread inside him.


    Khan hadpleted the Harbor''s advanced sses and had gone through Professor Parver''s special course. He was no stranger to intricate studies digging deeply into multiple topics. However, Ambassador Abores'' notes went above and beyond that, showing the difference between him and a scout.


    ''I''ll need a month to review all of this,'' Khan realized, skimming through the variousbels on his interactive desk to check how many pages each file had.


    Khan had already suspected that, but the agreement confirmed his guess. He wasn''t ready to be an Ambassador. His general preparation and natural inclination for that job were extraordinary, but hecked the knowledge and attention to detail of someone who had been in the field for years.


    The issue didn''t discourage Khan. He had just gotten his hands on knowledge and ssified information far beyond his reach. Only excitement could exist inside him, but tackling the problem required a n.


    ''I can ignore anything beyond Lord Exr for now,'' Khan decided. ''Ambassador Abores will continue to be the sole connection with the Global Army, so I can skip that too.''


    Ambassador Abores'' tasks involved reporting to the Global Army and conveying the intricacies of the investigation. He basically had to convince the higher-ups at home that his presence on Neuria was working as intended, and Khan didn''t have the connections or reputation for that role.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Later,'' Khan thought, sorting through his pile of files. ''Later. No way I''m studying this now. This is definitelyst.''


    It took a whole hour, but Khan eventuallypleted the first step. He had arranged the files ording to necessity, creating multiple groups to make his studies easier.


    Of course, that precision didn''te from Khan''s messy character. Monica had spent weeks engraving that approach into his brain. It wasn''t anything special, but it still added some needed discipline that could save a lot of time.


    Khan instinctively tried to refill his ss, only to discover it was already full. The rearrangement of the notes had kept him so focused that he had forgotten to drink, but that didn''t escape his mind now that his studies were about to begin.


    ''Serial number,'' Khan thought, bringing his drink to his mouth while his free hand moved toward a brightbel, ''Factory, dock.''


    Ambassador Abores hade to Neuria with a n that didn''t entirelye out of his brain. The specialists on the Harbor and his superiors had given directives that had greatly helped put pressure on Lord Exr, and Khan nned to follow the same path.


    Weapons had serial numbers. Criminals would obviously avoid marking them when possible, but the bomb was different. Something like that required specialists, ssified equipment, and more, which got in the way of a secret production.


    Things would have been different with a secret factory, but the Thilku Empire was too strict in those fields. The criminals had removed the serial number from the bomb, but its remaining marks had told the Global Army that its assembly had gone through official channels.


    That knowledge had forced Lord Exr to open the factory and share data that confirmed its involvement with the bomb. Khan had initiallybeled the information as useless, but Ambassador Abores'' notes revealed a far different truth.


    Due to the serial numbers, the Empire knew where its weapons went. The security around bombs was even stricter, so the eventual absence of one item couldn''t go unnoticed. The criminals could only do their best to hide its movements and disappearance, but those actions left a trail.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ambassador Abores'' n involved exactly that. He knew the Thilku were aware of the missing bomb and wanted to handle the investigation privately. However, his usations and knowledge could force Lord Exr to involve the human team in the process since it would appease the Global Army.


    ''The next step is to find inconsistencies with the shipments,'' Khan read on the notes. ''The missing serial number led to a factory, which will point at one of the stations in the seas.''


    Ambassador Abores noted down considerations after describing that strategy. He was confident finding the actual criminals was impossible. Yet, the guilty station had to have traces of corruption, which could make the n advance even further.


    ''A station,'' Khan thought, interrupting his read to refill his drink. ''I might be able to find something if Lord Exr lets me interrogate the workers.''


    That hope was slim. As far as Khan knew, Mister Chares'' organization could have smuggled the bomb years ago. Moreover, months had passed since the incident. The Thilku criminals still in the station would have probably disappeared by now, but that was the only trail Khan could follow.


    ''I guess the Empire''s strictness helps,'' Khan thought, slowly sipping his drink. ''I can''t imagine the workers having much freedom with Neuria still in construction.''


    Khan wouldn''t have had that opinion in the past, but his mission in the Thilku district kept his hope alive. There was a good chance a few criminals could still be in the involved station. Finding and incriminating them was the only problem.


    ''Well,'' Khan scoffed, moving to the next file. ''Ambassador Abores has to convince Lord Exr first. I don''t see him granting us ess to the station so easily.''


    Lord Exr''s offer gained a different meaning when Khan thought about the issue. It was impossible to stop the Global Army from getting to the station. Yet, the presence of a less experienced Ambassador could lead to a few mistakes that would decrease the price of eventual reparations.


    ''That can''t be, can it?'' Khan wondered. ''Amox and Lord Exr think I''m a shaman. I''m probably more dangerous than the Ambassador on the field.''


    Another idea arrived. Maybe, Lord Exr wanted Khan as the Ambassador precisely because of his senses. That could give the Thilku an excuse to keep Khan away from the field and restrain his troublesome abilities.


    ''I need to make my presence on the field mandatory,'' Khan considered.


    Most of Khan''s thoughts involved pure spection, which was part of the job. Preparing for any eventuality would make him ready for every unexpected situation, which could be the difference between sess and failure.


    Khan moved to the next file and read it from start to finish before continuing his studies. The basics were easy to grasp, but the real power was in the details. He wouldn''t be able to exin the validity of his requests to Lord Exr without them, and the mission wouldn''t go forward in that case.


    Ambassador Abores had to use the same approach to get to the factory. He had relied on details only specialists could know to force Lord Exr''s hand, and Khan would have to employ something simr to get deployed.


    The initial excitement for the amount of knowledge in the notes slowly waned as the interactive desk continued to show holograms. Yet, a different emotion arrived when a pattern became clear, generating a curse that made Khan wear a cold face.


    ''That bastard,'' Khan cursed as he let go of the drink and used both hands to move through the menus faster.


    Countless lines ran through Khan''s eyes as he skimmed through most of the notes again. He tried to be slightly thorough at the time, but the approach only confirmed his suspicion.


    ''I didn''t expect him to be this petty,'' Khan sighed.


    The notes had everything except for a specific topic. They didn''t describe Lord Exr''s character at all, and their absence left a void in that otherwise thorough knowledge.


    The issue was impossible to miss because someone had removed it on purpose. Ambassador Abores had chosen not to share what he had learned about Lord Exr. He didn''t leave any advice for Khan, which was understandable.


    ''Ambassadors are as valuable as their connections,'' Khan recalled something he read during his lessons in the Harbor. ''How they built them is a professional secret. I guess Lord Exr isn''t too bad as my first since he''s a fellow soldier.''

 Chapter 568 Politics

    Studying stole a good chunk of Khan''s free time. Theck of political events or missions with the Thilku team helped, but Khan still had to juggle multiple tasks, inevitably leaving some aside to make room for the most pressing ones.


    Ambassador Abores'' notes had priority, and Khan continued his studies of the Thilku runes too. He couldn''t neglect training either, so his team got the short end of the stick. Khan still ate with hispanions when possible, but his initial n of deepening his rtionship with them vanished due to the recent developments.


    That trend continued for two weeks, during which Khan and the Ambassador had little to no interactions. They understood how busy they were, so they didn''t bother each other more than necessary. Still, something changed in the morning after the weekend.


    A message reached Khan''s training hall and made him interrupt the simted mental battle. He jumped on his feet and recovered his clothes before hurrying toward his room.


    A shower went by, and Khan barely took the time to dry his hair before hurrying outside. One trip to the elevator brought him in front of the Ambassador''s office, which opened as soon as he notified it of his presence.


    "Sir!" Khan eximed before taking a step back. The Ambassador wasn''t behind his desk. He had already reached the entrance, and his impable appearance revealed his intentions.


    "We are going out, Captain," Ambassador Abores revealed at the sight of Khan''s military salute. "I hope you aren''t nning to apany me like this."


    Khan didn''t need to look at himself to understand what the Ambassador meant. His military uniform was full of greases, and his slightly wet hair was a mess. That wasn''t an eptable appearance.


    "I''ll be ready in ten, sir," Khan promised.


    "I''ll be on the first floor," Ambassador Abores stated. "Don''t make me wait."


    Ambassador Abores didn''t wait for Khan''s reply and departed toward an elevator. Still, Khan ran past him and upied the first empty lift toplete his task.


    Luckily for Khan, he had prepared for a simr asion, and Monica had also carved a basic aesthetic routine into his brain. He had a pair of clean and ironed uniforms ready for important events, and his hair was still short enough to require little attention.


    After exactly nine minutes, Khan arrived on the first floor''s main hall and spotted the Ambassador waiting beside its entrance. The man didn''t bother to sit, and noticing Khan''s new look made him nod before heading outside.


    Khan hurried to the Ambassador''s side to ask questions, but leaving the building put him before a surprising sight. The metal sidewalk was big enough to act as anding area, and a circr ship had used it for that precise purpose.


    A trace of hesitation tried to appear inside Khan. The Thilku had been careful not to show their technology during the stay on Neuria, but that morning seemed to be an exception.


    Ambassador Abores didn''t stop, and his advance forced Khan to ignore his hesitation. The two directly headed for the vehicle, reaching it in a few seconds. Their gazes also remained straight and never wavered, but that didn''t prevent Khan from inspecting his surroundings.


    The Thilku ship had a circr shape. It resembled a disk that grew thicker toward its middle areas. A long, dark window stood on its upper side, touching a gap that stretched from its center to the vehicle''s edges, creating a space in that otherwise perfectly round figure.


    Neuria''s eternal night tried to hide some details, but the streetmps in the area solved that issue. Still, Khan couldn''t spot anything special or unusual during the short walk. The ship''s surface was rough and dark, showing red runes every few meters, and that was it.


    A ramp stretched from the ship''s gap and touched the floor, allowing Khan and the Ambassador to step on it. A passage under the long window opened when the two reached it, showing a metal staircase that led deeper into the vehicle.


    A Thilku donning the iconic red cape stood on the top of the staircase and wore a traditional bow at the pair''s arrival. Ambassador Abores and Khan didn''t hesitate to perform the same greeting, eventually following the alien deeper into the ship.


    The staircase led to a big, circr room. Consoles and screens filled its edge, leaving room for four doors on opposite sides of the area.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Thilku sat behind each console, and Khan tried to peek at the technology, only to immediately give up on the matter. Those machines had a single, intricate red rune as their control desk, and Khan couldn''t read any of them.


    The screens were different since they mostly featured cameras and scanners pointed at the outside world, but the arrival of a heavy re forced Khan''s inspection to an end. The Ambassador only needed his eyes to warn him, and Khan obeyed that silent message.


    The Thilku led Khan and Ambassador Abores into one of the four doors, which turned out to be a spacious passenger area. The seats were too big for humans, but Khan and the Ambassador still expressed gratitude when the alien left them alone.


    The urge to ask questions surged inside Khan as soon as the two sat, but Ambassador Abores shook his head as soon as their eyes met. He could understand Khan''s curiosity but only had silent answers for him.


    Ambassador Abores briefly inspected the passengers'' area before ring at Khan again. He was warning him about the possible presence of scanners and bugs, so no words flew between the two as the ship set off.


    eaglesnov?1,§ão§® Theck of exnations tried to keep Khan in the dark, but developing a few sound hypotheses wasn''t hard. The presence of a Thilku ship, the attention to appearances, and the silent wee pointed toward a precise direction. There was a high chance the two were about to meet Lord Exr.


    Khan didn''t feel worried. He had spent the past two weeks immersed in Ambassador Abores'' notes and had even developed his own strategy. Most of it relied on his superior''s information, but he had apletely original edge he might be able to exploit.


    Time flowed slowly in the silence of the passengers'' area, but Khan didn''t mind it. He used that time to sort out his thoughts and review his knowledge, allowing him to have a far firmer mindset by the time the shipnded.


    The same Thilku from before picked up Khan and Ambassador Abores and led them to the metal staircase. The exit opened to show the ramp, and a different floor expanded in their vision. The rain had also begun to fall, but an umbre didn''t hesitate to arrive.


    The Thilku kept the big umbre above Khan and Ambassador Abores while they left the ship. The two found themselves at the top of arge building in the middle of the city, and the big gazebo at the center of that open space immediately attracted their attention.


    The alien under the gazebo was even more interesting. Lord Exr was sitting alone at a big, circr table with only two more seats. No soldiers or waiters stood around him, but food and drinks had already arrived. Everything was ready for a political meeting.


    The Thilku with the umbre apanied Khan and the Ambassador under the gazebo before hurrying back to the ship. The vehicle didn''t leave, but the human side couldn''t worry about it. Khan and the Ambassador were too focused on greeting Lord Exr to mind those details.


    "Sit with me, human friends," Lord Exr announced, slowly waving his hands toward the empty seats. "We have much to discuss."


    "[Thank you for having us, my Lord]," Khan and Ambassador Abores eximed almost simultaneously before sitting at the circr table.


    "Eat and drink with me," Lord Exr suggested. "The Thilku take pride in their hospitality."


    Ambassador Abores went for a te, resorting to slow and controlled movements. Instead, Khan was far rougher, almost conveying his eagerness for food and drinks.


    Of course, that roughness never reached impolite levels. Khan had still received proper training for those asions. He was simply less controlled than his superior, and Lord Exr smiled at that sight.


    "I was worried you might have seen my offer as an insult," Lord Exr continued, eyeing Ambassador Abores. "I''m d to see that Captain Khan showed loyalty."


    "Captain Khan never misses the chance to make the Global Army proud," Ambassador Abores praised. "He is a prodigy in many fields."


    "I''ve seen that," Lord Exrmented, looking at Khan. "I would have never considered him as a recement otherwise."


    "You tter me, Lord Exr," Khan voiced, respectfully lowering his head. "I just follow orders and do my best."


    "To move to," Lord Exr continued, taking a second to recall the words he wanted to say, "The matter at hand, I think it was. I agree to make this exchange without involving the Global Army."


    Khan hid his surprise while Lord Exr looked at the Ambassador. The two had already discussed the deal, and it seemed that Ambassador Abores had requested to keep it silent.


    ''No wonder he is the Ambassador,'' Khan cursed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Lord Exr had given Khan a vital role in the deal, but Ambassador Abores had turned the tables with his request. Without the involvement of superiors from the Global Army, the Ambassador would be the only one able to vouch for Khan''s actions. He needed him to add value to his profile.


    That development had taken Khan by surprise, but he remained calm. He would still try to get his rmendation letter before actually recing the Ambassador. He needed that to create a political shield around him.


    "Thank you for your understanding," Ambassador Abores eximed. "This kind of paperwork takes a long time to exin andplete. It''s faster to keep these deals on Neuria."


    That tant lie didn''t go unnoticed, but neither of the involved parties called it out. Lord Exr was happy with that development, so Khan had to agree.


    "My Lord will visit Neuria soon," Lord Exr exined. "Everything around his arrival is ssified, so I can''t give you more details. You''d have to trust my word on this."


    "I do already, Lord Exr," Ambassador Abores stated. "I wouldn''t insult you like this."


    "I''m d," Lord Exr replied. "I''m still sorry for my request. My whims areing out now that I hold some power."


    "Don''t even mention it," Ambassador Abores responded. "I''m honored I could help."


    "Well then," Lord Exr announced, looking at Khan. "Captain Khan, the rest of our cooperation is on you now. Do you have suggestions already?"


    "I do," Khan dered. "I wonder if Lord Exr wants to hear them now."


    "Please, speak freely," Lord Exr uttered. "As I said, honesty is all I ask from you."


    "Then, I''ll be honest," Khan said. "The Global Army needs ess to the shipments connected to the factory to look for any irregrity."


    "I can''t give you that," Lord Exr promptly refused. "The Global Army would learn information the Empire isn''t willing to share."


    "We are willing to leave that task to the Empire," Khan offered, "As long as the human team joins eventual inspections on the station found guilty."


    "The Empire will do what the Empire wants," Lord Exr said, using a firmer tone.


    "It wasn''t my intention to offend you or the Empire," Khan stated. "However, we both want to put this incident behind us. I see no point in postponing an inevitable inspection."


    "The factory being on Neuria doesn''t necessarily involve one of the stations," Lord Exr eximed. "There are still a few illegal routes due to the iplete colonization."


    "I trust the Empire''s security," Khan dered. "I''m sure a trail exists somewhere."


    Lord Exr''s smile broadened, but no words came out. Refusing Khan''s statement would insult the Empire, which Lord Exr couldn''t do. He had basically cornered him.


    "Finding a trail takes time, Captain Khan," Lord Exr announced, reaching for a big worm in one of the tes. "These criminals must have been exceptional to go unnoticed until now. I''m not sure we can handle this quickly."


    "With all due respect, Lord Exr," Khan responded. "We can find all the shipments involved with the bomb''s materials with your support. Yet, inspecting the production nts would take months, and we''d still be going in the wrong direction."


    "Are you telling me the Global Army would be satisfied with isting thest phase of the criminal organization?" Lord Exr questioned.


    "We wouldn''t dare to request more from the Empire," Khan exined. "We are here only to find potential connections with our criminals, not learn about your internal arrangements."


    Ambassador Abores'' mana confirmed that Khan was filling his role perfectly, but that wasn''t a surprise. None of those lines hade from Khan''s brain. He was merely repeating what he had studied on the notes.


    "I will see what I can do," Lord Exr promised. "If we can iste one station, I''ll notify the human team and order a joint investigation."


    "Thank you, Lord Exr," Khan eximed.


    "I hope you''ll join me while our soldiers deal with it," Lord Exr immediately continued. "I''m quite curious about you, Captain Khan."


    "On that topic," Khan voiced. "I''d like to be part of the investigation. I need to lead my team."


    Khan had already predicted a simr oue, so his n didn''t falter. He hoped a simple request would be enough, but Lord Exr kept going.


    "That won''t do, Captain Khan," Lord Exr refused. "We must entertain each other while our soldiers handle the job. That''s how things work."


    Ambassador Abores'' mana told Khan how unwise refusing Lord Exr was, but leaving the human team on its own wouldn''t do. Khan needed to be on the field to get that mission over with.


    "Lord Exr, I''m a soldier," Khan stated. "I wish to perform my duties."


    "Leadership involves responsibilities," Lord Exrmented. "I''d also like to be a soldier, but my dutyes first."


    "Lord Exr," Khan called, but his phrase was cut short.


    "Captain Khan," Lord Exr interrupted, "I''m starting to think you don''t enjoy mypany. Did I get the wrong idea about you?"


    Ambassador Abores'' mana began to radiate anger. He wanted that opportunity to meet Lord Exr''s superior, and Khan was squandering it. However, Khan''s wasn''t done just yet.


    "It''s not about you," Khan sighed, lowering his head and reaching for the cup near him. "While this admission is unprofessional, I must convey it to avoid misunderstandings."


    "What is it, Captain Khan?" Lord Exr asked, feeling intrigued. "I told you. You can be honest."


    "My Lord," Khan cleared his throat, sipping from his cup. "The investigation is personal for me. I can''t tackle it as a simple soldier."


    "I know you found the bomb," Lord Exr stated. "I understand your feelings, but orders are orders."


    "It''s not that," Khan said, his mana altering the general vibe under the gazebo to convey chilling anger. "My girlfriend was there with me. I can''t remain on the sidelines when she almost died."


    Ambassador Abores feigned ignorance, but his brain grew messy. Lord Exr didn''t know how important Monica Solodrey was, but Khan wasn''t trying to use her position. He was speaking as a simple soldier who had risked losing his partner.


    "[Ah]!" Lord Exr snorted, spitting on the floor to express his disgust. "I see. No need to add anything else, Captain Khan. I won''t get in the way of your revenge after you protected my citizens."

 Chapter 569 Deal

    With Lord Exr convinced, the meeting continued in a happier tone. Everyone drank, ate, and exchanged casual chats until the time to leave arrived.


    Khan and Ambassador Abores remained silent during the trip inside the ship. They both had things to say, but the location didn''t allow them to disclose their thoughts, so they waited for the right opportunity to arrive.


    The ship eventuallynded on the sidewalk before the political building, letting the two humans free to return home. They crossed the main hall and headed straight for one elevator, and neither said anything when the Ambassador pressed the key for his floor.


    Khan and the Ambassador were on the same page. They crossed the corridor and entered the office without exchanging military salutes or pleasantries. They remained silent even when they reached opposite sides of the main desk, but the time to speak arrived at that point.


    "You surprised me out there," Ambassador Abores announced, sitting behind the desk. "Mentioning your girlfriend. That was a good move."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan didn''t answer. The Thilku weren''t the sentimental type but respected values like personal honor and loyalty. The fact that the bomb had endangered Khan''s partner wasn''t something Lord Exr could ignore or dismiss for the sake of politics.


    "Though, I wonder," Ambassador Abores continued. "Was it necessary? That was your chance to deepen your rtionship with Lord Exr."


    "Political rtionships are pointless if we don''tplete the mission," Khan exined, "And having me on the field is our best bet."


    "That it is," Ambassador Abores sighed. "Still, I didn''t expect you to use your girlfriend like this. Thework had me believe you weren''t that type of man."


    "Just because it''s useful to the mission," Khan stated, "It doesn''t make it a lie. My anger for how things unfolded on Lauter is very real."


    Khan was speaking the truth. He had almost lost Monica and died on Lauter. He couldn''t help but take the matter personally, even if the Thilku didn''t necessarily matter.


    The Thilku were involved in the delivery, but Khan mostly med the human criminals. The Hive and Mister Chares'' organization were the targets of his anger. Using that feeling to his advantage simply was an approach he had nned in the past weeks with the knowledge acquired from Amox.


    Of course, Khan didn''t feel good using Monica in that way. He didn''t want to be that kind of person. He even hated himself a bit for resorting to such a move. Yet, Khan knew Monica wouldn''t mind it. It was more of a personal gripe toward his integrity rather than an insult to his girlfriend.


    "Well," Ambassador Abores uttered, spreading his arms. "The mission is in your hands now. Don''t mess it up."


    "On that topic," Khan voiced. "I need my rmendation letter."


    "I''ll write it when the time is right," Ambassador Abores stated.


    "No," Khan firmly refused. "I need it now. I won''t handle anything otherwise."


    "Are you saying you willpromise the mission without the letter?" Ambassador Abores asked. "I hope I misunderstood you, Captain."


    "Lord Exr can still contact the Global Army on his own," Khan reminded. "Your deal with him works only if I y my part, which I won''t without some insurance."


    "And how is a single letter going to provide that?" Ambassador Abores wondered. "If something happens, it would be your word against mine, which doesn''t look good."


    "I don''t care if the public doesn''t learn about this," Khan dered, "But the upper echelon must know. These additional risks must bring benefits."


    "And they will arrive," Ambassador Abores responded. "After the mission is over."


    "Insurance," Khan repeated.


    "It wille when I decide so," Ambassador Abores stated. "Don''t forget who is themanding officer here."


    "I don''t understand, sir," Khan revealed. "I thought we had a deal."


    "And we still do," Ambassador Abores confirmed.


    "Why this dy, then?" Khan asked. "Why change the terms when we both got what we wanted?"


    "Chain ofmand," Ambassador Abores exined. "You are a wild card, Captain. You need to be controlled."


    "I''ve done nothing but follow your orders," Khan pointed out. "I haven''t been out of line even once."


    "And yet," Ambassador Abores said, raising his voice, "Here we are. Never once in my career I''ve been asked to be reced. It''s insulting."


    ''He took it personally,'' Khan thought. Truth be told, he couldn''t me the Ambassador for feeling like that, but his safety came first.


    "Sir, you received an opportunity you would have taken years to build," Khan eximed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I didn''t receive anything," Ambassador Abores snorted. "I requested it, making the best out of an unexpected development."


    "It''s the same oue," Khan replied.


    "It is," Ambassador Abores agreed. "I''m only limiting your agency. I warned you about reckless behavior under my watch, Captain."


    That treatment was far from fair from Khan''s perspective. He was truly innocent there, but the Ambassador didn''t care. In a way, Khan was simply a victim of Lord Exr''s whims.


    "I''m not getting that letter, aren''t I?" Khan asked.


    "If you mess things up," Ambassador Abores announced, "The responsibility is on me. I can''t give you that kind of power."


    "You are setting me up if something goes wrong," Khan summarized.


    "I am," Ambassador Abores confirmed. "However, do your job properly, and the upper echelon will learn about your efforts. I''ll even praise you publicly in front of my superiors."


    "And the letter?" Khan asked.


    "Same with the letter," Ambassador Abores said. "You have my word."


    That oue wasn''t ideal for Khan. He actually didn''t like it at all. Yet,ining to Lord Exr was his only alternative, which would end up hurting him in the long run.


    Lord Exr would help Khan with Ambassador Abores, but that wasn''t a move he could take back. He risked destroying that agreement and getting nothing in return.


    Nevertheless, a positive side to the story existed. Ambassador Abores would probably stay true to his word if everything went as nned. Someone in his position couldn''t lose face in an agreement that benefitted him, and Khan had connections that prevented him from getting screwed over.


    "I''m willing to wait on the letter," Khan eventually epted defeat, "But I expect the same amount of preparation on your side. I''m not jumping into this job without your support."


    "It''s my job to continue studying the issue," Ambassador Abores dered, "And I will share it with you to allow you to perform your new role properly."


    Khan and the Ambassador fell into a contest of stares. Their discussion had ended, but leaving like this didn''t feel right. Yet, Khan couldn''t see other options. He had no leverage worth exploring to improve his position.


    "Thank you, sir," Khan eventually stated. "Permission to get back to my studies."


    "Granted," Ambassador Abores said. "Don''t forget your job either. If the investigation on the stations happens, the team needs to be ready."


    "It will be," Khan promised. "I''ll make sure of that."


    "Good," Ambassador Abores voiced. "Dismissed."


    Khan performed a military salute but lingered on it for only a second before leaving the office. The meeting didn''t go as nned, and the matter burned him a bit, but he was too busy to worry about his mood.


    Returning to the t didn''t change anything. Khan actually found himself busier than before. He didn''t only need to finish studying Ambassador Abores'' notes now. He also had to write reports for hispanions to prepare them for an eventual inspection of the stations.


    ''If I do this right,'' Khan thought, settling behind his interactive desk, ''The mission wille to an end, and I''ll be able to return to the Harbor.''


    Khan generally despised being stuck on a glorified space station, but the recent development made him yearn for that home. He didn''t miss Andrew or Francis, but theck of freedom in Neuria was starting to get to him.


    Hanging out with Amox was fun, and Khan loved being immersed in an alien environment. However, depending on Ambassador Abores'' whims wasn''t ideal, especially due to hisck of connections with his best allies.


    Being unable to contact Monica didn''t help either. Khan was already suffering from their distance, and that istion worsened his situation. He missed her and calls alone couldn''t quell that urge. He wanted his girlfriend back and escape his current working environment.


    ''I wonder what they''ll make me do once this is over,'' Khan thought, preparing himself for a long studying session. ''Maybe they''ll keep me close to the Thilku since I''m already briefed on them.''


    Khan also considered other aspects of the matter. Ambassador Abores was right. Khan had left a positive impression on the Thilku with just a handful of missions. That was an impressive achievement the Headmistress and other higher-ups had to acknowledge.


    ''No point worrying about the future now,'' Khan cursed as the interactive desk reminded him how much he had to study. ''I need to focus on the matter at hand. I can''t lose sight of the goal now.''


    The worries ended on those thoughts. Khan immersed himself in his studies and job, doing his best to fulfill his promises to the Ambassador. That trend went on for days and weeks until the official announcement arrived. Lord Exr had agreed to open up one of the sea stations.

 Chapter 570 Demands

    After two more weeks of being immersed in studies and training, Khan received a message from the Ambassador. The notification didn''t only describe Lord Exr''s approval to investigate a station that raised some red gs. It also contained more notes meant to prepare Khan for his new role.


    One look at the number of notes was enough to make Khan curse. The inspection was set for the end of the week, barely giving him seven full days to learn everything he needed to know.


    Khan found some reassurance in his preparation. He had already written reports for hispanions with the stations in mind. Yet, he had to adjust them ording to the new data, which could happen only after studying the Ambassador''s notes.


    Needless to say, Khan had to cut back on his social side even more, also opting for less training since his studies had the priority. That time wasn''t pleasant, but ignoring his duties wasn''t an option either. Getting everything ready for the mission by the weekend was his only constion.


    On the morning of thest day of the week, Khan, Ambassador Abores, and the rest of the political team left their temporary home to gather on the sidewalk. They hade out before the Thilku for once, but an exnation for that arrived soon.


    Khan was the first to notice the unusual event, but only a few seconds had to pass for hispanions to be aware of it too. Whooshing noises resounded as two ships reached the district and headed for the sidewalk. One vehicle was human, while the other belonged to the Thilku.


    Ambassador Abores'' mana began to echo some excitement that didn''t affect his stern expression. Firmness spread through his figure as he slightly lifted his chin to appear prouder. He knew the meaning behind that umon event, and his invisible reaction confirmed Khan''s guess.


    ''The meeting with Lord Exr''s superior,'' Khan thought as the two shipsnded. ''So, it''s happening today.''


    The Ambassador didn''t make any move, and the same went for his team. Everyone waited for the ships'' ramps toe down so that additional orders could arrive, which didn''t take long.


    Two Thilku, one for each ship, reached the sidewalk before approaching the group. They both went for their respective targets, stopping in front of Khan and Ambassador Abores to perform traditional bows.


    "Please, follow me," The Thilku said simultaneously, and Khan and Ambassador responded with simr bows before following the aliens.


    The team was already briefed on some details. Adele and the others didn''t know about the secret deal, but seeing Ambassador Abores heading for the Thilku ship told them that Khan was in charge now.


    That knowledge made the team follow after Khan and end up in the human ship. Everyone settled inside the passengers'' area, and the set-off began once its doors closed.


    "Captain," Elvis called since the privacy of the room gave him confidence, "Howe the Ambassador isn''t with us today?"


    "He has another assignment," Khan exined shortly.


    "So, will you rece him?" Elvis continued, sparking the curiosity of his teammates.


    "I''m only borrowing his authority," Khan revealed. "I''ll still be on the field with all of you."


    Khan shouldn''t have revealed as much, but the Ambassador wasn''t there to scold him. Moreover, he wanted to get some revenge for the sudden change in the deal.


    "Isn''t it bad to be on our own?" Another member of the team questioned. "Lacking a political representative can be dangerous."


    e¦Áglesn?¦Íel "That''s why you should keep this for yourselves," Khan warned. "Besides, the alien party is already briefed, and we trust it, am I right?"


    "Yes, Captain, sir," Adele promptly eximed, and herpanions echoed her statement, even if a few chuckles followed.


    "Focus up now," Khan ordered. "If everything goes well, we can look forward to returning to the Harbor in the next weeks."


    In theory, Khan shouldn''t have said that either, but his vague exnations could start rumors, which might reach the general public. The Ambassador could notice that n if he had a spy on the team, but Khan didn''t care. He wasn''t the one who had started ying dirty anyway.


    The trip continued silently, and theck of active scanners made it feel longer. Still, leaving the city''s range allowed the pilot to ignore some regtions, so the flight barelysted a few minutes.


    The ship''sfort measures made thending unnoticeable, but Khan felt a change in the engines from behind the metal walls. His eyes lit up before the official announcement, and his gaze ended on the cabin as soon as its door opened.


    Two Thilku exited the cabin and opened the side doors to reveal a different environment. The ramp stretched downward as the team stood up and began to inspect the outside world. Heavy rain had arrived, but far louder noises engulfed it.


    Khan led the way, following closely behind the Thilku, and his eyes couldn''t help but wander as soon as he peeked outside the ship. He hadnded at the center of an immense circr tform illuminated by many red beacons dug into the metal floor, but a far more interesting view stood past them.


    Two-story-tall waves raged around the tform, crashing on its sides and filling the area with noise. The sea was angry, and the rain fueled its fury, but the station remained unaffected by its might.


    Khan couldn''t see much from his position but knew those tall waves couldn''t reach the station''s floor. It was simply too high for the sea. Moreover, the whole structure swayed, using the forces trying to submerge it to gather energy. Khan was standing on a technological masterpiece that stretched deep underwater.


    The symphony alone couldn''t give Khan that knowledge, but he remained aware of many details. Lord Exr and Ambassador Abores had made sure of that. He didn''t feel surprised even when he gazed to his left and met serious faces he had long learned to recognize.


    Amox and the rest of his team stood at some distance from the human ship, and the former broke his stern stance when he noticed Khan''s gaze. The Thilku wore a smile, and Khan nodded at him to convey respect. Khan would usually opt for friendlier greetings, but the situation prevented that.


    The two Thilku in charge of the ship hadpleted their role by then, so they returned inside the vehicle to shield themselves from the rain. Meanwhile, Amox led his team toward the humans, and Khan made sure to meet them halfway.


    "[Khan]!" Amox eximed, holding back augh to perform a traditional bow. Hispanions created a line at his sides and imitated him, and Khan prompted his team to do the same.


    That customary greeting was brief, and Amox didn''t hesitate to exin the situation once he straightened his position. "[We''ll split into the usual pairs and inspect different areas of the station]."


    "[That''s perfect]," Khan announced, tranting the order for hispanions. The humans and Thilku quickly split into pairs, and each team promptly headed for different areas of the tform.


    The station''s surface was immense. It was bigger than most of the Harbor''s hangars. The area could fit more than twenty ships due to the absence of structures on its top, but that didn''t make it empty.


    Amox led Khan near the tform edge, where a beacon partially hid a rune. He crouched down to reach the symbol, and tracing some of its lines made whooshing noisese out of the floor.


    A circr edge became visible around Khan and Amox, and thetter quickly straightened his position before performing a nod. Khan didn''t need anything else, so he got closer to Amox and waited for the machine to move.


    The edge belonged to a circr lift that began to descend in the next seconds. Khan and Amox dived into the station, and the other teams underwent a simr process. Each elevator led to a different area, but Khan knew that and didn''t bother to question hispanion.


    Khan had a specific role, and his duties increased after the deal. However, the Thilku decided how to handle the investigations, and being paired with Amox prevented him from doing any leadership.


    Khan''spanions would have to rely on his reports toplete their tasks, but he didn''t expect much from them. They were good at their job, but the station shared the factory''s issues. Too long had passed since the criminal activities, and the Thilku would have already found something incriminating by then.


    Moreover, Khan and Amox usually got the tricky parts due to their status. Khan weed the challenge since he was the most likely to find something, but that also put pressure on him. If he came back empty-handed, the investigation would probably fail.


    Of course, that was a possibility Khan couldn''t affect. He could only ept it and deal with the eventual consequences. In the worst-case scenario, he would have to spend far longer on Neuria or wherever the Ambassador decided to send him.


    Khan didn''t know how many underground floors the station had but was pretty sure he had crossed six of them by the time the elevator stopped. That was only a guess since the descent didn''t show any opening, but the speed and symphony made him quite confident.


    An opening appeared at the end of the descent. The elevator stopped before a narrow corridor covered in runes and small red lights that illuminated the area. The ce was empty and stretched for a while.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Amox didn''t hesitate to leave the elevator, and Khan had to wait for him to make some room before following along. The corridor was too narrow to allow walking side by side, but its cramped environment created a more friendly atmosphere.


    "[I thought Lord Exr would greet us]," Khan mentioned as the two advanced.


    "[I don''t handle Lord''s stuff]," Amox dered before adding something. "[Another task required his presence]."


    Khan and Amox left the topic be. They probably both knew about Lord Exr''s superior and the Ambassador''s request, but discussing it wasn''t proper. That wasn''t even the ce and time to delve into political matters.


    "[How will this work]?" Khan questioned.


    "[We already gave the order to gather the workers into therger areas]," Amox exined. "[We''ll go section by section, inspecting the amodations first]."


    "[Do you expect resistance]?" Khan asked.


    "[No]," Amox firmly said.


    "[Even if they are guilty]?" Khan pressed on, using the same words Amox had spoken in the past.


    "[These stations aren''t like the living districts]," Amox stated. "[There is nothing to gain from resisting]."


    "[What about pride]?" Khan wondered.


    "[They will hide it]," Amox dered. "[They will avoid a riot]."


    Amox didn''t convey the usual confidence in the Thilku, and Khan noticed that. Something worried him, but he wouldn''t lie to Khan. Still, he would hide details, which seemed to be the issue in that situation.


    Khan couldn''t help but review what he knew. The stations were simr to the districts or factories in terms of workforce. That issue simply involved Neuria''s poption as a whole, with a few rare exceptions.


    The stations tended to have a higher number of volunteers and a more reliable workforce, especially those dealing with valuable goods. Yet, that could cause a problem since eventual criminals would have gone unnoticed for far longer.


    Nevertheless, the stations'' locations prevented any retaliation. Reinforcements would take longer to arrive there, but escape routes didn''t exist. Even if a riot happened, the criminals would have nowhere to go.


    The workforce was another problem. The pride in the Empire would move many Thilku against eventual criminals. Thetter wouldn''t have the chance to cause a riot unless they had the numbers to back it up, which was unlikely.


    That put a lot of pressure on the investigators on the scene since they would suffer from the sameck of escape paths. Yet, it was safe to assume that eventual criminals would try to behave to prevent the worse from happening. There was simply no victory to attain there.


    Those thoughts matched Amox''s exnation, but his mana remained an oddity Khan couldn''t exin. Everything seemed to point toward a peaceful mission, but Amox remained worried, and Khan began to share his feelings.


    The long corridor ended in a door with a big central rune that Amox promptly touched. A bit of tinkering opened it, expanding into a farrger room that sent multiple tremors to the symphony.


    The station was built for Thilku, so Khan never felt too cramped inside the corridor. Still, Amox was big enough to cover the door, so Khan couldn''t get a proper look at the room until he left the passage.


    The symphony had prepared Khan for the scene, but seeing it with his own eyes remained surprising. The corridor led to arge cafeteria that had stashed its metal tables and stools in a corner to make room for an entire toon of workers. Almost fifty Thilku had amassed near a wall, waiting for Khan and Amox to arrive.


    The vibe was different from what Khan had seen in the living district. Even the factory didn''t have that seriousness. Yet, something else reached his nostrils. He could smell a specific smell in the synthetic mana, which added value to Amox''s worry.


    "[The cabins are this way]," Amox muttered, ring at the workers standing before the wall.


    Khan imitated Amox but did his best to appear more rxed. He was still a human in Thilku territory. Biases always apanied his authority, and preventing a violent reaction was for the best. However, the smell intensified as the two crossed the cafeteria, and some curiosity had the best of Khan.


    The specific smell belonged to a feeling Khan knew well. Tension filled the cafeteria, creating a suffocating atmosphere that seemed ready to explode. That reaction was nothing unnatural during an official investigation, but some details stood out and made Khan''s eyes move ordingly.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The workers were mostly first-level warriors. Khan only counted a handful of second-level warriors in the toon. In theory, such a weak group could produce those strong effects in the symphony only with a joint feeling, but that wasn''t the case.


    A few isted Thilku conveyed intense tension fueled by a deep resolve. That was pure loyalty that didn''t target the Empire. Amox''s re was enough to make it skyrocket, hinting at something far different.


    ''There are criminals here,'' Khan immediately concluded, doing his best to identify the potential targets of the imminent interrogation. He looked at them on purpose, trying to send signals that would reveal more clues, and the reactions that came back confirmed his suspicions.


    Of course, Khan didn''t utter any word until Amox led him past the cafeteria and across another corridor to reach a long area filled with open rooms. Beds and personal belongings upied each amodation, and it was Khan''s job to search for anything incriminating.


    "[Amox]," Khan voiced once he made sure that the two were the only ones in the area.


    "[What is it, Khan]?" Amox asked.


    "[There might be criminals on the stations]," Khan uttered.


    "[Are you sure]?" Amox questioned, interrupting his search to look for Khan''s face.


    "[No]," Khan admitted. "[I only know they have something to hide]."


    Amox didn''t need anything else to trust Khan. He had actually believed him on his first statement, but asking for confirmation was mandatory.


    Once the matter was settled, Amox and Khan developed a n to iste the spotted criminals from the rest of the workforce. They set a keyword to make the suspects go into a different area at the end of each interrogation. It was a simple strategy that both scouts could pull off without preparing too much.


    The new strategy didn''t get in the way of the inspection. Khan and Amox went over all the beds and rooms to search for incriminating goods but returned empty-handed. Thatck of findings was reassuring, but the atmosphere between them grew tense once they reapproached the cafeteria.


    Amox obviously was in the lead, and the station''s narrow corridors prevented Khan from getting aplete view of each area as long as he covered the entrance. Yet, something odd happened when Amox stepped into the cafeteria, and Khan couldn''t help but push him forward to check the situation.


    The orderly environment seen only half an hour before had disappeared. It wasn''t chaos, but the situation came quite close to it, at least ording to the symphony.


    Khan was still in the corridor. He had merely peeked into the cafeteria from under Amox''s arm since the Thilku had stopped walking. Yet, that was enough to grant him aplete view of the scene, which exined Amox''s worries.


    The number of workers had increased. Seventy of them were now in the cafeteria, but almost sixty were on their knees. Those still on their feet were wielding rifles that they pointed at their prisoners, and the presence of a few corpses stated the seriousness of the situation.


    "[This station is under our control now]!" One of the rifle-wielding Thilku shouted at Amox. "[You''ll hear our demands]!"

 Chapter 571 Insurrection

    Amox and Khan weren''t worried about their safety, but the situation still forced them to stop and think. The workers weren''t strong, and a few rifles couldn''t threaten elite third-level warriors. Yet, those weapons weren''t pointed at them.


    There was more to the matter, and Amox and Khan did their best to gain as much information as possible in those tense seconds.


    Weapons weren''t allowed in that environment. The station had lodging areas, but the workers couldn''t bring guns. It was a security hazard managers had to enforce.


    The station''s purpose was the only exnation for the rifles'' presence. Those weapons probably belonged to shipments the criminals had stolen and kept hidden inside the structure.


    That prompt reaction was another important detail. Khan and Amox had barely spent half an hour inspecting the workers'' lodgings. The criminals had been ready for an insurrection for a while.


    Khan shortly considered leaks and simr issues in the Thilku political team. He also thought about his previous behavior since it might have spooked the criminals and prompted that reaction. Still, he quickly disregarded the matter since it wasn''t the priority.


    The presence of a few corpses stated how serious the criminals were about their insurrection. The killing wasn''t only necessary to keep the other workers at bay. It also sent a message to the political figures handling the inspection.


    Ultimately, the criminals had hinted at negotiations, and the hostages seemed to be their currency. It was unclear how much control they had over the station, but the situation in the room made their im hard to ignore.


    ''They are probably looking for a safe route off the,'' Khan concluded. ''Maybe even off the system.''


    Khan didn''t even consider whether that option was viable. He couldn''t join negotiations involving an alien species and systems. He didn''t have authority for that. Instead, his thoughts went over approaches that could destroy the stalemate.


    The room only had ten armed Thilku. Khan could take care of them in a few seconds, and Amox''s help would significantly reduce that time.


    Nevertheless, Amox was blocking the passage. Khan would have to push him away or wait for him to leave the path open. Both options involved a dy that would lose things far more valuable than seconds.


    Even with an open path, Khan wasn''t confident he could prevent casualties. The criminals felt ready to fire at the first sign of violence, which was an oue Khan wanted to avoid.


    Moreover, Amox and Khan weren''t necessarily on the same wavelength. The Thilku were quite ruthless when it came to those events. It was very likely Amox was ready to sacrifice the prisoners since they were guilty of getting captured.


    A briefing between the two scouts sounded necessary to get on the same page. The station''s overall situation was an issue that needed to be discussed too. Yet, moving or talking wasn''t an option now.


    The criminals didn''t like the scouts'' collected silence. Khan and Amox didn''t look bothered or impressed by the situation at all, which intensified the overall tension.


    "[You heard me]!" The armed Thilku spoke again, shouting. "[We have upied this station]!"


    The armed Thilku mmed his rifle''s muzzle on the nearest prisoner''s head to convey danger. However, Khan was a human, and those threats didn''t work on Amox.


    "[What do you think you are doing]?" Amox spoke chilling words. "[This station belongs to the Empire]."


    "[Not anymore]," The armed Thilku stated, uncaring of the groansing from the prisoner before him. "[We demand to speak with the city''s Lord]."


    "[We are here under Lord Exr''s orders]," Amox responded. "[You know what that means]."


    Lord Exr''s name wasmon knowledge in the system, and the criminals showed decentposure when hearing it. The investigation was happening because of Lord Exr''s authority, so they knew about his involvement. Still, a few Thilku shook and lost confidence at the thought of the possible consequences.


    Khan understood that reaction. Lord Exr''s authoring covered the entire system and even stretched past it. Amon worker couldn''t hope to attract his attention or interest. Yet, that created some doubts.


    ''Why did they even choose to rebel today?'' Khan wondered. ''Is it desperation?''


    The hypothesis that Khan''s behavior had spooked the rebels got stronger, but that didn''t change his situation. Actually, the slight loss of confidence from a few criminals prompted the Thilku in charge to move on with his n.


    "[We are well aware]!" The armed Thilku responded. "[He can hear our demands]!"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Amox didn''t like how casually the armed Thilku had addressed Lord Exr. That disrespect could probably lead to permanent incarceration or death sentences in other situations, but the criminal didn''t give Amox the time to think.


    "[You can leave]," The armed Thilku continued, "[But the human stays behind. The Lord must value him a lot for sending him down here]."


    Amox was about to lose it, and his foot slid forward to prepare a sprint. However, everyone in the room noticed that movement and a series of gasps resounded as more shouts arrived.


    "[Stop right there]!" The armed Thilku shouted, waving his rifle at the prisoners. "[I won''t hesitate to shoot, and we also have people in the storage areas. The goods are as good as gone if you attack us]."


    The prisoners couldn''t stop Amox, but the goods posed a problem he couldn''t ignore. The unclear state of the station worked in the criminals'' favor since Amox couldn''t confirm whether the storage areas were in their control, and his hesitation exined how valuable they were.


    Ambassador Abores'' notes didn''t contain many details about the goods, but Khan could learn a lot from Amox''s reaction. A violent approach wasn''t ideal when the criminals had the upper hand.


    "They won''t destroy the goods," Khan decided to speak, opting for the humannguage since the criminals might not know it. "They need them for their demands."


    "Thilku don''t serve criminals," Amox scoffed in his bad ent.


    "We can always retreat and n an attackter," Khan suggested.


    "[Stop talking]!" The armed Thilku warned, but Khan and Amox ignored him.


    "Retreat is failure," Amox eximed.


    "We clean the station then," Khan said.


    Amox showed his hesitation again before ultimately exining the reason behind that feeling. "Me no authority over goods. Me can''t make that call."


    That short exnation was enough for Khan, which prompted another line out of him. "I''ll create a distraction."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "[I said stop]!" The armed Thilku shouted, firing a few bullets at the kneeling prisoners. The first hit an alien''s head, while the others inflicted injuries, making the room restless.


    A series of cries resounded as a few prisoners stood up. Most criminals prepared themselves to fire while a couple lifted their rifles toward Khan and Amox. However, Khan opened his mouth, and a tinge of mana apanied his faint voice.


    "Fall," Khan whispered, sending tremors through the symphony that reached the various criminals. Thetter lost their bnce and grip on the rifles, preventing them from firing.


    The prisoners used that window to attack, but Khan and Amox didn''t bother with the issue anymore. They retreated into the corridor, and Amox sealed the door before nodding toward the lodgings inspected before.


    "[Ah]!" Amox snorted, mming both hands on Khan''s shoulders as they crossed the corridor. "[We could have taken all of them]."


    "[Of course]," Khanughed, "[But you don''t want to deal with Lord stuff, do you]?"


    "[Not at all]," Amox chuckled before putting strength on his arms to stop Khan. They had arrived at the lodging''s entrance, and Amox checked the other end of the corridor before pulling up his right sleeve.


    Tracing a few lines on the armguard''s rune activated one of itsmunication channels, and Amox didn''t hesitate to speak words into it. "[Situation report]."


    "[We are currently running away]," A hoarse voice came from the armguard. "[We are both safe, but insurgents are after us]."


    "[Same here]," Another voice arrived. "[They almost trapped us]."


    "[We tried to negotiate]," A third voice spoke, "[But eventually found an escape route],"


    "[We dealt with the insurgents in our section]," A fourth Thilku said, "[But more are on their way. Should we n a counterattack with the workers]?"


    More reports resounded, eventually clearing all the teams. Everyone was fine but in different situations. Some were locked in sections full of criminals, while others were doing their best to avoid being trapped.


    "[No, we evacuate]," Amox stated after hearing all the reports. "[Bring as many workers as you can to the surface]."


    A series of positive replies came from the armguard, but Amox ignored them to move to the next task. He tinkered with the rune again, bringing up its holograms to type a long code, but his asional nces at the corridor''s end slowed him down.


    "[It''s fine]," Khan reassured. "[Nothing ising in our way]."


    Khan''s words were all Amox needed to focus on his task and finish it in the following seconds. The code went through, and the armguard released a beeping noise before retrieving its holograms.


    "[Rescue is on the way]," Amox shortly exined. "[We only need to get to the surface]."


    "[Which way]?" Khan asked since he didn''t know most of the structure''s nimetry.


    Amox thought briefly before looking at the lodging area, and Khan promptly moved aside to leave the entrance open. Amox shot forward without adding anything, and Khan followed closely behind.


    The lodging area had a single corridor stretching from its other side, and the two scouts crossed it in mere seconds. They didn''t use spells, but their natural speed remained awesome, quickly bringing them before another door sealed behind a bright rune.


    Amox unlocked the door, but warnings reached Khan''s senses and made him grab the red coat. He pulled Amox using as much strength as possible, and the two fell backward, ending on the floor.


    Confusion didn''t have time to arrive since a few bullets entered the corridor and flew above the two scouts, crashing into the walls. One look at the fuming spots snapped Amox out of his amazement and made him inspect the area past the entrance. A battle was unfolding there, and no one seemed to have noticed their arrival.


    Amox couldn''t see much from his position, but the battle could involve hispanions, so he prepared to charge ahead. However, a footnded on his abdomen, keeping him on the floor, and a figure soon filled his view.


    Khan had stood up while Amox was still figuring out what was happening, and his senses had done the rest. He didn''t only confirm that the battle had made them go unnoticed. He had also searched for hispanions'' presence and found nothing.


    Amox recognized Khan standing on top of him and tilted his head to check what he was doing. The rune had moved to the wall after the door slid open, and Khan reached for it to trace some of its lines.


    ''Come on,'' Khan cursed after his first attempt didn''t cause any reaction. He even half-crouched to his left to let a bullet fly past him, but his hand didn''t leave the rune during that dodge, and Amox could only feel surprised at that scene.


    A gasp escaped Khan''s mouth when his second attempt to use the rune generated a reaction. The door moved, sealing the corridor and saving the scouts from the battle in the next room.


    Khan was so excited that he almost forgot he was still on Amox. Thetter also ignored the issue due to the previous surprising scene, so the two spent a few seconds in their awkward position before realizing what was happening.


    Amox couldn''t help butugh when Khan jumped past him tond behind his head. He didn''t feel any pressure at all, and his smile broadened when he turned and saw Khan''s stretched hand.


    "[You really learned the symbols]!" Amox eximed, taking Khan''s hand to help himself to his feet.


    "[I only remember how to close doors]," Khan scoffed. "[I''d be lost if I had to open them]."


    "[You are one strange human]," Amoxughed.


    "[I hear that a lot]," Khan sighed before inspecting his surroundings. "[Is there another way out]?"


    "[No]," Amox revealed, adjusting his coat. "[We must fight your way through]."


    Khan nodded, but an idea popped into his mind when his eyes met Amox''s. He instinctively looked at the tall ceiling before ncing at hispanion meaningfully, and the alienughed loudly when he understood that silent message.


    Amox jumped, performing an almost perfect split and mming his feet on the walls. The gesture had brought him more than a meter above the floor, putting the ceiling in his range.


    The alien didn''t hesitate to deliver a rising blow to the ceiling, and the metal bent under his raw strength. That surface''s resilience excited him, and sparks came out of his hands. However, a bright purple-red glow soon reached his eyes and suppressed any other color in the corridor.


    "[Get down]," Khan ordered from behind a smile, showing the glowing sword that had grown from his right hand. Needless to say, Amoxughed again when his guts told him how dangerous that spell was.

 Chapter 572 Moon

    The station wasn''t onlypletely immune to the sea and Neuria''s bad weather. It also used those natural events, transforming them into energy or redirecting them toward other purposes.


    The swaying couldn''t protect the tform''s surface from heavy rain. However, the water that fell on its metal never created puddles. It didn''t even leave wet spots. Instead, it moved on its own, sliding across the floor to head for specific runes.


    An inspection from above would reveal a of tiny rivers flowing across the tform, guided by an invisible force toward runes that absorbed them and prevented their umtion. The Thilku had built a perfectly bnced system there, and the insurrection tried to break it.


    The rain suppressed the whooshing noise that resounded on the tform when a circr shape appeared near its edge. An elevator went down, and two figures resurfaced when it climbed back up.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The figures belonged to a Thilku and a human from the political teams, and the two inspected their surroundings only to curse at the absence of allies. They were alone on the surface, and one look at the sky told them that reinforcements had yet to arrive.


    The human ship had also departed during the investigation, leaving the two soldiers stranded in the middle of the sea. Nevertheless, their solitude didn''tst long.


    Another elevator descended on the opposite side of the tform and quickly brought two more people to the surface. Thetter were also part of the political team, but both had suffered injuries.


    The human fell to his knees when the rain became too much to handle. Blood wasing out of the right side of his waist, and his left shoulder also had a gory hole.


    The Thilku at the man''s side was no better. His cape had almost disappeared, reced by charred rags that partially hid his exposed back. Many bullets had hit him, and smoke still tried toe out of those injuries, but his grip on the human''s right arm never wavered.


    The other team noticed the state of theirpanions and hurried toward them, forcing them to sit ory on the floor to check their state. They weren''t in critical condition but needed medical attention. Their injuries would worsen otherwise.


    Simr scenes followed. Little by little, four more teams reached the surface. Some relied on elevators, while others used staircases only employed during crises. Their state wasn''t ideal either, but they could move, and that was enough.


    There was no silence in the middle of that heavy rain, but the soldiers couldn''t help but feel it. They sensed it even when the noise of the waves submerged their words. The vast tform made them alone, and their worries intensified as time passed.


    A whooshing noise eventually managed to pierce the rain, startling the soldiers, who prepared themselves for a fight. Those who could move created a defensive line before their injuredpanions, ready to protect them against threats.


    The noise didn''t belong to an elevator at that time. A long line had opened near the tform''s center, revealing two halves of a circr passage that quickly opened up. That channel could fit two ships, but far different figures emerged.


    Therge passage had eight rows of stairs attached to its sides, and workers filled them. That wasn''t enough to reassure the soldiers, but everything changed when they spotted twopanions among them.


    Everyone got busy. The soldiers on the surface moved toward the stairs to help the neers out of the passage. Soon, a group of thirty people formed, and one of the workers didn''t hesitate to head for a rune on the floor after checking that no one was behind.


    "Wait!" Elvis shouted at the worker before clearing his throat and mustering his best ent. "[We missing two soldiers]."


    "[The insurgents might use the passage to get here]," The worker stated, searching for the support of the Thilku side of the political team.


    The Thilku soldiers hesitated to make decisions without their leader, but the situation evolved before they could think about it. A bright red light suddenly fell on the tform, suppressing the beacon''s illumination and lifting many heads.


    Cheers inevitably resounded when the people on the tform noticed four circr ships descending through the dark sky and rain. They were big enough to carry multiplepanies, making them overkill for the small crowd.


    Moreover, a fifth smaller vehicle was above them but avoided getting too close to the station. That ship was the source of the bright illumination, which came from huge rifle-looking weapons stretching out of its sides.


    The soldiers were the first to stop cheering at the sight of the descending ships. They were missing men, and some gazes fell on the still-open passage, hoping to spot theirpanions.


    Sadly, the passage remained silent, but the surprises didn''t end. Slight tremors suddenly spread through the floor, causing many frowns among the soldiers. They all knew how sturdy that station was, so it didn''t make sense for it to tremble.


    The situation escted whenrge cracks expanded on an empty spot at some distance from the soldiers. The metal bent and screeched while a foreign force erged and deepened its fissures. The floor seemed about to crumble in that area, but an explosion happened instead.


    Metal shards flew in every direction but mostly upward, sparing the workers and soldiers from evasive maneuvers. Fuming tiles fell everywhere around the new hole, and more smoke came out of it, but the arrival of two figures dispersed it.


    Khan jumped out of the hole, gracefullynding at its edge before running his eyes over the tform. The symphony assaulted his senses, making him aware of the situation and bringing his gaze to the sky. He saw the ships, which reassured him enough to turn.


    Khan stretched his hand, and six fingers immediately wrapped themselves around it. Khan had to bend backward to put more strength into his pull, but another figure eventually climbed out of the hole, and augh apanied the event.


    "[You should have made the hole bigger]," Amoxined among hisughs, but stepping on the tform brought a serious mood. He quickly realized what was happening and even saw the ships when he noticed Khan''s finger pointed at the sky.


    The four ships were too big for the tform, especially with the open passage, so they approached the edge to stretch their ramps there.


    The crowd split in four directions, picking the ship closer to them. It was the same with the soldiers, who helped the injured toward those vehicles. Only Khan and Amox waited behind to oversee the rescue operation, but a message disturbed their task.


    Amox pulled up his sleeve when a red glow pierced it. His armguard had lit up, and holograms came out to show a message. Khan politely diverted his gaze, but Amox''s hand didn''t hesitate to reach for his shoulder.


    "[Lord Exr requests your presence]," Amox exined, ncing at the sky. "[He is in that ship]."


    Khan also looked toward the smaller ship still hovering in the sky before speaking a single word. "[Sure]."


    "[I''ll clear a ship for you]," Amox stated, crossing Khan to head for one of the vehicles near the tform, but Khan spoke before he could do anything.


    "[There''s no need]," Khan called, jumping upward to immerse himself in the rain. "[Tell Lord Exr that I''ll be there soon]."


    Amox opened his mouth in surprise. He still couldn''t get used to Khan''s flying but didn''t oppose that approach. As for Khan, he waited mid-air for a second to see whether Amox had something to say before shooting upward.


    Few noticed Khan''s departure, but he disregarded those gazes and escaped their line of sight. He was too fast, and the rain couldn''t slow down his straight ascension toward the Lord''s ship.


    The main beacon acted as a road that Khan followed step by step. He could dive into the dark parts of the sky to stick to a straighter line but decided against it to remain as visible as possible by the ship.


    The flight got Khan drenched, but he didn''t care and focused on reaching his destination quickly. He needed a minute to arrive before the ship, and a ramp immediately came out of the opening in that circr shape.


    Khan kicked the falling drops behind him to leap toward the ramp,nding at its center. The passage into the ship was already open, and a Thilku was even waiting for him, so he didn''t dare to waste time.


    The Thilku performed a traditional bow as soon as Khan stepped into sheltered areas of the ship, and he responded ordingly before following the alien. The two crossed a staircase, reaching arge circr room that acted as a control desk, and Lord Exr''s tall figure stood out in that environment.


    "Captain Khan," Lord Exr called, pointing at his right to invite Khan. "I wish this encounter was under better circumstances."


    "[Lord Exr]," Khan said, performing a traditional bow before epting the invitation. He crossed the circr room and reached Lord Exr''s side before adding more polite words. "I''m sorry to have bothered you with this operation."


    "It''s not your fault," Lord Exr reassured, pointing at the control desk before him to show the scanners. "It seems the trail we followed was correct."


    "The criminals didn''t have big numbers from what I''ve seen," Khan revealed. "May I suggest an attack once the reports from the other teams arrive?"


    "The situation has escted past our political cooperation," Lord Exr stated. "This insurrection involves our internal arrangements, which I thought you weren''t interested in."


    "My Lord," Khan called. "We are almost sure these criminals had something to do with the bomb. The Global Army must have representatives during the attack."


    "Neuria''s safetyes first," Lord Exr dered. "However, I understand your situation, Captain Khan. We can discuss this more after the reports arrive."


    Lord Exr''s eyes remained glued on the control desk. They never moved to Khan, so he could only give up on the matter for now and scour his mind to search for leverage.


    Nevertheless, a small, blinking rune appeared on one of the screens, attracting Lord Exr''s attention, who red at one of the Thilku near other consoles. Thetter seemed able to feel the Lord''s eyes on him, and an exnation quickly arrived.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "[It''sing from the station, my Lord]," The Thilku said. "[It''s safe]"


    "[Send it through]," Lord Exr ordered, and the rune on the screen expanded.


    "[Am I talking to Lord Exr]?" A hoarse voice suddenly came out of the control desk.


    "[You are]," Lord Exr replied. "[Who is speaking]?"


    "[I''ve been appointed to handle the negotiations]," The voice responded, ignoring the question. "[We have three hundred and twenty-two prisoners and ten containers full of goods. We will release them only if you fulfill our demands]."


    Khan couldn''t help but praise Lord Exr''s calm. The Thilku didn''t falter nor feel surprised at that request. He almost appeared used to them.


    "[Answer my question]," Lord Exr said, his tone growing colder. "[Are any of you rted to the delivery RC331]?"


    Khan recognized that serial number. It belonged to the shipment that had raised a red g during the part of the investigation handled by the Thilku. That was one of the main reasons behind the mission on the station.


    "[We make the questions here]," The voice replied.


    "[I''m Lord Exr]," Lord Exr dered, using an authoritative tone, "[Ruler of this system. You will answer me]."


    The circr room experienced the pressure released by Lord Exr, but only Khan could feel it properly, and he had to use the entirety of his self-restraint to hide his reactions. That thick, heavy presence was almost suffocating. It told anyone in its range who was in charge.


    Nevertheless,munication channels couldn''t convey auras, so Khan didn''t expect much from the insurgents. The criminals held the advantage there, but the answer that arrived surprised him.


    "[Some of us tampered with that delivery]," The voice revealed. "[Now, for our demands]."


    Lord Exr mmed his big hand on the screen before the voice could continue. The call ended, and his eyes went on Khan, carrying the entirety of the pressure shown before.


    "Did you understand what they said, Captain Khan?" Lord Exr questioned.


    "Every word," Khan said, holding back a gulp. "The trail was indeed correct. I can only praise and thank the Empire''s investigation."


    "I needed your confirmation," Lord Exrmented before turning toward the center of the room and raising his voice. "[Prepare the moon, and get those ships out of there]."


    No one dared to say anything, and everyone got busy. The room only had six Thilku, but they all started tinkering with multiple consoles or making calls that involved codes Khan didn''t know.


    The symphony carried the only clues Khan could recognize. The area had gotten colder, and not because of Lord Exr. Each Thilku had begun to release a chilling resolve that didn''t hint at anything good.


    The scene on one screen changed. A barren, grey environment with a huge cannon standing at its center appeared, and Khan recognized it. He had seen those weapons when flying to Neuria. They were on the''s moons, and understanding what was happening wasn''t too hard after that.


    "[Where are the ships]?" Lord Exr questioned, preventing Khan from raising any questions.


    "[They are leaving the station now, my Lord]," One of the Thilku in the room said.


    "[Let''s get to a safe distance too]," Lord Exr ordered. "[Start charging the weapon]."


    The Thilkuplied right away, and Khan followed that development from the screens. He saw the four ships leaving the station and the cameras growing distant. Lord Exr''s vehicle was also moving, but it stopped pretty soon.


    "My Lord," Khan called in that silent window, but Lord Exr ignored him to move to the next phase.


    "[How long]?" Lord Exr asked.


    "[We are]," One of the Thilku voiced before going silent for a few seconds and raising his hand. "[We are ready for your orders, my Lord]."


    "[Fire]," Lord Exr said without showing any hesitation.


    Khan almost couldn''t believe what was happening, but his eyes instinctively went to the screens. He missed the cannon firing but turned in time to watch the station''s fate.


    A beam-like pir pierced the sky, ending at the exact center of the station. The attack barely covered half of the tform, and nothing happened in the next second. Yet, an enormous explosion unfolded after that, creating a spherical red shockwave that engulfed the structure and expanded through the sea.


    The scorching shockwave expanded for a while before transforming into a giant pir of smoke. Waves as tall as buildings tried to submerge it, but the mark of that destructive weapon couldn''t disappear so easily. Even a chunk of the sea glowed with a scarlet color while fumes continued to rise.


    Khan couldn''t move. The pir of smoke and the red patch of the sea had taken control of his eyes and body. He felt empty, too shocked to sense or think anything, but the world around him continued to advance.


    Lord Exr returned to Khan''s side and stared at the screens too. He didn''t appear happy about that oue, but his expression conveyed pure firmness. He didn''t hesitate to make that tough decision, and his mind carried no regrets.


    "Why?" Khan eventually managed to mutter.


    "Criminals have no ce in the Empire," Lord Exr exined with the same firm tone from before.


    ''Three hundred and twenty-two prisoners,'' Khan recalled. ''Three hundred and twenty-two innocents.''


    "We could have taken the station back," Khan said. "This was unnecessary."


    "Captain Khan, on what authority do you make that im?" Lord Exr wondered.


    The firmness in Lord Exr''s tone reminded Khan of his situation. He had almost scolded the ruler of the system on matters strictly rted to his duties. As much as he hated the recent event, he couldn''t let his emotions take over.


    "I apologize, my Lord," Khan promptly stated. "I was thinking about the criminals. The Global Army would have loved to interrogate them."


    "They admitted their involvement in the illegal shipment," Lord Exr pointed out. "You can testify that."


    ''So,'' Khan realized, ''It''s my fault. I gave him that opening.''


    The emptiness had disappeared, and only shock and negative emotions existed inside Khan now. He could feel himself growing unstable, but that couldn''t happen before Lord Exr. He would scream, break stuff, and think about the event, but his current situation came first.


    "Thank you, my Lord," Khan eximed as a clicking growl began to echo in the back of his mind. "You''ve proven yourself to be a true ally."


    "Is the Global Army satisfied with this?" Lord Exr asked.


    "What do you mean?" Khan questioned.


    "You told me isting thest phase of the criminal organization was enough," Lord Exr reminded. "The Empire isted it."


    Khan couldn''t help but nce at his side to inspect Lord Exr, and thetter did the same. The two studied each other for a few seconds, almost feeling able to hear what was going through in their minds. Still, Khan had to make his move sooner orter.


    "The Global Army is satisfied," Khan eventually dered, using words that formally ended the mission.

 Chapter 573 Contact

    Lord Exr''s stern gaze remained on Khan for a few seconds before a faint smile interrupted it. Khan was recing Ambassador Abores, so his words carried the same weight. In that situation, he was speaking for the Global Army, so Lord Exr could consider the mission over.


    Khan couldn''t share that faint happiness. The recent tragedy had given birth to dark emotions that sought control of his body, and more problems joined them.


    The Thilku had always wanted that cooperation to be short. Any species would frown at a joint investigation in their territory, especially one as proud as the Thilku. That political task didn''t only threaten to reveal ssified information about internal affairs. It also showed weakness to the citizens, which Lord Exr couldn''t like.


    The Global Army was also willing to keep things short if the price matched the insult. It wanted reparations from the Thilku, and, ideally, it hoped that its Ambassadors would gather valuable information or leverage.


    That couldn''t happen anymore now. Khan had given the okay to end the mission. In theory, Lord Exr could send the humans home that very day. The reparations were still an issue, but the Thilku could deal with them without having foreigners in their territory.


    As for Khan, he didn''t only be the reason for that early withdrawal of troops. He was also the sole witness to the criminals'' admission. The Thilku would provide recordings of the call with the insurgents, but the issue remained, and many were bound to dislike it.


    ''How many will believe that the call happened?'' Khan couldn''t help but think. ''How many will believe I was here to listen to it?''


    Secret deals weremon in politics, especially during missions outside the Global Army''s territory. Theck of witnesses and higher-ups created the chance to reap personal benefits, and many could guess Khan had done something simr with Lord Exr to score another victory.


    The potential rumors were also just a consequence of the main problem. Only Lord Exr and Ambassador Abores knew about the recement. Elvis and the others could guess something, but that wasn''t enough. Ambassador Abores could easily go back on his deal and use Khan as a scapegoat to justify that oue.


    ''[Bloody rivers],'' Khan thought in the Nelenguage to recall words Jenna had spoken in the past. That reminder brought some calm which he needed for his next step.


    The Global Army might wee that conclusion, but Ambassador Abores'' stance was unknown. Khan couldn''t bring himself to trust him when he held all the power in that political mission. He had to protect himself in some way, and that short notice only allowed him to find one option.


    Khan forced himself to wear a polite smile that revitalized Lord Exr''s expression. The Thilku let go of his remaining firmness, and one nce at the screens prompted his next statement.


    "[Take it from here]," Lord Exr ordered. "[I''ll feast in my quarters]."


    One of the Thilku in the room abandoned his post to hurry toward Lord Exr, who left his spot while pointing at one of the four doors among the consoles. Khan instinctively followed him, and the invitation that followed validated his action.


    "Come, Captain Khan," Lord Exr invited. "Let''s entertain each other now that the crisis is over."


    "Of course, my Lord," Khan epted, letting Lord Exr lead him toward one of the rooms. When the metal door opened, a circr staircase appeared, and climbing it revealed an exclusive space almost asrge as the control area.


    Khan found himself in another circr room that had far different furniture. He saw a few armchairs, a short table surrounded by pillows, carpets, and drawers. The ce didn''t seem to belong to a ship, and probably only Lord Exr had ess to it.


    The short table already had tes and bowls full of food, and a few jugs also upied its surface. That wasn''t enough for a feast, but Khan didn''tin. Lord Exr was probably making the best out of an unexpected development, and Khan had to go along for his own good.


    "Sit with me," Lord Exr ordered, approaching one edge of the table and upying a couple of pillows. "I hope the Thilku''s methods didn''t ruin your appetite."


    "I was merely startled," Khan lied, approaching the other side of the table to face Lord Exr. "I didn''t expect such harshness."


    Khan didn''t waste time in pleasantries. He grabbed one of the jugs and filled two cups before handing one to Lord Exr. He even moved a few bowls to his side and began to eat after taking a long sip.


    "You are truly odd, Captain Khan," Lord Exr announced. "You carry yourself like an experienced soldier but also mourn the death of aliens you never met."


    Khan knew his fa?ade had been perfect, but Lord Exr''s had seen through it anyway. That revtion made him stop eating, but Lord Exr didn''t let him dwell in that tension.


    "Do not worry," Lord Exr eximed. "I know you must lie. The Thilku are a tough species to deal with."


    "I don''t enjoy wasting lives," Khan exined, opting for a more honest approach. "If possible, I''d spare innocents from learning the horrors of war."


    "The weak die to the strong," Lord Exr stated, s die to stars. It''s the rule of the universe."


    "But not everyone is a soldier," Khan pointed out.


    "Were you a soldier when you fought your first battle?" Lord Exr asked, and Khan was almost ready to confirm that before a distant memory popped into his brain. He still recalled the Tainted rat from the mines, even if that event seemed to belong to a different life.


    "See?" Lord Exr chuckled. "Being weak is a choice, just like allowing criminals to capture you."


    Khan wanted to refuse that statement, but a few good points existed. He would have run toward the rifles if he had been in the workers'' situation and had their knowledge of the Empire''s methods.


    "Let me ask you a question," Lord Exr continued. "I earned my position by fighting and leading many battles. I shed blood for the Empire. How should I treat people challenging my rightful rewards?"


    "Three hundred twenty-two people weren''t," Khan replied.


    "Then, let me ask you another question," Lord Exr added. "Is my blood less valuable than theirs?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    That question could sound vague to an outsider, but Khan immediately understood its meaning. After all, he was a soldier. He had experienced undeserved disrespect from people who had never stepped on the battlefield.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t have an answer. He had actually worried about the issue more than a few times, especially after Mister Chares'' ambush. He had taken many lives for his goal, maybe too many for a single person.


    Lord Exr saw the conflict inside Khan and moved to refill his cup. That made Khan snap out of his thoughts and address the matter. "This is why you wanted a soldier here."


    "Indeed," Lord Exr chuckled. "I''m d we can understand each other so quickly."


    "I''ll be blunt," Khan stated. "I''m ufortable with these harsh methods, but Neuria is yours, my Lord. You know better."


    "No, no," Lord Exr shook his head. "I wee your opinions, Captain Khan. Just make them count."


    "I understand, my Lord," Khan eximed. "On that note, I do have something in mind."


    "Note?" Lord Exr said, feeling confused before realizing what that word meant. "Oh, I get it. Please, speak away."


    "I wouldn''t dare to assume," Khan announced, bringing the cup to his mouth, "But destroying the station must cause dys on the n to colonize the."


    "That''s something internal to the Empire," Lord Exr responded. "I won''t hold the Global Army ountable for my methods."


    "Thank you, my Lord," Khan said. "Though, I wanted to speak about something else. I''m not implying that you need it, but I might have connections able to elerate the process."


    "Neuria won''t ept human workers," Lord Exr half-scoffed.


    "But additional materials can help," Khan pointed out. "I''m guessing you''ll rebuild the station. That doesn''t necessarily need to weigh on the Empire."


    "The Empire has no shortage of materials," Lord Exr directly dered, almost out of habit.


    "My Lord," Khan announced. "With my contact, you''d receive help for the station, safe routes, and trading partners. All of that with a single move."


    Lord Exr didn''t want to hint at any weakness, but Khan had touched on a troublesome topic. The Empire''s territory was too big, and the problems connected to that issue were bigger in Neuria due to its position.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A single station was easy to rebuild, but Neuria had also lost workers and goods during that crisis. Those assets were impossible to rece in a short time unless Lord Exr pulled manpower out of other jobs.


    Moreover, the loss of goods involved issues with the established trading partners. Neuria and its system could lose a lot of money and time, and Lord Exr might have to ask for his superior''s help to fix that.


    Instead, Khan''s offer created a far better solution. Neuria could get the lost trading routes back in business right away if the new partner were willing to strike a favorable deal.


    "Do not take my words as an insult, Captain Khan," Lord Exr eventually voiced, "But why should I trust your contact over anyone connected to Ambassador Abores?"


    "I thought you wanted a smoother cooperation," Khan reminded.


    "We are talking about mys," Lord Exr stated. "My amusement doesn''t have a ce in this matter."


    "I can assure you," Khan exined. "My contact is one of the wealthiest forces in the Global Army and has connections Ambassador Abores can''t reach. I''m sure the Empire recorded it already, so you can check it yourself."


    Lord Exr tried to spot lies in Khan''s statement but couldn''t find any. Still, his guts told him that something was off, especially since he couldn''t see the same loyalty in Ambassador Abores shown in the past.


    "That''s not the full story, is it?" Lord Exr asked.


    "It isn''t," Khan admitted, "But my im remains true."


    "What''s the full story?" Lord Exr pressed on.


    Khan hesitated briefly but eventually opted for honesty. "The Global Army isn''t aware of my new role. Striking this deal will secure my position in case Ambassador Abores finds problems with this oue."


    Lord Exr wasn''tpletely privy to the Global Army''s political system. He only wielded a general knowledge of the topic, but understanding Khan''s issue was easy. After all, he was part of it.


    "I''ll have to check the Empire''s records," Lord Exr said. "Who is this contact?"


    "My girlfriend''s family," Khan made sure to mention that. "The Solodrey family."

 Chapter 574 Scared

    Lord Exr and Khan would have happily feasted until night, but duties arrived before they had the time to enjoy the friendly phase of the meeting.


    The four ships with the rescued soldiers and workers needed directives Amox couldn''t give on his own. The vehicles had medical teams, but they weren''t enough to tend to the injured. Proper medical bays were necessary, and only Lord Exr had the authority to prepare simr ces.


    As for Khan, his position in Lord Exr''s ship prevented him from directly supporting his team. Still, he could fulfill his leadership''s duties by deciding the details for the rest of the operation with Lord Exr. That was enough for his role.


    Lord Exr had to handle matters that involved ssified locations and information to prepare the medical bays, and keeping Khan locked in the ship wasn''t proper. So, he dropped him in front of the political building before departing toplete the rest of his duties.


    By then, the heavy rain had reached the city, and Khan didn''t linger under it. He didn''t have other tasks, so he hurried inside the political building. He had the chance to rest, but his legs instinctively brought him toward one of the training halls.


    The temporary calm created by Jenna''s words had long since waned, and the arrival into an isted environment shattered what remained of it. A chilling but wild aura began to leak out of Khan''s figure as he removed his coat, shirt, and shoes while walking toward the center of the hall.


    Khan tapped his bare foot on the floor to activate the menus and closed his eyes while browsing the options. He didn''t need to see to set the desired training program, and nging noises soon resounded from the walls around him.


    Three gaps appeared on the training hall''s walls. Three passages opened to reveal the workshops hidden behind the metal. Drills, tubes, and more had created a total of twelve humanoid robots that stepped out of the separate areas to enter the room.


    The walls closed as the robots advanced. Mechanical noises reached Khan''s ears and got closer, warning him about theck of escape paths. Those training dummies had encircled him, and it wouldn''t be long before attacks would fly in his direction.


    The robots closed on Khan quickly, running and preparing attacks. Some performed heavy and slow martial arts, while others chose opposite styles. They coordinated to collide with Khan simultaneously, and he sensed the impending danger even with his eyes closed.


    The negative emotions inside Khan made him desire to get hit. He wanted those iing attacks tond. He yearned to be punished, but his mana had different ideas.


    When the attacks were about tond, Khan''s mouth opened on its own, and a clicking growl escaped it. res of mana apanied that cry, rushing from every inch of Khan''s body to create a destructive defensive spell.


    The robots fell prey to the chaos element. The spherical defensive spell wasn''t enough to destroy them, but its might had increased due to the fuel provided by Khan''s emotions. Its push was stronger, trapping the training dummies in its violent gales that slowly eroded their surfaces.


    The joints were the first to give in to the chaos element''s destructive properties. Some robots lost their legs, while others saw their arms detaching themselves from their shoulders. Their metal came next, and the spherical spell didn''t hesitate to move to their insides afterward.


    Khan continued screaming while the destruction unfolded. He didn''t even look at the robots while he vented his emotions. He felt pissed and empty at the same time, and, most importantly, he hated himself for how things had gone.


    The spherical spell eventually lost its violence, dispersing and freeing the prisoners of its violence. The mana vanished, but only scraps and broken robots remained. One training dummy was still on its feet but fell forward as soon as it tried to take a step.


    Khan''s right hand snapped upward, grabbing the robot''s head before it could fall. The dummy tried to attack, rotating its arms toward Khan. Yet, one had lost its forearm, and the other no longer had a hand.


    The casual attacks didn''t carry mana either since the spherical spells had broken the channels where that energy flowed. The robot simply threw weak punches that only managed to scrape Khan''s torso due to the arms'' sharp broken edges.


    Khan let the robot attack a few times and ignored the drops of blood flowing from his new cuts. He looked at the dummy, but his thoughts were elsewhere and eventually rekindled his fury.


    A re of mana escaped Khan''s right palm, engulfing the robot''s head. His grip also tightened, and the destruction applied by his element allowed his fingers to pierce the metal.


    Khan closed his hand, shattering the robot''s head and letting it fall to the floor. The dummy didn''t move anymore, and he threw away the debris in his palm before sitting among the marks of his destruction.


    "Fuck," Khan cursed, punching the floor as hard as possible. The emptiness was returning, and feeling pain was better.


    "Fuck!" Khan shouted, breaking his sitting position to throw himself on the floor. Some debris poked at his back, but he didn''t care. He let the ceiling''s illumination blind him while his thoughts resumed wandering.


    Ignoring the death of three hundred and twenty-two workers was impossible for Khan. He wasn''t that kind of person. He had promised himself long ago not to lose sight of the value of life, and his feelings made that task very easy at times.


    However, Khan''s reasonable side also had something to say. He couldn''t have predicted that Lord Exr would blow up the station. He believed even Ambassador Abores would have found that development unexpected.


    ''Innocence doesn''t implyck of responsibility,'' Khan thought. ''What kind of man would I be if I disregarded what happened?''


    Khan wasn''t guilty in the strict sense but had still yed a role in those deaths. He was partially responsible and had even exploited the event to his advantage. The bitter taste in his mouth was justified, but he couldn''t let it stop him.


    ''To think I even insulted Madam Solodrey aboutpromising herself,'' Khan cursed. ''I''m a hypocrite.''


    That eptance brought new strength to Khan''s mind. Power was still power, even if it came from negative emotions, and he couldn''t refuse them. They were part of him, and, at times, they were him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''[Bloody rivers],'' Khan thought in the Nelenguage, closing his eyes and straightening his back. He crossed his legs to sit on the floor again, and his hands went on hisp to prepare for a meditative session.


    All that death had made one lesson clear, and Lord Exr''s words resounded in Khan''s mind when he thought about it. He was still too weak to influence those fields, and that had to change.


    Hours went by as Khan remained immersed in the meditative state, and the night arrived without anyone disturbing him. Everyone seemed busy with something, but he barely noticed the passage of time as his whole being focused on training.


    Nevertheless, that peace couldn''tst. Training halls usually needed to be unlocked from the inside, but Khan''s room suddenly opened without his authorization.


    "Captain!" Ambassador Abores shouted, storming inside the training hall to reach Khan. "I demand an exnation."


    Khan had expected something simr to happen and had even heard the opening of the doors. He slipped out of the meditative state and nced at the Ambassador without standing up. The man was livid, but Khan couldn''t bring himself to care about his anger.


    "The team suffered injuries," Khan casually said. "Lord Exr prepared medical bays to receive them. I''m sure they''ll be cleared to return tomorrow."


    "That''s not what I asked," Ambassador Abores scoffed, annoyed by Khan''sck of respect. "How did you get an entire station blown up? And how dare you conclude the mission without conferring with me first?"


    "Criminals have no ce in the Empire," Khan repeated Lord Exr''s words. "As for the mission, Lord Exrpleted his part of the deal. I couldn''t dy that decision."


    "You could have!" Ambassador Abores scolded. "That decision wasn''t for you to make."


    "You gave me your authority, sir," Khan stated. "I used it."


    Ambassador Abores wanted to rebuke Khan, but he had spoken the truth. Still, that didn''t change the oue or what he learned from Lord Exr himself.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "It sure sounds convenient," Ambassador Abores announced. "You being the only witness to the criminals'' admission. Don''t tell me you yed me, Captain."


    "yed?" Khan asked, his chilling presence intensifying. He broke his sitting position to stand up, and his cold expression failed to hide the fury behind his eyes when he looked at Ambassador Abores.


    "You pretend to care," Ambassador Abores scoffed, understanding the reason behind Khan''s anger, "But you didn''t hesitate to advertise your girlfriend''s family when the chance appeared. Congrattions. Lord Exr will use your connections."


    "I had to protect myself," Khan exined. "You never know when someone decides to turn you into a scapegoat."


    "And your timing couldn''t have been more perfect," Ambassador Aboresmented. "Captain Khan was once again in the right ce at the right time."


    "Captain Khan also gave you a chance to meet Lord Exr''s superior," Khan responded. "I expect your speech to convey that information."


    "You expect something from me?" Ambassador Abores questioned. "Since when do you feel entitled to give me orders?"


    "What''s the point of pulling rank?" Khan asked. "I''m the witness. Ipleted the mission and established a new connection between humans and Thilku. Either you take your piece of the reward, or we see whose words echo louder."


    Ambassador Abores'' anger went quiet, and an unsettling emotion reced it. Khan had spoken the truth, but the Ambassador couldn''t leave that open challenge to his authority unchecked.


    "Or I could-," Ambassador Abores voiced before a chill ran down his spine, interrupting his line. He had intended to make a threat, but his instincts opposed that.


    "You could?" Khan asked, almost eager to push that situation toward a violent oue. The Ambassador was a fourth-level warrior, but he didn''t care. He couldn''t just stay silent after today''s events.


    Ambassador Abores didn''t have Khan''s senses, but his body was far from human. Something told him how dangerous the situation was, and a frown appeared on his face when he considered Khan as a possible cause.


    Khan briefly inspected Ambassador Abores before scoffing and losing interest in the situation. He crossed him, heading for the exit, but onest line still escaped his mouth. "I expect that rmendation letter."


    Ambassador Abores followed Khan with his eyes and continued staring at the open door even after his departure. Part of Khan''s clothes were still on the floor, but neither had cared about them. Khan had been too angry, and the Ambassador had a strange question floating in his brain.


    "Was I scared?" Ambassador Abores wondered, struggling to believe that his body had reacted like that before a weaker soldier.

 Chapter 575 Home

    The environment inside the political building grew cold and tense in the following days.


    Ambassador Abores and Khan would typically hold private meetings to discuss mission-rted matters. Still, their rtionship had taken a step back after theirst interaction, leading to no conversations at all.


    That stalemate didn''t go unnoticed. Elvis and the others eventually returned to the political building only to end up in an aimless environment. No orders or reports reached them, enforcing a confusing waiting period that helped their recovery.


    Khan knew he was ignoring part of his duties, but meeting other people wasn''t ideal with his current mindset. He was still too intense and cold for the public, so he spent all his time studying or training.


    That peaceful period didn''tst long. With the mission officially over, Lord Exr found no reason to keep the political team on Neuria. It only gave it a week to recover before orders to leave the building arrived.


    Strangely enough, no feast happened before the announcement, but Khan could guess why. The Thilku weren''t the type to just kick out their allies. The Ambassador had probably opted for a private meeting with Lord Exr, using the injured soldiers as an excuse, and Khan could only go along with that.


    On the morning of the first day of the week, the political team gathered in the building''s main hall before heading outside. It was raining, and the human ship was already waiting on the sidewalk.


    The time to drive had yet to arrive since the Thilku in the cabin didn''t step out, so Khan and the others gathered in the passengers'' area. The situation felt pretty tense, but no one dared address it.


    The ship flew the team to the samending tform seen after the arrival on Neuria. The four toons and the gazebo had returned, and Lord Exr stood under it to oversee that political event.


    The presence of the Thilku political team on the tform was the only difference from the arrival. Amox and hispanions stood on thending area with umbres and weed the humans ording to their previous teams.


    Of course, the Thilku didn''t leave the Ambassador alone. The political team had two additional aliens that took care of covering him with their umbres.


    Khan exchanged a smile with Amox when he stepped under his umbre, and the two waited for the rest of theirpanions to be ready to perform a traditional bow. That gesture was obviously directed at Lord Exr, which made itst slightly longer than usual.


    Still, the teams eventually broke the bows and exchanged simple salutes before returning to the ship. Ambassador Abores was the first to reenter the vehicle, and Khan soon remained the only human outside.


    "[Are you going back to your family after this]?" Khan asked, stretching his hand.


    "[If Lord Exr deems it appropriate]," Amox revealed, shaking Khan''s hand. "[We still have to deal with that mess at sea]."


    "[Maybe they''ll send me back here soon]," Khan guessed. "[The next feast is on me if you happen to be here]."


    "[You almost make me want to stay]," Amoxughed.


    "[I don''t want to end up on your wife''s bad side]," Khan chuckled, and Amoxughed louder at the joke.


    "Captain!" Elvis called from the ship''s side doors while a Thilku walked down the ramp. Everything was ready for the departure, meaning that Khan couldn''t waste time with Amox anymore.


    "[I must go]," Khan sighed. "[It was nice meeting you]."


    "[Likewise]," Amox said, letting go of Khan''s hand. "[And marry your girlfriend. Don''t be a coward]."


    "[I''ll do my best]," Khan promised, and the two nodded at each other before separating. Amox joined hispanions on the tform while Khan climbed the ramp to enter the ship.


    Khan ignored the gazes from the passengers'' area and entered the now-empty cabin to take his ce behind the steering wheel. The directives from the Thilku had already arrived, so he could immediately prepare the ship for the take-off.


    "Captain," Ambassador Abores called, entering the cabin and closing the door behind him. An entire week had passed since thest time they talked, and things were clearly still tense between them.


    "Is the route for the station clear?" Ambassador Abores continued.


    "Affirmative," Khan confirmed, bringing up a series of holograms that showed a space station and the route to reach it. That structure had waited near Neuria during the mission and was now ready to receive the team.


    "Fly slowly," Ambassador Abores ordered, leaving a rectangr device on the control desk. "You must memorize this by the time we reach the teleport."


    Khan reached for the device, which his gic signature unlocked. Its screen lit up, showing a long letter that Khan only skimmed through in those seconds. It was a summary of Neuria''s events, which involved the praise Khan had requested.


    "Stick to the story," Ambassador Abores added before leaving the cabin and sealing it again. Khan remained alone, but the device kept him entertained during the slow set-off.


    After a few minutes of flight, Khannded the ship inside the space station, and soldiers weed the team to lead them inside the teleport area. The machine activated, and the environment changed once again.


    Everything happened so fast that Khan almost failed to realize how quickly things changed. Still, seeing the familiar environment of the Harbor gave him a reality check. He wasn''t in an alien world anymore. He had returned to a ce he could almost call home.


    The reality check didn''t rekindle Khan''s anger or other negative emotions. He simply felt exhausted and for good reason. He had almost spent two months on Neuria, and his return to the Harbor was giving him a chance to rx.


    Soldiers weed the political team with military salutes, but Khan ignored that and limited himself to following the Ambassador. The group left the teleport area and reached a hangar with cars waiting for them, and orders didn''t hesitate to arrive.


    "The mission is over, but more might follow," Ambassador Abores announced once the team stopped in the hangar. "You can take the week off, but I expect to see you in the office in the next one."


    "Yes, sir!" Elvis and the others shouted, and Khan echoed that cry.


    "At ease," Ambassador Abores continued. "Go back to your lodging and rest. You earned it."


    Smiles and cheerful exchanges of gazes happened before the team performed military salutes and headed for the cars. The time for a break seemed to have arrived, but the Ambassador made sure to speak once again.


    "Except you, Captain," Ambassador Abores added. "You have to apany me to the Headmistress."


    "With pleasure, sir," Khan stated, exchanging an empty gaze with the Ambassador. Their tension was still there, but they were both professional enough to ignore it.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The rest of the team didn''t know how to react to the tension, but Khan and the Ambassador made it easy for them. The two headed directly for one of the cars, which set off, removing the problem from the area.


    Remaining alone with Ambassador Abores wasn''t ideal, but Khan had much to think about. Regaining ess to thework had made many messages reach his phone, and that trip on the car''s seats was the perfect chance to go over them.


    Two months weren''t a long period, especially when nothing exciting happened. Khan mostly found weekly updates from Jenny, who listed his ie, expenses, and more. A few messages even involved Andrew and Francis, but nothing too relevant.


    After going through Jenny''s messages, Khan checked thework to see if anything relevant had happened. He found news about Monica, who had closed a deal the article didn''t exin clearly. Still, he couldn''t find anything else, so his thoughts went elsewhere.


    ''She probably knows that I''m back,'' Khan thought as his fingers began to type a message. ''It''s better to warn her anyway.''


    After sending the message, Khan found himself with nothing else to do, so he closed his eyes and slipped into a meditative state. The Ambassador was busy with his phone anyway and barely noticed the event.


    The carnded near the top of the embassy, and Khan and the Ambassador stepped out only to be escorted inside the Headmistress'' office. Khan soon saw her behind her desk, immersed in long reports, but his attention mostly went on her mana, which was surprisingly calm.


    ''I guess the issue with the station wasn''t a big problem,'' Khan thought, holding back a sigh. He still felt the urge to be punished for how the investigation had ended, and that emotion was bound to stay for a while.


    "So," The Headmistress eximed, lifting her head from the desk as soon as the door closed. "Is everything you reported urate?"


    "Yes, ma''am," Ambassador Abores dered, straightening his military salute.


    "Captain," Headmistress Holwen called. "How exactly did you attract Lord Exr''s interest?"


    "I happened to save a Thilku during one of the missions, ma''am," Khan shortly exined, sticking to the story that Ambassador Abores had prepared.


    "So I''ve read," Headmistress Holwen muttered, "But how did it go from there to you recing Ambassador Abores?"


    "It was under Lord Exr''s request, ma''am," Khan said. "The Ambassador and I thought it would be a good chance to build connections with his superior, so we epted."


    "And how is that connected with the Thilku blowing up their own station?" Headmistress Holwen asked.


    "That''s on me, ma''am," Ambassador Abores interrupted, to Khan''s surprise. "I miscalcted how much the Thilku hated criminals. It was lucky Captain Khan was there to listen to the confession."


    "What about the Solodrey family, Captain?" Headmistress Holwen questioned.


    "I hope you didn''t expect me to ignore that chance, ma''am," Khan eximed.


    Headmistress Holwen felt the urge to scold Khan, but Ambassador Abores'' presence made her let the matter slide.


    "It''s fine, Captain," Headmistress Holwen sighed. "The Global Army will have some agency on those trades anyway, so I''ll consider it a win."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Do we have a new mission already?" Ambassador Abores asked, changing the topic.


    "That would be impossible," Headmistress Holwen scoffed. "First, we must see what this cooperation involves. We should also push on the new contact you obtained, so I have nothing for you now."


    "What should I tell the team?" Ambassador Abores wondered.


    "Prepare for everything," Headmistress Holwen ordered, leaning on the back of her seat. "Our interactions with the Thilku are far from over."


    "Yes, ma''am," Ambassador Abores eximed.


    "You are dismissed," Headmistress Holwen said. "Captain Khan, if I could have a minute of your time."


    "Of course, ma''am," Khan responded, exchanging a meaningful nce with the Ambassador, who simply nodded at him before heading for the door.


    The Headmistress pretended to focus on her interactive desk again but paid close attention to the sounds in her office. She heard Ambassador Abores leaving but kept her head on the reports for a few more seconds before throwing a piercing gaze at Khan.


    "Did something happen between you and the Ambassador?" Headmistress Holwen asked.


    "Yes," Khan openly admitted. He wasn''t in the mood for pointless lies, and the Headmistress noticed it. That was the very reason behind her question.


    "Is there something I should know?" Headmistress Holwen questioned.


    "Not really," Khan replied. He had the letter, and Ambassador Abores had publicly praised him. The deal was fulfilled as far as he was concerned.


    "I see," Headmistress Holwen uttered. She could see the truth on Khan''s cold face but decided not to pursue it.


    "Get out now," Headmistress Holwen continued, diving back into her reports. "Rest if you can. You never know when things might get busy again."


    "Thank you, ma''am," Khan said, performing a military salute and leaving the office.


    The Ambassador didn''t wait for Khan. He had already departed with the car parked on the roof, but another was alreadying. It didn''t take long before Khan could hop inside and head for the second district.


    Seeing that casual reaction to the destruction of the station didn''t improve Khan''s mood, but he couldn''t im to be surprised. It would have been bad if the Global Army lost its connections with the Empire, but no one cared since that didn''t happen.


    ''Why would they care?'' Khan thought, lying on thefortable seats while his hand moved under them to find the drawer with the bottles. ''Only Thilku died, and the bomb was an excuse anyway.''


    The cruelty and sheer coldness of politics left Khan disgusted, and knowing he was a key part of them intensified that feeling. He knew his job was important to achieve his goals, but doubts appeared.


    ''If I continue on this path,'' Khan wondered, ''How much of me will remain by the time I reach my goals?''


    Of course, Khan had already pondered those issues. He was just letting his thoughts roam freely since the situation allowed it, and a drink soon kept himpany.


    The trip didn''t take long since the second district was close to the embassy. Khan jumped out of the car andnded on the familiar empty sidewalk that he had learned to call home. Being back felt odd after everything that had happened, but his t had booze, and that was enough.


    ''This is odd,'' Khan thought when he realized that Monica had yet to reply to his message. ''She would usually call me on the spot.''


    Khan drew his phone while strolling toward his building, but the arrival of a second cab distracted him. Looking at the actual vehicle also made him frown. That was a luxury ride with clearance to fly in the Harbor, which had to mean something.


    The luxury ride approached the sidewalk''s edge, but its passenger''s door opened before thending wasplete. Letting the symphony interact with the car''s insides told Khan everything he needed to know, and his eyes lit up as he changed direction.


    An enchanting figure hurried out of the car. Monica appeared on the sidewalk, donning high heels and a pink halter dress. Her hair also looked bright and soft. She seemed to have juste out of an exclusive party, but only Khan existed in her eyes.


    Khan and Monica basically ran toward each other until they ended up in their respective arms. Monica wrapped herself around Khan''s neck, hugging it as tightly as possible to convey her feelings. Khan did the same with her waist, almost squeezing her due to how much he had missed her.


    "I tried to contact you," Monica cried, "But you were still away. A call arrived when I was flying toward you, so-. So-!"


    "It''s fine," Khan whispered, kissing Monica''s neck. "You are here, so it''s fine."


    "I missed you," Monicained.


    "I missed you too," Khan admitted, "But everything is fine now."


    It was hard to describe how beneficial Monica''s presence was to Khan''s mood. Simply holding her in his arms dispersed the negative thoughts that had afflicted him in the past week. Khan felt at peace for a second, but something quickly disturbed him.


    Monica wasn''t the only one who had stepped out of the luxury ride. A third-level warrior had also entered the sidewalk, and leaving Monica''s neck allowed Khan to recognize her.


    Master Amelia crossed the sidewalk but stopped at some distance from the couple to show respect. Monica understood what was happening when Khan left her neck, so she let go of him to stand at his side. Of course, his right arm fell prey to her grip during that gesture.


    "Master Amelia," Khan announced. "It''s been a while."


    "Almost one year, Captain Khan," Master Amelia replied, politely lowering her head. "Allow me to use this chance to apologize. I haven''t shown the proper respect during our first meeting."


    "I don''t mind," Khan reassured. "Did you apany Monica here? Is Madam Solodrey involved?"


    "Indeed," Master Amelia confirmed. "Madam Anastasia is eager to talk with you. However, she understands that today might not be the right time."


    "It isn''t," Khan said, feeling pleased when a tremor ran through Monica''s grip.


    "I understand," Master Amelia nodded. "Still, we have a mandatory schedule to attend to. The Solodrey family wishes you to advertise your reunion."


    "Advertise how?" Khan asked.


    "I have a list of activities that could work," Master Amelia revealed, pulling out her phone. "I suggest the shopping district-."


    "No," Khan interrupted. "We aren''t doing that today."


    "C-Captain," Master Amelia stuttered in surprise.


    "I don''t care what you tell them," Khan continued. "If you need a t, mention my name to the Headmistress. We''ll take our leave now."


    Master Amelia wanted to say something, but Khan had already turned. Monica imitated him and showed aplicit smile when he reached for her hand. The two entered the building like that, and Master Amelia couldn''t do anything to stop them.


    Khan and Monica crossed the building''s hall hand in hand and didn''t separate even after entering the elevator. Actually, the new privacy made them drop their pretenses, and Monica couldn''t refrain from falling on Khan''s chest.


    Seeing Monica''s peaceful face almost quieted down Khan''s darkest sides. He caressed her curls, enjoying how happy she was to have returned to him. She looked ready to fall asleep on the spot, and that drowsiness tried to spread to him.


    ''She must be tired,'' Khan sensed, but recalling Master Amelia brought everything back. The politics were still there, and the Solodrey family had actively joined them now.


    The elevator eventually opened, forcing Monica to open her eyes. She left Khan''s chest and showed her beautiful smile before taking his hand and pulling him into the t.


    "Let''s go home, dear," Monica giggled. She was the embodiment of happiness, but confusion arrived when Khan pulled her back.


    The elevator closed in time for Monica''s back to hit its door. Khan had pulled and turned her in an instant, almost forcing his lips into hers.


    Monica didn''t expect that sudden move, but getting a taste of Khan''s lips calmed her down and changed her mood. Her hands rose to his hair, and she grabbed it to match his passion.


    Nevertheless, Khan was rougher than usual. Each kiss reced his negative emotions with Monica, and he wanted more. She was never enough, and the passion made her run out of air.


    "Khan!" Monica gasped, interrupting the kisses and lowering her head to catch her breath. Still, Khan''s hand didn''t hesitate to reach for her chin, lifting her face to show his desperate eyes.


    "Indulge me today," Khan almost begged, his gaze lost in recent memories.


    Monica didn''t know anything about the mission on Neuria, but ncing at Khan''s face told her everything. She could read his expression and knew that rejecting him was impossible. After all, it was her role to support him in those moments.


    Monica let go of Khan''s hair and grabbed the hand on her chin. She lifted it, leaving a kiss on its back before reaching for her cor. It only took a pull to slide it past her head, and releasing it made the entire dress fall on the floor.

 Chapter 576 Catching Up

    The couple didn''t calm down untilte at night. Khan and Monica didn''t even eat since he couldn''t bring himself to stop, and the two fell asleep only when exhaustion had the better of them.


    Still, sleeping had never been Khan''s forte, especially after the transformation. He woke up hours before dawn, and his eyes instinctively fell on the figure on his chest. Monica couldn''t appear more rxed, and her snoring quieted down when Khan caressed her hair.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''This must be her first real night of sleep in a while,'' Khan realized. Monica''s extreme sides had deepened to match Khan''s broader emotional spectrum, leading to a slight addiction that only he could satisfy.


    Khan was no stranger to that addiction. It was a trademark of his love, which many had criticized during his time on Nitis. He had improved in that field but had also epted that he couldn''t change himself. In a way, he had simply matured.


    That maturity didn''t prevail that night. Khan continued caressing Monica''s hair until an urge made him slip from under her. He carefullyid her head on a pillow before heading for her t waist and iming it as his new resting spot.


    Khan didn''t know the reason for that childish urge but didn''t care enough to look for answers. He wrapped an arm around Monica''s waist, snuggling his head on it and closing his eyes. He wouldn''t fall asleep, but that felt like a good spot where to think.


    Thinking turned out to be impossible since a tremor ran through the symphony, updating Khan about the situation. Faint rustling noises resounded before a careful and loving touch reached the back of his head. Monica had woken up, and her first instinct was to show her support.


    "What did they even do to you out there?" Monica whispered, her caresses growing more intimate.


    Khan''s selflessness kicked in. He didn''t want Monica to worry about him, so he left a kiss on her sensual waist before turning toward her and changing the topic. "I heard you closed an important deal."


    "Don''t change the topic," Monica scolded.


    "You even came here all dressed up," Khan teased, leaving Monica''s waist to crawl toward her face. "Was it all for me?"


    Monica faltered when Khan''s face was about to reach hers. Still, her resolve kicked in, making her deliver a soft p to Khan''s cheek.


    "Tell me," Monica pouted before her voice threatened to crack. "Can''t you tell me?"


    Khan was usually unbeatable with words, but his girlfriend knew his weakness. Her cute but pained expression was too much for him to handle.


    "Dammit," Khan cursed, letting himself go to crash back on Monica. "So much for being mine to use as I wish."


    "I am that," Monica giggled, happy she could defeat Khan. She straightened her position, making him slide until his head reached herp. Her hands followed, moving to his face to hold it lovingly.


    "But," Monica continued, slightly leaning toward Khan''s face, "I don''t only take care of your dick, do I?"


    Khan had a joke ready for Monica''sck of decorum but couldn''t muster the strength to say it before that concerned expression. He rolled his eyes and brought an arm on his forehead while a sigh marked his surrender.


    "We had reached a stalemate during the investigation," Khan exined. "Criminals had taken control of a distribution center at sea, but the Thilku leader blew it up."


    Monica felt surprised, but her hands remained steady. She wouldn''t let Khan experience the slightest difort.


    "There were three hundred and twenty-two innocent workers still in the distribution center," Khan continued. "The Thilku leader didn''t feel anything sacrificing them to get the criminals."


    Monica let go of one of Khan''s cheeks to uncover his face. She couldn''t even begin to imagine what it was to experience something like that, but the contents of Khan''s mind were clear to her.


    "It wasn''t your fault," Monica stated. "You know that."


    "I still want to feel this disgust," Khan revealed. "If I stop, I might be like your mother. I might even turn into something worse by the time I find the Nak."


    "You won''t," Monica dered, forcing Khan''s gaze to focus on her. "I know you won''t."


    "You don''t count," Khan sighed, lifting a hand to reach for Monica''s face. "You are blinded by love."


    "I am," Monica confirmed, taking the hand on her face, "But that doesn''t mean I''m wrong."


    Monica pulled Khan''s hand, bringing it to her chest. She trapped his fingers, making sure that his palm adhered to her rib cage. Her heartbeat was slow but powerful, and Khan could sense far more from that simple touch.


    "Am I lying?" Monica asked, confident in what her mana would tell.


    Behind all the love, Khan could sense Monica''s trust in him. It was connected to their rtionship but with something deeper as a foundation. It was hard to put into words. Khan could only ept that those feelings were true.


    "What am I supposed to do with you?" Khan sighed, giving up once again. "I hope you are ready to see me like this whenever something bad happens."


    "I wouldn''t be worthy of standing at your side otherwise," Monica giggled, bringing Khan''s hand back to her face to storm it with kisses, "And my Captain deserves the best of the best."


    "You are the best of the best," Khan stated, snuggling closer to Monica''s waist to hide his face into it.


    "Scoundrel," Monica happily scolded when she felt Khan''s lips on her waist, but her word had no consequences. She let Khan stay on herp and alternated between caresses and kisses to his hand to make his rest more enjoyable.


    "What was your deal about anyway?" Khan eventually asked, his lips still partially glued to Monica''s skin.


    "Nothing important," Monica scoffed. "My family wanted to close this deal about a mine of abyssy for some time already, but the owner was set on selling only to me personally."


    Khan had reached his personal paradise. He was on Monica''sp with his face immersed in her waist. There was no better ce in the world, but those simple lines made that bliss crumble.


    "And what did you do?" Khan questioned, his voice growing colder.


    "I had to dine with him," Monica revealed, aware of the changes in Khan''s mood. "He couldn''t try anything, so he only suggested, but I red at him at eachpliment."


    That exnation wasn''t enough for Khan. He left his heavenly spot and straightened his back until Monica''s face filled his view. She had truly disliked the dinner, but seeing how riled up Khan was put a smile on her face.


    "Did you really re at him?" Khan asked.


    "I even refused his hand," Monica nodded. "He would have kissed it otherwise."


    "Who is this man?" Khan wondered.


    "Why do you want to know?" Monica teased.


    "I want to re at him too," Khan said.


    "Do that if we happen to meet him," Monica giggled, lifting her left hand to put it between their faces. "For now, know he couldn''t stop looking at this."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It wasn''t hard to understand what Monica meant. She was still wearing Khan''s ring, and its purpose was more than obvious. Monica had wanted it for that very reason, which had worked out.


    Khan was still pissed, but seeing how happy Monica was warmed his heart. He didn''t even realize that his head leaned forward, bringing his lips to the ring.


    Monica fell into a daze watching Khan y with her hand. She made it easier for him, sticking out her ring finger to direct the kisses there. Khan eventually slid his face into her palm, and she instinctively leaned backward to return to the mattress.


    "Why was Master Amber here?" Khan asked, crawling over Monica and sealing her lips with his.


    "She," Monica gasped in the break between kisses and waited for the next one to continue her reply. "She is here because of my family."


    "Did they ask her to keep an eye on you?" Khan wondered, moving to Monica''s neck.


    "It''s here to help me," Monica said, her breath growing ragged. "Help and protect me."


    "Is it because of the Thilku?" Khan questioned, slowly making his way toward Monica''s chest.


    "I didn''t receive the order yet," Monica replied, closing her eyes and reaching for Khan''s hair, "But it must be connected to Neuria."


    "Did your family send you here to reward me?" Khan scoffed, lifting his head to look at Monica.


    "If they did," Monica responded, pushing Khan''s head back to her chest, "I don''t mind being sold to you."


    Khan smirked, pleased by the answer and the gasps Monica voiced while he yed with her. The grip on his hair grew tighter as he continued to descend, but he kept teasing Monica with more words.


    "I''ll teach you if you end up going to Neuria," Khan said by the time he reached Monica''s belly button.


    "Yes," Monica eximed in a tone that resembled a moan, "But not now."


    That reaction made Khan prouder. He decided to slide even deeper to get where Monica wanted, but a hungry growl suddenly resounded in the bedroom.


    Khan and Monica lifted their heads simultaneously, only to hear the growl again. It hade from Monica''s abdomen, but Khan''s body didn''t let it remain alone. His stomach also cried in hunger, warning the couple about needs beyond their lust.


    The couple couldn''t help but explode into augh, and Monica pulled herself downward to reach Khan''s face. She kissed him a few times while hey on the mattress and left his chest open for her head. Meanwhile, he used his free hand to search for his phone lost on the bed.


    Monica nestled on Khan''s chest, and he held her tightly while voicing a short victory cry. He had found his phone, which he brought before their faces while opening menus connected to food.


    "What do you want to eat?" Monica asked.


    "Spicy chicken," Khan said without showing any hesitation.


    "Predictable," Monica sighed, stealing the phone from Khan''s hand, "But I pick the ce."


    Khan kissed the top of Monica''s head while she browsed through the avable ces in the Harbor. In theory, it was too early for shops and restaurants, but anything was possible when requested from Khan''s phone.


    Food took half an hour to arrive, during which Khan and Monica mostly caught up with each other without leaving the bed. The period spent separated didn''t affect their natural rhythm, and things only improved once their bellies were full.


    "Cuddle me," Monica cried as the post-meal drowsiness appeared. She was already back on Khan''s chest, and his hand was also on her hair.


    "I never stopped," Khan chuckled, putting more strength in his caresses. He was finally fully rxed, but his phone was already moving toward the next task, and Monica could soon see it.


    Khan left the phone on the mattress as holograms came out of it. They took the shape of a specific test that featured intricate red runes. Those symbols were unreadable for ordinary humans, but Khan could make some sense out of it.


    The holograms caught Monica''s interest, but she remained silent to let Khan focus. In theory, she wasn''t supposed to be in the room during those tests, but Khan was a special case, and the embassy was bound to double-check that result.


    Khan followed the test''s instructions, activating as many functions as possible on the runes the holograms put forward. He didn''t recognize much, and things got worse once the phone brought up moreplicated symbols, but the results were still somewhat satisfying.


    "Wow," Monica eximed once the test ended. "Can you really read five hundred Thilku runes?"


    "The test only makes a projection based on the lines I recognized," Khan exined. "It''s probably lower since someplex runes don''t highlight them."


    "Isn''t this still good?" Monica wondered.


    "I wish it were better," Khan sighed, closing the test and throwing his head on the mattress. "Sadly, I''m already at theplex runes, and it takes a while to memorize them."


    "You wouldn''t ept mediocrity even if the fate of the world were at stake," Monica snorted, reaching for Khan''s cheek to pinch it. "I bet you went on a training and studying spree after the death of those Thilku."


    "The fight with the Ambassador also drove me to that," Khan smirked, peeking at Monica''s pouting face.


    "I can even imagine what you were thinking," Monica scolded. "You thought things would have been different if you were stronger or more knowledgeable."


    "It''s true," Khan pointed out. "They could have."


    Monica wanted to refute that statement but couldn''t. It wasn''t a matter of destroying Khan''s hopes. It was actually the opposite. Khan had done more with far less, so he probably could have saved everyone if he were slightly stronger.


    "I''m just happy you came back in one piece," Monica admitted, hiding her face in Khan''s chest. "I don''t care about the Thilku. I just want you to be safe."


    Khan understood Monica''s concerns, but there was no solution to them. He could only cuddle her until she felt reassured enough.


    "If you end up on Neuria," Khan mentioned once the idea popped into his mind, "You might meet Amox. He is a good Thilku. I told him about you."


    "What did you say about me?" Monica wondered, peeking at Khan''s face.


    "That I loved you," Khan responded.


    "Really?" Monica giggled,pletely lifting her head and cing an arm under her chin. "And what did he say?"


    "That I should marry you," Khan teased, and Monica''s eyes widened in shock.


    Khan wanted to tease Monica some more, but his phone suddenly rang, distracting him from that interaction. It was odd to receive a call at that early hour, but looking at the name on the screen made his mind go nk. Somehow, Mister Cirvags was calling him.

 Chapter 577 Color

    Khan froze, looking at the name on his phone. He didn''t know much about Mister Cirvags, but the little information in his possession already stated how important he was.


    Mister Cirvags was the figure in charge of all the Harbor''s offices connected to the Thilku. He was the boss of Ambassador Abores'' boss. His words were heavier than the Headmistress'' now that Khan worked in that field.


    Monica had only heard about Mister Cirvags, but seeing Khan''s reaction told her how important that call was. She immediately left his chest, sitting obediently at his side to give him enough room to focus.


    Khan cleared his throat and straightened his back to sit on the mattress. He tried to sort out his thoughts, but another ring resounded, bringing the phone to his ear.


    "Hello?" Khan announced. "Captain Khan speaking."


    "It''s Cirvags," A voice Khan recognized came out of the phone. "I''ve seen the updates on your profile. Are you free for a meeting?"


    "Of course, sir," Khan eximed. "I''ll head to the embassy immediately."


    "We are not meeting in the embassy," Mister Cirvags revealed. "I''ve already sent a car. Be ready in five."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Yes, sir!" Khan stated, but the call ended before Mister Cirvags could hear his answer. Khan could only look at the nk screen afterward, but realizing what had just happened forced him to snap back to reality.


    "I need a clean uniform," Khan stated, looking at Monica to convey the situation''s urgency.


    "In the third bedroom," Monica promptly replied, jumping out of bed to hurry toward one of the wardrobes.


    Khan also left the bed, running through the t to reach the third bedroom. He had multiple sets of clean uniforms there, but retrieving one reminded him about his naked state.


    "Underwear too!" Khan shouted, hurrying back to the previous bedroom, only to find Monica wielding clean boxers and socks.


    "I love you so much," Khan sighed, reaching Monica to retrieve his clothes. She giggled and hid them behind her, forcing Khan to embrace her to get them.


    Monica didn''t hesitate to kiss Khan, which he weed. Their lips remained glued even after Khan got his hands on his clothes, and Monica eventually grabbed Khan''s face to force them to split.


    "Don''t forget Master Amelia''s schedule," Monica said, giving Khan another quick kiss, "And my mother also expects a call."


    "I won''t miss the chance to show off my girlfriend," Khan promised, throwing the uniform on the bed to get started with his underwear.


    "And my mother," Monica reminded.


    "And I''ll also call your dear mother," Khan cursed, moving to his socks.


    Monica giggled and crossed her arms while watching Khan dressing up. The bedroom had a pair of shoes, and he didn''t need his knife, so he could get ready without leaving his spot.


    "Done!" Khan eximed after finishing buttoning his uniform. He began heading outside, but Monica promptly grabbed his hand to make him turn.


    "Let me see you, dummy," Monica scolded, inspecting Khan''s uniform from head to toe to fix any crease. She did her best with the little avable time but still improved Khan''s overall appearance.


    "Thank you," Khan whispered once Monica was done, leaning forward to kiss her goodbye.


    "Don''t find ways to get hurt," Monica warned. "I''ll see youter."


    "Later," Khan smirked, trying to turn, but sensing Monica''s hand on his wrist again broadened his smile and made him kiss her again.


    "Love you," Monica muttered cutely when the two separated. Her voice almost tempted Khan to fall prey to her lips again, but time was running short, so he pped her butt to end that interaction.


    "Scoundrel," Monicained from behind a smile. Khan only exchanged another look with her but eventually hurried inside the elevator to leave the building.


    Even with the intimate exuberance, Khan still reached the sidewalk before the deadline set by Mister Cirvags. The early hour even provided an empty environment, but it didn''t take long before a car appeared above the buildings.


    The car''s model gave hints Khan could recognize. Mister Cirvags had used a military vehicle to pick him up, partially exining the purpose of the meeting. That wasn''t surprising for Khan, but adding clues confirmed his initial assumption.


    The vehiclended at the sidewalk''s edge, and a driver donning a military uniform came out to salute Khan. He only nodded at him before getting inside, and the set-off started right afterward.


    The car''s windows hid the insides, but Khan could see everything from his position. He kept track of the streets under him to get an idea of his destination. He had almost memorized the entirety of the Harbor by then, so rtively urate guesses appeared in his mind after crossing a few districts.


    The Harbor had living districts exclusive to teachers and other important figures, and the car entered one of them before slowing down. Khan found himself in a small dome featuring short butrge buildings divided by empty streets, which the vehicle never approached.


    Most of that district''s buildings hadnding areas on their roofs, and the vehicle settled on one of them. The driver didn''t hesitate to leave his seat to wee Khan outside, and he merely studied the area while following the soldier.


    The roof had a series of bright menus in the corner, and the soldier crouched down to press them. A piece of the metal surface slid open, creating a rectangr opening that released a transparent elevator. The driver pointed at its entrance, and Khan got inside on his own.


    The elevator''s transparent door closed before descending. The lift only crossed one floor before stopping inside a generic room simr to what Khan had in his t.


    No one weed Khan, but the door past the elevator area was open, so he stepped forward and slowly advanced through the t. The symphony immediately updated him, and he followed its clues while studying his surroundings.


    The elevator area expanded into arge empty hall adorned with thick, vast carpets partially hidden byrge couches. The ce was bigger than Khan''s living room, but its peculiarities were on the walls.


    Shelves and cases covered by transparent ss stood on the walls, with some hanging directly from the tall ceiling. All sorts of items filled them, and a specific shade of red ended up iming Khan''s attention.


    Khan crossed half the hall to reach a tall disy case containing an item he knew well. The iconic Thilku cape stood inside the container, hanging from its shoulders to show its size. Khan had seen Mister Cirvags wear it, so his eyes immediately searched for more peculiar items.


    It didn''t take long before Khan ended up before the Thilku''s dark military uniform. Those clothes were also inside a transparent container and attached to the wall to reveal every detail.


    The items on disy went beyond clothes. Khan found an old rifle covered in mud, a simple sword with dark trails of blood stuck to its edges, and a protective helmet with two holes on its forehead. The hall had even more than that, but Khan stopped his inspection since he had understood the purpose of the containers.


    ''They are trophies,'' Khan thought before another realization arrived. That wasn''t a simple t. That was Mister Cirvags'' real home.


    "That''s what a lifetime of service gets you," A voice that didn''t take Khan by surprise resounded behind him. "Junk and old things you are too fond of to throw away."


    Khan turned and wore a military salute to wee the big figure that had entered the hall. Mister Cirvags stood before his office''s entrance wearing a tight tracksuit that highlighted his burly body. His tired old face almost didn''t match those muscles, but Khan didn''t dare to underestimate him.


    "You should never show your back in an unknown environment, Captain," Mister Cirvags scolded. "Though, I didn''t catch you by surprise, did I?"


    "You didn''t, sir," Khan revealed. The office''s door had been silent, but nothing could mask Mister Cirvags'' heavy presence. Khan believed that even a non-initiate to the Niqols arts would sense something.


    "[Come to my office]," Mister Cirvags ordered, switching to the Thilkunguage. "[Let''s talk]."


    The change innguage came as a surprise, but Khan felt to understand what it meant. Mister Cirvags turned to enter his office, and Khan followed him to arrive in another big space.


    The office in the t was bigger than the Headmistress''. It had two couches, two armchairs, a spacious interactive desk, and four simple chairs. The ce could almost fit two squads, but Khan kept his thoughts to himself.


    "[I assume you feasted with the Thilku]," Mister Cirvags stated, leaning behind his desk to retrieve a red metal bottle. The color strongly reminded Khan of the Thilku, almost revealing its origin.


    "[I did, sir]," Khan replied in the Thilkunguage. "[More than a few times]."


    "[Your ent still needs work]," Mister Cirvagsmented, leaving the desk after retrieving two sses, "[But it''s far betterpared to thest time I met you]."


    "[Thank you, sir]," Khan responded.


    "[It wasn''t apliment]," Mister Cirvags warned. "[Me not pointing that out would have been apliment]."


    Khan chose to remain silent and follow Mister Cirvags with his eyes. The man headed for one of the couches, sitting on it before pouring the bottle''s contents into the sses. He even began to drink from one of them before his stern voice resounded again.


    "[Aren''t you going to sit]?" Mister Cirvags asked, and Khan hurriedly headed for the opposite couch. The man also handed him the other ss before resuming to drink.


    "[I hope it''s not too early for you]," Mister Cirvags said when he noticed that Khan didn''t immediately drink.


    "[Never]," Khan smirked, sipping from his ss. That booze definitely came from the Thilku but was of far better qualitypared to what he had drunk on Neuria and Acarro.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "[You look in a good mood]," Mister Cirvagsmented. "[I heard from Leticia that Neuria took a tool on you]."


    "[Respectfully, sir]," Khan said, not surprised that the Headmistress had shared information, "[I''ve seen worse]."


    Mister Cirvags had rarely lowered his ss. Still, he stopped drinking to inspect Khan''s face, and ament soon followed. "[Women sure hold a lot of power over your mind]."


    "[Not women]," Khan corrected. "[One woman, my girlfriend]."


    "[There''s the bad mood]," Mister Cirvags uttered, scratching his short beard. His perfect ent didn''t carry any amusement. It simply was an urate description of the event.


    Khan could guess what was happening but struggled to deal with Mister Cirvags. He couldn''t understand his exact intentions, so he decided to ask. "[Sir, why did you request this meeting]?"


    "[What''s the Thilku Empire''s weakness]?" Mister Cirvags suddenly questioned.


    "[Sir]?" Khan called.


    "[Do you know the answer or not, Captain]?" Mister Cirvags pressed on.


    Khan knew when he was being tested, and his mana reacted to that open challenge. He could feel his brain growing empty to leave behind only useful information.


    "[It''s too big]," Khan responded. "[The Thilku cover too much territory. Theyck the numbers to manage it]."


    "[Differently from humans]," Mister Cirvags dered, "[Who limit themselves to outposts and share worlds with other species]."


    "[Why are you testing me, sir]?" Khan asked, unfazed by the lesson. He had already extensively covered that topic in the Harbor''s advanced sses.


    "[Why did you start studying the Thilku symbols]?" Mister Cirvags asked, ignoring Khan''s question.


    "[I find them interesting]," Khan admitted.


    "[Why]?" Mister Cirvags wondered. "[You never showed interest in human technology]."


    "[The symbols are different]," Khan exined. "[They are a technology which aims to acquire intrinsic meaning. They are closer to the arts I excel into]."


    "[You were sticking to your profile then]," Mister Cirvags said, lifting the bottle from the floor to hand it to Khan.


    Khan grabbed the bottle and refilled his ss before giving it back. Mister Cirvags prepared his drink, but no question arrived. He leaned back into the couch and continued to look straight into Khan''s eyes.


    "[Is something the matter, sir]?" Khan eventually felt forced to ask.


    "[Yes]," Mister Cirvags dered. "[I have one Ambassador and a Captain who somehow managed to achieve political sess among the Thilku]."


    Khan didn''t need to add more questions. What had happened in Neuria couldn''t be the norm. Lord Exr was a small fish in the Empire, but his superiors were no joking matter, and getting to them had consequences for the Harbor''s political offices.


    "[We exploited a fortuitous opportunity]," Khan shortly exined.


    "[That I''ve read]," Mister Cirvags revealed. "[I''m wondering who created it]."


    "[I''m sure you have the report, sir]," Khan uttered. That was his chance to double-cross Ambassador Abores, but the letter had already praised him. Adding fuel to that possible enmity didn''t feel like a wise choice, especially since Khan didn''t know how Mister Cirvags would react.


    Mister Cirvags remained impassible. He scratched his beard a bit longer without changing his expression. Even his mana remained stable, hiding any possible clue.


    "[Thilku value strength over everything]," Mister Cirvags announced, "[And you are strong, Captain]."


    Mister Cirvags stood up before Khan could say anything. He headed toward his desk, activating its functions to tinker with the menus. He didn''t add orders, but Khan left his couch and approached him anyway.


    "[What is your impression of them]?" Mister Cirvags asked, his gaze lost in the menus.


    "[Their methods are harsh]," Khan described, "[Ruthless even, but I wouldn''t consider them evil]."


    "[The definition of evil changes from species to species]," Mister Cirvagsmented. "[Don''t be bound to such trivial concepts]."


    "[What should I be bound to, sir]?" Khan questioned.


    "[The Global Army]," Mister Cirvags replied, keeping his head lowered. "[Humankind]."


    Khan couldn''t disagree more but kept those thoughts to himself. Curiosity tried to get the better of him, but he kept his gaze lifted to avoid peeking at the reports on the desk.


    "[It''s rare for a human to catch the Thilku''s attention]," Mister Cirvags continued, "[Even rarer to be epted. Yet, you might pull it off]."


    Mister Cirvags didn''t give Khan a chance to reply once again since hisst tap made the desk release a series of holograms. A star map appeared, and Khan recognized Lord Exr''s domain among the showcased systems.


    "[Do you know where this is]?" Mister Cirvags asked, zooming in toward one of Lord Exr''s systems to highlight a small.


    "[Cegnore]," Khan responded. He had studied nothing else but the Thilku in thest period, especially Lord Exr''s systems, so he could name thes in his domain. Actually, he could do slightly more than that.


    "[I know there''s a war there]," Khan added. "[Everything else was ssified]."


    "[There is a war]," Mister Cirvags confirmed. "[And we have a few teams there]."


    That wasn''t Khan''s first time in a simr situation. Even with most information being ssified, Khan had already experienced Ecoruta, and Cegnore seemed to carry the same issues.


    "[Do you want me to join a war, sir]?" Khan wondered in confusion. "[I''m just a third-level warrior. I''m not sure I can be influential]."


    "[The enemies there aren''t strong]," Mister Cirvags revealed. "[Not in terms of level, at least]."


    "[Why don''t the Thilku beat them then]?" Khan asked, his confusion intensifying. "[What do they need the humans for]?"


    "[It''s a matter of pride]," Mister Cirvags remained vague. "[You''ll receive a report if you ept the mission]."


    "[I had the impression you were more domineering, sir]," Khan couldn''t help but say. He expected a direct order from someone like Mister Cirvags. That veiled politeness didn''t suit him at all.


    "[Many find it demeaning to be used as simple soldiers after achieving status]," Mister Cirvags dered, ignoring Khan''sment. "[They are not wrong, but that''s how you get to the Thilku]."


    Khan was no stranger to wars, but the opportunity to refuse made him think. He had been lucky in the past. Except for the almost-mindless Stal, he had never been ordered to kill needlessly.


    Moreover, Ecoruta had been a dark period for Khan. He only wanted to lose himself back then. Instead, his mind was far better off now, and so was his life. Turning himself into a hired gun might break that bnce, especially when involving a species he knew nothing about.


    ''Do I really want to kill just because I''m being ordered to?'' Khan wondered.


    The answer was a resounding no. It would have been different in the past or other situations, but Khan had options now. He could tread the path toward his goal withoutpromising himself too much. The requesting directly from Mister Cirvags was the only problem.


    "[Maybe this can help you make up your mind]," Mister Cirvags eventually added, pressing a differentbel on the interactive desk.


    The star map grew smaller to make room for apletely different hologram. The image of an ugly beast appeared, and the entire office grew colder.


    The beast resembled a fat wolf with oddly long and slender legs. Its pointy mouth was also abnormal, with its upper side being almost twice as big as the lower. Still, Khan solely focused on its thick fur or, rather, on its unforgettable color.


    Khan ignored Mister Cirvags and reached for the desk. He wanted to see the holograms'' settings, but the menus didn''t listen to his gic signature. That realization made him look for his superior, who had an answer ready.


    "You are seeing its actual color," Mister Cirvags said, switching back to the humannguage.


    Khan calmed down after that confirmation, and his eyes returned to the desk. He retracted his hands, but his mana didn''t stop radiating coldness. His energy already knew the answer. That beast''s fur was like his hair and scar. The creature wore the Nak''s colors.

 Chapter 578 Decision

    "Is this the Thilku enemy?" Khan asked, doing his best to remain calm.


    "Mostly," Mister Cirvags vaguely exined. "They aren''t really a species. It''splicated."


    Khan couldn''t understand much since his senses were useless with holograms. However, he knew a lot about the field. Tainted animals were a topic he almost didn''t need to study to master.


    Tainted was a status given to any creature or living being mutated by mana. Different species and scientists relied on specific names to split the field into many groups, but one aspect remained constant. The azure color came from the Nak.


    "Is this a fifth-generation Tainted animal?" Khan questioned. "Sixth?"


    Khan''s question used Earth''s timeline as a foundation. Five centuries separated humankind from the First Impact, which was enough for multiple generations of Tainted offspring. Six was even too small as a guess, but Khan''s estimate had to consider the retention of the azure color.


    "Second," Mister Cirvags revealed, shattering Khan''s calm. "Some first-generation specimens appear from time to time."


    The world around Khan crumbled only to take life again. Every artificial light, smell, or shade carried by the symphony intensified in his senses. The conflicting aspects of his nature reached a new agreement, fusing to create his best mindset yet as he looked at Mister Cirvags.


    "Was there a Nak on Cegnore recently?" Khan said, almost unable to believe he was finally asking a simr question.


    "Not exactly," Mister Cirvags gave another vague answer.


    "Answer me," Khan requested before hisst traces of reason reminded him where he was. "Please, sir."


    "Why would I?" Mister Cirvags wondered.


    "Because I''m asking," Khan eximed. He had nned to sound as polite as possible, but his current mental state turned his words into a threat.


    "It''s bad to have such an obvious weakness," Mister Cirvags scolded, tapping on the desk to retract the holograms. "It makes you easy to use."


    Khan''s gaze snapped to the empty desk before returning to Mister Cirvags with newfound anger. Mister Cirvags didn''t falter at that feeling. He remained impassible as he waited to see Khan''s course of action.


    The urge to pursue a violent path tried to take over Khan. Except for the hand on Milia 222, that was the closest he had ever gotten to clues about the Nak. They were right before him, but a fifth-level warrior stood in his way.


    ''Calm down,'' Khan cursed, trying to bring order to his boiling mana. ''This isn''t the way.''


    The curse didn''t quell Khan''s mana, but he still calmed down, retracting his anger and lowering his gaze in defeat. He didn''t care about his disrespect toward Mister Cirvags. He simply didn''t like how riled up he got whenever the Nak became part of the equation.


    "Don''t delude yourself, Captain," Mister Cirvags warned, losing interest in Khan to lean behind the desk. "You aren''t difficult to figure out, and you didn''t do a good job hiding your goals either."


    That didn''te as a surprise to Khan. He had started to reveal his goals to receive offers that could match them. Moreover, his profile was public, and he had attracted enough interest to make higher-ups study him.


    Mister Cirvags retrieved a rectangr screen from behind his desk before returning to the couches. He sat down to refill his drink, and Khan soon joined him to abide by the unwritten rules of that meeting.


    "We mostly have scientists on Cegnore," Mister Cirvags revealed, throwing the device at Khan.


    The gesture surprised Khan, but he still caught the device with his free hand without spilling his drink. The screen unlocked under his grasp, revealing a series of reports that immediately attracted his attention.


    Images that Khan recognized apanied the reports. The device depicted multiple shots of the Tainted creature shown by the holograms with details about its strength. Khan even saw extensive studies connected to those images, and opening a random tab put him in front of sentences he could barely read.


    "Did Parver tell you the nature of his condition?" Mister Cirvags questioned.


    "Partially," Khan replied, his eyes glued to the screen.


    "Apparently," Mister Cirvags announced, "Something contagious infected Cegnore''s natives. The Thilku caught it when they discovered the, basically switching sides."


    "Why didn''t they bomb them out of existence?" Khan asked, finally lifting his gaze.


    "I don''t know the details," Mister Cirvags stated. "It seems that an oldmander got infected and requested a warrior''s death. That didn''t happen, so now the is a battlefield."


    "I expected the Thilku to ignore the request," Khan admitted.


    "Where would their pride go if they lost against their infected kind?" Mister Cirvags asked, clearing Khan''s doubts.


    "This illness," Khan changed the topic, waving the device. "Is that why you chose me?"


    "Delusions, Captain," Mister Cirvags uttered. "You are special, but I''ve been in this field a long time. I''ve outlived many soldiers like you."


    "I''m more special than others," Khan dered.


    "For a third-level warrior," Mister Cirvags added. "And, no, I didn''t choose you for your resistance to the illness. A pill can achieve that. You just fit the role and were likely to ept."


    Mister Cirvags had never stopped looking at Khan, and he responded with a simr inspection. However, his senses didn''t help. Mister Cirvags wasn''t using any technique to hide his presence. His mana was simply calm and didn''t cause any ripple.


    "I thought I had to ept the mission before receiving this," Khan pointed out, lifting the device in an attempt to trigger a reaction in Mister Cirvags'' mana. Still, nothing happened.


    "You will ept," Mister Cirvags dered. "You are that kind of man."


    The inability to read Mister Cirvags fueled the annoyance caused by his words. Khan didn''t like how the man thought to have him figured out, and knowing he was right worsened that feeling.


    "How long do I have to make my decision?" Khan questioned, suppressing his feelings.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Until new orders arrive," Mister Cirvags revealed. "Well, until I find new orders to give you."


    ''Another vague answer,'' Khanmented, holding back a sigh with the drink in his hand. He gulped down the booze and remained still for a second before standing up.


    "I''ll consider the offer, sir," Khan promised, looking straight at Mister Cirvags until the man finally broke into a reaction, which turned out to be a simple nod.


    Khan headed for the office''s exit but stopped at its edge. A doubt had risen into his mind, and he turned to voice it. "Sir, was this a favor?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "No," Mister Cirvags said without adding anything. He kept drinking, uncaring that Khan was still looking at him.


    Khan gave up on the matter and returned to the elevator room, carrying the device with him. The lift brought him to the roof, where the military ride awaited him.


    The driver came out to perform a military salute, but Khan almost ignored the gesture to get inside the car. He had managed to remain calm during thest part of the conversation, but his mana boiled stronger than ever once privacy arrived, especially since the device was in his hands.


    ''Will I finally get some answers?'' Khan thought, struggling to believe a simr moment had arrived. Still, the ringing of his phone disturbed him, and drawing it put him before a crossroad.


    The screen showed a name Khan had expected to appear, but the timing couldn''t have been worse. Madam Solodrey was calling him, but the other device had Nak-rted information. Postponing the conversation wouldn''t be the end of the world, but Mister Cirvags'' scoldings had gotten under his skin.


    ''Am I using my desperation to my advantage?'' Khan wondered. ''Or is it controlling me?''


    Khan had his ringing phone in his left hand and the device in his right. He only had to choose what to prioritize, and either option wouldn''t lead tosting consequences. Yet, that simple decision gained a deeper meaning in his mind.


    The issue ofpromising himself returned. The device symbolized Khan''s ultimate goal and willingness to sacrifice everything else in his life.


    Instead, the left embodied Khan''s happiness and a future that could go beyond what his desperation had left him capable of imagining. It represented something he didn''t want to lose, making him wish to be better.


    Seconds flowed while Khan remained in that stalemate. Compromising himself was easy when the Nak were involved, but Monica was the only topic that could make him hesitate. That wait continued until another ring resounded, pushing him toward one of the two paths.


    "Madam Solodrey," Khan sighed, mentally exhausted, while holding the phone to his ear.


    "Captain," Madam Solodrey''s voice came out of the phone. "Master Amelia suggested you could be free at this time. Was she correct?"


    "I didn''t expect such politeness from you, ma''am," Khan joked. "It must be my lucky day."


    "Tasteless as always," Madam Solodrey scoffed. "You make praising you so difficult."


    "It is my understanding that the Solodrey family appreciated my work," Khan eximed, switching to a more serious tone.


    "It is appreciated," Madam Solodrey confirmed. "The Thilku have yet to hand over precise requirements, but the prospects seem to involve a quarter of a."


    "That must be some lucrative business," Khanmented.


    "Indeed," Madam Solodrey agreed. "I took the liberty of involving the descendants who vouched for you and their families in the deal. Of course, they''ll get lower shares."


    That news took Khan by surprise. Lucian and the other descendants had mentioned their interest in business opportunities, but Khan had obviously prioritized the Solodrey family. Still, Madam Solodrey had taken care of that part for him.


    "Thank you, ma''am," Khan couldn''t help but say.


    "I initially nned to leave something for you," Madam Solodrey continued, "But your debt is too big, and my family will still shoulder the investment risk, so I cut it out."


    "You almost had me, ma''am," Khan chuckled.


    "Is the reward I sent you not enough?" Madam Solodrey asked. "My dear daughter is worth far more than a, even after getting tainted by a mutt."


    "I don''t appreciate how you talk about Monica," Khan warned. "She is not a currency."


    "You wanted my daughter," Madam Solodrey dered, "You got her, along with all the obligations and customs proper of her status. I hope you are not regretting it now, Captain."


    "Never," Khan promptly uttered. "Still, I must ask you to use her looks for me only, ma''am. I''ll start requesting my presence whenever she has to close a deal otherwise."


    That was Madam Solodrey''s time to be surprised. Khan''s statement had been strangely collected and reasonable. He even epted to be tricked if necessary.


    Nevertheless, Madam Solodrey''s education didn''t allow her to hint at her surprise, and her reply came after a single silent second. "You should focus on today''s date. I expect the entire Harbor to see a happy couple."


    "The Harbor will see more than that," Khan promised. "I might break some of your rules. You can''t expect a mutt like me to behave with your enchanting daughter at my side."


    "Tasteless," Madam Solodrey sighed. "I wonder where I went wrong with my dear daughter."


    "I have a few guesses of my own, ma''am," Khan revealed.


    "Be silent," Madam Solodreyined. "I''ll close an eye toward some misbehavior, but I''d better not find something indecent on thework."


    "That''s," Khan hesitated, surprised that Madam Solodrey had given up on the matter. "I''d never dishonor your daughter, ma''am."


    "You already did, Captain," Madam Solodrey sighed. "At least you are shaping up to be worthy of putting a real ring on her finger. My husband is harder to convince but won''t object if the engagement is profitable."


    "Wait," Khan gasped. "Did the Solodrey family decide something?"


    "No," Madam Solodrey denied, "So stop asking. Focus on preparing my daughter for Neuria. Her performance will be seen as your responsibility."


    ''So, she is going there,'' Khan thought before making a promise. "You can count on me, ma''am."


    "Also," Madam Solodrey added, "You can drop the ma''am in private. If you wish to, you can even use my name."


    "I''ll remember that," Khan eximed, amazed that something simr was happening, "Anastasia."


    "Remember," Madam Solodrey repeated. "Only in private. Now, don''t make my daughter wait."


    ****


    Author''s notes: I hope you like the new cover!

 Chapter 579 Fusion

    Dawn had barely arrived, but the Harbor had already awakened, especially around the second district. Headmistress Holwen''s security measures maintained order in that dome, but Khan could spot many onlookers and a few crowds in the areas around it.


    The event was far from surprising, and Khan couldn''t find the strength to care after everything that had happened that morning. Mister Cirvags and Madam Solodrey had filled his mind with doubts and thoughts which couldn''t disappear in a single flight.


    Returning to the building increased those thoughts. Khannded and left his ride only to see two figures crossing the sidewalk to approach him. Master Amelia had arrived, and Andrew was with her.


    "Wee back, sir," Andrew announced with his impably firm stance. "I hope your mission was a sess, sir."


    "Thank you, Andrew," Khan nodded at the soldier. "Did Francis cause any problem?"


    "No, sir," Andrew revealed. "Mister Alstair continued working in the office and sparring with me. He also refused to use the break you scheduled for him."


    "That''s good to hear," Khan nodded, ncing at Master Amelia. "Is there something you wanted to tell me?"


    "Miss Monica is almost ready to head down," Master Amelia eximed, pulling out a small screen from behind her back. "I have the schedule for the date here, Captain."


    "Let me see," Khan sighed, taking the screen and seeing a huge list paired with timestamps and more. The Solodrey family wanted him to spend the entire day outside, which wasn''t an issue, but the number of activities was too high.


    "This is a job," Khan pointed out, "Not a date."


    "It is the schedule that would give the most exposure," Master Amelia exined.


    "We''ll do the shopping district," Khan stated, browsing through the list again, "The restaurant, Pandora, and another walk. You can keep the rest for the following dates."


    Khan returned the device to Master Amelia before stepping forward, but thetter couldn''t let the matter go. She had already been unable to stop him yesterday, and history couldn''t repeat itself.


    "Captain Khan!" Master Amelia called, raising her voice to force Khan to turn. "The Solodrey family prepared this schedule. You must follow it."


    "Must?" Khan voiced, cordiality disappearing from his face. "Do you know who you are talking to?"


    Master Amelia couldn''t help but feel some regret at the coldness that flowed in her direction. Something was wrong with Khan, and she had be his target due to her words.


    Khan could ept Mister Cirvags'' scolding and cryptic behavior since he outssed him in experience, status, and power. He was also willing topromise with Madam Solodrey since she was important to Monica and her happiness.


    However, Master Amelia was only a third-level warrior. Her position in the Solodrey family was valuable, but Khan was beyond her. He couldn''t ept her orders, especially if he didn''t agree with them. It would be an insult to his efforts to do that.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t intend to sound so intense, but his morning had been far from good, and Master Amelia paid the price. She was an experienced warrior who trained descendants for a living, so experiencing the entirety of Khan''s hard stance sent a chill down her spine.


    "I will take Monica out on my terms," Khan continued. "As for you, I believe the Solodrey family ordered you to keep an eye on us."


    Master Amelia gulped, but an answer eventually escaped her mouth. "It is customary to have an escort."


    "That''s not going to happen," Khan stated, his eyes lighting up when he recalled that Andrew was still there. "Andrew, take Master Amelia out on a date."


    "Yes, sir," Andrew immediately agreed.


    "Captain, this is," Master Amelia tried toin, but Khan interrupted her.


    "This is an order," Khan firmly exined, "For both of you."


    The unreasonable nature of the request left Master Amelia unable to bargain or reply. She wasn''t even working for Khan, but his orders sounded impossible to refuse in that situation and with his stern tone.


    Khan lost interest in the matter and headed for his building, entering it to use one of the elevators. His return to the t didn''t go unnoticed, and a shout soon weed him.


    "One moment!" Monica shouted from deep inside the t. "I''m not ready yet."


    Khan ignored the warning and crossed the elevator area and living room to dive into a corridor. He found Monica in a bathroom near their bedroom, adjusting her hair before a mirror.


    "I told you I wasn''t ready," Monicained when she noticed Khan standing at the bathroom''s entrance.


    "You look ready to me," Khanmented. Monica didn''t opt for anything too elegant. She was wearing a white turtleneck sweater and a new skirt, which brought light to Khan''s eyes.


    "Don''t make that face," Monica pouted, leaving the mirror to reach Khan and wrap her arms around his waist. "We have a date."


    "I wouldn''t miss it for anything in the world," Khan promised, lowering his head to search for Monica''s mouth.


    A long kiss unfolded, and a short one followed, creating an intimate mood that turned Monica''s words into whispers. "Do you really want to take me out?"


    "I do," Khan confirmed, inebriated by Monica''s scent. "How else would I see you all radiant and happy?"


    "Silver tongue," Monica scolded from behind her smile. "I wanted this new skirt to be a surprise."


    "Consider me surprised," Khan chuckled, "And tempted."


    "Stick to tempted until we get back," Monica giggled, reaching for Khan''s lips again.


    The kiss was short, and Monica forced herself to let go of Khan afterward. The mood was too right to risk remaining immersed in that intimacy.


    "Do I need to change?" Khan wondered, heading for a bedroom.


    "I like you in uniform," Monica teased, strolling behind Khan. "After all, you are my noble Captain."


    "I''ll just drop this then," Khan eximed, lifting Mister Cirvags'' device to show it to Monica before throwing it on the bed.


    "Right," Monica recalled, eyeing the device. "What''s that? How did the meeting go?"


    "Apparently," Khan sighed, trying to find the best way to describe his morning. "The Thilku are fighting second- and first-generation Tainted animals. It might be Nak-rted."


    "Wait a moment," Monica gasped, abandoning the yful mood to get serious. "How reliable is this information?"


    "I don''t know," Khan said, turning to shrug his shoulders. "I barely looked at the reports."


    Monica froze before Khan''s casual behavior. She knew how deeply the nightmares affected him. Her heavy sleep didn''t make her ignore the sweat covering Khan whenever he woke up. That wasn''t a topic she could take lightly or ignore.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Let''s postpone the date," Monica eventually suggested. "You need to look at the reports and-."


    Monica couldn''t finish her suggestion since two fingers suddenly trapped her nose. Khan had only needed a step to get before her, and that gesture generated an instinctive pout.


    "Khan," Monicained, but Khan didn''t let her nose go. He shook his head to make her give up, and solemn words soon followed.


    "I will do terrible things to achieve my goals," Khan announced. "Some I''ve already done. Now I have a choice, so I want to prioritize what makes me happy."


    "But," Monica whined pleadingly, "Your nightmares. You are in pain."


    "I''m always in pain," Khan uttered, "And I''ll be for a long time. One day won''t change that."


    Monica snapped, pping the hand on her nose to free herself. Thatpliance made her livid. It almost sounded like Khan was ready to spend the rest of his life in that condition, but she lost the chance to voice her anger since he took her head in his arms.


    "I also have to deal with so much stuff," Khan cursed. "The higher I go, the more influential my superiors get. Ipromise andpromise to search for freedom that never arrives."


    Monica cried in anger, but Khan''s chest suppressed her voice. She was ready to punch his torso, but the topic of the conversation made her hold back and stomp her feet to vent.


    "But you know what I managed to get?" Khan continued, lowering his head to immerse his face in Monica''s hair. "You."


    Monica wanted to be angry from the bottom of her heart, but her body rxed. She gave up trying to oppose Khan. Her very being knew he had won that discussion.


    Khan rxed his hug and leaned backward to peek at Monica, only to see an angry face. His smile melted that expression, and Monica heaved a sigh, resting her head on his chest again.


    "You aren''t doing this for me, right?" Monica muttered.


    "Being a good boyfriend might cleanse me a bit," Khan revealed. "You know, if I make you happy, I might be worthy of happiness myself."


    Monica retracted her head to re at Khan. She didn''t like that statement, but the context made it understandable. That was a rough period for Khan, especially with possible clues about the Nak standing right beside him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You need to change," Monicamented, pointing at a wet spot on Khan''s uniform. "Don''t do it in front of me. I''d jump on you right now."


    "Alright," Khan snickered, leaving Monica to head toward the door.


    "And," Monica continued, making Khan nce at her, "You always make me happy, even when I cry. I''ll be mad for real if you ever doubt that again."


    "Thank you," Khan whispered, and an exchange of loving smiles happened before he felt forced to run away. The bed would be too tempting otherwise.


    Only the upper part of the uniform had a spot, and Khan wore a clean one in a few seconds. Then, he found Monica waiting for him in the living room, and she stretched her hand toward him, waiting for his fingers to arrive.


    "You know," Khan announced, taking Monica''s hand. "Your mother called."


    "Oh!" Monica gasped, using her free hand to cling to Khan''s elbow. "What did she say?"


    "She actually congratted me," Khan revealed. "She also confirmed that you will take over the new business."


    "I''ll be in your care then," Monica giggled as the two entered the elevator.


    "She said that too," Khan recalled. "Oh, she gave me permission to call her Anastasia in private."


    "Is she finally giving up?" Monica couldn''t help but raise her voice.


    "She did mention our engagement, now that I think about it," Khan vaguely said.


    "What?!" Monica cried, uncaring that the elevator had opened.


    "But she added that I have to convince your father first," Khan continued, pretending not to notice how worked up Monica got.


    "Why are you telling me this now?!" Monica scolded, wary of the iing exit.


    "It''s been a while since I could tease you in public," Khanughed. "I missed this."


    "Don''t tease me about our engagement!" Monicained, but the couple eventually left the building, forcing her to wear a fake smile.


    "This date will be so fun," Khan snickered, hisugh growing louder when Monica pinched his side in an attempt to make him stop.


    Master Amelia had gotten everything ready, so Khan and Monica only had to follow their new schedule.


    A car picked Khan and Monica up and drove them to the shopping district, remaining on the street to increase their exposure. The vehicle had transparent windows, so any passerby could notice them and start rumors.


    The district saw Monica smiling all the time while Khan brought her from shop to shop. She tried every piece of clothes she could get her hands on, and Khan soon suffered from a simr fate, but the process was the very opposite of painful.


    A lunch in a rtively crowded restaurant followed, ending with a long, romantic walk in another district. Madam Solodrey''s approval made the couple engage in public intimacy, which never exceeded short kisses or loving hugs.


    The date ended in one of Pandora''s shops to ensure Khan and Monica showed themselves to the Harbor''s wealthy poption. They only exchanged salutes with them, but that was enough. They could take the rest of the night for themselves, drinking and eating in the rtive privacy of the ce.


    The return home was far from peaceful. Mister Cirvags had already interrupted the couple once, and the date had further dyed the inevitable. Entering the t put an end to any self-restraint, leading to a series of wild hours.


    Exhausting the wildness didn''t mark the end of that day. Khan and Monica still had work to do and got into it without bothering to put back their clothes.


    Monicay belly down on the bed with a pillow supporting her chest. Her eyes were on the holograms released by her phone, which contained many pieces of ssified information she wasn''t supposed to have.


    Khan obviously was the source of that info. He didn''t steal anything from his office since his memory was enough. He had studied nothing but Thilku in the past months, so creating a summary about Neuria barely took an hour.


    As for Khan, hey belly up at Monica''s side, wielding Mister Cirvags'' device and going through its information. Sometimes his hand would caress Monica''s back, but his attention on the reports never wavered.


    The device''s reports used heavy scientifguage that Khan struggled to understand. He wasn''t qualified to read that information but did his best to clear his most ring doubts. The matter simply took longer due to that issue.


    Khan''s first and most important doubt involved the first- and second-generation Tainted animals. He had almost believed a Nak had been on Cegnore recently, but the reality was far different.


    After rereading the same scientific piece four times, Khan sort of understood that the infection was to me for those Tainted animals. It seemed that a virus had mutated when the Nak attacked the, turning it into an illness that spread their original mana.


    For biological reasons Khan couldn''t understand, the original mutation didn''t lose intensity even after multiple generations. Cegnore''s current Tainted animals were only distant offspring of the first infected specimens, but they retained those traits without watering them down.


    Another doubt involved the switching sides Mister Cirvags mentioned. It didn''t make sense for the Thilku to start working for the enemies. After all, humankind had Tainted humans too, and they could serve the Global Army without a problem.


    The answer to that doubt turned out to be interesting. The Thilku and human teams had dealt with more than Tainted beasts on Cegnore. At times, they captured actual intelligent creatures, which all reported the same symptoms.


    ''Delirium, hallucinations, violent mood swings,'' Khan read on the device. ''Don''t tell me it''s because of the nightmares.''


    That finding stirred up Khan''s curiosity and dark feelings. Professor Parver had given a clue, but Cegnore seemed to offer the possibility of testing it out. If Khan could get face-to-face with one of those intelligent creatures, he might get more answers about the Nak.


    ''This is good,'' Khan concluded, ''Too good to refuse.''


    Khan put down the device and half-slid to his right toy his head on Monica''s back. She peeked at him only to find him lost in his thoughts and with his arms crossed while his mind reviewed what he knew.


    ''The Thilku are strong,'' Khan considered. ''They wouldn''t lose against random Tainted animals. It must be the mutations.''


    Khan reached for his head and tore away a hair to inspect it. The transformation had made him stronger than humans, so the animals, Thilku, and natives on Cegnore probably suffered from a simr condition. Their healthy peers simply weren''t their match.


    ''Though, this still smells,'' Khan wondered. ''I thought the Nak were a secret topic. I can''t believe I''m getting ess to something so close so easily.''


    Khan wasn''t disregarding what ordinary soldiers could achieve in the same years. Getting the mission on Cegnore had felt too easy for him, but others would need to spend an entire decade or longer to be granted that honor.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s paranoia didn''t let him take the issue lightly. He kept looking for exnations, and only one guess sounded reasonable.


    ''Maybe it''s because of the Empire,'' Khan considered. ''The Global Army can''t hide this since it''s in enemy territory.''


    The Thilku could have different policies about the Nak, which created that opportunity. That line of thought felt too optimistic, but Khan could only hope it was true since his mind was pretty much made.


    ''I need to get stronger,'' Khan promptly thought once the decision arrived. He finally returned to reality, feeling the urge to test an idea, but his surroundings were problematic.


    "Stay still for a second," Khan requested, throwing the device on Monica''s side before almost lying over her.


    "What are you doing?" Monica giggled as Khan made himselffortable on her back.


    "Shielding you," Khan exined. "This shouldn''t be dangerous, but we can''t be too careful."


    "Khan?!" Monica called in a serious tone after realizing that he wasn''t ying around.


    "You''d throw a tantrum if I asked to remain alone for this," Khan dered. "So, stay put."


    Monica wanted toin, but Khan was right. Having him as a human shield was the bestpromise she would ever get, so she limited herself to peek past her shoulder and his head.


    ''Something simple,'' Khan thought, taking a deep breath before lifting his left hand. He stretched two fingers, and a tinge of mana appeared on their tips.


    The mana grew darker and denser under Khan''s control and maniption. It almost gained liquid properties as he continued to umte it before performing a slow descending gesture.


    Khan traced the air, creating a small line of mana that hovered above him. That energy was bound to disperse in seconds, but a silent request escaped his brain and forced the symphony to work with him.


    The synthetic mana gathered around the hovering purple-red line, increasing its stability and giving Khan more time. He lifted his hand again, and a faint energy trail escaped his fingers before he used them to transform his previous creation into an odd cross.


    The two energy trails were almost opposite in terms of nature and texture. One was bright and unstable, while the other was darker and denser. They seemed to belong to different elements and spells, but their contact generated a joint reaction.


    The unstable line touched the dense energy, spreading its nature. The darker mana grew wilder, exploding into a sizzling re that only stretched for a few centimeters. Khan never came close to being in danger, and his eyebrows arched in interest at that result.


    Monica briefly stared at the faint remaining smoke before slipping out from under Khan to get a better view. All the traces of that experiment had vanished by then, which prompted her question. "What did you do?"


    "I''m not sure," Khan admitted, his eyes inspecting shades only he could see. "I think I fused the Thilku runes with the Niqols arts."

 Chapter 580 Theory

    Monica didn''t know what to say. Only a few people in the world could match her confidence in Khan and his value, but he still managed to surprise her.


    "Aren''t the Thilku symbols technology?" Monica questioned, focusing on Khan''s seemingly lost face. "I thought you were only learning to read them."


    "I''m not that useless at technology," Khan scoffed, crossing his arms while his eyes remained on the symphony. "I''m just not interested in it."


    Monica frowned,pletely slipping from under Khan to sit at his side. He was terrible at technology, so that exnation didn''t make sense to her.


    The traces of Khan''s experiment left the symphony, allowing him to divert his gaze. Monica''s inquisitive look immediately attracted his attention, and the confusion and curiosity conveyed by her mana made him jump out of bed.


    "Alright," Khan announced, retrieving his phone to activate holograms. A Thilku rune soon appeared between Monica and him, bing bigger enough to highlight every line.


    "This symbol has no singr meaning, right?" Khan exined, moving his hand over the hologram to add details. "Trace this line, and you get a function. Trance this one, and you get another. Trace a few of them, and you can activate aplicated effect."


    "This much I know," Monica nodded, adjusting her position on the bed and waving her phone at Khan. "You wrote it for me."


    "Yes," Khan uttered, "But the foundation is a bit deeper. The Thilku use tubes of various materials and shapes to get each line to do what they want. The mana doesn''t change on its own."


    "It''s normal," Monicamented. "The machine dictates the purpose, not the fuel."


    "Exactly," Khan eximed, "But I know how to give mana purpose. The Niqols taught me that."


    Understanding dawned upon Monica. She knew Khan''s skillset, and that exnation allowed her to apply it to the current situation. Khan had basically reced technology with alien arts.


    "Are you trying to do what you witnessed with the Tors?" Monica wondered.


    "No, the Tors are too specific," Khan shook his head, pacing alongside the bed''s edge. "A human brain can''t keep track of such minute details. I mean, I can''t, and it doesn''t sound reasonable to aim at that."


    "But?" Monica voiced, knowing that Khan had more to say.


    "But these runes are a good middle ground," Khan continued, stopping to point at the holograms. "Theoretically, their applications are endless since I can make them do anything I want."


    Monica lost herself in Khan''s excited expression. He resembled a child who had just gotten a new toy. Even Khan didn''t realize how happy he was studying alien arts, but Monica clearly saw that.


    Monica didn''t only watch. Hunches assaulted her mind, almost transforming into proper thoughts. That achievement was extraordinary, but Khan paid it no heed, and Monica couldn''t help but feel in awe.


    Yet, darker thoughts also joined that feeling. Worry and fear showed their presence in Monica''s mind. Khan was straying further away from humankind, and nothing could stop that process.


    Monica didn''t want to either, but her worries came from her unreasonable side. She feared the possibility of losing Khan, and regret appeared when she realized what was going through her mind. There was no hiding that reaction from him.


    As Monica had expected, Khan''s face snapped toward her. He didn''t say anything, but she still wore an apologetic expression. She didn''t want emotions she had no control of to worry him.


    "It''s nothing," Monica stated before Khan could get the wrong idea. "You are getting less human by the day. I got worried you might leave me behind."


    Khan realized what had happened. He nced at the hologram and scratched his head, but no solution appeared. He understood Monica''s worries but couldn''tprehend them. Khan simply saw no difference between humans and aliens.


    "Don''t worry," Monica reassured, hugging a pillow to squeeze it on her chest. "I worry about a lot of stuff for no reason. There is nothing you can do about it."


    "I disagree," Khan said, climbing on the bed to reach Monica''s face. "I can find a way to reassure you whenever you worry."


    "Won''t I be too human for you?" Monica wondered, unleashing her cute tone.


    "I''m the only one who can handle that temper of yours," Khan chuckled, leaning forward to kiss Monica. She lost herself in the gesture, but the following p on her butt made her gasp and retract her head.


    "And that will never be too human for me," Khan continued, happy to have taken Monica by surprise.


    "Stupid," Monicained, but traces of a smile appeared on her face. "Return to your exnation already."


    Khan snickered butplied, leaving the bed to return before the holograms. He recalled where his exnation had stopped, so he resumed from that point.


    "I still don''t have a use for them," Khan revealed, nodding at the holograms. "I''m not good enough to do much with them either, so I don''t know."


    "You could create some protection," Monica pointed out. "We both know you need that."


    "That could work," Khan agreed. "I could write a rune on my abdomen or something at some point."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Anything that stops you from getting hurt," Monica voiced.


    "I get it," Khan gave up. "I''ll think about that. I still need months of study and practice to get close to something like that."


    "As if you won''t spend months studying and practicing," Monica scoffed. "I know my noble Captain through and through."


    "That you do," Khan confirmed, sighing to sit at the bed''s edge. He moved the phone slightly away to adjust the holograms to his new position, and Monica quickly crawled behind him to hug his back.


    "What is it?" Monica whispered in Khan''s ear, her arms clinging to his torso.


    "I''m just thinking," Khan revealed. "I know far more than the Thilku runes, but it''s hard to use everything I learned."


    "Why is that?" Monica wondered.


    "Well," Khan said, lifting both hands to show them to Monica. "The Nele arts work through requests. I must be as gentle and respectful as the first time I kissed you to talk to the mana."


    Synthetic mana flowed toward Khan''s right palm, creating a soft gust of wind that blew in Monica''s face. Her curls moved a bit, making her experience the kindness of those arts.


    "Our first kiss was far from gentle," Monica pointed out, "Or respectful."


    "That," Khan eximed, suddenly recalling what had happened on Milia 222. "I used a bad example, but you get my point."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I do," Monica confirmed.


    "Instead," Khan continued, releasing mana from his left hand, "The Niqols arts are about asserting control through emotions. They have a domineering stance toward the environment, and their spells rely on that."


    The mana in Khan''s left hand umted in his palm, creating a small dark sphere that spun slowly. Even Monica could see the high amount of energy contained in the glowing item, stating its stark difference from the previous demonstration.


    "They have opposite theories," Khan added. "I''ve wanted to fuse them for some time already, but I don''t know how."


    The glowing sphere spun for a few more seconds before dispersing. Khan lost himself in his thoughts, and Monica pulled him on her abdomen, spreading her legs to make room for him.


    "I''m not sure I can use the Niqols spells either," Khan admitted. "Getting started with the Nele arts was easier now that I think about it."


    "How do the Niqols'' spells work?" Monica asked.


    "You influence your surroundings," Khan exined, "Altering the mana until it works as part of your spell. You basically gain more range."


    "Isn''t that the same with the Nele arts?" Monica wondered. "You just ask instead of taking."


    "I guess that''s the issue," Khan sighed. "The oue is simr, but the theory is conflicting. Besides, influencing the environment to that level is hard."


    "Don''t you do that on a daily basis?" Monicaughed.


    "What do you mean?" Khan asked, lifting his eyes to look at the smiling face above him.


    "Everyone understands when you are angry," Monica revealed. "You make the temperature drop with a look."


    "That only generates a subconscious reaction," Khan disregarded the statement. "Only a few people can understand what is happening to them."


    "I think everyone understands that," Monica insisted. "Many do, even when you aren''t trying to scare them."


    "How can you be sure of that?" Khan asked.


    "Because you are at your sexiest when you get all bossy," Monica giggled, slightly lowering her head toward Khan. "I could picture you leading the Solodrey family since the issue with Francis."


    Khan knew that something had changed inside Monica after that event. He was also aware of the effects his firm stances spread through the environment. Khan could see the symphony in the end. He couldn''t possibly miss that.


    However, except when Khan did that on purpose, he had always connected his ability to affect the environment to his element. In his mind, his mana was so intense and violent that the symphony backed off in its presence.


    ''Maybe I should give the Niqols spells another try,'' Khan considered. ''I might be good enough now.''


    "Also," Monica added when she saw that thoughts had stolen Khan''s attention. "You can simultaneously be the kindest and most domineering with me. Mana can''t be moreplicated than my temper."

 Chapter 581 Tests

    The break given by Ambassador Abores allowed Khan to rx and focus on his situation. He didn''t only have Mister Cirvags'' offer to consider. The conversation with Monica had also opened a new path that required tests.


    The first issue was easy to clear once Khan took the time to consider it properly. Mister Cirvags'' offer would split him from Ambassador Abores, solving the internal conflict caused by Neuria''s events.


    Moreover, the mission in Cegnore involved Khan''s main goal. It could bring new leads on his search for the Nak. Even if Mister Cirvags was untrustworthy, Khan couldn''t ignore that opportunity.


    epting Mister Cirvags'' offer pushed Khan''s thoughts to the next problem. Cegnore was a battlefield that the Thilku struggled to dominate. He needed to get stronger to affect that environment.


    That new problem was connected to the conversation with Monica, and Khan only knew one way to tackle it. As the weekend approached, he reserved one afternoon to spend that time in a training hall.


    Due to the nature of the training session, Khan opted for one of the best halls in the Harbor. He even used thework to help with that choice, and entering it cleared most of his worries.


    The training hall was vast, with chaos-resistant materials reinforcing its surfaces. The cecked stalls, and its menus offered a broader set of fighting programs. Khan could also customize the metal puppets if needed, but that option was useless now.


    ''Did I really miss something?'' Khan wondered, removing the upper part of his uniform and shoes to prepare for the training session.


    The conversation with Monica broadened Khan''s perspective, but that would be pointless if he couldn''t trante it into improvements. Still, there was value in her words, making tests necessary.


    ''I might be too detached from the human''s perspective,'' Khan admitted, ''But that doesn''t make me wrong.''


    Khan decided to tackle the issue step by step, analyzing his skillset to check whether his alien knowledge had made him miss aspects of his growth. He ignored his martial arts for now, but his spells earned the entirety of his attention.


    The spherical version of the Wave spell expanded from Khan''s body as soon as he mustered his mana. The attack stretched uniformly in every direction, affecting the symphony in the process.


    The reinforced floor endured the attack, and Khan didn''t hesitate to stretch his right arm once it was over. The conical version of the Wave spell left his palm, sending its destructive influence on the symphony before dispersing.


    Khan noted down every detail but couldn''t find anything valuable. He had mastered that spell long ago, and the symphony had never reacted differently to its power.


    The only noticeable difference was in Khan''s mind. His spell required far more concentration to work properly during his first attempts. That wasn''t necessary anymore, but Khan linked it to the mastery achieved over the years.


    The chaos ws, chaos spear, and needles showed simr results. Khan could cast them without thinking too much about the necessary emotions and images. He had long since mastered those spells, so summoning them had almost be as easy as breathing.


    ''This is nothing special,'' Khan thought, watching his needles disperse. ''I did the same with my martial arts, and the process isn''t exclusive to me. That''s just how training works.''


    Testing those spells didn''t convince Khan, but the training session was far from over. He had expected a simr result from his older techniques since the time spent with them could justify any improvement. Instead, his newer ones had a chance to show peculiarities.


    Khan pondered about casting the cloud spell before rethinking that idea. That creature embodied the chaos element, and he had already studied its nature. He knew what his mana harbored.


    The [Blood Shield] also belonged to the old set of spells. Khan watched the clotting of the blood vessels in his hand before retracting the technique. Summoning that protection had be second nature to him. He couldn''t learn anything from it.


    However, the other defensive technique didn''t share that umted experience. Khan opened his mouth to release a clicking growl that sent violent res of mana in every direction. The spell protected him from every angle, but dispersing that mana brought Khan back to the starting point.


    ''This one required some training,'' Khan thought, studying his surroundings, ''But nothing much after that. It''s the same as the other spells. It became easier to cast through training.''


    Khan had only one test left, so he tinkered with the menus to make a circr target appear on a distant wall. He lifted his right hand, using his thumb and forefinger to create a U-shaped gesture, and his eyes closed to let him focus on his emotions.


    The disgust experienced during the many politicalpromises invaded Khan, adding flexibility to the mana that left his fingers. Moreover, the scene of Amox using his spell filled his vision, giving him the perfect representation of what he wanted to cast.


    A dense but flexible thread connected Khan''s thumb to his forefinger, and he pinched it with his free hand to pull it toward his chest. His eyes opened at that point, and he aimed the attack at the distant target before releasing his mana.


    The spell made no sound, but a short explosion unfolded on the target, covering it in the chaos element''s iconic purple-red color. Khan didn''t hit its exact center, but the released power was satisfactory. He only had to work on his aim.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Nevertheless, Khan didn''t focus on his performance. His attention was on his execution since he wanted to find peculiarities or clues that might hint at his growth. It felt easy to cast the spell, but that couldn''t convince Khan.


    ''Did I always have it easy?'' Khan wondered. ''I spent some time mastering this spell, but was it easier than the previous?''


    Khan scratched his head but couldn''t find a straight answer. He recalled his initial struggles with his spells, but that was the truth with his new one too. It was hard to spot improvements when he used training sessions as his foundation.


    ''This is pointless,'' Khan eventually sighed, sitting on the floor to review his issue. ''How is studying my spells going to help with alien arts?''


    The conversation with Monica resounded in Khan''s mind while he lost himself in his thoughts. Any project with the Thilku runes would require more training, while he was already good at the Nele and Niqols arts. Fusing them appeared impossible.


    ''Kind and domineering at the same time,'' Khan cursed. ''This isn''t sex. How am I supposed to do that with mana?''


    No matter how much Khan thought about the issue, conclusions failed to arrive. That wouldn''t be surprising to any expert. After all, fusing different alien arts wasn''t amon practice. Yet, Khan couldn''t give up so easily, especially since he had already seeded in another field.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''I guess I''m notparing them on the same field,'' Khan realized. ''I can use Nele techniques but not Niqols spells. I can''t fuse anything if I''m stuck at the basics.''


    Khan was underestimating himself. Truth be told, his mastery over the Niqols arts was far superior. Most of his skillset relied on them. He had only failed to rely on their more advanced theories.


    ''Is it really easy for me to affect the environment?'' Khan wondered before testing that theory. He had no shortage of bad thoughts and memories, so his mind instantly grew cold.


    Khan''s mana echoed his mindset, which affected the symphony and changed its shades. The temperature dropped as tension spread through the hall. It almost seemed that the air was ready to explode.


    ''Isn''t this just my mana?'' Khan considered. ''The chaos element wouldn''t be so problematic otherwise.''


    Khan tried not to be delusional. He knew how stubborn he could get, but trusting Monica''s suggestion wasn''t easy. Khan didn''t question her judgment, but her senses weren''t good enough to be a clue.


    ''Maybe I should try it out and see what happens,'' Khan eventually concluded. ''I''m getting nowhere with this anyway.''


    Khan''s expertise had grown leagues beyond what it was on Nitis. He had reached the point when even the Thilku saw him as a shaman. Studying his memories added a newyer of understanding, but nothing he didn''t already consider.


    Still, Khan couldn''t disregard Monica''s words before doing everything in his power to test them. He quickly devised a simple training session and immediately put it into practice.


    The Niqols'' spells demanded control over the environment. The symphony had to gain a specific purpose and shape to echo the intended effects, which required inhuman ability in the maniption field.


    For the first attempt, Khan didn''t jump into anythingplicated. He closed his eyes and focused on the theory behind the cloud spell. The chaos element was hard to control, so he isted its fundamental nature to have an easier time affecting the environment.


    A clicking cry soon filled Khan''s mind, and he kept it there to let his mana handle the rest. The chaos element initially sent the symphony running, but Khan didn''t alter his presence and continued to convey those violent meanings.


    Slowly, Khan''s presence began to affect the synthetic mana. The changes were greater in his surroundings, but the distant areas also started to morph to echo his element''s basic instincts.


    Intense urges invaded Khan while he forced the clicking growl to cry louder. He usually never let it fill his mind for so long, and his body threatened to slip out of his control under that exposure. Yet, he kept going until his limits arrived.


    When Khan felt about to lose it, he opened his mouth and released his mana to vent those violent emotions. The symphony was ready to receive it, and the synthetic mana transformed, imitating the chaos element''s nature.


    Suddenly, a purple-red color filled the entire hall, creating gales that ran in every direction. Khan sat at the center of that storm, screaming a clicking growl that deepened the effects of his mana.


    The symphony calmed down only after it exhausted the traces of Khan''s influence. Khan also rxed at that point, but his eyes widened in surprise when he inspected his surroundings.


    The storm didn''t reach the ceiling or walls, but the floor was a different matter. Cracks had appeared on that smooth surface, lifting chunks of metal at times. Khan saw spikes and holes created by his mana''s random and wild movement, and a curse didn''t hesitate to resound in his mind.

 Chapter 582 Applications

    "How did this happen again?" Headmistress Holwen cursed, struggling to believe the scene stretching from her position.


    "Training halls hate me, ma''am," Khan shook his head, standing beside the Headmistress while also inspecting the scene.


    The training hall was mostly fine, but a good chunk of the floor needed to be reced. The metal surface had gained many holes and spikes. It had bent in multiple spots, and cracks gued the ce. The Headmistress struggled to find a single area retaining its original smoothness.


    "Fourth-level warriors would find it hard to cause this damage," Headmistress Holwenined, ring at Khan. "What were you even doing?"


    "I was trying something new," Khan revealed. "I don''t know whether to consider this a sess."


    "I consider it a pain," Headmistress Holwen snorted, raising her voice. "This is a state-of-the-art training hall! Do you know how expensive the reparations will be?"


    "I have no idea, ma''am," Khan admitted, responding to the re with a shameless smile. "Though I''m d I won''t have to pay for them."


    "Do you think this is a joke, Captain?" Headmistress Holwen unleashed her scolding tone, which spread her cold pressure in her surroundings.


    "I don''t, ma''am," Khan replied. "However, I feel I''m not to me. I did the appropriate research before choosing this training hall."


    "How do you exin this, then?" Headmistress Holwen shouted, pointing at the broken patch of floor.


    "The training hall wasn''t advertised properly?" Khan guessed.


    "You!" Headmistress Holwen scoffed. "Should I ban you from the training halls, Captain? Is that what you want?"


    "But, ma''am," Khan voiced, "I took the necessary precautions this time. You ban me from the training halls, and I''m forced to train elsewhere."


    Headmistress Holwen couldn''t believe she was having that discussion again. She also hated the fact that Khan was right. He had chosen the best training hall in the Harbor, but the ce had betrayed him.


    The damage inflicted by Khan was actually surprising. The Headmistress could only me the chaos element for that oue, and even that was pushing it. Still, she knew an entire block would crumble if Khan pulled off something simr outside a training hall.


    "Just," Headmistress Holwen sighed, retracting her re, "Just be more careful. I can''t spend the Harbor''s yearly budget repairing training halls."


    "This shouldn''t happen again, ma''am," Khan promised. "Not too soon, at least."


    The re returned, but the Headmistress soon dropped it again and moved toward the entrance. Khan followed, remaining at her side to leave the building. He had already dressed up, so staying behind was pointless.


    "I heard you epted Mister Cirvags'' offer," Headmistress Holwen changed the topic as the two headed for the building''s exit.


    "It was a good offer, ma''am," Khan remained vague but still tried to hint at something, "For many reasons."


    "I can see the appeal," Headmistress Holwen eximed. "Maybe leaving Ambassador Abores'' team is for the best."


    "I had the same idea," Khan agreed.


    The two fell silent, even if both had more to say. The Headmistress was privy to Cegnore''s ssified information and knew Khan. Meanwhile, Khan had already mentioned the topic to the Headmistress but wouldn''t ask again since he was aware of her stance.


    "Are you going to make a mess, Captain?" Headmistress Holwen eventually asked.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I''ll just do my job, ma''am," Khan reassured. "Whatever it might entail."


    "Somehow, I doubt it," Headmistress Holwen scoffed.


    "Then, stop me," Khan said, ncing at the Headmistress. "Stop me if you think I won''t do a good job or for other reasons."


    Headmistress Holwen also looked at Khan, and the two remained in that stalemate while continuing walking. They both understood the hidden meanings behind their statements, but tackling them wasn''t an option. It was better not to mention those troublesome topics.


    "You won''t have clearance for the scientific teams'' findings," Headmistress Holwen revealed, breaking the stalemate to look ahead. "The human ones, at least."


    Khan''s eyes tried to light up, but he hid that reaction by also looking ahead. He didn''t miss Headmistress Holwen''s silent advice and obviously nned to apply it once hended on Cegnore.


    "Headmistress, ma''am," Khan called since the mood felt right. "Can I trust Mister Cirvags?"


    "Are you working for the Global Army, Captain?" Headmistress Holwen asked.


    "Of course, ma''am," Khan confirmed.


    "Then, you can trust him," Headmistress Holwen stated, uncaring of whether Khan had spoken the truth.


    The conversation ended as soon as the two left the building, but neither moved at that point. The Headmistress had to handle Khan''s mess, and he needed to call a cab to get to his next destination.


    "You can use my car, Captain," The Headmistress announced, nodding toward the vehicle waiting by the sidewalk. "It will bring you to the second district."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I''m not going to the second district, ma''am," Khan revealed. "I''m meeting Miss Bevet at the greenhouse."


    "Are you nning to destroy that too?" Headmistress Holwen said, her words sounding like a warning.


    "I won''t do anything dangerous, ma''am," Khan promised. "Miss Bevet wouldn''t trust me otherwise."


    "The underground district is full of expensive equipment," Headmistress Holwen continued.


    "I understand," Khan sighed, trying to appear defeated. "The nts won''t notice me at all."


    "The nts will be thest of your problems otherwise," Headmistress Holwen pressed on. "Move along now, Captain."


    Khan retracted his shameless smile and performed a military salute before heading for the car. Conveying his destination to the driver started the set-off, and his face grew cold as he inspected the Headmistress'' disappearing figure.


    ''The Thilku scientists,'' Khan thought as his target grew clearer. He had yet to go through Mister Cirvags''plicated report, but a n was slowly taking form, and clues were also piling on.


    Khan didn''t know why the Headmistress had decided to disclose that information. He wasn''t even sure about the clearance level required to learn about the Nak. He had convinced himself about the existence of a conspiracy, but that opportunity was making him think.


    Humankind had buried something about the First Impact. Khan was almost sure of that. However, he didn''t know if the hindrances toward finding the truth came solely from ack of clearance. His unique situation could have something to do with that.


    Thinking about that topic had never brought answers, and Khan had no luck now either. He could only wait for the mission on Cegnore to start to find more clues and, hopefully, results.


    ''At least I know I can use the Niqols spells,'' Khan moved to happier thoughts. ''Still, can I really cause more damage than fourth-level warriors?''


    Khan had seen fourth-level warriors in action and knew how destructive his element was. Yet, Headmistress Holwen''s surprise had been genuine. The test had probably involved something deeper than raw power.


    Moreover, Khan had been thorough. He had even seen how the hall handled his other spells. His experiment had given birth to something stronger than his average techniques, and studying it might unlock the next level of his skills.


    ''The Niqols'' spells aren''t inherently stronger,'' Khan thought. ''Arguably, all my spells use their theories. The test was simply different.''


    Khan reviewed the steps of his experiment. In his opinion, he didn''t do anything out of the ordinary. He had only filled his surroundings with the chaos element''s iconic nature before triggering it.


    Confusion arrived, and Khan''s eyes began to wander. Still, when they fell on the seats'' fabric, they focused again. The foundation of an idea had appeared, and he crouched down to explore it.


    Khan knelt, half-sitting before the seats and running his hands over their fabric. That material wasn''t mana-enhanced, but the synthetic energy in the area asionally seeped into it.


    ''Maybe,'' Khan thought before gazing at the car''s ceiling and standing up. His hands ran over that surface, but his senses failed to find any w that could allow the passage of synthetic mana.


    ''Are my senses not enough for this?'' Khan wondered, looking at the seats again. ''Theoretically, no surface is perfect.''


    Khan couldn''t help but think about the chaos ws. The technique could spread destruction even before entering a certain material. He had connected that effect to the chaos element, but maybe there was more to it.


    ''Maybe I didn''t only affect my surroundings,'' Khan considered. ''Maybe I also affected the mana seeping into the floor. That might exin the damage.''


    Khan returned to his seat, scratching his head as he reviewed that possibility. The chaos element had innate destabilizing properties, and all the synthetic mana affected by Khan echoed those effects. In the right conditions, his mana seemed unstoppable.


    ''This thing is powerful,'' Khan concluded, looking at his hands. ''Dangerous, but powerful.''


    The issue remained. Khan didn''t know how to fuse Nele and Niqols arts. Yet, he had unlocked a new path that showed insane potential. Exploring it was the only problem.


    ''I can''t test this in the Harbor,'' Khan thought. ''I need to be on a to see how far I can push it and whether I can control it. I guess I''ll be busy on Cegnore.''


    Khan spent the rest of the flight immersed in his thoughts, and his attention rarely wandered even after thending. He had grown so used to diving into the underground district that he barely realized when he arrived before the appointed greenhouse.


    Miss Bevet wasn''t there. Khan had lied about that part, even if only partially. Miss Bevet had already cleared him for the greenhouse. Her presence wasn''t necessary for Khan to get in.


    Entering the greenhouse made Khan want to give Andrew a raise. The soldier had handled all the requirements for the [Blood Vortex] while Khan was away, leaving a suitable bucket and blood in the area. Khan could start immediately, and that was exactly what he did.


    ''I wonder if I can create a rune for this,'' Khan thought while pouring blood into the bucket to prepare it for the alien technique. ''I''d need to adapt it to each environment, but that''s doable.''


    Now that the Thilku runes were an option, ideas flooded Khan''s mind. The virtually endless applications could shorten many of his tasks or training session. That was the purpose of technology, and Khan had just gained ess to it.


    Molding the blood to serve Khan''s purposes took a while, but the wait didn''t weigh on his mind. He had gotten used to that practice, and fond memories always arrived while he lost himself in it.


    Once the blood was ready, Khan undressed to paint the marks on his body. That was another practice he had long sincemitted to memory, so the process barely took a few minutes.


    However, before Khan could lie on the floor and draw thest mark, he lost himself in one of the greenhouse''s mirror-like surfaces. His brain couldn''t stay silent in front of his reflection. He couldn''t help but connect his bloody tattoos to the Thilku runes.


    ''What bucket,'' Khan thought, tracing the marks'' edges while his eyes remained on his reflection. ''I might turn the entire technique into a rune.''

 Chapter 583 Pictures

    Once the [Blood Vortex] was done, Khan spent a few hours meditating to absorb the mana umted under his skin and start healing. He cleaned himself up afterward, but only time would remove the lingering marks.


    Luckily for Khan, the underground district was an isted space that offered a lot of privacy. He had already tested that he didn''t need capes or hoods to hide his appearance while leaving the area, and that night was no different.


    A car dropped Khan before his building, and he hurriedly got inside. Various thoughts still filled his mind, but the opening of the elevator quieted them down to remind him about one particr issue.


    A worried face appeared in Khan''s view as soon as he left the elevator. Monica was on the other side of the room, peeking past the entrance, and her eyes darted among his visible marks.


    "You know I can''t hold back before Cegnore," Khan promptly announced to avoid a fight.


    "Just shut up," Monica snorted, hurrying inside the room to take Khan''s hand. "Come with me."


    Khan could reject Monica, but her bossy stance was always fun to explore, and she intrigued him now too. The two crossed most of the t until Monica led Khan into a bathroom that seemed ready for him.


    The bathtub had warm water, and fresh underwear rested on the furniture around it. Monica had also prepared clean clothes and a medical kit with a series of ointments.


    Monica didn''t hesitate to reach for Khan''s uniform, carefully unbuttoning it to remove those clothes. Khan could only go along with that practice, which eventually left him naked.


    "In the bathtub," Monica ordered, pointing at the water and doing her best not to look at the various marks left behind by the alien technique.


    Khan smiled and nodded, entering the cozy bathtub and sitting inside it. The water was perfect, and his situation was about to improve.


    Monica ced a small container beside the bathtub before also undressing. Her moves had no grace, but Khan remained captivated by them anyway. That wasn''t his first time witnessing a simr scene, but he seemed unable to get enough of Monica.


    "Don''t give me that look," Monica scolded, kneeling inside the bathtub while seizing the container. "I''m not in the mood."


    "You are always in the mood," Khan teased.


    Monica red at Khan while opening the container. She threw the lid away, and a pungent smell invaded the bathroom. Khan couldn''t help but focus on the yellowish ointment inside the box, but Monica quickly reimed his attention.


    "Arm," Monica ordered, showing her hand.


    "You were ready for this," Khan pointed out, stretching his left arm.


    "I know what goes through your mind," Monica responded, dipping her fingers into the container to retrieve a bit of ointment. "I bought this as soon as you left."


    "You shouldn''t have," Khan said, watching Monica ce the ointment over his red marks.


    "You get a say on what I buy only after marrying me," Monicamented, and Khan couldn''t help but smile at the concentration she showed when tending to his injuries.


    Khan let Monica take care of him without assaulting her with jokes. She was thorough, emptying the entire container on his injuries before helping him out of the bathtub.


    "The ointment will take a few minutes to dry up," Monica exined as she bound her wet hair with a towel. "Don''t dress up before that."


    After the order, Monica wanted to leave the bathroom, but Khan clung an arm on her waist to pull her onto his torso. Monica was ready to shoot another re, but a kissnded on her cheek before she could turn.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Khan," Monicained. "The ointment."


    "You were right," Khan whispered, kissing Monica''s cheek again. "I guess I can be pretty blind at times."


    "Was I?" Monica gasped before wearing a pout as soon as she saw Khan''s shameless smile. "Of course I was! You''d be lost, hopeless, and sad without me."


    "All true," Khan chuckled, approaching Monica''s ear. "Does the doctor allow me to dry her hair?"


    Monica tried her best to preserve her pout, but her cute voice betrayed her. "Only because I want to keep an eye on you."


    Khan couldn''t help butugh again, and a long intimate moment unfolded. The two dried themselves up, often exchanging flirtatious jokes before wearing clean clothes and heading for their bedroom.


    Monica threw herself on the bed to retrieve her phone and activate holograms. Khan''s notes filled her view, but she didn''t dive into her study yet.


    As for Khan, he connected his phone to the room to pull up Mister Cirvags'' report. The wall gave him more room to divide and sort out the many tabs, and he needed that arrangement to hope to understand as much as possible.


    "Did you make the new schedule for Francis?" Monica wondered, turning belly up to look at Khan.


    "I reviewed something Andrew wrote," Khan replied, tinkering with the wall. "It''s a pity this stuff is ssified. A secretary would have helped."


    "I just don''t want the Alstair family creating problems for you," Monica sighed.


    "I signed him for a few courses here," Khan revealed. "Also, as long as his family thinks he defused the bomb, I''m fine."


    "They should have paid you for being his caretaker," Monica snorted.


    "They did," Khan chuckled. "You are mine, aren''t you?"


    "Scoundrel," Monica giggled. "Hey, we must celebrate our anniversary once we are done working."


    "Is it one year already?" Khan frowned, peeking past his shoulder to look at Monica.


    "Dummy," Monica scolded. "Our first anniversary is next month. Don''t forget something so close to your birthday."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Now that I think about it," Khan uttered, "I do remember a certain present."


    A pillow flew toward Khan and hit his head. The event only made himugh, and his smile broadened when he saw Monica with her arms crossed and wearing an angry face.


    Khan snickered, crawling over the bed to reach Monica. She yed hard to get, but he had the right words to melt her anger.


    "As far as I''m concerned," Khan whispered to Monica''s ear, "We have already hit one year. I didn''t forget the nights when you were too shy to kiss me."


    Khan expected a loud reply, but Monica remained silent and pushed him down on the mattress. She couldn''t lie on his chest due to the injuries, so she imed one of his arms and wrapped it around her torso before hitting a pillow.


    "What is it?" Khan asked, dly joining that spooning.


    "My family will turn our anniversary into a public event," Monica exined, "But they got the wrong date."


    "They don''t know how quickly you jumped on me," Khan teased.


    Monica suddenly turned to face Khan, but no scolding arrived. Instead, her needy side showed its presence. "I want to celebrate the right date, just the two of us."


    "Two celebrations?" Khan wondered. "You have be greedy."


    "So what?" Monica scoffed. "You let me be as greedy as I want, so deal with it."


    "How could I refuse such kind words?" Khan chuckled. "Sure. Let''s find the time once we stop working."


    Monica''s face lit up, and she couldn''t stop herself from seizing Khan''s face. She kissed him, but her hands touched his injuries, causing difort.


    Khan grunted, and Monica quickly let him go. She also tried to wear an apologetic expression, but her happiness got in the way.


    "Sorry," Monica giggled. "I just love you so much."


    Khan didn''t care about that slight pain, and that statement made him disregard itpletely. He took Monica into his arms, and the two got into their favorite sleeping position.


    Needless to say, the couple didn''t sleep. After a few flirtatious exchanges, Monica retrieved her phone, and Khan tinkered with the wall behind him to create holograms at his side. They had much to study, and time wasn''t on their side.


    ''There isn''t much about the natives,'' Khan thought after spending some time on the report. ''The same goes for the infected Thilku.''


    The report had information about a few imprisoned intelligent beings but nothing directly connected to the Thilku or Cegnore''s natives. Khan could ept the nightmares as one of the reasons behind the switching sides, but going crazy didn''t exin everything. It actually left many gaps in the intel.


    ''Maybe the battlefield only has Tainted animals,'' Khan considered. He had yet to reach that part of the report, but everything pointed in that direction.


    The guess led to troublesome thoughts. Khan didn''t want to deal with mere beasts. Cegnore had beings like him, people who mutated through the Nak''s mana. They probably had lived with the Tainted state far longer than him, meaning they could have more answers.


    However, it seemed that the human and Thilku armies mostly dealt with Tainted animals. The intelligent creatures were rarer and lived in unexplored areas. Khan still didn''t know if the battlefield had trenches, but those beings would probably reside past them in that case.


    ''I might need to get creative,'' Khan thought before recalling another problem.


    "Hey," Khan called, stretching his arm to his right to touch Monica''s back.


    "Did you find something interesting?" Monica wondered, lifting her head to check Khan''s holograms. She couldn''t see anything specific among thoseplicated sentences, so her attention fell on Khan.


    "You trust me, right?" Khan asked, looking into Monica''s eyes.


    "What are you saying now?" Monica snickered.


    "You know I can handle myself, right?" Khan pressed on. "Especially on a battlefield."


    "What?" Monica gasped, her expression growing sterner since she could guess what Khan was thinking. "What are you nning?"


    "Nothing yet," Khan shook his head. "I just don''t want you to worry, no matter what the Global Army says."


    Monica fell silent for a few seconds to study Khan''s face. She knew what that expression meant. Khan was developing ns that went beyond his orders, which could create problems on an alien and territory.


    "I always worry," Monica sighed, lowering her head. "There is nothing you can do about that."


    "But do I have your trust?" Khan asked, reaching for Monica''s chin to lift her face.


    "Always," Monica nodded. "Don''t forget you are the man I love. I know you are the best."


    "Keep that in mind while I''m away," Khan stated.


    "I''m getting worried already," Monica cursed. "I bet you won''t have any connection to thework there either."


    "Most likely," Khan nodded before thinking about something. "Are you going to give me a parting gift again? I memorized every detail of the album you left me before Neuria."


    "As you should," Monica snorted, but looking at her phone gave her an idea, which she didn''t hesitate to whisper. "Why don''t you take the pictures this time?"

 Chapter 584 Cegnore

    The couple''s break onlysted for an additional week before duties arrived. Monica could remain in the Harbor since the Solodrey family had a lot to prepare, but Khan was alone, so he had to leave as soon as Mister Cirvags gave the okay.


    Another public and sad goodbye unfolded before a teleport. That was the second time Khan and Monica had to split, but the experience wasn''t any easier to face. Actually, the two spent a bit longer in each other''s arms since Madam Solodrey had allowed those intimate interactions.


    "Try toe back before your birthday," Monica almost begged, squeezing Khan''s neck.


    "You''ll probably still be on Neuria by then," Khan chuckled, his hands sealed on Monica''s back.


    "I don''t care," Monica cried, doing her best to keep her voice down. "Come back anyway."


    The soldiers in the teleport area tried not to look in the couple''s direction, but nces happened. Moreover, a few whispers reached their ears. Khan was sure gossip would spread, but it was hard to care about it when Monica was in his arms.


    "I''ll do my best," Khan promised. "You also do a good job out there, and we''ll get back together in no time."


    "I will," Monica nodded, holding back any possible tear for fear of ruining Khan''s uniform. "Kiss me and leave. I won''t let go otherwise."


    Khan didn''t dare to disobey. His face dived into the curls until he found familiar lips. The two kissed, and Monica slowly rxed her grip on Khan''s neck to move her hands on his cheeks.


    Monica was showing far more initiative than she had ever done in public, and the scene shocked the curious soldiers. They almost couldn''t believe Monica was a simple woman in love once she dropped her political persona.


    Once the long kiss ended, Monica began to retract her hands, but Khan grabbed them to reach for her lips again. That was his way of saying goodbye, and Monica weed him.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Nevertheless, the two separated after the second kiss, and Khan limited himself to onest caress before jumping on the oval tform. Synthetic mana immediately umted around him, but he stared into Monica''s worried eyes until the scenery changed.


    Khan found himself in a new teleport area, but the differences quickly became noticeable. The soldiers and scientists in the room wore sterner faces. Their presence was also firmer and calmer. Those workers had seen actual battle, and it showed.


    The room was also simpler and slightly smaller. Khan saw fewer consoles and dimmer lights, but the matter wasn''t surprising. He knew what Cegnore''s route involved, and some eagerness inevitably arrived.


    "Captain Khan!" One of the soldiers called, stepping before the oval tform to perform a military salute. "Your ship and documents are ready."


    "Lead the way," Khan ordered, jumping off the tform.


    "Yes, sir!" The soldier stated, turning to head for the exit. Khan followed her, discovering more of the ce and confirming the information in Mister Cirvags'' report.


    Cegnore was part of the systems ruled by Lord Exr but was deeper into the Empire''s territorypared to Neuria. Humans couldn''t bring space stations there, so the trip to the required a few mandatory stops.


    The current space station was close to the Thilku territory, but its location had nothing to do with its purpose. That ce simply had a specific clearance that created a direct connection with the Empire.


    The soldier led Khan into a small hangar but didn''t stop there. She quickly dived into another corridor featuring multiple consoles and doors that hindered her passage. Her phone opened those barriers, eventually bringing the two into another teleport area.


    More differences became visible. The new teleport area had even sterner vibes that didn''t hesitate to converge on Khan. A few consoles also featured small Thilku runes Khan couldn''t read from his position, but the arrival of a new soldier cut his inspection short.


    "Sir, Captain, sir," A soldier called, leaving his console to bring a rectangr device to Khan. "I need your phone, sir."


    Khan was aware of those procedures, so he drew his phone and showed it to the soldier. Thetter ced his device above the screen and activated a few menus to pass the documents needed for the rest of the trip.


    "We are done here, ma''am," The soldier eventually announced, retracting his device and looking at hispanion.


    "Captain," The female soldier eximed, pointing at the phone, "You must show this to ess the other locations. Even the human soldiers won''t let you advance otherwise."


    "I''m well aware," Khan replied, checking the newbel on his phone. Opening it revealed a Thilku rune shining with blue shades. That symbol had no meaning but worked as a code that granted clearance.


    "This way, sir," The female soldier interrupted the inspection, pointing at the new oval tform.


    Khan stored his phone and jumped on the tform, but the umtion of synthetic mana didn''t begin right away. The soldiers got busy, shouting orders and codes before the okay arrived and cleared Khan for the teleport.


    The scenery soon changed again. The same stern vibe weed Khan, but heavy tension joined it, creating a new environment in his eyes. A corridor also stretched from that teleport area, and Khan saw red shades near its bottom.


    "I need to check your identification, sir," A soldier in the room announced, leaving his console to reach the tform and show a screen to Khan.


    Khan drew his phone and pointed the new rune at the screen. The device checked his clearance, and the soldier reviewed the results before nodding at the corridor. "This way, sir."


    Khan followed the soldier across the corridor before finding himself in a new environment. As soon as the red illumination arrived, the ce''s surfaces gained runes and grew bigger. Khan could see a spacious area stretching before him, but a transparent door guarded by a Thilku stood in the way.


    "Sir, you must show your authorization there," The soldier with Khan eximed, pointing at a rune on the door''s left side.


    Khan approached the rune, and the soldier moved to the symbol on the opposite side of the door to perform a simr gesture. The entrance required two authorizations, and Khan followed suit to clear the passage.


    The transparent door opened after a few seconds, and the soldier crossed it to lead Khan deeper into the area. Khan also stepped forward but didn''t refrain from exchanging a look with the Thilku guarding that passage.


    "[Blue hair]," The Thilku grunted, crossing his huge arms. "[Lord Exr wees you]."


    "[I''m honored]," Khan promptly said, stopping to perform a traditional Thilku bow. The guard didn''t reply with the same gesture but nodded in approval.


    Khan left afterward, and his attention returned to the area. He had reached a big hangar filled with various Thilku vehicles. Most were circr ships of different sizes, with Thilku soldiers roaming among them, but Khan also spotted a few human rides in the distance.


    "This way, sir," The soldier with Khan called. "We must go through a few more stops."


    Khan continued to follow the soldier while his attention remained on the hangar. That was a Thilku space station that the Empire used for political reasons. Having a human team would have been impossible otherwise. Still, Khan couldn''t see anything special or uniquepared to his stay in Neuria.


    ''Our technology has a lot inmon,'' Khan thought before the arrival at another mandatory stop forced him to show his phone. The soldier with him did the same, and the two gained a Thilku escort.


    The Thilku led the two toward one of the human ships before another round of authorizations happened with the team stationed there. A minute had to pass before Khan gained ess to the vehicle, and exnations followed.


    "I''m sure you already know, sir," The human soldier announced while the Thilku team got the ship ready, "But you won''t have ess to manual controls. The ship is programmed to follow the route set by the Thilku."


    "I know," Khan smiled. "We must y by our allies'' rules."


    "Captain, sir," The soldier continued, lowering his head. "We didn''t get the chance to paint the ship."


    "Oh," Khan eximed before chuckling. "I''ll survive one flight in grey."


    The soldier didn''t speak again, and the Thilku eventually left the ship, opening a path for Khan. He took his ce behind the control desk, and his tasks ended.


    The control desk activated as soon as Khan sat down. The auto-pilot ran various check-up programs before sending fuel to the engines. It didn''t take long before the ship left the floor and slowly headed for the mana barrier separating it from open space.


    Khan could only watch as the ship handled everything. He couldn''t even activate holograms to keep track of the trip. The canopy showed open space, but Khan couldn''t recognize much without the help of scanners.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The beauty of the universe captivated Khan''s attention for a while, but theck ofs in sight eventually distracted him and made him pull out his phone. He had no connection to thework, but his interest was in a specific folder, and opening it put him before a vast album about Monica.


    ''My birthday is in three weeks,'' Khan thought. ''I''ll never get back before that.''


    A sigh escaped Khan''s mouth while his eyes continued to browse the album. Part of him wanted to make Monica his priority. He loved her too much to risk hurting her. Yet, his other, darker side pushed him into ces where they couldn''t be together.


    ''When will this end?'' Khan cursed. ''How will this end?''


    Doubts Khan couldn''t solve invaded his mind, but the pictures on his phone added peace. His life had never been better, but there he was, flying into a battlefield to find answers that might not exist.


    Luckily for Khan, a brownish soon became visible from the canopy, distracting him from his internal conflict. The ship also elerated, making him store his phone to prepare for the imminentnding.


    Mister Cirvags'' report contained information about Cegnore, and Khan confirmed part of it while diving through the''s atmosphere.


    Barrennds expanded in every direction. Mountains asionally appeared in the distance but didn''t disturb that mostly in scenery. Rare green spots existed, but the ce remained lifeless.


    That only applied to the surface. Cegnore was simr to Onia, even if for different reasons. nts thrived below due to the vast array of underground rivers. Caves also stretched in every direction, creating a hidden environment that the humans had barely started mapping.


    Of course, exploring Cegnore wasn''t the Global Army''s prerogative. That belonged to the Empire, so learning about it was sort of forbidden. The restrictions werexer due to the ongoing war, but that still didn''t give the humans any authority.


    Khan tried to memorize anything that fell into his view, but the quick descent eventually interrupted his inspection. The ship dived toward a big, square structure standing in the middle of a brown in, and Khan only spotted a trench in the distance before focusing on thending.


    A circr door on the structure''s roof opened to let the ship through. Khan ended up in a human hangar with several vehicles and soldiers. A team was already waiting for him, and he greeted it once the auto-pilot allowed him to leave.


    "Captain Khan!" A rtively young male soldier, a third-level warrior, left the team standing in line to wee Khan at the bottom of the ship''s ramp. "It''s an honor to have you here."


    The soldier performed a military salute, but Khan knew his identity from Mister Cirvags'' report. That sharp dark face, almostpletely covered in long red dreadlocks, belonged to a fellow Captain.


    "Captain Chaunac, right?" Khan asked, stretching his hand forward. "You don''t need to be so formal when we share the same rank."


    "You are too kind," Captain Chaunac eximed, shaking Khan''s hand. "Wee to Cegnore, and please, call me Caspar."


    "Will do," Khan promised. "I''ll be in your care."


    "We''ll all be in yours," Caspar smiled, nodding at the team behind him to make it take care of the ship. "We have prepared a simple refreshment for your arrival. Our resources on Cegnore are scarce, but we did our best."


    "I''d like to take a stroll outside first," Khan revealed. "If it''s not a problem."


    "Oh," Caspar uttered, ncing at Khan''s hair before nodding. "Of course. I''ll lead the way."


    Caspar apanied Khan to a jeep with a sealed canopy before jumping into the driver''s seat. Khan was with him and noticed how the vehicle confirmed theplete istion from the outside world before turning on.


    "It''s protocol," Caspar exined, driving the jeep through the hangar. "All the vehicles here must be shielded from the outside atmosphere."


    "Is the illness so contagious?" Khan questioned.


    "It is," Caspar sighed, "And dangerous even. Mana usually makes us immune to these infections, but Cegnore is different."


    Khan knew what Caspar meant. It was almost impossible to mutate after gaining control of mana, but Cegnore''s illness overruled that truth. The first wave of Thilku wouldn''t have switched sides otherwise.


    "We have timers for our pills," Caspar continued, showing the watch on his right wrist. "They are mandatory even if our tasks don''t involve stepping outside."


    "You can''t risk an outbreak here," Khanmented. "The Global Army would lose this structure."


    "Indeed," Caspar agreed. The jeep had entered arge corridor meant for vehicles by then, but another spacious area appeared at its end. Soldiers filled it and protected the big gate standing on the opposite side.


    "With me, Captain," Caspar ordered, leaving the jeep to approach the left side of the area. A transparent office stood there, and Caspar touched one of the windows to summon an attendant wearing the Global Army''s colors.


    "I need a boost," Caspar exined, keeping his fingers on the window. "I''m going outside."


    Khan was at Caspar''s side and studied the scene. The attendant stuffed a small box into a drawer before pushing it to the other side of the window. Caspar retrieved it and lifted its lid, revealing a tiny blue pill.


    "Thank you," Caspar said, gulping down the pill and putting the box back into the drawer.


    "Does the sir also need a boost?" The attendant asked, looking at Khan.


    "Are you colorblind, soldier?!" Caspar suddenly shouted, turning every eye in the room on him.


    The sudden shout shocked the attendant, but more surprise arrived when he took a proper look at Khan. His blue hair became impossible to miss, revealing his identity and answering the previous question.


    "I''m sorry, Captain Khan, sir!" The attendant cried from the other side of the window while performing a military salute. "I didn''t recognize you."


    Khan didn''t care about that matter. He actually ignored it to focus on Caspar''s mana. The pill had altered its flow, making it calmer and denser. That change didn''t affect its power or flexibility but increased its resilience toward external influences.


    "I''m sorry, Captain," Caspar said since Khan had remained silent. "I didn''t have the time to announce your arrival to the entire structure."


    "It''s fine," Khan shook his head, snapping back to reality. "So, can we go now?"


    "Of course," Caspar dered, pointing at the huge gate. "We only have to go through there."


    Caspar took out his phone and hurried ahead to show his clearance to the team defending the gate. A path opened when Khan got there, allowing the two Captains to use a rtively small door that brought them to the other side of the passage.


    "If my memory serves me right," Caspar announced, waiting for Khan to cross the door to seal it, "You met my cousin many months ago."


    "Miss Nadia Chaunac, am I right?" Khan recalled. "She honored my promotion to Captain with her presence."


    Caspar nodded happily, but Khan only paid attention to his surroundings. The door had led him inside an isted chamber illuminated by white lights. The ce didn''t have menus, but a passage on the other side eventually opened.


    Khan''s eyes lit up at the arrival of natural mana. He breathed the new air in, rejoicing at the stark difference from his previous location. His senses couldn''t help but cheer, but something else joined that happiness.


    "We are here," Caspar chuckled, leaving the chamber to step on the barren brown terrain. "No sign of life for at least ten kilometers in every direction. If I may, Captain, I don''t think this is the right ce for someone of your caliber."


    Khan also stepped outside, and a hand instinctively went on his nape. His mana core had reacted to the new atmosphere. It had be the source of an odd sensation he had already experienced on Milia 222.


    "Trust me, Captain," Khan dered. "I''m in the right ce."

 Chapter 585 Briefing

    The brown color reached into the horizon and stretched almost endlessly. Soft winds picked up debris from the frail terrain, lifting thin clouds that couldn''t do anything against Cegnore''s red star.


    The ce was lifeless and slightly cold. It would even look empty to an ordinary human''s eyes, but Khan was different. The symphony spoke to him through colors only he could see. The areacked brighter shades, but they existed far in the distance.


    "Is the night close?" Khan wondered, his gaze locked on the horizon. "I have yet to connect my phone."


    "The night is six hours away," Caspar responded. "It will be darkness for fourteen hours after that."


    Khan was already aware of that but felt like getting a second opinion. He didn''t know how much he could trust Mister Cirvags'' report, but the data about Cegnore seemed to be on point.


    The days on Cegnorested for thirty-six hours and had far more light than darkness. Khan liked the additional time, but the odd sensation spreading from his mana core made him wish the night was already there.


    "How is the situation?" Khan questioned. "Do you expect attacks?"


    "Why don''t we talk about this inside?" Casparughed. "The refreshment is there. I can brief you in front of a drink."


    Khan wanted to look at the empty horizon a little longer, but a new sensation hit his senses, turning his gaze to Caspar. Some fear and anxiety had appeared inside the Captain, even if his expression showed neither.


    "Is it that spooky out here?" Khan asked.


    "I hope you don''t me me, Captain," Caspar smiled, showing slight surprise at Khan''s perception. "The air itself is an enemy here."


    That almost absence of surprise told Khan how far the rumors about him had spread, but he quickly put the matter in the back of his mind. He gazed at the horizon again, yearning to dive deeper into it, but his reasonable sides had the best of him.


    "Let''s go inside," Khan ordered, faking a smile. "I''m hungry."


    "We''d better fix that!" Caspar eximed. "I also have to introduce you to the crew. Many aren''t privy to your arrival."


    The two returned inside the chamber, which released a dense gas as soon as its exit closed. The decontaminationsted a few minutes, and the passage leading back inside opened afterward.


    Khan''s arrival didn''t go unnoticed. He had barely spent a few minutes in the structure, but his hair was too eye-catching. Moreover, rumors spread quickly in such an isted environment, bringing more people before the huge gate.


    "What is this mess?!" Caspar snapped at the curious crowd. "Clear the area, and make the cafeteria ready!"


    The shout startled the soldiers, who hurried back to their posts. Still, most of them shot onest nce at Khan before focusing on their duties.


    Khan felt helpless about how used he had be to fame, so he focused on noting details. Between that gathering and Mister Cirvags'' report, he estimated that the building had little more than a hundred soldiers. That force wasn''t nearly enough for a war, and its average level wasckluster.


    It took to give Khan a general idea of the troops'' power. He couldn''t see a single fourth-level warrior, with the majority being in the second level. First and third existed, but in lower numbers.


    ''What does Cirvags expect me to do with this?'' Khan cursed.


    Truth be told, Mister Cirvags had never told Khan to win that war. His orders had actually been quite vague, and his report didn''t help. Khan had chosen toe for personal reasons, but his role didn''t involve anything special.


    "Captain, let''s go back to the car," Caspar suggested, bringing Khan back to reality. The two got into their jeep, and Caspar drove it into the previous passage.


    "I''m sorry for the mess," Caspar sighed, his hands sealed on the steering wheel. "We rarely have visitors here, especially some with your profile."


    "It''s odd," Khanmented. "I thought people would kill for the opportunity to serve here."


    "It''s hard to get into this field," Caspar exined. "The pay is good for ordinary soldiers, but any Lieutenant or higher needs clearance from the Global Army and the appropriate qualifications."


    "Did you study to be an Ambassador?" Khan probed.


    "Oh, no," Caspar snickered. "My family got me this job since it would look good on my profile. I''m sure you understand."


    "You make it sound less serious than it is," Khan pointed out. "This is the Empire''s territory in the end."


    "True," Caspar nodded, "But we don''t interact much with the Thilku. I haven''t seen one in weeks."


    ''Thisplicates things,'' Khan thought. Mister Cirvags'' report had hinted at something simr, but he didn''t believe it was so bad.


    "We must get out," Caspar announced while the jeep was still in the middle of the passage.


    The two got out and approached a door on one of the walls, ending in another corridor. The passage was short and quickly opened into a vast cafeteria that could hold up to fifty people. Most tables had room for five or more, but the one on the other side of the room only had two chairs.


    The ce already had soldiers, who stood up as soon as Khan and Caspar became visible. Military salutes unfolded, and people still arriving from other passages imitated that behavior even if they didn''t understand what was happening.


    Caspar didn''t bother with the salutes and strode forward. Meanwhile, Khan performed a few nods before giving up on greeting all the soldiers. The two Captains eventually reached thest table, and Khan approached one of the chairs while Caspar took care of the introduction.


    "We are in the presence of Captain Khan!" Caspar shouted, his deep voice spreading through the cafeteria. "He''ll be the highest-ranking officer here from now on."


    Khan didn''t sign up for that, but it was toote to take back Caspar''s words. The soldiers also agreed with a joint "wee, sir", so Khan could only give up on the matter.


    "I thought we shared the same rank," Khan whispered, waving his hand at the soldiers to make them rx.


    "We both know we don''t," Caspar muttered, nodding at the soldiers. Thetter still didn''t move, but Khan gave them general permission to sit by upying his seat.


    "You don''t have to worry, Captain," Caspar promptly continued while also sitting down. "I''ll handle the paperwork and other arrangements. You can use this building and these troops as you wish."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Waiters entered the cafeteria while the rest of the soldiers took their seats. The former prioritized the Captain''s table, delivering simple food and booze. That wee was nothing special, but Khan barely looked at it.


    "That''s very kind of you," Khan eximed once the waiters moved to other tables. "However, I''d still like to be updated on the situation."


    "All my intel is yours, Captain," Caspar responded. "You just have to ask."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Alright," Khan stated, seizing a bottle. "I know the scientists are in charge."


    "That''s right," Caspar confirmed, smiling when Khan poured booze into his cup. "The white coats run this ce. We are basically protection."


    "Anything you can tell me about them?" Khan wondered.


    "They live in a separate section of this building," Caspar exined. "We meet a few of them only when they have to hand us missions."


    "Missions?" Khan questioned.


    "It''s random stuff," Caspar casually replied. "Sometimes, they involve retrieving a patch of soil from a quadrant. Other times they request for Tainted animals."


    "Do theye here often?" Khan asked. "I only know they attack at night."


    "It''s moreplicated than that," Caspar sighed, taking out his phone to activate a series of holograms.


    A simple map appeared at the table''s center, and Khan recognized his current building on it. He also saw the trench spotted during thending, while the other marks were strangers to him.


    "We are here," Caspar said, highlighting the marks Khan recognized. "You can see how we are behind the Thilku''s trenches."


    Khan nodded while his attention remained on the map. Four more symbols were on the upper-right side of the holograms, marking the Thilku''s buildings and trenches. Khan believed the aliens had far more manpower on the, but that information was probably ssified.


    "The attacks do arrive only at night," Caspar continued, "But they get to the Thilku first. We clean up anything that goes astray or slips through the Thilku''s defenses."


    ''We have only leftovers,'' Khan thought, holding back a snort. The humans didn''t onlyck a spot on the frontline. They weren''t even part of that war.


    "So, our interactions with the Thilku?" Khan wondered.


    "Almost non-existent," Caspar responded. "We can''t interact with their trenches, and our movements are limited. We only see Thilku when they chase Tainted animals into our quadrant."


    "I see," Khan uttered, leaving his thoughts forter. "What about the Thilku who switched sides? That topic wasn''t clear in my report."


    "I don''t know about the Thilku," Caspar sighed, "But I''ve been here for one year. I''ve seen things, scary things."


    "Exin," Khan ordered, curious.


    "We''ve had a couple of casualties," Caspar stated, lowering his head. "Nasty stuff. The pills can''t fight the infection when those creatures have their teeth stabbed into you."


    "Wait," Khan''s eyes lit up. "Did mutations happen after suffering injuries from Tainted animals?"


    "Captain," Caspar gulped, slowly lifting his head. "I don''t want to ruin your appetite."


    Caspar didn''t get the chance to close his mouth since looking at the table showed him the might of Khan''s stomach. The attendants had only brought two sets of four tes, but Khan was already done with three.


    "We can eat first if you want," Khan said, finishing munching the big bite in his mouth.


    "No," Caspar cleared his throat, pushing away his amazement. "It''s fine. Yes, mutations can happen if the injury is deep enough or the contactsts too long."


    "You don''t know about the Thilku," Khan announced, "But you know about the humans."


    "Indeed," Caspar nodded. "Though, not much. Of the two casualties, we put one down on the spot, while the other died before we could deliver it to the white coats."


    "You must have seen something, Captain," Khan dered. "You wouldn''t have brought up the topic otherwise."


    "The second casualty," Caspar sighed, appearing strangely rattled. "She-. It started talking about a voice in its head, a calling of some sort."


    Khan had to work overtime to keep his face in check, but his mana didn''t bother to ask for his opinion. Excitement and tension fell on the table, stretching into the room. That silent reaction was so palpable that Caspar inspected his surroundings in confusion.


    ''Monica was right, alright,'' Khan cursed before changing the topic. "I seem to understand that you''ve never faced intelligent creatures here."


    "What we know about themes from the Thilku," Caspar revealed, focusing on Khan. "Those specimens are rare even in their trenches, so we never get to see them."


    Caspar was talking from experience, so Khan could guess that outbreaks had happened in the past. The Global Army had probably gotten more than second-hand information, but not in thest year.


    ''Complicated indeed,'' Khan thought, falling silent and pretending to focus on the little food still on the table.


    Being at the Thilku''s mercy was mandatory due to Cegnore''s location. They dictated the rules and limits since that was Empire''s territory.


    However, the Global Army only had an almost uneventful trench. Khan wanted to see the Tainted animals, but they weren''t his end goal. He eventually had to get to the intelligent beings, but ess to Thilku''s battlefield was necessary for that.


    ''I can''t fly past the trenches on my own,'' Khan considered. ''Not now. I''d be breaking a dozen interspecies regtions.''


    The issue wasn''t impending. Khan had just gotten to Cegnore, but his thoughts didn''t stop shouting. Valuable options appeared in his mind even if he didn''t search for them, and a few were truly good.


    ''Maybe they can feel me too,'' Khan wondered. ''Spending time outside might attract them to the human trench. I also have a good excuse for that.''


    The outside world had nothing valuable. Khan could let loose without worrying about causing damage. He was finally on a, so he could explore more of the Niqols'' spells.


    ''If that doesn''t work,'' Khan thought, pointing his eyes at the map, ''I can always call them. I wonder if I''m good enough to reach the Thilku''s trenches.''


    Caspar noticed the eagerness in Khan''s eyes but had no idea what it involved. He couldn''t possibly imagine Khan was making ns that could endanger the entire human building.

 Chapter 586 Trench

    The food on every table vanished in the first half an hour of the refreshment. Yet, everyone used that chance to drink longer since the night was still far away.


    Eventually, soldiers started to leave, and that trend continued until only Khan and Caspar remained in the cafeteria. The two mostly exchanged polite lines that Khan had mastered during his political dinners, but relevant information asionally flew.


    Once the Captains felt that the time was right, they left the cafeteria and dealt with the issues that the hours before the night allowed them to solve. Khan gained the highest clearance level avable, and Caspar also apanied him to the biggest office that side of the building had to offer.


    "Your desk has a direct line with mine," Caspar exined, waving his hand from the office''s entrance. "Your quarters are past that door, and a team will always be nearby to handle your every need."


    "Thank you, Captain," Khan replied, inspecting the area. "I''ll make myself at home."


    "Of course," Caspar stated, stepping out of the room. "Nighttime is still four hours away, but I wish to remind you that your attendance isn''t mandatory."


    "I''ll be there," Khan dered, nodding at the Captain. "Call me when you are about to head outside."


    "Certainly," Caspar uttered. "I hope you enjoy your stay, Captain."


    Khan wore a fake smile that disappeared as soon as he closed the door. The area''s solitude brought out his true colors, but he didn''t fall prey to them yet.


    A quick inspection of the area unfolded. Khan checked the office, going through itsrge desk,fortable chair, and couch before moving to his quarters. Thetter consisted of a simple bedroom with a bathroom attached to it, but Khan didn''t feel the need toin.


    Even after getting used to the Harbor''s luxury, Khan remained a citizen of the Slums. He had learned to appreciate high-ss environments, but his tastes were still humble. The only aspect that had slightly changed involved Monica''s clothes, but she wasn''t there to pamper him.


    Khan connected his phone to the interactive desk once his inspection was over, and the device downloaded thest bits of information Caspar didn''t have the time to share during the refreshment.


    Meanwhile, Khan activated the desk''s menus topare the report in his mind to what the building contained. The study was short since the soldiers couldn''t ess much information. Khan actually felt surprised by how little the scientists shared.


    ''I learned more from Cirvags'' report,'' Khan cursed, leaning on the back of his seat. ''I guess Caspar made a few interesting points too.''


    After fusing the knowledge from the report and Caspar, Khan found himself before a troublesome picture. Cegnore''s overall state was still a mystery, and the same went for the Nak-rted topics, but a first goal had already taken form.


    ''I need to get myself involved with the Thilku,'' Khan concluded.


    The goal would be impossible for an ordinary soldier. Even low-level Ambassadors would have problems solving that issue, especially if they had no history with the Thilku.


    Khan wasn''t an Ambassador, but Lord Exr knew about his presence on Cegnore. He had weed him through one of his soldiers, which had to mean something.


    ''[Blue hair],'' Khan thought in the Thilkunguage. ''There might be rumors about me here already.''


    The Thilku would never let a human team get in their trenches. Still, making an exception for Khan was possible. Creating that opportunity was the only issue.


    ''I''m getting ahead of myself,'' Khan sighed, shaking his head to disperse his loud desires. ''I should see how I do against these Tainted animals first.''


    Khan pressed on the desk to bring out the hologram of the Tainted animal seen with Mister Cirvags. He had learned more about those creatures since his arrival in Cegnore, and part of that wasn''t reassuring, at least for him.


    Pressing on anotherbel added details to the picture. Cegnore had never seen a Tainted animal as strong as a fourth-level warrior, but their base stats were surprisingly high. Moreover, they could see in the darkness, which exined why they attacked at night and added scary clues.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''Evidence suggests these creatures'' attacks aren''t random,'' Khan read on the holograms. ''However, even when intelligent specimens appear, they show no connection with the monstrous troops.''


    Those vague words had a clear meaning for Khan. The mutated Thilku or Cegnore''s natives had to be in charge of the Tainted animals, but their location remained unknown, especially to the human side.


    ''Dammit,'' Khan cursed as some restlessness appeared. ''I hope we get some leftovers tonight.''


    Since the night was still hours away, Khan alternated study with meditation to keep himself busy and kill time. Caspar''s call eventually arrived, and Khan didn''t bother to change before heading outside.


    Khan had read the building''s safety measures and general arrangements, but taking the lead on his first day wasn''t ideal. He didn''t want that role for now, so he followed Caspar''s directives and let him handle that process.


    The human trench could only fit a toon, but the Thilku''s leftovers hardly required half of that. The humans had adapted to that trend, dividing Cegnore''s troops into four huge teams that alternated themselves.


    Twenty-five soldiers upied a series of vehicles and headed for the huge gate to form an orderly line. The attendants handed pills and checked them with scanners one by one before allowing them to leave.


    That thorough safety measure slowed the departure, and the gate worsened the process. That huge passage had twoyers, which could never open at the same time. The door could only fit three vehicles, which forced everyone in line to wait.


    Khan and Caspar were in the same jeep at the end of the line, and the safety measures dyed their turn at the gate by ten whole minutes. Khan wasn''t in a waiting mood, but Caspar and his surroundings distracted him long enough to keep his enthusiasm in check.


    The enthusiasm both increased and decreased after getting outside. Khan could rx since the annoying part of the trip was over, but the trench wasing, which inevitably gave birth to excitement.


    The cars'' tires left deep marks on the brittle ground as they elerated through the in, creating brownish clouds. The vehicles were fast and had powerful scanners, so Khan soon saw the approaching trench.


    The ce was simple but decent. The trench was longer than Khan had expected, and metal reinforcements covered the side facing the potential battlefield. Four manual turrets also peeked out of it, creating a good defensive line that could handle most threats.


    ''Twenty-five soldiers are probably too much,'' Khan couldn''t help but think, especially when he considered the few specimens getting to that trench.


    "Do you ever get big assaults?" Khan asked as Caspar parked the jeep behind the trench.


    "Here?" Caspar asked. "Never. We bring rifles and magazines just in case, but the Thilku never let too many specimens slip by."


    Khan looked outside the window to avoid showing any disappointment, but everyone eventually finished parking and left their vehicles. The soldiers followed Caspar''s lead, jumping inside the trench and taking their assigned position, and Khan was among them.


    "Activate the scanners!" Caspar ordered once everyone was in position. "I don''t want anything to go wrong!"


    The soldiers tapped on the metal reinforcement, bringing out menus that depicted scenes far in the distance. The ce had scanners, and Khan didn''t miss that detail.


    ''The Thilku will have something simr,'' Khan thought, ncing at the dark sky. ''Maybe if I fly high enough.''


    "Lights!" Caspar continued, and the vehicle''s headlights lit up to illuminate all the areas past the trench. That glow was blinding, but the channel offered some protection.


    "Alright!" Caspar shouted again. "We have a long night ahead of us, and you know the punishment if I catch you napping."


    A series of "Yes, sir" resounded, but Khan couldn''t hold back his curiosity. "What''s the punishment?"


    "I lower their pay," Caspar snickered, pointing at the center of the trench. "Those are our spots. They are the only clean ones."


    The metal reinforcement in the spot pointed out by Caspar stretched to the trench''s floor, dividing it from the ground. Moreover, all the images from the scanners converged there, and the two Captains took their position behind them.


    "Fourteen hours to go," Khan eximed, sitting on the metal floor while pretending to focus on the scanners.


    "Indeed," Caspar sighed, joining Khan on the floor. "Cegnore''s long days give us enough time to sleep, but a fourteen-hour shift is still taxing."


    "Do youe out here every night?" Khan wondered.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I take one day off every week," Caspar exined. "Two Lieutenants rece me."


    "Well," Khan joked. "You can take a nap tonight since I''m here."


    "I wouldn''t dare," Caspar smiled, shaking his head. "This is my chance to leave asting impression."


    "Give me a week before starting with politics," Khan chuckled.


    "I apologize," Casparughed. "My family''s training is hard to ignore."


    "That speaks for your family''s value," Khan praised. "Do you mind if I meditate to kill time?"


    "Not at all," Caspar gasped, slightly disappointed he couldn''t spend the night deepening his rtionship with Khan. "I''ll tell the soldiers to be silent."


    "No need," Khan stated, crossing his legs and closing his eyes. "Just warn me if the scanners pick up something."


    "You can count on me, Captain," Caspar promised, and a newfound resolve filled him as he red at the menus. He was almost hoping he could get the chance to warn Khan.


    Khan shared that hope, but the symphony told a far different story. He couldn''t sense anything at all. There was no trace of those Tainted animals.


    Of course, the night was still young, so Khan didn''t despair yet. He tried his best to focus on meditating, even if a lot of the situation went against him. He didn''t only want to keep track of the area. Khan also had the odd sensation to try to ignore.


    As time passed, boredom fell on the trench. The job forced the soldiers to stare at the empty in for hours, and the presence of two Captains prevented casual conversations. Even Caspar started to feel affected by that mood, but noints came out of his mouth.


    Khan was no stranger to boredom, but far stronger emotions pushed it into the backline and filled his mind with proactive ideas. He wasn''tpletely powerless. In theory, he could do more than wait for the Tainted animals. Yet, Khan managed to hold back for now.


    Theplete stillness didn''tst forever. Something faint and barely noticeable reached Khan''s senses, and his eyes snapped open. He suddenly stood up, and Caspar''s worried questions turned into background noise as he focused on the dark horizon.


    The in looked empty. The vehicles'' headlights illuminated a good chunk of the area, and the soldiers before them created shadows that stretched into that white glow. Darkness still existed in the distance, but no figures moved inside it.


    Ordinary soldiers would only see an environment split between ck and white, but far different colors filled Khan''s eyes. The symphony shone on its own, and a faint tremor ran through those shades but was too distant to reveal any clue.


    The tremor grew closer, eventually showing its colors. Purple-red shades joined the symphony, revealing their source and part of their power. The natural mana''s behavior slightly changed under that influence, and Khan lowered his head to check the images on the metal surface.


    Caspar still asked questions while his eyes moved between Khan and the horizon. However, Khan''s gesture made him look at the screens, and answers eventually arrived.


    "There," Khan said, pointing at one of the screens.


    Caspar promptly tapped on the image to expand it and zoomed in to see whether the scanners picked up something. That camera was pointing at the darkness, and a barely noticeable movement suddenly happened inside it, triggering a few menus.


    "Iing!" Caspar shouted, lifting his head to re at both sides of the trench. "Battle stations!"


    Many soldiers had noticed Khan''s odd behavior, so they had already snapped out of their boredom. Caspar''s shout confirmed their suspicions, making them pull out their rifles to bind them to the trench''s metal reinforcement.


    "Hold your fire," Khan calmly muttered, jumping out of the trench andnding on the metal reinforcement.


    Caspar opened his mouth in surprise, but Khan had given an order, and he didn''t dare to reject it. He also knew his role, so another shout resounded through the trench. "Hold your fire!"


    The soldiers didn''t need to question Caspar''s orders since Khan soon became impossible to miss. He was the only figure walking through the illuminated area, and his knife fell into his grasp as he advanced toward the darkness.


    Khan was in no hurry to reach the threat, but his mana had other ideas. His senses worked overtime to gather as much information as possible, and the process elerated once a big figure peeked into the illuminated area.


    Holograms were nothingpared to real-life experiences. The creature Khan had seen with Mister Cirvags stepped into the light, running at full speed toward the human trench and filling his senses with information.


    The beast was hideous, and its azure fur didn''t make Khan miss its odd proportions. The wolf-like creature was three meters long and four tall, and its bloated belly didn''t match its slender legs. Yet, its mouth remained its strangest feature, causing disgust in anyone looking at it.


    Saliva drooled out of the longer upper part of the monster''s mouth. Its tongue was also in the open, moving left and right and matching that mad charge''s rhythm. The Tainted animal seemed to be in a hungry frenzy, and the intensity of its urges left deep marks on the symphony.


    ''It''s mindless,'' Khan concluded, tightening his grip on his knife only to rx it right afterward. ''I need to test stuff first.''


    The Tainted animal clearly carried the chaos element. Except for the Nak''s hand, that would be Khan''s first time facing an opponent that shared his mana''s qualities. However, he couldn''t take the iing battle seriously since the monster was only as strong as a second-level warrior.


    Khan advanced in a straight line toward the iing beast, doing his best to suppress his wildest sides. He wanted to kill the monster on the spot. His desperation begged him to do that, but focusing on the long game required sacrifices.


    The Tainted animal looked ufortable in its body. Its charge showed no bnce but remained oddly fast. It didn''t take long before Khan entered the creature''s range, and its deformed mouth opened to turn its leap into a deadly attack.


    Nevertheless, the monster ended up mming headfirst into the ground. Its teeth stabbed the soil, and its mouth closed to bite a good chunk of it.


    The creature gulped, uncaring of the pain of the impact and the dirt in its throat. It didn''t even mind that its attack had failed. Only hunger upied its simple mind, and the figures visible in the white light quickly attracted its attention.


    However, a cracking noise suddenly resounded among the silent in, and pain followed. The wolf howled at the dark sky before releasing a hoarse angry growl. It turned, and its fury converged on the figure touching its butt''s fur.


    Khan let sensations invade his mind as his palm ruffled that thick fur. It was different from his hair, but he still found simrities. Yet, the wolf''s butt eventually escaped his reach.


    The Tainted animal began to turn but suddenly lost its bnce, crashing to the ground. It tried to stand up, only to fall once again. One of its rear legs had bent backward since Khan had crushed its knee, and the wolf didn''t have the rity to notice the injury.


    The wolf''s hunger made it disregard any notion of pain. That beast existed only to bite and eat, and Khan was in its range. Standing up wasn''t an option, so it stomped its working legs to leap in his direction.


    Unfortunately for the beast, Khan disappeared before the leap could risk reaching him. The wolf crashed on the ground and ravaged that brittle surface. It ate the soil as if worried Khan would escape if it didn''t. The creature didn''t even bother to check whether he was there in the first ce.


    Khan felt a bit lost watching the wolf feasting on soil, but his legs promptly moved to reattract its attention. He had moved on the creature''s back again, which left itsst intact rear limb exposed.


    Another painful howl filled the in as Khan shattered the wolf''s knee. The creature tried to turn, but its broken rear legs left it stuck on the ground. It still tried to crawl, but Khan instantly reached its head and pressed it down.


    The Tainted animal grew excited since Khan was so close. An abnormal amount of saliva escaped its mouth, creating a puddle on the ground. Its working legs also shook left and right, trying to reach for Khan. Yet, their odd proportions worked against it.


    ''Its aggression is scary,'' Khan thought, his foot sealed on the wolf''s head, ''But even third-level warriors won''t be a problem if that''s all they can do.''


    Khan immediately found a w in that reasoning. He was strong, but the Thilku couldn''t be underestimated. They would have never struggled against such creatures, and the wolf didn''t hesitate to answer his doubts.


    Khan''s eyes widened when mana umted inside the wolf. He knew that pattern. He had mastered it long ago, so his legs promptly sent him into the sky and away from the Tainted animal.


    Purple-red light followed that umtion of mana. A bright sphere expanded from the wolf and dug through the ground, destroying anything in its path.


    Khan watched everything from a safe position in the air, but his surprise was hard to describe. Somehow, the Tainted animal had used the Wave spell.

 Chapter 587 Delivery

    Mutated animals could develop abilities. That wasn''t news to Khan. However, seeing the wolf use his spell made his mind go nk.


    Thoughts quickly returned and allowed Khan to make some sense of the event. The spherical version of the Wave spell wasn''t the result of the human arts. It was a mere explosion founded on an intense feeling. In the wolf''s case, hunger probably was the fuel.


    The spell continued to expand, digging a hole into the ground and putting the monster in a problematic situation. As soon as the purple-red color vanished, the wolf found itself at the bottom of a pit, which wasn''t easy to escape with two broken legs.


    The difficult situation didn''t demoralize the wolf. It howled and growled in hunger while doing its best to crawl out of the hole. The creature didn''t have anything else in mind.


    Khan inspected the scene for a few seconds before tapping the air behind him. His figure disappeared, and cracking noises followed. The wolf noticed Khan only when he ced his foot above its head, and trying to grab him revealed that its remaining intact knees had been crushed.


    The injuries and pain didn''t get in the way of the wolf''s frenzy. It continued to struggle and drool, focusing only on trying to get a taste of Khan. His position made that attempt structurally impossible, but the Tainted animal didn''t care.


    Khan felt both disappointed and curious. The spell and frenzy confirmed connections to the Nak, but the wolf was too weak to explore the topic any further. Its mindless state also prevented it from showing more clues.


    The wolf struggled a bit longer, but Khan''s foot didn''t move, so it umted its mana. The creature wanted to summon the Wave spell again, but its head mmed into the ground before it couldplete the casting.


    The impact didn''t make the monster give up, but Khan pressed on its head again, sending it deeper into the ground. Luckily for him, the wolf was pretty sturdy, so he didn''t have to worry about holding back too much.


    Khan had to repeat the stomping twice before the wolf finally fainted. Some blood umted in the hole created by its head, but it was alive, which was enough for Khan.


    Caspar and the team in the trench didn''t dare to leave their posts since Khan had given clear orders. Still, their eyes had remained glued on the scanners or battle, so they noticed Khan walking out of the hole.


    Nevertheless, the soldiers'' eyes widened when more of Khan became visible. He wasn''t only leaving the hole. His right hand clung firmly to one of the wolf''s paws as he dragged the creature out in the open.


    "Caspar!" Khan called as he pulled the wolf toward the trench. "I got it!"


    Khan was close to the trench, so everyone could hear his shout, and Caspar didn''t hesitate to add new orders. "Get the binding equipment! Captain Khan got a live one!"


    A few soldiers dropped their rifles to climb out of the trench and approach their vehicles'' trunks to retrieve the appropriate equipment. A series of metal ropes and syringes soon appeared in their hands, and they brought them to the other side of the area to reach for Khan.


    "You know what you are doing, right?" Khan asked, letting go of the wolf''s paw and stepping away to create room for the four soldiers.


    "Yes, sir!" One of the soldiers dered while herpanions injected the syringes'' contents into the monster. "This sedativees directly from our scientists, who have already tested it."


    ''You wouldn''t use metal ropes if the sedative were so reliable,'' Khan thought without expressing his concerns. As long as he was there, the wolf couldn''t take the team by surprise.


    The soldiers bound the wolf''s broken legs and mouth before dragging it toward the trench. Meanwhile, Caspar gave more orders, building a metal bridge that led directly to the vehicles. Everyone appeared ready and used to that practice, which partially reassured Khan.


    "I remember reading that the scientists wanted a Tainted animal," Khanmented, crouching on the metal reinforcement while watching the soldiers load the sedated wolf onto a vehicle.


    "That mission never leaves," Caspar exined from the bottom of the trench. "The white coats always want more guinea pigs."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "How does this work?" Khan wondered.


    "A team will deliver the Tainted animal and return here," Caspar responded.


    "Directly to the scientists?" Khan asked.


    "Sort of," Caspar remained vague. "Their side of the building has a drop zone. We just leave the beast and get out."


    ''No contact even there,'' Khan thought. ''Maybe I can pull some strings.''


    "Do you expect more Tainted animals to arrive?" Khan questioned.


    "We''ll see," Caspar sighed, peeking into the empty area illuminated by the headlights. "We might have more leftoversing, but that''s usually rare."


    Khan also stopped looking at the sedated wolf to eye the illuminated area. The symphony still carried traces of his battle, but his gaze stretched past that. He searched for more Tainted animals, but the in disappointed him.


    ''I won''t miss anything if I leave now, right?'' Khan considered before checking the time on his phone. The night was still in its early stages, but an attack had just arrived. The chances of getting more in the next few hours were low.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I''ll handle the delivery," Khan eventually dered, standing up and jumping on the other side of the trench. "I''lle back soon."


    "Captain, the soldiers can handle that," Caspar pointed out.


    "It''s my chance to get used to the area," Khan casually justified. "It won''t take long."


    Caspar couldn''t add much to that statement, and the soldiers loading up the wolf also heard everything. Khan didn''t need to say anything else to make those underlings step aside and let him enter the vehicle.


    A car was nothingpared to a ship, especially since the former had auto-pilot options too. Khan could get going as soon as the menus confirmed theplete istion from the outside world, and a map even appeared when he inserted his directives.


    It didn''t take long for Khan to return to the building, but the map didn''t point him at the main gate. Instead, it made him ride to the structure''s right side, which featured a less shy passage.


    "Requesting authorization to drop a live Tainted animal," Khan stated as soon as the vehicle established a connection with the entrance.


    A few seconds had to pass before the hidden gate opened to reveal a small and empty warehouse. Khan tried to get inside, but the vehicle didn''t respond to his directives. The auto-pilot had activated, making the car slowly advance and stop at the center of the new area.


    The entrance quickly closed, and Khan nned to wait a bit to study his situation. However, a robotic voice suddenly came out of the control desk. "Drop the cargo."


    That wasn''t the end of it. The car''s four doors unlocked andpletely opened, almost forcing Khan to leave. He wasn''t sure whether the scanners had checked his identity, but it was clear that the scientific division didn''t care about such things.


    ''Is this process automated?'' Khan wondered, jumping out of the car to inspect the area. He couldn''t see any menu or camera in his surroundings, and even the flow of synthetic mana remained hidden behind the warehouse''s metal surfaces.


    Khan nced at the sedated wolf on the car''s roof before experiencing some annoyance. He understood his role on Cegnore and even epted it, but that treatment wouldn''t do. He deserved better.


    "I''m Captain Khan," Khan shouted, performing a military salute out of habit. "Professor Joshua Parver and Headmistress Leticia Holwen can vouch for my qualifications as a scout."


    Khan let a whole minute pass after his announcement, but no reply arrived. The warehouse remained silent andpletely ignored his introduction.


    "I request a meeting with a representative of the scientific section!" Khan continued, hoping that a direct approach could work. Sadly for him, the scientists had different ns.


    "Drop the cargo," The robotic voice came out of the car again. "Captain Khan."


    Khan nced at the car before fixing his gaze on the wall before him. That wasn''t the work of a program. Someone was behind the robotic voice, but Khan''s request didn''t affect them in the slightest.


    ''I should justy low and focus on the Thilku side,'' Khan thought as his annoyance intensified.


    "To the one behind the speaker," Khan announced. "Think of someone that can order you around. I had their superiors at dinner, so drop the act."


    Khan''s n would endanger the soldiers and his career, so he wanted to gather as much information as possible before employing it. The human scientific team could help, so he didn''t refrain from using his fame, hoping to bend some rules. As for eventual consequences, he would deal with them afterward.


    The silence returned and reigned for a few seconds, but a whooshing noise eventually broke it. Part of the wall to Khan''s right moved, revealing a narrow passage from which a young man donning a long white coat came out.


    "Captain Khan," The young man called in a scolding tone while approaching the car. "This is highly irregr. We have procedures for a reaso-!"


    The scientist didn''t have the chance to finish his line since Khan materialized before him. The young man was only a second-level warrior, so his eyes couldn''t follow Khan at all, and his sudden sprint threatened to make him lose his bnce.


    "Were you scolding me?" Khan asked, his tone conveying a chilling vibe that made sweat pour out of the scientist''s back.


    "S-sir," The scientist stuttered. "There are regtions here."


    "I know," Khan wore a fake smile. "I only wanted to see if our scientists were kind enough to indulge me."


    "I," The scientist gasped before that tant fa?ade. "I can''t speak for the scientific department."


    "Then go to someone who can," Khan ordered, dropping his smile to show his real colors, "And tell them that I want an actual report."

 Chapter 588 Deals

    The threat didn''t evolve into anything specific. The scientists didn''t have the authority to fulfill that request, and Khan couldn''t barge into the scientific division either. He could only let the man go and wait for his superiors to review the matter.


    After that, Khan dropped the sedated wolf on the floor and left the warehouse to return to the trench. Nothing had changed during the short trip, so he resumed his position beside Caspar and prepared for another meditative session.


    "Did you meet any problem?" Caspar couldn''t help but ask since Khan had yet to close his eyes.


    "The car handled everything," Khan reassured. "What do you think the scientists will do with that creature anyway?"


    "No idea," Caspar responded. "It''s probably better not to know."


    "Aren''t you curious?" Khan wondered.


    "A bit," Caspar admitted, "But knowing my fate if I get infected is scarier."


    Khan didn''t probe any further. That feeling belonged to the battlefield, and he respected it. He even understood why Caspar preferred to remain in the dark.


    "You are quite easy to talk to," Khanmented, changing the topic. "I thought families forbid that."


    "They do," Casparughed. "Well, Ie from the poorer side of the Chaunac family. I had to back up my privilege with a few results."


    "You made it to Captain and this job," Khan pointed out. "That''s more than a few."


    "I already told you my family helped," Caspar dismissed the praise, "And I was lucky enough to find good soldiers while serving."


    Caspar couldn''t hide his mana from Khan, so his genuine traits were evident. The man had received political training but also appeared quite honest. He seemed to be the kind of soldier Khan could go along with.


    "You aren''t lying to me just to make a good impression, right?" Khan joked, even if he already knew the answer to his question.


    "I wouldn''t dare," Caspar promised. "I''ll annoy you with politics in exactly one week."


    "Alright," Khan snickered. "I''ll get back to meditating now if you don''t mind."


    "Feel free to do so," Caspar eximed. "The way I see it, you are in charge, Captain."


    Khan limited himself to a polite nod before closing his eyes and starting a meditative session. Most of his attention obviously remained on the symphony and odd sensation, but he still managed to get some work done.


    Sadly enough, hours went by without showing any change. The illuminated area remained peaceful, and boredom filled the trench due to the uneventful period. That trend continued until dawn approached, marking the end of the shift.


    Returning to the building after achieving so little left Khan restless, but the peace of his amodation allowed him to review the matter clearly. He had fought a Tainted animal and dered his stance toward the scientific department. He couldn''t expect much more from his first day on Cegnore.


    Nevertheless, even if the day had officially ended, Khan''s tasks didn''t. No orders were waiting for him, but a ringing noise resounded in his office mere minutes after he returned inside it.


    When Khan opened his door, three long white coats unfolded in his vision. A middle-aged man stood before the entrance with two rtively young women at his sides. The three wore stern faces, and their mana conveyed simr emotions.


    The corridor''s symphony also reached Khan, revealing the presence of onlookers. He even sensed Caspar, who added confusion and tension to the area. That meeting clearly was unusual for the soldiers, but Khan weed it with a smile.


    "May I help you?" Khan asked, pretending not to know the reason behind that event.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "We''d like to have a talk with you," The man dered. "In private."


    "Please," Khan eximed, moving aside to open the path for his office. "Come in."


    The three scientists walked inside without adding polite remarks or gratitude. They behaved like they were in charge of the ce, which wasn''t far from the truth. However, Khan only saw three third-level warriors, so he couldn''t feel threatened.


    "I''m sorry I can''t offer you much," Khan announced, sealing the door. "I have yet to grab anything from the cafeteria."


    "Those pleasantries won''t be necessary," The man stated, turning to face Khan. "This meeting won''t be long."


    The two women turned with the man, and Khan found three pairs of cold eyes fixed on him. The scientists were doing their best to convey their superior rank in the building, but nothing could affect Khan''s carefree attitude.


    "Sit, at least," Khan uttered, pointing at the single couch in the office. "I''ll grab a chair in the meantime."


    "That won''t be necessary either," The man dered, trying to stop Khan.


    "I hope you won''t mind me taking the couch then," Khan chuckled, heading for thatfortable seat. "It has been a long night."


    The women grew slightly ufortable before Khan seemingly uncaring behavior, but the man retained his sternness. That reaction described their internal hierarchy, which Khan had already established.


    "Captain Khan," The man cleared his throat while upying a spot in front of the couch. "We are aware of your exploits and political relevance. However, that doesn''t give you any right to break the building''s regtions."


    "I simply requested a report," Khan shrugged his shoulders. "I can''t do my job if I''m not privy to all relevant information."


    "You exposed one of my scientists to the risk of infection," The man continued. "That behavior is intolerable."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "He could have talked through the speaker," Khan pointed out, still showing a smile to those stern faces.


    "That doesn''t matter," The man stated. "We''ll ignore your transgression this time, but you''ll force us to send aint to the Harbor if this happens again."


    "Can I at least know who I am speaking to?" Khan wondered since the scientists had yet to introduce themselves.


    The man disliked how Khan ignored the gravity of the situation, and his question didn''t help. The scientist actually hesitated, but an answer eventually left his mouth. "I''m Winston Wulfo, second inmand of Cegnore''s scientific department. You can confirm my credentials with Captain Chaunac."


    "I''m honored my stunt could bring out the second inmand," Khanughed. "You must take me very seriously."


    "This is no joking matter," Winston scolded. "You put the entire building at risk."


    "I guess I did," Khan sighed, leaning deeper into the couch. "You all must be pretty on edge. I bet getting only leftovers doesn''t help."


    "We aren''t here to make conversation," Winston dered. "We delivered our message, so we''ll take our leave now."


    Winston suddenly turned, and hispanions imitated him. However, before they could step toward the door, Khan said something that tingled their interest. "I could get you better guinea pigs. Maybe even intelligent beings."


    Something changed inside Winston, and hispanions noticed that. The two women shot a meaningful nce at his face before he turned to look at Khan.


    "On what basis do you make such ims?" Winston asked, but Khan didn''t reply. His smile disappeared as his eyes moved between the two women.


    "Leave us," Winston ordered, understanding that silent message. The two women felt surprised but stillplied.


    "Do you want to sit now, Mister Wulfo?" Khan questioned as soon as the two women left.


    "Was your im a lie to remain alone with me?" Winston asked. "I hope you don''t expect me to fall for empty threats like my underling."


    "I stand by my words," Khan stated. "I can bring more enemies to the human trench. As for the intelligent beings, that''s a matter of luck."


    Winston tried to find the truth in Khan''s emotionless face, but the effort didn''t pay off. Khan was simply too good at hiding his intentions.


    "I," Winston hesitated. "I''ll ept the seat, Captain."


    "Take the couch," Khan smiled, standing up. "I know better than mistreating a guest."


    Winston could onlyply with Khan''s request, upying the couch while he retrieved the chair behind the interactive desk. Soon, both sat down, facing each other, and Khan let the scientist have the first line.


    "So, Captain," Winston announced, showing far more politeness than before. "How would you bring more specimens to the trench?"


    "That''s my issue to handle, Mister Wulfo," Khan replied, using the same politeness, "And I won''t share the specifics. I''m sure you understand."


    "Then," Winston continued, "What do you ask in return?"


    "Complete ess to all the information gathered by the scientific department," Khan went straight to the point. "I also want what you obtained from the Thilku."


    "That''s preposterous!" Winston shouted, standing up. "The scientific department can''t reveal ssified information."


    "I''m not asking the scientific department," Khan calmly exined. "I''m asking you."


    Winston''s eyes widened in surprise when he understood what Khan meant. He was actually suggesting breaking rules to reap benefits.


    "I think you are mistaking Cegnore for the Harbor, Captain," Winston smirked, returning to the couch. "My word is heavier than yours here. I could get you deported for merely speaking about breaking regtions."


    "But you are still here," Khan sighed. "Why don''t we skip the part where you pretend to be loyal and get to the point?"


    Winston couldn''t help but hate how that conversation was going. He had partially lied with his previous statement, but Khan didn''t take the bait. Khan appeared inplete control of the meeting.


    "Sharing ssified information is a grave crime," Winstonmented.


    "It will be our secret," Khan responded. "I''ll dispose of any device you deliver to me if that''s what you need to feel safer."


    "I can''t trust you so blindly," Winston refused. "You must give me leverage on you for this deal to be equal."


    "It won''t be equal," Khan dered. "I have the currency you want, and you aren''t the only buyer. If you refuse, I''ll make the same offer to the Thilku."


    "That''s treason," Winston gasped.


    "I''m a trusted figure among the Thilku," Khan uttered. "Making deals with them is my job."

 Chapter 589 Mind Control

    Cegnore was an isted environment, but rumors still reached it. Many weren''t privy about Neuria''s recent events, but almost everyone knew that Khan had scored a spot in a political team featuring an Ambassador.


    Rumors about other Captains would have struggled to echo that far, but Khan was unique, and he knew that. His fame gave value and weight to his ims and requests. Winston would have never taken him seriously without actual proof otherwise.


    Khan''s awareness of his status had given birth to his current attitude and behavior. That wasn''t only the result of his fame, and his approach wasn''t random either. He was choosing his words to get what he wanted as fast as possible.


    The Nak also yed a role in that choice. When Khan''s main goal was involved, he found it easier to show a firmer and darker stance. He couldn''t bother resorting topromises and nice words when more straightforward options were avable.


    Moreover, Khan had spent a year dealing with wealthy descendants and people beyond his reach. The teams on Cegnore weren''t even close to that political relevance. Khan could ignore pleasantries and etiquette without worrying about repercussions.


    Winston didn''t like the situation, but Khan was right. He could always reach for another scientist even if he didn''t contact the Thilku. Winston knew for a fact that his boss would ept that deal, so closing it now was the only way to secure benefits for himself.


    It didn''t help that Winston had already shown interest in the topic. His decision to remain alone with Khan confirmed that the currency was valuable. Refusing the offer wouldn''t grant better terms.


    Truth be told, sharing ssified information was no big deal, especially when far away from the Global Army''s territory. Winston could program a device to erase its data after a single read in minutes. He wouldn''t have to worry about leaving evidence of his crime.


    The problemsy elsewhere. Khan would hold a lot of power over Winston if that deal happened. He would basically obtain permanent leverage that could be problematic outside of Cegnore.


    "Bringing more enemies to the human trench is a dangerous business," Winston eventually announced, changing his tactic. "The Global Army would look for someone to me if casualties happen."


    "And you would bring up my name in that instance?" Khan wondered.


    "If the situation requires it," Winston smiled, believing to have found a weak spot in the deal. "I''m simply looking out for myself."


    "I wonder," Khan continued. "What would you tell the Global Army about me?"


    "I," Winston eximed, but his confidence waned right after the first word. He actually didn''t know what Khan''s methods involved.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "You should start with the alien arts," Khan whispered, almost mocking the scientist.


    "Right!" Winston stated, clearing his throat. "Your alien arts did¡­ They did¡­"


    Khan appeared eager to hear Winston''s exnation, but the silence that followed only made it harder for him toe up with something. Winston''s mind was nk. He couldn''t even invent a lie under Khan''s amused gaze.


    "The Global Army doesn''t understand half of what I do," Khan dered, "And I''m being humble. Just give up and stop wasting my time."


    Winston experienced a deep sense of defeat. Khan had no openings. No matter how Winston tackled the conversation, he couldn''t get on top.


    The defeat put Winston before two options. He could leave, avoiding risks and forgetting that the conversation had ever happened, or ept and try to establish favorable terms that could help his career.


    Khan didn''t need to wait for Winston''s answer to understand his stance. The scientist''s mana had shown greed ever since the initial offer, and that feeling always won.


    "My superior never learns about this," Winston dered once hepletely gave in. "Our deal never leaves this room."


    "Of course," Khan promised.


    "And," Winston continued, "My superior has priority over eventual findings. I need the guinea pigs to arrive when I''m alone on duty. I won''t get priority otherwise."


    "Give me your working schedule," Khan replied, "And I''ll try to stick to it."


    Winston gulped. His requests were over, and Khan didn''t even flinch hearing them. His confidence was almost scary, especially considering what his n involved.


    "I also need another thing," Khan eximed since Winston didn''t add anything. "The scientific department can refuse trips outside or directly enforce lockdowns. That must never apply to me."


    "Captain, this-," Winston protested, but Khan didn''t give him the time to finish.


    "You don''t need to know what I n to do outside," Khan stated, "But I can promise I won''t cross the agreed boundaries."


    Khan was speaking the truth. For now, he wanted to keep things rtively legal. He would resort to reckless and criminal actions only if he ran out of options.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Winston studied Khan''s face but eventually epted that he was speaking the truth. The deal was happening. He only had to add a fewst words to seal it. "We have an agreement then."


    Khan nodded, seemingly losing interest in the matter. That reaction almost made Winston stand up on the spot, but Khan suddenly added something else.


    "There''s something I don''t understand," Khan announced, fixing his eyes on Winston again. "I know your report will involve the topic, but I''d like to hear your opinion first."


    "Which topic, Captain?" Winston asked, resorting to politeness again. There was no need to avoid etiquette now that the two had reached an agreement.


    "The Thilku who switched sides after being infected," Khan exined. "How did that happen? I only heard rumors."


    "That''s," Winston''s first instinct was to postpone that exnation, but the deal was already in ce, so refusing the request felt pointless. "The mutations don''t only affect the body. The mind also changes."


    "I know they start hearing voices," Khan pressed on. "Some described it as a calling."


    Winston didn''t hide his surprise before Khan''s knowledge. That was a lot for someone who had just gotten to Cegnore. However, one look at his blue hair cleared eventual doubts.


    "That''s not inurate," Winston replied, lowering his gaze to sort out his thoughts. "Captain, have you ever witnessed mind control?"


    Khan''s eyes flickered as old memories from Nitis resurfaced. He had seen something simr. That event had started a mess that had followed him to Milia 222.


    "I did," Khan revealed. "Mana cane in incredible and scary forms."


    "That it can," Winston sighed. "The Thilku have been cryptic about that topic, but we deduced that the mutation took over their minds. We have more hypotheses too, but it''s hard to confirm them without proof."


    "What hypotheses?" Khan questioned.


    "Who controls the mutations?" Winston wondered. "Who controls the mutated specimens? Did the illness develop a will? Are the natives in control? Are they a hive-mind, or do they retain free will?"


    Winston''s questions confirmed that Khan had made the right move. Seeing that the scientific team was exploring the same doubts that afflicted his mind reassured him and added fuel to his enthusiasm. Khan could add insights into the topic but chose to remain silent.


    "I''m sure your report will expand on those questions," Khan said.


    "I''m no liar nor cker," Winston snorted. "I reached my current position through efforts alone. I agreed to your conditions, so I won''t hold back my expertise."


    "I''m d to hear that," Khan uttered.


    "Can I take my leave now?" Winston asked. "Lingering here will only create suspicions."


    "Of course," Khan eximed, standing up and showing his hand. "I''m sure our cooperation will be fruitful, Mister Wulfo."


    "I hope so, Captain Khan," Winston stated, standing up and shaking Khan''s hand.


    The friendly gesturested only a second, and Khan escorted Winston outside afterward. He even sealed his door to avoid eventual probing questions from onlookers, but his day didn''t end there.


    Khan waited a whole half an hour before leaving his office and rushing toward the building''s main gate. The guards before the exit were surprised to find someone willing to leave during the day, but refusing Khan was impossible. He had the clearance to go out in the end.


    After a lengthy security check, Khan finally stepped outside the building and found himself in the barren in again. The soldiers had given him a device that could keep track of his position, and he carried it with him as he flew toward a random location south.


    The building had scanners, and Khan didn''t know their range. Still, there was a limit to how far he could go, so he flew toward the farthest edges of the human area beforending in a suitable spot.


    Khan inspected his surroundings afternding. He was in another barren in, but the human building was nowhere near. The device also confirmed how much distance he had put from it, which reassured him. Khan could focus on his training without worrying about prying eyes there.


    ''Mind control,'' Khan couldn''t help but think about Winston''s words as he left the tracking device on the ground. ''I didn''t consider that.''


    Khan''s thoughts remained on the topic as he flew away, putting some distance from the tracking device. He was fine with the building knowing his position, but his training could destroy that piece of equipment, and he wanted to avoid the rescue party.

 Chapter 590 Secret Weapon

    The scene was the embodiment of destruction. The ground had shattered, caved in, and turned into dust everywhere. The barren in had gained a massive hole, and Khan stood at its center.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The hole wasn''t the end of the destroyed area. Deep cracks stretched from its edges, creating more cavities that destabilized the already brittle ground. A good chunk of the in appeared on the verge of turning into sand, and Khan was behind that transformation.


    The poor state of the in would shock inexperienced soldiers, but those initiated to alien arts would find the atmosphere far scarier. The air was shaking, threatening to explode on the spot. A deep sense of violence filled it, spreading a suffocating warmth that dispersed Cegnore''s slight cold.


    Khan had his eyes closed, and two drops of sweat ran down his forehead to fuse with his eyebrows. His back was also wet, and patches of dirt had long since stained his uniform.


    Those traces of exhaustion didn''t reflect Khan''s actual state. No pants affected his breath, and strength still filled his muscles. His mind was also oddly awake, pushed beyond its limits by the recent training session.


    Khan suddenly opened his eyes, and a crack expanded under his feet. He nced to his right, and a sandy cloud rose. He repeated the gesture to his left, and a chunk of soil fell from the hole''s edge.


    Each gesture caused a reaction in the environment. Khan was one with the area, but his control was limited to a single purpose. The symphony carried pure chaos, which echoed even his slightest movement.


    A burning sensation invaded Khan''s mind. His thoughts grew duller as he forced himself to calm down. He took a deep breath, savoring the chaos he had spread in the environment and doing his best to interrupt his destructive influence.


    Some exhaustion arrived as Khan calmed down. His training in the Niqols arts required the clicking growl, and forcing it to shout for long periods didn''t have the best effects on his mind. He could achieve higher awareness and influence, but a hefty price waited for him afterward.


    Khan let himself fall to the ground, which slightly crumbled under his weight. The dirt didn''t bother him, so he leaned backward, lying on that brittle surface and spreading his arms. For once, he wanted to sleep, but an rm distracted him before that idea could take form.


    A groan escaped Khan''s mouth when he retrieved his phone and checked the time. His stamina was absurd, but the number on the screen still surprised him. He had spent almost neen hours training in the in, and the night was now approaching.


    ''I''m not sound of mind alright,'' Khan cursed. He had initially believed Cegnore''s longer days would have worked in his favor, but his dedication had surpassed his expectations.


    The dedication wasn''tpletely to me. Khan knew his desperation gave inhumane power to many aspects of his character. However, the recent training session featured something else.


    After Khan confirmed that he could use the Niqols arts, something had unlocked inside his brain, and he couldn''t ignore it. He liked the Thilku runes, and the Nele upied a special ce in his heart. Yet, the Niqols'' techniques came from Liiza and worked as the foundation of his spells. He was too close to them to hold back.


    ''At least I confirmed I can get better at this,'' Khan thought, reviewing the training session, ''Even if I still have no clue how to implement the Nele''s approach.''


    Khan had found it easier to affect the environmentpared to his first attempt. He couldn''t quite control the effects of his influence, but that wasn''t an issue when he limited himself to pure and unrestrained destruction.


    That practice was actually intoxicating. Being surrounded by chaos was oddly simr to blindly following the symphony, even if for opposite reasons.


    Khan became an almost passive weapon of the symphony when he lost himself on a battlefield. Instead, filling the environment with chaos gave him a more active role. He expanded his mind rather than turning it into an empty vessel meant to exploit his surroundings.


    ''It''s as if I be the battlefield,'' Khan realized, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve to remove the grains of dirt that had fallen into them.


    Of course, both approaches had benefits and ws. By letting the symphony act as a guide, Khan could save a lot of energy. His battle prowess also bordered perfection in that state, granting him a significant edge over most opponents.


    Instead, affecting the environment was a heavier practice, both in terms of effects and energy consumption. It wasn''t graceful or perfect, but it could produce far more power. It was unparalleled when it came to pure destructive capabilities.


    Khan remained immersed in the topic until a second rm resounded. The phone reminded him about his night shift. He would need to leave in the next few minutes to avoid beingte, but his mind wasn''t cooperating.


    ''Secret weapon it is,'' Khan sighed, lifting his phone above his eyes and heading for a specific folder. The album had far more than tempting pictures. He had also taken videos of Monica, and ying one of them put a smile on his face.


    Scenes that would earn anyone a death sentence if they were spread filled Khan''s vision. Loving giggles and tempting moans reached his ears, steering away exhaustion and the threat of slumber.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The video retained Khan''s full attention for a few minutes before he stopped it and lifted his legs. He closed his eyes, storing his phone and stomping his feet to the ground. When he reopened them, he found himself mid-air.


    Khan flew to where he had left the tracking device and headed back to the human building after retrieving it. He didn''t rush his return and used the trip to review his training session. He had much to consider, but many conclusions were hidden behind improvements he had yet to achieve.


    The night fell when Khan reached the building, and vehicles were already in the process of leaving the main gate. The team appointed for that shift was going through the safety measures required by Cegnore, and Khannded next to that exit to wait for his ride.


    A few minutes had to pass before thest vehicle crossed the gate and approached Khan. One of its doors opened, showing Captain Chaunac in the driver''s seat.


    "I was about to send a rescue party!" Caspar announced as his eyes inspected Khan''s poor appearance.


    "Is there room for me on the night shift?" Khan wondered, nodding at the empty seat beside Caspar.


    "Of course," Caspar replied, unlocking the opposite door, which Khan didn''t hesitate to approach. The two soon sat side by side, and more words flew while the car isted them from the outside world.


    "Did your training go well, Captain?" Caspar asked, looking at the dirty spots on Khan''s uniform once again.


    "It could have gone better," Khan vaguely responded, "But I like Cegnore. It''s just a bit sandy."


    "You are one of the few who can say that," Casparughed. "No one else would have the guts to train outside."


    "It''s not really guts, isn''t it?" Khan sighed. "I''ll try toe back earlier from now on."


    "You don''t have to worry about that," Caspar reassured. "I told you already. Your attendance isn''t mandatory."


    "You aren''t the only one who wants to look good for our superiors," Khan eximed.


    "About that," Caspar uttered as the vehicle finally cleared him. "I''ve seen the white coats enter your office. Is everything alright?"


    "Don''t worry about it," Khan reassured. "I was only sealing secret deals with the scientists."


    Caspar frowned, but one look at Khan''s shameless smile made him explode into augh. "Don''t tease me like that, Captain!"


    Khan also snickered but dropped the topic to focus on his surroundings. He was returning to the trench, and refraining from joining a battle wasn''t an option. He could only hope more leftovers would arrive.


    Sadly for Khan, peace reigned over the entire night and never rxed its grip. The trench saw no action, leaving Khan in a meditative state for fourteen hours straight.


    Caspar and the team were obviously happy about that oue, and Khan did his best to hide his disappointment. He found it easy to distract himself that night, so the return to the building went smoothly.


    Nevertheless, Khan noticed something strange when he returned to his office. Everything was exactly as he had left it, and his mind yearned for some rest, but a device had appeared on his interactive desk, and his exhaustion immediately disappeared.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to reach for the device, which lit up without requiring his gic signature. That alone was a statement of its contents, and reading the manybels on the screen confirmed that.


    ''I didn''t expect Winston to be so fast,'' Khan thought, a smirk filling his face. ''He must be starving for intelligent beings.''


    The device didn''t onlyplete Winston''s side of the deal. It also marked a critical moment in Khan''s stay in Cegnore. He could finally put his ns in motion.

 Chapter 591 Disbelief

    Khan had been awake for almost sixty hours by then. He needed a shower and decent sleep, but a new priority had arrived, relegating those tasks to the backlines.


    The device shone in Khan''s face as he reached for the seat behind his interactive desk. He instinctively lifted his gaze, but looking at the office reminded him that he had no booze, pushing his eyes back to the screen.


    Winston had left instructions. He obviously didn''t sign them, but those notes still warned Khan about the inevitable erasure of the information on the device. Khan only had time until the night to read and memorize as much as possible.


    Worry never crossed Khan''s mind. His ability to stride forward after sleepless nights was unmatched, so he quickly epted that his rest would have to wait. As for the shower, he didn''t even consider it.


    Hours went by in which Khan remained immersed in his study. It soon became clear that Mister Cirvags'' report had covered most key information, giving aprehensive overview of the scientific team''s discoveries.


    However, some details had been left out, especially those involving the scientists'' deductions. Manycked proof but added clues that Khan could fuse with his unique insights.


    It turned out that the Thilku were quite stingy. Theypletely hid information rted to Cegnore''s underground world and overall environment. Khan could ept that due to the interspecies treaties, but the secrecy in other topics slightly annoyed him.


    The shared information reeked of Thilku''s pride. The human team never received data about mutated aliens or natives. That secrecy was understandable, but Khan could read between the lines and see how the Thilku simply didn''t want the Global Army to know about their defeats.


    The same went for the attacks. The Thilku didn''t share much about their trenches and battles. The scientists had to deduct most of that from the leftovers that reached the human area, but the results were far from urate.


    Nevertheless, positive aspects existed. The Thilku didn''t hold back information about the peculiar infection and intelligent beings. They tackled the issue both anatomically and psychologically, opening a window into that topic that Mister Cirvags'' report didn''t provide.


    The details about the illness used words that Khan struggled to read, let alone understand. That wasn''t an issue of bad trantions. The human scientists were far above him in those fields, so he had to stick to the descriptions and hypotheses to get something out of them.


    ''The virus is extremely aggressive,'' Khan read on the device, ''But its umon mutations are far scarier, and the influence of Nak''s mana is very likely to me.''


    Khan understood that part. Mana was a force of change capable of mutating any living being, but the Nak''s influence added a unique spin to it.


    ''The enforced behavior also matches some of the theories around the First Impact,'' The hypothesis continued. ''The mutated beings seem tock any goal outside eating and spreading the infection, which can be considered in line with what the Nak did on Earth.''


    Khan struggled to believe what he had just read. A few people had admitted to harboring simr doubts about the First Impact, but only in confidence. Yet, that was the first time someone talked about that conspiracy without him probing about it.


    ''Am I finally high enough to learn about this?'' Khan wondered. ''Are my efforts finally paying off?''N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The topic of the Nak had been so distant for Khan that he didn''t know how to react to that discovery. Still, time wasn''t on his side, so he forced himself to dy the disbelief for now.


    The reports about the virus didn''t contain anything else Khan could understand or use. The scientists spected about its range of effects and ability to mutate mana-wielding beings, but nothing more.


    Still, moving to the mutated beings'' topic brought new interesting developments. The device had deep details about the anatomy of those creatures and eventual patterns in the mutations, but it took the scientists'' hypotheses to capture Khan''s attention.


    ''The joint and organized attacks don''t match the Tainted animals'' nature,'' Khan read. ''They must have leaders, an instinctive purpose, or both, but the few traces of intelligence we are aware of keep that secret hidden.''


    That was in line with Khan''s deductions too. It also justified his desire to explore the areas past the trenches and the underground world. However, the device wasn''t done yet.


    ''Ordinary beings who show slight intelligence aren''t of much use either,'' The notes continued. ''Their thoughts are messy, unstable, delirious. They suffer from hallucinations, and the fewmon points boil down to probably inurately tranted words.''


    The device had long since captured Khan''s attention, but the possible tranted words disyed under that hypothesis elevated his concentration to new levels.


    ''Son, heir,'' Khan read, and his mouth moved when he reached thest word. "Host."


    That couldn''t be a fortuitous chance. Khan was sure of that. He couldn''t be mistaken about that. He heard a Nak speaking that word whenever he slept, and things were too perfect to be a coincidence.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''This is impossible,'' Khan thought, trying to find more descriptions on the device. Still, the hypotheses were over. He only saw scientific reports waiting for him.


    ''Is it impossible?'' Khan wondered. He didn''t know what to believe, but that coincidence was hard to ignore. If the intelligent beings spoke the same words as his nightmares, he had to have found something.


    Khan wanted to read some more, but his arms gave up and made him ce the device on the interactive desk. He had too much on his mind to focus on studying, but one thing was clear. He had to find a way to speak to the mutated Thilku or natives.


    ''Why would the Tainted animal want to spread the infection?'' Khan thought. ''How would the Nak lose an attack on a mana-less civilization?''


    The two questions felt connected, even if Khan couldn''t prove it. The behavior of Cegnore''s fauna would exin why the Nak had lost during the First Impact. They had probably never nned to win in the first ce.


    ''All of that just to spread the infection?'' Khan wondered. ''No, to spread mana.''


    Khan couldn''t help but think about the fear he experienced during his nightmares. The Nak in his dreams was scared about something, and the source of that feeling probably was a piece of the puzzle Khan was still missing.


    ''Don''t get ahead of yourself,'' Khan thought, forcefully shaking his head. ''It''s just a word, which won''t be anything more unless I find proof.''


    As much as Khan wanted to be realistic and calm, he couldn''t control the urges of his mana. He knew he was one step away from flying straight past the Thilku trenches and searching for answers. Yet, doing that without a n risked destroying everything he had worked so hard to obtain.


    The device suddenly beeped, distracting Khan from his thoughts. The screen flickered, turning white and then dark. Khan tried to touch it but to no avail. His fingers didn''t bring up any menu.


    However, the screen didn''t remainpletely dark. White letters slowly appeared, describing a schedule that Khan didn''t take long to decipher. Winston had left a timeline of his shifts, highlighting when he would be in charge of the scientific department.


    ''Twice a week,'' Khan read. ''Tomorrow would work for him.''


    The idea of starting the n excited Khan, but he forced himself to remain calm. His reasonable sides actually needed a few minutes to win over the chaos in his mind, and rity arrived afterward.


    Khan was no stranger to jumping blindly into dangerous situations. Yet, he wasn''t in a hurry now, and the price to pay in case of failure would be far higher than injuries.


    Getting answers was the most crucial goal in Khan''s life, but he didn''t forget Mister Cirvags'' warning. His desperation could easily make him suicidal or worse. He might get what he wanted, only to lose the means to continue his journey.


    ''This is only my third night,'' Khan realized, ''And I can''t look too desperate in Mister Wulfo''s eyes.''


    The entirety of Khan wanted to put the n in motion, but he decided to wait. He could still study Cegnore and the human trench for a while, and that was exactly what he did.


    The erasure of Winston''s report marked the beginning of the night shift, which Khan attended without bothering to change or shower. His appearance attracted unwanted attention, but he didn''t care enough to address the issue.


    Another peaceful night went by, and many followed. Khan spent an entire week fulfilling his duties without ever breaking the rules. He had the chance to fight twice, but both featured a single Tainted animal that could barely match second-level warriors, so he didn''t count them.


    Of course, even if the night didn''t provide excitement, Khan always kept himself busy with his training during the day. His packed schedule began to affect his appearance, but Khan seized the initiative before things could get too bad.


    After a week of study, on the first avable night marked by Winston, Khan gathered with Caspar and the team in the trench. That shift didn''t feature anything unusual. Actually, the atmosphere was quite rxed due to the recent peaceful period.


    However, as soon as Caspar looked away, Khan summoned a tinge of mana on his palm and blew on it while thinking about a request. He didn''t muster anythingplicated, but the symphony shook heavily, creating a gale only he could see.


    ''Come and get me,'' Khan thought, repeating the words of his request while his eyes followed the invisible gale. That mana flew in the distance toward the ce he knew featured the Thilku trenches.

 Chapter 592 Pack

    Khan didn''t know how effective his call would be. He wasn''t even sure his words would reach the Thilku''s trenches. Yet, he had to try to make the situation evolve.


    The human trench wasn''t aware of the danger Khan was trying to attract. Caspar and the other soldiers remained rxed, and barely anyone checked the scanners. Everyone was expecting another peaceful night, including Caspar.


    Khan couldn''t help but focus on that peace. The soldiers'' rxed expression almost gave birth to some guilt, but Khan''s excitement instantly suppressed that feeling. He was ying with their lives, which he didn''t like, but his options were limited.


    ''I won''t let anyone die,'' Khan promised to himself. He didn''t feel good about the n, but keeping everyone safe would help disperse the bitter taste in his mouth.


    Khan''s presence had grown heavier after training in the Niqols arts, and the same went for the changes in his mental state. He tried to hold back, but his excitement inevitably spread through the trench, affecting the general atmosphere and air.


    Caspar and the soldiers noticed that change on an instinctive level. They felt confused, looking at the scanners to search for answers. A gut feeling was telling them that something was off, but the peace in their surroundings slowly reassured them. They never fully rxed again but still grew used to that new atmosphere.


    A waiting game started, with each passing hour making Khan doubt the effectiveness of his call. Failure was an option, but his thoughts were already on possible next steps. Still, that worry turned out to be pointless.


    A tremor suddenly ran through the peaceful symphony, and a second followed. That trend continued until all the natural mana in the area shook, but that wasn''t the end of it.


    The ground began to shake before the scanners could pick up anything. Cracks opened on the area illuminated by the vehicles'' headlights, and clouds of dust rose. Something big wasing, and the soldiers looked for answers on the scanners and the two Captains.


    "Battle stations," Khan whispered, standing up and jumping on the metal reinforcement. "Fire at anything that crosses me."


    "Captain!" Caspar gasped, nning toin. The earthquake hinted at something far more dangerous than simple leftovers, so he didn''t want Khan to face it alone. However, the scanners suddenly beeped, iming his attention.


    Caspar''s eyes widened in shock when he read the scanners'' findings. More than ten figures had appeared in the dark areas, and that number increased. The human trench had never seen a simr attack, but the team had enough weapons to deal with it.


    "Battle stations!" Caspar shouted, shock invading him once again when he realized that Khan had left. "Fire at anything that gets too close!"


    Khan had already disregarded the trench. His full attention was on the dark areas ahead while he ran through the shaking ground, and his knife fell into his palm as the symphony conveyed a scary picture.


    A total of twenty figures had appeared among the darkness and were running at full speed toward the trench. Four were as strong as third-level warriors, while the others were weaker.


    ''It''s a proper pack,'' Khan thought, his grip on his knife tightening. ''Help my legs.''


    Natural mana flowed toward Khan''s legs, generating an insane eleration that brought him into the sky. He instantly reached the iing pack, andying his eyes on it added details.


    The pack contained the same types of Tainted animals Khan had faced in the past week. Those wolf-like creatures came in different sizes and proportions due to the chaotic nature of their mutations, but their base stats didn''t change.


    The monsters didn''t sense Khan floating many meters above them. They only cared about the trench in the distance, and their exposed salivating tongues conveyed their hunger. They were ready to feast on the human team, but a series of explosions abruptly halted their advance.


    Painful and angry cries escaped the monsters'' mouths as purple-red pirs grew before them. Some specimens tried to run around them only to fall prey to more explosions. A few directly died in the process too.


    The soldiers on the trench were ready to fire as soon as enemies appeared, but their tense expressions froze when the purple-red light shone on their faces. They could connect that color to Khan, but awe remained. After all, he had cast almost ten spells in a matter of seconds.


    Khan studied the monsters'' reactions before turning himself upside down. That instinctive behavior didn''t show any trace of intelligence, so he didn''t need those specimens.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Of the four stronger monsters, one had half of its body burnt by an explosion while another was retreating. Instead, thest two were side by side, howling at a pir shining before them. The light was so bright that they didn''t notice Khannding between them.


    Khan had already tested himself against those monsters, and the attack featured too many of them to take prisoners. So, his knife shed as he swung it to his left, and a thudding noise followed.


    The wolf on Khan''s right heard the noise and turned, only to see a furry head roll in its direction. That body part belonged to itspanion, but its vision went dark before any realization could arrive.


    Khan didn''t even look at the second wolf while he drew the knife out of its head. The beast crashed dead on the ground while he nced at the bright pirs on his left. His spells were still raging and blocking the pack''s path, but that situation wouldn''tst forever.


    The execution of the two powerful wolves had attracted some specimens'' attention. One of the weaker monsters nearby had noticed Khan and didn''t hesitate to pounce at him to exploit his apparent distraction. Yet, Khan pointed his free palm at the creature without moving his gaze from the pirs.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The conical version of the Wave spell engulfed the leaping wolf and burned its fur to a crisp before assaulting its flesh. The monster''s skin shattered, and its muscles crumbled, killing it before it could touch the ground.


    Khan gracefully stepped forward, letting the dead wolf crash behind him. The creature''s body crumbled due to the many injuries it suffered. It transformed into a gory spectacle that created a big, bloody puddle, but none of that touched Khan.


    The light generated by the Wave spell had notified the pack about Khan''s presence. He even remained near the bright pirs, further exposing his figure. He wanted those creatures to look at him, and they didn''t disappoint.


    Hunger took over the monsters'' brains, making them hurry toward Khan. Five of them reached his position before the rest of the pack and leaped forward, spreading their odd mouths to try to eat him. However, they ended up headbutting into each other without hitting anyone.


    Khan reappeared above the group with a fully formed chaos spear. He let the glowing weapon slip from his palm, and a new pir surged when it hit the Tainted animals. Still, that violent mana never reached Khan.


    The partially burnt, stronger monster had also moved toward Khan, but the appearance of the pir made it stab its paws into the ground to interrupt its momentum. The Tainted animal sessfully stopped, but the world in its eyes suddenly turned upside down. Its headless body even appeared in its vision before everything went dark.


    Only the remaining strong wolf in the pack could keep track of Khan''s movements. The creature had also retreated a bit during the mess of pirs and explosions, but its eyes never left Khan.


    Strangely enough, the wolf seemed to have some basic understanding of battle tactics. Its retreat had been strategic since its new position better suited its abilities, and the chance to use them appeared when Khan beheaded itspanion.


    The wolf''s belly expanded until it reached the ground while mana umted inside it. Its mouth also opened, and blinding purple-red light shone from its throat.


    A whooshing noise resounded when the belly suddenly shrunk, releasing all the umted mana. A big bullet escaped the wolf''s mouth, flying rapidly toward Khan''s position before exploding into an uneven pir.


    The wolf''s hunger took over at that point. The creature ran at full speed toward the pir, hoping to retrieve Khan''s remains. However, an unstoppable pressurended on its head, mming it to the ground and interrupting its charge.


    With the head pinned down, the wolf''s body rolled on itself, and its back mmed into the ground. The creature slid for a few meters before stopping, but something suddenly grabbed its throat and pulled it up.


    Khan stood on the wolf''s belly with its throat firmly sealed in his grasp. His eyes were on the creature''s face, trying to spot any trace of intelligence. However, as soon as the Tainted animal realized where it was, its hunger took control and made it struggle to bite at Khan.


    The wolf howled and growled as its mouth opened and closed, stretching forward to reach for Khan''s face. The creature was doing its best, but Khan''s arm didn''t move. Still, he saw nothing more than animal instincts, so his knife shed forward.


    The upper part of the monster''s head fell off, and its movements stopped. Khan also let go of the creature''s throat before looking into the distance. He was in the dark areas, outside the scanners'' range. No one would notice him if he decided to leave.


    ''It''s too soon for that,'' Khan sighed, lightly tapping on the wolf''s belly to send himself into the air. ''I can''t go MIA yet.''


    Four Tainted animals crashed on Khan''s previous position. Those creatures had followed him, but their leaps failed to achieve anything. The assault only earned them first-row seats at the center of a new pir.


    Silence invaded the battlefield at that point. Khan inspected his surroundings while walking through the air, but theck of external inputs made him sigh. He had disposed of the pack on his own and without encountering difficulty, but that wasn''t his goal.


    ''Should I send another call?'' Khan wondered,nding on the ground and storing his knife. He was ready to return to the human trench, but his senses suddenly alerted him about another threat.


    Khan didn''t have the time to dodge or think. A clicking growl escaped his mouth and sent res of mana in every direction. The [Blood Shield] also covered his arms, which he crossed before his head as he turned to face a new threat.


    A purple-red bullet as big as Khan''s chest pierced the defensive res of mana andnded on his crossed arms. The impact was so violent that Khan lost his footing and flew backward.


    The bullet didn''t exhaust its power after hitting Khan. It continued to push him away, burning through his skin and trying to pierce the [Blood Shield]. The alien technique was ready to give in, but Khan forcefully pushed his arms upward to send the purple-red attack away.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Shoutout to Tanner_Melius for the Magic Castle!


    Thank you all for the other gifts too. I see them all, and they always make me feel blessed to have such good readers.

 Chapter 593 Sniper

    Khan kicked the air to push himself further back. His body half-spun to straighten his position, and another stomp followed to send him higher in the sky.


    The bullet eventually lost momentum and began to fall, generating arge explosion once it touched the ground. The brittle surface had already suffered from the previous battle, and that detonation expanded the existing cracks, creating holes in multiple spots.


    Khan kept track of the explosion''s power without moving his eyes from the dark areas ahead. The symphony was a mess, but the bullet had left a long trail that dived into distant ces.


    As the explosion continued to rage, Khan gained a better understanding of its power. The bullet belonged to the realm of third-level mages but was stronger than his spears. It didn''t only have more mana. Its density was also far higher.


    Khan''s arms were proof of the bullet''s prowess. His defensive ability had always been unmatched among opponents at his same level due to the [Blood Shield]. Yet, that sudden attack had threatened to break through it.


    The burns, pain, and smoke from Khan''s forearms didn''t affect his inspection of the dark areas. As surprising as it sounded, the bullet hade from ces beyond his senses'' reach. Its speed had also been incredible, turning him into a sitting duck in his current location.


    That show of speed and power wasn''t enough to scare Khan away. He could easily retreat, and a simr attack wouldn''t take him by surprise anymore. His confidence allowed him to move away from the topic, which couldn''t help but trigger his excitement.


    ''A sniper,'' Khan considered. ''Can that be an instinctive behavior?''


    Mutations could create all sorts of monsters, but general patterns existed. After all, animals mainly thought about eating and procreating. Some had moreplex behaviors that involved control over territories or simr aspects, but most of that was connected to the two main drives.


    Instead, the sniper attacked after the pack was no more. That distance wouldn''t even allow it to retrieve eventual remains. There didn''t seem to be any hunger involved in that behavior. Actually, Khan could see hints of a battle strategy.


    ''Come on,'' Khan thought, keeping himself in the air. ''Fire again.''


    The symphony could lead Khan to the bullet''s source, but his freedom had limits. He risked crossing the human borders if he advanced carelessly, and that wasn''t the right time or situation to break interspecies treaties.


    Silent seconds went by, in which Khan''s patience ran out. He lifted his right palm and summoned a tinge of mana before blowing on it. A simple message joined the symphony, creating a gale that flew rapidly toward the bullet''s source.


    The message didn''t cause the reactions Khan hoped, but something else changed in the symphony. Lights only Khan could see appeared on the ground as more tremors unfolded. A new earthquake arrived, and a big chunk of the brittle surface caved in.


    The new lights brightened as many tunnels became visible. An array of underground caves appeared before a huge cloud of dust surged, hiding it again. Still, multiple figures moved among that mess, announcing the arrival of a new pack.


    Khan didn''t have time to count the new opponents since his senses suddenly screamed, making him kick the air to his right. He moved away just in time to dodge another purple-red bullet, which crossed his previous position to fly in the distance.


    The bullet entered the area illuminated by the vehicles'' headlights and continued to advance, falling only when the human trench grew close. Itnded near that defensive line, shocking anyone inside it.


    ''What is this range?!'' Khan almost shouted inside his mind. Even his newest spell couldn''te close to that absurd feature. He could barely cross a quarter of that distance with it.


    Khan would find it easier to justify that range in the presence of a cannon or simr weapons. However, the element carried by those bullets was a clear mark of a Tainted animal. Shockingly, something as strong as a third-level mage could achieve such incredible feats.


    The amazement didn''t make Khan miss details. The second bullet''s timing had been too perfect toe from a mindless beast. He knew he was against something new, and the symphony could lead him to it.


    Nevertheless, the new pack didn''t stay still during Khan''s inspection. Twenty or so wolf-like Tainted animals had resurfaced and begun to charge toward the human trench. Those numbers weren''t enough to ovee Caspar''s team, but the sniper was a dangerous variable Khan couldn''t underestimate.


    That advancing pack was an ideal distraction for both sides. The sniper could target the trench safely, but Khan could also use that chance to seize the umon specimen. Yet, he knew how he would feel if hispanions suffered injuries.


    "Fuck!" Khan eventually shouted, kicking the air before him to send himself backward. The natural mana also moved toward his legs, generating an inhumane eleration that the pack couldn''t match.


    The pack almost had the sameposition as the previous one. The new enemies only featured an additional specimen as strong as third-level warriors, but that didn''t make any difference in Khan''s mind.


    The wolf-like creatures escaped the dark area and peeked into the white light, showing their ugly faces to the human team. The soldiers got ready to fire, but something crashed among the pack, halting the aiming process.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Khannded on one of the weaker creatures'' heads, which exploded on the spot. The impact made the headless body roll forward, mming on Khan''s back and pushing him ahead.


    Khan used that push to elerate even more, sending himself ahead of the pack while turning to face it. Needles flew left and right during that spinning motion, oftennding on the Tainted animals before releasing their power.


    The soldiers in the trench didn''t get the chance to witness Khan''s performance earlier since the battle had happened in the dark areas. Yet, the headlights granted a perfect view now, and the scanners also helped watch the spectacle.


    Eyes widened and mouths hung in surprise as Khan flew left and right. The pack was ignoring him, and he showed no mercy. He only used one attack for each monster, which more than halved the number of threats rushing toward the trench.


    The process had taken less than a minute, and the soldiers couldn''t help but remain stunned at that show of efficiency. Khan was an unstoppable killing machine, effortlessly disposing of enemies that would take an entire team to fend off.


    The scene was so mesmerizing that the soldiers missed the arrival of another purple-red bullet. The attack was as fast as the previous one but flew higher, gaining a longer range. Still, something got in its way before it could begin to descend.


    Khan didn''t miss the bullet. Its arrival actually partially confirmed the presence of an intelligent being. The attack had also targeted the trench, and he couldn''t let itnd.


    When the bullet reached its highest point in the sky, Khan flew past it, stabbing a spear in its dense texture. The sh between the two spells generated a massive explosion that added purple-red tinges to the illuminated area, but nothing reached the surface or trench.


    The explosion was sorge that many soldiers forgot about the iing pack, but Caspar showed his worth in that situation. His shouts resounded through the trench, bringing everyone''s attention back to the remaining Tainted animals, and bullets finally began to fly.


    Khan found himself above the explosion. The raging mana released in the detonation blocked his sight, but he relied on far more to study his surroundings.


    The events on the surface became clear once Khan focused on his hearing and sensitivity. He had killed the stronger specimens during his assault, so the soldiers found it easy to fight back. They were dealing with the remaining monsters at a decent pace, reassuring Khan and turning his gaze toward the dark areas.


    The human team could take care of itself, so Khan didn''t hesitate to sprint back into the dark areas. He remained in the sky to deal with eventual additional bullets, but his flight remained uneventful even after abandoning the headlights.


    The symphony acted as a guide that led Khan farther away from the human trench. He was probably going too far, but theck of witnesses made him ignore that detail. Everything would be fine as long as he captured the sniper and brought it back to safe areas.


    The darkness of Cegnore''s night couldn''t hinder Khan''s vision, but a sudden sh of light tried to blind him, forcing him to close his eyes. His ability to see turned into a w, but his senses perceived the dense mass of mana flying toward him, and a needle formed in his hand before it was toote.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan sent the needle forward and released a clicking grow, covering his arms and face with the [Blood Shield]. An explosion unfolded, sending raging mana in every direction, and Khan sprinted directly into it.


    The chaotic and wild purple-red res illuminated the night, acting as a small star that shone on the in below. No one sound of mind would dare to challenge that energy, but a fuming figure pierced it, shooting at high speed toward the ground to crash into a specific spot.


    The scent of burned clothes and flesh invaded Khan''s nostrils as his eyes slowly opened. He had chosen hisnding spot for a precise reason, and the figure that unfolded in his vision confirmed that he had made the right choice.


    A wolf-like creature stood a few meters from Khan, but he instantly noticed key differences from the other Tainted animals. That monster wasn''t fat. Its belly was t, and its azure fur hid defined abs. Its mouth also had normal proportions, and its facecked the frenzy of itspanions.


    The monster didn''t appear surprised about Khan''s arrival. Its mana conveyed calm and confidence while its blue eyes looked past the smoke flowing out of its mouth. The creature was studying Khan, and he shared that interest.


    Khan''s eyes remained on the wolf as his right hand went to his chest. A pulling motion ripped the burned uniform off, exposing his intact torso and scar. That blue mark attracted the monster''s attention, which began to move.


    The wolf had its limbs stabbed into the ground, and retracting them made it assume a surprising posture. It didn''t go on all fours. Instead, it stood on its rear legs and let the front ones lie at its torso''s sides. That was a humanoid stance, and Khan didn''t miss it.


    Khan lifted his knife and prepared for a fight, but the wolf didn''t share those intentions. Its eyes went to Khan''s hair, which had surprisingly survived the explosion, before it pointed its right paw at him.


    A low growl followed, and Khan didn''t make much of it until his mind tranted it. That cry had carried a thought, which he felt in the shape of the words "Potential host".


    ''That!'' Khan thought, struggling to believe what he had just heard. ''That was the Nak''snguage!''

 Chapter 594 Horizon

    Khan''s memories of the Naknguage were older than his tragedies. He was still in co''s training camp back then, but Professor Thogett''s xenolinguistics ss had already given him troublesome clues.


    Even before learning the Niqols'' arts and transforming, Khan had confirmed that he could understand the Naknguage. He didn''t need studies or experience for that. His brain instinctively tranted those seemingly meaningless sounds.


    The same had happened with the Tainted animal, but Khan had reason to be surprised anyway. The fact that a monster seemingly evolved from mere beasts could speak thatnguage was shocking. Yet, there was more to it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The monster had used the same words from Khan''s nightmare, which the scientists had also reported. He already didn''t believe the matter to be a coincidence, but that event dispersed hisst doubts.


    "What do you mean by that?" Khan asked, but the humanoid wolf didn''t move. It kept its paw pointed at him while showing the same calm as before.


    Khan couldn''t share that calm, and annoyance surged when he realized how he had to speak. He knew the theory behind the Naknguage, and his expertise in the Nele''s arts turned his attempt into a perfect execution.


    "[What did you mean by that]?!" Khan shouted. He had only voiced a meaningless clicking growl, but the right thoughts filled it.


    The growl changed something inside the wolf. A tremor ran through its mana but didn''t affect its firm posture. It almost felt surprised that someone had replied to its cry, but understanding Khan''s question was another matter altogether.


    "[Potential host]," The wolf repeated through another seemingly meaningless growl. Khan''s brain instantly tranted it, but that didn''t make him any happier.


    ''It must have limited cognitive abilities,'' Khan quickly concluded. He believed the humanoid wolf was special, but its intelligence probably didn''t involve every possible field.


    Khan''s mana had long since crossed the boiling point by then, but his mind was calm and used those wild urges to quicken his thoughts. That conclusion led to a strategy, which he instantly implemented.


    Even when Khan spoke his version of the Naknguage, words couldn''t reach the humanoid wolf, so he would let the scientists deal with it. Capturing the creature came next, so natural mana flowed toward Khan''s legs to generate a sudden eleration.


    Ideally, Khan would always try to inflict a deadly injury on unaware opponents. His speed was his best asset, so it was better to exploit it before enemies could catch wind of it.


    However, killing wasn''t the n now. Khan aimed to capture, which involved immobilizing and putting the creature to sleep. The wolf had assumed a humanoid posture, so its legs became his first targets.


    Many beings as strong as third-level warriors could follow Khan''s sprint, but reacting to it was almost impossible. Khan teleported behind the wolf, and the glowing knife swiftly shed the back of its right knee.


    The wolf howled, turning toward the source of the pain to swing its stretched limb. Its reaction was quick, and the same went for its turning speed, but putting flesh and bones in front of Khan was a mistake.


    The iing limb approached Khan''s face rapidly, but he was faster. Lightly tapping the ground pushed him to his right, putting him right below the paw''s ws. He also lifted his knife, and the dash ended in a rain of dark blood.


    Khan found himself a few meters to the wolf''s right, and one nce at his left revealed the result of his attacks. The monster had leaned toward him since one of its legs had lost a joint, and its stretched forearm had bent oddly, hanging from the thin piece of flesh that still connected it to the rest of the limb.


    The wolf could still stand on the damaged leg, but its flexibility disappeared. The same went for the other injured limb. A sharp movement would be enough to tear the entire forearm off. The monster had lost half its battle prowess, but Khan didn''t celebrate yet.


    ''That should have cut the entire arm,'' Khan thought, his feet already mustering the next sprint.


    Khan was no stranger to oddly thick muscles, so the partially failed severing didn''t bother him. The monster''s body was nothingpared to Wayne''s, and that was enough. As for eventual surprises, he didn''t n to discover them.


    The wolf howled in anger as its calm shattered, but the kick thatnded on its nape cut its cry short. Khan had put as much strength as possible into the attack, and the monster slightly bent forward under its weight.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Nevertheless, Khan suddenly found himself unable to push the wolf any further. The monster''s back tensed up, and the same went for its abs, turning its slightly bent posture into an immovable object.


    Khan sprinted again, but the wolf''s eyes lit up, releasing purple-red beams. The monster also spun on itself, following Khan with its gaze in an attempt to hit him with the attack.


    The Lightning-demon style offered immense flexibility, but the humanoid wolf only had to turn its head and eyes to point its beams at Khan. The amount of mana in the attack even sent warning messages to his senses, forcing him to run around the monster to search for an opening.


    The beams dug deeply into the ground and stretched in the distance as Khan flew up, down, right, and left. He was faster than the attacks, but the difference wasn''t big enough to create a window where he could dive in.


    Moreover, mana had umted inside the Tainted animal, creating the specific pattern for the spherical Wave spell. The wolf was ready to cast that ability as soon as Khan got too close, but he didn''t take the bait.


    The situation worked in Khan''s favor since his energy consumption was far lower. He couldn''t go in yet, but the wolf was relying on mana-hungry spells. It was bound to get tired before Khan, and he continued to fly and evade while waiting for that opportunity.


    Still, the wolfsted longer than Khan had initially predicted. He spent half a minute flying around the monster without ever finding the right opening.


    As the seconds passed, Khan decided to move to a more active role. After all, time wasn''t on his side, but the wolfunched a loud howl before he could summon his mana, and the already destroyed ground began to shake again.


    Khan had witnessed a simr scene, and the lights that appeared in his eyes confirmed his hunch. Until now, he had flown close to the surface to search for wider angles to exploit, but his next steps sent him higher in the air.


    The beams followed Khan, and being almost right above the humanoid wolf made it harder for him to dodge. However, the changes involving the ground were far more concerning.


    The earthquake continued until the surface crumbled, revealing an array of underground tunnels. Khan spotted far more passages than before, which had a matching number of Tainted animals. A new pack had arrived, and its cries filled the area.


    Khan counted six specimens as strong as third-level warriors and more than twenty weaker creatures. None seemed to feature intelligence, but that didn''t change their overall battle prowess.


    The cloud of dust that had risen from the surface couldn''t hinder Khan''s inspection. He tried to figure out the pack''s intentions, only to be distracted by a new detail. The humanoid wolf had finally retracted its beams.


    The end of one attack only marked the beginning of another. The pack didn''t move, so the symphony was messy, but the humanoid wolf shone brighter than itspanions, allowing Khan to see its body through the dust.


    The humanoid wolf did its best to get on all fours. The injured leg wasn''t a problem, but the right arm was gone, and no amount of strength could keep it straight. So, the monster limited itself to three limbs, stabbing them into the new surface while mana gathered in its abdomen.


    Khan didn''t need more clues to understand what was happening. He joined his palms, creating a chaos spear as he flew higher in the sky. The humanoid wolf eventually finished gathering mana, and a dense bullet shot toward Khan.


    The bullet met a falling spear during its flight, exploding into a sea of raging waves that created a blinding surface in the middle of the sky. Khan flew above it, standing in areas the res couldn''t reach while his senses worked overtime.


    The new pack wasn''t moving toward the trench, which was reassuring. Yet, Khan didn''t know how it would react to his retreat.


    Attacking the humanoid wolf in the middle of so many Tainted animals was also a problem. Khan could try to pull something off with his speed, but the threat of the spherical Wave spell remained since many of those specimens had enough mana to cast it.


    Khan reviewed simtions and ns in his mind while res continued to rage, but something else suddenly reached his senses, sending his gaze into the distance. Mechanical noises had joined the howls and growls below him, and a familiar red glow soon appeared on the horizon.

 Chapter 595 Invitation

    Khan''s senses had long since gone beyond what anyone could consider human. That didn''t only apply to his sensitivity. His ears, touch, nose, tongue, and eyes had also evolved, developing a connection to mana.


    That had expanded the range of what Khan could feel, and not only in terms of depth. He could also sense things far away, which was exactly what happened now.


    The mechanical noises and red lights were distant, but Khan knew what they meant. He had actually predicted a simr oue. It was one of the possible consequences of his call.


    However, the timing wasn''t ideal. Khan was in a troublesome situation, and retreating would leave him empty-handed. He could still call the Tainted animals on a different night, but people might be suspicious, so it was better to get something now that he had the chance.


    Khan fixed his eyes on the purple-red waves that separated him from the surface. That bright mana tried to blind him, but his focus was already past it. The pack''s arrangements filled his mind, removing any useless thought and turning him into a weapon of the symphony.


    The goal was simple. Khan didn''t know if he had stepped outside the human territory, so subjugating the special wolf there might get him nowhere. He needed to bring it closer to the trench to increase his chances of keeping it.


    Since the matter involved the Nak, Khan''s brain worked overtime, reaching unprecedented levels of thinking speed. It highlighted all the Tainted animals that could cast the Wave spell and studied the humanoid wolf. Khan would only get one chance, so he had to seed.


    Khan exhaled slowly before letting himself fall into the blinding waves. He turned upside down, and the res shone on his face, sending warmth that warned him about their danger.


    Nevertheless, the bright surface wasn''t equally dense everywhere. Its wild nature created thinner and safer areas, and the symphony led Khan toward them. He only had to stomp the air to send himself in that direction.


    The pack was howling at the sky, seemingly angry at the bright patch that illuminated the area. Those waves of mana were so brilliant that the monsters didn''t notice the two spears that fell through them until it was toote.


    The howls transformed into painful cries and yelps as the two spears exploded in the middle of the pack. Scorching pirs surged, killing some specimens and forcing many to retreat. Chaos spread, creating the perfect hunting ground.


    Khan used the confusion to dive through the bright surface and toward the pack. Smoke surrounded his figure due to his burning pants and flesh, but no pain reached his mind. Only the symphony filled his silent thoughts, warning him about a possible problem.


    The pack had fallen prey to its most basic instincts, but the humanoid wolf didn''t let the spears distract it. The creature had its eyes fixed on the bright patch in the sky and didn''t miss the appearance of a fuming figure. It was actually waiting for it.


    The humanoid wolf''s eyes lit up, shooting beams that rose into the sky to intercept the fuming figure. The monster was sure an evasive maneuver would follow. Yet, to its surprise, Khan continued to descend in a straight line.


    Khan had only needed a few exchanges to understand how strong the humanoid wolf was. The power of that specimen''s spells was off the charts, but its body didn''t share that feature.


    However, the wolf remained as strong as a third-level warrior, stronger actually. It wasn''t Wayne, but its flesh had still partially survived the Divine Reaper. That wasn''t a feat many could aplish.


    It would take something special to make the wolf faint, and Khan could only think about a concussion. Still, he needed to go past his peak speed to deliver it, which involved exploiting the gravitational pull without changing direction.


    Khan experienced no particr emotion at the sight of the beams. He felt no fear, worry, or resolve. His mind existed for a sole purpose, and his body moved to fulfill it.


    The blood vessels in Khan''s right forearm clotted as he stretched it forward. The beams hit it and began to dig into his flesh, but the alien technique held strong.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Sadly, Khan''s speed worked against him. The [Blood Shield] endured as long as possible, but the beams eventually pierced the technique, digging into Khan''s flesh and aiming for his bones.


    Still, that moment didn''tst long. After all, Khan was descending as fast as possible. It only took a second for the wolf to enter his range.


    While the beams were still firing, Khan abruptly spun, channeling all the umted momentum on his stretched left leg. Pain spread from his back, but he ignored it as the tip of his heel became the home of immense power.


    Everything went silent for a fraction of a second when Khan''s heel hit the wolf''s head. The impact was so violent that winds blew from its position. The monster''s limbs also dug deeper into the ground, immobilizing it.


    ''Something cracked,'' Khan thought, worried about the humanoid wolf''s condition, but the situation prevented him from dying his next move.


    Khannded before the humanoid wolf but didn''t bother to look at it. The symphony had already told him that the creature had fainted, and the limbs stabbed into the ground also kept it straight.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    However, the situation was different around Khan. The pirs were still distracting many Tainted animals, but a few had noticed Khan''s arrival, and hisnding only brought more attention to him.


    Those Tainted animals had simple minds, so they hurried toward Khan as soon as they saw him. Yet, Khan suddenly lifted his right leg before delivering a powerful stomp that spread his mana through the surface.


    The monsters only cared about their hunger, so the stomp didn''t scare them away. However, cracks quickly opened under their paws, and their weight did the rest. The many underground tunnels copsed, destroying the new surface and removing their footholds.


    The destruction spread all around Khan. Half of the pack fell, buried under dust and soil. That already messy environment changed once again, but two figures remained unaffected by the event.


    The humanoid wolf also began to fall as the ground under it copsed. However, Khan''s back was ready to receive it, and the kick that followed sent both of them into the sky.


    A burning sensation spread from Khan''s back as the wolf''s fur rubbed on it, but he disregarded the pain and flew forward. The monster was heavy, which affected his speed, but nothing stopped him from returning to the edge of the illuminated area.


    Khan could push himself until the human trench but opted tond there. Caspar and the other soldiers would be a hindrance in the imminent meeting. It was better if he dealt with it on his own.


    The pirs eventually dispersed, and the dust lifted by Khan''s stomp vanished, allowing the pack to make a point of the situation. Those monsters noticed Khan in the distance and nned to go after him. However, the mechanical noises got closer, iming their attention.


    A team of forty Thilku riding bikes and jeeps rushed through the in to intercept the pack busy climbing out of the new hole. Their arrival rekindled the monsters'' hunger, and a battle unfolded.


    Khan watched the battle from his position while keeping track of the humanoid wolf''s mana. The creaturey fainted at his side, but its breathing was irregr and faint. The kick had got it good, and Khan could only hope its resilience triumphed.


    Surprisingly enough, the Thilku fought with their bare hands. They didn''t rely on rifles or simr weapons to deal with the pack, but their performance was overwhelming anyway.


    The Thilku team wasn''t only more numerous. It also only had third-level warriors, which gave the pack no chance to win. Most monsters died in the following minutes, while a few ended up in chains and loaded on some cars.


    Khan wasn''t exactly hiding himself, especially with the headlights shining so close. The Thilku had noticed him, but nothing came in his direction during the battle. The aliens kept ignoring him even while preparing the prisoners, but something changed once that process was over.


    A group of four Thilku hopped on their circr bikes and pointed their red headlights at Khan. He showed no fear as the team approached him and even performed a traditional bow when the rides stopped a few meters away.


    The four Thilku dropped out of the bikes and walked among the red lights before stopping in front of Khan. They didn''t say anything, but Khan felt their gazes even with his head lowered.


    The Thilku inspected the fainted wolf before moving to Khan''s injuries. He had burns everywhere, and his right arm featured two deep, bleeding cuts that almost reached his bones. His back also had simr wounds, even if far lighter.


    Still, the Thilku''s attention eventually moved to Khan''s blue hair. They had been briefed about Khan, so they instantly recognized him.


    "[Thank you for the help]," Khan announced at that point, breaking his bow and straightening his position. "[Our team would have found it hard to deal with the pack]."


    The scar became visible, and the Thilku''s eyes fell on it, but their duties eventually took over. One stepped forward and pointed at the fainted wolf before uttering predictable words. "[The Thilku need that specimen]."


    "[Regtions state that humans can take anything in their territory]," Khan dered. "[This specimen belongs to me]."


    "[Cegnore belongs to the Empire]!" The Thilku grunted, raising his voice.


    "[I respect the Empire]," Khan said, "[That''s why I''m honoring the agreements it signed]."


    The Thilku opened its mouth, but nothing came out of it. Khan had cornered him with a single reply. He had put himself on the side of the Empire while also preserving his interests.


    "[However]," Khan continued, leaning toward the fainted wolf to lift it, "[I must repay you. Your whole team is invited to a feast in the human building]."

 Chapter 596 Surgery

    The Thilku would have never expected a human to invite them to a feast, especially on their own. However, they didn''t misunderstand Khan''s words, and refusing wasn''t an option either.


    Feasts weren''t only crucial in the Thilku''s customs. The alien team had effectively helped the humans in that raid. Khan was also important enough to im some authority. Ignoring the invitation would basically be impolite on many levels.


    Khan adjusted the humanoid wolf on his back before ncing at the Thilku. The aliens did their best to retain nk faces, but it was clear that the invitation had put them in a tough position. The four even exchanged looks before the Thilku in charge eventually replied.


    "[We''ll inform the rest of the team]," The Thilku announced before realizing that the event required better manners. He quickly grabbed his cape''s edge to perform a customary bow, and polite words followed. "[Thank you for having us, Captain Khan]."


    ''They really know about me,'' Khan thought before wearing a fake smile. "[I''ll inform my team]."


    Khan didn''t wait for a reply. He set off while the Thilku was still immersed in his bow, and the team soon became too far to check its behavior.


    The human trench quickly grew near, and every eye inside it fell on Khan as hended behind it. Caspar didn''t hesitate to jump out of the channel to greet him, but Khan didn''t give him a chance to speak.


    "We''ll have a feast with the Thilku in a few hours," Khan announced, adjusting the wolf on his back. "Get the cafeteria ready."


    "A feast?" Caspar gasped as panic invaded him. "We barely have food for ourselves. How can we-?"


    "Just do it," Khan ordered, fixing his cold eyes on Caspar. "Ask the scientists to give a share, and don''t be stingy. The Thilku eat a lot."


    "But, Captain," Caspar tried toin. He didn''t want to refuse Khan, but bringing the Thilku to the human building was a safety hazard. He wasn''t even sure the decontamination process would work on them.


    "Make it happen," Khan dered. "Mention my name whenever someoneins."


    Caspar didn''t know what to say, and his eyes eventually fell on Khan''s body. He was a mess, and the deep cuts on his right arm made Caspar wonder how he could still use that limb.


    "Khan," Caspar gulped, using a far different tone. "Are you okay?"


    Khan was ready to set off again, but Caspar''s new tone imed his attention. His stern mood faltered when he saw Caspar''s worried expression, but helplessness soon invaded him.


    "I''m always okay," Khan reassured, smiling and nodding at the fainted wolf. "I''ll deliver this to the scientists. You take care of the feast."


    The smile conflicted so much with Khan''s appearance that Caspar couldn''t find the strength to argue anymore. The scene made him sad, and that feeling remained even after Khan left.


    ''He is a good man,'' Khan thought while flying across the dark sky. He wasn''t used to genuinely good people, so the interaction made him feel guilty. Still, he was sure he would get the chance to clear the issue in the following nights.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The difort caused by the injuries grew stronger now that the tense part had ended. Khan had be used to burns, but his back hurt and his right arm eventually fell in his view.


    ''I can''t move my pinky and ring finger,'' Khan thought, staring at his shaking right hand. The two cuts had stopped bleeding, but the damage remained, and medical attention seemed mandatory.


    ''Monica will be so mad,'' Khan sighed before disregarding any useless thought and hurrying back to the human building.


    Khan had memorized the area''syout, so he met no problems during the flight. He evennded before the entrance connected to the scientific division, and, to his surprise, the gate opened almost immediately.


    "Step forward, Captain," A robotic voice came out of the warehouse that unfolded in Khan''s eyes, and heplied with the orders. He entered the area, and the gate closed to iste him from the outside world.


    White gas came out of openings across the warehouse once the ce was isted. The contamination process started, and Khan dumped the wolf on the floor while waiting for it to end.


    A few minutes had to pass before the warehouse sucked back the smoke. A narrow passage on Khan''s right opened at that point, and a man wearing a white coat and a gas mask emerged.


    "Mister Wulfo?" Khan called, recognizing the man from his mana signature.


    "Is this the specimen?" Winston spoke through the mask, hurrying toward the fainted wolf. "Is it alive?"


    "It breathes," Khanmented, looking at the creature. "I had to rough it up a bit."


    "It is indeed different," Winstonmented, crouching toward the monster to turn its belly up. He was wearing long gloves, so his gestures carried no hesitation.


    "The Thilku sent reports describing simr features," Winston continued, lifting his head to look at Khan. "Are you sure it''s intelligent?"


    "It spoke," Khan revealed. "It used the Naknguage to say host."


    "Did it?" Winston gasped, excitement building inside him. "Wait, how can you be sure of that?"


    Khan wore a nk face before pointing at the scar on his chest. Winston immediately realized how stupid his question had been, but after taking a good look at Khan, more details fell into his view.


    The mask partially hid Winston''s face, but Khan could sense his feelings through his mana. He didn''t want to exin himself with the iing feast, so he took the chance to say his goodbyes.


    "I''ll take my leave now," Khan dered. "We''ll have between thirty to forty Thilku in the cafeteria tonight. I hope the scientific division can share some of its provisions."


    "Oh," Winston nodded, lowering his head before lifting it right away. "What?! The Thilku here?!"


    "Is that a problem?" Khan wondered. "The building should be equipped for the eventuality. We are in Empire territory in the end."


    "We do have the equipment," Winston stated, standing up, "But we need time to prepare."


    "Get it done," Khan ordered. "I need this meeting."


    Khan didn''t wait for Winston''s reply. He also needed to prepare for the meeting, so he turned to approach the exit. Winston didn''t know what to say, but noticing the two long cuts on Khan''s back made him gulp loudly.


    "Captain," Winston called. "Wait a moment."


    "What?" Khan asked, peeking past his shoulder, but Winston had already stopped looking at him. The scientist had begun tinkering with the warehouse''s menus, and pieces of the floor soon moved to release a cage that trapped the fainted wolf.


    The cage began to move on its own, approaching one of the walls and opening another passage. It didn''t take long before the wolf left the warehouse, disappearing once that surface closed.


    "Come with me," Winston ordered, heading for the corridor he had used before. Khan didn''t know what was happening, but Winston''s mana reeked of good intentions, so he followed him.


    The corridor was narrow and had multiple turns. It was hard to navigate, but the walk didn''tst long. Winston soon pressed on a surface, which opened into a whiteb full of machines Khan didn''t recognize.


    "Sit there," Winston announced, pointing at a chair in the middle of theb. "I''ll be right back."


    Winston quickly walked through a door on the other side of theb, leaving Khan alone. The ce had a big window that showed a simr area, and Winston entered it to retrieve a few machines.


    "Captain," Winston said once he returned inside theb, "Remove your pants. Underwear too."


    Winston dropped the new equipment on an interactive desk nearby and removed his mask. He took a deep breath, enjoying the unfiltered air that reached his nose, but a frown appeared on his face when he noticed that Khan was still seated.


    "Captain?" Winston called.


    "Well," Khan voiced, clearing his throat. "You are a fine-looking man, Mister Wulfo, but I have a girlfriend."


    The statement removed any strength from Winston''s body. His face lost any trace of life as he stared nkly at Khan.


    "You aren''t the yful type," Khanmented, slightly disappointed. "I guess I''ll have to stick to Captain Chaunac."


    "Do you want me to check your injuries or not?" Winston asked.


    "Yes, yes," Khanughed, jumping on his feet and removing the sheath. His pants were a mess, so he directly ripped them off, and he showed no shame when he moved to his underwear.


    Winston carefully inspected Khan''s movements to check his state before grabbing a scanner from the interactive desk. He approached Khan and moved the machine across his body, often mumbling or gasping when results appeared in his eyes.


    "Doesn''t it hurt?" Winston couldn''t help but ask, pointing at the hideous injury on Khan''s right arm.


    "Of course it does," Khan replied, lifting his right hand to check how much he could move. "I think two or three fingers are dead."


    Winston felt at a loss for words. Khan''s voice didn''t convey any sadness, fear, or pain. He looked used to getting hurt, which made Winston feel bad when he recalled his age.


    "The cuts are deep," Winston eventually exined, dropping the scanner to retrieve a rectangr machine. "This will fix nerves and tendons, but you''ll need a few weeks to recover full mobility."


    "Weeks I have," Khan uttered while Winston brought the rectangr machine to a desk nearby and opened its lids. Many tiny mechanical arms featuring des and other tools became visible, and Winston pointed at a long hole under them.


    "ce your arm here," Winston ordered. "I''ll get the painkillers."


    "Are they mana-based?" Khan asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Of course," Winston replied.


    "Then, no," Khan sighed, crossing Winston to ce his right arm in the appointed spot.


    "Captain, the surgery is invasive," Winston tried to convince Khan.


    "No," Khan repeated, shaking his head and closing his eyes to prepare for the procedure.


    "It will leave a scar," Winston warned.


    "It won''t be the first," Khan chuckled.


    "Very well," Winston sighed, closing the lid and activating the machine''s functions.


    The machine scanned Khan''s arm before binding it in multiple spots. Metal restrictions trapped his elbow, wrist, and biceps, almost forcing him on his knees.


    "Here," Winston said, handing Khan a piece of cloth. "Bite on this."


    Khan epted the offer, seizing the cloth and putting it in his mouth. He bit hard on it, and the pain soon started.


    Grunts escaped Khan''s mouth as he felt tiny des piercing his flesh and scouring through it to reach the injured areas. He had grown used to the pain after fighting and meditating, but that continuous suffering was different since he could escape it.


    Khan''s mana reached the boiling point, and he couldn''t trick it. That energy knew that Khan could escape the surgery and found no reason to remain trapped under it.


    Things threatened to worsen when a clicking growl resounded in the back of Khan''s mind. The cry grew louder, warning about an imminent explosion. The critical point was approaching, and Khan could only think of one method to calm down.


    "Get out!" Khan shouted, the piece of cloth falling from his mouth.


    "Captain," Winston called.


    "Get the fuck out!" Khan shouted again.


    Winston could see that Khan was in pain but didn''t think much of it. Yet, people''s pride worked in mysterious ways, and Winston respected it enough to head for the exit.


    "Wait," Khan grunted, forcing himself to stand straight. "Hand me my pants."


    Winstonplied, giving the ragged pants to Khan, which he held still with his legs while retrieving his phone. He unlocked the screen, ring at Winston to remind him about the previous order.


    ''Stupid mana,'' Khan cursed while reaching for the familiar folder and waiting until Winston left theb to open a specific video.


    Monica''s face filled the screen. Her eyes were closed, and her messy hair covered her cheeks, but a giggle soon escaped her mouth. She looked at the camera before turning to her side, using her left arm as a pillow.


    "I thought we were done with the videos," Monica teased, her half-sleepy eyes moving between the camera and the face behind it.


    "I couldn''t help myself," Khan''s voice came from the phone. "You were too beautiful."


    The camera retreated, giving a better view of Monica''s body. Her chest and t belly appeared on the screen, and a hint of legs joined them.


    "You are a hopeless scoundrel," Monica scolded. "I forgive you only because your head is filled with me."


    "Not only my head," The Khan on the phone said. "You made sure of that."


    Monica pouted, but recalling the imminent departure made her drop her pretenses. If Khan wanted to bring more of her to Cegnore, she wouldn''t refuse.


    "So," Monica said, lowering her voice to gain a tempting tone, "What should I do, dear?"


    "I won''t let you sleep if we make another video like that," The Khan on the phoneughed, and a hand moved past the camera to reach Monica''s face. "Give me something for when I miss more than your butt."


    "Dummy," Monica pouted but still rubbed her cheek on Khan''s palm. She closed her eyes to memorize his touch but eventually opened them to look at the camera. "Remember that I love you, okay?"


    "I love you too," Khan said, matching the words he spoke in the video. The camera fell on the mattress at that point, and sweet sounds resounded until the couple remembered to close it.


    Khan let himself fall to his knees and brought his silent phone to his forehead. The video had sessfully distracted him, calming down his mana and making him stick to the surgery. However, loneliness filled that space.


    ''When did I be like this?'' Khan wondered.


    The Slums had made Khan independent. He had gotten used to being alone, but loving Liiza had changed more than his emotional spectrum.


    When Khan kept himself busy, things were still fine, but the empty moments reminded him of the absence of what he truly wanted. He had loved again with Monica, and not having her at his side created a void he couldn''t fill.


    ''When did I unlearn how to be alone?'' Khan cursed.


    Truth be told, Khan was being harsh on himself. He didn''t forget how to be alone. He had experienced something far better, which created an unbearableparison. Khan had learned bliss, so misery was tougher to handle.


    ''The dangers of happiness,'' Khan sighed. Part of him wished to be perfect, but love came with ws, and the current loneliness was one of them. He preferred that temporary weakness over a life without Monica.


    Khan''s arm stopped hurting, and he lifted his gaze to inspect the machine. Thetter remained silent, so he straightened his position andy down his phone before waving at the window. Winston was on the other side, and the gesture made him move.


    "Did the machine finish?" Winston asked as soon as he entered theb before approaching Khan to get his answer. He lifted the machine''s lid and freed Khan''s arm before inspecting its state.


    Khan could also peek at his arm from his position. Two burn-like scars had appeared on his forearm, going around half of it. Those marks were shy, but time would probably take care of them.


    Winston pressed his fingers in various spots of Khan''s forearm, sometimes triggering slight pain. Everything looked fine, so new orders arrived. "Try to move it. Slowly."


    Khan did as Winston had ordered. He lifted his arm and flexed his elbow. Everything went well there, but pain arrived once he tried to close his fingers. Khan could slowly make a fist, but the process hurt quite a bit.


    "It will get better," Winston reassured, recognizing the pain on Khan''s face. "I''ll find a brace now."


    "No brace," Khan refused. "I can''t look weak before the Thilku."


    "Your arm didn''t actually heal," Winston tried to exin. "The sutures might snap if you move it too much."


    "I''ll be careful," Khan promised. "Just make tight bandages."


    Winston wanted to argue, but defeating Khan with words was simply impossible. He had already tasted defeat once and wasn''t eager to experience it again.


    Moreover, Khan had stayed true to his word and had shown surprising endurance during the surgery. Winston disliked his methods and personality. Still, he couldn''t help but feel some respect.


    "Bandages it is," Winston sighed. "I also need to take a look at your back and burns. I would suggest you avoid showers, but you aren''t exactly a good patient."


    "Showers I can avoid," Khanughed. "The Thilku usually celebrate after missions, so being dirty is fine."


    "Oh," Winston eximed. "I didn''t know that."


    "I told you," Khan uttered, shooting a meaningful nce at Winston. "I am a trusted figure among the Thilku. Knowing them is my job."


    Winston struggled to match Khan''s young face with his expertise and feats. However, the many marks on his naked body helped. Khan still carried some scars from all the bullets or wounds he had suffered, which created a far different image.


    "I''ll get the bandages," Winston eventually said, diverting his gaze and heading for the previous interactive desk. Yet, the temperature suddenly dropped, forcing him to interrupt his search and look at Khan.


    "Say," Khan voiced, inspecting the ceiling and the corners of theb. "Does this ce have cameras?"


    "Of course," Winston revealed, confused about the faint fear spreading inside his mind.


    "Are they active?" Khan asked.


    "No," Winston replied. "We both know this isn''t standard procedure."


    "Are you sure?" Khan pressed on while his gaze continued to wander the ceiling.


    "I know how thisb works," Winston snorted. "I happen to be the second inmand of the scientific division, in case you have forgotten."


    "That''s for the best," Khan eximed, finally looking at Winston to show one of his darkest faces. "I wouldn''t hesitate to destroy the entire building to prevent what happened here from leaking outside."

 Chapter 597 Feast

    The threat ruined any chance to improve the rtionship with Winston, but Khan felt the need to say it since Monica''s video was involved. Nevertheless, Winston was a professional and continued patching him even if the tones had grown colder.


    Khan and Winston didn''t exchange any unnecessary pleasantries once the visit was over. Winston limited himself to apanying Khan to the other section of the building, but nothing other than that. They couldn''t spend more time together since both had important tasks.


    The scientific side had spare military uniforms, so Khan reappeared among the soldiers donning clean clothes. However, his appearance carried the marks of the recent battle, and rumors had already spread.


    The uniform hid most bandages, but some peeked past Khan''s right sleeve to keep his wrist still. He also had arge band-aid on his left cheek, and his blue hair was as shy as always. Anyone could identify him and confirm the rumors, and murmurs spread as he crossed corridors and halls.


    "I heard he defeated four waves on his own," A soldier whispered.


    "No," Another soldier stated. "It was five."


    "I also heard five from some of the guys who came back with the Captain," A third soldier said.


    "Damn," Another soldier eximed. "Is he even twenty yet?"


    "In a couple of weeks," A soldier responded. "What were you doing when you were that age?"


    "Cleaning weapons in a training camp," The previous soldiers scoffed.


    "Don''tpare us to him," Another soldier scolded. "He isn''t like us."


    "He is the monster of Nippe 2," A soldier voiced, and many echoed those words.


    The soldiers were doing their best to suppress their voices, but nothing could escape Khan''s ears. Still, he ignored thements and walked with his gaze fixed ahead. He was willing to y the role of the monster as long as it brought him fame.


    Khan''s attitude toward the rumors didn''t change even after the soldiers began talking about the Thilku. The news of the invitation had spread quickly, and many had questions about it. Yet, no one dared to bring their doubts to Khan.


    Crossing the building took longer without jeeps and simr vehicles, but Khan stuck to walking to show a confident stance. The soldiers had to see that mere battles couldn''t take him down. He had to convey a superior and unreachable aura, and that steady stroll fulfilled his goal.


    Reaching the cafeteria brought a change in the scenery. Caspar was there, shouting orders to multiple soldiers busy rearranging the area. Those seats weren''t Thilku-friendly, and the same went for the space among tables, so adjustments were needed.


    "Captain!" Caspar gasped when he noticed Khan approaching his position. "Is everything okay?"


    Caspar''s eyes darted between Khan''s exposed bandages, but thetter dodged the question. "How long until we are ready?"


    "Half an hour," Caspar responded. "It would help if we knew when the Thilku wereing."


    "What about the trench?" Khan asked, ignoring Caspar''s hidden question. It was still night, so a team had to be outside to defend the perimeter.


    "I reced all the empty spots and added a little extra," Caspar revealed. "Though, everything seems quiet for now."


    ''Hopefully, that pack was thest,'' Khan thought before changing the topic. "Captain, how is your Thilku?"


    "What?" Caspar eximed, and understanding what the question meant made him shake his head. "I couldn''t possibly preside in official meetings with the Thilku."


    "A few of our soldiers have to be here," Khan said, ncing at Caspar, "And I need someone to keep them in check."


    Caspar didn''t know how to react to the offer. He moved away his dreadlocks to get a better look at Khan, but thetter appearedpletely serious. Khan was doing him a big favor, but meeting his expectations could be problematic.


    "Captain," Caspar called, nning to tackle the issue seriously. However, Khan didn''t give him the chance to speak.


    "Caspar, can I leave this to you?" Khan directly asked, leaving Caspar speechless once again.


    Caspar almost couldn''t believe that Khan wanted to rely on him. The idea was ttering, and other aspects of the request looked appealing too. That was Caspar''s chance to get closer to the Thilku and deepen his rtionship with Khan. He couldn''t miss it.


    "Yes, sir!" Caspar almost shouted, performing a military salute. "Leave it to me!"


    "Captain, we have the same rank," Khan reminded, chuckling while eyeing a corner of the cafeteria. "I''ll be there if you need me."


    "You heard the Captain!" Caspar shouted at the soldiers, even if none of them was nearby. "Hurry up with those chairs!"


    More orders resounded, but Khan didn''t bother to hear them. He reached the cafeteria''s corner and sat down, closing his eyes to meditate.


    The previous week had been quite stressful due to the training sessions and night shifts. Cegnore''s longer days had worsened it, and Khan had also fought and suffered injuries on top of that.


    It was safe to assume that Khan was exhausted, and his mind confirmed that. Even his check-up technique sent warning signals, especially from his right forearm. He needed to rest and let himself heal, but his night wasn''t over yet.


    Minutes and hours passed while Khan forced his mana to flow through his body. His energy enveloped the many injuries, quickening the healing process and slowly increasing his attunement.


    The process was as painful as ever, especially with the new injuries, but the meditative state helped suppress any reaction. Khan''s poker face didn''t falter while he sat cross-legged on the floor, and a change in his surroundings eventually forced him to open his eyes.


    Caspar was walking toward Khan, and seeing him opening his eyes made him stop to perform a military salute. Khan understood what was happening even if no words flew in his direction, so he stood up to prepare for the event.


    "How many?" Khan asked.


    "Twenty," Caspar replied. "We can match their numbers."


    "Do it," Khan nodded, scratching the corners of his eyes, "Ande with me to wee them."


    Khan inspected the cafeteria while Caspar turned to convey the new orders to the soldiers. The new arrangements offered fewer and bigger tables that had more space among each other. Larger seats also stood at their sides, creating afortable environment for the Thilku.


    After conveying the orders, Caspar reached Khan''s side, and the two left the cafeteria to approach the main gate. The area was surprisingly orderly now, featuring two rows of soldiers that stretched from that big entrance. The teams were ready to wee the Thilku, and the two Captains joined them.


    The security measures made the process slow and clunky, but a small passage at the center of the gate eventually opened, releasing the first wave of guests. Three Thilku stepped forward, entering the human building and inspecting it with their wary eyes, but Khan didn''t leave them alone for too long.


    "[Wee to our headquarters]," Khan announced, reaching the three Thilku and performing a traditional bow.


    "Thank you for having us, friends," The Thilku in the middle of the trio stated in a good human ent while bowing. The alien''s imposing and muscr figure could trick even expert eyes, but the golden hair stretching from her nape marked her as a woman.


    Khan didn''t think much of that. He mostly focused on the trio''s level, which matched his. He had yet to see someone stronger than a third-level warrior on Cegnore, but that probably was a nned move on the Thilku''s side.


    ''They must have someone stronger,'' Khan thought, interrupting the bow to show a polite smile at the trio. The female Thilku also straightened her back and moved to the mandatory pleasantries.


    "We didn''t expect such invitations in our home," The female Thilku eximed.


    "[Please, you are guests]," Khan responded, imitating Lord Exr''s words. "[Yournguage is more than fine]."


    The female Thilku didn''t expect Khan to have such fitting manners, but her face didn''t convey her surprise. Khan still sensed it but decided to ignore the reaction.


    "[You did us a favor]," Khan continued. "[A feast is the least we can do to repay you]."


    "[From what I hear]," The female Thilku uttered, "[You were holding your ground just fine. You match your reputation, Captain Khan]."


    "[I''m ttered]," Khan smiled. "[May I know who am I speaking to]?"


    "[I''m Vaasa]," The female Thilku revealed. "[I handle some of the rtionships with the Global Army]."


    "[That''s why you know me]," Khanughed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "[Your name is known in Lord Exr''s domain]," Vaasa exined. "[The Thilku don''t ignore allies who helped them]."


    ''They spread it on purpose,'' Khan thought with a polite smile stered on his face. ''How fitting.''


    It made sense for the Thilku to praise allies, even if they came from different species. It would go against their pride to ignore such feats.


    Nevertheless, Khan couldn''t help but feel slightly troubled. Being famous was good, but Vaasa didn''t sound like the average Thilku. She was less friendly than Amox and Lord Exr. She was closer to a politician than a soldier.


    Khan and Vaasa didn''t exchange more words in that public area. They remained silent while the Thilkupleted the safety measures and crossed the gate. It took a while, but a team of twenty aliens eventually gathered inside the building.


    Caspar and Khan didn''t hesitate to lead the Thilku deeper into the building. They avoided vehicles to pretend that they had nothing to hide, and the silence continued until everyone gathered in the cafeteria.


    Troops were waiting in the area, with each soldier standing behind their appointed seats. Caspar took care of leading the alien team toward the tables while Khan brought Vaasa toward a more isted spot that would offer the two some privacy.


    As soon as Khan and Vaasa sat down, the feast began. Soldiers delivered booze and cold food, which everyone ate with their bare hands. Caspar knew about those details, and Khan could only rejoice to see the humans sticking to his directives.


    Of course, Khan didn''t pay too much attention to the general arrangements or atmosphere. He only asionally checked that everything was okay while his focus remained on Vaasa.


    The two exchanged basic pleasantries and meaningless words for the first part of the feast. Vaasa wanted to leave the first move to Khan, and he had a simr idea. They studied each other in that phase, and Vaasa strangely lost the upper ground.


    Khan could express himself with more than words. Hisck of hesitation toward eating with his bare hands, unbiased behavior, and openness created a strange image in Vaasa''s eyes. Somehow, she felt to be in thepany of a Thilku rather than a political ally.


    Khan aggravated that trend by sharing stories about his time in Neuria. He opted for the happy ones, mentioning Amox as often as possible. Things worsened when he started discussing the Thilku runes, forcing Vaasa to change the topic.


    "[It''s umon for beasts to attack the human trench]," Vaasa casually mentioned. "[The Global Army was lucky to have you here]."


    "[It''s more than umon, isn''t it]?" Khan replied, his eyes lighting up at that opportunity. "[We were supposed to get leftovers, not proper assaults]."


    "[Cegnore''s environment can be hard to predict]," Vaasa vaguely said. "[We are still working on listing every possible pattern]."


    "[That''s dangerous]," Khan pointed out. "[If something biggeres in our way, we might lose this building]."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "[The Empire is responsible for this building and its inhabitants]," Vaasa stated. "[Nothing will happen as long as you are under its protection]."


    "[Having the Empire''s protection is reassuring]," Khan uttered, "[But you said it yourself. Cegnore is unpredictable]."


    "[Hard to predict]," Vaasa corrected. "[What happened tonight was an oddity]."


    Khan and Vaasa exchanged a meaningful nce. Her face had grown slightly colder, while Khan still wore a fake smile.


    "[My Thilku isn''t perfect]," Khan lied. "[Apologies]."


    "[I don''t mind speaking yournguage, Captain Khan]," Vaasa offered.


    "[I wouldn''t dare to impose on guests]," Khan chuckled. "[However, the issue is worrying. I''m afraid I''ll have to request additional troops and weapons. Maybe a second building, too]."


    "[That''s impossible]," Vaasa dered. "[The Empire and the Global Army have signed precise agreements]."


    "[But the situation changed]," Khan pointed out. "[Cegnore isn''t as safe as the Global Army thought]."


    "[No one ever said Cegnore was safe]," Vaasamented.


    "[Not as safe]," Khan corrected. "[I''m guessing the Empire is willing to increase our protection due to the recent developments]."


    "[That would be a hasty move]," Vaasa rebuked. "[We still don''t know much about this odd event]."


    "[So, what]?" Khan wondered. "[Should we remain exposed, hoping that tonight''s attack doesn''t happen again]?"


    "[A temporary retreat might be wise if you don''t trust the Empire]," Vaasa suggested.


    "[I wouldn''t insult the Empire like that]," Khan responded, "[But I also have a responsibility toward my troops. I must demand more after tonight''s events]."


    Khan never missed the chance to remind Vaasa about the recent battle. That was his greatest leverage since it had happened outside the Thilku''s reach. If he exploited it properly, he could force closer cooperation or deployment of more troops.


    "[As I said]," Vaasa continued, "[Tonight was an oddity. At most, we can point more scanners in your direction]."


    "[Did you map the entire underground area already]?" Khan questioned. "[Your scanners might not be enough otherwise]."


    Vaasa opened her mouth to reply but quickly closed it. She couldn''t answer Khan''s question without revealing ssified information, which prevented her from reassuring him.


    Khan knew Vaasa''s troubles very well. The Empire had to be against weing more human troops on Cegnore. After all, that territory didn''t belong to the Global Army. Yet, the odd event demanded a response, and the Thilku couldn''t keep it to themselves.


    "[I fear I must involve my superiors]," Khan pressed on to deepen Vaasa''s doubts. "[We could let them discuss the topic with Lord Exr. Still, this building would remain exposed in the meantime]."


    Vaasa felt even more conflicted. The Empire would look bad if another attack happened while the human trenchcked additional defenses. The bomb had already hurt the rtionship between the two species, so avoiding another incident was mandatory.


    The idea of leaving things to Khan''s superiors and Lord Exr wasn''t ideal either. The Global Army was the victim in that situation, which gave it leverage to request more information and influence on Cegnore.


    Of course, the Empire could always kick the humans out of the, but those procedures took time to unfold. The Global Army could also oppose the change and stick to preexistent deals, epting the eventual loss of the settlement to gain more leverage.


    Vaasa quickly realized that her preparation wasn''t a match for Khan. She had joined that feast at thest minute while Khan had simted the event in his mind for days. Vaasa wasn''t to me since she couldn''t predict Khan to cause such a mess, but that didn''t change her situation.


    "[There might be a different option]," Khan suddenly announced, distracting Vaasa from her confusion. "[It''s more of a theory than an option, but you can give me your opinion about it]."


    "[What theory]?" Vaasa asked, hoping to get out of that pickle.


    "[Well]," Khan cleared his throat, pretending to inspect his surroundings to check that no one would hear him. "[I might be the reason for tonight''s attack]."


    Vaasa was initially confused, but everything became clear when she looked at Khan''s hair. The theory made sense considering his mutation and offered an option Vaasa didn''t hesitate to mention.


    "[If that''s the case]," Vaasa eximed, reiming herposure, "[You might be a security hazard here]."


    "[Are you suggesting that I leave the]?" Khan wondered, his tone growing colder. "[On what authority]?"


    "[It was a suggestion]," Vaasa stated, realizing her mistake. "[Though it''s worth notifying your Lords about it]."


    "[I won''t bother them with unfounded worries]," Khan stated. "[Besides, I''ve been specifically chosen for this mission. I n toplete it sessfully]."


    Vaasa wanted to change Khan''s mind, but the topic had nothing to do with her or the Thilku. That problem could affect Cegnore''s bnce, but theck of proof prevented her from involving her superiors.


    "[I have a different suggestion]," Khan added, pretending that the idea had just popped into his mind. "[My side can''t face these dangers every night, but the Thilku can]."


    "[I can''t remove troops from our trenches in favor of the Global Army]," Vaasa uttered.


    "[What about the opposite]?" Khan asked. "[What if I came to your trenches]?"

 Chapter 598 Core

    Vaasa had already lost count of how many times she had been at a loss for words, but thest was the worst. Khan''s suggestion was preposterous and nigh impossible, but she couldn''t help but consider it.


    Leverage was the main issue. As soon as the superiors got involved, the Global Army would gain the upper hand in eventual negotiations. Humankind was the injured party in that situation. There was no denying that.


    Moreover, Khan''s theory was interesting. The Thilku knew more about Cegnore, but the still hid many mysteries. If Khan''s presence could cause valuable changes, the Thilku would want a piece of that, if not a monopoly.


    Nevertheless, Vaasa didn''t have the authority to authorize that move. Inviting Khan to the Thilku''s trenches was problematic on many levels, which prevented her from answering without conferring with her team.


    Khan could almost hear what was happening in Vaasa''s mind, and her partially hidden confusion solidified his confidence. He had sessfully thrown the bait. Now, he could only hope the Thilku took it.


    Truth be told, Khan had no intention of involving his superiors. In that case, things on Cegnore would be too political, limiting his movements. Keeping everything among soldiers granted him more freedom, which he needed to pursue his goals.


    Silence fell on the table, and Khan let it brew for a while. The longer Vaasa avoided speaking, the more confident he became about his bait. Yet, he eventually decided to add a finishing blow.


    "[I know how hasty this sounds]," Khan sighed, pretending to back off from his offer. "[Maybe, I could propose the idea to Lord Exr. Of course, as long as you allow me to contact him]."


    Most soldiers wouldn''t dare to utter simr words. Even some Ambassadors would refrain from making such requests. However, Khan was an exception, and Vaasa knew that.


    The sole fact that Khan felt entitled to ask to speak with Lord Exr described his unique status and nted an idea in Vaasa''s mind. Humans couldn''t go to the Thilku''s trenches. Still, Khan would be one of the few allowed inside if they could.


    "[I''d avoid bothering Lord Exr until we have proof]," Vaasa eventually replied. "[However, I will share your theory to our scientists]."


    "[Feel free to do so]," Khan said. "[Though I''mpelled to do the same with tonight''s events]."


    "[Of course]," Vaasa voiced. "[We would never ask you to falsify reports]."


    "[I''m d we understand each other]," Khan smiled. "[I guess we can only wait for now]."


    "[Indeed]," Vaasa agreed. "[Yet, we will still point more scanners in your direction. That much I can promise]."


    "[It''s not as reassuring as reinforcements]," Khan stated, "[But I understand you also have protocols to follow]."


    That conversation ended with those words. Ordinary soldiers would think that Khan and Vaasa were leaving the decision to their superiors, but the reality was different. A waiting game had just started, and Khan had the power to bring the odds in his favor.


    After dropping the topic, Khan and Vaasa went back to the basic pleasantries, which continued until the feast ended. Khan and Caspar escorted the Thilku out at that point before splitting to return to their lodgings.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A wave of exhaustion assaulted Khan as soon as he reached the privacy of his habitation. He didn''t bother undressing as he crossed the office and threw himself into bed. His knife was still at his side, and he held its handle while sleepy thoughts crossed his mind.


    ''I''ll wait a week,'' Khan thought. ''I''ll call the monsters again if the Thilku don''t make their move.''


    The Global Army and the Empire could write off that night as a random event, avoiding searching for solutions or new deals. Khan was ready to force their hands, but ying the slow game increased his chances of keeping politics away.


    ''They must invite me to the Thilku''s trenches,'' Khan trusted. ''After that, I''ll see whether to go MIA.''


    Khan let go of the knife''s handle and drew his phone. Monica had asked him to return before his birthday, but things were moving slowly on Cegnore, and he couldn''t elerate them.


    ''I''ll make it up to her,'' Khan sighed, leaving his phone on the mattress. ''We also have to celebrate our anniversary twice.''


    Thinking about Monica brought the peace required to trigger Khan''s drowsiness. He fell asleep, and the darkness lingered for only a second before the nightmare started.


    Hours passed in which Khan slept deeply. Sweat umted on his body as the morning arrived, and asional tremors threatened to wake him. Luckily, Winston''s bandages were tight, which prevented Khan from twisting his injured limb.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Khan''s body was as impressive as always. It took him only five hours topletely recover from a week of training, but waking up revealed that fixing his injuries would take more than a day.


    A slight difort spread from Khan''s back as he rolled on himself to point his face at the ceiling. He lifted his right arm and tried to make a fist, but the process still hurt. It was easier than before, but not by much.


    ''This hand is useless for now,'' Khan thought, ncing at the phone at his side to check the time.


    Theoretically, the injured arm didn''t prevent Khan from training since he was focusing on the Niqols'' arts. It was also the right time to leave the building since the night was far away, but Khan considered taking a day off to meditate and quicken the healing process.


    The idea sounded wise, so Khan jumped out of bed and undressed. He threw his drenched clothes on the floor and the sheath on the bed before walking into the office wearing only underwear. The sweat didn''t affect the bandages, so he didn''t think too much about them.


    The past week had given Khan the chance to add vital items to his habitation. His drawers now had booze, which he retrieved before heading for the interactive desk. He had decided to focus on meditating, but that break also gave him time to study the Thilku runes.


    However, before Khan could activate the interactive desk, he noticed something was off. A rectangr screen had appeared under his entrance. Someone had slipped it inside from the door''s drawer.


    Khan left the booze on the interactive desk and retrieved the device, which lit up without requiring his gic signature. He immediately thought about Winston, and the screen''s contents confirmed that idea.


    The first device from Winston had countlessbels and info. Instead, the second only showed a handful of tags connected to videos. Khan hurried behind his interactive desk as soon as he started one, and his eyes lit up at the sight of a familiar figure.


    The video showed the humanoid wolf standing straight and bound to a series of restrictions. The creature had its limbs, joints, neck, torso, and abdomen chained to a metal structure enveloped by protective ss that isted it from the outside world.


    A half-spherical machine also stood on the wolf''s head, partially covering it. Wires spread from that item and stretched into the metal structure, sending data that the video showed in the corner of the screen.


    The monster was awake but in a daze. Its face showed no aggression, but Khan couldn''t see confidence either. He couldn''t sense the wolf, and the data on the screen were beyond his expertise, but Winston had left a few notes that helped himprehend the scene.


    "Test, test," Winston''s voice came from the device as the video continued. "This is the third recording on unique specimen B22. Winston Wulfo is in charge of the study."


    Khan couldn''t help but scoff, leaving the device on the desk while reaching for the booze. He didn''t get cups, so he drank directly from the bottle while his eyes remained on the video.


    "Previous tests confirmed the different anatomy," Winston said. "Specimen B22''s mutations are seamlesspared to Cegnore''s basic fauna. It''s unclear why the infection gave better results, but a blood sample excluded any connection with the Thilku."


    The screen showed a graph thatpared the Thilku''s and wolf''s gics. Even Khan could see the two species had nothing inmon.


    "Is it possible that the natives have these features?" Winston wondered. "Any study is inconclusive due tock of proof, but the Thilku scientists don''t support that theory, and I agree."


    Khan was with Winston, or at least hoped he was right. He wanted Cegnore''s natives to be more than intelligent animals since he probably needed them to get answers.


    "The scanners confirmed that specimen B22 has cognitive abilities," Winston continued. "The concussion suffered during its capture might have lowered them, but I still managed to confirm some data our Thilku allies shared with us."


    More notes appeared on the screen. Winston had basically confirmed that the humanoid wolf used the words described by Khan and the Thilku''s reports. The scientist didn''t find anything new, but Khan could still consider that a win since he had been the one to capture the specimen.


    "I also tested theories about potential hive-mind or external control," Winston added. "Even when exposed to Cegnore''s atmosphere, specimen B22 doesn''t receive any information."


    ''No external input,'' Khan thought. ''Well, I would have sensed it otherwise.''


    "It''s still unclear how these creatures demand order," Winston said. "I''ll perform more experiments in the presence of other specimens. For now, I can only conclude the behavior is instinctive. The illness grants them drives that guide their attacks and eventual retreats home."


    The video ended, but Khan didn''t immediately start another. Winston had been up to something with thest statement. It was very likely that the orders and ns didn''t exist in the atmosphere. They probably came from inside the monsters.


    ''Can this act as a guide?'' Khan wondered, letting go of the bottle to grab his nape. ''Can my core guide me toward the natives?''

 Chapter 599 Commander

    Winston''s following videos studied the humanoid wolf more in-depth, but he failed to obtain any conclusive data. The issue of the orders and intelligence remained a mystery.


    Khan could still get valuable information out of the device. The monster''s anatomy and amount of mana were easy to check for Winston, and his videos conveyed them. The scientist basically did aplete check-up and shared it with Khan.


    As always, the device erased its data once Khan was done watching everything. The screen went dark, and Khan threw it away without a second thought. He didn''t exactly learn something new, but Winston had still solidified the information in his possession.


    Khan brought the bottle to his mouth while leaning deeper into his seat. He had all the right ideas and ns but continued tock key information. Also, the first move wasn''t in his hands. He had to wait for favorable developments to move forward.


    ''Being ready to seize the right opportunity is the best I can do,'' Khan thought, moving his attention to the interactive desk. ''I need to work harder.''


    A long studying session unfolded before Khan focused on meditating. He also ate inside his t and rested a bit longer until the night eventually arrived.


    Caspar''s concerns about Khan''s health couldn''t make him remain behind. Khan departed for the trench with the team, but the peace that reigned over the shift killed his curiosity. He had initially wondered whether his actions had caused a change in Cegnore''s patterns, but that didn''t seem to be the case.


    That development wasn''t ideal, but Khan could find positive aspects to it. He was still injured, so spending the night meditating helped. Also, being in control of the outbreaks in the human trench gave him the flexibility to actuate his ns when they would benefit him the most.


    The following days featured a simr trend. Khan attended his night shifts only to face utter peace. No leftovers came, allowing him to focus on recovering.


    The trend continued even after the new week arrived. The soldiers were obviously happy, but Khan counted the days from the first outbreak. He couldn''t let the higher-ups dismiss it as an oddity. He was ready to make a mess again, but a surprising event arrived before he couldplete that n.


    One afternoon in the middle of the week, Khan was meditating in his t. His arm had improved but still needed care, so he invested hours in that training to quicken the healing process.


    Nevertheless, a light suddenly shone on Khan''s closed eyes, forcing him to open them. He was on the seat behind the interactive desk, which had turned on to show a surprising text.


    ''eptmunication?'' Khan read on the desk, frowning.


    The building had no connection to thework, but internalmunications were possible. Still, they often featured the caller''s name. That secrecy made Khan think of Winston, but pressing thebel revealed a far different face.


    Holograms came out of the desk when Khan epted the call, and the azure lights immediately turned red. A screen appeared before him, showing a figure that almost widened his eyes in shock.


    "Captain Khan," Lord Exr eximed. "We meet again."


    "My Lord," Khan suppressed his gasp to appear more confident. "I didn''t expect your call."


    "But you did expect me to intervene," Lord Exr responded. "Isn''t that why you mentioned me to my soldiers?"


    "I," Khan began to say before deciding to drop his pretenses. "I hoped you would have supported my idea due to our existing rtionship."


    "The idea of admitting a human into my trenches?" Lord Exr wondered. "I didn''t know our rtionship was that good."


    "It''s for practical reasons," Khan pointed out.


    "I heard about your theory," Lord Exr eximed. "Your presence might attract the monsters, but why would the Empire care?"


    "It would give the Empire a chance to seize the initiative in this war," Khan stated. "If it doesn''t already have it, of course."


    "The Global Army isn''t aware of the state of this war," Lord Exr dered. "The Empire wishes things to remain like this."


    "That''s why I suggested going alone," Khan replied. "The word of a single soldier can''t match yours."


    "But you aren''t a single soldier, Captain Khan," Lord Exr uttered. "You have been sent here on purpose, after all."


    Khan couldn''t object to that point. As little as his rank meant among Thilku, the Global Army still trusted him. Publicly denying his ims wouldn''t stop humankind from learning more information.


    Lord Exr appeared amused by Khan''s silence, but his face didn''t convey any anger or sternness. The sole fact that he had chosen to call gave Khan hope, but turning that feeling into reality sounded difficult.


    "I wouldn''t go for political reasons," Khan promised. "My issues are personal."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "That doesn''t," Lord Exr eximed before thinking about his words for a second, "Change the facts."


    ''What does he want me to say?'' Khan cursed. He didn''t understand where Lord Exr was going with that, but something told him that he wasn''t against the idea of weing him into the Thilku trenches.


    "My Lord," Khan announced, "I''ve said my piece. The decision is yours."


    "Won''t you try to convince me, Captain Khan?" Lord Exr wondered.


    "I understand you can''t trust my words," Khan said. "However, if more attacks reach the human trench, my superiors will surely intervene. I was hoping to keep this among soldiers."


    Lord Exr scoffed, his amusement intensifying. He shared Khan''s intentions, but that reply had added key information. Somehow, Khan appeared certain more attacks would reach the human trench.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I consider our rtionship good," Lord Exr suddenly revealed. "The party you advertised has recentlynded on Neuria, and its performance is satisfactory."


    "Oh?" Khan asked, his eyes lighting up. "Is my girlfriend there?"


    "It is my understanding that she is," Lord Exr replied. "My soldiers praised her manners and Thilku."


    "I''m happy to know that," Khan smiled, slightly lowering his head in respect. "I trust the Thilku will take good care of her."


    "Does your girlfriend need assistance?" Lord Exr questioned, surprised by that statement.


    "It''s a saying," Khan chuckled. "She wouldn''t be my girlfriend if she needed that."


    "I see," Lord Exr nodded. "You seem to have chosen a worthy woman."


    "She chose me," Khanughed.


    "Very Thilku of her," Lord Exrmented. "I approve."


    "She would fit well with your species," Khan dered. "I''m sure she''ll continue to do a good job on Neuria."


    "I trust your word," Lord Exr uttered.


    Khan couldn''t help but lift his eyebrows. Lord Exr couldn''t have spoken randomly. He must have chosen his words, which theoretically extended past Neuria and Monica.


    "My Lord," Khan announced, "If you trust my word on this, how is Cegnore any different?"


    "It isn''t," Lord Exr stated, crossing his huge arms before his chest. "How sure you are about your theory, Captain Khan?"


    That sudden change of pace tried to startle Khan, but he had too much experience in that field to lose his cool. Lord Exr was asking him a direct question. That was his chance to get what he wanted.


    "Quite sure," Khan responded. "Though, depending on the situation in your trenches, the results might differ, both in the good and bad sense."


    "What do you mean by good and bad?" Lord Exr asked.


    "My Lord, respectfully, I should be the one to ask that question," Khan dered. "What would you consider good or bad for your trenches?"


    Lord Exr wore a confident smile. He had liked that answer. He was looking for something simr, and Khan had also already proven himself to be unique.


    "I can arrange something," Lord Exr said, interrupting himself to search for the right human word, "Unorthodox. The Thilku can make use of a bait."


    "My Lord," Khan shook his head, "I''m a soldier. I want to fight."


    "Those are my trenches," Lord Exr dered. "What you want is inconsequential."


    "Let my strength speak then," Khan pressed on. "I can be an asset, just like I was on Neuria."


    "The Empire doesn''t need help fighting its wars," Lord Exr uttered.


    "It''s my war, too," Khan responded, ripping open the upper side of his uniform to expose his scar. "It has been for almost fifteen years."


    Lord Exr was aware of Khan''s scar, but the gesture still affected him. Khan wasn''t acting as a politician. He was risking insulting Lord Exr to have things his way. Normally, that would be a problem, but Lord Exr saw something different due to the unique situation.


    Khan was a security hazard for the Thilku trenches. However, Lord Exr saw no political interest on his face. Khan wasn''t trying to push his career further. He only wanted to fight monsters.


    "My Lord," Khan continued, resorting to words Lord Exr knew very well, "Is the blood I spilled not worth this chance?"


    Lord Exr smiled again. He liked the soldier side of Khan''s personality. He truly was an odd human in the alien''s eyes, but not in a negative sense.


    "The Empire doesn''t do charity," Lord Exr scoffed. "I''ll let you fight if that''s what you want, but only as amon soldier. You''ll have to follow orders from Thilku you outrank ording to your government."


    "Rank has no relevance on the battlefield," Khanmented, lowering his head in respect. "Thank you for understanding, my Lord."


    "The moment you be a hindrance," Lord Exr announced, "You''ll be a simple bait. You have been warned, Captain Khan."


    Lord Exr was showing a more domineering side while talking to Khan, and thetter could guess why. Khan had offered himself as a soldier, so Lord Exr had regressed to amander. In short, politics had left the call, and Khan could only rejoice at the event.

 Chapter 600 Order

    The order arrived as suddenly as the call and took everyone by surprise. The news spread like wildfire, putting Khan''s name in every rumor and story flying through the building. The impossible had happened, and there was no stopping it.


    The morning after the call with Lord Exr, Khan left his t with a bag full of clean clothes and a few cans of food. His sheath was at his side, and his phone was in his pocket. He didn''t need anything else to leave.


    Two soldiers were waiting outside Khan''s t, but his arrival in the corridor made them lower their heads. They didn''t know how to meet his gaze after all the rumors heard during the night, and he didn''t care enough about the issue to address it.


    Cegnore''s long days had changed most soldiers'' routines. They usually rested in the morning due to the night shifts or to prepare for them. Still, Khan saw apletely different scenery when he stepped into the corridor, and the symphony told him that the unusual event didn''t stop there.


    The corridors and halls that Khan crossed while escorted by the two soldiers were full of curious and surprised troops. He even spotted a few white coats along the way, which expressed the importance of the event.


    Khan couldn''t im to be surprised. Receiving orders directly from the Thilku was a big deal for that settlement. Still, he marveled at how quickly the news had spread. The call had arrived in the middle of the night, but the entire building was already aware of its contents.


    ''I guess it can''t be helped,'' Khan thought, his face showing no emotion. ''The Thilku barely contact this building, let alone ask for someone.''


    The order had been quite simple. The Thilku had used their authority over Cegnore to request Khan''s presence. The call didn''t involve details about the length of that task or anything simr. It simply asked the building to send Khan over, and he epted.


    Murmurs filled any area Khan crossed, but no one got in his way. None of those soldiers or scientists had any authority over that order, but the arrival at the main gate showed someone willing to step slightly outside his role to check that everything was alright.


    "Give us a moment," Caspar ordered, leaving the team before the main gate to approach Khan. The two soldiers at Khan''s side couldn''t refuse Caspar, so they departed to offer the Captains some privacy.


    "Captain," Caspar eximed, lowering his voice and head as soon as he reached Khan. "We can still appeal to the Harbor. The Thilku can''t do this."


    Caspar''s worry was almost heartwarming. From his perspective, the Thilku were abusing their authority to bring Khan to their trenches. He didn''t know the specifics, but the matter was disrespectful and dangerous enough to trigger his anger.


    Khan understood Caspar''s perspective. The human settlement had it easier butcked vital information about Cegnore. Sending soldiers into the Thilku trenches would expose them to unknown dangers. That couldn''t be legal or in line with the interspecies treaties.


    However, Khan probably was the only one who could make that transfer without additional preparations. He didn''t need special pills for the infection, and his prowess spoke for itself. He had also already worked with the Thilku. Khan was the perfect figure to send to their trenches.


    "It''s fine," Khan reassured, using words he had already spoken the previous night when the order arrived. "I want this."


    "I beg you to reconsider," Caspar pressed on. "Except for the unknown danger, you''d also be in structures unfit for humans. Their doctors mightck proper medications or a basic understanding of our anatomy."


    "This is for the best," Khan shook his head. "Both for my career and Cegnore''s situation."


    Caspar wanted to argue some more, but hearing about Khan''s career forced him to be silent. He couldn''t get in the way of the youngest Captain in history, who was also in a rtionship with a highly wealthy and influential descendant. His family would disown him if he tried.


    "Captain," Caspar said before gulping and sighing in defeat. "Khan, I wish you good luck out there."


    "Thank you, Caspar," Khan nodded. "I''ll try toe back soon."


    "And in one piece," Caspar chuckled.


    Khan replied with a smile, and Caspar took it upon himself to apany him to the gate. After reaching it, the Captain performed a military salute that the soldiers in the area imitated, and Khan ran his gaze over those troops before crossing the smaller entrance.


    The gate skipped many safety measures due to Khan''s unique condition and opened on the other side. By then, he had gotten used to that procedure, but the had more than a brownish in to offer that morning.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    A circr bike stood a few meters past the gate, and a Thilku sat inside it. The alien was donning the traditional red cape, which fell onto the back seat. Still, the vehicle was big enough to fit Khan even with that hindrance.


    Khan nodded at the Thilku only to receive an inquisitive re. The alien didn''t hide his suspicion, but the orders hade from above, so he didn''t stop Khan from upying the back seat.


    No exchange of words happened as the Thilku set off. The bike made the brittle ground crack, but the in offered enough room to elerate beyond reasonable limits.


    Khan didn''t mind the high speed and focused on clinging to the bike''s seat while inspecting his surroundings. Cegnore''s surface was deste andcked valuablendmarks, but Khan still confirmed that the vehicle was going in the right direction.


    The bike ran past the human trench, crossing the boundaries of the Global Army''s territory to dive deeper into the. More ins stretched in every direction, interrupted by the asional hills or shallow gorges, but Khan''s eyes rarely rested on the scenery. He only looked at the symphony, which hinted at an imminent change.


    The world in Khan''s vision changed as the bike continued to advance. New, colder colors joined the symphony, and the effects didn''t stop at his senses. The surface gained holes, cracks, and other evident marks. That area had probably been t, but something had destroyed it.


    A foul stench eventually reached Khan''s nostrils. The smell of blood, sweat, and saliva invaded him, adding details to a scene he had already imagined. A battle had unfolded there, and the reason for that soon became clear.


    After a few minutes, a tall andrge structure appeared in the distance. A huge rectangr building grew on the horizon and drew close, allowing Khan to notice more details.


    The structure was at least five times bigger than the human building, and its smooth surfaces hinted at simrities. However, immense windows that separated each floor soon became visible, and the same went for their insides.


    The Thilku couldn''t opt for their traditional open spaces and balconies on Cegnore, but those immense windows offered a valuable alternative. Vast insides were also visible from them, but something else soon caught Khan''s attention.


    The Global Army had ced its building far away from its trench, but the Thilku had gone for the opposite approach. A spacious channel crossed the ground before the Thilku structure and stretched in the distance, reaching areas that Khan couldn''t see with his naked eyes.


    Multiple vehicles also stood behind the huge trench. Khan counted at least fifty of them from his position, but more probably existed farther away. That channel was too long to ignore checkpoints, and its size hinted at the number of Thilku stationed there.


    ''They must have an entire battalion here,'' Khan realized as his attention moved to the trench.


    Surprisingly, the Thilku trenchcked rifles or heavy weapons but was far cleaner and more organized. Metal surfaces covered its bottom and walls, leaving no open spot. That channel couldn''t crumble with those reinforcements, and red runes shone across them.


    Moreover, tunnels stretched from the trench and headed for the huge building. Khan couldn''t see them from his position, but his senses felt the mana flowing through them. The Thilku had underground passages, which probably helped deploy numerous troops.


    ''And there is another one further ahead,'' Khan thought, recalling the map shared by Caspar. ''Probably more.''


    Khan was sure the Thilku didn''t share the entirety of their intel. The Global Army knew about the two trenches, but Cegnore was bound to have more.


    ''A thousand?'' Khan wondered, trying to calcte the number of Thilku deployed on Cegnore. ''Two? It might be double that if they have more ces like this.''


    The difference in manpower between humans and Thilku was immense, and for a good reason. Yet, Khan was aware of the Empire''s problems. Its domain was too big, so wasting so many troops on Cegnore probably hurt the Thilku deeply.


    Khan disregarded his political thoughts and focused on the current situation. The bike soon reached the building, stopping before its huge gate, and the driver pointed his hand at it without adding anything.


    That silent order was enough for Khan. He left the bike and waited before the gate, staring at the big rune on that surface. His studies allowed him to understand the defensive purposes of that symbol, but the entrance opened before he could learn all of them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A rectangr room unfolded in Khan''s vision, and he stepped inside to let the decontamination process start. The ce wasn''t empty. It had a drawer on its right side, and human letters shone with a red color above it.


    ''Belongings,'' Khan read before dropping the bag and sheath on the drawer.


    A dense gas invaded the room at that point. The decontamination process tried to make the air hard to breathe for humans, but Khan''s lungs had no problem adapting to the new atmosphere.


    The drawer closed while Khan waited for the process to end. The gas lingered in the room for a few minutes before getting sucked away. Another entrance then opened, showing an open space full of big figures.


    An entirepany expanded in Khan''s eyes. Almost two hundred Thilku upied the vast hall that stretched from the entrance. The aliens either sat near the walls or feasted on huge carpets close to those surfaces. Some napped on makeshift beds or sharpened their weapons on strange anvils, but Khan''s arrival brought their attention to him.


    Tension immediately spread in the hall. All the Thilku in the area stiffened and wore stern faces, interrupting their tasks. No one spoke, but everyone inspected Khan from head to toe.


    A whooshing noise resounded in the silent hall, distracting Khan from the staring crowd. He nced to his right, noticing that a drawer with his belongings had slid out of the gate. The Thilku had yet to move, so Khan retrieved his things while waiting for developments.


    The area remained silent even after Khan wore his sheath and backpack. The Thilku didn''t exchange any rumors. They remained perfectly still but ready to act if something happened. They didn''t like that human presence among them, but kicking Khan out wasn''t their decision to make.


    Khan didn''t dare to advance randomly and without additional authorizations, so he remained before the entrance. He didn''t shy away from the cold resing in his direction. Actually, he tried to answer all of them with confidence and calm.


    The confidence shown by Khan turned into mocking behavior inside the res. Some Thilku believed that Khan was underestimating them, which hurt their pride and gave birth to anger. A few aliens began to move, threatening to stand up, but a new whooshing noise interrupted that trend.


    A big door on the other side of the hall opened, revealing a vast corridor and Vaasa at its center. She briefly inspected the area before finding Khan and calling him. "[Captain Khan, this way]."


    Vaasa had to shout to make sure her words reached Khan, and he nodded at her before advancing. Thepany had left the central areas of the hall empty, so crossing them wasn''t a problem. Khan only had to ignore the res piercing his figure, but his fame had made him used to them.


    Khan walked quickly but firmly. He didn''t want to appear scared by that atmosphere. Yet, at the same time, he couldn''t waste Vaasa''s time.


    Vaasa turned as soon as Khan reached her and dived deeper into the corridor. The ce had multiple doors at its sides with big runes locking every entrance. Khan did his best not to appear interested in them, but each symbol that crossed his view transformed into meanings inside his brain.


    The Thilku didn''t appear interested in Khan''s curiosity and focused on reaching the end of the corridor. At that point, she approached a door to her right before moving her fingers on the rune that locked it.


    The door opened, and a narrower corridor unfolded. The passage was still big enough to fit five grown men, but new Thilku upied it, and Khan found himself before a series of res once again.


    "[This will be your team, Captain Khan]," Vaasa announced, stepping aside and pointing at the new corridor. "[Yourpanions will show you your lodgings]."


    Khan looked at Vaasa before turning toward the corridor. The ce had twenty or so Thilku as strong as third-level warriors sitting on the floor or leaning on the walls. Some donned their uniforms, while others were half-naked, showing newly applied bandages that covered injuries suffered the previous night.


    The situation was beyond tense. Khan was not wee there but advanced anyway, and Vaasa closed the door once he entered the corridor, isting him in that new environment.


    All the sitting Thilku stood up in that privacy, and stern stances unfolded in Khan''s vision. That was one of the coldest wees Khan had ever faced, but his expression never faltered.


    "[It''s an honor to serve with you]," Khan announced, performing a traditional bow that no one imitated. The Thilku mostly red at him while some inspected the bandages popping out of his right sleeve.


    "[Ah]!" A Thilku in the back of the rtively short corridor snorted, stepping forward to be more visible. "[Blue hair even bows like a Thilku]."


    Khan straightened his back and inspected the speaker from head to toe before wearing a fake smile and engaging in a conversation. "[I''ve learned on Neuria]."


    "[We know about you, blue hair]," The Thilku continued, advancing to reach the center of the corridor. "[The Thilku don''t need a human to fight for them]."


    "[I''m fighting for myself]," Khan stated. "[I can only rejoice if that happens to be at the Thilku''s side]."


    Khan''s politeness annoyed the Thilku, who crossed his arms in anger. He was only wearing pants, so the gesture highlighted his bulging muscles. Still, that sight couldn''t make Khan falter.


    "[Well]," The Thilku eximed, half-turning. "[Come, blue hair. I''ll show your lodgings]."


    Some smirks appeared among the squads, and a few snickers resounded, but Khan still advanced to reach the Thilku''s side. The aliens also slightly closed on him without blocking his way. They wanted Khan to feel pressured, but his face continued to show no reaction.


    "[This is your locker]," The Thilku announced, rxing his arms to point at a drawer three and a half meters from the floor. "[Touch it and it will record your signature]."


    The Thilku proudly smiled while looking at Khan. Something so high was nothing for the aliens'' stature, but a human couldn''t reach it. Of course, that didn''t apply to Khan.


    Khan''s right ankle moved slightly, pushing him into the air. The ceiling was tall, so he had no problem reaching the locker and hovering before it.


    The aliens remained stunned at Khan''s flight. The Thilku who had tried to make it hard for him even looked at hispanions, but they only shook their heads or showed admonishing gazes. A few were aware of Khan''s abilities but forgot to share the information.


    The drawer opened when Khan touched it, revealing enough space for his bag. He stored the item and closed the lid, descending into a gracefulnding.


    "[Thank you for your help]," Khan said as soon as hended, showing one of his brightest smiles to the Thilku.


    The Thilku promptly hid his shock and moved to his next n. He also smiled and hurried to the end of the corridor before pointing at a surface with a bright rune.


    "[Blue hair, here]!" The Thilku called. "[This is your room]."


    The Thilku wore another smirk, and the same went for the rest of the team. Actually, more smiling faces appeared now. Reaching the locker wasn''t surprising for those who knew about Khan''s skills, but the rune was bound to stop him.


    Khan reached the rune and slightly tilted his head while his eyes ran over its lines. It wasn''tplicated, but there were enough differences to force him to hesitate.


    The Thilku at Khan''s side felt proud before that hesitation. He crossed his arms again and raised his voice to make a suggestion. "[Oh, you must learn how to open it. It''s fine. If you agree to follow my orders-]."


    The Thilku didn''t have the chance to finish his line since part of the wall suddenly slid open to reveal a small room featuring a huge bed. The alien looked down only to see Khan with his stretched arm. He had used the rune without asking anyone''s help.


    "[Thank you again]!" Khan announced, showing nothing but his brightest smile. "[I''m sure we''ll get along]!"


    The Thilku remained speechless while watching Khan enter the room. He tried to look at hispanions, but they shared the same shocked expression. They only wanted to tease Khan, but he seemedfortable in that alien environment.

 Chapter 601 Slap

    Khan entered the room under everyone''s shocked gazes. He didn''t know what to do with it since he had already dropped his backpack, and the area didn''t give him any idea either. After all, the bed was the only item inside it.


    ''Where do they pee?'' Khan wondered, peeking past his shoulder to inspect the corridor. The Thilku were still staring at him in amazement, hiding the walls with their huge figures, so he stepped into the air again to inspect the area.


    Khan almost reached the ceiling, and the new location allowed him to see all the runes in the area. Most belonged to rooms, but a couple had a few different lines marking the bathrooms.


    The astonished stares continued even after Khannded, but a whooshing noise suddenly broke the silence. Another door had opened in the corridor, and a tall Thilku stormed out of it.


    "[What''s this ruckus]?!" The newly arrived Thilku shouted. That hoarse voice tried to hide it, but the golden hair revealed her sex. She was a woman that everyone in the corridor seemed to fear.


    ''Aren''t the rooms soundproof?'' Khan wondered, curious about that development.


    "[Xai]!" The woman shouted again, ring at the Thilku who had tried to tease Khan until now. "[It''s you, isn''t it]?"


    Xai gasped and retreated, only to end up with his back on the wall. The other Thilku also moved away to open a path, and the woman crossed it to reach the target of her re.


    The woman reached Xai and delivered a downward p thatnded at the top of his head. Xai bent forward due to the violence of the impact, and a grunt escaped his mouth before apologies followed.


    "[Forgive me, Naoo]," Xai eximed. "[We were just weing the human soldier]."


    Naoo moved her re to Khan and lifted her huge arm again. Her hand descended toward Khan''s head, but the attack failed to reach its target.


    Surprise spread and a few gasps highlighted it. Even Naoo couldn''t escape that feeling when she saw her arm stuck a few centimeters above Khan''s head. Khan had grabbed her wrist to block the attack, matching her raw strength and locking her limb in an unbreakable grip.


    Khan''s reaction had been instinctive. His smiling face had also turned cold. The tension that had weighed on him until now had red during the attack, but realizing where he was quickly sent his true feelings into hiding.


    "[Oh, sorry]!" Khan eximed, his cold face breaking into another smile while he let go of Naoo''s wrist. "[Please, go ahead]."


    Khan lowered his arm and head, trying to wee Naoo''s attack. The Thilku in the corridor felt surprised again, but that gesture gained a few aliens'' silent approvals. One Thilku even smiled until her canines became visible, but all those reactions vanished when Naoo red at the audience.


    "[ckers]," Naoo snorted, focusing on Khan again. "[Captain Khan, I assume]."


    "[Khan is fine]," Khan announced, lifting his smiling face to look at the tall Thilku. "[I''m a simple soldier here]."


    Naoo ignored thement and nced at Khan''s right arm. Bandages popped out of the sleeve, forcing the alien to question them. "[Can you use that arm]?"


    "[Of course]," Khan reassured, lifting his right arm. "[I''m left-handed anyway]."


    Naoo didn''t let Khan''s cheerful behavior affect her. Her hand snapped toward Khan''s right arm, grabbing the center of his forearm. Her fingers closed near the injury, causing a wave of pain that could make anyone scream.


    Khan was an exception. He could have avoided Naoo''s gesture but decided to let himself get caught. He also suppressed his reactions, limiting them to closing his eyes briefly to endure the pain.


    Naoo studied Khan even after he reopened his eyes. She didn''t tighten her grip but still tried to get a reaction out of him. However, his calm eyes were impossible to pierce. His poker face was too advanced for that alien.


    "[Don''t get in our way]," Naoo eventually said, releasing Khan''s arm. "[This is our, not your yground]."


    Khan wanted to reply, but Naoo abruptly turned to face the team and give more orders. "[You are on cleaning duty today. Get to it]!"


    Naoo didn''t wait for the team''s response and stormed back into her room, isting herself. The tension slightly rxed after her departure, but the Thilku hesitated to break their stances.


    Khan lowered his arm and closed and opened his hand while the check-up technique ran through his body. Naoo''s grip didn''t worsen his injuries, but his forearm still hurt more than before.


    A series of groans ran through the corridor, and a few Thilku shot annoyed stares at Khan. It seemed they med him for that new task, but no one dared toin openly for fear of summoning Naoo again.


    Khan imitated his newpanions, opting for silence while watching the corridor get busy. Many doors and lockers opened as the Thilku retrieved their uniforms or belongings and started dressing up. The process was quick and smooth, showing how used the team was to it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Theck of additional orders forced Khan to go with the flow. Once everyone was ready, the team left the corridor and hurried into the initial hall. The area was still crowded, but Khan''spanions ignored the mess and headed for one of the big runes near the main gate.


    The team formed an orderly line as each Thilku interacted with the rune to retrieve tablets that reeked of synthetic mana. Khan pretended not to inspect the process, but res still flew in his direction, both from hispanions and aliens in the hall.


    Khan didn''t mind that wariness. He knew how odd his role was in that environment, so he retained a humble fa?ade and imitated anything his team did. He didn''t join the line but was right behind hispanions once they approached the gate.


    The security measures were far shorter there. The gate opened, allowing the entire team inside before clearing the way for the other side. Soon, everyone stepped on Cegnore''s ground, and the group split to head for the many vehicles behind the trench.


    Khan didn''t dare to jump on vehicles uninvited. He was ready to fly above them if the situation required it. Still, the team started paying attention to him as everyone upied their respective rides, and many stares converged on Xai.


    Xai had already taken position inside a bike when he noticed the stares, and an annoyed expression followed. He looked conflicted but quickly gave up and looked at Khan.


    "[Blue hair]!" Xai called. "[Ride with me]!"


    Khan snapped back to reality, smiling as he hurried toward Xai. The Thilku scoffed when Khan sat behind him, but that didn''t get in the way of the task.


    The entirety of the team had opted for bikes, which turned on at the same time. Engines whooshed as the circr wheels spun, making the vehicles elerate. Khan couldn''t help but worry about the trench ahead, but the Thilku had a simple method to cross it.


    Xai and the other Thilku bent forward before forcefully jumping without removing their hands from the steering wheels. The bikes leaped with them, crossing the trench''s gap and safelynding on the other side.


    Khan smirked at that disy of skill and recklessness, but the symphony soon sent worrying feelings that made him peek past Xai''s cape. Cracks and holes becamemon as the bikes put more distance from the trench, and the stench of dried blood eventually filled the area.


    The environment worsened as the bikes advanced. Larger and deeper cavities filled the in, forcing the vehicles to slow down and pay more attention to the road. Half-dried, ck puddles also appeared, and some featured gory limbs belonging to creatures Khan had already fought.


    The body parts became moremon during the ride, and some almost intact corpses also appeared. Dead and maimed wolf-like monsters filled the area, which stretched beyond what Khan could see with his naked eyes.


    Khan had already seen a simr scene when riding toward the Thilku building, but what expanded in his eyes waspletely different in terms of magnitude. The team had reached an immense battlefield that seemed to have seen hundreds or thousands of fights.


    The symphony sent information that Khan struggled to believe. A few holes and cracks were old, but most were new, and counting them created a scary picture in his mind.


    ''How many packs do they fight every night?'' Khan wondered. ''Ten? Twenty? Do theye in waves?''


    The immense manpower deployed on Cegnore suddenly made sense. The Thilku needed to have so many soldiers on the. They would lose ground otherwise.


    The bikes began to stop as the number of corpses lying on the ground became too numerous to advance. Xai was no exception and parked in the middle of that messy battlefield before jumping out of the vehicle.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan imitated Xai, and his gaze wandered as soon as hended on the ground. The symphony allowed him to look past the limits of his eyes, almost giving him aplete idea of the battlefield''s size, leaving him stunned and excited.


    "[Don''tze around]," Xai snorted when he noticed Khan lost in the scenery. "[You get no privileges here]."


    "[What should I do]?" Khan questioned.


    "[Grab corpses and create a pile]," Xai exined. "[Once the pile is big enough, make a new one]."


    "[Can I use your pile]?" Khan asked, showing his fake cheerfulness again.


    Xai didn''t fall for the joke. He showed a serious face while looking at Khan and thinking about his next words.


    "[Let me make this clear]," Xai announced. "[Your presence here is an insult. The Thilku don''t need nor want you]."


    That wasn''t a joke or part of the previous teases. Xai showed utmost seriousness, and Khan couldn''tin. He was an outsider who had forced his way into an alien environment. The sole fact that the Empire had agreed to his demands hurt those soldiers'' pride.


    Khan knew that jokes or pretenses wouldn''t work there. He couldn''t lie his way toward those aliens'' respect. He could only do what he did best, and that battlefield seemed ready to give him that chance.

 Chapter 602 Offensive

    Khan had many questions and doubts. He didn''t know his role on the battlefield, his team''s arrangements, the chain ofmand, and more. He was unaware of anything connected to his new location. Still, getting answers wasn''t an option.


    Even as the team began amassing corpses, Khan continued feeling hesitation and distrust toward him. No res or specific gestures flew in his direction, but the symphony confirmed that he was an outsider.


    Lacking intel wasn''t ideal, especially after seeing the size of the Thilku battlefield. However, Khan couldn''t get epted through words. He could only prove himself and cause as few problems as possible.


    Khan focused on cleaning the battlefields, imitating his alienpanions whenever he doubted his actions. The task wasn''t exactly difficult. He only had to amass corpses into piles, and looking at the Thilku told him how big they had to be.


    The task wasn''t tiring, but Khan didn''t enjoy doing it. He couldn''t even try to learn new details about the Thilku. The area only had silence, and Khan focused on the symphony while dragging corpses from one ce to another.


    Hours passed while the team continued to clean the battlefield. At times, trucks arrived to remove the piles of corpses, but that didn''t free Khan and the Thilku from their task. Half the morning had to go by before the aliens hopped back on their vehicles and returned to the building.


    The return to the building didn''t change the overall coldness around Khan. Part of his team joined friends in the main hall while others went back to their rooms. A few even remained in the corridor before their habitations, but Khan had no right to join them.


    Khan returned to his room since the building couldn''t offer him anything yet. It turned out that the habitations had soundproof walls, which told him something about Naoo''s character. Still, he put that information in the back of his mind and focused on resting to prepare for the night.


    The ostracism toward Khan didn''t involve his duties as a soldier. The Thilku ignored him for any social interaction. Yet, when the night began to approach, Naoo''s rough voice resounded inside his room.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "[Gather up]!" Naoo said through the room''s speakers. "[We leave in two minutes]!"


    Khan was still wearing his uniform, so he jumped out of bed and left the room, closing it to wait for hispanions. Naoo was the first toe out but only snorted at his presence before reserving the same treatment to all the other Thilku reaching the corridor.


    As Khan had predicted, the Thilku didn''t carry any firearm. Some wielded big maces, metal spears, or gauntlets with spikes on their knuckles. Others retrieved pieces of armor from their lockers, but nothing that relied too heavily on technology. They wanted a fair fight with the aliens, no matter how bloody it got.


    "[Let''s move]!" Naoo shouted once the two minutes were up. She charged ahead, crossing the corridor''s exit even if a few Thilku were still wearing their armor. Her action forced them to move and finish the process in the following passage.


    The new corridor had gotten busier in the meantime, showing three more teams waiting for their chance to reach the main hall. The presence of so many aliens made the area feel cramped, and Khan had it worse than hispanions since the general attention fell on him.


    Curious and questioning gazes flew through the corridor. Many searched for answers from Khan''s teammates, but they only showed helplessness and snorts. A good chunk of the building wasn''t aware that Khan would have entered the battlefield, but his presence there couldn''t mean anything else.


    The teams began to advance in order. The Thilku followed their respective leaders to enter the main hall. Naoo''s group wasst, and Khan noticed the peculiar absence of the previous crowd once he left the corridor.


    The carpets and tools previously used by the Thilku were still there, amassed near the walls, but the crowd had left, showing how big the hall was. The ce could fit an entire battalion, but only two hundred troops gathered there and began dealing with the security measures.


    That manpower already surpassed what the Global Army had stationed on Cegnore, but Khan couldn''t feel surprised after seeing the Thilku battlefield. He actually believed more soldiers woulde out to face the fearsome night.


    Humans would take hours deploying so many soldiers due to their lengthy security measures, but the process was quick with the Thilku. Naoo''s team reached the gate and retrieved the appointed tablets in a few minutes before heading outside.


    The scenery waspletely different from what Khan had witnessed during the morning. Cegnore''s star shone on the horizon, creating long shadows that stretched through the in. Hundreds of Thilku filled the area, sending stern vibes into the symphony.


    The various teams ignored the vehicles and marched ahead, jumping across the trench or settling inside. Except for Khan, everyone knew their role, but loud orders still echoed and fused with the heavy steps caused by the advancing troops.


    Khan followed Xai across the trench and continued to march. Naoo led her team deeper into the in, and each step forward intensified the overall tension. The Thilku were scared, but no trace of that feeling appeared on their faces.


    Those feelings told Khan enough, and the march eventually confirmed his hunch too. Minutes passed until the group reached the areas they had previously cleaned. The ce was still a mess of holes, cracks, puddles, and body parts, but Naoo made everyone stop there anyway.


    "[Get in position]!" Naoo shouted, and the Thilku began to move. The group spread across the area, covering as much ground as possible. Khan instinctively followed Xai, but a sudden re forced him to stop.


    Khan turned and found Naoo staring at him. She had crossed her arms and worn an angry expression, clearly annoyed that the human had ended into her team.


    "[Our job here is to stop as many beasts as possible]," Naoo exined, stomping her foot on the ground and digging a line. "[If they cross this, kill them]."


    "[What if they cross me]?" Khan asked.


    "[Don''t chase them]," Naoo dered, and Khan didn''t need anything else to understand that strategy. He could feel multiple teams stationed in the distance behind him. His group simply was the first line of defense.


    ''So,'' Khan thought, aligning himself with the rest of the team and upying the spot behind Naoo''s line, ''The monsters don''t care about us.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    That development was surprising but notpletely unexpected. Khan had seen the packs ignoring him to charge at the human trench. It was odd that something simr would happen there due to the amount of manpower deployed on the in, but the Thilku building probably was a bigger threat in the monsters'' eyes.


    ''Should I call them today?'' Khan couldn''t help but wonder while drawing his knife.


    The deal with Lord Exr involved changes to the battlefield. Khan had to be bait, but implementing his n without testing the size of the fights was unwise. It was better to y by the rules for a few nights before moving to something reckless.


    ''I''m sure Lord Exr won''t mind waiting a few days,'' Khan thought. ''Mister Wulfo probably will.''


    Khan didn''t forget his deal with Winston, but the chance to reach the Thilku trenches had priority over it. The scientist probably didn''t like that transfer, but Khan was ready to make him unhappy to pursue his true goals.


    Those thoughts continued to swirl in Khan''s mind as the afternoon slowly transformed into night. Everything grew still as a faint red halo stretched through the in and dispersed the darkness. The Thilku building was sending its light, but Khan saw different colors.


    ording to the symphony, a total of three hundred Thilku had left the building to upy the trench or the in past it. Those on the frontlines were all third-level warriors, which filled Khan''s senses with countless colors.


    Nevertheless, Khan mostly focused on the absence of synthetic mana. Except for the building and trench, the Thilku weren''t using any technology. They didn''t even rely on goggles that could disperse the lingering darkness in the distance.


    Khan also noticed the absence of vehicles on the battlefield. The Thilku were ready to handle the iing battle with their bare hands, spells, and simple weapons, and no one seemed to resent that arbitrary disadvantage.


    The event made Khan curious about Cegnore''s backstory. He also grew eager to see more specimens, especially intelligent ones. However, all those feelings vanished when new colors appeared past the red halo.


    Khan''s shoulders instinctively rxed, and the same went for his knees. He leaned a bit forward while slightly lifting his knife. Those actions were barely noticeable, but he was in an environment with knowledgeable soldiers.


    The team had formed a long line, but a few Thilku could still see Khan. Naoo was also nearby and noticed his slight change in stance. The Empire had updated her about Khan''s skills, so she could instantly connect the dots.


    Naoo nced ahead and lifted her arms to wear a battle stance. She couldn''t see anything in the darkness, but her stature made her more visible than Khan. Herpanions noticed her, and simr reactions unfolded.


    Khan knew what was happening around him, but his eyes remained glued to the darkness. The symphony grew messy, trying to shock him with its meanings. Yet, his mind was devoid of thoughts and emotions. He had regressed to a mere weapon.


    An earthquake spread through the in, erging cracks and creating new ones. The ground caved in due to the tremors running through it. Thudding noises filled the area, and faint growls began to echo.


    Soon, figures became visible at the edge of the red halo. A chaotic mass of odd bodies advanced madly ahead. Fifty wolf-like monsters with levels between the second and third ran through the in, stepping on each other and shattering the ground under their weight.


    From the Thilku''s perspective, the iing monsters resembled an azure wave that destroyed anything in their path. Those Tainted animals were almost glued to each other, going up and down depending on what the ground could support.


    Of course, that wasn''t the Thilku''s first battle. They had already gone through simr fights for many nights, so they prepared their spells, weapons, or arms to deflect the iing wave.


    Naoo growled loudly,unching a battle cry that herpanions echoed. The entire team was ready to hold its ground against that monstrous and chaotic threat. Still, a purple-red light suddenly shed in the distant darkness, making those firm stances falter.


    Khan saw the world through different senses. He didn''t only notice the sudden sh. He also sensed its source and the effect it had on his teammates.


    The Thilku did their best to appear confident, but their mana began to convey fear. They knew what that sh implied but felt hopeless against it.


    Calctions happened in Khan''s mind while the massive pack of Tainted animals continued to advance. Mana quickly moved toward his legs, generating an incredible sprint that teleported him a few meters to his right. He appeared next to Naoo and grabbed her cape to pull her away.


    Naoo was so focused on the iing pack that the pull made her lose her bnce. That allowed Khan to drag her further away, but the gesture earned him her anger.


    "[Human, what are you-]!" Naoo shouted, but a purple-red light suddenly filled the area, blinding her and hiding a loud explosion.


    Naoo quickly stood up, but her eyes took longer to recover. Yet, when they did, she failed to find Khan. He had left her side, but something else attracted her attention.


    A crater that released a thick pile of smoke had appeared in Naoo''s previous position, and she could only feel disbelief looking at it. Her gaze immediately returned to her team, searching for Khan, but he was nowhere to be found.


    Naoo found Khan only when the iing pack reimed her attention. She felt shocked seeing him halfway through the space that divided the team and the monsters. The Thilku were focusing on holding their ground, but Khan had decided to move on the offensive.

 Chapter 603 Army

    The tide of monsters appeared imprable and unstoppable in the Thilku''s eyes, but Khan saw something very different.


    The monsters'' chaotic, instinctive, and violent behavior had no pattern. They were only caught in a mad charge fueled by their hunger. Yet, their actions left marks on the symphony, changing it and allowing Khan to predict their next move.


    From the Thilku''s perspective, Khan''s advance was crazy, but something in his pace eased their worries. Each of Khan''s steps seemed tock any form of emotion, but confidence still reeked out of them.


    Khan kept his eyes on the iing tide but didn''t look at anything specific. Hungry growls and roars reached his ears but never entered his brain. His mind was empty as he casually advanced toward creatures that could rip him apart.


    The wolves got so close that Khan could smell their disgusting breath. They were only a few meters from him, and those directly ahead stomped the ground to leap at him.


    Nevertheless, the ground had trembled until now, and the symphony partially kept track of its stability. Khan knew what those stomps would cause, so he strolled ahead, unfazed by the monsters'' intentions.


    The ground couldn''t endure the stomps, crumbling and making the monsters fail their jumps. Those creatures lost their bnce, falling into holes of their own creation but still stretched their paws forward in an attempt to reach Khan.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan tapped the ground, slightly rising into the air to escape the iing paws. He dived into the tide, upying the open spot left by the falling wolves before unleashing a spherical version of the Wave spell.


    A purple-red sphere shone among the azure tide, piercing through fur, flesh, and organs as it expanded. A few monsters died on the spot, while others suffered injuries that didn''t interrupt their mad charge.


    The spell didn''t change the tide''s ns. The monsters continued to advance, reaching the Thilku team. The aliens had paid attention to Khan but didn''t forget about the Tainted animals, and attacks unfolded when the two shed.


    The Thilkuunched spells, swung their weapons, or relied on their superior physical prowess to deflect and suppress any beast in their range. They didn''t seem to care about the possibility of getting infected, but no injuries appeared on their bodies either. Their size and raw power made them far stronger than those creatures.


    The monsters far outnumbered the Thilku, but thetter dealt with multiple opponents simultaneously. One alien threw his spear sideways, impaling many beasts. Another stomped the ground, lifting a series of sharp spikes that pierced three wolves.


    Simr scenes unfolded, with a few Thilku directly body-mming the wolves to push them back. Mana flowed alongside their movements, creating what Khan believed to be martial arts. That disy of power almost startled him, but warning signals made him turn toward the darkness.


    A purple-red light shed in the distance, and a glowing sphere only Khan could see flew through the darkness. The attack followed a specific trajectory that Khan could predict, so mana flowed toward his legs to generate a sprint.


    A Thilku was swinging her huge mace madly. Each attacknded on a monster''s head, sending it flying for a few meters. However, the tide had too many beasts, forcing her to retreat to deal with all the new opponents.


    The alien was about to deliver a descending attack on a wolf approaching her from below when the ground suddenly grew distant. She found herself in the air, away from the tide, and pulled higher by an unknown force.


    The Thilku lifted her head and grew angry seeing Khan pulling her from her cape. That behavior was beyond insulting. A human was actually interfering with her battle. Yet, an explosion resounded under her before she could speak any word.


    The alien nced at the ground only to have dark smoke hindering her view. Khan quickly pulled her out, allowing her to notice what had happened. A crater had formed in her previous position, killing the monster that had tried to attack her.


    Khan didn''t waste time. The symphony upied his mind, depicting the exact state of the battlefield. He knew where the Thilku had to be, so he threw her in that direction.


    That drop could make most soldiers lose their bnce, but the Thilku were taller, which helped. The alien easilynded on her feet but remained surprised that the ground didn''t break under her weight. She believed Khan had something to do with it, but the tide didn''t give her a chance to think.


    Khan also joined the frontlines, diving toward the spot marked by Naoo. Two wolves were about to cross it, but dust suddenly surrounded them.


    A figure crossed the cloud before the dust could settle. Khan stepped forward, and his movement revealed the spot behind him. One of the wolves had lost its head, while the other had its skull crushed.


    Another purple-red light shed in the distance, and Khan sprinted. A big bullet reached the area, trying to kill a Thilku, but Khan intervened, making the attack fail.


    The intense fight seemed tost endlessly but only continued for a few short minutes. The monsters had no business in the area and prioritized charging at the trench. The Thilku killed most of them, but a few specimens broke through, continuing ahead.


    The Thilku ignored the escaping specimens and returned to their previous positions. The area had changed after the battle. New holes and corpses spread in every direction, but the aliens only focused on the darkness ahead.


    Khan began to imitate hispanions, but another purple-red light shed in the distance, forcing him to move. The new bullet aimed at Naoo, who didn''t oppose any resistance when Khan pushed her away.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The bullet exploded a few meters on Naoo''s left, but she paid the crater no heed. She was more interested in the fact that Khan was still at her side, but he had his reasons for that.


    "[I can get it]," Khan stated, staring into the distant darkness.


    Naoo also nced at the darkness, understanding what Khan meant. He wanted to go after the Tainted creature behind the powerful bullets.


    "[No]," Naoo refused. "[That''s a trap. Hold this line]."


    Khan didn''t miss how Naoo''s voice had grown kinder but limited himself to a nce at her stern face before nodding in approval. He turned, walking toward his previous position to resume his role, and the symphony made him inspect his surroundings in the meantime.


    The battlefield wasn''t the only thing that had changed. Khan''s actions didn''t go unnoticed, and many Thilku couldn''t help but take a second look at him.


    The battle had onlysted a few minutes, but the Thilku already showed some sweat on their wrinkled foreheads. Blood had also tainted their uniforms, together with gore and dirt, which wasn''t surprising due to the intensity of the fight.


    Instead, Khan was as clean as when he left the building. He didn''t sweat, and no blood had fallen on him. Even his knife was spotless.


    Moreover, even after flying and fighting, no dirt had reached Khan. Somehow, his shoes were also spotless. It almost seemed he didn''t walk like the rest of the Thilku.


    Other than standing out, Khan also noticed a vague change in disposition toward him. His presence there was an insult, but the Thilku couldn''t deny how he had saved many lives. Disregarding his actions would go against the aliens'' pride.


    The battlefield didn''t help with that conflicting mood. The ce didn''t allow bonding since the night had just begun. More waves of monsters had to arrive, preventing eventual talks from happening.


    Khan made it easy for hispanions, fixing his gaze ahead to focus on the night. The Thilku studied him for a bit, but his concentration eventually made them stop. The time for talks would arrive, but not now.


    The symphony sent more signals from behind that defensive line. A few battles had started and ended during that break. The few monsters that had crossed Naoo''s team had died, extinguishing what remained of the initial tide.


    The ground had stopped shaking, creating a peaceful period that stretched for a long time. No attacks arrived in the few hours that followed the first wave, but Khan didn''t believe for even a second that the night was over.


    Strangely enough, the expected change didn''t happen from inside the darkness. Something moved behind Khan, forcing him to turn. Many noticed and imitated his reaction, and figures eventually appeared in the distance.


    Multiple teams of Thilku had left their position to advance toward Naoo''s group. They weren''t exactly moving toward Naoo, but it was clear that they wanted to reach the same defensive line.


    Khan''spanions weren''t surprised about that deployment, only slightly worried. A few looked in Khan''s direction, seemingly wanting to update him, but the symphony took care of that in the next seconds.


    Multiple auras suddenly appeared in the darkness. Tens of unique colors had reached the symphony at the edge of Khan''s senses, warning him about the arrival of a massive army.


    ''What''s that?'' Khan gasped, struggling to believe what was reaching his senses.


    An army of monsters split into multiple teams advanced slowly across the destroyed in. Those creatures didn''t fall prey to their hunger. Instead, they almost marched in an orderly manner as if they were actual troops.


    Khan found the reason for that order in the slightly more powerful figures standing behind each team. Creatures he had already fought and could recognize from their mana signature walked behind the monsters, forcing them to behave.


    ''Six,'' Khan counted, ''No, seven intelligent wolves, with at least twenty Tainted animals each.''


    That number would make the entire human settlement run away in fear, but the Thilku were different. During the monsters'' slow advance, multiple alien teams reached the frontlines, upying areas at Naoo''s group''s sides to cover more ground.


    ''Two hundred,'' Khan counted, ''Against one hundred and fifty.''


    The Thilku had matched and surpassed the monsters'' numbers, but nothing could ensure their victory. A bloody battle waited ahead.

 Chapter 604 War

    It was chaos.


    The two armies shed among roars, growls, howls, and battle cries. The azure and scarlet tide fused as the ground shattered under their feet, disappearing into a dense cloud that almost filled the in.


    ns, tasks, and roles vanished. The in became the center of a war that required a single winner, and neither side backed away from it. Even the monsters began to focus on the Thilku instead of trying to cross them.


    The initial sh destroyed the surface, creating a hole that stretched far past both frontlines. Thilku and monsters fell inside, either focusing on safendings or trying to use the opportunity to deliver killing blows.


    Khan used his speed to take the wolf in front of him by surprise, stabbing his knife into its head. The ground crumbled right afterward, but the symphony had warned him about that development, and he was ready to exploit it.


    A good chunk of both armies fell for a few meters, creating a long gorge of fur, bodies, blood, and sweat, but Khan remained above it. The air was the only surface he needed while he let the symphony guide his actions.


    The two armies were going at each other with all they had, but only the frontlines had begun to mix. The fall had helped, but the fights remained limited to the central areas of the battlefield.


    Many Thilku and wolves were still trying to find openings that could bring them before opponents. Some jumped on top of theirpanions to get a piece of the action, with the monsters being messier about it.


    Khan listened to anything reaching his senses before sprinting ahead. He knew where his power shone brighter, so he crossed the battlefield to reach the areas upied solely by monsters before diving at them.


    The mess and Khan''s speed hid his movements, allowing him to stomp on an unaware wolf''s head. The creature was as strong as a third-level warrior, so the attack only pushed it downward, mming it deeper into the monster it had climbed on.


    The monster failed to realize what had happened due to the chaos of the battlefield. It couldn''t even lift its head due to the force pressing it down, and the chance to remove it never arrived.


    The spherical version of the Wave spell expanded from Khan''s figure, destroying and pushing away anything in its path. Theck of allies in his surroundings allowed him to attack freely, which was exactly what he did.


    The Wave spell cleared Khan''s surroundings, leaving only patches of blood and flesh around him. The enemy army noticed him, and angry howls flew in his direction.


    The wolves waited for the purple-red mana to vanish before charging ahead. However, Khan had already disappeared, and a bright spear had reced him.


    The spear exploded, releasing a pir that burned or killed the wolves in its immediate surroundings. As for Khan, he dived into the azure figures, swinging his knife and delivering kicks to open a path and defeat opponents.


    When Khan left the pir''s range, a monster appeared in his path. The explosion had blinded the creature, so Khan ducked to his right and kept advancing, swinging his knife in the meantime.


    The wolf lost its head while Khan crossed it, but two more monsters appeared before him. Mana flowed toward his legs, flinging him forward to m his knees on one of the oddly shaped heads.


    The monster''s skull shattered, and its body bounced back due to the power carried by the impact. Itspanion noticed the event and instinctively threw its mouth at the foreign figure standing on its left, but a glowing knife weed it.


    Khan split the wolf''s mouth in half before kicking the air to fly past histest kill. More monsters had noticed him by then, and two leaped in his direction, but needles appeared in their path.


    Pain spread from Khan''s right arm when he brought it to his side. The needles exploded, destroying a head and a leg. His aim had been off, but no regret reached his brain.


    More and more wolves noticed Khan after the needles'' explosions. He was the only human in that mass of fur, and his flight highlighted his figure. Many monsters growled and jumped over theirpanions to reach him, but he disappeared before any attack couldnd.


    Khan''s feet touched the brittle ground without shattering it. Long legs also surrounded him. He hadnded among the wolves, but his eyes failed to record clear images since he promptly sprinted again.


    The glowing knife shed in Khan''s eyes as he swung it left and right while striding forward. His shoulders mmed on the monsters'' legs, which fell at the lightest impact since they weren''t attached to the rest of their bodies anymore.


    A trail of blood and fur spread behind Khan, but bodies soon covered it. All the wolves maimed by Khan lost their bnce and tripped, adding dust to the cloud that had engulfed the battlefield.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Heads eventually peeked into the array of long legs. A wolf bent forward to check what was happening, but a foot mmed on its mouth, breaking its upper part.


    The kick pushed the wolf back, mming it on the monsters behind and making some space in that chaotic environment. Khan ran into it, and the spherical version of the Wave spell expanded from his figure.


    The spell cleared Khan''s surroundings during its expansion, but a powerful force suddenly mmed into it, partially stopping it. A simr ability had shed with Khan''s technique, but the event didn''t bring any surprise.


    Khan stood straight in the middle of his spell as he nced to his left. Six meters separated him from a humanoid wolf who had unleashed a simr version of his attack. The two techniques seemed equally matched as they shed in the middle of the army, and no one dared to interfere.


    Sizzling noises and azure sparks shot from where the two attacks shed. Raw mana escaped the two spells, but no winner arrived. Khan and the humanoid wolf released their energy freely without ever hinting at stopping.


    Khan stared deep into the wolf''s calm eyes. Thoughts slowly returned to his brain as his mana began to boil. That mere beast was matching his power. That wasn''t something his energy liked to see.


    A clicking growl resounded in Khan''s mind, and he opened his mouth to shout it. Mana red out of his body, expanding inside the Wave spell and stretching past its edges. He vented, adding more power to his attack and pushing back the wolf''s technique.


    The wolf calmly watched its spell retreat, but its eyes suddenly lit up, sending beams at it. The attack destabilized its mana, causing a chain reaction that echoed through Khan''s energy, making it explode outward.


    Both Wave spells and res transformed into unstable energy that shot in every direction. Most of it flew toward the sky, but a good chunk dived into the surrounding pack, hitting a couple of monsters and burning their fur.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The humanoid wolf had retracted its beams during the explosion, but its arms promptly shot upward, waving their sharp ws toward the iing threat.


    Khan appeared above the creature, spinning on himself with a stretched leg. He looked about to deliver one of his strongest kicks, but the ws were ready to intercept him.


    Usually, that would be a guaranteed hit. The humanoid monster had noticed Khan''s arrival and had reacted ordingly. Khan was also going too fast to dodge.


    However, Khan''s spinning motion suddenly slowed down, and he flexed his stretched leg to make his footnd on the longest w of the monster''s right paw. Strangely enough, the wolf didn''t feel any pressure on its limb but couldn''t lift it any further.


    Time slowed down in the humanoid wolf''s eyes until it basically stopped. Khan hadnded on its w, and a purple-red sh followed. Only darkness waited for the creature afterward.


    Khannded on the ground behind the humanoid wolf but didn''t turn. He straightened his back while the earthquake continued to rage.


    Those tremors affected the humanoid wolf, which fell into the space previously cleared by the Wave spells. The impact on the ground made its head roll forward for a few meters. That body part had lost any connection with its neck.


    Howls invaded the scene. The death of the humanoid wolf changed the leadership in that chunk of the pack. A frenzy began to affect the monsters, bringing out their instinctive hunger.


    Khan was the closest prey, so the monster immediately focused on him. Still, the same instincts behind their hunger warned them about a potential threat. A dense aura surrounded Khan. The air had be an extension of his mind.


    That reaction wasn''t intentional. An overbearing feeling had invaded Khan after his recent victory. His mana felt that he had proven something by defeating the humanoid wolf, which filled him with urges that stretched into the environment.


    Khan was no stranger to that event. He had spent thest period training to enhance those effects. The theory behind the Niqols'' spells was manifesting itself on his own as if it was a natural extension of his feelings.


    The howls and growls didn''t let Khan focus on what was happening to the air. His mood transformed his expression into a re that he moved across the monsters. He had almost reached the other side of the enemy army but was still surrounded. Still, the wolves hesitated to attack him.


    That hesitation was short-lived. The hunger quickly overcame any trace of order those monsters still had, making them leap forward. Khan also emptied his mind, ready to flow through the battlefield again.

 Chapter 605 Snickers

    Long, confusing, and empty minutes passed until they reached the half-a-hour mark. Khan flowed through the symphony, flying, swinging, and kicking ording to what touched his senses until nothing else came his way.


    Khan gracefullynded on the ground before inspecting his surroundings. Dust hid his vision, making his eyes itchy and teary, but colors still shone. The symphony had grown calmer, and the earthquake had stopped. No sharp movements unfolded, and auras quieted down at the inevitable realization.


    ''It''s over,'' Khan thought, heaving a deep sigh and wiping his knife on his pants.


    The dust slowly settled down, revealing the new state of the battlefield. The brown in was a mess of shallow and deep gorges connected to a big one that ran for hundreds of meters. Furry corpses also upied every corner of that destroyed environment, and a few scarlet capesy among them.


    Khan was no stranger to that scene. He had long since grown used to the aftermath ofrge battles, and the Thilku shared his experience. Most aliens stood still, checking how many of them had survived before steeling their minds.


    From what Khan could see, the casualties on the Thilku''s side weren''t significant. The alien army had only lost twenty to thirty soldiers, proving its prowess.


    Nevertheless, lives weren''t numbers. As much as the Thilku were used to those sceneries and pretended to be fine, some experienced sadness and grief seeing their deadpanions. A few even reached their friends'' corpses to retrieve their capes.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan couldn''t join that sad mood. Xai had been clear about the meaning of his presence on the battlefield, so he decided to stay away from any social interaction. He lifted his gaze at the sky, waiting for orders to fly in his direction.


    Of course, Khan didn''t stay still. Even if the area had transformed, he could understand where his previous position was. Moreover, he could sense Naoo, so he walked in her direction without getting too close.


    Khan was hard to ignore in that environment. Except for his different stature and uniform, his stance was quite eye-catching. Blood and dust had finally tainted his figure, but his steps were full of power and confidence. He appeared at the peak of his physical capabilities, even if a big battle had just ended.


    Theck of briefings forced Khan to follow his previous orders. The night was still above him, so he returned to his appointed position and fixed his eyes on the darkness ahead. He was ready to fight until morning if necessary.


    The Thilku couldn''t remain impassible before that stance. A few had even caught snippets of Khan''s prowess during the messy battle. He wasn''t only strong. His drive seemed endless.


    Khan felt that growing respect but ignored it, focusing on saving energy. His mana reserves were fine, but his body could benefit from some rest. He wasn''t tired yet, but the night risked making him reach his limits if more big battles were to happen.


    However, steps eventually resounded, making Khan lower his gaze. His team returned to its previous position, only to cross it and aim for the trench. The scene was confusing, but Naoo approached him to clear his doubts.


    "[The monsters don''t attack after the big mobilization]," Naoo exined. "[We are going back]."


    "[The night is still long]," Khan pointed out.


    Naoo didn''t like Khan questioning her orders, but her anger was short-lived, leading to aposed reply. "[The frontlines get to rest, so rest]."


    Khan was ready to offer his services for the rest of the night, but Naoo added a re to her reply, forcing him to nod. He sheathed his knife, and the two began to walk toward the trench.


    Vehicles ran through the in while Khan and Naoo reunited with their team. Many Thilku had suffered injuries, which required immediate medical attention to deter eventual mutations, and doctors didn''t hesitate to ride toward them.


    Khan inspected everything silently, standing slightly behind his team to respect Xai''s warning. He would y the part of the outsider as long as the Thilku wanted to, but they seemed to disagree with that behavior.


    As insulting as Khan''s presence, he still fought at the Thilku''s side. He had proven himself worthy of being on the battlefield, and some of hispanions were also alive thanks to him.


    The Thilku wanted to maintain a cold attitude, but their pride made them consider other options. If they ignored the different species, Khan wasn''t too bad. He was actually a valuable asset in the war against the monsters.


    Khan didn''t try to do anything since deeper thoughts afflicted his mind. He knew the Thilku had it worse than humans, but the recent battle had still surprised him. Cegnore probably had more to offer, making his n harder to actuate.


    ''How many monsters would arrive if I called them?'' Khan wondered. ''Can the Thilku handle them?''


    In theory, Lord Exr had agreed to use Khan as bait. Still, Khan couldn''t summon armies randomly, especially after witnessing the tough battles in the Thilku trenches.


    A call had turned random leftovers into three packs in the human trench. The consequences could be far worse in Khan''s new location, which would put hundreds of lives at risk, including his own.


    ''I must n things out with the Thilku,'' Khan thought. ''I can''t backstab them like this. It''s too dangerous.''


    Khan looked ahead, ncing at Naoo''s figure before lowering his eyes again. The Thilku didn''t trust him enough to believe in his n, let alone coordinate with his warning. Earning their respect and learning more about the area had toe first.


    Minutes had to pass before the team returned to the building, meeting fellow Thilkuing back from the frontlines. The groups went through the security measures in an orderly manner, eventually entering the vast main hall.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Doctors and additional teams were already waiting in the hall. The soldiers headed for the main gate to rece their returningpanions while the medics attended to the injured, running scanners over them or delivering drugs.


    Khan felt surprised when a doctor approached him to check him up, but the scanner didn''t reveal anything unusual, clearing him to advance. He could return to his lodgings after that, but Naoo was waiting for the rest of her team, so he imitated her.


    The team eventually returned to their corridor, and the soldiers began to remove their dirty clothes or dive into their rooms. Their traditions usually involved feasts now, but Khan didn''t dare to point that out.


    Naoo stormed into her room without uttering any word, and wariness filled the corridor. Khan was behind that feeling, so he flew to his locker and retrieved his backpack to undress. He wanted to iste himself as soon as possible, but the Thilku had different intentions.


    "[Blue hair]," A Thilku called when she saw Khan approaching the rune before his room with the backpack on his shoulders.


    Khan turned and recognized the Thilku. She was the mace-swinging soldier he had lifted in the air. Her call had made the rest of the team focus on him, filling the corridor with conflicting emotions.


    "[What]?" Khan asked, too pensive to show his fake politeness.


    "[Do you eat]?" The Thilku asked, crossing her arms before her bare chest.


    "[Of course I eat]," Khan responded.


    "[Do you drink]?" The Thilku continued.


    "[More than you]," Khan stated, and scoffs resounded in the corridor.


    The Thilku stared deep into Khan''s eyes while tension built up, but her mouth eventually broadened into a smirk that revealed her sharp canines. Her reaction made a few of herpanions snicker loudly, warming up the corridor''s atmosphere.


    "[Ah]!" The Thilku eximed. "[You talk big for a human]."


    "[Apa]," Xai called, looking at the female Thilku before nodding in Khan''s direction.


    "[Shut it, Xai]," Apa snorted. "[I know]."


    Apa exchanged nces with herpanions, who replied with nods or by crossing their arms. Khan knew what was happening but still waited for the words to arrive.


    "[We are having a feast]," Apa eventually announced. "[Join me]."


    "[You are]," Khan said, stopping for a few seconds to make the Thilku eager for his next words, "[Way too shy about this]."


    Silence fell in the corridor. The Thilku looked at Khan, shocked that simr words hade out of his mouth. They weren''t sure what they meant either, but Khan eventually chuckled, expressing his intentions.


    At that point, a few Thilku became unable to contain themselves. They exploded intoughs, and some approached Apa to m their huge hands on her shoulders. Jokes also flew toward her, teasing her about the situation.


    The door of Naoo''s room suddenly opened, and all the Thilku stoppedughing and straightened their position. Naoo also came out but ignored her underlings to march toward Khan.


    "[Here]," Naoo said, handing a circr device to Khan. "[These are our battle strategies]."


    Surprise spread through the corridor, and Khan also experienced that feeling. He looked at Naoo''s stern face before inspecting the device. A rune locked its screen, and its lines slowly became meanings in Khan''s mind.


    "[Can you open it]?" Naoo asked, seemingly angry about that wait.


    "[Yes]!" Khan eximed, snapping back to reality and moving his fingers over the rune to gain ess to the device''s data.


    Naoo waited until Khan unlocked the device to re at her underlings and spout a question in her angry tone. "[Did you invite the human]?"


    Apa and the Thilku at her sides nodded, and Naoo confirmed those silent replies with the other aliens before shouting again. "[What are you waiting for? Let''s feast]!"

 Chapter 606 Revelations

    Naoo led her team into the main hall before upying a spot near the corner. Carpets and tables were already there, so the Thilku sat down, and Khan found himself with Apa and Xai at his sides.


    The team''s attire was uneptable for the Global Army''s customs. Most Thilku were only half-dressed and still dirty from the battlefield''s blood, sweat, and dust, which applied to men and women alike.


    Khan was no exception. The invitation arrived after he removed the upper part of his uniform and found no reason to put it back. That soldier-like atmosphere was very casual, and he fit perfectly inside it. Khan actually loved it.


    The Thilku alsocked body parts that humans might find arousing. Khan had broader tastes, but seeing those exposed chests didn''t trigger anything. It was actually hard to differentiate between men and women from that aspect alone since they were so simr.


    Khan''s team wasn''t the only one in the hall. All the Thilku who had returned from the frontlines had reached the area and upied different spots. Some even brought food and booze from their personal stashes to add to what soldiers delivered to each table.


    The sudden invitation had made Khan avoid storing his backpack, so he joined that trend, putting a few cans of food on the table. Hands immediately went on them, and Khan soon found Xai and Apa busy opening those containers.


    "[How do you open this thing]?" Xaiined, inspecting both sides of the cylindrical can.


    Khan opened his mouth to speak, but Apa suddenlyunched a battle cry. She had stabbed two fingers in the lid and ripped the can open.


    "[The design is odd]," Apamented, pulling out a chicken wing and throwing it in her mouth.


    Cracking noises followed as Apa''s teeth broke the meal''s flesh and bones. Khan was about to say something but changed his mind andughed. It didn''t take long before Xai imitated Apa, prolonging Khan''s reaction and making him raise his voice.


    Khan''sugh couldn''t cross his table since all hispanions were busy shouting and joking, and their voices were far louder. A cheerful mood had fallen on the team, and the other soldiers in the hall shared that happiness.


    That celebration reminded Khan of the Niqols. Those aliens also partied after deaths or simr sad events. The Thilku''s motivations were different, but Khan still fell into a pensive mood.


    That mood was short-lived since Apa and Xai moved bowls and booze to his side of the table, reminding him about his situation. Khan immediately wore a happy mask, and random conversations started.


    "[You are stronger than you look]," Apamented, "[For a human]."


    "[You aren''t that heavy]," Khanughed.


    "[Ah]!" Apa eximed, looking past Khan to re at Xai. "[I''m heavier than him]!"


    "[Not for long]," Xai snorted, lifting the food can over his open mouth to eat the entirety of its content.


    ''I guess Thilku don''t care about their waistline,'' Khan thought before continuing the conversation. "[Do you like human food]?"


    "[It''s not bad]," Apa replied, also devouring the food can''s contents.


    "[Thilku''s food is better]," Xai added, munching his big bite.


    Khan smiled, diving into the bowls and gulping down cups. It felt good to drink after a battle. His mind recalled the traditions he had learned to love, and his mood inevitably became joyous. However, the device at his side reminded him how far he had gotten from Nitis.


    ''The Global Army would pay a lot for this,'' Khan thought, putting the device on the table and unlocking it. The item only had strategies for Cegnore, which didn''t involve firearms and technology, but that didn''t make it any less precious.


    "[Flying sure is useful against those monsters]," Apa stated while Khan was about to lose himself in his studies. "[I''m surprised younded at all]."


    "[I''m surprised you could pay attention to me in that mess]," Khan responded.


    "[Don''t underestimate the Thilku]," Apa proudly scoffed. "[We have faced nights like this for months. Keeping track of a human is nothing]."


    That urge to brag didn''t take Khan by surprise anymore, but Xai managed to add something that made his eyebrows arch. "[Though, it''s useful to have a shaman on the frontlines]."


    Khan had brought his cup to his mouth, but that statement made him avoid drinking to look at the Thilku. Xai didn''t put much weight in his words, but Khan''s curious gaze confused him, leading to an annoyed snort.


    "[What]?" Xai asked, seemingly taking that stare as a challenge.


    "[You know I''m a shaman]?" Khan questioned. He had confirmed that the Thilku knew about him, but that level of details still sounded too much for something he had never openly admitted.


    "[Naoo told us]," Apa intervened, nodding at Naoo. "[She is friend with Amox''s wife]."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Many Thilku at the table heard the conversation and turned toward Naoo, including Khan. Naoo had a bowl in each hand and her mouth full of food, so she limited herself to a snort when so much attention fell on her.


    "[We also know your girlfriend is on Neuria]," Xai added, changing the topic to avoid angering Naoo. "[You are investing a lot on the Empire, Captain Khan]."


    Khan felt surprised once again. Monica hadnded on Neuria mere days ago, but rumors had already reached Cegnore. Moreover, even ordinary soldiers seemed to know about her rtionship with Khan.


    "[The Empire is an influential ally]," Khan justified his actions, "[And the Thilku are strong]."


    Xai snorted to hide his reactions, but his mana agreed. From the alien''s biased perspective, Khan''s actions made perfect sense.


    "[A good tongue is a coward''s weapon]," Apained, mming a fist on the table. "[Why aren''t you marrying your girlfriend]?"


    "[That''s]," Khan cleared his throat, taken aback by Apa''s seriousness, "[That''s personal]."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "[Ah]!" Apa cried, crossing her arms in annoyance. Somehow, she appeared genuinely angry about that situation.


    "[Apa, humans have different customs]," Xai intervened. "[They date and waste years being engaged or something]."


    "[When did you learn so much about humans]?" Apa questioned, growing angrier.


    "[It''s written in our basic briefing]," Xai groaned.


    "[Cowards]," Apa snorted, ring at Khan. "[If I were your woman, I would have knocked you out and done the deed myself]."


    Amox had warned Khan about Thilku women, and Apa was proving him right. Khan could fight monsters three times his size, but that re and words triggered an instinctive fear in his brain.


    "[Enough with the nonsense]," Naoo suddenly announced, and the entire table went silent as the team focused on her. "[So, Khan, can you keep your promise with Lord Exr]?"


    The surprises were never-ending that night. Khan found himself stunned once again. He had been worried the Thilku wouldn''t believe his n, but it seemed Lord Exr had vouched for him.


    "[I]," Khan eximed, hesitating briefly to choose his words carefully, "[I can probably call more beasts, but I can''t control their numbers]."


    Joy abandoned the table, reced by seriousness. Khan''s im was bold and worrying. It implied that he had some control over the Tainted animals. Moreover, the reactions in his surroundings told him that only Naoo had been aware of those details.


    "[When]?" Naoo asked without giving anyone the time to think.


    "[I need to know more about this trench]," Khan stated, switching to a serious face. "[I stand by my words. The Thilku are strong, but I bet you wish to avoid pointless casualties]."


    Naoo let a silent second pass. It almost seemed that Khan''s worries had gotten through, but another question quickly came in his direction.


    "[When]?" Naoo repeated.


    It became clear that the Thilku wouldn''t leave any leverage to Khan. They had epted him into their ranks, but his power belonged to them. They would decide when and how to use it.


    "[Any night is fine]," Khan decided to admit. "[I just have to send a message they can understand]."


    "[Did you do it tonight]?" Naoo pressed on.


    "[No]," Khan promptly replied. "[I wouldn''t have put your army at risk like that]."


    "[Are you implying that we can be defeated]?" Naoo wondered, showing her angrier side.


    "[My goals are mine alone]," Khan firmly dered. "[I won''t pay their price with Thilku lives]."


    Naoo growled. That threatening gesture would have worked on ordinary humans, but Khan saw her mana, and his stern expression wouldn''t have faltered anyway.


    "[You can study the trench for another week]," Naoo uttered, mming her hands on the short table before standing up. "[After that, you have to fulfil your promise]."


    Khan and Naoo exchanged a long stare, but he eventually nodded. One week wasn''t long, but Khan only cared about open cooperation with the Thilku.


    Naoo departed in a hurry after Khan''s nod, leaving the table in an awkward atmosphere. Even Khan didn''t know how to resume the previous happy conversations after that revtion. Part of him wanted to return to his room to avoid prolonging that difort.


    "[So]," Xai eximed, shattering the awkward silence, "[You can talk to those beasts]."


    Khan looked at Xai before running his gaze across the aliens on the table. Ideally, he would keep those secrets for himself, but that would only create distrust.


    "[Not really talk]," Khan exined, grabbing his cup. He almost cursed when he noticed theck of booze, but Apa promptly moved a jug toward him.


    Khan nodded at Apa and looked at the team again beforeing clean with the best words he could find. "[It''s partially shaman arts, and partially this]."


    The bare chest allowed everyone to see Khan pointing at his azure scar, making additional exnations pointless. No one at the table was an expert in Nak, but they were famous enough to justify that ability.


    "[Will it be dangerous]?" Xai continued.


    "[Yes]," Khan revealed, refilling his cup.


    "[The weak will die]," Apa sighed, lifting her cup, "[And the strong will thrive]."


    The Thilku at the table also lifted their cups, echoing Apa''s words. They were making a toast, which Khan joined after noticing they were waiting for him.


    The feast grew silent afterward, and Khan pretended to focus on Naoo''s device while scouring his thoughts. He knew something was changing inside him. Francis'' incident probably marked the beginning of that transformation, and his training in the Niqols'' arts enhanced those effects.


    ''If only I could train a bit longer,'' Khan thought, recalling what had happened on the battlefield. For a few seconds, he had abandoned his status as an empty weapon of the symphony to be something far heavier, but the Thilku weren''t willing to wait for him to unlock that new power.

 Chapter 607 Introspection

    The cheerful mood never returned, and Khan was fine with that. Things had changed too quickly during the feast, making him yearn for some time alone with his thoughts. That moment eventually arrived, andforting reactions preceded it.


    Even after the shocking revtions, the Thilku didn''t go back to their previous distrust. They couldn''t talk as happily as before, but Khan didn''t feel ostracized anymore. Xai also opened his locker when they returned to the corridor, showing a different general attitude toward him.


    Khan felt mentally drained once he returned to the privacy of his room. He threw himself on the big bed, carrying Naoo''s device. He knew he had to study, but his pensive mood had yet to wane.


    Khan let go of the device and turned belly up before lifting his right arm. It hurt to close and open his hand. It wasn''t too bad, but he remained far from his top condition.


    ''It might heal in a week,'' Khan thought. ''Hopefully, it will heal.''


    The n was now in motion, and Naoo even gave it a time limit. That was the best possible oue since Khan could coordinate with the Thilku, but worries remained. He had merely gotten a taste of what Cegnore had to offer, and those threats had also been limited to animals.


    ''The mutated Thilku muste next,'' Khan considered, ''And they are part of the reasons the war is still happening.''


    Danger lurked everywhere. Each of Khan''s steps was bound to cause a mess, and standing still wasn''t an option. Failure wasn''t either, leaving only one path open.


    ''It''s always about strength, isn''t it?'' Khan cursed, straightening his back to sit on the bed. A rune shone on the wall to his right, and he reached for it to tinker with its lines.


    Khan recognized the rune, but too much had happened that night. His pensive mood was still there, so he only half-focused on the symbol, failing to use it multiple times.


    "Come on," Khanined, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to calm down. When he reopened them, he reapproached the rune, which activated at his touch.


    The rune shrunk while red colors spread through the wall, creating a small mirror. Khan saw his reflection, noticing the dirt and blood lingering on his face. He had gotten so used to his hair that it didn''t even stand out anymore, and his focus fell on his eyes to search for answers only he could know.


    Khan''s thoughts went on to thest battle. He couldn''t forget how the air had be an extension of his mind. That was no small matter. He had worked hard to achieve simr results, which were happening instinctively now.


    ''Is that the next step?'' Khan wondered. ''Is it just another weapon?''


    Khan''s battle style was a mere application of the Niqols'' main arts to messy environments. It wasn''t even a proper technique. He simply relied on his senses to move where the symphony highlighted favorable windows.


    That battle style had many benefits. For starters, Khan was always one step ahead of his enemies. Getting surrounded or falling into traps was also impossible. He became the embodiment of efficiency in that state.


    However, Khan was also empty when he fought like that. He eliminated his thoughts and inclinations, turning himself into a mere weapon ruled by his surroundings.


    Many would praise that battle style, even going as far as calling it harmonious, and Khan would agree. He probably looked very shaman-like while fighting. Yet, he also recognized that something was missing.


    ''Itcks personality,'' Khan thought, keeping his eyes on his reflection.


    Flowing was in line with his senses and the mana''s nature, but Khan also had to consider his element. His current battle style didn''t express it at all, and the Niqols'' arts seemed able to fix that.


    Moreover, that battle style had formed on Ecoruta, one of the lowest points in Khan''s life. He only wanted to lose himself back then, and relying on those feelings wasn''t healthy, especially after changing so deeply.


    ''But,'' Khan wondered, interrupting his considerations, ''Expressing what?''


    Khan hoped to find the answer to that question in his reflection but ended up seeing all kinds of things. He was no simple character. Actually, his personality had so many conflicting aspects it was surprising he didn''t develop a dissociative disorder.


    Years had passed since Nitis. Khan didn''t only move on. He also umted experience that put him far above ordinary soldiers.


    That experience wasn''t limited to battles. Khan''s political figure had evolved in ways descendants found hard to believe. His education put him among the elites, and his rtionship pushed his fame even higher.<novelsnext></novelsnext>n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''I know what I need to be,'' Khan sighed, ''But what do I want to be?''


    Jenna''s teachings crossed Khan''s mind as his eyes remained lost in his reflection. He could still see that ignorant and slightly na?ve kid from the Slums, but other aspects were slowly eating him away, turning him into someone he struggled to recognize.


    ''What do I want?'' Khan wondered.


    Except for the Nak, Khan had a decent idea of his goals. He wanted to be with Monica and was ready to climb the politicaldder for her. Yet, that journey coulde in different ways and shape him into someone he might hate.


    ''Kindest and most domineering,'' Khan thought about Monica''s words.


    As much as Khan cared about love, he knew he couldn''t shape his life around that. He would probably try, but Monica wouldn''t let him. He had to be himself and happy first, which brought his attention back to his reflection.


    Khan saw the Tainted kid, still attached to the fa?ade and lying skills he had developed in hostile environments. He spotted his desperation, a feeling powerful enough to rule every aspect of his life.


    Khan saw the lover, the human who had learned forms of affection stretching past his species'' limits. The bottomlessness of that feeling still raged inside him, giving birth to aspects that would scare most people away.


    Khan saw his dark sides and the lengths he was willing to go to for his love. He couldmit awful crimes for it and not lose any sleep over them. He had actually done his fair share of them already.


    Khan saw the monster, the alien immersed in a river of corpses and blood. He had perfected the art of killing and turned it into his greatest asset. He was what every rumor described him to be and more, and his limits weren''t even in sight.


    In the end, Khan saw the Nak, the creature of his nightmares, the clicking cry that ran through his mind and mana. He felt his element''s unreasonable and upromising urges and his desire to set them free.


    Khan had a pessimistic view of himself but didn''t ignore his good side. Most of his intentions were good. He cared more than any of his peers. He loved harder and was more loyal, even if not to the Global Army or his species.


    ''That''s the problem, isn''t it?'' Khan thought. ''The more I care, the farther I''m willing to go.''


    Khan didn''t me himself for that mindset. He stopped torturing himself after Jenna convinced him to pursue his happiness. He was also on the right path, and his power had to evolve ordingly.


    Expressing all of that was simply impossible. Khan acknowledged the issue but still wanted to solve it. His drive began to leak out of his figure, affecting the synthetic mana in his surroundings. That energy almost screamed at the arrival of his influence, but nothing happened yet.


    ''It''s too dangerous,'' Khanmented, even if his influence continued to spread. ''It''s not something that can be controlled. It''s not something that should be controlled.''


    The symphony transformed, gaining the iconic properties of the chaos element as it shattered and reformed. The air seemed to shake as the synthetic mana bent under Khan''s will, and its density increased when he added tinges of his energy.


    ''Why would I even try to control it?'' Khan wondered, adding more mana to the room. ''I should let loose. I deserve to be myself fully.''


    The symphony thickened, growing brighter in Khan''s vision, but he kept staring at his reflection. He couldn''t help but like feeling his self-restraint gradually backing away. That was what his deepest instincts wanted, and his mana reflected that.


    The air shook, and a faint clicking growl reached Khan''s ears. Ordinary humans wouldn''t see or hear anything, but a heavy tension existed in the room. Power was building up for unclear purposes.


    ''Why does this feel so good?'' Khan cursed, a smirk broadening on his reflection. ''Why should I even bother hiding this?''


    Khan''s reasonable side knew the answer to those questions, but his mind was somewhere else. The mirror began to embody all the limits he had ced on himself, and blinking started a chain reaction.


    The mana suddenly screamed, and cracking noises followed. The metal wall broke, creating a spiderweb of fissures with Khan''s reflection as its center. The damage spread for a few meters, almost reaching the floor and ceiling.

 Chapter 608 Deployment

    Hiding the damaged wall was easy since Khan often was the first to leave his room. A few Thilku spotted the cracks but paid them no heed due to the unique role Khan had to y in that environment.


    However, a worrying pattern started after the first night. Khan appeared distracted during social gatherings, meetings, and feasts. He seemed conflicted about something but also unapproachable.


    Naoo or the other Thilku would have normally mentioned something, but Khan''s performance on the battlefield never disappointed. He was the sharpest, fastest, and deadliest soldier on the field, granting him freedoms other aliens couldn''t im.


    The battlefield itself didn''t present anything new in those days. The great mobilization witnessed during the first night was the worst the Thilku trenches usually experienced, and Khan had to face it a few more times.


    Instead, the other nights featured a mixture of various tides interrupted by long, peaceful breaks. The Thilku had it far harsher than the humans, but nothing Khan didn''t see before. He quickly got used to that routine, only for the impending deadline to arrive.


    On the eve of the weekend, a voice resounded inside Khan''s room, bringing him out of his meditative state. A soft gale ran through the area when he opened his eyes and looked toward the speakers. Naoo was summoning him, marking the arrival of the fated day.


    It was still early afternoon, leaving many hours before the night due to Cegnore''s long days. Khan had already slept, eaten, and trained, and jumping out of bed brought his attention to his right arm.


    Khan closed and opened his hand multiple times to check its flexibility. It still slightly itched when he moved his fingers too quickly, but the worst had passed in the previous week. He had basically healed, and looking at the cracking wall filled him with an unstoppable urge.


    A thudding noise resounded in the room as Khan''s knuckles mmed on the metal. The wall held strong even with the cracks that ran through it. The structure was resilient, and the same went for his arm. It was almost back to its full power, and that was enough.


    Khan left the room while ripping off the bandages that had bound his arm in thest period. The two red scars were still there, but he quickly hid them with his sleeve before lifting his gaze. Naoo was already in the corridor, and her mana shook when their eyes met.


    As much as Naoo tried to hide it, she had also noticed Khan''s distracted mood. She had actually been one of the first to worry about it due to her position as team leader, but Khan''s performance had reassured her every night.


    Moreover, Naoo saw something else on top of that distracted mood. Khan''s mind was often elsewhere, but pressure descended around him whenever he focused. It had happened now, too, triggering an instinctive fear that angered her.


    "[You arete]," Naoo snorted, suppressing her temporary anger and turning toward the corridor''s exit. Khan silently followed her, and the two dived deeper into the building, into areas he had never visited.


    The corridor opened into a circr hall that resembled a control room. Consoles and big screens filled every corner of it, and Thilku stood before them. Khan and Naoo''s arrival attracted their attention, but neither bothered to address it.


    Naoo turned to her right, approaching a door that opened at her touch. A small rectangr room unfolded, featuring a long interactive desk and a few familiar figures. Khan recognized all of them, but one surprised him.


    The Thilku at the table were some of the army''s team leaders. Khan had seen them on the battlefield and had also confirmed their strength. Yet, the figure standing on the other side of the room imed the entirety of his attention. After all, he was a fourth-level warrior.


    "We meet again," The Thilku on the other side of the room announced in a perfect human ent. "Do you remember me, Captain Khan?"N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan didn''t interact much with the Thilku but didn''t forget him either. The alien was the team leader of the Thilku delegation that visited the Harbor. He had also been present during the [Hunt], seemingly working as Lord Exr''s advisor. His position couldn''t be low.


    "[Of course]," Khan replied in the Thilkunguage, performing a traditional bow. "[I''m ashamed that I didn''t catch your name]."


    "[Onp]," The Thilku replied, switching to his hoarse ent. "[Your Thilku improved greatly. I''m d]."


    "[Thank you]," Khan eximed, straightening his back.


    Once the pleasantries ended, the atmosphere changed. Onp abandoned his politeness and tapped the desk, bringing out holograms that depicted the Thilku trenches. Dots also appeared to mark the usual arrangements of each team, which wasn''t anything new for Khan.


    Naoo stepped forward, and Khan followed her until they reached the desk. The red holograms shone on everyone''s face, and their purpose was clear. Khan had to call the monsters that night, which required new arrangements.


    "[We let you study the battlefield for a week]," Onp announced, fixing his scarlet eyes on Khan. "[We expect results now]."


    "[I will call the beasts tonight]," Khan confirmed, keeping his gaze on the holograms, "[But I advise a greater mobilization]."


    "[Lord Exr didn''t give you any authority]," Onp stated as snorts resounded around the table. "[The Empire is in charge here]."


    Khan expected a simr answer but couldn''t be bothered to go through that mandatory forey. He almost couldn''t believe he had to argue to save lives, especially since the Thilku had already agreed to cooperate.


    "[The beasts went from two to almost one hundred in the human trench]," Khan dered. "[That''s the power of my voice]."


    Khan didn''t add requests or pleas. He didn''t ask for anything. He simply stated what had happened in the human territory.


    The exnation made most team leaders falter. Even if Khan couldn''t replicate the same significant effects in the Thilku trenches, precautions were necessary. They risked losing the entire building otherwise.


    Naoo and Onp didn''t let the exnation worry them but focused on something else. Khan had sounded empty, almost lifeless. He didn''t seem to care about the meeting or threat, but his figure continued to radiate pressure. The two Thilku simply couldn''t understand why.


    It didn''t help that both Thilku had seen Khan in action. They knew how driven he was, so hisck of vitality conflicted with his usual mood. He didn''t look trustworthy in the slightest, but it was toote to cancel the n.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "[Lord Exr trusts you]," Onp eventually announced, "[And you have proven yourself to our species multiple times already. I will believe your voice]."


    Onp tapped the desk again, dispersing the holograms. Khan couldn''t help but lift his gaze but found pure sternness in Onp''s face. He expected a n, but the alien didn''t disclose anything.


    "[Leave, Captain Khan]," Onp ordered. "[Naoo will update you once we are done]."


    ''I see,'' Khan thought, lowering his head in respect before heading for the exit. He was about to leave when Naoo added another order.


    "[Wait outside]," Naoo said. Khan stopped for a second at that order but eventually left.


    Standing in a control room wasn''t ideal, but Khan had received precise orders, so he ignored the res flying in his direction while waiting next to the room''s door. He even closed his eyes to meditate, but his thoughts didn''t calm down. His internal conflict was still there.


    Half an hour had to pass before the door opened. The various team leaders left the room, and Onp followed suit. Thetter nced at Khan, seemingly wanting to say something, but eventually departed to handle his tasks.


    In a different situation, Khan would have used that chance to deepen his rtionship with the Thilku. Onp seemed important, and the two had some history. The alien was the perfect target for Khan''s political goals, but his mood opposed those thoughts.


    Naoo was thest to leave the room, and Khan opened his eyes at her arrival. She also stormed out of the circr area, forcing Khan to hurry behind her. That fast-paced march ended when the two returned to their team''s quarters, where she stopped to re at him.


    "[Get ready]," Naoo ordered. "[We are going out]."


    "[The night won''t be here for many hours]," Khan pointed out.


    "[That might contain the number of beasts]," Naoo exined. "[Hurry, we must be the first to leave]."


    Naoo didn''t wait for Khan''s reply and mmed a hand on one of the runes in the corridor. A hoarse cry followed, and multiple doors quickly opened. The entire team left their quarters, wearing confused expressions that Naoo didn''t hesitate to disperse.


    "[The fight is upon us]!" Naoo shouted. "[I want everyone ready in three]!"


    The confusion red, but no one dared to question Naoo. Even Khan abandoned his doubts to prepare. He was already fully dressed with his knife at his side, so a short trip to the bathroom got him ready.


    Naoo led the team outside after three minutes, and chaos fell into everyone''s vision. Every door in the corridor was open, and Thilku came out of them. That pattern stretched into the following hall, where more troops were gathering. Almost two hundred of them had appeared, and more were arriving.


    The Thilku moved aside when they noticed Naoo. Her group could approach the gate directly, and the outside world soon shone on their faces.


    The dim light of Cegnore''s afternoon didn''t make Naoo stop. She hurried to the other side of the trench and marched ahead, leading her team toward the familiar frontlines. Still, she stopped a hundred meters before them at that time, and orders followed.


    "[Form a line]!" Naoo shouted. "[Stick close. We need to leave space for the others]."


    "[Naoo, what is happening]?" Xai couldn''t help but ask whileplying with those orders.


    "[Save your breath]," Naoo snorted. "[You''ll need it]."


    "[How many]?" Khan asked, knowing what that new arrangement implied.


    "[Ah]!" Naoo cursed. "[I thought the soldiers'' job was to fight, not ask questions]."


    Everyone knew Naoo''s character. Even Khan had gotten used to it and had learned how to counter it. Once the team was ready, Naoo found a series of eyes on her figure. All her teammates were looking at her, waiting for exnations.


    "[Bunch of ckers]," Naooined, fixing her gaze ahead. "[Everyone ising today]."


    "[Everyone]?" Apa whispered, and answers arrived before anyone could echo her doubts.


    Mechanical noises filled the area as figures appeared in the distance,ing from territories under the Empire''s domain. Multiple vehicles were riding toward Naoo''s team, and that wasn''t the end of it.


    Multiple teams left the building behind the trench and advanced toward the front. Khan initially counted a few hundred of them, but their number continued to increase. That growth skyrocketed once the vehicles stopped and released more troops, eventually touching the one-thousand mark.


    More vehicles and teams appeared after the event, and they all gathered around Naoo''s group. The Thilku were deploying a massive army and condensing it on the frontlines as if they knew the attack would arrive there.


    Khan couldn''t remain distracted when so many troops upied his surroundings. He lost count after they crossed the two-thousand mark but knew their number continued to increase. The Thilku had deployed the entirety of their force there, and everyone soon focused on Khan.

 Chapter 609 Numbers

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    Khan had given up on estimating how many Thilku Cegnore had, but the Empire was solving his doubts now. Admittedly, he didn''t know if that was the entirety of the alien force, but something told him that it had toe quite close to that.


    Thousands of tall, burly figures stood on a rtively small patch of ground, threatening its stability with their weight. A sea of scarlet capes had covered the brown surface, creating a force that could challenge entire cities.


    To Khan''s surprise, the majority of those soldiers were third-level warriors. Some of the Empire''s best troops had upied the battlefield and were ready to give their everything. Onp wasn''t there for reasons the Thilku had yet to exinpletely, but that didn''t make the army any less imposing.


    That massive deployment also shocked many Thilku, but Khan''s thoughts couldn''t linger on that emotion. Countless figures pointed their feet on the ground and lifted their heads to catch sight of him. Everyone was there because of Khan, so they wanted to study him at least.


    The humans'' shorter size helped in that situation. Khan wasn''t only at the utmost front. Hispanions also partially hid his figure, making it impossible for the over three thousand troops to spot him. Still, everyone knew he was there, and Naoo soon gave the inevitable order.


    "[Do your thing]," Naoo ordered, using a far calmer and softer tone than her usual harsh and annoyed voice. That deployment had gotten to her head, too, but she didn''t forget her role.


    Naoo''s order filled Khan''s surroundings with curiosity. Every Thilku who heard her words peeked at him to steal a nce at the famous shaman arts. The weight of expectations fell on Khan, which he found almost ironic considering what his technique actually involved.


    ''It would be funny if nothing happened,'' Khan mocked himself before bringing his right palm to his mouth.


    Theoretically, Khan could make the technique more scenic to reassure the alien troops, but his mood didn''t allow pretenses that day. A barely noticeable tinge of mana umted on his palm, and he blew on it while mimicking past thoughts.


    ''Come and get me,'' Khan thought, watching his mana disperse into the natural energy and creating gales that stretched in the distance.


    Khan followed the effects of his request with his eyes, and the Thilku in his surroundings tried to imitate him. Still, they couldn''t sense the symphony, so confusion and snorts unfolded when they saw nothing more than empty air.


    Many alien eyes darted between Khan and the areas ahead, wondering whether anything had happened at all. A few saw that event as a proper scam, and murmurs spread. Restlessness built up to the point that Naoo herself became worried.


    "[Is that it]?" Naoo questioned, half-worried and half-angry.


    "[That''s it]," Khan confirmed, sighing as he sat on the ground. "[We can only wait for them to answer now]."


    Khan disyed the same distracted and uncaring behavior as the previous days, which the unfamiliar Thilku disliked. Sitting in the middle of the battlefield while everyone else was standing appeared beyond insulting, and Khan doubled down on that by closing his eyes and meditating.


    Of course, Khan didn''t iste himself from the outside world. He sensed the growing tension. He heard the distrustful and mockingments flying in his direction or among the army. Khan felt no right to me the Thilku but also avoided addressing the matter.


    The tension and general distrust intensified as the minutes passed. Wild theories began to fly among the army too. Some considered the possibility that Khan was using his shaman arts as an excuse to make the Empire show its hand, and that wasn''t the end of it.


    Khan had openly revealed his connection with the monsters. That had happened in the privacy of a feast, but the Thilku talked and spread gossip almost faster than humans. The entire army knew about that, giving birth to crazier theories.


    ording to a few loud soldiers, Khan belonged to the other side. That massive deployment was a trap staged to remove the Thilku from Cegnore. The im was obviously insane, but the atmosphere was fertile ground for unfounded fears.


    Things only worsened as the minutes turned into hours. A less experienced army would have already snapped, and the Thilku were getting there due to the growing tension. Khan was actually lucky to be among serious and collected soldiers, but even they were losing their cool.


    It didn''t help that the night was slowly approaching. Many hours still separated the army from the sunset, but each passing hour brought it closer. That wasn''t the only position the Thilku had to defend, so they worried their deployment could hurt the other trench.


    An ordinary soldier with Khan''s senses would have gone crazy under that not-so-silent pressure. The weight of expectations would have crushed many experienced warriors or leaders. That was the kind of blunder that could destroy careers, but Khan didn''t make mistakes, and the world eventually proved him right.


    It was unclear how many hours had passed since the call, but Khan suddenly opened his eyes and jumped to his feet. His abrupt awakening silenced most murmurs and generated new ones, but his senses cut out that noise to focus on the horizon ahead.


    The corpses and holes ahead tried to hide the horizon, but Cegnore''s star still shone, granting an almost clear view. Most Thilku followed Khan''s gaze but found nothing at all. No matter how far they looked, the in was empty.


    Thatck of events made most of the army disregard Khan''s sudden reaction, rekindling the many murmurs and adding louder voices. Even hispanions didn''t know what to say to that emptiness, but Khan saw a different scenery.


    "[We should get ready]," Khan whispered, keeping his eyes on the horizon, "[Before they do]."


    Naoo was about to question Khan''s im but trusted him onest time. She looked at the horizon and crossed her arms, challenging the world to do something. Cegnore initially didn''t care about her stance, but something eventually appeared.


    It all began with a faint, distant cloud. The phenomenon was so vague and far away that many failed to notice it. Still, it grew closer, eventually bing impossible to miss.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The distant cloud grew bigger and showed more of its colors. It was yellowish-brown and as tall as a six-story building, but its size was worrying. It expanded left and right until it covered most of the visible horizon.


    The event resembled a proper sandstorm, but Cegnore didn''t have that type of weather. Moreover, the immense cloud was too slow to be powered by violent winds. Something on the surface was causing it, and its size seemed to match the Thilku army.


    The murmurs vanished. The Thilku army went silent, and sternness reced the previous distrust. A battle was arriving, and the following earthquake told the aliens how tough it would be.


    Tremors took control of the ground. The holes past the frontlines expanded, absorbing the corpses lingering on them. The very surface gave in, unable to endure the arrival of the new army, which shattered and reformed into a lower, uneven, and stabler in.


    Naoo didn''t follow Khan''s suggestion, so he fell silent and drew his knife. He couldn''t give orders to the Thilku, so he gave up on the matter altogether. He had tried to save lives, but that time had passed. Now, he had to take them.


    The cloud grew closer and closer, eventually sending smoke and dust toward the Thilku army. The event tried to hinder the aliens'' vision, but no one dared to cover their eyes. They couldn''t in front of that massive and unforeseen development.


    The arrival of the dust tried to make a few soldiers lose their cool, but the earthquake stopped, hinting at a simr behavior from the opposing army. The cloud started to disperse, and the sternness intensified once everything became visible.


    The enemy army had stopped a few hundred meters from the Thilku, just behind the vast gorge opened by the earthquake. Low growls had also begun to resound in the area, but the aliens couldn''t hear them. They were too shocked about their opponents'' numbers to care about those details.


    A blue sea had appeared in the brown environment. Thousands of Tainted animals between the first and third levels upied the front, creating a river of fur, saliva, and hunger. Those creatures were arranged into different teams, turning the first two lines into an imprable wall.


    Except for its sheer size, that sight wasn''t anything new for the Thilku. They already fought a few hundred monsters every night, at times simultaneously. There were simply almost four thousand now.


    Those numbers weren''t a big deal since the Thilku had deployed enough troops to match them. Yet, the specimens past the two lines of monsters created a worrying sight. Twenty humanoid wolves stood behind the various packs, and their paws had already stabbed the ground.


    The Thilku knew what that position meant, and Naoo connected the dots. She suddenly realized that Khan wanted the army to charge ahead to prevent the humanoid wolves from getting into a firing position. Still, it was toote now.


    All things considered, the situation wasn''t too bad. A bloody battle was waiting for both armies, but the Thilku were no strangers to them. The fight would merely be bigger.


    Nevertheless, the monsters'' army hid something else behind its lines of monsters and humanoid wolves. A four-meter-tall figure towered above those creatures, and the presence of dark-red shades revealed its species. An oddly huge Thilku wasmanding the enemy army, putting fire in every alien''s heart.


    Khan was no exception. Spotting the Thilku dispersed his apparent distraction and overloaded his senses. He had finally found something that went beyond humanoid wolves, and the seemingly stable mutations in the alien filled him with hope.


    The two armies didn''t utter any sound. The silence that usually preceded a battle fell on the area, but that break was short-lived. The mutated Thilku suddenly lifted its right arm, shouting a cry that triggered thousands of howls.


    The joint cries from the enemy army almost created a sound attack that reached the Thilku, but more worrying events followed. The humanoid wolves umted mana, and bullets soon shot out of their mouths.


    Khan didn''t dare to move without official orders, but they didn''t take long to arrive. As soon as the huge purple-red bullets appeared in the sky, Naoo and the other team leadersunched hoarse cries, making the entire army charge ahead.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The bullets descended quickly,nding among the army and killing multiple Thilku on the spot. The humanoid wolves even fired again, sending more attacks into the sky.


    The Thilku army had to the gorge to cross, but the monsters didn''t leave it be. The Tainted animals also advanced, forcing the aliens to stop in that massive hole and exposing them to the falling bullets. Countless casualties happened on both sides, but one figure remained outside that chaos.


    Khan didn''t even consider entering the gorge. He also ignored any idea that involved the humanoid wolves. His target was clear, and he was the only soldier who could aim for it right away.


    Khan flew at full speed through the sky, crossing the gorge and the hordes of monsters jumping into it. He was so fast that the humanoid wolves didn''t even try to target him, and more mana flowed toward his legs when he dived in a straight line toward the mutated Thilku.


    The descent was so fast that Khan''s skin hurt under the friction force with the air. He was going beyond his limits from his first attack, and his knife glowed while pointing at the mutated Thilku''s right shoulder. He wanted to sever that limb in one move, but his hopes immediately shattered.


    Khan struggled to believe his eyes. Even his senses failed to keep up with that. His assault had been wless but had failed nheless.


    The mutated Thilku had taken Khan by surprise by jumping past him, dodging his attack, and grabbing his left ankle. He had fallen prey to the alien in a single move.


    Khan looked at the mutated Thilku, and thetter imitated him. Still, disappointment filled the alien''s expression, and surprising words came out of its mouth. "[A weak host]."


    Khan realized that the alien had spoken the Thilkunguage before his senses fell into chaos. The alien flung him downward, mming him on the ground and making his insides scream in pain.

 Chapter 610 Cry

    ?An error urred while reading the file: Could not find file ''/data/script/email_list.txt''.


    Squirming and cracking noises invaded Khan''s mind as dirt covered his face, entering his mouth, nostrils, and eyes. A metallic taste joined it, and Khan almost missed it due to the mayhem created by his senses.


    Buzzing noises soon reced everything. The impact with the ground had sent Khan''s senses in disarray, but he recovered quickly. He found himself in a hole of his own creation, a few meters under the surface, and his surroundings eventually became clear.


    To Khan''s surprise, the mutated Thilku didn''t move after the attack. The alien hadnded only to point its gaze at him. It was waiting for Khan for no apparent reason.


    That scene enraged Khan, overloading his mind with surprisingly swift thoughts. He forcefully mmed his feet on the ground, flinging himself upward and lifting a lot of dust. He instantly appeared above the surface while his brain summarized the recent events.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''How did it take me by surprise?'' Khan wondered. ''Why didn''t it continue attacking me? Why did it say that?''


    Those questions had resounded in Khan''s mind while leaving the hole, and answers had arrived by the time he stopped above the surface. His senses had recovered by then, and looking at the Thilku added details that expanded those exnations.


    The mutated alien was almost twice as big as the average Thilku. It was taller and had broader muscles that its shirtless state left exposed. It was a third-level warrior, but its grip had conveyed power that seemed to belong to a superior realm.


    The reason behind that power was obvious. Khan didn''t even need to question it. The Thilku had blue strandsing out of its nape, and its eyes shared that color. Scarce patches of azure hair also grew from its shoulders. That specimen had gone through the same transformation as Khan.


    Everything else became clearer after confirming that detail. The Thilku had gone through a qualitative change, justifying its quick reactions, movements, and strength.


    Khan believed himself to be faster, but the Thilku probably surpassed him during closebat. It had been the same with Amox, except for the fact that the mutated specimen didn''t need techniques or spells to achieve those results.


    Confirming those details left a single doubt in Khan''s mind. He couldn''t understand the mutated Thilku''s intentions, but its words continued to echo through his thoughts, suppressing the paining from his body.


    "[I''m no host]," Khan said, almost growling due to his annoyance.


    The mutated Thilku smiled, showing its sharp canines, before releasing a calm, hoarseugh. "[We all are]."


    Khan''s mana screamed in anger. A clicking growl invaded his mind, threatening to make him lose control of his body. He wanted to throw everything he had at the mutated Thilku, but his reasonable sides triumphed.


    The huge battle was still raging past Khan and the mutated Thilku. Screams and howls filled the area as the two massive armies shed with each other inside the vast gorge. The humanoid wolves also kept firing deadly bullets that often hit their enemies.


    Nevertheless, Khan and the mutated Thilku ignored all that to focus on each other. They appeared unaffected by the chaos unfolding mere meters from them. Their eyes never faltered, and their intentions were clear.


    Khan sprinted forward, flying through the air to approach the Thilku frontally. His knife glowed as he disregarded ideas of self-restraint. He wanted to capture the alien alive, but holding back wasn''t an option against such a strong opponent.


    The Thilku remained still until Khan got too close. Its right arm snapped upward at that point, and its hand opened with perfect timing. A huge palm suddenly filled Khan''s vision, and his head risked falling right into it, but he had predicted a simr oue.


    Khan was using his top speed, but the situation pushed his power toward new heights. Answers about the Nak felt extremely close, and the Thilku had also insulted him. His body and mind wanted him to be stronger, facilitating an abrupt turn that made him slip past the huge palm.


    The Thilku''s odd size worked against it. Khan was far smaller inparison, so crossing the open palm put him before a considerable amount of flesh. The Thilku''s torso was so huge that Khan only needed to swing his knife to inflict a long injury.


    However, as soon as Khan began to lift his knife, he felt the stretched arm descending toward him. That huge limb resembled a falling mountain in his senses due to the power it carried, forcing him to change direction.


    Khan slipped past the descending arm, ending up a few meters above the mutated Thilku. His offensive never stopped, and his palms had already touched to create a glowing spear, which he didn''t hesitate to throw at his opponent.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The Thilku could react to Khan''s speed, so the spear couldn''t surprise it. Yet, Khan had tinkered with the spell''s stability, detonating it mid-air to catch the alien in its explosion.


    A pir expanded in every direction, filling the area with its raging mana. Still, a massive force suddenly appeared in the symphony, forcing Khan to perform an evasive maneuver.


    A deafening clicking cry invaded the area as Khan moved away, and the scene that fell into his vision shocked him. The Thilku was screaming at the scorching pir, spitting a conical version of the Wave spell that pushed that dangerous mana away.


    Khan instinctively reached for his nape. The Thilku was using the same cry that resounded in his mind, and his core reacted to it. Khan knew that he shared more than hair and eyes with the Thilku. He was seeing a different version of himself fighting against his spell.


    Acknowledging those simrities angered Khan even more. He had epted his connection with the Nak, and that part of his power came from them. Still, he didn''t have to like that, especially when the Thilku had dared to call him weak.


    Khan did his best not to lose his cool. He knew too much about battles to allow himself to go wild. He couldn''t risk being reckless against such a strong opponent, and the symphony guided his following actions.


    While the Thilku was busy roaring at the pir, Khan lifted his right hand, and a thread of mana appeared between his forefinger and thumb. He quickly pulled it, and a bullet shot forward when he released it.


    The bulletnded on the Thilku''s right shoulder, digging a hole that exposed its fuming flesh. The injury wasn''t too deep, and the alien didn''t falter either, but its voice grew louder, dispersing what remained of the pir.


    Khan flew around the Thilku, umting mana in the thread before releasing another bullet. He aimed that second attack at the alien''s right knee, but a huge palm got in the way.


    The symphony told Khan about the state of the alien''s palm. Mana had flowed into it, protecting it from eventual damage. The Thilku had used something weaker but simr to the [Blood Shield], which was enough to protect it when paired with its strong flesh.


    That impressive defense didn''t demoralize Khan. He didn''t even stop after seeing the Thilku reacting and stopping his attack. He continued to fly around it, sending bullets whenever his spell was ready.


    Khan was faster than the Thilku, but thetter used both hands to intercept every bullet flying in its direction. That offensive appeared ineffective, but Khan pressed on, going faster and faster with each new attack.


    That increase in speed was shocking. It didn''t make sense for Khan to improve without training, but an exnation existed. Khan''s body wasn''t getting any stronger. The natural mana was to me for his superior performance since the symphony began to help his every move.


    Khan wasn''t doing that on purpose. He had never stopped sending requests to rely on Maban''s technique, but that was his usual fighting style. However, his influence slowly affected the symphony, giving him more power.


    Khan was aware of those changes, but his entire focus was on his opponent. He wasn''t sure why his mana was so hung up on that pastment, but his emotions weren''t exactly easy to control.


    The incessant assaultsted an entire minute, featuring more than seven bullets, before the Thilku finally decided to react. After blocking another attack, the alien pointed a finger at Khan and released a piercing beam.


    Khan had already flown past his previous position and fired another bullet. However, the Thilku''s hand was fast, and the beam shooting out of it pierced the iing attack before threatening to reach Khan.


    Another evasive maneuver unfolded. Khan dived toward the ground before elerating to his side. The beam followed him and shrunk the distance that separated it from his head. The attack would hit Khan at that pace, so he changed direction, flying directly at the Thilku.


    The mutated Thilku instantly pointed its finger at Khan''s head, bringing the beam there. The attack touched the center of his forehead, but dark blood vessels popped out, preventing it from reaching his skull.


    The [Blood Shield] threatened to shatter, but Khan was fast enough to reach the Thilku before that. He basically teleported before the alien''s head, and his knees violently mmed into it.


    Khan''s knees hurt since his body wasn''t ready to handle that momentum, but his actions never slowed down. The knife glowed in his hand, and he lowered it to sh at the already injured shoulder.


    A deep injury opened on the Thilku''s shoulder, but that body part was too big for Khan''s knife. He could only cut through half of it before a warning reached his senses. He pushed himself away, but a clicking cry filled his ears, and his surroundings turned purple-red.

 Chapter 611 Decision

    Destructive mana enveloped Khan, pushing him away. The Thilku hadunched the conical version of the Wave spell from its mouth, making it impossible for Khan to dodge.


    The [Blood Shield] showed its full power, covering Khan''s exposed flesh and stretching toward the patches of skin the spell tried to consume. His uniform shattered in many spots as he flew away, and his throat soon mimicked the Thilku''s cry.


    Khan shouted, releasing wild res of mana to deter the destructive energy around him. The defensive technique gave him enough room to deliver stronger kicks, sending him out of the spell''s range.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan retreated a bit more before flying higher. The Thilku retracted its mana and followed him with its eyes. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, but only Khan studied its injuries. The Thilku appeared disinterested in the matter.


    Burning sensations and pain tried to reach Khan''s mind, but nothing entered his brain. The previous spell had interrupted his offensive, so he slowly approached the surface during that temporary break.


    Khan''s clothes fell off during thending. The spell had turned his uniform into rags, which gave up on hanging from his body once he touched the surface. Even his pants abandoned him, leaving him in underwear.


    That almost-naked state revealed Khan''s injuries. His skin had shattered in many spots, creating gory spiderwebs on his body. Thin trails of blood also fell from those wounds, and the same went for the hole on his forehead.


    A drop of blood fell from the injury caused by the beam and flowed past Khan''s eyebrow to end in his right eye. He didn''t blink at that itching sensation since the Thilku was right before him, but the alien seemed to have no intention of exploiting the event.


    As for the Thilku, the skin on its face had broken due to Khan''s attack, but nothing serious. The hole and cut on its right shoulder were the only injuries worth mentioning, but Khan didn''t know if they would hinder its movements.


    The Thilku''s uncaring attitude vanished when it noticed Khan''s scar. Its eyes focused, filling its expression with intelligence. Khan noticed those changes. He could probably ask questions now, but his braincked words.


    "[The Nak granted you their power]," The Thilku suddenly announced, "[But you are wasting it]."


    The mutated Thilku tried to cross its arms before its chest, but its right arm didn''t move. The alien even looked at it, flexing its elbow to check its mobility. It wasn''tpletely useless, but the Thilku appeared unable to lift it.


    Khan noticed that detail, but his mind focused on something else. The Thilku didn''t only speak again. It had also added an insult that enraged him for multiple reasons.


    "[They didn''t give me anything]," Khan snorted, reaching for his scar with his free hand. "[My power is mine alone]."


    The Thilku didn''t mind those words, but its interest intensified. It didn''t look amused, but Khan could sense its increasingly piercing gaze. Something had triggered its curiosity.


    "[You have your mind]," The Thilku eximed, almost surprised about that finding.


    "[Why wouldn''t I]?" Khan asked.


    "[But you fail to realize your purpose]," The Thilku continued. "[You are a failure as a host]."


    "[Hey]!" Khan shouted. "[I asked you a question]!"


    The air around Khan trembled, and the Thilku noticed that reaction. Its eyes inspected Khan''s surroundings, studying the effects his presence had on the environment.


    "[The Nak made you strong]," The Thilkumented. "[A human would have already died]."


    Thement added fuel to Khan''s anger, but details continued to flow into his mind. The previous gesture from the Thilku had revealed that it retained some of its species'' habits, and itsst words confirmed that its knowledge was still there.


    However, the Thilku seemed unable to hold a conversation. Itsments were random, and Khan''s questions didn''t reach it. The alien differed from the humanoid wolves, but simrities became clear as Khan continued interacting with it.


    "[One way or another]," Khan growled, lifting his glowing knife, "[I''ll get my answers]."


    Khan was losing it, and his natural pressure increased because of that. The mana bent under his will as his anger intensified. He was expanding his influence as the Thilku drew more of himself out.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "[You are getting stronger]," The Thilku noticed. "[Good. Maybe you can do it]."


    Khan couldn''t remain still anymore. He sprinted ahead, using his full speed to teleport before the alien. He had attacked from above to exploit the gap created by the injured arm, but a huge palm wrapped itself on his forearm anyway.


    The Thilku didn''t only react to Khan''s sudden sprint. It had also half-turned and lifted its arm to block the descending knife. Khan was trapped, but his eyes shone with fury.


    "[Do what]!?" Khan shouted, trying to push his left arm down. The Thilku didn''t budge, but more awareness spread through its face. The question had gotten through.


    "[Find the Nak]," The Thilku stated, "[And inherit their legacy]."


    "[The what]?" Khan questioned, but an unstoppable force pulled him up before mming him onto the ground.


    The impact on the ground made Khan gasp for air, but the Thilku didn''t stop. It pulled him again, lifting him above its head to m him down on the other side.


    Khan wanted to react, but the Thilku was too strong. It quickly lifted him to repeat the attack. The alien was treating him as nothing more than a sack, and he felt powerless against that offensive.


    ''I made a mistake,'' Khan realized as his back mmed into the ground for the fourth time. ''I shouldn''t have gotten caught.''


    The pain caused by the offensive brought rity to Khan''s mind, suppressing his dangerous anger. He calmed down as the Thilku continued to m him left and right, but thoughts also entered his brain. He was losing his connection to the symphony now that his senses were a mess.


    "[Fight, host]," The Thilku calmly ordered, continuing its offensive, "[Or die as a failure]."


    The Thilku''s incredible physical strength threatened to turn Khan''s insides into gory pulp. Truth be told, the alien was right. An ordinary human would have already died after impacting the ground so violently multiple times. The transformation was keeping him alive, but that wouldn''tst forever.


    Khan was no stranger to life-and-death situations. He had faced so many of them that suffering heavy injuries had be the norm for him. However, he had always reacted to them, which wasn''t happening now.


    The internal conflict made Khan hesitate. He tried to suppress his wild side and rejoin the symphony, only for the following impact with the ground to rekindle his rage. He wanted to lose control, but something told him he couldn''t take that decision back.


    The Thilku didn''t care about the insides of Khan''s mind. It was striking with the intent to kill, but a burning sensation soon invaded its palm. The alien turned only to see the spherical version of the Wave spell expanding in its vision, engulfing its face and torso in its dangerous mana.


    The spell continued to expand, forcing the Thilku to retreat. It tightened its grip, but Khan wasn''t there anymore. Actually, looking at its left hand revealed something odd. The alien had lost its fingers, and smoke came from those burning injuries.


    Khan retracted his mana after the Thilku left his range. He had activated the spell mid-air, so he straightened his position to perform a gracefulnding.


    Blood was flowing from Khan''s mouth, but he didn''t wipe it. Dirt had covered the entirety of his body, but all of that fell when he opened his eyes. A tremor ran through the air, too, sending dangerous vibes into the environment.


    The pressure generated by Khan forced the Thilku to focus. Khan''s face didn''t convey any emotion. It was almost empty, but his eyes seemed able to speak. Something raged inside them, and the environment echoed those feelings.


    The Thilku smiled, showing its long canines. It evenughed loudly before sprinting ahead. Its heavy steps pierced the ground, adding tremors to the mess generated by the battlefield, but nothing reached Khan''s surroundings.


    The sprint happened in slow-motion in Khan''s eyes, allowing him to spot every detail. He could almost count the muscle fibers under the alien''s thick skin and the effects its run had on the symphony. That specimen was mighty, but Khan didn''t fear it. It was already dead in his mind.


    When the Thilku entered Khan''s range, he jumped to his right and swung his knife. The Thilku noticed Khan flying on its left, so it lifted its arm to fend him off. Yet, something pierced its flesh and bones, and the process didn''t stop at its forearm.


    The Thilku could only watch as its forearm split into two halves. The limb began to fall right before its eyes, but its vision suddenly grew blurry. It noticed a wound on its neck before its whole cranium opened.


    Khannded behind the Thilku but didn''t look at it. The alien''s huge body fell forward, releasing the contents of its head since a huge wound had split it in half. Meanwhile, Khan nced in the direction of the battlefield. His rage was still there, and he wanted to release it.

 Chapter 612 Power

    Various colors shone, shattered, and reformed in Khan''s vision. The symphony above the gorge was a mess of wild and intense battles. Tens of casualties happened every few seconds, but the armies'' fury never waned.


    The symphony enveloped Khan''s senses, invading his brain and updating him on the environment''s state. However, his mind wasn''t empty anymore. Intense urges filled it and stretched in his surroundings, affecting the natural mana with their whims.


    That state was the opposite of what Khan had grown used to deploy during battles. He could listen to every detail in the symphony, but raging desires also resounded among his thoughts, creating a new force in charge of his actions.


    The natural pressure radiated by Khan''s urges thickened the mana around him, making it easier to manipte. That energy slowly became an extension of himself, gaining power and bing more submissive.


    Khan didn''t even need to talk to send requests. He stretched his right arm to his side, and a gale blew behind him. The wind lifted a piece of cloth that had previously belonged to his pants, and his fingers closed when it reached his palm.


    The piece of cloth featured a half-broken pocket that Khan explored. He pulled out his phone from it before letting go of the rags. The screen lit up, confirming that the device still worked, and Khan stored it in his underwear before looking at the gorge again.


    A warm feeling expanded from Khan''s abdomen. He hurt in many ces, too, but his mind didn''t allow him to care about his injuries. He wanted to let loose, and nothing could make him change his mind. He was past the tipping point, and there was no turning back.


    The twenty humanoid wolves had changed position as the massive battle continued. Both armies had fused by then, making the monsters'' bullets less effective. Those creatures had joined the fray, leaving the path to the gorge open.


    Nevertheless, the humanoid wolves were brighter than their weaker underlings. Khan could see them clearly from his position, and his legs moved toward the closer ones.


    The battlefield gained more details as Khan flew above the gorge. Thilku and monsters were locked in bloody and messy battles that often left both parties deadly injured. Spells flew left and right, but the purple-red color reigned supreme due to all the creatures aligned with the chaos element.


    The stench of chaos invaded Khan''s nostrils. His presence could affect environments, but the gorge was different. The symphony had already be a perfect cradle for his element. Even if the natural mana didn''t know it, that was his home.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    A pair of humanoid wolves stood in the back of the battlefield, using the gorge''s elevated surfaces to get a better sight of both armies. Scorching beams also shot out of their eyes, sniping any Thilku they saw. At times, monsters died in the crossfire, but those creatures didn''t care.


    The humanoid wolves'' senses suddenly warned them about imminent danger. They retracted their beams and lifted their heads only for a figure to appear among them. A few meters separated those creatures, and Khan fit perfectly between them.


    Khan had been one step ahead of the humanoid wolves. Those monsters had yet to lower their heads when the first sh unfolded. Khan swung his glowing knife to his left, and the de didn''t meet any resistance while digging through the creature''s throat.


    One humanoid wolf instantly lost its head, but the attack gave itspanion a chance to react. The second monster lowered its head, and its eyes lit up as new beams shot out.


    Khan had gotten faster than before, but the humanoid wolves were no weak opponents. The beams risked hitting his back if his evasive maneuver was any slower. However, Khan didn''t even try to dodge.


    Mana flowed toward Khan, allowing him to spin on himself while swinging his knife. His glowing de hit the iing beams, cutting through them before escaping their edges.


    Normally, that would have been the end of it. Khan''s knife would have merely cut the beams'' initial part without destroying them altogether.


    However, something very different happened. Both beams continued to split from the opening created by the knife. An invisible force cut through them, advancing until it reached the wolf''s eyes.


    A horizontal injury opened on the wolf''s face, cutting its eyes and going deeper into its skull. The upper part of its head eventually split from the rest of its body, flying away to reveal its gory insides.


    Of course, the invisible force had a proper shape in Khan''s vision. He had seen the natural mana echoing his attack''s effects, applying it to the symphony between his weapon''s tip and the wolf.


    The natural mana alone couldn''t retain the Divine Reaper''s power, but Khan could fix that with his influence and energy. The symphony followed hismands, allowing him to stretch his attack''s effects.


    Khannded on the ground while both humanoid wolves fell dead around him. He didn''t deign them with a single nce while focusing on his knife. His new stance toward the symphony had made the Divine Reaper evolve, bringing it to the advanced mastery level.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    That wasn''t the only change. Khan''s emotions raged wildly, but no clicking growl resounded in his mind. He was himself, unrestrained and unapologetic, and the monsters had created an environment he could rule with little to no effort.


    Khan swept the battlefield with his eyes as annoyance built-up. Mere animals were using spells he had paid a steep price to master, which was uneptable. Those were his techniques, and imitations couldn''t exist.


    The desire to im monopoly over the chaos element filled Khan, and mana leaked from his figure to invade the symphony. The natural energy in the gorge couldn''t even try to ignore his intense will, and the simrities with his power quickly turned it into an extension of his mind.


    Khan sprinted forward, and res of mana shot out of his figure when hended in a spot upied by wolves. Those creatures either retreated or let that scorching energy burn them, but Khan was far from done.


    "Fall," Khan said, his gaze fixed ahead. He didn''t look at the creatures in his surroundings, but they all lost their bnce, risking tumbling to the ground.


    The wolves became unable to address the new threat among them, and Khan used that window tounch needles all around him. His spells flew everywhere, hitting fur and open mouths before exploding.


    Blood spurted everywhere as wolves suffered serious injuries or directly died. Still, no fear appeared in the survivors'' eyes, and the explosions attracted more attention. Many monsters turned toward Khan before running at him.


    Khan sensed that attention and the iing threats, but his gaze was on his hands. That deep control of the mana in his surroundings was telling something directly to his brain, opening paths and options he had previously believed impossible.


    ''I see,'' Khan thought while closing his right hand.


    A wolf jumped at Khan while he was still immersed in his thoughts. The creature was about tond on him, but he calmly opened his hand, sending mana that ran through the symphony to activate precise effects.


    The natural mana under the descending wolf churned and screamed before giving birth to a purple-red sphere. The attack expanded, creating a Wave spell that engulfed the creature, pushing it away while burning it to a crisp.


    A burning sensation invaded the back of Khan''s mind. He was using muscles he wasn''t aware of having, but forgetting about their existence was impossible now. He brought his right hand to his face to rx his frown, but his other arm pointed at two iing wolves to his left.


    The natural mana gathered among the iing wolves, creating a small version of the chaos spear before them. The spell immediately exploded, giving birth to a pir that engulfed the monsters and killed them on the spot.


    The burning sensation in Khan''s brain intensified, but he didn''t even think about suppressing it. He actually found some pleasure in it, and lowering his right hand revealed his fiery gaze. That feeling was addictive, and he wanted more of it.


    "I see," Khan repeated, using actual words while spreading his arms. The wolves had filled the gorge with chaos, turning it into a weapon for Khan. He only needed to give the order, and spells would appear.


    The other wolves had almost reached Khan, but needles materialized around him. Those spells exploded, creating a scorching wall that caught the monsters by surprise. Many died under those sudden attacks, while others felt forced to retreat after suffering serious burns.


    Khan lowered his arms and ran his fiery gaze across the area. The explosions quickly dispersed, opening the path toward him, but no wolf dared to advance. Khan was radiating a pressure they could recognize and acknowledge. A bigger monster had appeared, triggering instinctive fear.


    The event stretched past Khan''s surroundings. Wolves rtively distant from him stopped fighting to study the source of that terrifying pressure. The situation was so strange that many nearby Thilku took the chance to look in Khan''s direction, and what they found shocked them.


    Khan had blood flowing out of his mouth, a shallow hole on his forehead, and spider-web-like wounds across his body. Yet, his stern face radiated pure power, and his eyes seemed to glow due to the feelings that filled them.


    "I see," Khan repeated for the third time while all his suppressed and unreasonable emotions fused with his thoughts. "You breathe because I allow it."


    Somehow, everyone in the area could hear Khan''s words. The air itself echoed them and brought all the avable eyes on him. Wolves and Thilku alike saw him lifting his right arm, and explosions resounded everywhere when he lowered it.

 Chapter 613 Or?

    The natural mana didn''t need to take a specific form in its current state. The monsters had already shaped it to represent the chaos element perfectly. Khan only had to wish for it to trigger a series of explosions.


    The symphony churned and screamed, generating iplete and unstable spells that immediately detonated. Tens of wolves remained trapped in that scorching and violent mana, often dying under its might.


    Fuming blood and gore shot all around Khan, even affecting the areas many meters from him. A few Thilku had happened to be nearby, but the explosions didn''t touch them. Body parts flew above their heads or fell on their uniforms, but no one dared to move.


    Khan barely looked at the destruction he had created, but realizations reached his mind anyway. He had found the answer to a doubt that had afflicted him for a while, and its simplicity almost made him curse.


    The Niqols and Nele arts theoretically stood on opposite sides of the same field. The Niqols'' overbearing control and the Nele''s kindness couldn''t fuse. One wanted orders, while the other required timid requests.


    Yet, the answer arrived once the environment fell under Khan''s control. That new version of the symphony couldn''t only endure his orders. It also weed them, allowing Khan to talk to the natural mana and produce effects above the Nele''s arts.


    Khan noticed a pattern with those doubts. The answers looked easy once found, but his brain couldn''t ept them until it touched the required fields. Still, now that it had understood them, they became unforgettable.


    Khan''s presence affected the symphony, turning its natural mana into something that matched his mind. That new form allowed him to skip the Nele''s kindness and rely on more forceful orders, which gave birth to stronger effects.


    More needles appeared around Khan, most materializing above the rtively distant monsters. Those creatures were still frozen in fear, and the spells exploded before they had any chance to react.


    Casualties unfolded everywhere, but that part of the battlefield remained still. The monsters and Thilku in Khan''s range couldn''t move their eyes from him. He was too much of a threat even to try to ignore.


    Nevertheless, Khan couldn''t remain in the same position anymore. The symphony could be an extension of his mind, but his presence was the key to controlling it, and losing precision was too big of a risk in an environment with allies.


    Khan shot upward, disappearing from everyone''s view. However, his presence remained heavy, allowing monsters and Thilku alike to find him in the sky immediately. They couldn''t miss him when their minds warned them about his danger.


    Still, Khan''s movements reminded everyone of their location. The armies had yet to end their conflict, and both wanted to win, making many battles resume.


    Khan''s desire to vent didn''t turn him dumb. Unreasonable and upromising urges drove his actions, but his knowledge remained, allowing him to spot the best targets in that chaotic environment.


    The mutated Thilku was already dead, so the humanoid wolves were the only intelligent beings left in the enemy army. Taking them out would bring back the monsters'' aggressive hunger, destroying their battle formations and giving the Thilku the upper hand.


    Sadly for Khan, the humanoid wolves knew about that w, too. Moreover, that overwhelming presence made Khan an easy target, especially in the sky, so a few strong specimens dropped their tasks to focus on him.


    Khan had just started flying toward the closest humanoid wolf when two bullets rose into the sky, aiming at him. The event didn''t take him by surprise, and diving put him outside those attacks'' trajectory, but his problems didn''t end there.


    The dy caused by the two bullets allowed the humanoid wolf targeted by Khan to notice his arrival. The creature stabbed its paws on the ground, opening its mouth to prepare for a powerful attack.


    Khan was aware of the event, but his connection to the symphony stretched past the imminent threat. The humanoid wolf under him wasn''t the only creature targeting him. That number had grown to four, threatening to send a barrage of bullets in Khan''s direction.


    The sky was Khan''s reign, but even he had his limits. If more humanoid wolves were to notice him, he risked falling into a barrage that would limit his movements. He couldn''t let that happen, so he kicked the air above him to change direction and fly directly at the closest strong monster.


    The humanoid wolf had the bullet ready in its throat and didn''t hesitate to fire it. That purple-red mass of mana flew directly toward Khan, but he didn''t change direction. He didn''t even slow down as his concentration deepened.


    Khan red at the iing bullet as time slowed down in his vision. He could sense itsposition, texture, and amount of energy. He knew exactly how it worked and its destructive power, and the symphony shared his knowledge.


    "Shatter!" Khan shouted, raising his voice to send deeper vibes to his surroundings.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The symphony shook, and gales of mana gathered to fly at the iing bullet. Nothing became visible in the air, but a force still pierced the attack, fusing with its fabric and applying Khan''s orders.


    The bullet destabilized, and res of mana shot from it, making it lose power. Parts of it exploded, turning its energy against itself and increasing its size.


    While most of the battles had resumed, a few spectators still existed and focused on Khan. To their surprise, he dived right into the bullet, destabilizing it even more.


    The bullet''s manapletely dispersed, flying in every direction before disappearing. Meanwhile, Khan''s figure continued to descend, and his speed instantly took care of the smoke on his body.


    The humanoid wolf tried to stand up, but Khan was too fast. Hended behind it, and its entire body split in half. A perfect cut had run from the top of its head to the bottom of its pelvis.


    Khan ran to his side as the two halves fell to the ground. The sky was off-limits due to his overbearing pressure, so he changed his mind, nning to get to the remaining humanoid wolves without leaving the surface.


    A sea of azure fur stretched in every direction. Regardless of where Khan nned to go, he would find monsters, which only fueled his fury. Moreover, the symphony was in his grasp, so he couldn''t experience fear.


    Explosions resounded left and right. The hated purple-red color slowly turned into an ally in the eyes of the Thilku army. Initially, those bright res marked enemies, but Khan''s relentless advance eventually made their appearance a sight for sore eyes.


    Khan was unstoppable. Every creature inside the gorge was below him in multiple fields. No one could match his speed, deadliness, or reach. The world was helping him, and his brain burned as more natural mana followed his orders.


    As more humanoid wolves died, the ordinary Tainted animals began to regain their natural aggression. Their hunger resumed its spot at the top of their priorities, and their battle formations broke, allowing the Thilku to outsmart them.


    That trend worsened when thest humanoid wolf died. The entire enemy army had onlymon monsters left by then, and they all abandoned their intended positions to pounce at the first red coat in their view.


    That reckless behavior initially surprised the Thilku, but their battle formations and experience quickly prevailed. The aliens pushed the monsters back, killing many specimens in the process. Hundreds died in a matter of minutes, and those casualties only increased as the numerical difference widened.


    The battle became one-sided once the Thilku outnumbered the monsters two to one. The Tainted animals were powerless against those powerful and driven warriors. They didn''t give up because their hunger didn''t let them, and the Thilku made sure to exploit that feature.


    Moreover, a natural cmity continued to sweep the monsters'' backlines with explosions and purple-red shes. Khan never stopped fighting, and his incredible prowess killed as many Tainted animals as an entire allied team.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Silence began to spread as the battles grew scarce. Shouts asionally resounded but eventually disappeared as more time passed. Soon, only Thilku remained inside the gorge, and questioning gazes flew left and right to confirm what everyone was thinking.


    The Thilku mostly saw dust and fur in their surroundings. Many climbed on the piles of corpses to get a better view of the battlefield, and answers eventually arrived. They understood what had happened after noticing theirpanions in a simr state. The battle had ended, and they hade out victorious.


    A series of loud cries immediately filled the gorge. The Thilku shouted from the bottom of their lungs, celebrating that valuable victory. However, one soldier didn''t linger in celebrations and attracted a lot of attention while flying toward a familiar figure in the army.


    Khannded beside Naoo, who was covered in blood from head to toe. His sudden appearance made all the Thilku in the surroundings step back, worried about that threatening presence. Still, Khan didn''t let that reaction affect his ns.


    "[I''m injured]," Khan dered, keeping his gaze on the distant building only he could sense. "[I''ll leave first]."


    "[Wait]!" Naoo gasped, realizing what was happening. "[We haven''t received the order yet. You can''t leave]."


    "[Or]?" Khan asked, finally looking at Naoo. The mere sight of his intense eyes made her freeze in fear and shut up. There was no stopping or reasoning with Khan in that situation.


    Khan''s gaze lingered on Naoo for a few seconds before his entire figure disappeared. He shot in the air, leaving the gorge, and no one dared to do anything to stop him.

 Chapter 614 Cape

    Khan felt warm while flying across the sky to return to the Thilku trench. His brain was on fire, but simr burning sensations came from his belly, too. Something had broken, forcing him to look for experts'' opinions.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The injuries didn''t get in the way of Khan''s natural pressure, and the flight allowed him to notice more of its effects. He quickly left the area filled with the monsters'' chaotic influence, diving into the untouched symphony. The natural mana there didn''t belong to him, but his presence soon changed that.


    Khan studied the seemingly empty air to check the effects of his mind. He could affect the speed of that transformation by releasing stronger wills or mana, and the process felt almost natural. That technique had be a part of his very being, putting it at the foundation of his entire skillset.


    ''I''m unbeatable now,'' Khan calmly realized.


    Taking control of a big area wouldn''t always be easy, especially without thousands of monsters helping out. However, Khan could hold his own even without that technique. He could also fly, so wasting a few seconds or minutes waspletely in his power.


    Moreover, Khan knew he could be better at that. He had barely learned that new technique, but his tests mid-flight already showed improvements. As long as his desires came out, the symphony would change.


    The trench and the big building behind it eventually became visible, and Khan dived directly toward the big entrance. Hisnding was graceful, but his insides churned anyway, creating an unstoppable urge.


    Khan spat at the ground before half-bending to his side. He puked blood, and retches resounded even after his stomach emptied. More liquids were flowing into it, creating a troublesome picture.


    Luckily for Khan, the gate began to open even before he calmed down. The decontamination area unfolded in his view, and he forced his abdomen to stay silent while jumping into it.


    The decontamination process began, and Khan sat on the floor to meditate in the meantime. He was far from good, but his resilient body retained strength to keep him ready to fight.


    A few Thilku appeared once the room opened into the vast hall. Khan jumped to his feet to approach them, and they immediately ran scanners over his body, often mumbling worrisome statements.


    Khan remained still during the process, but the Thilku eventually imed his attention. They had bags with them, and one dived into it to take out a handful of tablets.


    "[I can''t take those]," Khan directly said. "[My body rejects them]."


    The three Thilku were doctors used to difficult patients, but the instinct to argue never appeared in their minds. Khan had spoken calmly, but his voice conveyed a type of power those aliens couldn''t describe or oppose.


    Nevertheless, the Thilku didn''t freeze. They quickly understood the reason behind Khan''s refusal and exchanged a few words to devise a solution. One of the doctors also left, approaching the wall to retrieve different meds, and a fuming cylindrical container eventually appeared in his hands.


    "[Drink this]," The doctor ordered when he returned near Khan. "[It will fix you up]."


    Khan checked the Thilku''s mana before looking at the bottle. The doctor believed in his words, and the dark, slimy liquid inside the container didn''t carry any trace of synthetic mana. It smelled awful, but Khan had gotten used to far worse.


    Taking a sip from the bottle revealed that the smell wasn''t the liquid worst feature. It tasted horrible, and its texture could make most humans throw up. Yet, the Slums had trained Khan''s throat thoroughly, so he gulped down withoutining.


    "[You need to finish it in the next hour]," The doctor warned. "[Once you do,e get a refill]."


    "[Is it for my internal injuries]?" Khan asked, even if his body was already replying. The liquid was hot, but its effects were chilling. His abdomen grew colder while the medicine''s effects spread.


    "[Yes]," Another doctor replied. "[It will restore your strength, too]."


    Khan didn''t bother to nod but proceeded to take another big sip. His urges made him hate that temporary weakness, so he wanted to recover as quickly as possible.


    The doctors ran their scanners over Khan again, but the door on the other side of the hall suddenly opened, showing Onp''s huge frame. The Thilku had already crossed his arms in anger, and a cold, hoarse voice apanied his arrival.


    "[Captain Khan]," Onp called, "[Come with me]."


    Khan didn''t even try to refuse the order. He stepped forward, crossing the doctors to reach the other side of the hall. His slow walk annoyed Onp, but he didn''t say anything and waited for Khan to get to him.


    Onp turned to leave as soon as Khan reached him, and the two crossed the corridor and the control room after it to get into the small room seen before.


    Khan instinctively stopped before the table and inspected his surroundings while Onp walked to the other side. That distracted behavior added fuel to Onp''s anger, but that was a misunderstanding. Khan was extremely focused, just not on the Thilku.


    The privacy of that small room allowed Khan to perform tests that involved the synthetic mana. His presence was too heavy for that energy, but the symphony still changed. Adding his own mana quickened the process, making his immediate surroundings fall under his control in mere seconds.


    Khan''s control continued to expand as his concentration remained strong, but Onp couldn''t stay silent anymore. He mmed his huge hands on the table, and loud words followed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "[Captain Khan]!" Onp shouted. "[Who authorized your departure from the battlefield]?"


    That shout affected the expansion of Khan''s control. Onp was a fourth-level warrior, and his feelings naturally carried a weight that hindered the effects of Khan''s presence.


    Khan noted down those events while looking at Onp. His pressure fell on the Thilku, which instantly surprised him. He had seen Khan mere hours ago, but his presence hadpletely changed.


    Nevertheless, Onp was no ordinary Thilku. His mind carried years of experience dealing with simrly powerful or stronger soldiers. Khan''s transformation was shocking, but Onp couldn''t experience fear.


    "[I did]," Khan exined.


    "[You don''t have that authority]," Onp scolded. "[I thought you wanted the Empire to treat you like an ordinary soldier]."


    "[I was wrong]," Khan admitted. "[I''m no ordinary soldier]."


    The arrogant im didn''t make Onp falter. Truth be told, Khan was right. His very presence in the building proved that. The Thilku would have never epted a human among them if he were ordinary.


    However, the issue remained. Khan had disobeyed orders, which Onp simply couldn''t ept. Khan following his own desires was an insult to the Thilku''s authority and pride.


    "[You will leave as soon as the day ends]," Onp scoffed, fixing his gaze on the desk to tinker with its runes. "[Your cooperation with the Empire ends here]."


    "[No]," Khan promptly stated, making Onp''s head snap back up.


    "[No]?" Onp questioned, using the entirety of his self-restraint to control his anger.


    "[No]," Khan repeated. "[I''ll stay here and call more beasts until both the Empire and myself are satisfied with the results]."


    "[Who do you think you are]?" Onp growled, leaving his spot to approach Khan. "[When did you start believing you could make decisions for the Empire]?"


    "[I''m sorry for my past behavior]," Khan dered. "[I''m too strong to have no authority]."


    Onp struggled to believe his ears. Part of him even thought Khan was ying with him, but one look at his intense eyes removed any doubt. Khan was deadly serious and truly believed his words.


    That became a problem. Khan''s firm belief almost made him a criminal in Onp''s eyes. That behavior wasn''t only uneptable from someone inside his building. It also required suitable punishments.


    "[Did you check the scanners yet]?" Khan continued, knowing what was happening inside Onp''s mind. "[We can have this conversation after you do]."


    "[What are you implying]?" Onp asked.


    "[Check the battle]," Khan pressed on.


    Onp lost it. That request sounded like an order, which was beyond uneptable. In Onp''s eyes, Khan had just turned into a criminal, giving him the authority to execute him.


    Onp''s huge arm shot upward before starting to descend. The Thilku was ready to kill Khan on the spot, but a beeping noise suddenly came out from the desk, interrupting the attack.


    The beeping noise didn''te on its own. The desk began to release more sounds, filling its surface with notifications. Tens of reports had arrived in those seconds, triggering Onp''s curiosity.


    Onp''s nced at the desk before looking at Khan again. He had just tried to kill him, but he didn''t even blink. Khan had remained still, but his expression didn''t convey any helplessness. His face was the embodiment of confidence, which slightly scared Onp. Khan seemed to believe he could face a fourth-level warrior, and his eyes carried no delusion.


    The surprising scene didn''t make Onp forget his duties. He approached the interactive desk, unlocking the reports to read them. His mana shook and changed as knowledge flowed into his mind, and surprised eyes fell on Khan after going through half of that info.


    "[Captain Khan]," Onp called, his tone still cold. "[What is your goal with the Empire]?"


    "[I want your capes]," Khan bluntly said, angering Onp again.

 Chapter 615 Twenty

    Khan brought the container to his mouth while Onp processed that absurd request. The slimy dark liquid ran down his throat, but his gaze at Onp never wavered, and the Thilku stared back at him.


    "[In the Empire''s long history]," Onp announced, doing his best to remain calm, "[No one has ever dared to request our capes]."


    Khan was aware of that detail. The Thilku''s capes weren''t something different species could ask. The Empire itself had to offer them when it found a deserving ally.


    Nevertheless, that wasn''t exactly a rule, and Khan was in no mood forpromises. He wanted the Thilku''s capes for personal reasons, so he just asked for one.


    "[I know]," Khan said once he lowered the container, "[But I just did]."


    Onp was struggling to keep track of the situation. Khan''s behavior was uneptable, but the reports that had arrived forced him to stay calm. Onp didn''t even read all of them, but that was enough to make him hesitate.


    In a different situation, Onp would have kicked Khan out anyway. After all, no one could disrespect the Thilku in their own home. They valued pride too much to let that insult go unpunished.


    Khan would have normally suffered from the same fate, but the reports were unreal, to say the least. A rough estimate of Khan''s achievements hadnded on the interactive desk, and Onp didn''t know how anyone could believe it.


    ording to the reports, Khan had almost single-handedly taken care of all the intelligent specimens in the enemy army. His relentless ughter of the weaker troops had also preserved many soldiers'' lives, which Onp couldn''t ignore.


    Moreover, Khan had killed a mutated Thilku, which was no small matter. That feat didn''t only prove his power. It was also important for the Empire since it removed some of the stains Cegnore had left on its pride.


    Onp didn''t forget about the validity of Khan''s ims either. He could really summon the monsters. His voice was a priceless tool the Thilku could use to win that war.


    The feats far outweighed the seriousness of that superficial disrespect, and Onp didn''t know how to deal with it. Showing weakness wasn''t an option, but his mouth threatened to open in shock whenever he nced at the reports under him.


    "[Just use me]," Khan scoffed, sensing Onp''s internal conflict. "[Don''t be shy about that]."


    "[Ah]!" Onp eximed in annoyance, believing Khan was taunting him. Yet, looking at him revealed a different truth. He didn''t care how the Empire employed him. He was ready to be a killing machine if that was what it wanted.


    Humans would find sadness in that scene, but the Thilku were different. That straightforward desire to serve was praiseworthy in Onp''s eyes, especially whening from such a valuable soldier. He was starting to realize he was in front of the best third-level warrior he had ever met, and his very education told him to respect that strength.


    "[The Thilku aren''t shy]," Onp snorted, crossing his arms before his chest. He felt no awkwardness about his recent attempt to punish Khan but still didn''t give in. The way he saw it, Khan had only earned the right to make his requests be heard.


    "[You must want something, don''t you]?" Khan continued, taking a break to drink from the bottle. "[You''ve read what I can do. I''m sure you can use me for your benefits]."


    "[How would you know]?" Onp asked. "[You are an outsider]."


    "[I can guess]," Khan replied, pointing a finger at Onp''s forehead. "[Don''t you want a crown]?"


    Onp''s mana shook for a second before a chilling sensation leaked out of his figure. He was still angry, but the topic had summoned a new level of seriousness. Bing a Lord was no joking matter, especially for Thilku devoted to the Empire.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "[I''d be careful about your next words]," Onp warned. "[You saved many Thilku lives, so I''m giving you some leeway, but my patience is running thin]."


    "[I mean no disrespect]," Khan said, shrugging his shoulders. "[I truly don''t. I''m simply tired of politics]."


    Onp was slightly inclined toward the political side of the spectrum but remained a Thilku to his core. If Khan wanted to talk like a simple soldier, he would allow it, at least for that meeting.


    "[Why do you think I want to be a Lord]?" Onp questioned.


    Khan sighed, showing his annoyance toward those games. The Empire was sensitive to talks of weaknesses, but they weren''t a secret, especially for someone striving to be an Ambassador.


    "[Cegnore is wasting a lot of the Empire''s resources]," Khan said, refraining from using the word manpower. "[Solving this issue would be a big achievement. You are here, so the honor would be yours]."


    "[I''m serving Lord Exr]," Onp stated. "[Don''t mistake Thilku with humans]."


    "[The Thilku are no strangers to ambition]," Khan responded. "[You wouldn''t have agreed to use me in the first ce otherwise]."


    "[What if I have ambition]?" Onp snorted. "[It would be insulting to rely on anyone to fulfill it, especially a human]."


    A fit of anger surged in Khan''s mind. Onp''s bias toward humans rekindled old memories. Khan still recalled what the Global Army was willing to do on Nitis, and his current state gave birth to an instinctive answer.


    "[I''m no human]," Khan almost growled, turning to his left to spit on the floor.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Onp fell silent. He initially believed Khan''s injuries had caused that powerful gesture, but that idea shattered when the two exchanged another stare. Khan knew exactly what his actions meant to the Thilku.


    That wasn''t exactly a smart move. The Thilku appreciated loyalty, so Khan risked losing Onp''s respect. However, he couldn''t change his feelings, and his reasons went beyond his physical appearance.


    Khan''s almost entire skillset was alien. His spells used human blueprints, but he cast them through the Niqols'' theories. His martial arts came from the Global Army, but he had transformed them through his understanding of mana.


    Even Khan''s mindset wasn''t human at all. He felt more and more deeply. The raging urges flowing through his thoughts proved that. He didn''t like to be associated with the Nak, but the truth was undeniable. Each step forward put him farther away from his species.


    The gesture began to make Onp lose trust in Khan. Yet, a silver lining existed. If Khan didn''t see himself as a human, Onp wouldn''t have to worry about potential betrayals meant to benefit the Global Army.


    "[Why would I trust you]?" Onp asked, unable to get rid of that doubt.


    "[Don''t trust me]," Khan stated. "[Trust my strength]."


    "[Your strength to do what]?" Onp wondered. "[Do you think you can clear the entire by yourself]?"


    "[Actually]," Khanughed, "[That would be ideal for me]."


    "[Those beasts matched some of the best soldiers in the Empire]," Onp revealed. "[I told you to be careful about your words]."


    "[They were true]," Khan dered. "[I''m the best third-level warrior that has ever existed. That applies to every species]."


    The arrogant im stopped sounding like an insult when Khan involved other species, and Onp struggled to refute it. Lying would be unbing, so Onp opted for a different approach.


    "[You probably are]," Onp agreed. "[However, can I trust you]?"


    "[No]," Khan firmly replied, "[But you can use me]."


    "[To what extent]?" Onp questioned.


    "[Until my body breaks]," Khan promised. "[Probably even beyond that]."


    Politics, differences in species, and other superficial details vanished when that statement echoed in the room. Khan''s presence conveyed his emotions, so Onp saw no lies in his words. The scene in his eyes was actuallypletely different.


    It wasn''t hard to guess Khan''s goal. His blue hair was too eye-catching, and his scar was in the open. Even an idiot could connect the dots. Yet, Onp saw the depths of his resolve now, and the desire to smile tried to take control of his mind.


    "[Fine, then]," Onp eximed, ambition filling his face. "[The Empire will go on the offensive now. Deliver what you can, or die trying]."


    "[dly]," Khan chuckled, gulping down the remains of his medicine.


    "[I''ll give you a warning out of respect for your service to the Empire]," Onp continued. "[If your body breaks, I''ll leave it in the dust]."


    "[The weak will die]," Khan responded, his eyes bright with intensity, "[And the strong will thrive]."


    "[We''ll see if you are as strong as you im to be]," Onp responded, "[Captain Khan]."


    "[Don''t forget the capes]," Khan casually said, lifting the container before approaching the exit. Onp didn''t add anything, so Khan left, ending the meeting.


    The political mistakes during the meeting crossed Khan''s mind as he reviewed Onp''s words. His stance wasn''t very Ambassador-like, but Cegnore was a battlefield, and he was the strongest. Onp couldn''t ignore him on the basis of his species.


    Once those thoughts vanished, a different memory appeared. The battle against the mutated Thilku ran through Khan''s vision, but his focus was on its words.


    ''What legacy was it talking about?'' Khan wondered. ''What is there to inherit?''


    Khan could feel it in his bones. He was getting closer to answers, and Onp had just cleared the troops for the offensive. More of Cegnore''s secrets were bound to appear, and Khan inevitably thought about his initial n.


    ''I should go MIA soon,'' Khan decided, retrieving his phone from his underwear. He didn''t want to do anything specific, but checking the date reminded him of a certain event. He had turned twenty.

 Chapter 616 Simulations

    Khan''s mood made a hundred and eighty degrees turn at that realization. Suddenly, the battlefield and the meeting disappeared from his thoughts, and his mind yed a scene that reced his current urges with far different ones.


    Love was one of Khan''s strongest emotions, and experiencing it with his new mindset revealed how deeply it went. The promise with Monica popped into his mind, and realizing that he had broken itpletely distracted him from his immediate problems.


    ''Dammit,'' Khan cursed, storing his phone in his underwear. He initially wanted to go directly into his room, but the sight of the empty container reminded him of his injuries.


    Luckily for Khan, finding a doctor was easy due to the almost empty state of the building. He only had to return to the main hall to get his second dose of the slimy medicine. The Thilku rechecked him with scanners but quickly let him go.


    Khan hurried back to his room, throwing his knife on the bed before jumping next to it and drawing his phone. He had already forgotten about his deal with Onp. Only Monica existed for him now.


    ''Fuck,'' Khan cursed again as soon as a picture of Monica filled the screen. He brought the device to his forehead while squeezing his eyes closed to endure his new urges. An unreasonable desire was flowing through him, and there was no suppressing it.


    ''Dammit,'' Khan cursed for the third time, opening his eyes and mming his back on the mattress. His bodyined when his head hit the pillow, but he didn''t mind it. His focus remained on the phone, and his fingers started a video before putting it beside his ear.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan had picked a random video but still lost himself in it. A voice he had learned to love invaded his ears, partially appeasing his new urge. Some satisfaction arrived, but his greed knew no end.


    ''I guess I asked for this,'' Khan sighed. He knew exactly what was happening to him. Living with the chaos element had prepared him for that moment.


    Khan''s mana took different shapes once his emotions came into y, but the results were by no meansplicated to understand. The unreasonable nature of his element led to a simple mindset. Khan wanted everything, and he wanted it now.


    Retaining calm with Onp had been easier. After all, the Thilku''s capes were nothing but a whim. Khan needed them to establish an undeniable alliance with the Empire and increase his political relevance, but they were nothingpared to his love.


    ''Why aren''t you here?'' Khan wondered, angry at the emptiness of his bed. He opened his eyes, ready to punch the wall, but the sight of the cracks stopped him. Still, the symphony had different ns.


    The weight of Khan''s presence depended on his will. The stronger his desire, the bigger the effects he could apply to the symphony. His love was speaking now, so the synthetic mana became an extension of his mind, and his re at the wall turned into an attack.


    The metal screeched as the synthetic mana tried to bend the many cracks'' edges. Khan didn''t add his energy to the environment, so the attack didn''t move anything. Yet, it tried, which proved the power of his new state.


    Khan promptly distracted himself, bringing his focus to the phone. Seeing Monica appeased him again, but he still groaned to express annoyance.


    The unreasonable urge didn''t make Khan go mental. That intense reaction had been abination of a few events. His promise to Monica, the novelty of his state, and the current privacy had allowed him to let loose a bit, creating a nigh-childish attitude.


    The violence of the urge quickly waned, but Khan''s thoughts didn''t move from the topic. He leaned on the damaged wall, holding the phone with both hands. He longed for Monica''s touch, but the path back to her was long, and only one achievement could shorten it.


    Coldness joined Khan''s scorching feelings, creating a mixture that couldn''t theoretically exist. He still wanted to get to Monica but wasn''t crazy enough to forsake the mission, especially since Cegnore had something linked to the only feeling stronger than his love.


    ''The Thilku are too slow,'' Khan thought, his eyes fixed on his phone. ''As soon as I get the chance, I must leave.''


    The deal about the Thilku''s capes would vanish if Khan went MIA to investigate on his own, but he didn''t care. A single person was faster than an army, and he had his mana core. He had a better chance of finding Cegnore''s secrets on his own.


    The n formed quickly. Khan wanted to perform more tests to see if his voice could attract different opponents. However, after that, he would have to look for an opportunity, which his deal with Onp would eventually provide.


    ''The scanners can''t be easy to move,'' Khan considered, ''Especially the long-range ones. If I push the frontlines forward too quickly, the building won''t be able to keep up.''


    Resolve shone in Khan''s eyes as that decision solidified. He knew what he had to do and found no reason to hesitate. His mana didn''t like cheap imitations anyway, so he looked forward to letting loose on the battlefield again.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    That deadly coldness slightly stepped aside when Khan brought his phone to his forehead. The video was still going, but he stopped looking at it to rub his face on the screen.


    ''I told you I would have never made it back so soon,'' Khan sighed. ''Such a silly girl.''


    Khan temporarily closed the video and put the phone away to straighten his back. He grabbed the container to drink the medicine before leaving it on the mattress. He knew he had to meditate, but something else took priority.


    The meeting with Onp had proven what Khan had already understood on the battlefield. He couldn''t return to who he was, and that transformation was bound to affect all aspects of his life.


    ''I can''t hold back anymore,'' Khan thought before a reaction in his mana reminded him of the actual truth. ''I won''t hold back anymore.''


    The change wasn''t an obligation or an unstoppable instinct. Khan had merely decided to show his true colors all the time, and they couldn''t go back into hiding anymore. He was finally whole.


    That decision was good for Khan''s battle prowess since it unlocked an immense field of abilities. However, his political flexibility was bound to suffer from his upromising stances. Cegnore wasn''t a problem since it was a battlefield at its core, but the inevitable return to the Harbor could be troublesome.


    ''I''d be surprised if someone dared to go against me,'' Khan snorted. ''Well, if they try anything funny, I''ll just make a mess.''


    That partialck of worries felt liberating. Khan didn''t ignore the dangers of the political world, but his approach to them would be different. He was ready to turn his performance during Francis'' arrival into his starting point and go far beyond that.


    That new approach might have been problematic in the past, but Khan''s status granted him far more freedom now. He had the public support of many influential parties, so showing his unreasonable sides wouldn''t hurt him. Chances were that the Harbor wouldn''t even give him the opportunity to go crazy.


    ''That leaves the aliens,'' Khan thought, instinctively ncing at the room''s entrance.


    ¡¤?¦Èm The Ambassador''s job required flexibility. Khan wouldn''t always be on battlefields, so many parties might see rudeness in his firm stances, especially during political meetings. He needed to appear kinder in certain situations, and more than a few species might not deserve it.


    Khan tilted his head in confusion. He lightly bumped it on the wall behind him while doubts invaded his mind. He knew he wouldn''t rely on pretenses from now on, but the matter didn''t even bother him too much.


    ''I just don''t care, do I?'' Khan wondered. ''I guess it depends on the species.''


    Khan had no biases, but some traditions were hard to ignore. He had learned to respect Lord Exr''s perspective after their talk, but things would be different from now on. He would have probably snapped at him for killing the prisoners in his current state.


    ''Though,'' Khan realized, ''I would have also faced him differently. I probably wouldn''t have left the station.''


    Khan wasn''t looking for actual answers. He was merely running simtions to prepare for the problems his new mindset could cause. He wasn''t too worried about what he liked since his positive sides didn''t disappear, but what he disliked would have to face his darkness now.


    ''It alwayses down to power,'' Khan sighed. ''I''m covered politically, and third-level warriors stronger than me can''t exist, but that might not be enough.''


    As Khan climbed the politicaldder, he began to interact with stronger and more influential soldiers. Politics wouldn''t always protect him, especially when he was in the wrong, so his personal power needed to be his first shield.


    Khan opened his hands and looked at them. He saw the power running through them and the changed synthetic mana in their surroundings. There was nothing human about that scene, but Khan didn''t worry. His thoughts were on far more exciting topics.


    ''Can I beat a fourth-level warrior now?'' Khan wondered as another urge red inside him. He knew how stupid the idea was, but part of him wanted to test it. After all, power was meant to be unleashed, and the chaos element didn''t know how to stay put.

 Chapter 617 Respect

    The medicine did wonders for Khan''s condition. His internal injuries stabilized in a matter of days before healingpletely by the next week''s weekend.


    Khan''s injured state wasn''t a secret, so the building avoided deploying him during his recovery. It also held back from doing anything reckless since reinforcements were needed. Onp was actually ready to lose some ground, but Cegnore sent far fewer monsters in the nights after the big battle, making that period easier to endure.


    That rtive peace created a more rxed atmosphere, but the main hall turned silent whenever Khan joined the feasts. He still sat and ate with his team, but the past friendliness never returned. He didn''t do anything special, but hispanions couldn''t treat him in the same way as before.


    Confirming the power of Khan''s voice wasn''t the only issue. He had also shown overwhelming battle prowess and the will to disobey orders. The Thilku were stuck between awe and worry whenever he was around, leaving no room for social interactions.


    Part of Khan wanted to delve into a celebratory mood, but he respected hispanions enough to avoid forcing their hands. Moreover, his improving health drew Onp''s n close, making him focus on perfecting his new techniques.


    The inevitable change happened a day after Khan fully recovered. He had limited the interactions with his team until then, and hispanions had done the same. Yet, a few hours before the night, a call reached his room, forcing him toe out.


    Khan appeared in the corridor, already geared for the battle. He had donned his military uniform and a new sheath provided by the building. His knife was inside, so he didn''t need anything else.


    Naoo was waiting for Khan in the corridor, but her mana faltered when their eyes met. That instinctive reaction had be the norm due to the intensity filling Khan''s gaze, and the event never stopped angering her.


    "[We have new orders]," Naoo announced, instinctively hiding her anger to avoid setting Khan off. "[We must depart now]."


    The fact that Khan''s passive pressure could force Naoo to show some respect was the best proof of his new status. He felt slightly sad about that huge wall between them, but pride also arrived. Even if Khan preferred a more friendly environment, his mana cheered at that silent recognition.


    Questions didn''t have the time to appear since Khan''s mindset went battle-ready. He nodded before fixing his gaze ahead and marching forward. He didn''t wait for Naoo, but she promptly moved to lead the way.


    The second corridor was strangely empty, but the reason for that became clear once the two entered the main hall. Many troops already arranged into multiple teams were waiting in the area, leaving arge path open for Khan and Naoo.


    The general atmosphere didn''t change in those days. Khan sensed awe and worry among the many nces at his figure. Still, a newfound resolve had joined them. The soldiers knew a big battle was imminent and were ready to fight it.


    Naoo didn''t stop at the teams. She strode forward, aiming directly for the main gate, and Khan followed her. The two quickly entered the decontamination area, and a surprising scene unfolded once the process was over.


    Hordes of soldiers stretched past the trench, creating a sea of red capes that hid the horizon. An army of third-level warriors that Khan didn''t see in past battles had filled the immense in, showing how much the Empire was willing to invest in the.


    Moreover, two three-story-tall nigh-spherical machines stood at the building''s sides, walking on four metal legs that put a few meters between their bases and the ground. Their shapes reminded Khan of the bomb, but the runes on their various t surfaces hinted at far different purposes.


    The army and the machines advanced simultaneously, but thetter were slower and sent faint red beams at the ground, scanning itsposition. Reaching the trench brightened their glow, which memorized the channel''s structure and taught those robots how to replicate it.


    Khan was obviously unaware of those details, but reading the runes and inspecting the machines'' behavior brought rity. Those robots were probably excavators meant to dig the next trench. The Empire was ready to advance, and he was the key aspect of that n.


    ''Can they scan their surroundings?'' Khan casually wondered. The scanners of mere excavators couldn''t have much range, but underestimating technology never ended well.


    ¡¤?¦Èm That doubt was short-lived since more pressing matters arrived. Naoo didn''t stop before that huge deployment and led Khan past the trench, walking far faster than the other troops. They were probably meant to be on the frontlines, and their pace eventually attracted the soldiers'' attention.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The heavy seriousness of the area temporarily faltered as curiosity and other emotions red. Naoo wasn''t a problem, but most Thilku had never seen Khan. Still, they had been briefed about the mission and him, which led to different reactions.


    Most Thilku were curious about Khan. They had received reports and heard rumors, but it was hard to evaluate someone''s strength from a simple inspection, especially from far away.


    Those who happened to be nearby could experience instinctive reactions caused by Khan''s heavy presence. However, they were hard to put into words or understand. A few Thilku even med Khan''s element or blue hair to avoid considering fear or simr feelings.


    Instead, other Thilku openly mocked Khan, spreading murmurs or proper shouts that involved his stature or other physical aspects. Humans were far smaller than the Thilku in the end, so it made sense to question the validity of Khan''s feats from that scene alone.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan noticed everything and changed direction as soon as urges popped into his brain. He quickened his pace, crossing Naoo to show where he was going. He was still walking toward the frontlines, but a specific group of Thilku ended on his path now.


    The Thilku were already looking at Khan, and broad smiles appeared on their faces when he approached them. There were five of them in the area, and most had been the source of mockingments. Those aliens had alsoughed loudly, which had triggered Khan''s urges.


    "[Move]," Khan announced as soon as he stopped before the group of Thilku. In theory, everyone there was advancing, but those aliens also halted their steps at his arrival.


    The sudden request made the Thilku directly in front of Khan inspect his surroundings. Khan could easily walk around them, but his unwavering face revealed his intentions. His actions were a statement meant for the entire army.


    "[The human doesn''t know how to walk]," The Thilku before Khanughed while searching for hispanions'' approval. "[What should I tell him]?"


    Naoo was right behind Khan, and her first instinct was to defuse the situation. As much as she didn''t like Khan''s actions, the current n had him at its center. She would normally side with herpanions, but her orders prevented her from doing so.


    Still, another instinct arrived when Naoo looked at Khan''s back. The sight of that small figure silenced any word in her throat. She couldn''t speak, and the fear of what would happen if she intervened froze her.


    "[You move because I ask so]," Khan calmly added, his gaze fixed on the first Thilku.


    The group tried tough again, but Khan''s eyes were maic. They attracted the Thilku''s gazes, forcing them to lose themselves in those azure irises. The aliens didn''t have Khan''s senses, but their minds became able to read his thoughts, and their instincts did the rest.


    Most animals knew when to run and fight. That behavior was a core part of their survival instincts, and intelligent species were no strangers to that trait. Actually, in some cases, mana enhanced it, especially when it came to soldiers who knew the struggles of the battlefield.


    The Thilku didn''t know why, but sweat began to umte on their wrinkled foreheads. Something told them that refusing Khan would lead to their deaths. That wasn''t even a mere possibility. Khan''s eyes clearly stated the depth of that certainty.


    Before anyone could realize that, the Thilku stepped aside, opening the way for Khan. He walked right among them, slowing down his pace on purpose to convey the difference in their statuses. He was far beyond everyone else, and it was time for the world to learn that.


    Naoo could only follow Khan, also walking among herpanions. She didn''t refrain from looking at them, and helplessness invaded her mind when she noticed those sweaty faces. She knew exactly what had happened to the Thilku, and ming them wasn''t an option. Khan truly was terrifying.


    The murmurs continued, but the event eliminated any possible insult. No one dared to shout mockingments anymore and moved away whenever Khan happened to be on their path. It was demeaning for an entire army to respect a fellow third-level warrior so much, but the matter wasn''t rational. There was no reasoning with a monster.

 Chapter 618 Overwhelming

    Khan''s upromising behavior set the army''s hierarchy straight. No one loudly dered it, but everyone knew. Khan was the strongest and most important piece of the battlefield.


    Naoo and Khan continued that domineering advance until they crossed all the soldiers. Naoo retook the lead, walking until the two reached the appointed location. The Thilku had to gain ground that day, so their starting point was beyond the gorge the previous big battle created.


    The army slowly umted behind Khan and Naoo while the entire area darkened. The night was arriving, clearing doubts Khan didn''t need to question anymore. The previous call had happened during the afternoon to limit the number of opponents, but the Empire was ready to go all-out now.


    Troops eventually filled the front. Khan found Naoo''s team at his sides, but his eyes remained on the horizon. He focused on the call echoing from his mana core, trying to pinpoint an actual direction. However, things were still too unclear.


    ''Am I too far away?'' Khan wondered before his gaze fell to the ground.


    There was a high chance Cegnore hid its secrets in its underground world. Khan didn''t know the exact depths of that environment, but that could be the reason behind theck of rity.


    ''I might need to dig rather than advance,'' Khan considered, but the huge deployment eventually distracted him. The Empire had sent four thousand Thilku forward at that time, seemingly expecting to face a bigger army.


    Those expectations weren''t wrong. Khan had nned to push his call deeper into Cegnore with his new skills, and the matter reminded him of a specific topic. There would definitely be mutated Thilku again, and the gap in his knowledge began to feel annoying.


    "[Say]," Khan suddenly announced, turning all the eyes in his surroundings on him. "[You never exined why you are going easy on the monsters]."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan didn''t mention any name, but Naoo knew the question was for her. She inspected Khan, but he didn''t reply to her gaze. He kept staring at the horizon, unfazed by that general attention.


    "[That''s Thilku''s business]," Naoo snorted, crossing her arms to express her defensiveness about the topic.


    "[I''m curious]," Khan replied, finally looking at Naoo. "[I see your respect during the fights. I want to know it, too]."


    Khan was expressing his true feelings. As merciless and harsh the Thilku could be, they still respected the wishes ofpanions that had long since lost their minds. Moreover, none of themined. Each soldier was willing to fight and die to stick to the Empire''s pride.


    Naoo didn''t want to share those secrets, but Khan''s curiosity and faint praise had been genuine. He had worn the mantle of an unreasonable monster just a few minutes ago, but humility had reced it now.


    "[Themander sent to colonize Cegnore was Lord Exr''s friend]," Naoo exined. "[He served well, too. It would be demeaning for the Empire to forsake his dying wish]."


    ''He''s connected to Lord Exr,'' Khan understood, moving to a different question. "[Does Lord Exr have special orders in case we meet him]?"


    "[We must kill him]," Naoo scoffed. "[That''s all]."


    The cold remark toward someone the Empire respected so much could leave humans speechless, but not Khan. That was the Thilku way, and Khan epted it. He didn''t approve of it in its entirety, but it carried a certain type of beauty a soldier could recognize.


    "[If he appears]," Khan eximed, bringing his gaze back to the horizon, "[I''ll kill him]."


    Khan''s boldness kept the attention on him, but no oneined. The Thilku in his surroundings didn''t only agree with Naoo''s decision to share that info. They also knew Khan was their best shot at killing themander.


    Theck of orders and clearance forced the massive army to remain still. The troops exchanged murmurs, prepared battle stances, or waited for Cegnore''s star to set. Even Khan could understand the night was a key element of today''s n, so he remained silent, waiting for its arrival.


    As darkness unfolded, a red halo enveloped the army and stretched past it. The Thilku had parked vehicles near the gorge, allowing them to illuminate the area. The building probably had better tools, but the Thilku didn''t want to rely on technology to win their battles.


    Once the night fully descended, Naoo exchanged nods with the other team leaders at the frontlines before looking at Khan. Thetter understood the meaning of that silent gesture, so he lifted his hand and released a re of mana that grew toward the sky.


    That disy of power was different from what the Thilku had witnessed before, and Khan was in the same situation. That was his first time trying that technique, but the theory was on his side, so he didn''t hesitate.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The re of harmless mana affected the symphony, turning it into an extension of Khan''s mind. The world became ready for his orders, and he retracted his energy before blowing on his palm.


    Once the mana disappeared, the Thilku became unable to see the effects of Khan''s technique. They had no way of noticing the bigger gale forming before them. Khan had merely used his presence to create a more powerful call, and chances were it would reach deeper areas of the.


    Khan closed his eyes after the call flew into the distance. He couldn''t do anything more than that, so he focused on meditating. Instead, his surroundings experienced very opposite reactions. Khan''s rxed mood told the Thilku the bait was set, so the battle was upon them.


    A silent hour had to pass before familiar tremors took control of the ground. An earthquake unfolded, warning the army that their opponents wereing.


    The event had different forms in Khan''s eyes. He didn''t only see the changes in the symphony. He also spotted the brighter shades among the distant mess of colors. He had already met some of them, so he could instantly recognize the structure of the iing army.


    Soon, patches of azure fur stepped into the area illuminated by the red halo, showing their true form. A sea of monsters advanced rhythmically, kept under control by the thirty humanoid wolves behind them. The enemy army was far bigger at that time, but the threats weren''t over.


    Two huge figures towered from behind the sea of fur. Cegnore had sent two mutated Thilku forward after Khan''s call, and their tall frames allowed everyone to notice them. Their sight was almost scary, but many soldiers instinctively looked in Khan''s direction. Something told them he would be their opponent.


    "[Do we have to wait for them to be ready]?" Khan wondered, his desire to fight intensifying as the enemy army continued to advance.


    "[The enemy is facing us head-on]," Naoo stated. "[The Thilku won''t shame themselves intounching a pre-emptive strike]."


    Khan understood the reasoning behind that statement, but the issue remained. Many Thilku would die if they gave the monster army the time to prepare. Naoo and the others were basically willing to risk their lives to stick to their pride.


    "[I''m no Thilku]," Khan dered, shooting into the sky to fly past the red halo''s edges.


    Gasps resounded among the Thilku standing in Khan''s previous position. His sudden disappearance could mean only one thing, and their gazes instinctively moved to the monster army. They knew what wasing, and the purple-red explosion that unfolded behind the Tainted animals proved them right.


    "[Charge]!" Naoo cried as soon as the explosion rang, and battle cries followed. Khan had already gone against their pride, so there was no point in holding back.


    Khan had used his top speed to fly through the dark sky and cross the enemy army, cing himself above the two mutated Thilku managing it. No one could follow his movements since he was too far away from the ground, but things changed once he started to descend.


    The full-speed dive made the two mutated Thilku lift their heads, but Khan acted before they had the chance to seize the initiative. A spear materialized in his hand, and he threw it at his opponents to catch them by surprise.


    The Thilku reacted as quickly as Khan''s past opponent. The two mutated leaders opened their mouths at the sky as soon as they noticed the falling spear, and clicking cries escaped their throats as spells unfolded.


    Two conical versions of the Wave spell shot upward, engulfing the spear and its following explosion. The chaos element brightened the area, suppressing the red halo and sending gales everywhere. A star had appeared in the middle of the night, and a figure flew past it.


    An uneven mass of res pierced the destructive force released by the Wave spells while depleting its energy. The defensive technique disappeared, revealing Khan''s fuming figure. A few burns had appeared on his body, and the Thilku promptly moved their mouths toward him.


    "Fall!" Khan ordered, and the Thilku immediately lost their bnce, preventing them from pointing their spells at Khan. The Nele technique only created a small dy since the Thilku quickly straightened their backs, but Khan had already disappeared by then.


    Khan materialized between the two mutated Thilku, who shut their mouths and waved their arms. However, the symphony trembled again, destabilizing their bnce and draining power from those blows.


    Purple-red light shed in the next second. Multiple attacks happened in an instant, creating a shocking scene. Khan had his left foot pointed at one Thilku''s arm, blocking its advance. He had also bent forward, dodging the second attack. He was basically trapped in that situation, but one of the aliens'' heads suddenly fell.


    The second Thilku had tried to deliver a descending blow only to miss Khan. Luckily, the knife didn''t aim at its head, but it still found two fingers pointed at its right eye. The [Blood Shield] had covered them, but blood followed, preventing the alien from inspecting them any longer.

 Chapter 619 Mana

    Khan''s assault had barelysted a few seconds, but multiple techniques from different arts had shown their power in that short period.


    The sh between the spear and the two Wave spells had created a dangerous area with uneven density. Some spots had less mana, and Khan had flowed through them, relying on the full power of his senses.


    Maban''s technique improved Khan''s speed throughout the flight. That was a specific application of the Nele''s arts, and diving into the explosion didn''t disperse it.


    Speed alone couldn''t protect Khan from the explosion, so he released his wild res. That was an unrestrained expression of the nature of the chaos element he had achieved through his control, and he had the Niqols to thank for that.


    Appearing in the open had left Khan exposed, but chaos had already filled the sky, granting him more power over his surroundings. He could unleash the fusion of the Niqols and Nele arts from that position, dying the arrival of the Wave spells through his orders.


    Landing between the mutated Thilku put Khan into another dangerous situation. Those aliens'' physical strength was far above his, and they were also fast in meleebat. However, the mana helped Khan again, destabilizing the iing blows and making him able to deal with them.


    The symphony told Khan exactly what to do. He bent forward and put enough strength in his left leg to dodge and block the enemy attacks. Meanwhile, both of his arms moved, delivering precise and deadly blows the mutated Thilku couldn''t avoid.


    Khan''s arms carried simr purposes but differed in execution. The knife in his left hand glowed, performing an empowered version of the Divine Reaper that cut a Thilku''s neck from side to side.


    As for the right hand, Khan reinforced two fingers with the [Blood Shield] before performing a thrusting motion. He skipped part of the Divine Reaper''s theory and focused only on applying its effects on the natural mana. That created a weaker version of his martial art, but the eyes were defenseless organs, so even something iplete could hurt them.


    The result of that short sh proved Khan''s battle superiority. One mutated Thilku lost his head, while the other saw its right eye explode. The technique failed to dig into its skull, but the alien retreated nheless.


    Khan felt on fire as he watched his remaining opponent staggering backward. He didn''t only rely on his new power to achieve that result. He had alternated between flowing and intense wills, using extreme and opposite aspects of his skillset to maximize his prowess.


    The oue of that rotation had been overwhelming. The two mutated Thilku never got the chance to injure Khan seriously, and one had died before uttering any word. The exchange had confirmed that Khan was on the right path.


    ''I don''t have to choose one extreme,'' Khan thought, letting the Thilku retreat. ''I can be both. I can be everything.''


    The unreasonable greed and desire filling Khan''s mind intensified his presence, spreading his influence in his surroundings. The area was still neutral, but that was slowly changing.


    The mutated Thilku quickly restored its bnce, lowering its arms and ignoring the damage to its right eye. The alien didn''t show any suffering, and a broad smile eventually appeared on its face.


    "[A strong host]," The Thilku eximed, showing its sharp canines.


    Khan snorted, stepping toward the mutated Thilku and ignoring its statement to ask a question. "[What''s the Nak''s legacy]?"


    The question didn''t reach the Thilku, who spoke words unrted to the topic. "[You have your mind]."


    Khan recognized that pattern and stopped throwing questions. The mana in the environment flowed toward his legs, generating a sprint that surpassed his physical limits. No third-level warrior could keep up with his speed, but the mutated Thilku was unique.


    Those specimens had already proven themselves to be faster than Khan in meleebat, so he felt no surprise seeing the Thilku half-turning. The alien wasn''t only reacting to the sprint. It was also preparing a counterattack.


    Nevertheless, as fast as those reactions were, Khan still managed to be one step ahead. The mana inside and outside the Thilku was simply too easy to read, revealing its moves and allowing Khan to flow ordingly.


    The Thilku stretched a finger and released a beam, but Khan appeared on its trajectory before it could cross its first meter. Khan also swung his knife, cutting through the spell and sending its effects forward.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The beam split in half, and the finger behind it suffered the same fate. The cut stopped at the knuckle but still created a window Khan could exploit.


    Khan dived past the huge stretched arm, aiming for the muscr chest. The Thilku showed its fast reactions once again, targeting Khan''s head with its other palm. The attack would smash his cranium before he could swing his knife, but the symphony had already warned him about that.


    A bright purple-red glow suddenly filled the Thilku''s vision, blinding its remaining eye. The alien recovered quickly andpleted the attack, but its palm hit nothing but air. Checking its surroundings didn''t help either due to the blind spot to its right.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The mutated Thilku had heightened senses, but they failed to update it in time. A piercing pain suddenly spread from its right leg, but turning toward it didn''t reveal anything. The alien could only see that a long cut had severed its limb from its thigh.


    Khan didn''t do anything special. He had released res of mana to distract the Thilku before exploiting its blind spot. The alien''s quick reactions were useless as long as Khan remained one step ahead, so his swings always took it by surprise.


    The Thilku continued to turn until its senses finally matched Khan''s speed. It abruptly swung its left arm, but its elbow split right before its eye.


    Khan became visible as the limb''s two halves separated, and the mutated Thilku didn''t hesitate to lunge at him with its right arm. However, Khan ducked before the attack started, sweeping the alien''s remaining leg.


    The Thilku''s physical strength was terrifying, but missing a leg affected its bnce. The sweep made it fall, and a figure jumped past it, targeting its right arm. The alien only saw a purple-red sh before that limb also flew away.


    The ground threatened to shatter when the huge alien crashed on it. Khan worsened that bynding on its throat, opening cracks around its body. Still, the surface held firm, keeping the Thilku''s maimed figure in the middle of the scarlet halo.


    The mutated Thilku was basically powerless. Khan had cut both its arms and a leg, making its fast reactions pointless. The alien still had its mana, but Khan was ready to match it.


    However, no matter how harsh the situation was, the Thilku continued to smile. Its grin didn''t falter even after suffering such heavy injuries. The alien didn''t care about its life and only focused on Khan.


    "[Where are the Nak]?" Khan asked, hoping the new situation would force the Thilku to hear his questions. "[What''s their legacy]?"


    "[A real host]," The Thilku growled, seemingly amused by that development, "[But clueless about his purpose]."


    The mana flew toward Khan''s legs without needing requests. He moved his weight on his left foot, stomping on the alien''s throat.


    "[What''s the Nak''s legacy]?" Khan repeated, refraining from squashing the Thilku''s neck on the spot.


    "[Mana]," The Thilku replied in a hoarse voice, "[Itself]."


    A tinge of fanatism joined the Thilku''s expression, tampering with its words. The crazy im sounded even crazier when spoken from that face. Khan could confirm that the alien truly believed that statement, but it wasn''t much of an answer.


    "[Find the Na-]," The Thilku began to add, but Khan swung his knife before it could finish the phrase. The attack cut the alien''s head in half, killing it on the spot.


    ''Mana itself?'' Khan wondered, tranting those words into his mind while stepping off the corpse. ''The Nak embody mana, so there might be a connection.''


    Landing on the ground didn''t stop Khan''s thoughts. Past theories resurfaced and transformed ording to that new information. He didn''t know how trustworthy that mutated specimen was, but ignoring its words wasn''t an option due to his overwhelmingck of clues.


    ''[The Nak granted you their power],'' Khan recalled words his past opponent had spoken. ''Did the Nak only want to give Earth mana? Why would their legacy involve mana again, then?''


    Hypotheses formed and shattered as Khan tried to sort out his thoughts. He was getting answers, but they were never enough. He still missed pieces of the puzzle, which seemed necessary to make sense of that conspiracy.


    Khan instinctively gazed at thends past the red halo. The answers could be in that direction, but it was too soon to leave. He still couldn''t fly into the wilderness to explore the by himself.


    The symphony behind Khan sent tempting sensations in the meantime, and he couldn''t help but turn. His eyes shone at the sight of the immense battle, but one detail annoyed him. The humanoid wolves had remained in the backlines, ignoring him to send bullets into the sky.


    Khan snorted, opening his mouth to release a clicking cry. His voice spread through the symphony, reaching the humanoid wolves and conveying his meanings.


    Those beasts'' mana shook upon hearing that open challenge. Khan had basically ordered them to fight, and they didn''t ignore him. Their paws left the ground as they straightened their backs and turned, pointing their nk faces at Khan.

 Chapter 620 Strongest

    Onp didn''t make the same mistake as thest time. During Khan''s first call, he had left the scanners to the scientists, nning to review the footageter, leading to him losing face in the following meeting.


    Instead, now, Onp decided to inspect every second of the battle in real-time. The new frontline was still within the building''s range, so distance wasn''t a problem. Yet, the scenes that reached him made him wonder whether his eyes were lying to him.


    The building''s scanners recorded the entirety of the battlefield, but Onp focused only on those pointed at Khan. He also changed their settings to get a better view of his actions, and his thoughts soon vanished, reced by a simple question.


    [How]?


    Onp was an experienced soldier. He was more inclined toward the political side, but that didn''t take anything away from his feats. He had fought. He had served the Empire on many battlefields, but his mind couldn''t make sense of the footage.


    Moreover, Onp knew Cegnore well. He had studied its threats long before taking control of the building. He had also matched that knowledge with footage acquired on-site, which told him exactly how strong the monsters, the humanoid wolves, and the mutated Thilku were.


    Onp even knew a lot about humans. The Empire''s archives had piles of data about those allies, listing every w, quality, and more. Onp had studied all that, but watching Khan still gave birth to that simple question.


    [How]?


    How could a human move so fast? How could a soldier kill so effortlessly? How could anyone fight so many powerful enemies simultaneously and win?


    Onp couldn''t answer those questions, and his doubts only increased as the scanners continued to show surprising scenes. Those machines also kept track of the mana waves, but that did little to rify his confusion.


    The mutated Thilku were stronger and faster than Khan in meleebat, but he easily stopped their blows. Approaching them frontally was a suicidal move, but Khan overcame those bad odds, gaining an overwhelming victory.


    As for how Khan achieved that, Onp didn''t know. The mutated Thilku could react to Khan''s attacks, but he was always one step ahead, making that speed useless. Besides, his knife was deadly, cutting through any protection.


    Beings that would have taken an entire team to defeat fell in a matter of seconds, and Khan even yed with them toward the end. However, he wasn''t done yet, and Onp almost stood up when he saw him going after the humanoid wolves.


    Onp could overlook that the humanoid wolves reacted to Khan''s voice, but what came afterward finally made him leave his seat. The following scenes prevented him from blinking, intensifying the loud question that had filled his mind.


    The humanoid wolves weren''t as strong or fast as the mutated Thilku, but their battle prowess was no joke. Their beams were deadly, and their defensive spells could repel incredible attacks. Moreover, they wielded a tinge of intelligence, allowing them to cooperate.


    However, nothing worked on Khan. He matched the beams'' speed, and his flight pattern always prevented all the wolves from following him with their eyes.


    Also, whenever the humanoid wolves were about to corner Khan, a heavy tremor swept the mana in the area, destabilizing the iing attacks. Those moments created valuable windows Khan didn''t fail to exploit, and the number of his opponents decreased whenever one of them happened.


    As the battle continued, Khan''s superiority became evident, but that didn''te from the fewer enemies. Half- and fully-formed spells began to appear in random ces near the humanoid wolves, unleashing their might and distracting them long enough to seize their lives.


    At times, the spells directly killed those creatures, and Khan didn''t even bother to inspect the event. He ughtered those monsters without deigning them with a single nce, but those small victories never appeased the intensity conveyed by his eyes.


    Even after the battle against the humanoid wolves was over, Onp continued to review those scenes. He applied special filters, unique options, and more to study those exchanges from different perspectives, but his mind struggled to keep up.


    An exnation eventually became evident. The scanners could check the mana in the environment, so Onp could see that the world had helped Khan. The air itself had be his weapon in that fight.


    Nevertheless, that range and sheer power remained surprising. Onp had seen shamans. He had even checked records from the Empire''s archives about those mysterious types of warriors, but Khan stood above anything he had read or seen. The world wasn''t supposed to be that strong or influential, but the footage told him otherwise.


    To add insult to injury, Khan remained a human. He had undergone mutations, but his species didn''t technically change. He was also a mere third-level warrior, but his power crossed the boundaries of his status.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Onp couldn''t refrain from falling back on his seat. He felt drained. Watching Khan fight destroyed the mental hierarchy of power built after serving for years. He couldn''t see Khan as a third-level warrior, but the scanners weren''t lying.


    As hard as it was to ept the truth, Onp couldn''t let himself remain bewildered. He focused on the scanners again and felt no surprise seeing Khan marching toward the remaining monsters. After everything he had seen, he was certain Khan would keep fighting.


    That didn''t only prove Khan''s incredible stamina. It also added the final piece to an idea Onp had begun to think about since the beginning of his inspection. Khan was the strongest third-level warrior he had ever seen.


    ''[The Global Army has given birth to a monster],'' Onp thought, calming his thoughts to focus on the issue at hand. ''[The question is, how can he serve the Empire]?''


    Onp quickly opened another menu on the control desk before him. A picture of Cegnore shot up in the form of holograms, disying how little the Empire knew about the. The surface had long since been mapped, but most of the underground world remained unknown.


    The Empire''sck of manpower had prevented a deeper exploration of the, but a solution was in sight. If Khan remained unstoppable, the Empire could save resources while pursuing its goals of colonizing Cegnore.


    ''[It''s insulting to rely on a human],'' Onp considered, ''[But that''s what he wants, and he has the strength to back up his requests].''n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    .


    .


    .


    Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Khannded on the ground after thest humanoid wolf fell dead at his side. The air reeked of chaos due to the prolonged battle, and that smell invaded his nostrils, empowering the unreasonable urges running through his thoughts.


    ''Is there really no one who can stop me?'' Khan wondered, gazing at the messy battlefield. His brain burned, but desire enveloped that sensation. He had learned to wield incredible power, but the world wasn''t giving him an opponent capable of matching it.


    ''Maybe if I kill enough monsters, Cegnore will send someone worthwhile,'' Khan considered, ''Maybe someone with actual answers.''


    The desire to fight stemmed from the very power inside Khan. It wasn''t unique to the chaos element either. He simply wanted a chance to use the strength he had painstakingly built over the years.


    Still, the chaos element added urges of its own. It didn''t only want to triumph against those weaker copies. Khan''s desperation also turned into anger at the sight of so much Nak''s presence. Cegnore was almost a breeding ground for Tainted animals, and Khan couldn''t allow it to exist.


    Strength ran through Khan''s body. Relying on the symphony to fight set his brain on fire, but he was nowhere near exhausted, especially with the chaos element sending wild urges. He could still fight, and the sea of blue fur was within his reach.


    Khan flew forward almost instinctively, diving directly into the enemy lines to unleash a ughter only he was capable of. The death of the humanoid wolves had made the remaining monsters go wild, granting the Thilku army a stark advantage, and Khan''s arrival deepened that feature.


    The sh between the two armies didn''tst long, but that period had been enough to fill the area with the chaos element. Khan found himself at home as soon as hended among the monsters, and his new ability showed its full power once again.


    The monsters felt as if they were trapped between two armies. On one side, the Thilku''s organized and methodic offensive continued to push them back and create casualties. On the other, spells detonated in random areas, unleashing explosions that killed many specimens.


    Anyone could see that the struggle was hopeless, but the monsters had long since fallen prey to their hunger, bing mindless beasts that kept fighting until theirst breath. That didn''t take long to arrive because the Thilku and Khan attacked them from both sides, and the battle eventually ended.


    As the dust created by the massive fight settled, the Thilku began to search for surviving opponents, but a figure ended up iming their attention. A small human covered in blood stood on the opposite side of the new gorge created by the battle, and the scene at his feet kept those alien eyes fixed on him.


    A sea of fur surrounded Khan. He stood in the middle of hundreds of corpses, but his gaze never lingered on them. He showed his back at the Thilku army while his eyes remained on the gorge''s edge, stretching past that channel to look at the dark horizon. Even that ughter couldn''t satisfy him.

 Chapter 621 Silence

    Khan had never suffered from mana shortage, and unlocking his new ability further eased that consumption. The symphony was his ally, allowing him to use the energy in the environment rather than his own.


    That ability was incredible for many reasons. The spells'' power was often below what Khan cast with his own hands. Yet, their range and flexibility were far superior, enabling unpredictable attack patterns Khan had never been able to deploy in the past.


    Of course, a trade-off existed. Khan didn''t really benefit from the lower mana consumption but paid the full price of the new technique anyway. The effort drained his mind, tiring him in ways normal training couldn''t.


    Luckily for Khan, Cegnore provided inputs that kept his mind awake, clear, and screaming. The overwhelming Nak''s presence made him unable to stop, rest, or feel tired. The absoluteck of internal conflict gave birth to a fuel that pushed Khan beyond his physical limits.


    Khan gazed at the gorge''s edge while his senses pushed his vision past it. The symphony shone inside his mind, creating a detailed picture of the environment above and far away. The area was clear, but the night had just begun.


    The pointless inspection eventually made Khan lower his gaze. The sea of fur invaded his vision, filling it with blood and gore. Thousands had died in that massive battle, but he couldn''t feel any pity for mere beasts. Part of him even held a grudge against them.


    Nevertheless, a sudden faint re of mana touched Khan''s senses, and his legs moved. He teleported before his allies, violently stomping the ground to crush the neck of a seemingly dead wolf.


    The creature released a hoarse screech while its throat crumbled, and death soon arrived. The scene with Khan at its center had interrupted the search for surviving opponents, making that specimen slip by.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The Thilku before Khan understood what had happened, but no gasps or surprised noises left their mouths. They had managed to follow Khan with their eyes, and those organs remained on him. His appearance was almost monstrous, but he embodied strength more than any other warrior they had ever seen.


    Khan felt conflicted about the emotions conveyed by those Thilku. On one side, his pride red since the awe flying in his direction confirmed his new social status.


    However, power could lift walls, especially when its sources were mysterious. Khan was too strong for unknown reasons, making him unapproachable in the eyes of those alien soldiers.


    Khan''s first instinct was to say something, but drops of blood suddenly fell from his hair, running over his forehead and threatening to end up in his eyes. He quickly wiped the liquid away, but that only updated him on his appearance.


    Flying left and right among explosions of dust and gore wasn''t exactly a clean business. Blood, body parts, and more had often fallen on Khan during the battle. He disregarded that while fighting, but the break allowed him to notice the issue.


    Khan was drenched from head to toe. His shoes released squashing noises on the dry patches of the muddy ground, and his uniform felt heavy due to all the dirt and blood it had absorbed. The battle didn''t spare his hair either, hiding its blue shades and applying a dark dye.


    The Thilku snapped back to reality after Khan wiped the blood away and began searching for survivors. The army took life, clearing any threat still lingering on the battlefield. No one dared to involve Khan in the task, so he could only oversee it.


    The following orders were unclear. Usually, the building would rece the Thilku who fought on the frontline, but the n had changed. The Empire was advancing right now, and Khan wondered what role he had to y in all of that.


    Since the army was searching for survivors, Khan gracefully stepped into the air, slowly flying toward the gorge''s edge to resurface. The corpses of the mutated Thilku and humanoid wolves appeared in his view, but he ignored them to focus on the areas past the red halo.


    ''It''s usually peaceful after such a big deployment,'' Khan thought before gazing at the other side of the gorge.


    The vehicles in the distance were illuminating the battlefield, and the two spherical machines were slowly approaching them. The Thilku seemed to have deemed the area safe enough for those robots to advance.


    It was unclear how much the trench would advance after the battle, but another curious event happened while Khan pondered on the topic. One of the vehicles in the distance turned off its headlights before riding toward the gorge, elerating to reach it as fast as possible.


    The vehicle parked at the gorge''s edge, and a Thilku came out of it to shout orders to any team leader nearby. The army was making a ruckus while searching for survivors, but that voice still echoed into the channel and reached the intended ears.


    Khan also heard those orders, and his gaze instinctively snapped on the horizon past his shoulder. The advance would continue, which probably required his voice again.


    As the news spread, Naoo and part of her team approached the gorge''s edge and began to climb its brittle wall. That surface was by no means stable, but the Thilku directly stabbed their limbs into it to lift themselves.


    Khan knew what was happening, so he moved to wee hispanions. Soon, Naoo and five Thilku resurfaced and straightened their backs to stand before him.


    "[We have new orders]," Naoo directly announced. "[The offensive must continue]."


    "[Should I use my voice again]?" Khan wondered, curious about the oue of that action.


    "[The army has to resurface and take a new position first]," Naoo exined. "[Your voice wille afterward]."


    Khan nodded before facing the dark horizon again. He wasn''t exactly taking things slowly but was still avoiding beingpletely reckless. Yet, it seemed Onp was eager to advance more than him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    That decision worked in Khan''s favor. The farther he was from the building, the higher his chances of escaping the scanners. The opportunity might not arrive that night, but the time to leave would draw closer as long as the army kept advancing.


    The army finished checking the gorge before moving toward its wall to climb it. Needless to say, that surface couldn''t endure the troops'' weight and crumbled, lifting a cloud of dust.


    The event helped the army since the wall transformed into an oblique surface the soldiers could cross. Soon, almost everyone stepped outside the gorge before rearranging themselves into different teams.


    The army had suffered casualties, and the injured had remained inside the gorge to wait for medical attention. Most of them could still fight, but the threat of mutations was too big to ignore.


    The advance resumed once the army was ready. The various team leaders led each group forward, and Khan remained at Naoo''s side to wait for further orders. He almost expected her to scold him for his previous sudden offensive, but she didn''t mention any of that.


    The silent march into deeper parts of Cegnore was bound to push the army into the darkness, but the vehicles behind it advanced, too, keeping the soldiers inside the red halo.


    The in didn''t change, but the various team leaders eventually stopped,unching cries that even Khan understood. The army settled into its new area, and Khan lifted his hand since he knew what the soldiers expected from him.


    Khan performed the call, and utter silence returned. The troops weren''t at their best, and some groaned to express their exhaustion, but no one dared to sit. Even Khan remained on his feet, tightly wielding his knife to wait for more opponents.


    However, no matter how long the army waited, Cegnore didn''t answer. Three hours passed inplete silence, and boredom began taking over the generally tense atmosphere.


    At times, Naoo nced at Khan, and he reperformed the call, but the silence didn''t break. Cegnore didn''t want to send anything to the army, but thetter didn''t move either. Both the and the building had unwavering intentions.


    Khan performed the call two more times before slight rity began to spread in the dark sky above the red halo. The vehicles started to turn off their headlights due to their futility andpletely retreated once morning arrived.


    A cold but soft breeze blew on the army as the morning took control of the area. The Thilku inspected their surroundings in confusion, surprised that even Khan couldn''t bend the under his will. After what they had witnessed, they couldn''t believe Khan could fail at something, but the reality was different.


    Of course, no one tried to put the me on Khan. The Thilku weren''t even disappointed about that development. Except for theck of additional fights, they also gained more information about Cegnore, which was the whole point of the offensive.


    The team leaders began ordering everyone to retreat once the morning unfolded. The massive army crossed the gorge once again to return to the other side of the in.


    Meanwhile, the spherical machines crossed the army to follow the opposite path. A few teams of Thilku had joined them to apany their trip to the other side of the gorge. Khan had long since jumped into the air, so he spotted those robots digging a trench on the new frontline.


    Khan inspected the scene for a few seconds before diving toward the building. He was in no mood to wait for the army''s slow march, and his curiosity didn''t get in the way of his return either. He was the first to arrive before the main gate, and its doors opened even if the other Thilku were still far away.


    The event alone could tell Khan many things, but he stepped forward and waited for the building''s insides to answer. The decontamination process started and ended, and Khan found Vaasa waiting for him once the doors opened.


    "[Captain Khan]," Vaasa announced before Khan could say anything. "[Onp is waiting for you]."


    Khan didn''t even bother to nod. He strode forward, and Vaasa had to hurry to lead the way. Both knew where they were going anyway, and the path showed no surprises.


    The two crossed the main hall, the corridor, and the control room after that to enter the small meeting area. Onp was already inside, tinkering with the interactive desk, and Vaasa remained outside while Khan approached the table.


    The meeting room closed, leaving Khan and Onp alone. Thetter didn''t lift his head, but Khan could sense his attention on him. He was buying time, but not out of disrespect or due to political strategies. The alien was simply hesitant.


    "[I can still fight]," Khan announced, willing to join the following offensive.


    "[Ah]!" Onp eximed, lifting his head to re at Khan. "[I know. You''ll fight every night from now on]."


    Khan could only smile at that order. That was exactly what he wanted.


    "[The Empire will use you until you aren''t useful anymore]," Onp continued. "[Is that fine with you]?"


    "[Of course]," Khan replied, even if far different meanings shone behind his eyes.


    Onp''sst words didn''t sound like a question, but Khan couldn''tin. He had gotten his desired role. Being at the forefront of the Thilku''s offensive would grant him the opportunity he sought. Something even told him it wouldn''t take long before his chance arrived.

 Chapter 622 Underground

    The meeting with Onp barelysted a minute, so Khan returned to his team''s corridor before the army could even approach the building''s main gate.


    That privacy allowed Khan to take care of immediate problems. He was slightly injured, but that wasn''t an issue. Instead, his dirty state was terrible, and the habits he developed with his girlfriends forced him to take a bath.


    The Thilku habitations didn''t waste space, and the same went for their bathrooms. However, they were made for beings far bigger than Khan, so the small shower felt spacious rather than cramped.


    Thoughts swirled in Khan''s mind as blood and gore flowed down his body, spreading a red puddle around his feet. The Thilku used a cold, cloudy liquid to wash themselves up, but Khan barely felt anything due to the warmth inside his brain.


    The battle had gone well, too well even. Khan didn''t only dispose of the mutated Thilku. He had also handled the intelligent wolves, basically putting himself on the top of Cegnore''s food chain.


    However, that wasn''t enough. The natives had yet toe out, and the Thilku army didn''t advance much when Cegnore''s size became part of the equation. There was still much to do, especially regarding the''s underground world.


    An ordinary human or intelligent being would feel a sense of defeat before the immensity of a, but Khan was different. The bigger the battlefield, the more enemies he would meet, increasing his chances of getting answers.


    Khan threw the dirty uniform into theundry spot before hurrying into his room. He only needed to bring his knife with him since the building would handle the rest. He would probably run out of clothes if he kept breaking them, but the issue never crossed his mind.


    The brainstorming during the shower highlighted one w Khan could still fix. Unlocking the full power of the Niqols arts had greatly boosted his battle prowess, and he could still improve on it. The same went for the fusion with the Nele arts.


    However, an aspect of Khan''s skillset had yet to show its real use. His knowledge and thetest busy period were to me for thatck of growth, but he still wanted to work on it. The Thilku runes could hold real power, and his greed demanded it.


    ''These are next,'' Khan thought, using his phone to release holograms he had prepared beforehand.


    Books, reports, and notes about the Thilku runes unfolded in Khan''s vision. He had been able to study the whole time, but his focus on the Niqols arts had distracted him in the recent period. However, his mana wanted more now, and he agreed.


    Exhaustion had yet to arrive, so Khan spent a long time alternating between his studies and meditative session. His new state made him focus on the runes due to the hungry urges it conveyed, but he didn''t forget to work on his foundation. He couldn''t rely on the [Blood Vortex], but his attunement level had to increase anyway.


    Due to Khan''s performance on the battlefield, no one bothered him. He could probably request special benefits, too, but his studies made him ignore the matter altogether.


    Khan nned to sleep to prepare for the following night, but a call suddenly reached his room, warning him that the afternoon was almost over. He had missed his chance to rest properly and felt no surprise about it. He actually smiled, d that part of him didn''t change.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Scenes that had be the norm for Khan unfolded as usual. Various teams left their habitations and gathered in the main hall, only for Khan and Naoo to cross them to leave the building first.


    Most of the army was already on the in, but more teams wereing from the passages connected to the trench. Vehicles were also on the move, carrying metal tiles or simr equipment toward the new frontline.


    The faint disrespect from the previous night never appeared. Each soldier moved away or directly stopped walking when Khan was nearby, and fervent or curious gazes always followed him along. He was a celebrity, although for slightly different reasons there.


    The general atmosphere altered the symphony and conveyed meanings Khan could hear. He knew what the troops were thinking. He could understand what that species saw him as. For some, Khan was a monster. For others, Khan was someone to follow and, eventually, surpass.


    While not everyone had positive feelings for Khan, he still appreciated that atmosphere. The Thilku were asplicated as humans in certain social fields butcked the inclination for ploys, which was unbelievably rxing.


    That rxation vanished once the army was ready for Khan''s call. The massive group had crossed both gorges and the new channel dug by the spherical machines, getting further than they had ever done on the in. Still, the time to im that ce as theirs had arrived now.


    The call led to another massive battle in which Khan showcased his stark superiority once again. Cegnore sent forward thousands of monsters, multiple teams of humanoid wolves, and two mutated Thilku, but nothing could stop Khan.


    That scene repeated itself on the following nights. The army upied the frontline, and Khan unleashed his voice, starting a massive battle.


    Each battle ended in a win, and Khan''s impressive performance always limited the casualties on the Thilku''s side. The army also advanced every time, straying further away from the building.


    The growing distance from the building created security issues, but that wasn''t Khan''s problem. He only focused on fighting and moving the frontline forward. Everything else didn''t matter.


    After a whole week spent achieving the impossible on the battlefield, Khan had be a legend among the Thilku. He was never tired. He never suffered heavy injuries. He neverined, and he never lost. Khan had be the embodiment of victory, and the Thilku grew used to trusting him.


    However, another big change arrived before that positive trend could stretch past the first week of battles. As usual, Khan and the army went into the frontline at night, but the calls didn''t produce any results.


    Khan obviously tried to call the monsters more times, but Cegnore didn''t answer, and that silence spread until morning arrived. The army felt forced to retreat at that point, but the problems weren''t over.


    One night off was fine. It would actually make sense after the continuous massive battles the army faced every night. After all, Cegnore had already proven that one deployment a day was its limit.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Still, that break didn''t stop at one night. It stretched to the next day and the one after that. In the end, a full week went by without a single battle, and no matter how much Khan called, the monsters didn''t show up.


    Everyone knew that trend couldn''t be random, but the actual cause remained a mystery. Khan was obviously to me, but his calls were just a tool. The Thilku wanted to understand Cegnore''s reasons, but they were unclear.


    After the seventh day in a row without any response to Khan''s calls, Onp called an emergency meeting with all the team leaders. The event happened early in the morning and involved Khan, even if he was forced to wait outside.


    Onp and the team leaders gathered around the interactive table, silently staring at the holograms of Cegnore floating among them. They all shared the same confusion, and looking at those pictures didn''t clear it.


    "[Talk]," Onp ordered. "[What''s going on out there]?"


    "[We don''t know]," One of the team leaders scoffed. "[The shaman is doing his thing, but the beasts don''t arrive]."


    "[Maybe they got scared]," Another team leader suggested.


    "[They aren''t normal beasts]," A third team leader snorted. "[They have goals and intelligence. It might be a trap]."


    Onp didn''t make the army advance during the peaceful break. It was too reckless to send his soldiers forward without knowing what the monsters were up to.


    Nevertheless, one week with no progress was simply too long. The Empire had sent reinforcements for the offensive, and Onp couldn''t just waste them guarding empty ground.


    "[Are we really scared of traps from mere beasts]?" The second team leader asked. "[We should walk right into them and defeat those creatures anyway]!"


    "[We wouldn''t be able to assist the injured on time]," The third team leader pointed out. "[We''d have massive number of mutations every time]."


    "[Let the human face them then]," The second team leader shouted. "[He wants to serve the Empire? Let him pay the price]!"


    "[Half of your team would be dead without that human]," Onp coldly stated. "[He isn''t one of us, but his strength is very real]."


    "[He can handle himself then]," The second team leader pressed on. "[I don''t see the issue. We have the perfect bait]."


    "[That''s true]," The third team leader agreed. "[We are already using the shaman. There''s no point in holding back now]."


    Onp ran his gaze across the meeting room and only found approving gazes. Truth be told, he didn''t want to leave all the important roles to Khan. Still, he was more expendable than his troops.


    "[Ah]!" Onp cried. "[Let him in]."


    Vaasa didn''t have a ce at the table but was still inside the room. She stood near the door, which she didn''t hesitate to open once the order arrived.


    The door opened too quickly to give anyone the time to react. Yet, Khan was already standing before it as if he knew that moment would have arrived. That stance slightly destabilized the team leaders'' confidence, but Onp made sure to seize the initiative.


    "[Hurry inside]," Onp ordered, and Khanplied. He entered the room while letting the door close behind him.


    "[You have shaman arts, right]?" Onp questioned as if he didn''t know the answer already.


    "[If that''s what you want to call them]," Khan calmly replied, unaffected by the pressure radiated by Onp and the other leaders.


    "[What''s your opinion on the recent peace]?" Onp promptly continued to cover for theck of leadership he experienced in that situation. "[Did the run out of beasts]?"


    "[Why are you asking me]?" Khan snickered, nodding at the holograms. "[You know the answer already. You know where to find more monsters]."


    "[Speak clearly, shaman]!" The second team leader shouted. A few res flew in his direction, but the audience favored his request.


    "[The beasts wille if they hear my calls]," Khan sighed, "[But my voice can''t pierce the ground. If you want more battles, stop ying on the surface and fight the real war underground]."

 Chapter 623 You

    The bold, insulting statement spread silence in the meeting hall. Only the second team leader felt the urge to say something, but Khan''s words made him think and shut up.


    Cegnore''s underground world was no secret. Even the Global Army knew about it. However, mapping it was no easy feat. The had caves and arrays of underground rivers, making the whole environment hard to explore.


    The brittle ground and the unknown dangers added issues to the idea of mapping the''s underground world. The Thilku would easily fall into traps or struggle to advance at a decent pace. They would be in enemy territory with no sight of an actual goal.


    Khan knew those problems very well, but his statement remained wless nheless. His continuous calls had probably emptied the surface of monsters, leaving only the underground world as a possible target for a safe expansion.


    The team leaders and Onp couldn''t help but seriously consider the idea. They had limited options, and all of them were dangerous. Yet, their army currently had one asset capable of easing some of their worries.


    It didn''t take long before the team leaders broke their stern inspection of the holograms and began to throw asional nces at Khan. Their thoughts were obvious even without checking their mana, and Khan had connected the dots even before suggesting the idea.


    The underground world was dangerous, but the Empire had a shaman on their side. Khan''s presence could prevent traps, natural issues, and more. He was the perfect asset during a blind exploration, and his battle prowess would protect eventual teams apanying him.


    By using Khan, the Thilku would also stay true to their restrictions on technology while securing their position on the. Still, ignoring Khan''s species and organization wasn''t as easy as it sounded.


    The issue had nothing to do with xenophobia, biases, or pride. Giving Khan such a role would give him immense power over the mission. He would be the leader and sole enabler of the offensive, which was akin to putting the Global Army in charge.


    The idea would often involve long discussions among trusted peers, but the Thilku were different. The team leaders knew they had no authority there, so they eventually looked at Onp, waiting for his decision.


    As for Onp, he had been the only onepletely focused on Khan since the suggestion. He inspected every corner of his face, but only confidence filled his vision. Khan didn''t need to wear a fa?ade when the intensity of his feelings hid his thoughts.


    The inspection continued until Onp felt to understand the reason behind the suggestion. He saw the deeply personal meaning fused with that confidence. Something was up, but alternatives didn''t exist.


    "[Come with me]," Onp eventually ordered, and some groans resounded in the room. A few Thilku lowered their faces and crossed their arms in annoyance while others shot warning res at Khan.


    Khan felt the urge to reply to each re. Still, his curiosity took over when Onp activated a function on the interactive desk, revealing a circr drawer in the wall behind him.


    The new spot had a rune with a simple meaning at its center, butplicated security measures enveloped it. Khan could recognize its function, but the many lines around the symbol told him he couldn''t activate it.


    Onp didn''t waste time. He approached the rune and spent a few seconds tracing its lines. The secret drawer expanded further, moving part of the wall until a tall rectangr door became visible.


    Khan''s curiosity became unbearable, so he crossed the room without bothering to ask for further permission. Even the team leaders'' res couldn''t distract him from that new passage, and Onp opened the door once he was behind him.


    A rtively narrow corridor illuminated by a faint red halo opened, and Onp dived right into it without adding anything. Khan followed closely behind, and the door behind them closed in the meantime.


    The corridor wasn''t too long and expanded near its end. By the time another metal door appeared, the area had berge enough to hold four Thilku, creating a small square of some sort.


    Khan was too curious to speak. His eyes followed Onp''s movements, watching him activate the rune on the new door. The passage soon opened, revealing a circr tform that reminded Khan of machines he had already seen.


    Onp stepped forward, so Khan imitated him. The two reached the tform''s center, and its doors closed. Red lights promptly shot out the rune on the ceiling, scanning Khan and Onp, and the floor began to descend once the inspection was over.


    As Khan had expected, the tform was an elevator, but its destination still surprised him. His senses couldn''t pierce metal, but the scent of appealing energy began to echo past the lift''s surfaces, making him approach the wall to touch it.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Those odd sensations became clearer when Khan ced his palm on the cold metal. He could somewhat understand where he was going, but the machine didn''t give him the time to question Onp since the tform suddenly stopped descending.


    Natural mana blew inside the elevator once its doors opened. A cold breeze joined it, and the sound of running water invaded Khan''s ears. The call grew louder than ever, pushing Khan outside the machine without requesting permission.


    Slightly slippery rocks ended up under Khan''s shoes. He found himself in a cave many levels below the Thilku building, and red light illuminated it, showing many details otherwise invisible.


    The ce was big and humid. A vast rocky hall expanded from the tform''s cylindrical channel, with four glowing rectangr items attached to its visible top, where the metal met the ceiling.


    Four streetmp-like machines stood on the hall''s edges, holding chest-sized spheres at their top. A few rocky passages also stretched near them, expanding in areas the red illumination couldn''t reach. Those items were probably scanners, but something else soon captured the entirety of Khan''s attention.


    A small river flowed in the left part of the underground hall, crossing it from side to side and disappearing behind rocky walls. Its clear water shone under the red illumination, but Khan only focused on its scent. His mana core told him that the call was louder there.


    Onp remained silent the whole time. His confidence intensified ever since Khan touched the elevator''s wall, and that feeling turned into certainty when he saw him approaching the river. The Thilku had studied the area thoroughly, but Khan was reaching the same conclusions in a matter of seconds.


    Khan jumped on the river''s edge before crouching down. He stared at the clear water, trying to spot clues with his superior vision. He also stretched his right arm, leaning forward until his fingers touched the cold liquid.


    The call grew clearer as soon as Khan immersed his fingers. His core learned something on an instinctive level, making Khan turn toward his right. His eyes fell on the small opening in the rocky wall where the river disappeared, and his thoughts swirled to draw conclusions.


    "[That''s why the trench is in that direction]," Khan announced. He could have kept those thoughts to himself, but the Thilku with him could add answers his senses didn''t reach yet.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Onp was still inside the elevator for security measures. He had gotten his tablet hours ago, so exposing himself to Cegnore''s air was dangerous. Yet, that risk felt worth it after hearing Khan''s statement.


    The trench''s location wasn''t random, and the Thilku didn''t only study the monsters'' patterns to decide it. Their scanners had picked up the same clues as Khan when they reached that underground area. The infection was stronger near the river''s source, marking one of the homes of the mutated beings.


    Khan began to re at the rocky wall. That surface was nothingpared to his element. He could destroy it with a single spell, but the symphony told him what would happen afterward.


    The underground area was stabler than the surface, but Cegnore remained fragile. Digging with spells was too dangerous. Khan was certain the entire hall would crumble on itself if he tried.


    Khan leaned even more forward to immerse his face in the water. The river was slightly deep, but his focus was on the passage to his right. It was big enough to fit a few grown men, but the risk of drowning was huge.


    Khan temporarily gave up, retreating to sit on the rocky floor. He rubbed his hair while cold drops ran down his face. He had a target now, but his senses alone couldn''t bring him to it.


    "[We mapped part of the river''s path]," Onp suddenly revealed, recognizing Khan''s conflict.


    Khan suddenly turned, fixing his intense eyes on the elevator. Onp was partially hidden from his position, but both understood that they were listening to each other.


    "[We also have found another entry point]," Onp continued. "[The excavators have been here for a while, too. The Empire is ready for an underground attack]."


    "[What were you waiting for]?" Khan wondered, even if he partially knew the answer. The Empire had to clear the surface first. An expansion underground would have been too dangerous otherwise.


    "[Apparently]," Onp scoffed, "[You]."

 Chapter 624 Puppet

    Onp didn''t waste time in pleasantries. He didn''t even exin the meaning of his words, but Khan understood it. Some things couldn''t be said, and that admission was already too much for a Thilku.


    The environment was maic for Khan, but the admission kept his gaze on the elevator. He couldn''t see Onp properly but felt the need to owe him some respect. It must have taken a lot of resolve to say such words, and Khan couldn''t dismiss it.


    For a species as proud as the Thilku, putting so much trust in an outsider was a grave insult. Onp had even gone beyond that, vaguely hinting at something deeper. In Onp''s mind, Khan had almost be the key to everything, the only soldier who could solve Cegnore''s situation.


    Khan could see those meanings in Onp''s mana but didn''t add anything. That was another proof that his power had touched an incredible realm, a level capable of crossing the barriers between species. Even Onp was showing his respect, and Khan stayed silent for the same reason.


    After a few seconds, Khan broke his stare and inspected his surroundings again. The vast underground hall had opened a new path, but Khan couldn''t pursue it from there. He had to wait for the Thilku to advance once again.


    That realization dispersed any curiosity Khan still had for the hall. He suddenly stood up and returned to Onp''s side. The Thilku didn''t even look at him before tinkering with a rune to bring the lift up.


    After returning inside the building, the elevator performed a decontamination process before opening up, bringing the two back into the corridor and, eventually, the meeting room.


    The room still had the team leaders, who inspected Khan and Onp without hiding their curiosity. They tried to find answers in the two''s faces, but both had nothing but coldness and intensity to convey.


    "[We must discuss the offensive now]," Onp announced as soon as he stepped into the meeting room.


    Khan understood the silent order and strode forward, crossing the room without meeting anyone''s gaze. He had no ce in those discussions, so he left the area, ready to iste himself in his habitation.


    The team leaders let Khan go without uttering anything, but their eyes converged on Onp as soon as the metal door closed. They wanted to know the oue of the underground visit, and Onp knew exactly what words he had to say. It was just hard to believe a simr day had arrived.


    "[The Global Army created a monster]," Onp announced, "[But the humans are too stupid to use him. The Empire won''t make the same mistake]."


    A few team leaders wanted toin for political reasons, but the memories from the battlefield closed their throats. Khan was something that couldn''t exist in the world, and they were lucky to have him on their side.


    .


    .


    .


    A quiet day passed in which Khan mostly remained stuck inside his room. He left only to eat, and the main hall showed that he wasn''t an exception. Many teams that usually fought at his side were there, feasting during the night shift and confirming that the building didn''t deploy them.


    Khan was in no position to question whether attacks came during the night and didn''t really care too much. He knew Onp was nning something entirely different, and the following day showed the result of that wait.


    In the middle of the morning, Naoo summoned Khan into the corridor, and a surprising scene unfolded in his eyes. A few members of her team were also outside, waiting for him with stern and resolute stances.


    Khan immediately spotted the onlymon aspect among thosepanions. He had watched them fight, so he knew they were the best warriors in the team. The building was creating an elite group for reasons Khan knew far too well.


    Apa was among thosepanions and the only one willing to break her stern stance to nce at Khan. That gesture barelysted a fraction of a second, but Khan appreciated it anyway. Even with the barrier erected by Khan''s battle prowess, Apa still didn''tpletely cut ties with him.


    Of course, the situation didn''t allow anything else, and Naoo wasn''t the type to waste time in friendly exchanges. As soon as Khan appeared outside, she shouted a short cry before hurrying toward the exit.


    The team followed Naoo, and a familiar scene unfolded. Small groups hade out from their respective habitations to gather in the corridor and approach the main hall, which featured the usual mass of Thilku waiting on its sides.


    Khan had seen that scene many times already, but something was different now. The general awe among the troops waiting on the hall''s sides described the importance of that mission. The deployed Thilku weren''t going to a simple battlefield. They had been chosen to strike Cegnore''s core, and the audience could only respect them.


    Leaving the building showed a simr but also different environment. The army had spread on the in to upy the area between the two trenches, and most teams stood around a huge hole in the middle of it.


    Naoo''s team and the other troops chosen for that special mission headed directly for the hole, and standing on its edges revealed its vast insides. The Empire had dug it overnight, and Khan could only praise that incredible efficiency.


    The hole was big enough to fit a medium-sized ship. Fifteen or so soldiers could descend through it simultaneously, and the Thilku had also attached simple elevators or metal staircases to its walls.


    Rectangrmps hanging from the walls filled the hole with red light, making its distant bottom visible. Most Thilku could only see a rocky floor from the surface, but Khan instantly knew about the presence of an underground river due to the symphony.


    The river wasn''t the only detail conveyed by the symphony. The stench of synthetic mana also rose toward the surface, revealing the presence of machines. Khan connected those sensations to the excavators mentioned by Onp, but guessing soon stopped being enough for him.


    Naoo and the other team leaders didn''t even start arranging the troops when Khan jumped into the hole. His figure quickly elerated due to Cegnore''s gravity, crossing a few hundred meters in seconds, but his graceful steps eventually dispersed that momentum.


    Khan stopped falling right above the rocky floor, and stretching his legs made him step on it. Hisnding was silent and uneventful, but his heavy presence made the underground workers turn and gasp. They had reacted instinctively, but Khan ignored them.


    An underground hall expanded around Khan. The area was bigger than the one visited with Onp and had more machines. They were mostlymps attached to the rocky ceiling and circr scanners standing near the walls, but bigger vehicles existed near the river.


    A small team of soldiers stood on both sides of the river''s path, watching the water flow away from them. Two huge passages stretched behind them, expanding toward the source of that underground channel.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The passages were big enough to fit five Thilku each, andmps hung from their ceilings, revealing big rectangr vehicles at their bottom. Excavators with mouth-like tools on their front dug through the rocks, expanding the tunnels forward.


    The excavator also took care of the ce''s stability. Whenever they crossed a few meters, mechanical arms stretched from their sides and stabbed beacon-like tools into the rocks. Those devices rhythmically released faint waves of synthetic mana, reinforcing the tunnels and preventing them from crumbling.


    Khan only needed a minute to confirm that everything was okay. The machines made that underground expansion possible, but the strategy had ws. If monsters appeared before the vehicles, the Thilku would be forced to rece them.


    Moreover, the tunnels didn''t exactly give the teams enough room to fight. Khan could probably spot ambushes with his senses, but fighting in those passages wouldn''t be smart. Cegnore''s ground was too brittle for third-level warriors.


    "[Do they have a specific trajectory]?" Khan couldn''t help but ask since his senses couldn''t provide answers. He also advanced toward the teams, but that only increased their hesitation.


    "[So]?" Khan pressed on, stopping a few meters from the teams to crouch beside the river. He immersed his hand in the water and confirmed that the direction was right, but theck of answers kept his concerns alive.


    The silence annoyed Khan to the point that the workers faltered when he looked at them. His eyes were so intense even people with no sharp senses could read them. He demanded answers, and those Thilku couldn''t refuse him.


    "[There''s a bigger area ahead]," The worker''s leader exined. "[The excavators shouldn''t be needed at that point]."


    The exnation didn''t give Khan much to work with, but elevators arrived downstairs in the meantime. Naoo and other team leaders came out of them, dispersing the temporary annoyance that had taken over Khan.


    The team leaders'' arrival marked the beginning of a tedious process. The other troops had to use the same elevators and remaining staircases to reach the underground hall before arranging themselves into battle formations. The mission involved only a hundred of them, but that still required multiple trips.


    Khan approached the excavators while waiting for everyone to descend. The workers stepped away whenever he walked or flew toward them, but the inspection from the new position didn''t reveal much, forcing him to leave the tunnels.


    The soldiers were ready by then. They had split into two big groups, with the smaller one arrayed before the tunnel upied by Khan. Some wielded scanners andmps, but that was the only technological presence among the troops. Everyone else had simple weapons that involved no firearms.


    Khan didn''t receive any specific order, but his role was clear. Naoo walked at his side while both groups entered the tunnels, following the excavators as they dug through the rocks.


    The advance was slow, but the general tension kept everyone busy. Only Khan was rtively calm and noticed how the tunnels began to descend. They were going deeper while reaching areas almost adjacent to the new trench.


    The march was uneventful, but the walls before the machines eventually crumbled, showing a massive open space that brought humidity into the tunnel. The sound of running water also enveloped both teams, and the excavators and troops wieldingmps got to work to illuminate the area.


    As soon as the red light stretched forward, an immense cave became visible. The ce featured wet surfaces and natural tunnels that expanded in every direction. Multiple rivers also crossed it, filling most of the floor.


    Khan had stepped forward even before the artificial illumination arrived. The ce was truly immense, but the multiple rivers distracted him from those superficial features. Those channels ran in different directions, hiding the path toward the source.


    The Thilku left the excavators behind and stepped into the immense area, doing their best to create battle formations on that slippery surface. The presence of so many rivers confused them, but they had scanners to fix that. Yet, most gazes converged as if they knew he would be faster.


    Khan jumped toward the nearest river without showing the slightest hesitation. He immersed his hand in the water and closed his eyes, focusing entirely on his senses.


    The call grew louder in Khan''s mind, but confusion joined that feeling. The array of rivers created a messy scenery, but his mana stepped forward to clear it. Chaos recognized chaos, and Khan opened his eyes to look in a precise direction.


    The team leaders were waiting for that reaction and promptly looked in the same direction. Khan was eyeing thergest river and the huge tunnel that originated it, and the troops didn''t hesitate to march toward it.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The wet and uneven ground made the troops advance slowly. At times, the Thilku had to jump over small rivers to keep moving forward, but Khan didn''t have those problems. He walked in the air, carefully approaching that big, dark, and loud entrance.


    Khan got near the entrance before hispanions were even close, but a glow only he could see suddenly ran through the river, forcing him tond and hold his ground.


    Orders resounded at Khan''s abrupt movement, making the troops halt their advance and follow his gaze. He was looking at a specific spot near the passage where the sudden glow had umted, and the water there rose to create a familiar figure.


    A Thilku-shaped puppet made of water grew from the river and stood on its surface. The figure was almost transparent, but themps'' red illumination highlighted its figures, making it shine in that loud environment.


    The puppet ignored Khan and the troops to look at the other side of the river, and its water shook to release sounds that resembled Thilku words.


    "[Your voice is powerful]," The puppet said. "[We have watched you, real hos-]."


    The puppet couldn''t finish its line since a purple-red needle stabbed its head, detonating to destroy the upper part of its body. The water fell back into the river at that point, dispersing the glow only Khan could see.


    The area suddenly grew colder and tenser, making many eyes converge on its source. Most soldiers looked at Khan, but he didn''t bother turning and jumped forward, flying into the passage.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Shoutout to FreddieMontgomery for the Magic castle! A special thanks to the other readers for sending gifts, too. Know that I see all of them, and feel grateful every time.

 Chapter 625 Focus

    Khan''s sudden advance made the teams hurry forward. The Thilku had difficulty advancing in that slippery environment while maintaining their battle formation, and getting to the big passage worsened their situation.


    The river was vast, but the passage was even bigger, featuring sidewalk-like roads at its sides. Yet, those paths were slightly narrow for the Thilku, forcing them to abandon their battle formations to advance in lines of two.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The march grew even slower due to that additional hindrance. The troops didn''t want to swim to the other side of the river either to avoid splitting their forces, and breaks happened once the darkness became unbearable.


    The soldiers quickly rearranged themp-wielders to add rity to the area and resume their advance, but anxiety began to spread. They were blind in enemy territory, and their scanners could prove themselves useless underground.


    The anxiety intensified quickly since updates about the troops'' position resounded. The teams had crossed the new trench, touching territories below thetest battlefields. If monsters were still in the area, they were bound to meet them from now on.


    The Thilku handled that suffocating feeling well, but reassurance and rxation still arrived when a familiar figure appeared in the distance. A few soldiers couldn''t help but heave sighs of relief when they saw Khan hovering above the river.


    Khan could have seized that chance to abandon the Thilku, but part of him wanted to stay true to the agreement. Moreover, leaving hispanions alone in that unmapped area was too dangerous. He didn''t want to me himself for their deaths if something happened.


    The Thilku didn''t know Khan was waiting for them and had sensed their arrival long ago. His stance was too serious even to give that idea. He kept himself in the air with almost unnoticeable ankle movements, his gaze was fixed straight ahead, and his left hand was tightly gripped his knife. He looked battle ready, and he was.


    Still, once the Thilku got close enough, Khan broke his stare to inspect them. That narrow, slippery passage truly was annoying for those aliens'' huge frames, but Khan knew an open area would soon arrive.


    Khan exchanged a nce with all the team leaders before flying ahead, restraining his speed to let the Thilku follow him. He still put enough distance from the team to fulfill his role as a scout, but the red light never stopped shining on his back.


    Of course, Khan reviewed the previous surprising event. Talking through water was no easy feat, especially from a distance that stretched past his senses'' range. Still, the area didn''t have any clue. A stream of energy had simply flowed through the river to perform that technique before disappearing.


    The words spoken by the puppet were also strange, but Khan couldn''t find them surprising. The hive mind theory gained ground, but it was also possible that special monsters had inspected him from far away.


    Going in the opposite direction of the river''s flow brought the group deeper underground and, eventually, inside another open space that looked bigger than the previous. Multiple rivers appeared once again, creating an intricate array, but different details distracted both Khan and the teams.


    The Thilku immediately grew worried about the ce''s size. Themps in their hands couldn''t reach the hall''s walls and barely touched the ceiling, revealing its wet and rocky surface.


    Instead, Khan could mostly see thanks to the symphony, and its flow revealed the presence of tens of tunnels that stretched past his senses'' range. The area resembled an underground node of some sort, and it was unclear where those passages led.


    ''This is dangerous,'' Khan thought before the symphony proved his worries right. Ripples spread through the natural mana inside the many tunnels, growing stronger with each passing second and hinting at imminent danger.


    Khan absorbed anything he could for a few seconds before turning toward the Thilku. The soldiers had temporarily stopped to take the area in, but their location wasn''t suitable for what wasing. It was too small, and a tiny river even hindered eventual battle formations.


    "[Get there]!" Khan shouted, pointing at arger patch of rocks between two rivers that could hold the entire group.


    Receiving orders from a human could make most Thilku cry in anger, but Khan''s reputation had gone a long way during the past weeks. He also drew his knife, which spoke louder than words.


    Naoo and the other team leaders didn''t hesitate to shout short cries and lead their troops toward the appointed location. The group ran, stomping their feet tobat the slippery rocks and jumping over any river in their path.


    Luckily for the Thilku, the area had a suitable location nearby. There were better ces, but Khan felt that reaching them would have been too difficult and lengthy with the impending danger.


    Once settled, the Thilku dropped their scanners andmps and wielded their weapons to create two defensive lines. They only wanted to hold their position, and Khan didn''t hesitate tond before them when they were ready.


    "[How many]?" Naoo directly asked. Khan had searched for her eyes before turning, so she knew something was up.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "[I can''t say]," Khan admitted. There were only a hundred soldiers down there, which wasn''t nearly enough to endure an attack of thousands. However, the area to defend was small, which made that eventuality barely survivable.


    Khan''s unclear exnation worsened the tension that had begun to spread. The Thilku were relying on him for that exact role, and he wasn''t fulfilling it properly.


    "[I''ll support from the above]," Khan added, tapping the rocky floor to send himself into the air. "[You deal with anything that reaches you]."


    Seeing Khan leaving the battle formation intensified the anger born from the vague exnation. It almost seemed he was abandoning the Thilku, choosing to be in the air to increase his survival chances. That was a ploy the aliens would expect from an outsider, but what followed dispersed any growingint.


    A wild coldness invaded the area, expanding into the immense underground hall in an attempt to fill its every corner. Purple-red light also shone, oveing themps'' red halo and lifting many eyes.


    Khan hovered near the ceiling and unleashed his mana without bothering about patterns or efficiency. He only had one goal in mind. He wanted to fill the environment with as much chaos as possible before the battle unfolded.


    The underground hall was no different from a vast in. Many would have confused it for an open space on the surface without that rocky ceiling. Khan couldn''t influence something so big too quickly, but he definitely tried.


    The doubts experienced by the Thilku disappeared at that sight. They didn''t know what Khan was doing, but the sensations that reached their minds were clear. Khan had no intention of shying back from the iing battle. He would fight as hard as possible.


    Confirming Khan''s stance was reassuring, but the more experienced warriors among the Thilku noticed troublesome issues. The underground world had firmer surfaces, but Cegnore remained brittle. The hall might not endure a battle, especially if Khan went all-out.


    Simr doubts invaded Khan, and his inspection of the area never dispersed them. He could sort of guess what those rocky surfaces could endure due to the symphony, but his findings weren''t certain. He was working with hypotheses, which wasn''t ideal when tons of rocks could submerge him.


    ''It wouldn''t be the first time I survived something like this,'' Khan thought, ncing at the ceiling before looking at the Thilku. ''They are the only problem.''


    Strategies formed and shattered in Khan''s mind. The iing battle was bound to challenge his control over his new technique, but he was ready for it. He had to. Everyone would die otherwise.


    Khan could feel the Thilku wanted more reassurance, but the situation didn''t allow him to split his focus. He closed his eyes, pushing his thoughts outside his mind to fuse them with the strands of mana that belonged to him. Khan needed precision in chaos. He needed perfection among the wildest type of energy.


    The rivers'' noise prevented the troops from learning about the iing mess until it was toote. The scanners tried to warn them, but the loud water submerged them. They noticed what wasing only when themps illuminated the threat, and their ranks tightened to face it.


    The red halo turned blue near its edges and began to hide the many rivers. A wave of howling fur had filled the horizon, taking control of every corner the Thilku could inspect.


    Hungry monsters had left the tunnels and were charging at the team, recklessly jumping into rivers or on theirpanions to get to their prey first. Theck of intelligence in that behavior was reassuring on the surface but made little difference underground.


    The various team leaders were the calmest of the bunch, but that was a fa?ade. Their eyes tried to go wide as soon as they started counting the number of opponents. A few hundred wolves had appeared in their sight, and it was unclear how many stood behind them.


    A few Thilku shot hopeful looks at Khan, but he was unreachable. His feet barely moved to keep him in the air while his entire concentration was on the symphony. He had even stopped releasing mana, spreading doubt among the troops.


    The troops'' training kicked in after they gave up on Khan''s miraculous strength. If they had to die there, they''d take as many Tainted animals with them as possible. That was thest service they could provide to the Empire, and their pride demanded that they aplish it.


    The beasts grew closer, sending their nefarious breath forward. Their howls became deafening, suppressing the rivers'' noise. They shortened their distance until only a few meters separated them from the troops, and thetter began to cry to dere their battle intent.


    However, when the first line of wolves got within leaping range, a series of purple-red uneven masses materialized right above them. Almost thirty appeared in specific areas of the pack and began to take the shape of spears before a tremor detonated them simultaneously.

 Chapter 626 Hills

    Experienced soldiers wouldn''t have the time to react to the sudden event, let alone realize what was happening. Yet, the Thilku had witnessed a simr scene multiple times already, and it never failed to shock them.


    Reassurance arrived as soon as the Thilku saw the iconic purple-red color. That shade didn''t belong to the monsters anymore after the recent battles. Khan had monopolized it, turning it into an ally in the Thilku''s eyes.


    The half-formed spears detonated, sending scorching and violent mana that took the shape of unstable pirs. The explosions enveloped the first lines of monsters, killing them and setting their fur on fire before threatening to expand toward the Thilku.


    Nevertheless, the Thilku had already lifted their arms and weapons to protect their faces or other sensitive spots. That wasn''t their first rodeo, and no surprise arrived when the violent mana stopped expanding a meter from them. Khan had calcted his attack properly, showing unbelievable precision for such a massive and wild offensive.


    The pirs acted as a defensive barrier for the Thilku''s team, protecting it from the rest of the monsters. The aliens waited for their eyes to get used to the blinding light before lowering their arms and straightening their weapons, but the wild mana didn''t give them a chance to do anything else.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan was in apletely different situation. The Thilku were safe and waiting for the wild mana to disperse, but he wasn''t limited to the ground. No barriers existed near the ceiling, and monsters were stilling out of the tunnels.


    The environment was full of Khan''s will, unaffected symphony, and ripples. It was a chaotic environment where harmony and intensity were struggling to coexist. One was bound to fall prey to the other, but that worked fine for Khan.


    ''Flow!'' Khan ordered to himself, splitting part of his brain from the burning sensation caused by the previous attack.


    The entirety of the symphony transformed into meanings and patterns that guided Khan''s actions, telling him where to go to activate his will. He shot forward without looking at the path ahead before lifting his right hand to touch a strand of natural mana he had affected.


    The strand of mana shook at the gesture, churning and transforming until the mere air began to shine with colors that normal soldiers could see. A purple-red glow appeared and flung downward, generating an explosion as soon as it touched azure fur.


    Khan had moved above an area filled with monsters, so the explosion expanded in the middle of the pack. The pirs had made the Tainted animals lose track of the Thillku, so the new attack moved their attention toward the ceiling.


    A hundred more beasts had entered the underground hall while Khan''s offensive unfolded. The explosions had killed many monsters, but the pack remained a mess of odd heads, bodies, and fur that struggled to get to the frontlines.


    That mess worked in Khan''s favor, preventing the monsters from reacting to the new attack in time and spotting him right away. He only had to tap the air to disappear before the first set of eyes pointed at the ceiling, and dying howls followed.


    Khan barely kept track of his surroundings or position. Wet rocks pressed on his shoes, and fur brushed his face. He hadnded without knowing why, but that didn''t matter. The symphony had guided him there, and his will red.


    The spherical version of the Wave spell expanded from Khan''s figure, killing and pushing away many monsters. The technique added chaos to the symphony, conveying Khan''s wills and affecting the natural mana, which became ready for a following attack.


    The spell had cleared Khan''s surroundings, but his eyes were on the spots of the symphony that had fallen under his control. They didn''t have enough mana to turn into big explosions, but his order made them give birth to multiple needles that followed the gravitational pull.


    The needles stabbed a few wolves before detonating, but Khan ignored them to continue moving. The Tainted animals around him did the same, fueled by their reckless hunger, and many dared to pounce at him since he was in sight.


    Seven wolves jumped,nding on the same spot only to hit mere rocks. Khan had disappeared, but one beast stopped moving. Its head suddenly split in half, too, and the cut stretched through a third of its body before exhausting its energy.


    The pirs'' wild mana eventually dispersed, freeing the Thilku of their defensive barrier. The aliens were ready for that moment and jumped forward as soon as the purple-red color lost most of its intensity. However, nothing could have prepared them for the scene waiting for them.


    The monsters knew the Thilku were behind their barrier, and more creatures had arrived to refill their ranks. The pack outnumbered the troops four to one, but none of those Tainted animals were looking at them. A single human had monopolized their attention.


    The Thilku felt shocked seeing the monsters past the burned corpses showing their backs to them, but that didn''t make them hesitate. The aliens advanced, jumping over the dead Tainted animals to deliver killing blows meant to maximize their deadliness.


    The pack suffered countless casualties in a single assault, and many monsters turned to focus on the Thilku. Still, thetter retreated, rearranging themselves into a defensive battle formation that limited their openings.


    The monsters didn''t care about the Thilku''s superior battle strategy and leaped forward, jumping over their deadpanions tounch a reckless offensive. Numbers were still on their side, and their best bet was overwhelming the aliens with that.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    However, purple-red shes ran through the leaping monsters, cutting their limbs and heads or generating explosions. An invisible figure had disrupted the creatures'' advance, greatly reducing their danger.


    The Thilku didn''t even think. They saw an opening, so the team leaders shouted orders that their underlings followed. The Thilku could rely on their strong physique, so many stepped forward to sh with the remaining falling monsters.


    Khan wanted to do more for the Thilku, but the symphony was clear. If he decided to limit their casualties, the monsters would overwhelm them. Disrupting the pack from the inside was the only strategy that could lead to victory and allow hispanions to survive.


    The Thilku and Khan fought different battles. The alien team struggled fiercely to protect their position against the waves of monsters jumping over the corpses umting in their surroundings.


    Instead, Khan continued to run and fly, cutting or destroying anything on his path or daring to walk below him. Simple monsters were powerless in his presence, but he still did his best to maximize his deadliness.


    Time was against Khan since the monsters threatened to submerge the Thilku. He had to kill as fast as possible to reduce the number of opponents hispanions had to deal with, so he often opted for vast explosions.


    The hall inevitably began to shake due to the unrestrained mess. Cracks opened among the rocks, and the issue wasn''t limited to the floor. The walls, tunnels, and ceiling also began to suffer from the same fate, and asional pebbles fell as more tremors spread.


    Of course, no one in the area minded that trend. Actually, Khan was the only one with enough time to notice it, but his hands were tied. He was limiting the explosions to the floor and crowded areas, but everything else was up to the hall.


    A few tunnels crumbled, and rivers crossed their edges to expand through the new cracks. Water sshed everywhere, and monsters and Thilku alike lost their footing when the environment changed.


    The trend seemed unstoppable, but things soon quieted down. The number of monsters diminished to the point their stomps couldn''t produce tremors anymore. The explosions also grew rarer, allowing the hall to regain a part of its stability.


    The Thilku had long since stopped being able to see their surroundings. Since they were fighting in the same small area, the monsters'' corpses kept umting around them, creating a hill that acted as a gory barrier.


    The monsters still climbed the hill to dive at the Thilku, and their recklessness was often rewarded. Tainted animals were literally raining on the troops, preventing them from deploying most ordinary countermeasures.


    The aliens still did their best with spells and martial arts, but a few soldiers among their ranks died anyway. That was impossible to prevent, but the offensive grew weaker sooner than the Thilku expected before stoppingpletely.


    The temporary peace didn''t break the Thilku''s battle stances, but the silence that followed and stretched for multiple seconds eventually made them curious. The team leaders exchanged nods, sending a few soldiers toward the gory hill to inspect the world outside.


    The soldiers had an easy time climbing the corpses with their big and strong bodies, but those masses of muscles froze when they peeked at the rest of the hall. They also became unable to speak since the scene mesmerized them.


    Eventually, someone at the top of the hill made an approving gesture, so the team worked together to open a path among the corpses. The Thilku created a gory and bloody passage, giving them ess to the same mesmerizing scene.


    Slightly more than four hundred monsters had invaded the underground hall, and most of those specimens were still there, lying dead among cracks, rocks, and water.


    Dark shades tainted the rivers, with some directly carrying masses of fur away. The underground hall was big enough not to feel cramped with so many bodies, but fuming and on-fire hills still existed and spread everywhere in the Thilku''s vision.


    That scenery was nothing strange for the Thilku. They saw something simr every night on the surface, and the same went for the figure standing among that ughter. Khan hadnded on a pile of fuming corpses, and his knife''s handle rubbed his hair as he stared into the distance.


    The Thulku''s arrival made Khan turn, and a mixture of happiness and sadness invaded him. The team had almost lost twenty soldiers, which wasn''t much for the threat they had to face. Yet, every life mattered to Khan.


    It didn''t help that the battle''s aftermath added details to the symphony. Khan could get a clearer idea of the tunnels, and his unreasonable urges made him voice a simple statement. "[We must advance]."

 Chapter 627 Heir

    The monsters had left deep marks on the symphony and carried natural mana. Those traces weren''t much, but Khan could draw conclusions anyway, vaguely understanding where each tunnel led.


    Of course, Khan couldn''t understand the level of danger connected to each tunnel, but his stance didn''t change. He wanted to go deeper into Cegnore''s underground world. Hispanions were the only problem.


    Naoo and the other team leaders had heard Khan clearly, but inspecting their ranks generated worries. They didn''t lose too many soldiers, but each casualty counted for small teams.


    The wise decision would be to retreat ande back with a bigger team and better equipment. However, hundreds of wolves had died too. The area probably was emptier than ever, and leaving would give the monsters the time to refill it.


    The Thilku wanted to believe they were in charge of that decision, but the chain ofmand became obvious when Khan looked into the distance again. The aliens instinctively followed his gaze, and some had already epted to advance.


    It didn''t help that Khan''s expression left nothing to the imagination. Everyone could see how eager he was to keep exploring, and the team leaders eventually came to the same conclusion.


    "[Retrieve the equipment]!" Naoo was the first to shout to her underlings. "[We are going]!"


    The other team leaders echoed Naoo''s orders, adding more directives that arranged the soldiers into a battle formation once again. The process was fast and smooth, but many eyes fell on the deadpanions. The Thilku wanted to retrieve their capes, but that could be a hindrance in eventual battles.


    Khan noticed that behavior and almost feltpelled to let a fewpanions retreat. However, the unclear danger ahead forced him to stay silent. He probably wouldn''t need that manpower, but reducing the team''s size would increase the risk for the remaining Thilku.


    The team advanced after restoring their battle formation, and the red halo touched new areas, dispersing more darkness. Naoo and the others carefully approached Khan, minding every crack and river in their path, and questions resounded once they reached him.


    "[What do you see]?" Naoo asked, looking in the same direction as Khan. The team had instinctively put her in charge ofmunicating with Khan, and she didn''t shy back from that role.


    "[Some paths are too dark]," Khan exined, his eyes darting left and right, "[But the bright one rises. We might have to fight near the surface]."


    The soldiers couldn''t help but exchange questioning gazes. Theirmps still didn''t reach the tunnels, but Khan seemed to know their general direction. Yet, he described them in terms of brightness, which was confusing.


    "[Bright means beasts, right]?" Naoo questioned.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[Probably]," Khan confirmed. "[I can''t see how deep it is]."


    The answer was far from ideal, and Khan shared the Thilku''s confusion. He wanted better clues, but the current area couldn''t give them. Advancing was the only way to learn more about Cegnore''s underground world.


    Khan studied the symphony a little longer before sprinting toward a nearby big river. His sudden movement startled the Thilku, who began to chase after him. However, they stopped when they saw him crouching toward the water.


    The river''s flow grew clearer when Khan immersed his hand inside it, but his attention went past that. Corpses had fallen into the water, tainting itsposition. Still, Khan''s core filtered all that away, focusing only on what triggered its call.


    Khan quickly stood up to fly to another river to repeat the process, and better answers arrived at that time. The information carried by the water fused with the symphony''s shades, adding details to the scenery sensed before.


    The Thilku didn''t dare to move to avoid disturbing Khan''s inspection, but their curiosity red when he stood up again. He didn''t fly to another river, so Naoo stepped forward to shout more questions.


    "[So]?" Naoo asked in her usual angry tone.


    Khan didn''t answer but stepped into the air, remaining visible while slowly walking ahead. That gesture didn''t say much, but the Thilku understood it was time to follow him.


    The river had pointed Khan toward the brighter and rising tunnel, which became visible only after crossing a few hundred meters.


    The symphony inside the tunnel grew darker with each passing second since the natural mana quickly covered the marks left by the monsters. However, Khan felt quite certain, and the red halo eventually fell on it, revealing its size.


    The tunnel''s entrance was big butcked paths that could be walked on foot. The river running from it had rtively shallow sides, but the Thilku couldn''t be happy about it.


    Nevertheless, no oneined. Khan flew inside the tunnel, and the Thilku followed him, jumping into the water and making their way forward. They had to support themselves on the wall to avoid falling, but that wasn''t enough to break their resolve.


    The advance through the river was hellish for the Thilku. Their tall and strong bodies helped against the water''s flow, but the rocks under their feet were uneven, often creating holes deeper than their legs.


    The river''s side never got deep enough to submerge the Thilku, but they couldn''t befortable. They couldn''t even create battle formations in that environment, but the figure flying above them reassured them.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    As always, Khan sensed hispanions and adjusted his pace to remain visible. Still, most of his attention remained on the tunnel, which rose and narrowed without bringing meaningful changes to the river.


    The symphony stated that the tunnel was pretty long, and the Thilku drew simr conclusions after minutes passed. They were still carryingmps, and their light never touched areas that might mark the passage''s end.


    The narrowing of the tunnel eventually stopped, so the team didn''t worry about it anymore, but theck of a finishing line became a growing problem. The group had long since surpassed the new trench, and the passage didn''t even try to end.


    The far too advanced location didn''t bother Khan. He didn''t even consider that to be a problem since he had always wanted to dive deeper into Cegnore. Yet, the staleness of the symphony began to trouble him. The environment didn''t change, but it was still strange for the natural mana to remain so stable.


    Khan''s suspicion continued to grow, but the area didn''t offer answers. Theck of strange clues was the actual odd feature, and he couldn''t exin it from his position.


    Both Khan''s suspicion and the Thilku''s worries intensified as that seemingly endless march continued. However, once the group was near the one-hour mark, Khan suddenly stopped advancing, and the team leaders promptly shouted simr orders to their underlings.


    All the Thilku lifted their heads to question Khan, but he was too busy inspecting the environment to mind them. He had found a clue, and everything grew clearer afterward.


    The symphony obviously interacted with the river, gaining shades conveyed by its water. Still, even when the tunnel slightly changed, the natural mana remained mostly the same. That harmony felt almost artificial due to how stable it was.


    The same went for the ripples caused by the Thilku. The symphony changed due to their presence but also recovered quickly. The rivers seemed to wash away any influence, and Khan''s was no exception.


    The mana inside the river was to me for that pattern, but a possible reason appeared when Khan saw a faint wall in the distance. Even with his senses, that structure was barely noticeable, but it poured the same stability as the tunnel into the water, forcing it to convey it to the symphony.


    The wall wasn''t only made of mana. It confirmed the artificial nature of the tunnel''s symphony and put a culprit behind it. That stability was intentional, and Khan knew it could onlye from an intelligent being.


    "[There''s danger ahead]," Khan announced without turning. "[I''ll take a look]."


    Khan sprinted forward, but the Thilku didn''t dare to leave everything to him. They elerated, trying to get into a battle formation inside that narrow and annoying environment. Yet, by the time they managed to arrange themselves, Khan had already crossed the red halo.


    The barrier was only a faint and weak wave of energy, and Khan flew directly through it. His will instantly red when he peeked past it to affect the symphony as much as possible, but the scene that unfolded in his vision silenced his urges.


    The tunnel had finally ended. Khan was hovering before a circr area that was only a quarter of the Thilku''s vast main hall. A rocky path also encircled the clearke at its center, and ripples spread on its surface due to the watering from below.


    Khan automatically memorized those details, but his attention was elsewhere. The area was dark, but the symphony shone in his eyes, and five brighter masses of mana tried to blind him.


    Four of the five masses radiated familiar vibes. Khan recognized them as mutated Thilku, who sat cross-legged on opposite spots of the rocky sidewalk.


    Instead, Khan had never seen or sensed the mass at theke''s center. He struggled to understand its actual features from the symphony alone, but its aura felt connected to the environment and water.


    Moreover, the fifth figure wasn''t swimming. It was also sitting cross-legged, but not on rocks. It floated on the water without ever piercing its surface.


    All five masses belonged to third-level warriors, so Khan didn''t worry about his safety. Yet, his curiosity was something else altogether, which focused on the evident connection between the water and the unknown figure.


    "[Did you follow your call]?" The figure floating at theke''s center said in the Thilku''snguage, but its voice was soft and melodic, "[Or did you chase mine]?"


    Khan could confirm the speaker wasn''t a Thilku from the voice alone. Even its size was smaller than those aliens. Its shape resembled humans, but the symphony couldn''t be too detailed.


    "[You do have your mind]," The figure continued, and Khan could feel it standing up, its feet using theke''s surface as if it was ground. "[Maybe you can fulfil the Nak''s wish]."


    "[Why]?" Khan responded, almost snapping. "[Because I''m a real host]?"


    "[Host]," The figure repeated. "[Host is wrong]."


    The figure tapped the water, and a tremor ran through theke, releasing seemingly random noises. However, a thought had fused with it, and Khan''s mind instantly tranted it.


    ''Potential heir,'' Khan heard in his mind, and his unreasonable urges returned as the Nak''snguage resounded in his ears.

 Chapter 628 Options

    Khan had read about that word in Mister Wulfo''s report, but hearing it through the Nak''snguage added a different meaning to it. Khan truly understood what the fifth figure wanted to convey, and his anger returned.


    "[I''m not seizing any legacy]," Khan dered, his mana leaking from his figure to affect the environment. "[I''ll find the Nak only to get their nightmares out of my head]."


    Khan didn''t know why he implied the nightmares belonged to the Nak. His wording had been almost instinctive and was connected to some guesses he couldn''tpletely confirm.


    After the battle against the hand, the nightmares had gained powerful feelings that didn''t belong to Khan. The mutation had nted an alien seed inside his mind, and its purpose had grown clearer on Cegnore.


    "[You see the map]," The fifth figure eximed, surprised, "[But your mind didn''t crumble. You do have potential]."


    Khan''s mana raged once again, and his palms touched to generate a spell. The chaos spear instantly appeared, shining in all its glory and bringing blinding light to that dark environment.


    The spear''s light finally allowed Khan to absorb the details the symphony couldn''t convey. The four mutated Thilku were simr to those fought in the past, different only in the blue patches of fur growing from their backs and shoulders. Still, Khan barely looked at them since his eyes remained glued to the fifth figure.


    The fifth alien couldn''t be more different from the Thilku. Its facial and body features were very human, but its skin had a pale bluish tone, and long straight white hair flowed from its forehead to its nape.


    The main difference with humans was in water-rted features. The bluish alien had two gills on its neck''s sides, and long, darker fins grew from its forearms. Its face was slightly sharp, its ears were slim and pointy, and its feet were long and t.


    Khan''s urges slightly quieted down at the sight of white hair. Those wet strands awakened distant memories that filled his ears with the sound of a familiar waterfall. His mind went back to a cave he loved, distracting him from the scene.


    "[Is your mind still here]?" The alien asked. "[Maybe you don''t have as much potential as I thought]."


    Those words brought Khan back to the real world, and anger ensued. He had to leave Liiza to continue chasing the Nak. His worries about Monica involved the same issue. He wouldn''t be free to live or love as long as the curse remained inside him.


    "[You''d better have what I need]," Khan threatened. "[I''ll kill you and find others from your species otherwise]."


    "[It''s fine]," The alien reassured, showing a simple smile that revealed its sharp teeth. "[I''m meant to die today]."


    Khan ignored that confusing statement and threw his spear toward theke''s center. The alien didn''t move, but a figure still appeared on the attack''s trajectory. One of the mutated Thilku had jumped forward to block the spell with its body.


    The mutated Thilku pushed its arms forward, enveloping its palms into a wild mass of mana that acted as a barrier. The spear shed with it but failed to pierce it and began to lose stability.


    The Thilku umted mana to prepare for the imminent explosion, but a figure materialized at its side, and a purple-red sh unfolded.


    The mana inside the alien dispersed, and a long cut appeared on its almost bald head, splitting its skull in half. The Thilku died, and the spear exploded, enveloping its lifeless body with its scorching pir.


    The water shook and opened in the spot below the pir. Waves rose on theke, spreading toward the rocky passage and submerging it, but the bluish alien merely flowed over those disruptions.


    Khan dived directly toward the blue alien, but another huge figure jumped in his path. A mutated Thilku flew horizontally toward theke''s center, piercing waves and umting mana in its open mouth to prepare a spell.


    The enraged state didn''t deafen Khan''s senses. He knew the Thilku would have jumped toward him even before the actual event, but that wasn''t an issue. The sky was Khan''s domain, and he showed no mercy to those who challenged him.


    Mana flowed toward Khan''s legs, teleporting him behind the Thilku. Thetter tried to react, but a purple-red sh unfolded, splitting its torso in half and applying the same effects to its right arm.


    Khan was only a few meters above the bluish alien now, but the remaining two Thilku also jumped forward, upying his sides and opening their screaming mouths. They wanted to release Wave spells even if the attacks risked hurting them, but Khan was ready for that too.


    Masses of mana materialized behind the Thilku''s napes, gathering energy and condensing in the shape of needles. Those spells instantly exploded, sending their dangerous energy toward those sensitive parts.


    The mutation had strengthened the Thilku, but mere skin couldn''t do anything against the chaos element. The needles'' explosions dug through their flesh, crossing muscles and tendons to touch the bones and killing them.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The Wave spells never got the chance to appear. The two Thilku continued to fly forward until their momentum dispersed, bringing them to theke.


    Khan was ready to charge at the blue alien again, but a mass of mana gathered under him, attracting his attention. The Thilku cut in half was still alive. Its insides leaked into theke while it drowned, but its mouth still pointed at Khan and released a Wave spell.


    The attack pierced the water and filled the area with its blinding light. It even threatened to touch the ceiling, but that didn''t happen because Khan was right in the middle of it.


    The mutated Thilku''s incredible resilience and resolve surprised Khan, but he had already deployed countermeasures for the spell. He opened his mouth, and a clicking cry ran up his throat as mana res shot in every direction.


    The defensive technique couldn''t win against the Wave spell, but it bought enough time to make Khan cross the attack unscathed. His shoes and trousers took fire, but the sprint dispersed the mes, leaving charred rags behind.


    Khan''s shoes fell into theke as he sprinted downward before stopping abruptly. He wanted to deliver the finishing blow, but the mutated Thilku died mid-spell.


    Only Khan and the blue alien were left at that point. The former hovered a few meters above theke while thetter floated on it. They were finally alone, but that momentsted less than a second.


    As soon as Khan prepared his mana, familiar figures crossed the barrier covering the ce''s entrance. The team of Thilku made their way upstream, almost swimming to get to the underground area in time.


    The barrier had prevented Khan from sensing hispanions, but the situation didn''t change. He still had someone to question and, eventually, kill. The Thilku''s arrival couldn''t distract him.


    Nevertheless, the blue alien knew the Thilku wereing, and their arrival was perfect for its needs. Before Khan could resume his offensive, the alien sent a strand of energy into theke, enforcing a behavior that made the water boil.


    Khan instinctively stopped to study the event. The alien''s mana fused perfectly with the water, splitting into different strands that applied their effects everywhere. Theke almost became alive, boiling without needing any heat, and the underground chamber shook as a consequence.


    The Thilku had just started taking the area in and climbing on the rocks around the walls when the chamber began to shake. Orders immediately flew, forcing the team to stand still while the team leaders decided what to do. Still, the only one who might know the answers wasn''t looking at them.


    Khan couldn''t help but find simrities between the technique and the Nele arts. Yet, the alien''s connection with the water felt more personal, deeper even. It didn''t use much energy, but a massive event was still unfolding.


    ''Is the water itself willing to help?'' Khan wondered, but the earthquake eventually captured his attention. The underground chamber looked about to crumble.


    "[What will you do]?" The blue alien suddenly announced, nodding at the tunnel. "[If you wish, you can go back]."


    "[Are you nning on killing both of us with this]?" Khan asked, sending mana to his knife to make it glow. "[It won''t work]."


    "[You have two options]," The blue alien continued, ignoring the question. "[Retreat or follow me]."


    Before Khan could ask anything, the blue alien let itself fall into theke. Its entire figure disappeared, and checking its mana told Khan it was diving quickly, swimming at an incredible pace.


    The sudden action shocked Khan. His mind went nk for a second before his thoughts finally returned to flow. Countless simtions happened inside his mind as the alien''s mana signature got farther away. He would soon lose track of it, but following it wasn''t so simple.


    First of all, Khan wasn''t alone. He was responsible for hispanions'' lives and would hate himself if something happened to them.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Also, the blue alien was literally underwater. That probably was its natural environment, and Khan didn''t know how he would fare there. Even if he could defeat it, the ceiling would crumble on him afterward.


    A normal person would never consider such a dangerous option, but Khan had never been suited for that description. Besides, his mana raged while he checked the distancing alien. He knew what he wanted even while simtions continued to fill his mind.


    "[Get back]!" Khan ordered, ring at the Thilku before summoning his mana. He deployed one of his pilot''s techniques, creating a barrier around his head that could hold some air before diving headfirst into theke.

 Chapter 629 Flowers

    Naoo and the others couldn''t utter a single word, but seeing Khan diving into theke brought them back to reality. The team had to make a decision, and pride tried to get in the way.


    The Thilku shared Khan''s problems and could add another one on top of them. They couldn''t let Khan go alone, and it wasn''t only a matter of his crucial role in the new strategy. Khan also wasn''t allowed to see certain areas of Cegnore.


    Nevertheless, the seconds spent thinking about the issue ended up deciding for the Thilku. Cracks began to open everywhere, eventually reaching the ceiling. Boulders started to fall, turning theke into a deadly trap.


    Of course, the rain of rocks wasn''t too intense. Yet, the underground chamber had never stopped shaking, so things were bound to worsen. The Thilku were a step toote, so orders to retreat into the tunnel resounded.


    Meanwhile, Khan was underwater. His eyes were open, and light reached them even among thatplete darkness. He could spot the mutated Thilku''s drowning corpses leaking mana into theke, but his attention was on the quick figure getting farther and farther away.


    Khan was no great swimmer. His feet had gotten used to all kinds of surfaces, including mere air, but being underwater still restricted his movements, hindering his martial arts.


    Still, Khan had gotten used to most environments, and his body was strong enough to perform movements that could produce the intended effects. His legs bent and straightened, and his feet adhered to ayer of water before generating a massive eleration.


    The water was harder to endure than the air. Khan had to close his eyes while straightening his body as much as possible to limit the number of exposed surfaces.


    The effort didn''t really seed. Khan couldn''t match the blue alien''s swimming speed or efficiency. The difference between their bodies wasn''t something techniques or spells could solve.


    The pilot''s technique also struggled to remain intact underwater. The pressure was too great, so the barrier around Khan''s head threatened to pop and release that breathable air.


    The breaking point approached quickly, so Khan switched tactics, releasing the shaking barrier meant for the cold of open space. He covered his body in the technique, bringing warmth and protection to his skin, reinforcing the bubble around his head in the process.


    The shaking barrier slowed Khan down, but that was better than losing his air reserve. Yet, once his momentum vanished, he had to disperse the technique to elerate again. He wouldn''t have any avable surface otherwise.


    The process wasted more time, and the blue alien never slowed down in the meantime. Khan sensed it reaching the bottom of theke and entering some underwater passage, making its mana signature harder to follow.


    Khan knew he was losing the alien. He wasn''t only slower than it. The breaks were also widening the distance between the two. He had to change his approach to keep up with it, leaving him with a single option.


    The shaking barrier vanished once again while Khan released res of mana in every direction. His energy pushed the water away but created surfaces he was more used to exploit. He forcefully transformed the environment, using an approach Jenna had mentioned many months ago.


    The new sprint showed Khan''s top speed, allowing him to catch up a bit with the alien. However, water eventually surrounded him again, forcing him to rely on the shaking barrier to protect his exposed skin.


    The arrival of the barrier slowed Khan down, but that wasn''t an issue anymore. He had found the right approach and didn''t hesitate to replicate it. Only a second had to pass before he released res of mana, clearing his surroundings to rely on the previous sprint.


    Of course, that wild release of mana didn''t improve the underground chamber''s stability. Everything started crumbling faster than before, but Khan only cared about keeping up with the blue alien, which he did.


    Swimming blindly didn''t hinder Khan. The blue alien had left tracks of its passage in the water, and its presence was still within the range of Khan''s senses. He could dive directly into the underwater tunnel at theke''s bottom, and his res continued toe out to allow him to elerate.


    The underwater passage was narrow and full of spiky rocks. The res of mana also destabilized it, making part of it crumble. Yet, Khan didn''t care about anything and opted to sacrifice the entirety of the area to retain the speed necessary to get his answers.


    Boulders fell left and right. The tunnel behind Khan crumbled on itself as violent mana crashed on its rocks. The air inside his bubble also diminished quickly, but no doubts reached his mind. His entire being focused on a single task without worrying about potential consequences.


    A couple of minutes went by, in which the sharp rocks scraped Khan all over. At times, he bumped into them on purpose to avoid wasting time. He was sacrificing his body willingly, and no pain could stop him.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The bubble eventually became superfluous since Khan depleted the air inside it. His lungs also ran out of it as more seconds passed, but hope appeared. The tunnel erged, and a vaster area showed its presence in Khan''s senses.


    The blue alien dived directly for the vaster area, crossing its water before jumping out. Khan released his mana to imitate it, and his eyes finally opened when air surrounded him again.


    Khan took a deep breath as all his senses scanned the area, imprinting it in his mind. He was in another underground chamber with a bigke upying its center, but light illuminated its rocky surfaces.


    Simple nts with bluish stems and bright, spherical tops grew near theke''s shores, stretching toward the rocks in their surroundings and climbing the walls nearby. They were nothing more than extremely long flowers, but their presence added a calming atmosphere to the area.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "[They are beautiful, aren''t they]?" The blue alien announced, walking on the shore to approach a nearby flower. "[I''ve been told they didn''t always have this color]."


    The scenery couldn''t distract Khan anymore. He sprinted, gracefullynding behind the blue alien before unleashing his presence. The air quickly fell under his control, but his pressure was too much for a few flowers, which shattered and turned dark.


    "[Oh]," The blue alien sighed, looking at the destroyed flowers. "[You must be dying for answers]."


    "[Tell me what you know]," Khan said, lifting his knife to point it at the alien''s back. "[Don''t even try to lie or fight back]."


    "[I''ve seen how good your eyes are]," The blue alien eximed, turning toward Khan before brushing his hair. "[Does this have a special meaning to you]?"


    Reason abandoned Khan''s mind. He shot forward, swinging his knife toward the alien''s throat. He had never been faster. That was his best execution yet, but the alien only smiled at that iing attack.


    Thatck of meaningful reactions didn''te from the alien''s unawareness. It knew full well what wasing for it but remained still anyway. It looked helpless in that situation, and Khan stopped his knife before it could pierce its throat.


    Wild urges filled Khan, but his curiosity was stronger. He kept his knife on the alien''s throat, pushing it enough to leave a shallow cut. A drop of intense blue blood ran down the injury, but the alien''s smile never faded.


    "[You must have understood it]," The blue alien''s gentle voice reached Khan''s ears. "[My species isn''t the best when ites to fighting, especially without water]."


    "[Drop your tricks]," Khan threatened, his voice spreading chilling coldness. "[Tell me what you know]."


    "[It''s surprising]," The blue alien stated. "[A host should know enough. Don''t you feel the Nak inside you]?"


    "[I do]," Khan scoffed, applying a bit of strength on the knife. "[How do I get them out]?"


    "[Why would you get them out]?" The blue alien wondered. "[They blessed you with an important task, the most important of them all]."


    "[They almost killed entire species]," Khan replied. "[That''s not a blessing]."


    "[Almost]," The blue alien pointed out. "[It was necessary for the greater good of the universe]."


    "[What]?" Khan almost shouted.


    "[The Nak have reached the limits of their species]," The blue alien exined. "[They needed to find better ones to preserve mana]."


    Khan didn''t know what to answer. The blue alien was talking about the entire universe, but Khan''s thoughts couldn''t go that far. He knew far more than he did in the Slums but remained a desperate kid at his core. He just wanted the nightmares to go away.


    "[You truly don''t get it]," The blue alien eximed, almost surprised to see Khan''s confusion. "[My species has a deep connection with water. We have always known how small we are. You are no different]."


    "[What]?" Khan snorted, his anger returning. "[Am I just a tool for some sort of greater purpose]?"


    "[You are]," The blue alien responded. "[You will be if you are worthy of seizing the Nak''s legacy]."


    "[Mana itself]?" Khan sneered. "[What does that even mean]?"


    "[Its will]," The blue alien exined, "[Its strength, and the very order of things, but you know that already, don''t you]?"


    "[What do I know]?" Khan asked.


    "[How important your task is]," The blue alien dered. "[You must feel their resolve. I can see it in your eyes]."

 Chapter 630 Life

    Needless to say, thement added more fuel to Khan''s anger, but enough information had entered his brain to trigger a pensive state.


    The blue alien had spoken no lies. Khan was sure of that. Nothing could escape his heightened senses, especially in that critical situation, so he knew everything the alien had said had been the truth, at least in its mind.


    That confirmed one of Khan''s oldest hypotheses. The First Impact really wasn''t a random attack. The Nak had a greater purpose in mind. They wanted to spread mana for reasons that seemed to involve the universe, but Khan couldn''t think that far.


    Everything learned about the Nak popped into Khan''s mind. He knew that species embodied mana. He also knew they couldn''t evolve anymore, which matched the blue alien''s exnation and led to deeper hypotheses.


    ''Is mana at risk of disappearing?'' Khan wondered. ''How?''


    The experience gathered among the Thilku provided ideas. Everything was finite. Every source of energy would eventually deplete itself, and mana also expanded out of its own programming. Just like the Empire had stretched itself too thin, the same could happen to the mana.


    However, mana wasn''t the same as manpower. Professor Nickton had even exined that to Khan. Each lifeform touched by that energy would mutate and release some of it into the environment. In theory, almost anything could be a mana source, making it impossible for the universe to run out of it.


    The blue alien''sst words resounded in Khan''s ears when he reached that conclusion. His resolve belonged to himself, but the nightmares did add something else. Khan knew what the Nak from the Second Impact felt. He experienced that every night.


    The Nak''s anger and desperation were probably rted to the crash, but the fear went deeper. Khan had gotten used to it but still experienced it in its full intensity. He couldn''t exin it yet, but the blue alien had given him an idea.


    ''Is mana in danger?'' Khan wondered. ''Is the universe in danger?''


    Khan tried to go over the topic, but the effort was pointless. He was only a third-level warrior with an odd skillset. He understood mana more than humans, but that couldn''t stretch to something as big as the universe.


    Also, Khan wasn''t sure he cared about that problem. He didn''t ask for that vague task. He didn''t ask to suffer for so long. He didn''t ask for that curse to ruin his life.


    That pattern didn''t stop at Khan either. The Nak had unleashed that partial genocide on multiple species. No matter the purpose, that practice was unforgivable.


    Khan''s focus returned to the blue alien. He was ready to cut that smooth throat, but the alien''s smile stopped him. That helplessness drained Khan of his anger. The Nak might have turned him into a tool, but his opponent was even lower than that.


    "[Aren''t you going to kill me]?" The blue alien joked, slowly backing off to resume staring at the flowers.


    That behavior waspletely different from the mutated Thilku, intelligent wolves, and simple monsters. The blue alien looked rxed and at peace. Its movements also carried a certain agency, pushing Khan to ask a direct question.


    "[Do you have your mind]?" Khan questioned.


    "[I don''t]," The blue alien replied, crouching toward an exceptionally bright flower. "[I''m a tool with no freedom. I work for a greater purpose, and that''s it]."


    "[You aren''t crazy]," Khan pointed out. He wanted to use better words but couldn''t find them. It wasn''t easy to exin things when it came to the nightmares.


    "[My species doesn''t fall prey to anger]," The blue alien exined, its smile broadening when he took the flower in its palm. "[My role is clear, and I don''t regret it]."


    "[What role]?" Khan asked, stepping forward but avoiding resorting to pointless threats. The blue alien gave no value to its life. The knife was useless in that situation.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[Spreading mana]," The blue alien revealed, itspletely dark eyes fixed on its palm. "[Spreading the Nak''s task]."


    Khan understood the blue alien and experienced merciless pity. That species only wanted to replicate the First Impact through different methods. As for the virus, that was a mere tool with no deeper purpose.


    Theke inevitably attracted Khan''s attention. Cegnore was filled with arrays of rivers, and its natives had a deep connection with water. They could probably use it to inspect the surface and n attacks. It probably had something to do with their control over other specimens, too.


    As Cegnore''s secrets became clear in Khan''s mind, only one doubt remained inside him. He knew what the Nak wanted to do. He knew what the''s natives nned. He simply didn''t know why.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "[What''s this task]?" Khan questioned, looking at the alien again. "[What''s worthmitting genocides]?"


    "[Many things]," The blue alien dered, finally moving its gaze to look at Khan. "[You should know that. I can see it in your eyes]."


    Khan''s demeanor went cold. He didn''t want to ept those words, but the blue alien was right. He had already killed innocent people for his needs. He had even threatened to blow up parts of the Harbor. In a way, he was no different than the Nak.


    "[Though I don''t know the exact reason]," The blue alien continued. "[I only know it''s right, just like you]."


    The blue alien wasn''t talking about Khan''s personal reasons. Its words involved the nightmares and the feelings they carried. Something so intense couldn''te from a lie.


    "[What do you n to do with me then]?" Khan changed the topic. "[You said it yourself. I don''t get it]."


    "[That''s a problem my species can solve]," The blue alien eximed, standing up and walking toward Khan. "[My species can remove the barriers shielding you from your task]."


    "[And where is your species]?" Khan asked. He didn''t know what the blue alien wanted to do, but that was his chance to gather vital information.


    "[The''s underground water is an intricate system that connects everything]," The blue alien exined, crossing Khan to reach the shore. "[Even the smallest pebble is part of it and can create an earthquake. It often does]."


    Khan silently approached the blue alien, who crouched down to touch the water. Its expression was peaceful when it immersed its hand into theke, but some severity reeked out of its figure.


    "[There is a special node nearby]," The blue alien continued, "[Under the surface. An elder of my species lives there. She will open your mind to the Nak''s task]."


    "[How do I get there]?" Khan promptly asked. That was exactly what he wanted to hear. That was the very goal behind his mission on Cegnore.


    "[The water protects us]," The blue alien exined, its eyes fixed on the transparent surface. "[Our lives are the only way to open a path]."


    Everything made sense now. The blue alien was ready to die for that very reason. It wanted Khan to learn about the Nak, but those underground rivers required a steep price, which was within Khan''s reach.


    Khan hesitated, but not out of mercy or pity. The blue alien didn''t specify it, but the path probably wouldn''t be open for long. Khan wouldn''t have the chance to get back to the Thilku if he decided to follow his curiosity.


    Nevertheless, Khan was in no state to refuse his urges, and the Nak-rted topic also applied special leverage on him. Moreover, he had already prepared himself for that eventuality, so he stepped forward until he arrived at the alien''s side.


    "[How does this work]?" Khan questioned, his knife ready to reap the blue alien''s life.


    "[Once you kill me]," The blue alien exined, "[Let my body float for a bit. The water will move at that point]."


    Khan could add words, but his mind had already made a decision. His knife lit up and moved downward, piercing the blue alien''s throat to dig a hole through it.


    The alien didn''t instantly die but fell forward, ending up into theke and floating over its surface. Its blue blood leaked into the clear water as life abandoned its body, and Khan watched everything unfold with his cold eyes.


    Blood continued to flow until the alienpletely died, and its mana began to leak out of its corpse. The water absorbed it, and a change quickly happened.


    The corpse''s mana fused with the water, applying effects that existed in the veryke. They didn''te from the energy itself. The ce had an instinctive programming that activated at the arrival of that mana.


    A warm current formed inside theke, diving toward parts Khan had yet to explore. A path had appeared underwater, and he could only jump inside it after creating an air bubble around his head. The approach developed before told him how to move in that environment, and he used his full speed from the get-go. It was time to go MIA.

 Chapter 631 Control

    Thoughts about the political repercussions of that action vanished as soon as Khan entered theke. He had made his decision, and no doubts existed inside him anymore. No matter how much he had to pay, he would reach the end of the problem.


    The warm current broke under Khan''s violent swimming technique, but its traces stretched ahead, allowing him to follow the intended path.


    Khan swam through most of theke before finding another underwater tunnel. The channel was even narrower than the previous one, but the warm current was still there, so he resurfaced to refill his air bubble.


    The break onlysted a second. Khan immediately dived into theke again out of fear of losing the warm current. He didn''t need to hurry so much, but his curiosity pushed him to do his best.


    The new tunnel would have been hard to cross for an ordinary human, but Khan never stopped elerating and releasing his disruptive mana. Rocks crumbled behind him and left cuts on his skin, but neither slowed Khan down.


    Khan had to spend a long time underwater, which was feasible only thanks to the air bubble. Yet, when his technique was about to run out of oxygen, the tunnel began to rise, leading to another open space.


    Resurfacing revealed ake that expanded in every direction. The same bright nts enveloped its shores and the rocky walls past it. That was another underground chamber as big as the Thilku building''s hall, but the current continued to flow under the surface, and Khan could only follow it.


    As Khan followed the warm current, more underwater tunnels, underground chambers, andkes went by. Soon, he lost track of how much ground he had crossed, but that worry remained in the back of his mind. He only cared about advancing, even forgetting about the passage of time.


    Alternating between long underwater periods and short breaks to catch some air would put anyone under serious strain, but Khan''s resilience shone in that situation. Energy never left his muscles or lungs. His body didn''t cry orin, and his mind used the entirety of its focus for that single mission.


    The dullness of the environment was another hurdle Khan had to face. He only found more underground environments that featured no Tainted creatures. He waspletely alone during that lengthy crossing, adding an eerie feeling to the whole journey.


    Of course, Khan was used to repetitive tasks, and his mana made his thoughts very single-minded. He became the perfect tool for his own mission, and the environment eventually changed.


    Strangely enough, light appeared in Khan''s vision, which grew brighter as he swam toward the surface. As soon as his head popped out of the water, the air that reached the nostrils marked the difference from the previous environment. He wasn''t in the wet underground anymore. He had reached the''s surface.


    Khan immediately kicked the water, sending himself high into the air. His senses unfolded, and his head turned left and right to study the environment. He had really returned to Cegnore''s surface, but the horizon had no trace of technology or armies.


    ''How far did I travel?'' Khan wondered, looking at the sky. He had left in the morning, and the afternoon had just begun. That still put a few hours between splitting from the team and reaching that area, but the issue didn''t worry him.


    Khan remained in the air to memorize the symphony. He worried about eventual scanners, but the area felt too deste to be in the building''s range. Moreover, a stronger feeling captured his attention, moving his gaze toward a seemingly random spot in the distance.


    ''Did the native''s mana mix with the air?'' Khan considered since a warmth that reminded him of the current had risen from theke to stretch into the distance.


    The event was obviously part of the blue alien''s nning, but its effects remained surprising. A single death had created a path that could stretch for kilometers. That was no easy feat.


    Of course, Khan could exin the reason behind such great andsting effects. The native didn''t actually do anything. That power came from theke and the water thriving under the''s surface.


    ''This isn''t exactly nearby,'' Khan thought, estimating how far the warm air current went. ''How long is this going to take?''


    Khan had already made up his mind about going MIA. He had even warned Monica beforehand, so the issue didn''t cross his mind. However, he had to prepare if the trip was meant tost days. Being a third-level warrior didn''t make him immune to thirst and hunger.


    The long swim to the area had taught Khan about the effects of the alien''s dying mana. The warm currentsted quite a while, and the water retained its marks for even longer. It was safe to assume that the air would follow the same pattern, so he opted for a quick break.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Khannded on theke''s shores only to realize he had no survival equipment. His knife and phone were with him, but he had already lost his shoes, and the many impacts with the rocks had turned the upper side of his uniform into a mess of rags.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    A curse resounded in Khan''s mind as he tore off the upper part of his uniform and released some mana. His violent energy destroyed the broken clothes, shattering them into multiple rags and eventually turning them into dust.


    Khan''s cold eyes remained glued to the event and made sure that no track would remain. He didn''t want the Thilku to find him before he had obtained answers, so destroying his uniform felt necessary.


    Theck of bottles forced Khan to drink as much as possible from theke. The call was as strong as ever during that procedure, adding value to his previous idea. It was very likely that the natives enforced strategies on the mutated creatures through it.


    Cegnore''s underground world reassured Khan about the water issue, but food remained a problem. He could eat the monsters since the mutations had no leverage on him, but the area was strangely empty, and that pattern could continue.


    ''It wouldn''t be my first time starving for a few days,'' Khan thought, ''But I might have to fight.''


    As much as Khan wanted answers, the blue alien''s wording had created doubt inside his mind. He craved more information about the Nak and that elusive task, but the price to pay probably was too dangerous.


    Khan knew he was an odd case. He was the exception to the rule, actually. Everything learned about the Nak''s mutation and its effects pointed to a single but certain conclusion. Tainted creatures eventually went crazy, and the same applied to humans.


    The nightmares were likely to be the reason behind that effect, and Khan had already survived them for fifteen years. Yet, he didn''t do that on his own. When he thought about it calmly, it was clear he had received help.


    ''Did you restrict my nightmares for this reason?'' Khan wondered. ''If yes, why didn''t you tell me?''


    Zalpa had already confirmed that point. Bret had done something to limit Khan''s mutations and his nightmares. That side-effect could have been unintentional, but Khan knew who his father was. The former head of the scientific department wouldn''t have missed something so monumental.


    ''If he did that to protect me,'' Khan remained immersed in his thoughts, ''How dangerous is it to gain ess to the whole mutation?''


    The changes in the nightmares had already proven to Khan the intensity of their effects. He would have surely gone crazy as a kid if past dreams were the same as the current ones. Part of him actually did with the weaker version, which moved his thoughts to the next issue.


    ''Can I handle it now?'' Khan questioned. ''Will I be a puppet like everyone here?''


    Khan was confident in his abilities but remained realistic. He even knew how loud his mana was. He had struggled to hold himself back many times due to the nature of his own energy. Khan had even failed multiple times, and his mindset had crossed the breaking point after that.


    Adding another intense influence to an already unstable mind wasn''t wise. Khan didn''t exactly care about his behavior anymore, but the issue remained scary. He didn''t only worry about hurting his loved ones. He understood that losing himself was possible if he pursued that path.


    ''What if I be a bigger monster?'' Khan couldn''t help but consider. ''What if I forget about myself and start serving the Nak?''


    Those doubts barely lingered for a few minutes inside Khan''s mind, but hearing them felt necessary. He didn''t want to show any hesitation in his next challenge. He needed to be sure about what he was willing to pay.


    ''Is my desperation controlling me?'' Khan wondered, recalling Mister Cirvags'' warning.


    Khan moved after that thought, but those words remained in his mind as he flew through the warm current. He didn''t mind bing a bigger monster, and losing himself wouldn''t have been a problem years ago. Yet, now he had a decision to make, and his mind couldn''t settle for one.

 Chapter 632 Sharp

    Khan didn''t expect the trip tost too long, but the reality turned out to be different.


    The night arrived, but no monster showed its presence, allowing Khan to continue his trip peacefully. The warm current eventually brought him to a cave that led to anotherke, starting a new underwater journey.


    The underwater environment was hard to cross for Khan. He could rely on his sprints, but the tunnels'' patterns were odd and went in different directions, bringing him to all sorts of empty underground chambers.


    The water was showing Khan the entirety of its underground array. A more straightforward path probably existed, but the warm current wasn''t showing it, and he didn''t have other tracks to follow.


    At times, Khan returned to the surface and picked up the pace, but those moments were random and short. Most of the trip happened underwater, which didn''t allow him to cover much ground.


    Being underwater also made Khan lose track of his position. He had sort of understood where he was after resurfacing for the first time. However, that confidence disappeared in the following parts of the trip.


    Before Khan noticed it, another night arrived. He had spent longer than a day swimming and flying across that uncharted territory, and that time meant more in Cegnore. He didn''t meet the requirements to be considered MIA yet, but that only applied to the Global Army. The Empire had different rules.


    Of course, the issue didn''t cross Khan''s mind. He was more worried about the trip since his stomach had begunining about the absence of food. He could easily press on, but the journey remained ufortable.


    Moreover, doubts about the Nak, Bret, and that seemingly universal task afflicted Khan''s mind. He couldn''t make a decision about the matter. He also knew that thinking about it before seeing the actual native elder was pointless, but his brain didn''t listen to him.


    Luckily for Khan, a change in the environment arrived before that prolonged brainstorming could get the best of his sanity. He was on the surface when the warm current dived into a hole in the ground that conveyed more than mere emptiness.


    The hole wasn''t big, and the cave stretching from it made many sharp turns before escaping the range of Khan''s senses. Its vertical entrance wasn''t an issue since Khan could fly, but the colors that reeked out halted his steps.


    Those traces were unclear and faint since they came from deep into the cave, but slight differences existed among them, allowing Khan to identify different influences. Multiple beings had touched the symphony underground, and one felt quite strong.


    Khan instinctively inspected his surroundings and himself. Cegnore''s night couldn''t hide anything from his eyes, but he still didn''t find anything interesting. He was in a random barren in near a short mountain. The simple environment didn''t look like a secret hideout, but the symphony told a different story.


    The warm current began to lose intensity during the inspection, pressuring Khan to advance, but he didn''t fall prey to anxiety. He drew his knife and closed his eyes to quell his crying stomach before jumping inside the hole.


    Khan had gotten used to being wet during the long trip, but the cave''s dry environment remained a pleasant surprise. He flew slowly among the narrow paths, and sharp rocks soon reced the brittle ground.


    The path wasn''t straightforward, but Khan was definitely going down. Each turn brought him deeper underground, into darker areas of the cave, but bright light arrived when the traces sensed on the surface grew clearer.


    The current tunnel was forcing Khan to half-bend forward due to its low ceiling. It was also long, but intense blue light filled its small exit and the rocks past it.


    The light made Khan unable to peek past the exit, and his other senses also faced problems. He could get a better idea of the auras inside the next chamber, but that blue glow interfered with his perception. He couldn''t feel any details from his position, leading to partial estimates.


    ''Eleven, no,'' Khan thought, ''Twelve aliens, with two strange ones.''


    Theck of details didn''t prevent Khan from identifying the aura''s nature. Eleven were harmonious, soft, and kind, which he connected to Cegnore''s natives. Instead, thest one was intense, rough, and stern, clearly belonging to a mutated Thilku.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Still, the power level was hard to discern with that interference, which made the blue light the most interesting aspect of the area. Khan obviously knew what that color meant, but it was hard to understand its source from his position.


    Silent seconds passed in which Khan remained stuck at the beginning of the tunnel. His curiosity was screaming, but nothing was easy when the Nak were involved. He had to be careful and prepare ordingly, but the situation wasn''t giving him much to work with.


    Khan held back a snort as he decided to half-crawl forward. Peeking into the new chamber was the only way to learn more about that environment, so he did exactly that.


    The interference grew clearer as Khan approached the tunnel''s exit, and the light became bearable when he peeked past it. His eyes adapted quickly, and a mesmerizing scene unfolded in his vision.


    The underground area was small but not cramped. Ake with a distinct blue color upied most of it, leaving only vague shores at its edges. The same long flowers grew from them, almost covering the entirety of the rocky walls all around the water.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Ten blue aliens sat cross-legged on the shores, partially immersing their legs in the water. They werepletely naked, and their auras were peaceful. They seemed to be meditating, but that state didn''t hide their third-level warrior status.


    Of course, Khan didn''t mind opponents at his level, especially from that species. Still, the two remaining auras were scary, with one able to make his mana go silent.


    One of the auras belonged to a blue alien standing on the opposite side of the tunnel. It was only a third-level warrior, but only its feet touched the water. The rest of its body was on the wall, with those strange flowers entangled around its limbs, torso, and head.


    A second inspection revealed that the flowers didn''t simply bind the alien. Some pierced its bluish skin beforeing out from a different spot. They looked fused with the alien, like multiple entities living in harmony and sharing a single will.


    That mysterious scene wasn''t the worst in Khan''s battle-ready mind. Thest figure belonged to a mutated Thilku, which captivated his attention. The alien wasn''t only a fourth-level warrior. Its physical features also gave birth to scary thoughts.


    The Thilku had clearly gone through mutations. Its blue hair and eyes confirmed that. However, Khan couldn''t inspect its shoulder since the Empire''s uniform was still on. It actually looked spotless from Khan''s position.


    Moreover, the Thilku was slightly shorter than its fellow infectedpanions. It barely reached three meters, which was a scary detail to those knowledgeable about the topic. Thatck of significant changes meant that its mutations had been seamless.


    ''Is that themander?'' Khan wondered, using the intact Thilku uniform as the main clue. ''Is it protecting the other alien?''


    The mutated Thilku was standing next to the alien entangled in flowers. Its gaze was fixed ahead, and its stance was stern. It looked ready to jump into a fight, hinting at its guarding purpose.


    ''Ten third-level warriors with water nearby,'' Khan summarized, ''An elder of the natives and a fourth-level warrior. What am I waiting for?''


    That mockingment didn''t ignore the chamber''s actual danger, but Khan jumped forward anyway. He left the tunnel and descended toward the shore right below him, but his feet never touched the water. He decided to float above the surface after everything he had witnessed.


    The warm current led directly into theke and the silent seconds that passed partially dispersed its power. Khan could still see its traces, but it was clear he had reached his destination.


    Khan wanted to inspect theke now that the distortion was gone, but the flowers around the elder suddenly brightened, releasing a buzzing noise that turned into words when it reached Khan''s mind.


    "[Are you the heir looking for enlightenment]?" The elder asked in an odd version of the Nak''snguage.


    Khan red at the elder but didn''t answer. The way she spoke was odd, but mana allowed miracles, so he could quickly ept it. Instead, theke remained more interesting, and his free hand instinctively went for his nape.


    Theke shone on its own, releasing a light bearable once inside the chamber. That detail was strange, but Khan still tried to focus on its depths. His eyes couldn''t pierce that blue, but his senses had learned enough.


    The water reeked of Nak. Its distortion intensified the call released by Khan''s core, almost pulling him toward theke. He was certain the answers he sought were down there, but the same went for danger.


    "[Do I need to repeat myself]?" The elder asked, using the same technique as before.


    "[Depends]," Khan finally replied, using the Thilkunguage. "[What is thiske going to do to me]?"


    "[It will open your mind to the Nak''s task]," The elder exined. "[It will remove the barriers preventing you from joining their mission]."


    Khan continued staring at theke. He felt its call. He understood how deeply he wanted to immerse himself in that water. His desperation craved answers, but a different feeling existed.


    Khan had thought about the issue. He feared losing himself, but a stronger emotion overwhelmed that worry. His mana was angry, livid that such a thing could have so much influence over him. He hated that his desperation could control him and destroy his current happiness.


    An idea popped into Khan''s mind while those feelings invaded him. His mana began to release a specific scent, creating a reaction in the chamber. A huge figure moved, sshing the water under Khan to appear before him.


    "[Aren''t you a sharp one]?" Khan sneered, looking at the fourth-level warrior. The Thilku had sensed his hostility toward theke and had moved to stop it.

 Chapter 633 Nicely

    Khan''s hostility wasn''t rational nor overwhelmingly predominant. His desperation still screamed. The years spent suffering every time he closed his eyes still begged him to get answers. Yet, his anger was no weak feeling. Actually, part of the conflicting aspects ended up fueling it.


    The intense, bottomless, and overwhelming desperation didn''t have a single mind. A big part just wanted answers to end the Nak''s curse. However, after suffering so much, another significant side couldn''t ept thatpromise. Khan was no stranger to dangerous shortcuts, but diving into theke felt like giving up.


    That had given birth to hostile feelings, which the mutated Thilku sensed, forcing a reaction out of it. Khan had yet to do anything, but that sudden move yed right into his anger.


    "[I''m guessing thiske is important]," Khanmented, smirking at the Thilku below him before pointing his intense gaze at the elder in the distance.


    The elder didn''t initially reply, but the flowers around and inside her body eventually lit up, releasing a buzzing noise that Khan''s brain tranted.


    "[This is a node]," The elder said in the Nak''snguage. "[All the rivers in the area touch these waters and spread their power]."


    "[The Nak''s power]," Khan pointed out.


    "[The call to join their mission]," The elder responded, "[And the key to unlock it]."


    Khan wasn''t a scientist, but his knowledge of different aspects and practices involving mana allowed him to gain a vague idea about the situation.


    The infection was everywhere, even in the air, but its sources had to be somewhere, and thatke seemed to be one of them. Khan guessed the entire quadrant depended on those waters to spread the illness, and destroying it would probably clear it from monsters.


    The situation obviously wasn''t that simple, especially with Cegnore''s intricate underground array. However, Khan mostly focused on the Nak''s presence, and thatke carried intense traces of them.


    ''Is the infection stronger here?'' Khan wondered. ''Is the Nak''s influence denser in these waters?''


    The relevance given to theke and Khan''s senses confirmed those guesses. He probably was in the center of the enemy''sir, and destroying it could save many soldiers from eventual infections. That option became a certainty as he studied the waters, but the conflict remained.


    ''Should I immerse myself first?'' Khan wondered.


    The destruction of theke was set in stone. Khan only had to decide what to do first, and certainties didn''t arrive. Ideally, he would immerse himself into theke, get the answers he sought, and detonate everything. Yet, that might not be an option if he lost his mind.


    The previous doubts returned, and the same internal conflict happened. Anger and desperation fought each other to death inside Khan''s mind, and neither could im victory over the other. Only his mana remained biased, hating all those restrictions and secrecy.


    "[Why are you hesitating]?" The elder eventually asked through the same odd speaking method. "[Why are you having doubts]?"


    Khan could speak plenty about the topic, but something told him that the elder wouldn''t get him. Discussing with aliens who had already lost their minds was pointless. Yet, questioning them could bring pleasant surprises.


    "[This mission]," Khan eximed. "[Is mana in danger]?"


    "[You should know the gravity of the situation]," The elder said. "[If you don''t, these waters will reveal it]."


    The elder reminded Khan about the fear in his nightmares, but that wasn''t enough for him. He wanted to gather as many clues as possible before making a decision.


    "[Why didn''t the Nak recruit people normally]?" Khan questioned. "[With the universe at stake, many would join their call]."


    "[We aren''t privy about these details]," The elder replied. "[We respect them]."


    Khan stared at the water past the standing Thilku. Theke was appealing, and his curiosity was hard to fight back, but more questions still left his mouth. "[Why me]?"


    "[You have your mind]," The elder stated. "[You have the potential to reach the Nak and seize their legacy]."


    That expected answer annoyed Khan, and the Thilku under him reacted to that feeling. It crossed its huge arms before its chest, and its uniform became unable to hide its bulging muscles.


    After living among the Thilku for a while, Khan had gotten used to that iconic gesture. The mutated Thilku''s aura didn''t show any ripple, but its stance was self-exnatory.


    "[Let me guess]," Khan announced, his smile vanishing without removing any trace of defiance from his face. "[I can''t refuse, can I]?"


    The elder remained silent for a few seconds again before her flowers lit up to convey her thoughts. "[We must spread the Nak''s mission and open your mind to it]."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "[I see]," Khan uttered. "[You won''t let me leave that easily, will you]?"


    The flowers began to shine brighter again, but a blinding color suddenly appeared above theke''s center, covering that blue glow. Purple-red mana gathered and condensed mid-air, quickly giving birth to an unstable spear.


    The Thilku didn''t stay still at that offensive. As soon as it connected the spear to Khan, it lunged upward, stretching its right arm to catch him. That gesture was insanely fast. No third-level warrior could ever hope to dodge it, but Khan didn''t need to.


    The quick lunge left Khan stunned but for special reasons. He knew the Thilku was fast, but that didn''t only apply to its body. Even the mana inside flowed smoothly, making predicting its movements harder.


    Khan still reacted on time, ordering the mana to release a tremor that disrupted the Thilku''s bnce. The alien didn''t falter but froze, slightly interrupting its attack before pressing forward.


    Khan used that window to escape, but the Thilku recovered quickly, and two of its sharp nails touched his left leg. Blood spurted forward, but Khan still managed to retreat higher into the air.


    The spear''s stability crossed the critical point, threatening to detonate. However, the elder sent power to her feet, creating a connection with the ten blue aliens and causing a reaction in theke.


    A faint soundwave surged from theke. Its waters remained still, but its effects were immediate. A dense aura that reeked of the Nak''s power invaded the chamber and reced any external influence in the symphony.


    Khan almost lost his footing in the air when the aura arrived. His foothold vanished only to be reced by a different kind of mana, which he quickly used to continue flying.


    As for the spear, the dense aura destabilized it without triggering any explosion. Any internal meaning in that purple-red mana vanished, making the energy disperse on the spot.


    The aura''s effects didn''t end there. Khan had affected the environment during the conversation, but his influence had vanished. Theke had brought the underground area back to normal, preventing Khan from using the Niqols'' arts.


    Khan learned about those events in a few seconds, and his eyes inevitably went toward his left leg. More of his ragged trousers had vanished, and two bleeding cuts had appeared on his shin.


    ''It barely touched me,'' Khan thought, amazed by the mutated Thilku''s sheer physical power. The injury wasn''t deep, but that merely was the work of two nails.


    "[Why do you oppose your duty]?" The elder questioned while Khan was busy making a point of the situation.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan looked at the elder but remained silent. He didn''t think about an actual reason. His decision to oppose that procedure was unreasonable, almost childish, and he struggled to exin it.


    Yet, as the inspection continued, Khan''s mana raged loudly, and words finally appeared in his throat. "[Who do you think you are]?"


    Khan''s natural aura intensified at that simple question, sending ripples in the just-cleansed symphony. He was livid, but only his eyes showed traces of that feeling.


    "[I paid my price with blood and pain]," Khan continued without waiting for a reply. "[Puppets with no freedom or doubts have no right to order me around]."


    The ripples intensified, but theke released another faint soundwave that cleansed the symphony. However, that aura couldn''t affect Khan''s presence, which resumed influencing the area as soon as it stabilized.


    "[You are choosing to ignore your task]," The eldermented, her voice devoid of any emotion.


    "[The Nak should have asked nicely]," Khan snorted. "[Now, will the infection stop in this area if I destroy theke]?"


    Khan joined his hands, and a spear quickly appeared. He wielded it with his right hand while his knife was on the left. Meanwhile, his influence continued to affect the area, making him battle-ready.


    "[The individual is nothing before the entirety of the universe]," The elder said as if she had understood Khan''s selfish reasons.


    "[Let the universe burn]," Khan dered. "[I''ll find the Nak without ying by their rules]."


    Khan didn''t wait for more answers. He threw the spear at theke, ready to use his influence to shield it from any defensive mechanism. However, the opponent that got in its way wasn''t something the Niqols or Nele arts could defeat on their own.


    The mutated Thilku jumped toward the spear, covering its hands in purple-red mana before closing them around it. Khan''s attack crumbled against that overwhelming physical strength, and the explosion that followed couldn''t escape those tight palms.


    The Thilku had countered the chaos spear with its bare hands, but that wasn''t the end. Khan had thrown his spell at theke''s center, and the alien fell toward it once its momentum vanished. However, its feet didn''t pierce the surface. The water had be solid for the asion.


    Khan didn''t even need to ask. He knew that was the blue alien''s doing, but the issue remained. He had to get past a mutated fourth-level warrior if he wanted to destroy the area.

 Chapter 634 Exchanges

    The two short exchanges said everything there was to be said.


    Khan was an experienced warrior with incredible senses, so he knew. The mutated Thilku was no easy opponent. It wasn''t only a fourth-level warrior. It also retained abilities dated prior to its mutation.


    Khan stared at theke before focusing on the mutated Thilku. He could devise a n to kill the blue aliens before the main opponent, but his mana wanted more. He was the best. Khan knew that. Still, defeating such a strong enemy was the only way to prove it.


    The mutated Thilku were rtively simple. Their overwhelming physical prowess matched Wayne''s, but they also had incredible spells at hand.


    It was safe to assume the current Thilku would have the same skillset. Yet, Khan had seen it move, and doubt arose. He could predict the alien''s movements, but not in a way that would lead to victory.


    The equation was simple. The mutated Thilku was faster, stronger, and probably had superior spells that relied on the chaos element. Khan was beaten in every field, but theke was his enemy, so he had to destroy it.


    ''I can''t beat it in a normal battle,'' Khan immediately realized.


    The two goals shed in Khan''s mind even if he had already made a decision. Beating the fourth-level Thilku was a pressing matter, but destroying theke was also important. The event wouldn''t clear the whole, but the quadrant would definitely benefit from it.


    Even with the internal conflict, Khan remained focused on the mutated Thilku. He needed a proper strategy to defeat that opponent. He had also wanted to fight a fourth-level warrior for a while, so his mind worked at full speed to find openings.


    The cloud obviously popped into Khan''s mind. That wild, incredible spell could provide the edge he needed to defeat the mutated Thilku. However, theke was too appealing to him, which would apply to that mass of violent urges, too. Something told him he couldn''t cooperate with it in the area. Khan had to fight without it to win.


    The more Khan thought about the topic, the more problems appeared. The Thilku wasn''t only one level above Khan. Its species was stronger, faster, and deadlier. The mutations also put their elements in the same field, leading to a single conclusion.


    ''It''s superior in every field,'' Khan thought. ''I can only surpass it in one.''


    Khan was slower than the Thilku. Weaker than the Thilku. The alien couldn''t be challenged in terms of the intensity of mana either. However, Khan''s standards were far from human, and the only possible path to victory eventually became clear.


    ''I should destroy everything,'' Khan thought, uncaring of what that idea would cause.


    Khan''s mindset was very simple. The blue alien had given him orders, so he had rebelled. The Thilku had tried to do the same to no avail, so his urge to tear everything apart had skyrocketed.


    As for the reasonable part of Khan''s brain, it felt everything. The world danced inside his mind, telling him everything he should and could do. Simtions formed and shattered among his thoughts, predicting countless oues until only feasible ones remained.


    Those feasible strategies also shattered, leaving behind mere ideas that fused with instinctive parts of Khan''s brain. He didn''t forget them, but there was more at stake there. Tricks that targeted the blue aliens were the weapons of the weak, and his mana wanted to prove to the world that they were beneath him.


    Stats continued to enter Khan''s mind, but his thoughts gradually grew simpler and louder. His urges turned his entire being into a weapon with a single purpose, and his presence reflected that. His aura reeked of his desire to win, tainting the area''s symphony with that violent and unreasonable influence.


    Physical differences stopped having any relevance. Gaps in mana intensity left the equation and disappeared into dark parts of Khan''s mind. The mutated Thilku''s level became a meaningless number. The alien was nothing more than a strong warrior, and Khan simply had to take it down.


    ''Destroy everything,'' Khan thought as if giving orders to his entire being to reinforce his stance.


    That simple, perfect strategy embodied Khan''s true nature. His mana was speaking, and the scenery offered no alternative path either. He couldn''t defeat the mutated Thilku otherwise, so his energy cheered at the opportunity to show its real colors.


    Theke''s soundwave had released its effects twice already, but Khan''s presence was still shining. He was one with the symphony, which gave him an advantage over his opponents.


    The mutated Thilku stood on the water as if it knew it wouldn''t dive in. A mind that didn''t belong to it worked at full speed but couldn''t predict Khan''s next move.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The mutated Thilku waited for an attack but was surprised by the tens of purple-red needles that materialized around it. Those unstable and iplete spells exploded, releasing enough mana to threaten its tough skin.


    Khan didn''t bother watching the explosion. He sprinted downward, gathering mana between his palms. He intended to cast another chaos spear, but the symphony stopped him.


    The needles'' explosions created a purple-red cloud, but a figure pierced it, dispersing its violent mana into the environment. The mutated Thilku walked on the solid water to intercept Khan, but he predicted that.


    Khan pretended to dive into theke before abruptly changing direction. The symphony had warned him about the iing threat, so he reacted ordingly.


    The mutated Thilku jumped on Khan''s path, with its feet still clung to the water. The gesture closed the route toward theke, but Khan didn''t care. He would think about the targetter.


    The burly mutated Thilku unfolded in Khan''s vision while he halted his descent. He turned his diving momentum into a sprint, circling the alien while his presence did the rest.


    The chaos spear dispersed at the Thilku''s sudden reaction, making Khan hold back his mana and go for a counterattack. The Thilku was there, helplessly sprinting toward him, so he reacted.


    The Thilku could keep track of Khan''s movements, so it swung both arms to its right, ready to intercept the iing attack. Yet, only a gust of mana blew through its limbs.


    Khan had used his control over the environment to fake his presence, creating a feint that gave him enough time to sprint behind the mutated Thilku. The knife was in his hands, and a purple-red glow enveloped it when he swung it forward.


    The attack wasn''t simple. Khan didn''t only rely on the Divine Reaper''s properties. He ordered the symphony to convey his intent, making his sh stretch past his weapon''s tip.


    The offensive had been wless. Khan had forced the Thilku to sprint recklessly through the explosions before deploying a feint. In theory, no one could react to his actual attack, but his knife and the mana that conveyed its intent only hit mere air when the sh was over.


    Khan saw everything in slow-motion. He shed his knife at the Thilku, only for thetter to teleport. That huge alien moved faster than him, appearing above his horizontal body to deliver two descending fists.


    A sprint happened. Khan saw things before they happened, and his body moved ordingly. He had predicted that his sh would have failed as soon as it unfolded, and the iing threat of those descending fists made his legs kick the air.


    Khan disappeared, ricocheting through the air until his head threatened to touch the underground chamber''s ceiling. He had escaped as fast as possible, but the pressure remained on his right side. He knew the Thilku would have destroyed him if that attacknded.


    The mutated Thilkupleted the descending blow before lifting its gaze. It was utterly calm and stern. It resembled a machine ready to kill, but Khan felt no fear.


    Khan steeled his resolve and descended once again, relying on his top speed to dive toward the mutated Thilku. A frontal sh appeared unavoidable, but both Khan and the alien knew there was room for more moves.


    The Thilku opened its mouth, and Khan changed direction, diving to its right side. The alien''s face kept track of his movements, and a clicking growl arrived, releasing an imponent version of the Wave spell.


    The spell released by the Thilku covered a quarter of theke and mmed on the chamber''s rocky wall, digging through its fabric. That massive attack would have scared anyone, but it still failed to hit anything.


    The symphony saw what would have happened had Khan continued to dive into a straight line, so his mana split. He ordered the symphony to replicate his presence while he went in the opposite direction. That was no different from the previous tactic, but he had a n now.


    Once the Wave spell unleashed its power, Khan materialized behind the Thilku. His knife rose again, sending light into the air. That purple-red glow was familiar to the alien, but its danger was no joke.


    The knife didn''t evene close to the Thilku, but a long, gory cut opened through its red cape. That clothing gained darker shades and a fissure, but the Thilku didn''t falter. Actually, it moved as soon as it felt pain.


    Khan''s eyes widened as soon as he understood what the symphony meant. He had just shed forward, but a huge figure grew bigger in his vision. The mutated Thilku had turned, and its hand grabbed his right wrist.

 Chapter 635 Rain

    Disimer: I''ve reworked most of the previous chapter due to repetitions and odd paragraphs. The content itself didn''t change, but you can give it a second read if you wish to.


    I apologize for the inconvenience. It''s my bad.


    ****


    Everything happened at a far slower speed in Khan''s mind. His execution had been perfect. He had taken the mutated Thilku by surprise, exploiting the window created by the Wave spell. Yet, that wasn''t enough against such a strong opponent.


    The mutated Thilku didn''t only withstand the deadly sh. The alien also brushed the injury off, reacting as soon as it felt pain and deploying enough speed to leave Khan helpless.


    The huge six-fingered hand closed on Khan''s wrist before he had the chance to do anything about it. Strength also flowed into it, ready to snap Khan''s forearm into two parts.


    Khan''s thoughts ran quickly. Time almost froze in his eyes as he reviewed countermeasures he had already considered before descending toward the mutated Thilku.


    The Nele arts could create a short distraction and destabilize the mutated Thilku. Yet, nothing would remove its hand from Khan''s wrist. He would only fall with it.


    An explosion of mana could offer some protection, but the mutated Thilku was a fourth-level warrior. Its skin and flesh would endure the chaos element long enough to shatter Khan''s arm.


    The [Blood Shield] could improve the limb''s toughness and resilience. However, Khan didn''t kid himself. Nothing in his arsenal could save his arm.


    Many soldiers would fall prey to despair in that situation, but Khan was a different kind of killing machine. His arm was already gone in his mind, but he wouldn''t let the mutated Thilku seize it for free. The alien had to pay the price for hurting him.


    Khan didn''t deploy any defensive technique and moved his full attention to his left arm. The symphony listened to his desires while his knife lit up. Swings would be too slow, so he lifted his weapon to lunge it at the Thilku''s head.


    A chicken game started. The mutated Thilku saw the iing knife and even sensed its effects on the symphony. The tip was only the beginning of the de, and the air past it gained its sharpness while aiming for the center of its wrinkled forehead.


    Breaking Khan''s arm wouldn''t take long. The mutated Thilku only had to apply a fraction of its strength to shatter those frail human bones. Still, that time could be enough for the sharp symphony to pierce its skull.


    Years of battle experience and the simple mindset of a being who had lost its mind generated an instinctive response. The mutated Thilku could avoid the extreme approach and opt for a milder one, which would inflict injuries without suffering any.


    Khan lunged his knife forward, but an unstoppable and unfathomable pulling force began to fling him toward theke. The mutated Thilku had decided to destabilize his attack, and its grip tightened in the meantime.


    Performing the Divine Reaper while under the Thilku''s pull was impossible, but Khan had managed to be one step ahead there. He had sensed the alien gathering strength into its right arm, allowing him to predict the next attack and react ordingly.


    The mutated Thilku forgot about the lunge and focused on mming Khan into the water. However, something continued to fly toward its head, forcing it to half-bend forward.


    The timing had been even better than before, and the short distance finally put Khan above the mutated Thilku. The alien had reacted wisely, but Khan''s aim had been perfect. Khan had thrown his knife in that desperate moment, stabbing the Thilku''s neck.


    The de still carried the Divine Reaper''s properties, and the same went for the air before its tip. The knife had basically been on a unique path that aided its sharpness, and the Thilku''s powerful flesh couldn''t do anything against it.


    The knife disappeared inside the left side of Thilku''s neck, leaving only its handle outside. A thirty-centimeters-long de had dug through that vital spot, but the alien didn''t falter.


    Nevertheless, the effort made to dodge the de created a window Khan didn''t hesitate to exploit. His figure became the source of an expanding purple-red barrier, which enveloped the alien''s arm before reaching its body.


    The mutated Thilku fought against the Wave spell while its skin and flesh shattered. Its grip tightened, but the chaos element pushed its fingers away, creating enough room for Khan to slip out of it.


    Khan retreated at full speed, putting as much distance from theke as possible. He returned to the ceiling, and his eyes darted left and right to summarize the situation before ending on his right arm.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    A big, gory mark had appeared on Khan''s wrist, stretching past half of his forearm. The skin there had vanished, revealing the live flesh under it. Blood also flowed, falling toward theke, but the bones remained Khan''s main concern.


    Khan began to flex his wrist, and sharp pain instantly arrived. He also performed the check-up technique, revealing what he had already understood. Something had fractured, making his right hand partially useless.


    However, the mutated Thilku wasn''t any better. The injury on its back was deep, and the knife stabbed in its neck didn''t help. The Wave spell had also made a mess of its arm, chest, and half of its face. The technique didn''t go too deep but still added wounds.


    A third-level warrior would have already died with those injuries. An average fourth-level warrior would have probably suffered from a simr fate. However, the mutated Thilku didn''t seem to notice how hurt it was. It stood proudly and undefeated, with its unflinching eyes fixed on Khan.


    ''What is this monster?'' Khan couldn''t help but wonder.


    Khan could understand a mutated creature in the fourth level to have insane resilience. Yet, theck of effects of the injuries was scary. Even the Thilku''s mana flowed normally. The alien waspletely unaffected by wounds that would usually kill its peers.


    That wasn''t Khan''s first time facing a stronger opponent, but the situation felt hopeless. He had managed to defeat the Ots by surprising him with his seemingly bottomless mana reserves, but those tricks wouldn''t work now. The Thilku looked virtually immortal and too conscious about his power to be distracted.


    ''Anything dies if I cut its head off,'' Khan snorted, closing his eyes to connect his mind to the parts of the symphony he had affected.


    Multiple purple-red masses appeared around Khan, filling the rocky ceiling and shining on the areas below. Tens of needles featuring asional spears formed outside the Thilku''s reach, threatening to turn into a destructive and unavoidable offensive.


    The elder noticed the threat and acted ordingly. Shemanded theke to release another soundwave, which reached the ceiling and destabilized the newly-formed spells.


    The many needles and spears instantly dispersed without detonating. Their mana expanded, creating a purple-red cloud that grew paler with each passing second. Khan''s energy eventually disappeared, and the same went for the influence he had spread through the symphony.


    That annoying oue made Khan snort loudly. He red at theke before spreading his arms. He descended a bit, putting a few meters from the ceiling while opening his mouth to voice a clicking growl.


    Violent mana res expanded from Khan''s figure, creating blinding rivers that stretched everywhere. Some hit the ceiling, but most filled his surroundings, giving birth to a smaller version of theke below.


    Khan continued to shout while closing his eyes. The soundwave had cleansed the symphony, but his surroundings only conveyed himself now. His mana created a separate world that belonged solely to him, a world theke couldn''t reset.


    Multiple spots among the expanding waves of mana grew brighter, giving birth to the same array of spells generated before. The higher mana density also allowed Khan to create more spears, and he pressed on until he ran out of space.


    Theke sent another soundwave, but Khan''s mana devoured it. Something so faint couldn''t survive his violent res, which protected the spells in their insides.


    While inspecting the scene, the mutated Thilku showed no emotions, and the blue aliens shared its calm. The elder didn''t do anything, but her mana was ready tomand theke again. She couldn''t disperse spells inside the mana res, but they wouldn''t remain there forever.


    Khan was aware of that detail, but his idea had never involved anything simr. To the elder''s surprise, Khan let the spells stabilize before opening his eyes and pointing his left hand at the ceiling.


    The spells instantly shot upward, exploding on the already destabilized rocks and opening vast cracks that threatened to make everything crumble. Boulders quickly began to fall, with some even bigger than the mutated Thilku, and everything eventually escted until a proper rain formed.


    An earthquake invaded the area as more boulders fell. The air between the ceiling and theke soon became full of those rocks, creating a chaotic environment too dangerous to traverse. A single misstep could kill, but that was exactly was Khan wanted. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ****


    Author''s notes: Thanks Payne_Humphries for the Magic Castle! I wish to thank all the others giving gifts, too. Thank you for supporting the story!

 Chapter 636 Bone

    The falling boulders created a dangerous, unpredictable environment that blocked everyone''s view. Khan couldn''t see the blue aliens and mutated Thilku anymore, and the same went for them.


    That unpredictability worked in Khan''s favor. He had attacked the ceiling to create that precise environment. He wanted chaos only he could read, and the rain gave him that.


    ''Flow,'' Khan ordered to himself while inspecting the rain with the entirety of his senses.


    The boulders fell with no specific pattern. Khan had to look at the ceiling to predict what would likely follow, but that ability had limits. His senses couldn''t reach theyers of rocks that had yet to show their face, making their behavior impossible to study.


    Nevertheless, the rain was different. Potential paths opened in Khan''s view as he studied the falling boulders. He could use therge rocks to hide his figure and, hopefully, take the mutated Thilku by surprise again.


    That idea turned out to be too optimistic. Khan wanted to let that chaos unfold until the right opportunity arrived, but the mutated Thilku knew better than to wait.


    Khan''s eyes widened when he sensed the Thilku summoning its mana. That dense energy split and gathered into twelve points before shooting forward in the form of beams.


    Many boulders were thick and resilient, but the beams carried the chaos element''s destruction. The spells dug through the rocks, splitting and shattering them before stretching toward their next target.


    Khan did the math for a second before hurrying downward. Sensing how much mana each beam carried gave him a good idea of their power. Those attacks wouldn''t stop at the rain. They would reach the ceiling, making his position unsafe.


    The symphony heeded Khan''smands as he dived into the rain. He released tinges of his mana to affect a few currents around him and force them to replicate his presence. Those fake auras flew everywhere, going around multiple rocks to create a distraction.


    However, the mutated Thilku didn''t care. It sensed that Khan''s presence had multiplied but didn''t follow any source of his aura. Its spells covered an immense area, and it used them to enforce a perfect defensive array.


    Khan calmly and silently realized feints wouldn''t work anymore. His descent through the boulders and the distractions didn''t affect the beams'' patterns. The mutated Thilku continued to wave them left, right, up, and down, drawing a terrifying that dug through anything in its path.


    That situation wasn''t anything new for Khan, but that was his first time dealing with so many beams released by the same opponent. Those spells were also deadlier than their third-level counterparts, and the rtively limited space prevented him from assertingplete freedom.


    However, the boulders weren''tpletely useless. They still dyed the beams for a few fractions of a second. Also, the mutated Thilku wasn''t aiming for Khan. That was a defensive technique with a specific pattern, and he could flow into it.


    Khan''s mind almost emptied, leaving only a deep connection to the symphony and his intense anger while he flew through the rocks. His steps were instinctive, depending solely on what the environment told him to do, and he also adjusted his speed to follow those softmands.


    Rocks and dust flew everywhere as the beams shattered the boulders. Khan rarely could keep his eyes open due to the clouds and debris thatnded on his face, but his vision was superfluous there. He had regressed to a heavy tool existing to cross that difficult path, and many irrelevant details failed to reach the conscious part of his mind.


    Everything moved slowly in Khan''s perception, but the reality was different. The beams, Khan, and the boulders had reached levels of speed most soldiers couldn''t match. The entire area was descending quickly, and only a few seconds separated it from the unavoidable sh.


    Those pointless thoughts never entered Khan''s mind. He dashed from rock to rock, air to air, and in multiple directions depending on what his perception told him. He danced among those falling boulders and purple-red beams, often requiring many sprints to reach a lower position.


    The rain was never-ending. Each falling boulder left room for more to follow. The ceiling wouldn''t stabilize anytime soon, giving Khan enough time to approach theke safely.


    Tense, long seconds passed. A misstep from Khan would put him in the beam''s trajectory or under an unavoidable boulder. Instead, the mutated Thilku had to continue performing its defensive technique to perfection to avoid dying from the rain.


    Neither opponent saw each other, but they both knew the sh was unavoidable and imminent. Khan could still fall prey to the beams before that, but the mutated Thilku attacked as if that wasn''t an option.


    An indefinite amount of timeter, Khan peeked past a rock and found himself before theke. Those blue waters expanded in his view, and the mutated Thilku stood on them mere meters from him.


    Khan didn''t know how he had gotten there nor how long had passed. Yet, none of those thoughts crossed his mind. He was still on a precise path created by the symphony, and his legs moved to pursue it.


    Mana flowed toward Khan''s legs as he performed his sprint. He didn''t go into a straight line toward the mutated Thilku. Instead, he half-circled around it, approaching its left side.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The mutated Thilku continued to release its defensive array but moved it toward Khan as soon as it noticed his presence. Twelve beams quickly converged toward him, but his math was on point. He knew he was one step ahead of those attacks.


    Khan flew at full speed with a single target in mind. The Thilku had gained a significant w during the previous exchanges. The sharp knife was still stabbed in its neck, and Khan nned to use it.


    However, the mutated Thilku didn''t only have beams. As soon as Khan got dangerously close, its eyes shone, and its mouth broadened into a smile while a clicking growl came out of it.


    Khan understood what wasing as soon as the Thilku''s mana moved. The alien was about to release a spherical version of the Wave spell, which would have terrifying speed and power if it matched the previous attack.


    In theory, the path had just closed. The spell had yet to expand, but Khan knew he wouldn''t reach the mutated Thilku in time. The alien''s reactions had simply been too fast for him.


    The sheer difference in power had turned out to be an insurmountable mountain. Khan''s execution, timing, and nning had been perfect, but the mutated Thilku was simply better than him.


    The consequences of that finding became clear even if Khan didn''t think about them. He could dodge the Wave spell, retreating and using its pushing force to return to safety, but that would put him against the beams again.


    Khan had already proved himself able to deal with the beams, but falling into the previous predicament wasn''t ideal. He could bet on a prolonged battle, hoping the Thilku would eventually feel its injuries, but something told him that wasn''t a possibility.


    The rain wasn''t endless either. The boulders would eventually stop falling, forcing Khan to unleash more destruction on the ceiling. That was a dangerous approach since the underground area had limits, but Khan couldn''t do anything else against that monster.


    Of course, that only was the safe path, which showed little hope. Khan could attempt it a few more times, but it was hard to predict whether things would go as well again.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Moreover, the mutated Thilku had to have more abilities in store. Its battle tactics would also evolve as the battle progressed, and Khan was already using his full power. The difference between the two would probably broaden as time passed.


    That oue couldn''t lead to victory, but another option existed. Khan was really close to the Thilku. He needed one sprint to enter melee range. The iing fourth-level Wave spell was the only problem.


    Once that option grew clearer, Khan stopped considering alternative paths. He had to seize victory now, even if his body risked shattering. That was the only way to remove unknown variables from the battle.


    A purple-red light enveloped the mutated Thilku''s body before expanding and taking the shape of a sphere. That deadly attack filled Khan''s view, forcing him to close his eyes due to its blinding light, but his hand moved ordingly.


    The [Blood Shield] covered Khan''s right arm, face, chest, and legs. He focused on his exposed parts to preserve as much strength as possible while sending mana to his reinforced hand.


    Khan''s bones hurt when the [Blood Shield] fixed his right arm in ce. Yet, his gesture didn''t waver, and a purple-red membrane covered his hand, which affected the symphony with its shing motion.


    Pain spread everywhere. Khan set his right hand on fire when hepleted the sh, and injuries opened all around his body when the Wave spell enveloped him.


    However, a silver lining existed. The sh had opened a path that connected the spell''s edge to the Thilku, creating a path Khan could tread. That road was far from safe or harmless, but his body could take it with the help of the [Blood Shield].


    The Thilku noticed Khan piercing the Wave spell and turned, using its insane reactions to face him. Its arms also descended, threatening to point their deadly beams at him.


    The violent mana slowed down Khan''s advance. It quickly became clear that his arms couldn''t reach the Thilku before the beams cut him apart. Yet, he had already predicted that and had disregarded that strategy to go for a kick.


    The momentum umted during the incredible sprint allowed Khan to point his right leg forward instantly. The Wave spell made a mess of its flesh, but the limb remained straight, and his foot eventually tapped the knife stabbed into the Thilku''s neck.


    Khan didn''t do anything special. He merely pushed his weapon''s handle, trusting its sharp properties would handle the rest.


    The knife didn''t disappoint. It moved as soon as the foot tapped its handle, digging through the Thilku''s flesh and reaching its spine. The bone posed some resistance but eventually gave in, cutting the connection between the alien and its spells.

 Chapter 637 Thank you

    Chapter 637 Thank you


    For a second, Khan lost himself in his suffering. Violent mana still enveloped him, digging through his flesh in countless spots. His mind tried to go nk from the pain, but his urges didn''t let it.


    Still, the spell soon lost its power, and its mana began to disperse in random directions, leaving Khan alone. He ended up in a rtively harmless purple-red cloud, and gravity tried to bring him into the waters below.


    Khan grunted, forcefully stomping his left leg to continue flying. The gesturecked Khan''s usual grace but conveyed its strength, dispersing the cloud without sending him upward.


    The almost-failed kick said a lot about Khan''s condition. His senses were also partially off. His ears buzzed, and his eyes hurt, but his perception still worked at full speed, warning him about the iing boulders.


    The rain was still going, and Khan wasn''t safe in his position. A big rock was ready to smash his head, and more were in line to aplish a simr feat. He needed to leave that danger zone, but a pressing matter dyed that goal.


    The knife had severed the mutated Thilku''s nape, cutting its spine and killing it on the spot. The alien had fallen backward, mming into the solidke without lifting any wave.


    The blue aliens were still solidifying theke''s surface, but that could change once boulders started crashing into it. The corpse would drown at that point, taking the knife with it, and Khan couldn''t allow it for multiple reasons.


    When the first boulder was about to touch the top of Khan''s head, he dashed forward, slowly sliding around that huge rock to get closer to the Thilku.


    Another boulder arrived in the new position, threatening to hit Khan and the Thilku. However, Khan teleported before it and slightly pushed it, changing its trajectory.


    Khan grabbed an intact part of the Thilku''s cape, but a third boulder was above him. Yet, by the time the rock touched his hair, he had already disappeared, taking the corpse with him.


    Boulders filled the path toward the ceiling, but Khan gracefully flew among them, using only slight movements and little strength. Each dash was better than the previous, and his breath gradually stabilized, restoring his senses'' full power.


    By the time Khan reached the ceiling, his ears and eyes had recovered. The rain had also slowed down, and only a few boulders fell before stoppingpletely. The area stabilized, and Khan had already studied its properties.


    Theke had almost disappeared. Boulders had covered it, hiding its solid surface and bright blue glow. A few blue aliens had also died during the rain, but no one seemed to care. Even the elder ignored her deadpanions and focused on Khan or the waters.


    As for Khan, he was in a sorry state. Exposed flesh covered his torso and face. Their right sides had lost patches of skin, leaving bleeding and sizzling injuries behind. His right leg was worse since it had dug deeper into the Wave spell, suffering a more serious version of those wounds.


    Nevertheless, the right arm was even worse. It didn''t only suffer from the effects of the Wave spell. The mutated Thilku had also fractured some of its bones, and Khan delivered the finishing blow when he used it to perform the Divine Reaper.


    Khan looked at his poor state before lifting his right arm. He could move something, but the process was torture. The whole forearm was probably broken, and his hand was no better.


    The additional pain from the rest of Khan''s body fueled some annoyance. He cared about his injuries only because of Monica, but something else crossed his mind while the weight of the Thilku in his left hand grew clearer.


    ''I''m not good enough,'' Khan cursed.


    Khan had clearly won the fight. He had defeated a fourth-level warrior enhanced by mutations, which was incredible for someone at his level. Yet, he couldn''t feel superior or stronger.


    Except for the oue, Khan knew he was inferior in every aspect. He had to use his full power, strategies, and the environment to deliver a deadly blow, but that had worked due to the surprise effect. The mutated Thilku had to have more in store. Khan simply didn''t give it a chance to show it.


    Of course, a victory was a victory, but Khan was insatiable. His body had paid a steep price to win, but he barely acknowledged it. He would have lost in a different environment or against someone with a better mind.


    ''I''m not there yet,'' Khan thought, ring at the elder. He didn''t forget where he was, and his annoyance changed target. He had onest matter to handle. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The elder remained silent. Even the death of its strongest puppet didn''t make her flinch. She merely watched as Khan slowly rose toward the broken ceiling and ced the corpse into a hole.


    The hole was far from perfect, but Khan still found a way to stuff the corpse inside and prevent it from falling. Then, he went for its half-severed neck and retrieved his knife before leaving the ceiling.


    Khan stopped descending as soon as his eyes pointed at theke. His left arm didn''t hurt too much, and his grip on the knife was firm. His legs were in hell, but he could move them. In theory, Khan could fight, but the scenery in his vision told him he wouldn''t need to.


    Khan let gravity do its job, softly tapping on the air to slow down his descent. He was getting closer to theke but stopped halfway through. There was no need for him to advance any further.


    "[I]," Khan began to speak, but his hoarse voice forced him to clear his throat before resuming. "[I believe you won''t cause problems for me anymore]."


    The elder didn''t initially reply, but the flowers around and inside her eventually lit up. "[You made your decision]."


    "[I did]," Khan confirmed, opting for a far calmer approach since everything was over. "[I''ll find the Nak myself, without losing my mind]."


    "[The answers are below you]," The elder stated, trying to convince Khan once again.


    "[No]," Khan refused. "[This is my mission, not the Nak''s]."


    Khan stored his knife in what had remained of his pants before lifting his left hand. Chaos filled the area, and his influence brought that element to his side, creating waves of mana that gathered on the ceiling.


    The process was slow and methodical. Khan didn''t hurry and focused on stabilizing each spell that formed above him. The elder could easily tell theke to disperse that mana, but no soundwave shot forward.


    Khan had started with ten of them before increasing their number, multiplying it a few times.


    Little by little, an array of chaos spears amassed below the ceiling. Khan had started with ten of them before increasing their number, multiplying it a few times.


    The symphony stopped creating spells only when thirty chaos spears had formed. Khan''s order wasplete now, and those deadly attacks were only waiting for him to give thest directive.


    Khan knew the elder wouldn''t say anything else. He couldn''t get more information from that cursed species, so he didn''t even try to question her.


    However, that nk look and helpless state made room for some of Khan''s positive sides. He didn''t hate Cegnore''s natives. He didn''t me them for what had happened to the. That species had simply ended up in the middle of a grand conspiracy, losing their minds in the process.


    "[For what it''s worth]," Khan announced, surprised about the fact that he was wasting time, "[I promise I won''t forget you]."


    The elder appeared curious about those words, but Khan didn''t waste time exining himself. He wasn''t trying to be listened to anyway. He knew the natives couldn''t.


    "[They''ll pay for what they did to your species]," Khan continued. "[Even if their motives are good, I''ll make them pay]."


    The elder didn''t answer, but the flowers inside and around her flickered. The event barelysted a second, and Khan could see she didn''t mean it. Her reaction had been instinctive, as if part of her mind still escaped the Nak''s control.


    That reaction didn''t mean that the elder could be saved. Khan didn''t kid himself at all. Yet, seeing that he wasn''t the only cursed being in the universe felt nice. The blue aliens were in the same situation, and he was in a position to show mercy, mercy for their entire species.


    "[Thank you for your answers]," Khan announced, looking at the ceiling and rising slowly, walking through the air to cross the array of chaos spears.


    Khan didn''t look at theke anymore. He pulled the corpse out of the hole before sending mana to his right arm. The effort was hellish, but a glowing sword still emerged from his broken hand, creating the drill he needed to leave that underground area.


    "Fall," Khan ordered, stabbing his glowing broken arm into the rocky surface above him. Meanwhile, behind him, the spears began to fall. It didn''t take long before an earthquake took control of the entire area.

 Chapter 638 Buddy

    Chapter 638 Buddy


    The ground never stopped trembling, but Khan only focused on digging ahead. His damaged arm remained above his head, enveloped by the chaos w spell to act as a drill, eventually bringing him back to the surface.


    Khan forcefully pushed himself out of the ground, rising into the air while carrying the alien corpse. The area had already turned into a mess of cracks and holes that kept widening due to the endless earthquake, so he aimed for the dark sky to retain safe and stable footing.


    Everything about Khan screamed in pain, and the corpse''s weight didn''t help. His body needed rest, but his mind fended off those troublesome sensations. He didn''t only have to understand where he was. The previous speech put him in a pensive mood, making him ignore his suffering.


    Cegnore''s night sky stretched everywhere. Khan could see among that darkness, but no familiarndmarks appeared. He was lost, and the environment didn''t hesitate to change.


    The earthquake intensified until the surface gave in. The ground under Khan crumbled, fusing all the cracks into one massive hole that continued to expand.


    The hole never reached the gorge''s size but was deeper, stretching into the''s true face to submerge one of the natives'' nodes. Khan nced at its bottom to check that no water wasing out, but his attention moved to the next matter at hand afterward.


    Khan''s situation had worsened. He had been lost for a while, and his injured state deepened the previous issues. He still didn''t have water or food, and a corpse had joined his trip.


    The additional weight alone wasn''t an issue. Khan could also deal with thirst, hunger, or injuries. Yet, those problems were worrisome when they joined forces.


    Khan lingered in the air until exhaustion showed its presence. He had traveled for an entire day, fought a fourth-level warrior, and used spells non-stop. Even his resilience had limits, and he couldn''t face them in the sky.


    The huge hole forced Khan to fly for a while before finally descending andnding on stable ground. The tremors had stopped, at least there, and Khan dropped the corpse while sitting cross-legged at its side.


    Stopping renewed Khan''s awareness of his poor state. His body truly was a mess. His right hand was barely functioning, and even his face itched. He needed proper medical attention, but getting there would take a while.


    ''Don''t sleep yet,'' Khan ordered to himself. ''I don''t want to see them so soon.''


    Facing the nightmares right after the events in the underground chamber would be awful, so Khan slipped into a meditative state to stabilize his injuries. The technique would make him hungrier, but that was better than bleeding.


    Khan lost track of time and focused on moving his mana, making it flow across his body before addressing the injuries. The superficial burns were fine and easy to fix, but a lot had dug deeper into his skin, prolonging his meditation.


    The meditative state broke when the morning''s first lights hit Khan''s face. Cegnore''s cold star was rising on the horizon, marking the night''s end.


    Khan didn''t feel any better when he opened his eyes. Everything continued to hurt, and his stomachined to no end. He felt as if he had returned to the Slums, but his secret stash of spicy chicken wasn''t there.


    The situation was helpless, so Khan opted to do the only sensible thing. He checked his surroundings to confirm the absence of threats before looking at the corpse. Many would find that huge dead body disgusting, but those thoughts didn''t even enter Khan''s brain. Besides, his eyes were on the cape, not the alien. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "[You don''t mind, do you]?" Khan asked, patting the corpse''s shoulder before pulling the thick cape from under its back.


    The cape was huge, especially for humans, and Khan didn''t hesitate to lie on it. The clothing''s fabric wasn''t ideal for his injuries, but he still turned it into a bed and fell asleep.


    As always, the nightmare was on time, and Khan tried not to pay too much attention to it. Of course, his attempt failed, and his body was also tired enough to make him sleep longer than usual.


    Cegnore''s star was still shining when Khan woke up. One look at the sky told him that the morning had yet to end, but his hurting body quickly distracted him from the inspection. He had also sweated a lot, and the cape instantly turned into a towel.


    After wiping the sweat away, Khan resumed his cross-legged position and inspected his right arm. It was bad, but he had seen worse, especially when performing the bare-handed Divine Reaper. His bones had still fractured, but his body was slowly learning how to endure that martial art.


    ''I''m surprised it''s still attached,'' Khan sighed, lowering his arm to rub his eyes with the working hand. He briefly checked his injuries and belongings, confirming his phone and knife were still with him, and a groan escaped his mouth afterward.


    Khan jumped to his feet, ignoring the pain the gesture caused. He could choose to meditate, but the journey was still long, and it was better to leave while his body still worked. It would be shameful to die out of thirst or hunger after surviving such a difficult situation.


    "[Time to fly, buddy]," Khan eximed, grabbing the corpse from afortable spot. "[I hope you won''t turn out to be a random soldier once we get back]."


    A long, slow journey followed. Khan didn''t havendmarks, and the valuable clues in the symphony were almost non-existent, but he followed them whenever they appeared.


    As Khan advanced in those directions, the clues grew stronger and easier to follow, but his injured state forced him to take many breaks. His thirst was slowly reaching a critical point, too, generating strange ideas that involved digging to find rivers.


    Luckily for Khan, the Slums had prepared him for those harsh situations. He retained his calm and kept his rational side in charge of his actions, prioritizing returning to the Thilku over fulfilling his current needs.


    That decision paid off. After two full days of travel, Khan finally spotted a distant red halo that pierced the''s morning light. Something illuminated the area ahead, and he knew exactly what it was.


    Khan had to cross a few more kilometers before the scene became clear. He saw a new trench with two spherical machines standing at its sides. The robot''s scanners were already active, and red beams soon converged on Khan''s distant figure, growing brighter as they inspected him.


    Khan was starving, dehydrated, and still exhausted. The beams blinded him, and he let them as he crashed to the ground. The corpse also dropped at his side, and he mustered the entirety of his strength to keep his back straight.


    Everything began to spin and lose rity. Khan felt like fainting, and his head swung back and forth since his back couldn''t stay still. In theory, he had returned to his allies, so he could rx, but his time in the Harbor had taught him the value of showing his superiority.


    The noise of bikes and cars filled the area as Khan did his best to remain awake. Thilku hade to rescue him, but he noticed them only when they were beside him. The first team that arrived featured simple soldiers, who began to ask random questions, but Khan didn''t listen to any of that.


    "[Water]! Khan shouted, using his remaining strength to raise his voice. "[Food]!"


    The Thilku heard Khan''s words clearly, but the corpse at his side distracted them. The dead alien was almost unrecognizable after the trip due to all the dust and ground covering it. Yet, those soldiers could guess its identity, and their minds weren''t ready to believe it.


    Of course, a soldier eventually snapped back to reality and pushed hispanions to do the same. Before Khan could realize what was happening, he found himself inside arge car, holding a cold bowl filled with unknown soup. A Thilku was at his side, helping him with the food, and a proper doctor soon joined them.


    Confused moments passed as Khan''s body finally absorbed some nutrients. Khan''s awareness went back and forth, sometimes long enough for the nightmares to return.


    It took a while, but rity eventually returned. Khan opened his eyes and felt his senses unfolding in every direction, returning to their previous range and precision. He was in a metal room featuring only the bed under him and a series of scanners pointed at his figure, and his belongings rested in the corner nearby.


    ''I made it back,'' Khan realized, trying to rub his eyes, only to notice that bandages had appeared. Half his body was covered in them, including his face, and a metal structure encircled his right forearm, keeping it still.


    ''Right,'' Khan sighed, waving his right arm a few times before jumping out of bed. He wasn''t fine yet, but staying still had never been his good point, and politics were probably already waiting for him.


    Nevertheless, the room''s door opened before Khan could retrieve his belongings, showing Onp''s stern figure. The alien stormed inside, letting the entrance close behind his back before inspecting Khan from head to toe.


    "[You disobeyed direct orders and left the team behind]," Onp suddenly scolded. "[We considered sending you to the humans without treating you]."


    "[I don''t care about this]," Khan shook his head, stretching his legs as he resumed approaching the corner with his belongings. "[Set up a meeting. I know how you can conquer this]."

 Chapter 639 Debt

    639 Debt


    Onp wanted to snap at that tant disrespect. He would have before a different human, but Khan was an exception. Moreover, his mind had questions that made him desperate for answers.


    Khan didn''t bother checking Onp''s reaction. His perception sensed it, but he didn''t care. Onp''s decision made no difference to him. In his mind, Cegnore had already fulfilled its role, and his presence there started to feel pointless.


    Onp could understand part of Khan''s feelings from his distracted behavior. Khan looked more focused on recovering his belongings than addressing the fourth-level warrior in the room. That had already happened in the past, but Onp added a new meaning to the gesture after seeing the corpse Khan brought back with him.


    "[Did you kill him]?" Onp asked, even if more pressing questions should have had priority. His curiosity was too great. He wanted to know how much of a monster Khan truly was.


    The question captivated Khan''s attention. His stance grew firmer as he continued to retrieve his belongings, and his eyes fell on the Thilku as soon as he was done.


    "[He was strong]," Khan revealed. "[I''m lucky he didn''t have his mind]."


    Onp would normally question such a im, even if it came from Khan. He had seen how strong and remarkable that human was, but the difference between levels was simply too great to ovee. The corpse had also gone through mutations, further increasing its power.


    However, Khan''s face conveyed no lies. Actually, he looked a bit sad about that development, convincing Onp that he had truly defeated the fourth-level warrior. As impossible as it sounded, Khan had really ovee that steep gap.


    "[He did this]," Khan added, waving his restrained right arm. "[Well, I yed a part in this, too]."


    Onp didn''t reply. He had considered that eventuality while Khan recovered, but confirming it left him speechless anyway. He didn''t know what to say, and different feelings fought inside his mind.


    "[Was he themander]?" Khan decided to ask since his curiosity was also intense. "[Lord Exr''s friend]?"


    "[He was]," Onp confirmed. "[Killing him was supposed to be my job]."


    Khan stared at the Thilku. The old him would have offered a secret deal to let Onp steal that achievement. Yet, he couldn''t settle for those politicalpromises anymore. The world needed to know he had done the impossible.


    "[Serving the Empire was an honor]," Khan opted for a different truth. "[We have our differences, but I respect the Thilku]."


    Onp opened his mouth but didn''t immediately speak. Khan had done an incredible service to the Empire, but the issue remained. He had abandoned his team to pursue personal goals, which was unforgivable for such a loyal species.


    Nevertheless, kicking Khan away wouldn''t feel right, especially since he had more to share. His efforts had earned him some leeway, pushing Onp to find apromise.


    "[Come with me]," Onp ordered, suddenly turning to leave the room.


    Khan followed suit, doing his best to keep up with Onp''s long strides. His body didn''t like that effort, but showing weakness wasn''t an option, and that behavior soon rewarded him.


    The isted room was connected to a corridor that led into familiar areas. Khan and Onp quickly returned to the circr control room, and the Thilku managing each console interrupted their tasks to show their awe.


    Speechless faces converged on Khan and conveyed multiple emotions when studying his body. He had more bandages than clothes, and his broken arm put him at his weakest. However, no alien dared to underestimate him. Rumors had already filled the building,beling him as the greatest third-level warrior in existence.


    Khan ignored that attention and focused solely on following Onp. The two entered the meeting room connected to the hall, and Onp walked toward the other side of the interactive table while the entrance closed.


    "[Tell me what you have to say]," Onp announced, activating the interactive table to generate a holographic representation of the. "[I''ll decide what to do with you afterward]."


    Khan didn''t mind that arrogant attitude. He didn''t even care that Onp wanted to keep things private, so he approached the interactive table and inspected the new runes that had appeared before tracing some of their lines.


    Themands altered the holograms, zooming in on the to focus on the building''s quadrant. Khan tried to go even deeper, but the desk''s security measures blocked him, and Onp also crossed his arms in annoyance.


    "[The underground rivers are key]," Khan exined, his eyes fixed on the immovable holograms.


    Onp felt conflicted, but a snort escaped his mouth as he lowered his arms and authorized Khan''smands. Thetter could finally highlight the mapped underground rivers, and his eyes darted left and right as he tried to match those pictures with hisst journey.


    "[This is where the currents led me]," Khan revealed, pointing at a rtively unclear area the Thilku had yet to mappletely. "[The natives called it a node. They used it as a control room]."


    Onp''s eyes lit up. His scientists had reached simr hypotheses after inspecting the waters, and Khan confirmed them. Moreover, the fact that he had met the natives was no small thing.


    "[I destroyed this]," Khan continued. "[The quadrant should be clearer now]."


    "[We noticed]," Onp stated. "[So? You were talking about conquering the]."


    Khan hesitated. He knew what his suggestion would imply, and its weight felt heavier after talking with the natives. Yet, Khan could bear it. Seeding would be mercy, even if he would still suffer.


    "[Pollute it]," Khan eventually eximed.


    "[What]?" Onp asked.


    "[Poison the water]," Khan repeated, ncing at Onp. "[The rivers are connected. Poisoning one will clear a quadrant or more]."


    Onp couldn''t believe Khan was actually speaking such words. The Empire had already considered that suggestion but crossed it off due to the damage it would inflict on the. The Thilku would have to spend years cleaning Cegnore if they deployed that n.


    "[That''s]," Onp began to speak, but Khan interrupted him.


    "[That''s the best course of action]," Khan stated. "[The natives use the waters to retain control over the beasts. Remove them, and they will die out]."


    Khan didn''t say it, but Onp understood. The monsters wouldn''t be the sole casualties of that n. Intelligent beings would also die without their primary source of sustain. Khan''s suggestion was Of course, the Empire wouldn''t think twice about deploying such harsh and ruthless ns. The Thilku 09:51


    would have already bombed the if it weren''t for their mutatedpanions. That problem was nothing short of genocide.


    Of course, the Empire wouldn''t think twice about deploying such harsh and ruthless ns. The Thilku would have already bombed the if it weren''t for their mutatedpanions. That problem was still there, too, but Khan had probably started to solve it.


    "[Ah]!" Onp cried. "[The hurt our pride, and we have yet to reim it]."


    "[I killed themander]," Khan sighed. "[I''ve reimed your pride, so stop wasting lives]." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "[Are you giving me orders]?" Onp snorted, mming his huge hands on the desk. "[You betrayed the Empire''s trust. Your service barely makes up for that]."


    "[I never had your trust]," Khan sneered. "[I gave you the chance to use me, and you seized it]."


    "[You can forget our capes then]," Onp responded. "[You don''t deserve them]."


    "[I do]," Khan confidently imed, shaking his head. "[You do what you want with the. I''m done with it]."


    Khan didn''t wait for a reply and turned to approach the exit. His words expressed his true feelings. The didn''t interest him anymore, so he wanted to leave.


    "[I didn''t authorize you to leave]!" Onp shouted.


    Khan halted his steps and peeked past his shoulder. His bandaged face hid half his expression, but Onp could see the challenging mood in his eyes.


    "[Stop me]," Khan dared, his eyes brimming with confidence. He wasn''t even at half his peak form, but his urges were as intense as ever.


    Onp couldn''t believe Khan was choosing that course of action. Yet, respect exploded inside him anyway. That was a true warrior, and insulting him would go against the Empire''s fundamental faith in strength.


    "[We have our differences]," Onp announced, "[And I must send you back. However, the Thilku won''t forget what you did on this]."


    Khan''s gaze almost faltered when Onp stepped back and grabbed the cape''s edge to perform a traditional bow. His anger and annoyance toward the situation didn''t make him forget his manners.


    "[You are an exceptional shaman, Captain Khan]," Onp continued, briefly lowering his head in respect. "[Lord Exr will hear about your exploits]."


    Khan''sck of interest vanished. He faced the Thilku and ignored the paining from his body to match his bow. That moment didn''t have politics or differences among species. It was a show of mutual respect between powerful warriors, and Khan didn''t hesitate to join it.


    "[A vehicle is waiting for you outside]," Onp added, breaking his bow and straightening his back. "[Once you are ready, you can leave]."


    "[I''m ready]," Khan said, lying about the state of his body. "[Thank you for allowing me to fight among your proud troops]."


    Onp wanted to utter simr words but held back his gratitude due to the difficult situation. Moreover, he had onest pressing matter to address.


    "[Once you return]," Onp began to speak, but Khan interrupted him once again. He had already understood what the alien wanted to say.


    "[I won''t share any intel with the humans]," Khan promised. "[The Global Army won''t learn anything from me]."


    Onp remained speechless. He recalled the spit. He remembered Khan''s bold words from past meetings. He had doubts in the past, but the truth was clear now. Khan was no human.


    Khan had nothing left to say, so he turned again, and Onp merely watched him approach the exit. The door opened and closed, hiding his figure for the foreseeable future.


    "[Did you hear him, my Lord]?" Onp eventually said, his gaze fixed on the closed door.


    "[I did]," Lord Exr''s voice came from the interactive desk. "[You could have questioned him more]."


    "[I''ll stop him now]," Onp dered.


    "[No need]," Lord Exr replied. "[You respected the blood he spilled for the Empire. That was the right call]."


    "[What if he turns on us]?" Onp wondered. "[He knows our ways]."


    "[He won''t]," Lord Exr reassured. "[Captain Khan isn''t that kind of human, and our rtionship with him isn''t over]."


    "[My Lord]?" Onp called.


    "[Do as he says]," Lord Exr ordered. "[Poison the water. Our debt of pride isn''t with Cegnore anymore. A shaman seized it]."

 Chapter 640 Charge

    Khan left on his own, but a few Thilku soon joined him to escort him outside. No one said anything, and the silence deepened when he reached the main hall.


    It was still early morning, at least by Cegnore''s standards. Usually, the main hall only featured tired and sleeping soldiers, but apletely different scene weed Khan.


    The news of Khan''s awakening had already spread. He had been out for almost two days due to the gravity of his state, but the short meeting had given the Thilku enough time to prepare to witness his departure.


    When Khan entered the main hall, he found hundreds of eyes pointed at him. He recognized many of them and even felt a few who conveyed more than awe. The Thilku saved by his exceptional battle prowess couldn''t help but experience gratitude, but he kept his gaze straight, focused only on leaving.


    That wasn''t a nned behavior. Khan was simply a mess, especially after the meeting. He didn''t only hurt everywhere. He had also suggested a proper genocide, and his mind couldn''t feel good about it.


    As for the audience, that firm stance made Khan appear bigger than life. The Thilku ignored his rtively small body and only considered his incredible feats. They knew he had defeated a fourth-level warrior on his own and foreign battlefields. They knew he embodied power itself.


    Disappointment spread among the soldiers when Khan finally crossed the main gate. He wasn''t one of them, but his presence lifted everyone''s morale. Besides, the Thilku respected strength enough to yearn to watch him fight again.


    Khan left the building with the two soldiers escorting him and found himself before Cegnore''s familiar environment. Still, his eyes quickly fell on a big car with a Thilku in the driver''s seat. Thetter was ready for him and promptly exited the vehicle to open the passenger''s door.


    Unlike Onp, ordinary soldiers didn''t need to uphold stiff political standards. They also found it hard to see Khan as an outsider anymore after all the lives he had saved, so they didn''t hesitate to show proper respect.


    Khan nced at the Thilku keeping the passenger''s door open before looking inside. His backpack was already there, and Khan didn''t need to check it to know it contained all his belongings. The aliens had been ready for his departure since his reappearance.


    The Thilku closed the door as soon as Khan jumped inside before returning to the driver''s seat. The alien checked that Khan was ready before elerating, retaining afortable speed that wouldn''t challenge those injuries.


    Khan obviously didn''t mind. His thoughts were elsewhere, and his mood was sour. He crossed his legs on thoserge seats and closed his eyes out of habit, but the meditative state didn''t arrive. He wanted to punish himself by feeling the entirety of that moment.


    Nevertheless, the symphony didn''t leave Khan alone. The car''s insides spoke to him, highlighting the Thilku''s mana. The alien was struggling to hold back his voice, and Khan found that hesitation irritating.


    "[Speak]," Khan ordered before his mana made him snap.


    "[I apologize]," The Thilku immediately replied, surprised Khan could sense his eagerness to speak. "[I saw you fight, Captain Khan. That was the most marvelous battle I''ve ever witnessed]."


    The praise didn''t feel right in Khan''s ears. The Thilku had been honest, but Khan was in a strange mood. He knew what he had be, and seeing that eagerness hurt him.


    "[Beware of monsters]," Khan stated. "[Beware of bing one. Once you cross that line, there''s no turning back]."


    Those probably weren''t the best words to say to a Thilku. That species expanded through wars. Its soldiers would dly turn into monsters to help the Empire''s cause.


    "[But no one can beat you afterward]," The Thilku pointed out, showing his shallow understanding of the topic.


    "[Because you''ve already lost]," Khan replied, looking past the window to lose himself in Cegnore''s dull environment.


    "[Captain Khan]," The Thilku eximed. "[I don''t understand]."


    "[Don''t]," Khan uttered. "[The moment you understand, it''s already toote]."


    Khan''s cryptic words ended the conversation. The Thilku fell deep into his thoughts while continuing to drive the car, and Khan soon followed suit as his life reced the sceneries past the window.


    Khan didn''t me himself anymore. He didn''t question his actions, especially when he pursued his goals. That desperation had to vanish, and Khan was willing to do untold things to make it happen.


    Still, Khan couldn''t let himself feel okay about it. He had gotten used to tragic events. He had learned to kill with ease, but the matter couldn''t be meaningless. Khan couldn''t allow it to lose value, so he opened the gates for his suffering. That was better than turning into Jack.


    ''[Bloody rivers],'' Khan thought in the Nelenguage, and the urge to see Monica invaded him. He had already gone through something simr on Nitis, and Liiza had been there for him. Monica wouldn''t shy back from that task, but Khan didn''t know where she was.


    The rest of the trip was silent and slow. The driver didn''t elerate to avoid causing Khan difort, and he soon managed to meditate. The rest helped, but the car stopped before he could get anything done.


    "[I hope I''ll see you fight again]," The Thilku eximed as soon as he saw Khan opening his eyes.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "[Hope we are on the same side]," Khan replied, grabbing his backpack. "[Thanks for the lift]."


    "[It was my honor, Captain Khan]," The Thilku stated, and Khan only nodded at his peeking eyes before leaving the car.


    The human territory didn''t change in those weeks. Actually, the symphony told Khan that the area was calmer than before. Fewer to no battles had reached the distant trench for reasons he had witnessed first-hand.


    The empty in couldn''t retain Khan''s attention for long. He quickly focused on the nearby building and began moving while the Thilku vehicle left.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The solitary walk was awkward. Khan forced himself to wear a firm stance, but his backpack and the brittle ground slowed down his pace. He was still weak, but his mana kept him going, and his presence never faltered.


    The main gate opened as soon as Khan stopped before it, and the decontamination process started once the entrance closed behind him. He dropped the backpack on the floor in the meantime, and a crowded scene unfolded in his eyes when everything ended.


    The human main hall didn''t look any smaller than the Thilku''s due to all the people gathered there. Soldiers with different levels had gathered before the gate to witness Khan''s return, and their eyes opened in shock at the sight of his bandages.


    No one could question Khan''s poor condition. He was almost naked, covered by bandages that stretched to his face. The metal tool on his arm revealed its broken state, but his eyes carried a type of power they couldn''t even begin to understand.


    The soldiers shook when Khan browsed through them before stopping at a figure directly before him. Captain Chaunac was in front of that crowd, ready to wee Khan, but his polite smile froze when he experienced his presence.


    "Caspar," Khan promptly called, stepping forward while dragging his backpack with him. "I need doctors to redo these bandages."


    Captain Chaunac snapped back to reality at that order and immediately turned. However, the path deeper into the building was closed. Too many soldiers had gathered in the hall and were blocking the way.


    Caspar began to panic, but his body suddenly froze again. He slowly looked to his left and realized that Khan had materialized there.


    Khan didn''t need to say anything. He red at the stunned soldiers before him, and they moved away. There wasn''t enough space for that process, but the troops made space for him anyway, squeezing themselves to create that passage.


    Caspar couldn''t help but gulp, but Khan was already on the move. He stepped forward, throwing his backpack at the first soldier in his range before diving deeper into the building. Caspar could only follow him, but various thoughts still filled his mind.


    Khan didn''t exactly socialize among the human troops, but Caspar had talked with him a few times. He even felt to have established a decent rtionship with Khan, but a lot seemed to have changed in those weeks.


    There was no politeness in Khan''s demeanor anymore. He wasn''t rude, but the intensity of his gestures felt overwhelming, even for a fellow third-level warrior. Caspar had seen that aspect of him during battles, but his entire existence seemed brimming with power now.


    The two didn''t manage to get far inside the building. As soon as the two Captains crossed the main hall, a group of men and women wearing white coats intercepted them, and Khan felt no surprise seeing Mister Wulfo in their lead.


    "Captain Khan, we need to talk," Mister Wulfo announced.


    The two groups were in a rtively isted corridor, but curious onlookers still followed them. That wasn''t the right ce for political talks, but Khan didn''t care.


    "I''m tired of talks," Khan dered. "Prepare everything for my return to the Harbor, and get me those doctors."


    Shock unfolded. Khan wasn''t even trying to negotiate, and his statement carried impossible orders. He couldn''t just decide to return to the Harbor on his own. The paperwork behind that process was insane and would take multiple authorizations from higher-ups.


    "Captain," Mister Wulfo raised his voice, but Khan cut him short.


    "I gave you what you wanted," Khan continued. "Our agreement isplete, so stop wasting my time."


    A second wave of shock arrived. Captain Chaunac and the other scientists couldn''t help but inspect Mister Wulfo, trying to understand the meaning behind Khan''s words. They two seemed to have sealed a secret deal, which wasn''t surprising, but no one would dare to speak about it publicly.


    "Captain Khan!" Mister Wulfo shouted. "I don''t know what you are insinuating, but you forget your position. The scientists are in charge here, and-!"


    Mister Wulfo couldn''t finish his line since Khan''s materialized before him. He stared deep into the scientist''s eyes, conveying all the feelings bottled inside his mind before uttering chilling words. "Do you feel in charge?"

 Chapter 641 Changes

    There was no mistaking it. That was nothing short of a threat, but no one stepped in to stop Khan. Captain Chaunac, Mister Wulfo, and the four scientists with him were third-level warriors, but Khan''s sole presence froze them all.


    That reaction wasn''t rational. Captain Chaunac and the others experienced fear on an instinctive level, preventing them from even thinking about intervening. Khan was too scary for reasons their brains couldn''t understand.


    Khan''s expression was in. He wore no smirk or threatening features, but his eyes were too intense. Mister Wulfo couldn''t even believe they belonged to a human. Pure chaos seemed to shine inside them, but no light came out.


    Moreover, Khan''s chilling voice resounded in Mister Wulfo''s ears even after it vanished from the area. That simple question seeped into his brain, filling it by pushing away his other thoughts and leading to an obvious answer.


    ''No.''


    The issue wasn''t even in question. Mister Wulfo didn''t feel in charge at all before those intense eyes. He could feel strength abandoning his legs and sweat umting on his back after mere seconds locked in that stalemate, and things were bound to worsen.


    Luckily for Mister Wulfo, Khan sensed his silent victory and showed mercy, diverting his gaze to look at the two scientists to his right.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "You two," Khan said. "My bandages."


    The two scientists searched for solidarity and help in theirpanions'' eyes but found cowardice. No one wanted to get in Khan''s way or incur his anger. Captain Chaunac was the only one who managed to muster a nod when those two pairs of eyes fell on him.


    Mister Wulfo instinctively stepped back when the addressed scientists left toply with the order, and thoughts finally resumed flowing in his mind. He almost couldn''t believe he was the Khan from a month ago. Too much had changed even to consider him the same person.


    Forceful orders had reced the political wits shown in the past, but thetter didn''t disappear. Mister Wulfo knew nothing inside Khan''s brain had changed. Khan was simply opting for more direct methods to get what he wanted, and they were working.


    The sudden change couldn''t be random, but Mister Wulfo didn''t have the time to exin the event. Khan had already shown the willingness to hint at their secret deal, and Mister Wulfo had to take precautions before the rumors gained more proof.


    "This is no ce to perform medical procedures," Mister Wulfo uttered, clearing his throat to hide his awkwardness. "Follow me."


    Mister Wulfo looked at his two remainingpanions and shook his head to send them away. Thetter understood the silent message and departed, giving their superior some privacy with the two Captains.


    Khan didn''tin and followed Mister Wulfo as soon as he started walking. Captain Chaunac was with them, and the three went in the same direction as the first two scientists, reaching an area outside the soldiers'' side of the building.


    Mister Wulfo approached a metal door, but Khan stopped before him. That gesture confused the scientist, but the entrance suddenly opened, revealing the twopanions who had retrieved the medical gear.


    The two scientists didn''t know what was happening, but the stunned look on Mister Wulfo and Captain Chaunac''s faces said a lot. The two men couldn''t even begin to exin the recent event. They knew Khan''s senses were abnormal, but that reaction belonged to apletely different realm.


    Nevertheless, Mister Wulfo quickly recovered and turned to nod at the ce''s insides. The scientists didn''t need additional orders to know they had to retreat, and the five soon entered a rtively smallb filled with medical equipment.


    Khan strode forward as soon as Mister Wulfo sealed the door and reached the center of theb. He behaved like he was in charge of the ce, and the scientists'' reaction confirmed that since they hurried to his sides to handle the bandages.


    Captain Chaunac and Mister Wulfo could only watch as the scientists ripped the old bandages apart and uncovered Khan''s injured body. One was a woman, but neither hesitated topletely undress Khan to fix him up.


    The Thilku had cleaned Khan before patching him up, but the remains of their ointments and liquids released by his injuries left him dirty. Still, that didn''t hide his state, and Captain Chaunac and Mister Wulfo ended up studying him from head to toe.


    Both men knew that behavior was impolite, and Mister Wulfo had already seen Khan naked, but the new injuries left him as speechless as Captain Chaunac.


    Khan wasn''t only filled with scars. His skin was still broken in many spots, burns covered him, and his right arm made odd noises when he let it fall. His face was no exception. Its right side was a mess. It was actually lucky he didn''t lose an eye.


    The two men couldn''t even begin to imagine what had happened in the Thilku''s trenches or why Khan returned in that condition. Usually, allies would let him heal before sending him back, but those injuries were clearly new.


    The scientists began the medical procedures without asking any questions. They applied specific ointments to each injury before wrapping tight bandages around them. They also scanned Khan''s right arm and retrieved a metal brace once the results arrived.


    The ce also had tracksuits, which the scientists didn''t hesitate to offer to Khan. They even tried to help him wear one, but he refused and dressed up on his own.


    "Leave now," Mister Wulfo ordered as soon as the scientists finished patching Khan up. "We must confer about private matters."


    The scientistsplied, but their behavior told Khan gossip would spread. Mister Wulfo''s authority wasn''t heavy enough to stop that, but Khan didn''t care. In his mind, he was already out of Cegnore.


    "Captain Khan!" Mister Wulfo shouted as soon as the scientists left theb. "Do you mind exining what is happening? Your behavior is also uneptable!"


    Captain Chaunac wanted to be on Khan''s side, but Winston was right. The scientists were in charge there, and Khan hadpletely disrespected the chain ofmand.


    "I made my intentions clear," Khan uttered, inspecting theb and sniffing the air to search for something specific.


    "Returning to the Harbor?!" Winston asked. "That''s impossible right now. Do you know how many authorizations we must ask to allow that transfer?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Tonight," Khan stated, ignoring the scientist while crouching toward a drawer. Opening it revealed a bottle he didn''t hesitate to seize and sniff.


    For a second, Mister Wulfo believed Khan was joking. That request didn''t make sense, and Khan had to know that. After all, he had been briefed about those procedures before reaching the.


    However, the scientist didn''t know how much that knowledge mattered now. Khan looked unrestrained, childish even as he opened the bottle and began drinking from it.


    "That''s impossible," Mister Wulfo repeated.


    "Do you prefer me to steal a ship and bring it out?" Khan questioned, partially calmer due to the booze in his hands.


    Mister Wulfo couldn''t even begin to count how manyws Khan would break with that approach. Normally, he would see that im as a bluff. Yet, nothing in Khan''s behavior hinted at a joke, and the intensity of his eyes gave birth to far scarier thoughts.


    That reasoning sounded impossible. Breaking minor rules and sealing secret deals was the norm on outposts on aliens, but Khan''s eyes carried wilder ideas. He looked ready to pay any price to leave, even if it meant forcing his way into the hangars.


    Mister Wulfo shook when he thought about that possibility. The building had security measures for treason and terrorism, but he wasn''t sure that would work against Khan. He had already proven himself to be the strongest warrior there, and the weeks among the Thilku seemed to have deepened that.


    ''Who could stop him?'' Winston wondered before a conclusion hit him. Even if the security measures could somehow contain Khan, the damage inflicted on the building would be too great.


    "Captain," Caspar called, stepping forward since he realized Mister Wulfo was out of ideas. "I wish toply, but we must justify that decision to our superiors. We didn''t get a single report since your departure to the Thilku."


    Khan had a good impression of Captain Chaunac. He was a good man who had treated him with respect, politeness, and friendliness. Even Khan''s urges agreed to make it easier for him.


    "This quadrant is no more," Khan exined, diverting his gaze while sipping from the bottle. "This settlement will be useless, and the Thilku will never authorize us to relocate. The Global Army will leave Cegnore soon."


    The news was shocking, unbelievable even, but Khan''s words carried pure confidence. Captain Chaunac and Mister Wulfo instantly trusted him, but their curiosity wasn''t easy to quell.


    "Why?" Mister Wulfo asked, showing his professional side. "Did anything happen? What changed?"


    "I''ll give my report to Mister Cirvags," Khan dered. "You''ll learn what the Thilku wish to share."


    "Which means?" Mister Wulfo pressed on.


    "I''d start to pack up," Khan sighed, annoyed by thoseplications. Caspar''s presence had softened his approach, but his patience was wearing thin.


    Winston wanted to ask more questions, but Caspar realized what was happening and grabbed his shoulder to stop him.


    "Mister Wulfo, you should start contacting our superiors," Caspar suggested, politely smiling at the scientist. "I''m sure we''ll receive updates soon enough."


    Mister Wulfo didn''t want to give up, but another look at Khan triggered his survival instincts. Khan wasn''t doing anything special. He was merely peeking at the scientist while drinking from the bottle, but that was enough to make him experience his natural pressure.


    "Very well," Mister Wulfo cleared his throat, recovering hisposure and hurrying outside theb, leaving Caspar and Khan alone.


    "Captain," Caspar eximed with as much calm as possible. "Can I do something else for you? I know you are in a hurry to leave, but resting might be a good option before the teleports."


    "I''d like to remain alone," Khan revealed, fixing his gaze on the wall before him. His mood was still awful, but drinking helped.


    "As you wish," Caspar stated before adding another word. "Sir."


    Khan and Caspar were actually past those pleasantries. Still, those words confirmed Khan''s superior authority, and he didn''t feel the need to reject them. He had something else to tell the Captain.


    "Caspar," Khan called while the Captain approached theb''s exit. "You made my stay here very pleasant. If the Chaunac family asks, I''ll mention you."


    "That''s-," Caspar eximed, turning, "I''m honored. Thank you, Captain Khan."


    "Remain a good man," Khan said. "Now, I''d like to rest."


    "Of course, sir," Caspar stated. "It was an honor sharing the trenches with you."


    Khan slightly lifted the bottle to pretend to toast but resumed drinking immediately. Caspar could only leave at that gesture, and Khan didn''t move his eyes even after the metal door closed. His thoughts were too loud now, and he wanted to be alone with them.

 Chapter 642 Sudden Meeting

    Even with Mister Wulfo''s precautions, gossip had already begun to spread. Khan had announced his desire to return to the Harbor in the middle of a corridor, and the onlookers immediately spread rumors that reached every corner of the building.


    Nevertheless, no one believed Khan would get what he wanted. Cegnore was aplicated environment that required multipleyers of authorizations, with somepletely owned by the Thilku Empire. Agreeing to a transfer quickly was impossible.


    Still, everyone turned out to be wrong, and Mister Wulfo was the most surprised of them all. He spent hours contacting superior after superior to exin the situation until an order came from above, authorizing Khan''s departure and clearing him of any duty.


    The superior in question didn''t give exnations, but the news spread anyway. Mister Wulfo couldn''t even try to keep it a secret since he wasn''t in charge of the building. The soldiers soon learned everything, and more rumors echoed as they prepared for that significant departure.


    Khan went through the procedure on auto-pilot. He had done and said everything that needed to be done and said, so he isted himself inside his mind. He exchanged nods from time to time and never failed to study his surroundings, but his butt soon ended up on the pilot''s seat of a ship.


    The control desk immediately activated, but Khan ignored the automatic check-up programs. He wouldn''t actually fly the ship. The auto-pilot would take care of that for him, so his eyes fell on the scenery past the canopy.


    The hangar was crowded, featuring Mister Wulfo, Captain Chaunac, and other high-profile figures from the building. That messy environment was a security hazard for the set-off, but stopping the soldiers from flooding the area was impossible.


    The general curiosity was palpable. Everyone wanted to know how a single Captain could earn such privileges. They also wanted scoops to sell to journalists and families, but nothing simr arrived.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The ship eventually set off, flying past the circr entrance on the building''s roof before shooting past Cegnore''s atmosphere. That mission was truly ending, and Khan suppressed the urge to check his phone. He wanted to see Monica''s files, but the desire to punish himself was stronger.


    The flight was short and uneventful, and Khan spent it gazing at the marvelous darkness of the universe. The arrival at the Thilku space-station cut that inspection short, but Khan remained distracted.


    Yet,nding on the hangar''s floor put him before a series of Thilku, who whispered among themselves before performing traditional bows. A human soldier was nearby, and her eyes widened in shock at that show of respect.


    Khan understood that the rumors had already reached the space station but limited himself to a nod. That was how the Thilku had greeted him during his arrival, and he wanted them to know their statuses had changed.


    The Thilku didn''t mind that gesture and let Khan and his escort advance without checking his clearance. The two quickly arrived at the transparent gate guarded by another alien. Khan and the Thilku exchanged a nce, and thetter didn''t hesitate to perform another bow.


    "[Captain Khan]," The Thilku grunted in a tone Khan knew was polite, "[Lord Exr wishes you a safe trip]."


    The Thilku was the same alien that had weed Khan weeks ago, but his attitude waspletely different. Recing [Blue hair] with Khan''s title said a lot, and he couldn''t limit himself to a nod since Lord Exr''s name was in the air.


    "[Send him my regards]," Khan replied, still holding back from bowing. "[I hope I can hear from him soon]."


    "[You will]," The Thilku replied, straightening his back to show an eager expression. "[The Empire always pays its debts]."


    The interaction sounded surreal for Khan''s escort, but the Thilku opened the gate before it could continue. The two humans advanced, and the alien stared at Khan''s back until he disappeared into the depths of the corridor.


    Khan arrived in a teleport area, and the usual security procedures unfolded. He never interacted with the soldiers, and his natural pressure shielded him from any attempt to talk to him. Soon, he was cleared to jump on the tform, which he did as soon as those words reached his ears.


    The teleport activated, bringing him to a more human environment, but Khan remained unfazed. He had officially left the Empire''s domain, but that wasn''t home yet.


    The new team of scientists and escorts wanted to send polite words as soon as Khan appeared, but his injured state made them hesitate. His presence also followed, destroying those intentions and quickening the mandatory security procedures.


    It didn''t take long before Khan reached another teleport, which activated right away. The environment that touched his eyes was familiar, extremely so even. He had returned to the Harbor, but no happiness expanded in his mind.


    The scientists and soldiers were all smiles, but their faces froze at the sight of Khan''s bandages. Still, he didn''t care. He was in the Harbor now, so he didn''t have to wait for anyone.


    Khan jumped off the tform and strode forward, ignoring the faint calls that flew in his direction. His phone had begun buzzing for a while since it had regained ess to thework, but he didn''t pick it up. He only wanted to go home, drink, and meditate, butplications soon appeared.


    As soon as Khan left the intricate corridors, a hangar full of reporters expanded in his view. Soldiers were already in ce to restrain the curious onlookers behind a rtively orderly line alongside a wall, but chaos remained and skyrocketed once Khan became visible.


    All sorts of shouts flew in Khan''s direction, and phones, scanners, and cameras pointed in his direction, recording his every move. The reporters also pushed on the line of soldiers, but thetter held firm and prevented them from flowing into the hangar.


    That scenery had be amon urrence for Khan. He couldn''t even consider himself surprised anymore. The human building on Cegnore knew about his departure, so the Harbor had learned about it. It was actually easier to share information from there.


    However, Khan wasn''t at his best. The tracksuit hid most of his bandages, but his metal brace was still visible, and the same went for his injured face. The entirework would learn about his state if he let that slide, and he had a special someone who would be better off without those worries.


    Khan remained at the corridor''s edge and red at the reporters. He didn''t eye anyone in particr, but his presence still expanded, bringing coldness to the area and stretching the limits of his mind.


    Little by little, each recording device entered Khan''s reach. Some were tougher than others, but the chaos element remained technology''s greatest weakness.


    "Shatter," Khan whispered, and small explosions resounded. Tiny purple-red shes appeared from time to time, but the event''s consequences distracted everyone from that detail.


    The reporters gasped and cried when their devices broke in their hands. Even the cameras hovering at their sides exploded, sending wires and metal shards everywhere. The detonations weren''t violent enough to hurt anyone, but the event remained scary.


    Khan began to walk before anyone could realize what had happened, but stunned gazes soon fell on him. That wasn''t the first time Khan had resorted to that practice. The news wasmon knowledge on thework, so everyone understood he was to me.


    The destroyed equipment was expensive, and a few reporters made a living out of it. However, no outcry arrived. Everyone, including the soldiers, limited themselves to staring at Khan walking past them. He had sent a silent order, and they were too afraid to ignore it. There wouldn''t be any pictures that day.


    Khan was ready to keep going until he found a cab, but the Harbor surprised him. A military car crossed a channel near the transparent ceiling and descended at full speed before performing a slownding at the end of the line.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    One of the car''s dark windows opened slightly to create a gap that couldn''t reveal its insides. Both reporters and soldiers tried to peek but to no avail.


    Instead, Khan could rely on more than eyes. When the car''s symphony touched the hangar, he understood who upied the passenger''s seats. He didn''t expect that meeting to happen so early, but refusing it wasn''t an option now.


    Khan approached the car, and its door opened to reveal empty seats. That was done on purpose for the onlookers, so he quickly got inside, ignoring the two figures hidden by the closed parts of the vehicle.


    The passenger area was vast. That vehicle was nothing short of a limousine, and Khan lifted his gaze only when his door closed. Two figures sat before him on opposite corners, and he recognized them both. Mister Cirvags and Ambassador Abores hade to greet him.


    "Do you need to rest?" Mister Cirvags asked as soon as the car set off. Its destination was unknown, but Khan had different priorities.


    Khan didn''t reply to that fake politeness. Mister Cirvags nned that meeting because he believed Khan could endure it. Still, Khan was thirsty, and inspecting the drawers under the seats revealed his intentions.


    Mister Cirvags took the initiative to open the drawer under his seat and pull out a bottle. Thepartment had sses, but the man ignored them to throw the booze at Khan.


    Khan caught the bottle mid-air and removed the lid with his teeth before taking a long sip. He didn''t know why Ambassador Abores was there, but Mister Cirvags'' presence was self-exnatory. He wanted briefings, but Khan would wait for questions first.


    "Your manners worsened on Cegnore," Ambassador Aboresmented while Khan drank.


    Khan ignored the remark and focused on Mister Cirvags. Only that old soldier held power in the car. No one else deserved his respect.


    "Update me," Mister Cirvags ordered.


    "I won''t," Khan directly refused. "I can share some info but not everything. I want to uphold my promise to the Thilku."


    "What are you saying, Captain?" Ambassador Abores snapped, raising his voice. "You are a Captain of the Global Army. Your loyalty lies with us."


    "So?" Khan asked, unfazed by that loud voice. "Will you force me to speak?"


    Khan backed up that open challenge with his natural pressure, and Ambassador Abores faltered. Yet, he quickly disregarded that faint fear and responded.


    "Do you n on seizing all the benefits for yourself?" Ambassador Abores snorted. "ssic Captain Khan. Always in the right ce at the right time."


    "You might get there too if you got your hands dirty every once in a while," Khan sneered.


    "Enough," Mister Cirvags intervened before Ambassador Abores could fall prey to his anger. "Captain Khan, I know you killed the oldmander. What''s your opinion on Cegnore now?"


    Khan couldn''t help but feel surprised. He didn''t expect the Thilku to share that information, especially so soon. He had basically cleared their main task, and they couldn''t feel too proud about it.


    ''His rtionship with the Empire must be really good,'' Khan thought, checking Mister Cirvags'' human military uniform. ''Maybe I underestimated those capes.''


    "Cegnore is gone," Khan eventually responded. "I can''t see the Thilku keeping us there. You can cross it off our maps."


    "How sure are you?" Mister Cirvags asked.


    "Quite sure," Khan confirmed. "That quadrant is no more anyway, and we won''t receive authorization to relocate."


    Mister Cirvags scratched his short beard but remained impassible. Even his mana didn''t move. As for Ambassador Abores, he kind of understood the relevance of the oldmander by Khan''s reaction, but his doubts remained.


    "How can you know?" Ambassador Abores questioned. "Did the Thilku share their ns? Do you have any proof?"


    "That''s the expected development," Mister Cirvags interrupted again. "You''ll be able to rest for a while now, Captain."


    Ambassador Abores could barely keep track of that conversation but knew Mister Cirvags enough to remain silent. The old man had already made up his mind about Khan, and his words wouldn''t change anything.


    "The Harbor will prepare a public speech for your interviews," Mister Cirvags continued. "Can I trust you to attend them?"


    "As long as I''m hurt," Khan replied, "No."


    "Your girlfriend can''t see you now," Mister Cirvags pointed out, showing his understanding of Khan''s character.


    "I''d rather be the one to tell her," Khan stated.


    "Women still hold a lot of power over your mind," Mister Cirvagsmented, his voicecking any teasing tone.


    "I can handle a few weaknesses," Khan imed, and Mister Cirvags didn''t reply. That silence meant more than any praise since it involved him, and Ambassador Abores knew that. The matter actually left him stunned.


    The Ambassador couldn''t help but point an envious re at Khan, but the intense eyes that met it destroyed that bitter feeling. Khan briefly matched his gaze before looking past the window. The meeting was over, but he still had booze, so he would focus on that.

 Chapter 643 Obligations

    Silence reigned during the rest of the flight. Khan focused on drinking, Mister Cirvags didn''t have a care in the world, and Ambassador Abores upheld the restrained behavior required by his status.


    Of course, that was only a superficial behavior that didn''t reflect the three men''s minds. Ambassador Abores was envious and curious, while Khan''s thoughts were still on Cegnore''s natives. As for Mister Cirvags, his brain was imprable.


    The atmosphere was far from rxed, but the three men were professionals. They didn''t let the tension get to them, and that silent stalemate went on until the car began to descend.


    Khan had often looked past the window, so he recognized the location. That was the second district. The car had brought him to his building, and its vast sidewalk was pleasantly empty. However, onlookers were visible in distant blocks.


    The carnded on the sidewalk, and the three men didn''t exchange any pleasantries while Khan''s door opened on its own. The meeting was ending on a silent note, and no one wanted to change that.


    Khan didn''t wait for those changes. He left the car, taking the bottle with him. It was almost empty, but wasting drops wasn''t an option in his current mood. His appearance even thrilled the onlookers in the distance, but his figure disappeared before anyone could get pictures.


    Before anyone could notice, Khan had entered his building, and the privacy allowed him to stroll toward the elevator. In a matter of seconds, he got inside his t, and reaching the main hall changed his mood.


    Monica had left after Khan, and the t showed that. All kinds of clothes and shoes upied the couches, floor, and tables, basically telling Khan what she had decided to bring to Neuria.


    The t''s cleaning robots could easily handle that mess, but the fact that Monica didn''t activate them hinted at a nned move. She had decided to leave the ce in that state for a reason, and the smile on Khan''s face proved her right.


    ''That silly girl,'' Khan sighed. ''I would have been fine even without this.''


    Due to the limitations of the Empire''s domain, Khan and Monica couldn''t contact each other even after one returned to the Harbor. Khan had left first, so Monica created that mess to wee him back properly.


    The wee did wonders to Khan''s mood. The love he felt for his girlfriend overwhelmed his negative thoughts and led his legs toward the nearest couch. Monica''s clothes left no seats open, but Khany on them to immerse himself in her lingering scent.


    ''A man can''t even punish himself,'' Khan cursed, rubbing his healthy cheek on a skirt under his head.


    Initially, Khan had nned to keep drinking and starve himself a bit to match the bad taste left by the meeting with Onp. Yet, the love that surrounded him enforced a positive reaction. Monica would suffer if he let himself go, and he couldn''t allow it.


    Khan drew his phone and began to check his messages. Most came from the descendants Madam Solodrey had included in the Neuria business and mainly involved formal thanks. Others covered notifications from thework regarding notable events or Jenny''s updates.


    Nevertheless, Khan quickly ignored that meaningless noise to focus on the names he truly cared about. Monica had left messages before her departure, Andrew had written weekly updates, and Headmistress Holwen was requesting a call.


    ''If Andrew couldn''te to greet me,'' Khan thought, ''The situation must be really messy.''


    Andrew was a dutiful soldier, so his absence could only mean that Khan''s fame had increased while on Cegnore. Checking thework confirmed that. Anything surrounding the was ssified, but the general public still knew Khan had joined the Thilku''s ranks for a period.


    ''He must have received directives to stay put to avoid attracting more attention,'' Khan realized. ''That failed.''


    Khan looked at the Headmistress'' message before gazing at the messy hall. He didn''t want to stand up, but his stomach growled, and his t obviously had a stash of food. He could let Andrew handle that stuff, but the current solitude was better than that.


    A groan escaped Khan''s mouth as he stood up and crossed the hall to reach the appointed drawers. The bottle was empty by then, and he left it on a table before retrieving cans of food and another drink. He stuffed the former in his tracksuit due to his single viable hand, but that barely hindered him.


    Khan hurried to his usual bedroom, and another smile broadened on his face when he saw the state of the mattress. The nkets were no different than the main hall, but Monica had opted for sexier clothes there. Khan even recognized most of the bras and underwear.


    ''I''m thinking about you, alright,'' Khanughed, lying among that expression of love. He briefly immersed himself in it before taking out the food, and a short feast began.


    After eating, Khan focused on his phone again. Nothing much had happened with Francis, so he reassured Andrew and let him go for the night. As for the Headmistress, he reread her message before moving to Monica''s.


    ''I know my dear scoundrel through and through,'' Khan read on the phone. ''You are probably injured and dying to see me because I''m all you can think about. We''ll be together again in no time. I belong in your arms, and, in my mind, I''m always there.''<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    ''I must have truly worried her,'' Khan sighed, lowering his phone. That romantic letter wasn''t Monica''s style. She would have usually whined about something before leaving a tempting line, so Khan understood the different mood from those few words.


    The Headmistress'' message was still there, but Khan didn''t feel like dealing with it now. He had nothing to say to her, and his body needed rest. Moreover, the bed of underwear and bras finally allowed him to think free of his negativity.


    Khan didn''t take what he had done lightly for even a second. He could find countless excuses to justify his actions and bring them to a morally light realm. However, the core of the issue remained. He had told the Empire how tomit genocide.


    That was one of the terrible things Khan always imed to be able to do to achieve his goals, and he had proven himself right. He was willing to shoulder the weight of that dreadful act, but his suffering reassured him. He would avoid fallingpletely into the darkness if it pained him tomit those horrible decisions.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Still, that personal reassurance couldn''t be the end. Khan couldn''t just move on and forget. He had given up on an easy answer to his questions on Cegnore, but his search was far from over.


    ''I got closer,'' Khan thought, summarizing everything he knew about the Nak, ''But what''s the next step?''


    The Nak had attacked many species to spread their mana and enforce mutations. That much was confirmed by now, and the limits of their species were one of the reasons. The Nak couldn''t evolve anymore, so they needed to find someone who could.


    As for why, Khan could guess the Nak needed to find a species able to surpass them. The goal was to inherit mana itself or protect it from some kind of threat, which, apparently, the Nak couldn''t do. The danger was also unknown, but the nightmares told Khan it was authentic, at least for the Nak.


    ''If the Nak embody the mana,'' Khan wondered, ''Wouldn''t mana itself carry more answers?''


    Khan was after the few key elements the puzzle missed, and the mana could provide a path. Yet, he had been in contact with the symphony since Nitis and had never sensed anything that deep or universal. His perception could still expand, but that wasn''t something he could elerate. It would naturally improve as his level rose.


    ''That''s the same as standing still,'' Khan thought, ''Which gives me room for other options.''


    Khan obviously thought about his father. Bret''s barriers were still inside his mind, so he could know more. The Global Army was clearly researching the subject, too, so searching for answers among humankind''s upper echelons sounded reasonable.


    However, something told Khan that the Global Army had yet to find the Nak''s system. Also, the secrecy around the topic hinted at a danger that Khan might not be able to face. He had been lucky to defeat a fourth-level warrior, but far bigger threats existed in the universe.


    Moreover, Khan was advancing on that path, too. His rtionship with Monica was already pushing him toward humankind''s upper echelons. If he continued like that, he would get in touch with people with answers without making waves, which was the safer option.


    Khan checked his phone before dropping it again. Even if he wanted to, contacting his father would take time. The teleports would make the trip back to Earth short, but that wouldn''t be the end, and Khan wasn''t exactly free.


    ''I have the public anniversary,'' Khan recalled, ''The private anniversary, my birthday, the Alstair family, and the Thilku. Rick''s marriage also is in five months.''


    Realistically, most obligations weren''t too time-consuming, but the Thilku and Rick''s marriage remained unknown variables. Mister Cirvags might send Khan on another lengthy mission for the Empire, and he didn''t know how long things were when noble families were involved.


    Of course, Khan could force the Global Army''s hand if he truly wished to, but his internal struggle remained. He wanted to pursue the Nak, but not by sacrificing what made him happy. He had made the same decision on Cegnore, so causing a political mess just to return to Earth immediately didn''t sound worth it.


    After excluding those options, Khan only found two viable paths that could use some effort. One was hard to pursue since it involved Raymond, while the other required a meeting with Lord Vegner, the collector of exotic items and owner of a popr chain of brothels.


    ''Lord Vegner might be easier to approach,'' Khan thought, ''Especially if I have Monica with me.''


    After reaching that conclusion, Khan felt exhausted. He took a long sip from his drink before closing his eyes. For once, he would love to have a dreamless night. He was also willing to settle for certain dreams about Monica, but the reality was different. Sleeping only led to one oue, and Khan felt iting.


    ''I need to resume studying the runes,'' Khan recalled, his thoughts growing drowsy. ''At least the Thilku didn''t share everything I''ve done on Cegnore. These days would never end otherwise.''


    Those drowsy thoughts were random and didn''t truly take into consideration Khan''s status. For now, he only cared about retaining that frail peace and the secrecy was helping.


    Khan quickly fell asleep, and the nightmare arrived on time. Still, waking up destroyed his past belief. To his surprise, news from Cegnore had gone public, including ssified events limited to his stay with the Thilku.

 Chapter 644 Calls

    Khan woke up at the sound of his buzzing phone. He slept longer than usual due to his injuries, which was still short for humans. Yet, a mess seemed to have happened in those hours.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Hurrying toward the phone reminded Khan about his condition. His body groaned at the sudden turn on the mattress, and the metal brace got in the way. Still, the device eventually fell into his palm, and shock followed.


    Jenny, the Headmistress, and some of Khan''s oldest friends were trying to contact him, but he ignored those calls to open thework. He had been in the same situation many times, so he knew something had happened, and his hunches turned out to be right.


    Thework didn''t mention Cegnore, but information that used Khan''s name and his involvement with the Thilku had gone public, and that couldn''t havee from the human scientists alone.


    ''Allegedly,'' Khan read in one of the most popr articles, ''Captain Khan used his expertise to lead the Empire''s armies into a series of sessful missions.


    ''It''s also rumored that the Captain jumped into a fight against an opponent with fourth-level battle prowess to save hispanions. His noble gesture split him from the Thilku, but he returned with the enemy''s corpse on his back dayster!''


    Khan jumped to a different article but found simr statements. His browsing continued, reaching pages that tried toe up with exnations and hypotheses. Needless to say, some were wild, but Khan didn''t feel surprised, not at that, at least.


    The usual theories about Khan using female aliens to pave his way toward political fame popped out. A few articles even considered treason as the reason behind those spectacr rumors. Yet, Khan didn''t care about that. His main worry was about the presence of that info and how it got out in the first ce.


    The many calls and messages reaching Khan''s phonecked the only person who could be behind those rumors. He didn''t know if he could contact him on his own, so he answered someone else to get there.


    "Captain Khan!" Jenny shouted, surprised that Khan had actually picked up. "Congrattions on your-!"


    "Jenny," Khan interrupted. "I need you to put me in contact with Mister Cirvags."


    "Sir?" Jenny gasped. "Sir, it''s my job to advise you to address the matter-."


    "Jenny," Khan interrupted again, his tone immovable. "Mister Cirvags."


    Jenny fell silent. She noticed something different in Khan''s voice, and her job didn''t allow her to reject that direct order, leading to a simple answer. "Immediately, Captain Khan."


    The call ended, and Khan straightened his back while crossing his legs to sit on the mattress. He closed his eyes, leaving his phone on his left knee to wait. Part of him wanted to slip into the meditative state, but his device quickly buzzed, showing the name he had requested.


    "Cirvags speaking," Mister Cirvags said as soon as Khan brought his phone to his ear.


    "What happened?" Khan asked without specifying the issue. There was no need to.


    "Lord Exr wanted to do you a favor," Mister Cirvags exined shortly. "He offered to share more information as long as I helped you."


    Khan felt surprised. He knew the Thilku wouldn''t forget his efforts, but that move surpassed his expectations. Lord Exr was directly interfering with the Global Army''s political environment only to increase Khan''s fame.


    Of course, that was the best possible oue for Khan, and Lord Exr knew it. The Thilku had used his knowledge of the Global Army to give him exactly what he needed.


    "Aren''t you going to ask me about Ambassador Abores?" Mister Cirvags continued. Ambassador Abores'' envy was evident, and that news was bound to worsen it. His rtionship with Khan wasn''t even great, so he had every reason to get in his way now.


    That behavior was also quitemon in those fields. The Ambassadors got in the way of rising stars they didn''t deem worthy of their status, and Khan was a mere scout. The only valuable aspect of his background came from Monica, but her family had merely epted that they were together. The two weren''t engaged yet.


    Khan could use his fame as a shield, but Ambassadors were bound to have many influential political allies. Their unique positions also gave them special relevance inside the Global Army. If Ambassador Abores wanted to, he could cause problems for Khan.


    "No," Khan dered. "He is my problem to handle."


    Mister Cirvags didn''t answer. That was his way of praising someone, and Khan epted it without ignoring his actual problems. He knew climbing the politicaldder would put him before bigger and scarier opponents, and it was time he dealt with them alone.


    "I''ll revise the public speech ording to the recent developments," Mister Cirvags eventually continued. "Meet Headmistress Holwen once you feel it''s appropriate."


    "Thank you," Khan said. He knew Mister Cirvags was respecting his desire to rest, so he could only feel grateful.


    Mister Cirvags closed the call without adding anything, and Khan briefly looked at his phone before sending Jenny a message. He was not to be disturbed while he rested, and the buzzing stopped in a few minutes.


    The developments'' consequences were very clear in Khan''s mind, but he didn''t care. His political foothold wasn''t frail in the least, and his strength spoke for itself. If anyone wanted to mess with him, he was ready to face it with upromising methods.


    Khan heaved a sigh before throwing his phone away. Healing was his priority now, but he could pair something rtively rxing in that break. The Thilku runes still needed his attention, and he couldn''t wait to get back to them.


    The peace allowed Khan to slip into a meditative state quickly, and hours passed. Each minute spent resting elerated the healing process, focusing on his forearm before using its leftovers on the other shallow injuries.


    Khan had woken up early, but the day still reached lunchtime while he was busy meditating. His stomach had resumed growling by then, but he ignored it to elerate the healing process a bit longer. Yet, his phone prevented that.


    The annoying but familiar buzzing noise reappeared in the bedroom, forcing Khan to open his eyes. A frown tried to appear on his face as confusion surged. Many figures could ovee Jenny''s authority, but only some would decide to ignore his explicit request for a break.


    Khan''s eyes darted across the mattress until he found his phone and crawled toward it. A sigh tried to escape his mouth when he saw the name on the screen, but stronger emotions suppressed it. He actually wanted to talk with that person.


    "Anastasia," Khan said as soon as he picked up the phone.


    "Captain Khan," Madam Solodrey sighed. "I see you didn''t forget what I saidst time."


    "Monica was happy to hear that," Khan revealed. "How could I forget?"


    "I hope you are alone," Madam Solodrey stated. "I won''t forgive you for making me regret my decision."


    "I''m serious with anything involving Monica," Khan dered. "We wouldn''t be here if you didn''t know that."


    "Your gall only increases," Madam Solodrey snorted. "Though it''s true. It''s a pity you are still stuck on this soldier''s business."


    "Ma''am?" Khan questioned.


    "Why do I expect you to understand?" Madam Solodrey cursed. "My family is elevating your position. As big as your achievements on the battlefield are, that remains soldiers'' work. You should distance yourself from it."


    Khan understood what Madam Solodrey meant. Actually, most soldiers worked extra hard to reach a level where they could stop fighting on battlefields and focus on safer jobs. Politics were off-limits for many of them, but a fewmoners still dreamed of getting there.


    Of course, Khan had already been put in front of that decision multiple times. He had the chance to stop fighting and settle for what he had achieved, but his desperation always chose in his stead.


    "I won''t," Khan directly refused. "Also, as long as my political and social performance doesn''t suffer from it, I don''t see why you should worry."


    "I was thinking about my dear daughter now," Madam Solodrey revealed. "She worries about you for reasons I still can''tprehend."


    Madam Solodrey touched on one of Khan''s weak spots, but he had already talked extensively about the topic with Monica. She knew about the nightmares. She knew he couldn''t stop. Khan hated himself for making her worry, but the currentpromise was the only viable solution.


    "I''m surprised you care about Monica in that sense," Khan changed the topic.


    "Let''s not kid ourselves," Madam Solodrey snorted again. "Were you to die, you''d leave a permanent scar on my dear daughter, and she won''t have it easy recing you."


    "Was that apliment, Anastasia?" Khan chuckled. Madam Solodrey was basically telling him that Monica wouldn''t find anyone as good as him if he disappeared.


    "The fact that you are still alive is apliment," Madam Solodrey dered. "The fact that I''m allowing you to be with my dear daughter is another praise."


    Madam Solodrey fell silent but eventually added something else. "The fact that I''m considering influencing my husband is the highestpliment I can give."

 Chapter 645 Late

    Chapter 645 Late


    Khan couldn''t help but fall silent. He knew Monica''s situation very well since the two had talked extensively about it, and her father often popped out during those conversations.


    ''Many have to starve to allow a few to conquer the stars,'' Khan recalled one of Mister Solodrey''s lines Monica had shared with him. That alone said a lot about her father''s personality, and Khan didn''t know if he disagreed with him anymore.


    ''Though I''m not doing that for money,'' Khan thought, growing angrier, ''And I''m not sacrificing my daughter in the process.''


    Khan kept his anger to himself and focused on the good aspect of that situation. Madam Solodrey had long since started warming up to him, and herst statement was the greatest proof of that.


    "I was under the impression your husband only cared about profit," Khanmented.


    "My husband makes sure our faction stays relevant inside the family," Madam Solodrey snapped. "Our daughter has her current relevance thanks to him. You might not like my husband, but I demand that you respect him."


    Khan didn''t ept that but remained silent. Avoiding answering was his bestpromise, but his mind had already gone past that. He would eventually deal with the issues in Monica''s family, but the time wasn''t right yet.


    "When can I expect Monica to return from Neuria?" Khan wondered.


    "Shouldn''t you ask me how she is performing first?" Madam Solodrey wondered.


    "It''s my girlfriend we are talking about," Khan dered. "I know she is doing great."


    "That''s a proper reply," Madam Solodrey praised. "As for her return, it''s hard to say. Communications are scarce due to the Empire''s interference."


    "Tell her I''ve returned," Khan requested, sighing. "If you can, update her on the news on thework."


    "Are you giving me orders, Captain?" Madam Solodrey questioned.


    "I am," Khan didn''t even try to hide it. "She is worried right now. I wish she knew I was home safe."


    "That''s not your home, Captain," Madam Solodrey scoffed.


    "I know," Khan responded. "It''s ours, Monica''s, and mine."


    Madam Solodrey scoffed again but didn''t add anything. She didn''t like how things had gone down in the Harbor, but that ship had already sailed. She could only try to steer it in the right direction now.


    "About you two," Madam Solodrey changed the topic. "I''m sure my dear daughter mentioned your anniversary. That''s an important event, and every family pays close attention to it."


    "I''m sure you have prepared appropriate ns," Khan said. "I''ll y the good fianc¨¦ to steeve away potential suitors, but I''ll take Monica out on my own terms afterward."


    "You aren''t my daughter''s fianc¨¦," Madam Solodrey made sure to specify. "Yet."


    "Must have slipped," Khan teased before returning seriously. "My terms still remain."


    "As long as it doesn''t interfere with her duties," Madam Solodrey eximed, "And doesn''t involve anything that could damage her or the family''s reputation, I approve."


    "I''m d," Khan joked. "I would have kidnapped Monica otherwise."


    "Tasteless," Madam Solodrey sighed. "I''ll send the ns for the anniversary. You can start studying them while you wait for my dear daughter''s return."


    "I''ll be sure to reply with everyint I have," Khan chuckled.


    "Goodbye, Captain Khan," Madam Solodrey ignored the joke.


    "Goodbye, Anastasia," Khan replied, "And thank you for your support."


    "I''m not supporting you," Madam Solodrey specified. "I''m doing what''s best for my daughter and family, which sadly involves you."


    "I made sure of that," Khan pointed out.


    "Yes," Madam Solodrey admitted. "For what it''s worth, at least your resolve ismendable. Now, more important matters require my attention."


    "Goodbye again," Khan eximed, and the call ended. He had found the strength to joke around in thest exchanges, but his serious mood immediately returned once he remained alone.


    Khan felt a bit dirty for having fun teasing Madam Solodrey right after everything that had happened, but the situation was helpless. He needed time to move on, and the break worked in his favor.


    No more calls reached Khan''s phone. Important messages still arrived, but he often ignored them to focus on healing and studying the Thilku runes.


    Days passed in thatplete solitude. Khan didn''t even see Andrew but only texted him to continue keeping an eye on Francis. As for food and drinks, the Harbor provided him with everything he needed.


    The days slowly transformed into weeks. Khan didn''t get much done in terms of studying in that period, but his injuries greatly benefited from the undisturbed rest and constant meditative sessions.


    Khan lost most of his bandages in the first week, and only his brace remained by the end of the second. His skin still had some red marks, but they weren''t relevant.


    The stark improvements forced Khan to perform a mandatory check-up in the Harbor''s medical bay, and the trip outside also gave him the opportunity to handle a different matter. After the doctors cleared him, he hopped on the first cab and headed toward the familiar embassy.


    Khan had almost be able to distinguish between the identical roofs of that pyramidal structure. He definitely recognized where his cabnded, and soldiers immediately approached the vehicle to wee him.


    A series of military salutes unfolded, but Khan walked straight for the passage past thending tform. Its doors opened at his arrival, and a short walk brought him inside the Headmistress'' familiar office.


    "You made me wait, Captain," Headmistress Holwen promptly announced from behind her interactive desk. "Sit."


    Khan entered the office and sat on a chair before the interactive desk. The entrance had closed by then, leaving the two alone.


    "I''ve received more detailed updates than what has reached thework," Headmistress Holwen stated, lifting her head to look at Khan. "I see that you''ve mostly recovered."


    Khan lifted his right arm and opened and closed his hand. He had regained full mobility, and no pain apanied those gestures. Still, his forearm had yet to heal fully, so the metal brace remained necessary.


    "This meeting is mostly protocol," Headmistress Holwen revealed. "I need to show that you continue answering to me as long as you remain in the Harbor."


    "We had our disagreements," Khan eximed, "But you did help me a lot. I didn''t forget that, ma''am."


    "That being said," Headmistress Holwen continued. "If you have additional information, I''m all ears."


    "I don''t," Khan directly refused. "This matter is between the Thilku and me. I won''t break their trust."


    "That''s eptable," Headmistress Holwen sighed. "Mister Cirvags agreed to those terms, too, so I can''t say much. However, I hope you don''t forget your true allegiances."


    "Are you worried about my track record?" Khan wondered.


    "You are a walking problem," Headmistress Holwen snorted. "A ma for trouble. Controlling you is my job as long as you stay in the Harbor."


    "Contain the reporters, too," Khan stated. "Their equipment looks expensive."


    Headmistress Holwen fell silent. Khan had uttered a clear threat, but she was powerless there. Even with her best security measures, Khan was simply too famous. It was impossible to stop every reporter, especially when he didn''t give her much time to prepare.


    "I think yourst warning worked," Headmistress Holwen vaguely said, looking at the interactive desk. "Well, there was no warning since no one illegally relied on mana inside the Harbor."


    Khan chuckled but didn''t add anything. Seeing that behavior from the Headmistress was almost amusing, but his recent achievements were undeniable. Khan had truly surpassed himself on Cegnore, even if many events there had been far from happy.


    "I seem to understand you are well enough to start giving interviews," Headmistress Holwen changed the topic. "Did you memorize Mister Cirvags'' script?"


    "I skimmed through it," Khan revealed. "I''d be more worried about the reporters." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "We handpicked them," Headmistress Holwen reassured. "Though I expect a respectable amount of self-restraint on your side, too."


    "That will depend on the reporters," Khan dered.


    "Captain," Headmistress Holwen sighed before lifting her gaze and relying on her cold tone. "You earned your current leeway, but don''t push it."


    "Why?" Khan asked.


    Headmistress Holwen and Khan entered a contest of stares, and neither was willing to surrender. Still, the Headmistress finally noticed what everyone was talking about during that silent stalemate. Khan had truly changed. He was colder, firmer, and less yful, but the fire in his eyes shone brighter than ever.


    Of course, Headmistress Holwen viewed that stance as a menace. Khan had already threatened to destroy entire districts of the Harbor, and his track record with the training halls was terrible. However, she didn''t know whether trying to contain him was the right choice.


    "It''s toote," Khan intervened as if he knew what was happening inside the Headmistress'' mind. "If you truly are worried, stop me now before you lose the chance."


    That open challenge highlighted Khan''s changes once again, but the Headmistress saw something different. Sure, Khan seemed to have grown unstable. He even spoke like a ticking bomb. Yet, he had never looked the part of a Captain more than now.


    The Harbor''s safety remained the Headmistress'' main worry, but she was also a member of the Global Army, and the best soldier in history was before her. She also knew Khan''s loyalty didn''t lie within the army. Restraining him could push him away, and she didn''t want humankind to lose him.


    "Get out instead of spouting nonsense," Headmistress Holwen eventually snorted. "And don''t destroy my Harbor."


    Khan smirked before standing up and heading outside. He didn''t even perform the customary military salute. He left as if he owned the ce, and the Headmistress didn''t hesitate to voice a loud groan once she remained alone.


    As for Khan, he headed directly into the cab and sent directions for his t. He didn''t look forward to the interviews, but they could help his situation, so he would do them. Still, he wouldn''tpromise if the reporters attempted to trick him.


    The trip allowed Khan to meditate some more, but reaching his building revealed an odd sight. A few cars had parked beside the sidewalk, and only the drivers remained inside.


    Khan initially thought about the reporters or other issues connected to his fame, but stepping outside revealed a different truth. A specific scent had joined the symphony, making him sprint toward the building and inside the elevator.


    Voices reached Khan''s ears when the elevator opened into his t, but his legs were already on the move. He dashed through the room, dodging unaware figures that stood in his way to grab a specific one by the waist.


    "Khan!" Monica eximed in surprise, smiling when Khan lifted her.


    Khan''s right arm hurt a bit, but he didn''t feel anything. Monica was there, right between his hands, and nothing else mattered. He pulled her closer, and she instinctively wrapped her legs and arms around him to hug him tightly.


    The two barely spent a second in that position before their heads began to turn. Khan and Monica didn''t even know how, but their lips touched, and a loving kiss unfolded.


    Khan hadmitted the hall''syout to memory long ago, so he stepped to his right to make Monica sit on the couch''s back. She could rx her legs now but didn''t and kept them clung to Khan''s waist. Her arms also remained around his neck as that kiss continued.


    The sudden gesture made Monica forget she wasn''t alone in the t. Master Amelia and a few women were in the main hall, dealing with the sea of clothes and Monica''s luggage. Instead, Khan knew but didn''t care.


    Seeing Monica in that state made the team of women halt their tasks and stare at the couple. That wasn''t a proper behavior in the least, and things seemed ready to degenerate since Khan''s left hand slid past Monica''s waist to reach her thigh.


    Monica and Khan broke the kiss to exchange a meaningful nce. She giggled and left his neck to caress his face, but her eyes told a very different story.


    Khan understood Monica clearly since the same thoughts had filled his mind. He lifted a hand to grab her chin. His thumb touched her lips, and she softly kissed it. Khan savored the scene before shooting a cold re to his right.


    "Leave," Khan growled, eyeing Master Amelia while Monica wrapped her arms around his neck again and brought her head there.


    Master Amelia didn''t know how to react. She didn''t only feel the instinctive fear caused by Khan''s presence. Monica had also started kissing Khan''s neck, uncaring that people were around them.


    Monica''s military uniform was the only silver lining in that scene, which left no exposed skin. Yet, everything remained too improper to watch, so Master Amelia eventually snapped back to reality and nodded at the other women to leave the t.


    Meanwhile, Khan and Monica fell on the couch amidughs and kisses. They barely noticed that the elevator was bringing the women down, but that wouldn''t have affected their behavior anyway. It was toote to stop their lust.

 Chapter 646 Selfish

    Chapter 646 Selfish


    Monicaughed and moaned softly whenever Khan''s lips touched her sweaty skin. He stormed her with kisses, starting from her chest and climbing to her neck and head. Even her curls couldn''t avoid that show of affection.


    The loving assault ended with Monica resting happily on Khan''s torso. He wrapped his left arm around her shoulders, hugging her tightly and pressing her on him. They had let their passion run wild for a long time, but Khan still wanted her to be closer.


    Monica rubbed her cheek on Khan''s chest before lifting her head. Her long hair almost hid her half-closed, unfocused eyes, but nothing escaped Khan. He saw the slight exhaustion and deep satisfaction inside them, and the pleased smile stered on her face added clues to that theory.


    No words arrived. Monica leaned forward, and Khan rxed his hug to let her reach his face. The two fell into a slow kiss, and both smiled when they separated.


    "I''ll ask about that arm," Monica whispered, letting her nose touch Khan''s. "Later."


    "What''s the matter?" Khan teased, running his left hand over Monica''s naked back.


    "I can''t think of anything," Monica groaned, giving up on keeping her head lifted and lying it on Khan. "I''m light-headed."


    "I think I know why," Khan chuckled, gazing proudly at the room.


    The couple was still on the couch, but all the clothes had fallen on the floor. The same went for its pillows, and Monica''s and Khan''s uniforms had also joined them.


    The two had even lost track of time. It was probably night by then, but Khan felt no hunger or thirst. The sensual figure resting on him could fulfill all his urges and desires. He didn''t need anything else as long as he had Monica.


    "You aren''t looking at me," Monicained in a sleepy tone. She didn''t actually see Khan inspecting the room, but the two had been in that situation too many times for her not to know.


    "I was thinking about you," Khan revealed, bringing his good hand to Monica''s hair. "You have no idea how much I missed you."


    "You did give me an idea," Monica giggled, lifting her head again and pulling herself closer to Khan''s face. "I can barely stay awake."


    Monica stretched her arms toward Khan''s neck to pull herself closer, and they formed a proper hug once she reached her destination. Their heads were side by side now, but she continued to hold him tightly.


    "Sleep," Khan reassured, caressing the head of curls to his left. "We are together now."


    "No," Monica whined, pressing her face on Khan''s cheek. "I want to be with you."


    "You are with me," Khanughed.


    "No," Monica repeated in a more childish tone. "Cuddle me."


    "Alright, alright," Khanughed, adjusting his position on the couch so both heads could lie on the armrest. Monica didn''t want that reunion to end, and he shared her desire.


    Monicaughed with Khan, but her eyes eventually looked past his face. She had forced Khan to wear the metal brace again after undressing, but the seconds without it had been enough for her to spot his new scars.


    That wasn''t even the end of it. Khan was full of red marks Monica didn''t recognize. An untrained eye might have missed them, but Monica had long since memorized every inch of Khan, and those traces of past injuries didn''t escape her inspection.


    Monica obviously couldn''t take a good look at everything during that lustful endeavor, but things were different now. Khan''s chest and face were in full view, and Monica could study them as long as she liked.


    "You want to know, don''t you?" Khan sighed, lifting his right arm to show the metal brace.


    "Yes," Monica nodded, "But keep cuddling me."


    "Let''s see," Khan sighed, reaching for Monica''s waist with his right arm. "I''m sure you know about the news on thework."


    "I read," Monica confirmed, letting Khan pull her more over him. She even curled her legs to make him feel her weight.


    "I should start with how I got there then," Khan eximed, and a long story began.


    Khan had promised the Thilku to keep their secrets, but Monica was an exception. He told her about the human building, the transfer to the Thilku, his calls, the natives, and his discoveries about the Nak. He didn''t hide anything, even the issue of the genocide.


    Monica listened silently, hiding any reaction that might worry Khan. She knew her efforts were pointless due to his senses, but that awareness didn''t make her change her approach.


    "You chose not to go," Monica eventuallymented. "Why?"


    "I was afraid of losing myself," Khan admitted. "I will get answers, but on my own terms."


    Monica liked that decision, but her worry remained. She knew Khan. It must have killed him to give up on such an easy path toward answers, and the talk about the genocide was bound to have worsened his mood.


    "Khan," Monica lifted her head, fixing her concerned gaze on Khan, "How are you?"


    "I''ve never been better," Khan smiled, reaching for Monica''s face. His gesture said it all, and Monica endured for a few seconds before melting on him again. He didn''t say the words, but Monica knew her presence was saving him.


    "What about you?" Khan changed the topic. "How is Neuria?"


    "It''s a mess," Monica cursed, "Which is good for business. The needs far more than a simple station, and my family can offer all of that."


    "I guess everything went well," Khan said.


    "More than well," Monica confirmed, "And most of it is thanks to you. Everyone was respectful and weing within the expected limits. The alien representative even epted trading routes meant to involve the families my mother contacted."


    "Paperwork, basically," Khan sighed.


    "Lots of it," Monica nodded. "They have taken us out multiple times, but that''s hardly enjoyable when I''m working."


    Khan knew how those events worked. Most descendants, representatives, and Ambassadors had to abide by strict political behaviors. He was an exception, but Monica and others would only see those trips as work.


    Nevertheless, more pressing topics popped into the couple''s minds after Monica''s words. Hearing that the Thilku had taken her out reminded them about their impending obligations. They didn''t actually forget, but the topic was out now, and the mood changed.


    "Khan," Monica called in a tempting tone, reaching for Khan''s cheek to turn his face toward her. "Happy anniversary and happy birthday."


    "It is happy thanks to you," Khan lovingly said. "I can''t wait to spend more years with you."


    "Dummy," Monica voiced, giving Khan a quick kiss. "That''s my line."


    "I stole it," Khan teased before romantic thoughts swept his mind. "You are the Monica couldn''t stay in that yful mood anymore. She lowered her head, and the two exchanged a long kiss. Their breath grew deeper, and Khan eventually greatest present life could give me."


    "Unfair," Monica pouted before lifting herself and Khan a bit. "I''ll keep loving you more and more like this."


    "I''d be worried if you didn''t," Khan teased, his eyes lost on that beautiful face. "The woman I love isn''t big on self-restraint."


    Monica couldn''t stay in that yful mood anymore. She lowered her head, and the two exchanged a long kiss. Their breath grew deeper, and Khan eventually straightened his back to sit on the couch.


    "You should stop," Khan whispered when he managed to pull back his lips. "I won''t let you sleep otherwise."


    "Shh," Monica switched to her tempting tone as she adjusted her position to sit on Khan''sp. She also hugged him, bringing her mouth to his ear to whisper more enticing words. "Don''t worry about me, dear. If it''s you, I don''t mind waking up all sore."


    Part of Khan wanted to refuse, but Monica knew his switches very well. A selfish drive invaded his mind as he reached for her waist and pulled her close, showing the roughness that often appeared during different acts.


    "Ah!" Monica gasped at the sudden gesture. She could feel the lust in Khan''s grip, and other clues soon joined in. A familiar firmness poked at her from under her butt, and the intensity she saw when she retracted her head put a smile on her face.


    As tired as Monica was, having Khan solely focused on her remained one of the greatest pleasures of her life. She firmly believed Khan was the most amazing human in history. His mere existence was a blessing to humankind, and the selfish desire to monopolize him was too powerful even to try to suppress it.


    "You know," Monica continued, panting and rubbing Khan''sp with sensual moves to fuel his lust. His attention on her deepened, and she thrived in that feeling.


    Monica could see Khan had nothing but her in his mind. He belonged to her fully, but she wanted more. Monica knew Khan owned her, but that wasn''t enough. She desired him to be addicted to her in every sense. Khan was desperate due to the Nak, and her selfish sides demanded the same intensity for her.


    "You know?" Khan whispered, almost begging Monica to continue. His mouth remained slightly open, and Monica ced her thumbs on his lips to prevent a kiss and continue tempting him.


    "You know," Monica said, her voice bing an enthralling drug in Khan''s ears. "I''m yours, so I don''t count as a present. That willeter." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Monica''s selfish n vanished as Khan''s moved for her lips. Tricks and teases left her mind, and Khan filled it. She shared the same desperate desire she had created inside him, and the two immediately fell prey to it.


    The passion cut the rest of the world away, but neither Khan nor Monica cared. Nothing was more important than that moment, but the universe still tried to surpass it. The couple didn''t notice the messages reaching their phones, but the news spread through thework, and uproar swept the general public.

 Chapter 647 Present

    Chapter 647 Present


    ''Is this for real?'' Khan wondered, looking at his phone while sitting on the couch. He had just woken up, but the news dispersed any lingering drowsiness.


    Monica was lying behind Khan, but his absence awakened her. She noticed him sitting before her, so she got up to reach his back. Monica hugged Khan from behind, but theck of reactions from her loving kisses on his neck told her that something was off.


    The phone in Khan''s hands attracted Monica''s attention, and peeking past his shoulder allowed her to see its contents. A simr shock immediately invaded her mind, leading to a simple but meaningful statement. "Oh, shit."


    "Oh, shit indeed," Khanmented, leaning back. Monica moved away to sit beside him, and the two continued to stare at the phone while their thoughts went wild.


    The message was specific to Khan, but someone had leaked it on thework. The topic was also quite secretive. Khan could imagine how only wealthy families and higher-ups in the Global Army had ess to it, but his phone didn''t lie. Everyone had learned about it and that he could join it.


    Khan scrolled up to recheck the sender''s identity. The message hade directly from Colonel Norrett, but its contents had a slightly stiff and political vibe. The two had grown past that long ago, but the topic justified that change.


    As shocking as it sounded, the message was a formal invitation to an event that most soldiers wouldn''t consider in the entirety of their lives. Colonel Norrett was attempting to surpass the limits of the fifth level. He nned to tackle the evolution and wanted Khan as part of the audience.


    "Is this amon urrence?" Khan questioned.


    "Asmon as evolutions," Monica replied. "So, no."


    "Do they often have audiences?" Khan wondered, checking Monica''s expression.


    "I," Monica muttered, shaking her head. "This is beyond me. Even I would have to contact my parents to know more."


    "And he even leaked the news," Khan pointed out, opening thework to read the recent articles. "Why did he involve me in such a small group?"


    Khan was certain Colonel Norrett was behind the leaking of the news. Thework literally had a short list of people invited to the event, and the fact that Khan was the weakest and had the lowest rank added unmistakable details. Colonel Norrett was doing him a favor for reasons he couldn''t understand.


    Of course, Khan didn''t even consider refusing the invitation. The evolution was still distant for him, but learning about it couldn''t hurt, especially since every knowledgeable party wouldn''t share rted information lightly. It was an incredible opportunity capable of making the entire Global Army envious.


    "Does it say location and time?" Monica asked, reaching for the screen to return to the message.


    "Only the time," Khan revealed, letting his girlfriend do as she wished. "Well, week. The location is ssified."


    "Understandable," Monica nodded. "You don''t want enemies around that. You shouldn''t have told me this either."


    Monica made that statement while studying every word in the message, adding a hrious vibe to the scene. Still, Khan wasn''t in a teasing mood. He actually understood Monica''s concern pretty well.


    Khan didn''t know much about the topic, but the tiny bits of information he had gathered throughout the years taught him something. Evolved soldiers were regarded as powerhouses, and a single one of them could shift the frail bnce of influence toward one party or another.


    Colonel Norrett was a special case since he had chosen the Global Army over the families, but the issue remained. Some powerful parties might not like that sudden surge of power outside their domain and control, which made secrecy mandatory.


    "I''m kind of looking forward to it," Khan admitted, scratching his head. Political repercussions apart, that experience was priceless. It was the best present Colonel Norrett could ever give to him.


    "As if we didn''t have enough problems as it is," Monica sighed, throwing the phone away and leaning to her right.


    Khan caught Monica and hugged her tightly. Her worries were evident, and Khan didn''t take them lightly. Witnessing an evolution was a priceless experience, and the same applied to knowledge of the topic. Khan would be the center of another political storm after the event, and Monica''s family wouldn''t shy away from questioning him.


    "It''s great," Monica eximed, slightly whining. "It''s really great, bute on. Give us a break."


    Part of Khan shared Monica''s mood. Peace didn''t seem to be an option in their lives, and even lucky urrences brought an immense number of problems to them. Those tradeoffs were getting annoying, and no amount of growth could make them disappear.


    "Don''t worry," Khan announced, pulling Monica closer andying his head on her shoulder. "If they try anything, I''ll deal with it."


    Monica nced at Khan and remained struck by the firmness of his expression. She had already seen that face a few times and knew how serious it was. Khan appeared ready to shoulder the entire weight of those problems on his own.


    Of course, Monica didn''t want that. They were together in that mess, and supporting each other was part of being a couple. However, that resolute look on Khan''s face flipped a switch, and Monica turned inside the hug to push him down.


    "What is it?" Khan chuckled when his nape hit the pillows, but the symphony killed thatugh. The face that unfolded in his view wasn''t one of lust and passion. Monica looked serious as she reached for his cheeks to keep his head still.


    "One day," Monica eximed, "You''ll be at the top of the Global Army. No, the entire universe."


    "Monica," Khan called, reaching for the hands on his cheeks.


    "So," Monica continued, lowering her head until it touched Khan''s forehead, "Until then, I''ll support you with everything I have. I don''t care if it breaks me."


    Those words inevitably hit Khan deeply. He had said something simr not too long ago to Onp, and Monica was there uttering a simr im.


    "Silly girl," Khan sighed, wrapping his arms around Monica''s head. "The only one I want to be on top of is you."


    Monica exploded into augh that almost hid her usual curses. A "dummy" and a "scoundrel" escaped her smiling mouth, which Khan soon sealed with his lips.


    .


    .


    .


    Khan and Monica took it slow and easy, enjoying each other''s warmth and resting before the outside world inevitably crashed down on them.


    Days passed in which the couple never separated. Khan and Monica had to make up for the time spent on differents, which they did plenty of. Khan evenpletely healed in that period and finally got rid of his metal brace.


    Still, the time to address the world eventually arrived, and the couple even had a public event to attend. One afternoon, Khan and Monica left their building dressed in their finest clothes, and a storm of reporters weed them.


    A sea of questions flew in the couple''s direction, especially Khan''s. The reporters shouted all kinds of statements, but no one ever managed to get close to the two. That was an official event backed up by the Solodrey family, so soldiers and Master Amelia''s team were already on the scene to create a path.


    Khan followed Monica''s lead. The two ignored the reporters and walked hand in hand toward a car ready for them. The Solodrey family had prepared a schedule for their anniversary, and they nned to get it over with as fast as possible.


    The couple had already done something simr, and the nned schedule offered nothingplicated. Khan and Monica went shopping, ate in a fancy restaurant, watched an auction, and drank in one of Pandora''s establishments. The point behind that date was to appear publicly as a happy couple, and they fulfilled it perfectly.


    It also helped that Khan and Monica weren''t shy about their affection. They often kissed publicly, uncaring of the pictures snapped by the reporters. Khan actually liked that thework saw that aspect of his rtionship since it kept away potential suitors. Moreover, refusing Monica when she was her enchanting dress was simply impossible.


    Drinking at Pandora was supposed to be the date''sst stop, but the car didn''t drive back to the second district. Khan noticed that, but Monica suddenly jumped on him. Her mana told a clear story that her sensual kisses couldn''t hide, but Khan respected her effort and let her distract him.


    The car crossed most of the Harbor and arrived at a solitary hangar. Only luxury rides and private ships couldnd there, and a special team of soldiers always guarded it.


    Khan didn''t understand what was going on even after stepping into the hangar, but a familiar color in the distance suddenly caught his attention. A small ship donning an iconic white dye stood near the end of the ce, and its pristine state told Khan how new it was.


    "You are joking," Khan gasped, and Monica took his arm before he could say anything else.


    "I had to pull some strings," Monicaughed, dragging Khan toward the white ship, "And you have no idea how hard it is to keep secrets from you."


    The couple reached the ship while more carsnded in the hangar. Master Amelia and her team stepped out, but Khan only looked at the vehicle. He now understood everything, but his mind still struggled to ept it.


    ''Small butfortable canopy,'' Khan thought, listing the ship''s stats. ''Triangr and t shape. Three engines on the back. Can only fit two people.''


    "This is a race ship!" Khan eximed, still incredulous.


    "I couldn''t have my dear Captain fly that old thing from the Global Army," Monica pouted. "This still doesn''t match your value, but it''s a start."


    Khan''s eyes were wide, and Monica''s pout melted into a smile when she noticed his shock. She was ecstatic about that reaction.


    "Did you buy me a ship?" Khan asked for confirmation.


    Monica giggled, tightening her grip on Khan''s arm. "Happy birthday again."


    "You crazy girl," Khan said, leaning toward Monica to trap her in a kiss. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Monica let go of Khan''s arm to cling to his neck, and he didn''t miss that opening. Khan grabbed Monica''s waist and lifted her. He put her on his shoulder amidughs andints, and his feet kicked the floor to send both into the air.


    "Captain Khan!" Master Amelia shouted in an admonishing tone. That hangar was more private, but Khan couldn''t behave like that. It was too improper for Monica.


    "Khan!" Monica joined thoseints, even if she used a far happier tone, but Khan ignored her. The ship''s canopy opened at his touch, and he dropped Monica in the backseat beforending on the ss''s edge.


    "I''ll take Monica out," Khan dered before diving into the pilot''s seat. He didn''t ask for anyone''s permission, and the ship set off once the Harbor cleared him for departure.

 Chapter 648 Evolution

    Chapter 648 Evolution


    Khan gave free rein to his flying skills. The ship handled like a beauty, and itsmands soon became a natural extension of his body. Its speed was also incredible, and Khan didn''t hold back from testing its limits.


    After Nitis, Khan had always sought something that could resemble riding Snow, but most ships had security measures that prevented him from experiencing the same adrenaline of actual free flight. Even his martial art couldn''t match that since he was technically walking on air.


    The ships provided by the Global Army were also clunky and slow. Khan could barely push them due to their natural limitations and various regtions.


    However, Monica''s ship waspletely different. Khan couldn''t experience the wind on his face, but each eleration and deceleration reverberated through the canopy''s insides, creating an experience that came extremely close to riding Snow. It wasn''t the exact same, but Khan couldn''t help but love it.


    The ship''s speed could hurt Monica, but sheughed whenever Khan performed a crazy maneuver. The pressure inside the canopy was tough to bear, but Khan''s happy mood made her forget about that.


    The Harbor had filled the ship with fuel and oxygen, so Khan didn''t need to worry about anything. Even after flying for hours, the control desk showed no red gs, so he kept going until he grewpletely used to the vehicle.


    Nevertheless, a different mood invaded Khan after he had his fun. The ship slowed down until itpletely stopped, and the beauty of the universe filled the canopy. The couple could marvel at that spectacr scenery, and neither forgot how they got there in the first ce.


    "Do you like it?" Monica asked, removing her safety belt to peek past Khan''s seat.


    "I love it!" Khan eximed, tapping on a key to retract the steering wheel. The canopy gained more space, and Khan also removed his belt before addressing the smiling face to his right. "Though, not as much as I love you."


    "You''d better!" Monica snorted, but the brimming happiness on Khan''s face didn''t even allow her to pretend to be angry. Her pout melted, and she squeezed herself around the seat to reach Khan.


    "Say that again," Monica whispered, taking her ce on Khan''sp. She slowed down her graceful moves on purpose to make Khan savor every second of them, and her dress added a lethal vibe to the whole scene.


    "I love you," Khan repeated, his hands already clung to Monica''s waist. "Are you enjoying this date?"


    "I love it," Monica nodded, leaning toward Khan''s face, "And I know it''s about to get better."


    .


    .


    .


    Needless to say, Monica became addicted to dates inside the ship, and Khan was happy to take her out whenever the chance arrived. Her family didn''t like that brazen behavior, but the two had earned that break, so no formalints arrived.


    Two weeks passed in those peaceful conditions. Khan and Monica still studied and trained, but the rest of their free time was spent on themselves. The general uproar toward Khan''s rising fame made the Harbor annoying to explore anyway, and they didn''t mind focusing on their privacy.


    Of course, that peaceful period couldn''tst forever. Khan''s impending tasks were one of the main reasons behind his focus on Monica. Yet, that had to stop once the week began.


    The new year arrived, and the Global Army spared no effort to prepare for the monumental event. Khan had to wake up extra early and wear his cleanest military uniform to catch the ride that hade to get him.


    The car was for military purposes only, and soldiers also patrolled the adjacent blocks to keep away potential onlookers or reporters. The matter was too serious to allow any leak, and Khan hurried inside the vehicle for that very reason.


    Khan often enjoyed a drink or two during those long trips, but his mind didn''t allow any distractions. He was wholly focused on the matter at hand, and his presence conveyed his seriousness, filling the car''s insides with heavy air. He was lucky to be alone since ordinary soldiers would have suffocated in that environment.


    The car flew across the entire Harbor to reach the hangars, and soldiers escorted Khan through the intricate corridors stretching from them. The team led Khan to a rtively smaller and private teleport, which wasn''t intended only for him.


    The guest list shared on thework had a few names that Khan recognized, and one was in the Harbor with him. She was already in the teleport area, but the two didn''t speak. Khan and Headmistress Holwen only exchanged a nod before waiting for the scientists to get everything ready.


    The process took a few minutes, but Khan and Headmistress Holwen eventually stepped on the tform. The teleport immediately started, leading them into a simr area with fewer soldiers. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan only needed a nce to identify the ce. He didn''t recognize his actual location, but the area''syout told him that he was in a space station.


    Questions were almost forbidden during the event. Any information leak could make things harder for Colonel Norrett, so both Khan and the Headmistress remained silent while following the escorts ready for them.


    The escorting soldiers led the two to a military ship parked in a hangar connected to the universe. A mana barrier preserved the internal atmosphere and pressure, but looking outside of it didn''t give any clue. The darkness of space was too vague even for experts in the field.


    Khan merely nced at the outside world before hurrying inside the ship. The huge vessel offered a spacious,fortable passenger area with customizable seats, but neither Khan nor the Headmistress minded that. They simply sat on opposite sides while preserving their silence.


    "This is a rare urrence even for people in my position," Headmistress Holwen dered. "Don''t waste it."


    The ship hid any trace of the set-off, but the synthetic mana running behind its surfaces offered clues Khan couldn''t ignore. He even nced toward the back of the vehicle, where the engines were, and Headmistress Holwen noticed that reaction.


    "Excited?" Headmistress Holwen was the first to break the silence.


    "Obviously," Khan admitted.


    "This is a rare urrence even for people in my position," Headmistress Holwen dered. "Don''t waste it."


    "I don''t n on wasting it," Khan stated, lifting his eyes to stare at the Headmistress. "Still, should I know anything before the event?"


    "What do you know about the evolution?" Headmistress Holwen questioned.


    "What they taught me in the Harbor," Khan responded. "I know humans unlock their true potential after evolving, but I''m not privy to the details."


    "I''m not surprised," Headmistress Holwen sighed. "Normally, a Captain would never have ess to such information so early, even someone with your fame."


    "Why is the topic so secretive?" Khan wondered. It wasn''t easy to get a one hundred percent attunement level, even with infusions, so secrecy sounded superfluous in his eyes.


    "Power," Headmistress Holwen eximed, "Control, multiple reasons. It makes the parties who hold that information necessary to anyone interested in attempting it."


    Khan had learned enough about the political environment to reach that conclusion on his own, and Headmistress Holwen confirmed his suspicion. That exnation made too much sense to be a lie. The very Global Army relied on simr methods on a farrger scale.


    In the public''s eyes, the Global Army and all the parties connected to it were necessary to obtain and learn to wield mana. On the surface, there was no alternative. The descendants were the only exception, but their very families demanded feats connected to the Global Army.


    Of course, Khan had learned about secret and criminal organizations. He had found the mana and some of its secrets in the Slums, but that didn''t change the overall truth. The Global Army and its connected systems held firm control over humankind since they were the only source of martial arts, spells, and simr tools.


    The information about the evolution was only one of the subjects the Global Army kept close to the heart, and the previous rules were even heavier in that case. As far as Khan understood, the evolved soldiers were simply too strong, and forcing them onto specific paths was the only way to control them.


    "Attempting it," Khan repeated. "What happens if you fail the evolution?"


    "Depends," Headmistress Holwen remained vague. "It''s an invasive and dangerous process. It''s a proper transformation. Well, mutation might be a more fitting word. I''m sure I don''t need to add anything, right?"


    "Something like that," Headmistress Holwen confirmed. "The human body has limits, so evolved soldiers force it to change."


    Khan didn''t reply but lowered his head. Rationally speaking, a body that had already fully epted and absorbed mana couldn''t grow stronger anymore. It simplycked room for more energy, leaving only one option.


    "Is the evolution a forced mutation?" Khan questioned, lifting his eyes again.


    "Something like that," Headmistress Holwen confirmed. "The human body has limits, so evolved soldiers force it to change."


    ''That''s crazy,'' Khan thought. The mutations were a subject close to him, and Nitis'' events only deepened his wariness. He had seen how the slightest influence could give birth to monstrous physical features, and the mental spectrum wasn''t stranger to simr dangers.


    "It''s more controlled than you think," Headmistress Holwen specified. "It''s also wilder. You''ll understand more once we get there. With your senses, I''d be surprised if you didn''t."

 Chapter 649 Little shit

    Chapter 649 Little shit


    The ship''s passenger area had no scanners or screens that could reveal its route, and that aspect was intentional. Everything about Colonel Norrett''s evolution had to remain a secret, even during thest hours before the event.


    As for Khan and Headmistress Holwen, their conversation ended after those few lines. Khan had more questions, but any answer would only intensify his curiosity. It was better to wait and experience the real deal with the entirety of his senses.


    Theck of distractions inside the ship made the trip quite boring, especially since it stretched for hours. Neither Khan nor the Headmistress knew how long it would take to reach the intended destination either, which worsened that dull wait.


    Initially, Khan couldn''t even think about losing focus. He was too excited, curious, and eager to witness the evolution to consider drinking, sleeping, or meditating. Yet, as the hours passed, his mood quieted down and allowedpromises. He finally closed his eyes, and time picked up the pace as he forced his mana to flow faster.


    The silence stretched even past a few hours. The flight continued for almost half a day before a change in the synthetic mana behind the metal surface awakened Khan. The ship was decelerating, which could only mean one thing.


    The Headmistress used Khan''s reactions to check the trip''s state once again, which didn''t disappoint. After a few minutes, the area''s artificial illumination brightened, and a robotic message resounded inside it.


    "We arrived at our destination," The speaker said, and a whooshing noise followed, marking the unlocking of the ship''s side doors.


    Khan and Headmistress Holwen snapped on their feet and approached the doors, which opened at their presence. Still, no natural environment unfolded in their eyes. Another passenger area expanded past the passage, weing the two to another trip.


    Headmistress Holwen stepped forward without inspecting the new area, and Khan could only follow her. It was hard to understand the nature of the new vehicle due to the darkened windows, but the seats and the ce''s rtively small size hinted at a car or something simr.


    The two took their seats, and the vehicle''s entrance closed to start another trip. Headmistress Holwen and Khan could feel the faint tremors generated by the tires, so they knew they were on the ground. However, their location remained a secret for another hour.


    Eventually, the vehicle stopped, and one of its doors opened to show another metallic environment. A short corridor carrying the style of a space station stretched from the passage, and soldiers wearing white medical coats stood at its end.


    The partially natural symphony that touched Khan''s senses didn''t distract him from another striking detail. Those soldiers'' clothes marked them as scientists, but both were fourth-level warriors, and their firm, cold auras conveyed their extensive battle experience.


    That interest didn''t vanish even after Khan and Headmistress Holwen stepped on the metal floor. The scientists performed military salutes, but that didn''t diminish their value in Khan''s eyes. They were strong, probably stronger than Khan.


    ''It''s an evolution alright,'' Khan thought, sensing simrly powerful areas in the two corridors that stretched from the current passage.


    "The other guests have already arrived," One of the scientists announced. "They are enjoying the refreshments. Allow us to guide you there."


    "Please," Headmistress Holwen nodded, applying a bare minimum of politeness. Khan didn''t join her, and the seemingly isted environment soon captured his attention.


    The corridor had no windows that could give more intel on the outside world, but the symphony inside wasn''tpletely synthetic. Strands of natural mana flowed through it without ever dispersingpletely. The ce had a source of that energy, and Khan could pinpoint its location.


    Khan didn''t need to do anything to study that source. The scientists were already leading him in that direction, but more concerning matters imed his attention. Some of the strong auras sensed before were getting closer.


    The second corridor had multiple doors on one side, and scientists exited or entered them asionally. Those random soldiers were also fourth-level warriors, but Khan paid them no heed since he was about to reach stronger figures.


    Eventually, arge entrance appeared in the distance, showing a long table and people sitting at it. The scent of food and drinks also leaked from it, but Khan only focused on the guests. The seemingly cheerful atmosphere didn''t show it, but a chilling presence existed inside the area.


    The scientists stopped at the room''s entrance, and Khan and the Headmistress crossed it together. The general attention immediately fell on them, and the two replied in a simr fashion. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The room was nothing more than a small dining hall enclosed by four metal walls with no windows. Still, neither Khan nor the Headmistress bothered to check the environment. The figures on the tables could dy those issues endlessly.


    Khan recognized a few figures. He had actually researched all of them after gaining ess to the guests'' list, but some were more important than others. Of course, he was lucky to have met even one of them.


    Robert Bizelli sat near Khan''s position. His red, curly hair had gotten longer, and his level had also increased. He was a fourth-level warrior now, but his presence there probably had something to do with his friendship with Colonel Norrett.


    A simr but younger figure sat at Robert''s side. The man had the same red, curly hairbed in a more fashionable style. He was also leaner and burlier than Robert, adding points to his handsome look.


    ''Garret Bizelli,'' Khan recognized, ''Robert''s son and prodigy of the Bizelli family.''


    Garret wore a military uniform with four stars on each shoulder, which was an outstanding achievement for someone slightly older than Khan. His aura was also on point. Yet, his fame inside the Bizelli family involved the medical field, which Khan couldn''t check with his senses.


    Robert and Garret were the only fourth-level warriors in the room. The Headmistress and the other six guests were all fifth-level warriors, with unclear differences in their battle prowess. Khan could only identify the strongest, which also was the man who interested him the most.


    A burly man stood on the other side of the room, calmly drinking from a cup. The soldier had a few wrinkles on his face and short grey hair that conveyed his old age. However, pure power reeked from every inch of his body, which was built like a mountain.


    were broad, and his arms were thick. The military uniform struggled to contain those bulging muscles. He was also so tall his The table couldn''t hide the old man''s huge frame. His shoulders were broad, and his arms were thick. The military uniform struggled to contain those bulging muscles. He was also so tall his body seemed to belong to a Thilku rather than a human.


    ''That''s Major General Arngan,'' Khan thought, recalling the title seen on thework, ''The Demon of a thousand wars.''


    Khan had been on the other side of rumors long enough to know thework was hardly urate. The Global Army also controlled the stream of information. Still, being in the same room as the Major General confirmed part of it. After all, he was the chilling presence Khan had sensed from the corridor.


    ''His entire being is ready for war,'' Khan studied. ''Well, most of it.''


    Major General Arngan felt like a battle maniac, but only Khan could get that impression from that seemingly calm and collected figure. He created a constant sense of danger in the symphony, and that wasn''t everything. Khan also noticed that his right arm was artificial.


    The inspection barelysted a few seconds, in which Headmistress Holwen mustered a stern military salute meant to salute all the guests. Khan quickly imitated her, but his attention remained on the artificial arm.


    Needless to say, the guests were also inspecting Khan and Headmistress Holwen, and almost everyone stood up to perform simr salutes. Only the Major General remained on his seat, and a loud snort soon left his mouth.


    "I was told no one would notice," Major General Arngan said, his voice conveying the entirety of his strength. "Those hacks."


    The nigh-shout brought every eye in the room on Major General Arngan''s figure, but thetter lifted his right arm while looking at Khan. His previous words had been for him, and only a few understood their meaning.


    "They shouldn''t have put an engine inside it," Khan calmly responded before recalling basic manners. "Sir."


    "Come here, Captain," Major General Arngan called, gesturing to Khan toe close.


    That gesture could look rude, but Khan barely minded that. He had never met anyone with such a high rank, and his curiosity had been ring for a while already.


    The guests watched as Khan walked around the table to stop before Major General Arngan. The old man sized him up, but his gaze eventually stopped on Khan''s intense eyes.


    "I''ve never seen a kid to these events," Major General Arnganmented. "Well, you aren''t exactly a kid."


    ''How long would Ist against him?'' Khan wondered, his senses absorbing as much information as possible. ''A few minutes?''


    "I heard you are looking for the Nak," Major General Arngan suddenly mentioned, snapping Khan out of his thoughts. "Did you find any on Cegnore?"


    Khan''s eyes tried to flicker, but he forced them to remain steady. The Major General was spouting ssified information in a room with people that mightck the proper briefing or clearance. Yet, his rank wasn''t something Khan could oppose. Actually, those words removed any responsibility.


    "No," Khan stated.


    "What about information about the Nak?" The Major General pressed on.


    "I''ll keep that to myself," Khan replied, his tone growing colder. He didn''t like that turn of events.


    "That''s not how it works," Major General Arnganmented. "Why would the Global Army help and support you if you don''t share information?"


    "Because I''m the strongest," Khan dered, "And the Global Army would be wise to keep me happy."


    "Cocky brat," Major General Arngan snickered, but a whooshing noise distracted him, making him turn toward the sliding door in the back of the room.


    Colonel Norrett stepped out of the door, and Khan could immediately notice differences from theirst meeting. The man appeared thinner, but no muscles had been lost. They had just shrunk into a morepact form.


    The Colonel''s mana was also different in terms of quantity. He appeared about to burst in Khan''s eyes. The soldier seemed to have reached the very limit of what his body could handle.


    "Mark!" Major General Arngan called. "He is as cocky as you said."


    "You are already picking up a fight with a General," Colonel Norrett scolded. "That''s not what I meant in the Harbor, little shit."

 Chapter 650 Induction

    c


    The changes in Colonel Norrett''s presence left a deep impression on Khan''s mind. He wasn''t only overflowing with mana. He was also tense, even if a thickyer of resolve tried to hide that feeling.


    "I tried," Khan responded. "No one could keep up with me."


    "I''m starting to like his guts," Major General Arngan eximed, resuming sizing Khan.


    "He is right," Colonel Norrett admitted, walking toward the General but keeping his gaze on Khan. "At least you got the girl, right?"


    In different circumstances, Khan might have reacted poorly to the question. However, Colonel Norrett was a friend, and his slightly disrespectful words mostly had his tension to me.


    "She was already mine," Khan replied, smirking.


    "I admit I followed the matter closely," Colonel Norrett stated. "It was good entertainment."


    "Not for me," Khan revealed, "But those problems are behind me now."


    "Don''t be so sure of that, kid," Major General Arnganmented. "Problems never end."


    "It''s not that," Khan announced, looking at the General again. "I''ll simply eradicate the source of any problem from now on."


    The clear threat wasn''t meant for the General, Colonel Norrett, or the other outstanding figures at the table. Not only, at least. Khan knew they would spread rumors after the event, and that upromising statement was the best way to inform the entirework.


    "The entertainment isn''t over," Colonel Norrettughed. "And here I hoped you would have brought me to that wedding."


    Colonel Norrett was joking, but mentioning Rick''s wedding still lifted a few eyebrows. Anything involving a noble could cause that reaction.


    "I''m sorry," Khan smirked. "Seeing my girlfriend in a dresses first."


    Colonel Norrettughed again, and Major General Arngan nodded to himself in approval. The two seemed quite close. They probably shared a rtionship simr to what Khan had with the Colonel, but the situation didn''t allow him to confirm those details.


    "Well," Colonel Norrett sighed, eyeing the rest of the guests. "I''d like to do proper introductions, but the risk of contamination is high. I must start the main event."


    As soon as the Colonel finished speaking, the wall on the other side of the room began to open, and natural mana washed over Khan. A grey environment unfolded in everyone''s gaze, and machines tainted that otherwise pure scene.


    The new area was circr, with many consoles standing at its edge. Itsyout reminded Khan of a teleport room, but stark differences existed.


    The floor wasn''t metallic or artificial. Gray, rocky ground expanded in every direction, disappearing under the building. Khan initially thought about a moon, but the breathable atmosphere made him reject that idea.


    The ce also had no ceiling. The circr room wasn''t an actual room. It was an open space that the building merely encircled, and looking up revealed a dark and starry sky. Khan couldn''t spot any moon, but the area still had more items that required his attention.


    The consoles weren''t the only machines in the circr space. Two huge cylindrical containers stood at the sides of a small ss dome isted from the outside world. Tubes connected the three items, and specific energy flowed through them.


    The containers held a huge amount of mana, but Khan could immediately realize that something was off. That energy wasn''t only dense. His eyes could pierce those metal surfaces and see the blinding brightness it carried, which described its tremendous power and quality.


    The energy''s power, density, and quality weren''t the only details that stood out. Khan instinctively looked at Colonel Norrett before focusing on the containers again. Somehow, the items had the exact same mana flowing inside the Colonel.


    "He noticed," Major General Arnganmented, peeking at Khan. "Kids are scary nowadays."


    The General didn''t add anything else while standing up. He also ignored Khan to approach the floor''s edges and lose himself in the scenery. His brown eyes darted left and right to inspect every machine, but his silence didn''t break.


    The other guests quickly imitated the General, and Khan also found himself on the floor''s edges. He could sort of guess what the procedure would involve, but exnations arrived before he could ask any questions.


    "There are three types of evolution," Garret Bizelli announced. He was beside Khan, but his gaze remained fixed on the machines.


    "Continue," Robert Bizelli ordered.


    "They are," Garret exined, "Natural induction, extreme induction, and aided metamorphosis."


    "Differences," Robert pressed on.


    "The natural induction involves a slow but safer evolution," Garret exined. "It may require years of gradual transformation to acquire a body that can strive to higher levels of power."


    "Extreme," Robert said. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "The extreme induction requires a huge amount of mana to perform an instantaneous transformation," Garret responded. "It''s more dangerous but brings greater results. Aplete sess will create a body unattainable with safer methods."


    "Aided metamorphosis," Robert asked.


    "It''s the use of certain items to alter the evolution," Garret exined. "It can drive the process toward a specific path and create unique results. Depending on the item, it can grant more power than the extreme induction."


    "But it also changes you," Robert added. "Except for unique situations, it''s not advisable."


    "What unique situations?" Khan asked, ncing at the pair of father and son.


    Robert smiled before eyeing Garret, who didn''t hesitate to exin. "Illnesses can prevent natural and extreme induction. ws in the mana umted until the fifth level can cause simr problems. Truly unique items can also make the additional risk worth it."


    "How?" Khan questioned.


    "The Global Army once found a mineral carrying the life element itself," Major General Arngan revealed. "Is that appealing enough?"


    Khan didn''t answer and brought his gaze back to the open area. Colonel Norrett had already entered it and approached the ss dome, and Khan watched those scenes while his thoughts went wild.


    From thest exnations, Khan vaguely understood that the evolution provided a better body, a new container capable of striving higher into the path toward power.


    Of course, the topic was far deeper and more detailed than that, and Khan had even understood some specifics. Except for the third method, the evolution seemed meant to elevate soldiers ording to the restrictions and qualities of their mana.


    ''Mana is an expression of ourselves,'' Khan recalled lessons from Nitis. ''Then, the evolution turns us into more of ourselves.''


    That philosophical approach had no ce among humans, but Khan couldn''t ignore it. He wanted to understand what that process meant on every level, and more details were bound to arrive.


    Colonel Norrett wasn''t the only one to step into the open area. Scientists left the door behind the guests or arrived from other parts of the building to reach the consoles and begin the preliminary procedures.


    Meanwhile, Colonel Norrett removed his clothes and pressed on the ss dome to open a transparent entrance. He crossed it to sit cross-legged at the center of that small room, and his eyes closed to prepare his mind for the procedure.


    The dome closed on its own, and a mana barrier soon appeared before the guests. That isted them from the open area, but many understood its necessity. The process was dangerous, and Colonel Norrett didn''t want to risk hurting them.


    Of course, that didn''t apply to the scientists. Everyone inside the open area conveyed a deep resolve to face whatever danger mighte their way. Khan sensed that feeling even with the barrier standing before him, but the procedure soon imed the entirety of his attention.


    The ss dome expelled the mana in its insides before opening the tubes connected to its base. The containers began to release their energy, and a brilliant yellow gas invaded the isted, transparent room.


    The gas color didn''t trick anyone. All the guests knew that bright smoke was mana. The scientists had altered and modified it to match Colonel Norrett''s energy.


    Khan briefly studied the energy''s properties before focusing on Colonel Norrett. The gas partially hid his figure, but screens soon appeared on the mana barrier, showing clear scenes picked up by different scanners. Everyone could see the Colonel again, but Khan and a few others kept their eyes on the bright dome.


    A change happened while Colonel Norrett remained immersed in that dense mana. The energy inside him started to shake, and his skin echoed that reaction. His flesh began to strive outward, seemingly wanting to expand past its natural constraints.


    Colonel Norrett''s expression remained impassible during the process. He forced his body to stay put while the mana in his surroundings flowed over his skin. At times, the energy fused with his flesh, leaving bright marks that intensified his natural reaction.


    The process continued until most of Colonel Norrett''s body featured those bright marks. They acted as a protective membrane that was slowly fusing with his skin, giving it room to expand. Still, the Colonel continued suppressing that growth, and that additional energy slowly dug deeper inside him.


    ''He''s trying to attain a qualitative change,'' Khan realized. ''The room is just a safe space, a chrysalis that protects him from external influences.''


    Colonel Norrett was attempting a transformation inside and through mana, using himself and his very energy as the blueprint. He wasn''t aiming at anything specific. He was forcing his body to reach a state more in tune with mana.


    ''Where does humans'' higher potentiale from?'' Khan wondered, even if most of his attention remained on the Colonel.


    The Colonel was tackling that transformation slowly and methodically, umting the external mana on his skin before pushing it inside his body. His flesh and organs steadily gained more power, and Khan knew for a fact that each step in that direction had to hurt immensely.


    After all, each soldier experienced something simr during the meditative sessions, and Colonel Norrett was taking that to a new level. Absorbing that additional mana didn''t only strengthen his flesh. It also allowed anatomical changes. He wanted to enforce a mutation, and those transformations were rarely painless.


    No trace of suffering appeared on Colonel Norrett''s expression. He was solely and fully focused on the procedure, and his resolve was in the right ce. Khan could only imagine how long he had prepared for the evolution, but that often wasn''t enough.


    A grunt suddenly escaped Colonel Norrett''s mouth while pushing another bright patch into his body. The mass of manatched itself to his skin, which triggered a violent mutation, rupturing his flesh. A wound opened on his right shoulder, and blood spurted out of it.

 Chapter 651 Surgery

    Chapter 651 Surgery


    The audience remained calm at that sudden reaction, but worry was building up. Even Khan was no stranger to that feeling since Colonel Norrett looked to be in a pickle, but his curiosity triumphed that.


    The scientists didn''t panic, and the same went for Colonel Norrett. He quickly calmed down and focused on the procedure, prioritizing his injured shoulder.


    The containers sent more mana into the ss dome. Yellow marks appeared everywhere on Colonel Norrett''s body, but, except for one spot, he continued suppressing his growth. He waited for those bright patches to fill the injury before allowing it to mutate.


    The flesh around the injury''s edges morphed and stretched outward, attaching skin and muscles to fix that body part. The Colonel''s shoulder obviously didn''t return to its previous state. It evolved into something that touched a realm above the fifth level.


    The Colonel suppressed the growth as soon as the injury closed. He couldn''t allow more mutations on the outeryer of his body when his insides had yet to transform. Everything would be too unstable otherwise.


    Of course, Khan only understood part of those reasons, but his knowledge of the mana and a few rted fields gave birth to urate-enough guesses. His eyes saw shades that even the scanners failed to capture, and a realization soon hit him.


    ''That won''t be thest,'' Khan thought, and the reality immediately proved him right.


    Colonel Norrett let out another grunt as a chunk of his chest exploded outward. He only lost skin and muscles, but the injury broke his concentration, and a new abrupt reaction followed.


    A chuck of the Colonel''s waist directly opened, showing his gory insides. The uneven cut continued to expand, but the Colonel eventually reimed control of his body and proceeded to fix his new wounds.


    Khan witnessed the same process as before. Colonel Norrett allowed his injured parts to mutate and prevent further blood loss. That threatened to ruin the harmony of his body since his normal and transformed flesh had different levels, but everything was still manageable.


    Nevertheless, the outer skin or a few patches of muscles didn''t count as a proper evolution. Colonel Norrett had to transform the entirety of his body to call the procedure a sess, and those hups conveyed its overall danger.


    ''What if his heart explodes?'' Khan wondered. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Skin and muscles were fine, but the internal organs were a different matter altogether, especially the vital ones. Even mana-enhanced warriors couldn''t survive losing them. Doctors could rece them, but the presence of artificial tissue might ruin any future hope for the evolution.


    Colonel Norrett knew the risks and pressed on. He fixed his chest and abdomen before resuming transforming his insides. Luckily, no abrupt reactions happened for many minutes, and his organs slowly began to mutate after fusing with the yellow mana.


    Everything was finally going smoothly, but neither guests nor scientists broke their stern stances. It didn''t take an expert to understand that the hazardous part of the process had started, and the screens on the mana barrier did an excellent job of conveying that.


    Colonel Norrett didn''t focus on any specific organ. He let the diving of the yellow mana happen naturally and fill him in to create paths and fuel for his flesh. His insides initially opposed any transformation, but slight mutations happened after more energy arrived.


    The mutations weren''t anything monumental. Random, tiny pieces of Colonel Norrett''s organs expanded, thickened, or improved without changing shape. That gradual transformation only involved millimeters of flesh, so everyone understood the procedure could take hours or longer.


    Tense minutes passed as the guests and scientists inspected every image or data that reached their screens. The next crisis seemed to be around the corner, but nothing happened. Colonel Norrett''s insides continued to transform, affecting more than just organs. The blood vessels also had to mutate to allow those changes.


    Still, that smooth transformation eventually came to an end. Everything started with a tiny blood vessel failing to contain the superior fluids running through it, causing an explosion that triggered a chain reaction.


    More blood vessels exploded, destabilizing Colonel Norrett''s control over his growth. Many of his organs had already epted and fused the yellow mana, so they began mutating recklessly and wildly, disregarding any care for his life.


    Colonel Norrett tried to regain control, but his body didn''t listen. His abdomen shook, and blood umted in his mutating stomach before climbing toward his throat. He spat the gory liquid directly on the dome''s ss, which featured a few bright spots of mana.


    Warning messages appeared on the various consoles, but Colonel Norrett kept trying. He didn''t want to fail. He had invested too much in that attempt, and stopping now would only increase his losses. Yet, his body rebelled against life itself, and the mana inside the dome continued fueling that transformation.


    Colonel Norrett soon spat another mouthful of blood before leaning forward to hold his abdomen. Something had gone terribly wrong. His guts felt on fire and melting. He could almost sense his organs liquefying, even if the scanners showed a far different picture.


    A few guests gasped, but no one panicked. Khan and the others were powerless in that situation, and the scanners told them exactly why. Some of Colonel Norrett''s organs had mutated uncontrobly for too long, bing unfit for their original functions and shing with his body.


    Continuing in those conditions was suicide, but the Colonel didn''t have ess to that much data. He wasn''t even thinking clearly, and his deep resolve made him push the procedure forward.


    However, Colonel Norrett wasn''t in charge anymore. The scientists saw the countless warning signs and took over, forcing the dome to expel the yellow mana and seal the containers.


    "No!" Colonel Norrett shouted at the instantaneous disappearance of the bright energy, but another spasm ran through his body, leaving him with his hands on the grey ground. He puked enough blood to create a small puddle, and a violent cough took control of his throat.


    The scientists hurried toward the ss dome, opening it to help Colonel Norrett to his feet. More soldiers arrived to bring scanners, but the Colonel abruptly pushed everyone away, adding loud words to his gesture. "Let go of me!"


    The push didn''t hurt anybody. After all, all the scientists were fourth-level warriors, but that didn''t change the general concern for the Colonel. Still, thetter stomped his feet toward the mana barrier, uncaring of his naked state, and a soldier quickly removed it.


    Khan and the others made way for the Colonel, who wiped his mouth with his forearm and approached the table. He grabbed the first drink he could find and took long sips to quell the pain and burning sensation in his abdomen. The Colonel seemed to be doing fine, but his appearance told a very different story.


    The blood that had fallen on Colonel Norrett wasn''t the only trace of his poor state. His body still had many bright yellow spots fused with his skin. He was almost a walkingmp, and Khan could see that his insides were no better.


    The mutations wouldn''t just disappear after interrupting the procedure. Some pieces of new flesh would shatter on their own, while others were forever now. The Colonel had chosen to transform his body, and part of it couldn''t work right anymore.


    "Sir," A scientist called during the general inspection, hurrying toward the Colonel. "We must rush you into surgery."


    "I know," Colonel Norrett grunted, gulping another big sip. "Let''s go."


    The guests merely watched as Colonel Norrett mmed his cup on the table and moved toward the door on the other side of the room. The scientists followed him, and the entire team soon disappeared behind that metal entrance, leaving Khan and the others alone.


    Needless to say, the event soured the general mood. Some guests sighed and shook their heads, while others nced at the containers and ss dome. Khan belonged to the second group, The mary investment was evident. The Global Army could fund most of the procedure, but refining a specific type of mana with and his mind inevitably went over the procedure while creating a few simtions.


    The mary investment was evident. The Global Army could fund most of the procedure, but refining a specific type of mana with that quality and level couldn''t be cheap.


    Khan also added the scientists, machines, and location to the equation. The secrecy of that ce hinted at the fact that Colonel Norrett had built that structure specifically for his evolution. That was another expensive endeavor, and Khan didn''t know how much came out of his pocket.


    ''All to waste now,'' Khan realized.


    The containers still had mana, but Khan immediately ruled it out. Even if the Colonel attempted to evolve that very day, his body had changed. He couldn''t use that yellow energy since it no longer matched his being.


    Surgery could fix Colonel Norrett, but the issue remained. Too much of him had changed, making the yellow mana unfit for another procedure.


    ''It''s not close,'' Khan eventually considered, ''But I should start thinking about it.''


    The evolution was appealing, especially for someone set to find the Nak alone. Khan had also learned to like power, and being the strongest had be necessary. Still, that put him in a pickle.


    ''The extreme induction is my style,'' Khan thought, ''And I have fitting skills that humansck. However, my mana isn''t exactly docile.''


    From what Khan had understood, the mana in the containers matched Colonel Norrett perfectly. In the same situation, Khan would have to use something simr to his own energy, which wasn''t made to create or transform. The chaos element was all about destruction, seemingly ruling out extreme induction as a possibility.


    ''The aided metamorphosis doesn''t sound so bad now,'' Khan realized.


    Khan''s initial doubts about the third evolution method vanished. The aided metamorphosis could change his element and probably separate him from his Nak''s heritage. It might remove the nightmares altogether, too.


    ''But,'' Khan thought, ''Isn''t that the same as running away? The chaos element isn''t exactly weak either.''


    Questions that Khan couldn''t answer filled his mind and never let go of his thoughts. He had just taken a glimpse into a possible future, but making relevant decisions now was simply impossible.

 Chapter 652 Politics

    Chapter 652 Politics


    Silence reigned while the guests kept themselves busy. Some returned to the table, indulging in drinks and refreshments. Others began pacing around the room, unclear about what to do next.


    As for Khan, he kept staring at the open area, overwhelmed by his many questions. Colonel Norrett''s attempt to surpass the limits of the fifth level had ended in failure, but Khan had still learned a lot, leaving him confused and hesitant about his future.


    "I should check on Mark," Robert Bizelli suddenly announced, breaking the silence. "I''m sure he has hired the right people, but an additional pair of eyes can''t hurt."


    "Should Ie too, father?" Garret Bizelli immediately asked.


    "No need," Robert responded, waving his hand. "I''m mostly going as a friend."


    Garret could only nod and watch as his father approached the door on the other side of the room. The building had already given him clearance, allowing his passage without requiring additional safety measures.


    All the guests watched Robert''s departure, but the closing of the metal door brought their eyes back to the table or other areas of the room. No one knew what to say, and Khan was no exception.


    Khan''s mind lingered on the issues concerning his prospects before giving up on the matter altogether. It was pointless to waste time on questions he couldn''t answer. Gathering more information on the topic would be a wise move, but the general mood in the room prevented that.


    Thatck of options pushed Khan to the table. He didn''t sit, but the event was over, so he poured himself a drink. He didn''t think rxing would lead to answers, but that didn''t stop him from trying.


    Khan''s arrival at the table brought some attention to him. After all, his presence at the event was quite peculiar, and his fame preceded him. His interaction with Major General Arngan also added weight to his whole political figure, making many guests curious about him.


    Of course, the guests couldn''t just approach Khan. Each move there had heavy political repercussions, so showing explicit interest in Khan would tell him how much power he held.


    Moreover, seizing the initiative in those political moves could trigger a chain reaction and turn Khan into the most sought figure in the room. Those higher-ups and important people couldn''t let that happen, and their experience in the field created a silent understanding of the matter.


    In theory, Khan had to be the one to make the first move. He was a rising star in the political world with infinite potential, so it was in his best interest to interact with important people he wouldn''t otherwise have the chance to meet.


    Major General Arngan was only one example of a relevant political connection Khan could try to build in that situation. The other guests were all worthy of his efforts, and a few started wondering where he would go first. The guests didn''t even consider he would miss that chance.


    Sadly for the guests, the reality waspletely different. Khan realized the uniqueness of his current situation and the fortunate opportunity he had received. He also sensed the rising curiosity toward him, but his mind was elsewhere. His brain continued generating thoughts about the evolution, keeping his attention on the topic while the good booze ran down his throat.


    The three methods for the evolution all had advantages and disadvantages, especially in Khan''s specific situation. Yet, those were only human approaches, and his knowledge spanned far farther than that. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Hypotheses and simtions involving alien arts crossed Khan''s mind while his gaze was lost on the table. He had taken a glimpse into the theory behind the evolution, so he tried to apply it to his broader knowledge.


    ''I''m pretty sure the Nele and Niqols would opt for the natural induction,'' Khan thought. ''I can''t speak about the Thilku, but their runes should have some use too.''


    Khan instinctively shook his head, taking another sip. The natural induction would remove his worries about his destructive mana, but giving up on a stronger body wasn''t an option. In that case, it was better to take the coward''s way out with the aided metamorphosis.


    ''Can''t I fuse the two inductions?'' Khan cursed, turning to inspect the ss dome again. ''Am I being too unrealistic?''


    Khan knew the topic was still too distant. He didn''t have the knowledge or finances to begin preparing for the procedure. He wasn''t even sure he wanted to tackle it through the human approach. However, that never stopped him from trying to develop ns.


    That stance prevented the arrival of any political move for entire minutes. Khan even returned to the table to refill his drink while remaining immersed in his thoughts. He was in his own world, but someone eventually forced him to return to reality.


    The room had one guest that could approach Khan without triggering any political maneuver. Garret''s status as a prodigy put him in the same league as Khan, and his father had even partaken in his promotion. It was in his best interest to establish a good rtionship with him.


    "Captain Khan," Garret announced while approaching Khan. "We have time now, so I''d like to introduce myself."


    Khan found a stretched hand when he lifted his gaze from his drink. Garret had opted for a friendly approach over the usual military salutes, which Khan appreciated.


    Moreover, Robert Bizelli had given Khan a good impression during his promotion, and Garret had even filled gaps in his knowledge during the previous questioning. Khan had every reason to be friendly with him, and his mana agreed.


    "Khan is fine," Khan eximed, shaking Garret''s hand. "Allow me to thank you, Mister Bizelli. I would have been lost without your exnation."


    "Please, just Garret," Garret smiled. "Also, that was nothing. I''m more than happy to share my medical knowledge with friends."


    Robert didn''t manage to do much during Khan''s promotion, but that short interaction had been enough to establish a good foundation. Garret expanded that bybeling Khan as a friend, and he happily epted that approach. The sole fact that Colonel Norrett was on the Bizelli family''s good side was enough for him.


    "Care to share more?" Khan asked, letting go of Garret''s hand.


    "It''s no problem at all," Garret dered, pointing at the table. "Shall we take a seat?"


    Khan didn''t reply but sat at the table, and Garret quickly imitated him. Things didn''t end there since Khan proceeded to fill two cups and give one to Garret, which he epted with a polite smile.


    "Just to rify," Khan spoke as soon as Garret seized his drink. "That was the extreme induction, right?"


    "Indeed," Garret nodded. "Sadly, its sess rate is meager, and its survival rate is also scary. In my humble opinion, the Colonel has hired a wise crew."


    "There''s no need to be humble," Khan uttered. "After all, I read your profile."


    "And I read yours," Garret responded. "Being humble is mandatory."


    Khan obviously scanned Garret''s mana the whole time. He wouldn''t miss a single ripple in his aura but sensed no lies. Garret felt like an upright man with great resolve, drive, and ambition. Khan could only praise Robert for doing a good job with him.


    "Still, I was wondering," Khan changed the topic. "How big is the difference between natural and extreme induction?"


    "Onplete result?" Garret asked.


    "Or earlier," Khan replied. "I don''t really know the difference."


    "Well," Garret said, sipping from his drink while he straightened his thoughts. "The natural induction can eventually lead to the same results as the extreme, but the process can take years if not decades."


    "Decades?" Khan couldn''t help but ask.


    "Mutations are a dangerous matter," Garret exined. "Elevating and evolving an entire body to its full potential without external inputs can take forever."


    Garret made sure to nod at the other guests, and Khan understood the meaning behind that gesture. Nothing said that those fifth-level warriors weren''t attempting the natural induction. The difference in their power actually proved the opposite.


    Khan began to have doubts about his understanding of the fifth level. His senses weren''t wless, so his attention went on the other guests while his eyes remained on Garret. Still, his inspection couldn''tst long.


    "You have insights into alien methods," Major General Arngan eximed, joining the conversation. "What''s your take on this?"


    Khan couldn''t help but nce at the Major General. Humans rarely mentioned his connection to alien arts, but the old man appeared interested, and the guests shared his curiosity. Somehow, Khan had be an expert and a celebrity in that isted environment.


    "There are ways to control mutations," Khan revealed, looking at Garret. "I don''t know if that can help."


    Khan partially understood theplications behind that suggestion, and Garret didn''t lie to make him look good.


    "Controlling means limiting," Garret exined. "Evolutions are unpredictable. The Global Army tried and failed every time to standardize the extreme induction."


    "What do you mean by failed?" Khan questioned.


    "The subjects died," Garret revealed. "It is possible to aim for the ideal body, but that always fails to create a beating heart or a working brain."


    "Is it that bad?" Khan wondered.


    "Everyone would approach the evolution otherwise," Garret replied. "Mutating into a superior being is no easy feat. The Global Army is barely starting to learn that field."


    "Why does it teach about higher potential, then?" Khan asked.


    "Flexibility," Major General Arngan ended up answering the question. "Humans can choose any path they want, be it greatness or mediocrity."


    "Alien species usually don''t have as much freedom," Garret added. "The whole aided metamorphosis is an unknown field to them."


    "You do know your stuff, kid," Major General Arngan praised.


    "I have my father and family to thank for my preparation," Garret bowed his head in respect.


    "They indeed did a good job," Major General Arngan dered before looking at Khan. "Do you have anything to add?"


    "Is your arm a problem in the evolution?" Khan asked, uncaring of what the audience might think.


    "As a matter of fact," Major General Arngan announced, "It is. My skin already tried to fill the gaps. I''m not sure the Global Army can produce enough mana for me to recreate my limb."


    Khan was almost ready to speak but forced his mouth to stay shut. He might find a solution to the issue in the future, but giving hope to soldiers who had outlived him multiple times didn''t feel right.


    "You know," Garret intervened due to the awkward situation. "The Solodre-."


    "No," Khan directly interrupted. "You are talking to me."


    Major General Arngan chuckled before Garret''s speechlessness. The young man immediately realized his mistake, but pure coldness remained before him. Khan didn''t eptpromises. He was ready to make a mess if anyone tried to mention his girlfriend''s family.

 Chapter 653 Spotlight

    Chapter 653 Spotlight


    "My apologies," Garret announced before Khan''s coldness. "It wasn''t my intention to use your connection with the Solodrey family."


    No one knew how much Khan had obtained from his rtionship with Monica, but the Solodrey family had to own secrets about the evolution. Mentioning it before Khan could sound like an attempt to probe into that knowledge.


    Garret wouldn''t dare to have that purpose, but Khan''s firm reaction required rifications. It was actually scary thinking about the repercussions of that misunderstanding, but Khan solved the issue.


    "I know," Khan stated, looking at Garret from head to toe. "You aren''t that kind of man."


    The guests interpreted Khan''s gesture in many ways, with some hitting the mark. After all, Khan''s senses were no secret, and he had also pretended to scan Garret during his statement. They didn''t know he had done that long ago, but the result was the same.


    "T-," Garret gulped, "Thank you."


    "I heard you were protective," Major General Arnganmented. "I see the rumors were right."


    "People have to start asking for permission," Khan dered. His status was nothingpared to the entirety of the Solodrey family, but he couldn''t let the Global Army see him as a weak link anymore. If anything, he wanted to be unapproachable through standard methods.


    Of course, Khan only cared about Monica, but she came with a hefty package. She had never been a singr individual in the Global Army''s eyes, and Khan was part of that now. In many ways, he had be a descendant with no background, forcing him to resort to alternative methods to protect what he loved.


    "I do like him," Major General Arnganughed.


    "You have always had a weak spot for unruly kids," Another guest sighed, bringing the general attention to her.


    The slightly old woman didn''t need introductions. She stood at the top of all the agencies directly under the Global Army tasked with gathering intelligence. Her presence in the event probably had nothing to do with Colonel Norrett. It was simply her duty to witness the eventual appearance of an evolved soldier.


    ''Madam rissa Lamalot,'' Khan thought, inspecting the woman. ''She used to be a Colonel before giving up on her rank to assume her current position.''


    Thework had told Khan more about rissa Lamalot. She had severed ties with her family long ago, but rumors said she was secretly helping her faction with her intel. Khan usually didn''t mind those activities, but the Lamalot family didn''t exactly give him a good impression during his promotion.


    rissa Lamalot''s attire also reminded Khan of Emilia Lamalot. She had the same long white hairbed into a big braid, and some sense of superiority tainted her aura. It wasn''t as intense as Emilia, but Khan could still smell it.


    "Madam rissa Lamalot, I reckon," Khan announced.


    "And you are Captain Khan," rissa nodded. "You met my cousin during your promotion. Emilia has always been a stiff old hag."


    Khan''s eyebrows arched in surprise, and snickers resounded among the guests. They could see he didn''t expect that joint hatred toward Emilia Lamalot, but a smile eventually broadened on his face.


    "But still," rissa continued, "And don''t take this as a way to take your achievements lightly. Except for your prowess and proclivity toward aliens, what exactly do you have to offer?"


    "I feel that''s more than enough if no one is even close to me," Khan dered.


    "He is right," Major General Arngan chuckled. "The Global Army only wants results in the end, and the kid is getting them."


    "But the world isn''t so simple," rissa argued. "Wealth, influence, primary businesses, and more are all expressions of power in our society. They often are more effective than the ability to punch through things."


    Khan could understand where rissa was getting at. Every family would benefit from having good soldiers, but Khan had stolen one of the most sought descendants. Even the best warrior in the world might not be enough to match that.


    "I''m just saying," rissa added, waving her drink to point it at Khan. "You graduated from the Harbor''s advanced sses and proved yourself on the field. The Global Army would be more than willing to fund any higher education you choose."


    Anastasia Solodrey had uttered simr words during herst call. She wanted Khan to distance himself from his soldier''s tasks, which made sense considering his elevated status. Even being a scout was only apromise he had epted to get closer to his main goal.


    "I get more from one mission than from years of studies," Khan pointed out.


    "It''s a matter of ambition," rissa exined. "You are looking for the Nak, right? Join a scientific field and see what you can find."


    "I''m better at alien sciences," Khan stated.


    "Good!" rissa eximed. "Add them to the human''s records and earn your spot among scientists. It beats being a soldier by far."


    "That''s insulting," Major General Arnganmented.


    "You just like to fight," rissa dismissed thement. "It''s clear the Captain is much more than that."


    "How, though?" Another guest joined the conversation. He was a middle-aged man, a scientist, with short ck hair and big sses that hid his green eyes.


    ''Mister Zeckai,'' Khan recalled, eyeing the man. ''He moved to the private business years ago but still helps the Global Army with some studies.''


    "Are you questioning the Harbor''s education?" Headmistress Holwen wondered.


    "I''m merely curious," Mister Zeckai said, adjusting his sses. "From what I''ve read, Captain Khan''s alien abilities mostly support his fighting style. Can you confirm this, rissa?"


    "That''s true," rissa confirmed. "At least that''s the intel I have on the Captain."


    Khan found a few sets of eyes on him. The guests seemed ready to hear his opinion, which left him conflicted. He knew keeping a few cards hidden was the safest route, but showing his value also had benefits.


    ''Maybe I can reveal a bit,'' Khan thought before lifting his right arm. He stretched his forefinger, and a trail of mana came out of it before gaining different properties.


    The sudden appearance of mana could scare off ordinary soldiers, but the room had some of the strongest people in the Global Army. Only Garret could experience some worry, but the awareness about his superior level kept him calm.


    Khan ignored the guests'' confidence and focused on his task. His mana changed shape, color, and brightness as he traced lines in the air. Soon, a simple rune took form, and a transformation happened when the different energies interacted.


    The lines sizzled, expanding outward before condensing. Khan opened his palm, and that energy fell at its center and transformed into something new. A blue me flickered in Khan''s hand without burning his skin.


    The fire onlysted a few seconds before dispersing. No trace of its presence remained, but that didn''t stop the guests from feeling shocked. Khan''s element was famous, but the Headmistress and the others had just witnessed him casting fire out of thin air.


    A few among the guests recognized the rune written by Khan. It was one of the simplest Thilku symbols, but that didn''t make the demonstration any less incredible. After all, Khan had replicated that art with his mere energy.


    Mister Zeckai was the sharpest of the guests regarding the scientific field, so he instantly realized the monumental relevance of the demonstration. That technique had countless applications. It could turn Khan into the most flexible soldier that had ever existed, to say the least.


    "When did you learn to do that?" Mister Zeckai couldn''t refrain from asking.


    "I didn''t learn anything," Khan replied. "I invented it."


    Major General Arngan opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it. He wanted to contradict Khan since the Thilku runes existed even before his birth. However, that alternative use waspletely original. It was safe to assume that Khan had founded a new scientific field by himself.


    "How did you do it?" Mister Zeckai asked.


    "I can''t exin it," Khan revealed, "Not in human terms."


    "You don''t understand," Mister Zeckai eximed, standing up. "This can open all sorts of applications. Humankind can enter a new technological revolution devoid of technology!"


    Clearly, the topic had fueled Mister Zeckai''s scientific drive, but Khan couldn''t disclose anything. It wasn''t only hard to exin what he had done without knowledge of alien arts. He simply didn''t want anyone else to have that power.


    "My knowledge isn''t up for sale," Khan stated. "I was merely adding value to my previous statement."


    Khan looked at rissa, and his smile disappeared when he added more words. "Madam Lamalot, in your opinion, is what I have to offer enough?"


    That jab at rissa''s previousment was obviously intentional, but Khan could speak without adding his cold and chilling aura. That was a friendly environment, and picking fights wasn''t wise.


    "You," rissa uttered, "You showed that knowing I''ll publish it."


    "Fame is an expression of power, ma''am," Khan said. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I love it!" Major General Arnganughed. "What exactly can you do with that technique? How far did you push it?"


    "I''ll leave it to your imagination," Khan responded, earning an approving nod from the Major General. The guests had initially nned to avoid giving Khan the spotlight, but he had taken it anyway.

 Chapter 654 Tickets

    Chapter 654 Tickets


    The room''s attitude toward Khan had drastically changed. Even Monica had been shocked when he showed her what he could do, and the guests were no different. Actually, their superior knowledge intensified their reaction.


    Moreover, it was clear Khan had only shown a small part of the technique. His demonstration had been a nned and sessful attempt to add value to his figure, but revealing the full extent of his capabilities was a different matter. He didn''t want the Global Army to know all his cards, and the guests understood that intention.


    Truth be told, Khan couldn''t do much with the Thilku runes. He had continued studying them in thest period, but the project had yet to reach the application phase.


    Theoretically, the field was boundless. Even Mister Zeckai had acknowledged its potential. Khan had the entirety of the Thilku''s technology in the palm of his hand. Deciding what to do with it was the only issue.


    The sky was the limit. Khan only had to imagine it, and a path would appear. However, he couldn''t just jump at anything that piqued his interest. He first wanted to be methodical about the issue, meaning mastering the Thilku runes.


    Those thoughts ran through Khan''s mind, but the guests only saw his confident smile. He was the embodiment of chilling potential, and no one could take that away from him. Yet, that didn''t stop them from trying to monopolize it.


    "I''ll tell you what," rissa announced, breaking the silence. "Why don''t we have a chat once this is over? Your time is precious, so I''llpensate generously for the favor."


    "Wait a moment," Mister Zeckai intervened, eyeing Khan. "Captain, you must take a look at mybs. I won''t ask for your knowledge, but I''m sure we can reach an agreement."


    "You got them fighting for you already," Major General Arnganughed. "How amusing."


    "Forgive my rudeness," Garret spoke too, "But I must add myself to the list of invitations. My father has wanted to take Captain Khan for a tour of the family''s estates for quite some time already."


    Major General Arngan was right. That attention was indeed amusing, but Khan didn''t take it lightly. He wasn''t alone anymore. When choosing how to behave politically, he had to think about the Solodrey family, but his chance never arrived.


    The metal door on the other side of the room suddenly opened, and Robert Bizelli hurried out of it. His arrival distracted everyone, including Khan, but he didn''t mind the loss of the spotlight. Learning about Colonel Norrett''s condition was more important.


    The guests shared Khan''s opinion and focused on Robert, who understood the reason behind that attention and showed a smile. He also nodded, reassuring the audience.


    "Mark is still in surgery," Robert exined, "But his life isn''t in danger. He should also make a full recovery."


    "He has always been tough," Major General Arngan cheered, lifting his cup.


    Most guests imitated the General, including Khan, and more cheers resounded. Everyone was genuinely happy for Colonel Norrett, but the development changed the topic and moved the event to the next phase.


    "He won''t be able to leave the medical bay for a while," Robert continued once the cheers quieted down, "And soldiers will start dismantling the building soon."


    "Yes," Major General Arngan eximed, standing up. "I''ll get going. No point remaining here without Mark."


    "It''s a pity it ended like this," Headmistress Holwen announced. "Anyway, Captain Khan and I have a ride to catch."


    That sudden statement left everyone surprised. It wasn''t odd for the Headmistress to say something like that, but the timing and the prompt mentioning of Khan added deeper meanings to her words.


    "Are you worried we''ll steal the Captain away?" rissa teased, looking at Khan. "Captain, you can ride back to the Harbor with me if you wish."


    "I offer the same service," Mister Zeckai stated. "A long ride can give us time to talk about your new scientific field."


    Those guests wouldn''t give up without a fight, even if that meant putting Khan in an awkward spot. He now had to dere his intentions and possibly make the Headmistress look bad. Still, he didn''t let those opportunities trick him.


    "I''m sorry," Khan said, also standing up. "I must refuse today. However, if you are interested in meeting up, you can contact me in the following weeks. I''m sure we can n something."


    The guests were all smiles, but everyone knew what Khan had done. Forcing those important figures toe to him conveyed the full extent of his fame. If they actually contacted him, he would have all the leverage in the world.


    Moreover, stating allegiance with the Headmistress was always a good move. Most of Khan''s current life depended on his benefits in the Harbor, and they couldn''t exist without Headmistress Holwen. She was an excellent ally to keep.


    "We''ll be on our way then," Headmistress Holwen announced, performing a military salute. "It was a pleasure meeting all of you."


    Khan imitated the Headmistress but didn''t speak. That friendly environment was a priceless opportunity, but he had already said his piece. It would be up to the guests to look for him now.


    A series of nods and smiles unfolded in Khan''s vision while he departed with the Headmistress. The two walked silently, and a few soldiers joined them to act as escorts. The event had ended, and the rides were already moving to bring them back.


    Khan and the Headmistress hopped inside a car before switching to a ship. They ended up in the same isted passenger area, and Khan didn''t hold back from fixing himself a drink there. The event didn''tst long, but the density of important information kept him pensive.


    The Headmistress was in a simr situation, but some of her thoughts regarded Khan. She had been as shocked as the other guests when Khan revealed his new technique, and her curiosity eventually won in that temporary privacy.


    "Why didn''t you tell anyone about your technique?" Headmistress Holwen wondered. "You could have earned many points."


    "It''s better to keep a few things secret," Khan stated, his gaze lost in a random spot in the area. "I can''t have the Global Army knowing everything about me."


    Headmistress Holwen agreed with Khan, but another issue popped into her mind. Khan''s talents clearly stretched far past battle-rted fields, but he wasn''t cultivating them.


    "Mister Zeckai and Madam Lamalot are right," Headmistress Holwen dered. "You could strive for higher forms of education. I''d support it."


    Khan nced at the Headmistress before diverting his gaze again. He had thought about that and had even asked for Monica''s opinion, but his idea didn''t change.


    "I prefer to be on the field," Khan exined. "I don''t need higher education for now anyway. Ambassador Abores can confirm that."


    "It''s more than that," Headmistress Holwen uttered. "You are missing the chance to excel in human fields."


    Khan was nothing short of a genius, but his achievements would remain limited to his figure if he pursued alien methods. His talent couldn''t benefit humankind if only he could use his discoveries.


    "Why should I?" Khan sighed. "I''m still excelling."


    "You are," Headmistress Holwen confirmed, "But the Global Army can''t understand you."


    "I haven''t done anything special," Khan revealed. "The Global Army should just be more open to alien methods."


    "Captain," Headmistress Holwen called. "The differences among species are no easy barrier to ovee. On both sides."


    Khan brought his drink to his mouth while those words resounded in his mind. The Headmistress was right, but he still couldn''t believe her. After all, even the most xenophobic species had learned to respect him.


    "Besides," Headmistress Holwen continued. "You can''t expect such different cultures to blend well. There is a reason interspecies treaties are so hard to achieve."


    Khan knew that well. He didn''t only study the subject in the Harbor. He had also witnessed diverse environments that still retained a stark division among species. Milia 222 was a perfect example of that.


    "I don''t get it," Khan stated. "I can''t see these differences."


    Khan''s openness to aliens was no secret. The entirework was aware his first girlfriend had been a Niqols, and his current skillset only confirmed that profile. His statement didn''te as a surprise to the Headmistress, but she remained worried.


    Theck of loyalty toward the Global Army yed an important role in Khan''s openness toward alien arts. He could learn from the entire universe, reaching levels of strength otherwise unattainable. Yet, that also made him dangerous.


    The differences among species were often unsurmountable, but Khan had already proven himself capable of ignoring them. He was also strong, which was a requirement for any leader. In theory, he could apply his view and create a diverse force. Khan was actually the perfect candidate for that.


    Still, Headmistress Holwen didn''t want the Global Army to lose Khan. His potential was too great, and she would grant him any advantage to keep him inside humankind.


    Of course, the Headmistress didn''t voice her thoughts, but Khan nced at her anyway. His intense eyes carried something far different than before. They shed with an understanding that made the Headmistress'' expression sterner. Her silence wasn''t a good defense mechanism against Khan''s senses.


    Nevertheless, Khan quickly diverted his eyes. He had sensed the Headmistress'' dark resolve and worries, but they were nothing new, and he couldn''t address them. His future was still uncertain, and his only priority was getting strong enough to shape it.


    Headmistress Holwen and Khan didn''t speak anymore, and the long flight eventually brought them to a teleport area. The machine activated, and the two reappeared in the Harbor, ready to return home.


    Khan and the Headmistress split, heading for different rides. The whole event had been shrouded in secrecy, so no crowds or bystanders got in their way while approaching vehicles already appointed with their destinations.


    Reaching the second district didn''t change anything. Khan was still full of random thoughts that continued to shout even when the elevator opened into his t. It took a familiar voice to calm them down. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Khan!" Monica called, hurrying into the elevator room. Khan instinctively smiled, but his expression froze when he noticed her clothes.


    Monica was wearing a pink blouson dress that highlighted her exposed neck. She had even tied her hair for that exact reason. It wasn''t the sexiest attire in her wardrobe, but its elegance was unquestionable.


    "To what do we owe the asion?" Khan asked, his eyes darting between Monica''s neck and the dress'' belt.


    "I was testing dresses for the wedding," Monica exined, loving how captivated Khan was. "What do you think?"


    Khan didn''t need words to answer. He reached Monica, and she weed the arm on her waist. She also lifted her head, and a kiss immediately fell on her lips.


    "How did it go?" Monica whispered, caressing Khan''s cheek.


    "I''ll tell youter," Khan replied, his voice gaining a teasing tone. "You are hiding something, aren''t you?"


    Monica wore a yful smile and slipped out of the hug to take Khan''s hand. She led him into the main hall, where multiple dresses and a huge holographic screen awaited him.


    The screen rose from the array of couches to show a vast hall filled with well-dressed people. They were split into couples, performing elegant and customary dances amidst a sea of smiling bystanders.


    Khan had already seen simr scenes. Actually, he had studied them in his sses, and it didn''t take a genius to understand why Monica was watching them.


    "Monica, I''m not sure-," Khan said, but a fingernded at the center of his chest, forcing him to look at the stern face before him.


    "Khan, you can master all kinds of techniques and spells," Monica dered. "You will learn how to dance."


    "Can''t we just drink and make out when no one is looking?" Khan wondered.


    "Dancing with your partner is a message to all the guests," Monica snorted, stepping back and crossing her arms. "Unless you don''t want to tell everyone that I''m yours."


    Monica was only pretending. Her pout was so fake anyone could understand her intentions, and Khan could only shake his head at that obvious defeat.


    "Am I even allowed to dance?" Khan sighed, reaching Monica to lift her by her waist.


    "You are the best man," Monica giggled, taking Khan''s neck into her arms while hey her on top of a couch''s back, "And I would drag you to the dance floor anyway. I need to tell everyone that you are only mine."


    "My girlfriend is so possessive," Khan teased, leaning toward Monica''s neck. "She is finding new ways to mark her territory every day."


    Monica grabbed Khan''s hair and closed her eyes when a kissnded on her neck. She wanted to tease back, but Khan made her forget her thoughts.


    "Also," Khan continued, reaching for Monica''s ear to whisper more words. "That''s not everything you are hiding."


    A tremor ran through Monica, and she pushed Khan away to show her pissed expression. She wanted to surprise Khan, but that wasn''t an option with his senses.


    "You could at least pretend not to notice," Monica whined, sparking Khan''sugh.


    "I can''t get enough of teasing you," Khan chuckled, reaching for Monica''s face. "That will never change."


    "Stupid," Monica cursed, mming her face on Khan''s abdomen. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"


    Khan could onlyugh while Monica squeezed his torso and kept her face there. Her mood swings were always amusing to witness, especially now that they had gotten rarer.


    "Dear," Monica eventually called, wrapping her legs around Khan''s waist and peeking past his uniform. "Carry me to that table."


    Khan didn''t hesitate toply. He reached for Monica''s butt and lifted her while she abandoned herself to his warmth. She was ready to fall asleep on his chest, but he eventually dropped her on the table.


    "Here," Monica said, leaning backward to grab two metal cards. She quickly brought them to Khan''s face, and her legs tightened around his waist in the process.


    "What are these?" Khan wondered, seizing the cards. They were ck, with a few blue symbols reflecting the artificial light, but he couldn''t read anything that made sense.


    "Tickets for one of Lord Vegner''s estates," Monica exined. "I also took the liberty of informing him about our arrival."


    Khan''s eyes went wide as he pointed them at Monica. She had seized the initiative and booked a trip that could bring Khan closer to the Nak. She had also chosen the right period since the two were rtively free now.


    "Still," Monica joked, stealing the tickets from Khan''s hand, "These are only mine for now. I might give you one if you show me how much you love me."


    Monica didn''t stop at words. She slipped the two cards into her dress'' cleavage before nting her palms on the table. She pretended to distance herself from Khan, but her legs around his waist were tighter than ever. That was a sensual invitation, and Khan didn''t even consider refusing it.

 Chapter 655 Children

    Chapter 655 Children


    A list apanied by multiple images and descriptions shone in Khan''s eyes. Hologramsing out from the phone in his hand filled his vision, showing him what the imminent trip would entail.


    Khan didn''t lie to himself. His knowledge of rare and exotic items wasckluster, to say the least. His senses could help with mana-rted matters, but a proper collection required study.


    Luckily for Khan, thework had information about Lord Vegner''s estates and collections. The rumors about him were plenty, too, and that wasn''t Khan''s first time checking them out either. His search was actually easier now since Monica''s tickets involved one building.


    ''House of Uncanny Pleasures,'' Khan read on his phone. ''That says it all.''


    Khan had already checked the estate''s services. Even in the Slums'' nastier ces, he had never seen or heard anything like that, but the list couldn''t retain his attention for long. The House of Uncanny Pleasure held part of Lord Vegner''s collection, and the phone showed him precisely that.


    ''Vases from an extinct civilization,'' Khan read, skimming through the list, ''Alien pieces of art, strange booze, weapons that survived the First Impact.''


    Khan couldn''t understand the value of those items, but searching them on thework told him that Lord Vegner''s collection was impressive. It also involved corpses of Tainted animals or creatures with unique mutations, some connected to the Nak.


    ''This estate doesn''t have much,'' Khan eventually thought, putting down his phone, ''At least on paper. I''d need Lord Vegner to find out more.''


    Truth be told, the chances that Lord Vegner would be in the estate were high. The man wasn''t only Khan''s fan. The tickets also bought the deluxe experience, involving special parking areas and exclusive teleports. He would be an honored guest, granting him unique benefits.


    Obtaining that opportunity with such short notice wasn''t easy nor cheap, and Khan had to thank the figure sleeping on his left for it. Monica never missed the chance to help him, and her cute snores warmed his heart.


    ''You know helping me will only make me less human,'' Khan sighed, reaching for the curls to his left, ''But you never hesitate.''


    Monica''s snoring quieted down when Khan began caressing her, and her mana changed. She turned, and her eyes opened to peek past her hair.


    "It''s still early," Khan reassured, patting Monica''s head. "Sleep."


    Khan could immediately sense that words were pointless. Monica pressed on the mattress to straighten her back and reach for Khan''s shoulder. She kissed it, and her hands soon searched for his skin.


    "You are a handful," Khan teased, weing Monica into his arms. He was half-sitting on the bed, so she had to curl onto hisp to fitfortably.


    "It''s your fault for leaving me once I fall asleep," Monicained in a sleepy tone.


    "Having two free hands helps," Khan pointed out.


    "One must always be on me," Monica pouted, nestling on Khan''s chest while he continued caressing her. "Were you checking the estate''s collection?"


    "I was," Khan confirmed. "Without Lord Vegner, there isn''t much to work with."


    "He will wee you," Monica reassured. "He won''t miss the chance to meet the best man in the Global Army."


    "You just want to take me out on a date," Khan chuckled, leaving a kiss on Monica''s head.


    "A brothel isn''t exactly my idea of a date," Monicamented, "But it gives me the chance to tease you. I can''t miss it."


    "And be with me in public," Khan added.


    "Lord Vegner met us before our rtionship went public," Monica giggled, snuggling closer. "I can''t wait to go all girlfriend on you in front of him."


    Khan smiled, his caresses transforming into a tight hug. Monica was getting him used to happiness, and he wanted to repay her by any means possible.


    Monica''s stomach suddenly growled, interrupting that romantic mood. Khan couldn''t help butugh, and Monicained through a groan.


    "Did we eat today?" Monica wondered. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "You mean yesterday," Khan corrected.


    "Yesterday," Monica repeated.


    "We were busy," Khan revealed.


    "We were," Monica whispered. "I love when we have time just for us."


    "We''ll get more," Khan promised, kissing Monica''s head again. "I''ll get it for us."


    Monica didn''t like it when Khan shouldered too many responsibilities. Still, the resolve in his voice and the love in his hug were a deadly pair she couldn''t resist. As much as she didn''t want him to fight alone, it was heartwarming seeing him so dependable when it came to their rtionship.


    "You''ll make a great husband," Monica muttered, lowering her voice, "And father."


    "Where did thate from?" Khan questioned.


    Monica giggled but didn''t add anything. She lifted her head, showing a meaningful smile before climbing toward Khan''s mouth to leave a short kiss and return to his chest.


    "I remember a certain girl panicking when I tried to take off her bra," Khan teased, immersing his face in Monica''s curls. "Where did she go?"


    "Shut up," Monica pouted. "Remember that my mother will call you to ask about Colonel Norrett. We should deal with that before the trip."


    "Changing the topic?" Khan snickered, diving deeper into the curls to search for Monica''s face. "Getting shy already?"


    "Shut up," Monica repeated, hiding her face.


    "There she is," Khan uttered. "Did I hear it right? You were dying to marry me?"


    "Stupid!" Monica snapped, pushing herself away to m her fists on Khan''s chest. "Of course! I want to marry you, but not yet, so stop teasing me!"


    Monica''s pissed expression filled Khan''s vision. She was naked and sitting on hisp, with a few curls falling over her face. Nothing sexier existed in the world, but that burst of honesty left him shocked.


    "Hey," Khan voiced, carefully reaching for Monica''s cheek. "Talk to me."


    Khan''s senses could see many things, but exact thoughts were still outside his reach. He felt Monica''s deep love and internal conflict, but that didn''t trante into actual words.


    "I''m," Monica whispered, diverting her gaze to y with her curls. "Is it bad if I started thinking about it more seriously?"


    Khan didn''t need to ask for more details. Monica was clearly talking about her previous praise, which didn''t diminish Khan''s shock.


    Usually, a one-year-long rtionship was too short to consider those topics. Khan and Monica were also young and focused on their careers. That wasn''t the right time to start a family or even marry.


    However, Monica''s situation wasn''t normal. Things moved quickly in her environment, especially once everything went public. Rick and Lucille were extreme, but Monica and Khan weren''t even engaged yet.


    "Children, too?" Khan asked to check how far Monica''s mind had gone.


    Monica opened her mouth to speak but closed it as soon as she peeked at Khan. She diverted her gaze, too, but her timid eyes slowly returned to him.


    Khan didn''t know what to say to that look. Part of him wanted to tease Monica, but the mood wasn''t right. Besides, stronger thoughts suppressed that idea.


    The idea of a family was way too distant for Khan. His situation wasn''t only a mess. He also had to fix the issue concerning his mutation before even thinking about having children.


    Yet, the marriage was different. Khan didn''t feel ready for that either, but Monica''s eyes reflected the same fear. They were both conflicted, but something else shone on their faces, too.


    "Monica," Khan called, gently taking Monica''s neck to pull her closer. His gaze intensified with resolve, drawing her toward his face. She didn''t even realize when her palms fell on his chest.


    "I can force your family to ept our engagement," Khan continued. "Your parents can''t stop me."


    "Would you?" Monica asked in a pleading tone.


    "Of course," Khan confirmed. "I''m not ying with you. I never did."


    "Not that," Monica said, her expression growing insecure while she lost herself in Khan''s eyes. "Are you sure I''m the right one?"


    Monica''s doubts weren''t entirely unfounded. She knew Khan loved her, but his feelings weren''t human. Moreover, she had met him on Milia 222, where Jenna had confirmed that he had already found his one. Spending time with him had eased her internal conflict, but those issues resurged before important decisions.


    "Hey," Khan called again, grabbing Monica''s face with his free hand. "You know how my love works. Don''t ever doubt that."


    Khan wasn''t applying much strength to his grip, but Monica felt it. Still, it didn''t hurt. Actually, it conveyed Khan''s protective stance, doing a better job than words at reassuring Monica.


    "Do you really love me that much?" Monica asked.


    "I do," Khan swore. "There''s no battle I wouldn''t fight for you."


    "Really?" Monica questioned.


    "Really," Khan confirmed, rxing his grip to move a thumb on Monica''s lips. "I do think about spending my life with you."


    Monica''s eyes grew teary, and she freed herself of Khan''s hands to hug him tightly. Her face dived into his neck, leaving wet patches on his skin.


    "I get so scared at times," Monica cried, her sobs echoing through Khan''s flesh. "You always do the craziest shit when I''m not there, and I don''t want to add pressure on you whining all day."


    Khan had noticed that change. Monica was still Monica, but herints had diminished. Khan was also being more careful, but that wasn''t enough to reassure herpletely. Monica had to continue holding back at times.


    "Yours is the only pressure I want," Khan reassured, caressing Monica''s back. "I didn''t fall for a perfect girl, but for a whiny, messy, and loud one."


    Monica pulled herself out of Khan''s neck to re at him, and a question followed. "Am I not perfect?"


    "No," Khan shook his head. "You are perfect for me."


    Monica wasn''t angry in the slightest. The previous statement had filled her with so much love that she struggled to bear it. She would give her very life to Khan at that exact moment if possible. That couldn''t happen, so Monica opted for a kiss.


    "Don''t do anything about my family," Monica ordered, returning to Khan''s chest to rest. "You are the best man humankind has ever produced, and they know it."


    "Alright," Khan nodded, holding Monica tightly.


    "And we need to order some food," Monica continued. "I won''t let you starve just because you want me to sleep."


    "Consider it done," Khan said, reaching for the phone at his side.


    "Khan," Monica called.


    "What is it?" Khan asked, his eyes browsing the food delivery options.


    "I want to give you children," Monica revealed. "Eventually."


    Khan froze. Monica''s tone had been utterly serious, and he had no answer to give. Yet, his mana reacted, giving birth to something deeper than his usual resolve.


    The time had yet to arrive, but Monica was thinking about taking steps forward. Khan only needed to consider that for a second to know he wanted to be with her on that journey. However, he had issues that his mindset alone couldn''t solve.


    Without fixing the issue of the mutations, Khan couldn''t have a family. Without finding the Nak, Khan couldn''t stay still, and he wouldn''t let those problems get in Monica''s way. They had to disappear to let his rtionship bloom properly, and the imminent trip might give him what he needed.

 Chapter 656 Brothel

    Chapter 656 Brothel


    The serious conversation didn''t bring any monumental change to the couple''s rtionship. Even the most diehard fans wouldn''t notice anything odd.


    Khan and Monica also behaved normally in their privacy. Still,plicit looks happened, often leading to long hugs and entangled fingers.


    Neither Khan nor Monica spoke about it openly, but both knew that a new door had opened. Something bigger than their rtionship hade into y. The idea of striving toward a family had appeared, and being aware of it gave birth to random sweet moments.


    The couple didn''t have the chance to get used to that new state since a trip awaited them exactly one day after the serious conversation. Many reporters weed Khan and Monica when they left their building early in the morning, but Andrew had already contacted enough soldiers to keep them at bay.


    The soldiers turned out to be unnecessary. The crowd of reporters behaved impably and limited itself to snapping pictures. A few even shot timid and questioning nces at Khan as if asking for his permission, which he granted through smiling nods.


    The reporters'' presence wasn''t random. Khan and Monica had leaked the news about their trip and prepared ordingly to give thework more proof of their happy rtionship. They had also dressed for the asion, creating a scene bound to earn them the envy of the entire Global Army.


    Meanwhile, Monica had gone for a loose purple pullover that partially hid her ck skirt. Thetter left her bare knees exposed, Khan was donning a ck shirt that highlighted his defined figure. His elegant blue pants perfectly matched his newly cut hair, and a ck sheath with his knife kept them tight to his waist.


    Meanwhile, Monica had gone for a loose purple pullover that partially hid her ck skirt. Thetter left her bare knees exposed, but ck boots covered the rest of her legs.


    That attire was quite modest, especially on Monica''s side, but no less enchanting. The scene showed how good the couple looked with slightly casual clothes, making the reporters yearn for the time when they would wear something more elegant.


    Monica clung to Khan''s elbow while walking toward the ride, and her eyes never left him. She didn''t nce at the reporters even once while uttering soft jokes and happyments. As for Khan, heughed and met her gaze but asionally addressed Andrew and the crowd through nods.


    That behavior was partially nned. Monica wanted Khan to appear in charge of the situation and capable of taking care of her. She also loved his dependable side when applied to their rtionship, making the short walk a double victory for her.


    "Do you think we were too casual?" Monica wondered, pulling out her phone as soon as the couple sat inside their ride.


    Khan didn''t bother replying. He reached for the drawers under the seats to retrieve a bottle and two sses, which he promptly filled. By then, Monica had opened thework, and pictures of their public appearance had already arrived.


    "A brothel isn''t the ce for a dress," Khanmented, handing one ss to Monica. "You said that."


    "But," Monicained, seizing the ss while showing the phone to Khan, "Look at this picture! I knew I shouldn''t have worn boots."


    The picture on the screen merely depicted the couple, and Khan couldn''t find anything wrong no matter how long he looked at it. Monica was as beautiful as ever, and her honest smile added a mesmerizing brightness to her whole figure.


    "So?" Monica pressed on, searching for Khan''s eyes. "Is it bad?"


    Monica''s paranoia came from her mother. She wanted to match her standards to protect her rtionship, but Khan couldn''t care less, especially since he couldn''t see the issue.


    "Shut up," Khan joked, cing a hand on Monica''s exposed knee. "If your mother says anything, you''ve worn these boots for me."


    Monica watched Khan''s hand slipping under her skirt to grab her thigh. Khan went no further, but the gesture still made Monica put down her phone.


    "I did wear them for you," Monica scoffed. "You stopped me from taking them off when I tried themst night."


    "I was such a pure boy," Khan sighed, shaking his head while gazing at a random spot ahead. "I didn''t even look at clothes before you came along."


    Monica exploded into augh. That was the right moment to tease Khan, but she took his elbow and made a proud announcement. "That''s my permanent mark on you."


    "You did leave me one in the end," Khan eximed, smiling at the sight of Monica leaning on his shoulder.


    "I need two more," Monica said. "That''s what you promised after you stole my virtue."


    "I didn''t think it was worth so much," Khan shook his head, looking at a random spot before him again. "I should have enjoyed it more."


    "Don''t talk about our first time like that!" Monica snapped, pulling Khan''s arm. "And what enjoyed more?! We did-!"


    Monica halted her shouts since Khan''s smile had filled her vision. He had fished for that reaction, and Monica could only scream in his arm to vent her annoyance.


    "You know," Khan chuckled, leaning to his right to approach Monica''s ear. "I can think of another mark that''s already on me."


    Khan didn''t do it on purpose, but his grip on Monica''s thigh tightened. She lifted her head, and her annoyance transformed into aplicit smile.


    "You saw me wear underwear today," Monica reminded, "And it''s not going down until we are back here. I don''t have time to redo my hair."


    "I know," Khan agreed, "But my hand stays there."


    "You won''t hear the end of it if it doesn''t," Monica warned before leaning on Khan''s shoulder again.


    Khan and Monica spent the rest of the short trip mostly silent, drinking and exchanging asional jokes. More reporters weed them once they reached one of the hangars, and soldiers picked them up among that sea of cameras and scanners.


    The two safely reached one of the teleports, which brought them to a space station. The building mostly had hangars, and a few offered a specific service vital for the trip. The couple would fly to Lord Vegner''s estate using Khan''s ship, which the Harbor had already sent there.


    After undergoing a few mandatory security measures, the couple set off, and Khan followed the route obtained through the tickets to reach his destination. The tripsted a few hours without involving any, and Khan slowed down once the estate appeared in sight.


    Space stations usually had rtively cylindrical shapes, with one or more rings around them to fulfill multiple functions. Instead, the House of Uncanny Pleasures was a rectangr block of metal shining with multiple banners that sent their light into the darkness of the universe.


    The banners'' light was so blinding that Khan had to activate screens on the canopy to bear them. Still, information reached his ship anyway, updating him about some of the weekly offers showcased on the estate''s surface.


    "That doesn''t seem bad," Monica teased when an ad about four muscr strippers appeared on the control panel.


    "Jenna''s tits are bigger than yours," Khan coldly stated.


    "That''s ying dirty!" Monicained, peeking past the pilot''s seat.


    "Cora also has-," Khan said before a pair of hands sealed his mouth.


    "Okay, okay," Monica giggled. "I had my fun."


    Khan groaned through Monica''s hands but kept looking at the path to follow. He knew the trip could be fruitful, but the idea of bringing Monica to a male brothel still annoyed him.


    "I have eyes only for my dear Captain," Monica reassured. "No man can match you, let alone enter my head."


    Monica slowly retracted her hands, and Khan decided to remain silent. Yet, his re at her was impossible to suppress so soon, and her smile broadened at that evident irritation.


    "They won''t," Khan promised. "They''d faint first."


    Khan could rx around Monica, but his heavy presence returned "I love you so much," Monicaughed, hugging Khan from behind the seat. "Don''t worry. If they look at me funny, I''ll be the first to act."


    "They won''t," Khan promised. "They''d faint first."


    Khan could rx around Monica, but his heavy presence returned when thinking about the possible problems inside the estate. His chilling mindset was so palpable that the temperature inside the ship fell. Monica clearly felt it, and her reasonable side told her to calm Khan down. However, she liked that version of him too much to say anything.


    The tickets led the ship on a precise path toward the estate''s upper floors. Khan couldn''t see much from the canopy, but the scanners revealed more of the building''s features. The ce''s lower side was filled with engines of various sizes, effectively turning it into a rectangr vehicle.


    That shape wasn''t ideal for a ship, but being in the middle of space helped. Also, Khan could see the engines mostly worked to keep the estate in its ce, turning it into a stationary object immersed in empty darkness.


    The inspection couldn''tst long since Khan quickly reached the appointed spot before the estate. The banner in front of him went dark as the metal surface moved to create an opening, and Khan brought the ship inside it once the control desk cleared him.


    The new room was an empty hangar booked for the couple, and Khannded the ship while the pressurizing process unfolded. Soon, another message reached the control desk, and Khan unlocked the canopy to begin the tour. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan jumped out of the ship, slowing his descent through graceful steps. Meanwhile, a metal staircase stretched from the canopy, and Monica trod it until Khan could take her hand for thest part.


    As soon as both Khan and Monica stepped on the hangar''s floor, a door in the distance opened, and a crew of ten waiters came out. They were all tall, muscr, and handsome men, and their attire added fuel to Khan''s heavy presence.


    The men were basically naked, wearing only shoes and thongs. Their skin also reflected the hangar''s dim white light, showing the presence of oils or other liquids that highlighted their muscles.


    Most waiters were empty-handed and formed a line alongside the door''s wall. Instead, the only man with a tray stepped forward, approaching Khan and Monica.


    Monica gazed at Khan on purpose, but her gesture was superfluous. The waiter walked with his head lowered, and no amount of strength could make him lift it. He felt unable to breathe as soon as he even considered doing that.


    The tray had two drinks, and the waiters seized one when he reached Khan and Monica. At that point, he began lifting his head, but his gaze never went over Monica. He only looked at Khan, handing him the drink before looking at the floor again.


    "May I offer Miss Solodrey this drink?" The waiter asked before loudly gulping. He was only a first-level warrior, so Khan''s pressure was almost unbearable for him.


    "No," Khan replied, handing his drink to Monica before seizing the other on the tray.


    Monica was all smiles during the scene and pulled Khan''s arm to make him lean toward her once the waiter departed.


    "You need to get one of those," Monica joked, nodding toward the man''s thong.


    "The universe is punishing me," Khan uttered, ring at the row of waiters, who kept their heads down.


    "Is it?" Monica wondered, seizing Khan''s elbow and half-turning to show him her figure. "Is this a punishment?"


    Khan rolled his eyes but didn''t answer. He hid his face behind the drink, and Monica softlyughed while clinging to his arm. She was so close he could feel her ribs and chest, and anyone looking at them would notice that.


    The couple didn''t have time for more games since another door opened, and a happy, big figure stepped out. Khan and Monica recognized Lord Vegner, who had gotten fatter since theirst meeting, even if his nice ck suit did its best to hide that.


    "My spending guests!" Lord Vegner announced, his chubby and harmless face showing pure ecstasy. "Captain Khan, I dreamed about our next encounter. Miss Solodrey, enchanting as always."


    Lord Vegner limited himself to his clumsy bow, and Khan and Monica replied ordingly. Smiles appeared on the trio''s faces once they lifted their heads, and Lord Vegner quickly seized the initiative.


    "Captain, I told you my eyes don''t lie," Lord Vegner praised. "Reading about your exploits makes me cheer louder for you."


    "You were indeed right," Khan eximed without showing any humbleness.


    "And you, Miss Solodrey," Lord Vegner continued. "I had a hunch, but the truth couldn''t have been more beautiful. I never had a chance, did I?"


    "You didn''t," Monica smiled. "I apologize for lying."


    "Please, don''t," Lord Vegner shook his head and lifted his palm. "I understand your reasons, and I bet Captain Khan was worth the trouble."


    "Obviously," Monica proudly announced, looking at Khan. "I couldn''t stay still before the best man in the Global Army."


    "Indeed," Lord Vegner agreed. "I wish you two nothing but happiness."


    "Thank you," Khan and Monica said simultaneously before exchanging a meaningful nce. Thinking about future happiness inevitably brought back their past conversation, creating a sweet moment.


    "What a wonderful sight," Lord Vegner couldn''t help but praise. "Please, allow me to escort you through my humble manor. It''s the least I can do when you take the time to visit me."


    Khan and Monica didn''t add anything and let Lord Vegner escort them into deeper parts of the building. They crossed one of the hangar''s many doors, ending up in a simple corridor that quickly led them into the estate''s main attractions.


    The couple found themselves in a vast corridor featuring ss surfaces on both sides. Those windows granted a perfect view of the lower floor, which consisted of a dining area with explicit spectacles on both sides.


    The dining area mostly had armchairs with a few tables. All the guests on them wore masks that partially orpletely hid their faces, and the spectacles did a perfect job at retaining their attention.


    Male waiters wearing the same thongs as before or fiss roamed among the tables, delivering drinks and refreshments. Their basically naked attire often earned them ps on their butts or thighs, with some guests even pulling them on theirps.


    As for the spectacles, both stages had a series of strippers dancing around metal poles or disying other sensual performances. Loud music even resounded through the ss, allowing the couple to


    hear asional cheers.


    "This is more of amon area," Lord Vegner proudly exined, "But that doesn''t say anything about the quality of my boys. My estates only have the best of the best."


    Khan couldn''t im to be interested in that sort of performance, and Monica limited herself to teasing nces that didn''t need additional exnations. She didn''t care about the strippers either, but imagining Khan doing spectacles for her brightened her smile.


    The following corridor featured the same environment, but the spectacles below had changed in nature. The strippers now wore leather clothes with animal masks, tails, and whips. The scene had gotten kinkier, which turned out to be a trend in the estate.


    The halls on the lower floors grew kinkier and kinkier as Lord Vegner showed more of the estate. At times, Khan and Monica even spotted guests having sex on the armchairs or busy with simrly inappropriate acts.


    After crossing five halls, the environment changed. The lower floors began to host ss-like cylindrical containers with strippers dancing inside. Guests stood around them, chatting and drinking, with a few eventually requesting the services of the men up for sale.


    Khan and Monica left that corridor when a guest dragged one of the strippers into the isted rooms alongside the hall, and the following areas featured simr scenes. Actually, that practice became moremon deeper inside the building.


    Gradually, the number of cylindrical containers shortened, and the rooms grew bigger. Khan and Monica even saw groups of four or five entering those isted environments with a single stripper. They both knew what would happen, but neither spoke about it.


    "These areas are for my best stars," Lord Vegner eventuallymented once the halls began to feature only a couple of strippers. "Captain, I would have built one only for you."


    "He would have deserved the entire estate," Monicamented.


    "We are on the same page, Miss Solodrey," Lord Vegner agreed, peeking past his shoulder to look at the couple. "Any chance you can lend him to me a few nights?"


    "I''ll have all your establishments shut down in a day if you ask that again," Monica said through a clearly fake smile.


    "Forget I ever said anything," Lord Vegner cleared his throat, focusing onpleting the tour.


    After a few more halls, the environment changed again. The corridor lost its ss-like surface and expanded, creating enough space for the many transparent containers alongside its walls. Metalbels with descriptions apanied them, and a few waiters checked that everything was clean and working.


    "Wee to part of my collection," Lord Vegner announced, spreading his arms. "I admit I teleported a few items here to make this tour less boring. I''m sure you''ll appreciate them."


    Lord Vegner inevitably stirred the couple''s curiosity, which went along with his long andprehensive exposition of each showcased item. Khan and Monica had seen most of them on the catalog on thework, but Lord Vegner slowly managed to taint them with his excitement.


    The chubby man could make the simplest outdated weapon appear priceless. Each of his words carried his boundless passion, which only intensified as the group moved to more valuable pieces.


    Monica took care of entertaining some of Lord Vegner''s asional questions. Meanwhile, Khan limited himself to a silent inspection. He had no interest in those items, especially since the ss cut off his senses, but a few descriptions kept him engaged enough to muster a simple smile.


    "There we are," Lord Vegner eximed once the group reached a small disy case featuring a damaged knife. The item had a descriptive metalbel, but neither Khan nor Monica needed to read it.


    "Captain, I must say," Lord Vegner continued, facing the couple. "I gave up on selling it for now. I''m waiting to have the full collection."


    Lord Vegner didn''t hold back from eyeing Khan''s sheath, which he had worn on purpose. Khan could use it as a currency if the opportunity arrived, and that gesture gave him hope.


    "I still have use for this knife," Khan dered, patting his sheath. "However, if I ever n to sell it, you are on top of my list, Lord Vegner."


    "And I wouldn''t dare to use your kindness to save Credits," Lord Vegner promised. "Anyhow, is that the knife that slew the fourth-level warrior?"


    "It is," Khan confirmed. The news was in the open anyway, so there was no point denying it.


    "Was the warrior a Thilku?" Lord Vegner questioned.


    "That will remain a secret," Khan stated.


    "Miss Solodrey," Lord Vegner didn''t give up. "Do you mind helping a poor collector?"


    "Lord Vegner," Monica unleashed her elegant smile, but her voice grew colder, "My fianc¨¦ has been more than clear."


    "Fianc¨¦?" Lord Vegner gasped.


    "My apologies," Monica promptly corrected herself. "We aren''t engaged yet. Sometimes I get ahead of myself."


    Lord Vegner didn''t dare to withdraw his smile but understood that Monica had chosen to say those words. Yet, her intentions were unclear. Lord Vegner could only ept to hold back eventual jokes.


    Khan could add a joke to ease the atmosphere, but his intense eyes didn''t waver. Hepletely trusted Monica''s political moves and would support her even if she snapped. They were together in everything, and his unreasonable sides worked for her decisions, too.


    "What else do you have for us?" Khan eventually spoke, and Lord Vegner didn''t hesitate to continue the tour.


    The items grew more interesting. Corpses of mutated creatures began to appear, and Khan finally saw part of his curiosity fulfilled. He wished to feel them directly, but the situation didn''t allow him to ask that favor.


    Some corpses even featured the same blue color as Khan''s hair, marking their connection to the Nak. Still, the descriptivebels and Lord Vegner''s exposition hinted at seventh and higher generations of Tainted animals, which couldn''t have many clues about the Nak''s current location.


    Everything culminated in something rumored on thework. Three small disy cases containing spherical objects stood at the end of the collection, and Khan immediately recognized them. After all, he had found one in the Slums.


    "Nak''s cores," Khan eximed.


    "Indeed," Lord Vegner confirmed. "They aren''t intact but work perfectly as pieces for my collection."


    "Did the Global Army ever request to inspect them?" Khan wondered. "Organic cores are valuable."


    "I pay the right people to keep the bad people away," Lord Vegner revealed, uncaring of the illegal nature of that action.


    "Is it possible to know where you found them?" Khan asked.


    "I heard you are searching for the Nak, Captain," Lord Vegner stated. "I''m sorry to say that my sources don''t know anything about that."


    "I''d still like to question them myself," Khan insisted, his presence growing heavier.


    "Captain," Lord Vegner sighed. "I do have the greatest admiration for you. However, I promise that my sources can''t help you."


    Khan didn''t really ept that. The Nak had disappeared for centuries, but pinpointing every location marked by their mana could create a history of their travels, eventually leading to the star system in his nightmares.


    "If I may," Lord Vegner continued, "Why don''t you ask among your superiors or other esteemed figures? I''m more than certain many would be willing to help."


    "Figures like Raymond Cobsend?" Khan questioned, his tone inevitably growing colder.


    "Of course," Lord Vegner replied in his usual innocent and harmless voice. "Mister Cobsend is very knowledgeable in mutations, and many share his interests."


    Monica tightened her grip on Khan''s elbow, but the gesture was superfluous. He wasn''t about to lose his cool. He simply didn''t want to involve Raymond in his life ever again.


    "And what''s the price of these esteemed figures?" Khan asked, focusing on the mana cores in the disy cases.


    "Why would they ask for that?" Lord Vegner asked, confused. "I already told you, Captain. You have many friends in the Global Army, and their number increases every day."


    "We don''t consider friends those interested in his status," Monica intervened since she thought her family was to me.


    "I was speaking about Captain Khan''s mutations," Lord Vegner exined. "He embraced the Nak''s mana seamlessly. Many believe he can be humankind''s next evolutionary step."

 Chapter 657 Pedal

    Chapter 657 Pedal


    The topic wasn''t new or shocking. Humans had just gotten the mana, and their bodies had yet to evolve around it. The sole fact that they needed additional organs to manipte it highlighted that massive w.


    Of course, the Global Army was doing anything in its power to fix that, but tinkering with the very foundation of a species wasn''t easy. Also, there were few viable methods, and even those that could elerate the evolutionary process were rarely safe or effective.


    Ideally, humans could wait to experience natural mutations, but greed was a powerful drive. Besides, they had the tools to trigger those transformations, so nothing could stop them from experimenting.


    Still, at least on paper, the results had beenckluster, with one exception. Khan didn''t only embrace the Nak''s element and mutations. His body had also transformed, reaching peaks humankind had never seen.


    It wasn''t only a matter of blue hair. Khan was faster, stronger, and more resilient than the average human. His body was superior in every aspect, and his senses and alien arts couldn''t hide those desirable qualities.


    Lord Vegner''s statement proved that the Global Army had caught up with that information, and Khan had only himself to me. He had always been amazing, but his recent feats had surpassed the wildest predictions about him.


    Khan didn''t regret that, but the news remained troublesome. Sure, many important figures would want to befriend him and help him grow due to his unique condition. Yet, the same could be said about those on the opposite end of the spectrum.


    Trying to deny the im was also impossible. Khan didn''t only want that political relevance. He knew how other Tainted humans worked, and none was as close to the Nak as him. He was the perfect guinea pig, the sole specimen known to the public, and his state was bound to get more famous as he amassed achievements.


    The statement created an awkward atmosphere. The idea that Khan could be the key to humankind''s evolution was too big to process in a few seconds, but Monica couldn''t let the silence reign. She had to say something, at least to shield Khan temporarily. However, he preceded her.


    "Let''s skip the sources," Khan announced. "It would be a great help if you could mark the locations of your findings."


    "The locations?" Lord Vegner asked.


    "With a timeline," Khan specified. "I know thework has this information, but your contacts must have a few secrets."


    Monica was still worried about the previous statement, but her face only showed sternness. The time to talk with Khan would arrive, but creating a joint front was the priority now.


    Lord Vegner was conflicted about the matter. He lowered his gaze and cleared his throat a few times while sorting his thoughts. As a collector, his sources were his greatest asset. However, Khan waspromising, asking for something Lord Vegner could safely provide.


    "Captain, you must understand that these items are more than a hobby," Lord Vegner exined. "I love my estates, but my collections give meaning to my life. I-."


    "I won''t share your info with anyone," Khan promised. "You have my word."


    Lord Vegner stared at Khan for a few seconds before heaving a helpless sigh. He didn''t lie when he imed to be Khan''s fan, and his happiness toward his rtionship was also genuine. If it were within his power and didn''t hurt his business, he would help Khan.


    "I''ll see what I can do," Lord Vegner nodded.


    "Thank you, Lord Vegner," Khan eximed.


    "From both of us," Monica added.


    "It will take me some time to find the relevant information," Lord Vegner revealed. "Why don''t you enjoy one of my halls in the meantime?"


    "We had already nned that," Monica lied. "Still, before that, is it too much to ask for another tour of your collection?"


    "You tter me," Lord Vegner stated, his eyes lighting up. "It would be my honor."


    The couple had to go through another long tour with endless expositions, but Khan didn''t resent Monica. She had made the correct political move, pleasing the figure about to give them a favor, and Lord Vegner''s evident excitement proved her right.


    After the immense tour, Lord Vegner led Khan and Monica in one of the halls with slightly kinky spectacles. Strippers wearing leather clothes and animal masks danced on both sides of the area, but the couple mostly focused on upying afortable two-seat sofa. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    As soon as the couple sat, Lord Vegner pped his hands, and a waiter hurried toward the couch to deliver drinks. Another basically naked man also brought a small table, and refreshments soon filled it.


    Needless to say, no waiter dared to look at Monica since Khan''s res were sharper than swords. Still, the couple received looks from the other guests, especially since they were the only ones without masks.


    "Enjoy your stay," Lord Vegner announced, bowing once everything was set before departing. Soon, the couple could enjoy some privacy, and the loud music allowed them to talk freely without worrying about eavesdroppers.


    "Did that bother you?" Monica finally asked the question that had been on her mind during the entirety of the second tour.


    "It was inevitable," Khan stated, stretching his right arm over the sofa''s back while bringing his drink to his mouth. "Though I didn''t think it went that far. It''s not like I grew a second mana core or anything."


    Monica didn''t know how to answer. The issue of Khan distancing himself from the human species had been on her mind for a long time, but she had never worried about the biological aspect. That part was nothingpared to his inclination toward alien arts.


    Khan didn''t say anything, either. He wasn''t pensive, but the issue required deep thinking. He didn''t care about any evolutionary step, but identifying the possible allies or figures wanting to see him grow could help.


    Nevertheless, the arrival of familiar boots on Khan''sp interrupted his thoughts. Monica stretched her legs onto him, nestling on the arm on the sofa''s back and pointing her maic eyes at him.


    "We are supposed to have decorum in public," Khanmented.


    "We are in a brothel," Monica stated, ncing at the hall''s corners, "And my mother should consider herself lucky if we don''t borrow one of the rooms here."


    Khan''sment was more of a tease, and his actions showed that. The hand behind Monica dug into her hair, reaching her neck to hold it softly. Meanwhile, Khan gulped down his drink to free his other palm and ce it on Monica''s exposed knee.


    Monica let herself go a bit. She rxed her head, abandoning herself to Khan''s palm. Khan didn''t stay still either, and his other hand slightly slipped under Monica''s skirt to hold her thigh.


    Those interactions were far from proper for a couple with that status, but the environment allowed some rxation. Besides, no one could see what Monica and Khan were up to. Their position and the hall''s faint darkness provided enough cover.


    "You might look good with cat''s ears," Monica joked, ncing at the stage. "We have to go shopping before leaving the estate."


    "I''ll wear the ears," Khan eximed, also focusing on the stage, "But you get the tail."


    "Those rooms are getting more interesting by the second," Monica chuckled, bringing her gaze back to Khan, "But we have to talk first."


    Khan met Monica''s eyes before looking at the stage again. He knew what Monica meant, and her knowledge always helped him in those situations.


    "Allies are never enough," Khan dered. "They want to help me grow. I''ll let them."


    "What if they are like Raymond?" Monica wondered. "Or worse?"


    "That''s why I didn''t sell my knife," Khan replied.


    "Good," Monica nodded. "These allies, how will you approach them?"


    "Searching and going to them would show weakness," Khan considered, "Or give them the upper hand."


    "Correct," Monica confirmed. "So?"


    "So," Khan continued, "I wait for them toe to me. The how is obvious."


    "The marriage is in three months," Monica reminded. "The Rassec family will probably summon us earlier than that. I bet one or two weeks earlier."


    "We are still dealing with the Thilku, too," Khan pointed out.


    "I might have to return to Neuria to check the trade routes," Monica sighed. "As for you, I hope the Empire doesn''t have another Cegnore."


    "I think they''ll summon me somewhere anyway," Khan guessed. "It doesn''t make sense to leave things like this."


    "And you did defeat theirmander," Monica added. "Leaking info to thework isn''t even their style."


    "I taught you what their style is," Khanmented.


    "And I loved every second of it," Monica giggled. "Still, will Ambassador Abores be a problem?"


    "He can try," Khan calmly said.


    "Did I ever tell you how sexy you are?" Monica teased.


    Khan smiled at Monica, and the two exchanged a meaningful nce. Monica even reached for Khan''s torso, using her fingers to trace the defined muscles highlighted by the ck shirt.


    "Though," Khan continued. "It''s time to step on the pedal on a few things."


    "Like?" Monica asked.


    "The Global Army will soon learn about my Thilku runes," Khan exined. "It''s time I started using them for real."

 Chapter 658 Experiments

    Chapter 658 Experiments


    Lord Vegner stayed true to his words. After Khan and Monica spent a few hours in the dining hall, a waiter delivered a list with the requested information.


    Obtaining the device cleared Khan and Monica from any task, but the two didn''t immediately leave. They didn''t only pay for that service. They also wanted to enjoy that date to its fullest.


    When the night approached, Monica and Khan finally decided to prepare for their departure. They exchanged another short meeting with Lord Vegner and even visited some of the brothel''s shops before ultimately returning to their ship.


    Khan stretched the flight on purpose, but nothing could prevent the arrival at the space station. The couple left the ship in the hands of the capable crew before heading for the teleport that sent them directly to the Harbor.


    It was past dinnertime when Khan and Monica reached their t, but neither wanted to eat. Lord Vegner''s estate had already taken care of that need, so the couple rxed as soon as the elevator closed behind their backs.


    "You went overboard," Khanmented, dropping a series of bags on the main hall''s tables.


    "It''s just to annoy my mother," Monicaughed, happily jumping until she reached Khan''s back. "She''ll be so mad when our pictures appear on thework."


    Khan could only shake his head and smile. Reporters had weed them back to the Harbor, snapping pictures of the many bags in Khan''s hands. Those containers carried the estate''sbel, clearly hinting at sexual-oriented items.


    "So much for having decorum," Khan sighed, drawing an item from a bag. A pink plug appeared in the open, and tapping on its bottom made it vibrate.


    "It can even change the size," Khan eximed, tinkering with the item''s functions. The plug stretched and shrunk freely, reaching dimensions that made both Khan and Monica open their eyes in shock.


    "Maybe I went overboard," Monica admitted, hugging Khan from behind but keeping her eyes on the huge item.


    "It wouldn''t be you if you didn''t," Khan said, stuffing the plug back into the bag before retrieving another item. A tail ended up in his hands, but noces or belts hung from its ends.


    "Oh," Monica and Khan voiced simultaneously while inspecting one of the tail''s ends. They quickly realized how to wear the item and couldn''t help but exchange a silent look.


    "Only if you wear the ears," Monica announced, leaving Khan''s back to cross her arms.


    "You drive a hard bargain," Khan replied, his eyes darting between Monica and the tail. "Well, cat''s ears can''t be worse than Cegnore."


    Khanughed when he saw Monica''s cold expression. She knew he was being difficult on purpose, especially since the ears and tail weren''t evenparable. Still, she couldn''t control her irritation.


    "Let''s take a bath first," Monica snorted, grabbing Khan by his shirt. "We''ll deal with the bagster." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "So pushy," Khan teased as Monica began to drag him toward the bathroom. She snorted, but Khan promptly lifted her to princess-carry her into the corridor.


    "What is it?" Khan questioned before Monica''s still-cold expression.


    "You''ll go out once I fall asleep," Monica uttered. "Won''t you?"


    Khan halted his steps. Even without his senses, Monica could read him like a book. She had already understood his ns for the night.


    "Yes," Khan nodded. "I need to start."


    "I know," Monica sighed, reaching for Khan''s neck. "So, I''ll use any trick in the book to keep you in bed as long as possible."


    .


    .


    .


    The night went wilder than both Khan and Monica could predict. After a joint and cuddly bath, the couple began to explore the bags'' contents, and the funsted until dawn.


    Khan''s incredible resilience wavered that night, but nothing could stop him from leaving the t once Monica fell asleep. He had even booked a ride already, and only a few minutes had to pass before he arrived at a series of training halls.


    In theory, the experiments wouldn''t feature anything dangerous that morning, but Khan still opted for one of the vaster and better training halls the Harbor had to offer. He strongly believed he wouldn''t destroy anything, but it was better to avoid worsening his already terrible track record.


    After entering the hall, Khan deactivated any camera, scanner, and tracking mechanism. He couldn''t let anything leak outside, especially since experts had already shown interest in that field.


    ''Let''s start with the basics,'' Khan thought, summoning a metal puppet. The training dummy left the workshop inside the wall and walked to the hall''s center, but its orders ended there.


    Khan tinkered with the hall''s menus to obtain a bucket full of dark paint, which he used to draw marks on the immobile puppet. His fingers traced precise lines on those metal surfaces, following instructions he had long since burned into his brain.


    Once the process was over, Khan took a few steps back to inspect his creation. The training dummy now carried the [Blood Vortex]''s marks, giving Khan a better perspective on the technique. Yet, he quickly realized the ws in his approach.


    ''They are two differentnguages,'' Khan cursed. ''Three if I count the blood.''


    Khan had given much thought to his version of the Thilku runes. Realistically, his battle style didn''t need anything else. After unlocking the Niqols'' spells, he had surpassed any conceivable limit, so his first ideas converged on his foundation.


    As long as Khan''s attunement with mana increased, the entirety of his skillset would improve. Obtaining greater power would also give him ess to better techniques, opening paths otherwise close.


    Of course, those thoughts led to the [Blood Vortex]. After all, that was Khan''s best training method, and transforming it into a technique that didn''t require blood could bring immense benefits. His body could also endure far more now, so he considered improving the overall absorption speed.


    However, the Thilku and Niqols were worlds apart. That pairing was even worse than Niqols and Nele since thetter shared some views on the mana.


    The [Blood Vortex]''s marks didn''t have any intrinsic meaning, and if they did, Khan didn''t spend enough time on Nitis to learn them. Moreover, the blood used in the technique carried a unique purpose that increased theplexity of the procedure.


    Khan wanted topletely trante the [Blood Vortex] into a Thilku rune, which meant finding lines that could express the technique''s marks and blood. That was easier said than done, especially since he couldn''t draw any intrinsic meaning from the original version.


    ''It''s trial and error, isn''t it?'' Khan wondered, staring at the painted puppet. ''I already know something will explode.''


    Theck of clues didn''t involve theplete absence of a general direction. Khan knew how the [Blood Vortex] worked. Replicating it was the only issue.


    The studies on the Thilku runes had given Khan a more than decent knowledge of the field. He didn''t know everything, but the period spent on that subject had provided him with the tools to start those experiments.


    Broadly speaking, Khan only needed to create something capable of attracting the mana in the environment and sending it inside his flesh. The first part required adjustments depending on the avable symphony, and he could work around the second by using his control. Still, the technique had to take form before worrying about those details.


    Khan connected his phone to the hall''s floor and summoned a series of holograms. That wasn''t his first time reviewing the issue. He had already taken notes on the possible lines and runes that could fulfill his needs, and his device put them before his eyes.


    After a brief inspection, Khan summoned another metal puppet and released strands of mana from his fingers. He had a vague idea and quickly drew it on the training dummy''s metal chest.


    An intricate rune slowly came to life, but warning signs touched Khan''s senses as soon as he pushed the many lines onto each other. He retreated at full speed, and an explosion reached his ears when his back hit one of the hall''s walls.


    ''I so knew it,'' Khan cursed, looking at the pile of smoke that had reced the second metal puppet. ''This didn''t even count.''


    The mistake didn''te from the rune. Khan had messed up while adjusting the nature, density, and quantity of the strands of mana chosen for each line. Sadly enough, he had be aware of that w only after pushing them together.


    ''It will be a long day,'' Khan sighed, tapping the floor to summon another metal puppet.


    Needless to say, that wasn''t the only explosion Khan had to run away from. His element added destructive effects he couldn''t suppress even after altering each line to his needs. Also, his runes were unstable since he was merely attempting to recreate meanings that the Thilku had never put into words.


    However, after the afternoon was about to end, Khan finally developed something stable enough to linger on the puppet''s metal chest without triggering any explosion.


    ''It can''t be so easy,'' Khan thought, squinting his eyes before the bright symbol shining on the puppet. ''Right?''


    To stabilize the process, Khan eventually opted for inactive runes. He only needed to touch the symbol to add the energy required to execute its functions, but some hesitation arrived, forcing him to inspect his creation again.


    Still, after a few seconds, Khan decided to press on the rune. The symbol brightened, attracting the symphony and drawing mana toward its center. That energy even began to seep under the puppet''s metal, but a far bigger detonation unfolded before Khan could try to smile.

 Chapter 659 Weak

    Chapter 659 Weak


    Monica''s political training was perfect. Her parents had noticed her talent early on, and she had surpassed their expectations time after time. She had also gotten used to the most annoyingpromises, but all of that had started to waver after meeting Khan.


    Desires Monica would usually be able to suppress had grown stronger and more predominant. She had never expected happiness, but Khan was giving it to her. She had never strived for freedom, but Khan had broken her chains, giving birth to feelings she didn''t think she could or should experience.


    Monica now actively worked to protect Khan and their rtionship, even going against her family and reputation. She didn''t care as long as she could defend the way of life Khan had created. She didn''t mind losing everything as long as Khan was with her, but that mood wasn''tpletely pure.


    The change had been gradual but relentless. Monica was willing to do anything in her power to help Khan but also had her own desires. She could sacrifice herself, but there were limits to that.


    It all started when Monica woke up alone on the bed. Khan''s warmth lingered on the mattress, but he wasn''t there. The messy room made Monica smile, but Khan''s absence quickly killed that happiness.


    Monica didn''t linger on her longing for Khan. She had developed a routine that could help endure his absence and didn''t hesitate to employ it. She activated the cleaning robots, sorted the estate''s items, took a bath, and settled in the living room to review thework and other relevant information.


    Nevertheless, Monica soon realized that she couldn''t focus. Wordsnded on her eyes but didn''t reach her brain. She felt restless, and her gaze often went toward the elevator room.


    Theck of response from the room pissed Monica off, and that feeling intensified until she couldn''t stay still anymore. She moved to the bedroom, stomping her feet, but the wardrobe imed her attention before she could jump on the mattress.


    Monica threw her device on the bed before opening the wardrobe. Khan''s clothes filled her vision, and her hands moved when she spotted the shirt he had wornst night. She quickly retrieved it, and some calm arrived when she brought it to her nose.


    The new mood allowed Monica to get back to work, which she did by settling on the bed on the side where Khan slept. She often hugged his pillow or shirt during the breaks in her studies, and that trend continued until the night arrived.


    The t''s silence eventually rekindled Monica''s annoyance. She left the bedroom and checked the elevator room, only to find it empty. Her stomachined, but she didn''t want to eat. She leaned on the wall, and her back slid over it as she sat on the floor.


    Monica hugged her knees, burying her head between her legs. She lifted it only to check the elevator, but its doors never moved. Soon, drowsiness arrived, and her mind began going in and out of thend of dreams.


    Morning eventually arrived, but Monica barely noticed it. She had spent the night in the elevator room, and depression hit her hard when she realized that Khan hadn''t returned. She felt weak and lonely, devoid of any strength.


    ''When did I be so weak?'' Monica wondered, sighing.


    It was easier to deal with Khan''s absence when he was off or on a mission. However, he was still in the Harbor now. Monica could go to him without needing to contact a ride, and holding back from doing that was killing her.


    The depressionsted for a while, but Monica''s mood eventually changed. She couldn''t starve herself to death. She couldn''t let her longing freeze her. Khan wouldn''t like it.


    Monica picked herself up and ate something before returning to her work. She knew that resolve would be short-lived, so she nned to make the best out of it, which she did.


    However, as the night arrived again, Monica couldn''t help but worry. Khan had yet to return, and her phone didn''t show messages either. That was the norm when Khan was busy training, but Monica still wanted to check up on him.


    Monica began writing a message before deleting everything. She tried again, but the result didn''t change. Her eyes remained glued to the phone for entire minutes while her resolve wavered and intensified. She longed for Khan but didn''t want to disturb his training, which eventually made her throw her device away.


    Things didn''t improve when Monica went to bed. She wrapped herself in anything that carried Khan''s smell, but her brain continued to shout. She couldn''t fall asleep, and the night passed among asional naps and stares at the ceiling.


    Another morning arrived, but Khan still didn''t show his face. Monica wanted to support Khan. She would do anything he asked, desired, or needed. There was virtually no limit to her devotion. Monica felt sleepy, hungry, and pissed when she arrived at the elevator room and found it empty again. That was the third day, and her mood threatened to go wild.


    Monica wanted to support Khan. She would do anything he asked, desired, or needed. There was virtually no limit to her devotion. However, she was no mindless drone or servant. Monica was Khan''s girlfriend, and that came with obligations and responsibilities.


    Those thoughts grew louder inside Monica''s mind, putting her in an inescapable loop. She quickly convinced herself that she could annoy Khan whenever and however she wanted. That was her job and prerogative as his girlfriend, so she stepped forward, ready to leave the t.


    Still, Monica suddenly realized that she was ill-dressed for a trip outside. She was only wearing Khan''s shirt, with no bra underneath. It was actually lucky her underwear was on.


    Monica quickly changed her clothes while keeping Khan''s shirt and stormed outside. She had called a cab, which arrived in a matter of minutes before elerating toward the block of training halls.


    After a short trip, Monica found herself before the training hall upied by Khan. She had regretted her decision countless times by then, but here she was. She only needed to knock to see Khan again.


    Monica patted her hair, straightened her shirt and skirt, and fiddled with her fingers. She drew her phone, but the screen was still nk. She turned to leave, but her feet didn''t move, and her eyes eventually fell back on the hall''s entrance.


    Hesitation shone on Monica''s face, but her hand moved on its own, touching the entrance''s menu. She couldn''t open it on her own, so she added a message for the hall''s speakers. "It''s me."


    The door immediately unlocked, and Monica pressed on it to make it slide open. She jumped inside, allowing that entrance to close behind her back, and a messnded in her vision when she lifted her eyes.


    Piles of smoke rose toward the hall''s ceiling, and metal debris filled the floor. The bigger rubble gave Monica an idea of the number of training dummies Khan had destroyed, and she stopped counting after crossing thirty. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The figure sitting in the middle of the debris imed Monica''s attention. Khan had removed the upper part of his uniform, and sweat shone on his skin, reflecting the holograms at his side. His eyes were on an intact puppet with strange marks drawn on its surfaces, but Monica knew his senses were on her.


    Seeing Khan filled Monica with vitality. She was finally with him. She could finally stop worrying, and a smile instinctively broadened on her face.


    Monica couldn''t stress enough how maic Khan was. Even when sitting, his presence was overbearing. He owned every ce he visited, and the air itself bowed to him.


    Khan turned when Monica reached him, and his eyes fell on her clothes. He noticed she was wearing his shirt, highlighting her chest area, but her aura prompted him to worry.


    "What happened?" Khan asked.


    Monica didn''t reply. She giggled while sitting between Khan''s crossed legs. She made herselffortable while reaching for the bottle before her. Khan had already drunk half of it, and Monica didn''t hold back in her sip.


    "It''s been three days," Monica eximed, leaning on Khan''s chest while sipping from the bottle.


    "Really?" Khan gasped, drawing his phone to check the date. "I lost track of time."


    "I know," Monica stated. "What troubles you?"


    Khan inspected Monica. Her dark skin couldn''t hide her eye bags, and she felt lighter than usual. Something had clearly happened in those days, but she didn''t look inclined to talk about it.


    "Nothing, really," Khan sighed, nodding at the holograms to his left. "It''s not hard, just time-consuming."


    "What are you trying to do?" Monica asked, studying the bright Thilku runes in the air.


    "Turning that," Khan exined, pointing at the painted training dummy before moving his finger to the runes, "Into that."


    "Will you make it so it stops hurting you?" Monica questioned. She knew Khan''s techniques and had long since memorized those marks. It was hard not to when she hated them so much.


    "We''ll see about that," Khan replied, seizing the bottle from Monica''s hands. "For now, I''ll settle for something that works."


    "You''lle through," Monica reassured. "You always do."


    Silence arrived, and Khan couldn''t help but inspect Monica''s again while drinking. She wasn''t facing him, but her mana said a lot, prompting him to ask another question. "What happened?"


    "Nothing," Monica replied, seizing the bottle. "I''m a weak woman."


    Khan forgot about the runes and reached for Monica''s legs to pull them, forcing her to face him. Yet, she kept her head lowered.


    "Khan," Monica called, lifting her timid eyes toward Khan. "You made me weak."


    Khan gently lifted Monica''s face from her chin, and her expression exined everything. He didn''t need to ask questions anymore. He understood what was going through Monica''s mind and knew words were useless. Khan could only hug her tightly to reassure her.


    "You made me weak too," Khan admitted, burying his head in those curls.


    Monica bathed herself in that affection, but an unstoppable sob interrupted the silence and made Khan break the hug. He searched for her face, and she didn''t hide it.


    "If we are in the same ce," Monica sniffed, "I want us to be together."


    Khan reached for Monica''s cheeks and wiped the few tears that had fallen from her eyes. He would reply, but Monica''s demands weren''t over.


    "If you need to concentrate alone," Monica continued, "I want a call every few hours. You can''t leave me on my own for days."


    "I totally forgot," Khan apologized. He knew he had messed up. Usually, he would exchange a few messages with Monica at least, but the experiments had kept him too busy.


    "I''m not done," Monica added. "I want us to visit my family''s estates and have my parents, rtives, and representatives wee you."


    "I thought you wanted to wait on forcing their hands," Khan reminded.


    "It''s not for our engagement," Monica exined. "You aren''t a fling that must be kept away. You are my boyfriend, my future fianc¨¦ and husband, so they must show you respect."


    "Your mother won''t like it," Khan pointed out.


    "She would have offered that herself if you were a rich descendant," Monica snorted. "I won''t ept this mistreatment."


    "Alright," Khan nodded. "Let''s make a mess."


    "Not now," Monica said, leaning on Khan''s chest again. "You must finish this first."


    Monica drank calmly but showed no intention of standing up. She would let Khan work on the runes without going anywhere.


    "Go on," Monica threatened. "Just try to send me away."


    Khan held back augh while wrapping an arm around Monica''s waist. She leaned on him even more, but nothing broke their silence. She respected his training, and he soon refocused on it.

 Chapter 660 Level

    Chapter 660 Level


    "You don''t need to bring your knife," Monicamented.


    "I won''t use it," Khan reassured.


    "Why do you bring it then?" Monica asked.


    "Never go to a battlefield unprepared," Khan preached.


    "My house isn''t a battlefield!" Monica cried.


    Khan shot a knowing nce at Monica, and the two stared at each other. Still, Monica quickly rolled her eyes, epting defeat.


    "Fine," Monica groaned. "It''s a battlefield."


    "I won''t kill anyone," Khan reassured again, "But they don''t need to know that."


    Monica inspected her man before slowly approaching him. Her hands went on his chest, and she moved them alongside his torso to straighten his military uniform. She was tense, but her allegiances were clear.


    "If they disrespect you," Monica whispered, "I''ll kill them before you can draw your knife."


    Khan took Monica''s hands and brought them to his mouth to kiss them. He wasn''t as tense at her, but that didn''t mean he underestimated the imminent event''s seriousness.


    After the conversation inside the training hall, Monica had gotten to work to n the trip to one of her family''s estates. The whole process had taken two weeks, and she still couldn''t confirm whether her father would be there.


    Monica didn''t use the two weeks just to n everything. She had also waited for Khan to progress in his experiments, which he did. He didn''t achieve any monumental breakthrough, but his runes had stopped exploding, at least.


    "The others are already downstairs," Monica voiced a cuteint since Khan had yet to let go of her hands. "We have to go."


    "I know," Khan stated. "Let me look at you."


    Monica smiled andplied. She stepped back, escaping Khan''s hands to spin on herself. She was wearing her military uniform, so the gesture didn''t expose anything, but Khan loved every second of it anyway.


    "Am I good enough for you, dear?" Monica teased, pretending to have a skirt to perform a bow.


    "Always," Khan smirked, forcefully pulling Monica onto him. She let out a cry, but her arms clung to Khan''s neck as soon as their lips touched.


    "We must go," Monica scolded when the kiss ended.


    "I know," Khan groaned, leaning forward to kiss Monica again.


    Monica weed the kiss but quickly pushed herself away. She showed a tempting smile before turning and walking toward the elevator room. Khan followed her with his eyes, and a snicker escaped his mouth when she peeked past her shoulder.


    "Hand," Monica requested, using her childish tone while stretching her left arm toward Khan.


    Khan took Monica''s hand, and their fingers entangled while they advanced toward the elevator. An odd group was waiting for them downstairs, and both abandoned any smile or happy expression when they left the building.


    A few gasps, cold nces, and surprised facesnded on the couple after they appeared in the open. A diverse group had gathered on the building''s sidewalk, and different reactions unfolded at Khan and Monica''s arrival.


    Master Amelia and her all-female team were there since the trip involved one of the Solodrey family''s estates, and seeing Monica donning the military uniform shocked them. That was a clear message. Monica would face the trip as her own person, not as a descendant.


    The fact that Khan matched Monica''s attire added value to that guess. The couple wasn''t trying to impress Monica''s family with nice clothes and shy appearances. They were taking a stand, separating themselves from those political environments.


    Francis and Andrew were also on the sidewalk, and the former noticed the same detail. He had worn his best suit for the visit to the estate because that was what was expected from a descendant. However, Monica and Khan had gone in the very opposite direction.


    Of course, no one dared toin or utter any derogativements. Even thinking about them dried their throats. Something scarier than death loomed over the area, and Khan''s cold eyes were its source.


    "Sir," Andrew called, seemingly unaffected by Khan''s presence. "The rides are ready. Headmistress Holwen also dispatched the required security teams."


    Andrew''s reliability was top-notch as always, and Khan mustered a nod at the man before giving a simple order. "Let''s go."


    The group opened a path where Khan and Monica could pass, and the couple trod it to reach the most luxurious cab waiting on the street. A single ride wouldn''t have been enough for all of them, so Khan and Monica had made sure to have some privacy.


    The group followed along, upying the other rides ording to their preset agreements. Soon, all the cabs set off, quickly flying toward the appointed teleport.


    The Solodrey family''s involvement with the event forced the Harbor to go far and beyond with its resources. The streets were free and open for the rides'' passage. No crowd of onlookers or reporters could get anywhere close to the group, and many soldiers weed them to handle thest parts of the trip.


    The teleport wasn''t big enough for the entire group, but that wasn''t an issue. The soldiers had already prepared for multiple rounds of that useful technology, and Khan and Monica went first.


    Monica and Khan had chosen to use a private ride to highlight the separation from the political environment. Khan''s ship was already waiting for them in the space stations they reached, and the two didn''t wait for theirpanions while setting off.


    The destination had connections with the Global Army but remained private, something more exclusive than Lord Vegner''s estate. Khan had to fly for a while before reaching it, and surprise hit him even if Monica had prepared him for the asion.


    After a few hours, Khan found himself before a huge space station. An immense rectangr structure expanded at its center, and two cylindrical pirs grew from opposite sides. Circr structures also spun on top of those structures, granting stability to the building and hosting multiple rows of engines.


    By then, Khan had seen his fair share of space stations, but that structure was different. It abandoned some of the typical stylistic Khan didn''t learn that from thework. The building''s details weren''t avable to the public, but Monica was on his side. She had choices to opt for custom details. The rectangr building at its center was one of them, but he knew the ce had far more.


    Khan didn''t learn that from thework. The building''s details weren''t avable to the public, but Monica was on his side. She had listed everything she knew, including the many weapons hidden from the ship''s scanners.


    An order reached the desk when Khan arrived at the appointed location. He gave up the ship''s controls to the space station, and the vehicle slowly flowed toward one of the building''s openings.


    A mana barrier separated a vast hangar from the dark space, and Khan didn''t hesitate to inspect the area during thending. The ce was truly immense, and tens of ships with different sizes and purposes filled it. Yet, he couldn''t see a single soldier attending them.


    The only human presence in the hangar was waiting in the appointed parking space for Khan''s ship. A series of servants wearing smart clothes stood behind two equally well-dressed figures, and Khan recognized them with a single look.


    "Alonso and Dennis Solodrey," Khan eximed, "Right?"


    "Yes," Monica confirmed. "Do you need another summary?"


    "No need," Khan reassured.


    The estate couldn''t have only Monica''s parents or handpicked representatives. The Solodrey family had many conflicting factions, and some were bound to try to use the event to their advantage, which prompted Monica to prepare Khan as much as possible.


    Alonso and Dennis were father and son from the most influential opposing faction. They didn''t have anything against Monica, but she stood in the way of their goals, or, rather, her parents and those supporting them did.


    That didn''t necessarily make the two Khan and Monica''s enemies. Many saw Khan as a liability that hurt Monica''s political figure, so supporting their rtionship could benefit opposing factions.


    Of course, Khan had long since gone beyond those political intricacies. He didn''t forget them, but they couldn''t affect his behavior anymore. Be it friends or foes, he would remain himself.


    Khan stood up as soon as the ship''s canopy opened, and Monica followed suit, crossing the pilot''s seat to cling to his torso. Khan also held her still before jumping forward and performing a gracefulnding.


    The couplended right before the pair of father and son, triggering a mutual inspection. Even the servants behind remained still, but none of them dared to lift their heads.


    Alonso and Dennis shared many physical features. They were quite tall and bulky, with Dennis being the leaner of the two. Their short, curly hair and dark skin matched the Solodrey family''s characteristics, and their icy blue eyes even reminded Khan of Monica. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    However, differences existed, with some too evident to ignore. In terms of appearances, Alonso looked to be in his fifties, and his well-kept beard enhanced his mature aura. Instead, Dennis barely looked older than Monica, and his clean face added fuel to his lively expression.


    The pair''s suits tried to hide it, but Khan also noticed the differences in their attunement with mana. Alonso was a fifth-level warrior, while Dennis looked as strong as Khan. Still, bothcked the usual chilling presencemon among experienced soldiers.


    "Captain Khan, Miss Monica," Alonso announced, performing an elegant bow, "Wee to the estate."


    "Captain Khan, it''s a pleasure to meet you," Dennis added. "Monica, you look more beautiful every year."


    "Thank you, Dennis," Monica said. "I owe that to my Khan."


    Monica didn''t refrain from getting closer to Khan''s right arm. She was already holding his hand, but leaning her chest on him sent a clear message.


    Khan didn''t let the gesture affect him. Other thoughts upied his mind while he inspected Dennis from head to toe. The man wasn''t a threat, but Khan still had reasons to be wary.


    "Monica told me you were considered among potential suitors," Khan stated. "Is that right?"


    "Oh," Dennis gasped. "That''s something that goes back almost twenty years. I have no recollection of it."


    "We considered a marriage to put aside old grievances," Alonso exined. "That idea was quickly abandoned."


    Usually, members of the Solodrey family should be mad about those revtions. Even with the general approval, Khan remained an outsider, but Monica had revealed inside secrets to him.


    However, Alonso Solodrey didn''t appear annoyed by that discovery. Actually, he had taken it upon himself to clear the issue, revealing more secrets in the process.


    The short exchange conveyed far more than words. Alonso and Dennis were showing their support openly, going as far as involving Khan in family matters.


    Khan''s eyes darted between Alonso and Dennis before moving to the rest of the hangar. The many ships expanding from his position created an appealing scene, which triggered his curiosity.


    "Do you want to try them?" Monica asked, noticing Khan''s interest in the ships. "I can have them ready in a few minutes."


    "We can do thatter," Khan stated, facing the two men again. "Mister Solodrey, Mister Solodrey, I suppose you are our escort."


    "Indeed," Dennis replied before ncing at the mana barrier in the distance. "Though, where are Mister Alstair and the other guests?"


    "Khan''s flying skills are too good," Monica praised. "I''m afraid we left them behind by a long stretch."


    "If it''s not a problem," Khan added, "We can go ahead."


    Khan wanted to address the two men more seriously now, but the arrival of a hostile presence brought his gaze into the distance. Alonso and Dennis felt confused but followed Khan''s eyes since Monica promptly looked in the same direction.


    Someone else had entered the hangar, and his figure became visible after a few seconds. He was a young man seemingly close in age to Dennis and Monica. His skin was also dark, and long ck curls fell on his shoulders. Still, his eyes were brown and intense.


    ''Harris Solodrey,'' Khan recalled. ''Descendant from the old Patriarch''s faction.''


    To everyone''s surprise, Harris had worn his military uniform, which showed three stars on each shoulder. That couldn''t have been a random move due to Monica and Khan''s attire, and the general hostility in his aura confirmed that hypothesis.


    "I couldn''t help but overhear," Harris eximed, taking long strides to reach the group. "I''d argue the ship is also to praise for your early arrival."


    Harris nced at Khan''s ship when he reached Dennis'' side. The two men were almost the same height, which put them a few centimeters above Khan. Still, Harris was more muscr, and his proud attitude almost overshadowed Dennis.


    "Captain," Harris continued, eyeing Khan. "You sure gained a lot from our family."


    "I agree," Khan promptly replied, showing the hand entangled with Monica. "She is the best reward I could ask for."


    "Harris," Monica called. "Our family''s conflicts have no ce here."


    "Why not?" Harris asked. "You finally brought the youngest Captain in history home. He should be introduced to our world."


    "Does Monica need to repeat herself?" Khan questioned, his presence suddenly growing heavier. The event was so noticeable that Alonso arched his eyebrows in surprise.


    Dennis and Harris instinctively gulped. They had read about that ability, but nothing could prepare them for its weight. They also struggled to understand what was happening. Their brains simply screamed in fear, freezing their thoughts.


    The two men''s reaction was quite evident, but Monica and Khan ignored it. They wouldn''t add insult to injury unless other jokes flew in his direction.


    Nevertheless, Alonso couldn''t take the threat lightly. Khan looked calm, but his senses said otherwise. He felt like a loose cannon that could potentially endanger those descendants.


    "Don''t worry," Khan stated, filling Alonso''s vision with his intense gaze. "They didn''t give me a reason to act. Yet."


    Rumors were often blown out of proportion, especially when involving famous figures, but Alonso only needed a look to be sure. Khan was everything thework said and more. The sheer confidence thatnded on his face didn''t carry a single trace of lies. It conveyed pristine power.


    "I''ve been wondering why Anastasia didn''t ask for your head on the spot," Alonso replied, showing an honest smile. "Not anymore."


    "Am I a threat to your faction now?" Khan asked.


    "Families count the time in decades, not years," Alonso dered. "It''s too early to say anything."


    "We''ll talk in a few decades then," Monica uttered.


    "I do hope so," Alonso nodded. "In the meantime, I''ll leave you in my son''s capable hands. I''m afraid I''m not as free as I''d like."


    "Thank you for weing us," Khan eximed. "I''m sure you found what you were looking for."


    "I did," Alonso confirmed before looking at his son. "Dennis, make our guests feel at home."


    Dennis and Harris didn''t understand what was happening, and reading between the lines was hard when they didn''t feel as much as Alonso. However, Dennis knew his father had shown up just to size Khan, and his reaction told him enough to behave ordingly.


    "It will be done, father," Dennis announced. "Captain, Monica, if you would be so kind as to follow me inside."


    Dennis didn''t mention Harris, but thetter didn''t need invitations. The man turned even before Dennis, and an order for the servants promptly escaped his mouth. "You, wait here and wee the other guests."


    Dennis pretended not to care, but his mana trembled. Things weren''t good between him and Harris. His presence there actually troubled him, but he had to maintain a cordial fa?ade before his guests.


    As for Khan and Monica, both noticed the faint tension, but neither cared. Khan was too beyond third-level warriors to mind their words, while Monica was mostly happy about having him in one of her family''s estates.


    The four left the hangar through one of its many doors, and a vast corridor expanded before them. The ce resembled an immense hall that seemed to stretch forever.


    "The armory is right up ahead," Dennis announced, pointing at a door in the distance. "This branch doesn''t have much, but you might find interesting martial arts inside."


    "Dennis, you heard the Captain," Harris teased. "Monica is the only reward he wanted from our family."


    "I know you might find it hard to understand," Monica proudly stated, "But it''s the truth."


    "What would that mean?" Harris groaned, ring at the couple behind him, only to divert his gaze as soon as he caught sight of Khan.


    "Some people look past politics and old grudges," Monica exined.


    "If they don''t have to worry about them," Harris scoffed, "It''s because they can''t."


    "And yet," Monica responded, "You are escorting us, not the other way around."


    Khan let Monica handle that bickering and focused on the immense corridor. The armory was only one of the many doors crossed during the walk, and some were open. Khan spotted greenhouses, training halls, restaurants, and more in the span of a few minutes.


    ''And this isn''t even the full estate,'' Khan thought.


    Khan knew the Solodrey family was extremely wealthy, and his time in the Harbor had given him an idea of how many assets that tranted into. However, he had just crossed halls that would cost a fortune to build, let alone fill them with valuable items.


    Moreover, Khan had only seen one corridor and a hangar inside an entire space station. The Solodrey family also owned more of them. As much as Khan had studied, he couldn''t fathom the full extent of that wealth.


    The scenery didn''t look good when Khan added multiple wealthy families to the equation andpared them to the Global Army. Thetter looked on the losing end by arge margin, and that without involving the nobles.


    ''No wonder they feel untouchable,'' Khan realized.


    "We are starting to corrupt the Captain," Harrismented when he noticed Khan''s distraction. "He looks interested in our family''s assets."


    "Harris," Dennis tried to scold.


    "Don''t Harris me," Harris chuckled, halting his tracks and spreading his arms. "Come on. Face it. This is what everyone aims to obtain."


    Harris wasn''t pointing at anything specific, but the corridor conveyed enough wealth. He was also right. Most of the Global Army would kill to join the Solodrey family, but Khan was one of the few exceptions.


    "Harris, right?" Khan said, halting his tracks and stopping the rest of the group.


    "You don''t need me to confirm that," Harris proudlyughed. "We all know Monica shares inside information with you."


    "I don''t answer to you," Monica coldly stated.


    "Does your behavior have a goal?" Khan questioned. "If it doesn''t, you can leave right away."


    "How dare you?" Harris raised his voice. "This is my home. You can''t order me around."


    "I asked you a question," Khan reminded. "Answer it."


    The situation quickly grew tense, and Dennis looked for Monica''s eyes, hoping to find an ally. However, Monica let go of Khan''s hand and stepped back to give him some room.


    "I do find something irksome with your presence here," Harris admitted. "We are the Solodrey family. Breaking a few records doesn''t earn you any special privilege among us."


    "That''s it?" Khan wondered, focusing his inspection on Harris'' mana. His hostility felt superficial when it came to Khan. The man''s grudgesy elsewhere.


    "Yes," Harris firmly imed. "That''s it."


    "You can leave then," Khan ordered. "Your inferiorityplexes are boring."


    Khan quickly lost interest in Harris and resumed inspecting his surroundings. Truth be told, two new figures had appeared in the distance, but the tense situation and focus on Khan made the group unable to spot them.


    "Infe-," Harris said, unable to finish that word. "Fine! Why don''t you show what you are actually worth?"


    Harris jumped backward and bent his knees as soon as hended. He crossed both arms before his face while pointing his palms at Khan. That was a battle stance, and his mana moved to power it.


    Khan wasn''t holding back. Those third-level warriors truly weren''t worthy of his attention, but Harris'' actions forced him to act.


    "Bow," Khan ordered, and the manaplied.


    Harris suddenly lost his bnce, mming one of his knees to the metal floor. He didn''t know what had happened, but his temporary confusion was fatal. Khan was already before him by the time he lifted his eyes.


    "Don''t let the stars on our uniforms trick you," Khan announced, sending his dark thoughts to the figure kneeling under him. "We aren''t on the same level."


    Harris wanted to find the strength to react. Khan didn''t hit him once, but his body wouldn''t move. Still, the descendant had enough anger to throw away caution and override his survival instincts.


    "Harris!" A man shouted from deeper into the corridor, and his voice suppressed any reckless n Harris had started to implement.


    "Captain Khan," A familiar voice followed the previous call. "Avoid these barbaric methods."


    The man was slightly overweight but still carried some resemnce with Harris. He was his uncle, which Monica had already shown to Khan.


    Anastasia Solodrey walked beside the man, and Khan felt able to see past her aloof expression. She hid it perfectly, but Khan still knew she liked his show.

 Chapter 661 Investment

    661 Investment


    The arrival of two big figures from the Solodrey family forced Harris to calm down. Dennis and Monica also wore more respectful stances, but Khan remained unaffected.


    ''Cyrus Solodrey,'' Khan thought, inspecting Harris'' uncle. ''ording to Monica, he is just a businessman.''


    Cyrus'' aura confirmed that information. The man wasn''t only out of shape. He wielded enough mana to be a fourth-level warrior, but Khan barely felt any threat from it.


    Anastasia and Cyrus strode forward at different paces. The former retained her elegant manners, slowly walking toward the group. Instead, Cyrus elerated, prioritizing rescuing the descendant from his faction.


    "Get up," Cyrus muttered once he could grab Harris'' shoulder to help him to his feet. "We warned you not to try anything."


    Khan didn''t care about the shameful scene, but its consequences were hard to ignore. Now that Harris had calmed down, he could review the previous exchange, and pure shock and fear surged. He couldn''t even understand what Khan had done, but the oue was clear.


    The sole idea that a fellow third-level warrior could wield so much strength was terrifying. In Harris'' mind, Khan couldn''t be human. He didn''t even match any regr power level created throughout the years. Thework didn''t do him justice, either. He was a monster through and through.


    Harris wasn''t alone in that reaction. Dennis had inspected the short exchange, and simr emotions surged inside him. Khan seemed able to wield an invisible force stronger than most third-level warriors, and simply thinking about it created the urge to step back.


    Khan had long since gotten used to those stares. He partially sought them, too, since his political situation needed that fame. Still, the familiar warmth that spread from his hand made everything easier to endure.


    Monica didn''t miss those reactions, and her legs promptly moved. She didn''t only adore that version of Khan. She also knew her role, so she took his hand to stand proudly at his side.


    Of course, Anastasia''s arrival yed a big role in Monica''s behavior, but her intentions didn''t change. Monica was showing that she would take Khan''s side even before her mother.


    "I''m sorry, Captain Khan," Cyrus apologized in the middle of that tension. "We train our descendants to be the best, so many want to test themselves against the strongest."


    The tant praise didn''t affect Khan, but he still felt that a warning was needed. "You shouldn''t consider me a third-level warrior anymore."


    Harrispletely agreed with Khan. Actually, his instincts told him he was more dangerous than his uncle, putting him above some fourth-level warriors. Moreover, that was an evaluation founded onckluster senses. It was unclear how strong Khan was when he relied on all his techniques.


    That stalemate broke when Anastasia finally reached the group. She stopped at Dennis'' side, inspecting the couple from head to toe. Monica responded with a challenging cold re, but no bickering unfolded.


    "Captain," Anastasia quickly broke the silence. "I need you toe with me."


    Monica was ready to refuse, but Anastasia didn''t stop at words. She stepped toward Khan, grabbing his elbow just like Monica had done countless times.


    Needless to say, the friendly and respectful gesture shocked Monica. She had to muster the entirety of her self-restraint to keep her mouth closed. Jealousy didn''t even manage to arrive due to how incredible that event was.


    Khan could remain calm in any situation, but Anastasia''s behavior shattered his cold face. His eyes widened in surprise when the woman took his elbow. He even felt ufortable since Monica was still holding his hand.


    "What are you doing, mother?" Monica couldn''t help but ask. She had already snapped, but her self-restraint managed to hide that.


    "Your father wants to see the Captain," Anastasia exined. "Privately. I''ll give him back to you in a few minutes."


    The mention of Monica''s father changed the atmosphere once again. Dennis, Harris, and Cyrus instinctively straightened their position to wear more respectful stances. As for Monica, her mouth finally opened in surprise, and her hand slowly left Khan''s.


    "I''ll see you in the third dining hall," Anastasia continued before looking at the corridor. "Captain, indulge me for a while."


    Khan''s eyes didn''t return to a normal shape, no matter how much he tried. He showed that look to Monica, and she could only silently nod. They wouldn''t usually separate, but the shock was too great to think straight.


    Before anyone could add anything, Anastasia applied some strength to Khan''s elbow, and he understood what the gesture meant. Dennis got out of the way as the two began to walk forward. Khan would have liked to be in charge, but Anastasia set the pace, giving enough time to everyone to savor the moment.


    The awkwardness inside Khan''s mind didn''t vanish even after the two put some distance from the group. He could still feel the gazes on his back, especially Monica''s, and his face struggled to understand which expression to wear.


    Still, once Anastasia knew her words couldn''t reach the group anymore, she voiced apliment. "It was about time someone taught a lesson to that Harris kid."


    Khan couldn''t think of any reply. His mind struggled to keep up with the recent events, and the praise worsened his condition.


    "You did good," Anastasia continued. "No one in the family will question your value now."


    "Did you hit your head recently, ma''am?" Khan wondered.


    "Tasteless as always," Anastasia scoffed. "You are affecting my daughter, too. That stunt at Lord Vegner''s estate was too much."


    Khan held back a gulp, recalling the night after that trip. Initially, Monica had purchased those items to annoy her mother, but the oue had been far different. Still, it was better to refrain from sharing that information.


    "Did my daughtere up with the idea of the uniforms, too?" Anastasia asked.


    "She did," Khan confirmed.


    "I educated her well," Anastasiamented, wearing a faint smile. "She knows how to send a message."


    "Are you sure you didn''t hit your head?" Khan questioned. He would have epted the praise, but the smile was too much for his brain.


    "If only you didn''t have that character," Anastasia sighed. "I suggest you avoid joking before my husband. He doesn''t like wasting time on nonsense."


    Mentioning Monica''s father brought some seriousness to Khan''s mind. He had only interacted with the man once, and the call had been too short to understand much. Still, Monica had prepared Khan for the event, and he already knew he wouldn''t like it.


    "We''ll never see eye to eye," Khan eximed.


    "No," Anastasia agreed. "You won''t."


    Khan couldn''t find anything to add to that reply, and Anastasia was in the same situation. The two remained silent during the rest of the walk, and the immense corridor eventually ended.


    The passage expanded into a big, rectangr hall featuring open and closed doors. Anastasia led the way, bringing Khan to one of those entrances, and another corridor unfolded.


    After a series of corridors and halls with different shapes, Khan and Anastasia arrived before a door that required her gic signature. She didn''t hesitate to provide it, and a vast office expanded in their eyes.


    Khan instantly became aware of the office''s furniture and details, but his focus remained on the figure behind the main desk on the other side of the ce. Monica''s father was there, with his face immersed in a series of reports, and he didn''t lift it even after Anastasia led Khan inside.


    "Take a seat," Mister Solodrey ordered in the detached tone Khan had already heard. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Anastasia let go of Khan''s elbow and pointed at the chairs before the main desk before approaching one of the armchairs lying around. Khan followed her with his senses, but his eyes remained on the man.


    Mister Solodrey hadn''t changed since thest call, but Khan could study more details now. For starters, he was a fifth-level warrior, a strong one ording to Khan''s senses. Also, the sternness in his aura created a suffocating environment.


    "Captain Khan," Mister Solodrey called since Khan had yet to move. "Don''t waste my time."


    The sternness didn''t affect Khan, and heplied after the call. He approached the main desk to sit before it, but his stance didn''t convey respect orposure.


    Mister Solodrey finally lifted his face, and his bottomless dark eyes ran over Khan a few times before returning to the reports. He didn''t show any happiness or disappointment. Even his mana remained devoid of any ripple.


    "It''s a pleasure to meet you?" Khan eximed, curious and confused.


    "I wouldn''t call it a pleasure," Mister Solodrey responded, tapping on the desk''s surface. "I have your biological report here. It says that you are a human, correct?"


    "I," Khan frowned, "I do belong to the human species."


    "Even after that?" Mister Solodrey asked, lifting his face to point at Khan''s blue hair.


    "What''s the point of this question?" Khan wondered.


    "Fertility," Mister Solodrey calmly exined. "Can you still get humans pregnant?"


    The personal nature of the question ticked Khan off. He could understand where Mister Solodrey was going, and an idea of remaining respectful vanished.


    "Monica and I would stop using precautions otherwise," Khan stated. He half-expected Anastasia to scold him, but she remained silent the whole time.


    "No," Mister Solodrey eximed. "Keep using them. You can''t have children yet."


    "What?" Khan asked.


    "On that topic," Mister Solodrey continued. "Once I clear you, you should keep their number to two, three at most. Any more than that would waste too many resources."


    "Are you implying that Monica and I must ask your permission to build a family?" Khan asked, using thest tinge of self-restraint to confirm that point.


    "Obviously," Mister Solodrey confirmed. "These family matters must be strictly regted. They can ruin multiple investments otherwise."


    "You are lucky I didn''t kidnap your investment the first time you opposed me," Khan scoffed, standing up. "We are done here."


    "I didn''t give you permission to leave," Mister Solodrey reminded.


    "Permission?" Khan repeated. "The next time you speak of Monica like that, I''ll double my debt toward the Solodrey family."


    "Captain," Anastasia intervened. "This isn''t the time for your rash manners."


    Khan peeked past his shoulder to nce at Anastasia, and the symphony shook. The synthetic mana umted above his head, condensing until a purple-red sphere formed.


    "Open the door," Khan ordered as the sphere slowly morphed into a spear, "Or I will."

 Chapter 662 Breakfast

    Chapter 662 Breakfast


    Mister and Madam Solodrey weren''t well-versed in alien arts. However, the appearance of a chaos spear showed a different pattern. Khan didn''t require any gesture or technique to cast it. It was also unclear whether he had used his mana at all.


    The event triggered Mister and Madam Solodrey''s curiosity, but the threat at hand forced them to focus. They were fifth and fourth-level warriors, so the spear didn''t pose much danger to them. Yet, the same couldn''t be said for the office.


    "Captain," Anastasia announced. "What are you trying to achieve with this?"


    "I made my stance clear," Khan replied.


    "We both know you won''t-," Anastasia began to say, but the spear suddenly shot forward,nding on the metal door and detonating.


    A violent gust of wind blew inside the office as the purple-red explosion unfolded. The furniture moved, and chairs and carpets rose into the air. Smoke also arrived, trying to fill the entire room.


    The space station had security measures for certain crises, and one was activated during the mess. Holes opened in the office''s walls, sucking the smoke away. The explosion also quieted down, and the door''s state soon became visible.


    Khan had held back with his spell, but thetter still inflicted considerable damage. The door and part of the wall had disappeared, creating a fuming and melting circr opening into the corridor.


    Anastasia couldn''t help but be shocked as her eyes inspected the hole''s charred edges. She didn''t doubt Khan could destroy that metal, but the fact that he had actually attacked stunned her. That wall was the Solodrey family''s property, and he didn''t hesitate to break it.


    As for Mister Solodrey, he remained calm in the face of the destruction. He also inspected the hole, but no emotion reached his expression.


    "I hope the next doors will open for me," Khan eximed, striding toward the hole. "There''s no need to escort me anymore."


    After that, Khan left, disappearing inside the corridor. He didn''t know where Monica had gone, but that didn''t stop him from leaving the pair of husband and wife alone.


    Anastasia followed Khan''s departing figure before focusing on the hole. The damage was consistent but nothing serious. It would still alert the guards, but Anastasia knew she had to stop them. The whole space station would be in danger otherwise.


    "You seem to enjoy this," Mister Solodreymented when a faint smile appeared on Anastasia''s face. The gesture surprised her, too, and a sigh eventually left her mouth.


    "He is shaping up to be a leader," Anastasia praised. "A rude one, perhaps, but still worthy of this family."


    "That''s not why you were happy," Mister Solodrey pointed out.


    "Well," Anastasia eximed, adjusting her hair since the explosion had ruffled it. "Hecks background, manners, money, and more, but his feelings for our daughter are genuine."


    "And a liability," Mister Solodrey added.


    "He won''t betray nor abandon her," Anastasia continued. "He is willing to go far and beyond for her. That must count for something."


    "Are you getting sentimental?" Mister Solodrey asked.


    "Maybe a bit," Anastasia admitted. "Though, he has potential, definitely more than any other suitor. He won''t bring money or assets, but that frees us from bncing benefits with other families."


    "He''ll need a lifetime to make up for what he took," Mister Solodrey pointed out.


    "And he will spend a lifetime doing that," Anastasia eximed. "He is that kind of man."


    "You have made up your mind," Mister Solodreymented.


    "It''s our daughter, Luther," Anastasia dered. "I won''t ept anything less than the best man for her."


    "And is Captain Khan the best man?" Mister Solodrey questioned.


    "He''d better be," Anastasia scoffed, tidying her dress. "I won''t forgive him for almost ruining my attire otherwise."


    "Anastasia," Mister Solodrey called. "How sure are you about this?"


    Anastasia couldn''t help but look at her husband, and the two shared a long, meaningful stare. Something bigger than the current topic was at stake, and neither needed to speak more to understand each other.


    "Our dear Monica has a shot at bing the future Matriarch with the Captain at her side," Anastasia eventually revealed.


    "That''s a lot of faith to put into a single Captain," Mister Solodrey uttered.


    "The Captain will be the best fourth-level warrior in history," Anastasia exined. "Then, the best fifth-level warrior. At that point, who''s going to stop him?"


    Mister Solodrey had the highest respect for his wife''s appraisals. He had also kept a close eye on the matter, which confirmed everything she said. Khan would definitely rise to greater positions of power. The previous stunt was the only worrying aspect.


    "He must be pointed in the right direction," Mister Solodrey eximed.


    "No," Anastasia replied. "We must point Monica in the right direction, and he will follow suit."


    The sound steps invaded the corridor, leaking into the open office. The guards wereing, and Anastasia crossed the hole to intercept them.


    "I''ll deal with this and reunite with the Captain," Anastasia announced, looking at the desk. "We''ll leave that decision for after the wedding, right?"


    "I''ll approve if everything goes well," Mister Solodrey confirmed. "Rick Rassec isn''t exactly a noble, but it''s a foot in the door."


    .


    .


    .


    The temperature in the corridors dropped whenever Khan stepped into them. The previous exchange had soured his mood so much that he couldn''t wait to leave the space station. Still, he had to retrieve Monica first.


    Admittedly, Khan didn''t know the estate''syout. He could trace his previous path back but had no idea where the third dining hall was. The synthetic mana wasn''t too reliable in those endeavors, but tremors existed, and Khan could spot those familiar to him.


    Luckily for him, the symphony helped.


    Khan crossed doors and halls looking at the seemingly empty air. The synthetic mana wasn''t too reliable in those endeavors, but tremors existed, and Khan could spot those familiar to him.


    Of course, the process wasn''t failproof since each room isted Khan from the next. Yet, after returning to the main corridor, he found the trace he was looking for and followed it deeper into the estate.


    Luckily for the estate, the doors opened without requiring additional security measures. Khan would have blown them away otherwise. Servants and guards asionally spotted him, but no one dared to approach him due to the chilling feeling around him.


    Eventually, Khan arrived in a rtively small hall. Rows of servants stood before the walls, ready to deliver drinks and food, but the table at the room''s center immediately captured his attention.


    Monica was abiding by her political training without exposing herself to ufortable situations. She was at the table, and Harris and Dennis sat beside her. Cyrus was on the other side, smiling at the sight of that peaceful conversation, but his expression suddenly froze.


    Dennis and Harris didn''t notice Cyrus'' reaction, but a chill ran down their spines anyway. They instinctively turned, only to find a stern Khan standing behind Monica''s seat.


    Monica turned before the two descendants, but her reaction was far different. Her elegant fa?ade broke into a genuine smile when she saw Khan, but his expression quickly told her something was wrong.


    "We are leaving," Khan limited himself to say, keeping his gaze on Monica. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    That short order could mean many things, but Monica didn''t dare to question Khan there. She left her drink on the table and stood up, ready to take Khan''s hand and follow him anywhere he wanted.


    Nevertheless, another door suddenly opened, and Anastasia crossed it. Her eyes swept the table, immediately understanding what was happening. She had actually predicted a simr oue.


    "The other guests are arriving," Anastasia announced, approaching the table. "Take your seats and start enjoying the refreshments."


    "We won''t stay here," Khan responded, turning toward one of the exits when Monica took his hand.


    "That would be a waste," Anastasiamented. "The servants have already prepared your room. My husband and I were hoping you''d spend the night here."


    Khan couldn''t help but halt his steps and look at Anastasia. Visiting the estate was one thing, but sleeping there was a message to the entire Solodrey family, especially in the same room. Moreover, thatst line was quite relevant before witnesses from other factions.


    "Room?" Khan asked, hinting at something Anastasia knew far too well.


    "Obviously," Anastasia dered. "Let''s not pretend you are a young couple, especially when my dear daughter is so eager to publicly announce your activities."


    The jab at Monica made her shy and created some awkwardness in the hall. Still, the couple caught the underlying meaning. Anastasia was reaffirming their rtionship, even going as far as mentioning embarrassing details.


    "Did Mister Solodrey agree to this?" Khan questioned. He appreciated Anastasia''s effort, but his mood wouldn''t give up so easily.


    "Of course," Anastasia confirmed. "We will have breakfast together tomorrow morning, the four of us."


    The invitation could be a trap, but Khan saw no ill intent in Anastasia''s mana. Actually, the matter sounded very personal. It almost seemed Monica''s parents wanted to y the happy family with Khan.


    That obviously couldn''t be farther from the truth, but the political environment worked in mysterious ways. Announcing it was the same as confirming it. Even if the breakfast didn''t happen, the other factions would still consider Khan formally epted into the family.


    Monica couldn''t help but feel excited, but her expression didn''t betray her emotions. Khan had given an order, so only he could take it back.


    Khan briefly considered the issue. His sour mood wasn''t satisfied, but the invitation was a good thing, politically and socially. Also, the idea of spending intimate time with Monica inside one of the Solodrey family''s estates waspelling, to say the least.


    Eventually, Khan ced a hand on the back of Dennis'' chair. The man held back a gulp, but the following words made himplete that gesture.


    "Stand up," Khan ordered. "I''ll have this seat."


    Dennis didn''t even hesitate toply. He shot to his feet, moving away to make enough room for Khan and Monica. Khan apanied her back to her chair before letting her hand go and sitting at her side.

 Chapter 663 Window

    Chapter 663 Window


    Guests arrived a few minutes after Khan, Monica, and Anastasia took their seats. Alonso returned with a couple of faces Khan had only seen on thework, but that wasn''t the end of it.


    The table held twenty seats, and representatives of the Solodrey family soon upied most of them. Francis and Master Amelia were also there since they had finally reached the estate.


    Moreover, the event saw the return of a few figures from the joint meeting with the Alstair family. Even Tobias showed his face, though his behavior hadpletely changed since thest time.


    "I think a toast is in order," Tobias announced, standing up once everyone filled their sses and tes. "To Captain Khan and Miss Monica. You are the envy of the entire Global Army."


    sses rose into the air as eyes fell on the couple. Monica took Khan''s hand before both toasted with the guests. Monica also mustered a smile, but Khan remained as stern as before.


    Khan''s reaction threatened to create awkwardness, but Tobias simply smiled and returned to his seat. The other guests also ignored the issue. The internal conflict felt palpable, but no one dared to investigate it.


    "We were talking about your ship earlier," Alonso intervened. "How are you finding it?"


    "It''s perfect," Khan praised. "Monica truly outdid herself."


    "Obviously," Anastasiamented. "My dear daughter might not have a license, but we educated her on the ways of pilots."


    "My Khan deserves far more than those old things from the Harbor," Monica replied.


    "He does," Anastasia confirmed. "I hope Captain Khan showed enough gratitude."


    "He did that very day," Monica responded. "I''m sure Master Amelia updated you on that."


    Anastasia nced at Master Amelia, and she cleared her throat before giving a summary. "The Captain has taken out Miss Monica multiple times afterward."


    The tension between mother and daughter didn''t help with the general awkwardness, but the people at the table knew how to handle it.


    "A single ship doesn''t really cover for what Captain Khan earned," Alonso said. "The deal on Neuria must be quite remunerative."


    "You won''t get any details from my daughter," Anastasia dered. "She knows better than to share private information."


    "I was simply praising the Captain," Alonso shook his head. "He also took it upon himself to train the young Francis, who showed results in no time."


    The guests'' attention fell on Francis. He didn''t feel good about that widespread lie, but his allegiance with Khan forced him to y his part.


    "I was lucky with the bomb," Francis revealed. "However, following Captain Khan closely did prompt me to try. I don''t know if I would have had the guts otherwise."


    "Truly an inspiring figure," Alonso eximed. "The Captain will make an incredible addition to the family."


    "Are you worried, Alonso?" Anastasia asked. "Should we expect a simr move? Dennis is at age."


    "We are holding back on Dennis for now," Alonso calmly replied. "I believe his value can still increase, and the market isn''t exactly food right now."


    Khan found the topic sickening, and Dennis''pliant smiles worsened that feeling. The descendant was entirely in agreement with being treated as mere currency. He even did his best to look happy about it, and his mana confirmed that emotion.


    Moreover, thement about the market was a jab directed at Khan and Monica. She was the most sought and beautiful descendant of the Solodrey family, and Khan had broken any conceivable record. Their rtionship had raised the bar, especially due to its poprity, so everyone else''s value had decreased.


    Still, as sour as the conversation was, Khan focused on eating. He never missed the chance to fill his stomach after experiencing life in the Slums, and that meeting wasn''t an exception.


    Political jabs flew left and right, especially between Anastasia and Alonso. asionally, Tobias and Cyrus intervened to voice randomments orpliments toward the young figures sitting at the table. Yet, everything felt meaningless. Those wealthy figures were talking just to kill time.


    Of course, Khan didn''t expect anything different. He had gotten used to those political situations, and the internal conflicts prevented serious talks. His presence there was the only relevant message, and those figures understood that.


    Eventually, food and drinks stoppeding, ending the meeting. A series of formal salutes and morepliments unfolded before the group split into multiple teams.


    Cyrus, Alonso, and their sons joined the other representatives to disappear somewhere inside the estate. Andrew reached Francis and let Master Amelia lead them toward their rooms. As for Monica and Khan, they remained with Anastasia.


    "You could have both interacted a bit more," Anastasiamented as she led the couple deeper into the estate. "These opportunities can''t happen too often."


    "I didn''t feel like it when you used my sexual exploits to introduce me," Monica stated.


    "Don''t use those words," Anastasia scoffed. "You had developed such good manners before meeting the Captain."


    "You should see what manners I developed after meeting Khan," Monica responded. "I''m not sure you have the guts to hear them, Mother."


    "We won''t share our private activities with your mother," Khan scolded.


    "Pity," Monica giggled, tightly holding Khan''s arm. "I wanted to see her reaction."


    Anastasia peeked past her shoulder to inspect the couple. She had a fitting remark for her daughter, but her genuine smile silenced her. Anastasia had never seen her so happy in her entire life.


    It also helped that Khan didn''t let Monica''s happy face distract him. He stared back at Anastasia as soon as she turned, showing the usual defensiveness that appeared when Monica was involved.


    To many, the conversation wouldn''t mean anything serious. Actually, Monica''s statements would fall on the rude side of things.


    However, Anastasia saw something different. Her daughter was happy beside a man bound to reach unfathomable heights. Thatbination was impossible in the political environment, especially for families close to the nobles. Still, there it was.


    Anastasia couldn''t help but think about her past reproaches toward Khan. The line even he had memorized popped into her mind. Happiness was supposed to be a luxury for people in her position, but that didn''t stop Khan from providing it.


    "Things will get worse," Anastasia eventuallymented, staring forward again. "Don''t disappoint."


    Anastasia didn''t mention names, so both Khan and Monica arched their eyebrows. She had basically given an order, but the couple noticed its supportive vibe.


    Theck of additional statements created a silent atmosphere thatsted throughout the walk. The trio crossed corridors and halls, iming the attention of any bystander, be it a representative or servant. Still, they eventually arrived at a vast, empty area featuring a series of distant doors, and Anastasia stopped before one of them.


    "Breakfast will be early," Anastasia announced, stepping aside to make room for Monica and Khan. "The room will warn you, but I expect perfect punctuality."


    Monica wanted to tease her mother, but the surprise from the previousment still lingered in her brain. Right now, she only desired to be alone with Khan to question him about her father.


    "Also, drop these uniforms," Anastasia continued. "You''ll have wardrobes full of new clothes to choose from. I presume you can at least do that."


    Neither Khan nor Monica argued with that. They wouldn''t necessarilyply with the order, but considering it in the open wouldn''t help anyone.


    "Rest well," Anastasia added. "We''ll talk more tomorrow."


    Anastasia didn''t wait for formal goodbyes and left, slowly crossing the vast area before disappearing behind a door. Monica and Khan followed her with their eyes, but their room eventually imed their attention.


    Khan pressed on the door, which acknowledged his gic signature and opened. A vast space immediately unfolded in his eyes, but the window on the other side made him forget everything else.


    The door expanded into a big living room filled with couches. An immense bathroom was on the right, and an equally vast bedroom was on the left. The ce wasn''t as big as the Harbor''s t but reeked of luxury. Still, the window remained its mostpelling detail.


    Khan stepped forward, leaving Monica behind as he crossed the living hall and reached the window. The darkness of the universe and its distant stars filled it, and touching the ss opened menus that could enhance that scenery.


    The window didn''t rece the entire wall but was by no means small. It started from Khan''s waist and stretched to the tall ceiling, expanding in both directions to share its beauty with the bathroom and bedroom. The menus obviously gave the option to darken it, but few would take it.


    "This is a royal suite," Monicamented as she reached Khan''s right and leaned her head on his shoulder. "My parents are trying to bribe us."


    The couple held hands while the beauty of space imed their gazes. Khan and Monica stood silently before the window, enjoying the scenery and themselves. Part of them wanted that moment tost forever, but they had problems to address first.


    "What happened with my father?" Monica asked without moving from Khan''s shoulder.


    "He tried to have a say in when and how we''ll have children," Khan summarized. "I blew up his office''s door and left."


    Monica left Khan''s shoulder to stare at his face. She had learned to expect anything from him, but that development still shocked her.


    "And my mother decided to let us spend the night here afterward," Monica eximed.


    "Apparently," Khan voiced, his eyes still lost on the window.


    "Are the previousments?" Monica questioned.


    "If I had to guess," Khan replied, "They are nning our engagement."


    Monica felt the urge to step back, but her hand continued to hold Khan''s. She knew that moment would arrive. She desired it from the bottom of her heart. Yet, now that things were truly getting serious, she felt light-headed due to her bursting emotions.


    Khan shared Monica''s mental state but had a better time enduring it. Part of him feared that important step, but his love was undeniable. Even if it were too early, he would dly wee that moment.


    Monica let Khan go and inspected her hand. Her ring was still there, and thinking about giving it an official meaning put a bright smile on her face. Still, seeing that Khan had yet to turn toward her created some annoyance.


    A change in the symphony forced Khan to turn, and his pupils widened with lust when he found Monica on her knees. Her smile had turned yful as she reached for the edge of Khan''s pants, and the gesture alone was enough to trigger the desired reaction.


    "Since we are in my family''s estate," Monica teased, "I should do everything in my power to bring some shame on myself. Do you agree?"


    Khan didn''t reply. His fingers dug into Monica''s curls as his underwear went down, and the pleasure that followed made him forget about the window for many hours.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 664 Mine

    Chapter 664 Mine


    The night passed quickly, and a message reached the suite as early as Anastasia had promised. Khan and Monica had to leave the bed and prepare for the political breakfast, and their arrival in the open caused some uproar.


    Servants were waiting for the couple outside their room, and their eyes inevitably fell on their attire. Khan and Monica had changed into elegant clothes, but their intentions had nothing to do with Anastasia. Monica simply wanted everyone to see the marks of their passion.


    Khan wore a white shirt, highlighting the big, dark hickey on the right side of his neck. That mark had threatened to fade due to his incredible healing capabilities, but Monica took care of that.


    As for Monica, her neck had a barely visible mark, but her dress'' cleavage revealed morepromising details. Khan had nted one hickey right under her corbone and another lower on her chest. Her clothes partially hid it, but spotting it hinted at where it went.


    Of course, the servants didn''t dare to stare. Still, they weren''t blind, and rumors were bound to spread once they finished escorting the couple to the appointed location, which was exactly what Monica wanted.


    The servants led the couple to a rtively small, empty dining hall before departing. Khan and Monica remained alone and seated at one side of the table. There were only four chairs, so they made sure to be close.


    The two didn''t exchange words and focused on waiting for Monica''s parents, but only servants appeared whenever the doors opened. Thetter prepared the table for breakfast, filling it with food before departing once again.


    Khan didn''t care about manners and ate without waiting for Monica''s parents. Monicaughed at his never-ending hunger and joined him with alcohol-free drinks. She wasn''t big at breakfasts, but fighting back thatteness felt mandatory.


    Luckily for the couple, Anastasia and Luther didn''t make them wait too long. Monica''s parents soon entered the dining room and strode directly for the empty chairs. It seemed they had predicted those arrangements, but the visible hickeys still briefly distracted them.


    Monica''s smile brightened when she saw her parents inspecting her marks, but her father quickly disregarded them. Instead, Anastasia allowed herself to heave a helpless sigh.


    "Why the tasteless act?" Anastasia asked. "The entire Global Army is aware of your private routine."


    "I wasn''t the one trying to put rules on my womb, Mother," Monica replied, "And you taught me to address insults."


    Monica inevitably red at her father, but Luther merely ignored her. He remained detached even before Khan''s pressure. He didn''t seem to care whether the young couple agreed or disagreed with his directives.


    "I should be d I approved the birth control," Anastasia sighed again.


    "You should," Monica confirmed, "Especially sincest night."


    Truth be told, Monica was livid about the matter, but the real target of her anger didn''t give her any edge. Luther even fueled her fire by filling his te and ignoring the conversation. His expression remained still, no matter how much his daughter spoke about sex.


    "The purpose of this meeting wasn''t only to reaffirm our support toward your rtionship," Luther finally spoke, ignoring the previous bickering. "I also wanted to confirm that your preparations for the wedding are going well."


    Rick''s wedding was a high-profile event, one of the highest even. The involvement of a noble family made Luther''s concern and interest more than justified. Still, the couple wasn''t in the mood to respect him so soon.


    "If you need additional support," Luther continued, "Our faction already has experts in ce. They can provide assistance immediately."


    "You educated me thoroughly for such events," Monica dered, "And I shared my knowledge with Khan. We are fine on our own."


    "I''m aware of your training," Luther stated. "However, time will be against you."


    The marriage was less than three months away, which was plenty of time if the couple prepared seriously, especially since Monica didn''t need actual training. Luther had to know that, so his words gained a different meaning.


    "Are there problems in Neuria?" Khan asked.


    "Not problems," Anastasia intervened. "Still, reminding the aliens and our workers of our involvement is standard practice. Besides, my dear Monica shouldn''t waste this opportunity."


    Both Khan and Monica knew Anastasia was right. By spending more time on Neuria, Monica would have a higher chance of obtaining opportunities with the Thilku. Those might not arrive immediately, but the Empire would be bound to update its records about her.


    Needless to say, the news saddened Monica. She knew she couldn''t always be with Khan while both worked to improve their political positions. Still, she wished for that break to be longer.


    Khan shared that mindset, but the statement sent his thoughts into a specific direction. His rtionship with the Thilku was currently odd due to the intentional leak of his achievements. He half-expected Lord Exr to contact him soon, and Monica''s departure would create that chance.


    Monica knew she had no choice on the matter, so she held back a sigh, steeled her resolve, and asked the only relevant question. "When?"


    "By the end of the week," Anastasia revealed. "Preparations are currently ongoing."


    Monica didn''t ask how long her stay would be since no one could answer that. Chances were that she would return only when the marriage became too close to ignore, which prompted her next statement.


    "Khan doesn''t need additional training," Monica dered. "I vouch for him."


    That was the expected reply. Anastasiapletely agreed with that stance. Monica had to protect her rtionship and keep adding value to it. Yet, the marriage was too important, and Anastasia had hoped her daughter would be more flexible because of it.


    "Monica," Anastasia called.


    "Very well," Luther interrupted. "We''ll save money on the experts. However, there is another matter at hand."


    Luther slipped a hand into his suit to retrieve a small container. He ced it on the table before sliding it forward, making it stop right Khan''s eyes darted between Luther and the container, and theck of additional exnations made him drop his food. He opened the before Khan.


    Khan''s eyes darted between Luther and the container, and theck of additional exnations made him drop his food. He opened the rectangr item, and a disk unfolded in his view.


    "The Lightning-demon style only scored seventy-eight points," Luther announced. "It''s time you upgraded it." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan couldn''t hide his curiosity, and his hand instinctively reached for the disk. However, his fingers stopped right before the item. That was different from Monica''s present. Her parents didn''t have his best interests in mind.


    "Why are you giving me this?" Khan asked, his cold gaze rising toward Luther.


    "A member of the Solodrey family shouldn''t have anything less than high-level martial arts," Luther exined, "Especially one in a rtionship with my daughter."


    Monica couldn''t help but be happy about the matter. She knew the political implications of the gift, but her mind only cared about Khan''s safety. As long as he got stronger, he would always return to her.


    However, Khan could read between the lines and spot a differentyer. Getting stronger was his top priority, and Luther was handing him that chance for free, but the deal had drawbacks.


    "You don''t want to increase my status," Khan stated, closing the container. "You want to tie my future achievements to your generosity."


    "Don''t be difficult, Khan," Anastasia responded, surprising Monica with herck of honorifics. "It''s a win-win situation, and this isn''t the time to be petty."


    "I see plenty of losses," Khan pointed out. "If implications of grooming appear, I wouldn''t be any different from the other descendants."


    "Think about my daughter," Anastasia snorted. "I told you already. You can''t afford to face dangers unprepared."


    "You think of me as unprepared," Khanmented. "I thought I showed you the extent of my power."


    Khan pointed a finger to the ceiling before adding something. "Do you think buying this energy makes it yours?"


    The symphony shook, and currents of synthetic mana gathered to condense into bright, purple-red masses. Soon, ten needles materialized above Khan, which began to spin ording to the movement of his finger.


    "The mana is mine," Khan dered. "It belongs to me in ways you''ll never understand."


    Luther retained his detached expression, but Anastasia''s eyes briefly betrayed her. Multiple relevant forces in the Global Army had studied Khan''s ability closely, keeping track of all his improvements. Yet, even when standing before them, Anastasia had no idea what was happening.


    The mana was a magical energy on its own, but Khan''s performance went beyond that. The world bent under his will, aplishing mystical feats humankind couldn''t exin.


    The needles soon dispersed, bing invisible energy that disappeared into the air. Khan even lowered his hand, and a question escaped his mouth. "Do you call this unprepared?"


    Anastasia and Luther didn''t reply. Their brainscked words to address the event, and their mouths remained shut even after Khan pushed the container toward their side of the table. He had won that exchange.


    The rest of the breakfast passed silently, and Monica couldn''t suppress the proud smile on her face even after the couple returned to the ship. The flight to the nearest teleport inevitably suffered dys due to her mood, but the two eventually returned to their t in the Harbor.


    "Hurry," Monica cried, jumping on Khan as soon as they left the elevator. "Take me to bed."


    The entirety of Khan''s resolve couldn''t make him deny that request, especially when Monica had arms and legs wrapped around his neck and waist. Of course, he didn''t even think of trying, but something else ruined that moment.


    The walls rang, showing one of the few names Khan couldn''t ignore. Mister Cirvags was calling him, and he epted that request among Monica''s loud curses.


    "Captain Khan," Mister Cirvags announced, "Lord Exr has requested a meeting. I''ll forward the relevant information in the next minutes."

 Chapter 665 Terms

    Chapter 665 Terms


    The relevant information arrived, and a series of unstoppable events unfolded in the following days. Khan and Monica found themselves with work to do, forcing them to split once the weekend approached.


    An interesting development prevented Khan from using his ship. Entering the Empire''s territory had always required multiple security measures, but the specific destination increased their number. Surprisingly enough, Lord Exr had appointed Cegnore for the meeting.


    Curious eyes full of respect unfolded in Khan''s vision as soon as he reached the space stations upied by Thilku. Those aliens had heard about his exploits, earning him boundless honor. Still, he ignored those reactions to focus on crossing the security measures.


    The Thilku didn''t show their respect only through silent reactions. When Khan reached thest part of the trip, the aliens led him to one of the Empire''s circr ships. It seemed they had no intention of hiding their technology anymore.


    Moreover, the Thilku didn''t put Khan inside an isted room. They allowed his presence at the main desk, granting him ess to the screens and scanners inspecting their surroundings.


    That level of security clearance showed Khan''s new status inside the Empire. He stillcked the red cape, but that trip told him he was getting closer.


    Another surprising scene soon distracted Khan from the proof of his results. As the ship crossed Cegnore''s atmosphere, a tall building appeared on the screens, and Khan immediately noticed massive differences from hisst time there.


    Cegnore''s air was dangerous due to the infection, so humankind and the Empire relied on buildings that isted them from the outside world. However, the scanners now showed a vast terrace with soldiers and arge gazebo.


    Seeing soldiers in the open was shocking, but the scanners had more surprises. As the ship grew closer, Khan spotted balconies and open spaces iconic of the Thilku''s style. The building didn''t care about Cegnore''s air at all, and numbers inevitably popped into Khan''s head.


    ''I left Cegnore only two months ago,'' Khan thought. ''Did they decontaminate the entire already?'' n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Even with technology''s incredible prowess, Khan couldn''t believe that im. Poisoning the''s entire underground array of rivers couldn''t take so little, and the same went for clearing any remnant of the infection.


    The ship headed directly for the terrace,nding in the appointed empty spot before unlocking its doors. Cegnore''s air filled the vehicle, but the soldiers didn''t experience any fear. Khan didn''t know whether they had ingested special tablets, but thepleteck of worry hinted at the general safety.


    A Thilku escorted Khan out, and the areas under the gazebo became visible. Khan saw more soldiers, but only the figure sitting at a short table was worth his attention.


    Lord Exr was there, proudly staring at Khan. A faint smile shone on his face, but Khan ignored it to nce at the horizon past the terrace. He still heard the call, but it was vague and aimless. Itcked its usual strength and intensity.


    ''Are the Nak''s traces too distant?'' Khan wondered. ''Or is this sensationing from the remains in the symphony?''


    Khan had to exclude the possibility of the infection still blowing through the air, but that didn''t point him toward a specific answer. However, he could guess the Thilku had done a good job at clearing the area, and the process had probably stretched far past the current quadrant.


    "I listened to your suggestion, Captain Khan," Lord Exr announced, pointing at the pillow on the other side of the table. "It''s working."


    Lord Exr''s decision to use the humannguage confirmed Khan''s status as a guest, but he found no reassurance in that. Mister Cirvags didn''t tell him the reason behind that meeting, so he would have to fish it out from the Thilku.


    "[My Lord]," Khan eximed, meeting Lord Exr''s gaze while approaching the empty pillow. "The Empire''s efficiency ismendable."


    "This has been," Lord Exr said before sorting his thoughts to find the right words, "A pain for too long. Colonizing it will bolster morale."


    Lord Exr didn''t say it, but Khan understood that the Empire was sparing no resource to quicken Cegnore''s upation. The effort also made sense, considering its shortage of manpower. Dealing with the would free thousands of soldiers in a single move.


    "It can still be dangerous," Khan pointed out, sitting on the pillow.


    "A leader must show his face to his troops," Lord Exr stated. "They''ll forget about him otherwise."


    Lord Exr pushed a cup and a few bowls toward Khan''s side of the table before gathering food for himself. The feast had been long since ready, and Khan didn''t hesitate to dive into it.


    "My instincts about you were right," Lord Exr promptly continued. "I knew we would eventually understand each other."


    Khan didn''t need to question Lord Exr. He knew he was talking about his suggestion to poison Cegnore''s waters. That was a practice worthy of a Thilku but hade out straight from Khan''s mouth.


    "I loathe wasting lives," Khan dered, "And I did solve your problem."


    Khan''s new stance amused Lord Exr. The Thilku still recalled how startled he was when he blew up the sea station. Now, Lord Exr felt he was sitting before apletely different man, someone he liked more than before.


    "My troops have given you a name," Lord Exr changed the topic. "They call you [Blue shaman] now."


    "I''ve had worse names," Khan replied.


    "I''m sure you did," Lord Exr uttered, grabbing his drink. "Though, you are correct. You solved my problem."


    Khan gulped down a mouthful of worms before sipping his drink. He didn''t expect Lord Exr to hand him a cape, but his braincked other hypotheses. He didn''t know what to expect other than that.


    "You earned a debt of pride with the Empire," Lord Exr continued. "Repaying it is mandatory."


    "You leaked ssified information to the Global Army," Khan reminded.


    "Did that help?" Lord Exr wondered. "Human politics value achievements, especially when connected to the Empire."


    "It did help," Khan admitted. "A red cape would help more."


    "The Empire doesn''t hand them easily," Lord Exrmented, smiling. "You shouldn''t mention them so casually either."


    "But I am," Khan dered. "So?"


    Lord Exr''s smile vanished as he put down the cup. He wasn''t blinded by his pride like his underlings, especially toward someone who had earned his impudence. Still, gifts weren''t the Empire''s style. Everyone had work to do, even political allies.


    "The Empire doesn''t need additional connections," Lord Exr stated. "However, the [Blue shaman] is a valuable asset, and Captain Khan has useful connections."


    Khan remained silent. That initial part hinted at more missions, which he didn''t mind. He had actually never expected Lord Exr to give in so easily.


    "How much of a leader are you?" Lord Exr suddenly asked.


    "I''m no leader," Khan instinctively said.


    "Of course you are," Lord Exr uttered. "You are a Captain, and you did give orders to my troops. Ambassador Abores couldn''t have done that."


    Khan managed to read between the lines. Comparing him to Ambassador Abores revealed the true nature of the question. Lord Exr didn''t want a simple exceptional soldier or a useful shaman. He needed a figure who could be both while also having an influence on the Global Army.


    "[My Lord]," Khan called. "I thought you had to do the favor, not the other way around."


    "I am," Lord Exr confirmed. "No one gets so close to the Empire so quickly. Your current leeway is what you earned, with an addition of personal favoritism."


    Khan knew he was rising far faster than the average political figure. Yet, due to his efforts, the Empire had gained a and new trade routes. Requesting for influence over the Global Army crossed an invisible line.


    That thought didn''te from loyalty toward humankind. Khan had simply acknowledged his value now. He would pay any price Lord Exr asked, but the rewards had to be appropriate and clear.


    "Ambassador Abores won''t do," Lord Exr exined himself. "My Lord agrees with me. You are to take his ce."


    "What ce?" Khan questioned. Mister Cirvags had long since agreed to keep him separated from Ambassador Abores. Khan had no idea what his current tasks involved.


    "Every ce," Lord Exr responded. "The tasks within the Empire and those within the Global Army."


    Lord Exr probably didn''t know the inner workings of the embassy, but Khan could trante that request into the human environment. He would have to take over Ambassador Abores'' office to fulfill that role and have enough resources toplete eventual jobs.


    Khan wasn''t delusional. He immediately epted that he wasn''t ready for that position. The Harbor had taught him much, but his special sses only involved the job as a scout, and his senses made up for hisck of experience there.


    Instead, epting the offer would turn Khan into a factual Ambassador without the title. Theoretically, that was an excellent opportunity for multiple reasons. Khan had wanted something simr to happen. However, that approach would earn him a big headache.


    It was one thing for Khan to get promotions based purely on merit. It was different to bring others down to elevate himself. Surpassing his peers through sheer training and resolve would earn envy, but costing someone''s position would lead to enmity.


    "Can you do it, Captain Khan?" Lord Exr pressed on before Khan''s silence.


    Khan had already epted inside his mind, but the issue deserved more thought. He knew he couldn''t reach apromise since the Empire had limited spots for Ambassadors. Someone had to go to make room for Khan.


    Still, Ambassador Abores had friends in high ces, and his title spoke for himself. He was a political enemy Khan would prefer to avoid, but theck of alternatives showed a single viable path.


    "I will do it," Khan confirmed, "But it will be on my terms."


    "What are your terms?" Lord Exr asked.


    "I choose when this recement takes ce," Khan dered. "Also, I want benefits worthy of an Ambassador, including a clear sight on the capes."


    The second part of the request was relevant for multiple reasons, but Khan mainly cared about the first. Making political enemies was inevitable, but he might stave off some annoying repercussions if he could secure his position during and after the marriage.

 Chapter 666 Shaman

    Chapter 666 Shaman


    Khan''s thoughts began to scream as soon as he returned to his t in the Harbor. The sudden political development forced him to consider countless dangerous repercussions, and his best advisor wasn''t avable.


    In the end, Lord Exr had agreed to Khan''s terms, which was good news, but also put a countdown above his head. Khan nned to make his move after the wedding, which gave him little longer than two months to prepare.


    ''I will make new allies at the wedding,'' Khan thought, crossing the empty t to dig through his stash of booze. ''Princess Edna might be there, too. The Solodrey family might also go for the engagement.''


    Khan couldn''t help but stop at thatst thought. His brain also went silent, letting a cozy warmth overwhelm it. Even with all his fears, Khan looked forward to that potential event.


    Nevertheless, the stakes were too high to remain still, and Khan quickly snapped out of his smitten state to focus on the issue. Recing an Ambassador was no easy matter, and Khan wasn''t sure he could do that silently.


    ''Seeding isn''t a problem,'' Khan considered, sitting on a couch and connecting his phone to a desk.


    The Empire had the upper hand in those political intricacies. Lord Exr only had to say the word, and the Global Army would rece Ambassador Abores with Khan.


    However, the event would lead to two inevitable issues. The first involved Ambassador Abores'' hatred and the second Khan''s partial ipetence.


    Khan activated the desk, sending holograms into the air. He initially wanted to search for information about Ambassador Abores, but his fingers stopped before it was toote.


    The Global Army had ways to learn about Khan''s studies. He would also look for ssified information, which was bound to leave tracks. That was akin to warning Ambassador Abores that something wasing.


    ''He knows this world far better than me,'' Khan thought, bringing the bottle to his mouth. ''I have to wait for the marriage.''


    Of course, Khan considered more forceful courses of action. His mana and new stance preferred them, but politics weren''t something he could defeat with kicks and spells. He would try if he were alone, but other parts of his life would suffer now, and he couldn''t allow it.


    Truth be told, Khan had already researched Ambassador Abores in the past, but his study wasn''t as thorough as he needed. That created some regret, but Khan could only ignore it and focus on what was within his grasp.


    Khan''s fingers eventually touched the holograms, sending them to thework to retrieve specific information. He couldn''t research Ambassador Abores, but the subjects rted to that field were another matter altogether. Someone might suspect something, but Khan had never hidden his desire to be an Ambassador anyway.


    The Ambassador-rted topics were only half of Khan''s projects. Even with the Harbor''s education, two months weren''t enough to be ready for that position. He had topensate with something else, which had toe in the form of personal power in his situation.


    The holograms split into two screens. One showed advanced subjects that explored anything rted to the position Lord Exr wanted Khan to seize. Instead, the other focused on the Thilku runes, which was Khan''s current main project.


    Khan immersed himself in his studies, showing the determination and concentration that had always separated him from the other descendants. The world around him disappeared for many hours, but some restlessness eventually arrived.


    Studying on a couch had its limits. Besides, Khan had already stabilized his first personal version of the Thilku runes. He could bring that training to the next level, and his legs moved on their own to pursue that goal.


    Khan left the t, seizing the first cab to reach a district filled with training halls. He obviously chose the best among them, and a series of metal puppets soon formed a line before him.


    ''I need to seed,'' Khan almost ordered himself. ''I must seed now.''


    The recent training sessions had made guidelines pointless. Khan didn''t need a puppet with the [Blood Vortex]''s marks anymore. Those lines had be one with his mind, allowing him to proceed with the experiments without wasting additional time.


    Khan approached the process methodically, starting from the leftmost puppet and applying his bright lines to its chest. He created a slightly intricate rune before pressing it on the metal surface to activate its functions.


    The symphony shook, and Khan sprinted backward. The rune sent mana into the metal surface until the entire puppet detonated, sending fuming debris everywhere.


    The detonation damaged a few nearby puppets, but Khan didn''t care. His tab on the Harbor was basically bottomless, so he didn''t mind wasting resources. Instead, he focused on the grey smoke left behind by the explosion.


    ''Fuck,'' Khan cursed, crouching on the floor and running his hands through his hair. ''I need to calm down.''


    Khan had crossed that phase of the experiments, so he knew what he had done wrong. His impatient mood had made him put too much mana into the rune, causing a fatal w that led to the explosion.


    "Fuck!" Khan shouted, pointing his hand at the damaged puppets.


    The symphony around the damaged puppets churned, creating multiple purple-red spots in the air that expanded before detonating. The training dummies could only crumble under that violent mana, and even the floor threatened to crack. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan noticed thatst detail and sat down. He couldn''t afford to destroy another training hall. Headmistress Holwen would probably forgive him again, but Khan didn''t want to deal with that.


    Still, the issue remained. Khan needed that experiment to seed. He didn''t only want his new version of the [Blood Vortex] to resume training at a faster pace. He also desired to unlock that field to grow even stronger and famous.


    ''The more I want it,'' Khan sighed, ''The less careful I am.''


    Khan took a deep breath, doing his best to calm down. Those experiments required utmost control and a cold, analytical mind. He was creating something new, fusing different alien arts, so he had to think like a scientist.


    Silent minutes passed as Khan kept his eyes closed to remain inside his mind. He reviewed the subject, his tests, and his results to spot potential ws and wrong approaches. Many things popped out, but Khan couldn''t pinpoint his failures to anything specific.


    ''It can be one or all of them,'' Khan realized.


    To make things worse, Khan couldn''t consult anyone. He didn''t only want to keep his experiments a secret. The human scientists wouldn''t know what to say. That was apletely new field that touched multiple arts. He was probably the sole expert in the universe who could differentiate between right and wrong.


    ''Humans created spells in the middle of a destroyed and without guidelines,'' Khan recalled. ''I have endless resources, and my eyes see the mana. How am I even failing?''


    Of course, Khan knew humankind paid a hefty price for that achievement. Humans lost limbs and straight-up died during the spells-rted experiments. Still, he had destroyed more than enough puppets to match that cost.


    The problem didn''t have a precise answer. At least, Khan couldn''t find it while pondering on the floor. His mind even started wavering, sending his thoughts to the recent meeting.


    ''[Blue shaman] my ass,'' Khan cursed. ''What do they even know about real shamans?''


    Admittedly, the Empire had expanded far and wide. They had probably met multiple species with experts that matched that description, but Khan felt pissed anyway. He wasn''t anything like those wise figures. He had merely stolen a series of different techniques and meshed them together to create something resembling alien art.


    Khan couldn''t help but linger on the topic. His mind went back a few years, reminding him of his first encounter with Zalpa. He recalled the smell of blood, the hanging corpses, and the gory rituals. Techniques belonging to the world even rested inside his chest, ready toe out to protect him.


    ''That''s a real shaman,'' Khan thought, ''Not someone ying with mana.''


    Khan lifted his gaze, and some hatred arrived at the sight of the metal puppets. Neither Niqols nor Nele would deal with the matter like that. They would probably avoid using anything artificial altogether.


    ''That''s it!'' Khan eximed, his eyes lighting up.


    Khan jumped to his feet, sprinting toward the puppets to stop before one of them. He inspected the dummy, running his fingers over its surfaces to experience its coldness. That thing was dead. It had never been alive. It was nothing like his body.


    ''I''m sorry, Monica,'' Khan sighed. ''This is who I am.''


    Ideally, Khan wouldn''t do anything to make Monica worry. However, harsh and dangerous measures were necessary to achieve the impossible. Lord Exr wanted him to go against an Ambassador, so he had to do what he had always done. He would apologize to Monicater.


    Khan retreated, sending the puppets toward the walls to have the entire hall for himself. He closed his eyes while raising his hand, and his fingers began drawing lines on mana that hovered before him.


    The previous experiments had focused on metal surfaces, but Khan had something entirely different in mind now. He focused on himself, making the proper adjustments while giving birth to the rune. Then, he mmed it on his chest without showing any hesitation.

 Chapter 667 Intense

    Chapter 667 Intense


    Everything became a messy blur. Pain and other intense feelings red, hindering the otherwise permanent rity of Khan''s senses. He lost control of his body and mind, and darkness often reced his vision.


    A foul stench eventually invaded Khan''s nostrils, awakening him from that confused state. He found himself elbows and knees on the floor, facing a puddle of puke. Thick drops of sweat fell from his forehead, and a line of saliva still connected his mouth to the disgusting liquid below.


    Khan mustered his strength to push himself to his right, ending with his back on the floor. A sharp pain red from his chest, but he disregarded it and closed his eyes. Something far worse than wounds was afflicting his body.


    A dense, scorching snake was slithering through Khan''s rib cage. He felt it moving left and right, causing violent reactions in every inch of flesh it touched.


    The snake had no fixed form or texture. It didn''t even have a body. It was a mass of energy that Khan''s flesh rejected and that his mana didn''t hesitate to assault.


    Khan dived into his mind and took a deep breath before summoning the clicking cry. His back arched as res of violent mana flew everywhere, carrying the synthetic energy with them.


    The process hurt. That violent discharge of energy worsened the injuries on the chest, and sending away the synthetic mana opened new ones. Still, Khan immediately felt better afterward, and his back rxed on the floor.


    The sweat on Khan''s back spread some cozy coldness. Khan nestled on the floor, taking long breaths to calm himself down. He still hurt, but restoring his awareness came first.


    Slowly, Khan''s awareness regained its full strength, and his breath stabilized. He sensed everything once again, including the mess on his chest.


    Khan peeked at his chest, and a groan followed. A big hole had appeared on his uniform, leaving burned edges behind. Moreover, the flesh above his rib cage had turned red due to all the blood flowing from his injuries.


    The wounds followed the rune''s lines but were deeper than what the [Blood Vortex] could produce. The suction force had been too intense, and Khan''s flesh had paid the price.


    Khan groaned again when he tore away the upper part of his uniform and used it to wipe off the blood. The true nature of his injuries became visible, showing their seriousness. They wouldn''t leave a scar if he were lucky, but bandages seemed necessary.


    ''Why is it always like this?'' Khan cursed, mming the back of his head on the floor.


    Of course, Khan had expected that oue. He had basically looked for it by pursuing that reckless path. His curse had been nothing more than an instinctive response.


    ''My advantagese from my traumas,'' Khan recalled, ''And my happiness from the blood on my hands. I guess I can add chest to that now.''


    Khan snickered, but a third groan followed since a new wave of pain arrived. He needed to get patched up, but the cold floor felt toofortable. Besides, his now-clear brain was already reviewing the experiment.


    The experiment had seeded. Actually, it had gone far better than Khan had expected. He had initially nned to stop everything before synthetic mana seeped into his body, but the process had been too fast.


    Khan saw that as good news. The technique didn''t only work. It was faster than the [Blood Vortex]. Its side effects were also harsher, but Khan could work on them and find the right bnce.


    ''Though not here,'' Khan thought. ''The synthetic mana will truly kill me otherwise.''


    Khan mustered his strength and straightened his back to sit on the floor. He tinkered with the hall''s menus to summon the cleaning robots before moving to his contacts to call a specific figure.


    "Miss Bevet," Khan eximed once the call went through. "I hope I''m not disturbing."


    "Never, Captain," Ca replied in a happy tone. "I''m happy you called. I have so much to ask about your recent trip."


    "I merely visited one of the Solodrey family''s establishments," Khan stated. "It''s hardly gossip-worthy."


    "On the contrary," Ca giggled, "But you never give this old woman any satisfaction."


    "I like to keep my private life private," Khan admitted.


    "Such a protective man," Ca sighed. "You will make my heart skip a beat."


    "Miss Bevet, please," Khan chuckled. "Monica will have my head if she hears you talking like this."


    "Jealous women are tough to handle," Camented, "But they can be incredibly rewarding, aren''t they?"


    "I do agree," Khan nodded. "I wouldn''t have it any other way."


    "Stop it, you yer," Ca teased. "Don''t make me hate my age more than I already do." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I''ll do my best," Khanughed.


    "Did something happen, Captain?" Ca wondered. "Your voice sounds off."


    "I''ve juste out of a training session," Khan summarized, "Which brings me to the reason behind this call. I need a favor."


    "Ask away," Ca said, intrigued. "If it''s within my power, I''ll dly do it."


    "I''d need a special greenhouse," Khan exined. "Ideally, something that won''t cost too much repairing."


    "Are you nning on doing something dangerous in my greenhouses?" Ca questioned.


    "I called first," Khan pointed out.


    "How polite," Ca joked. "The type of nts isn''t important, right?"


    "No," Khan confirmed. "The ce doesn''t need to be big either. I just need some working room."


    "I''ll see what I can do," Ca said. "Maybe I can coordinate with the Headmistress to turn a training hall into a greenhouse."


    "That would be fantastic," Khan eximed, "But I''m fine with anything."


    "Let me get back at you, Captain," Ca announced. "I''ll update you as soon as I know something.


    "Thank you, Miss Bevet," Khan replied. "I''ll pay you back."


    "I haven''t done anything yet," Ca chuckled. "Besides, I told you. I''m a fan. I wouldn''t miss the chance to help you."


    "Thank you again," Khan stated. "I hope to hear from you soon."


    "You will," Ca promised, and the call ended.


    ''That''s done,'' Khan sighed, exploring his contacts to request a cab. ''Now, I should probably see a doctor.''


    .


    .


    .


    Two months passed in a blink. Khan immersed himself in his training and studies, barely appearing in public or returning to his t. He worked himself like a machine, and results finally started arriving.


    Nevertheless, as the month approached its end, important duties became impending, forcing the interested parties to move. Those events affected Monica, too, who was summoned back to the Harbor in a hurry.


    A series of well-dressed figures followed Monica as she stepped onto her building''s sidewalk. She instinctively quickened her pace due to her desire to see Khan, but spotting Andrew before the entrance forced a sigh out of her.


    "Wait here," Monica ordered to the well-dressed figures before reaching Andrew. The two briefly chatted, and another helpless sigh escaped her mouth.


    "I must make a short trip," Monica announced when she returned to the well-dressed figures. "You can make yourselves at home in my t in the meantime."


    "Miss Solodrey," One of the figures, a middle-aged woman, called. "We have orders to have you on the ship by the end of the day."


    "You will," Monica promised. "Now, if you would excuse me."


    Monica performed an elegant bow before making her way back into the cab. The ride immediately set off, and Andrew took care of escorting the well-dressed figures inside.


    A tinge of anxiety invaded Monica when she checked her phone. It was still early, but that often wasn''t enough with the involved parties. They weren''t used to dys or hindrances. They ordered, and everyoneplied.


    The anxiety intensified when Monica reached the hidden floor upied by the various branches of the scientific field. She knew that Khan asionally trained there, but her knowledge only worsened her feelings. Monica almost expected to find him in a puddle of his own blood, disfigured beyond recognition.


    After crossing a series of security measures, Monica finally found a soldier willing to escort her to Khan''s current location. The two rode a car into a district full ofbs, stopping before a structure that led to a descending staircase.


    "Wait here," Monica ordered, diving into the staircase. The soldierplied and diverted her gaze while she disappeared into the darkness of theb.


    Monica had already obtained clearance for the area, so she only had to press the door at the end of the staircase to open it. A captivating scent immediately blew over her, and dim, bluish lights shone on her eyes. She saw rows of vases with beautiful white roses stretching in every direction, but her attention quickly went to the end of the hall.


    The anxiety disappeared when Monica noticed the figure sitting cross-legged on the floor. Khan was facing her, showing hispleteck of injuries. As surprising as it sounded, even his bare torso was okay.


    Khan opened his eyes, and the air shook. An eerie intensity filled the hall, and some of the roses'' petals fell due to its weight. Monica could almost feel Khan''s thoughts stretching toward her, and her pupils widened under their touch.


    An ordinary soldier would sweat under that pressure, but Monica loved every aspect of it. Her breath grew louder as her lips split, and warmth spread through her abdomen. The long separation was to me for that immediate reaction, but Monica didn''t make excuses. She knew her body belonged to Khan.


    Khan slowly stood up, generating a soft breeze. His eyes seemed to shine as Monica continued to monopolize them. He sprinted forward, teleporting before his girlfriend, and her face instinctively gained an eager expression.


    Monica didn''t know what had happened, but everything about Khan had intensified. His presence, frame, and even scent had gotten harder to ignore. His being had be too much for human senses, and Monica felt drawn to it.


    "Is it time?" Khan asked, and Monica shook when his voice reached her. She would have even gasped if her mind weren''t onpletely different thoughts.


    "The attendants from the Rassec family are here," Monica exined, leaning forward. "They are waiting for us."


    "Noted," Khan stated, catching Monica and lifting her chin. She knew she had to say something and stop that development, but her mind went nk when their lips met.

 Chapter 668 Lieutenant Colonel

    Chapter 668 Lieutenant Colonel


    The attendants from the Rassec family were highly trained and strong. The weakest was a third-level warrior, but they all shared battle experience and an unwavering sternness.


    However, things grew tense when the night approached. The servants had precise orders, and, in theory, no one in the entirety of the Global Army would dare to get in their way. After all, they represented the nobles'' will, so the couple''steness could be seen as an insult.


    The hour got sote that the attendants left the t to return to the sidewalk. Orders also flew, forcing Andrew to make a few calls. There was still time, but those servants couldn''t ept the slightest risk.


    Nevertheless, while Andrew was busy with his calls, a cab appeared near the dome''s edge and began to descend into the district. Itsnding beside the sidewalk reassured the attendants, but the two figures that stepped out of it attempted to shatter their sternness.


    Khan was shirtless, proudly showing his blue scar and the nail marks on his back. Meanwhile, Monica was wearing the upper part of his uniform, and her messy state hinted at the recent endeavor.


    The uniform wasn''t only untidy and with missing buttons. Monica''s curls were all over the ce, going against any standard of decorum her mother had imposed. She alsocked her usual elegance, but her figure radiated pure affection as she leaned on Khan''s arm.


    That state broke the Harbor''s dress code. It was especially problematic since Khan was the best man, too. Appearing in the open in such an intimate and evident attire didn''t match the nobles'' standards at all. It could actually reflect poorly on the wedding.


    However, no one mentioned the issue for multiple reasons. The attendants didn''t want to waste more time, and something told them that silence was the best course of action. They didn''t know why they experienced that feeling, but everyone was certain Khan was the reason.


    "Shall we go?" Khan asked, and the power carried by his voice confirmed the hunch. Somehow, his mere presence was a barrier that prevented the attendants from voicing any questions orints.


    Of course, the attendants had their priorities straight, so they quickly opened a path toward one of the cabs. Khan wrapped his arm around Monica''s back as the two advanced, and she let him guide her until they reached their seats.


    The servants moved right afterward, with two entering the same cab as Khan and Monica. Needless to say, the situation was quite awkward for them since Monica seemed on the verge of dozing off under Khan''s caresses, but neither mentioned the matter.


    "We''d like to start," One of the attendants stated, focusing on the mission. "Time isn''t short, but we don''t have plenty either."


    Khan adjusted his position to let Monica restfortably on his chest before addressing the statement. "Brief me."


    "Your position as best manes with a series of duties," The attendant announced.


    "I''m aware," Khan replied.


    "In addition to standing beside the spouse throughout the marriage," The attendant continued, "You''ll have to introduce each guest who wishes to speak with him."


    The attendant leaned forward, handing a device that Khan quickly seized. A long list appeared on the screen when it recognized his gic signature, and multiple exnations stretched from eachbel.


    "This is aprehensive list of the guests," The attendant exined, "Withments written by the Rassec family''s experts. You are to memorize all of them."


    Khan skimmed through the list, counting almost two hundred names. He didn''t see any nobles, so he suspected the number of guests to be higher. Still, the workload didn''t scare him.


    "There will also be a tight schedule to follow," The attendant continued, taking another device from the cab''s drawers. "We''ll do official test runs once the marriage approaches, but you are to be ready earlier than that."


    Khan seized the second device, which immediately lit up to show the marriage''s schedule. The event involved speeches, long feats, and dances, which he had to join and asionally initiate.


    "Anything else?" Khan wondered, dropping the device at his side.


    "There are obligations for Miss Solodrey, too," The attendant revealed, clearing his throat. Monica wasn''t even looking at him, making things awkward and difficult.


    "She will fulfill them," Khan reassured, stretching his free arm. He was vouching for Monica, but the attendants couldn''t help but exchange a hesitant nce.


    The attendants didn''t want to be impolite, and it wasn''t their intention to underestimate Khan. Yet, their orders were precise, and they had every desire to follow them thoroughly. They needed Monica herself to listen to their demands.


    "Khan is vouching for me," Monica suddenly dered, fixing a cold re on the two attendants. "Does he need to repeat himself?"


    The pair created a suffocating scene. Monica''s political relevance and Khan''s innate pressure were abination even those attendants couldn''t ignore. They would have been fine with politics alone, but the lingering threat of violence destabilized their sternness. They weren''t used to those brutish manners.


    Still, the attendants'' training kicked in, snapping them out of their hesitation to hand the remaining devices to Khan. Thetter showed them to Monica for her gic signature, but she quickly reclosed her eyes afterward.


    Khan dealt with the matter on his own, studying the devices while Monica rested. He wanted it that way since he knew how tired she was, but the attendants never stopped finding the scene surprising.


    Theoretically, Khan was the warrior, and Monica was the political expert. The attendants expected her to deal with the devices or, at least, to be on top of the mission. Yet, Khan showed his responsible side, and he lookedpletelyfortable in the part.


    The initial doubts about Khan''s suitability as best man vanished. Somehow, the attendants knew he would do a good job. It was actually hard imagining him failing anything.


    That reassurance continued throughout the trip. The attendants opted for polite silence, especially since Monica eventually fell asleep. Still, they internally praised Khan for his dedication since he didn''t move his eyes from the devices even once.


    The trip eventually forced Khan to wake Monica up. The group dropped off the cab and delivered new clothes to Khan before hopping on an exclusive teleport.


    From there, the group had to go through a series of security measures that involved more teleports and additional cab trips. At times, they had to fly from space station to space station to reach a specific destination. Everything was convoluted since nobles were involved, but the couple didn''t mind.


    It took a while, and the day went deep into the night, but the final destination eventually appeared in sight. Khan and Monica were on a ship when the scanners picked up pictures of a massive cylindrical space station with a circr structure spinning around its center.


    That wasn''t the end of it. The space station had visible weapons, but a fleet of warships also hovered around it. The security in the area was top-notch, and the couple''s ship took a while to go through it.


    Thending inside the space station''s hangar showed simr security measures. The ce was packed with soldiers and attendants wielding scanners. Khan and Monica had nothing, but crossing those hindrances still took a few minutes.


    "We''ll give you a tour of the structure tomorrow," One of the attendants announced after escorting the couple to a corridor full of doors. "For now, rest well."


    The attendant unlocked one of the doors, which opened into a massive suite featuring all kinds of luxurious furniture. The bathtub alone was bigger than Khan''s living room, and the ce had far bedroom, where a wee package was waiting for them. Khan moved to open it while Monica began exploring the wardrobe.


    more to offer.


    Khan and Monica made themselves at home after linking their gic signature to the ce. They instinctively went for the bedroom, where a wee package was waiting for them. Khan moved to open it while Monica began exploring the wardrobe.


    "I think we''ll find something to wear," Monica eximed, making Khan turn.


    The wardrobe wasn''t actually furniture. Opening it led to a separate section of the suite, which consisted of a series of rooms full of clothes. All of them were elegant and tantly pricey, and Monica couldn''t refrain from diving into them.


    As for Khan, the wee package had a map of the space station, a polite letter, and a big, expensive bottle. Exnations about the suite''s functions and advantagesnded in Khan''s eyes, but his hands were already on the booze.


    "You need to try this suit!" Monica shouted from inside the wardrobe. "Khan!"


    "Are you sure they''ll let us pick our clothes for the wedding?" Khan scoffed, opening the bottle to taste it. The booze''s quality was as good as he expected.


    "Who cares about the wedding?" Monica snorted, hurrying out of the wardrobe, wielding a blue suit that matched Khan''s hair. "I want to have a private spectacle."


    Monica grinned from cheek to cheek, and Khan couldn''t even try to stay put. He left the bottle and mattress, taking slow steps toward Monica. His performance with the attendants had already turned her on, and that walk was a killing blow.


    However, as Monica hid the suit behind her back, a ringing noise ran through the suite, alerting the couple. Khan couldn''t help but wear a cold face as he approached the main door to check who it was, but his expression rxed as soon as he cleared his doubts.


    "Lieutenant Colonel yman," Khan eximed as soon as he opened the door.


    Khan performed a military salute out of respect for the man. He hadn''t seen him since his days on Ecoruta, where he was still a Captain. Yet, Khan had kept track of the news, learning about his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel.


    That wasn''t the only change. Lieutenant Colonel yman had be a fourth-level warrior in those years, which his military uniform confirmed. He almost surpassed Khan when it came to sheer achievements.


    Lieutenant Colonel yman leaned backward, wearing a surprised expression. His smile froze while his eyes darted up and down to inspect Khan. He looked bewildered and shocked.


    "What happened to you in these years?" Lieutenant Colonel yman gasped.


    The Khan in the Lieutenant Colonel''s memory waspletely different from the man standing before him. Back then, Khan had been nothing more than a valuable soldier. Instead, he now gave off the vibe of a wild and unruly beast. His mere gaze felt threatening enough to kill.


    "Khan?" Monica called, peeking at the entrance before stepping forward. She reached Khan''s side, and her political fa?ade activated to greet the guest. "Lieutenant Colonel yman, what a pleasure. Khan speaks highly of you." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Miss Solodrey," Lieutenant Colonel yman greeted, clearing his throat. "The pleasure is mine, and I should be the one speaking highly of Captain Khan. I was lucky to have him in my battalion."


    "He taught me about dragons," Khan summarized.


    "Dragons?" Monica wondered, her eyes darting between Khan and the Lieutenant Colonel. "What about them?"


    "I''m sure you know more than me, Miss Solodrey," Lieutenant Colonel yman stated, fixing his gaze on Khan. "I knew you were no rat, but this."


    "Lieutenant Colonel," Khan called, smiling. "You are confusing my girlfriend."


    "My apologies," Lieutenant Colonel yman shook his head, "And, please. Jason is fine. I don''t want formalities, especially after you helped Joe."


    "How is Joe doing?" Khan asked. "I''ve been too busy to check."


    "I''ve read about that," Jason revealed, ncing at Monica. "I can understand why, too. Joe is fine, but you are faring far better."


    "Of course he is," Monica intervened. "My Khan is the best there is."


    "We are in agreement, Miss Solodrey," Jason stated. "On that matter, I know the hour iste, but I was hoping I could have a short chat with Captain Khan."


    "Is something the matter?" Khan promptly asked. Lieutenant Colonel yman had dealt with the anti-mana project on Ecoruta, so Khan took the request seriously.


    "Nothing serious," Jason reassured. "Just some catching up. Of course, only with your permission, Miss Solodrey."


    Monica waspletely against that, but her face didn''t show it. She stared at Jason before moving her gaze on Khan. He was already looking at her, andpliant words followed.


    "Be good," Monica sweetly ordered, leaning to her side to kiss Khan. She briefly clung to his shirt before letting him go and whispering a few words. "Don''t make me wait too long."


    "I''ll be right back," Khan promised.


    "Lieutenant Colonel," Monica called. "I hope the chat will be truly short. I don''t like to sleep without my man."


    "I won''t disappoint you, Miss Solodrey," Jason promised.


    Monica held back a sigh and limited herself to another long look at Khan before turning and disappearing inside the t. Khan stepped out right afterward, and the two men exchanged a knowing nce once the door closed.


    "It''s lucky the Rassec boy didn''t invite that woman of yours from Ecoruta," Jasonmented.


    "I dreaded that possibility," Khan admitted. "Though it would have been funny."


    "You are a fearless man," Jason uttered.


    Khan and Jason exchanged another look before chuckling simultaneously. Their rtionship wasn''t deep, but they understood each other. Moreover, Khan liked the man, which immensely helped due to his mana.


    "I don''t want to worry you," Jason announced, pointing at one end of the corridor to begin walking. "This has nothing to do with you-know-what."


    "What''s the reason behind this visit then?" Khan asked. "Tomorrow morning would have been fine."


    "Many guests will arrive in the following days," Jason exined. "We won''t get another chance for private talks, especially with that fame of yours."


    "The Global Army is treating you well, too," Khan praised. "It''s a big jump from Captain to Lieutenant Colonel, sir."


    "Well," Jason sighed, "Our secret endeavor helped. The higher-ups thought to buy my silence."


    "So?" Khan questioned. "What''s the issue?"


    "It''s no issue," Jason revealed. "You are simply about to reap the benefits of your hard work."

 Chapter 669 Knife

    Chapter 669 Knife


    Khan''s wariness instantly skyrocketed. He halted his steps, and his eyes almost glowed while probing Jason''s mana.


    The statement and Jason carried no ill intent, but Khan couldn''t rx. He was in a space station filled with soldiers and special guards handpicked by the nobles. If someone wanted to take him out, that was the perfect opportunity.


    Khan knew his political situation was quite safe, but that environment wasplicated and mysterious. Mister Chares'' organization, the Hive, and probably more parties could be after him. Realistically, anything was possible when the nobles were involved, even tricking a Lieutenant Colonel.


    "That bad?" Jason asked when he noticed that abrupt reaction.


    Anyone in a high position knew that fame came at a price. Jason could see that in Khan''s changes. He could guess Khan had made many enemies to get where he was, which justified his reaction.


    "The order came from the Rassec boy himself," Jason revealed in an attempt to reassure Khan. "It can''t be a ploy."


    Khan saw no lies in Jason''s mana, but his wariness didn''t disperse. Still, he resumed walking with the Lieutenant Colonel to check the situation. If something felt wrong, he wouldn''t hesitate to blow everything up.


    Of course, Khan also thought about Monica, but she was basically untouchable, especially after working on Neuria. Her family would raise hell if something happened to her.


    The walk grew slightly awkward, but neither Khan nor Jason shrunk from it. The two left the residential area and dived deeper into the structure, taking many turns and crossing multiple corridors before arriving at a giant, square block.


    The structure appeared out of ce. Its surfaces were ck, which differed from the white and grey of the rest of the space station. Moreover, a lot of synthetic mana ran under its metal, hinting at multiple active security measures.


    The structure''s huge door added value to the hunch since a great deal of synthetic mana converged there. Its functions were unclear, but Khan wouldn''t touch it so casually. His senses told him not to.


    "Let''s wait here," Jason eximed, stopping before the threatening entrance. "I have to send a message."


    Jason drew his phone, typed something, and stored it back. His gazended on the door afterward, and Khan imitated him while his senses continuously scanned the area.


    The synthetic mana inside the door moved, losing some of its threatening vibes. It still didn''t feel safe to approach, but that turned out to be unnecessary.


    A whooshing noise spread as the door unlocked and opened inside the square block. A multicolored symphony immediately came out, immersing Khan in its various feelings. The ce contained hundreds of unique mana sources, and a few were familiar.


    Jason led the way inside, and Khan failed to keep his eyes still once a sea of itemsnded on them. Weapons of various grades stood on pedestals or specific tables, creating narrow corridors in that otherwise immense space. That was an armory, and Khan struggled to inspect all of it at once.


    Some items stood out more than others, but something else caught Khan''s attention during the inspection. Two auras were approaching his position, and a different kind of presence hovered in a corner near the tall ceiling.


    ''I guess it''s normal,'' Khan thought, staring at the seemingly empty corner. ''He is basically a prince now.''


    The stare didn''tst long since the two iing figures eventually peeked past the rows of items and appeared in the open. The ce''s bright, yellow light shone on Rick and Lucille, highlighting every detail of their fancy clothes, as well as their smiling faces.


    Khan felt d that a spark of maturity had appeared in Rick''s youthful face. Yet, Lucille was the one who had changed the most in those years. For starters, she was wearing a dress, and her red hair had lost its wildness to turn into soft, straight silk.


    Lucille''s mana radiated some difort, hinting that she didn''t choose that attire by herself. The nobles'' attendants had probably forced her to improve her appearance, but her smile remained genuine.


    As for the couple, reuniting with Khan after so long wasn''t too easy. The first interaction with his heavy presence left Rick and Lucille gulping. He was suffocating even when smiling. His mere figure radiated an invisible energy that the two experienced at an instinctive level.


    "You sure have grown," Khanmented, noticing how Rick and Lucille had be second-level warriors. "I''m d."


    "Boss!" Rick shouted, snapping out of his stunned state. "It''s so good to see you again."


    Rick didn''t refrain from stepping forward and performing a military salute. That gesture was unnecessary due to his new status, but still expressed the respect he felt for Khan.


    "Likewise," Khan nodded, his smile growing warmer as he thought of a joke for Lucille. "Lu, I never expected to see you in a dr-."


    Khan didn''t finish the joke since the second inspection of Lucille revealed something odd. He frowned as he fixed his eyes on the young woman. Her mana was moving oddly, pointing his attention to her waist.


    After living with Monica, Khan had almost got to know her body better than her. He even felt when her period was approaching, but Lucille radiated something different.


    "Lu," Khan called to voice a guess, "Are you pregnant?"


    Rick and Lucille''s eyes widened in shock, basically revealing the truth on the matter. Jason only needed a look to know that Khan had been right, and his mouth opened in surprise for multiple reasons.


    The pregnancy was a massive news that would probably never reach the public. Still, the depth of Khan''s senses was even more surprising. It made Jason wonder about what kind of world his eyes reflected.


    "How did you-?" Lucille began to say, but Rick promptly returned to her side, interrupting her.


    "Boss, this news is ssified," Rick exined, taking Lucille''s hand and straightening his back. "You must promise me not to reveal it."


    Khan''s expression softened at that cute scene. Rick had gone from a spineless kid to standing up to him to protect his fianc¨¦e. The purity of the event almost had a cleansing effect on Khan''s mindset.


    "You won''t have to worry," Khan promised. He would tell Monica, mostly to tease her, but revealing that in the presence of that hidden aura wasn''t wise.


    "I''m a bit jealous," Khan continued as Rick and Lucille rxed. "Who would have thought that you would have surpassed me?"


    "What are you saying, Boss?" Rick questioned. "We are thankful to you. Without you, we wouldn''t have had this."


    Rick had lowered his voice during thest part of his statement, and his eyes fell on Lucille when it ended. Lucille also looked at him, radiating shyness. The couple appeared on the verge of blushing, and Khan struggled to keep up with their cuteness.


    ''Is that how Monica and I look?'' Khan wondered. ''The other side sure is awkward.''


    "So," Khan spoke to disperse that cute scene. "Lieutenant Colonel yman tells me that you have something for me."


    "Right!" Rick snapped out of his daze and waved his free arm through the ce. "I already asked permission from my family. You can pick anything you want."


    "What?" Khan asked, his eyes running over the sea of items. "Anything?"


    "Yes, anything," Rick confirmed. "Sadly, I had to settle for only one. My initial request was for twenty."


    ''Twenty?!'' Khan shouted in his mind, giving the items another look. That warehouse belonged to a noble family. Those weapons had to be crazy expensive.


    "Anything?" Khan repeated, incredulous.


    "Of course, Boss," Rick shouted.


    Khan nced at Jason, who had just snapped back to reality. The Lieutenant Colonel had thought about Khan''s senses the whole time, but his head performed a nod at that look.


    ''Wow,'' Khan couldn''t help but exim in his mind as he stepped toward the first row of items.


    Some weapons had exnations, while others didn''t, but their mana could give enough hints. Nevertheless, Khan had only dealt with knives until now. Hisckluster knowledge in the field left him confused in that sea of choices.


    It didn''t help that Khan''s battle style was already well-rounded. He couldn''t think of anything that could improve his situation. The simplest and safer choice involved enriching his foundation, which had toe in the form of a better knife due to his ignorance.


    That decision created an additional problem. Khan had a great knife, and his cksmith could keep up with his growth. His fame could also provide better contacts. Quality wasn''t an issue in his situation, so investing that opportunity in something as easy to get as a better weapon felt like a waste.


    ''What do the nobles have that I can''t get elsewhere?'' Khan wondered. He could think of many answers, but his poor knowledge prevented him from identifying them in that sea of items.


    Eventually, Khan gave up on overthinking the issue. His knowledge couldn''t help, so he would follow his senses. Something was bound to stand out in that sea of items. The nobles wouldn''t be so special otherwise.


    Even with inexperienced eyes, Khan could still confirm that everything inside the warehouse was in a perfect state and of the highest quality. His current knife probably was worse than any item on disy.


    That would typically worsen the issue, but Khan had his senses. When everything was so perfect, he could easily spot the few items beyond that.


    Khan walked past a fifth-grade round shield that filled the symphony with a bright, warm light. That sensation grew hotter closer to the weapon, partially revealing its special features.


    The next peculiar item was a third-grade spear. Its wooden shaft didn''t radiate anything special, but its metal tip sent a chill down Khan''s spine. Something deadly lingered around the weapon, and Khan couldn''t understand what.


    The warehouse had over a hundred items, so Khan often found peculiar weapons. Swords, body armor, and even guns with unique and strange powers shone in his vision, but nothing matched his needs. He even found a few knives, but they also failed to convince him.


    The searchsted until something seemingly suitable caught Khan''s attention. He followed a wild and intense presence capable of shattering the symphony until he arrived before an old-looking knife.


    The weapon didn''t look battle-ready. Its ck handle hadrge grey marks, highlighting its deterioration. Half its rectangr guard was missing, and the de''s two edges looked blunt and ruined.


    The mana inside the knife was also odd. Khan couldn''t quite point out its power. The weapon''s presence wavered, alternating between the bottom of the third grade and the peak of the fourth.


    The knife''s presence intensified as Khan approached it, and its power almost entered the fifth grade when he stretched his hand toward it. The weapon looked alive, but a tremor in the symphony stopped Khan from seizing it.


    "Are you sure I can take anything?" Khan asked. Rick, Lucille, and Jason had followed him, so they heard his question.


    "Anything, Boss!" Rick nodded.


    "I wasn''t asking you," Khan revealed, looking at the source of the recent tremor. His eyes returned to the ceiling''s corner, and theck of answers forced him to add something. "What''s the problem with his knife?"


    The trio followed Khan''s gaze but found nothing in the targeted corner. The silence alsosted a few seconds, giving birth to frowns and confusion. Yet, a slender man eventually materialized in that spot.


    "Anselm!" Rick gasped. "I requested for privacy!"


    The slender man was crouched in the corner, with palms and feet sealed on those metal surfaces. Still, Rick''s call made him jump forward, and his figure floated through the warehouse until itnded right behind the group.


    ''A flying technique?'' Khan wondered, studying the man.


    Anselm was a fourth-level warrior with long ck hair and a pale face. His ck eyes felt devoid of emotion, but his aura told a different story. His mana was silent, dark, and sharp, giving Khan the impression of an assassin.


    "My apologies, Prince Rick," Anselm said, almost whispering. "I''m not at liberty to leave you alone."


    "Is spying on us any better?" Rickined. "What are my guests going to think?"


    "It doesn''t matter what they think," Anselm replied, fixing his empty eyes on Khan. "Only your safety matters."


    ''The noble guards are truly different,'' Khan thought, replying with a challenging look. Anselm felt extremely strong, and part of him wanted to test his power.


    The exchange of looks didn''t go unnoticed. The area grew colder as Khan and Anselm studied each other. A battle appeared imminent, but Anselm surprised everyone with a question.


    "Was my cover wed?" Anselm asked.


    "Not at all," Khan stated.


    "I studied your abilities," Anselm revealed. "You shouldn''t have noticed me."


    "Studying isn''t good enough preparation against me," Khan dered.


    Jason, Rick, and Lucille didn''t know what to say. They didn''t even want to intervene. A conversation that only Khan and Anselm could follow was unfolding, and the former clearly had the upper hand. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Why can''t I take the knife?" Khan questioned.


    Anselm''s face remained impassible, but his mana grew tenser. Khan didn''t only spot him through his cloaking technique. He had also felt his intentions. Calling that ability scary wouldn''t make it justice.


    Moreover, Anselm had done more than studying Khan''s abilities. He had also practiced some of them, focusing on his senses. He could catch a glimpse of Khan''s mana, making the scene even scarier.


    Khan felt on the verge of exploding. His body was packed with wild mana, too much, ording to Anselm''s estimate. Khan seemed to have juste out of an infusion with no side effects.


    "It was for Prince Rick''s safety, sir," Anselm eventually replied, summoning his good manners. "That weapon is cursed."


    "Cursed?" Khan repeated. He had read the term somewhere but never found an exnation.


    "It has a wild will, sir," Anselm exined. "It attacks the wielder, draining his mana. At times, it evenshes out into its surroundings."


    ''Do such things really exist?'' Khan couldn''t help but wonder. Still, thinking about it for longer than a second made it feel obvious. He himself could give his will to the mana in his surroundings. It wasn''t so odd for a weapon to have that too.


    "Is it powerful?" Khan asked.


    "If you can subdue it, sir," Anselm said, and the air grew heavier. Khan''s gaze intensified as he took firm steps toward the knife. He reached it, and his hand immediately went for its handle.


    Anselm jumped before Rick and Lucille to protect them with his body. Jason stepped back when he saw that reaction, but his eyes remained on Khan.


    A sucking force took control of Khan''s hand when he wrapped his fingers around the handle. Mana slipped out of his flesh, entering the weapon. Smoke began to rise from the blunt edges, and a purple-red halo started leaking from the de.


    The halo grew brighter as the knife absorbed more mana. The temperature on the edges also rose, reaching scorching levels. A humming noise followed, bing deafening in a matter of seconds.


    ''It''s really trying to suck me dry,'' Khan gasped, entertained. ''Though, that''s enough.''


    Khan summoned the entirety of his control to stop his mana. The sucking force was still active, but Khan beat it through sheer will, interrupting that process.


    The sucking force intensified, but Khan''s control didn''t falter. His mana didn''t move by a single inch. It actually started to hate the knife for trying to steal it.


    The knife tried even harder but to no avail. After a few seconds, the sucking forcepletely disappeared, and the weapon began to release mana instead of absorbing it.


    A dark-red light leaked from the knife, tainting the purple-red halo and rising through the air. A dense, smokey canvas formed above the weapon, and a horizontal crack opened at its center to take the shape of long, monstrous fangs.


    "It will attack now, sir!" Anselm warned, but Khan didn''t experience "Get back," Khan ordered as a humming noise came out of those smokey fangs.


    any fear. The knife had umted enough energy tounch an attack that bordered the fourth level, but Khan had defeated far worse.


    "Get back," Khan ordered as a humming noise came out of those smokey fangs.


    ''It''s growling,'' Khan thought. ''I can do that too.''


    The fangs suddenly shot forward, but Khan had already opened his mouth. A clicking cry suddenly resounded through the warehouse as the purple-red color reced the artificial illumination. Mana was ring out of Khan, immersing that smokey energy in its destruction.


    The humming noise intensified as the fangs tried to pierce the defensive technique, but Khan''s mana was too violent. The chaos element devoured that stolen energy, eradicating its very existence.


    Khan stopped shouting and retracted his mana, which dispersed into the air. His eyes remained on the knife, which had suffered no damage from the previous exchange. Even the sucking force had disappeared, but Khan knew very well it was still alive.

 Chapter 670 Curses

    Chapter 670 Curses


    The scene startled the audience. The clicking cry and burst of mana seemed to belong to a wild beast rather than a human. The sole idea that Khan could voice such screams altered how those ordinary soldiers perceived him.


    Anselm was an exception. His studies had been thorough and urate. That defensive ability didn''t startle him, but he remained surprised by the amount of released mana and its violence. Still, that didn''t freeze him.


    "You must bind it now, sir," Anselm revealed.


    Khan nced at Anselm before focusing on the knife. He moved it to his left hand, holding it tightly while sliding the de on his right palm. That blunt edge didn''t cut much, but blood spilled anyway, tainting it.


    Anselm put more strength into his defensive stance. Taming a cursed weapon was no easy feat, and it was unclear what effect it would have on Khan. Many things could go wrong, and protecting the couple was his priority.


    A foreign presence formed inside Khan''s mind as his blood slid over the de. He had experienced something simr on Nitis when he tamed Snow, but the event''s nature waspletely different now.


    A greedy, hungry, and bloodthirsty feeling expanded inside Khan''s mind. Its intensity altered some of Khan''s thoughts, trying to make them echo those violent features. Khan experienced the knife''s will in its entirety, and part of him began to desire to imitate it.


    Yet, an even more intense force soon showed its presence. The chaos element''s wild, violent, and upromising will grew from the back of Khan''s mind and attacked the foreign entity. A clicking cry also resounded in Khan''s ears, and a humming noise followed.


    A mental battle unfolded but quickly ended. As violent and bloodthirsty the knife''s will was, nothing could beat the chaos element''s bottomless desire to destroy. Their natures were on different leagues, and the weapon could only shrink back and behave.


    An instinctive knowledge flowed into Khan, filling him up. He didn''t hear words ormands, but the sensation of awareness was there. Somehow, he could gauge the knife''s abilities and understand how to use it.


    Khan stared at the knife before lifting his eyes. The ceiling was tall enough to leave empty room for tests, so he sent some mana into the weapon before performing an upward sh.


    A lot happened in that fraction of a second. The knife absorbed Khan''s mana before more energy enveloped its edges. Khan had performed a weak version of the Divine Reaper after charging the weapon, which resulted in apletely different attack.


    The knife cut the air, sending an ethereal sh upward. A purple-red attack flew toward the ceiling, severing the symphony that stood in its way.


    Khan had contained himself, calcting the mana necessary to avoid hitting the ceiling. However, the knife suddenly hummed, and the flying sh reddened, ring with new energy.


    That wasn''t the end of it. To Khan''s surprise, the sh changed direction, curving to the right until it had made aplete turn. The attack was now aiming at the floor, adjusting its trajectory to target Rick and the others.


    The bloodthirst inside Khan''s brain red as the sh grew redder and faster. It was only a second away from hitting the audience, and Anselm had already begun moving his mana to intercept it. Yet, something different happened.


    Before Anselm could move, a purple-red mass materialized on the sh''s trajectory and shed with it. A small explosion unfolded, but nothing reached the floor or the audience. Rick and the others only experienced a light breeze.


    The attacks'' remaining mana quickly dispersed, returning the warehouse to the previous peace. Still, Khan and the audience couldn''t forget what had happened, and different thoughts invaded their minds.


    Rick and Lucille struggled to follow the event. Even thinking about it failed to provide answers. They simply couldn''t understand much at their level.


    Jason was shocked. He had seen many soldiers and battlefields, so he knew the weapon''s value. Moreover, Khan could control and restrain it, highlighting how much he had grown in those years.


    Anselm was simr to Jason, but his higher understanding of the involved techniques created a bigger shock. He didn''t care for the knife. His focus was on Khan and the fact that he had preceded him with an untraceable attack. That ability was looked too flexible and powerful to be real.


    A chill inevitably ran down Anselm''s spine. He surpassed Khan in terms of levels, but the oue of a frontal sh felt unclear.


    Of course, merely considering that Khan could overpower a noble guard who was one level above him felt absurd. Yet, that was exactly what was going through Anselm''s mind. The impossible was real and was standing right before his eyes.


    As for Khan, he felt the audience''s reactions through the symphony, but his attention was on the knife. He actually had to hold back a smirk when inspecting the weapon. That tool was deadly, which was perfect for him.


    ''I can charge it to release stronger attacks,'' Khan thought. ''I wonder how much mana it can withstand.''


    Khan was thinking about the knife''s upper limit due to his innate advantage. He had mana to waste, so attacks above his level were theoretically possible. The only issue was the weapon''s endurance.


    ''Though you have to behave,'' Khan ordered, flicking the de with his fingers. ''No more attacking allies.''


    The knife could understand Khan''s order through the mental connection, and he also heard its reply. The weapon''s unwillingness to hold back its thirst for blood was as clear as day, and Khan couldn''t ept it. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''You be a good weapon,'' Khan thought, continuing flicking the de, ''And I''ll give you as much mana and blood as you want.''


    The promise didn''t convince the knife but temporarily appeased its bloodthirst. That feeling was still there, as intense as before but more hidden.


    ''You''ll create problems for me, won''t you?'' Khan sighed. ''Well, you can''t be worse than the other one.''


    Khan was obviously thinking about the cloud. With the knife, he now had two unstable powers that could go against his orders. Thatck of control wasn''t ideal for a warrior, but he could make it work. Khan had already done that multiple times.


    With the knife secured, Khan feltpelled to address the audience. He lifted his gaze to meet the expressions the symphony had already depicted, and his focus inevitably fell on Anselm. Among his disbelief, the man was also experiencing a tinge of battle intent.


    "Jack is stronger than you," Khanmented, "Isn''t he?"


    Anselm held back any reaction, but Khan could see the suppressed gulp. It made sense for Princess Edna to have better guards. Everyone probably understood that. Yet, speaking about it so openly almost felt like a challenge.


    "My job isn''t to be stronger than anyone, sir," Anselm replied, relying on his training to remain polite. "My job is to protect Prince Rick against any threat."


    "Pity I''m not a threat," Khan teased.


    "On the contrary, sir," Anselm stated. "You might be the biggest threat out there."


    "Anselm!" Rick shouted. "Don''t disrespect Captain Khan."


    "He wasn''t," Khan revealed. "He was praising me."


    Among the group, only Jason could see the silent understanding that had formed between Khan and Anselm. Thetter was truly praising him, but no one could utter those precise words. They went against the very order of the world.


    The nobles were the apex of the Global Army. They were its true leaders and the very top of humankind. Consequently, their descendants, guards, assets, and more had to reflect their status.


    Khan''s current affiliation with an extremely wealthy family turned his strength into a bigger problem. He alone wasn''t enough to However, Khan represented an anomaly. He was so strong that the noble guards had to acknowledge him, and his background made him difficult to recruit.


    Khan''s current affiliation with an extremely wealthy family turned his strength into a bigger problem. He alone wasn''t enough to create a power imbnce, but his fame could be an issue in the future, and it was hard to predict what would happen after his evolution.


    Of course, all of that was far into the future, but preserving the nobles'' predominance was a daily effort. Still, Anselm didn''t dare think deeper into it. As things currently stood, Khan was a friend of the Rassec family.


    "Sir," Anselm stepped in once the silence became too heavy, "At the cost of insulting you, I must request you put down the knife. You don''t have clearance to carry weapons here."


    "I figured," Khan eximed, putting the knife back on its shelf. He couldn''t bring his own weapon either so that treatment didn''t surprise him.


    "We will wrap it up and deliver once the marriage is over," Anselm continued. "For now, enjoy the wedding, sir."


    "I will," Khan reassured, and Anselm lowered his head in respect before retreating. Soon, his figure grew unclear until itpletely disappeared.


    Khan could still feel the guard but decided to ignore it. He was happy for the knife, but it waste, and the following days were bound to be busy. As much as he wanted to express his gratitude for the gift, duties came first.


    "Thank you for this, Rick," Khan eximed. "I already know it will help me greatly."


    "Don''t mention it, Boss," Rick shook his head. "All of this is possible thanks to you."


    Khan wore a genuine smile as the couple exchanged cute nces, but Jason distracted him by stepping forward to whisper in his ear.


    "Cursed weapons aren''t toys," Jason exined. "They often consume the users when abused."


    "If that''s the price to pay," Khanmented.


    "Khan," Jason called, grabbing Khan''s arm. "You aren''t serious."


    "I''m always serious about curses," Khan reassured. "They are my life."

 Chapter 671 Whore

    Chapter 671 Whore


    The meeting had to end right afterward due to thete hour, and busy days followed due to the massive number of duties. Everyone had a role in the wedding, and Khan and Monica had multiple ones, which required additional preparations.


    The Rassec family had ced a team of specialized attendants on Khan and Monica to prepare them for the event. The coupleplied with everything they said, even if most duties were boring and purely ceremonial.


    However, one exception existed. Every morning, the attendants escorted Khan and Monica into a private ballroom to test and give directives on their dancing skills. Khan wasn''t fond of that practice, but Monica loved it, and her happiness affected him.


    The third day inside the space station began as the previous. Attendants knocked on Monica and Khan''s door, who were already ready for their dance lessons. Guests had started to arrive, but the hour was early, so the couple avoided potential encounters during their march to the private ballroom.


    The ballroom worked as a training hall. It was circr, but the same menus shone on its floor and surfaces. The attendants only had to tap their feet to seal it and make the speakers fill the area with enjoyable, slow music. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan and Monica had gotten used to that routine by then. They were already at the ballroom''s center when the music started, and genuine smiles shone on their faces while they looked into each other''s eyes.


    The couple lifted their arms on the appointed beat to assume the proper dancing position. Khan''s left hand grabbed Monica''s right while his other palm went to her waist. Meanwhile, she slid her left hand on his shoulder, and their feet began moving.


    Monica''s chuckles mixed with the music as the couple swung left and right, spun, and closed the distance between them. The attendants often shouted directives, which the two did their best to follow, and the performance improved with each passing minute.


    Of course, Monica was already perfect at the dance, but her education had mainly focused on proper forms. Now, she was in Khan''s arms, and holding back from having fun wasn''t possible, leading to asional mistakes.


    As for Khan, he truly couldn''t get behind that tradition, but Monica was beyond happy, so nothing else mattered. He also loved the message their dance would send to the world and couldn''t wait to rece their tracksuits with actual dresses.


    In theory, that training was supposed to go undisturbed for the entire morning, but one of the ballroom''s entrances opened after almost two hours. The event surprised the attendants, too, but they didn''t utter a single word when they recognized the two neers.


    The man on the left was tall and handsome, with curly brown hair stretching to his shoulders. His tracksuit hid defined muscles, and his green eyes darted left and right while entering the ballroom.


    Instead, the man on the right was blonde, shorter, and leaner but no less handsome. Still, his green eyes remained fixed on the couple, allowing them to see the oddly dted pupils.


    Khan didn''t need his heightened senses to read the situation. The security clearance and the attendants'' reaction said a lot about the two neers. He could immediately understand that a Prince had walked in, and finding out who was who turned out to be quite easy.


    The curly man was a fourth-level warrior with an aura that reeked of battle experience. His expression wasn''t as stern as Jack''s or Anselm''s, but some heaviness still filled it.


    Instead, the blonde man conveyed casual and rxed vibes. He was only a third-level warrior, too, but Khan spotted one troublesome detail about his mana.


    ''He is high,'' Khan noticed, instinctively leaning to his left to partially hide Monica from the neers.


    The music didn''t stop, but Monica and Khan did. That unexpected presence had to be addressed before resuming the training, but the blonde man took care of that.


    "Please," The blonde man eximed. "Don''t let us interrupt you."


    The attendants sealed the ballroom again, and Monica and Khan exchanged a look. They knew some big shots had just walked in, but chances were they were only checking them, which was reasonable due to the monumental event.


    Khan felt slightly worried due to the blonde man''s state, but Monica''s smile eventually made him forget about his surroundings. The two resumed dancing, losing themselves in that intimate practice they couldn''t wait to show to the world.


    A few minutes had to pass before the appointed break arrived. The apuded the couple, but anyone could tell Monica imed most of his attention. His smirk had also grained lecherous vibes, which music stopped, and Khan and Monica separated to perform traditional bows. That marked the end of the dance, but the ballroom wasn''t done with them.


    pping noises spread through the ballroom. The blonde man apuded the couple, but anyone could tell Monica imed most of his attention. His smirk had also grained lecherous vibes, which his mana confirmed more clearly.


    "Bravo!" The blonde man shouted, finally stopping pping. "A bit sloppy near the end, but beautiful nheless."


    Monica and Khan limited themselves to formal bows to ept thepliment, and the man didn''t hesitate to continue with an introduction. "Prince Samuel Rassec. At your service."


    Prince Samuel also performed an elegant bow, but his gesture didn''t trick the couple. Khan had nothing but wariness in his mind, and Monica had already worn her political fa?ade by the time she straightened her back.


    "Captain Khan," Prince Samuel announced, stepping toward the couple, "My little cousin''s best man. You are exactly how I imagined you."


    Khan wanted to add a cold remark, but the Prince didn''t stop speaking as his attention moved to Monica. "Miss Solodrey. Enchanted."


    The Prince had reached the couple by then, and his bodynguage hinted that he wanted to kiss Monica''s hand. Yet, she ignored that silent request and opted for a formal greeting.


    "It''s an honor to meet you, Prince Samuel," Monica eximed, half-bowing again.


    The Prince didn''t like that oue. His smile slightly froze as his eyes inspected every second of Monica''s bow, paying special attention to her curves.


    It only took an instant for the Prince''s eyes to freeze, too. Nothing escaped Khan''s senses, so that evident sexual interest triggered his anger, spreading a chilling presence that the Prince experienced even in his strange state.


    However, another powerful presence promptly red. The curly-haired man had remained behind, but his eyes fell on Khan as soon as he felt the chilling aura. That was a warning due to a potential threat to the Prince''s safety, but Khan ignored it.


    The curly-haired man couldn''t help but feel surprised, but Khan didn''t care. He watched Prince Samuel straighten his back and move his attention to him before reaffirming his re to send an unmistakable message. Khan also waited for understanding to dawn upon the young man before finally looking at the noble guard.


    Monica was no stranger to those situations. She didn''t have Khan''s senses, but her beauty had put her in that position multiple times. Still, she wasn''t alone anymore, and her role there was clear.


    Khan and the noble guard had barely spent a second gauging each other when Monica intervened. Her hand slid on Khan''s torso, iming his attention while reaching for his neck. She wanted a kiss, and Khanplied.


    The romantic scene added some bitterness to Prince Samuel''s mood. He felt challenged, insulted, and angry. His strange state even intensified those emotions, leading to a petty counterattack.


    "I couldn''t help but notice that the Captain is still inexperienced at this," Prince Samuel stated, a seemingly innocent smile shining on his face. "Miss Solodrey, would you mind pairing with me to show your partner how it''s done?"


    "We are doing fine, Prince Samuel," Khan immediately replied.


    "Is fine enough for my cousin''s wedding?" Prince Samuel asked.


    The question cornered Khan. He had no leverage in that situation. The political world demanded that he sent Monica into that man''s arms, but his mana opposed the idea, generating violent thoughts that leaked into his aura.


    "Dear," Monica intervened, knowing what was happening inside Khan''s mind.


    Khan found a calm and confident expression when he turned. Monica was smiling at him while her hand rested on his chest.


    "Prince Samuel has been kind enough to offer his help," Monica said. "epting it is a duty."


    Of course, Monica''s words didn''t carry a single truth, and Khan could read between the lines. She was asking him to trust her, which he did from the bottom of his heart.


    "Very well," Khan sighed, nodding at Monica before ncing at Prince Samuel. "I''ll do my best to learn from this opportunity."


    Prince Samuel felt ted. He could see the couple''s struggle, which deepened his ego. His status could force men to hand out their women, and Khan''s fame made him decide to savor the experience as much as possible.


    "We need some space," Prince Samuel eximed, upying a spot before Monica and lifting his arms. "Please, watch carefully."


    Khan was ready to explode, but Monica met his eyes, fueling his self-restraint. Still, even as Khan stepped back, his mana went wilder. He himself didn''t know what would happen once the Prince''s hand touched Monica''s waist.


    Luckily for Khan, Monica knew her boyfriend through and through. She took Prince Samuel''s hand but kept her distance. Also, when the Prince was about to reach for her waist, she grabbed his forearm, stopping him.


    "I''m a taken woman, Prince Samuel," Monica warned in her elegant tone. "Please, refrain from such improper gestures."


    "There is nothing improper in a traditional dance," Prince Samuel exined, trying to force his arm forward, only for Monica to hold it in its ce.


    "I insist," Monica responded. "I wouldn''t want to feel dishonored before my future fianc¨¦."


    The previous "dear" and current "fianc¨¦" were clear messages for Prince Samuel, but his high state only made him snap. He was the most important person in the room, and the audience had to know it.


    "Dishonored?" Prince Samuel snorted. "The entire Global Army saw you publicly admit how much of a whor-."


    Prince Samuel couldn''t finish his line since a gale blew through the room, almost destabilizing everyone''s stance. Multiple eyes instinctively went on Khan, but his figure was hard to see. The air around him was waving as if encircling a scorching item.


    "Yo, guard," Khan coldly called, eyeing the curly-haired man. "I thought your job was protecting Prince Samuel."


    Khan didn''t even try to hide it. His whole being radiated killing intent, which was already a crime since it targeted a Prince. Yet, the guard didn''t me him. Actually, he looked apologetic.


    "Start doing it," Khan ordered, uncaring of what his words implied.


    Prince Samuel felt insulted beyond reason, but Monica didn''t give him the time to reply. She scoffed, letting go of his hand to return to Khan''s side.


    The Prince wanted to follow Monica, but his body froze. The air around him had turned into invisible des ready to sever his very bones. Sweat began umting on his forehead, and the hand thatnded on his shoulder almost made him cry in fear.


    "Prince Samuel," The curly-haired man called, holding the Prince''s shoulder. "That''s enough."


    The scene told Khan that the curly-haired man was more than a simple guard. He looked used to that role as a caretaker. That probably wasn''t the first time the Prince was high in a political environment.


    "Let go of me," Prince Samuel cried, pushing the hand on his shoulder away before ring at Khan. "Who do you think you are to give orders in-?!"


    "Shut up," Khan uttered, and Prince Samuel''s mouth closed. His throat also went dry, preventing furtherints.


    An ordinary man would have been too scared to continue, but Prince Samuel''s mind was under the influence of substances that made him ignore reason. When Monica returned to Khan''s side and shot a pitiful look at him, he snapped again, finding new strength for his words.


    "No wonder you chose that woman," Prince Samuel shouted. "She must remind you of your whore moth-."


    Prince Samuel couldn''t finish his line again, but surprise unfolded at that time. The curly-haired man had delivered a precise blow to his nape to make him faint.

 Chapter 672 Handsome

    Chapter 672 Handsome


    The noble guard caught Prince Samuel by the cor before he could hit the floor. Still, he didn''t lift him up and carefullyy him down.


    The guard peeked at the couple afterward, and their faces told him everything he needed to know. Khan and Monica deciphered the Prince''sst line, showing calm awareness at his worried expression.


    The secret wasn''t news to Khan and Monica. Anastasia, Wayne, and other peculiar situations had long since hinted at Khan''s special background. That hypothesis was almost certain by then, and more clues appeared as Khan climbed the politicaldder.


    Now, a person who could clear doubts about Khan''s background was lying right before him. The previous insult also gave him an edge to exploit in an eventual interrogation. Still, Khan knew that silence was the best option.


    Khan couldn''t really suppress his urges anymore. His curiosity had skyrocketed, and the guard''s expression continued fueling it. Yet, the political environment was more dangerous than most battlefields, and he wasn''t treading it alone.


    It stood to reason that many parties interested in Khan knew he had uncovered his past. However, the matter could be ignored as long as he feigned ignorance and avoided doing anything with that intel.


    It was unclear what would happen if Khan started actively looking for answers or exploiting benefits. Enemies that no one could stop or even seeing might intervene, destroying every aspect of his life.


    Khan was ready to face anything, but his love for Monica trampled his irrational urges. He still didn''t know what the political world would unleash to protect that secret, and his personal power wasn''t enough to shield her from those threats.


    Besides, Khan was getting there. The Prince''s slip-up proved that. Khan was steadily approaching the ce containing the answers he sought, and things were bound to pick up the pace in the next period.


    The noble guard straightened his position and ran his eyes through the ballroom. The attendants were the most shocked in the area but couldn''t utter anything against him. His actions would go unnoticed if he reported them to the right people, leaving only one issue.


    "Apologies, Captain Khan, Miss Solodrey," The noble guard announced, politely bowing toward the couple. "The Prince wasn''t himself today."


    Khan and Monica were the only party outside the guard''s control, so he had to perform that gesture to close the matter. The man spoke for the Prince, so his action''s relevance was immense. Even the wealthiest families would ept them and forget the issue, at least publicly.


    Monica was also ready to forget about the matter and let her family handle it. She would gain much more by sending higher-ups against fellow higher-ups, reinforcing her position and rtionship.


    Nevertheless, Monica wasn''t alone. Khan could choose to be patient toward the secrets about his background, but the Prince had insulted his girlfriend and had tried to take advantage of her through his status. He had killed for far less.


    "Denied," Khan said before Monica could do anything.


    "What?" The noble guard gasped, lifting his head, and the attendants showed simr reactions. Monica was also surprised, but one look at her man shattered years of political education. That was the only stance she couldn''t even try to resist.


    "I didn''te here to see my future fianc¨¦e get insulted," Khan dered. "If this is the Rassec family''s hospitality, I must decline my duties. I''ll convey my decision to Prince Rick personally."


    "Captain!" The noble guard called as soon as Khan started to turn. "Please, be reasonable."


    Few words in the world could make Khan snap, and the guard had just uttered them. Khan turned, and the man''s eyes went wide. He instinctively stepped back to stand before the fainted Prince, and his knees rxed to prepare for a fight.


    Khan didn''t do anything special, but the guard could see the mood behind his cold face. Khan''s eyes were on fire and maic. The man could only look into them and know how much he cared about the matter.


    "Miss Solodrey," The noble guard called, mustering the entirety of his strength to look at Monica. He hoped she would realize how tied his hands were, but disappointment awaited him.


    "Khan is defending my honor," Monica stated. "You won''t me me if it turns me on. After all, the entire Global Army knows how much of a whore I am."


    The matter could have been dropped before, but things had just changed. People could have feigned ignorance since Khan had interrupted the Prince, but Monica had turned it into a real problem bypleting that line.


    The noble guard held back a curse and watched as Khan pulled Monica closer. She showed him a yful pout while letting her back adhere to his right side, but coldness returned when she looked at the man again.


    Khan also focused on the guard again while his hand remained sealed on Monica''s side. He stayed silent, but his face revealed that things weren''t over. Still, he needed the man to beg a bit more before offering a way out.


    "I apologize again," The noble guard uttered, straightening his position to perform another bow. "Please, how can I make this right? If it''s within my power, I''llply."


    "You can''t do anything," Khan exined, nodding at the young man lying behind the guard. "I must hear formal apologies from Prince Samuel."


    A wave of surprise swept the room, and Monica was no stranger to it. She knew Khan had something in mind, but that exceeded what was allowed. Even her mother couldn''t request public apologies from a noble. That stuff had to be handled privately.


    Of course, Monica didn''t let any of her surprise appear in the open, but her mana was bound to tell Khan how she felt. Still, the hand on her side remained firm. Khan was unwavering, and his stance filled Monica with cozy warmth.


    The noble guard pondered about the request for a few seconds beforeing up with apromise. A public apology from the Prince was simply impossible, but he could still hope to push the problem into more private settings. Yet, the universe seemed to be against him that day.


    One of the ballroom''s doors suddenly opened, and three figures strode inside. The attendants had to suppress more gasps when they recognized the neers, and the noble guard''s heart sank for the same reasons.


    As for Khan, his eyes lit up when the symphony updated him on the situation. He and Monica turned simultaneously, and faint smiles appeared before those familiar figures.


    "I told you they were here," Princess Edna eximed, pointing at the couple.


    "Your memory of this ce is praiseworthy considering the few visits," Ron praised.


    "Princess Edna," Khan called, performing a polite nod.


    "Edna," Monica announced. "What a pleasure to meet you again."


    "Monica!" Princess Edna almost shouted, hurrying forward to take Monica''s hands. Khan let the two women reunite, and his eyes darted between the noble guards.


    "Jack, Ron," Khan greeted.


    "Captain," Ron nodded, but Jack remained silent. His eyes even showed umon concentration, and Khan was at their center.


    ''He sees death,'' Khan sighed. ''He knows.''


    "Captain," Princess Edna called, peeking past Monica to look at Khan. "Did something happen? You are far more handsome than theplimenting my man. His looks are just for me to appreciate."


    st time."


    "Edna," Monica cleared her throat, slightly pulling the Princess'' hands to bring her focus on her. "Please, refrain fromplimenting my man. His looks are just for me to appreciate."


    "Miss Solodrey is right," Ron uttered. "A Princess shouldn''t hand outpromisingpl-."


    "And you," Princess Edna interrupted, checking Monica from head to toe. "You are making me so jealous. Maybe I should ask you to share Captain Khan with me."


    "Princess!" Ron shouted. "That''s improper on many leve-."


    "Ron, you are such a prude," Princess Edna giggled, her smile widening when Monica''s expression flickered.


    "I''ll resume calling you Miss Virrai if you say that again," Monica said in the politest tone she could muster, even if something had already snapped inside her mind.


    "You are at your cutest when you are jealous," Princess Edna teased, letting go of Monica''s hands to hug her. "I missed you."


    "I''m serious, Edna," Monicamented. "Khan is mine."


    "I know, I know," Princess Ednaughed, but eyes soon fell on an interesting scene. She couldn''t see it before, but hugging Monica granted her a clear line of vision toward the noble guard and the fainted Prince Samuel.


    "What happened here?" Princess Edna questioned, separating from Monica to approach the noble guard.


    The noble guard had almost fallen into despair. Princess Edna''s friendship with Khan and Monica was more than famous. She was the only political ally that could force Prince Samuel''s hand, so he had to defuse the situation before it was toote. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Only a misunderstanding, Princess," The noble guard lied, a polite smile shining on his face. "We were on our wa-."


    "Captain, what happened?" Princess Edna interrupted, her gaze fixed on the fainted Prince.


    "Prince Samuel insulted Monica," Khan revealed. "I was requesting a formal apology."


    "He did?" Princess Edna asked, turning to find answers on Monica''s face. She didn''t nod, but her cold look at the fainted Prince said enough.


    "Princess," Ron intervened. "We shouldn''t get ourselves involved-."


    "Not now, Ron," Princess Edna ordered, addressing Prince Samuel''s noble guard. "Milo, right? Wake up the Prince."


    "Princess!" Ron called, stepping forward to reach the Princess'' side.


    "I want to go shopping," Princess Ednamented, "And Monica won''te until this is over, so hurry up."


    Milo was cornered, and noticing Ron''s helpless expression worsened his mood. He knew there was no way out of that situation. He could only keep lying and hope the Princess would eventually give up.


    "Princess Edna, Prince Samuel is in no condition to wake up," Milo said apologetically.


    "Was he high again?" Princess Edna questioned.


    "Princess!" Ron scolded. "You can''t talk about a Prince like this."


    "Why?" Princess Edna asked, looking at Ron. "He always asks me to join him."


    Terror invaded Milo. The situation had escted and escaped his reach. Only the Rassec family could fix that political offense now, but requesting their help required getting out of there.


    "Princess, the Prince clearly needs some rest," Ron eximed, trying to be the voice of reason. "We should temporarily drop the matter."


    "Princess, Ron is right," Milo added, finally seeing some hope. "Even if I wanted to, I wouldn''t know how to wake up the Prince."


    "I do," Khan intervened, bringing every eye in the room on him. "With the Princess'' permission, I''ll wake up the Prince."


    "Captain Khan," Milo gasped. "I can''t let you d-."


    "Do it, Captain," Princess Edna ordered. "I''m getting bored."


    Defeat filled Milo''s expression. He watched Khan stepping forward and stopping before him. He could have walked around, but everyone had to see Milo opening the way for him.


    Milo tried toe up with new ideas, but the situation was hopeless. Princess Edna had given the order, so he had toply. He moved aside, letting Khan crouch down and reach the Prince.


    Khan didn''t dare to touch the fainted young man but still stretched his hand toward his head. He wanted to be close enough to affect his mana, and his eyes closed to heighten his concentration.


    Slowly, Khan''s thoughts seeped into the Prince''s mana, experiencing its flow. He couldn''t apply much control due to the different will, but a sharp tremor was doable.


    The Prince suddenly woke up, voicing a loud gasp as he got on all fours and retreated. An unreasonable fear had invaded his body, making him sweat and crawl away at full speed.


    Milo intervened, jumping behind the Prince to interrupt his shameful retreat. The Prince panicked even harder when he felt hands pressing on his shoulders to keep him still, but Milo''s whispers to his ear slowly calmed him down.


    Prince Samuel''s eyes darted left and right as he steadied his breath. He was sitting on the floor, sweating profusely while Milo held his back straight. His pupils shrunk when he recognized Princess Edna and her guards, and his memories returned after noticing Khan and Monica.


    "Samuel, hurry up and apologize," Princess Edna ordered. "You know that Monica is my friend."


    Prince Samuel''s mind was still a mess, but his education kicked in. Besides, experiencing Khan''s pressure again made him gulp. Getting out became his priority, so his brain instinctively produced the necessary words.


    "I apologize," Prince Samuel uttered.

 Chapter 673 Favor

    Chapter 673 Favor


    The attendants almost shrunk back near the wall to avoid getting caught in the mess, but it was toote. Prince Samuel had uttered the magic words. A noble had publicly apologized to people with lower status.


    Of course, Princess Edna''s presence made everything easier to ept. The attendants and Milo had already decided to mention her when reporting the issue. Still, the insult remained, and Prince Samuel could only endure it.


    The Prince failed to focus even after apologizing, but Milo reacted quickly. He stood up, lifting Prince Samuel to help him to his feet before carefully pushing him toward one of the entrances. The sudden move made the Prince''s mind spin, but his guard took care of that, too.


    "Prince Samuel isn''t feeling good," Milo announced while pushing the Prince toward the door. "I apologize for myck of manners, but we must leave."


    Milo didn''t wait for replies and hurried toward the door, muttering scolding words whenever the Prince tried to peek at the crowd. Soon, the two left the ballroom, and their departure finally allowed the attendants to breathe.


    However, the problems weren''t over. Princess Edna was still there, and everyone in those circles knew her entricity. It was unclear what could still happen.


    Luckily for the attendants, Princess Edna had no interest in the ballroom and attendants. She barely noticed their presence at all. Her mind carried a single thought, and she revealed it as soon as she pointed her beaming smile at Monica.


    "Let''s go shopping now," Princess Edna eximed, hurrying to Monica''s side.


    "I wasn''t aware this space station had shops," Monica admitted, letting Princess Edna take her elbow.


    "It''s quite in if I''m being honest," Princess Edna revealed before her eyes lit up with a new idea. "Let''s see your wardrobe instead. Did they give you something for the wedding already?"


    "They provided a few options," Monica confirmed before recalling something that made her freeze on the spot. "Wait, Edna. We can''t go to my suite."


    Princess Edna''s smile widened when she noticed the panic on Monica''s face. Her desire to visit the suite had just skyrocketed.


    "It''s too messy for a Princess," Monica almost pleaded, trying to escape that situation. She even nced at Khan, but he kind of enjoyed seeing her embarrassed.


    "Let''s go!" Princess Edna happily ordered. "Captain, trade Ron with Monica for a while."


    "Princess!" Ron scolded, but his fate had already been sealed.


    "Have fun," Khan voiced. He would typically get jealous if someone saw the mess in the suite, but Princess Edna was an exception, and Jack barely counted as a man.


    Monica red at Khan, begging him to get her out of that situation. Still, he nodded calmly, forcing her to give in and see the positive aspects. She preferred Khan as a shoppingpanion, but Princess Edna worked too.


    "One moment," Monica eventually requested, slipping out of Princess Edna''s grip. "I must say goodbye."


    Monica hopped toward Khan, and he weed her in his arms. She leaned forward, and the two exchanged a short kiss, but a pout awaited him once they separated.


    "I have yet to forgive you," Monica whined.


    "What did I do now?" Khan chuckled.


    "You were all handsome before the Princess," Monicained.


    "I can''t help how I look," Khan snickered, "And you chose this hairstyle for me."


    "Yes," Monica nodded, "And it''s perfect, but also only mine, so now you have to pay."


    "Alright, alright," Khan didn''t even try to fight. "Go have fun now."


    Monica''s jealousy was genuine, but its intensity was a pretense. She was only slightly mad since her brain was busy with far different thoughts. The issue with Prince Samuel was still vivid in her mind, and Khan had behaved impably during it. She would have locked him up with her in their suite if it weren''t for her duties.


    "Don''t cause a mess," Monica cutely warned, leaning forward to kiss Khan again before escaping his arms. Her resolve was already faltering, so she had to hurry back to the Princess. She would have never left otherwise.


    "Take care of the Captain, Ron," Princess Edna ordered as she took Monica''s elbow again and dragged her toward one exit. Jack was with them, and Monica only managed to wave at Khan before leaving the ballroom.


    "I love that girl," Khan sighed, shaking his head while looking at the recently used exit.


    "Woman," Ron corrected, clearing his throat while approaching Khan. "Miss Solodrey is almost twenty-four, isn''t she?"


    "In four weeks," Khan confirmed. "I hope the marriage doesn''t take time away from her birthday."


    "She is too good for you," Ronmented, also staring at the exit.


    "We agree on that," Khan eximed. "Drink?"


    "I''m on official duty," Ron snorted. "I won''t let anything affect my judgment or abilities."


    "Didn''t the Princess tell you to live a little?" Khan teased.


    "Don''t use the Princess'' words," Ron scolded.


    "The Princess did trade you for my lovely girlfriend," Khan pointed out. "Your duty is indulging me now."


    Ron red at Khan before heaving a sigh. Khan was right, and he remained a fourth-level warrior with exceptional endurance in all kinds of poison. It would take a pool of booze to affect him.


    "Drink," Ron announced, striding toward one of the exits.


    Khan nodded at the attendants before following Ron, and the two soon left the ballroom. Obviously, noints flew in his direction. He couldn''t practice without Monica, and the recent events had been too much for those servants anyway.


    Ron led the way since he knew the space station. The two crossed multiple corridors before ending up in a small area featuring two tables, a long desk, and stools. A bartender was also present, and Ron only needed to lift his hand to make him prepare two drinks.


    Khan and Ron upied adjacent stools, and thetter nodded at the bartender to make him go away. The man left through a door behind the desk after delivering the drinks, giving some privacy.


    "Will the Princess get exposed to indecent things?" Ron questioned.


    "We couldn''t bring any of Lord Vegner''s toys," Khan joked, knowing Ron was aware of the trip to the estate. "Sadly."


    "I hope you won''t get strange ideas," Ron warned, picking up his drink. "The Princess was only teasing Miss Solodrey."


    "I''d be dead just by thinking about it," Khan chuckled, also attending to his drink.


    The short sip stopped Khan''sugh. That was the best booze he had ever had, and a long drink followed. By the time Ron replied, his ss was already empty.


    "Exactly," Ron nodded. "The Virrai family wouldn''t hesitate to forget your heroic deed if you tried anything."


    "Who cares about the nobles?" Khan eximed, jumping on the desk to inspect the other side. His eyes lit up when he found the previously used bottle, and his hand darted forward to seize it.


    "What?" Ron asked, unleashing his chilling tone.


    "I mean," Khan cleared his throat, happily returning to his seat with the bottle safe in his hands. "Monica would cut me into pieces before the nobles could get a chance."


    Ron stared nkly at Khan before releasing a half-chuckle. That almost sounded like a snort, but Khan saw through it, and his smile soon filled Ron''s vision.


    "Did you justugh?" Khan teased.


    "I most certainly didn''t," Ron scoffed, returning to his drink.


    "I''m growing on you, aren''t I?" Khan continued, leaning toward Ron. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Keep your distance, Captain," Ron ordered.


    "You are no fun," Khanughed, settling back on his stool and refilling his drink.


    The two men went silent, and a quiet tension unfolded. Somehow, both Ron and Khan knew that the time for jokes was over. Serious questions were about to arrive, and Ron''s money was on Prince Samuel''s issue. Yet, Khan surprised him.


    "Did the Hive make any move after thest incident?" Khan questioned.


    Khan''s current political situation extended his reach to all kinds of intel, and that was bound to improve after recing Ambassador Abores. However, Ron could have insights into information too ssified even for Khan, and he couldn''t miss that chance.


    Ron calmly took a sip from his drink before inspecting Khan. He didn''t re at him, but hesitation filled his mana. He appeared conflicted about talking about that specific topic with him.


    "Come on," Khan insisted. "I''ll marry a Solodrey. I''m basically one with the Global Army."


    Ron knew nothing was official, but Khan''s face and voice carried no lies. The resolve he conveyed made that possible news turn into a certainty. Those weren''t the words of a teasing kid. A mature leader was sitting beside Ron.


    you are still on their watchlist."


    Khan didn''t show any reaction. His face remained perfectly still as "The Hive is slippery," Ron eventually exined. "We had no further attacks but couldn''t track any movements either. However, I''m sure you are still on their watchlist."


    Khan didn''t show any reaction. His face remained perfectly still as he brought the drink to his mouth. He had expected a simr answer, but helplessness arrived anyway.


    ''They probably can''t make moves while I''m stationed in the Harbor,'' Khan thought, ''But I won''t be there forever.''


    "What about Prince Samuel?" Khan changed the topic. "Should I expect repercussions?"


    "Princess Edna defended Miss Solodrey publicly," Ron sighed. "With that and her background, no noble would dare try anything. In normal circumstances, that is."


    "So," Khan realized, "He mighte after me."


    "I''d work hard on your job as best man," Ron suggested. "Many won''t like to hear what happened today, and people do crazy things to earn the favor of the nobles."

 Chapter 674 Hunch

    Chapter 674 Hunch


    The scuffle with Prince Samuel affected Khan and Monica''s stay in the space station. The attendants concluded that simr problems could happen if the couple interacted with more guests, so they prevented those encounters, forcing Khan and Monica to focus on preparing for the wedding.


    Princess Edna was an exception since no one could hope to control her. Yet, apart from her random and asional interruptions, nothing got in the way of the couple''s duties. Khan and Monica practiced and studied diligently, and the fated day eventually arrived.


    Luxury was the best word to describe the wedding day. Hordes of guests spent the morning flowing into an immense hall adorned with beautiful drapes, circr marble tables, and almost transparent crystal seats.


    Bright chandeliers filled with precious gems that reflected different shades hung from the tall ceiling, sending a multicolored, brilliant spectacle to the hall. A small army also stood near the ce''s walls, inspecting every guest and attendant.


    The guests had obviously donned their best attires. Big jewels on fingers, ears, and necks reflected the chandeliers'' light while everyone took their appointed seats. Smiles shone left and right, and calm chatter soon filled the hall.


    The wedding had a precise and tight schedule, and everything proceeded smoothly. The ceremony started and continued under everyone''s attentive gaze, eventually leading to the key moment.


    The hall had a vast stage open only to a restricted number of people. Rick and Lucille were there, showing their excited smiles to each other. A man wearing a military uniform was between them, and two more figures stood slightly behind on opposite sides.


    A middle-aged woman with long red hair kept up by a luxurious and evident clip stood behind Lucille. Thetter had chosen her mother as a bridesmaid, and she couldn''t look happier. Her mana radiated some stiffness due to the luxury and political relevance surrounding her, but her smiling expression hid it well.


    On the other side, Khan stood proudly behind Rick. His experience with fame and his incredible blue suit made him fit perfectly on the stage, and his heavy presence enhanced that feeling. He often stole the spotlight, too, which earned him many headaches.


    Khan knew his looks were quite decent. Still, the suit, his fame, his role in the wedding, and his presence brought his appearance to a superior level, earning him countless tempting and yearning gazes from the female poption in the hall.


    Many would feel blessed to get a mere fraction of that attention. Khan even had to smile due to his role, but his situation was far from pleasant. One specific set of eyes stood out from the rest, and he couldn''t help but sense the vengeful and angry vibe they radiated.


    One of the tables near the stage had an exclusive set of young women from wealthy backgrounds. Their primary role was to keep Princess Ednapany since they were close to her status and age, but Khan''s maic presence often distracted them from that duty.


    Monica was among those women, and her fake smiles often froze when she caught one of her friends staring at Khan. She also had to y along when teasingpliments and jokes reached her ears, but her mind was ready to snap. The location prevented that, so she vented by staring daggers at Khan.


    Luckily for Khan, the torture had almost ended. The man donning the military uniform said thest ceremonial words before uttering what everyone was waiting for.


    "By the power conferred upon me by the Global Army," The man announced, "And with the approval of the noble families, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss."


    The announcement brought the hall''s attention to the newlywed couple, and a series of genuine smiles unfolded before the sweetness of the scene. Everyone could see pure happiness on Rick and Lucille''s faces, and the two briefly hesitated before falling into a kiss.


    Khan was among the genuine smiles. His eyes looked deeper into the couple, sensing their innocence and purity. Rick and Lucille''s love was young, untainted by lust and greed. They simply wanted to be together, and that was the first step toward that goal.


    Once the kiss ended, Rick and Lucille faced the crowd and exchanged smiles with the guests before walking hand in hand down the stage. The hall had a big, empty space at its center, and the couple entered it before assuming a dancing stance.


    Happy music began to echo from the hall''s speakers, and Rick and Lucille started dancing to its tune. Guests stood up to p and cheer, but no one dared to join them just yet.


    Khan lost himself watching the dancing couple. That pure form of love made his mind drift away. He knew he couldn''t have something like that. He didn''t want it, but some bitterness still tried to leak into his smile.


    That simple, straightforward, and easy love was enviable. It belonged to good people with no darkness inside them. As for Khan, his feelings were toxic, suffocating, and often destructive, putting that type of rtionship out of his reach.


    Of course, Khan wasn''t jealous. He would love for things to be easier but still wouldn''t trade Monica for anyone. The scene simply reminded him how twisted his mindset was.


    Unlike the guests, Khan couldn''t stare at the newlywed couple forever. A pair of eyes fell on him, making him turn toward the bridesmaid. Lucille''s mother was waiting for his signal, and he nodded before slowly descending from the stage.


    Lucille''s mother did the same, but the two went to different tables. The woman walked toward her husband''s seat while Khan approached the den of harpies.


    Intense stares unfolded while Khan walked toward Princess Edna''s table. The sitting and standing young women devoured him with their eyes, even indulging in tempting gestures. Khan knew he had to smile at them, but his resolve failed when he looked at Monica.


    Princess Edna didn''t care about the event, but the other women at the table seethed in jealousy and envy. Khan approached Monica, ignoring everyone else, and his eyes remained on her even after whispering in her ear.


    The women didn''t know what Khan had said, but the look Monica gave him said it all. She lifted her hand, and Khan took it before making her stand up and leaving toward the dance area.


    Lucille''s mother arrived with her partner, too, and the two couples began dancing around Rick and Lucille. Khan and Monica stole the scene, but only a few minutes had to pass before the area became too crowded to see anything.


    The dancing area became packed with couples spinning left and right at the same rhythm. Those highly-educated guests didn''t miss a single step in their dance, creating elegance in that otherwise messy scene.


    That trend was supposed tost almost half an hour, but Monica broke it. The minutes spent looking into Khan''s eyes made those elegant but respectful dancing moves unbearable, and she abandoned them toy her head on his chest.


    "Monica Solodrey," Khan teased by whispering to Monica''s ear, "Is this how you uphold your superior education?"


    Monica briefly chuckled before rubbing her face on Khan''s chest and looking up at him. Khan saw her serious eyes, and the following words put him in a simr mood.


    "I want two weddings," Monica stated. "One just for us."


    Khan and Monica matched the dance floor''s rhythm even in their odd stance, but their mood put them in their personal world. The crowd of couples, the luxurious hall, and the music disappeared as they lost themselves in their eyes.


    "You are getting greedier by the day," Khan joked.


    "My man will fulfill my every wish," Monica replied. "He always "Did I ever tell you how much I love you?" Khan whispered.


    does."


    Khan''s heart skipped a beat. Monica''s red A-line dress and captivating expression were too much for him to bear, but the recent event made him ignore his lust. He still experienced it, but his mood focused on different feelings.


    "Did I ever tell you how much I love you?" Khan whispered.


    "Many times," Monica nodded, "But don''t ever stop."


    Khan and Monica kissed right in the middle of the dance floor, earning many stares. Some were supportive, others envious, while a few conveyed convoluted ploys that could happen only once the Solodrey family announced the engagement.


    Needless to say, Khan and Monica had to stay on the dance floor for a while due to his role as best man, and their mood even prolonged their time there. The two forgot about everything else and focused on enjoying the moment, whichsted multiple hours.


    The couple didn''t do it on purpose, but their goals ended up being fulfilled anyway. Anyone who spotted Khan and Monica knew what they had was real. Their rtionship stood outside politics, and no external influence could break them up.


    Ordinary guests could keep dancing until the end of the event, but Khan''s duties eventually caught up with him. Anselm summoned Rick and Lucille, forcing the best man and bridesmaid to move with them. Sadly, Monica couldn''t join, but Princess Edna reced Khan in no time.


    Rick, Lucille, her mother, and Khan returned to the stage, where a long line was forming. Guests who wished to express formal congrattions gathered, waiting for their turn. Khan was in charge of introducing each of them to Rick, but a short conversation happened first.


    Lucille''s mother approached Khan and formally bowed before taking his hands. She even leaned forward to make sure her daughter didn''t hear her, and her high-pitched tone perfectly described her gratitude.


    "I''ll never forget this, Captain," Lucille''s mother whispered. "The Edhold family is forever in your debt."


    "Madam Edhold, please," Khan chuckled, leaning backward to put some distance between the woman and him. "I didn''t do anything."


    "No, no," Madam Edhold shook her head. "Lucille told me everything. Thanks to you, my family is connected to the nobles. You have made undying friends today."


    Madam Edhold was speaking the truth. It couldn''t be understated how valuable that union was. Only Lucille was joining the Rassec family, but that alone showered the Edhold family with immense relevance.


    "I''m just d Lucille and Rick are happy together," Khan stated. Those were the right words to speak in that environment, but he had told them from the heart.


    "Anything, Captain," Madam Edhold repeated. "It doesn''t matter how, when, or what. You need our help. We''ll provide it."


    "Thank you, Madam Edhold," Khan responded, and the two exchanged a smile before separating and starting the guests'' introductions. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The rounds of introductions were quite dull and repetitive. A big shot stepped onto the stage, and Khan greeted him and conveyed the necessary information to Rick before making the two meet.


    The guests rarely broke that pattern. At times, some guests wanted to exchange additional words with Khan, Lucille, or Madam Edhold, but Rick remained the party''s star. He was the noble in the end, so most people wanted to leave a good impression on him.


    The formal introductions didn''t let Khan create meaningful connections, but he met an incredible number of important people. Majors, Colonels, and even a General shook hands with him before moving to Rick. The number of representatives from wealthy families was even higher, and the nobles were no exception, albeit in far lower quantity.


    One of the introductions featured Prince Samuel, who was surprisingly sober at thatte hour. The man refused to shake Khan''s hand but didn''t create additional problems afterward.


    However, when the line drew near its end, Khan found himself in a strange situation. A middle-aged man and a young woman stepped onto the stage and revealed their identities as members of the Nognes family, one of the noble families. The woman was actually a Princess, and her looks stirred something inside Khan.


    Those feelings were nothing close to lust or physical attraction. Hunches simply rose into Khan''s mind and remained there while the two greeted Rick.


    The woman was nothing short of beautiful, with a petite body that radiated modesty. Even her smiles didn''t carry the usual noble arrogance, but Khan couldn''t get his eyes off her long, straight hair. He had seen that brown color somewhere, but his memory fought against him.


    The greetings with Rick didn''tst long, but the two guests didn''t head for their table right away. The Princess approached Khan again and showed a smile while stretching her hand.


    "Princess Felicia," Khan eximed, shaking the Princess'' hand. "You honor me."


    That wasn''t the first time a guest had chosen to address Khan twice, so he didn''t think too much about it. Yet, looking at the Princess'' face intensified his hunch. There was something he couldn''t exin there, and his face slowly started to show his internal conflict.


    "I wanted to take another look at you," Princess Felicia said. "Nice grip."


    "Is something the matter, Princess?" Khan asked, but the middle-aged man beside the woman cleared his throat, prompting her to leave.


    "If you are the man thework says you are," Princess Felicia stated, letting go of Khan''s hand, "This should be enough, right?"


    Khan''s face went serious. The hunch gained a shape and a name, but he didn''t dare to utter it. Princess Felicia didn''t stay either and left the stage with the middle-aged man, avoiding adding clues to the interaction.


    The remaining line of guests forced Khan to move on with his duties, but his thoughts never recovered. He couldn''t believe answers had just fallen on hisp, but the event had been too sudden to be random, which was worrying.


    As for Princess Felicia and her guard, they remained silent until returning to their seats, but thetter couldn''t refrain from uttering a question afterward. "That was out of line, Princess."


    "But he does look like Aunty," Princess Felicia said, "Doesn''t he?"


    "The resemnce is uncanny," The guard admitted, "But you know your orders."


    "Of course," Princess Felicia nodded. "Though I suspect he''ll return to the nest soon enough. Grandpa won''t be able to say no if he gets there on his own."


    "Your cousins won''t like that, Princess," The guard pointed out.


    "And that''s all they can do," Princess Felicia stated. "You have seen those eyes, Lynn. They are strong."


    Lynn didn''t answer, but his silence had a clear meaning. The Princess was good at evaluating warriors, and he agreed with her. Khan was scary strong, but that wasn''t necessarily a good thing. Lynn didn''t see a soldier when looking at Khan. His eyes belonged to a beast ready to go wild.

 Chapter 675 Hair

    Chapter 675 Hair


    Khan dealt with the remaining guests, but his thoughts stayed on the strange event. His senses also focused on the symphony, keeping track of those two specific auras he couldn''t wait to meet again.


    Sadly, luck wasn''t on Khan''s side. Princess Felicia and Lynn left the hall while he was still dealing with thest guests, and chasing after them simply wasn''t possible. Khan had to fulfill his role before obtaining any kind of freedom.


    The matter could have looked suspicious, but that behavior wasmon among important figures. The nobles and other higher-ups left as soon as theypleted the marriage''s mandatory duties, which ended by congratting the newlywed couple.


    Only the guests interested in expanding their politicalwork had remained in the hall when Khan was done with the introductions. They were still wealthy figures worth knowing and interacting with, but nothing at the nobles'' level.


    The end of the line cleared Khan of his duties as best man, but he didn''t immediately pursue his political interests. He didn''t feel tired but had still been on his feet for almost a day. He wanted a break, a drink, and silence to think about Princess Felicia.


    The important guests'' departure left many empty seats, and a few tables suffered from a simr fate due to the remaining dancing couples. Khan could use Rick and Lucille''s temporary freedom as a distraction to head for an isted spot, and a waiter appeared at his side as soon as he sat down.


    Khan seized the bottle and sses from the waiter''s tray before sending him away. His tie felt tight while he poured his drink, so he slightly loosened it. He even rubbed the corner of his eyes before bringing that exquisite booze to his mouth.


    The moment felt priceless. Khan could finally enjoy a second alone, and knowing the current silence wouldn''tst added value to it. Still, his thoughts didn''t let him rx since a new problem had joined his never-ending struggle.


    ''Princess Felicia,'' Khan thought, his eyes wandering through the hall. ''Nognes family.''


    The news wasn''t revolutionary. The idea that Khan had noble blood in his veins was basically a fact, but finding the right family among those lofty figures was impossible for someone like him.


    It wasn''t only a matter of background. The nobles were hard to approach, even for extremely wealthy families. Thetter usually relied on representatives who acted as sole connections to those unreachable figures, making any investigation impossible.


    However, Khan knew Princess Felicia''s behavior wasn''t random. Her presence at the wedding could very well have something to do with him, but his brain couldn''t find exnations.


    ''Maybe she was toying with me,'' Khan considered.


    That hypothesis had some value. Khan didn''tck enemies, and his fame could stir curiosity in anyone. Even if Princess Felicia wasn''t part of a ploy, her behavior could have birthed from personal interest. She wouldn''t even be the first Princess to do that.


    Yet, Khan''s hunches didn''t lie, and his senses noticed something far different from Princess Edna''s whimsical nature. Princess Felicia was calm,posed, and modest, and her features stirred his memories in ways he had never experienced before.


    ''That was my mother''s hair,'' Khan tried to recall, ''Wasn''t it?''


    Khan supported his head with a hand while continuing to drink. The memories of his mother were foggy at best, but he couldn''t stop finding simrities in them. He even started noticing details and shapes that reminded him of his own face. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Of course, that peace couldn''tst long. Many guests soon noticed Khan sitting alone, and their eyes lit up with various intentions. Most young women wanted a chance to flirt with the youngest Captain in history, while others were only interested in his political baggage.


    The symphony warned Khan about that change in atmosphere, but he wasn''t the only one to notice it. The sound of familiar steps soon reached his ears, and he half-turned to meet his savior.


    "You look better when you are messy," Monica announced, ignoring the empty chairs to sit on Khan''sp.


    "I could say the same to you," Khan replied, weing Monica into his arms. "Though I''m a bit conflicted when ites to skirts."


    "My, my," Monica joked. "It seems I must renew my wardrobe to keep you around."


    "Or throw it away," Khan teased, cutting short Monica''s giggle with a kiss.


    Monica made herselffortable on Khan''sp, leaning on his chest and resting her head on his shoulder. Princess Edna''s relentless whims had tired her, but reuniting with Khan added fuel to her power reserves.


    "Did you grab a ss for me, too?" Monica whispered, closing her eyes now that no one could look at her face.


    "Of course," Khan confirmed, seizing the bottle to prepare another drink. "I knew you would havee to save me."


    "It''s my job to let all those sluts know you are mine," Monica scoffed. "If only you knew all thepliments I had to endure."


    "Aren''t you happy your man is so famous and sessful?" Khan teased.


    "Yes," Monica said before pouting. "No. Not when I can hear their dirty thoughts."


    "They don''t know you are the dirtiest of them all," Khan chuckled, leaning down to kiss Monica''s hair.


    "You won''t talk your way out of this," Monicained. "I''m mad."


    "Will sitting on me while talking with the other guests fix that?" Khan asked.


    Monica pretended not to hear Khan, and her pout didn''t falter. Still, Khan had more weapons in his arsenal.


    "What if I kissed you whenever theye to greet us?" Khan suggested.


    Monica''s pout broke into a faint smile, preventing her from remaining silent any further. "Then, maybe."


    "You are enjoying that I can''t drag you to our suite yet," Khan said, "Aren''t you?"


    Monica giggled, opening her eyes and straightening her position. She continued leaning on Khan''s chest, and her hands quickly closed on the drink Khan delivered to her.


    "Just a bit," Monica admitted. "Though I''d much prefer we were in our suite already, especially if you had nothing but your jacket on."


    "Sounds to me you already have a n," Khan eximed. "I happen to like it."


    Monica kissed Khan before moving to his ear to whisper tempting words. "You must do something for me first."


    "You are pretty bossy today," Khan stated, ying along. "What is it?"


    "Nothing special," Monica unleashed her childish tone, stretching her legs to expose more of her thighs. "I''m afraid I might fall if you don''t hold me."


    Khan knew what Monica meant, so he pointed his scolding gaze at her. He didn''t mind breaking Anastasia''s rules every once in a while, but that environment demanded a higher decorum.


    "The Global Army already thinks I''m a whore," Monica didn''t give up. "Might as well let it know I''m your whore."


    Khan could only heave a helpless sigh. Monica was still paying for the consequences of her interview, and the mess with Prince Samuel proved that. She didn''t care about her reputation, but mentioning it cornered Khan.


    "You still haven''t told me what you want for your birthday," Khan sighed again, his free hand reaching for Monica''s thigh.


    "Pull me closer," Monica giggled, wrapping her arms around Khan''s neck.


    Khanplied, tightening his grip to perform the deed, and Monica couldn''t refrain from kissing him afterward. Their stance was beyond improper in that environment, but the two allowed themselves to forget about it.


    "I don''t know yet," Monica revealed once the kiss ended. "A trip just the two of us doesn''t sound bad."


    "It would even be the perfect time," Khan added. Political chaos would unfold once he returned home, and the Thilku were bound to summon him afterward.


    "Khan," Monica called, her tone growing serious.


    "What is it?" Khan asked.


    "What happened?" Monica asked, showing her concerned expression. Even without heightened senses, she could see that Khan was troubled.


    Khan briefly inspected his surroundings before looking at Monica again. He didn''t need to do that to check the area, but the gesture conveyed to Monica the secrecy of the topic.


    "What do you know about the Nognes family?" Khan whispered.


    "Nobles," Monica shook her head. "Nothing specific or unique."


    "I expected as much," Khan cursed.


    "Wait," Monica eximed, understanding dawning upon her. "Are they?"


    "I''m not sure," Khan revealed. "The Princess said something odd, and that hair ¡­ I don''t know."


    Monica lowered her gaze, her eyes darting left and right as ns and ideas popped into her mind. Her entire education got to work to find a way to help Khan, but the hand that dived into her curls interrupted the process.


    "Don''t even think about doing something crazy," Khan warned, tilting Monica''s face toward him.


    "They approached you first," Monicamented. "Maybe they are regretting cutting you off."


    "Maybe," Khan repeated. "Maybe they are interested in my mutations. We can''t be sure."


    "We can ask," Monica suggested. "Prince Rick and Princess Edna won''t leave immediately."


    "Should we?" Khan wondered. "Making waves so soon can be a problem."


    The issue was deeper than that. Rick and Princess Edna probably knew nothing about Khan''s noble background. The two would have to ask their parents, who would inform all the nobles about Khan''s knowledge.


    "My mother," Monica concluded. "She knows something. We should threaten her with my pregnancy again."


    "You love using that card," Khan chuckled.


    "I love thinking about it more," Monica timidly revealed, distracting Khan from the previous topic. The two lost themselves in their eyes, and their lips instinctively touched.


    "They areing," Khan whispered while his lips were still glued to Monica''s.


    "Don''t forget to hold me," Monica ordered, leaving another short kiss on Khan''s lips before straightening her position. "I won''t forgive you otherwise."


    Khan only had the time to smile before guests approached his table. A political aspect that he couldn''t ignore had finally arrived. He needed more friends to protect himself from the consequences of his imminent coup, and that night would be hisst window.

 Chapter 676 Answers

    Chapter 676 Answers


    The talks with the various guests went well but remained superficial. No longsting friendships formed that day. Most people simply wanted to look good before Khan and Monica out of respect for their social status.


    The following days saw simr routines. Many chose to linger in the space station a bit longer, giving Khan and Monica the time to host dinners and other political events. Everything went well, but nothing monumental.


    Of course, the couple didn''t expect anything different. Khan and Monica were merely expanding their political array to improve their chances of increasing their allies in the future. Everything else was just empty words and fake invitations.


    When the weekend drew near, all the remaining guests had to vacate the space station. Khan and Monica barely had the time to meet Rick, Lucille, Lieutenant Colonel yman, and Princess Edna again before being forced onto a spaceship that would bring them home.


    While the marriage had been an exclusive event that demanded utmost privacy, news had already leaked into thework. All of them were harmless since the nobles were involved, but many guests shared details during interviews and simr events.


    Khan and Monica scoured thework during their long trip back and were pleased to find many mentions of their names. That was almost inevitable since Khan was the best man, but some guests went beyond that, praising the rtionship and more.


    "It''s impossible to surpass the bride and groom''s beauty during their own wedding," Monica read on her phone, "But Miss Solodrey and Captain Khan came close to outmatching them."


    "Captain Khan stood out even in the middle of a crowd," Khan read on his phone. "His figure radiates everything to look for into tomorrow''s leaders."


    "I initially had my doubts about their union," Monica read another article, "But only the most beautiful descendant from the Solodrey family can stand up proudly at Captain Khan''s side."


    Those were only a few examples, but thework was full of simr lines. Almost anyone who gave an interview spent a few seconds praising Khan and Monica. Their presence didn''t go unnoticed, and their fame grew once more.


    That was as good a victory as Khan and Monica could get. The higher their status, the less they would have to worry about political issues. Their presence at the wedding achieved that, but results would appear only once problems arrived.


    Both Khan and Monica were fine with that, but neither could feel happy. The issue with the Nognes family lingered in their minds, creating loud thoughts they couldn''t suppress or ignore. They were too close to answers to think about anything else.


    The couple spent the rest of the trip devising ns to obtain answers, with most of them involving Anastasia. She was the most knowledgeable figure in Khan and Monica''s reach, and the imminent birthday was bound to provide an opportunity.


    That opportunity arrived far earlier than the couple expected. Their return to the Harbor was filled with reporters and soldiers, but the real surprise came once they returned to their building. Attendants and guards were on the sidewalk, warning about more political issues.


    Monica only needed to nce at the attendants to understand what was happening. She rushed into the building with Khan and felt no surprise finding it upied. Servants were cleaning the ce under the orders of a figure she knew far too well.


    "Mother!" Monica called, barging into the main hall. "It''s customary to warn about your arrival." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Anastasia was calmly sitting on a couch while holding a drink. A bottle also stood on the nearby table, which Khan recognized as the booze from his personal stash. The woman had made herself at home, and her timing couldn''t have been more perfect.


    "Daughter dear," Anastasia sighed, ncing at the couple before focusing on her drink. "Your birthday is on the way. It''s only normal for me to check that everything abides by the right standards."


    "Are we not allowed to have privacy anymore?" Monica began to snap. "Do I need to worry about you barging in whenever we have sex?"


    "He rubbed his tastelessness on you," Anastasia shook her head. "I knew that would happen."


    Monica was ready to shout again, but Khan stopped her by cing a hand on her back. Monica looked for answers in his eyes, but they were running through the hall. Attendants were walking in and out, and they had to go.


    "Leave," Khan ordered, his pressure adding weight to his word. "Now."


    Khan was no member of the Solodrey family, but the attendants stopped anyway. His authority went beyond politics and social status. His words spoke to their survival instincts, forcing them to seek help from their superior.


    Anastasia ignored the attendants to inspect Khan. She could tell he was serious, so she waved her hand, allowing the servants to leave the t.


    Silent seconds passed while everyone left. Soon, only Khan, Monica, and Anastasia remained in the t, and thetter felt surprised when no shouts flew toward her. Usually, Monica would resumeining, but nothing came out of her mouth. She was waiting for Khan to take the lead.


    Anastasia would never admit it, but that behavior was praiseworthy. Monica conveyed the maturity only a woman of her status could wield, and the reason for that stood at her side. She had grown thanks to Khan and to remain with him.


    "I know Monica''s birthday will feature a big announcement," Khan said, breaking the silence, "But I wish to clear some issues first."


    "How would you know anything?" Anastasia scoffed.


    "Leave it, mother," Monica uttered. "You can''t lie to Khan."


    Anastasia''s calm expression remained perfect, but Khan saw past it, and she knew that. His piercing eyes told a story anyone could read, and Anastasia could only sigh after realizing the helplessness of the situation.


    "Very well," Anastasia eximed. "Talk."


    "Was my mother from the Nognes family?" Khan went straight to the point.


    "This topic again," Anastasia cursed, standing up. "I gave you my daughter. That should quell any curiosity or rebellious vein in you."


    "It''s exactly because I have your daughter that I must know," Khan responded. "I can''t protect her if I remain unaware of these issues."


    Monica knew she had to wear her firmest stance, but that version of Khan was her greatest weakness. She couldn''t help but lean on him while using the rest of her resolve to keep staring at her mother.


    "Ridiculous," Anastasia snorted. "What would you even do with that information? Are you searching for more leverage against my family?"


    "No," Khan swore. "I just need to know."


    Anastasia halted her steps to stare at Khan. His reasons were valid, and he had already proven himself to be trustworthy. His love for Monica was no lie or pretense. It didn''t contain a single inch of greed for her wealth and social status. In a way, it was something most women dreamed of achieving.


    That wouldn''t be enough to make Anastasia falter, but her daughter was part of the problem. Khan''s rising status would eventually make him face those issues, and Monica might suffer if Anastasia didn''t prepare him ordingly.


    "My husband is right," Anastasia sighed, sitting on the closest couch. "I''m getting sentimental."


    Khan and Monica understood what was about to happen and sat on the opposite couch. Monica also took Khan''s hand to endure the lingering tension. The two already knew the truth, but confirming it remained a big deal.


    "Elizabeth Nognes was quite the famous figure," Anastasia announced, cing a hand on her cheek. "That''s usually odd among nobles, but she rarely acted like one."


    A tremor ran through Monica, and she couldn''t help but search for Khan''s eyes. That was it. That confirmed Khan''s noble lineage, but his expression remained still. He knew the story wasn''t over.


    "She was a loose cannon," Anastasia reminisced. "A month wouldn''t go by without news about her. She would steal her family''s ships to fly to randoms, disappear for days in Earth''s Slums, and much more.


    "The scuffles with fellow nobles were notable, too. I recall she made four different arranged marriages crumble. Her family truly didn''t know what to do with her."


    Excitement built inside Monica. The more she heard about Elizabeth, the more she reminded her about Khan. The simrities were on different levels but existed nheless.


    "The problems became unbearable when she found your father," Anastasia continued. "It was an odd pair, no different from you two, but she was relentless. Her family could only cut ties with her once she got pregnant with you. I bet they couldn''t wait for that chance."


    "Did they move into my father''s family?" Khan asked.


    "Oh, dear, no," Anastasia chuckled. "The Nognes family absorbed your father''s family almost immediately. They couldn''t give the wrong impression to the other nobles, so they erased every trace of the event."


    "And my name?" Khan wondered.


    "Gone after the Second Impact," Anastasia exined. "Your father''s freedom came from Elizabeth. Once she was out of the picture, the Nognes familypleted the job."


    "Was the Second Impact a nned move?" Khan questioned. The implication was there in the end.


    "What?" Anastasia eximed. "Humankind might have been reborn after the First Impact, but the Nak remain out of their reach. Besides, there are cleaner ways to make people disappear."


    "So," Monica sighed, "It was simply bad luck."


    "On the contrary," Anastasia stated. "It was lucky it happened to Captain Khan. To this day, his father is the only expert who could have saved his life."

 Chapter 677 Matriarch

    Chapter 677 Matriarch


    That was it. Anastasia hadid bare the whole truth. Her story didn''t have conspiracies or insights into the Nak but exined Khan''s background. He was a bastard of the Nognes family.


    Learning to have a noble lineage would be a big deal for almost anyone, but Khan was different. He had wanted to know simply to confirm the many clues gathered throughout his missions. As for actual actions, he didn''t n to do anything.


    "Happy now?" Anastasia questioned. "For what it''s worth, you have a lot inmon with your mother. I don''t consider it good, but maybe it will work differently since youe from a different background."


    It didn''t take a genius to understand Anastasia''s words. Elizabeth''s wild behavior was problematic with her noble baggage, but Khan was different. Thework saw his daring and brave efforts in a good light since achievements apanied them. Without the noble''s background, he was nothing more than a sessful soldier.


    "It already worked differently," Khan dered. "You are here, aren''t you?"


    "And what would that mean?" Anastasia asked.


    "You wouldn''t travel here just to n Monica''s birthday," Khan exined. "You have something else to say." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Monica immediately understood what Khan meant. The two had even considered that possibility in the past weeks. Moreover, Khan was right. Anastasia wouldn''t have traveled so far for a mere birthday.


    "That''s one annoying ability," Anastasiamented, her expression growing cold. "It will be a great addition to the Solodrey family."


    "Are you saying?" Monica gasped.


    "Yes," Anastasia eximed. "My husband and I have approved your engagement. It will be announced on your birthday."


    Monica had to hold back an excited cry, but ncing at Khan told her that her happiness had to wait. His face had remained cold, hinting that he had more questions.


    "I''m guessing as a birthday gift from her loving parents," Khan wondered.


    "Your love for each other melted our cold and scheming hearts," Anastasia joked. "The public will receive it well, drawing huge interest in your future performance."


    "Which you are expecting me to excel," Khan guessed.


    "At the very least," Anastasia corrected. "You are a bastard with a troublesome background and even more problematic behavior. Excellence must be your starting point once inside the Solodrey family."


    "Those have always been the terms," Khan stated. "What changed?"


    "You are bing my dear daughter''s fianc¨¦," Anastasia pointed out. "That changed."


    "No," Khan firmly said. "There''s more."


    Anastasia couldn''t help but bring the drink to her mouth to prolong her silence. Her expression didn''t falter, but that didn''t matter before Khan. His eyes saw everything, even the hints of ambition deep inside her mana.


    "It''s not a secret," Anastasia eventually revealed. "It''smon knowledge inside the family."


    "What is?" Khan questioned.


    "The top seat," Anastasia exined. "The role of Patriarch or Matriarch."


    Anastasia put more emphasis on Matriarch, telling everyone what she had in mind. She didn''t need to look at Monica to reveal her ns.


    "You need me," Khan understood.


    "That wasn''t always our n," Anastasia added. "Usually, the female descendants join the spouse''s family in exchange for longsting alliances and assets. However, we had to adapt to our unusual situation."


    "It must be truly unusual for me to be with the person I love," Monica snorted.


    "Monica, please," Anastasia sighed. "It is my job to look out for your future. You squandered a lot with your reckless behavior. I had to find another path."


    "Squandered?" Monica gasped. "Just because I had the stones of taking what I wanted, it doesn''t mean I squandered my prospects."


    "And what would your n have been?" Anastasia wondered.


    "I''m the best descendant of the Solodrey family," Monica announced, "And my fianc¨¦ is the best man in the history of the Global Army. We would have been fine regardless."


    Anastasia fell silent again. That wasn''t a childish remark. Monica had spoken the truth. It would have actually been strange for that couple to achieve nothing after gathering so much fame.


    "Regardless?" Khan asked, ncing at Monica.


    "Oh," Monica uttered, retreating deeper into the couch and unleashing a shier tone. "Matriarch doesn''t sound bad with you at my side."


    "Do you want that?" Khan questioned.


    "I just thought that it would be perfect," Monica admitted. "You''d have the entire Solodrey family at your service, and our children would never suffer from political pressure."


    Those lines left Anastasia speechless, but Monica wasn''t done yet. "Besides, it would turn me into a woman worthy of you."


    Monica often let her mind wander too far into the future, but Khan only saw love in those admissions. She was ready to strive for the mantle of Matriarch to improve their situation. That ambition came directly from her desire to protect her rtionship.


    "Silly girl," Khan sighed, breaking his firm stance to pull Monica into his arms.


    Monica''s fear had skyrocketed during the previous admissions, but everything disappeared once she fell into Khan''s arms. She even forgot that her mother was there while she hid her face on Khan''s chest and held him tightly.


    Meanwhile, Khan inspected the mess of curls below him. He could sense Monica''s disappearing fear, but its sole existence told him how worried she was. It seemed that she could still hide something from him, but he wouldn''t let her fight alone.


    "I''ll do it," Khan eventually dered, caressing Monica''s hair. "I''ll make Monica the new Matriarch of the Solodrey family."


    "You are still decades too early for that," Anastasia scoffed.


    "No," Khan shook his head. "I''m not."


    Realistically, Khan''s ims were groundless. He was only a third-level warrior and a Captain on top of that. The upper echelon of the Global Army was far harsher to climb, but his words almost managed to convince Anastasia anyway.


    It didn''t help that the scene was quite touching. Khan didn''t run away nor falter before Monica''s daring im. He even stood there for her to clear her doubts. As a partner, he had already surpassed most of his peers.


    "I have another question," Khan continued after a brief silence. "Is the engagement a way to prevent the Nognes family from wanting me back?"


    Khan''s question was more than reasonable. Anastasia probably didn''t know about the strange event with Princess Felicia, but someone in her position was bound to predict it and understand its meaning.


    Khan could im without a single ounce of arrogance that he was amazing. His strength alone could put him at the top of his level, and his knowledge of alien arts deepened his advantages. His senses also yed a big role in his unreachable status, and his achievements added fame to an already incredible political figure.


    Theoretically, it could be wise for a wealthy family to reabsorb such unique talent into their ranks. Nobles had to mind their face more, but their word was absolute, so no one could stop or contradict them. If the Nognes family wanted Khan back, they would have him, and that was a good time to think about it.


    "The thought crossed my mind," Anastasia admitted. "Why? Did something happen at the wedding?"


    Khan found no lies in Anastasia''s words, so he decided to speak the truth. "Princess Felicia greeted me twice. I think it was a message."


    "I see," Anastasiamented. "It shouldn''t have been anything official. No Prince or Princess can make that decision for the entire Nognes family."


    ''Was it just personal curiosity then?'' Khan wondered. ''Which means Princess Felicia knows about my mother.''


    Khan felt a headacheing. He knew bigger problems would appear as long as he continued climbing the politicaldder, but the nobles remained especially troublesome. There was no real ploy or preparation that could work against them.


    "Anyway," Anastasia eximed. "The decision had nothing to do with that. My husband and I gave the okay after receiving reports from the wedding. You did well there."


    Khan couldn''t take thepliment to heart since Anastasia only cared about the political implications of his performance. She wanted a connection with the Rassec family and nothing more.


    "Now," Anastasia changed the topic. "The engagement is no small event. Representatives from the Solodrey family wille here to celebrate, so you should get started on memorizing your schedule now."


    "Mother," Monica called, leaving Khan''s chest to look at Anastasia. "You just approved our engagement. You need to stay away from this t for a few days."


    "Monica, dear," Anastasia sighed. "We have a lot to prepare, and time is tight. Khan would also need to go out one day earlier to retrieve rings and clothes."


    "Mother," Monica called again. "Either you leave, or we will have sex in front of you."


    "Monica," Anastasia sighed. "These tasteless threats are below-."


    Anastasia couldn''t finish her line since Monica jumped toward Khan''s mouth, forcing him to lie on the couch. She quickly unbuttoned his shirt, which flew away before he could even think about doing anything about it.


    Anastasia initially didn''t think the two would go through with the act, but Monica knew her man through and through. She sat on Khan''sp and removed her pullover, bringing his attention to her sensual bra.


    The situation immediately grew helpless. Khan and Monicapletely forgot about Anastasia''s presence, and she soon felt forced to leave the room. Sadly for her, the elevator closed only after she heard the first moan.

 Chapter 678 Hole

    Chapter 678 Hole


    The following days were beyond busy. Anastasia never stopped nagging the couple about the imminent event, and Monica struggled to keep her clothes on in Khan''s presence. He was assaulted from every direction, and the problems didn''t end there.


    Once the new week arrived, representatives from the Solodrey family begannding on the Harbor, enforcing political dinners and simr meetings on the couple. Free time turned into a distant dream, and Khan failed to find a single chance to sort out his thoughts.


    However, an opportunity arrived a few days before the birthday. Monica was busy picking up clothes with her mother, the representatives were appeased, and Khan had already cleared his duties. That granted him one free afternoon, which he didn''t dare to waste.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to reach the greenhouse assembled by Miss Bevet to spend a few hours immersed in his version of the [Blood Vortex]. He could have endured the technique for the entire afternoon but stopped midway through it to attend to other tasks.


    A short trip by cab brought Khan into a district full of top-tier training halls, which he immediately entered. Time wasn''t on his side, but he sat at the ce''s center instead of starting any exercise.


    ''I''m no good as I am now,'' Khan sighed, tapping the box at his side.


    The box opened while Khan used his other hand to make the hall create a simple training dummy. The puppet came out by the time Khan retrieved the knife, and a swift movement sent a purple-red sh forward.


    The sh didn''t aim for the metal puppet, but the bloodthirst inside Khan''s brain suddenly red, reddening the attack. Thetter also changed direction and elerated until it crashed on the training dummy.


    An explosion unfolded, but the mess couldn''t hide anything from Khan''s sharp senses. He saw the sh cutting through the metal before unleashing its mana. The detonation simply was the result of thest event.


    Khan brought his attention to the knife afterward. The cursed weapon screamed inside his mind, requesting more energy. Its presence inside his brain even tried to expand, but a clicking cry arrived, keeping it in check.


    The bloodthirst waned when Khan ced the knife back into the box. That weapon was too dangerous to hold in the open, making the container necessary in the Harbor. Khan still had to test its behavior on a battlefield, but the chance was bound to arrive soon.


    Khan''s thoughts moved to different problems after confirming that the cursed knife was as strong as he recalled. The birthday, engagement, and knowledge about his noble heritage created a terrifying picture. He was one step away from the big yers, but his fantastic battle prowess failed to bring confidence.


    ''Things will get worse,'' Khan recalled Anastasia''s words and felt the need to agree with them.


    Rick''s marriage had elevated Khan''s status but had also exposed him to the Nognes family. The nobles had their eyes on him, and his behavior had already earned him an enemy among them. He could bnce that out with his allies, but things weren''t that simple in that environment.


    Moreover, the number of Khan''s enemies would increase soon. Recing Ambassador Abores would put a target on his back, and he didn''t know how troublesome that would be. After all, Ambassadors had countless allies, and many would be willing tomit crimes to earn their favor.


    On top of that, Khan had just promised Anastasia he would make Monica the Solodrey family''s new Matriarch. That was no small feat, and even attempting it would put many powerful enemies against him. His power alone fell short by a lot, especially when considering the entirety of the equation.


    ''Factions of the Solodrey family,'' Khan summarized, ''Anyone Ambassador Abores can bring to his cause, and nobles. I can''t deal with them alone.''


    Khan had worked hard on amassing allies for simr situations, but that couldn''t protect him everywhere and all the time. The nobles, wealthy factions, and Ambassador Abores had yed that game far longer than him. They could create the perfect opportunity if they wanted to take him out.


    To add injury to insult, Khan realized that nothing could prevent that eventuality. Even spending the rest of his life lying low and avoiding making waves couldn''t save him once those enemies were established. His nightmares also stopped him from considering that approach, leaving pure helplessness in his mind.


    It didn''t help that Khan''s battle style was already nearly perfect. His recent breakthrough into the Niqols'' arts had turned him into a walking cmity, and he had spells for every situation. Acquiring the cursed knife enhanced all that, exhausting his avable paths.


    ''What can I do?'' Khan wondered. ''I can''t just stay still and wait for problems.'' n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan wasn''t even close to staying still. His breakthrough with the Thilku runes had brought back the [Blood Vortex], filling it with new power. He was already advancing faster than third-level warriors with infusions, but nothing seemed enough in his mind.


    ''I should have epted the martial art from Monica''s parents,'' Khan thought. ''No, Maban''s technique already makes me faster.''


    Needless to say, Khan was having a hard time nning his next move. He didn''tck anything, and no one at his level could beat him, but everyone knew that.


    If someone wanted to take Khan out, they would send higher-level warriors with special techniques and spells. Khan was also certain those opponents would have extensive battle experience and capabilities, making tricks pointless against them.


    Khan scratched his head, but his eyes lit up when they fell on the box. The cursed knife could use his seemingly endless mana to The fact that Khan had defeated the fourth-level Thilku didn''t bring confidence either. He knew he was weaker than that mutated alien on almost every field, and no new technique could fix that.


    ''I can''t always rely on flying and symphony,'' Khan sighed, ''But what can I even do? I''m still a third-level warrior.''


    Khan scratched his head, but his eyes lit up when they fell on the box. The cursed knife could use his seemingly endless mana tounch attacks that surpassed his current level. That was a tremendous boost against stronger opponents, but Khan''s thoughts had already gone beyond that.


    The personal version of the Thilku runes opened countless opportunities, but Khan had only used them to replicate the [Blood Vortex]. The reason for that was simr to his current issue. He had no idea what to do, but something began to take form.


    ''The chaos spear is my most destructive attack,'' Khan thought, ''But higher-level warriors can deal with it. Noble guards can probably deal with a rain of spears.''


    Khan knew he couldn''t be faster than specialized higher-level warriors. He was aware he couldn''t surpass them in almost every field. However, there was something he could do, and the theory behind the cursed knife gave him the answer.


    ''Power,'' Khan realized. ''Pure, unrestrained power.''


    Khan promptly jumped to his feet and tapped the floor to make a circr, metal target appear on the other end of the hall. The vague idea quickly gained precise shapes as calctions happened in .


    "This might be your worst offense yet," Headmistress Holwen Khan''s mind. He knew what to do, and his fingers reached for the air before him to actuate it.


    .


    .


    .


    "This might be your worst offense yet," Headmistress Holwenmented, disbelief filling her face.


    "Thank you," Khan eximed.


    "It wasn''t apliment," Headmistress Holwen scolded.


    "It was," Khan stated, and the Headmistress nced at his calm face before following his eyes again.


    Headmistress Holwen and Khan were in the same training hall as before, watching a terrifying and stunning spectacle. Teams of soldiers also joined them, and the scene made them freeze on the spot.


    Khan and the Headmistress were staring at one of the hall''s walls or, rather, at the massive circr hole that had appeared at its center. Melted metal still flowed on its smooth edge, and smoke leaked into the area before heading toward the ceiling.


    That wasn''t the end of it. The hole stretched past the workshop behind the wall and into the next one, which had been pierced, too. Khan and the Headmistress could see the insides of the adjacent training hall, which had luckily been empty.


    The Headmistress would have loved for the damage to stop there, but the scene destroyed that hope. The adjacent training hall had a long and sizzling channel that stretched toward the opposite wall, inevitably leaked into his eyes while inspecting the damage. His attack had pierced two training halls, greatly surpassing the chaos where another circr hole had appeared. The attack had only darkened the metal, but repairs were necessary anyway.


    Khan wanted to feel bad for the Headmistress, but excitement inevitably leaked into his eyes while inspecting the damage. His attack had pierced two training halls, greatly surpassing the chaos spear''s destruction. Nothing in his arsenal could evene close to that power.


    "What seems to be the issue?" A familiar voice suddenly entered the hall, and Anastasia soon appeared. She was supposed to meet with Khan, but histeness had forced her to check on him.


    The scene left Anastasia speechless, too. Her eyes widened at the sight of the hole, and her surprise intensified when she noticed how far the damage stretched. It was simply insane to think that a third-level warrior could have caused that.


    "Captain," Headmistress Holwen eventually cleared her throat. "You leave me no choice. I must ban you from the Harbor''s training halls."


    "There is no need to go that far," Anastasia intervened once she snapped back to reality. "The Solodrey family will cover the cost of the repairs."

 Chapter 679 Yes

    Chapter 679 Yes


    The Harbor was an intricate political environment that tried to bnce the influence of many powerful families. Keeping all those annoying parties happy and appeased required constant efforts and often caused countless headaches to the Headmistress.


    Khan was a troublemaker, and histest offense would take weeks to repair. Yet, Anastasia had stepped in, so the Headmistress could only agree to her terms to preserve the peace.


    "If that''s what Madam Solodrey desires," Headmistress Holwen announced, "I believe this matter is settled."


    "You are understanding as always," Anastasia half-bowed, "Leticia."


    "It''s no problem," Headmistress Holwen replied. "We''ll start the repairs if everything is okay with you."


    "Definitely," Anastasia stated, reaching for Khan''s side to take his elbow. "I shall steal Captain Khan now. We have a lot to prepare."


    "Goodbye, Madam Solodrey, Captain Khan," Headmistress Holwen nodded, and Anastasia gently pulled Khan''s elbow to signal him to move.


    Khan couldn''t stress enough how awkward it was to have Monica''s mother on his elbow, but appearances were everything in that field, so he stuck with it. The two slowly and calmly left the training hall while soldiers continued to arrive and separated only when they entered a cab.


    "You were reckless," Anastasia scolded as soon as the two remained alone.


    "The dome is intact," Khan pointed out, seizing a drink from the cab''s drawers. "I don''t see the issue."


    "Even my family can''t suppress those rumors," Anastasia exined. "Soon, everyone will learn what you did."


    "Good," Khan stated.


    "Your actions will reflect on the Solodrey family from now on," Anastasia rebuked. "You''ll attract more enemies, and they''lle prepared if they know what you are capable of."


    "They can''t know," Khan dered. "No one can."


    "Don''t let sess go to your head," Anastasia eximed. "You are talented, but the Global Army and families have all kinds of experts. The more your fame grows, the more interest your abilities will attract, and someone will eventually figure them out."


    "It doesn''t matter," Khan responded. "I can protect Monica now."


    Anastasia wanted to argue more but felt sympathetic to Khan''s cause. She knew he wasn''t dumb, and even his recklessness carried traces of reason. Moreover, many of his efforts had Monica at their core, leading to a helplessness Anastasia couldn''t fight.


    "Try to be more careful from now on," Anastasia gave up, "Or at least don''t leave traces. Things will gain new weight after you put a real ring on my daughter''s finger."


    "I know," Khan nodded. "I know the stakes."


    Anastasia and Khan ended up staring at each other. She checked him, and he did his best to convey his resolve. Now that they were alone, Anastasia could try to think like a simple mother, and the scene pleased her. Khan was a man worthy of her daughter.


    The two spent the rest of the trip in silence before getting to work on the remaining preparations. Only a few days separated them from Monica''s birthday, and everything had to be perfect. Still, by the look of it, things would work as nned.


    The following days went by in a blink and proved Anastasia right. Khan didn''t have a single free second, but people warned him about thework''s updates. The news of his recent offense had gone public, and the reception wasn''t as positive as he hoped.


    Fame was a double-edged sword. Khan and Monica had many fans, but haters were bound to appear, especially as he grew more notorious. Everything was working too perfectly for him, leading to envy and jealousy from ordinary soldiers.


    Thetest offense added fuel to the fire. The rumor that Khan was a menace began to spread, and many began to wonder whether the Harbor was safe with him living in it. After all, a crack in one of the domes could cause a catastrophe, and Khan was the best candidate for that.


    Of course, those rumors came from a stark minority of people, and the Solodrey family worked hard to suppress them. They couldn''t stop them altogether, but flooding thework with better news sort of solved the issue.


    Moreover, the Solodrey family kept the best news forst, and the time to reveal it eventually arrived. Representatives and a few guests gathered to celebrate Monica''s birthday, and a series of annoying events unfolded.


    The morning featured a massive and long breakfast that almost stretched until lunchtime. There were tens of representatives, and all wanted a piece of Khan and Monica, which led to endless superficial conversations.


    The afternoon was no better. As the guests got drunk, the questions changed and became more invasive. Some were directly aimed at Khan and Monica''s rtionship, while others tried to involve them in businesses rted to specific factions.


    Khan and Monica were ready for that development, and Anastasia had also prepared them for the eventuality, so they didn''t fall for any trap nor reveal relevant information. Khan''s smile even disappeared whenever his irritation touched the breaking point, which usually stopped the barrage of questions for a while.


    The dinner was more intimate but equally annoying. Anastasia was merely showing off Khan and Monica as if they were a circus attraction, and they had to y along to avoid insulting enemy factions.


    Needless to say, Khan hated all of that. The booze and food were good, but the environment was terrible. He got to know many representatives and uncovered clues about the various internal conflicts, but Monica''s happiness was the price. That was supposed to be her birthday, but it felt like work.


    Still, a silver lining existed. Both Khan and Monica were aware of what woulde next, inevitably leading to some restlessness and happiness. The two often found themselves looking at each other, lost in their respective eyes or attractive attires. They knew they would never forget that day, and the fated moment slowly approached.


    Once all the feasting ended, the giant group headed for the second district. The Solodrey family had already handled that part with the Headmistress, so the many cabs had no problemsnding before Khan''s building.


    That wasn''t the end of it. As the group slowly gathered on the sidewalk, another cab arrived, and the figure that came out of it earned a great deal of attention. Luther, Monica''s father, had finally joined the event, instantly changing the general atmosphere.


    Khan only needed a look to understand the kind of respect Luther had among those lofty figures. Even members of enemy factions either lowered their heads or nodded at his cold face. That wasn''t something people could buy or inherit. Luther had earned it in ways Khan couldn''t imagine.


    "Father," Monica announced, half-bowing when Luther reached her and Khan.


    "Mister Solodrey," Khan added, but his back remained still. As much as the situation required it, he wouldn''t show respect to a man who had tried to police his rtionship.


    "I''m sure you had an enjoyable day," Luther stated. "Monica, happy birthday."


    Monica smiled and leaned forward to let her father kiss her cheek. The two also hugged, but Luther''s coldness never wavered. It was impossible to see whether he felt affection toward her daughter, and the scene inevitably saddened Khan.


    Nevertheless, the night didn''t allow Khan to linger on those feelings. He hated that the next moves would be yed ording to Anastasia''s directives, but his eyes were on the reward. Besides, he nned to make up for that hundredfold.


    her support for that decision. Still, many eyes continued to fall on Khan and Monica. A few guests understood what was happening "Thank you for taking the time to gather here," Luther announced once he and Monica separated. "I know it has been a long trip, so I''ll make it short."


    Anastasia calmly reached Luther''s side and took her elbow to show her support for that decision. Still, many eyes continued to fall on Khan and Monica. A few guests understood what was happening and couldn''t wait for the main event.


    "As you all know," Luther continued. "My daughter has dated Captain Khan for over a year now. Their rtionship is solid, and their love is genuine. He wouldn''t have been my first choice as a partner, but histest achievements have shown enough promise."


    Khan felt the need to snap. Luther''s fa?ade still put him in charge of those decisions. He was in that position, but Khan didn''t want what was about to arrive to look like a concession.


    The only reason Khan didn''t make a mess was at his side. Monica shared his sour feelings, but something stronger overwhelmed them. She was too happy to care about how they got there.


    "While the road is still long," Luther eximed, "I made up my mind. I shall formally allow Captain Khan to join our great family with the best gift I can think for my daughter."


    At that point, Luther turned and nodded at Khan before adding a single word. "Captain."


    Monica almost jumped on the spot as she turned to face Khan. Her hands clenched into fists to avoid fidgeting before that audience, and a bright smile invaded her expression. She could barely contain herself, and the serious eyes in her vision tried to shatter her frail resolve.


    Khan experienced simr emotions, but his resolve held firm. He didn''t like how he had gotten there. He hated thepromises he had to ept to obtain that opportunity. However, no doubt existed in his mind, and no hesitation arrived as he kneeled on the sidewalk.


    "Monica Solodrey," Khan uttered, looking straight into Monica''s eyes while retrieving a small case from his suit''s inner pocket. "Will you marry me?"


    Monica knew she had to keep her cool, but her entire education vanished when Khan opened the case. A silver ring with a big sapphire filled her vision, and an excited cry escaped her mouth while she lifted her hands to suppress it.


    "Yes!" Monica muttered before recalling to lower her hands. "Yes, yes! A hundred times, yes!"


    Khan couldn''t help but smile at that honest reaction. He seized the ring and carefully put it on Monica''s fourth finger, right above her other ring.


    Monica barely waited for Khan to stand up before jumping forward. She didn''t care about the ring. She didn''t even think about the pricey gem on her hand. Monica only knew that the engagement was official now, and her heart overflowed with love.


    "Oh Khan," Monica whimpered among her barrage of kisses. "I love you so much." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan couldn''t reply since his mouth was busy taking care of Monica''s lips, but the situation worked in his favor. His mind was nk with happiness. He could only think about the woman in her arms. As for the audience, he had already forgotten about them.

 Chapter 680 Replacement

    Chapter 680 Recement


    The marriage proposal hit thework almost immediately, and a wave of positive reactions unfolded. Khan and Monica had their haters, but the majority of the public felt excited and happy about their engagement.


    Of course, many began to wonder when the marriage would take ce. It wasmon for wealthy descendants to get engaged early just to wait years to seal the deal, but Khan''s poor background could create an exception to the rule.


    Still, the Solodrey family didn''t give the public that satisfaction. Monica wore an official ring now, but no one mentioned the wedding. Anastasia and Luther wanted the couple to focus on their careers before making that important step.


    Khan and Monica didn''t like to have their private life policed by her parents but also agreed with their decision, albeit for different reasons. Their political influence was still too weak, so formally joining the family now would leave them powerless. Ideally, they wanted to gain undisputable political relevance before jumping into thatplicated environment.


    That wasn''t a simple n nor something the couple could attain in a matter of months. Khan and Monica would have to work for years to seize enough leverage to remain free even inside the Solodrey family. However, that didn''t have to start right away.


    A few days after the official engagement, Khan found himself in a hot environment enveloped in a pleasant breeze. The rxing sound of waves filled his ears, and a yellow star shone on his eyes, attempting to give his skin a nice tan.


    Khan wasn''t alone either. He was lying on a sunbed made for a single person, but Monica had squeezed at his side and was sleeping on his bare chest. Her swimsuit tempted Khan, but he refrained from waking her up for now. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Technically, that was a second gift from the Solodrey family. Khan and Monica wanted to spend some time alone after the engagement, so Anastasia had pointed them toward one of their establishments.


    The ce was on a called Illnatur, consisting of a series of beaches that many wealthy families had purchased and developed. Summer never ended there, making it the perfect holiday spot for descendants or simr figures wanting to take a break from political life.


    Khan and Monica had the Solodrey family''s beach for themselves. Except for the servants in the various structures, they were alone and with no strings attached. They could rx and do as they wished for a week before returning to their many duties.


    Monica''s swimsuit wasn''t the only thing that tried to distract Khan from that drowsy morning. His mind rejoiced as waves of natural mana washed over him. That environment was far better than the personal greenhouse, tempting him to perform the [Blood Vortex] there.


    Yet, the ce belonged to the Solodrey family, and flying away would send Khan into another family''s territory. He couldn''t ensure total privacy, forcing him to hold back and focus on different tasks.


    "Khan," A sleepy call escaped Monica''s mouth while Khan was lost in his thoughts, and his eyes promptly fell to meet hers. She had yet to wake uppletely, but noticing Khan made her smile.


    "My fianc¨¦," Monica giggled, leaning upward to reach for Khan''s mouth. He helped her, and the two exchanged a loving kiss that conveyed the purity of the moment.


    "Someone is happy," Khan teased.


    "I have the best fianc¨¦," Monica stated, showing the big ring on her left hand. "I''m the happiest woman in the world."


    Khan could only smile. Monica had been in that condition since the engagement had gone official. Her mana appeared unable to radiate negative thoughts, and pure happiness permeated it. Monica was ecstatic with that development despite all the potential problems and paranoia.


    Inspecting Monica also confirmed Khan''s feelings. He shared that happiness and certainty, showing how much the couple had matured. Their previous talks about engagement and marriage had always featured doubts, but everything was perfect now.


    "Show me that thing again," Khan ordered.


    "But I just woke up," Monica whined.


    "Exactly," Khan pointed out. "You won''t hear reason once you are fully awake."


    "Fine," Monica pouted but still lifted her arm at the sky. Mana ran through it, and a faint cloud came from her palm.


    Khan didn''t miss the slightest detail about that imperfect spell. He memorized the mana''s patterns and quantity before losing himself in multiple mental simtions. That wasn''t his first attempt, but the oue didn''t change.


    "It''s really useless," Khan sighed.


    "You know it''s imperfect," Monica stated, lowering her arm to curl on Khan''s torso. "It''s the most imperfect of my spells."


    "I wouldn''t even call them spells," Khan sighed. "I wish I had your element. I would know how to move."


    "You would know more if you stopped being so careful," Monicained.


    "I''m not risking your arm," Khan dered. "End of the story."


    "I like it when you are so domineering," Monica joked, caressing Khan''s chest, "But you can''t expect to fix what my family couldn''t. Not immediately, at least."


    "That''s exactly what I must do," Khan eximed. "The future husband of a Matriarch should be able to do that."


    Khan didn''t need to say it, but Monica understood anyway. Her element was a hindrance in her political career. Khan''s strength couldpensate for it, but eliminating that w altogether would be the best solution.


    "You''ll figure it out," Monica reassured. "You always do. After all, you are my fianc¨¦."


    "You really love the sound of that," Khan chuckled.


    "I love you more," Monica said, leaning toward Khan to kiss him again.


    The week in that paradisiac location flew in a blink, and the couple returned just as quickly into the Harbor. The end of the holiday forced them to deal with the umted calls from friends and acquaintances willing to congratte them, and half a day went by because of that.


    Khan would have loved to spend longer on those calls. After all, half a day wasn''t nearly enough to talk with George, Luke, Martha, Lucian, and all the other descendants who had established a tight rtionship with him. Yet, the time to settle a past agreement hade.


    In the middle of the afternoon, Khan hopped out of a cab that hadnded on one of the embassy''s roofs. Mister Cirvags and Headmistress Holwen were with him, and the trio immediately dived into the building while escorted by a group of soldiers.


    The appointed corridor had fallen into chaos before the group''s arrival, and things had only worsened in the meantime. When Khan reached his destination, he saw soldiers standing outside a familiar office, frightened about the scene inside.


    "Make way," One of the soldiers in the escort ordered, and Khan, Headmistress Holwen, and Mister Cirvags used that chance to enter the office.


    The few remaining workers froze at the sight of those big shots, but that wasn''t the only development. A raging figure shot out of the private room, and a shout promptly escaped his mouth.


    "What is the meaning of this?!" Ambassador Abores shouted. "Since when have you all plotted behind my back?!"


    "The request came directly from the Thilku Empire," Mister Cirvags exined.


    "Our hands are tied," Headmistress Holwen added.


    "Tied?!" Ambassador Abores shouted again, and his anger skyrocketed when he looked at Khan. "Is this your doing? What did you give the Thilku to make this happen?"


    Khan didn''t feel the need to justify the event. That anger bored him, but the office still wasn''t empty, so he addressed that. "You were supposed to clear my room thirty minutes ago."


    "How dare you?" Ambassador Abores cursed before bringing his attention to the two superiors. "Are you really willing to give my missions to a mere scout? Is this what the Global Army hase to?"


    "The decision has already been made," Mister Cirvags exined. "Captain Khan will take over your office and all your tasks."


    "He isn''t ready," Ambassador Abores snorted. "He''ll never be! He''ll never have humankind''s best interest at heart. That''s how he pretends to excel."


    "If clues of treason will appear," Mister Cirvags stated, "I''ll deal with them personally."


    Ambassador Abores couldn''t believe those words, but the faces before him weren''t lying. The news had been too sudden to feel real, but his orders were official. Khan was to rece him.


    "This is ridiculous," Ambassador Abores eximed. "This is crazy."


    The trio knew that speaking would only add fuel to the fire, so they let Ambassador Abores cool down on his own. Luckily for them, the Ambassador was a pro, so he epted his situation in a matter of seconds.


    "rissa, let''s leave," Ambassador Abores ordered, and his secretary immediately reached his side. "As for you, you should be ashamed of putting the rtionships with the Thilku in the hands of a kid."


    Ambassador Abores got nothing but silence, but his anger red once more as he stepped forward, and Khan''s uncaring expression filled his view.


    "You think of yourself as some kind of prodigy," Ambassador Abores mocked. "You just won the lottery when you made that gir-."


    A tremor suddenly ran through the office. Cracks appeared on various devices, and most workers clung to their desks to avoid falling. rissa was standing so her knees ended on the floor, and she even dropped the screens in her arms.


    Only Mister Cirvags, Headmistress Holwen, and Ambassador Abores remained immune to the tremor, although thetter had to steel his resolve to stay still. However, that alone couldn''t stop a few drops of sweat from appearing on his forehead.


    "Finish your line," Khan threatened. "I''d rather deal with you now."


    Headmistress Holwen couldn''t help but nce at Khan, and her worry increased. She had hoped for Khan''s threat to be empty, but his eyes told a different story. If Ambassador Abores finished his line, he would attack.


    Ambassador Abores saw the same resolve, and that wasn''t even his first time in a stalemate with Khan. Yet, the current one gave off apletely different vibe. In the first instance, he didn''t acknowledge his own fear, but it was undeniable now.


    "Congrattions on your engagement," Ambassador Abores eventually stated. "I''m sure our paths will cross again. rissa!"


    rissa quickly jumped on her feet, and the two hurried forward to leave the office. Soon, their presence disappeared from the corridor, and Khan didn''t hesitate to advance.


    "Get back to work," Khan ordered, walking toward his private room. "Rece the damaged devices and hire new personnel."


    Mister Cirvags and Headmistress Holwen wanted to have ast chat with Khan, but he didn''t give them the chance. He quickly isted himself inside the private room, and its windows went dark as soon as he sat down.


    A tired sigh escaped Khan''s mouth once he was alone. He had kept track of Ambassador Abores'' mana during his departure, so he knew he wouldn''t let things be. His revenge was sure toe sooner orter.


    ''It''s not like I expected anything else,'' Khan thought before the interactive desk captured his attention. cing a hand on it also unlocked it since the embassy had already switched gic signatures, and his fingers moved to get to work.


    Truthfully, Khan didn''t know the full extent of Ambassador Abores'' tasks but nned to learn them that night. Still, he had a few personal projects in mind, which he nned to start with his new authority.


    ''Look for an individual,'' Khan typed on the interactive desk. ''co''s Slums, probably prison, Captain Khan''s father.''


    Learning about the noble lineage made Khan decide to ignore his internal conflict. His father probably had answers that Anastasia didn''t reveal or was unaware of. He needed to meet him to clear thest doubts about his past and, hopefully, understand what he truly knew about the nightmares.


    As for the second project, Khan inputted a series of information gathered throughout the years, including Lord Vegner''s report. He wasn''t an Ambassador yet, but that office granted him immense reach and authority. With them, he could finally start looking for the Nak.


    ****


    Author''s notes: This chapter marks the end of the sixth volume. I''ll see all of you in the next, hopefully tomorrow.

 Chapter 681 Tasks

    Chapter 681 Tasks


    Things didn''t take long to get busy. After recing Ambassador Abores, Khan ended up in charge of many tasks connected to the Thilku Empire, and the time to getfortable with them was short.


    Lord Exr had done Khan a favor by waiting for him to sort out his situation, and almost four months had passed since then. Khan was alreadyte on the Thilku''s schedule, enforcing a meeting just one week after obtaining the new role.


    A series of trips hindered by multiple security checks brought Khan to Cegnore again. The Thilku ship didn''t head for the same building or quadrant as the previous meeting, but the destination wasn''t too different.


    As the descent continued, a tall, rectangr building with vast balconies and open windows expanded in the ship''s scanners. The vehicle headed directly for the structure''s roof,nding beside a huge gazebo already in ce.


    A metal ramp grew, connecting the ship to the roof, and a tall Thilku escorted Khan outside. His arrival turned many heads, especially those under the gazebo. No one stopped working, but murmurs spread, and a specific title reached Khan''s ears.


    ''[The blue shaman],'' Khan heard, but his attention was elsewhere. His gaze wandered on the horizon, searching for the sensation that used to call him in the past.


    ''They are moving quickly,'' Khan acknowledged. He couldn''t find any trace of the Nak, even with his enhanced senses and innate perception. The call had disappeared altogether.


    The sitting figure under the gazebo quickly imed Khan''s attention. Lord Exr was inspecting him with a satisfied and approving smile. He couldn''t look happier about that development, especially now that Khan conveyed the intensity of a leader.


    "Captain Khan," Lord Exr called, filling two cups on his side of the table. "Come, toast with me. We must celebrate your new position."


    Khan strode toward the gazebo and stopped to utter a "[My lord]" before sitting on the other side of the table. Lord Exr handed him a cup at that point, and the two lifted their drinks to toast. Khan tried to abide by the Niqols'' customs, but the Thilku ignored them.


    "Tell me," Lord Exr announced, "How is your new position?"


    "That''s ssified," Khan stated, "But I''m dealing with it well."


    Lord Exr''s smile widened, showing his sharp canines. Khan had read through the lines, understanding his hidden question. He had even replied to it without revealing unnecessary information.


    "I knew you were the right human for the job," Lord Exr dered. "I also heard about your engagement. She is a partner at your level."


    "Thank you, [My lord]," Khan said, showing no surprise about Lord Exr''s knowledge. He and Monica were famous enough for information to leak into the Empire.


    "Let''s feast now!" Lord Exr cried. "To this new alliance!"


    Khan lifted his cup again, and the two began to eat. The table was already filled with food, but the soldiers delivered more as Khan and Lord Exr wolfed down anything that entered their reach.


    Lord Exr and the other Thilku couldn''t help but appreciate Khan''s manners. He ate with his bare hands, epting any food thatnded on the table. He behaved like a proper Thilku, reinforcing his wee in those alien environments.


    Still, once the feast ended, Khan and Lord Exr found themselves inspecting each other while sharing a jug of booze. They both knew that the time for pleasantries was over. They had to talk business now.


    "I''m sure you have reviewed your tasks," Lord Exr decided to break the silence. "What do you think about them?"


    "The Empire can expect them to bepleted in the agreed timeline," Khan promised. "My rise to Ambassador Abores'' position won''t change that."


    Khan wasn''t actually sure about that. Ambassador Abores had used his connections to secure jobs for many friends and acquaintances who could easily get in Khan''s way. Still, Lord Exr didn''t need to know about that.


    Moreover, if problems arose, Khan would handle them personally. He couldn''t enforce loyalty but nned topensate for eventual missteps or dys with his power.


    "That''s good to hear," Lord Exr eximed. "However, the Empire has a problem with the current timeline."


    Khan didn''t reply. He had expected a simr development due to how long it had taken him to rise to his new position. Also, he believed the Empire wanted to test him.


    "Colonizing Cegnore turned out to be more expensive than we thought," Lord Exr exined. "The Empire''s reserves of Grugrian are plenty, but we hoped to rely on the agreed shipment."


    Khan''s face remained still, but his thoughts dived deep into his brain to retrieve information memorized in the past week. Once he found it, his reply arrived. "The shipment isn''t due for four more months. Ambassador Abores exined that in hisst report."


    "We also need to elerate on those fabrics'' deliveries," Lord Exr continued, ignoring Khan''s response.


    "They aren''t due for another two months," Khan pointed out.


    "And [My Lord] expects your presence at the imminent festival," Lord Exr revealed. "Conquering Cegnore requires celebrations, which wouldn''t be fair without you."


    Thest news wasn''t part of Ambassador Abores'' tasks. That was the first time Khan had heard about it, but the opportunity''s appeal was evident. Meeting Lord Exr''s superior wasn''t something he could miss.


    Khan brought his drink to his mouth, reviewing what he knew about the mentioned tasks. The Global Army had already umted the materials for the fabrics'' deliveries, and the rest of the process was automated, so Khan couldn''t affect it.


    Yet, the Grugrian''s issue was manageable. The Empire used that mineral in their runes, and the Global Army excavated it on a nearby. The mining had yet to begin since the human soldiers were taking their time clearing the area, but Khan could change that.


    ''It would take two weeks in perfect conditions to mine enough Grugrian for the delivery,'' Khan thought, recalling Ambassador Abores'' notes.


    "I''ll cut off two months from the Grugrian''s delivery," Khan promised, "And I''ll be there for the festival."


    "What about the fabrics?" Lord Exr asked.


    "The original timeline is unchangeable," Khan stated. "If the Empire needs them quickly, I believe my fianc¨¦e''s trade routes can handle them."


    "That would put the expenses on the Empire," Lord Exrmented.


    "I''m sure the Empire has more than enough funds," Khan responded. "Besides, we wouldn''t want your soldiers to think that the Empire needs the Global Army to solve its problems."


    Thement earned Khan a series of res, but Lord Exr wasn''t among them. His amusement only intensified at that almost insultingment.


    "Your terms are eptable," Lord Exr eventually eximed. "I''m d we can understand each other."


    "Likewise," Khan uttered, standing up. "I should leave now. My timeline has just gotten tight."


    "What a pity," Lord Exr announced, pretending to have nothing to do with Khan''s new problems. "I''m sure I''ll hear from you soon."


    "[My lord]," Khan said, slightly lowering his head before turning toward the ship. A Thilku promptly hurried forward to escort him, and his figure soon disappeared inside the vehicle.


    The trips between the Global Army''s territory and the Empire always involved multiple stops and checkpoints, with many controlled by the Thilku. Khan couldn''t affect those, but orders escaped his mouth as soon as he returned to his species'' domain.


    The first shipmanded by humans was initially meant to head for the closest space station, but Khan made it change its route. The with Grugrian didn''t feature teleports, but the vehicle would reach it in half a day if flying at top speed.


    About fourteen hourster, the shipnded on a that resembled Earth before the First Impact. The seas were vast, and thendmasses were plenty, but its inhabitability became clear as soon as Khan stepped on its brown ground.


    The ship hadnded beside one of the Global Army''s outposts. Soldiers and machines had to clear a vast area to nt that rectangr building there, but nothing could hide the immense trees around it. They were almost ten times what anyone could find on Earth, and many things shared that feature on that.


    The unusual and unexpectednding attracted a lot of attention, bringing soldiers outside the outpost. Even the person in charge of the structure came out, and recognizing Khan updated him on the seriousness of the situation.


    Khan took a deep breath when he stepped out of the ship. The air was heavy, but his body could take it without problem. The symphony was also thick, which he loved, but also warned about the''s dangers.


    After a brief inspection, Khan gazed at the troops that had left the outpost. He only needed a second to spot the soldier in charge, and his confident steps quickly brought him before him.


    "Major Kilwood, I presume," Khan announced, inspecting the tall, burly man from head to toe. He had already dealt with the Kilwood family on Ecoruta, so his fame was bound to precede him.


    "Captain Khan," Major Kilwood eximed, performing a military salute. His rank surpassed Khan''s, but their level was the same, and their fame wasn''t even close.


    "What brings you to Strara 3518?" Major Kilwood probed. "My team''s performance has met every standard agreed with the Global Army."


    "I know," Khan nodded. "I just need to speed things up a bit."


    "Speed things up?" Major Kilwood wondered. "The new quadrant is dangerous, but our tactics are sound. Abandoning them would mean risking my soldiers'' lives."


    "Are they on the site already?" Khan questioned.


    "Well, yes," Major Kilwood revealed. "They are encamped a few kilometers north from here, but they are resting fromst night''s raid."


    "No need to add anything," Khan said, tapping the ground to send himself into the air. "Keep up with the good work."


    Major Kilwood had countless questions, but Khan disappeared, leaving behind a gust of wind. Major Kilwood and his soldiers tried to look north to find his figure but couldn''t see anything behind the tall trees in the distance.


    Khan flew at full speed, absorbing any information carried by the symphony. He could sense many lifeforms in the huge forest under him, but nothing that could threaten him. His n would seed as long as the appointed quadrant featured the same environment.


    After a while, traces of human auras leaked into the symphony, and Khan followed them. A simple encampment made of metal tents eventually became visible, and Khan dived straight toward it.


    Khan''sndings were usually graceful and uneventful, but he chose a different approach. The soldiers were in their tents, so shaking things a bit was the quickest way to attract their attention.


    An earthquake spread through the encampment, awakening the tired soldiers and bringing them out of their tents. Those men and women were ready for a fight, but the scene that unfolded in their view destroyed any trace of battle intent.


    A shallow crater had formed at the center of the camp, and Khan stood proudly at its bottom. His figure radiated pure power, which spread an oppressive vibe to his surroundings. The soldiers couldn''t sense it, but their bodies instinctively froze as if knowing a monster conveying authority.


    The domineering tone prolonged the soldiers'' frozen state, but a few managed to snap out of their condition. Most of that came from recognizing Khan, leading to one of them to reply.


    "Anything three square kilometers in that direction," One of the soldiers revealed, pointing at a random spot in the forest.


    "Stay here until Ie back," Khan ordered before disappearing from the crater.


    The symphony told Khan enough. He knew the soldiers wouldn''t dare move from their position, so his focus went on the forest. The tall trees surrounded him, but his mind was on the many auras that tainted the natural mana. Monsters filled the quadrant, and killing them would elerate the mission.


    Khan flew among the trees until he reached what he felt to be the quadrant''s center. Vegetation ruled the ce, but hungry eyes had already fallen on him. Thending had attracted a lot of attention, and he stood still to wait for it to act.


    Eventually, the ground began to shake, but Khan didn''t even look in the source''s direction. He knew what wasing, as well as its level and overall size. A creature driven by hunger rushed toward him, but he stood still, weing that challenge.


    The tree''s huge size created many vast areas where massive creatures could run, and the same applied to a boar-like monster with two long tusks and thick red fur. The Tainted animal was two meters tall, and its heavy body added a deadly momentum to its charge.


    The monster dodged the huge trees to aim at the tiny invader without losing speed. Its bloodthirsty eyes focused on the human before closing when it lowered its head. A frontal sh was imminent and unavoidable, but its oue sparked surprise.


    To the monster''s amazement, the sh didn''t end in a long search for its flung prey. Instead, the beast felt like a wall had appeared in hadnded among them. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Which quadrant do you have to clear?" Khan asked, his voice creatures could run, and the same applied to a boar-like monster with two long tusks and thick red fur. The Tainted animal was two its path, and its right tusk hurt due to the impact. Its momentum had vanished, and its eyes opened to inspect the scene.


    Fear immediately invaded the monster. The tiny human was there, holding its right tusk still. The former didn''t only stop its charge with one hand. The feelings conveyed by his eyes triggered the monster''s survival instincts.


    "Stay still," Khan ordered, firmly holding the tusk while drawing his knife. "I have to test this out."


    The monster wanted to run, but its body didn''t move. It only heard a humming noise before its entire world went silent.

 Chapter 682 Shouts

    Chapter 682 Shouts


    Khan''s eyes lingered on the boar-like creature without caring about its appearance. His senses had already told him everything he needed to know. The monster''s size, level, and danger had been clear in his mind long before its charge.


    That awareness told Khan that a single hand would have been enough to stop the beast, and the reality matched his prediction. The creature was as strong as a second-level warrior, and its size enhanced that innate power. An ordinary third-level warrior would struggle to deal with its charge without resorting to martial arts, but Khan was different.


    Khan only needed to adjust his knees and match his elbow''s movement with the iing beast to disperse the charge''s momentum. Once the monster stood still and its tusk was in his grasp, the stalemate turned into a battle of raw strength, which he won by andslide.


    The beast had a tinge of intelligence, which worsened its surprise. Khan''s raw strength was unreasonable. He was too tiny to wield so much power, but everything became clear when the monster saw his eyes.


    A primordial intensity that crossednguage barriers and more rested in Khan''s blue eyes. He didn''t need words or mana to convey his intentions and pressure. The monster only needed a nce to decide to run away, but its body couldn''t do anything under Khan''s overwhelming influence.


    The appearance of the cursed knife killed any lingering hope. The humming noise from the weapon added a violent bloodlust to Khan''s already wild presence. The boar was supposed to be the monster in that situation, but its brain told the opposite story. An apex predator had descended into the forest, and the food chain was bound to change forever.


    Khan sent some mana into the cursed knife before swinging it at the monster, abiding by the Divine Reaper''s moves. The weapon cut the boar''s face in half, sending a purple-red sh forward. The attack fed on the monster''s blood and mana, turning red and gaining enough power to cross its entire body.


    The sh flew forward and tried to rise into the sky, but its energy ended when it crashed into a tree. A long cut appeared on that huge trunk, but Khan only tracked it through the symphony. His eyes remained on the gory spectacle before him, and the bloodlust inside his mind inevitably intensified.


    Khan could achieve a simr result against a monster at that level, but the cursed knife had made it effortless. The sh had cut the boar into two halves, exposing its disgusting insides. A foul smell also rose into the air, but Khan mostly focused on the fur.


    ''The cut is clean,'' Khan noted. He had tested the cursed knife, but that was his first time using it against a living being, and the oue had been incredible. The sh didn''t only carry as much power as he hoped. It even retained the Divine Reaper''s properties.


    "Behave," Khan ordered, flicking the knife''s de. He could feel the bloodlust growing inside his brain and didn''t feel like suppressing it with his element every time.


    The knife didn''t listen to Khan''s order and continued to expand its bloodlust, forcing him to sigh. He had grown used to unstable techniques and spells by then. His very element loathed control, but he couldn''t let a rtively sentient weapon do as it wished, especially when he carried it at his side.


    "I will give you plenty of corpses," Khan tried to negotiate, "But attack without my permission, and I will melt you."


    Khan didn''t only speak through words. His mind conveyed the same meanings to the expanding bloodlust inside his brain. The knife could sense his promise''s honesty but mostly cared about the threat. Khan didn''t care how valuable that knife was. He would destroy it if it merely thought about attacking Monica.


    As much as the knife wanted to break loose, Khan''s mind was too scary. The clicking cry and the chaos element had turned it into a hellish mess that could suppress any foreign threat, and his nightmares had added an unmatchable deadliness. The cursed weapon could only shrink back, hoping its next meal woulde soon.


    ''Now,'' Khan thought, his gaze wandering on the surrounding trees. ''How much is three square kilometers?''


    .


    .


    .


    Major Kilwood stood at the center of the encampment, staring at the vast sea of huge trees ahead. At times, slight tremors would reach his feet, and the same went for faint explosions, but nothing was visible from his position.


    "How long has he been inside?" Major Kilwood asked the team of soldiers around him.


    "Almost a week, sir," One of the soldiers replied.


    "With no supplies or weapons, right?" Major Kilwood questioned, asking for information the soldiers had given him multiple times in the previous days.


    "He had his knife, sir," The soldier revealed.


    "What about the monsters in the quadrant?" Major Kilwood probed.


    "The strongest should be at Captain Khan''s level, sir," The soldier eximed. "However, their number isn''t negligible."


    "Chances that they attack together?" Major Kilwood wondered.


    "There are some packs, sir," The soldier exined, "But nothing too threatening, at least for an armed team."


    Major Kilwood felt a headacheing, even if his mind was already full of them. He had received countless calls in the past week, and Khan''s absence left him with no answers. He had even considered sending probes but didn''t want to go against Khan''sst orders.


    Theoretically, any Major could order Captains around, but Khan was a special case, and the recent news aggravated the issue. He was now engaged to a Solodrey, and the Harbor had basically given him the job of an Ambassador, pushing his authority far past his rank''s limits.


    Many on thework actually wondered how Khan didn''t receive a promotion yet. The public could understand that the title of Ambassador only came through higher education and achievements in the field, but Khan had already proven himself superior to Captains. His sheer strength alone could make him a Major.


    Those were the reasons behind Major Kilwood''s hesitation and why he was still stalling for time before making a decision. He didn''t want to end up on the wrong side of a prodigy bound to be his superior in a matter of years. He preferred to y his cards right, but the wait was bing too long.


    "How long until it''s a full week?" Major Kilwood eventually asked.


    "Half a day, sir," The soldier responded. "Maybe a few hours under that."


    "Wait until it''s a full week," Major Kilwood decided. "Send probes afterward, and only probes. No one steps into the forest until I say so."


    The soldiers performed military salutes and chanted a simultaneous "Yes, sir", but Major Kilwood didn''t bother nodding at them as he turned toward his jeep. The matter was truly troubling him, but a thick red drop suddenly fell before him, halting his steps and distracting him.


    A second drop quickly followed,nding in the same spot as the first. Major Kilwood couldn''t refrain from leaning toward it, squinting his eyes to inspect the liquid. That red color reminded him of blood, which alerted his survival instincts.


    Major Kilwood promptly wore a battle stance and lifted his gaze, but his surprise only intensified. A figure covered in blood was floating a few meters above the encampment, with his face fixed on the forest. The dirt umted on him made him hard to recognize, but the fact that he was flying led to a single conclusion.


    "Captain Khan!" Major Kilwood called, bringing the soldiers'' attention to the sky.


    "Wait," Khan said, lifting a finger to add value to his order.


    The Major and soldiers didn''t know what was happening and followed Khan''s gaze toward the forest, but nothing was visible from there, which brought their eyes to Khan again.


    "Sir?" Major Kilwood couldn''t help but utter once a few seconds passed. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "The quadrant should be clear," Khan dered, his eyes still on the forest. "I don''t know if I covered all three square kilometers, so send an armed party just in case."


    "What?" Major Kilwood gasped, but a buzzing noise suddenly came from above.


    Khan sent a hand into his bloodstained pocket, quickly retrieving his phone. Looking at the name on the screen made him shake his head, but a smile broadened on his face as he gave another message to the soldiers below.


    "I have to take this," Khan half-apologized, bringing his phone to his ear and switching to a teasing tone. "We talked four hours ago."


    Major Kilwood and the soldiers couldn''t hear what was happening on the other side of the phone, but meaningless shouts still reached them. It sounded like someone was scolding Khan, but his smile never disappeared.


    "Yes, I told you," Khan sighed. "The reception was ba-. How do you expect me to control the reception?"


    The scene was beyond strange. A man covered with dripping blood was having a casual call in the sky. The Major and the soldiers were so stunned that they couldn''t find the words to intervene.


    "I didn''t hang up on you," Khan pointed out. "It doesn''t count. How can I cheat on you with a monster?"


    The shouts from the phone grew louder, allowing the soldiers below to recognize a female voice. Still, none was in the right mind to care. Thest line made them give up hope of understanding what was happening.


    "I have to fly somewhere else first," Khan stated, finally lowering his eyes on the soldiers. "Get the next shipment ready in a month and a half. No, I''m not staying here another month and a half."


    Khan waved his hand at the soldiers before slowly flying away, his phone still at his ear. Major Kilwood and his team followed his departing figure, and their eyes didn''t move from the sky even after he disappeared.

 Chapter 683 No one

    Chapter 683 No one


    Khan''s second task didn''t involve any promise made to Lord Exr, but still tackled Ambassador Abores'' tasks. The Empire required the delivery of specific fabrics in less than two months, and Khan''s presence began to sound necessary when he thought about it.


    Khan didn''t trust the Global Army''s chain ofmand. Ambassador Abores had ced too many friends and acquaintances in favorable positions, and some stood directly against Khan''s duties.


    The fabrics'' production was automated, but the involved factories still had crews of workers inside. One of them featured a friend of Ambassador Abores as its leader, and Khan couldn''t just ignore it without checking it first.


    The trip from Strara 3518 was long butsted only a day. After a prolonged flight and refueling, Khan''s ship headed for a space station in the Global Army''s territory, descending right into the workers'' districts.


    The ce was nothing more than an imitation of Milia 222. The space station wasn''t even close to being self-sufficient, but its poption remained huge. Yet, most of it was made of workers ced there for specific reasons.


    Khan ignored the salutes that unfolded at his arrival and headed directly toward the appointed factory. Workers escorted him, but he barely deigned them with a nce as he made his way through narrow corridors and halls featuring heavy machinery.


    Needless to say, Khan''s presence startled many workers, often making them halt their tasks. Still, he ignored all that to head directly for the office featuring the figure in charge.


    After a long walk and many stairs, Khan arrived at a secluded office. The ce didn''t have windows, but its door opened at Khan''s gic signature. A simple room unfolded in his eyes, but thetter immediately focused on the figure behind the interactive desk.


    A middle-aged woman with brown hair and tanned skin stood behind the desk and lifted her dark eyes at Khan''s appearance. She tried to hide her surprise and wear an agreeable smile, but her mana told Khan a very different story.


    It wasmon for shifts in the chain ofmand to bring changes in the overall leadership of many businesses. After all, everyone wanted to improve their position and influence, so the woman already guessed what was about to happen.


    However, a tinge of determination remained inside the woman. She knew her situation but was also aware of her credentials. She deserved that high-tier job and was ready to defend it, even against the famous Captain Khan.


    "Captain Khan!" The woman jumped on her feet to perform a military salute. "What a pleasant surprise!"


    The woman''s tension was palpable. She wasn''t only a mere second-level warrior. Khan''s fame was too overwhelming, and his recent engagement brought his presence to a new level.


    "You don''t have the best control of your factory," Khan pointed out. "Someone should have warned you in the ten minutes it took me to get here."


    "We are focusing everything on the fabrics'' production," The woman exined. "Besides, we are simple workers. The security is in the hands of the soldiers in the station."


    The woman wasn''t wrong but didn''t tell the whole truth either. The station''s soldiers were in charge of the security, but the factory had cameras and simr tools. She simply didn''t have the time to sort everything out.


    It didn''t help that the workers weren''t part of the woman''s team or close allies. She had reced the previous leader once Ambassador Abores had gained his role, and asserting control in a foreign environment wasn''t easy. The best she could do was maintain the production''s standards and deal with the restter.


    All those thoughts crossed the woman''s mind and leaked clues into her mana. Khan didn''t miss any of them and gained an almostplete picture of the situation. Still, he chose to remain silent.


    "You know why I am here," Khan stated, upying the chair before the desk.


    "Of course," The woman eximed, also sitting and reaching for the bottom drawer. She quickly seized a bottle and two sses, which she didn''t hesitate to fill.


    "I''m sorry if the drink isn''t to your liking," The woman immediately warned, pushing one ss toward Khan. "We don''t get the best booze here."


    Khan didn''t say anything and seized the ss, his face impassible while he drank. The booze wasn''t good, but he wouldn''t refuse it after living in the Slums for so long.


    "The issue is very simple," Khan eventually announced. "I need everything to go ording to n, and you might be a problem due to your affiliation with Ambassador Abores."


    The "might" gave the woman hope, but Khan''s face remained cold, almost shattering that feeling. She couldn''t understand how inclined he was to keep her, so her only option was to try to convince him.


    "Captain, I''ve been in this field for over twenty years," The woman revealed. "My credentials are impable, and the same goes for my performance. I''ve done an excellent job in any factory without minding affiliations or purposes."


    "This is also the highest position you have ever achieved in your career," Khan pointed out. He had done his homework, and the statement hit the right spot.


    The woman hesitated. Her profile had nothing butpliments, but Khan was right. That was the best job she had ever scored, and her friendship with Ambassador Abores had yed a big role in it.


    "You might very well end your career here," Khan continued. "It''s far from bad. Many would pay a lot for this job."


    The factory wasn''t anything special, but its connection with the Thilku Empire made the pay high. The same went for the workers'' responsibilities. The job was simple, but everything around it turned it into a high-profile endeavor.


    "That''s true," The woman dered. "It''s my best job, and I thought about keeping it until retirement. However, that says nothing about my performance or loyalty."


    "Loyalty?" Khan wondered.


    "I serve the Global Army, Captain," The woman imed. "I might have used my connections to secure this job, but performing poorly on purpose would be akin to betrayal. I wouldn''t risk a political incident for my benefit."


    The woman had once again spoken the truth, although greatly exaggerated. Affecting the production could create problems for the Ambassadors and the Empire, but fabrics alone couldn''t cause a political incident.


    Khan didn''t find any lie in the woman''s words, but trusting her was a different matter. Anyone could summon determination before something threatening, but nothing could say whether that wouldst. The woman believed her words now, but a lot could change after Khan left.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Truth be told, Khan found the matter quite annoying. On the one hand, he wanted to get rid of the woman to avoid any possible problems. That was the safest solution, as well as the most reasonable one.


    However, finding another equally skilled worker wasn''t easy, even with the help of the Global Army. Khan also had to keep in mind the timeline and Ambassador Abores'' possible interference since he wanted to avoid ending up with another wed recement.


    There was another issue, too. Recing someone so high in the chain ofmand could cause production dys. The process was automated, but problems could appear, and specialized figures were necessary to fix them quickly.


    Theoretically, the Solodrey family could solve everything. They could provide someone suitable for the job and trustworthy, but Khan didn''t want to rely on them. That would only tell the Global Army he wasn''t ready for the role.


    ''It would be easier if she stayed andpleted her job,'' Khan concluded, ''But I can''t just leave and hope for the best.''


    The stakes were too high, and Khan didn''t want to mess up his first true job as an Ambassador. That was his ticket to promotions and titles, so he had to excel.


    "You''ll keep your job," Khan eventually dered, "For now. However, I''ll send someone to surveil you, including any externalmunication."


    The woman initially felt happy, but thest part soured her feelings. She had a family, and many of her calls were personal. Allowing someone to check anymunication was an infringement of her privacy.


    "Captain, I can''t ept this," The woman eximed. "Prisoners have more rights."


    "There is nothing to ept," Khan revealed, gulping down the remaining booze. "It''s done. I''ll stay here until my soldier arrives."


    Khan stood up and picked up his phone, ready to call Andrew and n his flight. However, the woman also shot to her feet, and her mana warned Khan about an imminentint.


    "Captain, this is outrageous!" The woman snapped. "You can''t force me to be your prisoner due to my allegiances."


    Khan didn''t lower his phone but lifted his eyes to re at the woman. His gaze told her everything she needed to know. She wasn''t even a person in Khan''s mind. Her whole existence was limited to that specific issue.


    "You are no one," Khan dered. "You don''t have a choice. You''ll do as you are told because I say so. That''s it."


    The unreasonable request left the woman speechless, but Khan didn''t linger in the office to have a discussion. By the time he stepped into the corridor, a call with Andrew had already started.

 Chapter 684 Emperor

    Chapter 684 Emperor


    After dealing with the factory, Khan returned to the Harbor to resume office duties. He had studied a lot, but that short period couldn''tpensate for hisck of superior education. He also had to review the less-impending tasks left behind by Ambassador Abores, which made his days busy.


    Studying, reviewing, and studying again became Khan''s new routine. He had to catch up with figures who had spent their whole lives preparing for that role, and time wasn''t on his side. The festival wasing, and Monica demanded a chunk of Khan''s day for herself, which he dly gave her.


    That routine forced Khan to make some sacrifices. Hecked the time to train, so he poured all his energy into learning to be an Ambassador and Monica. He also used the connection to the Solodrey family to obtain tomes usually hidden in special schools, and his expertise steadily improved.


    The routine changed once Monica was called back to Neuria. Khan''s nights suddenly became free, allowing him to spend long training sessions in the personal greenhouse. His growth, both in knowledge and power, picked up the pace, but that period eventually ended.


    Almost a month after Khan''s return from the factory, the call reached the involved Harbor''s offices, creating the awaited, unavoidable task. Everything moved quickly afterward, leading to an early morning with an unusual arrangement.


    Khan was in the now-familiar teleport areas of the Harbor, but more than simple soldiers and scientists surrounded him. Mister Cirvags was before him, nning to send him off with a fewst warnings.


    "Lord Exr''s Lord is different from him," Mister Cirvags exined. "You won''t win him over easily. It''s probably impossible to win him over, actually."


    "The Thilku owe me," Khan dered. "It''s why they invited me."


    "You remain human," Mister Cirvags pointed out. "Part of the Empire feels grateful, but a big chunk feels insulted."


    "They should feel insulted," Khan stated. "They needed a human to restore their pride."


    Mister Cirvags limited himself to staring at Khan. That gall was dangerous among the Thilku, but Khan had always backed it up with achievements. Still, the festival would feature far more than soldiers.


    "Survive this," Mister Cirvags announced, "And maybe you''ll get closer to what you want."


    Mister Cirvags didn''t need to add anything to make Khan understand what he meant. Khan''s searches through the Ambassador''s office were ssified but easily essible by higher-ups. Anyone above him probably knew he was looking for the Nak and his father.


    Khan simply nodded before hopping on the oval tform. His eyes remained on Mister Cirvags while synthetic mana umted around him. He had questions, but they stayed inside his mind even after the teleport was activated.


    The many security checks and in-between flights and teleports before the Empire''s territory had be routine for Khan. He barely looked at his surroundings and only exchanged casual nods while thoughts swirled inside his mind.


    More than a month had passed since Khan had forwarded his personal tasks, but neither brought decent results. The Nak were a big mystery, probably hidden behind a conspiracy, so he didn''t expect much there. However, the search for his father faced simr issues.


    A lot could happen in the Slums, especially over almost five years. Those areas also hadckluster security, creating immense dark areas that the Global Army ignored.


    Khan could confirm Bret''s release from prison, but that information was four years old. After that, the Global Army had no record of his father. He seemed to have disappeared.


    ''I half-expected him to cause more problems,'' Khan thought while casually following his escorts, ''Especially with his character.''


    Unless Khan hired and dispatched a special team, finding Bret in the messy Slums would be impossible. He could try his luck by going there himself, but there was a chance that Bret wasn''t even in co anymore. Sadly, the best course of action was for him to wait for Bret to do another mess.


    ''How did he stay put for four years without me checking on him?'' Khan wondered, and his paranoia promptly tingled the back of his mind. He was probably overthinking, but stopping his thoughts was impossible after everything he had learned.


    Of course, Khan''s hands were tied. Abandoning his duties to pursue those searches was impossible, and hiring teams would expose him too much. At the moment, he could only focus on work whileing up with countless hypotheses.


    The many trips brought Khan to Cegnore, and the scanners showed how the had changed once again. The circr ship descended toward a quadrant featuring multiple metal structures, machinery, and more. Many could easily mistake the ce for a small town, but Khan felt sure it was nothing more than a big military camp.


    Unlike the previous trips, the shipnded on a specific area on the ground right outside the camp. Thilku soldiers donning red capes were already waiting for him, and traditional bows unfolded when he appeared. The atmosphere reeked of respect, and Khan acknowledged it with simr greetings.


    Neither Khan nor the escort spoke. The Thilku limited themselves to leading Khan into one of the cars waiting on thending spot, and the trip into the encampment started as soon as he took his seat.


    From the window seat, Khan saw that many roads had metal barriers and soldiers patrolling them. Even in that official event with a limited number of troops, the Thilku didn''t ignore security. It sounded excessive from Khan''s perspective, but the Empire liked showing off.


    The car stopped before a tall andrge metal building where more soldiers were waiting for Khan. He politely greeted them before being escorted inside the structure. Crossing a vast hall brought him to a circr elevator, and clean air greeted him when it opened.


    Khan found himself on the building''s roof. The ce was vast and swarming with soldiers, but the gazebo near its edge imed the entirety of his attention. He spotted Amox, but thetter retained a stern expression while standing beside an elevated tform featuring three powerful figures.


    Lord Exr, Onp, and another huge Thilku sat at a long, short table on the tform. Pillows surrounded it, but most of them were empty. Even the soldiers allowed under the gazebo didn''t dare to upy them.


    Khan knew who the third Thilku was. The braided silver hair growing from his nape and the big, silver crown resting on his wrinkled forehead matched the Global Army''s notes. He also was a fifth-level warrior conveying a presence far sterner than any other Thilku Khan had ever met. That was Lord Exr''s superior, Lord Rsi.


    Lord Exr turned to show an amused smile at Khan, but Lord Rsi kept his red eyes on the streets below. Khan knew he had noticed his arrival, but that uncaring approach was part of the behavior proper of his status.


    Nevertheless, being ignored triggered something inside Khan, and his presence inevitably thickened. A few heads instinctively turned toward him, but Lord Rsi remained still.


    Of course, the symphony told a different story only Khan could read. As much as Lord Rsi pretended to ignore him, a change had happened inside his mana. The sense of superiority remained overwhelming, but the powerful Thilku also experienced a tinge of acknowledgment.


    The escort led Khan to the gazebo''s edge, where he performed another traditional bow before stepping forward. Lord Exr pointed at the pillow beside him, and Khah jumped on the tform to upy it.


    "[You made it]," Lord Exr announced, oddly using his ownnguage. "[Now the festival can begin]."


    The use of the Thilkunguage told Khan that he wasn''t only a guest anymore. The invitation hade directly from the Empire, but his role there transcended his achievements on the battlefield. He was akin to an Ambassador now, so the shows of respect had toe from him.


    "[Mister Cirvags told me the festivals are quite the spectacle]," Khan eximed. "[I''m very curious]."


    "[The Empire''s knows how to entertain]," Lord Exr imed. "[Disappointment is impossible]."


    Khan fell silent while his attention stayed on Lord Exr''s left side. Lord Rsi was sitting there, but the Thilku had yet to show interest in his surroundings. His stoic character was wless, and Khan almost felt the urge to tease him.


    Luckily for Khan, a bright red light suddenly invaded the streets below, and short shouts quickly followed. Battle cries invaded the camp, creating a loud spectacle that soon showed its face.


    Stomping noises joined the cries as orderly arrayed troops appeared on one end of the street below the building. Hundreds of soldiers marched firmly, conveying discipline, respect, and sheer power. Machines also followed them, splitting them into teams that performed different tasks.


    Some troops wielded rifles, others melee weapons, while a few waved their capes left and right in what resembled a military dance. Banners carrying Thilku runes also appeared from time to time, bringing more light to the already bright streets.


    The Thilku festivals were nothing more than military events celebrating the Empire''s power. They weren''t parties or holidays. Those aliens only cared about showing their strength and the troops that made certain achievements possible.


    Khan was an experienced warrior, so the spectacle didn''t scare him. Ordinary soldiers would falter at the sight of hundreds of giant figures and weapons. That force seemed able to take on any battle ande out undefeated, but Khan had lived among it. Without him, that festival couldn''t happen.


    A simr acknowledgment rested inside Lord Rsi. The Thilku''s eyes never left the celebratory match, but some irritation began to taint his mana. Without Khan on the streets, the Empire was celebrating a lie.


    Mister Cirvags had prepared Khan for that eventuality, so he understood the issue. Still, sensing the irritation fueled his confidence. No matter how much Lord Rsi ignored him, he knew how valuable he was. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The festival went on for a long time, with the troops circling the entire building to perform multiple shows. The march never slowed down or elerated, reinforcing the idea of discipline inside the soldiers. However, once everything began to quiet down, a change finally happened.


    "[Blue Shaman]," Lord Rsi broke his stoic silence while keeping his eyes on the darkening streets. "[This name is starting to earn respect inside the Empire]."


    Lord Exr and Onp seemingly shrunk back to let Lord Rsi and Khan have their first conversation. Yet, Khan''s reply surpassed their wildest expectations.


    "[It''s deserved]," Khan stated. "[The Empire wouldn''t feel that way otherwise]."


    Speaking for the Empire was far from polite, especially in that situation. Onp''s mana showed signs of panic, while Lord Exr felt curious. He had chosen Khan precisely for his mindset, but his superior might dislike it.


    "[You didn''t earn mine]," Lord Rsimented. "[Right now, I only see your presence as a constant reminder of the Empire''s failures, and the Emperor agrees with me]."

 Chapter 685 Sigh

    Chapter 685 Sigh


    The people under the gazebo belonged to superior leagues, but their words spread through the roof, reaching the soldiers'' ears. Many Thilku froze when Lord Rsi mentioned the Emperor, and their stern expressions couldn''t hide their restless mana.


    Simr reactions unfolded under the gazebo. Onp held back a cough when he heard that name, and deep respect filled Lord Exr''s mana. The sole mention of the Emperor could make any Thilku bow in respect.


    Khan didn''t need the symphony to tell him how serious the situation was. He could deal with soldiers and Lords, but the Emperor''s name carried too much power. He was nothing more than an ant before it.


    Nevertheless, Khan didn''t wallow in fear nor jump to formal apologies. His actions had stirred displeasure inside the Empire, but he had paid a heavy price for them. His shoulders now carried the weight of genocide, and the Thilku even wanted to disrespect him for that.


    "[I expected more than veiled threats after giving the Empire a]," Khan eximed.


    Khan''s statement spread shock among the crowd on the roof, with two exceptions. Lord Exr smiled, almost proud that Khan would reply in that fashion. As for Lord Rsi, he felt pure irritation.


    "[You didn''t give the Empire anything]," Lord Rsi snorted. "[We could have colonized this whenever we wanted]."


    "[False]," Khan stated. "[You needed me to kill someone you couldn''t kill]."


    The Thilku had to hold back gasps. As true as Khan''s words were, speaking them so brazenly was no different from an insult. He was basically iming that no one inside the Empire could match him. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Of course, that was a well-known truth by then. Khan''s name wouldn''t have be so famous in that foreign environment otherwise. After all, he had killed a fourth-level Thilku enhanced by the Nak''s mutation. That feat alone put him at the very top of the third level.


    Still, the issue remained. Khan was right, but the Empire didn''t like it. Its pride was too great to ept that a human had surpassed all the Thilku soldiers at the same level.


    "[Are you using the Empire of weakness]?" Lord Rsi questioned.


    "[I''ve always respected and acknowledged the Thilku''s strength]," Khan pointed out. "[I''m simply the strongest]."


    Khan''s words didn''t carry any trace of arrogance or delusion. He didn''t convey pride either. He had merely stated a truth that no one could refute.


    For the first time since the beginning of the festival, Lord Rsi diverted his gaze from the streets to look at Khan. The irritation was still there, but a tinge of curiosity had appeared. Khan''s confidence and utter recklessness had stirred that feeling, making the Thilku desire to inspect that strange human.


    To Lord Rsi''s surprise, Khan looked beyond ordinary. His blue hair was odd for a human, but everything else was in line with the rest of his species.


    However, Khan''s extraordinary features had nothing to do with his physical appearance, and Lord Rsi felt able to smell that. The Thilku didn''t have enhanced senses, but his level granted him a broader understanding of mana-rted topics. In his eyes, Khan looked immense and dangerous, like a volcano ready to explode.


    "[Why were you so adamant to help on Cegnore]?" Lord Rsi asked.


    "[My situation required higher fame and status]," Khan shortly exined, finally meeting Lord Rsi''s red eyes, "[And I have a personal beef with the Nak]."


    "[Who doesn''t]?" Lord Rsi scoffed. "[You still stole honor that belonged to the Thilku. How do you n to repay the Empire]?"


    "[I don''t]," Khan responded. "[I earned my strength. I won''t apologize for using it]."


    Khan and Lord Rsi fell into a stalemate of stares, adding a chilling feeling to the roof''s atmosphere. Almost every Thilku shuddered under it, and Lord Exr remained the only exception.


    Lord Exr obviously didn''t like any potentially offensive remark directed at the Empire, but his mind had already epted Khan as the next Ambassador. He had long since made his decision, so he let himself enjoy the sh between his chosen man and his superior.


    "[Words won''t convince me]," Lord Rsi eximed. "[Unless you prove your strength to me, your existence will remain a blight on the Empire''s pride]."


    "[You could have started with that, My Lord]," Khan dered.


    Lord Rsi snorted before releasing a short, hoarse cry. His voice filled the roof and spread on the streets below, threatening to deafen any Thilku in his surroundings.


    Nothing happened once the cry dispersed, but a movement in the symphony turned Khan''s gaze to his right. Something wasing at high speed, and a gale soon blew on the roof.


    The gale wasn''t natural. Mana apanied that harmless wind, hinting at the existence of a spell or simr techniques. The reason for that soon became clear, and Khan heaved a helpless sigh at its sight.


    A two-and-a-half-meter-tall Thilku appeared past the roof''s edge and rose higher into the air, seemingly flying without needing footwork or additional gestures. Confidence brimmed in his dark-red eyes, and his fluttering red cape infused the scene with a thick sense of pride.


    Of course, Khan instantly understood the truth. The newly arrived Thilku wasn''t flying. He was riding the gale that had blown on the roof. His element probably had something to do with wind, which his martial art exploited to make that technique possible.


    Flying was a rare skill, so the Thilku on the roof smiled in pride, seeing theirpanion matching one of Khan''s most troublesome abilities. However, Khan only saw ws in that technique. Moreover, the challenger''s level left himpletely disappointed.


    "[That''s Imtd]," Lord Rsi announced, "[One of the best warriors of the Empire. Defeat him, and I''ll start to believe you]."


    Khan could only sigh again. Imtd looked strong and full of battle experience, but his level triggered Khan''s anger. Imtd was a third-level warrior. That was beneath what he was willing to ept.


    "[I''ve never felt more insulted in my life]," Khan stated, standing up and unfastening the sheath on his waist. "[Out of respect for the Empire, I won''t kill him]."


    Lord Exr had to hide a smile when he saw the sheath fall on the pillow, but the other Thilku found the gesture insulting. Khan might have defeated a mutated fourth-level warrior, but taking a fellow warrior lightly was a serious offense.


    Amox shared those feelings but for different reasons. He had fought Khan not too long ago, so he didn''t doubt his battle prowess. Still, there was a limit to how much Khan could do without his air advantage.


    Lord Rsi opted for silence, limiting himself to following Khan''s sprint outside the gazebo. The sudden movement didn''t cause any ripple in the lingering soft gale, and the two challengers soon met above the streets past the rooftop.


    Khan gently tapped the air to hover in a spot visible from the rooftop. Meanwhile, Imtd let himself fall before another gale ran under his feet and stopped his descent. The Thilku stopped at some distance from Khan, matching his altitude, and his grin turned into a stern face at the absence of the sheath.


    "[You underestimate me]," Imtd dered in a hoarse tone, pointing at Khan''s empty waist.


    Khan casually inspected the symphony, studying how Imtd kept himself in the air. The Thilku didn''t need strong gales to fly, but his feet never stopped releasing mana. The technique was quite heavy on his energy reserves, but seemed able to create decent bursts of speed that could surpass Khan''s basic martial art.


    "[Attack already]," Khan sighed. "[I didn''te here for this pointless demonstration]."


    Khan didn''t want to insult the Thilku. His words had been a pure and cynical deration of how little he thought about Imtd. That warrior was actually strong, but Khan couldn''t consider him a worthy opponent.


    Imtd didn''t take Khan''s words lightly. Battle intent shone in his eyes before thatplete disregard toward his expertise and achievements. He wanted to teach Khan a lesson, and his mana moved ordingly.


    The Thilku''s mana escaped his body and fused with the surrounding air to create a forward gale that blew in Khan''s face. Part of that wind carried sharp and heavy features that seemed able to cut the flesh or hinder its movements.


    Khan remained still under that attack. Ordinary soldiers would feel forced to close their eyes, but he kept his open, radiating the same disregard for his opponent''s power. Nothing could make him falter, and the attack eventually began.


    Imtd shot forward, riding the gale while using the sharp parts of that wind to hinder Khan''s escape routes. The Thilku was looking for a frontal sh, and his scary eleration seemed able to make it happen in a fraction of a second.


    However, the wind suddenly dispersed. Imtd found himself with no foothold right before Khan. His momentum also prevented him from stopping, but Khan took care of that.


    Imtd''s vision went dark when a hand closed his eyes. Khan casually grabbed the Thilku''s head before sprinting at full speed back to the roof. The eleration destabilized Imtd''s bnce, and the urge to throw up filled his torso when his back hit something solid.


    When Imtd became able to see again, his entire mind froze. He found himself on the roof, right before the Lords'' tform. His back was on the floor, but his body wouldn''t move. His eyes were glued to the terrifying figure hovering above him.


    "[You are dead]," Khan calmly eximed without looking at the warrior below him. His eyes were on Lord Rsi, but no intensity filled them. His expression wanted the Thilku to know how worthless third-level warriors were to him.

 Chapter 686 Disrespect

    Chapter 686 Disrespect


    "Effortless" was the only word the Thilku on the roof could find to describe the event. The exchange didn''t even fall into the category of battles. Imtd never stood a chance.


    The roof had many experienced warriors, including the two Lords, so everyone reviewed the exchange while Khan floated before the gazebo, but the oue never changed. Khan had ovee Imtd on every field, even those his species couldn''t theoretically touch.


    Of course, Khan wasn''t stronger than Imtd on every level. Even after the transformation, his physical strength failed to match the Thilku''s. His speciescked the right muscles to achieve such a feat.


    However, a battle involved more than raw strength. Bnce, speed, experience, precision, and control were all key features that could lead to victory, and Khan was unbeatable in those.


    Moreover, Khan''s senses allowed him to find fatal ws in Imtd''s technique. The Thilku''s gale was powerful but frail. It couldn''t survive Khan''s silent orders, and dispersing it created a deadly window he didn''t hesitate to exploit.


    Most Thilku on the roof ignored the specifics of the battle, but the more experienced warriors noticed many details, which left them speechless. Lord Rsi, in particr, had a hard time epting that oue but looking at Khan appeased his irritation.


    Imtd fell into the category of geniuses, but Khan was above that, and inspecting his floating figure led to a precise guess. Lord Rsi didn''t doubt for a single second that Khan was a monster, and his species had nothing to do with that. The entire universe wouldn''t produce a simr talent for another millennia.


    "[I told you, My Lord]," Lord Exr announced. "[He is good]."


    Everyone understood that Lord Exr had held back on thepliments, especially Lord Rsi. Thetter struggled to ept that someone like Khan could exist. He was witnessing something incredible, but decisions were in order.


    Lord Rsi could ignore Khan''s species. Humankind had no merit in Khan''s power. No one could im that. Still, epting him could cause problems. After all, the Global Army greatly valued the Empire''s alliance, so granting Khan proper status would inevitably improve his position among humans.


    Having someone so strong in a high position of power inside a foreign organization wasn''t ideal. Lord Rsi couldn''t predict what Khan would be in terms of politics, and the possibility of him turning into an opponent was scary. A single man couldn''t topple empires, but Khan was bound to earn enough relevance and influence to get close to that required power level.


    "[Do you have more tests, My Lord]?" Khan questioned. "[I''d rather get them over with quickly]."


    Khan''s brazen statement fueled Lord Rsi''s hesitation. That reckless, careless, and fearless gall was dangerous, and the confidence backing it up intensified that scary sensation. Khan was only a third-level warrior, but political incidents might happen if he behaved like that once he grew stronger.


    The Empire and the Global Army were allies, so Khan''s strength theoretically worked in the Thilku''s favor, especially in his current position. Having a strong Ambassador on the Thilku''s side would ensure that any trade, deal, or promise would go well.


    Yet, at the same time, the Empire couldn''t spoil Khan to retain his favor. That would show weakness toward the Global Army, which no Lord would ever endorse.


    Truth be told, Lord Rsi had more tests in store. He could put Khan against a fourth-level warrior, dy his achievements among the Thilku by overwhelming him with superficial tasks, and much more. Lord Rsi could buy his time in many ways, but his mind couldn''t find a worthy reason.


    "[Sit with me]," Lord Rsi eventually ordered, pointing at the pillow on the other side of the table. "[Let''s talk]."


    The audience didn''t miss that sign of eptance, but Khan''s uncaring expression didn''t waver. He gracefully stepped forward, walking on the air above Imtd to enter the gazebo, and the pillow barely moved when his buttnded on it.


    That position was far different from the previous one. Before, Khan was merely a guest sitting at Lord Exr''s side. Instead, facing Lord Rsi granted him an important role. The following conversation would be about him, stealing the spotlight from the festival.


    "[The Empire doesn''t forget debts]," Lord Rsi announced, "[Especially those as shameful as these]."


    "[I wouldn''t bring the Empire any shame if I wore its colors]," Khan stated, hinting at the capes.


    "[A mere mercenary can''t wear them]," Lord Rsimented. "[Only loyalty can earn them]."


    "[You can''t get my loyalty]," Khan responded, "[But I can give you my strength]."


    That answer wasn''t surprising or insulting. Khan belonged to a different species and organization. Even Lord Rsi couldn''t demand loyalty toward the Empire. Still, the problems were far from over.


    "[For how long]?" Lord Rsi wondered. "[Our friendship would improve your position, which can be turned against the Empire]."


    "[The Empire will never fear a single Ambassador]," Khan imed, knowing that his role among the Thilku would eventually grant him that title.


    "[The Empire won''t underestimate shamans either]," Lord Rsi exined, "[Especially those worthy of its respect]."


    "[You don''t have to underestimate me]," Khan announced. "[You only have to trust me]."


    "[Trust is earned]," Lord Rsi pointed out.


    "[I did earn it]," Khan uttered, nodding at Onp. "[It''s the reason I''m here]."


    "[One good deed isn''t enough]," Lord Rsimented.


    "[My word is all you need]," Khan dered. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "[That would be shortsighted]," Lord Rsi stated. "[What if you are biding your time to seize something more valuable from the Empire]?"


    That was a serious concern. The alliance between the Global Army and the Empire wasn''t without issues, especially after the bomb incident. It was reasonable to think that humankind wanted to strike back, one way or another.


    Khan also was the perfect man for the job. His strength alone ensured a sessful political journey, and his many abilities made him an exceptional tool in every environment. Any organization would feel lucky to have him and open multiple doors for him, which could create a good opportunity for betrayal.


    Of course, the Empire had security measures to avoid that, but the issue remained. Khan''s talent was also his greatest dangerous trait. He was the kind of man who could find a way around those problems and stab the Empire deeply.


    "[Such a betrayal would leave me headless]," Khan said, "[Or lead to wars. I enjoy where my head is and loathe seeing people''s lives go to waste, so your fears are groundless]."


    "[I do not fear you]," Lord Rsi dered. "[The Empire doesn''t either. I''m merely concerned about wasting my time with you]."


    "[My point stands]," Khan uttered. "[Working for the Empire isn''t only ideal for me. I also enjoy it]."


    "[These could be empty words]," Lord Rsi eximed.


    "[I do not lie]," Khan said. "[I do not pretend, and I do not betray. If I wanted to be a spy, you wouldn''t have seen meing at all]."


    Khan''s presence naturally intensified during the statement, adding ayer of honesty to his words. Everyone on the roof instinctively felt able to believe him, but the concern remained. After all, that could have been another shaman''s ability.


    "[That''s not enough to sway me]," Lord Rsimented.


    "[I don''t have to sway anyone]," Khan announced. "[I''m here because you were forced to respect your debt with me]."


    Everyone could see the bickering wasn''t going anywhere. Lord Rsi''s concerns couldn''t be solved over a simple talk, and Khan wasn''t even doing his best to reassure him. The two were merely showing their firm and domineering stances without trying to find a solution.


    Yet, a solution had to arrive, and Lord Rsi even had to admit that Khan was right. Khan was there because Lord Exr had invited him. He had earned a spot at the festival after his feats on Cegnore. In theory, he didn''t owe the Empire anything else.


    rece Ambassador Abores. His reasons had nothing to do with Cegnore. The Thilku simply wanted someone easier to control and with fewer roots in the Global Army, but the test''s oue attempted to alter his judgment. Still, changing his mind now would only create problems.


    The Empire usually had the upper hand in interspecies politics, but the Global Army was no weakling. Lord Exr''s request to change the Ambassador had caused problems, and going back on it would only insult humankind. It would basically say that the Thilku could do as they wished without repercussions.


    "[You won''t wear our colors]," Lord Rsi stated, "[Yet. I''ll see whether you can change my mind in the future]."


    "[You have already changed it]," Khan scoffed. "[You simply can''t give them to me yet]."


    Lord Rsi ignored the remark and only addressed the brazenness it conveyed. "[Exr seems to have taken a liking to your gall. The Empire doesn''t condemn it either, but you''ll answer for it once your performance falls short]."


    "[I''ve lived my whole life like that]," Khan revealed. "[My Lord, give me the next task already]."


    ****

 Chapter 687 Secrecy

    Chapter 687 Secrecy


    The festival ended on that stalemate. Khan earned no trust, but Lord Rsi couldn''t discard him either. The Empire had just done the same with Ambassador Abores, so repeating that action so soon would show apleteck of respect toward the Global Army.


    Khan''s mind was a mess during the trip back, but the devices before his eyes kept his thoughts busy. He had too much to do and prepare, and the catching-up process had yet to end. He was amazing, driven, and relentless, but no one could be a worthy Ambassador in a matter of months, not even him.


    The n was to head straight to the office, but an escort weed Khan once he teleported to the Harbor. A small team of soldiers was waiting in the hangar with a military cab, telling him his free time couldn''t start yet.


    Khan didn''t utter any questions and let the escort guide him to the intended destination. Surprisingly enough, the cab avoided the embassy''s district and flew to another dome, the one where Mister Cirvags lived.


    Everything became clear at that point, and Khan remained silent while the cabnded and the soldiers escorted him to the elevator. Soon, he arrived in the same t he had visited in the past, but the many treasures and memorable items hanging from the walls didn''t catch his attention now.


    Unlike the previous meeting, Mister Cirvags was waiting for Khan in the t''s living room with two full sses ready for them. The pungent smell of booze even reached Khan''s nostrils, trying to exin the meeting''s purpose.


    "You survived," Mister Cirvags announced, sitting on an armchair while nodding at the sses on the table before him.


    "You never struck me as a protective man, sir," Khan half-joked, approaching the opposing armchair while seizing a ss.


    "Of soldiers? No," Mister Cirvags stated. "Though much has grown unstable after Ambassador Abores'' departure. That demands more attention."


    "You wouldn''t have agreed to the recement if it were such a big problem," Khan pointed out. "The Global Army had leverage after the bomb incident. You could have easily refused."


    "That leverage is running thin, Captain," Mister Cirvags revealed, "And I believed you could have pulled it off."


    "Did I?" Khan asked.


    Mister Cirvags nced at Khan before bringing his attention to the drink. He took a long sip, and his eyes returned to Khan afterward.


    "Why the hard stance?" Mister Cirvags questioned. "I was under the impression you knew how to use your tongue."


    Khan had to hold back a scoff. Less than a day had passed since the festival, but Mister Cirvags was already aware of the details. Trading such ssified and relevant information so quickly spoke for his ability and expertise. His position in the Harbor was no fluke.


    "Would you have preferred me to please the Lords, sir?" Khan wondered.


    "I asked a question, Captain," Mister Cirvags reminded.


    "I have many answers," Khan revealed, "All relevant."


    "List them to me," Mister Cirvags ordered.


    "As you wish, sir," Khan uttered. "First, the Thilku would only look down on a permissive and weak politician. Prostrating myself to them after being chosen for the job wasn''t the way to go."


    "I''m sure you could have avoided that while also earning their goodwill," Mister Cirvagsmented.


    "Second," Khan continued, ignoring thement, "I''ve been chosen for my strength and achievements. I got that position as a soldier. Letting myself be insulted or even smiling at their distrust would only ruin my reputation."


    "That''s true," Mister Cirvags agreed. "However, you are to prove that you are more than a soldier."


    "Which I can''t do if I let them manipte me," Khan exined. "If I acted scared, they would know Ick the confidence to work with them on political levels."


    "Do you?" Mister Cirvags asked.


    "No, sir," Khan eximed, "And their soldiers will spread the word."


    "Continue with your list," Mister Cirvags ordered.


    "I''m not a clueless kid with no background or influence," Khan stated. "I''ve shook hands with nobles, built alliances with wealthy descendants, and be Monica Solodrey''s fianc¨¦. I can''t lose ground in these meetings. My position doesn''t allow that anymore."


    "Is your position more important than our rtionship with the Empire?" Mister Cirvags asked.


    "My job with the Thilku is part of my position," Khan exined. "If I sacrifice it to please others, all my efforts to build it wouldn''t mean anything." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Mister Cirvags fell silent, and his mana gave Khan nothing to work with. Yet, Khan could guess the man partially agreed with his reasoning. After all, he said it himself. Convincing Lord Rsi was impossible, so it was better to go in the opposite direction.


    "There is more on your list," Mister Cirvags uttered.


    "There is," Khan said. "Onest point."


    "Which is?" Mister Cirvags asked.


    "I couldn''t be bothered to y games," Khan revealed. "I''ve grown far past them."


    "Did your pride get in the way?" Mister Cirvags asked.


    "It''s not pride," Khan dered. "I''ve earned everything I have. It''s time I stopped pretending I didn''t."


    "It does sound like pride," Mister Cirvags pointed out.


    "It doesn''t matter what it sounds like," Khan responded. "If you wanted a puppet unworthy of any respect, you shouldn''t have reced Ambassador Abores with me."


    Khan''s points were reasonable, even thest one. He had never been an ordinary soldier, and his status now was too high. Disregarding it to please a party that couldn''t be appeased wouldn''t only show weakness. It would also insult everything he had done to get where he was.


    Mister Cirvags understood Khan''s reasons and partially approved them. He didn''t care about Khan''s feelings, but his approach to the Thilku was praiseworthy. Showing a strong front could earn him respect inside the Empire, especially since he had alreadyid the foundation for that.


    Khan half-expected Mister Cirvags to reprimand him or to voice a warning. After all, it would be chaos if the Empire decided to drop him. Still, nothing simr happened. Actually, Mister Cirvags had very different intentions.


    Mister Cirvags pulled out his phone and typed a few things before standing up. Khan was about to follow him, but his phone suddenly rang, and that perfect timing made him frown.


    Khan pulled out his phone, and the name on the screen confirmed his hunch. The message hade from Mister Cirvags, and opening it revealed a long file filled with familiar information.


    At first, Khan didn''t understand what the file contained. Yet, his frown deepened as he skimmed through it. He recognized some of thebels because he had been the one to input them a month ago.


    "This is-," Khan gasped.


    "The answer to your requests," Mister Cirvags exined. "The higher-ups cleared you for that information."


    Khan wanted to thank Mister Cirvags, but the file was too captivating. His eyes were glued to the screen, and the information that entered his brain made him unable to think about his surroundings. Everybel had something to do with the Nak, so he couldn''t help but remain focused.


    "I told you," Mister Cirvags continued, finally iming Khan''s attention. "Survive this, and maybe you''ll get closer to what you want."


    "Who authorized the transfer of information?" Khan asked.


    "That''s ssified," Mister Cirvags replied, "And far higher than you."


    Khan stood up, but no words came out of his mouth. His thoughts had started to run quickly, creating hypotheses too dangerous to speak casually.


    Khan''s first guess involved Raymond Cobsend due to the connection to the Nak, but something told him to discard that option. Raymond had incredible connections, but the topic was too official. Khan had used his office for those searches, and Raymond wouldn''t expose himself to it.


    The second guess involved the Solodrey family, but Khan quickly discarded that, too. Anastasia would have talked with him directly and kept things unofficial. Publicly backing him up could have repercussions since many powerful parties had ways to find out about that action.


    Sadly, the only remaining guess was scary. After excluding all the figures and organizations that would have no problems going public about supporting Khan, he was left with one option. The nobles had done something, and he knew which family to me.


    ''The Nognes family,'' Khan concluded.


    Rick would have been open about his support. Princess Edna would have visited Khan directly to help him out. Only the Nognes family would have reasons to keep their identity a secret, and Khan couldn''t feel happy about that.


    The secrecy told Khan many things. If he had to be optimistic, he would address that behavior to fear of showing interest in his lineage. Yet, things were rarely good around him, and his paranoia forced him to consider the worst possible option.


    ''They are divided,'' Khan thought. ''Some factions want to help me without exposing themselves.''


    That behavior was normal inside big families, and the nobles were no exception, especially with such a sensitive topic. Khan didn''t even me them for getting interested in him. However, he couldn''t understand why they would help him with the Nak.


    "Captain, there is another matter I''d like to discuss," Mister Cirvags interrupted Khan''s brainstorming.


    "What is it, sir?" Khan casually said, his mind still elsewhere.


    "Your new position demands a higher status," Mister Cirvags dered. "It will soon at the pace you are growing."


    Khan could read between the lines, so a question naturally escaped his mouth. "Is the topic a promotion or my training method?"


    "You can''t me the Global Army for being interested," Mister Cirvags pointed out. "They have never seen a soldier''s attunement with mana jump to seventy-eight percent in two short years."

 Chapter 688 Outsider

    Chapter 688 Outsider


    Khan''s attunement with mana wasn''t a secret. Even if he wanted to hide it, his many trips would get in the way. He always had to cross scanners and other machines during travels, so the Global Army knew how quickly he improved.


    Usually, soldiers would require infusions of synthetic mana to achieve such quick improvements, but things got harder and more expensive at the higher levels. The recovery time also increased, stopping even the richer descendants from abusing that training method.


    However, the Global Army now had an example of a soldier who could improve faster than anyone without any apparent repercussions. Khan had also begun exposing his unique expertise to various parties. It was only a matter of time before the higher-ups'' interest became too great to quell, and he was painfully aware of that.


    "I won''t give away my training method," Khan announced.


    "Contributing to expanding the Global Army''s arsenal is a valuable deed," Mister Cirvags exined. "It would earn you important points with all the right people."


    "It''s out of the question," Khan remained firm.


    "I need more than that," Mister Cirvags stated.


    "You don''t, sir," Khan politely replied. "The regtions are clear. I don''t even need to justify my decision."


    That was factually true on multiple levels and regtions. Soldiers had a right to privacy as long as the Global Army didn''t find them guilty of something, especially regarding training methods and personal techniques.


    Of course, the Global Army could devise excuses and fake evidence, but Khan''s position was more than secure. It was actually insulting for Mister Cirvags to demand exnations without formal offers.


    "Captain, such a service would go a long way toward achieving your goals," Mister Cirvags exined, changing his approach.


    Khan was aware of that but still shook his head and diverted his gaze, bringing the drink to his mouth. He wasn''t worried about others catching up with him, but exposing his training methods could give insights into his art, and his enemies would use that against him.


    "Such a service would enable a promotion," Mister Cirvags continued. "It might even allow you to skip years of education and award you the title of Ambassador."


    Mister Cirvags were tempting. Khan believed the promotion was basically set in stone, but the road toward the title of Ambassador was full of hurdles. It wasn''t only exclusive. Khan simply wasn''t ready, and sharing his alien knowledge couldpensate for his inexperience.


    However, Khan ignored Mister Cirvags once again. He didn''t doubt the legitimacy of his words, but arguing with him would only force the Global Army to write a formal offer. Refusing that could have harsher repercussions, so Khan opted for silence to keep the conversation inside that t.


    "Most importantly," Mister Cirvags added, "Such a service would help humankind."


    The statement brought Khan''s eyes back to Mister Cirvags. Thetter was cryptic, but Khan had long since understood one detail about him. Mister Cirvags had undying loyalty toward the Global Army and humankind as a whole.


    "The answer is still no," Khan dered, emptying what was left of the drink.


    "Why?" Mister Cirvags calmly asked.


    "It''s not something I can put into words for humans," Khan said in a half-truth, "And I don''t want to see young soldiers exploding to test it out."


    That was an actual concern. Testing new arts and spells always carried some degree of danger, and Khan''s technique went beyond that. He could imagine greedy and na?ve soldiers attempting something without mastering the necessary foundation.


    Of course, Khan was mostly concerned about himself, and Mister Cirvags wasn''t easily fooled, but that exnation seemed enough. Mister Cirvags diverted his gaze and headed for his office, marking the end of the conversation.


    "You can go now, Captain," Mister Cirvags announced, and Khan didn''t dare to miss that opportunity. He even ignored the mandatory military salute to return to the elevator and reunite with the escort on the roof.


    Khan''s phone now contained a goldmine, but he didn''t unlock it during the flight to the embassy. His mind was elsewhere, focused on Mister Cirvags''st statement, creating various thoughts that left a bitter taste in his mouth.


    The walk through the embassy didn''t clear Khan''s mind, and his thoughts remained messy even after he reached his office. A few soldiers were still working, but he ignored them to iste himself inside his room.


    A few taps on the interactive desk made the room''s windows go dark,pletely isting Khan from the rest of the office. He also sealed the door but didn''t approach his seat. His eyes lingered on his reflection on the darkened surfaces, worsening his mental condition.


    Khan''s appearance was unmistakably human, but he only saw the big differences from the rest of his species. His blue hair was umon and alien, and his eyes conveyed an intensity that reminded him of the Niqols. They didn''t shine but looked about to.


    Khan''s hands moved on his own, unbuttoning the upper part of his military uniform to uncover his chest. He let those clothes fall to the floor, and his blue scar appeared in the open, showing another different feature.


    The reflection on the darkened windows wasn''t too clear, but Khan still followed his own movements. He traced the scar''s edges with his fingers, appreciating the differences in texture between the wound and his intact skin. That hideous mark had been part of him for as long as he could remember, and it didn''t feel too alien anymore.


    Khan''s fingers moved to his other scars afterward. His right arm had clear marks from his battles on Cegnore, but his body had so much more. Shallow holes, reddish spots, and other wounds covered his skin, telling stories of multiple battlefields.


    To Khan''s surprise, all those marks felt no different from the blue scar. It didn''t matter whether aliens or humans had inflicted those wounds. His body had no biases.


    The blue tattoo ended up in the reflection during the inspection, and Khan couldn''t help but stare at it. That alien mark of eternal love was still on his shoulder, and nothing could wipe it off.


    ''You would know the answers to my doubts,'' Khan thought. ''You have always been wiser than me.''


    Khan heaved a deep sigh before falling on his chair. His hand rose to his face to hold it and ruffle his hair. He was in a pickle, confused and hesitant, and nothing could solve that internal conflict.


    Mister Cirvags'' undying loyalty toward the Global Army had shaken Khan. Thetter had the chance to help thousands of soldiers with his knowledge. He could bring immense benefits to humankind, but his mind categorically refused it. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''What''s wrong with me?'' Khan cursed. ''It should be my species.''


    Khan had already faced simr doubts, but they felt stronger now. He knew he wouldn''t hesitate to help the Nele. He wouldn''t even question himself among the Niqols. Still, when it came to humans, his altruism vanished.


    ''I will marry a human,'' Khan cursed again. ''I''ll be part of a human family. I''ll eventually represent humankind, so what''s my problem?''


    As much as Khan searched inside him, he always came back empty-handed. He couldn''t feel the slightest attachment to humankind. His subconscious had already epted that he didn''t belong to that species.


    That wasn''t to say that Khan felt no attachment to some humans. He loved Monica from the bottom of his heart and truly wanted to marry her. Khan would give anything to help George, and more examples existed. Yet, when it came to the species as a whole, he was simply empty.


    Khan let go of his face and stared at his palms. Those hands could grab things far beyond the limits of humankind. He saw, breathed, and touched differently from humans. He lived in another world, something his species couldn''t reach.


    ''Where does this leave me?'' Khan wondered. He had epted that issue long ago, but the internal conflict remained, and the concern never left.


    ''Will I always feel like an outsider?'' Khan asked himself, leaning on the chair''s back and looking at the ceiling. ''Is this my future?''


    Khan could picture the rest of his life very well. He would marry Monica, get rid of the nightmares, and start a family, living the rest of his days as a leader of the Solodrey family. His current path would lead to that future, and he didn''t know how to feel about it.


    Eventually, it woulde the day when Khan would stop traveling around, meeting different species and learning their customs. He would retreat among humankind, letting the new generations handle the minor problems he liked facing so much. The trips through the universe would be a distant dream as he dealt with his species'' politics.


    ''Would I even be happy with that?'' Khan questioned. ''That stiff, restrained way of life really is what I worked so hard for?''


    A fantasy slowly formed while Khan''s eyes lingered on the ceiling. His mind created vague scenes fueled by childish but honest desires. He saw himself piloting a medium-sized ship, facing the wonders of the universe, and with someone he loved sitting beside him.


    Khan''s expression broke into a sad smile. He felt happy, cozy, and at peace in the fantasy, but part of him knew that future was already impossible. Humankind''s ropes were tight around him. As things stood, he would spend the rest of his life as an outsider among his own species.

 Chapter 689 Map

    Chapter 689 Map


    Of course, Khan didn''t let his internal conflict freeze all his functions. Mister Cirvags had given him ess to a goldmine, and reviews were in order.


    After brainstorming, Khan picked himself up, drew a bottle from the desk''s drawer, and put himself to work. He connected his phone to the office, and Mister Cirvags'' file fused with the information he had gathered in the past weeks.


    Admittedly, Khan didn''t have much. Lord Vegner''s report and the avable information had created a vague map, but nothing that could truly help Khan find the Nak. However, things changed after inputting Mister Cirvags'' file.


    The file had ssified and unofficial reports about the Nak, as well as a detailed history of what the Global Army found after interacting with many alien species. There was also a timeline, and Khan didn''t hesitate to make the interactive desk absorb those pieces of information.


    The desk worked quickly, sorting the new information ording to Khan''s inputs. Soon, the map grew more detailed, creating a vague pattern that kept Khan''s eyes glued to the holograms.


    ording to the file, the Global Army didn''t know where the Nak hade from or where they were now. Yet, the timeline showed their movements, hinting at multiple possible directions.


    Those directions were still vague and too broad, but Khan had never gotten closer to a concrete clue. Theoretically, he could n explorations toward certain parts of the universe instead of flying blindly and randomly.


    Khan stared at the map for a while, reviewing all the details inside the file. Ideally, he wanted to narrow down the possible directions, but the effort seemed pointless. The universe was no two-dimensional street, so pursuing a single clue would require multiple parties.


    ''I can''t afford so many teams,'' Khan thought, noting down his conclusions. ''Well, I can, but it might beplicated.''


    Khan could hire as many scouts as he wanted with his connections to the Harbor and Solodrey family. Still, relying on those powerful parties was always a gamble, especially since he didn''t trust them. The chance that they might feed him misinformation was high.


    Moreover, nning such a big mission was risky on multiple fronts. Khan wouldn''t only expose himself more than necessary. He would also open himself up to public criticism that could go in the way of his career, which was required to obtain better information.


    ''I would go there myself, but,'' Khan sighed. His hands were tied in the current period, and a single person couldn''t explore so many directions. He would need longer than decades in that case.


    Khan kept working, doing his best to iste directions he could justify with something else. That wasn''t possible in many cases, but a few locations popped out when he added lists of jobs and missions involving the Global Army.


    The idea was to use authentic and official excuses to send teams in those directions, but Khan couldn''t just pick anyone. After isting a few locations, the issue moved to a different topic. He needed trustworthy soldiers loyal to him, but the situation looked grim.


    ''Francis could work,'' Khan brainstormed. ''Joe yman should be fine, too, and I can also ask for the Lieutenant Colonel''s help.''


    More names popped out in Khan''s mind, but he crossed them almost instantly. His social array was immense now, but the number of trustworthy people was small, especially when he wanted to avoid involving his true friends.


    George wouldn''t hesitate to do Khan a favor, but thetter wanted to keep his family away from that mess. The same went with Luke since Martha was involved, and all the other descendants met in the Harbor obviously couldn''t work either.


    ''I should have spent more time building meaningful connections,'' Khan cursed. ''The Colonel was right.''


    Of course, Khan was aware of his limits. He wasn''t the social type but had also exploited most of his opportunities. Theck of meaningful connections mostly came from his focus on his career and personal power, which put him in that position to begin with.


    Still, the issue remained, and the only possible solution involved the Solodrey family. Khan could ask Monica to deal with Anastasia ande up with something nigh-trustworthy. That was the bestpromise Khan could think of, but Monica wasn''t there, and waiting didn''t feel too good.


    ''A couple of teams should be fine in the meantime,'' Khan concluded, preparing himself to contact the few trustworthy people he could find.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s phone rang before he couldplete the task, and the name on the screen forced him to pick up.


    "What is it, Jenny?" Khan asked.


    "Sir, someone is trying to reach you," Jenny shortly exined. "It''s the same strange contact asst time."


    "Pass it through," Khan ordered.


    "As you wish, sir," Jenny replied, closing the call to allow the other contact to reach for Khan.


    Khan picked up as soon as the new call arrived, and his voice turned cold as he addressed the speaker. "Raymond, your timing is always troubling."


    "You recalled to drop the formalities in private," Raymond responded. "Is this a sign that you are starting to trust me, Captain?"


    "Far from it," Khan stated. "I''m merely tired of games."


    "That''s a pity," Raymond said. "I had a new one ready for you."


    "Drop the bullshit," Khan scoffed. "Why did you call me now?"


    The "now" was on purpose. Khan wanted Raymond to know that he was aware of the specific timing. It couldn''t have been a random event. It had to be something connected to Mister Cirvags'' file.


    "I thought you''d feel grateful," Raymond uttered. "You are closer to your goal, aren''t you?"


    "I know it wasn''t you," Khan eximed, "But seeing you trying to take the merit tells me a lot."


    "Oh, how much you''ve grown," Raymond chuckled. "You were nothing more than a glorified guard only a few years ago."


    "The glorified guard is getting closer," Khan dered. "It won''t be long until he reaches you."


    "I''m aware," Raymond replied. "Seventy-eight percent. Your growth is terrifying."


    "You won''t scare me with your knowledge anymore," Khan announced.


    "I''d be disappointed if it did," Raymond said. "You are lucky Mister Cirvags is on your side. The Global Army would have made a formal offer for your techniques otherwise."


    Khan wanted to y tough, but that statement still hit him hard. He couldn''t understand what Mister Cirvags was thinking, but Raymond appeared convinced he was on his side.


    "It seems I can still shock you," Raymond eximed. "Don''t me yourself. It''s one of my talents."


    "You still haven''t said why you called," Khan uttered.


    "Maybe I just wanted to congratte you on your engagement," Raymond suggested. "Miss Solodrey is a fine woman. I wish you nothing but happiness."


    Khan hated hearing Raymond speaking Monica''s name, but his temper didn''t re. He remained calm enough to voice a chilling ultimatum. "I''m about to hang up."


    "You don''t know where to go, do you?" Raymond questioned. "Even with the new information, the universe is too big."


    "Are you offering to make it smaller?" Khan asked.


    "I would," Raymond replied, "But that wouldplicate things."


    "Afraid of leaving tracks?" Khan teased.


    "Fear never had any grip on my mind," Raymond dered, "And it never will."


    "We''ll see about that," Khan challenged.


    "Threats are your strong suit now," Raymond chuckled. "How wonderful."


    "Raymond, why did you call?" Khan asked, trying to bring the conversation back to the main topic.


    "Are you trying to trace back the Nak''s movements?" Raymond questioned.


    "You know the answer," Khan stated. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I wouldn''t go about it like that," Raymond said. "The Nak''s movements and attacks have been erratic at best. The Second Impact should have proven that to you."


    Khan was aware that the idea of sending explorers was a long shot and probably the wrong way to tackle the issue. Yet, he didn''t know what else to do. His search had to start somewhere in the end.


    "Just tell me why you called," Khan sighed. "This is getting boring."


    "I''ve never been called boring in my entire life," Raymond stated. "Very well. There is something I''d like you to see."


    "Get to the point," Khan ordered.


    "No questions?" Raymond wondered. "I thought you would have been warier after ourst call."


    "I''ve gotten stronger," Khan dered. "I''ll deal with any trick you throw at me."


    "Such confidence," Raymond praised. "Did ite from discovering your true lineage? Or is it part of the engagement?"


    "Are teases all you have?" Khan asked.


    "Not quite," Raymond uttered. "Do you know Xiotov? It should be worth a visit."


    Khan hung up before Raymond could, and his fingers moved as soon as he stored the phone. He recognized that name. He had read it previously that day while going through the map, and only a second had to pass for details to appear in his vision.


    Xiotov was a in the Empire''s territory, but its location didn''t fall under Lord Exr''s rule. Lord Rsi was in charge of that area, but the ce had already hosted interspecies missions. Khan could easily devise a fake reason to visit it, and his fingers were already working on that.

 Chapter 690 Records

    Chapter 690 Records


    Xiotov was simr to the Harbor in many ways. The as a whole was off-limits to foreigners. Still, a small city did have open borders, turning it into an embassy-like structure that Ambassadors from different species could visit.


    That embassy handled all kinds of tasks, and only a small portion of its offices involved the Global Army since Lord Exr''s domain was mainly in charge of that. Yet, interesting areas that had nothing to do with politics existed, and Khan believed Raymond wanted him to see them.


    After a week spent studying and preparing, Khan received official approval from the Global Army and the Empire, clearing him for a trip to Xiotov. The Harbor''s forces immediately moved afterward, fulfilling all the remaining requirements.


    Khan barely kept track of his surroundings. He had gotten so used to those long trips that his eyes rarely focused on the escorts and vehicles. He mostly kept studying until his destination got close enough or the environment required his input.


    From the Thilku ship''s scanners, Xiotov was simr to Earth, at least part of it. The day and night cycle was alike, and massive cities and structures expanded on almost the entirety of its surface. The illumination was mostly red, but Khan still saw a species heavily reliant on technology.


    Khan obviously couldn''t tell much about the poption from his position, but his knowledge filled the gaps. The Empire had a shortage of citizens and soldiers due to its immense domain, so Khan guessed that most of the was empty. A few cities had to buzz with people, but the others probably only had automated machinery to fuel the Empire''s constant expansion.


    One of the''s biggest cities had an immense rectangr structure that seemed to hold hundreds of floors, and the ship headed straight for its roof. The ce had no gazebos due to the absence of high-profile figures, but Khan''s weing party managed to feature a familiar face.


    "[Amox]!" Khan eximed, approaching the familiar figure among the few soldiers waiting for him on the roof.


    The Thilku soldiers performed traditional bows, and Khan responded ordingly. Yet, he and Amox quickly straightened their backs to exchange a handshake.


    "[Ah]!" Amox cried. "[Captain Khan, or Blue Shaman, which one do you prefer]?"


    "[It''s always Khan for you]," Khanughed.


    "[I''m not sure I can anymore]," Amox teased.


    "[You can because I say so]," Khan almost ordered, but a smile never left his face.


    Amox looked a bit in a pickle, but a grin soon broadened on his face. The sight of his sharp canines told Khan they could have a friendly rtionship devoid of politics, and he couldn''t hope for anything better.


    "[Lord Exr cleared me for this detail]," Amox exined, letting go of Khan''s arm. "[My Lord thought you would have liked a friendly face here]."


    "[That was generous of him]," Khanmented. "[Is Xiotov really that different]?"


    "[Yes and no]," Amox eximed. "[I can''t share details with a human Ambassador]."


    "[Understandable]," Khan chuckled, and Amox promptly patted his shoulder when the soldiers opened a path for them.


    Truth be told, Lord Exr''s gesture was quite meaningful, especially after the awkward meeting with Lord Rsi. It almost seemed that Lord Exr wanted to go against his superior''s will and side with Khan.


    Of course, Khan didn''t mention the topic to Amox nor consider the possibility of Lord Exr''s disloyalty. The Empire had plenty of ambitious Thilku, but he would never second-guess their pride, and that came from openly serving their species.


    Amox led the way while soldiers followed from behind. The small group used a circr tform at the roof''s center to descend into the immense building, and Khan couldn''t see anything until the lift''s door opened.


    An immense open space broadened in Khan''s view once the elevator let him out. He found himself in a vast corridor connected to multiple balconies. A pleasant, soft breeze also blew through it, moving the many capes and banners hanging from the ceiling.


    The fluttering of the capes and banners didn''t distract Khan from the main event. He knew what that ce was. The Empire liked to show off, especially to allies, and theck of visible offices confirmed Khan''s hunch.


    ''This should be the museum,'' Khan thought.


    Xiotov''s embassy had a big museum showcasing items that could convey the Empire''s superiority and pride. It was meant to instill fear and awe into foreign allies and acquaintances, so Ambassadors and simr figures could easily get a tour of the area.


    The tour began immediately, with Amox leading the small group inside the first balcony. The pleasant breeze intensified, but the single wall quickly attracted Khan''s attention. Strange weapons, armor, and even a few oddly shaped skulls stood inside transparent containers, which Amox didn''t hesitate to describe.


    Truth be told, Khan only half-listened to the exnation. Amox''s story was interesting, and many would feel honored to hear it inside the embassy, but Khan didn''te there for that. He would have considered Xiotov without Raymond otherwise.


    Actually, a trip to Xiotov was part of Ambassador Abores'' notes, but Khan had yet to get there. Moreover, the gesture merely had political value, which was why Khan had crossed it off after obtaining Mister Cirvags'' file. He would have eventually done it, but only after discovering more about the Nak.


    Those reasons made Khan pensive during the tour. He inspected every balcony, absorbing information about the Empire''s achievements across the centuries. However, his eyes constantly searched for something beyond mere interspecies politics.


    The search wasn''t as fruitful as Khan had hoped. He didn''t only rely on his sight either. His senses were working overtime to find something connected to his goals, but the symphony always returned empty-handed. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan didn''t believe Raymond would mention the randomly, so disappointment never arrived. His awareness remained high while long exnations reached his ears. Something had toe, and Amox made the wait easier to endure.


    "[The meeting with Lord Rsi was something else]," Amoxmented as he usually did whenever the group stepped back in the corridor. "[You have gotten stronger]."


    "[Not strong enough to earn the Thilku''s trust]," Khan responded.


    "[I won''t meddle with Lord''s stuff]," Amox eximed. "[However, I know the Empire''s soldiers, and they respect strength. You have already earned their trust for the most part]."


    "[Can the troops push for favors]?" Khan wondered.


    "[We don''t care much for public opinion]," Amox exined. "[Still, the Empire has its pride, and even the Lords won''t go against it]."


    Amox was basically telling Khan that his approach was working. Yet, an opportunity like Cegnore wouldn''te around for a long time, leaving Khan no option but to focus on politics. He would dly prove his value on the battlefield again, but the Empire had no reason to deploy him.


    Actually, Khan guessed that the Empire would do anything in its power to keep him out of the battlefield. As much as Khan had helped on Cegnore, his achievements were still insulting. Relying on him too much would tell everyone that the Thilku couldn''t handle their problems.


    Sadly for Khan, the political environment didn''t have monumental opportunities either. He could only y the slow game and hope to get acknowledged.


    "[When are you marrying your woman]?" Amox asked, changing the topic after crossing another balcony.


    "[That hasn''t been decided yet]," Khan revealed. "[The shortest I can think of is one or two years]."


    "[I truly don''t get the human customs]," Amox shook his head. "[Even one week would be too much for me]."


    "[It''s better like this]," Khan said. "[We are very busy, and there are other problems]."


    "[Problems the Blue Shaman can''t handle]?" Amox questioned.


    "[Problems that have yet to show their face]," Khan replied.


    Amox didn''t mind Khan keeping things vague. They weren''t alone, and those topics were quite personal. It was only normal for Khan to hide details.


    "[Ah]!" Amox eventually eximed when the group approached another balcony. "[You should find this more interesting]."


    Khan was ready to hear another long exnation about one of the Empire''s battles, but the showcased items made his head go nk. A familiar blue color filled his view, and his eyes widened in anger.


    One of the transparent containers held a big, three-eyed figure that Khan couldn''t simply forget. A Nak stood on the balcony, but something felt off, and a frown soon filled Khan''s face.


    Khan inspected the Nak from head to toe, going as far as cing his hand on the transparent surface. Yet, his senses remained quiet, and the same went for his mana core. The symphony also added details, eventually leading to a conclusion.


    "[It''s a replica]," Khan announced.


    "[Correct]," Amox confirmed, mming his huge hand on Khan''s shoulder. "[It''s ancient too, and the scientists mostly created it from notes. It''s hard to say how urate it is]."


    "[It''s urate]," Khan promptlymented, "[But why would the Empire ce it here]?"


    "[There was a time when the Empire chased after the Nak]," Amox revealed. "[We eventually lost them, but a victory is a victory]."


    "[Wait]," Khan eximed as an idea popped into his mind. "[Does the Empire have records of that chase]?"


    ****

 Chapter 691 You

    Chapter 691 You


    The answer Khan was waiting for seemed to have arrived. The Empire''s history with the Nak was old, far older than the First Impact. However, its records could be contemporary if Khan added them to his new knowledge.


    Moreover, the Thilkucked the Global Army''s in-fighting and political conflicts. They didn''t have opposing parties and conspiracies. Their approach was more straightforward, so Khan could obtain unfiltered and transparent information if the Empire granted those authorizations.


    Of course, things couldn''t be that easy, and one look at Amox revealedplicated aspects of the topic. The Thilku was hesitant and conflicted, telling Khan hecked the power to authorize such an endeavor.


    The reaction was hardly surprising. Khan had merely reced the old Ambassador butcked the actual title and the influence that came with it. Also, the Empire''s records were ssified and often involved secrets about the entire species. Showing them to a human was a ludicrous idea.


    "[Khan]," Amox called, his tone showing his internal conflict.


    "[I''m not asking for your authorization]," Khan interrupted. "[I only want you to try to request it]."


    Amox''s confusion intensified when he noticed the confidence in Khan''s face. That feeling had no reason to be there, but Khan wore it anyway.


    Khan also realized how absurd his request was, but his hunch was hard to ignore. Raymond had to be up to something, and Khan felt to have found the main topic.


    Amox didn''t understand Khan''s reasoning, but forwarding such a simple request was no big matter. The Thilku nodded at the rest of the escort before stepping away and lifting his right sleeve to expose themunication device. An exchange of messages followed, but no one was close enough to read them.


    Khan ignored the soldiers during the wait and let his gaze linger on the Nak''s replica. Seeing such a vivid puppet of his sworn enemy standing before him felt odd. Yet, strangely enough, his anger didn''t re.


    ''I''m getting there, aren''t I?'' Khan thought.


    Memories and hypotheses umted throughout the years swirled inside Khan''s mind. He had learned much about the Nak, but they still felt far away. However, his thoughts soon moved to a different topic, and his attention on his surroundings wavered.


    The chase had looked helpless and endless in the past, but Khan now felt to have a shot. Moreover, he had lived with the nightmares for so long that his desperation had be the norm.


    Still, the journey there had been troublesome for many reasons, and Khan had paid the price every time. The many injuries, the killings, and the deaths had deeply changed him, and his mastery over alien arts had delivered a blow he couldn''t ignore.


    ''I''m not getting to you in one piece, am I?'' Khan sighed.


    The sacrifices had been too many, and Khan had constantly distanced himself from his previous na?ve self. His very humanity was in doubt now, and he couldn''t even see the problem with that.


    ''What will be left of me at the end of this journey?'' Khan wondered, but the sound of familiar steps promptly diverted his attention, returning his focus to his surroundings.


    Amox returned to the balcony wearing a serious face. Many would fail to see past his expression, but his mana told Khan everything, including the intense surprise running through it.


    "[Captain Khan]," Amox announced, switching to formal titles, "[Come with me]."


    Khan showed no surprise or hesitation as he stepped forward to reach Amox. The other Thilku soldiers tried to follow him, but Amox lifted his six-fingered hand to stop them. No words were needed to convey that Khan and Amox had to make that walk on their own.


    Amox''s stance was stern and serious, so Khan respected his silence and limited himself to following him. The two crossed the huge corridor, ignoring the other balconies, to head directly for a second elevator. Thetter was rtively small, and various runes shone on its surface. Still, all of them darkened when Amox pointed his device at them.


    Khan recognized those runes. They were high-security measures that could lock down the entire lift if activated wrongly. The elevator seemed to lead to a ssified area, and his curiosity inevitably skyrocketed when he stepped inside it.


    The silence remained while the elevator did its best to hide its descent. Khan couldn''t feel anything from inside it, but his eyes saw past the metal surfaces, confirming the general direction of the machine.


    The descent was unusually long. Xiotov''s embassy was huge, but technology could easilypensate for that. Khan also confirmed that the elevator was by no means slow, but it still took a while for its doors to slide open.


    The environment that unfolded in Khan''s vision was far different from the open and windy corridor of the upper floor. The space ahead was slightly narrow and illuminated by soft red lights. The air was also stale, confirming its underground location.


    Nevertheless, another detail ended up capturing Khan''s attention. His mana core started to convey a now-familiar sensation as soon as his nostrils came into contact with the ce''s air. The area had Nak, and intensity filled his eyes as he began following Amox. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan had seen many alien environments, so he instantly understood the ce''s purpose. That was an undergroundb of some sort, with sealed doors asionally appearing at the corridor''s sides. It was impossible to tell what those rooms hid, but Khan knew one of them had to be Nak-rted.


    Each door had runes, but they gave no insight about the insides. Still, another detail became clear when Amox approached one of them and let Khan inside. Nothing about that ce was supposed to be open to humans.


    Khan crossed the open door and found himself inside a giant warehouse illuminated by the same dim red light. Thilku donning dirty tracksuits or other casual clothes stood next to tables, screens, and other machines, often interacting with them through the devices on their forearms.


    Khan''s arrival made every head turn in his direction, and the palpable tension told him how strange his presence there was. A heavy atmosphere spread throughout the warehouse, and no one dared to move while rounds of inspections unfolded.


    There had to be more than twenty Thilku inside that vast warehouse, and the many machines flickering with red shades could distract anyone. However, Khan barely spent a second absorbing the new environment before finding what he was looking for, and his eyes threatened to widen in shock at that sight.


    Various corpsesy on the many tables and containers while machines continuously scanned them, sending results onto screens nearby. Automated surgery-oriented tools also dissected flesh and bones in some darker corners of the warehouse. That was in line with what Khan had expected, but the guinea pigs still managed to shock him.


    To Khan''s surprise, the various corpses didn''t add anything new to his memory. He saw Cegnore''s wolf-like monsters, a few specimens of their intelligent counterparts, some natives, and even one figure he couldn''t forget. The fourth-level warrior he had killed in the undergroundke was there, getting dissected by a machine.


    As that silent and tense inspection continued, more informationnded inside Khan''s brain. The corpses showed signs of previous experiments and autopsies. It seemed Cegnore''sbs only handed the first rounds of those studies before sending the interesting material to Xiotov.


    As interesting as the sight was, Khan soon found himself wondering about his presence there. The warehouse had nothing alive, and only scientists could uncover the secrets behind those corpses. He couldn''t even understand half of the results obtained by the machines, so some worry surged into his mind.


    Khan was alone deep into the Empire''s territory and inside an undergroundb. Most of the scientists in the warehouse were second and third-level warriors, too. No one would be able to learn anything if he were to disappear there, and the Global Army would also have to ept any justification the Thilku threw at it.


    The instinct to reach for the cursed knife showed its presence, but Khan suppressed it. Yet, his aura thickened, sending an influence only he could sense into the environment. He didn''t believe Amox had led him into a trap, but it was better to seize control of the symphony during that stalemate.


    Amox was the first to move after exchanging a nod with one of the scientists. He closed the door and waited beside it, leaving the matter in hispanions'' hands.


    One of the scientists moved at that point, stepping forward to approach Khan. The walk was slow, almost careful. It seemed the Thilku could feel Khan''s paranoia, making her stop a few meters from him to perform a traditional bow.


    The bow brought some reassurance, but Khan''s wariness remained high while he responded ordingly. He still didn''t trust the situation, and everyone understood his mood.


    "Captain Khan," The female scientist eximed in a bad ent when she straightened her back. "Thank you foring here."


    "[You can use yournguage]," Khan replied in an almost-perfect ent. "[I want to avoid misunderstandings]."


    Khan''s statement conveyed his distrust, but the scientist didn''t let it scare her. She remained calm and resolute as more words left her mouth.


    "[We would like to propose a deal]," The scientist revealed. "[Lord Rsi has already acknowledged and authorized the terms]."


    "[What deal]?" Khan asked.


    "[We will open our records about the Nak with you]," The scientist exined, "[And only you]."


    "[In exchange for]?" Khan questioned, hiding his interest.


    "[Performing tests and studies]," The scientist said. "[On you]."

 Chapter 692 Demands

    Chapter 692 Demands


    The scientists'' words echoed in Khan''s mind, expanding, spreading, and getting louder, touching multiple ideas and feelings nestling inside him.


    Khan had learned to understand the interest in his physique. He was a rare case of a stable Tainted creature, and Milia 222''s events also added stunning benefits to his overall power.


    Anyone interested in enhancing their prowess would want to discover the secrets behind Khan''s mutations. Some even saw him as humankind''s next evolutionary step. He could be the key behind getting rid of mana cores and more in the end.


    However, Khan had always found the topic touchy. He didn''t have a good rtionship with his mutations, and the connection with his father worsened the matter. The nightmares added another problematicyer, preventing him from even considering giving others ess to his secrets.


    Moreover, Khan''s fantastic career had filled him with enemies, and some were important enough to gain ess to any kind of information. If scientists were to discover a weakness in his physique, those parties wouldn''t hesitate to exploit it, and he couldn''t let it happen.


    As big as those problems were, the world added more. The conspiracies, secrets, and Raymond forced Khan to think beyond his mere figure. He could feel he was in the middle of something bigger, and the scientist''s offer only confirmed that.


    ''How far do your ws stretch?'' Khan couldn''t help but wonder while his expression remained still.


    Raymond had sent Khan there, and his ns had no selflessness. Khan knew Raymond would get something if he were to ept, and just thinking about that deeply shook him.


    Khan had always known that Raymond''s connections were incredible. He couldn''t prove that, but the matter was undeniable.


    However, things had reached apletely different league now. The Thilku Empire was a distant and rtively isted system that rarely allowed external influences, but everything seemed to hint that Raymond had spies inside it.


    Khan''s growing knowledge in those political fields worsened that realization. He was fighting tooth and nail to create a ce for himself inside the Empire, but Raymond was already there. Khan couldn''t say how stable or deep that foothold was, but one thing felt clear. Raymond was far ahead of him.


    The silence was heavy, but Khan''s thoughts ran quickly. He considered all of that in a few short seconds, and only one word escaped his mouth afterward. "[Why]?"


    Cegnore''s events had taught Khan a lot, and he also felt he knew the Thilku well by then. That species was too proud to mutate itself through the Nak''s mana and genes, so Khan couldn''t understand the scientists'' interest in him. After all, they couldn''t all work for Raymond.


    "[You are a unique specimen]," The scientist said, "[And the Nak are still out there. Studying you can bring many benefits]."


    The answer didn''t say anything. The scientist couldn''t have spoken emptier words, but Khan had expected something simr. The Empire had no reason to share its intentions, especially with a human.


    Usually, Khan wouldn''t even consider the offer. The downsides were too great and numerous, and Khan''s paranoia would only skyrocket afterward.


    Still, the current situation offered a silver lining. The Thilku wouldn''t lie about their Lord''s involvement, so Khan could hope to earn Lord Rsi''s favor by epting the deal.


    Moreover, the fact that the Empire would be the party performing the tests was interesting. Khan wouldn''t have to worry about information about him ending up in the wrong hands. Of course, he would have to ignore Raymond''s involvement, but that was one figure against many factions.


    In the end, Khan also needed help. Mister Cirvags'' file had proven that the path toward the Nak was still long, and it was unclear who held real and valuable information. Diving into the Global Army''s messy and convoluted environment to find it could take longer than years, so the Empire was apelling alternative.


    ''Am I really considering this?'' Khan wondered.


    The new Khan would have normally refused the offer right away. It wasn''t only a matter of status. Asking him to be a guinea pig was demeaning in every conceivable way.


    Yet, the scientist''s mana conveyed utmost respect. She showed no arrogance or pride. She even realized how insulting her words could be and was ready to ept an eventual rejection.


    That respect was a form of acknowledgment that kept Khan''s wilder urges at bay. He was being treated as an equal to members of a species all about superiority and pride. The event would have more meaning without Raymond''s involvement, but Khan didn''t ignore its value anyway.


    "[Will my decision affect my position in any way]?" Khan questioned.


    "[None]," The scientist promised. "[The Empire isn''t talking to you as the Global Army''s representative now]."


    "[What about my rtionship with your Lord]?" Khan continued. "[Is my rightful cape at stake here]?"


    Khan had uttered an arrogant question on purpose, but the scientist remained impassible. She didn''t feel offended hearing him use the Thilku capes as trade goods. Her mana retained the same smoothness and respect as before, even when she voiced her answer.


    "[No]," The scientist replied. "[This deal will be outside the politics between our species. It won''t help nor damage your position]."


    ''So, it''s personal,'' Khan thought. He was unsure about the higher-ups, but the scientist looked honest. She only wanted to learn more about the Nak and add that information to the Empire''s records.


    "[Why didn''t you go through the Global Army with this]?" Khan asked. "[You could have involved Mister Cirvags and cooperated with the entire Harbor]."


    "[It-]," The scientist stuttered. "[It isn''t an easy request to make]."


    Khan fully agreed. It would be ludicrous for a species to request living guinea pigs from another. Even without considering politics, the ethics of the whole matter would be too dark. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Of course, Khan believed the matter to be deeper. Cutting out the Global Army would earn the Empire first-hand information. The same reason had stirred Khan''s request in the end.


    "[However]," The scientist continued, mistaking Khan''s silence for hesitation, "[If you wish, we can use the proper channels. That would obviously bring a change in the ter-]."


    "[Don''t]," Khan interrupted. "[I don''t want the Global Army involved. I don''t even want it to know about this deal]."


    Khan was obviously pretending to be ignorant. One way or another, Raymond would get his hands on that information. Still, mentioning him or trying to cut him out of the deal felt pointless. The scientists would only feign innocence, and the spy might also not be inside the warehouse.


    "[That would be ideal for us, too]," The scientist eximed, feeling that a breakthrough was close. "[Captain Khan, we can start immediately if you wish]."


    "[Lord Rsi might have acknowledged these terms]," Khan stated, "[But I didn''t]."


    The excitement immediately vanished, and a different kind of pressure soon spread. The scientist froze while staring deep into Khan''s eyes. Something had changed, but her questions remained stuck in her throat.


    Theck of politics was ideal for the Empire but also brought additional problems. Khan wasn''t donning the clothes of an Ambassador now. He was an individual and isted party, so it didn''t matter that his counterpart was in charge of multiple star systems. He would still have to deal with him on even terms.


    "[Do you have more requests]?" The scientist asked when she found the courage to speak.


    "[I have demands]," Khan corrected, "[Which won''t be negotiable]."


    The scientist wanted toin, but the air around her suddenly grew heavier, bing hard to breathe. Her turn to speak wouldn''t arrive unless Khan decided so.


    "[In addition to opening the records]," Khan announced, "[I''ll be the first to get a copy of all the results and conclusions obtained from the tests]."


    The scientist opened her mouth, but the pressure only intensified. Khan wasn''t done, and something inside her made her understand that.


    "[Moreover]," Khan continued, "[You will find a way to prevent my mutations from spreading to my offspring]."


    If Khan had to sell himself, he would at least handle issues that had afflicted his mind for a long time. He was heading toward building a family with Monica. The matter wasn''t imminent, but solving the problem of his mutation would remove one of his greatest fears.


    As for reviewing the results, it was a mixture of curiosity and necessary awareness. Khan wanted to know what his father had done to him and what he had be. Also, he needed to be the first to learn whether his body had weaknesses or other problems. That would give him time to prepare for what Raymond had in store.


    "[Captain Khan]," The scientist called as soon as the pressure around her eased off, "[What if you dislike our conclusions]?"


    "[I''ll stop being your guinea pig]," Khan calmly exined.


    "[That could happen after a single round of tests]," The scientist


    argued, worried about getting scammed.


    "[So]," Khan said, "[Be sure to be thorough during your first round]."

 Chapter 693 Wolves

    Chapter 693 Wolves


    Strangely enough, the scientists didn''t contact anyone after hearing Khan''s demands. They held a private meeting in the corner of the warehouse to whisper among themselves, but the tests started right afterward.


    The event inevitably startled Khan and fueled his paranoia, making his brain wander among various hypotheses. Usually, only the higher-ups could modify and approve such important negotiations, but the scientists had moved forward without contacting any Lord, adding a newyer to the matter.


    Khan''s senses confirmed the scientists'' honesty, so he never doubted their intentions. He knew they would respect his demands, but his thoughts couldn''t stop there. He also crossed off Raymond since his influence there couldn''t be so great, but that didn''t necessarily reassure him.


    The conclusion was almost obvious. The scientists had been ready for Khan''s additional demand and had even received orders to ept them. Yet, the reasons and limits remained a mystery that kept Khan thinking during the long process that followed.


    The scientists took samples of Khan''s blood, hair, saliva, and more. They put him through multiple scanners and machines and even seized small pieces of his flesh from his arms, legs, and scar, leaving him naked for most of the procedure.


    Lengthy inspections handled by machines followed each test, and results always appeared on the connected screens. Khan couldn''t understand most of those runes but worry never arrived. He knew the scientists had to review all of that to reach a diagnosis. Besides, his attention wasn''t on his surroundings.


    ''I''ve been yed,'' Khan couldn''t help but think during the long and dull process.


    Nothing confirmed that idea, but Khan knew. For a moment, he had believed to have the upper hand in the negotiations, but the Thilku were probably ready to ept harsher terms.


    Still, Khan didn''t sell himself short, and the rewards were the sole constion for that potential misstep. The Empire''s records were priceless, and getting rid of his fear of passing down his mutations would solve many of his worries. The paranoia was the only big problem.


    ''Raymond can''t have so much pressure on the Empire,'' Khan thought as the tests continued. ''Is the party backing him up so strong? No, the Empire wouldn''t cave.''


    The more Khan thought about it, the surer he felt everything had started from the Empire. Raymond and his party were probably only reaping side benefits, so the main doubt remained.


    ''Am I that special?'' Khan wondered. ''It can''t be. It has to be the Nak.''


    Khan wanted to believe that, but there was a limit to how much he could underestimate himself. Truth be told, his recent endeavors had involved figures at the very peak of the Global Army, and many of them on top of that. He was also stupidly strong, wielding training methods and arts that an entire species would dream of owning. In a way, his figure alone could be a valuable trading pawn.


    Even when disregarding greater conspiracies, Khan could still understand the Empire''s interest in him. His rising fame among the Thilku soldiers, his feats on Cegnore, and the recent show of power during the festival could have been too much for such a proud species. He could see Lord Rsi wanting to know everything about him to uncover his secrets and surpass him.


    As always, Khan didn''t linger on those topics to find answers. He didn''t regret his decision either. He simply wanted to be ready for anything that coulde his way. Still, the environment was getting tooplicated. Also, Khan felt to have given away a lot this time around.


    The scientists patched Khan up afterpleting all the tests, but the wounds were so small that barely any bandage was needed. However, they conveyed a predictable announcement when it came to sticking to their side of the deal.


    "[It will take time to sort out these results and open the records]," The female scientist exined while Khan was putting back his clothes. "[We will forward everything as soon as they are ready]."


    "[I imagine you want me to return to the Harbor in the meantime]," Khan eximed without bothering to nce at the scientist.


    "[It''s the appropriate procedure]," The scientist stated, "[And the safest]."


    The scientist was hinting at the possible problematic ramifications of Khan''s prolonged presence on Xiotov. After all, he had flown there for a simple tour, so turning that trip into a multiple-day holiday would stir suspicion. Yet, he was past caring at that point.


    "[I won''t leave the until I receive my end of the deal]," Khan calmly dered while buttoning his military uniform. "[Prepare lodgings for my stay. I expect unlimited food, booze, and an appropriate training ground]."


    The scientist opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, and Khan wasn''t to me now. He wasn''t doing anything. He wasn''t even looking at her, but that reaction told him that the Thilku had been ready for a simr request.


    "[The training ground]," The scientist eventually found the guts to speak. "[Could you be more specific]?"


    "[No cameras nor scanners]," Khan exined, "[And give me something sturdy. I tend to destroy them]." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "[The Thilku''s technology is naturally sturdier than humans'']," The scientist proudly imed.


    "[And I''m stronger than the Thilku]," Khan dered. "[Give me something good, or it will blow up]."


    Those demands and statements usually stirred anger and simr emotions inside the Thilku, but the scientists remained silent and calm. Even Amox didn''t say anything. Politics and pride had no ce inside the warehouse, so everyone could agree with Khan''s im. He was one of a kind, and there was no shame in admitting that in private spaces.


    "[Amox, will you continue escorting me]?" Khan asked, although his tone had lost part of its previous friendliness.


    "[Ah]!" Amox eximed. "[Who else should]?"


    Amox tried to remain friendly, even showing an honest smile, but Khan and he knew things were off. Their friendship still existed but couldn''te out after Amox''s species had used Khan as a guinea pig. It was time for respectful silence, and that was exactly what happened.


    Xiotov''s embassy had guest rooms, and Amox escorted Khan into one. The salute that followed was slightly awkward but nothing that could dy the arrival of some privacy.


    The room was sized for Thilku, so everything was too big for Khan. The bed, the bathroom, and even the wardrobe weren''t something meant for humans. Still, Khan found no problem adjusting. Actually, he appreciated the wider spaces.


    Of course, that appreciation couldn''t take over Khan''s mind. He didn''t feel too good about the deal, and waiting was his only option now. He was still in enemy territory, too, so he couldn''t drop his guard.


    The building''s nature allowed Khan to switch the room''s settings. The Thilku had already reced the red runes with the Global Army''s blue menus, but he changed them back to keep studying.


    Besides, having the Global Army''s menus wouldn''t bring any advantage to Khan. He had no problem reading the Thilku''s runes, and his options were limited inside the building. His phone was useless unless the Empire''s higher-ups enabled some form of connection, which was unlikely for multiple reasons.


    Khan was so sure about the imminent undisturbed privacy that he threw his phone on the vast bed and went looking for something to drink, but a familiar buzzing noise soon resounded. He couldn''t believe his ears at the event, but looking in the direction of his device cleared any doubt.


    Khan slowly approached his phone and picked it up, staring at the unknown contact on the screen. Someone was calling him, which shouldn''t be possible in that environment and without connecting the device to the room. Yet, his eyes didn''t lie.


    "[Who is this]?" Khan said in the Thilku''snguage after answering the call. His mind had already thought of possible culprits, but his disbelief prevented him from showing his usual firmness.


    "You actually did it," Raymond''s voice resounded in Khan''s ear. "Call me surprised."


    The call didn''t sound stable. Raymond''s voice was muffled and slightly robotic, hinting at a bad connection. It seemed even he couldn''t retain high standards when dealing with different domains. Still, the feat remained incredible.


    "Isn''t that what you wanted?" Khan asked.


    "I''m afraid we must keep this short, Captain," Raymond said, his voice asionally breaking. "What you have taken is an important step, and those decisions always involve important parties."


    "Don''t tell me you are warning me," Khan scoffed. "It almost sounds like you are worried about me."


    "I obviously am," Raymond imed. "We are on the same side of history, whether you want to or not."


    Khan didn''t expect such a direct answer. He couldn''t hear Raymond very well, but his tone sounded honest. That wasn''t enough to make him believe him, but the event still stirred his interest.


    "What do you want?" Khan questioned.


    "Your waves have reached the critical point," Raymond exined. "The wolves will soone out to hunt you, and I won''t be able to protect you. The bomb will explode this time."


    The cryptic statement left Khan speechless, and hearing the call ending right afterward enhanced that feeling. Silence reigned as he lowered his phone. His eyes lingered on the screen, and strangely enough, his mind went quiet.

 Chapter 694 Path

    Chapter 694 Path


    Khan found it hard to restart his mind, but the warning eventually tickled one important topic, activating his brain. His thoughts went on Monica as a stream of information crossed his view. Still, the more he reviewed the situation, the less danger he saw.


    Monica was a high-profile figure, and targeting her could cause a lot of damage, but not for Khan. Sure, his heart would take a deadly blow, but his fame, power, and influence would remain strong. The event might even bring him closer to the Solodrey family, effectively reinforcing his position.


    Besides, earning the Solodrey family''s wrath was a foolish idea. Only an internal conflict would make sense in that situation, but the engagement had appeased many opposing parties. If someone wanted to damage Khan, they would target him directly.


    The how was a mystery, but Khan could try to identify his enemies after reassuring himself about Monica. Truth be told, the list could be awfully long due to his fame, but excluding anyone not relevant enough to hurt him greatly shortened it.


    Ambassador Abores obviously was the first suspect. Khan had stolen his job, hurting his pride, position, and career. That figure also had many political allies who didn''t find Khan worthy of his new role, so taking him out could be an option.


    The Hive and Mister Chares'' organization were also on the list. Khan had effectively ruined the former''s ploy, and thetter had to see him as a mortal enemy. Khan had spilled too much of its members'' blood not to consider that possibility.


    Those attracted by Khan''s abilities were another possible enemy. He had shown some of his skills to high-profile figures, including a General, so rumors were probably running among the upper echelon. There had to be someone with enough interest in him to try toy traps and bring him on their side.


    Khan would typically include those interested in his mutations, too, but his recent decision had probably brought those parties on his side. He didn''t like that, especially due to the connection with Raymond, but the reality of the situation was undeniable. He was actively doing their bidding while pursuing his personal reasons.


    Nevertheless, there had to be parties who disliked Khan''s decision to use the Thilku over the Global Army. They could potentially target him to obtain a monopoly over the information hidden inside his body, but Khan felt Raymond would have done something in that case.


    As much as Khan hated thinking about Raymond as his secret protector, his mind quickly found ways to distract him. He could think of another dangerous enemy to add to his list, and his hands were tied against it.


    ''The Nognes family,'' Khan thought.


    Khan felt sure his recent ess to new ssified information hade from the Nognes family. After all, only figures in very high positions could unlock that opportunity, and the timing pointed the target on those nobles.


    However, Khan''s experience with wealthy families had taught him that internal conflicts were the norm. Actually, the bigger the family, the higher the number of parties on opposite sides.


    Since no family was bigger than the nobles, it stood to reason that parties inside the Nognes family opposed the decision to help Khan. Many factions might even resent his mother and father, adding an emotionalyer to the whole issue and creating actual concern.


    The list had ended by then, but Khan still managed to find a scarier issue. It was unlikely that those enemies would cooperate to take down Khan, but nothing stopped them from attacking together. In short, there was no telling how many ploys were in motion.


    ''The bomb will explode this time,'' Khan thought, reviewing Raymond''sst words.


    Khan didn''t believe Raymond had meant those words literally but had no problem understanding them. ording to Raymond, the Thilku bomb would have never exploded in the first ce, so it didn''t count as a real threat. Yet, something equally dangerous could be out there now.


    A sigh escaped Khan''s mouth as his review ended. He knew that moment would eventually arrive, and his options didn''t improve even after the engagement. He had done his best to increase his fame, power, and number of allies. Everything else was in the hands of his enemies.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s enemies couldn''t simply attack him out of nowhere or all the time. Location and timing were necessary aspects of an assassination or other ploys, giving him room to think.


    ''The Harbor is safe,'' Khan thought. ''I don''t know about here.''


    If Raymond could have spies inside the Empire, so could other parties, including those targeting Khan. Yet, there had to be a limit, and the recent deal had probably secured Khan''s position.


    ''They won''t risk enraging Lord Rsi,'' Khan considered, ''Right?''


    Khan couldn''t feel confident in that idea, but his options remained limited. He was always in danger as long as he was in the Empire''s territory. That had been true even before Raymond''s call.


    As for the other possible locations, Khan could only watch out for sudden missions in distant ces. Still, his enemies knew that yground better than he did, so they would probably make the event look normal and justified. His sole option was to suspect everything and everyone, which was like second nature to him.


    ''He really had to worsen my mood even more,'' Khan sighed. ''At least it''s finally beginning.''


    The unexpected and hidden dangers were annoying, but Khan hated the wait more than the inevitable battle. He was d things had started moving. It also meant he had be influential enough to force his enemies'' hands.


    .


    .


    .


    Khan had basically forced the Empire to let him stay on Xiotov, but thetter didn''t retaliate in any way. Actually, the embassy''s hospitality surpassed his expectations.


    The Thilku ate and drank a lot, and the embassy treated Khan as an esteemed guest, basically turning every meal into a feast. The food did little to improve his mood, but the booze helped with the wait.


    Khan didn''t only spend his days drinking and eating. He had requested ess to training halls, and the Thilku had delivered. Whenever he felt like it, he could summon a few soldiers before his room and use them as escorts toward the deeper parts of the embassy. Khan couldn''t move alone inside the building, but the Thilku always respected his privacy once he reached the appointed ce.


    As for the actual training, Khan didn''t delve into anything special. He had used big words during the secret meeting but had no intention of risking exposing his abilities or damaging the building. It wasn''t only the threat of cameras and scanners that worried him. He simply didn''t need a hardcore training routine anymore.


    Monica''s videos kept the solitude at bay, so Khan slowly got used to the new environment. He didn''t sleep much in those days. Yet, he never did anyway, so the effort didn''t tire him out.


    However, a change happened on the fourth day of Khan''s stay on Xiotov. It was the middle of the afternoon. He had finished feasting only a few hours before and was getting ready for the usual trip to the training hall when a notification hit the room''s runes.


    To Khan''s surprise, the notification was written in the humannguage, and his phone could easily download it. Then, opening the message exined everything, and Khan couldn''t help but reach for the bed to take his time inspecting it.


    The results of the tests had finally arrived, and the Thilku didn''t stop at tranting them into anguage that suited Khan more. They had also avoided scientific speech when listing their conclusions, allowing Khan to understand the entire report.


    Of course, the report still had numbers,bels, and names Khan had never heard of, but his attention was on the conclusions. That was his first time doing such a thorough check-up, and his curiosity inevitably spiked.


    ''No evident weakness,'' Khan read. ''That''s surprising.'' N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Mutations were usually chaotic, and Khan had also transformed on top of that. He expected his body to have some form of instability or w, but the tests pointed in the opposite direction.


    Khan''sck of weaknesses wasn''t limited to their absence. His muscle density, resistance to poisonous substances, and other stats were off the charts. His body was incredible, and the surprises didn''t end there.


    The scientists hadpared Khan to the average human so he could read how different he was. Technically, he had yet to abandon his species, but the numbers didn''t lie. His mind wasn''t the only aspect of himself getting further away from humankind. His body was on the same path.


    ''My mutations have set a road for the mana,'' Khan concluded, reviewing the report once again. ''The transformation strengthened it, but the mana is always the cause.''


    Human soldiers got stronger by enhancing their flesh through mana. That process altered the body structure on its own, eventually culminating in the evolution, which brought greater and deeper changes.


    However, humans usually followed a stable pattern. The evolution was an exception, but the rule remained solid. Fusing mana into their bodies made them stronger humans because they belonged to that species.


    Khan''s mutations had altered that process, and the transformation had finalized it. Fusing mana into his body didn''t push him toward stronger humans. The growth existed, but the direction was unknown even to the scientists.


    After additional reviews, an idea began forming in Khan''s mind. He had witnessed a simr process in the past, and the basic theory behind it was sort of clear to him. Still, that wasn''t supposed to happen in the third level, but the conclusions didn''t lie.


    ''It almost sounds like I''m experiencing a weaker evolution,'' Khan thought. ''Far weaker, but the changes aren''t undeniable.''


    The evolution was meant to transform someone into a superior being, and Khan was experiencing just that. Yet, after spending a lifetime ming his mutations, he had finally found the real culprit. His mana was giving his body the power to advance through that process. The Nak might have opened the path, but he had chosen to tread it.

 Chapter 695 Departure

    <h4>Chapter 695 Departure</h4>


    Completing the review of the results left Khan with a choice to make. He had yet to receive the information in the Empire''s records, but that reward was set in stone. Theoretically, he could stop being a guinea pig and leave Xiotov.


    Leaving also made sense from a safety perspective. The more Khan allowed the Thilku to study him, the higher the chance that a weakness would pop out. His body might not have any, but countermeasures could exist anyway.


    Still, one pressing issue remained unsolved, leaving Khan conflicted. He didn''t want to expose himself more than necessary, but the matter of his offspring was equally important to him.


    ''Is splitting the tests any better?'' Khan wondered. ''Though I''d need to ask Anastasia a favor for that.''


    Splitting the information to different parties could ensure that no one ever got a full picture of Khan. Still, it would also expose him more and force him to bind himself to troublesome groups, and Raymond was already too much for his tastes.


    Of course, Monica''s parents had a personal interest in the matter and would ensure that the information would remain ssified. They were the least troublesome party in that specific case since it was in their interest that Khan and Monica''s union could produce children.


    Yet, at the same time, problems in the matter would make things harder for Khan. The results in his hands stated that his body was straying away from humankind, and interspecies unions were always troublesome. If it turned out that he and Monica couldn''t have children safely, he would be back to square one with the Solodrey family.


    ''The Thilku it is,'' Khan eventually decided. ''They should know more about this anyway.''


    Khan didn''t hesitate to convey his decision to the scientists, and another round of tests unfolded the following day. This time, the process was more specific, targeting topics close to Khan''s heart, but the results that arrived on the weekend forced him to summon a meeting to obtain rifications.


    "[You wrote that I won''t pass down my mutations]," Khan announced, "[But still added that my condition might affect pregnancies]."


    The meeting was happening in the undergroundb, but only a few scientists had sat down with Khan to exin the results to him. The female Thilku was also there, and only a second had to pass for a reply to arrive.


    "[That is correct]," The scientist confirmed. "[Difficulty in pregnancies can be an issue with high-level warriors, but your condition worsens those odds]."


    "[How can there be no issue with my mutations]?" Khan questioned.


    The four scientists at the table exchanged nces and a few whispers before the female Thilku voiced a simple answer. "[They are seamless. They hardly count as mutations]."


    "[I don''t understand]," Khan said, even though he had heard simr words before.


    The scientists had to do another round of whispering, whichsted longer than the previous one. They weren''t trying to keep anything hidden from Khan, but finding the right words to exin thoseplicated topics in a way that he could understand them wasn''t easy.


    "[See it as if you belonged to a different species]," The scientist eventually exined. "[You wouldn''t pass down mutations. You would pass down traits of your species]."


    Khan lowered his gaze to ponder on the matter. He had always seen his mutations as an external aspect of his body, something he could iste. Yet, the previous results had already disproven that idea, and thetest exnation made sense when Khan added that information.


    Khan''s body had long since internalized the mutations. They had be nothing more than another aspect of his being. His very biology had changed, turning him into some unique specimen among his own species.


    "[I wouldn''t pass down my mutations]," Khan summarized, "[But I would pass down my mutated traits]."


    "[Exactly]," The scientist confirmed.


    "[So]," Khan continued, "[ording to the previous tests, the more I grow, the higher the chances of difficult pregnancies]."


    "[That is correct]," The scientist stated. "[Adding mana to your body will widen the gap with your species, lowering the chances of sessful pregnancies]."


    "[Are you saying I might be sterile]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Not exactly]," The scientist said before conferring with her colleagues. That conversation was even longer than the previous one, but Khan patiently waited for an exnation.


    "[Interspecies pregnancies are always difficult]," The scientist eventually responded, "[On many levels. Your fertility isn''t an issue, but finding a suitable partner might]."


    Khan immediately understood the issue. The Global Army had a list of matching sexual organs with other alien species, but that wasn''t everything. Compatibility problems on a biological level could prevent pregnancies altogether, and Khan didn''t know where he stood since his condition was unique.


    "[Though I wouldn''t worry too much]," The scientist continued, noticing Khan''s internal conflict. "[Humans are famous for their flexibility, and technology can help]."


    Khan lifted his gaze and stared at the scientist, but his eyes didn''t look at her. The Thilku was right. Humans had great flexibility and could adapt themselves to almost anything, especially those empowered by mana. Still, Khan had an additional problem to worry about.


    The scientists had never mentioned the nightmares in the test''s results and meetings. It almost seemed the issue didn''t exist, but Khan knew the Thilku weren''t beingpletely open about it. After all, Cegnore''s events had hinted at something, so the Empire had to have some awareness.


    Everything could be fine from a biological standpoint, but Khan knew the nightmares belonged to a different field. They were almost magical in their nature, and their connection to the mana made everything moreplicated.


    ''This is the scientists'' limit,'' Khan thought. ''If I want more, I need a shaman.''


    Truth be told, Khan could think of another option. He had already seen a shaman and had basically be one himself, but solutions had yet to arrive. Still, if Cegnore''s natives had spoken the truth, Khan would only need to seize the Nak''s legacy to end the nightmares.


    ''Finding the Nak,'' Khan thought, ''Or finding a shaman. Same options as always.''


    The seemingly disappointing oue of those tests didn''t affect Khan''s mood. He had learned a lot about himself and his body, and some results were reassuring. Everything else was business as usual.


    "[How much longer for the Empire to open its records]?" Khan asked, changing the topic.


    "[A few more days]," The scientist revealed. "[Our specialists are sorting the information to ensure everything is there]."


    Khan nodded. Overstaying on Xiotov could be problematic since he didn''t give the Global Army any exnation, but the damage was already done, and a couple of days wouldn''t change anything. Also, he couldn''t leave without the information about the Nak, so the matter wasn''t really a decision.


    "[I''ll wait for it in my room then]," Khan announced, suddenly standing up.


    "[What about the additional tests]?" The scientist asked, also standing up. "[We have many rounds nned out]." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan couldn''t help but hesitate. The tests were teaching him a lot about his body, and there didn''t seem to be any issue with them. He was learning for free, clearing doubts he had protected for a long time to avoid mixing himself with human scientists.


    Yet, Khan had already gotten the answers he wanted. Undergoing more tests would be akin to charity for the Empire, and he couldn''t allow himself to be so cheap. It would ruin his image and affect his status otherwise.


    "[I''m done with the tests]," Khan dered. "[I won''t partake in them anymore]."


    "[Might we convince you somehow]?" The scientist gasped. "[The Empire must have something you find appealing]."


    "[It does]," Khan confirmed, half-lying, "[But I don''t need it now. Your Lord can contact me if he needs anything else]."


    Khan had chosen his words carefully. He had left the possibility of future deals open while withdrawing himself from the equation. If the Empire wanted to cooperate again, it would have to contact him, thus exposing itself in a way he could exploit.


    Realization dawned on the scientist almost immediately. She understood the value of that political move and couldn''t help but feel conflicted. She wanted to study Khan more, but the Empire had its pride. As things stood, it was very likely that a simr cooperation wouldn''t happen again.


    Khan understood that, too, but preferred it over the alternatives. He would truly earn something only if he could force the Empire to make the first move. That might never happen, but it was worth a try, especially now that he didn''t need anything else.


    The escort brought Khan back to his room, and time started flowing quickly. Minutes turned into hours, and eventually days, which Khan spent resting or isted in the training hall.


    Eventually, a soldier knocked on Khan''s door, delivering a circr item with an intricate rune shining on its t side. The information Khan had requested had arrived, making his stay on Xiotov pointless. He could spend a few more days studying the device there, but his guts told him the time to leave had arrived.

 Chapter 696 Plan

    <h4>Chapter 696 n</h4>


    It didn''t take long to n the departure. After Khan refused the additional tests, the Thilku couldn''t wait to kick him out of the, so the authorizations for ships and teleports arrived in a matter of hours.


    Khan also didn''t dy his stay. As soon as soldiers knocked on his door, he left the room and followed the escort to start the inevitable return.


    The abrupt departure didn''t give Khan time to study the Empire''s records, but he preferred it that way. He needed additional resources and machines to make sense of the new information in his possession. Also, he had something else in mind and couldn''t handle it while inside the Empire''s territory.


    The trips between the two domains were always long. By the time Khan returned to the Global Army''s territory, the afternoon had turned into morning, and the voyage had yet to end.


    Yet, the absence of Thilku in the environment gave Khan the chance to start his idea. His authority granted him privacy in any human vehicle, and he drew his phone as soon as the soldiersplied with his requests.


    "Captain!" Jenny''s voice resounded in Khan''s ear when the call went through. "I was just about to forward the weekly update."


    "Anything noteworthy?" Khan asked.


    "The length of your trip attracted some attention, sir," Jenny exined, "But I''m afraid you won''t understand the gravity of the situation until you brief your superiors."


    "What''s the word on thework?" Khan questioned.


    "The usual rumors, sir," Jenny revealed. "They are louder on both sides, but that''s to be expected after your engagement with Miss Solodrey."


    Khan didn''t need to ask for more details to understand the situation. As his fame increased, both his fans and detractors would grow louder. That was how the masses worked.


    "Should I proceed with the weekly update, sir?" Jenny asked before Khan''s silence.


    "Yes," Khan confirmed, "Though I have an additional task. Can you set up a privatework outside the Global Army''s reach?"


    "Hyper-Privacy indeed provides that service," Jenny eximed, "Especially for high-level clients."


    "What are the risks?" Khan wondered. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "We can keep the creation itself quiet," Jenny exined. "However, we can''t deny its existence during an official investigation with the required clearance. Still, opening it up would require additional maneuvers and time."


    "What would happen in that case?" Khan asked.


    "Hyper-Privacy will do anything in its power to abide by the client''s directives," Jenny said, remaining vague, "Whichever they might be."


    Khan could read between the lines of the vague statement. Jenny couldn''t say it on the phone, but Khan felt sure Hyper-Privacy would deletepromising data when necessary. He only had to convey those directives personally.


    "Is my fianc¨¦e still on Neuria?" Khan questioned.


    "Miss Solodrey has yet to return, sir," Jenny announced. "I tried to obtain an urate ETA, but I apologize for failing."


    "It''s fine," Khan reassured. "Schedule a private meeting, then. I''lle to your office as soon as Ind in the Harbor."


    "I''ll have everything ready by the time you arrive, sir," Jenny promised.


    "Thank you," Khan uttered before closing the call. His free hand instinctively went on the alien device in his pocket, but he left the item there for the time being.


    Curiosity was killing Khan, but he couldn''t treat the alien device like any other ssified information. He had gotten the item through a secret deal by selling aspects of himself the Global Army also wanted. If the news went public, a few higher-ups wouldn''t hesitate to admonish him and force his hand.


    That was why Jenny''s cooperation was essential. She could create a space outside the Global Army''swork where Khan could continue his research. His superiors wouldn''t learn about his progress and sensitive information in his possession like that.


    Moreover, a privatework would shield Khan from unwanted eyes. It was one thing for his superiors to learn about his progress, but he couldn''t continue letting Raymond be one step ahead of him. Khan knew he would contact him again and wanted the next negotiation to happen on an even field.


    Khan''s phone eventually rang again. Jenny had forwarded a summary of everything he had missed while on Xiotov, but a quick review revealed the absence of relevant events.


    The usual rumors had gotten louder, especially among Khan''s detractors. A second review even revealed a pattern in that aspect of the matter, with some articles sharing information the public wouldn''t normally be able to obtain.


    The strange development immediately gained a name in Khan''s mind. Ordinary soldiers couldn''t possibly learn about embassy-rted trips on their own. Even mentioning Xiotov wouldn''t ring any bell, let alone tell them that a prolonged stay on the was unusual.


    ''Ambassador Abores,'' Khan sighed in his mind while continuing to review Jenny''s report.


    Affecting someone''s reputation was the most basic and effective form of political warfare. Khan had insulted Ambassador Abores, so thetter was going after his fame. He also was the only one with the knowledge and drive to actuate that n, so Khan felt sure he was up to something.


    ''The wolves will soone out to hunt you,'' Khan recalled Raymond''s warning before putting away his phone.


    Attacking Khan''s reputation was only an initial attack. He had gathered too many allies and solidified his position beyond anyone''s expectations. He couldn''t fall so easily. Multiple cracks in his foundation had to appear before someone could even try to take him down.


    Of course, that only applied to enemies close to Khan''s level and relevance. Higher-ups and people connected to the nobles could act right away, but Khan was powerless against them, so he didn''t bother devising countermeasures. There simply weren''t any.


    Instead, against people like Ambassador Abores, Khan couldunch a counterattack. He obviously didn''t have actual offensives in mind, especially since Ambassador Abores perfectly covered his tracks. Still, Khan was far from powerless there. He just had to handle a few issues first.


    The long trip eventually ended, bringing Khan to the familiar Harbor''s teleports. Soldiers were already waiting for him, but a predictable surprise arrived once he stepped into the nearest hangar.


    A military ride had parked right outside the corridor from where Khan and his escort came out. Another team of soldiers was standing before the cab, and military salutes unfolded as soon as they noticed him.


    "Captain Khan!" One of the soldiers shouted. "Mister Cirvags requests your presence!"


    The soldier''s tonecked the usual respect underlings showed toward Khan, but he still noticed traces of hesitation. The man was only executing direct orders from his superior but wasn''t stupid enough to realize the danger he was in.


    Khan obviously didn''t me the soldier. Messengers couldn''t be guilty of their superiors'' intentions. Still, he couldn''t do him any favor either since he didn''t know when the situation would escte. Khan had to prioritize himself now.


    "I will contact Mister Cirvags myself," Khan announced, "After I take care of some personal business."


    "But, sir-" The soldier gasped, but no words followed. His throat had frozen under an invisible pressure.


    "Convey my intentions," Khan stated, ignoring the surprised soldiers. "That''s an order."


    Khan crossed the soldiers, walking past the military ride to reach another cab waiting for him. He didn''t hurry, but no one dared to stop him. The team might have received orders from someone far above him but had no authority to try to apprehend him.


    The cab let Khan inside and set off almost immediately. Usually, ordinary drivers wouldn''t interfere with military issues, but the ride came directly from Hyper-Privacy, which was wealthy enough to ignore such matters.


    Khan met with Jenny in a private area of the Hyper-Privacy''s building and exined his requirements in great detail. Jenny walked him through the n''s risks and feasibility, eventually reaching a conclusion that satisfied him.


    Things didn''t end there. Rumors had already spread while Khan was in the meeting. Thework had learned that Khan had ignored a direct summoning to prioritize personal matters. A strong response from his superiors might arrive if he hesitated, but he had nned ahead.


    Ambassador Abores and the soldiers weren''t the only ones who could spread rumors. Under Khan''s directives, Jenny leaked false information vaguely hinting at an injury or illness that required istion and time to fix.


    Meanwhile, Khan left the Hyper-Privacy''s building to head toward his personal greenhouse. Jenny had already prepared secret rides and contacted the necessary people, so Khan reached his destination without any problems.


    Soldiers could try to interfere at that point, but the fake rumor began to spread, stopping any n to earn merits with their superiors. They needed new orders and authorizations now, but those didn''t arrive. The false information had made even the higher-ups hesitate.


    ''Now,'' Khan thought as soon as he sealed the greenhouse. He knew time wasn''t on his side, so he had to make the best out of Jenny''s interference.


    Sadly, no matter how curious Khan was, the Thilku device had to wait. He wasn''t strong enough to defend that ssified information, especially without involving the Solodrey family. Still, he knew a solution.


    ''They will be forced to promote me if I be a fourth-level warrior,'' Khan considered. ''Luckily, Monica isn''t here. I won''t hear the end of it otherwise.''

 Chapter 697 Flash

    <h4>Chapter 697 sh</h4>


    Seventy-eight was very close to eighty, but not when it came to the percentage of attunement with mana. Increasing that aspect grew harder with each additional point, and only certain risky methods could shorten the process.


    The infusions of synthetic mana were the most approved and epted method, but the risks weren''t negligible. High fevers, rejection of the foreign substance, various illnesses, and more could spur after the act, and those dangers only deepened at the higher levels.


    Moreover, the price was so high that only wealthy descendants could afford infusions, and that aspect increased alongside the level. Stronger warriors required better synthetic mana, which was incredibly expensive.


    The recovery period was also something to keep in mind. Soldiers didn''t only need to absorb the foreign mana for weeks or longer. Their bodies couldn''t ept another infusion for quite some time, potentially forever in a few cases.


    That being said, the infusions remained the quickest way to increase the attunement with mana. Nothing else could make that aspect spike so sharply. Even Khan''s new technique couldn''t.


    However, Khan''s technique had advantages the infusionscked. It didn''t require a recovery period nor posed any real danger to the body. The possibility of rejection was also non-existent, making it more efficient and safer.


    Those advantages allowed Khan to repeatedly rely on a superior training method for long periods, surpassing even the infusions'' sudden spikes after a few months of continuous training. He never had to stop, so he eventually crossed what could be achieved with synthetic mana.


    Also, Khan''s technique was a flexible work in progress. He didn''t only improve it as time passed. He modified it to his needs, often paying the price with his body.


    Jenny''s false information bought Khan weeks, but the higher-ups'' pressure eventually grew too heavy to bear. After all, he had returned to the Harbor without attending the mandatory briefings. He had also refused a direct summoning from Mister Cirvags, which the public eye didn''t miss.


    Still, Hyper-Privacy was worth its price. Jenny had her directives and used every trick in the book to fulfill them. She falsified reports, faked visits from reputable doctors for hire, and more to prolong Khan''s istion in the greenhouse.


    Those methods were well-known in politics and didn''t trick any higher-ups. Yet, Khan''s unique position and fame prevented the arrival of countermeasures. Mister Cirvags, Headmistress Holwen, and the other interested superiors understood that Khan truly wanted to be alone since he resorted to such measures.


    Nevertheless, the goodwill toward Khan ended once the istion reached the two-month mark. After all, he wasn''t even attending to his duties in the Harbor''s offices, which couldn''t be ignored since they involved the Thilku. It was time for him to reappear and handle all his skipped meetings.


    The order came directly from Headmistress Holwen, pressured by Mister Cirvags'' offices. Miss Bevet couldn''t prevent soldiers from gaining ess to her greenhouses anymore, and Professor Parver''s support for Khan didn''t help. A team stormed into the underground dome, nning to retrieve Khan, but luck wasn''t on their side.


    More big news flooded thework before the soldiers could reach Khan''s greenhouse. Reports of a troublesome return spread through the Harbor, affecting the ongoing operation. Monica hadnded, and bigger yers instantly joined the fray.


    In a matter of minutes, all the soldiers tasked with retrieving Khan received calls from their superiors, stressing them to abandon the operation. Those orderscked details, but the entire Harbor learned them in the following days.


    Under Monica''s directives, the Solodrey family contacted Headmistress Holwen to ensure that Khan would remain isted. The event was a massive headache for the Headmistress, putting her between wealthy families and the embassy''s forces. Still, the regtions favored Khan.


    First, the Harbor was very inclined toward pleasing descendants and families. Its ecosystem was too frail to survive the spite of such big organizations, and the engagement had deeply bound Khan to one of them.


    Second, the greenhouse was outside the embassy, under Headmistress Holwen''s domain. Mister Cirvags could still apply leverage due to Khan''s job, but the Headmistress had to give the final authorization, which didn''t arrive.


    Third, Monica offered to check and report on the situation, basically forcing the Headmistress'' hand. Refusing her would be too big of an insult, and her presence also discouraged other higher-ups from interfering. Doubting Hyper-Privacy was one thing, but Monica couldn''t receive the same treatment. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Monica''s good timing granted Khan three additional weeks of almost undisturbed training, and eventually, the greenhouse opened. Soldiers had been stationed there to keep watch, and the event made them reach for their phones. Yet, their body froze at the dense aura that washed over them.


    The intense smell of sweat, blood, and other scents invaded the rising corridor past the greenhouse, enveloping the soldiers in stale air that didn''t suit its source. Faint strands of grey smoke also escaped the door, creating an eerie scene that caused many gulps.


    Anyone with a decent nose could understand that the greenhouse''s insides were dirty beyond reason, which made sense. Khan had isted himself for almost three months in a ce with no shower or cleaning robots, but the smell still felt too intense.


    Also, the aura permeating the rising corridor was strange. The soldiers obviously couldn''t sense it but still felt threatened by an invisible, thick force. It was as if they were underwater, and the slightest movement could cause a tsunami.


    Steps eventually resounded and grew louder. Those sounds belonged to two pairs of feet, but one felt heavier. Hammers hit the soldiers'' hearts whenever that noise reached their chests, making them hold their breath.


    Two figures soon became visible on the entrance''s edge. The soldiers instantly recognized Monica with her perfect curls and tidy military uniform. She was the only one allowed inside the greenhouse, and her frequent visits had made her amon sight.


    Yet, Monica''s beauty couldn''t im the soldiers'' gazes for longer than a second. Khan stood beside her, but his appearance made him hard to recognize. He was only donning his trousers, his skin was oily and dark due to the umted dirt, and his hair appeared glued to his forehead for simr reasons.


    Those were only superficial features. The more attentive soldiers noticed that Khan''s hair didn''t lose its bright shades even in that poor state. His chest also carried strange red marks that resembled recently healed injuries. Still, all of that paledpared to his eyes.


    Khan ran his gaze across the soldiers, and another series of gasps resounded. That wasn''t only the result of the increased pressure the team experienced. Something bright had happened during that short inspection as if a blue light had shed for an instant before disappearing.


    The sh had been so brief that the soldiers began questioning whether it had happened. However, those thoughts were short-lived since Khan''s advance caused more reactions in the environment.


    The air moved with each of Khan''s steps. His feet generated piercing noises when they touched the metal floor. A dangerous halo seemed to surround him, discouraging anyone from standing in his way. The only person allowed at his side was already there, and she showed no fear even during the bold action that followed.


    "Let me see," Monica ordered, grabbing Khan''s cheeks with one hand to make him face her. She didn''t care about the dirt ending on her finger. His eyes imed her entire attention.


    "See," Khan calmly said, looking deep into Monica''s eyes. "I''m fine."


    "Far from it," Monica snorted, letting go of Khan''s face to take his hand.


    "It''s just a temporary instability," Khan exined. "I wasn''t supposed to improve so quickly."


    "No one is," Monicained, apanying Khan through the corridor. "Your mother willin if we are seen together while I''m in this state," Khan pointed out.


    "Like I care," Monica dered. "Besides, the following news will eclipse anypromising picture."


    "I need a bath first," Khan sighed.


    "You need to attend to your fianc¨¦e first," Monica corrected. "Her patience has long since ended."


    Khan smirked but decided to address other matters first. The soldiers were still stunned by a sight they couldn''t understand, and the arrival of Khan''s gaze sent a chill down their spines.


    "I''ll see Mister Cirvags first," Khan revealed, "Headmistress Holwen after. Send the details to my t."


    "Don''t hurry too much," Monica ordered. "My fianc¨¦ is in need of a long scolding."


    "You love to give them gossip," Khan chuckled.


    "I shall add another one," Monica eximed, ring at one of the soldiers. "Tell everyone that the youngest fourth-level warrior in history has been born."


    "You had to spoil the surprise," Khan sighed. "I won''t hear the end of it now."


    "You won''t hear anything," Monica revealed. "I''ll be sure to hide your phone for the next hours."


    One of the nearby soldiers grunted when he realized what Monica meant, but that reaction didn''t go unnoticed. Khan''s eyes instantly fell on him, and the man instinctively jumped, ending with his back on the wall.


    "You should avoid sudden movements when you don''t know what''s happening," Khan warned, ignoring the soldier to leave the corridor with Monica.


    The soldiers managed to move after Monica and Khan''s figures disappeared from their view. Their hands returned to their phones, ready to update their superiors and the world about the recent event. Yet, a whooshing noise distracted them and lifted their eyes.


    Every eye in the corridor fell on the soldier who had jumped backward before widening. The man himself also experienced simr amazement as he looked at his torso. Part of his uniform''s fabric had ruptured, creating a long cut alongside the buttons that made it slip from his shoulders and fall to the floor.


    ****

 Chapter 698 Danger

    <h4>Chapter 698 Danger</h4>


    Thework had never been silent about Khan while he was isted, but the news had begun to quiet down after Monica''s arrival. It remained a famous topic, but theck of interesting developments made most talks superfluous.


    However, everything changed when Khan finally showed his face to the Harbor again, and things worsened once the soldiers before the greenhouse shared their reports. Each new rumor set thework ame, but answers failed to arrive since Khan remained unreachable for many hours.


    "I can hear my phone buzzing from here," Khanmented while warm water fell on his head before flowing into the bathtub below.


    "Go deaf then," Monica snorted, mming a sponge on Khan''s back before rubbing it across his skin. "How could you get so dirty?"


    "I didn''t shower for two months," Khan calmly replied as a smirk took over his face.


    "Almost three months," Monica corrected. "How could you go three months without a shower?"


    "You should have seen me in the Slums," Khanughed, lifting his arms to make Monica''s job easier.


    "I wish I did," Monica sighed, suddenly pulling Khan backward to immerse his head in the bathtub''s water.


    Monica couldn''t overpower Khan, but he let her do as she wished. He felt a bit apologetic for ignoring her during most of his training, but the desire to tease her remained stronger.


    Khan remained underwater, uncaring of the passage of time. A smirk was still stered on his face, but the dirt leaving his skin hid it from Monica. Yet, she could somehow sense it, and another snort escaped her mouth as she pulled him up.


    "Do you think drowning yourself will make me feel better?!" Monica screamed while Khan''sugh invaded her ears.


    "If that''s what it takes," Khan continued tough and turned to face Monica. His hands instinctively went on her naked waist, but her pissed expression didn''t flinch.


    Khan had every intention to tease Monica a bit longer, but the scene quelled that desire. The drops of water falling from her curls and ending on her bare skin captivated his attention, making him follow each of their trails as they descended to reunite with the water below.


    The urge to gulp invaded Khan as some drops flowed over Monica''s curves. The lust umted during their separation and istion revealed its presence, and his grip on her waist tightened as he pulled her closer.


    Monica shared Khan''s lust, and his current expression probably was her greatest weakness. Yet, she mmed a hand on his chest to stop the pull while the other grabbed his cheeks.


    "It happened again," Monica announced, looking deep into Khan''s eyes.


    "I told you what it is," Khan stated, aware of what Monica was talking about. He didn''t only sense it. He had also seen it in the water''s reflection.


    "It''s like you are turning into your ex-girlfriend''s species," Monicamented.


    "It will pass," Khan reassured. "It''s just a temporary instability."


    "You don''t know that!" Monica shouted. "You just don''t!"


    Monica wasn''t angry. Her mana carried nothing but worry, and Khan couldn''t me her. His eyes asionally shed with blue light now. That was far from normal.


    "You are right," Khan admitted, "But I can''t stop this process."


    "Maybe you could have avoided it with normal training," Monica scoffed, "Or by training at a normal pace."


    "You know-" Khan began to say.


    "Yes, I know," Monica interrupted. "I''m just mad."


    Khan had exined Xiotov''s events to Monica so she understood why he had resorted to that period of istion. Yet, her worry wasn''t rational.


    "It happens only when I feel something intense," Khan reassured, wearing his smirk again. "Guess what I''m feeling now."


    "I could have guessed it even without your eyes acting as streetmps," Monica snorted. "What if you get angry during a meeting? How would you hide that?"


    "I have no intentions of hiding it," Khan exined. "It''s one of the reasons I did this."


    Monica''s worry didn''t fade in the slightest, but it was clear she couldn''t win there. As reckless as Khan had been, he had still made the best decision for his situation and position.


    "Fourth-level warrior," Monica sighed, giving up as her hand slipped from Khan''s face to join the other on his chest. "You aren''t even twenty-one."


    "I will be in less than two months," Khan stated. "We''ll also celebrate our second anniversary soon."


    "Don''t change the topic," Monica scolded.


    "Come on," Khan said, pulling Monica again. "I thought you''d love me even if I grew a third arm."


    Monica let herself be pulled now, and her legs also spread to wrap themselves around Khan''s waist. She could feel his passion, but her face went for his neck.


    "I would," Monica dered. "I''m just worried about my fianc¨¦. I need to since you don''t."


    "Just focus on the good side," Khan whispered, digging a hand into Monica''s wet curls to make her leave his neck.


    "Khan," Monica softly called when her face became visible, "Don''t grow a third arm."


    "I won''t," Khan chuckled, and the couple finally fell into a kiss.


    While the couple had much catching up to do, impending business awaited Khan. He had ruffled too many feathers with his trip to Xiotov and following istion. It was time to handle the higher-ups, who wouldn''t wait for Khan and Monica to exhaust their passion.


    Due to Monica''s announcement, the higher-ups felt forced to think about how to handle the matter instead of directly abusing their authority. Sure, Khan was guilty of many things, but his fame would skyrocket once again if the news turned out to be genuine.


    Jenny handled all the requestsing for Khan while he was unreachable, and by the time he finally picked up his phone, a schedule had formed. He had initially asked to meet Mister Cirvags first, but the leaders had different ns.


    A cab picked up Khan and flew toward the embassy''s district,nding on the familiar roof beside the Headmistress'' office. Soldiers weed and led him inside the room, revealing three figures ready to greet him.


    Mister Cirvags and Headmistress Holwen were sitting on opposite sides of the interactive desk while a middle-aged woman stood in the middle of the office. Thetter was wielding a scanner usually found in medical bays, and its purpose was no mystery for Khan.


    "Come in, Captain," The Headmistress ordered. "You won''t mind if the doctor checks you, will you?"


    Khan didn''t reply and stepped into the office, letting the door close behind him. He headed for the doctor, but his eyes scanned the higher-ups. He wanted to gauge the level of trouble he was in, but his opponents weren''t easy to read.


    Headmistress Holwen had her usual cold demeanor and mana, but something about her felt odd. She appeared conflicted, and Mister Cirvags'' presence was partly to me.


    Mister Cirvags looked as uncaring as always. He even held a drink in his hand while his eyes inspected Khan. Still, the chair turned toward the entrance betrayed his interest.


    Khan had to turn when he reached the doctor, but no anxiety arrived when she pointed the scanner at his nape. She wanted to confirm that Khan had truly be a fourth-level warrior, but Monica had already handled that part inside the greenhouse.


    The doctor''s inspection was obviously more thorough than Monica''s. The woman didn''t stop at Khan''s nape and circled him multiple times without turning the scanner off. She wanted to be sure of the results given by the machine, but the oue didn''t falter even once.


    "Miss Solodrey spoke the truth," The doctor announced, retracting the scanner and straightening her back. "Captain Khan''s attunement with mana did indeed reach eighty percent."


    Khan expected a wave of surprise to spread through the symphony, but Headmistress Holwen and Mister Cirvags didn''t flinch. Even their mana remained stable. The only notable reaction came from the doctor, but Khan didn''t care about her.


    "Leave us," Headmistress Holwen ordered, eyeing the doctor.


    The doctor performed a military salute before hurrying outside the office. Khan nced at her before shooting a meaningful look at the Headmistress. Everyone knew what would happen once official news hit thework, so letting the woman leave so soon didn''t sound wise.


    Still, the Headmistress didn''t seem to care about those consequences and kept staring at Khan. Mister Cirvags imitated her, but neither spoke, creating a strange silence that Khan couldn''t affect.


    "Start with Xiotov," Mister Cirvags broke the silence. "What prolonged your stay?"


    "Lord Rsi offered me a deal," Khan revealed, "Of a personal nature."


    "Did you fulfill your end?" Mister Cirvags asked.


    "As long as it benefited me," Khan stated.


    "Will it hurt humankind?" Mister Cirvags questioned.


    "No," Khan firmly stated.


    Mister Cirvags took a sip from his drink while inspecting Khan but found no lies in his eyes, so he moved to a different topic. "You ignored your office''s duties for three months. Both the Global Army and the Empire aren''t happy."


    Khan didn''t care about the Global Army, but keeping the Empire happy was a priority. After all, he had gotten his current job thanks to Lord Exr.


    "I already dealt with the most imminent tasks," Khan eximed. "My presence in the office was unnecessary."


    That was true, but both Khan and Mister Cirvags knew the bigger issue. Khan had much catching up to do, and his recent training period had put him further behind.


    However, Mister Cirvags didn''t mention the issue. It seemed that he wouldn''t resort to punishments as long as Khan didn''tmit actual mistakes. "I expect you to return to your office immediately," Mister Cirvags eventually stated.


    "It wouldn''t be wise," Khan objected, an azure glow shing in his eyes. "I''m not exactly stable."


    Mister Cirvags remained impassible at the odd event, but Headmistress Holwen''s expression finally changed. Strange darkness invaded her face, and Khan smelled a tinge of sadness in it.


    "Will one week be enough?" Mister Cirvags wondered.


    "It should," Khan said. He didn''t actually know how long it would take him to stabilize, but Mister Cirvags'' question resembled a silent order.


    "I also expect a report of your trip on Xiotov," Mister Cirvags added. "I''m done."


    Mister Cirvags lowered his eyes and focused on his drink, which made Khan nce at the Headmistress. It was her turn for questions now, and she appeared hesitant to ask them.


    "It''s safe to assume your quick growthes from alien techniques," Headmistress Holwen announced. "Right?"


    "That''s correct," Khan confirmed.


    "The Global Army wants them," Headmistress Holwen went straight to the point.


    Khan nced at Mister Cirvags, but the man had no interest in joining the conversation. ording to Raymond, Mister Cirvags had protected that aspect of Khan, but his recent growth seemed to have changed many minds.


    "Is that an order?" Khan asked.


    "Not yet," Headmistress Holwen revealed, "But it will be, and you''d earn more points by offering them on your own."


    "More points than this?" Khan questioned, and Headmistress Holwen knew exactly what he meant. He was the youngest fourth-level warrior in history and Monica''s fianc¨¦. He had attended a noble wedding. Khan was overflowing with points.


    "Captain," Headmistress Holwen called, but Khan interrupted her.


    "Not for long," Khan announced, "If I''d have to guess."


    Headmistress Holwen fell silent for a few seconds, but a straightforward question eventually followed. "Is that the path you want to take?"


    "Headmistress, send them to me," Khan eximed.


    "Who?" Headmistress Holwen asked.


    "Those pressuring you into obtaining this information from me," Khan exined. "Maybe giving them some ideas of theplexity of the field will make them stop."


    "It won''t," Headmistress Holwen dered. "We are talking about something that might rece infusions. They would dly make you waste a few years of your life to trante your alien techniques."


    "And those in charge of the infusions'' business will try to take my life in those years," Khan continued. "If I have to be in danger anyway, I''d rather keep my secrets."


    Headmistress Holwen couldn''t argue against that, but the decision wasn''t hers to make. If the order ever arrived, she would act ordingly. At that point, it would be up to the Solodrey family to help Khan.


    "I suppose my promotion is set in stone," Khan uttered, changing the topic.


    "It was considered," Headmistress Holwen confirmed. "It will be considered even more now. As for you, go rest. You are a danger to everyone outside."


    Khan nodded and approached the exit before an idea popped into his mind. He turned, looking past his shoulder to address onest matter.


    "Promote me before my birthday," Khan said. "I''d like to be a Major while I''m still twenty."N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 699 Sponsor

    <h4>Chapter 699 Sponsor</h4>


    Headmistress Holwen couldn''t contain the news even if she wanted to, so she issued an official statement that added fuel to the mes already raging through thework.


    It was simply too incredible that a soldier could achieve so much in so little time. Actually, the event was unheard of. Until then, humankind had considered the matter impossible since those were the limits of their technology.


    Yet, the news didn''te from random soldiers or asional bystanders now. Headmistress Holwen put her signature in the official statement, crushing any doubt. Khan had truly done it. He had be a fourth-level warrior at the early age of twenty.


    The spections that had started during Khan''s istion returned stronger than ever. The event was so unrealistic that wild usations appeared everywhere. Even the side of Khan''s fans was guilty of that, and no one could me it. After all, an entire power system was crumbling under its very eyes. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The spections mostly involved the themes usually linked to Khan, but deeper hypotheses appeared. Some argued that Khan didn''t only learn alien skills. He had actively cooperated with every species he encountered to reap benefits the Global Army couldn''t provide.


    Those hypotheses were broad in range, epassing almost any random idea the public coulde up with. Of course, a few even hit the mark, which was inevitable with that sheer number of ideas. Still, none of them could grasp the whole truth.


    After a few hours, the hypotheses split into three big categories. The first saw Khan as an experiment the Global Army was being quiet about. The secondbeled him as a traitor to humankind, and the third inevitably linked his incredible growth to his mutations.


    Khan had no time to waste scouring thework to keep up with his changing public image, but Jenny delivered updates whenever relevant shifts happened. Needless to say, seeing his mutations obtain such a predominant position in the hypotheses worried him, but that oue was outside his control.


    ''I hope this won''t start a new wave of experiments with the Nak''s mana,'' Khan thought at the sight of that development, ''If the Global Army had stopped in the first ce.''


    A sigh escaped Khan''s mouth while his eyes lingered on the hologramsing from his phone. He didn''t want anyone else to deal with the curse of the Nak''s mutations, but his rise to power had made that course of action viable.


    ''Did Raymond predict something like this?'' Khan wondered. ''Was he waiting for this chance to push his experiments in the open?''


    Khan couldn''t be sure about that, and only waiting for more news might confirm his guess. Still, thinking about Raymond soured his thoughts, and his surroundings reflected that change.


    Khan had returned to his t after meeting Headmistress Holwen and Mister Cirvags. He had also settled into the main hall to use the interactive desk for Jenny''s privatework. He was surrounded by technology, and his mood swings affected all of it.


    The artificial lights blinked, the holograms flickered, and even the menus on the walls became blurry as Khan''s presence changed. The symphony was an extension of his thoughts, and their intensity wasn''t something mere technology could handle.


    ''I''m way too unstable,'' Khan realized, trying to quell his thoughts.


    Abusing the new version of the [Blood Vortex] had overcharged Khan with mana, and part of that energy leaked into his thoughts, infecting them with the chaos element''s properties. That wasn''t a new skill, but Khan''s current state prevented him from controlling it.


    The sound of a sliding metal door distracted Khan from his thoughts, but he didn''t turn to wee the neer. The event actually informed him about something different.


    "Did it reach the other rooms?" Khan asked, his eyes returning to the now stable holograms.


    "And bathrooms," Monica replied, walking around the couch to sit on Khan''s left. "Let me see."


    Khan turned and ced his face on Monica''s stretched hands. That practice had bemon during the istion, so he wore a confident smirk to reassure his fianc¨¦e. Yet, seeing her attire triggered unwanted reactions.


    Monica was wearing one of Khan''s shirts with only underwear below. Her hair was messy, and her sleepy expression finalized a cute scene that made Khan''s eyes sh with a blue glow.


    "You shouldn''t be awake," Monica scolded once the glow vanished.


    "You know you caused this," Khan pointed out.


    "I also know you won''t rest," Monica sighed, letting go of Khan''s face and turning toward the holograms. "So? What''s the word on thework?"


    "I''m either an alien," Khan summarized, leaning on the couch''s back, "A traitor, or an experiment. Some believe I''m all three."


    "They don''t know you are just a scoundrel," Monicamented, reaching for Khan''s phone to close thework. "Did you start on the other matter?"


    "Not yet," Khan revealed, retrieving the circr Thilku device from his pocket. "Though I''m almost finished setting up the privatework."


    "Finish it," Monica said. "I''ll go get drinks."


    "We talked about this," Khan eximed as Monica stood up. "You''d be an aplice."


    "And I answered that," Monica casually uttered, approaching the furniture with the booze. "Just try to stop me."


    Khan could only give up, but the smile that broadened on his face described how happy he was about that defeat. Monica didn''t care about getting her hands dirty for him. She stood at his side even during his darker endeavors.


    Monica retrieved the booze, and Khan finished setting up the privatework. The task was simple since it merely involved moving ssified information from his office to a private ount. It wasn''t even illegal, but that didn''t apply to what would follow.


    Mister Cirvags'' files came next, and trepidation invaded Khan as he finally put the alien device on the interactive desk. He had to get an adapter to connect the two items, but everything worked as intended, and new information quickly flowed into the privatework.


    "Almost untraceable," Monicamented, resting on Khan''s chest while waiting for the transfer to end. "When did you get good at technology?"


    "I''ve never been bad," Khan snorted. "I just have no interest in it."


    "Was it Jenny?" Monica asked.


    "It was Jenny," Khan nodded. "Except for the purchase of the adapter, the Global Army won''t have anything to work with."


    "Destroy both the adapter and the device when you are done," Monica ordered.


    "Of course," Khan replied. "Who do you think you are talking to?"


    "My idiot fianc¨¦," Monica announced, lifting her drink.


    Khan chuckled and toasted with Monica. A happy mood descended on the couch, but the interactive desk suddenly released a beeping noise, startling the couple. They straightened their backs, and the holograms soon showed the awaited message.


    "It''s done!" Monica shouted, but ncing at Khan quelled her excitement. She was almost as curious as him but still moved aside to give him priority over the inspection.


    Khan noticed Monica''s behavior, but his eyes were glued to the holograms. He had waited too long to open the alien device, and nothing else could exist until he fed his curiosity.


    A few taps on the interactive desk brought Khan to an immense list of files bigger than anything the Global Army or Mister Cirvags had provided him. The Thilku scientist had also sorted them ording to chronological order, making the inspection far easier for Khan.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to open the first file to skim through everything it contained but soon found himself rereading each word. He had initially nned to gain a vague idea of all the information before diving into a deep study, but his mind didn''t listen to him when it came to the Nak.


    Monica only needed a look to understand what would happen in the following hours and days. That was Khan''s main quest, his very reason to live, the root cause of his suffering. It wasn''t her ce to interrupt him over longing for affection. Her role was to make the task asfortable as possible.


    That was exactly what happened. As the hours passed, Monica delivered drinks and asional snacks to prevent Khan from ever needing to take breaks.


    When the drowsiness became too intense for Monica to endure, she curled at Khan''s side, using hisp as a pillow. Her snoring soon filled the main hall, but she knew Khan wouldn''t mind.


    That pattern continued for many days. The Empire''s history was far deeper and older than the Global Army''s, and even limiting the information to the Nak left Khan with countless files to review.


    Besides, each file required multiple rounds of study due to their historical nature. Khan often resorted to his reading technique to speed up the process, but the many dates always forced him to review everything tomit it to memory.


    Monica never left Khan''s side during the process. She didn''t utter a word even after the weekend arrived. She would get her revenge afterward, but another event had toe first.


    Once the week neared its end, the event finally arrived. Khan let out a groan and dived into the couch''s back. His eyes also rose to the ceiling before he rubbed them. He needed some rest, a shower, and a proper meal, but his mind was too full of thoughts to allow that.


    "Khan," Monica called, rubbing Khan''s chest only after granting him a few minutes alone in his mind.


    "I think I can guess their general direction now," Khan muttered, his eyes still closed. "Damned Empire. It''s making me curious about their entire records."


    "What''s next?" Monica wondered.


    "Letting the software sort everything out," Khan softly exined. "Confirming viable paths, and creating a n."


    "Will you chase after them?" Monica asked.


    "Yes," Khan firmly replied, "But not now. I can''t right now."


    "What do you need?" Monica questioned.


    "Money," Khan summarized, "Fame, authority, and freedom. I''ll start with the promotion."


    "About that," Monica eximed. "You got a sponsor as soon as the Headmistress shared the news."


    "Colonel Norrett?" Khan guessed. Promotions required a superior willing to grant his approval, and Khan''s thoughts obviously went on the Colonel.


    "No," Monica revealed. "Major General Arngan offered himself to host your promotion. He''llnd on the Harbor next week."


    ****


    Author''s notes: Happy new year!

 Chapter 700 Negotiations

    <h4>Chapter 700 Negotiations</h4>


    Khan didn''t expect a General to sponsor his promotion, especially since he had close allies who could perform the same task.


    However, the event wasn''t too surprising either. Khan''s fame had gotten big enough to spread concerning doubts about his figure. The public had to be reassured and a Colonel might not cut it.


    Of course, the matter worked in Khan''s favor, but he couldn''t help but feel hesitant. Clearly, many big figures had gotten interested in his training methods and alien techniques. Major General Arngan didn''t seem the type to y those political games, but Khan worried nheless.


    "A week," Khan announced. "That''s sooner than I thought."


    "The promotion isn''t scheduled yet," Monica exined. "It''s not even official, but everyone knows it will happen."


    Khan didn''t need to read Monica''s expression to understand what she implied. The same thoughts had popped into his mind, and a helpless sigh inevitably escaped his mouth.


    "They still want to negotiate it," Khan eximed.


    "I can ask my parents to pressure the Headmistress," Monica suggested. "But-."


    "I know," Khan stated. "They already helped while I was training, and we don''t want to be even more indebted to them."


    Monica''s face lit up when she heard "we" and instinctively leaned further on Khan. Her hand also slid down his chest, reaching the waist area to tempt him.


    "When will my noble Major take care of his fianc¨¦e?" Monica teased, knowing full well that Khan was in no condition to refuse her.


    Khan reacted as expected. The holograms and discoveries vanished from his mind as his eyes fell on Monica. She was wearing a knowing smirk, and the glowing stare she received almost made her forget about her joke. Still, she couldn''t behave as a needy girlfriend now. Monica knew her man needed to work.


    "Kidding," Monica giggled, scooting away to rest on Khan''sp, "But don''t make us wait too long."


    A loving smile took control of Khan''s expression as his hand caressed Monica''s curls. That level of self-control would have been impossible to see in the past, but Monica had also grown. She had be a woman worthy of the greatest genius the Global Army had ever produced.


    As much as Khan wanted to spend days cuddling Monica, greater tasks quickly reimed his attention. A cold expression reced his loving smile as he focused on the holograms again. He had reviewed everything, but more work was needed.


    Unlike the Global Army, the Empire didn''t filter or censor Nak-rted information due to the deal''s nature. It gave Khan everything it had on the Nak, including conclusions reached after centuries of study and hypotheses.


    After talking with Cegnore''s natives and pondering the topic for a long time, the Empire''s records gave Khan thest corroboration. Even in the Thilku''s case, the Nak didn''tunch an attack meant to wipe out the entire species. Those aliens only wanted to spread their mana.


    Still, the Thilku were no humans. They already had mana during the attack, so they managed to fend back the Nak without suffering immense losses. They had also chased after them, learning more details that Khan didn''t know how to absorb.


    Even after the attack, the Nak didn''t retreat. Instead, they moved forward, nning to continue their mission against other species. They didn''t care about the losses caused by the Empire''s chase. The Nak werepletely selfless and suicidal, so much so that the Thilku eventually lost them.


    Yet, the Thilku were too proud of a species to let the matter go. They stopped going after the departing Nak and focused instead on tracing their origin, using all kinds of scanners to track the mana left behind by their passage.


    The search led the Thilku deep into the gxy, far deeper than they had ever been. They pursued their mission to avenge the insult even as the tracks started dwindling. Still, mobilizing a huge force for such long travels would leave their core territories defenseless, so they eventually switched to a simple exploration handled by a few experienced pilots.


    Those pilots sent various reports during the exploration, marking eventual star systems encountered along the way. The mission provided immense benefits to the mapping of the gxy, but the Nak looked even farther away.


    The reports grew rarer as time passed, which was predictable due to the growing distance with thest of the Empire''s receivers. Still, the rare eventually turned into never again, hinting at the only possible oue.


    Of course, Khan didn''t care about the pilots'' deaths. Thanks to them, the Empire had amassed many reports and maps, and nothing else mattered to Khan. The distance was the only problem.


    Fusing the information provided by the Global Army with the Empire''s records gave Khan a general direction, which was more than what he could hope for. Yet, everything was too far away. He would need the help of the nobles to authorize and finance that exploration, but involving them was out of the question.


    ''Can a Major even n something like this?'' Khan found himself wondering when the idea gained a stabler form. ''Even Mister Cirvags would find it hard.''


    Khan knew he was underestimating the issue. It made no sense for a species to send someone so far away into the gxy due to the whims of a single individual. There was a chance no amount of fame could make that idea realistic.


    ''Money is doable,'' Khan thought. ''Fame and authority too. Freedom is the only issue.''


    The more Khan pondered, the clearer the issue became. A man bound by obligations and duties toward his species or other organizations would never have the chance to dive into that trip, let alone aplish it. Only someone wieldingplete freedom could.


    The realization brought Khan''s eyes back on Monica. She was sleeping, so she didn''t notice the gesture. However, the topic wouldn''t surprise her since Khan had already mentioned it a few times. As sad as it sounded, it seemed inevitable that Khan would have to leave the Global Army to get rid of his nightmares.


    .


    .


    .


    The mission was unrealistic for Khan''s current political and financial situation, so he limited himself to sorting out all the information in his possession and resting. Mister Cirvags had granted him a full week off, and Khan spent it in the privacy of his t.


    Thework obviously didn''t stay silent during that period, and Major General Arngan''s arrival rekindled even the quieter rumors. Everyone knew what was bound to happen and held their breath, waiting for the official news to go public.


    Khan''s condition had improved by then, but instabilities remained. Ideally, he would spend an entire month making sure that his body had fully recovered from the intense training session. Still, orders were orders, and he had already defied them for too long.


    Luckily for Khan, Major General Arngan''s arrival didn''t force him out of his t. Khan had expected the Headmistress to summon him into a meeting, but the very opposite happened. On thest night of the week, a message reached Khan''s t, warning him about the General''s imminent visit.


    The t was a mess, but the cleaning robots aplished miracles. Khan also destroyed the Thilku device and adapter before taking care of his appearance. Monica obviously helped him, and the guest eventually arrived.


    "Evening!" Major General Arngan shouted as soon as the elevator opened. "No need for such formalities."


    Khan and Monica were waiting in the elevator room, wearing their best military salute. They had also donned their uniforms to match the General''s attire, but the man''s friendly tone allowed them to rx.


    "So," Major General Arngan eximed, eyeing Monica, "She is the girl that turned you all protective."


    The General''s aura didn''t match his friendly tone at all, but Khan could easily bear it and add a joke. "Jealous, sir?"


    "Cocky brat," Major General Arngan snickered, and hisugh grew louder when he saw Monica ring at Khan.


    "It''s an honor meeting you, sir," Monica said, recovering almost immediately. "Allow me to serve you both drinks before leaving you to your meeting."


    "How did such a well-mannered girl end up with you?" Major General Arngan joked. "The pleasure is mine, Miss Solodrey. I''m sorry for stealing your fianc¨¦ tonight."


    Monica bowed and turned toward the main hall while Khan showed the way. The General reached his side, and the two slowly dived into the array of couches.


    Khan and the General sat on opposite couches, with no tables between them. Monica soon arrived, delivering a drink to the General before attending to Khan. She also handed him a full ss but didn''t refrain from iming his ear, too.


    "Try to behave," Monica whispered before kissing Khan''s cheek and walking around the couch. After reaching the corridor''s entrance, she performed another bow, and her figure soon disappeared behind a metal door.


    "I bet she looked good in a dress," Major General Arngan announced before bringing the drink to his mouth.


    "There are pictures on thework, sir," Khan calmly replied. "She was enchanting."


    "I''m too old to mind that stuff," Major General Arngan scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. "I trust you are that lucky."


    "Very, sir," Khan confirmed. "I intend to marry her."


    "I''ll ask Mark for gossip every once in a while, then," The General said. "He sounded sure more woulde."


    "How is the Colonel faring?" Khan used that chance to change the topic. "I expected him to be my sponsor."


    "He is still recovering," Major General Arngan revealed. "It''s nothing serious, but a failed evolution is no small matter. The Global Army told him to stay put until he waspletely back on his feet."


    "I''m d," Khan nodded. "I''m also d you offered to rece him, although I expect not freely."


    "Kids are truly scary nowadays," Major General Arngan shook his head. "It won''t be long until you rece the entirety of my generation."


    "Sir," Khan called, his tone growing more serious, "The Global Army would have announced my promotion already otherwise. I know you want something from me. I also know what you want."


    Major General Arngan smirked and gulped down the rest of his drink. It didn''t take a genius to understand what the Global Army was after. Many had directly told Khan, too. Yet, Khan''s calm behavior before powers he couldn''t hope to face remained praiseworthy.


    "I told you," Major General Arngan reminded. "This is how it works. The Global Army wants its piece of the pie."


    Blue light shed in Khan''s eyes while he stared at the General, but thetter hid his surprise and suppressed eventual questions. Silence fell into the main hall, with only the clinking ice in Khan''s ss interrupting it.


    Truth be told, Khan had guessed that retainingplete secrecy was impossible. He remained a soldier of the Global Army with duties and orders. Moreover, his discoveries could help humankind, making them too appealing to the higher-ups.


    Yet, Khan couldn''t just sell his hard-earned power. He couldn''t deliver techniques he had spent years developing. Even the middle ground in that endeavor was priceless, but the Global Army looked desperate enough for his favor to ept the simple foundation of his knowledge.


    "The promotion," Khan eventually broke the silence. "Bonuses, support, and real authority. I won''t settle for any less."


    "Will you hand out your training method?" Major General Arngan asked.


    "No," Khan refused. "I built that technique around me. It would have negative effects on anyone else."


    "The theory behind the technique, then," The General suggested.


    "No," Khan refused again. "That theory is the culmination of multiple arts, both alien and human. It''s not something I can exin or put into a blueprint."


    "I thought the Harbor taught that," Major General Arngan pointed out.


    "It does," Khan confirmed. "That''s why I know teaching the theory is impossible."


    "What then?" The General questioned.


    "I have to rest for a while," Khan revealed. "That creates holes in my schedule. I can host a few courses about topics of my choice."


    "That sounds small," Major General Arngan argued. "Your promotion is basically mandatory, but you are asking for my support. That''s hardly cheap."


    "The courses will be about the foundation of everything I learned outside the Global Army," Khan exined. "The Global Army only needs one capable student to recreate what I can currently do." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Do you expect students to catch up with you so quickly?" Major General Arngan chuckled. "I recall you iming yourself to be the strongest."


    "I am the strongest," Khan dered, "And the Global Army can''t me me for that. It''s not my duty to slow down to let others catch up."


    "But it''s your duty to help humankind," The General added.


    "That''s why I''ve ultimately agreed to share part of my knowledge," Khan said. "I expect the Global Army to praise my selflessness."


    Major General Arngan chuckled again. He truly liked Khan''s guts, but the situation prevented him from appreciating them. Sadly, he was on the other side of the issue.


    "Kid, this is not enough," Major General Arngan eximed.


    "That''s why I have a proposal," Khan revealed. "Let my students be experts. I don''t care about their actual upation as long as their words carry weight."


    "You want the Global Army to tell esteemed scientists to attend courses held by a kid?" The General questioned.


    "The best kid in history," Khan confirmed. "Unless they are scared I will really challenge their knowledge."

 Chapter 701 Realization

    <h4>Chapter 701 Realization</h4>


    Khan''s offer was a gamble.


    On the one hand, hosting sses with esteemed experts would add value to Khan''s knowledge. He would have pirs of the scientificmunity vouching for him as long as he convinced them of his expertise. Khan could be a prominent name in the field if everything went well.


    Moreover, experts deeply rooted in human fields would have a harsher time detaching themselves from their knowledge and epting alien arts, in theory, at least. Khan''s lessons might lead to nothing, preserving his monopoly over his expertise and halting any attempt to understand his power.


    However, the opposite was also possible. The experts might disregard and insult Khan''s techniques, denigrating his knowledge to keep the current fields relevant. Khan''s achievements would contradict that, but the approach would be a good way to force him to share more.


    Also, the experts mightpletely figure out Khan''s techniques and give birth to new fields he alone couldn''t create. After all, he was a single man against the entire force of a species. The Global Army might find a way to counter him while surpassing him at the same time.


    Nevertheless, after much pondering and exchanging opinions with Monica, Khan couldn''te up with a better solution. He would gain a lot from the lessons without giving away too much. Also, he would buy himself time from those trying to force his hand, which was necessary.


    Major General Arngan was mostly a warrior, but his long life had taught him much in other fields, too. He wasn''t the sharpest political fox but understood that environment well. It only took him a second to realize what Khan was doing, and some silent praises echoed in his mind.


    Khan''s approach took immense stones, arrogance, and confidence. No one would even dare to suggest something simr otherwise, and Major General Arngan could only fall deeper for him at that sight. It was rare for him to deal with a fellow true warrior, and the event deserved rewards.


    "You are still short," Major General Arngan announced, "But I''ll make it work out. Everything else will be up to you afterward."


    "I''m well aware," Khan replied. "That much will be enough."


    "Then," The General sighed, standing up and retrieving his phone while dropping the empty ss on the nearest table, "I''d better get going. I suspect my night won''t be as pleasurable as yours."


    The General was hinting at the calls and discussions he would have to do after leaving the t. His shoulders were full of expectations, so returning with little more than a few lessons was bound to anger many people.


    Khan stood up out of etiquette, and his piercing eyes followed the General''s huge, departing frame. In many ways, the General was doing Khan a favor, and he couldn''t pinpoint the exact reason.


    "Major General, sir," Khan called when the man was almost in the elevator room. "Why are you helping me?"


    The General half-turned to nce at Khan, and the two silently inspected each other. Neither was a political beast. They were both soldiers who had earned their fame on the battlefield, but a wall seemed to exist between them.


    "I like you," Major General Arngan eximed, "And Mark is a friend."


    "You still shouldered heavy expectations," Khan pointed out. The General was actually shielding him from them, but Khan didn''t need to mention it.


    "The Global Army is changing," Major General Arngan dered. "I can hear the bnce of power shifting. I thought I''d pick a side." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The elevator opened before Khan could ask more questions, and the General promptly retrieved a bag from it. The man handed the item as soon as Khan approached him, partially revealing its contents.


    The bag contained a fancy wooden box that Khan guessed held good booze, but the other item ended up iming his attention. A folded military uniform rested at the container''s side, and retrieving its upper part showed a set of four stars on each shoulder.


    "I have yet to get approved as a fourth-level mage," Khanmented.


    "And who''s going to test you?" Major General Arngan chuckled. "Or question you?"


    Khan didn''t have answers, and the General didn''t wait for them either. He stepped inside the elevator, turning to say onest thing as its doors closed. "Congrattions, Major Khan."


    Another sound followed the elevator''s descent, but Khan didn''t move. He kept staring at the two sets of stars even when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his torso. Soft curls also fell on his shoulder as Monica peeked past him to inspect the item.


    "What did he mean by side?" Monica asked.


    "I don''t know," Khan admitted.


    "A General," Monica sighed. "I hope he is on our side."


    "If he isn''t," Khan uttered, ring at the closed elevator, "I''ll take him out, too."


    The metal surface reflected the glow that shed in Khan''s eyes. He knew about the existence of different factions inside the Global Army, but the entirety of the ying field escaped his mind. Still, that was already the second warning. It seemed he had finally stepped into the realm of the big yers.


    "Everyone is fighting for my noble Major," Monica teased, walking around Khan to seize the new uniform from his hands. "He should try this out to see whether it fits."


    "No one is fighting for me," Khan said, cing the bag on the floor. "I''m slightly higher than a pawn."


    "You''ll soon realize what I understood long ago," Monica stated, using one hand to unbutton Khan''s uniform. "You''ll be the most important man in the Global Army, and species will wage wars to earn your favor."


    Khan knew Monica believed those words, but they failed to take root in his mind. Everything felt too far away, and he remained a single man. No one could hold such value.


    The passion that followed made Khan forget about Monica''s words, and he didn''t think about them even after he returned to work. He was too busy with his various studies to linger in distant dreams that had no ce in his interests.


    That didn''t change even in the following days. Khan focused on impending problems rather than unrealistic ns. His entire attention was on resting and catching up with the work he had ignored in thest period while also doing his best to improve his overall foundation.


    Meanwhile, the Global Army got to work on preparing the event that would host Khan''s promotion. The news became official, and multiple figures offered themselves as guests to elevate the meeting''s value. Many also wanted the chance to encounter the famous Khan, and the list kept stretching until Headmistress Holwen pulled the brakes.


    Even with Headmistress Holwen''s interference, the event reached massive proportions. It got so big that no political area in the Harbor could hold it, forcing the Headmistress to repurpose one of the embassy''s training halls.


    Only two weeks after Major General Arngan''s arrival, everything was ready. Luxurious ships had filled the Harbor''s hangars, and the teleports had worked overtime to bring every guest on the list. Reporters also flooded the domes'' streets, but very few gained ess to the embassy''s areas. It seemed a public celebration was underway, and Khan was at its center.


    Soldiers made Khan''s trip to the appointed training hall asfortable as possible. He didn''t meet any reporter or unwanted figure who had managed to slip through the Harbor''s restrictions. His ride flew directly to the embassy, and a crowd of important people soon unfolded in his eyes.


    Smiles and cheerful expressions filled every corner of Khan''s vision. Countless auras invaded his senses with a wide variety of intentions. Foreign respect, envy, curiosity, bitterness, greed, and much more spread in Khan''s mind, bringing some awareness about the general situation. Yet, everything was so chaotic that Monica herself tightened her grip on his arm.


    The couple''s nearing anniversary had broadened the scope of the event, raising the bar for the type of guests allowed inside the hall. Khan and Monica saw extremely wealthy and influential people anywhere they looked. Part of the Global Army''s upper echelon had gathered there that day, and Khan finally understood.


    Almost all the people in the hall had everything since birth. They had nigh-infinite money, countless studying resources, as many infusions as they requested, and more. Yet, Khan could count the number of fifth-level warriors with his fingers.


    The fourth-level warriors were higher in number but not nearly enough to bnce the rest of the crowd. Most of those esteemed figures were at the second or third level, with a minority in the first, and Khan couldn''t help but feel lost as realizations popped into his mind.


    A few figures were to me for their current status, but not all of them. Many had tried and failed to press forward or had given up on the matter entirely, even while having everything a soldier could ask for.


    Instead, there Khan stood, a man barely in his early twenties with no help from his background who had still surpassed most of the Global Army. The next step would put him at the peak, and the following would push him into a realm that even wealthy families saw as untouchable.


    The realization was impossible to miss. Khan couldn''t help but recall Monica''s words, and then, it hit him. The dreams weren''t distant. Nothing was far away anymore, and everything was bound to get closer.

 Chapter 702 Demonstration

    <h4>Chapter 702 Demonstration</h4>


    The promotion was utterly dull. The event featured many important figures but was too crowded to establish any meaningful alliance. The couple had also juste out of a noble wedding, and the current political interactions simply couldn''t match that.


    Moreover, the many conversations had obvious hidden intents. Khan''s fame had gotten too big to present political deals in a public environment. Almost everyone tried to n private meetings, which Khan couldn''t directly ept due to his busy situation.


    Many also tried to use Monica to get to Khan, but her status made it even harder for any interested figure to offer proper deals. She was a rebel, but the Solodrey family stood at her side, creating a barrier no one could ovee in a public meeting. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The eventsted far longer than anyone had predicted, leaving the couple exhausted once it ended. The mental strain of dealing with so many influential figures in a single day was too much even for Monica, but a silver lining existed. As much as everyone wanted private meetings, Khan and Monica had undeniable reasons to refuse them.


    Those reasons kept the couple busy for the following days. Khan spent his entire time submerged in reports and studies, while Monica dealt with interviews and social obligations that had be mandatory after the promotion.


    Khan was a Major now, the youngest Major and fourth-level warrior in history. Everyone wanted a piece of him, but that would hinder his already dyed duties, so Monica took care of the public aspects of their life.


    Ideally, the couple wanted to prolong that bnce as much as possible, mostly to give Khan time to catch up with his studies, but obligations eventually fell on him. He had promised the Global Army part of his knowledge, and the time to fulfill his end of the deal arrived sooner than expected.


    After three mere weeks from the promotion, Khan found himself in an isted ssroom inside the embassy. His birthday was only a few days away, and Monica had even agreed to dy the celebrations for their second anniversary, but thework had no interest in that. The public was too curious about today''s events to waste time on the usual gossip.


    The half-circr ssroom had the usual elevated stands and interactive desks, with a small tform at its bottom. Khan stood there, leaning on the professor''s table with his arms crossed, and his closed eyes didn''t stop him from inspecting his empty surroundings.


    Khan''s condition had stabilized in the past weeks, but he could still feel power brewing inside him. He could make the interactive desks flicker and his eyes shine, but his attention wasn''t on that.


    The ssroom was clean, and Khan''s uniform was as tidy as possible. The two sets of four stars on his shoulders reflected the ce''s artificial illumination, shing whenever they hit the right angle. Everything was ready for his first lesson, and thoughts swirled in his mind, taking the shape he had nned in the past weeks.


    Khan wanted to focus solely on his imminent lesson, but different thoughts inevitably surged and grew louder. He had read the list of experts chosen for his ss. He had studied those figures with Monica, learning about their achievements and relevance. Three weeks shouldn''t have been enough to bring them to the Harbor, but the reality was far different.


    That quick development revealed how important the topic was for the Global Army. Sure, some experts probably were only driven by scientific curiosity, but Khan was sure a few had received orders from above. Such lofty figures wouldn''t have abandoned their positions and ongoing experiments so suddenly otherwise.


    Khan believed he understood the matter''s relevance, but that quick response forced him to rethink the situation. He knew the Global Army wanted his knowledge, but its eagerness had exceeded his expectations.


    Eventually, the ssroom''s metal doors opened, and the sounds of steps reached Khan''s ears. Various auras tainted the symphony, affecting the synthetic mana with unique vibes. Many were muffled, almost weightless, as if a barrier prevented most of their features from leaking into the environment.


    Some barriers weren''t natural or the result of technique. Khan smelled the synthetic nature of those protections, realizing how wary those experts were. They didn''t only know about his senses. They had also prepared ordingly.


    Yet, other than the overall power level, Khan still felt tinges of emotions. He didn''t know whether the barriers were imperfect or his senses had gotten too strong for them, but the result was the same. He would have an advantage, and nothing would stop him from exploiting it.


    The experts slowly approached different seats, taking their time to inspect the ssroom and the closed-eyed Khan. A few expressed discontent with the ce and Khan''sck of weing words by sneering and snorting, but everyone eventually sat down.


    At that point, Khan opened his eyes, and the atmosphere changed. An invisible weight fell on the seven experts as he scanned them, and the short glow radiated by his irises brought surprise to many faces.


    Only three of the experts were at Khan''s level, but no one could match the intensity of his presence. Even as a newly-advanced fourth-level warrior, Khan was in a different league. His battle experience alone would put him there, but many understood his suffocating aura was more than that.


    "Thank you for your time," Khan announced, breaking the tense silence. "I apologize for the difort. I''m still adjusting to my new state."


    No one spoke, but few allowed themselves to show some reactions. Two of the youngest experts wore curious and captivated expressions, while others saw those words as an intentionalck of respect.


    "I know you are busy," Khan continued, "So I''ll start immediately."


    Khan ran his eyes across the small audience once again before voicing the initial statement nned in the past weeks. "Humans are young, na?ve, and dumb when ites to mana. That much is undeniable."


    A few fists mmed on the interactive desks, and some experts stood up in anger. Shouts like "ridiculous", "preposterous", and "ignorant" resounded in the ssroom, but Khan only focused on those who silently epted his statement. One man in particr attracted his attention, and seeing him raise his hand spread a chilling feeling inside Khan.


    The man was old. Wrinkles filled his face, and a well-kept, long, white beard stretched from his chin. Long white hair that reached his shoulders also fell from his head, and messy grey eyebrows almost covered his half-closed eyes.


    Khan could easily dy the time for questions, but the man had been too respectful to ignore. His status also made him a prominent figure in the Global Army. He was Abraham Foxham, vice director of the entire scientific department.


    Seeing Abraham lift his hand silenced all the other experts and made them return to their seats. Clearly, the man was deeply respected among his peers, and his presence in Khan''s ssroom proved once again the Global Army''s interest in the matter.


    Khan nodded at Abraham, and thetter used his strangely firm voice to utter a simple question. "Why?"


    "Humans see mana as nothing more than fuel," Khan exined, "No different from the electricity used by our ancestors. It''s much more than that."


    Abraham lifted his hand, and Khan couldn''t help but nod again. He didn''t know the man''s intentions or allegiances, but refusing someone showing so much respect wasn''t in his nature.


    "What is it?" Abraham asked.


    "The mana is a form of energy," Khan said, "A higher form, if you will. Still, it''s also alive, almost capable of individual consciousness."


    Truth be told, the scientific field was aware of those features. After all, humans had interacted with different species and hade across alternative training methods. They simply thought theirs was better and more efficient.


    "I know you have been aware of this for a long time," Khan continued. "I also know you did your homework beforeing here, so I''d rather skip questions rted to this topic."


    "Do you also know why we are here?" One of the few women asked. She had long brown hair, tanned skin, and square sses, but her behavior was unexpected. After all, she worked for Mister Zeckai, who had seemed inclined to buy Khan''s favor during Colonel Norrett''s evolution.


    "Yes," Khan replied. "You want my training technique and what I showed to Madam Lamalot. You can have both as long as you master what I''ll teach here."


    Abraham lifted his hand again, and Khan''s nod prompted a question. "Is it possible to have a demonstration of what Madam Lamalot reported?"


    Khan''s arms were still crossed, but the request made him break his stance. He had suspected the experts of wanting a demonstration. He was actually surprised the Global Army had waited so long after Colonel Norrett''s attempted evolution.


    The experts'' concentration skyrocketed as Khan drew bright lines in the air, and eyes widened when the simple rune turned into an azure me. Everyone watched the fire flickering in Khan''s palm before falling silent once it vanished.


    "How do we know it''s not a simple trick?" The tanned woman questioned. "That little me is hardly revolutionary."


    Khan''s fingers sprang to action, moving far faster than before. His gestures were so swift that many experts failed to follow them. A moreplicated rune appeared in the air in a few seconds, and Khan didn''t hesitate to punch it.


    The punch sent more mana into the rune, activating it. A fiery bullet shot forward, flying above the stands to hit the wall on the other side of the ssroom. A trail of mes also lingered in the air before dispersing after a few seconds.


    The experts instantly turned, and the dark patch on the metal wall caused many gasps. The attack wasn''t strong but remained an attack. Khan hadunched a spell with fire properties even if his element had nothing to do with it.


    The audience knew exactly how impossible the event was. They were aware some alien techniques could alter the properties of mana. Even a few human spells could. Yet, they had never seen or heard about summoning apletely different element.


    To no one''s surprise, Abraham remained the calmest among the audience, and his hand shot up to request permission for another question.


    "Major Khan," Abraham called after Khan''s nod. "The design of your technique takes inspiration from the Thilku runes, but I don''t recognize its meaning."


    ''Impressive,'' Khan sighed before addressing the question. "While I took inspiration from the Thilku runes, the theory has nothing to do with them. I imbue my designs with intrinsic meanings. Actually, I imbue the mana used in my designs with them."


    The exnation brought silence. Each expert hade to the Harbor with different intentions and goals, but Khan''s technique almost made them forget about them. After all, they were before something unprecedented, and their scientific instincts couldn''t help but scream.


    "What are the possible applications?" Abraham questioned.


    "Theoretically?" Khan wondered. "The limit depends on my expertise or yours if you can learn it."


    "Why can''t you simplify the technique?" The tanned woman asked. "As the field''s founder, you are the best choice for the task."


    "I can''t simplify two opposite and fundamental theories," Khan exined. "Since you have studied my connections, I''ll just demonstrate it."


    Khan looked in the tanned woman''s direction and uttered the word "blow", making sure the entire audience heard him. To the woman''s surprise, a soft gale blew on her face, slightly ruffling her hair.


    "Shatter," Khan continued, eyeing a man who had mostly shown haughty expressions. A crack suddenly appeared on the expert''s desk, making him shoot to his feet.


    "Help my legs," Khan stated, and his figure disappeared, leaving the experts speechless. Thetter inspected their surroundings until Khan cleared his throat, revealing his position beside the dark patch on the opposite wall.


    "These are just simple applications of the Nele''s techniques," Khan exined, jumping forward to walk in the air above the audience. "I asked, and the mana listened."


    Complete silence invaded the ssroom as the audience watched Khan fly back to his desk. He even resumed his previous position, crossing his arms to show how easy it was for him to perform those revolutionary techniques.


    "Now," Khan stated, "For the Niqols'' techniques."


    Bright purple-red light suddenly filled the ssroom, bringing the experts'' eyes to the ceiling. Gasps and fear spread as multiple chaos spears and needles formed above the audience. Their surfaces looked unstable enough to explode at a moment''s notice, but the umted mana slowly dispersed.

 Chapter 703 Reporters

    <h4>Chapter 703 Reporters</h4>


    The scientists couldn''t deny that the array of spells above their heads had filled them with fear. Even the three fourth-level warriors knew they were outssed, and that feeling didn''t disappear after the various spears and needles vanished.


    Every eye in the ssroom fell back on Khan, and realizations unfolded. The experts were rational and perceptive people. They could see right through Khan, and terror spread.


    Khan didn''t move. He didn''t focus or sweat. Everyone understood that he wasn''t even trying, but the oue had been overwhelming nheless. Those techniques were as easy as breathing for him but could still produce outstanding effects.


    The scientists weren''t seasoned warriors but had seen many geniuses in real life and through recordings. Yet, that simple demonstration filled them with a firm certainty. Khan was a true and unparalleled monster.


    Of course, thework was already flooded with simr rumors and official reports, but seeing Khan''s power first-hand left a deeper impression on the scientists. Many actually started wondering whether the news was watered down to hide how strong he truly was.


    Usually, high-status figures would be happy to have such an incredible soldier fighting for them. However, the situation wasplicated due to the political and scientific implications. Unparalleled strength often prevented any chance of control, and some experts wanted to have leverage over Khan.


    Khan let the silence stretch to inspect the scientists'' reactions. He didn''t expect the general awe since it was too pure for figures who wanted to exploit him, but everything else felt normal.


    ''Maybe they are more upright than I thought,'' Khan considered.


    Eventually, Abraham lifted his hand, and Khan allowed him to break the silence by nodding. "Major, I''m afraid I don''t understand. You clearly have mastered both theories to invent a new field. How can''t you directly trante such a new field?"


    The question was almost inevitable, and Abraham had worded it far better than the tanned woman. Khan even had to hold back a sigh. Abraham''s doubt was on point, but Khan couldn''t let him believe that. Luckily, he had prepared a suitable justification.


    "Humans don''t explore this too much," Khan announced, "But the mana has wildly different properties, especially in my case."


    Even without mentioning the mana anomaly, the experts agreed with Khan. His element was too unique and wild to fit with the rest of the field.


    "I can''t create a general method because I never mastered it," Khan continued. "I always adapted every technique to my unique situation. What I know works because I''m the one using it."


    The exnation solved some doubts but gave birth to new ones. After all, Khan could do the opposite since he had already adapted general techniques to his situation. He could even reach simr results by working on individual cases.


    Still, Khan didn''t want the Global Army to force him to create individual techniques for every promising individual. He would waste years of his life on a task that was potentially endless otherwise, so he continued to address the topic.


    "The Global Army probably wants to recreate my techniques through synthetic mana," Khan added. "I wouldn''t even know where to begin there. That''s why I''ll leave that part to you, esteemed experts."


    Khan''s tone had felt slightly sarcastic near the end of his speech, but the scientists swallowed their pride. It didn''t matter how disrespectful Khan was. The power he held was real, and the potential applications made the audience''s eyes shine with interest.


    A few scientists understood that Khan was exaggerating to save himself from additional tasks. Still, that was only the first lesson, and they had seen enough to know the value of those techniques. Everyone silently agreed to keep their mouths shut, for now, at least.


    Since everyone looked content with thetest exnation, Khan finally began his lesson, starting from the theory behind the Nele''s techniques.


    That was another nned move due to the difficulty of the task. Khan hoped to dy the scientists'' learning process as long as possible to protect himself. The Niqols'' basic techniques were too close to his core abilities, so teaching them might put him at risk.


    Besides, Khan knew the Global Army must have learned something about the foundation of the Niqols'' techniques. After all, he wasn''t the only survivor of Nitis'' outbreak. George probably didn''t say anything, but Kelly was apletely different story, and a proper lesson might enlighten the experts in that field.


    Revealing Jenna''s teachings didn''t feel good either, but Khan knew how she would respond. She would say that those were Khan''s techniques now, for him to use as he wished. That was the kind of woman she was.


    Obviously, the scientists had no idea how even to begin to approach the Nele''s basics. Theycked the senses, understanding, and broad minds to ept such drastically different methods, but Khan knew that. People who had seen mana as nothing more than fuel their whole lives would consider it absurd to try to talk to it.


    Still, Khan remained surprised and partially worried about the experts'' dedication. No oneined. No one gave up. Everyone tried their best to follow Khan''s instructions and learn that new field. As for their reasons, Khan had no way of knowing.


    In a different situation, Khan would have loved to have such enthusiastic students, but the reality was different. He was giving away personal secrets to potential enemies, proving once again how serious the Global Army was about the matter.


    Luckily for Khan, Major General Arngan had worked out favorable terms for his promotion. The lessons barelysted two hours, so Khan had every right to send the scientists away once the appointed time arrived.


    Sadly, Khan had no power over the actual scientists or their influence. Even the Headmistress couldn''t help, and the reporters knew it. Hordes of bystanders were waiting in appointed areas outside the embassy, and the experts didn''t hesitate to share their impressions.


    Khan didn''t head out right away but watched the crowds of reporters gathering around the scientists from one of the embassy''s roofs. His phone was in his hand as he waited for updates on thework. He didn''t care about the audience''s feedback, but those experts held enough influence to force him to change his teaching pace.


    Of course, the actual progress depended on the scientists'' learning pace, but theirints could still hurt Khan, and he didn''t want his first assignment as a Major to appear as a failure.


    While peeking from the embassy''s roof, a luxurious ride approached, and Khan only had to nce at it to understand what was happening. The cabnded a few meters from him, forcing the escorting soldiers to step aside, and Monica soon came out of it.


    "You know they''ll want your take," Monica announced, walking toward Khan. "As beautiful as I am, the reporters are getting tired of me."


    "You are indeed beautiful," Khan replied, letting Monica take his hand and kiss him.


    "How did it go, dear?" Monica asked, caressing Khan''s uniform to remove any crease.


    Khan peeked past his shoulder to re at the escorting soldiers, who understood the silent order. They left the roof, stepping back inside the embassy to give the couple privacy.


    "They are more serious than I expected," Khan stated, turning his head to look at the crowd downstairs again. "They aren''t even questioning the validity of my exnations."


    "I''m not surprised," Monica admitted. "You are the best the new generation has to offer. Many think you''ll change all those old geezers are currently teaching."


    "They weren''t all old," Khan pointed out, "And has my lovely fianc¨¦e anything to do with those beliefs?"


    "It''s not my fault if they keep asking for my honest opinion," Monica said, feigning innocence. "I''m already refraining from saying I like your ring better."


    Khan couldn''t help but nce at Monica''s left hand. She wore both rings, but the luxurious one came from her family. As much as she liked its meaning, she still preferred the simple one bought by Khan.


    "I should be lucky they aren''t asking about our personal life," Khan chuckled.


    "Oh, they are," Monica nodded, "But I don''t give them any details. You have enough sluts chasing you as it is."


    "We are literally engaged," Khanmented.


    "We don''t want anyone thinking you might ept a mistress," Monica said. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Is itmon among married descendants?" Khan wondered. "You know, today''s lesson made me think about Jenna."


    "You keep that witch and any other slut out of your mind," Monica warned, ring at Khan, "Or I''ll take things into my own hands."


    "Like you didst night?" Khan teased.


    "And this morning," Monica snorted.


    "I''m pretty sure this morning was all me," Khan responded.


    "You ruined my favorite lingerie again," Monica snorted again, "So it was all me."


    "It was worth it," Khan smirked, and Monica tried to pout, but her mouth broke into a smile when he kissed her.


    "Come on, dear," Monica called, wrapping her arms around Khan''s neck. "Deal with the interviews and take me home. I miss you."


    "We should hurry then," Khan stated, taking Monica''s waist into his hands.


    "I instructed the driv-," Monica tried to say, but a short scream interrupted her line. Khan had jumped off the roof, taking her with him.


    "You scoundrel!" Monica shouted, but her scream soon turned into augh. Her tension vanished as she let Khan handle every aspect of the flight. Her sole interest became holding tight and kissing him, which was exactly what she did as Khan descended toward the crowd of reporters.

 Chapter 704 Heart

    <h4>Chapter 704 Heart</h4>


    The reporters weed the romantic descent with cheers, cries, and shouts, almost forgetting about the esteemed experts talking with them. Khan and Monica imed everyone''s attention but avoided disclosing details in the following interviews. They didn''t have much to say anyway, and their schedules were too packed to waste time there.


    Returning to the t was troublesome since the crowd upied any potentialnding spot. Still, Khan took it upon himself to grab Monica again and shot into the air to enter the cab that had descended toward them.


    After that, the couple waited for updates on thework or calls from their superiors since a lot could change depending on the experts'' feedback. Thetter could also leave the Harbor altogether if they found the lessons pointless, but reassuring news arrived.


    "As expected," Monica read on her phone, "Major Khan chose to demonstrate his skills before moving to the subject. I admit it didn''t feel like a waste of time."


    "Not exactly apliment," Khan scoffed, peeking from behind Monica''s bare shoulder.


    "Major Khan didn''t only show a deep understanding of alien fields," Monica continued to read. "His mastery over those techniques was breathtaking. If it weren''t for his appearance, I would have never believed he was a human."


    "Yeah," Khan sneered. "I''m the most human-looking human in the Global Army." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I kept track of Major Khan for a few years," Monica read another article. "No report has ever done him justice."


    "That could go both ways," Khan sighed, leaning his head on the couch''s back.


    Monica lightly elbowed Khan''s bare side. She was sitting with him on the couch, between his legs, and turning her head showed him her happy smirk.


    "Do you realize what this looks like?" Monica asked. "No one expected those scientists to fill you withpliments. This is the best you could have hoped for, which is incredible."


    "Gutless," Khan scoffed. "They didn''t want to pick a side by praising me too much but still threwpliments to keep the Global Army interested."


    "Be happy with this victory," Monica scolded. "Even if it''s partial andposed."


    "Ah!" Khan cursed in a tone the Thilku would recognize. "They should promote me for each lesson I choose to host. I''m the best the Global Army has ever produced, and they are taking me for granted."


    "They will understand," Monica promised, half-turning to ce a hand on Khan''s bare chest. "You''ll make them understand."


    "These politics," Khan said, "These games. They act as if I have no other choice. They don''t know I''m the one allowing them to exist."


    "Most are ignorant," Monica exined. "Others are simply choosing not to see, but it''s only a matter of time."


    Khan''s intense expression found a new target after those words. He looked at Monica and pushed her down while leaning over her. Monica let out a gasp, but her arms promptly went on Khan''s neck.


    "I''m tired of waiting," Khan revealed.


    "I know, dear," Monica nodded. "Let me help."


    Monica took Khan''s right hand and ced it at the center of her chest. Lust arrived due to the sensual spot, but another reaction overwhelmed it. Monica''s heartbeat was so strong that her ribcage felt on the verge of crumbling.


    "Can you feel it?" Monica wondered, a loving smile blossoming on her face. "It beats only for you. It exists because you allow it."


    No words followed. Khan and Monica looked into each other''s eyes before the temptation became unbearable. As for the rest of the news, it took the couple a while before reading them.


    .


    .


    .


    Khan''s birthday arrived and passed without any party or public events. Even the Solodrey family ignored the matter and the second anniversary due to how busy the couple was. Thetter still managed to find time for themselves, but nothing big enough to be considered a celebration.


    Bing twenty-one didn''t change anything in Khan''s life. The scientists were busy, so he had to host lessons every day to free them of the task as soon as possible. His studies also had to continue, and the office continued to require his presence.


    The lessons themselves went well. Khan never tried to hide anything, but the scientists still slowed the pace of his teachings. He simply couldn''t move to new topics until those experts learned the basics.


    The scientists were patient and driven, as expected from experts in their field. They approached each task systematically and calmly. The failures didn''t faze them, but by the end of the week, it became clear they were missing something.


    "Major, please," Abraham called, opening all the closed eyes in the ssroom. "This isn''t going anywhere."


    Khan ran his gaze over the stands and saw multiple honest nods. No one was trying to be disrespectful. There was apleteck of anger, too. The scientists were simply curious and eager for more teachings.


    "It''s not something you can master in a week," Khan sighed, showing his right palm to the audience. "I went straight to the basic theory, but you must remember youck the fundamentals."


    The audience focused on Khan''s palm, but nothing happened. Soon, confused expressions unfolded, but Khan acted before they could lose interest.


    "Perception," Khan said, releasing an invisible strand of mana that fused with the symphony, changing its nature. No one could catch the event, but their guts told them something was happening.


    "Control," Khan eximed, and the invisible energy condensed, turning into a bright, purple-red sphere. The mass of mana descended into his palm before swirling around his fingers and returning to its original position.


    "Maniption," Khan announced, and the sphere floated higher into the air, changing shape. It transformed into a pink star that floated for a few seconds before dispersing altogether.


    The demonstration imed the experts'' entire interest. After all, humans needed proper spells to aplish what Khan had so casually revealed. The scientists could only admit their foundation was toocking in those new fields.


    "Major," Abraham called again after Khan nodded at his raised hand. "Shouldn''t you start with the fundamentals, then? It seems seeding in talking with the mana is impossible without them."


    "Hardly," Khan stated. "Anyone can release small bits of mana. After that, it''s only perception and honesty. That''s why I started with the Nele''s techniques."


    The scientists didn''t look convinced. They had tried talking with the mana for the past week but to no avail. It didn''t matter how strictly they followed Khan''s instructions. It didn''t matter that their perception was above average. The mana still wouldn''t reply.


    "Sir," One of the youngest scientists called. "There must be a trick or a specific method to progress through this training. As gifted as the Nele are, I believe they aren''t born with this ability."


    Reading the symphony was one of the Nele''s core abilities, but the scientist was right. Even they needed to develop their innate gifts throughout their lives.


    Khan felt conflicted. It was in his best interest to dy the scientists'' progress as much as possible. Yet, it was against his nature to deny teachings to people with a genuine interest in them.


    After studying the audience for a few seconds, Khan heaved a helpless sigh. His upromising nature had made that decision for him. Even if it weed danger, Khan had to remain true to himself.


    "I learned these techniques when my alien abilities had already reached a good level," Khan exined. "I skipped most of the required training because I didn''t need it."


    The scientists remained silent. They knew Khan had something to add, and he didn''t disappoint.


    "I can''t teach what I don''t know," Khan continued, "But I can tell you how I learned."


    The silence returned, but the symphony gained different traits now. The synthetic mana reflected the scientists'' agreement. They would ept any kind of help to ovee their current bottleneck. Still, nothing could prepare them for Khan''s next words.


    "Do you remember your first time?" Khan questioned.


    Having a twenty-one-year-old asking such personal questions to esteemed scientists far older than him sounded beyond insulting. However, something in Khan''s expression made them remain silent. His face carried a mixture of longing and seriousness they couldn''t contradict.


    "I''m not talking about the brute experience some have as a rite of passage," Khan specified. "I mean the true first time in your heart."


    Khan couldn''t help but lower his gaze. His eyes pierced the metal floor, traveling past the Harbor, its moon, and the immense universe to look at a familiar, snowy mountain. Warmth spread from his chest as his brain recalled the cold of that day, and a sad smile broadened on his face.


    "Do you remember your fear?" Khan asked. "The hesitation in touching that trembling skin. The worry of hurting that delicate figure. The terror when you saw the pain in her face. The happiness of her reassuring smile."


    Khan forgot about his surroundings. The ssroom disappeared as memories flooded his vision. Years had passed, but the scene was still vivid in his brain. He was unable to forget it. Each detail was burned in his very heart, and his right shoulder proved that.


    Still, Khan soon realized where he was, and his eyes shot upward to address the audience. "If you can treat the mana like that, it will answer."


    The scientists were dumbstruck. Some had widened their eyes, while others had their mouths open, but the symphony told Khan those reactions weren''t caused by his exnation.


    Soon, Khan''s senses warned him, and he lifted his hand before his eyes. An azure light illuminated his palm and didn''t disappear even after he blinked a few times. He had to take two deep breaths before his gaze finally stopped shining.

 Chapter 705 Name

    <h4>Chapter 705 Name</h4>


    The scientists didn''t hold back from sharing thest lesson''s juicy details with the reporters. The news didn''te from everyone, but a few had much to gain from delivering Khan''s personal information to the public.


    Khan read the news during the ride to his t, and sadness invaded him when he exited the elevator. He could sense Monica in the main hall, and some guilt gripped his stomach as he approached her.


    Monica peeked past the couch with a joyous smile, but Khan''s expression froze it. She immediately understood the issue, and an admonishing face reced her previous grin.


    "I''m not mad, dummy," Monica scolded. "How many times do I have to repeat it?"


    Khan didn''t speak. He climbed the couch''s armrest and dived onto Monica. She weed him into her arms, and a hand went on his hair while he rested his face on her shoulder.


    Monica didn''t stop there. While Khan rubbed his face on her, she partially unbuttoned his uniform and uncovered his right shoulder. The azure tattoo appeared in the open, and Monica traced its lines with her fingers.


    "I know how much you loved her," Monica continued. "The fact that you can say those same words to me proves how much you care."


    "Sometimes," Khan sighed, lifting his head to look at Monica, "Just sometimes, I feel I don''t deserve you."


    "What just sometimes?" Monica wanted it to be an angry shout but onlyughs came out. "Besides, I''m the woman who made Major Khan love again. That''s an immense aplishment."


    "The best of all," Khan nodded, and the couple didn''t hold back from making the best out of their free time.


    Sadly, the news didn''t vanish in a single night. Khan''s lessons were the main talk on thework, but his rtionship remained a huge source of gossip. Learning that he might still have feelings for his ex rekindled many old articles, which turned into direct questions in Monica''s following interviews.


    Monica took the questions like a pro. She knew the news didn''t reflect well on her parents, but her left hand carried all the proof she needed. Her trust in Khan was unwavering, and the reporters always failed to make it falter.


    As for Khan, his approach inevitably grew colder toward his students. He knew he was to me for the news but still didn''t enjoy having his feelings leaked to thework. He was at fault, but the event reminded him that some scientists were working against him.


    Nevertheless, the colder approach didn''t affect the validity of Khan''s teachings. He also couldn''t exin anything else while the scientists remained stuck at the fundamentals, which weren''t an easy bottleneck to ovee.


    The scientists were jaded, older, and rational figures, and awakening their long-lost feelings for certain matters wasn''t as easy as flicking a switch. A deep introspection was needed, and days weren''t enough to aplish it.


    Still, the scientists genuinely tried to seed, leading to multiple silent lessons. The symphony never answered, but Khan could see many were getting close to understanding the requirements.


    A change happened in the middle of the second week of lessons. Once the appointed hour arrived, the scientists began to leave the ssroom while Khan waited by his desk. Still, one expert remained behind at that time to have a private conversation with him.


    "What is it, Abraham?" Khan asked while keeping his gaze on his interactive desk.


    "I was hoping you could answer some questions, Major," Abraham politely said, approaching the teaching tform.


    "Questions that couldn''t be asked during the lesson?" Khan wondered, finally looking at the scientist and crossing his arms to face him.


    "Every scientist wants to be the first to discover things," Abraham dered. "I''m merely following my curiosity."


    Khan inspected the expert, but his aura leaked no warning signs. Abraham probably had the tools to hide potential threats, but Khan still decided to face them.


    "Speak," Khan ordered.


    "Why did you open yourself to alien techniques?" Abraham asked. "I understand you had duties, but the event is highly irregr."


    The question made sense. Alien techniques weren''t only harder to learn for humans. It was alsoplicated to gain ess to them. Usually, their study was limited to Ambassadors and simr figures since they ended up facing them. They weren''t something a young man would have the chance or time to master.


    "The chaos element is tricky," Khan exined. "The human methods weren''t working, so I tested other paths. The alien techniques turned out to be more suitable."


    That wasn''t far from the truth. Khan had been unable to cast spells until hepletely abandoned himself to Liiza''s teachings. After that, he stuck with that since it worked more than well for him.


    "The chaos element is indeed difficult to master," Abraham nodded. "My praises for achieving such a level of control, Major."


    Khan didn''t react to thepliment. He studied the scientist, attempting to understand what he was trying to achieve. However, theck of clues eventually prompted him to ask a question. "Are your doubts cleared?"


    "I apologize," Abraham uttered. "From these lessons, it''s clear a basic understanding wouldn''t have sufficed."


    "So?" Khan questioned.


    "Opening yourself wouldn''t have been enough," Abraham exined. "You probably mastered the alien techniques before testing the path they offered, and that doesn''te from simple curiosity or duty."


    Developing spells was a dangerous endeavor. For that reason, Khan had hesitated to test Liiza''s teachings until the veryst moment. Abraham was right, and it had only taken him one and a half weeks to reach those conclusions.


    While Abraham''s intuition was scary, Khan couldn''t help but delve into old memories. Sure, he had enjoyed his time in [The Pure Trees], and it had been in his best interest to shine in its subjects. Still, his efforts didn''te from mere duty or ambition.


    "Her love saved me," Khan muttered, "And she became my whole world."


    "Oh," Abraham chuckled. "To be young."


    Khan''s eyes had remained dark during the trip down memoryne, but an azure glow filled them when he looked at Abraham. The man was at the same level as him, but a chill ran down his spine anyway. Even without words, Abraham understood Khan was about to threaten him.


    "My hunch was on the younger ones," Khan announced. "I didn''t expect the vice director of the scientific department to take bribes to fish out my personal information."


    "Major, you misunderstood," Abraham gasped, almost incredulous about the fear filling his body. "I have nothing to do with the recent news."


    "Words," Khan eximed. "How easy are they to say."


    Khan leaned forward, bending to face Abraham. The man wanted to step back, but his legs didn''t move. An invisible force was trapping him, and there was no escaping it. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "On which side are you?" Khan asked.


    Abraham gulped. His first instinct was to resort to more polite words, but he wasn''t dumb. He also understood the nature of Khan''s question. Anyone with political expertise would.


    "Neither," Abraham swore. "I''m simply here for the Global Army."


    "More words," Khan scoffed, lifting a hand to ce his fingers on the man''s chest. "I will make something clear now, so pay attention."


    Khan red at Abraham, and the light of his eyes shone on his face. Still, he remained silent until Abraham understood that he had to nod in understanding.


    "You didn''t force me to do this," Khan revealed. "You couldn''t even if you wanted to. I decided to host these lessons simply to avoid a headache."


    Abraham knew Khan was speaking the truth. No official pressure had arrived from the higher-ups, and Khan could have dyed the matter anyway. He had the connections to do that.


    "You don''t believe me?" Khan wondered. "Do you think your lungs are in charge of breathing here?"


    Abraham tried to take a deep breath, but no air reached his lungs. The issue wasn''t with his nostrils and mouth. The air had simply frozen.


    "Wrong," Khan continued. "I''m allowing your lungs to work."


    Khan straightened his back, and Abraham regained the ability to breathe. He coughed a few times while taking a step back. Cold sweat began to fill his forehead, and his half-closed eyes widened for the first time to look at Khan in shock.


    "Warn the others," Khan ordered, crossing his arms again and diverting his gaze. "I don''t care if you alert the reporters either. It''s time everyone learned who is in charge."


    Abraham took a few seconds to recover, but to Khan''s surprise, he didn''t leave. Instead, he straightened his back and waited for Khan to look at him again.


    "Anything else?" Khan questioned.


    "I initially thought you had your father''s enthusiasm," Abraham announced, "But it turned out you have your mother''s heart."


    Khan''s eyes had stopped glowing, but a sh ran through them again. Still, his face didn''t reveal other clues. His expression remained firm as he inspected the scientist.


    "My mother," Khan muttered. "Do you mean Elizabeth Nognes?"


    Abraham didn''t want to reveal anything, but hearing that name filled his face with surprise. That information was supposed to be a secret, especially from Khan, but his ears didn''t lie.


    "I told you," Khan dered. "You are nothing more than a headache."


    Abraham remained stunned for a while, but his following gesture managed to make Khan frown. The man went to his knees, cing both palms and forehead on the floor.


    "My Prince!" Abraham shouted without changing stance. "Allow me to serve you!"

 Chapter 706 Moving

    <h4>Chapter 706 Moving</h4>


    ''What the fuck?'' Khan cried in his mind. His overbearing attitude vanished, and his yful self came out. "Did you hit your head, old man?"


    Abraham didn''t move. He remained prostrated on the floor as if waiting for permission to lift his head. Still, Khan knew nothing of those customs and half-crouched to get closer to the kneeling man.


    "Did you faint, too?" Khan asked, stretching an arm to poke Abraham.


    Of course, Khan could sense Abraham''s state, but the odd situation almost made him forget about the previous speech. Getting called "Prince" simply felt too strange, and that wasn''t the end of it.


    ''Am I feelingfortable?'' Khan wondered.


    Abraham''s muffled aura had changed, transforming the symphony around him and affecting Khan. That wasn''t the result of a technique. Otherwise, Khan would have sensed it. Something different had happened, and Khan knew what to me.


    The symphony was reassuring Khan. The very mana in the ssroom was telling him that Abraham wasn''t a threat. The instinctive feeling was so intense that Khan reachedfort levels only his friends could create.


    "You know I''m a bastard, right?" Khan asked, continuing to poke Abraham''s head.


    "Illegitimate son!" Abraham angrily corrected, his head snapping upward. "It''s different!"


    "Sounds the same to me," Khanmented, cing an elbow on his thigh to support his head. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "You are no bastard, my Prince!" Abraham insisted. "Lady Elizabeth and Sir Bretcked the Nognes family''s approval but still got married ording to the Global Army''sws."


    ''Lady Elizabeth?'' Khan repeated in his mind, but the second part was too shocking to remain there. "Sir Bret!?"


    Khan knew Bret as a grumpy, bad-tempered, smelly drunkard. He didn''t resent those aspects, but hearing Abraham addressing him as "Sir" still sounded wrong.


    Abraham nodded, but Khan could only scratch his head. The situation didn''t make any sense, and the reassuring vibesing from Abraham''s aura made everything stranger.


    "You said Lady Elizabeth," Khan pointed out. "Not Princess. She abandoned her status, so I couldn''t have inherited it."


    "My apologies," Abraham eximed, lowering his head again. "Lady Elizabeth hated her title. Lady was the onlypromise she would ept."


    From what Khan had heard about his mother, the exnation sounded realistic. Still, another problem quickly showed its presence. The mana was telling him that Abraham was on his side, but Khan didn''t know whether their interests aligned.


    Moreover, asking more questions would inevitably delve into forbidden topics. Khan was curious about many things, but the ssroom wasn''t the right ce for that conversation.


    "Alright," Khan sighed, straightening his position. "Come to my t. We''ll talk more there."


    "Prince!" Abraham shouted, lifting his head. "If the reporters see us together-."


    "I don''t care," Khan interrupted, jumping off the teaching tform. "Besides, you''d be in more danger than me, which would prove your loyalty."


    Abraham couldn''t help but be amazed at Khan''s insight into the political environment. Yes, the Global Army was aware of Abraham''s life, so bringing him to his t might hint at something. Yet, without proof, Abraham would be the only one under investigation.


    "Your understanding amazes me, Prince," Abraham praised.


    "Hurry up," Khan ordered, strolling toward the exit. "I want to hear what you have to say."


    Abraham didn''t make Khan repeat himself. He shot to his feet and followed him, reaching the embassy''s roofs and grabbing the ride waiting for him. The trip inside the cab was silent, and that trend stretched until the elevator of Khan''s building opened.


    "Khan!" Monica''s excited voice interrupted the silence between the two men, and her tempting figure soon filled the elevator room''s exit.


    Abraham promptly averted his gaze while Khan''s eyes widened in desire. Monica was wearing a new lingerie piece that exposed most of her body. She clearly wanted it to be a surprise, but Abraham''s presence made her scream in terror and hide behind the wall.


    "Who is that pervert!?" Monica cried. "Why didn''t you warn me!?"


    "I could say the same to you," Khan chuckled while ring at Abraham. Strangely, he wasn''t angry at the old man, but his gesture told him to remain behind.


    "It was a present for your birthday!" Monica shouted. "And presents can''t have warnings!"


    "She has a point," Khan thought loudly. "Get dressed. We have guests."


    "I noticed!" Monica snorted, and the sound of her hurried steps soon filled the area.


    Khan waited to hear a metal door closing before nodding at Abraham. Thetter calmly followed him inside the main hall but didn''t sit even after the silent invitation. He remained on his feet while Khan retrieved some booze.


    Monica came back while Khan prepared the main hall for the imminent conversation. She had hurriedly donned her military uniform, and Khan didn''t need to look at her to know the lingerie was under it.


    Khan couldn''t help butunch a teasing smirk at Monica, and a punch promptlynded on his side. Monica delivered a second blow, too, before crossing her arms and letting herself fall on the nearest couch. After that, she limited herself to ring at Abraham, whom she finally recognized.


    "I like it," Khanmented while cing a full ss on the opposite end of the table.


    "Pity you''ll never see it again," Monica scoffed, and her angry expression remained firm even after Khan handed her a ss.


    "You have indeed good taste, Madam Monica," Abraham announced, approaching the end of the table with the ss ready for him. "I apologize for spoiling the surprise."


    "Madam?" Monica repeated, growing angrier since she believed Abraham was calling her old.


    "You are engaged with Major Khan," Abraham stated, picking up his ss. "From the little I learned about him, I assumed I should have addressed you as a married woman already."


    "Oh," Monica eximed, her anger instantly vanishing. "All is forgiven."


    Khan held back the urge to shake his head when he saw Monica''s pleased smile. She even curled her legs on the couch and tapped the pillow at her side. Her mood had gone to the opposite extreme, and Khan could only y along.


    "Sit," Khan ordered while taking his ce beside Monica. She didn''t hesitate to lean on him, but Abraham still didn''t upy the opposite couch.


    The previousment put Monica in a cuddling mood, but the situation felt too off. Abraham was a strange presence in the t, and Khan''s serious face made her shoot a questioning nce.


    "He knows my parents," Khan shortly exined without moving his eyes from Abraham, "And he called me Prince."


    The cuddling mood immediately vanished. Monica still leaned on Khan, but her face turned cold. The short exnation promised well, but she couldn''t underestimate the topic. Her very education prevented that.


    "It''s time you exin yourself," Khan dered, "Starting with your lie."


    "What lie?" Abraham frowned.


    "You said you were here for the Global Army," Khan exined, "And then you asked to serve me. Which one is it?"


    "Apologies," Abraham said, lowering his head. "I came here solely for the Global Army. I couldn''t foresee your awareness of your lineage."


    "Would that have changed anything?" Khan asked.


    "Yes," Abraham nodded. "I probably wouldn''t havee. My loyalty would have put you in danger."


    Khan held back a sneer. He couldn''tment on Abraham''s loyalty, but the situation had already gotten out of hand. It was enough for one soldier to see Khan and Abraham leave the embassy together for the entirework to learn about the matter, and the two men had crossed many of them.


    "This loyalty," Monica joined the conversation. "How did ite to be?"


    "I worked under Sir Bret for many years," Abraham revealed, looking at Khan. "What I learned as his assistant put me in my current position. Allow me to say, my Prince. Your father was the most talented and driven scientist I''ve ever seen."


    Monica''s expression faltered when she heard the word "Prince". She had addressed Khan in the same way during romantic and intimate moments, but seeing someone else using that title made everything more real.


    "I have no time forpliments," Khan remained firm. "Your story."


    "Of course," Abraham cleared his throat. "As Sir Bret''s assistant, I often found myself alone inbs with him. Once Lady Elizabeth became part of the picture, I had to clear the way for her secret visits."


    Monica smiled but quickly suppressed that reaction. She had done the same with Khan, and noticing the simrities with his mother pleased her.


    As for Khan, the symphony continued to make himfortable, but his rational side remained doubtful. Ideally, he would confirm the information with his father, but Bret was still missing.


    "This still doesn''t exin your loyalty," Khan pointed out.


    "I owe Sir Bret much," Abraham uttered before thinking about the right words for his next statement. "As for Lady Elizabeth, she was a kind and free soul, scorching like the hottest me but capable of the coziest warmth."


    "And?" Khan asked.


    "And," Abraham sighed, lowering his head, "It shouldn''t have been possible. As a scientist, I can only see it as a miracle."


    "What?" Khan pressed on.


    "Their union," Abraham said. "To use your words, their love. The most hot-headed and devoted scientist with the freest person in the universe. Nothing could make them change their minds, but they did anyway."


    Khan and Monica fell silent. Abraham kept his face lowered, but his expression was still visible, and the couple could read much on it. The man was lost in his memories, and more words were about to arrive.


    "Their priorities shifted almost instantaneously," Abraham muttered. "Their other half became more important than anything. It was moving."


    Abraham looked dead serious. Even Khan couldn''te up with such a perfect pretense. The man was either the best actor in the universe or was speaking the truth.


    ''I never took him for a romantic,'' Khan thought, inspecting the old man. That mass of wrinkles, beard, and hair seemed to hide a warm heart. Still, that couldn''t be enough for Khan.


    "How did a Princess evene to like a mere first-level warrior?" Khan wondered.


    "Sir Bret a first-level warrior?" Abraham frowned, his head snapping upward. "I''ve personally witnessed him reaching the fifth level."

 Chapter 707 Strip

    <h4>Chapter 707 Strip</h4>


    Khan had been nothing short of ignorant in the Slums, but his time in the Global Army had taught him many things that made him doubt past certainties. Bret''s level was one of them, and rity had finally arrived.


    Back then, Khancked the means to confirm whether Bret had spoken the truth, and finding him now seemed impossible. However, part of him wanted to believe in his father, which created an additional issue.


    "How can a soldier lose levels?" Khan questioned. He was clueless on the topic and hoped the scientist could provide answers.


    "Lose levels?" Abraham repeated, clearly surprised by the question. "There have been some cases, but all were highly irregr."


    "Just answer," Khan ordered, unwilling to exin more. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Mana-rted illnesses can cause such an issue," Abraham exined. "Deviations from regr training can also lead to rejection on a muscr level."


    "That''s it?" Khan wondered.


    "My Prince," Abraham called. "It is an umon issue. Usually, an enhanced tissue can''t go back to its weaker form. It would take a massive effort paired with experimental technologies."


    Even with limited knowledge, Khan had to agree. The level of a warrior depended on the attunement with mana. It stemmed from how enhanced the skin, muscles, and other body tissues were, and removing those effects was unheard of. Khan wouldn''t even know where to look for simr practices.


    ''Is it even possible to filter the mana out of body tissues?'' Khan thought, ncing at his free hand. ''Wouldn''t that leave permanent damage?''


    The easiest and most obvious answer was that Bret had lied to Khan, but that didn''t sound right. Everything about his family wasplicated, so there probably was a reasonable exnation. Khan simply didn''t know how to find it.


    Of course, Abraham could also be lying, but Khan didn''t believe that either. The scientist was exposing himself, risking much to answer Khan''s questions. It wouldn''t make sense for him to put himself in danger to trick Khan.


    ''When will this puzzle end?'' Khan couldn''t help but curse inside his mind.


    The more Khan advanced, the greater the issues he discovered. The Nak had gone from simple invaders to a mysterious species with an apparently universal-level mission. His family''s problems had touched the nobles and higher conspiracies, and his mutations seemed part of a big experiment only the Global Army''s upper echelon was aware of.


    It didn''t help that each problem required immense time and effort just to clear part of the fog surrounding them. Even after getting answers, Khan was still stuck in the investigations and didn''t know how much Abraham could help.


    "Let''s say I believe you," Khan eventually announced. "Let''s say my parents'' union moved you to the point of wanting to serve me. Why would you address me as Prince?"


    Abraham didn''t sound unreasonable. He might truly be a romantic, but he didn''t look the type to confuse such important titles. There had to be a bigger reason behind that.


    "I won''t im to be privy to a noble family''s infighting," Abraham eximed. "However, I learned secrets the public couldn''t know during my time with Sir Bret and Lady Elizabeth."


    Khan and Monica remained silent since the exnation had yet to begin, and Abraham didn''t make them wait.


    "Lady Elizabeth was quite the rebellious character," Abraham exined. "Everyone knew about that. Still, the Nognes family didn''t shun her away until she left them no choice."


    Khan had to nce at Monica to understand the importance of the event. He knew her mother had done enough to earn the Nognes family''s anger multiple times over. Yet, she remained a noble, so it made sense that her status remained intact until it was toote to protect it anymore.


    At the same time, the nobles were stricter than the other families. One big mistake could earn certain Princes and Princesses eternal shame. Everything was situational, but Khan didn''t know enough about those environments to form ideas.


    Monica understood Khan''s doubts but was as uncertain as he was. As much as her education taught her about the nobles, every situation was different. Still, from what she had understood about Elizabeth, she could guess some favoritism existed.


    "If everyone truly knew about her misdeeds," Monica uttered, "She should have been kicked out far sooner."


    Monica paid attention not to mention the information shared by her mother, but Khan nodded anyway. Making one arranged marriage fail was already a severe offense, but Elizabeth apparently ruined four. If those events involved fellow nobles, anyone could understand the gravity of the issue.


    "Are you telling me her family''s faction was powerful enough to influence the others?" Khan questioned. That was the best exnation he coulde up with, but his doubts remained. After all, a single faction couldn''t oppose entire families.


    "Lady Elizabeth''s faction indeed held massive influence," Abraham confirmed. "Yet, she was also your grandfather''s favorite. It is said he called in an uncountable number of favors to make her retain her status."


    Everything began to take shape, but Khan didn''t know how much that favored him. He could see himself inheriting a simr advantage if his mother was so famously favored. However, the same went for the disadvantages.


    All the favors had to have affected Elizabeth''s faction''s reputation and overall power. The oue had also made those efforts pointless. Khan could see how most of the Nognes family would hate her, and those grudges wouldn''t disappear after a single generation.


    ''Great,'' Khan thought. ''So, I have most of my family and anyone my mother has insulted as enemies.''


    That was only the worst-case scenario, but Khan found it very realistic. As his fame increased, those old grudges would be relevant and could be huge hindrances in his life. They could very well decide his entire future.


    Besides, the Nognes family had already approached Khan, making that potential event a certainty. He didn''t know why the Princess had decided to hint at the secret, but clues were starting to gather.


    "So," Khan stated, "You want to serve me, hoping I would redeem my noble status."


    "No," Abraham promptly replied, lowering his head in respect. "As Sir Bret and Lady Elizabeth''s only child, I want to ensure you inherit your true legacy. It''s the least I can do to honor your parents."


    "My legacy sounds like a mess of enemies and old grudges," Khan sighed. "Why would I even want to be a noble when my mother did nothing but destroy her position?"


    "Because no one is more deserving of it," Abraham imed. "Your lineage, your power, your talent. You could be the Nognes family''s Patriarch and lead humanity to greater heights!"


    Abraham reeked of genuine and intense faith. While the nobles were often secretive and detached from the public, they were the only ones with actual power over the Global Army. A noble Patriarch could changews and affect interspecies treaties in ways other high-level figures couldn''t.


    Khan could also see the advantages of reaching such a lofty position. No secret would be hidden from him anymore, and he would gain ess to a level of manpower he couldn''t even imagine. Pursuing the Nak wouldn''t be a problem anymore. He would only need to will it, and the Global Army would do his bidding.


    Yet, it was clear Abraham''s faith involved different fields, and Khan couldn''t share them. He had no interest in humankind''s well-being. He didn''t care about its future. Moreover, a pressing issue filled his mind, and his urges made it impossible to ignore.


    The idea of reuniting with Elizabeth''s family had never crossed Khan''s mind. He had considered it impossible, especially with the engagement with Monica. His allegiances were clear, and the entirework knew about them.


    Nevertheless, Abraham''s exnation had opened that path, allowing Khan to consider it. He would obtain untold riches and influence if he joined the Nognes family. Khan would seize one of the most prestigious positions among humankind, and the entire Global Army would have to bow before him, but his mind was against it.


    "Why would I even join the Nognes family?" Khan asked, his voice instinctively growing colder. "They kicked out my mother and left my father and me starving in the Slums for eleven years. My only emotion toward them is anger."


    "My Prince," Abraham called, "That''s exactly the point. You could change everything once retrieving your rightful status."


    "I have no interest in changing anything," Khan dered. "If they want to hand me freebies, I''ll take them. Still, I won''t ept any responsibility or duty connected to them."


    Abraham didn''t know what to say. People would kill to join a noble family, and Khan was several steps above everyone else. The path wouldn''t be easy, but the benefits were uncountable. It didn''t make sense to refuse before even trying.


    The scientist couldn''t help but look at Monica, hoping for support, and she had to hold back a sigh. The value of the nobles had been carved into her mind since she was a mere child, so her very core wanted her to shout at Khan and make him rethink the issue. Yet, Monica had slept with Khan almost every day for the past two years. Waking her up wasn''t easy, but she had still witnessed the curse of the nightmares more times than she could count. Thinking that the Nognes family had left him in the Slums in that condition filled her with the same anger as her fianc¨¦.


    Moreover, Monica had also been at Khan''s side throughout his struggles. She had memorized his scars. She had seen him as a mess of injuries and bandages countless times. Monica knew his suffering through and through, so it felt insulting to receive a simr opportunity only after so much avoidable pain.


    "Are you sure?" Monica eventually whispered, only concern filling her voice.


    "As things stand," Khan nodded, "Yes. I might rethink this depending on their future offers."


    "Ok," Monica uttered, leaning her head on Khan''s shoulder. "No matter what you decide, I''ll be at your side."


    "Madam, please," Abraham said, almost speechless.


    "My fianc¨¦ has made up his mind," Monica dered in a firm tone. "Besides, the Nognes family will eventually step forward. Khan will force them to do that."


    "As for you," Khan continued, eyeing Abraham. "I don''t mind your intentions, and your services might help me. I just need to confirm one thing first."


    "Anything," Abraham swore, giving up on the previous matter, "Major."


    "Strip," Khan ordered, "And remove all the items inhibiting your mana. I need to check your heart."

 Chapter 708 Witch

    <h4>Chapter 708 Witch</h4>


    Khan''s hunch about the aura-inhibiting items was on point. Abraham was wearing a ring and a pendant with those properties, but his mana became clearly visible once he removed them.


    Abraham''s military uniform followed, and Khan felt no shame in requesting his pants to go down. The scientist exposed his lean, slightly hairy, and out-of-shape body, even spreading his arms to make sure Khan could fully inspect him. Only his underwear remained on, but Khan didn''t need them out.


    Usually, Khan would imitate Liiza and press his palm on the man''s chest, but the action felt pointless. Abraham wasplying with every order without uttering a single question. He was offering himself to Khanpletely, and his now-exposed mana confirmed his devotion.


    Khan had to admit that the scene startled him. He could understand loyalty and dedication to a cause, but Abraham reeked of pure faith. He looked ready to devote his entire life to Khan, making further inspections superfluous.


    "Get dressed," Khan eventually ordered. "I''ve seen enough."


    "I apologize for the inhibitors, Major," Abraham announced, picking up his clothes. "I waspelled to wear them."


    "It''s understandable," Khan responded. "My heightened perception is no secret in the end."


    "The Global Army is quite wary of it," Abraham revealed. "I know it has already drawn a profile using every reliable report from your missions. I''m afraid to say secrecy is no longer an option."


    "I''m engaged to the best descendant of the Solodrey family," Khan scoffed, lifting Monica''s left hand to show her rings. "I''m far past secrecy."


    "Indeed," Abraham nodded. "However, you would have achieved simr results even without Madam Monica''s involvement."


    "Obviously," Monica intervened. "We are talking about my fianc¨¦ here."


    Once Abraham finished dressing, he smiled longingly. Khan and Monica were different from Bret and Elizabeth, but Abraham could recognize simrities in their rtionships. The resemnce was almost uncanny.


    "By the way, Major," Abraham called. "I''ll ept your decision and drop the matter, but the Nognes family won''t care for your reasons. If they name you Prince, you''ll be a Prince."


    "I''ll worry about that once the timees," Khan sighed. Truth be told, his hands were more tied than most people due to his connection to the Solodrey family. An official announcement from the nobles would shatter the frail alliances Khan had spent so long building.


    ''Luther wouldn''t miss the chance to establish such lucrative connections,'' Khan thought. ''Even if that meant selling his entire faction.''


    Of course, those were distant problems for issues that had yet to begin. Khan believed the Nognes family would eventually show its face again, especially after the recent support. However, no one could predict the kind of situation he would have to face.


    Instead, a new possibility had opened now. Abraham had just finished proving his loyalty to Khan''s parents. The scientist probably was a bottomless pit of ssified information, and Khan couldn''t wait to get his hands on it.


    "Sit," Khan ordered in a firmer tone, pointing at the opposite couch. It was time to move the conversation toward valuable topics, and he couldn''t have Abraham behaving like a loyal servant. Khan wanted to talk as equals. That was how he treated his allies.


    Abraham understood the change in the hall''s atmosphere and took his seat. Meanwhile, Monica stood up to refill everyone''s sses before returning to her spot beside Khan. The tale until now had been fascinating, but it was time to get to the real deal.


    Khan silently sipped his drink, sorting out his many thoughts. He could probably get a somewhatplete story about his parents now, but another pressing matter emerged while he was pondering. Abraham was the vice director of the Global Army''s scientific department, which meant only one thing for Khan. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "The Nak," Khan announced. "What does the Global Army know about them?"


    Abraham didn''t find the question surprising. By then, Khan''s interest in the Nak was famous, and he had made no effort to hide ittely. Still, the scientist only had disappointing news.


    "I am aware of the information recently delivered to you," Abraham revealed. "That''s all the Global Army has on the Nak''s movements."


    Khan held back from showing any reaction. Mister Cirvags'' file was supposed to contain ssified information, but it seemed Abraham was high enough in the chain ofmand to be aware of that transfer, which told Khan he was speaking the truth.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s interest in the Nak''s movements had waned after the deal with the Thilku''s scientists. The Empire''s records had given him far more than he could hope for. As for Abraham, Khan hoped he could answer a very different type of questions.


    "I''ve found Nak''s remains on Milia 222," Khan dered. "It stands to reason Earth must have far more of them."


    Princess Edna''s statement had only been a guess, but Khan felt quite sure about it now. Raymond''s warning had made him almost certain the Global Army was continuing the Nak''s study.


    Abraham hesitated for the first time since the beginning of the conversation. He lowered his gaze, and his eyes lost themselves in the remaining booze in his ss. Heavy thoughts seemed to havended on his mind, but his loyalty prevailed.


    "The Global Army does have Nak''s remains," Abraham replied. "Not many, but they exist."


    The confirmation had arrived, and Khan''s world shook. He had made immense sacrifices andpleted countless missions to obtain maps that stretched deep into the universe, but the answer had always been far closer to home. Earth had Nak''s remains.


    "Are they alive?" Khan asked.


    "I don''t know how to answer this question, Major," Abraham admitted. "I don''t specialize in those fields, and there are sections ssified even to me."


    "Are you talking about secret departments?" Khan questioned.


    "Indeed," Abraham confirmed. "The study of the Nak has always attracted its fair share of unorthodox minds, so the Global Army hid it. As for which minds are in charge of it, I don''t know."


    The exnation fitted with everything Khan had learned, and that oue wasn''t too surprising either. Humankind''s rebirth after the First Impact was a tale of crazy and bloody experiments that often ended in maimed corpses. That trend had stopped but couldn''t have disappeared altogether.


    The Nak were also a special case due to their incredible properties. The ability to mutate almost everything was too appealing to ignore. It made sense for extreme scientists to push the limits of what was possible while ignoring ethical issues.


    ''It might not be just Raymond then,'' Khan considered. ''If he belongs to a criminal faction, there is a high chance the Global Army also has a legal one.''


    Anger rose inside Khan, but his many thoughts allowed him to ignore it. As extreme as he was, the Nak''s remains themselves weren''t the main problem. The issue was with the experiments in which they were used and the goals the involved scientists wanted to achieve.


    Memories from Milia 222''s disaster crossed Khan''s vision. He had witnessed the power of a single hand and the destruction it was capable of. He couldn''t even begin to imagine what a properly alive Nak could do, but there couldn''t be too many people as crazy as Raymond.


    ''Ideally,'' Khan thought, ''Milia 222 was only an experiment that the Global Army sees as too risky to replicate. Still, I can only harbor these hopes for the legal sections. Well, even there, I have my doubts. Hoping isn''t my strength in the end.''


    Some restlessness joined the anger, but Khan didn''t let it turn into a reckless idiot. Even with Abraham''s confirmation, Khan wouldn''t know where to look for those remains. Moreover, even if he found them, he wouldn''t have the power or authority to stop risky experiments.


    Guilt quickly followed. Khan had be part of that big and secretive machine by allowing the Thilku scientists to study him. In a way, he had provided more help than the Nak''s remains had ever done since he was a quasi-stable host.


    The more Khan thought about it, the more intricate his thoughts became, almost bringing his mind to a standstill. Luckily, Monica was at his side, and her hand promptly moved to make him face her.


    "What did that witch always say?" Monica scolded, annoyed that she had to mention Jenna.


    "Right," Khan sighed, taking a deep breath before leaning his forehead on Monica''s.


    If it were up to Khan, he would remove every trace of the Nak from the universe. Their mana was too dangerous, and the idea that others could have to endure the same nightmares that afflicted his nights filled him with untold rage.


    However, at the same time, Khan was a single man. He couldn''t control a single, let alone the entire universe. As much as he wanted to eradicate the curse of the Nak, he had to save himself first, even if that involved sacrifices.


    "You''d be lost without me," Monica whispered, annoyance still lingering in her tone. She expected a joke about Jenna and was ready to punish Khan, but nothing simr arrived.


    "Tell me everything you know," Khan ordered, forcefully pulling Monica between his legs. "About the Nak, my parents, and the Nognes family."


    Khan ced his chin on Monica''s shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist, and Abraham smiled. That young man had suffered untold hardships, and more were bound to arrive, but he held a shard of peace in his hands. It was clear how much Khan treasured Monica, and Abraham couldn''t help but think about his parents again.


    "He looks like he is about to cry," Monica muttered.


    "I''m starting to think he had a thing for my mother," Khanmented.


    "I did not!" Abraham shouted.


    "He''s awake," Khan and Monica said at the same time before exploding into augh.

 Chapter 709 Laundry

    <h4>Chapter 709 Laundry</h4>


    The conversation with Abraham stretched for hours, depleting multiple bottles in Khan and Monica''s stash and leading to various hrious instances.


    Of course, Khan pressed to handle the serious part first, and Abraham didn''t object. The scientist exined everything he knew about any Nak-rted topic, Khan''s parents, and the Nognes family, but no news was too surprising.


    The Nak-rted topics only involved things Khan had already learned or guessed. The Global Army found their ability to mutate living beings incredible, and some factions believed they could elerate humankind''s evolution. Yet, as far as Abraham knew, the experiments were still inconclusive.


    Abraham also mentioned the visions, mental instability, and other issues the infected subjects demonstrated. He never used the word "nightmares", but Khan and Monica knew enough to link the two topics. Of course, they both held back from revealing Khan''s status.


    As for the Nognes family, Abraham obviously couldn''t know much. Even his lofty position didn''t give him ess to noble-rted information. He was only aware of what Elizabeth had shared, which was enough to reveal something new.


    "So," Khan eximed, "Princess Felicia is my cousin."


    "Indeed," Abraham confirmed. "One of many. Your grandfather had two daughters and one son, all with children."


    Khan rubbed his head on Monica''s curls since his hands were busy hugging her. Princess Felicia didn''t sound hostile during Rick''s wedding, but things could change if Khan became a candidate for nobility. She and all his other cousins might start to see him as an enemy if they didn''t already.


    The aunt and uncle were also potential problems. Khan couldpete with fellow descendants, but the higher positions still escaped his reach. Of course, he wasn''t even considering his grandfather. He wouldn''t have any chance against such a lofty figure.


    Monica shared Khan''s thoughts, but her pondering went deeper due to her education. Abraham had mentioned the favors Khan''s grandfather had called in to protect his daughter. There was a chance he had lost too much influence in the process, leaving most authority to his other daughter and son. That could lead to additional problems, leaving Khan without backing among powerful nobles. After all, he would be the only one without parents or allies with equal status. Still, Monica limited herself to mentally noting down those worries. She would reveal them once her private time with Khan came.


    Then, the time came to discuss Khan''s parents, but the conversation quickly went in the opposite direction. Instead of Abraham revealing information, Khan found himself bombarded by questions.


    "Sir Bret a drunkard?!" Abraham gasped.


    "That''s how I know him," Khanmented. "I don''t me him, and he was always there when I truly needed him, but that''s how he was."


    Khan avoided mentioning his various doubts about Bret. He had always justified his father while living in the Slums, but his time on Nitis had created an immense crack in their rtionship, and he still didn''t know what to make of it.


    Facing Bret would have been the most straightforward way to clear those doubts, but hesitation had filled Khan in the past years. He didn''t have the means to avoid being lied to again, so he dyed the reunion and focused on expanding his knowledge.


    However, now that Khan felt ready to face his father, the Global Army seemed unable to find him. Khan checked his mission''s status every day, but no one knew where Bret had gone.


    The easiest solution would be for Khan to go to the Slums himself. After all, only someone with knowledge of the ce could truly navigate it and find answers. Yet, his many duties prevented him from leaving his post, leaving the mission in inexperienced hands.


    "What a waste of one of the most brilliant minds the Global Army has ever produced," Abraham sighed. He looked heartbroken, and Khan felt the urge to reassure him.


    "He didn''t lose his gall," Khan said. "He was also the one to imnt my mana core, so I guess his skills didn''t wane too much."


    "Sir Bret''s gall," Abraham snickered. "He would throw a tantrum at the slightest hindrance. Theb manager summoned him so often that he moved his office next door at some point."


    "Sounds like my father," Khan chuckled.


    "You said thest time you saw him, they were jailing him," Abraham eximed.


    "For throwing a dead Tainted rat in the middle of a crowd," Khan nodded.


    "The risk of infection is almost non-existent with carcasses," Abraham frowned. "The regtions clearly state that. Sir Bret wrote them."


    "That''s what he said to the apprehending soldier," Khan recalled. "He didn''t like that."


    Abraham chuckled before lowering his head and voicing a sadment. "I guess they erased everything about him. The new generations won''t know how much they are benefiting from his genius."


    "He is almost as hot-headed as you," Monica pointed out.


    "I can always me my element," Khan joked.


    "Lady Elizabeth was more hot-headed than him," Abraham revealed. "I''ve seen her break more phones than I can recall."


    "Phones?" Khan asked.


    "Whenever someone disturbed her," Abraham exined. "It was her policy to remain untraceable."


    "You broke many training halls," Monica teased.


    "I was simply training," Khan scoffed.


    "Blood doesn''t lie," Abrahamughed. "Major, it seems you inherited your parents'' most troublesome traits."


    "Ah!" Khan cursed. "Are you both against me now?"


    "Come on," Monica giggled, kissing Khan''s cheek. "Do you know how many times I''ve fallen for you after the incident with Francis?"


    "Do you like when I make a mess?" Khan wondered.


    "I love when you are ready to destroy everything to protect us," Monica said. "I wish I could have seen when you broke that door in my father''s office."


    "He was out of line," Khan snorted, and Monica smiled while nestling back into his tight embrace.


    "I can''t express how much you resemble both your parents," Abrahamughed. "Tell me, do you have a knack for technology too?"


    "He sucks at it," Monica promptly dered.


    "I don''t suck at it," Khan cursed. "I just don''t find it interesting."


    "He sucks," Monica reiterated.


    "What a pity," Abraham cheerfully announced. "Though I know you are a great pilot, like Lady Elizabeth."


    "That he is," Monica confirmed, coyly diverting her gaze as memories of their flights together popped into her mind. "Among other things."


    "He took that from Lady Elizabeth, too," Abraham muttered. "Sir Bret lost a lot of weight after the rtionship started."


    "Me, too," Monica snickered.


    "Can we avoid this topic?" Khan sighed. "What is it with my life and mothers?"


    "You shouldn''t be ashamed of your passion, Major," Abraham dered. "It''s an enviable trait, especially since you seem to apply it to multiple fields." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Let''s just keep my mother out of it," Khan uttered.


    "Of course," Abraham agreed. "May I ask what you remember about her?"


    "Nothing much," Khan admitted. "shes of what I think are memories of the time before the Second Impact, but nothing detailed."


    "That''s truly a pity," Abraham shook his head. "Lady Elizabeth was an amazing woman in many ways. She was shrewd, driven, and upromising, always one step ahead of her fellow nobles."


    "I would have loved to meet her," Monica admitted.


    "She would have given you a hard time," Abraham revealed. "Her standards were impossible to meet. I can''t imagine the hardships you would have endured as her only son''s future wife."


    "She would have done just fine," Khan reassured. "Monica already overcame the harshest task there is. That''s enough proof."


    Monica couldn''t help but blush. She knew Khan was talking about making him love again, and that awareness made her hate the currentck of privacy.


    "When are we going to kick him out?" Monica whispered in Khan''s ear. "I''m reaching my limit here."


    "You are right," Khan muttered. As enjoyable as the conversation had been, Abraham had been inside his t for too long. Thework was probably buzzing with gossip, and prolonging his stay would raise too much suspicion.


    "Abraham, let''s call it a day," Khan announced. "I truly enjoyed this. I hope we can repeat it."


    "I''m at your service, Major," Abraham dered, standing up. "You simply have to ask, and I''lle."


    "That''s the problem," Khan sighed. "Let''s see how the situation evolves first. Your superiors might very well recall you after today."


    "I doubt that," Abraham replied. "Not so soon, at least."


    Khan inspected the scientist from head to toe, and his serious face eventually stirred a question. "Will you be fine?"


    "Don''t worry about me, Major," Abraham reassured. "Nothing would make me happier than using this life to serve you. The consequences of my actions are mine alone to bear."


    Devotion invaded the hall''s symphony. Abraham''s resolve was so intense that his aura-inhibiting items failed to hide it. However, Khan was no evil tyrant.


    "Denied," Khan stated. "You are to remain safe and well within reasonable limits. Are we clear?"


    "But, Major," Abraham tried toin, but Khan didn''t give him the chance.


    "No buts," Khan said, azure light shing through his eyes. "You are with me now. If you don''t want to see me take down a few buildings, I suggest you avoid getting hurt."


    Abraham was speechless. He had nned to be a positive and selfless force in Khan''s life, but thetter rejected those terms. Khan had his way of doing things, and Abraham had to abide by them now.


    "It''s also useful to have a man with such a good position on the inside," Khan continued. "The best way to help me is through a long andsting alliance."


    Khan was right, but anyone could read between the lines. His priority wasn''t asting rtionship. He was simply trying to trick Abraham into remaining safe.


    "Very well, Major," Abraham quickly gave up. "I''ll do my best."


    "Don''t forget to report eventual problems," Khan ordered. "I''ll ask Hyper-Privacy to set up a secure line to exchange information."


    "I''ll wait for further instructions," Abraham eximed. "Until then, I''ll continue enjoying your lessons."


    "Let me apany you to the elevator," Khan smirked, but Monica promptly pulled his arms, stopping him from standing up.


    Khan shot a questioning nce at Monica, but his eyes suddenly widened in understanding. The slight shyness and pleading vibe in Monica''s mana made him realize that something was off, and his nostrils soon caught a familiar scent.


    "No need, Major," Abraham said before Khan could speak again. "Though, allow me to leave with onest praise. Your parents would be proud of the man you have be."


    Khan nced at Abraham, but the scientist only showed his back as he walked into the elevator. The lift soon activated, and his presence disappeared from the t.


    Monica didn''t have Khan''s senses but could hear pretty well. She heard the elevator closing, and the disappearance of the slight tension in Khan''s muscles confirmed her hunch. She knew privacy had arrived, so she pulled down Khan''s hands to make him understand the gravity of the situation.


    "Did you forget what I was wearing?" Monica asked, half-scolding and half-whining. "You even said all that stuff while holding me. Now I have to set up theundry again."


    Khan didn''t hear Monica''s whining. As soon as his fingers touched the warm, drenched fabric of her pants, his mind went nk. It was time to unwrap his present.

 Chapter 710 Loneliness

    <h4>Chapter 710 Loneliness</h4>


    Hazy darkness weed Khan when he opened his eyes. He rubbed them to bring rity, and the bedroom''s blue menus quickly became visible.


    Khan held back a sigh. It was deep into the night when most of the Harbor was still asleep. The morning wasn''t even close, but he knew his body wouldn''t allow him to rest. He was full of energy, and the sleeping figure at his side would pay the price for that if he didn''t leave immediately.


    Monica was lying on her belly with only a thin nket partially covering her figure. Pieces of her sensual lingerie were still on her, but the rest was gone. Khan tried to look for the missing parts on the mattress and the visible floor, but his search failed.


    ''There goes another one,'' Khan internally chuckled. ''How do we keep losing underwear?''


    asional snores interrupted the bedroom''s silence. Monica''s bad habit was as loud as always, but Khan only smiled at it. He couldn''t help but find it cute, especially now that it was a core part of most nights.


    "Hey," Khan softly called, leaning on Monica to kiss the curls above her cheek. "I''m going to the office."


    Monica whined when Khan''s soft caress awakened her, but her brain activated when she saw his face. She instinctively tried to sit down, but Khan didn''t let her.


    "It''s very early," Khan whispered.


    "Breakfast together," Monica cutelyined, her voice full of drowsiness.


    "It''s earlier than early," Khan chuckled. "You cane by the officeter."


    Monica hummed. It wasn''t clear how much she had understood, but Khan had continued to caress her, fueling her drowsiness and making her give in. Yet, she managed to muster enough strength for onest request.


    "Kiss goodnight," Monica childishly requested, and Khan couldn''t even think about refusing. His face went down once again, and Monica fell asleep when his lips pressed on her cheek.


    Khan held back another sigh as he left the bed to go to the bathroom. Ideally, he would have remained beside Monica, holding her while he killed time with his phone. However, he needed to catch up on his duties, and problems continued popping up.


    While the shower''s water fell on Khan''s head, a tinge of loneliness invaded him. The feeling had nothing to do with thete hour or Monica''s absence. It stretched into deep spiritual themes that even he didn''t know how to face. Actually, part of him feared the answers he could find.


    Things were different during missions. Videos and pictures couldn''t rece Monica, but Khan could make them work. Instead, the current loneliness was almost existential, and time flew as Khan lost himself in his thoughts.


    The mundane, sophisticated life in the Harbor truly showed how different Khan was, and living with Monica highlighted that rift. He slept far less, worked more than others, and walked through the world seeing and feeling things no one else could even perceive. He could inspect the symphony with his bare eyes, and his mind experienced emotions in ways he couldn''t describe.


    It wasn''t a matter of effort. Khan would have found some reassurance in that. Having superior abilities was something to be proud of, especially when they came from training and determination.


    However, as much as Khan had needed training to get where he was, he knew he couldn''t apply the same values. He wasn''t trying to be different. He was different to his core, and his element always reminded him of that through unreasonable urges.


    Khan had been in a simr situation on Reebfell with Cora, but the issue was far different now. Back then, he had been conflicted about his desire to be on the battlefield and the boredom of a quiet, peaceful life. Instead, the current crisis was deeper and involved his ce in the universe.


    That wasn''t even the first time Khan had faced those topics. He had already epted he would spend the rest of his life as an outcast among his own species. Khan had the determination for that. Everything could be bearable as long as he had Monica. Still, recently, that new, deep loneliness had started to hit Khan during his most quiet and private moments. It came without warning. He could be under the shower, working in his office, or with Monica sleeping next to him. Nothing seemed to make a difference, and his mind instinctively dug out old memories when he faced the issue.


    ''Sometimes,'' Khan couldn''t help but think, ''Love isn''t enough.''


    Khan''s eyes widened, and his hand moved to p his cheek. Anger surged inside him, but his mana didn''te out. After all, he was the target of that feeling.


    Khan hurriedly left the shower, but the mirror in the middle of the bathroom managed to stop him. His reflection captivated his attention, and his eyes absorbed his entire figure. No matter how much he looked, he couldn''t see a human there.


    The alien tattoo eventually appeared on the mirror, and Khan lifted his hand to reach for it. His fingers rested on its blue lines as if trying to absorb some ancestral knowledge, but nothing arrived. He was alone in a world only he could see.


    The issue wouldn''t cause Khan such huge internal conflict if things were simr to when he was on Reebfell. He wouldn''t have any problems finding solutions and answers if his rtionship were anything like what he had with Cora.


    Yet, Khan knew. Actually, he was beyond certain. He loved Monica, and that wasn''t a fleeting feeling. It couldst several lifetimes, if not forever, which was the core of the internal conflict.


    Being with Monica implied remaining bound to humankind. However, leaving Monica was akin to ripping off a vital organ. The choice seemed between loneliness and death, and Khan didn''t know which he preferred. He couldn''t predict whether it would get worse either.


    Luckily for Khan, his urges bnced out his overthinking mind. Even if he wanted to, he couldn''t betray his love. Even with his doubts, he would follow his feelings, and most of them existed for and because of Monica.


    The slight peace brought by the urges didn''t stop Khan from reaching his office with a heavy mind. It wasn''t a proper headache. Khan was simply pensive, but the ce had a solution for his problems.


    Khan sealed his office, sat behind the interactive desk, and opened a drawer to retrieve one of the stored bottles. Booze was one of the first things he had brought after recing Ambassador Abores, and the embassy never forgot to refill his stash.


    A popping noise echoed through the dark office when Khan opened the bottle. He didn''t bother turning on the lights. He could basically see anyway, and the darkness almost vanished when the holograms appeared.


    ''Where was I?'' Khan thought, cing his feet on the interactive desk and leaning back on the chair. One hand held the bottle while the other handled the holograms. That was his ideal studying position.


    The office kept track of Khan''s progress, so it only took him a few taps to return to where he had left. He was still studying subjects required by his position, and the list of remaining books seemed endless. Still, as dull as that practice was, he preferred it over pondering his unsolvable problems. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Of course, Khan didn''t limit himself to Ambassador-rted topics. He split the holograms into multiple screens, assigning each a different subject. He even appointed one to thework, which obviously had updates about his private meeting with Abraham.


    ''Surprising,'' Khan eximed in his mind while reviewing the most recent headlines. ''Or predictable.''


    Thework didn''t air conspiracy theories or intricate gossip. In fact, it was the opposite, with public opinion united behind a single conclusion. Everyone believed Khan''s lessons had been so good that Abraham couldn''t resist requesting a private chat.


    By then, Khan had spent years at the center of thework''s gossip, turning him into an expert in the field. Uniting the public under a single banner was impossible. There would always be opposite factions, and some headlines would never miss the chance to write about them. Their absence was more suspicious than actual usations.


    ''They are controlling the news,'' Khan concluded. He didn''t have a shadow of a doubt about the matter, and the why felt pretty obvious. He even guessed who was behind all of that.


    ''The nobles truly have unlimited power,'' Khan admitted. He didn''t know whether the Nognes family had personally intervened, but that result still showed that the Global Army was abiding by sixteen-year-old directives.


    ''Come on,'' Khan cursed, drawing his phone and scoffing at the nk screen. ''You should know that I know. Make contact already!''


    Khan stared at the nk screen for minutes, asionally sipping from his bottle. Yet, theck of messages or calls eventually made him give up. Meeting Abraham could be seen as his reply to Princess Felicia''s introduction, but the Nognes family didn''t make its move.


    More curses resounded in Khan''s mind when he looked at his schedule. The Thilku remained his best way to secure his position and ensure his safety, but Mister Cirvags didn''t assign any mission. The embassy was prioritizing Khan''s lessons, keeping him out of the field until the scientists were satisfied.


    ''Dammit,'' Khan cursed again, emptying what was left of the booze and drawing another bottle. He preferred Raymond''s foreshadowed threats to that silent and uncertain wait, but the universe didn''tply with his desires.


    Theck of developments made Khan slip back into his previous internal conflict, but he was awake enough to counterattack now. As soon as the loneliness showed its presence, he connected his phone to the desk, opening his privatework.


    Information about the Nak promptly filled Khan''s eyes, which began to shine at his eagerness. In a way, all his problems went back to the Second Impact, so he hoped good solutions would arrive after lifting its curse.

 Chapter 711 Wires

    <h4>Chapter 711 Wires </h4>


    711 Wires


    Of course, Khan didn''t hide his internal conflict from Monica. Their rtionship had no secrets, and Monica would have noticed his strange mood anyway.


    Those issues weren''t new, either. The mundane life in the Harbor had simply aggravated them, giving birth to deeper emotional responses. Their unique source made them impossible to fix, but the couple never lost hope. Monica even made them her mission.


    As for the lessons, they proceeded smoothly. The scientists improved at different paces, with fewpletely stuck on the fundamentals. Yet, Abraham''s actions stirred a change in their behavior, making most of them request private meetings with Khan.


    The development felt odd since most scientists had to be aware of Abraham''s allegiances, but the private meetings didn''t feature any political topic. All those who visited Khan''s t solely focused on the subjects of the lessons, and each conversation turned out to be quite fulfilling.


    The first to imitate Abraham was Dolores Vifort, the tanned woman working for Mister Zeckai. Although she had always been skeptical during the lessons, her behavior became polite in the private meeting. Her questions and doubts were also genuine, and Khan dly attempted to rify them.


    Dwayne Seylor and Gregory Kilwood followed in two different instances. Both were among the youngest students, and Khan had also seen them show curiosity and awe during the lessons. He had met descendants from their families, too, which helped break the ice and smoothen the private conversations.


    Dwayne was tall and good-looking, with perfect short ck hair and a decent physique. He also seemed aware of his charm, but the private conversation mostly featured his excitement and curiosity. Still, he smiled almost flirtatiously at Monica once, seemingly out of habit, and one look from Khan earned him eternal trauma.


    Instead, Gregory had nothing but respect for Khan. He was pretty handsome, too, but he was shorter than Dwayne and had messy blonde hair. His behavior almost reeked of admiration, and his eyes didn''t linger on Monica even once during the private conversation.


    Thest request for a private meeting came from Jefferson Aballon, a middle-aged man in the same field as Abraham. Still, Jefferson kept himself in shape, and his aura seemed proper of a fourth-level warrior with some battle experience.


    Of course, Jefferson was nothingpared to Khan, and his respectable behavior made the private conversation enjoyable. He was slightly cold and pensive, resorting mostly to short questions and long pondering, which was fine. His background was the only issue since his scientific division was ssified.


    The remaining two scientists ignored the trend and limited themselves to following the lessons. Even if the others publicly praised Khan''s expertise, avability, and teaching skills, they didn''t bother taking the additional step of requesting private meetings.


    Nevertheless, after the first round of meetings, Abraham remained the only one who continued to make trips to Khan''s t. He never imposed his presence more than once a week to avoid raising suspicions, and his excellent performance during the lessons helped with that, but things felt odd anyway.


    Theck of additional requests conflicted with the scientists'' public praise of Khan. They weren''t even too busy while staying in the Harbor. Some could see it as a holiday, so the experts definitely had time for additional lessons. However, no one booked them.


    It didn''t help that Abraham exposed himself more with each visit, but the Nognes family remained silent. Khan felt stuck between opposite and conflicting clues, and everything in his experience told him that something was bound to happen. Yet, the peace persisted.


    The odd feeling didn''t change even after the new year arrived. Khan continued to dislike that strange and seemingly artificial peace, but nothing broke it. No crisis or impending threat urred, and Khan eventually learned to make the best out of that schedule.


    The meetings with Abraham became critical aspects of Khan''s new projects. Sometimes, the scientist even visited him inside the training halls, fueling the existing gossip. However, no new hypotheses appeared on thework, confirming that the Nognes family was still controlling the flow of information.


    Khan had expected a simr oue, so his worries had never been on thework. His greatest problem was often at his side, and her nagging grew louder and louder, culminating in one specific event.


    During the weekend, Khan woke Monica up early and almost dragged her into the Harbor''s hangars. Although she had long since understood that something was up and her attention often fell on Khan''s backpack, she remained silent to avoid spoiling the surprise.


    The couple hopped on Khan''s ship and set off, leaving the Harbor to fly at high speed toward one of the others in the system. Khan didn''t restrain himself with the elerator, but the autopilot took charge once he had his fun with the vehicle. As much as he loved flying, he loved his time alone with Monica more.


    After a long, intimate time and an even longer trip, the ship arrived before a bluish, forcing Khan to contact the outposts on the ground. The soldiers stationed there cleared him fornding almost immediately, and he promptly brought the vehicle into that cold atmosphere.


    Monica remained silent during thending, too. She recognized Induna, which almost prompted her questions, but seeing that Khan avoided the quadrants with outposts kept her curiosity high. She knew the surprise had to be close and couldn''t wait to receive it.


    "Button your coat and tighten your scarf," Khan ordered as soon as the shipnded. "Did you bring a hat, too?"


    "You know I''m a third-level warrior, right?" Monica giggled. "You aren''t the only one good with cold."


    "I brought a spare, too," Khan revealed, ignoring Monica''s tease and opening the canopy. "Hopefully, you won''t need it."


    Monica''s mouth hung open in confusion. She had initially believed the trip to be a romantic escapade to quell the Harbor''s dullness. However, Khan appeared strangely serious, and hisst statement reinforced that vibe.


    Induna''s cold air suddenly awakened Monica from her stupor. A tremor ran through her body at the drastic temperature change, but more surprise awaited her. She stood on her seat, absorbing the nature of her surroundings, and a frown inevitably upied her face.


    Monica had seen Khan avoiding the outposts, but thending area was the extreme opposite of that. The two were in a deste snow-covered in, withplete nothingness upying the horizon in every direction.


    Khan climbed on the canopy''s edge and stretched his arm, forcing Monica to snap out of her thoughts and take his hand. The two jumped down, and her winter boots dug into the thick snow. Almost half of her legs disappeared inside it.


    Monica pouted when she nced at Khan. He towered above her, and her eyes instinctively went to his feet. He didn''t dive into the snow. His figure gracefully stood on its surface, barely leaving any footprint.


    "I wouldn''t have picked this ce for a romantic pic," Monicamented.


    "I would have brought food if we were here for a pic," Khan pointed out. "Or booze, at least."


    "Why are we here then?" Monica asked, incapable of holding back anymore.


    "Not yet," Khan said, inspecting his surroundings. "It''s faster if we do it like this."


    Khan reached for Monica''s neck, lifting her coat''s hood over her head before seizing her waist. The two soon ended up in the air, and Khan flew in a seemingly random direction for entire minutes. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Monica neverined about Khan''s hugs, and he always held her particrly tightly when they flew together. He was also careful not to let a single whisp of cold air under her clothes, which warmed her heart. Still, afternding again on the same snowy in, Monica couldn''t contain herself anymore.


    "I''ve been silent for the past weeks," Monica uttered as soon as she noticed the destion of her surroundings. "I didn''t say a word when you hung out with that old pal of yours. Can you please tell me why we are here, freezing to death?"


    "Didn''t you say you were good with cold?" Khan chuckled, crouching down and removing his backpack.


    "It doesn''t mean that I like it!" Monica scoffed, stomping her feet. The gesture lifted a lot of snow, and her figure ended up diving deeper into the surface.


    Khan smiled but ignored his angry fianc¨¦e to retrieve something from the backpack. A cylindrical item enveloped in thick metal wires appeared in the open, and Monica couldn''t help but shut up to inspect it.


    Khan closed his eyes and ran his fingers over the wires. They were as thick as his thumb and looked identical, but Khan''s mind saw a far different reality. The item told his brain aplete story, eventually making him nod in approval.


    "Give me your arm," Khan ordered, straightening his position.


    Monica was speechless and curious, so she simplyplied. She stretched her right arm, and Khan strapped the item around it. Its size was strangely perfect, and Monica realized it existed solely for her.


    "Alright," Khan eximed, pointing Monica''s arm toward the horizon before jumping backward. "Use your element."


    "What?!" Monica gasped.


    "You heard me," Khan announced, nodding at where Monica''s arm was pointing. "Don''t use the garbage your family created. Go straight for your eruption."


    Monica didn''t know what to say. In her mind, sex on the snow had been more likely than the current development. Still, she trusted Khan from the bottom of her heart, so she didn''tin.


    "You are too close," Monica stated.


    "I''ll be fine," Khan reassured.


    "You wouldn''t have put distance from the ship if this were safe," Monicamented.


    "You sleep on myp while I''m testing spells," Khan scoffed. "I won''t hearints."


    "Khan," Monica pleaded.


    "Fine," Khan sighed, and a spiderweb of ck blood vessels covered his hands and face. He had improved the [Blood Shield] during that peaceful period, so he didn''t fear the might of Monica''s eruption even at that short distance.


    "You should walk with that face," Monica snorted, focusing on the deste horizon before her. "I''d be the only one willing to kiss you."


    Khan didn''t reply, and the silence told Monica the time for jokes was over. She nced at Khan onest time before summoning her mana. She hated using her element''s true power, but Khan had requested it, so her spell activated.


    Smoke began to pour out of Monica''s body, but the strange item around her arm promptly released a humming noise. The grey gas started to flow toward the metal wires instead of rising into the air, distracting Monica.


    "Continue!" Khan shouted, and Monica regained herposure. She summoned even more mana, reaching the eruption point. Still, no eruption arrived.


    To Monica''s surprise, her surroundings didn''t explode. No masses of smoke and fire spread from her body. Instead, the entirety of her eruption gathered on her right arm, shooting forward in the shape of a scorching beam.

 Chapter 712 Magic item

    <h4>Chapter 712 Magic item </h4>


    712 Magic item


    Massive strands of steam rose from the snow-covered in, filling the environment with a thin, wet fog. The temperature rose, and sizzling noises invaded the area, disrupting the couple''s stillness.


    Monica could hardly believe what had just happened. She kept her right arm stretched, astonished by that development. She had performed the spell she hated, the only true attack allowed by her element, but something entirely different hade out.


    Meanwhile, Khan inspected the area ahead and the symphony above it. His eyes could pierce the fog and evaluate the nature of the attack. He could also gauge its general power, and some dissatisfaction surged in his mind.


    Induna''s cold wind quickly dispersed the fog, allowing Monica to see the in''s new state. A massive gorge had appeared, digging through the snow and the frozen ground below. The channel started from her hand and stretched past what her eyes could reach.


    The gorge''s width was also impressive. Monica''s eruption was extremely effective against the Induna''s environment, but that size remained shocking. The amount of cleared snow wasn''t a reliable measurement, but the huge mark on the frozen ground was. Even Khan''s spears couldn''t cause such destruction.


    Of course, that was only in terms of scale. Khan''s element could dig far deeper into the frozen ground, but that range was unachievable without losing power. He couldn''t even with the spell copied from Amox.


    As the sizzling noise continued, Khan ignored his surroundings and jumped beside Monica. The frozen ground was fuming, revealing its barren insides, but Khan''s full attention was on Monica''s right arm.


    Monica was too shocked to notice it, but the item around her arm had grown scarlet. The wires had be scorching tubes that released thick grey smoke, and the soft fabric underneath them eventually gave in.


    The item broke, falling at Monica''s feet and melting the ice. Its wires cooled down, and cracks spread on their surface, breaking them into multiple pieces. Part of the soft fabric also took fire, but the cold quickly suppressed it.


    Nevertheless, Khan continued to examine Monica''s stretched arm. The item''s heat had consumed her sleeve, digging past her coat and military uniform to expose her skin. Although Khan couldn''t see any burns, he still seized Monica''s wrist to inspect her limb.


    Monica snapped out of her stupor, but Khan''s worried and attentive inspection didn''t reach her brain. She was still thinking about her spell, and an incredulous statement left her mouth. "I didn''t erupt."


    "You didn''t," Khan calmlymented, lifting and bending Monica''s arm to study it inch by inch. She waspletely fine, but the experiment had still been too close forfort for Khan''s tastes.


    "I didn''t erupt," Monica repeated, adding more life into her voice. She was finally beginning to realize the nature of the monumental event, but some disbelief still lingered in her brain.


    "Yes, yes," Khan sighed, letting go of Monica''s arm to crouch at her feet. He tilted his head to study what remained of the item, and a curse surged through his throat.


    "Dammit," Khan cursed, poking the item''s remains. "It should have endured at least four tests."


    The item''s remains crumbled even further under the pressure of Khan''s fingers. He tried his best to be delicate, but the sudden temperature change after absorbing the spell had turned the wires quite brittle. He couldn''t salvage anything from that mess.


    "I didn''t erupt!" Monica repeated, shouting before flinging herself toward Khan. She mmed on his side, pushing him down as she trapped him into a tight hug.


    Khan''s back ended up on the ground, and cold and wetness seeped through his coat, aiming to envelop the uniform underneath. Many would find the sensation unpleasant, but Nitis had trained him on those issues. Besides, he couldn''t even think aboutining due to the trembling figure above him.


    Monica''s arms were around Khan''s neck, but her face was buried in his chest. Her legs were also squeezing his waist with enough strength to break the bones of ordinary soldiers. Yet, Khan only felt affection from the gesture.


    "You didn''t erupt," Khan sweetly said, patting Monica''s head to reassure her, "But you did ruin your coat."


    The joke didn''t interrupt the hug, and Khan smiled as he wrapped his arms around Monica''s head. She never spoke about it, but Khan had been with her long enough to know the depth of the issue.


    The descendants, especially the wealthy ones, didn''t necessarily need to shine inbat. Their families had so many businesses that excelling in battle prowess was superfluous. Their worth wouldn''t be questioned as long as they seeded in something valuable.


    However, battle prowess was the standard among soldiers, and the wealthier families basically ruled the Global Army. Producing better warriors was almost a matter of pride meant to highlight the difference from themoners. The descendants had to be better and appear unreachable by the masses.


    Monica always had a talent for training, and her family situation made her put in more effort than her peers. Yet, her element remained a big issue since it prevented her from using efficient spells. She neverined about it, but Khan knew she had worked herself to the bone topensate for that w.


    Monica''s elegant behavior, perfect martial arts, immense knowledge, and political insight resulted from that work. She had to be better than her peers in all those fields to cover for her element, but the issue seemed gone now. Her fianc¨¦ had solved it.


    A sob resounded through the in, adding sadness to Khan''s smile. On top of knowing Monica''s history, he was also aware of the pain of a troublesome element. His breakthrough had stirred emotions simr to those radiated by the trembling figure in his arms, so he remained silent to let Monica absorb the development.


    Monica quickly calmed down, sniffing a few times before lifting her head. She was still wrapped around Khan but had withdrawn part of her strength. Her face became visible, and the sadness from Khan''s smile vanished at the sight of her teary eyes.


    "Thank you," Monica whimpered, her voice breaking. "Thank you."


    A tear seemed about to fall from Monica''s right eye, but she lowered her head before that could happen. She trapped Khan into a wet kiss before a sob forced her to leave his mouth.


    Khan knew words couldn''t help. Monica''s forehead rested on his, and her closed eyes tried their best to hold back the tears. That was a happy moment, but the problem hadsted so long that the arrival of a solution caused an unstoppable emotional reaction.


    A hand slipped from Monica''s head to her nape, and she let it guide her down. Khan brought her to his neck and held her tightly, rubbing her back to help her calm down. Sniffs continued to resound, but Monica slowly rxed in that loving embrace.


    "Thank you," Monica eventually whispered in Khan''s ear, leaving a wet kiss on his cheek. He dug his fingers into her curls to reply, and she nestled on him as if she was about to fall asleep.


    The two remained in that position for many minutes, uncaring about Induna''s cold. They only needed their respective warmth to survive the most chilling environment, but that frozen ground wasn''t ideal for a nap.


    "How many times do you have to save me?" Monica broke the silence, rubbing her face on Khan''s cheek. Her intense feelings almost made her purr.


    "You saved me first," Khan said, turning toward Monica.


    Monica''s face was a mess of tears, ice, and dirt, but the smile she wore was the most beautiful Khan had ever seen. His mind froze at that sight, but Monica couldn''t stay still. Her hand went on his cheek as she drew him into another kiss.


    "That''s why you spent so much time with Abraham," Monica eximed once the kiss ended.


    "Since I''m not goo-," Khan exined before clearing his throat. "Since I have no interest in technology, I asked Abraham to help. He gathered materials ording to my requests."


    Things had been far moreplicated than that. Khan had basically created an alternative version of the Thilku runes that didn''t need mana storage. Everything was in the specific properties applied to the wires, but even that was an oversimplification.


    First of all, Khan didn''t create a general item. The blueprint had started and ended with Monica''s mana, which he knew so well. The wires wouldn''t have produced simr effects with other types of energy. They would have probably broken before revealing their nature.


    The wires weren''t simple either. It took all of Abraham''s knowledge to find a resilient material that could absorb and echo specific traits from simple induction. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ultimately, it was on Khan to find the right group of specific influences that could lead to the desired effect. He had basically created a rune solely for Monica, using the wires instead of the lines of mana he drew in the air, and the process had required an uncountable number of tests.


    Monica wasn''t aware of the details but knew the matter was far from simple. Still, she was too happy to nag Khan for exnations, and a shocking realization distracted her from anything rted to her.


    "Wait," Monica gasped. "Did you just create a magic item?!"

 Chapter 713 Realization

    <h4>Chapter 713 Realization</h4>


    713 Realization


    Magic items were humankind''s greatest achievement with mana. They weren''t necessarily as grandiose or imposing as some pieces of technology but expressed a far higher level of expertise.


    The magnitude of the achievementy in the many fields involved in creating a single magic item. Soldiers with specific and suitable elements had to employ the most advanced technology to imbue purpose into a lifeless material, often only to obtain limited andckluster effects. It took true experts to reliably create powerful and useful equipment, and most focused on warfare.


    Those experts also set the gold standard since unreliable and barely efficient magic items weren''t worth the price. After all, humans could achieve much through technology alone, so investing in something sub-par wasn''t worth it.


    A sharp knife built from durable alloys was a cheaper and more reliable alternative than slightly more effective magic des. The same went for firearms. A rifle with magazines of mana bullets was often preferable over a gun that depleted too much of the shooter''s energy.


    Of course, magic items didn''te in the form of weapons only, and the Global Army had also standardized some sectors. One was the disks used to transfer martial arts, spells, and special information. The higher-ups favored them due to the secrecy they offered, so they had heavily invested in stabilizing their production and lowering their costs.


    The list didn''t stop there. The scientists'' mana-inhibiting gadgets were another type of magic item, but more examples were avable. Prototypes for new branches of the field were also in the work. The Global Army didn''t stop evolving, and that was the next level.


    Khan had owned multiple magic items, which mostly came from his needs. Ordinary des couldn''t survive his element, so his knives had to have unique properties suitable for his level.


    Khan had also seen high-quality gear. The trip in the Rassec family''s armory had been an eye-opener on the variety and power magic items could wield. His cursed knife was even unique, but he felt sure simr or stronger equipment existed somewhere.


    Still, even with that experience, Khan had never once thought he was creating a magic item. That field had always seemed too distant, and his focus had been on fixing Monica''s problem. His mind didn''t wander anywhere else during the process.


    However, now that Monica had mentioned it, Khan couldn''t help but consider the matter. He didn''t know how magic items were created, but his final product probably touched on that field. He had simply walked a different path.


    Abraham provided the materials, and Khan eliminated the need for technology. He became one of the many machines usually used in the process, relying on his ability to manipte the mana to aplish different functions.


    Khan''s eyes flickered before he diverted his gaze. The realization had hit his brain, but he couldn''t ept it. It felt impossible to have touched on simr feats without scientific education and at the mere age of twenty-one.


    "It wasn''t a magic item," Khan announced. "At best, it was a prototype of something which is now rubble."


    "Khan!" Monica whined, mming her hands on Khan''s shoulders to hop on top of him. "Can you or can you not make magic items?" n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Monica was more aware than Khan about the importance of the achievement, and her face conveyed her seriousness. Khan wanted to deny it again, but the simrities were too evident to ignore.


    "I''m not a cksmith or anything," Khan responded. "I can''t make weapons on cue."


    That was the truth. As much as Khan didn''t consider that possibility, he knew he couldn''t just forge knives or other weapons. The prototype had worked with Monica because it was Monica. Khan would have drawn in the air otherwise.


    "Khan," Monica repeated, unleashing her scolding tone.


    Khan sighed. He couldn''t win when his fianc¨¦e was like that, and his gaze wandered again as he dived into his thoughts. Monica''s question wasn''t unreasonable, but Khan knew the gaps in his knowledge better than anyone else.


    Abraham''s expertise had been crucial to the creation of the prototype. Khan had never heard of the wires'' alloy''s name, let alone its properties. He wouldn''t even know where to buy it or its market price.


    The scientist also helped with the prototype''s design. Khan knew which runes would produce the intended effect, but Abraham''s insight went far deeper into the matter. Just by looking at the blueprint, he could see where the wires would create energy conflicts. Truth be told, Monica had to thank him for the item''s stability.


    The soft fabric used to keep the wires in ce also came from Abraham. Khan needed something that wouldn''t take fire while simultaneously shielding Monica from the heat, and the scientist had provided.


    Those gaps told Khan that he couldn''t make magic items, at least on his own. His scientific knowledge was toocking, but he could see himself eventually getting somewhere. It wouldn''t be easy, but studying was his main job now. He might learn enough to cut Abraham out of the process one day.


    "Maybe not in the general sense," Khan eventually admitted, "But I probably can make something that might be seen as a magic item."


    Monica frowned without dropping her re. Khan wasn''t arrogant, but no one would call him humble either, especially after Cegnore. His hesitation was out of ce, and Monica knew the cause of that behavior. It was the only thing that could make Khan stutter.


    ''This scoundrel!'' Monica snorted in her mind. ''He is underestimating himself again!''


    Khan didn''t know what to say when anger filled Monica''s face, but she ignored him. Monica straightened her back, sitting on Khan''s abdomen and crossing her arms. Her eyes went to the in but didn''t look at the snow. She had also dived into her thoughts.


    Monica firmly believed she was the only one who truly understood and appreciated Khan''s value. Nothing was impossible for him. He was humankind''s perfect son, and no one would evere close to matching him.


    Still, Khan often underestimated himself and failed to realize the full extent of his potential, so Monica took it upon herself to beat some sense into him whenever the situation presented itself. It had happened when Khan didn''t know how to fuse the Nele and Niqols'' techniques, but things were moreplicated now.


    The Global Army already had cksmiths. Earth''s big cities were full of pricey shops upied by famous experts. Khan wouldn''t get much relevance by learning to make simple magic weapons.


    However, Khan''s understanding of mana went far beyond what the best cksmiths could achieve. The more Monica thought about it, the surer she felt about his greatest quality. His flexibility was unfathomable. Theoretically, he could create anything he wanted.


    "If you master this," Monica uttered before correcting herself. "Once you master this, you might unlock fields that have been stuck for years. Entire sections of the scientific department might change and advance thanks to you."


    One of Monica''s hands went on her curls as her thoughts continued to rage. She was simting scenarios, and the best courses of action slowly became clear.


    "You don''t want to do that for free," Monica continued. "If you start by equipping my family, your value will increase by many measures. You''d need a few descendants showing off your creations for the entire Global Army toe after you."


    Old financial teachings surged in Monica''s mind. She knew how to exploit an idea and maximize its value, and Khan would even have a monopoly over it. He could establish an entirely new school, and the masses would flock to buy from it.


    "This is leverage even my parents can''t ignore," Monica said. "It''s the game changer, something beyond your strength but more concrete than your knowledge. It could change the world as we know it."


    Monica was projecting herself many years into the future, but her reasoning was sound. After all, the Global Army had already moved to learn Khan''s vague alien techniques. A proper magic item would convince even the most dubious higher-ups, granting Khan everything he would ever need.


    "Where are you going with that head of yours?" Khan teased. "I only did this to make you Matriarch."


    Monica couldn''t help but lower her eyes and smile. The situation was more serious than Khan realized, and it was Monica''s job to keep him in line, but she allowed herself to enjoy the sight of her caring fianc¨¦ for a few seconds.


    "Khan, what you did is incredible," Monica eximed. "You put all that foreign and cryptic knowledge into an item I can use. Imagine how much wealth, influence, and leverage you could get if you standardized this approach."


    Monica and Khan''s smiles froze at the same time. Monica''sst statement triggered another realization. What Khan had created was the first step toward fulfilling the Global Army''s desires. He had put the field he invented in someone else''s hands without needing to teach anything. Khan had proven his first lesson wrong.


    "No one can know about this," Monica announced, betraying all the simtions in her mind. "Don''t make another prototype either."


    "I won''t stop making them," Khan stated, "But I''ll be careful."


    Monica wanted to scold Khan into submission, but he was unbeatable when he acted like that. Nothing in the world could stop him from trying to help Monica.


    "Fine," Monica sighed. "Let''s remove any trace of the test, at least."


    Khan nodded and pointed his elbows on the ground to lift himself slightly. Monica was still sitting on him, so he could only get closer to her.


    "We should head back, then," Khan suggested before ncing at the gorge. "I''ll throw a few spells around to cover this mess."


    "Wait," Monica eximed. "Are we going back already?"


    "I''d suggest sex on the snow," Khan joked, "But the Global Army has probably pointed its scanners here by now."


    "Idiot," Monica snorted, pretending to be angry when she had experienced simr thoughts only a few minutes ago. "Did we reallye all the way here just for one test?"


    "I can''t keep breaking training halls," Khan pointed out. "Can I?"


    Khan''s reasoning was wless, but Monica still wasn''t satisfied. Yet, she recalled what had just happened when she started devising newints. Khan had fixed her greatest w. Anger couldn''t exist when she felt so grateful.


    "You''ll have to fly slowly," Monica whispered, wrapping her arms around Khan''s neck. "You won''t get to look past the canopy for even a second."

 Chapter 714 Summon

    <h4>Chapter 714 Summon</h4>


    714 Summon


    Khan and Monica kept a low profile in the following days. They stuck to their routine, even limiting the meetings with Abraham to see whether something changed on thework.


    Luckily, thework didn''t show traces of Induna''s test. People talked about the couple''s trip, but everyone considered it a romantic escapade. The couple had skipped the public parties for their second anniversary and Khan''s birthday, so celebrating sounded reasonable.


    Still, the test had been too eye-catching. Some of Induna''s scanners had to have sensed the beam''s energy fluctuation. The Solodrey name might have given the couple privacy since the Global Army was scared to invade their intimacy, but things could be different now.


    Khan had to make a new prototype, so the issue was irrelevant for now. Yet, Monica would need to test his creations multiple times to arrive at a decent final product, and suitable areas were growing scarcer by the day.


    Moreover, acknowledging the ability to build magic items opened a door into thoughts Khan couldn''t stop. They were like an itch he couldn''t scratch away. Ideas flooded his mind now that he knew what he could do, and there was no halting them.


    Khan could draw in the air to achieve certain effects, but a proper item would generate more power. Besides, it wouldn''t need time to set up, which battles oftencked.


    The levels of potentialplexity were also iparable. Khan knew he would get better at his runes, but a battle offered little room for that. There was a limit to how much he could draw while fighting or on the spot.


    Instead, a magic item could be as powerful andplex as Khan desired. He only had to prepare it beforehand, which sounded reasonable in his current situation. Raymond had warned him, and his hunches had never stopped screaming since then. Something big had to be ready to unfold, so amassing countermeasures was the natural thing to do.


    Of course, improvement had toe first. The door had merely opened, and Khan had yet to cross its edge. He had much to learn before even thinking about attempting to create proper magic items, and Monica had the priority anyway.


    The test on Induna proved two things. First, condensing Monica''s eruption into a single, forward attack generated too much power, more than the chaos element. Khan had to make something far more durable to avoid recreating the item after each activation.


    Second, an item that covered most of Monica''s arm was too eye-catching. Her element wasn''t a secret, so seeing her performing proper attacks without erupting would point every finger at the array of wires, exposing Khan''s new ability.


    Khan needed to change the item''s design to preserve that secrecy, and the goal was in line with his initial intentions. He didn''t want Monica to wear something so ugly and clunky. Ideally, he would put the entire blueprint into a bracelet.


    More time passed in that strange peace. Oddly enough, Neuria''s businesses didn''t summon Monica, and Khan was the only exnation the couple could find. It almost seemed the Global Army wanted to make his life as enjoyable as possible while he shared his knowledge.


    Khan couldn''tin, especially since the Solodrey family remained silent about the issue. Besides, Neuria''s businesses didn''t necessarily require Monica. Her presence there was mostly a political move meant to elevate her figure, and Khan''s achievements more thanpensated for her absence.


    As the lessons continued, most scientists began to gain aplete understanding of the fundamentals. Many still couldn''t perform the alien techniques, but amassing knowledge was their priority. After all, they could always build a machine for those purposes if their skills failed them.


    Abraham was at the top of the ss, followed closely by Jefferson. Thetter disyed incredible concentration in thest period, and his efforts paid off. He learned to speak with the mana just a few days after Abraham.


    That learning pace wasn''t quick or slow. Khan would describe it as slightly above average when it came to Abraham and Jefferson, which wasn''t concerning. Yet, the scientists were gradually getting there, and there was no stopping them anymore. That was the worrying part.


    The more the scientists learned, the higher the chances the Global Army could produce countermeasures to Khan''s power. He was far ahead in those alien fields, and his lessons also avoided many detailed and advanced aspects, but he remained one man against an entire species. Humankind would eventually devise something annoying to deal with.


    Those worries, the existential loneliness, and the urge to explore the magic items'' field filled Khan''s peaceful and dull days. Due to his overcrowded mind, he often found concentrating on his Ambassador-rted studies hard.


    That wasn''t the end of it. Khan had the Nognes family, the foreboded threats, and his own training to mind. Problems were umting, and even the free time of thest period wasn''t enough to handle them all. They only put pressure on his mental state.


    Nevertheless, a partial solution existed, or rather, a way to temporarily quell all those worries. Booze alone couldn''t suffice, and Khan wasn''t the type to sit down and rx. Only his fianc¨¦e could handle that.


    "Tone down the brightness," Monicained while hiding her face in Khan''s bare chest.


    Khan didn''t reply butplied. He tapped on his office''s interactive desk and lowered the holograms'' brightness before retrieving his full ss. He lifted his legs, reclining his chair toy his feet on the table. His mind was finally at ease, allowing him to focus on his many studies.


    The scene represented the peak of Khan''s day. He was fully rxed and naked on his chair, with a simrly naked Monica sleeping on him. His mind could finally work properly, and many of his urges had already been appeased.


    Of course, Monica didn''t have clearance for the office, but no one had dared to stop her. Her visits had also be more frequent after she heard the stories about Khan''s mother, and she couldn''t find better solutions to his loneliness either. Even if it consumed her, she would appease Khan, and consume her he did.


    That trend had started since the first instance of existential loneliness and had gotten worse with each passing day. As barbaric and basic as sex was, it worked in dispersing that annoying feeling, and Monica didn''t hesitate to abuse Khan''s urges to prolong his mental peace.


    Khan couldn''tin. Monica''s well-being was his only worry since they had been overdoing ittely. After reaching the fourth level, his stamina seemed endless, and Monica paid the price for that. It was a sweet and pleasant effort, but an effort nheless.


    Entire books went by while Monica napped on Khan. He relied on his reading technique to skim through the next subject, but the effects of the recent intimacy began to wane after a few hours, distracting him from his duties.


    Khan drank and tried to brute-force his way through the subject, but it soon became clear that his mind wouldn''t coborate. He could only sigh and open his privatework, reaching for a file he had been working on recently.


    One of the holographic screens transformed into a cylindrical blueprint. The new prototype of Monica''s magic item was almost ready. Khan was only waiting on the materials to build it. However, he still didn''t have a suitable testing ground.


    ''Should I ask the Solodrey family?'' Khan wondered. ''Anastasia won''t hesitate to give me an entire if I can fix Monica''s element, but ¡­''


    The Solodrey family was wealthy enough to fix the issue, and Monica''s parents would also be personally interested in the matter. However, Khan couldn''t make the request because they might use it to deepen his debt. They had already helped him during his istion, so he would avoid that option if possible.


    Yet, Khan also had to consider what was best for Monica, and the idea of indebting himself to help her didn''t sound too bad. Sadly, things were quiteplicated. Khan didn''t feel he could be controlled even with a debt hanging over his head, but Monica''s involvement would give the Solodrey family leverage.


    ''Lucian is out of the question,'' Khan thought. ''The tests would just destroy what I helped build on Lauter.''


    Khan dived into his memory and scrolled his contacts list to find better solutions. Luke and Rick could help, and the former even owed Khan one after Milia 222, but he preferred to avoid the Cobsend family. Princess Edna was unreachable, so she was out of the picture, too. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Lord Vegner?'' Khan considered. ''No. It''s akin to asking him a huge sum of money.''


    Truth be told, all those options were viable. Khan simply wanted a perfect one. Ideally, he would ask the Headmistress, but she was too swamped by the families'' interests to help. She would probably be forced to sell him if he tried to do anything.


    ''It''s not like I can move anyway,'' Khan cursed. ''I could have asked Lord Exr a favor otherwise. George is already handling Wayne, so no. I guess Lucian is the best option.''


    The brainstorming didn''t convince Khan. He had merely chosen the lesser evil, which was good enough but not ideal. Of course, he had to finish the new prototype first, so he didn''t send any messages. He also hoped he would get better ideas in the meantime.


    Still, a notification suddenly distracted Khan from his thoughts. He lifted his eyes and frowned seeing that the message had skipped his phone and gone directly to the office''s interactive desk. The matter had to be about something official, and opening it confirmed the hunch and more.


    "Monica," Khan couldn''t help but call, tapping Monica''s shoulder to wake her up.


    Monicained but opened her eyes, and noticing Khan''s nod made her look at the holograms. Her sleepy brain didn''t initially realize the message''s contents, but everything became clear after rereading it, and shock invaded her. The Global Army had ordered Khan to join a political envoy on a with a recently discovered intelligent species.

 Chapter 715 Giant

    <h4>Chapter 715 Giant</h4>


    715 Giant


    Nothing about the news made sense. Both Khan and Monica couldn''t wrap their minds around it and reread it, hoping to clear their doubts. However, their confusion only intensified.


    The order hade directly from the embassy''s political offices, meaning Mister Cirvags had approved it. The message wasn''t even an offer. It was a summon into a mandatory mission.


    In a normal situation, Khan would have been ecstatic about the news. He not only liked the mission''s contents but had also agreed to rece Ambassador Abores for that exact reason. He would be gaining ess to proper political and interspecies jobs, which were the next step in his career.


    Yet, the timing made no sense. Until now, Khan had been sure the Global Army wanted him in the Harbor. His superiors even covered him in the Empire-rted duties that required his presence. The Solodrey family was also okay with Monica ignoring Neuria''s businesses, but the message told a different story.


    The lessons were another issue. Khan had spent little more than three months with the scientists, which wasn''t nearly enough to teach them everything. That worked in Khan''s favor, but the Global Army had to know that.


    The Global Army would never deploy Khan if they valued his knowledge, and everything in thest period had proven that. Still, the higher-ups were going in the opposite direction now, shattering the certainties Khan had started to trust.


    Everything made so little sense that the couple could only focus on the message''s contents. The mission was intriguing, and its specifics exined why Khan was necessary. He would hold a key role in the political team, something that was far higher than the scout position.


    The mission''s target was Baoway, a recently discovered in a system between the Global Army''s and Empire''s domains. Because it was both close to and distant from the two species'' areas of influence, they ultimately decided to share it.


    The message didn''t describe how the two species had reached that agreement but contained far morepelling information. Even if the system were shared between humans and Thilku, the Global Army would have priority in its exploration. Actually, it turned out a few teams had already made trips to Baoway. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan could guess the reasons behind that priority. The Empire was always short of manpower, and Cegnore''s liberation had worsened that problem. The Thilku probably didn''t have anyone to send to Baoway, so they left the dirty work to the Global Army.


    The Global Army had its reasons, too, but the message didn''t specify them. Doing the Empire a favor to earn its goodwill was a possibility, but Khan could only guess.


    Nevertheless, the message did exin something. Lord Exr and Lord Rsi had vouched for Khan, turning him into their trusted man on the field. He wouldn''t join the political envoy only as a human. He would go for the Thilku, too.


    That was obviously incredible. Khan''s mere presence had given humankind priority over an entire. If the news got out, his fame would skyrocket once more. It was the equivalent of owning a red cape but for the human side, and that wasn''t even the end of the good surprises.


    The Thilku''s trust was one significant aspect of Khan''s role. However, the message added something equally important. That additional value had nothing to do with interspecies politics either. It merely valued Khan''s skills.


    Baoway was inhabited by a primitive but intelligent species the Global Army called Scalqa. Those aliens were still in the Stone Age in terms of technology, owning nothing more than wooden spears and slings as weapons. However, they were born with mana and seemed to have a rudimentary use for it.


    Of course, those bits of information could be inurate since they came from the few short trips to Baoway. The scouting teams even avoided kidnapping specimens to preserve the possible rtionships with the Scalqa. They had relied on powerful scanners to learn as much as possible, but that was far from all.


    That was the reason behind Khan''s presence. His ability to befriend aliens was unmatched, and the Global Army wanted him on the frontlines this time around. He wouldn''t only have to learn the Scalqa''s customs and abilities. He would also have to help decipher and trante theirnguage.


    The more Khan read, the more that job description matched the Ambassador''s role. The Global Army wasn''t using that world, but his duties were undeniable. He would have to establish the first contact with the Scalqa, which would set the foundation for all future rtionships with humankind.


    Although the responsibility was immense, Khan felt no pressure. The mission''s description actually tickled his curiosity and desire to discover more about the universe. He looked forward to the trip, but greater worries afflicted his mind.


    As excited as Khan was, he didn''t forget the period''s uniqueness. The conflicting timing was too odd to be a coincidence. Keeping the scientists away from their posts for three months was a lot, but it didn''t make sense for Khan to be summoned so suddenly.


    Khan peeked at Monica and saw the same worries depicted on her face. Any trace of her sleepiness had disappeared from her expression, leaving only seriousness. The gravity of the situation was more than clear to her, but she was powerless to do anything about it.


    "It''s going to be fine," Khan couldn''t help but say.


    Monica nced at Khan but didn''t say anything. She felt like scolding him, but more pressing matters were at hand. Her eyes returned to the holograms, and she leaned forward to open one of the message''s folders.


    A different hologram stretched from the message, giving birth to a picture. A muscr, humanoid creature appeared above the interactive desk, and the stats surrounding it shocked the couple.


    A scanner had taken the picture, so it contained all kinds of measurements. The creature in the photo was an adult Scalqa, and its size made it nothing short of a giant.


    The Scalqa was three meters tall, with shoulders broader than a horizontal human. The alien in the picture was shirtless, showing its giant bulging muscles. One of its arms was the same size as Khan''s waist, and its four-fingered hands were equally huge.


    The two big eyes, the Scalqa''s dark-brownish skin, and its thick curly hair didn''t matter muchpared to the following detail. ording to the scanner, the alien''s muscles had an incredible concentration of mana. They were no different from a warrior''s enhanced tissues, but the Global Army believed there was more to the matter.


    Khan read all the stats before inspecting the Scalqa as a whole. It wouldn''t be his first time facing huge aliens. The Thilku and the Stal had almost prepared him for that mission. Still, it was impossible to understand the Scalqa''s actual strength from pictures alone.


    The alien''s physique hinted at a brutish fighting style that mostly relied on pure strength, but manaplicated everything. The Scalqa might not have proper spells, but that concentration of mana inside the muscles felt odd. It could be an inborn gift, but no one could tell how much that species had pushed it.


    Of course, Khan didn''t believe even for a second that those aliens could be stronger than him. No one was. His curiosity and knowledge simply made him consider every possibility. Funny enough, if someone could hear the insides of his mind, he would be praised for his scientific thinking.


    "It''s odd," Monica eventuallymented.


    "I''ve seen worse," Khan eximed. "Still, that concentration of mana is interesting. I wonder how the fauna is."


    "I was talking about the mission," Monica scoffed. "Don''t start with this already."


    "This what?" Khan asked.


    "You getting all curious and disappearing for an entire month with another species," Monica exined, "Only to see you return with a witch."


    "The bulky ones aren''t my type," Khan chuckled.


    "No sleeping naked with aliens this time," Monica ordered before heaving a helpless sigh. "What am I saying? This mission is all wrong."


    "Hey," Khan called, wrapping an arm around Monica''s waist to pull her closer to his chest. "It will be fine. It looks like a proper mission."


    "It makes no sense," Monica said, crossing her arms and refusing to look Khan in the eyes. "You still have scheduled lessons, and Abraham didn''t warn us about any departure. It''s too sudden."


    "That it is," Khan admitted, "But what would anyone n to do? Taking me out on a shared with the Empire?"


    "It would be easy to make you disappear there," Monica pointed out.


    "But why?" Khan wondered.


    "Khan, you have enemies," Monica sighed. "You know that."


    Khan knew Monica was right. He had actually waited for something simr to arrive. Except for the timing, the mission was almost too perfect for Khan, which increased the likelihood of it being a trap.


    As for why, Khan couldn''t know. He wasn''t even sure of what would happen on the. The nature of the potential trap was also unknown, leaving him lost.


    "I''ll be careful," Khan reassured.


    "You are never careful," Monica stated. "You''ll make a mess. You always do."


    Monica was holding back. She would usually whine, shout, and scold Khan more, but this time, the potential danger was too high. She was terrified, and the political nature of the mission made her powerless.


    "Monica," Khan called, perfectly understanding what was happening in his fianc¨¦e''s mind. Monica didn''t turn, so he reached for her legs and pulled them to him.


    Monica''s re became visible when Khan turned her toward him, and a loving smile inevitably appeared on his face. Her expression couldn''t distract him from her mana. There was only worry fueled by deep love inside her.


    "I''ll think about you every night," Khan promised, leaning forward so that his nose touched Monica''s.


    "And morning and afternoon," Monicained. "And don''t you dare die. I''d rather deal with the aftermath of you blowing the up."


    "I won''t, I won''t," Khan reassured.


    "And if your opponent turns out to be a noble," Monica continued, but a blue glow shone on her face and interrupted her line.


    "Nothing and no one will stop me from getting back to you," Khan dered, his voice carrying a chilling vibe that could make ordinary soldiers faint in fear. Yet, few things in the world were more reassuring and arousing than that for Monica. She didn''t even realize when her lips met his.

 Chapter 716 Team

    <h4>Chapter 716 Team</h4>


    716 Team


    The mission didn''t immediately start, but its preparations did. The message had listed the team members for the political envoy, and everyone gathered in the Harbor by the end of the week.


    The gathering location had nothing to do with Khan. He was still hosting lessons, but the Global Army wasn''t doing him any favor. The Harbor was the closest area to the destination and the only ce with the required interspecies clearance.


    Khan rode to the Harbor''s hangars when the embassy warned him about everyone''s arrival. It was the middle of the morning, five days after the official order, but thework remained silent about it.


    No amount of scrolling on the phone brought Khan to the news he sought. He spent the entire ride to the hangars looking for official statements or announcements, but thework had nothing. It didn''t even mention the imminent end of the lessons, which were supposed to be public knowledge.


    Khan had also expressed his doubts to Abraham, but he was as clueless as him. The scientist didn''t hear anything about his imminent departure, probably indicating that the Global Army wanted everything to be sudden. As for why, Khan had his guesses, most of which came from paranoia.


    Nevertheless, Abraham wasn''tpletely useless. His knowledge of the scientific departments had allowed him to recognize the mission''s personnel, adding information the message didn''t report. Everyone was a specialist and had no notable affiliation with Khan''s most obvious enemies.


    That was both good and bad. The presence of proper and affirmed specialists highlighted the mission''s seriousness. The Global Army appeared ready to spare no expense to seed in the first contact with the Scalqa, which reassured Khan. It wouldn''t make sense to deploy such experts just to trick him.


    At the same time, Khan had proven his worth time and time again. He had survived and triumphed over untold and unfathomable crises. If the Global Army wanted to set a trap, it would have to use and sacrifice experts of that caliber.


    The pickle wasn''t solvable by thoughts alone, so Khan decided to suspend his paranoia until he had gotten a good look at his team. He trusted the knowledge achieved after years of political games, but his senses remained more reliable. He wouldn''t mind making the specialists faint to uncover their secrets.


    The cabnded in the Harbor''s hangars, and a team of soldiers weed Khan before escorting him into more ssified areas. The public wasn''t aware of the imminent mission, so all the preparations happened inside isted docks.


    No words flew while Khan followed the soldiers through the many corridors between hangars. That maze ofbs, teleports, and passages had long since be familiar to him, but his destination managed to hold a few surprises.


    Khan arrived in a slightly small but packed hangar. Boxes and machines lined the walls, and multiple soldiers attended to them, creating a cramped vibe.


    The number of boxes and machines seemed overkill for a single mission handled by a small team, but the ship towering at the hangar''s center told a different story. Khan recognized that model, but his stern expression tried to falter anyway.


    The grey vehicle had three sections: A huge, rectangr central part with a half-spherical canopy and two smaller, cylindrical units. Thetter were connected to the main ship through narrow, rectangr bridges, and their detachable function allowed them to turn into scouting shuttles.


    Each section had a pair of engines, with the central part having three. Antennas and other tools also stretched from the ship''s smooth gray surface, hinting at the many functions it could perform.


    ''They are really serious about this,'' Khan couldn''t help but think.


    The ship''s quality, the team''s size, and the boxes'' high number told Khan aplete story. The vehicle could hold up to twenty soldiers, but the political envoy would only have six with Khan. The equipment and supplies would fill the rest of the space, so the Global Army believed the mission would be long.


    That was hardly surprising considering the mission''s nature, but Khan believed the Global Army had overdone it. Baoway was bound to have natural resources, and the n was to settle there anyway. Preparing the ship for months of survival in orbit didn''t make much sense.


    The paranoia kicked in. Khan could take that as a good sign since the Global Army wouldn''t invest so much into a mere trap. However, the opposite was also true. Everything had to be highly realistic to trick Khan.


    Those doubts had no end or solution, so Khan didn''t linger on them. He absorbed everything about the area in a matter of seconds before striding forward. The soldiers in the hangar stopped left and right to perform military salutes, but Khan only looked at the ship.


    The ship had two vast side doors, which were both lifted to allow the loading process. Voices and other noises also came out of them, with some exuding anger. Khan didn''t mind them, but his escort team looked troubled.


    The escort team split into two rows to create a passage for Khan, and one of the soldiers even jumped inside the ship. The action didn''t cause any reaction, but the following announcement did.


    "Major on deck!" The soldier shouted, performing a military salute as soon as his feet touched the ship''s floor.


    One round of thudding noises unfolded before silence reigned. The angry voices disappeared, leaving only stillness behind. Tension leaked into the symphony, and that feeling thickened when Khan climbed into the ship.


    Khan nced around him. He was in the ship''s cargo area, which the soldiers had converted into ab. A few machines were also turned on, emitting blue light that suggested ongoing software, but Khan focused mainly on the people around him.


    It was easy to differentiate between soldiers and specialists. Khan could probably just rely on his nose for that. It wasn''t just a matter of excluding the sweaty workers from the group. The vibes leaked by their auras were enough to highlight his future teammates.


    Khan nced to his right, past the sweaty soldier beside a rectangr box. Two young men were performing military salutes, and traces of anger still lingered around their figures.


    Khan then nced to his left. A young woman was standing before the wall, also performing a military salute. Ayer of cheerfulness enveloped her, but the sharpness of her aura remained palpable. She was no clueless kid on her first mission.


    Another woman stood farther away, this one seemingly pushing forty. Sternness floated around her, and her brown eyes radiated wisdom. She knew exactly what Khan was doing, so she was wearing her best military salute.


    Lastly, a man in his thirties stood before the door to the ship''s front area. He shared the middle-aged woman''s seriousness, but his eyes also carried some curiosity. Still, his inspection didn''t make him forget his military salute.


    All in all, the group looked more than decent. The two young men were second-level warriors, but their role had nothing to do with the battlefield. The young woman was a third-level warrior, and the remaining two members were in the fourth level. That was a good set-up, especially with the addition of Khan.


    ''I can''t sense anything odd,'' Khan concluded, but his doubts remained. Yet, he temporarily put them aside to move to the next task.


    "Introduce yourselves," Khan ordered, nodding at the two young men. "The researchers first."


    "Marcus Tairnu, sir," The tanned, brown-haired man announced. "My specialization includes all the research-rted software we''ll use in the mission. I can modify the programming of scanners and ship''sputers alike."


    "K-Kirk Holger, sir," The blondish, skinny man followed. "I''ll deal with any hardware issue, ship included."


    Khan then nodded at the young woman, and her cheerful voice soon filled the area. "Amy Padridge, scout. Although I won''t im to be as good as you, sir."


    Thepliment didn''t distract Khan from the task, and the middle-aged woman spoke as soon as he looked at her. "Celeste Pakenwell, xenolinguistics. It''s a pleasure to meet you, Major."


    Thest man began speaking even before Khan nced at him. "Randall Perelli, alien species specialist and team leader, sir."


    Khan''s eyes lingered on Randall longer than the others. The man had dark skin, and his military uniform hid a lean body. He wasn''t muscr, but Khan couldn''t deem him weak either. He looked pretty capable, but Khan couldn''t consider him his match.


    Randall couldn''t see the world reflected in Khan''s eyes, so the longer inspection put him on the spot. Tension expanded in his mind as his thoughts raced to find something wrong with his previous statement, and only one detail popped out.


    "Of course," Randall promptly continued, "If you wish to be the team leader, sir, no one would object."


    "I have no interest in leadership," Khan responded, diverting his gaze. "I''ll focus on the Scalqa and share what I discover." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan''s few words had been enough to erect a wall between his teammates and him. Clearly, he had no interest in friendly cooperation, but the scout didn''t seem to care.


    "Sir, sir," Amy chirped, breaking her military salute to lean forward. "The Global Army provided a lot of booze. What do you say we have a toast to break the ice?"


    Amy''s intentions felt pure and founded on the best intentions, but Khan was in no mood to make new friends. He was so wary about the potential trap that a chilling vibe invaded his following words.


    "Put me up to speed," Khan ignored the request. "The toasts won''t happen until I trust you."

 Chapter 717 Ship

    <h4>Chapter 717 Ship</h4>


    Khan knew the short introduction had left out many details. The team members had only described the specializations rted to the mission, but their expertise stretched past them.


    Marcus had made a name for himself in the software field. Although he didn''t invent anything new, his programming skills allowed him to improve multiple established tools, from simple scanners to high-levelputing machines. Everyone believed his future would be bright, especially given his young age.


    Kirk was even better than Marcus. He was the archetype of theb rat who understood machines more than people. He could fix, improve, and even directly build most tech-rted items, making him a jack-of-all-trades with no real drawback.


    Amy was no different. Her cheerful vibe, silk-like blonde hair, porcin skin, and harmonious figure made her appear like a na?ve Princess with no ce on the battlefield. However, her profile told a different story.


    The young woman had gotten her hands dirty multiple times, joining various missions in potentially dangerous environments and with different teams. Her expertise covered the flora and fauna of many aliens, and all her former teammates vouched for her good instincts. She had talent, knowledge, and experience, making her a perfect scout.


    Celeste was also well-known in her field. The woman had her hands on almost everything rted to aliennguages. Even the Global Army didn''t know how many of them she could speak and read, and her experience had helped fix mistrantions and other issues connected to the field.


    As for Randall, he was the closest thing to an Ambassador. His education had been perfect, going through all the official channels and schools to achieve the right qualifications. He had also assisted multiple political envoys and learned from established figures. His social array was immense, too. The difference between Ambassador Abores and him was in the experience and title.


    The team looked exceptional, even too exceptional. Except for Celeste, everyone was a bit too young to have achieved so much, but their background exined that point.


    Marcus, Kirk, Randall, and Amy came from good families, and Khan had even met descendants from three of them. Specifically, Amy''s family had a long history in Ambassador-rted fields. Lieutenant Ethan Padridge, the investigator who had joined Khan in Reebfell''s Slums, had achieved his position at a simrly young age, making Amy the norm rather than the exception.


    The others didn''t have such famous backgrounds, but their wealth and social positions provided enough advantages to make their achievements reasonable. They had worked hard enough to bemendable, but their opportunities still came from their families.


    Of course, Khan wouldn''t belittle his teammates based on their backgrounds. He had met too many capable descendants in the Harbor to underestimate those figures. The fact that their lives had been easier didn''t speak for their capabilities. Those opportunities could often create more capable soldiers, and hispanions seemed to exemplify that.


    Nevertheless, the wealthy and socially established background enhanced Khan''s paranoia. Each team member could have ess to his enemies, both through their families and fame. As far as Khan knew, he could be surrounded by enemies.


    Still, Khan''s senses didn''t pick up any hostile feelings, allowing him to focus on the task at hand. He had skipped most of the loading part, and Randall took it upon himself to put him up to speed.


    "Our young researchers had just finishedining," Randall announced, rushing to Khan''s side and pointing at Marcus and Kirk. "Most of this equipment is under their care."


    "I won''t take responsibility for any damage suffered during loading," Marcusmented before deciding to add something for Khan. "We''ll test everything before the set-off, isn''t that right, Kirk?"


    "Multiple rounds of tests are mandatory before the set-off," Kirk said, his head lowered on the nearby console.


    Marcus cleared his throat and showed Khan and Randall a helpless smile. Thework reported Kirk''sck of social skills, and the interaction confirmed the information. Some awkwardness spread in the area, but Khan didn''t mind it. He didn''t need Kirk to make conversation anyway.


    "Is all of this yours?" Khan wondered, inspecting the many boxes lying behind and around the scientists.


    "Most of these are toys, sir," Marcus eximed, crouching toward one of the boxes. "Orbital scanners, flying scanners, ground scanners. We also have a lot of spare parts for all our equipment."


    The chances of something breaking on its own were basically null, but that didn''t stop the Global Army from filling the ship with all kinds of situational equipment. The two researchers had yet to check it, and Khan didn''t envy their position after estimating how long it would take to catalog everything. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "What else?" Khan asked.


    "We put the supplies down there," Randall pitched in, pointing at the back of the cargo area. He then moved forward, his eyes darting down and forward to avoid stepping on any boxes.


    Khan followed Randall, but his gaze never moved. He didn''t even look like he was paying attention, but his feet never hit the boxes. His casual stroll actually exuded confidence.


    Marcus, Celeste, and Amy noticed that detail. Khan felt their eyes on his back but ignored them. He wasn''t trying to prove anything or show off. That was as simple as breathing to him.


    Khan had to slow down to avoid bumping into Randall, and thetter showed a surprised expression when he turned and found him right behind him. Still, the teammates in the background wore simr faces, telling Randall he wasn''t alone in that reaction.


    "These," Randall uttered, quickly recovering and running his hand over the nearby boxes, "Are supplies. It''s not tasty food, but your stomach won''tin."


    Randall opened one of the boxes to show its contents. Pills, juices, and other kinds of food appeared in the open. Those supplies were meant to save space while maximizing nutrition, and Khan couldn''t find anything wrong with them.


    "The door?" Khan wondered, ncing at the passage behind the supplies.


    "It''s for weapons," Randall exined, moving some boxes aside to open the door. Another cargo area with a handful of metal containers became visible, and Randall didn''t hesitate to lead Khan inside.


    "All the containers are locked behind gic signature," Randall revealed, pressing on one of the chests to open it. "Even if we abandon ship, the Scalqa won''t get anything."


    The chest opened, showing a series of guns orderly piled on next to cases of ammo. Khan counted twelve of them, and doubts inevitably surged into his mind.


    "Why so many weapons?" Khan questioned, running his eyes over the remaining containers. Even if they had fewer weapons, they remained too many for a team of six.


    "A lot can go south in these missions," Randall sighed. "Besides, we might be able to trade them with the Scalqa."


    Exporting guns to earn points with a primitive species wasn''t amon practice, but the Scalqa appeared quite battle-


    oriented. They might appreciate superior weapons if the rtionship with humankind ever allowed a proper demonstration of their firepower.


    Khan nced at the back of the area before closing the chest. He even checked whether his gic signature worked before locking the container again. Randall noticed the gesture and offered reassuring words.


    "These mags are under three different istingyers," Randall stated, "In case you were worried-."


    "I wasn''t," Khan cut Randall short. That room was right ahead of the engines and tank, so the magazines containing mana could create dangerous interferences. Yet, Khan couldn''t sense anything, which confirmed the perfect istion and safety of the containers.


    "What''s next?" Khan asked to elerate the procedure.


    "Living quarters and main deck," Randall replied. "This way, Major."


    The two made their way through the mess of boxes again to reach the other side of the ship. Amy and Celeste joined them at that time, leaving the two researchers behind.


    The living quarters were narrow, which was the norm for those kinds of ships. The room past the cargo area had miniature ts consisting of encased beds and miniature bathrooms. Thetter also worked as showers, saving as much space as possible.


    Instead, the main deck was rtively spacious. Its entrance faced a vast interactive desk, and three seats stood before it. Two were for the pilot and co-pilot, while thest handled the ship''s various scanners.


    "The four of us have the pilot''s license," Randall revealed, "So taking breaks won''t be a problem. If you wish, sir, we can decide the turns now."


    "Major," Amy called. "May I have the honor of being your co-


    pilot?"


    "The turns won''t be necessary," Khan responded. "I''d rather start cataloging everything. I want to review each item on this ship."


    "Of course," Randall nodded. "We''ll all be present during the final briefing. It''s mandatory. However-."


    Khan stepped forward before Randall could finish his line. Yet, his gesture wasn''t abrupt and had no additional meaning. Khan simply wanted to inspect the area.


    "However," Randall continued when he understood that Khan was still listening to him, "I''m afraid you''ll have to ask for additional authorization to pilot this ship, sir. Until then, we can alternate."


    "You misunderstand," Khan dered without bothering to turn. "I''ll be the only pilot."

 Chapter 718 Teamwork

    <h4>Chapter 718 Teamwork</h4>


    Khan''s statement left no room for discussions. He wasn''t giving an opinion or an order. He had said what would happen, and his teammates didn''t know how to reply. They remained silent, watching him inspect the main deck.


    The ship was a bit too big andplicated for Khan''s training, but he recognized mostmands. Turning on the pilot''s menus and skimming through them gave him a basic rundown of its functions. With enough time to prepare, he could quickly adapt, and the loading state would grant that.


    As for the Global Army, those worries never crossed Khan''s mind. The regtions might go against him, but no one would dare to step up to stop him. Even his teammates couldn''t find the strength or will to refuse him.


    Of course, Khan knew his behavior was arrogant and upromising. He was almost doing everything in his power to sour the potential rtionships with his teammates, going against the purpose of havingpanions in the first ce.


    Things were also harsher for Randall. He was supposed to be the team leader, but Khan didn''t mind his words at all. Khan acted as his superior, building walls around him while spouting ultimatums. In that situation, he was no different from a spoiled descendant.


    However, Khan had his reasons. He was also unable to exin them, leading to that misunderstood behavior. He could only do his best to secure his position, and being the only pilot would greatly help in that field.


    The different rolespartmentalized most duties, smoothing out the team''s functions while also creating unawareness. For example, Kirk wouldn''t and didn''t need to know Celeste''s progress in her job, and the same went for the other teammates.


    Randall was the only exception since he was the team leader, but Khan didn''t want the additional responsibility and in-fighting. Inspecting things from the outside also granted a clearer view, so he preferred to remain a simple specialist.


    Nevertheless, Khan couldn''t afford to bepletely ignorant about the team''s actions, and being the sole pilot could fix that. He would assume a key role necessary for almost every task and gain ess to the ship''s records, making it impossible to hide information from him.


    Randall and the others didn''t understand nor imagine Khan''s intricate reasons but couldn''t object to his demands either. No matter how arrogantly Khan behaved, his fame preceded him. He was a celebrity with all the right social connections and achievements, and things didn''t end there.


    The mission was happening thanks to Khan. At least, the Global Army was pushing that narrative. The Thilku trusted him, so they granted humankind priority over Baoway. If Khan were to back out for any reason, entire interspecies deals might have to be renegotiated.


    Those kinds of missions didn''t happen often either, so every specialist in the political envoy wanted it to go forth and seed. Their careers could benefit too much to let their pride or annoyance get in the way.


    Khan ignored the main deck''s silence and the eyes that followed him to familiarize himself with the variousmands. Yet, that peace ended up being short since Marcus barged into the area with an announcement.


    "Madam Pakenwell," Marcus called. "Kirk finished booting theputer. Your software should be online."


    "Thank you, Marcus," Celeste replied, "But call me Celeste from now on."


    "I''ll try, Ma''am," Marcus said, lowering his head in respect before pointing at the deck''s interactive desk. "You can ess it from there." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Let''s try it out," Celeste eximed, approaching the interactive desk and turning it on.


    The announcement inevitably attracted Khan''s attention, and he joined Amy and Randall behind the interactive desk to check Celeste''s work. Holograms rose into the air, asionally flickering, but eachbel remained stable enough to allow Celeste to find her file.


    "The instability is an energy issue," Marcus reassured from the main deck''s entrance. "It won''t be present once the ship''s tank is full and operational."


    "Don''t worry," Celeste responded. "No one is questioning your work."


    Marcus grinned before recalling where he was. Khan and the others were focused on the holograms, but Marcus still tried his best to retain a serious face. He was among big shots, and his feats paledpared to most of them.


    The symphony updated Khan on every emotional swing, and witnessing the interaction tickled his curiosity. He knew Celeste was affirmed in her field, but her name seemed more respected than he expected.


    Khan''s expression never flinched nor moved, so no one understood the contents of his mind. Everyone continued to watch Celeste browse through the flickering holograms, and her software eventually filled them.


    A short list of words appeared on the leftmost part of the holograms, and possible exnations upied the columns on the right. Khan only needed a look to understand what he was looking at, and his brow tried to furrow.


    The software listed a series of Scalqa words the Global Army had probably recorded during the previous trips. The holograms showed less than forty, which was reasonable due to how short those visits had been, but Khan focused on different issues.


    Words weren''t an urate description of the list''s contents. Khan saw human letters meant to replicate what the scanners had picked up, but everything was too short. ording to the software, the Scalqa used sybles rather than proper words, and most seemed to replicate primitive grunts and cries.


    ''Troublesome,'' Khan couldn''t help but think before his curiosity took over. "Do we have voice recordings?"


    "They aren''t the clearest," Celeste admitted. "The first teams ran everything through a different software toe up with these words, but the original files are here."


    Khan nodded, but his expectations remained low. Picking up on the Scalqa''s intentions would be challenging even with clear recordings, especially if theirnguage was a mess of short sounds with no proper grammar.


    "What do you think about this, Major?" Celeste asked, running her finger over the list of recorded Scalqa words.


    The question snapped Khan out of his thoughts, and his expression didn''t stay still now. His piercing eyes went on Celeste, digging through her skin to find a way into her skull. Her intentions were obvious. She was testing him, but the reason was unclear.


    During Khan''s inspection, Celeste retained a calm face, but her mana told a different story. Although they were both in the fourth level, only one was a seasoned warrior, and only one was the monster of the battlefield. Celeste had to summon all of her cool to avoid sweating on the spot.


    "I should be the one asking that question," Khanmented. Celeste was the xenolinguistic expert, so it was her role to fill in those deployed on the field.


    "Teamwork is key to the sess of this mission," Celeste exined, her coolness hanging by a thread. "Our expertise oveps, so sharing opinions might help us both."


    Khan couldn''t help but take another look at Celeste. Her modest appearance was highlighted by her tied brown hair in that public context. She was slim but out of shape. Celeste probably didn''t fight or use spells in years, yet she still stood up to Khan.


    Celeste''s words were also a clear jab at Khan''s behavior. She wasn''t insulting him but still wanted him to cooperate with the team. Her request was far from unreasonable, but Khan remained hesitant.


    Nevertheless, the public nature of the conversation allowed a third yer to step in. Amy''s gaze went sharp for a second before retrieving its na?ve vibe and apanying a few words.


    "That''s a good idea," Amy eximed. "I already shared my opinion with Celeste. Do you want to hear it, too, Major?"


    Khan''s and Celeste''s attention inevitably fell on Amy, and the former nodded to authorize the following exnation.


    "The simplistic and seemingly random words hint at a primitive form ofnguage," Amy dered. "The Scalqa probably didn''t develop any grammar or streamlined dictionary. They rely on association by sound rather than meaning."


    The hypothesis was sound, and history supported it. The Global Army had encountered other primitive species, and its alien allies had shared knowledge in the field. The Scalqa words could be short simply because they referred to sounds.


    Still, Khan struggled to jump to conclusions. The mana made everything moreplicated. It could transmit fully-fledged emotions through short and meaningless cries, and the Scalqa had it.


    "Do you disagree, Major?" Celeste questioned, noticing that Khan had fallen into his thoughts.


    "No," Khan said, half-sighing. "Notpletely."


    The curiosity inside Khan intensified. He liked the topic, and having worthy experts to discuss it with was rare. He could feel words umting in his throat, and his best efforts could only try to dy them.


    "A poor vocabry doesn''t necessarily mean primitivenguage," Khan exined. "It''s the same with technology. The Scalqa might be behind in those fields simply because they have better options. It wouldn''t be the first time I saw that."


    The Niqols had ess to technology, but their roots came from natural environments. The Nele were surrounded by man-made metal but mostly relied on mana. The Nak imbued their voice with feelings, making propernguage superfluous. Alternatives existed, and Khan had witnessed them multiple times.


    Celeste appeared pleased by the exnation. A faint smile broadened on her face as if acknowledging Khan as a fellow expert, and Amy couldn''t refrain from adding something.


    "Wow," Amy gasped. "You are the real deal, Major. No wonder every scout looks up to you."

 Chapter 719 Basic truth

    <h4>Chapter 719 Basic truth</h4>


    "That''s new," Khanmented. While he had fans who were very vocal about their admiration for him, those rumors had nevere from specific factions.


    Khan didn''t add details to his statement, but Amy saw right through him, and her response addressed his doubts. "Your career is quite inspiring, Major. You went from scout to Ambassador in less than a year. That''s every scout''s goal."


    Khan couldn''t help but grow warier. Amy''s insight into Khan''s situation vouched for her instincts, confirming the rumors around her. She didn''t need to stop and think to understand Khan''s situation. She had immediately delivered the right reply without needing additional exnations.


    Moreover, Amy''s reply disclosed details Khan was unaware of. Yet, they made sense when he thought about it. Scouts were famously inferior to Ambassadors, and many struggled their entire lives only to fail to jump into that superior field. Instead, Khan had seeded in no time, even if the official title was still missing.


    The additional fame was justified, but the revtion created new worries. Khan knew preventing rumors was a hopeless endeavor, but they sounded more detailed than he expected and also involved specialized fields. The word "ssified" seemed meaningless in the Global Army.


    That wasn''t the end of it. Khan nced past the main deck, looking at the cargo area and the soldiers roaming through it. The mission on Baoway was supposedly ssified, but Khan could count dozens of potential leaks.


    Amy read Khan''s mind once again. She didn''t even examine the cargo area before addressing Khan''s concerns. "The Global Army is enforcing a strict policy on this mission. Even the private businesses won''t share any information until official authorizations arrive."


    The news was surprising and odd. The Global Army had the authority to control the flow of information, especially regarding interspecies issues. However, they didn''t enforce it when Khan reced Ambassador Abores.


    Moreover, Khan could immediately find problems with it. The strict policy would prevent many parties from receiving updates about Baoway''s mission, leaving Khan without allies if something were to happen.


    Khan''s thoughts elerated, reviewing that conflicting situation in a few seconds. There was no fixed pattern in the flow of information. It could be public knowledge or remain hidden depending on the Global Army''s leaders'' whims, and Khan couldn''t let them have all the power.


    If something truly were to happen on Baoway, Khan needed a lifeline, a backup n that could interfere with any trap. Still, the list of allies strong enough to go against his potential enemies was short.


    After short pondering, Khan could only think of three names. Rick''s faction might help, the Solodrey family would be on his side, and Hyper-Privacy could spread specific information to useful parties if everything fell apart.


    Of course, those allies would be useless if the nobles intervened, but that was the worst-case scenario. Ambassador Abores'' allies, the criminal organizations, and other inferior parties would be manageable if Khan nned ordingly.


    "Baoway sounds pretty hot," Khanmented, making a mental note to contact his three allies. "Too hot for a simple interspecies mission."


    Khan''sment left no room for interpretation. Everyone understood what he truly meant. The Global Army''s strict policy, experienced team, and outstanding gear were too much for a species wielding wooden spears and slings. There seemed to be something bigger at y.


    "First contacts are often like this," Celeste exined. "Our priority over the Thilku Empire is also to me. The Global Army needs this mission to be a clear sess." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Am I overthinking this?'' Khan wondered after his senses confirmed Celeste''s trust in her exnation.


    Khan had been on the other side of those matters. For example, the public learned about Nitis'' events only when the Global Army gave its approval. Khan also recalled his time as a simple soldier when gathering ssified information was straight-up impossible. That was one of the reasons why he had focused on his career in the end.


    ''Am I being too paranoid?'' Khan thought but couldn''t find reliable answers. It was hard to understand when his paranoia went too far, and only time could prove him right or wrong. Until then, he had to rely on Monica for a second opinion.


    Being clueless was annoying. Thest period had been a mess of conflicting information and events, and Khan didn''t know where to find clear answers. Preparing for everything was his only option, but his patience was running dry. He preferred facing danger head-on rather than waiting for unknown threats to arrive.


    The team''s apparent earnestness only aggravated that problem. Khan''s senses couldn''t find any fault in hispanions. They appeared like proper specialists with nothing but the mission in mind, leaving Khan clueless about where the dangery. He couldn''t even confirm whether it existed in the first ce.


    "Major," Randall eventually called, distracting Khan from his short pondering. "I took the liberty of drawing a basic strategy, but everything is flexible. I wanted the loading process to be more advanced before calling a meeting, but you can take a look at it beforehand."


    The offer piqued Khan''s curiosity, and he let it show on his face, which made Randall smile. The man seemed pleased about that interest and didn''t hesitate to point at one of the consoles near the pilot''s seats.


    Khan followed Randall, who tinkered with the console''s menus to open a small file. A short but detailed schedule popped into the air, allowing both men to review it.


    "Did you use historical records to write it?" Khan asked after skimming through the schedule.


    "Yes, sir," Randall confirmed. "I received special clearance for this mission, so I studied as much as the Global Army had to offer."


    Khan could only nod. As part of his catch-up process with Ambassador Abores'' preparation, he also gained ess to and studied those subjects. That knowledge told him that Randall had done an excellent job.


    The standard first-contact approach consisted of no physical interactions. Initially, the political envoy only had to settle on the without disturbing anyone''s domain while still notifying the aliens about its presence.


    The second step consisted mostly of gifts. The political envoy would periodically leave goods, ideally food, where the aliens could find them. That could continue for a while, and the aliens'' reaction would determine the next move.


    Apparently, the first step had already happened, although only partially. The Scalqa had noticed the human presence during the previous short trips. The event had been without interactions butplicated things nheless.


    For that exact reason, Randall had nned a slight show of force. He nned tond the ship close enough to allow the Scalqa to witness the event. He didn''t want the aliens to see it as a threat but still desired to show humankind''s technological prowess.


    The idea was to warn the Scalqa about the difference in power to achieve peaceful cohabitation, which was more than sound. However, it was also a gamble since it took the aliens'' fear of the ship for granted.


    ''It''s risky,'' Khan thought.


    Based solely on the pictures and scarce reports, Khan guessed that the Scalqa were a battle race simr to the Ef''i. He could be wrong, but the primitive weapons and those huge muscles were two big hints he couldn''t ignore.


    Showing superior technological prowess to a battle race could be the right move, but only if they recognized that equipment. The Scalqa could very well ignore the ship''s intrinsic meaning and opt for a frontal assault.


    "The Scalqa are split into tribes, right?" Khan questioned.


    "From what the first explorers could gather," Randall confirmed. "It''s unclear how, how often, and if theymunicate with each other."


    "It will be fine then," Khan stated. "If the first tribe chooses war, we can always move to the next."


    "Do you expect resistance, sir?" Randall asked.


    "We are invaders," Khan dered. "I expect them to treat us as such."


    The main deck area was spacious but not spacious enough to hide Khan''s words. Celeste, Amy, and even Marcus heard him, and a sense of seriousness inevitably spread.


    "Major," Celeste called, lifting her eyes from the holograms. "I epted the invitation due to the peaceful nature of the mission. I have no intentions of witnessing a bloodbath."


    "Fleeing at the first sight of enmity would show weakness," Khanmented. "Once that idea is rooted into the Scalqa, it will be harder to interact on equal terms."


    Randall, Celeste, and Amy noticed that Khan''s behavior had grown softer. Although a strange intensity still surrounded him, his curiosity made him more cooperative. He couldn''t help but enjoy discussing the topic with fellow experts.


    "I thought you would have suggested a third option," Celeste continued, "Considering your history."


    "Are you using me of being partial toward alien species?" Khan questioned, his tone aggravating the widespread tension.


    Khan pointed his eyes at Celeste, and thetter shuddered. Still, she did her best to remain straight before uttering a single line. "I hoped as much."


    The tension became palpable. Randall held back a gulp, Marcus felt frozen on the spot, and Amy''s eyes darted left and right as she inspected the twobatants. Celeste was openly challenging Khan, and that wasn''t even her first time.


    "That will depend," Khan said, surprising the audience with his calm tone. "I also hope meeting me will be enough to make them lower their weapons."


    Frowns spread through the area, with Amy being the only exception. That was the most arrogant thing Khan had said since his arrival in the hangar, but his tone had changed. He didn''t mean it as a threat, and his tone carried no pride. He had made it sound like the most basic truth of the universe.

 Chapter 720 Meeting

    <h4>Chapter 720 Meeting</h4>


    Khan''s arrogant behavior could leave a bad taste in hispanions'' mouths, which it did in the previous instances. However, thest statement carried something different that hit the audience in their deepest instincts.


    The idea that a single man could subdue an entire tribe with his mere presence was simply unreal, especially from a human perspective. Humans didn''t think through their senses, so even considering that oue bordered madness.


    Nevertheless, Khan was unique in ways the audience couldn''t help but acknowledge. His steps were graceful and light, almost non-existent, but Celeste and the others heard them in their chests. His attention often wandered to the ship''s attractions, but his intense gaze seemed always wary of them.


    Moreover, a strange vibe apanied Khan, surrounding his figure and expanding whenever it suited him. It was as if he owned a different kind of energy, something very real in the audience''s eyes but also invisible.


    That vibe triggered something inside the audience. A primordial instinct awakened, warning Celeste and the others about a shocking truth. The idea was unreal and impossible, but Khan could be the exception to the rule.


    The stuporsted a few seconds, but the audience found nothing to say when they recovered. Khan had merely voiced his opinion, but the actual n had yet to take form. The specialists would have to discuss it together, and it was too early for that.


    Khan didn''t show any interest in continuing to argue with Celeste either. He didn''t seem to mind her open challenges as he calmly resumed studying Randall''s improvised schedule. He had said his piece and his interest had moved elsewhere now.


    That stance felt like an authorization to resume the different duties, and the specialists did precisely that, albeit with some initial hesitation. Marcus rejoined Kirk, Celeste continued reviewing her software, Amy upied one of the consoles, and Randall checked various functions in different parts of the ship.


    As for Khan, he inspected Randall''s open schedule for a while before upying the pilot''s seat. The mission was still in its initial stages, and he had to use that free time to acquaint himself with the ship''smands. Group activities would follow once everything was ready, and he couldn''t afford to miss them.


    The loading processsted multiple days. The Global Army wanted the ship to be packed and obtained exactly that. Afterward, the team gathered to inventory every item, and their sheer quantity shocked those who had been partially absent due to different duties.


    Khan was one of them. His lessons were still ongoing, so he couldn''t always be in the hangar. Yet, the thorough inventory filled every gap and forced him to take notes to remember its results.


    The issue was more than just a matter of quantity. The items'' variety was also shocking. They could go from provisions to weapons, scanners to spare parts, software to hardware. The ship had everything the team might ever need and more, which could help in eventual trades with the Scalqa.


    The inventory wasn''t thest step before the mission, but it came close. Each teammate, including Khan, still had a lot to set up, but reaching that point in the preparations made another task mandatory.


    The n for Baoway had yet to take shape, and now was the time to devise it. Depending on the strategy, the team might need additional and specific equipment, and that decision had to arrive before it was toote for the Global Army to act.


    The ideal ce for such an important meeting would usually be the embassy or the hangar with the ship itself after kicking out random soldiers. As much as the Global Army had enforced a strict policy, taking precautions didn''t hurt. It was better to keep certain matters private, so political buildings were preferred.


    Yet, the Harbor was Khan''s home. The mission involved the embassy''s offices, but the Headmistress'' authority still held some value. Khan had also earned many points with his lessons, so his request went through.


    The idea didn''te from Khan. He didn''t want to mix his job with his private life, especially with the danger it could bring. Still, he needed a second opinion, and Monica was his most trusted confidant.


    When the weekend started and the lessons ended, Khan and the rest of the political envoy gathered in the second district and headed into his building. The elevator was spacious enough, and a familiar, elegant expression weed them once the doors opened.


    ''That''s a rare sight nowadays,'' Khan thought, seeing Monica dolled up and donning her public persona.


    Monica performed an elegant bow, lifting the corners of her pink jumper dress and revealing the heeled ck boots that reached her knees. Although it was a rtively casual outfit, Monica made it appear far from ordinary.


    Khan was the first to leave the elevator. He stepped forward, reaching Monica''s side before turning toward his guests. He avoided the polite greetings, but one announcement remained mandatory.


    "I believe you have all heard about my fianc¨¦e," Khan announced, cing a hand on Monica''s lower back. "Monica, these are my teammates."


    "Pleasure to meet you," Monica followed. "Thank you foring. It''s reassuring to meet you all before Khan''s departure."


    "The pleasure is ours," Randall said, taking the lead and leaving the elevator. The others followed him, forming a line before the couple.


    "We didn''t expect this invitation, Miss Solodrey," Celeste added. "Do we have you to thank for taming the Major?"


    "Oh, he tamed me," Monica giggled. "Although, he does spoil me. Inviting you here is part of that."


    "How caring," Celestemented, amused by the look Khan gave at Monica. Some sweetness had tainted his usually stern and intense expression, showing a different side of him.


    "I have already arranged the living room," Khan uttered, half-turning to open the path past the elevator room. "Please."


    Randall was once again the first to move, and hispanions followed. The group walked past the couple toward the spacious couches and interactive desks. Yet, Monica''s hand snapped forward when Amy was within her reach.


    The gesture was smooth and quick, but everyone noticed it. Monica had grabbed Amy''s elbow, and the group stopped to inspect the scene. Some questioning nces fell on Khan, but he ignored them. He would usually roll his eyes orugh, but the situation didn''t allow him.


    "Miss Padridge," Monica called, a bright smile stered on her face. "I hope your interest in my fianc¨¦ is purely professional. Families have disappeared for far less."


    Monica''s elegant fa?ade never faltered, but everyone understood the threating from her lips. They didn''t expect such an elegant and charming figure to utter those chilling words, but their ears didn''t lie.


    Truth be told, Randall and the others could understand where Monica wasing from. Amy''s behavior had never crossed the line, but her interest in Khan was evident. Her teammates had simply turned a blind eye to it. After all, affairs weremon during long and distant missions, and ignoring them was the best way to preserve cooperation.


    Amy and Khan were also quite suitable for each other. They had simr specializations and worked in the same field. Their good looks would even make them an enviable couple. No one had said anything, but mental bets had already happened inside the teammates'' brains.


    The general attention fell on Amy. She had proven herself capable of handling social issues, but Monica was a different beast. She had nothing to do with the mission, and her family wielded true power inside the Global Army.


    "It is," Amy swore, leaning forward to whisper something everyone could hear. "By the way, I love your boots."


    Slight surprise invaded Monica''s expression, but she promptly killed it. Amy had remained calm under that tant threat, vouching for her guts, and herment had also hit one of Monica''s weak spots.


    Monica snorted but let go of Amy''s elbow, and thetter lowered her head in respect before resuming moving. The rest of the team didn''t hinder her way and also flowed into the living room to begin the meeting, leaving the couple behind.


    "Don''t tell me you like her now," Khan teased once privacy arrived.


    "Never," Monica snorted again, lifting her right foot to show one boot, "But they are nice, aren''t they?"


    "They are," Khan reassured, leaning to his side to leave a kiss on Monica''s head. "I''ll join the others now."


    "Hey," Monica said, grabbing Khan''s arm before it could leave her back. "My mother called. She wants more details."


    Khan didn''t just study the ship''s functions in the past days. He had also contacted his three allies, alerting them about his possible need for help. Still, unlike Rick and Hyper-Privacy, Anastasia felt entitled to ask more questions.


    "There aren''t any," Khan sighed. "Can I leave her to you?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Only if you make it up to me," Monica yfully bargained.


    "Behave," Khan chuckled before reaching for Monica''s lips. "I''ll see you in a bit."


    "I can''t wait to spy on you," Monica giggled. "That''s every girlfriend''s dream."


    Khan shook his head, but a smile remained on his face. He would usually flirt with Monica a bit longer, but his guests had already taken their seats. Monica also understood his duties, so the two separated and entered the living room.


    "I''ll take my leave now," Monica announced, approaching one of the t''s corridors. "Enjoy your stay."


    Randall and the others stood up out of respect and returned to the couches once the corridor''s door closed. At that point, only the political envoy remained, and the meeting began as soon as Khan provided everyone with booze.


    The group didn''t toast or mention the topic. The matter at hand was too serious to waste time earning Khan''s favor, so the specialists went straight to the point.


    The specialists used Randall''s basic schedule as a guideline and threw different opinions, highlighting advantages and waiting for theirpanions to underline eventual problems. Luckily, the individual ideologies never showed their presence, allowing the team to focus solely on increasing the mission''s chances of sess.


    Khan kept his opinions to himself, limiting himself to pointing out each suggestion''s advantages and disadvantages. Amy remained silent, as her voice was superfluous in Khan''s presence. As for Kirk and Marcus, they added their input only to confirm or deny the feasibility of the various ns.


    After a while, the team remained divided into two opposite approaches. Randall wanted to prioritize a show of force, while Celeste believed following the historical examples would lead to better rtionships.


    Both sides had meaningful advantages and ws, so the group never moved toward either. The risks were unavoidable, so everything came down to preference.


    "Major," Randall said once it became clear the stalemate was unsolvable. "Do you have more proactive suggestions? I believe everyone would appreciate your input."


    Everyone''s attention inevitably fell on Khan. Although all the specialists had real-life experience in the field, Khan''s feats remained superior in relevance, so he was the only one who could break the stalemate.


    "I do," Khan admitted. "However, I wouldn''t opt for either n."


    "Do you have a third option?" Celeste didn''t miss the chance to ask.


    "It''s more convoluted," Khan revealed, "But still leans in Mister Perelli''s idea. I''d simply limit the risks."


    "How?" Randall questioned.


    Khan stretched his hand toward the holograms above the interactive desk. The device showed a simple map to simte thending on Baoway, and Khan moved icons to help exin his idea.


    "The main ship cannd farther away," Khan exined, "Outside eventual domains. We can burn more fuel to make sure the Scalqa notice us anyway."


    A few pairs of eyes moved toward Kirk, who was lost in his thoughts. Calctions were happening in his mind, and a nod arrived once they ended.


    "We have enough fuel," Kirk confirmed.


    "Afterward," Khan continued, "We can send one of the shuttles closer and apply a version of the original n."


    "We have a small team, Major," Randall reminded. "Splitting ourselves into ever smaller teams isn''t wise."


    "At worst," Khan said, "We''ll lose one shuttle, though that''s unlikely."


    "The shuttles don''t have defensive capabilities," Kirkmented when eyes fell on him again.


    "I''d be there," Khan calmly stated, his eyes still on the holograms. "The defenses are unnecessary."


    "Do you n on going to the frontlines by yourself?" Celeste asked. "My apologies, but it''s too dangerous. I have faith you''d be fine, but the same can''t be said about the integrity of the mission."


    Celeste''s worries were multyered. She didn''t trust Khan''s intentions, and that was only the first problem. Since Khan wasn''t an all-rounder, eventual technical issues could be catastrophic, and the team needed Marcus and Kirk to remain in the backlines.


    "Miss Padridge would be with me," Khan reassured. "She would take care of the equipment andmunication, other than sharing relevant information."


    No one questioned that detail. Amy was the team''s scout, so her ce was on the frontlines. Actually, she and Khan would make a powerful pair among the Scalqa.


    Theplete idea had many advantages and limited the ws as much as possible. It wouldn''t put the main equipment at risk, and a single shuttle was easier to ept than an entire ship. The team would have its show of force while lowering the chances of triggering unwanted reactions from the Scalqa.


    The only real disadvantage would be on Khan''s and Amy''s shoulders. The n would leave them without immediate support, which wasn''t ideal for either.


    Amy''s ce was on the frontlines, but her scouting missions required careful nning and knowledge of the environment. Discovering and sharing new information was her job, but blindly throwing her into the enemy territory wasn''t wise.


    Khan had an even bigger role. He needed to help Celeste and Amy in their roles, and the Global Army hoped his talent with alien species would secure stable rtionships with the Scalqa. Moreover, the interspecies treaties required his presence since the Empire was using him as its Ambassador.


    Substituting one scout was annoying but doable. Yet, Khan was irreceable. The mission couldn''t happen without him, and the Global Army wanted to maintain its priority over the.


    The issues and advantages silenced the specialists. As always, the best option didn''t exist. It was only a matter of choosing which risks to face.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s idea was safe in most areas, and its greatest w had a huge lifeline. As much as Khan''s safety was paramount, no one could protect it better than himself. He was the best solution to the problem, almost eliminating the issue altogether.


    ****


    Author''s notes: New volume, new cover. I hope you like it.

 Chapter 721 Suspicious

    <h4>Chapter 721 Suspicious</h4>


    The specialists continued discussing the issue, relying on Marcus and Kirk whenever someone mentioned possible ws. Still, as the stalemate persisted, everyone slowly began to side with Khan''s idea.


    Of course, the specialists had different individual reasons for that decision. Amy appeared ted to have a critical role on Khan''s side, and Celeste epted thepromise due to its more peaceful nature.


    Instead, Randall''s intentions seemed more convoluted. He didn''t want to oppose Khan, but his aura also leaked some curiosity. Besides, embracing Khan''s idea would avoid internal conflicts while lowering his responsibilities in case of failure. It was a win-win situation for him.


    That behavior was to be expected from a team leader, and the odds were also in his favor. Khan''s history with aliens made him the safest bet. Trusting and relying on him wasn''t really a gamble.


    Although those were only hunches gathered from listening to the symphony, Khan found them quite reliable, especially when he added the specialists'' characters to the equation. They weren''t even acquaintances, but their stances felt clear, helping Khan reach those conclusions.


    Once everyone realized the trend, the decision became official. The political envoy would develop a schedule around Khan''s n and add thest details afterward. When that was over, the mission would start.


    When the meeting ended, a round of basic pleasantries followed, and Khan returned to the living room after everyone left. Monica was still inside the sealed corridor, but he didn''t call for her. He returned to his couch, aware that another important conversation wasing.


    The sealed door opened while Khan began filling two clean sses. He didn''t turn to wee his fianc¨¦e, and the annoyance she radiated didn''t surprise him either. That reaction was unavoidable, but Khan''s hands were tied.


    "You know there was no other option," Khan announced, picking up a ss and lifting it to his side.


    Monica snorted, walking around the couch to sit beside Khan. She snapped the ss from his hand, but her movements grew docile when shey on him. Still, her mana continued to radiate irritation.


    "I don''t like her," Monicained. "She is always begging for your attention."


    "She did have a point about your boots," Khanmented, sliding his hand on Monica''s leg before lifting her jumper dress to expose her boots.


    "Of course she did," Monica scoffed before gasping and shooting a worried look at Khan. "What if she pulls a skirt on you?"


    "Are skirts my weakness or something now?" Khan chuckled.


    "Yes!" Monica eximed. "I fed that weakness for two years! I should know."


    "Skirts work because you are the one wearing them," Khan exined, the exposed skin between Monica''s boots and dress iming his attention. "This dress is working, too."


    "Come on," Monica whined. "She looks like a princess and can join you on the battlefield. She is basically perfect for you. I can already picture you two doing nasty things in the woods."


    "We won''t do any nasty things in the woods," Khan reassured, knowing what would follow.


    "What about the ship?" Monica questioned. "What aboutkes and waterfalls? You have a thing for water."


    "I do not," Khanughed, pulling Monica on him. The two were so used to those interactions that neither of their drinks spilled.


    "When was thest time you let me bathe alone?" Monica asked.


    "You like it when I join you in the bathtub," Khan pointed out.


    "That wasn''t the question," Monica said, crossing her arms.


    Khan ced his head on Monica''s shoulder and gazed at the wall, scouring his memories. He honestly couldn''t remember thest time he had let Monica be alone in the bathtub. He had taken showers on his own, but that mostly was due to his odd sleeping schedule.


    Khan''s history with his meaningful women also had multiple instances of water during intimate times. Theke with Jenna and the waterfall with Liiza were fond memories he couldn''t ignore.


    "You might have a point," Khan admitted.


    "Of course I do," Monica dered. "I''m your future wife. I know you better than yourself."


    "You are growingfortable with the wife thing," Khan teased, pushing a button he knew would trigger Monica''s shyness.


    Like clockwork, Monica lowered her head and slid forward so that her nape was at the center of Khan''s chest. She couldn''t reach any foothold and risked falling out of the couch, but Khan promptly wrapped an arm around her.


    "You know I don''t care for perfect princesses," Khan reassured Monica, cing his lips on her head. "I like mine whiny, foul-


    mouthed, and crazy."


    "You forgot hot, sexy, intelligent, loyal, patient, beautiful," Monica said, "And many other nice adjectives."


    "Were three of them about your appearance?" Khan wondered.


    "If the women of the Global Army knew how tiring it is to live with you," Monica sighed. "Maybe we should share more of our private life. They''d be running away in no time."


    "Am I tiring now?" Khan asked.


    "You have no idea," Monica giggled, pulling herself up and half-


    turning to face Khan while remaining on hisp. "You are tiring in the best possible way, but only I can have that."


    Monica leaned forward for a kiss, and Khan weed her with a smile. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and Khan''s hands inevitably slid under her dress. Still, she retracted her lips before their mood became unstoppable. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "No nasty stuff," Monica ordered, holding Khan''s face in her hands, "And avoid water."


    "I need it to live," Khan snickered, leaning forward to ce his forehead on Monica''s. "So, what do you think?"


    Khan had bugged the living hall to let Monica witness the meeting from thefort of one of their bedrooms. That was highly illegal even for someone in such a lofty position, but Khan couldn''t care about regtions when bigger powers were involved.


    "Amy is odd," Monica said, her pouting tone slowly turning serious. "She didn''t even flinch when I threatened her."


    "Maybe it''s experience," Khan guessed. "Maybe she reads the news and gets how you are."


    "That''s even worse," Monica uttered before heaving a sigh. "Still, I admit her interest seemed only work-rted. Maybe she is just very good at her job."


    "Her social skills are crazy," Khan agreed. "She would probably be better than me if I didn''t have my heightened senses."


    "The two engineers are fine," Monica changed the target. "I didn''t notice anything strange. Marcus was even too respectful."


    "Randall and Celeste?" Khan asked.


    "Everything they said was right," Monica revealed. "They didn''t go out of character nor ignore their values. If they are acting, they are better than me at it."


    Monica had received an insane social education, and Khan had developed his lying skills in the Slums. They were pretty much at the top of the field, and the Global Army would struggle to find someone better than them, let alone five.


    That would usually reassure Khan, but his paranoia continued to scream. Everything was going well, and that was the issue.


    "They are too perfect," Khan stated. "Too perfect for the mission, too perfect as teammates, too perfect as my teammates."


    Monica wanted to disagree and reassure Khan, but he was right. Getting such a prepared and elite team would be a blessing in any other situation, but Raymond''s warning made everything look suspicious.


    Moreover, Khan''s presence was superfluous except for the connection with the Empire. Celeste, Amy, and Randall filled the roles he was supposed to fulfill. Theoretically, he was the only figure out of ce in the team.


    "You warned the Rassec family," Monica reminded. "You informed my parents, and Hyper-Privacy is ready. They aren''t even sending me back to Neuria, so I can manage things from here. There''s nothing else we can do."


    Those were the only words Monica could say. She hated her powerlessness, but lying was worse. She didn''t want Khan''s mind to be full of worries during the mission. Ideally, Monica would love for him to enjoy himself in the environment he liked so much. Yet, emptyfort was more dangerous than paranoia.


    "I''ll see on Baoway," Khan sighed, giving up. "I hope I can establish a good rtionship with the Scalqa. It''s been a while since I dealt with a new species."


    "I wouldn''t worry about that," Monica snorted. "You''ll do way too well in that regard. Focus on your rtionship with me now."


    Monica changed her position, spreading her legs before returning to Khan''sp. She angrily grabbed his hand and forcefully ced it on her butt. It was her time to receive attention now, and Khan gave up once again.


    The following days featured the same lessons and preparations. Khan couldn''t always be in the hangar, but everything remained under his attentive control. He even performed solo inspections deep into the night to make sure the inventory was reliable.


    Meanwhile, the team did its best to prepare for the new n, asking for multiple authorizations and rehearsing their respective roles. Khan was among them, studying the ship''s functions, the Scalqa, and Baoway. His role involved more specializations, but he neverined.


    After two weeks, the announcement came. The lessons abruptly ended, and the scientists dealt with multiple interviews before departing from the Harbor. Everyone praised Khan, pushing the reporters toward his t in the second district. However, he never answered since he was busy piloting a ship into the vast universe.

 Chapter 722 Landing

    <h4>Chapter 722 Landing</h4>


    The Global Army had shown its nning and plotting skills to allow a safe and silent departure.


    Khan''s lessons were a big deal in the Harbor andwork as a whole, and the strict policy over the released information made them one of the period''s hottest news. Their end would attract immense attention, and the Global Army used that to hide the departure.


    Everything was ready after two weeks of constant preparations, so a private ride picked Khan up from the embassy in the middle of hisst lesson. The Global Army had made the announcement, so the scientists still inside the building baited the public''s attention, allowing Khan to reach the hangars unnoticed.


    The scientists were partially aware of the situation and didn''t mind their role in that ploy. They didn''t have much choice in the matter either, so they yed along and waited for the right time to leave the embassy to handle the reporters.


    The same went for the soldiers inside the buildings. Usually, Khan would be escorted everywhere, but his path toward the hangars featured almost no one. The cab''s rider was the only one of two exceptions.


    As for the second exception, Monica obviously upied that spot. It was the beginning of the weekend, and the Global Army was cutting away thest instance of the couple''s free time. Monica and Khan couldn''t ept that, so she made sure to be inside the cab.


    Intimate moments unfolded during the trip to the hangars, and silent but meaningful goodbyes happened after thending. That wasn''t Khan and Monica''s first rodeo, so they handled the event like pros, albeit with the usual sadness.


    The political envoy was already inside the ship, and Khan''s arrival triggered onest inventory. The team set off right afterward, leaving the Harbor and diving at full speed into the depths of space.


    Although the Global Army hid the departure, Khan''s absence was bound to be noticed. He was too famous to disappear, and no amount of security could stop the public from asking questions.


    News would eventually appear on privateworks and spread everywhere, but Khan didn''t care. That was the Global Army''s mess to handle. As for Monica, she was better than him in the field.


    That mindset and the constant paranoia allowed Khan to focus solely on the mission. Baoway was distant, and the treaties between the two species prevented the use of space stations for short stops or simr breaks. The ship had to fly directly to the alien, but the fuel was plenty.


    The political envoy couldn''t say the same aboutfort. The ship was a marvel of modern technology but with efficiency in mind. The vehicle''s spaces didn''t waste a single centimeter, providing all kinds of features except room for true rxation.


    That could create problems with the time the team would have to spend trapped inside the ship, but everyone handled it well. Khan and the others were used to sleepless nights and ufortable living spaces. They didn''t even have amon room where they could eat together, but no oneined.


    Of course, the team could have solved the issue, but the equipment got in the way. The ship could hold up to twenty soldiers, but the various supplies upied that extra space, making itplicated even to attempt the matter. Besides, no one mentioned the topic, so peaceful and simple days passed.


    Simr situations usually gave the time and set up the mood for bonding. Nothing could teach more about someone else than forced cohabitation inside narrow spaces. However, life on the ship was unusual, and social interactions rarely happened.


    The teammates had thoroughly prepared before setting off, but the mission''s stakes were too high to spend the flight rxing. There was always something else to study and do, and the specialists never failed to keep themselves busy.


    Kirk and Marcus usually stayed in the cargo area, tinkering with the mechanical equipment and preparing it for the arrival. Celeste spent her days ying with her software, developing algorithms and hypotheses about the Scalqanguage. Randall did a bit of everything, from studying to reviewing anything that reached the main deck.


    As for Khan and Amy, their usual spot was side by side at the front of the main deck. They were pilot and copilot, but Amy mostly observed since Khan dealt with everything by himself.


    The two also studied. Their stations had interactive holograms connected to the entire ship, so any update passed through them. The two often slept on thosefortable chairs, although Khan was mostly to me there. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Amy wanted to observe Khan for as long as possible, but his regimen was impossible to imitate. He hardly slept and closed his eyes only to meditate. He even ate on the pilot seat, spending almost all his time inside the main deck.


    Short naps were the only method Amy could use to prolong her time beside Khan, but even that made her miss part of his routine. Moreover, Khan could tell when she was asleep, so he performed check-ups and inspections on the ship''s records during those periods.


    As for the flight itself, the ship had top-of-the-line artificial gravity, significantly reducing the pressure steep elerations and decelerations could cause. Khan could push the vehicle''s speed far past what any teammates could withstand with that feature, shortening the time required to reach Baoway.


    Even with that feature, the ship still took two weeks to reach Baoway''s system and another half a day to get in sight of the. Eventually, the scanners found the bluish sphere standing in the middle of space, and approaching it revealed more details.


    None of the details were new. The first exploration teams had already scanned the, albeit with inferior equipment. Khan''s envoy would have to take care of acquiring reliable data, and he prompted the ship to do just that.


    "Get ready for deceleration," Khan announced, using the ship''sms to make sure everyone heard him. "Take your seats and strap on."


    Khan''s orders regarding the flight were absolute, so everyone dropped their tasks and upied different seats before fastening their belts. At that point, the ship gave the all-clear, and Khan activated the required gravity functions for the abrupt deceleration.


    Once the ship gave the okay, Khan activated the engines, filling the ship''s interior with heavy pressure. Even with the gravity functions, the weight of the deceleration was ufortable. Kirk and Marcus almost fainted and vomited, and the others didn''t feel too good either. Only Khan endured it well, but the torture didn''tst long.


    The ship stopped above Baoway''s atmosphere, and Khan ran check-up software to search for damage caused by the abrupt deceleration. Some menus were still fuzzy, but the vehicle rebooted them, returning them to normal function.


    "Marcus," Khan called through the ship''s functions. "I need check-ups to the files in section F, numbers from eleven to seventeen."


    "On it!" Marcus shouted from the cargo area. His voice wavered, but his condition didn''t interfere with the task.


    Khan had yet to say anything, so everyone else remained seated. They waited as he stared at the control desk past the flightmands. The gged software could have additional malfunctions that might get in the way of other tasks, and only a human eye could confirm their state.


    "Sir," Marcus'' voice eventually resounded in the main deck. "Everything is green on my end."


    "Initial scan of the in three," Khan eximed, pressing on the ording pre-set program, "Two, one, and we are online."


    The engines restarted at far more moderate power, flying the ship around Baoway. Meanwhile, the scanners studied the''s atmosphere and the surface under it, doing the thorough study the first team couldn''t.


    As per the initial reports, Baoway was simr to the Earth before the First Impact. Threerge oceans separated multiple continents filled with different kinds of flora and fauna. Still, the heavier gravity didn''t prevent Baoway from being slightly bigger in everything.


    Randall had already cross-referenced the initial reports, so the ship dived toward the explored areas after scanning the. The first explorers had aimed for ces with a high density of life, and the political envoy would follow the same pattern. Khan and the others wanted to meet Scalqa aware of the existence of humans.


    The descent was smooth and wless, and Khan opened multiple maps to check for potentialnding spots. He had reports about the tribes that had seen humans, so he wanted to find a ce close to their domains.


    A barren and shallow cliff near a forest turned out to be the ideal ce. Three tribes lived among the nearby trees, and the open space would make the shynding visible to everyone. Khan only had to nce past his shoulder and find Randall''s nod before initiating the procedure.


    Thending procedure was also automated since it involved precise calctions and functions. Since saving fuel was the priority, Kirk and Marcus handled that part. Khan only had to press a key to start it.


    Nothing reached the ship''s insides, but the scanners provided a perfect view of the event. The engines pointed downward, releasing beams of blue mes that scorched the yellow terrain. Charred ck marks spread as the vehicle descended, and their dark fumes rose into the sky.


    The ship touched the ground, but the engines continued to burn fuel to prolong the fuming spectacle. Eventually, a pir of dark grey gas enveloped the vehicle, rising to heights visible from kilometers away.


    "Landingplete," Khan said once the autopilot warned him. "Moving to shuttle 1. Randall, the pilot''s seat is yours."


    "Yes, sir," Randall eximed, unfastening his belt and shooting to his feet. "I''ll boot the groundms and wait for your signal. Good luck."


    Khan also stood up, and Amy imitated him. The two didn''t exchange a single nce as they headed for the area between the main deck and living quarters. Two doors stood on opposite sides, and Khan opened the one with the number "1" painted on its surface.


    A narrow passage unfolded, and Khan and Amy crossed it to enter the narrow shuttle. The vehicle could hold four people, but the team had removed two seats to make room for necessary equipment, leaving Khan and Amy side by side.


    "We are ready," Khan sent through the ship''sms. "Authorize the detachment of shuttle 1."


    "Detachment of shuttle 1 online in three," Randall sent back, "Two, one, themands are yours, Major."


    The shuttlescked many of the ship''s amazing functions. Everything around Khan and Amy trembled when their ride''s engines turned on and the metal bridge released its grip. The side vehicle was finally free, and Khan promptly pushed down the driving wheel.


    The shuttle shot forward, circling the pir of smoke a few times before diving into the forest. Khan had to contain the speed to dodge the thick array of massive trunks, but his reflexes came in handy, allowing a rtively smooth flight.


    Once the shuttle''s menus gave the awaited warning, Khan stirred the ship toward a rtively open area the scanners had found. The vehicle nimbly crossed a few trees before suddenly stopping andnding on the grass below.


    The engines'' whooshing noise quieted down until itpletely disappeared, and Khan performed onest scan before unlocking the canopy. The ss-like structure above him rose, and fresh air blew on his face. Still, that wasn''t the only change.


    Heavy air and additional weight fell on Khan''s shoulders. He felt slightly ufortable, but his body adapted quickly. As for Amy, she grunted, but her expression rxed after a series of deep breaths.


    Khan didn''t wait for Amy. He unfastened his belt and jumped outside, gracefullynding on the green grass. His senses unfolded, absorbing the symphony at full speed, but the trunks around him managed to im part of his attention.


    ''I knew they were big,'' Khan thought, lifting his head, ''But.''


    The bigger sizes were a detail in the first explorers'' reports, and Khan had also seen a lot during the twondings. Yet, the effect was different when inspecting with bare eyes.


    Trunks as wide as small buildings stretched from the ground and rose into the sky for a few hundred meters. Moreover, mana flowed inside them, and the same went for all the vegetation around them. Life had evolved through mana on Baoway, and Khan couldn''t help but feel curious.


    "Major!" Amy called, also hopping out of the ship. "I''ll set up camp and boot thems."


    "We agreed on using names," Khan reminded. That mostly was for the Scalqa to avoid eventual misunderstandings during future interactions. Titles were something the political envoy would rather exinter.


    "I''m sorry," Amy apologized, "Khan, sir. I''ll get the equipment."


    "You should stay still," Khan said, diverting his gaze from the big green leaves above. "I think you are in their spears'' range."


    "What?" Amy gasped, freezing in ce. That reaction wasn''t out of shock. Her instincts told her to avoid sudden movements.


    "They reacted quickly," Khan exined. "We are surrounded."

 Chapter 723 Kru-gru-xa

    <h4>Chapter 723 Kru-gru-xa</h4>


    ''What now?'' Khan wondered.


    The shuttle''s scanners were inferior to those of the ship. Khan''s senses outssed their limited range, even if most details remained unclear.


    Khan couldn''t directly sense the Scalqa, but the symphony carried their influence, allowing him to get a general idea of the situation. There were ten to fifteen aliens around him, and that number only indicated those strong enough to leave asting trace.


    ''Their settlement isn''t too close,'' Khan calcted. ''And we barely wasted a few minutes between thending and multiple scans. They can''t be so fast.''


    After pondering briefly, Khan concluded that the Scalqa nearby didn''te out due to the shynding. That alien team was probably already in the area and had changed direction after noticing the event.


    ''A hunting party?'' Khan wondered. ''They are a bit too strong for that. Maybe there are problems with the nearby tribes.''


    Hypotheses surged into Khan''s mind, spreading and expanding into different simtions, but part of his thoughts remained on his mental state. To his surprise, he didn''t feel any annoyance toward the nearby threat. Even the usual paranoia had quieted down. He was strangely calm and at ease.


    That feeling didn''te from experience. Khan was more than used to simr situations, but his current calm was different. His paranoia was still there. He was slightly annoyed at the Scalqa''sck of acknowledgment of his strength. Yet, none of that had any effect on his mind.


    ''I see,'' Khan realized. ''I''m having fun.''


    The Harbor basically was Khan''s home, but he knew the truth. That array of domes and buildings had no value in his eyes. He respected it because of his life with Monica, but nothing else.


    Instead, Baoway represented something Khan hadcked in thest period, and his interactions with the Thilku couldn''t fill that gap. The wilderness and mana in his surroundings made him aware of a simple truth. He was on a battlefield, his real home.


    Of course, the realization didn''t distract Khan from the impending problem. The Scalqa were distant enough to remain unseen, but their stance felt more than evident. Wariness filled the symphony, but no one seemed willing to advance.


    ''They won''t give up the higher ground,'' Khan epted. ''What should I do?''


    Ideas flowed in Khan''s mind. He had interacted with many species, learning different customs and behaviors. He had to convey cordiality and peace, and his thoughts inevitably converged on one specific gesture.


    ''Where''s the strongest one?'' Khan asked himself before closing his eyes and focusing on his senses. The symphony sang in his ears and brain, creating strands of different colors and intensity, adding details only he could hear.


    Khan opened his eyes and turned his entire body to his right when he found the target. He nced at a precise spot past the trees before wearing a simple smile. Then, he joined his hands before his chest and performed a Niqols bow.


    "[I offer myself with nothing but respect]," Khan whispered in the Nelenguage, conveying his intentions to the symphony. His mana fused with the environment, creating a strand of energy that stretched toward the Scalqa he had targeted.


    Amy stayed silent, but her eyes didn''t miss a single detail. Khan''s calm wasmendable, proper of a true pro, but greater events distracted her from that stance.


    Khan had pointed his whisper at the target in the middle of the forest, but his words resonated with his surroundings, affecting the symphony. A kind, peaceful aura had fallen in thending aura, echoing Khan''s intentions. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Amy had read reports and studied Khan as much as possible, but witnessing his power with her eyes left apletely different expression. That wasn''t a human skill. Mana had allowed humans to perform spells, but Khan wielded actual magic.


    Khan could sense Amy''s feelings, but they were thest of his priorities. He wouldn''t know what to do if his gesture failed to produce the desired effect, and his other options were risky. The Scalqa could easily misunderstand them and opt for violence.


    Tense seconds passed, but Khan didn''t break his polite bow. Still, his head wasn''tpletely lowered, and his eyes remained on the powerful presence hidden by the enormous trees. As much as he wanted to convey peace, the Scalqa needed to understand he wasn''t ying around.


    Amy had frozen in an odd position, and cramps began to afflict her neck, but she endured them. Something bigger than her was at y there, and nothing had to ruin it.


    The tense seconds turned into a minute and then five. Khan''s gesture and words seemed to have no effect, but the forest eventually responded. Crunching noises spread among the trees, signaling stepsnding on grass and leaves, and shadows soon appeared under the dim yellow light that managed to cross the crowns far above.


    The shadows grew bigger and slowly gained more details. The forest''s faint darkness stopped hiding those figures, which turned out to be quite impressive. They wererger than any image could possibly convey, and their numbers couldn''t be underestimated either.


    Amy had plenty of experience in the field, so she realized how dangerous the situation was even without heightened senses. Twenty Scalqa had peeked past the trees from three directions, almost encircling thending area. Most had their spears lifted above their shoulders, ready to throw them.


    Those extremely muscr beings wore stern faces, radiating clear enmity. Even inexperienced explorers would recognize that stance, and their huge frames only enhanced the chilling vibe.


    Theoretically, an escape route existed. The Scalqa were wary of the shuttle, so they had avoided going behind it. Khan and Amy could probably run away if they left their equipment behind. That was a tough but eptable trade for their lives.


    Yet, Amy noticed something odd. The twenty Scalqa werepletely ignoring her. The shuttle attracted some interest, but most eyes remained fixed on Khan for no apparent reason.


    The issue could easily be exined by sexism. However, most Scalqa had long hair, either kept wild and free or split into small braids. They probably didn''t even notice Amy was a woman. Besides, they had female specimens among their team, too.


    The difference between male and female was also evident. The Scalqa were half-naked, with only strands of pelt falling from their shoulders. Anyone could see the presence or absence of breasts.


    Amy didn''t know what to think, so she joined the Scalqa. She slowly turned her head, staring straight at Khan. Everyone was waiting for his move, but he was still bowing.


    Khan ran his eyes across the Scalqa before focusing on his initial target. The three-meter-tall Scalqa was the only one wearing a different attire. Simple bones adorned his shoulders, acting as armor that protected part of his torso.


    The targeted Scalqa felt as strong as a fourth-level warrior, but Khan sensed something was off. The alien had the pressure and killing intent of an experienced soldier butcked a certain spark. He appeared closer to a wild beast than an intelligent being.


    ''Did the Global Army overestimate them?'' Khan wondered, carefully breaking his bow and straightening his back.


    Khan''s movements were graceful enough to avoid a reaction from the Scalqa, but the situation didn''t change. Spears were still pointed at Amy and Khan, and the aliens weren''t even close to lowering them.


    "Ku ga ra ka ka tsu da!" The targeted Scalqa eventually shouted in a tone that resembled a war cry. Still, hispanions didn''t move, so Khan could only conclude he was talking to him.


    Khan did his best to read the symphony and the alien''s aura, but thenguage barrier was too high to climb with mere senses. He couldn''t understand what the Scalqa wanted, so he wore a helpless smile, hoping his facial expression could be somewhat recognizable.


    "Tru zu ku za ze!" The targeted Scalqa shouted again, but Khan was still clueless. He scratched his head in defeat, and the aliens allowed that gesture.


    ''Maybe something simple,'' Khan thought, touching his chest. ''Khan. I am Khan.''


    Surprise spread through the symphony and in some expressions. It seemed the Scalqa were still unclear about Khan and Amy''s nature, which was understandable. The concept of aliens probably was too much for that primitive species. They might actually think Khan and Amy came from a different continent rather than a ce many star systems away.


    "Wee in peace," Khan continued since his words were causing reactions. He imbued his voice with the same feeling as his previous whisper, and his hands joined again to perform another bow.


    A sense of peace spread through the area, and a few Scalqa lifted their heads to inspect the air. They appeared sensitive to the mana, and Khan noted that detail down.


    The targeted Scalqa didn''t look too impressed with Khan''s performance. He continued to study him with his big yellow eyes, and some hesitation finally tainted his mana. The alien appeared unclear on what to do.


    "Kru-gru-xa!" The targeted Scalqa eventually said, and whispers spread among the alien team. Most Scalqa looked surprised, but some started echoing their leader''s words, triggering a chain reaction.


    Soon, the entire team began chanting "Kru-gru-xa", patting their broad chests with their free hands. The event resembled a tribal custom of rhythmic noises and words, which wasn''t far from the truth.


    One of the Scalqa lowered his spear and stepped forward, shouting "Kru-gru-xa". Hispanions echoed the word, beating their chests harder. Some even began stomping their feet before also advancing.


    Amy kept her survival instincts in check and remained still, watching the Scalqa leave the trees and form arge half-circle around Khan. As for the alien who had advanced first, he didn''t join that battle formation. Instead, he walked toward Khan, stopping a few meters from him before nting his spear into the ground.


    "Kru-gru-xa!" The alien shouted again, lifting his huge arms into the air and letting the pelts fall from his shoulders. He was basically naked at that point, having only a strand of fabric covering his lower waist.


    Unlike the previous words, Khan perfectly understood what the Scalqa wanted to do. The battle intent was so intense and dense he could almost taste it. That probably was a famous custom in the tribe, and he had every intention of respecting it.


    "Kru-gru-xa," Khan uttered, smiling as he unbuttoned the upper part of his military uniform. The clothes soon fell to the ground, revealing his muscr body.


    Amy had first-row seats at the event, and her mind inevitably madeparisons. The Scalqa before Khan was simply enormous. Standing bears would pale before him. The alien''s muscles were massive and firm, giving him the appearance of a god of war.


    Instead, Khan was the definition of perfection. His bodycked any trace of fat, and dense but smaller muscles upied every inch of his exposed skin. His frame was nowhere near as impressive as the Scalqa''s, but no one would underestimate it.


    Khan continued to smile, but the Scalqa eventually lowered his eyes toward the knife hanging from his waist. The alien said nothing and quickly looked up, but that was enough for Khan.


    Khan swiftly unfastened the sheath, dropped the knife to the ground, and crossed his arms to convey his readiness. The Scalqa in the half-circle understood that stance and began shooting nces at their leader. Thetter was only one step behind that offensive formation, but his tall frame allowed him to see everything.


    "Kru-gru-xa!" The leader shouted, and Khan''s opponent released a loud battle cry. He also spread his huge arms before charging forward.


    The fighter had the strength of a third-level warrior, but his physical prowess was probably scarier than that. Yet, Khan couldn''t feel any danger. Only one word existed in his mind while that mountain of muscles charged at him.


    ''Slow,'' Khan thought, willing mana into his feet.


    Everything ended so quickly that everyone struggled to understand what had happened. The situation had changed in less than a second, and its conclusion almost made Amy hang her jaw in surprise.


    The Scalqa was sitting on the ground, terrified about the two fingers pointed at his forehead. Meanwhile, Khan stood before the alien, his face conveying their immense difference. Still, there was no value in scaring away a fighter who had already lost, so his eyes soon rose toward the leader.

 Chapter 724 Settlement

    <h4>Chapter 724 Settlement</h4>


    The Scalqa leader wasn''t actually dumb. He didn''t reach that position through mere battle prowess, and his brain understood the weight of his responsibilities.


    However, Khan and the humans were an odd race that didn''t match what the leader was used to seeing. Their size was no indicator of their strength. They had ess to strange flying tools, and Khan wielded mysterious powers that stretched beyond what eyes could see.


    Actually, Khan was the strangest being the Scalqa leader had ever seen. The alien had been convinced of that since the attempted ambush in the forest. He had felt Khan''s stare on him even from behind the trees, which surpassed what his mind couldprehend.


    It was also odd how Khan had understood who the leader was before seeing the different attire. That small creature clearly had strange abilities, and the short battle further confirmed that point.


    The alien leader had been the only one able to follow the short exchange, but even he had missed details. The surprise factor was partially to me, but another truth existed. Khan had been too fast.


    Moreover, the exchange''s conclusion added scary details. The alien team knew theirpanion''s battle prowess, so seeing him instantly lose shocked them, and their attention inevitably fell on Khan''s stretched fingers.


    All the aliens inspected the stretched fingers to understand the reason for theirpanion''s terror, and enlightenment instantly dawned upon them. A chill ran down their spines just by looking at those body parts. They knew what sharpness was, but the scene shattered that belief.


    Khan kept his eyes on the alien leader, but the symphony continued to update him on his surroundings. The partial execution of the Divine Reaper was enough to terrify his opponent, and the audience''s reaction confirmed their sensitivity to mana once again.


    The stalemate continued. The aliens didn''t say anything, and Khan also was at a loss for what to do. Usually, he would consider the battle over and retract his fingers, but the alien customs might see that as an insult. The fight could have very well been to the death, and retreating without taking a life would ruin future rtionships.


    Of course, the opposite was also true. Moreover, Khan wanted to avoid taking lives if possible. After all, he didn''t enjoy spilling blood, especially innocent ones.


    That conflict forced Khan to remain still. He would love a more proactive role, but that wasn''t the best course of action. It was better to let the Scalqa feel safe and in charge of the situation to arrive at eventual benefits.


    More seconds passed while Khan and the alien leader stared at each other. An understanding that transcended species andnguage barriers had fallen between them, although with different depths. They both knew Khan was holding back in order to pursue peaceful rtionships, but the Scalqa couldn''t understand why or to what extent.


    However, one thing was clear. Khan was more than remarkable, and the leader didn''t know how wise it was to reject him. The alien shared part of Khan''s internal conflict, making him hesitant to opt for violent approaches.


    Eventually, the leader grunted, and hispanions shot questioning nces at him. It seemed he had made a decision, and his second cry killed the general confusion, forcing the other Scalqa to follow his orders.


    The teammates lowered their spears to hold them with both hands while breaking the encirclement. They formed two lines beside Khan and Amy, pointing their weapons at their torsos.


    More grunts and cries resounded among the teammates. The aliens also waved their spears, seemingly indicating a random direction into the forest. Still, the leader continued to stare at Khan, and thetter understood what to do.


    Khan nced at his challenger before retracting his fingers and stepping back. The Scalqa hurriedly stood up now that he had room to move, but terror never left his face. He stared at Khan with the same scared eyes even as he retreated toward his leader.


    Instead, Khanpletely disregarded the challenger and studied the leader. Thetter didn''t show any reaction and turned to walk toward the forest. The message was clear now, so Khan retrieved his belongings and followed the alien.


    Khan had nned to stay put and docile, but the aliens near Amy couldn''t refrain from approaching the shuttle with their spears pointed at the open canopy. Those rudimentary weapons couldn''t do much damage, but there were limits to how passive the political envoy could be.


    A chilling pressure suddenly fell on the area, making everyone freeze and search for its source. The leader also turned, and noticing Khan staring at the Scalqa near the shuttle prompted another cry out of his mouth.


    The Scalqa near the shuttle suddenly retreated, suppressing their curiosity and ignoring the vehicle. They rejoined their teammates, pointing their spears at Amy to escort her into the forest. It seemed the aliens would leave the envoy''s equipment for now.


    Khan threw a smile at the leader, but the alien ignored him and resumed diving into the forest. His teammates also focused on keeping tight lines around the two humans. Khan and Amy were basically prisoners, but that was good enough for now. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Amy and Khan never searched for each other''s eyes during the march. They were leaving their equipment behind withoutpleting various required procedures. They didn''t even activate themunications with the ship, but neither worried about that.


    Theoretically, the mission''s schedule had already fallen apart, and alien forces had taken away the only two people who could move on their own. Yet, the envoy had expectedplications, and the current issue didn''t go unnoticed.


    The ship''s powerful scanners gave Randall and the others a clear view of the unexpected development. The envoy saw Amy and Khan departing with the alien team, so they gave upmunicating for now. Establishing a camp became the priority. Everything else would have to wait.


    Of course, Randall and the others wouldn''t limit themselves to establishing a base of operations. Randall himself would retrieve the shuttle if the situation allowed it. However, for now, he would trust Amy and Khan toplete their job.


    The preparations allowed Khan and Amy to rx and focus on their surroundings. The forest was thick and dry, but the area never became too hot. The environment radiated a pleasant warmth, but the situation prevented the two from enjoying it.


    The Scalqa''s huge frames made the march quite noisy. Their steps resounded throughout the forest, and theirbined weight almost shook the ground. Still, no grunts or cries escaped their mouths since their entire attention was on the two humans.


    Khan half-expected the march to be short since the alien team had intercepted the shuttle so quickly. Yet, almost an hour had to pass before his senses picked up something different. Many strands of mana blended in the symphony ahead, marking the presence of a settlement or base of some sort.


    ''Their patrol area isrger than our predictions,'' Khan thought as calctions happened in his mind. ''This data is off evenpared to the explorers'' conclusions.''


    The Scalqa''s quick reaction to thending and theirrger patrol area seemed to indicate that something was up. The matter probably was nothing serious, especially since the envoy''s initial data was unreliable. Yet, Khan considered every option, and his hunches were rarely wrong.


    More minutes had to pass before the environment changed. The many strands of mana grew closer and the trees scarcer beforepletely disappearing. A vast in expanded in everyone''s vision, andpelling details popped out.


    A series of triangr tents of pelts and bones grew from the in. Big footprints had reced the grass, revealing the dark-brown ground underneath, and the sound of flowing water resonated in the distance.


    Moreover, the encampment had a rudimentary form of protection. A series of tall, pointy stones encircled the settlement, creating a barrier against frontal attacks. The structure had two gaps asrge as three adult Scalqa but no gates or doors to close them.


    Khan could understand a lot from the scenery. First, the ground''s state told him that settlement had existed for a while. As heavy as the Scalqa were, a few weeks wouldn''t have been enough to eradicate all the grass in the area.


    Second, the Scalqa followed basic survival rules. Building a settlement near water was amon and wise habit. essibility to vital resources was a must, especially for primitive species.


    Instead, theck of gates could indicate two things. The Scalqa eithercked the technology to build something functional or were used to moving every few months. The second option felt unlikely since rebuilding the rocky barricade would be a hassle, but the alien could probably manage due to their physical strength.


    The barricade itself was a sign of conflict. Its sole presence said that the rtionships with the nearby tribes weren''t good. The defensive building might simply be a precautionary measure, but its size and weight made that unlikely. The fauna might also be to me for its existence, but the scanners didn''t pick up anything dangerous, so Khan disregarded it.


    As for the buildings, it was clear the Scalqa didn''t excel in engineering, but Khan spotted far more interesting details. The settlement was in the middle of a forest, but nothing was made of wood. That treatment seemed limited to weapons.


    ''Do they worship nature?'' Khan wondered. ''They would have more respect for the grass in that case.''


    The details felt conflicting, but Khan avoided jumping to conclusions. It was too soon for that, and developing biases could blind him to the truth. Keeping an open mind was for the best, especially since he had barely started interacting with the aliens.


    The Scalqa team led Khan and Amy inside the barrier, and the settlement''s reaction didn''t disappoint. At first, the aliens in the area began to shout, warning everyone about theirpanions'' return. Yet, noticing the two humans gave birth to grunt and angry cry.


    The alien leader asionally grunted to reply to what seemedints, but the march deeper into the settlement never stopped. A few Scalqa approached the group to study the humans, but no one ever got too close.


    As for Khan and Amy, they focused on memorizing as many words as possible to try to understand the Scalqanguage. The rest of their attention was on the settlement to spot more details, and Khan found one.


    The settlement had around sixty tents, making it vast by human standards due to the Scalqa''s size. All of them were triangr, too, but one exception existed near its center.


    Khan didn''t initially notice the different shape, but his senses warned him, so he turned his eyes in that direction. A bigger, rectangr tent grew from the settlement''s center, and its pelts leaked a strange influence. In Khan''s vision, the air bent around the structure, infecting everything in its surroundings.


    The sight awakened one of Khan''s memories, but something else arrived, distracting him from his inspection. A stern and dangerous re had fallen on him, forcing him to turn toward its source. The Scalqa leader was staring at him with a mixture of surprise and resolve. It seemed Khan had found something good.

 Chapter 725 Rok-Go

    <h4>Chapter 725 Rok-Go</h4>


    The Scalqa leader had seemed rtively cooperative until now. He didn''t show stark and one-sided enmity even during the short battle. However, the re pointed at Khan conveyed very different feelings.


    The surprise waned in the following seconds, leaving only resolve. The Scalqa leader seemed ready to throw himself at Khan, uncaring of the possible consequences or oue. A deep sense of duty shone in his big eyes, oveing any trace of reason.


    Of course, that reaction only intensified Khan''s curiosity. The Scalqa leader seemed to have acknowledged Khan''s power but was still willing to fight if the situation required it. The alien probably valued the rectangr tent''s contents more than his life, which spoke for its importance.


    The staringpetition could easily end in a battle to the death, but Khan smiled and avoided looking at the rectangr tent again. He was merely a guest there, so epting foreign rules felt mandatory. Besides, he didn''t need eyes to study the curious detail.


    Khan looked straight at the Scalqa leader while his senses focused on the rectangr tent. He paid close attention to the symphony''s behavior to understand the effects of that strange influence. He had already witnessed something simr, but connecting the two events felt impossible.


    The simrities came from Colonel Norrett''s evolution. The rectangr tent''s influence behaved like the mana used to mutate the Colonel''s body, but Khan''s reasonable side struggled to believe his senses. After all, the differences between the two events were massive and touched multiple fields.


    First of all, Colonel Norrett''s evolution was apletely artificial process. It didn''t leave anything to chance. The entire procedure resulted from countless simtions, studies, and experiments.


    Instead, the rectangr tent''s influence felt organic, and the effects on its surroundings were quite soft. It didn''t force a transformation. It gently prepared the infected matter for the change.


    ''Aided metamorphosis?'' Khan thought. ''But it behaves like natural induction.''


    The more Khan studied the rectangr tent, the more his interest grew. He didn''t know what caused that effect, but it clearly was worth studying. The source could expand humankind''s evolution field, and understanding its nature might teach Khan something about the Scalqa.


    Every civilization built settlements and cities in functional environments, especially primitive ones. Still, the priorities could differ. Some species heavily relied on water, while others needed other elements for survival.


    The Scalqa''s needs seemed to match humans'', but the hesitation in using wood hinted at something different. The rectangr tent''s contents could be another clue, and Khan didn''t hesitate to add it to his mental list.


    ''Did they make that thing?'' Khan wondered. ''Was it there beforehand? If so, did they build the settlement around it because of its power?''


    Those were mere hypotheses Khan created in the absence of certainties. He didn''t even know what the rectangr tent contained. Yet, he nned on finding out, and receiving the Scalqa''s approval was the only way of doing that without causing a mess.


    The Scalqa leader didn''t hide his suspicion toward Khan''s smile but couldn''t do much about it. He didn''t trust Khan but had already led the two humans inside the settlement. He could only continue with his initial n for now.


    Moreints-like cries flew at the Scalqa leader, eventually forcing him to turn to address the crowd that had gathered around the team. The other aliens appeared more than angry about the human presence inside the settlement, but the leader always managed to shut them up.


    The interest in the rectangr tent didn''t distract Khan from the words uttered by the aliens. He and Amy noticed how the Scalqa leader often said "Rok-Go", and the crowd always went silent when hearing that. A sense of respect also appeared among them, implying a deep meaning.


    ''Is it another custom?'' Khan considered. ''A name? Is he pulling ranks?''


    The possibilities were almost endless, but Khan still had to consider all of them. Fusing vague patterns, small clues, and countless details was the only way to establish a basic understanding of the alien species. Creating a starting point was the priority, and that was the best way to achieve it.


    The alien team had stopped now that a crowd had formed around it, forcing Amy and Khan to wait for the Scalqa to make a decision. Discussions about the fate of the two humans were clearly happening right in the middle of the settlement, and the conclusions couldn''t appear more distant. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    However, movements suddenly happened inside the rectangr tent. A big hand lifted one of the pelts, and crying noises invaded the settlement, quieting the crowd. Everyone turned toward its source, revealing another curious sight.


    An old Scalqa came out of the rectangr tent, wielding a wooden staff in one hand and something else in the other. His long gray hair was dirty and wet, and his eyes had different colors. The left was light brown, while the other was almost entirely grey, probably indicating blindness.


    The general attention soon fell on the old Scalqa''s hand, where the crying came from. The alien was holding a baby close to his torso, triggering a gasp among the crowd.


    One of the Scalqa in the crowd hurried forward, reaching the old Scalqa and kneeling before him. The alien on the ground lifted both arms, seemingly in veneration, and the old Scalqa mumbled something inaudible before putting the baby in his hands.


    Soft murmurs spread among the crowd as everyone patted their chests and lowered their heads. It was unclear whether that gesture was toward the newborn or the old Scalqa, but Khan and Amy memorized it anyway.


    A second figure soon came out of the rectangr tent, too. A female Scalqa slowly walked around the old Scalqa and joined the alien on the ground. Thetter lowered his hands, and the two inspected the newborn with smiles and soft expressions.


    The old Scalqa mmed his cane to the ground a few times before lifting his hands and voicing a cry. The other Scalqa imitated the gesture, seemingly cheering about the newborn. The alien appeared happy about the new addition to their tribe, but that feeling was short-lived.


    Murmurs happened between the couple on the ground, and the female Scalqa suddenly turned. Her gentle expression began to exude pure anger when she noticed the two humans. She looked livid about that foreign presence, and Khan couldn''t me her.


    The gesture attracted the old Scalqa''s attention, who calmly inspected the two humans before focusing on Khan. The alien leader said something, but the old Scalqa ignored him. His partially blind gaze existed only for Khan.


    The old Scalqa eventually walked around the couple on the ground and approached the crowd, which opened at his passage. Even the aliens in the patrol team abandoned their posts to let the old Scalqa advance and reach the humans.


    The old alien threw another nce at Amy before focusing again on Khan. He clearly found thetter more interesting, and Khan shared that sentiment. The two studied each other, although in different ways.


    The old Scalqa walked in circles around Khan, leaning forward and sideways while mming his cane into the ground. It almost seemed a tribal dance, and the crowd retreated to give him enough space to perform it.


    Meanwhile, Khan remained still, only following the alien with his eyes. His face didn''t move even when the old Scalqa was behind him, and his senses provided interesting information.


    The old Scalqa''s muscles weren''t as bulging as his youngerpanions. They were big, but some sagginess had invaded them. His skin was darker and more ruined than the other aliens, but that didn''t affect his overall level.


    Khan instantly confirmed that the alien was a fourth-level warrior. The Scalqa leader looked stronger, but the old one radiated a different vibe. He didn''t feel like a warrior, and his mana reeked of a strange scent.


    ''Is he high?'' Khan thought. ''Though it doesn''t feel like a simple intoxication.''


    The old Scalqa''s mana''s strange behavior forced Khan to scour his memory. He had read about primitive species relying on drugs and other substances during rituals and simr customs. The few surviving historical records about humankind imed his species wasn''t above those practices. Yet, those ancient tribes didn''t have mana.


    After a while, the old Scalqa stopped before Khan, stretching his cane toward him. The staff pointed at his face but stopped before touching his forehead. Khan didn''t move, and the old Scalqa soon resumed moving the tool.


    The staff descended, running over Khan''s torso and reaching his feet before rising again. The old Scalqa eventually stopped it before Khan''s chest, where he drew a circle in the air before finally lunging it forward.


    The cane softlynded at the center of Khan''s chest, and the old alien retracted it to tap his sternum once again. A murmur escaped his mouth, and the Scalqa leader cried something that resembled an order at Khan.


    Usually, no Ambassador would have understood what the two aliens meant. Even Khan wouldn''t normally get the meaning of those cries. However, the cane was pointing at something specific, so his hands rose to unbutton his uniform.


    ''They didn''t react at it before,'' Khan thought, spreading his open uniform and uncovering his scar.


    The old Scalqa leaned forward to inspect the scar, but his grip on the cane remained steady. The staff never pushed too hard on Khan''s chest, and the alien even used it to draw the azure edges.


    The inspectionsted a while, and the crowd remained silent to let the old Scalqa concentrate. His partially blind gaze grew more piercing with each passing second, and Khan almost felt it digging through his skin.


    Of course, the chaos element didn''t like that intrusion, and a clicking growl Khan couldn''t suppress resounded in the back of his mind. The cry never left Khan''s body, but the old Scalqa seemed able to hear it.


    The old Scalqa suddenly gasped, losing his bnce and falling butt-first into the ground. The reaction triggered the crowd''s anger, which began to shout at Khan. Still, before anyone could step forward, the old Scalqa released a loud cry and lifted his cane to the sky.


    The cry silenced the crowd, and all the aliens watched the old Scalqa returning to his feet. More words escaped his mouth, and murmurs spread before two Scalqa hurried toward the rectangr tent.


    A few seconds had to pass before the two Scalqa returned. Those tall aliens were carrying a huge, fuming cauldron with both hands. The item seemed carved out of a huge skull, but neither Khan nor Amy recognized the creature it belonged to.


    The crowd opened up once more to let the two Scalqa in, and Khan felt forced to take a step back since the aliens were aiming for him. The two dropped the cauldron between Khan and the old Scalqa, and thetter promptly sat down.


    The cauldron was quite tall. It surpassed Khan''s waist, making him wonder about the size of the creature it was carved out from. Still, the smelly dark-green liquid inside it soon captivated his attention. His body instinctively disliked that substance.


    Luck didn''t seem to be on Khan''s side since the old Scalqa tapped the cauldron''s edge with his cane, and one of the aliens promptly retrieved a small bone cup from under his clothes. Khan could only silently curse as the Scalqa walked toward him, handing him the container.

 Chapter 726 Eyes

    <h4>Chapter 726 Eyes</h4>


    Khan didn''t show any hesitation in seizing the bone cup, but that feeling invaded him when his eyes returned to the cauldron. He had understood what the old Scalqa wanted from him, and his senses worked overtime to find ways out of that pickle.


    The old Scalqa wanted Khan to drink the dark green liquid, but his senses had already warned him. His body instinctively disliked the substance, probably hinting at toxicity, poison, or other ingredients he would reject due to his unique situation.


    Moreover, the longer the inspectionsted, the more convinced Khan grew. Even standing before the cauldron was attempting to make him light-headed. The dark green liquid''s fumes were enough to affect his condition.


    Even worse, the Scalqa seemed to respect the old alien and the cauldron. The crowd had gone silent ever since the cauldron hade out. The tribe clearly valued the event, making escaping it ratherplicated.


    Now, Khan was familiar with sacrifice, even too familiar. That inclination had been the bane of all his loved ones. He was so willing to suffer and hurt himself for the greater good that his girlfriends had to set ultimatums to make him stop.


    The current pickle was another instance where Khan could choose to hurt himself to improve his rtionships with the Scalqa. Actually, the odds were in his favor since the procedure involved something seemingly poisonous. Khan''s tolerance had only increased after the transformation and breakthrough to the fourth level. He probably wouldn''t die so easily.


    The event also had another positive aspect. The bone cup''s size was average for a human but small for the Scalqa. It seemed drinking the dark-green liquid didn''t involve huge mouthfuls but mere sips, convincing Khan he could endure it.


    However, the negative aspects weren''t negligible either. First, bing indisposed in the middle of the enemy territory wasn''t a good idea. Khan trusted his resilience but couldn''t ignore the Scalqa''s physical strength. The aliens could decide to attack him, and their punches were bound to hurt.


    The problems didn''t end there. Actually, the worst had yet toe. Khan believed himself capable of handling the Scalqa even while intoxicated. Yet, he wasn''t the only human in the settlement. Amy was there with him, and her allegiances were still unclear.


    Dodging a flurry of punches was one thing, but Amy was different. Khan was far stronger than her, but his eventual intoxicated condition could create a fatal opening, and his paranoia never stopped reminding him of that.


    Khan''s mind was working overtime, but time continued to flow. His hesitation became evident, but the Scalqa didn''t move. Everyone showed strange patience even while the newborn''s cries disturbed the silence.


    Oddly enough, the first reaction didn''te from the Scalqa. Amy couldn''t look at Khan''s face, but his hesitation could only mean one thing. He was considering drinking that dangerous substance, and she couldn''t allow it.


    "Major," Amy called, speaking through her teeth.


    "We agreed on names," Khan admonished, his eyes still on the cauldron.


    "Khan," Amy corrected herself. "You can''t."


    Amy''s tone was honest. Khan even found traces of genuine worry inside it. Yet, his paranoia was a wall his senses couldn''t ovee. Too many variables were at y to believe mere words.


    Besides, Khan had to admit that a tinge of curiosity existed inside him. The old Scalqa could have asked Amy but had only focused on him. The alien probably had heightened senses or simr skills, and that invitation to drink from the cauldron couldn''t be a random action.


    ''My metabolism is probably inferior,'' Khan considered, moving his attention to the old Scalqa, ''But I have the chaos element. That should count for something.''


    Chances were that the old Scalqa also drank the dark green liquid due to the strange scent radiated by his mana. Khan saw that as proof that the substance wasn''t deadly in high dosage. If the alien could tolerate it, so could he.


    Khan lifted the cup, inspecting its insides, and calctions happened inside his mind. The Scalqa couldn''t know his body''s peculiarities, so his size could probably fool them. Filling only a third of the container should be enough to satisfy them and limit the negative consequences.


    The gesture didn''t go unnoticed, and Amy couldn''t refrain from speaking again. "Khan, we can find another way."


    Amy''s words fell on deaf ears. Both Khan and the alienspletely ignored her pleas. A reverent silence had fallen in the area, and Khan stood at its center.


    ''I might as well put this body to use,'' Khan eventually thought. He resented the transformation, but it was there to stay. As much as Khan hated it, he would still use it to pursue his goals.


    Khan had onest thought about Monica before lowering the bone cup into the cauldron. He tilted it, paying attention not to touch the liquid with his fingers. He filled only a third of the container, and lifting it seemed to garner general approval.


    A few green drops flowed down the cup''s edge and fell back into the cauldron, but the Scalqa didn''t falter. They stood silent, waiting for Khan toplete the act. He would normally sit first, but the giant skull would hide him, and he wanted everyone to see him.


    Khan took a deep breath before gulping down the small sip of dark green liquid. He had trained his throat with awful booze and gory items, so he had no problem enduring the disgust that filled his mind. Yet, Khan still decided to sit afterward, crossing his legs to achieve a stable stance.


    The cauldron was taller than the seated Khan, so the old Scalqa scooted to his right to resume inspecting him. The other aliens also leaned ordingly to study the event, and Amy was no exception. Only Khan disregarded his surroundings to focus on his internal state.


    Khan could feel the liquid running down his throat before spreading through his body. Difort invaded him as the disgusting sensation split into countless needles that expanded in his torso, reaching for his abdomen and chest.


    A strange itch arrived, followed by a slight loss of bnce. Khan leaned backward, but his abs tightened, preserving the sitting position. Still, the liquid wasn''t done. The disgust circled through his torso before climbing toward his neck, which began to burn.


    The sensation wasn''t painful, but Khan still closed his eyes to concentrate. He didn''t want to lose control for multiple reasons, so he focused on containing the liquid''s effects. Yet, his mind wandered as the burning feeling converged into his nape.


    shes of familiar sceneries asionally reced the view in Khan''s closed eyes. The nightmare appeared without matching the usual flow. Khan didn''t see it as aplete and continuous memory. He only witnessed random images with no chronological order.


    Khan''s concentration began to slip as the shes grew more frequent. His attention alternated between his surroundings, his state, and the images from the nightmare. He was slowly losing focus, and his torso swung back and forth as he struggled to bnce himself.


    The burning sensation intensified, but Khan could barely notice it. His mind grew dull, captivated by the increasingly frequent shes. His heartbeat increased, and sweat umted on his forehead. His eyes also opened, but he couldn''t see the environment anymore.


    The shes went back and forth. Khan saw the destion of the fuming crater before jumping to the Nak with an arm stretched toward him. He witnessed the tall alien heal him before watching him return inside the charred hole.


    That messy version of the nightmare continued until the star system appeared. At that point, the shes stopped, and the scenery remained stuck to that image. Khan inspected the various thin rings, but his attention soon fell on the blinding circr spot.


    The azure light radiated by the circr spot intensified, and Khan''s eyes began to hurt. However, closing them didn''t eliminate the image, and diverting them appeared impossible. He was stuck watching that blinding sphere, which soon filled the entirety of his vision.


    Khan felt to have gone blind. The only color he could see was azure, and diverting his gaze didn''t change the scenery. Everything had disappeared, leaving behind that single, bright shade. The event almost made him panic, but a change eventually arrived.


    Something brighter appeared among the already bright scenery. Three spots glowed, taking the shape of eyes Khan knew far too well. The Nak''s eyes were shining among the azure canvas, looking at him and inflicting sharp pain at the center of his forehead.


    The azure color suddenly disappeared. Its brightness vanished, reced by pure darkness. Then, tiny white spots manifested randomly, creating another familiar scene. Khan realized he was looking at the depths of space, which turned out far from empty. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The tiny white spots didn''t fill the entirety of the ck canvas. A darker line existed, marking the horizon in a ce that didn''t have any. Details soon appeared and quickly multiplied, revealing the nature of that odd presence.


    The line turned out to be the result of multiple humanoid figures that managed to stand out in the middle of that darkness. They were cker than space, and Khan wasn''t in the right mind to ponder that detail. His brain wasn''t only wandering. Intense sensations had arrived, interrupting any attempt to think.


    Anger, duty, and fear filled the entirety of Khan''s being while understanding dawned upon him. He knew those feelings didn''t belong to him. They were a foreign presence inherited by the Nak''s mana. They were the same sensations he experienced in the nightmares, just far more intense.


    The details increased until Khan recognized long capes, but another change happened. A pair of sharp, scarlet eyes appeared above the mass of figures, and their intense re sent Khan back to reality.


    Khan returned to his senses and found himself crouching on the ground. His forehead was digging through the terrain while sweat profusely flowed down his face. His breath was ragged, and his heart seemed about to explode, but a far scarier sensation distracted him from all of that.


    Khan''s mana had witnessed the entire mental journey and couldn''t stay silent. The chaos element didn''t like thatst scene, and Khan''s energy boiled while the center of his forehead continued to hurt.


    Information flowed into his mind. Khan suddenly becamepletely aware of his surroundings and more. Details he shouldn''t be able to sense became obvious in his mind. He learned the groundposition to perfection, and his mana reached a critical point.


    "Get away from me!" Khan growled, a clicking cry echoing from the bottom of his throat, conveying meanings that overcame thenguage barrier.


    Still, something else also came out. A wave of mana escaped Khan''s body, blowing through his surroundings. That soft wind didn''t hurt anybody, but the ground felt it. Khan could even see its effects and the imminent destruction.


    Cracks abruptly opened all around Khan. The ground shattered, creating holes and lifting clouds of brownish dirt. The destruction spread equally in every direction and for multiple meters, but Khan couldn''t care about his surroundings. A deeper realization existed in his mind and made him unable to think about anything else.


    Khan had already witnessed that attack. It came from something he hated as much as the azure color of his hair. The Nak''s hand on Milia 222 had performed something simr, and now he had unleashed the same power.

 Chapter 727 Enemy

    <h4>Chapter 727 Enemy</h4>


    Rucking noises filled the area as dust rose into the air. Cracks widened on the ground, shattering and splitting into multiple brittle pieces. Some triangr tents fell during the destruction, and tremors enveloped the settlement.


    Chaos unfolded, and various cries joined the ruckus. Everyone in the settlement moved to contain the catastrophe, but Khan stood still. He was aware of his surroundings, and his senses easily pierced through the dust. Yet, his attention was solely on himself.


    The burning sensation waned, but Khan''s forehead continued to hurt, instinctively bringing a hand to its center. He half-expected to find a third eye but only touched his sweaty skin. The check-up technique also confirmed that nothing had transformed and that his body functions were returning to normal. Still, he didn''t feel reassured in the slightest.


    The scenes witnessed after drinking the dark green liquid had felt incredibly real. The sensations experienced during the mental trip still afflicted Khan''s brain, affecting his concentration and overall state. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Just trying to recall the sharp scarlet eyes filled Khan with dread. His best efforts couldn''t do anything against that foreign, irrational fear. That emotional response was almost automatic and came from the Nak''s side of his being.


    ''What the fuck was that?'' Khan cursed in his mind as he attempted to retrieve control over his body. His mana was still boiling, but his deep breaths were slowly cooling it down.


    Thoughts dashed through Khan''s brain, giving birth to countless possible exnations. He needed answers, and his mind did its best to provide them, relying on every bit of knowledge umted throughout the past years.


    ''Was that a hallucinogenic?'' Khan considered that initial option but quickly discarded it.


    The dark green liquid probably had hallucinogenic properties, but Khan''s mental trip had felt too real to be the simple result of an intoxication. The shes from the nightmare had been too vivid toe from memory, and the emotions the following scenes triggered had been too intense to ignore.


    Moreover, the issue was mana-rted. Khan wouldn''t have suffered such harsh consequences otherwise, forcing him to consider more profound possibilities.


    ''Was it part of the nightmare?'' Khan wondered. ''Is it possible that Zalpa didn''t unlock all of it?''


    The idea crumbled as soon as it appeared. The old Scalqa probably was those aliens'' version of a shaman, and the dark green liquid might have helpedpensate for hisckluster skills. However, Khan couldn''t see such a primitive individual outssing Zalpa.


    ''No,'' Khan shook his head, sweat and dirt falling from his forehead. ''It wasn''t part of the nightmare. But I know it was Nak.''


    Khan''s thoughts inevitably went to Cegnore''s natives and their revtions. After excluding other options, it felt mandatory to involve the Nak''s grand quest in the equation, and a question promptly popped into his mind.


    ''Was that the mana''s enemy?'' Khan considered, enduring the instinctive fear to recall the pair of scarlet eyes.


    The emotional response of Khan''s body seemed to confirm that idea, but he didn''t jump to conclusions. Still, his reasoning pointed in that direction, forcing him to consider possible exnations.


    The dark green liquid had been the trigger, but Khan wanted to know more. The toxic substance didn''t have Nak''s mana, so everything hade from inside him, meaning his body stored information he was unaware of.


    ''Primordial instincts?'' Khan thought. ''Atavistic knowledge?''


    Khan had long since stopped seeing himself as a human, but his mind refused to view him as a Nak either. Yet, the transformation had pushed him closer to that species, granting him traits that went beyond the mere flesh.


    The scenes in the mental trip probably were something intrinsic to the Nak. They could be part of knowledge bound to that very species, something that didn''t need to be taught or passed down. Every Nak might have it from birth, turning Khan into the exception to the rule due to his unique situation.


    That idea was far from unrealistic. Some animals didn''t need training or teachings to develop their species'' instincts, and the same could apply to the Nak. The mana made everything more usible, almost convincing Khan of that conclusion.


    Khan had calmed down when that conclusion arrived, and his hand returned to his forehead to scratch its center. Everything was still normal, but his recent performance further convinced him about the final idea.


    The technique that destroyed the ground didn''te from Khan. The Nak''s hand had performed something simr on Milia 222, connecting it to that species. It probably was a skill intrinsic to the Nak, which the dark green liquid had unlocked alongside the additional knowledge.


    Khan sat down, his head still lowered toward the ground while his mind sorted out the new thoughts. If the mental trip was true, he had just found one of the final answers he was searching for. He would have cleared the massive doubt behind Cegnore''s natives'' revtions.


    ''Maybe the mana isn''t simply in danger,'' Khan thought. ''Maybe it has an enemy the Nak can''t defeat.''


    The blue alien''s words from Cegnore resounded in Khan''s mind. The Nak had reached the limits of their species, probably making them unable to defeat the caped figures. Thetter could be after mana itself, so the Nak had infected as many species as possible, hoping to give birth to something stronger than them.


    ''Is mana''s survival really at stake?'' Khan wondered. ''Is the entire universe in danger?''


    Khan could barely deal with his own problems, let alone a threat involving the entire universe. The connection with the Nak also made him inclined to ignore it. He couldn''t care less if he failed their mission after everything they forced him to endure.


    However, the mission involved more than the Nak. Khan had people he cared about in the universe, people he would give his life to protect. He would fight if the threat could affect them.


    ''Am I in the middle of a war?'' Khan thought. ''Am I its center?''


    Every conversation where "host" was mentioned crossed Khan''s mind. He knew he was unique, but there could be other beings like him. He couldn''t be the only contender for the Nak''s legacy in the universe. Still, the recent discoveries made Khan consider whether he should attempt to seize it instead of simply getting rid of the nightmares.


    The consideration came from an obvious detail. Khan lifted his head, and scenes of destruction filled his view. The Nak wielded true power, and Khan might need it to deal with all his problems.


    Khan''s attention went to his forehead. The pain had waned, but he still focused on its center to try to perform the previous absorption of information. His element would be unstoppable if he could replicate that ability.


    Nevertheless, nothing happened. Khan focused and tried to summon the sensations experienced during the mental trip, but the ability didn''te out. He still had his heightened senses, but nothing beyond that.


    Khan''s attention inevitably went to his surroundings afterward. He wanted to check the cauldron''s state, but something else imed his gaze. Someone was standing before him, wearing abat stance. Amy had ignored the faint earthquake to guard Khan while he was indisposed.


    Khan spent a single second inspecting Amy''s back before summoning his strength. He felt a bit weak, but his bodyplied anyway, bringing him back to his feet. The edges of his uniform attached themselves to his sweaty and exposed torso, but he didn''t bother buttoning himself while ncing behind him.


    The cauldron had partially caved in during the destruction, tilting it to its right. Some dark green liquid had spilled onto the ground, leaving fuming wet patches that blended with the dust.


    Khan briefly inspected the cauldron before ncing at the figure behind it. The old Scalqa was still there, albeit on his knees. The destruction had startled him, but he didn''t leave his position.


    Wild emotions returned inside Khan''s brain as he stepped toward the old Scalqa. His rational side knew the alien had nothing to do with the Nak, but the time to y nice had ended. Khan couldn''t passively y along after what he had witnessed.


    The old Scalqa noticed Khan and supported himself on his cane to stand up, but a hand suddenlynded on his throat, stopping his movements. The alien''s neck was too wide for Khan''s fingers, but the strength running through them was enough to convey the intended message.


    The crowd had mostly dispersed to attend to the settlement, but the dust had started to settle, allowing a few aliens to see Khan. His sudden gesture triggered a few cries, and the word "Rok-Go" often came out of the Scalqa''s mouths.


    "Rok-Go, I suppose," Khan said, his cold eyes shining with azure light as he stared at the old Scalqa. "Never forget I''m allowing you to live."


    The aliens couldn''t hope to understand Khan''s words, but the old Scalqa seemed to get their meaning. Khan stated that he was in charge there. Everything was happening simply because he was allowing it.


    More worried Scalqa noticed the event and tried to get closer, but Khan abruptly let go of the primitive shaman. The alien wasn''t to me for the mental trip, so Khan''s anger slowly waned. His attention tried to return to the dark green liquid, but something touched the edge of his senses, distracting him.


    Multiple auras had appeared among the trees past the settlement, carrying evident ill intentions as they rushed toward the rocky barrier. The destruction had attracted unwanted attention, and Khan wouldn''t let the tribe deal with it alone.


    "Amy, stay here," Khan ordered, tapping the ground to send himself into the air. "It seems I have attracted another tribe''s hunting team."

 Chapter 728 Interesting

    <h4>Chapter 728 Interesting</h4>


    ''Were they already near the settlement?'' Khan wondered as his body rose into the air. ''No, I would have sensed them.''


    The Scalqa froze when they witnessed the flight. They forgot about the crisis and the settlement to watch Khan''s performance. Their cries also vanished as their mouths hung open in awe. The human was striving for the sky, and the grace he exuded silenced the aliens'' minds.


    The grace in Khan''s movements affected Amy, too, but she was aware of his abilities. She didn''t experience any surprise, allowing her to focus on her duties. Khan had given her a direct order, and she wouldply.


    ''Did they get closer after this tribe''s hunting team retreated into the settlement?'' Khan considered. ''Did my mental tripst longer than I thought?''


    Calctions happened in Khan''s mind as he tried to make sense of the development. The ship''s scanners had given him a vague idea of where the other tribes were so he could y realistic simtions and draw reliable conclusions.


    The most usible conclusion put some me on Khan. The second hunting team probably was nearby, minding its own business, but the mess in the settlement had drawn it out of its patrol. The other tribe''s Scalqa sensed weakness and initiated the offensive.


    The mission would have wanted Khan to avoid meddling with the tribes'' infighting, but he felt responsible for the attack. The mental trip also made him ignore the politics of the issue. He thought only about himself there, pushing him to take responsibility for his actions. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan stopped rising when he reached a high spot in the sky. The tall forest filled his vision, but he closed his eyes to focus on the symphony. The hunting team didn''t have enough time to encircle the settlement but was still attacking from three directions. Yet, minutes separated it from the tents, giving Khan room to intervene.


    ''Avoid the trees,'' Khan thought. ''Don''t take lives. Don''t cause another mess.''


    Those directives echoed in Khan''s mind as tinges of his mana fused with the symphony, taking control of its various strands. The natural energy in the environment condensed, giving birth to multiple purple-red spheres that slowly morphed into needles.


    The morning sky above the settlement changed color. The purple-red light reced any light blue shade, but the figure at the center of that barrage remained visible. The Scalqa and Amy fell into a daze as they watched Khan spread his arms in the middle of those floating bright needles.


    Khan took a deep breath. The feelings triggered by the mental trip were still inside him, but he couldn''t let them ovee his rational side. He didn''t want to create another mess, which required absolute precision.


    The symphony continued to update Khan. The iing hunting team was getting closer, but the trees'' crowns hid the bright spectacle above the settlement. The enemy Scalqa couldn''t see what was happening, and the following attack took them by surprise.


    Khan opened his hands. His fingers tensed, and the needles shot in three directions, following precise trajectories. They dived into the forest, dodging any trunk before causing explosions.


    The people in the settlement could only hear the explosions. Instead, the iing Scalqa actually witnessed them. A series of needles hadnded on their path, destroying the grassy ground and creating piles of smoke. Needless to say, the sudden event interrupted their advance.


    Khan''s mind didn''t stop absorbing information during that temporary break. The iing Scalqa''s stillness allowed him to study them more precisely, answering the single question in his brain.


    ''Where''s the leader?'' Khan wondered, and his feet moved when the answer arrived.


    The explosions distracted the Scalqa in the settlement, but their eyes soon returned to the sky. Yet, Khan had disappeared by then, diving into a battlefield they couldn''t see.


    The iing Scalqa had split into three groups, with the biggest featuring the team leader. Thetter wielded strength equal to a fourth-level warrior, but the explosions had made him hesitate.


    The alien leader silently studied the pile of smoke before him, almost worried something else could explode. However, peace seemed to have returned, slowly building back his confidence.


    Nevertheless, a small figure materialized among the smoke before the alien leader could make any move. That creature was short and had small muscles, but its eyes carried a strange power. The Scalqa could even swear to have seen them sh with azure light, but that feature had been too short to know for sure.


    Khan walked past the smoke. His gestures appeared almost delicate since the fumes didn''t disperse at his passage. Still, no one dared to take that as a sign of weakness. Actually, the sight worried the most experienced warriors among the aliens.


    The alien leader shared that worry, but more impending duties weighed on his mind. The surprise attack had been his idea, but the window was closing. Dying the assault would give the settlement time to regroup, nullifying the invaders'' advantage.


    Khan''s eyes widened when he saw mana condensing inside the leader''s muscles. The Scalqa''s arms and shoulders bulged, almost ripping off the bone armor he wore. The alien also released a battle cry, forcefully stepping forward and throwing a punch into the air.


    The mana umted inside the alien''s muscles followed the punch''s movement, shooting forward to affect the area ahead. An invisible shockwave advanced through the air, destroying the ground below and dispersing the fumes. The attack had to cross several meters before losing power and stopping.


    The Scalqa leader didn''t advance after the attack. He kept his arms lifted as he studied the conical hole he created. He found no trace of the little creature, but a chill ran down his spine when a voice spoke from above him.


    "Interesting," Khanmented, standing on the leader''s right shoulder as he also inspected the conical hole.


    The leader''s mind lost any trace of reason. The alien couldn''t follow Khan''s movements at all. He couldn''t even understand what had happened, but that didn''t matter anymore. Khan had to die.


    The Scalqa leader put strength into his left arm, but Khanpleted his attack before he could swing it. Immense weight fell on the alien''s shoulder, mming it on the ground.


    The alien shouted, but dirt soon filled his mouth. Khan replicated the previous attack while pressing on the Scalqa''s head. The alien''s face was basically digging into the ground, but his awareness remained intact.


    ''They are as tough as I expected,'' Khan thought before mming his foot on the alien''s nape. His attack now focused on damaging rather than pushing, leading to the intended effects. The Scalqa leader had fainted.


    The exchange had been so quick that the other team members failed to do anything to help their leader. They only understood what had happened when Khan crouched down to lift the fainted Scalqa. That disrespectful action triggered their anger, and many lifted their arms to prepare for a fight. Yet, all of them froze under Khan''s bright eyes.


    "Don''t throw your lives away," Khan ordered, and a tremor ran through the symphony, affecting the aliens'' bnce. No one fell, but the event conveyed the immense difference in power.


    Khan lost interest in the weaker aliens and adjusted the Scalqa leader on his back before stepping into the air. The other Scalqa could only follow him with their eyes before the thick crowns hid his figure.


    The settlement was still noisy, but the Scalqa had mostly regrouped. Part of the tribe was attending to the tents and Rok-Go, while the others had approached the rocky barrier. The invaders had gotten close enough to generate tremors they could hear, and Khan''s explosions had also provided general directions.


    The warriors inside the settlement split into four teams, with three guarding the explosions'' directions and one surveilling the nearby opening in the barrier. They were ready to defend their home, and their enemies eventually appeared.


    A series of Scalqa donned in pelts and wielding slings and wooden spears came out of the trees, approaching the rocky barrier at high speed. Both sides prepared to fire their weapons at their opponents, but one suddenly stopped to look at the sky.


    The invaders'' strange behavior made the defenders stop, too, and all the eyes in the area soon converged in the sky above the settlement. Khan had returned, and the huge figure in his hand seemed able to end the conflict.


    Khan held the Scalqa leader by the neck, showing him left and right as he hovered above the settlement. The alien had yet to wake up, but his bone armor spoke for his status. Even the Scalqa with poor eyesight could recognize who Khan had defeated.


    Khan spun on himself a few times to convince everyone of the event before slowly descending into the settlement. Capturing the enemy leader was a basic military tactic, and the enemy Scalqa acknowledged it by lowering their spears. Khan had single-handedly vanquished their will to assault the tribe.

 Chapter 729 Sky people

    729 Sky people


    Silence invaded the settlement as Khan descended toward Rok-Go. The invading Scalqa waited past the rocky barrier, unsure what to do. Meanwhile, the defending tribe inspected Khan, still incredulous about his recent feats.


    Amy was the only exception to the trend, but her emotions shared the aliens'' intensity. She read about Khan and had spent the long trip beside him. Yet, seeing him in action was apletely different matter.


    Humans could get used to seeing flight. That ability was rare but known. However, Khan had done much more than that in such a short time. He had killed a crisis that could have set back the political mission by weeks in mere minutes.


    Khan''s disy of power was also mystical, almost god-like. Amy could partially understand what had happened since she had read the lessons'' reports, but that awareness couldn''t quiet down her emotions, and things were bound to be worse for the Scalqa.


    Amy followed Khan''s descent before inspecting the tribe. Faces that exuded shock and veneration filled her view. The Scalqa had finally realized what they had weed in their settlement, and any desire toin vanished. A monster had appeared among them, and Amy knew that wasn''t the full extent of his power.


    The spiritual loneliness of the past period expanded in Khan''s mind during the descent. He could feel everything, and the scene was far from unfamiliar. The Scalqa''s expressions told him how different he was, reminding him of his unique ce in the universe.


    The feeling gained more power due to the recent mental trip. The sole idea that Khan might be a key aspect in defending mana intensified his internal loneliness. He was already living in a world only he could see, but a fate only he was aware of had joined the equation. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''How can I exin this to Monica?'' Khan wondered as he got close enough to the ground to toss down the Scalqa leader.


    The big alien fell before Rok-Go, who had stood up in the meantime. Khannded next to the fainted Scalqa right afterward, and his eyes ran over the tribe. Still, his mind continued to wander on problems only he could understand.


    Theoretically, Khan had already broken the mission''s protocol. He didn''t only cause a massive problem in the targeted tribe. He had also interfered with the Scalqa''s political rtionships. The envoy might have to relocate or wait for things to cool down before resuming pursuing its objectives.


    Nevertheless, Amy knew something entirely different could happen. She could read it on the Scalqa''s faces. Khan''s status had grown so much the tribe couldn''t kick him out. The aliens wouldn''t even dare to try.


    The settlement''s Scalqa left four teams near the rocky barrier, but some of their members flowed toward Rok-Go to inspect the situation. The tribe''s leader was among them, and looking at the fainted alien who shared his defensive attire filled his face with seriousness.


    Of course, every avable eye soon fell on Khan, but he ignored the stares and attended to his open uniform. In his mind, he and the tribe were now even, and interfering further would directly challenge their authority.


    Sadly, thenguage barrier prevented the Scalqa from probing Khan''s intentions, and many failed to pick up on his detached behavior. Most aliens didn''t understand his stance even after he finished buttoning his uniform and crossed his arms, but the leader and Rok-Go were exceptions.


    The alien leader approached Rok-Go''s side before standing still. Meanwhile, the old Scalqa poked the fainted alien with his cane before turning him up. Everyone could get a good look at the bone armor now, and some gasps resounded among the gathered crowd.


    Khan feigned indifference at the second round of stares and peeked past his shoulder to nod at Amy. Thetter understood his silent order and advanced to reach his side. He didn''t forget how she had guarded him during the mental trip, and that behavior deserved rewards.


    Amy''s arrival didn''t change the humans'' stance. Both she and Khan remained still, leaving the decision to the aliens. Neither knew what would happen, but their involvement was assured now that the Scalqa didn''t have the guts to boss them around.


    Rok-Go continued to poke the fainted Scalqa before crouching toward him. He put a hand on his forehead to murmur a few words, and Khan noticed faint mana escaping his palm. That energy entered the alien''s brain, sending a tremor that snapped him awake.


    The enemy leader loudly gasped, abruptly lifting his back to sit down. Meanwhile, the allied leader pulled back Rok-Go and stepped forward. The two Scalqa stared at each other, but one showed far more interest than the other.


    The Scalqa on the ground felt confused about his new location and began inspecting his surroundings, but everything returned once he spotted Khan. His big eyes widened in terror, and his palms pushed on the ground to make him hurry back. Yet, the other leader stepped forward again, blocking the escape route with a leg.


    The enemy Scalqa had no choice but to face the situation now. However, his attention never returned to his fellow aliens. Only one figure existed in his mind, and his terror slowly waned as the inspection continued.


    Khan saw that the waning was only apparent as those big eyes remained fixed on him. The enemy Scalqa was calming down, but the terror survived inside his mind. Still, he was a leader and would behave like one.


    The Scalqa slowly blinked while his face remained stern. He lifted his hands to fling his long, braided ck hair behind his shoulders before adjusting his position. He got to his knees, and his arms rose again.


    Khan and Amy didn''t only look at the Scalqa on the ground. They also studied the tribe''s reactions and noticed that no one appeared bothered by the alien''s movements. The settlement had understood something the humans had yet to get, but that confusion was short-lived.


    The kneeling alien lifted both palms and looked at Khan onest time before lowering his head. The same gesture performed toward the old shaman was now happening to him.


    ''Is he pleading mercy?'' Khan wondered, his arms still crossed. ''Servitude? Worship?''


    The first instance of the gesture had been inconclusive, and Khan couldn''t rely too much on his senses there. He could recognize the emotions in the symphony, but they could have different purposes and meanings among the Scalqa. Even the simple act of yielding to the enemy could open multiple paths.


    Khan tried to read his surroundings to n his next move, but the allied leader understood his confusion and intervened. The alien stood before the kneeling Scalqa and ran two fingers over his lifted palms. The crowd weed the gesture with cheers, and the cries continued even after the leader stepped back.


    The kneeling alien fell back to his butt but mostly kept his head lowered. He sneaked peeks at Khan, but those gestures were rare and short. Shame had enveloped the sitting alien, and those outside the rocky barrier who saw the scene shared that feeling.


    Things didn''t end there. The realization of the leader''s defeat sent a few aliens outside the settlement into a frenzy. Panic invaded those Scalqa''s minds, and cries escaped their mouths as they turned to run into the forest.


    However, theirpanions promptly lifted their weapons and chased after the runners, shouting even harder than them. Fights unfolded, spears flew, and rocks were thrown, and all three sides culminated in the same scene.


    The three enemy teams gathered before the bone barrier again, wielding the bloodied bodies of their escapingpanions. Some were still alive but had spears stabbed into their torsos and waists. Human medicine could save them, but Khan doubted the Scalqa nned to let them live.


    None of the settlement''s aliens looked surprised, and both Khan and Amy noticed that detail. It seemed that was another customary event rooted in the Scalqa''s traditions. Still, neither could understand the goal behind it.


    The allied leader didn''t give the two humans time to study the event. After dealing with the prisoner, the Scalqa began shouting at the tribe, probably conveying orders hispanions didn''t hesitate to follow. The crowd quickly dispersed, and someone even dragged the sitting Scalqa away.


    Soon, only Khan, Amy, the allied leader, and Rok-Go remained in the area, but a couple of Scalqa returned to deliver a few items. Thetter dropped bone cups to the ground, showing their clear contents. They seemed to contain water, but Rok-Go promptly tampered with it.


    Rok-Go walked toward the tilted cauldron and dipped the tip of his cane inside it. Then, he returned to the group to point the stick at every cup.


    The alien only hovered the cane above the cups for a few seconds, enough to let a single drop of the dark green liquid fall in each. The water inside them immediately changed color, but Khan could feel its effects wouldn''t evene close to the previous experience.


    ''It must be their version of booze,'' Khan considered before recalling the central tent. ''Maybe it has a different meaning. It could be holy even.''


    Rok-Go and the Scalqa leader sat down before two cups, and Khan and Amy imitated them. The four created a circle on the ground, and the two humans let the aliens take charge.


    Only the Scalqa leader spoke, gesturing and repeating the same sets of words. His intentions looked good, but thenguage barrier appeared impossible to cross. Still, the alien showed great patience, and Khan eventually felt to have figured something out.


    "Ghi-gu," Khan said, pointing at himself.


    "[Ghi-gu]," The Scalqa leader repeated, performing what looked like a nod.


    "Ghi-gu," Khan uttered, pointing at the Scalqa leader.


    "[Ghi-gu]," The Scalqa leader nodded again.


    "Ghi-gu," Khan said for the third time, indicating Amy.


    "[Ghi-gu]," The Scalqa confirmed.


    "Zu," Khan continued, pointing at the clear, bluish sky.


    "[Zu]!" The Scalqa leader cried, confirming Khan''s idea but correcting his ent.


    Khan then ran his hand before Amy and himself, indicating both before asking for confirmation for onest thing. "Zu Ghi-gu."


    "[Zu Ghi-gu]," Rok-Go repeated, also nodding.


    "No wonder," Khan chuckled.


    "Am I following this correctly?" Amy questioned.


    "I hope so," Khan stated, ncing at Amy and doing his best interpretation of the Scalqa''s ent. "[Zu Ghi-gu]."


    "Sky people," Amy responded. "Or sky tribe."

 Chapter 730 Absolute

    730 Absolute


    The conversation continued for a while and focused on lowering thenguage barrier. The Scalqa leader and Rok-Go even showed utmost patience in teaching Khan and Amy useful words, and significant results eventually arrived.


    The Scalqa leader called himself Kru-Zi, and his tribe also carried a specific name Khan and Amy could best trante as "Bone Tribe". Instead, the invaders went by "Warrior Tribe", although Khan and Amy weren''t sure about the trantion. That title could belong to every nomadic group, but only the ship''s scanners could confirm that.


    The conversation never focused too much on the human side since the two Scalqa were more interested in teaching than listening, but Khan and Amy still managed to convey their names. However, the best Khan could achieve for himself was an odd "Ka-Han", which he ultimately epted with a smile.


    As for the drinks, Khan let Amy and the two Scalqa sip first, and seeing theck of side effects gave him the confidence to approach the bone ss. The tainted liquid didn''t affect him either, but his interest in the toxic substance remained strong. He forced himself not to look at it, but his attention often fell on the titled cauldron.


    The settlement didn''t stay still during the conversation. The tribe tied the invaders'' corpses to the rocky barrier with ropes made of pelt before weing the other attackers. Yet, thetter never stepped into the central parts of the encampment. They didn''t even get tents and established themselves in the area''s outskirts.


    Khan lost track of the enemy leader, but his interest was mostly in the tribe''s behavior. Everyone seemed to know their role without requiring additional orders, and that applied to both sides. Allies and enemies understood their position and acted ordingly.


    Deep-rooted traditions that crossed the differences in tribes were at work there, and Khan did his best to memorize them while figuring out Kru-Zi and Rok-Go''s teachings. The Scalqa disyed many unwritten rules worthy of being reported to the envoy.


    As fruitful as the wee was, Khan and Amy soon hit a wall. There was a limit to how much they could learn through that barebone conversation, and inspecting the settlement''s behavior wouldn''t lead anywhere either. They could probably impose their presence and live with the Scalqa for a while, but the envoy had quicker methods in store.


    Amy took the backseat in the decision-making for obvious reasons. Even while conversing, the two Scalqa were only interested in Khan. They listened to Amy out of basic respect, but their faces remained turned toward Khan. Luckily for the political envoy, he understood his position and knew how to progress the mission.


    Once the wall became too evident, Khan stood up and performed a harmless bow. Amy promptly imitated him, and the two Scalqa responded with unknown words. The two aliens were probably asking something, but thenguage barrier prevented the arrival of any understanding.


    Nevertheless, the Scalqa weren''tpletely clueless about social interactions. Rok-Go said something, and Kru-Zi epted it, also standing up to face the humans.


    Khan half-expected more untrantable words, but Kru-Zi remained silent and imitated his bow. His performance was clunky and slightly hrious due to his massive muscles, but Khan and Amy appreciated its meaning.


    Khan shot onest nce at Rok-Go before nodding at Kru-Zi and turning. Amy followed along, and the two calmly left the settlement under everyone''s curious eyes. The tribe was busy, but the foreigners, especially Khan, remained too interesting to ignore.


    The departure was uneventful. No one shouted at the humans or tried to stop them, and Khan and Amy soon returned to the forest. The two didn''t exchange words while picking up the pace, and Khan''s incredible senses allowed him to lead the way back to the shuttle.


    Luckily, the shuttle had remained outside the mess. Its canopy was still open, but no one had touched the equipment inside. Khan and Amy even entered the vehicle to check whether everything was there, and the confirmation arrived in less than a minute.


    "What should we do now?" Amy asked, silencing herself when she realized she was about to add a "Major".


    "The area is more crowded than we expected," Khan announced. "Let''s set up the equipment and bring back the shuttle to HQ."


    Amy didn''t need to ask additional questions to understand Khan''s reasoning. The attackers probably weren''t part of the three tribes spotted during thending, and the shuttle was too valuable to be left exposed to threats.


    The envoy had practiced for simr situations, so Khan and Amy quickly unloaded the shuttle to set up and hide the required equipment. Khan''s flying abilities also came in handy, allowing him to ce scanners and simr tools far up on the trees. No Scalqa would spot or take them down there, ensuring their survival.


    The shuttle also had some supplies and other goods that could be traded with the Scalqa, but Khan decided to bring everything back to HQ before nning the next step. Amyplied, so the two soon settled under the canopy and set off. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The trip back to the ship was uneventful, and the shuttle''s scanners also failed to spot problematic behaviors in the surrounding areas. Patrolling the perimeter was even pointless since the envoy would have more reliable data, so Khan focused on reuniting with his team.


    The scenery near the shallow cliff had changed during Khan and Amy''s absence. The smoke had long since disappeared, and Randall and the others had finished setting up the necessary equipment.


    Defensive turrets loaded with mana magazines grew in the four corners around the ship, and scanners and other tools upied the area they encircled. Kirk and Marcus were also outside, either checking the equipment or seizing ground samples, but the shuttle''s arrival interrupted their tasks.


    Khan brought the shuttle around the ship before approaching the metal bridge. The auto-pilot handled the attaching maneuvers, and data began to flow into Khan''s desk. All the tests and information gathered while he was gone became essible, and he didn''t hesitate to skim through them.


    Nevertheless, the metal bridge''s door suddenly opened, and Randall appeared at its center. He tried to hide it, but his mood was quite evident. He looked slightly angry, even if some hesitation kept him in check.


    "Wee back," Randall announced. "I know you must be tired, but the main deck awaits your report."


    Khan and Amy knew their role, so they left their seats and followed Randall through the ship. Kirk and Marcus had returned inside by then, and thetter couldn''t refrain from peeking at the scene. He could read the mood and felt a discussion was in order.


    The trio found Celeste behind her station when they reached the main deck. Still, their arrival prompted her to her feet, and gentle words left her mouth. "I''m d you are okay, Amy, Major."


    "We should have gathered interesting data for you," Khan stated, ncing at hispanion. "Amy."


    Amy slipped a hand into the upper part of her military uniform to retrieve a tiny microphone. The item had recorded the entire conversation with the two Scalqa, allowing Celeste to study it freely.


    Celeste wasn''t sure about the item''s contents, but her eyes lit up anyway. She hurried to retrieve the microphone before connecting it to her desk. The ship''s menus immediately transferred the data, and her fingers itched to process it.


    Sadly enough, Randall couldn''t share Celeste''s excited mood. He knew Amy and Khan had achieved a lot that day, but his schedule had fallen apart.


    "We have watched as much as possible through the ship''s scanners," Randall eximed, approaching one empty station to activate holograms. "What exactly happened?"


    The holograms began to y the images following the ship''snding, focusing on Khan and Amy''s position. The scenescked many details, but the scanners could still pick up various mana traces, providing an urate replica of the previous events.


    Randall''s confusion and slight irritation immediately became clear. The ship''s scanners couldn''t see most facial expressions and gestures, so a random viewer might get the impression that Khan had started a fight. The same went for the settlement''s mess. Everything had started from Khan, seemingly on purpose.


    Once the video ended, Randall faced Khan and Amy, focusing on the former while crossing his arms. He tried to avoid it, but a scolding tone still joined his voice. "I''m well aware of your feats with aliens, Major, but I thought we agreed on a n."


    Khan wasn''t in the best mood, and his element disliked that faint usation, so he responded ordingly. "What are you insinuating?"


    "We could have agreed on a different approach," Randall said as politely as possible, "If that was your idea."


    "If I wanted to act on my own," Khan replied, "I would have. Believe that."


    The conversation seemed ready to escte into the usual bickering, but Amy intervened before it was toote. "May I share my report now?"


    The interruption came as a surprise, but neither Khan nor Randall stopped Amy, so she began with her report. Her story started with the shuttle''snding and ended with the departure from the settlement, adding essential details that vastly justified Khan''s actions.


    Randall couldn''t help but fall silent while his brain processed the new information. Meanwhile, Khan approached Celeste''s desk to help her sort out the words he had learned. Everything flowed into her software, and the processsted until Randall found what to say.


    "The toxic liquid sounds interesting," Randall eximed.


    "The contents of the central tents probably are more interesting," Khan added. "I n to find out what it''s hiding."


    "How?" Randall asked.


    "I''ll find a way," Khan dered, lifting his eyes from the console to look at the team leader. "If the Scalqa remain uncooperative, I''ll just force my way through."


    "It''s worth noting that the tribe is likely to cooperate," Amymented before Randall could speak. "They are more than interested in the Major."


    "What if theypel you to drink that liquid again?" Randall asked.


    "I''ll be more careful," Khan promised. "Though, I have a personal interest in the liquid. If the situation allows it, I''ll experiment with it in istion."


    "Do you have a n?" Randall questioned.


    "We should stick to the basics now," Khan suggested. "Let''s trade a few goods while continuing to learn their customs andnguage. On that topic, I need a copy of the scanners'' recordings. We might discover something about their traditions with them."


    Randall didn''t give the okay, but everyone began to move to follow Khan''s suggestion anyway. He had refused the team leader role, but an unwritten rule had already bew. Khan had gained a relevant status among the Scalqa, so his demands had be absolute.

 Chapter 731 Bush

    <h4>Chapter 731 Bush</h4>


    Less experienced people would rush back to the settlement to strike the iron while it was hot. After all, the tribes'' politics looked unstable and frail, and Khan''s achievements could go to waste if the Scalqa experienced a significant power shift.


    However, the political envoy only had pros, and the many tools at their disposal opened better paths. Moreover, the considerable amount of new data they had obtained needed careful study, inevitably dying the second trip into the forest.


    Celeste, Amy, Kirk, and Marcus had precise roles, allowing them to focus on specific tasks without requiring additional orders. Celeste had the entire conversation with the two Scalqa to study, while Amy needed to review the scanners'' recordings to find eventual patterns and discover potential customs.


    As for the two technicians, they mostly provided support to smoothen Celeste and Amy''s job. Marcus and Kirk tinkered with all the necessary equipment to deliver better data and functions that could help with any new issue.


    Khan and Randall were exceptions since their jobs epassed multiple roles. Still, thetter mostly acted as a reviewer of any conclusion that reached his desk. Meanwhile, Khan had a more active influence on the various aspects of the process.


    Khan''s senses, experience, and significant role in the rtionships with the Scalqa made his involvement in the study mandatory. He mostly supported Amy while reviewing the recordings, but Celeste also requested his presence while sorting out her software.


    The envoy reached multiple conclusions during the process. First, the scanners confirmed that the invaders belonged to a nomadic fourth party that had tried to exploit the chaos.


    Increasing the scanners'' range reduced uracy but allowed the envoy to spot more nomadic forces. It seemed Baoway wasn''t short of those, but their nature and origin remained unclear. Only further investigation could answer that.


    The second breakthrough came in the form of additional knowledge rted to the Scalqanguage. Celeste''s review led to realistic suggestions and trantions Khan and Amy couldn''t consider during the conversation. The alien vocabry had increased, allowing improvements to Celeste''s software, which grew more efficient and urate.


    The third conclusion wasn''t a breakthrough, but the suggestions helped set the envoy''s future priorities. The issue involved the toxic liquid and the rectangr tent, which the team studied after modifying the scanners once again. Even the ship recognized that something was up, and Randall didn''t hesitate to add it to the list.


    The study also involved the Scalqa''s behavior, hierarchy, and politics, but the envoy could onlye up with theories rather than actual conclusions. Everything sounded rtively urate, but no one developed biases or took those ideas for granted. That would require additional missions on the field.


    The search for answers and patterns wasn''t the only interesting aspect of the prolonged istion inside the ship. No one said anything, but everyone noticed Khan''s slight change in attitude toward the team. Amy, in particr, received far kinder replies and exnations.


    That radical change from the initial days in the Harbor''s hangar led to silent thoughts and asional, meaningful nces. No one dared to gossip, but everyone developed ideas about the new situation.


    Some ideas involved potential affairs and romantic events, especially since Monica had already mentioned the issue. However, others recognized that Khan was simply warming up to his teammates. Everyone had seen the scanners'' recordings, and Amy''s readiness to protect Khan could exin the change in attitude.


    As for Khan, he noticed the curious looks and general curiosity in the ship''s symphony, but the life in the Harbor had gotten him used to far worse. He paid that environment no heed while remaining true to his feelings, which had slightly changed after the crisis.


    The paranoia was still there, but Khan couldn''t remain blind to reality. His senses didn''t pick up anything, and his indisposed state during the mental trip would have been the perfect opportunity for an assassination attempt. Yet, Amy had chosen to guard him in the middle of a potentially hostile settlement.


    Actions had more value than words, especially on the battlefield. Khan wouldn''t say he trusted Amy now but couldn''t treat her as an enemy either. She wasn''t a friend either, but Khan wouldn''t reprimand her or erect walls between them for no reason.


    The study sessionsted a few days, and multiple meetings happened to sort out the new information and develop new approaches. Kirk and Marcus also modified and tuned additional equipment to suit the new directives. However, Khan and Amy went out again once everything was set and done.


    The duo skipped the shuttle and proceeded on foot while carrying multiple backpacks each. Khan''s presence prevented the possibility of getting lost in the forest, so the two steadily advanced until they returned to their initialnding spot.


    The equipment in the area was still intact, but Khan and Amy reced and added a few tools to help HQ gather information before departing for the settlement. Khan led the march, and the familiar encampment soon appeared in their view.


    The trip didn''t involve hunting teams, and reaching the settlement solved questions about the matter. The envoy kept track of the encampment''s behavior during the studying session, and Khan and Amy could confirm the findings upon their arrival. The Bone Tribe was expanding, leaving most of the work to the newly acquired prisoners.


    The rocky barrier had expanded. The brown ground showed deep holes caused by the relocation of each spiked rock. The number of tents had also increased, although not significantly. The tribe was probably enforcing a culling process, and Kru-Zi was in charge.


    A small workforce had gathered behind the barrier, pushing and lifting the various rocks to move them forward. Khan recognized those Scalqa as invaders, and Kru-Zi stood among them, shouting orders and wearing a stern expression.


    Kru-Zi didn''t notice Khan and Amy''s arrival, but some Scalqa were roaming among the tents, and a few ended up spotting the two. Cries and shouts immediately unfolded, awakening the entire settlement, and Kru-Zi ignored the workforce to address the issue.


    The Scalqa leader hurried toward one of the openings in the barrier where Khan and Amy had stopped before performing a Niqols'' bow. His attempt was better than before, probably hinting at practice, but both Khan and Amy feigned ignorance at that detail.


    Khan didn''t hesitate to reply with a simr bow while Amy smiled. She even remained one step behind to let the two men handle the greetings. She knew she had no power there, and Khan couldn''t help but appreciate it.


    "[Ka-Han]!" Kru-Zi eximed before adding a few words the envoy had yet to trante.


    "[Kru-Zi]," Khan called. "[Sky tribe food]." The origin of this chapter''s debut can be traced to n(0)vel(b)(j)(n).


    The second part of Khan''s statement resulted from his coboration with Celeste. They had scoured the recordings to find the right words for the second meeting, and that was the best they could achieve.


    Kru-Zi appeared surprised about Khan''s good ent and somewhat understandable line, but thetter acted before questions could arrive. Khan dropped his backpack and seized Amy''s before approaching the Scalqa and leaving the two items on the ground.


    Khan went one step further, opening the backpacks to show their contents. Various supplies, clean water, and a bottle of iconic human booze appeared in the open, which the Scalqa obviously didn''t recognize. Still, Khan didn''t stop there.


    Khan lifted both backpacks, unloading their contents to the ground before crouching toward them. He beckoned the alien, and Kru-Zi half-kneeled to inspect the pile of goods.


    "[Eat]," Khan said before seizing a protein bar, removing the stic container, and taking a big bite.


    Khan munched loudly to highlight his point before gulping and handing the food to the Scalqa. Kru-Zi didn''t look too convinced about the gesture, but ncing at Khan forced him to seize the protein bar.


    Kru-Zi inspected the bar, sniffed it, and tested its texture with his giant fingers. He also brought his hand to his nose afterward, and his big eyes lit up in interest. The alien''s hesitationsted a few more seconds before the entire item ended in his mouth.


    Khan smiled, ignoring that the Scalqa had eaten part of the stic container. Amy also retained a perfect polite fa?ade during the process, and Kru-Zi eventually grunted, his eyes wide open.


    A cry that seemed to radiate excitement escaped the Scalqa''s mouth. The alien also turned toward the settlement, calling the firstpanion he could find. The new Scalqa promptly approached the opening in the barrier, and Khan soon found him crouching before him.


    Khan continued to smile while handing another protein bar to the neer. The alien didn''t know what to do with it, but Kru-Zi said a few untrantable words, bolstering his courage. The Scalqa eventually threw the food in his mouth, stic container included, and another excited cry soon filled the area.


    "[Eat]," Khan interrupted the exited mood, seizing a bottle of water from the pile of goods. He didn''t know the word for "drink", but his gesturepensated for that. He drank from the item, and the Scalqa eventually imitated him.


    The process went on for a few minutes. Khan showed most items'' functions before leaving their copies to the ground. Those supplies already belonged to the tribe in his mind, and standing up seemed to convey his point.


    Kru-Zi stood up with Khan, quickly inspecting the remaining goods before looking at the human again. Those supplies wouldn''t do much to a tribe of such big aliens, but Khan''s point sounded obvious. He wanted peaceful cooperation and trade, which Kru-Zi happily weed.


    Nevertheless, the Scalqa leader soon went serious and said a few words Khan couldn''t understand. He only recognized Rok-Go and the alien''s gestures toward the settlement''s insides. It seemed Kru-Zi wanted to lead him toward the tents, and he didn''t refuse.


    Kru-Zi moved as soon as Khan nodded, leading the two humans inside the settlement. Orders escaped his mouth, and aliens moved to take care of the pile of goods. Khan recorded that behavior, but his interest remained in Kru-Zi''s direction. The Scalqa leader was heading toward the rectangr tent, inevitably arousing Khan''s interest.


    The Scalqa leader shouted when the rectangr tent appeared in sight, and Rok-Go promptly exited it. The alien uttered more untrantable words, pointing at Khan before beckoning him to get closer. Kru-Zi stopped at that point, and stern lines escaped his mouth while ncing at Amy. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "They want you to go alone," Amymented.


    "I know," Khan said. "If something happens, run."


    "What about you?" Amy asked. "Your safety is a higher priority than mine."


    "Do I have to repeat myself?" Khan questioned.


    Amy promptly fell silent. Her instincts told her to perform a military salute, but her arms stood still to avoid creating misunderstandings among the alien species. Still, a simple smile appeared on her face, and Khan did his best to ignore it.


    Khan stepped forward, keeping track of Kru-Zi''s mana to check for eventual warnings. Yet, nothing arrived, so he reached Rok-Go, who lifted the rectangr tent''s pelts to wee him inside.


    Khan''s senses were the first to react to the hostile environment. The air inside the rectangr tent was steamy, as if a fire was burning. Moreover, its symphony carried the same toxic traits found in the dark green liquid. They were simply softer.


    Khan hesitated before that dark environment. His senses were warning and reassuring him at the same time. That gas wouldn''t do him any good, but its density didn''t seem enough to trigger another mental trip. Theoretically, he would be fine during a short exposure.


    The hesitation could appear impolite, so Khan quickly made up his mind and entered the rectangr tent. Its insides were barebone at best, featuring little to no furniture. Khan only spotted random pieces of wood and bones before his senses grew used to the toxic air and found the source of his initial interest.


    The tent contained a source of positive influence and radiation. Khan had spotted it during his first visit to the settlement, but everything was different now. The toxic air tried to muddle his senses, but the bright spot was impossible to ignore. The item was almost blinding in his view, and his legs inevitably moved in its direction.


    Getting closer revealed the item''s nature. It wasn''t an object. The source of that strange influence was a small bush made of blue leaves. The nt looked harmless and simple, but Khan''s heartbeat grew stronger while standing before it. His very skin felt ufortable as he noticed dark green drops falling from it.

 Chapter 732 Sacrifice

    <h4>Chapter 732 Sacrifice</h4>


    No one in the political envoy expected to gain ess to the rectangr tent so soon, so they didn''t prepare for the event. Yet, their best soldier was handling the issue, and information never stopped flowing into his brain.


    The presence of wood inside the tent gave Khan a few ideas. He firmly believed the Scalqa or the Bone Tribe paid special attention to that resource, and its scarcity inside that central ce seemed to confirm that.


    However, Khan couldn''t confirm whether the material had some holy purpose. The rectangr tent seemed to belong to Rok-Go, adding value to that hypothesis due to the old Scalqa''s status among the tribe. That detail was worth reporting, but Khan did his best to avoid developing biases.


    The absence of furniture could mean much or nothing at all. Khan didn''t see a single chair or table in the settlement, so it made sense that Rok-Go''s tent would alsock them. Still, that conclusion was impossible to confirm without inspecting other habitations.


    Khan didn''t spot any specific tool, either. He could understand that Rok-Go was in charge of carving weapons and bone equipment, but nothing in the tent helped that purpose. The hints conflicted with many of his hypotheses, leaving a lot of uncertainty.


    Atst, the tent''s main item seemed to speak for the tribe''s unwillingness to use the nearby trees, but Khan stuffed those thoughts in the back of his mind. Further studies of the small bush and the other settlements were necessary to obtain reliable answers. For now, Khan could only develop countless reasonable simtions.


    Of course, Khan didn''t stop at simtions. His senses were incredibly urate, even in the middle of that toxic air. He could finally watch the nt''s effects without the hindrance of the pelts, and his whole attention focused precisely on that.


    The bush was clearly mana-rted. Itsrge blue leaves carried that energy''s shade, although in a darker fashion. Moreover, Khan had tasted the magic power of the toxic liquid they produced, almost confirming his assumption.


    The ground around the nt further reinforced that idea. Brighter colors shone under the surface, hinting at improved and more resilient terrain. Khan felt the urge to touch it but held back for the time being.


    The toxic liquid produced simr effects. The drops that fell into the ground spread their energy, creating sshes in the underground symphony. The nt was affecting that material, paving its way toward higher states of power. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Those effects came at a steep price. Like any machine, the nt required energy to thrive and perform its functions. That was even truer for mana-based items since simple fuel couldn''t be enough to support them.


    The underground symphony around the nt was thriving, but the terrain above appeared beyond brittle. The surfaceyer seemed ready to crumble at the first whiff of wind. Something had drained it, and the culprit wasn''t hard to find.


    Nevertheless, Khan couldn''t find more clues to support that hypothesis. The nt might have drained the surface, but the process seemed to have ended. Khan couldn''t see any ongoing absorption, pushing his thoughts toward different simtions.


    The tribe''s apparent customs popped into Khan''s mind. Suddenly, that vast empty spot in the middle of the forest didn''t feel natural anymore. He had begun to believe the Scalqa would have never cut trees to clear the area, paving the way for another exnation.


    ''This nt might have prevented the growth of trees altogether,'' Khan considered. ''The forest might have given birth to this small thing instead of thirty or so trees.''


    The new hypothesis spread into multiple simtions, altering the various ideas Khan had developed during the previous days. Maybe the settlement''s location wasn''t random. Maybe the Bone Tribe had chosen to be there precisely because of the blue bush''s presence.


    The new idea changed the meaning of politics among tribes. The Scalqa probably fought for the control of those unique locations rather than due to customs and traditions. If that were true, the nomadic groups would have lower value in the environment, hinting at why the invaders submitted so quickly.


    Of course, Khan couldn''t confirm any of that yet. His hunches told him he was right, but his reasonable side demanded more proof. His feet almost itched to set off and fly above the forest to inspect the other settlements and search for simrly empty areas, but the strange nt managed to retain his attention.


    Tribe''s politics, customs, and environmental questions aside, Khan''s main interest remained the nt''s effects. He was curious about its origin, meaning, and more, but its strange influence was still at the top of his priorities. If his initial assumption were correct, the finding would be monumental for humankind, but further inspections had toe first.


    The ground had already endured the nt''s effects for a prolonged time, so Khan focused on his skin. He could feel his very flesh and lungs fight against the exposure to that toxic influence. His body rejected it, but that response wasn''t too intense.


    ''It''s not something that goes against my mana,'' Khan guessed. ''My body is only reacting to its toxic properties.''


    That conclusion seemed reasonable but left Khan in a pickle anyway. The mental trip had probablye from the liquid''s intrinsic properties, from its ability to prepare the materials to change, making the toxins a simple side-effect.


    That idea was in line with what Khan had witnessed during Colonel Norrett''s evolution and had studied in the Harbor. Changing often was a violent act, and he had experienced that first-hand on Milia 222, which meant the nt could be used if handled carefully.


    However, if the simtion was correct, Khan believed the process would push him closer to the Nak. After all, that was what his body contained and the toxic liquid affected. He would probably gain more power, but not the kind of power he desired or could ept.


    As the pondering continued, Khan suddenly recalled the passage of time. His mind snapped back to reality, but the toxic air prevented him from fully focusing. His brain was gradually giving in to the strange influence, slowing its functions and keeping him locked in a loop of thoughts.


    Even stranger, Rok-Go seemed to understand and respect Khan''s state. The old Scalqa calmly waited behind him, supporting himself on his wooden staff while gazing at the blue bush. The alien appeared aware of that reaction and let it unfold.


    Nevertheless, Rok-Go moved as soon as he noticed Khan returning to reality. The alien stepped forward and slowly sat before the bush. Words that seemed to carry a profound meaning also escaped his mouth as he stabbed the staff on the ground and stretched his hands.


    Everything happened in slow motion in Khan''s vision. Rok-Go carefully stretched his arms, cing his fingers under the blue leaves. He didn''t touch the nt but waited for the dark green drops to fall in his palms. Faint sizzling noises spread upon contact with his skin, but the alien didn''t move.


    Rok-Go mumbled something again, his tone carrying the same depth as before. He wasn''t trying to convey precise words. He was stating something as if convinced Khan would understand him.


    Khan watched everything unfold, paying special attention to Rok-Go''s hands. The dark green liquid dug through his skin, fusing with his fingers to send its strange influence into his flesh.


    The event strongly reminded Khan of Colonel Norrett''s evolution, although in a slower and more natural manner. The process was clearly simr but also different. The absence of machines and other artificial mechanisms was evident, adding a pleasant touch to that otherwise hideous and intoxicating procedure.


    As for Rok-Go''s mumbling, Khan couldn''t understand anything, but the urge to nod arrived anyway. Khan couldn''t trante nor put into words the meaning Rok-Go was trying to convey, but his mindprehended something nheless. Rok-Go was speaking to him as an equal, shaman to shaman.


    Khan remained on his feet, watching Rok-Go taking the toxic drops into his hands. Sometimes, the alien retracted his arms to let his skin rest, but those breaks were short and rare. asionally, more words escaped his mouth, but Khan didn''t seem to be their target. The old Scalqa was speaking to himself or something only he could see.


    The process altered Rok-Go''s mana, enhancing the intoxication it radiated. The liquid was effective even without ingestion, and Khan was no stranger to the process. Merely breathing the tent''s air was affecting him in ways beyond his awareness. It almost seemed his flesh could transform under that passive exposure, albeit at a far slower pace.


    Normally, Khan woulde up with an excuse to leave. Rok-Go wasn''t even paying attention to him anymore, so departing from that toxic environment appeared more than feasible.


    However, the mission took a backseat in Khan''s mind, allowing him to consider the full extent of that opportunity. He had gotten first-row seats to what probably was one of Baoway''s most important resources, and ignoring it to return to more trantion work sounded dumb, especially after his mental trip.


    ''This thing might make me stronger,'' Khan admitted. ''Less human, but stronger.''


    Khan couldn''t be sure of that, but the truth had long since been clear in his mind. He had achieved a lot through sheer resolve and hard work, but the Nak''s mutations had provided a few advantages. They hade at a steep price, but their value was undeniable.


    The nt seemed able to awaken that hidden power, and Khan couldn''t ignore it. The universe could burn and crumble for all he cared, but he wouldn''t forgive himself if he turned a blind eye to a threat that could hurt his loved ones. That would be unforgivable, and Khan was ready to use himself as a test subject to avoid that.


    A sad smile tried to appear on Khan''s face, but he killed it. He knew he was falling back into old habits that had made his girlfriends livid. He knew he wouldn''t hear the end of it when Monica listened to his reasoning. Yet, Khan had his priorities straight, and sacrificing himself had never been easier.


    Khan stepped forward, bending down to sit cross-legged before the blue bush. He was right beside Rok-Go, but the two didn''t exchange any nce. The alien also respected his silence when he saw him closing his eyes. Khan slipped into a meditative state, forcing his mana to flow and expand while the nt tried to affect his body.

 Chapter 733 Leader

    <h4>Chapter 733 Leader</h4>


    As per usual, Khan lost track of time during the meditative session. His senses updated him on the outside world, but his mind solely focused on his body.


    A long time had passed since Khan''sst serious training session. He had chosen to take it easy for a while after his period of istion and the consequences it brought. Yet, that habit had long since been ingrained into his mind, allowing him to perform it without problem.


    Khan''s flesh opposed the intensifying mana radiation exuded by the enhanced tissues. His body didn''t want to transform. It tried to reject that powerful influence by sending waves of pain and muscle spasms, almost attempting to break Khan''s concentration.


    Nevertheless, Khan had always been good at enduring pain. His desperation had made him able to face and ovee countless hardships, and that skill had only improved throughout the years.


    Still, climbing through the warrior levels had also harshened the process. Khan could sense his body''s stronger unwillingness to change, especiallypared to his new version of the [Blood Vortex]. He could guess it would take years to reach the next breakthrough through standard methods, but Baoway had created a silver lining.


    Khan could sense the increased difficulty in influencing his body, but the toxic air flowing into his lungs and resting on his skin slowly smoothed the process. The change wasn''t significant but still existed, providing the support humankind''s scientists would kill for.


    Of course, the exposure to the nt''s influence didn''t just bring benefits, especially in Khan''s case. The toxic air muddled the thoughts, attempting to slow down the meditative session. It also created drowsiness, threatening to deviate the training session into dangerous practices. Still, Khan wasn''t so easily affected.


    Khan''s main issue with the toxic influence came from his very body. The slight change caused by the blue nt didn''t only ease the meditation''s effects. It also established a rtively precise path for his flesh, aiming to turn him into something specific.


    Khan couldn''t be sure, but his hunches told him that the path''s goal was what he feared. His improvements were pushing him closer to the Nak or a state in line with their mutations. He was distancing himself from humankind even further, but no hesitation existed in his mind.


    The only thoughts that managed to resurface during the muddled and mentally taxing procedure involved evolution. Ideas formed in Khan''s mind as he studied himself and the differences with regr meditative sessions. He had already considered the option due to his rising expertise in the Thilku runes, and the blue nt''s effects made it more realistic and feasible.


    Khan could replicate the theory behind the evolution. He probably couldn''t achieve anything stable and effective with his current skills, but he was getting there. Humans approached the process only after reaching the peak of the fifth level, but Khan believed he could ignore those rules and start sooner.


    The idea was to achieve greater benefits over the simple higher percentage of mana fused with the flesh. Khan would get even stronger if he started the process sooner, and the actual evolution would theoretically be easier, too, once he reached that point.


    However, Khan had never been sure about the goal. He didn''t know what he would and could be, which affected the idea''s foundation. He couldn''t create runes without choosing their purpose, preventing him from even starting to develop a n.


    That was when the blue nt coulde in. The toxic influence wasn''t only slow and manageable. It also didn''t need active decisions from Khan''s side. His very genes would establish the direction of his growth as long as he provided enough energy.


    Moreover, Khan could stop whenever he wanted. The process'' pace allowed him to notice unwanted changes early enough to halt the experiment and develop different methods. The opposite would also be true if he learned to replicate the nt''s effects.


    Those thoughts were nothing more than random ideas Khan asionally considered when his mind achieved enough rity. Most of his attention remained on the meditation, and hours passed without him noticing.


    Rok-Go remained beside Khan the whole time, focusing on his approach. It was unclear whether he was actually training, but Khan was in no condition to ask or check.


    Still, Khan''s lungs eventually rejected continuous exposure to the toxic air. Light coughs rose through his throat and threatened to grow violent, forcing him to leave the meditative state and open his hazy eyes.


    rity immediately arrived, and a blue light suddenly spread in the tent''s darkness. The sh barelysted a second but was enough to startle Rok-Go. The alien grunted something, but Khan only lowered his head and rubbed his eyes.


    More coughs rose through Khan''s throat, snapping him to his feet and hurrying him outside the tent. He didn''t wait for the alien to lead the way as he lifted the pelts to return to the settlement. Clean air quickly invaded his lungs, granting some relief, but its slightly cold nature warned him about another detail.


    Khan only needed his eyes to rify that detail. Baoway''s star had set under the horizon, opening the way for a cold night. It wasn''t freezing, but the difference from the morning was more than noticeable.


    Of course, Khan didn''t care about the cold. His attention was on his time inside the rectangr tent and the possible consequences of the long istion. Yet, his senses quickly updated him on his surroundings, quelling his worries.


    The settlement didn''t change during Khan''s absence, and the same went for Amy. She was where he had left her, sitting on the ground to converse with Kru-Zi.


    Khan''s return didn''t go unnoticed, especially after Rok-Go exited the tent. The old Scalqa supported himself on his cane as he appeared in the open and approached Kru-Zi. Amy nned to stand up to greet him, but Kru-Zi said something that made her remain on the ground.


    Khan heard the alien word but couldn''t trante it, and the fact that Amy had understood it hinted at a fruitful conversation. Hispanion had advanced her mission, expanding her vocabry of the Scalqanguage. Khan would have preferred to be present during the process, but that oue was still eptable.


    Rok-Go sat beside Kru-Zi, and Khan inspected his surroundings before following suit. He checked whether the long meditative session had brought noticeable changes, but everything looked the same. Actually, the only odd detail came from Amy.


    Amy showed her usual smile when her eyes met Khan''s, but a strange expression soon filled her face. She looked like she needed to say something important, but the presence of the two Scalqa forced her to maintain a calm fa?ade.


    Khan was still waking up from the muddling experience, but his social training didn''t disappoint. He calmly sat beside Amy and half-bowed toward the two Scalqa, maintaining eye contact while waiting for hispanion to speak. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "There might be an unforeseen development," Amy eximed, her eyes also fixed on the two Scalqa. "How was the tent?"


    "I''ll exin back at HQ," Khan said. "What''s the development?"


    "I might have misunderstood," Amy warned, "But the leader went above and beyond to convey the message."


    "The point, Amy," Khan ordered.


    "I think it''s better if he shows you," Amy uttered, clearing her throat to prepare for the alien ent. "[Kru-Zi, Ka-Han here]."


    Kru-Zi said something neither Khan nor Amy could understand before shouting another untrantable order. Some movement happened in the settlement, and two auras grew closer. Soon, the four on the ground could witness the event with their own eyes, and curiosity inevitably rose inside Khan.


    One of the settlement''s aliens pushed the invaders'' leader forward. Thetter was full of bruises and cuts, and ropes made of pelt kept his hands tied behind his back. The Scalqa had probably been tortured, but Khan couldn''t understand to what end.


    Nevertheless, the issue seemed to have nothing to do with the torture. The invaders'' leader''s big eyes lit up when he spotted Khan, and untrantable words escaped his mouth. He also picked up the pace, but the alien behind him held him by the bound hands.


    When the invaders'' leader reached the sitting group, he fell to his knees, and the other alien began to attend to his tied hands. He undid the knots, freeing his arms, which promptly shot into the air to perform the strange gesture Khan had witnessed twice already.


    Khan couldn''t help but find the development odd. He believed the settlement would enve and absorb the nomadic tribe, but the leader seemed to have received a different treatment.


    Moreover, the leader clearly sought Khan''s attention, and his mana radiated a mixture of respect and supplication. Something was at stake there, but Khan couldn''t understand his role in the matter.


    "It seems this alien wants to be your subject," Amy chimed in to exin. "I couldn''t understand whether it was his decision or something connected to the Scalqa customs. However, it seems Kru-Zi approves."


    Khan nced at Kru-Zi, who wore a solemn face while his eyes darted between the kneeling alien and him. Nothing in his expression radiated approval, but Khan understood that the issue was elsewhere. Kru-Zi wasn''t against the event. He simply respected it too much.


    ''It''s clearly a custom,'' Khan concluded, but the issue remained. He wouldn''t know what to do with an alien follower and had always avoided being a leader.


    Also, the presence of an alien could hinder eventual tasks, mainly because Khan couldn''t properlymunicate with him. The Scalqa was a liability, but Khan didn''t know how wise it was to reject him.


    "What''s your opinion on this?" Khan asked, his eyes still on the kneeling alien.


    "Having alien followers would suit your fame," Amy stated, holding back a giggle.


    "I''m serious," Khan replied.


    "If someone can make this work," Amy dered, "That''s you. The team will understand."


    The idea of having additional responsibilities didn''t entice Khan, especially now that he had gained ess to the rectangr tent. Yet, the Scalqa seemed to value status, and he would probably earn better deals if he started matching their traditions.


    ''So much for not wanting to be team leader,'' Khan thought before standing up and approaching the kneeling alien. His huge lifted palms filled his vision, and he ran two fingers over them, imitating what Kru-Zi had done in the past.

 Chapter 734 Choice

    <h4>Chapter 734 Choice</h4>


    "You should have consulted me first," Randall scolded, his crossed arms highlighting his stern stance.


    "The situation didn''t allow it," Khan responded.


    "Both of you had long-distancemunication devices," Randall argued.


    "And no time to use them," Khan added. "Give it up. It''s done."


    Randall couldn''t argue any longer. He also agreed with Khan and knew his ce in the mission. Rebuking the soldiers fighting on the field was simply out of line for someone in the safety of the ship. Besides, Randall could see the positive sides, and his eyes slowly moved toward the issue''s core.


    Three figures stood outside the ship''s doors. Amy had her arms behind her back, smiling while holding back giggles. Khan was at her side, seemingly distracted by his mind and uncaring about the issue. Still, neither could im Randall''s attention. He only had eyes for the Scalqa, calmly waiting for additional orders.


    The conversation with Rok-Go and Kru-Zi had continued for a bit, but the night had already arrived, so Khan and Amy eventually departed. Nevertheless, after Khan''s gesture, the invaders'' leader formally joined him and followed the two through the forest.


    The Scalqa''s injuries had slowed down the return, giving some room for conversations. Khan and Amy couldn''t find much information due to their still-developing vocabry, but they learned a few things. The alien was called Zu-Gru and considered himself part of the Ka-Han tribe now.


    Amy had found the discovery funny, and Zu-Gru''s obedient behavior toward Khan enhanced that feeling. Yet, the issue was in line with what the envoy had learned about the Scalqa. Khan had be a tribe leader in the eyes of that primitive species.


    As for Khan, his thoughts were all over the ce, and Zu-Gru was thest of his concerns. The mental trip and potential new path to power had left a deep impression in his mind, outssing any relevance the mission could have. He couldn''t focus on political tasks after discovering that the universe could burn.


    The stalemate continued for a few seconds. Randall had reservations while inspecting the Scalqa from head to toe, but thetter barely paid any attention to him. The alien was only waiting for additional orders, vaguely distracted by the ship''s insides.


    "Very well," Randall eventually sighed. "Let''s see what we can do with this."


    Randall headed inside, and the trio followed him, attracting the attention of the rest of the team. Marcus, Kirk, and Celeste couldn''t help but leave their posts and peek at the huge figure clumsily navigating the ship''s narrow spaces. The alien wasn''t worried about damaging his surroundings. His behavior carried respect and fear toward that unknown environment.


    Khan ignored the stares and headed directly for the main deck, ncing at Zu-Gru when he reached Celeste''s post. He tapped the metal floor before her console, uttering a few alien words that might convey his orders, and the alien eventually understood he had to upy that spot.


    "Amy will draw her report now," Khan said, nodding when Zu-Gru sat down. "In the meantime, you can try to expand our vocabry. Oh, patch him up, too."


    Khan didn''t look at anyone in particr, but the addressed parties understood their role. Amy hurried toward her console, Celeste reached Khan''s side and booted her software, and Randall retrieved medical supplies before approaching the sitting alien.


    "Avoid ointments," Khan warned as Randall studied how to proceed. Thetter understood what Khan meant and limited himself to bandages, which Zu-Gru epted due to his leader''s stern gaze.


    Khan''s presence appeased Zu-Gru, and the absence of itchy or burning substances prevented eventual angry reactions. Randall smoothly and quickly patched the alien, leaving the floor to Khan.


    "[Talk]," Khan ordered, moving his finger between Zu-Gru and Celeste.


    Zu-Gru couldn''t understand what was happening. The consoles, holograms, and software were foreign to his primitive knowledge. They could entice his curiosity, but nothing could convey their functioning.


    However, Celeste soon smiled and echoed Khan''s order, mustering an even better ent. That prompted Zu-Gru to shoot a questioning look at Khan, which he epted with a nod. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[Talk]," Khan repeated before stepping back. Zu-Gru followed him with his eyes, but Celeste eventually captured his attention. Confusion was still intense in his mind, but alien words eventually began escaping his mouth.


    Celeste did her best to keep the conversation active, and Khan briefly inspected the event before approaching his console. His short departure didn''t startle the alien, so he immersed himself in his job.


    Randall let Khan be since receiving a report was the priority. Yet, Khan noticed how his actions had affected the team''s atmosphere once again. No one said anything, but the issue was evident in everyone''s minds. As much as Khan was refusing responsibilities, he was still calling the shots, outshining Randall and fulfilling his role.


    Randall''s eptance of the situation was another sign the team didn''t miss. He appeared fine with Khan''s increasing directives and influence over the mission. Khan was turning him into a mere figurehead, but he looked willing to see that through.


    The matter with Zu-Gru only enhanced the issue. The envoy had yet to get updated on the entirety of the development, but everything looked quite self-evident. Khan wasn''t only establishing himself as the team''s de facto leader. He was also improving his status among the Scalqa.


    Those changes could lead to in-fighting, and an unclear chain ofmand could also cause many problems, especially in such a delicate mission. However, that development couldn''t be stopped anymore, and Khan had bigger issues at hand.


    Truthfully, Khan didn''t care about the team. Baoway and the Scalqa were exciting and would have normally kept him intrigued and happy. Yet, the stakes had dramatically changed.


    The mental trip and the blue bush were monumental discoveries Khan couldn''t simply ignore, mainly due to his unique status. The Nak were his absolute priority, toppling any circumstantial thought or bureaucratic problem.


    Baoway had unlocked more than a path. It had transformed the nightmares'' purpose, forcing Khan to make difficult decisions. Suddenly, a goal that justified his suffering appeared, and his first instinct was to scream at it.


    No matter how Khan reviewed it, the issue remained unfair. He wasn''t a kid anymore, but the childish desire to let everything fall apart still showed its presence. That wasn''t his war. He didn''t ask for those responsibilities. He didn''t choose to be a monster. The Nak had given him impossible options, forcing him to be something he asionally despised.


    Everything worsened when Khan put it into context. He had lost so much due to his curse. The nightmares had shaped his very life, leading to even angrier thoughts. As much as he despised what he had been forced to abandon and do, he understood the Nak. He understood their unshakable and selfless dedication. After all, Khan wielded a simr feeling.


    Moreover, as much as those problems felt distant, their repercussions reached Khan''s current situation. He couldn''t solve the mental trip issue but had to decide what to share with the team, which was strictly connected to his life and goals.


    Ideally, Khan could abuse and exploit the blue bush''s effects in secret. He could falsify his report to retain a monopoly over that resource. That would grant him a stark edge over the matter and the time to reap many benefits before anyone else.


    The envoy could even decide to ignore any form of peaceful rtionship to seize the resource if its nature and benefits became known. A false report and some excuses would appease the Thilku Empire while also putting humankind one step above it. The blue bush seemed worth the mess in the end.


    Nevertheless, Khan had personal reasons to avoid the secrecy. His rising influence in the envoy and among the Scalqa could easily prevent unwanted oues. He could do as he wished, exploiting the new resource by himself and attracting the higher-ups'' envy, hopefully forcing their hand.


    Khan had sort of started to trust Amy, but his paranoia didn''t disappear. The envoy also had other teammates, and Khan felt sure an enemy had to exist among them. Attracting his superiors'' envy might expose those hidden threats, solving multiple headaches.


    Of course, Khan didn''t only think about himself when reviewing the matter. He didn''t like having hidden enemies, but that didn''t justify attracting potential attacks, especially where they would have the upper hand.


    Yet, exposing and dealing with those enemies would keep Monica safer and give Khan''s allies the means to face more problems. It would secure and reinforce the couple''s status, preventing future attacks and ploys.


    The internal conflict was heavily the second option. After all, Khan had already chosen to sacrifice himself, so increasing the stakes wouldn''t change anything. He would get scolded harder, but that he could handle.


    Moreover, another relevant detail was pushing Khan toward those dangerous but potentially rewarding paths. He was tired of ying games. Having to deal with politics and other ploys he deemed meaningless with a universal threat weighed over his mind fueled his domineering sides. Khan wanted all of that to end as soon as possible.


    Blue light shed on the holograms shining before Khan, but the console''s glow hid it. The empty report blinked in his vision, but his fingers finally moved. He would tell the envoy everything and leave them no choice but to follow his orders.

 Chapter 735 Chessboard

    <h4>Chapter 735 Chessboard</h4>


    Randall gasped, mumbled, and moved his eyes up and down while reading the report. His reactions conveyed his emotional state, and his mana confirmed those details. The man struggled to absorb those words, and Khan calmly waited for him to ept them.


    Those reactions didn''t go unnoticed. Marcus and Kirk were in the cargo area, but the rest of the political envoy was in the main deck. Randall''s shock attracted peeks. Even Celeste couldn''t help herself since the matter looked more interesting than the Scalqa sitting before her.


    Eventually, Randall lifted his eyes from the device to look at Khan. Thetter was sitting behind his console, wearing the same stern expressions he had shown in the Harbor''s hangar. He even rested his head on his hand, turning him into a wall Randall knew he would have to sh with.


    The report''s contents were simply amazing. The envoy had flown to Baoway for a political mission, but the blue bush''s presence was bound to alter its priorities. A resource that could aid in the evolution was priceless, and humankind had the chance to seize it before the Thilku Empire.


    Randall could instantly understand the pros and cons of the finding, but Khan''s stern stance told a different story. Something was amiss there, and Randall knew Khan wouldn''t keep it secret much longer.


    "Is this urate?" Randall asked, waving the device in his hands.


    "Yes," Khan confirmed. "Although I''m not a scientist."


    "How sure are you?" Randall questioned.


    "The effects are there," Khan exined. "At this point, it''s only a matter of manageable negative consequences."


    Randall wasn''t a scientist either but knew how that field would take the news. As long as the effects were genuine, the Global Army would try to find a way to exploit them. The experiments might lead nowhere, but that potential oue wouldn''t prevent them from happening.


    "I need to report this," Randall eximed. "Unless."


    "We have authority here," Khan interrupted. "Bringing the ship back in orbit to establishmunications with the nearest space station might disrupt our mission. It can wait."


    Randall was aware of the issue. The ship was equipped with long-rangemunication devices capable of reaching distant receivers, but the vehicle itself was necessary for the task.


    Baoway''s atmosphere would interfere, so the task had to be performed in orbit. Establishing the connection would also take time, and the Empire might even intercept some messages. The Global Army had encryptions, but Randall couldn''t ignore the problem.


    "Waiting must have a purpose," Randall argued.


    "Gathering information and reinforcing our position on the is a purpose," Khan responded.


    Randall''s eyes went cold. It almost sounded like Khan wanted to buy himself time, and the reason was evident. As the only person allowed inside the rectangr tent, he could reap benefits while the other teammates pursued the original goal.


    Khan''s key involvement in the matter would also turn him into the central aspect of the trip. His overall relevance would skyrocket, making refusing him impossible.


    Of course, everything would change if the higher-ups took things into their own hands. However, opening amunication channel would take time, and the same went for rearranging the interspecies treaties. The Global Army wasn''tpletely free on Baoway, and the Empire would grow suspicious if it tried to establish new agreements.


    That was the reason behind such a specialized team. Randall and the others were pros who couldplete their job without supervision. They could make decisions for the greater good of humankind without conferring with their superiors. Yet, Khan was an unstable variable, and the entire envoy seemed to have fallen into his palm. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Did you n this?" Randall wondered, his tone showing some anger.


    "Your usations are getting annoying," Khan sighed.


    "This is a political mission!" Randall shouted. "Your interest can''t have the priority!"


    A huge figure suddenly stood up, attracting all the eyes in the main deck on him. Zu-Gru sensed the enmity toward Khan, and his muscles bulged as he prepared for a fight.


    However, blue light promptly shone on Zu-Gru''s face, and a chilling aura filled the area. A terror the alien had already experienced invaded his body, making him look at its source.


    "[Talk]," Khan ordered, nodding at Celeste''s console while his eyes continued to shine.


    Zu-Gru didn''t dare to oppose the order or his terror. He returned to the floor, but the atmosphere had changed, and everyone found it hard to focus on their tasks. Even Marcus couldn''t help but peek from the cargo area.


    Randall wasn''t stupid. He understood the situation and his powerlessness. Still, he had his duties, and Khan was necessary to aplish them.


    "Sir," Randall called, clearing his throat. "I''m here to perform a job. I hope you understand my doubts."


    "We willplete the mission," Khan reassured, his eyes losing their light, "And we will gather information about this new resource. I''ll handle it."


    "On that topic," Randallmented. "This nt sounds dangerous. I advise against prolonged exposure."


    "Advice noted," Khan uttered. "However, that''s the best way to study its effects."


    "There is another way," Randall pointed out. "There is more than one."


    "I''m against that," Celeste said from behind her console. She had followed the conversation until now, and Randall''s intentions were clear in her mind. He wanted to seize the nt and move to a different tribe.


    "We have different avable targets," Randall argued, "And the Major is more than capable of avoiding bloodshed."


    "We still don''t know the repercussions of such an act," Celeste exined. "The Bone Tribe might very well perish without that resource."


    It was actually scary how much Celeste had understood without reading the report. She could pinpoint the nature and core issue of the discussion from vague lines and develop urate conclusions.


    "We won''t touch the Bone Tribe," Khan dered. "I''ll fly over the forest and search for simr nts. If I don''t find anything, we''ll stick to the current approach."


    Randall''s eyes went cold once again. Only Khan could perform that task since he could fly without drawing unnecessary attention. However, that would give himplete freedom and authority, and the envoy would have to trust his reports no matter what.


    Nevertheless, Randall chose to remain silent this time around. Fighting Khan was pointless now. It was already toote for that. Randall could only slightly affect the mission as a whole and its potential sess.


    "I''ll share the information and summon a meeting," Randall announced.


    "No need," Khan said. "Tell Kirk to turn one of the shuttles into amunication device. It might take longer, but the Global Army needs to know about Baoway."


    Randall couldn''t help but be surprised. He had initially believed Khan wantedplete power over the mission, and keeping the nt hidden from their superiors would make his n easier.


    Still, Khan was willing topromise, opting for a n that wouldn''t hinder the mission while filling some necessary gaps. It was a good idea, and Randall instinctively approved.


    Of course, Khan didn''t care about keeping the Global Army updated. He only wanted to see if the news would trigger something and fish out eventual enemies. Everything else was secondary.


    "I''ll handle the forest now," Khan suddenly said, standing up.


    "It''s nighttime," Randall pointed out.


    "I''ll be fine," Khan replied. "It''s better to gather as much information as possible before moving forward with the n."


    "May I be of some help?" Amy chirped in.


    "Help Celeste," Khan ordered, "And review my report. I might have missed something."


    "I doubt that," Amymented.


    "I now see how you function," Celeste announced. "I must apologize for my initial doubts."


    Khan ignored thement and headed for the ship''s exit, but Zu-Gru instinctively stood up to follow him. A headache tried to rise into Khan''s head, but Celeste promptly provided her expertise.


    "[Ka-Han alone now]," Celeste said, unleashing the warmest tone she could muster. "[Ka-Han back soon]."


    Needless to say, Celeste and Zu-Gru were the only ones who couldprehend those lines. Khan and Amy could only guess what she had said by checking the alien''s reaction. The Scalqa seemed to have understood what was happening, and seeing Khan''s nod brought him back near Celeste''s console.


    ''Is she an alien?'' Khan cursed in his mind, his eyes showing clear interest in Celeste. Yet, the woman simply smiled before returning to her console and resuming her conversation with Zu-Gru.


    Celeste''s skillful disy made Khan reevaluate hispanions once again. His paranoia instinctively increased, but lingering on the ship wouldn''t get him anywhere. He hurried outside, and his figure soon disappeared above the enormous trees.


    A cold breeze blew on Khan''s face as he walked in the sky. Baoway''s night was enchanting and peaceful, and the natural symphony tried to cheer Khan''s senses. However, his mind couldn''t enjoy any of that.


    The current task obviously was nothing for Khan. He had to search for other blue bushes, which he could do with his eyes closed. Yet, the situation on the ship weighed on his mind. The chessboard''s pieces were exactly where he wanted them. Now, he only had to amass power and wait.

 Chapter 736 Odd

    <h4>Chapter 736 Odd</h4>


    Rows and rows of crowns crossed Khan''s vision as the symphony invaded his senses, updating him on the world below. Baoway''s cold but pleasant breeze blew in his face, apanying the many thoughts that tried to distract him from the task.


    The vast crowns hindered the inspection, but Khan''s theory involved the areas without thick arrays of trees, and finding them wasn''t an issue. The ship''s scanners had already pinpointed the location of the other tribes, and Khan only needed to fly there to confirm his hypothesis.


    Baoway''s starry sky couldn''t reveal Khan''s small figure. The Scalqa weren''t used to flying visitors either, so his passage above the scanned settlement wentpletely unnoticed. He could also hover above them for a while to let his senses absorb all the necessary information without encountering any problems.


    After reviewing the known tribes, Khan pretty much confirmed his initial theory. Each settlement had a central structure that radiated a toxic influence. The Scalqa truly built their encampments around the blue nts, creating a pattern worth reporting.


    The finding had negative consequences. The vast forest had more tribes, some of which were nomadic and always on the move. That alone could prove the absence of unguarded blue nts, and hours spent flying confirmed that.


    Khan flew left and right, searching for any trace of that toxic influence in the symphony, but his senses always came back empty-handed. He didn''t explore the entire forest due tock of time, but his mind was set by morning. The only avable blue nts in the quadrant were in the various settlements.


    That wasn''t ideal, and things would worsen once the higher-ups learned about the resource. Yet, establishing amunication channel would take time, and exchanging messages would also be clunky. Khan had a huge advantage, and no one tried to stand in his way.


    Uneventful days and weeks passed as the envoy focused on its original tasks. Amy and Khan''s visits to the Bone Tribe improved the rtionships between the two species, and Zu-Gru''s presence elerated the expansion of the Scalqa vocabry.


    Of course, Marcus and Kirk spent that period rearranging the shuttle into amunication device, and Khan also abandoned his original role to focus on training. Amy was more than capable of covering for him, so the mission proceeded smoothly.


    The training also went smoothly. Khan avoided drinking the dark green liquid again, and his body slowly adapted to the toxic influence, allowing longer sessions inside the tent. There didn''t seem to be any negative consequences, either, although hispanions would disagree.


    The changes caused by the prolonged istion for the breakthrough into the fourth level would probably have disappeared with enough rest. However, the meditative sessions inside the tent hammered them down, seemingly fixing them to Khan''s being.


    The blue shes from Khan''s eyes happened more often. His aura grew heavier, even without specific moods. Also, he became more distracted, usually focused on things only he could see.


    Those gradual changes didn''t create problems, so Randall and the others neverined. Yet, everyone was aware of his actions inside the settlement, and connecting them to those new features seemed obvious.


    As the envoy crossed its first full month on Baoway, the situation devolved into aplete stalemate. The elephant in the room grew bigger, but the options were limited, although a change eventually happened.


    "Are we ready?" Randall asked, the morning lights shining on his face.


    "I''ve run tens of simtions," Marcus replied, holding a beeping device. "Everything will go ording to n."


    "We weren''t even supposed to establishmunications," Randall sighed. "I guess it can''t be helped."


    "Sir, I am quite capable," Marcus reassured, "But Kirk is a proper genius. We won''t lose the shuttle."


    "Even if that happens," Randall muttered, peeking past his shoulder to inspect three figures standing a few meters away. "The mission is progressing well."


    Marcus couldn''t help but follow Randall''s gaze. The two had exited the ship to prepare for the shuttle''sunch, but some of theirpanions were already there. Khan and Amy were busy talking with Zu-Gru, and their conversations often escaped the two''s understanding.


    "[Willpower]," Khan stated in the best Scalqa ent he could muster while gathering a lump of blue mana in his palm.


    "[Willpower]!" Zu-Gru confirmed, proudly patting his chest. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "[Willpower attack]," Khan continued, throwing the lump of mana on the ground nearby. He didn''t put much energy, so the attack only left a shallow mark on the surface.


    "[Willpower attack]!" Zu-Gru repeated, mana flowing through his bulging muscles as he threw a punch where Khan hadunched his attack. The gesture released a mass of dense but invisible energy that dug a conical hole into the ground.


    A small cloud of dust rose, and Amy, Randall, and Marcus inevitably inspected the hole. They had witnessed a simr event before, but the matter remained interesting. The Scalqa spells were crude and simplistic but had decent power.


    Khan was the only one disinterested in the hole. He scratched his head as his eyes darted between Zu-Gru and the surrounding symphony. He had understood the theory behind the Scalqa spells long ago, but his study went far deeper into the matter.


    ''The muscles act as a mana core,'' Khan thought, ''Sort of. They don''t generate energy but store it. Mana is the same as stamina for them.''


    That conclusion was the result of multiple inspections. The team had avoided kidnapping and experimenting on a Scalqa, but Zu-Gru''s presence and Khan''s senses greatlypensated for that. Still, doubts remained.


    ''Resting and eating replenish their mana storage,'' Khan considered. ''But how do they grow to such a level? There is an inborn variable, but where does the additional energye from?''


    The birth happened during Khan''s first visit to the settlement and his following trips had allowed him to gain insights into the Scalqa''s life cycle. They were born with mana, and simply growing up expanded their storage.


    That growth had multiple exnations and reasons. Connected nutrients were passed down duringctation, and Baoway had no shortage of mana-based lifeforms, so the same process happened with other kinds of food.


    The dark green liquid also helped. Everyone in the settlement asionally drank drops of that substance mixed in water and, at times, animal blood. External mana intake happened daily, but there was more to the matter.


    ''Bone marrow?'' Khan wondered. ''Is that acting as a natural mana core?''


    Khan was no scientist, so his hypotheses had insurmountable walls. Still, many of his conclusions came from events he had witnessed first-hand, and living on Baoway continued to confirm them.


    "What do you think?" Amy asked after waiting a respectful number of seconds.


    "Mana must be intrinsically connected to their stamina," Khan exined, crossing his arms. "Push-ups might be the same as meditating for them."


    "That''s convenient," Amy chuckled.


    "And dangerous," Khan added. "They might die if they exhaust their reserves. Maybe that''s why they don''t rely on these techniques too much."


    Amy nodded in agreement, but her smile slowly disappeared. She had understood something, and her silence exposed her.


    "It''s as you think," Khan announced. "If I''m right, their flesh might be used to cultivate artificial organic mana cores. They would probably require different training techniques but would cut away the need for Faswite."


    Amy knew such conclusions could only be reached after thorough experiments involving multiple experts. However, in the time they spent together, she had started to believe everything Khan said. He was often right, but he very rarely realized it.


    That deep trust made Amy consider the potential consequences of that discovery. The envoy had already found a resource that might help with the evolution. That alone could start a full-scale invasion. Adding the Scalqa''s flesh to the equation would only push the Global Army even further in that direction.


    The Thilku Empire would be the only hindrance in the n since it shared Baoway and its resources with the Global Army. The Thilku probably didn''t need the nts nor the Scalqa, but their potential relevance for humankind would increase the price of eventual agreements.


    Amy''s eyes slowly moved toward Khan. Covert operations were possible and could remain hidden even after the Empire decided to step on Baoway. Yet, Khan''s help was necessary due to his unique position.


    Khan yed both sides of the mission. The Empire had requested his presence due to the general trust the Thilku had in him. The Global Army could use that in its favor, but he had to ept first, which seemed unlikely.


    Khan had a history of positive biases toward alien species, and the request would directly go against his lofty position. He would lose all his privileges with the Empire if the Global Army were found out. Humankind could try to reward him ordingly, but other darker and nefarious options existed.


    "Major," Amy uttered, some worry leaking into her tone.


    "It''s starting," Khan interrupted, eyeing Zu-Gru before nodding at the ship. "[Sky now]."


    Zu-Gru and Amy turned toward the ship, and Khan and Randall exchanged a nod before thetter gave the okay. Marcus typed something on his device, and the whooshing sound of engines soon invaded the area.


    One of the ship''s shuttles detached itself from the metal bridge and hovered mid-air before tilting upward. The engines'' noise intensified as burning waste flowed into the ground, burning it. The vehicle remained in its position for a while, and Marcus muttered a countdown before using the device again.


    The shuttle suddenly shot upward, leaving an azure trail in the azure sky as it flew through Baoway''s atmosphere. Soon, it became impossible to see the vehicle anymore, and most eyes in the area fell on Marcus.


    Marcus inspected the device as worry invaded his mana. His tension was evident in Khan''s eyes, but he hid it well. Still, that stress suddenly vanished, and a cheerful tone resounded in the area.


    "Shuttle in orbit alive and well," Marcus eximed. "The software is up and running, too. We might have results in a week or so."


    Randall heaved a sigh of relief, Marcus appeared ted, Amy wore a genuine smile, and Zu-Gru had nothing but amazement in his expression. Everyone but Khan had nothing but the recent event in mind.


    ''Odd,'' Khan thought. ''Why is everything so odd?''


    The more Khan learned and shared, the more his presence on Baoway became a hindrance. Enemies wouldn''t let him amass power, authority, and relevance so easily, so taking him out now would be a wise choice, especially given his excellent history during crises. Yet, his senses continued to show green lights.


    ''Am I the crazy one?'' Khan wondered. ''Is everything in my head? Why does it feel so odd then?''


    As always, the answers didn''t arrive, but Khan had every intention of pressing for them. He wouldn''t hide his recent discovery about the Scalqa either. A target existed on his back, and he nned to make it brighter and brighter.

 Chapter 737 Impossible

    <h4>Chapter 737 Impossible</h4>


    Marcus remained outside, tinkering with the device, while Randall carefully watched his every input. The leader didn''t understand all themands, but the asionalbels that popped out reassured him that the task would seed.


    Zu-Gru didn''t dare to move without Khan''s orders, so he and Amy remained outside, waiting for further developments. The task''s sess had theoretically freed them of their duties, clearing their schedule for a potential trip into the settlement. Yet, Khan didn''t move.


    Khan''s mind was a mess of theories and simtions. His eyes tried to glow as dangerous thoughts surged into his brain, but he suppressed the event. His mana felt restless after the steady training inside the tent, but his flesh contained it well. He could feel the slight changes inside him, which joined his worries.


    The shuttle''s trail soon disappeared, returning the sky to its original rity. The ground also stopped burning, bringing peace to the barren area. Another peaceful morning seemed to be smiling at the team, but trouble was quick to arrive.


    The ship''s scanners were the first to notice the event, and the defensive turrets reacted due to their software. The rifles on their top moved and turned to point at the iing threat, but no bullets were fired.


    Khan came second. The turrets'' movement had tried to distract him, but the symphony eventually updated him. A big party was rushing toward the ship, whose intentions were far from peaceful.


    The turrets'' movement alerted everyone, and Randall and Marcus rushed inside the ship to understand what was happening. A quick look at the scanners revealed the issue, and Randall soon came back outside, ready to deal with the problem.


    However, by then, Khan had already changed position, moving past the turrets'' perimeter and toward the forest. He was still well within their range, but his location could put him at risk of getting shot in the back.


    "Major!" Randall shouted, ring at Amy when he saw her trying to follow Khan. Her apparent allegiance could put her life at risk, and the team couldn''t afford to lose both scouts.


    Amy froze on her feet. Her expression conveyed her internal conflict, but her mind had already provided an answer. The mission came first, so she had to treasure her safety during Khan''s reckless move.


    As for Zu-Gru, hepletely ignored any nce in his direction. He hurried to Khan''s side as soon as he noticed his disappearance, and the slight tremors that spread under his feet made him wear a battle stance.


    ''It was about time someone tried something,'' Khan thought while another call reached his ears. Randall was trying to get his attention, but he couldn''t be bothered to address him yet.


    The quadrant''s tribes didn''t stay still during the past month. The other groups of Scalqa had scouted thending and surrounding areas while Khan and Amy deepened their rtionship with the Bone Tribe. The team knew it was being watched and had opted to remain passive.


    However, a reaction was long overdue. The envoy was a foreign element that could shift the bnce of power in the area. The other tribes couldn''t remain still and allow the Bone Tribe to amass strength peacefully, but a direct assault was too dangerous.


    Of course, the Scalqa couldn''t understand the turrets'' prowess, so they saw the human envoy as the weak link and the first target of a potential attack. The shuttle''s departure had also spooked them, forcing their hand enough to draw them out.


    ''Is it a settled or nomadic tribe?'' Khan wondered as the alien auras drew close. He couldn''t understand much from the symphony, but the attackers'' numbers pointed toward the former.


    ''Should I draw blood this time?'' Khan eventually considered. The situation on Baoway was bound to change rapidly once themunication channel went online, and reinforcing his position would be smart.


    Khan owed Monica more than love. Her knowledge and shrewdness had sharpened his mind politically. Khan could now understand, review, and learn how to exploit and handle the multipleyers ofplicated matters, and his strength was often a perfect card to y.


    The team had learned much about the tribes'' customs and traditions in the past period, enough for Khan to understand how to benefit from certain actions. He would prefer to be a peaceful diplomat, but showing the Scalqa the monster could bring greater advantages.


    "Khan!" Randall shouted again.


    "I''ll handle this," Khan eventually responded. "You can keep the turrets ready if you wish."


    Randall felt the urge to scream. Khan''s selfishness was putting the ship and the entire mission in danger. More importantly, it was forcing Randall into an impossible choice.


    Deactivating the turrets would leave the ship defenseless, but shooting on sight would risk hitting Khan. The middle ground was also dangerous since waiting to fire could let a few Scalqa cross the perimeter.


    Zu-Gru''s presence on the frontline intensified Randall''s hesitation. Firing might ruin many of the achievements obtained in thest period. In a single move, the team might lose their source of expanding vocabry and the main connection to the Bone Tribe. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan didn''t move but paid attention to the area behind him. The turrets were the team''s best bet at taking him out, and he was literally showing his back to them. He almost expected the rifles to point at his neck. Still, to his surprise, the long barrels returned to their original position.


    ''Am I really going crazy?'' Khan cursed, but the environment didn''t let him linger on that question.


    Faint silhouettes slowly materialized behind the vast trunks. Scalqa amassed at the forest''s edge, spreading to encircle the ship''s perimeter. A few spear tips and spinning slings became visible among the crowns'' darkness, but no one fired.


    The Scalqa stopped moving after arraying themselves into a battle formation. They kept their weapons ready, but the order to attack didn''t arrive. Theoretically, their numbers were more than enough to overwhelm the strange machine, but Zu-Gru''s presence among the humans created confusion.


    ''Thirty-,'' Khan counted. ''No, forty-two. They didn''t directly charge forward, either. Definitely a settled tribe.''


    "[I am Ka-Han Tribe]!" Khan shouted at the forest, and Zu-Gru patted his chest in pride.


    Silence reigned for a few seconds, but a few heads eventually peeked past the trees. A team of four Scalqa stepped into the open, with one of them wearing bone armor. Still, differently from the Bone Tribe, all those aliens had dark red lines drawn on their faces.


    "[Blood Tribe, Ni-Kri]," The Scalqa with bone armor uttered, and the noise of beating chests resounded in the forest.


    ''Figures,'' Khan almost arched his eyebrows at theck of creativity in the name but held back to handle the encounter. "[Ka-Han Tribe peace]."


    Khan''s vocabry was imperfect, but the primitivenguage worked in his favor, allowing the aliens to understand him anyway. He was requesting peace, but the enemy leader didn''t seem to approve.


    The alien leader shouted an order, and the entirety of his force stepped forward. The forty-aliens-strong group appeared in the open, almost trying to show their superior position. Yet, the foreigners didn''t budge.


    Of course, most enemies looked in Zu-Gru''s direction. They didn''t know the humans or their expressions, so they searched for the expected reactions from their fellow Scalqa.


    However, Zu-Gru was even calmer than the human team. His fight with Khan had left such a deep impression on him that the mere numerical advantage meant nothing. In his mind, Khan was simply a superior being.


    "[Bone Tribe is enemy]," Ni-Kri eventually replied. "[Ka-Han Tribe is enemy]."


    ''He is not wrong,'' Khan thought. The human team didn''t really have allegiances, but Khan couldn''t expect the Blood Tribe to understand.


    A sigh escaped Khan''s mouth. He knew the danger he was putting himself into, but his mind opposed the idea of spilling innocent blood. He would do it if necessary, but the situation had a different path.


    "[Kru-gru-xa]," Khan whispered, loosening his sheath and letting it fall to the ground.


    Zu-Gru didn''t hesitate to echo Khan''s words, patting his chest and shouting as loudly as his lungs permitted. Khan had called for a tradition all the tribes knew while stepping forward and unbuttoning his uniform.


    Ni-Kri felt confused. He didn''t expect that move, but his group was already echoing the customary word, even stomping their feet to honor the tradition. A cloud of dust slowly rose, and his mouth eventually uttered "[Kru-gru-xa]", formally agreeing to the challenge.


    The enemy group cheered, and a few Scalqa lowered their weapons to apply themselves to the challenge. Yet, their figures suddenly disappeared, only to be found fainted on the trees behind.


    The Scalqa took a while to realize what had happened, but silence slowly arrived as understanding dawned upon their minds. Theirpanions had been defeated without them noticing anything, and all the me seemed to fall on the figure that had materialized among them.


    Khan was now standing near the trees behind Ni-Kri. His crossed arms enhanced his perfect frame, showing the true nature of his muscles. Still, his glowing eyes captured most of the attention and gave insights into his real power.


    Soon, everyone looked at Khan, but he only had eyes for Ni-Kri. The two exchanged a nce before Khan pointed at the alien. He didn''t want to fight underlings. As the leader of his tribe, only a fellow leader could do.


    Ni-Kri immediately understood Khan''s intentions, but his mind didn''t work. His brain had frozen before the impossible event. He was a fourth-level warrior as strong as Zu-Gru, but his eyes couldn''t follow Khan at all.

 Chapter 738 Mood

    <h4>Chapter 738 Mood</h4>


    The human team had studied all the scanners'' recordings, but only Amy had witnessed most events with her own eyes. That experience gave her better insights into Khan''s power and allowed her to notice something herpanions missed.


    ''He has gotten faster,'' Amy realized, even if her eyes struggled to follow Khan''s movements.


    Ni-Kri couldn''tpare the current event to previous experiences, but that demonstration had been enough to show the immense difference in power. He had messed up with something he couldn''t hope to understand, and his glowing eyes were now fixed on him.


    Khan felt a tinge of disappointment when he noticed Ni-Kri''s terror. He suddenly lost interest in the event, and his eyes went dark as they moved toward his legs.


    Baoway didn''t give Khan time to adhere to his usual andplete training schedule. He spent most of his days inside the settlement, meditating before the nt and dedicated the remaining hours to the mission''s duties and Zu-Gru.


    That was more than fine for someone at Khan''s level. His martial arts and spells wouldn''t get rusty, and the same went for his fighting skills. Yet, the current battle had allowed him to test the results of his recent training, and something felt different.


    Khan stomped his right leg a few times before lifting it and inspecting his foot. He even removed his shoe and sock, tilting his head while moving his toes. His physical prowess had increased, but there was more to the matter.


    The audience could only remain speechless at Khan''s casual behavior. He seemed to have forgotten where he was, and the impending threat around him didn''t deserve his attention. He looked like a kid in a yground, and his actions deepened that impression.


    Khan sat down, bringing his foot closer to his face. His eyes pierced his skin, studying the flesh underneath, eventually bringing enlightenment.


    ''The Lightning-demon style felt easier,'' Khan thought. ''As if my body is adapting to my battle style.''


    Khan let go of his foot and crossed his legs while scratching his head. That consequence was vaguely in line with the evolution''s theory, but Khan didn''t expect it to stretch to his martial art. His attention eventually moved to his fingers, which he shed at the ground to his right while performing specific moves.


    A half-circr hole opened even if the fingers didn''t touch the ground. Only a de could have created such perfect edges, but the audience saw that Khan didn''t use anything simr. He didn''t even summon noticeable mana to perform that cut.


    Khan brought his two stretched fingers to his eyes, but his confusion only increased. He didn''t feel any difference with the Divine Reaper, hinting at a faulty initial assumption.


    ''Is it a matter of time?'' Khan wondered, lowering his hand. ''I''ve been with the Lightning-demon style far longer in the end.''


    Another exnation existed, and Khan obviously considered it. He had reached the advanced mastery level in the Lightning-demon style on Nippe 2, which was a long time ago. The next andst step could be close, but he felt clueless about it.


    ''This stuff should require a new level of understanding,'' Khan considered. ''Still, my senses have been the same for a while. Maybe my body is going ahead now.''


    Khan wasn''t the best judge of character when it came to himself. He pretended not to notice it, but Monica had hammered that idea into his mind so often that he couldn''t ignore it anymore. Khan couldn''t be sure his senses had stopped growing, so his hypothesis could have ws.


    ''Monica would know,'' Khan cursed. ''Wait!''


    Khan quickly drew his phone from his pocket. The device had no connection to thework but could still show the current date, reminding him about a special event.


    ''Monica''s birthday is next week,'' Khan sighed. ''I can''t tease her about turning twenty-five.''


    Khan considered sending a message through the shuttle, but the Global Army would never use thatmunication channel for such petty reasons. Monica didn''t even have clearance to get to the offices that could receive eventual reports, so the n shattered before even forming.


    ''Damn me and my mana-dependent mood,'' Khan cursed again as loneliness invaded his being. He felt like hiding in his tiny quarters and spending a few hours watching Monica''s videos, but his surroundings eventually managed to reim his attention.


    ''Right,'' Khan almost chuckled. ''They are still here.''


    The disy of superior power and the odd behavior had kept the Scalqa still. The enemies didn''t know what was happening or what to do. Moreover, they didn''t dare to move or do anything abrupt for fear of retaliation from that fast monster.


    Khan jumped to his feet, startling the entire audience. Even people without enhanced senses could see that the disy of power had earned Khan the Scalqa''s respect and fear. No one appeared in the mood to attack anymore, and Khan was no exception.


    Khan shook his head at that disappointing sight. He suddenly felt bored with the situation and disregarded the idea of maximizing the potential advantages. He dismissively waved his hand before uttering a word he hoped the Scalqa would understand. "[Go]."


    Ni-Kri understood Khan but couldn''t believe him. His brain was in full fight-or-flight mode as he carefully watched Khan''s every move. The alien half-expected an attack, but Khan simply disappeared.


    The alien slightly panicked. He turned his head left and right, trying to spot Khan. Yet, hispanions'' gazes provided the answer. Ni-Kri followed them, peeking past his shoulder to see that Khan was retrieving his belongings.


    Khan''s uncaring behavior didn''t dissipate the Scalqa''s confusion, and that feeling spread to the human team. Randall, in particr, didn''t know how to take the event.


    Randall had doubts about Khan''s behavior, but his disy of strengthpletely reassured him. The leader had actually started hoping for more permanent sess. Establishing rtionships with another tribe was bound to benefit the mission, but Khan ultimately disappointed him.


    "What are you doing?" Randall muttered through his clenched jaw.


    "Returning to my quarters," Khan exined, casually strolling toward the ship.


    "We can subjugate this tribe," Randall said, almost shocked he had to exin such a simple concept.


    "I can," Khan corrected, his stroll uninterrupted.


    "Major," Randall found himself begging.


    "Head inside," Khan ordered. "I have something to report first."


    Randall''s shock waned slightly. He nced at the confused Scalqa before looking at Khan again. The oue was positive enough to ignore other paths, and the team wasn''t in a hurry. Besides, Khan''s matter seemed urgent.


    "Let''s meet on the main deck," Randall eventually nodded, giving up. He wanted to ry the order to Amy, too, but she had already approached Khan, nning to enter the ship with him. Obviously, Zu-Gro had long since been at his side.


    A helpless sigh tried to escape Randall''s mouth. He didn''t mind the challenges to his leadership. He had been willing to give up his position on the very first day. Still, he found it hard to understand and ept some developments. Randall had been on many missions, and none had strayed away so much frommon protocols.


    Nevertheless, Randall had to admit that Khan was the real deal. His methods were beyond unorthodox but achieved results, and Randall was okay with that. He simply wished Khan would include the team in his ns.


    The Blood Tribe remained outside while the Zu-Gru and the humans returned inside the ship. The confusion was still intense, but the turrets suddenly moved, pointing their barrels at the Scalqa. That event was thest straw, leading to their immediate retreat.


    Meanwhile, the core specialists gathered on the main deck. Celeste, Amy, Randall, and Khan sat around a central interactive desk while Zu-Gru waited on the floor.


    The group was silent, but asional beeps resounded as Khan typed his recent findings on the holograms. His desire to iste himself had left him shoeless and with an unbuttoned uniform, but the general interest remained on the report. Everyone politely waited, and a message eventually reached them.


    "Are you sure, Major?" Randall almost gasped when he finished reading the report.


    "I''d say eighty percent sure," Khan admitted, his eyes lingering on the report. "Even if I''m wrong, there''s a chance the Global Army''s scientists can harness and replicate a simr function."


    "We are talking about artificial organic mana cores here, sir," Randall stated. "They can bring a technological revolution."


    "And earn the opposition of anyone benefiting from dealing in Faswite," Khan added. "None of us can make that choice. It''s a headache for the higher-ups."


    Randall agreed. Messing with those markets wasn''t their job, and their authority on Baoway stopped far earlier than those problems. Part of him actually wanted to avoid reporting the news until the mission was over, but the shuttle was already in orbit.


    "We didn''te for this," Celeste scoffed. "We are to establish rtionships and study the area. Nothing more."


    "They could give the order," Randallmented.


    "We aren''t equipped for that kind of mission," Celeste dered.


    "Are we?" Amy asked, ncing at Khan. "The Major could start a cult with a nce."


    "It''s not only about fighting prowess," Celeste exined. "We''d need specialized personnel,bs, multiple guinea pigs, and high-end equipment. The Global Army can''t send them with the current interspecies treaties."


    "Let''s just store samples for now," Khan sighed, standing up. "If the Global Army wants to establish secretbs here, it can do it after the mission ends."


    "Are you okay with that, Major?" Celeste asked. "I''m not trying to pin me on you, but you discovered this information. Your name will be associated with benefits and catastrophes."


    "They already are," Khan vaguely said, heading for the exit.


    "You can avoid the catastrophes this time," Celeste stated. She didn''t dare to utter the actual words she implied, but Khan understood them.


    Khan couldn''t change the Global Army''s mind. He would be powerless if the higher-ups decided the Scalqa were more valuable as guinea pigs. After all, he couldn''t protect an entire. Khan didn''t onlyck strength. He didn''t feel too close to the species to begin with.


    Yet, Khan could achieve something simr by exploiting his position. He only needed to leak that information to the Thilku Empire to hinder the Global Army. Thetter might still decide to pay a higher price to seize those resources, but it was better than nothing.


    Randall and Amy were smart and knowledgeable enough to understand what Celeste had implied, but both lowered their heads to avoid butting in. Only Khan could decide, and they didn''t want anything to do with it. Actually, it would have been better if they had remained ignorant about the whole matter.


    As for Khan, he couldn''t help but inspect Celeste. He had already confirmed that the middle-aged woman had a good character, but thetest suggestion pushed that impression to the superior level. She would go as far as proposing treason to avoid bloodshed.


    ''Am I really going crazy?'' Khan cursed, hurrying outside the main deck. He nned to iste himself in his small room, but quick steps promptly resounded behind him, forcing him to turn.


    "Major," Amy called, lowering her voice when she stood face-to-face with Khan. "Is something the matter?"


    The door for the main deck was still open, so both Celeste and Randall noticed the event. An almost shirtless Khan was standing quite close to a concerned Amy. The gossip was ripe, but the two sides ignored each other.


    "What do you mean?" Khan asked. He could sense Amy''s concern but couldn''t understand its source.


    "Sir," Amy said before wearing aplicated expression. "You look down."


    Khan''s stern expression faltered as his eyebrows slightly arched. He didn''t expect his mood to be so evident, but it made sense that Amy could notice it. She had shadowed him for the entire mission, so she had to have learned something about him.


    "It''s my fianc¨¦e''s birthday next week," Khan revealed. "I guess I miss her."


    "Oh," Amy gasped, a genuine smile blossoming on her face. "If I may, you two make such a good couple. I hope I''ll get to see your wedding."


    "There''s a higher chance she digs out your eyes if you keep looking," Khan replied.


    Amy''s face snapped up. She didn''t do it intentionally, but her eyes asionally fell on Khan''s abs. Her actions had no hidden or secret meaning. Khan''s muscles were simply there, and nces escaped Amy''s control.


    Amy tensed up, but surprise arrived when Khan chuckled. That was one of the few times she had seen his genuine smile, and the sight tried to make her fall into a daze. Still, a pout soon reced it.


    "Don''t tease me, Major," Amyined. "It''s not fair." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I''m the one getting assaulted," Khan joked, turning to continue walking toward his room.


    Amy couldn''t help but giggle, but a greater realization quickly dawned upon her. That was the first normal conversation she and Khan had since the beginning of the mission.


    "Major," Amy called, making Khan stop and peek past his shoulder.


    "What is it?" Khan questioned.


    "Instead of going to your quarters," Amy announced, "Wouldn''t it be better to have a drink with the team?"


    Khan recalled the topic, and Amy didn''t let it go either. He had said he wouldn''t toast with his teammates until he trusted them, and Amy wondered whether that moment had arrived.


    Truth be told, Khan had begun to think that moment would never arrive, even going as far as questioning his sanity. Still, a few details were undeniable and had remained consistent throughout the mission.


    Amy''s respect and reverence for Khan were almost too evident. Celeste had more than praiseworthy character and experience, and Randall did his best toplete the job despite Khan''s constant interference. They didn''t look to be bad people. Actually, Khan had started to like them a bit.


    "A drink it is," Khan eventually epted, and Amy showed the broadest smile she was capable of. Yet, before she could dive back into the main deck, she red at Khan''s open uniform, almost ordering him to close it.

 Chapter 739 Mixed force

    Chapter 739 Mixed force


    Khan had a personal stash in his room, but Baoway''s routine rarely allowed him to indulge in long and rxing drinking moments. He wasn''t the type to get drunk easily and let it affect his efficiency, but the situation still limited him.


    However, the ship''s main deck was the center of the mission. Screens showcasing vital information filled every corner of the area, and it was impossible for anyone to miss their notifications. It was a safe ce that granted a certain level of freedom, and Khan finally got to experience it.


    Marcus and Kirk were hard at work on the shuttle in orbit, and their status was slightly lower, so they didn''t join the drinking session. Khan, Celeste, Amy, and Randall could enjoy privacy among esteemed peers, building a pleasant atmosphere that gradually evolved into friendliness.


    Of course, the booze was partially to me. As the drinks flowed, the tongues grew looser, and theughs increased. Funny anecdotes about past experiences also resounded, and the curiosity that had been kept in check until now began to leak out.


    "I never slept with her," Khan repeated, a faint chuckle mixing with his voice. Celeste, Randall, and Amy kept their curious and inquiring eyes on Khan, showing clear distrust in the statement. Still, Khan onlyughed and leaned deeper into his seat, adjusting the legs on the interactive table while bringing his drink to his mouth.


    "Didn''t you share a room?" Randall wondered. "Multiple rooms even."


    "Never slept with her in that sense," Khan corrected himself. "Jenna and I had a certain understanding."


    "You raise the bar for young men," Celestemented. "Resisting a Nele speaks for your values."


    "It wasplicated," Khan sighed, his eyes losing themselves in old memories. "On many levels. I don''t exactly see it as praiseworthy."


    "Was there something with Miss Solodrey already?" Amy inquired, her eyes almost shining due to the interesting gossip.


    "No gossip about my fianc¨¦e," Khanughed, dismissively waving his hand. "Thework already speaks too much about her."


    "With all due respect," Randall eximed, "You two aren''t exactly a quiet and reserved couple."


    Khan feigned ignorance, but thement didn''t need confirmation. Monica and Khan had been at the center of thework for a long time and for multiple reasons. Even people who didn''t care about those matters would have heard about them.


    "I''m d it''s working out for you," Amy announced. "Your rtionship is keeping the dream of finding true love alive."


    Khan feigned ignorance once again. His rtionship probably appeared perfect, ideal, and even miraculous, but only he and Monica knew the truth. Some saw it as a fairy tale, but just thinking about it reminded Khan of all the problems he had to face to get where he was.


    "Okay, enough with my love life," Khan stated. "Ny percent of it is on thework anyway."


    Khan''s tone was friendly. He wasn''t threatening or scolding his teammates, which surprised them. Seeing that side of Khan was strange, and he shared the feeling, although for different reasons.


    It had been a long time since Khan had spent a prolonged period on the field, at least in an environment that allowed proper bonding. Lately, his only safe ce had been his t, and solely thanks to Monica, but Baoway was reawakening old habits and trends.


    Soldiers on the field always bonded faster than those inside peaceful environments. Something about being together in the trenches lowered barriers and inhibitions, creating deep rtionships that couldst forever. Khan had experienced that multiple times, and his social paranoia finally relented and allowed him to join that event again.


    After conversing and drinking for a while, Khan almost felt dumb for having waited so long. He had his reasons andpletely justified himself, but the oue had been pleasant enough to awaken a tinge of regret. If only he had allowed himself to rx, he could have spent more days like that.


    "On another topic," Randall said, "I apologize for butting heads with you so often. It''s nothing personal."


    "Don''t worry," Khan reassured. "I understand I''m difficult to work with. I actually respect your attempts to keep me in check."


    "Attempts indeed," Randallughed. "I can''t understand half of the things you do. Though they are effective, so I won''tin."


    "Well," Khan uttered, pointing at his hair. "I''m part alien. My techniques and training methods are alien. Not understanding is the norm."


    "You are one of humankind''s finest, Major," Amy chirped in. "Many expect great things from you."


    "I''m just a soldier," Khan dismissed thepliment. "The best of them, but still a soldier."


    "I usually despise arrogance," Celestemented, eyeing a sleeping figure past the interactive desk, "But its absence would be worse in this case."


    Khan, Randall, and Amy couldn''t help but follow Celeste''s gaze. Zu-Gru was sleeping on the floor behind them, using his arms as a pillow. The metal surface wasn''t ideal, but the alien didn''tin.


    "A series of fortunate circumstances," Khan responded. "It would have been harder with a different species."


    "I won''tin," Randall eximed. "You are making my job easier. If everything goes well, we''ll be out of here in no time, and we''ll have promotions waiting for us."


    "Do you think they''ll make the Major a Colonel?" Celeste wondered.


    "He has the requirements and achievements," Amy praised. "With his marriage, I wouldn''t be surprised if he became the youngest General in history."


    "I''ve just been promoted," Khan shook his head. "Though I''ll push for the title of Ambassador."


    "They should have already given it to you," Amy pointed out. "You are doing that job here already."


    "The political gears move slowly," Celeste exined. "Besides, I think the Global Army is forced to let some time pass between promotions, at least to maintain a certain fa?ade."


    "Politics aren''t really for me," Amy sighed. "I''m happy being a scout, but my family will probably pressure me into epting more responsibilities."


    "Isn''t that how things always work?" Khan asked. "You get good at something, and others start building ns around you."


    "The field is better," Amy almost cursed. "A war is more peaceful than life in the big cities."


    "I agree," Khan replied, emptying what was left of his drink.


    "Youth sure is charming," Celeste stated. "Settling down isn''t so bad."


    "Aren''t you here with us?" Khanughed. "Also, your retirement would be a loss for the entire field. I''ve never seen anyone picking up aliennguages so quickly."


    "I''m confident you''ll surpass me," Celeste dered. "Once you umte more experience, I''ll read books about you." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I think they are already writing those," Randall revealed. "Your lessons spread tall waves inside the scientific field. The Global Army might soon develop new, revolutionary training methods."


    "The fine-tuning will take a while," Khan exined. "These arts are better taught when young and open-minded, which means finding a new generation of descendants willing to risk wasting important years."


    "It won''t be that hard," Amy responded. "With your fame, it would be stranger for people to ignore them."


    "Who knows?" Randall said, coldness invading his eyes as he turned toward the screens behind him. "Maybe our mission here will revolutionize the mana training we know."


    A tinge of darkness spread through the friendly atmosphere. No one had forgotten Khan''s report. Completing the mission might very well lead to a genocide or envement of an entire species. Even the most experienced soldiers would feel dirty at that thought.


    "If it weren''t us," Khan eximed, "It would have been the next explorers or those after them. The Empire would have found that and used it as a currency anyway. It was inevitable."


    "I was under the impression you would have been angrier at the idea," Celeste revealed.


    "The weak die to the strong," Khan repeated Lord Exr''s words. s die to stars. It''s the rule of the universe."


    "A sad universe," Celeste added.


    Khan agreed with Celeste, but the sharp scarlet eyes from the mental trip suddenly appeared in his vision. The universe seemed to contain existential threats capable of threatening more than star systems, so even the freedom to talk about sadness was a privilege.


    "It''s inevitable," Randall repeated Khan''s words. "Differences in culture, strength, and traditions will always lead to strife. Those gaps are even bigger among different species. You can''t expect everyone to put aside their greed and benefits over an ideal they might not even understand."


    "One can dream," Celeste sighed. "I love my job because it allows me to fill those gaps, but I''m not blind to reality. It''s just sad."


    "Realistically speaking," Randall announced, "To fulfill your ideal, you''d need a leader with no biases toward each species. Not only that, but you''d need him or her to teach that perspective to others. Such a leader doesn''t exist."


    "Who knows?" Celeste wondered. "Maybe one day we''ll see a mixed force iming to be a single species. In the end, tight cooperations already exist."


    "Let''s ask the Major since he has seen them," Randall suggested. "Milia 222. Did you see an absence of biases among different species?"


    "You know the answer," Khan replied. "While mixed forces and organizations do exist, a species is something entirely different."


    "But you were epted by everyone," Celeste pointed out.


    "Not everyone," Khan corrected. "Actually, very few, and I had to y tricks and ploys anyway."


    "And yet," Celeste continued, nodding at the sleeping Zu-Gru, "Here you are, with a Scalqa as a subordinate. You even held back with the Blood Tribe. Otherwise, we would have needed to expand our HQ."


    "I have no interest in leadership," Khan shook his head. "I''ll continue climbing the politicaldder, but not out of interest in that kind of power."


    "It won''t be your decision," Celestemented, wearing aplicated smile. "I guess I''m looking forward to who you''ll be."


    "Many are," Amy added.


    Khan knew the two women meant that as apliment, but his mind inevitably connected those words to his paranoia. Ideas swirled in his mind, sobering him up and killing his rxed mood. As for the topic, that wasn''t Khan''s first time dealing with it. Jenna, Monica, and others had hinted at something simr, and the mental trip added some impending necessity to the whole idea. He had seen an army big enough to darken the universe''s horizon. That wasn''t something he could deal with on his own.


    ''A mixed force, huh,'' Khan thought, reaching for the booze to refill his cup.

 Chapter 740 Darkness

    Chapter 740 Darkness


    Two more weeks passed since the drinking session, and the team repeated the event on multiple asions, especially when the mission allowed it.


    As for the mission, nothing really changed. The rtionships with the Bone Tribe were gradually improving. Khan kept training inside the rectangr tent, and the ship amassed information about the and the Scalqa.


    Zu-Gru''s presence allowed deeper studies of the Scalqa without requiring guinea pigs and simr practices. Those aliens'' anatomy grew clearer by the day, and Randall always conveyed that information to the shuttle in orbit. Still, no connection was established yet. It seemed the initial estimate had been too optimistic.


    Khan didn''t mind that oue but also looked forward to a change of pace. He didn''t only want to deal with the hidden threats as soon as possible. The days on Baoway were growing dull, and no number of drinking sessions could fix that.


    The issue mostly was on the Scalqa''s primitive sides. They had vaguely interesting traditions, and Khan could even respect a few. Yet, he couldn''t properly bond with the aliens. He actually felt more alien than them.


    The training sessions were a silver lining, but the remaining hours felt boring and aimless. He didn''t expect a job on the field to give birth to such emotions, but his heart had a mind of its own. Baoway was slightly disappointing, killing Khan''s curiosity and overall interest in the mission.


    That mood had led to new habits meant to kill time while advancing the mission. Khan was in the middle of one of those right now, but the spectacle wasn''t entertaining enough to distract him from his thoughts.


    Baoway''s night enveloped the forest in a thick and almost inescapable darkness. The few and rare gaps in the vast crowns allowed light radiated by distant stars to pass, but that did little to improve visibility.


    The Scalqa couldn''t see very well in the dark, and their reluctance toward using wood prevented them from creating proper torches. They knew fire and used it through a mixture of bones and pelts, but the results wereckluster. Moreover, only the settled tribes had the resources to waste on those methods.


    Those hindrances allowed nocturnal animals to reign over the forest at night. Due to the Scalqa''s absence, most of the fauna''s activity happened in the dark hours. Still, exceptions existed.


    The settled tribes dominated the day due to theirrger numbers and stabler positions. The nomads had only leftovers to hunt and couldn''t even search for them during the same hours. Those Scalqa had to wait for the night to grant them safety from their peers, but the disadvantages were plenty.


    Khan was sitting on a tall branch, sipping booze from a bottle while watching one of those events. The darkness of the night didn''t hinder his vision, allowing him to see the scene below in great detail.


    A group of seven Scalqa wielding wooden spears had encircled an enormous creature. The animal was five meters tall and seven meters long, covered in long dark fur that hid its true features. Its four legs were shortpared to its vast and chunky body, making it strong rather than fast.


    The monster''s dog-like face became visible when it swung its long and lowered neck left and right in an attempt to defend itself. The same happened with its thick tail, but the limb was too short to be dangerous.


    Normally, dealing with such a monster wouldn''t be a problem, even for a primitive species. The creature was as strong as a third-level warrior, but its low speed and huge size made it an easy target. It was resilient, but taking it down was only a matter of time after encircling it.


    However, the creature''s dark fur blended perfectly with Baoway''s night, making its simple and slow attacks hard to see. The seven Scalqa weren''t using torches, so they relied on experience and the monster''s guttural cries to keep a safe distance. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The hunting team used simple tactics to deal with the encounter. Whenever the monster attacked, the attacked Scalqa shouted "[Head]" or "[Tail]" to mark its position and stance. That allowed those at the creature''s side to advance and poke it with their spears to wear it down.


    Of course, those wooden spears couldn''t do much against the creature''s dense flesh and thick fur. The Scalqa''s incredible physical prowess allowed their weapons to pierce the monster''s skin, but the wounds were shallow at best.


    Still, the aliens didn''t have better weapons or fighting methods, so they continued to run circles around the monster, hoping its resilience would eventually give in.


    Khan casually inspected the battle, tilting his head whenever the trees got in the way. It would take the Scalqa entire hours to tire out the monster, but they couldn''t give up when their survival was at stake. Failing to kill the creature could doom their whole tribe, so they pursued that dangerous endeavor for as long as their stamina permitted.


    Almost an hourter, the monster''s hide had be a mess of shallow holes that leaked blood onto its long fur. Its cries had also grown weaker, and its attacks scarcer. It seemed ready to fall, but Khan knew exactly how much energy its flesh still contained.


    Sadly, the Scalqacked Khan''s heightened senses. The hunting team yed it safe even after the creature''s cries grew weaker, but the order for an all-out attack eventually arrived.


    The seven Scalqa jumped forward simultaneously, thrusting their spears with as much strength as possible. Some weapons broke due to the assault''s sheer might, but every tip pierced the creature deeply.


    However, before the Scalqa could cheer or retrieve their weapons to continue the assault, the monster voiced a powerful roar and swung its head and tail in opposite directions.


    The attack carried the full power of the creature''s muscles, which the Scalqa couldn''t hope to match. Four aliens flew in different directions, mming on the ground and trunks nearby while cracking noises resounded through the night.


    Khan couldn''t help but feel slightly surprised. The Scalqa were heavy and huge, but the monster had made them fly for several meters with a single move. The sheer force unleashed in the attack was massive, so it came as no surprise that the aliens had ended up with broken bones.


    The attack didn''t result in casualties, but two Scalqa fainted, and only one of the others could immediately stand up. Meanwhile, the remaining three clung to the monster, mming punches and kicks in an attempt to take it down.


    The Scalqa''s attacks hurt but weren''t enough to take down the monster. The creature cried while sprinting toward a nearby tree, mming its left side into it.


    The two Scalqa on the left side jumped, but one was too slow, and its leg got caught between the trunk and the monster. Needless to say, his bones shattered, leaving him paralyzed on the ground.


    The monster repeated the tactic, charging toward a tree on the opposite side. However, the remaining Scalqa promptly jumped on its back and wrapped his massive arms around its neck.


    The choke didn''t stop the monster''s charge. The creature mmed on the tree, and the Scalqa couldn''t endure the violence of the impact. His arms lost grip as he flew away, rolling on the ground while quickly restoring a battle stance.


    The two Scalqa who had recovered enough to fight were already near the monster and jumped on it before it could leave the tree. A flurry of simple but powerful attacksnded on the long fur, but the creature endured them all and swung its head, hitting an alien right at the center of his torso.


    The remaining alien continued to attack, and another came to his aid, but the monster rotated on itself, hitting the two with its head and tail. A loud cry also escaped its hidden mouth, and it reached the ground to sniff its opponents.


    The monster quickly found the closest Scalqa. The alien was lying on the ground, with blood oozing out of his mouth. After withstanding a direct attack, his insides were a mess, and his body struggled to stand up. The Scalqa tried to retreat using his arms, but the creature''s heavy steps grew louder.


    Soon, the Scalqa spotted a huge ck spot above him. The monster had reached him, and the angry roar it released threatened to deafen him. The creature even lifted one of its thick legs to stomp its opponent, but a cracking noise suddenly resounded, bringing silence.


    The Scalqa on the ground noticed the huge spot falling sideways and remaining still. His ragged breath became the only detail in his senses, but two blue lights eventually appeared, bringing rity to his useless vision.


    The alien saw a short figure standing near the still monster. That thin creature with bright eyes casually inspected the animal before ncing at him. He appeared bored as he brought a transparent container to his mouth.


    "[Eat]," Khan said while taking another sip from the bottle, only to discover it was empty. The finding made him sigh, and his eyes darkened as he strolled away from the area.


    The Scalqa on the ground could only follow Khan''s figure beforeplete darkness returned. He couldn''t even begin to exin what had happened, but that story was bound to spread throughout his tribe.

 Chapter 741 Answer

    Chapter 741 Answer


    As days passed, the random and asional trips through the forest became more frequent. Khan simply wanted to kill time and distract himself from the mess in his head, but his actions had repercussions that reached the ship.


    "They are here again," Randallmented, peeking at the screen beside him.


    "It seems the Major garnered even more fans," Amy giggled.


    "We aren''t exactly hiding here," Khan sighed, tapping on his console to review thetest reports.


    "We should include in the encrypted messages that a cult is possible," Randall announced.


    "I''m not ying religious leader," Khan refused.


    "Though unifying the tribes shouldn''t be a problem," Celeste eximed. "You can probably pacify the area."


    "Maybe in the future," Khan uttered, ncing at the scanners'' screens. "Things are too messy now."


    The scanners clearly showed a crowd of Scalqa studying the ship from the forest''s edge. No one carried weapons, and their faces showed curiosity rather than hostility.


    That scene had be quitemon in the previous days. Khan''s relevance in the forest grew as he piled up night trips, and it didn''t take long for the Scalqa to find him. Many aliens wanted to see the legend with their own eyes, ultimately leading to the current situation.


    Of course, the Scalqa didn''te to the ship only because of stories. Many aliens among the crowd were people Khan had saved during the hunts. He didn''t even seize their prey, so the general gratitude stretched to the entire tribes.


    "It''s still a sight," Randall announced, also focusing on the screen. "These mostly are nomadic tribes. Before our arrival, they would have never stayed put in the same ce."


    "They probably deemed in-fighting pointless in the Major''s presence," Amy guessed. "I don''t me them. He''s been feeding them for days."


    "I don''t go out every night," Khan pointed out, "And I''ve even stopped helping those who could win by themselves."


    "The ship''s logs tell us exactly how often you go out, sir," Celeste revealed. "We just have to check our shrinking stash of booze."


    "I already assigned part of it to the tradeable goods," Randall exined, "And hid it among the weapons."


    "I don''t drink that much," Khan eximed, but Celeste and Randall shot knowing nces that said otherwise. Even Amy couldn''t find the strength to defend him on that topic.


    "I hope itsts until the mission is over," Khan cursed, bringing his attention back to his console and ignoring the faint chuckles resounding through the main deck.


    The atmosphere inside the ship had greatly improved since the drinking session. Everyone felt able to crack jokes now, even when Khan was involved. The various teammates weren''t proper friends, but their rtionship had gotten one step above acquaintances.


    That was unexpected but great. The rxed atmosphere and the absence of apparent issues in the mission created smooth days without discussions and simr problems. Everything was going well, better than any could predict, and the team nned to keep things like that.


    "It''s almost midday," Randall eventually revealed. "What''s the n for today?"


    "We agreed on dying trading weapons," Amy responded. "So, more supplies."


    "I wonder if we should do something about this crowd," Randall sighed. "The Major can fly, so it''s not a problem. However, Amy might have to start taking a different route to the settlement."


    "Maybe the Major can fly while carrying me," Amy teased.


    "You are ying with fire," Khan sighed.


    "How amusing," Celestemented. "The sole mention of Miss Solodrey''s jealousy is enough to make you shake in fear."


    "Blissful ignorance," Khan shook his head. "Don''t ask for my help once we are back. I did warn you."


    Another round ofughs resounded through the main deck, but Khan, Randall, and Amy soon began focusing on the issue at hand. That day, Khan and Amy had yet to visit the Bone Tribe''s settlement, but the curious crowd was in the way.


    ''Maybe I should get them in line,'' Khan thought. ''I didn''t expect so many to gather here.''


    Khan didn''t know how to take the development. His actions were easy enough to avoid giving birth to pride. Yet, the positive consequences were undeniable. He could build a fifty-Scalqa-strong force with a single move, and that number was bound to increase.


    Calctions happened inside Khan''s mind. He had gotten a broadly urate understanding of the forest''s resources in the past period, and the Harbor had taught him suitable subjects. He could probably build a force by unifying all the tribes, but many would starve without his help.


    ''I don''t even know if my presence alone can quell past enmities,'' Khan considered. ''Why am I even thinking about this? The Scalqa aren''t exactly my type of alien.''


    Khan was correct in his thinking, but the memory of the mental trip acted as a constant reminder of the potential universal threat. He didn''t know when or why it woulde, but something told him he was vastly outssed.


    ''But why would other species follow me?'' Khan wondered. ''It''s not like my story is easily believable.''


    Problems existed on many levels, and Khan also knew his freedom would greatly suffer once he returned to the Harbor. He wouldn''t have the time or room to build a secret force. Instead, he would attract unwanted attention and receive endless questioning from his superiors.


    ''Is the Solodrey family my best bet?'' Khan thought. ''They have the means, and Monica will be able to support me as much as she wants once she bes Matriarch. Still, do I have enough time for that?''


    Those doubts couldn''t have clear answers. It was simply impossible to predict when and whether that universal threat would ur. Moreover, Khan didn''t believe he was up to the task yet, so investing time into building a force might have adverse effects.


    ''It''s always my power first, huh,'' Khan cursed, inspecting his hands. ''I wish I knew what I''m bing, at least.''


    Khan''s eyes tried to light up, but he suppressed the urge. It was happening more often, almost hinting at the path his body was crossing. Maybe, he would be unable to darken his irises in the future.


    That oue wasn''t really a problem, especially for Khan. He had stopped caring about the changes in his body as long as his power increased. Actually, that possibility brought some cozy coldness to his mind. Khan couldn''t help but think he was bing simr to the Niqols, which was far better than his Nak lineage.


    Nevertheless, Khan wasn''t alone. Monica would love him either way, and the same probably applied to his friends, but humankind as a whole couldn''t directly agree. The more alien he became, the greater hindrances he would face, and some might interfere with his personal goals.


    ''Let''s avoid turning into a full alien until Monica bes Matriarch,'' Khan concluded. ''Thest thing I need is attracting enmity due to my looks.''


    Khan stood up after that short brainstorming. It was time to visit the Bone Tribe, and Amy instantly left her seat when she noticed him. The same went for Zu-Gru, who had slept on the floor until now. As soon as he heard movement, he searched for Khan and hurried to his side.


    Amy and Khan nodded to Celeste and Randall before heading for the exit. The two had repeated that routine so often that warnings and goodbyes had be obsolete. Yet, before the team could depart, one screen released a peculiar beeping noise, and everyone froze on their spot.


    The main deck''s door opened as Marcus and Kirk crossed it to look at the screen. The warning had reached their working stations, telling them what was happening. The shuttle in orbit had finally picked up something, and Randall didn''t hesitate to attend to the matter.


    Khan gestured to Zu-Gru to stay put before nearing the screen. Marcus, Kirk, and Amy did the same, gathering behind Randall. Even Celeste left her console to inspect the matter, and silence soon arrived as everyone read the report. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The team updated the shuttle''s message as new findings emerged. The encrypted message basically contained everything the envoy had learned about Baoway and the Scalqa, including Khan''s troublesome insights.


    Those findings were too significant to be left to the political envoy, so the superiors'' directives could have a massive impact on the mission. It could also force Khan to make a difficult decision, but the message contained nothing simr. However, it remained pretty shocking.


    "Is it possible?" Randall asked, lifting his head to nce at Khan. Marcus and the others also shot questioning looks at him since he was the only one in a position to answer.


    "I''m not sure," Khan admitted. "The current deal should allow it, but something of this caliber is bound to attract attention."


    "Aiding with the current tasks," Amy read on the screen. "It''s kind of vague."


    "Maybe they''ll also bring additional equipment," Marcusmented. "That can only be good."


    "I wonder for what purposes," Celeste scoffed.


    "Do you think they''ll have different orders?" Randall wondered.


    "I won''t assume anything," Celeste shook her head. "This matter is beyond me."


    "Yet, not beyond the Major," Amy stated, and the attention fell on Khan once again.


    Khan wished to have answers, but the report left him as confused as hispanions. The higher-ups had decided to send another team to Baoway, but the group would now feature a fifth-level warrior.

 Chapter 742 Problem

    Chapter 742 Problem


    Randall and the others couldn''t help but shoot asional peeks at Khan, and his silence provided the answers they expected. He was as confused as them, leading to a prolonged thinking session where every eye in the main deck stared at the report.


    Of course, the thoughts and conclusions differed from teammate to teammate. There were many simrities, but the more profound details involved personal and private considerations, especially in Khan''s case.


    A second team could help with the mission, mainly if the involved ship delivered additional provisions and equipment. It could also decide to focus on a different area, increasing the scope of the Global Army''s influence on that alien.


    However, Khan found many issues during his first read, and the following ones enhanced that feeling. Theck of clear directives was a big red g due to the magnitude of what the envoy had reported. Moreover, the new team''sposition filled his mind with questions.


    ording to the report, the second team would be smaller and have a predominance of soldiers. The Global Army justified that choice with the presence of Randall and the others. After all, sending additional specialists would be superfluous and could create in-fighting.


    The idea of additional manpower and supplies sounded nice, but Khan instantly spotted a w in that justification. The political envoy had reported that he was more than enough to keep all the Scalqa at bay. Khan was virtually unmatched in the quadrant. Yet, the Global Army had still decided to send soldiers.


    That detail was somewhat reasonable. Khan couldn''t always be everywhere, so reinforcing core aspects of the political mission was wise. However, sending a fifth-level warrior was beyond overkill. Also, it would fill part of Khan''s role on the, which didn''t make much sense.


    On top of all of that, Khan still had his paranoia to deal with. Warning signals screamed in his mind when he read the report. He had just begun epting his teammates, only for the Global Army to send a new team of soldiers. Khan couldn''t take the matter lightly, and his hunches inevitably connected it to his current problematic situation.


    ''Are they trying to reduce my influence on the?'' Khan wondered. That would be reasonable, but Khan also saw it as the best possibility, which rarely turned out to be true.


    Besides, nothing would stop Khan and his team from moving to a different area and repeating the process. They could also ask the neers the same. Something deeper was at y there, and Khan''s thoughts inevitably explored dark fields.


    ''Secret orders?'' Khan considered.


    The shuttle''s channel wasn''tpletely safe. The Empire could intercept the encryptedmunications, so the Global Army probably wanted to avoid any potential and official me. The new team might carry orders too dangerous to forward directly to the ship, but that practice had issues, too.


    The report left Khan''s team in charge of the operation. The fifth-level warrior might have new orders but no way of confirming their authenticity. In-fighting would be bound to ur in that instance, and Khan wasn''t the type to bend the knee before a stronger soldier.


    ''No,'' Khan mentally shook his head. ''They''ll probably hide letters with official orders in that case. What a mess.''


    Khan had it worse than hispanions due to his unique position. The Empire trusted him to report any relevant information, and theoretically, his current time on the was the only advantage he could give the Global Army.


    Yet, the sudden departure of a second team would lead to questions Khan would have to answer. Even in the best-case scenario, the Global Army''s actions remained suspicious, potentially undermining his position among the Thilku. Lord Rsi already disliked him, and the eventual truth might not be enough to satisfy him.


    Of course, Khan''s problems stretched deeper than his position among the Thilku, but he was virtually powerless. Even unifying the Scalqa under a single tribe wouldn''t give him much of an advantage. He could only wait and see what the new team was actually about.


    "Send a copy to my console," Khan eventually eximed before approaching Zu-Gru. Amy immediately followed him, but Randall couldn''t help but have questions.


    "Wait," Randall called. "What''s the n here?"


    "We won''t know anything until theynd," Khan calmly exined. "Overthinking it now won''t lead anywhere."


    "But-," Randall said, but Khan didn''t give him the chance to continue.


    "Besides," Khan interrupted. "The responsibility will always fall on me. That''s our agreement, isn''t it?"


    Khan and Randall didn''t actually discuss it, but they were smart enough to know that both sides realized the implications of their rtionships. Randall was also aware of Khan''s unique position, so he had no arguments against the statement.


    Khan didn''t wait for Randall''s nod and headed outside, followed by Amy and Zu-Gru. His appearance in the open startled the Scalqa audience, who inspected his every move and spread whispers. Still, no one tried to approach him, and he walked around the crowd to head to the Bone Tribe''s settlement.


    Zu-Gru mostly cared about the fellow Scalqa, but Amy sneaked peeks at Khan since she understood his position. Anyone would feel the pressure of the unclear situation, but Khan appeared as calm as ever.


    Of course, that was partly a fa?ade. Khan epted the situation''s helplessness, but it felt far from good, and his mind never stopped churning out thoughts and simtions. They simply couldn''t go anywhere until he actually saw the new team.


    That mindset allowed Khan to stick to his routine. Things continued to go well with the Bone Tribe and inside their settlement, and his night trips increased the size of the crowd outside the ship. Everything went smoothly, but the team''s atmosphere grew tenser by the day.


    There was no avoiding that development. The new team could disrupt the frail bnce on the quadrant and ruin the initial mission, which Randall and the others couldn''t allow for personal reasons. Many careers were at stake, and soldiers had the habit of not caring about others.


    By the third week after the report''s arrival, Randall and the others began to point the ship''s scanners and their eyes at the sky. The message didn''t have a precise ETA, but the envoy could easily calcte the trip''s length, and its math turned out to be on point.


    Khan had just departed for the Bone Tribe''s settlement when his senses picked something up. He lifted his eyes, which pierced the crowns to inspect the symphony. A huge shift was happening high in the sky, and confirmation arrived when he smelled the distinct stench of synthetic mana.


    "[Go back]," Khan said in the Scalqanguage right before his figure disappeared, leaving behind Amy and Zu-Gru. Thetter looked confused, but Amy promptly added directives to make him return to the ship with her.


    A vehicle soon became visible among Baoway''s clear sky. A triangr ship with stretched wings rapidly descended toward the''s surface, leaving a white trail behind.


    The ship didn''t care about hiding its presence but avoided shyndings. It descended at high speed before slowing down when the shallow cliff became visible. The two vehicles quickly exchanged information before thending could continue.


    The new ship relied on standardnding maneuvers to gracefully approach the ground and stop right outside the turret''s perimeter. The two vehicles now stood side by side by the cliff, and the neer''s doors quickly opened.


    A metal ramp descended on the barren ground, and four figures promptly crossed it to step on the alien. All of them wore military uniforms, but one had a white medical coat on her shoulders, revealing her status as a scientist.


    The other three were men who warily inspected their surroundings, paying particr attention to the forest. The suddennding had scared some Scalqa away, but few had remained by the trees'' edge, and the soldiers seemed able to see them.


    Nevertheless, the other ship opened its doors, attracting the neers'' attention. Randall, Celeste, and Marcus left the vehicle to greet the new team, which mostly showed smiles. The only exception was one soldier who quickly disregarded the envoy to return his green eyes to the trees.


    The soldier''s eyes didn''t stop at the trunks. They rose and stopped only when they reached the crown''s edge. They seemed fixed on something specific, and thetter instantly realized that.


    ''Nice senses,'' Khan thought from the top of the crowns while the soldier stared at him. The ship''s scanners could have caused that oue, but Khan''s hunches went against that theory. After all, the man was quite remarkable.


    Needless to say, the soldier who had spotted Khan was a fifth-level warrior. The man was built like a mountain, standing two meters tall and creating a huge shadow with his broad shoulders. His short golden hair fluttered in the soft gale, and his eyes radiated pure vitality.


    Of course, Khan''s inspection barely lingered on those superficial features. His attention was on the man''s mana, which told aplete story. The fifth-level warrior was no pushover, and Khan could say the same about the other teammates.


    ''They have all seen battle,'' Khan realized. ''Still, getting reinforcements in just three weeks is a bit odd.''


    Khan jumped from the mass of leaves and let himself free-fall toward the ground. He didn''t use any technique to slow down his descent, but the impact with the surface didn''t release any sound. Hisnding didn''t have much of an impact in the first ce. His feet had gracefully adhered to the terrain as if his body was immune to gravity.


    The two soldiers and scientist tried their best to hide their reactions, but their mana conveyed their surprise. Khan''snding left a deep impact in their minds, but the fifth-level warrior was a different beast. His aura didn''t even flinch at Khan''s arrival, and a polite smile slowly broadened on his stern face.


    "Major Khan," The fifth-level warrior called. "It''s a pleasure."


    "Major Veril," Khan responded, stepping forward to enter the man''s reach. "I read much about you."


    "There''s far more to read about you," Major Veril announced, stretching an arm forward. "It''s Fergus for you." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Fergus, then," Khan eximed, shaking the Major''s hand. "You must understand our surprise. Did the Global Army keep you ready for deployment?"


    "It indeed did," Fergus confirmed. "We have been on standby since your departure."


    "With additional orders," Khan uttered, "I suppose."


    "The main mission must remain a priority," Fergus stated.


    "What about the other mission?" Khan asked, his eyes moving to the scientist behind the Major.


    The two teams could hear the conversation, and neither missed Fergus and Khan''s yet-to-release handshake. They felt like they were in the middle of a strength contest, which wasn''t far from the truth.


    Khan and Fergus weren''t applying any strength to their grips but studied each other in different ways. Still, both were trying to gauge their respective intentions, and it soon became clear that the area was too crowded for that.


    It didn''t help that Amy and Zu-Gru returned just to witness that stalemate. Fergus''s attention was inevitably attracted by the presence of a Scalqa. He looked slightly interested and surprised, but the blue light that shone on his face quickly distracted him.


    "They are bigger than I thought," Fergus admitted, finally releasing the handshake.


    Khan didn''t answer, and his eyes darkened as he continued staring at the fifth-level warrior. Something about the man annoyed him, even if he couldn''t point out what. His mana gave birth to a childish urge, inevitably leading to a precise question.


    ''Can I beat him?'' Khan wondered.


    Regr power levels didn''t apply to Khan, but Fergus remained a fifth-level warrior. That was the peak before the evolution, and it didn''t belong to a clueless descendant. The man seemed to have his fair share of skills, and Khan itched to test himself against them.


    "Why don''t you show me the quadrant, Major?" Fergus requested. "While our teams get ustomed to each other."


    "Khan is fine," Khan announced, turning toward the forest. "This way."


    Khan didn''t wait for replies and sprinted toward the forest, and Fergus promptly followed along. The two disappeared among the trees before anyone could say anything, leaving both teams in an awkward atmosphere.


    Khan didn''t unleash his full speed but still ran quickly enough to leave most fourth-level warriors behind. He even ricocheted among the trunks to avoid losing momentum, but Fergus kept up with him without breaking a sweat.


    That much was to be expected from a fifth-level warrior, but his stable footing and confidence in an unknown environment spoke for his experience. Khan could confirm once again he wasn''t in the presence of a newbie.


    "Quite the crowd you have there," Fergusmented, approaching Khan''s side while the two continued to run. "Is it friendly?"


    "It''splicated," Khan responded. "Friendly, definitely. It almost borders worshipping."


    "In you?" Fergus asked.


    "Yes," Khan replied.


    "Deserved?" Fergus questioned.


    "Obviously," Khan dered.


    The two went silent, but Khan soon halted his steps, stopping in a semi-empty area of the forest. He was nowhere near settlements or tribes, making it the perfect ce for a private conversation.


    Fergus instantly stopped, showing his reflexes. Khan didn''t give any warning, but the man had still perfectly imitated his movements.


    "Are we outside the scanners'' range?" Fergus asked, inspecting his surroundings.


    "Do you want to?" Khan asked.


    "Are we going to have a problem?" Fergus questioned, bringing his gaze back to Khan.


    "What are your orders?" Khan asked, crossing his arms as he faced the fifth-level warrior. "What''s your purpose here?"


    "The information your team conveyed demanded additional manpower," Fergus exined. "I''m sure you understand that."


    "To what end?" Khan questioned. "Do you have ab hidden in that small ship?"


    "What if we do?" Fergus wondered.


    "It will be dusty," Khan dered.


    "Khan," Fergus called, wearing aplicated smile. "This belongs to the Global Army and Thilku Empire. We are just middlemen with orders."


    "What are yours?" Khan asked.


    "The Scalqa must be studied with more than your eyes," Fergus revealed. "You do realize that, don''t you?"


    "There are new corpses every night," Khan announced. "Is that satisfactory?"


    "It''s important to witness the growth of the flesh you described," Fergus pointed out.


    Khan understood that reasoning. He had actually feared and expected it. The Global Army had to study how the Scalqa generated and umted mana to replicate the process.


    Still, live guinea pigs were necessary for that, and Khan didn''t know how he felt about it. He didn''t really care about the Scalqa, but continuing to live on Baoway with ongoing experiments sounded unbearable. He knew what it meant to be studied and tested, so he didn''t want others to experience it.


    "I''m sure you have additional orders," Khan eventually eximed.


    "What do you mean?" Fergus wondered, showing some confusion.


    "In case I decided to side with the Empire," Khan continued. "The Global Army didn''t negotiate permission to experiment on the Scalqa."


    "Would you?" Fergus asked. "Would you side with the Thilku over a primitive species? You must know the potential benefits for humankind better than most."


    Khan didn''t reply and stared at the tall man without showing any emotion. He was only exining a potential oue. Truth be told, even he wasn''t sure about what he would do. Still, Fergus'' response tickled him in the wrong way.


    "So," Fergus sneered, "We''re going to have a problem."

 Chapter 743 Steel

    Chapter 743 Steel


    Khan and Fergus stared at each other, creating a stalemate neither wanted to break. The impasse seemed unsolvable with words alone, and the alternative could create massive problems.


    Fergus had half-expected a simr stance but still experienced surprise. He had read about Khan, but there were limits to gall and arrogance. The two men''s military uniforms marked the difference in their power, something that almost every soldier would respect. However, that detail didn''t seem to matter to Khan.


    It wasn''t even a matter of confidence or readiness. Khan didn''t look deluded or ignorant. He simply stood there, uncaring about the potential consequence. Levels and experience didn''t exist in his mind. He had his way and would fight to defend it.


    "I admit," Fergus broke the silence. "I''m growing curious about the rumors around you."


    Khan didn''t reply. His eyes also remained dark before that implicit threat. A simr curiosity existed in his mind, and his fingers itched to reach for his knife. He wanted to fight, to test himself against a fifth-level warrior, but things weren''t so easy on Baoway.


    "Shall we leave the scanners'' range?" Fergus asked.


    "Do you want to?" Khan wondered, almost challenging the man.


    Fergus almost smiled. He was growing to like Khan''s gall, and his curiosity inevitably intensified. He had the monster of Nippe 2 right before his eyes and the chance to fight him. Few soldiers would ignore the opportunity.


    "Lead the way," Fergus stated, and Khan promptly sprinted deeper into the forest. He didn''t give any warning, but Fergus immediately reacted and matched his speed.


    Khan had long since grown familiar with the forest, so his directions were as precise as possible. He knew a few suitable areas outside the scanners'' range, and the two took some minutes to get there.


    Fergus matched Khan''s every move, stopping as soon as he halted his steps. The two had ended in a rtively clear area with no tribes or animals in the surroundings. The scanners couldn''t get there, either, making it the perfect ce for an internal scuffle.


    "Are we outside?" Fergus questioned.


    "Yes," Khan nodded. "There''s nothing for several hundreds of meters in every direction, too."


    "I hope you don''t think this will be to the death," Fergus announced. "I''m not sure the Global Army can even give such orders."


    Khan remained silent, inspecting the man. They were both too experienced to be so na?ve, but thetter seemed to believe his words. Khan found it odd, but reviewing his political position partially justified that trust.


    Baoway would be the perfect ce to eliminate Khan, but his position was also the most secure. He was the most high-profile soldier in the mission, and the team had to prioritize his safety to a certain extent. Nothing could happen without him due to the connection to the Empire, so he had to remain alive.


    That didn''t even ount for Khan''s connections among humankind. He had used Princes and Princesses, relied on one of the wealthiest families in the Global Army, and aplished countless fantastic deeds. The general public also liked him, so his eventual disappearance had to be nned properly.


    "Do you simply want to test me?" Khan asked.


    "If your worth matches the rumors," Fergus eximed, "Your eyes might be better than ourb."


    "So," Khan sighed, his gaze wandering among the trees behind Fergus. "There is ab."


    Fergus couldn''t help but smirk. The matter wasn''t exactly a secret. Actually, his team had probably shared the information with Randall and the others by now. Still, watching Khan gave birth to a different feeling.


    The gall was praiseworthy, and Fergus liked it. Yet Khan''s uncaring and detached behavior started getting on Fergus''s nerves. Fergus was an experienced fifth-level warrior, and even monsters had to pay attention to him.


    "Won''t you draw your knife?" Fergus questioned.


    Khan looked at Fergus, and the surrounding mana suddenly converged toward his legs. His figure disappeared without making any sound, and Fergus almost gasped as he dodged to his left.


    Fergus instinctively stepped back. He avoided jumping to keep his feet on the ground but still retreated. Khan had appeared in his previous position, and his brain told him that losing his foothold would be a fatal mistake.


    "Those were instincts," Khanmented, half-turning toward Fergus. "Not reactions."


    Fergus'' smile disappeared, reced by a stern face. Khan''sment had been spot-on. He didn''t expect the sudden attack, but his eyes had still failed to follow him. In theory, that was impossible.


    ''I''m not the speedster-type,'' Fergus thought, ''But failing to follow him with my eyes is ¡­''


    Fergus'' surprise was more than deserved. His body was supposed to be superior in every field due to the higher concentration of mana. However, Khan had still slipped past his senses. Fergus had dodged the attack through pure battle experience.


    Martial arts and special techniques could fill the gaps between levels, but something told Fergus that Khan was different. That speed clearly wasn''t natural, but the soldier worried about another detail. That quality was only the foundation of Khan''s power, his very baseline.


    ''Is he as strong as a fifth-level warrior?'' Fergus wondered although that felt like a realization. After all, he had seen Khan''s speed, leaving only that conclusion.


    Khan could almost read Fergus'' thoughts, but his character mostly found ws. His transformation, alien techniques, and training with the blue bush might have made him touch the fifth level. However, soldiers in that realm had skills, too, and Fergus didn''t use any to dodge his attack.


    "If you can do this when you aren''t ready," Khanmented before his figure disappeared again.


    Fergus was ready now. His eyes moved together with Khan, and he half-turned to dodge the iing kick to his shoulder. His hand also shot upward, wanting to grab Khan''s ankle, but his fingers gripped nothing but air.


    Fergus lifted his head, inspecting the figure hovering above him. Khan was in the air, seemingly standing in theplete absence of solid surfaces. His ability to fly was almost impossible to counter, but both warriors knew he wouldn''t use that advantage now.


    ''Still no techniques,'' Khan thought. Fergus seemed able to keep up with his speed without using any mana or special skill.


    "I expected more," Fergus mocked, his smirk returning to his face.


    "You expected less," Khan corrected. "Entertain me for a bit."


    Fergus wanted to reply, but his eyes widened at the sudden movement. Khan dived toward his opponent, putting as much weight as possible into his descending foot. The angle made the attack unavoidable with short dodges, and Fergus promptly lifted his arms to block it.


    Nevertheless, Khan elerated, interrupting his attack to ricochet through the air. He reached Fergus'' back, spinning with all the force of the umted momentum, and his leg mmed on the soldier.


    Khan had hit countless items and bodies with his leg, so the contact with Fergus'' back filled his mind with information. The soldier''s muscles resembled steel that wouldn''t break even under the full power of Khan''s best kick. Yet, the attack had enough energy to bend it.


    Once again, Fergus was caught by surprise. Although he could follow a single sprint, Khan had mixed aerial maneuvers, sudden elerations, two attacks, and blind spots. His offensive had been impable, leaving Fergus powerless.


    That was mostly Fergus''s fault. He was holding back, so Khan had cornered him. Even jumping forward wouldn''t prevent the massive force behind the attack. Fergus had to endure it.


    Khan''s eyes shone when the sensationsing from his leg changed. Fergus'' muscles suddenly grew denser, bing tough enough to endure the kick. Fergus was still in the same position and stance when the attack had depleted its power. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan promptly retreated,nding on the ground before lifting his left leg. His bright eyes inspected his limb to understand the recent exchange better, and Fergus calmly waited for him to speak.


    "It''s not a defensive technique," Khan concluded, bringing his eyes to his opponent. "That''s your element."


    "Correct," Fergus stated. "I didn''t think you would have understood after a single exchange."


    "A non-elemental technique wouldn''t have been enough to stop my kick," Khan summarized.


    "You look disappointed," Fergus dered.


    "Defense doesn''t work well with chaos," Khanmented. His element was known as the most destructive one, so it sounded dumb for the Global Army to send that type of warrior to keep him in check.


    "Should we try it?" Fergus asked. "I''m curious about your chaos spear."


    Khan''s eyes were about to darken, but a new brightness invaded them. The name of his spells wasn''t exactly a secret, but Fergus'' request had been too specific to be a case. It almost sounded like he had prepared ordingly.


    Fergus wanted to add something, but Khan didn''t give him the chance. Thetter joined his palms, summoning mana to create the unstable and bright spear. The spell took form in less than a second, and Khan immediately wielded it above his head.


    "No hesitation, huh," Fergus uttered, and his smirk broadened when he saw Khan throw the spear.

 Chapter 744 Deal

    Chapter 744 Deal


    Khan''s senses were terrific, but differentiating between the many strands of mana released during the spear''s explosion was impossible. His eyes saw only brightness, and the symphony grew too messy to tell a story.


    Nevertheless, Khan could confirm that his spell had hit the target. Fergus had remained still to endure the full might of the explosion. He didn''t move even after the spear transformed into a scorching pir that continued to release destructive energy.


    That was obviously a power y. Fergus wanted to show off, but Khan didn''t mind it. He was mainly curious about the exchange''s oue, and his eyes eventually became able to inspect it.


    As the purple-red energy dispersed, a breathing, strong aura became visible. Its presence wasn''t massive and didn''t expand in its surroundings, but Khan found its density breathtaking. It almost seemed a huge amount of mana had be solid and immovable.


    In the following seconds, more features became visible. Strands of smoke appeared as the chaos element dispersed. The ground was cracked and charred. A hole had also formed, but a tall figure stood proudly at its center.


    Fergus'' military uniform had be a burned mess. Only a few strands of fabric had survived the chaos spear, leaving him virtually naked and allowing aplete inspection. His rosy skin had turned dark, and smoke hade out of it, but Khan couldn''t spot any burns.


    The dark shade didn''t result from the spell. Fergus had activated his element, changing the shape, color, and strength of his various body tissues, allowing him to endure the spear without moving a muscle.


    ''Even the superficial flesh is unharmed,'' Khan noticed as his bright eyes darted between the spots releasing smoke. ''This is far better than my [Blood Shield].''


    Unlike the [Blood Shield], Fergus'' defensive spell had no blind spots. His mana didn''t only affect the blood vessels. It invaded any kind of tissue, altering its nature to transform it into an unbreakable item.


    The casting speed and reach were also incredible. Khan didn''t hesitate tounch his spell, but Fergus still reacted on time. Moreover, he had covered his entire body, leaving no spot unguarded. Khan had onlypliments for that demonstration of skill.


    Fergus smirked as his mana retreated and his skin returned to its original color. The change confirmed that the attack had left no mark on his body, but Khan spotted another amazing detail. Fergus'' energy didn''t disperse. Instead, it returned inside his body to resume its normal flow.


    Of course, the defensive spell had consumed mana, but not as much as one would believe. Fergus'' technique couldn''t only endure the chaos element. He could also use it multiple times without emptying his energy reserves.


    "It doesn''t cut away pain," Khanmented. "You probably can cut it away but choose not to."


    A tremor ran through Fergus'' eyes. Many would have felt desperate and helpless before that demonstration, but Khan was a different beast. He had noticed a detail few would even consider, forcing Fergus to hold back a gulp. The soldier had to admit Khan''s senses were beyond scary.


    "How much can you actually see?" Fergus couldn''t help but ask.


    "Wrong question," Khan replied.


    Fergus felt confused, but staring into those bright eyes eventually brought rity. Those weren''t enhanced organs. They were alien, so he couldn''t use human standards to evaluate them.


    "What do you actually see?" Fergus questioned, correcting his wording.


    Khan remained silent, slowly blinking to bring darkness to his vision. Still, as much as his eyes looked human now, the world they reflected was nothing close to that species.


    "You don''t look surprised," Fergus spoke again due to Khan''s silence. "I was under the impression that was your best spell."


    "I''m more interested in your confidence," Khan revealed. "You aren''t arrogant nor delusional, which leaves only one possible exnation."


    Fergus had to suppress another gulp and hide it behind his smirk. Khan looked incredibly young, but his sharp mind reeked of experience. Moreover, he seemed used to thinking outside the box. He would have never understood the truth so soon otherwise.


    "I did test my defense against chaos wielders," Fergus exined. "I''m not trying to insult you when I say I''ve tasted stronger spears."


    The puzzle was nowplete. Thatst piece of information convinced Khan that the Global Army had handpicked Fergus due to his presence. The Major had already proven himself capable against the chaos element, making him the best man to keep Khan in check.


    "I wonder," Khan announced. "Which one of us did the Global Army pick first?"


    "I apologize, Major," Fergus eximed. "It''s my turn now."


    Khan''s eyes widened as his figure shot into the air. A thudding noise followed, and creaking sounds spread through the area. A huge hole had appeared on the trunk behind his previous position, and the gap was big enough to make the entire tree bend forward and fall.


    Baoway''s trees were massive, so their fall would attract much attention. However, Khan only had eyes for the dark-blue figure standing before the gap. Fergus had reactivated his defensive technique, but the recent attack showed far more.


    ''What''s that speed and strength?'' Khan cursed. He almost didn''t notice Fergus'' charge or the activation of his mana. Everything had been too sudden even for him, and the power disy wasn''t even close to negligible.


    Khan would have to use a spell to take down one of Baoway''s trees, but Fergus only needed a punch. Moreover, the attack shared some properties with the previous technique. As Fergus'' skin regained its normal color, Khan confirmed that the charge didn''t deplete much mana.


    "You can freely alter the nature of your body tissues," Khan eximed from his safe position in the air. "But defense is more in line with your element."


    "I repaid the favor by holding back," Fergus dered, gazing at Khan, "But I hoped for a bit more than flying away."


    "At least you won''t die so easily," Khan uttered, lifting his left arm.


    The symphony responded to Khan''s silent request and gesture, converging above him to create more than twenty purple-red unstable spheres. As they transformed, those masses of mana gathered more energy, stretching into spears and slowly tilting toward Fergus.


    Fergus soon found himself under an array of chaos spears. The sky had disappeared, and only the color of Khan''s element existed in the scenery. That was a barrage entirely made of one of Khan''s best spells, and he had created it in a matter of seconds.


    "You must be joking," Fergus muttered, but Khan lowered his arm, and all the spears fell.


    Baoway''s forest experienced inhumane destruction as every spear converged on Fergus'' position and exploded. Violent gales spread among the trees as scorching pirs piled up, fusing their energy to create a single but massive attack. The rain of spells'' sheer pressure shattered even the ground meters away from the impact point.


    Khan let the destruction unfold, but no surprise arrived when the energy dispersed, showing Fergus standing in the middle of the charred ground. The man had endured the rain with the same defensive spell as before, but his smirk had disappeared.


    "I take back my previous statement," Fergus announced, his voice full of energy. "Your spears are stronger."


    "Not yet," Khan dered, and mana gathered above him once again. An even bigger array of spears soon formed and descended before the two could exchange additional words.


    The destruction''s range increased during the second round of attacks. The entire clear area shattered and burned under the chaos element''s might. Smoke invaded that peaceful piece of the forest, turning it into a hellish scenerying straight from Khan''s nightmare.


    Nevertheless, once the pirs and smoke dispersed, Fergus'' intact figure reappeared. His legs had caved into the ground due to the barrage''s pressure, but his back had stood straight. No harm hade to his skin or hair either. Only his military uniform waspletely gone. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan could summon another round of spears. He also had different techniques at his disposal, and the cursed knife was still in its sheath. Yet, he didn''t do anything and remained in the air, waiting for Fergus'' move.


    Fergus understood that silent message. Khan wouldn''t reveal anything else until he did the same. However, looking at the just-created destruction gave birth to a different option. Khan definitely was worthy of respect, and a serious battle between the two might ruin a big chunk of the quadrant.


    From the outside, the scene would have given birth to countless legends, especially among primitive species. Khan stood in the air, unfazed by the destruction he had created. The grass had disappeared, trunks had burned, and holes still released thick smoke. He was a walking catastrophe who didn''t even need to lift a finger to unleash his power.


    Meanwhile, Fergus stood tall on the ground, his perfect build in the open. His naked feet adhered to the burning ground without taking any damage, and his face was proudly pointed at the walking catastrophe. A tinge of defiance even enveloped him as if he were a titan challenging a monster.


    Luckily for the two, they had gone deep enough into the forest to avoid attracting an audience. Khan and Fergus could settle their differences privately, but someone had to make the first step, and the neer ended up behind the one budging.


    "I want a spot in the political trips," Fergus announced.


    "Done," Khan stated.


    "And theb won''t get dust," Fergus continued.


    "I''ll n something," Khan promised.


    "Deal," Fergus uttered, and Khan gracefullynded before him to shake his hand.

 Chapter 745 Test

    Chapter 745 Test


    Khan and Fergus'' return to the ships attracted much attention from both teams. After all, they were the de facto leaders of their squads, and their appearance raised countless questions.


    Fergus had lost his military uniform during the exchanges, so Khan had given him the upper part of his clothes to hide his most private parts. Basically, they were both half-naked, and their teams didn''t know whether to cry orugh at that sight.


    Moreover, the two men were quite good-looking, and their perfect builds attracted specific looks. Celeste and the scientist found themselves staring at Fergus'' bulging muscles rather often, while Amy almost scolded Khan with her eyes for ending up in a simr situation again.


    Still, no one said anything, and they waited for the two leaders to announce the conclusion they had reached. The absence of injuries from both sides seemed to hint at something good, but tension built up anyway due to the prolonged silence.


    "Margaret," Fergus called once the two got close to the ships. "Give the Major a tour of theb."


    "Yes, sir," The scientist responded, wearing a military salute. However, a tinge of hesitation appeared in her mana when she looked at Khan.


    "We are still going to the settlement today," Khan continued, looking at his team. "Major Veril will join us."


    Amy nodded and hurried inside the main ship to retrieve the necessary equipment. Meanwhile, Randall wore a questioning expression, and an exchange of stares with Khan told him that the answers would arriveter.


    Khan headed directly for the scientist, who turned to escort him inside her ship. The two soldiers beside her even stepped away to open the path, so Khan and Margaret climbed the metal ramp without encountering any obstruction.


    "It''s messier than your ship, Major," The scientist eximed, crossing the small main deck and living quarters to head into the back of the ship. "We had the necessary equipment ready but no time to assemble it. Most of that was done during the trip here."


    Margaret led Khan into the ship''s cargo area, a clustered mess of various machines. He saw scanners, interactive tables, needles, transparent containers, and more, yet his experience told him he was inside ab.


    "Is it even operational?" Khan wondered. The mess made it hard to navigate theb, so he couldn''t imagine it being functional right away.


    "Everything is online and working, sir," Margaret revealed. "We n on sorting things out in the following days, but all the equipment is operational."


    ''Can a Scalqa even fit in here?'' Khan wondered before moving to his next question. "Describe the equipment."


    "There''s more than fifteen different tools, sir," Margaret exined. "Some have functions so specif-."


    Margaret couldn''t finish her line because Khan stared at her with a look she knew far too well. He wasn''t asking. He had given an order, leaving no room forints.


    Moreover, Margaret was only a third-level warrior. Khan''s mere presence applied a pressure she couldn''t ignore, and something told her he was holding back. After all, it seemed Fergus had acknowledged him, and he was a fifth-level warrior.


    "I''ll start with the basic ones, sir," Margaret eventually said, clearing her throat.


    Margaretplied without hiding anything. She even added exnations whenever Khan asked more specific questions. Hisck of expertise made him unable to understand everything, but Margaret repeated herself and added details to bring a certain level of rity.


    After ten minutes, Khan gained a general understanding of all theb''s functions. Everything was in line with Khan''s description of the Scalqa and their potential uses. The second ship could provide answers Khan''s eyes couldn''t see, but blood and corpses were the price for that knowledge.


    "Theoretically," Khan broke his silence after sorting out his thoughts. "You can cultivate the Scalqa cells without needing alive guinea pigs."


    "Not right away," Margaret responded. "That''s supposed to be thest phase of the experiments since we can''t remain chained to a finite resource."


    Margaret realized her mistake as soon as Khan pointed his eyes at her. A chill ran down her spine, but it was toote. She could only lower her head and hope Khan wouldn''t snap.


    ''Finite resource,'' Khan cursed. ''That''s how the Global Army sees the Scalqa.''


    The news didn''te as a surprise, but Khan still disliked it. It would have been different with Tainted animals and monsters, but the Scalqa''s sole fault was in their primitive state. They were simply powerless against a superior species.


    ''The weak die to the strong,'' Khan thought. s die to stars.''


    Lord Exr''s words echoed in Khan''s mind, and he couldn''t find any w in them. The Global Army could crush the Scalqa in a single day. That primitive species was enjoying the current peace simply because the Thilku Empire and humankind had opted for a simr deal.


    "I''ll provide tissues," Khan dered. "Maybe even entire corpses if the situation allows it. We''ll stop at that for now."


    "Sir," Margaret called. "What about the alien with you? He seems loyal enough."


    "Zu-Gru is no guinea pig," Khan stated. "I''ll allow you to scan him but nothing else."


    "But-" Margaret wanted toin, but her throat suddenly went dry. Saliva vanished from her mouth, and lights shed in her surroundings. The equipment was flickering, almost malfunctioning, and the cause felt obvious.


    "It''s either you won''t do it," Khan threatened, "Or you won''t be able to do it."


    Khan''s eyes lit up, and Margaret could only experience fear. Her knowledge became her worst enemy. She had seen and studied all kinds of strange stuff, so looking at Khan revealed his nature. That was no human.


    Khan didn''t care about Margaret''s reaction. He had given his warning, so his time inside theb was up. The scientist remained stuck in her spot while Khan turned and left the ship on his own.


    The scenery outside had changed. The audience of nomadic Scalqa had returned to the forest''s edge while most teammates had reentered the ships. Only Amy, Randall, and Zu-Gru were in the open, and the former had something for Khan.


    "What''s the schedule for today?" Amy asked, handing Khan the upper part of a military uniform.


    "Major Veril is a fifth-level warrior," Khan announced, seizing the clothes and dressing up. "I want him to try the nt''s liquid."


    "That''s dangerous," Randall pointed out. "We have yet to study samples of that substance."


    "The Major is tough," Khan reassured. "And this is the faster way to make the Bone Tribe ept him."


    "What about the other matter?" Randall questioned, crossing his arms and ncing at the second ship.


    "We did," Khan confirmed. "Now, we should be going. Are you ready?"


    "Have Kirk help sort out theb," Khan ordered. "I''ll see what I can deliver in the following nights."


    "Did you and the Major reach an agreement?" Amy wondered.


    "We did," Khan confirmed. "Now, we should be going. Are you ready?"


    Khan didn''t ask Amy. His gaze went on the second ship''s ramp, where a tall figure had appeared. Fergus stood there, donning a spare military uniform, and his head promptly performed a nod.


    "[Go Bone Tribe]," Khan ordered to Zu-Gru before dashing toward the forest. Fergus couldn''t understand those words, but seeing Amy and the Scalqa follow Khan made him hurry behind them.


    The trip didn''t take long, and the four quickly arrived at the tribe''s settlement. They didn''t carry supplies to trade at that time, but the Scalqa immediately voiced cries, and Kru-Zi promptly appeared to wee them.


    "[Kh-Han]!" Kru-Zi weed the group at the rocky barrier''s opening, but noticing Fergus prompted a question. "[More sky tribe]?"


    "[More sky tribe]," Khan confirmed, pointing at Fergus. "Fergus." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "[Feh-Ru-Gus]?" Kru-Zi attempted to pronounce the Major''s name.


    "[Feh-Ru-Gus]," Khan nodded, and the Major smiled. He didn''t care about getting his name pronounced correctly.


    "[Rok-Go]?" Khan continued.


    "[Rok-Go home]," Kru-Zi exined, moving inside the settlement to escort the group. "[Kh-Han go to Rok-Go]?"


    "[Rok-Go meet Feh-Ru-Gus]," Khan shook his head. "[Feh-Ru-Gus drink nt]."


    Kru-Zi stopped in his tracks to show his serious expression. He inspected Fergus before looking at Khan again. Drinking the dark green liquid was a big deal with the tribe, but Khan was the one asking that.


    "[Rok-Go decides]," Kru-Zi eventually said, and Khan nodded before watching him hurry toward the rectangr tent.


    "What is happening?" Fergus asked as Khan led the group toward the settlement''s center.


    "I asked for you to drink the toxic substance," Khan summarized. "You should get an idea of what I said in the report like that."


    "Why didn''t you discuss it with me first?" Fergus asked. He wasn''tpletely against the idea, but the report mentioned unwanted reactions. He didn''t want to drink the dark green liquid without additional tests.


    "You should be fine," Khan reassured. "You are actually perfect for this."


    "How so?" Fergus wondered.


    "You are tough," Khan exined, "And a fifth-level warrior. If someone can confirm my theory, that''s you."


    Fergus fell silent. His resilience was off the charts, even when it came to poison. Also, if Khan were right, the exposure to the dark green liquid would help with the evolution. That advantage was priceless for someone in the fifth level.


    "What if I go wild like you did?" Fergus asked.


    "You are a human," Khan reassured again. "Also, I''m here."


    "Do you think you can contain me?" Fergus almost challenged.


    "I know I can," Khan responded. Khan and Fergus weren''t looking at each other, but even Zu-Gru could feel the tension building between them. Amy could only hope the two Majors didn''t end up fighting in the middle of the tribe''s settlement.


    Luckily for the group, Rok-Go soon left his tent, interrupting the discussion. The partially blind Scalqa followed Kru-Zi toward Khan and the others before focusing on Fergus. He tapped his cane on the tall man a few times to check his muscle density, and it soon became clear that another monster had entered the settlement.


    Rok-Go retracted his cane before muttering something, and Kru-Zi echoed that order, bringing life to the settlement. The Scalqa left their tents to gather around the human group while two aliens carried the same bone cauldron from Khan''s first visit.


    Rok-Go sat before the cauldron, and Khan nodded at Fergus to make him do the same. Another Scalqa then retrieved a bone cup and handed it to Khan, who dipped it in the fuming liquid to fill part of its contents.


    Fergus wore a stern face when Khan handed him the cup. Thetter had poured less liquid than before but still a consistent amount, and Fergus stared at it for a while before gulping it all down.


    The man grunted and closed his eyes while Khan inspected the changes in his body. The liquid was spreading, albeit meeting more hindrances. Fergus'' element activated to stop that foreign substance, but thetter melted inside him, slightly altering the nature of some of his tissues.


    Fergus recovered rather quickly without showing side effects. He looked slightly dizzy, but nothing a fifth-level warrior couldn''t endure. Even hisplexion had remained the same, and a questioning look soon unfolded in Khan''s vision.


    "Try to meditate," Khan suggested, and Fergusplied. He crossed his legs and entered a meditative state to force his mana to flow.


    Fergus exited the meditative state after a matter of seconds. A frown invaded his expression as he looked at his chest. He had felt something, so he promptly unbuttoned his military uniform to inspect his skin.


    To everyone''s surprise, dark blue patches had appeared on Fergus'' chest. Those spots moved, expanding and shrinking ording to the flow of his mana. They almost seemed alive and breathing, but Khan recognized them. They carried the same shade Fergus wore when using his element.


    Fergus lifted his head to show his wide eyes as if to confirm Khan''s idea. Even without heightened senses, he knew what was happening, and his mind struggled to acknowledge it. That truly was a partial imitation of the evolution process.

 Chapter 746 Ride

    Chapter 746 Ride


    The evolution process was something few were privy to. Ordinary soldiers wouldck the resources, time, and will to reach the fifth level, let alone aim for higher realms of power.


    However, Fergus was far from ordinary. He wasn''t only a Major with special ess to ssified information and techniques. The Global Army had also allowed him to test his element against chaos wielders, which were rare. That spoke for his overall status and hinted at the depth of his knowledge.


    Fergus'' look at Khan confirmed that theory. The man knew what was happening to his body and understood the liquid''s positive properties. Humankind could definitely use it, and things didn''t end there.


    The dark green liquid was merely the raw product of an alien nt. Humankind had the technology to iste its positive properties and bring out its full potential. Fergus'' experience probably was only a small taste of what the future could hold.


    Of course, the potential applications were still unknown, but Fergus instantly believed that path was worth exploring. That certainty grew even deeper when he added the Scalqa''s flesh to the equation. Baoway could be a turning point in humankind''s history, and Khan was the only man standing in the way.


    Khan didn''t avoid Fergus'' gaze. He stared him back, almost challenging him to take action. He could basically read what was happening inside his mind, and his rational side didn''t me his paranoia.


    Baoway''s seemingly immense potential benefits would tempt any soldier. Even the most honorable man would consider eliminating Khan to ensure his species'' supremacy. After all, it was a matter of sacrificing the individual for the greater good.


    Yet, Fergus soon broke the stare and lowered his head. As tempted as he was, the mission was still obtaining results, and Khan was at their center. He was both a hindrance and the reason behind the recent discoveries.


    "We must analyze this," Fergusmented, his head still lowered.


    "It''s sort of sacred for them," Khan exined. "I''m working on it."


    "Specifics?" Fergus questioned.


    "Worst option," Khan announced, "I''ll seize a settlement and establish new rules."


    "Why haven''t you done that already?" Fergus wondered.


    "You don''t want me on their side," Khan stated.


    Fergus lifted his head before wearing a smirk. Khan''s gall never ceased to amaze him, but their recent exchange justified it in his mind. It seemed the mission was in good hands as long as Khan continued to work for his species.


    "[Rok-Go]," Khan eventually called, pointing at the rectangr tent. "[Training]."


    Rok-Go nodded without lifting his head. Khan had basically gained free ess to the rectangr tent in thest period, so his requests had be a mere matter of politeness. The settlement also knew about that, and no Scalqa got in his way as he headed for that habitation.


    The scene filled Fergus with curiosity. Khan seemed a proper citizen of the settlement or an honored guest of the tribe. The Scalqa even moved away at his passage, hinting at their respect for him.


    Amy and Zu-Gru sat down beside Fergus, interrupting his inspection. Still, the former showed a knowing smile to the Major. It was hard to put into words the fame Khan had achieved in the quadrant, but the scene gave him a general idea, and the same went for the crowd near the ships.


    "He is as good as the rumors say," Fergusmented as some Scalqa lifted the cauldron to remove it.


    "He''s even better than that," Amy dered. "It''s scary when you think about his age."


    "Did you get him into your quarters yet?" Fergus asked.


    "He is properly in love," Amy revealed. "It makes me kind of envious."


    "Keep trying," Fergus ordered. "That''s the safest course of action."


    "I wouldn''t mind riding him," Amy chuckled. "I want to taste the prowess that made human and alien princesses fall for him." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "What are you waiting for then?" Fergus asked. "He won''t refuse you if you jump on him."


    "Don''t even joke about it," Amy shook her head. "I''ve barely gotten to the point where he epts my jokes. He would have killed me on the spot earlier."


    "How loyal," Fergus praised. "At least we know the imnts are working."


    "They are," Amy confirmed. "Though I wouldn''t wait too long. Whatever is inside that tent is changing him. He might learn to see past us."


    "Baoway''s riches are unexpected," Fergus sighed. "I''ll give it a month to gather information, and then we can act."


    "You are being too optimistic," Amy said.


    "You just need to seed once," Fergus exined.


    "You are underestimating him," Amy responded. "Or, maybe you hope it won''te to a battle. Did he scare you so much?"


    "Did you forget I''m your superior?" Fergus questioned.


    "You are the one who came back naked," Amy giggled. "I don''t me you. He is a proper monster."


    Fergus fell silent. The conversation bordered on treason, but no one in the area could understand the two. Moreover, Amy and Fergus were wearing their usual expressions, leaving Zu-Gru, Kru-Zi, and Rok-Go clueless about their intentions.


    "I can''t lose in a frontal sh," Fergus exined. "Nor any sh, but I can''t stop him from flying away."


    "We have a contingency n for that," Amy revealed. "Though he might destroy your ship first."


    "That''s a loss our employer can cover," Fergus dered. "What matters is keeping the Empire out of this."


    "We can''t fumble the mission either," Amy pointed out. "Not now that the higher-ups know what''s down there."


    "It will be clean," Fergus promised.


    "Clean?" Amy repeated. "He is a chaos wielder, you know."


    "Careful," Fergus warned. "You almost sound like you admire him."


    "I''m just a young maiden in the end," Amy said. "The Major can have my heart whenever he wants."


    "Keep talking like this," Fergus eximed, "And you''ll be added to the list."


    "I know," Amy sighed. "After all, it''s either him or all of us. What a waste of a good man."


    "Hopefully, you''ll get to experience him first," Fergus reassured.


    "You are being too optimistic," Amy repeated.


    Of course, Khan had no way to listen to hispanions'' conversation from inside the rectangr tent. His attention had already moved to the nt, and his mind had fallen into the meditative state to benefit from the toxic influence.


    Truth be told, Khan''s body had begun building some tolerance toward the nt''s influence. The change wasn''t noticeable and could have multiple exnations, but he still didn''t miss it.


    The change made sense theoretically. Khan''s body wasn''t only insane when it came to tolerance. He was also exposing it to the toxic influence daily, which obviously would lead to simr results.


    However, the overall growth could also be to me. Khan was getting stronger rapidly, and his flesh was changing, too. He might have reached the limit of what was achievable through exposure alone. The greater results might be locked behind the liquid or substances with a concentrated version of its properties.


    Nevertheless, Khan was in no hurry. The exposure to the toxic influence was still bringing benefits, so he would monopolize that resource as long as possible. Once his growth hit a wall, he would rely on his team or the newly arrivedb to develop a more advanced training method.


    The day passed in the blink of an eye. At some point, Rok-Go returned inside the tent to sit beside Khan, but neither spoke or disturbed the other. The two had grown used to their respective presence and knew what to expect from each other.


    Khan''s increased tolerance could make him stay far longer inside the tent. He could even spend the entire night and the following morning without losing himself to passive intoxication. However, he cared about the meetings with the team to share updates and make sure nothing was amiss.


    The arrival of the new team didn''t change Khan''s routine. He had set a silent rm on his phone, which buzzed to warn him about thete hour. The signal made him exit the tent, where he quickly found Amy, Fergus, and Zu-Gru immersed in a conversation with Kru-Zi.


    "Wee back, Khan," Amy announced with her usual cheerful vibe.


    Khan mustered a faint smile before inspecting his surroundings. His eyes lit up, but he couldn''t see anything different in the environment. He knew he was improving, but the gradual growth made it hard to notice and acknowledge actual changes.


    "How did it go?" Khan asked, reaching Kru-Zi''s side to perform a bow.


    "I promised more supplies tomorrow," Amy exined. "I was thinking we could show them a rifle."


    "Let''s do that," Khan agreed. "[Sky tribe sling tomorrow]."


    Kru-Zi appeared intrigued and stood up to match Khan''s bow. The alien had improved at the gesture, and his movement made the rest of the human team imitate him.


    "However," Amy eximed.


    "I skip the tent tomorrow," Khan interrupted. "At least for the duration of the demonstration. It''s better to have me around in that instance."


    "You read my mind," Amy giggled before wearing a teasing pout. "Am I getting too obvious?"


    "It was the wise decision," Khan said. "Obvious isn''t bad in that case."


    "That sounded like apliment," Fergusmented. "Is she your prot¨¦g¨¦?"


    "I''d like to," Amy announced. "Though I''d have to ask Miss Solodrey''s permission first."


    "I''m not teaching anymore," Khan shook his head. "I will write a rmendation letter if the mission goes well. As for my fianc¨¦e, I''ll handle her."


    Amy chuckled, Fergus smirked, and Khan also wore a carefree expression. Zu-Gru followed them, and the group continued to chit-chat as they exited the settlement.

 Chapter 747 Infidelity

    Chapter 747 Infidelity


    A few days after the second team''s arrival, Khan began staying true to his word. His night trips across the forest finally awarded him a suitable item, and no one tried challenging him for it.


    A group of tired Scalqa watched the small figure with bright eyes walking away from the dead monster and seizing a mangled arm that had been severed during the fight. The alien who had lost it had fainted and was losing a lot of blood, but hispanions waited for Khan to leave before attending to him.


    Khan rushed through the forest after retrieving the limb to return to the ships. His bottle still had some booze in it, and his sprint didn''t prevent him from taking sips. By the time he reached his destination, the container was already empty.


    The HQ''s perimeter had expanded after the addition of a second ship. Randall had moved the turrets to protect both vehicles, but the area stillcked artificial illumination. The scanners made that superfluous, and preserving Baoway''s environment remained a priority.


    Khan headed directly for the second ship, which opened at his appearance. Its metal ramp descended on the ground, and Khan climbed it to reach the vehicle''s insides.


    It waste enough for everyone from the second team to be asleep. Khan didn''t meet anyone as he crossed the ship to reach the messyb. Even that ce was empty, but a figure soon arrived behind him.


    "Did you find something, Major?" Margaret asked, rubbing her sleepy eyes and crossing Khan to turn on a few machines.


    Khan waved the huge mangled arm at the scientist, dropping blood and chunks of flesh to the floor. Margaret didn''t mind the mess and pointed at an interactive desk, and Khan promptly ced the limb there.


    "Couldn''t you find anything in a better state?" Margaret questioned before clearing her throat and adjusting her white medical coat. For a second, she had forgotten she was speaking to her superior.


    Khan crossed his arms but didn''t reply. The monster had squashed the arm on a tree with enough strength to rip it off. Margaret had to consider herself lucky to have something resembling a limb.


    "Will this be enough to create synthetic replicas?" Khan wondered.


    "I need more samples from different specimens, sir," Margaret exined. "Ideally, their level should also be different. The gic cradle must follow a pattern, so the more details, the better."


    Khan sort of understood the scientific talk. Replicating the specific flesh Khan had delivered wouldn''t bring any benefits. The true achievement consisted of isting the nature behind the Scalqa''s growth and turning it into a mana core.


    "From what I''ve seen," Khan announced. "Their mana storage is bound to their stamina. Though I''m still not sure if their muscles actually generate energy through training."


    "It might be hormonal, too," Margaretmented. "Maybe they have a Tainted version of our pituitary nd that acts as a tiny mana core and infects the rest of the body."


    ''Pituitary what?'' Khan eximed in his mind, but nothing reached his expression. Clearly, he was out of his depths there. His best option was to mitigate bloody courses of action while ensuring the study would continue to advance.


    "What can you do with this?" Khan changed the topic.


    "Hard to say, sir," Margaret replied, her eyes glued to a console. "I''ll run some tests, y with it a bit. Adding and removing mana to see how the flesh reacts. Hopefully, the bone marrow is intact enough to be studied."


    "I''ll let you scan Zu-Gru once you are done with this," Khan promised. "That should give you some perspective."


    Margaret remained silent for a while, but Khan could see her brain was struggling to formte a line. Her hesitation was also justified, but words eventually escaped her mouth.


    "Major," Margaret called, her head still on the console. "Ideally, I''d run weekly scans on your Scalqa to check for changes."


    Khan let his thoughts run for a few seconds. Testing different diets and training schedules would give Margaret the data she needed. Yet, that bordered on treating Zu-Gru as a guinea pig.


    "I''ll think about it," Khan opted for a vague reply.


    "Also," Margaret continued. "I would need a full and intact corpse if multiple testse back inconclusive."


    Khan was waiting for a simr request. Everything would be fine and rtively easy if the Scalqa muscles were the key to their growth. However, negative results would force Margaret to consider organs and other vital tissues.


    "We''ll worry about that when the timees," Khan gave another vague reply.


    Margaret limited herself to nodding. She had understood where Khan stood concerning the experiments on the Scalqa and was too afraid to test his nerves. In the worst-case scenario, she would make a formal request to Fergus and let the Majors find an agreement.


    "Do you need me for something else?" Khan asked.


    "No, sir," Margaret revealed. "I just have to run the tests now."


    "Send the results to me first," Khan ordered.


    "It will be done, sir," Margaret promised, and Khan turned to leave the ship.


    Khan soon stepped outside and lifted his eyes to the sky while the metal ramp closed behind him. The morning was still a few hours away, giving him enough time for another trip to the forest. He wasn''t sleepy either. He onlycked booze.


    The idea immediately became a n. Khan headed for his ship to retrieve another bottle, but his senses picked something up before he could enter the cargo area. A familiar aura was in the main deck, and its intoxicated state tickled his curiosity.


    "Long night?" Khan asked, stopping on the main deck''s entrance and leaning onto the wall.


    Amy was the only person in the area. She was sitting at the central interactive desk with holograms shining on her face. Still, the table and floor had a few empty bottles, and her appearance confirmed her drunken state.


    Amy''s usually straight and silky blond hair was slightly disheveled now. Its tips formed small curls, and a few strands fell over her face. Her eyes were half-closed, seemingly in a drowsy daze. Amy had also abandoned a proper sitting stance to stretch her legs under the desk and lean deeper on her seat.


    Khan couldn''t help but find the scene cute. Any man would feel the urge to protect Amy before her apparent helplessness. Still, he remained on the area''s edge while smiling faintly.


    "I was reviewing thetest additions to the Scalqa dictionary," Amy said, almost whining. "Somehow, I stayed upte."


    Khan saw Amy''s mana, so he understood the urge that had brought her to that state. Loneliness had hit her hard that night, and Khan couldn''t me her. After all, he had long since started experiencing a simr feeling.


    "It''s normal to feel lonely at times," Khan reassured. "We''ve been here almost three months." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan was being honest. Even the best pros slip up asionally, and he was no stranger to that w. He actually had no right to scold Amy when he spent every night roaming through the forest.


    "I have a long way to go," Amy sighed, straightening her back and running her fingers through her hair to clear her face.


    Many would find the scene captivating, and Khan wasn''t blind. Amy had beautiful hair, and seeing her fingers separating its various strands attracted his attention. He knew he would feel amazing to do that for her, but his thoughts stopped there. Truth be told, he didn''t even desire to try that out.


    "Hit the bed," Khan softly ordered. "You can continue tomorrow."


    "No," Amy shook her head stubbornly. "I can finish up."


    "You''ll risk making mistakes," Khan insisted. "Just sleep and recover for tomorrow. I can''t have you drunk while the tribe tests our rifles."


    Amy fell silent for a while but eventually nodded. She turned off the holograms, bringing faint darkness into the main deck. Then, with her head lowered, she stood up and moved toward the exit.


    Khan wasn''t in the way, so he remained in his position, watching Amy drawing closer. Her footing seemed stable, so he leaned his head on the wall, ready to immerse himself in his thoughts.


    However, when Amy was about to reach the exit, she burped, leaning forward and ruining her bnce. She wouldn''t have fallen, but an arm still appeared on her waist, keeping her still.


    "I apologize," Amy giggled, holding the arm on her waist to straighten herself up. "I''m showing you such a shameful side of myself, Major."


    "I''m thest person who can me you for getting drunk," Khan chuckled. He had instinctively moved to catch Amy, but the worst seemed to have passed. Yet, when he tried to retract his arm, Amy''s grip on it grew stronger.


    "Major," Amy called with a pleading tone. "Are you always so kind?"


    Khan''s smile disappeared. Amy''s face was still lowered, and hair had fallen before it again, hiding her expression. However, he could see her mana clearly. He knew what she was feeling.


    "I''m not kind," Khan uttered. He had intended to use a firmer tone, but his throat betrayed him. It seemed his mana saw Amy as a friend he didn''t want to hurt.


    "And," Amy continued, lifting her head to show her puppy eyes. "With her?"


    Khan smiled helplessly and shook his head before replying, "I try my best."


    "It must have been so hard for you," Amy eximed. "Thework doesn''t know the half of it, does it?"


    "It doesn''t," Khan confirmed. "But we are engaged now."


    "I know," Amy said. "I''m happy for you. I truly am. You deserve the best."


    "Thank you," Khan responded before the two fell silent.


    Amy lowered her eyes again, inspecting her grip on Khan''s arm. She slightly rxed it but only to slide it toward his elbow and bicep. Her fingers carried clear urges, but she did her best to restrain them.


    Amy''s hand then left Khan''s arm and reached for his torso. Khan was ready to stop her, but Amy preceded him, interrupting the gesture and smiling sadly. Her expression soon gained fake cheerfulness, but Khan saw right through her.


    "I apologize," Amy snickered, still faking cheerfulness to avoid worrying Khan. "I''ll retreat to my quarters now."


    Amy nimbly walked around Khan''s arm and crossed the exit, disappearing into her quarters in the following seconds. As for Khan, he approached the interactive desk and turned on the holograms, nning to fix eventual mistakes Amy might have made in her drunkenness.


    The review didn''t take long, and Khan soon turned everything off again and leaned back on the seat. He put his feet on the interactive table while a hand reached his forehead. That short interaction with Amy could have led to problems, but he couldn''t bring himself to be cold and harsh with her anymore.


    ''Her feelings aren''t her fault,'' Khan thought. ''I can only hope she doesn''t expect anything from me.''


    Khan wouldn''t cheat and probably couldn''t even if he tried. Yet, feelings could get in the way of the mission, and infidelity rumors were thest thing he needed after his engagement with Monica. Khan didn''t think Amy would smear him, but she wasn''t the only person on Baoway.


    ''I can''t let this happen again,'' Khan realized. ''Too many would misunderstand my actions due to my history.''


    Khan didn''t even notice it, but his hand had already reached for his phone. The device soon filled his vision, and his fingers quickly opened a familiar folder. He wouldn''t dare y those videos inside the ship, but his mind still craved some Monica now.

 Chapter 748 Limit

    Chapter 748 Limit


    The following morning, the two teams started their daily routine as usual. The two soldiers from Fergus'' group stepped outside to patrol the area. Marcus booted various check-up software, Kirk headed for theb, and Randall and Celeste upied their consoles on the main deck.


    Meanwhile, Khan, Fergus, Zu-Gru, and Amy gathered outside the ships to prepare for their daily trip to the Bone Tribe''s settlement. A few bags were with them, carrying additional rifles and supplies to deliver to Kru-Zi, and nothing seemed off.


    Khan had it easy holding back casual peeks at Amy since his senses constantly updated him about her. As expected from a third-level warrior, her drunkenness had vanished, leaving behind a tinge of tiredness. Her aura conveyed some embarrassment, but she hid it perfectly.


    Amy appeared to be her usual self, cheerful and supportive of Khan''s orders. Her looks at him didn''t hint at anything, slightly reassuring him. Even after the previous night''s conversation, Amy showed professional behavior.


    Since there didn''t seem to be any problem, Khan prepared himself to give the order to depart, but Margaret suddenly stepped outside the second ship, hurrying in his direction. She had a device with her and promptly exined her intentions.


    "Major, the results," Margaret announced, waving the rectangr item. "I''ve reworded them to make them moreprehensible."


    "Thank you," Khan honestly said, drawing his phone and showing it to Margaret. The scientist tapped on her device before forwarding the file to Khan.


    "Review it and share your opinions, sir," Margaret eximed. "I''ll see if there is something I need to adjust before sending it to the team."


    "Will do," Khan promised while storing the phone. "We''ll depart now."


    "Have a nice trip, sir," Margaret uttered before ncing at Fergus. "Sir."


    "Good job," Fergus praised, and the group seized their bags before diving into the forest.


    The forest''s edge had the usual crowd of wandering Scalqa, but the team easily ran around them, reaching the settlement in no time and without encountering problems. Kru-Zi weed them, leading them to an area inside the barrier the tribe had prepared for the asion.


    Khan and the others had shown the rifles'' power in the previous days, but the demonstration had been limited to Kru-Zi and a few other Scalqa. Today, the group nned to reveal the guns'' might to the entire tribe, which required a specific setting.


    Exining the issue to Kru-Zi had been hard, but Khan and the others felt satisfied when they saw the result. Kru-Zi had cleared a big area of the settlement and had filled it with expendable tall rocks. The distance wasn''t ideal, but the human group could definitely use it as a shooting range.


    The group dropped their backpacks, and Khan retrieved a rifle. It was safer for him to handle the demonstration, so hispanions stepped aside and left him alone with the distant rocks.


    Meanwhile, Kru-Zi voiced a loud cry that the other Scalqa in the settlement echoed. Soon, most aliens left their tents to gather around the shooting range to witness the demonstration.


    Khan waited for the audience to settle before lifting the rifle. The weapon was nothing special, but the unaware Scalqa underestimated it even more due to their ignorance. That piece of metal was too small to be of any use, and throwing it couldn''t cause much damage.


    "[Sky tribe sling]!" Khan shouted, examining the audience to ensure everyone had heard him. Needless to say, the announcement captivated the Scalqa''s attention, bringing their focus to the lifted rifle.


    Khan waited a few more seconds before aiming the weapon at the most nearby rock. He wasn''t great with guns, but it didn''t take an expert to demonstrate their power, and pulling the trigger achieved that goal.


    A blue mass of mana shot forward, mming on the targeted rock and destroying its upper part. Debris flew in every direction and gasps resounded through the audience. The Scalqa had never seen something so destructive, and many struggled to understand what had happened.


    Khan had a perfect read on the symphony, so he sensed the general confusion and proceeded to fire again. He now targeted a more distant rock, hoping that even the weaker Scalqa could notice the mana bullet. Then, he fired, and debris flew.


    The second demonstration worked better than the first. More Scalqa began to understand the rifle''s functioning, but the specifics remained too advanced for their primitive technology. The weapon resembled proper magic, but its power was self-evident.


    Still, a different emotion joined the symphony, bringing Khan''s eyes to hispanions. Fergus had an awkward look on his face while Amy was doing her best to hold back her giggles.


    Khan''s evident confusion prompted Amy to step forward and lean toward his ear to whisper the issue. "You are holding it wrong."


    Amy then fixed Khan''s aiming posture, lifting his elbow and improving his overall firing stance. Khan didn''t feel any difference since his physical strength more thanpensated for stability ws, but he still fired again to continue the demonstration.


    "Thanks," Khan whispered after destroying another rock, but the symphony warned him again, making him peek at Amy.


    Adjusting Khan''s stance had made Amy blush. That closeness and physical contact had reminded her of the previous night, and her porcin skin couldn''t hide her embarrassment. She even realized her condition, and her shy eyes slowly rose to meet Khan''s.


    Khan met Amy''s eyes, and a strange atmosphere fell around them. The issue was so evident that even some of the Scalqa realized something was up, and silence unfolded. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Amy''s gaze contained more than shyness and embarrassment. It also conveyed a tinge of hope.


    As for Khan, he felt a bit sad. He noticed the honesty in Amy''s gaze but was helpless about it. A pure emotion filled his vision, but he couldn''t meet it.


    Amy was professional enough to realize that the situation had stretched too long. She quickly lowered her head, hiding her expression behind her hair and returning to herpanions. Khan could only watch her leave before resuming the demonstration.


    Khan fired until the magazine was empty, and the rifle''s might soon made the Scalqa forget about the awkward interaction with Amy. The weapon became their sole focus again, and their turn soon arrived.


    "[Zu-Gru]," Khan called, and the Scalqa didn''t hesitate to reach his side. Amy also approached the two, delivering a new magazine, and her presence didn''t lead to any awkward interactions now.


    Khan focused on his duty, changing the magazine before handing the rifle to Zu-Gru. The Scalqa''s size made that human weapon unsuitable in many ways, but Khan had spent the previous days developing a firing stance those aliens could use.


    Zu-Gru seized the rifle, holding it with one hand while cing the other on the trigger. His fingers were too big for the lever, so he used his nails to achieve higher precision.


    The alien waited for Khan''s signal, which he gave through a nod. Zu-Gru then aimed and fired, hitting one of the few rocks that had survived Khan''s demonstration.


    Seeing a Scalqa using the human rifle had a deeper impact on the alien audience. It showed that the weapon''s power didn''t change depending on the user and proved that anyone could wield it effectively.


    Zu-Gru fired a few more times, further convincing the audience. He didn''t always hit the targets, but the bullets thatnded on the ground still dug big holes, stating their power. The Scalqa couldpare them to their slings and ept how superior human technology was.


    "[Teach Kru-Zi]," Khan eventually ordered, and Zu-Gruplied.


    Having a Scalqa educate another Scalqa would make demonstrations more straightforward, so Khan let Zu-Gru handle the following stages of the trade. The alien reached Kru-Zi, and the two began to discuss the rifle''s specifics while the audience listened.


    At that point, Khan returned to hispanions since his presence had be superfluous. He joined Amy and Fergus in inspecting Zu-Gru and approving his teaching methods. Having a Scalqa on the team ended up being quite helpful, and the group nned to use him in future trades as well.


    "He might hold a rifle better than you in no time," Fergus teased.


    "I tend to be on the other side of the guns," Khanmented. "My back can prove that."


    "I''ve seen those scars," Amy said before realizing what herment could imply. Still, Khan quickly covered for her.


    "Ecoruta left many marks on me," Khan sighed, his gaze wandering into memories. "It feels like a lifetime ago."


    Fergus and Amy fell silent to respect Khan''s longing expression, but he quickly broke it. "Amy can handle Zu-Gru. Let''s meet with Rok-Go."


    After tasting the dark green liquid, Fergus had gained ess to the rectangr tent. Most of it came from Khan''s influence on the Bone Tribe, but Fergus didn''t mind it as long as he could spend time with the blue nt.


    Fergus and Khan quickly left the shooting range and headed for the rectangr tent at the settlement''s center, and thetter used the walk to review Margaret''s file. He hoped for the best, but something told him the results wouldn''t be happy.


    "You shouldn''t worry too much about it," Fergus eximed during the walk. "It''s quite normal during a mission."


    Khan initially disregarded thement, but his eyesnded on Fergus when he realized the meaning behind his words. The Major wasn''t talking about the tests'' results. His statement was about Amy.


    "That''s none of your business," Khan coldly said. He had barely met Fergus a few days ago, and the man had no right to pry into his private matters.


    "I apologize," Fergus chuckled. "It just reminded me of other instances. It''s hard keeping your heart whole when your life is split into two."


    Khan ignored the statement, but his mind instinctively epted it. His loneliness red, but nothing reached his expression. Urges he couldn''t fulfill showed their presence, reminding him about his unique situation.


    If nothing changed, Khan knew he would spend the rest of his life like that, and the sole thought saddened him. He felt so sad a clicking cry resounded in the back of his mind, begging him to destroy any artificial limit holding him down.

 Chapter 749 Tipsy

    Chapter 749 Tipsy


    The stench of fresh blood filled Khan''s nostrils. The dark puddles on the barren ground expanded, with one reaching his butt and tainting his trousers. A cold sensation spread under him, but he didn''t break his cross-legged sitting position.


    Khan kept his eyes closed, but nothing could blind him to his surroundings. Behind his lowered eyelids, a symphony of colors updated him on the area''s state. Death had descended, leaving nothing alive behind.


    ''Not even two weeks,'' Khan cursed, slowly opening his eyes to face the consequences of the human presence on that alien.


    A gory scenery unfolded in Khan''s view. Baoway''s first morning light shone on a destroyed settlement filled with crumbled tents,rge holes, smelly puddles, and corpses. A battle had happened during the night, but the event had been so one-sided that anyone would describe it as a ughter.


    Clues littered the destroyed settlement, exining how unnatural the event had been. The tents, the corpses, and even the ground had perfectly circr holes adorned by charred edges. The Scalqa''s weapons couldn''t produce those effects. Only the human rifles wielded simr power.


    ''Two fucking weeks,'' Khan cursed again.


    The human team had expected a simr oue. Khan and the others had actually watched it unfold through the scanners, but the order had been to stay behind. The mission forbade those kinds of interference, and even Khan held back since it wasn''t his ce to end an unavoidable conflict.


    However, Khan couldn''t bottle up his emotions and ignore his role in the event. He didn''t stop it and couldn''t take responsibility for it, so he paid the price with sadness. He wouldn''t turn a blind eye to the destruction. Khan would face it and let it hurt him.


    After trading rifles with the Bone Tribe, Kru-Zi finally gave the order. Those Scalqa could barely change a magazine, but aiming and firing had been easy enough to learn, and the settlement where Khan was proved that.


    The current settlement belonged to the now-destroyed Blood Tribe. Ni-Kri and hispanions had been powerless against the night incursion powered by human rifles. Almost everyone had died in the attack, and the Bone Tribe had taken the few survivors prisoner.


    The Bone Tribe didn''t stop there. The Blood Tribe''s settlement had another blue nt, and Kru-Zi had seized it. Khan could clearly feel the empty spot where it was rooted, and his heart inevitably grew heavier.


    Khan knew that was the Scalqa''s nature. A simr battle would have eventually happened anyway. Actually, equipping one tribe with rifles lowered the overall number of casualties.


    Still, Khan also knew that the Bone Tribe wouldn''t haveunched such a sudden attack without obtaining superior firepower first. The human team had yed a significant role in that ughter, and Khan couldn''t help but experience it all.


    Khan''s brain mustered excuse after excuse, but the scenery in his eyes awakened far stronger memories. He recalled a particr vige by theke on a distant. That event had been far worse, but he kept finding simrities. Also, he felt like ming himself for this.


    The tragedy in Nitis'' vige had been sudden and unexpected. Back then, Khan had gone behind the Global Army to warn the Niqols, but no one could have predicted the random burst of radiation.


    Instead, on Baoway, Khan knew what would have happened and even watched it unfold without lifting a finger. The event might have been less gruesome, but Khan felt greater guilt.


    ''Have I grown more jaded?'' Khan wondered. ''Am I just worse than what I was on Nitis?''


    Anyone in Khan''s position would have experienced simr changes in their personality. Remaining pure, good, and na?ve after facing tragedy after tragedy was simply impossible. In a way, Khan had only chosen to prioritize his goals.


    Yet, Khan couldn''t help but feel bad, andparing the two events worsened that emotion. He was so different from that kid on that cold, and a question inevitably popped into his mind.


    ''Would she be able to love what I am now?'' Khan wondered. He had made peace with his state. He didn''t mind being a monster and creating rivers of blood. However, the bitter taste in his mouth never left.


    A presence slowly approached Khan from behind, but he didn''t turn. He knew who she was, but his eyes needed to remain on the scenery. They had to make sure he would never forget it.


    "Major," Amy called in a hesitant tone. She kept her distance to give Khan space, but he didn''t turn. He kept staring at the destroyed settlement, absorbing any sensation that hit his mind.


    "Khan," Amy eventually said, switching to a concerned tone. "Rok-Go wants you for the meeting."


    "I know," Khan uttered, his voice devoid of emotion. "We are getting what we came here for."


    Amy wanted to confirm but lowered her head and remained silent. She had seen and read enough of Khan to understand his emotional state, so she avoided adding pressure to his mind.


    "Don''t touch anything here," Khan ordered, standing up and rising into the air before disappearing past the crowns.


    Khan unleashed his full speed to fly toward the Bone Tribe''s settlement. He wasn''t in a hurry but wanted to feel the wind on his face. He hoped the morning breeze could bring some peace, but his emotional state didn''t change by the time hended inside the encampment.


    The mood waspletely different in the Bone Tribe''s settlement. The Scalqa cheered, happily shouting and smiling due to their recent victory. Zu-Gru and Fergus were there, and thetter smiled with the aliens, and Khan''snding made the celebrations louder.


    The settlement''s Scalqa gathered around Khan, shouting words he hated he understood. They were thanking him,plimenting him, and even chanting his name. The situation would usually require a smile, but his expression remained stern.


    The cries quieted down when Kru-Zi and Rok-Go made their way through the crowd. The former wore a broad smile, while thetter wielded a big skull container as he supported himself on his cane. Rok-Go didn''t look any happier, but the human team''s attention wasn''t on him.


    Khan didn''t need his eyes to learn the container''s contents. He knew exactly what the Scalqa was about to give to him. As the two aliens reached Khan, Kru-Zi performed the Niqols bow while Rok-Go handed him the skull, uttering another word he could understand.


    "[Trade]," Rok-Go said, and Khan seized the big skull. His mind experienced some disgust, but his eyes still fell on the prize. The container had the blue bush taken from the Blood Tribe''s settlement.


    "[Ka-Han Tribe thanks]," Khan uttered, lowering his head in respect. He could have said [Sky Tribe] but didn''t want to hide behind his mission. Even if confusion arose, he needed to me himself for the ughter.


    "[Sky Tribe sling amazing]," Kru-Zi eximed. "[More]?"


    "[Feh-Ru-Gus]," Khan nodded at Fergus, who stepped forward to handle the negotiations. He couldn''t speak the aliennguage very well yet, but Amy was bound to be on her way to provide support.


    Meanwhile, Khan stepped into the air again, flying away with the container. His senses hated being so close to the nt, but his long training sessions had almost made him used to that feeling, which was a pity. Ideally, Khan would want it to hurt more.


    Khan flew back to the ships,nding before the second one. The scanners had long since picked him up, and Margaret promptly descended the already lowered metal ramp to greet him.


    "Major!" Margaret called, and Khan directly ced the skull container into her hands.


    "Keep it alive," Khan ordered as his eyes lit up. "I''ll be back." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan flew away without giving Margaret the chance to reply or question him. Still, it didn''t take long before the scanners picked up his presence again.


    Margaret left the ship but couldn''t muster greeting words when she saw what Khan was carrying. Two corpses rested on his back, and he held two more in his hands. All of them came from the Blood Tribe''s settlement, and that wasn''t the end of it.


    Khan didn''t retrieve random corpses. He had chosen bodies with different characteristics to allow a broader range of studies. Some belonged to women, others to men. Some were old, others young. Some had big muscles, others just withered flesh.


    Khan dropped the corpses to the ground and set off again without saying anything, only to return minutester with more bodies. He repeated the process two more times, and Margaret couldn''t help but gulp when she noticed a dead infant in his hands during thest trip.


    After dropping thest corpses, Khan silently departed for his ship, and Margaret couldn''t find the strength to say anything. An instinctive fear rose inside her whenever she looked at Khan, making her unable to speak. She could only notice that Khan''s eyes didn''t go dark even once.


    Delivering the corpses took the entirety of Khan''s resolve, so he let himself go once the matter ended. He seized as much booze as possible before retreating to his quarters. He could clean his hands from the bodies'' blood but didn''t. He could change his dirty uniform but didn''t. Khan simply sat on the narrow room''s floor and began drinking while his mind wandered.


    Khan''s tolerance to booze had reached insane levels. Yet, he drank enough to feel slightly tipsy by the time the night arrived. He didn''t feel that sensation in years, but his mind weed it. Baoway had nothing else that could improve his mood in the end.


    However, a knock on the quarters'' door eventually interrupted Khan''s silent istion. The event surprised him, forcing him to adjust his sitting position. His back rose on the metal wall, and he lifted his head before uttering a simple question. "Who is this?"


    "Amy," A familiar voice resounded through the room''s speakers. "May Ie in?"


    Khan knew about all the problems connected to that proposal, but Amy was the closest thing he had to a friend on that. Talking with her sounded like a good idea, and he nced at the remaining booze before unlocking the door.


    A whooshing noise spread through the room as the door opened, and Amy promptly crossed it before sealing it behind her. Her eyes then fell on the sitting figure surrounded by empty bottles. Some would find it pitiful, but no one would dare utter suchments before those strong, bright eyes.


    "Is there some for me?" Amy smiled, trying her best to muster a happy tone.


    Khan grabbed a sealed bottle and threw it at Amy. She easily caught it and took a long sip. Her mana told Khan that the event had weighed on her, too, and that she needed a break.


    "I''ve never seen you drink so much," Amymented, half-crouching to stand at the same level as Khan''s eyes.


    "Old habits die hard," Khan sighed. "The Niqols host parties to make up for tragedies, and I''ve been thinking about Nitis a lot today."


    "Did something simr happen there?" Amy asked, even if she vaguely knew the answer. Part of Nitis'' records had gone public, and she had read them before working with Khan.


    "Something worse," Khan revealed. "But, well. Hopefully, their traditions still work on me."


    "Did they ever?" Amy questioned.


    "Yeah," Khan nodded, wearing a sad smile. "It was more than just drinking, and I wasn''t alone. That was the whole point behind partying."


    "The Niqols'' princess?" Amy wondered.


    "Indeed," Khan chuckled. "She saved me just like Monica did yearster. Still, here I''ll make do with only booze."


    Khan didn''t look at Amy. His eyes were on an empty spot of the narrow quarters, wandering through memories and desires. He would kill to have Monica in the room with him. He had bottled up too many urges and emotions in those months to be without her. Yet, the mission was still ongoing.


    Amy stared at Khan for a few seconds before standing up. She faced the door, and Khan ignored her to remain in his memories. He had initially thought she was leaving him alone, but the arrival of rustling noises forced him to look at her.


    The gesture had been so swift Khan didn''t feel the power to me his tipsiness. Amy had removed her military uniform and underwear in a sh, and her naked behind now filled Khan''s vision.


    Before Khan could say anything, Amy began to turn, stepping out of her lowered trousers to remove what remained of her clothes. She initially held her chest with her arms, but even they went down,pletely exposing her.

 Chapter 750 Ploy

    Chapter 750 Ploy


    "Spotless" was the first word that came to Khan''s mind. His eyes were the only source of illumination in the room. Yet, even without their blue glow, he could see perfectly and confirm that Amy was wless.


    Amy''s porcin skin stretched through the entirety of her body. She didn''t have a single spot, scar, or hair, and her whiteness reflected Khan''s light, illuminating her figure.


    Amy''s figure also had proper curves in all the right ces. She wasn''t overly sensual, but her chest and butt conveyed perfect fullness. Her t and tense waist bnced those features, telling Khan that everything about her was smooth and firm.


    The slightly embarrassed aura enhanced the scene. Amy had always looked like a na?ve princess, but exposing herself to Khan had given birth to some fear. It seemed the gesture had taken all her courage, but her determination didn''t waver.


    Khan had been in a romantic rtionship long enough to move past certain aspects. All his interactions with Monica had intense love at their foundation but had lost a level of purity. A lot was sensual, driven by sheer desire and temptation.


    Instead, Amy now stood before Khan like the purest fruit in the universe. Seizing her felt like a sin, intensifying the overall desire behind the gesture. She was almost begging to be tainted, and Khan couldn''t help but feel tempted for a second.


    The temptation could have many reasons. Khan''s urges were basically bottomless, and he had gone from a long cohabitation to a mission on an alien. He had moved from one extreme to the other, and his needs had only grown stronger every day.


    The tipsiness could also exin that temptation. Booze could make the best peoplemit mistakes, and Khan wasn''t a stranger to them. His first kiss with Monica happened during a simr instance when his intoxicated state had ovee his self-restraint.


    Today''s events added another potential blow. Khan''s mood was awful, and keeping Monica in bed for hours had always been the best cure. He was also reminiscing about the Niqols'' customs, leading to those thoughts.


    Ultimately, Amy was truly beautiful, and Khan''s senses worsened the inspection. He could understand how good it would feel. His nose even picked up the scent of specific wetness, bringing out instincts he had no control over.


    Khan slightly lost control over his expression, and Amy noticed it. She saw his arousal. She read on his face how tempted she was, but nothing seemed able to break his sitting position. So, Amy seized the initiative, stepping forward and leaning toward him.


    Amy''s knees reached the floor as she bent forward and stretched a hand toward Khan''s chest. He never took his eyes off her, and her face told a story he could read. She wanted that far more than him, and her fingers continued to advance as if drawn by an unstoppable force.


    Khan grabbed Amy''s wrist before she couldy her hand on his chest, but his grip was soft. It carried no strength or forcefulness, and Amy couldn''t help but look at his face in confusion. The gesture also brought a tinge of happiness since he seemed to ept her.


    The happiness intensified as Khan ced his bottle on the floor and stretched his free arm toward Amy. His fingers reached her face, and she closed her eyes to savor that physical contact.


    The event felt incredible. Amy had seen Khan''s immense strength and power first-hand, but the fingers on her cheek carried nothing but kindness. Her lips separated as an excited and reassured breath escaped her throat, and her tongue ran over them as Khan''s hand reached her hair.


    Amy didn''t expect that simple gesture to be so enjoyable. The mighty Major Khan, monster of Nippe 2 and wielder of many incredible titles, was touching her with untold care and gentleness. The sole idea felt impossible, but there she was, safe in the strongest hands she had ever seen.


    Amy began losing herself in the moment. She arched her neck when Khan''s fingers reached her nape. Khan''s grip tightened, and she willingly let herself go, giving him full power over her. Plots aside, at least for that moment, Amy belonged to him.


    However, the grip suddenly grew forceful, and Amy voiced a painful grunt. Her eyes snapped open, and terror invaded her body. All the kindness had disappeared from her vision. She could only see fury now.


    Khan had truly felt tempted for a second. The specific reason was unclear, but that feeling had really appeared. Still, it didn''t make him as vulnerable and kind as Amy had hoped. It gave birth to an immense anger.


    "What do you think you are doing?" Khan asked, killing intent oozing from his tone and aura.


    Everything in Amy''s mind urged her to run away, but she had given Khanplete control over her. The kind hand on her nape had be an unbreakable chain that bound her to her position. She couldn''t move, and the atmosphere grew so heavy that air struggled to reach her lungs.


    "I won''t ask again," Khan continued, adding strength to the hand on Amy''s wrist. It didn''t hurt yet, but Amy knew he could easily snap it.


    "I-," Amy muttered, gasping for air. "I thought-."


    "You thought wrong," Khan dered, his eyes growing even brighter due to the rage that had invaded him. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Sadly, the situation wasn''t so simple for Khan. He could handle jokes, teases, and gossip, but Amy had crossed a line there, and countless problems could be born from that.


    Khan''s position in the Solodrey family was unstable. He had worked for years to obtain Monica''s parents'' unwilling eptance, and a single rumor could make everything crumble.


    The truth didn''t matter in thework and on certain levels of the political field. Khan didn''t do anything wrong, but the wrong rumor could spread like wildfire, destroying his favor with the public and creating far worse problems.


    The families had various factions, especially the wealthy ones, and Khan had already had a taste of the Solodrey family''s in-fighting. Eventual rumors about infidelity would put Monica, her parents, and any allied party in a strange spot since they had vouched for Khan. It could earn them endless ridicule and more, endangering Khan''s promises and position.


    Khan didn''t believe Monica''s parents would drop him since they had invested much into him already. Yet, eventual rumors would be a huge setback that would take years to fix. He couldn''t let it happen, but the issue had no easy solution.


    Amy''s actions didn''t have any trace of malice. Khan was livid, but hitting on him wasn''t enough to earn a death sentence. He would do it to protect his rtionship with Monica, but that would only create more problems in this instance.


    Killing Amy could be seen as an attempt to hide proof. Even without the mission''splicated aspects, that wasn''t the best option. Ideally, Amy had to remain alive to testify for Khan''s innocence, but that required a proper scare.


    Khan suddenly pushed Amy, releasing her. She fell on her naked butt and hurriedly retreated until her back hit the metal door. Terror still invaded her, so she mustered her strength to stand up in an attempt to put as much distance between Khan and her.


    Nevertheless, Amy didn''t dare to do anything else. She was too frightened to try to escape Khan''s quarters. She could only ce her hands behind her back as her breath grew ragged. Amy could feel death looming over her but had to wait for the sitting figure to announce her sentence.


    "You will tell the truth and defuse any rumor that might appear," Khan ordered.


    Amy only had enough strength to muster a frightened nod. Realistically, she would do and say anything to get out of that situation, but Khan saw honesty in her gesture.


    "As for your fate," Khan continued. "My fianc¨¦e will decide it, and you will ept it."


    Amy''s world crumbled. She knew what it meant to anger a high-profile descendant from an extremely wealthy family. Her political life was over, and her family would have to pay a hefty price for her mistake. Depending on the requested retribution, it might even disappear altogether.


    "Go," Khan ultimately ordered, but the atmosphere grew even heavier when he saw Amy trying to open the metal door. She was still naked, and Khan couldn''t let hispanions see a simr scene.


    "Dress up first," Khan ordered again, and Amy feltpelled toply.


    A humiliating scene unfolded. Amy felt tears umting in her eyes but didn''t dare to utter a sound as she retrieved her clothes. She was showing her back to Khan but could sense his piercing eyes inspecting her every move.


    After dressing up, Amy thought about reaching for the door, but another worry popped into her mind. She was sharp enough to understand what the situation demanded from her, so she turned to show herself to Khan.


    Khan inspected Amy''s attire to check for troublesome details. An untidy uniform or simr features could still fuel eventual rumors, and he couldn''t have that.


    "Adjust your hair," Khan demanded, and Amyplied, using her fingers to straighten the mess caused by his hand.


    "Turn," Khan added once Amypleted the job. She obeyed, and Khan checked her onest time before allowing her to leave. Needless to say, she stormed out as fast as possible.


    A sigh escaped Khan''s mouth when the door closed again. His hand reached for his forehead, but he halted the gesture when he noticed some of Amy''s hair on his fingers. He quickly removed it, but his mood didn''t improve.


    ''What the fuck is even happening?'' Khan cursed. ''I need to leave this ce.''


    Ideas and ns began to flood Khan''s mind. He had reached his limit and wanted out, but things weren''t simple and required careful preparations. However, unknowingly to him, that night''s event put a different ploy in motion, one that already had everything ready.

 Chapter 751 Names

    Chapter 751 Names


    Khan didn''t sleep. It was already nighttime when Amy left his quarters, and the event had filled his head with countless thoughts that needed attending. Still, when the morning arrived, Khan had yet to find proper solutions.


    The situation on Baoway had grown strange and difficult on too many sides. Khan could keep Amy at bay, but she was a dangerous variable and a constant reminder of his pent-up state. Remaining on the involved limiting certain rumors while also holding back his growing urges.


    Nevertheless, far greater problems loomed over Khan''s head. The Bone Tribe had unlocked and tested their new firepower. Kru-Zi and hispanions were bound to grow more confident in the following days and weeks, leading to events Khan could easily predict.


    The Scalqa were a primitive species with very straightforward goals. Each tribe wanted territory and resources, but the overall bnce of power prevented reckless expansions from the forest''s parties. However, the situation had changed, and the Bone Tribe couldn''t be satisfied with a single victory.


    Usually, a battle between equally strong tribes would lead to massive casualties and leave the victors exposed to the nomadic forces. Attacks were risky and required careful nning and favorable opportunities.


    Yet, the human rifles had destroyed the bnce of power, allowing the Bone Tribe to attack and win while suffering little to no losses. The only thing holding Kru-Zi back from directlyunching another assault was the assessment period. His force needed to absorb the spoils of war beforeunching a second offensive.


    The state of the Blood Tribe''s settlement told Khan that the assessment period would be short. The Bone Tribe couldn''t have taken many captives and had even given the blue nt to the human envoy. A week might be enough to reassemble andunch another attack.


    That would imply more death and gore, and Khan knew himself. He would take it upon himself to collect valuable corpses and clean up the affected areas. His role would go from the savior of desperate Scalqa to grave piger.


    Of course, from a cynical standpoint, the development offered many advantages. The Bone Tribe''s power grew alongside its trust in Khan and the human envoy, and its expansion was bound to provide additional benefits.


    Moreover, the human envoy now possessed the blue bush, and the second ship had ab. Khan could use his unique position to exploit and seize any discovery on the spot. His training regimen might improve by many levels in the following period, allowing him to grow in ways the Global Army couldn''t offer yet.


    Everything seemed to depend on how much Khan could withstand, but another issue was at y. Even if he wanted to, leaving Baoway was no easy matter. The teams needed both ships, and one shuttle couldn''tplete the journey back to the Harbor. Khan''s options were limited, and the best ones didn''t involve his species.


    Khan left his quarters with his mind still afflicted by those thoughts. Truth be told, he couldn''t find a solution right away, and the mission was on the verge of a breakthrough, so he nned to wait and see until the proper chance presented itself. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The ship''s atmosphere didn''t have anything odd. As always, Celeste was behind her console, and Randall had already begun the morning check-up routine. Kirk and Marcus had yet to wake up, but Khan''s interest had little to do with them.


    Khan''s behavior didn''t disclose anything, but his aura instinctively grew colder when he exited the ship. He could sense multiple people outside, and one of them could cause him problems.


    Zu-Gru, Fergus, and Amy had gathered outside to prepare for the daily trip to the settlement, and the former hurried at Khan''s side when he stepped in the open. Fergus exchanged a firm nod with him, hinting at something deeper, while Amy wore a false smile, trying to hide the mess inside her mind.


    Usually, Fergus'' gesture would have prompted an immediate reaction from Khan. Yet, he temporarily ignored the silent issue to inspect Amy. On the surface, she appeared cheerful and tranquil, but those who knew her could notice odd details.


    Amy would generally use any opportunity to approach Khan and chat with him. However, she remained on her spot now, even lowering her eyes when the situation became too much for her. Those close to her would understand that something had happened, and Khan saw far more due to his heightened senses.


    Amy was shaken. Khan didn''t only refuse her the previous night. He had also humiliated and threatened her. Anyone would find it hard to focus on the mission with a death sentence looming above their heads, and even a pro like Amy couldn''t ignore those issues.


    In a different situation, Khan would feel bad for Amy. Her actions had no malice or ill intentions, but his anger prevented him from experiencing mercy. Amy had risked it all and lost. Khan only cared about the potential consequences now.


    Luckily, Amy felt no anger toward Khan. Her mana conveyed shame, regret, and sadness but no hatred or desperation. That wasn''t the aura of someone who could attempt reckless actions to save herself. Amy appeared to have epted her fate, slightly reassuring Khan.


    Fergus noticed the unusual inspection, especially since Khan would have typically addressed him first. Still, he minded his own business and waited for the right moment to arrive.


    Khan didn''t make Fergus wait too long. As soon as he confirmed Amy''s helplessness, he approached the Major, silently questioning him about the issue.


    "Not here," Fergus almost whispered. "It''s something we should discuss in private."


    Fergus nced at the second ship, and Khan understood the silent message. Margaret probably had discovered something worth discussing, and it was up to the two Majors to decide how to proceed.


    "[Stay]," Khan ordered Zu-Gru before diving into the forest, and Fergus promptly followed him. The two quickly crossed the Scalqa audience around the ship but stopped rtively nearby when they found a private spot.


    "What is it?" Khan went straight to the point. His mood was already reaching the breaking point, and problems with the tests would worsen his condition. After all, one of the corpses delivered to theb belonged to an infant. He didn''t want that to be pointless.


    "Margaret''s conclusions aren''t final," Fergus exined. "However, everything seems to confirm your suggestions."


    "Which ones?" Khan asked.


    "The nt''s substance might be used for the natural induction," Fergus stated. "It doesn''t cause it but acts as an agent of change. It facilitates tissue transformation."


    "So," Khan nodded, "It might be employed even in the extreme induction."


    Khan and Fergus didn''t need to confirm what they knew about the evolution process. They respected each other enough to avoid those pleasantries, and those short exchanges immediately led to agreement.


    The extreme induction process provided the best results, but the risks were also higher. It required expensive and lengthy preparations. Also, the body often rejected aplete transformation in one sitting, and failure could kill any hope of reaching superior realms of power.


    However, the blue nt facilitated tissue transformation, and a concentrated version of its substance could lower the barriers behind the extreme induction. It might even make the natural induction obsolete as long as money wasn''t an issue.


    "What''s the issue then?" Khan wondered due to Fergus'' serious face.


    "The nt requires specific environments and a massive amount of nutrients," Fergus revealed. "We must rent it as soon as possible."


    "I know that," Khan dered. "I''ve said as much in one of the encrypted messages."


    "Khan, we''ll need to mass-produce it," Fergus said. "The forest has to go if we hope to smuggle one specimen back to the Global Army."


    Fergus was treating Khan with the level of intelligence he deserved. He didn''t exin his reason, and there was no need to. Khan understood the silent part in a single second and almost cursed when he found himself agreeing with Fergus.


    Keeping a blue nt alive on Baoway wouldn''t be a problem. That was its natural environment, and the forest had enough fertile ground and trees. Khan''s authority with the Scalqa would also prevent eventual attempts to steal it, ensuring its safety.


    Yet, the Global Army couldn''t turn the quadrant into a farming ground without the Thilku Empire noticing its actions, especially if Khan decided to stick to his Ambassador''s duties.


    Even if Khan lied, the Global Army wouldn''t have safe ways to secure a specimen with the current equipment, and sending additional ships would require new negotiations with the Empire. The best option was to amass many nts and hope one would survive the trip, but that was easier said than done.


    The human envoy was limited to the current quadrant, and moving the ships would attract unwanted attention. Khan could fly, so he had the perfect skill set to travel to other areas, seize any nt he could find, and rent it in the forest.


    "Can''t Margaret freeze it or something?" Khan questioned.


    "I asked the same question," Fergus revealed. "We don''t know if the nt can survive the process, and due to our limited supply ¡­"


    "This decision can wait until we have additional data," Khan uttered, waving his hand and facing the empty trunks. "What else?"


    "The Scalqa," Fergus said. "It''s only an initial assessment, but live specimens seem required to uncover the secret behind their growth."


    Khan felt the urge to scream and burn his surroundings to the ground. Everything had turned from bad to worse in every aspect of the mission. He also knew why Fergus had requested a private conversation. The envoy needed his approval since all those practices went against the negotiations with the Empire.


    ''This never stood a chance,'' Khan cursed, lifting his eyes to the crowns above. ''Why am I even trying to give it a better future?''


    The Empire wasn''t exactly peaceful. Baoway would have already faced a mass invasion if the Thilku weren''t short on manpower.


    As for the Global Army, finding resources that could greatly expand fields like evolution and mana cores had basically doomed both Baoway and its inhabitants. The situation was hopeless, and Khan grimly epted his powerlessness.


    Yet, forsaking any interest in Baoway and the Scalqa didn''t solve all of Khan''s problems. He still had decisions to make, no matter how cruel and cynical they might sound.


    Siding with the Global Army would provide immense benefits but would also kill any trust in the Empire. Khan could gain much from that anyway, but the other option would maximize his rewards and profits on multiple levels.


    Khan could trade his knowledge for a better position within the Empire, which would, in turn, force the Global Army to respect him even more. His higher-ups would hate him, but the Thilku''s support would force them to swallow that feeling.


    Moreover, informing the Empire would create the opportunity for special negotiations. Khan could very well request a blue nt for himself before the two species even came close to a new deal. He would obtain a temporary monopoly over that resource, preserving his advantage over fellow humans.


    Also, siding with the Empire would grant the Solodrey family a unique position. Khan could limit the sharing of information to Monica''s faction, increasing its relevance both inside the family and the Global Army. Khan could even involve them in the nts'' business, potentially adding a massive source of ie.


    That decision obviously didn''t make Khan happy, but his hands were tied. He couldn''t save the or the Scalqa, so he chose to look out for himself, even if the idea made him feel corrupted beyond reason.


    "I''ll give the Global Army another month," Khan eventually dered. "I''ll involve the Empire afterward."


    Khan didn''t turn toward Fergus but expected to hearints or requests. After all, Fergus had expressed nothing but loyalty toward the Global Army during that short period. Yet, the word that reached his ears was very different.


    "Good," Fergus eximed, and Khan''s mind went nk. His senses had screamed so loudly that his legs had moved on their own, sending him into the air.


    A loud noise followed, forcing Khan to lower his head. A vast crater had appeared in his previous position, and a dark blue figure stood at its center. Fergus had attacked without any warning while relying on deadly force.


    "I knew it," Fergus smirked, ncing at Khan''s floating figure. "You didn''t show me your true speed."


    Confusion invaded Khan. He could understand why Fergus would want to take him out after his decision, but something else seemed to be at y there. Fergus appeared almost relieved as if he had waited a long time for that moment. Moreover, Khan saw those emotions on his face. Fergus'' mana didn''t carry anything simr.


    The situation was bizarre for someone ustomed to relying on senses over eyes. Khan couldn''t exin what was happening, but an ominous feeling invaded his mind, changing his priorities. Something was up, and securing a way out of Baoway had toe first.


    Khan began to turn, a movement thatsted a fraction of a second. However, Fergus appeared ready for it since he said some of the few words that could make him stop.


    "George Ildoo," Fergus announced, and Khan froze.


    "Cora Ommo," Fergus continued. "Amber Teldom, Carl Dyester. Should I continue?"


    Khan didn''t move nor look at Fergus. He remained frozen in the air, waiting for the Major to continue.


    "You have made many friends in high ces," Fergus dered, "ces no one can touch. Yet, they aren''t your only friends, are they?"


    Khan didn''t break his silence. Memories ran through his vision, carrying years of good and bad experiences. All of them were littered with acquaintances and friends, many of whom had no political protection.


    "Come down, Major," Fergus requested. "Let''s talk this through."


    Fergus could tell that he had struck a nerve. Khan almost appeared hesitant, which was unusual for him. Fergus had found the monster of Nippe 2''s weakness, and a smirk inevitably broadened on his face.


    ''Enough,'' Khan thought, heaving a deep sigh. The gesture appeared like a sign of surrender, but the area instantly grew colder, telling Fergus apletely different story.


    The story grew even clearer when Fergus saw Khan drawing his knife.

 Chapter 752 Bloodlust

    Chapter 752 Bloodlust


    Fergus'' eyes lit up as excitement tainted his smirk. Khan had exposed many of his abilities throughout missions and lessons, but his knife wasn''t one of them. Thework had connected it to the Rassec family, but that was it. Further investigations had been impossible due to the nobles'' involvement.


    Nevertheless, Fergus knew the weapon couldn''t be amon item. The connection to a noble family could tell as much, but his battle experience also warned him. A weight had fallen on his chest, and a chilling sensation had invaded his stomach, making him keep his defenses up.


    ''Eat as much as you want,'' Khan thought, securing the knife into his grip. ''Today is the day.''


    A foreign bloodlust expanded inside Khan''s mind. The mental connection with the cursed knife conveyed the weapon''s excitement, and the feeling spread through his thoughts, affecting them.


    The clicking cry inside Khan''s mind usually kept that foreign feeling in check, but the two mental forces foundmon ground now. They were both angry, wild, and starving for battle, so they joined forces and fueled each other to create a single, stronger front.


    That mental event had repercussions for the outside world. Fergus saw a blue sh before brighter lights devoured that glow. Strands of purple-red mana began to leak from Khan''s shoulders, dispersing in the air above him. Moreover, a darker, redder energy started enveloping the knife, taking an ethereal shape that resembled a fanged mouth.


    ''Is there anything ordinary about this guy?'' Fergus wondered.


    Khan had begun to turn, and Fergus couldn''t find a single human feature in the scene. Khan''s eyes shone, destructive mana leaked from his shoulders, and his weapon wore fangs. That was as alien as anyone could get.


    "Don''t die too soon," Khan announced, and his voice echoed through the area. "I need to vent."


    Fergus'' smirk froze. He could sense a strange force invading the surrounding air. He could also feel the dangerous vibe around Khan. Yet, his reaction wasn''t the result of those events.


    Khan''s words had given insights into his mindset, which Fergus didn''t miss. He finally understood how Khan saw him. Fergus was a fifth-level warrior who shared the same rank, but Khan didn''t feel any challenge in the iing battle.


    Until now, Fergus had felt excited and motivated even. However, that realization changed his mindset. His smirk disappeared before that tant insult. His pride as an experienced soldier was on the line there, and he wouldn''t let an arrogant kid make fun of it.


    "Do you think a weapon can break through my defense?" Fergus almost challenged. "The world is bigger than you think, Major Khan."


    Khan didn''t reply. His mind barely had coherent thoughts due to all the wild urges screaming inside it. He demanded blood and destruction, and an order managed to take form inside that mess.


    ''Drain me,'' Khan ordered, and the cursed knife hummed in excitement. Its sucking force intensified, and smoke began to rise from its blunt edges. Khan wasn''t putting any kind of barrier, so the weapon freely absorbed his mana.


    Fergus didn''t have Khan''s senses, but his perception was far from ordinary. He could feel the knife''s growing power, but no fear appeared in his mind. He had developed a fighting strategy and nned to stick to it.


    Khan''s ability to fly was a big issue. Fergus was confident in his defense, but not losing was the best he could achieve if he didn''t catch him. Still, he could alter his flesh''s properties almost at will, and the iing attack might create the opportunity for a decisive blow.


    However, Fergus'' confidence soon crumbled. He had nned to dodge or endure the knife''s attack to catch Khan, but he didn''t limit his offensive to that. A series of masses of purple-red mana materialized above him, and Fergus felt no surprise in seeing them turn into spears.


    Khan didn''t say anything. The spears pointed at Fergus and shot forward, exploding into a joint pir that burned and destroyed anything that darede close to it.


    That wasn''t the entirety of Khan''s offensive. As soon as the first spear exploded and blinded both warriors, he shed the cursed knife forward, unleashing the umted energy ording to the Divine Reaper''s moves. Red mana fused with the expanding pir, vanishing into a mess of chaos and destruction.


    Khan didn''t close his eyes. His pupils burned under the giant pir of blinding light, but he didn''t dare to lower his eyelids. His senses had proven themselves unreliable, so he didn''t leave anything to chance.


    Any fourth-level warrior would greatly suffer under that blinding light, but Khan''s body was far from ordinary. It hurt to look directly at the pir, but his eyes'' glow intensified, almost defending themselves against potentially permanent damage.


    That barrier partially allowed Khan to see the symphony. Everything remained vague, bright, and messy, but he could keep an eye for strange movements. Yet, nothing simr happened as the massive pir slowly lost its energy.


    A scenery of devastation slowly became clear. A vast, fuming crater had formed on the ground, and its scorching temperature had burned the grass nearby. mes also covered the trunks nearby, turning their surface dark and releasing flickering noises.


    However, a naked figure stood proud in the middle of that destruction. Fergus had lost his uniform but not his dark blue skin. Smoke rose from various spots on his body, but his flesh carried no visible burn.


    Still, Fergus didn''te out of the offensive intact. He lowered his head, and his gaze grew cold when he noticed a vertical mark running over the right side of his torso. That wasn''t a proper injury, and no blood spilled out of it, but the oue was undeniable. Khan''s knife had made a dent in his defense.


    Of course, that superficial mark was nothing worrisome, especially considering the amount of energy Khan had to use to inflict it. It would take hundreds of simr attacks to breach past Fergus'' reinforced flesh and reach his organs, and even a monster like Khan had to have limits.


    Fergus lifted his head as his smirk returned. He challenged Khan to do better, and both warriors knew what that would imply. The knife was working, but only a melee attack could maximize its power, and Fergus couldn''t wait for it.


    Khan wasn''t dumb. Even with bloodlust and other wild urges filling his mind, he understood his strong points and where his advantage in the fighty.


    Still, the fight was happening inside the scanners'' range, and Khan didn''t know howpromised the second team was. HQ could very well be a mess right now, so Khan had to end the fight quickly to hope to gain control over his way out of the.


    The cursed knife had already resumed absorbing energy from Khan, releasing a humming sound and smoke from its edges. Still, Khan lifted his right hand now, and mana surrounded it to create a bright, short sword.


    Fergus didn''t need words or heightened senses to understand that Khan wanted to deliver a killing blow. It was the intelligent choice, mainly since Fergus'' skill set remained an unknown variable. Yet, that also yed into his strategy.


    Silent seconds disturbed only by the flickering mes on the nearby trunks passed while Khan and Fergus studied each other. The world outside them disappeared as they focused solely on their opponent. The next exchange could be thest, so their concentration reached its limit.


    Faint gales began to blow among the trees, converging on Khan. The symphony''s movement pushed air toward him, creating an invisible vortex around his legs. The world sided with Khan, allowing him to unleash his best sprint yet.


    Shock invaded Fergus. He would gasp in amazement if he had any energy to spare, but everything about him had focused on reacting and defending against the iing attack. Fergus was an experienced fifth-level warrior with a fitting element and immense preparation but had been almost unable to see what was happening.


    "Almost" was the key word. Fergus had lost track of Khan for a second but had still managed to react. His arms had shot forward, crossing themselves before his chest, and a figure had materialized in front of them. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan felt to have mmed into an unmovable wall. He didn''t slow down at all, so his body endured the consequences of the impact with Fergus'' arms. His left shoulder, elbow, and wrist screamed in pain, but his eyes only looked at the item in his grasp.


    The cursed knife had mmed on Fergus'' left forearm, unleashing the full momentum of Khan''s descending sprint and the Divine Reaper''s sharpness. That was the most piercing attack Khan was capable of, and even Fergus'' enhanced flesh had to bow to it.


    The weapon''s fuming edge had pierced Fergus'' forearm, reaching the bone and putting a dent in it. Yet, it had been unable to cut any further, and putting more strength or mana into it didn''t change the oue.


    Truthfully, that oue was already shocking. Fergus could im to have one of the best defensive techniques in the Global Army, and his level made him the very peak among unevolved warriors, at least in that field.


    Yet, someone with plenty of room to grow had cut what was supposed to be the strongest flesh. The strange weapon had yed a part in the achievement, but that didn''t change Fergus'' realization. He knew he wouldn''t have stood a chance if Khan were in the fifth level.


    Nevertheless, those thoughts could wait. Khan was stuck after depleting his momentum, giving Fergus the chance to act. Khan could still use the spell on his right hand, but Fergus could react to those slower moves.


    As Fergus had predicted, Khan lifted his right hand, seemingly wanting to stab the Chaos ws spell in the man''s neck. Yet, Fergus used his right arm, too, nning to grab the iing attack with his bare fingers and putting an end to Khan''s agility.


    Still, the purple-red light in Fergus'' vision suddenly disappeared. The short sword around Khan''s hand turned into bright smoke while he lowered his joint forefinger and middle finger. Their tips pointed at Fergus'' left eye, which exploded before he could protect it behind his eyelid.

 Chapter 753 Standing

    Chapter 753 Standing


    Fergus'' confidence came from genuine battle experience and tests. The man had every right to boast about his defensive prowess, and Khan had long since acknowledged his power.


    However, every technique had ws. Fergus'' spell used his body as the foundation, which had weaknesses to begin with. Reinforcing and altering skin and muscles could hide and protect those critical points, but they didn''t disappear.


    The joints, the tendons, the various extremities, the spine, and other sensitive spots still existed under that shield of skin and muscles. The eyes were even more exposed, and Khan didn''t hesitate to go for them.


    Fergus obviously knew his weaknesses, too, but nothing could have prepared him for Khan''s offensive. His list of abilities was long, but he still kept secrets, and thetest attack had brought an ominous revtion. Khan was a living weapon capable of turning mere air into a deadly instrument.


    That capability seemed to border omnipotence, but Khan and Fergus knew limits existed. Khan''s body was one of them. His fingers didn''t break even without employing the [Blood Shield] but hurt, joining his left arm''s joints.


    Moreover, Khan''s goal stretched past Fergus'' left eye. He had initially hoped the attack would pierce his skull and dig into his brain, granting a quick victory. Yet, Fergus'' insides had stopped that ethereal, deadly force.


    Those considerations happened subconsciously. Neither Khan nor Fergus wasted time thinking about the event. They simply reacted to it, with Khan having a stark advantage.


    The attack had surprised Fergus, freezing his brain for an instant. Instead, Khan didn''t stop, and his feet moved as soon as the organ exploded.


    Khan pulled back the knife and disappeared while Fergus was still realizing what was happening. It took the mming of a piercing force on his back to make him snap back to reality but turning didn''t provide answers.


    Khan''s agility was limitless. He could go up, down, right, and left freely without caring for footholds. He could move as he wished, and Fergus'' missing eye had created a huge blind spot that Khan could exploit.


    Fergus found himself spinning on his spot while Khan flew around him, keeping himself in the blind spot while shing at the man''s back. He wasn''t giving the cursed knife much time to charge itself with his mana, but the Divine Reaper''s moves slowly brought results.


    Clearer marks began to appear on Fergus'' dark blue back. Some belonged to shes. Others were simple spots left from when the cursed knife had tried to pierce the skin. Khan had yet to achieve anything substantial, but the chance was drawing near.


    Even experienced soldiers would need a while to get used to the sudden loss of one eye. Fergus'' body followed instincts built throughout many battles, attempting to rely on an organ that was nothing more than a gory socket now. That gave Khan an edge to exploit, and Fergus eventuallymitted the awaited mistake.


    Fergus and Khan were equally matched in terms of speed, but thetter had remained one step ahead after the exchange. Still, Fergus could shuffle things up, and his skin grew slightly paler in response to that.


    Fergus'' speed suddenly spiked. He spun on himself far faster than before, and his injured left arm rose into the air as soon as he spotted a faint shadow. His fingers even touched something solid before immersing themselves in the empty air again.


    Things didn''t end there. A sharp pain spread from the left side of Fergus'' neck as soon as air enveloped his fingers. Khan hadnded on his shoulder and had stabbed him, driving the knife inside him deeper than ever before.


    With enough time and plotting, Khan could beat Fergus'' defense, but another option existed. He could force him to change his body into something easier to damage tond a fatal blow. Everything else was just a matter of timing, and Khan rarely failed at that.


    The conclusion came in the shape of the cursed knife stabbed deep into the base of Fergus'' neck, with Khan pouring even more mana into it. Even fifth-level warriors would die without organs, and Khan nned to send one of the cursed knife''s attacks directly inside Fergus'' body.


    Of course, Khan didn''t underestimate his opponent. He believed a reaction was in order even after the blow. Yet, Fergus seemed to hesitate, allowing Khan to charge the knife.


    Khan''s senses gave the okay, so he lingered another second on Fergus'' shoulder before giving the order to the knife. The weapon released the attack, but only a nging noise oozed from the wound. A sh had definitely shot downward but didn''t go past the blunt, fuming edges.


    Warning signals invaded Khan''s mind. He put strength into his legs, nning to return to the safety of the air. However, his grip on the knife was firm, and the weapon didn''t leave the wound, making him waste a precious fraction of a second.


    As Khan released his grip on the knife, a hand closed on his left ankle, and darkness tried to invade his mind. He couldn''t breathe, and his eyes only saw dust and dirt. He was in the middle of a cloud of soil, probably indicating that Fergus had mmed him into the ground.


    Khan tried to move, but his body didn''t answer. His senses were all over the ce, unable to understand the amount of damage he had suffered. Khan couldn''t reach his arms or legs. He couldn''t even feel them. However, Khan knew the battle wasn''t over.


    Wild urges tookplete control of Khan''s mind, echoing a clicking cry his mouth didn''t hesitate to release. Mana followed, escaping his body in the shape of violent currents that destroyed everything in his surroundings. The cloud of dirt quickly disappeared, only to reveal a descending fist.


    Fergus had lost his smirk. His face radiated pure killing intent as the chaos currents mmed on it. Khan''s defensive spell tried to push him away and pierce his skin but only ended up dying the inevitable.


    Khan slowly regained control of his body. His arms and legs returned to him, but it was toote. The descending fist was already above his chest, leaving him with only one option.


    The [Blood Shield] unfolded itself, clotting all the blood vessels that could be involved in the imminent sh. Then, the fistnded, and Khan heard something breaking. His rib cage partially gave in, but the attack didn''t pierce it. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    However, Fergus promptly swung his right arm, this time aiming the punch directly at Khan''s head. He nned to finish it with that move, but the seriousness of Khan''s gaze made him lower his gaze. He saw two fingers vaguely pointed at him before his world fell intoplete darkness.


    Khan saw Fergus'' remaining eye explode, but thetter didn''t stop the attack. The Major still had one fist stabbed in Khan''s chest, so he could make out his position even when blind. The punch continued to descend toward Khan''s face, but he rereleased his cry,unching destructive currents from his back.


    The currents of chaos element dug through the terrain, creating some space. Fergus was pinning Khan down, but that small room allowed thetter to half-turn. The descending fist grazed Khan''s left cheek beforending on the ground.


    An explosion of dust unfolded, but Khan barely noticed it. He forcefully pushed himself to his left, mming on the edge of the hole the exchange had created before kicking the air. His head mmed on the ground again, but he continued moving until he returned to the surface.


    Khan didn''t stop there. He kicked the air until he found himself high into the air. His body screamed, and warmth spread on his chest before stretching toward his abdomen. Yet, Khan didn''t mind it. He only had eyes for the blind warrior below.


    Fergus punched the ground a third time before stopping his offensive. He ran his palms over the hole''s bottom before slowly straightening his position. He stood up, his closed eyelids leaking blood and other fluids while a smile slowly returned to his face.


    Khan almost felt the urge to praise the Major. Fergus had lost both eyes, his left forearm had a huge cut, and the cursed knife was still in his neck, but nothing hinted at his desire to surrender. He wanted to fight and knew Khan wouldn''t leave until he was dead.


    That confidence and dedication were otherworldly, but Khan couldn''t waste time dwelling on his respect for his opponent. He had yet to muster the courage to check his state, but he knew it couldn''t be good. He had to finish that battle soon to tend to himself.


    Since everything else had failed, Khan steeled his resolve and unleashed the [Blood Shield] across his left arm. He nned to use the clotted blood vessels as additional reinforcements for future uses of the Divine Reaper''s moves. However, the foreign bloodlust inside his mind screamed, almost informing him about a specific event.


    Khan felt confused, but the mental connection began conveying feelings that bordered joy, making him descend toward his opponent. Soon, hended before Fergus, and thetter didn''t move. He had died standing, killed by the weapon inside his neck.

 Chapter 754 Device

    Chapter 754 Device


    Khan remained alert. He still didn''t know much about the cursed knife, and his senses had proven unreliable. Yet, the final confirmation arrived from Fergus himself.


    The mana Fergus had spread throughout his body began to leak out of his skin without saving any of it. That energy was freely dispersing, returning the Major to his original appearance.


    As the mana left, Fergus'' sturdiness plummeted, and his knees gave out, making him fall sideways. He mmed lifelessly on the ground, lifting a cloud of dust.


    Khan felt convinced by then, but his paranoia screamed at full power now. He used his right leg to turn Fergus up, ready to run away at the first twitch. However, nothing happened, so Khan nted his foot on the man''s chest.


    Theck of defensive techniques and protections allowed Khan''s stop to pierce through skin and bones. His shoe destroyed Fergus'' still heart, killing any doubt. The man was truly dead.


    The foreign presence inside Khan''s mind continued to shout, so he bent forward to retrieve the knife. The weapon began to absorb his mana as soon as he wrapped his fingers around its handle, but he promptly flicked one blunt edge and ended that process.


    "Enough," Khan sighed. "You killed a fifth-level warrior. Do you still want more?"


    The foreign presence in Khan''s mind released bloodlust, answering the question. Khan could only sigh again, clean the weapon on his arm, and sheathe it back. The knife had done him a huge favor, but he had bigger problems at hand.


    Acknowledging Fergus'' death cleared enough space for the rest of the mess. Pain from multiple sources invaded Khan''s mind, forcing him to lower his eyes. His left arm hurt, and two fingers on his right hand felt numb, but his chest remained the greatest offender.


    Khan performed the check-up technique before unbuttoning his uniform. The spell had already given a grim update, and uncovering his chest added a concerning scene to the equation.


    Blood filled Khan''s vision, but that was the best part of the scene. The fist-sized hole that left his ribcage exposed was his main concern. Fergus had dug through his skin and muscles, creating an open channel toward Khan''s heart.


    Khan''s body was incredible, but the injury was so deep that blood had yet to stop flowing. He basically had a hole in his chest connected directly to one of his main organs but no way of closing it. It would take him days or weeks to recover from that injury, but the situation barely granted him hours.


    The rest of Khan''s body wasn''t too good either. His fingers were manageable, but his left arm needed rest. The same applied to his back. The impact with the ground had been so violent everything hurt whenever he tried to bend in any direction.


    Khan was concerned about his state, but his mind couldn''t escape other troublesome thoughts. The battle had happened inside the scanners'' range, but no one hade to support either side. He couldn''t sense anyone in his surroundings either, which intensified his confusion and paranoia.


    ''What is even happening here?'' Khan wondered, almost cursing. He tore the upper part of his uniform apart to turn it into bandages before tying them around his big wound. Blood still flowed out of the gory hole, but the fabric slightly restrained it.


    The battle had happened because Fergus had mentioned names dear to Khan. Thetter would have simply flown away otherwise. Still, the event gave insights into Fergus'' mindset and preparations, allowing Khan to formte ideas.


    Khan knew he had many enemies. Raymond had warned him about his actions on Xiotov, but the list was still long. The Hive and Mister Chares'' organization could have infiltrated Baoway''s mission, but the hypotheses didn''t end there.


    The engagement with Monica had probably earned Khan enemies connected to opposing factions inside the Solodrey family. Still, Fergus was a Major and a fifth-level warrior who had tested himself against other chaos wielders. The man was a pricey pawn, so his employer had to wield a certain level of relevance.


    ''Is the Nognes family involved?'' Khan considered before inspecting the corpse.


    The dead couldn''t speak nor clear doubts, so Khan''s thoughts soon wandered on different topics. He had effectively defeated a fifth-level warrior, and scenes from the battle flooded his mind.


    Fergus had only hit Khan once, but thetter was already half-dead. That spoke for the battle prowess of warriors at that level, and Khan knew his injuries wouldn''t have stopped at that without the cursed knife. His weapon had stolen a victory that would have otherwise required a far heftier price.


    ''I''m not there yet,'' Khan thought. ''Sort of.''


    Khan had another powerful weapon the Global Army was still unaware of. Using it during an actual battle wasplicated, but it remained part of his arsenal. Moreover, looking at his current state, he couldn''t help but wonder whether deploying it would have saved him some injuries. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Did I lose focus?'' Khan wondered. ''How did I end up like this?''


    Khan was about to sit down to meditate for a few hours. He knew things on the HQ could be messy, but his body was in no state to dive into another unknown environment. He needed to stabilize himself first, but something strange caught his attention before that.


    A strange stench invaded Khan''s nostrils as he was about to sit down. The smell of synthetic mana tainted the symphony, bringing his attention to the corpse. Khan scanned Fergus'' body with his eyes, which stopped at his upper abdomen.


    Khan drew his knife as he crouched toward the corpse. He cut open Fergus'' torso, uncaring of the mana absorbed by the cursed weapon. A gory spectacle unfolded in his vision, but something artificial popped out.


    Khan spotted a rectangr device between the stomach and intestine, which his fingers didn''t hesitate to retrieve. The machine was small and almost t. It would resemble a phone if it weren''t for itspletely ck surfaces. Yet, Khan only had eyes for its purpose, which didn''t take long to reveal.


    The ck device was surrounded by a strange aura that affected the symphony in its surroundings. The effect didn''t work like an infection. It didn''t spread randomly. It enveloped the air, creating a barrier that mimicked a specific presence.


    Khan knew that aura. He had found against him just minutes ago. The device echoed the scent of Fergus'' mana, imitating any reaction his thoughts or emotions could trigger.


    Khan didn''t realize it, but his eyes lit up. His thoughts kept him too busy to notice that reaction in his body, but the situation demanded it. Understanding dawned upon him, fueling his paranoia and anger.


    The ck device wasn''t a random machine. Someone had built and tuned it to trick Khan''s senses. However, that ability had remained unknown until recently. Khan revealed some details during his lessons, giving the Global Army barely five months to develop countermeasures.


    It was possible that the Global Army already had something in store for simr issues, but Khan''s paranoia didn''t allow him to consider coincidences. The ck device could trick his senses, so its existence had to involve him.


    ''Who holds enough influence and resources to develop something like this in mere months?'' Khan questioned himself, even if the answer felt obvious.


    ''So,'' Khan thought. ''This is my reward for teaching alternative ways of approaching mana.''


    Khan put the device in his palm before crushing it under his fingers. In his mind, the Global Army had developed a weapon against him, making almost everyone an enemy.


    The anger that followed destroyed any idea of resting. Khan didn''t care about his state anymore. The rules of the game had changed. Anyone could be an enemy, so he had to return to safety as soon as possible.


    As if reacting to the change in Khan''s mindset, the hole in his chest suddenly stopped bleeding, but he barely cared. Khan immediately set off, rushing across the trees to return to HQ. He had made his decision, and anyone who dared oppose it would burn under his mana.


    The flight was shorter than before. Khan soon spotted the two ships andnded in front of the first. The turrets didn''t react to his arrival, but he didn''t care. The crowd of wandering Scalqa was still there, but he didn''t care. The perimeter was clear, but Khan didn''t care about that either.


    Khan was ready to tear the ship''s doors open as soon as hended, but they opened upon his arrival. Familiar faces invaded his view, showing worry about his state. Celeste, Randall, Amy, Kirk, Marcus, and Zu-Gru had gathered in the cargo area, seemingly weing Khan, but he had no gentle words for them.


    "Set off," Khan ordered, stepping inside the ship.


    Usually, a simr order would have earned a torrent of questions andints. However, Randall and the others felt unable to breathe. Khan didn''t realize it, but his aura had turned into a deadly poison, rendering him capable of killing with his sole presence.


    That made Khan''s orders impossible to defy. Everyone but Zu-Gru began moving to attend to the task while Khan gazed at the ship''s open doors. He could almost feel another looming threat, but the outside world remained empty. Even the second team was nowhere to be seen.


    The return of Khan''spanions distracted him from the outside world. Khan began to turn to question them, but a sharp, deafening noise suddenly invaded his ears. His senses went rogue, hurting his very brain with the feelings they perceived. Khan bent forward as his eyes grew teary but still captured the scene inside the cargo area.


    Celeste, Kirk, Randall, Amy, and Marcus had returned inside the cargo area wielding rifles. Amy also had an oval device in her free hand, which Khan quickly connected to the source of that deafening noise. The urge to run away surged, but Khan found himself unable to move. He could only watch as his team fired at him.

 Chapter 755 Fury

    Chapter 755 Fury


    Blue lights shed in Khan''s eyes while his world hurt. The heightened senses he had developed throughout years of training had turned into his greatest enemy, making him unable to move or summon mana. He could only watch as the bullets converged toward him.


    Time slowed down in Khan''s teary eyes. Realizations descended upon him and spread in the back of his mind while his brain fought against his own senses. His paranoia had always been right. The ploy to take him out was there, and he was powerless against it.


    For a second, Khan epted that that was his moment. All his struggles and feats had culminated in that instant. He would die alone on an alien. His journey was about to end, and, for a moment, he felt relief.


    Death meant no more struggle, nightmares, loneliness, and desperation. Khan could finally stop fighting and rest. He had yed the game as well as possible, but his enemies had won. Even his mana realized that. He was cornered, powerless, and hopeless, leaving no room for anger or additional struggles.


    Images shed in Khan''s vision during that instant. Happy moments ran through his eyes, bringing some satisfaction. Monica, George, Jenna, and others appeared before him, recing the ship''s insides. His life had been short but full. Khan could im to be satisfied, but the sound of falling water reached his ears, giving birth to one regret.


    All the familiar faces disappeared, reced by a cave hidden by a waterfall. A cozy, cold sensation invaded Khan, curving his mouth into a longing, bitter smile.


    Khan saw long, flowy white hair partially dampened by the waterfall. He spotted a slender figure and dark fingers reaching for his chest. He noticed bright eyes looking straight at him and a blushing face wearing a loving smile.


    Years had passed, but Khan still recalled every detail. His very body replicated the sensations of that distant, lost period. He felt the cold fingers on his chest. He remembered that loving touch, that hand slipping under his clothes to steal his warmth, that instinctive need to destroy the barriers between two bodies to turn them into one.


    ''I should have never left,'' Khan concluded. He couldn''t actually think those words, but the realization had arrived anyway.


    However, something else suddenly reced the images created by Khan''s mind. A huge figure filled his vision, creating a barrier between him and the iing mana bullets. Zu-Gru had jumped at Khan''s aid, and all the shotsnded on him.


    Peace andpliance with the defeat immediately disappeared. Hope had appeared, forcing Khan''s mind to resume working at full power. Immense anger, defiance, and determination flooded Khan''s body, driving him to fight a second longer.


    Amy and the others didn''t stop at one round of bullets. They kept firing while the auto-pilot activated the ship''s engines. The vehicle began setting off as a second array of shotsnded on Zu-Gru. His burly body was the perfect meat shield, but mere muscles had their limits.


    The sharp noise was still ringing, immobilizing Khan, but he saw a bullet piercing through Zu-Gru''s torso and flying forward, hitting his right shoulder. The shot didn''t go past his muscles but added another hole to his already wounded body.


    Khan focused on his urges, hoping his element could defeat the noisy device. The clicking cry inside his mind showed its presence and grew louder, but the process was too slow. Zu-Gru alone couldn''t give him the time he needed to regain control of his body.


    ns within ns flooded the functioning parts of Khan''s brain, but nothing feasible appeared. Intelligence couldn''t save him. It took the simplicity of a primitive mind to achieve that.


    Zu-Gru didn''t waste time on pointless andplicated thoughts. Khan appeared stuck, so he jumped backward, mming on him to push him out of the ship''s open doors.


    The ship had continued to rise in those seconds, getting quite high in the sky. Still, Khan couldn''t sense the ground. He saw Baoway''s sky in his surroundings but had no power to stop himself from falling.


    Nevertheless, the increasing distance from the ship began to give Khan breathing room from the noisy disturbance. His senses started to resume working as he fell, but the assault didn''t end there. He saw Zu-Gru being kicked out of the vehicle before his teammates peeked from the open doors to aim and fire at him.


    Another round of blue bullets filled Khan''s vision. They were fast, faster than his falling speed, giving him no time to regain control of his body. Yet, part of his mind had recovered, and his mouth opened to release a violent cry.


    Currents of wild mana escaped Khan''s body, encircling him into a defensive spell. The bulletsnded on that energy but ended up getting eaten. The teammates shot more rounds, but nothing reached Khan.


    Khan continued to scream as the world around him returned. The distance from the ship and the defensive spell finally gave him a chance to recover, and his senses immediately warned him about the nearing ground.


    Khan put as much strength as he could muster into his legs, throwing them downward. He was still weak, but the move created enough force to disperse most of the falling momentum. His body stopped for a second before his back hit the ground.


    The currents of mana devoured part of the surface before dispersing. The ship was flying higher, and bullets stoppeding. Khan had found some safety, but that turned out to be temporary.


    The ship flew higher before turning and stopping. Its canopy pointed at the surface, at the spot where Khan hadnded. Two holes also opened under it, lowering big rifles that could cover that vast distance.


    Khan had begun standing up in the meantime. He straightened his back without moving his eyes away from the ship. He knew that distance was no random case. The team had ced itself outside the range of Khan''s spears, nning to take him down safely.


    Synthetic mana began umting inside the rifles. The team wasn''t wasting time since it knew catching Khan would be troublesome once he started escaping. However, Khan didn''t move at all. He even stopped inspecting the ship to nce at another spot on the barren surface. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan was outside the forest''s range. The trees were still nearby, but nothing hindered his view now, allowing him to see the second item that had fallen with him. Zu-Gru''s body was mere meters away, but the bullets and the crash had turned it into a gory mess.


    The Scalqa was almost unrecognizable. The rounds of bullets had transformed Zu-Gru''s burly torso into a mess of flooding holes. The fall had done the rest, squashing his head and most of his back.


    Nevertheless, part of Zu-Gru''s arms had remained intact, allowing Khan to spot the bullet holes in them. The alien had given his everything to protect Khan and had paid the price with his life.


    The ship''s rifles fired while Khan was busy inspecting Zu-Gru. Two giant mana bullets descended through the sky, hitting Khan simultaneously. The barren ground in his surroundings shattered and burned during the explosion that followed, and a pile of smoke rose from the area.


    No additional bullets fell. The explosion disrupted the scanners, so the team waited for the area to clear to see whether the attack had any effect. Still, the smoke suddenly dispersed, revealing a monstrous figure.


    Khan stood at the center of the burning crater created by the bullets. His clothes were gone, revealing the entirety of his alien figure. ck blood vessels covered his whole body, and his bright eyes red at the ship, conveying pure fury.


    Multiple burns had appeared on Khan''s body, worsening his condition. Yet, the team couldn''t see any weakness in him. Khan looked stronger than ever, unflinching and unbeatable.


    Synthetic mana poured into the rifles again, but Khan didn''t stay still now. The ship was outside his spears'' range, but he had a tool that could reach it, a tool the Global Army had yet to witness.


    The cracks on the burned ground widened and stretched as Khan lifted his right arm. The fury inside his mind leaked into his aura, which became a destructive force the shattered terrain couldn''t withstand. He had the chance to run now, but his eyes only sought revenge. Khan owed Zu-Gru that much.


    A string of mana materialized between Khan''s thumb and forefinger while he pointed his right hand at the ship. His other arm quickly rose, and his fingers pulled the stic energy to his left cheek.


    Khan released the string of mana before the rifles could fire. A bolt of destructive energy quickly rose through the sky, reaching the unaware ship. The team inside understood what was happening only when a hole appeared in the canopy.


    The distance from the ship made Khan unable to sense the damage he had inflicted. However, the main deck was right behind the canopy, and his bullet didn''t lose much strength to pierce it. The spell was bound to have destroyed a few screens or consoles.


    Still, Khan couldn''t be satisfied with so little. His left arm moved again, pulling the string of mana to his cheek. The ship''s rifles fired, but he remained in his position as energy amassed inside his spell.


    An unstable spear quickly formed between Khan''s cheek and his right hand. The spell became an arrow that the release of the mana string propelled forward. The attack flew between the iing bullets, and Khan saw it crashing into the canopy right before an explosion engulfed him.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Thank you for all the gifts, and special thanks to Colin_ydes for the Spacecraft!

 Chapter 756 Stranded

    Chapter 756 Stranded


    The bullets detonated on Khan, further burning his skin. Still, the [Blood Shield] endured the blows, protecting his organs and other vital parts. The rage in his aura also dispersed any trace of smoke that tried to rise from him or his surroundings, quickly clearing the area.


    The bullets and Khan''s aura had changed the ground beyond recognition. His spot and surroundings had turned into a vast, crackling crater full of expanding fissures. The surface seemed about to give in, but the ship had also suffered a fair share of damage.


    Khan had aimed the spear at the hole dug by his first attack, but the spell had hit the intact canopy. That was still a decent achievement, but the team had lifted mana shields after the first exchange. The reinforced ss remained intact, but strands of destructive energy had leaked through the gap, damaging the main deck.


    The oue came in the shape of a fuming canopy. Most of the smoke was on the outside, caused by the spear''s explosion. However, a part originated from the main deck, indicating consistent damage. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan had kept his right arm lifted while enduring the rifles'' bullets, and a strand of mana quickly materialized between his thumb and forefinger. He was ready to continue his assault on the fuming ship, but thetter had different ns. He prepared his shot only to see the vehicle turning and flying farther into the sky.


    The ship flew away, rising until it became nothing more than a dot in Baoway''s azure atmosphere. Eventually, it disappeared, leaving only traces of its existence in the symphony. Khan couldn''t confirm where it had gone, but the battle seemed over for now.


    Khan stared at the sky, unsure of what to expect. He hadnded close enough to the original HQ to sense that the second ship had vanished, too, but nothing else flew in his direction. Everyone had departed, leaving him alone with his pain.


    ''What are they nning?'' Khan wondered.


    It made sense for the second ship to leave the altogether. Theb had a blue nt and multiple Scalqa corpses. Those samples could provide enough data to finance a new mission. Also, the special bush might survive the trip if luck was on the Global Army''s side.


    ''Wait,'' Khan suddenly realized. ''Fergus might have lied to me about that.''


    The general betrayal and discovery of the ck device inside Fergus forced Khan to reconsider everything. All about the past months could be a lie. Theb could very well have something capable of keeping the blue nt alive, and the same went for the Scalqa corpses. Maybe Margaret already had everything she needed to attempt to create artificial organic mana cores.


    Instead, things with the first ship were different. Clearly, taking out Khan was one of the envoy''s main goals, but thetter probably didn''t expect to suffer so much damage during the hunt. Temporarily giving up could be a wise choice, especially when the only means of returning home was at stake.


    Of course, those were mere guesses. Both ships could have simply returned to orbit to wait for additional orders. They might have even flown to a different quadrant included in the negotiations with the Empire. Khan couldn''t confirm any of that. He only knew he was stranded on Baoway.


    Khan checked himself only to discover that he was virtually naked. Even his sheath had fallen, leaving the cursed knife in the middle of the crater. Still, his interest was on something else, and finding it intensified his anger.


    The bullets had burned Khan''s clothes to a crisp, including anything they contained. He found his phone, or, more precisely, what was left of it. The device had split into three different parts, and none of them even tried to work.


    Khan''s mind instinctively made the point of the situation. He had been betrayed, left behind, and deprived of his only hope of contacting help. He had even lost the folder with Monica''s albums. The future looked grim, and things worsened.


    Movements invaded the nearby forest. Stomping noises resounded through the trunks as the ground began to tremble. Something big wasing, and Khan didn''t need to turn to understand its nature.


    Scalqa from different tribes walked past the forest''s edge, gathering on the barren ground in various groups. Most aliens came from nomadic parties and had met Khan only during his night trips. Yet, the Bone Tribe was also there, and its stance was unclear.


    Kru-Zi and other familiar faces from the Bone Tribe had arrived in the area wielding rifles. They might have brought those weapons due to the mess caused by the battle, but Khan sensed some hesitation in their auras. A couple of Scalqa even inspected Kru-Zi, seemingly awaiting further orders.


    ''Do they want to take me out, too?'' Khan almost mocked himself. He had yet to face the crowd of aliens, but lowering his eyes made him acknowledge their intentions.


    The [Blood Shield] had protected Khan''s vital parts, but his state wasn''t even close to decent. His chest had a gory hole, most of his skin had turned dark and red due to the many burns, and his heart felt heavy after abusing the defensive alien technique.


    Anyone could see that Khan was weak, and his awful appearance had a deeper impact on that primitive species. Kru-Zi and the others knew how strong Khan was, but that could be their chance to eliminate him. After all, he remained an invader, a variable who had just lost support from his allies.


    Kru-Zi had yet to make a decision, giving Khan time to think. He turned, running his cold but intense eyes on the crowd of Scalqa. Then, he looked at the sky. His problems went far beyond injuries andck of ships. He had a target on his back issued by organizations that could move entires.


    Khan had expected a ploy, but the betrayal had surpassed his wildest dreams. His enemies didn''t only surround him with assassins. They had also provided devices that could counter his greatest advantages. He guessed everyone in his team had those ck machines inside their bodies, and thinking about the timeline sent a chill down his spine.


    Those unknown parties had developed effective countermeasures for Khan during the four months of his lessons. They had probably been at work at that for far longer, but Khan''s teachings had to have yed a key role inpleting the project. He had revealed some of his secrets, and his enemies had exploited that.


    Tuning multiple devices in that short period must have required immense wealth and manpower. Specialists had to have worked day and night to finish those tools before the departure to Baoway, and few parties inside the Global Army had that kind of influence. Obviously, all of them were far above Khan in every field.


    Moreover, the mission was iplete. Khan was still alive, so those parties might send additional assassins to deal with him before the Thilku Empire noticed anything. Baoway''s unique political environment probably protected him from missiles fired from orbit, but nothing could stop more enemies fromnding and hunting him down.


    Until now, Khan''s mindset would have pushed him to focus on himself. The stronger he was, the higher his chances of survival against unknown threats would be. In theory, his current situation also required that since he was forced to wait for rescue parties, more assassins, or Empire''s representatives.


    However, Khan didn''t survive the ploy on his own. He wasn''t alive thanks to his strength, and his eyes slowly fell on the maimed corpse nearby. Khan owed his life to Zu-Gru, an unexpected ally who had sacrificed himself in a moment of need.


    ''Strength didn''t save me,'' Khan concluded. ''Allies did.''


    Khan''s eyes lit up as he nced at Kru-Zi. His aura intensified as mana escaped his right palm, giving birth to a mass of energy that released an angry cry. The cloud spell appeared in the open, echoing the fury inside Khan''s mind.


    "[Kru-gru-xa]," Khan muttered, keeping the cloud down but wielding it in his grasp.


    The cloud screamed, raging against Khan''s restraint. It wanted to fly forward and unleash the anger caused by the recent events. Yet, Khan kept it still, burning his own fingers in the process.


    The Scalqa had never seen the Cloud spell, but their primitive instincts warned them about its danger. That was nomon attack. That mass of energy was a wild, raging beast created by a far scarier creature.


    The charred ground continued to break under the joint pressure of Khan and the cloud. He even stepped forward, slowly approaching Kru-Zi. His bright eyes carried no mercy or affection. He was ready to wage a solitary war to obtain what he needed.


    The Scalqa in Kru-Zi''s team thought about lifting their rifles, but strength vanished from their thick arms. They knew nothing could stop Khan, and the slightest trace of hostility would release that purple-red monster in his hand.


    Kru-Zi knew fear could lead to dumb and reckless decisions. He began to feel scared about what hispanions could do, but those thoughts disappeared in the back of his mind. Truth be told, his battle experience had already told him what to do, and his hands opened to release the rifle.


    The fall of the rifles attracted the alien crowd''s attention, but Kru-Zi took things one step further. His knees also went to the ground as he lifted his palms to the sky. He offered himself to Khan, making a traditional gesture all the Scalqa recognized.


    Kru-Zi''spanions didn''t hesitate to imitate him once they noticed the gesture. They kneeled to Khan, begging for mercy and more.


    Khan inspected the group of Scalqa before ncing at his surroundings. The other factions and tribes were still standing, but his face said enough. Soon, everyone kneeled, lifting their hands to the sky.

 Chapter 757 Grandchildren

    Chapter 757 Grandchildren


    Long separations were always harsh on Monica. Khan also suffered without her, but she had it worse. Khan was the center of her life, her only source of happiness, and she had grown reliant on his presence.


    Nevertheless, Monica knew she couldn''t monopolize every second of Khan''s life. Both of them had duties to attend to, especially him. Khan needed to excel in many fields to eliminate the curse that afflicted him at night, and Monica wouldn''t let her affection hinder him. She would rather suffer alone than prolong Khan''s pain.


    Ideally, Monica would help with Khan''s quest, but her options were limited. Her parents had already disclosed most of what they knew about the topic, leaving only financial and political support at their disposal. That was still huge for Khan, but Monica wanted to do more.


    The engagement and promotion had secured Khan''s political situation, and he didn''tck money either. The Harbor provided him with everything he needed, and the Solodrey family could fill eventual gaps in technology and resources.


    Realistically, Monica couldn''t give Khan anything else in those fields. She could host interviews to improve his public figure and keep his name relevant on thework, but that was it.


    However, Khan had also shouldered the responsibility of lifting Monica to the seat of Matriarch. He had even already developed a fix for her troublesome element. Despite his problems, he still spent his valuable time on her.


    Monica loved that part of Khan. It made her feel protected and safe beyond reason. She knew he would do anything for her, no matter the price. His love was extreme and selfless to the point of pissing Monica off. He would risk killing himself for her, and she couldn''t let it happen.


    To limit Khan''s efforts, Monica had to fix all the aspects of her life that could worry him. Some things were outside her reach, but others weren''t. She had to grow stronger, more knowledgeable, independent, and influential. Monica had to be a pir Khan could rely on rather than an additional weight.


    That was exactly what Monica did while Khan was away. She immersed herself in her studies, trained diligently, and attended social and political events to keep herself and her rtionship relevant. Monica even flew to Neuria to maximize the business side of her life, albeit the trip ended up being short.


    All of that kept Monica busy for almost three months. Her resolve didn''t budge even after spending her birthday mixed up with social events hosted by her family. Yet, time continued to pass, and Khan''s absence steadily grew more oppressive.


    Monica knew the mission was bound to be long. Khan was incredible in those fields, but Baoway required patience and care just to ovee the initial hurdles. A few months couldn''t be enough to handle everything, but that understanding didn''t stop Monica from worrying.


    Thepleteck ofmunication worsened Monica''s situation. She knew she couldn''t call Khan, but having no official reports made her anxious to no end. She was in the dark and couldn''t even me anyone for her situation. That simply was how the mission was supposed to go.


    However, as more months passed, Monica became unable to keep her anxiety in check. She still dealt with her duties to improve her situation, but sleep stoppeding to her, leaving her wandering in a t that felt unbearably lonely.


    After multiple sleepless nights, Monica began making trips to the Harbor''s embassy. She didn''t have clearance for Khan''s office, but no one dared to stop her, and her presence in those environments soon became amon urrence.


    Monica didn''t go there only to feel closer to Khan. Being in his workce asionally put her anxiety to rest, allowing her to sleep on the office chair. Yet, the ce''s main desk was the primary reason behind her trips. News and reports would arrive there first, and Monica didn''t want to miss them.


    Still, much to Monica''s dismay, the silence persisted. The entire Global Army seemed ignorant about anything connected to Baoway, and questioning the other soldiers in the embassy didn''t lead anywhere. Monica could only wait, and eventually, her separation from Khan crossed the six-month mark.


    Needless to say, Monica grew more restless and anxious during that period. She lost weight, began to drink more, and started wearing makeup to hide any trace of her exhaustion in public. She kept working on her routine to prepare for Khan''s return but let herself go during her free time.


    The eight-month mark passed without bringing any change, but Monica''s mood worsened as important dates drew near. It was almost time for Khan''s birthday and their third anniversary, but she was still in the dark. Monica began to hate Baoway so much that she started devising ns to invade the, but something finally happened, ending part of her madness.


    One night after returning from the embassy, Monica found a rectangr device outside her t''s elevator. At that odd sight, her hand snapped on the wall''s menus, but the security systems didn''t report anything strange. That was theoretically impossible, but her eyes weren''t lying to her.


    Monica wasn''t in the best state of mind, but her education remained perfect. Countless thoughts ran through her brain, eliminating exnations to reach the most usible answers. Luckily, there weren''t many parties in the Global Army who could deliver items directly to her t without alerting or leaving traces in the security systems.


    After brainstorming, Monica concluded that the device could be a trap or a carrier of sensitive information. It could actually be both, but she was desperate enough to face the risk. She jumped to the floor, sat down, and picked out the item, which turned on at her touch.


    Words appeared on the device, erasing themselves as the message scrolled down on its own. Monica was too concentrated to miss anything, but the item''s behavior told something worth considering. Still, her attention was on themunication''s contents now.


    Initially, Monica didn''t understand the message. The device listed the results of experiments on nts and corpses without sharing sources or simr details. Even without specialized education, Monica could acknowledge the importance of that information. However, she didn''t care about any of it.


    Yet, things changed when the message reached itsst line. Monica''s eyes widened as she burned that image in her memory. The device quickly deleted itself, and smoke began flowing out of it. The item was self-destructing itself, but Monica kept it in her hands, immersed in that key detail.


    ''Additional test subjects from Baoway required,'' Monica repeated the message''sst line in her mind, and dots began to connect. That was a scientific report, meaning the Global Army had established a channel with Baoway.


    Monica''s political mind surpassed Khan''s. Her family had trained her whole life to handle and understand the dangers of that field, allowing her to realize all the issues with the recent event. The Global Army was keeping reports away from the official office tasked with the mission, meaning something was up.


    Monica let go of the fuming device, which fell on the floor and split into multiple pieces. Her hand immediately went to her pocket, retrieving her phone. The hour waste, but she didn''t even check it as she started a call.


    The phone rang in Monica''s ear, but she stood perfectly still, almost holding her breath as she waited for a reply. An entire minute had to pass, but a voice eventually came from the device.


    "Monica, dear," Anastasia eximed. "It''s improper to call anyone thiste, even your own mother."


    "I''ve received ab report about experiments on Baoway''s subjects," Monica went straight to the point, choosing precise words. "Someone left it in the t without triggering or being recorded by security."


    Those short lines told a far bigger story, and Anastasia fell silent as she reviewed all the hidden details. Her political mind was even greater than Monica''s, leading to a question that could open less troublesome suggestions.


    "Did it self-destruct?" Anastasia asked.


    "Yes," Monica confirmed. "And yes, the results were relevant."


    "How relevant?" Anastasia questioned.


    "I''ll tell you if you investigate the issue," Monica negotiated.


    "This might be Major Khan''s doing," Anastasia suggested. "Tricking the Empire might involve avoiding official channels."


    "Khan would have signed himself," Monica exined. "He would have reassured me."


    Anastasia fell silent again. She avoided useless questions since she knew her daughter''s value. She also agreed with her about Khan. Those two were too in love to miss the chance to talk to each other after months of separation.


    "I''ll make some calls," Anastasia eventually announced, hanging up.


    Monica didn''t stand up. She lowered her phone to herp, staring at the clear screen. Her eyes barely blinked as she waited for her mother, and she remained in that position even after her legs became sore.


    After what seemed like an endless wait, the phone finally rang, and Monica immediately brought it to her ear. Sadly, things turned out to be as bad as she expected.


    "Something is up," Anastasia dered. "Ships have returned from Baoway, but Khan wasn''t among them. There are rumors about another missing Major, too."


    "Mother," Monica called, her pleading tone betraying her politeness, "What does this mean?"


    "The absence of official announcements hints at a ploy," Anastasia exined. "He might be MIA, dead, or worse."


    "We must send a rescue party to Baoway," Monica almost ordered, the bottled-up anxiety exploding at the realization of those possibilities.


    "Dear," Anastasia sighed, pained by her daughter''s mental state. "You know we can''t. The Global Army would need new deals with the Thilku Empire, and we can''t push for them based on a report that doesn''t exist anymore."


    "He is my fianc¨¦!" Monica shouted, holding back the tears. "He is almost a Solodrey! Does that mean anything at all?"


    "If they can keep things hidden from us," Anastasia stated, "Our name means nothing."


    A fit of anger invaded Monica, who threw her phone into the living room without bothering to end the call. She knew her mother was right but also hated her powerlessness. Khan was probably in danger, and she couldn''t do anything to help.


    Monica dug her hands into her hair, holding her head as countless ideas darted through her mind. There had to be something she could do. She had money, influence, and fame, but a simple interview couldn''t work. Monica needed proof and wouldn''t find it in her t.


    Monica stormed outside without even retrieving her phone. She called a cab through the interactive desk on the first floor and headed directly for the embassy. Her brain barely recorded the trip. Her thoughts resumed working when she settled in Khan''s office, and her hands began tapping on the interactive desk like crazy.


    Truth be told, some information was locked behind Khan''s gic signature, but Monica had ess to his privatework, which basically updated her on anything relevant. Finding a way to reach Khan became her sole mission, and days passed without her ever stepping outside the office.


    That behavior was concerning, especially since Monica hadpletely isted herself. She didn''t even have a phone, so her mother could only forward messages to the office''s interactive desk. Monica barely read those, warning Anastasia that she was up to something crazy.


    Nevertheless, even with all the madness going around, Monica could only find reckless and unreliable options. Powers that even her family couldn''t breach were against her, so going rogue with a team of mercenaries ended up being her best bet.


    Monica tried to find alternatives but couldn''te up with anything in her week of pondering and research. Going public would only force her family or Khan''s enemies to act, so things had to remain a secret. Still, as reckless as the idea sounded, she had every intention of pursuing it.


    However, another notification reached the interactive desk while Monica had begun researching mercenaries and ships. She initially hoped for more reports from the secret source, but the news turned out to be about somethingpletely different. It was about one of Khan''s old tasks. Apparently, the Global Army had found his father.


    Monica halted her research. Khan had shared everything he knew about his father with her, and she had also been present in the significant revtions. Bret had been an important figure in the past but had lost all political power now.


    ''Should I warn him?'' Monica wondered. ''It''s still his only son.''


    Monica had other, pettier reasons behind that idea. Khan had been in her family''s mansions, met her parents, and even interacted with different factions. Instead, Monica had only heard about his family from connected parties or himself. That was her chance to talk with his father, and she couldn''t help but blush thinking about it.


    As if forgetting the current situation, Monica began replying to the notification, requesting a securemunication channel. The soldiers in charge of the task had temporarily seized Bret for questioning, so the idea was feasible.


    The answer arrived almost immediately. The soldiers agreed with the request and started a call. Monica nearly jumped from her seat when she saw the notification, and her timid fingers slowly tapped on the hologram.


    "Who is this?" Bret''s annoyed voice immediately resounded in the isted office. "Can''t you idiots from the Global Army leave me alone?!"


    Monica felt a bit stunned. Khan had warned her about his father''s character. Still, facing it for the first time temporarily left her speechless.


    "Sir," Monica cleared her throat, wearing her politest tone. "I''m Monica Solodrey. It''s a pleasure to talk to you." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "A Solodrey?" Bret questioned, slightly calming down. "Wait, you sound young. Is this about Khan?"


    "It is, sir," Monica confirmed, embarrassment rising through her mind. "I''m your son fianc¨¦e."


    "Fianc¨¦e?" Bret repeated before exploding into augh. "That cunning brat didn''t only get engaged. He even scored a Solodrey! I raised him well."


    Monica would usually be angry about having her valuee from her family. Yet, that was about Khan and his father. She was willing to close an eye for now.


    "Tell me, tell me," Bret continued, clear happiness in his voice. "How''s Khan doing? Am I about to be a grandfather?"


    "We-!" Monica began to raise her voice as her embarrassment skyrocketed but quickly calmed down. "We won''t have children until the marriage, sir. We are both busy with our careers, and Khan just recently became a Major."


    "A Major," Bret snickered. "Would you look at that. It''s good that I told him about condoms. I bet girls would kill to get a piece of him."


    "No girl is killing anyone!" Monica snapped. "Khan is only mine, and the entire Global Army knows about it!"


    Monica quickly realized her mistake and added something to try to salvage her face. "I apologize, sir. It''s a troubling period."


    "I see you have quite the character, Solodrey kid," Bret chuckled. "Don''t apologize for it. If my son chose to marry you, you must make him happy, and I''m grateful for that."


    Monica didn''t expect that sudden change in tone. Her blush intensified at Bret''s open praise, which had a deeper impact than she had initially imagined.


    "Solodrey ki-," Bret continued in a more serious tone. "No, wait. What''s your name?"


    "Monica, sir," Monica replied. "Monica Solodrey."


    "Monica is a good name," Bretmented. "I can guess why Khan doesn''t want to talk to me, but the fact that you called means he is in trouble. Am I right?"


    "Is-," Monica gulped, hesitating. "Is it safe to talk here?"


    "I''m a ghost of a bygone era," Bret reassured. "You''d be in more trouble sharing secrets with a wall."


    "Khan is missing," Monica revealed. "He went on a mission to make first contact with a new species. Reports and ships from the havee back, but he isn''t among them."


    "What''s the?" Bret asked.


    "Baoway," Monica responded as sobs began to break her voice. "I learned about the reports by chance, and the Global Army isn''t saying anything. Even my family won''t help. I just don''t know what to do."


    "Even the Solodrey family won''t help," Bret muttered. "I see. You''ve done enough, Monica. I''ll handle the rest."


    "Sir?" Monica sniffed.


    "Don''t worry," Bret uttered. "I''ll send my kid back to you in no time. In exchange, let me see a couple of grandchildren before I die."


    Monica wanted to reply, but the call ended before she could say anything.

 Chapter 758 Guest

    Chapter 758 Guest


    The years after Istrone''s crisis had been quiet since co''s training campcked students. Yet, in time, the families had started trusting the Global Army again, refilling the ranks of young descendants needing military education.


    Still, Lieutenant Carl Dyester''s life remained the same during both periods. His upation didn''t change even without descendants to imprison, so he spent his years drinking, smoking, and napping as usual, with only one exception.


    The Lieutenant would never admit it, but he had picked up the habit of checking thework from time to time. He didn''t care for general news and updates on important figures. He only typed Khan''s name and dwelled on the many stories and rumors around him.


    Carl Dyester justified himself with the basic need for entertainment to kill time. However, even he knew he cared about his disciple. Moreover, the news had grown more interesting and engaging by the year, especially when Monica Solodrey became involved with Khan''s life.


    The new habit killed two birds with one stone, dealing with the Lieutenant''s boredom while updating him about his disciple. Truth be told, Carl approved and was happy about how Khan had turned his life around. Still, the news suddenly stoppeding.


    The change had been gradual and had started after Khan''s lessons ended. He disappeared from the public scene, and Monica spent the following months keeping his name relevant through interviews and simr events. Rumors also flooded thework, but a sharp cut eventually happened.


    Suddenly, Monica also disappeared from the public scene, leaving nothing but rumors to read. Lieutenant Dyester found them entertaining, too, but nothing could beat actual news. His jaded and experienced mind even understood something was up, but waiting for the situation to change was his only option.


    The Lieutenant expected those changes toe through thework, but reality surprised him. Onezy morning, a call reached the prison, waking him up from a drunk nap. The event was highly unusual, but dutypelled him to answer.


    "Sir," The soldier from the other side of the call said. "We have withheld someone at the camp''s gate for questioning."


    "What does that have to do with me?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. He handled descendants inside the camp, not unwanted and unauthorized guests.


    "He ims to be Major Khan''s father," The soldier exined. "We scanned him, and it matches. You told us to warn you if he ever visited, sir."


    "Khan''s father?" Lieutenant Dyester gasped. "Send him through."


    "I must warn you, sir," The soldier added. "He is highly uncooperative and looks to be wasted."


    "Send him through anyway," Lieutenant Dyester sighed, massaging his eyes. He couldn''tin about Bret''s state when he wasn''t any better. Besides, he had promised Khan he would have weed his father if he ever came to the camp.


    The call ended, and Lieutenant Dyester turned only to see the most unweing ce in the universe. The prison area stank of booze and cigarettes. Empty bottles and dust were everywhere, and the cells were even worse.


    Lieutenant Dyester felt slightly annoyed by the desire to clean up the ce that rose into his mind. He didn''t want to admit he wanted to make a good impression on Khan''s father, but his hands approached the menus anyway to activate various robots and vents.


    The area cleaned itself up under Lieutenant Dyester''s scornful gaze. He even mustered a snort from time to time seeing his home transform into something unrecognizable. The ce became almost weing in a matter of minutes, but he fixed it by opening a new bottle and lighting a smoke.


    Eventually, someone knocked on the trapdoor, and Lieutenant Dyester opened it to let two men inside. One was a gate soldier who performed a military salute and immediately departed. Instead, the other was a tired-looking middle-aged man with long, greasy hair and bloodshot eyes.


    "The Global Army didn''t get any more weing in these years," Bret cursed, descending the stairs toward the prison before his eyes spotted the open bottle. "Care to share that, soldier?"


    "I''m Lieutenant Carl Dyester," The Lieutenant announced, seizing the open bottle and handing it to Bret. "I''ve been your son''s Master for a period."


    "I heard," Bret eximed, epting the bottle and taking a long sip. "I''ve been hearing a great lot of things ever since I resumed interacting with soldiers."


    The long sip didn''t satisfy Bret, so he quickly took another before voicing a displeased grunt and inspecting the bottle''s brand.


    "You must have not been a good Master," Bretmented. "Khan would have warned you about this brand otherwise."


    "He did," Lieutenant Dyester revealed, sitting at the small table''s seat, "But it''s cheaper."


    "Can''t disagree with that," Bret chuckled, joining Lieutenant Dyester at the table.


    "I''ve heard about you before ¡­," Bret stated, "Before everything. How fateful for the butcher of Istrone to be my kid''s Master right before a new crisis on the same."


    "Did you hear about the crisis?" Lieutenant Dyester asked, stealing the bottle from Bret''s hands.


    "Yes," Bret nodded, lowering his gaze. "How did Khan take it?"


    "Better than most," Lieutenant Dyester praised.


    "No wonder," Bret sighed. "He is no na?ve or spoiled brat. He never had the chance to be one."


    "You should im some merit," Lieutenant Dyester pointed out. "He had the right mindset even before being my disciple."


    "I can''t im shit," Bret snorted. "I barely raised him. I was always drunk somewhere, and he took care of himself withoutining even once."


    Lieutenant Dyester fell silent. He knew Khan didn''t have a good life in the Slums, but it wasn''t his ce to probe. Moreover, he had heard something about Bret, too, so insulting him didn''t feel right.


    "What''s the monster of Nippe 2 stuff?" Bret questioned. "Also, I keep hearing about Princesses, both human and alien. Did Khan start a harem or something?"


    "He is quite popr," Lieutenant Dyester scoffed. "He even had someone during his time here. Though I read he is always serious about all his women."


    "All his women!" Bretughed. "I always knew he was a looker, but this. His mother''s genes are truly strong."


    "As for the monster of Nippe 2," Lieutenant Dyester continued. "He saved Princess Edna Virrai from an attempted kidnapping. Apparently, he single-handedly dealt with the enemy force."


    "War names," Bret sighed. "At such a young age. Wait, how old is he now? I''m not sure what year it is either."


    "He will be twenty-two next month," Lieutenant Dyester cleared the confusion, avoiding judgmental tones. He would be in the same situation if he didn''t periodically check thework for news.


    "Not even twenty-two," Bretmented, "But a Major, engaged, and with war names. What kind of life did he force himself to do to get all this so soon?"


    "Called you?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. He was still in the dark about the reason behind Bret''s visit, and that detail only confused him.


    "Are you aware of his engagement with Miss Solodrey?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned, trying to lighten the topic.


    "She was the one who called me," Bret revealed. "Feisty kid. I like her."


    "Called you?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. He was still in the dark about the reason behind Bret''s visit, and that detail only confused him.


    "Yes, right," Bret eximed. "I shouldn''t waste time catching up. I need an official phone."


    "A phone?" Lieutenant Dyester repeated as his confusion intensified. "I''m not sure you can contact Khan. He has actually been missing from the public scene for months."


    "I know, I know," Bret said, standing up while dismissively waving his hand. "His girl told me everything I needed to know. Now, phone?" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Lieutenant Dyester remained confused but drew his phone anyway. Yet, Bret scoffed at its sight.


    "You don''t want me to use yours," Bret shook his head before inspecting the dark area. "The menus here have a direct line ofmunication with thework, right? They''ll do the job."


    Bret neared the wall, tapping on it to reveal bright menus. Many functions were avable to anyone, but the most specific ones required Lieutenant Dyester''s gic signature.


    "Let me get it," Lieutenant Dyester announced, also standing up. However, Bret tapped the menus on precise spots and at a strange pace until an empty bar appeared.


    "I don''t care if you watch this," Bret dered, typing a long andplicated code on the empty bar, "But they''ll probably demand your head if they think you are involved."


    Lieutenant Dyester''s mind developed more questions by the second, but Bret''s actions enlightened him on the seriousness of the situation. The ssified menus opened after Bret inserted the code. In a matter of seconds, Bret had gone past the gic signature''s requirements, telling the Lieutenant that the issue was far above his pay grade.


    "I''ll return in an hour," Lieutenant Dyester eventually uttered, approaching the stairs.


    "Leave the bottle," Bret ordered, continuing tinkering with the menus.


    The trapdoor opened and closed, but Bret didn''t move his eyes from the menus. He didn''t have any contacts, but his tinkering brought him to another empty bar, which he filled with an even moreplicated code.


    After forwarding the code, the wall''s speakers began to ring. Bret retrieved the bottle while he waited for an answer, but a simple word resounded when someone picked up on the other side. "Yes?"


    "It''s me," Bret announced, gulping down the remaining booze in his mouth. "I need to speak with the old man."


    The speakers went silent, but Bret didn''t worry. Actually, his drunken and intoxicated face had gained serious vibes by then. It seemed the situation was sobering him up.


    Eventually, a rough and tired voice came from the speakers, but its tone was far from friendly. "I told you I never wanted to hear from you again."


    "Shut it," Bret snorted. "I called you to im that favor."


    "Any debt toward you vanished with the Second Impact," The rough voice responded.


    "It''s not for me," Bret exined. "It''s for your grandchild."

 Chapte 759 Kneel

    759 Kneel


    Ruckus happened among high and secretive parts of the Global Army. Heavy pressure fell on specific parties in charge of important aspects of a particr mission, but those political maneuvers never reached thework. Everything started and ended in silence, leading to results no one learned about or could track.


    A space station moved in secret, reaching quadrants of the universe that official scanners weren''t allowed to inspect. Even if those trackers ended up pointing in that direction, their recordings vanished in minutes, making spreading them impossible.


    A rtively big and luxurious ship departed from the space station once it reached the intended location. The vehicle flew through precise routes meant to keep its movements hidden. Only a few parties knew about its existence, but no rumors or questions were asked.


    The ship made no stops and took no breaks, flying at full speed toward the intended location. Eventually, the vehicle reached a quadrant shared between the Global Army and the Thilku Empire, where the targeted resided.


    The ship''s crew had all the relevant information and more. It knew where it would have higher chances of finding its target, but much remained unclear. That didn''t onlye from the vague and fragmented reports. It also was a matter of timing since nning the mission had almost taken two months. The wielded knowledge could be outdated by then.


    Nevertheless, the crew made the ship descend toward the, heading for the best spot all the information in its possession could find. Soon, the scanners located a cliff carrying a vast charred mark, and the vehiclended at its center.


    Thending wasn''t anything shy. The ship also stood still for a while, deploying the full power of its scanners. Numerous traces of life popped out in the nearby forest, but the crew still waited for clearer reports.


    Nothing moved inside the forest, and the scanners'' images grew woozy when the crew tried to expand their range. It soon became clear that only a direct exploration could provide better information, and three men descended from the ship to handle that part of the mission.


    The three men brimmed with confidence. Their expert eyes captured every avable detail as they entered the forest. Information also reached themunication devices in their ears, adjusting their route and preventing them from getting lost. The possibility of that happening was almost null, but the crew left nothing to chance.


    The exploration was effortless and tranquil. The three men encountered no hindrance, and the forest''s uneven ground couldn''t hinder their confident steps. Yet, at some point, the group''s leader noticed something odd. The ce had be silent, too silent.


    That detail didn''t onlye from the forest. The leader checked his phone and discovered that the device in his ear had missed the mandatory update. The man even tried to contact HQ, but no answer arrived.


    A single worrying issue could be a coincidence, but two became a pattern. The leader realized something was up, but the ground began to tremble before he could give any order. An earthquake enveloped the area, forcing the group into battle stances, but nothing could have prepared them for the following event.


    Tens of huge figures began to appear among the tall trees, and the event wasn''t limited to the group''s front. Burly aliens enveloped in a purple-red glow popped out from every corner of the area, encircling the three men in a blockade that left no escape routes.


    The three men were experienced enough to gauge the threat in mere seconds. They knew what those aliens were and their general prowess. Their instincts also told them that most were weak, barely as strong as second or third-level warriors. Yet, the scene generated fear anyway.


    The aliens'' number was the first issue. The reports in the crew''s possession barely marked a few hundred Scalqa in the quadrant, including non-fighters. However, the encirclement featured more than two hundred of them. Moreover, they all looked to be proper warriors. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The purple-red glow was the second issue. The Scalqa wielded primitive weapons like wooden spears and slings, but bright and unstable marks rested on their tips and ammo. Those symbols seemed ready to explode at the first impact. They were basically bombs with enough energy to make the human group hesitate.


    Of course, a single spear or rock couldn''t do much against the three men. They could handle their explosion or directly dodge it. However, two hundred could level the area and the human group with it.


    The group''s leader''s thoughts ran as he studied the situation and searched for ways out. He had learned a few Scalqa words and customs from the reports, so he quickly devised a n. Yet something else suddenlynded on him. A heavy, suffocating aura invaded the area, bringing the three men''s eyes to the sky.


    A new, smaller figure had appeared in the sky. A young man with long, wild blue hair was floating below the tall crowns, inspecting the group with his cold eyes.


    The man''s attire was peculiar. Bone armor partially covered his body while pelts hid his crotch and half of his legs. A knife''s handle popped out from the makeshift belt on his waist, and strange, ck patterns covered his face and exposed torso.


    The group''s leader had only seen older pictures but squinted his eyes to find familiar details. When he ignored the attire, ck patterns, and long, messy hair, he recognized the man as the target of his mission. The partially hidden blue scar on his chest had given him out.


    "Major Khan!" The group''s leader shouted. "I''m part of a rescue mission to bring you back to the Global Army''s domain."


    The man''s statement only led to utter silence. Khan didn''t reply and continued inspecting the group. Even the forest seemed to grow quieter during the process, intensifying the pressure on the humans on the ground.


    The three men were by no means weak. Two were fourth-level warriors while their leader was in the fifth level. Yet, they felt naked under Khan''s eyes. His gaze seemed able to pierce their skin, muscles, and organs, reaching for their very souls.


    The prolonged inspection began to get on the men''s nerves. Sweat umted on one of the fourth-level warriors'' forehead as cramps invaded his muscles. Remaining perfectly still under that tension felt like torture, and an instinctive twitch eventually ran through his right hand.


    The scenery in the man''s vision instantly changed. He was looking at the sky, but something had materialized before him. Khan hadnded in front of the man without showing any trace of movement. His action bordered proper teleportation that the air itself failed to notice.


    The fourth-level warrior felt the urge to jump, but his body couldn''t move. He lowered his eyes to meet Khan''s, but the gesture only intensified the pressure on his mind. A foreign, violent killing intent invaded his brain, triggering survival instincts he thought to have learned to control years ago.


    Khan''s sudden movement alerted the other two men, but only the leader felt able to move and react freely. Still, he limited himself to peeking past his shoulder to inspect Khan''s back. He experienced the same fear as hispanion, but his orders remained clear. That truly was a rescue mission.


    "Major," The leader called. "Miss Solodrey spent months searching for you. This mission is the culmination of her efforts."


    Khan didn''t move nor flinch. Using Monica''s name was the most obvious tactic in the book. Everyone in the Global Army knew about their rtionship, so the leader''s words didn''t add anything new to Khan.


    The leader realized the issue, and seeing hispanion''s breath growing ragged added a trace of anxiety to his efforts. He didn''t know what Khan would do if the fourth-level warrior fainted, so he had to act quickly to prevent eventual tragedies.


    "Major!" The leader called again, raising his voice. "Miss Solodrey contacted your father, who handled the rest."


    The leader didn''t add details. He simply couldn''t for various reasons, but his second statement seemed to do the trick. Khan stopped torturing the fourth-level warrior with his intense presence and diverted his gaze, turning his head until his eyes could point at the speaker.


    "What is the Nognes family doing here?" Khan finally spoke, his emotionless tone reeking of pure coldness.


    The leader''s mind went into chaos. He didn''t say anything about his allegiances, and nothing on his body could reveal them. He had been cautious about that. Yet, Khan had hit the mark on his first question.


    "Stop thinking lies," Khan ordered. "Yourpanions on the ship were smarter than that."


    A second blow hit the leader''s mind from two different angles. Khan couldn''t only see what he was thinking about doing. He had also visited the ship, making its status unknown.


    "I-," The leader muttered before acknowledging the seriousness of the situation. Giving up was the only viable path toward his goals.


    "I cannot reveal many things," The leader admitted, "But this is a rescue mission. I am to escort you to a special location to meet His Excellency."


    Khan''sck of reactions worried the leader. He had hoped he would have been convinced by then, but his mind and expression were inscrutable. Nothing in Khan''s behavior gave his intentions away. Still, he eventually spoke.


    "Kneel," Khan ordered.


    "Sir?" The leader asked, frowning.


    "Nognes should kneel before their Prince," Khan exined.


    The leader wasn''t the only one to feel shocked now. The other two men gulped at that order. Khan recognizing their identity was surprising but manageable. Yet, iming the status of Prince was a different matter altogether.


    Baoway was a distant, so many political issues could be ignored. However, if the mission seeded, Khan would return to the Global Army, bringing any decision with him. That could have heavy repercussions on the three men, whocked the authority to make those important choices.


    Nevertheless, the leader was one step ahead of hispanions. He had more experience and understood the situation better than them. He even had a better position, shielding him from some repercussions. The decision was still risky, but the man made it anyway.


    "My Prince," The leader announced as his knees went to the ground. He even lowered his head to convey submission, and hispanions soon imitated him.

 Chapter 760 Grandpa

    Chapter 760 Grandpa


    Khan inspected the kneeling leader for a few seconds before lifting his hand and performing a precise gesture. The army of Scalqa lowered their weapons at that sight, advancing to form two massive groups at the three men''s sides.


    The Scalqa''s advance gave more information about their actual numbers. That was a proper battalion that counted at least three hundred heads, and Khan couldmand it with a wave of his hand.


    "Move," Khan ordered, disregarding the kneeling men to walk forward. He didn''t wait for their reaction, but they were smart enough to stand up and follow him.


    To the men''s dismay, Khan''s route was familiar. He was heading to the ship''snding spot, bringing his battalion with him. It seemed the previous im wasn''t a boast, and the future became unclear.


    The two fourth-level warriors found it hard to keep their eyes straight. The army of Scalqa was a sight to behold, and their advance was strangely orderly. That went against the information they had received, but the cause felt evident by then.


    The leader experienced the same emotions as hispanions, but Khan soon captivated his interest. Subjugating and educating so many Scalqa was an incredible achievement, but not for Khan since it was in line with his other feats. Instead, the current development and his general demeanor had much more to say about him.


    The massive group was heading for the ship, the human team''s ship. Yet, Khan was the one leading everyone there. He confidently walked before the army as if he knew exactly where thending area was. He seemed more prepared about that than the leader himself.


    Moreover, Khan''s stance exuded grace without losing power. A stranger would need a single look to understand that he was in charge. That reaction would be almost instinctive, and the leader couldn''t help but connect it to the previous event.


    The leader had seen Princes and Princesses. He had even been in the same room with figures who could scold them. In his experience, almost all of them possessed a strange aura that set them apart from rtivelymon folks. That mostly came from education and environment, but it existed nheless.


    Still, most of them paledpared to Khan''s aura. His strange presence was genuine, built through who knew how many struggles. Moreover, it looked effortless. Khan wasn''t acting as a leader. There was no difference between that side of his life and him.


    Silence ruled the march through the forest. The Scalqa''s heavy steps filled the area, trying to deafen the men at their center, but no one spoke. Eventually, proper sunlight shone on everyone''s faces, marking their arrival on the barren cliff area.


    Upon their arrival, the three men found another surprising scene waiting for them. Another battalion with at least two hundred Scalqa had gathered on thending area, surrounding the ship. Moreover, the rest of the crew was in their midst, kneeling among spears pointed at their heads.


    The crew''s leader noticed how the second battalion also had weapons with purple-red marks glowing on their tips. With the arrival of the first army, the area probably had enough firepower to blow up a quarter of the quadrant.


    Calctions happened inside the leader''s mind. The scene was shocking, but the crew had enough information to find other odd details.


    Building a five-hundred-men-strong army and equipping it with strange weapons was a great deed, but retaining that force was harder. Previous inspections told the leader that the forest didn''t have enough food for all those mouths. It barely had a free space vast enough to hold it.


    Yet, the leader couldn''t find any sign of starvation in the Scalqa. They all looked strong, ready to fight for Khan, and content. That giant force was thriving, and the scanners couldn''t find out how.


    After witnessing the sea of glowing weapons, the exnation for that issue felt obvious. One chaos wielder couldn''t hinder a ship''s scanners, especially when they tracked a vast area. However, multiple sources of that violent energy could create a powerful barrier capable of fending off eventual inspections.


    As for exnations on the other issue, the leader could only guess. ording to the reports, Khan had been alone on Baoway for six months. That theoretically wasn''t enough to achieve much, but the few hours spent on the had already proven that wrong.


    As far as the leader knew, Khan might have built a proper city in the forest. The force under him might also be far bigger since he would need hunters to provide a constant stream of food. Much was unclear, and only Khan had answers.


    Khan voiced a strange cry once the two battalions met. The two forces fused, gathering the prisoners at their center while opening a path for Khan. He entered the open ship without asking for permission or looking back, and his absencested minutes.


    Eventually, Khan reappeared on the ship''s metal ramp, dragging multiple containers with one arm, which the crew recognized. Those were supplies for the trip back to the Global Army''s domain, but a few Scalqa seized them as soon as Khan voiced another alien order.


    Dismay enveloped the prisoners. They all knew how much food they had stashed, and quick calctions told them the remaining supplies inside the ship wouldn''t be enough for another trip.


    Khan shouted more alien orders, and three Scalqa gathered around him on the metal ramp. Those three looked stronger than their peers, and Khan muttered various directives before sending them back to the army. One Scalqa seemed toin, but Khan quickly quieted him down.


    The directives brought another change to the army. The three Scalqa shouted orders which echoed Khan''s words, and the battalion moved. The aliens around the prisoners performed gestures even humans could understand, making them stand up and follow the group back into the forest. Still, part of the crew noticed how their leader didn''t join the process.


    Soon, the army disappeared inside the forest, and even its loud steps became nothing more than a faint, distant noise. The cliff area became empty, leaving only the ship, Khan, and the crew leader.


    Theoretically, that was a bad move. The leader was a fifth-level warrior, and the crew was rtively expendable. Khan was exposing himself to danger, but no trace of fear existed on his face. Hepletely disregarded the situation''s potential problems as he returned to the ship.


    "Come," Khan said before disappearing past the metal ramp.


    The leader was still on his knees, but the order made him jump to his feet and rush inside the ship. He had initially expected to find something destroyed or broken, but the vehicle''s insides were in perfect state.


    "Move all the clearance to my gic signature," Khan ordered, nodding at the big interactive desk at the center of the vast main deck.


    The leader didn''t even try toin. He had understood the situation too well even to try to lie. Khan had probably already gotten the truth from hispanions anyway.


    The man approached the interactive desk, tinkering with its menus before cing his hand on its surface. When the time came, Khan also ced his palm, and the holograms confirmed the ongoing process.


    After the process was over, Khan started ying with the menus while taking a central spot before the desk. The leader was in the way but moved aside to give him enough room. Yet, he remained close enough to watch Khan''s actions, and helplessness surged.


    Khan now had the highest clearance, so he could remove any form of authority from the rest of the crew. In a few taps, he became the sole owner and member of the ship.


    Then, Khan moved to other menus, opening ssified reports and directives. Information flooded his mind as he read everything the ship had to offer. The processsted a few minutes, but a proper n had taken form by then.


    "It seems only you can authorize the teleport in the space station," Khan uttered, "Gordon. You''ll fly with me." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan didn''t ask and didn''t bother to see whether Gordon agreed. He had given an order, and his mind moved to the next phase. Khan left the interactive desk to approach the pilot''s seat, where he ran the necessary software to prepare for the set-off.


    Even with the highest clearance, the ship didn''t grant Khan much agency. Most processes were automated due to the mission''s secretive nature and origin. He couldn''t even tweak the flight speed while remaining on the intended route.


    Still, Khan punched the engines anyway, and the ship departed under Gordon''s unclear gaze. The soldier didn''t even know how to feel as he watched Baoway getting farther away on the scanners'' screens. His only certainty was that Khan was in charge, which would probably lead to a mess.


    "My Prince," Gordon called, hoping the privacy of the ship could allow better conversations. "Do you need anything from me?"


    "No," Khan replied, ying with the menus to bring forth the previous reports.


    "Should," Gordon began to say before clearing his throat. "What should I do during the flight?"


    "I don''t care," Khan responded before jumping to his feet. He crossed the main deck, and Gordon almost expected additional orders, but he walked past him, too, diving deeper into the ship.


    Gordon didn''t dare move, and Khan returned to the main deck after a few minutes, carrying bottles and some remaining supplies. He was making himself at home, uncaring of the unwantedpany.


    The leader believed a chance to establish a rtionship with Khan would appear. After all, they were alone on a big ship, and even the most experienced soldier would give in to get somepany.


    However, Khan left the main deck only to retrieve more provisions and booze. He barely stood up from the pilot''s seat as he read reports, meditated, and asionally took short naps. Khan seemed to have forgotten about Gordon''s existence, putting thetter in a pickle.


    Gordon wasn''t a servant, but acknowledging Khan as a Prince still made him an underling. As such, he had to serve him, but the situation was awkward, to say the least.


    Khan didn''t give orders, and bothering him didn''t sound right either. Still, the same went for leaving the main deck and retreating to the living quarters. Gordon felt stuck in the area, hoping the trip would eventually provide him with something to do.


    That didn''t happen. As the days passed, Gordon felt forced to sleep on the floor to remain on the main deck. His hunger and thirst intensified, but he didn''t dare to retrieve the few supplies Khan had left on the ship. He could only wait for the trip to end, which luckily didn''tst long.


    The secret mission had started from a space station ced in a specific quadrant rtively close to the intended target. The ship only took a week to reach it, and the structure''s shape soon appeared on the scanners'' screens.


    The space station was quite small. It looked like nothing more than a rectangr hangar with a pir cutting through its center. Spinning rings stood on both sides of the central, cylindrical structure, but they remained smallpared to what Khan had witnessed in the past.


    Gordon expected questions at that point. The ce could very well be a trap, but Khan didn''t hesitate to go through all the security measures hindering thending. The autopilot handled most of them, and the ship slowly approached the hangar''s mana barrier.


    The shipnded and opened on its own, and Khan crossed the metal ramp with a full bottle in his hands. Gordon followed closely behind, and his face didn''t know which expression to muster before the many questioning gazes that fell on him.


    The space station had a small crew and no additional ships. Except for ten soldiers, the hangar was basically empty. Still, all those workers had gathered near the vehicle to witness its return, and nothing could have prepared them for the scene.


    Gordon lowered his head and ced his hand on the elevator''s menus, which opened. Khan led the way inside, and Gordon touched themands once again to bring the lift to the intended location.


    Khan was still donning his Scalqa attire. The bone armor, war paint, and wild hair made him almost unrecognizable from the pictures on thework. Moreover, his aura was strange. He was only looking ahead, but all the soldiers felt his eyes on them.


    The hangar left nothing hidden, so Khan headed directly for the cylindrical structure at its center. The building had an elevator, but its menus refused his gic signature, forcing him to eye Gordon.


    Gordon lowered his head and ced his hand on the elevator''s menus, which opened. Khan led the way inside, and Gordon touched themands once again to bring the lift to the intended location.


    The elevator rose through the pirs, and its walls vanished when it stopped inside a circr area. The ce had one soldier wearing a white medical coat and a few consoles, but its oval machine remained the main attraction.


    Khan didn''t bother speaking. He ignored the scientist as he jumped on the oval tform while taking sips from his bottle. The scene was quite peculiar, but Gordon fulfilled his duties, unlocking the teleport with his gic signature before joining Khan on the tform.


    The scientist remained confused, but Gordon''s re prompted him to take action, activating the teleport. Synthetic mana gathered on the tform before the two men on it disappeared.


    The scenery changed. Khan and Gordon reappeared in another teleport area, this time filled with multiple scientists. Many wanted to ask questions or greet them, but Khan''s appearance made them hesitate.


    Khan didn''t wait for the scientists to recover. As soon as the teleportation ended, his legs started moving, bringing him to the area''s exit before anyone could ask questions. The door opened without requiring additional authorizations, and a vast hall expanded in Khan''s vision.


    The hall''s atmosphere was far different from anything witnessed during the trip. It was vast but rtively empty, featuring only a few groups of people standing in various spots. There also seemed to be bad blood among them, adding a strange tension to the symphony.


    A snort resounded from one of the groups when Khan stepped into the hall, but something else attracted his attention. His eyes looked to his right, where two familiar figures stood among a small team of stern-looking soldiers.


    "Major Khan," The woman between the two announced, advancing past the team of soldiers to reach Khan. "It has been a while."


    The second familiar figure followed the woman, but Khan disregarded him and broke the silence that hadsted throughout the trip. "Princess Felicia."


    "Did you torture our poor Gordon?" Princess Felicia giggled after stealing a nce at the hungry and thirsty Gordon. "He has served our family faithfully for a few decades."


    The tension in the symphony intensified when Princess Felicia used the word "our". Something was happening, and Khan noticed it. Yet, no replies escaped his mouth.


    The man at the Princess'' side was Lynn, the personal guard who had apanied her at Rick''s wedding, and Khan''sck of answers turned his serious expression into a re. Khan matched his gaze, and a sharp coldness overwhelmed the area''s general tension.


    Lynn''s gaze couldn''t help but flicker. His battle instincts activated, warning him about imminent danger. The urge to jump before the Princess invaded his mind, but Felicia knew how to defuse the situation.


    "Maybe I should address you as Cousin from now on," Princess Felicia eximed, showing a genuine smile. "Come. Let me escort you. Grandpa is waiting."

 Chapter 761 Weak

    Chapter 761 Weak


    Princess Felicia hoped for some reaction from Khan, but his expression didn''t flinch. She was a Nognes, a noble who had just mentioned her Grandfather. Few figures in the Global Army could be more relevant. Yet Khan''s face remained cold.


    Theck of reactions didn''t dishearten Princess Felicia. She stepped forward, smiling behind her shoulder when she saw Khan following her. Lynn tried to join the two, but Princess Felicia stopped him with a nce.


    Khan and Princess Felicia crossed the hall under everyone''s attentive gaze. No snorts or murmurs resounded now, but Princess Felicia was mainly to me for that. Mocking Khan was one thing, but the Princess'' presence and eptance demanded basic decorum.


    Khan was the only exception to that generally respectful atmosphere. A Princess was escorting him, and other important figures were watching his every move. However, he casually drank from his bottle while matching the Princess'' pace. He appeared unaware of his situation, but the most experienced people inside the hall could sense the truth.


    Khan looked only ahead and seemed to care solely for the bottle in his hands. Yet, his attention was everywhere. Those with rtively heightened senses could feel his piercing gaze on them. His presence had already filled the hall, and nothing could surprise him anymore.


    Those effects became even clearer when Khan and Princess Felicia walked through a door at the end of the hall. Khan''s departure lifted a heavy weight from the entire area. It seemed his sole presence could make breathing more difficult.


    Needless to say, murmurs and gossip began as soon as the door closed, but Khan couldn''t sense them anymore. He didn''t care about them either, and Princess Felicia couldn''t understand what could capture his attention. Khan''s mind appeared inscrutable, enveloped in a thick barrier no one could pierce.


    The door led to a vast corridor, and multiple spacious areas followed. The ce''s insides reminded Khan of the Solodrey family''s mansion he had visited with Monica. However, the various spaces were overall bigger, featuring better illumination that partially masked its artificial nature.


    The air itself carried simr properties. The area couldn''t mask the synthetic mana''s stench, but Khan smelled attempts to prevent and hide the staleness that would usually invade those ces. The vents tried to replicate the atmosphere of an open and natural environment, achieving praiseworthy results.


    Those small details described part of the ce''s luxury. They weren''t massive improvements, but Khan knew they had to be expensive. That was no ordinary mansion or structure. It had to belong to some of the wealthiest parties in the Global Army.


    Of course, none of that inspection or realization appeared on Khan''s face, leaving Princess Felicia hesitant about how to proceed. She didn''t expect to be overly friendly with Khan immediately, but the two remained rted. Anything was better than total silence until the meeting with the Grandfather.


    "Mypliments to your fianc¨¦e," Princess Felicia eventually eximed, mentioning a detail Khan could be interested in. "Leaking one secret report was all it took to start your rescue mission."


    Princess Felicia felt a sense of achievement when Khan''s eyes moved to her. She had gotten his attention, but his face remained cold, leaving her unsure whether the event was good.


    "Why did the Nognes family plot my assassination?" Khan asked, and Princess Felicia halted her steps. She said nothing about that topic, but Khan had hit the mark.


    "Of course," Princess Felicia loudly realized. "The fact that I could leak the report means I had ess to it or knew about its existence, connecting it to our family."


    Other exnations and excuses could justify the event, eliminating any connection with the Nognes family. Yet, Princess Felicia had no intention of lying. She was actually ted that Khan had such deep insights into the situation.


    "You are even better than what thework says," Princess Felicia praised with a smile. "Yes, factions inside our family plotted your assassination. Normally, that wouldn''t happen, but enough parties inside the Global Army want you gone. That facilitated things."


    "I asked why," Khan reminded. Those details were useful, but Khan wanted to know what had triggered the ploy.


    "Fear," Princess Felicia exined. "Our faction wielded immense influence, even inside our very family. We had all the right cards to takeplete control and establish a proper leader. Sadly-,"


    "My mother had no interest in such things," Khan interrupted.


    Princess Felicia''s smile broadened. The more Khan showed his knowledge and insight, the happier she became.


    "My mother often says these words," Princess Felicia eximed, resuming walking. "My sister was the perfect candidate, or she would have been once she epted her role."


    "Your mother lost apetitor," Khan pointed out.


    "Some saw it like that," Princess Felicia sighed, "But my mother told me the truth. Aunty had something that couldn''t be taught, just like you do."


    That line led the conversation closer to its main topic. There was no need to bring Khan before the Nognes family. They could have simply rescued him and sent him back to the Harbor. Yet, they had opted for a different approach.


    "Why am I here?" Khan asked. "Wherever here is."


    "You are inside the Global Army''s domain," Princess Felicia exined. "This is one of the Nognes family''s mansions. Its exact location isplicated to exin."


    Princess Felicia basically told Khan that the mansion''s location was a secret but didn''t stop at those vague details.


    "As for why you are here," Princess Felicia continued. "You have proven yourself worthy of the Nognes'' name. Our faction wants you." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "To restore the power my mother squandered," Khanmented.


    "Only Grandpa can confirm this," Princess Felicia announced. "Yet, if I had to guess, I''d say to assume the role that was always meant for Aunty."


    Princess Felicia''s im sounded ludicrous. Khan was indeed impressive, but that was too much. He could see himself earning the official title of Prince, but his status and background made him unfit for anything above that.


    "I''m a bastard," Khan pointed out.


    "A bastard who secured a marriage with the Solodrey family''s most sought descendant from nothing," Princess Felicia dered. "Who became the youngest Major and fourth-level warrior in history, and who achieved a key position inside the Thilku Empire."


    Khan''s deeds spoke for themselves, and he knew them better than anyone. However, he had seen what the Solodrey family had required from him to acknowledge his rtionship with Monica. Things were bound to be worse among nobles.


    The level of in-fighting had to be hellish, especially for someone with such a weak im to any kind of position. Besides, the Nognes family had already sent an assassination plot in Khan''s direction. Bing relevant inside the faction would earn him far more of those.


    "Why would I care?" Khan eventually asked, leaving Princess Felicia dumbfounded.


    Princess Felicia was discussing a chance to seize one of the most sought-after positions in the Global Army. The answer to Khan''s question felt so obvious that she couldn''t find the words to reply. Still, his values existed in a world humans couldn''t see.


    "Would you refuse even if Grandpa gives his approval?" Princess Felicia questioned, incredulous those words had escaped her mouth.


    Khan didn''t reply. He resumed silently drinking from his bottle while his eyes pointed forward. No one could understand his intentions, and Princess Felicia understood that the conversation was over.


    The mansion was truly massive, and it took Princess Felicia ten minutes to reach her destination. She stopped before the only door in the middle of a vast corridor and stepped aside, clearing the way for Khan.


    "Grandpa is inside," Princess Felicia announced. "He is waiting for you."


    Khan stepped forward without hesitation, but his hand stopped when it was about to touch the door. The gesture confused Princess Felicia, and something even more surprising followed that.


    "Felicia," Khan eximed. "Thank you for warning my fianc¨¦e."


    Khan''s cold demeanor didn''t flinch, almost making Princess Felicia question the state of her ears. Khan had shown nothing but distrust and detachment during the walk, so his gratitude took Princess Felicia by surprise. He had even dropped the honorifics, hinting at something deeper than that.


    "It was nothing," Princess Felicia smiled again, "Cousin."


    Khan didn''t hesitate anymore. His hand touched the door, which immediately opened, revealing an office far bigger than the living room in his t in the Harbor.


    Comfortable couches, luxurious carpets, various tables, and multiple adorned chairs hit Khan''s vision, but his eyes didn''t move as he stepped inside. The door closed behind him, leaving him alone with the man standing behind the big interactive desk on the other side of the office.


    Khan could see perfectly from his position, and the symphony even added invisible details. He didn''t need to move to study the area but strode forward anyway, sending waves of confidence in every direction.


    Soon, Khan arrived before the big interactive desk. Chairs equipped with pillows on most surfaces stood before it, but Khan didn''t sit. He remained in his position, inspecting the man whom many told him used to hold enough influence tomand the Nognes family.


    Khan saw wrinkles beside the man''s eyes and forehead. He spotted grey strands on his slightly long and opaque dark hair. His beard was well-kept, but its greyness created a tired vibe that his gaze highlighted.


    The man was a fifth-level warrior, but Khan couldn''t find any trace of strength in him. He wasn''t powerless. He seemed to have given in to his exhaustion, and Khan summarized his conclusions into a single word.


    "Weak," Khan said directly to the man''s face.

 Chapter 762 Heads.

    Chapter 762 Heads.


    The man ignored Khan''sment and silently inspected his face. His tired eyes looked past the war paint, the unruly hair, and the cold expression to search for familiar traits. Upon finding them, some warmth and life invaded his exhausted expression.


    "You look exactly like Elizabeth," The man eximed, wearing a faint smile. "She also used to give me these looks."


    Thement took Khan by surprise. He expected the conversation to delve into heavy political topics immediately. That had been his experience with those lofty figures, and he was nothing more than a stranger in that environment. Yet, the man had opened with something that almost resembled affection.


    Of course, Khan''s cold expression and mindset didn''t flinch. He simply recorded that detail and added it to his inspection of the man. Words couldn''t achieve anything after everything he had gone through.


    "You must forgive Felicia," The man sighed, his smile vanishing as he supported his head on his hand. "She grew up hearing stories about your mother. I''m afraid she became her personal hero."


    Khan didn''t reply. He had no interest in catching up with that side of his family, and the man couldn''t earn his respect. He was too disappointing in Khan''s mind.


    "I guess you require proper introductions," The man continued. "I''m Alexander Nognes, your grandfather and de facto leader of our faction."


    Khan noticed the "our" but disregarded it. Alexander had yet to say anything interesting, so his mouth remained shut.


    Slight sadness appeared in Alexander''s mana at Khan''s silence, but nothing reached his expression. Helplessness followed, but even that remained limited to his aura. Alexander seemed to understand and ept Khan''s detachment, even if his hopes said otherwise.


    "Starting today," Alexander eventually announced, "You''ll join the family and obtain the status of Prince. You''ll carry the name Nognes and live as such. Thework will also release part of your history to justify the event." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Alexander wasn''t offering. He didn''t want to make his statement sound like an order, but Khan didn''t hear him asking for permission either. Needless to say, Khan''s mind didn''t take it well.


    "You will move to amodations befitting your new status," Alexander added. "You''ll be assigned a personal guard and the same resources as your fellow Princes and Princesses. Teachers and Masters will also educate you on noble-rted matters."


    Khan diverted his gaze. He emptied the bottle and ced it on the interactive desk before heading for a cab near the wall to his left. He was following his nose, and opening the container revealed a series of luxurious-looking liquor orderly lined up in multiple rows.


    "Your engagement with Miss Solodrey will persist," Alexander dered, watching Khan opening a random bottle and sniffing its insides. "However, your new status will require new negotiations. I''m sure the Solodrey family won''tin."


    Khan''s nose sent conflicting updates, forcing him to take a small sip. The bottle was definitely booze, but the quality was hard to appreciate. It probably was something only experienced tongues could truly enjoy.


    "Your change in status will, however, affect your current connections," Alexander revealed. "Your position in the Thilku Empire and anything you have achieved on Baoway will need reevaluations."


    Khan quickly decided to drink from the bottle anyway. He had never been picky about booze and wouldn''t start now.


    Alexander noted Khan''s apparent disinterest in his words but let it slide. Yet Khan didn''t return to the interactive desk after retrieving the booze, forcing Alexander to ask a question.


    "Are you listening to me?" Alexander asked.


    "Yes," Khan finally spoke, his eyes wandering across the office.


    "Did you understand what I said?" Alexander questioned.


    "Yes," Khan said, turning toward the wall to check whether menus popped out at his touch. They did but refused his gic signature.


    "Well?" Alexander asked. He had basically given Khan the full support of his faction. He wanted more than those short replies.


    "None of that will happen," Khan announced, returning to the main interactive desk. "I''ll take the title of Prince and anything useful I can find, but nothing else."


    "This isn''t a negotiation," Alexander uttered.


    "I''m not negotiating," Khan exined.


    "The title of Prince implies responsibilities," Alexander said. "The noble families are the pirs that rebuilt humankind from nothing. Without us, everything will crumble."


    "You speak as if your rules and goals had any relevance in my mind," Khanmented. "They don''t."


    Alexander sighed. He had hoped for the conversation to be more straightforward, but it was clear he had to address the elephant in the room first.


    "I understand you are angry," Alexander announced. "I had to cut you and your father away precisely because of these responsibilities. We couldn''t give the other families any openings or leverage."


    "Lies," Khan stated. "You were simply too weak or tired to shoulder the problem. You took the easy way out and left us in the dirt for seventeen years."


    Alexander fell silent. Khan couldn''t possibly know the truth, but his words had hit the mark. The issue was far moreplicated, but he was right. Alexander had made the safest decision back in the day.


    "You are correct," Alexander agreed. "I am tired. I''ve lived to this day only to see most of my hopes and dreams fall apart. I don''t have any strength or desire to fight anymore."


    Khan focused on his bottle. He didn''t care about Alexander''s sob story, which wasn''t his problem either. Khan had far bigger things to worry about.


    "That''s why I decided to acknowledge your lineage," Alexander continued. "Our faction has long since been in decline, afflicted by infighting and pressure from other factions. It needs a strong leader forged through experience, not education, to return to its former glory."


    "Why would I care about your faction?" Khan asked.


    "It''s your birthright," Alexander dered.


    "It became my birthright when I proved myself useful," Khan corrected. "I have no interest in fixing your mistakes."


    "You know the power you could obtain by ying along," Alexander switched approach. "You know you need it to achieve your goals."


    "You don''t even have the stones to mention the Nak," Khan uttered. "Fine. Give all the Nognes family to me. I might have some use for it."


    "So," Khan responded, "You can only give me problems and infighting."


    "Do you understand the position you are in?" Alexander asked, raising his voice. "You are a Prince. The decision is final, but what you do with that isn''t. Without my faction''s support, you''ll be defenseless against assassination attempts and other ploys."


    Alexander frowned. He thought Khan was joking for a second, but his expression remained serious. A mere kid was asking for ownership of an entire noble family.


    "How ignorant can you be?" Alexander cursed. "No one has that kind of power. Even at my peak, I couldn''t control the entire family."


    "So," Khan responded, "You can only give me problems and infighting."


    "Do you understand the position you are in?" Alexander asked, raising his voice. "You are a Prince. The decision is final, but what you do with that isn''t. Without my faction''s support, you''ll be defenseless against assassination attempts and other ploys."


    "That''s nothing new," Khan pointed out.


    Alexander was at a loss for words. Khan looked incorruptible, and his confidence came from real experience. After all, he had already survived an assassination attempt from the Nognes family without needing external support.


    "You underestimate the danger you''ll be in," Alexander warned.


    "I''m not," Khan said. "You are the one failing to realize what trying to force me into this infighting would imply."


    "What do you mean?" Alexander asked.


    "How many enemies are here today?" Khan wondered. "Would I get rid of most of them if I killed everyone?"


    Alexander suddenly realized his mistake. Until now, he thought he could have found amon ground with Khan. He didn''t expect the two of them to reach an agreement, but the truth was far worse than that.


    Khan''s mind didn''t followmon reasoning. It didn''t abide by human rules andcked normal restrictions. His values had strayed too far away, making his actions and intentions unpredictable. Alexander would have never thought he was actually considering murdering everyone in the mansion.


    "That would maim our entire family," Alexander tried to be reasonable. "It would expose us to the other nobles and more."


    "I have no use for untrustworthy parties," Khan stated, "And I don''t care about your problems. I''ll take what I need and dispose of anyone on my way."


    That extreme mindset could leave most ordinary people scared and disgusted. Those words were barely human, and Khan''s appearance deepened their impact. He was a walking threat, a monster donning the skin of a young man. Still, Alexander didn''t feel fear or revulsion. He only experienced guilt.


    Khan had made his own decisions to survive, but it was undisputable that Alexander had put him in that position. He had left him alone in a dangerous environment with heavy baggage. Khan''s sole fault was his talent.


    "If you made up your mind," Alexander eventually announced, "Why are you wasting time with me?"


    "I wanted to see the powerful man at the head of the faction," Khan admitted. "I see now that there is nothing powerful in him."


    Khan directly turned, heading for the hall''s exit. The conversation had ended in his mind, and he had other issues to attend to. He had been away too long to waste more time with his grandfather.


    "Khan," Alexander called before Khan could cross the office. He stopped but didn''t turn.


    "Felicia will escort you to locations of interest inside the mansion," Alexander exined. "We have prepared something for you."


    Khan stood still for a second before resuming his walk. Bribes wouldn''t change his mind.


    "Also," Alexander continued. "Your fianc¨¦e and father are waiting for you. I hope you can reconsider your decision until you talk to them. At least dy it until then."


    Alexander''s words exuded some kindness. He didn''t want to show his reach or warn Khan about his family''s influence, but his request ended up triggering dangerous reactions.


    A spherical gale suddenly expanded from Khan, pushing away carpets, chairs, tables, and sofas. Some furniture mmed on the wall, falling and breaking while Khan slowly looked past his shoulder.


    "Are you threatening me?" Khan asked, the air in the office echoing his chilling voice.


    "No," Alexander shook his head, retaining his calm. "I just wanted to reunite you with your loved ones as soon as possible."


    Alexander was speaking the truth, and Khan read it in his mana. Yet, Khan couldn''t ignore the potential implications. If Alexander could get to Monica and Bret so easily, so could the members of the other factions.


    "You want to avoid a catastrophe inside the Nognes family," Khan threatened, "You tell everyone to stay away."


    "Will you avoid spilling blood if I do that?" Alexander questioned.


    "No," Khan responded, resuming his walk. "Some heads have to fall."

 Chapter 763 Gifts

    Chapter 763 Gifts


    A different scenery awaited Khan outside Alexander''s office. Princess Felicia was still there, but a few figures had joined her. Gordon, Lynn, and two other guards had reached the corridor to create a proper escort party, but Khan barely looked at them. He ignored them even when they lowered their heads and voiced a clear "Prince Khan".


    "How did it go?" Princess Felica asked as soon as the office''s door closed.


    Khan ignored the question and gazed at one end of the corridor. Although the conversation had been inconclusive, it provided insights into some fields.


    "Do the noble families have no Patriarchs and Matriarchs?" Khan questioned, his gaze still wandering on the corridor.


    Princess Felicia smiled. Spending time with Khan confirmed her assumptions. He needed minor tweaks but had all the right cards to be a powerhouse inside the Nognes family.


    "Noble families are massive," Princess Felicia exined. "Each faction wields as much influence and power as a wealthy family. Unifying them under a single figure is impossible."


    "The Global Army?" Khan asked.


    "The Global Army knows what we need it to know," Princess Felicia replied. "The illusion of order is often enough to prevent public unrest."


    Khan fell silent under the group''s watchful gazes. Many tried to read his thoughts, but his stance and expression didn''t reveal anything. Even his eyes remained still, making the audience wonder whether he was pondering at all.


    "Did Grandpa tell you about the gifts?" Princess Felicia switched topics to break the silence. "I can escort you there right away."


    Khan limited himself to a nod, and Princess Felicia happily led the way. She and Khan walked side to side while the four guards encircled them. The previous greeting and the soldiers'' behavior confirmed what Alexander had warned Khan about. Even with that clear refusal, Khan had still be a Prince.


    "You''ll see, Cousin," Princess Felicia did her best to keep the conversation alive. "Grandpa handpicked the gifts. I think he has worked on them for a while."


    Sadly for Princess Felicia, Khan remained silent. He didn''t mind freebies, but their value was unclear. Too much had changed during his time on Baoway, so even incredible items might mean nothing to him.


    "Oh," Princess Felicia continued, seemingly recalling something. "You''ll need a personal guard from now on. I think Gordon is a nice match since you started torturing him already."


    Khan didn''t divert his gaze from the corridor, but the topic aroused his interest. He didn''t need protection, but additional manpower could be useful, especially if loyal to him.


    "Did he give a report of what he saw on Baoway?" Khan asked.


    "Not yet," Princess Felicia said, ted by hearing Khan speak. "We waited on that in preparation for your change in status."


    Khan stopped walking, and the group halted with him. He nced at Gordon, staring at him with his piercing eyes. The man looked capable, but Khan''s interestsy elsewhere.


    "From now on," Khan announced, "You answer only to me. Every word, report, or action goes through me first."


    "Yes," Gordon promptly replied, bowing his head. "My Prince."


    Khan immediately lost interest in the matter. He would explore the issue with more careter, but other priorities were now in order.


    Princess Felicia ran out of topics and fell silent, but a smile remained on her face due to the small victory with Gordon. She didn''t know the details, but it was clear Khan was now part of the family.


    Minutes passed while the group roamed through the immense mansion. Khan and the others crossed multiple vast, empty areas but never stopped to appreciate them. He noticed the almostplete absence of servants, but that was it.


    Eventually, the group arrived in another vast hall featuring a rectangr structure at its bottom. Khan had seen something simr during Rick''s wedding, and the amount of synthetic mana running through the separate ce''s walls confirmed his hunch. The variousyers of protection hinted at an armory.


    Princess Felicia went straight to the point, almost rushing toward the separate area to unlock its various protections. Its door eventually opened, and the guards remained behind while the Princess led Khan inside.


    Rick''s armory featured countless weapons, but almostplete emptiness expanded in Khan''s vision now. The vast separate area with variousyers of protection had nothing but a luxurious box ced on top of an isted pedestal.


    Princess Felicia approached the pedestal before moving aside, leaving the path open for Khan. He reached the box and lifted its lid, revealing an encased disk resting on soft golden fabric.


    "I don''t have a phone," Khan said, seizing the disk.


    "Transcendent Step style," Princess Felicia chanted. "A martial art that scored ny-nine points. After studying your growth and fighting style, Grandpa thought it would suit you."


    The incredible evaluation was worthy of shock and excited cries even from nobles, but Khan only brought the encased disk closer to his face.


    "It''s an upgrade to your Lightning-Demon style," Princess Felicia exined. "We can''t have our new Prince go around with something under ny."


    ''Curious timing,'' Khan thought, storing the disk in his makeshift belt.


    Princess Felicia ignored theck ofments or gratitude and focused on the small victories. Khan had epted the martial art. That was enough for her. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "How many know about this martial art?" Khan suddenly asked, looking at Princess Felicia.


    "Few inside our family," Princess Felicia revealed, "But your worries are superfluous. A martial art with such a high score has virtually no ws. Knowledge won''t do your enemies any good."


    Khan didn''t trust those words, but they made sense. A martial art wouldn''t have gotten such a high score if it had significant ws. Of course, counters could exist, and the fact that Alexander had prepared the gift for a long time made him think.


    Still, worrying about those issues now wouldn''t do Khan any good. He departed, stepping outside the empty armory with Princess Felicia, and thetter promptly conveyed orders.


    "Prince Khan needs a phone," Princess Felicia announced. "It needs to be chaos-resistant and updated with all his files."


    One of the guards stepped aside and drew his phone to convey the order to the appointed parties. Meanwhile, Princess Felicia resumed leading the group, silently heading for the following gift.


    More vast corridors and halls followed until the group stopped in another big area, where Khan noticed two relevant details. The ce''s walls, floor, and ceiling tried to hinder his senses, hinting at reinforcements usually found in training rooms. Also, more people were waiting for him.


    A second group made of three people was waiting in the hall, and Khan instantly knew that two were guards. Instead, the young man between them conveyed an aura Khan had often witnessed among lofty figures, revealing his identity as a noble.


    "Brother," Princess Felicia eximed at the scene, and the young man stepped forward to perform a bow.


    "Khan," Princess Felicia continued. "This is my brother, Prince William."


    "It''s an honor to meet you, Prince Khan," Prince William dered. "You must be even more impressive than thework says to monopolize my beautiful sister''s attention."


    Khan ignored the pleasantries and studied the man. Prince William had Princess Felicia''s brown hair, keeping it short and slightly stylish. He was lean and only looked a few years older than Khan, but his fourth-level warrior''s aura conveyed a clear sharpness.


    Moreover, Prince William and Princess Felicia had little inmon except for their hair color. Actually, Khan found more resemnce in himself. He and Prince William shared some facial features.


    The two groups waited for Khan''s response, but only silence arrived. Still, Prince William didn''t seem to mind and smiled as he exined the reason behind his presence.


    "I was the one who prepared this gift," Prince Willian announced, "So I wanted to be present for your unwrapping."


    Prince William nodded at one of his guards, who promptly drew her phone to convey amand. A nearby door opened, and four people crossed its edge to enter the reinforced hall.


    Khan didn''t know the two older figures, but the others had faces he recognized. One was Ethan Padridge, the investigator from Reebfell who had joined the search for the secretb in the Slums. Instead, the other was a rtive who had been with Khan on Baoway.


    Amy kept her head lowered while the people around her wore grim faces. They tried to look apologetic, but the situation was nothing but desperate. Amy had offended a Prince, going as far as attempting to assassinate him. Salvaging their family was the best they could hope for.


    Ethan''s presence had exactly that purpose. The two older figures hoped that a familiar face and a formerpanion could lead to mercy. Yet, when the three searched for Khan inside the reinforced room, they couldn''t find any trace of him.


    The thudding noise that spread through the room dispersed the temporary confusion, bringing the Padridge group''s eyes somewhere near their feet. A headless corpse was lying among them, creating a puddle of blood around its severed neck.


    The confusion turned into shock, but looking at the audience rekindled the previous feeling. Princess Felicia, Prince William, and the various guards were inspecting a spot behind the Padridge group, and the three slowly turned to check it.


    The three spotted Khan''s figure. He was showing his back to the general audience, but no one could care about that detail. Everyone''s eyes were on Khan''s right hand, which was holding a severed head from its long blonde hair. Amy didn''t even get a chance to change expression before dying.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Again, thank you for all the gifts, and shoutout to Adam_Holt_3819 for the Magic Castle.

 Chapter 764 Child

    Chapter 764 Child


    The mansion was no battlefield. Khan didn''t kill out of self-defense or to serve a higher purpose. That was proper murder, and the audience could only watch as blood dripped from Amy''s severed head.


    Needless to say, silence enveloped the reinforced hall. Khan was now a Prince, so most of his actions were justified, especially toward an inferior family that had insulted him. Yet, executing someone without trial or dialogue sounded too much, even for those lofty parties.


    The exnation behind Khan''s action was evident but also scary. He had killed someone who had betrayed him. Still, the situation involved far more than simple revenge, giving insights into Khan''s mindset. His behavior told everyone that the environment, the ce, and the individual didn''t matter to him.


    The three members of the Padridge family remained stunned, partially still absorbing the development. Meanwhile, the various guards in the hall took battle stances to protect Princess Felicia and Prince William. Khan''s unpredictable behavior earned him as much.


    However, a few guards and Prince William showed additional reactions. The sudden event shocked them, but their minds didn''t stop at that. Something in Khan''s action was far more deserving of attention, and thinking about the issue sent tension into the symphony.


    Everyone knew Khan was fast, but the hall had no shortage of fifth-level warriors. Few could react to his sudden sprints, but many had the experience and training to notice them. Yet, nothing simr happened.


    The matter went beyond that. Such a fast dash would usually leave tracks in the air or marks on the floor. After all, bursts of speed had toe from somewhere, generally requiring massive energy or physical strength discharges. However, Khan''s move didn''t give birth to a single gale.


    The event was highly unnatural and led to a single, scary conclusion. Khan could sprint unnoticed, delivering killing blows without triggering survival or battle instincts. He had ess to the deadliest technique in the world, forcing the guards to prepare for eventual attacks beforehand.


    Nevertheless, Prince William didn''t share the guards'' wariness. His friendly face turned serious, and his focused brown eyes darted between Khan''s previous and current positions. Countless calctions and thoughts filled his mind until an exnation finally arrived.


    "Expert proficiency level," Prince William announced. "Full mastery of the Lightning-Demon style. You are one of a kind, Cousin Khan."


    Khan nced at Prince William before dropping the severed head to the floor. The Prince had hit the mark, but Khan didn''t convey any approval or refusal. He simply moved his attention to the Padridge group, approaching them.


    Ethan and the two older figures snapped back to reality at Khan''s approach. Their knees immediately hit the floor, and their heads soon joined them. They hoped their prostration would earn them mercy, but simr gestures no longer had any meaning for Khan. Luckily for them, he had different intentions.


    "Amy''s parents, I suppose," Khan announced.


    The two older figures lifted their heads, nodding and speaking simultaneously. "Yes, Prince Khan."


    "Your faction is now mine," Khan dered. "It will live to make up for your daughter''s betrayal. Anything amiss, and I''ll wipe out your family."


    Khan had chosen his words carefully, and the Padridge group could read between the lines. They would have to burden the responsibilities of their entire family, sharing the guilt of eventual ploys from other factions. Khan wasn''t only demanding their servitude. He also wanted them to keep the other members in check.


    The request sounded unreasonable, but Khan wasn''t asking. He had given his piece, so he returned to the noble group. Prince William had noticed something important, and Khan couldn''t leave it be.


    "I had no ill intentions," Prince William eximed at Khan''s arrival. He waved at his guards to stand down while advancing to meet his cousin face-to-face and add something. "Mine was an honestpliment."


    Khan inspected the Prince. There was something cunning about the man, but that feelingcked malice. It was an odd match, mainly since sly people preferred to keep that side a secret.


    "Besides," Prince William continued. "The information is useless now that you have a new martial art. At most, you can use it to improve your political figure."


    Prince William was right in many ways. That environment was also isted, so preventing leaks would take little effort. Yet, Khan mostly cared about the Prince''s intentions.


    "Miss Padridge got what she deserved," Prince William stated. "Based on your preferences, we''ll share a fitting story."


    "What are you trying to do?" Khan eventually asked.


    "Taking a side," Prince William responded. "You are our faction''s best hope. I want to get in your good graces."


    "Why not aiming for the leading spot yourself?" Khan questioned, ignoring the seemingly sarcasticment.


    "Please, no," Prince William chuckled. "I''m a bit older than you, and I''ve enjoyed benefits all my life, but I''m no match. You also cling to life quite stubbornly, so I don''t want to take my chances."


    Prince William almost seemed to be joking or mocking Khan, but his mana told otherwise. The man waspletely serious, which confused Khan even more.


    "I read you appreciate honesty," Prince William added, seemingly reading Khan''s mind. "There''s no point in lying to you anyway, right? I''m guessing the device our family developed no longer works on you."


    Khan didn''t know how to take Prince William''s behavior. The man definitely had a tricky character but also knew his stuff. Still, Khan couldn''t afford uncertainties anymore.


    "I have no use for variables," Khan dered.


    "But I''m not!" Prince William promptly shouted, lifting a hand to stop his guards. Khan''s words made them try to step forward, but the Prince''s gesture stopped them.


    "He is testing me," Prince William scoffed, ring at his guards. "I would have been already dead otherwise."


    "Forgive him," Princess Felicia apologized, approaching her brother. "He has been like this since he was a kid."


    "What I''m saying is," Prince William cleared his throat. "Our mother already supports you, so just use us until you can trust us."


    Prince William and Princess Felicia were clearly looking out for their interests, or rather, their mother was following her father''s wishes to restore the faction''s power. That wasn''t real loyalty, but Khan could use the additional power.


    "What about the others from Baoway?" Khan changed topics, diverting his gaze.


    "We are still tracking some down," Prine William revealed. "Others we have located. We will apprehend them soon enough." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Keep them there," Khan ordered. "I''ll get them personally."


    "As you wish, Cousin Khan," Prince William said, nodding at his guards to ry the order.


    "Are there other gifts?" Khan asked.


    "One," Princess Felicia replied. "Follow me."


    The march across the immense mansion resumed, and Prince William obviously followed. The escort had grown in number, but nothing broke the silence. Everyone simply waited for Khan to get to his destination.


    The scenery finally changed. The endless array of halls and corridors ended to make room for a spacious hangar filled with luxurious rides. The area also had plenty of personnel, marking a stark difference from the previous environments.


    Khan could pretty much guess the nature of his third gift by then, but reaching it still generated some silent and hidden surprise. Princess Felicia stopped before a big white ship, and one of the soldiers near it delivered a device describing its characteristics.


    The ship was long and rectangr, featuring four big engines at its bottom. Its canopy was half-circr and reinforced, and the various measurements on the device spoke for its spacious insides.


    The vehicle''s functions didn''t stop there. In addition to decent living quarters, a rtively small cargo area, and a reinforced room, the ship also had multiple shields topensate for excessive elerations. In short, it could fly far faster than Khan''s previous rides without affecting his body.


    The model was clearly different from Khan''s ride, but he guessed that move had been intentional. His faction wasn''t giving him a new vehicle to rece his current ship. It wanted to add tools to his arsenal, gifting him something befitting of his position and status.


    ''I can fit entire teams in this,'' Khan concluded. He wouldn''t require the Global Army''s support for political missions and simr endeavors with that ship. He could move independently, even carrying handpicked soldiers if he wanted to.


    "It has no model," Khan pointed out, scrolling through the device.


    "This ship won''t hit the market for another year or two," Princess Felicia exined. "It won''t get a model code until then."


    The matter was hardly surprising. The nobles didn''t only have a monopoly over most new products. They built many of them, and dying their arrival into the general market helped retain their power over other families.


    Khan almost jumped inside the ship to review its contents, but a new, familiar sensation hit the symphony. He sensed clear scorn spreading through the synthetic mana and approaching his position, making him turn in its direction.


    Prince Felicia and Prince William followed Khan''s gaze, and their faces turned serious when they spotted the neers. Four people were approaching the white ship, but only one earned their attention.


    "Cousin Richard," Princess Felicia announced, eyeing the youngest man in the new group. "I thought Mother forbid you toe."


    "Father thought otherwise," Prince Richard responded. "Besides, I wanted to check our new Cousin myself."


    The short exchange of words told Khan everything he needed to know. Excluding Elizabeth, Alexander had another daughter and son, who had children of their own. Prince William and Princess Felicia came from the daughter, while Prince Richard came from the son.


    The symphony and tones of the conversation added another detail. Khan''s aunt supported him, but the same didn''t seem to apply to his uncle. Even with the refusal, Khan had still been caught up in his faction''s infighting.


    "I wouldn''t suggest it," Prince William warned. "Cousin Khan might not react well to your presence."


    "Why not?" Prince Richard asked, reaching the ship. "We are all one big family. We should get to know each other better."


    Anyone could see that Prince Richard had unfriendly intentions. Still, the man and his guards didn''t witness Khan''s previous actions. Their confidence and sense of safety were misced, and Prince William felt the urge to defuse the situation.


    "Cousin Khan," Prince William muttered. "Cousin Richard doesn''t know his ce and has no real relevance. His older brother is the true heir."


    "Are you asking me to let him live?" Khan questioned without bothering to lower his voice.


    "Killing him wouldunch our faction into an internal war," Prince William exined, "Maiming it as a result. You would throw away a big part of our power and influence."


    "Killing me?" Prince Richard dered, anger invading his expression as he nced at his guards. "Did you hear them? My Cousins are openly plotting my assassination."


    Khan heard everything Prince William said but found the situation boring and pointless. He had seen Prince Richard''s kind often. He was nothing more than a spoiled child, unaware of the world''s true nature. His insults couldn''t even reach Khan''s ears.


    Nevertheless, Prince William had a point. Prince Richard was part of his faction. He remained an asset even as an overgrown child, and taking him out would only create problems. Khan couldn''t see his barking being worth the hassle.


    "I guess I can do my uncle a favor," Khan eventually said.


    "Favor?" Prince Richard scoffed, eyeing his guards. "The barbarian thinks he has something worth giving me."


    The guards were used to mustering fakeughs at Prince Richard''s distasteful jokes, but something happened before their mouths could open. Khan had materialized before them, and his right hand had already closed on Prince Richard''s face.


    "I''ll teach you fear," Khan uttered. The guards began to move, but Khan''s figure disappeared again, along with Prince Richard''s.


    The sudden, unpredictable, and untraceable movement almost sent the noble guards into a frenzy. Their Prince had disappeared, and they didn''t even know where he had gone. However, a sizzling noise soon spread through the hangar, bringing everyone''s eyes to the mana barrier at its bottom.


    The various guards, the hangar personnel, Prince William, and Princess Felicia spotted Khan before the mana barrier. Prince Richard''s face was still in his hand, but the other had created a glowing short sword that was piercing the membrane.


    The mana barrier quickly gave in to Khan''s spell, and a hole opened into its ethereal fabric. A sucking force immediately spread through the hangar, sending breathable air into the empty universe. Still, Khan didn''t let it be alone. The audience couldn''t believe their eyes when they saw Khan throw Prince Richard outside, too.

 Chapter 765 Truth

    Chapter 765 Truth


    Multiple auras burst forward inside the hangar. Prince Richard''s guards unleashed their mana to dash toward the barrier, but nothing could have prepared them for the following development.


    Khan jumped after Prince Richard, joining him in space. The mana barrier closed behind him without the spell piercing it, but more energy leaked from Khan''s body, enveloping him into a protective membrane.


    Mana-enhanced bodies had higher tolerance levels across the board, but the open space remained uninhabitable. Techniques and spells could buy time, but prolonged exposure would always lead to the same result.


    Prince Richard was no exception to that rule. He was a third-level warrior, granting him additional seconds of safety in that hostile environment. Yet, ice soon umted on his skin, forcing him to act.


    As young and spoiled as the Prince was, the Nognes family had still provided him with a perfect education. Prince Richard had mastered the pilots'' survival techniques, and the additional seconds granted by his enhanced body allowed him to concentrate and muster his mana.


    A mana membrane slowly covered Prince Richard''s body, dispersing the umting ice. However, before the barrier could reach his face, a palm mmed on his chest, dispersing his energy.


    Prince Richard panicked, lifting his head to inspect the assant. He had been so focused on surviving that he didn''t even notice Khan. Thetter had used the same pilots'' techniques to reach the Prince and take care of his weak membrane.


    Anger invaded Prince Richard''s expression, but pure coldness met his re. The face behind the reddish barrier showed no emotion. Khan looked at him as if he were nothing, but bigger problems quickly distracted him.


    Prince Richard''s face bloated as ice resumed umting on his body. His vision grew hazy as redness invaded his eyes. He was dying, but the hangar was mere meters from him. A simple discharge of mana could send him there.


    Prince Richard released mana from his feet to propel himself forward, but a palm mmed on his chest again. Khan stopped his desperate attempt to return to safety and pushed him away, flinging him farther from the hangar.


    The Prince began to spin on himself, and his panic intensified whenever his face pointed at the hangar. He saw his safe ce getting farther away while the universe continued assaulting his body. Death loomed over him, but his desperation fueled onest survival attempt.


    A protective membrane tried to envelop Prince Richard''s body, but that energy vanished as soon as a figure filled his vision. That time, Khan didn''t do anything. Merely appearing before the Prince destroyed his concentration.


    The Prince''s vision began to grow dark while his eyes remained pointed at the face behind the trembling membrane. Khan''s expression didn''t change throughout the exchange. He conveyed the same coldness as before.


    The scene made Prince Richard understand the truth. Status, ranks, guards, and other benefits were useless in that situation. Khan had cornered and doomed him in a single move. Even as a noble, that was the value of his life.


    Prince Richard''s anger disappeared. He realized only Khan could save him, so he started to beg him with his eyes. Still, his vision grew dark, and soon, he couldn''t see anything anymore.


    Drowsiness invaded Prince Richard. He was about to fall asleep and knew enough about his situation to understand there wouldn''t be any awakening.


    Nevertheless, warmth suddenly assaulted Prince Richard''s body, awakening his senses and restarting his organs. His lungs also expanded as breathable air finally flowed through his nostrils. Tears began flowing from his eyes, carrying ice shards with them, and his vision slowly returned.


    Prince Richard could feel foreign hands grabbing his arms and straightening his position, but his confused state only allowed him to inspect his surroundings. His vision grew clearer, eventually updating him on his location. He had returned to the hangar, but almost no one looked at him.


    Some ships had started to float while others were in the process of shutting down. It seemed a rescue operation had begun, but the culprit had been faster and had imed most of the hangar''s attention.


    Everyone was looking at Khan, who had returned to the new ship and was unlocking its doors. Prince Richard saw him entering the vehicle before his ears finally resumed working. His guards supported him, throwing questions about his condition.


    Still, Prince Richard couldn''t care about his guards. Prince William and Princess Felicia were among the few inspecting him. That incident was bound to spread throughout the Nognes family, and Prince Richard wouldn''t look good in it.


    However, a wave of fear ran down Prince Richard''s spine when he considered the potential repercussions. His brother and father would want to retaliate, but that meant facing Khan''s wrath again, and he would do anything to avoid that.


    Khan didn''t care about the situation outside. He had finished sending his message, so he moved to other issues. The ship was nice, but he couldn''t trust it without aplete inspection.


    The hangar personnel had already loaded the ship with everything it needed. The cargo area had supplies, the tank was full, and the bridge only answered to Khan''s gic signature. Yet, he performed a thorough inspection anyway, and no one dared to disturb it.


    The ship was quite big, so Khan spent almost twenty minutes studying every corner. Everything looked fine, and he couldn''t find any trace of trackers or simr tools. It seemed his grandfather genuinely meant the vehicle as a gift, holding back on tricks or ploys.


    After the inspection, Khan returned outside. He felt no surprise noticing Prince Richard and his guards'' absence but also expected some kind of reinforcements. However, nothing simr arrived, and his two Cousins were probably to me for that.


    "That was quite the show, Cousin," Prince William announced as Khan rejoined the group. "It might have been the ice, but Cousin Richard''s pants were definitely wet."


    "Here," Princess Felicia continued, handing Khan a ck phone. "It just arrived. Please check it to see if anything is missing."


    Khan seized and unlocked the phone, going through all the files. The folder with Monica''s albums was obviously gone, but his contacts, books, and mana items were there, as well as a torrent of notifications.


    Many had tried to contact Khan during his absence, but the highest number of notifications came from thework. His phone had received countless updates on topics he had bookmarked, and going through them would take hours.


    Khan only scrolled through the variousbels to get a general idea. He had read most of those updates while flying back from Baoway, but others were specific to his interests. Still, he couldn''t find anything relevant connected to Monica.


    The absence of direct messages or attempted calls made sense since Monica knew Khan had no connection to thework on Baoway. Yet, he couldn''t see anything significant about her either. He had already checked that on Gordon''s ship, but his phone confirmed it. Monica had basically disappeared from the public scene for months.


    "What do you want to do now, Cousin?" Princess Felicia asked when Khan stopped inspecting his phone.


    "Do you have my father and fianc¨¦e in custody?" Khan asked.


    "They aren''t in the mansion," Princess Felicia revealed. "Your father is in co''s Slums, guarded by our soldiers. Instead, your fianc¨¦e is in a nearby space station."


    "I need the coordinates for both locations," Khan dered.


    "We can send-," Prince William announced, but Khan cut him short.


    "No," Khan interrupted. "I''ll fly there solo. I''ll see whether to contact you afterward."


    "My Prince," Gordon called, trying to remind Khan about his presence. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "You''ll wait for me in the Harbor," Khan ordered. "Coordinate with Andrew."


    "If I may," Princess Felicia intervened. "Thework is still warming up to your new status. Flying alone might be dangerous."


    "The coordinates," Khan uttered, and the two nobles understood that he wouldn''t ask a third time.


    Princess Felicia nodded at one of her guards, who seized his phone to send an update. Khan immediately received the message and stored his device while jumping into his ship. The audience could only watch as the doors closed and the engines started whooshing.


    Khan settled on the bridge behind the pilot''s seat and connected his phone to share the new coordinates. Truth be told, some of them were dark and required the autopilot. Both obscured segments belonged to the initial chunk of the trip, hinting that the Nognes family wanted to keep their mansion''s location a secret.


    Khan epted that safety measure and ignored it to focus on something else. He had two possible destinations, and one had toe first. He could finally meet his slippery father or reunite with his fianc¨¦e.


    The decision felt like a no-brainer. Khan wouldn''t hesitate to meet his father anymore, but Monica''s public silence was worrying. He couldn''t even imagine her state, and his concern intensified when his calls to her didn''t get any answers. Khan knew he had to take care of her first. She needed him, and he needed her.

 Chapter 766 Thin

    Chapter 766 Thin


    Khan made more attempts to contact Monica while the autopilot brought the ship out of the secret area. Yet, she seemed to have disappeared and be unreachable.


    The Nognes family''s custody could exin theck ofmunication, but Khan couldn''t find reassurance in hypotheses. Only seeing Monica would quell his worry, but it seemed he would have toplete the trip first.


    The autopilot had fixed speed, and Khan dealt with that annoying wait by going through his many notifications. He had gained a general idea of the past months, but a review was in order. Also, the news of his status had hit thework, giving birth to countless articles.


    The articles kept Khan busy until the ship finally allowed him to take control of the steering wheel. Needless to say, he stepped on the pedal, pushing the vehicle to its limits to shorten the trip. His body took a hit, but the shields soonpensated for the sudden eleration.


    Eventually, Khan reached the point when he could let go of the controls and let the ship handle the trip by itself. The course and speed were set, so he could resume studying thework. However, another problem popped up when he nced at the device.


    The transparent screen partially reflected Khan''s face. He saw unwavering cold eyes surrounded by war paints. His long hair was also messy, and his attire wasn''t exactly good either.


    Khan didn''t mind his appearance, and Monica wouldn''t either. Yet, Khan could barely recognize himself and didn''t want Monica to go through a shocking reunion. Ideally, he would avoid worsening her unknown mental state.


    The problem gave Khan the chance to test the living quarters. They weren''t as confined as those in Baoway''s ship, but the limitations of space vehicles still applied. Of course, Khan barely cared and proceeded to scrub out all the filth umted while he was stranded.


    The hot water felt strange, and the same went for the soft, casual clothes stashed on the ship. That level offort was far different from what Khan had grown used to on Baoway, and inspecting himself on one of the mirrors exined that odd emotion.


    After the shower, Khan had regained his usual appearance. His hair was long, but nothing else had changed. On the surface, he was identical to when he had left.


    Yet, Khan knew much had changed. He could see it in the reflection of his eyes and the colors his presence added to the symphony. The process had started on Cegnore, and Baoway had finalized it.


    The greatest change probably came in the form of ack of hesitation. In the past, Khan had worried his loved ones wouldn''t be able to ept him anymore after significant transformations. Yet, that feeling didn''t appear now. That was what he was, and he wouldn''tpromise it.


    Luckily for Khan, the targeted space station was rtively nearby. When flying at full speed, the ship only needed half a day to reach it, and the structure soon became visible on the scanners.


    Khan saw another small space station, this time with a cubical structure. No pirs pierced it, but a ring still spun around the central building.


    The ship had the clearance codes, so Khan didn''t need to send requests to gain ess to the space station. The autopilot activated, handling thending into the partially hidden hangar. The area seemed quite crowded, but Khan''s vehicle easily found an empty spot.


    Still, exiting the ship wasn''t as smooth. A crowd gathered around the metal ramp as soon as the ship''s doors opened, and shouts flew when the audience spotted Khan''s figure. He didn''t even take a step into the hangar, but problems had already arrived.


    A line of soldiers prevented the audience from barging into the ship, but that didn''t limit the general chaos. Khan saw floating cameras, scanners, and other recording devices all around the hangar while cries and questions reached his ears. The word "Prince" often resounded, exining the nature of the mess.


    The news of Khan''s status was public, and it seemed the Nognes family had also leaked one of his possible destinations. That information had probably reached the reporters while Khan was still busy iming his gifts. They wouldn''t have arrived at the space station before him otherwise.


    Pinpointing the specific party involved was impossible without further investigation, but Khan didn''t care. For all he knew, that was standard protocol for bastards promoted to Princes. His faction might have spread the information to abide by unwritten political rules, but his priorities didn''t change at that scene.


    "My fianc¨¦e," Khan announced, eyeing the only soldier inside the blockade.


    "My Prince," The soldier eximed, lowering his head in respect. "Maybe addressing the reporters first is a wiser choice."


    Khan closed his eyes for a few seconds, and reopening them unleashed a new kind of chaos. The recording devices began to explode, shocking the massive crowd and the soldiers. Wires and debris flew everywhere, slowly bringing silence to the hangar.


    The soldier had to muster the entirety of his self-control to prevent his mouth from hanging in shock, but looking at the metal ramp didn''t improve his condition. Khan was staring at him, and his silence spoke louder than countless words.


    "Miss Solodrey is on the floor above ours," The soldier revealed. "We''ll empty the elevator in a few minutes, My Prince."


    Space stations usually had standardyouts. Khan could instantly spot the elevator clogged by reporters still trying to make their way into the hangar. The lift would be unusable for a while, but another path existed.


    The upper floor had fewer reporters, but a small crowd still upied its most spacious area. The ce''s purpose was also different, having multiple quarters for high-tier guests and simr individuals, sorge gatherings weren''t allowed.


    Nevertheless, that supposedly more peaceful and restrained ce witnessed something incredible that day. The floor began to shake as the metal bent upward in one area. That tough material eventually shattered, creating a small channel near the corner of the hall.


    The reporters were so shocked that they failed to lift their recording devices, but the figure that climbed through the hole made them recall their duty. The cameras rose when Khan stepped on the upper floor, only to explode in the following second.


    Khan studied the area, but the symphony had no answers. He couldn''t sense Monica anywhere, and his cold eyes soon fell on the stunned reporters. They had been informed about his arrival, so chances were they knew where Monica''s room was.


    The reporters didn''t know how to react to Khan''s silent look. They experienced pure terror, but the absence of questions made them helpless. They wanted the re to end but were powerless about it.


    Luckily for the reporters, a savior appeared. Themotion had spread throughout the floor, warning every guest in the rooms that something had happened. Many doors opened, and one made Khan forget about everything else.


    A thin figure hurriedly stepped into the hall. Khan saw untidy clothes, deep eyebags, reddish eyes, and messy curls. That wasn''t a look he was used to, but his senses instantly recognized her.


    "Khan!" Monica shouted when she noticed Khan, wasting no second to rush toward him.


    Khan managed to take one step forward before Monica mmed on his chest. She buried her face in his pullover, grabbing it with as much strength as her fingers could release. She almost poked holes in the fabric, but Khan''s world stopped when he heard the first sob. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    All the overbearing power and strength showcased in the previous interactions disappeared. Khan''s arms carried nothing but kindness and care as they closed around the sobbing figure on his chest. Months had passed since hest touched Monica, but his fingers recalled everything and could notice the changes.


    Monica had gotten thin, too thin. Her body felt beyond weak, worrying Khan about the strength in his hug. She seemed she could crumble at the slightest pressure, conveying how much the separation had weighed on her.


    "I thought-," Monica sobbed through the pullover. "I couldn''t-. I didn''t know-."


    Monica couldn''t finish her own sentences since sobs always interrupted them. Her mind was also a mess, dispersing all the anxiety and worry umted in the past months. She could finally let herself go, but the process tired her beyond reason.


    Khan felt the need to do something. The reporters and other guests were staring at the couple, but he didn''t care. Only Monica existed in his world, and that ce wouldn''t work for her.


    Khan secured a hand on Monica''s waist before lifting her, princess-carrying her back to her room. He didn''t dare to unleash his speed nor move her away from his chest, so everyone watched as they walked inside the open habitation.


    Monica didn''t recover even after the door closed. She kept crying, desperately clinging to Khan''s pullover. Her mana reeked of fear, which Khan could read. Monica was afraid he would disappear again if she let him go even for a second.


    Khan didn''tin or try doing anything special. He carried Monica to the room''s simple bed before sitting on its edge. Hey Monica between his legs while she clung to him, and his hands went to caress her hair.


    The sobs grew rarer under Khan''s caresses, and Monica slowly calmed down, eventually falling asleep. She had been unable to rest properly for months, so the arrival of that awaited loving touch allowed her to give in to her exhaustion.


    Khan didn''t stop caressing Monica even after she fell asleep. It hurt him to see her in that state, and anger soon devoured that pain. He had nned how to handle his enemies, but seeing Monica''s suffering changed his ns. A few heads couldn''t be enough for him anymore.

 Chapter 767 Cant

    Chapter 767 Can''t


    Monica slept for a long time, but her hands didn''t release Khan''s pullover for even a second. Her body prioritized keeping him close over her usual snoring.


    In turn, Khan remained exactly in his position, only moving his hands to caress Monica. He didn''t care about the chaos unfolding in the outside world during that time. Monica had earned every second he could give her.


    Almost half a day had to pass for a change to happen in Monica''s mana. A tremor ran through her aura, and her cloudy eyes slowly opened. A familiar scent invaded her nostrils, making her weak voice escape her throat. "Are you really here?"


    Khan halted his caresses. His hands closed on Monica''s cheeks as he carefully lifted her head. A barrier of curls hid her face, but Khan could still spot the dried-up tears that hindered her vision, and his thumbs promptly wiped them off.


    "I''m here," Khan whispered.


    Monica seemed still half-asleep. She barely understood Khan''s words but recognized his voice, and her hands finally let go of his pullover. Her fingers rose, running over Khan''s chest, shoulders, and, ultimately, hair before a sob escaped her mouth.


    Tears umted in Monica''s eyes as the realization sank in. Khan had truly returned, and her arms applied the little strength she had to pull him closer. Khan didn''t dare oppose her, and the two fell into a kiss while wet lines ran down her cheeks.


    At first, Khan and Monica limited themselves to pressing on each other''s lips. It was a slow, romantic moment of reunion. However, Monica''s mouth eventually opened, and her tongue searched for Khan''s as she wrapped her arms around his neck.


    Khan fell prey to the moment. He responded to the more sensual kiss, letting go of Monica''s cheeks to slide his hands on her waist. He didn''t pull her, but she spread her legs anyway to get as close as possible to him.


    Heavy breathing reached Khan''s ears as Monica began to rub her waist on his groin. She was on autopilot, her still-weak mind prey to basic urges. She could only think about getting as much Khan as possible, and her passion almost tempted him.


    Nevertheless, Khan could see Monica''s state through his closed eyes. He would break her even if he tried to be as gentle and slow as possible, so he pushed on her waist, forcing her to separate.


    "You must eat," Khan said at the half-confused, half-drowsy face before him.


    "Khan," Monica begged, leaning forward to try to reach for Khan''s mouth. Yet, Khan lifted a hand to her face to stop her, caressing her cheek with his thumb.


    "Eat first," Khan muttered in a caring tone.


    Khan''s tone and the kindness radiated by his thumb made Monica ept the directive. She nodded and curled on Khan''sp, hiding her face in his neck. She didn''t really understand what Khan wanted, but he would take care of that.


    Khan almost mmed his fist on the wall to quickly activate the room''s menus and gain ess to the space station''s various services. The structure didn''t have luxurious restaurants, but anything would do now. Khan only needed Monica to eat.


    Monica''s long sleep had updated the entire space station about Khan''s location, so receiving an order from his room activated every avable service. It only took a few minutes for someone to knock on the door, and Khan went to retrieve the items while Monica clung to his neck.


    The soldier who delivered the pile of trays only managed to steal one nce at the scene before a chilling aura sent his eyes to the floor. Khan wasted no time retrieving the metal cart and sealing the door again before returning to the bed''s edge.


    Monica remained on Khan while hey and opened all the trays on the bed. He had ordered enough food for ten people, but no hunger assaulted his stomach. His thoughts existed only for Monica now.


    "Food arrived," Khan whispered once everything was ready, gently turning Monica toward the open trays. She didn''t seem to recognize them, but Khan put a fork in her hands, and her autopilot took the better of her.


    Monica dipped the fork into the nearest tray while her free hand clung to the edge of Khan''s pullover. No matter what had happened, she was still worried Khan would disappear again, and another concern made its way through her mind before she could take the first bite.


    "You don''t eat?" Monica weakly asked, ncing at Khan. Even in her state, she worried about him.


    "I''ll eat," Khan promised, wearing the first smile since the Baoway.


    The two slowly filled their stomachs. Khan did his best to match Monica''s pace, and she ate while remaining attached to his pullover. Her appetite intensified at each bite, and trays went by.


    The couple didn''t finish everything. Khan could wolf another round on his own, but Monica returned to his neck once she was full, and hey down to let her rest. She quickly fell asleep in his embrace, and he held her tight while sensing strength returning to her body.


    Mana-enhanced bodies could recover quickly, and Khan also noticed that Monica had gotten close to the fourth level. Her problems came from exhaustion and stress, so sleeping with a full stomach did wonders for her state.


    Monica awakened a few hourster and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Khan looking at her. Her eyes were brighter now, carrying part of her usual wits, but she still jumped on him to resume the previous endeavor.


    Ideally, Khan would have held back another day to give Monica more time to recover, but the same urges afflicted his mind. Monica didn''t even hold back, storming him with sensual kisses while her waist assaulted his groin. Her mouth moved to his ear when he grabbed her butt, and hearing her panting made thoughts and concerns disappear.


    The bottled-up lust didn''t lead to anything extreme or perverted. Once the clothes were gone, Monica sat on Khan, clinging with both legs and arms to his waist and neck. She only desired to be as close to him as possible, and he gave her exactly that. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan lost track of time as he supported Monica, slowly moving her while she panted on his neck or called his name in his ear. The months spent separated gradually vanished, reminding both bodies of their bond.


    When everything ended, Khan found himself lying on the mattress with Monica nestling on his shoulder. She was still awake, leaving kisses on his chest while enjoying the fingers running over her bare back. Monica didn''t say a word, but spotting the red mark near the blue scar brought sadness to her eyes.


    "Do you want to sleep first?" Khan asked, knowing what Monica wanted.


    Monica shook her head, pointing her concerned gaze at Khan. He nodded, and his tale began, starting from the departure from the Harbor and ending at the hole in the current space station.


    Khan didn''t hide any details. He shared the visions triggered by the toxic substance, Amy''s attempted seduction, and more. He described developments the Global Army would pay a fortune to learn and even disclosed ideas birthed while he was stranded.


    "The bitch is dead," Monica eximed once the story ended. "Good."


    "Is that all you care about?" Khan wondered, half-chuckling.


    Monica lifted herself up and sat beside Khan to gain a better view of his state. He wasn''t injured, but some of his new marks would never vanish, and more were bound to appear on his body.


    "The scarlet eyes," Monica sighed. "The Scalqa, my family, your family, the Thilku Empire. Why does everything have to fall on you?"


    "It won''t just fall on me anymore," Khan said, straightening his back to sit before Monica. "I''ll take it."


    Monica had always been weak to Khan''s overbearing moods, and the separation didn''t change that. Yet, his seemingly unbreakable cold expression hurt her. She knew it was necessary, especially after hearing his story, but they were alone now.


    Khan read Monica''s concern on her face and understood her thoughts when she reached for his cheek. She wanted to pass her warmth to his expression, but he took her hand, slightly moving it away.


    "Exposing myself led to this mess," Khan exined. "I''ll never show my feelings or anything again."


    "Not even to me?" Monica questioned, her tone a mixture of sadness and longing.


    Khan inspected Monica before losing himself in the sight. Traces of her exhaustion were still there, but he had never seen a more beautiful face. Love affected his vision, but his feelings spoke truth.


    A blue light began to shine on Monica''s face, gradually gaining intensity. Khan had allowed his eyes to light up, which glowed brighter than ever. Merely looking at Monica could cause that reaction.


    "That''s my fianc¨¦," Monica giggled, freeing herself of Khan''s grasp to dive her fingers into his hair. "I was worried you didn''t like me anymore."


    "Unluckily for you," Khan scoffed, "I n on venting all my future problems on you for the rest of my life."


    "Scoundrel," Monica smiled, her voice turning into an affectionate whisper. "I love you more than everything."


    Khan pulled Monica closer, but she lowered her head when she realized something. Khan''sst line reminded her of his duties, which had only increased after getting acknowledged as a Prince.


    "When are you leaving again?" Monica questioned, evident fear in her voice. She was scared to hear the reply.


    "I still have to talk with my father," Khan said. "Then, I have to settle things with the Nognes family, the Global Army, the Empire, and the traitors. I''d say a few months before I''m off to Baoway again."


    "A few months," Monica repeated, "In which you''ll always be busy. Is this one of the few days we''ll be able to spend together?"


    Monica kept her head lowered, but theck of replies made her peek at Khan. His face was still expressionless, but she could see his hidden frown.


    "What are you saying?" Khan stated. "The next time I go to Baoway, you''lle with me."


    "With you?!" Monica gasped before recalling her status. "But I can''t."


    "Can''t doesn''t exist anymore," Khan dered, his domineering voice perfectly matching his glowing eyes.


    The rational side of Monica''s mind knew all the problems connected to the matter. Yet, her doubts disappeared when she looked at Khan. She knew he would make that possible, and the reassurance left room for another emotion.


    "Oh, Khan," Monica eximed, jumping on Khan in an urge of teary happiness. Needless to say, the two didn''t speak anymore, and the trays that had remained on the mattress fell during the mess that followed.


    ****


    Author''s notes: As always, thank you for the many gifts.

 Chapter 768 Rules

    Chapter 768 Rules


    The more strength Monica regained, the longer she could apany Khan''s seemingly endless stamina. The two spent hours doing what they did best, alternating between bed, shower, and bathtub, only to return to the mattress once a necessary break arrived.


    Monica was especially clingy for obvious reasons, and Khan spoiled her as much as possible, keeping her close even when she stormed him with questions. His right shoulder was taking the shape of Monica''s head, but he was more than willing to ept that consequence.


    "So," Monica eximed, tapping her fingers on Khan''s chest while she rested on his shoulder. "You won''t turn into a Nak, right?"


    "I won''t," Khan reassured, his hand glued to Monica''s back. "A hybrid form is the closest I can get to them."


    "But those nts are facilitating your transformation," Monica pointed out.


    "I have Nak genes due to the mutations," Khan exined, "But they aren''t meant to turn me into one of them. That would defeat their mission''s purpose."


    Khan had done far more than training andmanding on Baoway. He had delved deeper than ever before into his Nak heritage, finding some answers to his many questions. A few were only hypotheses, but Khan felt they were reasonable.


    "Because their species hit their limit," Monica summarized. "They needed to create something stronger to deal with the scarlet eyes."


    "At its core," Khan said, "Mana is an agent of change, and the Nak embody that power. The nightmares and madness are side-effects."


    "They should have kept them to themselves," Monica snorted.


    "Maybe they didn''t have a choice," Khan suggested. "Maybe they were looking for species that could inherit the mutations and mission without going crazy. Humankind simply wasn''t it."


    "Are you justifying them?" Monica wondered, half-angry and half-surprised.


    "No," Khan firmly stated. "I''ll deal with them and get rid of these nightmares. Understanding them is just a way of getting to them faster."


    "What about the scarlet eyes?" Monica asked.


    Khan''s expression didn''t change, but Monica saw a new seriousness in his eyes. The topic clearly weighed on his mind, and for good reason.


    "The universe can burn for all I care," Khan announced.


    "But you won''t let them burn all of it," Monica added. She wished the situation was different. Ideally, she would limit Khan''s problems to her family and humankind, but he wasn''t that kind of man.


    "If the Nak know about them," Khan uttered, "They probably know about the Nak."


    "Which includes you," Monicamented.


    "They might look for me once the timees," Khan confirmed, "Especially if I continue harnessing the power of my Nak genes."


    A sad urge invaded Monica. She wanted to tell Khan to stop. She wished he wouldn''t need to struggle so much to obtain power. Yet, Monica knew it was necessary. Even without the universal threat, Khan didn''t have an easy life.


    "Will you tell the Global Army about your state?" Monica switched topics. "They should be able to guess it anyway with what those traitors retrieved."


    "They don''t know how far I''ve gone," Khan replied. "My changes are different from other humans. It''s better to keep them a secret."


    "Will you evolve mid-training?" Monica asked. "I was serious about the third arm."


    "It''s more likeying the groundwork," Khan exined, shaking his head. "My body is going through something simr to the natural induction, but the process won''t beplete until my attunement reaches one hundred points."


    "What then?" Monica questioned.


    "Hard to say," Khan admitted. "Humans evolve ording to their mana''s nature, but I have different influential factors. The Nak genes, my element, and my approach to mana make the result impossible to foresee."


    Monica fell silent. She had more questions, but the past hours had been filled with information she had yet to absorb fully. Moreover, much was about to change, and Khan''s phone highlighted that issue.


    Khan had silenced his phone long ago, and staying with Monica had made it fly in the corner of the room. Still, Monica saw its glowing screen and the endless stream of notifications that reached it. It wasn''t just thework. Countless parties were trying to contact Khan, and many would usually deserve immediate replies.


    "Stop," Khan said, knowing what Monica was thinking. "All of them have to wait."


    "It''s better to deal with some situations first," Monica considered due to her political educations. "You should prioritize building and negotiating new alliances instead of spreading my legs."


    "It just so happens that I love spreading your legs," Khan teased, kissing Monica''s head. "Besides, you did a lot of spreading on your own."


    Monica giggled but still shot an admonishing nce at Khan. She would hate letting him go, but her mind was better now, and he needed to attend to those important matters. Monica didn''t want to be a hindrance during such a significant moment.


    "Don''t think that," Khan scolded, seemingly reading Monica''s mind. "You were crazy enough to rush another infusion to keep up with me. You can''t hold me back even if you tried."


    Monica couldn''t agree with Khan. She was still a third-level warrior, while he had touched a power level the current system couldn''t properly ssify. Moreover, he had be a Prince, surpassing her status. Monica felt it was only proper to wonder whether she was worthy of him anymore.


    Nevertheless, Khan had never cared about those matters, and seeing Monica worrying about them angered him. Monica noticed that invisible change, and a smile broadened on her face. Khan''s rage was strangely soothing. Most of the Global Army saw him as a monster, but his arms were the safest ce in the world.


    "I''ll steal you for a few more minutes," Monica whispered, closing her eyes while making herselffortable on Khan''s chest. "Just a few."


    The break time obviouslysted longer than a few minutes, but the couple eventually got ready to return to the outside world. The room''s menus provided new, more suitable clothes, and the two soon walked out, with Monica proudly clinging to Khan''s elbow.


    The soldiers from the hangar had created a safe perimeter around the room''s entrance, but reporters had filled every avable spot outside of it. Leaving the clustered floor seemed impossible, and more problems arrived.


    The soldiers temporarily broke their line to let five reporters cross the perimeter. The group took a few steps forward before performing polite bows at Khan and Monica, and smiles filled the couple''s vision once they lifted their heads.


    The soldier from before left the blockade to approach the couple, and exnations resounded as he bowed. "These reporters have had a long business rtionship with the Nognes family. His Excellency cleared them for a formal interview."


    After multiple visits to the shower and bathtub, Monica and Khan had regained a more than decent appearance. Their attire wasn''t luxurious but remained proper enough to deal with those political events.


    Yet, Khan didn''t only have other ns. That development came from his new status, and he wouldn''t just y along with it. He had to make sure the world understood normal rules didn''t apply to him.


    The reporters misunderstood Khan''s silence for approval and advanced, reaching the couple. Their stance was different from the others in the crowd. They looked used and prepared to deal with high-tier figures, but their smiles were as fake as everyone else.


    "Prince Khan," One of the reporters called, bowing her head again. "Thank you for making time for us. Is there a ce where-?"


    "I didn''t," Khan stated, ncing at the soldier. "Have the space station prepare the teleport and send my ship to the Harbor."


    "Prince Khan," The reporter called again, confused about the development. "We have issued a formal request that was approved by the official channels."


    "You didn''t ask me," Khan responded without bothering to nce at the reporters. "Move these people, or I will."


    Khan''s tone spoke louder than countless words. He almost sounded like he was uttering death threats, and the truth wasn''t too distant from that. Still, that behavior was superfluous. Khan was a Prince now, and he had given a specific order.


    The soldier began shouting orders while retrieving his phone. Hispanions pushed the reporters outside the perimeter before clearing the way for Khan and Monica. They advanced with the couple, ensuring nothing could stand in their path or evene close to them.


    The reporters also yed along. As intense as their desire to obtain news was, Khan''s authority remained undeniable. They couldn''t risk offending him, so they followed the soldiers'' orders, doing their best to cooperate. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan''s decision to use the space station''s teleport wasn''t random. The quadrant was far from his intended destination, but his ship had enough fuel toplete it. However, he wanted to resolve the matter as quickly as possible, and Monica couldn''te with him.


    The couple soon entered an elevator, which rose into an array of narrow corridors leading to a teleport. The soldier had already informed the scientists, so the machine had gathered the necessary synthetic mana. Now, it only waited for Khan''s orders.


    "Come back soon," Monica whispered, leaving a quick kiss on Khan''s lips. "I''ll arrange the meetings in the meantime."


    "It won''t take long," Khan nodded, watching Monica jump on the oval tform.


    "Where to, Prince Khan?" One of the scientists asked.


    "The Harbor," Khan dered, and the scientist set the coordinates, teleporting Monica away.


    Khan jumped on the oval tform once the machine finished cooling off. Synthetic mana gathered around him, but his aura hindered the process. His mind grew heavy thinking about the imminent meeting, creating problems for the machine.


    "Prince Khan," The scientist called when the console notified him about the issue. He could scarcely believe his eyes, but the scanners didn''t lie. He didn''t think a fourth-level warrior''s mere presence could hinder the teleport, but here he was.


    Khan didn''t reply but retracted his aura. His eyes continued wandering while heavy thoughts afflicted his mind, but nothing hindered the synthetic mana anymore. The teleport became ready, only missing his orders.


    "Prince Khan," The scientist called again, clearing his throat. "The coordinates?"


    "Earth," Khan stated. "co."

 Chapter 769 Time

    Chapter 769 Time


    Many years filled with meaningful, often tragic events had passed since Khanst stepped on co''s training ground. Back then, he was nothing more than a kid, broke, ignorant, and innocent. Yet, his return told him how much he had changed.


    Khan saw familiar walls and details as soon as the teleportation ended. He knew that ce, but his heightened senses made him experience it for the first time again. Also, his memory got in the way, leading to sad realizations.


    ''Small,'' Khan thought, inspecting the area. ''Cheap.''


    After witnessing all kinds of luxurious environments, Khan couldn''t help but reevaluate the training ground''s teleportation building. That ce had looked majestic six years ago, but he only spotted ws now. Moreover, it had be an ordinary sight in Khan''s mind.


    The ce was crowded, but the soldiers had done a better job keeping reporters away there. A few teams of experienced guards connected to the Nognes family were in the room. Those troops were waiting for Khan, ensuring he could reach his destination smoothly.


    Khan ignored the polite and stern salutes that reached his ears to focus on the symphony. He half-expected Lieutenant Dyester to be part of the weing party, but his aura was nowhere to be seen. That was also predictable, but Khan would deal with it only after handling the main issue.


    "Lead me to my father," Khan ordered, stepping off the tform and striding forward, uncaring whether the soldiers were following him.


    Of course, the various teams moved, escorting Khan outside and leading the way to a nearby open space. A simple ship was resting on the training ground''s green grass, and its doors had already opened to receive him.


    The teleport had been sudden, and the training ground had more avable manpower, but a small crowd had still gathered outside the security perimeter. Khan spotted multiple figures waiting a few blocks away to catch a glimpse of the Nognes family''s new Prince, and memories inevitably flooded his mind.


    Khan mostly saw students, and the symphony updated him on their moods. Excitement, respect, worship, eagerness, and more filled those young minds. Many looked up to Khan, almost conveying the desire to follow his steps. He was a hero of the Global Army, the best of the best, but he couldn''t enjoy that fame.


    The students'' excitement made Khan think about the price he had to pay to get where he was. Moreover, those seemingly crowded, distant streets reminded him of the destion after Istrone''s crisis. The training ground seemed to have forgotten what had happened, but he couldn''t.


    Nothing appeared on Khan''s face. His expression remained cold and emotionless as the soldiers escorted him to the ship. The vehicle''s insides had been rearranged to turn the cargo area into a narrow butfortable living room, with waiters delivering refreshments as soon as he sat at the central table.


    Khan ignored the food and focused on the booze, sticking to his silence while the ship set off. Many thoughts filled his mind, reviewing his entire knowledge and memories. He was ready for the imminent reunion, but his preparation didn''t make it any lighter.


    The ship left the training ground''s range and dived into co''s Slums, quickly arriving at the destination the Nognes family had secured. Nevertheless, before the vehicle couldnd, Khan stood up and opened its side doors.


    A familiar stench and sight invaded Khan''s senses. The Slums'' brittle and makeshift habitations filled his view, but he couldn''t recognize any street or house. That ce changed too often to retain any simrity after six whole years, but Khan still saw it as his original home.


    Countless eyes stared at the floating ship and the figure standing by its doors. Those vehicles were always a surprising sight in the Slums, so the many wanderers and inhabitants checked them, flooding the streets or peeking past holes in their habitations.


    The general attention didn''t distract Khan. The area had one odd, vast spot. Soldiers had isted an entire block, protecting the two-story tall habitation among them. His destination couldn''t be clearer, and his legs moved to jump toward it.


    "Leave," Khan ordered while floating down, slowly descending toward the isted block.


    Khan''s sudden descent didn''t give the ship''s crew time toin, and the soldiers on the ground soon suffered from a simr fate. A simr order escaped his mouth as soon as hended inside the dusty perimeter. "Clear the area."


    One of the nearby soldiers opened his mouth, seemingly wanting toin, but gales suddenly flew everywhere, lifting clouds of dust. Cracks also appeared on the isted building''s surfaces, highlighting Khan''s seriousness and preventing further protests.


    The soldiers began to disperse, but Khan only focused on the isted building. He could sense the familiar aura inside, but other details reached his mind. His sole aura could lift dust and break the house''s brittle surfaces. It seemed the Slums couldn''t withstand his presence for long.


    The spiritual loneliness showed its presence, but Khan ignored it as he stepped toward the building. His strength seemed to have cut away his original home from his life, but his mind couldn''t focus on that sad event.


    Khan entered the house, slowly moving toward the familiar aura. As he advanced, he saw broken tiles used to cover holes, burned carpets, torn nkets, empty bottles, and more. Even the small living room was a mess, including the person sleeping on its dirty metal table.


    Bret was snoring, his face partially buried in his arm. The other was on the table, clinging to an empty bottle. The stench of sweat, booze, and puke filled the air, awakening memories and habits.


    Khan didn''t make a sound as he seized the empty bottle and left it on the floor among the rest of the trash. He even moved to a nearby, smelly couch to retrieve a nket and ce it on Bret''s shoulders. He had gone through that routine countless times, and his body still recalled it.


    However, something else had changedpletely. Khan gracefully sat at the other side of the table, his eyes resting on the sleeping figure. He recognized his father but couldn''t see the same man from his memories.


    The findings about the missing part of the nightmare tainted every good memory with a bitter aura. Khan saw nothing more than a drunken liar, a man he couldn''t trust anymore. That feeling spread everywhere, forcing him to reevaluate the years spent together.


    There was something else, too. Bret''s torso radiated a certain stench Khan''s heightened senses didn''t miss. His body had something odd, seemingly artificial, increasing the number of secrets his father carried.


    Khan silently watched Bret, and eventually, a tremor ran through the man''s mana. Bret groaned as he woke up and lifted his head, and a frown invaded his expression when his unfocused eyes noticed Khan.


    Bret rubbed his eyes, squinting them to take another look at the silent Khan. The long blue hair and the cold expression seemed to confuse him for a second, but a broad smile soon appeared.


    "You took your time!" Bret loudlyughed. "What is it? Did you have no desire to see your old man?"


    Khan didn''t reply, and Bret didn''t wait for him. Thetter straightened his back and drew a full bottle from hisp, opening and drinking from it before leaving it on the table.


    "I don''t me you," Bret snickered. "You got a nice girlfriend to attend to. I would have chosen her over me, too."


    "Fianc¨¦e," Khan corrected, his unwavering eyes fixed on Bret.


    Bret''s smile grew smaller but didn''t disappear. It lost its brutish and drunken vibe to gain a strange sweetness. Even his expression turned more serious and slightly sad.


    "Look how much you''ve grown," Bret sighed, pushing the bottle toward Khan. "I guess you are old enough to have a drink with me now."


    Khan craved the drink. Everything about the situation made him desire to get wasted. Still, he didn''t move.


    "Why did you lie to me?" Khan asked the question that had afflicted his mind for years.


    "You should know better than to ask serious questions so early in the morning," Bret cursed, retrieving the bottle to take a long sip.


    The morning had passed for a while, but Khan didn''t point that out. He merely looked at Bret, waiting for the answer to his question.


    "Fine," Bret cursed again before Khan''s unwavering gaze. "What was it? Right. All the infected subjects went crazy due to the intensity of the visions. I had to suppress them somehow."


    Khan noticed something odd, but Bret recalled something and didn''t let him speak.


    "Wait, you asked about the lie," Bret eximed. "I thought keeping you curious would have forced you to get stronger quickly to get answers. I couldn''t give you much else after the Nognes cut me away from everything."


    After thest exnation, the odd details took proper form. Bret mentioned the Nognes family without any drawbacks.


    "Where''s your restriction?" Khan asked.


    "I removed that years ago," Bret snorted. "I figured you would have wanted answers the next time you came to see me."


    The exnation didn''t satisfy Khan at all. At best, it irritated him. Bret spoke so casually about something that had afflicted him for years and didn''t even bother looking guilty in the meantime.


    "Answer me this," Khan uttered, ncing at Bret''s torso. "What do you have there?"


    "Oh, this?" Bret asked, pointing at his chest. "It''s what your genius father invented on the spot, the only known method to dy the Nak''s mutations."


    Bret stood up, letting the nket fall while removing his ragged T-shirt. His dirty and slightly hairy torso appeared in the open, but pressing on specific spots on his chest revealed the unthinkable.


    A whooshing noise resounded as lines appeared on Bret''s torso. His chest, abdomen, and waist turned into a lid, which he opened sideways to reveal its insides. Machines filled the spaces intended for multiple organs, making Khan wonder whether Bret was alive at all.


    "Most of your organs and tissues were bogus after the Second Impact," Bret exined, closing his torso. "You took after your mother, but we had enoughpatibility for a transnt. It didn''t remove the mutations, but I hoped it would keep you human long enough to get used to them."


    The torso sealed itself, and its edges disappeared. On the surface, Bret''s body lookedpletely ordinary, but Khan now knew the bitter truth it hid. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I couldn''t remove that nasty scar," Bret continued, sitting down, "But I left no marks of the transnt. Damn, I was good."


    Khan was speechless. He had spent years reevaluating his rtionship with his father, and that short scene had restarted the process. He didn''t know what to think, let alone what to say.


    "Sadly," Bret added. "I had to cleanse my tissues from my mana. I cashed a few favors to get specialists and seed, but my level fell. It''s hard to retain a high attunement with no enhanced organs to prove it."


    Khan''s speechlessness continued, but the anger had disappeared. Only one question had remained inside his mind, and his mouth eventually moved to voice it.


    "Why?" Khan asked.


    "Because you are my son," Bret said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I couldn''t give you power, money, or solutions, but I had the chance to give you time, so I took it."

 Chapter 770 Selfish

    Chapter 770 Selfish


    Khan''s perspective went through another change. Bret had looked like a drunken liar mere minutes ago, but thetest revtions had transformed his image once again. Behind his harsh behavior and casual tone, he was nothing more than a father who had given everything to save his son.


    Khan wasn''t even a clueless kid anymore. He was no scientist, but his superficial knowledge in the field made him imagine the agonizing process Bret had endured to save him. Performing a transnt while cutting away his organs wasn''t only unheard of. It went far above crazy, but Bret had described it without showing any regret or pain.


    "Don''t waste time feeling bad about it," Bret snorted, holding the bottle with both hands. "Protecting his child is a father''s job."


    Bret''s firm stance acted as a mirror. Khan saw his own determination reflected in that older, dirty face. People had often told him he had taken from his mother, but he noticed parts of himself in his father now.


    "I''m sorry I had to take such a roundabout way about it," Bret continued, scratching his greasy hair. "I only thought about increasing your survival chances. If that makes you hate me, so be it."


    Another realization hit Khan. His life had revolved around the Nak after the Second Impact, but something simr had happened to his father. Bret''s every step after that tragic event had existed for Khan. The consequences didn''t matter as long as he could create a path for him.


    Khan couldn''t help but review his life in the Global Army. Part of his bottomless desperation came from hisck of answers. He might not have struggled so much if his father had told him everything from the beginning. Actually, that knowledge might have led him down a reckless path due to his past naivety.


    Desperation might have turned into hatred, making Khan jump on the first ship to search for the Nak''s star system. He might have ventured into journeys he wasn''t prepared for out of pure rage and desire for vengeance instead of slowly umting power.


    The discovery of the lie had also worked in Khan''s favor. Losing trust in his father forced him to look for alternative exnations and explore different approaches to mana that ultimatelypensated for his condition. The journey had not been easy by any means, but Bret had still yed a small part in it.


    That selflessness shocked Khan to the core. He hated that behavior but couldn''t bring himself to feel angry at Bret. The weight that had been on his mind ever since meeting Zalpa vanished, and his coldness slightly retreated, making space for a tone he hadn''t used in years.


    "Dad," Khan called as if he had regressed to the kid he was before enlisting into the Global Army.


    "Don''t," Bret scolded. "This petty trick was all I could do to protect you from yourself and the big dogs in the Global Army. I won''t take any merit or sadness for what you have achieved on your own."


    Once again, Khan felt speechless. Bret was cutting him out to avoid giving birth to any sense of guilt. Even after all that time, he still looked out for his son.


    "So," Bret eximed, changing the topic. "Did you see the star system?"


    "That," Khan nodded, "And more."


    Khan didn''t go through every detail but exined the visions triggered by the blue nt''s toxic substance. He was probably the only one aware of that universal threat, and his father seemed the right person to share that knowledge with.


    "Scarlet eyes, huh," Bret muttered once the tale ended. "It would make sense for them to be the mana''s sworn enemies since the Nak embody that energy."


    "Does the Global Army know anything about this?" Khan questioned.


    "No," Bret shook his head. "We mostly focused on applications of the Nak mutations. We looked deeper into it only when problems arose."


    It felt strange to talk openly about those topics with Bret. Khan wasn''t his equal in the scientific field, but his findings allowed him to keep up. It was a new experience, something neither Khan nor Bret had the chance to create years ago.


    "You did good looking into alien theories," Bret eventually praised. "I knew you would have had a broader perspective with your background, but you surpassed my expectations."


    The general shock was waning, and Khan''s yful side came out to jab back at his father. His eyes started glowing, and Bret froze for a second.


    "How curious," Bret whispered, leaning on the table to inspect Khan''s eyes closer. "What triggers it?"


    "Strong emotions," Khan exined, "Usually. I don''t really know why they started doing this."


    "Mutations coupled with unorthodox training methods," Bret dered. "Your Nak genes probably facilitated certain transformations to adapt to your abilities."


    "It''s troublesome," Khan sighed, his eyes going dark. "I can''t lie like I used to anymore."


    "Do you need to?" Bret asked.


    "No," Khan firmly replied.


    "That''s my boy," Bretughed. "Your mother would be proud. She would have killed me if she knew I raised a scoundrel."


    Bret didn''t do it on purpose, but the word "scoundrel" made Khan think about the romantic aspect of his life. His face didn''t change, but his father noticed something, and a teasing smile soon broadened.


    "She would have been proud about that, too," Bret snickered. "She always knew women would have chased her boy around. Admittedly, she didn''t predict alien girls to join the fray."


    Khan feigned ignorance and reached forward to steal the bottle from Bret''s hands. Thetter only smiled while Khan took a long sip, but that prolonged stare made him feel awkward. His life didn''t teach him how to deal with his father''s inquiring curiosity.


    "Come on now," Bret teased. "Tell your dad all about your harem."


    "What harem?" Khan coughed.


    "I heard much about your exploits," Bret chuckled. "Major Khan, stealing hearts wherever he goes."


    "It''s not like that," Khan stated, surprised he could still use such a childish tone. "I barely had three girlfriends."


    "I read differently," Bret kept pressuring Khan. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan opened his mouth to reply, but his memories betrayed him. He had only been in three official rtionships, but Delia had happened. As for Jenna, he didn''t even know how to begin to exin her.


    ''Should I count Martha, too?'' Khan wondered, surprised about the panic he was experiencing. He could deal with fifth-level warriors and alien monsters without breaking a sweat, but his father was putting him on the spot.


    "This is funnier than I expected," Bretughed. "I''ve waited twenty years for this moment. Start with the alien girl."


    "Her name was Liiza," Khan corrected, his tone turning more serious as his eyes went to the table. "[Liiza]. She saved me after Istrone''s mess. I owe her everything."


    Bret saw the deep meaning hidden behind Khan''s short exnation. He had also read about the Istrone''s crisis. His son had it rough, and he didn''t want the conversation to turn bitter.


    "Was she your first?" Bret asked.


    "Dad!" Khan scolded, embarrassment rising into his mind. For some reason, talking with his father about those details didn''t feel right.


    "I''m simply a concerned father," Bret argued. "And hand over that bottle."


    "I need it more than you now," Khan snorted, taking a long sip out of spite.


    "The machines in my belly hurt badly," Bret eximed, his expression growing old and tired. "Booze is the only thing keeping the pain at bay."


    Khan froze for a second before a snort escaped his mouth. "Who do you think you are talking to? I learned that scam from you."


    "Hand over the bottle, you ungrateful kid," Bret scoffed, vitality immediately returning to his expression. "And move to the next girl, too."


    Khan groaned but still handed over the bottle. Yet, thinking about his second rtionship left a bitter taste in his mouth.


    "Cora was truly good," Khan helplessly said. "I couldn''t make it work."


    "What?" Bret wondered. "Did the alien girl leave you with strange kinks?"


    "I just couldn''t love her," Khan admitted, feigning ignorance at the second question. "It wasn''t fair, but I tried anyway."


    "And what about this fianc¨¦e I keep hearing about?" Bret asked. "I talked with her. You sure picked a feisty one."


    Khan proudly smirked, nodding at the bottle in Bret''s hands. Thetter gave back the booze, and Khan became pensive as he stared at the smelly liquid.


    "Nitis changed me," Khan exined. "I didn''t think I could feel such things anymore. Monica proved me wrong."


    "She sounds nice," Bretmented.


    "She is," Khan nodded. "She is far more than that to me. I wouldn''t be here today if it weren''t for her."


    Bret fell silent, but his experienced mind connected dots Khan couldn''t possibly see. Khan had lived without a motherly figure basically all his life, so his maturity came from the women who had apanied him throughout the years. He didn''t do that on purpose. He wasn''t using his female friends and girlfriends. Khan was simply more willing to learn from them.


    "Do you love her?" Bret asked.


    "Yes," Khan said, showing no doubts. "I want to spend the rest of my life with her."


    "Good," Bret nodded before mming his hand on the table. "Hurry up and give me some grandchildren!"


    "What grandchildren?!" Khan cursed. "Why can''t you mind your own business, old man?"


    "Everyone says you get constant action," Bret snorted. "Can''t you tear a condom at least once?"


    "She is on birth control," Khan exined. "Not going to happen."


    "Birth control?" Bret repeated before wearing a knowing smile. "Nice."


    Khan wore a simr smile before shaking his head. His reaction had been instinctive. He almost felt he was talking to George now.


    "So," Bret uttered. "I''ll have to wait years to be a grandfather."


    Some loneliness invaded Bret''s expression, capturing Khan''s attention. That wasn''t a pretense. Bret seemed to care about the matter truly, and Khan could sort of understand why after witnessing the state of his body.


    "I''ll bring Monica here sometimes," Khan announced, "Introduce her to you."


    "That would be nice," Bret said. "I''ll have to fill in for your mother and tease her."


    "Only I get to tease her," Khan warned. "Still, sure. She''d like to meet you, too."


    Bret nodded. He looked satisfied with that development, but Khan thought of something else. He didn''t necessarily have to bring Monica to the Slums.


    "You know," Khan uttered. "You don''t have to stay here anymore. I could get you a nice t anywhere with my connections and status. The Nognes family wouldn''t dare to say anything either."


    "No," Bret promptly refused.


    "Come on, Dad," Khan heaved a helpless sigh. "It''s not just for you. I need people I can trust, and your brain can help."


    "I know," Bret stated. "I also know I''m being selfish asking you this, but I want to stay here."


    "Why?" Khan questioned.


    "Your mother died here," Bret exined. "I want to spend the rest of my days and die here with her."

 Chapter 771 Questions

    Chapter 771 Questions


    Bret''s request could sound unreasonable and dumb to many, but Khan didn''t even need to think to understand it. Khan knew that type of love. He had experienced it and taken it to the next level more than once.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t need Bret''s approval or cooperation. With his resources, he could force Bret toe with him or even turn that chunk of the Slums into a proper block.


    Khan also had his reasons. Bret had been the head of the scientific department. His expertise was priceless, and the shared blood made his loyalty unquestionable. Khan couldn''t find a better ally anywhere else.


    Nevertheless, Khan couldn''t find the strength to pressure Bret intoing with him. The man had given away everything to buy Khan time and was only asking one small thing in return. It didn''t feel fair to refuse his wish.


    "Okay," Khan eventually agreed. "So, we must make the most of this time before you disappear again."


    The time for jokes had ended, and Bret apanied Khan throughout a massive tale that featured all his encounters, experiences, and ideas. Khan wanted Bret to provide a second opinion on everything he had gone through, and he didn''t disappoint.


    "Reba," Bret exined, "Your aunt has always looked up to your mother. She even tried to chase her around often. She helped when Elizabeth was pregnant with you, too, so her loyalty should be genuine."


    "Thomas," Bret continued, "Your uncle is a dick, but a cunning dick. He isn''t a spoiled noble, either. He simply lost favor with Alexander when he plotted with other factions."


    "I''m sorry," Bret said. "This Raymond fe is right. Your body might hold the key to humankind''s next evolutionary step. It probably won''t beplete until you cap your attunement or evolve, but I don''t see the interested parties stopping chasing you."


    "Ah, Abraham," Bretughed. "So, he is still around. Yes, he was good to us. You can trust him."


    "Yes," Bret confirmed. "The Global Army definitely has Nak. I''m not sure it keeps their corpses on Earth anymore, but it should havebs and whatnot. Though I''m not sure how finding them would help you." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Your current state is slightly outside my area of expertise," Bret admitted. "You shouldn''t have problems evolving through the natural induction, but that''s just a theory. At this point, you know your body better than me."


    "Jokes aside," Bret sighed. "Wait until the transformation isplete. That way, you won''t pass down the Nak genes but your hybrid ones. You should be safe by the time you cross an attunement of ny."


    "My knowledge is outdated on that topic," Bret revealed. "From how you described your perception, I think you should just let it guide you. Once you are close enough, you are bound to get a reply, either from within you or the Nak."


    "The Second Impact?" Bret repeated. "No. There are better ways to kill people. Unleashing a Nak on purpose wouldn''t make any sense."


    "I''m not knowledgeable about criminal organizations," Bret stated. "I can see their interest in you, especially now. Still, that''s nothing new to high-profile people."


    "No," Bret shook his head. "You should stick to this path. The human arts would just get in your way. They might actually make you regress to a point when the nightmares can ovee you."


    "I''m no political dog, Khan," Bret scoffed. "Sure, I had to learn something for your mother, but theb was my life. I think you are better off asking your feisty girl for advice."


    "Do whatever you want," Bret eximed. "Do humankind, Empire, Nak, and whatnot hold any meaning to you? If not, live how you want to live. Your mother would have wanted that. I simply tried to make it possible."


    "Don''t worry about me," Bret chuckled. "I''ve grown fond of these engines inside me. Once they stop, I stop. Simple as that."


    The barrage of questions eventually ended, forcing Khan to review his knowledge for the third time that day. Bret couldn''t add much to his findings, but the various replies filled a few gaps, straightening Khan''s story.


    Needless to say, multiple bottles had suffered a grim fate during the conversation. The various topics were too serious, so the two men had to drink heavily to deal with them. By the end, Khan was still fine, but Bret was reaching his limit.


    "What a wimp I have be," Bret snorted, struggling to keep his head steady. "How am I more of a lightweight than my son?"


    "I''m not going easy on that, you know?" Khan snickered. "Besides, I myself don''t know the limits of my tolerance anymore."


    "Cocky brat," Bret scoffed. "Only years can give you my mastery in booze. You have still much to learn."


    "I''m not the one slurring my words," Khan joked.


    "That''s nothing," Bret cursed. "One quick nap, and I''ll be better than ever. We can resume this once I wake up."


    "I think I have to go," Khan revealed without hiding his sadness. "Much still requires my attention."


    "Right, right," Bret nodded, wearing a fake smile. "Go then. Don''t waste any more time with this old man. I''ll be here when you need me."


    "I hope so," Khan replied, aplicated feeling spreading within him. He didn''t hope to receive further help. He simply wished he would find Bret alive and well in the future.


    "You''ve grown into a fine man," Bret chuckled, leaning on the arm on the table to resume his previous sleeping position. "Beardless, but fine. Elizabeth would be happy."


    Khan watched the scene as sadness washed him over, and that feeling intensified when Bret repeated hisst words.


    "Elizabeth would be happy," Bret muttered, his voice turning into a whisper before snores took control of his mouth.


    Khan watched his father for a few more seconds before standing up and retrieving the fallen nket. He put it on Bret''s shoulders and stepped back until he fit the whole living room in his vision.


    Khan knew Bret''s life was over. He wished things were different, but his mind kept updating him about that truth. Khan could read Bret''s feelings like a book, so doubts and hopes never appeared. He had to leave Bret there.


    That was akin to waiting for Bret to die among his squalor, but Khan felt he had no choice. At most, Khan could try to make Bret happy a few times before the inevitable happened. ording to Bret''s aura, that day didn''t even seem too far.


    ''Do I really have to leave you here and move on with my life?'' Khan wondered.


    The situation felt beyond unfair, but incidents often created simr consequences. Khan actually had to consider himself lucky. Bret didn''t only save him. He also didn''t want to be a hindrance in his life. He didn''t demand anything from Khan, allowing him to live as he had always done.


    Yet, Khan couldn''t help but feel angry, angry at the Nak, the Nognes family, the Global Army, and even humankind itself. So much was rotten in his species, and Khan couldn''t ignore it anymore. As much as Bret wanted Khan to be free of burdens, he had epted certain responsibilities and duties since Baoway.


    ''Figures,'' Khan thought once something odd touched his senses. ''They came sooner than I expected.''


    Khan closed his eyes. Brightness shed in his closed eyelids, but everything soon went dark. His expression also lost any trace of emotion, regaining the coldness shown since his return from Baoway. Business was knocking on his door, so he had to wear his new face.


    Khan stole onest nce at his sleeping father before heading outside. Soon, the Slums'' chaos invaded his senses, but he remained before the house''s entrance, seemingly waiting for someone.


    The soldiers'' departure had given the various Slums'' inhabitants the confidence to roam through those streets. Many wandered past Khan, minding their own business or keeping their distance, worried about the ill intentions behind his cold face. Yet, no one approached him, and his already thin patience began to run out.


    "Come out," Khan said, attracting the surprised nces of the unaware citizens in his surroundings. Everyone ignored him, and his patience finally ran out when his senses perceived no movement from the targeted parties.


    Khan suddenly disappeared, crossing two blocks in a blink to reappear in a narrow street. His feet didn''t touch the dusty ground, but he wasn''t in the sky either. He had chosen to stop a few meters above the two men peeking past the corner.


    Khan''s arrival didn''t go unnoticed. Even manaless people would sense the change in the air his presence caused. Everything grew cold and still, freezing the men''s lungs and lifting their gazes to stare at the watchful figure above them.


    The two men could barely withstand Khan''s oppressive presence. They were mere first-level warriors, which was massive for the Slums. Mana wasn''t supposed to reach those areas, making Khan sure about his assumptions.


    "Who do you work for?" Khan questioned. "Don''t make me ask again."


    One of the men opened his mouth to speak, but hispanion promptly grabbed his arm, shooting a warning re at him. The gesture carried no malice, and Khan knew why. His eyes could see the odd array of mana in their brain.


    "What does the Hive want?" Khan changed his question, and the men''s reactions told him he had hit the mark.

 Chapter 772 Dark horse

    Chapter 772 Dark horse


    Khan''s question left the two men speechless, but their facial expressions provided enough answers. Their auras also told aplete story, and the fear that invaded them spoke about their cluelessness.


    The presence of mana in the Slums couldn''te as a surprise to Khan anymore. Those environments were a cradle for illegal activities, often sanctioned by prominent parties inside the Global Army, so Khan had half-expected someone to step forward to meet him.


    The exnation behind that feeling was simple. Khan''s new status would make approaching him in official environments impossible. Requesting meetings in the Harbor or other relevant ces would only attract unwanted attention. Instead, the Slums could provide some privacy and leeway, at least temporarily.


    Khan wasn''t dumb, especially after everything he had experienced. Sending the soldiers away didn''t necessarily stop the interesting parties from keeping track of his position. Even if he excluded minor families and criminal organizations, he believed the Nognes had scanners pointed at him. That was unavoidable due to his new status.


    Nevertheless, Khan yed by his own rules, and meeting his father had put him in a bad mood. He wasn''t only curious about the two men''s intentions. He also wanted to deal with the matter immediately, eliminating it if it turned out to be a problem.


    The two men found it hard to calm down under Khan''s oppressive presence, but he didn''t relent. In his mind, the matter wasn''t worth his attention if those onlookers were to faint due to his aura. It would only mean the interested party wasn''t taking him seriously.


    Oddly enough, the two men showed some backbone, which was often absent among first-level warriors. They slowly went to their knees, supported themselves on the wall behind them, and lowered their heads before one of them exined their motives.


    "We came to extend an invitation," One of the men announced, "To a meeting not far from here."


    Ideally, Khan would have questioned the men for more details, but something told him those two pawns couldn''t provide them. The array in their brains probably prevented them from sharing additional information.


    "Where?" Khan asked.


    The second man peeked at Khan before lifting his hands. Khan nodded, and the man slowly retrieved a piece of folded paper from his pocket before offering it to Khan. The man didn''t even notice when the piece of paper disappeared from his hands. It had simply vanished, and peeking above revealed Khan inspecting the item. The action had been instantaneous and invisible, making the man lower his head in fear of angering that superior entity.


    Unfolding the piece of paper revealed a simple, handwritten map. Khan had previously inspected the area from the ship, so he connected a few marks to the nearby blocks. The destination seemed to be nearby, and a tinge of mana promptly escaped his fingers after memorizing it.


    The two men kept their heads lowered, but something soon fell in their vision. Burning pieces of paper floated down, turning into ash before hitting the ground. The scene made them peek above, discovering that Khan had disappeared.


    Khan didn''t unleash his full speed but moved quickly and swiftly among the Slums'' brittle houses, leaving no traces of his passage. He didn''t think he could fool eventual scanners pointed at him for long but still attempted to buy himself some time. He wanted to see what the meeting was about before annoying allies intervened.


    The handwritten mapcked many details, but Khan''s sensespensated for their absence once he got close enough to his destination. The area had nothing special, only the usual makeshift habitations of the Slums. Yet, Khan''s eyes could pierce the surface, noticing something firmer hidden underground.


    Khan followed the faint traces of mana in the symphony,nding before the smallest house in the block. A man who had yet to be a first-level warrior stood before its run-down door, and Khan''s sudden appearance almost made him jump on the spot. However, some seriousness quickly invaded him as he recovered and opened the door.


    Khan crossed the entrance, and a small empty room unfolded in his vision. The area had nothing but an open trapdoor leading downstairs. A wooden stair stretched from its dark entrance, but Khan simply jumped inside.


    The narrow, vertical tunnel descended for a few meters before stopping at another trapdoor. This one was sealed and made of sturdy metal, hinting at its different purpose. Nevertheless, Khan only had to approach it to open it.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan dived in, ignoring the vertical stairs to descend directly to the bottom of the new area. He soon found himself in an underground hall with reinforced surfaces illuminated by a dim white glow. The ce wasn''t empty either, but it could as well be for Khan.


    Six first-level warriors upied the rtively vast underground hall, either sitting on the empty floor or tinkering with menus on the wall. Noticing Khan made them jump to their feet, but no one spoke under his intense, chilling gaze.


    First-level warriors were nothing in Khan''s eyes, and those in the underground hall were even below that. After spending years among wealthy descendants and elite soldiers, Khan could basically smell the stench of inexperience in the mana. The people around him had never seen a real battle. They probably didn''t even have martial arts and spells.


    "I''m here for the meeting," Khan announced, unfazed by the weakness around him. He was in the Slums in the end. He couldn''t expect the same luxury and power as the Harbor.


    The six warriors gulped and searched for answers in each other''s eyes until nods unfolded. The group began to move, approaching different parts of the underground hall to activate specific functions. Eventually, one wall became blue, bing an unclear and flickering screen.


    "Te-," A robotic voice eventually came from the wall. "-St. T-. Test. Test.


    The connection slowly stabilized, and a vague figure appeared on the screen. Yet, the facial features, clothes, and other details never became clear. Khan could only guess it was a man.


    "Test, test," The robotic voice continued. "It seems stable for now."


    Khan didn''t say anything, but his mind continuously absorbed details. The screen, the connection, and the very underground hall were terrific feats. The organization in question had kept them hidden for a seemingly long time, vouching for its efficiency.


    "Major Khan," The robotic voice eventually addressed the guest, "Or Prince Khan. I''m not sure which you prefer."


    Khan remained silent. As praiseworthy as the technology in the Slums was, Khan''s stance didn''t change. Any interested party had to expose itself and get to the point just to hope to im his attention.


    "Thank you foring here," The robotic voice continued before Khan''s silence. "I apologize for the sudden invitation and unbefitting environment. I''m afraid this was the safest option."


    "Disposable option," Khan corrected. The underground hall and the warriors inside would disappear if a scanner were pointed at him. Considering his new status, that consequence was almost set in stone.


    "That''s correct," The voice confirmed. "We are willing to lose these assets. I hope this speaks for our resolve."


    Khan could have pointed out other options but remained silent. He wouldn''t say it even if he agreed with the robotic voice. It wasn''t a matter of cold stance or ying hard to get either. Khan simply didn''t care.


    "I know we started off on the wrong foot," The voice announced. "We didn''t intend to involve you in Princess Virrai''s kidnapping attempt. Still, know we hold no grudge toward your actions."


    Khan''s unfaltering silence put the six warriors on the spot. They knew they were doomed, but Khan was scarier than their inevitable fate.


    "However," The voice eximed. "We believe you might be ready to desire our help now. You have seen the Global Army''s dark side. Our system is rotten, and your family is one of the many victims still suffering from it."


    The voice had hit the mark. Khan had been livid after Baoway''s events, and meeting with Monica and his father had only intensified that feeling. He felt no love for the Global Army, but that didn''t mean he would shake hands with a criminal organization.


    "The Hive''s goal is to create a better system," The voice exined, "To build a government that won''t leave people to die in the Slums. We want fairness and justice, without private families secretly pulling the strings of humankind''s fate."


    The ideology sounded nice, but Khan had seen too much to consider it feasible. Moreover, hearing those words reminded him of something Monica had told him in the past.


    ''Many have to starve to allow a few to conquer the stars,'' Khan recalled. The quote belonged to Monica''s father, but Khan''s many experiences partially confirmed it. Living among the Thilku and the Scalqa had taught him something simr.


    "With you as an ally," The voice added, "We would be able to strike at the very core of the Global Army''s system. After all, you are its perfect dark horse, the best forgotten victim of a system that threw you away."

 Chapter 773 Calamity

    Chapter 773 Cmity


    The offer was appealing. Khan didn''t care about the Hive''s ideology and goal but could see the benefits of peaceful cooperation. After all, that organization had almost seeded in kidnapping a Princess. It was capable and could definitely be useful.


    Khan didn''t only need as many allies as possible. The Hive''s support could help him operate in grey areas without giving his enemies leverage. Moreover, securing its cooperation could shield him against other hidden threats. The parties connected to Raymond would find it hard to reach Khan with a criminal organization watching his back.


    Besides, cooperating with the Hive would prevent it from looking for different allies. Khan could add a powerful asset to his political array while avoiding leaving that spot open to his enemies, killing two birds with one stone.


    The Hive''s representative was also correct. Khan was the perfect man for the job. His unique position and personal power would open countless opportunities, allowing the Hive to strike directly at the core of humankind''s government.


    Still, Khan had to admit part of him didn''t want to fix the Global Army. His broader perspective and experiences had turned him into a man with no g. He had no interest in improving things for a nameless crowd. That honest and noble dream had died, submerged by his many problems.


    Khan would still help those dear and loyal to him, but the Hive wasn''t the way to go. That criminal organization operated in terrorism, sacrificing many assets to get closer to their goal. Khan didn''t forget what they had done to Monica and his entire ss to kidnap Princess Edna. It was safe to assume he would have to join simr missions if he epted the offer.


    Moreover, Khan couldn''t be sure the entire Hive was part of that offer. Every family had infighting, so it stood to reason criminal organizations would share that behavior. The vague man on the screen could simply belong to a more peaceful cell trying to secure Khan for himself.


    The robotic voice respected Khan''s silence. That was no easy decision to make, and the timing wasn''t right either. The Hive would find it hard to n meetings with Khan in the future, but he had much to settle yet. Truth be told, the man on the screen didn''t expect a definitive answer that day.


    However, no one could predict Khan''s behavior after Baoway, and the current situation paved the path for another unexpected development.


    "No," Khan dered, his interest in the meeting waning by the second.


    "Major," The robotic voice continued, trying to hide its surprise. "Allow me to list your benefits before refusing."


    Khan ignored the request and turned. His decision wasn''t truly final, but the Hive could wait. Actually, dying the matter could force the Hive to make a better offer in the future, especially if Khan''s position ended up improving after the imminent meetings. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "We can give you the Nak!" The robotic voice suddenly eximed before Khan could set off. Needless to say, those words made him stop in his tracks.


    Khan peeked past his shoulder, ncing at the blue screen. Talking with his father had partially made him lose interest in humankind''s knowledge about the Nak. Yet, the topic remained close to his mind.


    "We knowbs," The robotic voice exined. "We know secret facilities. We have assets everywhere and ces the Global Army wouldn''t dare look. We upy the real Earth!"


    The Second Impact had turned the into a wastnd, and the noble families didn''t bother recolonizing all of it. The official theory was that most of the human poption lived in massive cities and Slums nearby, but the truth could be different. Khan had discovered that long ago.


    "There''s no price we won''t be willing to pay for your cooperation," The robotic voice revealed. "Join us, and we will fulfil your dreams."


    The offer grew more appealing by the second, but Khan couldn''t consider it. Even the mention of the Nak couldn''t make him give in to his curiosity. The Hive had yed its cards right but hadmitted a simple miscalction. What had returned from Baoway was no Major or Prince.


    "No," Khan uttered, deciding to add something else now. "I won''t be your champion."


    "You already are," The robotic voice said, "Even if you don''t realize it yet."


    Khan almost set his mind to leave. He faced the trapdoor, ready to fly away. Yet, the man on the screen was right. At least partially, Khan was already doing the Hive''s dirty work with his unrestrained behavior, and things were bound to worsen.


    "You hide behind the mask of secrecy and ideology," Khan uttered, closing his eyes as his senses dived deeper into his surroundings.


    "You talk for the Hive while being a measly cell," Khan continued. "You hope for my trust while sacrificing pawns and metal walls."


    "Major, I-," The robotic voice didn''t get the chance to convey its line since the screen suddenly flickered, destabilizing the connection. Khan didn''t move or say anything, but the man on the other side understood it wasn''t his time to speak.


    "You think of me as a champion," Khan added once the screen stabilized. "You want me to be your weapon."


    The six first-level warriors retreated toward the screen to put as much distance between themselves and Khan as possible. That gesture was pointless, but their instincts didn''t listen to reason.


    "You," Khan muttered, "The Nognes family, the Solodrey family, the Global Army, and all the other idiots fighting for a piece of me."


    Khan suddenly opened his eyes, and a faint gust of wind spread from his body. The gale seemed harmless, barely ruffling the soldiers'' hair without making the screen flicker.


    "You all fail to understand what I am," Khan stated, stepping forward to approach the staircase connected to the trapdoor.


    "What are you, then?" The robotic voice asked, but odd noises followed. Faint sounds came from the hall''s metal surfaces, gradually growing louder and more intense.


    "A cmity," Khan exined, his body gracefully rising toward the trapdoor. "Either submit to me or get destroyed."


    Khan slowly disappeared into the upward tunnel. Strangely enough, he didn''t use his incredible speed to leave on the spot, but only his mind knew the real reason for that.


    As for the underground hall, the noises continued to grow louder, eventually revealing their nature. The metal was screaming, bending in multiple spots and seemingly random directions. Lines soon appeared on the various surfaces, turning into cracks that erged to cover the entire area.


    The six first-level warriors panicked, and some jumped forward to approach the stairs. Yet, their feet only found brittle ground. The metal under them crumbled under their weight, hindering their movements and preventing them from escaping.


    The man on the screen was the only person who could remain calm. The connection was still online, and he wasn''t in danger, so his mind analyzed the event, connecting it to rumors he had heard years ago.


    On the surface, Khan didn''t use any spell or technique. The simple gale that hade from his body resembled what his aura could create on a whim. Yet, the hall''s reaction hinted at something deeper.


    The hall was crumbling seemingly on its own. Its metal couldn''t stay put or together anymore, and that destruction soon affected the areas above. Everything was falling apart, and sandy waterfalls eventually leaked into the underground ce.


    "Be thankful, my brave warriors," The man on the screen announced as the connection started to fail. "Major Khan saved you from sure torture."


    Khan flew through the upward channel while everything crumbled around him. He held back on his speed, rising only when debris threatened to touch him. He wouldn''t let himself be submerged but wanted his senses to remain in contact with the underground hall.


    Eventually, Khan''s senses updated him on the consequences of his actions. The six weak auras in the underground hall were no more. The destruction had killed them.


    Khan soon reappeared on the surface, but the ground continued to shatter. The small house crumbled on itself as the soil caved in, turning into a deep, sandy hole. The gap expanded, but everything stabilized before reaching other habitations.


    Needless to say, the destruction lifted a big dusty cloud, attracting the attention of any nearby Slum citizen. A small crowd formed around the hole while the area grew clearer. Eventually, everyone could see Khan calmly floating above the vast gap, but his eyes never lingered on them.


    Khan''s expression didn''t flinch even as a wave of synthetic mana touched his senses. He kept his eyes fixed ahead as his figure rose, reaching the sky above the various habitations to meet the iing vehicle.


    The crowd on the ground heard the whooshing noise of engines before a ship appeared in the sky. The vehicle stopped before Khan, and its side doors opened to let him inside.


    Waiters and soldiers gathered around Khan when the doors closed behind his back. Thetter wanted to question him about the recent events, but nothing escaped their mouths. Something in Khan''s aura told them silence was mandatory.


    "To the Harbor," Khan announced, approaching the table in the middle of the rearranged cargo area. He had dealt with his father, so it was time to settle the issue with Baoway.

 Chapter 774 Meeting

    Chapter 774 Meeting


    Lieutenant Dyester was closer, but Khan''s mind was too far away to think about joyous reunions. Things were moving faster than he expected, forcing him to get on top of them as soon as possible.


    The Nognes family wasn''t stupid, and the same went for the soldiers appointed to Khan''s escort. Everyone connected the dusty hole in the Slums to a meeting with a criminal organization, but no one questioned him during the flight to the nearest teleport.


    The teleport in co''s training grounds was ready long before the ship''snding, so Khan only needed to jump on the machine to return to familiar environments. His feet crossed the Harbor''splicated array of narrow corridors without waiting for an escort, leading him to a luxurious ride ready to fly him to the embassy.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The ride was empty, and Khan could understand why without checking his endlessly buzzing phone. Usually, Monica would be inside the cab to enjoy some privacy during the trip, but obligations had already requested her presence elsewhere. She was waiting for him in the embassy, but her update hinted at something opposite to romantic.


    A more pompous version of Khan''s usualnding at the embassy unfolded. The building''s small roof had rows of soldiers weing him and following his every move throughout the vast corridors. He couldn''t be alone even inside the few elevators, but everyone waited outside once he reached his destination.


    A vast hall unfolded in Khan''s eyes. The various seats had been rearranged to create a spacious dining hall featuring a long, rectangr table and familiar guests. Waiters stood by the ce''s walls, ready to deliver food and other delicacies, but Khan only cared about the known faces.


    Headmistress Holwen, Mister Cirvags, Cecil Usten, rk Onsai, Anastasia, Luther, and Monica sat at the table but stood up when Khan crossed the hall''s entrance. The area had leaders of specific divisions and factions, but Khan only had eyes for the figure approaching him.


    "Wee back," Monica whispered after reaching Khan, who promptly took her hand and pulled her into a kiss. She smiled under that public show of affection, cing her palm on his face to prolong it for a few seconds. Still, the two eventually separated, ready to face the imminent meeting.


    Headmistress Holwen, Mister Cirvags, Luther, and


    Anastasia''s presence was predictable, but the other two figures hinted at something more serious. Khan had only met them once, but their relevance inside the Harbor spoke for the meeting''s nature.


    Cecil Usten oversaw the Harbor''s interspecies operations, while rk Onsai was in charge of most scientific departments. It seemed the Headmistress wanted to cover every field in a single meeting, but her aura told a different story. Khan only needed a look to understand her hands were tied there.


    Of course, having so many fifth-level warriors with high status in the same room couldn''t shock Khan anymore. He firmly advanced toward the table, holding Monica''s hand while she stole his elbow. His disinterest was palpable, but no one said a word while he waited for Monica to sit at his side.


    Khan''s new status elevated Monica''s even if the couple didn''t speak with her parents. Everyone remained on their feet while Khan adjusted Monica''s chair and sat only after he did. He had be a Prince, and she was his official fianc¨¦e, so the two held the highest position at the table.


    "Prince Khan," Anastasia called, breaking the tense silence once everyone sat down. "I think I speak for everyone when I say we are d about your return. Of course, none is as d as my dear daughter."


    Anastasia was wearing her political face, but Khan didn''t mind. The time to deal with Luther and her woulde. Right now, he was more interested in the parties strictly connected to the Global Army.


    "We are definitely happy about the sess of Prince Khan''s rescue mission," Headmistress Holwen intervened. "His feats for the Global Army have been priceless. Losing him would have been an unforgettable shame."


    "Indeed," rk Onsaimented. "His input in the field is revolutionary. I hope you''ll allow me to invite you to dinner when you have time, Prince Khan."


    "The Prince must spend time with his fianc¨¦e first," Luther dered, "And his inws."


    "Must?" Cecil Usten asked. "Prince Khan, I know you have just returned, but the situation is quite critical. I can only appeal to your goodwill and reason to rify it."


    "Prince Khan''s familyes first," Anastasia stated. "He won''t be forced into politics until he expresses his desire to do so.""


    "Madam Solodrey, with all due respect," Headmistress Holwen cleared her throat. "There''s an impending need for official reports, and the Thilku Empire has long since requested a meeting with its representative."


    "Does the Global Army work for the Empire or the Global Army?" Anastasia questioned.


    "Madam Solodrey," Cecil Usten smiled. "It''s far moreplicated than that."


    "It isn''t," Anastasia jabbed back. "Any mistake is your mistake. The Solodrey family won''t pay for them."


    "Madam Solodrey, please," Headmistress Holwen called. "This meeting is meant to establish priorities without bothering the Prince''s calendar."


    The meeting amused Khan. He had often talked with most people at the table, so he found their change in behavior funny, especially Anastasia''s. She fought tooth and nail to elevate and protect Khan, and the other guests struggled to contradict her.


    That was to be expected with Khan''s new status, but the change soon stopped entertaining him. Initially, he focused on the booze the waiters had promptly delivered, but the continuous bickering eventually bored him.


    Khan nced at Monica while the others kept fighting. She felt surprised sensing his gaze on her, and recognizing his seemingly casual gesture embarrassed her. Yet, sheplied, standing up to join Khan on his chair.


    Needless to say, Monica''s movement silenced the others at the table. Kissing Khan while weing him was fine, but sitting on hisp during a political meeting crossed the line, especially since he stopped caring about the other guests altogether.


    "I want you to meet my father," Khan whispered, the gentle hand on Monica''s face creating a stark contrast with his cold expression.


    "Are you sure?" Monica replied.


    "I''ll have to return to co," Khan said. "I''ll take you to the Slums afterward."


    "How should I dress?" Monica gasped, holding onto Khan''s clothes.


    "He won''t care about that," Khan reassured.


    "I do care about that," Monica pointed out. "I wonder what I have left in this wardrobe."


    "Wardrobes," Khan corrected. "I''ll help you choose after dealing with this."


    "Okay," Monica nodded, her mind wandering, thinking about the future meeting. She had yet to ask how the reunion with Bret had gone, but the request told her everything had ended well.


    The guests at the table couldn''t share that feeling. As important as Khan''s father was to him, he was ignoring other massive issues. The Solodrey family, interspecies policies, and alliance with the Thilku were right before him, but he was prioritizing other seemingly futile matters.


    Anastasia and Luther had to tolerate Khan''s behavior since their daughter was involved, putting the others in a bad position. The Headmistress, Cecil, and rk didn''t know how to intervene without offending Khan, and their eyes simultaneously converged on the only figure who had remained silent until now.


    Khan shared that feeling, even if his cold eyes remained on Monica. Her parents could wait, and he didn''t have much of a rtionship with Cecil and rk. At that point, Headmistress Holwencked real authority, so Mister Cirvags was the only person who could im his interest.


    "Prince Khan," Mister Cirvags decided to speak due to the general attention on him. "We are missing reports on the Baoway situation. The Empire also wants them, ideally directly from you."


    "I''ll deliver reports after dealing with other matters," Khan responded, his first time addressing the meeting.


    "What about the Thilku Empire?" Mister Cirvags questioned, even if the previous matter wasn''t over in his mind.


    "I''ll meet its representatives in my quadrant," Khan dered, eyeing Mister Cirvags. "We''ll negotiate deals on the itself."


    "Prince Khan," Cecil Usten called. "Do you wish for Global Army''s representatives to fly to Baoway? It can be arranged, but it will take time."


    "I''ll talk with the Empire without human representatives," Khan exined, his eyes still on Mister Cirvags. "The Global Army will ept any deal I secure."


    It was unclear how far or deeply the illegal updates from Baoway had gone. Princess Felicia had been able to warn Monica due to her family''s connection to the ploy, but


    Khan didn''t know whether parties outside the noble sphere were involved.


    Khan''s demand would generally be outrageous, but parties with the right knowledge would take it one step further. The more someone insisted on their presence during eventual negotiations, the higher the chance they had something to do with the ploy.


    Nevertheless, the people at the table had deep political expertise. Even without the right knowledge, they could guess and understand that something had happened to Khan, and many preferred to avoid issues involving nobles, at least publicly.


    Instead, the focus moved to something else Khan had said, and Mister Cirvags became its spokesperson.


    "Your quadrant, Prince Khan?" Mister Cirvags asked, his calm tone conveying the real meaning behind his words. "Interspecies regtions," Khan chanted, "Article 89.3. Ambassadors securing cooperation and colonization of certain quadrants exempt from officialws will receive temporary ownership and rule over such quadrants."


    "Prince," Headmistress Holwen intervened. "That regtion applies to Ambassadors."


    "So," Khan uttered, moving his gaze to the Headmistress. "What are you waiting for?"

 Chapter 775 Family

    Chapter 775 Family


    Many valid reasons justified the barriers and hindrances among the various career paths.


    The personal goals and backgrounds yed an important role. After all, wealthy descendants would usually prioritize businesses to improve their family''s position. Meanwhile, poorer soldiers would chase military achievements, hoping to secure benefits through promotions and special jobs.


    Time was another massive issue. Climbing the politicaldder was challenging and usually required years spent specializing inplex fields. Most people didn''t have room to explore and excel in more than one path.


    The conflicts of interest were also very relevant. Securing ranks inside the Global Army granted ess to weapons and troops, which figures with special authority overs or quadrants could exploit. Abusing that kind of power in the vast universe was easy and could create troublesome and illegal forces that didn''t carry any g.


    Of course, exceptions existed, and the Global Army''s precautions didn''t stop all cases of abuse of power. Yet, Khan wanted to take things one step further, and everyone at the table understood the potentially negative repercussions.


    Khan had imed ownership of Baoway''s quadrant, but the Global Army''s regtions required him to be an official Ambassador to apply that rule. Khan had proven himself suitable for the task many times, but his recent change in status added new problems.


    Khan was already a Major and had just be a Prince. His status among families had peaked, and his military career could only improve. Adding "Ambassador" to his list of titles would give him massive influence over three key fields, granting him a scary amount of authority.


    Simr instances usually forced the figure in question to give up some benefits or titles. After all, almost no one could handle all the time-consuming and heavy obligations of those three fields.


    However, Khan was an exception among exceptions, and his new status even helped his cause. Being a Prince made his request harder to refuse, especially since he had already met the requirements.


    The decision wasn''t up to Khan, and Mister Cirvags alone couldn''t make it either. Different parties had to approve it, but Khan had already secured the right allies. A few phone calls would be enough to grant him the official title.


    The people at the table were the only issue, but Monica''s parents wouldn''t oppose the decision. Headmistress Holwen also had no say in the matter, leaving things in the hands of the remaining three men.


    Actually, the greatest leverage for Khan''s Ambassador title came from the Thilku Empire, which Mister Cirvags oversaw. He was the only real barrier on Khan''s path and even had good reasons to stop him.


    Mister Cirvags had unshakeable loyalty in the Global Army, while Khan''s g was unclear. Granting him that title might hurt humankind, which Mister Cirvags couldn''t let happen.


    Nevertheless, the opposite was also true. Refusing Khan could push him further away from humankind, which wasn''t a hard feat after everything that had happened.


    Khan and Mister Cirvags fell into a stalemate, staring at each other while seemingly probing their respective intentions. Truth be told, Khan wasn''t studying anything. His mere presence was a stance meant to convey a troublesome reality to Mister Cirvags.


    Official approval or not, Khan wouldn''t give up on the quadrant. Also, his next move would be to take care of the information leaked in his absence. That decision wouldn''t even affect his position with the Empire since the Thilku wanted him as a representative. Mister Cirvags could choose to be an annoying hurdle, but the following inevitable conflict would be pointless.


    Mister Cirvags dropped his usual condescending and knowledgeable attitude and showed genuine hesitation. Everyone could see he had doubts about the matter and Khan. Still, he wasn''t a man he could control anymore. That ship had sailed since Cegnore.


    "Why do you want to wait on the reports?" Mister Cirvags asked, dropping the formalities.


    "Illegal channels are spreading information about Baoway," Khan exined. "I must kill them before delivering official reports."


    "What makes you think they are illegal?" Mister Cirvags questioned.


    "The only ones who could have spread the information returned from Baoway," Khan revealed, "After failing to kill me and leaving me stranded."


    "Are you iming there was an attempt on your life, Prince Khan?" Cecil Usten beamed.


    "The Nognes family is already handling the situation," Khan stated. "I revealed some details only to honor my time working with Mister Cirvags."


    "Prince Khan!" Anastasia almost shouted. "Allow the Solodrey family to help with the investigation. Such criminals-."


    "I''ll handle it personally," Khan interrupted.


    "How?" Mister Cirvags asked.


    "I thought I was clear," Khan uttered.


    Mister Cirvags fell silent. Khan had only said he would kill the illegal channels, but the threat probably also involved the people behind them. A ughter was looming over the Global Army, and nothing could prevent it since the nobles sanctioned it.


    "These pieces of illegal information," Mister Cirvags attempted a different approach. "It might be useful topare them to your future reports."


    "Yes," Khan agreed, "But no."


    "Why?" Mister Cirvags questioned.


    "Because that''s my quadrant," Khan exined. "Any information belongs to me and is only mine to share."


    Many businessmen and political figures would have been more subtle about the matter, but Khan was different. He openly imed monopoly over anything rted to Baoway''s quadrant and his willingness to eliminate thepetition.


    That could still be fine. Khan was a Prince, so the Nognes family''s involvement would have cut away the authorities at the table anyway. Yet, his status counted another yer that Mister Cirvags couldn''t ignore.


    "What will be the share of information?" Mister Cirvags wondered. "Will you give the Global Army as much as the Thilku Empire?"


    That concern grew more reasonable by the day. It wasn''t even umon for Ambassadors to sell sensitive information to parties outside of humankind for personal gains. Giving Khan an official status would enable that path, potentially leaving the Global Army in the dark about misconduct.


    "That depends," Khan replied. "Is the Global Army on my side?"


    Many people at the table were ready to proim their allegiance to Khan, but everyone understood he only cared about Mister Cirvags'' reply. The weight of expectations slowly mounted on the experienced warrior, forcing him to make a decision he hoped not to regret.


    "I''ll call the involved offices," Mister Cirvags conceded. "Prince Khan, you''ll be added to the official registry of Ambassadors by tomorrow."


    "That''s wonderful news!" Anastasia dered. "We must also hold celebrations topensate for the missed birthday and anniversary. Please, Leticia. Let the Solodrey family host the event."


    "How could I refuse such a generous offer, Madam Solodrey?" Headmistress Holwen smiled. "I believe we can settle the specificster."


    "Of course," Anastasia agreed. "This meeting is far more-."


    Anastasia couldn''t finish her line since Khan stood up, lifting Monica with him. He gently helped her to the floor before whispering something in her ear and heading outside. Monica promptly drew her phone while the guests froze in confusion. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Mister Cirvags was the only exception to the confusion. He stood up as soon as he noticed Khan''s sudden departure and hurried toward him. The two ended up face to face by the hall''s entrance, far enough to keep eventual conversations private.


    "Prince Khan," Mister Cirvags muttered, suppressing his voice. "I hope you aren''t forsaking your species for short-term benefits."


    "Hoping is all you can do," Khan coldly replied.


    Mister Cirvags was a man of reason, but the apparent taunt threatened to get to his nerves. Of course, he was aware enough of his position to avoid reckless outbursts.


    "I should remind you who the official spokesperson for the Empire is," Mister Cirvags said. "I may have gotten old, but my name carries a lot of weight among the Thilku."


    "I know what kind of man you are," Khan stated. "That''s why I respect you. Our views might differ, but you are an honorable soldier."


    "ttery, Prince Khan?" Mister Cirvags almost scoffed but held back on impolite tones.


    "I wasn''t ttering," Khan exined. "I meant you would have stopped me. Either you trust me, or you know you can''t."


    Mister Cirvags stared deeply into Khan''s eyes but failed to discover anything. Khan''s intentions were a mystery, but Mister Cirvags became sure of something. That wasn''t the same man he had sent to Cegnore.


    Khan didn''t waste more time in the conversation. He departed, grabbing the first soldier in his surroundings to make his way outside. Needless to say, a proper escort formed around him, but his attention never lingered on it.


    Reaching one of the roofs put Khan in the middle of more rows of soldiers, but his feet brought him directly to the two figures near the ride. Andrew and Gordon were waiting for him, even if he had just told Monica to make everyone gather in his t.


    "Prince Khan," Gordon and Andrew said simultaneously, but the former added something. "I apologize for my presence here. I received Miss Solodrey''s message, but we had already arrived."


    "We are returning to co," Khan exined, ignoring the apology. "Prepare the necessary soldiers and ships."


    "We, my Prince?" Gordon asked, but the door connected to the roof promptly opened, revealing Monica and her parents. They had followed Khan, but his escort had gotten in the way.


    "Prince Khan," Anastasia called. "What is it that I hear about a trip to the Slums?"


    Anastasia didn''t dare to sound impolite, but it was clear she despised the idea. Even stepping on co''s training ground was below her, but Khan didn''t care.


    "Since you are so adamant aboutbeling me as your inw," Khan said, weing Monica to his side. "I figured you couldn''t wait to greet the rest of our family."

 Chapter 776 Master

    Chapter 776 Master


    Anastasia almost fainted when she heard those words. She would have loved it if Khan had included the Nognes family in his statement, but everyone knew what he had implied.


    The crowded roof wasn''t the right ce to discuss those matters, so Khan, Monica, Andrew, Gordon, Anastasia, and Luther gathered inside the ride, silently waiting for someone to speak.


    "Gordon," Khan called once the cab set off. "Are you still aware of my father''s location?"


    "Yes, my Prince," Gordon confirmed.


    "My fianc¨¦e and her parents will fly there after reaching co," Khan stated. "Prepare the necessary security measures."


    "Certainly, my Prince," Gordon said, much to Anastasia''s dismay. She wanted toin, but the nobles'' authority had filled the cab. She was powerless to do anything about that development.


    "Andrew," Khan continued.


    "My Prince," Andrew responded. "Wee back."


    "Contact Abraham," Khan ordered. "He works for me now. Have the Headmistress find a suitable ce for him in the Harbor."


    "Yes, my Prince," Andrew uttered, drawing his phone toplete the arrangements.


    "Francis should coordinate with Jenny," Khan added. "I won''t deal with all the ruckus on my phone."


    Andrew and Gordon immediately got to work, sending messages and making calls to handle the various orders. Meanwhile, Anastasia remained in her dispirited wait, hoping something would save her from the imminent endeavor.


    Monica was happy to see Khan in charge of everything, and some excitement about meeting his father kept her mind wandering, leaving only one exception inside the cab. Luther was also waiting for Khan to address him, but his demeanor was far calmer and colder than the others. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan was aware of Luther''s mood, and his eyes slowly rose to meet his. The two didn''t have the best rtionship. Actually, they barely had one, and their few interactions had been far from friendly. That could be Khan''s chance to punish him, but he had different intentions.


    "Gordon," Khan called. "Mister Solodrey will give you a number once wend. Have my Cousins pay him that."


    Gordon stopped dealing with his phone to inspect Khan. Thetter kept looking at Luther, so Gordon''s eyes soon moved to him, too. Following orders was fine, but Luther belonged to an inferior family, and Gordon wouldn''t let him exploit the situation.


    Luther was aware of that problem, too. He had hit the jackpot with Khan, but clearing his credit could create problems. He wouldn''t only risk enraging the Nognes family for asking for too much but would also lose any remaining leverage on Khan.


    "May I ask why, Prince Khan?" Luther questioned.


    Luther began to worry about his faction. Khan was an unusual Prince, but the Nognes family still stood behind him. The nobles rarely settled for snatching a descendant. Engagements and marriages usually involved other massive benefits, and paying the Solodrey family could enable those practices.


    "Our deal won''t change," Khan reassured. "I''m just clearing my debt."


    "Prince, there''s no need for that," Anastasia intervened. "You don''t have to worry about that issue anymore."


    "Because I''ll clear it," Khan stated. "I won''t have my rtionship bound to these matters anymore."


    Anastasia could see the romantic intent behind the issue, but her political knowledge warned her about potential repercussions. Yet, Khan had already given the order. Her husband could onlyply now.


    "I apologize for my rudeness, My Prince," Gordon stepped in. "I advise you to have specialists run the numbers with Mister Solodrey as a safety measure to avoid miscalctions. Your family would be happy to provide them."


    "That won''t be necessary," Khan refused. "Mister Solodrey won''t miscalcte."


    Luther still had Khan''s piercing gaze on him. His face remained calm, but his mind reached a sad conclusion anyway. He was helpless in that situation. Luther had to go along with the order without exploiting the beneficial situation.


    Monica didn''t like that development, but no one spoke anymore since Khan fell silent. A tense and awkward atmosphere invaded the cab while Khan reviewed the news on his phone, and the group had to wait for thending in the second district to rx.


    "We''ll reunite at the teleport," Khan announced, leaving the ride hand in hand with Monica.


    The sidewalk was clear, but the nearby blocks were crowded with reporters kept away by lines of soldiers. That familiar sight had gained new meaning, but the couple ignored everything to return to their t.


    "You didn''t need to do that," Monicained as soon as the elevator closed behind the couple''s backs.


    "Revealing the assassination attempt might force the involved parties to cover their tracks," Khan exined, directly heading for the living room. "The Nognes family might notice these movements, pointing at more people to eliminate."


    "I wasn''t talking about that!" Monica shouted, following Khan.


    "If your parents want to deal with the noble side of my family," Khan uttered, searching for any remaining booze in the t, "They have to greet my father first."


    Khan opened the usual drawers but couldn''t find anything. It seemed his t desperately needed a refill, but Monica suddenly grabbed his wrist, forcing him to face her.


    "I wasn''t talking about that, either!" Monica cried. "Why are you giving money to my family?"


    "First," Khan eximed, Monica''s angry face filling his vision, "It would force my Grandfather''s faction to show its allegiance to me. Thework has to know I have its support, and involving your family will make the matter public."


    "But-" Monica tried toin, but Khan interrupted her.


    "Second," Khan continued. "Paying off your father will free us of any obligations. From now on, anything I do to the Solodrey family will count as a favor."


    "You didn''t need to do that," Monica repeated, her voice losing intensity. She hated seeing her family creating problems for Khan, but his exnation was reasonable.


    "Yes, I did," Khan dered, swiftly pulling Monica''s waist. "Third, you are worth it."


    Monica instinctively fell into a kiss, but her hands promptly reached for Khan''s face, separating their lips.


    "They are waiting for us," Monica weaklyined, her hands already losing strength.


    "I don''t care," Khan said, lifting Monica. She clung her legs and arms to him, letting himy her on the nearest couch.


    "I thought you had to help me pick clothes," Monica gasped when Khan''s mouth went to her neck.


    "I can''t if I don''t take them off first," Khan whispered.


    "Scoundrel," Monica giggled, and passion soon took control of the couple.


    The couple''s passion left the group waiting near the teleport for a few hours, but no oneined when Khan and Monica finally showed their faces. The additional time also helped Gordon prepare everything so the teleportation could start without wasting more time.


    Only Khan, Monica, and her parents teleported to co''s training camp. Andrew and Gordon remained behind, but the new area had multiple teams ready to escort the group to the intended destinations. Still, when the four were about to reach their ride, Khan split up, heading for a different route.


    "I''ll reunite with you soon," Khan exined shortly before an escort formed around him and got farther from the ship.


    Noints flew toward Khan, but he didn''t care. The familiar training camp quickly upied his mind, making his thoughts wander through many memories. An important reunion was about to happen, and Khan hoped it would work well.


    The prison area was quite distant from the teleport, and the long walk toward it attracted a lot of attention. Crowds of soldiers, students, and professors followed the escort team without ever getting too close. Many also waited by Khan''s destination, but no one got in his way.


    The trapdoor opened when Khan approached it, and his cold nce told everyone to remain behind. He slowly descended the metal staircase on his own, returning to a nostalgic environment. That dark and smelly area had been his first real training hall, and the figure smoking at the small table had been his first Master.


    "Master," Khan announced once the trapdoor closed behind his back.


    "I haven''t been your Master in years," Lieutenant Dyester scoffed. "Not much of a kid anymore, are you?"


    "This ce didn''t change at all," Khan said, his gaze wandering across the empty cells. "Though it feels smaller."


    "Did the wealthy descendants spoil you too much?" Lieutenant Dyester snickered, puffing from his cigarette. "I still recall when you didn''t know what Credits were."


    "Are you checking on me, Master?" Khan teased, his face still cold. "Don''t tell me you missed me."


    "I can''t turn on my phone without getting some headline about you," Lieutenant Dyester snorted. "Don''t tter yourself."


    "ttery isn''t why I am here," Khan dered, reaching the table and staring directly into Lieutenant Dyester''s eyes. The man had been an unsurmountable mountain during their first training sessions, but Khan''s gaze only spotted weakness now.


    "Why are you here?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. "Nostalgia?"


    "I have an offer," Khan went straight to the point.


    "What?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned. "Do you want to fix my life now?"


    "No," Khan said. "It''s something far more selfish."


    Lieutenant Dyester avoided making additional jokes and threw the smoke in the ashtray. Khan imed his entire attention, mainly because some sadness spread through the air.


    "I want you to work for me," Khan revealed, "Join my guards. I need people I can trust."


    "Trust won''t do you much," Lieutenant Dyester pointed out. "I''m a third-level warrior who hasn''t trained in years. I can''t do much guarding for you."


    "I''m more than enough when ites to power," Khan imed, not a hint of shamelessness in his voice.


    "Why me, then?" Lieutenant Dyester asked.


    "I have crossed many lines to get where I am," Khan exined. "I need someone who can warn me about which ones not to cross."

 Chapter 777 Family

    Chapter 777 Family


    Khan didn''t regret the decisions he had made to get where he was. Still, he realized he hadpromised himself multiple times, and things could only worsen. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan''s mindset wasn''t human anymore. It hadn''t been for a long time, but the recent events had widened that gap. Khan was still a fourth-level warrior, too, so he had room to grow farther away from humankind, further affecting his decisions.


    With the change in status, Khan''s actions would have deeper repercussions than ever, possibly involving innocent parties and people who didn''t even know what the issues were about. He was ready to make those sacrifices, but having a trusted figure at his side might limit pointless casualties.


    Monica couldn''t fill that role. She was almost ready to support Khan''s every decision. Actually, she could have done worse on her own if Khan hadn''t beaten her to it.


    Gordon simply wasn''t trustworthy, and his noble guard''s education left him with a wed mindset. Instead, Andrew was nothing more than a loyal soldier. Hecked the ethicalyer Khan required.


    Abraham could work, but the man was too loyal to Khan. Chances were he would never contradict or scold Khan, which would defeat the point of having a trusted advisor in the first ce.


    However, Lieutenant Dyester held a unique position in Khan''s mind. Besides, he had already been scarred by the horror of war. He knew what it meant to go too far and could warn Khan if he noticed something simr.


    Moreover, Lieutenant Dyester had no ambition. Khan didn''t only trust him. He was also sure the benefits of the new position wouldn''t corrupt his heart and open the path for potential betrayals.


    Lieutenant Dyester had to admit he didn''t expect that development. He had initially guessed Khan wanted to offer him a morefortable position, which he was ready to refuse. Yet, reality turned out to be far moreplicated.


    Truth be told, Lieutenant Dyester shared Bret''s mindset, even if for different reasons. The soldier wanted to waste away in the prison area. That dark environment was his home, his whole world, and he was fine with it.


    Nevertheless, Khan didn''te there to offer his newfound wealth and influence. He was asking a favor, knowing how much it would cost Lieutenant Dyester to fulfill it. That gesture vouched for hisplicated situation and deep need for a trusted figure.


    "Does it have to be me?" Lieutenant Dyester wondered.


    Khan sat at the table but didn''t reply. The choice was between Lieutenant Dyester and George, but thetter was his friend. Khan wanted his family to have a beneficial rtionship with him, not something rted to employment.


    "I wouldn''t ask otherwise," Khan admitted.


    The reply confirmed Lieutenant Dyester''s idea of the situation. Behind that cold face and terrifying presence, Khan was desperate. That feeling had changed from his time as a kid, but Lieutenant Dyester still found it nostalgic.


    Lieutenant Dyester couldn''t help but feel sad. He had taught Khan not to be a mindless killing machine, but those instructions were creating an internal conflict now. Khan looked scared of his own power, but his unique situation prevented him from holding back. He would have to use it and knew tragedies could ur.


    "Would you even listen to me?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned.


    "I''ll try to," Khan said.


    "What if I can''t stand it anymore?" Lieutenant Dyester asked.


    "You are free to leave whenever you want," Khan promised, "And return here. I''ll put it in writing."


    "What a troublesome disciple," Lieutenant Dyester sighed, drawing another cigarette from his chest pocket. "You were less annoying as a kid."


    "I was more annoying," Khan corrected, "Less troublesome."


    "True," Lieutenant Dyester chuckled, lighting the cigarette with his forefinger. "I hope you aren''t asking me to get all polite and call you Prince."


    "I only need you to be yourself," Khan exined. "If I thought my authority would get in the way, I wouldn''t have chosen you."


    "Won''t I get killed by your guards or something?" Lieutenant Dyester wondered. "I heard they execute people at the first insult."


    "I''ll make myself clear," Khan dered. "It would defeat the purpose if you felt worried about speaking openly."


    "Booze?" Lieutenant Dyester continued.


    "Food, booze, and smokes are on me," Khan revealed. "As well as lodging and a pay of your choice."


    "I won''t live with you, will I?" Lieutenant Dyester asked.


    "Monica and I like our privacy," Khan reassured.


    "Good," Lieutenant Dyester nodded. "Because I liked the Weesso girl. It wouldn''t have felt right."


    "Yeah," Khan uttered. "I should contact her. We haven''t talked in a long time."


    "I heard she is doing fine," Lieutenant Dyester revealed. "She is still working for the Cobsend kid. I''m sure you are aware."


    "I am," Khan confirmed.


    "How is it you didn''t end up with her?" Lieutenant Dyester probed, pretending to be casual about that gossip.


    "Bad timing," Khan summarized. "We talked about it, cleared some air and stuff."


    "Did she tell you that?" Lieutenant Dyester asked, seemingly mocking Khan.


    "We are fine," Khan promised. "It just couldn''t happen. Too much had changed."


    "Well," Lieutenant Dyester sighed, "Makes me curious about this Miss Solodrey now. Did she tame you, or was it the opposite?"


    "Did you turn into a chit-chatting grandmother in these years?" Khan teased, suppressing theugh trying to break his cold face.


    "It''s boredom," Lieutenant Dyester snorted, suddenly standing up. "So, what do I have to do now?"


    "Just talk with one of the soldiers outside," Khan exined. "They''ll arrange everything."


    Lieutenant Dyester hurried toward the staircase, seemingly running away. Yet, noticing that Khan was still at the table made him halt in his tracks.


    "Aren''t youing?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned.


    "I have somewhere else to be," Khan revealed. "I hope that somewhere wasn''t burned to the ground by now."


    .


    .


    .


    Due to the ship, Monica and her parents reached the Slums in a blink, so their meeting began far before Khan arrived in the prison area. Soldiers had also isted the block, so they encountered Bret with no problem.


    The problems started afterward. Anastasia and Luther were political monsters with almost nothing inmon with Bret. Besides, Bret was already drunk, so Monica ended up being the target of most of his attention, and her short fuse soon became evident.


    "So," Bret could barely hold back theughs. "You stole my kid from a Nele''s legs. That''s a feat to be proud of."


    "There were no legs involved!" Monica shouted. "That witch only yed around to annoy us."


    "I think I read differently," Bret said, drinking a mouthful from the bottle in his hands.


    "Check your eyes," Monica snorted. "Maybe you have forgotten how to read in these years."


    "I still read better than anyone," Bret scoffed. "So, was he with her first and chose you afterward? Was he with you first and you made some concessions?"


    Monica almost couldn''t believe how quickly Bret was discovering the truth. The reality was, her expression said more than enough, and Bret knew he had hit the mark when her eyes widened in terror and anger.


    "Nothing happened," Monica cried, changing tactics. "There were no concessions. I made sure to make it worth his while on my own."


    The conversation had reached those tones for a while already. Monica hadpletely forgotten that her parents were in the small living room, and they pretended to do the same. They actually felt lucky to be in the Slums rather than among people with higher upbringing.


    "Did you, now?" Bret smirked. "My son sounds like a lucky dog."


    "The luckiest in the universe," Monica imed. "We put Lord Vegner''s estates to shame."


    Anastasia wanted to pierce her eardrums, but luck was on her side. The house''s door suddenly opened, and Khan stormed inside, iming all the attention for yourself.


    "I told you only I get to tease her," Khan scolded. The house''s brittle walls didn''t dampen sound at all. He could hear the bickering since he jumped from the ship.


    Despite the bickering, Khan couldn''t help but find the scene hrious. Monica and Bret were at the table, seemingly ready to kill each other. Meanwhile, Anastasia and Luther had refused to sit, their wary eyes trying to dodge the dirt in the area. Anastasia also held a tissue on her nose, hoping it would block the general stench.


    "I was just catching up and making sure she was right for you," Bret tantly lied. "She has my approval."


    Monica''s anger instantly vanished. She quickly straightened her posture, cing her arms on her waist, and an incredulous voice escaped her mouth. "Really?"


    "Of course, of course," Bret said, waving his hand dismissively. "You can marry my son. He looks happy with you."


    "I''ll do my best!" Monica promised, pointing her bright and excited smile at Khan.


    "Don''t enable him," Khan uttered. "He''s more of a scoundrel than I''ll ever be."


    "You left too soon," Bret nodded. "I still had much to teach you."


    "I tease my fianc¨¦e enough," Khan reassured.


    "You can''t have her all for yourself," Bretined.


    "That''s the definition of fianc¨¦e," Khan pointed out before nodding at Anastasia. "Here. You can tease her. Just talk about some marriage details once you''ve had your fill."


    Anastasia widened her eyes in terror, and looking at her husband only intensified that feeling. Luther nodded with the same seriousness he conveyed during business meetings. Escaping that situation had just be impossible for her.


    Monica kept smiling while Anastasia joined her at the table. Her happy mood mostly came from Bret''s approval, but seeing her mother''s slow and hesitant moves brought some satisfaction. Monica was finally getting some payback for her cold and detached upbringing.


    Luther ignored the table and approached Khan. His businessman face told everything Khan needed to know, but the man still spoke to reassure him.


    "I did as you asked, Prince Khan," Luther exined. "The Nognes family will make a generous donation to my faction."


    "That''s over, then," Khan muttered, nodding at the table. "Go on. You must also have opinions about the wedding."


    Luther hated the dirty environment as much as his wife, but nothing in his demeanor showed that feeling. As soon as Khan gave the order, he sat at the table, joining the conversation and adding fuel to Bret''s rude mood.


    Khan inspected the table, and for a second, he felt he was watching a typical family. The atmosphere had plenty of difort and animosity, which soundedpletely normal. His father, his fianc¨¦e, and her parents created the illusion of getting along, showing Khan a side of life he had never experienced.


    That second almost made Khan smile. It was a happy window into an otherwise chaotic life filled with problems. Nevertheless, he enjoyed it to its fullest, no matter how short it was. He needed to since the imminent future carried the color of blood.

 Chapter 778 Organization

    Chapter 778 Organization


    The rtively happy family meetingsted a while, but Khan, Monica, and her parents eventually departed, returning to the Harbor. Ideally, that could have been the right moment for a break from the political environment, but busy days with almost no free time followed.


    Anastasia and Luther moved independently, dealing with various aspects of their new position. As Monica''s parents, they benefited from Khan''s status as a Prince, and many parties wanted meetings to renegotiate or establish rtionships.


    Meanwhile, Khan had to move quickly. The statement arrived in less than a day, making him an official


    Ambassador and earning him new duties. Celebrations and meetings awaited on the horizon, but Khan left the arrangements to Monica while he dealt with more personal matters.


    Luckily for Khan, his titles opened many doors and smoothened every request, getting everything ready in a matter of days. Once thest piece fell into ce, he booked a hall near his district and gathered the intended parties there.


    Khan was thest to arrive, heading directly for the vast desk before the ample stands. The hall could fit hundreds of students, but only a few figures upied those seats now, all familiar.


    Monica was also in the hall but stood by the central desk, leaning on its edge while inspecting the seats. She threw a warm smile at Khan, but her expression returned serious when she looked at the few figures. Something big was about to be born, leaving no room for mistakes.


    Oddly enough, Khan sat directly behind the desk, avoiding the usual public disy of affection with Monica. His eyes instantly went to the seats, running over the guests. Some were friends and trustworthy allies, but his gaze showed no warmth.


    Lieutenant Dyester, Gordon, Andrew, Abraham, and Francis had gathered in the hall under Khan''s orders, but he didn''t exin why. Some knew more than others, but that only led to hypotheses. Still, everyone believed they would learn the truth soon enough.


    "You all belong to different families, factions, and fields," Khan announced. "No more."


    Khan let his words echo through the hall to inspect the audience''s reaction, but no one flinched. He was slightly worried about Francis, but the man''s face only showed resolve. It seemed he had matured and understood his ce during his time with Khan.


    "Starting today," Khan continued, "You''ll all work directly under me. You''ll have official contracts connected to my figure, even if they''ll only act as a fa?ade in some cases." The implications behind Khan''s words were obvious. Some of his future orders wouldn''t be legal, so the official contracts would provide protection and alibis against eventual investigations.


    "Andrew," Khan called.


    "Yes, Prince Khan," Andrew eximed, standing up and performing a military salute.


    "You are to be my jack-of-all-trades," Khan exined. "You''ll assume the role of a noble guard while watching over and handling any business I point you at. In my absence, you are also to apany my fianc¨¦e wherever she goes." 2


    "Yes, Prince Khan," Andrew said, lowering his head and adjusting his greeting. "It would be my honor, My Prince."


    "Gordon," Khan called, and Gordon jumped to his feet while Andrew sat down.


    "You''ll be my connection to the Nognes family," Khan stated, "As well as my investigator. Your clearance gives you ess to hidden information and movements, so I expect you to notify me about anything I deem useful."


    "Yes, My Prince," Gordon uttered, sitting down when Khan nodded at him.


    "Lieutenant Dyester," Khan continued. The Lieutenant didn''t stand up, but his eyes gained focus.


    "You''ll be my moralpass," Khan exined. "You''ll also gain the title of Master, so you''ll go by Master Carl in public. You need that for clearance reasons, so don''tin."


    Lieutenant Dyester snorted, but an amused smirk appeared on his face. He was nowhere near suitable to be Khan''s Master anymore, but the current development was starting to make sense. It almost seemed Khan was building a faction or a proper family.(no v.el) (n ex t) .c*m


    "Abraham," Khan called, and Abraham stood up, promptly replying with a "My Prince".


    "You''ll establish ab in the Harbor," Khan dered. "You''ll have full authority on the hiring procedures and requests for equipment, but any leak will be severely punished. Any information, result, or test goes to me only. Those interested in your work will also have toe to me."


    "Do you already know the specifics of our first projects?" Abraham questioned. "Knowing them will help me choose better assistants."


    "Alien anatomy," Khan revealed, "Alien botany, and that other project."


    It didn''t take a genius to trante Khan''s words. Everyone understood he wanted to channel Baoway''s findings into hisb to have a monopoly over any discovery.


    As for the third project, Abraham understood Khan with a single nce. The matter was about controlling Monica''s element through magic items, which Khan and Abraham had already started.


    "Yes, My Prince," Abraham eximed.


    "I''ll give you a few blueprints," Khan added. "Have the materials ready before my departure."


    "It would be my pleasure, My Prince," Abraham stated, returning to his seat.


    "Francis," Khan called, moving to thest member of the audience.


    "Prince Khan," Francis said, standing up and conveying utter politeness.


    "You are to coordinate with Jenny and deal with any political issue," Khan exined. "I trust your education made you suitable for the position."


    Khan was basically turning Francis into a glorified secretary, but he didn''t mind. Being politically connected with Khan wouldn''t only put Francis at the center of a massive and influential social array. It would also enhance his figure, making him a key representative of the Alstair family.


    The full picture was now clear. Everything was still unofficial, but Khan had formally built an organization. The party didn''t have gs or political names. It existed solely for Khan, but that would be enough for thework.


    "The meeting is adjourned," Khan eventually dered. "Master Carl, Monica, and Gordon will stay behind. Andrew, make sure Abraham gets the full support of the Harbor."


    A series of "Yes, Prince Khan" resounded in the hall while everyone got on the move. Soon, only Monica, Lieutenant Dyester, and Gordon remained, waiting for Khan''s orders from the other side of the interactive desk.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "My Prince, if I may," Gordon announced once the privacy of Khan''s inner circle arrived.


    "Speak," Khan said, activating the desk''s menus.


    "The Harbor isn''t suitable for someone of your status," Gordon stated. "The Nognes family has structures with betterworks,bs, and so on."


    "The Harbor is home," Khan shortly exined, "And it''s easier to control. Besides, it''s better if I stay here for now."


    "You have to return to that, right?" Lieutenant Dyester asked.


    "Not immediately," Khan uttered, bringing up holograms. The blue images depicted a small space station, which Gordon recognized.


    "That''s one of Prince William''s targets," Gordon eximed.


    "My target," Khan corrected. "It has two hundred workers, ten ships, and expensive scientific equipment."


    "Do you want to buy it?" Lieutenant Dyester joked.


    "It also has someone I have to kill," Khan revealed.


    Khan spoke casually about the matter, but his cold stance added a chilling vibe to his words. He was openly discussing murdering someone, but Monica already knew.


    Her eyes never fell on the holograms as she studied the two soldiers'' reactions.


    "Did my shift start already?" Lieutenant Dyester snorted. "I have yet to sign anything."


    "Gordon," Khan called. "What''s the likelihood that data has already spread past this space station?"


    "I would call it a certainty, My Prince," Gordon said.


    "And what about knowing where the information went?" Khan asked.


    "Unless they made a mistake," Gordon responded, "It''s probably impossible to track down anyone who might have benefited from this structure''s secret businesses."


    "Which leaves," Khan announced, "Scientists, pilots, and soldiers in charge of teleports."


    The air grew colder, and Khan wasn''tpletely to me there. Lieutenant Dyester and Gordon understood what Khan wanted to do, and their mana inevitably leaked their thoughts into the symphony.


    "Are you sure?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned. "I understand sending a message, but this..."


    "How can I control the small gears in the political machine?" Khan wondered. "Those who don''t even know what the issue is about?"


    "My Prince," Gordon intervened. "By making your intentions public, you might prevent most ploys against you from unaware parties."


    "Desperation is a strong drive," Khan muttered. "Money, status, or other rewards will always make someone ept the risk."


    "No one dares to oppose the nobles," Gordon imed.


    "And yet," Khan responded. "The Hive exists."


    Lieutenant Dyester remained silent. He knew few details about those criminal organizations and secret politicalyers, but hisck of input wasn''t the result of ignorance. He had understood what Khan wanted to do, and his throat almost ran out of words.


    "Is that the message you want to send?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned. "Is that your solution?"


    Khan tapped on the menus, pulling up a list of the space station''s workers and sectors before pushing it toward Lieutenant Dyester.


    "Cross anything that might have nothing to do with theb," Khan ordered.


    "If I do," Lieutenant Dyester uttered, "Will you spare them?" "I''ll let them evacuate," Khan exined.

 Chapter 779 Slaughter

    Chapter 779 ughter


    The bridge was silent as Khan flew the ship toward the nearby space station. The scanners had already locked onto the structure, and the vehicle''s security codes had cleared it fornding. Everything went as smoothly as possible, but the atmosphere remained heavy.


    Khan wasn''t alone on the ship. Gordon was with him on the bridge, and a small team of soldiers waited in the cargo area. That force wasn''t anything significant, but the banner it waved could open any door.


    That authority was the only reason behind the team''s presence. Khan would have preferred to make the trip alone, but his n would work better with Gordon taking care of the small details. The noble guard was aware of his role, too, hence the heavy atmosphere.


    The ship crossed the space station''s mana barrier andnded at the hangar''s edge without encountering difficulties. The visit was also unexpected, so Khan and his team crossed the metal ramp without having to deal with any escort. Their arrival attracted the curiosity of a few loitering workers but nothing else.


    "With the authority conferred to me by Prince Khan," Gordon announced once enough gazes had fallen on the neers, "Prince of the Nognes family, we are isting this space station."


    The few soldiers on Khan''s team approached the mana barrier to stand guard. Although they weren''t nearly enough to cover the entire membrane, they chose specific locations that could grant a general view of the hangar.


    "Remain calm," Gordon continued. "Look away if you aren''t involved. Confusion will only breed mistakes."


    The workers inevitably started to worry at the second part of the announcement. Being in the middle of noble businesses already made them tense, but Gordon basically told them something bad was about to unfold.


    Khan moved after Gordon finished his short speech. He owed the innocent people a warning, but his mercy ended there. His mind grew colder than ever as he dived into the hangar to approach a certain corridor. Khan had memorized the space station''syout, so his steps reeked of confidence.


    Gordon didn''t follow Khan and joined the soldiers by the mana barrier. He studied him with his gaze before focusing solely on his task. He would feel sorry for anyone who crossed Khan''s path if his education had been even slightly wed.


    Khan''s arrival had been unexpected, but the presence of a noble remained a big deal. The space station quickly sent proper escorts and weing soldiers toward him, but their encounter couldn''t happen in a worse location.


    Khan wasn''t running, but his walking pace remained quick enough to cross a few corridors before the weing team could catch up with him. By then, he had reached the entrance to one of the more ssified areas of the space station, a ce Lieutenant Dyester couldn''t cross from his list.


    "Prince Khan," The man in charge of the escort team announced while hispanions formed an orderly line behind him. Military salutes unfolded, but Khan only cared about the unlucky position.


    The escort had arrived from a side passage, stopping before the door Khan intended to cross. He didn''t sense any malice from the gesture. Everything had been random, but that couldn''t work for Khan anymore.


    "You honor us with your presence, Prince Khan," The man continued, also performing a military salute. "What can we do to make your stay morefortable?"


    "Get away from that door," Khan responded, his line sounding like an order.


    The soldiers couldn''t help but shake under Khan''s cold pressure. They were nothing more than first and second-level warriors, so his mere presence threatened to make them faint.


    The man in charge was no exception, and ncing at the door put a frown on his face. He knew what was behind the entrance but couldn''t understand why Khan would be interested in it. After all, ording to his reports, the area only hosted minor experiments on ointments.


    "Prince Khan," The man said without hiding his confusion. "If you wish a tour of theb, it can be arranged."


    "I''ll say this only once," Khan eximed, "And I won''t repeat myself afterward. Don''t stand in my way."


    Khan truly did his best. He sent his killing intent to his aura so ordinary people could understand his intentions. He even put his hand on his knife''s handle, hoping a more visible threat could convey the danger of the situation. Yet, the man had to hesitate one time too much.


    "Prince, this area could be dangerous," The man warned. "I can''t in good faith-."


    The man didn''t get the chance to finish his line. The soldiers behind him suddenly noticed that Khan had disappeared before a gory scene captured their attention. An oblique cut appeared on their leader''s head, and its severed chunk slowly slid off.


    The gory chunk of flesh and brain fell to the floor, followed by the man''s corpse. Gasps and cries immediately resounded, but incredulity followed when the soldiers noticed Khan behind them. He had reached the door, and his expression appeared even colder than before.


    Countless justifications ran through Khan''s mind. The man could have been a cog in the system that had nned his assassination. His ignorance didn''t necessarily imply innocence.


    The man might have also had orders to dy Khan as long as possible. Khan didn''t see that malice, but devices that could hinder his senses had already appeared. There was a chance the leader was guilty of something.


    However, Khan knew the truth, no matter how much he didn''t want to face it. His senses had even improved too much to be tricked by experimental technology. The man was utterly ignorant and innocent. He had died only because Khan needed to send a message.


    ''[Bloody rivers],'' Khan thought. He had warned Jenna about that, and the moment hade. He had be the monster thework chanted about.


    That wasn''t Khan''s first time killing innocents. Still, it was the first time the act wasn''t necessary. He wasn''t trapped. He wasn''t saving anyone from a worse fate. That man had simply been caught in a game far bigger than him, and Khan had taken it upon himself to y the executioner.


    The corpse lying on the floor spoke louder than a thousand words. The soldiers stepped away before freezing on the spot. They even held their breath, afraid it would set off Khan again.


    Khan ignored the soldiers and ced his hand on the door. The menus refused his gic signature, so his palm slowly abandoned that metal surface. Only his fingertips remained there, and purple-red mana soon enveloped them to give birth to a sword.


    The sword pierced the metal, creating a spiderweb of cracks that expanded until the entrance and part of the nearby wall crumbled. Interactive desks and scientists wearing white medical coats fell into Khan''s vision, and his spell vanished to make room for another.


    Khan straightened his arm, pointing his palm at the scientists before a conical version of the Wave spell shot forward. The attack destroyed the interactive desk and messed with the various machines in the area. As for the scientists in its range, they died while the chaos element tore their flesh to pieces.


    The artificial illumination began going on and off, adding a terrifying vibe to the scene. The first scream triggered a chain reaction, and the soldiers in the escort ran away as soon as Khan entered the new area.


    Information ran quickly, especially inside a space station, so chaos soon spread. The seemingly impossible news reached every corner of the structure while mass panic unfolded. Many headed for the hangar, hoping to escape, but Gordon''s team had already taken care of everything.


    As for Khan, his eyes barely moved while he pointed his hands at any trace of life that touched his senses. Anything past the destroyed door was his target, and his attacks never missed. They also never failed to extinguish lives.


    The entire space station only had a handful of third-level warriors, who were no different than flies for Khan. Life lost any meaning in his mind as he advanced through people he could kill with a thought. Even the metal standing in his way was nothing more than rubble before his mana. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    It was a ughter. Khan didn''t count, but his mind kept track of the lives he took. Yet, his attacks carried no hesitation. Nothing could stop what he had started, not even himself.


    Many scientists in that area didn''t even know the ce was connected to Khan, but he killed them anyway. It didn''t matter why or how. Reasonable and personal motives had no value anymore. Anything even remotely linked to something standing against Khan had to die and disappear.


    Screams, pleads, and more reached Khan''s ears while blood and gore filled his eyes. His feet never stopped moving, but no one dared follow him to question his actions. Only destruction, corpses, and gore existed behind him. Even the bravest soldiers couldn''t muster the courage to step on it.


    After carving the path through three simr areas, Khan finally reached the space station''s centralb, and everything froze on his arrival. The scientists in the area halted their work when he peeked past the hole dug by his spell. Those people seemed aware of what was happening, and a mixture of duty and helplessness filled their auras.


    Khan stopped advancing when he entered theb. The atmosphere was clearly different, but that wouldn''t have been enough to slow him down. Yet, spotting Margaret and one of Baoway''s blue bushes on the desk beside her could.

 Chapter 780 Warning

    Chapter 780 Warning


    "Prince Khan," Margaret announced, but Khan didn''t reply. She had learned about his change in status, but that wasn''t enough to make him speak.


    Khan briefly looked at Margaret before focusing on the blue bush. Even with many missing leaves, the nt appeared rather healthy. It seemed theb had learned how to nourish it while he was stuck on Baoway.


    "Our study discovered many hidden properties," Margaret said. "Would you like to hear them, Prince Khan?"


    Khan''s eyes remained on the nt as his feet finally began to move. He advanced through theb, crossing frozen scientists and interactive desks until he reached the blue bush. He was basically standing before Margaret now, but his attention never went to her.


    The advance cleared the view into the previous areas. The scientists had heard rumors, but looking past the hole dug through the metal exined the gravity of the situation. The intermitting illumination shone on destroyed and buzzing machines, maimed corpses, and pools of blood, telling a clear story about Khan''s deeds.


    Death seemed unavoidable, and Khan''s silence didn''t reassure anyone. His aura made the air reek of cold, killing intent. Nothing could stop him, either. The scientists could only indulge him until he decided to take their lives.


    Margaret also lost all hope at the sight of the gory spectacle, but some defiance shone in her eyes. She knew her team had gotten close to killing Khan, and the months he had spent stranded on Baoway had allowed her to fulfill some goals.


    "It''s toote, Prince," Margaret chuckled. "The information is already out there, and you''ll never find where it went."


    Margaret was right, but Khan had epted that truth long before flying to the space station. His presence there wasn''t an attempt to limit the damage. He wanted to write a message both humans and aliens could read.


    "Killing us and taking this nt will be pointless," Margaret continued, doing her best to enjoy any remaining second of her life. "This sample has already borne fruit. You''ll always be many steps behind."


    Khan reached for one of the blue leaves, tasting it between his thumb and forefinger. Margaret believed he was checking its state, but the following purple-red glow destroyed that idea.


    Mana escaped Khan''s fingers, flowing over and inside the leaf. That energy quickly spread throughout the nt as cracks opened on its surface. The bush retained its intact form for a second before falling apart, bing dust on the interactive desk.


    Margaret didn''t expect that development. She didn''t know what had happened in Baoway after her departure, but the blue nt remained a valuable resource. Destroying it wouldn''t feel right even if Khan had a thousand of them in store.


    Margaret wasn''t the only one who experienced surprise. The scientists faced a simr emotion, which was enough to break the frozen state in some cases. One close to an exit even nced at the door as calctions happened inside her mind. Khan was fast, but it would take her a single jump to escape theb. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The woman stared at the door as sweat ran down her forehead. She wanted to live if possible, and running away seemed the only path toward that. Her body tensed up as ns and simtions invaded her mind, but a bottomless terror reced everything when her finger flinched.


    A purple-red light shone on the woman''s face, and her eyes moved to inspect the source of that sudden glow. A floating needle had appeared near her cheek, ready to stab it and explode. Needless to say, any idea of running away ended at that sight.


    Margaret and the other scientists noticed the event, but Khan remained the most terrifying part of the scene. He was still looking at the interactive desk but had sensed and reacted to a mere idea standing meters away. His awareness seemed to border omniscience.


    Slowly, more needles materialized in theb, each pointing at a scientist, and Khan made it look effortless. He didn''t move at all. Even his eyes remained still, but enough spells to blow multiple rooms materialized anyway.


    "P-" Margaret tried to say something, but the rest of her line remained stuck in her throat. A hole suddenly opened at the center of her forehead, and blood and brain matter spurted from it as she fell lifeless on her back.


    The thudding noise created by Margaret''s crash set off the scientists. Everyone mustered their mana or tried to escape, but the needles were faster. All the spells shot toward their targets, detonating and devouring heads.


    More thudding noises followed as every scientist fell dead to the floor. The area tried to be silent, but the lingering effects of the chaos element made the various machines flicker. A few even released sparks as theb''s artificial illumination struggled to remain on.


    Khan finally lifted his eyes as two glowing spears materialized above his head. They gathered power while pointing at opposite ends of theb and shot forward once Khan took his first step.


    Explosions resounded inside theb, creating strong winds that pushed any loitering object away. The spells then gave birth to pirs, which rose toward the ceiling and eroded the surrounding metal.


    Cracks expanded through the floor as everything began to crumble. Theb sank on itself, but Khan had already disappeared, moving to his next target.


    Simr scenes unfolded in all the locations Khan nned to destroy. Blinding pirs ate away expensive equipment, useful machines, and bodies, often affecting the areas on the upper and lower floors.


    By then, the rumor had be a certainty, and the event didn''t stop at the space station. Everyone panicked and tried to escape the structure, but Gordon''s team prevented that. He even used the noble authority to deactivate the teleports, leaving the desperate crowd with only one option.


    Many sent distress signals and requests for help into any avable channel. Thework became flooded with such messages, and to the readers'' surprise, the Nognes family didn''t censor them. Everyone learned about the ughter unfolding inside the space station, but no one moved to stop it.


    As for Khan, he felt worse at each spell heunched, which did nothing to justify his actions. Even if his face didn''t show it, he experienced everything, angry and in pain the situation had forced that out of him.


    Of course, no one was forcing Khan to do anything, but his way of life required that. Sacrificing himself or his integrity was always the safest option, and he chose it every time.


    Besides, those decisions worked differently for Khan. His mind had no space for regret. He had be that kind of man, leaving no avable path behind.


    The ughtersted half an hour, culminating at the teleport area. Everyone there was innocent, but Khan showed no mercy anyway. Those workers had still opened the gates for people who were against Khan, which had be an unforgivable crime now.


    Admittedly, Khan could have wrapped the matter quickly but had opted for a fast-paced walk to experience the magnitude of his destruction. Once the job was done, he returned to the hangar, where a terrified crowd awaited him.


    The random workers Lieutenant Dyester had crossed from the list had gathered there since everywhere else could be Khan''s target. The hangar also was the only hope of escaping in the absence of teleports, but Khan''s arrival seemed to destroy that thought.


    However, Khan didn''t attack. He took a few steps forward while the workers retreated at his advance before stopping. His stance began to convey cold confidence as his eyes ran through the crowd. His appearance had remained strangely clean during the endeavor, but the light that started leaking from his gaze reminded everyone of the monster he was.


    "Let this be a warning," Khan announced, his calm voice echoing through the symphony, bing a loud chant. "This is the fate of anyone suspected of aiding those against me."


    Gulps and shaking legs spread throughout the hangar. Ordinary people would find such ims unreasonable, but the space station''s workers had just witnessed the truth. Khan was for real. He was ready to engage in a crazy ughter at the mere suspicion of enmity.


    "You have five minutes to evacuate," Khan continued. "Starting now."


    Khan''s words triggered mass panic. All the workers headed for the few avable ships, crowding them while struggling to cross their narrow metal ramps. The hangar barely had enough vehicles to fit them all, but those soldiers wouldn''t engage in orderly departures after what they had witnessed.


    Khan nodded at the distant Gordon while the mess unfolded, and the man hopped on the noble ship with his team. They were the first to depart, slowly followed by the rides that managed to set off.


    Nevertheless, Gordon stopped the ship right outside the space station. The other vehicles shot at full speed into the universe, trying to put as much distance from the structure as possible, but not Gordon. He had orders to remain there andplied.


    Once the five minutes were over, explosions began to resound inside the space station. Smoke filled the hangar as the mana barrier destabilized, pushing all the gas into the universe. Huge cracks also appeared in other areas of the structure, losing their protection against the fearsome void.


    Then, the structure began to cave in, almost imploding on itself. Its surfaces bent and broke, crushing the innermost areas. The process continued even when Khan stepped into the universe protected by a mana barrier. He reached his ship just in time to watch the space station explode from the scanners.

 Chapter 781 Repercussions

    Chapter 781 Repercussions


    The news spread like wildfire, and headlines never ceased appearing as more and more survivors reached safe ces. Those workers were too scared to give proper interviews, but the reporters still got something from them, mainly Khan''sst warning.


    Truth be told, everyone was aware of the repercussions of hurting the nobles. Wealthy families had also engaged in simr activities themselves for simr reasons. However, all those parties were wise enough to act in silence or control the leaked stories.


    Instead, Khan had done everything in the open, leaving as many tracks and survivors as possible. He wanted the news to spread. Khan needed thework to know what would happen to anyone who ended up on his bad side. He was acting no differently from other nobles except regarding secrecy.


    Also, those powerful organizations would usually rely on soldiers and private guards. Meanwhile, Khan took the issue into his own hands, leaving no scapegoat avable in the instance someoneined.


    Many questions followed the event. It was clear something had happened in Baoway, but thework craved details. The public wanted to know what could have triggered Khan''s bloody and strong reaction. No one expected official answers since the nobles were involved, but everyone turned out to be wrong.


    Princess Felicia released an official interview detailing Baoway''s events less than an hour after the space station''s destruction. She exined a bit about the before focusing on the betrayal and how Khan''s actions were nothing more than just retribution.


    The interview exined a lot but also raised more questions. Nobles could ignorews, but being so open about that lost Khan his general favor. After all, he didn''t take revenge on a handful of people. He had ughtered even those remotely connected to the betrayal.


    The destruction of the space station took things one step further. The issue pushed the matter to superioryers, involving organizations that could have businesses connected to such structures. The nobles were nigh-omnipotent, but theck of secrecy opened the path for mass criticism.


    The ordinary soldiers worried about letting a mass murderer get away scot-free. Khan didn''t kill out of need. His actions weren''t self-defense. He wasn''t even on a battlefield. He had engaged in criminal actions inside the Global Army''s domain, knowing full well what the regtions were.


    Meanwhile, the organizations worried about the financial repercussions of letting Khan roam free. Many markets would take a hit if space stations could disappear due to Khan''s whims. Too much money was involved for a single man to have such power.


    The concerns were so reasonable higher-ups from the Global Army had to step forward and release interviews. Generals of various ranks promised investigations and questioning, hoping to reassure the masses. Yet, nothing could silence thework, and many demanded answers from the source of the matter.


    The source of the matter didn''t interact with thework. Khan read it while flying the ship but ignored any calls and messages reaching his phone. He had predicted a simr oue, and inspecting the new headlines almost made him shake his head.


    Khan had been the idol of the masses in the past. His political, war-rted, and romantic achievements had inspired the public, earning him respect and admiration. He was the ultimate proof that background didn''t matter.


    Yet, bing a Prince turned away many fans. Since the addition of the new title, the public has reviewed Khan''s achievements, finding meanings, oddities, and justifications they couldn''t see before.


    None of that was true, but changing the public''s mind was impossible. Many connected Khan''s incredible sess to his lineage, demeaning his previous achievements. They also saw his rtionship with Monica in a different light. Everything would have made more sense if Khan had always had the backing of the nobles, turning rumors into the epted reality.


    Things took a turn for the worse after the space station''s explosion. Some thought Khan had gone crazy. Others believed Khan had always been mental, and his new title had enabled him to act ordingly in the open.


    The pressure from the Global Army''s higher-ups even fueled the rumors. No one condemned Khan, but his noble status could exin those vague interviews. Meanwhile, their existence told the public about a conflict between the army and families.


    Khan''s supporters still existed and tried their best to be heard, but their numbers dwindled by the minute. Everything was too perfect to continue believing in Khan. His public figure plummeted, and Princess Felicia''s announcement couldn''t do anything to contain that trend.


    Khan limited himself to reading until an awaited call reached his phone. He eyed Gordon while retrieving the device, and the guard left the bridge to give him privacy.


    "You are quite merciless, Cousin," Prince William announced from the other side of the phone. "I didn''t expect the ughter, let alone blowing up the space station."


    "How is the search going?" Khan asked, ignoring the announcement.


    "We finished tracking everyone down," Prince William responded. "Give me a name, and I''ll hand you coordinates."


    "Who''s the closest from here?" Khan questioned.


    "Would you like to hear my warnings first?" Prince William wondered. "Thework is already a mess as it is."


    "No," Khan shortly replied.


    "I guessed as much," Prince William sighed. "The closest is Celeste Pakenwell. I''m sending the coordinates right now."


    A notification popped up on the ship''s menus, and Khan promptly opened it. A map appeared, and the vehicle ran calctions. It would take one and a half days to reach the marked destination while flying at full speed.


    "What should we tell thework this time?" Prince William asked.


    "Nothing has changed," Khan exined. "This is still retribution for Baoway."


    "Cousin," Prince William called. "The Global Army might intervene if you keep blowing up space stations."


    "So much for the nobles'' power," Khanmented.


    "Things would have been different if you followed protocol," Prince William revealed. "Now, we have internal factions and other noble families annoying us. You are destroying the illusion of peace, and many don''t want that."


    Prince William simply exined the situation without admonishing Khan. He acted as an external advisor with no personal goal, but Khan couldn''t listen to him yet.


    "Let the armye," Khan eventually said. "Though do warn them beforehand."


    "Exciting times are ahead of us," Prince Williamughed. "As you wish, Cousin."


    Prince William closed the call, and Khan activated the ship''s shields to prepare it for imminent eleration. He stepped on the pedal, pushing the vehicle to its top speed as the menus traced the best trajectory. His next item on the list was in sight, and he wouldn''t let it get away.


    The news running through thework didn''t only affect Khan''s public figure. It also warned the targeted parties about imminent retribution, making them look for ways to avoid it.


    Usually, escaping would have been easy. The universe was vast, and the Global Army had plenty of parties willing to oppose Khan, especially after the recent developments.


    Khan also lost the surprise effect, putting him one step behind eventual escape ns. Still, the Nognes family handled that issue, and Khan witnessed part of its power once he reached his destination.


    Celeste was in another small space station, which mostly acted as an archive for alien and unknownnguages. Due to its purely studying purposes, the ce didn''t even have defensive weapons or teleports, but a blockade had still appeared in its surroundings.


    Twenty or so ships belonging to the Nognes family encircled the space station, pointing their huge rifles at it. The vehicles were ready to fire at anything that dared leave the structure''s mana barrier, forcing everyone to remain inside. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan didn''t know any of the ships'' pilots, but the blockade opened upon his arrival anyway. He brought his ride inside the space station''s hangar without encountering any problems, and another ughter unfolded.


    Explosions, screams, and more resounded throughout the space station without ever taking a break. Khan was unstoppable and relentless, deadly and silent. He embodied death and destruction, but even he found room for words once he saw a familiar face.


    Celeste was inside a small office, standing before her interactive desk. She seemed to have been waiting for Khan, and seeing his figure walk past the destroyed door put some sadness on her face.


    "I didn''t think it would havee to this," Celeste announced, gazing at the destruction past Khan.


    Celeste''s words and aura were in line with her behavior on Baoway. She seemed to despise conflict and had often argued against spilling pointless blood. However, she didn''t hesitate to fire at Khan, so her sadness held no weight in his mind.


    "Know it wasn''t personal," Celeste exined. "We were put in an impossible situation. Killing you was the lesser of two evils."


    "Give me names," Khan said, "And I''ll make them my next targets."


    "I won''t, Major," Celeste smiled, shaking her head. "I now think we were right for trying to kill you."


    Celeste didn''t look at Khan while saying those words. Her gaze was on the destruction behind him, exining her reasoning. He was a walking threat, someone the Global Army had to take down to achieve peace.


    "You were," Khan confirmed, his arm shing upward.

 Chapter 782 Reaction

    Chapter 782 Reaction


    Khan hit two more space stations, one for Kirk and Marcus and the other for Fergus'' two teammates, before flying to the nearest teleport. The hunt had taken almost a week out of him, but hisst target was finally in sight.


    Nevertheless, thest target''s location was troublesome. Unlike Celeste, Margaret, and the others, Randall had returned to Earth, establishing himself inside a private academy near a training camp.


    The location could spell trouble for Khan for multiple reasons. First, Earth was humankind''s heart. Attacking a building inside a legal zone was nothing short of terrorism, which would destroy what little remained of his general favor.


    The attack could also force the Global Army''s hand. After all, the soldiers had to maintain peace, especially on Earth. They couldn''t let Khan bring war there, no matter how justified he felt.


    The nearby training camp could even provide the troops the Global Army needed. Theoretically, the higher-ups could deploy an entire battalion to prevent the attack or defend the structure if the fight were unavoidable.


    In addition, the academy had many wealthy backers. Its structure was simr to the Harbor in almost every field, including prestige. Although its lessons were more targeted toward specialized and advanced fields, that didn''t make it any less influential.


    Thanks to the embassy, the Harbor remained one step above, but that didn''t change the facts. The many families behind the academy were bound to pressure the Global Army to take action, but the result was an underwhelmingpromise.


    Baoway''s mission had been a secret, and the same went for those involved. Yet, the Nognes family''s deployment of ships and troops to corner the targets had revealed the teammates'' identities, telling the entirework where the following attacks woulde.


    The academy was no different, but its unique location and timeline granted the Global Army enough leverage to force concessions out of the Nognes family. After blowing up multiple space stations, Khan had run out of favor, so the Nognes family allowed a partial evacuation. Except for Randall, everyone could leave the building.


    Khan didn''t voice his opinion on the matter. Prince William informed him about that development, but he feigned ignorance and indifference. Of course, his mind was far from quiet, but his Cousin didn''t need to know about his internal conflict.


    On the one hand, Khan was partially relieved that his predicted kill count had been shortened. Baoway''s information had already flown past his reach, and his previous attacks had conveyed the intended message. He didn''t need more pointless ughters to make his point.


    However, the development also showed the limits of the approach. Even with a noble family''s support, Khan wasn''t omnipotent, especially when parties with simr power opposed him.


    Admittedly, Khan only had the support of one faction of the Nognes family, but his conclusions remained sound. Between Luther''s payment and the damage inflicted upon the Global Army, Khan had contracted a debt his superiors would want to see repaid.


    Khan didn''t linger on those thoughts for too long. His unique situation and goals prevented him from engaging in the usual give-and-take with the Global Army. He would reinforce his relevance inside humankind, but that coulde only after he finished sending his message.


    The Nognes family had everything ready by the time Khan appeared on the training camp''s teleport. Soldiers escorted him to a protected ship that set off as soon as its doors closed. In a matter of minutes, the scanners saw the building in all its prestige.


    The ce was truly beautiful. The academy consisted of a tall, rectangr building surrounded by green. Multiple streets adorned with groundmps ran through those vast gardens, creating a peaceful and pristine atmosphere that reeked of luxury.


    Khan couldn''t help butpare the academy with the Harbor. Thetter was limited by its location, so it was forced to opt for a purely artificial vibe. Instead, the structure in the scanners could benefit from Earth''s atmosphere and peace, adding natural touches and enhancing its overall beauty.


    Sadly, Khan couldn''t appreciate that marvelous scenery. He didn''t take any breaks between his attacks, so his mind had turned into a bottomless pit of coldness and killing intent. He only saw what would be of the academy after his passage when watching the scanners'' screens.


    The area was strangely empty, and the shipnded right outside the gardens. Only Khan stepped outside, diving into the ce''s calm and clean streets. His military uniform had gathered a lot of dust, sweat, and some blood during the previous attacks, making him the sole sore spot in an otherwise wonderful environment.


    Khan only looked ahead, but his auras had grown too intense by then. The many lives he had taken weighed on his mind, turning his presence into a toxic, destructive influence. The gardens'' frail grass couldn''t hope to survive it, and nts crumbled at his mere passage.


    From the outside, the scene looked highly mystical and eerie. At Khan''s passage, the green disappeared, reced by brown ground. His mere steps left significant traces on the areas, telling everyone which streets he had crossed.


    The building was already open, and Khan crossed the entrance, immersing himself in its vast environment. The structure prioritized height over width, but limiting the number of rooms on each floor still created spacious areas.


    The symphony guided Khan''s steps, making him cross a vast but short corridor to reach an immense hall. A sea of interactive desks filled the room, culminating in two ck pirs beside a bigger table. Randall was there, leaning on its edge, seemingly waiting for Khan.


    Khan let his steps make sounds as he advanced through the hall. Metallic noises spread throughout the hall, echoing due to its emptiness. Randall could learn about Khan''s arrival even with his eyes closed, and his crossed arms went to his sides when Khan got close enough.


    "I''m not like the others," Randall announced, slightly bending his legs to prepare for an evasive maneuver. "I won''t go down easy."


    Randall truly believed that im. He knew he wasn''t even close to Khan''s level but wanted to show some backbone during hisst moments. Ideally, Randall would love to hit Khan once before parting from that world.


    Nevertheless, even the wildest estimates couldn''t prepare Randall for Khan''s growth. Two stretched fingers instantly reced the scenery reflected in his eyes. Khan had teleported before him, and his hand was ready to deliver a deadly blow.


    Randall had seen Khan fight on Baoway, but the current disy of power was way above that. It wasn''t even close to human. He shared Khan''s level, but the difference in their strength was simply immense. It was so vast Randall couldn''t help but find it unfair.


    "Are you giving me the time to say myst words?" Randall wondered, his eyes fixed on the fingers before him.


    "Who nted you on my team?" Khan asked. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I''m already dead, aren''t I?" Randall questioned.


    "Yes," Khan confirmed.


    "Then," Randall sighed, "Go fuc-."


    Randall didn''t get the chance to finish his curse since mana shot from Khan''s fingers. The Divine Reaper dug a hole into his brain, killing him on the spot.


    Khan remained still while Randall fell dead to his side. His eyes lingered on the pirs next to the vast desk, but their details didn''t interest him. He could only think about his quest and what was left of him afterpleting it.


    Khan lowered his head, inspecting his open palms. Not a single drop of blood had fallen on his hands, but they looked drenched in it nheless. His series of attacks had finally ended, but he didn''t feel any lighter.


    The coldness radiated by Khan''s aura intensified once again as he lowered one arm and lifted the other. His mind fused with the symphony, prepared to give orders and release mana. He was ready to take down the entire building, but something distracted him.


    Khan had left the building open, so the symphony from the outside world flowed inside carrying updates. The heavy stench of synthetic mana and countless different colors manifested themselves in the world only Khan could see. Something big was happening, and his feet moved to face it.


    Exiting the building confirmed what Khan had already suspected. A few hundred soldiers had filled the garden, splitting into multiple teams to point their rifles at the entrance. Ships also stood behind them, but their purposes weren''t battle-rted.


    The ship from the Nognes family was still there, and Khan could hearintsing from it. His team leader was fighting with the man in charge of the battalion. Threats flew, but Khan quickly disregarded them.


    The hundreds of rifles pointed at Khan didn''t stop his advance. He walked forward, ignoring the barrage of bullets that could fly in his direction. His stance and aura filled the battalion with tension, and many soldiers began to sweat at his approach. They had the order to hold their fire, but many fingers started to twitch on the triggers.

 Chapter 783 General

    Chapter 783 General


    Khan didn''t even look at the array of rifles pointed at him. He ignored their existence as he advanced toward his team''s ship. The battalion felt invisible before his cold gaze, intensifying the tension in the area.


    Of course, things went differently inside Khan''s mind. He didn''t only see the battalion. He had also calcted an estimate of its overall power, weapons included, and the result didn''t even try to scare him.


    Instead, thoughts of far different nature invaded Khan, giving birth to various emotions. Disgust and anger were the most intense but weren''t directed at the battalion.


    Khan didn''t mind engaging in another massacre. He had pushed things too far anyway, and his mood didn''t help. He was one second away from snapping, and seeing the Global Army treat him like a menace came close to triggering that reaction.


    The Global Army was obviously justified in wanting to contain and apprehend Khan, but his thoughts kept harassing him. If he had used the proper noble channels, he could have achieved the same results without repercussions. Moreover, Khan had never wished for things to get to that point. Part of him felt the universe had forced his hand.


    Khan had never strictly yed by the rules, but throughout his life, most of his efforts had been on sparing his same suffering to innocents. He had prevented genocide on Nitis, saved his team on Ecoruta, fought the Nak''s hand on Milia 222, and protected Princess Edna on Nippe 2. Khan knew pain, so he preferred to use his destructive element to avert it.


    Khan''s personality also worked along those lines. He was so used to suffering that he often chose to increase the load on his shoulders rather than worry his loved ones. In his mind, adding one issue to his sea of problems wouldn''t make much difference anyway.


    Yet, things had started to change as Khan delved deeper into his political career and gic legacy. Organizations with enough power to corner him had started showing their presence, demanding coboration or services. Some even wanted to cut Khan out of the picture, forcing him to rebel.


    That wasn''t necessary. Khan wouldn''t have spilled pointless blood if those organizations had left him alone. His goals even stretched past humankind, but the Global Army didn''t care. Everyone had an agenda when it came to him, leaving him with only bad options.


    Khan could have stayed away, yed low, and settled for minor upations. He could still be a teacher in Reebefell if wanted to. However, that life would have been filled with constant pain. Khan didn''t know how many years he could remain sane despite nightmares andck of true happiness.


    ying the political game was the only alternative. Khan had taken hundreds of lives, engaged in countless struggles, and suffered plenty of losses for the sole reason of trying to be happy. He had turned into a monster to seed in his journey, and the idea left him disgusted at himself. Khan wouldn''t even consider himself worthy of any positive emotion without Jenna''s teachings.


    Nevertheless, the Global Army seemed to deem that desire as an unforgivable sin. The more Khan climbed thedder, the more enemies stepped in his way, trying to hold him down. That trend had started even before his enlistment. The game had been rigged since the Nognes family threw his father into the Slums, and merely thinking about that made him livid.


    ''If this is the price to pay,'' Khan thought, calmly advancing toward the battalion, ''I''ll pay it.''


    If the Nak stood in Khan''s way, he would destroy them. If the scarlet eyes tried to take something from him, he would destroy them. If humankind opposed him, he would destroy it. Khan wouldn''t stop at anything to achieve and secure his happiness, even if what came on the other side was a monstrous creature that only knew how to inflict pain.


    The soldiers in the battalioncked heightened senses, but anyone could understand Khan''s stance. His confident and firm steps looked more powerful than that sea of rifles, and the rumors from the previous days quickly pushed the troops to their breaking point.


    Nevertheless, it seemed that wasn''t the day Khan would make the entire Global Army his enemy. A different strand of synthetic mana invaded the symphony, bringing his eyes to the sky. A rectangr ship descended at full speed toward the area and stopped above the battalion to show its open side doors.


    "Lower your weapons!" A fifth-level warrior standing at the ship''s doors'' edge angrily shouted. "You idiots!"


    The sudden shout distracted the battalion, lifting hundreds of heads toward the ship. Yet the fifth-level warrior jumped,nding heavily on the street between Khan and the troops.


    The fifth-level warrior was a man with a known face. Khan had seen and read about him during his many educational sessions with Monica. The soldier who had just arrived was Brigadier General Joseph Seb, the youngest General in the Global Army''s history.


    The title suited Brigadier General Seb well. The man had average stature and a lean body, but his clean and bright face barely put him in his thirties. His long blonde hair also added a youthful touch, but his umon grey eyes conveyed knowledge and experience.


    ording to thework, the General was more adept in politics than battle, which his rank proven. However, the long leap from the ship also vouched for his fighting skills. Fifth-level warriors wouldn''t break their legs so easily, but Khan noticed how the General hadpletely absorbed thending''s impact. The man had incredible control over his body, and his mana vouched for his ability.


    "I told you to stand down!" Brigadier General Seb shouted again, adding mana to his throat. His voice became almost deafening, reaching every corner of the battalion and partially stunning its soldiers.


    Some soldiers didn''t recognize the General, but the two sets of five stars on his shoulders were enough to give him authority over the matter. Besides, the troops were happy they didn''t have to deal with Khan personally, so they lowered their weapons. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Brigadier General Seb ran his scolding eyes over the battalion before turning toward Khan. His face went serious as he adjusted his military uniform and stepped toward him. The man even cleared his throat before uttering his demand.


    "May we talk in private, Prince Khan?" Brigadier General Seb politely asked.


    Khan briefly met the General''s eyes before turning toward the academy. The building was already empty, so it could serve the purpose. Randall''s corpse was also there, which would set the tone of the conversation.


    Brigadier General Seb was quick to follow Khan. He wasn''t unaware of the danger, but a sense of duty forced him to advance. The two soon entered the vast hall, and Khan didn''t stop until he leaned before the desk featuring Randall''s corpse.


    The General''s eyes fell on the corpse but quickly snapped back to Khan. He wasn''t scared, but the scene did make his expression more serious.


    "Prince Khan," Brigadier General Seb announced. "First, thank you for making time for me. I imagine you know who I am."


    The General remained polite, showing Khan the respect of a man of his caliber. It didn''t seem the mass murder bothered him, but only time would tell.


    "Brigadier General Seb," Khan replied.


    "Indeed," Brigadier General Seb confirmed. "I''ve been tasked with negotiating with you."


    "Negotiating what?" Khan wondered.


    "Not your surrender," The General promptly reassured. "This will be an unofficial conversation in the hope of scoring an agreement that will benefit both parties."


    Khan remained silent, waiting for the General to get to the point, and the man didn''t disappoint.


    "As you are surely aware," Brigadier General Seb stated, "The Global Army can''t afford such unrest. At least on the surface, things have to be peaceful."


    Khan stuck to his silence. He knew what the General wanted but waited to hear the actual request.


    "What the Global Army wishes is for you to run certain matters with us before acting," Brigadier General Seb exined. "I promise we''ll facilitate them to the best of our ability."


    "That''s why they didn''t send the older Generals," Khan understood. "They would have been too proud to bow their heads."


    Brigadier General Seb held back a sigh. Dealing with politically capable people was always troublesome, and Khan had many traits that enhanced the issue.


    "They thought I had the right mindset to achieve a favorable agreement," The General revealed, half-lying.


    Khan didn''t show it, but the General understood he didn''t believe a single word he had just said. Kindness and politeness wouldn''t work anymore at that point.


    "Prince Khan," Brigadier General Seb continued. "I think the Global Army''s request is fair. Nothing good cane out from constant in-fighting."


    Khan could have taken those words as a threat, but the General did his best to avoid showing any trace of malice. The man was simply describing the situation, and his prediction wasn''t wrong. Yet, he had miscalcted a few details.


    "No," Khan directly refused.


    "Prince Khan," Brigadier General Seb called. "Could you state terms you might be willing to agree to? I understand your situation-."


    "You don''t," Khan interrupted.


    "Prince Khan?" Brigadier General Seb uttered.


    "Did the Global Army approve my former teammates?" Khan questioned, and the General suddenly understood where he wasing from.


    The nobles had supported the assassination attempt, but the Global Army had still cleared Khan''s former teammates. Many didn''t know anything about the ploy, but a few figures were bound to suspect something, and the General had just asked Khan to run things with them.


    "I apologize," Brigadier General Seb dered. "I was too hasty with my words in the hope I could settle the matter quickly."


    "The matter is settled," Khan pointed out. "I was finished before youy a battalion before me."


    Brigadier General Seb held back a helpless sigh. Truth be told, he had nothing to do with the battalion''s deployment. The soldier in charge had simply caved to external pressure before the Global Army could intervene. Still, telling Khan that wouldn''t change his mind.


    "What can the Global Army do to prevent this week''s events from repeating themselves?" Brigadier General Seb asked, changing his approach.


    "If anything goes against me," Khan replied. "These events will happen again. If the Global Army doesn''t like them, it should work harder to prevent them."


    The request could sound unreasonable, but Khan had already proven he would stick to it. The General also understood that point but still asked a question to rify.


    "Do you want the Global Army to watch your back?" Brigadier General Seb asked.


    "I have no interest in empty words," Khan exined. "The Global Army already caved to external pressure, and these are the results. It can either learn from this experience or see it reiterated."

 Chapter 784 Deterrent

    Chapter 784 Deterrent


    Brigadier General Seb didn''t know what to say. Khan''s behavior and position were highly unusual, and he exploited them to their full extent. His status as a Prince prevented the General from ordering him around, and his sharp words had failed ploys behind them.


    Everything would have worked out if the assassination attempt had seeded. Instead, the General now had to deal with the aftermath of its failure, basically cleaning the mess it had left behind. He was the right man for the job, but giving in without saying a few warnings would make the Global Army look weak.


    "Prince," Brigadier General Seb announced, doing his best to use a polite but firm tone. "The Global Army can''t allow such open actions anymore. I hope your goal isn''t a civil war."


    "Is protecting myself such a heinous act it can start a civil war?" Khan questioned.


    The sharp reply made the General hesitate again. Khan had taken things too far, but his cause remained justified. The Global Army couldn''t im to have authority over his right to avenge himself. Its only power was in regting his methods or trying to.


    "The Global Army isn''t omniscient," The General argued, "Nor does it have the power to stop every organization. I''m sure you are aware of this, Prince Khan."


    The General put more emphasis on Khan''s title, but the action was unnecessary. Khan knew what he meant. The nobles and other wealthy families could act behind the Global Army''s back or evenpel it to do their bidding. That wasn''t only a matter of influence. Humankind''s government was structured like that.


    "You misunderstand," Khan said. "I''m not asking anything. I''m only exining what can happen."


    Khan was cutting himself out of any potential deal with his unreasonable attitude, but Brigadier General Seb couldn''t just leave. A civil war might truly happen if he came back empty-handed.


    "Then," Brigadier General Seb eximed, "We can only hope nothing elsees in your way because the Global Army will react to crimes."


    "With what?" Khan asked, ncing past the General''s shoulder, "That battalion? Another assassination attempt?"


    Khan slowly brought his eyes back to the General, and a faint light shed inside them. The eventsted less than a second but added immense weight to the following question. "You?"


    Brigadier General Seb wanted to take a deep breath but held back to retain his confident fa?ade. He was a General, one of the highest ranks a soldier could achieve inside the Global Army, but Khan had challenged him. Also, that wasn''t even the scariest detail about the situation.


    The General was a fifth-level warrior, but the reports about Khan made him think twice about epting the challenge. Moreover, the Global Army had updated him on Baoway''s matters, informing him about Major Veril''s presence. Thetter didn''te back, so it was safe to assume Khan had defeated him.


    Still, even that wasn''t the scariest aspect of the conversation. Many soldiers inside the Global Army had power and status, but unlike them, Khan was willing to use them, even if the consequences were disastrous.


    Brigadier General Seb had to remain silent to review the issue carefully. Taking Khan down wasn''t an issue. The Global Army had too many resources and backing for a single man to handle. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The main issue was the cost. Taking Khan down was possible, but the General didn''t know whether the Global Army could afford it. Khan was bound to make a mess before falling, and his power would put entire cities in danger.


    Khan''s deration had basically turned him into a walking nuclear deterrent ready to explode at the first issue. The Global Army couldn''t defuse him anymore. It could only hope to contain him.


    "The Global Army will pay closer attention," Brigadier General Seb conceded, "But we want your cooperation."


    "You can cooperate with me," Khan said. "I expect warnings the next time someone tries to nt traitors in my midst."


    The General almost felt Khan was being difficult on purpose. Still, he could understand his reasoning. Khan wanted a show of faith, if not many of them, before even considering trusting the Global Army.


    "My superiors might not be as lenient as me, Prince Khan," Brigadier General Seb stated. "I hope you estimated your value correctly."


    "What the Global Army has," Khan responded, "The Nognes family has."


    Khan and the General didn''t need to mention the topic to understand each other. They were talking about evolved soldiers, which both parties had. The General simply didn''t know Khan had yet to assume control of his faction.


    Yet, the General knew Khan didn''t have the entire Nognes family''s support, so the Global Army had him beat on that field. Khan was aware of the issue, too, and his following words addressed the matter.


    "Also, I''ve been wondering," Khan uttered. "How long will that threat remain a threat? I myself am curious."


    The conversation wasn''t going in Brigadier General Seb''s way, but he had to admit something. Khan''s pristine confidence was praiseworthy, especially since most of it was justified. As for standing his ground against an evolved soldier, even the General couldn''t make that prediction.


    "I expect the battalion to disappear," Khan said once the silencested too long for his short patience. "You have five minutes."


    "I''ll be in touch," Brigadier General Seb announced, "Prince Khan."


    Khan watched the General departing and waited his five minutes before stepping outside. The battalion had left, leaving behind Khan''s team and the ship. No one asked questions, so Khan hopped on it to return home.


    The trip went by in a blink. Khan didn''t show it, but his mind was too heavy to keep track of the outside world. His cold eyes looked forward for the whole duration of the voyage but didn''t capture anything.


    Khan went on auto-pilot once he arrived inside his t. He unbuttoned his uniform, letting it slide to the floor. His pants and shoes suffered from a simr fate, leaving him in underwear when he reached his stash.


    Khan seized a few bottles and headed into one of the bedrooms. He even opened the container but didn''t drink from it. He sat at the mattress'' edge, staring at the wall while his mind reyed the recent events.


    Killing had long since be easy for Khan, but his senses worsened its consequences. The symphony almost talked to him, describing the pain and death he inflicted. He didn''t feel them, but his eyes could see them.


    That awareness turned into a curse inside Khan''s brain. He recalled every detail, every shade that had reached his senses. Khan knew how many lives he had taken, and their weight threatened to be suffocating.


    However, even with all the expanding disgust, Khan couldn''t help but feel right. He didn''t like his actions but found them necessary. Regret never appeared inside him.


    The t''s door opened and closed, but Khan remained in his position. Familiar calls reached his ears, but he didn''t stand up. Eventually, Monica found him in the bedroom and hurried on her knees to sit under him.


    "Khan," Monica called, a pleading tone in her voice. Her hands went on Khan''s legs, but he didn''t react. He resembled a statue, but life still flowed inside him.


    "I flicked a switch," Khan muttered, "Which has disappeared. There''s only this now."


    Monica''s eyes darted left and right, inspecting every corner of Khan''s face. She saw his thoughts but didn''t know how to appease them. Monica could only reach for Khan''s cheeks, hoping he would find ways to use her to feel better.


    "I''ll keep doing this," Khan announced, finally looking at Monica. "I won''t stop, and it can only get worse. This is what I am now."


    Monica held back any jokes, no matter how real they were. She had always found it extremely arousing when Khan wore the mantle of a leader, especially to protect what they had. Yet, the situation demanded more serious approaches.


    "I''ve always known," Monica eximed. "You couldn''t have escaped it even if you tried."


    "It''s not destiny," Khan refused the idea. "I made those choices."


    "Because that''s who you are," Monica nodded.


    "A mass murderer," Khanmented, "Who kills innocents out of spite."


    "A leader," Monica corrected, standing up and lifting Khan''s head with her, "Dealing with his enemies and protecting his belongings."


    "What if the leader is a monster?" Khan asked.


    "They all are," Monica exined. "To stand above men, they must be more than men. They wouldn''t be able to bear what no one else can otherwise."


    "How can you ept my hands when they have bathed in so much blood?" Khan questioned.


    "Your hands," Monica whispered, sitting on Khan''sp, seizing his arms, and cing his hands on her waist. "I know the kindness they are capable of."


    Old habits surged in Khan''s mind. Simr events had already happened, and his brain triggered them again. He didn''t even notice it, but he soon found himself on top of Monica, holding her wrists above her head.


    "It''s okay," Monica reassured, taking Khan''s waist into her thighs. "You won''t hurt me. You can''t do anything I won''t enjoy."


    Khan stopped thinking. He dived his head into Monica''s neck, releasing her wrists to make his way inside her uniform.


    "I''ll always be there for you," Monica gasped, closing her eyes and throwing her head back. "I''ll watch humankind acknowledge your power and bow to you."

 Chapter 785 Control

    Chapter 785 Control


    Habits Nitis had carved into Khan''s brain took control of his actions, trapping him into a wild, unrestrained chain of desires. He couldn''t fix the disgust he felt, but diving into his lust could hide it, especially since Monica was far more than that.


    There was no going back. The pain wouldn''t disappear, but experiencing it was a choice Khan didn''t make. He still felt it, but Monica''s presence always distracted him again.


    Monica was usually more proactive, but Khan''s endless stamina eventually got to her. She couldn''t help but fall prey to his every desire, preventing her mind from thinking clearly. Everything became hazy, tiring her beyond her limits and making her fall asleep as soon as Khan stopped. Deep, exhausted breathing resounded in Khan''s ears as hey on the bed. Monica slept on him, but his eyes wouldn''t close. They stared at the wall ahead, asionally inspecting Monica and the spots on the messy sheets while thoughts afflicted his mind.


    Ruling humankind had never crossed Khan''s mind, but he could see his path leading him there. It wasn''t only an issue of the scarlet eyes. As things stood, Khan would sumb to eventual ploys or continue to rise until no one could contradict him.


    That wasn''t the kind of force Khan wanted. He couldn''t trust people who followed him out of fear. Yet, the matter sounded like an unavoidablepromise. Also, something simr had happened with the Scalqa. It seemed he had already taken that step.


    Images from the ughter tried to return, but Khan looked at Monica to distract himself. Her naked beauty carried many traces of the recent passion, but Khan mostly lost himself in her face. He wouldn''t know what to do without her, and those thoughts didn''t only involve her legs and everything between them.


    Monica had always known Khan''s true worth. She had understood it far earlier than him, and her insights into his character had even helped him unlock new abilities. It almost sounded impossible for such a jealous, childish, and bratty woman to be so wise, but there she was.


    Khan reached for Monica''s face to move a curl away, but his palm ended up glued to her cheek. Monica kept sleeping even while Khan ran his thumb over her lips. He wanted more of her but focused on his love to contain himself.


    ''I wonder if you know, Khan thought, leaning forward to kiss Monica''s forehead. ''You are my only real connection to humankind.''


    Khan had human friends, but none of them implicated the entirety of humankind with their existence. Instead, Monica forced Khan to consider their species on multiple levels. At first, he had only needed to delve into politics to make his rtionship survive, but things had long since escted.


    That probably was part of the reason behind Khan''s spiritual loneliness, but ming Monica never crossed his mind. Actually, his brain reached opposite conclusions. He would have still experienced that awful feeling sooner orter, but having Monica gave him a real home. Khan was happy whenever she was in his arms.


    ''How can I make her happier?'' Khan wondered, retracting his head to watch his sleeping fianc¨¦e.


    The conversation with Brigadier General Seb popped into Khan''s mind. The vague exchange about the evolved soldiers raised a concern. Khan was confident in his fighting skills, but those mysterious assets had an unknown power level. Realistically, he wouldn''t be enough against them. Not yet, at least.


    Khan pondered for a while before making a decision. He caressed Monica''s cheek once more before trying to slide his arm from under her head. He seeded, but a hand reached for his elbow, and a drowsy voice followed.


    "Are you leaving?" Monica asked, still half-asleep.


    "I need to make some calls," Khan exined.


    "Take me," Monica whined, too tired to voice aplete request.


    Khan chuckled, seizing the mostly fallen sheet andying it on Monica before lifting her. He princess-carried her to the living room and settled on a couch. Monica quickly fell asleep again, resting her head on Khan''sp while he connected his phone to the interactive table.


    Leaving the bottles on the floor turned out to be a saving grace. Khan ordered the t''s robots to carry them to the living room whilepleting the procedures for an important call. By the time someone answered, Khan had already taken a few sips.


    "Cousin," Prince William''s voice resounded from the interactive desk. "It''s early."


    "I''ll ept our Grandfather''s request," Khan dered, "Under certain conditions."


    "Which conditions?" Prince William asked, awakened by Khan''s words.


    "We''ll discuss them here," Khan stated, "In my t."


    "That''s quite the power y," Prince Williammented. "Our Grandfather will nevere. My sister or I will act as representatives."


    "That works," Khan agreed. "You handle the specifics." "Will do," Prince William said. "See you soon, Cousin."


    Khan ended the call without minding pleasantries. He had taken another big step. Seizing the reins of his family''s faction was no light matter, but he needed its assets for the time being. Most importantly, the Global Army had to believe Khan had control over them.


    Mouthfuls of booze went by as Khan reviewed his situation. As minutes passed, his hands alternated between the holograms, Monica''s hair, and the bottles. The situation on thework evolved during that short window, but the desk kept Khan updated, allowing him to modify his ns ordingly.


    Theoretically, Khan would need to spend the next months dealing with the political repercussions of his change in status and actions. During his time in the Harbor, he made many friends and acquaintances, and that process helped him on various levels. It didn''t only reinforce his position. It also made his rtionship possible.


    Ignoring those social connections would reflect poorly on Khan, and his political character desperately needed a helping hand. Still, everything was different now, especially Khan, so each meeting would require renegotiations and simr deals.


    It wouldn''t be easy to deal with people used to seeing Khan as a mere gifted student, and his new vibe wouldn''t help, but the issue had to be handled. Even as a noble, a social array was useful for multiple purposes, but the same could be said about his other title.


    No matter how Khan spun it, securing his position as an Ambassador had toe first. The event would simply bring too many benefits and authority, but another trip to Baoway was required to fulfill what he had in mind. Khan already knew how to handle the situation. He just needed to inform the necessary assets and prepare ordingly.


    Contacts popped left and right on the holograms. Khan wrote messages but didn''t send them. The timing was key, and securing his Grandfather''s official support would grant the most leverage. He had to wait, but his return had provided him with something to keep him busy.


    Khan activated the necessary precautions before tapping on a newbel in his phone''s magic items folder. The name "Transcendent Step style" shone in his eyes, filling his mind with curiosity. The human power system didn''t mean anything to him anymore, but a martial art that had scored ny-nine points was bound to attract his interest.


    ''Apex of the footwork-focused martial arts, Khan read on the initial description. ''Unbeaten sprints, attacks, and deadliness.


    The introduction felt interesting, but Khan didn''t know how much the Global Army could achieve by sticking solely to human methods. Moreover, he had mastered the Lightning-Demon style, which, coupled with his alien arts, was capable of immense power. Surpassing his standards would be hard.


    Nevertheless, Khan grew more intrigued as the description delved into deeper details. The exnations turned into simplified diagrams meant to convey the martial art''s prowess. ording to the file, its techniques made movement possible without the actual need to move.


    The benefits of that practice were evident to Khan. He had achieved something simr with his current martial art, although his sudden movements came from a mixture of speed and help from the symphony. The ability to attack without triggering survival instincts or other reactions was massive, and the Transcendent Step style seemed to use it as its baseline.


    The martial art didn''t stop there. The sudden, allegedly invisible attacks were only part of its move set. Sessful executions would release enough power to pierce the sturdiest metal and send shockwaves. Everything was on the umted momentum, but performing such feats required more than simple control.


    Khan read and read, reaching exnations apanied by videos. The file didn''t have actual soldiers performing the techniques. It only showed simtions meant to depict the martial art''s ideal mana flow, but Khan still had to hold back from frowning. He had to admit he had never seen anything soplicated.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The Transcendent Step style seemed to require multiple minute strands of mana constantly flowing in opposite directions, shing to generate the necessary power. Its moves needed explosions of energy that had to happen inside the leg muscles, joints, and even flesh.


    "This can''t be right, Khan thought. ''No human can have this level of control over mana!


    Khan could barely keep up with the exnation, and he was a master in the field, especially for human standards. He couldn''t even imagine how long an ordinary soldier would have to struggle to begin testing the file''s theory, but the answer to his confusion arrived by the end of the read.


    ''As massive as its theoretical power is, Khan read, "The Transcendent Step style is best used in limited instances, often focusing on a single form. Mastery over all of them has been impossible to this day!

 Chapter 786 Politics

    Chapter 786 Politics


    The Transcendent Step style had one foundation form and six advanced ones. The former was necessary to unlock thetter''s training, but its standalone power was far from low. Simply learning its basics would turn anyone into an untouchable speed demon.


    That speed could be power as long as the soldiers'' legs could endure the impact. Basically, the art''s mere foundation could score above eighty points. The others came from the advanced forms.


    ''Is this faster than me?'' Khan wondered, inspecting the basic form''s specifics.


    Khan wouldn''t im to be bad with numbers, butparing the diagrams on the holograms to his top speed wasn''t doable, at least in his mind. He would need to record himself inside a training hall before applying the results to the file. Maybe Khan would even require a scientist to help him with the process.


    Nevertheless, Khan knew his incredible speed resulted from mastery and alien arts, which he could theoretically apply to other martial arts. The properparison was between the Lightning-Demon style and Transcendent Style''s basic stats, and thetter obviously came out on top.


    That wasn''t surprising given the far higher score, and Khan couldn''t help but feel engrossed by the read. He wasn''t a stranger to new techniques, but it had been a long time since he had to study to learn one. Some childish curiosity invaded him, and his feet itched to test the theory shining in his eyes.


    Khan didn''t limit his reading to the foundation form. He skimmed through the advanced ones, trying to figure out why no one had ever mastered them all. The answer arrived quite soon and made perfect sense, considering everything he knew about human methods.


    ''They all need such different applications,'' Khan concluded. ''It''s like each advanced form is a martial art of its own.''


    The foundation form was extremely difficult to perform, and the advanced ones were even worse. When Khan added the human methods to the equation, it stood to reason that no soldier could ever master more than one technique.


    Still, Khan had abandoned the human methods long ago, and his mastery over controlling mana had constantly evolved. He wasn''t even sure how good he was anymore.


    ''Do I have a shot at mastering all advanced forms?'' Khan wondered. ''Did they choose this martial art because they knew I could?''


    Princess Felicia had openly admitted Alexander had chosen the Transcendent Step style after studying Khan''s growth. Yet, the matter could have anotheryer to it. Maybe Khan''s Grandfather hoped he could seed where no one else had.


    ''I might be overthinking it,'' Khan admitted, his eyes still lingering on the holograms, ''But this is interesting.''


    Mastering the foundation form had toe first, but Khan inspected the other techniques to get an idea of what to prioritize afterward. He easily found a few that perfectly matched his fighting style, but their execution''s requirements sounded insane.


    Khan had initially skimmed through the file, but a more focused read followed. He immersed himself in the various exnations, running through all the avable bottles and even forgetting about refilling his stash. He remained captivated for so long Monica recovered enough to wake up.


    "What are you doing?" Monica whispered, straightening her back to change her position. She threw her legs on Khan''sp while nestling on his shoulder and reclosing her eyes.


    "The Nognes family''s martial art," Khan shortly exined. "It''s interesting."


    "It''d better be," Monicamented, her warm breath spreading on Khan''s neck.


    "It''s not like that," Khan said. "It''splicated and has even harder levels to it."


    "Is it good?" Monica asked.


    "Looks like it," Khan replied.


    "Then, learn it," Monica uttered.


    "It says here no one ever learned all of it," Khan pointed out.


    "No one until you," Monica stated. "You''ll do it anyway, so stop hesitating."


    "Who said I was hesitating?" Khan questioned.


    "I know my scoundrel through and through," Monica muttered. "You always overthink stuff. Just do it."


    "This might take years," Khan revealed.


    "It will take months for you," Monica reassured.


    "Months sounds too optimistic," Khan admitted. "Still, I might be able to do it."


    "You do," Monica confirmed. "You can do anything you set your mind to."


    Khan was too engrossed to notice the open praise. He kept reading and cuddled Monica from time to time. Part of him wanted to head to a training hall right away, but other matters filled his schedule. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Prince William''s reply arrived sooner than Khan expected. He set the meeting for that night, openly telling thework about his imminent trip. Needless to say, countless headlines popped out in the following minutes, and notifications flooded Khan''s phone.


    The matter was bound to attract a lot of attention, and Khan counted on that to add fuel to his fame. He didn''t mind being hated as long as the public knew the respect he deserved. Khan needed that kind of influence to continue doing as he wished.


    "My Cousin ising here," Khan exined. "We have a few hours to kill."


    "I need to eat something," Monica whispered. "Otherwise, you''ll kill me."


    Khan allowed himself to chuckle, but the couple soon got to work. Some political events required the proper etiquette, and Monica wouldn''t let Khan skip on it. Her education prevented it.


    When the night arrived, Khan and Monica had rearranged the t''s living room to prepare it for the meeting. They also filled the interactive table with food and booze and invited the necessary parties.


    Lieutenant Dyester, Gordon, and Andrew gathered in the t an hour before Prince William''s arrival. Their presence was merely symbolic, but the etiquette required it, especially since the Prince had his escort.


    Soon, the living room split into two sides. Khan and Monica sat on a couch with Lieutenant Dyester, Gordon, and Andrew standing behind them. Instead, Prince William upied the opposite sofa with four fifth-level warriors coldly inspecting the room from behind his back.


    "Know that I would have avoided such formalities," Prince William announced, pouring booze into his drink. "Still, the family wouldn''t let me after the recent events."


    Khan barely cared about those words. Prince William''s precautions felt obvious after Khan''s recent killing spree. ording to thework, he was a loose cannon, and the Nognes family couldn''t afford to risk losing a Prince.


    "I will take control of the faction," Khan went straight to the point. "I''ll take all the support and resources it can give, but its obligations will exclude some parties."


    "I''m guessing the Solodrey family," Prince William stated, "The Ildoo family, and those you built a friendship with."


    "I also expect protection for those parties," Khan continued. "I won''t ept casualties due to your infighting."


    "You made that point quite clear," Prince Williammented, leading to Lieutenant Dyester''s snort. Thetter agreed with Khan''s actions but didn''t like them one bit.


    "I must warn you, Cousin," Prince William added. "Our uncle will fight back unless you settle things with him. I''m also sorry to say he won''t agree to support you without the proper price."


    "What price are we talking about?" Monica asked.


    "He wants the faction," Prince William revealed. "I don''t see him ignoring the fight unless you give him a leading position."


    Khan didn''t reply, but his cold face spoke loudly. He would remove any hindrance, especially if it threatened his loved ones'' safety.


    "I wouldn''t suggest that approach," Prince William said, understanding what Khan had in mind. "The family can deal with external losses, but our uncle wields a lot of power. It''s also connected to his figure, so removing him would badly hurt us."


    "Howe you didn''t rece him yet?" Khan questioned, but hispanions'' auras told him he had missed something obvious.


    "That power is strictly connected to his figure," Prince William exined. "The various businesses he owns exist because he is the owner. The same goes for his political allies. They don''t trust a noble. They trust him."


    The exnation made sense, but Khan inevitably found the matter troublesome. His uncle seemed a political monster who had spent years umting resources and binding them to his figure. It was more than simple wealth and influence secured through the status of a noble.


    Khan also understood why his uncle had worked hard to secure those assets. It wasn''t only his duty. He probably needed that power to hope to control the faction one day, and a knife wouldn''t solve the issue. Khan needed to deal with it through politics.


    Normally, Khan would ept the loss and focus on rebuilding afterward. However, he had already significantly hurt himself in the past week. Maiming his faction would kill any advantage he hoped to obtain and open the path for more problems. The Nognes family itself might eat those assets at the first sign of weakness.


    "I can arrange a meeting with uncle," Prince William dered. "The faction will push for political training first, and there would need to be an external mediator, but I can make it happen."


    "No," Khan directly refused.


    "Cousin," Prince William called, his tone growing serious. "This is unavoidable. You will sh with uncle sooner orter."


    "Later," Khan said. "After I own enough to stand at the same political level."


    "That will take years," Prince William pointed out, "And there''s no certainty that you will seed. I''m not underestimating you. The Global Army simply doesn''t have many avable assets that can bring you to uncle''s level."


    "The Thilku Empire has them," Khan uttered.

 Chapter 787 Departure

    Chapter 787 Departure


    Khan couldn''t hope to match his uncle''s political achievements in a matter of months. Even years wouldn''t be enough to reach a simr level, especially after the damage he had inflicted on his reputation. No one inside the Global Army would trust Khan right now, so he had to find answers elsewhere.


    Nevertheless, Khan had to act quickly. A shift in leadership often opened the path for ploys and political maneuvers, and it was safe to assume Khan''s uncle was ready to seize control. Khan didn''t have the time to secure enough power to prevent that possibility. He needed one big move that could solve everything, or at least try.


    The Thilku Empire could provide that opportunity. Its strength was massive, and the Global Army valued their rtionship. The Thilku also had a lot of influence on humankind, so securing their support would do wonders for Khan.


    Of course, seeking help outside humankind would reflect poorly on Khan''s character. His fellow humans would distrust him even more, but his options were limited. He needed to be irreceable and soon, and only the Thilku could give him that authority.


    Prince William fell silent, but a smirk eventually broadened on his face. The n could work as long as Khan scored big. Enabling him was the only issue.


    "How confident are you in this n?" Prince William asked.


    "I''m confident," Khan shortly said.


    "Is this why you asked for this meeting first?" Prince William wondered. "It would grant you more leverage on the Empire."


    "Just make it official," Khan ordered. "I''ll depart as soon as the news hits thework."


    "Our uncle will make moves once you are away," Prince William pointed out. "You might not receive a warm wee once you return."


    "I don''t care about warmth," Khan responded. "I only need them to know who they are weing back."


    Prince William''s smirk perdured as simtions happened inside his mind. He didn''t know how long Khan would stay away, but his mother and Grandfather probably had enough influence to keep his uncle temporarily at bay. He could dy the inevitable internal conflict.


    "What can I do, Cousin?" Prince William eventually asked.


    "I need the best long-range transmitter you have," Khan announced, "And someone always on the other end."


    "What else?" Prince William questioned.


    "Nothing," Khan stated. "Start this mess. I''ll do the same on my end."


    "Very well," Prince William eximed, standing up. "I wish you a good trip then, Cousin Khan."


    Khan nodded, and the Prince departed with his escort. The clock started ticking as soon as the elevator closed, and Khan didn''t hesitate to forward his orders.


    "Andrew," Khan called, "Contact the Headmistress. Have my ship ready for a trip to Baoway."


    "Yes, my Prince," Andrew uttered, hurrying toward the elevator to handle the matter.


    "Gordon," Khan continued, turning on the interactive desk to show a few files. "You''ll send these through my office. Don''t let anyone question or stop you."


    "My Prince," Gordon nodded, pulling out his phone to receive the files.


    "Master Carl," Khan muttered. "I hope you won''t mind flying to Baoway."


    "Why would I do something so bothersome?" Lieutenant Dyester snorted.


    "Things will get messy here," Khan exined, standing up to look his previous Master in the eyes. "They mighte for you."


    "What about it?" Lieutenant Dyester wondered.


    "No one wants to see what I''d do if they kill you," Khan dered.


    The air grew colder, confirming the threat''s validity, which was unnecessary after the recent events. Lieutenant Dyester knew how ready Khan was to unleash chaos, but his question ended up involving a different part of the matter.


    "Do you want to avoid it?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned.


    "Yes," Khan confirmed. "I''d hate it." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Good," Lieutenant Dyester responded. "I guess I''ll keep being your conscience a bit longer then."


    "Are we going now?" Monica asked, grabbing Khan''s hand.


    "We must prepare," Khan confirmed. "Everything must be ready by the time the news hits thework."


    Khan and hispanions did exactly that. They focused on multiple tasks, doing their best to contain eventual leaks. Some involved parties understood something, but no one could see the whole picture. Yet, that onlysted until thework spread a piece of incredible news.


    To everyone''s surprise, Alexander Nognes released an official interview, naming Khan his sessor. He was no Patriarch, but the mere statement moved countless assets under Khan''s name. Thetter became filthy rich and influential in a single move, but no reporter could find him.


    Another mess exploded on thework. New and old factions popped out to express their opinion on the matter. Others switched sides once again, hoping to earn Khan''s or his enemies'' favor.


    Nevertheless, as chaotic as the situation was, Khan and his close allies remained silent. They inspected those developments, but no one intervened. No one could find them either since they were already on their way to Baoway.


    Khan, Monica, Gordon, and Lieutenant Dyester flew at high speed through the universe, passing each checkpoint agreed upon with the interested parties. The fantastic ship made the trip shorter, and the alien soon appeared on its scanners.


    Khan brought his ship toward the initialnding areas. The canyon filled the scanners'' screens as the vehicle gently touched its charred surface. He didn''t engage in anything dramatic, but massive movement happened inside the nearby forest anyway.


    "Stay behind me," Khan announced, leaving the pilot''s seat and bridge to approach the ship''s side doors. Thetter opened, sending a metal ramp forward, but a sea of purple-red lights soon invaded the environment.


    An army of Scalqa wielding glowing wooden spears and slings exited the forest and encircled the ship. The aliens closed any escape path, pointing their weapons at the metal ramp. However, they lowered everything as soon as a figure appeared at its center.


    Khan stepped forward, showing his face to the army and running his eyes over it. He didn''t spend much time away, but the Scalqa remained a primitive species. Their unstable politics could have ruined what he had achieved while stranded.


    Yet, Khan''s worries quickly vanished. A few cries resounded among the army before a sea of bows unfolded. All the Scalqa paid Khan the respect he deserved, opening a path as soon as he descended toward them.


    Khan waved at the ship while voicing a few alien cries. Monica, Gordon, and Lieutenant Dyester appeared in the open, and the Scalqa coldly studied them while they reached Khan. Still, no one moved or got in the way.


    Those hundreds of cold stares could tense up anyone, but that feeling vanished from Monica''s mind when Khan took her hand. Before she knew it, his lips were pressing on hers, conveying the nature of their rtionship to the army.


    Khan immediately strode forward once the affectionate gesture ended, and Monica followed along, proudly clinging to his elbow to match his pace. The Scalqa had already changed their stance toward her, and watching the transformation filled her head with dreams. That was exactly the future Monica expected for Khan.


    The army moved with Khan, diving into the forest to follow his steps. Lieutenant Dyester and Gordon remained at the back of the massive group but also advanced, and a stunning sight eventually unfolded in their eyes.


    The trees grew scarcer, ending into a vast clear area ruled by brown ground. An intricate array of sharp rocks encircled it, isting it from the rest of the forest. Yet, more surprises awaited inside.


    A sea of simple tents filled the right side of the vast area, and multiple pits upied the left one. Groups of Scalqa ran around the rocky barrier, seemingly jogging. Others stood near the holes, doing push-ups and simr training exercises. The ce was strangely orderly, but another surprising detail distracted the neers from everything else.


    A farrger tent grew from the center of the area. A vast bone chair stood before its open entrance, surrounded by four blue nts. Those bushes twisted the air with their presence, making the seat unclear, but Khan headed directly for it.


    The army eventually stopped, standing guard as Khan approached the bone chair. His arrival stabilized the air, seemingly negating the nts'' effects. He sat on it, pulling Monica on hisp and resting an arm on the makeshift armrest. That was his throne, and only a few chosen ones were allowed to approach it.


    Khan uttered a few alien names, and three Scalqa left the army to approach the throne. Monica''s presence didn''t hinder their words, so Khan soon gained an update on the situation. He needed to address some problems, but more arrived.


    A specific stench reached Khan''s nose, bringing his eyes to the sky. The army noticed that gesture, lifting many gazes. It was a warm and enjoyable morning, offering a clear view of anything above the forest, and a dot appeared among it.


    The dot grew bigger and bigger until everyone could see its details. A circr ship carrying red runes was descending toward the vast open spot in the forest. The Thilku had arrived sooner than Khan expected, but he was ready to receive them.

 Chapter 788 Force

    Chapter 788 Force


    Khan had forwarded many pieces of information to the Empire during his short stay in the Harbor. He had even given it exact coordinates for his quadrant on Baoway, but the Thilku ship had ignored the charred canyon.


    The ship descended into the vast open area, decreasing its speed to avoid messing up the many tents before stopping a few meters from the ground. The vehicle hovered for a few seconds before a ramp shot out from an opening,nding at some distance from Khan''s seat.


    The ship''s sudden arrival alerted the now-huge settlement. The army arranged itself around Khan''s seat as more Scalqa left their tents to join the encirclement. Many didn''t bother retrieving weapons to rush to protect their leader, but Khan shouted a few cries to calm everyone down.


    The Scalqa didn''t lower their weapons but avoided attacking mindlessly. They held back even when figures descended from the metal ramp, but tension inevitably built up. The neers were slightly shorter than the Scalqa, but thetter felt they were far bigger.


    Khan had very different thoughts at the sight of those shy red capes. He recognized many faces among the descending Thilku, and spotting a silver crown made him stand up, gentlyying Monica down.


    A few cries followed. Khan shouted orders, conveying as much as possible through the limited Scalqanguage. He also advanced, making his way forward as the encirclement opened to let him pass. Of course, Monica was at his side, and the two soon found themselves face-to-face with the Empire''s group.


    Lord Exr, Amox, Onp, and other faces Khan had seen on Cegnore gathered before the ship''s metal ramp. The Thilku team was small but mighty, with Amox as the sole third-level warrior. Everyone else was stronger, but that envoy still paledpared to the settlement''s power.


    Lord Exr was the most amazed about that detail. He wasn''t ignorant about Baoway, but the Global Army''s information significantly differed from what Khan had conveyed after his return. Seeing the truth with his own eyes inevitably left a deep impression. That primitive had a proper army, and Khan seemed to be its leader.


    Nevertheless, no fear or hesitation appeared in Lord Exr''s aura. Actually, a tinge of satisfaction invaded his mana. He seemed happy, but Khan feigned ignorance about that reaction.


    Khan knew Lord Rsi had received his reports, but his absence didn''te as a surprise. The Empire cared so little about Baoway that it had left the in the hands of the Global Army. It would have never sent such a high-level figure to negotiate with Khan, but Lord Exr''s presencepensated for that.


    The Scalqa did their best to follow Khan''s orders while the neers limated themselves to the scene. The former delivered a series of rtively t rocks, arranging them into two opposite rows before bringing bone cups and raw meat. They ced thetter directly on the barren ground and cleared the area, slightly retreating with the rest of the army.


    Khan shouted a few names and eyed the distant Lieutenant Dyester and Gordon before advancing hand-in-hand with Monica. He sat on one of the rocks, and Monica upied his left side. Four Scalqa from the army imitated him, filling other seats in the same row.


    Lieutenant Dyester and Gordon joined the trend, sitting at that imaginary table under the Thilku''s watchful stares. Thetter appeared diffident, but Lord Exr moved, and hispanions followed.


    Soon, the entire Thilku team sat before that strange group of Scalqa, humans, and Khan. No one spoke, but Lord Exr grinned at Khan''s intense stare. The two seemed entangled in a mental conversation only they could hear.


    "You created a good thing here," Lord Exr eventually broke the silence. "Prince Khan."


    "[Please, My Lord]," Khan replied in the Thilkunguage. "[You are a guest in my quadrant. It''s customary to use yournguage]."


    Lord Exr''s smirk broadened until his sharp canines became visible. He seemed pleased about that development, and his eyes instinctively ran over the settlement.


    Calling the ce "settlement" sounded like an insult. Lord Exr couldn''t be sure, but he felt almost one thousand Scalqa lived there. That was a massive difference from the Global Army''s initial report, but the Thilku leader found something else far more interesting.


    The Scalqa were nothing more than primitive giants, but they all silently waited for Khan''s directives while remaining close enough to guard him. Even the few aliens at the imaginary table pretended to have good manners. Khan had tamed them in months, and Lord Exr knew the only power that could make such transformation possible.


    "[Your quadrant]?" Lord Exr asked, switching to hisnguage while bringing his eyes back to Khan.


    "[I''m the Global Army''s official Ambassador]," Khan exined. "[The regtions give me full authority over this quadrant]."


    "[Did the regtions give you this]?" Lord Exr questioned, seemingly knowing the answer.


    "[I built this]," Khan stated. "[That''s why it''s mine]."


    Monica had learned some Thilku due to her business on Neuria, and Gordon''s education had provided simr training. However, the others on Khan''s side couldn''t understand anything about the conversation. Still, the tones and general atmosphere said more than a thousand words.


    "[Do you understand now]?" Lord Exr wondered. "[Do you still resent me]?"


    Images from Neuria shed in Khan''s eyes. The destruction of the sea station was no small matter, but he had done worse in thest period. Moreover, he had used his own hands, which he wasn''t sure how praiseworthy it was.


    Yet, Khan knew. Lord Exr had imparted to him teachings he wasn''t ready to ept, but the Global Army had filled that role, leading to a simple answer.


    "[The weak die to the strong]," Khan dered.


    "[And you are strong, Prince Khan]," Lord Exr added.


    "[Stronger than you]," Khan uttered as his eyes shed for a second.


    Lord Exr noticed the sh, but his smirk didn''t waver. He felt the pressure exuded by Khan''s presence. He knew the potential danger he was in, but no fear appeared in his mind.


    "[Yes]," Lord Exr admitted, "[But not stronger than the Empire]."


    Silence fell again. Khan and Lord Exr inspected each other without making sounds. It almost was a stalemate, except neither had voiced requests.


    Khan eventually moved, seizing a piece of raw meat from the ground. He bit on it, tearing a gory chunk off. Lord Exr watched him munch that piece, and his six-fingered hand soon reached for a simr treat.


    Lord Exr''spanions didn''t hesitate to imitate him, and the same went for Khan''s. Lieutenant Dyester waited for everyone to have raw meat in their mouths but eventually caved in. The feast started, but Khan and Lord Exr barely cared about the meal.


    "[This is my quadrant]," Khan dered. "[I want the Empire to acknowledge it]."


    "[What would the Empire earn from doing that]?" Lord Exr asked.


    "[Me]," Khan replied. "[I''m more reliable than any human]."


    "[Who are you]?" Lord Exr questioned. "[Major Khan? Ambassador Khan? Prince Khan? Who do you speak for]?"


    Lord Exr''s confusion was understandable. The Empire wasn''t only outside the Global Army''s titles system. Khan''s changes in status also happened in a matter of months. Humankind itself didn''t know the type of authority he wielded, and he was part of that group.


    "[The Blue Shaman]," Khan dered, his eyes revealing all the light they could radiate. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan stopped holding back. He removed the limiter on his presence, and his mana did the rest. His aura gained a suffocating, freezing vibe, and cracks appeared on the barren ground. Khan grew heavier by simply letting his thoughts affect his energy, and some distant Scalqa went to their knees when they recognized those features.


    "[Your reports talk about great benefits for the Global Army]," Lord Exr asked, unfazed by that chilling aura. "[What can the Empire expect from choosing the Blue Shaman]?"


    "[Equal treatment]," Khan exined. "[Monopoly for me]."


    "[Won''t you prioritize selling to humans]?" Lord Exr wondered.


    Khan took another big bite from the lump of meat in his hands before spitting it to the ground. His eyes went dark but showed enough anger to tell multiple stories. That feeling was also genuine. Khan was still livid about the recent ughters.


    "[The Empire will rip off the Global Army]," Lord Exr warned.


    "[As long as I profit]," Khan responded, "[And you warn me beforehand]."


    "[Do you have a force, Blue Shaman]?" Lord Exr questioned. "[Should I tell the Empire that you do]?"


    "[Am I not enough for that acknowledgment]?" Khan asked.


    "[My Lord might want to test you again]," Lord Exr pointed out.


    "[He shouldn''t]," Khan warned. "[He would lose a decent soldier]."


    "[He won''t test you with a soldier]," Lord Exr said.


    "[Then]," Khan responded. "[Lord Rsi would lose a regiment]."


    Lord Exr''s smirk would widen, but his mouth had reached its limits. Still, his expression soon turned serious as his throat voiced a guttural cry.


    The metal ramp still connected the barren ground to the hoovering ship, and two Thilku slowly descended from it, carrying a rectangr metal box from both sides.


    The two neers reached the imaginary table and ced the box behind Lord Exr, who stood up to make onest announcement.


    "[This isn''t for Prince Khan]," Lord Exr exined, "[Ambassador Khan, or Major Khan. This is for the Blue Shaman]."


    Lord Exr kicked the box, which opened to reveal a thick red cape. The Thilku''s military uniform was hidden underneath, but no one noticed it for many minutes.

 Chapter 789 Negotiation

    Chapter 789 Negotiation


    The Scalqa had no idea what the red cape meant, but Monica, Gordon, and the Thilku on the other side of the table immediately turned serious at that sight. Thetter also stood up out of respect, and Khan imitated them.


    "[Blue Shaman]," Lord Exr announced, seizing the cape from the box to hold it with both hands. "[You have earned the Empire''s trust. ept this as a sign of our friendship]."


    Monica, Gordon, and Lieutenant Dyester stood up as Khan crossed the imaginary table. The Scalqa didn''t understand what was happening but rose to their feet anyway. The air was thick with solemnity, and Khan wasted no time showing his back to Lord Exr.


    "[This goes to the Blue Shaman]!" Lord Exr shouted, repeating himself while cing the cape on Khan''s shoulders. The hidden meaning behind his statement was clear, but Khan ignored it for now.


    The cape was heavy and too long for Khan, but he didn''tin. He adjusted the thick fabric on his shoulders to make it morefortable before eyeing the Thilku group. Amox directly nodded while the others wore solemn expressions. Khan had stopped being an outsider to the Empire. He was one of them now.


    "[It suits you]," Lord Exr eximed. "[Come, Blue Shaman. Let''s walk]."


    Khan uttered a few alien cries and nced at Monica before departing with Lord Exr. The two remained silent as they exited the settlement''s perimeter and dived into the forest. They didn''t have a clear destination, but Lord Exr seemed content inspecting Baoway''s environment.


    "[It''s a good]," Lord Exr eventually broke the silence. "[Its location is also useful]."


    "[It will change soon enough]," Khan stated, "[Once the Empire settles here]."


    "[Settles]?" Lord Exr repeated, ignoring the forest to look at Khan. "[The Empire chose the Global Army to avoid settling here]."


    "[Oneb and one station should be enough]," Khan continued. "[The Global Army will provide the rest]."


    "[Or what]?" Lord Exr asked, sensing that a negotiation had begun.


    "[It''s symbolic]," Khan exined. "[You''d give this force to me, not the Global Army. It will preserve our alliance and establish a direct line ofmunication with the Empire]."


    "[The Empire just awarded you its cape]," Lord Exr pointed out. "[It''s too early to make requests]."


    "[Imagine the leverage you''d have on the Global Army]," Khan stated. "[The Empire would set the prices, deals, and timing with minimum investment on the]."


    "[It would also make you necessary to both species]," Lord Exrmented.


    "[Am I not]?" Khan asked.


    "[If the Empire wanted this]," Lord Exr announced, "[It would take it]."


    "[I''m handling that part]," Khan responded. "[I only need things to look more official]."


    The Empire had its own way of politics, but Lord Exr was privy to the Global Army''s methods. Face could go a long way, and Khan had barely asked for two buildings anyway.


    Still, the issue remained. The Empire had just bestowed Khan with great honor, but his first move consisted of a request. That couldn''t work since it would make the Empire look weak.


    "[The Empire won''t do your bidding]," Lord Exr refused.


    "[I''m asking for a favor]," Khan uttered, "[Which will be repaid in no time]."


    The different wording made Lord Exr hesitate. A trade sounded much better than a simple request, but he had superiors, too. Justifying the deal required hard numbers.


    "[What do you have in mind]?" Lord Exr asked.


    "[In the next months]," Khan announced, "[Many human allies will deliver resources and equipment here. They''ll establishbs, barracks, and stations. The will be open for inteary traders afterward]."


    "[And how does the Empire benefit from this]?" Lord Exr questioned.


    "[Having Thilku presence will justify priority deals]," Khan exined. "[My human allies are powerful, but the Empire is far superior]."


    The praise didn''t influence Lord Exr''s mind, but his knowledge of the Global Army''s political environment confirmed Khan''s words. Humankind was fragmented into countless smaller parties while the Empire was united. No individual organization could hope to oppose it.


    "[Isn''t the Blue Shama enough to justify them]?" Lord Exr wondered, trying to make things difficult for Khan.


    "[Is the Empire asking me to win it another]?" Khan jabbed back.


    Lord Exr smirked. Khan''s help had been vital in Cegnore, but the Empire had done most of the heavy lifting afterward. Instead, Baoway would be the opposite, with Khan handling almost every detail.


    "[Who would the Thilku force answer to]?" Lord Exr asked.


    "[Me]," Khan shortly replied.


    "[Ah]!" Lord Exr cried. "[Are you aiming for a crown, too, Blue Shaman]?"


    "[I don''t need a crown to seize authority]," Khan dered. "[Still, I won''t ask for it]."


    Khan''s statement had two purposes. The first part was a simple show of strength, which Lord Exr couldn''t deny. Khan was already a monster on Cegnore, so his current power had to be acknowledged.


    Instead, the second part wanted to reassure Lord Exr. The Thilku respected strength, and Khan had already proven himself inside the Empire. Many Thilku would listen to him and follow his orders, and his unclear g could create internal problems.


    "[What are the terms]?" Lord Exr changed topics.


    "[The Empire will get priority the biggest share of results and resources]," Khan exined. "[I''ll get all of them. We''ll coordinate afterward to decide what to sell back to the Global Army]."


    "[What will you do with those resources]?" Lord Exr wondered. "[They are of no use to you]."


    Lord Exr didn''t say it, but Khan understood his point. Khan didn''t have the assets to exploit Baoway''s resources. Selling them to other parties was his only use for them. Yet, with the priority deals with the Empire, the effort seemed pointless unless Khan had secret negotiations in mind.


    "[I won''t turn my quadrant into a wastnd]," Khan dered, "[And I have some use for a few resources. The matter is personal]."


    "[Make it less personal]," Lord Exr almost ordered.


    "[My force needs to grow]," Khan exined. "[My quadrant won''t be anyone''s yground but mine]."


    Lord Exr wanted to know more, but Khan wasn''t talking as a mere soldier anymore. Cape aside, Khan was the de facto owner of the quadrant. His force was minusculepared to the Empire and Global Army, but it was a force nheless.


    Prying into Khan''s personal business could be seen as an insult. Obtaining that knowledge also required a price now, but Lord Exr didn''t mind privacy. He only cared about potential ploys behind the Empire''s back.


    "[Can the Empire trust you]?" Lord Exr directly asked.


    "[It granted me the cape]," Khan pointed out, lifting his left shoulder to show the thick red fabric.


    "[I''m the one asking the question]," Lord Exr rified.


    "[Yes]," Khan confirmed. "[You can]."


    Lord Exr and Khan fell into a silent stalemate. They stared at each other, hoping to gain a glimpse of the machinations inside their respective brains. Truth be told, they both knew what their opponent was thinking, but trust was the only solution.


    "[Very well]," Lord Exr eventually agreed. "[I''ll have the specifics in a few hours. Do you have a representative]?" N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "[Monica Solodrey]," Khan responded. "[My wife-to-be]."


    "[That''s eptable]," Lord Exr uttered. "[How many soldiers are we talking about]?"


    "[Fifty would be more than enough]," Khan dered. "[Enough to show their presence and pretend to defend theb]."


    "[Pretend]?" Lord Exr questioned.


    "[I''m the best defense in the quadrant]," Khan replied. "[They''d mostly handle chores]."


    "[Ah! Chores]," Lord Exr snorted. He didn''t seem to like Khan wanting to use the Empire''s soldiers like that, but the issue wasn''t too relevant.


    "[The Empire wants immediate results]," Lord Exr continued. "[We expect a trade route to open soon]."


    "[It will open soon]," Khan promised. "[I just need the Empire''s assets first]."


    Lord Exr smirked. He liked how Khan had turned out, but another critical matter popped into his mind. Actually, that new topic was more relevant than anything discussed until now.


    "[What about the Global Army]?" Lord Exr asked.


    "[What about it]?" Khan wondered.


    "[This is a big]," Lord Exr exined, "[And you only own a quadrant. The others can be negotiated]."


    Lord Exr didn''t pretend the Empire would im his half of the. Both he and Khan knew itcked the manpower to upy that vast space. Ideally, the Thilku would continue to leave everything to the humans as long as they received something in return.


    Nevertheless, Lord Exr raised a reasonable issue. Nothing stopped the Empire from sealing different deals with the Global Army. The Thilku could score big with Khan and earn slightly less in other quadrants, basically double-dipping without moving a finger.


    "[The Empire won''t get better deals anywhere else]," Khan stated.


    "[True]," Lord Exr agreed, "[But the Global Army has apetitor now]."


    Khan felt a curse rising through his throat, but nothing escaped his mouth. Lord Exr was right. The Global Army would probably try topete with Khan''s force to retain a direct rtionship with the Empire. Mister Cirvags still had his cape, so the Empire wouldn''tck trustworthy figures, either.


    "[Do it]," Khan almost challenged. "[Seal deals with the Global Army]."


    "[You don''t sound against it]," Lord Exrmented.


    "[Those quadrants aren''t mine]," Khan said. "[Yet. If the Empire wants immediate gains, it can lock itself into long, unchangeable deals]."

 Chapter 790 Allies

    790 Allies


    Dealing with Khan was easy. He was one man with a small force and even smaller territory. Besides, Khan spoke


    openly without ploys or tricks. The Empire could seal and apply deals in hours with him, with no paperwork or time- consuming procedures.


    Instead, the Global Army was massive andprised countless individual parties. Dealing with it often involved days of research and even longer periods of negotiations. Each closed agreement usually stretched for years for those exact reasons, and changing its terms would always lead to heavy losses for one side.


    Khan''s presence on Baoway gave the Empire some leverage, and the''s resources added another advantage to the equation. The Thilku could hope for something beneficial if they negotiated with the Global Army, but the matter wasn''t without problems.


    Closing a deal with the Global Army would probably lead to immediate mobilization. Unlike Khan, the Global Army had the resources to upy the and im all the avable quadrants. That wouldn''t only hinder Khan''s growth but would also give the Global Army the means to control the market.


    The Empire could push back on that mobilization, but the Global Army could afford the price. The final agreement would kill any hope of ripping off humankind and would damage Khan''s force. It almost was a lose-lose situation.


    Of course, the Empire didn''t necessarily care about that. Seizing immediate benefits and leaving Khan alone against the Global Army was a straightforward possibility. It would remove the Thilku from the equation, freeing them of eventual problems.


    Yet, the Empire wasn''t known for wise expansions. Itcked the manpower to upy Baoway, but leavingplete ground control to the Global Army wasn''t an option either. Also, doing Khan dirty wasn''t its style. It would go against the Thilku''s pride.


    "[Are you nning an expansion]?" Lord Exr wondered.


    "[It will start slow]," Khan nodded, "[Before picking up the pace. I need to secure a few things first]."


    "[Then]," Lord Exr eximed, "[The Empire can expect stable growth]."


    "[It can]," Khan confirmed.


    "[But the Global Army also is the Empire''s ally]," Lord Exr pointed out. "[Keeping it out of the won''t be fair, easy, or cheap]."


    "[You have the perfect excuse]," Khan said. "[I''ll give it to you free of charge]"


    "[Excuse]?" Lord Exr questioned.


    "[The Global Army plotted to kill me here]," Khan exined, "[While I was acting as the Empire''s representative. It was insulting]."


    "[You said you dealt with the traitors]," Lord Exrmented.


    "[But who knows how far those ploys stretch]," Khan stated. "[The Global Army is too fragmented even for my resources. It doesn''t sound too trustworthy in this period]."


    Lord Exr smirked, showing his canines. He wasn''t clueless about politics, but that ploy surpassed his expectations. The Empire could use the assassination attempt against Khan as a sign of unstable leadership, turning it into an excuse to dy eventual deals with the Global Army.


    Of course, the im was a stretch but had the right foundation. Criminal activities had nothing to do with the interspecies treaties, but Khan had been the target, involving the Empire. It also perfectly matched the Thilku''s harsh discipline. Temporary refusing the Global Army wouldn''t be seen as a favor to Khan.


    "[You''ve grown, Blue Shaman]," Lord Exr praised. "[It''s a pity you weren''t born Thilku]."


    "[Who knows]?" Khan uttered. "[I might join the Empire one day],"


    Khan''s words said one thing, but his stance stated something different. The authority Khan radiated couldn''t match a subservient role anymore. He couldn''t go back to being a simple soldier.


    "[Focus on your force, Blue Shaman]," Lord Exr chuckled. "[It''s too early to im the stars]."


    Khan didn''t reply and turned away to return to the


    settlement. Lord Exr followed him, and the two remained


    silent while various ideas invaded their brains. Much had been decided in that short conversation, making the future interesting.


    "[Stay here as long as you want]," Khan announced once the two returned to the imaginary table. "[My wife-to-be will hear your every request]."


    Khan nodded at Monica and patted Amox''s shoulder while approaching the standing Scalqa. He exchanged a few strange words with them before uttering orders. The Scalqa dispersed, and Khan began to address his otherpanions.


    "Start themunication device," Khan ordered at


    Gordon, "And retrieve my belongings. Have the others help you."


    Gordon didn''t get the chance to ask since a few Scalqa soon brought out the crew Khan had imprisoned during the rescue operation. Those soldiers weren''t hurt but looked slightly starved.


    "Monica, stay with the Thilku," Khan ordered. "Finalize the agreements and report back to the Global Army. We''ll also need our allies to start moving."


    Monica nodded, picking up her phone to check her notes. She and Khan had already nned the following steps, so she knew who to contact.


    "I''ll be back soon," Khan eventually announced, rising into the air before disappearing altogether.


    Khan''s sudden departure arched a few eyebrows and opened some mouths. Everyone knew he could fly, but that speed surprised those who hadn''t seen him in a while. Amox had even fought alongside him mere years ago, but his brain told him the two belonged to different worlds now.


    The settlement became alive, with each faction handling their respective duties. The Thilku ship left to join the human vehicle on the cliff, but its crew quickly returned to the encampment, enjoying the hospitality and studying that new world.


    Gordon also made trips to the cliff, retrieving equipment and activating themunication device. He didn''t have messages to convey but established the channel nheless.


    Monica stayed with the Thilku group, following it to the cliff and back to the settlement. She and Lord Exr discussed the agreement''s details, going over numbers with the help of the other Thilku. Her experience in Neuria made everything smooth, creating a friendly atmosphere that only awaited official approvals.


    As for Lieutenant Dyester, Khan didn''t give him orders, so he roamed through the settlement, his tired eyes lost in mysterious thoughts. The change from his previous situation had been sudden, so his brain was still adjusting to his new reality.


    Khan eventually returned, and his reappearance brought new life to the settlement. Many Scalqa shouted excited cries when they spotted his figure in the sky, but their happy mood had nothing to do with him. The aliens mostly cared about the huge creature on his back.


    The settlement had gotten too big and popted for the forest. Khan had united tribes left and right, creating a food issue. The quadrant didn''t have enough resources for all those hungry mouths, so Khan had to refill the supplies with his own hands from time to time.


    Khan dropped the huge, dead creature into one of the pits beforending at the center of the settlement. His cold eyes ran over the area, checking all its aspects. Not much had worsened in his absence, but a few things required his attention.


    "That thing won''t satisfy them for long," Lieutenant Dyester announced, calmly approaching Khan. "You''d need ten of them to hope tost a few days."


    "I know," Khan responded. "The hunting teams are doing their best, but the settlement can''t keep up without me. Things are also about to worsen."


    "nning on recruiting more aliens?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. nov el ne xtz.c o?m


    "That," Khan nodded before looking at the Scalqa doing push-ups and other training exercises, "And something else."


    Lieutenant Dyester followed Khan''s gaze, and a frown soon filled his expression. The Scalqa looked quite odd while performing a human workout. It simply wasn''t made for them and their bodies.


    "Aren''t some of them stronger than me?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned. "What do you hope to achieve with a basic training regimen?"


    "Their stamina and mana are connected," Khan shortly exined. "I think it''s having some effect, but it''s too slow."


    "You used cans of food to count your days," Lieutenant Dyester snorted. "Now you are trying to empower a whole species."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Right now," Khan stated, "They are nothing more than meat shields. I need them to evolve."


    Khan''s face didn''t say it, but his mind had gone past his surroundings. Many conflicts loomed above his head, even without including the scarlet eyes, and the Scalqa weren''t up to standard. Khan didn''t want to use them as cannon fodder, either, putting him in a pickle.


    "And the iing humans aren''t yours," Lieutenant Dyestermented. "Don''t you have other allies?"


    Khan actually did. Humans and Thilku weren''t his only possibilities. He had made many alien friends throughout his years in the Global Army, and involving them would add manyyers of security to his quadrant. Yet, things weren''t so simple.


    The Global Army was in friendly rtionships with the Ef''i, and Khan had also proven his worth on Onia. He could establish small, quick deals with them to obtain a few soldiers, but that was it.


    The Kred obviously were out of the question, and the same went for the Ots. There was too much bad blood with the former, and Khan would force Lieutenant Dyester to live among them. As for the Ots, they were simply untrustworthy.


    The Bise were too xenophobic for that mixed bag of species, but Khan could include themter on once trade routes had fully formed. As for the Tors, their practices would ruin the.


    The Fuveall were a good option, but Khan had to wait. He could hire them to build and deliver technology outside the Global Army''s control, but doing it now would only build distrust with the Empire.


    Then, Khan considered the most obvious option, the species that had been in his mind ever since iming the quadrant. Baoway had plenty of vegetation and the right weather. It could be perfect for the Nele, but Khan hesitated nheless.


    "Anyone I bring here," Khan said, "I put in danger. I can''t ensure their safety, not yet."


    Most of Khan''s reasoning had only happened inside his mind, but Lieutenant Dyester epted the short exnation anyway. At that point, he knew best. His role was to ensure he didn''t lose his way too much.

 Chapter 791 Shipments

    Chapter 791 Shipments


    The Thilku stayed on Baoway for a few days before departing. By then, the news of the agreement had be public, so Monica started clearing the contacted allies. The Empire had yet to send its resources, but its support would arrive sooner anyway.


    Even with a specific device,municating with humankind and Thilku was far from optimal. The same went for the connection to thework. The ship could only be online during certain hours, but that problem was bound to be fixed with the first round of shipments.


    As for Khan, he dealt with the settlement''s impending necessities before focusing on his other tasks. He had aplicated martial art to learn, and finding the time among his leader''s duties wasn''t easy. Also, Monica demanded his attention, and her cooperation was necessary for another project.


    "This should have worked," Khan sighed, watching the charred and melted metal lump in his hand.


    "The next one will be better," Monica reassured, leaning on Khan''s shoulder as crystalline drops fell from her wet curls.


    The couple had settled on a river at some distance from the settlement. The experiments with Monica''s elements were dangerous and explosive, so Khan couldn''t perform them near his force. However, privacy brought other pleasant consequences.


    Khan and Monica sat naked on the river''s rocky edge, with their feet immersed in the cold running water. Baoway''s star shone on them, and the nearby trees created a peaceful atmosphere. The scenery would almost be heavenly if it weren''t for the burned marks on some of the tall crowns.


    "I need to make a bigger design," Khan shook his head. "I still can''tpress it into a bracelet."


    "Why not call Abraham here?" Monica suggested. "He could coordinate with the Thilkub once it arrives."


    "I can''t abandon the Harbor altogether," Khan exined. "It would make me too easy to eliminate."


    "With the Empire here?" Monica wondered.


    "Eliminate," Khan repeated, "Or cut away politically. I need trustworthy people doing important stuff among humans to retain relevance within the Global Army."


    Monica was already considering her parents and Khan''s cousin for that task. Yet, she understood what Khan meant. Abraham''s trust was undeniable, and his job would be smoother in the Harbor, increasing its relevance and sess rate.


    "If only your element were as easy to tame as your temper," Khan shook his head again, closing his hands to reduce the now-brittle metal to dust.


    "It''s not my fault when you consider bringing that witch here," Monica snorted. "Snapping is the least I should do."


    "I only considered it," Khan said. "If I thought it feasible, they would already be here."


    Except for the security issues, Khan had other reasons for excluding the Nele from the list of potential allies. Their pheromones in the middle of Scalqa, Thilku, and humans were a recipe for disaster, and Khan didn''t want to give them a home where they would have to live like they currently did on Milia 222.


    "You and your promises," Monicained.


    "Did you forget Jenna put us together?" Khan teased.


    "After sleeping with you for months," Monica scoffed. "And she even kissed you once we were together."


    "I was kind of dying there," Khan pointed out.


    "How fortunate," Monica whined.


    Khan chuckled, wrapping an arm around Monica''s back before pushing her forward. She let out a cry while falling into the river, but her pout disappeared when she discovered that Khan had joined her.


    "Aren''t the Thilku shipments due to today?" Monica giggled, jumping on Khan to let him hold him.


    "It''s not like I''ll miss them," Khan reassured, but his words acted like a bringer of bad luck. Something touched the symphony before he could kiss Monica, and a groan almost escaped his mouth as he lowered his head to her chest.


    Monica didn''t need to question Khan since the faint whooshing of engines reached the area. She lifted her head, peeking past the gap created by the river, and distant, huge vehicles appeared in her vision.


    Khan shot up, still carrying Monica in his arms, to leave the river andnd on the rocks. Both their uniforms and underwear were on the ground, but the two quickly dressed up without saying a word. Monica jumped on Khan again afterward, and he sprinted into the forest, hurrying back to the settlement.


    The couple reached the settlement quickly, and Khan dropped Monica to retrieve his red cape and hurry toward the canyon area. By then, the vast, circr ships had almostnded, but due to what they carried, the process required more care.


    The ships had nothing of importance. Instead, what was attached to their bottom was. The vehicles carried two buildings, one short and rectangr and the other tall and square. Thetter showcased the traditional Thilku architecture, even if shields covered itsrge balconies.


    The vehicles made sure to avoid destroying the trees while dropping the buildings to the barren ground. Thending lifted a storm of dust and sand, but Khan walked through it with his eyes closed, quickly arriving before the structures.


    While the dust settled, some movement happened in the forest. Khan watched the ships detach themselves from the buildings as shields deactivated. Doors also opened, and rows of red capes walked out.


    The newly arrived Thilku arranged themselves into two groups and four lines. There were almost seventy of them between scientists and soldiers, but Khan recognized a familiar face. Amox stood before them, seemingly implying that he was in charge.


    "[The Empire sent me to keep an eye on you]," Amoxughed, stepping forward to greet Khan.


    "[Your wife must hate me by now]," Khanmented.


    "[She hates me more]," Amox joked, shaking hands with Khan.


    In the meantime, the army of Scalqa arrived, but Khan reassured it with a few cries. Everyone stood down, allowing Khan and Amox to deal with the specifics of their stay.


    "[Colonize this area]," Khan ordered, indicating the barren ground. "[How is the state of your supplies]?"


    "[We canst for about a month]," Amox exined.


    "[You won''t run out]," Khan reassured. "[The next shipments will take care of that]."


    "[Khan]," Amox called, lowering his voice and leaning forward to whisper something. "[Where do you n on putting them]?"


    The canyon area was long but narrow. The two buildings barely left enough space for the workers, and adding assets along the gorge would eventually create a distance issue. Khan could solve that with ground vehicles and simr rides, but the matter sounded troublesome nheless.


    Khan didn''t reply and pointed at the gorge, making Amox walk toward its edge to peek below. The canyon was deep but spacious, and a few elevators could solve the height problem.


    "[The Empire can handle the construction]," Amox pointed out.


    "[I have to give work to my other allies, too]," Khan exined. "[Things should take the proper shape in a few weeks]."


    That was exactly what happened. By the time more ships arrived, the Thilku had wholly settled in the canyon area. Thetter were human and belonged to the Nognes family, which delivered more soldiers, workers, and technicians.


    The Nognes family ships settled at the bottom of the canyon, building rows of elevators connected to the surface. Moreover, they erected living quarters, control rooms, and greenhouses to solve many of Baoway''s problems.


    The control rooms finally fixed themunication issue, allowing connection to thework even inside the settlement. The abundance of the chaos element still created some problems, but those were minor and temporary.


    Instead, the greenhouses cultivated a rtivelyrge variety of products. They weren''t the tastiest of the bunch, but the Global Army had engineered them specifically for that purpose. In a few weeks, food wouldn''t be a problem anymore for the current headcount.


    Things elerated once the Nognes family''s soldiers settled. The new, reliable connection to thework allowed Monica to deal closely with minor parties, and the results didn''t take long to arrive.


    Only two more weeks had to pass before a massive vehicle loomed above Baoway''s sky. Khan recognized it with a mere look and connected it to its owner. That was a Leviathan ss ship, something he had boarded before his mission to Lauter.


    As usual, Khan flew to the canyon to encounter the neers, but the area was too small for the ship, so smaller vehicles descended to handle the meeting. Two only had soldiers, but the third carried a familiar face.


    "Prince Khan," Lucian Hencus announced. "It has been too long."


    "Do you have what I requested?" Khan asked. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Obviously," Lucian confirmed. "Also, I''ve already warned the Nognes family. This delivery will be free of charge to show ourmitment to our friendship."


    Lucian nodded at hispanions, who sent orders to the Leviathan ss ship. Another vehicle shot down,nding near the Thilku structures. The former was rectangr, but its surfaces split and moved to open up and change shape.


    Soon, the structure gained an oval shape, with two curved horns at its sides. The piece of techcked power sources, but its design made it unmistakable. Baoway finally had a teleport.

 Chapter 792 Businesses

    Chapter 792 Businesses


    The teleport was a massive addition to Baoway. Refilling supplies and other items wouldn''t be a problem anymore once the machine went online. Khan also didn''t mind the gift but still found a problem with Lucian''s statement.


    "Don''t warn the Nognes family before me," Khan ordered. "You are dealing with me."


    Lucian could sense the difference in Khan''s vibe. He had been threatened by him once, but the current warning hit with greater weight. It seemed Khan could kill him with a single thought and wouldn''t hesitate to do so.


    "My apologies," Lucian said, performing a simple bow. "Prince Khan."


    "Did your father want to score points with the nobles?" Khan asked, inspecting the teleports.


    "Precisely," Lucian confirmed.


    "Tell him I''ll cut every connection with the Hencus family if this happens again," Khan stated, turning to face the forest.


    "What if I were to deal directly with you?" Lucian suggested.


    "It''s too early for these ploys," Khan rejected. "Ask me again once my quadrant is stable."


    Lucian epted the vague answer and followed Khan into the settlement with his soldiers. Baoway''s hospitality had improved by many levels after the recent shipments, and that trend wouldn''t stop anytime soon.


    Monica''s calls didn''t stop at Lucian. The Solodrey family obviously delivered the biggest piece of equipment, a trade station ced on the nearby sea. Yet, Khan''s former ssmates, Mark and John, also imitated Lucian, although with only soldiers and supplies.


    The various arrivals in such a short period created the chance for an odd meeting. Monica, Lucian, John, and Mark gathered in Khan''s tent, sitting on the ground while sharing some newly arrived booze. The atmosphere was friendly, but Monica saw through those political faces.


    "It''s a good piece ofnd," Markmented.


    "Khan won''t turn it into a farming facility," Monica stated. "Drop it, Mark."


    "His mind is always on the numbers," John groaned, leaning down and supporting himself on his elbow. "He can''t help himself."


    "You should do some numbers, too," Markmented. "Your trips get more expensive by the week."


    "And how would you know that?" John asked.


    "You spent a month in my holiday mansion," Mark reminded. "I know the bill."


    "Right," John chuckled. "You are such a good friend."


    "And you are almost hopeless," Mark sighed.


    "He was the first to support Khan openly," Lucian pointed out.


    "And he is a Prince now," Johnughed, lifting his bone cup. "My family won''t annoy me for the next decade."


    "You all supported us," Monica said. "We won''t forget your help."


    "Where is he, by the way?" John wondered. "I haven''t seen him all day."


    "He-," Monica began to say before a familiar sensation hit her skin. The Scalqa outside soon began to shout, too, warning everyone about the event.


    "He''s here," Monica smiled, seizing one of the avable bottles to prepare a cup.


    "Did you develop heightened senses?" Lucian wondered. He didn''t miss how Monica seemed to have felt Khan''s arrival before the Scalqa, and the same went for Mark and John.


    "The air gets sharper when he is around," Monica exined. "I''ve learned to notice it."


    "This guy doesn''t even need to talk to announce himself," John shook his head. "To think he was only a student a few years ago."


    "I was a soldier before being a student," Khan reminded, crossing the pelt entrance.


    "Prince Khan!" Lucian and Mark said simultaneously, standing up to perform polite bows. John was slightly startled but eventually imitated hispanions.


    "You don''t need to do this every time," Khan stated, crossing the three men to reach Monica. She uttered a soft "wee back" when he leaned down to kiss her, and a cup ended in his hands when he sat at her side.


    "Is everything okay?" Monica asked.


    "Something minor with theb," Khan exined. "The Thilku might have training regimens more suitable for the Scalqa."


    "Will it work?" Monica wondered.


    "We''ll see," Khan replied. "What did I miss?"


    "John is being John," Monica uttered. "Lucian is trying to understand how to get closer to you, and Mark is doing the numbers."


    Shameless smiles unfolded in Khan''s vision. Monica had hit the mark, and no one tried to deny it. Besides, Khan wouldn''t be tricked by words at that point.


    "Mark," Khan called. "What do you think?"


    "Honest opinion?" Mark questioned.


    "Honest opinion," Khan confirmed.


    "This quadrant is a financial ck hole," Mark revealed. "I don''t know the specifics of your deal with the Empire, but it''s probably symbolic rather than mary. Instead, everything else is just eating Credits every day."


    "The quadrant can establish trade routes now," Khan pointed out.


    "And trade what?" Mark wondered. "No offense, but the only valuable resources are connected to yourbs. You won''t see any ie until they devise products you can sell."


    "Finances aren''t a problem anymore," Khanmented.


    "True," Mark agreed. "However, I suppose you are striving for independence. Constantly earning debts isn''t the way for that."


    Khan was already aware of the issue, but no solutions were in sight. Baoway was rich in resources, but they were cheap, and selling them wouldn''t bnce the daily expenses. Khan didn''t want to limit his expansion, either, so the problem was bound to grow.


    "What do you suggest?" Khan asked.


    "Without damaging the environment?" Mark wondered. "You could sell water. That''s always an evergreen on the market. Some nts might have decent uses, so finding them would help."


    "Would that outweigh my expenses?" Khan questioned.


    "Not really," Mark admitted. "You have too many soldiers and no real source of ie. Many wouldn''t even consider investing in the quadrant if it weren''t for your family."


    Khan''s face didn''t flinch, but his mind reviewed the issue multiple times. The Nognes family''s money wouldn''t run out any time soon, but Khan couldn''t keep relying on it. Baoway had to be his own force, not something sanctioned and permitted by bigger forces.


    "Do I have to save the day again?" John asked.


    "You shouldn''t talk about that here," Mark warned. "It''s safer for Khan if none of us knows."


    "What do you mean?" Khan questioned.


    "Drugs, obviously," John announced. "Hot items, smuggling, anything illegal, really."


    "You do have a good location and the perfect authority," Lucian pointed out. "You could easily justify some trades even if the Global Army tries to incriminate you."


    Khan nced at Monica, who nodded. "It ismon among wealthy families. Of course, big organizations have ways to mask their connections to those businesses."


    Monica didn''t say it, but her point was evident. Wealthy families could easily create different organizations to deal with the illegal sides of their businesses. Instead, Khan only had Baoway, so pinpointing the eventual culprit wouldn''t take a genius.


    Moreover, the number of untrustworthy people in the quadrant increased with each shipment. Khan knew most new soldiers weren''t loyal to him. They were too scared to go against him, but that wouldn''t stop them from sending information to other parties.


    The issue was unavoidable. Every organization had those problems, and even Khan couldn''t avoid them. The bigger his force grew, the wider the ws.


    "There are other options," Lucian eventually announced. "You could see them as a middle ground."


    "Public perception would be the problem there," Markmented.


    "Talk," Khan ordered.


    "The Global Army''s domain has regtions," Lucian exined, "But this quadrant is sort of a grey area. You could establish businesses that aren''t strictly legal with no repercussions."


    "You are friends with Lord Vegner," John eximed. "A couple of brothels wouldn''t hurt, especially with all the soldiers you are hiring."


    "Some substances are dangerous to make," Mark added. "You could put factories where you wouldn''t mind a few explosions."


    "The same goes for dangerous equipment," Lucian said. "It would require a new trade route and some defense systems, but it''s doable."


    Lucian and the others were basically suggesting turning the quadrant into a criminal heaven, awless zone. Khan had the authority and power to demand control, and his public perception had long plummeted. The Empire would be the only problem there.


    The Thilku didn''t take criminals lightly, and turning the quadrant into awless zone could push the Empire back into the hands of the Global Army. Khan still had time, and the initial periods always led to financial losses. However, results had to arrive sooner orter.


    "We''ll talk more tomorrow," Khan announced. "I want to spend some time with my fianc¨¦e now."


    "Of course," Lucian responded, standing up. Mark and John imitated him, and a round of polite salutes preceded their departure.


    "Vultures," Monica snorted as soon as privacy arrived. "They can''t wait to bind themselves to your quadrant."


    "But they are right," Khan admitted. "I''m spending someone else''s money to keep this environment alive."


    "It''s your money," Monica stated, cing a hand on Khan''s thigh to im his attention. "It''s your faction now, so your money."


    "There''s still my uncle," Khan reminded. "I need to involve the Empire more."


    "You know that will take time," Monica said. "You can''t expect to be able to supply an entire species in a few weeks."


    "I need a breakthrough in some field," Khan sighed. "Either with thebs or my ability to create magic weapons."


    "Khan," Monica called, sitting on Khan''sp to take his face between his hands. "You can''t control everything. You are already stretching yourself too thin. Give things the time they need."


    Khan stared deep into Monica''s eyes before heaving a helpless sigh. He lowered his head to her chest, and she held it, doing her best to convey her support.


    "These aren''t problems you can solve with strength," Monica reassured. "You''ll get there, but it will take time. At some point, people will beg you to ept their Credits."


    "I could put a knife through my uncle," Khan said.


    "His businesses would only lose more trust in you if you do," Monica warned. "You are doing fine. Everything is going well. Just keep doing what you are doing." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Waiting, huh," Khanmented.


    "Don''t worry," Monica teased, pushing on Khan''s shoulders to make himy on the ground. "Your fianc¨¦e will make the wait more than bearable."

 Chapter 793 Training

    Chapter 793 Training


    Baoway''s financial problem was unsolvable, but Khan took steps to limit it. His former ssmates had suggested a few decent ideas, and his unique position opened other paths.


    The brothels were easy enough to get. The quadrant had a steadily rising poption, and those soldiers had needs. Besides, Lord Vegner''s establishments weren''t illegal, so sealing a deal to get a couple in the canyon barely took hours.


    Lord Vegner would receive most of the brothels'' ie but had to pay a tax to be in the quadrant. He also needed to cover part of the food demand, which lightened Khan''s financial burden.


    The brothels also kept the Credits in the quadrant. Khan paid the soldiers, who often spent that money inside Lord Vegner''s establishments. Part of that came back to him, further helping his cause.


    The Solodrey family handled most of the second step, but Khan''s presence enabled the option. Baoway was between the Global Army and Empire''s domain, having a unique location that could facilitate preexisting trade agreements. Moreover, the Empire''s trust in Khan could smoothen and cheapen many aspects of them.


    Of course, Khan''s political figure had taken a significant hit, but the Solodrey family vouched for him, and few organizations would say no to lower expenses. The sea station soon became the home to many trades, bringing more money and relevance to the quadrant.


    Khan limited himself to those financial moves for the time being. More options would be avable once his political figure and quadrant achieved the necessary power and relevance, but that was it for now.


    Having dealt with the most pressing financial issues left Khan plenty of free time. Monica and his otherpanions handled most of the quadrant''s management, and the settlement didn''t require him to go hunting anymore, allowing him to focus on other matters.


    ''Why is this so hard?'' Khan wondered, almost ring at his left leg.


    It was a quiet morning in the quadrant. Everything was in order, and no pressing matters bothered Khan. That was the perfect moment to enjoy the peace he had created, but his aura only radiated annoyance while he sat on the central bone chair. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Again,'' Khan ordered to himself while his cold eyes reflected the mana inside his stretched leg.


    Khan''s mana split into two strands, which flowed through his limb in opposite directions. That energy gained speed before crashing near his ankle.


    The impact between the two strands of energy released a surge of power, which Khan tried to send toward his ankle. He seeded, but his joint opposed the influx of mana, bending and shaking to disperse it.


    The process obviously hurt. Lesser soldiers would even suffer injuries, but Khan''s body had long since surpassed the human limits. His ankle felt slightly sore, and a tingling sensation invaded it, but everything returned to normal after a minute.


    Khan held back a curse while staring at his leg. His mind reyed the recent event, hoping to show details he might have missed. He didn''t, but the execution had failed anyway, and the problem was evident.


    Generating and controlling two different strands of mana was easy for Khan. Making them flow in opposite directions wasn''t a problem either for him. His mastery over that field had be immense by then, but what followed was uncharted territory.


    The initial strands of mana belonged to Khan, but the energy released during their impact didn''t. That stronger, more violent power had no owner, but Khan needed to control it anyway.


    ''If Ipare it to my spears,'' Khan thought, ''It''s like trying to control the energy released after their detonation.''


    The quantity and violence were greatly different, but theparison sounded reasonable. Theoretically, Khan would have an easier time dealing with the lower surge of energy, especially since it happened inside his body. Yet, that only was the first step.


    Performing the Transcendent Step style''s foundation form required more than a single impact. Even the most basic move wanted at least five, sending power to different parts of the limb. Khan also had to do it for both legs, ideally simultaneously, to achieve a perfect execution.


    Khan had the initial part secured, but controlling the generated energy was turning out to be troublesome. Moreover, even his superior legs would start to struggle once he began experimenting with multiple impacts. Things were bound to get worse, and that was just the foundation form.


    ''How did humans even approach the training sessions?'' Khan wondered.


    Khan knew he was an exception, but the martial art''s many difficulties made him curious. Even after dealing with the control issue, the possibility of crippling wounds still existed. Khan began to believe only fifth-level warriors had the physical resilience to face the training process without sufferingsting injuries.


    The answer to Khan''s doubts was obvious. Martial arts with such high scores were limited to nobles or extremely wealthy families. Those organizations had plenty of resources, and the training sessions probably involved many drugs and simr items.


    Khan''s status gave him the chance to request a simr treatment, but his mind kept rejecting the idea. His body would refuse most drugs, and finding those that would work on him could expose eventual weaknesses. The betrayal had taught Khan never to share that information again.


    That didn''t mean Khan was powerless to improve his situation. Baoway didn''t have training halls yet, but Khan had found something far better. Four blue nts stood around his throne, and their influence would eventually affect Khan.


    The blue nts'' influence facilitated change and transformation. Their green liquid had even stronger effects, even if more focused.


    While stranded, Khan had tested the nts'' effects and limits on himself, developing a training regimen his body could withstand. Hisplete mastery over the Lightning-Demon style wasn''t random, but his situation was slightly different now.


    Khan had relied on the Lightning-Demon style for years. He didn''t only know its techniques back and forth. Using them had also be as natural as breathing for him.


    That allowed the blue nts to facilitate the arrival to the next mastery level. The martial art was already ingrained in Khan''s body, so the transforming influence filled thest gaps, lowering the few barriers that stood before that goal.


    Instead, the Transcendent Step style was something new. Simrities aside, Khan''s body had never performed those moves. The blue nts gave his flesh the ability to grow, but he had yet to establish a clear direction.


    Training inside the blue nts'' influence could facilitate Khan''s improvements, but the same went for the opposite result. Khan''s body would grow distant from the required shape if he gave it the wrong instructions. His attempted executions had to be precise to avoid the issue.


    ''I''ll drink some once I seed a few times,'' Khan nned. ''That should solidify the changes and facilitate the next steps.''


    A few calctions happened inside Khan''s mind before every thought disappeared. He focused solely on the Transcendent Step style''s requirements, attempting another execution of its most basic theory.


    The two strands of mana collided, releasing violent energy Khan pushed toward his ankle. His foot bent again, dispersing the power umted inside the joint. Soreness invaded it, but Khan felt slightly satisfied. The adverse reaction had been lighter, hinting at improvements.


    ''Should I go at it again?'' Khan wondered. ''Should I alternate with the Lightning-Demon style?''


    Another danger of forced transformation was the potential loss of previous achievements. Khan didn''t want to make himself weaker before getting stronger again. He couldn''t afford it, so reminding his body of its initial shape was necessary.


    ''Maybe a few more tries,'' Khan considered before something else attracted his attention.


    Khan''s eyes went to the sky past the crowns, which showed a few vehicles descending and departing. That became amon sight after the sea station hade fully online, but one of the ships looked too close to belong to that category.


    Khan had delegated many matters to hispanions, but everything always ran through him, so he knew shipments weren''t in order. Besides, the ship looked too small to carry resources for the quadrant. It seemed a leisure vehicle, hinting at an informal visit.


    Khan''s figure immediately disappeared from the bone chair. He wanted to use the Lightning-Demon style anyway, so he saw flying to the canyon as killing two birds with one stone. Soon, the Thilku encampment expanded in his vision, as did the human ship that hadnded nearby.


    The ship didn''t carry any g or clear mark of ownership, but Khan''s brain lit up as soon as its doors opened. Familiar auras fused with the symphony, almost bringing a smile to his face.


    Luke, Bruce, and Martha descended from the metal ramp, followed by a few soldiers. Thetter carried metal boxes, probably delivering gifts, but Khan only had eyes for his oldest friends.


    "Would you look at this," Martha announced. "I almost thought you''d build your first home out of food cans."


    "I have a secret stash buried somewhere," Khan responded.


    "That I''m sure of," Martha giggled before jumping forward, trapping Khan''s torso in a hug he didn''t hesitate to ept.

 Chapter 794 Changes

    Chapter 794 Changes


    Hugging didn''t match Khan''s behavior anymore. His cold face had be unbreakable, and the same went for his generally heavy vibe, so no one expected affectionate gestures from him.


    Monica was the only exception, but those gestures had be rare with her, too. She sat on Khan when he was on his throne, and the two always exchanged a kiss to greet each other, but they limited themselves in public. That wasn''t on purpose, either. Their status had changed, demanding a different behavior.


    Of course, the settlement could still hear the couple at night, but the Scalqa didn''t engage in gossip. Also, Khan often flew Monica around, but that did little to change the perception about him. No one would describe Khan as affectionate or warm anymore, so many Thilku felt surprised witnessing that gesture.


    Khan was aware of the strange attention that had fallen on him but didn''t care. That was Martha, his oldest friend. He wouldn''t refuse her affection, and the gesture also worked as a message for the quadrant''s citizens. Besides, Khan''s authority wouldn''t be worth much if a mere hug could affect it.


    The event even had a secondyer. Luke and Bruce smiled at the scene, but their faces went serious as soon as Khan lifted his eyes. Even while immersed in the hug, Khan didn''t refrain from radiating warning signals through his piercing, cold gaze.


    "You never call," Marthained, pushing herself away to deliver a light jab at Khan''s chest. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"


    "Things have been messy," Khan admitted, running his gaze over Martha. "Though I find you well."


    Faint confidence filled Martha''s aura. The hesitation and emotional confusion from Milia 222 had disappeared. She looked clear-headed and firm, and her attunement with mana also put her close to the third level.


    Khan wasn''t alone in the inspection. Some sadness invaded Martha when she looked at his face. That sharp, emotionless coldness felt unnaturalpared to her memories, and the knowledge of the past chaos only worsened that impression.


    Martha had matured in those years. The line between right and wrong had blurred, making her ept things that would have disgusted her in the past. Martha still loathed them, but part of her understood and acknowledged them.


    Nevertheless, Martha couldn''t help but feel sad. That childish, idiot kid had turned into a cold-faced mass murderer. She understood Khan''s response had been somewhat justified and knew him deeply enough to ept that his actions weren''t only for himself. Yet, that emotion didn''te from her rational side.


    Khan could read Martha like an open book, but that wasn''t the ce for deep, reminiscing conversations. Curious about one detail, he looked at Luke and Bruce to understand who to me.


    "How was I not warned about your arrival?" Khan asked.


    Martha was one thing, but Khan couldn''t treat Luke and Bruce like old friends. They had known each other for years, but they were no George. Deep down, Luke and Bruce would always be descendants, and Khan couldn''t let them ignore his authority.


    "I''m afraid we aren''t to me, Prince Khan," Bruce calmly said, bowing his head in respect.


    "It''s true, Prince Khan," Luke confirmed, nodding at Martha.


    "Monica and I wanted to surprise you," Martha smiled, "And get back at you for being such a poor friend."


    "When did you girls start plotting behind my back?" Khan wondered.


    "Oh, we never stopped," Martha proudly imed, "And never will."


    The urge to smile invaded Khan, but nothing appeared on his cold face. Still, the greetings had ended, and he couldn''t leave his guests in the canyon area.


    "Follow me," Khan ordered, turning and ncing at the staring Thilku in the distance. "[Amox, the ship]."


    Amox nodded and brought a few soldiers to help unload the ship. Meanwhile, Khan led Luke, Bruce, and Martha into the forest to reach the settlement. He expected an escort to follow him, but Luke had immediately dismissed it.


    "I''m surprised you kept it like this," Brucemented while the group navigated the uneven terrain. "I thought you would have built roads by now."


    "I have my reasons to preserve the forest," Khan vaguely exined.


    "Bruce, this is Prince Khan''s domain now," Luke jokingly scolded. "We must let him have his secrets."


    "I heard you hired Lieutenant Dyester," Marthamented. "What is he up to?"


    "Mostly drinking and killing time," Khan revealed, "But I saw him meditating a few times."


    "Don''t tell me you rekindled his battle spirit," Martha gasped.


    "He is probably doing this for me," Khan considered. "It''s hard to keep me in check at his level."


    "I see you took precautions," Martha said, wrapping her arms behind her back as she walked by Khan''s side.


    "Things will get worse," Khan stated. "I''d rather have some perspective before going loose."


    Martha lowered her head and lost herself in deep thought. She didn''t like what Khan had done, but the same feeling was far stronger toward what he had been forced to face. Martha didn''t understand it on Milia 222, but things had escted too much for her to ignore it now.


    "Is that why you didn''t contact us?" Luke wondered. "Were you waiting for perspective?"


    "You know why," Khan said. "Besides, I''ve almost run out of space and things to offer."


    "Prince Khan, allow me," Bruce called. "We had our differences but are still old friends. Let us nt a few factories as a sign of goodwill."


    "Factories of what?" Khan asked.


    "Refineries to improve your trade situation," Luke exined. "The Empire buys many things from the Global Army. We''ll purchase and process the raw materials, and you''ll deliver them to the Empire."


    The idea was sound, and Khan wasn''t even clueless about the topic. He had already dealt with factories involved in trades with the Empire. nting them on Baoway would further improve the quadrant''s value, elevating it from a simple dock to a production nt.


    The matter was also in line with Khan''s initial n. The more the Empire relied on the quadrant, the harder it would be for Khan''s enemy to destroy or destabilize it. The Global Army would even be forced to protect it to a certain extent, so Khan didn''t think he could achieve simr agreements now.


    Most of those refineries were under the Global Army, which Khan wasn''t exactly on good terms with. It probably would avoid giving his quadrant too much power until he regained its trust, but Luke and Bruce could speed up the process.


    Yet, Luke''s family was problematic. Khan rtively trusted him, but Raymond was an issue that had remained silent for too long, and epting factories was akin to nting spies in his home.


    ''How is it different from what I''m doing with the others?'' Khan wondered. ''Well, Raymond makes it different.''


    "Let''s postpone this conversation forter," Khan eventually decided. "Monica has to be with me when we talk specifics."


    "Of course, Prince Khan," Luke nodded.


    "Where is Monica, by the way?" Martha asked.


    "She was at the sea station this morning," Khan revealed.


    "Are you sure you aren''t overworking her?" Martha questioned, a scolding tone invading her voice.


    "The station is Solodrey," Khan exined. "It''s in her interest to manage it."


    "I heard things are going well between you two," Bruce eximed. "Will you announce a date for the marriage soon?"


    "Things are too messy right now," Khanmented, "But the moment is getting closer."


    Martha, Bruce, and Luke couldn''t help but feel surprised at Khan''s simple and confident answer. They had seen the beginning of that rtionship, but everything else had been gossip and news on thework. However, it seemed a few years had been enough to evolve it to that level.


    The surprise only intensified when Monica joined the group in Khan''s tent. By then, Martha, Bruce, Luke, and Khan had almost run out of superficial topics, but Monica''s arrival rekindled them.


    Luke and Bruce had known Monica for a long time, and Martha had gotten close to her on Milia 222, so they inevitably noticed many differences in mere minutes.


    Monica still had her elegant vibe, but traces of maturity and confidence had fused with it. Moreover, her appearance didn''t have anything to do with it anymore. Her military uniform was slightly untidy, her hair had gotten wilder, and she didn''t bother wearing make-up, but her charm had only increased.


    Monica''s behavior also conveyed a certain freedom. When she entered the tent, she greeted the guests, but her feet promptly brought her toward Khan. The audience could only watch as the couple exchanged a quick kiss and settledfortably on the ground.


    The sole idea that Monica Solodrey would have been fine with sitting on the ground shocked Luke and Bruce, but there she was. She had also been shy about her rtionship in the past but nowfortably leaned on Khan''s arm, calmly showing him her phone to update him.


    "Natural" was the only word the audience could think of to describe the scene. Khan and Monica looked like a married couple with years behind their back. In a way, Martha, Luke, and Bruce felt like young kids before them.


    "Martha tells me you plot behind my back," Khan teased after Monica updated him on the morning businesses.


    "Obviously," Monica confirmed. "I need all the help I can get against you."


    "I should call George and even the ying field," Khan suggested.


    "He woulde with Anita," Monica reminded. "Don''t be too sure he''d be on your side."


    "Are you trying to corner me?" Khan wondered.


    "Oh, dear," Monica giggled. "That''s all I''ve tried to do since we first met."


    Khan didn''tugh, but his hand went on Monica''s back, rubbing it while she made herself morefortable. She finished some business on her phone before finally looking at the guests. She would typically be more apologetic about the dy, especially since Luke and Bruce were important figures, but the issue never crossed her mind.


    "Sorry, there''s just much to handle," Monica eximed. "It has been a while. I hope everything is well."


    "Usual business," Luke confirmed. "We handled a few problems and created new ones, but nothing serious."


    "Our lives definitely aren''t as lively as yours," Bruce added.


    "It can''t be avoided," Monica uttered, cing a hand on Khan''s thigh. "When your man is the most sought-after figure in the Global Army, everyone thinks they can get a piece."


    "They definitely tried," Luke nodded.


    "They still are," Monica stated. "I''m sure you are aware our situation is far from secure."


    "We are aware," Bruce confirmed. "That''s the situation where you need friends the most."


    "Are you?" Khan asked. "Are you friends?"


    Luke, Bruce, and Martha became more aware of Khan''s natural pressure. He obviously didn''t target Martha, but his presence was everywhere.


    Nevertheless, the audience found something far more surprising. Everyone knew Khan was a monster, but seeing Monica calmly sitting at his side acted as a statement. Old friends and rtionships had no value for her anymore. Only Khan''s faction existed in Monica''s mind.


    "Of course," Luke dered. "Even more now that your status surpassed mine."


    It would be a lie to pretend Khan''s status didn''t matter, and Luke knew it. Yet, his allegiances were clear. He had invested in Khan early on, and things were finally showing results. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    A heavy political atmosphere fell into the tent, but one exception existed. Khan and Monica calmly faced Bruce and Luke, but Martha had no horse in that fight. She was a simple hired soldier, so her thoughts focused on the couple, leading to revtions.


    Martha would be lying if she said she didn''t still think about Khan as more than a friend. She wasn''t delusional and had made peace with her feelings long ago, but a tinge of hope had survived. Yet, the scene killed it.


    Khan had gotten too far, tainting himself with multiple crimes, crimes that would make Martha hesitate to stay at his side. However, Martha couldn''t see that feeling in Monica. Thetter almost seemed proud to be where she was.


    The realization created a temporary bitterness, but Martha quickly got over it and managed to smile. The kid she had fallen for was no more. Martha could finally move on and be happy her oldest friend had found his path.

 Chapter 795 Faith

    Chapter 795 Faith


    The political conversations were rarely short, especially when numbers were involved, so Khan, Monica, Luke, and Bruce ended up talking for quite a while. The discussion went on for so long Martha left the tent mid-way to take a break.


    Baoway''s star was still up, bathing the settlement in a cozy light. The clean air and rtive peace slowly healed the headache the discussion had created, but Martha failed to rxpletely.


    Martha was no stranger to aliens, but being surrounded by Scalqa made her feel like an outsider. That was no human world, but Khan somehow became its leader. The realization confirmed once again how far he had gotten, putting Martha in a pensive mood.


    That mood didn''tst long since the sound of steps reached Martha''s ears, warning her about someone''s arrival. She initially tensed up, but spotting the familiar face made her wear a cheerful military salute.


    "Lieutenant Dyester," Martha announced. "I heard you were here."


    "The brat changed my title," Lieutenant Dyester scoffed, taking a sip from the bone cup in his hand. "I go by Master Carl now."


    "I heard that, too," Martha revealed. She was still smiling, and Lieutenant Dyester failed to retain his grumpy attitude before that.


    "Weesso kid," Lieutenant Dyester called. "You have grown."


    "Have I?" Martha wondered, helplessness tainting her smile as she nced at the central tent. "I still feel like a kid."


    Lieutenant Dyester followed Martha''s gaze and immediately understood her concerns. They weren''t hard to figure out, but the matter still made him shake his head.


    "You lost time," Lieutenant Dyester reminded, "And you shouldn''t be in a hurry to grow up."


    "I guess I feel left behind," Martha sighed, diverting her eyes from the tent and turning. She nced at the sky as her feet moved, making her wander through the settlement.


    Lieutenant Dyester followed Martha, thinking about the right words for her. He couldfort her, but warnings ended up escaping his mouth.


    "Maybe it''s for the best," Lieutenant Dyester stated. "You know what''s on the other side. Being left behind isn''t the worst oue."


    "What''s the worst oue?" Martha asked.


    "Being on the other side," Lieutenant Dyester said. "Being stuck there."


    Martha and Lieutenant Dyester weren''t speaking openly but didn''t need to. They understood each other without specifying topics or people.


    "He didn''t have much of a choice," Martha admitted.


    "There''s always a choice," Lieutenant Dyester dered. "But, yeah, his options sucked."


    Martha nodded. It wasn''t only a matter of background. Khan faced hindrances and deadly ploys whenever his situation improved. It almost seemed the universe wanted him to take extreme measures.


    "Does he-" Martha said before changing her wording. "Can he even smile anymore? I mean, after all of that."


    "I''m not sure," Lieutenant Dyester admitted. "I think he does with his girl, but outside ¡­"


    "I see," Martha heaved a satisfied sigh. "At least he still can. Do you remember? He used to joke all the time."


    "I remember," Lieutenant Dyester confirmed. "It was annoying."


    "So annoying," Martha giggled. "Things were so simple back then, even if they only appeared to be that way."


    "I''m sorry those days were stolen from you, kid," Lieutenant Dyester eximed.


    "No," Martha shook her head. "I was spared. I know that now."


    "You know," Lieutenant Dyester tried to reassure Martha. "It''s not toote. Mana makes our lives long. You never know what the future has in store."


    "It''s fine, Lieutenant," Martha uttered, showing a smile. "I''m fine. I can''t walk that path."


    Lieutenant Dyester stared at Martha. Her words were partially lies but also half true. She believed them but needed some time to ept them.


    "I envy you," Lieutenant Dyester announced. "I bet he does, too. Part of him, at least."


    "He''s an idiot," Martha scoffed. "Always has been. That''s why he has us."


    Lieutenant Dyester chuckled, bringing his drink to his mouth. Still, both he and Martha suddenly felt something, and their heads turned to inspect the approaching figure.


    "Can we talk?" Khan asked. The tent didn''t need him anymore, and he had noticed Martha''s emotional state during the discussion. Needless to say, he seized the first chance he found to leave and seek her out.


    "I''ll leave you two be," Lieutenant Dyester said before Martha could reply. The man departed as Khan reached Martha, and she instinctively followed him toward a more private spot near the rocky barrier.


    "What is it?" Khan asked once the two were rtively alone.


    "You still see so much, don''t you?" Martha wondered, avoiding eye contact. "I must be an open book to you."


    "I don''t do it on purpose," Khan revealed. "That''s just how my eyes work now."


    Martha lifted her gaze to inspect Khan. Unlike most people, she understood what that meant for Khan. Many would praise his innate advantage, but Martha saw the burden it carried. Khan was cursed to watch a different world.


    "Don''t worry about it," Martha reassured. "I just epted something. I know I couldn''t have been there like Monica is."


    Khan remained silent. He would have usually praised Monica, but Martha deserved a different treatment. Besides, he knew what she truly meant with her words.


    "Are we still friends?" Khan went straight to the point. He saw Martha''s hesitation toward him. What he had done inside the Global Army''s domain was by no means easy to ept, so he would understand Martha''s eventual disgust.


    "Of course, idiot," Martha snorted. "Don''t even say that."


    Martha''s straightforwardness reassured Khan, but he didn''t speak again. He looked past the rocky barrier, inspecting details only his eyes could see while waiting for Martha to say something.


    "You had it hard, didn''t you?" Martha eventually asked.


    "It''s better now," Khan said. "Everything is clearer."


    "Does Monica help?" Martha questioned.


    "I don''t know what I''d do without her," Khan admitted. "Are you jealous?"


    "No," Martha promptly responded. "I''m over you, you know?"


    "I know," Khan uttered.


    "You aren''t fooling anyone with that serious face," Martha cursed, getting slightly angry. "Stop worrying about me."


    "I''ll always worry," Khan reminded Martha, bringing his gaze back to her. "I''m happy you are doing fine."


    Martha remained stunned for a few seconds. That earnest and straightforward side had always been Khan''s strongest point for her. Her brain froze but quickly reawakened.


    "You are always so unfair," Martha sighed. "Don''t tell me you are still ying around?"


    "What ying around?" Khan said, almost showing traces of emotion. "I can''t even look at the others. Besides, Monica would have their heads at the first odd nce."


    "She did getfortable in the part," Marthamented. "That''s not the same person I met on Milia 222."


    "Neither am I," Khan pointed out. "Still, yes. She probably matured faster than me. It must be due to everything I put her through."


    "Don''t me yourself," Martha scolded. "You have always been too hard on yourself." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Monica handles that part nowadays," Khan exined. "I see so much, but she always makes me feel blind."


    Martha could see something behind Khan''s cold face, and noticing it made her smile. Monica was truly there for him, but the topic gave her a chance for a tease.


    "Monica this, Monica that," Martha eximed. "Don''t you think mentioning her so much with me is unfair?"


    Martha was obviously joking, but her smile brightened when she saw a short smirk. Khan had broken his cold face for less than a second, but that was enough for her.


    "What will you do now?" Khan asked.


    "I''m still repaying my debt to Luke," Martha exined. "Don''t worry. I won''t ask to be stationed here. I know it''s dangerous, and you wouldn''t let me."


    "I had a whole speech ready," Khan revealed.


    "Keep it to yourself," Martha scoffed. "I''ll keep working under Luke, maybe involving my family once I reach the third level."


    "Do you need help with that?" Khan asked.


    "I''m fine on my own," Martha reassured. "I''m still practicing what you taught me, but everything else has toe from me."


    "Always so stubborn," Khanmented.


    "Look who''s talking," Martha said. "What about you?"


    "Solidify this quadrant," Khan summarized. "Deal with my family, marry that awesome, crazy girl."


    "You keep mentioning her," Martha joked.


    "Hey, I love her," Khan stated. "And I recall you approving all of this."


    "As if you weren''t saying this because she ising," Martha snickered.


    "Of course he is," Monica announced, approaching Khan and Martha. Needless to say, Khan had sensed her long ago. Martha simply was in the right position to spot her.


    "I finished dealing with those two," Monica muttered, making her way toward Khan''s side. He instinctively weed her under his arm, and she nestled on his chest while a hand ran through her hair.


    "Have a few drinks with them," Monica continued, her tone growing slightly drowsy. "I''ll gossip around with Martha."


    "Are you sure?" Khan whispered. "You need to rest, too."


    "Yes," Monica confirmed. "I need some girls'' time, and we are going to the river anyway tonight."


    "It''s a date," Khan eximed, kissing Monica''s head before looking at Martha. "Have fun."


    Khan pretended to let Monica go, but she promptly grabbed his uniform to pull him onto her lips. The two exchanged a quick kiss before following with a meaningful nce. Looks spoke louder than words for the couple, and Martha feigned ignorance during the scene.


    "I''m sorry," Monica announced once Khan got farther away. "You''d think living together and being surrounded by aliens would give us more time alone, but well."


    "You sure have changed," Martha snickered. "I still remember you getting all flustered whenever you nned to bring Khan into your room."


    "And I remember you helping me out every time," Monica jabbed back. "You''ve been a good friend. I hope we won''t lose that."


    Martha initially expected Monica to get embarrassed, but that emotion never appeared. Her confidence almost resembled shamelessness.


    "Don''t look at me like that," Monica giggled. "It''s been over three years, and I basically outed myself to the entirework. Let them be envious for all I care."


    "You sure were bold for doing that," Martha responded. "I wouldn''t be able to show my face for a decade."


    "The scoundrel needed a hand," Monica scoffed, reaching for Martha to steal her elbow. "Shaming myself to save his head was the least I could do."


    "Look at you," Martha teased. "So bold and confident. Khan really rubbed himself on you."


    "That stopped being forey for us years ago," Monica muttered, dragging Martha toward the settlement''s exit. "I swear. I''m surprised my birth control can keep up with us."


    "Monica!" Martha cried.


    "What?" Monica scoffed. "I''ve been surrounded by sweaty aliens and math for weeks. I need to vent with my girlfriends."


    "You''ve gotten so shameless," Martha joked.


    "That''s on him," Monica replied. "Not that Iin."


    "Monica!" Martha scolded.


    "You are so cute," Monica giggled. "Still, yes, I finally feel free. Who would have thought flirting with a cute soldier would have led me here."


    "Now you are the shameless fianc¨¦e of a Prince," Martha pointed out.


    "Prince is nothing," Monica dered. "Khan will rule humankind one day. I''m not the only one who sees that anymore."


    Martha could ept Monica had be a tease after growingfortable with her rtionship, but that statement went beyond jokes. Monica''s words carried no doubts or hesitation. There actually seemed to be something akin to faith behind them.


    "Enough about Khan," Monica eventually continued. "Tell me about you. Do you have some hottie chasing you around?"


    "I''m a soldier," Martha snorted. "I don''t have time for that."


    "You are so cute," Monica giggled. "I must get you drunk today."


    "I''m on an official mission," Marthained. "Besides, where would we even drink here?"


    Martha''s doubts were reasonable. The quadrant didn''tck booze but didn''t have proper ces where ordinary people could have fun, either. Everyone was on duty, and she was no exception.


    "Where do you think we are going?" Monica asked, a teasing tone invading her voice.


    "I''m afraid to ask now," Martha admitted.


    "We have VIP areas in both brothels," Monicaughed. "We aren''t leaving until you tell me all your secrets."


    "Can I go back to the settlement?" Martha asked.


    "Denied," Monica said. "Consider yourself officially kidnapped."

 Chapter 796 Message

    Chapter 796 Message


    "I thought the Ildoo descendant visited already," Brucemented, puffing from his cigarette.


    "I''ve been busy," Khan responded, half-lying on the ground while holding a drink. "I had no time for pleasure."


    "I bet you wouldn''t have invited us, either," Luke eximed.


    "Not so soon," Khan revealed. "Not for pleasure."


    Luke didn''t argue with Khan. He also understood where he came from. The quadrant was still unstable, and Khan couldn''t afford significant variables. Raymond was one of them, and inviting the Cobsend family would only grant him a direct line to the.


    Of course, the other families were probably engaging in simr spying activities, but Raymond was too dangerous. He was resourceful enough to nt assets in the quadrant without his family''s support, but Khan limited his options, at least.


    "Though," Bruce said. "It does seem you are taking your breaks. It is a pleasant sight after everything you have been through."


    Bruce was talking about Monica. Like Martha, Monica''s new behavior had surprised the two men. They had heard rumors and kept up with thework''s news, but seeing it with their own eyes had a different effect.


    "And to think we tried to dissuade you from chasing after her," Luke added.


    "You had your reasons," Khan acknowledged, "But she doesn''t work on reason."


    "Still," Luke eximed. "Her role suits her, and she is doing a great job as far as I can see."


    "Her family trained all her life to assume a simr position," Khan uttered. "Of course, she''d be great at it."


    "I bet she didn''t expect to be happy in it," Bruce pointed out. "Man, Monica Solodrey. Do you have any idea how many descendants had ns for her hand?"


    "I did get an idea in the Harbor," Khan confirmed. "I''m surprised we survived that period."


    "You both have cunning and knowledgeable minds," Luke praised. "Many would have had a hard time seeing through you."


    "It wasn''t that," Khan exined. "No one even dared to think she''d date me for real. My status was so low everyone always thought she was only joking around."


    Luke and Bruce wanted to refute the statement, but lying to Khan simply wouldn''t work. Besides, he had spoken the truth. During the initial days in the Harbor, the difference in status between Monica and Khan was so vast that even considering they could be dating was absurd. The Solodrey family could have also taken offense hearing it.


    "Well," Bruce announced. "Everything ended well in the end."


    "It didn''t end yet," Khan pointed out. "We may y the married couple, but we aren''t family yet, and much can happen until then."


    Khan wasn''t talking about his resolve. The matter was set in stone in his heart, and the same went for Monica. However, people with lofty statuses had much to consider before marrying. The event was hardly about feelings for the wealthy descendants, and Khan had recently joined that world.


    Truth be told, Khan would have already married Monica if it weren''t for his faction''s instability. His uncle might use his union with a lower family against him, especially since he wouldn''t ask for money or other benefits.


    The issue was annoying but also helpless. Khan was breaking many rules, and his addition to the Nognes family had only increased his faction''s expenses. Usually, he wouldn''t care about that, but the matter involved Monica''s future, and he demanded nothing but perfection.


    "Can we help?" Luke asked. He had guessed many of Khan''s issues involved the Nognes family but didn''t dare to probe. His family had connections with the nobles, but Khan was a special case that needed a careful approach.


    "The refineries will be enough for now," Khan refused. "More businesses will converge here as the quadrant''s reliability increases. The Empire is also massive, so I won''t run out of things to sell."


    "Do you n on monopolizing all the trade routes with the Thilku Empire?" Luke questioned.


    "If that''s what it takes," Khan calmly said.


    Khan wasn''t joking or exaggerating. Lord Exr''s domain was small but could open countless trades. Khan also expected to have another meeting with Lord Rsi soon, which would expand Baoway''s opportunities. Theoretically, there coulde a time when a single wouldn''t be enough to keep up with the Empire''s market demand.


    Of course, that would require expansions, additional deals, and far more manpower. Yet, that wasn''t Khan''s only idea. The most recent news had halted certain rumors, but thework didn''t forget about Khan''s innovative scientific path. He could make a fortune through that, but his skill had to improve first.


    "It seems you have everything figured out," Lukemented.


    Khan ignored thement and focused on his drink. He didn''t mind that peaceful conversation but couldn''t enjoy himself either, not to his fullest, at least. Luke and Bruce were no George. Talking with them would always involve a politicalyer.


    ''I should invite him here,'' Khan thought. ''Maybe calling first is better.''


    Khan''s status would make an official invitation impossible to refuse, and he didn''t want to put the Ildoo family on the spot. His currently awful reputation could create problems for George''s faction, so he needed to check everything was okay first. Khan also had to add Anita''s family to the equation, whichplicated things.


    "What did you deliver?" Khan asked, changing topics since he recalled the boxes unloaded by Luke''s escort.


    "Gifts," Luke eximed. "Random items, really."


    "Political stuff?" Khan wondered.


    "No," Luke shook his head. "Only basic presents."


    The wealthy families probably had regtions for that event when dealing with nobles, so Khan didn''t think much of it. Drinks went by, but it soon became clear Khan wasn''t the chit-chatting type anymore. He would go along with a few jokes, but the others often ended on deaf ears.


    Luke and Bruce eventually took their leave since they understood the trend. The time for a friendlier meeting woulde, but Khan couldn''t bother now, especially with people who weren''t friends. He would give them a real chance in the future, but too much weighed on his mind now.


    Khan lingered inside the tent until he ran out of booze, but spotting Baoway''s surviving afternoon made him drop any idea of wasting time. He had better use for those hours, so he set off, heading toward the canyon area.


    The Thilku had helped Luke''s crew unload the ship, amassing the various metal boxes before the soldiers'' station. The aliens had even gone through them for security reasons as demanded by their duties. It was easy to send bombs or dangerous substances to a quadrant with so few regtions, so Khan used the Empire as a shield. Any threat would meet its wrath.


    Amox met Khan and summarized the boxes'' contents. They truly were random gifts, even if quite targeted toward the quadrant. Luke delivered special seeds that could enhance the greenhouses'' crops, various pills for medical purposes, and other simr, expensive items that could improve life in Baoway.


    Of course, Luke had also delivered items tailored for Khan and Monica. The quadrant wasn''t the ce for fancy clothing, but thework had enough rumors, so multiple dresses came out of the boxes. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    As for Khan, Luke had gifted a few bottles of luxurious booze and an ornamental knife. The item wasced in a golden alloy and probably had something to do with the wealthy families'' traditions, but Khan had no interest in a dull de.


    Nevertheless, a tingling sensation spread from Khan''s fingers when he put down the ornamental knife. The event had been barely noticeable and short. Many would even question whether it had really happened, but Khan was an exception.


    Khan''s senses continued to give the all-clear even when he checked his hand, but focusing on the spots attacked by the tingling revealed the truth. His skin didn''t do anything. His mana had caused that reaction.


    The event inevitably alerted Khan, and the nearby Thilku sensed the different mood. The air seemed on the verge of freezing, and Amox couldn''t help but step forward to check the situation.


    "[I''ll take this with me]," Khan announced before Amox could ask any question, and his figure disappeared right afterward. The box also suffered from the same fate, leaving the alien soldier confused.


    Khan had been on full alert ever since returning to the quadrant. Even when he was with Monica, nothing escaped his attention. He didn''t know whether someone would make a move but spent his days as if that possibility were a certainty.


    The fact that the item came from Luke intensified that feeling. Khan was almost sure Luke had nothing strange in mind, but his brain screamed another name. It would also make sense since the Thilku''s security measures didn''t pick up anything odd.


    Khan flew at full speed past the settlement andnded in a far-away, isted part of the forest. He immediately threw the box to the ground and opened it with a kick before crouching and giving it his full attention.


    No matter how Khan looked, his eyes and senses revealed nothing. The item appeared utterly ordinary, but stretching his hand toward it rekindled that faint tingling sensation.


    ''Is it because of my element?'' Khan wondered. He didn''t forget what had happened on Milia 222, but his strength had soared to new heights, so he didn''t hesitate in sending a tinge of mana toward the ornamental knife.


    Something happened when the mana touched the knife. A ck pattern appeared on its handle, quickly spreading throughout the item. A long line eventually formed alongside it, which widened as the ornamental weapon opened.


    Khan was ready to blow everything up, but no foreign mana or threat touched his senses. The knife''s insides didn''t even have pieces of tech. The item only contained a piece of folded paper, which Khan opened to read its contents.


    ''We must talk,'' Khan read on the paper before the item crumbled into dust. The item couldn''t survive the sudden increase in pressure caused by Khan''s mood.

 Chapter 797 Drug

    Chapter 797 Drug


    "Are you sure?" Khan asked.


    "I only heard about it," Monica replied, "But it should be it. I can''t exin it otherwise."


    The grass around Khan had turned brown, and the ground underneath threatened to shatter as he crouched toward the open box. He had barely moved from his position since reading the message, and the environment had suffered from his intense mood.


    Usually, no one would dare venture so deep into the forest, but Monica was an exception. She knew Baoway enough to find Khan as long as he wasn''t too far away. Moreover, he had contacted her since she was the only trusted figure who could provide answers.


    "A smuggling mineral," Khanmented. That was the conclusion Monica had reached after hearing Khan''s story. She had never seen it, but her family had educated her about it.


    "From what I understand," Monica continued, crouching beside Khan. "It''s not as simple as it sounds. The size can''t be big. Mana items would also g it. It''s mostly used to deliver messages, although this went one step further."


    The item had reacted to Khan''s mana. He didn''t think the sender tuned it to his specific energy signature, but turning the chaos element into a key was no small feat. Obviously, the event made one name pop up in his mind.


    "Do you think it''s him?" Monica asked.


    "It must be him," Khan stated. "It even came with Luke''s shipment."


    Monica felt one of her mood swings rising into her brain. She couldn''t put into words how much she hated the situation. Things were finally stabilizing for Khan, but one of his greatest troublemakers had to knock on his door.


    Nevertheless, Monica held back. The ground around Khan spoke more than enough for his mental state, and she didn''t want to add problems to his already worried mind. She waited for her man to talk, and the silence eventually ended.


    "I''ll kill him if he shows his face," Khan dered.


    "He must die," Monica uttered. "I don''t care what deal he tries to offer."


    "As if he''d ever risk showing up," Khan said. "He knows I wouldn''t even hear him out."


    "Fucking Raymond Cobsend," Monica cursed. "What does he even want now?"


    "Go figure," Khan sighed.


    Raymond had always had the strange ability to be one step ahead of Khan. He seemed to know everything, especially what Khan would be willing to ept. However, Khan couldn''t think of a deal that would spare Raymond right now.


    ''He is too careful,'' Khan thought. ''I can''t draw him out.''


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t care about any potential deal. Curiosity couldn''t appear among the intense emotions he experienced. His only goal was getting rid of that threat, and his thoughts revolved around it.


    Yet, no matter how many simtions Khan ran inside his mind, he couldn''t see an instance where Raymond would meet him face-to-face. Unlike many of Khan''s enemies, Raymond didn''t underestimate him.


    "Should we involve Luke?" Monica wondered. "We could rip him off."


    Monica didn''t expect Luke to be able to offer solutions, but the threat came from his family. Khan could ask much in return to confirm their friendship.


    "No," Khan responded. "I don''t want to involve his family more than necessary. It''s clear it''s too easy for Raymond to tamper with it."


    "Wait," Monica eximed. "Don''t tell me you are considering hearing him out?"


    "I won''t do anything," Khan reassured, "But I''m sure he''ll find a way to be heard."


    "Then," Monica said, iming Khan''s attention by grabbing his forearm. "Bury it."


    "I can''t avoid him forever," Khan pointed out. "It''s not a solution anyway."


    "Ignore him until he shows his face," Monica suggested, pulling Khan''s arm to make him look at her. "And when he does, make him pay."


    Khan didn''t need to look at Monica to know she was livid but inspected her anyway. She shared his feelings. Actually, her anger appeared more intense.


    "He tricked you on Milia 222," Monica reminded. "He sent you looking for a Thilku bomb and then turned you into a guinea pig. He is nothing but a blight in your life."


    "You were in danger, too," Khan pointed out.


    "Fuck me!" Monica snorted. "Raymon-."


    Monica didn''t get the chance to finish her line since Khan retracted his arm. She was still holding it, and the gesture made her lose her bnce and fall to the ground.


    "Okay," Khan uttered, leaning on Monica and sealing her lips with a kiss.


    Monica tried to oppose Khan, turning her head to free her mouth. "I didn''t mean that!"


    "How was your time with Martha?" Khan asked, kissing Monica''s neck and descending toward her corbone.


    "Don''t change the topic," Monica cursed, digging a hand into Khan''s hair to pull him away from her. The attempt failed miserably since his head kept descending. She didn''t even realize that Khan had already unbuttoned her uniform.


    "Did you get her wasted?" Khan wondered, his mouth reaching spots he knew would affect Monica. "I can smell how many drinks you had."


    "My breath doesn''t-," Monicained, but feeling a soft bite triggered a gasp, interrupting her line. "Stink."


    Monica''s opposition lost strength as Khan yed with her switches. She even arched her back to let him remove her bra. He could do without help, but she had developed that habit to avoid losing more underwear to their passion.


    "Did you two enjoy yourselves at the brothel?" Khan teased, reaching Monica''s t abdomen. "Did you find nice strippers?"


    "We did," Monica whispered, closing her eyes. "I left her in one of the brothel''s rooms when she couldn''t walk straight anymore."


    Monica''s hand had remained in Khan''s hair, but her grip had gone from firm to soft. She didn''t try to pull him up anymore and even apanied him as he removed her trousers.


    "What were we talking about?" Khan muttered, leaving a kiss at the base of Monica''s thigh. "I can''t seem to remember."


    Monica didn''t answer. Her mouth opened as she focused on Khan''s breath. She could feel it blowing so close to where she wanted it, but Khan seemed to avoid the spot on purpose.


    "Do you remember what it was?" Khan asked, lifting his head to nce at his aroused fianc¨¦e. A satisfied smirk filled his expression when Monica pulled his head down, making his mouthnd precisely where she wanted.


    The passionate mood continued for a long time. That was the couple''s only way of venting the anger and other emotions caused by events outside their control. Habits Khan had picked up on Nitis resurfaced, and Monica couldn''t help but sumb to them.


    Eventually, Khan and Monica found themselves sitting on each other. Ground lingered on the sweaty patches of their skin, but neither cared. They had yet to separate, and it seemed neither wanted to.


    Khan was in a simr position. His legs were slightly bent to keep Monica leaning on him, and his fingers ran over her back, filling his mind with sensations he had long since memorized. Khan almost loved those moments more than the actual sex, but his urges always ruined them.


    Monica clung to Khan, her legs and arms seemingly glued to his waist and shoulders. Her head rested near his neck, and she asionally moved to rub herself on him or leave sweet kisses on his skin.


    Khan was in a simr position. His legs were slightly bent to keep Monica leaning on him, and his fingers ran over her back, filling his mind with sensations he had long since memorized. Khan almost loved those moments more than the actual sex, but his urges always ruined them.


    Monica''s shoulder filled Khan''s vision, but he only needed to peek forward to catch a glimpse of most of her figure. Everything else was on his torso and waist, filling the gaps his eyes couldn''t spot. He felt all of her with an intensity he couldn''t put into words, giving birth to raging desires.


    Monica''s dark skin seemed able to hypnotize Khan. He knew its scent, texture, and taste. He knew the sounds she made whenever he yed with it, but that wasn''t enough. Nothing was ever enough with her. Khan always wanted more of her.


    The open, ornamental knife caught Khan''s attention, but the distraction barelysted seconds. Monica''s back rose and shrunk as heavy breathing afflicted her lungs, filling Khan''s brain with nothing but her.


    Having two different bodies felt painful. Khan wanted Monica even closer than she already was, but anatomical barriers prevented it. He almost had to hold back from digging his fingers into her ribs. Khan feared how tightly he could hug her.


    "Sooner orter," Khan whispered, slightly indulging in that desire to squeeze Monica, "I might eat you."


    Monica weed the firm, unmovable strength pressing on her ribs, squeezing her chest. She found it hard to breathe, but her brain didn''t send warning signals. Actually, Monica abandoned herself to Khan. His fearsome power was the ce where she felt more secure. Besides, her life belonged to Khan anyway.


    "Do it," Monica mustered the strength to mutter. "End this distance between us." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan squeezed Monica a little harder but eventually released the hug. His fingers rose toward her nape, leaving harmless marks on her skin. His hands closed on her hair, straightening her head and putting them face-to-face.


    "Why did you make me this crazy?" Monica panted, a hand reaching for the side of Khan''s head. "I can''t stop. It hurts to stop."


    Khan had already seen and been in a simr situation. That co-dependency was nothing new to him, and Monica had joined that world now. Even without heightened senses or training, she had touched on the Niqols'' way of feeling, developing Khan''s twisted mindset.


    That conclusion sounded like a bad joke. Khan had matured, changed, and experienced all kinds of things, but his love had returned to his starting point. That toxic, extreme feeling had survived everything, but Khan wasn''t a na?ve kid anymore. He wouldn''t let anyone insult or advise against it now.


    "Sorry," Khan faintly said.


    "Don''t be," Monica whispered, her hand going on Khan''s nape to pull him on her chest. She adjusted herself, breaking the legs-hug to ce her knees on the ground. Desperation filled her mind as she began moving up and down in an attempt to feel more of Khan.


    "Give me more of you," Monica moaned, pulling Khan''s head with all the strength she was capable of. "Make it stop hurting."


    Monica was basically begging by the end of her request, and Khan didn''t need her to ask twice. His mouth began leaving marks on her breasts as his hands fused with her butt, adding strength to her moves. They were each other''s best drug, and both tried to overdose on it.

 Chapter 798 Birthday

    Chapter 798 Birthday


    Khan didn''t involve Luke in the recent issue, but the period gave him an excuse to prolong his stay on the. Monica''s birthday was only three weeks away, and hosting celebrations inside the quadrant would benefit its relevance.


    Except for Martha, Monica and Khan would rather spend the birthday alone, but the quadrant needed as much good PR as possible. Besides, things had finally reached the point when Khan could offer decent entertainment, so inviting lofty guests felt mandatory.


    A leader''s duty was to put the domain''s well-being before personal needs. Khan didn''t like using Monica''s birthday like that, especially since her family had engaged in simr tactics, but she offered nothing but support. Monica knew her role, and prolonging Khan''s authority would benefit them in the long run.


    Invitations flew left and right, and the Solodrey family soon stepped in to handle most of the heavy burdens. Thetter had only benefitted from Monica''s rtionship, and she was one of its most prized descendants, so it seemed only fair to deal with expenses and specifics.


    Exining birthdays to the Scalqa was a hassle, and the settlement wasn''t ready for those parties, so Khan made the structures connected to the event converge at the bottom of the canyon. That was the most technologically advanced area of the quadrant, so the decision smoothened the process.


    Truthfully, a single structure would have usually been enough for the event. Khan could have also negotiated a deal with Lord Vegner to use the existing brothels for the party.


    However, Khan''s change in status forced him to extend the invitation to his new family, and the Solodrey family couldn''t appear cheap before the nobles. Thetter spared no expense to prepare for the event, leading to results that Khan couldn''t help but appreciate.


    A vast tform had appeared at some distance from the brothels and other structures. The ce worked as a terrace, which the Solodrey family had adorned with floatingmps that radiated a pale yellow light. The illumination didn''t make the area too bright, which was the intended effect.


    The terrace''s floor had tables, seats, menus, and trapdoors where various waiters coulde out. Speakers also stood at its corners in case someone wanted to dance. The Solodrey family had even ced floral nts topensate for the canyon''s gloominess, which achieved their purpose.


    As the night arrived, ships descended into the canyon, creating a crowded line ofnding areas attended by various teams. The Solodrey family had provided enough manpower for all the guests, and Anastasia and Luther were on the ground to join the multiple wees. As for Khan and Monica, they watched the event unfolding from the terrace''s top.


    "Why so many?" Monica sighed, leaning on the terrace''s fence, his empty cup peeking past it.


    "Did you think your mother would have missed the chance to invite representatives from wealthy families?" Khan asked, pouring what remained of the bottle in his grasp into Monica''s cup. "Lucian''s father arrived."


    "Same goes for Luke and Bruce''s fathers," Monicamented. "Secondst ship to the right."


    "Right," Khan nodded. "That grey hair is almost as shy as mine."


    Khan lifted the empty bottle, and a waiter hurried toward the couple to rece it. He didn''t turn even once, but more booze soon filled his mouth.


    The couple drank, watching the crowd converge toward their building. It wouldn''t take long before they would be swarmed by guests, making those thest few private minutes.


    "Do you know when she ising?" Monica eventually asked, turning her back on the row of ships.


    "William said in a couple of hours," Khan replied. "Felicia said at least four."


    "I''m inclined to trust the Princess," Monica sighed.


    The second sigh brought Khan''s eyes to his fianc¨¦e. Monica looked at the silent terrace, seemingly lost in thoughts, but Khan knew she was only tired. Still, he focused on her figure, appreciating her brown A-line dress, which left enough of her legs exposed.


    "You saw me put it on," Monicained, feeling Khan''s gaze on her.


    "Andin for half an hour," Khan reminded.


    "Whose fault is it I can''t wear anything with some cleavage?" Monica snorted, her voice bing a cute whisper while she checked the skin under the dress'' cor. "I should be a fourth-level warrior just to heal faster."


    "Makeup could have covered those," Khan said, knowing what Monica''s dress hid.


    "You don''t like to kiss me there when it''s too heavy," Monica pouted. "And this dress is cute anyway."


    "I would have kissed you, alright," Khan chuckled. "Did you already get ideas for when this is over?"


    "Obviously," Monica proudly imed. "It''s my birthday. It can''t be more mandatory than this."


    "As if we''d need an excuse," Khan teased.


    Monica shot aplicit grin at Khan before hopping toward him. The two exchanged a short kiss before Khan wrapped her under his arm. Monica rested on his shoulder as the two resumed their silent inspection of the guests.


    The quadrant''s atmosphere, Khan''s authority, and Monica''s steady descent into his mindset had put the couple in a strange mood. After more than three years together, it seemed impossible for them to develop new levels of intimacy, but there they were.


    Sadly, the intimate moment couldn''tst long. More waiters soon poured into the terrace, and new trapdoors opened. The guests slowly climbed into the open, and a sea of polite smiles filled Khan and Monica''s vision.


    Anastasia, Luther, and a crowd of descendants apanied by at least one rtive gathered on the terrace. Even less close friends like Lucy and Zoe hade to wish Monica a happy birthday.


    Of course, the matter had little to do with Monica''s happiness or Monica at all. She was important, and her status had always been high, but most guests were interested in the figure at her side. As controversial as Khan''s persona was, he remained the most relevant person of thest period.


    Anastasia and Luther led the way, and the crowd moved forward. Compliments and polite greetings unfolded, with everyone prioritizing Monica. Still, no one failed to address Khan''s afterward, and shaking the guests'' hands always led to offers.


    "My family would love to help, Prince," n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I hope you''ll save me a few minutes of your time, Prince Khan,"


    "I must apologize for not contacting you sooner, Prince Khan,"


    "Prince, permit me to offer you a drink afterward."


    Those and more requests reached Khan''s ears whenever he shook hands or nodded at polite bows. The terrace had around fifty guests, and everyone tried to book a piece of Khan''s time. He never openly agreed to anything but knew those people would find the chance to talk to him anyway.


    The line of guests appeared unending, but an event brought Khan''s eyes to Baoway''s dark sky. A few more ships arrived, but nothing carrying the nobles'' g. The discovery made him lose interest, but the auras that eventually joined the canyon''s symphony rekindled it.


    Khan''s cold face didn''t show it, but some excitement umted inside his brain as he dealt with the remaining guests. He appeared focused, but his attention was elsewhere, eventually converging on one of the trapdoors.


    Four familiar figures climbed onto the terrace, and Khan promptly caressed Monica''s back before approaching them. The remaining people in the line felt confused and disappointed at his departure, but noticing the newly arrived guests cleared their doubts.


    "You arete," Khan announced when he reached the four figures. His tone sounded beyond impolite, but he only meant for one of them, which everyone understood.


    "Our navigation system misbehaved," George exined.


    "I have technicians here," Khan revealed.


    "It''s fine now," George reassured.


    Khan and George inspected each other, studying the differences developed throughout the years. George now donned a short, well-kept beard and a simple hairstyle, giving him a mature look. Even his aura felt calmer and cleaner, probably due to a peaceful mindset and abstinence from toxic substances. He didn''t stop drinking, but it seemed he had limited it.


    Finding the reason behind those changes wasn''t hard. Khan only needed to look at George''s side to find a cheerful Anita. She seemed to have grown more childish from her time in the Harbor, and Khan connected the matter to her newfound freedom. Her mother was also there, and she didn''t feel as spiteful anymore.


    "I know that face," Georgemented, eyeing the figures past Khan. "So, you went full leader."


    "The situation required it," Khan summarized. "I find you well, too."


    "You would have known earlier if you called," George said, stepping forward. "There''s also that other matter."


    Wayne was still with George. Everyone knew about it, but no one openly talked about it. George''s words basically demanded privacy, but Khan saw through his fa?ade. Yet, he lent him an ear anyway.


    "[Save me already]," George whispered, begging in the Niqolsnguage. "[I need a night away from all of this]."


    Khan felt d his cold expression had be his standard face. He wouldn''t have been able to contain hisugh otherwise. Still, the symphony warned him again, and the matter seemed to be about the main event now.


    "I''ll see what I can do," Khan announced, making sure everyone could hear him, "Butter."


    George shot a curious look at Khan, but whooshing noises soon filled the canyon, bringing everyone''s gaze to the sky. A giant ship had appeared inside Baoway''s atmosphere, and a circr tform quickly detached from it, shooting at high speed toward the terrace.


    The tform precisely entered the canyon, avoiding the rocky walls and slowing down when approaching the fence. It stopped right over it, and ten figures jumped down.


    Seven were powerful soldiers, fifth-level warriors who radiated a menacing aura. Yet, the other three neers imed the terrace''s full attention, authorizing Monica to disregard the other guests to meet them.


    Prince William and Princess Felicia showed smiles, but Khan only looked at the woman between them. She resembled Felicia, who, in turn, resembled his mother, and her first words cleared any doubt about her bloodline.


    "I''ve longed to meet my lost nephew for years," The woman dered, her warm voice spreading through the terrace. "It''s as they said. You are the spitting image of Elizabeth."


    "Pleasure to meet you," Khan responded. "Aunt Reba."

 Chapter 799 Brother

    Chapter 799 Brother


    Reba Nognes was a fifth-level warrior with long brown hair and deep brown eyes. Her facial features were delicate,cking even the slightest trace of wrinkles. She barely looked in her thirties, but her aura told a different story.


    Khan felt a bit surprised. He had heard about Reba from his father and Cousins, but most of his assumptions came from the woman''s status. She was more than a simple Princess. She belonged to the older generation, which wielded higher authority and demanded immense respect.


    However, Reba''s aura carried nothing but warmth. She was entirely at ease among the staring crowd, and confidence surrounded her figure, but that cozy feeling remained intense.


    "He called me Aunt," Reba chuckled, stepping forward to reach Khan. "Let me take a look at you."


    Khan was the epitome of coldness and detachment. His mere eyes sent death threats, keeping everyone away. Only those close to him felt confident enough to ignore that defensive fa?ade, but Reba didn''t hesitate to reach for his chin.


    Strangely enough, Khan didn''t dodge Reba''s hand. Her warmth was oddly reassuring, and the gesture radiated a loving vibe that made him lower his wariness. He even let her lift his head as she inspected his features.


    "You might not know this," Reba announced, "But I''ve been the third person to hold you after you were born."


    Reba seemed not to care about the audience, and Khan didn''t mind it either. He wouldn''t feel ashamed about those personal revtions, but Reba''s behavior remained surprising. She wasn''t acting as a Princess at all. Khan saw nothing more than a loving rtive during the scene.


    "To think such a cute baby would have turned into a little monster," Reba smiled. "It''s such a pity."


    Khan felt the urge to frown and finally retracted his head. His face didn''t show it, but the statement confused him. Reba''s warmth and the words "little monster" didn''t belong to the same field.


    "Don''t worry," Reba reassured, seemingly reading Khan''s mind. "Monster is fine. Monster might be what the family needs."


    Everything felt so odd to Khan. Reba didn''t seem to know which mask to wear. She appeared unable to stick to either Princess or loving Aunt, making her behavior hard to read.


    "May we talk in private?" Reba eventually requested.


    Everyone heard the request, so rejecting it wouldn''t be proper. Khan''s friends would also understand his priorities. However, that night was supposed to be about Monica, and he couldn''t leave her alone after she sacrificed her special day for the greater good of the quadrant.


    "Aunt Reba," Khan announced. "My fianc¨¦e needs me here."


    "Oh, I apologize," Reba gasped, seemingly realizing where she was. "I was so caught in the reunion I forgot my manners."


    Reba crossed Khan to dive into the audience. The guests moved aside at her arrival, allowing her to reach Monica. Thetter tried to perform an elegant bow, but Reba promptly seized her hands.


    "Monica Solodrey," Reba called. "You are such a beautifuldy. Happy birthday."


    Monica almost froze. Her political training couldn''t prepare her for that situation. She knew how to deal with clingy Princesses, but Reba''s status and rtion to Khan created an internal conflict in her mind.


    "Thank you, Princess Nognes," Monica managed to utter.


    "It''s Reba for you," Reba reassured, grinning. "You can also call me Aunt. You know, I''ve always wanted another daughter."


    Monica had to muster the entirety of her self-restraint to prevent her mouth from hanging open. Like Khan, she didn''t get much family love growing up, so Reba''s warmth took herpletely by surprise.


    "We''ll have our girls'' talkter," Reba said, letting go of Monica to inspect the guests. "I should pay my respects to your parents now."


    Anastasia was on the verge of tears. A high-tier noble had joined her daughter''s birthday party, bringing massive honor to her faction and herself. She felt she could die happy, and what followed threatened to make her faint.


    Reba crossed the guests and stopped before Anastasia and Luther to perform an elegant bow. The married couple promptly imitated her, but she spoke before them. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Our blood is tied now," Reba announced. "I hope you''ll allow me to address you as Luther and Anastasia."


    The tables had turned. Usually, it was the lower family''s role to request that friendliness, but Reba had stolen the spot, humbling herself before Monica''s parents. Needless to say, Luther and Anastasia felt ecstatic but did their best to stick to polite behaviors.


    "You honor us, Princess Nognes," Luther eximed, lowering his head in respect.


    "We aren''t worthy, Princess," Anastasia added.


    "Our children will soon join hands in marriage," Reba reassured. "We''ll all be one big family, so it''s only proper to abandon useless pleasantries."


    Anastasia felt her blood pressure tanking at high speed. She truly wanted to faint. That was the happiest day of her life, but the situation demanded a straight face from her.


    "I apologize for being sudden," Reba continued. "May I ask permission to steal your daughter''s fianc¨¦ for a few minutes? If it''s not too much trouble."


    "Of course!" Anastasia beamed. "Khan, dear, indulge the Princess. We''ll take care of Monica."


    Being called "dear" by Anastasia sent a chill down Khan''s spine, but it was clear the situation had be unavoidable. Besides, he noticed a suppressed smirk when exchanging a look with Monica. She struggled to hold back theughs seeing her mother like that. Even without him, Monica would find ways to have fun.


    "Very well, Aunt Reba," Khan conceded, turning toward one of the trapdoors. "If you would follow me."


    Reba reached Khan and seized his elbow to let him escort her downstairs. The two crossed Princess Felicia and Prince William along the way, and their mother uttered a cheerful order before disappearing. "Socialize."


    The structure''s lower floors had various environments. Kitchens, control rooms, bedrooms, and more filled the building to attend to the guests'' every need. Reba''s request implied a desire for privacy, and Khan quickly fulfilled it.


    Khan and Reba crossed a few bowing waiters before reaching a small, rtively empty hall. That was intended as a second dance floor in case Baoway''s weather misbehaved, but the two could make it work for their private conversation.


    Khan half-expected Reba''s behavior to change in private. He didn''t sense that kind of darkness in her mana, but his senses had been wrong before. Nevertheless, Reba''s warmth didn''t wane, and her smile remained bright as she let go of Khan and wandered through the hall.


    "The Solodrey family sure spent a lot of money," Rebamented, checking the hall''s specifics. "I used to be too shy to dance when I was younger. Of course, Elizabeth always forced me."


    Reba chuckled as her eyes lost focus, looking past the hall''s metal surface to dive into distant memories. Some longing tainted her mana, and a faint sadness spread throughout the symphony.


    "She was the reckless one," Reba revealed. "Beyond stubborn, resourceful, and driven. Her guts were a sight to behold. Nothing seemed impossible for her."


    Khan kept his gaze on Reba, studying any change in the symphony. He was curious but remained silent to let her finish her speech.


    "I was the soft one," Reba continued, turning to smile at Khan. "Admittedly, I was too na?ve and insecure for a Princess. Maybe that''s why I took Elizabeth as a role model. Her strength was almost blinding."


    Reba lowered her head, her smile turning bitter. She loved her memories, but the reality always added a tinge of sadness. She missed her sister far more than she could show.


    "Thomas was the practical one," Reba exined. "Some would call him cynical, but I know my brother. He always did as he was told, diligently working to be what the faction needed him to be. Honestly, he still is."


    Reba fell silent for a few seconds before lifting her head. That was the first time Khan didn''t see a smile on her face.


    "Please, don''t hate Thomas," Reba said. "His actions always had the faction''s interests in mind. He is one of the reasons we still hold some power after everything that happened with Elizabeth."


    "Are you asking me not to kill him?" Khan questioned.


    "If possible," Reba confirmed. "I know why you do what you do. I don''t condemn it. I just-. He''s my brother like your mother was my sister."


    Under all that confidence, Reba was nothing more than a worried sister who didn''t want to lose her brother. She understood the eventual necessity of the event, but her naivety prompted her to make that request anyway.


    "Is that the price for your support?" Khan coldly asked. The scene was moving and even gave him a good impression of Reba. Yet, he barely knew her, and his needs came first.


    "I''m not so maniptive," Reba giggled, seemingly happy Khan''s mind could generate those thoughts. "No matter your decision or future, you have my support."


    Khan didn''t know how to take the statement. Reba''s unusual behavior kept him guessing. He couldn''t understand how to treat her, especially among all that one-sided affection.


    "So much wariness," Reba noticed. "I suppose it''s only natural. Don''t worry. I''m not na?ve enough to hope in the goodness of your heart."


    Reba stepped forward, stopping before Khan. She crossed her arms, and her smile gained a confident vibe as she exined herself.


    "Spare my brother," Reba announced, "And I''ll give you the Nak."

 Chapter 800 Knowledge

    Chapter 800 Knowledge


    When the conversation moved to the main topic, Khan truly believed Reba couldn''t appeal to his interest. The quadrant was doing fine, his faction was already supporting him, and everything was more than perfect on Monica''s end. Reba wasn''t supposed to have any leverage on Khan.


    However, a topic that almost made Khan''s eyes shine had escaped Reba''s mouth. That wasn''t supposed to happen. Humankind shouldn''t be able to bring anything new to the table when it came to the Nak, but Reba was confident, and Khan believed her.


    The atmosphere grew colder as Khan focused on the topic. Talking about the Nak always brought out his bottomless desperation, and his aura was too intense to suppress its effects. The air seemed to freeze, but Reba remained unaffected.


    "Such a serious face," Rebamented. "My nephew is so scary."


    Reba turned, tapping the floor to bring out menus. Her directives made a piece of the wall slide open to reveal a drawer with a few bottles.


    "I knew the Solodrey family had it," Reba eximed, smiling at Khan. "I''m good, but you can get a refill."


    Khan didn''t like how easily Reba was taking charge of the conversation, but his throat felt dry, and the topic intensified his thirst. He half-thought about ignoring that desire for a power y but eventually went along with it.


    "By the way," Reba said, watching Khan approach the drawer. "This isn''t a negotiation. I just want you to promise you''ll do your best to spare him."


    Khan poured himself a drink before looking at Reba. Her aura didn''t show anything unusual, but he couldn''t understand her. It almost sounded like she was already going back on her words.


    "Don''t give me that face," Reba admonished, her tone retaining warmth. "I know how our world works. You might not have a choice."


    Khan took a long sip while studying Reba. There was no conflict in her aura, but two sides of her character were shing. She acknowledged and epted the intricacies of the political environment, but her familiar affection was still alive.


    "I threw his son into space," Khan pointed out.


    "Richard is so spoiled," Reba sighed.


    "That''s not what I meant," Khanmented.


    "I know," Reba said. "Well, he isn''t dead."


    Khan was at a loss for words. His uncle had never wanted him in charge, and he had worsened the situation by insulting his son. The problem couldn''t get more unsolvable.


    Moreover, Thomas was no pushover. ording to the rumors, he wielded massive political and financial influence, so his mere existence put the faction under the constant threat of in-fighting. Khan didn''t have the means to negotiate with him on an even ground, seemingly leaving only one solution.


    "How would I make it work?" Khan genuinely asked.


    "You could gain his support," Reba exined. "He could announce it to the entire Global Army."


    Khan felt the urge to sneer. Anyone could see that the ship had sailed, and Khan was long past holding back. That option simply didn''t exist.


    "It could happen," Reba reassured, understanding the thoughts behind Khan''s cold face.


    "How?" Khan wondered while his mind ran simtions. Proud leaders wouldn''t bend the knee easily, and Khan could only fight his uncle in a field where he was outssed.


    "If he thinks having you in charge will benefit the faction the most," Reba exined, "He will support you. That''s the kind of man my brother is." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan didn''t expect that answer. He was ready to disregard it, but something told him Reba was trustworthy. She wouldn''t say things to deceive him. She was only trying to achieve the intended goal without losing her brother.


    That trust made Khan consider the possibility, but problems quickly popped up. He was unbelievably strong, especially for his level, and his connections epassed many wealthy families. Khan could genuinely be the center and main focus of the new generation, but that didn''t eliminate his ws.


    Khan was unstable, at best. Many believed him to be straight-up mental. Also, his allegiances were unclear. His deep rtionships with alien species raised suspicion among humankind, and the recent events only worsened that point. Even his abilities and appearance had constantly strayed away from humanity.


    In short, Khan was as unreliable as they came. His power, achievements, and status forced the Global Army to make concessions, but few would truly trust him. No one would willingly put him in charge of vast and influential organizations.


    Those issues were so tant Khan started questioning Reba and Alexander''s trust in him. He understood his mother had much to do with the development, but Reba had just shown him her political awareness. Khan didn''t believe such a figure could have so much faith out of mere blood ties.


    "Why me?" Khan honestly asked.


    Reba wore a bitter smile. She understood the purpose of Khan''s question, and his mental sharpness made her proud. Yet, he was only twenty-two and didn''t receive any political education. That flexible and deep mindset had a huge price tag attached to it.


    "How regretful," Reba sighed. "I missed the chance of spoiling my cute nephew."


    Reba briefly lost herself in her thoughts before focusing on Khan. The bitterness disappeared from her face, reced by some seriousness.


    "The noble families have growncent," Reba revealed. "They are afflicted by in-fighting, hidden to retain the illusion of control."


    Khan absorbed the information but didn''t give it much weight. Therger the organization, the greater the in-fighting. That was how reality worked, and Khan didn''t care enough to worry. After all, he had his way of dealing with problems.


    "The Nognes family is no different," Reba continued. "It might actually be the best example of the problem. Everything that happened with Elizabeth maimed us. We are on the brink of a faction war, and the other nobles are waiting for it to explode."


    That was a world most people couldn''t gain ess to, let alone learn about its existence. The nobles were so distant from the rest of the Global Army that humankind often forgot they had problems. Entire wars could happen in secret at those levels, and no one would hear about them.


    "We need unity," Reba dered. "We need a strong leader, someone untainted by our ways but with the right to im them. We need someone not scared to wage an open war on the Global Army to remind it who''s in charge."


    Khan drank while his mind absorbed Reba''s words. He knew he was special, but that didn''t mean he should ept random obligations. Saving the Nognes family wasn''t his duty.


    ''[A true leader is chosen by others],'' Khan thought, recalling Jenna''s words.


    "What makes you think I''ll care about the faction''s interests?" Khan questioned. "What makes you think I won''t use its power for my goals?"


    "You are many things, Khan," Reba eximed, "But evil isn''t one of them. You might trick the others, but your lovely Aunt sees right through you. All your actions reek of care."


    Reba stepped forward, reaching Khan and leaning toward his ear to whisper something. "And I''d also set fire to the world if I had nightmares in my brain."


    Reba straightened her back, showing her calm face to Khan. She didn''t try to appear sly or anything. She had only exposed her cards to show where her confidence came from.


    "My father?" Khan asked.


    "Bret would never say anything," Reba scoffed, "Even to me. As annoying as it is, that man''s loyalty is unbreakable."


    Khan knew Reba was speaking the truth, so her recent revtion made him consider other options. Theoretically, only a few scientists and the connected higher-ups were aware of the Nak''s visions, and Reba didn''t belong to either field.


    "I''ll tell you everything," Reba reassured, understanding Khan''s thoughts. "I had a hard time epting Elizabeth''s death. I used my power to look into the Nak, uncovering as much information as possible. I even seized a few prizes."


    "Prizes?" Khan repeated.


    "I have an almost intact corpse," Reba exined, "And sparse body parts in different conditions. They are yours."


    Events from Milia 222 inevitably popped into Khan''s mind. The power wielded by a single hand had been immense, but Khan had also gotten stronger since then. Moreover, interacting with that body part triggered his transformation.


    Thoughts raced through Khan''s mind. He had the green substance, which seemed able to unlock the information hidden inside his genes. Pushing his mutations forward might reveal more about the scarlet eyes and other relevant issues. Khan didn''t know if he could replicate the process that happened on Milia 222, but Reba had just given him the chance to try.


    "It''s not only that," Reba dered. "I know you have looked for the Nak. I did the same seventeen years ago. I haven''t located them, but I''m not sure I can."


    Reba knew Khan would understand her, which he did. She sounded like an expert in the field who had reached the same conclusions as Khan. Actually, her wealth and position had probably given her better results.


    "All of this is yours," Reba added. "I only hope it''s enough to make you consider avoiding war with Thomas. Also, I suppose having me will stop you from dealing with Raymond Cobsend."

 Chapter 801 Unique

    Chapter 801 Unique


    Raymond was a known figure in the Global Army, but very few people were aware of his deals with Khan. That wasn''t much due to Khan, either. Luke, Luke''s father, and the entire Cobsend family had every interest in keeping those illegal activities a secret.


    Moreover, it stood to reason Raymond could cover his tracks well. After all, his activities involved pieces of Nak and illegal experiments. He would have never achieved anything if his secrecy was any less than perfect.


    Nevertheless, even someone as secretive and resourceful as Raymond couldn''t do anything against a motivated noble. Reba''s assets had to outss his a hundred to one, and her goals probably carried more intensity.


    The secret details seemed to confirm Reba''s tale, and Khan''s senses also gave the okay. Her story even sounded reasonable when Khan thought about it.


    As far as Khan knew, Raymond was involved in businesses focused on mutations and improving humankind''s gic foundation. He wanted humans to evolve, and the Nak''s mana seemed to be the perfect fuel for that goal.


    Reba''s investigation into the Nak would have naturally led her into those fields. Her status also made her support priceless. Khan could imagine how Raymond or other figures in those illegal environments would seek her allegiance, protection, and assets. Her involvement could bring immense benefits to any activity.


    "Do you know Raymond?" Khan asked, keeping his question as simple as possible to avoid revealing details.


    "We are both aware of each other," Reba summarized, "And he was smart enough to know we couldn''t be allies. Our goals simply sh."


    Reba sounded slightly pissed about the matter, which vouched for Raymond''s insight. However, it didn''t take a genius to understand Reba wouldn''t help him. Raymond''s ns involved her nephew, and looking at her would tell anyone she wouldn''t sell him off.


    "I actually wanted to apologize," Reba continued. "I knew what you were doing and had all the information you sought, but ¡­"


    "You couldn''t approach me," Khan interrupted.


    "Yes," Reba confirmed, sadness invading her. She knew her political situation wouldn''t count as an excuse for Khan but had nothing else to offer.


    Khan diverted his gaze, returning to the open drawer to refill his drink. Reba''s offer was massive, and he had epted worsepromises to gain ess to simr resources. He didn''t like what he had been forced to do, but ming Reba wouldn''t lead anywhere.


    ''Information, body parts, and more coordinates,'' Khan thought. ''I might actually start looking for them now.''


    Khan had to admit he had gotten used to the nightmares. They didn''t lose intensity and always ruined his nights, but he had developed a strange eptance toward them.


    Monica, Khan''s alien arts, the transformation, and the issues about "hosts" could be to me for that eptance. Still, the reason didn''t matter. Khan only knew he had unconsciously learned to deal with his curse.


    Yet, even when easier to deal with, a curse remained a curse. Khan could face it more calmly, but getting rid of it continued to be his main goal. A twist had also finally arrived, but Khan couldn''t help but wonder whether its timing was terrible.


    In a different situation, Khan would have abandoned everything to immerse himself in Reba''s information. He would have probably set off, too, starting a mission with the sole goal of finding the Nak''s star system.


    Nevertheless, things wereplicated now. Khan was the only reason the quadrant was afloat, and many businesses depended on his involvement. Time was also against him due to his uncle. He had to secure as much influence as possible and quickly.


    People in Khan''s position usually relied on representatives with precise directives, but he was irreceable. Even Monica couldn''t take his ce. The Scalqa, the Thilku, and the Global Army needed to know he was there, ready to act if something didn''t work as intended.


    "I understand your reservations and problems," Reba announced after a prolonged silence. "I''m willing to facilitate as much as possible. I can also send myb with the samples here if it helps."


    "Not here," Khan directly refused. "Don''t bring those corpses to my."


    Reba wanted to smile when she heard "my", but the situation didn''t allow it. As for Khan, he could only think about Milia 222''s events and how he didn''t want Baoway to experience them.


    "Start by forwarding all the information in your possession," Khan ordered. "I''ll contact you when I n to fly to yourbs."


    "My nephew is so domineering," Reba giggled. "Are you sure I can''t pamper you a bit?"


    "As for your brother," Khan added, ignoring Reba''sment. "I want a meeting. If not here, a ship in Baoway''s atmosphere will do. Do what you need to make it happen. I don''t care about the specifics."


    Khan wasn''t even looking at Reba anymore. His mind was already projected toward future events that would take months or years to unfold, and Reba couldn''t help but feel proud. Khan was rough around the edges, but his blood didn''t lie. He was her sister''s son through and through, born to take the reins of the faction and maybe far more than that.


    .


    .


    .


    The universe didn''t stop during Monica''s birthday, and the Global Army was no exception. Actually, the popr event moved many eyes away from other matters. It also kept many hindrances busy socializing, creating the perfect opportunity for a secret meeting.


    Everything happened inside a remote structure in the middle of space. The building wasn''t big enough to ssify as a space station. It was nothing more than a series of halls floating through the help of powerful engines.


    Two ships approached the structure from opposite sides. The ce had nonding areas, but the vehicles could use the docking stations to create safe passages inside.


    The two crews entered the structure simultaneously, making their way through it to meet at the central hall. A circr table with only two seats awaited them, and the intended figures confidently approached them.


    Neither figure sat. The two men stood before the table, studying each other. One had sharp facial features, confident and knowledgeable brown eyes, and long grey hair. Instead, the other had a military haircut, highlighting his square jaw and stern face.


    "Prince Thomas Nognes," The grey man announced, half-bowing. "You honor me with this meeting."


    "Raymond Cobsend," The other man called. "The man behind Milia 222''s chaos."


    "I like to see it as an experiment," Raymond exined. "A sessful one."


    "Which involved my nephew," Thomas added.


    "That was an unfortunate necessity," Raymond said.


    Thomas didn''t reply but upied his seat, and Raymond imitated him with a smile. Both men''s crews remained behind, near the hall''s walls, to make sure they couldn''t catch word of the imminent conversation.


    "You went far and beyond to obtain this meeting," Thomas went directly to the point. "I''m here, so speak."


    "Yes, Prince Thomas," Raymond nodded. "I hope you won''t take offense to the fact that I''m aware of your faction''s internal struggle. Having your rtives turning their back on you must be painful." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "There is no struggle," Thomas promptly denied. "Your informant is faulty."


    "Prince Thomas," Raymond called. "Many know the problems your new Prince is bringing to your family. I dare say few are even worried about putting so much power into such unrestrained hands."


    "I heard you were a capable businessman," Thomas eximed, "But you bored me already."


    Thomas started to stand up, but Raymond''s following statement interrupted the action. "Prince Khan is a hindrance to your leadership. I can help you remove it without revealing your involvement."


    Thomas adjusted himself in the chair. Although his face showed no interest, his actions had already vouched for it. Clearly, the topic interested him.


    "Elizabeth''s son is nothing more than a capable young soldier," Thomas dered. "It doesn''t matter how strong he is. It takes much more to be worthy of the faction''s leadership position."


    "He grows at a terrifying rate," Raymond pointed out. "Besides, his actions won''t always be rational. He might seize the throne without minding the negative consequences."


    Thomas fell silent, studying the man before him. It was true. Khan didn''t y fair. He didn''t even know the game''s rules, which was dangerous. The damage Elizabeth had inflicted on the faction proved that.


    "Your offer," Thomas eventually uttered.


    "I have reason to believe Prince Khan will leave Baoway soon," Raymond revealed. "I can''t trace the trip on my own, but you could."


    "For what purpose?" Thomas asked. "Another ipetent assassination attempt?"


    "I wouldn''t dare to even think about hurting a noble," Raymond lied. "However, another political incident might force the Global Army to intervene. Prince Khan surely can''t lead your faction from a cell."


    "What kind of political incident?" Thomas questioned.


    "I think ignorance is your best protection here," Raymond stated.


    "And," Thomas continued, "What do you ask in return?"


    "ess to Prince Khan while he is imprisoned," Raymond responded. "As I''m sure you know, he is unique."

 Chapter 802 Planet

    Chapter 802


    Khan obviously was unaware of Thomas and Raymond''s secret meeting, and the same went for Reba. The timing had been perfect, keeping any potentially troublesome party in the dark. Learning about it would change the celebration''s mood, but their ignorance allowed them to try to enjoy themselves.


    Reba and Khan returned to the terrace once their conversation was over. The scenery there didn''t change. Anastasia and Luther supported Monica as the many guests tried to im her attention, but Princess Felicia and Prince William did their best to divert part of those attempts.


    Khan and Reba''s reappearance switched the guests'' focus, turning them into a crowd hungry for attention from those relevant figures. The two were more important than everyone else, and a sea of fake smiles unfolded in their vision, seemingly warning them about the imminent torrent of polite talks.


    Nevertheless, one figure ignored the event''s etiquette and rushed to Khan''s side, seizing his arm. George wore the same fake smile as the guests, but words carrying a far different tone escaped his mouth.


    "[I''ll start saying all kinds of stories if you don''t take me away]," George threatened through his teeth, using the Niqolsnguage to add anotheryer of secrecy.


    Khan had to hold back the urge tough. He would love to indulge George, but the event required his presence. Yet, ncing at Monica relieved him of those duties. As soon as their eyes met, she said a silent "go" with her lips, forcing Khan to give in.


    "I have more matters to discuss privately," Khan announced to the guests, directly turning toward the same trapdoor he had just crossed. George followed behind, and the two soon reached the lower floors.


    Khan and George instinctively coordinated, going on auto-pilot as they silently crossed the structure. They retrieved booze and food while descending through the building and stepping outside. Khan had an idea of what George wanted, so he led him to the area between the terrace and the brothel since it was darker and more private.


    "Give me that," George ordered as soon as the two settled inside the first spacious crevice they found.


    "Use your bottles," Khan refused, showing the booze in his hands. "These are mine."


    "Bing a Prince made you stingy," George snorted, sitting on a nearby rock and dropping his booze to the ground.


    "Technically," Khan uttered, "I paid for all of this."


    George red at Khan, but the gesture didn''t stop him from opening one bottle and bringing it to his mouth. He took a long sip, followed by a shorter one, before handing the booze to Khan.


    "That bad, huh?" Khan asked, calmly enjoying the fine booze.


    "It''s torture," George cursed. "Be healthy. Don''te to bed stinking of booze. Take up more duties. Be the heir your parents need."


    George''s line didn''t stop there. He continued repeating the nagging he had endured during those years, and his voice gradually grew high-pitched to imitate the source of his annoyance.


    "You must really love her," Khan teased.


    "What love?!" George cried. "That woman is a sly monster devoid ofpassion. Her hunger is bottomless, and her demands endless."


    "You are loving it," Khanmented.


    "Not even close," George scoffed, stretching his hand forward, which Khan promptly filled with the bottle. "Our fights aren''t like yours. There''s no dirty sex afterward."


    "I don''t know what you are talking about," Khan feigned ignorance.


    "Shall I remind you who gave you condoms and a ce where to getid?" George questioned.


    Khan diverted his gaze, his mind delving into memories of the Harbor. Those old problems felt so small now. He almost missed the time when his greatest worry was finding a ce to be alone with Monica.


    "What''s up with you?" George asked, studying Khan. "Don''t you smile anymore?"


    "Only with Monica," Khan revealed, realizing his cold face didn''t falter during the conversation. "Martha made me chuckle."


    "Always at war with something," George sighed. "How it was?"


    George didn''t need to add details to make Khan understand what he was asking. He knew how heavy the ughter must have been for Khan. That unshakeable cold face probably was only one of its many consequences.


    "Sad," Khan described. "Dirty, necessary. The Global Army had to understand I''m for real."


    "I wasn''t talking about that," George uttered.


    Khan lowered his gaze. The dark ground filled his vision, but he saw much more. Various lights shone in his eyes, depicting information about the symphony. He didn''t even need to think to know he could break it, and the matter wouldn''t even take much effort.


    "They were powerless," Khan exined, "Ants facing an entity they couldn''t hope to oppose. It was so easy I almost changed my definition of life."


    "You were fighting simple workers," George reminded.


    "They could have been warriors," Khan said. "Nothing would have changed. I''m just superior."


    "And humble," George joked.


    "I swear," Khan eximed, sitting on the ground. "I wouldn''t even y human if it weren''t for Monica."


    "You are human," George scoffed, "And something else."


    "Yes," Khan nodded, "But I don''t belong."


    George fell silent. He was one of the few people in the universe who could understand Khan''s spiritual struggle. Actually, Georgeprehended it so deeply he knew the issue had no solution. Khan had strayed too far from the human path, and there was no turning back.


    Khan could me the issue on the transformation, the alien arts, and other unorthodox practices, but George knew where it had all started. He had seen it happen before his very eyes. Nitis had been a turning point for Khan. His appearance didn''t change, but his mind had already abandoned humankind.


    "You''ve never belonged to species," George dered. "You''ve belonged to people, no matter what they were."


    "Just like you belong to Anita," Khan confirmed.


    "Where did thate from?!" George cursed. "Were you waiting to change the topic?"


    "Come on," Khan said. "You would have already broken up with her if the situation was so terrible. Don''t hide behind politics, either. You are a Prince''s best friend. That excuse won''t stand."


    George was ready to throw a joke, but Khan''s statement left no openings, forcing him to consider his point. Anita was genuinely annoying at times, but the idea of breaking up with her had never crossed his mind.


    "What should I do?" George asked. "Be a good boy, seed to my father, and aim for Patriarch?"


    "Why not?" Khan wondered. "You have real experience, education from the Harbor, and connections. You are the perfect candidate for the role."


    "Sounds so boring," Georgemented. "And with Anita?"


    "Man up and marry the girl," Khan stated. "It''s not like you have my problems. The Wildon family wouldn''t even need to think about it."


    "Calm down," George said, prolonging his sip to deal with the topic. "Marriage is your field. I''m the funny, handsome, awesome, free one."


    "You haven''t been free for years," Khan pointed out.


    "That was a choice," George uttered, "Something I can stop doing whenever I want."


    "Does she sleep on the left or the right?" Khan teased.


    "Always left," George instantly replied. "She says my left arm is morefortable."


    George realized his mistake when Khan''s cold face broke into a smirk. He had answered too quickly, and Khan knew what that meant.


    "I preferred the other expression," George snorted. "And it doesn''t mean anything. I obviously would know that after being together for so long."


    "Favorite position?" Khan attacked with another question.


    "We-" George began to reply, but hesitation arrived. That wouldn''t be the first time he and Khan had talked about simr topics. Those conversations had always been quite smooth, too, but George felt unable to engage in it now.


    "Someone became quite protective," Khan teased. "How cute."


    George opened his mouth, but no words came out. He wanted to prove Khan wrong, but his brain opposed him. Anita was no random girl for him. He simply couldn''t share those intimate details.


    "I me you," George cursed, "For everything."


    "You were ready," Khan responded, "And you had all the Harbor''s female poption at your disposal, but you still went for the only one who could put a leash on you."


    "She went for me," George corrected.


    "Please," Khan snickered. "You two were almost flirting more often than us."


    George snorted but didn''t reply. He went for the booze, only to notice the empty bottle. Khan promptly opened a new one and took a sip before attending to his friend.


    "Marrying Anita could help you a lot," George considered. "You''d have the most wealthy and influential families on your side."


    "Are you searching for an excuse to propose?" Khan wondered.


    "Shut up," George replied. "I was being serious. You are an odd Prince. Your figure is more public. You can create a political array anyone can study instead of leaving thework wondering about your influence."


    George had hit the mark. Khan''s unique situation could turn him into something the Global Army had yet to witness. He could publicly unite many forces under his name, creating an organization that could deal with both nobles and soldiers.


    However, talking with Reba had already filled Khan''s mind with heavy thoughts, and the birthday was still ongoing. He didn''t know when the next break would arrive. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Do we really have to talk about politics now?" Khan asked.


    "You''re right," George sighed, leaning back on his rock and staring at the sky past the canyon. "This quadrant isn''t bad."


    "This isn''t bad," Khan corrected, also lifting his gaze to the sky. He didn''t add anything, but George knew what he meant.

 Chapter 803 Toast

    Chapter 803 Toast


    "We removed anything we found," George exined. "His body is as clean as ever, but his psychological state still needs work."


    "How long will it take?" Khan asked.


    "Hard to say," George sighed. "He is improving by the day, but it''s hard to leave habits and education behind. You should know it."


    Khan fell silent and focused on his drink. The conversation with George had moved to Wayne, who was still in his care. Apparently, Wayne had greatly improved, but George advised against reintroducing it into society.


    "His element?" Khan questioned.


    "Troublesome as always," George cursed. "Stuff breaks around him. People slip and fall. Once, he even broke his mattress. How do you break a mattress?"


    "I have a few ideas," Khanmented.


    "Honestly," George continued, ignoring Khan''sment. "I don''t know if he''ll ever learn to control his element. I''m not sure bad luck is something that can be controlled, let alone funneled into spells and techniques."


    Khan fell silent again. He had epted his status as a Shaman, and his understanding of mana reached depths humans couldn''t even imagine. Yet, he was as lost as George in the topic. Wayne''s element was too surreal and ethereal even to attempt to wield it.


    "This is beyond me,'' Khan thought. "Zalpa or Caja would know more!


    Khan was knowledgeable and skilled, but those two figures wielded proper wisdom. They would know what to do with Wayne, but reaching them sounded impossible now.


    "You are thinking something stupid," George called, "Aren''t you?"


    "If things were more stable," Khan announced, "I would have brought the Nele here. They would know what to do with Wayne."


    "Things look stable enough," George pointed out, "And you''ll have more room soon.


    "My uncle is onto me," Khan shook his head. "Many also want my head, and things will get worse once Abraham''sb develops something."


    "The Thilku are on your side," George stated. "People will think twice before trying anything here."


    "On me," Khan specified, "But I can''t be everywhere, and the more allies I ept, the more weaknesses I have. I don''t know what I''d be capable of doing if something happened."


    That line held real meaning after the recent events, and George could even imagine how harsher it would be. Khan didn''t care about his suffering. He was so used to it he barely minded it. His bloody retribution had mostly been a show of force to prevent reiterations.


    However, involving Khan''s loved ones would escte the retributions. Khan could be vengeful, which was scary due to the power he wielded. George wasn''t sure whether the Global Army would be able to stop him at all in that instance.


    "Khan," George called. "You know I''d be at your side if you asked."


    "I won''t," Khan responded. "I won''t pull you back into this world."


    George sighed again. He appreciated Khan''s worries but still wanted to help him. Thinking about the issue brought back the old topic, and George''s tone almost grew timid as he asked a question.


    "How do you even marry someone?" George asked.


    Khan wanted to explode into augh, but something else required his attention. He couldn''t even reply to George properly since they were about to be disturbed.


    "Only a few seconds," Khan said, "And I would have had a good story to tell Monica."


    The statement confused George, but his senses eventually piqued something, and the sound of steps reached his ears. It didn''t take long before a figure peeked into the crevice, showing her beaming smile to the two sitting men.


    "That''s where you were," Anita eximed. "You have both been requested for a toast."


    George and Khan exchanged a knowing look. The former


    felt beyond lucky Anita didn''t hear his previous statement, and Khan hid a snicker behind his cold face. George seemed able to see that invisible reaction, but Anita''s presence prevented him from ring at Khan.


    "What is it?" Anita asked while her gaze fell on the empty bottles on the ground. "Really. I don''t know who the bad influence is anymore."


    "He is," George dered, standing up and seizing Anita''s waist. "He corrupts anything he touches."


    Anita giggled before pointing her scolding re at George. That look differed from what Khan had be used to seeing in the Harbor. Evident traces ofplicity had joined it. The couple''s rtionship had deepened in ways Khan couldn''t imagine, but noticing that made him happy. "Come on, Khan," Anita called. "Let''s go to the others."


    Time slowed down in Khan''s eyes. He looked past Anita''s smile as more details popped into his vision. George''s arm was still around Anita''s waist, but she appearedpletelyfortable with the gesture. She didn''t only ept it. She considered it normal


    ''We''ve all gone a long way since the Harbor,'' Khan thought, standing up and voicing polite words. "After you."


    Anita didn''t need Khan to speak twice. Her smile brightened as she turned, and George promptly stepped out of the crevice to keep up with her. Khan followed the couple, and watching their closeness almost broke his cold face.


    The three quickly returned to the terrace, where the situation had barely changed. The guests were immersed in multiple conversations, often involving business opportunities and simr matters. Obviously, many of them were directed at Monica since she was the most approachable link to the Solodrey and Nognes family.


    Khan''s return didn''t go unnoticed, but no guest could stop him as he crossed the terrace. He went directly for Monica, and she seized his elbow to keep him by her side.


    "You took your time," Monica whispered to Khan''s ear, and he took that chance to tease her.


    "We started talking about marriage," Khan whispered back.


    No one could hear the conversation, and Khan''s face was as imprable as always. Monica also retained her elegant fa?ade, but her mind thanked her dark skin for hiding the slight blush rising to her cheeks.


    "Cousin," Prince William approached the couple. "Should we have a toast to honor your beautiful fianc¨¦e?"


    "Fill everyone''s sses," Khan ordered, slightly raising his voice. The waiters immediately got to work, attending to every guest who didn''t have a drink ready.


    Khan waited for everyone to look back at him before lifting his ss and uttering a simple toast. "To Monica Solodrey."


    The guests echoed the toast, and Khan fell prey to countless conversations. He wasn''t exactly goodpany but supported Monica during the endless pleasantries that targeted her.


    Of course, more requests for business cooperation flew toward Khan, especially from the older generations, but his answers remained vague. He didn''t even set dates for meetings or political dinners, and his status prevented the guests from insisting.


    That was a nned move. Khan didn''t want to use Monica''s birthday to explore political ventures, but another reason made him ignore the many offers. The recent conversations had put a strange idea in his mind, and the opportunity to explore it arrived once the night reached itste hour.


    The guests'' political education could keep them talking for hours, but the Solodrey family had nned events to entertain them all. Those arrangements also considered the crowd''s age and status, splitting it into a few groups and locations.


    Khan and most of the younger generation ended up on the lower floor, inside the dance hall he had used for his conversation with Reba. Monica, Anita, and a few other descendants focused on enjoying the music, doing their best to celebrate the birthday and blow off some steam. However, many were near a wall, gathered around Khan.


    Jokes and harmless chit-chats flew while Khan limited himself to nods and silence. He appeared unapproachable, and the guests didn''t insist. They took his asional shortments as wins, but far more awaited them.


    "I have an offer," Khan eventually announced, silencing the whole group. Everyone looked at him, and the few dancing guests who heard him approached him.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I willunch a mass expansion soon," Khan revealed. "Each new quadrant will benefit from my authority and connection to the Thilku Empire."


    "Are you asking us to fill them?" Lucian asked, his words revealing what everyone else was thinking.


    "You know I have favorable conditions here," Khan said. "You know dealing with me will be cheaper and more advantageous than any future negotiation with the Global Army."


    "Count me in," John eximed.


    "John, wait," Mark scolded. "Prince, the request is


    financially valuable, but I have the impression you aren''t thinking about Credits."


    "He is talking about alliances," Monica shouted from the dance floor as she slowly approached the group. The remaining guests around her followed her, gathering everyone at Khan''s location.


    "What''s this?" Lucy asked. "A cooperation among the younger generation?"


    "And around me," Khan added.


    Those descendants were cunning and knowledgeable. They instantly understood what Khan aimed to create. The n was bold and had great potential, but one variable remained. Khan was a walking red g with a terrible reputation. Mere acquaintances would think twice before binding themselves to him.


    "What about ownership?" Luke wondered.


    "Any advantagees from my name," Khan exined. "Every piece ofnd you''ll upy will belong to me."


    "Authority?" Bruce pressed on.


    "Mine at the top," Khan said, "But the level of freedom can be negotiated, depending on your intentions."


    The offer had its drawbacks, but its potential was undeniable. The almost entirety of Baoway was ready for the taking. Those descendants only had to n their resources to turn it into a money-printing machine.


    "Though," Khan continued, "I must say this at least once. The second you break my rules or plot something, I''ll destroy you."

 Chapter 804 Allies

    Chapter 804 Allies


    The threat triggered different reactions. Some smiled at Khan''s no-nonsense stance, mainly because actual events supported it. The recent ughter told everyone he couldn''t be more serious, which vouched for hismitment.


    Instead, others saw the threat as additional proof of Khan''s unreliability. He seemed bound to taint his name even more, inevitably affecting his eventual allies.


    Nevertheless, everyone quickly suppressed their reactions. The gesture was pointless before Khan, but those instincts were hard to abandon, especially for descendants who had spent their entire lives training for simr moments.


    Khan feigned ignorance and even looked at his drink to pretend he wasn''t paying attention to the scene. He couldn''t miss any detail even if he wanted to, but the gesture gave the descendants some breathing room, allowing them to consider the offer without additional mental pressure.


    The matter was far from simple, which was part of the reason Khan tried to make things easier for the descendants. Moreover, everyone was aware of its intricacies, building up tension as the seconds passed.


    It was the descendants'' job to rece their parents. Mana made the endeavorst decades, but that remained the ultimate goal of the new generation.


    The descendants could achieve the goal in many ways. The wealthy ones actually had countless paths avable, and nothing stopped them from exploring all of them.


    Social alliances, remunerative businesses, influential structures, and more could increase the descendants'' value, eventually putting them at the center of their factions'' political array. This process was slow and often involved many negotiations and secret deals, but everything always started with assets.


    Khan''s offer could go a long way toward that goal. Some of the wealthiest descendants in the hall owned entire space stations, but a proper outssed those structures. Adding the Thilku Empire to the equation only increased its value. The deals would also be profitable, and securing them would grant massive influence and power to the younger generation.


    The fact that the matter was connected to Khan could be a drawback, but the public announcement put the audience into a pickle. The descendants would have to split the among themselves, so refusing now would leave open spots, increasing the offer''s value. Fewer contestants meant vaster avable areas, which could lead to greater earnings.


    Simply put, even those set on refusing hesitated to avoid benefitting their fellow descendants. Letting them earn freely from Baoway would put them ahead on the politicaldder, consequently creating unfavorableparisons, and no one wanted to be part of the younger generation''s bad batch.


    Many considered epting the offer to limit their fellow descendants'' earnings, but that would be a hasty decision. Still, one side of the audience had it easier and soon made its voice heard.


    "Sure," Luke was the first to break the pensive silence. "I owe you one anyway, and it''s not like I won''t earn from it."


    Luke nced at Bruce, who promptly nodded before adding something. "Should we expect individual meetings for the negotiations?"


    "A general one first to split the quadrants," Khan exined. "Individual ones afterward."


    "I wanted a more direct line with you, Prince Khan," Lucian announced. "I won''t miss this opportunity, right, Mark?"


    "Money is money," Mark sighed. "Though I suspect Prince Khan doesn''t want any involvement from our parents."


    "Indeed," Khan confirmed. "This opportunity is for you as long as it''s limited to you."


    "Mark," John called. "You''ll have to help me out on the numbers issue."


    "We can have our negotiations together," Mark gave in, nodding.


    Anita almost joined the conversation, but George silenced her by grabbing her hand. She shot a confused nce at him, but he pretended not to notice while keeping his eyes on Khan. Their allegiance wasn''t in doubt, so a silent stance would have a greater impact. George would exin that to Anitater, and she trusted him enough to y along for now.


    Prince William and Princess Felicia were also in the hall, but thework knew about their loyalties. Alexander had chosen Khan as his sessor, so his Cousins simply smiled, allowing him to seize the spotlight.


    Those who had yet to state their opinion were mostly women. Lucy, Zoe, Marcia, and a few others had never established a rtively deep friendship with Khan in the Harbor, so they hesitated to jump on his ship.


    However, big yers had already stepped forward. Luke was famously rich, and Bruce was right behind him. The same went for Lucian, and Mark and John were no mere pawns, either.


    Adding the Nognes and Solodrey family to the equation created a massive force with immense influence. An organization with such powerful yers could achieve almost anything, and missing the chance to be part of it could be the regret of a lifetime.


    The hesitation intensified, giving birth to a fearsome realization. The colonization of the and descendants'' enrichment were already set in stone, but that had always been unavoidable. The matter had be a certainty the second Khan had mentioned it.


    Yet, counting and evaluating the families that had chosen to join Khan rified another aspect of the event. From the beginning, Khan had imed that he would remain in charge, so his new allies pushed his authority to a superior level.


    That was only the younger generation. The descendants'' control over their families was limited and often hindered by their parents and other factions. However, things wouldn''t always remain like that, and only a fraction of those allies had to be Patriarchs and Matriarchs to provide Khan with immense power.


    That simple meeting inside a dance hall could very well mark the birth of one of the greatest organizations the Global Army had ever seen. Still, even that wasn''t enough to obtain unanimous approval.


    "You''ll exin this to my Father," Lucymented, eyeing Mark before looking at Khan. "Count me in, Prince Khan."


    "Prince, I''m afraid I must refuse," Zoe followed. "I don''t wield much influence right now, so I can''t make such decisions by myself."


    "The same goes for me, Prince Khan," Marcia eximed. "I''m bound to my parents for these decisions. I hope you can understand."


    The refusals only contained half-truths, but Khan had no interest in probing deeper or publicly shaming those descendants. He understood why those figures would find it troublesome to join him, so he didn''t me the two women or those who followed with simr statements.


    "It''s settled, then," Khan eventually announced. "Focus on the party now. I''ve stolen enough time from my fianc¨¦e''s celebration."


    "You''ll make it up to me," Monica giggled. "Come on. I feel like dancing again."


    Monica''s words targeted the audience, who couldn''t refuse her wishes on that particr day. The descendants exchanged nods with Khan but eventually left him alone with his Cousins.


    "Bold move," Prince Williammented. "You are leaving the Global Army no chance to interfere."


    "It never had any chance," Khan dered. "I''m simply elerating the process."


    "I wonder why," Prince William said. "Did something happen with our Mother?"


    "William," Princess Felicia chuckled, but her call had a scolding vibe. "Can the faction help with the negotiations?"


    "You can send someone to help run the numbers," Khan epted, "But leave the heavy lifting to their families."


    "Do you want to see if they''ll stay true to their promises?" Prince William wondered, ncing at the dancing descendants. "They have the assets."


    "Though," Princess Felicia intervened, "Their ability to control them is in question."


    Khan didn''t confirm it, but Princess Felicia had hit the mark. Many saw Khan as an unstable threat now, so the descendants'' families could oppose the agreed-upon cooperation. Those who could meet Khan''s terms anyway would prove themselves to wield real power.


    "The political game," Prince William sighed. "You''d think you would grow tired of it at some point, but it never happens."


    "You should enjoy yourself, too, Cousin," Princess Felicia suggested. "You won''t get much free time once everything starts."


    "I am enjoying myself," Khan stated, his eyes fixed on the dance hall. The area had many friends, but Monica''s smile and asional nces in his direction obscured them. Only she existed, and seeing her happy made all that political pressure worth it.


    "Do you envy them, Cousin?" Prince William wondered, also looking at the dancing crowd. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I think I used to in the past," Khan admitted.


    "All the money, toys, and riches in the world," Prince Williammented, "And they only want more."


    "Are the nobles any different?" Khan asked.


    "No," Prince William uttered, showing his smile to Khan. "We are worse. We can''t even look past the benefits of our status."


    "You chose me," Khan pointed out. "I should be no different than a tamed beast in your eyes."


    "On the contrary," Prince William said.


    "You are a noble," Princess Felicia exined. "But you also received an education we can''t gain ess to. That makes you special."


    "Your hopes are the least of my problems," Khan dered.


    "You have been a Prince for four months," Prince William stated, "And you''ve involved many major families in colonizing a. You also have the Empire on your side. I don''t think we need to hope at all."


    "You are doing great, Cousin," Princess Felicia summarized.


    ''But it''s still not enough,'' Khan thought. Something told him that even gathering humankind under a single banner wouldn''t be enough against the scarlet eyes.

 Chapter 805 Expansion

    Chapter 805 Expansion


    Finding excuses to keep the younger generation on Baoway after the birthday ended was easy. Prince William and Princess Felicia stayed behind, providing the perfect opportunity to create a connection to the Nognes family that went beyond Khan.


    Even those who had refused Khan''s offer yed along, lingering on the to hide the various individual negotiations. Many meetings unfolded as specialistsnded and departed into the quadrant. Bncing deals among so many descendants took time, but Khan eventually reached an agreement with everyone.


    The n could move to the next step afterward. The forest was already taken, but the other quadrants needed to understand the new world order. The descendants had more than enough firepower to take them by force, but Khan had his reasons to act personally.


    A ship hovered above a pristine environment. Shorter trees surrounded the manykes in the quadrant, creating the perfect spots for settlements and viges. A few tribes lived in the area, and their poption was slowly reaching a critical point.


    Khan checked the scanners inside the ship before opening its side doors. The warm afternoon wind blew on his face, filling the vehicle''s insides. The small crew couldn''t help but ignore its duties and look at him, only to see him jump in the following second.


    The symphony added details to the scanners'' images. Khan closed his eyes, free-falling from the ship as his brain absorbed all the necessary information. Usually, he would opt for the same slow approach he had taken during his first period on Baoway, but time wasn''t on his side.


    ''There,'' Khan thought when he pinpointed the area with the highest number of auras. His eyes opened, and his figure stopped mid-air before disappearing altogether.


    The Scalqa had primitive ways ofmunication. The best they could rely on was information gathered by scouts or during battles, which only provided knowledge of the nearby areas. Learning about the situation in different quadrants was simply impossible with their means.


    However, many ships had invaded Baoway''s atmosphere in the previous months, warning even the more distant tribes about strange events. The issue had yet to affect them, but that was about to change from that day onward.


    The vaster and more popted settlement in thekes'' quadrant counted around sixty Scalqa. That was an excellent achievement for a tribe with no external help, but the favorable environment aided that process, and its encampment reflected that advantage.


    Theke was a natural barrier against iing attacks, so the settlement''s barrier only had to epass three-quarters of the total area upied by the tribe. That allowed more flexibility in eventual expansions and provided a secure food source that didn''t require dangerous hunts.


    Of course, the different environments led to different habits, but one detail stuck around. Theke settlement had a blue bush at its center, which the tribe didn''t hide under a tent. Those Scalqa seemed to prefer leaving it in the open.


    It waste afternoon, so every hunting team had returned to the settlement. By that hour, the tribe was almostplete, leaving only a few patrolling teams and scouts outside. The encampment''s power was at its peak, and Khannded right in the middle of it.


    Khan''s movements never made any sound. Even his more violent techniques exuded an innate grace that saved the environment from loud repercussions. Hisnding was no different, so no one noticed his arrival.


    However, Khan''s aura was apletely different issue. His presence carried the weight of his power, warning the entire settlement about his arrival.


    The Scalqacked heightened senses, but the sudden temperature drop didn''t go unnoticed. Out of instinct, they turned their heads, focusing on the settlement''s center. Many aliens also exited their tents and saw the same eerie scenery as theirpanions.


    It couldn''t be stressed enough how small Khan was in the Scalqa''s vision. The average Scalqa was three meters tall, and everything about Baoway was bigger, so Khan looked genuinely tiny, and his defined muscles didn''t help.


    Nevertheless, that detail created an inexplicable conflict in the Scalqa''s primitive minds. Khan was beyond tiny, which should mean rtively harmless and weak, but the aliens'' instincts told them to stay away. Death seemed ready to descend on anyone who tried to approach Khan.


    ''It needs more nutrients,'' Khan thought, studying the blue bush. He hadnded right before the nt, and his time on Baoway had taught him much about it. He only needed a look to understand its state. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''They mustck shamans,'' Khan concluded, forgetting about the nt to face the frozen audience.


    A blue light joined the environment, and the frozen Scalqa soon saw that glow shining on them. Khan''s bright eyes illuminated the area, granting him a magical vibe that kept the aliens silent.


    "[I''m Ka-Han]," Khan announced, "[From the Ka-Han Tribe. Join me]!"


    Khan filled his words with his power, hoping they would convince the Scalqa to submit without a fight. Yet, he miscalcted an aspect of the new quadrant, and one of the aliens soon rified.


    A fourth-level warrior wearing bone armor stepped forward after the announcement, approaching Khan and stopping a few meters from him. His imposing figure hid Khan from Baoway''s star, but his bright eyes fended off the shadows that tried to envelop him.


    "[Ka-Han Tribe]," The huge alien said alongside other words Khan couldn''t understand. They reminded him of things he had learned in the past period, but the different ents and sounds prevented him from tranting them.


    ''A dialect,'' Khan realized. ''Great.''


    The Scalqa''s statement made hispanions explode into excited cries. Many shouts flew in Khan''s direction, but he barely understood a quarter of them. He believed getting used to the dialect wouldn''t take him long, but his prioritiesy elsewhere that day.


    "Fall," Khan muttered, giving birth to a circr tremor that expanded from his figure and reached every corner of the settlement. Ripples appeared on theke behind him, and the tents'' pelts pped as if moved by the wind.


    The Scalqa had it far worse than theke and tents. Everyone lost their bnce, and many fell to the ground. The ground shook due to those aliens'' weight, but Khan''s figure didn''t waver. His eyes remained fixed on the Scalqa who had dared to challenge him.


    The huge Scalqa before Khan was the best warrior in the settlement but had also been closer to the tremor''s origin. His muscles tensed as his legs gave in. He fell, but his immense physical strength kept him on his knees.


    However, a hand closed itself around the Scalqa''s jaw before he could even think about standing up. Khan''s fingers were too short to reach both sides of the alien''s face, but that didn''t stop them from conveying their strength. That mere touch told the Scalqa that Khan could kill him without dropping a sweat.


    The scene didn''t make any sense. Even while kneeling, the Scalqa still matched Khan''s height. The difference in size was immense, but the same went for the gap in their power. Khan could very well be a god to those primitive warriors.


    "[Join Ka-Han Tribe]," Khan said as a silent order spread through the symphony, "[Or die]."


    Everyone heard Khan''s words, and the following eventpensated for thenguage barrier. Tens of purple-red lights appeared in the sky above the settlement, gathering power to shine more brightly. Khan didn''t bother turning them into spears, but the demonstration worked as intended.


    Primitive minds or not, the Scalqa instantly understood they were against something otherworldly. Most were warriors, so they realized they stood no chance against Khan. His existence exceeded what they couldprehend, and reverence was the only reasonable reaction.


    "[K]-," The kneeling Scalqa muttered, slowly lifting his arms to point his palms at the sky. "[Ka-Han Tribe]."


    Khan''s gaze lingered on the kneeling Scalqa before going over the audience. Aliens lifted their arms in surrender whenever his eyes pointed at them. Soon, the entire settlement prostrated to Khan, and he let go of the Scalqa to wave his hand at the sky.


    The gesture initially confused the Scalqa, and that feeling intensified when ships descended toward the settlement. Still, Khan was among them, so no one dared to make harsh moves. They didn''t understand what was happening but knew they had no choice but to go along.


    The shipsnded outside the rocky barrier, opening their side doors and showing their spacious insides. Those cargo vehicles seemed perfect for carrying Scalqa, which was why Khan had brought them with him.


    "[Climb]," Khan ordered, pointing at the ships and taking the lead in the march. He walked toward the vehicles, and the settlement slowly gathered behind him, following his every step.


    "Fly them back to the settlement," Khan ordered one of the pilots while the loading process was still ongoing. "My fianc¨¦e will handle the rest."


    The pilot responded, but Khan had already started ignoring him. He needed to help retrieve the blue bush and sort out the settlement''s items. He didn''t hope to find much, but some details could aid the following trips.


    ''Now I just have to repeat this for the entire,'' Khan thought, holding back a helpless sigh.

 Chapter 806 God

    Chapter 806 God


    Khan''s expansion strategy proceeded smoothly. No tribe could hope to oppose him, and his strange abilities put him closer to a deity rather than a strong warrior in those primitive minds. He barely had to do anything to make the Scalqa fall to their knees.


    The quadrant''s ships also removed problems connected to the vast scope of the mission. Baoway wasn''t immense but remained a, and Khan wanted to handle every conquest personally. That could take decades on his own, but the various vehicles greatly shortened the process.


    Nevertheless, new problems surged as the expansion continued. Khan acted personally to avoid pointless bloodshed and add assets to his force. He wanted the Scalqa''s strength for multiple reasons, but their numbers rose too much too quickly.


    It soon became impossible to stuff all the neers into the settlement, and there was a limit to how much Khan could expand it. Adding blue bushes cleared more of the forest, but the trees wouldpletely disappear if Khan kept at it.


    Building new settlements became mandatory, which Khan could easily achieve with manpower in his quadrant. Yet, the Scalqa, especially the neers, would regress to their primitive, free state without proper leadership, and Khan couldn''t be everywhere at once.


    Appointing trustworthy leaders was the only solution, but Khan quickly ran out of them. He wanted Rok-Go close for his understanding of the blue nts, but Kru-Zi, Ni-Kri, and another former tribe leader could do. However, that only covered three settlements, and the entire could fit thousands of them.


    Moreover, a troubling trend spread among the neers. Khan''s deity-like behavior made the Scalqa want to be close to him. Almost everyone desired to serve him directly instead of being relegated to a distant settlement.


    It soon became clear a half-assed approach wouldn''t work. Khan could prioritize the empty quadrants all he wanted, but the issue remained. That method dyed the inevitable at most, which he couldn''t abuse due to his deals with the descendants.


    However, immediate solutions didn''t exist. Khan needed to spend time among the neers to solidify their reverence. Training them in the human ways would also take a while, and incidents could happen if he sent unprepared Scalqa in the middle of factories and simr structures.


    Those problems would be easy to handle inside the main quadrant, but everything had to be perfect inside the areas upied by the allied descendants. Thetter weren''t dumb, but Khan wanted to appear reliable. Still, colonizing an entire by himself was turning out to be more than he could handle.


    Khan''s inability to find a solution forced him to summon his inner circle. Few were off, but Gordon, Monica, Lieutenant Dyester, and George were avable, and their brainstorming eventually provided a feasible idea. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Are you serious?" Khan asked, his eyes studying the''s map above the interactive table inside one of the quadrant''s main ships.


    "Historically," Monica announced, "It worked. It would also suit your situation."


    Khan fell silent, but his senses noticed the suppressed chuckles surrounding his friends. George and Lieutenant Dyester seemed about to burst out into augh, but a wave of seriousness soon enveloped thetter.


    "Don''t let it go to your head," Lieutenant Dyester warned. "You are one step away from going overboard as it is. Religious fanatism is thest thing you need."


    ''Fuck,'' Khan cursed in his mind, especially since the idea made sense. Realistically, that trend had also started on its own due to his magical power.


    The inner circle''s n involved two phases. The first was to abandon the idea of leaving Scalqa settlements in every quadrant. The approach was feasible, but the authority issues weren''t worth the hassle. Khan''s power would be too fragmented, and reminding those aliens about who was in charge would be a periodic waste of time.


    Finding a rtively empty quadrant and establishing multiple, massive cities was a far better approach in terms of management. The Empire and Global Army would provide the structures, allowing Khan to concentrate his power into a single area, consolidating the Scalqa''s poption and quickening their mental and technological development.


    The approach would involve relocating the umted blue bushes, but managing a handful of locations was better than overseeing a thousand. The idea would greatly diminish Khan''s workload and make use of the few trustworthy figures among his alien underlings.


    Khan had no issue with that new strategy, but the second phase slightly irked him. The Scalqa were attached to nature, so relocating into an artificial environment could create problems. Big cities were also harder to manage in terms of public order, but Khan''s inner circle had found a solution that might solve both sides of the matter.


    "Really," Khan sighed. "A cult leader."


    "Religious leader," Monica corrected. "The process has already started anyway. You know how the Scalqa look at you. Rok-Go is also a good priest candidate."


    Khan felt the urge to tear the ship to shreds. He didn''t mind being a leader. The assassination attempt had turned him into that. Khan would even don crowns and sit on tall thrones if the situation required it. Yet, the idea of creating a religion left a bad taste in his mouth.


    The issue wasn''t with the involved authority. Khan knew and epted that side of his life could only grow. It was unavoidable since people kept following him, and the scarlet eyes even added a tinge of necessity to the matter.


    However, a religious leader involved something entirely different from kings and emperors. The cult would be established around Khan, but he was no god. His powers were magical, miraculous even in the Scalqa''s eyes, but he remained nothing more than a mutated human.


    Zu-Gru''s maimed corpse shed in Khan''s vision as he considered the idea. Leading the Scalqa was fine, but bing their god was akin to tricking them, and he didn''t want to lie to that species. The Scalqa deserved more from him.


    Yet, better solutions didn''t exist. That was Khan''s best shot at preserving and empowering the Scalqa without destroying their or making it fall prey to civil wars. It would also consolidate his authority in ways mere negotiations and shows of force couldn''t achieve. Khan would get his army as long as he was willing to pay the price.


    "Start the n," Khan eventually announced, pointing at one spot on the holographic map. "Build a city in this quadrant. Once everything is ready, I''ll relocate the Scalqa there."


    Gordon immediately got to work, but George and Lieutenant Dyester peeked at Khan before exchanging a knowing nce. They understood the matter weighed on Khan''s mind, but the situation left them powerless to do anything about it.


    Everyone left for the intended consoles, preparing the directives to start the n, but Khan walked out of the main deck and entered the cargo area to achieve some privacy. That didn''t arrive, but he didn''t mind the intrusion.


    "It''s what they need," Monica reassured, reaching for Khan''s shoulder to make him notice her presence. "It''s what you already are for the Scalqa."


    "A god," Khan scoffed. "Bullets don''t kill gods."


    "They didn''t kill you," Monica pointed out.


    "Because one of them shielded me," Khan said, almost shouting as he turned to face Monica. "Because a Scalqa took those bullets for me."


    Monica was different from George and Lieutenant Dyester. She had long since be the closest person to Khan, and hearing him raise his voice told her exactly how angry he was.


    Nevertheless, anger wasn''t the problem. Its target was. Khan med himself and his weaknesses for resorting to a simr strategy. He hated himself for lying to a species that had already shed blood for him.


    "Heavy is the crown," Monicamented, reaching for Khan''s cheek, "And things will get worse. Many will die once wars get waged in your name. You''d try to shoulder everything on yourself, but you can''t. No one can."


    Monica''s education allowed her to simte events Khan''s mind had yet to consider. She had never seen a war but could understand where things would lead. She also knew Khan, and it was her role to stop his unrealistic expectations from ruining his life.


    Ideally, Khan would do everything by himself. He would fight wars on his own instead of risking his underlings'' lives in battle. He would face the entire world alone instead of dealing with the friendly casualties connected to his directives.


    However, Monica''s words made Khan ept the reality of his status. Leadersmanded, and those orders asionally led to their underlings'' death. That was how the world worked. Khan had managed to avoid those instances for now, but the time would eventuallye.


    "For what is worth," Monica continued. "I know you''ll be the best leader there is. Your current anger only confirms this. You''ll be good but ruthless, making the hard choices but with your force''s best interest in mind."


    Khan found those words hard to believe but epted them since they came from Monica. He took the hand on his cheek but quickly released it to approach the ship''s side doors.


    "You are thinking something stupid," Monica muttered, "Aren''t you?"


    "It''s nothing," Khan eximed, opening the side doors. "Lying is unavoidable, so I must turn the lie into reality."


    "Khan," Monica called in her scolding tone.


    "If the Scalqa have to worship me as a god," Khan stated. "I''ll be a god."


    Monica instantly devised an hour-long scolding, but the shouts remained in her mind. Khan had flown away before she could open her mouth to start rebuking him.

 Chapter 807 Supplement

    Chapter 807 Supplement


    The wind blew on Khan''s face as he free-fell from the sky, but the sensation wasn''t intense enough for his messy mind. His ankles twitched, generating a sudden eleration that pushed his skin''s resilience to its limit. Yet, even that couldn''t silence his thoughts.


    Khan closed his eyes, flew at full speed, and let the symphony guide him. He had no target or destination. He let himself go, hoping the wind could quell the chaos in his brain.


    Eventually, a wet sensation spread on Khan''s face, and his nostrils became unable to seize oxygen. The change didn''t surprise him, and he let it lull him for a while. However, his mind continued to shout, forcing him to resurface.


    Khan took a deep breath when his face peeked past the water. He was inside ake surrounded by trees, and the symphony confirmed the absence of technology. He didn''t know his exact location, but that hardly mattered anymore. Even without official announcements, Baoway was his. Every drop of water belonged to him.


    It was barely past lunchtime. Baoway''s star shone high in the sky, illuminating theke and creating charming shes on its surface. Khan caught all of them, but his eyes failed to appreciate their beauty. Even the best paradise couldn''t do anything against his worrying troubles.


    ''A god, Khan thought, rxing to float belly-up on theke. ''What even is a god?''


    Religions were an idea of the past. Humankind had to rebuild itself from scratch after the First Impact, leaving no room for those notions. Some cults and rtivelyrge beliefs had reappeared, but nothingparable to what the few historical records described.


    Khan''s situation was even more unique. The Slums had small cults, but most citizens only cared about surviving. Food was their god, and everything was allowed to get it. Information and knowledge gathered during various, sparse lessons flowed through Khan''s mind. Notions learned years ago popped out, trying to bring rity. He wanted to define godhood, but that concept felt too ethereal for him.


    Khan lived in a world of his own. He saw energy flow with his bare eyes and couldmunicate with it through his thoughts. However, part of his brain still held tightly to the cynical and realistic ways of the Slums, preventing him from considering reverence toward higher powers. It simply was a matter of strength in his vision.


    ''Strength I have,'' Khan thought. ''But strength doesn''t make me a god.


    That wasn''t entirely true. Monica was right. Many Scalqa already saw Khan as something close to a divine entity, but he couldn''t settle for the perspective of primitive minds. Khan wanted to be the real deal if he had to establish a cult. ''Maybe miracles, Khan considered. ''Gods do those.''


    Khan immediately found ws with that idea. The Scalqa saw most of what he did as a miracle. Even some humans probably thought that, and Khan couldn''t ept it.


    Still, something about the concept pushed Khan''s thoughts into a new direction. Miracles were only a matter of perspective and strength in his mind, but thetter had a quantifiable source. Mana enabled that power. Everything started with that energy, making it the closest thing to a divine trace he could find.


    ''Mana makes us strong, Khan thought. ''Mana creates miracles.''


    The more Khan lingered on that idea, the more convinced he got. Yet, his thoughts inevitably went forward, reaching a conclusion he had unconsciously already considered.


    "The Nak embody mana, Khan concluded. "The Nak are mana.''


    Khan had learned enough about the Nak to know that reasoning was wed. The Nak hadunched genocides on a universal scale precisely because they had reached their evolutionary limit. They needed hosts that could surpass them, stating they were far from perfect or divine.


    Nevertheless, Khan was a special case. He could potentially be the special case the Nak had tried to create, the host that could surpass their evolutionary limit. Moreover, Khan also had the opportunity to expand that side of his gic pool.


    ''If another transformation happens,'' Khan wondered, ''And I unlock more power ...''


    Reba had the Nak, and Milia 222''s incident had proven that Khan''s element could trigger a reaction with those body parts. It also seemed he could absorb their power to deepen his mutation, which could provide new abilities when paired with the blue nts'' green substance.


    ''I did get one already, Khan recalled. ''Maybe there''s something else in those genes!


    Khan was only brainstorming. Realistically, he believed the scarlet eyes were thest piece of his curse''s puzzle. He could be wrong, but few things could beat a universal threat.


    Still, the off meeting with Reba was set in stone. Khan only had to decide the time and date. He would also test those alien body parts anyway. The recent development had simply put some hurry in him.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan''s military uniform had long since be drenched, but he continued to float, letting minutes and hours slip by in that rare break. He couldn''t achieve peace, but his determination intensified. Initially, Khan was conflicted about a possible second transformation. However, he would wholeheartedly wee it now.


    As priceless as thosezy moments were, Khan eventually dug a hand into his drenched pocket to retrieve his phone. The device could survive his element, so the water didn''t affect its functions. However, it seemed he hadnded in a quadrant with no connection to thework.


    ''What a hassle, Khan cursed, storing his phone and considering his options.


    Following traces of technology would be easy. The symphony would guide Khan to the nearest upied quadrant, but the flight could take a while, and he couldn''t waste more time.


    ''She would never leave mepletely alone in a quadrant with no connection,'' Khan thought, stretching his arm upward.


    Mana escaped from Khan''s stretched fingers, changing shape and density as he drew bright lines in the empty air. His gestures exuded precision and confidence, as if he were a skilled painter with a brush. Eventually, a rtivelyplex symbol formed above him, and he pressed his palm on it to activate its effects.


    mes suddenly burst out of the symbol, rising into the sky to create a scarlet pir. Dark smoke umted around it, suppressing the fire but lingering in the air. That was a pale imitation of Monica''s eruption, which Khan had learned to replicate during his attempts at controlling her element.


    A ship flew into the area before the smoke could disperse and descended toward theke. Khan let it reach its surface before shooting up and appearing before its side doors.


    The doors instantly opened, showing two soldiers wearing military salutes. They simultaneously chanted a "Prince Khan", but Khan ignored them and headed toward the main deck.


    "Miss Solodrey apologizes for not being here," One of the soldiers exined, following Khan into the main deck.


    Khan waved his hand dismissively as he reached the pilot''s seat. The soldier behind the controls promptly stood up, moved aside, and performed a military salute. Khan ignored her, too, sitting down to take control of the ship.


    Monica''s absence was understandable. She would love to spend time with Khan, but her duties made her busier than him. Khan could beat her at it while conquering settlements, but the temporary break in the expansion had cleared his schedule.


    Still, the n required Khan''s help, and he had wasted enough time. A map appeared above the pilot''s console, and Khan stepped on the pedal to return to civilized areas.


    Even with all the added resources, half a day wasn''t enough to prepare everything for the new strategy. Establishing a city and nning a mass migration would take time, especially since the trend had to culminate in Khan''s coronation as a religious leader.


    The strategy''s initial phases didn''t require much from Khan, but he wanted to be there anyway. His presence would make everything smoother, and it was the role of a leader to show his face during significant changes. The ship quickly reached areas he had colonized, and his phone began to buzz as it regained a connection to thework.


    Khan usually ignored his phone. It always rang anyway, and


    Khan usually ignored his phone. It always rang anyway, and most messages came from reporters or rtively powerful parties requesting political meetings. That wasn''t the time to attend to them, but ncing at the endless stream of notifications revealed a message worth opening.


    ''Abraham''sb?'' Khan thought, unlocking the screen. The message hade from a secure channel and contained an encrypted file, which his gic signature opened.


    Khan almost forgot about the ship''s controls as he went through the file. He initially split his attention, but the exnations on the screen quickly forced him to concentrate.


    The file contained many scientific talks, but a shorter summary for less knowledgeable people followed. Khan''s interest only intensified when he reached that part, and the final line almost put a smile on his cold face.


    ''We developed a supplement, The message said. ''If the data is reliable, this tool can almost double the infusions'' efficiency!

 Chapter 808 Seed

    Chapter 808 Seed


    ''Finally,'' Khan thought, suppressing the urge to shout in excitement. That was the development he needed. The Global Army still didn''t know it, but the game changer had just fallen into Khan''s hands.


    Discovering the blue nts'' beneficial properties had turned Baoway into a gold mine, which the assassination attempt had put into Khan''s hands. His political maneuvers with the Thilku Empire had also secured his authority, basically sanctioning the current expansion.


    Khan had engaged in those practices for multiple reasons, but the Global Army mainly cared about one, and Abraham''sb had just confirmed its existence. Khan''s scientists had created something humans could use to improve their growth, and he had a monopoly over it.


    Moreover, that resource didn''t belong to the broad market. Only wealthy parties would purchase it since the infusions remained a requirement. It was a high-tier product, and Khan could pump up its price to insane levels for that exact reason.


    Things didn''t end there. Educating and raising powerful descendants was almost mandatory for the wealthy parties. They needed stronger assets to retain their superiority over the weaker organizations. It wasn''t only a matter of raw strength. The matter was heavily political, granting Khan ess to a currency that could turn every enemy into an ally.


    The Global Army enforced order, but everyone knew who truly stood at the top. The nobles decided, controlled, and managed everything without ever sharing that power with anyone. That ensured their authority remained unchallenged, and Khan could finally join their game.


    The nobles had to meet even harsher expectations than the wealthy parties. Their Princes and Princesses had to be far superior to other descendants. They would beg Khan for a piece of the pie as soon as the supplement became known.


    Securing deals with the noble families would affect the entire political environment. Khan was mainly hated and feared, but everyone would bow their heads if humankind''s true leaders began dealing with and depending on him. He would be essential, giving him far more benefits than his incredible strength could ever achieve.


    Still, everything came down to one simple detail. The supplement had to work as intended, and Khan forwarded a message to initiate that process.


    The news acted as a bright light in the darkest night. Khan finally saw a n that didn''t involvepromising himself. He had the chance to do good for himself and hispanions. Yet, the worst part had toe first.


    Busy days passed as Khan''s inner circle handled multiple jobs. Huge metal structures reached the sea station, and ships picked them up to ce them in the appointed quadrant.


    Teams of soldiers worked day and night on those structures, bringing everything online and testing every function. Humankind demonstrated its technological superiority, stunning any Scalqa who witnessed the process.


    Buildings taller than Baoway''s trees rose in a matter of days, and a sea of smaller habitations surrounded them in no time. Vast streets also appeared among them, splitting everything into blocks and districts. Nature submitted to the power of technology, giving birth to something that could make the Harbor envious.


    Khan had initially aimed for a proper city, but the Scalqa''s primitive minds forced him topromise. The result was closer to a glorified military encampment built out of metal and machines. Of course, the ce''s central areas had taller structures with advanced functions, but none were meant for the Scalqa.


    The fated day eventually arrived. Khan was inside one of the new encampment''s central buildings, alone in a hall he had designed himself. Multipleyers of ground stood above the metal floor, allowing the six blue bushes nted there to thrive. That was his special training room, and the nts'' constant influence seemed to intensify his heavy aura.


    Khan didn''t look at the nts. His eyes were on a mirror created through the wall''s menus. His eyes were on his clear reflection, but he looked past it. He knew how he had to appear that day, and what he saw simply wasn''t it.


    Khan''s hands reached for his uniform''s buttons, opening it and letting it fall to the ground. He slowly but smoothly moved to his pants, and his shoes followed.


    Soon, Khan ended up naked before the mirror. The soil dirtied his feet, but that natural touch steadied his mind. Still, a pungent stench assaulted his nostrils, eventually bringing his eyes to a metal basin under him.


    A dark red liquid filled the basin, and Khan knew exactly what it was. He had collected it himself from the fauna nearby. The newly gathered Scalqa had slightly different cultures, but that would stop them from recognizing the blood of Baoway''s monsters. That was a universalnguage, and Khan would soon have to speak to all of them. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan bent down, immersing his fingers in the liquid before bringing them to his face. He started with his forehead, drawing war paint that quickly stretched to his neck. His torso followed, and even his legs didn''t escape the process.


    A door opened and closed while Khan added the finishing touches. Slow steps resounded on the ground until a figure appeared in the mirror. Monica stared at Khan''s reflection, her expression conveying sternness and sadness. She wanted Khan to seize that authority but knew how much it weighed on him.


    Khan ignored Monica. He studied his reflection, making sure everything was in order before immersing both palms into the basin. Blood fell from his hands as he brought them to his hair, digging inside it to pull it back.


    The blood acted as hairspray, keeping Khan''s long hair in check and exposing his face. It also added dark shades to its blue color, further changing his appearance. Few would recognize him now, but no one would underestimate him. Even the more advanced humans would hesitate to disrespect him when looking like that.


    "It suits you," Monica couldn''t help butment.


    "I know," Khan said, noticing her strange tone. His voice carried a simr feeling, and the couple didn''t need to express it to understand each other. They had talked extensively about that topic, and the answer never changed.


    Khan looked perfect for authority. Monica had always known that. However, spending years with him had forced her to understand a sad truth. The Global Army''s military uniform was too tight for him, and no number of stars on his shoulders would make it fit.


    Instead, mere war paint perfectly matched Khan''s aura and oddities. Khan couldn''t see past the weight of the duty, but Monica noticed it. That primitive, alien look suited him more than any uniform or shirt could.


    "I''m ready," Khan eventually announced, looking to the basin''s right. A set of pelts and bonesy on the ground, waiting to be donned.


    "I''ll warn the others," Monica nodded, stepping back before focusing on the reflection again. She could see past Khan''s cold expression in the mirror, reminding her of her role.


    Monica stepped forward, seizing Khan''s hand to make him face her. She said nothing but reached for his chin to keep his head still. Her eyes studied the war paint for a second before leaning forward and kissing him.


    A reassuring smile blossomed in Khan''s vision when Monica retracted her head. The two didn''t need to say anything. She was only conveying her support. No matter how Khan looked, Monica would be at his side, and she wanted to give him a reminder that day.


    Monica hurried outside afterward, leaving Khan alone with his thoughts and tasks. He briefly stared at the exit before addressing the pelts and bones. He quickly donned the primitive armor, and onest nce at his reflection told him everything was in order.


    Khan closed his eyes before slowly reopening them. A blue light invaded the hall, filling the mirror and adding power to his presence. His irises shone, joining his attire in that alien look. Khan couldn''t look more distant from a human now. He actually barely looked like a mortal.


    Doors and corridors went by Khan''s vision as he made his way through the building. He crossed a few soldiers during the walk, but no one spoke. Everyone limited themselves to military salutes since they knew the pressure awaiting him.


    The walk ended when Khan crossed a huge metal door. The passage opened into a massive terrace, and reaching its edge granted a perfect view of the entire encampment. He saw the sea of metal tents spreading in every direction, almost reaching for the horizon, while the floor''s menus recorded his every move.


    Khan tapped the floor with his bare foot, and holographic screens popped out in multiple locations of the encampment. Simr images materialized on the central buildings'' surfaces, depicting Khan in all his shining glory. His bright eyes tried to mess up with the recording, but the menus were ready for that.


    Some Scalqa were already roaming the encampment streets, but the screens'' appearance made everyone else exit their tents. Soon, the entire encampment peeked in the open, captured by the holograms'' pictures. Khan''s face was more than known by that point, and his firm voice eventually echoed throughout the settlement.


    "[The Sky Tribe is stronger than any Tribe]," Khan announced, speaking slowly to make every word as clear as possible. The encampment already counted many dialects, and he wanted to avoid misunderstandings.


    "[And you are weak]," Khan continued, not surprised by the few scornful cries that rose into the air. "[But, Ka-Han is strong, and Ka-Han can make you strong]."


    Khan spread his arms, and the symphony moved. A series of purple-red spheres appeared above the settlement in four locations before transforming into spears. Those spells quickly exploded, giving birth to scorching pirs that shone over the sea of tents.


    "[Ka-Han Tribe will be the strongest]!" Khan shouted as his spells continued to burn in the air. "[Ka-Han is the strongest! Follow Ka-Han to take the Sky]!"


    Blue lights lit up everywhere. Every tent, street, and building started glowing. Khan''s allies had timed that with the end of his speech, and the Scalqa inevitably connected the event to him. Technology helped Khan appear omnipotent, and the Scalqa bought it since excited cries filled the encampment.


    Khan''s gaze continued to glow, but his eyes looked past the sea of aliens. The symphony told him aplete, unfiltered story. He could see the seed of faith spreading among those primitive minds. Khan only had to nourish and make it bloom now.

 Chapter 809 Coronation

    Chapter 809 Coronation


    The terrace was far above the sea of tents, but the Scalqa''s cries reached the sky, filling it with loud excitement. Those aliens understood war and respected Khan. He couldn''t have provided them with a betterbination.


    Still, faith needed fuel, and Khan couldn''t only feed the Scalqa with mysterious events. He had to show them something they would instantly recognize, and the vast doors behind him opened to move to that phase.


    Four tall figures crossed the door, stepping onto the terrace and approaching its edge. The scanners showed their appearance to the whole city, quieting down the cries. Rok-Go, Kru-Zi, Ni-Kri, and another Scalqa leader took their ce behind Khan, with only the former reaching for him.


    Both of Rok-Go''s hands were busy. One held his cane while the other wielded an iconic bone cup. The screens didn''t show it, but the audience understood what the ss contained.


    Rok-Go reached Khan and lowered his head while offering the cup to him. Khan seized it, and his glowing eyes soon fell on the green liquid inside. The substance was too dark to reflect anything, and its quantity wasn''t proper for humans.


    Nevertheless, Khan brought the cup to his mouth and gulped down the substance. The container''s odd shape made a few drops escape Khan''s lips and run down his chin, but most of the liquid ended up in his throat.


    A trace of difort invaded Khan as his body absorbed the liquid. The substance prepared his flesh for eventual transformations, which never arrived. Even the Nak''s genes remained still since Khan had already harnessed their power.


    Yet, Khan acted as if the liquid had triggered a reaction. He opened his hand, letting the cup fall on the terrace before spreading his mouth. A clicking cry filled his mind, and his throat soon echoed it, apanied by a forward re of purple-red mana.


    The terrace''s menus buzzed under the chaos element''s heavy influence. Chaos-resistance or not, Khan''s mana was too intense to record properly. The many screens across the settlement flickered and shed, struggling to keep up with the scene. However, the audience''s eyes had long since stopped minding them.


    Khan''s location allowed everyone to notice the re. Its bright light and conveyed power sent a chill down the audience''s spines, but the scene had something even stronger. The monstrous, otherworldly cry carried a specific emotion, and the symphony echoed it, spreading it to every corner of the settlement.


    Dense, intense, and overwhelming pride invaded the encampment, resonating with every Scalqa. The cry inspired them, creating a feeling their primitive minds couldn''t put into words. An alien ambition formed in their brain, almost making them dream about greatness.


    The feeling was addicting. It was a bottomless and unstoppable desire to reach for anything and everything. It was a primitive hunger that couldn''t be sated. The Scalqa only knew Khan existed at its center, and everyone soon shouted his name.


    The purple-red re dispersed as Khan closed his mouth. His name resounded in his ears, but his face showed no trace of happiness. He remained still as Rok-Go drew something from under his pelts.


    A circr item made of small bones tied together by hair strips appeared in the open, bing the recordings'' primary focus. The Scalqa went silent once again as Rok-Go lifted the strange crown and carefully ced it on Khan''s head. Most of the audience didn''t know what it meant, but excited shouts followed anyway.


    "[Now]," Khan announced, his voice echoed by the screens, "[Feast]!"


    Khan''s words started another aspect of the coronation. Ships appeared in the sky, descending toward the sea of tents. That small fleet stopped above the audience, opening its cargo areas to release various monsters'' corpses.


    The Scalqa diverted their attention to the newly arrived food. They didn''t forget its connection to Khan, but feasting came first.


    Khan didn''t mind it. He watched the feast unfold for a while, focusing on the symphony and its meaning, before retreating inside the building. The four Scalqa followed him, but the walk remained silent.


    The building''s insides were still mostly barebones. Khan nned to fill more rooms in the future, but other issues upied his mind now. Soldiers eventually joined him, forming an escort as he reached the lower areas of the structure.


    A teleport area eventually expanded in Khan''s vision. He had moved Lucian''s machine there since the city would soon be the new center of his domain. The equipment was also already active, and one item had evene out.


    The scientists had ced the small item on an interactive table, with scanners studying its every inch. The article was nothing more than a tiny sk containing a clear green liquid, but the machine''s results vouched for its value. Abraham had sent a sample of the supplement, and Khan couldn''t help but seize it after the initial round of inspections ended.


    Khan studied the sk before tilting it. His eyes even resumed shining to check for odd reflections, but nothing simr happened. The liquidcked impurities of any kind, and its clearer color almost described the massive gap from its original form.


    The density was also off. The green substance was dense, but that clearer liquid surpassed it in that field. When Khan tilted the sk, it almost resembled jelly.


    Khan went one step further by opening the sk and sniffing its insides. The faint scent of synthetic mana reached his nostrils, but his body''s reaction added more information. The experience reminded him of the effects of the green substance, but the effects felt far superior in intensity.


    The teleport area''s doors opened while Khan closed the sk. Lieutenant Dyester, Gordon, and Monica entered the room, and the escort moved aside to let them approach Khan.


    "That was quite the scene," Lieutenant Dyestermented, unable to stop inspecting Khan''s looks. "Do you n to walk around dressed like this from now on?"


    "You know he has to," Monica intervened. "Khan is a leader and has to look the part."


    "Leader," Lieutenant Dyester scoffed. "Don''t let it go to your head."


    "We agreed this was the best strategy," Monica pointed out.


    "Doesn''t mean I have to like it," Lieutenant Dyester said. "Dressing up like this is like asking for a war."


    "I am at war," Khan reminded, showing the sk to Gordon. "How many did Abraham make?"


    "Three," Gordon replied. "Four with this."


    "And the tests?" Khan asked.


    "They have begun since you gave the order, My Prince," Gordon responded. "Results should arrive in a few weeks."


    Khan had initially thought he could test the supplement on himself, but the presence of synthetic mana ruined his n. He wasn''t even sure he could ask Abraham to remove thatponent from the procedure. After all, mana was necessary, and only people skilled in alien art could manipte its natural version.


    "I could-," Monica began to say.


    "No," Khan instantly refused. "You''ll get it only after Abraham confirms its effects beyond a shadow of a doubt."


    Monica wanted toin, but Khan''s protectiveness kept her silent. She also avoided smiling since the atmosphere was quite serious, but Lieutenant Dyester didn''t imitate her. Seeing that side of Khan partially reassured him. Even with a different appearance, Khan remained Khan.


    "Do you have additional orders, My Prince?" Gordon asked when Khan stored the sk under his pelt.


    "Oversee the construction of the other cities," Khan order. "Get everything ready and functioning. I''ll resume the expansion."


    "Yes, My Prince," Gordon stated.


    "Monica, contact the Thilku," Khan continued. "Tell them we might need a meeting soon. Make them understand a Lord has to be present."


    "Yes," Monica eximed, "Dear."


    "Master Carl," Khan called.


    "I know," Lieutenant Dyester said. "I''ll find a nice room where to kill time."


    "I need you to review the progress of the training routines," Khan ordered, surprising the man. "The Scalqa need to improve faster."


    "What?" Lieutenant Dyester gasped. "What do you expect me to achieve there?"


    "You trained me," Khan dered. "You can handle the Scalqa."


    "Wait, wait," Lieutenant Dyester called since Khan began to leave the room. "I can''t even talk to them, let alone understand how their bodies work."


    "You have my notes," Khan said without bothering to stop, "And I''ve seen you studying theirnguage. I''ll give you Ni-Kri to help."


    "Ni-Kri?" Lieutenant Dyester wondered, looking at one of the tall Scalqa around Khan.


    Ni-Kri met Lieutenant Dyester''s gaze and lowered his head before shocking words escaped his mouth. "Ma-Sh-Tah Ca-Hal, Ni-Kri he-hlp."


    Lieutenant Dyester couldn''t believe his ears. Even if the attempt had been quite poor, Ni-Kri had spoked the human tongue. The response also showed he had followed the conversation. The alien could understand part of what they said.


    "I thought I was supposed to be your moralpass," Lieutenant Dyester said, changing tactics after Khan had cornered him.


    "And I was supposed to be a Prince," Khan dered, "Not a god. Stop making excuses. Step it up. You want to anyway." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Lieutenant Dyester had tried his best to hide it, but Khan was right. The former had reduced his drinking and smoking, resumed updating himself on thetest training methods, and even studied the Scalqanguage. He had even meditatedtely, even if he had no results to show for it.


    "Getting lectured by a brat," Lieutenant Dyester sighed. "Fine, but I want something in return."


    Something changed inside Lieutenant Dyester, making Khan stop to look at him. The man wore a serious face while his eyes fell on a spot under Khan''s pelts.


    "You won''t limit the tests to random soldiers," Lieutenant Dyester stated. "You have to feel the responsibility of eventual failures."


    "Master Carl," Monica intervened since she understood what the man wanted. "Khan already has it hard. Don''t add problems."


    "He recruited me to fulfill this role," Lieutenant Dyester pointed out. "He doesn''t want to be like the other leaders. He has to put his own men through the same risks."


    Khan looked deep into Lieutenant Dyester''s eyes, hoping to find a trace of hesitation. Yet, nothing simr existed. The Lieutenant wouldn''t budge on the matter since it was meant to be a lesson for Khan. He wanted to prepare him for when he would be forced to send his soldiers to battle.


    "Mark will bring a space station into orbit next week," Khan revealed, drawing the sk from his pelts and handing it to Lieutenant Dyester. "I''ll have him bring an infusion."


    "If this works on my rotten body," Lieutenant Dyester smugly smirked, "It will work on anyone."

 Chapter 810 Developments

    Chapter 810 Developments


    In the following days, the expansion proceeded as intended. Completing the cities and wearing the new attire smoothed the conquest. A new issue popped up, but Khan easily handled it.


    The various tribes couldn''t help but shake at Khan''s appearance. His war paint, shining eyes, bone crown, and general aura allowed him to crossnguage and species barriers, earning servitude at the first show of force.


    Yet, that servitude needed fuel, forcing Khan to make more public appearances in the city. He also had to appoint some of his closest Scalqa to management positions to absorb the neers properly, and feasts became necessary to reinforce his authority.


    The process was expensive, but the Nognes family''s funds seemed bottomless. Besides, Khan knew the turning point was behind the corner. He only had one concern about the matter.


    Khan''s eyes often went to the sky after each conquest. Mark''s space station had arrived, and its size made it visible from many areas of the. Of course, Khan didn''t care about the structure. His thoughts were on the ally inside.


    Abraham''s tests showed promising results, but Khan still felt some pressure when his friends were involved. He knew Lieutenant Dyester had offered himself to serve a greater purpose, but the matter remained annoying. Compartmentalizing and sending his allies to the frontlines were the worst aspects of leadership for Khan.


    The pressure didn''t get any easier to handle in the following period, but the expansion kept Khan busy enough to distract him from those heavy thoughts. Fulfilling the deals with the descendants and starting their businesses on Baoway was the priority, and he worked day and night to make it happen as quickly as possible.


    Nevertheless, a significant event interrupted the expansion, forcing Khan to return to the main city earlier than scheduled. A big, circr ship hadnded on one of the tall tforms, and Khan had to wee it. His position required it.


    Monica had handled the preparations perfectly. The Thilku liked open spaces, so she arranged a long, short table on one of the avable terraces. Pillows surrounded it, acting as seats, and food and drinks already upied specific spots.


    Khan was behind the table when Monica led the guests to the terrace. He had yet to sit, so the aliens could appreciate his attire. Khan had donned the Thilku cape, but his bone armor, crown, pelts, and war paint were still in ce. He kept his eyes dark, but that didn''t diminish their intensity.


    The Thilku couldn''t help but feel surprised. Many guests had seen Khan in different instances, but that look gave him a different vibe. Moreover, the new atmosphere suited him since it matched his aura.


    Still, one Thilku among the guests recovered quickly, and the bone crown inevitably captured his attention. Lord Exr had teased Khan about earning a crown but didn''t expect him to get one.


    "[Lord Exr]," Khan announced before looking at the other guests. "[Friends]."


    "[Blue Shaman]," Lord Exr called, advancing with the rest of the group. The Thilku sat on the opposite side of the table while Monica took a seat next to Khan.


    Khan was thest to sit but the first to act. He had a screen behind his pillow, which he promptly handed to Lord Exr. Thetter turned it on and hid his surprise when Thilku runes shone in his eyes.


    The courtesy of delivering data directly in the aliennguage didn''t go unnoticed, but Lord Exr spotted more details. The writingcked specific words andplicated grammar. It was correct but simple, which hinted at something.


    "[Did you write this]?" Lord Exr wondered, peeking at the crowned human.


    "[There''s a proper version below]," Khan exined. "[I wanted to test my writing first]."


    Lord Exr lowered his eyes, skimming through the device until he reached the official report. He knew Khan had learned the Thilku runes, but the actual writing was one level above that. Still, he couldn''t spot ring mistakes or anything simr.


    "[Quite well put]," Lord Exr praised. "[What about the content itself]?"


    "[It is as it states]," Khan eximed. "[Baoway produced a resource the Global Army will hold dear]."


    Lord Exr couldn''t help but focus on the device again. Khan didn''t say it, but the exnations hinted at something past humankind. The supplement''s properties could theoretically work on the Thilku, and the data was promising.


    "[The Empire is interested]," Lord Exr announced, generating some surprise. The Thilku always tried to have a superior position in every negotiation, and admitting interest made them lose that power.


    It was also incredible how a single could have produced something capable of attracting the attention of a whole species. The matter could even lead to an unfathomable event. The Empire could be forced to ept bad deals to secure the new resource.


    "[I''m ready to deliver samples and the current specifics behind every procedure]," Khan revealed. "[Many aspects can be perfected, but it''s a start]."


    The offer was appealing, but Lord Exr had dealt with humans long enough to ask a mandatory question. "[And what does the Blue Shaman ask in return]?"


    Khan and Lord Exr had already negotiated deals, but the supplement was valuable enough to reopen that option. Khan''s influence on the had also vastly increased, involving many human parties in his domain. The attempt wouldn''t be honorable, but Khan could try to ask for higher prices. That wouldn''t be Lord Exr''s first time dealing with simr situations.


    "[Nothing]," Khan said, surprising the alien. "[I''ll hand over everything for free]."


    The statement was so surprising the other aliens partially failed to hide their reactions. The Thilku were happy about those terms, but Lord Exr still struggled to believe Khan.


    "[What''s the human words]?" Lord Exr muttered before switchingnguage. "Where''s the catch?"


    "No catch," Khan replied. "It''s a show of good faith toward precious allies."


    Lord Exr still smelled something, but a smile began to broaden on his face. He knew Khan''s authority was greatly benefiting from the Empire''s involvement. Actually, Khan could im so much freedom solely due to the Empire''s sanctioning, which justified eventual gifts. Yet, leaders rarely acted out of goodwill inside the political field.


    "[That sounds eptable]," Lord Exr eventually eximed, reinstating his superiority. "[We should also discuss the distribution and find an agreement on the numbers]."


    Lord Exr wanted to talk money since he and Khan had yet to get specific on that topic. The conversation would also involve quantities and other details. The initial agreements had to evolve to the next level, starting with the strategy nned out during the initial meeting.


    "[Is our initial agreement still satisfactory]?" Khan questioned.


    "[Ah]!" Lord Exr scoffed. "[The Thilku don''t go back on their word]."


    "[Only specifics, then]," Khan stated. "[I expect the numbers will be easy enough to decide. As for distribution, Baoway is more than ready to handle it]."


    "[Do you wish to funnel the entire market through here]?" Lord Exr asked.


    "[That was Baoway''s initial and intended purpose]," Khan reminded. "[Also, it would save the Empire manpower and cut down expenses. I can even handle the trade route in its entirety]."


    Khan didn''t tell a single lie. Having Baoway as the sole destination would save the Empire the hassle of sending out multiple ships toward each buyer.


    Moreover, Baoway already had ships going back and forth to the Empire''s domain, and that trend was bound to spike as the expansion continued. The new quadrants would have refineries and other structures specifically targeted for the Empire''s market. They would produce equipment the was meant to deliver to the Thilku.


    Theoretically, the Empire wouldn''t have to lift a single finger. Ships would fly from Baoway, delivering equipment, only to return with cargo areas full of resources meant for the human market. It was the cheapest and most efficient option, but Lord Exr understood where Khan''s benefitsy.


    Handling the entirety of the trade route would increase Khan''s relevance, making his figure more than necessary to both species. He would also be the sole avable representative to the human buyers, which could create opportunities for betrayal. Yet, as long as the Empire got the right cut, Lord Exr wasn''t sure he cared.


    "[The Empire doesn''t want a role in the Global Army''s politics]," Lord Exr warned.


    "[There won''t be preferential treatment among customers]," Khan reassured. "[That will onlye from my personal stash]."


    "[And I believe you want to handle that part, too]," Lord Exrmented.


    "[The Empire is knowledgeable in the Global Army]," Khan eximed, "[But my allies'' expertise is unmatched. They''ll spot any potential problem and formte the best strategies]."


    "[And the Empire can me you directly if something goes wrong]," Lord Exr added.


    "[If something goes wrong]," Khan responded, "[That problem will cease to exist]."


    "[We are in agreement, Blue Shaman]," Lord Exr smiled, showing his canines.


    "[Shall we]?" Khan asked, pointing at the table before ncing at the other guests. "[Let''s feast]."


    After everyone filled their bellies, more negotiations followed. Abraham''sb''s production output was far from massive, so reaching agreements on specific numbers turned out to be troublesome. Nevertheless, Khan and Lord Exr shared enough trust to satisfy both parties while keeping variables vague.


    Lord Exr also agreed to deliver more assets to the. He wouldn''t help with the expansion since that would defeat Baoway''s purpose, but showing the Empire''s presence in the city sounded necessary, and Khan obviously epted. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Yet, another crucial matter arrived once the feast ended. The Thilku had retreated to quarters prepared specifically for them, leaving only Khan and Monica at the table on the terrace. They had yet to talk about the recent events, but Monica knew what the next step was.


    "How do you want to handle it, dear?" Monica asked, ncing at the pensive Khan focused on his drink.


    "Have my Cousins fly down here," Khan ordered. "I need them to summon the ten noble families'' representatives."

 Chapter 811 Status

    Chapter 811 Status


    Everyone knew how the Global Army''s government worked, and the same applied to its market. The nobles always imed priority over any new, valuable item, be it ships, drugs, or weapons.


    Selling directly to close allies would strengthen Khan''s force, and he was even willing to bet the Empire would close an eye on it. Owning the best training method would bring immense advantages in mere years, creating assets no one would want to face in an actual war.


    However, Khan needed immediate support, and ying by the rules couldn''t hurt. He wouldn''t lose his monopoly over the production process by involving the other noble families. Khan would actually be a central piece of the puzzle, forcing everyone to be in his good graces to earn benefits.


    The Global Army''s political structure would even favor Khan. The supplement''s nature made it a necessary resource since anyone without it would fall behind. Everyone would be forced to ept his terms and coborate. He only had to survive the meeting.


    Khan alone couldn''t summon noble representatives. Thanks to his family and domain, he had the required authority, but his reputation was too damaged. No one would trust him to behave during an official meeting.


    The nobles could send disposable personnel, but that would affect the meeting''s validity. Khan needed representatives with the proper lineage, which only his Cousins knew how to summon.


    Prince William and Princess Felicia were reputable figures among those lofty social environments, but their influence couldn''t reach every noble family. Khan could y dirty and leak information to add some leverage to his request, but his Aunt stepped in, solving the issue and making those tricks superfluous.


    Getting positive replies from all the intended parties took a while, and the same went for the meeting''s preparations. The Thilku were rtively easy to please, but humans, especially nobles, had higher standards. Thetter could view anything off as a sign of weakness, and Khan couldn''t let it happen.


    Of course, Khan had little to do with those details. He had learned much between the Harbor and his rtionship, but Monica and his Cousins remained far above him in that field. They handled all the specifics, eventually setting up a ce that could avoid frowns and basic insults.


    The appointed ce was inside one of the city''s tallest buildings. A training hall had been rearranged into a living room with one long table and multiple couches.


    Drapes and carpets also covered many of the hall''s surfaces, hiding part of its artificial vibe. Monica and Khan''s Cousins had even ced flowers in specific locations to reinforce the change.


    The only odd detail was the chair behind the big table. Khan would have to sit there, and his seat had to reflect his status. The item was bigger and taller than the others in the hall, seemingly meant to highlight his superiority to the iing guests.


    The detail was bound to create problems, but Khan was genuinely superior. Reminding his guests of his strength wasn''t ideal, but Baoway was his domain. Lowering himself to make others morefortable would be an insult to his authority.


    The fated day eventually arrived. Khan chose not to personally wee the guests, waiting inside the hall with Monica. Still, he had his Cousins act as his representatives, and they eventually entered the room with arge group of people.


    The group didn''t only have representatives. Reba had topromise to make that meeting happen, so each noble brought two guards. Obviously, those eighteen soldiers were all fifth-level warriors, and their battle experience immediately alerted them about Khan''s heavy aura.


    Eighteen pairs of eyes snapped toward Khan, conveying readiness to take action. The guards even prepared their mana, pretending to remain still. Their energy flow was smooth, vouching for their skills, and the atmosphere instantly grew tense enough to make everyone notice something was off.


    A few nobles looked directly at Khan, while the others had to inspect their guards before following their gazes. The tension intensified as the guests expected some reaction from Khan. However, he didn''t even stand up.


    "Easy," Khan announced, almost sounding bored. "I''m not angry. Yet."


    The nobles kept their eyes on Khan while the guards inspected their surroundings. The area seemed secure, but the pressure didn''t wane. Still, they soon understood that was Khan''s natural aura, and nothing could be done about it.


    The guards whispered something to their respective nobles, and the atmosphere began to rx. A few guests even strode forward, crossing Khan''s Cousins to upy different seats. Some approached the table, while others opted for the couches.


    That trend continued until everyone had taken their seat. Of course, the many guards remained on their feet, but their presence almost went unnoticed. None of the important parties minded them.


    Prince William and Princess Felicia approached the other side of the table once everything was set. Instead, Monica stood up, showing the many devices in her arms before diving into the hall. She delivered those items to each party, and the guards checked them before handing them to their respective noble.


    Monica returned to Khan''s side while the nobles studied the devices. The item contained thetest information about the supplement''s effects and some specifics. Khan had left out many important details on purpose but believed the report would be enough to stir the guests'' interest.


    The symphony quickly reinforced Khan''s belief. Those nobles were masters of lies and pretenses, but their mana revealed the truth. Khan saw the shock and interest behind each in and calm face. Even greed invaded some auras, tainting them with dark colors.


    However, a few nobles looked past their interest in the topic to focus on other matters. One middle-aged man with a thick grey beard and well-kept short grey hair lifted his head, disregarding the device to address Khan.


    "How do we know this data is reliable?" The man asked. "Prince Khan, you control the resources,b, and tests. You could easily tamper with any evidence."


    "I chose to involve you all," Khan announced, "When I could have kept everything inside my force, but your first move is to insult me."


    "Your reputation precedes you," A middle-aged woman with long brown hair tied into a thick braid intervened. "There doesn''t necessarily have to be reason behind your actions." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Or purpose," Another woman, a young, blonde one, said. "You are a stranger to our ways, Prince Khan, and you didn''t bother learning them before causing a mess."


    The distrust was evident, but Khan didn''t expect anything less. Even if some guests didn''t care about the public ughter, they had to mention it to lower Khan''s authority. They would do anything to gain the upper hand in the meeting.


    "Then," Khan uttered, "Leave. I don''tck potential buyers."


    "One second, Prince Khan," The bearded middle-aged man called, standing up. "No one has yet refused. We are only expressing concerns."


    "Do you have to?" Khan wondered. "I find this political dance pointless."


    "How disrespectful," The blonde woman snorted. "I was wrong to expect anything different from such imperfect lineage."


    "Prince Khan was acknowledged as an official heir by my Grandfather," Princess Felicia eximed. "Insulting his lineage is an insult toward His Excellency."


    "That decision says much about the Nognes family''s current state," The blonde woman sneered. "Young Princess, your faction is so damaged you had to put your hopes into a lost bastard."


    Princess Felicia stood up, but her brother seized her hand, stopping her from speaking further. As insulting as those words were, the two didn''t have the status to respond ordingly. Khan was the only one on their side who could.


    The guests also understood that point, and everyone soon looked at Khan. They wanted to see what kind of response he would give, but only a tired sigh escaped his mouth.


    "This is boring," Khan uttered, ncing at Monica. "Hand me that bottle."


    Monica happilyplied, even offering her cup to make Khan fill it. She hid her smile, but the two soon focused on their drinks and ignored the hall.


    Those already against Khan didn''t tolerate the tant disrespect. The blonde woman even stood up, snorting loudly at that behavior. Still, she didn''t leave. She couldn''t since other nobles wanted to see what Khan was getting at.


    "Prince Khan," A red-haired young man called, noticing the need for a change of pace. "Please understand. Status is highly relevant in this environment."


    "I could kill all of you without leaving my seat," Khan dered. "Status has no meaning."


    The open threat made everyone stand up, and the many guards even stepped forward, creating a defensive line between Khan and the nobles. The tension returned, reaching far higher levels than before, but Khan barely deigned the hall of his attention.


    Yet, Khan''s apparentck of interest didn''t imply an absence of reactions. Many purple-red mana spheres materialized behind and above him, transforming into spears that promptly pointed at the group. One could destroy half of the hall, and Khan had summoned more than twenty.


    "Sit down," Khan ordered, "Or I''ll prove what I just imed."


    ****


    Author''s notes: Shoutout to KingofHell for the Magic Castle!

 Chapter 812 Appetizer

    Chapter 812 Appetizer


    Khan had gotten stronger after his fight with Major Veril. He had abused the blue nts'' properties andpletely mastered the Lightning-Demon style. That was no small power-up, but the other side of the hall couldn''t be underestimated.


    The guests didn''t bring random fifth-level warriors. Those soldiers were noble guards, the Global Army''s true elites, and the hall had eighteen of them. As incredible as Khan was, that probably was above his limits.


    Nevertheless, Khan wasn''t challenging the guards to a fair fight. He wasn''t even putting himself out there as a warrior. He was a walking cmity, and the soldiers realized he would never lower himself to their level.


    The noble guards''ck of heightened senses didn''t imply ignorance. They could almost feel how powerful those floating spears were, and their number prevented them from underestimating them. Truthfully, the soldiers hade prepared for a simr instance, but the risks remained massive.


    The close location and Khan''s wide-range spell made it impossible to secure every corner. Everything would fall apart and explode if he unleashed the spears, and even the best preparations could fail against the chaos that would unfold. The guards weren''t sure they could protect their nobles against that threat.


    Of course, the sole idea that such a catastrophe could happen during a political meeting was ludicrous, especially since nobles were involved. No one would even dare to think about causing such a mess. However, the guests weren''t dealing with someone who yed by the rules.


    Khan''s awful reputation ended up ying in his favor. Typically, anyone would see his show of power as a bluff, but the recent ughters made the threat genuine. The guests had also insulted him, expressing concerns that looked very real now.


    Prince William, Princess Felicia, and Monica were also involved. If Khan unleashed his attack, the three would be caught in the explosion''s fires, but no one looked concerned. Those three young faces conveyed confidence and pride.


    Except for Monica, that was a fa?ade. Prince William and Princess Felicia were worried about the spell''s potential repercussions, but their education allowed them to keep their faces straight. Neither guards nor guests could spot any hints, forcing them to ept Khan was for real.


    Tense seconds passed, but weak links had appeared even before reaching that critical point. The nobles weren''t united. They belonged to nine different parties with various degrees of alliance. Many didn''t care about Khan''s imperfect lineage or behavior and wouldn''t risk their lives to pretend they did.


    "Princess Montares should apologize," The red-haired young man eventually announced.


    "What?" The blonde woman asked. "Why would I have to apologize-?"


    "Because you drew first blood, Princess," The bearded middle-aged man interrupted. "It was unfair on our side to question Prince Khan''s data and lineage."


    The blonde woman felt livid. Her expression lost some haughtiness as her wide eyes darted left and right. She couldn''t believe her fellow nobles were putting her in a simr situation, but the audience showed no support.


    The red-haired man looked at Khan, showing a faint smile, hoping to have pleased him. However, Khan''s cold face didn''t falter, and the spears'' glow intensified, almost bing blinding.


    "Prince," The red-haired man muttered as genuine fear invaded his mind. Initially, he believed an apology would suffice, but the reality differed. He had actuallypletely missed the point.


    "I gave you an order," Khan exined. "I won''t repeat it."


    The situation instantly became clear. Khan had no use for empty excuses. He wanted the nobles to know who was in charge there and needed them to respect that authority.


    The red-haired man looked at the guests, only to discover that the bearded middle-aged man had already sat down. That gesture made the others quickly follow, with the blonde woman being thest to give up her standing stance.


    Khan ran his eyes over the sitting nobles before looking at the guards'' defensive line. Thetter prioritized their jobs over anything, but that was Khan''s home. He had his rules, and his orders definitely applied to them, too.


    The guards didn''t let Khan''s cold gaze scare them, but the nobles soon whispered simple orders, making them retreat and abandon their defensive stance. They didn''t sit but resumed their position next to their appointed guests.


    "Now," Khan announced, the spears behind him melting into a purple-red cloud. "Where were we?"


    "The apology?" The red-haired man asked, earning himself a re from the blonde woman.


    "I don''t care about that," Khan eximed. "I am a bastard, and my faction was desperate. That has nothing to do with me, but Princess Montares still speaks the truth."


    The current admission didn''t match the previous behavior at all. It seemed to belong to a different person, leaving the nobles surprised and curious. Maybe Khan wasn''t as unreasonable as thework made him out to be.


    "Right," Khan said. "I vouch for the data, and you''ll have to trust my word for it. None of you will ever get close to myb, and any mole will be executed on the spot. Eventual attempts will also have deeper repercussions, which I will handle personally."


    "How?" The middle-aged woman with brown hair asked.


    "You read thework, Princess Saintilon," Khan eximed. "You can guess how."


    The nobles didn''t show any fear, and the same went for their mana. Thatck of reactions wasn''t a fa?ade. They had plenty of disposable assets that could aplish a simr job, so the threat barely touched them.


    "As for the data itself," Khan continued. "The supplement works. I have one of my men using it as we speak. I also tested its raw effects myself. In my case, the benefits stretched past my attunement with mana."


    "What do you mean?" The bearded middle-aged man wondered.


    "It helped with my martial art," Khan revealed. "I don''t have a product for that yet, but myb should get there soon." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I apologize, Prince Khan," The red-haired man stated. "I''m not sure I''m following. How did you benefit from a product yourb can''t create yet?"


    "When you tried to kill me," Khan responded, "I relied on Baoway''s raw resources during my training. They aren''t as effective as the supplement, but I have my ways."


    "What ways would they be?" The blonde woman questioned.


    "I won''t share that," Khan replied. "What you need to know is that the supplement is more effective than the raw material."


    The tale was definitely fascinating, and Khan did mind part of the Global Army''s ways, too. Many saw the potential benefits of keeping that resource for himself, but he had still chosen to share it. Everyone believed Khan had his reasons, but the decision gave birth to some goodwill nheless.


    "If I may, Prince Khan," The bearded middle-aged man announced. "Why share this resource at all? With your struggling faction, having an edge over the other families sounds wise."


    "Prince Catlee," Khan called. "My faction was struggling. It isn''t anymore."


    "Howe?" The bearded middle-aged man asked.


    "Because I''m here now," Khan responded. "I can give away all my edges. I''ll still be the best soldier in the Global Army."


    The arrogant remark didn''t get any pushback. Khan was still a fourth-level warrior, but a row of noble guards had just felt threatened by his might. His words didn''t carry any lie.


    The matter was of no consequence, too. Individual strength meant nothing to those lofty figures. They had armies at their disposal, so they could let Khan im the title of strongest without feeling inferior.


    "If I''m reading correctly," The brown-haired middle-aged woman said, "These supplements belong to the Thilku Empire. Prince, are you ying both sides?"


    "I am," Khan openly admitted. "Involving the Empire might make you think twice before engaging in more pointless assassination attempts."


    Khan''s words found no pushback again. The nobles in the hall knew about Khan''splicated rtionship with the Global Army. Even his own family had tried to push him away until they had no choice but to ept him. He needed safeguards, and the Empire was the best avable.


    "Though," The red-haired man added. "The price sounds right. Maybe we can hope for discounts on mass purchases."


    "I''m in charge of your purchases," Khan reminded. "I''ll decide quantities and timings."


    "Currently," The brown-haired middle-aged woman said, waving her device, "This isn''t nearly enough. It can work for initial tests but won''t bring any real benefits."


    "It''s meant to be a test," Khan exined, "So the next meeting won''t have questions about reliable data anymore."


    "An appetizer," The bearded middle-aged man eximed, "Before the real deal."


    Khan didn''t reply, but everyone heard the nod behind his silence. He was preparing the field for what could be a permanent and favorable partnership, and the nobles knew they would be forced to ept. The supplement wasn''t only excellent. They also had to match the other families'' purchases to match their growth.


    "Prince Khan," The blonde woman eventually called. "I understand the need for control, but these affordable prices seem to ask for something in return, something that isn''t Credits."


    "The price is right," Khan dered. "You only have to pay me and remember which Nognes sold it to you."

 Chapter 813 Escort

    Chapter 813 Escort


    The nobles didn''t need exnations to understand the issue. Khan wasn''t the only Nognes who had made moves. Thomas had also increased his political activity, obviously trying to involve fellow powerful families to improve his position.


    Thomas had even seeded in a few instances, but the noble families had no real obligations toward one another. They could y both sides without earning any me. Actually, the infighting benefited them since Khan and Thomas had to offer favorable deals to secure their support.


    Khan was also aware of the issue, but his hands were tied. He had a good product but couldn''t use it to rip off the nobles, not yet, at least. Khan needed their support more than their Credits, and the symphony soon told him he had seeded.


    Truth be told, the matter was a no-brainer. The nobles were forced to ept the offer as long as someone among them did, and the low price helped make that decision. Besides, the supplement was bound to be a vital aspect of the training regimen if it worked as intended.


    "The meeting is adjourned," Khan announced once the symphony cleared his guests. "You can enjoy my hospitality as long as you want. My soldiers will see all your needs fulfilled."


    Khan stood up, and those at his sides imitated him. The guests also left their seats, ready to be escorted out. Yet, one exception existed.


    "Prince Khan," The blonde woman called, advancing toward the table while her two guards followed her. "May I have a few minutes of your time?"


    The request wasn''t surprising. All the nobles gathered there wanted to have private talks with Khan. Yet, even he couldn''t predict Princess Montares would have requested it in such a public space, especially after the meeting''s scuffles.


    Khan nced at Monica, who nodded and headed toward the guests with his Cousins. The three escorted everyone outside, guards included, leaving Khan and Princess Montares alone in the hall. Her soldiers briefly hesitated, but her re quickly sent them away.


    Princess Montares followed her guards'' departure with her eyes before facing Khan. She initially avoided his gaze, focusing on adjusting her hair and simple drop waist dress, but her blue irises eventually went on him.


    Khan found the scene odd. Princess Montares'' gestures had been slow and methodical. She seemed to have practiced them to highlight her soft hair and overall appearance, but her mana remained calm. Khan couldn''t spot any intense emotion.


    "I want to apologize for my previous words," Princess Montares eximed. "While true, I had no right to insult you."


    "There was no insult," Khan reassured. "Besides, I was aware of your ways. I just ignored them."


    "That''s highly disrespectful," Princess Montares pointed out.


    "As it was trying to kill me," Khan jabbed back.


    "We have protocols for simr events," Princess Montaresmented.


    "Which I don''t trust," Khan stated.


    "You didn''t even give them a chance," Princess Montares said.


    "Give it up, Princess Montares," Khan uttered. "You can''t control me. You never will."


    Princess Montares had been the epitome ofposure during the chat. Her mana and face didn''t falter even once, but Khan''stest statement created a ripple in that otherwise calmke. Even the faint trace of a smile threatened to appear.


    "Unstable variables tend to be put down early on," Princess Montares exined. "Among us, that is. They acted toote with you."


    The Princess didn''t mean her words as a threat, and Khan didn''t reply. He watched as she slowly inspected him from head to toe, her blue eyes asionally lingering on the war paint and crown.


    "What''s the purpose of this chat, Princess?" Khan directly asked.


    "Call me Rachel, please," Princess Montares requested. "We are of simr age, and your status might even be above mine."


    "I thought you saw me as a bastard," Khan pointed out.


    "Politics," Princess Montares eximed. "You''ll forgive me for engaging in them."


    "Your purpose," Khan reminded.


    "Though," Princess Montares added, "You could have ignored the hurdle with a different match. Marrying a Princess would remove any stain on your lineage."


    Princess Montares couldn''t help but gasp at the sudden temperature change. She was a third-level warrior, so the abrupt cold weight that fell on her shoulder almost made her lose her bnce. She even struggled to remain on her feet and used the entirety of her strength to look up.


    Khan''s expression didn''t change. His eyes had also remained dark, but the new pressure clearly came from him. It sounded impossible, but his mere thoughts could make her unable to breathe.


    "Easy, Prince Khan," Princess Montares muttered, mustering a smile. "I wasn''t insulting Miss Solodrey. She is splendid."


    Khan let the pressure linger on Princess Montares for a few seconds before retracting it. Even after the silent threat, her mana didn''t release fear, but his senses noticed the absence of inhibitors. Rachel simply had great control over her energy and mental state.


    "Edna warned me," Princess Montares said, taking a deep breath and readjusting her dress. "You are quite protective."


    Khan was ready tounch another threat, but hearing the name "Edna" made him slightly curious. He didn''t expect Princess Montares to be on good terms with Princess Virrai. Even his Cousins didn''t warn him about that detail.


    "We have asional conversations," Princess Montares exined, understanding Khan''s curiosity. "Though phones and screens, mostly. She speaks highly of you."


    "What are you doing here?" Khan questioned. Princess Montares'' behavior didn''t make sense. She had gone from insulting his lineage to suggesting a match with someone with a higher status. The Solodrey family was wealthy enough to have the nobles as sole superiors, which deepened Khan''s confusion.


    "I find you pleasant to look at," Princess Montares revealed, her gaze resuming Khan''s inspection. "Though I''m not sure I prefer you with or without these barbaric trinkets."


    ''Why are all nobles crazy?'' Khan cursed in his mind. "You can discuss further agreements with my fianc¨¦e." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "So cold," Princess Montaresmented, chasing after Khan as he turned to leave. "Don''t mind my yfulness. I would have dly taken you as my husband, but you took too long to be a Prince. You belong to Miss Solodrey now."


    Khan couldn''t help but turn again to face the Princess, who showed a simple smile. Her words and expression made him want to frown, and another curse tried to rise into his mind.


    "May I request a personal escort?" Princess Montares wondered. "While I reveal my insights of my fellow guests?"


    "You can take my elbow," Khan gave up, offering his arm to the Princess.


    Princess Montares seized Khan''s elbow but knew her ce well enough to keep her distance. She merely clung to him, avoiding further physical contact. That level of respect wasn''t something Khan had experienced often, but the nobles saw it asmon pleasantries.


    "The Montares family likes you," The Princess revealed as Khan led her outside the hall. "You are more promising than Prince Thomas. Your future is brighter, and you have the support of the important names in your faction."


    "But not the connections," Khan pointed out.


    "That''s why you called us here," Princess Montares stated, "Isn''t it? Once the supplement goes viral among the nobles, your sales will stretch throughout the Global Army."


    The two crossed a vast, empty corridor, and Khan tried to lead the Princess toward her living quarters afterward. However, she pulled him toward the nearest elevator, nning to head downstairs.


    "Everyone is watching," Princess Montares exined as the elevator descended. "It will help with your future private meetings."


    "The encampment is no ce for a Princess," Khanmented. He wasn''t worried about Rachel. He simply didn''t want to deal with her family''s potentialints.


    "Was mentioning Edna enough to make you protective toward me?" Princess Montares asked. "You are weak to friendly women, Prince Khan. I don''t envy Miss Solodrey."


    Khan ignored thement, but Princess Montares promptly continued. "Well, I do envy her a little, but I''ll still bathe afterward."


    "Continue," Khan ordered as the elevator opened, showing the two to the teams of soldiers stationed in the area.


    "The Virrai family also likes you," Princess Montares revealed. "Edna is their gem, and you saved her life. She even loves Miss Solodrey, so you can expect their support."


    The soldiers formed two lines and wore military salutes as Khan and Princess Montares crossed them. They also tried to create an escort, but Khan made them stay behind with a single look.


    "Rassec isplicated," Princess Montares continued. "They owe you one for Prince Rick, but the marriage made you even. You also insulted Prince Samuel. As I said,plicated."


    The two soon stepped outside the tall building and crossed a few streets to reach the sea of tents. The Scalqa roaming the streets stopped to bow at Khan, and Princess Montares seemed pleased with that strange scenery.


    "The Saintilon will y both sides until a winner is decided," Princess Montares exined. "They won''t help anyone win but won''t refuse good deals, either."


    Khan''s public appearance sparked a series of cries, making more Scalqa leave their tents to bow to him. Princess Montares'' vision revealed pure reverence, which she appreciated.


    "The Catlee are hesitant," Princess Montares continued. "They think you have potential but want to wait for more developments. Maybe bringing the Prince here will change his mind. You built a fine army."

 Chapter 814 Disciples

    Chapter 814 Disciples


    The walk throughout the settlementsted longer than Khan had initially expected. Rachel appeared genuinely amazed at the seemingly endless rows of metal tents, and watching those huge aliens bowing at Khan prompted her to keep exploring.


    Princes and Princesses were used to that treatment, but Rachel spotted differences that made her curious and surprised. Her status didn''t mean anything to the aliens. They only had eyes for Khan, and their behavior went beyond basic courtesy. The Scalqa conveyed proper reverence, something even the Global Army''s Generals often failed to achieve.


    True authority was addicting, and Rachel decided to bathe in it as long as possible. Of course, Khan questioned her about the nobles, and she always provided answers to justify her whims.


    The red-haired man belonged to the Duter family, which seemed inclined to support Khan''s cause. The Prince''s behavior during the meeting even vouched for that, so Khan inquired deeply.


    As for the other noble families, they remained indifferent to Khan''s situation. The Airrak, Perac, and Kodwa didn''t care about the Nognes family''s infighting. They only wanted to see whether they could benefit from it.


    Khan didn''t mind that approach. It was actually understandable since the noble families didn''t owe anything to each other. Yet, he hoped Princess Montares could provide more insights he could use, but her willingness to help didn''t trante into knowledge.


    "Our families are too massive to summarize them down to a single intent," Princess Montares exined. "I know their general inclination, but nothing more than that."


    "Does it depend on the faction?" Khan wondered.


    "Faction," Princess Montares partially confirmed, "Or Prince and Princess dealing with the matter. Take me, for example. My job was to tell you that my family likes you. I had no obligations to engage in this public walk. I didn''t have to share my thoughts, either."


    The exnation made sense when Khan considered Rachel''s status. Princes and Princesses wielded massive influence. Some might even beparable to entire factions from lower families. Even individually, they carried enough weight to act independently and shoulder eventual consequences.


    Of course, even the nobles had Princes and Princesses who were nothing more than powerless pawns. However, they were the minority, and Khan wasn''t dealing with them. His offer and position had given him ess to figures who wielded actual power.


    Baoway''s star had reached its highest point in the sky when Khan and Princess Montares returned to the city''s central buildings. He nned to drop her to her quarters before moving to the other nobles, but aplication appeared as soon as he entered the intended structure.


    "Princess Montares," Monica politely called, crossing the soldiers standing guard at the building''s entrance to reach the duo. "I hope my fianc¨¦ entertained you."


    "He did, Miss Solodrey," Princess Montares confirmed, letting go of Khan''s elbow to perform a polite bow to Monica. "Your Prince is a perfect gentleman. Though he is a bit weak against women."


    "He is considerate," Monica corrected. "It''s one of his main virtues."


    "It must cause you many headaches," Princess Montares eximed. "Being engaged with such a desirable man ¡­ I''d constantly worry about having him stolen from me."


    "My Prince has eyes only for me," Monica reassured. "However, that doesn''t justify the liberties others take with him."


    "Oh my," Princess Montares chuckled. "Edna told me you were the jealous type. I see now she was right."


    Mentioning Princess Edna removed any trace of jealousy from Monica''s mind. She nced at Khan, who nodded to confirm the information. Princess Montares wasn''t exactly a friend, but the couple could see her as a friendly presence.


    "Miss Solodrey," Princess Montares called, reaching Monica to seize her elbow. "I''m not ready to retire yet, and Edna vouched for your taste in clothes. Do you mind showing me your collection?"


    Monica retained her elegant fa?ade, but Khan noticed how her eyes tried to light up. Baoway didn''t give her the chance to have many girls'' talks, and Martha didn''t share her interest in clothes. The Princess was almost fulfilling her greatest urge with that invitation.


    "I only have a fraction of my wardrobe here, Princess," Monica admitted. "It''s almost tiny."


    Khan suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. He knew how many clothes Monica had brought to Baoway. He had the soldiers build an entire room for them, and that ce was bigger than the t on the Harbor. Yet, Monica managed to fill it in no time.


    "I''m sure it will satisfy me," Princess Montares reassured. "On another note, which entertainments are avable here?"


    "Lord Vegner''s brothels are as good as ever," Monica exined. "We also have quiet gardens and dancing halls."


    "But no malls," Princess Montares pointed out.


    "Baoway isn''t focused on tourism yet," Monica stated.


    "I should send a few of my shops down there," Princess Montares said. "Being the first is always good for business."


    "The city can amodate them," Monica responded. "We only have to negotiate the numbers." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I''m sure that time wille," Princess Montares smiled.


    Monica and Princess Montares didn''t notice it, but they walked deeper into the buildings. The two had hit it off immediately, and their chemistry improved at each exchanged line. However, Monica suddenly recalled something and abandoned the Princess to rush toward Khan.


    "I''ll be busy for a while," Monica whispered, leaving a quick kiss on Khan''s mouth. "Call me if you need anything."


    "Have fun," Khan replied, and Monica barely suppressed a giggle before hurrying back to Princess Montares. Thetter promptly teased her, and a faintugh resounded as the two disappeared into the building.


    Khan couldn''t express how much he loved seeing Monica like that. She shared his pressure and many of his duties. Actually, Monica handled most of the management aspect of Baoway, freeing a big chunk of Khan''s schedule. He could only be happy when she found ways to blow off some steam.


    As much as Khan would love to join that trend, more duties awaited him. The walk throughout the city hadsted long enough to make everyone notice it, so he expected immediate reactions. Climbing to the building''s upper floors confirmed his hunch, warning him about another political meeting.


    Khan had given a floor to each noble, but rtively public areas existed. The building had multiple living rooms adorned with couches, appetizers, and drinks, and Khan found two figures waiting for him in one of them.


    The bearded middle-aged man and the red-haired man were on a couch, seemingly discussing something important. They both wielded cups in their hands but stood up as soon as Khan entered the hall. Their demeanor conveyed pure respect, but the youngest between them also showed some tension.


    "Prince Catlee, Prince Duter," Khan announced. "I heard you wanted a meeting."


    "More of a friendly conversation, Prince Khan," Prince Catlee exined, pointing at the table among the couches. "We have taken the liberty of testing your stash. You have good taste."


    The table had a series of bottles Khan had stashed for his best guests. Part of him nned to drink them all by himself, but the nobles were important enough to deserve that treatment.


    Nevertheless, Khan avoided pleasantries and headed directly for the couches, sitting before the two men. Thetter returned to their seats while Khan filled one of the empty cups for himself, but his silence persisted even after he brought the drink to his mouth.


    "We saw you escorting Princess Montares into your city," Prince Duter revealed. "I hope you patched up the misunderstandings during the meeting."


    "We talked," Khan said. The two Princes expected him to add more details, but he fell silent again.


    "We talked, too," Prince Catlee said, "Prince Duter and I. We share a specific interest and would like to discuss it with you together."


    Khan''s silence didn''t falter, but his eyes darted between the two Princes, hinting at attention. He wouldn''t speak until he fully understood what the two men were after.


    "Your demonstrations and lessons made waves through the scientific field," Prince Duter dered. "We even saw their applications when flying down here. You armed barbarians with hundreds of bombs in mere months."


    "My family gathered all the avable information," Prince Catlee continued. "We also developed multiple theories. Correct me if I''m wrong, Prince, but the applications of your new scientific field are endless."


    "And?" Khan asked. The Princes had shown their cards but had yet to voice their request.


    "Both our families have young, talented experts," Prince Duter announced. "It would be our honor to send them here as your disciples."


    "No," Khan directly refused.


    "We''d be willing topensate you appropriately," Prince Catlee intervened. "And we don''t n on enforcing any timeline on the process."


    "I gave my answer," Khan dered. "The Global Army already tried to use my knowledge against me. Humankind lost its chance to learn what I have to offer."


    The two Princes didn''t have words that could change Khan''s mind. They actually understood his perspective. He prioritized his safety, which was more than understandable after everything that had happened.


    "Counteroffer," Prince Catlee eximed. "What aboutmissions? You''d get the same benefits but for specific magic items."

 Chapter 815 Free time

    Chapter 815 Free time


    By then, the word had been out for years. Everyone knew Khan had developed a new scientific field capable of countless applications. The Scalqa''s weapons spread that ability to magic items, rousing more than enough interest.


    The lessons, assassination attempt, and ughters had put things on hold. No one would dare question Khan about his abilities anymore, but the nobles were an exception. They shared Khan''s status, granting them liberties even the best scientists in the Global Army couldn''t im.


    Prince Catlee and Prince Duter sounded serious about the request, but the absence of malice in their mana didn''t stop Khan from considering negative repercussions.


    Truth be told, Khan''s runes were impossible to replicate. During his lessons, he had exined the foundation of Nele and Niqols arts, but his scientific field required advanced applications and a deep knowledge of the Thilku''s symbols. That already was an unlikelybination, but the topic even had a deeperyer.


    Khan could imagine that the Global Army''s scientists wanted to study his final products. However, humans couldn''t distinguish between synthetic and natural mana, and their knowledge didn''t touch on the specific meanings that energy could wield.


    The runes resulted from Khan''s unique mana and specific meanings, which the Global Army couldn''t identify from the final product. He believed the best human scientists mighte close to defining them, but replicating them was a different issue. The same went for finding experts who could excel in all the other requirements.


    In many ways, the assassination attempt couldn''t havee at a better time. Khan had ended the lessons before the Global Army could develop methods to trante his alien arts, which was its ultimate goal. Basically, his monopoly remained safe and would continue to do so even if he sold his creations.


    Putting aside the potential problems allowed Khan to notice interesting details in the Princes'' offer. Thetter didn''t give specifics, but Khan guessed thepensation would involve many Credits. Still, if he had to be realistic, he didn''t believe his creations deserved so much money.


    The issue wasn''t with raw power. Khan''s element allowed the simplest rune to unleash massive, destructive energy, ensuring its effectiveness. However, the Global Army''s weapons could achieve simr results at a far lower production cost. The Princes were better off buying grenades than Khan''s spears.


    The same applied to other items. Earth''s cksmiths could make far better weapons and items than Khan. Moreover, their craft was reliable and didn''te at the whims of a domineering man pretending to be human.


    Nevertheless, those considerations resulted from Khan''s perspective since he knew his current skill level. Instead, the offer told him that the Princes were overestimating him, which could favor him. Khan needed to improve in that field anyway, so he wouldn''t mind earning money and value in the meantime.


    "Which items?" Khan questioned.


    Prince Catlee and Prince Duter''s eyes lit up. Khan had been a wall until now, but the question showed hope. Actually, the Princes knew the deal was already in ce. The two parties only had to agree on the specifics.


    "Those spears we have seen in the settlement," Prince Catlee mentioned, "How many hundreds can you deliver by next month?"


    "The slings are also interesting," Prince Duter added. "Could you apply the same effects to metal bullets? My family would be happy to provide those."


    The conversation had immediately delved into topics Khan didn''t want to face. The Princes sounded curious, but their questions inevitably probed Khan''s skill level. The nobles would obtain information even if the negotiations were to fail.


    "Both your families can provide items of equal effects and efficiency," Khan pointed out. "I thought your requests would have been more specific."


    Khan had spoken the truth, and the two Princes could only smile. They understood what had happened, but their genuine innocence wouldn''t work there. There was no point in justifying their questions after that reply.


    "Armor, mainly," Prince Catlee exined. "My family has plenty of defensive equipment, but its efficiency isckluster, and high mana consumption is required to increase it."


    "What makes you think I wouldn''t have the same expenses?" Khan wondered.


    "Prince Khan, you turned wooden spears into magic weapons," Prince Catlee stated. "It stands to reason you can do the same withmon clothes."


    "What about you?" Khan asked, looking at Prince Duter.


    "If possible," Prince Duter, "Disposable items. My family can build them, but I''m inclined to believe yours would have higher efficiency."


    "Like potions and ointments?" Khan probed.


    "Specific grenades," Prince Duter exined, "Barriers, or even life-saving items. I''ll buy it as long as it''s useful."


    Khan refilled his ss as he delved deep into his thoughts. The reinforced defensive equipment had tickled his brain for a while. He didn''t need it since his techniques covered that, but Monica and his closest allies might find it helpful.


    Khan even had a vague blueprint in mind for the prototype. He had turned the [Blood Vortex] into a rune so the [Blood Shield] could survive a simr process. Theoretically, Khan wouldn''t even need to use his own blood to achieve simr effects.


    As for the disposable items, the topic had also crossed Khan''s mind but was too vague to give birth to actual ideas. That field relied on knowledge and imagination, which Khancked since he had mostly explored alien techniques. Still, reading a list ofmon equipment and questioning Monica could solve the issue.


    ''I do need to test different stuff,'' Khan considered. ''I''ll always remain stuck with Monica''s item otherwise.''


    "No timeline," Khan eximed, "No quantities. I''m busy, so you''ll get what I make when I make it."


    "That''s perfect," Prince Catlee said.


    "More than we hoped for," Prince Duter added.


    "The has no avable quadrants," Khan continued, moving to the money part of the negotiation. "You can only use the cities."


    Thepensations the nobles talked about weren''t limited to mere Credits. The Princes didn''t specify it, but people at that level often implied assets when discussing payments.


    Having noble assets on the could easily lead to problems, but luckily, Khan had already assigned the quadrants to other descendants. The Princes could only upy empty spots inside the cities, which would be under stricter control.


    "I can send a few war-rted factories," Prince Catlee offered. "No soldiers. Only the equipment required to build rifles and other weapons."


    "Extractors," Prince Duter added. "Mana extractors, metal extractors, you name it. I''m sure your has resources you have yet to harness."


    Khan didn''t want to turn Baoway into Neuria. He preferred to salvage its natural environment. Yet, the cities had specific locations. He had chosen them precisely to limit pollution and destruction so that eventual big factories wouldn''t affect the quadrant.


    "We have a deal," Khan dered. "I''ll write a list of the materials I need. As for factories and extractors, I''m sure I can rely on your expertise."


    "Of course," Prince Catlee confirmed, standing up. "I''m d we could find an agreement." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Indeed, Prince Khan," Prince Duter eximed, also standing up. "I''ll make sure my family learns about this pleasant negotiation."


    The two Princes half-expected Khan to stand up, too, but he focused on his drink, making them give up on polite goodbyes. The nobles limited themselves to a simple bow before leaving the hall, disappearing somewhere inside the building.


    ''Weapons and extractors,'' Khan thought, enjoying what was left of his drink. ''I need to summon more soldiers. The Thilku also have to send additional assets.''


    Managing an entire grew moreplicated as Khan added parties and equipment to its equation. Appointing entire quadrants to the allied descendants saved him from many headaches, but the matter was far from easy, even when relying on Monica for many parts of those deals.


    However, the benefits were massive. The money and assets were valuable, but Khan mostly thought about security. The Thilku Empire''s presence made Baoway almost untouchable for the Global Army, and adding the nobles would only reinforce his authority.


    ''No wonder they can''t raise their attunement with mana,'' Khan eventually concluded. ''Where would they even find the time?''


    Khan was experiencing the life of wealthy descendants now, and even whenpartmentalizing many of his duties, his free time remained scarce. Moreover, new obligations hadnded on his hands, and he wasn''t even done for the day.


    Khan was experiencing the life of wealthy descendants now, and even whenpartmentalizing many of his duties, his free time remained scarce. Moreover, new obligations hadnded on his hands, and he wasn''t even done for the day.


    It didn''te as a surprise anymore that many lofty figures failed orpletely abandoned the idea of growing stronger. Yet, Khan knew he had to seed despite the odds. Being the best had always been his best shield, and his current situation required that more than ever.


    The conversation with the Princes made Khan''s fingers tingle. He couldn''t wait to test the new ideas that had popped into his mind. It had been a while since Khan had experimented on anything that wasn''t Monica''s items, and he wanted to see how good he had gotten on more general equipment.


    However, the hall''s door opened before Khan could jump to his feet, and the auras that leaked inside told him his free time had yet to arrive. Khan didn''t need to turn to know that Princess Virrai and Princess Saintilon had entered the room, and their intentions felt more than evident.

 Chapter 816 Tests

    Chapter 816 Tests


    Princess Virrai and Princess Saintilon were only the first of many visits. The other Princes and Princesses followed, keeping Khan in themunal area for hours. Luckily for him, he had plenty of booze to spare.


    The meetings went over various topics, but the core issue never changed. The Princes and Princesses wanted to size Khan up and opened up negotiations when possible. Needless to say, Khan stayed true to his cold stance, sometimes sealing favorable deals.


    By the time the meetings ended, the night had already descended on the. Everyone had retired to their quarters, leaving only Khan and the patrolling soldiers roaming the building. A short exchange of messages confirmed that Monica was still busy with Princess Montares, so Khan retrieved a few items before flying away.


    Khan had long sincemitted the quadrant''syout to memory. He knew every gorge, mountain, and isted spot, and those locations had influenced his final decision about where to ce the city.


    The city''s central buildings had a vast andplete array of training halls that met all of Khan''s requirements. He had even built them with chaos-resistant alloys, like everything else in the settlement. However, his experiments remained dangerous and demanded privacy.


    Moreover, nothing beat being surrounded by natural mana, so Khan flew to a nearby hill that featured a few caves. Those cavities were damp, slightly cold, and isted, just how he liked them. He had asionally brought Monica there, too, but that night was about training.


    Khan dived into the nearest cave and sat on its rocky surface before dropping the items he carried. Wires, tubes, T-shirts, and more filled his vision while his mind yed simtions.


    The idea had been inside Khan''s mind since the conversation with the two Princes and had grown so loud he didn''t even notice the wet patch expanding under his butt. The cave''s humidity attacked his pelts, but he was too focused to care.


    Turning the [Blood Shield] into a rune was possible, at least theoretically. Any source of power would do, but the shape could cause problems. The alien technique naturally used the blood vessels to trace a barrier, but Khan couldn''t replicate that.


    The issue was purely technical. The [Blood Shield] didn''t only use main blood vessels. It also clotted the blood in the smaller channels, creating a semiplete barrier that shielded most of the superficial skin.


    Khan could obtain materials with simr shapes and quantities but couldn''t manipte them with his bare hands. They were too small, and the likelihood of malfunction would only increase with each additional channel.


    Machines could solve the issue, but Khan would know what orders to give that equipment only once he built a functioning prototype. The hurdle was too steep, so Khan decided to tackle the problem from a different direction.


    The blueprint sounded impossible, but Khan had spent years bending his mana to his will through intense feelings. He had even created spells with that method, and the [Blood Shield] would theoretically only be a matter of imitation.


    Khan looked at his open palm. His eyes saw past the cave''s darkness, studying the ck spiderweb spreading on his skin. He had relied on the [Blood Shield] so often he hadmitted its deployment to memory. The issue was whether that image was clear enough to imnt in another substance.


    ''Let''s start simple,'' Khan thought, bringing a bucket near his crossed legs and spreading his palm over it. His fingers traced a line, and his skin opened, dropping blood into the container.


    Khan repeated the process multiple times since his body''s resilience kept stopping the bleeding. Nevertheless, the bucket eventually had enough blood to start the experiments, and he dived right into them.


    Khan had mastered changing the blood''s nature long ago. Due to his greater skill and more intense mana, the process had be even easier now. It only took him twenty minutes to achieve satisfying results, and that period involved holding back. Khan had to suppress his power to avoid breaking the bucket and what it contained.


    The blood had grown dense and dark after enduring Khan''s influence. By then, it basically was slimy mud, but some mana ran through it. It looked more resilient, but Khan only had one way to test it.


    Khan emptied the bucket on the ground. The slimy blood spread on the rocky surface, but the narrower channels stopped it, limiting the size of the puddle.


    The size didn''t matter to Khan. He almost shed his hand at the puddle before opting for something different. Nearly nothing could stop the Divine Reaper''s moves now, and he couldn''t expect that first attempt to survive its deadly properties.


    Purple-red light covered Khan''s right hand, creating a bright, ethereal sword. He lowered the weapon toward the puddle, and the chaos element''s influence created ripples on its surface.


    Holes and bubbles appeared on the puddle as Khan lowered his hand. The reinforced blood tried its best, but his spell eventually made it burst, sending sshes in every direction.


    Khan didn''t expect anything less from mere reinforced blood. The first test only needed to confirm that he could increase that substance''s resilience to decent levels, and the result was a sess. Normal blood would have directly evaporated under his element''s influence.


    ''The hard part now,'' Khan thought.


    Reinforcing the blood was easy, almost natural for Khan, but he couldn''t just immerse T-shirts into it to turn them into magic items. The Princes'' standards were far higher than that, and Khan even surpassed them in that field.


    Khan refilled the bucket with his blood and began applying his influence. Yet, the procedure had an additional step now. He still focused on reinforcing the substance, but his mind yed specific images in the meantime. He pictured the [Blood Shield] expansion, summoning all his memories and sensations of the alien technique.


    The second attempt took longer than the previous one. Khan actually slowed it down to bathe the blood into his mental images, and the result confirmed that he was on the right path.


    After the procedure, the blood inside the bucket had grown darker and denser again, but clearer lines existed in its texture. Faint spiderwebs with higher resilience had formed inside the now-slimy substance, which became more evident once Khan poured it to the ground.


    The puddle''s expansion highlighted the denser lines. Part of the substance even detached itself from them, leaving behind a smaller, more resilient hexagonal spot. Needless to say, testing it with the Chaos ws spell provided better insights.


    Most of the hexagonal spot sshed away or evaporated under the spell''s influence, but its spiderweb-like structure survived longer than before. The change wasn''t significant since everything soon crumbled, but Khan could work with those results.


    ''Making it stronger isn''t an issue,'' Khan considered. ''Making it useful is the problem.''


    Khan could stop at creating a simple defensiveyer. He only needed to keep testing until he arrived at a strong enough final product. Attaching it to any clothing would turn that into protective gear. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan could even take that one step forward, tranting the final product into a rune, removing his blood from the equation. Replicating decent effects with mere mana would be hard, but Khan could get there.


    However, that result wouldn''t make Khan''s creations any better than what the Global Army could already produce. They would actually be inferior in many ways. Khan could try to surpass thepetition in general efficiency, but the human cksmiths could build simr items anyway.


    ''The defensive gear is easy enough,'' Khan thought. ''I just need to find the right iterations of lines and materials to create something stronger than average.''


    Turning simple clothes into armor with no special effects was only a matter of trial and error. Khan would get there if he invested time in testing differentbinations of meanings and materials. Yet, that merely scraped the surface of what his innovative field could do, and he wanted it to achieve its full potential.


    ''How do I make this special?'' Khan wondered.


    Khan''s mind instinctively moved to Prince Duter''smission. Something about the disposable items spoke to him, even if he couldn''t yet put his finger over it. That idea had a path, but his brain struggled to define it.


    The answer arrived when Khan nced at his waist. The cursed knife rested silently in his pelts, but its existence was ever-present in his mind. That weapon had a will of its own, which human cksmiths had created without knowing much about alien arts.


    ''A weapon that can act on its own,'' Khan imagined, letting his thoughts flow freely. ''An item that can re at the first sign of danger.''


    Khan didn''t know much about cksmiths, but it was evident that only masters in their craft could achieve simr results. However, he had turned the violent, wild chaos element into proper spells. His feelings were strong enough to bend the most unyielding will. Khan only had to transmit the right one to his creations.


    ''Something instinctive,'' Khan brainstormed. ''Something pure and unstoppable.''


    The topic involved defensive gear, so Khan browsed through his life to find suitable feelings. One quickly popped out, reminding him of a sad scene he recalled clearly. He couldn''t forget the emotions he experienced when his body moved on its own at the sight of Liiza falling into the darkness.

 Chapter 817 Stability

    Chapter 817 Stability


    "I swear," Khan promised. "It isn''t my fault this time."


    "And yet it always happens to you," Monicamented.


    "I''mpletely innocent," Khan swore.


    "On this," Monica said, "You never are."


    The couple was standing on the mountain where Khan had spent the night. Morning had arrived in the quadrant, filling the air with a cold breeze. Faint light also shone on the area, highlighting many details. However, the cave was nowhere to be found.


    Khan didn''t change location during the night. Instead, the cave did, or rather, something else had taken its ce. That damp cavity had turned into a vast crater that still crackled from time to time.


    The explosion had been big enough to alert Monica and make her jump on a ship. Yet, a nce at her destination told her everything she needed to know, which she decided to handle personally.


    "We should consider ourselves lucky you didn''t try to create weapons inside the city," Monica sighed.


    "I was creating defensive gear," Khan revealed.


    Monica couldn''t help but look at Khan, her eyes nk. She didn''t know which emotion to wear. Helplessness tried to win that internal contest but couldn''t appear since Monica gave up on understanding her fianc¨¦''s experiments.


    "Do you know how bad it can look?" Monica questioned, her mind reviewing her political education as she inspected the crater.


    "I know," Khan confirmed.


    Khan and his allies worked day and night to appear reliable. The cities, quadrants, and the as a whole had to feel safe. External parties wouldn''t invest money and equipment otherwise.


    The explosion had been minor and in an isted area, but it had happened nheless. Khan had chosen a rtively distant spot on purpose, but Monica had noticed the event, so it was safe to assume others also did.


    The Scalqa wouldn''t spread gossip, but the city had many human assets. More were also inbound, and the same went for soldiers from the Thilku Empire. As that trend continued, leaks would be more likely, and many couldn''t wait to purchase information about Khan and Baoway.


    "If someone asks," Khan announced, "Say that I was testing spells. This explosion was no random event."


    "I will," Monica nodded. "Still, dear, I''ll use my countermeasures if this happens again."


    Monica''s words would sound like a threat to an external party, but the couple knew what she implied. Her countermeasures were quite enjoyable for Khan, but he couldn''t indulge in them right now.


    "I won''t get anything done if you sleep on me during my experiments," Khan said.


    "Then," Monica replied, "Stop blowing things up."


    "I''m innocent," Khan dered.


    Khan was obviously to me for the explosion, but his words carried some truth. The night had proceeded smoothly until the experiments demanded more grit. He had been on the right path, but something was missing.


    Creating something simr to the cursed knife required more than strong, suitable feelings, mana, and mental images. Khan had to inject actual life into an item or substance but didn''t have anything else to offer. However, his skill set had a matching ability, from which he didn''t hesitate to take inspiration.


    The cloud spell embodied the chaos element''s wild will, and the line between Khan and his mana had be increasingly blurred throughout the years. That ability expressed his urges while acting independently, making it the closest thing to what he aimed to create.


    Nevertheless, Khan didn''t create the cloud spell. The Tors did that while attempting to highlight the chaos element''s core nature. Khan could only walk backward while trying to apply simr effects to his experiments, and a single mistake had been enough to level the cave. That was Khan''s fault, but the will he summoned was the technical culprit.


    "It will happen again," Khan admitted. "It''s dangerous, but I''m on the right path."


    Of course, Monica didn''t care about technicalities. She was only worried about Khan''s safety and authority, especially since she knew how fragile they were. Khan understood that, so he stopped ying around.


    "It will happen again," Khan admitted. "It''s dangerous, but I''m on the right path."


    Khan''s tone didn''t change, but Monica noticed the difference anyway, and a curse resounded in her mind. She could contain the risks as long as Khan was ying around, but his words told her how serious he was about the matter. Nothing could stop him at that point.


    "Is it for me?" Monica asked. She always hated it when Khan put himself in danger for her sake. Still, she preferred guilt over ignorance.


    "Eventually," Khan uttered. "Prince Catlee and Prince Dutermissioned items, but the experience will help with you. All of you."


    Monica was Khan''s priority, but he also had close allies to consider. Thatst part was even in constant expansion during Baoway''s colonization. Soon, Khan''s responsibilities would go far beyond the Scalqa, involving entire wealthy families in his protective web.


    Monica could almost read Khan''s mind. She didn''t want him to add more pressure on himself, but that was the nature of leadership. Things would only get worse, but a heartwarming silver lining existed. Khan was doing most of that for her and his friends.


    Something warm joined the symphony, making Khan nce at Monica. She took his hand and used her free one to pull his arm. Khan stepped toward her, getting close enough to let her lean on him. Monica said nothing as she rested her head on his shoulder and stared at the crater.


    Khan understood Monica''s intentions without requiring questions, so he also looked at the crater, falling silent to enjoy that private moment. Duties would soon separate the couple for many hours, so sharing a few peaceful minutes felt nice.


    "Was this one the one?" Monica eventually whispered.


    "We slept in more than one cave," Khan reminded.


    "Was this one of them?" Monica changed the question.


    "Yes," Khan confirmed, earning himself a jab to his side.


    "Don''t destroy our love nests," Monica scolded.


    "I''ll soon need a list to remember all of them," Khan joked, chuckling when another jabnded on his side.


    "Don''t forget them, either," Monica reprimanded.


    "You were the one who couldn''t recognize our cave," Khan pointed out.


    "I can forget," Monica pouted. "You can''t. Besides, I always cling to you until you drop me down."


    "Is this my fault now?" Khan asked.


    "Always," Monica nodded, rubbing her head on Khan''s shoulder. "Khan, wasn''t this cave quite big?"


    "You know how amazing your fianc¨¦ is," Khan stated, attempting to justify how a big cave had turned into a vast crater. Monica chuckled but still delivered another jab. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Is that new?" Khan asked, lowering his eyes to inspect Monica''s clothes. He didn''t recognize her skirt.


    "The Princess brought some clothes," Monica exined. "We traded a few pieces."


    "Someone had fun yesterday," Khan teased.


    "I was working," Monica dered, "Working for both of us."


    "I can definitely see the effort," Khan uttered. "So, when do I get to enjoy it?"


    "Later, dear," Monica giggled, "If you aren''t too busy blowing stuff out."


    "I probably will," Khan admitted. "I need to find a new location. This is too close to the city."


    "Don''t ruin the river," Monica warned.


    "I''m not touching the river," Khan reassured. "I just need somewhere close enough to have a connection to thework."


    "It won''t take long until the entire is covered," Monica exined. "Well, you''ll have to store all the equipment you made for the Scalqa to get perfect performance."


    "I''ll rip off some nobles for connection enhancers," Khan said. "They all want to have lunch with me anyway. The topic will pop out."


    Monica''s head snapped up, shooting a re at Khan. She instantly grew livid and anxious, and her grip on Khan''s hand tightened as her brain summoned her genuine scolding tone.


    "When were you nning on telling me that?!" Monica snapped. "I have to choose a dress. Wait! Princess Montares will probably want us to dress up together."


    "Take Felicia, too," Khan added. "You girls should bond."


    "Lunch," Monica cursed, her eyes darting left and right. "I only have half a day to prepare."


    "Yeah," Khan sighed. "You''ll never make it in time."


    Monica promptly jabbed Khan''s side again, but he picked her up afterward, princess-carrying her while rising into the sky. She had gotten so used to the process she continued to re at him while securing her position. Nevertheless, Monica soon forgot about her anger and enjoyed the flight.


    The political lunch happened, and more meetings followed. Khan established new deals with the nobles, deepening his familiarity with the various representatives. Those chats only had fake friendliness, but that was the best Khan could achieve in the current situation.


    The time spent with Monica shrunk since the nobles often requested her presence. The couple''s private moments grew scarce, but both Khan and Monica couldn''t do much about it. The representatives'' presence was a crucial period for the, demanding their full attention.


    However, the nobles eventually departed, and the expansion resumed. It took a while and a lot of effort from a management standpoint, but all the quadrants ultimately reached their intended shape. The allied descendants established a stable foothold on the, fully colonizing it as they developed their agreed-upon assets.


    Baoway witnessed some well-deserved stability afterward, and Khan let it solidify for a while before moving to the next goal. He could finally depart without worrying about seeing his domain fall apart, so he contacted Reba. She had promised him the Nak, and he couldn''t wait toy his eyes on them.

 Chapter 818 Itch

    Chapter 818 Itch


    Only a few received the update about Khan''s departure. He informed his inner circle before secretly hopping on a concealed ship that brought him off the.


    Khan didn''t know the crew, but Reba had handpicked it, vouching for it. The group was small, with only a pilot, a technician, and two soldiers with specific roles, and Khan''s senses cleared them as soon as heid his eyes on them.


    The destination was ssified and known only to the pilot. Still, Khan learned that information and more once he questioned him. A quick review of the intended route enabled him to fly the ship, but he let the crew handle it.


    The atmosphere inside the ship was highly respectful. Even without saying anything, the crew knew Khan was in charge. The two soldiers were also ready to attend to his every request, but he barely spoke. Khan didn''t even drink or eat. He could only think about the Nak, and his mindset added pressure to the symphony.


    The crew was well-trained, so Khan''s pressure didn''t affect their work. He kept himself busy, using the sole living quarters to clean himself from head to toe. The crown, war paint, and pelts had be his standard appearance, but he wanted to avoid potential contaminations when dealing with the Nak. Theb would scan him, but it didn''t hurt to take additional precautions.


    The ship had sets of simple tracksuits, so Khan donned clean clothes and spent the rest of the trip on the main deck. The new attire didn''t diminish his authority or pressure, but the pilot had enough experience to ignore his presence and focus on the controls.


    Baoway existed between the vast domains, but Khan didn''t need to fly all the way back to the Harbor or simr locations to avoid potential repercussions with the Empire. The borders were quite clear, and Reba wielded enough power to make things asfortable as possible for Khan.


    Reaching areas officially owned by the Global Army would take entire days, but Reba''s special privileges cleared a far closer location. She even flew theb there, adding structures Khan had requested during previous meetings.


    By the end of the first day of travel, a few structures appeared on the ship''s scanners. Three rectangr buildings hovered in the middle of space, connected only by metal bridges. Engines popped out from their bottom and top but released no energy. A mana barrier soon became visible, and the vehicle flew toward it.


    Of course, the ship performed all sorts of security protocols before crossing the barrier and entering the small hangar. The area was clear, and the secret codes exchanged between the vehicle and buildings confirmed their authenticity. Everything was going ording to n.


    A small group of soldiers weed Khan''s arrival. The crew left the ship with him, but no pointless pleasantries flew after the first round of salutes. The troops directly escorted Khan outside the hangar while handing him a device carrying relevant information. He quickly learned about the structures''yout, but the screen didn''t stop at that.


    After the hangar, a reinforced hall unfolded. The many protectiveyers made the ce''s surfaces imprable even to Khan''s senses. He was sure synthetic mana flowed under the metal around him but couldn''t feel it.


    That was a state-of-the-art training hall, something even the Harbor didn''t have. Khan could also guess that part of the machinery involved was ssified and monopolized by the loftiest parties in the Global Army. However, that priceless wonder of technology was nothing more than disposable junk for Reba.


    The sight left Khan impressed but not surprised. The training hall was part of his requests, and inspecting it reassured him. That ce could probably survive a new Milia 222, which Khan half-hoped to trigger.


    The inspection didn''t slow down the march. The soldiers stopped before the hall''s exit, letting Khan advance alone. The door opened into a cylindrical metal bridge, which Khan crossed to reach the next building.


    Once the new door opened, a different scene unfolded in Khan''s eyes. The central, smaller building was the trip''s core target, and its environment confirmed this. A series of white medical coats filled his vision, but he looked past them, focusing on the interactive tables and transparent containers.


    Khan''s nape released a strange sensation. Something on the other side of the door was calling him, but the feeling was faint. It was clearer than what he had experienced on Milia 222 and Cegnore butcked intensity.


    Questions invaded Khan. The new rity probably resulted from the training with the blue nts, but its implications were annoying. Khan had epted them but couldn''t control how he felt. Maybe he was closer to a real Nak now.


    The urge to barge inside theb tried to take over Khan, but he suppressed it, crossing the door only when the scientists gave the okay. The area after the entrance featured a small ss room that handled the decontamination process, and Khan waited inside it until the machine cleared him.


    "Prince Khan," One of the scientists called as soon as Khan exited the ss room. "ording to Princess Reba''s orders, all of this is yours. The same applies to us. Don''t refrain from questioning us."


    Khan didn''t even nod. His eyes scanned the room, and the new perspective allowed him to see every showcased item. His urges roared whenever he spotted the familiar azure color, but something bigger eventually prompted his legs to move.


    The scientists moved aside as Khan advanced toward a rtively hidden corner of theb. A tall transparent container stood there, almost connecting the floor to the ceiling. Still, Khan only had eyes for the motionless figure inside it. He nearly couldn''t believe he was seeing it outside his nightmares.


    Long, thick arms, six-fingered hands, huge legs, three eyes, and azure skin filled Khan''s vision. He also noticed the absence of hair or neck. Everything was the spitting image of his nightmare, but he was finally seeing it for real now. Only a thinyer of ss separated Khan from a proper Nak.


    Khan seemed to fall into a trance. His eyes remained still while absorbing every detail the dead Nak carried. Its torso had threerge holes, with one at the center of its chest. Burn marks covered those cavities'' edges, hinting at the cause of death, but everything else was intact.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s mind quickly reached a conclusion. That corpse was nothing like the alien in his nightmares. That blue flesh had lost too much mana. Even without most of the body, the hand battled on Milia 222 had been closer to a real Nak.


    ''What did you do before my arrival?'' Khan wondered. ''Damn you, Raymond.''


    Khan had partially hoped he could revive the Nak flesh, but that short inspection almost killed the idea. He would still try, but something told him that Raymond had done far more than patch up a few injuries, and he didn''t know if he could replicate the oue.


    The Nak''s third eye eventually attracted Khan''s gaze. The alien''s eyes were closed, but Khan didn''t focus on them. His forehead had begun to itch in the exact spot where the Nak had that additional body part.


    That wasn''t Khan''s first time experiencing something simr. The mental trip caused by the green substance had also caused rted sensations, and Khan instinctively brought his hand to his forehead. He half-expected to find an eye there, but his fingers only touched skin.


    Needless to say, Khan wasn''t as calm as his cold face tried to convey. His aura had grown more suffocating with each second he spent before the corpse, and the scientists could only do their best to endure it.


    Khan''s thoughts also only existed in a sea of wild urges. A few years ago, he would have directly destroyed the container, the corpse, and anything in a ten-meter radius. He wouldn''t have even minded his position, status, or danger. Yet, his maturity made him able to avoid giving in to those unreasonable desires.


    It took a while, but Khan eventually collected himself enough to devise a strategy. He didn''t want to but still diverted his gaze, running it over the rest of theb. He had to start somewhere, and a suitable choice quickly appeared.


    "What''s that?" Khan asked, nodding at a container near the other side of theb. He also tapped on his device, searching for the relevant information.


    "Half a foot, My Prince," One of the scientists said, using all her strength to avoid stuttering under Khan''s heavy aura. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Deliver it to the previous hall," Khan ordered. "Activate the defensive protocols afterward."


    "Yes, My Prince," The scientist announced, and herpanions promptly echoed her words.


    Khan didn''t even hear the reply. His legs began to move before the scientist could answer, driving him back to the metal bridge. He shot onest nce at the intact corpse before returning to the training hall. Its time woulde, but Khan had to start small first.


    ****

 Chapter 819 Pebbles

    Chapter 819 Pebbles


    Complicated emotions washed over Khan as he stared at the transparent container on the floor. A chunk of a dead Nak was within his reach, ready to be studied, but his hands didn''t move.


    Khan remained still inside the empty reinforced hall for minutes, sitting cross-legged before the item. His senses studied the dead flesh, but part of his mind explored his strange emotional state. He had spent seventeen years with the Nak as his sole goal, and they were finally here.


    Of course, that wasn''t Khan''s first time facing the Nak or their traces. He didn''t even actually get to them. Milia 222 and Cegnore had only featured consequences of the Nak''s mutations, and theb had nothing more than dead flesh.


    Nevertheless, that flesh was now in Khan''s power. He owned it and could do anything he wanted with it, which had to count for something. Even his mind acknowledged that.


    Khan knew his true goal was still far away but couldn''t stop experiencing those strange emotions. That result spoke louder than any promotion, political acknowledgment, or additional star on his shoulder. He had reached the point where he could touch Nak''s flesh with his bare hands, vouching for his progress in his journey.


    The hall''s atmosphere reflected Khan''s emotional state. On the surface, everything was calm, albeit slightly cold. However, anyone with sharp senses would feel the violence brewing in the air. Khan seemed about to explode.


    Khan eventually moved, exuding his usual grace. He kept the violence inside him as he reached for the container, lifting its lid to expose the chunk of flesh to the hall.


    The symphony''s nature instantly changed. Truthfully, the chunk of flesh didn''t do much to the synthetic mana, but Khan experienced it differently. The Nak''s influence washed over him, trying to fuel urges he barely suppressed.


    Khan took his sweet time calming down before reaching for the chunk of flesh. He expected lightning bolts to re through his arm at the direct contact, but nothing happened when his fingers touched the body part. He only experienced its dry fabric, which seemed ready to crumble at the faintest pressure.


    Even the air outside the transparent container seemed too much for the dry flesh. That lump of bones, tendons, and skin was centuries old and had survived many experiments. Khan had to be grateful there was anything left to test.


    Khan carefully pulled out the body part before cing it on the floor. He closed his eyes, reviewing what his mind had concocted. He was no scientist, but his experiences had given him some ideas.


    On Milia 222, the Nak''s hand had reacted to a spark of Khan''s mana, but the flesh in his possessioncked many of its qualities. Khan didn''t believe he could kickstart that maimed body part back to life with a bit of energy. He probably needed tons of it, but quantity wasn''t a problem.


    Khan opened his eyes, cing his palms at the flesh''s sides. Purple-red mana leaked from them, enveloping the Nak''s body part into a spherical lump of energy.


    The mana anomaly already afflicted Khan on Milia 222, so he tried to kickstart the Nak''s flesh with his usual energy. However, cracks immediately appeared on the body part''s brittle skin, expanding and stretching toward its insides.


    Khan promptly retracted his mana, but it was toote. The energy lingering around the Nak''s flesh fueled the destruction, finalizing it. Khan could only watch as that priceless body part crumbled into a pile of dust and shards.


    Khan couldn''t im that losing the body part left him unaffected. Yet, his face and body didn''t show any odd reactions. He had expected a simr result but needed to test it at least once.


    "Bring another sample," Khan ordered while pressing on abel on the floor. "Simr size."


    The scientists hurried inside the reinforced hall, delivering another transparent container. The body part inside consisted of a chunk of a forearm, featuring mostly muscles. It was slightly bigger than the previous sample, but its state was equally poor.


    Khan waited for the scientists to leave the hall before drawing the body part from its container. He had confirmed that his normal mana was too violent for those brittle samples, so finding energy they could endure became his priority.


    Manipting the mana''s properties was a staple of the Niqols'' arts, which Khan had mastered long ago. He even used it on a daily basis to taint the symphony with his element and summon spell. Khan didn''tck confidence. He only feared he would keep failing until he ran out of Nak''s flesh.


    The chaos element wasn''t kind nor gentle, but Khan could partially suppress its innate unruliness. His mana changed color as he summoned a calmer version of his energy, abandoning its purple-red shades to approach something that resembled blue.


    Khan''s strategy was simple. The Nak only needed mana to function, so he wanted to bathe their flesh in his energy until something started working. Yet, many samples had to fall apart before he could even begin that n.


    Reba had probably spent years and an unfathomable amount of resources collecting those samples, but Khan destroyed more than five in mere minutes as he searched for the right shape for his mana. The results grew more promising with each test, ultimately reaching a point Khan could im as a sess.


    The seventh sample was nothing more than a group of strangely intact fingers that shared the brittle nature of theirpanions. Nevertheless, their skin didn''t crack under the azure sphere between Khan''s palm. He had sessfully summoned harmless mana, and the Nak''s flesh remained immersed in it without falling apart.


    Khan remained still for almost half an hour, pouring mana into the azure sphere. His senses worked overtime to search for the slightest change in the sample, but no revitalization happened. His energy entered the Nak''s flesh, but thetter didn''t absorb it. It didn''t even try to store it.


    That was another expected result. Khan had predicted a simr oue when he noticed the difference from Milia 222. Small or huge amounts of energy wouldn''t change anything. The fuel wasn''t the issue.


    Luckily for Khan, he hade prepared. He pressed anotherbel on the floor, and the door behind him soon opened. Soldiers entered the hall, carrying arge metal container and cing it beside Khan. The troops quickly left, restoring the privacy Khan needed.


    Khan waited until the door behind him closed before opening the container. A series of sks appeared and popped out, showing their dark green liquid. Khan had harvested a bunch of the blue nts'' substance before the trip, bringing it with him in case the situation required it.


    Truthfully, Khan didn''t know whether the green substance would have any effect. However, he was out of options. If that failed, he would have to leave things to proper scientists.


    Nevertheless, the theory was on Khan''s side. The blue nts'' substance facilitated transformations, and Khan was providing the fuel with his mana. There was a chance the Nak''s flesh could absorb his energy after being exposed to the green liquid. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan didn''t have to worry about destroying samples anymore and had brought enough green substance with him, so he took it slow. He didn''t immediately pour the toxic liquid on the fingers. Instead, he opened one sk and ced it near the flesh before summoning his mana again.


    The substance''s influence tainted the symphony, even stretching toward the Nak''s fingers. Khan could see it trying to affect that dry flesh. However, as minutes passed, it became evident that passive interaction wouldn''t lead anywhere.


    Khan moved to the next step, pouring a few drops of the green substance on the fingers before summoning his mana again. The toxic liquid dug holes into the dry skin, threatening to damage the rest of the sample during its expansion. Yet, an awaited reaction finally invaded Khan''s eyes.


    The green liquid was too dense for the brittle sample but didn''t immediately destroy it. The Nak''s flesh and bones survived a few seconds, enough to fall under the effects of Khan''s mana.


    Khan had to suppress his aura when he noticed the awaited reaction. The flesh bathed in the green substance absorbed his mana, interrupting its shattering. Not everything survived, but Khan noticed small pieces of the sample growing stronger while cracks spread in their surroundings.


    The drops eventually pierced the fingers, falling to the floor and leaving holes behind them. The sample broke around those cavities'' edges, but Khan didn''t care. Much of the body part remained brittle and dead, but tiny pieces continued absorbing his mana.


    The tiny pieces'' absorption affected the remaining brittle skin. As their state improved, keeping them attached to their frailer counterparts became impossible. New cracks opened, separating the dead pieces from the living ones, and the former didn''t survive the process.


    Eventually, Khan was left with nothing more than a few pebbles, dust, and shards. Thest two merely bathed inside his mana, but the former continued to absorb it, seemingly refilling themselves until they reached their structural limits.


    Khan pressed on for a while, but no additional changes arrived. It seemed the pebbles had reached their best form, so he retracted his mana. The absence of his energy highlighted the now-blue chunks of flesh, which retained their new state without requiring more fuel.


    Khan''s eyes darted left and right, inspecting the hall. A sigh eventually escaped his mouth, and his hand rose to reach for the blue pebbles. That interaction could start another Milia 222, but he didn''t fear it.

 Chapter 820 Roar

    Chapter 820 Roar


    ''Nothing,'' Khan thought, staring at the pebbles in his palm. ''Absolutely nothing.''


    Khan had done more than touch the pebbles. He had seized them, brought them to his face, sniffed them, and even licked one of them. However, his body didn''t react, and no catastrophe unfolded.


    The oue led to two possible exnations. The first saw the sample as unsuitable to trigger a reaction. The pebbles were technically alive but weren''tparable to the Nak''s hand faced on Milia 222. Thetter actually lived and fought, absorbing and releasing energy on its own.


    The second exnation was in line with Bret''s hypothesis. Khan had transformed and improved, fully absorbing the Nak''s mutations. He was aplete and new lifeform, which the Nak couldn''t further affect. Khan had already be what the Nak aimed to create, so interacting with their body parts wouldn''t trigger additional reactions.


    Khan inevitably thought about Monica. Bret had suggested waiting until Khan reached the fifth level to be safe, but the test''s result seemed to imply that the transformation was alreadyplete. He could probably have children without worrying about passing down the nightmares.


    Of course, even aplete confirmation wouldn''t make Khan and Monica start trying to conceive. They had yet to marry, and both their statuses required work. They also had too much on their shoulders to consider having children.


    Yet, the idea tried to put a smile on Khan''s face. He was obviously terrified at the concept of parenthood, but the two had extensive talks about the topic. Monica wanted to give Khan children, and he couldn''t wait to start a proper family with her. He knew everything would be fine as long as she was at his side.


    Confirming that the transformation wasplete would finally open that option. It wouldn''t only work as evidence that Khan''s efforts had borne fruits. It would also create the chance for a normal life, something Khan didn''t dare to hope for while the nightmares still afflicted his mind.


    Those thoughts lingered in Khan''s mind while his senses continued studying the pebbles. As joyous as the conclusion was, it remained a hypothesis. More tests were required, especially to write off the first possible exnation.


    Khan soon snapped out of his faint happiness to focus on the matter at hand. Theb had moreplete samples, but he had to solve another issue first. The few pebbles resulted from entire fingers, and Khan couldn''t let the other body parts suffer from the same fate.


    The following tests focused on finding the right amount of green substance for each sample. Khan didn''t mind shallow holes appearing on the body parts but couldn''t risk damaging their deeper areas. He needed the Nak''s flesh to be more than alive. He required it to live.


    Luckily for Khan, he had brought plenty of green liquid, and Reba had amassed enough samples so he could continue the tests without worrying about running out of resources. Needless to say, more priceless Nak''s flesh crumbled, but the results eventually arrived.


    Khan''s eyes seemed able to pierce the hall''s metal surfaces as he stared at the item inside the mana sphere between his palms. A biceps riddled with holes rested inside his energy, motionless but alive.


    The biceps had already absorbed all the energy it could handle, which didn''t disperse even after Khan retracted his hands. That body part had regained its azure color buty still.


    The holes were also quite deep, but Khan confirmed the damage didn''t reach vital parts. Its functionality was unaffected while all its tissues had regained power. That was close enough to what Khan needed, so his fingers pressed on the floor to voice another order.


    Scientists entered the hall, retrieving the sample while delivering a new one. Khan soon remained alone with aplete Nak''s foot resting inside a transparent container. Its size was simr to the Nak''s hand fought on Milia 222, making it perfect for the second phase of his tests. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan carefully retrieved the foot from the container, gentlyying it on the floor to avoid damaging its dry flesh. He had already repeated the process multiple times, so no mistakes happened. The body part safely reached its new location, and Khan seized two sks to begin the experiment.


    Khan used both hands, covering the sks'' opening to limit the amount of green liquid poured on the foot. He also chose specific spots, evenly spreading the toxic substance before throwing away the containers and sending his mana forward.


    The drops pierced the foot''s skin, but the immediate arrival of Khan''s mana started the transformation. Its flesh began recovering instead of falling apart, and the process soon affected the entire body part.


    Khan didn''t need scanners to keep track of the transformation. His bare eyes could see the foot''s insides steadily improving, absorbing his mana to restore their condition. The sample''s flesh slowly came back to life, but the experience with the previous tests told Khan that something was off.


    The foot was bigger than any previous sample, but Khan could guess how much energy it needed before bing full. However, the body part crossed that point and continued absorbing his mana, growing past its structural limits.


    The foot''s skin didn''t only turn blue. It began radiating an azure halo that grew brighter by the second. That glow slowly overcame the light emitted by Khan''s mana, illuminating his face and the hall.


    Eventually, the foot released a deep noise that Khan''s brain could trante. That sound carried the same feeling the Nak''s hand on Milia 222 had conveyed. The sample was hungry, and Khan didn''t mind feeding it more energy.


    Khan increased his energy output. The mana sphere between his hands increased in size as the foot''s hunger intensified. He made sure to give the sample as much as needed, and a new change soon followed.


    The foot left the floor on its own, slowly rising into the air. Khan followed it with his hands, standing up when it got too high. The sample eventually stopped, limiting itself to hovering mid-air while inside the mana sphere.


    ''What if I do this?'' Khan wondered, retracting his hands and interrupting the feeding session.


    The foot stood still for a few seconds before releasing another hungry noise. The sample didn''t have eyes, but Khan could feel it looking at him. Yet, hisck of reactions triggered a different response.


    A suction force came from the foot, specifically targeting the symphony. The synthetic mana began flowing toward the sample, but everything suddenly froze. A stronger will had interrupted the process, forcing the hall''s energy to stay still.


    "This mana is mine," Khan calmly said before closing his eyes. He knew how the Nak spoke, so he focused on a specific emotion and opened his mouth, releasing his clicking cry.


    No waves of violent energy followed the clicking cry. Khan simply roared, conveying his ownership over the hall''s mana. The feeling was as basic and primitive as possible, and the foot immediately understood it would have to fight Khan to satisfy its hunger.


    The foot released another noise, radiating anger. Its glow intensified as its insides sorted out its energy to prepare an attack. Lumps of mana also escaped its skin, taking the shape of small res that began surrounding it.


    Milia 222 had offered a simr scenery, but Khan spotted an interesting difference. The res resembled the Nak''s hand''s azure lightning bolts, but their nature clearly didn''t match, and Khan quickly considered a few exnations.


    ''Different element?'' Khan thought. ''Unlikely. It''s also using my mana. It must be a matter of tampering.''


    Raymond had experimented on the Nak''s hand, mixing it with the reinforced fabric to patch it up. That foreign element might have altered the mana''s shape, turning pure chaos into lightning bolts.


    ''So,'' Khan wondered, watching as the foot condensed its energy. ''Is this its original nature? Why is my mana different then?''


    The answer felt evident and wee. The Nak''s mana was azure, but Khan didn''t belong to that species. His mutations had put him close to them, but he remained his own being, something different from both them and humans.


    That conclusion almost reassured Khan. His mana anomaly became the best evidence that his mutation wouldn''t turn him into a Nak. It seemed he had already jumped on a different path, one the Nak hoped could lead to greater heights.


    The foot continued condensing energy while Khan was immersed in his thoughts. He appeared distracted, but nothing escaped his senses. He knew what was about to happen and didn''t worry about it.


    The sample eventually finished preparing its energy. Its res grew in size before shooting at Khan. Seven or so rivers of dense mana flew at high speed toward him, but the attack was short-lived.


    A palm mmed on the res, piercing them and reaching for the foot. Unflinching fingers closed around the sample, pulling it from its position. Khan wielded the body part before his face, and his mouth opened to roar at it.

 Chapter 821 Waste

    Chapter 821 Waste


    The foot couldn''t measure differences in power from the exchange, but the roar overcame that barrier, conveying the massive gap from Khan. The two weren''t evenparable.


    Khan''s roar didn''t carry any specific meaning. He had forwarded his overbearing and unreasonable intensity, dering who was in charge of the situation, and the foot understood its ce.


    The energy inside the foot slowly dispersed, abandoning its condensed state and leaking into the hall. Part of it even permeated Khan''s skin, but his flesh didn''t react. No absorption happened.


    The previous tests had forced Khan to consider that eventuality, so the result didn''t surprise him. It made sense that his body couldn''t absorb anything from the Nak since his transformation wasplete. That further reassured him but also killed any hope of obtaining immediate improvements.


    The foot released all its energy, returning to its "alive" state. Khan knew it could resume acting on its own, but his grasp kept it dormant.


    More deep thoughts invaded Khan''s mind as he watched the dormant foot. One hand had destroyed Milia 222''s secret dock and part of the city above, but Khan could now restrain it with his fingers.


    That was another evidence of Khan''s growth. The path to get there had been harsh and long, but he hade out reborn. Many saw him as a monster, but his power was undeniable. Even the Nak''s foot had been forced to acknowledge him.


    ''What now?'' Khan wondered.


    The realization felt good, but Khan didn''t want to leave theb empty-handed. The tests'' results had reassured him, but that wasn''t enough. It seemed the Nak couldn''t give him power anymore, but Khan wasn''t done with them. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The scarlet eyes Khan had witnessed during the mental trip popped into his mind. He had developed hypotheses, but getting proper answers would be ideal. However, mere body parts couldn''t speak ormunicate since they were nothing more than primitive beasts acting out of basic instincts.


    Nevertheless, theb had something far bigger. Reviving the almost intact Nak''s corpse could create the opportunity for an interrogation. Of course, everything could also go south quickly, but Khan was willing to face the risk.


    Still, two problems stood between Khan and that idea. The procedure was the first. He had sessfully revived a foot, but an entire body would require far more practice and tests. As for the second, Khan held it in his hand.


    The Nak''s flesh was priceless, and its value only increased after being revived. Khan held something otherworldly, something people had died to create. Raymond wouldn''t have risked so much if the result weren''t worth it.


    Moreover, Reba had spent years collecting those samples. It wouldn''t feel good to destroy most of her work in a single day.


    Khan considered those details while staring at the foot. He ran simtions in his mind, exploring the pros and cons of each iteration. His current ability didn''t allow him to do much with the samples, but the future was uncertain. There coulde a time when scarcity of Nak''s flesh could be a problem.


    Yet, Khan put strength into his fingers, which squeezed the foot, piercing its skin. Its flesh soon gave in, and Khan turned the sample''s central part into a gory pulp. Meanwhile, its remaining pieces fell lifelessly to the floor.


    Khan''s senses confirmed that the sample was dead, but he couldn''t leave anything behind. His normal mana escaped from his palm, destroying the pieces of gore attached to it. The flesh on the floor immediately suffered from a simr fate, only leaving behind spots of blue blood.


    The simtions pointed toward keeping the samples intact, but Khan had seen what they could do. The slightest mistake could cause another Milia 222, and he was too busy to control them personally all the time. Besides, he would open himself up to thefts, and his life already had enough worries.


    "Bring in something simr," Khan ordered, pressing on the floor, and a series of tests unfolded.


    The samples grew bigger and bigger as Khan gained confidence in the process. He tested different quantities of green substance and more, doing his best to streamline the experiment and add consistency to the results.


    The process took a while and cost many samples since none survived the experiments. Khan destroyed them, or they crumbled on their own, leaving nothing useful behind.


    No sacrifice was in vain. It took hours, but Khan eventually understood what he needed. He had the scientists attach tubes to the corpse''s container before lying it down inside the hall. Khan even ced a specific number of sks at the bottom of each pipe, which a technician connected to the menus. Once everything was set, the final experiment could start.


    Khan made everyone leave the hall and lift the mana shields around the structure''s buildings. He didn''t know how big a fully-fledged Nak''s awakening could be, but chances were he wouldn''t have the luxury of holding back. He had to prepare for the worst, and the same went for the crews.


    After the scientists and soldiers gave the okay, Khan started the procedure. He tapped on the floor, activating the tubes. The green substance soon filled them before sshing into the transparent container.


    Khan had done his best to calcte the sshes to perfection, but even the scientists'' help couldn''t lead to precise results. Drops of the green substance fell on the Nak''s corpse, asionally hitting the same spots multiple times. That dug holes into its dry skin, but the damage wasn''t worrying.


    As the first drops began seeping into the corpse, Khan stretched his arms, pointing his hands at the container before releasing mana. The Nak was too big to encapste into a stable sphere, so Khan limited himself to emitting harmless energy. The process was more tiring, but Khan could handle it.


    The immediate immersion into Khan''s mana limited the damage. The corpse began absorbing the foreign energy, using the green liquid''s properties to improve its flesh''s state. Holes still appeared, but patches of skin regained their original color, and the trend soon spread to the Nak''s insides.


    Khan had never been so focused in his entire life. His senses captured every detail, keeping track of the flesh''s revitalization. The organs required more energy and time than the other tissues, but Khan had already tested that in previous experiments. Everything moved smoothly, but problems eventually arose.


    As organs came back to life, they resumed their original functions. The theory said that the Nak only needed mana to live, but Khan wasn''t dealing with an entire alien now, not yet, at least. The pieces of alive flesh worked separately, threatening to be different entities.


    Cracks appeared everywhere inside and above the Nak''s skin. The absorption wasn''t homogeneous, so some tissues came to life earlier than others, increasing their suction force and severing the connection with the nearby still-dry flesh. The corpse was ripping itself apart.


    Truthfully, Khan didn''t know how to deal with the issue. The previous tests couldn''t have prepared him for that eventuality since none had featured an entire corpse. He could only increase the energy output and hope the Nak would fix itself.


    The destruction continued. The corpse twitched as the pieces of living flesh tried to rise into the air, uncaring of what stood in their way. One organ even pierced the Nak''s abdomen, appearing in the open and forcing Khan to destroy it with a swift kick.


    Simr problems followed, and Khan dealt with them ordingly. He didn''t mind destroying organs as long as the corpse remained somewhat intact. Yet, that didn''t happen, either.


    In a few minutes, the corpse had turned into a mess of holes and cracks. Its entire torso had more wounds than intact flesh. However, all the unstable pieces had left by then, and what remained of the Nak absorbed Khan''s mana as a singr entity.


    Khan kept pouring mana, unsure of what the result would be. The damage was serious, but the head and a few organs had survived. Still, that could easily lead to a mere bigger version of his previous samples, which wouldn''t be of any use.


    The corpse eventually regained its original color. The flesh and remaining organs came to life, absorbing and amassing Khan''s energy. No hovering happened, but Khan knew the sample had reached the same level as the previous tests.


    Nevertheless, no changes happened, no matter how much energy Khan sent forward. The corpse didn''t react at all, and the same went for when Khan cut the mana delivery. The maimed Naky still inside the container, and Khan could only sit before it.


    ''Is it too damaged even to float?'' Khan wondered, half-cursing for that result. ''Maybe I should have sacrificed all the superficial skin and muscles by submerging it in a pool of green liquid.''


    Khan quickly disregarded that idea. He couldn''t control the organs'' different absorption rates, so the oue could have been both better or worse. At that point, it seemed up to chance.


    Thinking about potential mistakes also felt pointless since Khan didn''t have another corpse. He had wasted his best sample. He had to ept it and move on.


    However, the symphony suddenly twitched. The event was minute and faint, but Khan''s gaze immediately snapped toward its source. To his surprise, the Nak had opened its three eyes, and they were pointing at him.

 Chapter 822 Rules

    Chapter 822 Rules


    Khan met the Nak''s gaze, and tension inevitably built in the hall. The air grew electric, seemingly ready to explode as Khan''s mindset changed. The event hinted at his sess, but things weren''t easy for him.


    First, that sample differed from the previous ones. It stood still without hovering or trying to absorb the nearby energy. Its vibe was also odd,cking the primordial behavior of its predecessors.


    Second, Khan was face-to-face with the source of his nightmares. The previous samples were mere maimed body parts, but he was looking at a proper face now, ring his urges and risking losing control.


    The long-sought enemy had finally appeared before Khan, and his mind barely cared about its wounded state. The hall disappeared, and the same went for the symphony. Khan focused solely on the Nak, and his rational side lost ground as violent thoughts intensified.


    Khan knew he wanted nothing more than to destroy that wounded body. It would be the proper retribution for the almost two decades spent suffering from its curse. The air froze, and his aura began emitting a suffocating pressure, but he didn''t move.


    The silence perdured as Khan studied the Nak. Its three eyes still pointed at him, but the symphony didn''t show any change. The same went for the mana inside the alien. Khan knew it could move, but it didn''t.


    ''Is it brain dead?'' Khan wondered. It would make sense for the Nak to be off. Reviving it had filled it with injuries, and its mental capabilities couldn''t be great after spending centuries in a dried-up state.


    Nevertheless, Khan had fixed those problems, at least partially. Theoretically, the Nak could do more than just standing there. It simply didn''t, and Khan couldn''t figure out why.


    ''Should I just wait?'' Khan considered. ''Give it more energy?''


    Khan immediately crossed off the second idea. The Nak could start absorbing energy on its own if it wanted to, but the fact that it didn''t had to mean something.


    The Nak''s unwavering eyes slowly annoyed Khan. He didn''t like feeling powerless before his long-sought enemy. He wanted to take control of the situation, but his brain could only devise one idea.


    Khan opened his mouth before closing it. Expressing emotions was easy, but speakingplicated sentences required some thinking. He didn''t have problems with the Nak''snguage. It probably was part of his legacy. Yet, Khan didn''t know what the maimed Nak could understand in its current state.


    "Scarlet eyes," Khan announced, filling his words with the feelings experienced during the mental trip.


    The Nak didn''t understand the humannguage, but the terror Khan experienced during the mental trip was something it could rte to. That feeling was an instinctive response generated by the Nak''s genes, which conveyed the image Khan wanted to address.


    The revived corpse finally experienced a reaction. Its mana moved toward its intact head and converged into its eyes. The Nak''s gaze grew piercing, but Khan''s aura acted as an imprable shield.


    That seemed to be enough for the Nak. It couldn''t study Khan, but the fact that he was able to block its gaze confirmed something, making the mana move again.


    Tinges of mana escaped the maimed corpse, shaking and spinning while hovering above its face. The energy''s movement created a faint buzzing noise, but emotions permeated it, expressing meanings Khan''s brain instinctively tranted. "Host?"


    The Nak''s mouth didn''t move, but the alien had spoken anyway. The question even echoed in Khan''s mind, threatening to set his most violent urges ame. He didn''t like to hear thatnguage, and his reply made him hate the process even more.


    "Yes," Khan said, doing his best to ovee thenguage barrier with his emotions. Still, that effort was unnecessary since his body instinctively knew how to talk with the alien.


    "Sessful host?" The Nak asked, using the previous speaking method. It wasted mana to respond, but Khan was ready to refill its tank if necessary.


    "Yes," Khan imed as the air around him got even colder. He actually didn''t know if he was a sessful host, but all the clues gathered throughout the years pointed in that direction.


    "Scarlet eyes is enemy," The Nak continued, "Mana''s enemy."


    Khan had already guessed as much, but the Nak''s confirmation removed any doubt. There was an enemy out there, something the mana itself feared.


    "What is scarlet eyes?" Khan asked.


    "Enemy," The Nak replied. "Mana''s enemy."


    The identical response told Khan the Nak wouldn''t or couldn''t expand further. Khan could evene up with a couple of exnations for that. Either the sample was too damaged for thoseplicated concepts, or the entire species acted out of instinct.


    Khan fell silent as thoughts raced inside his head. He had prepared some questions before the procedure, but the Nak''s seemingly limited mental capabilities forced him to review his approach.


    "Can''t mana win?" Khan eventually questioned.


    "No," The Nak said. "Mana will die."


    The direct reply took Khan by surprise. The answer left no room for doubts. Apparently, the scarlet eyespletely outssed the mana.


    "Why?" Khan asked.


    "Mana''s enemy," The Nak responded.


    Khan held back a curse. It seemed any question involving the scarlet eyes'' nature would get the same answer.


    ''Maybe it goes beyond being a simple enemy,'' Khan considered. ''Maybe the mana itself can''t understand what the scarlet eyes are.''


    That guess made sense on many levels. The mana was technically alive but didn''t wield real intelligence. Maybe that energy perceived the scarlet eyes as a threat without knowing why.


    ''Like a prey with a predator,'' Khan thought, ''Only knowing that it has to run.''


    Khan had triggered simr reactions in monsters and other Tainted animals. Thetter didn''t know why but still decided to bow down to Khan. That behavior was instinctive, resulting from his overwhelming presence. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The mana could have experienced something simr, which forced the Nak to act. However, those conclusions didn''t bring Khan closer to an actual exnation.


    ''Are the scarlet eyes a form of energy?'' Khan wondered. ''But I''ve seen an army.''


    Truth be told, the universe was strange enough to have answers Khan couldn''t even try to consider. His reasoning used his experience as its foundation, and he couldn''t im to know everything. Actually, Khan believed to know very little.


    "Can''t the Nak defeat the enemy?" Khan continued.


    "No," The Nak said. "The Nak will die."


    "Why?" Khan asked.


    "Nak are mana," The Nak exined. "Scarlet eyes is mana''s enemy."


    The exnation was useless and only confirmed what Khan already knew. Yet, the Nak had added a few details. It seemed able to speak more freely about its species.


    "Why the genocides?" Khan questioned.


    "Nak has to create hosts," The Nak dered. "Mana needs hosts."


    Usually, thenguage barrier could create misunderstanding, but Khan knew he was getting and conveying the message loud and clear. The Nak didn''t care about his words. It only listened to his emotions, preventing mistakes, doubts, and confusion.


    "Why?" Khan asked.


    "To defeat mana''s enemy," The Nak revealed.


    "Are the hosts stronger than the Nak?" Khan wondered.


    "Sessful hosts evolve past Nak," The Nak stated, "Evolve past mana."


    "How?" Khan asked. The topic was finally getting interesting, and the second part of the Nak''s reply fueled his curiosity.


    "Chaos has no rules," The Nak exined. "Chaos has no enemy."


    Khan fell silent. The Nak''s reply resounded in his mind, creating the first doubt since the beginning of the conversation. He wasn''t sure whether the alien was talking about his element. Khan didn''t even know whether that species was aware of that concept in the first ce.


    "The chaos element?" Khan asked.


    "Chaos is free," The Nak said. "Chaos is life and death, fire and water."


    Khan had to fall silent again. The "life and death" and "fire and water" weren''t necessarily connected to their real counterparts. His brain could have linked the Nak''s exnation to the most simr words avable in his knowledge.


    "The Nak have chaos," Khan eventually dered. "How is it different?"


    "Nak''s chaos is mana," The Nak exined. "Nak''s chaos has rules. Nak''s chaos has enemy."


    Khan seemed to understand something, but more doubts popped up. His mana differed from the Nak''s, but his element didn''t carry unique properties. His arts and techniques were special but onlypared to human methods. The core of his energy remained the same.


    "How do I break the rules?" Khan questioned. "How do I be free?"


    "Break the rules," The Nak said. "Be free."


    "How?" Khan asked.


    "Break the rules," The Nak repeated. "Be free."


    "How!?" Khan shouted, his aura achieving its peak density. Tremors even ran through the symphony, echoing the nature of his presence. The hall''s air became an extension of his mind, which was far from calm.


    Strangely enough, the Nak noticed the change. It didn''t deliver an immediate reply, either. It fell silent, and more mana converged toward its head, spinning and condensing to prepare a new answer.


    "Find Nak," The Nak exined. "Nak will give mana to host. Host''s chaos will be free."

 Chapter 823 Time

    Chapter 823 Time


    Find the Nak, inherit mana, and evolve it to fend off the scarlet eyes. That was the greater purpose the sessful hosts had to aplish. That was Khan''s mission, whether he wanted it or not.


    Thest reply calmed Khan down. Ideally, he wouldn''t take anything from the Nak, but that ship had already sailed. It had taken him a while, but he had eventually epted the alien power inside him. Moreover, Khan couldn''t be picky regarding a universal threat.


    Ideas and simtions filled Khan''s mind. He was no scientist, but few could im to have such a broad view of the mana. Caja and Zalpa were more knowledgeable than him, but he had ess to multiple alien arts that explored different aspects of that magical energy.


    ''I am an odd Shaman,'' Khan realized. ''Chances are I''ve already developed something that breaks the rules.''


    Khan was often blind to the greatness of his achievements, but his memories provided undeniable clues. He had defeated fifth-level warriors, surpassed the limits of Nele''s and Niqols'' arts, and condensed his knowledge into his runes, creating a new, unique scientific field.


    All those pieces had made Khan ignore the epted power system. His attunement with mana was no reliable indicator of his actual prowess. He yed by different rules, existing in a world only he could see. Yet, Khan couldn''t know whether that matched the Nak''s exnation.


    Khan sorted out his thoughts, trying to find the right question for the Nak, but something distracted him. The alien had used a lot of mana to give itsst exnation, and the remaining energy inside its flesh began leaking out.


    The trembling membrane above the Nak''s head also dispersed. The alien appeared unable to control its energy anymore, forcing Khan to stretch his hands forward and release mana.


    Usually, the Nak''s flesh would absorb any energy it touched, but the corpse was different. It ignored Khan''s mana, dispersing what remained of its fuel. Even its tissues began releasing mana, slowly regressing to its previous state.


    Khan continued sending mana forward before grabbing the first sk in his reach. He poured all its contents on the Nak''s head before resuming emitting energy, but the alien didn''t care. Its flesh became dry, and the weight of its heavier pieces eventually pierced it.


    Holes opened on the Nak''s head. Its eyelids crumbled as it tried to close them, and its eyes dug into its skull, shattering when they reached the container''s bottom.


    The previous cavities also expanded, turning that maimed torso into dust. The organs were thest to go, but everything crumbled nheless, leaving nothing but shards and blue powder inside the container.


    The Nak seemed to havemitted suicide, but Khan had another exnation. The effort required by thest exnation had exhausted its already damaged mental capabilities. The alien had even lost its most basic survival instincts, so its maimed body sumbed to the many years spent inside theb.


    Strangely enough, Khan didn''t feel angry or disappointed about losing his best sample. He looked at the dust inside the container, experiencing mixed andplicated emotions. Part of him even felt sad for the Nak, but he pretended not to notice.


    Khan eventually lifted his gaze, pointing it at the door that led to theb. He had other decent-sized samples but had run out of uses for them. He had gotten some answers, and that was it.


    ''Break the rules,'' Khan thought, scratching his head. ''Chaos is free. Chaos is life and death, fire and water.''


    Khan knew his brain had tranted the Nak''s exnation using the most suitable words in his knowledge. Still, he couldn''t ignore their meaning altogether. Khan had to consider every nuance, especially since he already wielded some of them.


    ''I can create fire and water through chaos,'' Khan considered. ''Is that breaking the rules?''


    Khan''s runes could give birth to manifestations of different elements. They weren''t elements per se, but the result was close enough to make him consider that idea.


    ''It can''t be so easy,'' Khan wondered, ''Can it?''


    There was nothing easy about Khan''s runes, but he couldn''t im them to be an evolution of mana. At most, he could acknowledge that he had surpassed the individual arts in his possession.


    ''Life and death are also kind of done,'' Khan thought, ncing at the dust. He had just revived and talked with a dead Nak. He didn''t believe he could get any closer than that.


    ''Maybe he was talking metaphorically,'' Khan considered. ''But I can kind of do that already, too.''


    Fire and water could be ways to express opposite natures, which Khan could achieve through the Niqols'' maniption field. However, the idea didn''t convince him. It felt too shallow when considering the relevance of the Nak''s quest.


    ''Evolving past mana,'' Khan thought. ''What does it even mean?''


    Khan instinctively thought about a new form of energy. Mana had made electricity outdated, and something above it could theoretically exist. Yet, the Nak had stressed the chaos element, forcing him to put that idea aside.


    Minutes passed as Khan explored the topic, repeating the Nak''s words in his mind. He even tried to recall the exact sensations he felt when hearing its replies, hoping they could lead to better ideas.


    Nevertheless, the effort seemed pointless and always led to the same conclusion. Khan had to find and get to the Nak to obtain real answers. Actually, the conversation had made their teachings necessary to defeat the scarlet eyes'' threat.


    As much as Khan didn''t like the idea, finding the Nak was his original n. Getting there might involve new issues now, but the goal didn''t change. As for the Nak''s inheritance, Khan could only decide after inspecting the scene with his own eyes.


    The long testing session left Khan empty-handed, but he didn''t see it as a waste. He had added another piece to the puzzle, even gaining a general direction. His element was the key to the path that could surpass the mana. Khan only had to understand how to advance.


    That coulde in many forms. Maybe Khan''s expertise in his various arts had to improve before he could unlock higher levels of understanding and learn how to evolve past mana.


    The answer could also be behind the arts Khan had yet to master or meet. The universe was immense, and Khan had already ignored species that didn''t match his skill set. One of them might have pushed his understanding to the next level. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Nevertheless, the most reasonable hypothesis involved Khan''s attunement with mana. He was only a fourth-level warrior. He still had the fifth level and the evolution ahead of him. The answer to his question could easilye as he grew stronger.


    Khan lingered on the hall floor for a few more minutes before standing up. He was done with theb and the tests. It was time to go home.


    Khan pressed on the floor and gave a few orders before crossing the bridge to theb. He had yet to explore the entire structure, and giving onest look at the remaining samples couldn''t hurt.


    In the meantime, the scientists cleaned the hall. They removed every trace of Khan''s experiments and decontaminated the area, running scanners to make sure nothing remained. That wasn''t only protocol. Khan didn''t want to risk exposing his projects, either.


    As for theb, nothing piqued Khan''s interest. He had spent enough time among Nak''s flesh, too. He only wanted to get out of there.


    However, one item eventually attracted Khan''s curiosity. The former didn''t even seem part of theb. It was hidden in a closet containing unused and dirty equipment. That wasn''t even his first time seeing something simr, although he never thought to find it there.


    "What''s this?" Khan asked, knowing that a few scientists were behind him.


    The scientists approached the closet and spotted the only item that could capture Khan''s interest. A dirty anvil stood among the messy equipment, seemingly ready to be thrown away.


    "We used it during the initial phases of our experiments, My Prince," One of the scientists exined. "cksmiths use it to create magic weapons, but it has additional functions."


    "Is there a cksmith here?" Khan questioned. He knew what the anvil''s uses were, but a recent issue made him want to learn more about the topic.


    "I''m cleared for most of its functions, My Prince," The scientist said. "However, we can summon an expert if you find me unsuited for your questions."


    Khan nced at the scientist before drawing his knife. His gesture carried no hostility, but the tension intensified anyway. His fame preceded him, and theb''s workers would be helpless against his eventual harmful wishes.


    "This is a cursed weapon," Khan dered, showing the knife''s blunt edges. "Hypothetically, how would you build it?"


    The scientist had to take a moment to realize what was happening. At first, he was d Khan didn''t want to kill them all. However, confusion followed as the question became clear in his mind. He tried to answer, but the cursed weapons were a tricky topic.


    "My Prince," The scientist announced once he had collected his thoughts. "Different experts have different methods, and the Global Army has yet to develop a reliable technique for cursed weapons."


    Khan limited himself to staring at the scientist, and thetter understood that the answer didn''t satisfy him. The man fell silent again, eventuallying up with a different reply.


    "If it were up to me, My Prince," The scientist continued, "I''d spend years hammering it down. Time often is amon trait among cursed weapons."

 Chapter 824 Border

    Chapter 824 Border


    Khan retreated into his mind as the soldiers handled the departure. The scientist''s exnation had given him ideas on how to advance his project on magic items, and he used the wait to explore them.


    A will was aplicated existence, and creating one involved many hurdles. Khan had tried to use intense feelings and memories to build something that matched his requirements, but his approach had probably been too forceful.


    Fusing the violent nature of Khan''s mana with his intensity could only lead to unstable results, hence the explosions. However, he might avoid those dangerous reactions if he split the procedure into multiple phases, slowly letting his blood transform into what he desired.


    The idea felt so obvious that Khan almost cursed himself for not considering it earlier. He couldn''t realistically expect to build cursed items in a single afternoon session, especially as a novice in the field. Yet, his inexperience and inclinations had made him blind to the issue, until now, at least.


    The set-off didn''t distract Khan from those thoughts. He didn''t interact with the small crew while sitting on the main deck and sipping his drink. His fingers tingled as the urge to test those new ideas intensified, but returning to Baoway had toe first.


    The soldiers said nothing, but the difference from the previous trip was evident. The atmosphere inside the ship was nothingpared to before. Everything was far more rxed,cking the earlier chilling tension.


    Khan''s mental state was to me or thank for that rxing atmosphere. Realistically, the trip didn''t give him much, but he felt it had been quite productive. He had confirmed and cleared many issues involving the Nak, discovered the intended path of his curse, and developed new ideas for his experiments. All in all, things went well.


    Now, Khan only had to put what he had learned into practice, meaning training and experiments. The sample had told him that finding the Nak was necessary to evolve past mana, but that wouldn''t stop him from trying alone. Khan would actually prefer to get there without asking the Nak for help.


    Time inevitably slowed down inside the ship. The more Khan wanted to test things out, the longer the trip felt. Luckily, he had booze to spare, but something eventually distracted him, and the pilot experienced a simr reaction.


    A beeping noise resounded through the main deck. The sound was clear but short. It barelysted a fraction of a second, making the pilot wonder whether it had happened at all.


    However, Khan had no doubts. He had heard that beep, and his eyes promptly darted to the pilot''s console. Screens stood at its sides, showing the scanners'' recordings. Something odd had popped out, and Khan waited for the ship to pick it up again.


    Needless to say, the atmosphere on the ship changed. The air grew sharp as Khanpletely focused on the screens. His mood affected the crew, making the pilot also check the scanners. As for the soldiers, they entered the main deck, curious about the cause of that reaction.


    Seconds transformed into minutes as all eyes on the main deck converged on the screens. Everyone waited for the scanners to say something, but the silence continued. The crew slowly but eventually began to rx, but Khan didn''t join them.


    ''A false-positive?'' Khan wondered. ''Unlikely. Technical problems? Also unlikely.''


    The ship''s scanners were by no means foolproof, but the vehicle still abided by the highest standards humankind had to offer. That was noble technology, the best the Global Army could provide. Khan couldn''t believe it had malfunctioned, especially since he had stayed put with his aura.


    Khan didn''t blink and even held his breath. His stare became so intense that mana threatened to leak from his eyes. His mood forced the crew to focus again, and another beep eventually resounded.


    The second beeping noise was as short as the first, but Khan and the crew noticed something else now that their eyes were on the screens. Three blue dots had shed on the devices, immediately disappearing. Normality returned, but the soldiers didn''t let that fool them.


    "Stealth technology!" The pilot shouted as his right hand danced on the controls. "Acquiring frequency!"


    One of the soldiers peeked past the bridge''s entrance, shouting orders at the technician. Thetter immediately got into position and waited for the code to arrive.


    "Frequency acquired!" The pilot cried once the ship''s menus updated him. "XFE-558329!"


    The soldier by the door echoed the code, and the technician in the other room confirmed it while inputting it into the specific machines. The scanners'' screens flickered as the new settings went online, eventually showing far different pictures.


    The scanners checked the ship''s surroundings, which had been clear until now. However, the new settings showed the reality of the situation. Three vehicles were flying closely behind Khan''s ride, sticking to its course.


    More noises followed. The ship''s menus made warning sounds, alerting the crew about the pursuers'' activities. The three vehicles were locked on Khan''s ride, seemingly ready to fire at it.


    "Engaging in evasive maneuvers!" The pilot shouted, using a mixture of manual and automatic controls to shake off the pursuers'' targeting system.


    The ship''s artificial gravity did its best topensate for the sudden turns and spins, but repercussions were unavoidable. Pushing forces invaded the bridge, trying to fling the crew away. However, Khan only needed his legs to remain in his seat, and the pilot had fastened his seatbelt. As for the two soldiers, they ended up mming into the nearest walls.


    The crashes didn''t hurt the soldiers, who searched for the nearest handholds to stabilize their position. They quickly found something useful, allowing them to endure the following evasive maneuvers. Their sense of duty also kept their eyes on Khan, but he paid them no heed.


    Truthfully, Khan had never stopped inspecting the crew. His eyes were on the scanners, but his senses studied everything while his brain tried to make sense of that development.


    The trip had happened in secret. Almost no one on Baoway knew about Khan''s departure, and only the pilot was aware of the destination. Those precautions removed the crew from the list of suspects, and Khan''s senses confirmed that.


    The soldier didn''t get the chance to finish his line because Khan briefly red at him, shutting him up. The protocol would have wanted Khan to retreat into safer areas of the ship, but he couldn''t be bothered to follow it. Besides, everything would be pointless if the vehicle blew up.


    ''They are keeping up,'' Khan thought once his eyes returned to the scanners. ''It can''t be pirates.''


    It wasn''t only a matter ofck of hostility. Khan sensed his crew''s slight fear and resolve. The pilot, soldiers, and technician were worried about that development, but their experience and training allowed them to remain focused and prioritize Khan''s safety.


    "My Prince!" One of the soldiers called. "You should-." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The soldier didn''t get the chance to finish his line because Khan briefly red at him, shutting him up. The protocol would have wanted Khan to retreat into safer areas of the ship, but he couldn''t be bothered to follow it. Besides, everything would be pointless if the vehicle blew up.


    ''They are keeping up,'' Khan thought once his eyes returned to the scanners. ''It can''t be pirates.''


    That hypothesis was almost ludicrous, but Khan had considered it anyway. Yet, the pursuers kept up with the ship''s evasive maneuvers, vouching for their advanced technology. Mere pirates couldn''t have ess to vehicles on par with the nobles''.


    ''Someone talked,'' Khan concluded.


    Reba''s name crossed Khan''s mind, but he quickly disregarded it. She wouldn''t have let him destroy priceless samples only to betray him afterward. Attacking him before he reached theb would have made far more sense.


    Removing Reba left a single name in Khan''s mind. The Nognes family had nned the trip, so only the Nognes family could interfere with it. His faction also had someone who would greatly benefit from Khan''s death, seemingly confirming his hunches.


    ''Thomas,'' Khan thought. ''It seems he is more resourceful than Reba.''


    Reba owned theb, the crew, and the scientists, but Thomas had found Khan anyway. Khan couldn''t know how but had learned enough about the political field to admire the event. His Uncle clearly was a true expert with immense influence and reach.


    "Iing!" The pilot suddenly shouted, distracting Khan from his thoughts. More warning noises filled the bridge, and the scanners showed a series of projectiles flying toward the ship.


    The pilot switched to different evasive maneuvers, skillfully avoiding the projectiles, but the pursuers kept firing. The bridge''s rms never stopped crying, creating a loud atmosphere that almost prevented the crew from thinking clearly.


    Nevertheless, Khan and the crew didn''t let simple rms distract them. Khan even noticed something during the assault. The scanners showed strange patterns, and Khan left his seat to approach the pilot''s console.


    "My Prince, you shouldn''t," The pilot said, but the necessity for more evasive maneuvers cut his line short. He didn''t want Khan to stay on his feed during that reckless flight, but the abrupt pushing force barely affected him.


    "They aren''t hitting us," Khan dered, tinkering with the console to lower the rms'' volume.


    "Indeed, My Prince," The pilot confirmed. "They are locked onto us, but their missiles don''t hit."


    Both Khan and the pilot knew that the oue was impossible. The best evasive maneuvers couldn''tpletely avoid projectiles fired in those circumstances. Something had to touch the ship, but its mana barrier showed no damage at all.


    "I think they are pushing us off-course," The pilot revealed.


    "They already have," Khanmented, "But to what end?"


    "I wouldn''t know, My Prince," The pilot admitted. "However, if they keep at it, we''ll cross the border and enter the Empire''s domain."

 Chapter 825 Plan

    Chapter 825 n


    ''The Empire''s domain?'' Khan repeated in his mind, confused about that development.


    The situation was quite odd. The three ships clearly had noble support. They wouldn''t have been able to find Khan otherwise. Yet, killing him didn''t seem to be their goal.


    That didn''t make any sense. The unknown enemy party had invested a lot in that ploy, meaning it expected significant results. Instead, pushing Khan into the Thilku''s domain wasn''t much of an achievement. There had to be more to it.


    Khan reviewed his situation, considering the potential problems that could arise. Much of his authority and leverage came from the Empire. Ruining that rtionship would greatly damage him, but the matter was easier said than done.


    The Thilku were straightforward people, and Khan had even earned their cape. His rtionship with the Empire wouldn''t crumble over misunderstandings or minor incidents. Only something big could make that happen.


    ''Though,'' Khan realized, ''An incident might create the chance for the Global Army to step in. Many higher-ups would jump at the opportunity.''


    Khan was only considering the worst-case scenario. Truth be told, his position had greatly improved after he colonized Baoway. He had also involved the other noble families through trade agreements and buildings, creating a big organization around his name.


    ''Am I overthinking it?'' Khan wondered. ''Maybe they are just waiting for us to cross the border to hit their missiles.''


    There were benefits to that. Killing Khan inside the Thilku''s domain would make eventual investigations harder. It would also be easier to cover the assassination''s tracks in that distant ce, which was the same reasoning behind the betrayal in Baoway.


    Khan inspected the pilot''s console. Warnings shed in his eyes, but nomunications tried to reach the ship. The pursuers were limiting themselves to firing at him without voicing demands or simr requests. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The pursuers'' purpose remained unclear, but Khan was sure of one thing. He couldn''t let that chase continue. He needed to react, but normal ns wouldn''t work.


    The four ships seemed to have equal speed and agility. Moreover, the pursuers were keeping their distance. No reckless or abrupt evasive maneuver would shake them off or give Khan''s vehicle the chance to retaliate.


    ''If the ship is useless ¡­'' Khan thought as a vague n formed in his mind.


    "Slow down," Khan ordered, "And stop with the evasive maneuvers."


    "But, My Prince," The pilot tried toin, but bright blue light suddenly shone on his face, cutting his line short.


    "From now on," Khan muttered, leaning toward the pilot while his blinding eyes threatened to pierce his skull. "You''ll follow every order without speaking anymore."


    The pilot didn''t know where to look. His experience told him to keep his eyes on the controls, but something far scarier was breathing on his neck. The man opened his mouth before recalling Khan''s words and closing it. He could only gulp while stepping off the pedal and putting the ship on a straight course.


    Khan studied the screens, waiting for the pursuers'' reaction. Thetter slowed down, matching the ship''s speed while holding back on their ammo. It seemed they wouldn''t fire as long as the vehicle headed in the right direction.


    "Stop the ship," Khan ordered. "Completely."


    The pilot had manyints and doubts, but they remained in his mind while heplied with Khan''s orders. The ship came to a stop, hovering in the middle ofplete darkness, and the pursuers imitated it.


    Silent seconds passed as Khan and the crew waited for the pursuers to do something. Usually, the attackers would try to board the ship or destroy it, but nothing simr happened.


    Eventually, one of the pursuers fired at Khan''s ship. The bullet mmed on its upper part, but the mana barrier held strong. The vehicle suffered no damage, even if tremors spread through its insides.


    The pilot couldn''t help but nce at Khan, but thetter only had eyes for the screens. They were sitting ducks. The pursuers could have easily damaged the engines or pierced the mana barrier. Still, they had limited themselves to a light poke.


    A second bullet soon arrived, somehow missing the ship''s vital equipment. The mana barrier also handled the hit, preventing damage to the hull.


    ''Do they want us to go forward?'' Khan wondered, inspecting the screens. ''We can take four more of these bullets before the shield goes down.''


    Calctions happened in Khan''s mind. He tapped on the screens, bringing up seemingly useless information. He knew what to do, but things could quickly go poorly. Even if Khan seeded, there was a chance he would die anyway.


    "Once I open the side doors," Khan announced, "Redirect a quarter of the tank into the shield. The ship must survive at all costs."


    Khan disregarded the crew, heading toward the cargo area. His bright eyes kept the pilot and soldiers away, but their confusion was palpable. Their internal questions were so loud Khan felt forced to address them.


    "Their scanners won''t see our doors opening," Khan shouted, stopping before the sealed side doors. "Just be ready."


    Even from a room away, Khan''s presence remained suffocating. The pilot gulped again, preparing the ship for the imminent n. Doors closed, isting the cargo area from the rest of the vehicle, and themand Khan had requested popped out on the man''s console.


    ''I can cross it,'' Khan thought, seemingly trying to convince himself. ''Eight strands should be enough. Ten would be perfect, but the risk of misfire is high. I might even go past the ships.''


    The idea of ending up stranded in space crossed Khan''s mind, but he quickly killed it. He neededplete concentration to execute his n. He closed his eyes, reviewing the scanners'' pictures, his mana, and training, eliminating any useless thoughts. His focus grew so firm that he didn''t notice the tremors caused by the pursuers'' third bullet.


    Khan slowly reopened his eyes, which still shone with blue light. They illuminated the doors and their manual handle, which Khan reached for. He was ready to open them, but another action had toe first.


    The atmosphere in the ship suddenly changed. Everything froze but also fell into a frenzy. The air was simultaneously cold and ready to explode, and faint purple-red strands materialized in random areas.


    The sudden change alerted the soldiers, almost prompting them to move. However, Khan''s directives had been clear. Moreover, only he could cause such a drastic transformation, and his intentions soon became evident.


    The ship''s menus began to flicker. The screens seemed unable to provide clear images, and the artificial light went on and off, randomly shing. Only the mainmands remained unaffected by Khan''s influence, but those issues weren''t limited to his ride.


    The vehicle right behind Khan''s ship didn''t suffer from such harsh instabilities, but its scanners also began to flicker. Their images grew blurry and imprecise, forcing the crew inside to attend to the issue.


    Part of the crew tried to fix the scanners, while others looked past the transparent at the end of the bridge. They had to eyeball the position of Khan''s ship while their equipment was down, but something shocking ended up filling their vision.


    The event barelysted a full second. A red light materialized next to Khan''s ship before chaos unfolded. rms rang, gales spread, and metal bent, adding noises to the environment.


    The ship''s mana barrier soon fixed itself, restoring the artificial atmosphere and allowing the crew to study the situation. Yet, everyone froze when looking at the bridge''s center. A foreign red figure had joined them, leaving a trail of destruction behind.


    Khan proudly stood on the pursuers'' ship, his mana barrier still enveloping him. He held his breath, saving the air stored in the defensive membrane, but his senses and shining eyes instantly recorded every detail.


    The ship''s canopy had gained a hole, and all the equipment between that cavity and Khan had suffered from the same fate. He had barged into the vehicle at full speed, destroying everything in his path.


    The stunned crew had survived the reckless action, but their fate didn''t change. One look at Khan told them everything they needed to know. They were already dead, waiting for him to strike.


    Khan had initially nned to kill everyone as soon as his feet touched the metal floor, but a strange detail made him hesitate. The crew was human, featuring at mixture of second and third-level warriors. However, one Thilku stood among them.


    The alien was leaning on a wall near the bridge''s end, his small eyes wide open while pointing at Khan. The Thilku couldn''t believe what had just happened, but something else filled his mind. He could almost sense it in Khan''s aura. Thetter had taken an interest in him.


    The Thilku''s first instinct was to run, even though the ship had no escape route. That reaction was far from rational. Yet, the alien didn''t even get the chance to straighten his back since the red figure materialized before him.


    "[You will talk]," Khan dered as a sea of purple-red needles filled the bridge, surrounding the crew.

 Chapter 826 Military planet

    Chapter 826 Military


    The Thilku felt incredibly small. He was at least half a meter taller than Khan, but his brain kept sending warning signals. He knew he waspletely outssed there.


    The ship''s rms threatened to deafen the crew, but no one dared to move. The various humans silently stared at the needles closest to them. Those pointy, bright weapons were aiming at them, immobilizing them while Khan handled his business.


    Khan''s bright eyes pierced the Thilku''s skull, studying his thoughts and emotional state. The alien was terrified, frozen in fear. He could barely breathe, let alone speak, but Khan had no intention of making things easy for him.


    "[Ah]!" Khan cried, spitting to the floor at his side. "[A criminal with no pride, shame of the Empire]."


    The insult awakened something inside the Thilku. The alien seemed conflicted about his situation, and receiving a direct attack on his pride generated the resolve to fight through Khan''s aura and react.


    The Thilku straightened his back, fear disappearing from his face as he took a proud stance. He was still terrified, but his genes told him to appear courageous. His species demanded it.


    Khan didn''t miss the alien''s internal conflict, but the situation didn''t give him time to explore it. He had to get an answer quickly and leave as soon as possible. After all, there were still two pursuers.


    "[What was your goal]?" Khan went straight to the point.


    "[Causing a political incident]," The Thilku exined before adding respectful words. "[Blue Shaman]."


    ''So, it was political,'' Khan thought. Still, that short answer wasn''t nearly enough to exin the entire situation.


    Khan''s thoughts raced. Ideally, he would ask more questions, but time was short. He had to deal with the other two pursuers, but giving up on obtaining information wasn''t an option.


    The Thilku''s vision suddenly went dark. Meanwhile, the purple-red glow engulfed the crew. The explosions overwhelmed the ships'' rms, and everything fell silent afterward.


    The events inside the ship had been short, but the two other pursuers had understood that something was wrong. Their scanners were still glitchy, but missing the hole in theirpanions'' hull was impossible.


    Communications flew between the two pursuers, and one focused its scanners on their damagedpanion, trying to better understand the situation. However, the equipment glitched with more intensity as the vehicle exploded into a purple-red cloud.


    Metal debris flew everywhere as the bright cloud slowly dispersed. Soon, equipment, weapons, and corpses became visible, capturing the two pursuers'' attention. They had lost one of their three ships, and things didn''t end there.


    One of the two pursuers spotted something odd on theirpanion''s ship while looking past the bridge''s canopy. A red light stood above the vehicle''s hull, unaffected by the space''s deadliness. The scanners also stabilized, providing a better read of the situation.


    Khan stood on the ship with his eyes closed and his right hand firmly holding the fainted Thilku. His warm membrane had enveloped the alien, protecting it from the cold and death outside. That shortened his air reserves, but he didn''t have time to worry about it.


    Information about the ship''sposition filled Khan''s mind. His brain studied the hull''s toughness, density, and texture, absorbing every detail it could find to let his element exploit them.


    The pursuers on the other ship didn''t know how to react to the scene. Firing at Khan would involve theirpanions, potentially leaving them one-on-one against his ride. Sending warnings wouldn''t work, either, since Khan''s aura acted as a shield againstmunications.


    The hesitation turned out to be fatal. Khan suddenly released a spherical wave of seemingly harmless mana, which vanished in no time. The pursuers wouldn''t have even noticed it without the scanners. Still, what followed was visible with bare eyes.


    Cracks opened under Khan, spreading throughout the ship''s hull. Those fissures spread until the vehicle split into multiple pieces. The equipment inside stopped working, releasing asional sparks and more.


    As the ship''s pieces floated in different directions, its contents fell prey to the space''s deadliness. The human crew found itself in almostplete darkness, gasping for air that wasn''t there. Some even tried to swim toward the nearby equipment as if stranded in the sea.


    Only the ship''s pilot managed to make the right move. A bright membrane enveloped her, fending off the space''s cold. Yet, the abrupt destruction didn''t give her the chance to store breathable air, prolonging the inevitable. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Cheating death for a short minute allowed the pilot to inspect her surroundings. She saw her crewmembers'' faces swelling up as ice covered their skin. She watched the ship''s pieces flying away, disappearing into darkness. Ultimately, she looked at the shining figure above her, calmly floating among pure death.


    Khan reopened his eyes, fixing their glow on the pilot. Thetter met his gaze, but the event was short-lived. Her lungs soon demanded air, destabilizing her defensive membrane and exposing her to the space''s cold.


    Khan waited until the pilot died before turning his head toward the remaining pursuers. His eyes'' glow pierced his defensive membrane, sending blue light into the ship''s scanners. He looked ready to attack again but didn''t move.


    The intense stare reflected in the scanners'' screens resembled a challenging gaze. The pursuers felt that Khan was daring them to make a move against him.


    That sounded ludicrous on many levels. Powerful soldiers could fight and win against ships, but not in the middle of space. Realistically, that environment utterly favored vehicles, but the crew had no confidence in the situation. Odds had no meaning against that monster.


    Khan remained still as the pursuers'' ship slowly retreated before performing a sudden U-turn and eleration. The ride quickly disappeared, leaving Khan and his prisoner alone with the allied vehicle.


    A grunt tried to escape Khan''s mouth, but his lips remained sealed. Mana escaped from his back, propelling him toward his ship. He slowly reached his ride''s side doors, which opened to allow him inside.


    Khan released the warm membrane as soon as the doors closed. He even dropped the fainted Thilku when his feet touched the floor. The threat was no more, but Khan was far from done.


    "My Prince! My Prince!" The two soldiers shouted, hurrying into the cargo area. Their worry was genuine, but their mana also showed a tinge of respect. Witnessing Khan''s prowess firsthand had given birth to some devotion.


    "That was spectacr, My Prince!" One of the soldiers added, approaching the fainted Thilku. "Allow me to restrain this criminal!"


    The soldier had bowed during the request, pointing his eyes at Khan''s feet. The new perspective made him spot something concerning. Blood was flowing down Khan''s legs, drenching his shoes and dripping on the metal floor.


    "My Prince, you are injured!" The soldier shouted, iming the attention of the entire crew. The pilot and technician soon entered the cargo area, quickly noticing the expanding pool of blood at Khan''s feet.


    "Get us out of here," Khan scolded the pilot before addressing the two soldiers. "Restrain the Thilku. I''ll worry about my injuries."


    The pilot''s eyes went wide as he hurried back to his seat. The pursuers could very well send reinforcements, so disappearing was the priority. Luckily, the quadrant was empty and secluded, so finding potential safe destinations wasn''t a problem.


    The soldiers also understood that point, but their worry about Khan''s injury didn''t wane. However, he ignored their feelings and headed into his quarters, sealing the door as soon as he crossed their entrance.


    ''Twice is still too much,'' Khan cursed, lowering his trousers to expose his legs.


    Multiple deep cuts had appeared on Khan''s legs. His joints were fine, but his skin and muscles had suffered during the previous sprints. His speed had been incredible, but his body had paid the price.


    ''Even the first wasn''t that great,'' Khan thought, ignoring the pain radiating from his legs as he half-crouched and removed his shoes.


    The trousers followed, and Khan washed his legs afterward. He felt slightly ufortable, but the bleeding had already stopped by then, and that was enough.


    Wearing new trousers sent more pain to Khan''s brain. His muscles needed rest, and his legs'' state acted as a loud warning. His new technique was dangerous.


    ''A normal human might have lost a leg,'' Khan realized, ''But its power is undeniable.''


    The previous two sprints had been Khan''s first attempt at the Transcendent Step in a real battle. He had only relied on the foundation form, and its execution had also beenckluster, but the oue had been eptable. The technique clearly had potential.


    ''And this wasn''t even a perfect execution,'' Khan considered. ''It wasn''t even one of the advanced forms.''


    The urge to go in a long, secluded training session invaded Khan, but more pressing problems were at his doorstep now. The attack on his ship wasn''t over yet. It wouldn''t end until hepleted his move.


    Khan barged into the cargo area under the soldiers'' worried gaze. The two men wanted to ask about his condition, but neither spoke. His aura hinted at the desire to handle different topics.


    The soldiers had tied the Thilku to a seat, using metal wires to bind his legs and hands. The alien''s physical strength could probably ovee that brittle restraint, but the ship had nothing better to offer.


    "It''s out cold, My Prince," One of the soldiers announced. "Should we look into the medical bay for drugs to wake it up?"


    "No need," Khan said, focusing on the symphony around the fainted Thilku. He gave a silent order, and a tremor spread, entering the alien.


    The Thilku gasped, abruptly waking up. His big arms and legs pressed on the metal wires, but strength abandoned his limbs when he looked at Khan. Everything returned to him now. The alien recalled what had happened.


    "[The political incident]," Khan didn''t waste time. "[What did it entail]?"


    Khan''s eyes had gone dark, but the Thilku felt unable to stop looking at them anyway. His gaze never went to the soldiers or floor while he sorted his thoughts to give a reply.


    "[Pushing the Blue Shaman in the Empire''s domain]," The Thilku exined, "[Lord Exr''s domain. There''s a secret military that doesn''t abide by the interspecies agreement with the Global Army. The n was to trap you there]."


    "[Does the have more criminals]?" Khan questioned.


    "[Yes]," The Thilku confirmed. "[They would have fought you to stir an incident]."


    "[Give me the coordinates]," Khan ordered before ncing at his soldiers. "We are heading into the Empire''s domain."

 Chapter 827 Target

    Chapter 827 Target


    Khan brought his gaze back to the restrained Thilku. He wanted more details about the ploy, but the symphony warned him about aplication. One of the soldiers radiated deep concern, and Khan felt forced to address it.


    "You speak the Thilku''snguage," Khan eximed, studying the soldier.


    That conclusion was natural for Khan, but the soldier couldn''t help but feel surprised. His expression didn''t betray anything, but Khan had noticed that detail anyway.


    The soldier''s surprise would be even greater if he knew the truth. Khan could smell the difference between the current and previous concerns. It was almost night and day in his eyes, allowing him to reach that conclusion.


    "Yes, My Prince," The soldier admitted. "I am educated in a variety of aliennguages."


    "And?" Khan asked.


    "I mean no insult, My Prince," The soldier replied. "However, I wonder if ying into this ploy is wise."


    The soldier''s concern was reasonable. He didn''t want Khan to ignore the issue, but there were better ways to tackle it. Khan''s rtionship with the Empire granted him ess to immense support. He could easily contact Lord Exr and receive proper authorizations and reinforcements before dealing with the issue.


    Moreover, entering the Empire''s domain without invitations or warnings would break several interspecies agreements. Khan had special privileges, but the act would remain political, making repercussions unavoidable.


    "I''ve been invited," Khan firmly stated. "I n to answer."


    Khan''s answer ended the discussion. The soldier apologetically lowered his head, and hispanion imitated him out ofradery. The Thilku eventually gave the military''s coordinates, and Khan sent his men away to ry the message and have some privacy with the alien.


    "[I heard about your might, Blue Shaman]," The alien announced as soon as privacy arrived. "[The stories don''t do you justice]."


    Khan ignored thepliment and pretended to inspect the alien while retreating into his thoughts. He checked his condition, calcting how long it would take him to recover fully. By the time the ship reached the secret, his legs would still be injured, which wasn''t ideal due to the impending battle.


    "[Why did you betray the Empire]?" Khan asked. His curiosity about the topic was genuine. In his mind, it was strange for members of such a proud species to break bad.


    "[I followed My Lord''s orders]," The Thilku exined.


    "[Lord Exr''s orders]?" Khan questioned. "[Lord Rsi''s]?"


    The Empire had more Lords, but the location limited the answer to those two options. Lord Rsi''s superior could have a hand in the ploy, but Khan didn''t find that hypothesis reasonable. He was too small for figures close to the Thilku''s Emperor to get involved.


    "[My Lord doesn''t have a crown yet]," The Thilku revealed. "[But he will soon]."


    The matter instantly became moreplicated. The Thilku weren''t known for their interest in politics, but ambition was a natural feeling. Few of them could resort to dark strategies to appease it.


    ''A Thilku striving for Lordship?'' Khan wondered. ''Under Lord Exr''s nose?''


    Truthfully, Khan didn''t know enough about the Empire''s politics to develop reliable mental simtions. His ignorance prevented him from understanding whether the ploy against him was reckless or a standard practice among the Thilku.


    Still, Khan couldn''t let the matter rest. He needed to handle it because it was an insult to his authority. Moreover, the Thilku had awarded him a cape, and dealing with criminals would match their customs.


    "[How would attacking me help him get a crown]?" Khan questioned.


    "[Achievements breed glory]," The Thilku exined, "[And you are famous, Blue Shaman]."


    Khan understood that point better than most, but another detail captured his attention and affected his mood. The Thilku felt unable to breathe as Khan opened his mouth to address the idea.


    "[Am I being used here]?" Khan asked.


    Khan almost couldn''t believe he was considering that possibility. He could understand attacks on his persona meant to remove him from specific environments. However, thinking that some parties only wanted to exploit his fame for personal reasons made him livid. He wouldn''t be treated as a simple pawn in someone else''s game.


    "[Th]-," The Thilku muttered, gasping for air. "[There are two factions at work here. That''s all I know]."


    "[What did your faction think when it involved me]?" Khan asked.


    The Thilku knew the answer to Khan''s question. Still, he also realized Khan wouldn''t like it. The alien hesitated, but remaining silent felt impossible before that piercing gaze.


    "[You were a suitable target for My Lord''s career]," The Thilku replied. "[That''s all]."


    The Thilku almost expected his life to end at that moment. Yet, Khan didn''t attack. The thought crossed his mind, but his anger was better used on a different target.


    Khan had more questions for the Thilku, but they suddenly lost value. He stormed out of the cargo area and entered the bridge. The two soldiers there straightened their backs and announced his arrival, but he headed directly for the pilot''s console.


    "Move," Khan ordered, and the pilot instantly stood up, bowing once Khan took his ce.


    Khan gave no warnings before stepping on the pedal. The ship was already on the right course, so he only needed to elerate to get to the secret faster. The vehicle automaticallypensated for the sudden burst of speed, but Khan''s crew suffered anyway.


    The ship reached its peak speed, leaving Khan with nothing to do. Yet, he didn''t move from the pilot''s seat as wild emotions raced through his mind. His rational side had broadly understood the situation, but he couldn''t help but let his unreasonable parts win.


    It stood to reason that both parties involved in the ploy had acted out of personal interests. Even humankind''s greatest figures couldn''t have important Thilku on their payroll. That species didn''t work like that.


    Thomas and anyone involved with him had probably exploited the wannabe Thilku Lord to ruin Khan''s status. He was the target of that party, but his anger only cared about the opposite side.


    Khan owned a, a species, a scientific field, a revolutionary drug, and a big chunk of a noble faction. His reach affected most of the influential and wealthy organizations inside the Global Army, but that wasn''t the end of it. He also touched on multiple alien species, making him an overall important figure. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan was often blind to his relevance and greatness, but that ploy had crossed a line. Someone had thought he could be used. Someone had treated him as a mere nobody, and Khan needed to show how wrong that was.


    The ship took hours to cross the quadrant and reach the prisoner''s coordinates, but a small eventually appeared on its scanners. The menus recorded its position, adding it to the known map of the universe and highlighting potential political problems, but Khan temporarily ignored them.


    Approaching the''s atmosphere revealed more details and triggered a reaction. A series of Thilku ships rose to intercept Khan''s vehicle, forcing him to pull the brakes. He stopped into the enemy encirclement, andmunications soon reached the main desk.


    "[You are trespassing]," A robotic Thilku voice resounded throughout the bridge. "[State your name and purpose]."


    "[Prince Khan]," Khan promptly replied. "[Blue Shaman. I''ve been invited]."


    The Thilku ships went silent. Minutes passed without additionalmunications, inevitably adding tension on Khan''s bridge. Yet, a message eventually arrived.


    "[Follow us]," The robotic alien voice ordered, adding a series of requirements to the message.


    Khan inputted the requirements into the ship''s autopilot and left his seat. The scanners went dark, and the same went for the rectangr canopy at the bridge''s end. The crew was flying blind, but Khan calmly took his position before the cargo area''s side doors.


    The slow descent felt endless, but Khan''s crewmates mustered their courage and created an orderly line behind him. Everyone waited for thending to unfold, which took ce in a few minutes.


    The side doors eventually opened on their own, and a metal ramp stretched into the new environment. The heavy stench of synthetic mana invaded Khan''s senses, but he immediately stepped forward, uncaring about the rows of troops waiting on the other side.


    The had deployed an entirepany to wee Khan''s arrival. Almost two hundred Thilku had gathered before the ship, with many wielding rifles and other firearms.


    The scene could make anyone tremble in fear, but the environment ended up iming the crew''s attention. The ce was heavily metallic, with tall buildings stretching in every direction. The ship hadnded in a highly technological city, and the soldiers couldn''t help but spot the bigger structures in the distance.


    Massive tforms with big weapons of various kinds grew in different but precise locations in the city. They were so tall that the human crew could inspect them with their naked eyes, hinting at worries the scanners'' short study had sparked.


    Those huge structures had the explicit purpose of taking down iing ships, no matter their size. Adding the armedpany and the prisoner''s revtions to the equation led to a simple conclusion. The Thilku were preparing for war, and the''s location pointed at only one possible target: humankind.

 Chapter 828 Izraz

    Chapter 828 Izraz


    Khan appeared unaffected by the scenery. His eyes and senses stretched far past what his crew could see, reaching simr conclusions. Yet, his attention never lingered on the environment, and no real worries arose.


    The interspecies agreements prevented humankind and the Thilku Empire from building heavily militarized bases near the two domains'' borders. That was a standard safety measure since the alliance between the two species created many blind spots. Either side could use the friendly rtionship tounch hidden attacks and im the advantage in an eventual war.


    However, the Thilku were rather honorable. Resorting to those tactics would be an insult to their prided strength. Chances were the military was a precaution against the Global Army''s possible betrayals.


    That was the closest thing to apliment the Empire could award. The Thilku respected humankind''s power enough to split their already limited manpower and establish a secret military base. Khan couldn''t me them. Actually, he was sure the Global Army had something simr in ce.


    Nevertheless, sightseeing wasn''t the reason Khan visited. He didn''t care about interspecies politics now. He only wanted to deal with the alien who thought he could be used as a mere pawn.


    The Thilkupany was fearsome. Those rows of aliens reeked of battle experience, and their firearms only empowered them. Yet, recognizing Khan gave birth to some hesitation. His reputation preceded him, and anyone could sense his raging mood.


    Khan didn''t waste time studying the environment. He directly strode forward, marching toward the rows of aliens. The Thilku retained theirposure, but their resolve faltered under Khan''s angry pressure.


    Theoretically, the Thilku had orders to stop and restrain unwanted visitors, but Khan was an exception. Although he was scary, the aliens would still try to perform their duty. Yet, he had earned their species'' respect, which was greatly valued among the Thilku.


    Heads bent once Khan reached the first line of Thilku. The aliens performed their traditional bows, muttering "[Blue Shaman]". That respectful response halted Khan''s steps, but his anger remained as strong as ever.


    "[Bring me to your Lord]," Khan ordered.


    Truth be told, Khan had no way of knowing he hadnded in the right ce. The was small, but many quadrants still existed on it. He might have reached an area with Thilku loyal to Lord Exr.


    Still, Khan didn''t choose his destination. The Thilku did, so he felt almost sure he was in the right ce. Otherwise, the aliens would have denied him ess to the altogether.


    The Thilku didn''t react, but their mana spoke loudly, confirming Khan''s hunch. The aliens knew who he was talking about, generating conflicting emotions among thepany.


    "[Blue Shaman]," One of the Thilku in the first line eventually said. "[You trespassed into the Empire''s domain without official businesses. You must answer for the crime]."


    The Thilku didn''t believe his own words but spoke them anyway. He was clearly chanting a script meant for the ploy, but Khan was in no mood for games.


    "[This isn''t a negotiation]," Khan eximed. "[I''ll get to your Lord with or through you]."


    The situation instantly grew tense. Thepany wore sterner stances, seemingly getting ready for battle. The Thilku didn''t feel any confidence but would face Khan anyway. In a way, that was the intended oue of the ploy.


    The rational part of Khan''s mind worked overtime to justify the violent ideas rising within him. Those Thilku didn''t act under a proper Lord''s orders, effectively making them criminals. The Empire would probably execute them anyway, and his red cape gave him some authority over the matter.


    Still, those justifications never went too deep. Khan simply didn''t care anymore. Someone had crossed a line against him, leaving only one option. The organization, species, or reason didn''t matter.


    The stalemate between Khan and thepany was short-lived since a circr ship suddenly descended into the area. The sight reassured the alien, hinting at the vehicle''s contents. The ridended behind the small army, and a powerful aura joined the symphony when a metal ramp stretched forward, touching the metal floor.


    A small squad of Thilku quickly crossed the metal ramp, and thepany opened up to create a path. The five neers advanced toward Khan, but he only had eyes for one of them.


    The squad had four fourth-level warriors and an alien in the fifth level. That already exined who the leader was, but the march also highlighted the different authorities. The stronger Thilku was in the lead, followed by hispanions. Moreover, his wide smirk starkly contrasted with the rest of the squad''s stern faces.


    The fifth-level warrior''s aura updated Khan on several details. The alien was strong and confident. Khan could easily ce him above Major Veril, and that from mana alone.


    Adding the Thilku''s superior physique to the equation created scary simtions. The wannabe Lord had to be a formidable opponent, someone Khan shouldn''t fight with his injured legs. Yet, he never considered alternative options.


    "[Blue Shaman]," The smirking Thilku called, his wide mouth revealing his sharp canines. "[This is outrageous. Earning our cape didn''t grant you the liberty to invade the Empire]."


    Khan''s crew counted four soldiers and one prisoner. Seeing his arrival on the as an invasion was ludicrous, but the technicalities were on the Thilku''s side. Khan did breach several interspecies treaties by flying there uninvited.


    ''Lord Exr is a fourth-level warrior,'' Khan thought, noticing an odd detail.


    The was in Lord Exr''s domain, but it sounded odd for him to have ess to soldiers stronger than him. The Thilku''s hierarchy didn''t work like that. The''s purpose probably had something to do with the issue.


    ''Lord Rsi?'' Khan wondered. ''Someone above him?''


    "[Seize him]," The Thilku leader ordered when he had almost reached Khan. He didn''t know how to take his silence but wanted the ploy to progress.


    A few Thilku broke the formation, approaching Khan from different sides. They kept their weapons lowered and their movements slow, showing as much respect as possible, but followed the order anyway. Still, none of them could fulfill it.


    The five Thilku who had approached Khan lost their bnce and fell to their knees. By then, they had encircled him, so their new posture seemed to have a different meaning. It looked as if they were worshipping Khan.


    "[Did you plot with humans to have me pushed here]?" Khan finally broke his silence.


    The alien soldiers'' reaction halted the neers'' steps. The Thilku leader inspected his kneeling troops, seemingly mesmerized by that development. However, he didn''t hesitate to reply when Khan''s question reached his ears.


    "[Yes]," The Thilku leader calmly admitted. "[I]-!"


    The Thilku leader couldn''t finish his line since a footnded on his open mouth, flinging him away. The alien slid on the smooth floor for a few meters before stopping and lifting his still-smirking face. A drop of blood fell from where his lips had hit his canines, but nothing more.


    "[Ah]!" The Thilku cried without hiding his happiness. "[This is a direct assault. This human is using his privileges to hurt the Empire]!"


    Khan hadnded among the four alien squad members after his attack. When the leader spoke, those Thilku closed on him, but their arms only hit empty air. Khan had disappeared again.


    The leader proudly straightened his back when Khan materialized before him. The alien towered above Khan, but he didn''t show any fear. Khan''s face was as cold as always, and his aura conveyed his killing intent.


    "[Humans wearing our capes]," The leader grunted. "[It''s insulting. The Empire shouldn''t lower itself to suchpromises]."


    Khan lifted his left leg, and the leader swung his right arm. The alien''s movements were oddly quick for someone of that size, but nothing reached Khan.


    The alien''s arm had barely started aiming for Khan when the distance between the two increased again. Khan had delivered three precise and instantaneous kicks on the leader''s abs, flinging him away before he could even send power into his attack.


    The leader slid away again, but his arrogance didn''t diminish. He straightened his back as soon as he stopped and showed no surprise in finding Khan before him.


    "[I know My Lord shares my thoughts]," The leader dered. "[It is my duty to act on them]."


    "[There is no duty]," Khan said, "[No pride, and no species. You attacked me, so your life is mine]."


    "[How will you kill me, Blue Shaman]?" The leader mocked. "[Your feeble kicks are but scratches on my skin]."


    Thepany was finding it hard to react to Khan''s sudden attacks, but it never stopped moving. They chased after him, lifting their weapons and creating a vast encirclement, but a shocking sight prevented them from advancing any further. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Tens of purple-red orbs materialized above Khan and the leader, bathing the area in their intense glow. Those mana spheres quickly morphed, transforming into spears that pointed at the metal floor. Khan seemed about to unleash hell, but the wannabe Lord lifted a hand, signaling his soldiers to retreat.


    "[Rumors have it that you are the best warrior in the gxy]," The leader revealed, bowing with his mantle. "[I, Izraz, shall test them out]."

 Chapter 829 Powerless

    Chapter 829 Powerless


    Izraz''s bow showed Khan respect, but he couldn''t see past the initial offense. That customary greeting couldn''t have value when Izraz spoke about testing the rumors around Khan.


    "[Test]?" Khan repeated, surprised his anger could intensify any further.


    The environment reacted to Khan''s mood. The spears above him shone brighter as their surface grew unstable. Thepany wanted to step back at the sight, but no one moved. The threat of being burned alive couldn''t make those proud warriors retreat.


    "[I like your anger, Blue Shaman]," Izraz eximed. "[It will finally bring me some entertainment]."


    The word "[entertainment]" echoed in Khan''s brain, triggering an instinctive reaction. His mind shut off the pain radiated from his legs as he darted forward. Izraz followed Khan''s sprint, ready to intercept it, but something suddenly mmed on his nape.


    The Thilku turned only to catch a glimpse of Khan''s afterimage. Khan had already sprinted again, reappearing on the alien''s blind side to deliver a kick on his torso.


    Izraz turned again, but the same exchange happened. Khan wasn''t only uncatchable. The Thilku saw him solely when he wanted to be seen. Khan seemed to be toying with the alien, but the reality was far different.


    Khan wasn''t holding back. His kicks carried the full mastery of the Lightning-Demon style enhanced with Maban''s technique. He also released mana after each attack, sending destabilizing energy inside Izraz. That was the best his body could achieve, but the Thilku easily endured it.


    Moreover, Izraz didn''t rely on special techniques or spells. His flesh was tough enough to endure Khan''s best kicks without suffering heavy damage.


    Of course, Khan''s injury slightly lowered his physical might, but that oue remained strange. He was one level below Izraz, but his many advantages should have closed that gap. Yet, the Thilku disagreed.


    The scene feltpletely different from the outside. Thepany asionally caught glimpses of Khan running circles around their leader under the hovering array of spears. Izraz looked powerless and helpless, but the situation was about to change.


    Izraz stopped trying to catch Khan and straightened his back, uncaring of the attacksnding on him. He endured Khan''s relentless assault while mana gathered in his lungs. A deafening war cry escaped his mouth, releasing the umted energy and generating a spherical shockwave.


    The invisible shockwave was no mere discharge of power. It was dense, resembling an expanding wall that pushed everything away. Even the metal floor bent and caved in under its pressure.


    The spell didn''t take Khan by surprise but forced him to retreat anyway. He shot in the air, flying above his array of spears. Those glowing weapons quickly pointed at Izraz before shooting downward.


    The spears met the expanding shockwave and detonated, creating a scorching and blinding pir that threatened to reach the nearby Thilku. Thepany instinctively retreated, encircling the area and lifting their weapons. They wouldn''t fire them but had to be ready for the eventual order.


    The vast pir prevented Khan from sensing Izraz, but his hunches told him the attack wouldn''t do much. The alien''s shockwave had been a powerful defensive spell, and Khan''s chaos couldn''t pierce it unaffected.


    Khan''s destructive mana burned brightly but slowly dispersed. Scorched and melted metal became visible as the pir retreated. The floor had be a mess, but a small area had remained safe from the glowing spears.


    Bent and caved-in metal suddenly reced the melted one, featuring a huge figure at its center. Izraz proudly stood among the destruction created by the two spells, showcasing his fine state.


    Little had reached the Thilku. Izraz''s military uniform and cape had a few holes and burns, but his body was uninjured. His defensive ability was impable.


    Khan didn''t talk, but his aura gave his position away. Izraz lifted his head, showing his canines at Khan. He looked amused, and his expression challenged Khan to attack again.


    The air around Khan grew sharp as the Divine Reaper''s theories filled his mind. The symphony morphed and transformed, facilitating the martial arts''s advanced proficiency level. Even the cursed knife''s bloodlust reacted to the change, expanding its presence inside Khan''s brain.


    Nevertheless, Khan didn''t act upon those violent urges. He had deadlier attacks, but his pride had joined the fray. He would make Izraz understand his mistake without going all-out.


    "[A former soldier]," Khan said as his eyes lit up. "[One of the finest warriors produced by the Empire. Conditioned skin and muscles resulting from specific training methods. Element rted to your lungs, hinting at voice, air, or will]."


    Izraz kept smirking, but his expression changed tone. A different vibe invaded it. His previous arrogance had mostly been performative, aiming to trigger an emotional reaction from Khan. However, it showed genuine excitement now.


    "[Voice]," Izraz revealed. "[You are correct on my body. I followed a specific training method since birth, obtaining above-average muscles]."


    ''Above average, my as-,'' Khan thought. Izraz had sold himself short out of pride for his species since he couldn''t describe his fellow Thilku as weak. Yet, his body clearly was a few levels above the average alien.


    "[Your Lord]," Khan continued. "[I suppose you are talking about Lord Rsi]."


    Izraz''s smile vanished. He didn''t care that Khan had hit the mark, but seriousness still filled his aura.


    "[Mind your next words, human]," Izraz warned. "[No one who insulted My Lord has lived to tell the story]."


    "[Lord Rsi ced you here]," Khan concluded. He suspected it couldn''t have been Lord Exr''s work. Still, it felt strange for Lord Rsi to award lordship to a lower-level warrior.


    "[Your xenophobia got in the way of your promotion]," Khan continued. "[How insignificant]."


    "[There''s no xenophobia in me]," Izrazmented. "[The Thilku are the best species. The Empire doesn''t need alliances with weaklings]."


    "[Fear not]," Khan said. "[You won''t die at the hands of a weakling]."


    "[Draw your knife, Blue Shaman]," Izraz challenged. "[You won''t kill me with kicks]."


    "[No]," Khan admitted, "[But they will teach you your ce]."


    Khan disappeared from his position, teleporting before Izraz. His foot was already on the alien''s abdomen, and the push that followed flung him away.


    The alien''s feet left the destroyed floor. Khan''s push had lifted him, but he was ready to counterattack. However, he couldn''t see Khan anymore.


    An unstoppable wall mmed on Izraz''s lower back, halting his momentum and flinging him upward. Khan had reappeared behind him and had kicked him into the air, removing any chance he could regain his foothold.


    Khan reappeared under Izraz, his leg stretched to deliver another push. The alien flew higher, putting many meters between the floor and him. Khan was cutting off his hopes of regaining a stable foothold, but that didn''t discourage him.


    Izraz sent mana to his lungs and opened his mouth to release another battle cry. A spherical shockwave expanded from his body, pushing anything in his surroundings away. More energy also umted, preparing another spell, but something interrupted it.


    The invisible membrane flickered, growing unclear as a vertical opening spread inside it. Purple-red light filled the area as Khan crossed it. Raging waves of his mana already surrounded him, and they slipped into the gap while he crossed it.


    The shockwave''s insides turned into a mess of violent and destructive energy, forcing Izraz to close his eyes. Those organs were too weak for Khan''s mana, making him helpless against the imminent attack.


    A heavy blownded on Izraz''s abdomen, sending its strength past his skin and into his insides. He lost control of the umted mana, interrupting his following spell. Moreover, the attack sent him even higher into the air, leaving him at Khan''s mercy.


    ''Flow,'' Khan thought as the symphony grew louder in his ears. His body followed that invisible song, delivering precise attacks at the best possible timing.


    Izraz tried to summon the shockwave, but a kick promptlynded at the center of his chest, dispersing his mana again. The attack didn''t hurt but continued pushing the alien higher. Also, it targeted his energy, rendering him powerless.


    Khan''s element showed its disruptive properties during his relentless assault. His speed and ability to fly prevented physical counterattacks, and his mana stopped spells. Izraz wasn''t suffering injuries, but his pride did.


    Izraz waited for his chance during the relentless assault. He endured every blow, calcting Khan''s reaction timing and more. He knew he would find a viable window, and the moment eventually arrived.


    Khan pushed Izraz higher with more strength than before. The alien''s body had gotten used to the disruptive element by then, allowing him to umte the necessary mana for his spell. The Thilku opened his mouth, shouting a battle cry, but somethingnded on his shoulder in the meantime.


    "Shatter," A voice resounded above the Thilku, making him look toward its source. Khan calmly stood on his shoulder, watching the shockwave falling apart. He had defeated the defensive spell with a mere word, and his ankle bent to push Izraz downward. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Irzaz could only watch Khan get farther and farther away. His body free-fell while Khan inspected the scene. Izraz knew Khan could fly after him, delivering more attacks, but his simple hovering inflicted more damage. Staying still showed the Thilku how easily Khan could take control of the battle.

 Chapter 830 No

    830 No


    Izraz fell, his small eyes fixed on the figure above him. Khan calmly watched the Thilku while hovering high in the sky. The exchange didn''t inflict much damage to either warrior, but both knew what it meant.


    A loud thudding noise spread through the area when Izraz crashed on the metal floor. His weight and umted momentum bent the surface, digging a humanoid shape into it. Yet, the alien quickly adjusted his position, standing up and resuming his look at his opponent.


    Khan lingered in the air a bit longer before slowly moving toward his opponent. He performed clear steps as if descending from an invisible staircase. The air looked solid under his feet, enhancing the mystical aura around him.


    The troops couldn''t divert their gaze from Khan. They had checked their leader''s condition, but Khan had immediately reimed their attention. The mana had enabled wonders, but Khan seemed to wield proper magic. His every move exuded grace, and his power looked overwhelming.


    The truth was very different. As much as Khan could im control over the battlefield, his attacks couldn''t pierce Izraz''s innate defense. He could only make the alien look bad before his underlings and had seeded at that.


    Izraz waited for Khan tond before him. His smirk had long since disappeared, reced by a serious expression. As inconclusive as the exchange had been, Izraz couldn''t feign ignorance anymore. Khan didn''t deserve it. Of course, things were different for Khan.


    "[Now I can kill you]," Khan announced when hended on the ruined floor. His left hand went to his sheath, and his eyes started glowing. He wouldn''t hold anything back against that alien.


    Izraz nced at the hand on the knife''s handle before focusing on the shining eyes. Khan had showcased incredible speed and massive destructive power. An all-out battle between the two would inevitably involve thepany, which was better to avoid.


    Yet, Izraz wanted an audience. Besides, sending his troops away would show weakness, which was uneptable for someone aiming for lordship. Khan had already yed with him, so making everyone retreat would deny his previous ims.


    "[Blue Shaman]," Izraz called, "[Let''s not destroy this ce]."


    "[You can''t decide that]," Khan responded. He wouldn''t let Izraz dictate favorable terms. That possibility had disappeared long ago.


    "[I offer you a challenge]," Izraz exined. "[Your best attack against mine]."


    "[To set conditions]," Khanmented, "[You must be stronger than your opponent]."


    Izraz almost fell for the insult but managed to hold back. The was important for the Empire, and the same went for its manpower. His ambition was intense, but he couldn''t put so much at risk for it.


    "[Are you willing to damage Empire''s property]?" Izraz questioned.


    Khan fell silent. He was one of the Global Army''s Ambassadors, and that ignored the interspecies treaties. Theoretically, he would have some leeway if he destroyed something.


    However, the Thilku had also awarded Khan their cape, which implied responsibilities and duties. He couldn''t unleash destruction in the Empire''s domain without prior authorization. He would put his privileges at risk otherwise.


    "[Step back]," Khan ordered, ncing at thepany.


    Izraz''s smirk returned as he nodded at his troops. Thepany retreated but remained close enough to inspect the imminent exchange. Some soldiers even summoned their mana, ready to cast defensive spells.


    "[You are no weakling, Blue Shaman]," Izraz admitted, his voice growing louder as mana fused with his lungs. "[I won''t let you fall into darkness once I be a Lord]." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Izraz''s voice echoed throughout the area, growing louder by the second. His show of power resembled Khan''s heavy aura, but its power kept increasing. The alien also took a slow but deep breath, umting and condensing air inside his lungs.


    Khan could somewhat understand what would fly after him. The mana''s nature and the still-nearby troops hinted at a beam-like attack with immense piercing power. The spell would probably affect his insides, too, and could melt his organs if it reached a decent density level.


    Normally, Khan would dodge the attack, flying out of its range. After all, his speed was his best quality. Yet, the deal with Izraz had forced him into a frontal sh, and resorting to tricks would only ruin his reputation among the Thilku.


    Even those with weak senses could notice Izraz''s massive umtion of mana, and the troops expected Khan to resort to a simr attack. It would actually be more in line with his destructive element, and his previous array of spears vouched for that.


    However, Khan didn''t unleash anything massive. He let go of his knife, lifted his hand, and drew lines into the air. Aplicated Thilku rune soon appeared before him, but none of the troops could trante it.


    Izraz also noticed the rune but failed to understand its meaning. He didn''t think Khan knew his ownnguage better than him, so he quickly reached different conclusions. That was an imitation of the Thilku runes, and its effects were privy only to Khan.


    The rune didn''t seem to do anything. Its reddish glow intensified slowly, never reaching proper brightness. It simply hovered in the air, waiting for Khan to activate it.


    Nevertheless, a few attentive soldiers noticed something odd. Faint gales had started blowing in the area, flowing through thepany to converge toward Khan. Izraz''s aura disturbed any deeper inspection, but the wind could only have one target.


    Of course, Izraz appeared to have seized the upper hand. His umtion of power was simply more recognizable, and many soldiers'' survival instincts kicked in at the scene. Everybody knew he was about to unleash something massive, but Khan remained utterly calm. He actually looked bored while his eyes watched a world only he could see.


    ''If only this were easier to use in normal battles,'' Khan thought, inspecting the symphony. The world lost colors as his rune absorbed them, almost returning his eyes to a human level.


    "[Blue Shaman]!" Izraz shouted, his voice seemingly ready to make the area explode. "[Are you ready]?"


    "[Yes]," Khan said, his voice resembling a whisperpared to his opponent''s.


    "[For! The! Empire]" Izraz shouted, his mouth spreading toward Khan as his lungs released all the air umted inside his lungs.


    The almost dark environment immediately regained light in Khan''s eyes. An attack visible only to him had shot forward, creating a wall that ripped off the metal floor during its advance.


    ''It''s big,'' Khan thought, inspecting the iing attack, ''Piercing and targeted at my insides.''


    Khan was sure none of his defensive techniques would stand a chance against the iing attack. Its nature had no weaknesses. It would pierce shields and internal protective spells alike. Running away was the only option.


    Still, Khan didn''t move from his position. He gracefully lifted his hand, cing a finger on the closest line and pushing it into the others. The rune fully activated, and the world turned purple-red.


    Thepany lost the ability to see. They felt like they had stared too long at a bright light source, leaving blind spots in their vision. The area also fell silent, preventing their ears from gaining details about the exchange''s oue.


    The troops slowly recovered, and their half-closed eyes gradually returned to the battlefield. They still found it hard to see, but details eventually appeared.


    The metal floor had almostpletely disappeared, leaving bent and shattered metal behind. Yet, a deeper channel had appeared at the center of the destruction, reaching the machines beneath the tform. Also, the scene showed a clear winner.


    Izraz was on his knees. His uniform had disappeared, and his skin had melted, showing live flesh on most of his body. Trails of blood also fell from his closed eyes, and smoke rose from his shoulders.


    Meanwhile, Khan stood before Izraz, floating above the gap that stopped at the alien. He was uninjured and wore the same bored expression, but his hand soon rose to ce two fingers on the Thilku''s forehead.


    "[May this teach everyone]," Khan announced, "[Don''t mess with me]."


    Khan was about to unleash the killing blow, but something suddenly invaded the quickly returning symphony. A ship flew at high speed into the area, and a figure jumped out of it instead of waiting for a propernding.


    The aura was familiar, but Khan didn''t turn. He had already made up his mind about the matter but would listen to his ally out of respect.


    "[Blue Shaman]," Lord Exr called, his heavy steps resounding on the intact parts of thending tform. "[What is the meaning of this]?"


    "[Izraz plotted with the humans to bring me here and capture me]," Khan exined shortly, his bright eyes still on the kneeling Thilku. "[The specifics are unknown]."


    Lord Exr stopped, ncing at thepany. The news initially felt surprising, but anger soon arrived. He knew more than Khan about the Empire''s politics, so he could reach more detailed conclusions.


    "[Ah]!" Lord Exr cried. "[This is shameful! We will interrogate Izraz immediately and start an investigation]!"


    "[No]," Khan said, mana escaping his fingers. Izraz fell sideways, leaning on the metal floor and showing the bloody hole at the center of his forehead.

 Chapter 831 Details

    Chapter 831 Details


    Every eye on the scene fell on the gory corpse. Khan had killed Izraz, increasing his number of crimes. The action crossed the line, and the witnesses included one Lord.


    Nothing could save Khan from facing the consequences of his actions, but it was unclear what they would be. The situation had gone beyondplicated several events ago, and Khan didn''t know how things would develop.


    Khan looked at the corpse at his feet before floating to his right. Hended on the nearest patch of intact floor and turned, showing his cold gaze to the surprised Lord. He even nced at thepany, and running his eyes over the soldiers made them shrink back.


    Nevertheless, Khan immediately focused on Lord Exr again, and thetter recovered from his shock and put on a stern face. The Thilku knew how serious the situation was, and handling it was his top priority.


    "[Blue Shaman]," Lord Exr called, his tone slightly grim. "[I demand an exnation]."


    "[The weak dies to the strong]," Khan responded, using Lord Exr''s words. "[I was stronger]."


    "[The Empire had to deliver the punishment]," Lord Exr stated. "[The Empire would have delivered it]."


    "[The insult was personal]," Khan exined. "[Now, it won''t happen again]."


    That was the true core of the issue, for Khan, at least. He had done the same to the Global Army, too. His ughters had been a message to his enemies, and executing Izraz was meant to hold the same meaning to the Empire.


    Lord Exr was at a loss for words. Most other humans would have been executed on the spot, but Khan was unique. He had earned his Thilku cape, helped the Empire in many ways, and even bound it to various business agreements. Moreover, the Thilku respected him.


    "[Let''s talk]," Lord Exr invited. "[Follow me]."


    Lord Exr then nced at thepany and shouted. "[Fix this mess]!"


    Lord Exr approached the tform''s edge, which featured a metal staircase that led into the city. The area also had an elevator, but the Thillku only wanted to descend deep enough to avoid thepany''s gaze.


    Khan followed Lord Exr and stopped when he turned to lean on the handrail. Blocks of factories and tall buildings stretched behind him, but Khan only focused on the Thilku. Both parties knew the imminent talk would be no small thing.


    "[No feast for my arrival]?" Khan asked, seemingly taunting Lord Exr. Truth be told, he didn''t want to insult anyone. His cape and position demanded a simr wee.


    Lord Exr looked past his shoulder, gazing at the city before focusing on Khan. He wasn''t supposed to learn about that''s existence, but it was toote for that.


    The idea of killing Khan never crossed Lord Exr''s mind, either. That would be the simplest solution, but the action would be highly dishonorable. Besides, Khan had just defeated a fifth-level warrior, and Lord Exr was in the fourth level. The would have to throw armies at him to put him down.


    "[Exin how you got here]," Lord Exr requested. "[We''ll see about the feastter]."


    "[I only have bits of information]," Khan revealed. "[It seems Izraz plotted with some human parties to take me down. I suspect politically]."


    "[Ah]!" Lord Exr snorted. "[That Izraz,promising the Empire for his ambitions]."


    "[You knew about them]," Khan pointed out, reading Lord Exr''s mana.


    "[I did]," Lord Exr admitted, "[But My Lord trusted him and appointed him to this position]."


    "[Did Lord Rsi appoint you instead of him as Lord]?" Khan asked.


    "[Yes]," Lord Exr confirmed. "[My Lord found me worthier of this position. You must now realize he made the right choice]."


    Khan could only agree. Lord Exr''s domain bordered the Global Army, so a xenophobic leader wouldn''t work. Izraz simply wasn''t suited for the job.


    "[He plotted with humans]," Khanmented. "[This must have more criminals]."


    "[I''ll run a thorough sweep]," Lord Exr promised. "[You know the Empire isn''t kind to criminals]."


    Khan couldn''t contradict Lord Exr on that point, either. The two had actually argued the first time they faced a simr situation, and Khan had changed his mind on the topic now. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Words inevitably stopped flying. Khan and Lord Exr fell silent after running out of rtively superficial topics. Only the heavy matters remained, and neither wanted to speak first.


    "[I don''t care about this]," Khan eventually announced. "[I won''t speak about it]."


    "[In exchange for]?" Lord Exr asked. He initially nned to hesitate to study Khan''s intentions, but that conclusion was already better than anything he could hope for.


    "[Tell the Thilku what happened here]," Khan replied.


    Lord Exr''s expression remained stern, but it was clear he didn''t like the answer. Spreading tales of Khan''s actions on the would make the Empire and Thilku look weak. Still, he also understood why Khan would ask for that.


    "[Izraz was My Lord''s trusted soldier]," Lord Exr exined. "[Many Thilku also looked up to him. I can''t authorize that]."


    "[But Lord Rsi can]," Khan said.


    "[It seems the meeting is unavoidable]," Lord Exr epted. "[Still, on which intentions should I summon it]?"


    "[I don''t want to cause problems for the Empire]," Khan exined, "[Or interfere with its businesses. I only want my name to be respected]."


    An ordinary Thilku would usually take those words as an insult. After all, Khan was a single man, and the Empire was huge. iming he could cause problems for such a proud species was a heavy offense.


    However, Lord Exr couldn''t argue. Part of Khan''s ability to inflict that damage came from the Empire itself. Besides, the Thilku were at fault there due to the work of criminals.


    "[I''ll contact My Lord]," Lord Exr stated. "[In the meantime, let''s feast]!"


    Khan knew Lord Exr''s announcement had deeper intentions but followed along anyway. The two climbed back to thending tform before using the elevator down to the city. The runes on the various buildings shone on their faces as a ride picked them up and crossed a few blocks to lead them to a seemingly restaurant.


    The ce was simple, featuring the same open balconies Khan had witnessed on Neuria. Yet, Lord Exr''s presence granted the two ess to the building''s roof, where soldiers arrayed a long table and filled it with food and drinks.


    The table''s size didn''t change the number of seats. Only Khan and Lord Exr sat down to enjoy the feast, and questions about thending''s details inevitably flew.


    Khan granted ess to his ship''s logs while exining the chase in great detail. The Thilku didn''t learn about Reba''sb, but everything that had happened afterward became part of the Empire''s records. The aliens also took the prisoner, who corroborated Khan''s story and feats.


    Needless to say, the tale of Khan''s actions against the enemy ships stunned Lord Exr, who awarded a fewpliments. Yet, the conversation quickly returned to the main issue, leaving Lord Exr powerless.


    Khan hadmitted some political mistakes but remained the event''s victim. His actions were in line with his character, which was what the Empire had acknowledged. Punishing him for being himself wouldn''t feel right.


    The murder on Empire''s soil was a harsher crime, but Lord Exr didn''t want to use politics against Khan. He would have done the same in his position and also understood his situation. Looking for quibbles to improve the Empire''s leverage wasn''t his style.


    "[You have gotten stronger again]," Lord Exrmented once the report wasplete and every bowl was emptied. "[Izraz was a powerful warrior, too, but you defeated him without suffering a single wound to prove it]."


    "[The Thilku will also grow stronger with the resources I''m providing]," Khan eximed. "[Hopefully, the next years will be a time for growth]."


    "[They will]," Lord Exr nodded. "[As long as you deal with your human variable]."


    "[That will be handled as soon as I get back]," Khan promised. "[Though, I don''t want to be backstabbed by the Empire again]."


    "[It wasn''t the Empire]," Lord Exr corrected.


    "[It wasn''t the Thilku, either]," Khan agreed. "[Just a handful of them, but I need people to punish, and I don''t want to start a war]."


    "[The Empire will handle things on its end]," Lord Exr dered. "[Blue Shaman, mind your side]."


    "[I can help in the search for criminals]," Khan pointed out. "[It would be justified]."


    "[It would]," Lord Exr confirmed, "[But I wouldn''t press the matter with My Lord]."


    "[Would Lord Rsi disagree]?" Khan wondered.


    "[Yes]," Lord Exr responded. "[And letting the Empire handle its internal affairs without interference would show trust]."


    "[I need to hear Lord Rsi say it]," Khan demanded. "[I hope he can put aside his distrust toward me]."


    "[It''s not distrust]," Lord Exr revealed. "[My Lord respects you. It''s simply a pity you were born human]."


    "[No human can do what I do]," Khan announced, "[And our agreements are under the Blue Shaman''s name, not Khan''s name]."


    "[I won''t speak for My Lord]," Lord Exr uttered. "[However, My Lord isn''t irrational. Your treatment will be appropriate]."


    A message reached Lord Exr, interrupting the political talk. The Thilku checked his armguard, reading the messages on its screen before sharing the information with Khan.


    "[My Lord ising here this very moment]," Lord Exr revealed. "[Blue Shaman, can you handle another feast]?"


    "[I was still hungry]," Khan said. His cold face almost killed the joke, but Lord Exrughed anyway.

 Chapter 832 Better ally

    Chapter 832 Better ally


    Khan and Lord Exr kept chatting over minor things for a while. The two had simr mindsets, so finding topics to discuss wasn''t a problem. Lord Exr oftenughed, too, but the atmosphere changed when a shipnded on the nearbynding area.


    The terrace allowed Khan and Lord Exr to watch the ship and crew''s movements. A team of Thilkunded on the tform and headed for the elevator, reaching the streets below. A ride picked them up, leading them to the structure where the feast was being held.


    The soldiers in the structure refilled the table in the meantime. More food and drinks arrived, but neither Khan nor Lord Exr touched them. The two stood up, waiting for the important figure to arrive.


    A team of Thilku soon climbed to the terrace, but Khan and Lord Exr only had eyes for the figure at its center. Lord Rsi proudly advanced toward the table, his expression as stern as always. Yet, Khan noticed the slight annoyance in his mana.


    Lord Exr stepped aside and performed a traditional bow, which Khan imitated, albeit without the Thilku cape. Lord Rsi ignored the pleasantries and reached the table''s center, sitting on the floor.


    The team and Lord Exr quickly sat at Lord Rsi''s sides, and Khan followed. Khan was alone on his side, red by almost every Thilku before him. However, his face remained cold and confident.


    "[Blue Shaman]," Lord Rsi called, dipping his hand in a bowl to start the feast. "[On whose authority did you invade the Empire''s domain andmit crimes inside it]?"


    The question established the feast''s mood. Clearly, Lord Rsi wasn''t happy with that development, but Khan could see deeper into the matter. Khan wasn''t the problem there. Izraz''s betrayal and involvement of a human Ambassador was.


    "[Mine]," Khan stated. "[I was the target of a ploy, so I acted to eradicate it]."


    "[You don''t have authority to enter the Empire''s domain uninvited]," Lord Rsi reprimanded, "[Ormit murder inside its borders]."


    "[If someone threatens my life]," Khan exined, "[That someone stops breathing]."


    "[Is that all you have to say in your defense]?" Lord Rsi asked.


    "[It''s all that matters]," Khan responded.


    "[You aren''t above interspecies treaties]," Lord Rsimented.


    "[What would you have me do, My Lord]?" Khan wondered. "[Ignore the insult and return home]?"


    "[I''d have you follow the protocol]," Lord Rsi stated. "[Your report said you had the time to inform the Empire about the event, but you charged ahead anyway]."


    "[When an enemy is down]," Khan uttered, "[You finish it. Besides, I didn''t know who to trust or whether you would have trusted me]."


    "[Our cape vouches for that]," Lord Rsi replied.


    "[It''s exactly because of the cape that I acted]," Khan announced. "[I got rid of a criminal willing to plot with the Global Army. You should thank me, My Lord]."


    "[Insolence]!" One of the Thilku at the table shouted. "[You can''t talk to Lord Rsi like this]!"


    "[Ato, silence]," Lord Rsi scolded. "[Don''t shame the Empire]."


    "[But, My Lord]," Atoined.


    "[The Blue Shaman is arrogant]," Lord Rsi dered, "[But his arrogance is justified. I won''t forgive disrespect]."


    "[Yes, My Lord]," Ato said, lowering his head toward Khan to apologize.


    Khan''s eyes darted left and right, inspecting Ato, Lord Exr, and Lord Rsi again. The Thilku seemed to have no intention of punishing him. The situation was simplyplicated.


    "[I won''t tell anyone about this]," Khan eventually announced. "[I won''t use the information as leverage, either. Just spread this story to ensure my protection]."


    Lord Rsi fell silent. Truth be told, that was a fair price. The Thilku might look weak in the story, but everyone knew Khan was unique. Losing to him was the norm.


    "[Why would you do that]?" Lord Rsi questioned. "[The Global Army and you could greatly benefit from leaking this story]."


    Khan''s relevance inside the Global Army would skyrocket if he revealed the existence of that military. Humankind would be able to enforce new favorable interspecies treaties, and Khan would get a cut from every benefit. However, the idea didn''t sound appealing.


    The immediate benefits wouldn''tpensate for the damage to the rtionship between Khan and the Empire. Besides, any eventual advantage woulde from the Global Army, which Khan didn''t trust. He preferred to salvage the current status quo over causing a political mess that could risk everything he had achieved.


    "[Humans are untrustworthy]," Khan exined, "[And I can handle the messes on their side. The Empire simply is a better ally]."


    The praise pleased the Thilku, even if no one showed it. Still, Khan''s words carried a hidden message that both Lords noticed. Khan wasn''t speaking as an Ambassador. He was the Blue Shaman there, and all his deals began and ended with him.


    The Empire had dealt with many human Ambassadors, and few members of humankind had even earned the Thilku''s capes. However, no one had ever seized power for themselves.


    Yet, Khan nned to do exactly that. He wanted to be a key figure inside the Empire, someone whose species didn''t matter. He desired authority and influence as if he were a proper, valuable Thilku.


    "[This is unusual]," Lord Rsimented. "[Do you n on building a force that can rival entire species]?"


    "[Maybe]," Khan admitted. "[And if I did, I''d wish for the Empire to be its ally]."


    "[One warrior can''t rival a species]," Lord Rsi pointed out.


    "[True]," Khan said. "[However, how strong do you think I can be, My Lord]?"


    Lord Rsi couldn''t answer the question. No one could. Khan had already achieved incredible feats for the Empire, and histest battle proved that his potential was far from fulfilled.


    Nevertheless, Lord Rsi had a better understanding of his species'' power. One warrior could never match it. Still, Khan wielded the right cards to build an incredible force, and the Empire owed him more than friendship.


    "[Who knows]," Lord Rsi muttered. "[I might have to bring you before the Emperor one day]."


    "[That would be a great honor, My Lord]," Khan genuinely said. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[It''s still early for that]," Lord Rsi promptly went back on his words. "[I''m more concerned about your side. Do you need help to sort out your personal matters]?"


    "[I only need the Empire to eradicate criminals and tell the truth]," Khan reassured. "[I won''t bring my problems to the Thilku]."


    "[We could apply pressure on the Global Army for your sake]," Lord Rsi suggested. "[Conveying clear support]."


    Khan had to admit he didn''t expect that offer. Everyone already knew his rtionship with the Empire was special, and Baoway''s many trade agreements made him unique in the field. However, having the Empireing out in support was unheard of and could shine a new light on Khan''s political figure.


    "[Why would you do that]?" Khan asked. "[The Empire has nevere out to vouch for a human]."


    "[We can make an exception for the Blue Shaman]," Lord Rsi revealed, "[Since the Blue Shaman deserves an apology]."


    "[Deal]," Khan stated. "[Now, what else can I do for you]?"


    "[Feast properly]," Lord Rsi said, pointing at the abundant food on the table.


    "[My Lord, the Blue Shaman and I have already enjoyed]-," Lord Exr began to say, but Khan''s following actions silenced him. Khan instantly grabbed a series of bowls, bringing to his mouth all the food his hands could hold.


    Lord Exr initially thought Khan was only ying along, but watching him go through bowl after bowl changed his mind. Khan was genuinely hungry. Actually, his stomach looked bottomless.


    Funny moments aside, the feast created the opportunity for additional negotiations. Baoway already acted as the middle point between the human and Empire''s domains, and the newfound trust in Khan revealed more uses for the location.


    Baoway mostly sent resources to the Empire, but thetter sold many things to the Global Army. The had some structures for that, too, but their percentage was only a fraction of their counterpart.


    However, new trade routes formed during the feast. The Empire would stop using third parties for certain sales and rely on Baoway to distribute the intended resources. Khan would have to establish additional sea stations to keep up with the increased quantity, but the process was bound to make him richer.


    Of course, gaining those trade routes would increase Khan''s number of enemies, but he had long since stopped caring about the matter. His noble status would take care of most of them anyway, so he focused on improving his situation through the Empire.


    Eventually, the feast ended. Khan saluted Lord Rsi and let Lord Exr apany him back to his ship, where he conveyed the data about the new trade agreements. The set-off happened in the following minutes, and the crew''s remaining tension vanished when the vehicle left the''s defenses'' range.


    "Make them find us now," Khan ordered as the ship flew toward the Global Army''s domain. "It doesn''t matter that we are still in Empire''s territory."


    The pilot didn''t argue andunched distress signals, and Khan checked that everything was okay before retreating to his quarters. That trip had been more than long, but its end had yet to be in sight. He needed to deal with his Uncle before he could return home.


    ****


    Authors'' notes: Chaos'' Heir''s audiobook is now avable on NovaBeats(Webnovel''s partner)!

 Chapter 833 Bruises

    Chapter 833 Bruises


    The distress signal soon attracted allied ships, which replied to the message and waited at the Global Army''s domain''s border for Khan''s ride to arrive.


    The four ships immediately encircled Khan''s ride, acting as a defensive escort. Questions reached Khan, many probing about his business in the Empire''s domain, but he only had orders for his allies.


    "Get me Thomas Nognes," Khan ordered to his escort. "I also want Reba Nognes and all the Princes and Princesses."


    The sudden summon inevitably alerted the escort about the seriousness of the situation. However, Khan wielded the authority to call on a simr meeting, and the only figure who could oppose him wasn''t invited. His Grandfather could interfere, so Khan kept him out on purpose.


    Khan''s decision had another goal. He didn''t think Alexander would interfere with the family meeting, but the faction was in his hands now. He needed to preside over the encounter as the de facto leader.


    Thomas could ignore the summon, but Khan left things in Reba''s hands and spread the news to his closest allies. He informed Monica, Lieutenant Dyester, and Gordon before going radio silent. His Aunt would handle the rest, and updates soon arrived.


    The ship and escort adjusted their course as information reached theirmunication devices. Meanwhile, news spread throughout thework, telling stories about Khan''s recent deeds. Lord Exr personally came out to share the report, which Mister Cirvags then handed to the relevant authorities.


    The story could have two versions. Khan could look as a reckless and arrogant invader, so deeply self-absorbed in his fame that interspecies treaties and murder no longer had any meaning for him.


    In the second version, Khan could appear as a hero, selflessly flying into enemy territory to handle a threat before it could escape.


    Of course, Lord Exr shared a watered-down story of the second version. He med the humans for pushing Khan into the Empire''s domain, and the murder became self-defense. Lord Exr also shared Izraz''s level, praising Khan for handling such a big crisis alone.


    That version had more details, which Mister Cirvags kept from the public to handle inside private contexts. Lord Exr had actually admonished the Global Army for reaching into the Empire to plot against Khan. He condemned the act, openly hinting that Khan was under the Thilku''s protection.


    Without knowing the secret''s nature, the Global Army couldn''t help butunch an investigation. They apologized to Khan and the Empire and publicly promised to improve the security around Khan, although he knew nothing would really happen.


    Many parties tried to contact Khan as the news spread, but he ignored every call and waited for the only notification he cared about. That mounting pressure on the human side was bound to force Thomas out of hiding, and Reba eventually confirmed that point.


    ''Space station, multiple soldiers, and I''m vouching forck of violence,'' Khan read on his phone. ''I''m sending the coordinates.''


    Khan conveyed the new destination to the pilot, and another long flight began. The ship took an entire day to reach Reba''s coordinates, but a big space station eventually appeared on the scanners.


    That structure differed from the other secret locations Khan had visited during previous meetings. The space station in the scanners was open to the public and known to thework. Its lower floors had malls, shops, and all kinds of businesses. Still, the Nognes family owned it, limiting its upper areas to nobles or wealthy guests.


    The location''s nature told Khan everything he needed to know. Its openness to the public wanted to restrain eventual reckless and violent actions, using the various visitors as hostages.


    Khan didn''t mind that decision. It told him that Thomas feared him, which was perfectly fine with him. His faction had basically acknowledged that his methods couldn''t be underestimated anymore.


    The ship and escortnded in the space station''s upper areas, those reserved for the nobles. Thetter descended first, inspecting the perimeter and securing the various hangars. Only then did Khan receive the okay to join his soldiers.


    The soldiers escorted Khan past the hangars, reaching a vast dining hall emptied of tables. Only one remained, but no waiter was in sight. His group had also arrived first, but he didn''t need to stick to pleasantries.


    "Get me drinks," Khan ordered, approaching the table and waiting for the other guests to arrive. One of the soldiers immediately left, quickly returning to deliver a few bottles and cups. A waiter also entered the hall, providing tes full of food.


    Khan indulged in drinks while his soldiers formed a defensive line behind him. He didn''t know how long he would have to wait, but his phone kept himpany. Thework''s events amused him, especially when calls from high-profile figures inside the Global Army reached it.


    The wait didn''tst long. The dining hall''s doors eventually opened, and Reba stormed inside. She wasn''t alone. Prince William, Princess, Felicia, Lieutenant Dyester, Gordon, and Monica were with her, and they promptly approached the table, upying precise seats.


    Theoretically, Reba should have been the first to sit, but no one could beat Monica to it. She almost resorted to mana to reach Khan and tilt his face toward her to check for eventual injuries. Khan simply nodded, earning him an untrustworthy re. That wasn''t nearly enough for Monica, but she still sat down after delivering a quick kiss.


    The other guests followed, taking their ce at Khan''s side. An eerie silence enveloped the process, with Reba and the others only exchanging looks with Khan. No one spoke, and that trend continued even after more drinks and foodnded on the table.


    asional munching and slurping noises broke the silence, but no conversations happened. Everyone had an idea of what had happened to Khan, but no one questioned him. All the guests knew who was missing, but no one tried to create a n.


    It took almost an hour, but the dining hall''s doors eventually opened again, and multiple figures marched past it. More soldiers entered the area, but the general attention was on the three nobles among them.


    Khan instantly recognized Prince Richard, but his eyes lingered on the older figure before him. The square jaw and military haircut allowed Khan to identify his Uncle, walking side-by-side with a rtively young man who shared his facial features.


    Khan inspected his Uncle before casually ncing at the other stranger. He knew his name. That was Prince Desmond, Prince Thomas'' firstborn. The man looked slightly older than Khan but shared his level. Moreover, his aura waspletely different from his brother''s. Prince Desmond conveyed pure sternness, seemingly echoing his Father''s stance.


    The soldiers stayed behind, forming a defensive line. Meanwhile, Prince Thomas, Prince Richard, and his brother approached the table, sitting in customary positions. Prince Thomas faced Khan, but both his sons only had eyes for him.


    Khan inspected his Uncle before casually ncing at the other stranger. He knew his name. That was Prince Desmond, Prince Thomas'' firstborn. The man looked slightly older than Khan but shared his level. Moreover, his aura waspletely different from his brother''s. Prince Desmond conveyed pure sternness, seemingly echoing his Father''s stance.


    "We finally meet," Prince Thomas was the first to speak. "Nephew."


    "You dyed this meeting," Khan responded. "Uncle."


    "Your reputation was far from reassuring," Prince Thomas announced. "Chances were you would have tried to kill me at the first disagreement."


    "You are mistaken," Khan stated. "I would have killed you before that."


    Khan''s choice of words expressed the entirety of his intentions. He didn''t only state that he wouldn''t have given his Uncle the chance to exin himself. Khan also said that his assassination attempt wouldn''t have been an attempt at all.


    "So," Prince Thomasmented, "My decision was correct."


    "You are here now," Khan uttered, his eyes shing for a fraction of a second. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The odd event put some pressure on the trio. Prince Richard had also witnessed Khan''s might first-hand, so his mana released pure fear. He did his best to hide it, but sweat already umted on his forehead.


    "Behave," Prince Thomas scolded, ring at Prince Richard.


    Prince Richard promptly nodded, wiping off the sweat with his sleeve. The action didn''t do much since his forehead grew drenched again in no time, but Prince Thomas didn''t scold him again.


    "Are you about to kill me?" Prince Thomas questioned after looking back at Khan.


    "I promised your sister I''ll try to avoid it," Khan revealed. "Give me a reason to stay true to the promise."


    Prince Thomas nced at Reba, who smiled back at him. The gesture seemed to annoy him, but his mana had room for some warmth.


    "My Son," Prince Thomas announced, "Prince Desmond helped n your assassination attempt on Baoway. He was also behind the development of the inhibitors for your senses."


    Khan didn''t expect that revtion, and Prince Desmond inevitably imed his attention. The Prince''s face remained stern, but he added words to justify his behavior.


    "My Father speaks the truth," Prince Desmond exined. "I found you unworthy of nobility and Grandfather''s legacy. My Father is a far better heir."


    "Then," Khan said. "You are the one I need to kill."


    "Indeed," Prince Desmond confirmed. "However, I didn''t act on my own, and I hope this gift can cate your anger."


    Prince Desmond looked past his shoulder, lifting his arms to p his hands. A few soldiers moved, retrieving something from the previous room. Soon, the troops dragged a beaten figure into the hall, and Khan struggled to recognize Ambassador Abores from under all his bruises.

 Chapter 834 Power

    Chapter 834 Power


    Prince Desmond turned to look at Khan, wanting to see his reaction. However, the seat was empty. Khan had disappeared, and the Prince had to inspect the other guests'' eyes to understand where he had gone.


    Khan materialized among the soldiers, and his appearance made them step away. The troops let go of Ambassador Abores, who fell to the floor. The man voiced a painful grunt but remained on the metal surface, unable to stand up.


    Ambassador Abores'' state was awful. Bruises covered his bloated face, and his blonde hair was almost as messy as his torn and ragged military uniform. Khan''s gaze also pierced those clothes, noticing more injuries on the rest of his body.


    No injury was fatal or permanent. Ambassador Abores would probably fully recover in a couple of weeks ofplete rest. Yet, he had been beaten up pretty badly, leaving him half-unconscious.


    "Did he n the assassination attempt?" Khan asked, inspecting the half-fainted man. "Or did you go to him to secure a scapegoat?"


    Prince Desmond stood up, facing Khan while remaining beside the table. Khan''s speed had shocked him, but his expression retained its sternness. He could lie to improve his story. Yet, even to Khan''s back, he spoke nothing but the truth.


    "He started shaking things up as soon as you reced him as the Thilku''s official Ambassador," Prince Desmond exined. "He made enough waves to attract our attention, so I invited him in the ploy."


    Khan stared at Ambassador Abores. Chances were the nobles had simply used him, exploiting his grudge against Khan to ce him at the center of the assassination attempt. He probably wouldn''t have gotten that far without their help, making Khan wonder who was really at fault.


    ''Should I just kill everyone?'' Khan thought.


    Truth be told, Khan understood Prince Desmond''s intentions. He had tried to take Khan out before his rise to nobility could cause a conflict in the faction. Killing him would have solved every problem beforehand.


    Nevertheless, understanding didn''t mean forgiveness. Eliminating Prince Thomas'' lineage was the safest option to consolidate Khan''s power. Everyone was also there, creating the perfect chance.


    Still, Khan couldn''t be the only one who understood that point. Prince Thomas decided to show his face, knowing the risks, and Ambassador Abores'' life couldn''t possiblypensate for the recent offenses. Khan''s Uncle had to have something else in mind.


    "Is this information reliable?" Khan asked, ncing past Prince Desmond to look at his Cousins.


    Prince William had been in charge of the investigation around Baoway''s assassination attempt. He had also found the involved criminals, allowing Khan to exact his revenge. His knowledge of the matter probably was second to no one on his side, and a simple nod confirmed it.


    Khan disappeared after Prince William''s nod, returning to his seat. He calmly grabbed a bottle, refilling his drink to indulge in it. His behavior confused the guests, and a question soon flew in his direction.


    "Cousin," Prince Desmond called. "Your answer?"


    "A life for a life," Khan muttered. "That won''t be enough."


    "You can interrogate the Ambassador yourself," Prince Desmond announced. "He''ll corroborate my story."


    "Impossible," Khan said, focusing on his Uncle. "He is dead."


    Prince Desmond''s eyes went wide as he turned and nodded at his soldiers. The troops reached for Ambassador Abores'' shoulders and lifted him, but his head remained on the floor.


    Blood finally spurted out of Ambassador Abores'' headless neck, raining on the severed body part. The troops couldn''t help but let him go, making him fall into the gory expanding pool. Everyone held their breath, but two people remained focused on the main goal.


    Khan and Prince Thomas never stopped inspecting each other. Thetter didn''t notice Khan''s silent and sudden attack, but the guests'' reactions perfectly described the scene. He didn''t need to turn to understand what had happened and calmly waited for Khan to push the conversation forward.


    "What else?" Khan asked. "What did you bring to save your lineage?"


    Prince Desmond and Prince Richard slowly turned, showing different reactions. Prince Richard was terrified, and his eyes often fell on his Father, hoping he would have a satisfying answer.


    Meanwhile, Prince Desmond pretended to be calm, imitating his Father in every way. He truly was Prince Thomas'' heir, but that barely had any meaning in Khan''s mind. His eyes only reflected potential problems.


    "My involvement with thetest ploy must sound obvious now," Prince Thomas announced. "You must know your life has never been in danger."


    "Do you disagree with political murder?" Khan wondered. He knew Prince Thomas was speaking the truth but wanted to understand why.


    "I disagree with spilling Nognes blood," Prince Thomas exined, "Especially at the hands of someone unbefitting of our status."


    Reba couldn''t help but smile. Her Brother was cynical, stubborn, and secretive, but his actions always had the Nognes family in mind.


    Khan looked at Ambassador Abores'' corpse before focusing on his Uncle again. Thetter didn''t flinch at the murder, hinting at something deeper.


    "Do you acknowledge me as a Nognes?" Khan asked.


    "You are reckless," Prince Thomas imed, "Ignorant, selfish, and narrow-minded. Still, Elizabeth''s blood runs through your veins."


    "Old man," Khan uttered. "Get to the point."


    "Your achievements and strength are undeniable," Prince Thomas announced. "Your rtionship with the Thilku Empire is unheard of. No human has ever earned that acknowledgment. With the Thilku''s support, there is hope to restore the faction to its past glory." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "The Thilku support me," Khan pointed out, "Not my blood."


    "Your blood is part of you," Prince Thomas stated, "And you aren''t refusing its benefits."


    "But I will ignore it for my real allies," Khan added. "I won''t exploit my rtionship with the Empire to benefit the faction. If the faction benefits, it''s because my position is improving."


    "Nephew, you need guidance," Prince Thomas dered. "Guidance and reliability. I''m willing to share the faction''s leadership, at least until you are ready."


    Thatpromise was the best offer the Princes and Princesses had ever heard from Prince Thomas. The in-fighting could end at that very moment, and the faction wouldn''t lose anything, either. Khan could continue to improve his position while Prince Thomas handled the various allies.


    However, one person at the table could predict Khan''s imminent answer. Monica knew Khan like no one else and had even seen all the sacrifices andpromises he had endured to get where he was. Khan would never choose a fake leadership position.


    "No," Khan directly refused.


    "It''s the best option, Nephew," Prince Thomasmented.


    "I know," Khan admitted, "But no."


    "Why?" Prince Thomas asked.


    "A dead man deserves no answer," Khan said, "And you are still dead in my eyes."


    Prince Thomas didn''t forget about the previous topic. Ambassador Abores'' life didn''tpensate for his Son''s assassination attempt, and his family had to pay for another ploy, too. Khan wouldn''t hear offers until that debt was gone.


    "The rat has gone into hiding," Prince Thomas revealed. "I hoped I could lure him out again, but he was wise enough to disappear."


    Khan remained silent since he knew Prince Thomas would soon add more details, and he didn''t disappoint.


    "I agreed to Raymond Cobsend''s ploy to test you out, Nephew," Prince Thomas exined. "I needed to know if you could benefit the Nognes family. He thought I would have kept you caged as a guinea pig, but I nned to eliminate him right afterward."


    "You people are using my life for your ns," Khan muttered. "Testing me, studying me, spying on me."


    A creaking noise spread through the dining hall, and the soldiers grew weary of their surroundings while searching for the source of that sound. Still, the table suddenly crumbled and gasps resounded among the guests.


    The soldiers rushed toward the guests, attempting to create a defensive line around them. Yet, the world slowed down in their eyes, allowing them to see Khan''s graceful movements.


    Khan was the only one unaffected by the table''s fall. He even salvaged his drink, carrying it with him as he stood up. His movement seemed slow, but he reached Prince Thomas before the soldiers could take another step.


    "Fall!" Khan shouted, a hint of the clicking cry hidden in his deafening voice.


    The hall''s air turned into stone, mming on both groups of soldiers. The weaker among them fell to the floor, while the stronger only temporarily lost their bnce. Still, that single word interrupted their charge.


    "You have lived your whole life manipting the world and ying by your own rules," Khan announced. "You think your training, lineage, and higher education make you superior, but you have no idea what true power is."


    Khan lifted his free hand, pointing it at Prince Thomas'' forehead. The mana around his fingers sharpened, digging a red dot in his Uncle''s skin. A single drop of blood fell, reaching his left eyebrow. The event would make anyone retreat in fear, but Prince Thomas didn''t move.


    "I''ve had your life in my hands since you entered this room," Khan continued. "Taking it would be as easy as breathing. Princess Reba is the only reason you still live, but your borrowed time is running out."


    "I shall make my final statement then," Prince Thomas said, looking Khan deep in the eyes. "You need my help to catch Raymond Cobsend."

 Chapter 835 Zeal

    Chapter 835 Zeal


    Raymond Cobsend had been a thorn in Khan''s side since Milia 222. The man was slippery, resourceful, knowledgeable, and capable. He was always one step ahead of Khan, earning benefits without ever having to face proper punishment.


    Luke had tried to help Khan catch Raymond, but to no avail. Thetter always reappeared with a new offer, which he often saw fulfilled. It seemed Khan had yed into his hand the whole time, and Prince Thomas'' ploy was only thest of the attacks on his persona.


    Clearly, Khan couldn''t deal with Raymond on his own. He didn''tck resources, power, or knowledge, but Raymond kept beating him. Khan wanted that trend to end but didn''t know how.


    ording to Prince Thomas'' story, he had been the closest to catching Raymond without giving him any benefits. That was more than Khan could im to have ever achieved against Raymond.


    Moreover, Prince Thomas was a political powerhouse whose connections spread far and wide. He would be the perfect ally and shield against future attempts on Khan''s life. Loyalty was the only problem.


    Prince Thomas was loyal to the Nognes family, but Khan didn''t care about that. His faction and rtives were good assets but nothing more, for now, at least. Khan didn''t fight for a name or a bloodline. He had his own war and interests, which anyone under him had to serve.


    Khan would need Prince Thomas to understand and ept that point before even considering sparing him. There couldn''t be any division of power, and the faction would have to move in a different direction, Khan''s direction. It would still grow, but only as long as it benefitted Khan.


    "Kneel," Khan announced, "And I''ll consider keeping you around as an advisor."


    Prince Thomas couldn''t understand whether Khan was joking, but not about the advisor position. That was a reasonable offer, all things considered.


    Instead, the kneeling part didn''t belong to humankind. It was a tribal and primitive gesture of subservience, which the Global Army had never employed. The sole request was insulting and sounded like pure mockery, but Khan was utterly serious.


    Prince Thomas was ready to refuse the offer, but two details suddenly caught his eyes, bothing from his Sons. He saw Prince Richard and Prince Desmond''s expressions from the corners of his vision, showing a different perspective.


    Prince Richard had his eyes wide fixed on Khan. He was frozen in fear and helplessness. His expression conveyedplete defeat and subservience. He would do anything Khan asked in the situation.


    Prince Thomas could understand his younger Son''s reaction. After all, Khan had traumatized him, enforcing his superiority by creating a near-death experience. Prince Thomas couldn''t expect anything different from him, but his eldest Son was a different story altogether.


    Prince Desmond was Prince Thomas'' true heir. He had inherited his sternness, sense of duty, resolve, and work ethic. Truthfully, he was the best Son Prince Thomas could ever hope to have, but Khan put a face on him he didn''t think he could make.


    Prince Thomas saw pure awe. Prince Desmond wasn''t conveying simple respect. His face carried traces of spiritual wonder. It seemed he wasn''t looking at a simple man. Prince Desmond knew he was sitting before something otherworldly, something his limited mindset couldn''t understand.


    That reaction forced Prince Thomas to reevaluate the matter. Maybe he was too old and cynical to appreciate Khan''s true worth. Perhaps it was time for the new generation to lead the way, and no one was Khan''s match in that group.


    The issue didn''t stop at mere benefits and disadvantages. The shattered table, the frozen soldiers, and the Princes'' reactions hinted at something greater than politics. Khan was no simple man. Prince Thomas had no faith in spiritual beliefs but epted that Khan carried a spark of divinity inside him.


    "What would your first move be?" Prince Thomas felt forced to ask.


    "Unifying the Nognes family under my name," Khan imed.


    The mere idea of unifying a noble family could make the sternest peopleugh, but Khan uttered it without showing any doubt. Due to those organizations'' massive size, no one had ever achieved a simr feat in recent centuries, but Prince Thomas considered the thought anyway.


    Khan was unmatched, and that gap was only bound to getrger. He had unique alien arts, superior training methods, a monopoly over a revolutionary resource, and the backing of the best organization in the Global Army. His training would pick up speed no matter what.


    Khan''s political situation was unstable but mighty. He had many friends in high-tier ces, and the new generation basically worshipped him. He would rise to power as soon as the old guard was reced.


    Khan''s financial situation was also secure. Baoway had slowly turned into a gold mine, and adding Prince Thomas'' businesses to the equation would make him one of the Global Army''s wealthiest men. Prince Thomas'' reliability would even open new opportunities, earning him more money in the process.


    The rtionship with the Empire was the cherry on top. Khan had an entire species at his disposal, and its Lords even vouched for him. That made him untouchable and necessary.


    Prince Thomas'' calctions led to a simple conclusion. The journey wouldn''t be easy, but Khan made it doable. Many stars would have to align, but the nobles had the power to make that happen. Maybe Khan could be a noble Patriarch with the right help.


    "Is this true?" Prince Thomas asked.


    "I have no use for fragmented power," Khan stated, "And I know I''ll sh with the other factions. It''s unavoidable."


    Khan truly believed that point. As his influence grew, it would affect more parties, inevitably diminishing their power or endangering their authority. His family would be the first to be affected if his faction rose to power, and he only had one solution for that.


    Prince Thomas looked deep into Khan''s eyes, probing his intentions. His long life in the political field had made him a good judge of character, and the inspection brought a reassuring conclusion. Khan was already a strong leader.


    To the guests'' surprise, Prince Thomas pushed on Khan''s stretched fingers, slowly leaving his seat. Khan followed his Uncle''s movements, watching as his knees reached the floor.


    "Get down," Prince Thomas ordered, keeping his eyes on Khan.


    Prince Desmond and Prince Richard understood the order was for them and slowly left their seats, kneeling at their Father''s sides. The gesture had greater meaning in front of the other rtives. There was no turning back now. Khan''s authority was official.


    "Stand up," Khan said, returning to his seat. "From now on, we are one faction and one family. We''ll put aside the old grudges and work together to reach the highest seat in the Global Army."


    Khan lifted his ss, and the soldiers promptly delivered more booze, helping the guests who had lost their drinks during the table''s fall. Meanwhile, Prince Thomas and his Sons returned to their seats, ready to join the imminent toast.


    "However," Khan continued. "Lies, trickery, and betrayals will be met with execution. This will be the only warning you''ll receive."


    Khan stretched his hand, showing his drink to the guests. Thetter imitated him, and sses clinked to sanction the toast. The alliance was made. The faction was finally united. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I''ll return to Baoway now," Khan dered, standing up and gulping down his drink. "You can meet me there if you have businesses to discuss."


    Monica promptly stood up, taking Khan''s elbow to leave with him, but the couple wasn''t alone. Lieutenant Dyester and Gordon soon reached them, but that wasn''t the end of it. Another figure joined the group, and his presence made even Khan turn.


    "I''m your advisor," Prince Thomas imed, calmly standing behind Lieutenant Dyester, "Am I not, Nephew?"


    Lieutenant Dyester held back the urge tough when he looked at Khan. He could almost see the annoyance behind his cold face, and the sight amused him. It seemed his inner circle had gained another troublemaker.


    "Very well," Khan said, resuming his departure.


    "I''ll have to gain ess to every business currently undergoing on Baoway," Prince Thomas announced, "As well as the resources, equipment, structures, and avable space. We might improve on what you have already built."


    "You can discuss things with my fianc¨¦e afterward," Khan dismissively said, leaving the dining hall to reach the hangars.


    "That won''t do, Nephew," Prince Thomas stated. "The faction''s leader must be aware of all the businesses and flow of money in his domain. You''ll also have to attend multiple meetings to shift my financialwork to you."


    "We can take our time with that," Khan pointed out. "I have other matters to attend to first."


    "That won''t do, Nephew," Prince Thomas repeated. "My business associates might go elsewhere during this unstable period. You must secure their support immediately."


    "We''ll talk on Baoway," Khan uttered.


    "We''ll talk during the ride back to Baoway," Prince Thomas corrected. "A faction''s leader can''t waste any time."


    Khan felt the urge to curse. He could already predict how messy the next period would be, especially with his Uncle''s zeal breathing into his neck. It seemed he wouldn''t be able to enjoy free time for the next few months.


    ****

 Chapter 836 Celebration

    Chapter 836 Celebration


    Peaceful months passed, in which Khan hardly left Baoway. His rare trips only involved destinations inside the Empire''s domain. Otherwise, guests, visitors, and aspiring business partners always came to him.


    A prolonged stay on the usually involved long training sessions and proper seclusion. However, Khan rarely found the time to focus on himself.


    Deals involving magic items stole much of Khan''s time. The field was purely experimental, so failures weremon. He steadily improved, but the process remained time-consuming.


    Prince Thomas'' addition to Khan''s belt also brought an endless sea of meetings. Khan lost count of the number of dinners, lunches, breakfasts, and other political events he attended to secure his Uncle''s businesses. As profitable as the process was, Khan saw it as his personal hell.


    The political meetings didn''t end with Prince Thomas'' allies. Khan had his own associates to handle, and they required special attention due to their relevance to the. Khan couldn''t ignore them or give the impression that he was ignoring his domain.


    The problems didn''t end there. epting Prince Thomas into the fold turned out to be a demanding endeavor. The man was strict and relentless, hosting private lessons, briefings, and more whenever he caught Khan looking for a break. To make things worse, Monica even agreed with that behavior.


    A grunt escaped Khan''s mouth when knocking noises resounded on his bedroom door, awakening him. The person on the other side seemed ready to take the wall down with his bare hands, but the sound eventually stopped, and messages followed.


    "I swear," Khan muttered. "I''m this close to killing him."


    A chuckle resounded on Khan''s shoulder, and a yawn followed. Monica slowly woke up, rubbing her face on Khan''s neck before bringing it to his chest. That wasn''t the first time the couple had faced a simr situation. It had be routine, and Monica had grown used to it.


    "He only wants the best for you," Monica said in a sleepy tone. "You know your political persona has never been better."


    Khan grunted again but didn''t reply. As much as he hated the situation, Monica was right. Prince Thomas'' presence significantly improved his political reliability and quelled many doubts about his character. His teachings also surpassed Monica''s, making him a perfect addition to his inner circle.


    "I need to spend more time training," Khan changed the topic. "I''m close to mastering the foundation form, and I must resume advancing toward the fifth level."


    "Didn''t you trainst night beforeing to bed?" Monica asked.


    "I could have trained all night," Khan pointed out.


    "And leave your stunning fianc¨¦e all alone?" Monica teased, forcing herself up to take Khan''s face into her hands. "Happy birthday, dear."


    "Right," Khan whispered, savoring the short kiss that fell on his lips. "I almost forgot."


    Thest period had been so busy that Khan didn''t have the time to think about trivial things. His birthday was one of them, but Monica was right. He turned twenty-three that day.


    "Don''t worry," Monica giggled. "Your amazing soon-to-be-wife will always remind you."


    "Only remind?" Khan joked, smiling. His face almost felt stiff due to how rarely he took a break from his cold expression, and Monica couldn''t help but appreciate it.


    Monica lowered her head, seemingly going for another kiss, before suddenly pulling it back. She giggled at Khan''s disappointed expression and enjoyed watching his eyes half-closing when she climbed on him.


    Monica ran her hands on Khan''s chest before pressing on it, lifting herself and sitting on him. She stopped for a second, letting Khan absorb and enjoy the sight, before adjusting her legs and bringing her waist to his groin.


    That was supposed to be the beginning of a long, pleasant moment, but the bedroom door suddenly opened, making Khan push Monica to his side. She quickly hid under the sheets, and herints remained in her throat since her fianc¨¦''s eyes had started shining.


    "I apologize for intruding in your private time, Nephew, Miss Solodrey," Prince Thomas announced, standing before the open entrance. "However, the birthday celebration is nned to feature over two hundred guests, and preparations are in order-."


    Prince Thomas barely finished his line in time before a purple-red object flew at him. A needle aimed for his face, but he swiftly dodged it, only for the spell to explode into the corridor.


    "I would refrain from damaging the furniture, Nephew," Prince Thomasmented. "It''s quite expensive."


    "How did you get in?" Khan asked, seemingly on the verge of roaring.


    "I hacked the door," Prince Thomas said. "Obviously."


    Khan lifted his hand, and three needles materialized between his fingers. He was ready to throw them, but Monica promptly pulled his elbow.


    "I''ll have your birthday present ready for tonight," Monica reassured before switching to an admonishing tone. "Uncle won''t deny us some privacy once the celebrations are over." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "It''s already ounted in your schedule, Miss Solodrey," Prince Thomas confirmed.


    Khan''s cold expression didn''t falter, but Monica saw the re targeting her. Still, she could only wear an apologetic face. As much as she desired long hours of passion, Khad had work to do.


    The urge to kidnap Monica and fly away invaded Khan, but the scene calmed him down. Something about Monica''s expression and the way she kept herself behind the nket sweetened his thoughts, suppressing his unreasonable sides.


    "Stop calling him Uncle," Khan sighed, the needles disappearing as he left the bed. "I''ll see youter."


    Monica waved her hand at Prince Thomas before watching her naked fianc¨¦ reach him and disappear into the corridor. The door closed afterward, and Monica didn''t refrain from diving back into her pillow, nning to enjoy the few peaceful minutes left before the imminent event.


    Meanwhile, Khan and Prince Thomas walked side-by-side, uncaring of the former''s nakedness. The whole floor belonged to Khan, so decorum didn''t matter. The two also knew their destination, but Prince Thomas wouldn''t waste that time staying silent.


    "I hope you''ll be more responsive next time, Nephew," Prince Thomas said. "Hacking the door was quite troublesome."


    "Hope I won''t attack you for real," Khan responded.


    "As enjoyable as a loving partner is," Prince Thomas preached, "A leader has responsibilities that often cut into his windows of pleasure."


    "Starting and winning multiple wars sounds better," Khanmented.


    "s, you don''t want to be the King of rubble, Nephew," Prince Thomas uttered.


    "It gets more appealing by the day," Khan stated.


    "I have your schedule for today ready," Prince Thomas revealed, changing the topic. "You''ll find it in your private bath."


    Khan didn''t reply. He had already memorized the guest list. It was massive, but most names were friendly or were connected to those friendly faces. The others were business partners or important members of the Global Army, which he had studied in the past.


    "May I suggest a more modest attire today?" Prince Thomas asked when the destination appeared in sight.


    "No," Khan directly refused, approaching the intended door.


    "Perhaps a more human one?" Prince Thomas suggested.


    "No," Khan said, opening the door to reveal an immense bathroom. A vast bathtub and luxurious furniture spread everywhere, including a wardrobe only Khan and Monica could ess.


    "I''ll see you in a few minutes then," Prince Thomas stated.


    "Uncle," Khan called, entering the bathroom. "I''ll take your eyes the next time you intrude into the private time with my fianc¨¦e."


    "I''ll find different ways to im your attention, Nephew," Prince Thomas promised.


    Khan closed the door and ignored the luxurious furniture to opt for a quick shower. He enjoyed the bathtub and other services only when Monica was with him, and time was short that morning anyway.


    The following process took slightly longer. Khan was still wet when he reached his personal wardrobe. His gic signature unlocked it, revealing the thick Thilku cape, pelts, bone armor, and crown. Paint also filled its drawers, providing everything he needed for public appearances.


    Khan had long since memorized the process. He stood naked before a mirror, carefully applying warpaint to his face and torso. The pelts and bone armor followed before he ced the red cape on his shoulders. The crown camest, but its effect felt greater. Something in Khan''s aura changed as soon as he wore it.


    Prince Thomas weed Khan outside the bathroom, escorting him to the next destination. A plentiful breakfast filled with directives, briefings, and other information unfolded, seemingly attempting to cause a headache. Still, sadly enough, Khan had grown used to that, too. In many ways, he had be a proper descendant now, if not the best of them.


    The breakfaststed a while on purpose. Prince Thomas didn''t only want Khan to be ready beyond reproach. The guests were already arriving, and Khan had to join the celebrations only after everyone took their seats. That demanded a dy, but the moment eventually came.


    Prince Thomas and Khan made their way through the building before entering a vast hall. Crowded rows of tables filled it, and every head turned in the two''s direction. Prince Thomas bowed his head in respect, but Khan ignored the scene and took flight, walking in the air above the guests to reach his seat.


    A longer, more luxurious table stood on a slightly elevated tform near the end of the hall. Its location made it visible to all the guests, and its seats were reserved for Khan''s family, inner circle, and closest allies.


    Politics also yed a part in thatyout. Khan spotted George, Luke, Lieutenant Dyester, Abraham, Reba, his Cousins, and more friendly faces at his table, but the main, central seat stood between Monica and Lord Exr.


    Khan reached his table, stopping mid-air to perform a traditional Thilku bow beforending on his chair. Monica promptly filled his ss, and Lord Exr grinned, grabbing his shoulder to savor the cape resting on it. Meanwhile, Prince Thomas also arrived at his seat and lifted a drink to start a toast everyone joined.

 Chapter 837 Gallons

    Chapter 837 Gallons


    Everyone feasted, enjoying the plentiful food and drinks on the various tables. Waiters stood by the hall''s walls, ready to provide more refreshments. Countless conversations happened, and guests often stood up to deliver birthday gifts to the main table.


    Each guest had a short one-liner for Khan. Most phrases were pleasantries, hinting at the desire to hold future meetings. Others were simple congrattions, and some acted as invitations to various locations.


    Khan didn''t formally ept anything. He asionally only replied with nods, which the guests didn''t mind. His cold and stoic behavior had be famous in thest period, and many of those who had joined the celebration had already interacted with him multiple times.


    The situation allowed many guests to expand their social and political array. Most less-important visitors were closer to Khan on various levels, forcing those wielding higher relevance to respect them.


    Monica''s parents, rtives, and cousins were also at the celebrations, which they didn''t hesitate to exploit. The noble families had sent representatives to honor the event, and those lower figures couldn''t miss the chance to meet them.


    The same went for Luke, George, and the other descendants'' parents. All those who had established the secret alliance with Khan during Monica''s birthday were at the celebrations, including pieces of their families, and none refrained from trying to develop rtionships with the nobles.


    Many of those attempts were even sessful. The descendants in Khan''s alliance had various businesses and structures on Baoway, which the nobles desired. Thetter didn''t care much about the activities, but establishing footholds closer to Khan was worth dealing with lower families.


    As for Khan, he merely ate and drank, exchanging random lines with Lord Exr. The Thilku often questioned him about certain human customs, and the two always ended up joking about them. Still, only Lord Exrughed. Khan remained as impassible as ever.


    Nevertheless, the time for more private talks eventually arrived. Once everyone was full, the guests split into multiple groups. Many wanted to be with Khan but stepped aside since they knew their ce, allowing an orderly division.


    Princess Edna was on Baoway, so she kidnapped Monica, Anita, and most of the young women at the party. Princess Felicia and other Princesses joined that group, nning to explore the building and the city outside.


    Khan''s remaining Cousins handled the male part of the descendants, stealing a few Princes of their own. Many parents and other business associates joined them, creating a giant group.


    Gordon seized anyone interested in the Scalqa and other specific structures of the city. Thework was famished for news about Baoway, and the noble guard knew what to feed it. He only had to show the right things to the guests.


    Thest group featured Khan, Prince Thomas, Princess Felicia, Abraham, Lieutenant Dyester, Lord Exr, and the noble representatives. Thetter demanded priority over every discovery, equipment, or item, and the imminent meeting was exactly about that.


    Khan''s group moved to a different area, entering a state-of-the-art training hall. The ce had ck surfaces, hinting at chaos-resistant alloys. Still, its dim blue lights created a cozy atmosphere, albeit slightly cold. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Is this what I believe it is, Prince Khan?" Prince Duter asked.


    Khan ignored the question and nodded at his Uncle. Prince Thomas drew his phone to send a message, and soldiers promptly arrived to push a metal cart toward the group. Khan quickly seized it, sending away the troops, before ying with the hall''s menus.


    One of the hall''s walls opened once Khanpleted his order. A metal puppet walked past the cavity, which closed behind its back. The dummy had the number "2" carved into its head, describing its general power level.


    Khan inputted another order, and a new metal puppet emerged, this one bearing the number "4" on its head. The two dummies took a few steps forward before stopping on the empty side of the hall, remaining motionless and waiting for additional directives.


    "Master Carl," Khan called. "Melt them."


    Lieutenant Dyester sighed, drawing a cigarette from his pocket and putting it in his mouth. He lifted his hand and stretched his forefinger, which took fire and lit up the smoke.


    Lieutenant Dyester breathed deeply and blew smoke before lifting his fiery forefinger above his head. The mes left his skin and rose above him, quickly stopping and expanding to create a crackling sphere.


    The sphere split, multiplying into two unstable masses of mes that shot forward as soon as Lieutenant Dyester flexed his finger. The spells flew at high speed toward the puppets, hitting them in the chest.


    Two explosions unfolded as mes spread everywhere. Nothing reached the group, but the heat generated by the spells was palpable. Both attacks were proper of a fourth-level mage, confirming once and for all that the Butcher of Istrone had surpassed his former glory.


    The lingering mes quickly dispersed, revealing what was left of the puppets. The first had fallen apart, leaving only its legs behind. The upper parts of those two limbs had also melted, and their metal had turned bright red.


    Meanwhile, the other puppet had retained its humanoid form, but its chest had melted open, showing the wires and gears inside. Its head, shoulders, and waist had also suffered from a simr fate, highlighting how the spell would have been deadly for a fourth-level warrior.


    "I''m sure Master Carl''s skills don''t need additional demonstrations," Khan announced. "Now."


    Khan inputted more orders into the menus before approaching the cart. The hall''s robots cleared the maimed puppets before sending two new ones. The neers also had the numbers "2" and "4" on their heads, but a figure suddenly materialized between them.


    Khan ced a sk on both puppets'' heads before sprinting back to the group. The guests barely caught his movements, but their interest was in the mysterious items. Luckily for them, Khan intended to keep their curiosity short-lived.


    "Master Carl," Khan called, and Lieutenant Dyester set his forefinger on fire again, smoothly sending two more spells at the metal puppets.


    Two explosions unfolded again, but apletely different scenery appeared once the mes dispersed. Both puppets still had humanoid shapes, but something had covered their surfaces. A-like shield had protected their fronts, limiting the damage to the metal behind.


    The was thick, only leaving small areas exposed. Still, it soon flowed down, revealing the metal puppets in their entirety. The "2" dummy had clear melted spots on its chest and head, but nothing reached its insides. Meanwhile, the "4" dummy was almostpletely intact, with mere darkened burns to vouch for the spell''s power.


    "As you can see," Khan said, "The item can withstand the spell of a fourth-level mage. It also activates on its own. It''s a lifesaving disposable item."


    "Impressive," Prince Dutermented, receiving general approval.


    Khan nced at Lord Exr, but the Thilku also looked pleased. It seemed Khan didn''t need to trante what had just happened.


    "I have questions, Prince Khan," Prince Rassec eximed. Khan''s rtionship with that family remainedplicated, so it made sense for the Prince to make things hard for him.


    "What are the conditions for activation?" Prince Rassec questioned. "Its uses would be limited if the simplest attack could trigger it."


    The guests couldn''t help but agree. The item''s sensitivity could make it useless as a lifesaving measure. Assassins could simply trigger it with a weak attack and deliver a deadly blow afterward.


    Even with those issues, the item would still have uses, albeit limited ones. However, employing it on messy battlefields and simr environments would be impossible.


    Khan didn''t waste time with words. He approached the cart and seized two more sks before throwing them into the air. A needle and a spear then materialized in his hands, and he flung them at the spinning items.


    Two explosions unfolded, with one far bigger than the other. The needle created a limited, spherical detonation, while the spear gave birth to a tall, scorching pir. Even the dullest soldier would know which one was stronger.


    The guests were surprised by the oue of the explosions. The spherical detonation was the first to disperse, and ck drops fell from it,nding on the floor. The spell had destroyed the sk, but no had arrived.


    Instead, the pir''s dispersion revealed a square-like structure. The item had activated even without someone to protect. It had simply reacted to the spear''s power, showing its power.


    "Excellent!" Prince Duter eximed, even pping his hand in respect for what Khan had achieved.


    The guests shared Prince Duter''s opinion. Even Prince Rassec put aside theplicated rtionship between his family and Khan to p his hands a few times. That demonstration truly was worthy of praise, but another issue had to follow.


    "How many sks are avable?" Prince Rassec questioned. "Also, I hope we won''t have to auction for them."


    Khan had been the only one to open the cart, so no one had seen its insides. It even stood to reason that such a powerful item would have limited avability, but Khan worked in the field of miracles now.


    "The sk isn''t the item," Khan exined, lifting the cart''s lid and lowering its side surface to expose its insides. "The liquid is."


    A series of sks unfolded in the guests'' vision, but something far more appealing stood at their side. A big, transparent container stood inside the cart, carrying the same ck liquid that had fallen to the floor.


    "I won''t sell in sks," Khan said, facing the guests. "I''ll sell in gallons."


    ****

 Chapter 838 War

    Chapter 838 War


    Khan''s statement excited the guests. He had yet to name a price, but money wasn''t a problem for those figures, and the item was worth it.


    Safety had always been one of the nobles'' top priorities. Few in the Global Army would dare to attack them, but that only applied to weaker parties. Infighting wasmon inside those massive families, so the representatives wouldn''t refrain from purchasing additional ways of protection.


    The noble guests in the hall could also benefit from an additional advantage. They had attended Khan''s birthday to represent their entire families, but their loyalty was to specific factions and groups inside those immense parties. Purchasing Khan''s magic item now would give them priority over their fellow family members.


    Of course, that priority would be short-lived since Khan had no intention of ying the other noble families'' political games. Any attempt to be exploited would also make him richer since he could deny eventual usations and shift the me to the representatives, opening himself up to new buyers. It was a win-win situation for him, but that was the nature of a monopoly.


    "How many gallons are avable?" Prince Duter couldn''t help but ask.


    "My Uncle and I will handle the saleter," Khan announced. "For now, stick around and enjoy the celebrations."


    Many wanted to reach for Khan right away, attempting to trap him in long conversations. Yet, the tall Thilku standing at his side prevented those direct approaches. Only one representative ignored Lord Exr''s presence and stole Khan''s elbow.


    "Prince Khan," Princess Rachel Montares called, slightly pulling Khan''s elbow. "Do you have more surprises in store for us?"


    "I thought you would have joined Princess Edna and my Fianc¨¦e by now," Khanmented.


    "The day is long," Princess Montares replied. "There will be time for that. Now, I hope you can indulge me again."


    "I nned to give Lord Exr a tour of the city," Khan exined, "To show the Scalqa''s growth. You can join if you prefer it to the building''s activities."


    "I very much prefer it," Princess Montares eximed, and the other guests echoed her mood. It seemed the group wouldn''t split up just yet.


    "As you wish," Khan said, leading the group outside the building. In the meantime, multiple waiters joined him, ready to refill drinks whenever the guests asked for them.


    The metal encampment didn''t change much during those months. It had only expanded, but the same wasn''t true for those who inhabited it. Princess Montares immediately noticed the different behavior, and her fellow nobles couldn''t help but feel surprised by it.


    Khan''s appearance in the open immediately triggered a series of alien shouts that spread throughout the encampment. Scalqa promptly left their tents and abandoned their duties to reach the main streets, forming orderly lines at their sides. Khan''s group walked among them, allowing everyone to study that army.


    The Scalqa didn''t show any trace of their previous primitive respect. They still wore pelts and other ragged clothes, but their stances conveyed a sense of duty and discipline. Their deployment was orderly, and their bows matched Khan''s group''s passage.


    The nobles realized the Scalqa had evolved past their simple reverence for Khan. They had been military trained, and that growth probably didn''t stop at the simple order and gestures. Chances were they had also learned to use firearms and other weapons.


    Princess Montares also noticed another detail. The Scalqa had looked imposing during her previous trip through the encampment, but she felt they were bigger now. Their muscles and stature had increased, albeit only slightly.


    "Master Carl," Khan called, giving a silent order his friend understood.


    "During the past months," Lieutenant Dyester announced, "We tested different training regimens to harness the Scalqa''s full potential. Their bodies are far above average, so results were easy to achieve."


    Khan tranted the exnation into the Thilkunguage. Lord Exr didn''t need that, but his species'' role in the matter demanded that level of respect. After all, most employed training regimens came from the Empire.


    "We expect their natality and lifespan to increase exponentially," Lieutenant Dyester continued. "The new generations should also perform better since we''ll educate them from birth."


    The implications of Lieutenant Dyester''s speech felt obvious. Khan could hope to multiply his number of Scalqa in a couple of decades. Moreover, those aliens would be able to benefit from aplete training regimen by then, fully harnessing their species'' capabilities.


    Things didn''t even end there. A few months weren''t enough to turn a primitive species into a technological one, but many miracles could happen in two decades. The Scalqa''s customs could radically evolve, and the same went for their battle capabilities.


    Khan also was the sole seller of the supplement, so the timeline could be far shorter than that. Baoway was brewing with immense power, and everything was under Khan''s name.


    The nobles weren''t strangers to the concept of personal armies. They even had many, but that ownership usually involved the whole family. Each faction had multiple troops in its direct possession, but not enough to wage and win wars.


    Normally, the nobles themselves would act to stop such a steep rise to power since it could break the bnce among the ten families. However, acting against a united faction was easier said than done, especially with all the precautions Khan had in ce. He didn''t only have the Empire as a shield. His many deals with the nobles ensured their alliance, at least temporarily.


    Instead, Khan was breaking that silent rule. His faction was creating one of the best armies in the Global Army, and the Empire even had his back. It wouldn''t be long before his status and influence would surpass anyone inside humankind.


    Normally, the nobles themselves would act to stop such a steep rise to power since it could break the bnce among the ten families. However, acting against a united faction was easier said than done, especially with all the precautions Khan had in ce. He didn''t only have the Empire as a shield. His many deals with the nobles ensured their alliance, at least temporarily.


    The group kept walking silently while those thoughts afflicted the guests, but Prince Thomas eventually called for Khan, approaching him and showing him his phone.


    "I must handle something," Khan announced as soon as he read the screen''s contents. "I leave you in Master Carl''s capable hands."


    Khan then faced Lord Exr and performed a customary bow with his mantle, which the Thilku weed. His figure disappeared afterward, and more announcements followed.


    "I must assist my Nephew," Prince Thomas announced, bowing. "Please, excuse me."


    "I also must leave," Princess Reba revealed, imitating her brother and following along.


    At that point, every face turned toward Lieutenant Dyester, who held back a curse while drawing a cigarette from his pocket. For some reason, he now had a Thilku Lord and nine Princes and Princesses to entertain, and Abraham had no intention of helping him. The scientist was actually more curious than the guests about the Scalqa''s progress.


    Khan returned to the main building in no time and made his way through the many corridors and elevators to reach one of the halls. Waiters and soldiers stood before its entrance but moved away at Khan''s arrival. Crossing the door revealed an array of couches, with two figures in the central ones.


    "Prince Khan," The first man to notice Khan''s arrival stood up, lifting his drink. "Happy birthday."


    "Prince Khan," The second man quickly followed, imitating the first. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan had never met the two men but knew their faces. He had expected that meeting. His Uncle even told him the matter couldn''t be dyed. Still, he didn''t expect the two to crash his birthday celebrations.


    "Prince Nognes," Khan called. "Prince Nognes."


    The two men bowed their heads in respect and returned to their couches as Khan approached them. Although they shared Khan''s family name, they belonged to different factions. In many ways, they were Khan''s enemies.


    "Your soldiers made us leave our escorts behind tond on the," One of the Princes said. "Your security sounds too tight against your rtives."


    "Jack, mind your words," The other Prince scolded, even if his tone carried traces of mockery. "Prince Khan is a faction leader. He is no different from Alexander."


    "I can see a few differences," Jack chuckled.


    Khan ignored the mockery and reached a couch that would allow him to face both Princes. He also sat down after seizing a bottle from a nearby table. His eyes darted between the two men, but his mouth never opened.


    "Forgive my distant Cousin," The second Prince stated. "I''m Ethan Nognes. We have the same Great-great-great-¡­ I forgot how many, but we share an ancestor."


    "The Prince doesn''t look in a festive mood," Jack pointed out, referring to Khan''s unflinching expression. "Wee in peace, King of Baoway."


    Ethan couldn''t help but wear a helpless smile. He didn''t like Jack''s jokes, but the two had to present a united front.


    "We havee to ask some questions," Ethan exined, "And hoping to receive answers. We belong to the same family, so this shouldn''t be a problem."


    "Ethan, you read Prince Khan''s reports," Jack dered. "He is a no-bullshits man. Just get to the point."


    "As I was saying," Ethan cleared his throat, "Our factions have some questions. We would like to know how much Baoway is earning you. We also wish to understand the extent of the Thilku Empire''s support."


    "And why your faction is cutting us out of the deals," Jack added.


    Khan took asional sips from the bottle during the conversation. He knew that problem would have knocked at his door sooner orter. It had simply presented itself now.


    "Do you disrespect me because you think the magic item under your uniform will protect you?" Khan wondered, looking at Jack''s chest. "Or do you simply think your name is enough to make me behave?"


    Jack''s smile froze. He had heard about Khan''s senses, but his best scientists had assured him about the magic item''s cloaking qualities. Yet, Khan seemed to have seen right through them.


    "That would mean war," Jack said, his smile disappearing as his tone grew serious.


    "Will it?" Khan asked. "You are just one representative. Will your faction really go to war against me over one head?"

 Chapter 839 Depressing

    Chapter 839 Depressing


    Prince Jack Nognes had heard about Khan''s irrational, violent, and unstable behavior. Entire teams had briefed him about the issue. Yet, men who had lived in pampered and untouchable environments their whole lives rarely adapted to different situations.


    Of course, the noble education had trained Prince Jack for that, but the situation would force him to assume a lower status or at least pretend to. That wasn''t something he could do on the spot. That switch inside his brain had never been flipped and had long since rusted away. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Nevertheless, the threat forced Prince Jack to consider that unbelievable development. He actually had to run simtions to answer Khan''s question, and what he found didn''t please him.


    Killing a noble was a grave crime, probably one of the gravest crimes inside the Global Army. However, that only applied to people with lower statuses. The Generals and Diplomats didn''t intervene nor voice opinions when those murders happened between people at the same lofty level.


    In the current situation, Prince Jack was nothing more than a representative, while Khan was a faction''s leader. The former wasn''t even too relevant inside the family, and many were after his rtively limited wealth. His death could be worth a war, but not against Khan.


    The problem was with Khan''s monopolies. He had channeled much of the Thilku Empire''s support, and his faction wielded one of the best resources on the market. Jack and Ethan''s presence showed exactly how valuable that was.


    "Prince Khan," Prince Jack called, clearing his throat. "Such an act would unify the other factions against you. You can''t desire that."


    Khan didn''t reply. He didn''t need to. He simply moved his eyes to Prince Ethan, seemingly challenging him to voice his support for Prince Jack''s statement. Still, much to Prince Jack''s dismay, nothing simr arrived.


    As much as Prince Ethan wanted to show a united front, threatening Khan with a joint faction war went beyond his authority. Actually, to his knowledge, most factions wished to remain on good terms with Khan due to the value he had secured for himself.


    "This is absurd!" Prince Jack shouted at Prince Ethan''s silence. "His Excellency Alexander would have never resorted to such threats. He knew his ce in the family and upheld his role with dignity."


    "Are your eyes failing you?" Khan asked. "My Grandfather isn''t here."


    Prince Jack was ready to respond but forced his mouth shut. He hated being reprimanded by such a young leader, but Khan had yet to utter a single lie. Moreover, insisting on his approach would only lead to a sh.


    "Prince Khan," Prince Ethan intervened, noticing Prince Jack''s trouble. "Allow me to apologize for ourck of manners and insults. However, there is an order of things that has sustained us throughout centuries."


    "And sustenance is all you aim for," Khanmented. "How depressing."


    "Prince?" Prince Ethan called.


    "I know soldiers who could have achieved grandiose goals with just a fraction of your resources," Khan exined. "Instead, you are here begging for scraps the second I seize something valuable."


    "Prince," Prince Ethan dropped his friendly expression to wear a serious face. "I apologized for Prince Jack''s insults but won''t stay silent toward yours."


    "It wasn''t an insult," Khan said. "Just the truth. Comparing yourselves to me would be unfair, but I could pick any soldier in my army to prove my point."


    "Mere battle prowess and attunement with mana are a narrow-minded way of evaluating a person," Prince Ethan jabbed back.


    "And yet," Khan continued, "I can see you agree with my evaluation."


    Prince Ethan couldn''t find his voice anymore. He had felt Khan''s piercing gaze on him since he entered the hall, but it took thatst statement to realize how deeply it saw.


    "It''s sad," Khan uttered. "The nobles have growncent, caring only about retaining control. Your true value bes evident whenever you face something you can''t trap into your grasp."


    Both Princes noticed how Khan referred to himself as a "thing", but the content of his statement remained more important. He was basically iming the family''sws couldn''t control him.


    "We have a history that goes back to the First Impact," Prince Ethan announced. "We rebuilt humankind, developed wonders, and achieved miracles. We created the martial arts and spells at the foundation of our species."


    "Our ancestors did," Khan corrected. "Maybe your faction leaders also did something great. You two didn''t."


    "Enough!" Prince Jack snapped, mming his fist on the couch''s armchair. "What do you know of our ways?! Your very faction would have you exiled if it heard your words!"


    "Quite the opposite," Khan revealed. "I''ve been chosen for this very reason. The old ways bred weakness, and my faction needed strength."


    "So," Prince Ethan said, "Will you just throw away centuries ofws and threaten anyone who won''t abide by your new ideals?"


    "I don''t care about yourws," Khan dered. "I don''t care about your customs, beliefs, and ideals. You also came to me, not the other way around, so I suggest you voice your offer instead of wasting my time."


    "Offer?" Prince Jack repeated.


    "You want my stuff," Khan exined. "You have to pay for it."


    "That''s not how things work inside the family," Prince Ethan imed.


    "Wee to the new world order," Khan eximed.


    Prince Ethan fell silent again. It wasmon knowledge that one faction couldn''t oppose all the others. That system worked to retain peace inside the family since it deterred infighting while ensuring benefits for everyone.


    However, Khan wielded something unique, so finding apromise wouldn''t be the end of the world. That solution would also be temporary since the other factions wouldn''t simply watch Khan amass power. Buying time could be the right choice.


    Still, Prince Ethan didn''t ount for Prince Jack. Thetter began to chuckle before exploding into a loudugh. He seemed to have heard the best joke in the world and didn''t hesitate to exin his reasons.


    "Did your small sesses make you delusional?" Prince Jack questioned. "Your mother''s erratic behavior is the only reason your faction needs strength. You are no chosen leader. You are the appointed cleaner required to take out the trash."


    "Let''s go, Ethan," Prince Jack continued, standing up. "Thisd will be his own ruin."


    "Jack,e on," Prince Ethan pleaded. "We came here for a reason."


    "We only need to wait," Prince Jack snorted. "He''ll follow his mother''s footsteps, killing himself or worse. His faction will beg us for an alliance afterward."


    "Jack!" Prince Ethan called. "You know I can''t follow you, not like this."


    "Why not?" Prince Jack sneered, looking at Khan. "Look at him. He''s befriending savage aliens, donning their clothes. He doesn''t even look human, and he is selling his faction to benefit his whore girlfriend''s family."


    An azure halo suddenly surrounded Prince Jack. The pale light acted as a thick membrane that protected his entire body, but its glow quickly dimmed, dispersing the mana it contained.


    Prince Jack''s eyes went wide. He recognized that light and reached for his chest. His magic item had activated, but he didn''t see any attack.


    "It was quite well made," Khan praised, standing up to approach Prince Jack. "To think it could stop the Divine Reaper."


    "What have you done?!" Prince Jack gasped, incredulous about that development.


    "I''ll send mypliments to your cksmiths," Khan said, slowly advancing as Prince Jack retreated. "Also, it''s fianc¨¦e, not girlfriend."


    "Prince Khan!" Prince Ethan shouted, but it was toote. Prince Jack took another step backward before stopping in his tracks. His body froze, turning into a corpse since his head had disappeared.


    Prince Ethan watched Prince Jack''s corpse fall to the floor before moving his eyes to Khan. Thetter didn''t move, but a head had appeared in his right hand. His fingers held it from its short ck hair as the wound dripped blood.


    "Let this be a warning," Khan announced. "Take me seriously, or don''te at all."


    Prince Ethan didn''t know what to do in that situation. He could only stare at the gory head in Khan''s hand, but things quickly worsened. The hall''s doors opened, and Prince Thomas and Princess Reba dived in, stopping as soon as they noticed the scene.


    Prince Thomas and Princess Reba felt shocked, but Prince Ethan directly panicked. That was a political incident, and eliminating the witnesses usually was the next move. The man began to fear for his life, and Khan smelled that feeling.


    "You have shown me respect," Khan reassured. "Your life is not in danger. However, you will ry a message for me."


    Khan threw the severed head toward the corpse before calmly returning to his couch and taking a long sip from his bottle.


    "I have the entire Thilku Empire behind me," Khan dered. "No faction, no matter how big, can match its force. You all also need my resources to keep up with the other families, so send proper representatives next time."


    Khan took another long sip from his bottle before adding thest line. "Be sure to take that head with you."

 Chapter 840 Tournament

    Chapter 840 Tournament


    Prince Ethan didn''t think for even a second that Khan was joking. Although the order was demeaning, he still reached Prince Jack''s corpse, bending toward it to pick up the gory item.


    Prince Ethan gave onest look at Khan, seemingly searching for approval or additional conversations, but nothing arrived. Khan silently watched him, and his gaze didn''t falter even after he began to leave the hall.


    Prince Thomas and Princess Reba moved aside at Prince Ethan''s arrival. Thetter crossed the door behind them, and the mood inside the hall instantly changed. The tension vanished, reced by a mixture of helplessness, worry, and anger.


    "Do you mind exining yourself, Nephew?" Prince Thomas voiced, hurrying toward Khan''s couch. Princess Reba followed closely behind, and her eyes often fell on the headless corpse on the floor.


    "Prince Jack insulted my mother and fianc¨¦e," Khan exined shortly.


    Prince Thomas'' anger vanished. He even slowed down, calmly sitting on a nearby couch. He didn''t like Khan''s irrational behavior, but it sounded justified in that instance.


    "Many inside the family look down on you," Princess Reba announced, also upying a couch. "You are young, untrained, and prone to violence. They also don''t like that you don''t follow their rules."


    "They won''t look down on me now," Khan stated.


    "You have just proven them right," Prince Thomas pointed out. "I wouldn''t be surprised if the other factions summoned secret meetings now."


    "Let them," Khan said. "They would have done that anyway."


    "Stalling them would have been the best option," Prince Thomasmented. "It would have given us time to reinforce our position."


    "I have a Thilku Lord attending my birthday party," Khan imed. "I have a financially bound to the most powerful families in the Global Army. I have the best training resources avable, and my troops improve by the day. What else would you have me reinforce?"


    "Weck evolved soldiers," Prince Thomas said.


    "They belong to the family," Khan argued, "Not single factions."


    "A majority vote could allow their deployment," Prince Thomas exined. "As strong as you are, you still can''t survive evolved soldiers."


    Khan dived back into the booze, letting his thoughts wander on the issue. He was aware of the problem, but his hands were tied. Trying to earn the other factions'' support would also weaken his position, removing some of his progress.


    The matter wouldn''t be too problematic if Khan had the factions'' friendship. However, everything was about power in that environment. The family was far from united, and the internal deals only worked to prevent anyone from rising to the top and taking control.


    ''They won''t ept me as a leader unlesspelled to,'' Khan thought. ''I have to leave them no other choice.''


    Sheer force couldn''t work toward that goal. Khan was already strong, and the entire Global Army knew that. Still, his family was a political organization that couldn''t be beaten into submission.


    Amassing resources wouldn''t work either since it was the family''s prerogative to share those advantages to retain power among other nobles. Khan could try to buy time, but the result wouldn''t change. The Nognes factions still had a rightful im over his stuff.


    Killing anyone who opposed Khan would also defeat the purpose. Weakening the Nognes family would make assuming control of it pointless. He would rather have fewer loyal assets than many potential enemies, but that environment forced him topromise for now.


    ''Limiting the weak links,'' Khan concluded. ''Improving the political protections.''


    "Have Abraham move theb here," Khan eventually ordered. "Francis can handle all the external affairs."


    "What else?" Prince Thomas asked.


    "Give me a line ofmunication with the Ef''i," Khan continued. "I want embassies and barracks on Baoway."


    "Increasing the number of alien species on the will help deter attacks," Princess Reba summarized. "They grow up so fast."


    "It''s a good move," Prince Thomas evaluated, "But a defensive one."


    "Send samples of the magic item to the other factions," Khan added. "Put some supplements there, too. I''m not against sharing with the family, but I won''t be yed with."


    "A gesture of goodwill," Princess Reba eximed.


    "Which isn''t enough topensate for the head you''ve taken," Prince Thomas uttered.


    "Lower the magic item''s price for the other families," Khan continued, "Just for the first purchase. Let them empty our reserves. The next batch is almost ready anyway."


    "Do you have anything else in store?" Prince Thomas wondered.


    "Ideas," Khan revealed, "Which need time to turn into reality."


    "Then," Prince Thomas announced, "I might have a suggestion."


    "Speak," Khan ordered, his bottle ending after thest sip.


    "Right now," Prince Thomas sighed, "You have focused on reinforcing your political status through alliances, business agreements, and monopolies. Yet, you have closed yourself to the public. It won''t be long before the Global Army sees you as an organization outside humankind."


    "All the noble families are organizations outside of humankind," Khan pointed out.


    "They are on top," Prince Thomas corrected, "Not outside. They are untouchable and unreachable but still members of the species."


    "So?" Khan asked. He genuinely didn''t understand where Prince Thomas was going. Moreover, his recent actions weren''t a matter of choice. His focus on the political side of his life had been almost mandatory.


    "It''s time to open the borders," Prince Thomas suggested. "You are already an odd Prince, so why not go all-out with it? Be both on top and an integral part of humankind."


    "How?" Khan questioned. "Should I start selling to other families?"


    "I''m talking about social events," Prince Thomas revealed. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Like trips to the?" Khan remained confused. "Most lower families can''t afford the businesses here."


    "But they would desire your products," Prince Thomas exined, "If they were to learn about their benefits."


    Something lit up inside Khan''s brain. Rumors about the supplement had already spread throughout thework, but the nobles kept most details limited to their environments. That was their way of ensuring superiority over the masses, and Khan didn''t mind it as long as they provided their support.


    However, the supplement''s production had ramped up in the past months, and things were bound to improve once Abraham moved theb to Baoway. Khan could spare some samples for the masses, and making the matter as public as possible would improve his poprity.


    "A tournament could work," Khan thought. "Having the Thilku and Ef''i as spectators would also demonstrate humankind''s power."


    "Our faction can do without some magic items," Princess Reba revealed. "Our armories have been dusting away for decades now. I''m sure we can find appealing prizes."


    "It could also be a reurring event," Prince Thomas added, "A way for the lower families to touch the nobles."


    "How is the financial picture?" Khan asked.


    "It''s quite grim," Prince Thomas exined. "These events usually take a big tool on the organizer''s part, but we can handle it. Besides, we would greatly make up for it in prestige."


    "Let''s take it one step further," Khan announced. "General Seb is here, and Headmistress Holwen is just one call away. We can offer schrships for the Harbor and good jobs to any noteworthy contestant."


    "Nephew," Prince Thomas called. "These events take time to n. I''m not sure-."


    "Make it happen," Khan interrupted, standing up. "This quadrant has enough space left for a big arena, so let''s build it here. I also want a list of all the potential contestants. The numbers have to be right."


    "My Nephew is so excited," Princess Reba chuckled. "Might I suggest adding personal lessons as a reward? We might even consider adding promising descendants to our ranks."


    "Write all these ideas down," Khan ordered. "We''ll have a meeting to screen them out. This is promising."


    "Are you going to General Seb?" Prince Thomas asked, also standing up.


    "It''s better to secure the Global Army''s support now," Khan confirmed.


    "I can handle that part," Prince Thomas reassured. "Us nobles have our ways of bending the Global Army to our will."


    "I''ll call Headmistress Holwen," Princess Reba added. "We''ll probably have to pay for those schrships, but I''ll make sure the price is right."


    "Are you cutting me out of the organization process?" Khan couldn''t help but ask.


    "Nephew," Prince Thomas called, "It''s our job to handle these matters. You must learn to share the weight of leadership."


    "In short," Princess Reba added, "Go enjoy your birthday."


    Princess Reba and Prince Thomas bowed their heads before heading out, nning to turn the idea into reality. Soon, Khan remained alone inside the hall, with only Prince Jack''s corpse keeping himpany.


    ''Enjoying my birthday,'' Khan thought, almost mocking himself.


    Khan''s Uncle and Aunt could handle the human aspects of the organization, but he wanted to be the one to contact the Ef''i. He would also need to talk with Lord Exr, and the idea of bringing the Fuveall to the still existed. Basically, Khan couldn''t just enjoy himself.


    Nevertheless, Khan had a few hours to spare since all the other guests were busy with different tours. His legs moved on their own, bringing him to the building''s terrace and higher in the air. Soon, he found himself in the sky, staring at his city.


    ''A tournament,'' Khan thought. ''That''s good.''


    The symphony updated Khan on the city''s movements. He could feel the various groups but didn''t want to join any of them. His mind instinctively focused on a nearby cave, which he quickly reached to settle in its humid silence.


    ''The masses need to see more than a man,'' Khan considered, removing his bone armor and crown before tracing bright lines on his torso. ''They need to see the best warrior in the world.''

 Chapter 841 Briefing

    Chapter 841 Briefing


    As much as Prince Thomas had advised patience, things moved quickly once the idea was in motion.


    Getting the various authorizations was ridiculously easy. General Seb couldn''t refuse the nobles'' pressure, and the same went for Headmistress Holwen. Khan didn''t even need to talk to them to obtain their official approval and support.


    Other aspects of the idea were also easy to n. The Nognes families had armies of architects, technicians, and more, so a blueprint of the arena quickly took form. Everyone involved with the construction also forwarded various requests for materials, which Khan''s faction was happy to provide and purchase.


    Of course, once the invitation list wasplete, the blueprint had to be adjusted. The tournament would be limited to medium and small families, but that still left the potential number of guests in the thousands. The engineers also had to ount for businesses built specifically for the event and their personnel, which forced an increase in the arena''s capacity.


    The idea soon transformed into a behemoth of a project, but Khan''s faction could handle it. Everything was also smooth since the family had centuries of experience in those massive constructions. The briefings and meetings were often superfluous, but one ended up being quite relevant.


    "An auction for the promising descendants sounds heartless," Lieutenant Dyester imed. "What if they don''t want to leave their families? Will they refuse the nobles?"


    "Those nobles would have bought them off anyway," Prince Thomas argued. "Eventually, that is. Besides, it''s a great honor."


    "Great honor, my ass," Lieutenant Dyester snorted. "It''s just another way of weakening other families while reinforcing their ranks."


    "That''s how it has always been," Prince Thomas imed.


    "And it has always been shit," Lieutenant Dyester dered.


    Lieutenant Dyester red at Prince Thomas, who matched his angry gaze with a calm one. Yet, those two pairs of eyes soon moved on Khan, and words followed.


    "Nephew," Prince Thomas called. "Please."


    "Khan," Lieutenant Dyester said before falling silent. He didn''t need to add anything else to exin his point.


    Khan felt the urge to curse. That wasn''t the first time he had ended up in a simr spot. Every major decision in the meeting always led up to him. He was the faction leader, so he had to have thest word.


    Khan leaned back in his chair, hiding his mouth behind his full ss. The entire table entered his vision, showcasing his inner circle. Monica, his Cousins, and his Aunt were also there, but no one had anything to say about the matter. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I''ll act as mediator," Khan stated. "The nobles will get what they want, but I''ll make sure the family in question benefits from that."


    "You''ll risk insulting the nobles," Prince Thomas pointed out. "Your interference favoring a lower family would say you are on their side."


    "I am on their side," Khan dered. "Those promising descendants are no different from me from a few years ago. Did you forget my history, Uncle?"


    "They aren''t like you, Nephew," Prince Thomas said. "They will never be. Bing part of a noble family is the best opportunity they can receive."


    Prince Thomas was more than right, and Khan knew that very well. No one could match Khan''s power and growth, and even those wouldn''t be enough in normal circumstances. Khan would have always remained under the noble if Alexander never acknowledged his birthright.


    However, Khan didn''t want his tournament to transform into a feast for the nobles. He hadpromised himself enough to get where he was, and doing it again now that he had power would betray all his struggles.


    "The descendants will have the chance to decide without repercussions," Khan announced. "We''ll make this part of the tournament''s core advertising."


    "And what would be the incentive for the nobles'' participation?" Prince Thomas wondered. "Mere entertainment?"


    "Our family won''t try to im any descendant," Khan exined. "They won''t have homepetition."


    "That could work," Princess Reba said.


    "That would be unwise," Prince Thomas stated. "Priority over the descendants can be our second-most valuable asset."


    "That''s why we''ll give it up," Khan uttered. "The tournament will be a gift for lower and upper families. Our fame will pay the bills."


    "And what happens if, after enough tournaments, the other noble families outss us?" Prince Thomas asked.


    "That would mean outssing me," Khan dered, "Which isn''t possible."


    Silence fell in the small room. Many liked Khan''s straightforward honesty, and even those who disliked it had to acknowledge its truthfulness. The tournament''s consequences were unclear, but Khan''s future wasn''t. He was bound to get even stronger.


    "Charity," Prince Thomas sighed. "Very well. We can bnce out the losses with faction and interspecies relevance."


    "Were are we with the Ef''i?" Prince Desmond asked.


    "They''ll send an Embassy," Khan revealed. "It''s more of an outpost, but I expect their presence here to expand in theing years."


    "Are you sure of that?" Prince William questioned. "Baoway doesn''t offer them logistical advantages."


    "Is your rtionship with the Ef''i that good, Nephew?" Princess Reba asked, doubtful but surprised.


    "No," Khan admitted. He had fun on Onia, and the Ef''i respected him, but he had been too young back then. His interactions had been limited to the new generations and had never tried to have political relevance.


    Yet, Prince William was wrong. Baoway had one logistical advantage, or rather, a point of interest that could make the Ef''i ce an outpost in such a distant location.


    "They''lle for the Thilku Empire," Khan exined. "The Thilku Embassy will justify the Ef''i Embassy."


    The people at the table could only nod. Khan alone wasn''t enough of a pull, but the Empire was famous and respected in the universe. Many species would jump at the chance of establishing rtionships with it.


    "Is the Empire okay with sending an Embassy?" Prince William felt forced to ask. "Won''t it be superfluous with the Harbor so close?"


    The matter was actually more problematic than that. First, the Empire didn''t have the manpower to waste, so having two buildings with the same purpose so close to each other wasn''t exactly optimal.


    Moreover, establishing an Embassy on Baoway would diminish the Harbor''s prestige. Building the new one in the name of the Blue Shaman would be even worse since it would depict Khan''s organization as a separate force.


    Yet, Khan''s options were limited. He didn''t want to hurt the Harbor since part of him still considered it his home. That ce had greatly helped him in many ways, but something had to be sacrificed. The best Khan could do was achieve a decentpromise.


    "Baoway already is the center of many deals with the Empire," Khan announced. "The Harbor will eventually fall in our shadow, making the Embassy there pointless."


    "Your solution?" Prince William asked.


    "There''s no solution," Khan revealed. "I''ll wee any asset from the Harbor here, and the tournaments will improve its prestige. Still, we can''t stop ourselves from bing the middle point between Empire and Global Army."


    No one objected to that point. Monica knew better than anyone else how Khan felt about the matter. She actually shared most of his feelings. Yet, she also remained silent. That sacrifice was necessary and unavoidable since the Empire was Khan''s greatest shield.


    "This is settled, then," Princess Reba eventually eximed. "Do you want us to handle the arena''s stands?"


    "You deal with that issue," Khan immediately agreed. "You know the nobles'' rtionships with each other better than me anyway."


    "Though," Prince Felicia said, "Is it wise to cut out the other factions? They will resent the missed opportunity to show themselves publicly."


    "The other factions are more likely to interfere than to y along," Khan exined, "At least right now. The tournament will have to show its value first. Everyone will follow its rules afterward."


    Khan was already thinking years ahead, which was unavoidable with such a massive project. Reaping the tournament''s benefits might take decades, but Khan didn''t have quicker ways to pursue his goals. He had joined a different environment, and months couldn''t be enough to defeat its yers.


    "You deal with the rewards, too," Khan continued. "Decide what''s more valuable and divide it ordingly. Also, let the others on the in on the arena''s businesses. Mark Bonnelli, Luke Cobsend, and Lucian Hencus are good candidates."


    Khan stood up, and the others at the table imitated him out of respect. The gesture seemed to adjourn the meeting, but Khan had something else to say.


    "And bring Pandora here," Khan ordered. "We can''t keep sending every visitor to the brothels."


    "Lord Vegner is ever grateful," Monica joked.


    "Yeah, well," Khan sighed. "We have malls and other businesses from all the noble families. We need Pandora and other locations with my name on them."


    Khan left the table, approaching the room''s exit. However, a thought popped into his mind, and the situation was ripe enough to voice it.


    "I''ll finish things with the Embassies," Khan announced, "Before going into istion. I need uninterrupted training."


    "Nephew, most of this is founded on your name and face," Prince Thomas exined. "Your presence is highly beneficial."


    "My presence has value only as long as I remain the best," Khan stated. "I can''t be like the other political leaders."


    "We can manage," Princess Reba reassured, "But what happens if your presence bes mandatory? Many nobles want to hear things from you since your words carry the weight of the faction."


    "Tell my Grandfather that his holiday is over," Khan eximed. "He has to get here and work like everyone else."

 Chapter 842 Arrivals

    Chapter 842 Arrivals


    Humid air invaded Monica''s nostrils, adding a taste of wetness in her mouth. Her bare legs and butt rested on smooth and cold rocks, tainting her skin with their dirt. Soft shivers asionally ran down her back, seemingly requesting a nket or any type of cover from the slightly chilling atmosphere, but her body didn''t move.


    The world in Monica''s vision was dark, but her eyes remained fixed on the sole source of light. A purple-red halo shone in the back of the cave, mere meters from her. Aplicated array of glowing lines fended off the area''s ckness, siphoning mana into the flesh it rested upon.


    Monica knew Khan could sense her gaze, but nothing could make her divert her eyes. Watching him train was her prerogative and privilege, and she wouldn''t refrain from abusing them. It had be one of her favorite hobbies, and she would linger in it whenever her schedule allowed it.


    Monica lost herself in the scene. She was the only person in the world who had seen that training technique, and her marvel never diminished. Khan saw it as a simple evolution of his skills, but Monica knew the truth.


    The array of lines was more than a simple fusion of two alien arts. Khan didn''t only trante a Niqols'' training technique into the Thilkunguage. He had also invented new Thilku runes for that purpose, effectively surpassing two species in one move.


    In many ways, Khan had created a newnguage, something only he could read and make sense of. Those glowing lines only had meaning in his eyes. They came and belonged to his personal world, which no one could ess.


    That was why Monica knew the simple act of being present during Khan''s training sessions was a privilege. She had first-row seats and a monopoly on the embodiment of revolutionary genius. In her eyes, Khan was a bright star, blinding to anyone who tried to watch him but also capable of an addicting light.


    The thought was scary, and Monica had repeatedly fallen prey to that feeling. Yet, she had eventually epted the unavoidable truth. Khan would always get further away. It was his nature, duty, and curse.


    As the closest person to Khan, Monica had noticed many subtle and gradual changes. Khan didn''t look at the world the same way as before. He didn''t talk, move, or live anymore like the wounded man Monica had met on Milia 222.


    Moreover, Monica was also sure Khan hadn''t noticed those changes. He didn''t even transform himself on purpose. Those new traits resulted from his experiences, environment, and growth. The process was another unavoidable result caused by his talent.


    Monica had previously worried about that transformation. Part of her feared she would lose Khan forever if he kept distancing himself from humankind. However, he wasn''t the only one who had changed. Monica had also learned and adapted to her role, developing a duty Khan thought she didn''t realize.


    Hiding things from Khan was impossible, but a woman needed her secrets. Throughout the years, Monica had learned to control her emotions enough to keep her greatest worries at bay. She didn''t do that to trick Khan. She simply didn''t want to add problems to his already heavy mind.


    That was why Monica never told Khan that she knew she was his only connection to humankind. Khan had many human friends and even a family now, but Monica was the main reason he worked so hard to remain inside the Global Army. Monica represented the species he was inevitably abandoning, but he would stay part of it as long as she was at his side.


    Of course, Monica didn''t see her rtionship as a political mission. She was with Khan because she loved him beyond reason. Yet, as his duties evolved, so did hers. The task of keeping the greatest genius in the Global Army''s history loyal to humankind had fallen on her, and she would fulfill it. That was her higher role among all that chaos.


    ''If only I could pluck out my eyes,'' Monica thought, ''And offer them to humankind, everyone would stop opposing you. Everyone would let you lead them into a bright future.''


    "Why are you so worried?" Khan asked, the rune on his torso growing dim as it dispersed into the air.


    "It''s my job to worry," Monica reassured, darkness invading her vision. "You should know that by now."


    An azure light soon arrived, illuminating the cave. Khan''s eyes shone as he stood up and approached Monica. His clothes had disappeared long ago, but some war paint still lingered on his face.


    Monica noticed another change in that short walk. Khan''s moves always exuded grace. His steps were silent, weightless, and almost non-existent. However, immense power brimmed in his legs now, adding a conflicting weight to his lightness.


    "It''s my job to fix that worry," Khan said, crouching toward Monica as she weed him in her arms.


    "Dear," Monica giggled, caressing Khan''s face. "You can do many things. This isn''t one of them."


    "What would you have me do then?" Khan teased, matching Monica''s movements as shey down.


    "You must resume training soon," Monica revealed, "And I''ll also have to leave to get my infusion. These are ourst free moments together."


    "Are you sure you don''t want me with you during the infusion?" Khan asked. The two had already discussed that, but Monica was a wall. She wouldn''t let her problems get in the way of his training.


    "I''ll be fine," Monica reassured. "The supplement will make it as smooth as possible. By the time the tournament starts, I''ll be a fourth-level warrior."


    "So," Khan muttered.


    "So," Monica continued, her hands slipping behind Khan''s neck to pull him down. "Now we enjoy these hours and make the outside world disappear."


    .


    .


    .


    Khan would have preferred the tournament to happen at the end of the year. It would have been perfect to hold such a big and recurring event during that meaningful date. However, organizing everything while upholding meaningful standards turned out to take longer than a couple of months.


    Nevertheless, everything proceeded smoothly. Weekly updates reached Khan''s cave while he was immersed in his isted training, reassuring him about the event''s progress. Even his Grandfather was finally flying to Baoway, so things were bound to improve.


    Still, as much as Khan wanted to delegate most issues to his allies, he had to handle a few matters personally. His goals and position made that necessary, so he left his cave when the awaited update arrived.


    Usually, a political meeting required the right level of decorum. Yet, rules didn''t apply to Khan, especially on his, so he donned his red cape, crown, and pelts before setting off toward one of the quadrant''snding areas.


    The quadrant had changed in those months. The vast encampment wasn''t the main attraction anymore. Two huge buildings had grown in nearby areas, with one still in construction.


    Khan flew toward the still-iplete arena, inspecting its immensity from the sky. The ce was oval, featuring multiple towers alongside its perimeter. It was also many stories tall, and each floor featured hundreds of rooms and other spaces.


    Hordes of workers attended to the iplete building, relying on big vehicles to deliver the heavy equipment. Metal pirs, kilometers-long wires, mana containers, and more reached the arena every day, gradually preparing it for its opening.


    It felt a bit odd to realize the new position. Khan had gone from being a mere contender to nning what he hoped would be the greatest tournament in humankind''s history. That change was another statement of his growth, but he wanted more.


    Khan didn''t care about the improved public opinion. He knew bing indispensable for the Global Army was necessary, but his interests barely touched those topics.


    However, the idea of benefiting lower families ted Khan. He could make sure no one else had his kind of life. He could remove the hurdles that afflicted the poor and uninfluential soldiers, giving them a stage where they could shine and earn their deserved spot in society.


    ''I might actually make good changes,'' Khan realized.


    The good feeling caused by the realization was short-lived. All those positive changes wouldn''t amount to anything if Khan couldn''t deal with the scarlet eyes'' threat. Chances were some of the prominent descendants in his tournament would end up fighting that war with him, almost making him consider whether he was using the event for his goals.


    ''I changed, didn''t I?'' Khan epted. ''Did Ipromise myself? Was this what I was always supposed to be?''


    Khan quickly dismissed those thoughts and flew toward the other new building. Obtaining a Thilku Embassy had been rtively easy due to his excellent rtionship with the Empire. The Thilku themselves were also shifting focus from the Harbor to Baoway, and the former couldn''t remain silent.


    A human ship hadnded before the Thilku Embassy. The ride''s engines had lifted clouds of dust from the barren ground, but everything eventually settled, revealing the two sides facing each other.


    One side had a series of Thilku soldiers appointed to protect the Embassy. The building also had other workers, including proper representatives who couldmunicate directly with the Lords.


    Meanwhile, the other side had a series of human political figures, one of whom wore a Thilku cape. Mister Cirvags hadnded on Baoway but didn''t dare move until he received proper authorization. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Another human donning the Thilku cape suddenlynded between the two groups. Khan faced the humans, uncaring of his bare chest and generally dirty appearance. The political figures didn''t notice it, either, since his presence was oddly suffocating.


    "Wee to the new Embassy," Khan announced, looking straight at Mister Cirvags. "From now on, our rtionship with the Empire will be more direct. I made sure of it."

 Chapter 843 Arrivals 2

    Chapter 843 Arrivals 2


    Mister Cirvags didn''t like the implications of Khan''s statement. He wasn''t even trying to hide his gradual umtion of power. Baoway was bing the new focal location for interspecies politics, and Khan brazenly advertised it as that.


    Mister Cirvags didn''t mind the arrogance and audacity but had issues with that development. He was a man deeply loyal to his species, and Khan was seizing all the relevance for himself, stealing it from humankind. Khan was hijacking the mutual respect developed throughout years of deals and treaties.


    The act wasn''t only insulting. Mister Cirvags was aware of the many potential dangers connected to the matter. Khan wielded too much power now, theoretically enabling him to seize even more of it. Humankind''s future could be grim if he decided to walk down that path.


    Of course, only Mister Cirvags could linger on those worries. Hispanions shared them, but theck of red capes on their shoulders prevented them from arguing the issue. Khan and Mister Cirvags were on a superior level in that political environment.


    Moreover, something about Khan suppressed any desire to argue. His presence was heavy and unmistakable. The soldiers could find him even with their eyes closed. Clearly, they stood before a being they didn''t understand, adding fuel to the rumors they had read on thework.


    Mister Cirvags noticed that difference, too, but opted for silence. He was a guest, and his visit was purely political. He was serving a higher purpose and would put aside his worries and pride to see it fulfilled.


    "This way," Khan announced, walking toward the Thilku group, which opened at his passage and transformed into an escort.


    Mister Cirvags'' group followed the Thilku inside, immediately noticing traces of alien architecture. The building''s ck walls carried the Empire''s iconic red runes, marking a clear difference from the Harbor''s Embassy. That was no ce for humans.


    In a way, the alien architecture vouched for the ce''s relevance and efficiency. That was a Thilku Embassy, which the interspecies regtions recognized as part of the Empire''s domain. The fact that humans were allowed to work inside put it one step above the Harbor since it created a direct line ofmunication with that species.


    The environment managed to please even the stern Mister Cirvags, but he couldn''t fully appreciate the improvement due to its connection to Khan. He was making himself necessary for the rtionship with the Empire, forcing a big chunk of the Global Army to do his bidding.


    The Thilku led the humans through the building, relying on circr elevators to reach its upper floors. Soon, the group reached a massive office featuring a vast balcony. The area was equipped with the Global Army''s azure menus, multiple interactive desks, and other necessary equipment, creating the perfect workce for those political figures.


    "Themunication channel with the Harbor is already active," Khan exined, nodding at the Thilku as they left the office. "The equipment also has the same clearance as the Harbor''s Embassy, but let me know if something is missing. I''ll have it delivered in no time."


    The soldiers started roaming through the office, exploring its functions. The wall''s menus were responsive andplete, the consoles already had the necessary software, and the Harbor was only one click away. No one could utterints.


    "What about security?" Mister Cirvags asked. He was the only one who didn''t move, and his head performed a nod to send his soldiers onto the balcony to create some privacy.


    "The Empire can''t ess our records," Khan revealed, understanding Mister Cirvags'' concerns, "Unless critical situations happen."


    "Which are?" Mister Cirvags questioned.


    "The same depicted in the current interspecies agreements," Khan stated. "Everything is the same as the Harbor. We are simply inside the Empire now."


    Mister Cirvags waited for all the soldiers to enter the balcony before facing Khan and addressing his concerns. "You are forcing many hands. I hope there isn''t anything bigger at y."


    "The Global Army forced my hand," Khan rified.


    "Prince Khan," Mister Cirvags continued. "Is your loyalty still in the right ce?"


    Khan couldn''t help but stare at Mister Cirvags. Truth be told, Khan had never been loyal to humankind, and thetest crises had only worsened his rtionship with it. Yet, that didn''t necessarily mean he was willing to harm it.


    "Don''t bore me with your concerns," Khan announced. "I gave you the best Embassy the world has to offer. Humankind and Empire have never been closer."


    "As long as the [Blue Shaman] allows it," Mister Cirvags stated, relying on the Thilkunguage to convey a silent message.


    Khan understood the silent usation but didn''t reply. Mister Cirvags was right. All those benefits existed because Khan had earned them. The Empire trusted him enough to act as the middleman between the two species.


    "I''ve donned this cape far longer than you," Mister Cirvags continued. "I heard the rumors spoken by the Thilku. Their talks about the [Blue Shaman] are louder than anything rted to the Global Army."


    The revtion didn''t surprise Khan. He knew the Thilku enough to guess his fame inside the Empire had skyrocketed. Moreover, he was aware Mister Cirvags had his way of obtaining information. His cape wasn''t for show.


    "They''ll get louder," Khan promised.


    "What then?" Mister Cirvags questioned. "What is the [Blue Shaman]''s n for humankind?"


    Khan stepped forward, reaching Mister Cirvags to stare him deep in the eyes. Both men''s gazes seemed bored, but their auras'' weightpensated for that.


    "Disappointing," Khanmented before heading for the office''s exit.


    "I thought you would have treated the Harbor better," Mister Cirvags uttered, his words managing to interrupt Khan''s departure. "After everything it has given you, you still rob it of the Embassy."


    "The Harbor will retain part of its political relevance," Khan announced without turning. "The nobles will also start investing in it, improving its overall status. The Headmistress'' glory days are ahead of her."


    The exnation partially reassured Mister Cirvags. It seemed Khan didn''t steal relevance from the Harbor without giving anything back. His heart still had room for affection.


    "Major Khan," Mister Cirvags called, and Khan couldn''t help but turn when hearing that different title.


    "Good job with the Empire," Mister Cirvags praised, his eyes finally browsing the office. "This is the farthest humankind has ever gotten, so good job."


    The genuinepliment took Khan by surprise, but he didn''t let it affect his expression. Still, the event reinforced his good impression of Mister Cirvags. The man simply happened to be in an ufortable position.


    Khan began to turn, nning to leave, but a thought suddenly popped into his mind. Mister Cirvags'' experience and expertise were valuable assets. His loyalty was his only limit.


    "One day," Khan said, "The barriers among species will crumble. Global Army, Empire, Fuveall, Ef''i. Those names won''t matter anymore. Don''t let it freeze you."


    Mister Cirvags didn''t understand what Khan was talking about. He pondered about it for a while, but no answers arrived.


    "What do you know?" Mister Cirvags eventually questioned.


    "Enjoy your stay," Khan said. "Someone will show you to your quarterster."


    After that statement, Khan left the office and made his way outside. He helped build that Embassy, so finding the exit wasn''t a problem. He could reach it even with his heavy mind.


    ''I shouldn''t talk about the scarlet eyes,'' Khan scolded himself. ''I shouldn''t even hint at them, not now. No one would believe me anyway.''


    Khan was amassing power to protect himself, but that higher goal always lingered in the back of his mind. One day, he would have to face an enemy capable of pushing the Nak into a genocidal frenzy, and something told him a single species wouldn''t be enough to fend it off.


    Worries aside, life on Baoway continued peacefully. Mister Cirvags'' team fully established itself on the, and the Thilku Embassy becamepletely operative in a few weeks.


    Meanwhile, the tournament preparations continued, but certain events still forced Khan out of his secluded training. The arrivals weren''t over, and one required Khan''s presence.


    A big, triangr, green ship pierced Baoway''s atmosphere and descended toward the''s main quadrant. It ignored the city and headed past the Thilku Embassy, stopping when it reached a vast, empty area intended for its unloading.


    The ship was odd in many ways. Its color separated it from both Global Army and Empire''s style, but other features enhanced that difference. Spikes grew on the vehicle''s tip and upper hull, seemingly acting as a defensiveyer against direct shes.


    The vehicle turned, pointing its engines to the ground while slowly descending. Thending lifted massive clouds of dust, and the following events worsened the issue. The ship''s surfaces began to shift and spin, transforming the ride into a rectangr building.


    Khan marched through the dust. His eyes were closed, but his steps remained firm. He never lost his sense of direction, and his legs eventually brought him before the building. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan opened his eyes, noticing nostalgic details. The building had gained narrow windows, and the spikes had moved in different areas to cover every surface. It had been years since he had seen something simr, and more memories surfaced when a passage opened at the structure''s bottom.


    Multiple figures crossed the passage, stepping on Baoway''s soil. Khan spotted pale-brown skin tainted by asional yellow patches, sets of four stretched eyes, pointy ears, long heads, sharp tails, and ck ws. That appearance was unmistakable. The Ef''i had finallynded in his domain.

 Chapter 844 Spar

    844 Spar


    The Ef''i formed an orderly group before the building''s entrance, and Khan approached them, nning to greet their leader. He could sense a fifth-level warrior among them, so his legs headed for her. Yet, his eyes suddenly spotted familiar features.


    "[Mezmac]?" Khan called, looking past the first row of aliens to focus on a female Ef''i in the back.


    The alien stepped forward, crossing herpanions to reach Khan. She stretched her hand, keeping her ck ws at bay, and Khan didn''t hesitate to shake it.


    "[You remember me]," Mezmac announced, using hernguage since Khan had done the same. "[I''m d we could meet again, Prince Khan]."


    Mezmac had been Khan''sst opponent in Onia''s tournament. The two hadn''t seen each other in years, inevitably changing. Mezmac had be a fourth-level warrior, albeit seemingly recently. Still, Khan''s transformation was far more evident.


    The Ef''i were a heavily battle-oriented species. They worshipped strength and never refrained from testing themselves. Their mindset was simple and straightforward, leading to great results in that specific field.


    Nevertheless, no one challenged Khan to a friendly spar. That would usually be the norm, especially in Khan''s experience. His fame would even push the Ef''i to test him out. Yet, no one mentioned the topic.


    The matter involved the Ef''i''s heightened survival instincts. Their minds existed for battle, so they obviously developed a certain sharpness in those fields. They also had plenty of experience, leading to a clear conclusion. Khan couldn''t be beaten.


    The conclusion wasn''t rational. It was rooted in a mere first impression, but no Ef''i questioned it. Khan''s savage appearance matched his imposing and dangerous aura. The aliens felt they were in the presence of an otherworldly beast capable of eating them alive on the spot.


    Khan ignored that reaction and watched Mezmac retreat to make room for her leader. The fifth-level warrior approached Khan, shaking his hand before voicing basic pleasantries.


    "Prince Khan," The alien said in a perfect human ent. "I''m Tlexicpalli, the chosen Ambassador for this mission. It''s a pleasure to meet you."


    "The pleasure is mine," Khan responded. "Thank you for agreeing to my proposal."


    "We found it quitepelling," Tlexicpalli admitted. "Do you mind attending to it now?"


    Khan knew what the alien wanted. It perfectly aligned with her species'' creed, and refusing her request never crossed Khan''s mind. He had actually expected it, and thending''s location reflected that.


    "[Follow me]," Khan ordered, switching to the Ef''i''snguage.


    The group followed Khan through the barren ground, heading toward an unmistakablendmark. The Thilku Embassy was only a few kilometers away, so the Ef''i could use the walk to get used to Baoway''s environment.


    The quadrant didn''t vouch for Baoway''s peaceful sceneries, but the Ef''i could spot forests and more in the distance, hinting at highly livable environments. The aliens even noticed differences from Onia''s sandy and barren ground. Baoway clearlycked Onia''s harsh conditions.


    The march didn''tst long, and reaching the Embassy revealed a series of tall figures waiting for the neers. Many Thilku hade out to inspect the building''snding and wee the Ef''i, but tension inevitably invaded the air as the two groups grew closer.


    The Thilku and Ef''i didn''t have a bad rtionship. Their domains were too distant to engage in battle, and theirmon friend created a vague alliance. Yet, the current tension had nothing to do with politics.


    The Ef''i were a battle race that worshipped strength. Meanwhile, the Thilku took pride in their supremacy over other species. The two shared some features, but having them in the same environment led to a fundamental conflict.


    The Thilku couldn''t ept that another species could attempt to im superiority over them, and the Ef''i wanted to test their new neighbors'' strength. Sparks seemed to crackle in the air as the two groups inspected each other, forcing Khan to take control of the situation.


    "Enough," Khan eximed, using the humannguage to make both groups understand him. "Fight now so we can move on. I''ll be the mediator."


    The announcement pleased both groups, but the Ef''i were the first to move. Mezmac stepped forward, entering the empty area between the two species to state her intentions.


    "I''m Mezmac!" The alien shouted. "Give me a good battle!"


    The Thilku didn''t like Mezmac''s words. She seemed to imply that the Thilku could fail to satisfy her thirst for battle, which was uneptable. Short cries that resembled snorts immediately resounded among the Thilku before a fellow fourth-level warrior stepped forward to meet the Ef''i on the barren battlefield.


    Khan also left the Ef''i''s group to reach a middle point between the two sides. Meanwhile, the Thilku performed a traditional bow with his cape, which Mezmac met with a smile.


    "Begin!" Khan eventually shouted, and the two warriors promptly jumped at each other.


    The two fighters couldn''t look more different. Mezmac was rtively short and slim. Her muscles were sturdy and firm, but her figure remained lean and harmonious.


    Meanwhile, the Thilku was tall and huge. His arms'' muscles seemed on the verge of bursting out, and his praiseworthy speed intensified the danger posed by his size.


    Nevertheless, Mezmac was faster. She dodged to her right when the Thilku charged ahead, running circles around him and swiftly finding his back. Her tail promptly cracked, mming on the cape.


    The impact threatened to send the Thilku flying away, but thetter relied on his weight to remain on the ground. His feet slid over the barren soil for a few meters, but he promptly turned to wave his huge hand.


    Mezmac was outside the hand''s reach, but mana escaped those six fingers, creating tongues of red fire that shot forward. The mes expanded and fused, giving birth to an advancing wall that threatened to engulf Mezmac, but thetter snapped her fingers, digging holes into the enemy spell.


    The Ef''i jumped through the fiery wall, enduring its weakened power to charge at the Thilku. Thetter didn''t expect that sudden response, and Mezmac''s speed made her sprint unavoidable. The Thilku could only cross his arms before his chest, but Mezmac''s punch slipped under them, hitting the center of his torso.


    To the Thilku''s surprise, the punch pierced his thick abs, sending shockwaves to his insides. Mezmac''s attack had been oddly heavy, something the Thilku couldn''t expect from someone far shorter and leaner than him.


    The Thilku audience also felt surprised, but Khan remained impassible. Biologically speaking, the Ef''i were superior. Their smaller size didn''t speak for their physical strength since their tinier muscles were firmer and denser. Their skin was also tougher, and their living conditions further deepened that quality.


    Moreover, the Ef''i had sharp ws on their hands and legs, and their tails were more dangerous than both. Their additional limb and agility provided a stark advantage in a one-on-one battle.


    Mezmac didn''t stop her offensive after her punchnded. Her tail promptly rose, cracking in the air to send a sharp mana bullet toward the Thilku''s chest. The attack was unavoidable at that distance, but the Thilku showed his pride in that instance.


    The Thilku bent to his left, letting the bullet hit his shoulder. The spell dug through his flesh, creating a gory hole, but the injury didn''t affect the alien''s following movements.


    Mezmac felt an unstoppable force closing around her left wrist. The Thilku had grabbed the arm on his abs during the dodge, trapping the Ef''i in his unbreakable grasp.


    The Ef''i tried to crack her tail again, but her whole world suddenly turned upside down. The Thilku lifted her from her arm, pulling her above his head before forcefully mming her on the ground.


    The impact on the barren ground created a deep hole that lifted a lot of dust. Still, red mes illuminated the scene, burning everything inside the cavity and the surface around it.


    The dust quickly settled, revealing the Thilku standing before a vast charred spot. The ground cracked, and the same went for the hole''s insides. Yet, nobody could be found at its bottom.


    The scene didn''t surprise the Thilku. He turned, bringing his bleeding hand to his grinning mouth. He had lost three of his six fingers, but the injury didn''t affect his battle drive at all. He only smiled as he looked at his opponent.


    Mezmac had escaped the deadly spell but not unscathed. Her pale-brown skin had grown darker, featuring multiple fuming burns. Live flesh also littered her body, showcasing her poor condition.


    Both warriors had suffered injuries during thest exchange, but neither lost their desire to fight. They actually umted mana, wearing battle stances to prepare for their next attacks.


    The Thilku joined his palms before spreading his arms, giving birth to a series of ming spheres that hovered before him. Those mes slowly flew toward his sides, surrounding him while waiting for additional orders.


    Meanwhile, Mezmac stretched her arms and fingers, her ws growing as mana umted on their sharp tips. She also lifted her tail, pointing it at the Thilku. Her toes even dug the terrain, preparing her best sprint.


    Silence reigned for a few seconds before both warriors shot forward. The ming spheres turned into bullets, and Mezmacunched a piercing attack, nning to dig a hole through her opponent. The two seemed engaged in a suicidal charge, and their sh lifted enough dust to hide the oue.


    The dust slowly settled, showing holes, burns, and cracks. The fight between two fourth-level warriors had turned the ground into a mess, but no one could spot bodies there. The two fighters seemed to have disappeared, but the Ef''i and Thilku groups eventually lifted their heads, finding their representatives.


    Khan hovered in the air with his hands full. His left palm held the Thilku by his neck, keeping him still. Meanwhile, his right had seized the Ef''i''s tail, leaving Mezmac hanging from it.


    "No one dies unless I say so," Khan said, his eyes lighting up to add weight to his order.


    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 845 Training grounds

    845 Training grounds


    Both groups couldn''t help but stare at the figures in the sky. The Thilku had grown used to Khan''s unfathomable strength, but the Ef''i had yet to witness his improvements. That sudden sprint told them everything they needed to know. Their initial impression of Khan was spot-on.


    Khan slowly descended to the ground, dropping the two fighters. Mezmac and the Thilku quickly found stable footing and straightened their backs, seemingly ready to resume battle stances. However, the azure light shining on them interrupted that desire. Khan watched them closely, and everyone could hear the silent threat behind his cold face.


    "[Reattach your fingers]," Khan ordered in the Thilkunguage before switching to the Ef''i''s one. "[If your Embassy doesn''t have a medical bay, I''ll provide one]."


    "[The Thilku carry wounds of battle with pride]," The Thilku imed in hisnguage.


    "[Onia''s stars burn hotter]," Mezmac snorted in hernguage.


    Khan could sense a headache trying to form inside his mind. Mezmac and the Thilku had spoken in their respectivenguages, but both warriors seemed to have understood their opponent''s words. That was the price to pay for putting two alpha-dog species on the same. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Did you mishear me?" Khan asked, a hint of a clicking cry resounding at the bottom of his throat. "Were my ents wrong?"


    Khan''s eyes were still bright, and his abruptly heavier presence conveyed his mental state. He had no time to waste in those petty arguments. Moreover, his orders were absolute on his.


    It turned out that the only way to force two alpha dogs to behave was to be an even bigger dog. Khan had also chosen his words well. His ents were perfect, preventing Mezmac and the Thilku fromining any further.


    Khan nodded at the Thilku group before eyeing the severed fingers on the charred ground. Some aliens immediately stepped forward to retrieve them while Khan reunited with the Ef''i. Mezmac walked with him, but he added onest announcement before departing.


    "[Tell Lord Exr that the guests are here]," Khan stated. "[We''ll have a feast once he gets here]."


    Grins broadened among the Thilku, but Khan ignored them as he drew his phone. For now, he had to focus on the Ef''i, which implied a series of mandatory political pleasantries.


    "[They''ll pick us up soon]," Khan revealed once a reply arrived on his phone. "[I''ll show you my main city after dropping Mezmac back to the Embassy]."


    "[I can handle the tour]," Mezmac imed, but a pair of bright eyes promptly shone in her vision. She forced herself to match Khan''s gaze, but Tlexicpalli intervened.


    "[Return to the building]," Tlexicpalli ordered. "[Much must be prepared, and our superiors will want a report of your battle]."


    Tlexicpalli''s order silenced any remainingint, forcing Mezmac to ept her fate. The group continued walking toward the Ef''i''s Embassy, but cars eventually reached it, providing morefortable transportation.


    One jeep headed for the Ef''i''s building while the others rode toward the vast encampment. The trip didn''tst long, and the aliens eventually found themselves at the city''s entrance. The immense sea of tents surprised the Ef''i, but the figures inside them triggered more intense reactions.


    The Thilku were big, but the Scalqa were bigger. Lieutenant Dyester''s training regimen had also turned them into proper soldiers, and their serious and orderly stances vouched for their preparation. That army seemed ready for war, and the Ef''i couldn''t help but feel excited watching it.


    Anyone could see that the Ef''i wanted to test the Scalqa''s strength, but no one got the chance to request a friendly spar. Khan''s eyes had grown dark, but his cold gaze didn''t lose any power. He red at any Ef''i about to utter questions, stopping them before they could gain any voice.


    Khan''s behavior enforced a silent march, which still entertained the Ef''i. The city contained a mixture of different architectures and species, something the aliens found interesting. Khan had definitely achieved something praiseworthy on Baoway, and the Ef''i had only seen a tiny part of the.


    "[I have suitable training areas ready for you]," Khan revealed once the city''s main building''s gates drew close. "[As for the fights among species, you must ask my permission first. I''ll grant as many as possible]."


    The Ef''i understood that Khan wanted to get the political part over with first and didn''tin. However, Tlexicpalli elerated, reaching Khan''s side and matching his walking speed to make a more private request.


    "[Prince Khan]," Tlexicpalli called, resolve brimming in her aura. "[I know you must be busy, but ¡­]."


    "[You can spar with me]," Khan stated before adding a word. "[Once]."


    "[I''ll look forward to it]," Tlexicpalli thanked.


    The Ef''i behind the two couldn''t help but feel excited. Their leader had mustered the courage to challenge Khan, and the battle was bound to be a fantastic spectacle. Many had grown curious about Khan''s prowess after his previous sprint, and Tlexicpalli was the only one among them who could bring out more of his power.


    Rows of human soldiers weed the group inside the building, but Khan dismissed any escort while leading the aliens inside. For now, he avoided theplete tour and went directly to one of the structure''s control rooms, where an interactive table and his inner circle were already waiting for him.


    "[Tlexicpalli, friends]," Khan called before nodding at his allies. "[These are Prince Thomas, my Uncle, Princess Reba, my Aunt, Master Carl, my former Master, and Monica Solodrey, my fianc¨¦e]."


    Except for Lieutenant Dyester, the human group performed polite bows. Still, Tlexicpalli advanced toward the inner circle, shaking its hands. That was part of the Ef''i''s customs, so Prince Thomas and the othersplied.


    Still, no one missed how the handshake with Monicasted longer. Tlexicpalli seemed to take an interest in her, but that feeling only existed due to her rtionship with Khan.


    "[She looks like a suitable partner]," Tlexicpalli announced after the round of handshakes.


    "[She is]," Khan confirmed.


    "[We must spar with her, too, then]," Tlexicpalli requested. "[As well as with your Master and troops]."


    "[We can discuss all of this during tonight''s dinner]," Khan said, approaching the interactive table. "[Now]."


    The table was already online, and Khan only needed to press a fewbels to create a hologram of the entire. More tinkering added different lights and descriptions to the picture, summarizing Baoway''s domains, activities, and opportunities.


    "[The has tight trade agreements with the Empire]," Khan exined, "[But new trading routes can be opened if needed. Of course, the Global Army is open for business, too]."


    Khan tapped on the desk again, bringing up a list of avable resources. He had sorted them out personally, highlighting what he thought the Ef''i could desire. However, no interest appeared in Tlexicpalli''s aura.


    "[We appreciate the offer]," Tlexicpalli eximed, "[But Onia already provides us with what we need. The Global Army covers our other interests already]."


    Unlike the Thilku, Khan didn''t have any leverage over the Ef''i. Thetter didn''t even care about altering the status quo. They were satisfied with their current situation, and Khan couldn''t force them to change everything to prioritize deals with him.


    The issue didn''t only involve resources. Baoway wasn''t a suitable dock and destination for eventual trade agreements. The teleports couldpensate for the distance from the Ef''i''s domain, but that n wasn''t worth the hassle.


    "[However]," Tlexicpalli continued, "[We heard about something that might interest us. You even mentioned it in your messages]."


    Khan was not surprised by Tlexicpalli''s words. He had expected her to bring up the topic. He had mentioned that point on purpose, too, and his hunch turned out to be correct.


    Khan stretched his hand past the interactive table, and Lieutenant Dyester put something inside it. Khan then retracted his arm, lifting a sk in Tlexicpalli''s four eyes. The holograms'' light shone on the item, revealing the clear green liquid inside.


    "[Is this it]?" Tlexicpalli asked, carefully seizing the sk to study it closer.


    Khan didn''t answer but tapped on the interactive desk again. He had to navigate a few menus, but the right file eventually popped out. Data about the supplement''s effects and other tests filled the holograms, exining anything Tlexicpalli could ever ask.


    Tlexicpalli looked at the holograms before focusing on the sk again. Her mana showed clear interest now, but some confusion lingered inside her. She was no scientist, so she couldn''t understand much from inspecting a seemingly harmless liquid and a series of graphs.


    "[I can forward this to your building right away]," Khan said. "[You can bring that with you, too]."


    "[Are you sure of its properties]?" Tlexicpalli questioned. "[Can this tiny thing truly make the Ef''i stronger]?"


    As a battle race, the Ef''i only cared about making their species stronger. They alsocked interest in technological advantages and firearms, mostly focusing on improving their bodies, martial arts, spells, and training regimens. Khan could provide that with the supplement, but his offer had something else.


    "[Once your scientists get back at you]," Khan eximed, "[Confirming that what I''m saying is true, we can talk business]."


    "[What can you add]?" Tlexicpalli asked, intrigued.


    "[I can build entire training grounds with the same properties as the item you are holding]," Khan dered.

 Chapter 846 See

    846 See


    The Ef''icked the Thilku''s heavy and limiting pride. They only cared about their battle prowess and how to improve it. It didn''t matter if the opportunity didn''te from their or species. As long as a path toward power existed, they would walk it.


    Khan wasn''t only offering the Ef''i the incredible supplement. He was also promising better training grounds. Topping Onia''s harsh environments wouldn''t be easy, but Khan''s power gave weight to his words, forcing Tlexicpalli to believe him.


    Tlexicpalli fell silent. Truth be told, the Ef''i could settle the matter in a few weeks. Their scientists could study the supplement inside the Embassy on Baoway, and Khan''s teleports could send that resource to Onia afterward.


    Once the supplement''s efficiency was confirmed, the Ef''i could send young, promising warriors to Baoway through the same teleports. The first batch would test Khan''s training grounds, and the Ef''i could bring more troops if the trip proved itself worthwhile. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan noticed Tlexicpalli''s interest and didn''t question it for one second. He had been in the same situation years ago. The Global Army had sent promising soldiers to Nitis before choosing a few representatives for its academy. The training in [The Pure Trees] had been highly beneficial, and Khan was offering a simr treatment now.


    "[Have these training grounds been tested]?" Tlexicpalli felt forced to ask since Khan had mentioned "building" them.


    "[I have one in my quarters]," Khan exined, "[For personal use only]."


    Khan used himself to vouch for the training grounds, but Tlexicpalli seized that change to fulfill her desire. The political aspect seemed over, so nothing could stop her from obtaining what she wanted.


    "[In that case]," Tlexicpalli announced, "[Can I test its results]?"


    Khan felt the urge to roll his eyes. The Ef''i truly had nothing but battles in mind. Still, he would eventually get that matter over with, and the request gave him the chance to test something.


    "[Give me two hours]," Khan responded. "[I''ll have everything ready by then]."


    "[Excellent]," Tlexicpalli eximed.


    The Ef''inguage was more popr overall than the Thilku''s, but not in that context. Monica had started to learn it since she knew about their arrival, but her preparation didn''t allow her to understand the conversation fully. The same went for Prince Thomas and Princess Reba. As for Lieutenant Dyester, he didn''t get a single word.


    Still, Khan''s following orders broadly exined the development. "Contact Gordon. Have him get the arena ready for a test run. Meanwhile, entertain our guests."


    Monica''s elegant smile didn''t waver, but Khan sensed the re hidden behind it. Yet, he ignored it, promptly departing from the control room to head outside.


    Khan reached the nearest balcony and set off, flying toward the iplete arena. Soon, messy scenes unfolded in his vision, and heated arguments reached his ears as he descended toward them.


    One familiar figure stood before a crowd of angry workers. Gordon heard everyint, but his stern expression remained unmovable. He had received an order and would do everything he could to fulfill it.


    "What''s the holdup?" Khan asked when he got close enough to the crowd.


    Every eye on the scene shot up, following Khan''s gracefulnding at Gordon''s side. His arrival silenced theints, but Gordon made sure to summarize them.


    "It seems the arena isn''t ready for a test run, My Prince," Gordon exined, bowing his head in respect. "The crews are unanimous in requesting another month before any battle."


    Three figures among the workers muster the courage to look up, meeting Khan''s cold gaze. The experience sent chills down their spines, but the idea of remaining silent before Khan''s straightforward question sounded terrifying.


    "The arena is iplete, My Prince," One of the figures revealed. "A battle might destabilize and destroy entire sections, wasting weeks of work."


    Khan was no expert in construction, so he had to believe the worker''s evaluation. Those weren''t even random crews. His family had hired them, which vouched for their expertise. Nevertheless, he had promised a battle, and his word had to mean something.


    "Is the mana barrier functional?" Khan questioned.


    "It is," Another figure confirmed. "However, we never tested its shock absorption due to the unstable structures around it."


    "I''ll test it now," Khan dered. "Activate the barrier."


    Khan didn''t wait for a reply and set off again, flying above the arena''s tall stages to dive into the vast barren area at its center. Reinforced tiles were supposed to cover that space, but the workers had yet to get to that part.


    Standing in the middle of the arena feltpletely different from watching it from outside and above. Khan was surrounded by stages as tall as hills, and even taller towers asionally interrupted them. The building could block Baoway''s star far earlier than the sunset, and the battlefield at its center could hold hundreds of warriors.


    ''It''sing out well,'' Khan thought. ''Not that I know much of these things.''


    A trace of childish annoyance surged in Khan''s mind as he recalled some of Monica''s teases. He was genuinely awful with technology, and his only efforts in the field had focused on the ships'' architecture. Still, his level was almost shameful, especiallypared to his genius father.


    ''That old drunk won''t even check the blueprints,'' Khan cursed. ''Maybe I should just go ahead and bring some Fuveall crews here.''


    Khan had pondered this idea for a while, and Ef''i''s arrival reinforced it. Khan could keep Ef''i and Thilku at bay, so the Fuveall shouldn''t be a problem. He even had a special role he wanted them to perform.


    The sudden stench of synthetic mana that reached Khan''s nostrils interrupted his pondering. The event was invisible, but nothing escaped Khan''s vision. He clearly saw a circr, bright wall rising from the stage''s bottom, stretching into the sky to create a half-spherical barrier.


    The barrier wasn''t limited to the sky. Khan lowered his gaze, and his eyes pierced past the barren ground, spotting traces of synthetic mana underneath him. That defensive mechanism was actually spherical, meant to prevent anything from reaching the stages.


    The barrier density also felt sound, but Khan wouldn''t limit that evaluation to his senses. A spear grew in his rxed palm, and his fingers closed once the spell took form. His arm performed a sharp movement, sending the attack upward, making it fly until it touched the synthetic mana.


    Ripples appeared high above Khan as the spear transformed into a scorching pir. The mana barrier trembled as cracks tried to appear in its ethereal fabric. The sky grew blurry as the defensive mechanism became visible to the naked eye, but no holes opened.


    The purple-red pir eventually dispersed, and the mana barrier regained its invisible stability. Khan inspected its fabric before moving his attention to the stages. Nothing seemed broken, and the same went for the iplete parts.


    A call suddenly reached Khan''s phone, which he picked up to hear Gordon''s update. "The arena endured the attack. Everything is stable."


    "My Prince," Gordon continued. "Prince Thomas asks whether he should spread the news through the quadrant."


    "What does the crew say about the stages?" Khan asked.


    "They say they should hold," Gordon exined. "Emphasis on should."


    "Have them overload the mana barrier," Khan said. "I don''t care if it breaks. We''ll just make another one. Just don''t let the stages fall."


    "It will be done, My Prince," Gordon stated, closing the call.


    Khan stored the phone in his pelts before looking at his surroundings. He would prefer to avoid destroying the arena and setting the tournaments back by many months. Yet, Tlexicpalli was a fifth-level warrior, so holding back wasn''t an option.


    ''I wonder,'' Khan thought, sitting on the barren ground and crossing his legs. ''How strong will she be? How strong am I?''


    Khan closed his eyes, meditating to sort out part of the excessive mana inside his body. He was still full from hisst training session inside the cave, and the blue nts couldn''t quicken the absorption past a certain limit. Khan could shorten the process, but his flesh still needed time.


    The world around Khan changed while he meditated. New lights appeared in the symphony past the mana barrier, slowly filling the avable stages. The news of the battle had spread like wildfire, and many parties had hurried to attend to it.


    Eventually, a figure crossed the mana barrier, forcing Khan to open his eyes. Tlexicpalli had entered the arena, donning a brown tracksuit with a hole for her tail. She had also removed her shoes, exposing her wed feet.


    Khan stood up and inspected the stands. Many Ef''i had reached the arena, and Khan wasn''t surprised to spot the bandaged Mezmac among them. A group of Thilku had also arrived, but the humanponent remained predominant.


    Soldiers from different quadrants and businesses had hurried to the arena to watch the battle. Many of them weren''t even on Khan''s payroll. They came from structures belonging to other families, which didn''t hesitate to give the order as soon as they heard the news.


    As for the Scalqa, Khan''s Uncle, Aunt, Cousins, and fianc¨¦e had brought some to the arena. Lieutenant Dyester was among them, probably ready to exin aspects of the battle to the aliens.


    "Prince Khan," Tlexicpalli eventually called, interrupting Khan''s inspection. "Let''s enjoy ourselves."


    Tlexicpalli smiled, lifting her arms and pointing her ws forward, but her legs suddenly kicked the ground, sending her flying away. She helped herself with her tail to stop her momentum andnd, but her four eyes immediately went to her previous position.


    Khan had teleported into Tlexicpalli''s previous position, his eyes looking at the ground. The sudden jump had left two clear marks on the surface, hinting at the strength it had carried. Still, Khan noticed more details from that short exchange.


    "[You can see me]," Khan said, lifting his head and showing his bright eyes.

 Chapter 847 Serious

    847 Serious


    Khan wasn''t only fast. Achievingplete mastery of the Lightning-Demon style had made his attacks untraceable. No one could notice when he began sprinting, meaning that Tlexicpalli had seen himing.


    The level difference could exin that oue, but Khan''s body had several advantages. Moreover, he had steadily trained in the recent period, increasing his attunement with mana. He should have more thanpensated for his lower standing, but Tlexicpalli had reacted to his sprint anyway.


    The urge to smile tried to take control of Khan''s face, but his expression remained cold. Truth be told, he enjoyed those friendly fights, especially against an opponent who could provide a challenge. The opportunities to test his power without needing to kill anyone were also rare, so he felt d Tlexicpalli could push him to his limits.


    On the other hand, Tlexicpalli couldn''t contain her surprise. She had heard about Khan''s strength, and he had even sprinted without giving warnings. Yet, that speed was unnatural. Tlexicpalli had to rely on a reckless jump to dodge him.


    To make things worse, Khan didn''t actually attack. He performed no kick or technique. He had simply sprinted forward as if testing Tlexicpalli''s reactions. His genuine offensive was bound to be more dangerous.


    Many soldiers would be terrified by Khan''s speed, but Tlexicpalli belonged to a warrior race. Her green blood boiled at the idea of facing such a formidable opponent. In her mind, the trip was already worth the hassle.


    "I''m pleased, Prince Khan," Tlexicpalli announced, resuming her fighting stance. "You are the warrior you have promised to be."


    The light radiated by Khan''s eyes slightly intensified. The symphony shone in his vision revealing the countless methods he could employ. Tlexicpalli''s sharp but intense aura interfered with the surrounding mana, but Khan had been in the arena for hours. The world had already submitted to him.


    Nevertheless, raining fire upon Tlexicpalli would only test the mana barrier''s limits. It would also turn the battle into a chaotic scuffle that risked resulting in death.


    ''Let''s see how far I can go,'' Khan thought, his body disappearing.


    Tlexicpalli was ready now. Khan didn''t need to move his legs to sprint ahead, but the Ef''i still saw a faint dot approaching her. As she focused, details appeared in her vision, allowing her to perform a far better dodge.


    Tlexicpalli leaned to her left, dodging the straight kick aimed at her right shoulder. Khan materialized next to her, almost horizontally floating in the air. The two exchanged a nce before something imed Khan''s attention.


    The Ef''i''s tail also reacted to Khan''s attack, rising and pointing its sharp tip at him. Tlexicpalli sent it forward, nning to pierce Khan''s abdomen, but the blow didn''t connect. Khan sprinted again, reappearing on the threatening limb and calmly standing on it.


    Tlexicpalli hurriedly lifted her right arm, blocking the sudden kick aimed at her head. Meanwhile, she swung her left hand on the other side, her ws descending right where Khan had reappeared.


    The ck ws expanded in Khan''s vision, getting closer to his head. Time slowed down in his eyes, allowing him to notice Tlexicpalli''s sneaky tail tilting toward him. She was ready to intercept his next evasive measure, so he opted for an offensive approach.


    Tlexicpalli couldn''t believe her four eyes when Khan grabbed her descending wrist, stopping her stretched ws at mere centimeters from his forehead. She had put real strength in her blow, but Khan had matched it without needing to ce his feet on the ground.


    That oue was unreal. Tlexicpalli could ept that Khan had incredible techniques under his belt, but that was a brutish contest of raw strength. Her blow should have squashed Khan to the ground, but the very opposite happened.


    Khan kept Tlexicpalli''s arm still while shifting his body toward her torso, hiding himself from the sharp tail. At that point, his legs snapped forward, delivering a series of instantaneous kicks. Tlexicpalli used her free hand to block them, but a few slipped past it andnded on her abdomen.


    Tlexicpalli eventually put all her strength into her legs, jumping backward. The pulling force was too much for Khan, forcing him to let go of her wrist. However, he shot forward, nning to continue his offensive.


    Nevertheless, Tlexicpalli mmed her tail into the ground, using it to spin her body. Her wed feet rose, trying to intercept Khan''s sprint, but the gesture didn''t take him by surprise. His figure ricocheted through the air, appearing above the horizontal Ef''i with a descending kick.


    Tlexicpalli was in mid-air, with only her tail connected to the ground. She could dodge and block, but Khan clearly had the upper hand. His attack wouldnd, and the previous kicks told her how heavy it would be.


    Khan put all his weight and power into his descending stomp, but something suddenly changed inside Tlexicpalli. Her mana moved toward her arms and legs, making them blurry. The symphony between himm and the alien shattered, and his survival instincts forced him to bend his ankle, sending him away.


    Khannded on the ground, sliding for a few meters, while Tlexicpalli lifted herself from her tail and calmly restored a standing stance. The two stared at each other, seemingly engaging in a conversation only they could hear, and conclusions quickly arrived.


    Until now, Tlexicpalli had matched Khan''s Lightning-Demon style with her mere body. She had shifted her mana ordingly to boost her physical prowess, but no martial art had been deployed.


    Instead, the previous blurry moves belonged to that realm. Khan had forced Tlexicpalli to unleash her martial art, and his instincts had screamed. She was dangerous, as expected from a fifth-level warrior.


    "Shall we get serious?" Tlexicpalli asked, knowing that Khan would understand what she meant.


    Khan''s expression didn''t change, but Tlexicpalli noticed something. An alien look had appeared on his face as if an otherworldly anger had spread inside him. The air vouched for Khan''s new mindset, growing colder and heavy.


    "[I decide when to get serious]," Khan said, using the Ef''i''snguage.


    Tlexicpalli''s excitement skyrocketed as she watched Khan shooting forward. She had grown used to his speed now, so her arms moved ordingly. Her hands became blurry right before the frontal sh.


    Both warriors flew backward beforending on the ground. Blood fell from Tlexicpalli''s ws, but no injury existed on her body. Instead, three oblique cuts had appeared on Khan''s chest, ruining his bone armor and making it fall from his torso.


    Tlexicpalli lifted her arms, showing her ws as if challenging Khan toe at her again. Still, he didn''t move. His mind reviewed the previous exchange, uncovering invisible details.


    Getting past Khan''s senses was simply impossible now. The technology and techniques to achieve that had yet to be invented. Yet, he couldn''t see Tlexicpalli''s martial art, or rather, he couldn''t study it during the exchange. His brain had recorded it, but everything had happened too quickly for him to develop a countermeasure on the spot.


    Yet, that short break allowed Khan to sort out the recent information. He actually jumped into an exchange he knew he would lose to uncover those secrets.


    "[Your technique elerates your cells]," Khan said, "[Temporarily removing their limits. Incredible]."


    Khan''s praise was genuine. Tlexicpalli''s technique was difficult to pull off and even harsher to control. Temporarily removing the limbs'' limits allowed her to perform attacks above her current level, and her mastery over that hinted at years of training.


    Moreover, Khan knew the strain caused by powerful techniques. Tlexicpalli''s body was incredible, but her inborn gifts couldn''tpensate for her martial art''s power. She had to have a limit, which her expression didn''t show.


    Needless to say, Tlexicpalli was shocked once again. Khan had studied and understood her martial art after two exchanges. Theoretically, he shouldn''t have been able to see her moves, so his on-point exnation came as an even bigger surprise. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "[Prince Khan]," Tlexicpalli called, switching to hernguage, "[Why are you holding back]?"


    The question had more than rumors backing it up. Tlexicpalli could see the cursed knife''s handle sticking past Khan''s pelts. He had far more in store but wasn''t showing it to the alien.


    Khan knew the Ef''i''s mindset. He was testing himself, but the Ef''i could see his behavior as disrespectful. They didn''t care about their pride but wanted their battles to be engaging.


    ''So,'' Khan thought, moving his bright eyes to the stages, ''This is my limit.''


    Khan was fond of the Lightning-Demon style. It had been his first martial art, something that had made him freer than everyone else. Its techniques had made him survive, fly, and more, but his talent had highlighted its limits.


    "[Focus]," Khan ordered, bringing his gaze back to the Ef''i. "[I''m about to attack]."


    Tlexicpalli felt slightly insulted by the warning, but her excitement overcame that feeling. Her mind focused solely on her battle, and her senses sharpened to their utmost limits. She was ready for the imminent attack, but a thudding noise ended up surprising her.


    The noise came from behind Tlexicpalli, making her turn. To her surprise, Khan had appeared behind her, and half of his right leg had stabbed into the ground. Cracks had also spread from the hole, destabilizing the surrounding terrain.

 Chapter 848 Guests

    848 Guests


    Tlexicpalli couldn''t think. Khan''s sudden sprint had silenced her brain, emptying it of thoughts and emotions. She was utterly dumbfounded, and most of the audience shared her reaction.


    Khan calmly lifted his right leg, removing it from the ground to restore his foothold. His graceful moves didn''t erge the cracks, but Tlexicpalli saw that something about him had changed. Khan''s figure still felt weightless, but something dangerous and explosive had joined it.


    ''It''s just better,'' Khan thought, suppressing the urge to sigh.


    The training halls had already confirmed it, but thetest execution had removed any doubts. The Transcendent Step was superior to the Lightning-Demon style in every aspect. Even the mere perfect execution of its foundation form surpassed theplete mastery of his first martial art.


    Of course, Khan didn''t limit his execution to the martial art''s theory. He had added Maban''s technique to the equation, bringing out more of its power. Still, even without the symphony''s help and ording to the training hall''s calctions, the Transcendent Step''s foundation form would remain faster than its predecessor.


    Usually, Khan wouldn''t reveal his real power to the public, especially to an audience that could spread that information to troublesome parties. Yet, thework needed reminders of his strength, and the Ef''i''s arrival had created the perfect opportunity.


    Khan could also see that his action had the intended effects. He lifted his bright eyes to the audience, and shocked faces filled his vision. Monica''s proud and confident smile was the only exception since she knew about Khan''s power-up.


    The situation now only had onest issue. Khan turned, facing Tlexicpalli, and the two fell into another silent conversation. They both knew what Khan''s demonstration implied, but the conclusion remained unclear.


    Tlexicpalli''s brain resumed working but only provided terrifying answers. Khan didn''t take her by surprise now. He had actually warned her about the imminent attack, but she failed to see it anyway.


    Moreover, the power of Khan''s kicks had increased. His attacks already hurt, but thetest sprint had dug into the terrain, shattering the surrounding ground. Tlexicpalli''s skin was tougher than that, but she wasn''t sure whether she woulde out of a direct blow in one piece.


    Of course, battles weren''t so simple, and both Khan and Tlexicpalli had yet to use spells. They also had more techniques in store, which could easily turn the tables in either''s favor. Yet, it was clear their friendly spar had reached a critical point.


    Blood had already been spilled, and things were bound to worsen if Khan and Tlexicpalli began fighting for real. Khan''stest attack also described how deadly the battle would be. One warrior was likely to die.


    An ordinary Ef''i would disregard the threat of death and jump back into the battle. However, Tlexicpalli was an Ambassador. She had to keep her political role in mind, preventing her from acting freely.


    Either dying or killing Khan were bad options for Tlexicpalli. Khan''s prowess had just vouched for Baoway''s training camps, so her species would miss out on an incredible chance by causing a mess. Tlexicpalli had to ignore her desires and consider the big picture, which inevitably led to one conclusion.


    "[You are a great warrior, Prince Khan]," Tlexicpalli announced, dropping her fighting stance. "[I''m d you''ve be even stronger]."


    "[The Ef''i remain true to their name]," Khan matched the praise. "[I couldn''t ask for better allies]."


    Khan took the first step forward, and Tlexicpalli promptly imitated him. The two soon reached each other and shook their hands, respectfully ending the battle.


    The audience obviously wasn''t happy about that oue, but its core members understood why the warriors had to opt for that path. Moreover, the short sparring had demonstrated enough. The Thilku spectators couldn''t help but approve of the Ef''i''s battle prowess, and thetter finally justified their innate respect for Khan.


    Even the Scalqa looked pleased. They wanted to see more, but Khan''sst sprint had reinforced the otherworldly idea in their minds. Khan wasn''t only strong. He was stronger than other aliens, and following him could unlock new paths to power for their species.


    "Lower the barrier!" Khan shouted from his position. "Prepare the [Feast]!"


    The Thilku inevitably cheered at the news, and the involved parties began to move to prepare for the event. The night arrived by the time everything was ready, and a peculiar group gathered under a simple gazebo to watch it unfold.


    The gazebo stood on a small hill surrounded by rocky ground. Scanners and drones surrounded it, and three teams stood past them, performing military salutes while waiting for more directives.


    Meanwhile, Khan, Lord Exr, and Tlexicpalli sat under the gazebo, facing a table full of delicacies. The three teams also belonged to their species, ready for a traditional friendly contest that would see them hunting one of Baoway''s monsters.


    "This mountain area hides a big, hairy creature," Khan eximed, the drones outside the gazebo echoing and tranting his voice. "Find and capture it."


    The three teams obviously had the same equipment. The rocky area prevented the use of jeeps and bikes, but the soldiers still had a few rifles and metals. Theycked artificialmps, but the drones would provide illumination when requested.


    "Lord Exr," Khan called. "Would you like to do the honors?"


    Lord Exr directly stood up, his small eyes browsing over the three teams. His gaze turned into a re when he looked at his fellow Thilku, clearly pressuring them into winning. Still, he eventually opened his mouth to voice a human "Begin!".


    The teams immediately dispersed, diving into the rocky environment to look for the monster. Meanwhile, Lord Exr returned to his seat, seizing a bowl to eat.


    Khan and Tlexicpalli imitated him, and silence spread at the table while the three ate. Still, some tension slowly built up, and the hovering screens depicting the team''s efforts couldn''t distract the trio from it.


    "You held two fights in my absence," Lord Exrmented, keeping his eyes on the almost empty bowl. "I wish I witnessed them."


    "They were both inconclusive," Khan reassured. "The tournament will have the real battles."


    "We can always host more," Tlexicpalli said. "I know my warriors won''t refuse them."


    The three had agreed to speak in humannguage to avoid misunderstandings and secret conversations, but the atmosphere remained far from friendly. Lord Exr had also just learned about the previous battles, which disappointed him.


    "Are you insinuating something, Ef''i?" Lord Exr asked.


    "I do wish to test the Empire''s might more in detail," Tlexicpalli revealed. "We could host a private tournament and see which species have the best warriors."


    "If you wish to see so many of your warriors perish," Lord Exr snorted.


    "You have been here for months," Tlexicpalli eximed, "But your pride stopped you from asking for superior training camps. Horrendous."


    "The Empire has superior training camps," Lord Exr stated.


    "Does it?" Tlexicpalli asked. "Then, the Ef''i''s superiority will be uncontested once we gain ess to them."


    "Are you implying that mere training camps can make your species surpass the Empire?" Lord Exr wondered.


    "Will it?" Tlexicpalli questioned.


    "It would also confirm its current inferiority," Lord Exr grinned. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "We are a battle race," Tlexicpalli imed. "The best of you can match the best of us, but what about the rest?"


    "Your words insult the Empire as a whole!" Lord Exr shouted, mming his fist on the table. "You can endure some heat. The Thilku can endure stars!"


    "You squandered your potential by expanding recklessly!" Tlexicpalli snorted. "Your average soldiers can''t do anything against my species!"


    "Shall we test it now?" Lord Exr questioned, standing up.


    "Friends," Khan called, stopping his aura from revealing how annoyed he truly was. "Both your species are praiseworthy."


    "Blue Shaman," Lord Exr announced. "You have witnessed the insult to the Empire. Are you willing to take the Ef''i''s side on this matter?"


    "There is no side," Khan imed. "Both your warriors fought and found themselves worthy. This discussion is only petty bickering between two valiant species. It''s demeaning."


    Lord Exr refused to sit down, but Khan promptly looked at Tlexicpalli. She had started that bickering because she wanted to test the Thilku. Her approach would have the intended effect, but her friendship with Khan would suffer because of that.


    "I apologize," Tlexicpalli sighed. "Lord Exr, please understand that my words merely have eagerness at their foundation. It''s rare for the Ef''i to meet an equal match."


    "[Ah]!" Lord Exr snorted. "Equal."


    Thement didn''t fully please Lord Exr, but he returned to his seat anyway. Truth be told, he understood the Ef''i''s eagerness. Moreover, he realized his position there. Arguing before the [Feast]''s host was unbing.


    "I know cohabitation is hard," Khan dered, "Especially between such proud species. However, I ask you topromise for my sake. We are all aware of the benefits of this cooperation, so let it go smoothly."


    Silence followed, but the two guests soon broke it with requests.


    "I want my warriors to test themselves against the Empire''s soldiers," Tlexicpalli stated.


    "The Empire needs ess to those training camps," Lord Exr said.


    "The Ef''i also want to fight the''s natives," Tlexicpalli added, "And the human soldiers stationed here."


    "We require more [Feasts]," Lord Exr announced, "And a festival for My Lord''s eventual arrival."


    "Done," Khan uttered, holding back a sigh.


    The two guests pretended that the concessions were still unsatisfactory but didn''t add anything. Lord Exr soon resumed eating, and Tlexicpalli eventually added a joke.


    "I don''t envy you, Prince Khan," Tlexicpalli admitted. "It must be hard to force such different species to cooperate."


    "Don''t worry," Khan eximed. "I''m about to add another."

 Chapter 849 Reunion

    849 Reunion


    The Thilku team ended up winning the [Feast]. Those alien soldiers had been on Baoway long enough to learn about its environment. Moreover, they were more familiar with the event''s rules, performing better than their opponents.


    That conclusion pleased Lord Exr, who mentioned it in the inevitable following discussions with Tlexicpalli. However, the atmosphere grew more friendly as the two aliens became ustomed to their respective customs and characters.


    Of course, Khan''s presence yed a significant role in that development. His political status forced both alien leaders to control themselves and behave due to the''s benefits for the two species. Also, Lord Exr and Tlexicpalli respected Khan as a warrior, valuing his words and epting his eventual reprimands.


    Sadly, the rtive understanding between the two leaders didn''t stretch to their troops, and neither Tlexicpalli nor Lord Exr had the time to babysit them. Thetter even departed shortly after the [Feast], leaving his proud Thilku among the battle-driven Ef''i.


    The cohabitation of those species was a recipe for disaster, and their suppression would only lead to violent outbursts. Actually, fights were inevitable, so Khan had to channel them in the appropriate environment. He had even promised something simr to Tlexicpalli, and the iplete arena created the perfect chance.


    The arena required many tests for most of its functions, and Khan never failed to send the Thilku and Ef''i inside its walls during those instances. He also set specific rules to avoid casualties, and things went smoothly on both ends. The technicians gathered valuable data while the two alien species vented the constantly building tension between them.


    Khan had to preside over the first battles to ensure everything went smoothly, but his Uncle and Aunt reced him as soon as the custom was established. Those friendly fights almost became one of Baoway''s first traditions, eventually expanding past Thilku and Ef''i.


    The human soldiers were the first to join the fray, fighting Ef''i and Thilku to kill time. asionally, the troops used those battles to solve minor scuffles, reinforcing their positive effect on the''s peace.


    The Scalqa were thest to join, and their entrance into the customs brought Khan out of his secluded training. Their original traditions conflicted with the idea of friendly fights, so Khan had to be present to prevent problems. Nevertheless, Baoway''s natives had attended enough battles to understand their trend, so Khan only had to show his face a few times before refocusing on his business.


    Still, while the had somewhat stabilized, Khan''s problems weren''t over. Alexander, his Grandfather, had yet to reach Baoway, and the reason behind his dy would be obvious even without Prince Thomas'' updates.


    Khan had stirred quite the mess by killing Prince Jack. Giving away free samples of the supplement and defensive magic item could dy violent reactions, and the same went for the tournament. Yet, his family''s other factions would eventually knock on his door again, and nothing ensured positive intentions.


    Alexander was handling precisely that. On paper, he was flying toward Baoway. However, the trip had many stops featuring representatives from the family''s factions. Thetter didn''t only know Alexander. He was far more trustworthy than Khan when it came to politics.


    Khan didn''t fear the possibility of Alexander''s betrayal. He didn''t know much about him, but his political skills were also famously on point. Having the factions'' representatives trying to go over him irked him, but he didn''t have much choice in that situation.


    For now, Khan only had Baoway as an avable ying field, and another important piece eventually arrived. The''s bright star shone in the sky, illuminating a silver rectangr ship descending into an empty area near the arena. The ride was rtively small, but Khan knew it held an entire team.


    Khan wasn''t alone in the empty area. Multiple technicians stood behind him, waiting for the ship''snding. Those workers wielded devices and other equipment but nothing bordering firearms or simr items.


    The ship quicklynded, and the bottom of its square front opened sideways, releasing a silvermp. Rtively tall, blue-grey figures crossed it, but pieces of their skin reflected Baoway''s morning light, partially ruining the scene.


    Those asional shes couldn''t make Khan''s blink. His cold eyes remained fixed on the descending team, who studied its surroundings before focusing on him. Truthfully, the aliens were curious about the area, but Khan''s presence kidnapped their attention.


    Khan''s cold expression almost broke when he recognized one of the aliens. A big, silver nose had reced the previous filter, and metal tes covered both arms from shoulder to pinky. Khan''s heightened senses also noticed more invasive imnts that improved that third-level warrior''s body.


    "Noah Balvan!" The alien shouted, snickering as he approached Khan. "[Sen-nu is joking. Long time no see, Prince Khan]."


    Hearing the Fuveallnguage after many years tried to awaken memories inside Khan, but he rejected them to address that reunion. He had contacted Sen-nu from Milia 222, hiring a team of Fuveall to help with the arena. The Nognes family''s money backed his offer, so Sen-nu couldn''t refuse.


    "[Sen-nu]," Khan called, stretching his hand toward the nearing alien. "[I find you well]."


    "[Better than you]," Sen-nuughed, seemingly unaffected by Khan''s heavy aura. He shook his hand, gradually increasing the strength of his grip. Still, his smile soon disappeared.


    Sen-nu''s expression grew serious. He bent forward, his long ck hair falling over his big forehead as he put more strength into his grip. His golden eyes asionally checked Khan, but he didn''t flinch at all.


    "[You have improved]," Khan said when he felt Sen-nu was reaching his limit. "[No third-level warrior should have this raw strength]."


    Sen-nu froze at thepliment before his smile returned. He exploded into augh, letting go of Khan''s hand before stretching his arms, showing them off to the other humans behind.


    "[Sen-nu is very proud of these]," Sen-nu nodded, his eyes glued to his silver arms. "[The actual data of muscle density and power output is a secret, but Sen-nu assures you won''t find anything better among my peers]."


    Khan had his heightened senses, but technology had always been his weakness. The silver arms also belonged to a field that humans still couldn''t match, making it impossible for him to understand their power.


    Nevertheless, seeing that mixture of natural and synthetic mana again gave Khan some information. He also noticed certain odd areas which probably had special functions. He could confirm that those arms were strong, stronger than the average third-level warrior.


    ''How do they even work?'' Khan couldn''t help but dwell on a past curiosity. ''They are like organic machines.''


    That childish curiosity felt nostalgic, but Khan quickly killed it. As much as he would love to learn more about the Fuveall, he had hired them for a specific job. He also had another idea in mind, so his whims had to wait.


    "[Is that Atef]?" Khan asked, peeking past Sen-nu to look at another alien. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "Prince Khan," The alien said in the humannguage, approaching Sen-nu. "Your Fuveall is basically perfect."


    Atef looked scared and wary, his eyes darting between Khan''s attire and his surroundings. His behavior initially confused Khan, but everything made sense when he recalled a certain detail.


    ''Right, I forgot,'' Khan thought. ''They are idiots.''


    "[I hired you because I need your technology]," Khan reassured. "[I''m buying technology]."


    The Fuveall were heavily oriented toward technology, and Atef pushed things one step forward. He believed wood and metal were bound to sh, mainly since the former was envious of thetter. As for Sen-nu, he was simply an uncaring fool.


    "[If you say so]," Atef said, switchingnguage again, "Prince Khan."


    Atef''s statement wasn''t convincing in the slightest, but Khan ignored him to nod at the technicians behind him. One of them delivered a device, which Khan promptly handed to Sen-nu.


    "[This is a partial blueprint of my arena]," Khan exined, looking at the nearby huge building. "[I want your team to study it and improve where necessary]."


    The device captured Sen-nu''s interest, and the other Fuveall gathered around him. The screen was too small for all of them, but the human technicians promptly delivered more devices.


    "[You dress like them now]," Sen-numented while tinkering with the device. "[You even look like them]."


    Khan didn''t need questions to understand Sen-nu''s statement. He wore pelts and bones, and his face was emotionless. It wasn''t the same thing, but a Fuveall brain couldn''t see many differences from a Nele.


    "[How are the Nele faring]?" Khan asked.


    "[Knowledge is a currency]," Sen-nu stated, his eyes still on the device.


    "[This isn''t Milia 222]," Khan pointed out, "[And I''m paying you]."


    "[Not a newbie anymore]," Sen-nu grinned.


    "[Sen-nu]," Khan called, and the alien couldn''t ignore his aura now. Sen-nu''s imnts almost shook under Khan''s pressure. His eyes brieflynded on Khan before returning to the device, and his grin slowly disappeared.


    "[The Nele are thriving]," Sen-nu revealed. "[They had hoarded resources before the mess, so they took control of the market. They almost upy the entirety of the second and fourth asteroid now]."


    "[Problems]?" Khan asked.


    "[You should ask them]," Sen-nu shook his head. "[As you know, we keep our distance. Still, they heard about you. We did, so they must have too]."


    Khan kept his gaze straight, but his mind tried to wander. Jenna and Caja had high hopes for him, and he had even reached the point when he wielded real power. However, his domain was too chaotic and dangerous for a species he would protect with his life.


    "[You should visit them]," Sen-nu suggested, lowering the device and lifting his head. "[They would wee you, especially dressed like this]."


    "[What do you think about the arena]?" Khan questioned.


    "[Sen-nu thinks the blueprint is too iplete to evaluate]," Sen-nu imed.


    "[You''ll gainplete ess after providing pointers]," Khan stated. "[The Fuveall technology is unmatched, so that shouldn''t be a problem]."


    "[Sen-nu has a pointer]," Sen-nu dered, waving the device. "[This is already good. Human good, not Fuveall good, but still good. So, why is Sen-nu here]?"


    Khan couldn''t help but feel surprised, and that feeling intensified when the rest of the alien team focused on him, sharing Sen-nu''s stance. After mere minutes of studying the iplete blueprint, all the Fuveall had seen through him.


    "[I want my arena to be Fuveall good]," Khan exined, "[But there is another job avable, if you are willing to take it and can handle it]."


    "[Sen-nu is a genius]," Sen-nu imed. "[Sen-nu can handle anything]."


    "[You once told me that humans might reject the Fuveall imnts]," Khan reminded. "[I want you to fix that problem]."

 Chapter 850 Future

    Chapter 850 Future


    Khan''s current political value didn''te from his strength. While that had worked in the past with minor families and soldiers, the nobles required something else. Those immense organizations simply didn''t care about his battle prowess.


    Owning something no one else had was the only way to gain value in those environments. Khan''s supplement, magic item, and unique rtionship with the Thilku were his best weapons and shields against the nobles, especially thetter, since it was connected to his figure. That advantage would disappear without him, making his figure necessary.


    Amassing other advantages with a simr nature was Khan''s best strategy in a world filled with political powerhouses. The more necessary his figure became, the safer he would be. His influence would also grow ordingly, earning him true power over otherwise untouchable environments.


    Besides personal power, Khan''s true worth rested in his unique rtionship with multiple alien species. The years spent flying to different locations and earning their residents'' trust were finally paying off, allowing him to capitalize on something almost no one else in the Global Army could match.


    Inviting the Ef''i to Baoway had been Khan''s first move toward exploiting his unique advantage, but he could push things forward. The Fuveall were a great addition, but Khan couldn''t gain much by mere workers. That would limit his benefits to better buildings and equipment, which wasn''t enough to shock the nobles.


    Instead, using the Fuveall to improve and unlock a new scientific field would add another incredible card to Khan''s hand. The Global Army had countless maimed soldiers with subpar metal prostheses who could benefit from the Fuveall''s expertise, and things wouldn''t stop there.


    The Fuveall''s imnts weren''t prostheses. They bordered organic metal, bing part of the owner''s body. They worked and behaved as proper flesh, solving problems humankind had been unable to fix.


    Khan inevitably thought about Major General Arngan, one of the guests during Colonel Norrett''s attempted evolution. The man had been unable to approach the same process due to his missing arm, but the Fuveall''s imnts could solve the issue.


    That was even an extreme case. Sessfully adapting Fuveall''s imnts to humans could turn countless weaker soldiers into decent or even great warriors. The Global Army had no shortage of useless troops, which Khan could mass-recruit to build a bigger, improved army, turning him into a savior of themon folk and a military powerhouse.


    Moreover, Khan was living proof of the advantage of mixing different arts. The endeavor was bound to improve humankind''s overall standing, which he felt would be necessary against the scarlet eyes.


    Sen-nu didn''t share Khan''s excitement and long-term prospects. Although the offer intrigued him, he couldn''t help but consider all the problems attached to it.


    First, Khan had hired workers, not scientists. The Fuveall generally were all-rounders regarding technology, but Khan''s request required specialists, which Sen-nu''s teamcked. A few aliens could approach the project, but tackling it would require additional personnel.


    Also, Khan was basically asking for human experimentation, which wasn''t an easy topic to tackle. The act didn''t only have giant political repercussions. It could also be seen as reprehensible, especially if incidents and casualties happened.


    Khan sensed and understood Sen-nu''s hesitation, so he cleared the most problematic issues. "[Everything will be legal and voluntary. The Global Army won''t hold you ountable for any incident]."


    Khan had yet to request and obtain the various authorizations, but his noble status made the issue non-existent. Due to his many friendships in high ces, he could get it even without ying the noble''s card.


    "[Humans and Fuveall have different values]," Sen-nu pointed out. "[The process you are asking for might not be received well by the Global Army]."


    "[I already vouched for that]," Khan stated. "[Either you mistrust my authority, or you can''t do it]."


    "[Sen-nu can do everything]!" Sen-nu snorted.


    "[So]," Khan continued, his aura showing its full strength. "[It''s my authority]."


    As airheaded as the Fuveall were, their brains were still capable of survival instincts, and Khan could easily trigger them. His aura conveyed his true nature, allowing everyone to see past his human form. He was no mere mortal. His flesh hid pristine destructive power.


    Khan''s presence was so heavy that the ground reacted to it. Dust flew away, seemingly frightened by his aura, and cracks opened on the nearby soil, threatening to cave in and transform into proper holes.


    The human technicians had to hold their breath and muster all their strength to remain on their feet. However, some fell, and a few saw sweat covering their foreheads. Breathing near Khan became impossible, and the trend didn''t seem close to stopping.


    The Fuveall experienced something simr. Yet, they were overall stronger than the human technicians, and their imnts broadened that power difference. Most remained on their feet, and few even inspected the ground, surprised that Khan could affect the ground with his mere presence.


    "[Don''t waste my time]," Khan added when he felt sure the Fuveall had acknowledged his power. "[If you don''t do it, I''ll find someone Fuveall enough who will]."


    Sen-nu couldn''t help butpare the current Khan with the one from his memory. Khan''s battle prowess had always been incredible, and his character shared that quality. Even the Nele had epted him, and Sen-nu didn''t bother trying to understand how.


    Nevertheless, the current Khan surpassed Sen-nu''s wildest imagination. The alien couldn''t even begin to study his power. There seemed to be something unnatural and unreasonable about him, and none of that came from technology.


    Usually, the Fuveall would keep their distance from species they didn''t understand. However, Khan was asking for their specific expertise. Even with all his power, he wanted their technology. He also acknowledged their superiority, which felt like a greatpliment from such an incredible individual.


    "[Sen-nu is your best bet]," Sen-nu imed, "[Because Sen-nu is a genius]."


    "[Will you do it]?" Khan asked.


    "[We would need multiple facilities]," Sen-nu exined, "[Fuveall good facilities. The same goes for volunteers. Sen-nu would also need to call some friends]."


    "[Write down all you need]," Khan said. "[I''ll have everything ready by the time you are done with the arena]."


    Khan retracted his aura, allowing the human technicians to catch their breath. Still, as soon as they started to recover, he added an order.


    "Escort my guests to their quarters," Khan ordered. "Meet all their requests. I''ll be in my cave." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan then turned toward Sen-nu again to add onest directive. "[Get to work as soon as you are settled]."


    Sen-nu didn''t get the chance to reply since Khan suddenly disappeared. He had set off, but no one lifted their eyes in time to catch a glimpse of his disappearing figure.


    The idea of applying Fuveall''s imnts to humankind wasn''t a secret, but Khan didn''t discuss it with anyone, either. However, some technicians from the meetings spoke that aliennguage, so the news quickly reached every corner of the quadrant.


    The trend didn''t stop at the main quadrant. Soon, the entire learned about Khan''s newest project, and the news eventually hit thework. The gossip around Khan had been rtively positive recently due to the imminent tournament, but thetest update about him sparked many controversies.


    Some were angry about the idea''s nature due to its necessary experiments on humans. Others criticized Khan for rejecting the Global Army''s businesses in favor of alien ones. A few praised his innovative mindset, but theints far outssed that positive feedback.


    Khan didn''t bother about thework and even ignored his buzzing phone while training in his cave. The way he saw it, people couldn''t stop him, so he wouldn''t deal with theints. However, there was one type of feedback he couldn''t silence, and its steps soon resounded on the rocky, wet ground.


    Everyone in Khan''s inner circle knew where he spent his free time, so finding him wasn''t a problem. Still, Monica wouldn''t disturb his training, and his Uncle and Aunt generally avoided those dirty environments. As for Lieutenant Dyester, he didn''t care about any of that.


    Lieutenant Dyester dived into the cave, stopping when theplicated rune hovering on Khan''s bare torso illuminated his entire figure. That was his first time inspecting Khan''s alien technique, and the scene captured his attention for a few seconds. However, Khan quickly dispersed it to focus on his friend.


    Darkness invaded the cave, but a few purple-red orbs appeared near the rocky ceiling, illuminating the area. Khan could transform those spheres into spears or other spells, but the situation didn''t require that.


    Lieutenant Dyester nced at the orbs before heaving a deep sigh. He drew a cigarette from his pocket, lighting it up and blowing a big cloud of smoke. He didn''t know how to handle the topic, so he started with a joke.


    "Are you nning to invite every species in the gxy here?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. "Are the Kred next?"


    "I considered them," Khan admitted, "But there''s too much history. I don''t want to start suppressing internal conflicts."


    "I think yourst move might start some," Lieutenant Dyester pointed out.


    "If they do," Khan said, "I''ll remind everyone where they are."


    Lieutenant Dyester sighed, sitting on the ground. Heavy was the crown, so he couldn''t reprimand Khan''s firm stance. He wasn''t even against most of his political moves, but his worries remained founded.


    "Why didn''t you hire human specialists?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned. "The Global Army is good there."


    "The Fuveall are better," Khan dered.


    "They are," Lieutenant Dyester agreed, "But you must see how this looks. You are offering humans as guinea pigs to an alien species."


    "That''s how medical trials work," Khanmented. "That''s how humans developed their first martial arts and spells."


    "They were made by and for humans," Lieutenant Dyester said.


    "Using Nak''s blueprints and mana," Khan corrected. "Learning from those better than them is humankind''s greatest quality. It''s part of its flexibility."


    "It''s also alienating," Lieutenant Dyester uttered, "Especiallying from someone like you."


    Khan knew what Lieutenant Dyester meant. Many on thework questioned Khan''s loyalty to the Global Army, and most of his political moves justified that suspicion. The tournament had bought him some goodwill, but hiring the Fuveall would probably destroy part of it.


    "An alien substance pushed you to the fourth level," Khan reminded. "You yourself are mixing human and Thilku arts to educate the Scalqa. This is the future I want."


    "It might blow up in your face," Lieutenant Dyester warned. "I''m not disagreeing, but you could have taken the time to introduce this new project."


    ''I''m not sure I have time,'' Khan thought, offering nothing but silence to his friend.

 Chapter 851 Returning fame

    Chapter 851 Returning fame


    Thework kept raging about Khan''sst move, but he ignored theints and focused on his training while the quadrant grew and adjusted to its changes.


    Luckily, the Fuveall were nowhere simr to the Ef''i and Thilku. They had no interest in proving themselves superior to other species through barbaric battles in the arena. Moreover, they feared the Empire, so they kept their distance and focused on their tasks.


    The arena obviously came first. Khan wanted the tournament to start as soon as possible, and gathering the resources needed for the attempted imnts required time. He also had to build specific structures for the Fuveall, but his inner circle was more than prepared to handle the task.


    Abraham had now settled on Baoway, and his scientific expertise made him the de-facto intermediary for the Fuveall team. Sen-nu and the others were also happy to interact with someone who spoke their technguage, so their meetings went smoothly.


    Baoway''s environment remained messy due to the different parties and strong personalities clustered together in the same quadrant. Yet, that slightly unruly, loud, and chaotic scenery was the most peaceful bnce the could achieve. Customs and hidden rules even took life as that cohabitation continued, creating a diverse but functioning organization.


    For all intents and purposes, Khan''s domain had be almost untouchable. His noble status shielded him from most of the Global Army, and his''s many guests and businesses prevented his family''s factions from attacking him directly. Some were even curious about the tournament''s oue, dying their decision on their stance toward Khan until after the event.


    Nevertheless, as much as the political environment had reached a peaceful stalemate, things didn''t stay still, especially after Khan''stest move. When the tournament was announced, he attracted much attention to himself, which mostly came from poorer families. Even the ordinary and nameless soldiers looked into him, seeing hopes they never dared to consider.


    Amassing the equipment requested by Sen-nu was easy, but finding volunteers for the medical trial turned out to be easier. Countless messages flooded Hyper-Privacy''s servers, all begging to join the ranks of Khan''s organization. Those people didn''t mind bing guinea pigs as long as they gained the chance of enlisting under him.


    That trend wasn''t too surprising. Themon folk had always admired Khan, and his fame had only turned sour due to the connection between his new status and his seemingly mental behavior.


    However, Khan''s public figure and moves made him different from his fellow nobles, and his mental-like behavior was a double-faced coin. His enemies had to fear hisck of rules and manners, but his allies could see that as the ultimate shield.


    Khan didn''t abide by anyone''s rules, and that freedom could extend to his underlings. The Global Army''s ocean of nameless soldiers saw in him the chance to escape humankind''s rigged system. As Khan knew, desperation was a strong fuel, and his species didn''tck it.


    Things didn''t stop at the desperate soldiers. Tournament aside, Baoway had turned into an appealing environment. Most descendants would have to rise far above their peers to gain the chance to interact with a single alien species, but flying to Khan''s would instantly give them ess to four.


    Of course, that attention didn''t change anything. Baoway wasn''t a tourist destination, at least not yet, and the volunteers for the medical trial had to ovee many screenings before receiving the authorization to fly there. Khan didn''t modify his strategy, but the trend cleared the way for a missing piece of the chessboard.


    One afternoon, a Leviathan-ss ship descended into Baoway''s atmosphere, obscuring a big chunk of the main quadrant. Its arrival attracted everyone''s attention, but the event wasn''t unexpected, and things calmed down as the neer''s identity became known.


    The ship didn''tnd but released far smaller vehicles before heading for the space station orbiting the. Meanwhile, the rides headed for the city,nding in specific areas on top of the city''s main buildings.


    Thending was short-lived. Prince Thomas and Princess Reba weed the neers but promptly sent them away, marking a location on one of the ship''s autopilots. The ride flew outside the city, quickly reaching an area filled with caves.


    The shipnded in the first suitable spot, and a single figure crossed its metal bridge. The man inspected his surroundings before heading into the closest rocky openings. The area was dark, but a purple-red light illuminated its depths.


    The man confidently advanced but halted his steps when he spotted a figure sitting cross-legged on the rocky ground. Khan had his eyes closed, but bright orbs floated above him, radiating a dangerous light.


    "Grandson," Alexander called, announcing his presence. He knew the act was pointless, but the odd location didn''t make him forget his manners.


    Khan opened his eyes to inspect his Grandfather. Alexander hadn''t changed in that period. Actually, he looked more tired than at theirst meeting. That matched his history, but Khan found a different exnation.


    "What did the other faction say?" Khan went straight to the point.


    "Everything and nothing," Alexander sighed. "The usual."


    "What''s the usual?" Khan asked.


    "Some threatened us," Alexander exined. "Others tried to leverage me into reiming my position as faction leader. A few even wanted to establish secret deals."


    "They are divided," Khan summarized.


    "They are always divided," Alexander imed. "Where some see a threat, others see an opportunity."


    Khan didn''t reply, but both men knew they were in the best-case scenario. Division meant hesitation, which prevented the family from turning on Khan''s faction. His organization would grow stronger during the dy, eventually bing too powerful for those enemies to do anything about it.


    "You shouldn''t have summoned me," Alexander continued. "Keeping the old leader politically active hurts your authority."


    "Only if the old leader is disloyal," Khan responded, "And his plots manage to end me."


    "It''s as you said," Alexander stated. "I''m too tired to plot against my Grandson, especially after he united the faction. I should just retire and try to enjoy myst days."


    "You don''t get that choice," Khan dered. "You''ll work as long as I say so."


    Alexander couldn''t help but smile. He saw past Khan''s war paint, crown, blue, messy hair, and umted dirt, noticing facial features he loved dearly. Khan was Elizabeth''s spitting image, wearing an expression Alexander would have killed to see on her.


    "You are the faction leader," Alexander said, lowering his head. "Your wish is mymand."


    Khan didn''t like Alexander''s prompt surrender, especially after that smile. Things still weren''t good between the two, but Khan couldn''t waste time patching up old wounds. He didn''t care enough in the first ce.


    "I need more free time," Khan exined. "You''ll handle the dynamics among all the guests here."


    "The alien guests?" Alexander asked.


    "Alien and human," Khan specified. "I can''t be summoned whenever a remotely important figurends."


    "Thomas could have handled that," Alexander pointed out. "He has always been good at managing domains."


    "Thomas is busy with something else," Khan exined shortly. "Only you have the authority, experience, and skills to rece me."


    "I do have plenty of political experience," Alexander admitted, "But most alien guests are here for you. I believe they''ll see the same weakness you saw when we first met."


    "You will be representing me," Khan exined. "Find the strength to do it properly. I don''t care how."


    "But-" Alexander wanted to argue against that unreasonable demand, but Khan didn''t let him.


    "I''m fulfilling your dream, old man," Khan interrupted. "You can handle a few rowdy aliens."


    Khan''s demand still didn''t make sense, but Alexander understood that justification wouldn''t fly with him. It didn''t matter if his mind couldn''t handle those matters anymore. He had to rise to the asion.


    "Very well," Alexander uttered. "Do you have guidelines for me?"


    "The humans can''t do anything illegal in their quadrants," Khan stated. "They aren''t under surveince but can''t believe they haveplete freedom either."


    "I''ve seen most of their parents rise to power," Alexandermented. "It was about time I met the new generation."


    "My fianc¨¦e can deal with the Thilku," Khan continued. "Just support her. If they are bored, keep them busy with test fights in the arena."


    "I have wanted to get to know Miss Solodrey for a while," Alexander admitted. "I have the opportunity to do that now."


    "The Ef''i just want to fight," Khan said, ignoring the annoyance caused by Alexander''s words. "Let them. Abraham is also preparing training grounds for them, which need testing."


    "Are fights between species allowed?" Alexander asked.


    "They are almost mandatory by now," Khan revealed. "Make them match the arena''s tests."


    "Killing two birds with one stone," Alexander praised. "What about the Fuveall? I know more areing."


    "They don''t need much politics," Khan exined. "They won''t create any problem as long as their projects are ongoing."


    "So," Alexander understood, "I''ll finalize the arena and theirbs and authorize the medical trials."


    "My Uncle will update you on everything else," Khan said. "You shouldn''t have problems with the other nobles like that."


    The Scalqa didn''t need representatives, and Lieutenant Dyester was already there for them, so Khan didn''t add anything else. Truth be told, he mainly wanted Alexander for the other nobles and his presence''s weight. Having him on Baoway would add legality to his faction and moves, silencing thework''sst doubts.


    "I''ll handle the nobles," Alexander promised. "As for everything else, are there exceptions to my role?"


    "Lord Exr and, possibly, Lord Rsi will always require my presence," Khan exined. "Call me if the Ef''i get too heated, too. Also, there is a volunteer for the medical trials I can''t ignore."


    Khan drew his phone from his pelts, opening his flooded inbox. Jenny had filtered most messages away, but many had still reached his device due to the sender''s relevance. Khan asionally checked them, and one name ended up demanding his attention. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Major General Arngan,'' Khan thought. ''It''s too early for you, but I can''t refuse you, either.''

 Chapter 852 Arm

    Chapter 852 Arm


    Khan and Major General Arngan had only interacted twice. Their first meeting had been during Colonel Norrett''s attempted evolution, while the second was in the Harbor, right before Khan''s promotion and lessons to the Global Army''s scientists.


    Nevertheless, thework saw the two men as allies. The General had sponsored Khan''s promotion, publicly vouching for him and his expertise. He had even negotiated for higher benefits in exchange for his knowledge. His support for Khan was undeniable, and many believed he had yed a role in avoiding sentences for the ughters.


    As for Khan, he had a good impression of the General. Even without his friendship with Colonel Norrett, he would like the man, which made him hesitant toward the message. Khan didn''t want to refuse his request for help but would prefer to provide it once things were safer.


    Still, the choice wasn''t up to Khan, and Alexander''s arrival to Baoway didn''t prevent him from interrupting his training and returning to the city''s main building. Scenes ofnding ships had filled his memories of thest period, and a new one joined the fray once the intended day arrived.


    Khan stood alone on the building''s terrace, watching the small ship descend toward him before stopping and releasing a metal ramp that touched the floor. Major General Arngan''s massive figure soon appeared on it, and his frame grew bigger as he approached Khan.


    Major General Arngan couldn''t help but arch his eyebrows at Khan''s attire. He had heard about the Thilku cape, but that was his first time seeing him with the bone crown, armor, and war paint. His alien vibe couldn''t be more evident, but that wasn''t enough to slow down his steps.


    "No fianc¨¦e this time?" Major General Arngan asked, stretching his artificial arm toward Khan.


    "She is busy training," Khan exined, shaking the General''s fake hand.


    "She got an infusion, right?" Major General Arngan questioned, letting go of Khan as the two started walking toward the terrace''s door. "Will she reach the fourth level?"


    "She''ll reach it sooner than her peers," Khan exined without adding further details.


    "Aren''t you her peer, too?" The General wondered.


    "I''m me," Khan stated, and the General smirked.


    The two men entered the building, silently going through it to reach one of the many halls. Couches, tables, luxurious carpets, and drapes filled the area, but Khan and the General disregarded the furniture to head toward the already-open booze.


    "How is the Colonel?" Khan asked as the two sat down on opposite couches.


    "He made a full recovery," Major General Arngan replied, "But you knew that already."


    "Thework can be unreliable," Khanmented.


    "You could have called," The General pointed out.


    "I''ve been busy," Khan said.


    "I''ve heard," Major General Arngan uttered. "Do you me me for the mess?"


    Khan had already gone through half of his ss during that short exchange, and the question made him gulp down the remaining booze. The General had promised support in exchange for the lessons, but everything had ultimately culminated in the assassination attempt.


    "No," Khan admitted. "Did you help me get rid of the higher-ups?"


    "Yes," Major General Arngan imed. "You were short, but I owed you that much."


    "Does this mean I owe you now?" Khan wondered. His expression didn''t change, but the General sensed a new intensity in his gaze.


    The General didn''t shy away from Khan''s intensity. His aura actually matched it, creating a tense stalemate that would make first-level warriors faint. Luckily, the two were alone in the hall, so no casualties happened.


    "I thought I''d ask it as a favor," Major General Arngan exined. "Personal favor."


    The General didn''t need to exin what the favor was, and Khan didn''t ask. Both men weren''t fond of pleasantries and political games, so neither pretended to be in the dark.


    "I nned to send you the offer," Khan revealed, "Once the medical trials showed promising results."


    "You can never be too sure," Major General Arnganmented. "Nobles working with the public, aliens walking among us, humans wearing crowns. These are strange times."


    "I didn''t forget who helped me," Khan rified.


    "Why didn''t you hire the Bizelli kid, then?" Major General Arngan asked. "He''s the one who taught you about the evolution."


    A memory unlocked in Khan''s brain. He had done his best to include all his allies, but reinforcing the had been his priority. Also, he had been so busy the matter had inevitably slipped past him.


    "I forgot," Khan admitted, refilling his ss. "I''ll find him a spot in mybs."


    "Overwhelming, isn''t it?" Major General Arngan smirked. "That''s why I never pursued politics. They are a headache."


    Hearing a General uttering those words could make anyone doubt his rank, but Khan wasn''t among them. He actually understood him. His life had turned into a seemingly endless series of political meetings, leaving almost no room for training or private time.


    "I didn''t have that freedom," Khan imed. "It was this or killing half of the Global Army."


    "I know what I would have chosen," Major General Arngan snorted.


    "It''s still on the table," Khan reassured.


    "You would have to take on me there," Major General Arngan pointed out.


    "Then," Khan dered. "I would take on you."


    "I''m strong, you know?" Major General Arngan imed.


    "I know," Khan stated.


    "This is the cocky brat I remember," Major General Arnganughed. "You didn''t let this environment dull you."


    The General refilled his drink before gulping it down in one sip and refilling it again. He had regained part of the carefree and uncaring attitude of the previous meetings, but Khan saw some seriousness behind it.


    "I thought you were ready to be azy old man," Khanmented. "What changed?"


    "I thought that, too," Major General Arngan admitted, inspecting his fake arm. "With my path toward power blocked, my fighting days were over. I thought taking a side would have been enough, but one''s nature is hard to oppose."


    Khan also looked at the fake arm but didn''t inspect it. His mind focused on the General''s words, diving into thoughts buried deep into his brain. As much as the idea saddened Khan, he agreed with the General.


    "You understand, don''t you?" Major General Arngan asked, looking at Khan. "We belong to the same breed. We prefer mud over pillows, rocks over mattresses, and blood over breasts."


    The General''s words made Khan recall Reebfell and Cora. He had abandoned peace and a loving woman for adventure and chaos. That decision had pained him, but he knew he would make it again and again. Khan wouldn''t even hesitate about it.


    ''Luckily, Baoway is messy,'' Khan thought. ''Still, how long will thisst?''


    "So," Khan spoke to distract himself, "You just want to fight again."


    "I want to see what''s past this," The General imed, spreading his arms to indicate his whole body. "I don''t n on letting brats surpass me."


    Khan finally understood the root of the General''s new attitude. The possibility of clearing his path toward the evolution had rekindled his ambition, sparking a new life into his being.


    "You want in the medical trials," Khan eximed, "You have it."


    "I want in now," Major General Arngan announced.


    "The trials have yet to start," Khan said, "And the first rounds are bound to be dangerous."


    "The Fuveall imnts require strong flesh," Major General Arngan pointed out. "Do you have a better candidate than me?"


    Those words revealed more details about the General. He sounded knowledgeable about the Fuveall, and something told Khan that he didn''t learn that overnight.


    "Did you already look into it?" Khan questioned.


    "I did," Major General Arngan revealed. "Many refused even to approach the topic. The others failed."


    "What makes you think it would be any different now?" Khan asked.


    "You," The General stated. "You are the difference."


    "It''s not like I''ll have anything to do with the trials," Khan said. "My scientists and the Fuveall will handle them."


    "Worried for me now?" Major General Arngan teased. "See it as sticking to the side I''ve chosen. Besides, miracles seem to love you."


    "What is this side you keep mentioning?" Khan finally questioned. He had guesses but wanted the General to exin it adequately.


    "You must have noticed it by now," Major General Arngan stated. "The Global Army is divided, with many parties focused on salvaging the power they have umted. I don''t want this for humankind."


    "You people should stop putting your dreams on my shoulders," Khan dered. "Everything I do is for myself."


    "You keep at it," The General eximed. "Just give me a proper arm in the meantime."


    Khan felt the conversation couldn''t go any further. Actually, he had always known the General would have gotten what he wanted. Khan wouldn''t refuse his request, especially when it wasbeled as a personal favor.


    "If you lift that arm against me," Khan said, diving into the couch to assume a more rxed posture, "I will turn it into dust." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Spare me the threats," Major General Arngan snorted, copying Khan''s rxed stance. "Moreover, tell me some news. I can make Mark jealous if I end up knowing more than him."


    Khan almost gave in to the urge to smile, but another thought invaded his mind. The conversation couldn''tpletely distract him from his worries, leading to an honest question.


    "General," Khan called, "When you had given up on the evolution, did the peace feel good?"


    "No," Major General Arngan replied, and neither man touched the topic again.

 Chapter 853 Pirates

    853 Pirates


    Luckily for Khan, Major General Arngan was thest arrival that demanded his presence. Alexander, Prince Thomas, Princess Reba, Abraham, and the other members of his inner circle could handle everyone else. Garret Bizelli joined theb as promised, but Khan didn''t show himself at hisnding.


    Other prominent figures flew through Baoway, but Khan ignored them, too. Only Lord Rsi or people with simr relevance could make him appear, but nothing close arrived on the, allowing him to focus on his training.


    Khan''s istion didn''t imply ack of curiosity. He cared deeply about many aspects of the, especially those connected to his friends. However, he had his priorities straight. He knew everything he had built came from his superiority, so he had to hammer down that quality until no one could hope to match him.


    Nevertheless, the prolonged secluded training didn''t meanplete istion. Khan had one particr visitor who often spent the night or entire days in those restricted areas, and her presence alleviated his steadily heavier mind.


    Khan''s chest felt hot as an intricate, bright rune hovered before his torso, siphoning mana into his body. His flesh greedily absorbed the energy, adding it to its packed collection. He should have reached his limit long ago, but his tissues always found room for more.


    The issue didn''t go unnoticed. That wasn''t even the first time Khan had studied it. He knew his body didn''t follow human rules or standards, but the changes had surpassed his expectations. The evaluation wasn''t even a random thought. Khan hadpared himself to others with a simr level and had discovered an immense gap in terms of limits.


    All things considered, the matter made sense. Khan didn''t only carry Nak''s genes. He had also transformed through them, and that species was known for its unique rtionship with mana. The Nak embodied that energy, so Khan''s higher limits to its absorption were reasonable.


    However, Khan couldn''t help but consider the other influences on his training sessions. He had spent a long time with the blue nts, so his body had changed alongside his gradual growth. That process theoretically resembled the natural induction, which made Khan wonder whether his higher limits had something deeper behind them.


    Sadly, nothing could confirm or deny Khan''s idea. The evolution was aplicated topic that often differed from warrior to warrior. It wasn''t a standard practice, and Khan''s unique body broke its few rules. Even if scientists were to study him, they would only see a mutated being.


    Those doubts didn''t stop Khan from training as usual. He actually worked harder since his body allowed it and even devised methods to ignore variables. His current situation featured one, but his rune took care of it.


    Khan was inside one of his usual caves, where humidity and slight cold filled the symphony. Yet, a different aura tainted that natural mana, adding strands with scorching and explosive features. Monica was sleeping on a makeshift bed near him, altering the area''s environment.


    That wouldn''t usually be a problem, but Monica had recently received an infusion, making her aura reek of synthetic mana. That stench tainted the symphony, theoretically turning her presence into poison for Khan''s training.


    Still, Khan had long since modified the training rune, adding a filter that kept away those synthetic properties. He still couldn''t train in apletely artificial environment, but fending off Monica''s poisonous influence took no effort.


    Khan absorbed and absorbed until he grew bored of the process. He dispersed the rune, entering the meditative state to fuse that new mana into his flesh. That procedure wasn''t any better, but time flowed quickly during it, making it more bearable.


    The foreign mana slowly fused with Khan''s flesh, but he failed to notice notable changes. If his theory about natural induction were correct, the very nature of his tissues would change, but nothing simr happened. That should have confirmed his mistake, but his hunches kept that option open.


    ''What would it even transform into?'' Khan wondered during the meditative state. ''Nothing I can think of has a solid form.''


    The evolution pushed the body pastplete attunement with mana, enhancing the nature obtained after years of training. Khan knew what he was. He was a walking cmity, so he couldn''t picture a physical form different from what he already had.


    ''Will I transform into a storm?'' Khan considered. ''Will I just explode?''


    Khan excluded the aided metamorphosis, the third type of evolution, from his thoughts since he wanted to retain his umted knowledge, expertise, and power after the evolution. The chaos element also held the key to defeat the scarlet eyes, so throwing it away for a simpler path toward higher levels wasn''t an option for him.


    ''The human knowledge is too limited,'' Khan concluded.


    The issue was still years away, but Khan didn''t mind exploring it from time to time. He also feltpelled to do so due to the scarlet eyes'' threat. He knew he couldn''t jump directly into the evolution, but finding the right path would put him more at ease.


    Khan eventually interrupted the meditative session, obviously without finding answers. He opened his eyes, checking his exposed torso and arms to search for notable changes. Nothing popped into his vision, making him sigh helplessly.


    As always, Khan was being harsh on himself. An external observer would tremble in fear before his aura''s sheer intensity. His body didn''t change, but his presence gained weight each training session. His influence could dive into the rocks and shatter them with a single thought, but he barely saw it as an improvement.


    When Khan lifted his gaze, the dark cave invaded his vision. He obviously didn''t see ckness. Even without light sources, the world reflected in his eyes was full of colors and shades. Rivers of energy flowed through the air, and the rocky surfaces hid a fainter glow.


    The cave also had another brighter light source, eventually attracting Khan''s attention. Monica was still deep asleep, her snores asionally echoing through the environment. Her infusion had gone well, especially with the supplement, and Khan had even checked her. Still, he couldn''t help but recheck her.


    Khan leaned toward Monica and ced a hand on her bare back. He closed his eyes, focusing on her mana flow and eventual hindrances. Nothing was off, so he moved to other matters.


    The conversation with Major General Arngan still lingered in Khan''s mind, pushing his thoughts toward dark topics. He tried to ignore them, opening his eyes and sliding his hand across Monica''s back, eventually reaching her curls.


    Khan carefully moved Monica''s hair away, exposing her sleeping face. The sight made him smile, and his thumb instinctively touched her cheek, caressing it.


    Monica purred under the caress, and her hand soon reached for Khan''s wrist, pulling his palm under her face. She had stolen his arm during her sleep, turning it into a pillow.


    Khan didn''t hide his true face when he was with Monica, so a chuckle escaped his mouth. Monica''s mana shook at the sound, and her eyes slowly opened, taking a while to realize where she was.


    "Did I fall asleep?" Monica muttered.


    "That was hours ago," Khan teased. "Now you stole my hand."


    Monica nced at the hand under her face before hugging it with both arms. She even wore a yful smile, knowing what it would earn her.


    Khan yed along, leaning toward her to approach her face. At first, she hid it, but the soft kisses thatnded on her cheeks and neck slowly made her turn, exposing her lips for their usual greeting.


    "Morning," Monica whispered when the kiss ended, letting go of Khan''s hand only to wrap her arms around his neck.


    "I think it''s afternoon," Khan revealed. "Or night."


    "How long did you even train?" Monica asked.


    "Hard to say," Khan admitted, lowering his head to ce his ear at the center of Monica''s chest. Her strong heartbeat resounded through his brain, keeping the dark thoughts away.


    "How did it go?" Monica asked, running her hands through Khan''s hair. It had gotten long, and the prolonged istion didn''t help with his hygiene. Yet, that only implied a romantic trip to the nearby river.


    "Same as usual," Khan responded. "No changes, not even minor."


    "You''ll figure it out," Monica reassured. "You always do."


    "If my hunch is correct," Khan announced, "I can simply push past one hundred points and treat the evolution as normal training."


    "How far are you from the fifth level?" Monica questioned.


    "What was my attunementst time?" Khan asked.


    "Eighty-six," Monica reminded.


    "Probably still eighty-six then," Khan replied. "The higher I go, the slower it gets."


    Monica didn''t know how much she could believe Khan''s evaluation. Khan didn''t only underestimate himself on a daily basis. She had also grown used, even addicted, to sleeping in his arms. Monica could notice the slightest change and the current hug was no different.


    "You are doing good," Monica reassured, knowing that differentpliments would fall on deaf ears. "Everyone at the tournament will see that."


    "Part of me already wants to skip it," Khan admitted, "And spend the entire time here with you."


    "As appealing as the idea is," Monica giggled, "We have to be there. The Scalqa need their god, and humankind its king."


    "I know," Khan sighed, rubbing his face on that familiar, soft skin.


    "What is it, dear?" Monica asked, sensing that something was off.


    "Have you ever thought about leaving?" Khan wondered. "Flying away and leaving all this mess behind?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Like what you threatened my mother of doing when she opposed us?" Monica questioned, smiling at that seemingly distant memory.


    "Exactly like that," Khan confirmed. "We could be scavengers or pirates, flying from to and doing all sorts of stuff."


    "I do have boots for the asion," Monica pointed out. "I think you have yet to see them. You''ll like them."


    "Will I?" Khan asked.


    "Of course!" Monica scoffed. "You''ll love them, so try not to break them."


    "How would I even break boots?" Khan wondered.


    "I''m sure you''d find a way," Monica dered. "So, don''t do it. You can do anything you want to me, but spare my clothes."


    "I''ll try," Khan chuckled. "So, no space pirates?"


    Monica was the only person who could understand what was happening to Khan. She knew about his spiritual loneliness and scarlet eyes and also had first-row seats to the mounting political pressure on Khan. Heavy was the crown, and he nned to fit the entire universe inside it.


    Ideally, Monica would grant Khan the free time and peace he needed. She would pay any price to remove his curse and sever his connections to that messy world. However, she knew Khan couldn''t escape it, so she opted for support.


    "Let''s have a long holiday after the tournament," Monica suggested, "With as many destinations and dress-up ys as we want. Still, before that, humankind needs to see what I''ve always seen in you."


    The answer saddened Khan, but he knew Monica was right. Truth be told, he wouldn''t run away. Khan had be a leader, and the role''s responsibilities had fused with his being.


    "You are right," Khan uttered, lifting his head to climb toward Monica''s. "You know, I couldn''t do this without you."


    "I obviously know," Monica pouted. "Why do you think I stuck around?"


    Khan smirked, and Monica''s pout transformed into augh, which a kiss suppressed. Luckily, the couple stole many of those moments in that period, but the much-awaited tournament eventually started.

 Chapter 854 Good

    854 Good


    The Nognes family had run countless simtions, using consoles and holograms to understand the impending mess better. It multiplied its workforce, prepared suitable areas and equipment, and even exceeded what the software suggested, but no artificial picture couldpare to the actual event.


    Khan watched everything unfold from a remote spot in the sky. His position allowed him to inspect most of the quadrant, but his eyes weren''t good enough to study such distant details. However, the symphonypensated for them, even exining the most minute events.


    The massive encampment and the two Embassies had been kept away from the mess, but everything else had transformed to serve the tournament.


    The finally finished arena acted as the beating heart of a new life form. Vast metal roads stretched from it, reaching other locations prepared for the asion. Soldiers and shops filled them, reminding Khan of Milia 222''s upper floors.


    The locations served different purposes. Some had elevated tforms that acted asnding areas and parking spots for the rivers of ships descending into the quadrants. Others had short-distance teleports for the guests who preferred to reach the space station in orbit. There were also training grounds and halls for those who wanted to warm up.


    The arena was its own monster, too. It included all the outside locations and more, but the most important guests had booked them, which the event had no shortage of. The noble families had sent representatives with suitable escorts, and the alien species also wanted their piece of the pie.


    The Fuveall didn''t care about the tournament, and the finished arena pushed their interest to the medical trials. However, the Thilku, Scalqa, and Ef''i wanted to see the battles among young descendants, and their presence was necessary to highlight Baoway''s unique environment. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Thousands of voices shone in Khan''s eyes, forcing him to close them to study each strand. The tournament had hundreds of descendants, all with rtives and escorts. Adding the aliens, the numerous soldiers, the many vehicles, and the various buildings to the equation created an intricate symphony, which Khan''s senses slowly absorbed.


    In many ways, the event was a security hazard. The Nognes family had deployed as many countermeasures as possible, but the quadrant was simply too crowded. A capable figure could easily slip spies into the, but Khan didn''t worry about acts of terrorism.


    The guests were the tournament''s best protection against that. Every noble family had sent representatives, and no one wanted to anger them all. The Hive was the only exception, but Khan had a strange rtionship with it.


    Moreover, Khan was ignoring most of the nobles'' traditions, and the tournament would benefit the lower families. That was precisely what the Hive wanted. Khan was changing the established system withoutmitting reprehensible acts. He had to perform some to get where he was, but the event itself wasn''t founded on any.


    10:30


    Moreover, Khan was ignoring most of the nobles'' traditions, and the tournament would benefit the lower families. That was precisely what the Hive wanted. Khan was changing the established system withoutmitting reprehensible acts. He had to perform some to get where he was, but the event itself wasn''t founded on any.


    The symphony never stopped moving. Minute, colorful strands joined it and converged into the arena, gradually turning it into a blinding spot in Khan''s senses. The stages, towers, and surrounding areas soon became packed, but the trend continued.


    Calctions tried to happen in Khan''s mind, but he quickly gave up. No matter how he twisted it, the financial loss would be massive. The only real ie woulde from the shops'' taxation, but that couldn''tpensate for all the people living in the quadrant rent-free for the event.


    Of course, money wasn''t a problem for Khan anymore. The tournament wasn''t meant to earn, either. As Prince Thomas had described, the event was a charity meant to improve Khan''s fame and turn him into a necessary figure inside the Global Army.


    Khan could join the event right away, but his feet didn''t move. His ankles asionally twitched to keep him in the air, but he never flew forward. The arena already had many friends he wanted to meet, but the sole idea of diving into that political mess gave him a headache. Khan would attend the tournament, but only when his presence became necessary.


    Nevertheless, Khan felt good despite the looming headache, the impending annoyance, and the overall hatred toward those performative events. The tournament was a positive oue of all his struggles and achievements. He was finally helping people.


    The helping part had countless restrictions,promises, and hidden purposes that tainted its positive effect. Yet, Khan felt satisfied. All the loss, blood, and death finally gave birth to something good, and he stood at its center.


    Khan hoped his stay in that isted and private spot in the sky couldst longer, but his phone eventually rang. A message had reached his device, telling him his presence was needed. A sigh tried to escape his mouth, but his legs moved before his expression could change.


    As the arena grew closer, Khan became able to see its details with his bare eyes. Silver tiles had joined its overall dark design, and blue menus shone everywhere, offering all kinds of functions. The ce even had underground control rooms filled with technicians, but only thetter could ess them.


    Voices began to reach Khan''s ears. The murmurs of hundreds of people filled the air, shaking the symphony to its core. An earthquake had taken control of the sky, but only Khan could notice it.


    Once Khan stood high in the sky above the arena, the scenery became clearer. He saw all the packed stages and exclusive areas. The towers had balconies booked by Khan''s friends, allies, and other relevant figures, but one had more influence than the entire building. Its design was also different, offering a proper terrace and specific seats.


    The specific seats also had precise arrangements. On the right, the chairs were bigger and more spacious, and guests of a suitable size already upied them. Meanwhile, the left had smaller posts since the people there didn''t need as much room.


    The seats were also arranged in multiple rows, but a bigger chair stood among them, ced in a way to avoid giving its back to the guests. The item was made of bones and resembled a throne, and someone was already sitting on it.


    As for the rest of the terrace, noble guards, soldiers, and waiters upied its back, ready to deliver food or drinks during the event. Some guests had already used that function and were enjoying their booze, waiting for the tournament to begin.


    Another message reached Khan during his inspection, and he even saw the event unfold. He had noticed the figure on the throne picking up her phone to send that reminder, and leaving her alone in thatplicated situation wasn''t an option.


    A heavy presence suddenly fell on the main tower, freezing the air and flowing toward the other stages. That aura couldn''t cover the entire arena but was noticeable enough to make all the spectators notice it. The murmurs gradually stopped as people lifted their eyes, searching for the strange event''s source, but their reaction was too slow.


    Monica was the only one who didn''t lift her eyes. While everyone was distracted, she stood up, leaving the throne to wait for her fianc¨¦''s arrival. As if understanding her thoughts, a figure promptly materialized before her, sending a blue light to her face.


    Khan didn''t say anything, but Monica could read the thoughts behind his cold face. She let him inspect her new dress for a few seconds before pulling its edges to perform an elegant bow. She also wore a knowing smile, which Khan sealed with a quick kiss.


    By then, the terrace''s guests had noticed Khan, and he didn''t hesitate to address them. He turned to his left, bowing and lifting his red cape to salute Lord Rsi and Lord Exr, who replied in kind, expressing their mutual respect.


    Khan then looked past the two Thilku, eyeing the few Scalqa on the terrace. Ni-Kri, Kru-zi, and Rok-Go performed deep bows, highlighting how distant their primitive manners were.


    The guests on Khan''s right came next. Tlexicpalli stood up to shake Khan''s hand, and he continued by nodding at the noble representatives past her. Thetter could see the seats'' arrangement as insulting, but Khan had ced his Grandfather among them,pensating for the distance from the throne.


    The terrace also had Monica''s parents, who had performed elegant and polite bows during the general greetings. Khan only nodded at them, which was enough to acknowledge their presence. Being among nobles already was the greatest reward Khan could give them, and they didn''t dare to ask for more.


    Khan''s Uncle, Aunt, and Cousins were also in the arena, but he had ced them in different towers to entertain the allies and friends from wealthy families. Those areas even had a few Princes and Princesses interested in the event. Arranging all the seats had been the most time-consuming aspect of the tournament, but the result satisfied everyone.


    Once the round of greetings ended, Monica moved away, opening the path for the throne. Khan reached it, adjusting his cape while sitting on it. Then, he stretched his hand, which Monica took to take her ce with him.


    The terrace and throne granted a perfect view of the stages and the battlefield below, allowing Khan to notice hundreds of blue lights while Monica adjusted herself on him. Most of the audience had pulled holograms and screens up to inspect Khan''s tower, perfectly depicting his inhuman attire. Everyone saw his crown, war paint, bone armor, and red cape, and those pictures conveyed the powerful aura around him.


    Khan didn''t mind that inspection. He even expected it. However, Khan closed his eyes, focusing on the symphony while bringing his free hand to his mouth. Mana umted in his palm, and he blew on it once the technique was ready.


    "May the tournament begin!" Khan whispered, and his voice echoed throughout the arena, reaching its most distant corners.

 Chapter 855 Chats

    855 Chats


    The scene on the countless monitors zoomed out until it encapsted the entire terrace. Khan became the center of a diverse scenery, something that most of the audience had only seen in holograms or history books.


    The terrace had nobles, Thilku, Scalqa, and Ef''i sitting together and enjoying their respectivepany. The diverse group almost seemed united under a single banner, and the audience could only find one exnation for that theoretically impossible sight.


    The bright-eyed man at the group''s center looked both human and alien, and his interactions with the various representatives of each race conveyed pure respect. The different parties all looked up to him or valued him enough to fight for his attention. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The zooming-out had been a nned move. Prince Thomas wanted everyone to see Khan in his best environment, and the action had the intended effects. The tournament would bolster Khan''s fame, but that single scene achieved something far greater. It showed the public that Khan''s leadership was undisputed.


    Nevertheless, the audience didn''t get the chance to acknowledge the eerie feelings the scene was giving birth to. Khan had made an announcement, and someone eventually cheered in excitement. That triggered a chain reaction, spreading uproar among the stages.


    "Humankind is more engaged than I predicted," Lord Rsi said in his perfect human ent. "Is this normal?"


    "No, My Lord," Khanmented. "This event is unusual, which is why they are excited."


    "They should make it amon urrence," Lord Exr joined the conversation. "It''s also a good way to separate strong and weak."


    "The weakest warrior can be the strongest with the right training," Tlexicpalli announced, seemingly only wanting to contradict Lord Exr. "Humans have proven themselves flexible enough to prove that."


    "[Ah]!" Lord Exr cried. "It''s not training. It''s guts."


    "Prince Khan?" Tlexicpalli called.


    "Yes, [Blue Shaman]," Lord Rsi uttered. "What do you think?"


    Khan was already annoyed. The tournament had yet to begin, but the Thilku and Ef''i didn''t waste time trying to get the upper hand in the conversation. Moreover, Khan also had to mind the attentive nobles, so the wrong answer could trigger an endless discussion.


    "The best training is useless without the right mindset," Khan eximed, opting for honesty. "The tournament will test this. None of the contestants have equal backgrounds, so their instincts will make them shine."


    "Well said, Prince Khan," Princess Rachel Montares announced. "You even exemplify your words perfectly. While you have noble blood, your prowess doesn''te from it."


    Princess Montares wasn''t supposed to say that. The other noble representatives understood why she did it, but the matter remained problematic, especially before alien envoys.


    Everyone knew Khan was the exception among exceptions. His power made no sense and broke all human standards. His superiority over the noble descendants was justified and had be epted. Yet, Princess Montares had implied something deeper. She stated that all non-noble descendants could rise higher than her peers.


    That statement wanted to dere Princess Montares'' allegiance with Khan. She didn''t speak for her whole family, but the tournament was important enough to have vast repercussions. It stood to reason her faction was behind her and approved her words.


    As beneficial as the open support was, Khan''s annoyance intensified. The two alpha-dog species were already breathing on his neck, and Princess Montares pushed the nobles into the fray.


    Luckily for Khan, lights shone on the floor, creating screens for the terrace''s guests. Simr but bigger holograms appeared under the stages, illuminating the battlefield while depicting the same scene.


    Princess Reba stood up from her seat in one of the towers, knowing the scanners were pointing at her. Her warm character made her a better fit than her brother for the announcer''s role, and the genuine smile that broadened on the many screens silenced the stages.


    "The first group of contenders will feature," Princess Reba announced, her voice echoing throughout the area through speakers.


    Another round of cheers exploded when Princess Reba finished her announcement, and the various screens promptly zoomed in on specific areas at the arena''s edges. The ck and silver metal there opened, creating passages that led the contestants to the battlefield.


    The arena was big enough to feature multiple battles simultaneously. Moreover, the battlefield''s metal floor was a massive scanner on its own, keeping track of all sorts of data the audience could study from their seats. Exposing one''s prowess could be dangerous, but many contestants wanted the nobles to notice them, and revealing their skills could attract their attention.


    The floor had more functions. Each contestant wore silver armor of grade appropriate to their level. The thin, metal protection had scanners of its own, which sent more data to the arena. It didn''t only defend the descendants but also recorded each blow''s might, highlighting the deadly ones.


    The silver metal used in the armor hinted at the Fuveall''s involvement and vastly improved Khan''s initial idea. The item was light enough to avoid hindering movement and techniques, but its sturdiness remained reliable. It allowed the battles to unfold without referees, automating the process without forsaking the contestants'' safety.


    Of course, incidents could happen, but the contestants had agreed to the risks. Moreover, the arena''s lower levels were filled with doctors ready to intervene. Casualties could happen, but Khan had made sure to limit their likelihood as much as possible.


    "Did Cirvags attend the tournament?" Lord Rsi asked as the battles began.


    "He is in the Thilku Embassy," Khan revealed. "He has a seat reserved in one of the towers."


    "He should sit here," Lord Rsimented.


    "I''ll arrange it and let him know," Khan stated. Things were strange between Mister Cirvags and him, but Lord Rsi''s words had weight. Besides, Mister Cirvags owned a cape, so his position was with the Thilku.


    "What about ¡­," Lord Rsi continued before eyeing Lord Exr.


    "Ambassador Abores," Lord Exr reminded.


    "Ambassador Abores," Lord Rsi repeated.


    "He''s dead," Khan calmly said. "I killed him."


    Many representatives were unaware of the matter, but the revtion didn''t alter their expressions. The nobles could kill freely, and it didn''t take a genius to guess that Khan had his reasons. Moreover, adding one life to Khan''s kill count wouldn''t change much now.


    "So," Lord Rsi continued, "Everything is here now."


    Lord Rsi didn''t do it intentionally, but the representatives inevitably read between the lines. Khan was already advertising Baoway as the best and only connection with the Empire, but hearing one of its Lords confirm it added some certainty to it.


    The human side''s general attention moved to Monica since she handled most Thilku businesses. Her faction also owned trade routes on Neuria, making her an appealing middleman for potential financial inquiries.


    Still, Monica mainly focused on the spectacle below or Khan while he handled the talk. She had already requested and delivered a few drinks to him while enjoying his hidden caresses on her back. Monica would join any political conversation where her presence was needed. Yet, from the outside, she looked unavable.


    Monica''s apparent unavability didn''t stop the representatives from finding new targets. Luther and Anastasia Solodrey sat among them, and the nobles promptly involved them in casual conversations.


    "Ooh!" Tlexicpalli eximed when one of the contestantsunched a fiery spell that engulfed his opponent. The attack was a clean hit, and the battlefield''s floor dered its first winner.


    "Humans have so many spells," Tlexicpalli continued. "Will your training grounds teach them, Prince Khan?"


    "I''m only providing better training environments," Khan exined. "However, we can try that."


    "Didn''t humans and Ef''i share mana studies already?" Lord Exr asked.


    "Humans, yes," Tlexicpalli stated. "Prince Khan, not yet."


    Lord Exr didn''t say anything, and Lord Rsi also remained silent. Yet, the former eyed the huge aliens at his side, seemingly implying something his pride didn''t allow him to voice, especially before his superior.


    Khan didn''t need to move his bright eyes from the battlefield to understand what Lord Exr wanted. The Empire had helped develop training regimens for the Scalqa without getting much in return. Still, Lord Exr couldn''t admit that Khan could provide the same treatment to the Thilku.


    "Obviously," Khan announced, holding back a helpless sigh. "The Empire will also be part of the process. It''s only natural to share our achievements with all of us."


    "Thilku and humans have a simr approach to mana," Lord Exrmented. "Maybe we''ll discover something while working with the [Blue Shaman]."


    "I''m sure the Empire''s support will quicken our joint progress," Monica finally spoke, seizing Khan''s empty cup and lifting a hand to summon the waiters. "Our cooperation has been extremely beneficial until now. I hope it will continue like this."


    "It improved already," Lord Rsi said, "Miss Solodrey. As for these training grounds, the Empire will coborate to ensure their quality."


    "My Lord," Monica called, "Monica is fine. I can''t ask my fianc¨¦''s allies to be so formal with me."


    "Then," Lord Rsi eximed, pondering the matter, "Princess Monica?"


    "Apologies, My Lord," Monica slightly lowered her head. "I''m not married yet, so I didn''t earn that title."


    "[Ah]!" Lord Rsi scoffed. "[Blue Shaman], you are firm in battle but hesitant with love."


    "Lord Rsi, pardon the intrusion," Princess Montares stated. "This topic interests me. Prince Khan, when is the marriage happening?"


    "Yes, Prince Khan," Monica called, lifting her head to show a teasing smile. "When is our marriage happening?"


    ''Kill me now,'' Khan thought before eyeing the two Lords. "[Thilku women palepared to her]."


    Lord Exr and Lord Rsi could see Khan''s words as an insult, but both exploded into a loudugh, which Monica''s re prolonged. She had learned the Thilkunguage long ago, so she didn''t miss thement.


    "[Ah! Blue Shaman]," Lord Exr eximed. "[Maybe you are more Thilku than you realize]."


    Khan hoped the topic could end at that joke, but the word was out now. The representatives, Alexander, and Monica''s parents were all ears, waiting for someone to add inquiries about the marriage.


    Meanwhile, Khan focused on Tlexicpalli and the Scalqa. Those aliens were the only ones focused on the battles, and he hoped the other guests could imitate them. Sadly, that moment never arrived.

 Chapter 856 Tragedy

    856 Tragedy


    The battles in the metal arena continued, interrupted only by asional spectacles that acted as breaks and promoted the tournament''s rewards. Some announcements were purely scientific, but the wealthy parties knew enough about the topic to understand its appeal.


    As for the contestants, the majority was average. Everyone was hungry for fame and glory, but the reality of the situation was quite depressing. Those descendants had ambition and drive butcked the talent, training, and techniques to shine.


    Of course, a few exceptions had popped out, but the tournament had just begun, so no major party tried to hire anyone. That was bound to change, but more descendants had to be eliminated first.


    Despite theck of significant events, everyone seemed to enjoy the tournament. The lower families loved the free exposure, especially when the nobles were part of the audience. The chance to seize precious resources and items also fueled their excitement.


    That was unavoidable since Khan''s faction had spared no effort in preparing appealing rewards. They involved the supplement, Khan''s defensive magic item, high-grade equipment from the noble armories,plete schrships for the Harbor, and more. Each article was priceless, especially in the eyes of a lower family, and having to win Khan''s tournament to obtain them only increased their value.


    As for the wealthier families, the tournament offered a priceless political environment, allowing them to establish new social connections and business ventures. Sharing that space with the nobles made its value skyrocket, pleasing even those not sitting in the towers.


    Khan was the only one who failed to enjoy himself in that general enjoyment. The marriage inquiries had taken long to quiet down, but the guests at his side always brought up more problematic topics. Monica supported him, but the friendly atmosphere asionally turned her into a teasing enemy.


    Luckily, Tlexicpalli was too busy watching the fights to engage in more discussions with the Thilku. The Scalqa also behaved properly, with Ni-Kri asionally surprising everyone with his decent human ent.


    Nevertheless, Alexander remained the oddest of the bunch. He didn''t speak much and only limited himself to calm and neutralments when addressed. His interest also seemed to focus on the battles, but Khan saw past his fa?ade. Still, what he discovered wasn''t exactly bad.


    As much as the situation annoyed Khan, the terrace''s guests respected him enough to keep things friendly. Some were even genuinely trying to build a proper rtionship with Khan, while others had be more than acquaintances long ago.


    Monica also fitted perfectly in that scene, alternating between teasing Khan and supporting him depending on the inquiry. She was enjoying herself, and Khan yed along since spoiling her was more important than his annoyance.


    Overall, the scene was happy, happier than anything Alexander had witnessed in years. Not long ago, his faction was divided, weak, and on the verge of infighting, with his children and grandchildren on the frontlines. He didn''t even dare hope for a peaceful resolution, but there he was.


    The bickering wasn''t mean. The discussion often ended up inughs, and the teasing hid silent conversation only those inside them could hear. Things weren''t perfect, but the scene still warmed Alexander''s heart. He saw a thriving and influential family capable of earning respect from parties that would have despised it only a few years ago. Alexander saw hope embodied in a man who was the spitting image of his lost daughter.


    Khan didn''t like making his Grandfather happy. Part of him still resented him for leaving his father and him in the Slums. Khan also hated his weakness and general exhaustion, especially since those efforts didn''t go toward those who truly needed them. Yet, he let that slide. After all, Alexander''s joy was only a side effect of the whole situation.


    "Oh, it''s time for Lord Vegner''s spectacle," Monica announced when another break happened and strippers filled the metal floor under her.


    "His business must be booming here," Princess Montaresmented, "And I heard he is a big fan of Prince Khan."


    "Pandora joined this quadrant a few months ago," Khan revealed. "It should spread to the whole soon."


    "Why the whole?" Prince Kodwa asked. "It is my understanding most quadrants only have factories, refineries, and simr buildings."


    "Which are owned by my friends," Khan stated. "They must have the means to hold suitable meetings if they wish to."


    "It seems we had to be your friends sooner," Princess Saintilon eximed. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Yes," Khan confirmed. "You had to."


    The cold answer wasn''t proper in that environment, but Khan had uttered it anyway. He would never let the nobles forget that they hesitated to offer support. Khan would still treat them as allies, but friendship was something entirely different for him.


    "Dear," Monica called, switching to her supportive mood, "Let''s enjoy ourselves."


    Khan almost smiled at Monica''s request, but a better idea popped into his mind, and he didn''t hesitate to voice it. "Of course. I''ll watch Lord Vegner''s spectacle attentively."


    Monica initially smiled, but peeking at the battlefield below froze her expression. She had temporarily forgotten what the spectacle entailed, and noticing the sensual strippers soon gave birth to a re. The spectacle had more decorum than the brothels, and men also upied the metal floor, but Monica knew what Khan meant.


    An elbownded on Khan''s side, and Monica gasped when she realized what she had done. The couple had engaged in light and private interactions during the battles, but everything had remained hidden. However, everyone saw her blow now.


    The two Lords couldn''t contain theirughter and lifted their sses to summon the waiters. Lord Rsi even broke his political character by repeatedly mming his huge hand on Khan''s shoulder. The throne shook under those blows, but Khan felt the friendliness behind them.


    "[Blue Shaman, you weren''t joking]," Lord Rsi eximed. "[You would have gotten your cape earlier if you told me]!"


    "That''s a scene thework hasn''t reported in a while," Princess Montaresmented. "I thought the engagement had tamed you."


    Embarrassment tried to overwhelm Monica, but the firm hand that pulled her waist closer dispersed it. Khan reminded her that he was at her side, working as a united front behind the same trench, and her role was to act proud.


    "I''m limiting myself in public," Monica exined, half-pouting at Khan. "It''s another story in bed."


    Lord Rsi seemed unable to stopughing, and his hand kept mming on Khan''s shoulder. His blows were so heavy that Khan had to nt his legs on the floor to preserve the throne.


    The representatives also let out knowing chuckles. Monica had refrained from those vulgarmentstely, especially among guests who were more relevant than her. However, many already treated her as a married woman, allowing her certain liberties.


    Truth be told, Monica just realized that point now. The recent period had been a mess of meetings, business ventures, and more meetings. No one had the time to understand how far Khan''s influence had affected those allies. The friendly situation had never presented itself, either, but the matter was undeniable now.


    Khan felt pleased sensing Monica''s mood improving, but the hammer mming on his shoulder moved his focus elsewhere. Both Lords were at least tipsy, and the same went for Tlexicpalli. Khan was getting there, leaving only the representatives and Scalqapletely sober.


    The matter couldn''t be helped. Even fifth-level warriors had limits to their tolerance, and Khan had prepared booze suitable for their strength. Moreover, the tournament had already gone on for over half a day, and the Thilku Lords had treated it as a [Festival], refilling their bowls and drinks whenever they emptied them.


    The Ef''i drank in general, and Tlexicpalli had almost seen the Lords'' bottomless thirst as a challenge. As for Khan, he was the middle ground between those species, so he had yed along.


    Usually, getting drunk in those political situations wasn''t ideal, but the matter yed into the celebratory mood. Besides, Khan knew none of the guests would lose control of themselves. Actually, he enjoyed that looser environment.


    However, timing had often been against Khan, and the universe never stopped throwing meteorites at him. His phone started buzzing, but he ignored it. Still, the representatives, Alexander, and Monica soon experienced the same event, and it didn''t take long for someone to check their device.


    Prince Duter was the first to ignore decorum and check his phone. The message''s contents killed any enjoyment he had experienced until now, and an ominous feeling spread throughout the terrace when he lifted his head to whisper barely audible words. "Prince Khan."


    The representatives didn''t need heightened senses to understand something terrible had happened. Prince Duter''s tone said it all. Still, Khan also saw his feelings, and his hand slowly reached into his pelt to retrieve his phone.


    Monica peeked at Khan''s screen, and her eyes went wide. She looked at him, her mouth opening to say words her throat refused to release. She even reached for his face, but he carefully lifted her while leaving the throne.


    "I apologize," Khan announced. "I must leave."


    Theoretically, nothing in the entire world could justify Khan''s departure. Yet, no questions flew toward him. His words had been polite, but his aura told a different story. His presence reeked of pure anger and killing intent, which he seemed ready to unleash on the first guest who tried to stop him.


    Even the proud Lord Rsi didn''t say anything. The sudden change in Khan''s aura had sobered him up, exining the seriousness of the situation. He only nodded as if approving Khan''s departure.


    Monica opened her mouth again, but Khan sealed it with a single line. "Preside in my absence."


    Khan disappeared after those words, leaving confused guests who promptly drew their phones. Everything became clear after checking the news, and their eyes fell on Monica, who looked at the sky in worry while the message resounded in her mind.


    ''Bret has died,'' Monica thought, wishing she could fly after Khan.

 Chapter 857: Regret

    ?


    No one stopped Khan. No one even dared try. The news had spread like wildfire, informing everyone about the gravity of the situation. Moreover, Khan''s chilling aura silenced words and thoughts, limiting the reactions to simple nods at most.


    Khan flew to one of the new teleport areas, and guests and soldiers moved aside to let him into the oval tform. The scientists didn''t even ask for the destination. They activated the machine, sending him to the space station orbiting the.


    The space station was as crowded as the quadrant, but the teleport area went silent when Khan appeared. The scientists hesitated before the dangerous presence that spread through the room, but one look from Khan made them input new coordinates.


    The teleport activated, sending Khan into a familiar environment. He recognized his surroundings, but his eyes never lingered on them. His legs moved, teleporting him past the entrance and outside, bringing him to co''s training camp.


    The scene would have usually triggered nostalgic memories, but Khan''s brain barely reacted to his surroundings. He kept moving, setting off to fly to the nearestnding area. Only two ships rested there, encircled by a small team of soldiers.


    "Out," Khan whispered as soon as his feet touched the metal floor, and his words transformed into des that killed the soldiers'' lungs.


    The soldiers could only hold their breath and switch to autopilot, leaving the ships and clearing the area. Khan entered one and set off in the following seconds under that


    dumbfounded and terrified audience.


    The event had been so short the soldiers struggled to realize what had happened. Yet, the red cape and the alien attire pointed to an obvious conclusion. They had just met the famous Prince Khan, and their phones ended up in their hands to try to make some sense of the situation.


    Khan''s phone buzzed as he drove the ship past the training camp and toward the slums. Theyout there changed often, but he knew exactly where to go. He also knew the information currently spreading throughout thework was genuine.


    Bret didn''t want any support or help, but Khan couldn''t leave him on his own. Khan respected his decision and wouldn''t interfere with his life, but that didn''t meanplete detachment. The Slums existed outside thework''s reach, and Khan knew Bret''s time was short. Learning about his eventual death could take months, so Khan had nted a few soldiers to check up on him. They had orders to act if Bret went missing for too long, and the time had finallye.


    Khan''s destination had gathered an odd crowd for the Slums. Soldiers had established a perimeter around a brittle and decaying building, keeping away any bystanders. That wasn''t a problem since the Slums'' inhabitants usually minded their own business, but the scene exined how the information had reached parties outside the Nognes family.


    Khan stopped the ship above the building before jumping from its side doors, teleporting to the dusty road. His arrival shocked the group of soldiers, who didn''t get the chance to greet him.


    "Disperse," Khan ordered, firmly striding forward.


    The soldiers didn''t even try to argue against that directive. Their very survival instincts told them not to, so they opened a path for Khan before diving into nearby blocks. They didn''t leave the area but didn''t try to stay close to the brittle building.


    Khan approached the tainted door and reached for its handle, but screeching sounds suddenly reached his ears. The building screamed in pain before Khan''s heavy aura, threatening to shatter and fall apart.


    The faint blue reflection on the door also told Khan that his eyes were still shining. He was struggling to control his emotions, and part of him didn''t want to. It was his time to grieve, but the universe didn''t care.


    Khan closed his eyes and reopened them. They still shone, but his aura had calmed down enough to give the building a break. Some metal tiles threatened to fall apart but survived the door''s opening.


    An empty, dirty corridor unfolded in Khan''s view, but an equally squalid living room soon reced it. Khan saw the familiar table, broken couch, tainted walls, and dusty furniture, but his attention quickly fell on the three figures inside.


    Two men wearing white medical coats stood beside the table where the third figure was sitting. Khan recognized Bret and his sleeping position, which used his arm as a pillow. However, Khan couldn''t even try to lie to himself. He knew his father wasn''t sleeping.


    "We scanned him, Prince Khan," One of the men with the medical coats announced. "Everything points at natural causes, but we can-."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Out," Khan ordered. The two doctors exchanged a nce before leaving the building. They also closed the door, granting Khan total privacy.


    ''Damned old man,'' Khan thought, slowly sitting at the table. ''Whining so loudly about wanting grandchildren only to die like this.''


    The doctors didn''t touch anything, so the table had bottles of unfinished booze. Khan seized them, indulging in long sips while his eyes lingered on the corpse before him.


    ''I wanted you to see the wedding,'' Khan thought, ''At least. Even getting drunk together onest time would have been fine.''


    Khan knew he wasn''t to me, but regret umted inside him anyway. He had been too busy with too many things to visit his father. He had actually left him alone for a long time, focusing all his efforts on Baoway and getting stronger. That had been the right move, but Khan still considered alternatives.


    Baoway had long since obtained teleports, so Khan could have easily traveled to co''s Slums to visit his father. The trip didn''t even need tost entire days. He could have spent the night there and returned to his in the morning.


    The visit would have ended in a fight since Bret didn''t want Khan to waste time on him. Yet, Khan couldn''t help but regret missing out on those discussions. They were better than nothing, especially now that they had be impossible.


    Memories filled Khan''s vision as he stared at Bret. Even with the restriction, his father had taught him much. Khan had survived many tragedies thanks to the canny social education inherited from Bret, and his teachings didn''t stop at their life in the Slums. Bret had also cleared Khan''sst doubts about the Nak''s mutations, offering as much as his knowledge


    could provide.


    ''All those years spent doubting, hating you,'' Khan recalled, growing angry at himself. It wasn''t his fault, but he could have done more. Time wasn''t on his side, but he could have stolen hours, minutes, or seconds. Even thetter felt valuable now.


    Nevertheless, the reality of the situation was undeniable. Those seconds were outside Khan''s reach now. Even his incredible expertise in multiple alien arts couldn''t defy death. Bret wouldn''t even want that in the first ce.


    ''Damned, stubborn old man,'' Khan cursed in his mind. ''You had to stay here, didn''t you?''


    Khan respected and agreed to Bret''s request because he understood that type of love. He even recognized himself in it. Yet, that development felt unfair, and much of the feeling fueled Khan''s self-directed anger.


    ''I guess things were going too well,'' Khan mocked himself. ''Who am I to think I could take a break and do something good?''


    The bottle exploded in Khan''s hand, spilling ss shards and its remaining booze everywhere. The simple tremor in Khan''s aura had destroyed the container, sending some


    debris on Bret.


    Khan stood up, leaning forward to remove the ss shards from Bret''s ragged clothes and messy hair. Still, as soon as his hand touched him, his senses sent a more realistic and undeniable update. Bret was truly dead. Khan''s fingers were resting on a lifeless body.


    ''Old man,'' Khan thought, sighing as he returned to his seat. ''You did exactly as you wanted, didn''t you? You died where my mother died. I hope you were happy.''


    Khan retracted his gaze, leaning on the chair''s back and closing his eyes. He had suffered through too much death and loss to cry, but his mind was in disarray. Sadness, anger, and regret tried to overwhelm him while an all-devouring void spread from his chest.


    ''He was free,'' Khan concluded. ''In the end, he was free.''


    Khan reopened his eyes, forcing himself to look at Bret. He couldn''t see much from his position, but his inspection didn''t waver. Khanmitted every detail he could find to memory while his mind continued its internal war.


    ''A selfish bastard,'' Khan thought, ''But free.''


    Khan ced his head into his palm, asionally shaking it. He didn''t know what to feel or


    what to do. He only knew he was in no condition to be in public. Khan needed time to face and ept that loss before returning to his life, but the universe probably wouldn''t grant him that


    chance.


    That realization fused with Khan''s recent mood and the other conclusions reached while watching Bret. For all his power, Khan was far from free. Each step he climbed surrounded him with more annoying parties. Even the Nak had joined the fray, throwing him in the middle


    of a universal threat only he knew about.


    ''Youpromised less than me,'' Khan thought, looking at his father again and smirking. ''So much for the chaos element. I guess pure freedom wasn''t my path.''


    Creaking noises echoed throughout the building. Khan was losing control, but his sad smile


    remained on his father.


    ''Don''t worry, Dad,'' Khan said in his mind. ''I''ll be fine. Everyone will be fine. Your ungrateful brat will save this dumb universe.''

 Chapter 858: Tomb

    Chapter 858: Tomb


    ?


    Khan lost track of time, remaining before the dead Bret while emptying bottle after bottle. Random, iplete thoughts asionally surged in his mind, but nothing stuck. Meanwhile, countless memories filled his vision, reminding him of a period when his universe was only as big as one of co''s blocks.


    The buzzing phone reminded Khan of a world outside his head. Thework usually didn''t reach those parts of the Slums, but the nted soldiers had solved the issue to update Khan. Still, he easily ignored his device. His brain often failed to notice the noise, focusing solely on the internal struggle.


    It felt strange to hurt so much. Khan knew he should have gotten used to death and loss, but his heart bled anyway. The powerlessness, regret, and anger inside him fused to create a poison that deprived him of his strength, and things didn''t end there.


    The absence of emotions was worse than bad emotions. The void spreading inside Khan created a hole in his chest, reminding him of the first time he had taken a life. He would have done anything to feel something back then, and things weren''t much different now.


    The booze helped kill time and suppress those terrible feelings, but a growing awareness slowly expanded in Khan''s brain. He wasn''t a kid anymore. He wasn''t even a simple soldier. His responsibilities involved an entire, preventing him from standing still for too long. As much as Khan wanted to linger in his painful mental state far longer, he eventually moved, standing up and closing his eyes. He couldn''t even understand how drunk he was. The void inside him was all-consuming, only leaving room for wild, conflicting emotions.


    ''Get this done,'' Khan said to himself, forcing his eyes open and making his way toward the exit.


    Returning in the open didn''t bring any significant change, but Khan sensed sets of distant eyes on him. He beckoned with his hand, and soldiers promptly crossed the block to approach him. Even the doctors were among them, but Khan could barely tell them apart.


    "Bring me a coffin," Khan ordered. "Clear the mines and the streets to reach them."


    Eyes widened among the soldiers. As powerful and resourceful as the Nognes family was, they were still in the Slums. Getting a coffin suitable for Khan''s father could take a while, and he didn''t seem inclined to wait.


    "A metal box is fine," Khan reassured, understanding the issue. "It''s probably better."


    Khan could almost hear his fatherin about a fancy coffin, and the thought made him smile. Knowing what to do brought some short-lived peace, which his surroundings didn''t share.


    Khan had be more than famous, and thework had long since noticed his always-cold expression, so seeing him smile made the soldiers panic. They immediately dispersed, rushing to get his directives done. That was their job, and they didn''t hesitate to address it to put as much distance between them and Khan.


    Meanwhile, Khan sat on the dusty street, ignoring the dirt that tainted his pelts. Somehow, he still had a bottle in his hands, which he drank while guarding Bret''s house.


    The soldiers didn''t take long to return, delivering a simple metal box big enough for an adult human man. They also brought a cart to transport it, and Khan left the bottle on the ground to address the matter.


    "Leave," Khan ordered, seizing the cart with the box and pushing it inside the house.


    The following seconds were a blur. Khan''s mind was empty while he picked Bret up, carefully ced him in the box, and closed the lid. He didn''t even notice returning outside with the cart. His brain only focused onpleting his task, and a slow march began.


    It had been years since Khan had walked that road, but his feet still recalled it. Much had changed, especially himself, but the Second Impact''s ground zero wasn''t something he could forget.


    The soldiers had done a perfect job at emptying the streets. Khan could push the cart and coffin inplete privacy, taking as much time as he wanted. For all his speed, his steps were slow, adding a meaning Khan didn''t fully realize. He only knew he didn''t want the march to end too quickly.


    Nevertheless, the massive, tall pile of debris eventually appeared in Khan''s view. The Slums'' inhabitants had never stopped digging in those years, but the vast hill created by fighting the Nak was still there, acting as a constant reminder of the tragedy that had cursed Khan''s life.


    The scene awakened more memories, which entering one of the tunnels reinforced. The mines'' insides had changed due to the constant digging, but Khan recognized the environment anyway. He had spent years working there to secure a few cans of food, and a sad realization he had already experienced elsewhere hit him.


    ''So small,'' Khan thought, pushing the cart deeper into the tunnel.


    The tunnel was slightly cramped, but Khan''s realization had nothing to do with that. His senses had already spread farther than his eyes could see, updating his brain about the mines''yout. That seemingly immense environment felt almost tiny now, vouching for Khan''s growth.


    It didn''t help that crackling noises took control of Khan''s surroundings. The tunnel''s unstable, brittle walls could barely endure Khan''s aura, and he was suppressing himself. He had grown beyond what his childhood home could withstand, highlighting what he had be.


    Those sad thoughts didn''t stop Khan. He marched forward, diving deeper and deeper into the mines. He reached depths he had never seen, only to advance even more. The Slums'' inhabitants had yet to reach the Second Impact''s ground zero, but Khan only wanted Bret''s final resting ce to be as close as possible.


    As slowly as Khan was marching, the tunnels eventually ended. Khan could even spot the traces of newly dug holes and passages. The artificialmps had yet to reach those areas, too, leaving the illumination to his bright eyes.


    Khan pushed the cart until the metal coffin touched the wall, but his hands remained on it. He knew he had to but didn''t want to let go. That would give the event a sense of finality, and Khan struggled to make that step.


    ''Fuck,'' Khan thought, forcing himself to release the cart.


    Khan found himself stuck in his position, staring at the metal coffin. It was time to say goodbye, but he couldn''t think of proper words. Eventually, Khan decided to remain silent, cing his hand on the metal box.


    Minutes or seconds passed. Khan wasn''t sure, either. He kept his hand on the coffin, focusing on the cold sensation spreading through his palm. Then, when he felt ready, he retracted his arm and headed toward the mines'' exit.


    The area outside was still empty, and Khan could sense soldiers holding a perimeter around him. They were probably waiting for additional orders, but Khan had different ns. His figure disappeared, finally making use of his speed, reappearing above the mines to inspect the vast structure from the sky.


    The mines stretched for several blocks, but their surroundings were rtively empty. No houses grew around them, and even the military equipment was nowhere to be seen. Khan nodded to himself, descending tond on the rtive center of the vast structure. He closed his eyes, expanding his senses and sending them into the debris below. The area was highly unstable, but Khan wanted toplete his task with a single move.


    ''Focus on the unstable nature of all things,'' Khan said to himself while his influence dug deeper into the mines'' roof. ''Find the frail connections and their desire to sever themselves. Turn the tiny ws into gorges.''n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan''s influence expanded until it reached the streets around the mines. At that point, he stopped pushing it and focused on consolidating it. The entire structure soon appeared in his mind, and a wave of invisible energy shot from his feet, flowing through the mines'' brittle


    surfaces.


    Cracking noises began to echo everywhere, but the situation immediately degenerated. Fissures opened and spread in countless spots, both outside and inside the mines. Those gaps widened, eventually triggering a chain reaction.


    Big chunks of melted metal and other debris fell. The mines'' surfaces caved in, destroying all the tunnels dug in the past years. Everything crumbled, lifting a cloud of dust that rose past the Slums'' tallest houses.


    The destruction took a while to stop. Everything was brittle, so that massive crumbling destabilized more surfaces, shattering them.


    The soldiers couldn''t help but move at that sudden event. Still, the prolonged crumbling kept them away, waiting for things to stabilize. The giant cloud also hindered their inspection,


    forcing them to dy rescue operations.


    However, before the cloud could vanish, a blue light pierced it, drawing near to the most


    numerous group of soldiers. The glow split into two, slowly revealing the humanoid figure


    wielding it.


    When Khan crossed the cloud, the soldiers gasped and heaved sighs of relief. Still, his stern mood prevented them from appreciating that development, and his following orders told them that their job was far from done.


    "Provide ten years'' worth of food to anyone who has ever worked here," Khan ordered. "Also, iste this ce. This area now belongs to the Nognes family."


    Khan couldn''t do much for his father when he was alive. Yet, in death, he had a chance to do something. Bret wanted to be with Elizabeth, so he buried him as close to her as possible, and


    the Nognes family would forever protect their tomb.


    ****


    Author''s notes: New volume, new cover. I hope you like it! Also, I put all the covers on my socials (Instagram, Twitter, Discord). You can find them there if you want to see their bigger and higher-quality versions.

 Chapter 859: Sodsi

    Chapter 859: Sodsi


    ?


    As much as Khan wanted to preside over the work on the crumbled mines, his presence was required elsewhere. Checking his phone, he found he had spent around half a day away, which was far longer than a person in his position could afford.


    Luckily, Khan''s orders were absolute, and the soldiers who had heard them were too terrified of him to strive for anything but perfection, so he didn''t doubt the results. He could leave knowing his parents'' tomb would be safe.


    A slower trip back to Baoway unfolded. Khan did his best to dy his return, but most of the voyage involved teleports, limiting his influence over its length.


    Baoway''s night eventually invaded Khan''s senses. The morning was close, but the''s star had yet to appear. Yet, the quadrant was far from quiet or dark. Parties with thousands of guests disturbed the symphony, echoing past the main city and other attractions. Lights also illuminated the sky, filling the ckness with their bright pollution.


    Khan had reappeared among scientists and technicians, but no one spoke. News from the Slums had already reached the quadrant, delivering inconclusive reports. Khan''s mental state remained unclear, and no one wanted to risk angering him.


    The teleport''s personnel couldn''t know Khan paid them no heed. He barely recorded their presence, and his feet moved once he finished absorbing the scenery. His figure disappeared, and the scientists checked their surroundings and each other before drawing their phones.


    Updates about the tournament had reached Khan''s phone, but he didn''t check them. He had left the event in capable hands, so he knew everything had gone well. The current parties even vouched for that, so he flew directly for the city, eager to address his strange mental state.


    Needless to say, news of Khan''s return spread throughout the quadrant in no time, bing the main topic of every party. Everyone wanted to see him to offer their condolences and more, but no one had reliable ways of reaching him.


    Khan also knew the main building''syout like the back of his hand. He could slip inside and reach his destination unnoticed, but someone had preceded him to it.


    Khan found Monica before one of their bedrooms, leaning on its metal doors. She looked tired, and her worry was palpable, but her untidy tracksuit stated her priorities. She had probably hurried outside as soon as the news of Khan''s return reached her phone.


    As for how Monica had predicted which bedroom Khan would hit, he didn''t know. He didn''t even need to exin it. Their eyes met, and thoughts disappeared from his brain.


    "Khan," Monica called, her voice a mere whisper. She hurried forward, taking Khan''s head into her hands before asking a question she knew was useless. "How are you?"


    Monica was aware of her mistake but had no control over her throat. She looked deep into Khan''s eyes, uncaring of the blinding light they radiated. The day had been exhausting, but Monica had endless stamina when it came to her man.


    Khan didn''t want to talk, think, or rest. He leaned forward, sealing Monica''s lips. The sudden gesture surprised her, but the two had been together long enough for her to understand what was happening. Those were the Niqols'' ways, so Monica clung to Khan''s neck, jumping to let him carry her into the bedroom.


    A messy and sweaty couple of hours followed. Khan flooded his head with nothing but Monica, overwhelming the conflicting and raging emotions inside him. That break from the mourning calmed him down, allowing him to face his pain, which he did once Monica was too tired to remain awake.


    Khan found himself on an empty terrace, sitting cross-legged on its edge. His bright eyes looked past the handrails, studying the gradual sunrise on the distant horizon. The celebrations were quieting down, but workers woke up at the morning''s arrival to prepare for the tournament''s second day.


    Empty bottles stood or rolled behind Khan, but he wielded a full one in his hands while Baoway''s star kept rising. He took asional sips, immersing himself in his clearer feelings. Truthfully, the matter had no solutions. Khan only had to get used to a world without his father.


    A disturbance eventually hit the peaceful scenery. Still, it didn''te from the city past the terrace or the world outside. Khan sensed it nearing behind his back, stopping a few meters from him out of respect.


    "Grandfather," Khan said without turning. He kept watching the dawn while bringing the bottle to his mouth.


    Alexander didn''t say anything. He looked at Khan before peeking past the terrace''s handrail, hoping the dawn would appease his internal turmoil. Khan didn''t berate him, but he guessed how he felt, and things couldn''t be good.


    Khan wouldn''t even be to me for his anger. Alexander had yed a significant part in keeping Bret in the Slums. His faction had also destroyed his family, covering every possible track of that tragedy.


    "Do you hate me, Grandson?" Alexander eventually asked.


    Hearing Alexander''s voice awakened something inside Khan, but he didn''t let it take control of his actions. His anger was real, but that wasn''t the time for harsh decisions. Besides, Khan had already epted his family''s situation. Going back on it due to his father''s natural death wouldn''t be his style.


    "Yes," Khan admitted, drinking from the bottle again.


    "I understand," Alexander nodded. "My condolences. My actions might say otherwise, but I respected your father. He was a great scientist."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan didn''t answer. He ended up thinking about Abraham and how he would have liked to attend Bret''s burial. The two were friends, but Khan had handled the matter on his own. Somehow, Khan had to make it up to him.


    "What was his name?" Khan asked.


    Alexander couldn''t help but look at Khan. He understood his curiosity toward the topic, but a proper answer could lead to problems. Khan was famous for his unreasonable actions, so it wouldn''t surprise Alexander if he started using his father''s name, ignoring his noble lineage. However, Alexander also felt he owed Khan a genuine reply. He had hurt his family too much to refuse that simple request, especially after Bret''s death. Moreover, Alexander had sworn loyalty to Khan, and lying would go against that.


    "Sodsi," Alexander revealed. "Bret Sodsi."


    "Sodsi," Khan muttered. "Bret Sodsi. Khan Sodsi. Khan Nognes. Khan."


    Khan tested the various names, hoping to get some kind of reaction. However, they didn''t hold any value in his mind since his affections weren''t built on blood.


    Nevertheless, Alexander saw something different. Bret''s death was a crack that could destroy what Khan had built inside his faction. He could very well start another internal war, forcing Alexander to make promises.


    "I know I wronged you and your father," Alexander announced. "I''ll do everything in my power to make up for it. Just ask, and I''ll see to it."


    Khan scoffed, surprising Alexander. Khan rarely showed his reactions, let alone thoughts. Yet, he had openly mocked Alexander''s statement and didn''t stop there.


    "Everything in your power, you say," Khan eximed, standing up and facing his Grandfather. A blue light shone on Alexander, but all he saw was the intense face behind it.


    "I know I couldn''t have done much alone," Khan dered, stepping forward. "Heck, I didn''t even know what Credits were. All I had were guts and determination." Anyone would have retreated before Khan''s slow but firm advance, but Alexander remained still. He had pledged himself to Khan, so he couldn''t step back now.


    "Realistically, I would have been put down at the first major mess," Khan continued, "And I had many to make. My goals stretch deep into this gxy, maybe past it, and my methods


    aren''t nice."


    By then, Khan had reached Alexander, and the former almost wore a mocking smirk. Khan''s expression never took that shape, but Alexander felt it.


    "But you wanted a united faction," Khan reminded. "You wanted someone capable of reining in all the loose ends you created. You even wanted to achieve that without spilling your offspring''s blood, so you called me, giving me all the power and means I needed." Khan''s expression becamepletely cold, and Alexander could sense the iing threat. Alexander also knew Khan was right. He was aware of what he had done, and the results proved him right.


    "I will burn downs," Khan announced, "Eradicate entire species, and start all kinds of wars to fulfill my goals. I''ll stop at nothing to get what I want, and the power you gave me will enable each of my heinous acts."


    Khan was speaking the truth. He had actually alreadymitted some of those sins. The Empire had colonized Cegnore because Khan had told it how to eliminate its natives. That was


    a factual genocide that Khan put on himself.


    "You made a deal with a monster to get what you wanted," Khan exined. "Now, you''ll spend the rest of your life cleaning up after him."

 Chapter 860: Condolences

    Chapter 860: Condolences


    ?


    Alexander didn''t have a reply to the statement, and Khan didn''t wait for it. Khan departed, leaving Alexander on the terrace while he returned inside the building.


    Sadly, that marked the end of Khan''s solitary mourning period. The news of his return had long since reached every corner of the, and his inner circle had given him some privacy, but that time was over. The tournament''s second day was starting, so the chances of offering condolences were running out.


    Familiar auras touched Khan''s senses as soon as he entered the building. Alexander had gone to the terrace but didn''t reach the area alone. Princess Felicia, Prince William, and their mother were waiting inside and didn''t stay still at Khan''s arrival.


    "Cousin!" Princess Felicia called, almost shouting, rushing forward. Khan half-expected a bow, but Princess Felicia hugged him, her squeeze''s strength conveying her sorrow.


    Princes and Princesses usually never engaged in such affectionate gestures. Even in private, they upheld a specific level of decorum. Their lineage demanded it.


    However, Princess Felicia had taken after her mother. She shared Princess Reba''s good heart, and her general awareness about Khan''s situation made everything worse. Princess Felicia didn''t only feel bad for Khan. She also med herself for her faction''s role in his loss. Khan never had siblings, and his rtionship with women had always beenplicated. Nothing in his life had prepared him for that event, leaving him partially stunned, especially since Princess Felicia''s emotions were genuine.


    Khan peeked at Princess Felicia, who had hidden her face in his neck, before ncing at Princess Reba. Thetter showed a sad smile and nodded at him. Unlike Khan, Princess Reba knew what was happening, so she gave him time to realize it.


    The realization quickly arrived. Khan had Bret, but their rtionship was dysfunctional at best. He never had a real family with whom to share tragedies. Khan had never experienced that instinctive and often unreasonable support and affection.


    Joining the Nognes family didn''t change that. The event had happened after the assassination attempt, so everything had been entirely political and cold. Yet, enough time had passed for one side of the faction to warm up to him.


    "I''m okay," Khan reassured, awkwardly patting Princess Felicia''s back.


    Princess Felicia broke the hug, stepping back while taking Khan''s hand. Eventually, she let go of him, retreating to give him space. Still, the pain never left her expression.


    "My condolences, Cousin," Prince William announced. "Problems aside, Bret was a great man."


    Prince William''s more polite and detached words aligned with his character, but his mother didn''t leave it at that. She stepped forward, reaching for Khan''s face. He almost dodged that iing hand, but the symphony suppressed that instinctive urge.


    "How are you?" Princess Reba asked, her eyes darting across the traces of dirt, sweat, and ruined war paint on Khan''s face.


    "I''m okay," Khan repeated, his tone conveying his awkwardness. His eyes were still shining, and his expression had remained cold, but his uneasiness was evident.


    "When was thest time you had a good night''s sleep?" Princess Reba questioned, her concern hiding the faint desire to scold Khan about the topic.


    "I never have good nights of sleep," Khan revealed, carefully lowering the hand on his face. "Aunt, it''s fine. You don''t need to do this."


    "But I want to," Princess Reba stated. "You might be the faction''s leader and the best warrior in the Global Army, but you are also my nephew. Don''t forget that."


    Khan had fought wars and witnessed catastrophes, but Princess Reba made him feel like a small kid. He was powerless before that unconditional love, so he decided to run away.


    "I must shower," Khan eximed. "The tournament will start soon."


    "Everyone will understand if you take a break," Prince William imed. "Everyone is owed a mourning period."


    "I''m not everyone," Khan dered, promptly leaving the area.


    Khan hoped to remain alone for the following minutes, but crossing a few corridors brought him before another familiar figure. Prince Thomas stood before one of the building''s bathrooms, seemingly predicting Khan''s arrival.


    "Are you going to offer your condolences, too?" Khan asked, crossing his Uncle to approach the door behind him.


    "No," Prince Thomas replied, following Khan into the vast bathroom. "I figured you needed a briefing about yesterday''s events."


    "Did the Lords have fun?" Khan questioned, ignoring Prince Thomas'' presence while undressing.


    "Yes," Prince Thomas imed. "Though I fear they learned about your father''s departure."


    "Did Mister Cirvags show up?" Khan continued.


    "He did," Prince Thomas confirmed. "Reports said he looked quite grumpy."


    ''He always looks grumpy,'' Khan thought, diving into the shower to remove all the dirt umted on the trip. "Anything else?"


    "Nothing worthy of note," Prince Thomas revealed. "Your fianc¨¦e did an exemry job."


    Khan didn''t say anything, focusing on scrubbing himself up. The falling cold water suppressed his faint tiredness, slight drunkenness, and strange mood, but his Uncle''s aura suddenly changed.


    "My Prince," Prince Thomas called, "Nephew. My condolences."


    Khan froze for a second but quickly resumed cleaning himself up. He truly wasn''t used to those situations, and his past with his faction worsened things. However, the genuine nature of those words kept dealing blows he didn''t expect.


    Khan had every reason to hate his faction. All things considered, even his Aunt wasn''t innocent. She had abided by the nobles'' rules, ignoring Khan and Bret for over a decade.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    That genuine affection and concern also had a bitter taste. Khan would have never received them if he hadn''t earned his current position through strength and sacrifice. He wouldn''t even know he had rtives left without his many struggles.


    Nevertheless, all the nobles probably had dysfunctional rtionships, and Khan couldn''t lie to himself. As strange andplicated as it was, he still had a family. Even if the context and past were awful, he still had supportive and caring rtives.


    ''Way to look at the bright side,'' Khan mocked himself while epting the truth. The issue was simr to his mutations. He had made the best out of the Nak''s power, so he could do the same with his odd family situation.


    Prince Thomas didn''t leave the bathroom and barely blinked while Khan dressed. The man calmly waited while Khan reapplied his war paint and wore his various ornaments, eventually following him outside.


    By then, the quadrant hadpletely awakened. The various parties had left a widespread mess, but the area had enough cleaning robots and workers to attend to it. They also had all the room and time they wanted since everyone had started moving to the arena.


    The guests filled the stages in no time, and the same went for the towers. Contestants also gathered in the arena''s lower areas, ready to jump on the battlefield and prove themselves before the most important people in the Global Army.


    However, the atmosphere wasn''t as joyous as the previous day, and the hangovers had little


    to do with that.


    Everyone had learned about Bret''s death, and the Nognes family had yet to issue official statements to address it. Due to the topic''s intricacies, the public didn''t even know whether it would mention it. Still, Khan stood at the center of the issue, leaving the guests wondering


    about his next move.


    It didn''t help that the members of the Nognes family had yet to reach the arena. Everyone from aliens to humans had taken their appointed seats, but the actual event''s organizers were still missing, intensifying the confusion and rumors.


    Everything changed when a series of ships flew toward the arena, appearing above it. Each ride descended toward the appointed tower, stopping mid-air to release metal ramps. Prince Thomas, Princess Reba, and the other Princes and Princesses walked down under a wave of cheers, but most of the attention remained on the main vehicle.


    The ship above the terrace with the Thilku Lords, noble representatives, Tlexcipalli, Scalqa, and Mister Cirvags had also released a metal ramp, but people had yet to descend from it. Yet, a figure eventually appeared, and the slightly dejected cheers resounded when the audience


    recognized Alexander.


    Things changed when two more figures followed. The blue light that illuminated each screen zoomed in on the scene triggered a proper uproar, which grew louder when the audience recognized Khan. He descended the ramp hand-in-hand with Monica, conveying the same intensity as always. Actually, he looked slightly more unruly, but only a few noticed that


    detail.


    Alexander, Monica, and Khan quickly reached their appointed seats, and the ships departed, leaving the audience waiting for an announcement from the faction''s leader. However, Khan didn''t grant that wish, and Princess Reba soon imed everyone''s attention by officially starting the tournament''s second day.


    Princess Reba''s announcement didn''t kill the general curiosity toward Khan, especially from those sitting at his sides. The symphony told him that questions were about to arrive, but his fianc¨¦e was the first to im that right.


    "Did your eyes get dark at all?" Monica asked, whispering to Khan''s ear. She knew him better than anyone, so she noticed the issue.


    Khan had actually missed that. He had decided to hide his true face after the assassination attempt, and his bright eyes were part of it. Yet, dealing with Bret''s death made him forget


    that detail.


    "These are my eyes," Khan instinctively responded. Somehow, hiding part of his true colors didn''t feel right anymore. The decision wasn''t even rational. He simply didn''t do it.

 Chapter 861: Reunions

    Chapter 861: Reunions


    ?


    The tournament''s second day officially began, and Princess Reba even announced the contestants'' names. The event still had preliminaries, so multiple descendants entered the battlefield, upying specific areas marked on the metal floor.


    The fighters'' arrival had captured the audience''s attention the previous day, but many kept eyeing the main tower now. The guests were still curious about Khan, especially those who truly knew him.


    The situation was no better in the main tower. Monica could understand much from Khan''s short exnation, but the Thilku Lords, Tlexicpalli, and noble representatives couldn''t be satisfied with that. They also feltpelled to say something about that personal tragedy. It was almost mandatory due to their status and rtionship with Khan.


    The representatives seemed ready to go first, but Lord Rsi took the lead. During the wait, he had seized some booze and stretched his massive arm toward the throne to offer his cup.


    "Condolences, [Blue Shaman]," Lord Rsi announced. "Know that the news saddened many Thilku."


    Lord Rsi had gotten friendlier during the tournament, but the announcement still surprised Khan. Basic condolences were fine, but the Lord had involved his soldiers, too. He didn''t mention the whole Empire for political reasons, but Khan could read between the lines.


    "It was his time," Khan responded, epting the drink and gulping it down in a single sip before lifting his arm. "My father died exactly how he wanted."


    Waiters promptly arrived to refill Khan''s cup and deliver more drinks to the guests. The Thilku also requested food, and the Scalqa imitated him.


    "Was he a warrior?" Lord Rsi asked.


    "Scientist," Khan exined. "The best there was."


    "[Ah]!" Lord Exr cried. "That exins how you learned our runes so quickly."


    Khan nced at Monica, wearing an "I told you so" face, but she responded with a deadpan expression. His proclivity for aliennguages and cultures had nothing to do with technology. Still, seeing him able to joke after Bret''s death made her giggle.


    "Will you honor his death?" Lord Rsi questioned, referring to [Festivals] and simr events. "I already had a private funeral," Khan exined. "Though I appreciate the interest." Lord Rsi nced to his right, and Lord Exr understood the silent message.


    "We could host a [Feast]," Lord Exr suggested. "The Empire has long since settled here, and this is a suitable urrence."


    The offer had a deeper meaning. Khan had already hosted [Feasts], which made sense since Baoway was his domain. Having the Thilku organize a simr event would apply the same theory. They would basically state that they considered the their home as well.


    The other guests didn''t miss that detail, and Khan found the strength to nod due to the Thilku''s good intentions. However, a disturbance suddenly ran through the symphony, and Khan almost knew what would arrive.


    "The event is a great idea," Tlexicpalli eximed. "My warriors are eager for a rematch."


    Lord Rsi and Lord Exr almost took the bait but remained silent out of respect for Khan''s tragedy. Tlexicpalli also avoided pressing on and switched to offering her version of condolences.


    "Prince Khan," Tlexicpalli called. "If you need to blow off some steam, the Ef''i would be more than willing to provide the chance."


    Tlexicpalli hinted at sparring matches, but Khan had experienced another side of the Ef''i''s culture. They knew how to have fun and let loose, but he wasn''t in the mood for those joyous parties yet.


    "I appreciate the offer," Khan said, pulling Monica closer from her waist, "But my fianc¨¦e is already taking care of that."


    Lord Exr and Lord Rsi held back their jokes andughs but nced at Monica in approval. They already respected her, and learning that Khan could rely on her intensified that feeling.


    The representatives followed. Polite condolences resounded on the terrace while battles raged below. Except for Princess Montares, the nobles had a more detached approach to the topic, which Khan preferred. He appreciated the aliens'' good and genuine intentions, but his brain failed to record most words thatnded on his ears.


    The personal tragedy also created a strange atmosphere on the terrace. Silence reigned once the rounds of condolences ended. The guests engaged in asional, short conversations, but the jokes andughs of the previous day were absent. The general mood didn''t allow them.


    That pushed most of the attention to the battles, which were rtively entertaining, albeit with nothing noteworthy. Even the few contestants who slightly excelled received no offers from nobles or major families. It was too early for that.


    Nevertheless, Khan appreciated that quiet mood. He drank and ate, asionally addingments, but his mind often wandered past the battles and guests. Thoughts about his father and matters rted to his death distracted him, isting him in his own world.


    The thoughts didn''t have any real direction. They were random, generated by the closeness to the tragedy. Khan only needed time, and the guests were respectful enough to leave him alone.


    The battles ended when Baoway''s star began to disappear behind the horizon. Once again, the tournament eliminated half of its remaining contestants, and the many parties departed, leaving the arena to head toward different celebratory events.


    Khan also departed, excusing himself with Monica to avoid getting dragged into parties or other annoying situations. Bret''s death yed in his favor there, stopping any guest from attempting to kidnap him. Still, the personal tragedy demanded a rtively public appearance, and leaving through the arena''s appointed streets pushed Khan into unavoidable social obligations.


    Leaders had duties, and personal tragedies didn''t exempt them from them. Actually, any major event increased their numbers, and even Khan had people he couldn''t refuse to meet.


    Khan had yet to leave the arena when familiar auras touched his senses. He was still departing with the terrace''s guests, walking hand-in-hand with Monica, but the event forced him to stop. Those around him imitated his action, following his gaze into the vast and bright


    corridor.


    A group of soldiers advanced in Khan''s vision, but his eyes looked past the troops, recognizing the people they hid. Luke, Bruce, Lucian, Mark, John, Lucy, George, and Anita were heading his way, apanied by their parents and family representatives. Truth be told, Khan could ignore most of those descendants. He had built part of his authority over Baoway through them, but they would understand his desire to remain alone now. However, the others deserved a fraction of his attention, at least to reassure them that he was


    okay.


    The two groups met, and the soldiers broke their lines, heading for the corridor''s walls and exposing the descendants. Luke and the others promptly bowed in respect, echoing words like "Condolences" and "Prince Khan", but George didn''t bother with those empty pleasantries. "I''m sorry," George eximed, reaching Khan and mming his hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to get wasted like old times?"


    Anita would usually shoot a re at George but held back. She and Monica exchanged a look, which transformed into a sad smile, before focusing on their respective men.


    "One of these nights," Khan promised. "Not today."


    "Alright," George nodded, looking at Monica. "Take good care of him. You know how he is."


    "He won''t leave my sight at all," Monica dered before looking at the bowing descendants. They could force Khan to stay with them for hours, and she knew he only wanted to leave. His duties prevented him from pushing everyone away, so Monica decided to step up. "Friends," Monica called. "Thank you for your concern, but could we postpone this reunion? I feel rather unwell, and there''s still much to n."


    No one believed Monica''s im, but everyone understood her motives. Khan wanted to avoid that impolite gesture, so Monica took it upon herself to justify their need to leave. She even med herself, preventing eventualints about Khan''s avability.


    The justification worked perfectly, and no additional questions flew toward Monica. The descendants had already epted her reasons, so they didn''t want to prolong the couple''s stay in the corridor. Yet, Khan didn''t let that protective gesture fly.


    "Forgive my protective fianc¨¦e," Khan announced. "I''ll find the time to celebrate with all of


    you, but I''d rather retreat early today."


    "It''s understandable," Luke promptly responded, reassuring Khan and forcing the other descendants to follow suit.


    "Contact us whenever you need," Lucian continued, and more polite words followed.


    The same went for the descendants'' parents and family representatives. They echoed the younger generation''s words, quickly offering their respects and vouching for their avability. That feeling was also genuine, which made sense given the wealth and influence obtained through the alliance with Khan.


    Monica didn''t fully understand why Khan didn''t let her protect him but left that question forter. Now, she only thought about taking care of him, which meant leaving as soon as


    possible.


    Khan shared Monica''s idea and prepared himself to resume his departure, but more familiar auras touched his senses, halting his steps again. Martha was among them, but Khan had no problems with her. The same went for Princess Felicia. His issues were with the other two. Amber and Cora were heading his way.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 862: Secret

    Chapter 862: Secret


    ?


    Khan knew about Cora''s attendance at the tournament. He had reviewed the guest list and even provided her family with a free trip. Khan was also aware that her tower included Martha and Princess Felicia, so seeing them together didn''t surprise him.


    However, the situation was far from ideal. Khan only wanted to leave and be alone, and lingering in the area might insult his allies since he had just asked for their patience.


    Also, Khan hadn''t seen Cora in years, and the events following their separation didn''t look too good. He had broken up with Cora before Milia 222''s mission, only to return from it with a new girlfriend. Amber had reassured him about that, but he struggled to believe her.


    There was another problem. Thework had long since shown Khan''s new appearance to the world, but that would be Cora''s first time seeing him with her own eyes. She had been the most human of Khan''s girlfriends, so his alien look could trigger sad reactions.


    Despite the worries, Khan couldn''t find the strength to run away. He slightly feared that reunion but felt he owed it to Cora. Her reaction would probably confirm how alien he had be, but he needed to face it.


    Monica was the first to understand why Khan had stopped and promptly followed his gaze. Luke and the others soon imitated him, and the soldiers eventually moved away, revealing the neers.


    Princess Felicia''s arrival lowered many heads, but everyone still noticed herpanions. Martha''s appearance didn''t surprise anyone, but the other two women reminded the descendants of old gossip.


    Khan wasn''t surprised when Amber and Cora froze on the spot. They had known him as a yful and joyous young man, and the figure in their eyes had nothing inmon with that.


    It wasn''t only the alien attire. Khan''s bright eyes, cold face, and aura highlighted a profound transformation. He wasn''t a professor from Reebfell anymore. He was someone else or something else.


    Some bitterness spread in Khan''s mouth. Cora and Amber''s mana still retained the sweetness and slight innocence he recalled, almost describing what he had chosen to throw away. Khan could have had that peaceful, pure life. It was in his reach, but he had rejected it.


    That deeper meaning was so evident even the descendants noticed it. One side of the scene had the ruthless leader engaged with a quasi-princess and surrounded by alien figures. Meanwhile, the other had pure, sweet humans who knew almost nothing about wars and tragedies.


    Khan almost started reviewing his life choices when the grip on his hand tightened. Monica''s face didn''t change, but Cora''s arrival awakened a heavy feeling. The two had never met, but thework had built a history between them.


    Monica didn''t steal Khan from Cora. She was sure of that. Still, Khan had also told her much about her, highlighting her good and overall supportive character, and the news of his new girlfriend was bound to have hurt her.


    Seeing the couple holding hands couldn''t look good, either. As much as Monica hid it, she felt guilty and the need to clear the air between them.


    Khan could read Monica''s thoughts, and her need for support gave him the strength to ignore his mood. His brain pushed the bad feelings to the back of his brain, allowing him to focus on positive details.


    "Long time no see," Khan announced. "I''m happy to see you are doing well."


    Those weren''t casual pleasantries. Amber and Cora did look truly well. The mana had kept them young and devoid of wrinkles, and their power had also increased. Both had be third-level warriors, and their careers had probably witnessed simr benefits.


    Khan''s kind words dispersed Cora''s hesitation. She stepped forward, slowly followed by Amber, until the two reached the couple.


    "Kha-," Cora called before lowering her head and changing her words. "Prince Khan."


    Amber was about to echo Cora''s words, but Khan lifted his free hand, interrupting her and addressing the matter. "It''s just Khan for you two."


    Amber couldn''t help but show a slight smile, but sadness still reeked out of her expression. The situation was far from happy, and Cora''s presence was bound to worsen it.


    "Khan," Cora called, lifting her head and falling silent. Her eyes darted left and right on Khan''s face, searching for details that matched her memories. She found some, but they only confirmed that the man she had loved didn''t exist anymore.


    More sadness inevitably spread through Cora''s mana, but she didn''t focus on herself. Warmth enveloped that sour feeling, bringing out her good heart.


    "I''m sorry about your father," Cora eximed. "How are you?"


    "I''m okay," Khan reassured, wearing a weak smile. "I only need some time."


    Khan''s smile was genuine. He was d Cora didn''t lose her pure heart, but the audience felt utterly shocked. Khan had broken his cold expression, something the descendants didn''t believe possible anymore.


    Cora fell into a daze, staring at that familiar smile. Even Amber recognized that expression, and Martha was no exception. As much as Khan had changed, that part of him still existed. It was simply buried under immense political pressure, tragedies, and more.


    Nevertheless, as the seconds passed, Cora''s silence created an awkward atmosphere, which she didn''t seem to notice. The event continued for so long that Amber considered pinching Cora, but Khan acted sooner than she did.


    "I was about to retreat to my quarters," Khan revealed. "Do you mind if we talk one of these days?"


    Cora snapped back to reality, nodding and agreeing. "Of course. Take all the time you need."


    The return to reality forced Cora to realize what had happened. Her eyes widened in panic as she inspected the lofty guests in Khan''s group and ultimately looked at Monica. Her gaze immediately went to the floor afterward, intensifying Monica''s guilt.


    Khan exchanged nces with Amber, and herplicated feelings exined the issue. As much as Cora and Khan had a past, his status had skyrocketed, and Monica was nomoner. Cora wouldn''t normally have any right to stand in their presence, let alone dy their


    departure.


    "Go," Khan whispered, ncing at Monica. The two didn''t need to talk to exin themselves,


    so a whole conversation happened in that second.


    "But-" Monica tried toin, but Khan caressed her cheek, interrupting her.


    "It''s okay," Khan reassured.


    Monica didn''t want to leave Khan alone. Although she wouldn''t be muchpany, she preferred to remain nearby if he needed her. Yet, the situation had be tooplicated, and she couldn''t hide her guilty stench from him.


    "I''ll find you soon," Monica muttered, leaving a short kiss on Khan''s lips before releasing his


    hand.


    The audience didn''t understand what was happening, but Monica promptly addressed the matter. She stepped forward, facing Cora and Amber, before voicing her request.


    "Miss Ommo," Monica called, using her most respectful tone. "Could we talk?"


    Cora didn''t expect that request. Part of her wanted to refuse it. After all, Monica was Khan''s fianc¨¦e, while she was only an ex. However, refusing the most famous member of the Solodrey family wasn''t something someone in her position could do.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Also, Cora looked past Monica to search for Khan, but he had already turned to leave. His group even followed him, leaving Monica as a barrier between the descendants and him. That wasn''t the politest move, but someone with his situation and status justified it. Also, he had said his goodbyes, so he had no reason to linger in the area any further.


    The walk outside the arena felt endless, and Khan set off as soon as clean air reached his nostrils. His figure disappeared into the sky, quickly crossing it to get to the area with his caves. One of them had a stash of booze, and he didn''t hesitate to dive into it.


    Khan didn''t n to do much. He only wanted a break from everything, a few hours away from all the politics and social obligations. The booze and cave provided that, but his mind started


    fighting against him.


    The tournament would resume the following day. The social obligations were still there, waiting for Khan. Nothing was solved, and Khan was only dying the inevitable. He would have to attend everything sooner orter, especially the heartfelt talk with Cora.


    ''I guess their expressions say everything,'' Khan thought, losing himself in the blue light shining on the bottle in his hands. ''We live in different worlds.''


    Khan couldn''t linger in those sad thoughts for too long. The stench of synthetic mana eventually reached his nostrils, and two auras followed. He had visitors, but their identity


    made the unexpected event pleasant.


    "Here he is," Lieutenant Dyester announced when he noticed the blue glow in the cave''s back.


    "I told you it was the third to the right."


    "My Prince!" Abraham called, hurrying to Khan''s position. "Your fianc¨¦e thought you might


    wantpany."


    Khan chuckled, shaking his head before throwing a sealed bottle at the visitors. Lieutenant


    Dyester caught it mid-air, opening it and gulping down arge mouthful. He passed the booze to Abraham afterward, which he seized after some slight hesitation. "Abraham," Khan called, leaning on the rocky wall behind him. "I''m sorry I handled the


    funeral by myself."


    Abraham almost choked on the booze when those words reached his ears. He forced himself


    to drink everything before coughing a few times. The event made Lieutenant Dyester scoff and retrieve the bottle, but he didn''t intervene in the conversation.


    "It''s fine, My Prince," Abraham reassured as the two reached Khan. "You had every right to handle Sir Bret''s death privately. By the way, my condolences."


    "Condolences," Lieutenant Dyester added. "He looked like a good man."


    Khan inspected the two men before looking at the ground before him. Lieutenant Dyester and


    Abraham understood the silent order and sat on the rocks. Khan even opened another bottle, nning to share it with those friends.


    "He is buried on the Second Impact''s ground zero," Khan revealed, "In case you wanted to


    visit him."


    "I will," Abraham nodded. "Eventually. Right now, I''m quite busy helping his legacy."


    "We heard about the mess in the arena," Lieutenant Dyester changed the topic.


    "Descendants, exes, and more."


    Khan sighed. He wasn''t surprised that gossip had already spread, but the matter remained annoying. Monica and the descendants were used to the public pressure, but Khan didn''t want Amber and Cora to experience it. Yet, it was toote for that.


    "I''ll n meetings tomorrow," Khan decided. "Cora and Amber first, the descendantster. Maybe things will go well enough to have a dinner together afterward."


    "Don''t push yourself, My Prince," Abraham said. "Mourning periods are the norm, and your family situation is special. You could take a week off and be fine."


    "I can''t," Khan shook his head, looking at his bottle. "I need to do this. I have to show my face


    and prove that everything is great."


    "Khan, your father died yesterday," Lieutenant Dyester dered. "Nothing is great."


    "It doesn''t matter," Khan imed. "The world can''t see any weakness in me. The tournament must also be aplete sess, and only my presence can ensure it." Lieutenant Dyester and Abraham exchanged nces. Khan''s resolve was praiseworthy, but


    his behavior bordered on obsession. Everyone could see he needed a break, but he sounded


    too stubborn to ept it.


    "My Prince, you don''t need to push yourself so hard," Abrahammented. "You-."


    "Yes, I do," Khan interrupted, raising his voice. He quickly noticed his mistake, and a secret


    escaped his mouth when he looked at the two puzzled men.


    "An enemy is on its way," Khan exined. "Something big, deadly. Something that might endanger life as we know it."


    "What?!" Lieutenant Dyester asked.


    "My Prince, are you okay?" Abraham questioned.


    "Shut it," Khan ordered. "Do you want to know why I must push myself? Stay silent for a


    while."

 Chapter 863: Revelations

    Chapter 863: Revtions


    ?


    Khan told his story in the best order he could find. He started with the nightmares and slowly revealed the clues and answers he had picked up throughout his travels, ending with the


    visions from the dark-green substance.


    Lieutenant Dyester and Abraham kept their mouths shut throughout the tale, connecting mental dots and reevaluating their knowledge over multiple fields. Abraham could apply the story to his scientific experience, while Lieutenant Dyester reviewed many certainties he thought he knew about Khan.


    The men''s silence continued even after the story was over. That whole ordeal was too heavy to absorb in a few seconds, and Khan merely drank from his bottle and stared at the opposite rocky wall in the meantime.


    Abraham and Lieutenant Dyester asionally nced at Khan, but their eyes always returned to the ground. The tale was unbelievable, but Khan was no liar. Also, his revtions exined part of his behavior and some scientific rumors, adding validity to the story.


    Abraham''s specializations didn''t cover those fields, but his mind still explored the topic, making full use of his expertise. His loyalty to Bret, Elizabeth, and Khan made him emotionally engrossed, but Lieutenant Dyester beat him to it.


    Lieutenant Dyester had known Khan since his first days in co''s training camp. He had also kept track of his adventures, ultimately reuniting with him and joining his inner circle.


    That long friendship featured many inexplicable details, which Lieutenant Dyester justified with talent and a superior mindset developed in the Slums. However, Khan''s story provided answers that cleared some gaps and added better exnations for his overall behavior and life decisions.


    How could a sixteen-year-old boy endure such tough sparring sessions? Why did Khan always work so hard? Why did he hate sleeping? Why did he never take breaks? Everything made sense after the story. Every question received an answer, often in the form of Khan''s original


    curse.


    "Since when?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. He could guess the answer from the story but wanted Khan to say it.


    "Since I got this," Khan said, casually lifting his bone armor to show the blue scar.


    Calctions happened in Lieutenant Dyester''s mind. Khan had already lived with his curse for eleven years before joining the Global Army, and he did that while being no more than a child. The pain from their sparring sessions was probably nothingpared to what he experienced every night.


    "Is the mana anomaly still ongoing?" Abraham questioned.


    Khan lifted his free hand, straightening his forefinger and releasing a strand of his mana. The energy''s purple-red glow temporarily fought against the blue light before dispersing into the cave''s air.


    "Who else knows about this?" Lieutenant Dyester wondered.


    "Monica knows everything," Khan revealed, taking a long sip from his bottle. "My father knew, too. The few others only know about the nightmares."


    The concern for Khan slowly waned, reced by a greater issue. As much as Abraham and Lieutenant Dyester wanted to inquire more about Khan''s mental state, the scarlet eyes'' universal threat was a bigger topic.


    "Did you try to warn anyone?" Abraham asked. "The Global Army, the Empire, or-."


    "Who''s going to believe me?" Khan interrupted, finally moving his eyes away from the rocky wall to look at Abraham. "Every proof is in my head, genes, or inside some rotten Nak corpse."


    "But looking for the Nak might-" Abraham tried to continue.


    "I found some Nak remains," Khan interrupted again. "Reba had some and let me experiment on them. Apparently, my element is the key to evolving past mana and defeating this enemy."


    The two men could only stare in silence as Khan resumed looking at the empty wall. His life went beyond what thework depicted. Until now, he had fought a secret battle, finding answers to questions only he knew about.


    That almost sounded impossible. Khan''s fame had made his life public, including his many struggles. Realistically, the hurdles he had faced shouldn''t have left him with any free time. Yet, Khan had somehow still pursued his secret goals, sessfully achieving most of what he wanted.


    In short, Khan was even more impressive than what the public thought. Moreover, he was also working on preparing the world for the scarlet eyes'' arrival. There seemed to be no end to the pressure on his shoulders, but it took his father''s death to show some of it.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Is that why you have pursued alien methods?" Abraham asked.


    "No," Khan exined. "That came earlier, and my first spell was an ident. I wasn''t sure I''d survive it."


    "Why did you cast it if it were so risky?" Lieutenant Dyester wondered.


    "I was dead anyway," Khan said, shrugging his shoulders. "Might as well try." Lieutenant Dyester had to suppress the urge to p Khan''s head, which wasn''t hard. He didn''t like how Khan treated himself but hated himself more for missing that whole deeper story. Even worse, Lieutenant Dyester felt angry about understanding Khan''s mindset.


    "These scarlet eyes," Abraham mentioned, "Do you know what weapons they use?"


    "No idea," Khan replied. "I only know the Nak feared them enough tounch genocide attacks on multiple species."


    "They might have had other reasons," Abrahammented. "Fear is a strong motivator, but-."


    "Oh, no," Khan interrupted, looking at the scientist and pointing at his head. "I know because I feel the same fear. The mutations have imnted foreign emotions into my brain." Lieutenant Dyester could only drink. Each revtion added a newyer of sadness to Khan''s life. It was a miracle he could still live a rtively normal life after enduring the curse for so


    long.


    "But you said this enemy can hurt mana itself," Abraham reminded Khan. "How can


    something hurt mana?"


    "The anti-mana project came close to it," Khan stated.


    "The anti-what?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned.


    "Right, that was ssified," Khan realized. "It was something they were building on Ecoruta, some energy that could counter or nullify mana. The project was killed."


    "Wait a moment!" Abraham eximed. "My Prince, such a substance could change society and humankind as we know it! Its effects might spread to other species, too!" "That''s what the big dogs said," Khan revealed. "That''s why we killed the project. Well, I didn''t stay there until the end, but I trust the man who handled it."


    Lieutenant Dyester and Abraham felt they were going crazy. They had been alive for a long time and had plenty of experience, but each of Khan''s revtions seemed able to revolutionize their idea of the universe.


    "What-" Abraham said, clearing his throat. "What about the evolving-past-mana part? Is something you can do through your alien methods?"


    "I taught you those," Khan pointed out. "Can you use them to evolve mana itself?"


    "I-," Abraham muttered, pondering the issue. "I wouldn''t know where to begin." "Neither do I," Khan sighed, focusing on his bottle. "The dead Nak said that iming their inheritance would do it, but I''d rather handle the matter myself before finding them."


    The conversation had desensitized Lieutenant Dyester and Abraham so much that they didn''t even react to the talking-dead-Nak part. Their knowledge of the universe was clearly wed, so everything could be on the table now.


    "Can''t you already surpass your element?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned.


    "Surpassing it is a stretch," Khanmented, lifting his free hand to draw bright lines mid- air. A rune soon took form, and red mes engulfed it when Khan punched it. "This is a trick," Khan exined, letting the mes fall on his palm and closing his hand


    before they could burn his skin. "I just draw the meaning for fire, and the mana does


    everything else."


    "The meaning for fire?" Abraham asked.


    "Yes," Khan confirmed, focusing on his friends. "You see mes and copy their meaning. It''s


    simple, really."


    The two men werepletely lost. Their mouths would hang open if they had any lessposure. Khan was speaking theirnguage, but his words made no sense.


    "Right, I forgot," Khan realized. "You can''t see the mana."


    "See the mana?" Lieutenant Dyester repeated.


    "I can see it with my bare eyes," Khan exined, waving his hand between the two men to


    imitate waves. "You know it''s everywhere, right? Well, I can see it."


    "With no techniques?" Abraham questioned.


    "It must be something about my eyes," Khan guessed. "Bret thought my alien methods and mutations joined forces to develop my body in that direction."


    "Always?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. "Do you always see the mana?"


    "I can''t really stop it," Khan admitted. "I can darken my eyes, but they''d still see the mana."


    "Even now?" Abraham wondered, inspecting his surroundings. "Around us?" "Even inside you," Khan revealed. "Do you want to know what color yours is?"


    Abraham and Lieutenant Dyester instinctively looked at their chest before lifting their eyes


    again. Khan had a way of making the people he inspected naked, but the truth went beyond that. No one could actually hide themselves from his eyes.


    "It''s not a big deal," Khan scoffed. "I''ve been like this for years. It sometimes gets too bright, but I can''t reallyin. It actually helps with politics, so there''s that."

 Chapter 864: Lesson

    Chapter 864: Lesson


    ?


    The many revtions made one thing clear. Abraham and Lieutenant Dyester knew nothing about Khan. Until now, he had lived a secret life, fighting a war only he was aware of.


    The two men did their best to keep up with the various exnations, but time wasn''t exactly on their side. The topic had so many nuances it would take weeks to explore them all, and the tournament''s third day was already looming. Lieutenant Dyester and Abraham had to get their priorities straight to achieve anything that night.


    The scarlet eyes were an unreachable mystery, and Khan''s many secret stories could wait. The two men wanted to start working on something they could solve quickly, and the scientist between them instinctively followed his education.


    "My Prince," Abraham called. "Forgive my insolence, but might I conduct tests on you? I promise they won''t be invasive. I simply hope to discover something from studying your body."


    "It''s pointless," Khan replied, closing his eyes and lightly bumping the back of his head into the wall. "The Thilku already studied me, and Raymond even acquired that information. He must have sold it to others, so many parties should be aware of what''s going on with my body."


    Khan''s tales couldn''t surprise the two men anymore. Learning that the Thilku Empire had already performed tests on Khan would usually be shocking news, but Abraham and Lieutenant Dyester barely reacted to it after everything they had heard.


    Instead, the two men focused on the name Khan mentioned, and Lieutenant Dyester questioned him about it. "Raymond?"


    "Raymond Cobsend," Khan said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, but the men''s confusion reminded him that they needed additional exnations. "He''s... It''s a long story."


    Khan sighed, emptying what was left of his booze. He nced at the container before throwing it toward the opposite wall. Still, his arm rose before the crash could happen, and the bottle exploded mid-air.


    ss shards flew everywhere, but nothing reached the trio. Khan also lost interest in the event, promptly reaching for another bottle. He felt mentally drained, and venting with his friends wasn''t helping.


    Lieutenant Dyester and Abraham were at a loss of what to do or say, but that probably was the point. They couldn''t provide solutions to Khan''s seemingly endless problems. They could only keep himpany during that rough patch.


    Silent moments passed. The three men drank while many thoughts filled their minds. Their pondering covered different topics, but the result never changed. The trio needed time for various reasons, and the booze helped kill it.


    Khan had his grief and the recent headaches to handle. Abraham summoned his scientific knowledge to review the recent story while Lieutenant Dyester reevaluated Khan, trying to obtain aplete picture of his life.


    Bottles went by, but Khan''s stash endured the men''s thirst. The silence alsosted for a while, and no one felt like interrupting it since they couldn''t add anything noteworthy to the issue. Nevertheless, someone else took care of that.


    Khan was the first to notice the new wave of synthetic mana outside the cave. His faint reaction warned Lieutenant Dyester and Abraham, who peeked into the darkness to study what was happening.


    Heavy steps soon resounded throughout the cave. Someone was stomping their feet on the ground while crossing the darkness, and the culprit''s identity eventually became clear. Monica stormed inside, ignoring Lieutenant Dyester and Abraham and heading directly for an empty spot at Khan''s side.


    "That bad, huh," Khanmented, weing Monica on his shoulder. She trapped his fingers into her grasp, using her free hand to request the half-full bottle Khan wielded.


    Khan couldn''t help but chuckle while handing the booze. Monica''s mood was awful, but her mouth remained shut. Her problems were nothingpared to Khan''s, and she didn''t want to add her whining to them.


    "Tell me," Khan said, watching his fianc¨¦e doing her best to empty the bottle.


    "No," Monica refused, refocusing on the bottle.


    "Come on," Khan insisted,ying his head on Monica''s. "Distract me."


    Monica kept the bottle titled but stopped drinking. Eventually, she lowered it, revealing an annoyed expression. She truly didn''t want to snap, but Khan himself had requested it.


    "She is a fucking saint," Monica cried. "She was so polite and nice, always reassuring me that her visit wouldn''t interfere with our rtionship. I couldn''t even bring myself to hate her." Khan closed his eyes, enjoying his fianc¨¦e''s familiarints. Her annoyed mana calmed his mind, bringing some peace.


    "The witch was slutty, flirty, and sneaky," Monica snorted. "She was easy to hate, but Cora... How can she be so innocent after being with you?"


    Khan chuckled but didn''t move. Monica''sints created an illusion of normality. He could pretend everything was fine while listening to them.


    "She even has such nice skin," Monica pouted. "Is she a doll or something? It''s so annoying."


    Khan kept his eyes closed while stretching his free arm toward Monica. She wanted to ignore it but put the bottle in his palm anyway.


    "And what''s up with her hair?" Monica continued. "So bright, so straight. I bet she doesn''t even use products to keep it like that."


    Khan didn''t have a preference for hair, but Monica couldn''t help butpare herself to Cora, seeing any difference as a w.


    "And her rack...," Monica added. "What even is that? Even her dress failed to hide it."


    "I told you they were big," Khanmented.


    "Don''t you dare thinking about her tits," Monica warned. "I will-."


    Monica groaned, interrupting her threat. She wanted to snap fully, especially after Khan''sment but held back due to his grief. However, she noted it down, nning to bring the topic up again once Khan felt better.


    "What''s with those two?" Monica angrily asked, noticing the stunned Lieutenant Dyester and Abraham. That wasn''t the first time the two men had seen the couple interact like that, so the exnation had to lie elsewhere.


    "I told them everything," Khan exined.


    "Everything?" Monica questioned, confused.


    "Everything," Khan confirmed.


    Monica quickly realized what Khan was talking about. Her eyes widened while returning to the two men, who nodded in response. Monica understood how meaningful that was for Khan, and hope fueled her next question.


    "Did you think about something that might help?" Monica asked. She was talking to Khan''s first Master and his organization''s lead scientist. They were Khan''s best shot at finding different interpretations of his umted experience.


    Nevertheless, Lieutenant Dyester and Abraham shook their heads, seemingly apologetic. Their desire to help Khan was genuine and intense, but the topic went way beyond their


    specializations and experience.


    "You are useless," Monica cursed. She knew the two men weren''t to me but had to vent somehow, and Khan couldn''t be her target. Moreover, their awareness of Khan''s situation put them in the same group, and Monica felt she could enforce some seniority.


    "Leave them be," Khan sighed, raising his head and opening his eyes. Light shone in the cave again while Khan inspected his surroundings. He seemed to look for something, eventually


    making up his mind about it.


    Monica noticed Khan letting go of her hand and reaching for her waist. He lifted her, cing her between his legs. Then, he put his head on her shoulder, asionally rubbing it against


    her curls.


    Monica showed a sweet but sad smile. She lifted her hand, caressing the head on her shoulder. In response, Khan hugged Monica''s torso tightly, keeping her as close as possible. "I''m here," Monica whispered, tilting her head to kiss Khan''s cheek. "Why don''t you try to


    sleep a bit?"


    Khan listened to the suggestion, closing his eyes and immersing himself in Monica''s presence. She kept caressing him, aiding the process, but his mind opposed the idea.


    Thoughts about the imminent tasks invaded Khan''s brain, asionally reced by a reminder of Bret''s death. He wouldn''t attain any peace that day, so he reopened his eyes, nning to resume his drinking spree.


    "What did Amber say?" Khan asked, reaching for another bottle while Monica leaned


    alongside him.


    "Amber?" Monica repeated. "Oh, Miss Teldom. She only greeted me when I was done talking


    with Cora."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Did you clear the air with her?" Khan questioned, investigating the point Monica had missed during herints.


    "Yes, sort of," Monica replied. "We didn''t be friends or anything, but I can tell she only wants to check that you are fine."


    "I''ll meet her tomorrow night," Khan dered, "With Amber. We''ll have a dinner with the descendants the day after tomorrow."


    "Will you sleep between any of these events?" Monica asked, knowing the answer.


    "I don''t know if I can," Khan admitted, "Or if I prefer the nightmares to this." Monica felt powerless. She nced at the still-silent Lieutenant Dyester and Abraham before


    refocusing on Khan. Khan would have sent them away if he decided to engage in the Niqols'' ways with her. The fact that he didn''t meant that part of him wanted to experience those sad


    feelings.


    "Are you punishing yourself?" Monica wondered.


    "I should feel this pain," Khan exined. "He died alone, without seeing his grandchildr-"


    Khan couldn''t finish his line since a fiery sphere flew in his direction. The spell exploded mid- air, but its mes quickly dispersed, hinting at its limited power. A palm also became visible in its detonation spot, showing that Khan had blocked it before it coulde near Monica or


    him.


    "Well," Lieutenant Dyester announced, scarlet mes still flickering on his lifted fingers. "Now I''m livid."


    "What do you think you are doing?" Khan questioned, his aura filling the cave with a chilling


    pressure.


    "Since it''s clear your idiocy is reaching new levels," Lieutenant Dyester eximed, slowly standing up, "Your Master thought to impart you with another lesson."

 Chapter 865: Kid

    Chapter 865: Kid


    ?


    Khan felt killing intent rising inside his mind. He could sense Lieutenant Dyester''s good intentions, but that didn''t change how he experienced his actions. Attacking Khan was a major crime, especially when his mental state was awful.


    "Master Carl!" Abraham called, but it was already toote. Khan gently pushed Monica forward, freeing his legs and standing up. A bottle was safe in his hand, and he lifted it to his mouth before his figure disappeared.


    Lieutenant Dyester became unable to breathe. The world in his eyes spun, transforming multiple times in the span of a second. Suddenly, everything stabilized, and his nostrils resumed inhaling air, allowing him to notice his new surroundings.


    Lieutenant Dyester found himself outside the cave, facing its entrance. He was still standing, but the action soon demanded his full attention. His bnce waspletely off, and his mind needed a few seconds to restore it.


    The cave''s entrance wasn''t the only detail in Lieutenant Dyester''s vision. Khan stood before him, calmly sipping his booze. He looked utterly calm, almost bored, but his presence was as intense as ever.


    "For the record," Khan announced while lowering the bottle. "I could have killed you."


    Lieutenant Dyester didn''t try to question that statement. Actually, his brain barely recorded it since terrifying thoughts filled it. He understood that Khan had dragged him outside the cave but couldn''tprehend how. Lieutenant Dyester didn''t even know if he had been pushed or pulled and from where.


    Also, being the target of Khan''s aura gave birth to another reevaluation. Lieutenant Dyester believed he had be used to Khan''s heavy presence, but that idea fell apart now. Things hit way differently when Khan pointed his intensity at him.


    Lieutenant Dyester was an experienced warrior. Some would even call him a war hero. He had faced fellow soldiers, monsters, and beast-like species like the Kred. He could evaluate fighters better than most specialists, and what he saw in Khan made his most primitive instincts scream in fear.


    Khan was no human. He wasn''t even a beast or a monster. The very world shook and creaked under his pressure, putting him closer to a force of nature. Khan was a terrifying natural phenomenon, a walking catastrophe ready to blow up.


    Nevertheless, Lieutenant Dyester steeled his resolve. His sense of duty was stronger than his instinctive fear, and he would dly forsake his life to fulfill it. That was his role and responsibility.


    "We haven''t done this in a while," Lieutenant Dyester eximed, feigning confidence. "Do you think you can handle your old Master?"


    Khan didn''t reply. He saw through Lieutenant Dyester''s pretense but also noticed his resolve. The man was ready to give his everything, which wasn''t much in his eyes. A fourth-level warrior wasn''t a threat Khan could take seriously.


    Lieutenant Dyester understood Khan''s reasoning and lifted his arms, joining his hands above his head. Scarlet mes promptly enveloped them, releasing a torrent of fiery bullets.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The bullets flew everywhere before curving mid-air, adjusting their trajectory to converge on Khan. mes surrounded him, only leaving the path behind him as an escape route. Yet, Khan had no intention of dodging.


    A purple-red halo overwhelmed the scarlet light. Waves of violent mana flowed around Khan, clearing his surroundings and expanding. His energy devoured the iing attacks, leaving deep marks on the ground.


    Once the violent mana dispersed, Khan checked his surroundings, studying colors only he could see. The spell had been decent but nothing noteworthy to him.


    "I guess we are doing this," Khan sighed, lifting the bottle to his mouth again while removing the red cape and throwing it aside. He didn''t believe Lieutenant Dyester could hurt him, but ruining the Thilku garment would only add another annoying task to his already packed schedule.


    As good as Lieutenant Dyester''s intentions were, Khan''s tant disrespect started getting to his head. The man lowered his arms, his hands still joined as he stretched two fingers to release a fireball.


    The fiery sphere expanded and elerated while flying toward Khan. res even escaped its unstable surface until the crash happened. Small mes shot everywhere, but Lieutenant Dyester only saw a replica of the previous exchange.


    The mes'' dispersion revealed Khan''s stretched arm. ck blood vessels retreated in his open palm, showing theplete absence of injuries. The attack didn''t even burn him, but he added insult to injury.


    Khan didn''t lower the bottle during the exchange, and Lieutenant Dyester could only watch as he emptied it. Khan threw it away, lowering his arm before focusing on his old Master. He was untouched and wanted Lieutenant Dyester to know it.


    "Is this the best that the Butcher of Istrone can do?" Khan asked. "Did I waste my resources on you?"


    "Brat," Lieutenant Dyester muttered, a smirk forming on his face.


    By then, Abraham and Monica had reached the cave''s entrance. They saw the stand-off, and Abraham almost called Lieutenant Dyester, nning to make him reconsider that approach. However, Monica stopped him by grabbing his arm.


    "Let them do this," Monica requested. "They both need it."


    Lieutenant Dyester didn''t care about the neers. He waved his arms, sending two tongues of mes forward. The attack adhered to the ground, burning it and rising, creating two fiery walls that converged on Khan.


    Khan lifted his arm, releasing the conical version of the Wave spell. His mana devoured the mes, clearing the area and revealing a second attack. Lieutenant Dyester had joined his hands above his head again, unleashing the fiery rain.


    Violent waves of mana enveloped Khan, protecting him from the falling bullets, but his offensive didn''t stop there. Whilst his energy devoured the mes, tens of needles formed above the battlefield before falling toward Lieutenant Dyester.


    Lieutenant Dyester shouted, releasing a spherical heat wave that crashed on the falling spells. The needles pierced the attack, but the kic energy it carried destabilized their fabric, detonating them in mid-air.


    Meanwhile, Lieutenant Dyester stretched his arm, his hands pretending to be guns that he fired at Khan. Multiple bullets shot forward faster than anything previously released. Their individual power wasn''t threatening, but the man never stopped shooting.


    The bullets crashed on Khan, unleashing fiery explosions that expanded as more of them reached their target. Soon, Khan''s figure disappeared, engulfed into an uneven mass of raging


    mes.


    The mes dispersed on their own, revealing a fuming humanoid shape. Khan''s bone armor and pelts had charred holes, and pieces of both fell from him. However, the skin underneath remained untouched.


    "Did you catch that?" Lieutenant Dyesterughed, pointing at the sky. "You can conjure all the spells you want. They''ll be useless if they can''t reach their target."


    Lieutenant Dyester had a point. That was the first time someone had countered Khan''s ability to surround his enemies with spells like that. He had exploited the chaos element''s innate instability to force its preemptive detonation.


    Of course, that had been possible only because Khan had given Lieutenant Dyester enough room to unleash that countermeasure, and thetter knew it. Lieutenant Dyester had noticed that Khan wasn''t using his speed. Actually, he had yet to leave his initial spot. "You think of yourself all high and mighty," Lieutenant Dyester continued, "But I know the truth. Deep down, you are just a kid too scared of crossing the line."


    Lieutenant Dyester knew his words had hit the mark when the air around him grew colder, seemingly freezing. He had pushed Khan''s buttons, triggering what only his worst enemies


    had seen.


    "Me?" Khan asked, his bright eyes wide. "Afraid of crossing the line?"


    Khan took one step forward, and cracks opened around his foot. A slight tremor also invaded the area, hinting at underground movement. Something had copsed, but the surface seemed able to handle it for now.


    "You couldn''t handle killing a few Kred," Khan announced, advancing. "I buried innocents alive with my own hands. I ughtered ignorant workers for the sole sin of being connected to my potential enemies. I killed mutated children and sanctioned the genocide of a species


    afflicted by my same curse."


    The tremors intensified as Khan got closer to Lieutenant Dyester, and that trend continued even after he stopped. He didn''t quite reach him, but that shorter distance was enough to


    prove his point.


    "You must be blind to still see the kid from back then," Khan dered. "That person died


    many times, often at his own hands."


    Lieutenant Dyester did his best to hide it, but nothing escaped Khan''s eyes. The sadness in his mana was as evident as his pretense, but that wasn''t enough to stop Khan now.


    "Don''t worry," Khan continued. "I''ll open your eyes."


    The cracks under Khan widened, expanding everywhere. Some even reached the cave''s


    entrance, but neither Abraham nor Monica moved.


    "Why do you think this ground stands?" Khan asked, sending a wave of invisible mana


    downward.


    More cracks opened on the rocky surface, ultimately shattering it. The ground caved in, creating a vast hole that stretched from Lieutenant Dyester to the cave''s entrance. Strangely enough, both locations remained safe from the destruction.


    "It stands because I allow it to stand," Khan stated, hovering in his previous position, uncaring that the ground under him had disappeared.


    Lieutenant Dyester held back a gulp. That twisted psychology was mental but frightening,


    especially when Khan wielded it since he had the power to enforce it. Still, Lieutenant Dyester


    found a scarier detail. He couldn''t im that Khan was wrong.


    "Now," Khan eximed. "Shall I ask you why you breathe?"

 Chapter 866: Flawed

    Chapter 866: wed


    ?


    Lieutenant Dyester couldn''t help butpare the current Khan to the kid from his memories. He still recalled how broken up Khan had been about his actions on Istrone. Many soldiers would have never recovered, but Lieutenant Dyester now knew that Khan didn''t have that option.


    The nightmares had forced Khan to stride forward. His curse had pushed him past the breaking point multiple times, worsening his already damaged psyche. He was basicallypelled to ovee every tragedy that befell his life, and the price couldn''t have been low.


    Lieutenant Dyester was surprised Khan didn''t turn into aplete psychopath. Anyone would have gone crazy or given up on life after experiencing a fraction of what he had faced, and for good reason. Both paths werepletely understandable and earned.


    Instead, Khan still retained some rity and good in him. He had done despicable and extreme things, but his actions always had his safety or greater goals behind them. Khan didn''t even enjoy them. He probably hated them more than those on the other end of his knife.


    Lieutenant Dyester could also understand how Khan had managed to retain those qualities. The nightmares took most of themendation or me, but Lieutenant Dyester could find something else, something he was guilty of.


    "I was wrong," Lieutenant Dyester announced. "Back then, I was wrong."


    The intensity of Khan''s aura didn''t wane, but he didn''t push his threat forward, either. He saw Lieutenant Dyester''s guilt but couldn''t connect it to anything in his memories. For once, Khan didn''t understand what his old Master was saying.


    "I failed to realize how stupidly stubborn you were," Lieutenant Dyester sighed. "I said those things knowing you would take them to heart, but I miscalcted how extreme you were."


    "Are you apologizing or insulting me?" Khan wondered.


    "You are different," Lieutenant Dyester said. "I don''t know if it''s about your mutations, alien education, or whatnot, but you won''t let killing grow meaningless in your mind. You just can''t."


    Khan finally realized what Lieutenant Dyester was talking about. He spoke about their talk before his departure to Nitis. That conversation featured hisst lesson and advice, which Khan still followed to this day.


    "Are you suggesting I should go around killing anyone without feeling guilty?" Khan scoffed. "I thought you were supposed to be my moralpass."


    "And I''m doing that job," Lieutenant Dyester imed. "This path of yours can only lead to one conclusion. You''ll be a monster, and all of us will die to the scarlet eyes."


    Khan frowned, tilting his head in confusion. Lieutenant Dyester''s statement made no sense. Khan already believed he was a monster. He also thought that transformation was necessary to deal with the impending universal threat.


    "You learned about the scarlet eyes mere hours ago," Khan dered. "How can you speak of them so confidently?"


    "It''s not about them," Lieutenant Dyester exined. "I simply know you won''tst if you keep punishing yourself."


    Khan instinctively diverted his gaze. He had already discussed the matter with Monica, and the conclusions had been far from happy. As incredible as he was, he couldn''t shoulder everything alone. One day, Khan would have to send his underlings to battle, and their lives would fall on his conscience.


    That level of responsibility was something Khan had never asked for. He would even refuse it, given the chance. The quest had simply fallen on him because he didn''t sumb to the nightmares.


    Zu-Gru''s sacrifice popped into Khan''s mind. He didn''t forget it. He even recalled the anger it had generated. That event had been a turning point in Khan''s life, something he hoped he would never experience anymore. Still, all evidence indicated he would, and Lieutenant Dyester argued that his mind wouldn''t survive in its current state.


    "You did good, kid," Lieutenant Dyester praised. "You did better than anyone could ever have hoped, but you must stop now."


    Khan didn''t like that idea one bit. If history had proven anything, it was his mental resilience. He could push himself more. He could be even better and potentially lower the number of inevitable future casualties.


    "Look around you," Lieutenant Dyester continued, nodding toward the people at the cave''s entrance. "You still have people who follow and love you. You built a paradise for different species. What else do you want?"


    "You forget I paid the price for this in blood and lives," Khan snorted, his gaze returning to his old Master.


    "So what?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. "They tried to kill you first."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "And that makes it good?" Khan questioned, floating toward Lieutenant Dyester until his feetnded on the small empty spot before him. "I can think of many people who still want to kill me. Should I engage in another ughter?"


    "Why not?" Lieutenant Dyester wondered.


    "Booze made you mental, old man," Khan mocked. "You were rotting among dirty cells just a few years ago for things you are advising me to do."


    "I was a weak soldier," Lieutenant Dyester dered. "You are neither weak nor a soldier."


    Lieutenant Dyester lifted his hand, carefully cing it on Khan''s shoulder. He almost expected his arm to fall, but Khan didn''t react. Thetter waited for him to finish his point.


    "Life has been unfair with you," Lieutenant Dyester said. "It forced you to be a man too soon. It turned you into a leader against your choice. My teachings can work with soldiers, but Generals can''t think like that."


    "And how should Generals think?" Khan asked.


    "What should I know?" Lieutenant Dyesterughed. "That''s for you to figure it out. I''m only telling you to drop the baggage this drunkard told you to keep."


    Khan was at a loss for words. After destroying part of the area, exchanging spells, and throwing insults, that was Lieutenant Dyester''s conclusion. The matter was so idiotic Khan couldn''t refrain himself from chuckling.


    "I came this close to killing you," Khanughed, "And this is your answer. I''m surrounded by


    idiots."


    "Because we are attracted to the greatest idiot there is," Lieutenant Dyester dered.


    "At least I am aware of my idiocy," Khan said, shaking his head and removing the hand from his shoulder.


    Khan turned, floating above the vast hole to return to the cave''s entrance, and Lieutenant Dyester smiled at the scene. He knew he couldn''t fix years of bad habits in a single conversation, but the idea had taken root. Everything else was up to Khan and, hopefully, Monica.


    "Khan," Lieutenant Dyester called, and Khan stopped mid-air, looking past his shoulder. "I''m sure your father would be proud of you," Lieutenant Dyester shouted. "That''s because he was a bigger idiot than I''ll ever be," Khan responded, finishing crossing


    the hole.


    Abraham didn''t know what to say, but Khan didn''t give him the chance to speak. Khan muttered a simple "Out" before lifting Monica on his shoulder and returning inside the cave. Their figures soon disappeared into the darkness, leaving the two men outside.


    "That was most impressive, Master Carl," Abraham praised, studying the area to find the best


    way to cross the hole.


    "Impressive, my ass," Lieutenant Dyester cursed, strength abandoning his legs and forcing him to sit on the ground. "That fucking kid has be scary."


    Abraham smiled, noticing Lieutenant Dyester''s fingers trembling as they reached for his smokes. The man had truly feared death, vouching for their leader''s strength. However, studying the area reminded him of something he didn''t hesitate to mention.


    "Master Carl," Abraham called, scouring the debris below him with his eyes. "Do you think Prince Khan''s cape is under all this?"


    The realization froze Lieutenant Dyester, who promptly jumped back to his feet. He also studied the hole but only saw rocks and dirt.


    "Hurry! I don''t want to hear them having sex!" Lieutenant Dyester shouted, jumping in the hole, and Abraham quickly followed him.


    Meanwhile, Khan reached the end of the cave, Monica still lying on his shoulder. On his other shoulder, he had the Thilku cape, which he had retrieved without anyone noticing.


    "Do you think they''ll search for it all night?" Monica asked as Khan gently put her down.


    "Warn them in half an hour," Khan ordered,ying the cape on the ground to create a


    makeshift bed.


    "Half an hour?" Monica questioned. She had expected Khan to indulge in his most primitive


    urges, and half an hour wouldn''t cut it.


    "Sit," Khan requested, looking up at Monica and patting a spot on the cape.


    Monicaplied and giggled when Khan adjusted her legs to create a pillow. Hey his head


    on her thighs, closing his eyes and doing his best to rx.


    "Remind me to give mypliments to Master Carl," Monicamented.


    "I thought you''d be jealous of his influence on me," Khan teased. "I''ll take all the wins I can find," Monica imed, "And getting you to rest is a win."


    Monica reached for Khan''s hair, caressing it to help him rx. The tiredness and drunkenness umted in the past days red, threatening to send him to his nightmares on the spot. "Do you think he is right?" Khan yawned. "Is my mindset wed?"


    "It is, dear," Monica confirmed. "You are impossibly wed, stubborn, self-destructive, and stupidly popr with women, but you also became like this out of love."


    "I''d do unspeakable things to protect you," Khan said, "To protect all of you."


    "We know," Monica reassured. "We understand and chose you because of that. You also


    wouldn''t survive without us, especially without me."


    "I would have wasted away already without you," Khan admitted. "I wouldn''t have survived half of the things that happened in the past years without you."


    "Save thesepliments for when we are naked," Monica sweetly scolded. "Now sleep, my King, for the universe will need you again tomorrow."

 Chapter 867: Support

    Chapter 867: Support


    ?


    When Khan opened his eyes, haziness filled his mind. Thatck of immediate rity was unusual for him, proving how exhausted his mind had been. Still, the fog quickly dispersed, restoring his usual incredible awareness.


    The soft sensation under Khan''s head made him smile. He looked up, finding a loving face ncing back at him. Monica had guarded him all night, and her fingers promptly resumed their caresses upon his awakening.


    "Morning, dear," Monica whispered.


    Khan lifted himself, sitting on the thick cape. A groan escaped his mouth, and a chuckle followed when Monica hugged his back. She even kissed his neck before nestling on his shoulder.


    "Feeling better?" Monica asked.


    Khan reached for his shoulder to immerse his hand in Monica''s curls. He actually didn''t know how he felt. He still grieved for his father, and Lieutenant Dyester''s speech resonated in his mind. Khan had much to consider, but the tiredness had vanished, at least.


    "How long did I sleep?" Khan wondered.


    "Longer than you''ve slept in years," Monica revealed. "It''s almost dawn."


    Khan groaned again, stretching his neck while keeping Monica''s head still. His body hadn''t needed much rest since the transformation, but his mind was another matter. Thest period had been excruciating, exining the need for those additional hours of sleep.


    "I need to change," Khan sighed. "That drunkard burned my clothes."


    "He''s lucky he didn''t lose his hands," Monica scoffed.


    "Weren''t you d he helped me?" Khanughed.


    "You slept," Monica pouted. "I can be angry now."


    Khanughed harder, gently pulling Monica''s hair and turning his head. A confident smirk expanded in his view, which he promptly sealed with his lips. Then, he tried to stand up, but Monica grabbed his arm, stopping him.


    "Dear," Monica called, adding strength to her pull. Khan tried to turn, but Monica was faster, jumping on hisp and pushing on his shoulder.


    "Your soon-to-be wife had to endure your breath on her legs all night," Monica continued as Khany down. "She needs proper care now."


    Needless to say, Khan and Monica arrivedte to the arena, but no oneined. Bret''s death justified any dy on Khan''s part, and his presence at the tournament was always better than his absence.


    The fights started but failed to attract the main tower''s attention. Many wanted to check on Khan, and some had heard about the ruckus in the caves area.


    "The rumor is that you blew off some steam yesterday," Tlexicpallimented. "I wish I could have watched the battle."


    "It was a personal matter," Khan exined shortly. "I would request your assistance if I wanted something more challenging."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I''m at your service, Prince Khan," Tlexicpalli announced, excited. "I can only hope you eventually feel that need."


    "On that topic," Lord Exr intervened. "We started the preparations for the [Feast]. [Blue Shaman], your absence won''t be tolerated."


    "I won''t miss it," Khan promised. "It''s something I look forward to."


    Khan''s answer pleased the two Thilku Lords, and even the other guests nodded internally at his livelier behavior. He looked infinitely betterpared to the previous days, but only Monica knew the truth.


    Khan felt better, but his mind continued to review Lieutenant Dyester''s speech. Jokes aside, he was right. Khan had be a leader, but part of his mindset had yet to evolve. He still thought like a soldier or an individual whocked the power of a massive organization.


    That was a core part of Khan''s nature, mostly fueled by his desire to prevent suffering for his loved ones. However, he realized he had gone overboard, and pushing it would only bring him to the breaking point. Khan couldn''t allow himself to crumble, and his organization would benefit from his deeper understanding of his status.


    Nevertheless, Khan was sort of lost. He knew the theory, but imnting it into his mind was a different matter altogether. His very instincts had to evolve, and imitation was his only avable path for now.


    The terrace''s guests had many important and lofty figures, but only the Thilku Lords embodied what Khan needed to be. He had already acquired part of Lord Exr''s knowledge, but proper conviction in it had yet to arrive. Also, Lord Exr was a former soldier. Khan''s main target had to be Lord Rsi.


    Of course, a single day wouldn''t cut it. Khan''s rtionship with Lord Rsi had just started to improve, so it would take time to discover more about his character and learn about his mindset. Except for asional conversations, Khan didn''t interact much with the alien, and the night''s arrival forced him to attend to a different task.


    The quadrant had be overcrowded, and some guests joined the tournamentte, worsening its already chaotic state. Yet, the Nognes family''s soldiers were ready for worse, so they met no problems escorting Cora and Amber to the encampment''s main building.


    The soldiers also ryed specific messages, granting the two women some autonomy. They could choose to reach their destination together but eventually opted for privacy.


    Khan stood inside one of the building''s halls when its entrance opened. Cora timidly crossed it, and seeing Khan''s alien appearance again made her ignore the door closing behind her


    back.


    "Hey," Khan called, walking around the many couches to reach Cora.


    "Hey," Cora responded, still half-dazed by Khan''s attire. She knew her ex-boyfriend was still there, but finding him was far from easy.


    "I''m sorry for yesterday," Khan announced once he stood face-to-face with Cora. "Actually, I''m sorry for many things."


    Khan was always busy, and his ability to keep up with old friends was awful. He could go months or years without replying to calls or messages. Moreover, Cora had found out about his new rtionship from Monica''s public interview, which was quite shameful.


    "Don''t worry," Cora reassured, smiling and shaking her head. "I know you went through a lot and still are. Time must not be on your side."


    "It isn''t," Khan sighed. "Still, I should have told you about Monica. Finding out like that


    was-."


    "Miss Solodrey looks wonderful," Cora interrupted, "And you look happy with her. I''m d you could find someone like her."


    There was a tinge of sadness in Cora''s mana, but Khan couldn''t connect it to their past rtionship. She seemed to be over him, to which he could only be thankful.


    "I wouldn''t have done anything if she ...," Khan said, taking a break to find the right words, "If she wasn''t Monica."


    "I know," Cora eximed, her smile brightening. "I know how you are. I truly know now."


    Cora realized something and lowered her gaze, seemingly ashamed. She didn''t want to discuss that topic during Khan''s mourning period. She only wanted to make sure he was okay. "What was that?" Khan questioned. He obviously didn''t miss that odd reaction or the change in Cora''s mana.


    "It''s nothing," Cora promised. "You should only worry about yourself, especially now."


    "Cora," Khan called. "Despite everything, we are friends."


    Cora lifted her gaze. Khan''s vague concern created a moment of weakness, but Cora kept her


    priorities straight.


    "Do you promise me that you are okay first?" Cora asked.


    "I am okay," Khan promised. "It''s a rough period, but I''m dealing with it."


    "That''s good," Cora nodded, leaning back until her shoulders hit the hall''s wall.


    "What is it?" Khan asked.


    "Don''t take this the wrong way," Cora announced. "I''ve understood what you said back then.


    I now know why you had to take a different path."


    Cora''s gaze lingered on Khan''s attire. The crown, the red cape, the bone armor, the pelts, and


    the war paint were foreign elements that didn''t belong to the human world. However, they fit


    Khan perfectly.


    "The moment I saw you walk among nobles, aliens, and more, I knew," Cora continued. "You could have never stayed on Reebfell. You didn''t belong there."


    Khan knew Cora had avoided talking about other issues. The assassination attempt, the


    ughters, and more had long since be public, and Cora probably couldn''t bear


    exploring them, so Khan didn''t press her.


    "I''m sorry," Khan said.


    "Don''t apologize," Cora eximed. "I''m grateful for what we had, and you''ll always be my


    hero. You''ll always be the one who saved me on Istrone."


    Khan felt the urge to scoff, but only a faint smile appeared on his face. Cora was exactly as he recalled her, and he felt d the world had failed to corrupt her.


    "You have always been too good with me," Khanmented.


    Cora shook her head but didn''t say anything. She smiled at Khan, but a sad understanding


    eventually dawned upon her. They were friends, but a barrier had formed between them.


    "I''ll get Amber," Cora announced. "She is outside."


    "Sure," Khan nodded, watching Cora open the door. A figure quickly reced her, immediately creating a different atmosphere.


    "Prince Khan," Amber called as the door closed behind her. "Should I bow?"


    "Professor Teldom," Khan replied. "You should know how to greet a noble."


    "I also know that Noble needed my help to fill out reports," Amber pointed out.


    "That noble is still grateful for your help," Khan said.


    Silence fell but onlysted for a second. Amber soon giggled, affecting Khan and making him


    smile, too. She alsocked Cora''s shyness, so she stepped forward, warmly hugging Khan.


    "How are you?" Amber asked as Khan patted her back.


    "I''m doing better," Khan exined.


    "That''s good," Ambermented, breaking the hug and stepping back to get a clear view of


    Khan. "Do I even have toment on your clothes?"


    "It was necessary," Khan sighed. "It''s a long story."


    "I bet," Amber uttered. "You had it hard, didn''t you?"


    Khan shrugged his shoulders but didn''t say anything. Too much had happened since his


    teaching period on Reebfell. Even if he wanted to, he didn''t have the time to tell that


    immense story.


    "What about you?" Khan changed the topic. "Still in Reebfell, taking care of Cora?"


    Amber''s confidence faltered. She diverted her gaze before regaining herposure.


    However, looking at Khan told her he had noticed something.


    "Amber?" Khan called, his eyes seemingly brightening as he looked deep into Amber''s soul. Her mana was strange, hinting at something that made Khan frown.


    "Amber, what happened with Cora?" Khan questioned, his intense stare pushing Amber to the


    breaking point.


    "We were drunk!" Amber shouted. "And it''s your fault for hooking up with such a public


    figure. I only wanted tofort her! I swear!"


    Khan''s brain froze. He couldn''t even blink at that revtion, but his curiosity was starving.


    "Amber?" Khan repeated.


    "It was just the night after Miss Solodrey made the interview!" Amber imed before


    lowering her gaze. "And ... And the following month. And the week after. And maybe


    yesterday."


    "What about the smart and knowledgeable man?" Khan questioned.


    "How should I know?" Amber groaned. "It just happened. Before I knew it, I was thinking


    about how soft she was."


    "She is indeed soft," Khan nodded, earning himself a re.


    "Jealous much?" Khan chuckled.


    "Don''t joke about it," Amberined, pacing left and right with her head lowered. "Both


    our families have expectations. It''s not something they can allow." "Allow?" Khan repeated, and Amber froze on the spot. Something heavy had fallen on her


    shoulders, but she noticed she could still lift her head. Khan didn''t move, but his chilling presence filled the room.


    "Who must allow what?" Khan asked, stepping forward to reach Amber. "That word doesn''t


    exist anymore."


    Amber should have been terrified, but her mind instinctively realized that the chilling sensation didn''t target her. It had a defensive vibe, warming her up and making her feel protected. Something told her Khan would support her no matter what.

 Chapter 868: Social meeting

    Chapter 868: Social meeting


    ?


    N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Monica was busy reviewing business documents on an interactive desk when Khan returned to their quarters. She nned to greet him, but noticing his lost expression made her abandon


    that casual approach.


    "What happened?" Monica asked, worried. She knew Khan had met Cora and Amber that night, and Khan was the type to suffer over the slightest issue with his friends.


    "I should have stayed longer in Reebfell," Khan announced, his mind half-absent. "Just a few more months would have been enough."


    Monica frowned in confusion, but her nose smelled roguish thoughts. She had long since developed a sixth sense for Khan''s scoundrel ideas, and that ability was sending warning signals now.


    "What happened with Cora?" Monica questioned, leaving the interactive desk.


    "She switched teams," Khan exined, his gaze still lost in impure thoughts. "She and Amber are an item, sort of."


    Monica''s eyebrows arched in surprise before a far more intense feeling invaded her. Khan was still lost in his imagination when a heel hit his bone crown, flipping it off his head and snapping him back to reality.


    "I should be grateful," Monica scoffed, cing her fists on her waist while oddly standing on one heel and a bare foot. "I can hate her now."


    Khan blinked before running his glowing eyes over Monica. She had yet to change, wearing her indigo wrap dress. The heeled leg also aligned with the clothing opening, exposing her knee and part of her thigh.


    "Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?" Khan wondered.


    "Oh, no, you don''t," Monica warned, gesturing to Khan to stop since he had started approaching her. "You keep your scoundrel hands off of me when you are thinking about other women."


    Khan didn''t stop, and Monica retreated only to bump into the interactive desk behind her. She couldn''t escape nor dodge the arms that trapped her torso.


    "Get off of me," Monicained, throwing light punches on Khan''s shoulders. Her efforts were pointless, and her attacks quickly lost strength when a kissnded on her neck.


    "You are terrible," Monica groaned, angry that she instinctively started clinging to Khan''s neck. "You know that?"


    "I''ve invited Cora and Amber to tomorrow''s meeting with the descendants," Khan revealed, his face reaching where the dress started covering the shoulder. "Introducing them to those environments will confirm their connection to me."


    Monica angrily groaned again but didn''t say anything. She understood the descendants'' duties better than Khan ever could, so she recognized the action''s value. Cora and Amber''s families wouldn''t dare toin about their rtionship when they were the only connection to Khan.


    "Are you thinking about me now?" Monica whimpered, closing her eyes and lifting her knee through the dress'' opening. She felt no surprise when a hand caught it, and her other feet slowly left the floor, knowing Khan would hold her.


    Khan lifted Monica and ced her on the interactive table. Holograms partially hid her figure, but nothing could diminish her beauty. Her dress'' lowered shoulder and enthralled expression could make anyone lose their mind, and Khan wasn''t immune to it.


    "I only think about you," Khan responded under Monica''s defenseless gaze.


    Monica looked deep into the blue glow that shone on her face, recognizing the expression she loved. Her weakness to that attention angered her, making her deliver a p to Khan''s cheek. The smirk it triggered intensified her rage, fueling the pull that brought Khan to her lips.


    The tournament''s fourth day featured nothing monumental. The preliminaries unfolded smoothly, eliminating more contestants while the guests on the towers indulged in casual conversations.


    Khan''s gradually improving mood didn''t go unnoticed, but no one mentioned it. The terrace''s guests also refrained from inviting him out to parties, dinners, or other social events. They knew he was busy that night, and he and Monica eventually departed to attend that promised meeting.


    Monica and Khan changed, removing the sweat and dirt they had umted from sitting on the terrace all day while waiting for the right time to join the meeting. Khan also dropped most of his alien attire, wearing more human and elegant clothes but keeping the bone crown and Thilku cape.


    By the time Khan and Monica reached the hall intended for the meeting, all the descendants had arrived. Luke, Bruce, Lucian, Mark, John, Lucy, George, and Anita had upied different couches, but their attention mostly was on the two foreign presences. Cora and Amber were also in the hall, tense under those lofty figures'' pressure.


    Khan and Monica''s arrival I the target of the descendants'' attention, dispersing the two women''s tension. The sea of greetings that flew in the couple''s direction allowed Cora and Amber to breathe, granting them a break from that political pressure.


    "I''m sorry for the wait," Khan announced, walking hand-in-hand with Monica toward one empty couch among the descendants. "I haven''t worn human clothes in a while, and it isn''t easy to satisfy my fianc¨¦e."


    "Women can never get enough of being spoiled, Prince Khan," Lucymented. "You should have learned that by now."


    "My fianc¨¦e''s appetite always surpasses my expectations," Khan responded, sitting down. "Though I''m guilty of enjoying indulging her."


    Monica shot a knowing look at Khan before retrieving one of the avable bottles and two sses from the central table. Then, she sat at his side, curling her legs on the couch and


    pouring the booze.


    The descendants waited for Monica to finish pouring before George stood up, lifting his ss to make an announcement.


    "I guess this toast won''t need exnations," George dered. "To Bret."


    "To Bret," The descendants echoed, also lifting their sses. Khan was about to imitate them before a thought made him retract his hand.


    "Bret Sodsi," Khan uttered, looking at the booze''s surface illuminated by his eyes. "That was


    his name."


    The descendants exchanged nces. They knew they had stepped into a ssified environment established by powers that could destroy their families. Their hesitation was unavoidable, but George wasn''t among them.


    "To Bret Sodsi," George corrected his announcement. "May he rest in peace."


    Khan toasted ording to the Niqols'' customs with George, forcing the descendants to y along. Everyone lifted their sses, honoring Bret.


    "As you may have noticed," Khan eximed once the toasting ended, "I invited two old friends today. Luke and Bruce have already met them, and I''m sure you know who they are, but introductions are in order."


    Khan indicated Cora and Amber''s couch before continuing. "Cora Ommo and Amber Teldom have greatly helped me on Reebfell. Make them feel at home."


    A round of introductions unfolded, with each descendant orderly standing up to announce their names. Only George ended up exchanging a short hug with Cora due to their shared past


    on Istrone.


    Cora and Amber didn''t need those introductions to learn about the descendants'' identity, but Khan''s political intentions didn''t go unnoticed. He was announcing his friendship to the two women, putting them under his protective authority.


    The two women felt embarrassed, especially Cora. They weren''t used to that kind of spotlight, and Cora almost feared her past with Khan could create problems. However, the descendants pretended that the topic didn''t exist since Khan didn''t bring it up.


    "By the way," Khan realized. "Where is Martha? Did I forget to invite her?"


    "Your Cousin kidnapped her, dear," Monica revealed. "Princess Montares is with them, too. I


    think they are exploring some of Pandora''s establishments."


    "Did you reject them to keep mepany?" Khan asked.


    "Your soon-to-be wife needs to be at your side during such delicate periods," Monica


    dered, "And I''ve already arranged a girls'' night for next week. Princess Edna is also


    coming."


    "Make sure to have fun," Khan said, not wanting to touch the topic. The sole idea of having Princess Edna on the tried to trigger a headache, so he avoided thinking about it.


    "You are also invited," Monica stated, looking at Cora and Amber. "I''m afraid you can''t refuse."


    "It will be fine," Lucy reassured. "We won''t eat you."


    "Probably," Monica giggled. Many alsoughed, thinking Monica was referring to the three Princesses, but Khan knew the truth. He partially feared Monica''s jealousy could cause problems, but the issue was already beyond his reach. Khan had no power over the girls''


    nights.


    "Allow me to offer my services," John intervened, leaving his couch to approach Cora and Amber. "I''ll dly shield you during such a dangerous experience."


    It didn''t take a genius to understand John''s behavior. Amber and Cora were quite attractive,


    especially thetter, and their lower status didn''t require political maneuvers that involved entire families. John could hit on them without worrying about repercussions, but his intentions featured a big miscalction.


    John took Cora and Amber''s hands, nning to kiss them. They were ready to y along due to the status difference, but the gesture clearly made them ufortable. The other descendants also noticed that, and a few sighs resounded among those who understood what


    was about to happen.


    John''s smile suddenly froze. Nothing had happened, but he felt as if cold daggers had surrounded him, preventing any kind of movement. The voice that reached his ears also sent a


    chill down his spine, threatening to make him faint.


    "John, sit down," Khan ordered, calmly drinking his booze.


    "You got it!" John eximed, letting go of Cora and Amber to return to his couch. He promptly refilled his drink, but his hand kept trembling until he downed tworge mouthfuls.


    The message resonated loud and clear, and the descendants were bound to share it outside


    that isted environment. Cora and Amber weren''t to be messed with. "Business is good, I figure," Khan said, changing the topic and general atmosphere. "Indeed," Luke confirmed. "We made in a few days what we would have earned in a month."


    "Earnings limited to this quadrant," Lucian specified, "Of course."


    "And good for us," Mark added. "I didn''t do the math, but my brain works on its own. This tournament must have cost a fortune."


    "It is costing a fortune," Khan confirmed, "But you must acknowledge its benefits."


    "I can''tin about that," Mark said, lifting his hands in surrender. "More money to our businesses," Lucian summarized, "More chances to connect to the


    nobles. What more could we want?"


    "d we are on the same page," Khan stated, lifting his ss for another toast. "Then, to our


    partnership. May it continue to provide benefits."


    Another round of toasts unfolded before the meeting delved into casual conversations. The


    descendants had no problems finding topics to kill time with, and the tournament provided more than enough talking points.


    Despite the general morning obligations, the meeting stretched deep into the night. Gossip and other conversations flew, asionally involving Cora and Amber. The two women slowly warmed up to that lofty environment, but it was clear they needed more time. Nevertheless, the time to call it a day eventually arrived, and the descendants began departing after a round of polite salutes. Khan and Monica also summoned soldiers to escort


    everyone to their respective quarters, but the former wanted to attend to another business before hitting the bed. "George," Khan called as the group headed for the hall''s exit. "A word?"


    George didn''t expect that sudden request, but seeing Monica approach him and steal Anita


    from his elbow exined the seriousness of the situation. George could only nod at his girlfriend before remaining alone with Khan.


    "What is it?" George wondered. "Taking me up on my idea of getting wasted?"


    "I need to tell you something," Khan revealed, dodging George''s gaze while leaning on a


    couch''s back. "Something I should have told you long ago." "Oh," George voiced. "Serious stuff. I''ll get the drinks." "George," Khan sighed while George crossed him to reach the table with the bottles. "I''m


    happy that you got out of all of this, and I don''t want to pull you back in, but you must know.


    If not to help me, to protect Anita and your family."


    George froze before reaching the table. He slowly turned, and the light radiated by Khan''s


    eyes eventually shone on him.


    "The Second Impact gave me more than a scar," Khan exined, and a long story began.

 Chapter 869: Booties

    Chapter 869: Booties


    ?


    George didn''t utter a single word during Khan''s story. He limited himself to staring at him, asionally sipping from his ss. Unlike Lieutenant Dyester, George had shared battlefields with Khan, and very little of that absurd tale came as a surprise. When George thought about it, it actually exined many things.


    "And that''s basically it," Khan announced once his tale ended. "I didn''t want to keep you in the dark. I thought about telling you many times, but, well."


    Khan was being honest. George had been with Khan during some of his most awful periods, but he had never felt that the timing was right. They both also always had other problems to handle, and adding unfixable issues on top of them didn''t feel right. However, Khan knew the full story now.


    George could see how close to Khan''s heart that topic was. Jokes aside, he deeply respected and admired him. Khan had aplished miracles, and George knew those achievements resulted from hard work, tears, and blood. George had even been there to witness some of them.


    Therefore, noticing Khan''s hesitation told George how difficult sharing that story was for him. George had only seen him like that when it came to women, or specifically love, vouching for the courage and resolve required to disclose that deeply personal matter.


    "Who else knows?" George calmly asked, avoiding showing any emotion.


    "[Liiza] knew," Khan replied.


    "Obviously," Georgemented.


    "I told my father the whole story, hoping for answers," Khan continued. "I didn''t get much."


    "I guess he knew since the Second Impact," George uttered.


    "Yes," Khan confirmed. "I told Cora about the nightmares before breaking up with her. She deserved an exnation."


    George internally agreed but kept his thoughts to himself. That didn''t work with Khan, but he avoided pointing it out.


    "[Zalpa] was with [Liiza] back then, so she knows," Khan added. "Jenna slept with me long enough to notice something. I told Monica everything, and Raymond Cobsend didn''t really need exnations."


    "Right, Raymond," George snorted. "That''s it?"


    "I told Master Carl and Abraham two nights ago," Khan revealed. "I was drunk, and it just slipped. It didn''t feel right for them to know while you remained in the dark, so here we are."


    George remained silent, emptying his drink and turning toward the table. He poured more booze, calmly facing Khan again. He looked unaffected by the revtions, but that oue was unrealistic. No one could be fine after learning about a looming universal threat.


    "So," George broke his silence. "You told anyone you gotid with. The others were mistakes."


    "That''s not exactly true," Khan said.


    "No, no," George nodded, lifting a hand. "It all makes sense now. That whole cursed-boy aura must have been irresistible. Pair it with the innocent looks and battle prowess. No wonder women fell at your feet."


    "What cursed-boy aura?" Khan questioned.


    "I can even hear them," George cursed, shaking his head and changing his tone, pretending to be one of Khan''s women. "I can save him. My love can fix him. I''ll get on my knees to make him forget all his problems."


    "You can''t possibly know about thatst part," Khan stated.


    "I know enough," George scoffed, using his real voice. "No wonder you never had a problem hooking up."


    "Didn''t you spend the time after Nitis bing the bane of female descendants?" Khan questioned. "The entire Harbor knew about you after one day!"


    "It''s not the quantity of booties!" George imed. "It''s their quality!"


    "Yes, my girlfriends are hot," Khan responded. "Tough shit. And I barely kissed with Jenna. She doesn''t count."


    "Tell that to thework," George challenged. "I bet there are armies ready to kill just to get a piece of what you had."


    "Ah!" Khan cried, instinctively imitating the Thilku''s manners. "Those armies should ask why I''m the one getting the hot ones."


    "So, you do admit they are hot!" George shouted.


    "I''m not blind," Khan dered, pointing at his eyes. "These things shine for a reason."


    "ying all innocent," George snorted, "While I appear as the rogue. We both know who''s the worst here."


    "Next time you spend eighteen years with Nak nightmares in your head," Khan snorted. "Maybe you''ll get more high-quality booty, too."


    "Maybe I will," George dered. "At least I''d get more alien action before getting married."


    "Are you getting married?" Khan questioned.


    "Maybe," George muttered, diverting his gaze.


    "Am I the best man?" Khan asked.


    "Since when do you want to be anyone''s best man?" George wondered.


    "Since you are getting married," Khan said.


    "I said maybe," George pointed out. "And, yes, of course, you are the best man."


    "Will Anita threaten me the night before?" Khan questioned.


    "I think she''ll ask Monica to do that," George guessed. "Can you win against her?"


    "Did you see what she was wearing tonight?" Khan sighed. "I''ll flip with one look."


    "Understandable," George nodded. "We are fucked, aren''t we?"


    "So fucked," Khan agreed.


    George heaved a helpless sigh before reaching for another bottle and throwing it at Khan. Thetter caught it, swiftly opening it and taking a long sip.


    "So," George eximed, seizing a bottle for himself. "Eighteen years, huh?"


    "You get used to it," Khan shrugged his shoulders. "Well, it''s not like I have anything topare it to. I don''t remember much of my life before the nightmares."


    "Do you just see stuff?" George questioned, waving his hand to point at Khan''s head. "Or


    more?"


    "More," Khan revealed. "I feel what the Nak feel. It''s part of me. In many ways, it''s me now." "No wonder you didn''t get married yet," Georgemented. "You want to fix this thing


    first."


    "My father said that I shouldn''t pass down anything strange once I reach the fifth level," Khan revealed. "Monica would be already pregnant otherwise."


    "You don''t want to spawn more kids like you," George said.


    "One of me is enough," Khan chuckled. "We don''t want more crazy chaos wielders running


    amok."


    "And stealing hot girls," George added.


    "I never stole anything," Khan scoffed. "Besides, Amber and Cora are a thing now. That should rejoice you."


    "Really?!" George gasped. "You only needed to stay in Reebfell a few more months."


    "I know, right?" Khan eximed. "I told Monica, and she threw her heel at me."


    "Women are iprehensible beasts," George shook his head, his eyes wandering across the


    hall.


    "If only they didn''t feel so good," Khan sighed.


    "If only," George also sighed.


    "Did you get Anita pregnant?" Khan suddenly asked.


    "Why would you think that?!" George cried.


    "You considering marrying her," Khan exined. "If she is, it must have been recent. I would


    have sensed it otherwise."


    "Are you a scanner now?" George questioned.


    "Shaman," Khan corrected. "If there''s even a definition for that."


    "She isn''t pregnant," George dered. "I don''t think so, at least. She would have told me."


    "How can you not know?" Khan wondered.


    "Condoms aren''t perfect, man!" George cursed, "And we haven''t been exactly careful,


    especiallytely."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I can hear the leash tightening around your neck," Khan joked.


    "Shut up," George scoffed. "Why don''t you exin why you''ve finally decided to tell me


    about the nightmares instead?"


    Khan fell silent, his glowing eyes inspecting the bottle in his hands. He wasn''t surprised to find it empty, but one look at George made a new one fly in his direction.


    "I can''t be everywhere," Khan exined, looking at the new bottle while slowly opening it.


    "If something happens while I''m away, I want to know you''ll have the strength to protect


    yourself."


    "I still train, you know?" George said.


    "This is different," Khan shook his head. "All this stuff about being the mana''s enemy is deep.


    I feel it''s nothing we have ever faced before."


    "You''lle up with something," George reassured. "That much I know."


    "Come on, George," Khan pleaded, looking at his friend. "This is way bigger than me. It took


    all I had to get one, and we are talking about facing a universe-ending threat."


    "Don''t you have a n?" George asked.


    "Getting stronger?" Khan guessed. "Getting as many people as I can stronger? Maybe understanding what that damned corpse was saying before going after a species that ruined


    my life?"


    "You aren''t fooling anyone," George sneered. "What''s your n B?"


    Khan''s expression grew slightly colder before he diverted his gaze. He had thought about something else, but the idea wasn''t a real n or a solution.


    "If the scarlet eyes want the Nak," Khan announced, "They''d probably want me, too. They might even want to deal with me before attacking other areas infected by mana."


    "You are nning to be a decoy," George realized.


    "I can hold my own fine," Khan exined, inspecting his hands. "I can probably live for


    centuries with the mana and the Nak genes. Humankind might get a chance at winning if I run


    circles around the scarlet eyes for that long."


    "Shouldn''t we surpass the mana or something?" George pointed out.


    "I shared my methods with humankind," Khan dered, "And I n to add more species to


    my organization. Their joint forces might seed, given enough time."


    "Does Monica know about this n?" George questioned.


    "You are the only one I told," Khan revealed. "Still, knowing her..."


    "She definitely knows," George finished the line.


    "She definitely knows," Khan repeated. "Well," George sighed, picking up a new bottle and lying on the nearest couch. "I guess we''ll


    keep at it until morning."


    "I guess we will," Khan agreed, approaching the array of couches to join his friend for what would inevitably be a night of booze and catching up.

 Chapter 870: Sparks

    Chapter 870: Sparks


    ?


    The whooshing noise released by the hall''s metal doors awakened Khan, and a smile appeared on his face when a familiar aura touched his senses. He half-turned, retaining hisfortable position on the couch while looking at the figure approaching him.


    "Long night?" Monica asked, a giggle escaping her mouth when she noticed George sleeping on a nearby couch with an empty bottle in his arms.


    "Very long," Khan confirmed, his voice a half-groan. "Very good."


    Monica reached Khan''s couch, sitting before his half-turned torso. Her hands went for his drowsy face, and her thumbs carefully removed the gunk from his eyes.


    "Did you talk with him?" Monica inquired.


    "I told him everything," Khan said, his exnation asionally interrupted by George''s drunken snores, "But we somehow ended up talking about butts."


    "I hope mine was the only one your mouth mentioned," Monica half-joked and half- threatened, bringing down her hand to trap Khan''s lips in its grasp.


    "Of course," Khan muttered through Monica''s fingers, his hand sliding behind her back to reach for her butt. "I defended it with my life."


    "Good job, dear," Monica praised. "Sadly, it''ste. I would have loved to hear more about it otherwise."


    "We can bete," Khan suggested, straightening his back and pulling Monica closer to leave a quick kiss on her lips. "After all, it''s my tournament."


    Monica wanted to re at Khan, but her face couldn''t stop smiling.


    "It''s veryte," Monica said before ncing at George, "And I''ve only bought him five minutes with Anita."


    "I don''t think that will be enough," Khan revealed, also inspecting George. "He has be such a lightweight."


    "Well," Monica voiced. "He doesn''t have nobles, Thilku Lords, and battle-crazy aliens to handle."


    "Truly a carefree life," Khanmented. "I''m almost jealous."


    "I''m not," Monica revealed, leaning over Khan to grab the bone crown resting on the couch. "I get to have a King all for myself."


    Monica ced the crown on Khan''s head, adjusting his hair and the item. Afterward, she addressed the creases on his shoulders, eventually patting them when she felt satisfied with the result.


    "Alright," Khan sighed, suddenly standing up and lifting Monica with one hand. She giggled and clung to him while he retrieved the cape from the couch''s armrest. The two quickly left the hall, and Anita ended up spotting her friend still being princess-carried when marching toward her sleeping boyfriend.


    Khan''s different attire at the tournament attracted some attention, but the audience eventually grew used to it. His crown, cape, and bright eyes were alien enough to retain his otherworldly aura, and the terrace''s guests barely minded the change. They only cared about Khan''s presence.


    The usual casual conversations unfolded, with the nobles asionally pointing out Khan''s better mood. He even emoted in public now, which many saw as an improvement to his previous unflinching cold face.


    Khan internally admitted he truly felt better. The grief for his father''s death still loomed over his head, but sharing his story with his closest friends had lightened the pressure on his shoulders. Somehow, Khan felt less alone now and freer.


    Nevertheless, Khan still had goals to address, so he didn''t let the casual conversations distract him, especially since his target sat next to him. He had a true leader at his side, and his experience could bring the answers he sought.


    "[The weak die to the strong]," Khan suddenly muttered during a silent moment. "s die to stars]."


    "You truly like my quote," Lord Exrughed, repeating the line in hisnguage while slightly adjusting the wording.


    "I used it as a reminder," Khan admitted. "This is how the universe works."


    Khan had thrown the bait, hoping his main target would take it, and the Thilku didn''t disappoint. Lord Rsi remained silent for a few seconds before joining the conversation.


    "You''ve seen it yourself, [Blue Shaman]," Lord Rsi announced. "Your strength opened the path for our cooperation and your authority."


    "And strength I''ll keep gathering," Khanmented.


    "The Empire trusts you''ll do so," Lord Rsi said. "It would be a great disappointment if you didn''t."


    "It''s unavoidable," Khan reassured.


    "[Ah]!" Lord Rsi cried. "Our pride is affecting you!"


    "Apologies, My Lord," Monica intervened. "Please, don''t make my fianc¨¦ more confident than he already is. My patience can hardly keep up as it is."


    Monica''s joke triggered someughs, but her words had a deeper purpose. She knew what Khan was doing, and her line perfectly assisted him.


    "I''d prepare for the worst, Miss Solodrey," Lord Rsi eximed. "A leader must be confident. A leader must be firm and unflinching. A leader can never be doubted nor doubt himself. His vision will shatter under the weight of rebellions otherwise."


    Khan smirked, teasing Monica with his confident gaze. She helplessly shook her head to join the partial fa?ade, and moreughs resounded among them.


    In the meantime, Khan reviewed Lord Rsi''s words. Confidence and firmness were already part of his skill set, but he didn''t focus on those details. Lord Rsi had mentioned something far more interesting, which ended up sticking to his mind.


    ''A vision, huh,'' Khan thought. That simple word felt like a key necessary to unlock a higher mindset, and Khan even nned to explore the topic more with Lord Rsi. However, something distracted him.


    The terrace''s guests were barely paying attention to the battles, but everything changed when Khan looked at the arena. His gaze was fixed on a specific spot, and his hand swiftly pushed


    Monica off hisp.


    Multiple battles were unfolding in the area, but one particr one had ended. The scene featured a young woman proudly standing before her defeated, kneeling opponent. The floor had also confirmed her victory, so her eyes rose to the stages, bathing in the cheers.


    The kneeling young man had his face lowered, so no one noticed his empty expression. He had actually fainted, but his mana moved independently, escaping his skin.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Crackling noises spread through the area, alerting the young woman. She inspected the young man, realizing that scarlet sparks had covered his arms and shoulders. Her eyes widened as she tried to assume a defensive stance, but lightning bolts shot out before she could start to


    move.


    The woman couldn''t even close her eyes in time. She saw the scarlet lightning bolts darting through the air as they flew toward her. Everything also slowed down, almost hinting at her impending death, but something even quicker unfolded.


    The young woman''s brain took a while to update her on the new scenery. The lightning bolts had disappeared, reced by a thick red cape. Someone had saved her, but the aura that touched her survival instincts made her fall to her knees.


    Khan ignored the woman and inspected the kneeling man. The odd sensation from before had disappeared, and the contestant slowly regained his awareness, lifting his head in confusion.


    Noticing Khan froze the young man from head to toe. His slightly long ck hair almost stood up in fear, and his eyes widened, revealing the depths of their green color. Khan ignored that reaction, too. He only cared about the man''s mana, which was strangely normal now. Still, he smelled something off, so he approached the contestant, lifting him from the armor piece on his shoulder to better examine him.


    The contestant wanted to say something, but his throat didn''t work. Even his lungs threatened to copse. He was only a second-level warrior, while Khan was a force of nature. The man could barely breathe, let alone speak.


    Khan let go of the man, who was too frozen even to try to fall. His legs remained as straight as possible as Khan walked around him twice, seemingly searching for something. ''Curious,'' Khan thought, ripping off the chest armor and exposing the man''s military uniform. He ced a hand at the center of his chest, closing his eyes to study the mana''s flow. That energy was strange but reminded Khan of his weapon.


    Khan reopened his eyes, sending a harmless tremor inside the man. Thetter barely felt it, but his mana experienced something more radical. The light shock seemingly awakened it, and scarlet sparks immediately umted on the contestant''s shoulders.


    Khan stepped back, putting a slight distance between the man and himself to avoid safety hazards. Meanwhile, more scarlet sparks umted, rising above the contestant to create a


    face-like picture.


    The face was unclear. The sparks'' everchanging shape also didn''t help, but Khan trusted that first impression. He had also seen something simr in the past, so he let that strange mana


    complete its task.


    The sparks eventually shot forward, turning into a crackling cloud that converged on Khan. The attack was fast, faster than it had been against the woman, but Khan barely minded it. He was more interested in its nature than destructive force.


    "Shatter," Khan said once the cloud was about to reach him, and the sparks dispersed, turning into raw energy that disappeared in the air.


    The man became free of the scarlet sparks, but his body failed to handle thest attack. His legs gave in, and his knees mmed to the floor. His hands and face were about to suffer from


    the same fate, but Khan caught him and straightened his back. Nevertheless, the man had already fainted, preventing any interrogation. Khan could only tap the floor to learn his name, and "Foxnor" soon appeared on the metal. ''Where did I hear it?'' Khan wondered. ''Right, Istrone. I guess I owe him one.''

 Chapter 871: Alive

    Chapter 871: Alive


    ?


    ''I wonder if he is still a Captain,'' Khan thought, lifting the fainted descendant with one hand to ce him on his shoulder. ''It''s been years since Istrone.''


    Captain Foxnor had been part of Istrone''s rescue party, but Khan was nothing more than a new soldier back then. He didn''t even interact with that family during his political ascension, but a debt was a debt. Besides, Khan found the descendant''s mana interesting.


    Khan gestured at Princess Reba''s tower to resume the tournament before his figure disappeared. His short trip didn''t go unnoticed, leaving all the contestants stuck in fear, awe, and curiosity. Still, Princess Reba promptly gave the general announcement, and the battles continued.


    Meanwhile, Khan reappeared on the terrace, the fainted descendant still on his shoulder. The guests there had also studied the event with the help of the floor''s scanners, so Khan''s return gave them a chance to appease their curiosity. Yet, Monica spoke first.


    "Are we adopting him, dear?" Monica asked, standing up and approaching Khan to inspect the descendant''s face. "I thought our first child would have been smaller. And cuter."


    "I''m not iming him for the Nognes family," Khan reassured the noble representatives. "I''m curious about his element. You can obviously attend the tests and will be updated on the results."


    Khan had to make that point clear. The Nognes family''s inability to im descendants for itself was part of the tournament''s appeal, and making the tests public would kill any inquiry about Khan''s credibility. He didn''t n on hiding anything, abiding by his event''s rules.


    Of course, Khan''s intervention and interest had increased the descendant''s value. Far stronger and more capable contestants had appeared, but the Foxnor man had instantly outssed them in terms of fame. That was the power of Khan''s acknowledgment.


    Khan summoned one of the soldiers on the terrace''s back with a nce before dropping the descendant in his arms.


    "Contact Abraham and have him set up ab," Khan ordered. "Contact the Foxnor family, too. They can attend if they want to."


    The soldier limited his military salute to straightening his back before returning to the terrace''s back. He conveyed Khan''s orders to the troops, and teams hurried to address them. Khan would probably have everything ready in less than an hour, but the tournament still demanded his presence.


    Luckily, the afternoon had already arrived, so Khan wouldn''t have to wait long to engage in that more exciting matter. He returned to his throne, pulling Monica back on hisp, but the terrace''s guests seemed to share his mindset.


    "Are there seats for the Empire, too?" Lord Exr asked when Lord Rsi nced at him.


    "Is the Empire interested in the man''s element?" Khan wondered. The tournament''s rules didn''t involve the alien parties, so that request came as a surprise.


    "The interest is in your interest, Prince Khan," Tlexicpalli exined, strangely agreeing with the Thilku. "Besides, it''s a chance to see you in action."


    "[Shaman]''s methods are always interesting," Lord Rsi agreed, creating a public event over which Khan had no control.


    The battles continued and ended. A few events followed, but the audience eventually emptied the area, nning to join parties and other celebrations across the quadrant.


    The terrace''s guests would usually attend some specific parties, but Khan''s actions changed their schedule. The Thilku Lords, Tlexicpalli, the Scalqa, the noble representatives, Mister Cirvags, Alexander, and Monica followed him into a square structure outside the main city, hoping to fulfill their curiosity.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan''s soldiers had rearranged the structure for the asion. They had emptied most of the reinforced area, leaving only the tools Abraham and the other scientists needed to perform the tests. They had also prepared food and drinks, knowing the terrace''s guests wanted to be entertained.


    The soldiers and scientists weren''t alone in the structure. Members of the Foxnor family had gathered there, including people who weren''t on Baoway. When Khan entered the area, he found the young descendant lying on an interactive desk with his rtives standing behind him, among whom he spotted a familiar face.


    "Captain Foxnor," Khan announced, recognizing the ck-haired man from Istrone''s rescue team. "You probably don''t remember, but we met during Istrone''s rebellion."


    "Of course, I remember," Captain Foxnor lied, crossing the interactive table to perform a military salute. "Prince Khan, I apologize for correcting you, but it''s Major now."


    "Oh, congrattions," Khan said while the rest of the Foxnor people performed military salutes. Using phones on the terrace would have been impolite, so he didn''t check Major Foxnor''s current status.


    As for the lie, Khan didn''t mind it. He wouldn''t have recalled a random kid, either, and no one could have predicted his incredible political journey. Besides, the Major probably wanted to look good before the other guests, too, so Khan let it slide.


    The Foxnor family was neither wealthy nor poor, so being in the presence of ten nobles was the greatest event of its life. Khan could clearly see the rtives'' hope blending with theb''s synthetic mana. Still, neither he nor the representatives paid them any heed.


    "Abraham, what did you find?" Khan questioned, leaving his group to approach the interactive desk. The descendant was awake now, but the asional warning res from his rtives kept him still.


    "It looks like a mana illness, My Prince," Abraham exined, checking one of theb''s consoles. "That''s all I have from the preliminary tests."


    ''Mana illnesses,'' Khan thought, his piercing eyes running over the lying descendant. ''Didn''t Professor Parver have something simr?''


    "Prince Khan, our family already checked my nephew," Major Foxnor exined. "It''s a mana anomaly that evolved into an illness. Sadly, it''s incurable."


    "Did the anomaly start since he received his mana core?" Khan questioned.


    "Yes, Prince Khan," Major Foxnor confirmed. "We reced his mana core, but the anomaly remained."


    ''It might not be an anomaly then,'' Khan thought. ''Just anomalous behavior.''


    The scientific difference between those two definitions didn''t exist in the human rulebook, but Khan''s perspective stretched far past his species. Moreover, he had learned much since his time in the Harbor, especially about the mana''s behavior.


    "Stand back," Khan ordered. "Abraham, the scanners."


    "Already online, My Prince," Abraham said, activating a program on his console.


    Major Foxnor and the other rtives retreated, reaching theb''s walls while Khan hovered a hand over the lying descendant. The young man''s breath became loud, hinting at panic, but his awareness faded when Khan sent a wave of harmless mana toward him.


    Khan had contained himself, limiting his action to a faint challenge. He had charged that small amount of mana with insulting feelings, hoping it would cause a reaction.


    The descendant''s mana didn''t disappoint. Scarlet sparks umted at the center of his abdomen, rising to create a crackling sphere. The attack immediately identified Khan as the offender, shooting at him to respond to the provocation.


    Nevertheless, the crackling sphere was weaker than anything the descendant had previously released. Those scarlet sparks seemed to have adapted to the challenge''s power, which Khan had purposefully limited. The attack barely counted as the spell from a second-level mage, and Khan caught it with his bare hand.


    The crackling noise intensified while Khan kept the sphere sealed in his grasp. The spell almost sounded angry, but its scarlet sparks couldn''t do anything against the ck blood


    vessels covering Khan''s fingers and palms.


    Gasps and more interest filled theb. Khan was a fourth-level warrior, but a spell remained dangerous. Mana-enhanced soldiers weren''t immune to bullets, but Khan could handle lightning bolts with his bare hands.


    As for Khan, he only focused on the sparks. Their violence reminded him of his element, but the matter was deeper. That mana had more than just a wild nature. It almost seemed aware.


    The sphere abandoned the idea of piercing the [Blood Shield] spell and tried to send sparks through the spaces between Khan''s fingers. Still, a chilling aura suddenly filled theb, focusing on the attack.


    The sparks reacted to that oppressive aura, lowering their noise and interrupting their expansion. The sphere also shrunk, seemingly terrified of the far stronger presence in the


    area.


    ''It is aware,'' Khan concluded, ''Like an animal before arger predator.''


    Khan closed his hand into a fist, crushing the crackling sphere. His attention lingered on the fainted descendant for a few seconds before moving to Abraham. Thetter was immersed in the data recorded by the scanners, but the silence eventually made him turn. "The console isputing the data, My Prince," Abraham exined. "Though it will take a while to clean it up from your interference."


    "I won''t interfere in the following tests," Khan promised. "There''s no point."


    "Did you find something, My Prince?" Abraham asked, reading between the lines.


    "It probably isn''t an anomaly," Khan stated. "It''s his element."


    "But-," Major Foxnor said, almost forgetting his manners. "Prince Khan, we tested my nephew''s element thoroughly. He has the Foxnor family''s iconic lightning element, which the illness makes red and violent."


    "It might have mutated," Khan suggested, "Or it''s still mutating, or it revealed itself once the host was strong enough. I only know it''s alive and decently smart."

 Chapter 872: Approach

    Chapter 872: Approach


    ?


    Major Foxnor couldn''t understand what Khan was saying. Actually, all the people in the room were confused. The concept of a living element was too foreign for humans, and Khan didn''t add much to his exnation.


    Nevertheless, Khan ignored the general confusion and approached one of the soldiers to seize some booze. Afterward, he looked at the interactive table, sipping from his ss. His mind was a mystery to the audience, and he didn''t fare any better.


    Khan was no scientist. The Thilku had acknowledged him as a Shaman, but that title didn''t have an exact meaning, especially to him. Khan didn''tplete any specific training for the role nor follow the instructions of a proper expert in the field. Hecked theory, mainly using his heightened senses to understand what humans were blind to.


    Khan, too, was unfamiliar with the concept of a living element, but he knew what he had sensed. Moreover, mastering the Niqols arts broadened his perspective on mana. He had even witnessed the most bizarre phenomenon, opening himself to that possibility.


    ''How do I deal with this now?'' Khan wondered, his hand automatically pouring more booze into his mouth.


    The topic wasn''t only interesting. Khan even had a dog in that fight. The Nak corpse had told him to evolve past mana, so studying its different shapes could provide an answer to that riddle. It might also give him ideas on how to use his element to fulfill the Nak legacy without their help, which he very much desired.


    "Does Garret Bizelli specialize in mutations?" Khan asked, his gaze still fixed on the interactive desk.


    "It''s part of his education, My Prince," Abraham confirmed. "Put him on the case. Have the Bizelli family send specialists, too."


    Abraham responded, but Khan didn''t hear him. Khan retreated into his mind, reviewing the matter from a different perspective.


    Clearly, Khan wouldn''t have reached those conclusions years ago. He had been too ignorant and inexperienced to consider those developments. That vouched for his growth but also suggested that he had encountered simr cases.


    Professor Parver was the first example that popped into Khan''s mind, but he could also find something closer to his persona. His Cloud spell was technically alive, even if the specifics slightly differed.


    ''The cloud only embodies my element''s wild nature,'' Khan thought, rejecting the idea. ''I even aligned our mindsets. It expresses my uninhibited urges now.''


    Khan couldn''t apply his spell to the topic, but his cursed knife seemed to fit it. His weapon was alive, and he had even replicated part of its nature when creating the life-saving disposable item. Khan knew the field, so he could work with it.


    ''Weapons can have wills and be alive,'' Khan considered, ''Sort of. It stands to reason that elements can, too, especially since they have the mana behind them.''


    Khan silently reviewed the topic, his thoughts expanding the field and stretching into anything remotely simr. He had seen and learned so much, so he had memories to explore with his new expertise.


    "Summon Professor Parver from the Harbor here," Khan ordered. "Have him bring his clinical file."


    Responses resounded in theb, but Khan had already retreated into his mind. A proper project was taking shape, and he didn''t hesitate to pursue it.


    ''How many did I miss?'' Khan wondered. ''How many of such cases I didn''t see or recognize? The Foxnor descendant can''t be the only one in all humankind.''


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t necessarily miss anything. The Global Army had known about mana illnesses for a while, so there had to have been more cases like the Foxnor descendant. Many might have been hopeless, preventing those young soldiers from appearing on the public


    scene.


    The families themselves might have avoided nurturing those ill descendants to focus on more promising offspring. Thetter was a better bet, especially since the Global Armycked cures for the former.


    ''There might be more in the tournament,'' Khan realized, ''But there are bound to be even more among those who didn''te here, among those the families gave up upon.''


    Khan felt confident about that hypothesis. After all, humankind had enjoyed mana for five hundred years, so mutations and irregrities must have happened. Theck of cures or solutions hadbeled them illnesses, casting them into the dark depths of history.


    However, confirming the hypothesis wouldn''t amount to anything. Finding unique and special cases wouldn''t change anything for Khan and the Global Army. He had to provide a solution to use and benefit from that topic.


    ''How do I deal with this?'' Khan thought, returning to his initial question. ''What would [Zalpa] do?''


    Khan lingered on those thoughts for a few seconds beforepletely disregarding them. ''No, that''s not it,'' Khan realized. ''[Zalpa] would put them through the Niqols arts, hoping they can develop as I did.''


    That would theoretically work, but the process would take years. Besides, learning from scratch was easier than recing existing knowledge. Khan had seen that with Abraham and the other scientists. Humans would be humans, so they needed a different approach. "Call Sen-nu," Khan ordered. "I want to hear what the Fuveall have to say about this."


    "My Prince," Abraham called, seemingly unwilling to contradict Khan before theb''s audience. "The Fuveall team is hard at work on the other project. I''m not sure they can clear their schedule."


    "Then hire more Fuveall," Khan said, waving his ss toward the soldiers to get a refill. "I want as many eyes as possible on this matter."


    The nobles, Thilku, and the rest of the important audience didn''t intervene. It wasn''t their ce to dictate over Khan''s internal matters, and seeing him in action granted insights into his persona and skills. Still, asional looks fell on Monica since she often acted as Khan''s


    voice of reason.


    Nevertheless, the audience underestimated Monica''splete faith in Khan. He had seen something, so that something existed, and Monica was ready to go broke to support him. She knew he was right and would seed, even if he had yet to discover how.


    As for the Foxnor group, the interest in their descendant ted them. Even if the issue had no solution, they still gained the chance to keep interacting with Khan and his influential allies. People would kill for that opportunity, and they got it by losing the tournament. The event was beyond fortunate.


    However, one figure among the Foxnor group saw the potential issues with that interest. Major Foxnor had interacted with powerful parties, so he knew how quickly things could lead to catastrophes. Khan also had a grim fame, so he feared what disappointing him could cause.


    "Prince Khan," Major Foxnor called, his brain mustering the politest words he had ever muttered. "I''m deeply grateful for your intervention and interest, but it would pain me to waste your time. My family can relieve you of this burden."


    "It can''t," Khan stated. "I''ve already taken it."


    "But, My Prince," Major Foxnor politelyined. "We will happily share my nephew''s clinical file to prove that we have done everything in our power. We can''t ask you to support


    us."


    Khan struggled to focus on theb since his mind was exploring fields the audience couldn''t even consider. Yet, Major Foxnor kept distracting him, so he decided to remove the doubts


    first.


    "Come out!" Khan shouted, a faint clicking cry echoing in his throat.


    Khan''s voice carried more than words. His aura grew heavier again, converging on the fainted descendant. He had unleashed the entirety of his presence, and the Foxnor man''s mana didn''t


    disappoint.


    The descendant''s mana knew it was done. A threat bigger than anything it could imagine had surrounded it, triggering its most primitive instincts. A cornered animal would forsake reason and self-preservation, and the red sparks followed that behavior.


    A wave of red sparks rose from the descendant''s body, tearing his military uniform and flesh. That mana didn''t even condense. It directly shot at Khan,unching a desperate attack againstn/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    that deadly presence.


    The attack had the shape of an everchanging crackling cloud. Its sparks never stopped crackling, altering density, length, and width. Yet, its uppermost part almost solidified, gaining a horizontal opening that resembled a mouth.


    The crackling noises intensified as the cloud lunged at Khan. The crash seemed unavoidable and threatened to involve the important guests. However, Khan took a graceful step forward, and his free arm performed a sharp movement.


    The audience almost couldn''t believe their eyes when Khan pped the crackling mouth, sending it to the ceiling. The rest of the cloud followed, gathering on the metal surface above. The spell was far from done, but four purple-red needles suddenlynded on its sparks.


    The needles exploded, unleashing spherical destruction on the sparks. The cloud''s mouth fell prey to the violent mana, shattering alongside the rest of its energy. That mana quickly dispersed, only leaving a dark spot on the ceiling.


    "That can rival spells from third-level mages," Khan announced, pointing at the dark spot. "Meanwhile, your nephew is a second-level warrior. He shouldn''t have the mana nor the ability to cast something that strong."


    Abraham abandoned his console and hurried toward the descendant. Releasing that much power had injured him, which demanded immediate medical attention.


    "My theory is that it will get worse," Khan exined. "Until host and mana are aligned, they''ll keep fighting each other, and you can see who is winning."

 Chapter 873: Outmaneuvering

    Chapter 873: Outmaneuvering


    ?


    The demonstration didn''t exin Khan''s theory or absurd im about a living element. Yet, seeing him able to summon the scarlet sparks at will proven his ability to deal with the matter. No one knew whether he could fix it, but everyone epted that he had a deeper understanding than anyone else in the Global Army.


    Even Major Foxnor had to give up on the matter. He still feared the potentially negative repercussions, but denying Khan''s im any further would imply rejecting what he had just witnessed, which he didn''t understand in the first ce.


    "I''ll leave my nephew in your care, Prince Khan," Major Foxnor felt obliged to say, performing a respectful military salute. "I know I speak for my family when I say we are grateful for your help."


    Khan nodded at the Major, but his mind quickly slipped away again and analyzed the topic. Much had to be prepared, but rushing the project could be a mistake, especially while the tournament was underway.


    ''I can''t handle this like the medical trials,'' Khan thought. ''Launching another mass invitation for something so unclear will just backfire.''


    Many were ignorant about the Fuveall and their technology, but everyone understood imnts. Khan didn''t have to exin nor sell the idea to attract guinea pigs, and the same couldn''t be said about the living elements.


    Moreover, the soldiers who wanted to join the medical trials had made that decision themselves. They had different reasons for diving into a potentially deadly experiment, but no one had pressured them. They were aware of the risks and willing to face them. Meanwhile, ording to Khan''s predictions, the living elements issue would mainly involve young descendants, whom families would force to join the tests out of greed or simple desire to establish a connection with him. His eventual announcement would also be too vague, inevitably including countless false cases.


    ''Finding out morees first,'' Khan concluded. ''I must approach this as a scientist, establishing clear requirements and potential solutions. Everyone would jump at the opportunity otherwise.''


    While Khan''s mind was already projected into the future, the audience focused on the current and previous events. They knew Khan was incredible and wielded mysterious methods, but his demonstration revealed a level of insight they didn''t predict. Thework had long since reported about his heightened senses but didn''t depict the whole picture.


    Most guests respected Khan''s silence, noticing his fuming brain. However, that polite behavior mainly came from the human side. The aliens didn''t care for those kinds of manners and couldn''t refrain from voicingments.


    "Quitepelling," Lord Rsi praised. "The Empire''s soldiers did well in acknowledging you."


    Lord Rsi had already given Khan his seal of approval, and the cape on his back stated that. However, the Thilku wasn''t ignorant about human politics. He knew an open and publicpliment could go a long way in those contexts.


    "It''s nothing special," Khan dismissed thepliment, snapping back to reality. "The mana is easy to understand if you speak itsnguage."


    "We''ll take your word for it, [Blue Shaman]," Lord Exr chuckled. "Your kind may be


    iprehensible, but the Empire never failed to respect it."


    "Will thisnguage be taught in your training camps, Prince Khan?" Tlexicpalli wondered. "The Ef''i will learn it if it can grant a fraction of your might."


    Humankind had interacted with species featuring Shamans but had always remained confident in its methods. Nevertheless, seeing the mighty Thilku Empire speaking about them in such high regard kindled the nobles'' interest. Khan''s individual might could exin those praises, but there could be more to it.


    Yet, none of the representatives inquired. The Global Army had already shown interest in Khan''s strange arts, but his lessons had culminated in his assassination attempt. That ship had sailed, and the nobles knew it would take years to approach that topic again with him.


    "It''s truly fascinating," Princess Montares ended up speaking, limiting her words topliments. "Prince Khan, I must say you continue to amaze me."


    A series of nods and "Indeed" resounded in theb, echoed by the other representatives. Their interest and curiosity were evident, but no one pushed it further. The best they could hope for now were deals involving products of Khan''s alien expertise, which they already had.


    "This living elements business," Lord Exrmented. "Should the Empire expect monthly updates?"


    The noble representatives'' eyes lit up at Lord Exr''s question. They couldn''t inquire about Khan''s arts, but the tournament''s rules could create a narrow window into his expertise. "Will we get updates, Prince Khan?" Prince Rassec asked, feigning surprise about the matter. The other representatives didn''t miss the clue and echoed Prince Rassec''s interest. Except for Princess Montares, every noble threw questions at Khan, inquiring how much he would reveal about his study.


    Princess Montares tried to convey the truth with her expression, but Khan didn''t need help uncovering the nobles'' real intentions. Even without his heightened senses, he could see the political maneuver, which didn''t leave him many options.


    The Fuveall imnts were a personal project, something Khan could keep under the veil of his organization. It would invite spies but offered no leverage to outside parties. Khan could refuse any investigation with the power and authority he wielded.


    However, the Foxnor young man''s involvement created a connection with the tournament. The nobles could im an interest in the descendant and demand updates on all rted information. Things would have been different with Professor Parver, but Khan couldn''t retract his offer anymore.


    Khan calmly absorbed that political outmaneuvering. Truthfully, he only had one possible answer to the nobles'' joint request.


    "You''ll obviously be updated on any data regarding these tests," Khan stated, "As well as descriptions of the approaches that have been pursued."


    The nobles rejoiced at the concession, but Khan didn''t let it end there.


    "Though," Khan continued, "Allow me to provide an additional favor."


    Khan''s words quieted the nobles and recaptured their interest. He had sounded friendly, but that vibe shattered when he wore a faint smile. That umon expression hinted at something far from pleasant.


    "Don''t waste money developing tech to inhibit my senses," Khan announced. "I evolve faster than technology."


    The nobles hesitated before feigning ignorance, chuckling, and exchangingplicit looks. No one tried to im innocence, but everyone pretended Khan''s statement didn''t involve them. That was still a friendly environment created during a happy event, and they didn''t want to ruin it with usations and excuses.


    Khan didn''t even me the nobles. The representatives only spoke for part of their families, and it was customary for such powerful parties to try to develop countermeasures to potential threats. They weren''t used to losing control, so those anti-Khan projects felt almost


    mandatory due to his political rise.


    Still, feigning ignorance didn''t work for Khan anymore. He wouldn''t condemn the nobles for behaving like nobles but wouldn''t take the outmaneuvering lightly, either. Khan would ept it, but only after letting the representatives know he understood their game.


    "Get everything done," Khan ordered, forcing a change of topic. "Keep me updated on everything."


    "It will be done, My Prince!" Abraham said, still focused on patching up the descendant. "Prepare quarters for the Foxnor family," Khan continued, eyeing the soldiers. Military salutes unfolded, but Major Foxnor wanted toin. He couldn''t ept such generosity, especially when many family members had gathered on the. However, Khan didn''t give him the chance to speak.


    "I hope you''ll excuse me for retiring early today," Khan said to the influential guests. "I have much to n. I promise I''ll make it up to each of you."


    "We''ll see each other in the arena tomorrow," Lord Rsi nodded, "Before enjoying the [Feast]


    in the night."


    "I hear you went for broke to n it," Khanmented. "I can''t wait."


    "The Ef''i can''t wait, either," Tlexicpalli teased. "We won''t be burdened by unknown rules


    again."


    The Thilku Lords and Tlexicpalli seemed ready to engage in their usual bickering, but Khan promptly ignored to address the noble representatives.


    "I''ll host private dinners once things calm down," Khan promised before lifting his elbow, which Monica promptly seized to depart with him.


    The guests followed the two departing figures, who disappeared as soon as they crossed theb''s entrance. Khan immediately set off with Monica, flying away from that political


    environment.


    Monica could study the destination when Khan stopped. He had flown her to one of the main city''s terraces, seemingly hinting at the need for work. Yet, a groan escaped his mouth as soon as he dropped her, and his hand went to his face to rub his eyes. "Exhausted?" Monica asked, reaching for Khan''s face to make him look at her.


    "Am I getting over myself?" Khan wondered, his gaze wandering across the darkening sky


    behind Monica. "This stuff is for Shamans, real Shamans. The best I can do is beat those


    lightning bolts into submission."


    "You were quite maic when you did that," Monicamented. "Should I pull the wife


    card and drag you to bed?"


    "I''m serious," Khan sighed. "I don''t even know where to start helping this kid."


    "He''s hardly a kid," Monica chuckled.


    "Monica, this is serio-" Khan tried to repeat, but Monica sealed Khan''s lips with her thumb.


    "Do you know how many times I''ve seen you second-guess yourself?" Monica questioned. "Do you know how many of those times you ended up seeding?"


    Khan focused on Monica, noticing a calm wisdom in her eyes. That feeling went beyond her love-fueled faith in Khan. She conveyed the confidence that only hard data and years of experience could provide.


    "My man will one daymand all humankind," Monica dered. "Drop the second- guessing, doubts, and hesitation. Kings take without asking for permission nor lookingN?v(el)B\\jnn


    back."

 Chapter 874: Brainstorming

    Chapter 874: Brainstorming


    ?


    Khan couldn''t help but feel surprised. Monica had always been there for him, supporting him through his harshest times. She had also continuously adjusted her public role to Khan''s rising status, filling his gaps andpleting him as best as possible, and her statement highlighted another change.


    Monica had always possessed more foresight than Khan. She knew what he could and would have be before anyone else. He was nothing short of a King now, so only a Queen could stand at his side, and she would y that role to pull her share of the weight in her


    rtionship.


    Khan studied Monica''s wise, icy-blue eyes, and his doubts disappeared. Hecked theoretical knowledge, but his insights into the mana were almost unmatched. If the scarlet sparks didn''t reveal their secrets, he would beat them down until they did.


    "I''m starting to wonder whether you are with me just to get a crown," Khan joked, seizing the hand still resting on his face.


    "Oh, yes," Monica yed along. "It was all part of my grand scheme ever since Milia 222. You looked like you had a bright future, so I seduced you to ensure mine."


    "It would have been easier if you went for wealthier descendants," Khan said, lowering Monica''s hand and pulling her closer.


    "You were cuter," Monica uttered, running a finger on Khan''s chest. "And being with you would have made my parents angry, so I''d have killed two birds with one stone."


    "My, my," Khan shook his head. "I''m being used for my status and to get back at your parents. I should have known better."


    "You should have," Monica confirmed, smiling, "But it''s toote now. You are already unable to live without me."


    "I''mpletely trapped," Khan eximed.


    "You are," Monica nodded, escaping Khan''s grip to wrap her arms around his neck. "Though, don''t worry, dear. I''ll make your imprisonment worthwhile."


    "That''s interesting," Khan said. "Go on."


    "Patience, dear," Monica giggled. "You still have things to do tonight, don''t you?"


    Khan smiled proudly at Monica''s knowledgeable expression. She was right. Theck of hesitation cleared his mind, showing him what to do. He couldn''te up with answers on his own, so he would summon his trusted advisors.


    A few messages and an hourter, five figures gathered in one of the main building''s dining halls, upying various couches while indulging in food and drinks. George, Lieutenant Dyester, Abraham, Khan, and Monica made themselvesfortable, but the inevitable question eventually resounded.


    "Why are we here?" Lieutenant Dyester asked, lighting up a cigarette.


    "Personally," George replied, "I''m here because the happy couple made me fight with my girlfriend."


    "You are here because you are the only ones aware of my nightmares," Khan exined, "And each of you fills a specific role."


    "Abraham is my lead scientist," Khan continued. "Master Carl is my training expert. George knows about the Niqols arts, and I need Monica for my mental sanity."


    "The issue being?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned.


    "The Prince believes we have encountered a living element," Abraham summarized. "He probably means to establish a strategy to tackle the topic."


    "Exactly," Khan confirmed.


    "However, My Prince," Abraham added. "I thought we had to wait for Mister Bizelli and the Fuveall''s findings."


    "I know what they will find," Khan responded. "They''llbel the descendant''s element as an anomaly among anomalies, and their only suggestion would be to suppress it."


    "That''s themon course of action against unstable elements," Lieutenant Dyester pointed out, still absorbing the concept of a living element. "It''s the same with your element."


    "And you can all see the difference between me and other chaos wielders," Khanmented. "That''s power to be wielded, not suppressed."


    Khan''s statement was undeniable, but the audience struggled to agree. Khan was right, but his achievements resulted from his talent and efforts, which no one could mimic. It would be unfair to apply the same standards to other descendants.


    "Wait," George called. "I''m not even half as good as you in the Niqols arts. How can I be of any help?"


    "You learned their arts without abandoning the human methods," Khan exined, "Or detaching yourself from humankind. I need your more human perspective."


    "Abraham is the scientist," Lieutenant Dyester announced. "The kid knows what you are talking about, and Monica keeps your wiener in check. What do you need me for?"


    "Your experience training recruits will keep my ideas grounded," Khan answered. "It will tell me what''s actually doable."


    "You do realize I didn''t teach many recruits, don''t you?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned. "Calling me Master doesn''t make me suitable for the task."


    "I don''t care," Khan said, waving his hand dismissively. "You are Master Carl now, so get up to speed."


    Lieutenant Dyester wanted toin, but the im was so unreasonable that he couldn''t find anything to say. Khan had changed his title and upation without asking his permission and now demanded that he performed his job well.


    "Isn''t the answer obvious?" George wondered. "Just teach this guy the Niqols arts."


    "It wouldn''t only be this guy," Khan revealed. "If I''m right, there are far more living elements or other anomalies in the Global Army."


    "Then, establish schools or something," George suggested. "Keep them here to avoid security hazards, and it''s done."


    "George, how long did it take us to learn those arts?" Khan reminded. "How long would it have taken us if we didn''t just go through Istrone''s rebellion?"


    Khan and George were lost after the Istrone''s rebellion, which had made the Niqols arts appealing. Those alien techniques helped them deal with their emotional distress, bringing out more effort on their part.


    "I remember different incentives," George muttered.


    "George," Monica called, pulling her phone to show Anita''s open contact. "Should we see for how long I can stop you from gettingid?"


    "My sword, life, and expertise are yours, Miss Solodrey," George promptly stated,


    straightening his back to imitate a military salute.


    "So," Khan said, pulling Monica on his shoulder to praise her for the excellent job, "How do


    we develop training methods humans can immediately pick up?"


    Silence filled the hall as everyone pondered the issue. The audience''s different fields of expertise sent the brainstorming in many directions, but realistic conclusions failed to arrive.


    "If the living element is a mutation," Abraham eventually announced, "Won''t the supplement help align it with the body? It would probably prevent today''s violent reaction."


    "What exactly happened today?" Lieutenant Dyester asked.


    "Prince Khan forced the living element to manifest," Abraham exined. "The descendant was hurt in the sudden re of energy."


    "Won''t the supplement only fix the anatomical issue then?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned. "It might make the descendant able to withstand the element but not use it."


    "How did you end up controlling the chaos element?" George inquired. "There has to be a theory behind all the alien talk."


    "I mixed the human theory with what the Niqols taught me," Khan summarized, "Isting and linking specific emotions with certain memories to obtain the desired shapes and


    effects."


    Lieutenant Dyester, Abraham, and George wore nk faces. The exnation had rendered them speechless, mainly because they had stopped following it halfway through. Khan''s description was closer to a fairytale than a scientific approach.


    "So," George cleared his throat, "You don''t draw specific patterns with your mana to cast


    spells."


    "I do it with my martial arts," Khan revealed, "With some modifications. Still, no. I only let my mana burst out when I cast spells."


    "Are you even human?" Georgemented.


    "Blue hair," Khan said, pointing at his head, "shlights for eyes. Do you really need to ask?"


    "What about when you cast all those spells in the air?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned. "Do you use the same pattern?"


    "Oh, no," Khan shook his head. "I influence the surrounding mana with my presence, altering its nature so it''s easier to order around."


    Even Monica couldn''t refrain from peeking at Khan now. She had heard part of his alien knowledge before and had even watched him train. However, his exnation made the


    matter sound surreal.


    "Like the Niqols did!" George shouted, finally understanding something, "Except for the


    ordering around part."


    "That''s Nele," Khan exined. "I take control of the surrounding mana through the Niqols arts and ask favors through the Nele arts."


    "Right," George nodded. "Asking favors to the mana. Obviously."


    Lieutenant Dyester nced at George, but thetter shook his head. George had heightened


    senses, but they didn''t put him anywhere close to what Khan was trying to exin.


    "Your emotions," Abraham broke his silence, "The ones you use to cast spells ..."


    "And memories," Khan reminded.


    "And memories..." Abraham corrected himself.


    "They are closer to specific pictures than memories," Khan specified. "Anything can work as


    long as it matches the chosen emotion and has high intensity."


    "My Prince," Abraham called. He was too polite and loyal to rebuke Khan, but thetter read


    between the lines.


    "Continue," Khan ordered.


    "Humans draw patterns because they produce the intended effects," Abraham dered.


    "Still, they are simply channels meant to turn the mana of a specific element into a specific


    spell. My Prince, you have created alternative channels, but their nature and purpose don''t


    change."


    "Those channels require specific emotions," George pointed out. "I''m guessing the Niqols'' maniption field."


    "Yes," Khan confirmed. "That''s necessary."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "It''s the worst of the three fields," George revealed when Lieutenant Dyester and Abraham


    looked at him. "Khan only learned it because-."


    George interrupted his joke when he saw Monica wield her phone again, but the message


    reached the rest of the audience anyway. Mastering the Niqols'' maniption field would still take too long, discarding it from the possible approaches.


    "They should just talk it through," Khan sighed. "It''s a living element. Just discuss it and seal


    a deal."


    The three men showed nk expressions once again, and Monica shook her head, telling Khan how unfeasible that approach was.


    "Do you talk with your-?" George began to ask before lifting his hands in surrender.


    "Actually, I don''t even want to know."


    "Magic items," Abraham suddenly announced. "They can channel the element into specific patterns, unleashing intended effects."


    Khan was exploring that same approach with Monica, and Abraham had provided his expertise throughout the process. Still, each element was different, and building specific magic items for all the potential anomalies wasn''t a realistic idea, especially since only Khan


    could handle the task.


    "What about the Fuveall?" Khan wondered. "Their imnts are basically organic alloys. They can theoretically adapt to the different anomalies and develop specific patterns." "They''d be simr to mana cores," Abraham analyzed. "My Prince, you''d be tasking the


    Fuveall to create an additional organ to control living elements. I can see many issues with a


    simr project."


    "Do you have a better idea?" Khan asked, hoping to receive a positive answer. Still,


    Abraham''s apologetic face told him everything he needed to know.

 Chapter 875: Dream

    Chapter 875: Dream


    ?


    The idea of the partially alien imnt could work and y into what humans were used to. Humankind already relied on the mana cores, which were nothing short of additional organs, so adding another wouldn''t be too hard to ept.


    Of course, that field had vast room to grow. Khan and the others explored it throughout the nights, running simtions and expanding on that still-vague idea. Khan had various avable paths at his disposal, and many were worth pursuing.


    The Fuveall technology seemed the most reliable bet, but Khan didn''t forget about the Scalqa flesh''s unique properties. The project of creating artificial organic mana cores had slowed down but didn''t stop, and eventual breakthroughs could open new paths.


    Theoretically, learning to cultivate organic mana cores would grant freedom over theirposition. Khan''s scientists could modify them to suit the living elements better,


    removing the need for an additional organ.


    Nevertheless, as much as the group explored those ideas, everything remained theoretical. Tests were necessary, and they would onlye after various parties tackled the issue.


    The following day followed a routine Khan had already grown used to. The tournament''s preliminaries unfolded, further reducing the number of contestants. The audience hoped for another unfortunate event to force Khan to intervene and show his prowess, but no problems


    arose.


    Festive breaks asionally interrupted the fights, and proper parties started once the night descended. However, Khan, Tlexicpalli, Lord Rsi, Lord Exr, and Mister Cirvags had a more important event to attend. The Thilku had nned a [Feast], so the five quickly flew to the intended battleground.


    The [Hunts]'' sceneries always followed the same rules. A gazebo stood on an elevated position, looking down on the area chosen for the hunt. Different teams encircled it, ready to jump on the assigned vehicles or run on foot.


    The Thilku had picked a forest for their event and provided special cameras for the nighttime. Their buzzing filled the area, asionally illuminating it to offer better recordings to the people under the gazebo. The holographic screens conveyed multiple relevant scenes simultaneously, but only Tlexicpalli paid close attention to them.


    "I''m grateful for this, [My Lords]," Khan announced after the group had gone through multiple rounds of drinks and food. "This [Hunt] is a good distraction from these days'' gloominess."


    "We enjoy these games, [Blue Shaman]," Lord Exr chuckled. "We do enjoy seeing our soldiers triumph."


    "That is yet to be seen," Tlexicpalli snorted.


    "This [Feast] was long overdue," Lord Rsimented, "And it gave the Empire the chance to honor your father''s death."


    "Thank you, [My Lord]," Khan said, lifting his ss. "The Empire always stays true to its fame."


    "It wouldn''t be the Empire otherwise," Lord Rsi dered. "Our honor would have fallen long ago otherwise."


    Khan noticed the vibe, and the others under the gazebo shared his awareness. Lord Rsi sounded serious but also more open about a conversation.


    The vibe intrigued Khan. He wanted to learn more about his status from someone with far greater experience, but the Thilku beat him to it, disclosing information without requiring questions.


    "It''s the job of a leader to uphold his species'' values," Lord Rsi exined. "I won''t dare to speak for the Emperor, but I think he chose me because I shared his vision."


    "Which vision?" Khan asked, genuinely curious.


    "A vision of an unmatched Empire," Lord Rsi revealed, stretching across gxies and united under its strength. A vision of unquestioned Thilku supremacy."


    Anyone would find those words ludicrous, but Lord Rsi''s faith in his vision added a believable weight. That was a dream that stretched beyond reason and what was possible, inevitably attracting admiration.


    After interacting with the Thilku, many would see them as an arrogant and delusional species. True power and influence backed up their pride, but it remained exaggerated. Khan''s sole existence proved that the Empire''s warriors weren''t the strongest.


    However, Lord Rsi''s words revealed a deeperyer to the matter. The Thilku were far from clueless and delusional. They knew they had room to grow and would pursue it as long as they breathed.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The revtion was inspiring. Khan saw the true nature of leadership in Lord Rsi, making him question his own vision. He was unbelievably strong, but Kings needed more than that.


    "Are you educating me, [My Lord]?" Khan wondered.


    "The Empire values our alliance," Lord Rsi stated. "It''s highly beneficial and dependent on you. Your sesses are our sesses."


    Khan had demonstrated his tendency to help the Empire over his species. That was primarily due to the higher personal benefits that path provided, but the Thilku Lords had also confirmed his loyalty to that alliance.


    A more influential Khan would grant the Empire greater ess to humankind''s resources and assets. Helping him be a better leader had to be part of Lord Rsi''s interests.


    "Am I not a hindrance toward your vision?" Khan questioned, shamelessly hinting at his superiority.


    "You wear the Empire''s capes," Lord Rsi dered. "You are part of the Empire''s vision."


    "I wonder if you could indulge me, [My Lord]," Khan requested.


    "I might make an exception today," Lord Rsi chuckled.


    "How did you achieve your status?" Khan questioned. "True leaders are rare, so I''m curious about your journey."


    The question could sound like an inquiry into the Empire''s political system. Humans were known for their attention to those fields, so disclosing information could give them annoying weapons and leverage.


    Yet, Lord Rsi didn''t question Khan''s seemingly genuine interest. The Thilku fell silent for a while, gazing longingly past the holographic screens before addressing Khan''s curiosity.


    "I earned my fellow soldiers'' trust on the battlefield," Lord Rsi exined. "Their respect and reverence toward me pushed me toward a leadership position.


    "However, I had realized a sad truth during my fighting years. No matter the strength of my fist, I couldn''t use it to elevate the Empire as a whole."


    Khan perfectly understood what Lord Rsi meant. He was actually facing simr realizations himself. His battle prowess was unmatched, but the world was far moreplicated than


    that.


    "My ideals resonated with many among my species," Lord Rsi continued. "My fame increased, eventually reaching the Emperor. He acknowledged my value, and I have served him since then."


    Khan''s gaze also looked past the holographic screens as he lost himself in his thoughts. His experience with the Thilku allowed him to imagine Lord Rsi''s rise to power. His ideals must have been incredible for the Emperor to grant his acknowledgment.


    "What are your ideals, [Blue Shaman]?" Lord Rsi asked, surprising Khan. "What future do you n for those who choose to follow you?"


    Khan opened his mouth but quickly filled it with booze. Truth be told, he didn''t have aplete vision for his organization. He needed it against the scarlet eyes but had never seen that as a proper dream. Khan didn''t have what Lord Rsi had.


    Nevertheless, the question forced Khan to consider an alternative world without universal threats and nightmares. He had shouldered the burden of leadership after Zu-Gru died protecting him, and the feelings about the matter were the closer he could get to Lord Rsi''s


    mindset.


    "I''ve seen many things, [My Lord]," Khan announced. "I''m young, but I''ve seen plenty. I''ve interacted with many species, learned their ways, and developed an appreciation for what


    they offer."


    Lord Rsi remained silent out of respect, and the other guests shared his mindset. Clearly, Khan needed time and peace to formte those new thoughts.


    "I''ve witnessed tragedies," Khan continued, "Catastrophes that could have been avoided with the help of different cultures. My very poweres from the fusion of many arts, and the more I learn, the more one thing remains clear."


    Lord Rsi and Khan exchanged a look before thetter finished his statement. "I don''t see that


    difference."


    "Among species?" Lord Rsi asked.


    "Among living beings," Khan corrected. "Their infighting, their biases, their grudges. I find


    them idiotic. I''ve been on both sides and eventually realized that the only way out was up."


    "While I see your vision," Lord Rsimented, "Those differences exist. Many are also willing to fight to defend them."


    "The weak have no ims over rights," Khan dered. "I''ll show them a better way."


    "[Ah]!" Lord Rsi cried. "Your greed is praiseworthy, [Blue Shaman], but can you carry that


    burden?"


    "I''ll tell you a secret, [My Lord]," Khan said, smiling. "Unlike many of those in power, I never had any choice, and the humans will be the first to understand that."


    Mister Cirvags listened to everything, and thest part of Khan''s statement inevitably alerted


    him. It almost sounded like a deration of war, which the Thilku could consider if he


    gathered more power.


    "How do you n to show them?" Lord Rsi questioned. "Humans aren''t like us. They resent


    those with more power than them."


    "Either by nting countless flowers," Khan responded, "Or by creating bloody rivers."


    "[Ah]!" Lord Rsi cried again. "Good answer. However, even an Emperor might fall short of


    that grand vision."


    ''So,'' Khan thought, ''I''ll be bigger than an Emperor.''

 Chapter 876: Visit

    Chapter 876: Visit


    ?


    A wave of pain awakened the Foxnor descendant, and theb''s faint illumination immediately attacked his drowsy eyes, forcing him to squint and attempt to rub them.


    Nevertheless, moving the arms triggered another wave of pain. The descendant could only grunt, peeking at his torso and finding clean bandages. Someone had changed them while he was asleep, but his injuries still needed care.


    The descendant sighed, looking to his right to check his bedside table. The previous day, he had found a tray with food, and a sad smile appeared on his face when he saw a new meal. His family wasn''t there, but someone was still taking care of him.


    The man was about to reach for the tray when his mind noticed another detail. He had already spent one night in theb, but the environment felt brighter now. Moreover, he felt slightly ufortable and alert. He was on edge, and an exnation for that odd sensation soon arrived.


    A sshing noise resounded in the dead-silentb, followed by a gulping sound. The descendant followed his ears, turning in the direction of the disturbance. It turned out he wasn''t alone. A bright-eyed figure in a dark corner was staring at him.


    "P-Prince Khan!" The descendant gasped. A tremor ran through his body, giving him the strength to straighten his back. However, that energy suddenly disappeared, keeping the man down on the interactive desk.


    "You are injured," Khan announced, checking the remaining booze in his bottle. "Don''t move."


    The descendant held his breath, almost panicking. He couldn''t understand why Khan was in theb in the middle of the night, but only bad thoughts rose to his mind. His presence couldn''t mean anything good.


    "I apologize for the other day," Khan eximed. "I knew you might have gotten hurt, but I had to prove something."


    "Y-!" The descendant tried to speak, but coughs interrupted his line. "I''m sorry, Prince Khan. You have nothing to apologize for, Prince Khan."


    By then, Khan had seen, met, and interacted with many descendants, bing somewhat of an expert in them. The injured man seemed tock the wealthy families'' manners, and his attempted politeness resulted from fear.


    Khan sighed, focusing on his bottle. He had predicted a simr reaction, making him question the reason behind his secret visit. Part of him didn''t even know why he had flown there right after the [Hunt], and his pensive mood didn''t help.


    "I bet you didn''t get much of an education," Khan guessed, "With your problems and everything. How did you even join the tournament?"


    The descendant''s panic intensified, and the rumors about Khan flooded his mind. The slightly darkb, thete hour, and theck of an audience hinted at a specific development, inevitably terrifying him.


    "Uncl-," The descendant began to say before correcting his words. "I asked Major Foxnor a favor. He is good with me."


    "The Major has a soft spot," Khan chuckled. "Amusing."


    "Don''t do anything to him, sir!" The descendant pleaded before realizing his mistake. "I mean, Prince Khan, please."


    "Why would I do anything to him?" Khan asked, failing to connect the descendant''s concern to actual problems.


    "Because," The descendant muttered, hesitating. "Because I made a scene at your tournament. Si-I mean, Prince Khan."


    "So that''s how thework sees me," Khanughed. "I guess I deserve it. I did kill many people."


    The descendant was too scared to notice the slight bitterness in Khan''s voice, and that reaction didn''t reassure him, either. The man still thought something terrible was about to happen.


    "I won''t kill you," Khan reassured, "Nor do anything to your Uncle. That''s not why I''m here." "Then," The descendant frowned, "Why are you here, si-Prince Khan?"


    "I''ve been wondering that myself," Khan admitted, lifting his bottle, only to discover that the booze had vanished.


    "Damn it," Khan cursed, cing the bottle on the closest surface before scanning theb. His attentive, bright eyes inspected every corner of the area, widening when they pointed at a specific drawer.


    Khan hurried toward the drawer, and his eyes brightened when he pulled a bottle. He turned, showing a proud smirk and the booze to the descendants, whose confusion intensified when he heard him speak.


    "I''ve hidden bottles like these everywhere in the quadrant," Khan revealed, happily opening the booze. "I''ve forgotten half of those locations, but nothing stays hidden from my nose."


    The descendants temporarily forgot where he was and opened his mouth in disbelief. For a few seconds, Khan appeared like a cheerful young man, barely a couple of years older than him.


    Khan noticed the prolonged stare and addressed it. "Do you want some?"


    The question snapped the descendant back to reality. The panic and fear returned, making him shake his head and refuse the offer. "I don''t drink, sir."


    "Don''t be boring," Khanughed, approaching the interactive desk and cing the bottle on the descendant''s hand. "Drink, drink. It might be your only chance to taste the good stuff."


    Something told the descendant that refusing Khan''s offer wouldn''t be possible, so he mustered his strength to straighten his back. His injuries hurt, but disappointing Khan sounded far worse in his mind.


    "Easy," Khan said, helping the descendant up, "And don''t tell the doctors tomorrow."


    The descendant almost jumped when Khan''s handnded on his back, but the care it exuded quickly reassured him. He didn''t believe Khan could be so gentle, so he nodded, taking a short sip from the bottle.


    The burning sensation that spread through the descendant''s throat triggered a violent cough. The man almost spit the booze out but forced himself to gulp. Khan seized the bottle in the meantime, wearing his proud smirk again.


    "Good, right?" Khanmented, his eyes wandering in the distance. "I remember the Niqols'' being better, but maybe my brain is ying tricks on me."


    Khan silently drank and inspected an empty spot on the wall while the descendant studied him. The man had no heightened senses, but something in the air smelled like sadness.


    "Did your family give up on you?" Khan asked, his eyes still on the wall. "Wait, what''s your


    name?"


    "Roger, Prince Khan," The descendant revealed. "Roger Foxnor."


    "Did they stop investing in you, Roger?" Khan repeated his question, finally looking at the


    man.


    Roger lowered his gaze before exining his situation. "I will never be truly strong, and I''m not that smart. My Cousins are a better investment."


    "I guessed as much," Khan admitted. "It''s your element, isn''t it?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Roger lifted his gaze, nodding at Khan before lowering his head again. He had done his best,


    but the monster inside him was too big of a hurdle to ovee.


    "My element is also problematic," Khan announced, showing his palm and releasing a purple-red strand of mana. "It''s so unreasonable. It doesn''t care for rules or situations. It''s a cluster of violent urges I can''t even begin to control."


    Roger inspected the bright trail of mana before soft words left his mouth. "But you control


    it."


    Roger quickly realized his mistake and instinctively raised his voice. "I''m sorry, Prince Khan. I didn''t mean to."


    Khan wore a warm smile and closed his hand, dispersing the strand of mana. His status had to be genuinely terrifying for Roger, and things would probably worsen.


    "Do I?" Khan asked. "Do I control it?"


    Roger opened his mouth but didn''t speak. He understood that Khan''s question was rhetorical but couldn''t muster an answer anyway.


    "Humankind thinks that the chaos element is the most destructive shape the mana can take," Khan exined. "Truth is, chaos is freedom, pure, violent freedom. Controlling it would go


    against its nature."


    "Are you saying my element also has a simr nature?" Roger questioned, too caught in the topic to address Khan adequately.


    "See, you are smart," Khan eximed. "But no. Yours is something else, more animal than a natural phenomenon. It probably has something resembling thoughts."


    Rogerpletely lost Khan but remained silent. He was growingfortable with Khan''s presence, especially since the conversation seemed to point toward a solution for his issue. "Does it talk to you?" Khan asked. "Your real element, I mean. Did it ever say anything?" "My element saying anything?" Roger questioned, confused.


    "It doesn''t have to be actual words," Khan exined. "Did you ever feel something foreign? A sudden desire you didn''t recognize? An urge? A thought?"


    Roger lowered his gaze, scouring his memory. He had experienced episodes that aligned with Khan''s description but had never thought much of them. After all, he was strange, so it made sense to have a few screws loose.


    "Sometimes," Roger revealed, "I get really angry, and I don''t mean pissed or irritated. I mean truly, deeply angry, so angry I fear my head might explode."


    "It''s anger then," Khan concluded. "Did you ask your element why it''s angry?"


    Roger lost Khan again, but thetter continued without waiting for a reply. "Maybe you


    infected it with your anger due to your family situation. You grew together in the end."


    "I did this?" Roger questioned.


    "Oh, no," Khan shook his head. "You didn''t create your element. It probably just focused on


    anger due to repressed feelings."


    "Am I angry at my family?" Roger wondered. "I probably feel it''s unfair, but angry is a


    stretch."


    "It''s not something reasonable," Khan exined. "Our politics are tooplex for an


    element. Yours probably just understood your surface-level reactions."


    "So," Roger realized, "It is my faul-"


    Roger couldn''t finish his line because Khan flicked his forehead. That simple gesture hurt way


    more than it should have, but it served its purpose.


    "I told you it''s not your fault," Khan snorted, turning, walking for a few steps, and turning


    again. "Look," Khan continued. "My people will run tests on you. They''ll study your element and hopefully develop a way to control it. They are trustworthy people, so don''t worry about


    invasive stuff.


    "However, you probably aren''t the only one with that condition, and I wonder whether there''s a better way. I want to find a better way."


    Khan fell silent, indulging in his bottle for a few sips before resuming his exnation. "The


    more I learn about this, the more people I can help. If you allow it, I''ll run private tests with just the two of us. Ideally, I might find a solution for you like I did for me." Roger couldn''t believe his ears. He didn''t understand most of what Khan said, but the core message was clear. Khan was giving him hope, so his head performed a slow but evident nod.


    "Good," Khan eximed. "Take it out then. I want to talk to it."


    "But, Prince Khan," Rogerined. "I don''t know how."


    "Shut it," Khan scoffed. "Your family must have taught you tricks to suppress it, so just


    ignore them and summon your mana."


    "But-" Roger tried toin again, but Khan didn''t let him.


    "Kid," Khan interrupted. "I gave you an order."


    Roger gulped and joined his hands to his waist, slowly filling the space between his palms


    with mana. Nothing became visible, but Khan saw everything clearly. Roger''s pale-orange mana fused with the symphony, but its color quickly intensified.


    A single crackling noise suddenly resounded in theb, and more soon followed. The pale-


    orange mana quickly turned bright red, changing shape. Its gaseous texture grew denser, forming sparks that raged between Roger''s palms.

 Chapter 877: Influence

    Chapter 877: Influence


    ?


    The red sparks umted between Roger''s palms, condensing into an unstable, uneven, crackling sphere. Tiny lightning bolts asionally shot from it, but their energy dispersed before reaching Roger''s skin. Those small res were too weak to live longer than a fraction of a second.


    Khan studied that odd mana, his senses providing information even scanners would fail to notice. He felt the sparks'' anger but found no rationality behind it. That emotion was intense but illogical, something too instinctive toe from a human brain.


    ''It has probably built up for years,'' Khan considered, ''A subconscious umtion of repressed desires.''


    Truth be told, part of that consideration didn''te from Khan''s senses. He could rte to Roger''s situation and life, understanding his psychological profile and connecting it to his mana''s nature.


    ''Its raw shape is stronger than mine,'' Khan noticed. ''Although theparison is unfair.''


    Khan''s mana anomaly and Roger''s were too different topare. A good parallel would be between the red sparks and Khan''s cloud since they both acted as living elements. Khan had Roger beaten there, but only in terms of general destructive power.


    ''It''s also denser,'' Khan studied. ''Its piercing properties can definitely surpass me.''


    Khan''s thoughts didn''t stop at the sparks'' nature. He reviewed Abraham''s words, considering the possible channels that dense mana might require to cast spells. Humans barely had something capable of containing the chaos element, so Khan knew nothing in the Global Army could suit Roger.


    The seconds of uninterrupted inspection didn''tst long. The crackling sphere gradually grew more unstable, adding strength to the res that escaped its surface. One ended up hitting Roger''s palm, who tried to suppress and control the mana between his hands.


    "Don''t try to control it!" Khan almost shouted, but his warning waste.


    As soon as the living element sensed Roger''s attempt to suppress it, the crackling sphere reached the critical point and released its energy. Lightning bolts flew everywhere, hitting Roger and the nearby equipment.


    Luckily for Roger, the lightning bolts didn''t carry much power. Small ck spots had appeared on his palms and bandages, marking burns, but he suffered no real injuries.


    The same went for the interactive desk and nearby equipment. The lightning bolts had created ck marks during the sh, but everything kept working fine. It would take far more power to destroy those state-of-the-art machines.


    "I''m sorry, Prince Khan!" Roger hurriedly apologized. "I panicked and acted on my own!"


    "It''s not your fault," Khan sighed, rubbing the corners of his eyes. "That''s all they have taught you to do."


    Khan rubbed his head with the bottle, refocusing on Roger. With his current knowledge and skills, he wouldn''t have any problem dealing with the red sparks, but that element didn''t belong to him. Roger needed to do most of the heavy lifting, and Khan couldn''t teach him how in a single night. Even a decade might not be enough.


    "Trying to suppress something that doesn''t want to stay put will only result in a violent reaction," Khan exined. "Your element doesn''t want to be controlled. It wants to run wild."


    "But," Roger muttered. "How can I use it without controlling it?"


    Khan opened his mouth but quickly sealed it with his bottle. Abraham, Lieutenant Dyester, George, and Monica had found it hard to ept his exnation, so Roger didn''t stand a chance. Khan didn''t even believe he could put into proper words what he did since much unfolded on an emotional level.


    Roger kept looking at Khan, hoping for an answer, but nothing arrived. Khan silently drank, seemingly lost in a different world. Yet, his eyes eventually brightened, hinting at the arrival of a solution.


    "Don''t be scared," Khan said, approaching the interactive table. "You are only a second-level warrior, so this should be smooth."


    Roger''s fear returned when Khan ced his palm at the center of his chest and closed his eyes. The man expected some strange reaction, but nothing happened. He felt slightly odd, but Khan didn''t give him time to think about that.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Release your mana again," Khan ordered. "I should be able to guide you."


    Roger remained confused but didn''t dare to oppose Khan. He focused, removing the instinctive barriers he had ced on his mana to let its true appearance manifest in the open.


    Red sparks gathered between Roger''s palms again, condensing in the crackling sphere. Its texture was more unstable now, seemingly due to the previous outburst, but nothing dangerous happened in the first few seconds.


    That peace was short-lived. The sphere''s higher instability caused more energy leaks, generating dangerous lightning bolts earlier than before. One hit Roger''s palm, hurting him and triggering his basic instincts, but his mana failed to suppress his wild element. Even when The tried, it flowed smoothly.


    The sparks seemed as surprised as Roger about that development. Another lightning bolt hit Roger''s palm, almost testing his reactions, but the man kept pouring energy into the crackling sphere. That was a new experience for both the descendant and living element, and Khan obviously picked up on that.


    Khan''s aura had long since be a force to be reckoned with. His presence was heavy and powerful, capable of affecting his surroundings at the faintest thoughts. A second-level warrior wasn''t as easy to influence as the raw symphony, but Khan met no challenges in oveing that taller hurdle.


    The closeness to Roger''s mana also allowed Khan to study the sparks'' reactions better. That living element had always had to fight and steal from Roger to show its power, so experiencing that willingness showed it a new path, a better path it didn''t even know existed. The living element remained cautious. It again tested Roger with a slightly stronger lightning bolt before attempting a proper expansion. The sphere grew bigger, condensing its power to create more durable sparks. Thetter eventually rose, creating a second shape above Roger''s hands.


    Khan didn''t need to open his eyes to study the event. The second shape kept absorbing energy, expanding and reinforcing its texture. It turned into a cloud-like figure attached to the small crackling sphere below, and one spot grew denser to recreate the vague mouth from the first encounter.


    "Open your eyes," Khan ordered, his hand still on the descendant''s chest. "Don''t panic."


    Roger obeyed, slowly opening his eyes. The scarlet light tried to blind him, but his pupils quickly grew used to the glow, showing him the mass of lightning bolts floating before his


    face.


    Roger would have usually panicked at that sight, but something kept that emotion at bay. The descendant felt almost hypnotized, unable to control his feelings and reactions as he studied that cluster of dangerous scarlet sparks.


    "It''s studying you," Khan exined, his eyes still closed. "It doesn''t understand what is happening."


    The living element wasn''t alone in that reaction. Roger shared those emotions, establishing a strange connection with the sparks. The two took a good look at each other, seemingly for the first time, slowly epting that they were part of the same being.


    The calm caused by Khan''s influence paved the path for curiosity and courage. Roger lifted his right arm without interrupting the energy flow, and his hand rose toward the cloud. His fingers tested the sparks, which shocked and hurt him, and another unexpected reaction


    unfolded.


    The living element experienced Roger''s pain, and the peaceful situation allowed it to discover its source. The sparks realized they shared Roger''s sensations, and their crackling slightly quieted down, seemingly worried they could hurt him again.


    ''I see,'' Khan realized. ''The element never got the chance to understand that they were one. Inflicting pain on Roger hurt it, too, which angered it even more.''


    Roger tried to touch the sparks again. They shocked him, but the pain was bearable now, allowing him to ce his whole palm on the cloud''s unstable surface.


    The living element and Roger remained in that position for quite a while, experiencing each other in the environment Khan had created. In those minutes, the two learned more about their respective natures than they had done in years, but the peace eventually ended.


    Something suddenly captured the living element''s attention. Its dense mouth moved, pointing at the hand on Roger''s chest. The sparks didn''t care about the limb but could sense the foreign energy behind it, which had long since invaded Roger''s body.


    "Shit," Khan cursed, promptly retracting his hand and influence.


    Without Khan''s influence, Roger snapped back to reality, finally experiencing his usual


    reactions. Fear and panic immediately took control of his brain, and he quickly retracted his hand to get it away from the constant shocks.


    The living element experienced Roger''s fear and panic, sharing them and triggering its most primitive reactions. The crackling grew louder as its anger intensified. Roger had stopped sending energy, so the sparks attempted to steal it.


    However, something far stronger suddenly appeared in theb, snatching away the cloud''s


    attention. Two bright eyes were staring at it, seemingly able to pierce the very fabric of the sparks with their pressure. Death was looming, so the living element decided to retreat, unleashing all the umted power to cover its escape route.

 Chapter 878 Mastery

    878 Mastery


    Theb was empty at night, but soldiers still patrolled the area. The cloud''s explosion had created a ruckus, forcing them to intervene and contact more personnel.


    The soldiers'' response was immediate. Less than a minute after the explosion, they barged into theb, granting them an unfiltered view of the mess. Dark-grey smoke tried to hide the scene, but everything remained visible enough for them to study the area.


    Sizzling wires and tubes shed inside the fumes flowing out of the many charred holes in theb''s equipment. Those ck spots weren''t limited to the machines. The walls, floor, and ceiling also had some, indicating extensive damage.


    The smoke umted on the ceiling but seemed to avoid a specific spot. The soldiers noticed a bright-eyed figure floating in that clear location, and his overwhelming presence almost made them miss the young man hanging from his hand.


    "Prince Khan!" The soldiers shouted almost simultaneously, but Khan ignored them, slowly descending and dropping the descendant to the floor.


    "I''m sorry!" Roger said as soon as he regained stable footing. "I''m sorry, Prince Khan! I didn''t mean to!"


    The soldiers took that statement as an admission of guilt. They exchanged a nce before focusing on Roger, ready to seize him. However, Khan lifted a hand, preventing the action.


    "It''s fine," Khan reassured. "I lost count of how many training halls I destroyed."


    Khan had already studied theb from the ceiling, and his second inspection revealed nothing new. The scarlet sparks'' power was as destructive as he had predicted. Their area of effect was a bitckluster, but their piercing properties more thanpensated for that.


    The reassuring words couldn''t do much against Roger''s panic. His brain had just reawakened, updating him on his interaction with his element. Adding theb''s damage to the equation was too much for his mind to handle, worsening his distress.


    "I-I''ll pay for everything!" Roger eximed. "I''ll work and-."


    "Shut up," Khan interrupted, flicking Roger''s head. "I told you it''s fine."


    Roger groaned in pain but calmed down. Still, that only reminded him of his injured status. The wounds under the bandages hurt, and some red spots even appeared on his torso.


    "Get him medical attention," Khan ordered to the soldiers before looking at Roger. "And you, think about what happened tonight while you heal. We''ll talk again once you are better."


    Khan didn''t wait for a reply as he headed for theb''s exit. No one stopped him, either, but whooshing noises weed his arrival outside. Ships had flown toward the area, bringing more soldiers and specialized figures.


    Abraham was obviously among the scientists, but Khan also saw Monica descending one of the ships'' metal ramps. She had noticed Khan''steness and immediately connected the dots when she heard about the incident.


    "Patch him up again," Khan ordered before Abraham could ask any question. "I''ll update youter."


    Abraham shouted a simple "Yes, my Prince" before hurrying inside theb. Instead, Monica calmly took Khan''s hand, peeking past his figure to catch a glimpse of the mess.


    "I tried something," Khan exined shortly. "His element went rogue."


    "He took that from you," Monicamented.


    "He is a good kid," Khan nodded, "But you should have been stricter with him."


    "I''m not the one spoiling him," Monicained, leading Khan toward one of the ships. "He''ll think we''ll always bail him out of problems if you don''t let him face some consequences."


    "What''s the point of being rich if he has to worry about a training hall or two?" Khan scoffed.


    "It''s about responsibility, dear," Monica pointed out. "You don''t want him to be like the other descendants, do you?"


    "You came out well," Khan stated.


    "I am an exception," Monica imed, "And I was never meant to inherit a crown."


    "What should I do?" Khanughed as the ship''s doors closed behind the couple. "Ground him? No spicy chicken for a week?"


    "You could start by taking a bath," Monicamented, ending the jokes. "It''s almost dawn, and the arena demands its owner''s presence."


    "I''ll also have to exin tonight to the nobles," Khan sighed, feigning innocence. "I''d usually ask my fianc¨¦e''s advice, but I don''t know if I''ll have the time with the bath and everything."


    "Scoundrel," Monica chuckled. "I guess I''ll have to join you to discuss politics."


    Khan smirked, but Monica promptly repeated herst words. "To discuss politics."


    Needless to say, the couple didn''t discuss politics in the hours before the tournament''s battles. They barely talked at all, but that didn''t prevent Khan from addressing the nobles'' inquiries with vague truth only he could understand.


    Inquiries aside, the day went smoothly. The Thilku Lords were in a good mood due to the [Hunt]''s victory and often engaged in the usual banter with Tlexicpalli. The matches also featured no incidents, and the night eventually descended.


    Theoretically, Khan was free that night. He had no major events on his schedule and had even addressed the mandatory issues with the most important guests. Abraham and the Fuveall were also busy with Roger, so visiting him wasn''t an option.


    Monica had her girls'' night to deal with, and the guests knew that, so they tried to kidnap Khan, hoping he would join some of the parties. However, he politely refused, making promises for future days. His father''s death prevented eventualints, granting him some alone time.


    Khan didn''t have specific reasons for avoiding the public eye that night. Actually, he would only benefit from finally interacting at the parties held in his quadrant. After all, they were part of the tournament''s advantages, and he was failing to capitalize on them.


    However, a hunch had taken root in Khan''s mind since the experiment with Roger, and reviewing the issue with mere thoughts didn''t disperse nor solve it. He needed to test something, and that urge brought him to the sky above his city.


    Khan stared at the vast encampment, knowing where his training halls were. He would typically head there directly, but causing an incident while guests were in the city wasn''t ideal. Roger had shown him how much the public feared him, and he didn''t want to add fuel to those rumors.


    After a while, Khan decided to head into a more remote area. The caves would perfectly suit him, but he avoided them, flying past them to reach something more unknown and safer to destroy.


    The flight brought Khan into a forest at the quadrant''s edge. Due to its rtively contained width, the ce didn''t have much fauna, and ruining it wouldn''t cause real damage to Baoway''s environment. He never used that spot for private times with Monica, either, effectively making it disposable.


    Khan stood on short grass, surrounded by thick and tall trees. His bright eyes reflected the symphony, and closing them sharpened his other senses, allowing him to feel the mana flow inside the flora and under the ground.


    That diverse ensemble of colors radiated various meanings that matched their purpose. Still, Khan''s senses went deeper, identifying the frailty of the materials that mana upied. His mind almost resonated with that intrinsic desire to fall apart, but he failed to affect most of it.


    ''Entropy,'' Khan thought. He had studied that scientific concept since it matched one of his spells, but knowing it didn''t bring any enlightenment.


    A wave of invisible mana suddenly shot from Khan, expanding spherically in his surroundings. The environment barely noticed that attack, but reactions eventually unfolded.


    The trees and grass remained unaffected, but cracks opened on the ground. The most barren spots featured bigger fissures, which expanded in an attempt to make everything crumble. Still, the surface held strong, only unleashing faint tremors.


    ''I still can''t do it on living beings,'' Khan realized after a quick inspection of his surroundings. ''I can shatter metal, but some grass can survive it.''


    Khan was only thinking about the spell created after the mental trip, the same attack the Nak''s hand used. That ability seemed to embody the chaos element''s destructive nature, but its limits were evident.


    ''Yet,'' Khan thought, opening his eyes to look at his palm. ''I can influence the mana, even that inside other living beings.''


    Khan reviewed his actions with Roger, summoning the sensations he had felt when altering the descendant''s mana flow. That wasn''t his first time doing something simr, but he had never aplished the same on such a vast scale. Khan had basically hypnotized Roger, vouching for his influence''s power.


    ''How can I not apply it to something everything in the universe wants to do?'' Khan wondered. ''Is the Nak spell too soft? Do I need a better channel?''


    Khan considered his options, but his hunches provided an answer before his rational side could get to it. He straightened his fingers, turning his hand into a de before swinging it forward. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The hand conveyed a specific meaning that the symphony echoed. The mana in the air gained a deadly sharpness, flew forward, and mmed on a trunk.


    A shallow cut opened on the trunk. The tree didn''t suffer much damage, but Khan didn''t use any mana, either. That was the Divine Reaper at its weakest, albeit fueled by Khan''s advanced proficiency level.


    The negligible execution tingled Khan''s hunches, giving birth to ideas he had yet to trante into words. He didn''t even try to rify them and let his instincts guide him. Khan knew his body knew the path even if his mind had yet to realize it.


    A purple-red membrane enveloped Khan''s hand before he swung it again. The symphony almost transformed in its entirety, bing a sharp force that stretched Khan''s attack, allowing him to reach the tree without losing energy.


    No bright shes flew, but a new cut appeared on the tree. The second was far deeper than the first, almost spanning half of the trunk. In terms of width, that was more than four adult Scalqa, but Khan barely focused on that superficial result.


    The attack didn''t end at the cut. Energy still lingered in the fissure, invading the trunk''s fabric while retaining its sharp features. Soon, a spiderweb of cracks opened above and below the horizontal cut, and chunks of wood fell.


    ''Finally,'' Khan eximed in his mind, opening and closing his hand to disperse the numbness in his fingers. ''Full mastery over the Divine Reaper.''

 Chapter 879 Authority

    879 Authority


    Khan burned that sensation into his brain, swinging his hand again. His attacknded on the ground, opening a deep, horizontal fissure. Cracks then grew from the hole, expanding everywhere.


    The ground had already endured one of Khan''s spells, and the additional attack disrupted its frail bnce. The fissure''s edges crumbled, affecting the nearby soil and creating a vast hole. The cavity wasn''t too deep, but Khan mostly found dirt inside it. No big chunks had survived.


    Khan didn''t stop there. He kept swinging his hand, sending attacks left and right. Cuts opened on the ground, grass, trunks, and crown, always spreading additional destruction after the impact. That phenomenon also intensified as Khan grew used to it, pushing him to test the new ability even more.


    Only a few minutes had to pass for the first tree to fall, which obviously wasn''t thest. When Khan stopped, he found nothing but broken leaves, trunks, and ground around him. He had cleared a circr area of that small forest, but the sacrifice had been worth it.


    ''I got this down,'' Khan thought, sitting on the ground while his eyes casually inspected the surrounding destruction. His mind went past what he saw, but the paining from his hand temporarily kept him in the real world. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan inspected his right hand. Nothing was broken, but his fingers had long since grown numb. They trembled, too, escaping Khan''s control. He struggled to close and flex them, and everything pointed toward the need for rest.


    ''The toll is heavier,'' Khan concluded.


    The transformation and training had pushed Khan''s body beyond human limits. His flesh and bones could rece the sturdy metal demanded by the Divine Reaper, but his control over mana still yed the biggest role. His energy and the symphony bore most of the martial art''s weight, preventing harsh injuries.


    However, that new iteration of the Divine Reaper was heavier, demanding more out of Khan and pushing his physical limits. He didn''t only need to get better at it. He also had to let his body get used to that stress.


    ''I should resume meditating in my quarters,'' Khan nned. ''This is a job for the nts.''


    Khan currently had two main training methods. The first happened in his caves, away from the cities'' overwhelming amount of synthetic mana. The sessions there mainly involved umting energy, which his body slowly absorbed in the following days.


    Instead, the second saw long meditative sessions in Khan''s special quarters, the one with the blue nts. He usually spent time there absorbing the mana inside his body and letting the toxic influence alter his flesh ording to his training regimen and growth.


    Right now, Khan mostly relied on the nts for the Transcendent Step, but that new version of the Divine Reaper also needed help. Still, he had to make sure his body conveyed what he required before immersing it in that transformative influence.


    Khan ignored the pain, forcing his hand to close and open once again. He ordered his fingers to stay still as more mana enveloped them. He swung his arm afterward, making sure he performed his newest technique.


    The new rounds of attacks weren''t meant to improve the execution. Khan only wanted to inflict as much damage as possible on his body so that his recovery with the blue nts would fix and improve it. His skills were evolving in that direction anyway, so it made sense to reinforce that path.


    Once Khan''s right hand couldn''t take it anymore, he switched to his left,unching attacks until it ended up as damaged as its sister. That left him practically crippled, but he knew a few hours would be enough to regain decent mobility, and sleeping would take care of the rest.


    After dealing with the hands, Khan let his mind wander in previously explored topics. He reviewed his interaction with Roger once again, focusing on the influence he had sessfully enforced. His friends might ssify that ability as "alien stuff", but he knew how difficult it was.


    ''The symphony isn''t mindless,'' Khan thought, ''But it''s instinctive. It has a purpose but not a proper will. Affecting it is easy, especially with my element.''


    The procedure was far from easy but had be no different than breathing for Khan. He literally saw the symphony, so he could interact with it as if it were any other object. Experts in the field would shout "genius" at that feat, but Khan was often blind to his achievements.


    ''Yet,'' Khan pondered, ''Affecting the mana inside others is something else. That energy already has an owner.''


    Khan obviously wasn''t considering the unwanted effects of his presence. Many experienced fear and terror before his aura, but those feelings were merely a reaction to his passive intensity. They were nothing more than basic instincts triggered by the nature of his existence.


    Instead, altering someone''s mana was one level above that. Khan had basically changed the chain ofmand in Roger''s energy, putting himself above it. He had controlled the emotions Roger could experience, summoning a type of spiritual authority he had never enforced before.


    ''When did I learn to do this?'' Khan wondered, inspecting his trembling hands. ''Was it after Zu-Gru? Was it earlier?''


    Khan couldn''t pinpoint the exact moment his ability had evolved. Truth be told, something like that probably didn''t exist. His expertise had simply gradually improved, eventually enabling that skill.


    Nevertheless, that opened more questions. How much Khan could do now? What were the actual limits of his current expertise? Could he train that new ability? How far could he push it?


    The questions didn''t stop there, but the main topic remained the same. Discovering new uses of mana made Khan hope he could eventually achieve the evolution the Nak''s corpse had spoken about or find the path toward it, at least.


    ''Is it control?'' Khan considered. ''Control over people''s mana?''


    Khan lingered on those thoughts for a few seconds before discarding them.


    ''No,'' Khan thought, scratching his head with the back of his hand. ''The chaos element is freedom. It doesn''t work like that.''


    For once, the answer didn''t take long and tragic years to arrive. Khan had already found it. He had only needed to ask the right question to be aware of its existence.


    ''Authority,'' Khan realized. ''Authority over the mana, even that inside other living beings.''


    The more Khan studied that answer, the more sense it made. The matter even involved different perspectives. From his point of view, the new ability matched the evolution of his status and mindset. Khan had be a leader, so his aura reflected that.


    Meanwhile, from the mana''s perspective, all the dots matched. The Nak''s corpse had told Khan to inherit the mana, which implied superiority over it. He would have to be its new wielder, its new ruler in the war against the scarlet eyes.


    That simtion also matched the Nak''s nature. They embodied the mana, but that status couldn''t win against the scarlet eyes. Their heir needed to be superior to their species and the mana itself to push it toward higher levels.


    Khan found himself nodding while reviewing the answer. Noticing the action snapped him out of his reasoning, forcing him to take a step back to approach the topic without biases. He worried he was talking himself into believing in what he had realized, and his situation didn''t allow mistakes.


    The analysis was solid, but one potentially immense w existed. The conversation with the Nak''s corpse had used Khan''s brain as a mediator. The organ had tranted the aliennguage into the best words it could find, but they weren''t necessarily correct. Khan''s understanding of the whole field could have been too shallow.


    Still, doubts aside, Khan ended up voicing a helpless question in his mind. ''Do I have a better idea?''


    That was the first real clue Khan had found about the matters discussed with the Nak''s corpse. His answer had nothing to do with the chaos element but worked with the mana as a whole and could act as a good starting point.


    ''Following this path might uncover more answers,'' Khan concluded before moving to another question. ''The problem is, how do I train this?''


    The symphony didn''tin, not in the same way as humans did, at least. Yet, testing and improving the ability further might demand training on living beings, which Khan wasn''t a fan of.


    The issue wasn''t even with Khan''s nature. The Nele arts sort of prevented that abuse of living beings. It went against the whole harmlessmunication they preached, and his abilities were partially founded on that.


    ''It would be easy if I had prisoners,'' Khan admitted. ''My anger would justify everything in that case.''


    Khan lingered on the idea for a few seconds before exploding into augh.


    ''Am I yearning for another assassination attempt now?'' Khan cursed. ''How twisted can I be?''


    Khan let the irony of his situation wane before considering a serious approach to the issue. Theoretically, that ability would improve alongside his status, so amassing more authority would do the trick. Still, the matter seemed to have a proper progression, too.


    ''The symphony is the first-'' Khan thought before correcting himself. ''No. The mana inside me was the first step. The symphony was the second. Mana-enhanced vegetation and other materials without will should follow. As for the fourth, it must be the mana from other people.''

 Chapter 880: Metamorphosis

    Chapter 880: Metamorphosis


    ?


    Obtaining answers didn''t change Khan''s routine. The tournament kept his schedule packed, and there was a limit to how many party invitations he could dodge. The nights after the battles required his presence, and he feltpelled to attend to them.


    Luckily for Khan, things weren''t as bad as his worst predictions. The noble representatives and other members of the wealthy families could get annoying to entertain. Still, Monica was always with him, and Tlexicpalli and the Thilku Lords often created fun diversions. Moreover, those events mainly showered Khan withpliments, making them easier to endure.


    Of course, the mandatory attendance at the parties didn''tpletely hinder Khan from focusing on his primary goal. Those events couldst until morning, but Khan always excused himself earlier, often using the need for privacy with Monica as a justification. He asionally reached his bed with her, but his training got in the way most nights.


    Khan''s incredible stamina came in clutch, allowing him to retain that stressful schedule for weeks, but crucial events forced him to take breaks. One was Professor Parver''s arrival on the, preceded by an angry phone call.


    "It''s not personal nor a ploy, Ma''am," Khan promised, walking down his building''s corridors with the phone to his ear. "I truly think I can help him."


    "Forgive my skepticism, Prince Khan," Headmistress Holwen eximed, "But you have already taken the Embassy away from the Harbor. Now, you are stealing one of its top scientists."


    "I''m not stealing anything," Khan corrected. "I''ll try to give him back better than before." "What about the Embassy?" Headmistress Holwen wondered.


    "I gave you noble support," Khan stated, "Schrships, and fame. I think that more thanpensates for a necessary logistical sacrifice."


    Headmistress Holwen knew Khan was right. The nobles had always kept their distance from the Harbor, but Khan''s involvement had put the name "Nognes" on top of each dome.


    Moreover, many of Khan''s allies had graduated from the Harbor, which awarded the ce new poprity. That academy had produced the most aplished leaders of the young generation, pushing more families to try to send their descendants there.


    Headmistress Holwen now had more applications than ssroom seats, and they all came from families she couldn''t refuse lightly. The matter was a big headache, but the fame was undeniable.


    "May I speak openly, Prince Khan?" Headmistress Holwen asked.


    "I hope you always do, Ma''am," Khan responded.


    "You are changing things faster than I can adapt to," Headmistress Holwen revealed. "Early warnings would be appreciated, Prince Khan."


    "I''ll try to warn you in the future," Khan promised, mentally epting his guilt. "The Nognes family will help smoothen any hurdle you are currently facing."


    "I''m grateful for the support," Headmistress Holwen said. "However, I can''t be seen over- relying on your family."


    The Harbor was supposed to be politically neutral, with the Global Army as its main handler. A noble family''s support could appear as a bias in the public eye, damaging the ce''s reputation.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I''m just fixing what I broke," Khan reassured. "Once it''s done, the Nognes family will stay away from your business."


    "That''s reassuring to hear," Headmistress Holwenmented. "Thank you for epting my call, Prince Khan."


    "My pleasure," Khan uttered. "I''ll meet with Professor Parver now. Hopefully, I''ll send him back to you fully healed."


    "We all hope that," Headmistress Holwen said, and the call ended.


    Khan rushed through the building, crossing elevators and corridors to arrive at one of his medical bays. Abraham and a team of scientists had already gotten there, and the same went for the special guest.


    "Professor Parver!" Khan announced after barging into the medical bay and finding the pale, skinny man on an interactive desk. "It has been a few years."


    Professor Parver didn''t immediately answer. He had seen Khan''s new appearance on thework, but inspecting it with his eyes had a different effect. Moreover, Khan brought his aura with him, which instantly filled the medical bay and alerted the Professor.


    "Prince Khan," Professor Parver muttered, standing up to perform a military salute. "It has indeed been a while."


    "How is he?" Khan asked Abraham, who was inspecting the scanner''s results on his console.


    "He''s different from the Foxnor descendant, my Prince," Abraham revealed. "This is a poisonous foreign entity. It actively damages Mister Parver''s body."


    Khan had already guessed as much. In Roger''s case, the unusual mana was the true face of his element. The two were simply at odds with each other.


    Meanwhile, Professor Parver had caught that poisonous mana during a mission. It was foreign to his body, causing rejection and injuries.


    "Let me see," Khan said, approaching Professor Parver and cing a hand on his chest. Khan''s swift gesture didn''t give him the chance to react, and his body stiffened in response.


    Khan ignored the Professor''s stiffness, probing deeper into his body to search for the foreign entity. Finding it wasn''t a problem. He could spot that hungry, angry mana with his bare eyes, so a thorough inspection immediately highlighted it.


    Khan had even already inspected Professor Parver, but his senses had long since experienced a qualitative evolution. He was better than the Global Army''s scanners in many ways now, and his probing even had a specific goal.


    The foreign mana had expanded since Khan''s first inspection. That energy had stretched past Professor Parver''s lungs, tainting part of his throat and getting dangerously close to his heart. His whole circtory system would soon be at stake, and things were bound to worsen quickly afterward.


    Nevertheless, Khan mainly focused on the foreign mana''s reaction to his presence. He knew he conveyed a primal threat to his surroundings, something basic forms of energy and animals could perceive better than humans. He wanted to see if his presence could help, and the results didn''t disappoint.


    The foreign mana noticed Khan''s probing and tried to expand in reaction to the invasion. However, the slightest interaction with Khan''s aura conveyed its true nature. That poisonous energy suddenly found an apex predator sharing the flesh it wanted to devour, and its instincts urged it to retreat.


    Khan pushed his aura more, studying the limits of his influence. Theoretically, he could fight that foreign mana back into submission or even eradicate it, but the reality turned out to be


    far different.


    Khan''s aura could force the foreign mana to retreat, but thetter had already upied a good chunk of Professor Parver''s organs and flesh. They belonged to that energy, and Khan couldn''t cleanse it. At most, he could destroy all the infected tissues, leaving the Professor with a deadly hole in his body.


    ''I can keep it in check,'' Khan concluded, removing his hand from the Professor''s chest, ''But that''s what the Global Army has done until now.''


    Professor Parver calmed down while Khan stood silently before him. His presence was still hard to endure, and his bright eyes didn''t help, but the Professor was getting used to it by the


    second.


    "Prince Khan," Professor Parver said once he had calmed down enough. "I did send a message, but allow me to offer them in person. My condolences. Your father''s death is a loss


    for humankind as a whole."


    Professor Parver''s words snapped Khan out of his pensive state. He exchanged a nce with the man, nodding in response. Professor Parver had actually been one of the first knowledgeable figures who had shared secrets about Bret and the Nak, and Khan didn''t forget


    that.


    "Garret," Khan called since the scientist was in theb, "You once mentioned the aided metamorphosis. Would it be viable in Professor Parver''s case?"


    Garret Bizelli didn''t expect Khan to ask for his opinion. The two hadn''t interacted much since his arrival in Baoway, making him see his current position as a personal favor earned by Major General Arngan. His expertise made him worthy of the scientific team, but Abraham remained


    superior.


    However, Garret Bizelli didn''t shy away from the question. It was almost a matter of pride for him to help Khan in ways the other scientists couldn''t. He carried the title of "prodigy" on his shoulders, so it was his job to abide by it.


    "It would be dangerous," Garret exined, "Deadly, even. Mister Parver isn''t a fifth-level warrior, and his body is already weakened by the many years of medical procedures. Moreover, his illness actively harms the flesh. There might not be a shape able to contain it."


    "Would it be viable?" Khan repeated.


    Garret understood what Khan wanted to hear, but his credibility came first. Garret couldn''t lie to him, but the question did generate some ideas. Khan''s reasoning wasn''t wrong on paper, but applying it to the real world was a different matter altogether.


    "The process would be highly experimental," Garret exined, his eyes darting left and right while calctions happened in his mind. "These approaches have only served the evolution and have remained unstable and unsafe until now. I''d have to review all our knowledge in the


    field even to begin drawing viable ideas."


    "You''d have ess to it," Khan dered. "Would it be viable?"


    Garret''s ambition inevitably red. The Bizelli family had ess to many medical records, but they couldn''t bepared to what the Nognes family could offer. His knowledge about evolution could skyrocket by epting the offer, but he couldn''t ignore the dangers. "Prince Khan," Garret uttered, trying to find the best words for the issue. "Mister Parver''s illness has an unclear element. For all we know, it''s a horrific energy, so transforming Mister


    Parver through it-"


    "Might turn him into something horrific," Khanpleted the line and moved his attention to Professor Parver. "The question is, are you willing to be a monster?"

 Chapter 881: Disrespect

    Chapter 881: Disrespect


    ?


    Khan didn''t expect an immediate answer, and Professor Parver didn''t give one. The issue wasn''t only about an experimental medical procedure. The eventual sess would also transform the Professor into something suitable for his foreign mana, which would, in all likelihood, be inhumane.


    Moreover, the dy was unavoidable. The Professor had yet to undergo multiple tests, and Garret had to study the necessary material to devise a viable procedure. Khan still couldn''t solve Professor Parver''s problem, so his answer could wait.


    The wait featured more than battles in the arena and parties in the quadrant. Another crucial event had knocked on Khan''s door, surprising him. He knew that moment would have arrived, but things had happened earlier than he had predicted.


    A few weeks before Monica''s birthday, Khan, Princess Reba, and Prince Thomas left Baoway, heading into a secret structure that had recently approached the''s orbit. The tournament was still ongoing, so the trip couldn''tst too long, but Khan knew those short hours were crucial to his career and overall life.


    The secret structure was nothing more than a rectangr metal building hovering in the darkness of space. Those locations weremon for secret meetings and simr events since they were hard to track and turn into traps. What Khan studied from the ship''s scanners was no different, but the scene didn''t quell his worry.


    The structure didn''t havending areas. It only featured docks in the shape of rectangr corridors meant to connect the inbound ships. From the scanners, Khan could see that many vehicles had already arrived, and counting them told him all the guests were waiting for him.


    Khan''s shipnded, and the corridor connected to its doors opened, allowing the trio inside. A vast hall soon unfolded in their view, but the furniture barely attracted their attention. Many pairs of eyes immediately fell on them, forcing them to reply in a simr manner.


    Prince Thomas and Princess Reba earned their fair share of attention, but Khan remained the inspection''s main focus. Everyone in the hall sized him, trying to find any connection to the rumors around his figure.


    Meanwhile, Khan diverted his attention from the audience. He wanted to study them, but something more powerful was tingling his senses. Yet, strangely enough, he failed to pinpoint that strange presence''s location.


    Khan ended up going over the furniture. The hall had a big circr table with a vast gap at its center. Menus shone on the floor there, hinting at the possibility of summoning holograms.


    Seven chairs also surrounded the table, and six were already upied. Each guest had two advisors, making the audience eighteen people strong. Still, the furniture ended there, and Khan had yet to find the source of the strange presence.


    ''What can even hinder my senses now?'' Khan wondered, and the answer quickly arrived.


    "I thought we agreed on no evolved soldiers," Khan announced, closing his eyes and sending waves of invisible mana everywhere.


    The symphony changed color, shaking under Khan''s violent energy. Yet, one corner near the ceiling remained unaffected by his mana, highlighting a faint white sphere that hovered mid- air.


    Princess Reba and Prince Thomas couldn''t see what Khan saw but trusted his words. The former snorted and promptly berated the guests. "Our family seems tock honor."


    As Princess Reba had hinted, the hall featured the Nognes family''s faction leaders. The six of them and their advisors represented the biggest and most influential parties behind that lofty name, who, strangely enough, had set up that meeting before the tournament could provide factual results.


    "You''ll excuse our precautions," One of the representatives, a brown-haired old man, said. "Your leader isn''t exactly known for his manners. Prince Jack''s head proves that."


    "He even forced our Ethan to bring back his head," Another representative, a ck-haired old woman, added. "His gall has hardly earned him any mandatory respect."


    "If your word has no value," Prince Thomas argued, "I don''t see the point in wasting breath on this meeting."


    "Thomas, this is only a precaution," A third representative, a ck-haired middle-aged man, pointed out. "It won''t interfere with the meeting."


    "You requested this meeting and went back on our agreements," Prince Thomas stated. "This irregrity is ground for immediate departure."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "We all traveled a long way and made sacrifices to match the timeline you imposed," The second representative, the old woman, reminded. "Will you waste our efforts over a necessary and reasonable technicality?"


    "If we can''t converse as equals," Prince Thomas dered, "There''s no reason to converse at all."


    "We will depart," Princess Reba added, "If that''s the will of our leader."


    Every eye in the hall fell on Khan, but he ignored that political bickering and focused on the white sphere. Even when he looked at it, his senses couldn''t pierce it, and his curiosity inevitably increased by the second.


    "Either hees down," Khan muttered, still inspecting the hall''s corner, "Or I blow this ce up."


    Grim expressions unfolded around the table. Khan wasn''t only ignoring those lofty guests. He was alsounching threats, basically forcing them to fulfill his wishes.


    The first representative, the brown-haired old man, performed a beckoning gesture with his hand, and the symphony immediately changed. A white color only Khan could see invaded the hall, filling it with a warm and cozy sensation. The feeling was almost invigorating, but his mind mainly reacted to its overwhelming power.


    The white sphere fused with the bright symphony that shared its color. Its surface fused with the environment, revealing a figure inside. The evolved soldier ended up being a she, who slowly descended to the floor tond on the opposite side of the hall.


    Khan''s eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the symphony''s brightness but eventually became able to inspect the evolved soldier. The woman barely looked to be in her thirties. Her facial features were soft, and long white hair fell from her head, reaching her ankles.


    The woman''s skin shared her hair''s color, and the same went for her irises. She attempted to look blind and dead, but the vitality radiated by her figure prevented those impressions. "Pure" was the best word Khan could find to describe her, but his mind didn''t stop there.


    Khan ignored the woman''s seemingly paler military uniform, the big star on both shoulders, and her bare feet to focus on her presence. She wasn''t expanding her aura on purpose. Her mana stretched past her physical figure, bing one with the hall. Her body merely represented her identity, but her reach spread far farther.


    The pressure that fell on Khan updated him on a sad truth. His imposing and intense aura couldn''t do anything against that white presence. He couldn''t affect the environment as long as the woman remained in the hall, effectively locking him out of many of his alien arts. The pressure intensified when the woman focused on Khan. He could sense her seemingly blind eyes piercing his flesh, studying the true nature of his being. His mana raged, doing its best to oppose the inspection, but the tinge of displeasure that appeared on the woman''s peaceful face told him it had failed.


    "What exactly are you?" The woman asked, her words echoing through the symphony, turning it into a blissful melody. "Prince Khan?"


    Khan felt the urge to reach for his knife but suppressed it. His whole life experience and the full depths of his instincts came together to deliver a simple answer. He waspletely outmatched there. He had no chance of surviving a sh against that evolved warrior. Nevertheless, Khan''s mind never stopped working. The evolved soldier''s infectious vitality reminded him of a past conversation with Major General Arngan, and his hunches connected


    them.


    "Life element," Khan said. "You must have gone through the aided metamorphosis. Did our family purchase that unique mineral?"


    Showing ignorance toward the family businesses could be a mistake in those political environments. However, the guests'' reactions never came close to ridicule. Everyone felt shocked he nailed the issue with a simple look at the evolved soldier.


    "I have indeed used the Life Mineral to achieve evolution," The woman replied. "However, the stone is still in the Global Army''s possession. It simply loaned it for my procedure." Khan was the de facto leader of his faction, making him the evolved soldier''s superior. Her task was to prevent bloodshed, but her status forced her to answer Khan''s questions. "Incredible," Khan praised. "Though I suspect you are on the weaker end of evolved soldiers. You wouldn''t have resorted to the mineral otherwise."


    "What do you even know about evolved soldiers, Prince Khan?" The second representative,


    the ck-haired old woman, snorted.


    "I''ve seen stronger," Khan revealed. "I just didn''t realize it until now."


    The revtion fueled some general confusion, which even Princess Reba and Prince


    Thomas couldn''t dodge. Khan had basically stated that he had seen stronger evolved soldiers,


    but nothing in his history suggested that.


    "May I ask my question again, Prince Khan?" The evolved soldier wondered, her probing eyes returning to the core of Khan''s being. "What exactly are you?"

 Chapter 882: Threats

    Chapter 882: Threats


    ?


    Khan remembered the event as if it were yesterday. He recalled that moment of peace after the deadly sunlight, the bloody efforts to survive, and the many deaths. He couldn''t forget that well-deserved break from Nitis'' catastrophe and what it meant for his feelings and life. The t dome at the bottom of the circr gorge reced the scene in Khan''s vision. He relived his first real interaction with the Niqols'' technology and his meeting with Liiza''s Great-grandmother. Her glowing scarlet eyes were still vivid in his memory, as was the presence she generated.


    Liiza''s Great-grandmother''s aura was denser than the evolved soldier''s. She had also filled an entire gorge with it, and something told Khan that the white woman couldn''t aplish a simr feat.


    A tinge of regret invaded Khan. Recognizing an evolved warrior had confirmed his hunches about Liiza''s Great-grandmother, but his senses had been nothing more than tricks back then. He couldn''t learn much from such a lucky encounter, so hisparisons were mostly superficial.


    Yet, the current inspection remained extremely useful. Khan could finally study an evolved soldier, obtaining answers to questions that had long since afflicted his mind. He couldn''t probe too deeply into the white woman, but what he saw was enough to confirm many ideas. ''I''m on the right path,'' Khan eximed in his mind.


    The white woman''s mana expanded past her physical figure, basically making her one with the symphony. That was something Khan had learned to do years ago, and the simrities didn''t stop there.


    The evolved soldier''s hair, eyes, and porcin skin probably resulted from the aided metamorphosis. They were traits gained after a transformation meant to make her body more suitable for her element. Khan had already undergone a simr process, and the blue nts were continuing it.


    The white woman''s piercing eyes were another simrity. As a human, she was unlikely to have trained her perception, so that ability probably resulted from the evolution, which made sense. Turning into a being closer to the mana was bound to provide a deeper understanding of it, but Khan had already cleared that requirement.


    Of course, differences existed. Khan''s transformation had happened through the Nak genes, not the chaos element. That species embodied mana, so the effects were rtively simr, but Khan had yet to morph into something more suitable to his specific energy.


    Also, Khan''s senses and understanding of mana were limited by his level. He knew and saw far more than the average human, but that didn''t put him on par with evolved soldiers. Hecked the organs and energy to do so.


    Lastly, Khan''s ability to control the symphony came from mastering different alien arts. He could expand his presence, but that only was an invasion perpetuated by his natural aura. Khan didn''t exist past his physical limitations. He could only imitate that effect.


    The differences didn''t dishearten Khan. He was actually excited to have finally found those clues. The experience filled him with confidence and a desire to train harder, but other priorities demanded his attention.


    "As a sign of gratitude for this experience," Khan announced, ignoring the evolved soldier to approach thest empty seat, "I won''t immediately depart. However, know that my interest is running thin."


    The evolved soldier understood Khan wouldn''t clear her doubts, so she continued her inspection, hoping her senses could provide an answer. The six representatives also nced at her, curious about her question. Still, no exnations reached their ears.


    "What''s the reason behind this meeting?" Khan went straight to the point, ignoring the interest in his true nature.


    Khan didn''t inspect the representatives after uttering his question. Truth be told, even if the invitation had happened earlier than he had expected, its purpose didn''t change. Those factions wanted a share of Khan''s influence, profits, and products, but he wasn''t willing to give them away easily. Khan was actually ready to refuse any offer for now.


    The representatives did their best to endure Khan''s palpable disinterest. They kept their mouth shut even while he summoned a drink from the circr table. The tournament had given him immense leverage, and his interaction with the evolved soldier had only reinforced his status.


    "Prince Khan," The first representative, the brown-haired old man, called. "We have alle here to represent our factions and our Excellencies'' wills regarding the family''s internal business."


    "Excellencies," Khan muttered, sipping his drink. "How does one earn that title? Is it just assigned to the faction leaders?"


    The representatives didn''t reply and only noted down Khan''s enduring disinterest. Still, Khan didn''t let the matter go and eyed Prince Thomas, who had long since reached the back of his seat.


    "The title mostly is a sign of respect and authority, My Prince," Prince Thomas exined. "However, yes. It is assigned only to faction leaders."


    "Should I change my title then?" Khan wondered.


    "That usually happens after a few decades ofmendable service," Princess Reba exined, leaning past the chair''s back to smile at Khan. "You will get it earlier, Prince Khan."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I see," Khan nodded, finally pointing his bright eyes at the representatives. "I guess I''ll have to wait a few years to force you to address me properly."


    "Is this a game to you, Prince Khan?" The second representative, the old woman, asked. "Establishing a bnce among our factions is a priority issue. A fallout is unavoidable otherwise."


    "It''s a priority for you," Khan corrected. "My faction is doing fine on its own, and I''m sure you know it will do more than fine in a few months."


    Khan''s reply targeted the main issue. The exnation behind that sudden meeting had never been in doubt. The other factions were aware of the tournament''s sess, so they wanted to negotiate deals before Khan''s leverage became too steep.


    "Don''t take this as a threat, Prince Khan," The third representative, the ck-haired middle- aged man, announced. "The family rules authorize us to enforce a bnce. Your insistent refusal to cooperate might eventually send evolved soldiers your way."


    "Isn''t one already here?" Khan asked, toasting at the white woman. The gesture intensified the displeasure on her expression, but her face remained overall peaceful.


    "Miss Christen is here only to ensure our safety," The third representative exined. "I''m afraid authorizing attacks with evolved soldiers is more troublesome but not unheard of." "That sounded like a threat," Khanmented. "I must truly terrify you."


    "As promising as you are, Prince Khan," The first representative eximed, "Your allies are the terrifying aspect of your rule. You have built your domain under the Thilk Empire''s protection. That privileged ess borders treason on many levels."


    "So, what?" Khan asked. "What''s your offer?"


    "I must have failed to make myself clear," The third representative stated. "The family rules are clear. We don''t have offers. We are giving you options."


    "That''s a lie," Khan sighed. "Even with her annoying mana clouding this hall, I can see it clearly. At least three of you are willing to join forces with me."


    The white woman''s mana hindered Khan''s abilities, but his eyes still worked perfectly. He saw the representatives'' energy, as well as their intentions, and some seemed to like his


    behavior.


    Of course, that didn''t imply a willingness to forge a secret alliance, but Khan didn''t need to be correct, either. Everyone knew about his senses, so they took his words for truth. The representatives knew theycked a joint front, but seeing that fa?ade exposed so easily made them lose the little leverage they thought they had.


    "We have handled political matters for longer than you have been alive, Prince Khan," The second representative, the old woman, scoffed. "All of us are intrigued by your assets. Don''t


    think you can sow division so easily."


    "There is no division to sow," Khan revealed. "There are no options, either. You''ll get a special price for the supplement and my magic items. Everything else is not yours to request


    nor demand."


    "That can still be taken," The third representative pointed out.


    "No," Khan shook his head. "My alliance with the Empire isn''t founded on the Nognes name. It exists because of me, and it will disappear without me." "Many might still see that as a victory," A fourth representative, a rtively young-looking woman, said. "Right now, you might be the biggest threat to our authority, Prince Khan."


    "Of course I am," Khan confirmed. "You wouldn''t bother ying fairly if I weren''t." "The issue stands," The fourth representative continued. "We do not take threats lightly, especially one befriending alien forces. Your existence might eventually put the entire family in danger, so taking care of you can be a wise move."


    "Whoever did those calctions miscalcted," Khan announced. "Trying to take me down will definitely put the entire family in danger."


    "We have countermeasures for the Thilku Empire''s im over Baoway, Prince Khan," The first representative revealed. "We also have old connections with all the families you nted on the. Your early departure would create problems, but we would survive." "That''s exactly where you are wrong," Khan eximed. "The price for taking me out would


    be massive, and you''d only gain my absence from it. There are no prizes waiting for you after


    my death."


    "Prince Khan," The second representative, the old woman, called. "What are you implying?"


    "I''m implying the obvious," Khan said, putting his empty ss away to summon another drink from the table. "I''d burn Baoway to the ground, kill any member of the Nognes family I can reach, and do the same for its allies. I might attack the other nobles, too, since I''m at it."


    "You can''t expect us to believe you, Prince Khan," The first representative dered. "We know about your recklessness, but you also have much to lose now."


    "I can expect you to send your Excellencies to negotiate with me," Khan said. "You waste any more of my time with these empty threats, and I''ll show you how far my recklessness can go." "We carry our Excellencies'' wills," The third representative pointed out.


    "You don''t have their faces," Khan chuckled, leaning on the chair''s back and putting his feet


    on the table. "Go on. The clock is ticking anyway. It won''t be long until the threat of evolved soldiers will lose its effect on me."

 Chapter 883 Inconclusive

    883 Inconclusive


    Everything in the representatives'' experience told them that only evolved warriors could face other evolved warriors. Some weapons could help, but their maintenance cost was too high to make them a valid option.


    However, Khan had proven time and time again how normal standards didn''t apply to him. His power didn''t abide by any rule, and the meeting seemed to confirm his im. Miss Christen''s presence didn''t affect Khan''s behavior at all. He actually sounded more confident than ever.


    Time had now be the representatives'' factions'' greatest enemy. The tournament''s sess was bound to provide Khan with more allies and influence, and his power had also joined the equation. Better resources and stability could ramp up Khan''s training, turning him into something no threat could affect.


    There was no better time to seal a deal than now, at least for the representatives'' side. Yet, the conversation had already degenerated. Chances were Khan would refuse any offer just to get back at the previous threats and usations.


    "Prince Khan," The first representative called, hoping to restore reason. "An internal war would be bad for everyone. It might destroy our family."


    "Wrong," Khan stated. "It will surely destroy the Nognes family."


    "That''s whypromises are necessary," The first representative added.


    "This is an attempted rip-off," Khan dered, "Not apromise. Well, a failed attempt."


    "I''m tempted to call your bluff, Prince Khan," The second representative, the old woman, revealed. "You have proven yourself ruthless toward those who couldn''t touch you, but I wonder whether you''d behave like that with us."


    Khan sighed, gulping down his drink and handing it to his aunt. Princess Reba promptly summoned another while he looked at the evolved soldier. His bright eyes met hers while he called forth the darkest parts of his mind.


    The evolved soldier had never stopped inspecting Khan, but her heightened senses and deeper understanding of mana had failed to provide answers. Khan was unnatural in her eyes, and nothing in her experience matched his description. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Humankind''s education was mostly at fault for that. As superior as the evolved soldier was, her knowledge remained bound to her species. She was limited in what she could conceive, creating confusion in her inspection.


    However, the exchange of nces gave Miss Christen a deeper insight into Khan''s character. She saw his unreasonable urges and theck of moral limitations they created. Khan didn''t only refuse to y by the rules. He had no rules to begin with.


    The representatives noticed the exchange and looked at Miss Christen for answers, and she finally broke her peaceful face. Her displeasure affected her lips, morphing them into a disgusted expression. She still didn''t understand what Khan was but knew she didn''t like him one bit.


    "Our conflicting elements enhance certain impressions," Miss Christen exined. "However, I believe there is some truth behind Prince Khan''s ims."


    The exnation inevitably led to dejection. The representatives were hoping Khan wouldn''t be suicidal, but it seemed he wasn''t someone they could reason with. He was an outside party ying the same game without respecting the established rules.


    "What would you want for formal introductions into the Thilku Empire, Prince Khan?" The third representative asked, catching the others by surprise. They were all on the verge of giving up, but he had preceded them.


    "I''ll never sell ess to the Empire," Khan revealed, epting the new drink offered by Princess Reba. "Still, I might intercede for you if you have specific requests. Of course, as long as you pay the right price."


    The offer was far from ideal but also understandable. Khan''s rtionship with the Empire was effectively a monopoly, and sharing it would diminish its value. He could control all the benefits and repercussions if he remained a mandatory stop for the other factions.


    "Oh, I should add," Khan continued. "The second I suspect you are using these favors to run circles around me, I''ll send the Thilku after you."


    "You have no control over the Thilku Empire, Prince Khan," The first representative said.


    "I''d only need the truth," Khan exined, killing any possible response. Everyone in the hall knew what the Thilku would do after learning about treachery.


    "Why?" The first representative insisted. "With your unique connection, the family would easily manipte the Empire, earning immense benefits. That''s a gold mine ready to be excavated."


    Khan could point out the crucial w in that reasoning. After all, his unique connection existed due to hisck of attempted maniption. Still, he limited himself to a more direct answer. "I trust the Thilku and don''t trust you. This meeting didn''t change my mind."


    The representatives could only watch as Khan silently enjoyed his drink. They had no rebukes for his stance, and appealing to his loyalty toward humankind wouldn''t work. He didn''t have any to offer.


    "What about your other alien connections, Prince Khan?" The third representative asked. "We know you have added Ef''i and Fuveall to your ranks."


    "They are guests," Khan stated. "Their political relevance is minimal, for now."


    "The Ef''i sent an Embassy to Baoway, Prince Khan," The fourth representative pointed out.


    "They did," Khan confirmed.


    "How can we believe their political relevance is minimal with such a building in one of your core quadrants?" The fourth representative continued.


    The fourth representative wanted to show her knowledge of Khan''s businesses, but the matter barely surprised him. He knew the tournament had weed countless spies, and preventing information leaks would have been impossible even without it.


    "You can believe whatever you want," Khan uttered. "It doesn''t affect me."


    "Can we at least expect you to share any Fuveall discovery with the family?" The third representative wondered.


    "Do you have soldiers in need of their imnts?" Khan asked.


    "That''s not what I asked, Prince Khan," The third representative responded.


    "It is what I asked," Khan nodded. "Don''t expect to monopolize that technology. It''s mine to give to whoever I want, and the Global Army is already involved."


    The leaks were already mainstream in that lofty environment, so everyone knew that a General had willingly joined Khan''s medical trials. His array of powerful allies expanded by the day, and each connection grew stronger alongside that trend.


    "Prince Khan," The first representative called. "It''s clear your political education is praiseworthy. You are also aware of your temporary superior position. However, I can also see you don''t want to sever ties with the family."


    "Your point?" Khan wondered.


    "If I had to guess," The first representative continued, "I''d say you aim to seize power over the entire family, maybe even try to be its Patriarch. That isn''t possible by keeping us away."


    The first representative had a point. Favors were a valuable currency in those environments, and bing one of their key figures could help amass influence. That was how those fields worked. Rather than with a forceful and immediate rise to power, leaders ascended through silent and critical deals that made their existence necessary.


    Prince Thomas had already exined that point to Khan and had drawn a few potential strategies. Khan had all the cards to y that game right, but he was no hidden, shadowy puppeteer. His position was in the frontlines, shining purple-red energy on his subjects.


    "Time is up," Khan sighed, emptying his drink and standing up. "I''ve entertained you out of courtesy, but this has gone on for too long."


    Khan ran his eyes over the audience before pointing at the second, third, and fifth representatives. "I will ept your private invitations to a meeting. Though they''ll have to wait for after my fianc¨¦e''s birthday."


    "Your attempts to sow discord remain futile," The second representative dered, uncaring of the nces flying in her direction.


    "As are your attempts to appeal to a sense of family unity," Khan responded. "You tried to let me rot in the Slums, kill me on Baoway, and I bet no one talked about bnce when my faction fell out of favor. Your opportunism is evident, so I''ll appeal to it."


    Khan let a silent second pass before continuing. "Those who join me will see what the future has in store. Those who oppose me will struggle to remain relevant in my shadow. Tell this to your Excellencies."


    Khan didn''t wait for a reply. He headed toward his corridor with his Aunt and Uncle, which opened to lead them back to their ship. The set-off happened almost immediately, ending the meeting.


    The representatives didn''t stand up even after the set-off. The meeting had been inconclusive, but their only leverage existed in the shape of their united front, which had to be reinforced.


    "He has to disappear," The sixth representative, a brown-haired middle-aged man, announced, breaking the silence. "Too many powerful parties favor him, and the other noble families are inclined to cooperate with him."


    "Patience," The first representative advised. "It takes a long time to authorize an attack with evolved soldiers, and that can''t happen while his tournament runs."


    "Are we supposed to stay by and watch as his influence surpasses ours?" The sixth representative asked. "We must strike now and strike hard."


    "We can''t," The second representativemented. "Our Excellencies are divided on this topic. The order has to be unanimous, and weck that unity."


    "The kid doesn''t y by the rules," The sixth representative said. "Why should we?"


    "Because not all of us want him gone," The third representative exined. "He is young and arrogant, but his achievements speak true. He has built the best connection to the Thilku Empire in humankind''s history, and many other species might be in our grasp if this trend continues."


    "So, he spoke the truth," The sixth representative eximed. "You want to join him."


    "My faction will do whatever Her Excellency desires," The third representative dered, "Which isn''t something your faction needs to be privy to."


    "This is pathetic," The second representative sighed. "Allowing such a young leader to sow division shows your inexperience. Don''t forget we are still six factions against one."


    "Are we?" The fourth representative asked. "We all know our old grudges. A change in leadership might be what we need to settle them."


    "To what end?" The first representative questioned. "To be what? Prince Khan is barely human. Prince Khan has no interest in the Nognes name. His rule might have power butcks identity."


    "Identity takes years to build," The third representative said. "Just because he has none doesn''t mean we can''t appreciate his potential."


    "He has an identity," The first representative corrected. "Isn''t that right, Miss Christen?"


    The representatives'' gazes converged on the evolved warrior, who looked at the closed door Khan had crossed. Her inspection had continued throughout the meeting, and her displeasure had vanished only after his departure.


    "My Princes and Princesses," Miss Christen announced. "Picture the greatest storm you have ever witnessed. Add the angriest feeling you have ever experienced. That union is the closest you will get to understanding Prince Khan."


    "Is he mindless?" The first representative asked.


    "On the contrary," The white woman said. "When I looked at him, he looked back at me. His eyes might be better than mine."


    "How is that possible?" The second representative wondered. "You are an evolved warrior, and he can''t have reached the fifth level already."


    "I''m afraid I don''t know the answer," Miss Christen admitted. "His existence is something I can''t exin."

 Chapter 884 Pool

    884 Pool


    "What do you think?" Khan asked while the ship headed toward Baoway''s orbit.


    "You did well, Nephew," Princess Reba praised, delivering a drink to Khan. "Rejecting them has always been the n, but the bait you''ve thrown will give them hope for future negotiations. That will buy us time."


    "Your performance was excellent, My Prince," Prince Thomas added. "However, they are right to suggest a more inclusive approach. You also have the cards to make it work."


    Khan supported his head with his palm, leaning on the cargo area''s chair''s arm. He took a long sip from the drink while his mind explored the topic. He would partially follow that approach anyway, but going all-out would involve things he wasn''t willing to sacrifice.


    "I can''t tiptoe around the Empire," Khan shook his head. "That''s not how the Thilku work."


    "You could involve them in your game," Prince Thomas suggested. "That way, there won''t be treason on the side that matters."


    "The Empire has spies," Khan reminded. "I''d only give the factions a reason to unleash the evolved soldiers on me once they find out."


    "If they find out," Prince Thomas corrected.


    "That''s your game," Khan refused. "I''ll y this my way."


    "Your way is a gamble, My Prince," Prince Thomas pointed out, "And I don''t think you have ounted for every variable."


    "The nobles?" Khan asked.


    "Exactly," Prince Thomas confirmed. "The representatives on the aren''t the only nobles. The factions have their own connections to the other families, and they all outdate yours."


    "The training grounds are almost ready," Khan announced. "Sess with the Fuveall imnts would also reinforce my position. As long as the aliens look up to me, I''m irreceable."


    Prince Thomas wanted to retort, but Khan was right. Khan''s unique talent with alien species had already borne fruits, and those advantages were bound to increase. Realistically, no human party could affect him publicly.


    Ensuring the human parties'' alliance would still improve Khan''s situation, but Prince Thomas understood they would go on a different path. Keeping Khan alive until he could face the other factions directly was the only issue now, so Prince Thomas nned to overhaul the''s security while the tournament was ongoing.


    By the time the ship returned to the quadrant, the various parties had reached their critical point. Most guests had departed, heading to their quarters to prepare for the new tournament day. Joining them would be pointless now, but Khan didn''t even consider that option.


    Truth be told, Khan had considered the parties, but the meeting had changed his ns. Encountering an evolved soldier had filled his mind with ideas and restlessness. He wanted to train immediately, and his phone ended in his hands as soon as he stepped foot on the.


    It took a few hours, but everything was ready before the morning could get close. Even deep into the night and immersed in many projects, Abraham''s scientific team came through, creating a new training area from scratch.


    The ce was in the depths of one of Khan''s caves. The scientific team had dug through the rocks, creating a square hole and covering it with an insting alloy. Of course, as per Khan''s strict directives, the area had no trace of technology or synthetic mana.


    The hole obviously wasn''t the end of it. Khan sat before that insted cavity, his bright eyes illuminating the dense liquid that filled it. The scientists had poured part of the reserves of the blue nts'' dark green substance into it, creating a toxic pool.


    Khan wasn''t alone in the cave. Monica stood beside him, her expression clearly showing her disgust toward the pool. That concentration of dark green substance threatened to make her head spin, but she mustered her strength since she knew Khan had something far worse in mind.


    "Is this necessary, dear?" Monica asked, pulling her dress sleeve to cover her nose.


    "You didn''t see her," Khan said. "Her body was one with her element. It wasn''t even a container or a channel for her energy. The mana flow was seamless as if no barriers existed."


    Khan had obviously summarized the meeting to Monica, highlighting the evolved soldier''s presence. Things were getting serious faster than he had predicted, so he nned to resort to drastic methods.


    "For once," Monica cursed, "I hate Abraham for being so efficient."


    "We have gallons of this substance to spare," Khan exined, "And the team only needed to dig and cover a hole. Luckily, we had already experimented with the insnt."


    "Luckily," Monica sarcastically repeated.


    "This was so obvious," Khan sighed. "Why didn''t I think about it before?"


    "Because your first interaction with this substance made you hallucinate?" Monica wondered. "Because you already use both nts and substances in your training?"


    "This should be more effective," Khan stated.


    "And painful," Monica added, "Dangerous, and potentially deadly."


    "I don''t think it will kill me," Khan said, "Or trigger another hallucination. I should have built enough tolerance."


    "It''s still poison," Monica pointed out. "A toxic element meant to destroy your body."


    "Change it," Khan corrected. "The destruction is only a part of it."


    "You''ve set your mind," Monica sighed, sitting beside Khan, "Didn''t you?"


    "I told you," Khan uttered, the excitement on his face creating a deep contrast with Monica''s worried expression. "Her body had transformed to convey life itself. You should have seen her."


    Monica knew that seeing Miss Christen wouldn''t have changed anything for her. She didn''t have Khan''s eyes. She didn''t look at the world in the same way. Even if Khan exined it, Monica wouldn''t understand half the words he said.


    However, Khan''s palpable excitement tried to push Monica''s worry away. That character trait hardly showed itself anymore. Monica only saw it when Khan talked with the aliens or found one of her new skirts. That was Khan''s childish, curious side, something that had made her fall for him on Milia 222.


    "Keep talking about this bitch''s body," Monica threatened, "And I''ll make that pool look like booze."


    "I bet you''ll try to stay here," Khan chuckled, pinching Monica''s lips to disperse her pout. "Can I convince you otherwise?"


    "No," Monica refused, speaking through her pinched lips. "Someone has to rescue you if you die or something."


    "How do you n on rescuing me if I''m dead?" Khanughed.


    "I''ll beat you back to life," Monica exined.


    "That might work," Khan joked, releasing Monica''s lips and looking past her flesh. It had taken longer than predicted, but Monica''s attunement had finally crossed the necessary threshold. She was a proper fourth-level warrior now.


    "I need to adjust your magic items to your new level," Khan considered, seizing Monica''s wrist and pulling down its sleeve to inspect her dark skin. "It shouldn''t take long."


    "Are you trying to distract me with trinkets, dear?" Monica wondered. "I might y along if you continue until morning."


    "You know," Khan muttered, still looking at Monica''s wrist. "Part of me had hoped I''d be a fifth-level warrior by now. We could have announced the ceremony during your birthday. It would have been perfect."


    Monica temporarily forgot her worry. Khan was talking about their marriage, and she almost couldn''t believe he had the time to think about it with all the chaos of the recent period.


    "Are you serious?" Monica asked, forgetting her teasing names.


    "Of course," Khan confirmed. "We''ve been engaged for almost three years. I know descendants take this stuff slow, but I''m not exactly like them."


    Monica didn''t know what to say. She even forgot about the nasty smell afflicting her nostrils. Her body moved on its own, seizing Khan''s arm and leaning on his shoulder.


    "Besides," Khan continued. "You''ll be twenty-seven in a few weeks. You are getting too old to y the spoiled fianc¨¦e."


    A punchnded on Khan''s chest, triggering hisugh. Still, Monica didn''t continue her assault. Instead, she climbed on Khan''sp, sitting on it and lifting his face to look deep into his eyes.


    "I can stop the birth control whenever I want," Monica said, holding Khan''s head steady. "It might take a month for the effect to vanish, but we should be able to try afterward. I only need your word."


    Khan could see the confidence behind Monica''s statement. They had talked about the topic many times, and she had grown more resolute each day. The idea of bing a mother worried her, but having Khan at her side fully reassured her.


    Khan scoffed, wrapping Monica''s back into a tight hug to ce his head on her chest. Her heartbeat resounded through his brain, clearing it from all the recent problems. For a second, only Monica existed, and that was enough.


    Monica yed with Khan''s hair, caressing his nape while understanding what was happening in his mind. She knew Khan was born for leadership. However, he would have spent decades as an explorer in a different life, traveling the universe out of pure curiosity.


    That simple life would have allowed Khan to indulge in such simple but deep desires. He would have already built a family with Monica, which would have be his whole world. Thetter would have been far smaller than what he had now, but no doubt happier.


    "Me, a father," Khan scoffed again. "I just threatened the other factions with a suicide y. How will I even sound believable once we have children?" n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Khan," Monica called. "The moment we have children, you''ll burn down anything that even hints at threatening them. You would never get to mentioning suicidal ys."


    "What if we have a daughter?" Khan gasped, lifting his head in terror. "Should I kill every man in the gxy?"


    "We''ll keep that option open for now," Monica nodded.


    "I need to be an evil overlord or something," Khan realized, pushing Monica aside and standing up. "I need to be so strong people will be terrified even to think about crossing me."


    "Hey!" Monica shouted, watching Khan remove his clothes at the speed of light. "Marriage talks mean sex! It''s the rule!"


    "I''m doing this for our children!" Khan joked, but seriousness reced the yful mood as he jumped forward, diving into the dark green pool.

 Chapter 885 Laughs

    885 Laughs


    Khan slowed down his fall into the pool as the dark green liquid approached. Jokes aside, the substance was dangerous, and he didn''t want a single drop to ssh out of the insted hole, especially since Monica was sitting outside.


    The dive was seamless. Khan immersed himself in the pool, barely creating ripples on its surface. He closed his eyes and crossed his legs, focusing on his mana core to force his energy to flow. Yet, an unfathomable wave of pain immediately assaulted him, breaking his concentration.


    Khan was no stranger to pain, and the scars that littered his body vouched for that. He had also experienced mental suffering like no one else. However, the dark green substance crossed his tolerance threshold.


    As soon as Khan became surrounded by the toxic substance, countless needles surrounded his skin, poking at it. His flesh opposed the assault but to no avail. The liquid weakened him, affecting his survival instincts and lowering his innate defenses, quickly allowing injuries to appear.


    The liquid eroded the superficialyer of Khan''s skin, creating a path for his insides. Patches of red flesh opened all over his body, chemically scarring him and causing more pain than he had ever experienced. The urge to fly away invaded his mind, which also created some room for his rational side.


    The substance wasn''t supposed to have such an immediate effect. After all, the Scalqa mixed it with their drinks, and Khan had spent months training next to its source. His tolerance should be over the roof, so the strange event demanded a different exnation.


    The dark green liquid didn''t change. Abraham''s scientific team didn''t affect itsposition while building the pool. Khan''s body was the only possible variable in that environment, which hinted at something exciting. The toxic influence there was intense enough to trigger an immediate reaction.


    As for whether that reaction was positive or negative, Khan still didn''t know. He could only try and see what he could make of it. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan endured the pain, focusing on his mana core. He forced his energy to flow and intensify the halo his enhanced flesh radiated. That process was no different from his usual meditations, but the new environment changed its oue.


    The pain caused by the surrounding dark green liquid made Khan numb to the suffering triggered by the meditative state. He could push himself as much as he wanted without dealing with the process''s repercussions. The procedure was still atrocious, but that remained a decent silver lining.


    Also, the destruction caused by the dark green liquid seemed to facilitate the expansion, albeit adding an unusual factor. Khan''s flesh didn''t only wee the irradiated mana. It didn''t limit itself to absorption. Its very fabric tried to change as if striving to transform.


    Of course, Khan didn''t notice those differences on the spot. His senses were great, but the immense pain he experienced clouded them, often affecting his concentration and inspection. He had to restart his study multiple times to obtain answers, but they arrived nheless.


    The green liquid invaded Khan''s very blood vessels, expanding throughout his body like a poisonous spiderweb. His flesh was on fire, intensifying the already unbearable pain and making him shout, but only bubbles reached the pool''s surface. Khan chose to remain below it.


    The decision wasn''t easy to make, but Khan could almost feel his element affecting his flesh. That sensation was closer to a hunch than a scientific result, but Khan trusted his guts. He could experience his body trying to change and needed to set the right path.


    Nevertheless, as crazy and resolute as Khan was, he also had limits. He could endure the pain, but his mental awareness waned by the second. At some point, Khan felt himself close to fainting, so he stretched his legs, kicking the liquid to fling himself out of the pool.


    The jump was far from controlled, and Khan''s awareness of his surroundings was clouded at best. He failed to realize where he was but felt his right side mming on a hard surface.


    Leaving the pool restored Khan''s senses, bringing awareness of his surroundings despite his closed eyes. He was in a corner of a cave, supporting himself on elbows and knees while his body continued to burn. Yet, an approaching familiar presence became clear, changing his priorities.


    "Don''t touch me!" Khan shouted, his hoarse voice mixing with a faint echo of the clicking cry.


    Monica would usually ignore Khan''s orders when it came to his safety, but the scene made her stop in her tracks. She instinctively lifted her hands, only for her body to freeze. Monica wasn''t afraid, and worry flooded her mind. However, Khan''s state was beyond her expertise.


    Khan''s crawling position exposed his back and therge, sizzling wounds that filled it. Shallow holes of different sizes covered him, releasing painful noises. Drops of the dark green liquid also still lingered on him, attempting to dig through his already damaged skin.


    Monica couldn''t think of a single way to support Khan or remove the lingering substance without hurting him. He was covered in red spots, making Monica afraid of touching him. She didn''t want to increase his pain or worsen his already tragic condition, hence her frozen state.


    As for Khan, he didn''t want the lingering substance on him to end up on Monica, potentially hurting her. Her hesitation in approaching him gave him some room to work on the issue, and he implemented a solution once he regained enough control over his mana.


    A reddish barrier slowly enveloped Khan, increasing the temperature around his body. The pilot''s technique came in clutch, evaporating the remaining dark green substance on his body and freeing him of its influence.


    Khan dispersed the membrane when the process was over, but a violent cough took control of his lungs. Something solid rose through his throat, and he spat it during that adverse reaction. Opening his teary eyes revealed a dark spot on the rocky ground, which he couldn''t differentiate between blood or part of the substance ingested during his underwater shout.


    The cough continued but quickly waned. Khan''s condition stabilized, and his breath grew deeper and more regr. He calmed down enough to study what had happened to him, and his salivating mouth morphed into a smile.


    To Khan''s surprise, the pool''s effect didn''t stop at facilitating the flesh''s absorption of the irradiated mana. It had also tried to change the tissues themselves, but the process had been too short to provide consistent results. The energy output might have even beencking to trigger a proper transformation, but the behavior was clear.


    "It works," Khan said, his voice still hoarse. "I can feel my body wanting to change."


    Khan''s smile had multiple reasons. The most superficial was the simple ecstasy caused by the sess of that experimental procedure, but deeperyers existed.


    Khan''s current body came from the Nak genes, which he had struggled to ept for a long time. Changing it into something more aligned with his characteristics would finally detach him from that species, albeit the difference wasn''t exactly striking.


    The chaos element was part of the Nak''s heritage, and any transformation would still carry their influence. However, Khan was ready to ept any improvement in his current situation. He was happy as long as he set the path for those changes.


    Moreover, the apparent sess of the experimental procedure was bound to overhaul Khan''s training schedule. He had found something that could give him another edge over his fellow warriors, possibly even the evolved ones, which he wouldn''t hesitate to pursue.


    "This has the potential to be revolutionary," Khanughed, lifting his head to look at Monica. "I must have Garret keep track of my changes."


    Monica couldn''t share Khan''s excitement. Seeing that crazed face littered with red spots froze her once again. For the first time since the beginning of her rtionship, she couldn''t recognize Khan. She only saw the alien.


    The impression went beyond the bright eyes, terrible skin, and overall terrifying appearance. Khan felt wilder than usual. There was something unruly about his presence, and Monica couldn''t help but think about one of his old titles. Many would see the monster of Nippe 2 in that scene.


    The sensation onlysted for a fraction of a second. Monica came back to her senses and drew her phone, quickly typing the only contact that could help in that situation.


    "Abraham, yes," Monica immediately confirmed. "We need medical assistance. Is the team still nearby?"


    Of course, a medical team had remained outside the cave area, so doctors didn''t take long to reach Khan. They wrapped him in ointments and bandages, but he kept smiling, asionally giving orders to Abraham, who was overseeing the process.


    "I need a full scan," Khanmanded, "With blood samples and everything. I want to know what''s happening to me."


    "Also," Khan continued, pointing at the ck spot he had spat out earlier. "Get that analyzed. I need to know what it is."

 Chapter 886 Second

    886 Second


    Khan''s smile didn''t vanish while the doctors patched him up. His body hurt all over, but his expression didn''t change.


    From the outside, Khan looked intoxicated, almost mental, but most of the audience couldn''t even begin to understand his state. He had spent months and years struggling to find a smoother path forward, and a viable method had finally appeared.


    Nevertheless, Monica wasn''t like Abraham or the doctors. After calming down, shepared her previous impression to the current Khan. She had seen him both happy and ecstatic, so she knew something was off.


    Monica waited for the doctors to deal with the injuries and for Abraham to depart with the samples before approaching Khan. He was sitting in a corner, his bright eyes illuminating the toxic pool, but Monica''s arrival shifted his attention to her.


    "If you are going to punch me," Khan joked, "Wait a few hours. I don''t want to lose this feeling."


    Strangely enough, Monica didn''t feel the urge to vent her worry on Khan. She didn''t even want to scold him. She sat at his side, carefully reaching for his chin to turn his head toward her.


    The bandages had almost covered the entirety of Khan''s face, barely leaving holes in his nose, mouth, and eyes. The rest of his body was in a simr state, with his hair as the only exception. The dark green liquid didn''t affect those blue strands at all.


    Still, Monica didn''t focus on the bandages. Her inspection went deeper, searching for a truth only she could see. Khan''s dted pupils, strange smile, and different vibe were details she could pick up due to their long time together, but an exnation for those symptoms escaped her.


    Monica initially couldn''t ept that conclusion. She was an expert in Khan and knew him best. Yet, it soon became clear that the issue exceeded her skill set. That wasn''t about Khan. It was about his mana.


    "You look different," Monica announced. "You feel different."


    Khan would have usually disregarded any evaluation, especially after undergoing an experimental training method. However, he trusted Monica and her judgment enough to ept her words. He stopped smiling, taking a look at himself before closing his eyes to delve deeper into his body and mind.


    Khan had every reason to be happy and believed that feeling to be genuine. Yet, a closer inspection of his state revealed something else. His immersion inside the pool didn''tst long enough to bring significant changes, but temporary effects could still be in action.


    The ointments under the bandages had appeased the pain and facilitated the healing process, but Khan noticed something else in his flesh. It felt freer and unstable like an untraceable tremor ran through it.


    That sensation didn''t only apply to the flesh. Khan also noticed his thoughts manifesting a higher intensity. He didn''t find anything foreign. Everything was simply enhanced as if fueled by newfound energy.


    Of course, the pool didn''t add energy to Khan''s body. Actually, most of his mana was hard at work to aid the healing process. Still, he felt spirited and unrestrained, as if the barriers around his reasonable side had shrunk.


    Unlike Monica, Khan''s knowledge about himself perfectly paired his expertise with mana, quickly bringing answers. Monica was right. He was off, which wasn''t necessarily a problem. Actually, Khan could see it as an additional confirmation that the pool had worked as intended.


    "The chaos element strives for freedom," Khan announced, slowly opening his eyes and recalling old conversations. "It''s the freest type of mana. The substance is simply tuning me with its nature." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Monica didn''t even know where to begin to dissect that exnation. Reying it a hundred times wouldn''t be enough to provide the answers she needed. She vaguely understood what Khan meant but remained limited by her human perspective.


    "So," Monica uttered, collecting her thoughts. "Is this like the evolution? Isn''t this dangerous before full attunement with mana?"


    Monica had a point. Khan was no expert, but witnessing an attempted evolution first-hand had given him insights into the process. There were many reasons why soldiers waited for their attunement to reach one hundred points before attempting the evolution. Khan could think of a few without any deeper knowledge of the topic.


    The experiments with the Nak remains almost confirmed Monica''s worries. An iplete attunement with mana might lead to a partial evolution, leaving weaker tissues attached to a stronger body, which would cause rejection. The subject would be likely toe out of the process maimed, and the injuries could be deadly if they involved vital organs.


    Theck of avable energy was another big issue. A body needed fuel to transform, and its quantity would naturally increase ording to the gap from the superior state. As strong as Khan was, he remained a fourth-level warrior, so he would require an immense amount of mana to perform the evolution at his stage.


    Moreover, in most cases, a full attunement with mana indicatedpleteness and a solid path forward. The soldiers would have expressed their identity by that point, paving the way for the superior state.


    Meanwhile, Khan still had room to change. He had just mastered a martial art and was working on getting ustomed to another. His body was still adjusting to his training, so he didn''t know what he would be once he reached the fifth level.


    ''A heterogeneous evolution might kill me,'' Khan realized. ''The process needs to be homogeneous to be viable. Yet, I also need to consider my unique situation.''


    Khan looked at his patched-up hands. He had the human flexibility and the Nak''s connection with mana. His body probably was the perfect guinea pig for that experimental procedure, especially since he would have specialists studying his every change.


    "It should be simr to the evolution," Khan confirmed. "Maybe not in the way humans see it. This should be a middle ground between the natural induction and aided metamorphosis."


    "And how can you do it without full attunement?" Monica questioned.


    Khan shook his head. He didn''t have answers and kept his opinions to himself. He couldn''t stop his mind, but his mouth would remain shut until experts tackled the topic. Abraham and Garret were bound to have proper exnations, so Khan wanted to wait for the test results before nning the next move.


    Monica wanted to say something, but Khan suddenly stood up, his gaze fixed on the pool. For a second, Monica thought he would jump inside again, but he stood still, his mind an enigma even to her.


    "I won''t stop using it," Khan stated. "I''m sorry."


    Monica slowly stood up, carefully taking Khan''s hand while also looking at the pool. Her worries were reasonable, but her fianc¨¦ wasn''t. Khan had always been careless about his health, and the situation provided enough justifications to keep his mind on that path.


    "You said you''d love me even if I grew a third arm, right?" Khan asked without moving his gaze from the pool.


    "I said that," Monica confirmed, "And I believe that."


    "Then," Khan eximed, "What''s the problem?"


    "I-," Monica muttered. "For a second, just a second, I couldn''t recognize you."


    Khan didn''t answer. That problem had been consistent throughout his rtionship with Monica. The two had always been open about it, but its effects were finally showing.


    "Is it a problem?" Khan wondered, a tinge of sadness inevitably seeping into his voice.


    "No!" Monica promptly shouted, pulling Khan''s hand and looking at him. "No! Absolutely not! I''m just worried about your dumb ass because you never worry about yourself!"


    Watching Monica''s angry outburst reassured Khan, creating his normal, loving smile. He didn''t care about himself but dreaded what his dark sides could do to his loved ones. Monica''s evident support saved him once again, reinforcing a belief she was bound to hate.


    "Then, it''s settled," Khan said, "I''ll have Abraham and Garrett study this thing and keep track of my changes, but I won''t stop."


    Monica opened her mouth but quickly closed it. She had been raised for that role, but watching her man hurting himself for everyone''s sake was akin to torture. No matter how much Monica''s status changed, she couldn''t get used to that sight. Honestly, she didn''t want to.


    "What-?" Monica asked before adjusting her words. "Who will you be?"


    "I don''t know," Khan admitted. "Considering that I''m already pretty monstrous, there''s only one conclusion."


    The p finally arrived. Monica delivered the blow straight to Khan''s right cheek, uncaring about the bandages there. Her angry expression also unfolded in Khan''s vision, broadening his smile.


    "Never feel bad about your power," Monica scolded. "Never apologize for what you be. No one can see as much as you do, so don''t even bother to look for our approval."


    Monica closed the distance with Khan, cing her palm on the cheek she had just pped. Her touch was loving and careful now, but her expression remained resolute.


    "We are just humans," Monica dered, "Or Scalqa, or Thilku, or Ef''i. You are more, so don''t limit yourself for fear of losing us. If we can''t stay with you, we never deserved you in the first ce."


    Monica waited for Khan to get the message before lowering her eyes, leaning forward to ce her forehead on his bandaged chest.


    "However, if you could do me a small favor," Monica announced. "No matter how much you change, keep holding me like you always do."

 Chapter 887 Workload

    887 Workload


    Khan''s injuries were numerous and vast but also shallow. The ointments did wonders when coupled with an ordinary meditative session, basically restoring his usual appearance in a matter of hours.


    The ointments and Khan''s unique body weren''t the only aspects that had facilitated that recovery. The unusual state resulting from the immersion in the pool quickened the process. It almost seemed like Khan''s flesh wanted to regrow, albeit in a slightly different shape.


    That difference was unnoticeable. Even Khan struggled to spot it, so the audience at the tournament never had a shot at it. The guests only saw a few still-unhealed faint red spots, which Khan easily justified with some half-lies.


    The day went smoothly, but Khan found himself dodging the parties once again when the night arrived. He departed alone, flying into the city to reach one of hisbs in the main building.


    The involved personnel had been warned, and Khan found everything ready when he entered theb. Abraham and Garret were expecting him, nning to add a full-body scan to the samples retrieved in the cave.


    Khan had undergone a simr procedure, but the familiar and friendly environment added a pleasant touch. He still felt like a guinea pig while the two scientists poked blood and tiny chunks of flesh out of him, but the situation justified those tests.


    "The current samples are clearer, My Prince," Abraham eventually announced, studying the test results on his console. "Whatever happened inside the pool stabilized now."


    "It''s worth mentioning your blood levels are still strange, Prince Khan," Garret added, also looking at his console. "The algorithm for mana-enhanced warriors can''t justify them."


    "That algorithm was developed for humans, right?" Khan questioned.


    "Indeed, Prince Khan," Garret confirmed.


    "That should exin it," Khan continued.


    "Yes," Garret eximed. "However, the difference remains striking, and I''m not sure your mutations can justify them. I''ve seen a simr pattern in my studies, but linking it to your recent training session sounds unreasonable."


    "What do you mean?" Khan asked.


    "One short training session can''t produce these results," Garret exined, facing the interactive desk where Khan sat. "This process must have gone on for months or even years."


    "Which process exactly?" Khan wondered, crossing his legs to sit morefortably on the desk.


    "The natural induction, Prince Khan," Garret revealed, "Which shouldn''t be possible in your case, is it?"


    "Describe it to me again," Khan requested.


    "The natural induction uses the warrior''s mana to transform his body gradually," Garret exined. "Some stimnts can be used to facilitate the process, but the users'' mana remains the main fuel."


    "And why shouldn''t it be possible in my case?" Khan asked.


    "Because aplete attunement with mana is required, Prince Khan," Garret replied. "Only then does the body have the right state and enough energy to enforce a transformation."


    Khan diverted his bright gaze, going over his unique features. The Nak mutations probably made him more inclined to transform through mana, and an anomaly afflicted his energy. The [Blood Vortex] also gave him far more fuel than average, so the idea wasn''t entirely unreasonable.


    "Let''s say it''s happening," Khan dered, focusing on Garret again. "Is it a problem?"


    "Usually," Garret announced, "Attempting a preemptive evolution leads to body instabilities. Humankind has tested many approaches but has always found it impossible to keep the process homogeneous."


    "And in my case?" Khan questioned.


    "It-" Garret sighed, "It appears homogeneous. Though I can''t exin how, Prince Khan."


    Khan looked at his hands while his mind explored past topics. He had guessed that a simr process was happening, and the confirmation had arrived. He was still transforming, and the blue nts had only facilitated that.


    "My Prince," Abraham called, "I don''t mean to pry, but how many unorthodox training methods are you pursuing? Knowing them might give us a better idea of what''s happening to you."


    Abraham knew something, but Garret''s presence forced him to be vague. He didn''t want to reveal Khan''s secrets without his explicit permission, so his question left thest word to him.


    "My mana is more intense than average," Khan exined, hinting at his mana anomaly. "I also have a method to enhance the normal meditation, and I didn''t hold back with the blue nts."


    "Do you have anything more scientific to say, Prince Khan?" Garret wondered.


    "This is the best way I can exin it," Khan said, and Abraham nodded at him, knowing Garret wouldn''t notice the gesture.


    "In that case," Garret uttered, "I can only suggest constant check-ups to catch any deviation in time."


    "That I can do," Khan confirmed.


    "However," Garret continued, "The pool is another issue. Your recent training session requires a different investigation altogether."


    Garret turned to look at Abraham, who approached a cylindrical machine and retrieved a circr container from its socket. The item was transparent, so Khan saw a ck substance inside and connected it to what he had spewed after exiting the pool.


    "This is mostly waste product, My Prince," Abraham exined, showing the circr container. "It''s superfluous organic matter that your body doesn''t really need. However, studying it revealed two things."


    "The training session damages your body," Garret continued, "And alters your tissues."


    Khan reviewed the exnation in his mind for a few seconds before uttering a single word. "So?"


    "So, My Prince," Abraham sighed. "The next time, you might spit out vital tissues, like a piece of your stomach, lungs, or even heart."


    "Moreover," Garret added, "The alteration isn''t homogeneous. The likelihood of deviations appears ensured, especially with longer training sessions."


    Khan had identified simr problems already but didn''te to theb to confirm them. He had put his best two scientists on the task, so he wanted answers, and it seemed one had some.


    "Garret, what is it?" Khan asked, his piercing eyes noticing something in his mana.


    "The sample from when your training session had just ended, Prince Khan," Garret announced, lowering his gaze in thought. "I think I''ve seen a simr trend but in different cases."


    "Exin," Khan ordered.


    "This is uncharted territory, Prince Khan," Garret stated. "I''d rather not make assumptions with so little data."


    "Make them anyway," Khan reiterated the order.


    Garret wasn''t part of Khan''s inner circle. In many ways, he was still an outsider to Baoway, and his position stood on his reliability and expertise. Making wrong scientific assumptions could ruin him, especially since they involved Khan''s training. However, refusing to answer when those bright eyes were pointed at him wasn''t an option.


    "The trends look simr to my studies of the aided metamorphosis," Garret revealed. "Yet, they are most unusual."


    "Unusual how?" Khan questioned.


    Garret opened his mouth but quickly closed it. He had no easy way to describe his thoughts to scientists with no advanced expertise in the topic, let alone Khan, so he approached an empty interactive desk, hoping a visual exnation could help.


    "The aided metamorphosis mainly needs three things," Garret exined, summoning a hologram of a faceless body and adding empty brackets at its side.


    "A catalyst," Garret continued, typing the word on the holograms. "Something that can induce a specific transformation. The mineral carrying the life element mentioned by Major General Arngan back then is one."


    "A reagent," Garret said, moving to the next bracket, "Something that can trigger and facilitate the transformation. Humankind has developed many chemicals for the job, but they always need some tweaks depending on the individual."


    "Lastly," Garret added, reaching thest bracket, "Energy. Well, mana specifically tuned for the procedure."


    Khan listened attentively and noticed resemnces with his training session. However, he couldn''t understand what Garret was up to.


    "Of course," Garret announced, "This is only a broad and superficial description. The actual procedure involves many stages and variables, which would be pointless to list now."


    "I get it," Khan said. "What''s the issue?"


    "The issue, Prince Khan," Garret stated, "Is that it seems you are using your element as the catalyst. It appears you are forcing an aided metamorphosis, a self-metamorphosis, if you will."


    "I like self-metamorphosis," Khan admitted. "Still, isn''t this good? It should face fewer hurdles than normal metamorphoses, right?"


    "Except you''d be transforming into yourself, Prince Khan," Garret exined, "Which is what the natural induction aims to do. You are only adding a strong reagent to the process."


    "Hence the uncharted territory," Khan understood.


    "Indeed, Prince Khan," Garret confirmed. "I must warn you. This procedure isn''t safe or tested. Also, it sounds superfluous due to your apparent ongoing transformation."


    Garret had a point. It seemed that Khan was already undergoing something simr to the evolution, so adding an untested procedure to his training schedule would only increase his problems and put him in danger. Yet, Khan felt he couldn''t wait for a gradual growth. He wanted power, and he wanted it now.


    "So," Khan announced, focusing on the holograms. "I have the catalyst, and the reagent works. I also have a way to increase my energy reserves. What more would I need?"


    "A way to make the transformation homogeneous, My Prince," Abraham responded, "And a higher tolerance to the substance to prevent organ damage. Am I right, Mister Bizelli?" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Garret was almost shocked Abraham was ying along with Khan. He had done his best to exin the procedure''s ws and dangers, but the two still wanted to explore that procedure.


    "Garret?" Khan called, clearly demanding an answer.


    "The potentialplications are numerous," Garret dered, "But, yes, those are the requirements even to attempt to continue the procedure."


    "It sounds like your workload just increased," Khan announced. "Get it done. I''ll deal with the tolerance issue."

 Chapter 888 Colorant

    888 Colorant


    Khan knew he was stretching himself and his teams thin. He had added project after project to his list, and each had something revolutionary about it.


    The tournament kept most of Khan''s workforce busy, and far more was ongoing. Building the training grounds, reinforcing the rtionships among nobles, descendants, Global Army, Thilku, and Ef''i, developing magic items and supplements, studying the Fuveall imnts, investigating the living elements, and Khan''s new training method were all important tasks, which could be too much even for a noble faction.


    The structure of Khan''s faction aggravated the issue. He wielded immense political power and had almost ess to unlimited resources but could count the people he trusted with two hands. Khan needed specialized and loyal people on those important tasks but was running short of them. A few were already overloaded with work, too.


    Adding specialized personnel to the tasks would solve part of the issue, but loyalty was rare, especially toward Khan''s controversial figure. He could exploit Abraham and Garret''s acquaintances in the field, but the risk of inviting spies into those important projects would increase with each new scientist.


    The spies weren''t a problem with the tournament, but Khan needed a monopoly over the revolutionary technology to retain his political leverage. No important project had borne fruits yet, but preventing leaks early on was the best approach, which Khan was adamant about enforcing.


    Sadly, no easy solutions existed. More ships arrived in Baoway in the following days, bringing allegedly trusted members of the Bizelli family and other scientists close to Abraham. A new team of Fuveall alsonded on the, joining forces with Sen-nu''s group to help with the medical trials and living mana.


    Khan believed things would hit the brakes afterward, but reality always found ways to surprise him. Monica''s birthday was right around the corner when Garret and Abraham summoned him one night in one of his building''sbs.


    "What is it?" Khan asked, barging into theb before spotting something odd. He recognized most of the equipment and the two scientists, but one machine managed to stand out.


    A strange metal chair stood at theb''s center. Tubes stretched from a transparent container on its back, circling toward the front and ending in long needles. The piece of furniture resembled a torture machine, but the smiles on the scientists'' faces said otherwise.


    "What am I looking at?" Khan questioned, intrigued.


    "Prince Khan, I stumbled into something interesting while researching solutions for Mister Parver''s condition," Garret announced, approaching the strange chair and cing his hand on its back. "We didn''t always have reagents with high efficiency, so wepensated with technology."


    Khan walked deeper into theb, inspecting the chair from different angles. He was no scientist but could guess the machine''s purpose, especially since he had given Garret a specific issue to solve.


    "While researching the aided metamorphosis?" Khan wondered, making the connection with Professor Parver''s illness.


    "Exactly, Prince Khan," Garret confirmed. "We used to rely on simr machines to spread the reagents evenly throughout the body. We''d need to test how you react to it, but the homogeneous issue should be solved afterward."


    The news sounded too good to be true. Garret couldn''t have solved such a problematic issue in less than two weeks. Something had to be off, and Khan couldn''t help but question it.


    "Where''s the catch?" Khan asked.


    "That machine is only part of those old procedures, My Prince," Abraham revealed. "The records state the subjects had to be heavily sedated before the injections. Also, the metamorphosis happened through additional equipment to match the reagent''s efficiency."


    "I need to be awake in the pool," Khan pointed out, "And I can''t have a second machine handle my mana."


    "Precisely, My Prince," Abraham confirmed. "You''d have to do most of the work, which with your reagent of choice''s nature ¡­"


    "I get it," Khan stated. "I''d have to be as precise as a machine while the nt''s substance burns my insides."


    The smiles disappeared after the statement. The scientists had found a solution, but the procedure remained far from safe. Actually, that new approach would probably require a higher pain tolerance from Khan.


    Khan could also imagine the other dangers. Simple immersions in the pool could scar him, but the chances ofsting injuries were low as long as he kept the sessions short.


    Meanwhile, using that chair would trigger aplete and irreversible reaction that would affect Khan''s entire body. Much could break in a single session, even Khan himself.


    Khan scratched his head while going over the new issues. Truth be told, he was confident in his ability to match a machine''s precision. He could probably sense the changes in his body better than the scanners, so adjusting his mana flow ordingly wouldn''t be a problem.


    The pain was the main problem. Khan had temporarily lost control during the immersion, and the chair was bound to provide a far more intense experience. He didn''t know if he could handle it well enough to deal with the procedure.


    "Allow me to reiterate my warnings, Prince Khan," Garret announced, hoping Khan''s silence meant reasonable hesitation. "I fully believe you don''t need this procedure. It''s an unnecessary risk."


    Abraham diverted his gaze. He knew about Khan''s inherited mission and the looming war against the scarlet eyes. Its unclear timeline was also annoying, especially with all the enemies still standing in Khan''s way.


    The only solution and insurance Khan could obtain came in the form of his power. As long as he was strong, his chances of survival would increase, and his political opponents would have a harder time opposing him.


    "Let''s test this out," Khan eventually ordered, reaching the chair and sitting on it.


    Garret held back a sigh and looked at Abraham, who only nodded in eptance. The scientists got to work, injecting a watery substance into the transparent container on the chair''s back before approaching their respective consoles.


    "This will hurt, Prince Khan," Garret warned before activating the machine. The tubes moved, converging on Khan. Their needles reached his skin in numerous spots, basically caging him before halting their advance.


    "The machine will pierce you," Garret exined, "Reaching specific areas before injecting a colorant. The substance will allow us to check for barriers inside your body and adjust the injections ordingly."


    Khan nodded, careful to avoid scratching the needles on his neck. He could also feel some poking at his back from the chair, so he closed his eyes, ready for the imminent pain.


    "Oh, and don''t worry, Prince Khan," Garret added. "The colorant wasn''t altered with mana."


    "I know," Khan said. "I would have smelled it."


    The reply left Garret dumbfounded, but he quickly recovered, exchanging a nce with Abraham to begin the procedure. He pressed a key on his console, and the needles shot forward, piercing Khan''s flesh and often reaching his bones.


    Khan grunted, tremors running through his body as pain spread everywhere. Being poked by a dozen needles was far from pleasant, and remaining stuck in that position only worsened the experience. Yet, he had survived the pool, so that treatment was nothing extreme.


    "Injecting the colorant," Abraham announced before activating themand.


    A hot sensation spread inside Khan, filling his body with a shing feverish feeling. More tremors took control of his spine, but the needles were stabbed deep enough to avoid being affected.


    That didn''t apply to Khan''s mana. His energy sensed the foreign substance and promptly attacked it, quickly dispersing the feverish feeling. His body temperature returned normal, and the tubes retracted their needles afterward.


    "I suspected this would happen," Garret sighed while Abraham hurried toward the chair wielding multiple tissues imbued with a special ointment.


    "What?" Khan questioned while Abraham cleaned the needle-sized injuries, wiping off the dripping blood. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "The colorant is too weak, Prince Khan," Garret revealed. "We couldn''t get any data before your body got rid of it."


    "Solve it," Khan ordered, waving Abraham away when he tried to lift him to clean his back.


    "I already did, Prince Khan," Garret eximed. "I''ve prepared a series of colorants with different densities. Hopefully, one will survive long enough to give us a clear picture of your body."


    "Hopefully?" Khan repeated.


    "The non-mana-based colorants at our disposal are very outdated," Garret exined, "And scarce. The same goes for the data on them. We don''t know what''s more likely to work in your situation, Prince Khan."


    ''So, we are hoping something will stick,'' Khan realized before giving the order. "Continue."


    Abraham and Garret got to work again, and a long series of tests began. Garret had prepared nine different colorants, and each required Khan to be stabbed by the needles again to check its effectiveness.


    By the eighth test, Khan had begun to lose hope and me his unique state for putting another hurdle on his path. Yet, to his surprise, the colorant didn''t trigger his automatic defense mechanisms and spread through his body, granting the scientists the data they needed.


    "I apologize for such barbaric methods, Prince Khan," Garret eximed while ordering the machine to retract its tubes. "I swear, there was no other way."


    "Do you have everything you need now?" Khan wondered, leaving the chair and checking himself. He could almost picture Monica''s face when she saw the holes that littered his body.


    "Not quite," Garret revealed. "We found the right substance, but the density has to be adjusted to match the reagent. I''m afraid you''ll have to go through this one more time."

 Chapter 889: Rest

    Chapter 889: Rest


    ?


    The night ended up being long. Khan returned to one of his bedrooms only when dawn was barely one hour away, but his day didn''t finish even then. It actually began.


    "Khan?" Monica called when Khan entered the room.


    "What are you doing awake?" Khan sighed, undressing and throwing his clothes and equipment to the floor.


    Monica noticed the exhaustion in Khan''s voice and stood up, leaving the big bed to approach him. Her figure and nightgown entered the blue light radiated by Khan''s eyes, growing bigger as she neared him.


    "You know I can''t sleep without you," Monica reminded, helping Khan with the remaining clothes. He could oppose her but didn''t. The night had taken a toll on his mind, making him oddly tired.


    Monica removed Khan''s pelts before getting on her knees to deal with his shoes. He facilitated the process, lifting his feet and letting her handle the rest. That situation could easily lead to lewd developments, but the mood couldn''t be more different.


    Undressing Khan had revealed the needle-sized holes throughout his body. Monica explored those on his legs with her fingers before standing up and moving to his torso. She found the wounds on his arms and gently turned him, exposing the simr injuries on his back.


    "It''s nothing," Khan reassured. "Abraham and Garret needed to test something. They seeded. I should be able to start training soon."


    Monica exchanged a nce with Khan before focusing on the injuries again. Her fingers circled the holes'' edges, finding dirt and stickiness. Khan had probably sweated and bled a lot during the night, and Monica could easily spot those traces on him.


    "Come," Monica eventually ordered, taking Khan''s hand and pulling him away. He let her guide him into the bedroom''s bathroom, where she prepared the bathtub without letting go of him.


    Warm water quickly filled the bathtub, and Monica entered it, pulling Khan inside. She turned him and pushed him down, forcing him to sit with his back toward her. Khan heard Monica undress and throw her nightgown away but didn''t turn. He only closed his eyes, knowing his fianc¨¦e would take care of him.


    Soon, scrubbing and sshing noises echoed throughout the bathroom. Monica cleaned Khan with a soft sponge, focusing on his injuries. The asional crusts fell, revealing intact skin underneath.


    It turned out Khan was already healing, and the bath had finalized the process, allowing Monica to focus on the war paint and dirt. She also dealt with his hair before throwing away the sponge and letting him lean on her.


    Khan never opened his eyes and lost track of time, focusing on the cozy atmosphere. The bathtub kept the water warm, and Monica''s chest pressed on his back. She had also stretched her legs at his sides, which he asionally caressed to savor her smooth and soft skin.


    "I could almost sleep now," Khan admitted, chuckling. That wish sounded like mockery to his ears since he knew the nightmares would be waiting for him.


    "Then, sleep," Monica muttered, tightening the arms around Khan''s shoulders to bring him closer. "I''ll watch over you."


    "I want to attend the tournament," Khan shook his head. "How long do we have?"


    "Never long enough," Monica responded, leaning forward to rest her head on Khan''s.


    "That''s true," Khan sighed, letting a few silent seconds pass before adding something. "It doesn''t feel good to be treated like ab rat."


    "Then, don''t," Monica said. "You don''t have to do it."


    "The hard part is over," Khan reassured. "Now it''s only training sessions and check-ups."


    "That''s the hard part," Monica pointed out.


    "It never was for me," Khan revealed.


    "Because you are a dumb scoundrel," Monica exined, slightly hesitating before continuing. "I don''t like seeing you like this."


    "Naked?" Khan joked.


    "Abused," Monica corrected. "Hurt."


    Khan opened his eyes, adding a blue color to the bathroom''s artificial light. He looked up before turning on himself, nting his knees on the bathtub to pull Monica on him.


    "I''m not hurt," Khan stated, sitting down while Monica made herselffortable on hisp. "They injected me with colorants and other stuff. I''m just feeling off."


    Monica didn''t show it, but Khan knew she didn''t believe him one bit. One of her hands went on his chest while the other removed hair strands from his forehead. Her eyes asionally met his, but she never spoke.


    "What is it?" Khan eventually asked.


    "I''m just looking at you, dear," Monica said, shaking her head. "Can''t I?"


    "You can do whatever you want with me," Khan replied in a serious tone.


    "I know," Monica nodded. "You arepletely in my power and can''t help but fulfill my every whim."


    Khan smiled, closing his eyes again and leaning his head forward, nning to rest it on Monica''s chest. Yet, she held him still from his left cheek, which made him look at her.


    "Let me look at you," Monica whispered, her request almost sounding like a plea.


    Khanplied, and the two looked deep into their eyes. Monica searched for something while Khan tried to understand what was happening.


    "Monica," Khan called.


    "Shh," Monica voiced, and Khan let her continue that silent inspection.


    The silence went on for a few minutes, and neither Khan nor Monica moved. The two simply


    rxed in the bathtub, losing themselves in their partner''s eyes.


    "Yes," Monica eventually uttered. "I''m truly crazy about you."


    "What?" Khan asked, the urge tough rising through his mind.


    "This new training method of yours scares me," Monica admitted, "But you are still you, and I love you more than anything."


    Khan didn''t reply. He knew the events with the pool had been traumatic for Monica. They had shaken one of her core certainties to the core, and she needed time to reinforce it and adjust to the potential iing changes.


    "Cuddle me," Monica ordered, curling on Khan''s chest and smiling when he wrapped his arms around her head.


    "I thought you were taking care of me today," Khan teased.


    "I am," Monica stated. "You love making me happy. I''m taking care of you by letting you take


    care of me."


    "How wise," Khan chuckled, "And convenient."


    "I made such a good decision when I seduced you," Monica agreed.


    Khanughed, pulling Monica closer. She rxed even more, and her breath grew deeper. Her


    mana also revealed her tiredness, hinting at something else.


    "Why don''t you rest today?" Khan suggested, caressing Monica''s curls. "I can handle the


    guests on my own for one day."


    "I will rest today," Monica confirmed, "With you."


    "I told you I want to attend," Khan reminded.


    "You said that," Monica muttered, "But we''ll still rest today."


    Khan understood Monica''s intentions without needing to read her mana. That was the only way to make Khan rest, and she knew it far too well. As long as she fell asleep on top of him,


    he wouldn''t move.


    Khan held back a helpless sigh. Truth be told, his body was fine. It was his mind that needed time away from all the political chaos, and taking one day off didn''t sound like a bad idea. Moreover, the new training method would start soon, and Khan didn''t know how he would react to it. Chances were his schedule would be full, preventing him from spending time with Monica, so he could make an exception that day.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Okay," Khan epted defeat. "We rest today."


    "Good," Monica eximed, rubbing her head on Khan''s chest. "Carry me to bed once I fall


    asleep."


    "Aye, aye, Ma''am," Khan chuckled.


    "Also," Monica continued. "I should tell you."


    Monica didn''t add anything else, tingling Khan''s curiosity. He looked down at her, but she hid


    her face, her mana leaking a familiar shyness.


    "I-" Monica eventually said. "I interrupted the birth control. Mood swings aside, I should be


    fine in a month or so."


    Khan slightly froze. He didn''t expect that, nor did he know how to react. The two could still rely on condoms for the time being, but Monica''s decision put a sense of inevitability to the


    topic.


    "Your mood swings are you being fine," Khan joked, too stunned to say anything serious. "Tease me all you want," Monica snorted. "Just hurry up. I want to marry you and give you


    children."


    The statement was another blow to Khan''s sanity. He froze again, his brain requiring a few seconds to resume its normal functioning. That wasn''t the couple''s usual teasing or a sweet moment. Monica was actually pushing for that.


    "Hurry up?" Khan questioned.


    "I can''t stop you from training," Monica exined. "I can''t tell you how to grow stronger, either. The least I can do is get something in return."


    "Getting pregnant is your revenge or something?" Khan wondered.


    "Shut it, dummy," Monica cursed, looking up at Khan and sshing water on his face. "You


    will use the pool anyway, right? So, hurry up and be a fifth-level warrior. That way, we


    can finally be a family."


    Khan blinked twice. He almost couldn''t believe Monica was telling him to work harder, but there she was. In a way, that was one of the few times she had asked something from him when his schedule was so busy, and he couldn''t help but feel obliged toply.


    "As you wish," Khan agreed. "I''ll be a fifth-level warrior, and we''ll start a family."


    "Don''t forget to marry me first," Monica reminded, curling back on Khan''s chest. "Oh, also, you better stash condoms again for the time being. I hope the has enough of them."

 Chapter 890: Birthday

    Chapter 890: Birthday


    ?


    No one med Khan for taking a day off. With all the projects boiling on his te, he had countless reasonable justifications, so the guests didn''t even bother questioning him.


    Things proceeded smoothly on every side, and Abraham and Garret even finalized Khan''s new training method in a matter of days. Everything was ready for him to begin that experimental treatment, but he dyed it to make sure he would be present at an important event.


    One morning, Monica arrived at the arena''s terrace donning unusual clothes, especially considering the unique urrence. It was her birthday, and spectacles were ready to unfold on the battlefield below, but she had ignored her fancy dresses to opt for her military uniform.


    The choice had a specific purpose, which everyone instantly noticed, especially the human guests. The noble representatives, Alexander, and Mister Cirvags spotted the four pairs of stars on Monica''s uniform, announcing her arrival to the fourth level.


    "Miss Solodrey!" Princess Montares called, sharing the same surprise as her fellow nobles. "When were you nning on sharing the news?"


    Everyone understood that Monica had kept her growth a secret to match the announcement with her birthday. Still, no one med her. That was a perfect political move that would bring more attention to Khan''s organization.


    "I apologize for dying the announcement," Monica stated, slightly bowing before finishing crossing the ship''s metal ramp. "I broke through the fourth level a few weeks ago, but other priorities imed my attention."


    "Oh, no need to apologize," Princes Montares announced, leaving her seat to reach Monica and take her hands. "Congrattions and happy birthday."


    "Thank you, Rachel," Monica thanked, and the two women entered the terrace, walking toward their respective seats.


    More congrattions followed, even from the alien side. Yet, the guests soon eyed the person remaining behind Monica to avoid stealing her spotlight. Khan kept a polite distance, smiling proudly at his fianc¨¦e, and the attention didn''t distract him from the scene.


    Bing a fourth-level warrior was an outstanding achievement, especially for politically involved figures. Many descendants and faction leaders didn''t have time or directly abandoned pursuing strength to focus on their businesses. That behavior was normal in those environments, but Monica was an exception.


    Monica''s political involvement was evident to everyone. She often handled many vital aspects of the organization, doing more work than Khan himself. From the public''s perspective, she was the go-to person when trying to reach Khan, which basically put her at the center of every business on the.


    Nevertheless, Monica''s growth had also outdone many of her fellow descendants. She had always been talented, but her political duties should have put her training on hold. Instead, her level had increased faster than anyone in her generation.


    That irregr trend had one obvious exnation. Monica had been a normal wealthy descendant until Milia 222, but her growth had skyrocketed since encountering Khan. The same went for many of his friends and subjects. Khan clearly was a positive influence on anyone around and under him, and Monica''s new level was thetest confirmation.


    That was an additional goal of Monica''s military uniform. She didn''t only showcase her growth and increased her relevance. She also wanted everyone to know the benefits of joining Khan, which weren''t limited to the wealthy allies.


    Princess Reba refrained from announcing the matches to hammer down that impression further. Once the spectacles and the rounds of congrattions were over, Monica took it upon herself to start the battles, proudly showing her four pairs of stars to every scanner in the arena.


    Muffled buzzing noises resounded throughout the terrace as the battles unfolded. Thework was on fire, but the guests didn''t bother with the gossip. Khan''s apparent ability to improve everything he touched had taken the spotlight, and many tried to get to it through Monica.


    "You must be the envy of every descendant, Miss Solodrey," Prince Rassec announced. "You continue to amaze us with your performance and achievements."


    "I''m only doing my best to keep up with the expectations around me, Prince," Monica responded, politely rejecting thepliment.


    "Having such a sessful Fianc¨¦ would normally be too much for most people," Princess Saintilon pointed out. "However, you lookpletely at ease with it."


    "Our Princess Edna has always held Miss Solodrey in high regard," Princess Virrai


    commented. "Her opinion is more than justified."


    "Where is Princess Edna, Princess?" Monica wondered. "I recall she promised to join us on the terrace."


    "You know the Princess, Miss Solodrey," Princess Virrai chuckled. "She had the idea of exploring thest night, so she is likely in another quadrant today."


    "As steadfast as ever," Monica giggled. "I hope she''ll be able to join the celebrations tonight. I''d love her presence at my birthday."


    "She wouldn''t miss it for the world, Miss Solodrey," Princess Virrai reassured. "She has already demanded for your Fianc¨¦ to be present, too. I suspect she has be a fan of your rtionship."


    "Who hasn''t?" Prince Duter questioned. "They are a great and inspiring couple, lifting each other at every step. It''s quite rare in today''s world."


    "Indeed," Princess Montares agreed. "Prince Khan isn''t threatened by the sess of his partner and actively supports her. That''s extremely rare for a man in his position."


    "It''s one of my Fianc¨¦ many benefits," Monica stated. "Besides, even with the help of the whole world, I wouldn''t be able to outdo him."


    "To think the early stages of your rtionship were soplicated," Prince Rassecughed, eyeing the figures sitting behind the rows of nobles. "Madam Solodrey, Mister Solodrey, I bet you are ecstatic about how things ended up going down."


    After spending weeks on the terrace, Anastasia and Luther had gotten used to that lofty position. Monica''s birthday and achievement also worked as a shield they could ride, giving them the confidence to engage in friendly conversations with the nobles.


    "I admit we had our reservations," Anastasia revealed. "We only wanted the best for our dear Monica, so we educated her ordingly. Luckily, her training gave her the foresight to see Prince Khan''s true potential, and he eventually won us over."


    Needless to say, Monica didn''t like that attempt from her parents to im part of the merit behind the current situation. Yet, she let it slide. Her family was now Khan''s greatest supporter, so increasing its fame would ultimately benefit him.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "We must discuss these training methods sometimes," Princess Saintilon suggested. "Can


    you think of an empty spot in your schedule? Preferably at night."


    "For you, Princess Saintlon," Mister Solodrey said, lowering his head in respect, "Our


    schedule is always empty."


    "Excellent," Princess Saintilon eximed. "I''ll be sure to request yourpany one of these


    nights."


    "It would be our honor," Madam Solodrey thanked, also bowing in respect.


    More invitations followed, with many trying to bind Monica to lunches and dinners. A few even went as far as trying to involve Khan, but Monica handled everything, always giving vague answers and promises. She knew she would attend some events, but that wasn''t the ce to add them to her schedule.


    Monica''s decision to remain vague also acted as a shield for Khan. She was sitting on him on the spacious throne, so involving him in those conversations wouldn''t be a problem. However, he had his fair share of topics to handle with different guests.


    The human side mainly focused on reinforcing the political connections with Monica and her family, but the alien guests had different interests. They saw the promise of stronger soldiers in Monica''s growth, inevitably focusing on the reason behind her new level.


    "Let me congratte you again for the choice of your partner, [Blue Shaman]," Lord Rsi announced. "She truly is an exemry human."


    "Thank you, [My Lord]," Khan responded, hiding the slight disgust toward his drink. "I feel


    luckier every day."


    Khan ignored his disgust and took another sip from his cup. Unlike the other guests, his drink


    had a set amount of the nts'' dark green substance mixed with it. That was part of the process meant to increase his tolerance, so he had appointed a waiter to fix his booze in


    secret.


    "You should," Lord Rsimented, mming his huge hand on Khan''s shoulder twice. "Even our soldiers respect her. Truly a perfect fit."


    "Of course," Tlexicpalli joined the conversation, "We are to believe that her improvements have something to do with your unique services."


    "I aim to make my training grounds as beneficial as possible," Khan confirmed, getting directly to the point. "I''m sure they''ll be up to your standards."


    "I admit that''s quite surprising, [Blue Shaman]," Lord Exr revealed. "I understand reinforcing our friendship, but most humans would be wary about improving alien forces."


    "Improving is a strong word, [My Lord]," Khan corrected. "I simply think that we have much to learn from each other. The training grounds will allow us to show and put together our best aspects, benefiting us all."


    The wise choice of words didn''t go unnoticed. The rtionship with the Lord had long since be friendly and more easygoing. Yet, Khan could still risk insulting the Empire by iming to have the best training methods, especially before a human audience. However, the different wording had veiledpliments for both Thilku and Ef''i, which


    neither species tried to reject.


    "It''s praiseworthy, [Prince Khan]," Lord Rsi continued. "Differences aside, you should feel justified in avoiding attempting to strengthen our troops."


    Lord Rsi was hinting at Izraz''s ploy. Clearly, the Empire had leaders and troops who were unhappy with the friendly rtionship with humankind, so empowering them could create


    stronger enemies.


    "I don''t see those justifications," Khan announced. "Actually, it''s in my best interest to keep my close allies strong. Don''t you agree, [My Lord]?"


    The answer pleased Lord Rsi, who smirked and showed his canines before resuming hammering Khan''s shoulder. The silent understanding didn''t go unnoticed by the eavesdropping guests, either. The Global Army had deals with the Empire, but Khan had the


    Thilku''s ears and hearts.

 Chapter 891: Inconclusive

    Chapter 891: Inconclusive


    ?


    The day featured multiple breaks to celebrate Monica''s birthday. As the second-most important person on the, the special event deserved the same celebrations addressed to Princesses, and Khan''s organization didn''t disappoint.


    Spectacles, announcements, and more filled the day, often interrupting the battles. The trend continued throughout the night, in which the couple was forced to fly to different locations to show Monica''s face to various guests. The two had limited those visits to important allies and acquaintances, but the trips remained plenty.


    The couple arrived at the final location only deep into the night. Midnight had long since passed when a ship dropped Khan and Monica in one of the main city''s buildings'' terraces. The waiters had adorned the ce with soft artificial lights, various interactive tables, and exotic nts, but everything paledpared to the spectacle below.


    Sadly, the couple never had the chance to gaze at the vast city from one of its highest points. That terrace was the final destination from the night, so Khan and Monica had already gone through tens of guests. However, the ce was packed with more, starting a seemingly endless series of polite congrattions and conversations.


    The process would usually be unbearable for Khan, especially after an entire night spent like that. However, the praises showering Monica were an excellent silver lining that distracted him from the burdensome situation. She was getting the respect and attention she deserved, and he wouldn''t get in her way orin.


    Another silver lining soon arrived. A person who had every reason to cause anyone major headaches ended up creating a great diversion and saving Khan from that endless stream of fake smiling faces.


    "Monica!" Princess Edna''s voice pierced the terrace''s ruckus, making the crowd of guests open to create a path.


    Princess Edna''s figure became visible afterward. She had reached the terrace through one of the building''s elevators, and spotting Monica made her rush through the path created by the crowd to approach her. Ron and Jack were also there but remained in the back, the former only exchanging a casual nod when he exchanged nces with Khan.


    "Edna," Monica called, performing her elegant bow. "I''m d you could finally make it."


    "I told Ron to remind me," Princess Edna revealed, happily reaching Monica and stealing her hands to break her bow. "Of course, I would make it."


    The terrace didn''tck nobles and other influential figures, but Princess Edna held a unique position even among them. Her arrival silenced most chats and murmurs, and many guests bowed their heads in respect.


    "Let''s get out of here," Princess Edna suggested. "We can continue celebrating your birthday while we fly around the."


    The suggestion sounded like an order, which was perfectly in line with Princess Edna''s character. Still, Monica''s new status allowed her to refuse her or attempt to, at least.


    "Edna, I''m afraid I can''t leave," Monica announced. "Many guests havee a long way and made sacrifices to attend my birthday. It would be improper to depart now."


    Princess Edna didn''t ept the refusal but didn''t insist, either. In her strange wisdom, she looked past Monica to eye Khan, knowing he could solve the issue.


    "Khan?" Princess Edna called.


    "If my Fianc¨¦e wishes to," Khan eximed, "I''d be happy to rece her in her absence. Of course, only as long as our esteemed guests are fine with me."


    Khan''s polite words left the audience with no choice. Refusing him would be akin to insulting his relevance, which no one underestimated. Actually, the guests preferred that development since it forced Khan to be the party''s main character, which everyone was interested in. In most cases, Monica''s birthday was only an excuse to get to him.


    A series of agreeing words, nods, and polite confirmations filled the crowd. The audience didn''t hesitate to authorize that early departure before exchanging knowing gazes. Everyone knew they would jump at Khan as soon as Monica left.


    Nevertheless, Monica wasn''t the type of woman to leave Khan alone among sharks. He could hold his own, but she still wanted to lighten his burden, especially since she knew what he would do as soon as the party ended.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Dear," Monica called, slipping out of Princess Edna''s grasp to reach for Khan''s ear. "Are you sure I can leave you alone?"


    Monica had whispered thest part, but the guests wouldn''t have understood her words'' true meaning even if she shouted them. She didn''t refer to the current party but to the secret appointment awaiting Khan once he dealt with the audience.


    "I''ll have the guys watching over me," Khan reassured, also whispering into Monica''s ear. "Don''t worry and enjoy yourself."


    "I''d need you to enjoy myself," Monica teased. "Still, I suppose I could do with a night out of all this."


    "Happy birthday," Khan muttered, smiling.


    "Thank you," Monica said, leaving a quick kiss on Khan''s lips. "Let me do you a favor now." Monica separated from Khan and faced Princess Edna before adjusting her suggestion. "Edna, since we are all here, we should take the other girls with us."


    "Great idea," Princess Edna eximed, her eyes lighting up. "Ron, prepare a suitable ride."


    Ron had picked up the phone before the Princess could make her request, and a big, luxurious ship soon approached the terrace. In the meantime, most of the female poption at the party had gathered around Monica and Princess Edna, ready to join that sudden trip. The average age was also rtively low, so the invitation didn''t exclude anyone.


    "Miss Solodrey," Princess Montares called as a metal ramp descended onto the terrace. "Would you mind if I remained behind? I have much that requires your Fianc¨¦''s attention."


    "Rachel," Monica smiled, but her gesture conveyed no friendship. "My attention should be enough to keep my man out of your mind."


    "Edna, you were so right," Princess Montares chuckled, stepping on the metal ramp. "This night will be fun."


    "Right?" Princess Edna said, clearly misunderstanding what Princess Montares implied. "Girls'' nights are always better than these boring gatherings."


    "Princess, your manners," Ron scolded, approaching the metal ramp with Jack.


    "Take care of my Fianc¨¦e, Ron," Khan announced, ignoring the now-packed metal ramp to look straight into Ron''s eyes. Somehow, his words had sounded like a threat.


    Ron had grown to ept Khan and learn his character, so the threat didn''t affect him. He performed a serious nod, conveying his resolve for the task. He would have done that even without Khan''s statement.


    Nevertheless, the friendly exchange of nces didn''t go unnoticed, especially from Jack. The huge noble guard''s grey eyes gained some focus, converging on Khan. Jack had sensed something, piquing Princess Edna''s interest.


    "Now that I think about it," Princess Edna eximed. "It''s been years. Jack, how is Prince Khan?"


    The same question had created some waves on thework four years ago. Jack''s evaluation had been so promising that Princess Edna herself had struggled to believe it. Yet, much had happened since then, and even more had changed in Khan.


    Silence instantly spread throughout the terrace. Those lofty social environments held Jack''s evaluations in high regard, and listening to them could finally disclose the real extent of Khan''s current power. Khan also knew he couldn''t stop that process, so he limited himself to


    matching Jack''s focused gaze.


    "There''s only death on his path," Jackmented.


    Princess Edna waited for the rest of the evaluation, but Jack didn''t add anything. He kept


    staring at Khan, creating a strange tension that invaded the surrounding air.


    "Is he stronger than you?" Princess Edna asked, reminding Jack to finish the evaluation. Still,


    Jack didn''t reply.


    "Princess," Ron intervened. "These aren''t topics for such a joyous asion."


    "Jack?" Princess Edna called, ignoring Ron''s attempt to change the topic.


    "How much death will you cause?" Jack questioned, achieving the impossible. Princess Edna


    was so shocked by the out-of-character words that she fell silent to focus on the scene


    completely.


    "As much as necessary," Khan responded.


    Princess Edna ignored the potential repercussions of Khan''s answer and asked a different question. "Would you be able to stop him, Jack?"


    "I only see death," Jack revealed. "I don''t know if mine or his."


    "Interesting," Princess Edna eximed. "That''s the first time I heard Jack say that."


    Khan knew he should defuse the situation, but Jack''s stare awakened hispetitiveness. The


    guard was a war machine, but he was a monster, and the idea of testing who was better grew more intense by the second.


    "My alien techniques probably take the me," Khan eventually said, finding a believable justification. "Jack can''t see my prowess clearly because of them."


    "Maybe," Princess Edna uttered as a new idea started to form in her mind. Those who knew her saw the evident red gs, and Monica ended up intervening.


    "Should we hit the other building first?" Monica suggested. "Asfortable as the military uniform is, I thought I might change."


    Mentioning clothes distracted Princess Edna from the stalemate, filling her mind with a different topic. Her eyes lit up as different ideas reced her previous interest.


    "You must show me your new collection," Princess Edna requested, hurrying through the


    metal ramp. "I know Rachel helped you out."


    "I just gave some suggestions," Princess Montaresmented, shooting a knowing look at Khan before following Princess Edna. "Miss Solodrey''s taste is impable, and I must admit every dress fits her better."


    "That''s Khan''s doing," Princess Edna exined. "It makes me so jealous."


    "Prince Khan''s doing?" Princess Montares wondered, stealing Princess Edna''s elbow. "You


    must tell me everything you know."


    The conversation continued even after the trio entered the ship. More guests followed the three women, including Jack and Ron. Soon, only men remained on the terrace, and the ride retracted its ramp before departing.


    Khan followed the departing ship with his gaze until a handnded on his shoulder. A full ss soon filled his view, and he seized it before eyeing the friendly face behind his right


    shoulder.


    "You know I needed this, George," Khan said, clinking his ss with George''s.


    "Who doesn''t?" George scoffed. "And the night is still long."


    "Longer without our partners," Mark joined the conversation, approaching Khan and George.


    "Especially since we must discuss business now," Lucian announced, also joining the conversation. "I''m afraid you know what we are talking about, Prince Khan." The terrace still had nobles, so the descendants couldn''t openly discuss the problems assaulting their alliance with Khan. Yet, they didn''t need to specify them for Khan to understand their meaning. His family''s factions had threatened to use their older connections to those wealthy organizations, and the younger generation was feeling their pressure now.

 Chapter 892: Problems

    Chapter 892: Problems


    ?


    The terrace had Princes and other important figures who deserved their fair share of attention simply for attending Monica''s birthday, and Khan didn''t disappoint. He indulged them, avoiding the serious talks to focus on superficial topics and chats.


    Those with political experience knew that public situations often prevented establishing negotiations and new deals, so the guests mostly focused on deepening their rtionship with Khan. The tournament had done wonders for their connection, and the party only helped. Nevertheless, everyone soon noticed that Khan was intentionally avoiding his closest allies. Moreover, the wealthy descendants involved in many of Baoway''s businesses yed along, seemingly waiting for something. The group had obvious ns to discuss important topics once privacy arrived, and the other guests didn''t get in their way.


    Thanks to the guests'' political awareness, the party ended earlier than anyone had anticipated and without anyone making a fuss about it. The nobles and non-involved figures politely departed once the hour got toote, voicing vague excuses to provide the awaited privacy. Eventually, the vast terrace became rtively peaceful. Only Khan, George, Luke, Bruce, Lucian, Mark, and John remained at the party, gathering around one of the many interactive tables. The waiters had also left, creating the perfect atmosphere for a meeting.


    Of course, the meetingcked a few important names. Princess Edna had kidnapped Lucy, Anita, and Martha, but Mark, George, and Luke could speak for them. The terrace basically featured all of Baoway''s business leaders, and the many serious faces hinted at troubles on the horizon.


    "Did my family contact your parents?" Khan questioned, breaking the silence while peeking past the terrace''s rails. His city filled his vision, but the disgusting aftertaste of his drink prevented him from appreciating it.


    "Not mine," Luke revealed, "But I know they put pressure on other factions inside my family."


    "Same here," Bruce added. "My faction is with Luke and you, but our families are big."


    "They did contact my father," Lucian eximed. "He''s with you for now, but I know things might change."


    "My parents were contacted," Mark confirmed. "John''s, too. I''m afraid their offers were quite appealing."


    "Well," John uttered, shrugging his shoulders and leaning deeper on his chair. "My parents are happy as long as I do something with my life, so nothing major. I think George had it worse than us all."


    "They put pressure on my entire family," George scoffed. "Sorry for not being as rich as you all."


    "What about Anita?" Lucian wondered.


    "Her mother is telling her to keep her options open," George exined, "But I''m the best thing that happened to her daughter. Me being friends with Khan, that is, so she won''t change her mind for the time being."


    "Always so modest," Johnmented. "There was a wholework about you in the Harbor. You have been the envy of many descendants."


    "I''m a changed man," George imed, "And don''t mention that in front of Anita."


    "She is too terrifying for that," John reassured. "Still, your brothers-in-arms need your expertise. You wouldn''t mind sharing some tricks and strategies, right?"


    George hesitated for a second before squinting his eyes. "Not a word with Anita."


    "Not one," John promised, lifting his ss in celebration.


    "Lucy''s parents trust me," Mark continued, ignoring the two men''s conversation, "But they trust my parents more. It might get bad."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Infighting?" Khan wondered.


    "Not like your type of infighting," Mark exined. "It would be a financial battle for control. Credits run the world, Prince Khan, and hindering their flow can deal more damage than your spells."


    "If that were the case," Luke announced, "They''d let us do as we want. Our establishments on Baoway have been extremely lucrative. They wouldn''t stop such a massive flow of money."


    "The connection with the Thilku Empire ys another big part," Bruce added. "Everyone envies Khan''s monopoly, in turn envying us. This pressure probably aims to spot cracks in our alliance."


    "There are cracks," Lucian pointed out. "Maybe not among us, but our families are big, and none is united."


    "Can you handle your other factions?" Khan questioned.


    "I''ll be honest," Lucian sighed. "I knew this moment would havee. I bet all of us knew." "Of course," Lukemented. "All of us have studied and prepared for the urrence." "Mark?" John called.


    "Yes," Mark confirmed. "It was predictable. Although I didn''t expect Prince Khan''s family to get involved."


    "Can you handle it?" Khan asked again, his tone more serious than before.


    George aside, all the descendants knew that establishing personal businesses on Baoway would have eventually created a sh with the current ruling sphere. Their parents and older rtives were the true owners of their families, and seeing the new generation gaining power was bound to trigger a reaction.


    "I''ve made moves against my father for years," Lucian revealed. "What we built here finally attracted his attention. There is no better way of knowing I''m doing something right."


    "That''s cold, Lucian," Johnmented.


    "Many aren''t as fortunate as you or George," Lucian stated. "For some of us, our parents are hindrances who will stop at nothing to remain in power."


    "Do I need to meet with Lionel?" Khan wondered.


    "As fearsome as you are," Lucian announced, "I''m afraid my father is skilled enough to keep


    a friendly face even before you."


    "That''s to be seen," Khan muttered.


    "Maybe," Lucian agreed. "However, that isn''t something you should handle. It''s my family,


    so I will handle it."


    Mark, Luke, and the others were in different family situations, but they all nodded in agreement. They couldn''t ask Khan to interfere with their internal matters. Their relevance


    would lose momentum and value otherwise.


    "What should I handle, then?" Khan asked.


    Truth be told, Khan was both guilty and innocent about that development. Dealing with his family was his job, but the same could be said about the descendants. He had chosen a controversial path, but his allies had agreed to follow him after the ughters. They knew what to expect from him.


    Nevertheless, Khan didn''t want to be a leader who ignored his allies'' concerns and problems. He preferred to help now rather than sow discord and dissatisfaction. Those issues could lead to betrayal, and Khan would appreciate it if the world didn''t force him into another


    ughter.


    "Normally," Luke announced, "We''d try to rip you off. Providing better deals would


    incentivize our loyalty."


    Khan looked at Luke before focusing on the scenery below. He knew Luke had chosen his words carefully, and their purpose was evident to all the descendants. Mentioning that option would prevent anyone from pursuing it.


    "You don''t really have to do anything," Bruce added. "Things aren''t too serious, and we are still reaping benefits. We only have to solidify them until we be untouchable."


    "Opening more trades with the Thilku Empire might help," Mark suggested. "Maybe their diversity can''t increase, but their intensity might. More potential Credits would require more assets, requiring a deeper involvement from our families."


    "No one here thinks they can rece the Solodrey family," Lucian specified. "Monica is your Fianc¨¦e, so her family gets a privileged position. It''s a given. However, uplifting us more


    would help."


    Neuria''s trades already belonged to the Solodrey family, and Khan wouldn''t take that away from it. He wouldn''t even try to split that business to award his other allies more political


    channels.


    Yet, the training grounds were bound to bring more Thilku to the, and their expected faster growth rate would increase the demand for specific resources. Khan could give the descendants a share of that market to deepen their involvement with the Empire.


    The idea was feasible, but Khan knew its earning potential wasn''t great. The Thilku''s privileges on Baoway made their expenses negligible, and adding taxes to benefit the descendants would hurt Khan''s rtionship with the Empire.


    "I''ll think about it," Khan eventually stated. "For now, hold strong."


    "Don''t worry, Prince," Lucian reassured. "We are far from the critical point."


    The meeting explored other details about the new issue, but Khan barely focused on them. His mind often wandered elsewhere, going over the real reason behind the current situation. His organization and allies were young and new, so many older parties thought they could outmaneuver and bully them, and he couldn''t let that continue.


    The meeting ended at a high point, with everyone reaffirming their loyalty to their alliance, but Khan''s mood turned cold as soon as he set off. The vast city grew small in his eyes as he flew through the dark sky to reach his loved caves.


    The environment there had changed. Traces of heavy machinery had marked the barren and rocky ground, and the slight stench of synthetic mana lingered in the air. However, that smell disappeared when Khan entered one of the caves, and no surprise hit him when he found the pool area transformed.


    The pool had remained untouched, but arge metal trapdoor now stood beside it. A new version of the needled chair rested beside it, and a dark green liquid filled the container on its


    back.


    Khan''s arrival didn''t go unnoticed. The trapdoor suddenly opened, and Abraham''s head peeked out of it. Artificial light came from under him, but the glow of Khan''s eyes remained


    more intense.


    "My Prince," Abraham called, remaining halfway through the trapdoor. "Do you want to


    begin?"


    "Yes," Khan confirmed. "It''s time to stop ying human."

 Chapter 893: Regression

    Chapter 893: Regression


    ?


    Abraham''s concern was evident, but he didn''t reject the order. He didn''t evenin, limiting himself to nodding before descending into the tunnel and closing the trapdoor above him.


    Khan closed his eyes, performing thest mental and physical check-ups. He was about to jump into something life-threatening and life-changing, and taking it lightly could very well destroy him.


    Khan didn''tck resolve or determination. The meeting with the descendants had only reinforced his desire to grow stronger to silence any attempt to destabilize his authority. That had always been the most efficient way to protect his domain and allies, and he had never feared hurting himself to pursue it.


    As for the body, Khan had held back on drinking too much that night, and his sses always had the nts'' toxic substance in them. He wasn''t even tipsy, so the risk ofck of concentration or intoxication was non-existent.


    The previous day, Khan had also performed a long training session with the new version of the [Blood Vortex]. His body was almost bursting with mana he had yet to absorb but didn''t n to. The imminent dangerous procedure needed that fuel, and Khan could only hope he had gathered enough.


    ''I can''t prepare any better,'' Khan eventually concluded, opening his eyes and filling the area with their light.


    "Let''s begin," Khan announced, undressing and knowing the people in the undergroundb could hear him.


    The chair moved in response to the order. Its tubes opened, allowing Khan to sit among them without risking touching the needles at their end. A cup also came out of its right armrest, and the nts'' toxic substance quickly filled it from the cavity at its bottom.


    "Do you need to review the procedure''s details again, Prince Khan?" Garret''s slightly robotic voice came out from the other armrest.


    "No," Khan reassured, seizing the cup. "Begin."


    The tubes moved, pointing their needles at different parts of Khan''s body. He also felt sharp tips poking at his back, but nothing pierced him yet. The scientists below were waiting for Khan to fulfill thest requirements, and he didn''t hesitate anymore.


    Khan emptied the cup in his mouth, forcefully gulping down the toxic substance before throwing the container away and resting his arm on the specific spot. He closed his eyes, and pain immediately arrived. The dark green liquid had begun to burn his insides, and the needles had also shot forward.


    A more intense pain soon invaded Khan. The tubes injected the toxic substance into his body, attacking almost all of his flesh. Sweat quickly umted on his forehead as his whole being took fire, cutting his connection to the outside world and making him miss the pushing force that fell on him.


    Garret and Abraham had studied every aspect of the procedure. They knew Khan needed to get in the pool but would have been indisposed after the injection. So, they added a mechanism to the chair to push Khan into the toxic liquid once the needles came out of his body.


    Khan''s awareness had long since be hazy, but ending in the pool generated another wave of pain, startling him awake. He regained control in time to stop his nostrils from breathing the dark green liquid, but his prompt reaction barely helped.


    The three different assumptions of the toxic substance joined forces to be a single, unbearable assault. Khan felt scorchingva flowing through his very blood vessels, digging through his skin, muscles, and bones. He screamed in pain, sending bubbles to the pool''s surface, but his condition didn''t improve.


    Nothing could have prepared Khan for that intense suffering. The process went beyond torture. Everything about him hurt and burned. His body had be a curse, and his fingers dug into his chest, seemingly attempting to rip that poisonous flesh off.


    Khan''s fingers seeded in piercing his skin, but he didn''t feel anything. Nothing could cross the wave of suffering that had enveloped him. Only pain existed in the full scope of his senses. Nevertheless, Khan''s survival instincts gave birth to a solution. A technique he hadn''t relied on since learning the Niqols'' ways returned, rearranged by his brain in that difficult situation.


    Khan''s initial training to control the chaos element involved cing a barrier on his brain to keep his emotions away. He had also done extensive mental exercises, so he had the tools to push away that unbearable pain and make some room for his reasonable side.


    A tinge of rity suddenly sparked inside Khan. He recalled everything and regained some control of his body and senses. He still hurt deeply, but the temporary rity gave him the chance to force his mana to flow.


    Usually, Khan would need entire, if not multiple, meditation sessions to absorb the mana umted with the [Blood Vortex]. Yet, his flesh greedily absorbed that additional energy now, depleting it at an unfathomable rate.


    Khan had never witnessed a simr behavior but pushed forward, forcing his mana to flow while his flesh broke and absorbed that energy. His unreliable and asional rity prevented him from studying the process. Still, his brain soon went on auto-pilot, performing the familiar training until it couldn''t find any more avable fuel.


    The makeshift metal barrier broke at that point. The unbearable pain destroyed Khan''s lingering rity, threatening to make him faint on the spot. However, his survival instincts kicked in, and a simple ankle movement flung him out of the pool.


    The following moments, minutes, and hours were a fog of unclear events. Khan felt himself mming on something before ckness filled his mind. Then, he sensed someone picking him up, but the darkness of unconsciousness soon arrived.


    That process repeated itself multiple times. Khan experienced rare sparks of awareness interrupted by long nk periods. His senses asionally picked something up, updating him on his surroundings and situation, but his brain always failed to process that information.


    It took hours for Khan''s condition to stabilize and his brain to resume its normal functioning. Khan suddenly regainedplete awareness, finding himself lying on a bed in a dark grey room. White light shone everywhere, but his bright eyes quickly changed those shades. Khan soon discovered he wasn''t alone, but more surprises arrived. His senses noticed the bandages covering him from head to toe and the general feeling of weakness that permeated him. He also struggled to move, but his throat seemed good enough to speak.


    "What happened?" Khan asked, only a faint, hoarse voice escaping his mouth.


    "Much happened, Prince Khan," Garret''s voice reached Khan''s ears, but a buzzing noise dampened it, almost covering it in its entirety.


    "Update me," Khan forced himself to say, closing his eyes to focus on the imminent sounds.


    "We had to dy our first-aid attempt, My Prince," Abraham exined. "You started releasing dangerous mana as soon as you left the pool. I''m afraid the cave didn''t survive."


    "Did anyone get hurt?" Khan questioned.


    "No," Abraham promptly reassured. "The security measures you set were perfect, too perfect, I''d say. You endangered your safety to prioritize ours, My Prince."


    Khan had to take a break from the conversation since the enduring buzzing noise had triggered a piercing headache. Still, a few deep breathster, his condition started to improve, and the same went for the feeling of weakness.


    "What time is it?" Khan asked once he felt good enough to speak again.


    "The battles in the arena have already started, Prince Khan," Garret revealed. "Your absence


    was noticed, but I''m told Miss Solodrey has everything handled."


    "Did she see me like this?" Khan wondered, and the slight hesitation in the two scientists''


    mana gave him an answer.


    "She was quite worried, My Prince," Abraham stated, avoiding going into details.


    "She cried, didn''t she?" Khan questioned.


    "I apologize," Abraham uttered, confirming Khan''s doubts.


    "Well," Khan eximed, lifting an arm from under the nket to experience his returning


    strength. "Was it worth it?"


    "That''s hard to say, Prince Khan," Garret responded, "Especially after only one session."


    "What did you find?" Khan asked, understanding that the two scientists had found something


    worth noting.


    "Your attunement with mana was at eighty-eight points," Garret announced. "Am I correct?" "You tested it before the procedure," Khan nodded. "I remember."


    "Surprisingly," Garret continued, "Your attunement with mana is now at eighty-six points."


    Khan finally turned to look at the scientists. The rest of the vast room and its equipment filled his vision, but he ignored those details to focus on his trusted men. Their faces didn''t carry


    lies, but the discovery remained shocking.


    "Did I be weaker?" Khan questioned. "Like it happened with my father?"


    Garret widened his eyes and looked at Abraham in confusion, but thetter ignored him to address Khan''s concerns. Khan had told him how his father had saved his life, but the two


    issues were unrted.


    "My Prince," Abraham called. "We would lose attunement after every decent injury if it were that easy. Instead, we regrow skin and flesh at our current level every time. Those improvements are quite resilient."


    "So," Khan said, "Did the procedure interfere with the scanner? I don''t understand."


    "I have a hypothesis, Prince Khan," Garret announced, "But only additional sessions cann/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    confirm it."


    "Get to the point," Khan ordered.


    "You are forcing a transformation before achievingplete attunement with mana," Garret exined. "Your previous score with your previous flesh was eighty-eight. With your current flesh, it''s eighty-six."

 Chapter 894: Healing

    Chapter 894: Healing


    ?


    Many would have struggled to understand Garret''s point, but Khan''s broader perspective allowed him to realize what most scientists could miss.


    The attunement level didn''t differentiate between humans and aliens. It simply represented how much flesh the mana had enhanced. Khan had found the scanners reliable even after the transformation, but the training session inside the pool had probably brought a more revolutionary change.


    Transforming Khan was the whole point of the new training method. The pool had to attempt to evolve him before reaching full attunement. That meant developing higher-level tissues, which required and could amodate more mana.


    In short, Khan''s flesh now needed more energy to get an additional point on the attunement scale, and that had a retroactive effect. The amount of mana inside his body didn''t change. He didn''t even lose his progress. The pool had increased his requirements, which the scanners reflected in that regression.


    Of course, that was still only a hypothesis, but Khan had learned to trust Garret''s instincts. The Bizelli family hadbeled him a prodigy, and Khan was starting to understand why. Moreover, the idea made sense and aligned with what Khan was attempting to do, so he felt he could consider it true for now.


    "We''ll know for sure in a few training sessions," Khan eventually announced, grunting as he forced himself out of bed. His strength had continued to return, and the trend''s pace had gradually increased. He was recovering faster than ever, meaning resting wasn''t allowed anymore.


    "My Prince!" Abraham called, attempting to scold Khan back to bed, but thetter acted before he could add anything.


    The cold sensation that invaded Khan when his bare feet touched the metal floor cooled his thoughts, removing thest bits of the piercing headache. His hands also went on his chest, ripping off the bandages to expose the skin underneath.


    The scene was far from good. Khan spotted wounds, burns, and holes. His skin had caved in in some ces due to the absence of flesh underneath, but a silver lining existed.


    As damaged as Khan''s body looked, he also noticed how quickly he was recovering. He could almost see his regrowing skin with his naked eyes, something he had never witnessed before. His condition was improving at an unfathomable pace without requiring a meditative session.


    "Did you drug me or something?" Khan wondered. "I''ve never healed this fast."


    The question was superfluous. As Khan''s senses regained their full range and power, he noticed the absence of foreign substances inside him. As strange as it sounded, the unnatural recovery waspletely natural.


    "We noticed that phenomenon, Prince Khan," Garret revealed, eyeing one of the nearby consoles. Khan still had scanners pointed at him, and those machines continuously updated the scientists with new data.


    "Your initial condition should have required months to heal, My Prince," Abraham exined. "Maybe weeks for you. Still, you dealt with it in hours."


    "The recovery has also picked up the pace," Garret added. "It grew quicker by the minute, and that has yet to stop."


    Khan proceeded to remove the remaining bandages, ending up butt-naked in the middle of that medical bay. His appearance was still terrible, but he could see his recovery getting faster. Khan even spotted a caved-in spot rising as flesh filled the space below.


    "Why is this happening?" Khan asked. "And skip the I-only-have-hypotheses part."


    Garret opened his mouth but promptly closed it. He was about to warn Khan about the unreliability of the data from a single test again, but he clearly didn''t want to hear about that.


    "It might be a side effect of the procedure," Garret exined. "The pool breaks your tissues but also invades them. You are probably still finalizing the session''s changes."


    "So, is it temporary?" Khan asked.


    "It looks like that, My Prince," Abraham confirmed. "It''s possible this is part of the intended metamorphosis. It''s proven by the fact that you aren''t running out of nutrients or mana to fuel the recovery."


    Abraham mentioned a point Khan had missed. A body was an organic machine at its foundation. Healing required fuel, and such a quick recovery would inevitably demand far more energy than Khan currently wielded.


    For all intents and purposes, Khan should be fainting on the spot, but his vitality only intensified. He felt better by the second, with no repercussions in sight. He was healing without paying the price for the process, leaving only one possible answer.


    ''I''ve already paid the price,'' Khan concluded.


    Khan''s flesh had absorbed all the mana umted through the [Blood Vortex] but had probably only used part of it to fuel the transformation. Everything else had been stored for the following healing process as if predicting it would have been necessary.


    ''Now that I think about it,'' Khan thought. ''The transformation was never supposed to be mindless. It follows a path, a path established by my body and mana.''


    That conclusion went back to the toxic substance''s nature. At its core, that liquid was an agent of change, not a destructive force. It lowered the requirements for the already-ongoing transformations without ruining their life cycle. Khan had simply pushed that feature to its


    limits.


    The recovery was part of the transformation, so it made sense that the toxic substance had ounted for that. Actually, Khan''s body had probably predicted that when absorbing his


    mana.


    ''Risks aside,'' Khan considered, ''This thing works. Though I wonder when I''ll see proper effects.''


    "My Prince," Abraham called, distracting Khan from his thoughts. "I suggest you meditate to help finalize the process."


    Khan nodded, jumping back on the bed and crossing his legs. He closed his eyes, diving into the familiar meditation. He forced his mana to flow and expand, irradiating his recovering


    tissues.


    The process helped with the recovery. Khan''s healing pace was still increasing, and meditating intensified that trend. He lost track of time, but when he opened his eyes, his body looked better than ever.


    That oue wasn''t limited to Khan''s physical appearance. He felt full of energy, albeit starving. A strange sense of strength also pervaded him, filling him with confidence. His attunement level had dropped, but he had never been better.


    Khan felt the urge to flex his arms, legs, and hands. He could tell something had changed, but his senses failed to spot those details. That was his body, albeit lighter than what he recalled.


    Abraham and Garret were still in the medical bay. Of course, they had changed positions, with both sitting behind their respective consoles. They noticed Khan''s awakening, but the machines did, too.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    A buzzing noise resounded in the medical bay as a flicker ran through the equipment. Nothing broke, and the instability onlysted a fraction of a second, but it happened and matched


    Khan''s awakening.


    The scientists'' surprise at the event imed Khan''s attention, which had been focused on his body until now. He didn''t do anything special, but the equipment had reacted anyway. Noticing that reaction gave Khan an idea. He focused on his aura, unleashing its true nature. A gale blew through the medical bay as the air grew cold. Breathing became difficult for the two scientists, and their hair stood up as their survival instincts kicked in. Something dangerous had filled the area, and their minds realized it.


    Khan let his urges flow freely, letting them fill his aura. The symphony morphed, echoing his mind''s violent nature. Cracks seemed ready to appear in the invisible air, but the machines


    gave up first.


    More buzzing noises resounded, but the process didn''t stop there. Sparks red from the consoles'' screens, releasing thin trails of grey smoke. Something had broken inside them, and the rest of the equipment suffered from a simr fate.


    An intrigued smirk broadened on Khan''s face. His eyes seemed to brighten as he focused on one specific console. His senses pierced its metal surface, finding its most brittle areas. His aura intensified on those spots, and more sparks red.


    The console''s screen broke, releasing the smoke umted inside, but that wasn''t enough for Khan. He closed his eyes, his senses updating him on all the existing ws in his surroundings. He knew he could break everything with a single thought, and something


    pushed him to do it.


    Nevertheless, the medical bay''s door suddenly opened, distracting Khan from his destructive desires. A familiar aura also invaded the symphony, recing Khan''s urges with new ones. His smile gained a different meaning as he stared at the entrance, but his neck promptly bent sideways to dodge the iing mass of mana.


    A scarlet, fuming, uneven mass flew toward Khan and missed him by an inch, mming into the wall behind. The attack burned some of Khan''s hair, but he ignored it to look at the crash site. A lump of scorchingva had hit the metal surface, melting it as it flowed down. "Are you sure we can raise children with that temper of yours?" Khan wondered, ncing at


    the attack''s culprit.


    "I swear!" Monica shouted, shooting toward the bed. "I will kill you one of these days!"


    The threat sounded convincing enough to worry the two scientists. They were about to intervene when Monica jumped on the bed, but the kiss the couple exchanged stopped their attempts, and what followed forced them out of the medical bay.

 Chapter 895: Promises

    Chapter 895: Promises


    ?


    "You burned my hair," Khanined, looking at the ceiling while caressing the head resting on his chest.


    "You needed a haircut anyway," Monica muttered, curling more of her body on Khan. "Though I melted the magic item. I''ll need a new one."


    "Another bracelet?" Khan wondered.


    "If you can," Monica eximed, "I''d like a ring."


    "I don''t know how pretty I can make it," Khan admitted. "Considering all the materials I have to use and squeeze into it."


    "It will be fine as long as it''s from you," Monica sweetly said.


    The couple fell silent, enjoying their closeness. Their burst of passion had left them naked, cozy, and appeased, but both Khan and Monica could sense the elephant in the room.


    Monica was the first to abandon that cozy atmosphere. She opened her eyes, staring at Khan''s slightly sweaty skin. Her hand rose, tracing invisible lines on his chest with her fingers. Her touch conveyed some timid worry, reeking of fear of hurting Khan.


    "Was it that bad?" Khan asked.


    Monica had seen Khan after the new training session, and he knew the spectacle couldn''t have been great. His current healthy condition was also surprising, so it made sense for Monica to wonder whether everything was genuinely okay.


    "You were barely alive," Monica revealed. "You had holes all over your body, and something ck came out of your mouth and ass. Abraham said it was only waste, but I still feared you wouldn''t have made it."


    "Did I shit myself?" Khan chuckled.


    "Is that what you are worried about?!" Monica snorted, pping Khan''s chest. She usually put far more strength in her blow, but the attack had felt strangely soft.


    "It seems it''s working," Khan sighed, tightening his hug on Monica''s head. "I still don''t know about its benefits, but something is changing."


    "It did," Monica confirmed. "I noticed the difference."


    "What did you notice?" Khan asked, confused.


    "You are usually kinder," Monica revealed. "Well, more concerned about me, rather. Today you fucked me prioritizing what you wanted."


    Monica''s foul mouth always slipped out in those private moments, but Khan barely minded it. Monica''s description of the previous passionate moment brought his gaze to her, immersing her in blue light as he searched for bruises or simr injuries.


    "It''s not like that, idiot," Monica scolded, understanding Khan''s worries. "I don''t mind it, either. Actually, you made it quite worthwhile."


    "Was this the first time?" Khan questioned, epting that Monica had a more reliable perception than him in that matter.


    "No," Monica responded. "It happened other times, usually when you finally let yourself go. Sometimes, I push you to it, too. I know you don''t look out for yourself, so I trick you into doing that."


    "For how long have you been manipting me?" Khan asked.


    "Since the first time youid eyes on me," Monica proudly imed. "I have a whole collection of clothes with that sole purpose, and that''s the only trick I''m willing to reveal."


    "We have been together for more than four years," Khan scoffed, "And you still find ways of surprising me."


    "It''s my job, dear," Monica dered. "You''d leave me for the first slut if I didn''t keep your eyes on me all the time."


    "No, I wouldn''t," Khanughed before switching to a serious tone. "You know you don''t have to work so hard. I''m with you until the end."


    Those sweet words pushed one of Monica''s buttons, but she refrained from diving straight into that urge. She looked up at Khan''s face before straightening herself and climbing on his waist.


    "Let''s get a few things straight," Monica announced, slowly adjusting herself on Khan''s waist to expose more of her naked beauty. "My man is the greatest thing that happened to the universe, but also its biggest idiot. It''s my responsibility to fill the gaps created by your stupidity. That''s what it means to be your woman."


    Khan wanted to retort, but Monica knew what she was doing. The blue light shining on her revealed the target of Khan''s attention. Her slow and seductive movements had imed most of Khan''s thoughts.


    "Second," Monica continued, purposely nting her palms on Khan''s chest to squeeze her chest with her arms. "Your eyes exist to look at me, and I always want them on me. I will pull any trick, ploy, and maniption to make sure they keep looking where they need to look."


    Khan was starting to ignore Monica''s exnation. The scene and his newfound vitality created a dangerous reaction. He was ready to push her down and jump at her again. "Lastly," Monica continued, leaning forward to whisper in Khan''s left ear. "I love when you show me what you can truly do and fuck my brains out."


    Thest line removed any chunk of self-control still lingering in Khan''s mind. He suddenly grabbed Monica''s wrists, pushing on his waist to turn both of them. Monica let out a sensual cry as she found herself under Khan with both arms locked above her head.


    "That''s my man," Monica giggled. "That''s my strong, unbeatable King."


    As aroused as Khan was, he still noticed the tinge of sadness in Monica''sst words. His self- control returned, updating him on the situation. After witnessing his poor state, Monica wanted more proof of his recovery, and their passion always worked best for that.


    Yet, that rtionship was far more than sex and arousal. Khan and Monica shared true love, so he couldn''t leave her worries unsolved. He wanted to reassure her before abandoning himself to his Fianc¨¦e''s irresistible charm.


    "You know why I''m doing this," Khan stated. "I don''t care about the universe, but I''ll burn everything to the ground to protect you, George, Master Carl, and the others. If I must be a monster to do it, so be it."


    "I know," Monica whispered. "I know, and I love you for that. You have no idea how much I love you. That''s why I don''t want to see you burn yourself to protect us."


    "I won''t," Khan promised. "I''ll be unbeatable. I''ll be the God I swore to be and protect all of you. I''ll destroy anything standing between and against us, even if I have to leave only us in the entire universe."


    Khan didn''t usually make such bold ims. He had uttered simr promises in the past, but Monica noticed the spark of arrogance inside his words. That probably was another side effect of the training session, but her mind was starting to forget about those matters.


    "Tell me more," Monica gasped, almost begging.


    "I''ll crush my family into submission," Khan dered, slowly leaning forward. "I''ll make nobles and Generals kneel at my feet. A single one of my words will unleash thousands of war cries, and armies will willingly gather under my banner."


    "What will those armies do?" Monica asked, her voice a mixture of a whisper and a moan.


    "Wage war in my name," Khan responded, "Move at mymand and fight our enemies. They''ll shout my name after each victory and secure our future against any threat that dares toe after us."


    "I want to see it," Monica whispered. "I want to see you on top of humankind, on top of the


    world."


    "You''ll see me," Khan promised. "The world will have no choice but to elevate me to its highest point. It''s that or death."


    "Death to our enemies," Monica summarized, "And mercy to those who kneel to you."


    "I''ll make them regret not killing me in the Slums," Khan stated. "I''ll make them curse each failed attempt to put me down. They''ll see the truth or be blinded by it."


    "Even humankind?" Monica wondered.


    "Humankind, Thilku, Ef''i," Khan said. "There''s no difference. It''s either with me or against


    me."


    "What about me?" Monica asked. "What''s the role my King wants for me?"


    "You, my lovely Fianc¨¦e," Khan uttered, basically breathing into Monica''s mouth. "You''ll


    have a spot at my side as Queen of my domain, for nothing would have been built without you. You gave me love, political power, and support when I had nothing, so I''ll give you then/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    world."


    "You would have gotten there even without me," Monica praised.


    "No," Khan shook his head. "All of this is thanks to you. I wouldn''t be half the man I am today without you, so I''ll repay you a hundredfold."


    "A hundredfold?" Monica asked.


    "A thousandfold," Khan corrected himself. "More even. As long as you wish for it, it''s yours."


    "Then," Monica voiced, lifting her legs to wrap them around Khan''s waist. "I wish for my King to show me the full extent of his love. I wish for no barriers or self-restraint."


    "It could break you," Khan warned.


    "I''d be d to be broken by you," Monica dered, "For I''m but a human blessed to be so


    close to greatness."


    Monica''s words hit like a truck, ending the exchange of words and making Khan close the remaining small distance from her mouth. He felt the different passion boiling inside his veins that time but didn''t try to tame it. The pool was pushing him toward that new version of himself, and he would wee the change.

 Chapter 896: Acknowledgment

    Chapter 896: Acknowledgment


    ?


    Khan had initially half-considered to hit the tournament in the afternoon, but Monica ruined those ns. The couple remained in bed all day, calming down only when the night had long since arrived.


    That calm phase would often wee cuddles and affectionate sleep, but Khan''s vitality seemed endless. The more time passed, the better he felt, and there was a limit to how much he could vent on Monica. Luckily for the couple, the parties were still ongoing, so finding a suitable one didn''t take long.


    Of course, Khan and Monica were in no condition to hit the party right away. They both carried evident marks of their passion, and Khan''s burned hair wouldn''t do in those lofty


    environments. Moreover, Abraham and Garret needed updates on Khan''s condition, so the departure preparations took a while.


    Luckily, Khan owned the city, quadrant, and. He could move armies at will, and his problems required far less than that. The couple was already in the medical bay, so Khan only needed to call, and the scientists arrived.


    Summoning a stylist at thatte hour wasn''t an issue, either. Actually, picking a dress for Monica was the most time-consuming endeavor.


    Yet, even ifter than nned, the couple eventually set off, ditching ships and other rides to rely on Khan''s flight. The cruise through the sky ruined part of the stylist''s work, but neither Khan nor Monica was in the mood to care.


    The party the couple had chosen was on one of the city''s terraces. Those tall locations were popr due to their privacy and detachment from the chaos below, so many important guests often gathered there, adding relevance to the events.


    That night, the party had a rtively limited guest list. The two Thilku Lords were there, as well as the noble representatives and Tlexicpalli. Mister Cirvags couldn''t miss the opportunity to be near the aliens, and Monica''s parents were still enjoying the fame their daughter''s birthday had provided.


    The rest of the guests all carried the Nognes bloodline. Khan''s Cousins, Aunt, Uncle, and Grandfather were on the terrace, entertaining different figures. The conversations and booze flowed smoothly, but everything stopped when Khan appeared in the sky, princess-carrying Monica in his arms.


    The terrace''s lights soon highlighted Khan''s slow descent. He gracefullynded on the metal floor, helping Monica on her heels while the guests gathered around them. Usually, that would prompt a series of polite bows and salutes, but the couple wasn''t in the mood for those pleasantries.


    Khan lifted a hand toward the waiters at the terrace''s end, keeping his other arm wrapped around Monica''s waist. Meanwhile, Monica caressed the hand on her side, her eyes glued on her Fianc¨¦. The two acted as if they were still in bed, uncaring about the influential crowd around them.


    "What did I miss?" Khan casually asked, showing his hand to the waiter, who promptly delivered two drinks. He had to seize them one at a time since he didn''t let go of Monica and obviously took care of her thirst first.


    "The boy from the Parket family won again," Princess Montares revealed. "I''m taking a liking in him."


    "The descendant from the Conche family is also promising," Princess Virrai announced. "I foresee a dark-horse situation."


    Simrments followed, but Khan didn''t look interested in them. His full attention was on exchanging a toast with Monica, smiling meaningfully as he watched her drink.


    Monica matched Khan''s gaze from behind her ss. The two seemed engaged in a mental conversation only they could hear, which no outside interference could interrupt.


    The scene triggered different emotional reactions. Those more friendly with Khan and Monica experienced a sense of appreciation and envy at that tant affection. Couples often lost their spark throughout the years, especially those from wealthy parties, but Monica and Khan looked as in love as on their first day.


    Instead, other guests felt slightly annoyed by the couple''s behavior. It wasn''t only improper in public. Failing to address the audience suitably could be seen as ack of respect, which most nobles couldn''t tolerate.


    Nevertheless, a party that didn''t match either of those reactions existed. Lord Exr, Lord Rsi, and Tlexicpalli didn''t care about the mandatory pleasantries anymore after their rtionship with Khan had developed. Moreover, they instinctively felt that something had changed, which intrigued them.


    "[Blue Shaman]," Lord Rsi called, inspecting Khan from head to toe. Khan matched his gaze, seemingly starting a staring match. Battle intent filled the air, making the Thilku grin and show his canines.


    "You did something," Lord Rsimented.


    "I did," Khan revealed. "I wouldn''t have missed the tournament otherwise." Tlexicpalli had a simr reaction but expressed it differently. She remained silent, strolling around the couple while her four stretched eyes were on Khan. Her pointy tail also wagged left and right, seemingly itching for a fight.


    Tlexicpalli also noticed how Khan kept track of her. Khan was looking at Lord Rsi while she was behind him. Yet, Tlexicpalli felt his piercing gaze on her, watching her every move.


    "How are those training groundsing along, Prince Khan?" Tlexicpalli asked, clearly excited. "The Ef''i are growing restless."


    "I thought we agreed onpleting them once the tournament ended," Khan reminded, his gaze still on Lord Rsi.


    "I changed my mind," Tlexicpalli revealed. "Is it feasible?"


    "The Empire expects the same treatment," Lord Rsi announced. "Of course."


    "Of course," Khan stated. "You can give word to your troops. The training grounds will be ready by the time they arrive here."


    "Excellent," Tlexicpalli eximed.


    "A toon?" Lord Rsi wondered.


    "The Ef''i will send apany," Tlexicpalli dered.


    "And the Empire will match that," Lord Rsi responded.


    The two species''petitive nature worked in Khan''s favor. The more aliens his had, the more untouchable he would be, especially if those troops came from allied species. The Global Army wouldn''t dare to interfere with Baoway if the Empire and Ef''i had invested


    valuable assets there.


    Despite being a Thilku, Lord Exr''s reaction resembled Tlexicpalli''s more. Lord Rsi felt d that his allied leader had gotten stronger. Instead, Khan''s changes reawakened Lord Exr''s soldier blood. They were both fourth-level warriors, but Khan seemed to stand in a world of his own, and part of Lord Exr wanted to test himself against him.


    Those evident reactions didn''t go unnoticed. Even the representatives Khan''s disinterest had annoyed couldn''t help but put aside their emotions to gauge the scene properly. Khan earned more respect from the alien leaders by the day, gradually pushing his relevance higher than


    his fellow nobles.


    Wealth, assets, and businesses were the bedrock of power in politics, but the top levels required an additional factor, which grew more relevant the higher they went. Family and faction leaders needed respect and alliances from equally important parties, and Khan was slowly outssing everyone in that field.


    The representatives knew Khan was still young and in his first years of leadership. Inparison, the other Nognes faction leaders had more overall alliances and connections. Yet, Khan waspensating with quality, be it advantageous rtionships with entire species or unique magic items only he could produce.


    That realization inevitably added some pressure on the representatives. Khan needed them to gain leverage over his family''s factions, but his growth seemed to point toward one obvious conclusion. It wouldn''t take long until the other nobles would be the ones to need him.


    It became evident that the nobles needed to pick up the pace in deciding how to handle Khan. Many were still uncertain about him and had only opted for favorable deals while he managed the Nognes family''s internal power struggle.


    However, the representatives understood that further hesitation could make them miss the chance to be proper friends with Khan and enjoy the future benefits of his rule. He might soon be difficult to reach if they kept dying that moment, endangering the potential


    earnings after his seemingly unavoidable growth.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Nevertheless, the universe didn''t allow the representatives to do much in that situation. Khan heaved a sigh, ignoring Lord Rsi and ncing at the distant dark sky. That was a clear sign that he had sensed something, so many eyes began to follow his gaze.


    "Why does no one warn me about this stuff?" Khanined as a ship became visible on


    the dark horizon.


    More of the ships'' details became visible as the city''s artificial illumination shone on it. The flying vessel clearly had a military nature, hinting at problems from the Global Army since no one else would dare to crash a party with such important guests.


    Still, the ship''s nature didn''t worry Khan. He looked at his Uncle, asserting his previousint with his eyes. However, Prince Thomas nodded at Khan''s pockets, conveying a


    clear message.


    Khan retrieved his phone and noticed multiple messages about the event. Prince Thomas didn''t only warn him about the ship''s arrival. He had also disclosed the guest''s identity, and the news was many hours old. Khan had simply failed to check it.


    "My bad," Khan eximed, storing his phone and pulling Monica to kiss her curls. He let go of her afterward, slowly rising into the air while making an announcement. "I must take this.'' Khan quickly disappeared, materializing before the iing ship. The ride stopped, and its doors opened, clearly weing him. Khan didn''t hesitate to approach that opening, and a simple greeting escaped his mouth when he spotted the sitting figure inside. "Colonel Norrett," Khan called. "Let''s talk somewhere private."

 Chapter 897: Alliance

    Chapter 897: Alliance


    ?


    Khan didn''t enter the ship. He hovered toward its canopy, gesturing to the pilot to follow him. The ride closed its doors in response and began to follow Khan toward one of the city''s tall


    buildings.


    The city was busy during the tournament''s nights, but Khan always kept a few buildings free from guests and crowds to avoid depriving himself of avable privacy. They all had suitablending and meeting areas, so Khan led the ship to the nearest one while sending directives from his phone.


    The ship soonnded on a terrace, and soldiers went through mandatory security measures, holding the crew behind. Meanwhile, Khan made an exception for Colonel Norrett, allowing him to leave the vehicle and follow him inside the building.


    Khan kept his distance, walking a few meters ahead of the Colonel and preventing conversations. Thetter could only silently follow him, eventually arriving in a vast hall that waiters had already filled with anything the two men might require.


    "Come," Khan ordered, diving into the hall without ncing at the Colonel. "Ourst drink together was years ago. Let''s fix that."


    The hall had multiple tables of different shapes and sizes, all featuring matching quantities of booze and food. Naturally, Khan headed for the biggest one, quickly opening a bottle and filling two sses before lifting one toward the Colonel.


    The Colonel didn''t shy away from the offer. He approached Khan, seizing the ss before gesturing a simple toast. Khan imitated him but promptly turned to upy one of the surrounding couches.


    Colonel Norrett soon found himself immersed in the light of Khan''s eyes, and the scene temporarily stunned him. The two hadn''t seen each other since the Colonel''s attempted evolution, and much had changed since then, especially in Khan.


    Khan had ditched the alien attire that night but still brought his crown and red cape. The short haircut tried to mask his inhumanity, but his bright eyes and aura got in the way.


    Colonel Norrett wasn''t even an ordinary fifth-level warrior. The surgery removed part of his evolved tissues, but some remained, elevating his overall power and improving his perception. He could instinctively feel Khan''s true nature, shocking him to the core.


    Nevertheless, Colonel Norrett didn''t let those changes or Khan''s aura freeze him. He quickly recovered, upying a couch opposite to Khan''s so that the two could talk face-to-face while remaining in the table''s range.


    "I''ll do it," Khan suddenly announced, reaching for the table to seize some food. "I owe you for the support and the invitation to your evolution, so I''ll do it."


    "I have yet to make my request," Colonel Norret eximed before recalling to add something. "Prince Khan."


    "It doesn''t matter, Colonel," Khan responded. "If it''s within my power, I''ll do it. If it isn''t, I''ll make it part of my power."


    The promise didn''t look too believable. Khan barely appeared serious, especially while munching and gulping downrge mouthfuls of food. Yet, the Colonel couldn''tin about that behavior. Their rtionship went way back, but the gap between their statuses was too vast now.


    "I''d like your help with my evolution, Prince Khan," Colonel Norrett revealed, deciding to specify his request. "I''m ready to attempt it again, but I''m not sure the Global Army is my best choice anymore."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan stopped eating, cing his empty te on the couch''s pillow. He had expected his alien and noble connections to have something to do with the Colonel''s visit, but the actual request surprised him. None of his projects had anything to do with the evolution, not directly, at least, so Colonel Norrett shouldn''t have had any reason to contact him about that.


    "The supplement my produces might help with the evolution," Khan stated, "But everything is very much still experimental at this point."


    "I read something about it," Colonel Norrett revealed, "But I''m no scientist. I only know miracles tend to happen when you are around, so I figured I could test my luck here."


    Khan didn''t answer. His fame had definitely yed a part in Colonel Norrett''s visit, but his aura conveyed something else. The Colonel radiated a tinge of faith and hope, obviously targeted at Khan.


    Those emotions often had a specific source, and Khan didn''t take long to find it. Colonel Norrett did his best not to show it, but he felt slightly helpless, and Khan could easily guess


    why.


    "What did the Global Army''s scientists say about your condition?" Khan asked.


    Colonel Norrett''s face remained calm, but his aura revealed that Khan had hit the mark. Hiding things from him looked pointless, so the Colonel decided toe clean.


    "My first attempt at the evolution changed me," Colonel Norrett exined, "And the Global Army has a hard time identifying the right mana for me."


    "They must have options," Khan guessed.


    "They do," Colonel Norrett confirmed, "But it''s still a gamble. It''s the price to pay for my first failure."


    The exnation made sense. Humankind had a rudimentary and cold understanding of mana, and Colonel Norrett had basically crossed the fifth level''s limits. The human scientists probablycked the knowledge and equipment to gauge him properly and produce suitable energy for his new evolution attempt.


    "And that made you decide toe to me," Khan uttered, seizing a bottle from the table to refill his drink.


    "You have weed the General," Colonel Norrett pointed out. "You have hired Bizelli forces. I thought I would also have a shot, Prince Khan."


    Khan had already promised he would help, but different thoughts inevitably appeared. First, Khan considered whether he could help Colonel Norrett, and a positive answer quickly arrived. He was attempting to replicate the aided metamorphosis himself, so he knew the blue nts could y a role in that field. Experimenting with the Colonel would also provide more data, ultimately benefiting Khan and his organization.


    However, Khan clearly wasn''t the Colonel''s first choice, which could have multiple exnations. Asking the help of his former "prot¨¦g¨¦" could hurt his pride, especially since their political relevance had experienced a dramatic change. Colonel Norrett initially wanted Khan to join him, but the tables had turned.


    Also, Khan realized the potentially dangerous repercussions. He saw no ill will inside the Colonel, but thetter remained bound to the Global Army. Some Generals might eventually decide to use him to attack Khan, so turning him into an evolved warrior was far from ideal.


    "Let''s say I help you, Colonel," Khan announced. "Let''s say I turn you into an evolved warrior. What happens then?"


    "What are you asking, Prince Khan?" Colonel Norrett questioned.


    "On which side are you, Colonel?" Khan asked, and the atmosphere instantly changed.


    The Colonel had surpassed the limits of the fifth level, and Khan was a monster. Their unwavering staringpetition almost created cracks in the air, and neither side gave up. The two men kept sizing each other as if a battle was about to break out.


    "Why don''t we make a deal?" Colonel Norrett asked, breaking the silence without removing pressure from his stare. "You stop calling me Colonel, and I resume calling you little shit."


    "I''m not so little anymore," Khanmented.


    "Is Khan fine?" Colonel Norrett wondered.


    "It is," Khan confirmed, "Mark."


    "Good," Colonel Norrett eximed, slightly rxing. "Now that''s out of the way, I should probably give you another lesson in politics."


    "Pray tell," Khan said.


    "As friendly as we are," Colonel Norrett stated, "I''m still asking the help of a noble. The Global Army would never believe I got it without heavily indebting myself."


    "They might say the same about this visit," Khan pointed out. "Your trip is a statement by


    itself."


    "It is," Colonel Norrett confirmed. "So, do you understand?"


    "Yes, but there''s a problem," Khan dered. "I''m officially part of the Global Army, but my organization stretches past it. I might have to go against humankind in the future."


    "I''m aware of your friendships and allegiances," Colonel Norrett revealed.


    "And are you okay with them?" Khan wondered.


    "Did you forget who presided over Onia''s tournament?" Colonel Norrett asked.


    "You might have to preside for the other side if you join me," Khan said. "I''m not sure I have a choice," Colonel Norrett responded. "You got some of my allies, and


    the others will soon have to decide whether to join you, too. I feel I''m at the same


    crossroads."


    "That resolve is a bitcking," Khanmented. "It sounds flexible."


    "Little shit," Colonel Norrett called, smirking. "You are still too young to underestimate


    me."


    "I''m not," Khan replied, standing up. "That''s why I want your real resolve, not some political


    maneuver."


    "I''ve worked for years in building a better faction inside the Global Army," Colonel Norrett snorted, also standing up. "How do you think I feel seeing a kid taking all of it in months?"


    "Maybe the kid is just better than you," Khan suggested, walking forward until he reached the


    table.


    "I hope he is," Colonel Norrett stated, also approaching the table. "My evolution is doomed


    otherwise."


    The two men were barely one meter apart, and their stares remained intense. Neither wanted to give up their dominant position, and neither did.


    "You didn''t answer," Khan reminded. "What happens if I turn you into an evolved warrior?"


    "You need a proper figure inside the Global Army," Colonel Norrett dered. "I can be that


    figure."


    "Do you want to evolve to be a politician?" Khan mocked.


    "I can only use the cards avable to me," Colonel Norrett exined. "Just like you did."


    "What exactly do you want?" Khan questioned.


    "The Global Army," Colonel Norrett responded, his aura disclosing his deep and pristine


    ambition.


    "Very well," Khan announced, stretching his right arm. "Give me your loyalty, and I''ll give


    you the Global Army."


    "Arrogant as always," Colonel Norrett snorted.


    "Was it ever misced?" Khan asked.


    Colonel Norrett and Khan exchanged another long stare, but the former eventually looked at


    the stretched arm. His serious expression broke into a smirk before he shook Khan''s hand, sealing that new alliance.

 Chapter 898: Debris

    Chapter 898: Debris


    ?


    Khan and Colonel Norrett shook hands, lingering longer than necessary in that gesture. Their light squeeze attempted to test their respective strength, providing decent results but opposite reactions.


    Khan confirmed what he had already sensed. Colonel Norrett was no ordinary soldier. The attempted evolution had pushed him past the limits of the fifth level, and his stance matched that power. He had probably been away from the battlefield for years, but his prowess was unaffected.


    That obviously pleased Khan. He didn''t only respect strong warriors. He also needed someone closer to the Global Army to expand his reach. Moreover,pleting the Colonel''s training would add a loyal, evolved soldier to his ranks, which the situation desperately required.


    Meanwhile, Colonel Norrett couldn''t help but experience renewed surprise at Khan''s strength. More than a level separated them, but the Colonel didn''t feel confident facing Khan head-on. Khan''s unclear power hindered the Colonel''s probing, making mental simtions inconclusive.


    That didn''t necessarily mean Colonel Norrett would lose in a battle, but the unclear results remained shocking. The sole fact that Khan looked able to put up a good fight against the Colonel confirmed all the unbelievable rumors around him.


    Despite the shock, Colonel Norrett felt happy with his choice. Khan''s unnatural strength was further proof that he could achieve miracles. He could only hope they would involve him now.


    "Sit," Khan ordered, breaking the handshake. "There''s much I must update you on."


    "I followed your news closely," Colonel Norrett revealed as both men returned to their couches. "How much isn''t avable on thework?"


    "Quite much," Khan stated, refilling his drink. "The struggles among nobles rarely reach thework, and many of my enemiese from those families."


    "The representatives on the terrace?" Colonel Norrett wondered. He didn''t recognize every face, but guessing the guests'' identity wasn''t exactly hard, especially for someone with his experience.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "They are fine," Khan exined, "Sort of. The main problem is within my family." "The other factions?" Colonel Norrett questioned. "What did you give them until now?" "Nothing," Khan responded. "Nothing I didn''t also offer the other families."


    "I''m not an expert," Colonel Norrett announced, "But that''s not ideal as far as I know."


    "They already threatened me a few times," Khan revealed. "The second time, they even brought an evolved warrior."


    Khan''s casual tone didn''t match the seriousness of the situation. Colonel Norrett had dealt with many heavy political issues, but Khan''s lineage put him in a superior world. As unthinkable as it sounded, his rtives had actually summoned an evolved warrior for a meeting.


    "Though that probably was my fault," Khan admitted. "After all, I did kill my distant Cousin or something during the first meeting."


    Colonel Norrett had to remind himself to keep his mouth closed. It would hang open in surprise otherwise. Killing a noble was no minor crime, but Khan had admitted his involvement with the act a mere minute after shaking hands with the Colonel.


    "Right," Khan recalled something. "That''s supposed to be a secret. Don''t go around telling it to the Global Army''s big dogs."


    The nobles had spies everywhere, and many high-ranking soldiers probably were on their payroll. That information was also priceless since it disclosed details about the Nognes family''s instability, and countless parties could benefit from it.


    Colonel Norrett didn''t speak, but Khan could see he had gotten the message. Besides, the Colonel was far from politically inept. He knew how valuable that information was, and keeping it secret was part of his duties now.


    "Are you about to start a war?" Colonel Norrett couldn''t help but wonder.


    "Why?" Khan asked. "Are you scared?"


    Colonel Norrett snorted but held back the retorts in his mind. The matter was serious. He had fought and managed battles, but Khan''s ying field was nothing he had ever faced. After all, he was a simple Colonel, while Khan stood among nobles.


    "Did you regret your decision already?" Khan teased, smirking. "I''m not ying nice anymore, and my enemies aren''t exactly weak. If I''m weak, we all die. If I make one mistake, we all die. That''s the world you have joined."


    "You''d better not make mistakes then," Colonel Norrett suggested.


    "The same applies to you," Khan reminded.


    "I''ve fought for the chance to obtain true relevance all my life," Colonel Norrett dered. "I won''t get cold feet now that I''ve seized it."


    "Good," Khan eximed. "I have no room or patience for ckers. I expected you to perform."


    "You sure have grown ustomed to leadership," Colonel Norrettmented.


    "It''s easy if you pay the price for it," Khan pointed out. "Wouldn''t you agree?"


    "I do," Colonel Norrett agreed. "Though you have yet to blow my mind."


    "Liar," Khan said. "You have something in mind."


    "Little shit," Colonel Norrett muttered, half-threatened and half-pleased by Khan''s piercing gaze.


    Khan kept smirking, and the Colonel eventually shook his head, giving up on the silent argument.


    "How did you get that power of yours?" Colonel Norrett asked. "Does it have something to do with my evolution?"


    "It''s always easier to talk with inhuman people," Khan admitted, standing up. "Come. I''ll show you mytest training area."


    Colonel Norrett didn''t expect that sudden invitation but didn''t make Khan ask twice, either. He jumped to his feet, following Khan outside the hall and heading for one of thending tforms. A ship wouldn''t have been Khan''s first choice, but carrying the Colonel through the sky felt too improper for now.


    Khan ordered the soldiers to remain behind and took control of the ship, flying it toward the caves. Many were still intact, but the cavern with the pool had crumbled after the training session, reced by a small hill of boulders.


    "What should I see?" Colonel Norret asked when Khan stopped before the hill of boulders.


    "One second," Khan eximed. "I still have to concentrate on this one."


    Colonel Norrett instinctively shut his mouth. Khan radiated a dangerous aura, but the Colonel also felt odd for a different reason. Something about the pile of boulders filled him with uneasiness, making him curious about the area.


    A soft gale suddenly blew through the area. Colonel Norrett knew Khan had been its source, but crumbling noises reached his ears before he could ask any question, bringing his eyes to the small hill. Cracks were opening on the many boulders, stretching and widening to turn them into finer debris.


    The hill quickly crumbled, lifting a pile of dust. The night sky and cloud tried to hinder the Colonel''s vision, but a blue light shone ahead of him, pointing the way.


    "It''s worse than I thought," Khan announced while the cloud dispersed. "I truly went wild."


    Details appeared in the Colonel''s vision as the cloud dispersed. Smaller rocks still filled the area, but a metal structure was visible under the debris. Colonel Norrett spotted part of the pool, but his gaze soon focused on the dark liquid inside.


    The liquid wasn''t the only odd detail. Long holes filled the ground, weing the smaller debris. It almost seemed someone had dug channels around the pool, but their charred edges and bottoms hinted at something else. Those cavities resulted from spells, and Khan had just admitted to being the culprit.


    "Oh, well," Khan sighed, advancing. "The guys should be hard at work at rebuilding it."


    Multiple small rocks stood on Khan''s path but turned into dust when they touched his aura. He reached the pool''s edge uninterrupted, leaning toward it to immerse his hand in its


    tampered liquid.


    "What a waste," Khan eximed, pulling his hand out to inspect the liquid dripping off his fingers. "It''s mostly ruined."


    Colonel Norrett couldn''t hold back his curiosity and approached Khan, looking at the dark liquid from behind his back. That substance was almost slimy and contained debris, confirming its impurity, but the Colonel still connected it to the uneasiness he felt. "The supplement is a refined version of this substance," Khan exined, shaking his hand to remove the lingering liquid on it, "Which is an agent of change. It lowers the requirements for transformations and can theoretically help with the evolution."


    "Theoretically?" Colonel Norrett questioned.


    "I only tested this method on myself," Khan revealed. "For the evolution, that is. I''m trying to replicate the aided metamorphosis, using myself as the catalyst." Colonel Norrett was no scientist, but his medical team had bored him to death with the details


    of evolution. He knew about the aided metamorphosis and could understand what Khan was


    attempting, hence his wide eyes.


    "Is it possible?" Colonel Norrett asked.


    "I almost died, apparently," Khanughed, peeking past his shoulder, "But you can sense its


    effects, can''t you?"


    Khan didn''t need the Colonel''s confirmation. Lord Exr, Lord Rsi, and Tlexicpalli''s reactions had already proven that the new training method worked. He simply didn''t know what he would be once the transformation wasplete.


    Nevertheless, the Colonel nodded, wearing a serious face and ignoring Khan. The short exnation already told him about the pool''s potential, and his eyes brimmed with ambition


    looking at it.


    "When can I start?" Colonel Norrett asked.


    "Easy," Khan chuckled. "You aimed for the extreme induction, right? It might take a while to


    prepare all we need for that."


    "But," Colonel Norrett uttered, looking at Khan, "Creating a matching mana for my state should be nigh-impossible."


    "For humans, maybe," Khan dered. "You have my eyes now, Mark. Don''t forget that."

 Chapter 899 Stump

    899 Stump


    Colonel Norrett was properly excited now. He had almost epted that his chances to aim for the extreme induction were gone, but Khan was giving him hope, and the bright eyes in his view reinforced it.


    "Besides," Khan continued. "I need someone able to deter my family''s attacks until I can do it myself. A simple evolved warrior wouldn''t do."


    "I heard you were still a fourth-level warrior," Colonel Norrettmented.


    "Do I look like a fourth-level warrior to you?" Khan asked.


    Colonel Norrett had many answers, none befitting his new position. Nevertheless, his silence satisfied Khan, who stood up and began returning to the ship.


    "Khan," The Colonel called, remaining on the ruined pool''s edge. "Would it be possible to meditate here for a while?"


    Khan had crossed the Colonel but turned to inspect him. Some eagerness had filled the man, and his eyes often fell on the pool, revealing the target of his interest.


    "Do you even need to meditate anymore?" Khan wondered.


    "I have a training method suitable for the natural induction," Colonel Norrett exined, raising his hand to study it. "However, I mainly want to get ustomed to this strange substance."


    Khan couldn''t help but feel slightly happy. The Colonel''s failed evolution had still changed him, granting him a superior sensitivity level. Hecked proper heightened senses but had still opened a window into the world only Khan could see.


    Needless to say, that was heartwarming for Khan. His spiritual loneliness wavered for an instant before regaining full power. Yet, that moment remained priceless.


    "My first evolved warrior won''t train with ruined equipment," Khan announced. "Come. I have something better."


    Khan didn''t have to ask twice. Colonel Norrett followed Khan to the ship, waiting as he flew them back to the city. The two soonnded on a building, and crossing a few corridors and elevators revealed the incredible destination.


    Colonel Norrett found himself inside a dim room with soil as the floor. The ce had nothing but a series of blue nts growing from seemingly random spots. Even while inside a mostly artificial area, that vegetation was thriving, creating an atmosphere that matched what the Colonel had experienced near the pool.


    "This is my private training area," Khan exined. "You can meditate here tonight. I''ll have something else prepared by tomorrow."


    Colonel Norrett was too focused on his body''s reactions to muster proper words. He limited himself to a nod, slowly diving inside the room. He looked lost in that small environment, and his legs stopped when he reached its center.


    "I''ll leave a few soldiers outside for anything you might need," Khan said, recognizing the Colonel''s mood. "Good night."


    Khan didn''t wait for the Colonel''s answer. He exited the room, sealing it while summoning soldiers. Usually, he would never allow outsiders in his private training area, but Colonel Norrett was a special case, and he wanted everything to go smoothly.


    Once the soldiers arrived, Khan hurried to the first avable balcony. The morning was close, making sleeping pointless. However, he owed Monica some regr bedtime, and the idea of watching her rest on him soon turned into a powerful urge.


    Yet, the universe wasn''t done with Khan that night. A message reached his phone before he could set off, updating him on a critical issue that made him change his ns.


    Khan set off but flew outside the city, heading for structures built explicitly for the revolutionary project. The ce had multiple warehouses connected through isted metal corridors, and their reinforced surfaces prevented Khan from inspecting their insides.


    Doors opened as soon as Khannded before the warehouses, revealing teams of scientists,bs, and priceless equipment. Everyone bowed at his passage while he headed directly for the main areas, and the audience soon started to change.


    The initial warehouses only had human scientists, but Fuveall appeared as Khan reached thest ones. That alien presence on Baoway had increased in the past weeks, and many almost lived in thosebs.


    Nevertheless, the warehouses were only the superficial aspect of the revolutionary project. The scientists mostly processed data and materials there. The experiments happened underground, which Khan reached through an elevator at the structure''s end.


    The polite, tense, and silent atmosphere vanished as soon as Khan descended to the structure''s lower levels. Shouts immediately reached his ears when the elevator''s doors opened, and he recognized each voice.


    "Tell this metal-headed fool that my arm was far better than this!" Major General Arngan shouted.


    "Major General, Sen-nu can speak ournguage," Garret reminded.


    "He knows," Sen-nu snorted. "He just likes to insult Sen-nu''s genius to mask his ignorance."


    "I remember how strong my arm was," Major General Arngan imed. "This thing can''t evenpensate for my pinkie!"


    The heated conversation kept the other human and Fuveall scientists away. The audience watched the fight unfold from the undergroundb''s sidelines, and many showed hope when they spotted Khan.


    Khan did his best to understand the issue in those short seconds. Major General Arngan sat on an interactive desk, angrily waving his stumped right arm and pointing at it. His limb only reached up to slightly above the elbow, ending in a silver-blue cover.


    The silver-blue cover differed from what Khan had seen in the Fuveall but still connected it to their technology. That organic metal had mana flowing inside, almost blending with the General''s natural energy.


    Nevertheless, the two types of energy didn''t blend. The mana inside the Fuveall seamlessly flowed through organic tissues and metal alike, but in the General''s case, it remained limited to the silver-blue cover. It worked, but the Global Army could have probably created something stronger without requiring invasive procedures.


    Meanwhile, Sen-nu and Garret stood before the sitting General, the former too proud to admit design ws and thetter doing his best as a mediator. The trio looked stuck at an impasse, and their eyes soon turned toward the neer.


    "[Khan]!" Sen-nu called. "[Tell this brute about Sen-nu''s amazing design]."


    "Cocky brat!" Major General Arngan shouted. "You promised an arm, not this weak stump." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Prince Khan, please," Garret pleaded. "I''m not sure how to handle this situation."


    Khan found the situation both annoying and amusing. The bickering reminded him about the Thilku and Ef''i, but seeing humans and aliens interacting so smoothly was fun. His idea of a multi-species organization didn''t look too impossible in the end.


    Still, those concerns needed to be addressed. Khan dived into theb, reaching the trio and fixing his glowing eyes on the metal stump. Taking sides wasn''t ideal, and both Major General Arngan and Sen-nu had points in their favor, but Khan had to speak the truth.


    "I''m guessing this is only a testing prototype," Khan said, using the humannguage to make sure everyone understood him. "You want to check whether the General''s flesh can ept the imnts, right?"


    "Exactly," Sen-nu proudly stated. "Humans aren''t strong enough for our imnts, so Sen-nu has to see what works first."


    "I keep telling you that I can work with far more than this," Major General Arngan snorted, waving his stump again. "Are your scanners broken? Did you really think this was suitable for me?"


    "Our scanners studied you perfectly," Sen-nu imed. "We knew exactly how much you could bear right now."


    "You are wrong," Major General Arngan dered. "I can bear something a hundred times better than that."


    "If you are in a hurry to lose what''s left of your arm," Sen-nu uttered, "Sen-nu willply."


    "Silence," Khan ordered. "Both of you."


    Khan''s mood was still intense due to the training in the pool, so his words carried unmistakable weight. Sen-nu was only a third-level warrior, so he shook under their pressure. Meanwhile, the General noticed something but left those topics forter.


    "General," Khan called. "This field is revolutionary. Its first phases are bound to be slow. Besides, Sen-nu is the lead scientist here, so his judgment is paramount."


    Sen-nu began to snicker and nod, but Khan had words for him, too.


    "Sen-nu," Khan called, pointing at the metal stump. "This prototype is a failure. The General''s mana can''t flow into it."


    "Sen-nu knows," Sen-nu admitted. "Sen-nu had another prototype ready, but this brute startedining as soon as he saw its design."


    "Because it was the same thing as this piece of trash," Major General Arngan exined. "It won''t work like this one."


    "Sen-nu amped the muscle density and power output ten times," Sen-nu imed. "That''s already dangerous for the first phase."


    Major General Arngan snorted, and mana flowed into his right arm while he spun on himself, jumping off the interactive desk to plunge his stump on the floor.


    An earthquake invaded theb. Equipment shook and tilted over while the various scientists did their best to remain on their feet. The same went for Garret and Sen-nu, who failed to retain their bnce and fell butt-first onto the floor.


    Screeching noises echoed as the metal screamed in pain. The General''s descending punch had bent the floor, creating a vast cavity in theb. His previous interactive desk fell into it while Sen-nu and Garret managed to cling to its edge. Only Khan remained unaffected, hovering in the same position, using air as his new foothold.


    The floor had bent without breaking, vouching for its resilience. Yet, the General had only delivered a simple punch, and the damage demonstrated his sheer physical strength. Theb had survived, but the General clearly required more than weak prototypes.


    "Piece of crap," Major General Arngan scoffed, straightening his huge frame and showing his stump. The silver-blue metal had cracked, and shards were falling from his arm.

 Chapter 900 Den

    900 Den


    More metal shards fell from Major General Arngan''s arm until only the stump remained. His punch had destroyed the prototype and ruined part of theb, causing uncountable financial losses.


    Khan didn''t mind the damage. He had never cared for money, and scolding the General for something he was simrly guilty of felt hypocritical. Training halls and areas rarely survived when Khan was around, making Major General Arngan a kindred soul.


    The experimental nature of the procedure also partially justified the General. He had overreacted, but his rash actions had conveyed his point. The Fuveall were going too easy on him, and even someone with poor scientific knowledge as Khan understood why.


    The Fuveall were proper scientists. That job was a core aspect of their species, so they nned to standardize the new field. They didn''t want to create something for Major General Arngan. They aimed to develop imnts every human could wear. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Nevertheless, Khan had started to realize that his extreme personality had attracted fellow extreme characters. Monica was hands down crazy, and his family had yet to produce a sane person. His friends weren''t any better, and thetest additions to his organization also followed that trend.


    Khan nced at Garret, who promptly stood up to retrieve some decorum. That rtively young man wore the mask of rationality, but few scientists in the entire universe would have yed along with Khan''s revolutionary, often mental ideas. Garret had to have some crazy in him, making him perfect for Khan''s organization.


    Colonel Norrett and Major General Arngan matched that crazy, albeit in different ways. One wielded immense ambition, while the other had jumped at the chance to return to the battlefield as soon as it appeared. Few soldiers and higher-ups shared those characteristics, but everything felt normal inside Khan''s organization.


    Khan''s reasoning never stretched to the aliens. It was pointless to do so. The Thilku and Ef''i''s representatives spoke for themselves. Khan could stuff them in the "crazy" category without even pondering it.


    ''Did I do this on purpose?'' Khan wondered. ''Is it a natural development?''


    Instead of building a diverse and bnced organization, Khan felt he was amassing fellow monsters, and the issue failed to bother him. Truth be told, he preferred it that way. Regr people wouldn''t be able to follow him anyway, especially considering the secret goal of defeating the scarlet eyes.


    ''A den of monsters,'' Khan thought, moving his attention to Major General Arngan. ''I like it.''


    "You brute!" Sen-nu shouted, also standing up. "Do you know how much work Sen-nu put on that prototype? It wasn''t even close to being battle-ready!"


    "What''s the point of a prosthesis if I can''t use it in battle?" Major General Arnganined.


    "It''s not a mere prosthesis," Sen-nu argued. "It''s an imnt. A Fuveall imnt!"


    The bickering continued, but Khan ignored it. His attention fell on the hole and the damage theb had suffered. Everything still worked, so Khan''s mind wandered toward more battle-rted thoughts.


    Khan was no stranger to fifth-level warriors. He had fought and killed a few, even from different species, so he could sort of ssify their strength andpare it to his.


    However, Major General Arngan''s sheer physical might seemed superior to Major Fergus Veril''s spell-enhanced one. The former''s punch could do more damage than thetter''s, surprising Khan. He had always known the General was strong, but he looked able to do far more without half of his right arm.


    "Prince Khan," Garret eventually called, clear helplessness in his tone. "This situation needs to be handled, and I don''t have the authority to give orders."


    Khan''s gaze lingered on the hole even as eyes fell on him. Ordering Major General Arngan to y nice would be a wise choice. After all, Khan had to defer to the experts'' judgment, implying Sen-nu in that case.


    Yet, if Major General Arngan was anything like Khan, those safe and wise approaches would only slow him down. Those extreme characters had reached their current level by walking untrod paths, and conventional methods and standards no longer applied to them.


    "[Sen-nu]," Khan called, using the Fuveallnguage. "[Can you make something a hundred times stronger]?"


    "[This isn''t how the Fuveall work]," Sen-nuined, "[And Sen-nu has a reputation to uphold. That''s a bad way to pursue technological improvements]."


    "[Can you do it]?" Khan repeated, exchanging nces with the alien.


    Sen-nu could already imagine Khan''s answer to an eventual refusal. Baoway''s gates were open now. Multiple Fuveall teams hadnded on its surface, so Khan would have it easy finding a recement for Sen-nu. He only needed to ask and provide proper payment, and aliens would fly there.


    Khan didn''t know it, but the news of the revolutionary project had also spread among the Fuveall. Those aliens didn''t care for money or allegiances but found the idea of experimenting on humans appealing, especially due to its legitimacy. Many wouldn''t refuse the chance to try to develop a technological field that had been on hold for decades.


    Sen-nu shared that sentiment, and Khan''s question also touched on his pride. Khan didn''t ask whether the new prototype was doable or would work. Khan wanted to know if Sen-nu could build it, and only one answer existed.


    "[Sen-nu can]," Sen-nu imed, "[But your friend will die. At best, he will lose more of his arm]."


    "Hey, brat," Major General Arngan intervened, annoyed by the conversation in anguage he couldn''t fully understand. "Don''t go around making decisions for me. I know what my body can handle."


    "You came to me," Khan reminded, his voice growing cold as his eyes snapped to the General. "You put your hopes in me. You will do as I say."


    Major General Arngan''s battle instincts kicked in. His face grew serious as his body automatically prepared for a fight. Tension spread in theb, but Khan didn''t indulge the General in a staringpetition.


    "Make it," Khan ordered, nodding at Sen-nu. "He won''t die that easily."


    "It''s your money and friends," Sen-nu said, washing his hands of potential me. "Sen-nu will do it."


    Sen-nu left the hole''s edge, summoning the other alien scientists into theb''s corner to discuss the next move. Meanwhile, Major General Arngan jumped out of the cavity, a slight tremor running through the floor as his heavy bodynded near Khan and Garret.


    "Finally," Major General Arngan eximed. "Enough with this ying-safe stupidity. As if I haven''t gone through that years ago already."


    "You are forbidden from dying," Khan announced. "Mark and you are my best shot at loyal evolved warriors in the immediate period, and I don''t want to look elsewhere for them."


    "Mark?" Major General Arngan wondered. "Is he here?"


    "He arrived tonight," Khan revealed before recalling that the dawn was close. "Last night. He''ll also train here to achieve his evolution."


    "Indeed," Major General Arngan nodded, patting his stump to remove the remaining debris. "Your father is a rare breed. Few would let their sons im so much spotlight undisturbed."


    14:09


    "So, even Mark joined you," Major General Arnganmented, seemingly happy about the news. "You hear that? Now, only your father is left."


    Garret understood those words were for him and couldn''t me the General for speaking them. Many scientists from his family had alreadynded on Baoway to handle Khan''s projects. Thework had probably already made up its mind about the Bizelli family''s allegiances, and Colonel Norrett''s arrival was bound to reinforce that idea.


    Soon, Garret''s father would be forced to make a public announcement, probably resulting in internal opposition from the Bizelli family''s other factions. Khan was a noble, and his support was priceless, but his infamous actions could push the more reactionary parties away.


    "I hear from him often, Major General," Garret revealed. "He wishes for me to reinforce my position here before flying to the. I''m lucky to have such a considerate father."


    "Indeed," Major General Arngan nodded, patting his stump to remove the remaining debris. "Your father is a rare breed. Few would let their sons im so much spotlight undisturbed."


    Khan didn''t join the conversation but followed it closely. He also understood the topic better than the two men could imagine. His meeting with the wealthy descendants showcased an opposite situation, with his allies'' parents doing their best to retain power and authority, threatening to go against their offspring.


    "I''m lucky," Garret repeated, politely epting that praise.


    "The Global Army is changing," Major General Arngan sighed. "It''s changing faster than I could have ever predicted, and we all have this cocky brat to me or thank."


    "I''m only ying by my own rules," Khan stated. "It''s not my problem if they can''t keep up."


    "Does that apply to us, too?" Major General Arngan wondered, a challenging smirk appearing on his face.


    "Of course," Khan eximed. "You''d better work hard and perform, or I''ll leave all of you behind."


    "And what happens to those left behind?" Major General Arngan asked, following Khan''s departing figure with his eyes.


    "They won''t get to see what the future has in store for the universe," Khan announced, uncaring about his arrogant, vague words. "Right. Garret, fix the General''s mess and tell Abraham to hurry with the pool. We have more monsters to make."

 Chapter 901 Avalanche

    901 Avnche


    Time flew quickly, and Khan struggled to keep track of it among his many upations.


    The tournament was reaching its apex, and some representatives had even started disclosing their interest in specific descendants, triggering public auctions that entertained the arena for days. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    That development could bring problems, but Khan realized he had overestimated the descendants'' desire to retain political freedom. No one rejected the nobles'' desire to bolster their ranks with promising soldiers. The involved young contestants saw the auctions as a great honor, making most of Khan''s precautions and rules pointless.


    As disappointing as that looked, Khan couldn''t help but ept and focus on the development''s positive sides. The poorer families remained loyal to their regressive mindset and couldn''t even consider opposing the nobles. However, that also prevented problems, saving Khan from the need to intervene to handle them.


    As for the other projects, everything steadily improved and progressed, albeit slowly. Khan''s new presence had prompted the representatives and aliens to strengthen their rtionship with him, but days weren''t enough to build proper friendships. Those matters took time and couldn''t be rushed.


    The same went for the magic items, living elements, study of the Scalqa''s flesh, and Fuveall imnts. Those projects took time, often years of research, and Khan''s unique insight was one of their key aspects. He was one of the projects'' necessary pieces, and his packed schedule prevented him from giving them his full attention.


    Nevertheless, three exceptions to that trend existed. Khan''s little free time didn''t stop him from developing magic items for Monica. Her new level demanded better equipment, and Khan saw that as a priority. Monica didn''t only deserve the top spot in his mind. Khan also wanted to ensure her safety, enabling her to use her element.


    The superior training grounds were another exception. The Thilku and Ef''i''s renewed interest in Khan''s growth forced him to prioritize those areas'' development. Luckily, the blueprints were already in ce. He only needed to put workers, scientists, resources, and spaces to the task.


    As for the third exception, Khan kept prioritizing his new training method. In the three weeks after Monica''s birthday, he used the toxic pool twice, each time obtaining different results that Abraham and Garret carefully recorded and studied. Many aspects improved with the additional session, but one issue remained constant.


    ''Eighty-three,'' Khan read on the device, showing thest training session''s scientific report.


    Khan''s eyes shone on the device, illuminating theb around him. It was deep into the night, and Khan had just awakened from hisst training session. He was alone, but Abraham and Garret had left food, drinks, and new clothes behind, as well as the full report of their investigation.


    ''Reduced organic tissues'' damage,'' Khan read. ''Progression in line with previous observation, indicating a positive trend. Fancy words to say, I''m getting used to the procedure.''


    Khan had been the first to notice the trend. The second training session had hurt less than the first, and the same went for the third. His body was growing ustomed to the toxic substance, but the scientific report didn''t see it as negative. His tissues were still transforming. The process simply required fewer injuries.


    ''Recovery after the training session remains enhanced,'' Khan read. ''Rehabilitation period shortened due to lower damage.''


    ''Vitality steadily on the rise,'' The report continued. ''After the recovery period, the vital signs surpass the previous scans and continue to improve, confirming the procedure''s benefits.''


    Khan couldn''t help but nod, scratching the corners of his eyes before reaching for a nearby bottle. Obtaining the scientists'' approval was no small feat. Much worked on him due to his uniqueness, but standardizing the procedure remained the final goal. Achieving that would make it viable for his closest allies and, eventually, anyone who joined him.


    ''The improving vital signs have evident, at times problematic, repercussions,'' Khan read. ''Prince Khan tends to show his extreme characteristics more often, with clear effects on his surroundings. His element might be the cause, but further investigation is required.''


    Khan disagreed on that point. In his mind, further investigation was pointless. He knew his element was to me, so the procedure would affect other people differently.


    ''I guess we''ll see soon enough,'' Khan thought. ''Colonel Norret''s pool is almost done. His results should clear this point.''


    The report continued highlighting various points, but most were science-rtedbels Khan didn''t understand. He didn''t even care much about that specific data since fixed standards didn''t exist for people in his situation. Yet, one number remained concerning, and Abraham and Garret didn''t hold back from listing their opinions.


    ''Attunement with mana is in decline,'' Khan read, ''Despite no actual loss of mana and a diminishing trend. The main hypothesis is unchanged. Prince Khan''s tissues demand more energy now. As his upper limits rise, his current level plummets.''


    ''From eighty-eight to eighty-three,'' Khan thought, skimming through the report''s followingments. ''Don''t tell me I''ll go back to being a third-level warrior.''


    The report stated otherwise. Abraham and Garret believed the plummeting trend would stop soon enough, probably once the attunement level reached eighty points. Still, Khan didn''t feel too confident in that opinion. After all, that field was alien to the scientists, so the unthinkable could happen.


    Of course, the scientists exined that belief. The different warrior levels matched specific thresholds, marking permanent effects and transformations. Undoing them would require more energy than building upon them, so Abraham and Garret stated that Khan''s fourth star was safe.


    The exnation made sense, but Khan''s doubts didn''t disappear. Still, he didn''t know how much he cared about it. Truth be told, his attunement level had lost meaning for him long ago. His strength was always above it, so he found no reason to waste brain cells on it.


    Moreover, the training session handled the aspect Khan held dear. Improving and transforming fulfilled the same requirement, distancing him from the Nak genes and turning him into his own being. He believed he would be fine building a family if hepleted either path.


    The only real problem was the public perception. Khan had built his fame and organization on his talent, strength, and growth. Slowing down thetter might raise doubts about his superiority, especially if descendants from the same generation started surpassing him.


    Ideally, Khan would reaffirm his superiority in actual battles, but those opportunities grew rarer by the day, and his current enemies didn''t act publicly. Khan might remain stuck at the fourth level for a long time, with no chance of showing his strength, giving the impression that his seemingly endless potential had reached its limits.


    Sadly, the issue had no solution, and Khan didn''t even consider holding back on the new training method to retain the image of a peerless talent. He would have to sacrifice his real growth, which wasn''t worth it.


    ''Well,'' Khan sighed, putting aside the device. ''Projecting weakness would attract more enemies, giving me the chance to reaffirm my strength. I''d just have to be more proactive if the public opinion starts to affect my businesses.''


    The problem wouldn''t even be with the masses. Khan only needed to watch out for the wealthy parties around him. The nobles and prominent families wouldn''t hesitate to side with his enemies and act against him once they smelled weakness, and that wouldn''t be easy to fix.


    ''It''s always problem after problem,'' Khan cursed. ''Luckily, the tournament is ending, and the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. I needed aplete win.''


    Khan put aside the political issues and jumped out of bed, stretching his body to check his state. A faint wave of mana also escaped his figure, tearing apart all the bandages around his body. His intact and healthy skin appeared in the open, but that scene went unnoticed.


    A fit of hunger invaded Khan, making him hurry toward the tes left behind by the scientists. He wolfed them down without bothering to dress up, but his stomach demanded more. Luckily, the parties were still ongoing, and his phone carried specific updates on them.


    Another peaceful night unfolded, and many followed. Khan''s status and situation had truly stabilized, creating one of the longest peaceful periods in his life. Minor scuffles still happened, but Khan barely saw them as problems after everything he had witnessed.


    Nevertheless, that peace was limited to Baoway. Many powers moved and plotted around the, hoping to forge secret alliances and prepare themselves for eventual opportunities. Still, the Thilku Empire acted as an unbreakable shield, preventing proactive actions.


    However, one specific party saw that powerful ally as Khan''s biggest w. That force had ess to ssified information even the Global Army''s higher-upscked. Still, leaking it could start wars and forsake all the potential advantages Khan''s special rtionship with the Empire offered.


    In short, sharing the ssified information would only lead to a lose-lose situation, but the party in question didn''t care about winning. Victory had a different meaning for it, so a secret meeting happened, throwing a pebble capable of unleashing an avnche.

 Chapter 902 Fancy cage

    902 Fancy cage


    Earth was humankind''s headquarters, but unlike other species, its security and defenses were full of holes. That didn''t apply to its orbit, but the''s surface was a different story altogether.


    Much of Earth''s surface had yet to be reimed by the Global Army. The First Impact had left the deeply scarred, and humankind had aimed for the stars after regrouping into families and organizations. The universe was far more lucrative, so the humans had ignored the many vast territories that were too expensive to restore.


    Needless to say, the security and control over those territories were non-existent. The Global Army only cared about the big cities, even ignoring the Slums around them, so their scanners never pointed at those abandonednds, making them perfect for criminal activities.


    One of thosends was an immense barren in. Vast cracks covered its brittle yellow ground, which asional ck clouds from the nearby active volcano darkened. It seemed life hadn''t touched that area in centuries, but a ship stillnded at its center.


    The ship''s metal ramp pierced the in''s surface during its quick descent, digging into the ground. Yet, the elderly man who crossed it didn''t hesitate to step on the yellow soil. Cracks spread around his shoes, but his annoyed eyes never looked at them.


    The man''s stance, expression, and gait didn''t match his age. His cold face expressed strength and vitality. His back stood straight and never wavered as he took firm steps into the in. He didn''t flinch at all at the clear instability of the ground under his feet, but a tinge of displeasure tainted his mouth when a secret trapdoor opened.


    Part of the soil before the elderly man rose, turning into two vast pieces that spread apart, revealing a metal tunnel and a descending staircase. Artificial light illuminated the hidden area, hinting at the presence of intelligent life.


    The elderly man ignored the dust lifted by the trapdoor and dived into the tunnel, his march as firm as ever. His feet released nging noises that echoed through the area when they hit the metal steps, and those sounds continued for many minutes.


    The long march brought the elderly man deep underground, and the descending tunnel eventually ended with a metal door. The entrance opened at his arrival, revealing a vast living room with couches, carpets, interactive tables, and screens on the walls. Yet, the man didn''t look at the furniture. He only focused on the figure on the other side of the hall.


    "Quite the retreat you have here," The elderly man announced, entering the hall and letting the door close behind him.


    "It''s but a fancy cage," The other figure, a grey-haired middle-aged man, stated. "Even with all the luxury Earth has to offer, a prison remains a prison."


    16:01


    "And why did I have toe all the way here to a prison?" The elderly man asked.


    "Because, General Creseul," The grey-haired man said, turning to look at his guest, "My family and a noble faction are searching for me. As resourceful as I am, even I know when it''s better toy low."


    The elderly man wore casual clothes, but the grey-haired man knew his identity. The same went for the former. The General and Raymond Cobsend had been secret allies for years, but things had gotten problematic after thetter''stest ploy.


    "You know I can''t disappear for too long, Raymond," The General eximed, approaching one of the couches to sit on it. "I hope you have a good reason for demanding this personal trip." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "The reason is quite obvious," Raymond dered, retrieving a nearby bottle and approaching the General''s couch. "Reasons, actually. First, I needed to see howmitted you were to our friendship. I must say it''s a pleasure to see you step on the field."


    "I''m not some spoiled descendant from a big family," General Creseul snorted. "My position demands attendance to many duties, and I always have eyes on me. I thought I made that clear from the beginning."


    "You did," Raymond confirmed, preparing two sses on the desk near the General''s couch. "Hence my second reason. I wanted to understand how desperate Prince Khan''s rise to power made you."


    Raymond wore a polite smile while offering one ss to the General, but thetter''s expression grew colder. General Creseul even hesitated to seize the drink but eventually epted it.


    "It''s no secret, really," Raymond continued, sitting on a different couch. "That young General, Brigadier General Seb, must be asking questions. Too much has happened to Prince Khan for it to be a genuine mistake."


    As always, Raymond''s words hit the mark. The security around Khan had been full of holes, often on purpose, and asking questions might reveal General Creseul''s involvement. He had always covered his tracks well, but a fellow General might uncover troublesome secrets.


    "I me you," General Creseul calmly replied. "You messed with powers beyond your reach, and it backfired on all of us. Prince Khan now has the full support of his faction and a monopoly over the Thilku Empire. I also heard he''s adding new species to his every week."


    "I merely pursued ourmon goal," Raymond said, dismissing the usation. "Just as nned."


    "Blowing up Milia 222''s dock wasn''t in our ns," General Creseul reminded. "Your alien bomb also ended up involving powerful descendants, and Xiotov''s tests didn''t get us anywhere. Now, even Thomas Nognes is our enemy."


    "I admit I miscalcted Prince Thomas'' loyalty to the Nognes blood," Raymond uttered. "Luckily, I took precautions."


    "This cage of yours is working for now," General Creseul announced, "But it will fall apart once I start taking my precautions."


    "We are above threats, General," Raymond responded, showing unwavering confidence. "We both know you are as loyal to the cause as me."


    "I expected results," General Creseul pointed out. "You promised results but still have nothing to show for."


    "Don''t I?" Raymond wondered. "I think I have plenty to show for."


    "What are you getting at, Raymond?" General Creseul questioned.


    "When was thest time a fourth-level warrior defeated a fifth-level one?" Raymond asked. "There have been cases throughout history, but it''s the norm for Prince Khan."


    "He is a skilled warrior," General Creseulmented. "It''s not surprising considering his element, history, and training."


    "The Global Army has plenty of skilled warriors, General," Raymond dered. "Each noble family attempts to produce one Prince Khan every year, but no one everes close."


    "Neither of us knows the full extent of the noble families," General Creseul reminded. "They might have simr monsters in store."


    "Monsters capable of defeating a superior warrior from a superior species?" Raymond asked. "You know he is unique, General. If not for the act itself, for its conclusion."


    General Creseul fell silent. He understood Raymond''s game, but defeating him with words was impossible. The facts were on his side, and the General also didn''t believe enough in the opposite opinion to continue arguing for it.


    "Are you sure he defeated a fifth-level Thilku?" General Creseul asked.


    "Obliterated is the correct trantion to the report I received," Raymond exined. "The details are iffy, but it''s clear that Prince Khan is no longer in the realm of humans."


    "It''s been a year since that," General Creseul pointed out. "Longer than a year with his supplement and the full support of his faction. Who knows how strong he has gotten?"


    "I made projections," Raymond revealed. "However, I believe Prince Khan will surpass them. He tends to be full of surprises."


    "Will?" General Creseul questioned. "You have a noble family on your tail, Raymond, and that damned tournament is turning every wealthy pocket in Prince Khan''s direction. I''m afraid he is out of your reach now. You must give up on him."


    "My reach? Maybe," Raymond partially admitted. "Yours? Not so much."


    "Are we finally getting to the point of this meeting?" General Creseul scoffed. "What would you have me do? Arrest a Prince? The Global Army has all the proof it needs to imprison him, but no one will lift a finger."


    "If he truly is humankind''s next evolutionary step," Raymond announced, "We must see him in action. We must study his growth. Maybe we should even force it."


    "Join him, then," General Creseul suggested. "I heard he started teaching his techniques to descendants now. You might even gain ess to the alien technology he is developing."


    "He won''t teach anything valuable to anyone," Raymond said, shaking his head. "He must have learned from his mistakes. That''s why you have to bait him out."


    "To what end?" General Creseul asked. "Watch him ughter more soldiers? What can we even learn from it?"


    "I withheld information from you," Raymond suddenly admitted. "About the ploy with Prince Thomas. The I sent Prince Khan was no simple. It had brigades of Thilku soldiers and heavy weaponry."


    General Creseul understood everything from that simple revtion. The Thilku Empire was notorious forcking manpower, so stationing many soldiers and weapons near the Global Army''s domain could only mean one thing.


    "This is beyond our goal!" General Creseul shouted, finally losing his cool. "Our research pales before a war with the Thilku Empire. Why didn''t you tell me sooner?!"


    "Because the Thilku don''t want war with us," Raymond dered. "Still, only you, Prince Khan, and I know this. With the right political maneuvering, we could force Prince Khan to choose between the Thilku Empire and humankind."

 Chapter 903 End

    903 End


    Hundreds of descendants had joined Baoway''s tournament, and each got to prove themselves at least once in the arena. The preliminaries, multiple repechages, and final rounds entertained the audience for longer than a month, but everything eventually came to an end.


    A tall, lean, ck-haired young man faced a shorter, burly, brown-haired young woman at the bottom of the arena. Both contestants were second-level warriors, but their inhumane stamina had still left them exhausted after multiple tight exchanges.


    The audience held their breath, inspecting that silent, tense moment with their eyes or through the stages'' screens. Clearly, the two contestants only had enough energy tounch onest offensive, and no one wanted to miss the final exchange.


    The same went for the towers and terraces, including Khan''s. The guests at his sides retained a respectful silence while waiting for thest exchange. The tournament had finally reached its apex, and both humans and aliens wanted to see its conclusion.


    The young man''s arms stood firmly before his face, protecting and half-hiding it. Meanwhile, his fingers were tense, stretched toward his opponent, seemingly ready to grab her.


    The man was also curled forward, with his legs half-bent. That defensive stancepletely shielded him from frontal attacks, and the exhaustion conveyed by his ragged breath failed to create meaningful openings.


    Meanwhile, the young woman was in far worse shape. She was half-turned, perpendicr to her opponent. Her legs were straight, and her left arm rested curled by her waist, ready to spin forward. However, her right side offered no protection. It faced the contestant with nothing but her shoulder while its limb hung limply from it.


    That wasn''t the woman''s proper guard. At the beginning of the battle, her right arm had stood straight, lifted toward her opponent to keep some distance. Yet, the hole in her right shoulder''s armor highlighted the exchanges'' results. The young man had rendered her limb useless, creating an immense opening.


    Usually, warriors wouldn''t hesitate to exploit such a big opening, but the young man hesitated. He had seen his opponent enduring his precise blows time after time, using those opportunities tounch devastating counterattacks. The woman''s left arm was deadly, and two of her punches had almost made the man faint.


    The woman shared her opponent''s hesitation, albeit for different reasons. Her limp right arm left her vitals unprotected, and the man would obviously target them. The armor on her torso also had many holes, and she didn''t know if her muscles alone could withstand the man''s unavoidable blows.


    The battle seemed to have reached a stalemate. The man only exposed himself during his offensive, so he was wise to focus on defending. Meanwhile, the woman was in no condition tounch an assault or bait her opponent out. She couldn''t create openings without suffering first, and limiting the damage before her eventual counterattack sounded ideal.


    However, the more experienced warriors in the audience saw a different truth. That was no stalemate, or rather, one side couldn''t afford it tost too long. The woman had proven herself physically superior, so her stamina and arm would recover faster, putting the man back to square one.


    The man had reached the tournament''s final match, so his battle instincts were no joke. He knew how troublesome his situation was. His hesitation only benefitted his opponent, and each passing second tilted the scale in her favor.


    Determination invaded the man''s brown eyes as he took a series of deep breaths. He gathered his remaining forces to pursue the only path toward victory. He had tounch an attack and defeat his opponent with it. He would lose the match otherwise.


    The woman noticed her opponent''s resolve and a simr feeling invaded her. She steeled her mind, preparing herself for the imminent sh and the unavoidable pain it would bring. Her body''s resilience would decide the match''s oue, and she didn''t want her exhaustion or hesitation to get in its way.


    The two warriors reached their peak concentration simultaneously, and the man dashed forward. His body almost became horizontal as he achieved his top speed in a couple of swift steps, slowing down only when the woman entered his arms'' range.


    The man suddenly stomped his left foot to the floor, dashing to his right to expose the woman''s torso. However, thetter was ready for that and followed the abrupt change in direction. She actually ended up being faster than her opponent, filling his vision with her shoulder.


    The young man''s speed prevented him from stopping. He could still push himself away or continue running sideways to escape the unfavorable position. Yet, he pressed on, and his chest mmed on the woman''s shoulder while his arms rose to deliver his offensive.


    The woman remained unfazed by the impact. Her defensive stance didn''t falter under the violent crash, and she even heard her opponent gasp, unable to hold on to the remaining air in his lungs. That had almost been a suicide attack, but the woman didn''t underestimate the man''s resolve.


    The woman''s shoulder, chest, and neck muscles tensed up, knowing the crash wouldn''t stop her opponent. As expected, the man''s arms quickly closed on her, and his stretched fingers hit specific spots on her neck and rib cage.


    A lightning bolt ran through the woman. She felt frozen, with no control over her body. She couldn''t move or breathe, and her vision grew blurry. Yet, she remained aware enough to know she had to act. Her opponent would overwhelm her otherwise.


    The woman screamed, but only a grunt escaped her mouth as she forced her body into action. Her left leg didn''t move, and her right foot seemed stuck to the floor, but she attacked anyway. Her torso spun, and her left arm shot forward, carrying all the strength she could muster.


    The counterattack had almost been immediate. The punch arrived while the man was still catching his breath and had just retracted his arms. He couldn''t dodge it, and jumping back wouldn''t put him outside its range. Yet, he had expected as much. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The man pushed away any idea of escaping the attack and focused on the iing punch. Calctions quickly happened inside his mind, telling him which spots he could target and the effectiveness of those blows. His arms rose before he could make a decision, but he still put as much strength as possible into them, trusting his battle instinct.


    The man''s stretched fingers hit the woman''s elbow and wrist before her punchnded. The attack crashed on his chest armor, sending an earthquake to his rib cage, lungs, and heart. His body lost strength as his throat convulsed, but he stomped his feet to the floor, preventing that power from pushing him away.


    The woman''s eyes widened in surprise, but it was toote. The manunched a battle cry as his arms rose once again, converging on her left shoulder. His stretched finger pierced her armor, hitting specific spots underneath, and her left arm suddenly went limp.


    The woman tried to jump backward, but the man didn''t let her. As soon as herst defense fell, the man leaped forward, his left arm turning into a spear aimed at her forehead. His fingers hit, releasing his remaining strength, and the woman''s vision went dark.


    The audience on the stage held their breath. The man didn''t attack anymore and leaned forward, coughing as his throat reminded him of the blow he had just suffered.


    However, the woman also stood still, remaining on her feet before her exposed and exhausted opponent. That was the perfect chance for a finishing blow, but her body didn''t move.


    One second had to pass for the situation to be clear. The woman had never stood still. Her body had continuously tilted forward, albeit unnoticeably. Yet, that trend quickly picked up speed until she fell headfirst onto the floor.


    A green glow shone on the man''s lowered face. The floor lit up to announce the match''s end, and the name on it confirmed the man''s victory. Happiness invaded him, but he was too tired to straighten his back or shout, so he only lifted an arm, triggering deafening cheers from the stages.


    The arena almost exploded among the apuses, cries, and cheers. Every screen focused on the young man, and more appeared under the stages on the battlefield''s walls. The long tournament had a winner, and the man took a deep breath, finally savoring the chance to rx and enjoy his achievement.


    Nevertheless, the man''s lungs suddenly became unable to draw air. Something heavy had fallen on him, attempting to squash him on the floor. His battle instincts didn''t even try to surge as his legs gave in, but an arm promptly caught him by his chest.


    "You won''t get the chance to rx on a real battlefield," A whisper reached the man''s ears, and its words felt like hammers on his brain. "Still, you fought well. You have great instincts."


    The hand on the man''s chest lifted him, straightening his back and revealing its owner. The descendant found himself before a crowned figure with glowing eyes and donning an oversized red cape. Each of those details would make his identity unmistakable, but they almost felt too much to bear together.


    Khan smiled at the descendant''s hanging jaw before seizing his wrist to lift his arm. He nced at the stages afterward, focusing on the symphony inside the arena, which became part of his vocal cords when he opened his mouth.


    "I present to you the winner of my first tournament," Khan calmly said, but his voice reached every corner of the arena. "Congrattions, Moses Parket."

 Chapter 904: Auctions

    Chapter 904: Auctions


    ?


    Moses could hardly believe his eyes. He didn''t only win. The entire arena was cheering for him, shouting his name. Those stages had individuals more influential than his whole family, and he had be the center of their attention.


    Things didn''t end there. The infamous best warrior the Global Army had ever produced stood at Moses'' side, keeping his exhausted arm lifted for everyone to see. As the seconds passed, the descendant also recalled Khan''s previous words, and the praise among them filled him with pride.


    Khanmanded respect from nobles and alien leaders alike, so his figure appeared far bigger in the smaller families'' eyes. Infamous acts aside, Khan''s story was inspiring, and Moses couldn''t help but feel revitalized after receiving his acknowledgment.


    Khan''s heavy pressure became uplifting, filling Moses'' eyes with ambition. He wouldn''t dare to think he could surpass Khan, but the acknowledgment had to mean something. Moreover, the best part of the tournament had yet toe, and his life was bound to change forever afterward.


    Moses'' excitement didn''t onlye from the tournament''s rewards. Some screens across the arena changed their target, zooming in on the main terrace. The alien leaders became visible, but most of the audience focused on the nine nobles.


    As appealing as the tournament''s rewards were, the chance to join a noble family was priceless. Countless riches, many magic items, and the best martial arts humankind had to offer would be avable to anyone who entered those lofty environments.


    Of course, there were limitations. Only those carrying noble blood could gain ess to the best of the best, but many hoped Khan''s involvement would lower some barriers. The nobles might not care about their new assets, but providing them preferential treatment could put them on Khan''s good side.


    The nobles began talking, but the screens didn''t convey their conversations. An auction was about to start, and privately screening out participants would make it easier for those who decided to push forward.


    Those silent moments gave Moses some time to breathe and recover. His stance regained some firmness even after Khan let go of his arm. He could finally stand proudly without anyone''s help, but a distraction arrived.


    "Are you a rtive of Doctor Ian Parket from co?" Khan asked, ncing at the descendant.


    Moses froze. Seeing those glowing eyes pointing at him made his mind go nk. Hearing Khan''s praise was one thing, but talking directly with him required a different level of preparation, which Mosescked.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Still, Khan didn''t press Moses, giving him time to collect his thoughts and think about the question. The Parket family was neither big nor small, so Moses didn''t know everyone. Yet, connecting co with the Doctor title gave him an idea of who Khan was talking about.


    "He is a distant rtive, Prince Khan," Moses said, his voice a tired whisper.


    Khan didn''t reply and diverted his gaze. He had praises for Doctor Parket, too, but telling them to Moses was pointless. Still, spotting another known name at the tournament felt amusing, and Moses wasn''t alone there.


    The fainted woman nearby was Alice Conche, and Khan had a Professor with the same family name in co. He didn''t know the connection between the two, but the world suddenly felt small, nevertheless.


    Of course, Khan knew it made sense for him to meet known names, especially at a tournament with such high attendance. He had interacted with countless people during his years in the Global Army, and that trend had picked up speed in the Harbor. His knowledge showed the results of his political efforts, achieving levels wealthy descendants would envy.


    Murmurs slowly filled the stages, but everything went silent once again when four figures on the main terrace stood up. Princess Montares, Princess Virrai, Prince Rassec, and Prince Catlee approached the guardrail, carrying their drinks and capturing the arena''s full attention.


    Khan smelled problems at the sight of that arrangement. Princess Montares and Prince Rassec remained slightly behind their fellow Prince and Princess, revealing how the auctions would progress. The two in the front would fight for the Conche descendant, while the others aimed to hire Moses, and their political stances threatened to make things annoying for Khan. Khan''s rtionship with the noble representatives on Baoway had vastly improved during the tournament, but significant differences existed among them. The same went for the families behind them. One Prince or Princess didn''t speak for the entirety of their organization, and their general stances had gradually be apparent.


    As the tournament''s mediator, Khan would ultimately decide the auctions'' oue, meaning he could favor one noble over the other. He could use that authority to reward those who had worked on building a genuine friendship or indulge those still undecided, hoping to earn their support.


    Both auctions featured that issue, albeit in different intensities. The Virrai family already supported Khan, but the Catlee didn''t hate him, either. Favoring thetter could elevate their rtionship, adding another closer ally to Khan''s list.


    Instead, things were far more problematic between the Montares and Rassec family. Rachel openly supported Khan, and the tournament had turned her into the closest noble in his social array. Meanwhile, the situation with the Rassec family was stillplicated, and the auction created an opportunity to fix it.


    ''What to do?'' Khan wondered, waiting for the nobles to begin the auction.


    "Since Miss Conche is unavable," Prince Catlee announced, and the screens echoed his voice throughout the arena, "Should we discuss Mister Parket''s future first? Unless a representative of the Conche family is willing to speak in her stead."


    Moses Parket realized his involvement in the problem. His opponent was still on the floor, and his experience told him it would take her a while to awaken. After all, thest blow had hit a troublesome pressure point.


    Still, Moses also knew how to undo his martial art''s effects. Conveying that to Khan was the issue in that situation. He couldn''t just act on his own, and speaking without permission could hurt his reputation.


    "Don''t worry," Khan suddenly said, the arena''s tech echoing his voice. Those words seemed to answer Prince Catlee''s question, but Moses felt he had aimed them at him. That sensation didn''t make much sense, but Khan had no interest in rifying it.


    Khan approached the fainted descendant, half-crouching toward her. He touched her back, closing his eyes to sense her mana flow. Moses had basically frozen it, but a simple impulse from Khan''s energy forced it to resume working properly.


    Alice Conche abruptly awakened, gasping loudly. Her ragged breath resounded through the screens, but she held it when she spotted the glowing eyes looking at her. Realizations hit her brain, but Khan''s pressure prevented her from absorbing them.


    "Mister Parket defeated you," Khan summarized. "Prince Catlee and Princess Virrai have taken an interest in you nheless. Are you able to speak, or should I summon a


    representative?"


    The apparent care in Khan''s words didn''t match his oppressive aura. Yet, Alice Conche was no ordinary descendant. She even surpassed her opponent in terms of guts, so a gulp was all she needed to prepare a reply.


    "I can speak for myself, Prince Khan," Alice Conche stated, clumsily standing up before straightening her back.


    The audience cheered at Alice''s proud behavior, and even Khan internally praised her. His tournament had truly shed light on the Global Army''s hidden talents, and much was bound to change in the months toe.


    "Prince Catlee, Princess Virrai," Khan announced, bringing his attention to the terrace. "Your


    offers."


    "The Catlee family offers a spot in our special guards'' training program," Prince Catlee dered. "Miss Conche will be attended by our best Masters and provided with her every need until she bes capable enough to protect our Princes and Princesses."


    That offer was quite standard for a noble family, but an important distinction existed. Guards and special guards were two different titles with two distinct roles. The audience wasn''t aware of the details but could understand thetter''s higher relevance. "Princess Virrai?" Khan called after allowing the audience to absorb the previous statement.


    "The Virrai family acknowledges Miss Conche''s determination," Princess Virrai announced. "We match Prince Catlee''s offer and extend it to her immediate rtives. With such a promising descendant, chances are we''ll find more talent to uplift."


    The arena went crazy, and Alice also struggled to believe those words. Bing a noble guard was already a great honor, but Princess Virrai was ready to take care of her entire faction. That was akin to hitting multiple jackpots in a row.


    "The Catlee family is willing to match Princess Virrai''s offer," Prince Catlee continued, "As long as the descendants and family members prove themselves worthy." Everyone focused on Princess Virrai, waiting for her counter, but she remained silent. She seemed unwilling to improve her offer, leaving things quite even against her opponent. Asmitted as Alice was, she felt utterly lost before that decision. Shecked the means and knowledge to know what would be best for her, and picking one noble family over the other would only create powerful enemies.


    In a temporary second of vulnerability, Alice nced at Khan, almost begging him for help. She was too out of her depths, so she hoped she could rely on the promises Khan had made before the tournament.


    The situation felt slightly odd. Khan and Alice were the same age, but the gap between them was immense. That didn''t only ount for Khan''s power. His political status, experience, and calm before that troublesome situation made him the adult out of the two.


    ''You could have added something to make it easier for me,'' Khan internally cursed, knowing that the situation was forcing him to pick a side. Luckily, he didn''t need to overthink the


    matter to make a decision.


    "Since the Virrai family has been willing to provide more benefits from the initial offer," Khan announced, "I''m inclined to favor them in this auction."


    Princess Virrai immediately smiled in victory, and Prince Catlee gracefully epted that defeat. He nodded in understanding, offering his hand to his fellow noble. Princess Virrai shook it, and Prince Catlee stepped back to give her all the spotlight she needed.


    "I wee you to the Virrai family, Miss Conche," Princess Virrai dered. "I promise we''ll treat you with the respect you earned through your incredible performance in Prince Khan''s


    tournament."

 Chapter 905: Tutoring

    Chapter 905: Tutoring


    ?


    ''The easy part is done,'' Khan thought while soldiers dealt with the auction''s conclusion.


    Troops entered the arena''s floor, escorting Alice inside one of its openings. A doctor was already waiting, and the same went for a representative from Khan''s family. Alice had to receive the tournament''s rewards before being handed to the Virrai family.


    The arena''s cameras followed Alice for a while before focusing on the terrace again. Prince Catlee and Princess Virrai had returned to their seats, leaving the stage to Princess Montares and Prince Rassec, and thatbination didn''t bode well for Khan.


    Ideally, Khan had to avoid creating enemy factions among the noble families. His position among the Nognes was stillplicated, so stirring displeasure could easily add leverage to an eventual ploy from his opposing distant rtives.


    Right now, the other faction of the Nognes family only had the evolved warriors'' card to y, which was challenging to authorize and deploy. However, they could begin to pursue business ventures against Khan if he gave the other nobles reason to hinder him.


    Dealing with the wealthy families was one thing. The descendants involved with Baoway''s businesses could handle their parents and rtives, and Khan could intervene through his noble authority if things reached a critical point.


    Yet, the same problem didn''t have an easy solution if the other noble families joined that trend. Luckily, Khan mostly had allies and cautious friendships in that environment, with the Rassec being the only ring exception.


    Truth be told, Khan found the matter highly annoying. All things considered, the Rassec family should be grateful to him for fixing Rick''s wimpy character. It had regained a Prince thanks to him, so the faction behind him should have offered support.


    Nevertheless, those issues were always extremely convoluted in those lofty environments. Back then, the Rassec family had given up on Rick, devolving its resources toward more promising prospects. Rick''s return had messed up those ns, and Khan''s problems didn''t end there.


    Khan had insulted Prince Samuel Rassec at Rick''s wedding, and the former had a far higher standing than thetter. Samuel was to me for that whole mess, but Khan had yet to im his noble lineage back then, resulting in a grudge.


    Princess Edna''s involvement in the mess didn''t help. Prince Samuel didn''t say it, but her interference had escted the situation. That lousy impression on a fellow noble family was no minor deal, and the Rassec family inevitably med Khan.


    Forgetting the grudge, especially after Khan''s rise to faction leader, would have been wise. Many had opted for a nk state since his partnership offered great benefits. Yet, the Rassec family had taken the opposite approach, holding to a faint enmity while pretending to retain a neutral position.


    Khan knew the two reasons for that. First of all, his current hesitation confirmed the approach''s viability. The Rassec family hoped Khan would favor it to make up for the grudge. The second reason was a matter of pride. Appearances and reputation had immense value in those lofty environments, and the Rassec family couldn''t ignore that offense. It would have been different if Khan had already been a noble, but the reality didn''t work in his favor.


    Princess Montares and Prince Rassec exchanged a smiling nod before thetter cleared his throat, bringing silence to the arena. Moses also stiffened, straightening his back. His auction was about to begin, and everyone was curious about the offers.


    "Mister Parket proved himself to be an exceptional and talented warrior," Prince Rassec announced. "His battle instincts match and surpass seasoned soldiers. Hence, the Rassec family is willing to have him as a potential suitor for our Princesses."


    The silencested a whole second before crumbling under the weight of deafening cries. The arena went wild as shouts resounded from every corner of the stage. The offer left everyone shocked, including Khan and Princess Montares.


    Needless to say, Moses was the most shocked of them all. The offer surpassed his wildest expectations. The Rassec family wasn''t only willing to wee him. It offered a noble status, an unmatchable reward ording to the public.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Prince Rassec lifted his hand, and the arena slowly went silent. Once every shout stopped, he added something. "Of course, the Rassec family is only offering a chance. It would be up to Mister Parket to seize it."


    The addition made the offer more reasonable but no less shocking. The nobles had always been an unreachable and untouchable separate entity in the public eye, but the Rassec family had just opened its gates.


    Many inevitably moved their attention to Khan, albeit not for his job as a mediator. That behavior change obviously had him as its main cause. Khan had proven himself superior to the nobles, lowering the barriers between them and the public in the process. His life had


    revolutionized much, and he was still young.


    "How generous of the Rassec family," Princess Montares eximed, reiming the arena''s attention. "May I ask the reason behind such generosity?"


    Princess Montares was doing Khan a favor with that question, and he knew it. Khan was only a mediator, so he couldn''t probe Prince Rassec''s intentions. Yet, as her opponent, she had every right to do it.


    Also, eventual ws in Prince Rassec''s reasoning could benefit Princess Montares and tilt Khan''s decision in her favor. Still, Prince Rassec was too capable to fall for that trap.


    "Prince Khan proved that our ways need updates," Prince Rassec exined. "His involvements also seem to ensure sess, so we have great hopes for the winner of his tournament."


    Princess Montares smiled, but the answer clearly defeated her. Prince Rassec''s open praise of Khan left her with no real options. She could try to deny it and defend the noble ways, but that would insult Khan now.


    "The Montares family didn''t initially n such a grandiose offer," Princess Montares admitted. "However, Prince Rassec speaks the truth. Prince Khan has achieved more while having far less. It might be time we gave those promising enough better chances."


    Khan felt a headache forming inside his mind. Clearly, Princess Montares was acting on her own now, without consulting her family. She was exposing herself against Prince Rassec, and Khan''s eventualck of support would add insult to injury.


    "The Montares family is willing to engage in multiple business ventures with the Parket family," Princess Montares dered, "To build a prolonged cooperation and elevate its


    status."


    Gasps resounded among the stages. A partnership with the nobles could elevate any family, and Princess Montares'' wording promised more than that. Given enough time, the Parket family could hope to achieve the same status as the Cobsend through that offer. That path could also lead to descendants being married into noble families. It had greater potential than Prince Rassec''s offer, even if its greatest benefits wouldn''t be immediate. "Mister Parket''s achievements inside the Rassec family would lead to simr oues," Prince Rassec rebutted. "We wouldn''t forget his lineage and would listen to his requests. "Besides, sessfully seizing nobility would grant Mister Parket the power to improve his family status with his own hands."


    Moses felt he was hearing things. He forgot where he was, and his mouth hung open in disbelief. He had never dared to hope for such a bright future, but Princess Montares and Prince Rassec were fighting each other to elevate those dreams.


    Princess Montares hesitated. The bids were rtively even now. They simply prioritized different aspects of Moses'' life. One focused on his status, providing immediate personal benefits, while the other targeted his family, granting safer odds that could eventually lead to simr results.


    Still, Princess Montares didn''t want to leave the auction in Moses'' hands. He mightck the foresight to appreciate her offer, and she had already exposed herself. Losing now would affect her reputation inside her family and among fellow nobles.


    "The Montares family is willing to add a factual engagement to one of its Princesses," Princess Montares dered, lifting her hand before the arena could go crazy, "On the condition that Mister Parket receives Prince Khan''s tutge."


    Princess Montares lowered her hand, and chaos unfolded. Meanwhile, Moses felt like fainting. The Princess was offering the best of both worlds and having Khan as a Master was


    an additional reward.


    "The tournament''s rewards already include Prince Khan''s tutoring," Prince Rassec pointed


    out.


    "I obviously intended to prolong that training period," Princess Montares exined. "As long as Prince Khan is willing, of course."


    ''Just my luck with women,'' Khan cursed in his mind as the entire arena turned toward him.


    Even Moses couldn''t stop staring, his eyes full of hope and anticipation. Khan could ensure his noble status with a single word, and bing his disciple was a dreame true.


    The situation had countless political nuances. Khan himself was busy beyond reason, and many inside his organization already required his attention.


    Yet, meeting Moses'' gaze made those deeper thoughts pointless. Khan didn''t have the heart to shatter those innocent and genuine dreams. The emotions in Moses'' mana appealed to his


    kind side, defeating him.


    "Since it would be a request from the Montares family," Khan announced, "Concerning a future Prince, I''d be willing to prolong the tutoring."


    Moses had to use the entirety of his self-restraint to avoid jumping happily. He looked at the terrace, wondering whether Prince Rassec would have a counteroffer, and the arena''s audience imitated him. Still, Prince Rassec remained silent.


    Moses nced at Khan again, receiving a silent nod. Stiffness reced his excitement while


    he bowed at the terrace, but clear words escaped his mouth afterward, and the arena echoed them. "I humbly ept Princess Montares'' offer and swear on my life to meet all the expectations generously ced on me."

 Chapter 906: Thanks

    Chapter 906: Thanks


    ?


    ''He should have thanked the Rassec, too,'' Khan thought, watching soldiers escort an ecstatic Moses into the arena''s interiors.


    Unlike Alice, Moses would remain on Baoway longer to receive Khan''s tutoring. His family had prepared suitable quarters, but the arrangements needed tweaking depending on how many of Moses'' rtives decided to stay with him.


    Once the arena''s doors closed, Khan had the entire stage for himself. Every camera and eye pointed at him, waiting for the announcement that would officially end the lengthy tournament.


    Khan decided to take a silent moment to build expectations and mentally summarize his achievements. The tournament had definitely seeded in improving his status and poprity. Its rewards, opportunities, and audience were also bound to make the entire Global Army beg for more, but Khan focused on different aspects.


    Many descendants from minor and obscure families had fought on that metal floor. Hundreds of young men and women with bleak futures had seized the chance to prove to the Global Army that they could be more than simple soldiers. Some had even seeded, starting events that would keep thework entertained for the months toe.


    That was proper good. That was something Khan had almost given up on doing. All hispromises, sacrifices, and efforts had finally improved the lives of those outside his inner circle. It had taken a lot of blood, corpses, and countless tears, but Khan had truly started to shape the future for the better.


    Of course, much could still go wrong. The Global Army''s core institutions had remained unchanged, but it was a start, a trend that would continue and intensify as long as Khan existed. He had begun to change the same system that had punished him, and saving the younger generation from his same tragedies had always been one of his goals.


    The tournament''s benefits didn''t only extend to the minor families. They weren''t limited to Khan''s fame and status, either. The event gave him the chance to improve his rtionship with multiple alien species, obtaining technologies that attracted new and old allies. Khan had also found curious elements, broadening his perspective on the mana.


    Nitpicks aside, the tournament had achieved and surpassed its lofty goals, forcing Khan to deem it aplete sess. He didn''t even need to wait to read the public opinion on thework. That absolute triumph was evident for everyone to see, meaning problematic cogs were already in motion.


    ''They will have to act now,'' Khan thought, lifting his eyes at the stages. ''Everyone will.''


    "Allow me to express my gratitude," Khan announced. "Your overwhelming participation is what made this tournament possible. I also hope my''s hospitality met your standards. I did the best I could as a first-timer."


    Roars filled the stages, giving Khan a clear answer. The tournament had ended, but the audience''s excitement was still palpable.


    "Thank you, thank you," Khan chuckled, lifting his hand to demand silence. "Before anyone asks, yes. I n on repeating this event next year. The rules might change, but this tournament is set to return."


    Another wave of excited cries washed over Khan. The distance between the stages and the battlefield gave the audience a false sense offort, leading to a few shameless shouts. Some even asked Khan to start the second tournament right away, but he only smiled upon hearing them.


    "Now," Khan continued. "I think special thanks are due."


    Khan pointed at the terrace, slightly lowering his head in respect. "I wish to express my gratitude to the Princes and Princesses who indulged my whims and odd rules. Their presence is what gives relevance to my tournament."


    Apuses and more unfolded as screens zoomed in on the noble representatives. Khan was giving them the attention and respect their status demanded, perfectly abiding by the political rules of those environments.


    "And if you wish to know how difficult it is to amodate my whims," Khan added. "Just ask my Fianc¨¦e."


    Some screens zoomed in on Monica, who shot a half-re at Khan before exchanging cheerful jokes with the terrace''s guests. The audience alsoughed, enjoying that light- hearted joke.


    "Additional thanks should be given to the Fuveall teams currently on the," Khan eximed. "They helped build the very seats you are sitting on, and I hope this is only the beginning of a long partnership."


    A round of apuses unfolded, albeit short. The Fuveall had never stepped foot on the arena, so the audience''s cheers didn''t have much energy behind them. Still, that was to be expected. "I also wish to thank the Ef''i," Khan continued. "Tlexicpalli, know that your presence is very much appreciated. I hope my can wee more Ef''i in the future."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Tlexicpalli lifted her wed hand, earning herself more cheers than before. Still, she quickly nced at the Thilku Lords, knowing they would follow.


    "Atst," Khan stated. "The greatest ally I could ask for. To the Thilku Empire, you have my deepest gratitude."


    Khan performed a Thilku traditional bow, lifting the cape to assume the proper position. In response, Lord Exr and Lord Rsi stood up, imitating his gesture. That show of great respect didn''t go unnoticed by those who knew the Thilku ways, but no onemented on it. "Very well," Khan eximed. "My first tournament is officially over. However, I hope you''ll all stay for tonight''s celebrations. It''s yourst chance to spend my money, so take it." Laughs and cheers filled the arena, and Khan waved his hand at the stages a few times before setting off. He instantly appeared on the terrace, and the guests promptly weed him.


    "A fine speech," Lord Rsi said, beating the other guests to it and offering his six-fingered hand to Khan. "This tournament was quite pleasurable, [Blue Shaman]."


    "I''ll make the next more pleasurable, [My Lord]," Khan promised, shaking Lord Rsi''s hand. "If you wish, you could be part of the nning."


    "[Ah]!" Lord Rsi cried. "[The Blue Shaman knows it takes a Thilku to please a Thilku]."


    "We can discuss that another time," Lord Exr intervened. "We''ll have plenty of chances anyway."


    Khan nodded as Lord Rsi retracted his hand. The Thilku had long since gained a stable footing on Baoway. Khan only needed to call, and an alien leader would arrive. The''s unique location also favored travels from the Empire, making that distance almost nonexistent.


    "I must insist you involve us, too, Prince Khan," Tlexicpalli joined the conversation. "Your entertaining tournament gave me many ideas I''d happily share."


    "I''ll obviously have room for the Ef''i," Khan swore. "Now, excuse me. I have to congratte myself with Princess Virrai and Princess Montares."


    The aliens let Khan go, and he only had the time to exchange a knowing nce with Monica before reaching the nobles. The four who had joined the final auctions were on the frontlines, aware Khan would address them.


    "Your generosity was unexpected but well-received," Khan announced. "You elevated my tournament in ways I couldn''t. Thank you."


    "It''s us who must thank you, Prince Khan," Princess Virrai responded. "Your tournament highlighted many hidden gems that are sure to improve our future."


    "And the tournament itself was utmost enjoyable," Prince Catlee added. "A fine event


    indeed."


    "I admit it was a long endeavor," Prince Rassecined. "However, I''m sure I''ll miss these exciting days. Mypliments, Prince Khan."


    "There will be another next year, won''t there be?" Princess Montares eximed, her polite smile hiding her slight distress. "I hope you can forgive me, but could I ask for a private moment with Prince Khan? I must finalize some details to convey them to my family."


    Everyone understood how unusual that request was. The tournament had just ended. The time for celebrations had begun, and even Khan didn''t try to escape them. He had to attend the final parties since he was the event''s organizer.


    Princess Montares was basically exposing her distress through that request, and connecting it to the auction didn''t take a genius. Still, no one opposed her. Learning that information was more valuable than publicly contesting a fellow noble.


    "I''ll leave you in my Fianc¨¦e''s capable hands," Khan said, witnessing the various nods and


    short approvals.


    Princess Montares seized Khan''s elbow while the two headed for the terrace''s back, crossing the lines of waiters to upy the elevator. Khan dealt with the controls, taking the two into an empty area below the ground.


    "That was unusual for you," Khanmented, escaping Princess Montares'' grasp and walking deeper into the room.


    "I overextended my hand," Princess Montares admitted, ncing at Khan''s back before


    lowering her head.


    "The engagement?" Khan wondered.


    "I don''t have the authority to promise an engagement," Princess Montares confirmed, "But losing face before the Rassec... The alliances also had to be clear."


    The auctions didn''t only favor Khan''s tournament and the targeted descendants. They also worked as public announcements where the nobles could show off their wealth and authority. The world now believed Princess Montares could arrange marriages inside her family, considerably elevating her position.


    "You could always marry him yourself," Khan suggested, half-joking and half-serious about


    the idea.


    "You must make him the best," Princess Montares ordered, lifting her angry eyes to try to pierce Khan''s seemingly uncaring back. "If you are even half of what you im to be." Princess Montares couldn''t finish her line since a boulder fell on her body. The scene in her vision changed. The warehouse-like room vanished, reced by a bone armor immersed in blue light. Khan stared down at her with a hand nted on the wall behind her.


    "Who do you think you are talking to?" Khan asked, clear danger in his voice. Princess Montares had every reason to feel terrified, but her mind opted for a different reaction. She lowered her head, leaning forward to ce her forehead on Khan''s bone armor.


    He initially didn''t understand why he didn''t stop her, but the sniff that reached his ears


    exined everything.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Shoutout to Divine_Noel for the Magic Castle!

 Chapter 907: Breakdown

    Chapter 907: Breakdown


    ?


    Princess Montares was an ally, a friend even, but the pool had intensified certain extreme aspects of Khan''s personality. Princess Montares'' disrespectful words had made Khan snap, but her reaction to his threat quelled that feeling.


    Princes and Princesses received strict and severe education from an early age. Still, they weren''t stranger to mistakes or asional mental breakdowns. Rachel seemed to be going through both now, and all her training couldn''t stop her tears.


    Khan gazed at the silky blonde hair under him, and his senses updated him on everything else. Rachel was shaking, fighting a losing battle to retain herposure. She squeezed her fists, desperately trying to salvage a modicum of self-control, but her sniffs and leaned head had already exposed her.


    ''It had to be a woman,'' Khan cursed before heaving a sigh. Appearances aside, Princess Montares had done nothing but help him and was now experiencing a difficult phase. Consoling her was the friendly thing to do.


    "Easy," Khan whispered, the hand on the wall descending on Princess Montares'' hair. "It''s my bad. I shouldn''t have joked about it."


    Princess Montares held firm to her dwindling self-restraint, but the gentle caress on her hair shattered that resolve. Her fists rxed, giving in to her distress and searching for any source of emotional support. She was already leaning on Khan, and her arms soon joined her forehead.


    Khan instinctively lifted his hands in innocence when Princess Montares hugged him. His expression became the embodiment of guilty awkwardness, but Rachel only squeezed him tighter. Childish vibes tainted the symphony, describing the Princess'' mental state, which Khan sadly understood.


    Nobles and wealthy descendants rarely had the opportunity to build honest friendships or rtionships. Their emotional sides were often underdeveloped, suffocated by their families'' expectations. Khan had seen that with Monica and could only guess Rachel had experienced far worse.


    Khan heaved another helpless sigh, lowering his hands. One returned to Rachel''s head while the other went on her back, patting it in an attempt to reassure her.


    "There, there," Khan said. "Don''t worry. I''ll tutor Mister Parket properly. I''ll turn him into a monster, just like me."


    Khan''s words seemed to work since Rachel''s hug lost some strength. Yet, she still held onto him, hiding her face while hysterical sniffs unfolded.


    "I''ll also mediate with your family if needed," Khan promised. "I know I''m good, so it''s just about buying time until Mister Parket bes worthy of a Princess."


    A few louder sniffs resounded before silence filled that recluse area. Rachel''s mana also confirmed that she was calming down, but her arms didn''t move from Khan''s torso.


    "Really?" Princess Montares asked, incredulous. Khan had no business with her family, and interfering with its internal affairs was bound to bring problems to his doorstep. No sane man would do that when the nobles were involved.


    "What''s another political feud anyway?" Khan scoffed. "Besides, the solution is always the same. I must make myself necessary, irreceable, and impossible to oppose."


    Khan''s statement had almost sounded like a joke, but Princess Montares knew he was slowly achieving those goals. His power and alien connections made him unique in the entirety of the Global Army, and the benefits of having him around increased by the day.


    Princess Montares broke the hug, and her hands slid over Khan''s sides until they reached the bone armor. She held onto it, looking up at his glowing eyes. That light carried immense, oppressive pressure, but Rachel felt strangely safe under it.


    "You are truly weak to women," Princess Montaresmented, lowering her head to hide her expression. "Some waterworks and you are ready to rush in my defense against my family." "The haughty and mighty pretense doesn''t work when you are still clinging to me," Khan chuckled. "Saying that you were trying to hit on me would have been more believable."


    "Prince Khan!" Princess Montares gasped, her head snapping up. "I would never do something so reprehensible!"


    "So, this is how Princesses behave," Khan tsk-tsked. "They lure engaged men into closets and trick them into cheating."


    "This is no closet!" Princess Montares shouted before realizing she didn''t exactly know where she was. "I think. Still, that has never been my intention!"


    Khan smirked but didn''t tease Rachel any further. His hand slid downward, reaching the Princess'' cheek to wipe the wet trails left by her tears.


    "Did you calm down?" Khan asked, his attention still on the dry tears.


    Rachel heard the question, but her mouth didn''t move. The care in Khan''s touch left her speechless. She had seen him deflect lightning bolts with his bare hands, but those same fingers were the gentlest she had ever experienced.


    The same went for Khan''s expression. His cold, piercing, and dangerous vibe was nowhere to be seen now. Rachel felt protected like never before, and her heart inevitably skipped a beat.


    "You are a walking contradiction, Prince Khan," Princess Montaresmented, stepping back to escape Khan''s gentle touch. "An appealing one."


    Princess Montares gulped, closing her eyes to calm herself down. Still, reopening them showed Khan''s confident and teasing smirk, turning her gaze into a re. Suddenly, she understood why Monica hit him.


    "Don''t tease me," Princess Montares sighed. "The situation is serious."


    "Not really," Khan stated, shrugging his shoulders. "You gambled. I''ll make it worth it. It''s as simple as that."


    Princess Montares didn''t know whether to feel reassured or scream. Khan was right, but summarizing her colossal issue into those short lines felt wrong. Her position was at stake, and Khan looked more interested in teasing her.


    "Stop smiling like that!" Princess Montares cried, crossing her arms. "It doesn''t feel good."


    "Get used to it," Khanughed, reaching Rachel and patting her head. "I don''t think I''ve ever seen a Princess cry. That was quite the experience."


    "Stop!" Princess Montaresined, pushing away the hand on her. "I''m a Princess, and we aren''t even that close. You should refrain yourself-."


    "Yeah, yeah," Khan muttered, activating the elevator. "We''ll talk moreter. I''ll have to introduce you to the others properly, too. Right, wee to my inner circle."


    Princess Montares couldn''t see Khan''s face but realized something monumental had shifted. Khan had dropped any form of political politeness, treating Rachel in ways she had never


    seen.


    Also, Rachel knew she couldn''t oppose that development. Her mistake was real, and she needed Khan''s help to fix it. In a way, she waspletely in his power, but strangely, the situation didn''t make her feel trapped.


    "Do you need a mirror before going back to the terrace?" Khan wondered, stepping inside the elevator. "Monica has backup makeup stuff here. I only have to remember which bathroom."


    Princess Montares recalled something while Khan scratched his head, looking at the elevator''s controls. Teases aside, many could misunderstand the situation, and Rachel liked Monica. She liked Khan, too, but that was a different problem.


    "Khan," Princess Montares called, entering the elevator and pulling Khan''s arm. "Don''t tell Monica about this. I don''t want her to misunderstand."


    "I''ll obviously tell her," Khan responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I


    tell her everything."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "But-," Rachel tried toin, startled.


    "You cried on me," Khan scoffed, interrupting Rachel. "Big deal. Well, I won''t hear the end of it, but you two can start to be real friends now, at least."


    Princess Montares was speechless once again. She had never been part of a simr world, and the thought had never crossed her mind, either. As a Princess, each of her actions could have immense repercussions, especially when involving an infamous man like Khan. Yet, he didn''t


    look worried at all.


    Truth be told, Khan didn''t seem to care, either, which annoyed Rachel. She wouldn''t have cried with anyone. She had let herself go because it was Khan, but his apparent disregard told her he didn''t appreciate her trust.


    "Prince Khan, I cried on you," Rachel scolded. "Please, realize how difficult it was for me."


    "You need to ask Monica''s permission for the next hug," Khan half-mindedly said, finally pressing one of the elevator''s controls. "Other than that, sleeping and bathing together is definitely out of the question."


    "What are you even saying?!" Princess Montares gasped.


    "Sorry," Khanughed, enjoying the astounded Rachel. "It''s better to draw the line early on."


    Princess Montares felt she was taking crazy pills. She would have never expected Khan to have such a yful side to him. She knew he teased Monica, but that behavior was on another level. "What did I even get myself into?" Princess Montares sighed, shaking her head. "Will you act like this in public, too?"


    "I can''t yet," Khan admitted. "But hey. You wanted my friendship. You have it. It was about time one of you nobles went mask-off."


    "You are also a noble, Prince Khan," Princess Montares pointed out, a chuckle escaping her mouth. She promptly closed it, noticing how out of character that reaction was, but Khan didn''t let it slide.


    "I''m already growing on you," Khan teased. "You are in deep trouble, Princess."

 Chapter 908: Expansion

    Chapter 908: Expansion


    ?


    Khan''s friendly mood continued while he apanied Princess Montares to one of the arena''s restricted bathrooms. He held back whenever they encountered soldiers or other guests, but those instances didn''t improve Rachel''s situation.


    The intimate and emotional moment had unlocked something in Princess Montares'' mind. As per habit and political education, she clung to Khan''s elbow in public, walking side by side with him. Yet, that harmless gesture felt different now.


    Princess Montares had be aware of something only Monica should have known. The kindness behind Khan''s touch had taken root in her brain, bing a constant reminder of what he was capable of.


    Rachel would usually ignore those troubling thoughts, focusing on her political education. However, clinging to Khan''s arm intensified that reminded, often making her mentally wander in ideas she didn''t dare to voice.


    Nevertheless, to Princess Montares'' disappointment, the two eventually reached the terrace, rejoining the mandatory social events. She had to snap out of her daze and let Khan go, watching him reunite with the one who owned his heart.


    "Is everything okay, Princess Montares?" Princess Virrai asked, alerting Rachel about the representatives'' attention on her. They didn''t notice anything odd, but the Princess had still returned from an unusual request.


    "Of course," Princess Montares reassured. "I apologize for taking this long. As you know, our paperwork never ends."


    "It''s understandable," Princess Virrai nodded. "I''ll also be swamped after tonight."


    "Let us enjoy it, then," Princess Montares said, smiling and regaining her usualposure. Yet, something immediately tried to break it.


    "Rachel," Monica called, approaching the group of representatives. "Ron sent a message. Could you apany me to pick Princess Edna up?"


    The whooshing of engines spread through the terrace, giving Princess Montares time to think. Ships descended toward the area, stretching their metal ramps and waiting for the guests to climb them.


    "If you''d follow me," Khan announced, iming the terrace''s attention. "We are heading to the party''s location. Monica, Rachel, I''ll see you there."


    Rachel felt deprived of her chance to refuse Monica. She watched the guests hopping on the ships and departing, leaving only one ride for the two women. That situation had be unavoidable, but part of her knew it was better to address it as soon as possible.


    Moreover, Princess Montares felt the need to talk with someone, and Monica probably was the only one who could understand her.


    The two women exchanged a meaningful look before silently climbing on the remaining ship. They sat in the cargo area rearranged into a quasi-living room, and the Princess eventually mustered the courage to speak up.


    "I overyed my hand in the auction for Mister Parket," Princess Montares exined. "I didn''t have permission to offer an engagement. Khan reassured me."


    The two women were sitting side by side on the same small couch, but Rachel had her head lowered, seemingly ashamed to look at Monica. Meanwhile, Monica dissected the Princess'' words and behavior, checking whether something tickled her woman''s senses.


    "He is good at that," Monicamented. "Too good for his own good."


    "I-," Princess Montares said, hesitating before sighing. "I lost it for a bit. I cried and clung to him until I calmed down."


    Monica would lie if she said she didn''t care, but her jealousy wasn''t strictly rational. She trusted Khanpletely and knew he would have never let Rachel touch him like that if she had impure intentions. Yet, her mood swings threatened to arrive anyway.


    It didn''t help that Rachel''s beauty matched Monica''s. Appearance-wise, they were simr, albeit on opposite ends of the spectrum. Monica had curly ck hair, while Rachel''s was blonde and soft. Monica had smooth dark skin, while Rachel''s was porcin and spotless. Their eyes shared the same color, but Monica''s blue was cold, while Rachel''s was warm.


    Still, Rachel surpassed Monica in some aspects. She was a Princess, a better match for Khan''s current status. She could provide the kind of political support Monica could only dream about. Moreover, Rachel''s character was more suited for a leadership position. Monica had matured a lot, but her crazy sides didn''t disappear. Meanwhile, Rachel was calm, collected, and courteous. She would create fewer problems for Khan and wouldn''t hinder his daily life. "He is surprisingly gentle," Princess Montaresmented. "I knew he was protective but believed that applied to his partners. It makes sense with you, but..."


    "He is, isn''t he?" Monica sighed. "Him and his damned kindness. You can''t fathom how many problems it has caused."


    "I can refuse his help," Princess Montares said, "If that''s what you want."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "I couldn''t stop him even if I tried," Monica scoffed. "Besides, I fell for that stupid side of him. I love it, even if it keeps attracting women from every background and species." Princess Montares peeked at Monica, who had leaned on the couch''s back and crossed her arms. She looked pissed, but not at her.


    "You''d think one species would be enough," Monicained, "But no. I have to worry about every alien in the universe, too. Do you know how many women there are? Too many."


    Princess Montares wouldugh if she weren''t part of that group. However, she didn''t delude herself. She knew Khan belonged to Monica and wanted things to remain that way. She was simply also aware of her feelings.


    "I won''t try to take him away from you," Princess Montares promised. "I envy what you have but want to see it flourish, not ruined."


    Monica studied Princess Montares'' expression. The situation still annoyed her, but Rachel''s words sounded genuine. She looked truly troubled about the matter, and Monica couldn''t really me her for relying on Khan. Monica knew her Fianc¨¦ had a talent for getting himself involved in those matters.


    "No sleeping nor bathing together," Monica warned.


    "What''s up with that?" Princess Montares questioned. "Did something happen? Khan used the same words."


    "Just keep that in mind," Monica said, refusing to borate further. "And try to avoid gazing longingly at him. He gets permissive when women do that."


    "You must have endured much due to Khan''s poprity," Princess Montares eximed.


    "I eventually epted it was part of the package," Monica revealed. "I can''t expect him to be as amazing as he is and not attract that type of attention."


    "It must be stressful," Princess Montaresmented.


    "It was for a time," Monica confirmed, "Mainly when I couldn''t publicly announce that I slept with him every night. We were living together, but I had to stay silent when waiters and whatnot tried to hit on him."


    Princess Montares could only imagine what Monica had gone through. Realistically, Khan had be unreachable to the general public only after Monica''s family approved their rtionship. That left a big window for potential suitors Monica had to endure silently.


    "It sure wasplicated," Princess Montares uttered. "It lookedplicated from the


    outside already."


    Monica rolled her eyes but didn''t speak. Truth be told, her rtionship had never been more solid. The current situation made those troublesome years worth it.


    "Is he truly that yful?" Princess Montares asked, unable to contain her curiosity. "Was he


    always like that?"


    "Martha told me he used to be worse," Monica revealed. "Martha Weesso. He has a way of annoying you while drawing you closer."


    "So," Princess Montares said, reassured, "It wasn''t only me. I thought I was crazy." Princess Montares realized her mistake when she spotted Monica''s re. Her moment with Khan had been innocent, but appearances would disagree, especially before his Fianc¨¦e.


    "Khan thinks we can be proper friends now," Monica announced. "So, can I talk openly?" "Of course," Princess Montares responded. She genuinely felt guilty about the situation, so she wouldn''t refuse Monica over something like that.


    "You don''t have any chance with my Khan," Monica dered. "I''m not bragging. His brain works differently. He loves me, so only I exist in his eyes."


    Rachel couldn''t follow Monica''s statement but decided to trust her anyway. She knew Khan was unique, but her human mindset prevented her from understanding what Monica meant.


    "Also," Monica proudly imed, "I''ve spent years getting him addicted to me. You can''t


    compete."


    Princess Montares felt the urge to smile since the conversation seemed to be moving into jokes territory, but Monica''s cold gaze stopped that expression.


    "Still, if you decide to try anyway," Monica continued, "I won''t care about your title. I''m Prince Khan''s future wife. You touch him, I''ll burn you alive."


    The threat didn''t match Monica''s elegant demeanor at all. It had something wild and unrestrained to it, which Rachel would have more easily expected from Khan. Yet, the seriousness in Monica''s gaze spoke for its sincerity.


    "I won''t do anything," Princess Montares reassured. "Though teasing you isn''t out of the


    question."


    "That''s all you girls can do," Monica snorted. "I''ll still get to sleep in the Global Army''s best man''s arms almost every night."


    "Almost?" Princess Montares repeated. "Are there problems?"


    "Can we startining?" Monica realized. "You have no idea how much I have to tell you."


    While Monica and Princess Montares engaged in a lengthy conversation about every suppressed gripe, Khan led the other guests to one of the main city''s squares. The ce was rtively new, arranged specifically for that final party, and the most important figures gathered under a gazebo to enjoy refreshments and various shows.


    The conversations among the guests were mostly casual. Manypliments about the tournament reached Khan''s ears while jokes and more resounded under the gazebo. The general mood was cheerful and light-hearted, but the Thilku Lords knew how to change it. "The tournament was great," Lord Rsi announced, "Our negotiations keep being extremely beneficial, and I''m receiving positive feedback from your training grounds. Excellent, [Blue Shaman]."


    "You honor me, [My Lord]," Khan responded. "The Empire''s happiness is my happiness."


    "On that point," Lord Rsi stated. "The Empire has an interesting opportunity. Our domain expands quickly, and many systems are still uncolonized. You could handle that mission since many of our soldiers are here."


    The murmurs under the gazebo suddenly fell silent. Everyone focused on the conversation, knowing what it implied. Khan had also understood what Lord Rsi meant but wanted to be


    sure due to the topic''s sensitive nature. "What do you mean, [My Lord]?" Khan asked.


    "Some nearbys are avable," Lord Rsi exined. "The Empire would be grateful if you upied them in its name."

 Chapter 909: Child

    Chapter 909: Child


    ?


    Khan and Lord Rsi exchanged a meaningful stare while utter silence surrounded them. The alien was no stranger to politics, including the human ones, so Khan knew he had publicly voiced the request on purpose.


    The reason behind that action was obvious, and the symphony under the gazebo confirmed the n''s sess. Lord Rsi wanted to elevate Khan''s status among the human parties, showing how deeply the Empire trusted him.


    The nobles mainly saw the matter from a financial standpoint. More territory meant more potential businesses, which the connection with the Thilku Empire promised to make highly remunerative.


    Meanwhile, Mister Cirvags had a deeper understanding of the Thilku, leading to a deep


    stupor. The Empire didn''t only trust Khan with a monopoly over its friendship. It was also willing to let him wave its banner while upyings as if he were no different from a Lord.


    Nevertheless, Khan was the most surprised of them all. The offer was incredible and exactly what he needed to improve his political position. Yet, the fact that Lord Rsi was willing to announce it publicly also vouched for how much their rtionship had improved.


    Lord Rsi also had the perfect justification. Khan hadpleted the training grounds, weing more Thilku and Ef''i on Baoway. He was keeping many troops upied, so the task sounded closer to assuming responsibility rather than requesting his help.


    "It would be my pleasure, [My Lord]," Khan announced. "Should we discuss the specifics in private?"


    "Not today," Lord Rsi responded. "Not with me. Tonight, we celebrate, and tomorrow, I must report directly to the Emperor. You''ll coordinate with Lord Exr."


    Khan looked past Lord Rsi, meeting Lord Exr''s gaze. A human would have found the task demeaning and insulting, but Khan saw nothing simr in Lord Exr''s expression and mana. The two seemed to understand each other during that silent moment, both experiencing some eagerness for the imminent meeting.


    The noble representatives wanted to jump at the opportunity to establish preemptive deals, but the vague nature of Khan''s task prevented them froming up with valid offers. The Empire also didn''t y in the same political field, forcing them to refrain from questioning Lord Rsi about the mission''s details. They had to stay put and wait for more developments, leaving all the leverage in Khan''s hands.


    Khan could read the general mood without needing to look at the symphony, but Lord Rsi had spoken. The matter was tomorrow''s problem. That day was about celebrations.


    And celebrations were precisely what unfolded. The Nognes family had spared no expense for the tournament''s end, providing spectacles, fancy refreshments, and more.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The quadrant''s businesses also helped out, offering free services and entertaining announcements to advertise themselves to that wealthy audience. The main guests sometimes had to change location to attend every celebration, but the rides never felt annoying or time-consuming.


    Needless to say, the celebrations stretched deep into the night, culminating in a series of polite salutes and heartfelt goodbyes. Khan''s business partners didn''t steal much of his time since they would travel often to the, but Cora, Amber, Martha, and a few others did. Khan made sure of that since they deserved it.


    The goodbyes pushed the celebrations past the night and near dawn. Khan freed himself of every social obligation only when Baoway''s star was about to rise, and he watched the magnificent event unfold from the city''s tallest building''s terrace.


    The grey-blue sky gradually grew brighter as Baoway''s star appeared on the distant horizon, shining light on Khan''s domain. Warmth fought against the morning''s chill, slowly defeating it.


    Other lights soon appeared. Hundreds of shing objects rose into the sky, heading for the''s orbit or the various teleports around the quadrant. The horde of guests attracted by the tournament quickly departed, making one final ruckus before Baoway could retrieve its almost-forgotten peace.


    That spectacle was the culmination of almost two months of battles. It was one of the longest events in the history of the Global Army, and its end only marked the beginning of the next. Khan knew the preparations for the following year''s tournament had to start immediately, and his other duties left no room for breaks. That moment was thest he would have for a long time.


    The Fuveall imnts, the training grounds, the Scalqa, the magic items, the pool, Colonel Norrett, Mister Parket, Mister Foxnor, and more were bound to upy every second of Khan''s following days. So, he lingered on that moment, appreciating what he had achieved and that


    fragile peace.


    Someone eventually joined Khan''s silent and lonely moment. A familiar figure stepped on the terrace and approached him, finding afortable ce under his arm.


    Khan caressed Monica''s head while she leaned on him, but his eyes remained on the horizon. Soon, he might have to depart for others and add them to his domain. He had started as a simple miner in co''s slums, but entire star systems had just ended within his reach.


    "How did your goodbyes go?" Khan eventually asked, breaking the peaceful silence and announcing that he was ready to return to reality.


    "They went well," Monica responded, a yawn interrupting her. "Long, but well. The girls promised to visit again soon."


    "You could visit them, too," Khan suggested. "It''s stressing, but I know you enjoy hanging around with them."


    "Only because they help me buy clothes to show to you," Monica chuckled. "I''ve been running out of new stufftely."


    "We''ve been running out of avable wardrobes," Khan pointed out. "Do I have to build an entire city of warehouses for your clothes?"


    "Yes," Monica nodded. "You must."


    Khan lowered his head, meeting Monica''s yful gaze. She was obviously joking, but seeing her in that cozy and rxed mood felt nice.


    "Ok," Khan said. "I''ll build it."


    Monica only smiled. She knew Khan would actually do it if she asked, but he had other


    problems to prioritize. Monica wouldn''t add her whims to them.


    "I must stay here," Monica shook her head. "Much requires my attention, especially when


    you are about to fly away."


    "I''m sorry for dumping all of this on you," Khan eximed.


    "Don''t," Monica reassured. "I know what I signed up for, and it''s my role as your Fianc¨¦e.


    Besides, you are terrible at managing stuff."


    "And the scolding begins," Khanughed. "I knew it wasing."


    "I''m not angry about Rachel," Monica stated. "Well, I am, but that''s a given. I wouldn''t be


    your woman if I weren''t."


    "No, you wouldn''t," Khan confirmed.


    "Also," Monica continued, "If even Princesses fall for you, it means I was right all along. You have always deserved a crown."


    Khan reached for his head, lifting the bone crown before his eyes. At times, he forgot he was wearing it. That simple but heavy item had started to be part of himself.


    "Just don''t start thinking you can build a harem or something," Monica warned. "You can take everything you want, but your dick is only mine."


    "That''s my Fianc¨¦e," Khan chuckled, entranced by Monica''s pout. "You know I don''t work like that. I only want you."


    Monica was still ying around, but the statement''sst part changed her mood. Her pout disappeared as she lost herself in her Fianc¨¦''s tricky honesty.


    "You are so unfair at times," Monicained, slipping out of Khan''s arm and pushing


    him. "Get down."


    Khan smirked butplied, sitting on the metal floor and enjoying the view. Monica


    followed him down, climbing on hisp and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He expected a kiss, but she didn''t lean forward, lowering her head asplex thoughts filled her


    mind.


    "You will colonize thoses, won''t you?" Monica asked. "Colonize them for the Thilku


    Empire."


    "Of course," Khan confirmed. "I suspect they''ll leave them to me, too."


    "They probably will," Monica agreed. "They don''t have the numbers to upy them anyway. They just want you to nt their banner there."


    "And I was running out of space," Khan continued. "I''ll fill them with businesses in no time."


    "Will you call that witch''s species, too?" Monica wondered.


    Khan hesitated. He had held back on summoning the Nele on Baoway due to itsplicated political environment. Yet, the others could give him the chance to address that


    promise once and for all.


    "Depends on thes," Khan eximed. "Still, I wish they''ll be suitable."


    "And that would be another species under your belt," Monicamented. "The Empire might make you a Lord. I bet they''ll introduce you to the Emperor soon." "Monica," Khan called, reaching for Monica''s chin to lift her face. "What''s up?"


    Khan''s ability to see Monica''s mana couldn''t help him there. He felt her distress, but its


    source remained obscure.


    "It''s nothing," Monica reassured. "I would have preferred the offer came from the Global Army, but they are slow as usual."


    Khan understood what Monica meant. She liked seeing Khan obtain the respect and power he


    deserved. Still, she remained a human, so she wanted humankind to back him up properly.


    However, Khan seemed to stray further and further away from humankind, both politically and personally. Monica obviously didn''t me him. She knew he had to push himself even further, but her worries weren''t rational.


    "Humankind will bend the knee," Khan promised, "Or I''ll eventually force it to do so."


    The statement changed Monica''s mood again, but she temporarily retrained herself to make


    onest request.


    "The colonization will take time," Monica announced. "The Empire will probably call you


    more often, too. You''ll be away, and I''ll spend weeks waiting for you."


    "Do you want me to stay?" Khan asked.


    "No," Monica shook her head. "I know you must go. I know you want to go. I won''t try to stop


    you, but you must do something for me."


    "Anything," Khan said, almost breaking Monica''s self-restraint. "Once you get back," Monica continued, "Marry me and give me a child."

 Chapter 910: Mission

    Chapter 910: Mission


    ?


    Thete hour in which the celebrations ended gave everyone some leeway. Workers and cleaners aside, the quadrant was silent, with most important figures asleep or resting in their private chambers.


    Khan had been thest to fall asleep, but his unique body made him the first to open his eyes. He was in one of his bedrooms, with Monicafortably resting on his chest. He would have usually lingered a few minutes in that cozy atmosphere, but the many tasks on his list forced him to slip away immediately.


    A short shower followed, and Khan half-considered checking his phone afterward, but the sea of notifications quickly killed the idea. The tournament was over, and most guests had started engaging in interviews to share their opinions of the event, setting thework on fire.


    The time to check thework''s general opinion woulde, but Khan was above that now. He had people working on filtering through the sea of information to highlight its main points, which was what he would eventually read.


    Khan went to retrieve something to eat and a drink spiked with the toxic substance, but the walk brought him before another awake figure. His Uncle was inside a meeting room, hard at work before holograms, consoles, and multiple screens.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "How does it look?" Khan asked, entering the room and upying the chair beside his Uncle. His attention was mostly on his bowl, but the food inside disappeared in no time.


    "Nephew," Prince Thomas called, sighing. "We spent quite a fortune, but our prospects are bright. I admit I''ve never seen so many business requests."


    "Are our rtives among them?" Khan wondered, inspecting the screens.


    "They didn''t send anything definitive," Prince Thomas revealed, "Except for the request for a meeting and the desire to be part of the next tournament."


    "Who could have guessed?" Khan mocked. "Make them wait. I have much to handle first."


    "I''ve already conveyed those intentions," Prince Thomas stated. "I''ve also started optimizing some aspects of the tournament."


    "What''s your conclusion?" Khan questioned, emptying his drink and suppressing his slight disgust.


    "It''s too long," Prince Thomas replied. "Each week we remove from the tournament will save us a lot of money."


    "Alright, do it," Khan ordered, standing up. "About the others, are they in the ssroom already?"


    "The lesson isn''t scheduled for another hour," Prince Thomas eximed. "I figured you wanted to rest with your Fianc¨¦e longer than usual."


    "One hour isn''t exactly my definition of longer," Khanmented. "Anyway, I''m awake. Warn the two kids."


    "Professor Parver also disclosed his interest in the lesson," Prince Thomas revealed.


    "Did he?" Khan asked. "Sure, warn him, too. I''ll head there right now."


    "As you wish, My Prince," Prince Thomas stated, using the console before him to forward that request.


    Khan was about to leave the room when a thought crossed his mind. He rolled his eyes, unwilling to tackle those topics with his Uncle. Yet, his brain kept reminding him of how wise the move would be.


    "Say, Uncle," Khan called, leaning on the room''s exit and scratching his head. "Do you think this is a good moment to have a child?"


    Prince Thomas had rarely diverted his gaze from the screens during the conversation, but the question made him turnpletely. He faced his Nephew, understanding what he meant and the seriousness of the topic.


    "Is Miss Solodrey pregnant?" Prince Thomas asked.


    "No," Khan replied. "Not yet, at least."


    Prince Thomas understood much from Khan''s expression and few words. He could probe further but decided to refrain himself, sticking to Khan''s initial question.


    "It would be perfect," Prince Thomas announced. "It would solidify your position and leadership inside the family, too. A male heir would even ensure your lineage."


    "Lineage, huh," Khan muttered. His thoughts had never reached those distant fields. He mostly cared about Monica and his potential child''s safety, but his position inevitably created a politicalyer. Still, Prince Thomas had reassured him there.


    Prince Thomas waited for additional questions, but Khan departed without saying anything. His mind wandered over the issue while his legs went on autopilot, bringing him to a vast hall downstairs.


    The building didn''t have proper ssrooms, but its interactive training halls could easily be rearranged to serve that purpose. The small number of students also helped, limiting the preparations to a few desks and seats.


    Khan was the first to arrive at the ssroom, and waiters followed to prepare everything for the lesson. The hall didn''t need much, but Khan took that chance to seize more food and drinks, which ended before the three students could cross the entrance.


    Eventually, a smiling Professor Parver, a timid Roger Foxnor, and an excited Moses Parket entered the hall, finding Khan sitting cross-legged on the biggest interactive desk. The trio bowed, but Khan only nodded at the other seats, trying to start the lesson as soon as possible. "Before we start," Khan announced once everyone took their seat. "Professor Parver, you know you don''t have to attend. Your procedure doesn''t require this knowledge."


    "I''m aware, Prince Khan," Professor Parver responded. "However, I figured the lesson would give me a better understanding of what might happen to me. Also, I''m interested in what my former student has to teach."


    "Very well," Khan nodded. "Then, let''s look at your individual situations."


    "Mister Foxnor here has a unique element," Khan continued, "A living element, as I like to call it. The human methods can''t teach him how to control and deploy it, so maybe mine can." Roger wasn''t used to being in the spotlight, but the strange interaction with his element had stirred some curiosity. He wanted to learn more about it, especially since it could improve his future. Moreover, Khan''s interest had put pressure on his family and him, forcing him to


    tackle the matter seriously.


    "Next is Professor Parver," Khan announced. "The Professor suffers from a unique mana illness which damages the host. In a way, his situation is simr to Mister Foxnor''s, albeit


    unnatural. That makes it more dangerous."


    Professor Parver coughed, but his smile quickly returned. His condition was slowly worsening, but the time inside Khan''sbs had temporarily stabilized it.


    "Lastly," Khan added, "Mister Parket, the tournament''s winner. Princess Montares asked me to make him worthy of an engagement inside a noble family, and I only know one way of


    doing that."


    Khan waited for the trio to absorb his words before continuing. "We''ll start with general mana theories today. I''ll demonstrate some if we have time, but focus on broadening your minds. If you want to learn this stuff, your whole understanding of mana has to change."


    The lesson unfolded with breaks or questions. The trio focused on Khan''s exnation, which he had kept as general and simple as possible. There would be time for deeper details and specifics, but establishing a solid foundation had toe first.


    Khan''s duties didn''t end once the lesson was over. Actually, the day''s most important obligation had yet toe, and Khan addressed it once the night arrived. He flew outside the city, heading for the Thilku Empire''s embassy, where a meeting was ready to start.


    The alien soldiers before and inside the building moved aside at Khan''s passage, performing traditional bows and muttering his title. His figure had long since earned utmost respect in those environments, allowing him to reach the meeting room without interruptions.


    Lord Exr was already in the room, sitting behind a circr control desk. Red symbols shone everywhere, describing information Khan could read. Still, his attention focused on the huge figure and the holograms before him.


    "[My Lord]," Khan called.


    "[Blue Shaman]," Lord Exr greeted. "[Come. We have much to discuss]."


    The entrance closed behind Khan as he approached the interactive desk. Lord Exr also handed him a drink, which he epted while studying the holograms. Those images depicted a star map, and Khan recognized its celestial objects. That basically was Baoway''s neighborhood. Of course, things weren''t as simple as they looked. The Empire''s ws had already reached most of those areas, while the others shared Baoway''s unique situation. They were close enough to the Global Army''s domain to be considered political threats.


    "[I''m sure you understand the mission''s relevance]," Lord Exr announced. "[The Empire ces a lot of value on its expansion. Appointing it to you is an act of trust]."


    "[I''m aware]," Khan confirmed. "[Though I wonder if the Empire has deeper reasons]."


    Lord Exr didn''t y dumb and understood Khan''s concerns. The vicinity of the Global Army''s domain would usually imply additional interspecies treaties, and humankind couldn''t let


    another Baoway happen.


    However, employing Khan for the mission could smoothen out some problems. He could make decisions for both species, and his loyalty should theoretically favor the Empire. At least, that was what the Thilku hoped.


    "[You are the best soldier for the job]," Lord Exr exined. "[Do you haveints]?" "[Questions, rather]," Khan said. "[Have I not proven myself enough]?"


    "[You did]," Lord Exr responded. "[That''s why the Empire assigned this mission to you]."


    Khan and Lord Exr exchanged a meaningful nce, but the former eventually dropped the matter. Truth be told, the Thilku probably didn''t see any difference between Khan''s value as a soldier and a politician. They were both part of his figure, making him perfect for the mission. "[What does the Empire need me to do]?" Khan asked.

 Chapter 911: Faith

    Chapter 911: Faith


    ?


    "[These threes are empty]," Lord Exr exined, tapping on the holograms to highlight three dots. "[The Empire sent automated outposts, but its conquest stopped there]."


    "[What do the initial scans show]?" Khan questioned.


    "[Hililles]," Lord Exr announced, pointing at one of the bright dots, "[Has unlivable weather. Lightning storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis constantly afflict its surface]."


    "[Water and energy then]," Khanmented. "[Maybe minerals, too. It''s just a matter of nting the factories]."


    "[Indeed]," Lord Exr confirmed. "[More extensive scans might be necessary, but we don''t expect to get much else from the]."


    Lord Exr had made it sound like a minor thing, but Khan''s more limited perspective generated a higher evaluation of Hililles. His domain was small, so having a whole dedicated to harnessing water and energy was no small matter. A fraction of that would already greatly benefit him.


    "[Vuter]," Lord Exr continued, pointing at another bright dot, "[Is cold, almostpletely frozen. Still, initial scans show rich mines underneath theyer of ice]."


    "[Water, excavators, and refineries]," Khanmented, "[Ideally with limited personnel. That''s easy]."


    "[Correct]," Lord Exr nodded. "[Its potential trade routes are also convenient if we include Baoway]."


    "[It''s obviously included]," Khan reassured. He wouldn''t miss the chance to elevate Baoway''s already great business status.


    "[Lastly]," Lord Exr continued, pointing at thest bright dot, "[Senerth. This will require manpower]."


    "[Troublesome fauna]?" Khan asked.


    "[Ah]!" Lord Exr cried. "[You can say that. Its dominant species is violent, bloodthirsty, and big. It''s numerous, too]."


    The slight grin on Lord Exr''s face revealed his desire to fight that battle. The Thilku was a soldier at his core, and those habits were hard to shake off.


    The short exnation told Khan everything he needed to know. Senerth probably was the main reason behind the Empire''s request. Hililles and Vuter were rtively easy to handle and required limited manpower, but Senerth demanded proper armies, which the Empire couldn''t deploy without slowing down its expansion.


    Khan tapped on Senerth, and the star map zoomed in, highlighting the and showing the initial scans'' results. The red light from the Thilkunguage shone on his face, fighting against his eyes'' blue glow, but he faced no problem reading it.


    Khan skimmed through those general reports before tapping on the holograms again, summoning a different picture. A dog-like creature with long spikes stretching from its head to its tail shone above the interactive desk, listing its data below. The beast was huge, but the Empire had yet to discover its abilities.


    Lord Exr would usually continue his exnation, but Khan''s immersion in the reports gave birth to different thoughts. He seemed able to read that aliennguage like a native, and the red cape on his back intensified that impression. Khan had be more Thilku than some of Lord Exr''s fellow specimens in mere years.


    "[What do you think, Blue Shaman]?" Lord Exr eventually asked.


    "[Do I have a timeline to respect]?" Khan wondered as various ideas filled his mind.


    "[Nothing precise]," Lord Exr replied. "[Though, the sooner, the better]."


    "[Is bombing the out of the question]?" Khan questioned.


    "[Senerth''s ground seems to have special properties]," Lord Exr exined. "[These creatures


    eat it when they can''t find anything else. Also, some nests are underground]."


    "[They also multiply quickly]," Khan read. "[A true apex predator]."


    "[They deserve some respect]," Lord Exrmented. "[Animals rarely take control of a]."


    Lord Exr didn''t say it, but Khan read between the lines. He understood what a true Thilku Lord would do against such a powerful opponent.


    "[If the Empire can''t win on the ground]," Khan stated, "[It doesn''t deserve to own it]." "[Ah]!" Lord Exr cried. "[You are starting to think like us. Do you need help]?"


    "[Don''t insult me, My Lord]," Khan responded. "[The Empire assigned this mission to me. My pride is on the line]."


    Lord Exr grinned, showing his sharp canines. He had long since acknowledged Khan, but he had be a proper ally throughout the years. Lord Exr was close to seeing him as a fellow Lord.


    "[Do I need to worry about the political repercussions]?" Khan asked. "[Did the Empire already handle the Global Army]?"


    "[You can set off whenever you are ready]," Lord Exr reassured.


    "[What about the specifics]?" Khan questioned. "[Hililles and Vuter will require a big investment]."


    "[We can renegotiate those]," Lord Exr stated, "[But the Empire will still own theses]."


    "[Of course]," Khan uttered. He didn''t expect the mission to be free of charge, but providing better benefits to the parties he would involve was mandatory. He had to show the perks of his alliance.


    Khan and Lord Exr went over more details, but the conversation remained superficial. Neither man was the business-savvy type, so they would leave those discussions to their respective


    experts.


    Theck of financial specifics prevented Khan from offering definitive deals. However, he could start listing and updating the interested parties, especially since Lord Rsi''s public announcement had already warned them about the imminent mission.


    The descendants already inside Khan''s alliance were a no-brainer. They were the pir of Khan''s businesses on Baoway, and providing more financial opportunities would reward their


    loyalty.


    Also, those descendants needed firmer positions to fend off the opposing parties and factions inside their families, and addings to their business array could only help.


    Nevertheless, that was the easy part. The tournament had added many potential troublesome allies to Khan''s list, and keeping them away would defeat the event''s purpose. He almost had to involve the other noble families in that business endeavor, and his problems didn''t end


    there.


    Nobles aside, Khan had his own family to consider. He had dyed final decisions on the other factions to wait for the tournament''s results, but the event was over now. He had to tackle the issue, and the Empire''s mission could help him deal with it.


    As troublesome as the matter was, Khan kept it inside his mind while returning to the city. Those decisions required meetings, suggestions, and actual details so he could postpone them. However, Senerth''s colonization was something he could immediately start to prepare


    for.


    "What do you mean he is still sleeping?" Khan cursed, flying toward the city while holding his phone to his ear. "It''s almost dinnertime. Throw water on his face or something." Khan closed the call, hurrying toward the city''s main building. He reached it in no time, quickly, making his way through its vast corridor to reach specific living quarters. A series of soldiers stood before their entrance, and Khan''s arrival brought reassurance to their tense


    mood.


    The unusual reaction didn''t surprise Khan. He barged through the door, diving into those quarters to reach their bedroom. A figure was still napping on the mattress, but the sudden cold that invaded the room made him snap up.


    "What?!" Lieutenant Dyester gasped, sitting on the mattress and inspecting his surroundings. He quickly spotted Khan, birthing a curse. "Is sleeping forbidden now?"


    "You stink of booze," Khanmented, his sense of smell stretching past his mere nose. "Didn''t you leave early yesterday?"


    "Can''t a man celebrate in the privacy of his bedroom anymore?" Lieutenant Dyester cursed. "And I happened to hit the brothels with other guests, too. I was socializing."


    "Brothels?" Khan repeated. "I didn''t think you''d be interested in those."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I''m also a man," Lieutenant Dyester snorted.


    Truth be told, Khan knew the issue had deeperyers. Lieutenant Dyester had given up on life


    back in co''s training camp. Yet, joining Khan''s organization had forced him to sort himself out, eventually rekindling dormant urges.


    "I can find you a woman if you want," Khanmented. "I''m overwhelmed with marriage proposals from great families."


    "Mind your own business, brat," Lieutenant Dyester scoffed. "What do you want?"


    "Clean yourself up," Khan ordered. "I need you fully awake for this stuff."


    Khan left the bedroom and settled in the living room, casually stealing a bottle from


    Lieutenant Dyester''s stash. Meanwhile, the Lieutenant headed for one of the bathrooms, quickly washing himself up before joining Khan.


    "What''s the issue?" Lieutenant Dyester asked, upying an armchair before Khan''s. "Is this


    about the Empire''s mission?"


    "Yes, I just came out from the meeting with Lord Exr," Khan revealed. "They want me to


    upy threes, all promising."


    "So?" Lieutenant Dyester wondered. "What does this have to do with me? It sounds like something your Uncle would be more prepared to handle."


    "One requires an army," Khan exined, "And I n to use mine. It''s only natural to


    ask the guy training it."


    Lieutenant Dyester fell silent. Khan didn''t specify it, but his words were clear. He wanted to deploy the Scalqa, and only Lieutenant Dyester knew how ready they were.


    "They have barely flown inside ships," Lieutenant Dyester pointed out. "None ever left


    Baoway, and you want to send them to another?"


    "That''s why I''m asking you," Khan dered. "Can they do it?"


    "Why can''t you use human troops?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned. "You have plenty, and


    they won''t require much preparation."


    "What''s the point of training Scalqa if they don''t fight when needed?" Khan asked. "It''s their time to show what they can do, not only to me. Besides, nothing like a war to bolster their


    faith in me."

 Chapter 912: Arrangement

    Chapter 912: Arrangement


    ?


    The day ended with nothing done. Khan had onlyid the foundation for the following meetings and preparations, warning the parties he would eventually add to the mission. Needless to say, those organizations immediately started to move, but everything had to wait for the specifics to arrive.


    Setting the specifics didn''t take long. The Empire had long since established a stable footing on Baoway, and its embassy also had a humanponent. Khan only needed to give the order, and representatives gathered, hosting a meeting to outline every detail.


    As long as those meetings could be, Khan''s organization and the Empire had already gone through them with Baoway. The interspecies treaties were also set, so conclusive reports reached Khan''s phone after a single morning.


    Khan shared those reports with the interested parties, and visitors hit the various teleports that afternoon. Some were already on the, too, facilitating the nning of meetings. "The Montares and Virrai are mandatory," Monicamented, leaning on Khan''s shoulder while looking at the wall''s menus. The two were on the mattress, sorting through the interested parties to decide which meeting to address first.


    "I should involve all the nobles," Khan sighed, his fingers tapping his phone and changing the wall''s menus'' arrangement. "How can threes not be enough?"


    "Each noble can cover a on their own, dear," Monica reminded. "Sadly, it''s not just about rewarding them."


    "I know," Khan nodded. He was vouching for those business partners, so eventual problems would affect his position within the Empire. Giving them pieces ofnd and quadrants was akin to exposing himself to ploys.


    However, the issue was unavoidable. Khan couldn''t ignore the nobles after investing so much time and Credits into the tournament. It was time to involve them, whichplicated the final arrangements.


    "Do you want to hear your amazing wife-to-be''s opinion?" Monica teased.


    "Please," Khan begged.


    "Leave the heavy lifting to the nobles," Monica suggested. "They have better machines anyway. Let them clear the path before nting Luke and the others on the surface." "That would leave them no control over the resource production," Khan pointed out.


    "They''d have financial control," Monica exined. "Stable earnings with no maintenance cost."


    "Just the initial investment," Khanmented. "Do you think they''d ept these terms?" "That''s how they usually act," Monica revealed. "Nobles rarely get their hands dirty and often rely on third parties to handle these businesses. It limits their exposure while ensuring stable money flow."


    "And Luke and the others would ept because it would establish channels with other noble families," Khan considered. "The political value wouldpensate for the higher taxation."


    "I could make a businessman out of you yet," Monica chuckled. "It''s a pity you are so bad with this stuff."


    "I''m not bad," Khan scoffed. "It''s just boring."


    "Sure, sure," Monica reassured, rubbing her cheek on Khan''s shoulder.


    "Selling it to the nobles is the only problem," Khan continued.


    "I don''t think they''llin," Monica guessed. "It''s almost free Credits, with improved rtionships with you and the Empire on top of them. The problem is elsewhere."


    "My family," Khanmented.


    "Your family," Monica confirmed. "You can''t keep them away anymore."


    "I can''t," Khan said, lying down and closing his bright eyes. He had reached the critical point, and satisfying everyone looked impossible.


    "Do you want to hear your beautiful wife-to-be''s opinion?" Monica asked, climbing on Khan''s abdomen and leaning forward, taking his head into her hands.


    "Please," Khan begged, opening his eyes to inspect his wise Fianc¨¦e''s face.


    "Give them Senerth," Monica dered.


    "The whole?" Khan wondered.


    "The whole," Monica confirmed. "It''s a far greater deal than anything you''d offer the other parties, but you''d also need time to make it profitable. The others would have settled by then, further improving your position."


    Senerth was a bigger prize than fragmentednds on Hililles and Vuter, making it more appealing. The offer would please Khan''s family, and the specifics would benefit him in the long run.


    Colonizing Senerth would take time, time the descendants and nobles would use to start the businesses on Hililles and Vuter. Khan''s status would improve by leaps and bounds before anything could happen on Senerth, preventing political issues and ploys.


    "It might work," Khan admitted. "You are kind of a genius at this."


    "I''m d my terrible childhood is useful to the man I love," Monica stated. "I couldn''t have asked for a better oue."


    Khan reached for Monica''s face, and she didn''t hesitate to lower it, trapping him into a kiss. Khan obviously indulged her, but his brain rang the rm when he felt familiar fingers quickly lowering his pants.


    "Monica," Khan called, interrupting the kiss. "I have to leave in minutes."


    "Just a quickie," Monica whispered, exposing Khan''s groin in no time.


    "When did we ever settle for a quickie?" Khan smiled, abandoning himself to the moment.


    "Shut it," Monica ordered. "It''s my reward."


    "Wait," Khan voiced, recalling something as soon as a pleasant sensation rose into his brain. "Condoms."


    "We did without yesterday, too," Monica pointed out, and Khan failed toe up with a


    better reply.


    It took more than a few minutes, but Khan eventually slipped out of Monica''s passion, heading to the guests waiting for him. Luckily, everyone had gathered in the building already, upying different rooms. He could decide who to address first, and the nobles sadly stood at the top of his list.


    The nobles didn''t want their meetings to happen together. Each demanded individual and private conversations, which Khan couldn''t deny. Yet, he could choose their order, and securing allies was bound to facilitate the following negotiations.


    The Montares family ended up being Khan''s first choice. Rachel had be the closest to Khan among the representatives, so her support theoretically was the easiest to obtain. However, a different figure awaited Khan inside the appointed meeting room.


    Khan expected a blonde, enchanting woman to greet him but found a ck-haired middle- aged man instead. His phone had actually warned him about the switch, but the man''s stern mood hinted at trouble.


    "Greetings, Prince Khan," The man saluted, half-bowing. "I''m Andrew Montares. I''ll


    represent the Montares family today."


    "Rachel couldn''te?" Khan wondered, pointing at the array of couches to start the


    meeting.


    "Recent developments forced the Montares family to reevaluate Princess Rachel''s judgment," Prince Andrew stated. "I hope this isn''t a problem."


    That decision wasn''t too surprising. Rachel had overyed her hand during the auction,mitting a huge mistake. Her family had to step in, recing her to ensure unbiased


    negotiations.


    "It isn''t," Khan reassured, filling two sses and handing one to the Prince before sitting on different couches. "Besides, I''ve sworn to make Mister Parket worthy of the Montares


    lineage."


    "And how would you know what makes someone worthy of that?" Prince Andrew questioned, but his stern demeanor suddenly faltered. Something cold and violent had surrounded him, keeping his wide eyes glued to the blue light before him.


    Khan calmly drank, asionally ignoring Prince Andrew. Thetter was a fifth-level warrior, but his enhanced senses only worked against him. He had read about Khan''s unique aura, but those reports couldn''t prepare him for the reality.


    "Was that an insult to my family?" Khan asked. "Or my persona?"


    As huge as Rachel''s mistake was, Prince Andrew knew he had misspoken. Khan wasn''t only an official Prince. He was a faction leader with immense power and reach. His status vastly outssed Prince Andrew''s, making him more than worthy of knowing how to handle noble


    engagements.


    "And let''s not lie to ourselves," Khan continued, his casual tone not matching his aura at all. "If I weren''t engaged, you would have thrown your Princesses at me."


    Prince Andrew had to hold back a gulp. Khan wasn''t only correct. Being in his presence highlighted his uniqueness. Khan looked utterly calm, but the meeting room seemed to have fallen prey to a storm. Violence and destruction were part of his very being as if he were a terrifying monster wearing human skin.


    "I''ll ignore the mistake," Khan eventually stated, retrieving his terrifying aura. "Princess Rachel earned your family that much."


    Prince Andrew had to put aside his pride and smile, voicing honest words. "Thank you, Prince


    Khan."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "It''s fine," Khan said, waving his hand. "I''m young, bossy, and unruly. You don''t have to like me. You only have to trust the benefits of our coboration."


    "Speaking of which," Prince Andrew announced, "I''ve received your message. We all did. Did


    you negotiate with someone already?"


    "I''ve chosen the Montares family for the first meeting," Khan revealed. "Again, Princess


    Rachel earned your family that much."


    "I''ll be sure to convey your generosity to the family," Prince Andrew stated. "I appreciate the preferential treatment, Prince Khan."


    "I expect it to smoothen out our negotiations," Khan exined. "I have a basic idea of how to handle the Thilku Empire''s mission, and your support would greatly help with the following


    meetings."


    "I see no reason to deny it," Prince Andrew responded, "Given eptable terms." "The terms will be favorable," Khan reassured, "And I''ll give you one priority choice given


    our families'' friendship."

 Chapter 913 Families

    913 Families


    The meeting with Prince Andrew ended in far better termspared to how it had begun. Initial insult aside, Khan''s offer wielded great financial value, and his behavior demonstrated his respect toward the Montares family.


    Princess Rachel hadmitted a mistake, but Khan rewarded it, prioritizing the Montares family in the negotiations. That error almost became a worthy investment because of that, which Prince Andrew couldn''t help but harness.


    Monica''s n also turned out to be urate. It took some talking, but Prince Andrew eventually epted Khan''s offer. The two left the details for the specialists, but their official deal triggered consequences that affected all the other noble families.


    Securing the Montares family''s support helped Khan''s following meetings. He also tackled them in a specific order, prioritizing those who had built a decent rtionship with him. That quickly increased his supporters, forcing the remaining nobles to agree to his terms and avoid attempting to leverage for higher benefits.


    When the afternoon ended, Khan walked out of thest meeting with all nine noble families under his belt, allowing him to move to the next stage. The troublesome part was resolved, but the imminent dinner still required his full attention andmitment.


    Truth be told, the nobles didn''t need to do much. Oveing Hililles and Vuter''s troublesome environments was expensive but manageable as long as the proper equipment was employed. The investment would also be short, quickly opening the path to free and consistent earnings.


    Meanwhile, the wealthy descendants inside Khan''s alliance would have to fabricate those earnings. They would have to deploy the workers, specific equipment, and trade stations to ensure the business'' viability. Moreover, they would have to manage everything to guarantee a constant money flow.


    The various technicalities made that job difficult, but the wealthy descendants also had to ovee an additional issue. The noble families weren''t united but didn''t take sides and never refused the chance to increase their ie.


    Instead, the wealthy descendants'' families were already taking sides, some applying pressure to get out of the partnerships with Khan. Politics yed a heavy role for them, and Khan needed to reassure them personally.


    Simr gatherings had already happened during the tournament, but that night featured a more private version of the event. Waiters had arranged a dining hall with the usual couches, tables, and multiple screens to facilitate financial discussions, and Khan only arrived once everyone was there.


    George, Luke, Bruce, Lucian, Mark, John, Lucy, Anita, and Monica had upied specific couches, seizing food and drinks while inspecting the holograms among them. The atmosphere was friendly, but a trace of seriousness pervaded it, and Khan''s arrival intensified that different vibe. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "You are lucky we didn''t leave yesterday," George announced while some stood up to perform weing bows. "I knew things would start right away."


    "As if I didn''t warn you," Khan eximed, waving his hand to dismiss the polite salutes before removing his bone crown. Monica was ready to wee him at her side, waiting with a full drink, which he didn''t hesitate to seize.


    "I''m sure my Fianc¨¦e updated you," Khan said, taking Monica under his arm while cing the crown on the couch''s armchair. "We have twos to upy, both of which are quite troublesome."


    "Hililles and Vuter," Lucian stated. "Various natural cmities and steep cold."


    "Exactly," Khan confirmed.


    "The weather isn''t a problem," Markmented. "As long as the financial incentives are there and justify the investment."


    "Your initial investment would be zero," Khan exined. "The noble families will handle the deployment of the necessary equipment. You''d only have to make the best out of it."


    "Double taxation?" Luke asked.


    "Of course," Khan confirmed. "The Thilku Empire wants its share, and the nobles need their Credits, too."


    Silence fell into the dining hall. Those deals weremon when the nobles were involved, but the Empire''s presence applied a second, troublesomeyer. The descendants were bound to see their potential ie drastically decrease.


    Potential ie aside, the descendants would also have to deal with an authority issue. Baoway only had Khan above them, basically granting themplete freedom. However, the businesses in Hililles and Vuter would have to answer to the other nobles, adding responsibilities, political pressure, and control.


    "Are we close to the critical point?" Khan questioned, using words Lucian had used in the previous meeting.


    "There are two perspectives to this issue, Prince," Lucian responded. "The first is an easy win for all of us. We''d get new businesses, channels with the noble families, and andmark in Empire''s territory."


    "The other?" Khan asked.


    "It opens us to external pressure," Luke continued, "On multiple fronts. It will spread our alliance thin, opening opportunities only you could offer until now."


    Khan had almost be a mandatory checkpoint for any deal with the Thilku Empire. Yet, allowing the other nobles to controls in its domain could damage his privileged position.


    Of course, the Thilku didn''t think like that. It didn''t matter how beneficial those businesses were. Khan would remain the Blue Shaman, which the Empire trusted. Money couldn''t change that.


    Nevertheless, things might look differently from a human perspective. The other factions in Khan''s family and the same nobles might believe they had a shot at recing him, increasing their pressure on his allies to search for cracks.


    The issue wasn''t even with the allied descendants themselves. Their families were the problem, and Khan couldn''t silence them with his knife. Even if he did, his allies'' authority would forever depend on him, decreasing their political value.


    "Can you handle it?" Khan wondered.


    "It would be a matter of loyalty, Prince," Lucian exined. "Once the floodgates are open, we might jump ship and side with more stable parties."


    Lucian''s statement didn''t convey any interest in the actual act. He was merely describing a problem that could arise from that new environment. After all, Khan was a dark horse and a loose one. Other nobles could offer simr benefits without the same uncertainties.


    "I n to address my family next," Khan revealed, attempting to reassure some of the concerns. "They''ll get their piece of the pie, so the pressure on you should decrease."


    "Or increase," Bruce pointed out. "I wouldn''t dare im I can speak for a noble family. Yet, concessions usually hint at weakness. Exploiting it would be the norm."


    Khan wanted to sigh but suppressed the urge. Monica almost sensed his need for advice, but the situation didn''t give her openings that wouldn''t expose him. He had to decide on his own there or postpone the meeting altogether.


    "I want meetings with all your families, too," Khan continued, eyes widening everywhere.


    "Prince, involving you in my family''s matters would ruin the reputation I built until now," Lucian eximed.


    "It would also look disrespectful," Lucy added, "Especially toward us."


    Khan ran his bright eyes over the audience, only finding agreement in that reaction. Interfering with the descendants'' families was a dangerous overstep, but Khan wanted to perform it anyway.


    "I don''t n on interfering with your businesses," Khan reassured. "I don''t even want to reinforce your authority. I trust you can handle that."


    "Why would you want to talk with our families then?" Luke asked. "I don''t see the purpose."


    Khan had to address Luke''s concerns differently from the other descendants. He was closer to George in terms of friendship. In many ways, he was his first supporter, who had long since redeemed himself for exploiting Martha''s injury.


    "Not your parents," Khan announced. "Maybe none of your parents. However, someone started thinking they could plot against me. How could I not respond?"


    Monica had to hold back the urge to smile. Khan had transformed thatplicated political issue into a personal matter. The thought of going against Khan was a terrible sin, and the allied descendants'' families were guilty of that.


    "Do you want to threaten our families?" John asked during one of his rare serious moments.


    "Threaten? No," Khan stated. "You are my allies. As long as you can intercede for me, I would never do anything against them."


    A few smiles appeared among the group. George was obviously excluded from that speech, but Lucian, Mark, and even Luke understood what was at stake there.


    Everyone knew Khan was mental. He didn''t y by the rules and killed on a whim. His noble status also granted him immunity over most of his crimes, and his connection with the Thilku Empire handled everything else.


    If Khan wanted to, the descendants'' families would greatly suffer, either under his knife or his rtives'' political pressure. He could overwhelm those weaker parties in many ways, and few would be willing to support those in his target.


    Khan could use his infamous violence to his advantage. Making the descendants'' families aware of his insight into their political ideas could make him a threat. Those potential enemies would start to fear him, relying on his allies for protection.


    "Are you okay with this, Khan?" Luke questioned. "Turning into the monster we have to keep out of the door."


    "That''s what those against me have to understand," Khan dered. "I don''t have to turn into anything. I already am the monstering for them."

 Chapter 914 Fear

    914 Fear


    "Shall I give word then?" Prince Thomas'' voice escaped the phone, diving directly into Khan''s ear.


    "Yes," Khan confirmed, Baoway''s night breeze blowing on his face as he flew outside the city. "Once I deal with the descendants'' families, I''ll meet the other factions'' leaders."


    "Are these meetings arranged already?" Prince Thomas questioned.


    "Monica is setting them up," Khan exined. "She will have proper dates in a day or two."


    "Very well," Prince Thomas stated. "Nephew, should I inquire about your current activities now?"


    Khan didn''t bother replying and closed the call, storing his phone in his pelts. Theoretically, the meeting with the descendants was hisst task for the day, but the night had room for more, and he could think of something that required his attention.


    Truth be told, the matter was only an idea. It would work with the Empire''s mission, and Khan even saw many benefits to it. Yet, he couldn''t take it for granted. He had to ask for permission there.


    The workers dismantled many structures outside the main city once the tournament ended. However, multiple buildings still existed to hostbs and other activities that were too dangerous for the general poption. Roger Foxnor''s element fell into that category, earning him special quarters.


    The initial n was for Roger to live there alone, surveilled by scanners and asional doctors. However, Princess Rachel Montares'' auction paved the way for a better arrangement.


    Moses Parket and Roger were basically the same age. Their level was also simr, and they both attended Khan''s lessons. They were the perfect roommates since they could study and train together, so Khan relocated Moses into those special quarters.


    The two didn''t actually share rooms. The building provided them with all the privacy they needed. Still, Moses and Roger had multiplemon areas, and Khan found them in one of them that night.


    The ce was a mix between a ssroom and a training hall. It had multiple elevated interactive desks arranged in a half-circr manner, but its bottom worked as a battle floor capable of recording data. Every surface was also reinforced, making it perfect for experiments and dangerous exercises.


    Moses and Roger sat behind the same interactive desk, but Khan''s arrival on the floor made them stand up to perform polite salutes. The visit was unexpected, but both descendants looked pleased about it.


    Khan didn''t immediately address the salutes. His eyes focused on the symphony and the descendants'' mana, spotting clear differences between the two. Moses would probably jump at his idea, but Roger would hesitate. Khan wasn''t even sure he wanted to throw them into that mess. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "At ease," Khan announced, beckoning the two young men to join him on the battle floor. By the time he sat down, Moses and Roger had climbed down the desks and gathered before him.


    "Did you review your notes?" Khan asked, his gaze darting between the two descendants.


    "We did, Prince Khan," Moses promptly confirmed. "We also exchanged opinions as you requested."


    "And?" Khan questioned, looking at Roger.


    "There''s much to study, Prince Khan," Roger admitted.


    Roger appeared slightly defeated, and Moses shared that sentiment. Khan''s lesson had been long, and a single day wasn''t enough to go over everything he had taught, let alone understand it. The topic also required a radical mindset change, which took time to achieve.


    "I didn''t expect instant sess," Khan reassured. "Most of what I''ve taught you goes against your education, and I have many lessons left. Take your time to absorb it. You must if you want the mana to answer you."


    Roger and Moses struggled to follow Khan''s reasoning, but both noticed something. Khan sounded morepassionate and gentler, creating a stark difference from his usual intense and overwhelming vibe.


    That gentle vibe had a clear source. Ideally, Khan wouldn''t put the descendants before a simr choice. He had always been about sparing others from the tragedies he had faced, so he didn''t feel good about the idea.


    On the other hand, Roger needed Khan''s constant surveince, and Moses wouldn''t be worthy of Princesses with theory alone. Khan had to mold the two into superior warriors, but the Empire''s mission required his departure. He could postpone the descendants'' training or bring them with him, using Senerth''s battlefield to elerate their growth.


    "I''ve put you two together to facilitate exchanges of ideas," Khan exined. "I always had alien teachers in alien environments, but I can only provide an imitation of that. Isting you would have slowed you down."


    Khan didn''t need to exin his reasons but did anyway. He wanted to provide aplete picture so the descendants could make an informed decision. After all, he knew about the naivety of young minds and the tragic difference reality offered.


    "However," Khan continued, "In my experience, facing dangerous situations can help with training, especially with me constantly demonstrating those theories. Training halls have limits the battlefieldcks."


    Excitement filled Moses'' eyes, which Khan''s re promptly admonished. He had expected and feared a simr reaction from the descendant, making him more serious about that warning.


    "I''m sure you checked thework," Khan announced. "The Thilku Empire assigned me a mission, which I epted. I''ll depart soon to wage war on a. I don''t know how long I''ll be away, but my experience tells me the trip won''t be short."


    "Congrattions, Prince Khan!" Moses eximed, smiling from cheek to cheek. "The Thilku Empire couldn''t have chosen a bettermander."


    "No, they couldn''t have," Khan confirmed. "I''ll bring the Scalqa to the and systematically eradicate the Tainted animals'' threat. You two can join me if you wish."


    The descendants'' different personalities became evident after the invitation. As predicted, Moses was ready to ept, while Roger was hesitant. Still, Khan lifted his hand before anyone could speak.


    "I want you to understand what this trip would entail before making any decision," Khan dered. "You have never seen a real battlefield. It''s dirty, bloody, and tragic. Many will die before your eyes, and your very life will be in danger."


    The statement''sst part seemed able to speak some sense into Moses'' excitement. However, Khan didn''t feel satisfied yet.


    "I''m strong," Khan continued. "Very strong, but I won''t be able to protect you all the time. I''ll actually have to let you deal with your battles to allow your growth. That''s the only way to enforce improvements."


    "Prince Khan," Moses called. "All due respect, we have trained for that. That would have been our future if it weren''t for your tournament."


    Khan nced at Roger, but the descendant avoided his gaze. Still, Moses had a point. The Global Army would have deployed most of those young soldiers to different battlefields if it hadn''t been for the tournament. That would have been their fate due to being born into average families.


    "You are correct," Khan confirmed, "But your training failed you. I''ve witnessed it first-hand. Most descendants freeze and die before making a single move."


    "I''m a proud descendant of the Parket family, Prince Khan," Moses dered. "I can''t shy away from Princess Montares'' expectations and must repay your generosity in the tournament. I''ll put my life on the line for that."


    Moses'' determination was genuine, but Khan only saw ignorance in that resolute face. Romanticizing war was easy for those who had never witnessed it. However, Khan couldn''t dismiss Moses'' drive, either. He wouldn''t disrespect him like that.


    "What about you?" Khan asked, looking at Roger. "Mister Parket has heavy responsibilities to carry, but you don''t need to rush it. I swore I''d help you, and my promises don''t have an expiring date."


    Moses also looked at Roger, who kept his head lowered. The idea of a war scared him, but a stronger feeling existed in his mind. Roger had never expected his life to provide such incredible opportunities. That was his shot at redemption, and he didn''t want to miss it. Roger owed it to the rtives who believed in him.


    "You-," Roger muttered before adjusting his words. "Prince Khan achieved the impossible by fighting his way to the top. I won''t dare im I can do the same. That''s impossible, but I''d like to try to do something."


    Roger lifted his face, showing a hesitant but resolute expression. Moses spotted those emotions and shot an excited look at Khan. The two were on the same page, so the mission sounded unavoidable now.


    "Such good kids," Khan sighed. He honestly understood the two descendants'' mindsets, but preparing them for the imminent danger was his responsibility, which he didn''t take lightly.


    A pushing force suddenly hit the two descendants'' chest, flinging them away. The two flew across the floor, mming on the first row of interactive desks. The abrupt attack left them dumbfounded, but the terrifying aura that surrounded them cleared their heads.


    Roger and Moses felt unable to breathe as they lifted their heads, half-crawling on the floor. Khan had stood up, pointing his intense eyes at them. The kindness from before had disappeared, reced by chaotic violence.


    "Do not freeze," Khan said, slowly drawing the cursed knife from his pelts. "I''ll give you the battlefield, but only after experiencing true fear."

 Chapter 915: Unwillingness

    Chapter 915: Unwillingness


    ?


    Professor Parver couldn''t help but notice a striking difference during the second lesson. He had arrived early to the ssroom and showed his usual gentle smile when Roger and Moses joined him, but his eyebrows arched in surprise at the two young men''s appearance.


    Roger and Moses'' faces featured some faint bruises and a few band-aids, but Professor Parver spotted far more. Deep eyebags aside, the two young men looked beyond stern, almost robotic. They moved in unison and sat behind the same interactive desk, wearing the politest stance the Professor had ever seen.


    The Professor was about to investigate the two descendants'' strange mood, but an answer to his curiosity promptly arrived. The ssroom''s door opened again, and Roger and Moses straightened their backs when Khan stormed in. Their eyes also widened in terror, and gulps resounded at the same time.


    Khan noticed those two pairs of eyes following his every move but ignored them. He was both d and annoyed about the previous night''s results. The descendants had surpassed his expectations, meaning he would have to bring them to Senerth.


    Nevertheless, slight annoyance aside, Khan began his lesson, delving deeper into his alien arts'' theories, adding details where possible. His speech still sounded fantastical in his students'' ears, but hisck of scientific expertise prevented better exnations. Khan could only hope something would eventually get through those human minds.


    The lessonsted long, but its end didn''t give Khan free time. Everything moved quickly after the recent meetings and decisions, and teleports activated that very afternoon, bringing guests that required his attention.


    Khan waited alone in a dining area until soldiers escorted a familiar figure inside. He had already met the grey-haired man a few times, but that was their first real instance of a private discussion. Khan had always preferred to interact with Luke in the end, but the situation required a different approach.


    "Berthold," Khan said, standing up to greet Luke''s father. "I''m d you could return to Baoway with such short notice."


    "Nonsense, Prince Khan," Berthold reassured, smiling as he reached Khan to shake his hand. "I''ll take any excuse to take a political break, and your is my favorite."


    "I''m d to hear that," Khan nodded, gesturing to Berthold to sit before him. "Sadly, we have more politics to discuss."


    "I''m aware," Berthold announced. "Luke briefed me. That''s why I decided toe here as soon as possible."


    "I''m happy to see I''m a priority," Khan eximed.


    "Of course," Bertholdmented. "We have been in friendly rtionships even before your rise to nobility, Prince Khan. The Cobsend family values that."


    "And I see your family as close allies," Khan added. "Luke had my back since co''s training camp. I won''t forget that."


    "Don''t be modest, Prince Khan," Berthold stated. "My son wouldn''t be alive today without your heroic deeds on Istrone. You''ll always have my gratitude for that."


    "I was simply helping a friend," Khan smiled. "Anyone would have done that."


    "We both know that isn''t true, Prince Khan," Berthold chuckled. "Besides, we both know most soldiers wouldn''t have seeded in saving as many people as you did."


    "Not as many as I wish I could have saved," Khan uttered.


    "Istrone truly was a tragic event," Berthold sighed. "It''s hard to believe the Global Army is already forgetting it. Seven years isn''t such a long time."


    "More has happened in the meantime," Khanmented, "And you know how the Global Army works. Many prefer to forget or focus on current issues."


    "The Cobsend family won''t forget," Berthold promised. "Be it your efforts on Istrone or the problems my brother caused."


    Khan and Berthold exchanged a silent, meaningful look. Raymond was still a big issue in both men''s lives, but solutions struggled to arrive. Even Prince Thomas'' involvement couldn''t fix it, vouching for Raymond''s skills.


    "Your family''s cooperation is more than enough," Khan eventually reassured. "Having your factions on my side is more than I could ask for."


    "You are too kind, Prince Khan," Berthold dered, lowering his head in gratitude and respect.


    By then, both men understood that the pleasantries were over. It was time to talk business, but neither party could introduce the topic easily. After all, they were allies, and hinting at possible ploys could create a crack in their friendly rtionship.


    Still, theck of a proper way to introduce the topic only made Khan jump directly into it. "I know you have external pressure raining on you," Khan announced. "Your family is under political attack by parties as influential as mine. I''d understand if there were problems." "You are correct, Prince Khan," Berthold sighed. "We have received multiple invitations to private meetings and financial incentives to prioritize other business endeavors." "Business endeavors that don''t include me," Khan pointed out. "Maybe that even hinder me."


    "Exactly," Berthold confirmed. "I admit the offers were appealing enough to stir some internal conflicts. However, I promise you don''t have to worry about them." "Why is that?" Khan wondered. "I think I have more than enough reason to worry."


    "I can only speak for my family, Prince Khan," Berthold announced. "Yet, I can confirm its loyalty to our rtionship. My reasons might be more personal, but the other factions also acknowledge the irreceable benefits of our alliance."


    "Do they?" Khan questioned. "It is my understanding that simr situations can make old grudges and ambition resurface. It also isn''t unusual for a parent to want to remain above his son."


    "It isn''t," Berthold responded, his face unaffected by the veiled usation. "This is a sad reality of our political environment. However, I know Luke is the reason behind these benefits, and I couldn''t be happier."


    "You are a good father," Khan eximed. "Your family might have more of those."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The current situation was highly beneficial for Berthold and Luke''s faction, so the other parties in their family could see the nobles'' internal conflict as an opportunity to dethrone them. It wouldn''t be unusual among wealthy families. It would actually be the norm.


    "It does," Berthold confirmed. "However, my faction held great influence inside the family for a long time. Moreover, my brother''s issues forced us to show a united front to avoid awful repercussions."


    "Are you saying I should thank Raymond for your support?" Khan asked without hiding his


    sarcasm.


    "Prince Khan," Berthold cleared his throat. "Everyone inside my family is aware of the extent of the nobles'' reach. We have already earned the right to be punished. We don''t want to press


    our luck."


    Khan kept his eyes on Berthold, looking past his skin and flesh. His mana vouched for his honesty, but deeper truths could exist. The man could be unaware of eventual ploys or other issues, making his beliefs wed and inurate.


    "Having amon enemy brought us closer, huh," Khan scoffed.


    "It did, Prince Khan," Berthold confirmed. "It''s moremon than you might think."


    "I''m aware," Khan sighed before chuckling and shaking his head. "I still remember so many years ago. The Cobsend family has rtionships with the nobles. I didn''t even know what it meant back then, but here we are."


    "Your political career is an inspiration for many," Berthold praised.


    "I guess," Khan eximed. "And yet, I''m thetest yer to join the fray. You all had previous interactions and connections with parties as powerful as mine. It wouldn''t be surprising if you could call upon them in these troubling times."


    "The Cobsend family has enjoyed wealth and favor for many decades," Berthold stated. "However, it never came close to what it enjoys now, and that''s thanks to you, Prince Khan." "And what is that?" Khan wondered. "A noble you can talk to without going through the usual channels? A glorified Prince you can send your son to negotiate with?"


    "I didn''t mean it like that, Prince Khan," Berthold said, clearing his throat. "Besides, it was


    my understanding that you preferred to negotiate with Luke."


    "I do," Khan nodded, "But I wonder whether negotiating is enough nowadays. I know my worth, so I can only imagine what my family offered you."


    "I can only begin to understand your concerns, Prince Khan," Berthold stated, realizing the conversation had reached a critical point. "Still, as a leader and a father, I promise you I


    wouldn''t choose any different approach."


    "Because of stability and legacy?" Khan asked.


    "Indeed," Berthold responded. "Personal gratitude aside, your potential vastly outweighs


    any other simr party. I very much prefer an open and solid rtionship over asional, demanding, and overbearing partnerships."


    That was one of Khan''s unique advantages. He wielded the noble status without acting like one. He was more essible, and the tournament had only reinforced that idea. "Also," Berthold continued, "And forgive me for being so brazen about my personal interests. Your friendship with Luke will ensure his rise to power. I intend to be your ally until


    my son can seed me."


    "The fights for the seat of Patriarch and Matriarch are often bloody," Khan reminded. "My Fianc¨¦e exined that in great detail."


    "And having the support of a noble family is the best guarantee to prevent them," Berthold


    exined.


    "Well," Khan smiled. "I''m d our interests align. I spoke the truth when I said I''m grateful


    for your family''s support."


    "And I''m d it paid off in ways we couldn''t imagine," Berthold said, also smiling. "I''m sure


    our records will see it as the turning point of the Cobsend family."


    "I''m sure it will," Khan confirmed. "Though I hope for the right reasons."


    "Prince Khan?" Berthold called.


    "I do value Luke," Khan dered. "I value our friendship. Hence, I want to ask for a personal


    favor."


    "Anything, Prince Khan," Berthold uttered.


    "The Cobsend family will always be my ally," Khan stated, "But it''s up to the Cobsend family


    to decide what kind of ally it will continue to be."


    "Pardon?" Berthold asked.


    "Please understand that I only care for Luke and his rtives," Khan exined. "Maybe his


    entire faction, even. Everything else is outside that shield, and I will remove it if necessary."


    "That would maim my family, Prince Khan," Berthold said, understanding the threat. "It


    would hurt our value as your allies."


    "I value allies through different measurements," Khan revealed. "Still, I''d rather keep things as they are. As for my personal favor, I''m asking you not to force my hand." Berthold held back a gulp and remained silent. Khan''s reckless behavior aside, he now


    wielded the influence to tear the Cobsend family to shred. He only needed a word, and the


    Nognes family would handle the rest.


    "Please, Berthold," Khan continued. "Extend these words to the rest of your family. I want


    them to be aware of this unwillingness."


    ****


    Personal update: My father recently had surgery (nothing major, and he is good), so I''m visiting my parents more often and such, trying to be a good son, basically.


    Also, my PC started crashing for no reason, so I updated everything while writing on my


    backupptop.


    In short, I apologize for the recent more inconsistent period.

 Chapter 916 Malcontent

    916 Malcontent


    The meeting with Berthold was only the first of many since Khan needed to ry his message to all the allied descendants'' families. More guests arrived within the following day, leading to more tense conversations and threats.


    Bruce, Mark, Lucy, and John''s families received the same treatment as Luke''s father. Their rtionships with Khan weren''t equal, but the conversations followed the same pattern, starting with basic pleasantries and ending with a clear threat.


    That oue was satisfactory. Truthfully, Khan couldn''t expect the conversations to go any better. Also, those families mostly were on the same page, allowing for a smooth conclusion that was bound to make every faction wary of plotting against Khan.


    However, Khan''s allies had exceptions on both ends of the spectrum. George was Khan''s most trusted friend, so his family received special treatment. The same went for Anita''s family due to her connection with George. Khan directly skipped those meetings, silently telling everyone he didn''t need to threaten them.


    Meanwhile, Lucian''s family stood on the opposite end. Its internal conflicts were no different from Luke''s, Bruce''s, or Mark''s families, but Luciancked his parents'' support. The issue wasn''t even about trust. Lucian''s father wanted to retain power a bit longer, leading to a different kind of conversation.


    On the night of the second day of meetings, Lionel Hencus exited Baoway''s teleports and followed an escort to the main city, entering the appointed building and quickly reaching a dining hall. Khan was already waiting for him, and basic salutes unfolded.


    "Lionel," Khan called. "I apologize for summoning you back here so soon."


    "Nonsense, Prince Khan," Lionel reassured, reaching Khan to shake his hand. "I would never miss opportunities to have private talks with you."


    "Then, by all means," Khan announced, inviting Lionel to sit with him. "Let''s talk."


    Lionel sat down and epted the drink Khan had poured for him. He even lifted it when Khan upied a nearby couch. The two exchanged a silent toast before enjoying the booze.


    "Allow me to congratte you on your splendid tournament again, Prince Khan," Lionel eximed. "I''m sure it will remain thework''s main topic until the next one."


    "I''m d it received such a general appreciation," Khan stated. "I already have people preparing the next one. There will be changes, but I hope to make it as entertaining as the first."


    "I''m sure it will be," Lionel dered. "Also, I''m aware of this meeting''s purpose. As you surely know, words spread quickly in our environments."


    "And what do you think about it?" Khan asked.


    "I mean no offense, Prince Khan," Lionel said, "But I find it pointless and a waste of your time. My family wouldn''t dare to create problems for you, and I would personally handle any malcontent you might have experienced."


    "I don''t doubt that," Khan revealed. "I''m sure you''ll do your utmost to please me. Still, Lucian is my spokesperson. He''s the one I chose to represent your family in business opportunities and more."


    Khan''s statement had a deeper meaning, which Lionel understood. Khan wanted Lucian to wield all the authority in their rtionship, elevating and reinforcing his political position.


    "As a father," Lionel eximed, "Nothing could make me prouder. My son has proven himself politically sharp and business savvy. He is the best heir I could have hoped for."


    "But?" Khan questioned.


    "There''s no but, Prince Khan," Lionel smiled. "I''m as happy and proud as theye."


    Truth be told, Khan had a decent impression of Lionel. He had long since be able to see his mana, so he noticed theck of malignancy in his stance. Yet, Khan also spotted something else.


    "Lionel," Khan called. "We have known each other for years. I also didn''t forget your veiled support with my Fianc¨¦e''s mother. I think we are friendly enough to speak openly."


    "Prince Khan, you honor me," Lionel announced. "Even back then, I have spoken nothing but the truth, and your achievements proved me right."


    "So," Khan pressed on. "What''s the issue?"


    Lionel kept smiling, but clear restraint appeared in his mana. He didn''t want to mention the topic, and Khan''s stance didn''t make it easier. Still, refusing a Prince''s wish wasn''t exactly wise.


    "I''ll ask again," Khan continued. "We are friends. I want us to be friends, so speak openly. Handling this here is easier than fixing itter."


    The request cornered Lionel. Khan didn''t only openly ask for his genuine opinion. He had also hinted at potential future involvements, which didn''t bode well for the Hencus family.


    "Very well," Lionel eximed, clearing his throat. "So, may I speak openly, Prince Khan?"


    "Of course," Khan confirmed, leaning deeper into the couch while refilling his ss.


    "You are ¡­," Lionel muttered, still hesitating, "Young. All of you. Your whole alliance among descendants from the same generation simply is too young."


    Khan arched his eyebrows. The whole point of his alliance was to elevate the new generation, facilitating a leader''s recement. He didn''t see it as a problem. He had chosen to use it as one of its strong points.


    "Allow me to exin," Lionel continued. "You obviously are an exception, Prince Khan, and all your allies have proven themselves more than capable of following your directives. Your whole organization is the Global Army''s gem."


    "However?" Khan asked.


    "However," Lionel repeated, sighing, "You know you had help, Prince Khan. You still rely on it, even. The same goes for your allies. Each family has invested much in their descendants, and being reced so suddenly isn''t exactly ideal."


    "I''d say it could leave a bad taste in your mouth," Khanmented. "I understand, but prioritizing my generation is within my interest."


    "I understand that," Lionel stated. "I even agree and am thankful for the opportunities you are providing to my son. Yet, being excluded from the whole process doesn''t feel right."


    Khan remained silent, focusing on his drink. He knew Lionel had more to add, and his guest didn''t make him wait.


    "Please understand, Prince Khan," Lionel continued. "My generation worked hard to get where it is, and most of us still are in their prime. We have much to offer and ambitions to chase. Stepping out of politics isn''t something many of us are ready to do."


    Lionel couldn''t have exined his thoughts any better. He expressed his stance and desires without insulting Khan. His speech was also understandable, but Khan had his reasons to remain wary.


    Khan''s decision to focus on his generation was purely trust-based. His allies had fewer connections, businesses, and opportunities, so they had a higher chance of being and remaining loyal to him.


    Instead, Lionel and the other parents had a lifetime''s worth of friends. Khan''s offers would still be appealing, but they could find alternatives, creating loyalty issues. Some even had the chance to plot against Khan, and the current meetings proved that.


    However, Lionel was right. Khan had always relied on the help of more experienced people. Initially, his fellow descendants had been enough, but his Uncle, Aunt, and other older members of his inner circle had shown their valuetely. The whole tournament idea came from Prince Thomas in the end.


    "I understand your concerns, Lionel," Khan dered. "Your malcontent is also reasonable. Yet, what would you have me do?"


    "I wouldn''t dare to suggest anything, Prince Khan," Lionel said, restoring his political persona. "I merely expressed what you wanted to hear."


    "Which I''m thankful for," Khan uttered. "I greatly value honesty. Still, your words highlight an issue I was already aware and wary of."


    "I''m sure it can be fixed, Prince Khan," Lionel reassured.


    "How?" Khan wondered, the room growing colder due to his mood. "Should I pay you? Should I invite untrustworthy people into my businesses to cate your internal fights and ambitions? Should I expose myself to please your characters?"


    "I would never ce my ambition above your safety, Prince Khan," Lionel eximed.


    "You didn''t," Khan reassured, "But I see few alternatives. I''d have to buy you or eliminate any potential threat."


    "I wouldn''t dare to plot against you, Prince Khan," Lionel dered. "I wouldn''t even consider it. This slight malcontent is an internal issue my son and I are dealing with."


    "I know you are," Khan reassured. "Still, let me tell you this."


    Khan emptied his ss, cing it on the couch''s armchair. The silence built up tension, adding weight to Khan''s following words.


    "I''m still inexperienced in many ways," Khan announced, "But I know how this can turn out."


    Khan fell silent again, staring deep into Lionel''s eyes. He didn''t want his words to sound like a threat there. He only wished to exin an unavoidable consequence.


    "Let''s say a ploy unfolds," Khan said. "The only ones able to set it up are organizations with simr power to mine, and I know myself. I''ll start a war in a blink."


    Lionel couldn''t help but grow more serious. A war among noble factions or families could shake the Global Army to its core. Those parties always avoided it due to the heavy repercussions on both sides, but Khan was an evident exception. He would attack without caring about his losses. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "And you know how these things go," Khan continued. "The nobles and other top dogs have many ways to protect themselves. Instead, the messengers and instruments of the ploy don''t, and they''d be the first to suffer."

 Chapter 917 Semen

    917 Semen


    The meeting with Lionel Hencus marked the end of the troublesome task. Those warnings were Khan''sst attempt to retain peace. Everything else would be up to his allies'' families, and eventual problems would force him to unleash more than words.


    Nevertheless, only time would tell what the future had in store. Khan could only wait for now, and the additional free time made room for the usual preparations. He resumed focusing on his training while his rtives handled the tournament''s effects, allowing him to finalize one peculiar trend.


    ''Still eighty percent,'' Khan read on the report beside his bed. ''It truly stabilized.''


    The report obviously was about thetest training session with the toxic pool. Khan had stuffed three more of those in the past two weeks, leading to an additional downfall in his attunement level. However, as his scientists had predicted, the trend seemed to have stopped at eighty points.


    ''It''s just one session without decrease,'' Khan eventually thought. ''It''s too early to draw conclusions.''


    Khan remained uncertain, but the additional data on the report backed up Abraham and Garret''s opinion. The session''s damage had decreased, while Khan''s recovery period had shortened. His increased tolerance to the toxic substance could partially exin that trend, but the process''pletion was the most popr theory.


    ''Completion to what?'' Khan wondered, ripping off the various bandages on him to check his state. No injury afflicted him, and he felt stronger than ever, but he couldn''t spot anything unusual or drastically different.


    Khan didn''t let that dishearten him. Truth be told, most of his training sessions had simr oues. Also, he was often blind to certain changes, forcing him to rely on Monica or his closest allies to spot them.


    Nevertheless, the decreasing attunement trend''s end created a new problem. The procedure was highly experimental, and Khan had jumped blindly into it. He didn''t know where it would lead nor how to proceed to the next phase.


    ''If my attunement with mana truly stopped dropping,'' Khan thought, ''Does it mean that the transformation isplete?''


    Khan didn''t believe that for a second. The evolution was supposed to bring monumental changes even as a fourth-level warrior. Many would im he already wielded enough power to consider himself at that stage, but he knew most of it came from his expertise.


    ''Garret would have written something here,'' Khan concluded, scrolling through the report. ''I''m not there yet.''


    The procedure''s still-ongoing nature didn''t answer Khan''s questions. Theoretically, the end of the descending trend should make room for an increase in the attunement with mana. Yet, even with Khan''s diligent training, nothing simr had happened.


    18:23


    The issue could have two opposite exnations. Either Khan''s body still used that energy to transform, or the toxic pool had started eliminating any progress he made between training sessions.


    The data seemed to favor the first hypothesis, but Khan could easily see the second unfolding, especially if he started abusing it. Spotting that trend would also be difficult since he was in uncharted territory, potentially slowing down his training.


    ''Am I being too greedy?'' Khan wondered. ''Should I just take my time and ept eventual bumps?''


    Khan was in a hurry for a variety of reasons. The scarlet eyes remained a looming threat with an unknown timeline, and growing stronger as quickly as possible would add fuel to his fame. Still, patience seemed to be necessary in that procedure. His scientists also advised it.


    ''What''s the worst-case scenario?'' Khan thought. ''Losing half a year of training? I bet Abraham and Garret would notice things far earlier than that even.''


    Khan''s estimate took into consideration the time his body would need to developplete immunity to the toxic substance. He couldn''t be sure, but things were already improving, and the process was bound to pick up speed.


    All in all, six months without attunement growth wasn''t the end of the world. Khan should be an exception, but almost everyone in his position would suffer simr setbacks. Moreover, his scientists were bound to have better answers in the meantime.


    ''Immunity, huh,'' Khan thought, inspecting his hand. ''That would send me back to regr training. Well, my version of regr, at least.''


    Khan remained immersed in his thoughts until the medical bay''s door opened. Monica stormed in, stomping her feet once she noticed he was okay. She quickly reached the bed, delivering a jab to his chest before crossing her arms.


    "What did I do now?" Khan chuckled, his bright eyes studying Monica''s mana. He knew she wasn''t pissed about the training session, and the real reason eventually became evident.


    "How can you be mad about that?" Khan shook his head, reaching for Monica to pull her onto the bed. "You said it yourself. It would have taken a while for the effects to wear off."


    Monica pretended to oppose the pull but still ended up between Khan''s legs. Her arms remained crossed while she leaned on his chest, asionally snorting to highlight her annoyed mood.


    "You are literally a super-human," Monicained. "You are even training non-stop. Shouldn''t you have developed super semen by now?"


    "Super what?" Khanughed. "Is that even a thing?"


    "I don''t know!" Monica cursed. "Make it a thing! We have been trying to conceive for two weeks, and still nothing."


    "Have we been trying?" Khan asked. He knew what he had been up to with Monica in the past weeks, but the two had never openly discussed it. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Monica didn''t reply and avoided Khan''s attempts to look at her eyes. Still, her efforts failed when Khan pushed her down, nimbly climbing on top of her.


    "Didn''t we agree on doing that after I returned from Senerth?" Khan reminded, pressing Monica''s arms on the mattress while inspecting her expression.


    "You weren''tining, so," Monica muttered, diverting her gaze. "You can''t me me for seizing all the chances I see."


    Khan chuckled, lowering his head to poke Monica''s cheek with his nose. She initially ignored the gesture but eventually turned to look at him.


    "I don''t know about your super semen theory," Khan announced.


    "I won''t hear the end of it, will I?" Monica pouted.


    "But," Khan continued. "I basically belong to a different species. Difficulties should be the norm."


    Those words seemed to get through to Monica. Her pout melted, but some disappointment remained. Her arms were trapped, so she used her legs to cling to Khan and bring him closer.


    "Besides," Khan continued. "You just interrupted the birth control, and we don''t know the actual effects of my training. It might mess me up down there."


    "I only see benefits," Monica pointed out, moving her waist to make Khan aware of her presence and his state.


    Khan shot a knowing look at Monica, and she replied with a sly smile. The two were about to kiss, but the medical bay''s door opened again, interrupting what would have been an unstoppable esction.


    "What?" Khan asked, cursing while ncing at the medical bay''s entrance. He knew who hade in, and annoyance surged since that wasn''t the first time. Prince Thomas had to consider himself lucky Khan was the only one naked now.


    "My Prince," Prince Thomas called, unfazed by the intimate situation in which he had found Khan and Monica. "Your presence is required."


    "I''m busy," Khan responded, and Monica wore a smug look, happy to be his priority.


    "It''s about the other Nognes factions," Prince Thomas exined. "The Excellencies are here."


    Monica''s expression went from smug to serious. She looked at Khan, noticing that coldness had invaded his face. She knew the tables had turned, and getting naked wouldn''t fix it. It could, but she couldn''t ask that from Khan.


    Khan let go of Monica''s arms, leaving the bed to check his phone. He didn''t receive any warning from the involved parties, revealing the sudden nature of the visit. The other faction leaders had moved silently on purpose, aiming to catch Khan by surprise.


    ''Still pretending to have a shred of control,'' Khan cursed in his mind.


    Keeping the visit a secret had multiple purposes. First, the other Nognes factions didn''t want to risk exposing their movements or increasing Khan''s fame. Every noble would reevaluate Khan''s authority if people learned that he could summon his family Excellencies at will.


    Also, theck of warnings or previous agreements created the illusion of control. The Excellencies could set the ce and meeting''s terms, pretending to have the jump on Khan. They would be the ones summoning him, not the other way around.


    "Where is here?" Khan questioned.


    "In orbit," Prince Thomas exined, unaffected by Khan''s naked state. "They arrived in a peculiar vehicle which should have enough space for a suitable meeting."


    "Peculiar how?" Khan asked, epting the clothes that fell in his hands. Monica had left the bed in the meantime, delivering what he needed to depart as soon as possible.


    "Reinforced," Prince Thomas revealed, "Shielded from scanners. Less fancy than someone would expect from people of their status."


    "They called the big guns," Khan scoffed. "They must have quite the team of evolved warriors waiting for me."


    "My Prince," Prince Thomas called, "You have no obligation to fly to them directly. We can buy time and contact them from the surface."


    "No need," Khan stated, finishing dressing up while Monica ced the bone crown on his head. "I want their opinion on something anyway."

 Chapter 918: Dangerous inspection

    Chapter 918: Dangerous inspection


    ?


    Learning about the realm above the fifth level was challenging. Only specific, wealthy parties had ess to that kind of information, and even then, they mostly owned fragmented reports and studies.


    The issue wasn''t only a matter of monopoly over information. Humankind was very new to the evolution field, and few specialists could understand it. Adding the immense wealth and resources required by the procedure to the equation decreased the number of knowledgeable people even more.


    Khan''s unique procedure added another filter, reducing that number to zero. No one knew what he was doing or where his training sessions would lead. The scientists could only study him and adapt ordingly.


    However, one exception existed. One group of extraordinary people had a unique insight into the field and could evaluate eventual improvements or changes. The evolved soldiers could recognize fellow evolved soldiers, and Khan believed their reaction could tell him how his training was going.


    The initial scans on the Excellencies'' unique vehicle hinted at the presence of evolved soldiers, and Khan couldn''t wait to meet them. His eagerness was so intense he ignored all the preparations, letting Prince Thomas and Princess Reba handle everything and lead him to the appointed ship. His mindset didn''t change after the set-off, and his surroundings reflected it.


    The appointed ship had a limited crew for security reasons. The Excellencies had gone out of their way to keep their arrival a secret, so only Khan, his Uncle, and his Aunt were in the know. The trio was alone in the vehicle''s cargo area, waiting to arrive at its destination, but the short trip was far from peaceful.


    Princess Reba and Prince Thomas would normally throw suggestions and opinions at Khan, preparing him as well as possible before the sudden meeting. Yet, they instinctively remained silent, watching as their Nephew''s mood affected the environment.


    The quadrant''s ships were mostly state-of-the-art, especially those solely employed by the nobles. As long as Khan could step on them, they needed chaos-resistant materials and other precautions, but nothing seemed to work that day.


    Screens flickered left and right, and the cargo area''s artificial illumination blinked, unable to remain on and stable for longer than a few seconds. The floor, walls, and metal seats also released ominous sounds, seemingly trying to bend or break.


    Prince Thomas and Princess Reba''s eyes darted toward each odd event before always returning to the source of the mess. They had witnessed simr phenomena many times but had yet to get used to them.


    Khan felt the wary gazes on him but didn''t bother addressing them. He was standing, looking at the cargo area''s doors, waiting for the trip to end. Clear eagerness shone on his expression, intensifying his mood''s effects on the environment, and a tinge of awareness joined that feeling, empowering his aura even more.


    The training sessions with the toxic pool always put Khan in an unrestrained mood. Moreover, those changes gradually grew more permanent. He often failed to notice them, but that instance was an exception.


    Khan was letting himself go, ignoring any difort hisck of self-restraint caused. That was as close to his true nature as possible, and things were bound to escte once his aura found valid opponents.


    The Excellencies'' vehicle was already in Baoway''s orbit, so reaching it barely took a few minutes. Khan''s ship quickly docked on the floating warehouse-like structure waiting for him, and the trio crossed the metal corridor connecting the two structures.


    A vast but barebone hall unfolded in the trio''s eyes. The ce had nothing but a big circr table featuring seven seats, six of which were already upied. A pair of advisors stood behind each leader, but Khan quickly found more interesting details to study.


    Khan temporarily ignored the Excellencies to focus on the piercing presence touched by his senses. He found a familiar one in the back of the hall and promptly met her white irises, but stronger auras soon imed his attention.


    A young-looking man stood in the bottom-left corner of the hall, leaning on the wall while crossing his arms. His pitch-ck short hair and eyebrows tried to obscure him, but his almost bright red eyes highlighted his presence.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Of course, Khan looked past the man''s physical appearance. Truth be told, the evolved soldier was a blinding mass of light in his vision. The air around him seemed ame, and his breath appeared hot enough to twist his figure. His lungs seemed to containva rather than oxygen. Nevertheless, an even stronger presence upied the hall. Khan looked to his right, where a middle-aged man sat on the floor near the metal wall. The soldier and the symphony around him were still and silent, seemingly frozen, but radiated no cold. They felt closer to a mountain than a living being.


    That would theoretically make the middle-aged man appear weaker than the scorching soldier, but Khan''s senses didn''t lie. Silent strands of mana floated throughout the hall, even invading the scorching and white symphonies. The middle-aged man had the power to affect the other evolved warriors'' auras, putting him above the two.


    "Miss Christen spoke the truth, My Excellencies," The sitting evolved soldier suddenly announced, chuckling. "The young Prince has good eyes."


    "That''s not the only good thing he has," The evolved soldier in the corner added, tilting his head while his piercing red eyes inspected Khan. "Aren''t you quite odd, Prince Khan?"


    Miss Christen remained silent, slightly shocked by Khan''s appearance. Yet, Khan couldn''t address that silent reaction when two evolved soldiers inspected him. The piercing red eyes threatened to burn a hole in his rib cage, but the middle-aged man remained more threatening.


    The middle-aged man had his eyes closed, and his greasy brown hair covered his face, but Khan sensed his iing presence. Silent strands of mana converged toward him, blending with the air he breathed and trying to enter his lungs. Some did, and his element didn''t take it too well.


    A surge of anger invaded Khan. His eyes brightened as a clicking cry filled his brain. Cracks appeared on his bone armor while his mana radiated pure destruction, attacking the foreign presence inside him.


    The event was invisible to those without heightened senses. However, everyone felt its consequences. Khan didn''t release his ominous purple-red mana, but the air around him grew electric, seemingly ready to detonate.


    Also, a primordial sense of violence surrounded Khan''s figure. He didn''t do anything, but everyone knew the danger had increased. The audience felt like they were before an unreasonable beast, and the floor was the first to suffer from the change.


    The metal floor didn''t scream or bend. Cracks simply appeared around Khan''s feet, spreading for a few meters. The reinforced surface gave in against Khan''s innately destructive nature, relying on its loweryers to keep the hall in one piece.


    "I apologize, Prince Khan," The middle-aged man chuckled, retracting the silent influence to his surroundings. "I hope you can forgive this old man''s curiosity."


    The other evolved soldier didn''t follow the middle-aged man''s example. His scorching eyes


    kept piercing Khan''s chest, uncaring of the violent force opposing them. He seemed to have taken that challenge personally, and the heat around him intensified, slowly turning the wall


    behind him red.


    "Adrian!" The middle-aged man suddenly shouted, and everything grew still. The white and scorching colors disappeared from the symphony, silencing any strong influence. Even Khan''s violence stopped leaking outside his body, remaining restrained under his skin.


    "I''m sorry, Bruno," The scorching man said, snorting. "Prince Khan, you are quite the specimen, and the chaos element sure is powerful. It might be a match for mine."


    Khan studied his silent surroundings before looking at the scorching man. The symphony slowly regained the colors caused by various powerful influences, but the middle-aged man''s ability remained shocking. Still, Khan couldn''t address it now.


    "Might?" Khan repeated. "From what I''ve seen, I''ll definitely surpass you once I hit the fifth


    level."


    Adrian didn''t hide his surprise, and some pressure also formed in the silent area around


    Bruno. The two had prepared for the meeting, but that short interaction had made them


    forget about something that Khan had made clear. He was still a fourth-level warrior but was already capable of so much.


    "You did something since ourst meeting, Prince Khan," Miss Christen finally spoke, clearing part of the confusion. "There''s a new density to your existence."


    "I don''t know about density," Khan eximed, focusing on the Excellencies, "But if they put


    you up to this, I don''t see the point of ying nice."


    Khan teleported to the table''s center, and his descending right foot was about to deliver a stomp, but something interrupted the attack. Bruno had suddenly appeared before him, retaining his sitting stance but stretching an arm to block the offensive.


    "The Excellencies aren''t to me, Prince Khan," Bruno revealed, using his free hand to remove his hair from his face and show a friendly, smiling expression. "We acted on our own, driven by curiosity about your peculiar existence."


    Khan recorded the exchange but pretended to dismiss it. Bruno had aplished another incredible feat, but the situation didn''t give Khan the chance to study it. He could only y


    along, showing his usual confidence.


    "I thought you worked for me," Khan voiced, removing his foot from Bruno''s arm. "Evolved soldiers have certain liberties," Bruno exined, still smiling. "I hope you can refrain from simr outbursts in the future. There won''t always be people as fast as me, and we have orders to prevent infighting."


    Khan looked at the smiling face under him before ncing at Bruno''s previous position. He noticed something, but his level andcking knowledge prevented him from understanding every detail. Yet, he felt sure about one point.


    "Fast?" Khan asked. "What are you saying? You didn''t move at all."

 Chapter 919 War

    919 War


    The intense but short interaction revealed many details.


    The evolved soldiers'' hierarchy and privileges had be evident. Adrian and Bruno were one step above Miss Christen, with Bruno in charge. Also, the two didn''t appear bound and subservient to the noble authority. They could act on their own as long as they abided by their role.


    Adrian and Bruno''s powers also felt one level above Miss Christen''s. They were probably older, more experienced, and hadpleted the evolution through better paths. Their characters even seemed to match their elements and vibe instead of merely ying along with it.


    The evolved soldiers'' surprise at the revtion of Khan''s current level also told him he was doing something right. The toxic pool was working. He was getting closer and closer to that superior realm, but something was stillcking.


    Khan''s aura had gained more power. He could affect the environment and break things without relying on his alien arts. Yet, its intensity still paledpared to the evolved soldiers''. That was reasonable due to his current level, but he spotted another w.


    Adrian, Bruno, and even Miss Christen were one with their element, and that match extended to body and soul. Meanwhile, Khan''s flesh was still unable to meet that requirement. He was missing something, and seizing it could create more problems.


    The issue had already crossed Khan''s mind, but Adrian''s slight outburst confirmed it. The wall behind him had cooled down in those seconds, but the effects of his heat were still evident. Anyone could see the darker patch on the metal, highlighting what his mere mood shift had been capable of.


    That event had Adrian''s element at its core, and Khan knew his mana was no well-behaved child. Bragging aside, the chaos element was violent and destructive in its unreasonable pursuit of freedom. Completely assimting it could make Khan a constant threat to anyone close to him.


    Control was the key there, but the chaos element didn''t y well with restrictions. The scarlet eyes'' threat also didn''t give Khan much of a choice. He could only wait and see, diving deeper into his training and hoping his eventual evolution would allow a loving touch.


    Those worries could sour Khan''s mood, but his evident improvements and another detail kept that feeling at bay. Adrian, Bruno, and Miss Christen shared his view of the world. The four had simr eyes and belonged to the same realm. Even if Khan turned into a monster, he wouldn''t be alone.


    The silent Excellencies highlighted that separation. Khan, Adrian, Bruno, and Miss Christen were speaking anguage only they could understand, preventing regr humans from joining the conversation. Yet, duties were duties, and Bruno quickly decided to abide by them.


    A tinge of surprise flowed into Bruno''s smiling expression. He kept his brown eyes fixed on Khan for a few seconds before disappearing. His sitting figure returned to its previous position, and some pressure invaded the symphony when he found Khan looking at him.


    The gesture wasn''t random. Bruno knew Khan couldn''t follow his movements, but there he was. Khan''s senses had warned him about the location change, almost earning him praise from the evolved soldier.


    Adrian and Miss Christen also noticed that detail, but neither spoke. Their curiosity was still rampant, but their time was over. Bruno was giving the room to the Excellencies, so they followed suit.


    Khan understood and epted that development, moving his gaze to the sitting figures around him. The six faction leaders didn''t appear bothered by his location, but their unwavering eyes still studied him, and he responded in kind.


    The table featured three men and three women, almost all showing clear signs of age. Only one middle-aged man didn''t follow that trend, and his aura exined why.


    Khan had be able to see the mana for years now, and countless powerful figures had crossed his eyes. Nevertheless, few could stand out among that crowd, and all the Excellencies met that requirement.


    Solid, intense, sharp, confident, and proud auras surrounded Khan, and he could almost smell the rich experience they conveyed. The Excellencies were no ordinary leaders, making him feel like six Lord Rsi were at the table.


    As for the middle-aged man, his aura was the brightest of them all. Each Excellency was a fifth-level warrior, but the middle-aged man had something more to it. He was simr to Major General Arngan, seemingly ready to enter the higher realm.


    The inspection didn''tst long. Khan soon turned, slowly walking to the empty chair. The Excellencies followed his movements with their eyes, and the tension in the symphony intensified once he sat down.


    "I hope this ce has food," Khan announced while Princess Reba and Prince Thomas reached his chair, standing behind him. "I''m famished."


    The middle-aged man lifted a hand, performing a beckoning gesture that put Miss Christen on the move. She exited the hall through a partially hidden door, quickly returning with a tray in both hands. One was full of food, while the other had bottles and sses.


    Miss Christen calmly ced the booze tray on the table, slowly pouring seven sses before bringing them to each leader. Khan was thest to receive his drink, but Miss Christen added all the food to her delivery.


    Needless to say, Khan and Miss Christen exchanged a meaningful look, seemingly trying to pierce each other''s souls with that inspection. Yet, the interaction was short-lived. Miss Christen quickly returned to her wall, forcing the meeting to start.


    "Well, Prince Khan," One of the female Excellencies eximed. "We came here in person as requested, and you have your food now. Should we start?"


    Khan nced at the Excellency while pulling the food tray to him. His fork and knife went on an appealing steak while the leaders waited for his reply. His dy didn''t affect their patience, so he decided to address the issue.


    "I know your desire to get in my businesses," Khan stated. "You want part of what I built free-of-charge. That simply won''t happen."


    "Prince Khan," One of the male Excellencies called. "We didn''te here to hear the same words our representatives reported." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "But you came here without warning me," Khan responded. "Your stance is clear."


    "You surely understand the reason behind this sudden meeting," Another female Excellency dered. "You know how it would look if the other nobles learned about our arrival."


    "Why not let them think what they want?" Khan wondered. "It wouldn''t be far from the truth, either. I have enough appeal to force all of you here. That''s a fact."


    "Do not mistake our presence for recognition," The third female Excellency announced. "The main reason behind this meeting is to avoid more drastic measures."


    "Are we at the threats already?" Khan asked, smirking.


    "Prince Khan," The middle-aged man called. "As respectful and praiseworthy as your achievements are, you know you can''t oppose our factions on your own. Not yet, that is."


    "But you aren''t united," Khan said, pushing aside the now-empty tray, "Especially in your desire to take me out."


    The empty tray attracted some surprise. It had been full of food just a minute ago, but Khan had wolfed it down in no time. Still, everyone soon focused on his words.


    "I''m aware of the exuberance of youth, Prince Khan," The third male Excellency said. "However, you must admit you are taking this threat seriously. You wouldn''t have bothered attending this meeting otherwise."


    The Excellency has spoken the truth. Actually, Khan had never underestimated the danger his family posed. He had simply bought time, amassing as many assets as possible before the inevitable critical point, which seemed to have arrived.


    "I do have a proposal," Khan admitted, "Which I hope you won''t try to negotiate further."


    "That will depend on its terms," One of the female Excellencies stated.


    "My terms haven''t changed," Khan revealed. "You can get my products at apetitive price, but I won''t share the means of production. That monopoly is mine alone, and the same goes for the Thilku Empire."


    "Is there a buting?" One of the male Excellencies asked.


    "I''m getting there," Khan said without hiding his annoyance. "Of course, the sales will take into consideration hoarding and reselling practices. We might be family, but I want you to know I''ll remain a necessary evil."


    Some Excellencies had retorts but remained silent. Appearances aside, Khan was technically equal to them, so he deserved politeness.


    "Still," Khan continued, "One special opportunity has arisen. You are probably aware the Empire has tasked me with expanding its domain. I must colonize threes, and I''m willing to give one to you."


    Clear interest leaked into the symphony. Many didn''t like Khan, but a whole was an appealing olive branch. Moreover, colonizing it could create an opening in the imprable Thilku Empire, which remained Khan''s most valuable asset.


    "Where''s the catch?" The middle-aged man asked. "I''d be disappointed if there weren''t one."


    "The in question will take longer to be avable," Khan exined. "Also, it would still be my. The Thilku Empire wouldn''t ept someone else''s authority."


    "How long are we talking about?" A female Excellency questioned. "And what will happen to the others in the meantime?"


    "I already made arrangements for them," Khan revealed. "Theirnds will go to the other nobles and the wealthy families in my alliance."


    "So," A male Excellency eximed. "You expect us to wait while you continue hoarding riches."


    "Exactly," Khan shamelessly confirmed. "It''s not a bad deal, but you are free to refuse it. Yet, I''ve grown tired of these pointless meetings. If this isn''t enough to satisfy your greed, we can consider ourselves at war once we leave the building."


    e author by leavingments when sending gift.

 Chapter 920 Negotiations

    920 Negotiations


    The word "war" echoed in the Excellencies'' minds. That was no small threat, and even the evolved soldiers acknowledged its seriousness. Adrian, Bruno, and Miss Christen couldn''t help but resume their inspection of Khan, hoping to find hints of pretense or hesitation.


    However, the evolved soldiers found nothing but unreasonable resolve inside Khan. He had meant every word he said, and his history added a troublesome factor to the threat.


    Those lofty environments could often produce entitled brats. Nobles and wealthy descendants underwent a thorough education, but the process could fail some of them, creating figures ignorant of many aspects of the world.


    Khan''s youth could deceive some into thinking he belonged to that category, but his history and stance told the opposite tale. He knew war. He had even fought into a few of those and was ready to start another to protect his domain.


    Generally speaking, internal battles were bad for business, especially in the short run. Still, the Excellencies were willing to consider that path in the instance of a clear threat to their authority.


    However, things with Khan were moreplex than they appeared. The six noble factions could overpower him, but that approachcked a proper reward. The Nognes family would only lose the most promising leader in their history and everything he had achieved since his domain was strictly connected to his name.


    Moreover, the six noble factions weren''t united. They disagreed on how to handle Khan, and the bone he had thrown at them partially appeased their greed. They wanted more from Khan, but a whole was still a massive, effortless reward. The Excellencies would get it simply for sharing Khan''s lineage.


    Of course, that was another contentious issue. The insistence in those meetings wasn''t only about getting a share of Khan''s profits and equally splitting wealth inside the family. The six faction leaders wanted Khan to be aware and acknowledge their authority, which the current offer didn''t do.


    Actually, the current offer would bolster Khan''s authority, making the six factions slightly subservient to him. They would earn well, but the business would remain under Khan''s name. He would stay in control, almost turning them into mere employees.


    The issue wasn''t as tragic as it sounded. The six factions were involved in countless businesses, so epting a slightly ufortablepromise in one of them wouldn''t be the end of the world. The potential earnings would make the sacrifice worth it.


    However, that could be a slippery slope. Onepromise made epting the following easier until the subservience transformed from asional to the norm.


    The Excellencies explored those and more worries in the short seconds after Khan''s announcement. The threat of war remained the main issue, but the offer had enough value to move the more intrigued leaders. They didn''t need to pretend they were united, so they didn''t even try.


    "This in question," One of the female Excellencies announced. "How do we know it''s worth our time?"


    Khan drew his phone from his pelts, cing it on the table. Menus instantly lit up on the metal surface, connecting the device and essing specific information.


    Khan only had to tap on his screen for holograms to pop out of the table. A appeared at its center alongside a list of information. Everyone became able to read Senerth''s specifics, and a silent minute unfolded while the Excellencies reviewed the potential benefits.


    Of course, the holograms didn''t mention anything about Senerth''s inhabitants. Khan didn''t want the Excellencies to know more than necessary to retain as much control as possible in that concession. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "What''s the issue with the?" The same female Excellency asked.


    "That''s ssified information between the Thilku Empire and me," Khan responded.


    "And the timeline?" A male Excellency questioned.


    "It''s not clear," Khan admitted. "I''ll have more reliable data once I get there."


    "That''s far from reassuring," The middle-aged man dered. "What would stop you from dying the''s avability on purpose?"


    "I''m not working for you here," Khan exined, "Or the family. This missiones from the Thilku Empire, and I''m expected to handle it as soon as possible."


    The Excellencies didn''t trust Khan, and that feeling wasn''t specific to him. Those leaders were too experienced and jaded to believe their business partners. Yet, the Thilku Empire was a great sponsor, which Khan himself had to respect.


    "How many years?" The female Excellency questioned.


    "I hope less than one," Khan responded. "If anything, I don''t want my absence tost longer than that."


    Conquering a whole in a year was doable with modern equipment, but Khan had strict requirements. Moreover, his army would only benefit from a prolonged war. Yet, he had spoken the truth. Ideally, he would get things done as soon as possible.


    One year wasn''t much for the Excellencies. Truth be told, they would have also been fine with more under normal circumstances. They had been part of deals that had stretched for decades, so that wait felt short in their experience.


    With the deal''s validity confirmed, the Excellencies only had onest step to take. They could either ept Khan''s offer or refuse it, starting a war. The six leaders were inclined toward the former, but some details had yet to be rified.


    "Will the other aspects of the deal also require this dy?" The middle-aged man questioned.


    "No," Khan revealed. "We find an agreement here, and I''m ready to ship out resources as early as today."


    "And the tournament?" The same female Excellency as before asked. "It is my understanding you have already announced its return for next year."


    "What do you want from my tournament?" Khan asked, putting emphasis on the "my" part.


    "It is a great achievement," The female Excellency said. "One the Global Army hasn''t seen in decades. Of course, we want in."


    As much as Khan disliked the idea, splitting the tournament''s costs with the other factions would greatly benefit him. Also, their involvement would bring better political figures and deals to the event, improving its potential. It would be a perfect move that would bolster the Nognes family''s name as a whole, but Khan couldn''t give in.


    "Everyone knows you had nothing to do with the tournament," Khan announced. "Everyone relevant, that is. Granting you organizers status on the second would reflect poorly on my image."


    The noble and wealthy environments didn''t need explicit exnations to take hints. Many had already guessed and understood that Khan was fighting for relevance and independence inside his family. Turning the other factions into proper organizers during the second tournament would make it look like he had lost the political battle.


    "And it would reflect poorly on us to continue being excluded from such a public and sessful event," The female Excellency pointed out.


    18:28


    "You should have thought about doing it yourself," Khan snorted, "Instead of jumping at the chance now that I made myself publicly avable."


    "And it would reflect poorly on us to continue being excluded from such a public and sessful event," The female Excellency pointed out.


    "You should have thought about doing it yourself," Khan snorted, "Instead of jumping at the chance now that I made myself publicly avable."


    Every noble family had the means to organize Khan''s tournament butcked his unique status. Unlike the other Princes and Princesses, he had remained engaged in the Global Army''s issues, creating an appealing channel everyone wanted to exploit.


    "So," One of the male Excellencies eximed. "How do we solve this?"


    Taking a step back could prompt the faction leaders to push for more, but refusing topromise might start a war. Moreover, the decision was on Khan now. It was his time tounch a counteroffer, and the helplessness in his brain told him he couldn''t win that round.


    "My team is busy rearranging many aspects of the tournament," Khan exined. "My arena will also need modifications. You cane as guests and act as owners, but I want my share."


    "All the benefits without upfront payments?" The middle-aged man wondered. "It sounds too good to be true."


    "Authority has a steep price," Khanmented. "Also, if you purposely avoid engaging in businesses during the tournament, I''ll know you aren''t worth as much as you im to be."


    Khan hoped to stir somepetitiveness among the faction leaders, but no one took the bait. They knew what Khan was up to and wouldn''t expose themselves for a simple insult. Besides, they had plenty of ways to abide by the request without revealing their true riches.


    The faction leaders exchanged nces and asional nods during the silence that unfolded. Khan had nothing else to offer and wouldn''t even if he did. That was the best deal the Excellencies could get out of him, so everything was about epting or refusing it now.


    Khan saw more than poker faces and polite pretenses. The symphony shone in his eyes, telling him the offer satisfied the Excellencies. One seemed to have a minor gripe, which he didn''t hesitate to voice.


    "I''d like to request an additional term for this initial deal," The middle-aged man announced.


    "It did sound too easy," Khan scoffed, seizing a nearby bottle since his ss was empty.


    "Your unique position hinders our trust, Prince Khan," The middle-aged man continued. "Your closest ally works outside the Global Army''s domain, and you are happy to mention it whenever things get dire. Theoretically, nothing would stop you from using it to trick us."


    "You won''t get the Empire," Khan dered. "Not from me, and definitely not with this behavior."


    "We are aware," The middle-aged man responded, "But the issue remains. So, I propose you bring one of the family''s evolved soldiers with you. His or her presence will vouch for your intentions of seeing this deal through to the end."

 Chapter 921: Agreement

    Chapter 921: Agreement


    ?


    The Excellencies'' approving nods updated Khan on an annoying truth. The additional term had be mandatory, and Khan couldn''t talk his way out of it. Either he epted the deal, or the war would start.


    The idea of returning to Baoway with an evolved warrior could bring many benefits. Knowledge of that higher realm was one of the key ws of Khan''s procedure. The help of someone who had already faced and ovee a simr hurdle would be priceless, but Khan''s paranoia blinded him, forcing him to focus on the potential dangers.


    Khan was confident in his strength, but a battle against an evolved soldier remained a scary prospect. He wouldn''t bother with those meetings otherwise, and the deal involved bringing such a dangerous figure into his home.


    The evolved soldiers served the family, not the factions, but Khan still didn''t trust them. He wouldn''t know what to do if that supposedly trusted figure turned into an assassin. Dying would even be fine, but the potential damage stretched far past Khan''s life. Everything and everyone he loved was on Baoway, turning them into targets.


    Those doubts seemed pointless before the unavoidable situation. The idea was in the open now, and the Excellencies had already epted it. Trying to refuse or walk around it would only worsen Khan''s position.


    The helpless development forced Khan to show his first sign of weakness in a long time. He stopped looking at the Excellencies, ncing at the advisors behind him. His Uncle and Aunt were far more knowledgeable than him on those matters, and he needed their opinion to make the final decision.


    The Excellencies noticed the gesture but didn''t say anything. They also refrained from exploiting it. Truth be told, Khan''scking knowledge there was more than reasonable, and pushing him would only bring the dreaded war on them.


    Princess Reba and Prince Thomas also realized the severity of the situation and reached a decision after exchanging a single nce. Then, Prince Thomas nodded at Khan, silently telling him what he had already understood.


    "Very well," Khan eventually announced. "I''ll wee an evolved soldier in my ranks but won''t ept his or her interference in my businesses. Their power has no ce in this agreement."


    "Of course," The middle-aged man agreed. "The Nognes family would lose face if we started relying on our evolved soldiers to solveplications."


    "The question now is," One of the female Excellencies continued, "Who should we send?"


    "Miss Christen should be the best candidate," One of the male Excellencies pointed out.


    "If I may, My Excellencies," Bruno suddenly broke his silence, and his faint voice silenced everyone at the table.


    "Speak, Mister Bruno," The female Excellency ordered. "Obviously, your opinion stands above ours on this topic."


    "I''m grateful for such high consideration," Bruno said, his face hidden by his greasy hair. "At the rate Prince Khan is growing, I''m afraid Miss Christen won''t suffice. Her element might also create a bias, making her judgment unreliable."


    "Then," The middle-aged man eximed, "Mister Adrian will suffice. Unless you believe Prince Khan can surpass him in such a short time."


    "I wouldn''t dare to evaluate Prince Khan''s talent nor insult my fellow evolved warrior," Bruno announced. "However, Mister Adrian presents an even greater issue. His element and Prince Khan''s element fuel each other. The chance of incidents is high."


    No one tried to object to Bruno''s evaluation. After all, everyone had witnessed Adrian''s violent reaction during the inspection. One of the hall walls would have melted if it hadn''t been for Bruno''s intervention.


    "My Excellencies," Bruno continued. "I''m afraid I''m the best candidate for this role." "Mister Bruno," The middle-aged man called. "Your role inside the Nognes family is too great to limit you to babysitting. No offense, Prince Khan."


    "None taken," Khan responded. "Though, he is right. Miss Christen has already failed to study me, and Mister Adrian''s nature almost makes our sh unavoidable."


    The symphony around Adrian grew hotter when he exchanged a look with Khan. Yet, he quickly calmed himself, diverting his gaze to avoid that direct interaction.


    As for Khan, he had every reason to avoid supporting Bruno''s statement. The evolved soldier''s strength made him the most troublesome of the trio. Still, he looked impartial, and Khan preferred to get the best helper since the situation was unavoidable.


    The Excellencies hesitated, revealing clues. It seemed Bruno truly held great relevance inside the Nognes family, and sending him away with Khan could create problems. However, the situation left them little choice.


    "I''d also like to add," Bruno continued. "Prince Khan has awakened some curiosity inside me. I wouldn''t find the idea of spending time with the young Prince demeaning."


    The additional statement sealed the matter in stone. The Excellencies wielded the highest authority inside the family, but denying an evolved soldier''s request could create troubling malcontent. As loyal as those warriors were, it was better to keep them satisfied.


    "It''s settled then," The middle-aged man eventually announced. "Prince Khan promises to immediately provide his products and privileged spots at his tournaments. Afterward, he''ll give us the Thilku Empire''s."


    The middle-aged man stood up, lifting his ss. His gaze scanned his fellow Excellencies before returning to Khan and more imitated his gesture.


    "This is a satisfactory first step in the right direction," The female Excellency stated, also standing up. "May this be the beginning of a long, peaceful cooperation."


    The other Excellencies soon stood up, voicing simr lines. Soon, only Khan remained in his seat with those six pairs of eyes fixed on him. The urge to mock that politeness crossed his mind. Still, he suppressed it, joining the leaders in the toast.


    "I apologize for not getting to this part sooner, Prince Khan," The female Excellency said before the toast wasplete. "I feel proper introductions are in order."


    "You all know me," Khan scoffed.


    "Cassius," The middle-aged man announced.


    "Francesca," The more talkative female Excellency continued. "Prince Ethan is from my


    faction."


    "Elijah," One of the male Excellency added. "Prince Jack from mine."


    "Zachary," The third male Excellency stated without adding anything else.


    "Julianne," Another female Excellency said.


    "Mildred," The third female Excellency uttered, showing a faint smile. "The others won''t say


    it, but you are your Mother''s spitting image, Prince Khan."


    No one said anything in thatment. The Excellencies limited themselves to inspecting Khan, waiting for his final words.


    Khan recorded those names but didn''t think much of them. They were meaningless for now, and the meeting wasn''t enough to add proper details. Only his Grandfather could fill those gaps, and he nned to question him once he returned to his.


    "Then," Khan finally spoke. "To the Nognes family. May it remain united."


    A few smiles unfolded before everyone drank. Silence unfolded afterward, and Khan didn''t let


    it linger more than necessary. He performed a traditional Thilku bow with the cape on his shoulders before departing, ready to return to his ship.


    No one interrupted Khan''s departure, but a change happened nheless. A fourth figure joined Khan''s group, silently walking behind the trio. Bruno would return to Baoway with them, and no one addressed him during the march back to the metal passage.


    The silence continued even after the four entered the ship''s rearranged cargo area, but things quickly changed. Khan nced at his Uncle and Aunt, who understood his silent order and walked into the main deck, sealing the door behind them to provide some privacy.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan pretended to ignore the evolved soldier while reaching for one of the ce''spartments, retrieving a bottle from it. He opened it and drank without turning, and much happened during those silent moments.


    Bruno''s presence didn''t cause any disturbance inside the ship. Actually, his silent aura suppressed Khan''s disruptive influence, preventing flickers from the surrounding machinery. Nevertheless, that only angered Khan''s mana. That suppression went against its nature, and the tense atmosphere intensified its unreasonable sides. It didn''t like being in the same room with someone as strong as Bruno, especially since thetter was inspecting its moves. "You have a troublesome element, young Prince," Bruno eventually broke the silence. "It reminds me of Adrian. Thatd''s evolution caused so many problems."


    "Did you witness it?" Khan asked, finally turning to face Bruno. The evolved warrior had already sat on the metal floor, and his hand went on his face, removing the greasy brown strands to show his smiling expression.


    "I witnessed many things, young Prince," Bruno revealed. "It would be impossible not to in


    my long life."


    "How old are you?" Khan questioned, a small crack opening on the floor next to his right foot.


    "Don''t let this lively face fool you, young Prince," Bruno chuckled. "I''ve been around for almost one and a half centuries. I''m afraid calling me old wouldn''t suffice."


    The revtion slightly startled Khan, but he didn''tment on it. He had always known that


    the mana could prolong life, and Bruno was an evolved soldier. His physical appearance didn''t


    represent him at all.


    "Why did you volunteer to check up on me?" Khan asked, changing topics.


    Khan knew the Nognes family didn''t only have three evolved soldiers. Miss Christen herself


    could have been enough for the role, but Bruno had opposed that decision, and Khan believed he had to have something in mind.


    "As I said during the meeting," Bruno said. "I''m simply curious, young Prince. After all, this is my first time seeing a fourth-level warrior showing signs of evolution."

 Chapter 922: Price

    Chapter 922: Price


    ?


    Khan had always known he was unique, and Bruno''sment further confirmed that thought. Humankind had a limited understanding of mana, but the evolved warrior was one hundred and fifty years old. Giving him a first had to be worth something.


    The urge to dive into Bruno''s knowledge invaded Khan, but he temporarily suppressed it. As curious as he was, he didn''t trust the evolved soldier.


    "I never understood something," Khan announced. "The evolved warriors are humankind''s highest fighting power. Why do they serve families or Generals?"


    Bruno''s brown eyes showed a hint of surprise before understanding the issue. He had studied Khan''s life. Thetter was a man with no g or home. His family name was nothing more than something picked up alongside his many achievements. He had never relied on a single source of support, either, making his confusion reasonable.


    "Young Prince," Bruno called. "As you surely know, the evolution''s price is steep. The process requires humankind''s best knowledge and resources, and even then, it''s far from a certainty. No evolved soldier got where they are on their own."


    Khan couldn''t disagree with that statement. Even he was abusing Baoway and the Nognes family''s resources to get stronger. Yet, humankind was no stranger to betrayal, so he found it hard to believe every evolved soldier epted subservience.


    "Debts aside," Bruno continued, "What would evolved soldiers achieve by engaging in politics? We are free to do as we wish, and the families we serve fulfill our every demand. Rebelling or iming positions of power is beneath us."


    "Is that it?" Khan wondered, disappointed. "Is this the limit of your ambition?"


    Khan and Bruno had very different perspectives on life. Khan''s mindset had always been broader due to the nightmares, and bing aware of the scarlet eyes'' threat had given him a purpose that involved the entire universe.


    Meanwhile, Bruno was a proper human, a soldier who had built his strength inside humankind''s systems until he reached his current lofty stage. His view of the world was


    narrower but deeper, allowing him to provide wise pointers.


    "Young Prince, you have good eyes," Brunomented. "You can see the wonderful world of mana. What purpose would it have for someone like us to focus on such material things?"


    Khan suppressed the urge to open his mouth. He didn''t want to admit it, but the spiritual loneliness had been an annoying curse in his mind. Still, even if it made him unable to rte to ordinary people, it didn''t cut him away from the real world.


    "Besides," Bruno continued, "And forgive my bluntness, but you are young. Very young. Material pleasures lose appeal as the years flow, especially after attuning to our elements. There are exceptions, but I''m sure you understand what I mean."


    Khan didn''t reply. He couldn''tpare his life experience with Bruno''s, but the same went for him. Bruno was limited to narrow human ways, while Khan''s mindset had enveloped multiple alien theories.


    Nevertheless, Bruno''s words had concerning details. The evolution heavily changed depending on the element, and Khan knew what his chaos wanted. The doubts about his future intensified, but he dismissed them for now.


    "So," Khan eventually muttered, "Are you really not here to spy on me?"


    Khan almost felt dumb asking that question. No spy would reveal his true nature, but Bruno was no ordinary human. His aura was silent but honest. Khan didn''t believe he would lie. Even if Bruno did, Khan probably had no way of knowing, so any precaution would be pointless.


    "I''m here to see the meeting''s agreement to its end, young Prince," Bruno reassured. "As for my personal reasons, I''m truly curious about you. If possible, I''d like to see your training method or talk about mana."


    Khan tried to find lies in Bruno''s expression, voice, and mana, but everything looked genuine. His paranoia didn''t wane, but refusing to use an evolved soldier''s knowledge and insight would be idiotic. The benefits far outweighed the risks, especially in Khan''s situation.


    The ship didn''t take long tond on one of the city''s main buildings. Princess Reba and Prince Thomas had already warned the soldiers, making them clear every corridor and room on the upper floors. Few figures could witness an evolved soldier''s arrival, and one waited for him on the terrace.


    Only four people exited the ship. Khan, Bruno, Prince Thomas, and Princess Reba calmly stepped onto the terrace, and Monica approached them to deliver a proper wee. Khan''s Aunt and Uncle had warned her about the meeting''s oue, so her attention inevitably fell on the unknown figure.


    Prince Thomas and Princess Reba instinctively remained behind. Meanwhile, Bruno materialized before Monica without causing any violent reaction. His sudden appearance would startle most people, but Monica had long since be used to Khan''s speed, so she showed her hand, waiting to be greeted properly.


    "You must be Miss Solodrey," Bruno announced, taking Monica''s hand and bowing down to kiss it. "Thework said you were enchanting, but the word sounds like an insult after seeing you with my own eyes."


    Monica didn''t let those words trick her. She would generally ept them and even try to twist something to make Khan jealous, but Prince Thomas and Princess Reba''s warning had made her aware of the situation. Bruno was no ally, and keeping her distance was the best way to avoid creating problems for Khan.


    "You would be?" Monica asked, clear detachment in her tone.


    "My apologies," Bruno chuckled, still holding Monica''s hand. "I''m Bruno, one of the Nognes family''s soldiers."


    Bruno''s smile was genuine and weed trust, but Monica only looked at the hand in his grasp. He was ready to let her go, but a violent reaction unfolded behind him before he could.


    Thudding noises filled the terrace as cracks suddenly opened on the floor. Chunks of metal directly shattered, falling into the room below. The destruction expanded for almost a quarter of the area, and the ship tilted to its side due to its new, unstablending spot.


    "Old man," Khan called. "Don''t y games."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Bruno had applied no force in his grasp on Monica''s hand. She could easily slip out of it on her own. She refrained from doing so out of politeness, but his lingering in the gesture had still triggered Khan''s anger.


    Of course, that wasn''t the sole reason behind Khan''s outburst. He couldn''t follow Bruno''s initial movements. The evolved soldier had appeared in front of Monica before he could react, basically telling him he had no way of stopping any of his actions if he became serious.


    Bruno let go of Monica and turned, inspecting the cracks on the floor and the air above them. His influence had never wavered, but Khan''s aura had pierced it during that outburst. Bruno wasn''t trying to suppress him or anything, but that oue still shocked him. After all, Khan was a fourth-level warrior. His mana should have been powerless against his mere passive


    existence.


    Small res could slip by, especially considering Khan''s violent element. However, the terrace''s state was nothing close to that. Khan could pierce Bruno''s symphony when he was serious, and that wasn''t even a proper attack.


    "Let us speak in private, young Prince," Bruno announced, calmly crossing Monica and heading inside the building.


    Khan followed Bruno, but his eyes met Monica''s when he was about to cross her. She was worried, and he could only caress her cheek while walking by. Bruno noticed the affectionate gesture but remained silent, and the two soon disappeared inside the building.


    Bruno walked ahead of Khan, but thetter quickly reached his side. That was Khan''s building, Khan''s home, so he wouldn''t let someone else escort him. Bruno epted that subservient position, but his mouth didn''t hold back from uttering sharpments. "Quite the powerful element, young Prince," Brunomented. "Troublesome but


    powerful."


    Khan didn''t reply. His mind grew unstable as his aura intensified. He was in the presence of an evolved warrior, so the entirety of his concentration went on his senses, almost preparing for


    a battle.


    "I hope you know I mean no harm to Miss Solodrey," Bruno continued, "Or anyone, really. I''ll merely act as a witness and report back in the instance of problems."


    Khan kept ignoring Bruno, leading him into specific areas of the building. Soon, the two arrived inside a reinforced training hall, which Bruno inspected with a smile.


    "It must worry you, young Prince," Bruno eximed, his eyes lingering on the training hall before focusing on Khan''s distancing figure. "Your dangerous element isn''t for the weak. There''s a price to evolving through it."


    "Monica can pay it," Khan muttered, stopping near the hall''s center.


    "I hope she can, young Prince," Bruno stated. "Though, the problem usually is elsewhere. You should know. You have good eyes in the end."


    Khan snorted, suddenly appearing before Bruno. The same violence as before unfolded, opening cracks in the hall''s floor. Still, the destruction only spread around Khan. Bruno''s figure acted as a wall, blocking that influence and keeping the metal surface behind him


    intact.


    "Prince Khan," Bruno called, his face still showing a genuine smile. "I have nothing against testing me, but a training hall isn''t suitable for our battle."

 Chapter 923: Childish

    Chapter 923: Childish


    ?


    Khan had juste out of hisst training session with the toxic pool. His mindset was still unstable and carried the chaos element''s unreasonable influence. He managed to get through the meeting without causing a mess, but Bruno''s presence and words quickly affected that sliver of self-control.


    The issue went beyond the heavy, constant threat Bruno radiated. The evolved warrior seemed aware of Khan''s troubling thoughts. He knew what Khan dreaded about his future, and his answers only deepened his worry.


    "Follow me," Khan eventually announced, revealing part of his real speed as he stormed out of the training hall.


    Bruno remained in his position, faintly smiling while closing his eyes. He didn''t move, but his figure suddenly disappeared.


    Convoluted thoughts raged in Khan''s brain as he reached the nearest balcony and flew outside. The chaos element''s unreasonable drives fueled them, adding violence to each desire.


    Khan wanted to get stronger to protect what he loved and fend off any potential danger. He didn''t care about what he could be as long as no one dared to threaten his freedom or friends.


    At the same time, Khan wasn''t willing to lose Monica, the other people close to him, and the domain he had built through blood and sweat. Even if he were a walking cmity, he still wanted to preserve his love and keep it in his grasp.


    Nevertheless, the more Khan learned about his element and the path toward the higher levels, the more disillusioned he became. He was no human. Khan lived and experienced a different world from everyone else. Those two sides of his life had nomon trait, but he wanted to retain both anyway.


    Khan''s unwillingness and apparent dead end only intensified the violent aspects of the chaos element. His mana embodied unreasonable freedom. If a path to fuse those two sides didn''t exist, he would create it in the only way he knew.


    "[Be it nting countless flowers]," Khan muttered in the Nelenguage while gracefullynding in an open desert area in the quadrant, "[Or creating bloody rivers]."


    "Was that the Nelenguage, young Prince?" Bruno''s voice resounded in the area while his figure reappeared a few meters from Khan. "I don''t know thenguage myself, but the ent I recognize."


    Bruno''s sudden appearance didn''t surprise Khan. He wasn''t even shocked he had managed to keep up with him. Still, Khan''s senses noticed the same odd detail as before. In his mind, Bruno didn''t move at all.


    "You were already here," Khanmented, his voice barely a whisper.


    "Truly incredible, young Prince," Bruno praised. "Your understanding of mana is terrific. I wish we could discuss it instead of resorting to such barbaric methods."


    "I don''t work like that," Khan announced, ncing at the evolved warrior. "What''s your element?"


    Bruno revealed his usual, genuine smile before speaking. "I''m a mountain, young Prince. I existed millennia ago and will exist millennia in the future. That''s why I''ll always be here." Philosophy wasn''t Khan''s strong point. In many ways, he was a simple person. He liked his spicy chicken, his booze, and Monica''s butt. He would feel more than fulfilled with those three things. Yet, Khan had also learned the profound ways of talking with the mana so he could think of a rebuke.


    "Water pierces the mountain," Khan said. "Chaos shatters it. How manys did humankind''s missiles level, too?"


    "But a mountain will always exist," Bruno dered. "Somewhere, sometimes, a mountain will exist."


    Khan''s eyes inspected Bruno from head to toe before his hand snapped forward. A purple-red needle flew toward the evolved warrior, mming at the center of his chest and exploding. The violence of the chaos element unfolded, ripping off Bruno''s military uniform, but once everything ended, his chest only showed a small crack.


    The symphony around Bruno trembled, seemingly echoing the crack''s appearance. Still, everything soon returned peaceful and silent. Khan had diverted his eyes for only an instant, but bringing them back to Bruno showed the absence of any injury.


    "The chaos element is indeed terrifying," Brunomented, inspecting his now-intact chest. "Such destructive power. However, chaos alone shouldn''t be able to do this."


    Bruno looked at Khan, his aura expanding through the symphony. The entire area went silent and invisible, but Khan could feel it inspecting him. His mana grew wilder, ready to burst out, but Bruno promptly retracted his influence.


    "Incredible," Bruno eximed. "You are almost an evolved warrior while in the fourth level. That''s unheard of, young Prince."


    Khan didn''t immediately answer. He knew his understanding of mana had already surpassed the fifth level, and the same went for his senses. Adding his alien skills to the equation made his spells and abilities far stronger than the average warrior.


    Nevertheless, Khan also knew his body wasn''t up to par yet. The transformation and the training with the toxic pool had improved it, but he still needed toplete the process and finish filling it. In other words, he was pushing the container toward that superior realm but still needed to load it with mana afterward.


    "Do you know what I''m bing?" Khan asked.


    "Yourself, young Prince," Bruno exined. "Your body will gradually start reflecting your element''s properties. The evolution will beplete once it bes one with it and is full of


    mana."


    "Are you saying your skin is rock?" Khan wondered.


    "Hrious," Brunoughed. "I''m afraid it isn''t, young Prince. You must know that mana isn''t quite literal. We describe it through words we invented, but they can''t epass its true


    meaning."


    That was an issue Khan had encountered when trying to share his knowledge with people with no understanding of alien arts. Simple words fell short of the true meaning he wanted to convey, making them wed channels for exnations and teaching.


    "Why did you mention the price?" Khan questioned. "Was that concern from a senior?"


    "I only wish the best for the Nognes family, young Prince," Bruno chuckled. "You are part of


    it."


    "So," Khan muttered, "I should throw everything away and focus on getting stronger or halt my training and stick to politics."


    "As sad as it sounds," Bruno responded. "In my experience, those roads don''t meet."


    "But I want to be stronger," Khan announced, "Stronger than you, stronger than anyone else.


    I also want my Fianc¨¦e and everyone else at my side."


    "Reality often can''t match such conflicting desires," Bruno dered. "I understand your youthful drive, but it will pass. Give it a few decades, and your mind will be clear again." ''Two decades,'' Khan mocked in his mind. ''I''ve barely been alive for two decades.''


    Bruno''s words carried heavy truths. He was right, and Khan had long since started experiencing those effects. However, Bruno couldn''t possibly imagine that Khan didn''t have much of a choice. Also, he underestimated how unreasonable his element was.


    "If reality can''t ept my desires," Khan stated, "I''ll break it."


    "What''s breaking it going to solve, young Prince?" Bruno asked, amused by that childish reaction. Still, what followed forced him to take the answer seriously.


    "I don''t know," Khan admitted, his aura intensifying to invade the symphony closely around him. "I don''t care. I only know what I want."


    Bruno watched as tinges of violent mana invaded the silent symphony in the area. That wild energy never managed to go too far and only lingered around Khan''s figure. Yet, that was enough to create a series of purple-red orbs that quickly morphed into needles.


    "I respect your experience," Khan announced. "I wee it, even. Yet, I''ll live how I want and destroy anything getting in my way."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Anything you want, young Prince," Bruno sighed, smiling. Truth be told, he didn''t me Khan for wanting to pursue that path. Youth aside, his element was also bound to push him into those unreasonable demands.


    Still, Khan had said it himself. He would destroy anything in his way, and the universe had many things stronger than him. Bruno was part of it, and proving it to Khan could help him understand the unavoidable reality of the situation.


    Bruno merely slid his foot forward, and sandy pirs grew from the ground, converging around Khan to lock him into a dome. That barely was a spell, but Bruno knew it would be more than enough to block the bright needles.


    Nevertheless, a wave of invisible mana suddenly burst forward, touching the pirs and awakening an unstoppable reaction. The soil solidified by Bruno''s influence crumbled, shattering into piles of sand too brittle to remain in one piece.


    A dusty cloud formed in the area, but a strange wind quickly dispersed it, revealing the blinding blue light from Khan''s eyes. His face was cold, but Bruno could see he was livid. "Don''t insult me, old man," Khan dered, his anger fueling his aura''s intensity, expanding his influence a bit more. "Take me seriously, or don''t fight me at all."


    "As you wish-" Bruno began to say, but the needles around Khan suddenly shot forward, converging toward the evolved soldier''s position.


    Bruno paid the attack no heed. The needles slowed down on their own, stopping a few meters from his figure. Khan tried to detonate them, but something suddenly crushed them, ttening their ethereal shape before their energy dispersed.


    "Prince Khan," Bruno finished his previous line. "I''m afraid until you leave marks on this old man, your desires will be nothing more than a child''s whining."

 Chapter 924: Ecstasy

    Chapter 924: Ecstasy


    ?


    The world in Khan''s senses instantly changed. He experienced what those around him had faced whenever his mood changed, but its intensity was at least twice as powerful as what he was capable of.


    The symphony remained silent and invisible but gained a strange weight. Khan felt the air had turned into boulders without losing its gaseous properties. A mountain was pressing on him now, threatening to squash his body into a gory pulp.


    The bone crown and armor shattered under the invisible weight, but Khan''s eyes remained fixed to the sky. Baoway''s star still shone, but Khan felt like a giant shadow had appeared above him and was about to crush him.


    Veins bulged and muscles tensed all over Khan''s body as he summoned the entirety of his physical strength to lift his left arm. Meanwhile, mana umted in his palm, quickly giving birth to a chaos spear that flew upward once hepleted the gesture.


    Some surprise invaded Bruno''s honest eyes. He knew full well the amount of pressure Khan was currently under. Yet, he had still managed tounch a spell through sheer physical might.


    The feat would have usually been impossible for fourth-level warriors. Even soldiers in the fifth level would struggle to stand under that pressure, let aloneunch spells.


    However, those estimates took into consideration humans. Khan''s body had long since surpassed the limitations of his original species, and the toxic pool had deepened the transformation. His strength wasn''t only alien. It had also partially evolved.


    The spear flew toward the seemingly empty air and quickly slowed down. The invisible pressure weighed down on the spell instability, condensing its energy and threatening to tten it. Yet, Khan detonated it before it was toote, giving birth to the too-familiar purple-red pir.


    The pir''s violent energy carved through the invisible symphony, expanding for a few seconds. However, Bruno''s influence quickly overcame those wild res, resuming theirpression. The purple-red mass of mana shrank under Khan''s astonished gaze, eventually shattering into wisps of bright wind.


    One of Khan''s best spells had revealed itself to be utterly useless against Bruno''s simple attack. Khan didn''t even hold back, but the result remained disappointing. Yet, the exchange provided some helpful insight.


    Khan reviewed the exchanges while keeping his eyes on the sky. His spear had been useless, but his previous mana wave had sessfully dispersed Bruno''s attack. Of course, the two offensives had different intensities, but Khan still understood something.


    ''I can''t fight evolved soldiers like this,'' Khan realized. ''It''s all about the mana and its properties.''


    The weight on Khan gradually intensified, but he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to steal a moment of peace under that increasing pressure. Simple spells wouldn''t work if the mana inside themcked power.


    ''Not as energy,'' Khan thought, focusing on the spell learned from the Nak''s hand, ''But as a living fuel in a different shape.''


    Khan opened his mouth, and a clicking cry echoed at the bottom of his throat. The scream grew louder until purple-red res escaped his body, violently flowing around him and destroying anything in their path.


    The ground under Khan vanished, leaving him floating above an uneven hole. The same went for the silent influence around him. His defensive spell had dispersed it, relieving him from its burdensome pressure.


    Bruno felt surprised once again, but his honest smile broadened now. Khan''s feat would have been impossible without a deep understanding of mana. Even newly evolved soldiers would struggle with it.


    As for Khan, his quick understanding came from different factors. His broader perspective had yed an important part, but most was due to his many struggles with his element. He had paid a steep price to learn each of his spells, so he immediately spotted their critical differences.


    The chaos spear had a human foundation. Khan had mastered it after blending alien theories into its blueprint, but its origin didn''t change. His execution surpassed fellow chaos wielders'' since he didn''t suppress his element''s nature, but the oue still fell short of its innate destructive properties.


    Meanwhile, the spell learned from the Nak''s hand was a pure expression of the chaos element''s destructive nature. The cloud also met those requirements, so Khan focused on isting that aspect to apply it to his other abilities.


    ''With this,'' Khan thought, slowly opening his eyes and looking at the pleased Bruno, ''All my spells will improve.''


    Bruno wanted to praise Khan, but his eyes widened. An unstoppable force suddenly mmed on his chest, making his whole body shake. He didn''t move from his position, but the ground around him suffered nheless.


    Khan had never been the type to let advantageous positions slip by. He also had plenty of battle experience, turning certain sessful strategies into habits that didn''t require any


    thought.


    Removing the surrounding pressure and Bruno''s surprise had created one of those opportunities, and Khan didn''t hesitate to act. Explosions of mana happened inside his legs before he tapped the air, charging at an unfathomable speed ahead.


    The charge eventually put Khan back into Bruno''s influence, but the umted momentum was too intense. Khan pierced through that pressure without slowing down, mming his right knee into Bruno''s chest.


    The impact didn''t do much to Bruno''s body, but his whole influence shook. Also, the ground behind him almost exploded, shattering into small chunks of soil and sand that fell into the newly created hole.


    Khan didn''t let Bruno''s motionless body trick him. He had seen his attack''s impact on his aura, so he knew it had some effects. That created another favorable opportunity, so Khan lifted his hand, a purple-red short sword growing from his stretched fingers.


    Khan went for the kill, lunging the chaos ws spell at Bruno''s neck. Yet, Bruno''s eyes suddenly pointed at him, and his left hand materialized before Khan''s chest. Bruno had lifted his arm, but Khan couldn''t follow that gesture.


    A tinge of mana escaped Bruno''s palm, and the entire symphony went silent, fusing with it. His arm descended, and an unstoppable pressure fell on Khan''s chest, pushing his whole body


    down.


    Khan mmed into the ground, but the attack didn''t stop there. A hand-shaped hole appeared around Khan as Bruno''s pressure continued to fall. The surface sunk, pushing Khan down alongside it while his body did its best to oppose the invisible force.


    Bruno interrupted the attack when he realized what he was doing. He had instinctively reacted to Khan''s offensive, unleashing more power than necessary, and worry filled his face as he stared at the hand-shaped hole before him.


    "Prince Khan!" Bruno called, but only augh came from the partially submerged human figure at the center of the hole.


    Khan''s body hurt all over, but pure ecstasy filled his mind, making him unable to stopughing. A feeling he hadn''t experienced in a long time washed him over, fueling a


    competitive spirit he had kept in check for years.


    "Finally!" Khan shouted, a faint clicking cry echoing in the back of his throat. A mana wave apanied the word, shattering and blowing away the soil around and above him.


    Bruno watched as Khan stood up, ran his hands over his face, and pulled his hair back. His eyes looked brighter among that excited expression, and his aura seemed to have gained new


    intensity.


    "Do you know how long it has been since someone could fight me?" Khan asked, a tinge of craziness invading his expression when he looked at the evolved warrior.


    Khan''sst real battle had been against Izraz, the Thilku on the military, which had been more than a year ago. Still, that fight had a disappointing conclusion. The sparring against Tlexicpalli had only been for show, too, so Khan never had a real opportunity to blow off some steam and test the results of his training.


    However, Bruno didn''t only force Khan to improve his spells to make them slightly effective. The evolved warrior had also remained almost unaffected by a full-power execution of the Transcendent Step. That only was the foundation form, but it remained one of the best


    physical attacks in Khan''s skillset.


    "Prince Khan," Bruno called again, relieved his attack didn''t kill Khan. "I apologize for my previous outburst. Your ability surprised this old man."


    "Don''t talk to me like those politicians," Khanughed before coughing and spitting to his side. He had eaten some soil during the previous exchange, and some was still stuck in his


    throat.


    "Prince Khan," Bruno called for a third time, worried about Khan''s condition. "Your resilience deserves praise, but you should visit a doctor now."


    "Old man, stop," Khan ordered, grunting to push out the remaining soil in his throat and


    spitting it to the ground. "You belong to the same world I''m in, and I don''t want to return to the other just yet. Entertain me until I''ve had my fill."


    "It''s dangerous," Brunomented, hoping to appeal to Khan''s reasonable side. "You have already proven your worth, Prince Khan. There''s no need to risk suffering injuries."


    "I see that need," Khan scoffed. "Stand still if you want, but don''t you die on me. I have months of boring meetings to vent."N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 925: Enlightenment

    Chapter 925: Enlightenment


    ?


    Khan and Bruno''s appearances were quite different when they returned to the city''s main building, and their mood also described much of their fight''s oue.


    Bruno looked as calm and friendly as before, but the upper part of his military uniform had disappeared. He was also barefoot, and his trousers'' edges had turned into rags. Still, no injury marked his body as he walked with his arms behind his back.


    Meanwhile, Khan was the opposite. Only strands of his pelts had remained on him while he held the Thilku cape under his arm. Also, multiple bruises covered his torso and shoulders alongside patches of dirt.


    Yet, Khan''s aura was as intense as ever, and the excitement on his face matched that feeling. Something wild and unruly filled his expression, making him appear more oppressive than usual.


    Khan and Bruno didn''t return through the building''s main door. They had climbed onto one of the upper balconies to reach the reserved areas. Yet, the menus still recorded their arrival, eventually putting them before three figures.


    Prince Thomas, Princess Reba, and Monica hurried to encounter Khan and Bruno, but they didn''t know what to take from the scene. The two didn''t seem to care about their appearance or respective presence, but Khan did react at that familiar sight.


    Monica''s eyes widened when Khan materialized before her. She was about to say something when Khan grabbed her face with one hand, squeezing her cheeks before leaving a long kiss on her lips.


    "I''m crazy about you," Khan announced, "But I must be alone now."


    Khan kissed Monica again before hurrying toward the edge of the corridor. He thought about giving directives to his Aunt and Uncle, but they were more than fine on their own, so he soon disappeared inside the building.


    "The Prince''s eagerness is admirable," Brunomented, reaching the trio. "I''m afraid I stirred his enthusiasm. I''ll take full responsibility."


    Monica was too startled by the previous interaction to reply, but Prince Thomas took things into his own hands. Bruno was a Nognes problem, so it was only fair for him to handle it. "What do these responsibilities entail?" Prince Thomas asked, embodying politeness.


    "I believe the Prince will name them when the time is right, My Prince," Bruno said. "For now, a room is more than enough."


    Prince Thomas and the others didn''t linger in pointless questions. As an evolved warrior, Bruno was quite the untouchable and unreachable figure. Faction leaders aside, no one could order him around or apply their authority, so Prince Thomas prioritized getting rid of him. Soon, the trio led Bruno into one of the building''s best quarters, politely saluting him at the door. The ce had a vast bath, a huge bed, and various pleasant services, but the evolved soldier sat on the floor as soon as the entrance closed, and his attention quickly fell on his right palm.


    A cut almost connected Bruno''s pinkie and thumb. The injury didn''t leak any blood but didn''t close, either. It was a wound that went beyond his body, and inspecting it triggered a deep sigh.


    "Truly frightening," Bruno muttered before lowering his hand and closing his eyes.


    Meanwhile, Khan stormed down the building, initially nning to iste himself in the best training hall. Still, his restlessness eventually left some room for reason, making him give up on the idea and head outside again.


    Khan''s dangerous element and inclination to blow things up had forced him to take some precautions. He had littered the quadrant with private and isted training areas at some distance from civilization and other important buildings, and his troublesome intentions made him fly toward one of them.


    Khannded in the middle of a patch of trees before activating hidden menus on a trunk. The wood split open, revealing a secret elevator that brought him underground. A reinforced hall lit up in his eyes, and he immediately sat on the floor, closing his eyes to review the previous battle and his hunches.


    The best of Khan''s attacks and spells had failed to make Bruno move. Once, Khan had managed to send decent effects into his aura, but the event had been short-lived and seemingly futile.


    Of course, Khan had held back from showing his entire skillset. His paranoia still made him unable to trust Bruno, so he had been content with triggering asional, serious counterattacks.


    Nevertheless, the sparring session provided valuable insights. Battles between evolved soldiers involved more than sheer physical might and powerful spells. Those warriors had embodied their element, bing more than flesh and bones, so only something with simr intensity could dig through them.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Isting the chaos element''s nature and forcing the spells to summon it had made Khan''s attacks effective. Yet, he knew something was missing, and his body wasn''t to me. One''s element was quite personal. It developed through a mixture of life experiences, personality, and natural inclinations. Moreover, it rarely was as generic and superficial as it sounded. Bruno''s mountain clearly had more to do with enduring existence than actual rocks, and Khan found it reasonable to apply the same logic to other types of mana.


    For example, the fire element was quite popr among humans, and its wielders could use the same spells. However, evolving through it would show differences, making each unique. ''But my chaos isn''t mine,'' Khan thought. ''I inherited it. It was forced on me. It''s not something I affected.''


    Khan was quite sure about that point. Due to his life, his version of chaos should have had clear hints of desperation. Yet, it showed nothing simr, forcing him to consider the only source he truly trusted.


    ''Chaos is the freest type of mana,'' Khan thought, recalling Liiza''s words.


    Humankind saw the chaos element as the most destructive type of mana, but Khan believed that aspect to be a consequence of its real nature. The chaos element sought unreasonable freedom, and breaking anything that tried to get in its way was simply one way to achieve it. ''Unreasonable freedom,'' Khan pondered, forcing his mana to flow while focusing on his flesh. Khan''s body had already partially evolved through his element. His very skin almost had the right channels for his energy, which naturally conveyed its true nature. Khan only had to focus on it, summoning memories of his sessful attacks against Bruno.


    ''Forget the human ways,'' Khan thought. ''Forget percentages, science, and all that idiocy. Forget control, even.''


    Khan''s concentration reached its peak as he immersed himself in that meditative session. He wasn''t trying to improve his attunement with mana, but the process still pushed him closer to what he wanted to summon.


    ''Chaos has no rules,'' Khan repeated the Nak''s corpse''s words in his mind. ''Chaos has no enemies. Chaos is free. Evolve past mana. Evolve past chaos.''


    A foreign feeling invaded Khan''s mind. He had experienced something simr many times in the past, but the urge was calmer now. The cloud''s unruly desires gained a new shape as Khan opened his eyes and inspected his surroundings. Quiet understanding shed in his bright eyes, and a disdainful smirk broadened on his face.


    ''This is my home,'' Khan thought. ''Why am I even training underground?''


    There were plenty of reasons for that, but Khan couldn''t consider them anymore. He didn''t feel like staying underground, so he nced at the ceiling, and that metal surface annoyed


    him.


    Khan''s influence had long since tainted the entire symphony inside the hall, so his annoyance immediately filled it. The ceiling was the feeling''s target, and cracks appeared on it. Those fissures deepened until the ground''s weight became too much to handle.


    The ceiling copsed, and brownish waterfalls fell into the hall. The surface above was caving in, but Khan didn''t care. He didn''t mind the dirt and closed his eyes while standing up. Soil washed him over, but he ignored it as he slowly rose into the air.


    It didn''t take long before Khan resurfaced. Baoway''s clear air invaded his nostrils, but his senses allowed him to see much more through his closed eyes. He felt the trees, the cozy night, and the symphony they created.


    Khan opened his eyes, and his influence unfolded. He even added some mana to it to quicken the process, but the trees felt no disturbance. Their leaves remained intact as if Khan''s aura


    didn''t exist.


    ''I like this ce,'' Khan considered. ''It doesn''t hinder my freedom. It doesn''t even try to.'' Khan looked at his palm, which traced a few bright lines in the air. He closed his hand around them once the rune wasplete, and opening it revealed a tongue of purple-red fire. The me had every reason to burn things. It was in its nature, but when Khan threw it at the nearest trunk, it simply lingered on the wood, dispersing without damaging it.


    ''So much for the most destructive element,'' Khan mocked before repeating the process. He drew another rune, identical to the previous one. The same purple-red me appeared in his palm. However, throwing at the trunk led to a different oue.


    The me directly dug through the wood, creating a charred hole before dispersing. The attack didn''t end there as multiple cracks stretched from the cavity''s edges, expanding and


    deepening until the tree split and fell to the side.


    ''Freedom, huh,'' Khan thought, his bright eyes pointing at the sky. He knew he had understood something important, and only one person on the entire might be able to


    appreciate it.

 Chapter 926: Next phase

    Chapter 926: Next phase


    ?


    ''Chaos is life and death,'' Khan thought. ''Chaos is fire and water.''


    Khan lowered his eyes to the huge fallen tree before scratching his head. He drew a line in the air but quickly waved his hand to disperse it. He repeated the process several times, asionally adding more marks until a simple rune took form.


    The rune activated, and the mana running inside its lines converged at its center, condensing and giving birth to a bright spherical liquid. Gravity affected it, turning it into a drop about to fall to the ground. Yet, Khan caught it with two stretched fingers, and his bright eyes soon moved to the broken trunk.


    Khan waved his hand, and the drop drew a watery arc in the air that flew at the split trunk. The attack hit the wood, piercing it as if it were butter. The mana quickly dispersed, but its violent effects continued to rage, opening a series of cracks that further damaged the broken tree.


    ''Still shallow,'' Khan evaluated in his mind. The conclusion had nothing to do with the attack''s power. His focus was on the mana he had summoned and theparisons witnessed during his fight with Bruno.


    The Nak''s corpse had told Khan to evolve past mana, but he still couldn''t figure out its actual meaning. He didn''t even want to rely on the Nak themselves toplete that step, but all he had to work with were his experience and knowledge.


    Luckily, Bruno and the other evolved warriors had filled one of the gaps in Khan''s knowledge. Some of his conclusions came from hypotheses and hunches, but his understanding of the superior level had increased nheless. Khan now had a clearer picture and knew where he would put himself.


    ''The Niqols study the mana before starting their training,'' Khan recalled, checking his sides before noticing he didn''t bring any booze.


    ''Instead,'' Khan brainstorming continued as his eyes fell on therge hole created by the caved-in training hall. ''Humans start training as soon as their bodies are mature enough and can get their hands on a mana core.''


    Khan scanned the hole before a mana wave shot through it. The temporary stability achieved by the terrain crumbled, and each big chunk of soil turned into sand that fell on the debris below.


    ''The Niqols would already know what their unique element is and what it demands by the time they reach the fifth level,'' Khan pondered, jumping into the hole and inspecting his surroundings. His eyes lit up when they fell on a still intact wall, and his figure immediately teleported before it.


    ''Instead,'' Khan continued, pressing his hand on the wall to shatter that metal surface. ''Humans rely on technology to evolve and start understanding their element''s true nature only after surpassing the fifth level.''


    Metal shards rained around Khan''s stretched arm, revealing a hidden space. Multiple bottles stood in that reinforced storage area, and Khan casually seized one before flying back to the surface.


    ''The human approach is quicker and simpler,'' Khan thought, leaning on a nearby tree and opening the bottle. ''Yet, the problems start at the evolution. Also, seeding doesn''t necessarily mean they can wield that power properly,''


    Khan had seen an evolved Niqols when his senses had yet to reach a decent level, so he couldn''t be sure. However, his reasoning felt sound enough to ce that species at the opposite end of the spectrum. It was very likely the Niqols had an easier time evolving and wielding that new power.


    ''My approach is sort of hybrid,'' Khan realized. ''I started as a human, then studied the Niqols theories, advanced through those theories, and then hybrid. I guess the toxic pool counts as human, while this is alien.''


    Khan drank, enjoying Baoway''s cozy night and lingering on those thoughts. He had merely taken a peek into the superior level but felt like an entire world had opened before him.


    ''Evolved soldiers are one with their mana,'' Khan pondered. ''They are more than blood and bone. They are a different type of existence. As strange as it sounds, they are their aura.''


    That train of thought sounded closer to philosophy than reality, but Khan couldn''t find a better way to describe evolved soldiers. Moreover, he had seen them with his very eyes, so he couldn''t deny those conclusions.


    ''It''s a battle of auras,'' Khan continued. ''Techniques and spells can alter the bnce, but everything starts with the element''s intensity.''


    Many would limit that reasoning to spells, but Khan had already applied his element to his martial arts. Admittedly, he had stopped exploring that path for various reasons, but abandoning it didn''t sound wise now.


    ''Though,'' Khan thought, reviewing his previous application, ''It has to be more than merely sending mana forward with each kick. That would only be using the chaos as energy.''


    Other questions popped into Khan''s mind. He wasn''t sure whether evolved soldiers even relied on martial arts anymore. After all, those superior, almost ethereal existences seemed to conflict with mere punches and kicks. However, Khan had sometimes seen his Transcendent Step working, leaving him dubious.


    There was a limit to how much philosophy Khan''s brain could handle, and he eventually reached it. He cursed in his mind, trying to clear it of all that metaphysical thinking. He wanted results, so his simtions moved to something more tangible.


    ''What do I need to do to beat Miss Christen?'' Khan wondered. Miss Christen was the weakest evolved warrior he knew, making her his first reasonable target.


    ''She went through the aided metamorphosis,'' Khan considered. ''Theoretically, she shouldn''t know how to express her element properly. So, ording to my reasoning, her attacks should be far weaker than Bruno''s.''


    Khan had the vague hunch that he could brute-force his way through Miss Christen''s aura. After all, his body had already partially evolved, and his mana had always been more intense than his fellow warriors. Still, that strategy would only work against soldiers at her level and wouldn''t ensure victory.


    ''I can''t control how quickly my body evolves,'' Khan thought, ''But I can learn to channel my element''s true nature and share it with my attacks. Yet, training dummies are useless. Only an evolved soldier can show whether my training is working.''


    Khan couldn''t help but smirk at the idea of fighting Bruno again. Paranoia aside, he deeply enjoyed unleashing his full power against someone who could handle it. He also wanted to win, but a proper challenge was enough for now.


    ''As for the stuff about evolving past mana,'' Khan pondered, recalling the interaction with Roger''s strange element, ''I guess I''ll know once I know.''


    Khan''s unreasonable mental state helped him avoid lingering on problems he couldn''t solve. Still, thinking about Roger reminded him about Senerth. The meeting with the Excellencies was thest requirement for the mission, meaning he could set off to conquer the.


    Khan searched his pelts, finding his phone inside his underwear. He could take his time, but the battlefield was calling him. He wanted to set off as soon as possible, and nothing could start without his explicit order and necessary preparation.


    "My Prince," Prince Thomas'' voice soon came from the phone on Khan''s ear.


    "Send word to Lord Exr and Mister Cirvags," Khan ordered. "Everything is ready. We can move to the next phase of the mission."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    As much as the Empire respected Khan''s authority, he still had to share his n''s specifics. Hililles and Vuter would go to the nine noble families and his allied descendants, so the Empire had to clear their passage and approve Khan''s disclosure of ssified information.


    "I finished preparing our resources for the meeting with the Excellencies," Prince Thomas revealed. "They are ready to be shipped at yourmand."


    "Ship them," Khan confirmed. "Also, tell Mister Bruno he ising with me on Senerth. I bet he nned to anyway, but it''s better to rify it."


    "It will be done, My Prince," Prince Thomas stated. "Should I also alert Mister Parket and


    Mister Foxnor?"


    "Yes," Khan said. "Send messages to their families, too. Also, make preparations for eventual


    losses."


    The mission on Senerth would be dangerous. Khan was confident, but war was tricky. Much could happen, especially to two second-level warriors with little experience with the battlefield. Of course, Khan would do anything in his power to keep the two young soldiers safe, but preparing for the worst was customary.


    "Of course, My Prince," Prince Thomas eximed. He had already nned on doing that, but the issue didn''t only apply to Roger and Moses, leading to a silent moment. Khan knew what his Uncle was thinking about and didn''t hesitate to address the matter.


    "We''ll sit down and devise a strategy in the eventuality of my disappearance. It was long


    overdue anyway."


    "That''s perfect, My Prince," Prince Thomas responded, internally nodding at Khan''s political


    maturity. "Tonight?"


    "No, tonight I want to be with Monica," Khan exined. "As for tomorrow, tell Master Carl to rally the Scalqa. It''s time to tell them the good news."

 Chapter 927: Ka-Han Tribe

    Chapter 927: Ka-Han Tribe


    ?


    The morning had yet to arrive, so the bedroom''s artificial illumination was dark. However, Khan''s open eyes shone on the wall while he sat naked at the mattress'' edge. Monica cutely snored behind him, and he asionally nced at her before refocusing on the empty surface.


    Khan had returnedte, and his mood didn''t leave much room for words. He knew Prince Thomas had updated Monica about Khan''s decision, but the two had yet to talk about it properly.


    It didn''t help that the day had another important event waiting for Khan. He had to rally the Scalqa for the imminent war, which wasn''t that hard to achieve. The Scalqa had been itching for proper battles after that long training period. Khan simply didn''t like sending people to their potential death.


    ''Heavy is the crown,'' Khan thought, sighing. He actually couldn''t wait to jump into the chaos of the battlefield after spending months dealing with politics. Yet, he had responsibilities, and they weren''t minor.


    Underlings'' lives aside, Khan had to pay special attention to Moses since Princess Rachel''s position depended on him. He had also given his word to the Foxnor family, so avoiding losing Roger would be ideal, too.


    Also, Khan had his training to keep in mind. He had just stepped on a path that had never felt more right, and aary war was the best ce to improve. Showing his superiority would even reinforce the Scalqa''s faith in him, making them feel like a proper tribe.


    Time flowed slowly while Khan lingered on those thoughts. asionally, he would stretch his arm behind his back to caress Monica''s exposed leg. She voiced sleepy moans at those affectionate gestures, bathing in them until she eventually opened her eyes.


    Khan noticed Monica''s awakening but kept looking at the wall. Sheets rustled behind him until her arms closed around his chest. Monica didn''t say a word as she climbed Khan''s back until she couldy her head on his shoulder.


    The couple remained silent, enjoying that cozy and temporary moment of privacy. Both Khan and Monica knew they would soon lose the chance to have those short retreats, but neither wanted to address the issue.


    "I''ll make preparations with my Uncle in case I don''t return," Khan muttered, earning him a jab in his ribs. He expected that reaction, but those words needed to be said.


    "No matter what happens," Khan continued, ignoring the second jab, "You and your family will be taken care of. Even if I miss the chance of marrying you, you''ll be a noble."


    Monicapletely woke up by then, and her jabs gained more strength. The topic made her livid, but Khan caught her fifth punch before it couldnd, peeking past his shoulder to look at her.


    "I don''t n on dying," Khan dered, "But this is your role. You taught me that."


    Monica couldn''t help but fall for Khan again at his serious face. His political maturity had reached levels she couldn''t dream of, and seeing him wearing his role so perfectly forced her to y her own.


    "Baoway will be fine," Monica promised. "I''ll also continue expanding the domain and preparing it for the scarlet eyes. I''ll even try to give that witch a."


    Khan saw Monica''s resolve on her face. Khan''s words had made her switch from a whiny girl to the Queen of a kingdom, telling him she would abide by her role. Yet, the hour still left room for some spoiling.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "But," Monica muttered while Khan moved her arm away, turning to crawl toward her. Monicay down on the mattress during Khan''s advance, ending with her arms around his neck once he was on top of her.


    "The wait would be easier with a piece of you," Monica continued. "As well as my im to nobility."


    Khan knew what Monica was up to, and a smirk inevitably broadened on his face. The two had yet to talk about it, but he didn''t hate the idea. Part of him actually felt quite confident about


    it.


    "Always tricks," Khanmented. "Clever girl."


    "It''s my role to give you an heir-" Monica couldn''t finish her witty response since Khan lowered his head, trapping her mouth into a kiss.


    The city didn''t stay still while Khan and Monica were busy making their best out of their remaining time together. Prince Thomas ryed a message to Lieutenant Dyester, who shared it with the entire encampment. Khan would make an announcement that morning and the Scalqa couldn''t wait to hear from him.


    The city prepared the usual high-impact strategies to trick the Scalqa. They had gotten used to technology, but holograms and bright lights still worked well with them. After all, they had spent little more than a year learning from humans, which wasn''t enough to ovee their primitive mindset.


    Yet, the younger generation wouldn''t be easily tricked, and Khan himself quickly dismantled the n. He sent a message once he managed to get a hold of his phone, ordering his underlings to ignore the fancy strategies and focus on simple screens.


    It took a few hours, but Khan eventually walked on one of the tallest terraces in the city. He had chosen to be alone for the statement, and the scanners immediately focused on him, conveying their recording to the various screens spread throughout the city.


    The encampment featured more Scalqa on its streets than usual, and Khan''s arrival gave birth to a series of cries that brought outside the aliens still resting inside tents. Soon, Baoway''s morning light shone on every Scalqa in the city, almost highlighting the restlessness in the air.


    Khan walked toward the terrace''s edge. The rails had been lowered for the announcement, allowing him to stand right before the vast scene. His eyes couldn''t capture every detail below, but his senses created an incredible picture.


    The Scalqa were in the thousands, each with unique shade and intensity. Only a third of them could and would fight on Senerth, but more were bound to be born and be ready in the following years. Nevertheless, Khan didn''t focus on those details. He let the general excitement wash over him, increasing the weight on his shoulders.


    Each of those lives was on Khan. Their future depended on his figure, but the next mission could extinguish it beforehand. However, he knew how tough that species was, and the fires of war were the best way to reforge it.


    "[Ka-Han promised Ka-Han Tribe will take the Sky]," Khan announced, the screens spreading his voice throughout the encampment.


    The different dialects started to disappear in that period, and thenguage had also grown moreplicated, allowing for better exnations. A few Scalqa had also taken it upon themselves to learn the humannguage, expanding their overall ability to understandplex sentences.


    "[Ka-Han will go to a new]," Khan continued. "[Ka-Han will Kru-gru-xa the, making it Ka-Han Tribe]."


    The excitement in the symphony intensified. Many Scalqa understood what he was about to ask them but still silently waited. Something about their leader had changed, and they instinctively didn''t want to interrupt him.


    Khan let his previous words linger in the air for a few seconds before adding more. "[Ka-Han wants an army, and Ka-Han Tribe can be the best army, but Ka-Han wants to see how strong


    you are]."


    Some Scalqa started stomping their feet and mming fists on their chests, triggering a chain reaction. The noise stretched from tent to tent, soon involving the entire encampment. The earth shook under those thousands of heavy noises, which only intensified Khan''s battle


    intent.


    The steady, beating rhythm echoed in Khan''s chest, hitting his rib cage and fueling his aura. His wild urge to fight expanded past the terrace, turning into a beacon that inspired the Scalqa below, making them add more strength to their stomps and punches.


    Khan suddenly mmed his right fist on his chest, digging a hole in the bone armor. The gesture silenced the noise below as every Scalqa acknowledged his physical strength and waited for his following words.


    "[Follow Ka-Han into the Sky]," Khan requested, "[And Ka-Han will show you the best war of your life. Ka-Han will lead you into victory, and Ka-Han Tribe will be the strongest]."


    A moment of silence unfolded before a lonely cry resounded from the middle of the encampment. The shout triggered a chain reaction, and every Scalqa soon voiced their primordial desire to put their strength into practice.


    The shouts washed over Khan, seemingly brightening the light from his eyes. That primitive species were his people. The Scalqa were an extension of his arms, legs, and knife, and they desired nothing more than to be his weapon. His aura inspired them, but they inspired him, and his mouth opened to voice a cry every race on every could understand.


    Khan roared, a clicking cry carrying his unreasonable search for freedom and battle intent escaping his throat. The scanners struggled to capture his voice, and the screens flickered, unable to convey the entirety of Khan''s feelings.


    Nevertheless, the clicking cry echoed through the symphony, reaching every corner of the encampment. Soon, the Scalqa stopped looking at the screens and focused on the distant terrace. They could barely see Khan up there, but an intense light existed in their eyes, highlighting his position and earning him excited shouts.

 Chapter 928: Problems

    Chapter 928: Problems


    ?


    The city had more than Scalqa. Humans, Thilku, Ef''i, and even a few Fuveall witnessed the announcement and couldn''t help but grow excited. Khan''s cry didn''t only ignorenguage barriers. It also conveyed his mindset, turning it into a quasi-poison that tainted the encampment''s symphony and resonated with the people it touched.


    The Fuveall were a rational bunch, so they quickly calmed down and became wary of Khan''s strange ability to influence their hearts. However, the humans lingered on that inspiring cry, and some cursed the fact that they couldn''t join Khan''s mission.


    As for the Thilku and Ef''i, they had it worse than the Scalqa. The various screens across the city had tranted Khan''s speech, and his clicking cry had delivered the final blow, almost prompting them to swear loyalty to him and join the imminent battle.


    Khan noticed those tiny, distant reactions but ignored them. The time to create a multi- species army woulde, but solidifying his core troops came first. The Scalqa had to be his priority, and his chin rose proudly at the excited shouts that reached his ears.


    Khan didn''t add anything else. He watched and waited, letting the alien shouts wash over him. The desire to jump on the first ship for Senerth invaded him, but he kept it in check. The war was right around the corner, but Khan had a few things to handle before departing.


    "[Celebrate]," Khan eventually announced. "[Fornicate. Prepare. War is waiting for Ka-Han Tribe]."


    The announcement triggered another wave of excited shouts, but Khan only absorbed them for a second before leaving. He could still hear his name and other battle cries reaching the terrace when he approached the door, and its metal seemed to tremble under their weight.


    Returning inside the building brought silence but no privacy. A few figures were waiting for Khan''s announcement to be over, and one confused him. Lieutenant Dyester was there instead of inside the encampment among the Scalqa, hinting at a request.


    "Let''s talk," Lieutenant Dyester said, eyeing Prince Thomas, Princess Reba, Gordon, and Abraham.


    Khan''s rtives nced at him and departed at his nod. The same went for Abraham and Gordon. Meanwhile, Khan and Lieutenant Dyester walked toward the nearest room, isting themselves inside it to talk privately.


    "What is it?" Khan asked, tearing off the broken bone armor and remaining bare-chested. "Do you have a strategy for Senerth?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. He was privy to many pieces of ssified information, so he obviously knew about the Empire''s mission.


    "Bring a Leviathan-ss ship into the''s orbit," Khan exined, "Find the bestnding spot, establish an outpost, and slowly expand the perimeter."


    Khan was open to any suggestion, but the Empire''s directives left small room for improvements to the strategy. Khan could only aim to expand his domain from one chosen area without missiles and other weapons.


    "These creatures on Senerth," Lieutenant Dyester eximed. "Their numbers are overwhelming. They aren''t an enemy a few thousand Scalqa can wipe out."


    "Luckily," Khan scoffed, "I''ll be there. We''ll take it slow and see whether we can improve something after a few battles."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "The Scalqa can''t castplicated spells," Lieutenant Dyester revealed. "They are strong in individual fights. Quite strong, actually, but the battlefield is a different beast."


    "What are you waiting for?" Khan sighed, approaching a nearby table featuring some booze. "Ask what you came here to ask."


    "I want in on Senerth," Lieutenant Dyester dered before adding something since the request sounded too polite for his tastes. "Brat."


    Khan was pouring booze in one ss but stopped. He peeked past his shoulders, and his bright eyes fell on the Lieutenant. Khan had expected the request to have something to do with Senerth, but Lieutenant Dyester surprised him anyway.


    Khan finished filling the ss and slowly turned, bringing the drink to his mouth. His eyes never left Lieutenant Dyester during the gesture, and only one word escaped his throat when it ended. "Why?"


    "You can''t be the only one with war experience down there," Lieutenant Dyester responded. "You need advisors, someone who won''t be afraid to contradict you. Also, I can handle myself on the battlefield."


    Lieutenant Dyester''s points made sense, but Khan saw something else in the Master''s mana. Also, he couldn''t directly ept his request. After all, everyone knew about the Lieutenant''s past. Istrone had broken him, and it had taken years to get him back.


    "I won''t bring all the Scalqa to Senerth," Khan said. "The new generations and those unfit for battle will stay here, and they need a Master."


    "Ni-Kri can rece me," Lieutenant Dyester stated. "He also knows enough to teach the humannguage."


    Khan knew Ni-Kri had stood out among the old generation, but Lieutenant Dyester''s insistence still surprised him. The man was up to something, and Khan couldn''t bring him to such an important war without understanding his intentions. Lieutenant Dyester had vast battle experience, but his trauma could make him a liability.


    "Don''t look at me like that," Lieutenant Dyester snorted. "Brat, I''ve seen wars before you were even born. I''m a valuable asset, and you know it."


    "I agree," Khan uttered. "It still doesn''t exin why you want to return to the battlefield." "Is there a problem with that?" Lieutenant Dyester asked, unwilling to open up. "Yes," Khan admitted. "I must go, but you don''t. You don''t have to go back to that life. I''m pretty sure you don''t want to, even."


    Lieutenant Dyester would be lying if he said he yearned for the battlefield. He didn''t even try to since he knew Khan would see right through him. Yet, the real reason slightly embarrassed him, and revealing it to his former student felt hard.


    Nevertheless, Khan didn''t back down. As much as he trusted the Lieutenant, Senerth was too important to his political career. Also, his responsibilities were numerous, and he couldn''t add Lieutenant Dyester to them.


    "I trained those Scalqa, okay?" Lieutenant Dyester eventually said. "I know them. I know what they can do and how they respond. It''s my responsibility to be there on their first battle on an alien."


    Khan''s eyebrows arched in surprise, but he knew Lieutenant Dyester wasn''t done. Another embarrassing thought lingered in his mana, and he had to muster his resolve to reveal it.


    "Also," Lieutenant Dyester sighed. "You told me to step it up. This is me doing that. Besides, what use am I to you when I never fought after reaching the fourth level?"


    Khan had to suppress the urge to smile. He didn''t find the revtion funny. His respect for Lieutenant Dyester actually increased. Yet, seeing his struggle to reveal such candid intentions made him want to tease him.


    "Aren''t you cute," Khan said, earning himself a re from the experienced warrior.


    "Brat," Lieutenant Dyester cursed, approaching the room''s exit. "Since we are done here, I''ll start preparing for the trip. Goodbye!"


    Khan exploded into augh once the metal door closed. He shook his head, and a strange smile appeared on his face afterward. Khan still recalled his first meeting with Lieutenant Dyester, and seeing that change partially pleased him. Khan understood he felt better but wasn''t sure leading him to a battlefield was the best he could offer.


    ''Even if he is a liability,'' Khan thought, ''I guess I owe it to him, especially after dragging him


    into this mess.''


    Khan shook his head again, emptying his ss and preparing to leave. Yet, the metal door opened again, and Prince Thomas stepped in, reeking of an unusual insecurity.


    "What''s up with you?" Khan asked.


    After the initial conflict, Prince Thomas became one of Khan''s most trusted advisors. He was the most knowledgeable of the people in his inner circle, and his devotion to the faction was


    unmatched.


    Nevertheless, Prince Thomas had always been business-focused and firm. He was the only person in the entirety of Baoway who dared interrupt Khan and Monica. As long as Khan abided by his duties, he didn''t care about the potential danger, so his current insecurity felt


    odd.


    "I learned about Master Carl''s addition to Senerth''s expedition, My Prince," Prince Thomas announced. "It was wise to ept his request. His experience is priceless, and a good stretch


    was long overdue."


    Khan remained silent, opting to refill his ss. He knew more wasing, and something told him a drink was necessary.


    "Forgive my impudence, My Prince," Prince Thomas eximed. Unlike Lieutenant Dyester, he avoided wasting Khan''s time and went straight to the point.


    "I know how vital Senerth''s expedition is, My Prince," Prince Thomas dered, lowering his head. "I know how dangerous it will be. I also know you already have many worries of your


    own.


    "But, I''m shamelessly requesting to add my second-born, Richard, to the expedition. As he currently is, he is no asset worthy of the Nognes name, and I humbly request your assistance


    in the matter, My Prince."


    Khan was so surprised he forgot to drink. His mouth also remained open. Senerth''s mission had yet to begin, but problems were already umting.

 Chapter 929: Requests

    Chapter 929: Requests


    ?


    Khan had a hard time recovering. Truth be told, his interaction with Prince Thomas'' sons had been almost non-existent after imingplete leadership over the faction. That behavior wasn''t even a matter of choice. Khan had simply been too busy with more important figures to deal with his Cousins.


    All things considered, Prince Desmond, Prince Thomas'' firstborn, wasn''t even that bad. The young man knew his ce and could provide decent insights and suggestions. He was Prince William and Princess Felicia''s peer, but his brother was a different story altogether.


    Khan couldn''t help but recall when he had thrown Prince Richard, Prince Thomas'' second- born, outside the space station''s hangar. That offense and trauma wasn''t something a mere year could fix. Khan had seen something simr with Francis, so he knew time was useless there.


    Admittedly, Khan''s mood had been far from friendly after being rescued from Baoway. He felt more than justified, but it had taken him months of social rehabilitation to smoothen some of his sharpest edges. Khan would be more understanding and patient with Prince Richard now, especially after developing a good rtionship with his father, but he didn''t know whether the Prince would do the same.


    "You want me to bring your son into a war?" Khan asked. "Did I get it right?"


    "Indeed, My Prince," Prince Thomas confirmed, his head still lowered. "I know it''s much to ask, and I''m also aware of the many dangers involved. Yet, ordinary methods seem helpless, and you have shown outstanding teaching capabilities over the years."


    Khan opened his mouth but promptly closed it. Lieutenant Dyester was a valuable asset on the battlefield and Khan''s friend, so he could easily clear him. Moses and Roger didn''t have a choice, and Khan had even tested them, so they passed, too. However, Prince Richard was a different beast.


    ''Am I a good teacher?'' Khan couldn''t help but wonder. ''I feel I never did anything special.''


    Voicing those thoughts would earn Khan a p from Monica. As always, he underestimated himself and the benefits he provided. Yet, the numbers didn''t lie, and Khan had a positive streak of sessful students.


    Rick Rassec probably was the most famous name among Khan''s students, but the list was long. His time on Reebfell had producedpetent warriors, and teaching his arts to the Global Army''s scientists had led to immediate countermeasures to his strange abilities.


    Martha was also on that list, and the same went for the Scalqa. Francis probably met those requirements, too, and Moses and Roger had just joined them. Khan''s methods were rough and unusual but worked.


    "Are you sure?" Khan wondered. "I can''t imagine him having a good idea of me, and he''d have to be my direct underling on alien ground."


    "He already is your underling, My Prince," Prince Thomas stated, "And yes, I''m sure. I know this will benefit him."


    "Or kill him," Khanmented.


    Prince Thomas hesitated. His head was still lowered, but a concerned tremor ran through his mana. Clearly, he didn''t like the idea of sending his son to war, but the family name demanded specific standards.


    "I insist, My Prince," Prince Thomas dered. "If there''s anything I can do to facilitate your job or this request, please ask."


    Khan finally unfroze, resuming sipping from his ss. As troublesome as the matter could be, he didn''t want to reject his Uncle''s request. The assassination attempt was water under the bridge. They were one faction now, and gaining another capable Prince would only benefit it. "Okay," Khan eventually said. "He cane to Senerth."


    "My Prince!" Prince Thomas called, lifting his head to show a rare smile.


    "But," Khan continued, interrupting that burst of happiness, "I won''t personally handle him. I''ll give him pointers when possible, but Master Carl will be in charge of him."


    "Of course, My Prince," Prince Thomas epted. "The missiones first, so you must limit your burdens."


    "It''s also a matter of appearances," Khan exined. "Moses and Roger are exceptions, and I can''t have Prince Richard risk hindering their development."


    "I understand, My Prince," Prince Thomas nodded. "I''m already grateful for this opportunity."


    "Prepare him ordingly," Khan ordered. "It will be dangerous. Also, we must have that talk tonight."


    "This afternoon, My Prince," Prince Thomas sternly said. "I''ve already arranged your schedule. You are to meet me in the fourth hall after the afternoon lessons."


    Khan sighed, shaking his head. Prince Thomas had immediately regressed to his strictly business persona, and Khan didn''t even bother teasing him about that.


    "As long as that schedule leaves some time for Monica," Khan uttered.


    "I''ve already calcted that and addressed what I believe is an appropriate number of hours," Prince Thomas revealed.


    "Sure," Khan said, waving his hand. "Deal with your son now."


    "My Prince," Prince Thomas eximed, politely bowing and leaving the hall. Khan sighed again when the metal door closed, but that entrance immediately reopened.


    "Again?" Khan cursed, watching Abraham enter the hall.


    "My Prince," Abraham called, taking a few steps inside the hall before performing a respectful bow. "Is this a bad moment?"


    "No, sure," Khan helplessly sighed, emptying his drink and pouring himself another. "Ask away."


    "We have yet to decide on the specifics for Senerth, My Prince," Abraham exined. "It is my understanding you n to continue your training there, and that requires some preparation."


    "The ship is big enough to have a pool and a few spares," Khan responded. "I promise I''ll only use them on the. Aside from that, what''s there to prepare?"


    "The scientific team for you, My Prince," Abraham replied.


    "I''m sure you and Garret already have suggestions," Khan stated. "Pick the best candidates and assemble the team. I trust your judgment."


    "I''m grateful for the trust, My Prince," Abraham said. "However, the team will need a leader, and Mister Bizelli and I are the only suitable figures for that role."


    Khan understood what Abraham meant. Truth be told, the now had more than a few capable scientists, especially after Garret invited his family members to join Khan''s ranks. However, only the two knew what Khan was up to and had followed his progress.


    "Are you leaving the choice between Garret and you to me?" Khan wondered. "I''m not sure I should decide that."


    Khan would usually pick Abraham without thinking twice. The scientist was a core member of his organization and had no connections to other parties. He was the safe and wise choice, someone Khan could trust with his life.


    However, Baoway''s scientific department had grownplicated throughout the years. The now handled the supplement, the Scalqa flesh, Fuveall imnts, unorthodox evolutions, and more. Stealing one of the two lead scientists for personal reasons was no small matter, especially since Khan had to take into consideration who to leave behind.


    "This is why I''m here, My Prince," Abraham revealed. "I wish to suggest Mister Bizelli for the trip."


    Khan held back a frown. Abraham was his most loyal ally due to his connection to his parents. Usually, he would sacrifice everything to apany Khan on that dangerous mission.


    "Any reason why?" Khan asked.


    "His expertise in mutation surpasses mine," Abraham admitted. "He will be able to provide better support for your training, My Prince."


    "But we need mutation experts here, too," Khan pointed out.


    "I studied the field in the past year, My Prince," Abraham revealed. "I''m confident I can rece Mister Bizelli. My more general knowledge is also better suited for Baoway''s various


    scientific projects."


    Khan scratched his head. He didn''t underestimate Abraham, and the man never lied to him. If he said he could rece Garret, he truly could. However, Abraham''s more general knowledge would have also helped on Senerth. Khan didn''t expect to solve everything there with kicks and knives, so an all-rounder scientist would definitely prove himself useful. Nevertheless, Khan was the outsider there. The issue was about science, so Abraham''s judgment surpassed his own.


    "Alright," Khan agreed. "I''ll bring Garret with me to Senerth. I hope he is already aware of


    this request of yours."


    "I''ve already discussed things with Mister Bizelli, My Prince," Abraham confirmed. "He


    agrees toe with you as long as you clear his father fornding and assign him to Coloneln/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Norrett''s project."


    "He already had clearance tond," Khan scoffed. "Sure, Norrett can have his personal


    scientist."


    "Major General Arngan also heard the news and wants Mister Bizelli''s assistance, My Prince," Abraham revealed.


    "Give those two stubborn soldiers whatever they want," Khan sighed, emptying the ss he


    had just refilled. "Add Professor Parver to their bunch. They are all striving for the same thing


    in the end."


    "It will be done, My Prince," Abraham announced, politely bowing and departing at Khan''s


    nod.


    Khan couldn''t help but find the hall''s couches inviting after that rush of political matters, but the time to rest didn''t arrive yet. As soon as the metal door closed, it reopened, and Khan didn''t even bother cursing as he went to refill his drink.

 Chapter 930: Rumors

    Chapter 930: Rumors


    ?


    "Aunt," Khan called, watching Princess Reba enter the hall. "I''m not bringing William or Felicia to Senerth. I already have too much babysitting to do."


    Princess Reba''s eyebrows arched in surprise, but a warm smile soon broadened on her face. She understood what happened, and the idea made her chuckle.


    "Did Thomas convince you to bring Richard?" Princess Reba asked, seemingly teasing Khan. "You sure have grown fond of my brother, Nephew."


    "He has his uses," Khan scoffed, ignoring Princess Reba''s teasing smiles. "I don''t know what''s up with everybody. They think Senerth will be a holiday trip or something."


    "It''s customary to send promising or problematic individuals to work under great leaders," Princess Reba exined. "Families exchanged descendants for political reasons countless times. This isn''t much different."


    "I''ve been a leader for barely over a year," Khan said, dismissing the praise. "Do they think I can turn spoiled Princes into proper warriors by snapping my fingers?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "You have a good track record," Princess Reba pointed out, approaching Khan. "And, well, it''s part of your responsibilities. Youck the age and the grey beard, but you are the future Father and Grandfather of the next Nognes generations."


    Khan avoided making eye contact with Princess Reba until she stood before him. He looked at her in time to see her hand reach for his face. The gesture embarrassed him, but he didn''t shy away from it.


    "You look tired, Nephew," Princess Rebamented, maneuvering his head from his chin. "Producing an heir is a critical task, but you should tell your Fianc¨¦e to let you rest every now and then."


    Khan diverted his gaze again. He had never grown used to that type of family affection, and Princess Reba unconsciously hammered down that weakness. Despite the political chaos, she did her best to be a motherly figure, and Khan could only y along with her.


    "So, my Uncle spilled the beans," Khan said, ncing at Princess Reba''s curious expression before diverting his gaze again. "We are just trying. It sounded like the right period."


    "It always is," Princess Reba revealed, "And it never is at the same time. You just do it, and the family deals with it."


    "Like my Mother?" Khan wondered, retracting his head to tell his Aunt he had reached the limit of that maternal love.


    "That''s not what I''d call dealing with it," Princess Reba sighed, retracting her hand. "Let''s just say your political position would create a far more favorable environment."


    Khan scoffed but didn''t say anything. His eventual son or daughter would have an entire noble faction serving them. That was the direct opposite of his childhood in the Slums.


    "Also," Princess Reba continued. "I''d have the chance to spoil him rotten. I''ll be a proper Grandma for once."


    "Him?" Khan asked, pouring cold water on Princess Reba''s heated excitement.


    "Or her," Princess Reba added. "Though a he would be better, especially if he is as cute as you."


    Princess Reba reached for Khan again, but he leaned backward, dodging her hand and walking around the table behind him. He used that chance to refill his drink and rify another point.


    "And it''s not Monica," Khan exined. "And I''m not tired. I simply have much on my te." "You are my blood," Princess Reba snorted. "I''ll always take your side over Miss Solodrey''s. Also, I''m your Aunt, so I''ll always want you to take it easier."


    Khan didn''t even try addressing those points. Those unreasonable stances were almost worse than his element, so he directly changed the topic.


    "What''s the issue?" Khan questioned. "It''s not Senerth, and I know you didn''te here to tease me."


    "The fun is always short," Princess Reba sighed. "I talked with Father. He is ready to receive you."


    Khan''s eyes lit up. After the meeting with the Excellencies, Princess Reba had taken it upon herself to summon Alexander. Khan could have handled that part himself, but fighting Bruno had taken priority.


    "Where is he?" Khan asked.


    "Two floors down," Princess Reba revealed. "Twenty-first dining hall. Yes, there''s food."


    "Thank you, Aunt," Khan eximed, downing the drink and leaving the ss on the table before hurrying toward the hall''s exit.


    "Not even a love you, dear Aunt?" Princess Reba teased, chuckling when Khan escaped that maternal affection without saying a word.


    Khan dismissed the previous friendly mood as his mindset changed. Things with his Grandfather were still rocky, but the two had reached a rtively peaceful understanding. Yet, the topic was serious, requiring Khan''s full attention, even if he couldn''t deal with it until Senerth''s expedition was over.


    The twenty-first dining hall soon unfolded in Khan''s vision. The ce had limited couches and tables, creating a more private atmosphere, and Alexander sat on an armchair, seemingly unaware of Khan''s arrival.


    "Grandfather," Khan called, stealing a few tes along the way before reaching an empty armchair before Alexander. "Thank you for making time for this."


    "You call," Alexander uttered, straightening his back to wear a more professional stance, "Ie."


    Khan began dining, uncaring of making Alexander wait. Thetter didn''t seem to mind, but Khan''s eating speed soon added some slight shock to his face.


    "The Excellencies," Khan eventually said, clearing his throat while putting aside the empty tes. "What can you tell me about them?"


    "A lot and nothing, Grandson," Alexander revealed. "Many rumors, but nothing concrete. I have gauged their general personalities over the years, but no one particrly stood out. That''s to be expected from such figures."


    "You were the exception due to my Mother, right?" Khan asked, stealing a nearby bottle while a full te still rested on hisp.


    "Indeed," Alexander sighed. "Elizabeth had a way of making her messes public, which forced me to expose myself. That revealed information normally limited inside the faction."


    Khan nodded, alternating between drinking and eating. The nobles were secretive figures, and the faction leaders pushed that feature to the extreme. It helped to be mysterious at those levels. Unpredictability was a powerful weapon, which Khan had exploited plenty.


    "Who stood out in your opinion?" Alexander asked. "We can start from there."


    "Cassius," Khan instantly said. The man was the only non-elderly among the Excellencies, and his mana had even managed to catch Khan''s attention.


    "Oh, him," Alexander nodded. "I understand why. In a way, the two of you are simr. He is more politically inclined than you, but many believe he never cked on his warrior training. Some even said he has attempted the evolution."


    "He didn''t," Khanmented. "I would have seen it."


    Alexander felt surprised once again but didn''t investigate the matter. If Khan said Cassius hadn''t tried to evolve yet, he didn''t. Khan had owed that trust in those matters.


    "He also rose to power quite sharply," Alexander continued. "He suddenly reced his Uncle and remained in power until then. It''s said his faction is as united as ours."


    Each Nognes faction had a clear leader, but those organizations were asrge as entire wealthy families. Divisions and struggles for power were the norm inside such big parties, so achievingplete unity was a respectable feat.


    Actually, Cassius'' feat was even more respectable than Khan''s. Khan''s faction had lost power and shrunk over the years, facilitating unity under a single leader. Meanwhile, at least on the surface, nothing simr had happened to Cassius'' faction, vouching for his political skills.


    "And I guess everyone only cares about their own butt," Khan stated. "Obviously," Alexander confirmed. "I canpile a list of rumors and certain events around Cassius and his faction. Still, I''m afraid you won''t have time to review everything before your


    departure."


    "Do it anyway," Khan ordered, "About every faction and faction leader. Make it as detailed as possible and give it to my Fianc¨¦e. I''ll review it once I get back."


    Usually, handing out such ssified information to an outsider would meet heavy resistance. Monica and Khan weren''t married yet, so the order could be problematic. However, Alexander


    didn''t hesitate to nod.


    "There was that other one," Khan recalled. "Francesca. She was rather talkative and open during the meeting. Though I did make one of her Princes bring back Prince Jack''s head."


    "The Princes who initially came to negotiate with you were expendable," Alexander reassured. "No one is going to hold their lives or treatment over your head now. As for


    Francesca, she is quite the opportunist."


    "Is she?" Khan questioned.


    "Slightly more than the others," Alexander specified. "She has vast political experience and a


    good nose for good opportunities. Also, I can think of something else, but it''s just a theory."


    "Speak," Khan ordered.


    "It told you Cassius is simr to you," Alexander repeated. "You cover simr roles. Eventual problems with Cassius would naturally push Francesca toward you. She might feel she needs


    an equally capable ally."


    "Do you think the two factions are at war?" Khan wondered.


    "Factions are never at war," Alexander dered, "And mine mere is a guess. However, I can


    ask around and see whether there are some rumors. My old informants might still be in business and respect me enough to answer."


    "Do it," Khan said. "Now, moving on to the others..."

 Chapter 931: Hole

    Chapter 931: Hole


    ?


    Khan and Alexander discussed the other six Excellencies for a while before duties requested their presence elsewhere. Alexander was a jack-of-all-trades in politics, so he went wherever the needed him. Meanwhile, Khan had more specific tasks to attend to.


    A lesson with Moses, Roger, and Professor Parver unfolded. Khan kept hammering down the fundamental theories of his alien arts, gradually starting to ept questions to clear eventual doubts. The trio was nowhere near understanding those exnations, but Khan had never expected the process to be easy.


    The lesson was long, but an even longer procedure followed. Khan met with Prince Thomas again to settle all the details rted to Moses and Roger''s early departure. That part was still manageable, but things becameplicated once the topic moved to Khan''s eventual disappearance.


    Of course, Khan didn''t n on leaving, but his main goal could force him into making reckless choices. Also, war was still war. Much could happen on Senerth or other battlefields, and Baoway had to be ready for his eventual absence.


    The meeting stretched until past dinnertime, and Khan left it with a piercing headache threatening to rise into his brain. He knew he had to rx and blow off some steam, and Monica immediately popped into his mind. However, someone else intercepted him, changing his priorities.


    Khan noticed the invisible and silent presence before turning the corridor corner. He knew who was waiting for him, and advancing eventually put him before him. Bruno was sitting on the metal floor, seemingly waiting for Khan.


    "Young Prince," Bruno called, keeping his head lowered and hidden by his greasy hair. "Was I mistaken thinking you wanted to test yourself again?"


    Khan didn''t need to reply. The rising battle intent in his aura gave Bruno the answer he needed, and the two soon left the building, heading for a different isted area at some distance from the city.


    Explosions immediately resounded. The barren ground shattered under the destructive power of the exchanges, generating tremors that threatened to reach inhabited areas. The quadrant''s scanners picked up the disturbance, but those in the know forced the soldiers to ignore those red gs.


    After a few exchanges, Khan found himself sitting on the ground. He had preemptively put the red cape aside, and his mostly missing clothes confirmed the wisdom behind that choice. Dirt also covered his body, but he only scratched his head, immersed in something only he could see.


    "Is something wrong, Prince Khan?" Bruno asked, standing a few meters from Khan. Unlike the previous sparring session, his military uniform was still intact.


    Khan ignored the question and closed his eyes. He almost cut himself off from the symphony, reying the previous exchanges and focusing on his body. Something wasn''t right with his execution, and he wanted to fix it before his departure.


    "I thought you had understood something yesterday," Bruno continued. "Was I mistaken?"


    "Shut up, old man," Khan cursed. "I''m thinking."


    "Think all you want, young Prince," Bruno responded. "I''m but a servant of the Nognes family. However, I''m afraid you aren''t ready for an evolved Master yet."


    "You aren''t my Master," Khan stated, opening his eyes and standing up. "You are a resilient punching bag."


    "Anything you say, Prince Khan," Bruno said, his honest smile increasing Khan''s annoyance.


    Khan loudly exhaled, fixing his bright eyes on Bruno. The scene in his vision grew blurry, almost changing into something different. Khan still saw Bruno, but something ethereal had taken form around him, seemingly highlighting the true nature of his existence.


    Khan blinked a few times before explosions unfolded in his legs. His figure disappeared, materializing right in front of Bruno with a stretched leg. A flying roundhouse kick was about tond on Bruno''s head, but the evolved warrior barely cared about it.


    "Predictable," Bruno muttered, time seemingly slowing down to allow him to finish the word before the kicknded. Meanwhile, his left hand rose, ready to intercept the attack. Nevertheless, Khan suddenly disappeared, and even Bruno showed some surprise at that unexpected event. He lost track of Khan only to experience an unstoppable forcending on his lower back. Khan had materialized behind him,pleting the roundhouse kick.


    The kick carried the best Khan''s body and expertise had to offer. It was one of his best physical attacks, and Bruno felt it. His figure didn''t move, but the ground around him directly shattered, turning into dust and forcing him to fall into that newly created hole.


    Bruno''s aura also shook but quickly stabilized. He didn''t move, but Khan still felt an invisible wall mming on his figure, flinging him away. He had tried to escape it, but the attack was simply unavoidable. It didn''t need to arrive. It had always been on him.


    Khan flew away, rolling on the ground but quickly stopping, restoring a foothold. He straightened his back, but one look at the new hole made him shake his head. The Transcendent Step was powerful enough to shock evolved warriors, but something was stillcking.


    Bruno calmly walked out of the hole and fixed his calm eyes on Khan. The surprise had disappeared from his face, but its scent still existed. Khan could smell it, but the feat still didn''t satisfy him.


    "It seems I''ve been tricked," Bruno announced. "You have been holding back, Prince Khan."


    Khan didn''t address the matter but rolled his eyes. He wished thest kick was him holding back, but the reality was different. The previous attack probably was his best execution of the Transcendent Step yet, but its strength had paled before an evolved warrior.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Yet, Bruno was partially correct. Khan was refraining from using spells and his violent aura. He was relying on his body''s partially evolved nature and sheer physical might to ignore Bruno''s innate pressure while focusing on perfecting his martial arts.


    Of course, the Transcendent Step needed no perfecting. It wouldn''t have earned ny points otherwise. Khan had even mastered the foundation form, leaving no room for mistakes. Yet, his attacks had room for improvement, mainly in their uses of his mana''s true nature. ''Simply sending mana forward just doesn''t work,'' Khan thought. ''It doesn''t matter if that mana shows the chaos element''s true face.''


    "I didn''t realize you could disy such flexibility while deploying so much strength," Bruno praised. "Your fighting skills are truly exceptional."


    Khan didn''t care about the praise. He had kept his attacks simple and straightforward until now, avoiding showing off their flexibility. Truth be told, the Transcendent Step didn''t have techniques for walking into the air, but Khan''s expertise with the Lightning-Demon step had naturally fused with his new martial art. Still, catching Bruno by surprise had never been his goal.


    "Do evolved soldiers use martial arts?" Khan decided to ask since the question had grown too loud inside his mind.


    Bruno knew Khan was up to something, but his role was clear. He served the Nognes family, and as a Prince, Khan deserved an honest answer.


    "Rarely, Prince," Bruno revealed. "The evolution puts us closer to our element, which often conflicts with our martial arts. However, this is only a partial truth."


    Khan focused on Bruno, crossing his arms to convey his willingness to listen to him.


    "You are aware of the martial arts'' proficiency levels," Bruno exined. "The advanced level already shows a hint of personal approach, which often has something to do with the warrior''s character, which is linked to the warrior''s element."


    Khan couldn''t deny that point, even if he had walked a different path. He had developed hisplete mastery through the Nele and Niqols arts. His ability to fly still had some connection to his element''s desire for freedom, but he had gotten there through the opposite


    route.


    "While most warriors abandon martial arts after the evolution," Bruno continued, "Some manage to turn specific attacks into spells. For example, moves that embody the unique use of the element can easily be higher techniques in the hands of an evolved warrior." Since martial arts mastery required a personal approach, some evolved warriors could elevate the moves that highlighted that feature to spells. It wouldn''t even beplicated for soldiers at that level. They were already one with their mana, so recreating attacks they had learned would almost feel natural.


    Khan tried to apply that reasoning to himself. His ability to fly obviously was his most iconic move, and he had even connected it to his element''s freedom. Yet, elevating it to something closer to spells sounded hard, especially since agility didn''t necessarily turn into sheer power.


    ''Though that''s only a consequence of another ability,'' Khan realized. ''It''s not the flight per se. It''s the ability to interact and step on the air.''


    Khan scratched his head. Stepping into the air required immense dexterity and grace, but Khan didn''t know how to apply it to actual attacks, especially since the Transcendent Step differed from the Lightning-Demon style. Yet, his vast battle experience came in clutch,


    giving him a few ideas.


    Khan looked at his feet and lifted his right leg. He stomped it, creating a foot-sized hole in the barren ground. The attack had merely relied on his physical strength, but he needed to see


    it to experience it.


    Afterward, Khan lifted his right leg again but lowered it slowly. The movement appeared


    forced and restrained, but Bruno still focused on it. He knew that descending speed was deceitful. Khan wasn''t holding back. He was pushing his feet down, but an invisible force


    seemed to oppose him.


    Then, the foot''s tip touched the barren surface, and a mana wave spread underneath it. Everything stayed still for a few seconds until tremors unfolded underground, and the ground around Khan caved in, revealing a vast and deep hole.

 Chapter 932: Steps

    Chapter 932: Steps


    ?


    Bruno''s peaceful gaze grew slightly solemn. Khan''sst attack was still a bit away from the evolved soldiers'' standards, but he was getting there. Moreover, he was achieving something most of Bruno''s peers failed to do.


    Khan ignored Bruno''s reaction. He floated above the newly formed hole, his gaze lost in thought. He knew what he had done, but tranting it into an actual attack would take time and practice.


    ''I can feel the air''s density,'' Khan thought. ''I can see the symphony''s texture.''


    Sending some mana downward changed the symphony''s nature. Khan''s energy tainted it, spreading its wild behavior inside it. Then, Khan lowered his foot again, and that invisible, violent mass shrunk under the gesture, seeminglypressing under its weight.


    "Old man," Khan called, but Bruno knew what wasing for him.


    "I''ll take it seriously, Prince," Bruno announced.


    Khan nced at the evolved soldier and nodded. He closed his eyes before explosions unfolded inside his legs. His figure disappeared only to materialize above Bruno, his right foot pointed at his left shoulder.


    Khan had initially nned to step on Bruno''s shoulder, but an invisible barrier slowed his movement at thest second, forcing him to stop a few centimeters above it. Yet, Khan pressed on with his offensive, and Bruno couldn''t help but face it seriously.


    A battle between two invisible forces unfolded in the small space between Khan''s foot and Bruno''s shoulder. One was silent, steady, and unmovable, while the other almost screamed angrily,pressing during the process.


    The angry force appeared unable to advance, but a crack suddenly appeared in the silent energy, creating an opening that caused a chain reaction. Violent mana immediately flowed into it like a hungry river, destabilizing and threatening to shatter that unmovable membrane.


    Bruno''s left arm suddenly changed position. It reappeared stretched forward, with its palm pointed at the sky, and a wall materialized around Khan, interrupting his attack and flinging him upward.


    Khan flew into the sky, letting his body roll for a while before regaining control. He stopped far above Bruno, his figure horizontal as he stared at the evolved warrior. An excited grin filled his face, and his eyes widened, illuminating the battlefield below.


    Much had happened during the exchange, but everything had unfolded in less than a second. Only Khan, Bruno, and people at their level could see all the minute and seemingly slow details of that short offensive. Actually, Bruno was far from the average evolved warrior, so he noticed far more.


    Evolved warriors were one with their element. Their existence stretched past their physical constraints. They were a heavy presence capable of affecting their surroundings as if innately spreading radiations that mutated the symphony around them.


    Khan could achieve a simr feat, but part of that power came from his alien arts. However, he wasn''t trying to change the symphony with his kicks. He was merely pushing it, and thatpression generated a violent reaction.


    Bruno''s experience was vast. He knew he was among the best evolved warriors in the Nognes family''s ranks. Yet, Khan''s ability to manipte the symphony left him stunned. He didn''t need to influence it to touch it. It was like he could freelymand and y with it, using his bare hands and feet instead of superior andplicated methods.


    On the other hand, Khan kept floating in the air, his mind long since devoid of useless thoughts. Hisst attack was powerful but was only a first step in the right direction, and it was time to move to the next.


    Explosions happened inside Khan''s legs, flinging him downward without requiring additional movements. He instantly appeared above Bruno, his stretched leg ready to cleave him in half. The attack would have usually been over already, but Bruno''s existence wasn''t something Khan could pierce with mere physical strength, especially when he was aiming to damage it. The battle between the two invisible forces unfolded again, but Khan added true intent to his attack now. His leg started reeking of his mana''s nature, affecting thepressed symphony under it. Everything soon grew unstable, forcing Bruno to push Khan away again, but the counterattack couldn''t stop the brewing destruction.


    An invisible wall mmed on Khan and pushed him away, but a simr force also fell on Bruno. His uniform''s cor broke, and a small red mark appeared on his skin. Meanwhile, the ground around him shattered, leaving only the small patch where he stood intact.


    Khan''s feet slid on the ground for a few meters before dispersing that momentum. He stopped himself, ncing at the new hole and the thin column at its center. Bruno stood on it, his expression more solemn as he checked his neck.


    "Impressive, Prince Khan," Brunomented. "While your element''s sheer power still can''t match mine, your ability to bend the mana to your willpensates for that temporary weakness. I believe you are also approaching full mastery of your martial art."


    Bruno was talking about evolving the Transcendent Step through a personal path. Experience and repetition would typically handle that growth, but Khan was forcing it to follow a specific direction, one he could be able to wield against those powerful soldiers.


    Control and maniptions were key. The Lightning-Demon style had taught Khan to interact with the symphony, andpressing it would generate a violent reaction. That was the first step.


    The second involved fusing thatpression with mana that featured the chaos element''s true nature. The process would generate a more violent and destructive reaction, affecting the evolved warriors'' seemingly ethereal nature.


    Still, a third step existed. The Transcendent Step aimed for immediate, unstoppable, and destructive blows, butpressing the symphony created a dy. That interruption was short and barely noticeable, but evolved soldiers could exploit it to counterattack. Also, it went against the martial art''s nature, defeating its purpose.


    Khan looked at his legs. His body had never been stronger, but those new moves still put a heavy strain on his joints and muscles. Nevertheless, he needed to unleash more power without losing his grace. Only thatbination would allow a perfect execution of the Transcendent Step with the symphonypression.


    ''Should I use Maban''s technique?'' Khan wondered before quickly discarding the idea. ''No, adding power will only make it harder to control. Besides, revealing all my cards isn''t ideal.''


    The only viable solution made Khan sigh. As with everything, the immediate results were a na?ve and childish desire. Only slow and methodical training could bring the results he


    wanted.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "We''ll be here for a while," Khan muttered, seemingly talking to himself before his eyes focused again, ready to deliver another attack.


    ?


    Baoway''s star had almost appeared on the horizon when Khan returned to his quarters. A slight limp afflicted his right leg, but his steps still carried a strange weight. His feet seemed to slow down whenever they were about to touch the metal floor, asionally earning him


    screaming noises.


    Khan ignored those events, lost in thought and the strange understanding seized during the lengthy exchange. Images from the Nak''s hand and his kicks shed in his mind, gradually merging to create something stronger. He felt he was getting closer, but the general idea still escaped him.


    Khan remained immersed in his thoughts even after reaching the bedroom, and his mood


    didn''t change when he threw himself in bed. The dirt from the sparring session tainted the mattress and sheets, but he only looked at the ceiling, his eyes piercing that metal surface to wander in ideas he could barely put into words.


    Monica obviously saw everything. Sleeping was always hard for her without Khan, so she had stayed up, working on finalizing the details of his imminent departure. His return had ted her, but one look at his face told her he wasn''t to be disturbed. As annoying as it was, Monica knew when Khan needed time to think.


    Minutes flew by while Monica waited. asionally, she resumed working on her phone, which altered the wall''s menus. Those moments would be theirst together for a long time,


    but Khan was lost in a world she couldn''t reach.


    "How do you push something without slowing down?" Khan eventually asked.


    Monica put away her phone, curling her legs to straighten her back. She nced at Khan, who was still looking at the ceiling, before exploring the question.


    "You add more strength?" Monica wondered. "Resistance is unavoidable, but more strength


    can shorten its duration."


    "What if more strength breaks it?" Khan questioned. "How can something so forceful happen


    without dys?"


    Monica rolled her eyes. She felt Khan had already encountered a simr issue and didn''t know whether he had forgotten about the solution or the problem featured new challenges. Yet,


    Monica had also developed her own way of dealing with those situations, and her hands promptly went on her nightgown''s shoulders.


    Khan didn''t even need to hear the rustling of clothes. His eyes darted to his side in time to watch Monica''s nightgown fall to herp. His gaze''s light illuminated her naked beauty before pointing at her smug face.


    "See?" Monica eximed. "Made you look with no strength at all." Enlightenment seemed to dawn upon Khan. His eyes widened in understanding before


    focusing on Monica''s face. She yed with her curls, wondering what would follow, but her


    man didn''t disappoint. Before she knew it, she was clinging to his neck, giggling as he carried her into their vast bathroom.

 Chapter 933: Departure

    Chapter 933: Departure


    ?


    The rest of the week passed in a blink.


    Initially, almost no one noticed the grand preparations brewing under the surface. Every soldier, building, and quadrant kept working as usual, following the same peaceful routine granted by the tournament''s end.


    However, key aspects of the imminent mission gradually grew evident. Workers erected new buildings in mere days, moving others outside the city. The quadrant''s important figures also showed their faces less and less, clearly busy with something.


    Nevertheless, two main changes highlighted that significant development. Clear tension and excitement built up in the encampment, with the Scalqa growing more spirited each day. A frenzy had invaded the aliens, making them louder and almost frantic.


    Also, near the end of the week, a huge figure appeared high in the sky, hovering past the''s orbit but remaining visible from the surface. A giant ship had reached Baoway, floating close enough in space to project its immense shadow to the quadrant asionally.


    The Leviathan-ss ship only intensified the other signs of the imminent development, and the rumors transformed into actual news. Baoway''s King was about to go to war, bringing his alien army with him.


    More conclusive proof unfolded near the end of the week. Many ships descended into the quadrant, loading supplies, weapons, and massive machinery. Some even lifted entire buildings, bringing them to the massive vessel in orbit. Each rising structure brought the mission closer until its moment finally arrived.


    A proper flock of ships descended from the Leviathan-ss vehicle toward an empty spot in the main quadrant at dawn before the appointed departure. Cargo rides with the sole purpose of fitting as many soldiers as possiblended in a barren in, waiting for the army to arrive.


    The encampment was ready for that moment. No Scalqa had ever left Baoway, but instructions had spread from tent to tent, preparing them for what was about toe.


    Lieutenant Dyester''s appearance in the encampment only triggered those preparations. His arrival made the Scalqa roar in excitement, and its advance through the main road added huge figures to his tail. When he reached the city''s end, a two-thousands-aliens-strong army had formed behind him.


    The army advanced through the barren areas outside the city, marching toward the makeshift, massivending zone. The ships opened at their arrival, revealing their vast insides. At that point, Lieutenant Dyester shouted orders, splitting the troops to fill each vehicle to their full capacity.


    The process took a while and lifted so much dust the scene became almost impossible to watch from outside. Nevertheless, many tried and did, interested in memorizing every detail to report them to different parties or simply adding the event to their life experiences. After all, they knew who stood at the mission''s center, and everything he did was exceptional.


    Eventually, an additional ship arrived from the city,nding outside that dusty zone. Its doors opened, and the cloud magically dispersed as if violent gales had suddenly blown through the


    area.


    The strange event was a clear sign of something the quadrant and''s inhabitants had witnessed multiple times, and expectations built up. The Scalqa also interrupted their orderly march inside the ships to study the gale''s source, and their instincts immediately led their eyes there.


    A small group of people had exited the newly arrived ship. Monica, Moses, Roger, Prince Richard, and Bruno stood behind a figure that transformed the temporary silence into a mayhem. The Scalqa inside and outside the vehicles roared spotting Khan, mming their fists on their chests and stomping their feet.


    Khan donned his usual alien attire, but that day, the war paint looked especially new. His cold, bright eyes swept over the army, carrying intangible weight. Their seemingly supernatural pressure added fuel to the Scalqa''s excitement. Still, Khan promptly mmed a fist on his bone armor, creating a thudding noise that echoed throughout the area and silenced the aliens.


    Khan could have let that excitement boil longer. It would have also been wise since the surface was a better ce than the Leviathan-ss ship above. Yet, the stomps of the Scalqa already inside the vehicles threatened to break their cargo areas, so putting an end to it now was better.


    Lieutenant Dyester seemed to understand Khan''s reasons and shouted another order, forcing the Scalqa to resume filling the ships. Meanwhile, Khan nodded at the three young warriors, and Bruno stepped forward, leading them to their appointed vehicle.


    Khan and Monica obtained some privacy in that noisy mess, but the scene didn''t exactly allow affectionate goodbyes. The couple had also dealt with them that night, securing as many hours as possible for themselves. Of course, nothing would ever be enough for the two, but that had to do.


    "I''ll see you soon," Khan muttered, turning to Monica and taking her cheek into his hand. "Hold the fort. We''ll be busy once I get back."


    "You owe me a marriage," Monica smiled, epting the quick kiss, "And something else, soe back in one piece."


    "You know I''m always fine," Khan imed, earning himself a re.


    "Dear," Monica called, abandoning her re to wear a serious face. "Be careful."


    "I will," Khan promised, kissing Monica again. "Love you."


    Monica leaned forward, touching the bone crown on Khan''s forehead. She closed her eyes, trying to absorb as much as possible from thatst affectionate moment. Khan would be away for a long time, so she burned those sensations into her brain, hoping they would help her in the months toe.


    "Say it again," Monica asked. No matter how long she and Khan had been together, hearing him say those words was an intoxicating drug.


    "I love you," Khan repeated, slightly pushing Monica''s face away to stare deep into her eyes. Monica imitated him, and the two exchanged a long look before he eventually turned to leave. Monica didn''t say anything. Every fiber of her being wanted toin, jump on him, or hijack a ship to follow him to Senerth. Yet, she didn''t utter a single breath nor move. The demanded her presence since only she could rece Khan.


    Actually, no one could, but Monica had long since been Khan''s partner, earning a share of the respect he had imed from different parties. Also, her connections with the Thilku Empire were far from simple, and the Thilku themselves respected her, making her a necessary figure in that strange,plicated, and fragile political environment.


    So, Monica stood there, watching the love of her life immersing himself in the sea of Scalqa, his heavy cape almost fluttering in the same gales he created. She diverted her gaze only once to look at her waist and curse her womb. Her period had arrived that very night, telling her all her attempts to conceive Khan''s child had failed.


    Khan was aware of Monica''s distress, but nothing could be done about it. Only his return could fix that issue, so his attention moved to more exciting thoughts. The Scalqa in thending zone grew excited again, watching him walk among their ranks, but no one uttered cries at his passage. Something told him not to disturb him, so they didn''t.


    By the time Khan reached his appointed ship, the army was finalizing the boarding process. Soon, all the vehicles would close their doors and set off, joining the giant ride in orbit. From there, they would fly to Senerth, starting the nned colonization.


    Lieutenant Dyester approached Khan before Khan could enter his ship. The two watched thest Scalqa enter their appointed vehicles, and asional questions flew between them.


    "What''s the word from above?" Lieutenant Dyester asked.


    "Garret and his team have given the all-clear hours ago," Khan exined. "We only need to get there, run thest check-up, and depart."


    Lieutenant Dyester nodded, his voice growing serious as he asked another question. "Are you ready? Last time to turn back."


    "I could ask you the same," Khan chuckled.


    Lieutenant Dyester snorted, ready to deliver one of his dismissive and insulting lines. Yet, ncing at Khan''s face silenced him. He didn''t show any hesitation, fear, or reluctance. Pure eagerness shone in his eyes, seemingly ready to blow up.


    Lieutenant Dyester could only dismiss his worries, draw his phone, and send the final orders. The ships'' cargo areas closed one by one, ready to bring the army to the Leviathan. The Lieutenant checked the process as long as his eyes allowed him but eventually crossed Khan, heading to his ride.


    Khan inspected thending zone before ncing at Monica. The two exchanged another long look, but he eventually disappeared, reappearing inside his appointed ship. The three young warriors, Bruno, and Lieutenant Dyester were there and followed his arrival, but the closing


    doors quickly distracted them.


    Two exceptions existed to that trend. Khan dismissed the closing doors and headed toward the cabin while Bruno couldn''t help but inspect his feet. Khan''s steps had something unnatural that no one else but him had noticed. However, even an evolved warrior like him


    failed to understand what.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Nevertheless, the ship''s set-off officially started the mission, and Bruno knew Senerth''s battlefield would eventually show what the young Prince was truly capable of.

 Chapter 934: Landing

    Chapter 934: Landing


    ?


    The Leviathan-ss ship was nothing short of a flying city, and the Nognes family''s specimen was also exceptional in that regard.


    The vehicle was split into four main areas with countless smaller branches supporting them or handling different tasks.


    The first area, at the ship''s forefront, was the main deck, counting almost a hundred consoles, various levels connected by metal staircases, and anything rted to the vehicle''s functions. The special workers could control everything remotely from there, including piloting, battle stations, systems statuses, and more.


    The second, the central area, was thergest. It featured the living quarters and acted as a storage facility for the biggest equipment. Of course, the ce was split into multiple zones with various entertainment facilities, which did little to keep the Scalqa busy and calm.


    The third was near the ship''s bottom and acted as the de-facto cargo area. Anything from weapons, supplies, and buildings was stored there, constantly guarded by soldiers and checked up by scientists. The missions'' most valuable aspects were there, demanding higher protection inside and outside.


    The fourth involved the ship''s engineering, stretching under the other three areas and ending with the engines past the third. Another set of workers lived there, constantly managing and securing every aspect of the vehicle. Their job was vital to the trip, but their presence was often forgotten.


    Like most of the human crew, Khan was used to life on the ship. The Leviathan was actually so spacious he could barely see it as a limited environment.


    However, the Scalqa didn''t fare too well. A massive metal cage was still a cage, and knowing it was flying through space didn''t help. Distress naturally built up inside the army, and only two factors prevented it from going crazy and causing a mess.


    The first factor was obviously Khan. He could see the army''s distress with his bare eyes, so he often made trips through the Scalqa''s living quarters to show his presence or feast among them. Lieutenant Dyester also helped, but Khan''s presence remained the key antidote to that prolonged time in space.


    The second was the trip itself. Senerth was the farthest of the threes from Baoway, but the Leviathan could cross that distance in under a week. Ultimately, the Empire''s mission was in Baoway''s neighborhood, so the Scalqa army didn''t have time to go crazy.


    Of course, reaching the didn''t immediately involve anding. The Empire had provided many pieces of information, but the report was superficial at best.


    Moreover, jumping into an unknown and war unprepared was synonymous with death and defeat, and Khan already had a limited number of troops. The human scientists also wanted first-hand data, so the ship hovered above Senerth''s orbit for two days.


    Luckily, the Leviathan''s scanners were the best humankind could produce, providing detailed pictures of the and its environment. Those scenes finally brought some entertainment to the alien troops, and catching a proper glimpse of their enemy reced the distress with excitement.


    As for Khan, he spent those two days reviewing every piece of information captured by the scanners and reviewed by the scientists. Choosing the best position for the first outpost was the most crucial decision of his life, and he didn''t dare to take it lightly. He often consulted Lieutenant Dyester on the matter, too, and his opinions in that short time already justified his presence.


    Nevertheless, a decision was eventually reached, starting a series of chain reactions. Most of the Leviathan''s crew activated, following precise directives to prepare for the imminentnding. The army, Khan, the three young warriors, Bruno, and Lieutenant Dyester gathered into a massive warehouse-like structure, which the ship released after receiving the all-clear. The detachment of such a vast structure and the following impact on the''s atmosphere were violent, but the people inside barely felt anything. The warehouse-like building''s enginespensated for every bump along the road, allowing Khan and the army to remain on their feet during the quick descent.


    The symphony inside the warehouse reeked of intense excitement and expectation. Khan could almost taste how happy the Scalqa were about returning to a proper and the new experience. He was in a simr state, but his face didn''t express it.


    Khan followed the warehouse''s descent from the wall''s menus. His unwavering gaze and still face didn''t betray a single feeling, but Bruno couldn''t help but nce at him. The young Prince had changed a lot in a single week, and he didn''t know what to expect from him.


    Then, the first real bump hit the warehouse. A slight tremor ran through the building''s floor, too light to disturb anyone''s bnce. Only Moses, Prince Richard, and Roger tensed up, and the following event spread that reaction through the entire army.


    The building''s many doors released a whooshing noise, opening into a brown-redndscape. A rocky, barren in expanded as far as eyes could see, only interrupted by asional, distant mountains. The warehouse had sessfullynded on Senerth, and everything threatened to be chaotic.


    "[Outside]!" Lieutenant Dyester suddenly shouted in a surprisingly good Scalqa ent before things could be too messy.


    The deafening shout filled the entire warehouse, restoring some order. The Scalqa calmed down, summoning their training to step on the. Still, asional nces fell on the frontline, where Khan was, only to discover that he had already walked outside.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Khan wasn''t alone. Bruno was at his side while he casually walked through that brown-red in. His bright eyes illuminated the slightly dark environment, highlighting invisible details and creating minute, shimmering reflections wherever their glownded.


    It wasn''t dawn yet, so the cloudless sky was pale grey. Some light had started spreading through the night, but the environment remained quite dark nheless. However, the clear horizon didn''t restrict anyone''s view.


    Also, Khan found something strange in the air and ground. His eyes'' glow created strange reflections, as if tiny ss shards were hovering everywhere. They appeared as far brighter pieces of the symphony, like specks of dust made of mana.


    The ground hadrger chunks of those shard-like objects. Khan saw proper pebbles when his eyes pierced the surface, and the faint glow of bigger items shone under them. Adding those impressions to the data gathered from the Leviathan gave birth to a conclusion in his mind, almost making him regret giving the away.


    ''A mineral containing mana,'' Khan concluded. ''Achite? No, it looks different.'' Bruno followed Khan during his advance. The foreign asionally caught his attention, but Khan''s steps continually reimed. He could swear the ground under Khan''s feet should have shattered many times already, but nothing simr ever unfolded.


    The army slowly imitated Khan. Under Lieutenant Dyester''s directives, the Scalqa left the giant warehouse, shaken by the differences from their previous home. Baoway featured ces that shared some simrities, but the aliens knew they were somewhere else entirely. They felt it in their bones.


    Senerth wasn''t only colder. Its air was denser and harder to breathe. The almost invisible shards of solid mana floating in it contained energy that only mana-enhanced beings could safely withstand. Ordinary humans without cores would slowly mutate in that environment. Nevertheless, the Scalqa were nothing but mana-enhanced. Their bodies quickly adapted to the new atmosphere and eventually refreshed them. That thicker mana in the air was beneficial to their unique flesh, acting as a slight form of nourishment.


    Khan also deeply breathed but for different reasons. The area grew darker as he closed his eyes and bathed in that foreign atmosphere. A strange sense of freedom invaded his mind, and the distant turmoil only he had noticed made him smile. Even without thinking about it, his brain already provided the answer.


    ''I''m home,'' Khan thought, snapping off that pensive state to look past the gathering army and find a specific human figure.


    "Deploy the perimeter," Khan ordered, his voice almost a whisper that floated through the air, crossed the army, and perfectlynded in Lieutenant Dyester''s ears.


    The Lieutenant didn''t let that strange event surprise him. He shouted a few additional orders in the Scalqanguage before pressing his hand on the warehouse''s external surface, lighting up menus featuring its different functions.


    A series of security codester, and more whooshing noises resounded around the warehouse, attracting the army''s attention. The building''s four corners detached themselves from the main structure, turning into tall, thick pirs moving in different directions.


    After crossing about two hundred meters each, the structures'' continuous tracks stopped, disappearing inside them. The ground slightly trembled as the pirs secured their bases, and multiple rectangrpartments opened across their surface, releasing turrets, rifles, and


    other defensive weapons.


    The Scalqa army had fully stepped on Senerth''s ground by then, but the many red beeping lights that suddenly shone on the warehouse''s surface imed their attention. Their training told them what those signals meant, and excited cries inevitably resounded among them. "[Battle formations]!" Lieutenant Dyester shouted, his voice piercing the excited cries as he rushed toward the frontlines. Silence spread as he cried more deafening orders, and the Scalqa arranged themselves to prepare for a fight. Excited eyes fell on the horizon, eventually spotting a distant cloud.


    The event was too distant for mere eyes to study, but the warehouse and turrets'' scanners had


    already studied it. The army had actually predicted it when choosing thatnding spot. A pack of almost two hundred spiked dog-like creatures was rushing in its direction, attracted by the noise and driven by their hunger.


    The Scalqa quickly split, upying the space between two turrets to prepare for the imminent assault. They outnumbered the enemy ten to one, but Lieutenant Dyester left nothing to chance, continuing to shout orders whenever he saw problems with the battle formation.


    The pack of creatures drew closer in the meantime. The monsters'' towering figures gained details, but the Scalqa showed no fear. A week in a steel cage floating through space was hell for them. However, the battlefield was their home.


    Lieutenant Dyester eventually reached the frontline, hurrying toward Khan to see whether changes were necessary before the battle was upon them. Yet, Khan didn''t look at the Lieutenant. He didn''t even nce at the army. He simply stepped forward, waving his hand to make everyone stay behind.

 Chapter 935: One-man army

    Chapter 935: One-man army


    ?


    Lieutenant Dyester wanted to curse. Except for Bruno, he was the only one who understood Khan''s silent gesture. The idea was mental, but most of what Khan did was anyway. Also, Khan had thest word there, so Lieutenant Dyester couldn''t oppose him even if he wanted to.


    "[Hold]!" Lieutenant Dyester cried, and some team leaders among the Scalqa echoed his order.


    The aliens initially didn''t understand what was happening, but Khan eventually advanced enough for everyone to see him. At that point, understanding dawned upon the army, and heavy, rhythmic steps resounded, acting as war drums to elevate the spectacle about to unfold.


    Moses, Roger, and Prince Richard made their way through the army while the Scalqa started beating their chests. Those imposing figures created destabilizing noises that didn''t clear even after reaching the frontline. Yet, the rhythm got to their heads once theyid their eyes on Khan, making them forget about the dangerous situation.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan sensed everything happening behind him, but his brain dismissed those sensations. A feeling of unbound freedom invaded him as he stared at the approaching pack. His calm and seemingly identical steps gradually crossed more distance, and his aura invaded that alien symphony, echoing his feelings.


    Soon, Khan became too distant for the army to spot every detail. The few humans and two thousand Scalqa only saw his glow and the fluttering heavy cape. The barren in had no wind, but Khan didn''t need it. He was the eye of the storm.


    "Master Carl," Prince Richard called, noticing that the pack was almost upon Khan. "Shouldn''t we support the Prince?"


    The three young warriors stood behind the Lieutenant and Bruno, and the rhythmic war drums almost suppressed Prince Richard''s words. Yet, Lieutenant Dyester heard them, and a helpless sigh escaped his mouth.


    "It''s those beasts that need support," Lieutenant Dyestermented.


    As if answering Lieutenant Dyester''s distantment, a purple-red radiance suddenly reced the sky''s grayness. Multiple spheres of mana gathered above Khan, following his advance. Those orbs gradually multiplied, bing thirty and eventually forty.


    Once hitting forty, the orbs started to change, condensing and transforming. They grew brighter while their mana increased, eventually creating a vast array of spears pointed at the iing pack.


    ''Finally,'' Khan thought, the iing creatures'' details reaching his heightened eyes.


    The monsters were identical to what Khan had seen during the meeting with Lord Exr. They were big, standing almost two and a half meters from the ground. Their four legs were thick, but their bodies were lean. Their dog-like faces had two sets of eyes, one above the other, and their maws had two rows of curved razor-sharp teeth.


    The white spikes from the creatures'' heads to their tails were also sharp but straight and strangely long. They resembled additional teeth, and their paleness contrasted with their dark red fur.


    Those details gave away much of the monsters'' abilities. They were nimble and heavily offensive-oriented. One of their bites was bound to tear away a good chunk of flesh or keep them attached to their prey forever, and Khan suspected their spikes had some use, too. The creatures'' reckless, hunger-driven assault almost felt suicidal. They didn''t care about suffering injuries. They didn''t care about dying. They only wanted to feed on the newly appeared pieces of meat. That made them extremely dangerous, but Khan only felt happiness. The pack was almost upon Khan, and its disorderly arrangement theoretically prevented him from halting its advance. He could also see how many monsters had disregarded the small figure directly before them and focused on the army in the distance. One tiny human couldn''t satisfy their hunger, so the Scalqa became their target.


    Khan had no ns to let the monsters reach his army. The spears above him tilted sideways, aiming at the pack edges before shooting forward. The spells quickly crossed the closing distance between Khan and the creatures, hitting those in the frontline and exploding into violent purple-red res.


    The wild mana spread in every direction before surging upward, creating blinding pirs that rose into the sky. Painful and angry cries resounded among the pack, and the stench of charred flesh soon invaded the area. Many monsters died in that initial assault, but killing had never been its purpose.


    The pirs halted part of the pack''s advance, creating a bright barrier with a central opening. Khan had left one avable path for the monsters, which was directly in front of him. Every creature had to charge past him to reach the army, eliminating his reach issue.


    The spells didn''t distract the monster for a single instant. The creature kept charging, crossing the wall of scorching mana to continue their advance. Yet, something appeared before them after a single leap past the barrier, and blood immediately sttered everywhere.


    Khan reappeared before the pack, his right foot stabbed in the neck of the first beast that had crossed the blinding wall. The creature had died in a single blow, crushed by his kick''s power. Yet, the attack had revealed him, enveloping him in hungry cries.


    Three monsters immediately converged on Khan. Two attacked from his sides while one jumped over their deadpanion to lunge directly at him. Three sets of curved razor-sharp teeth closed on him from three directions, but his figure simply disappeared.


    The creatures had leaped at Khan during their assault but froze mid-air. Something had interrupted their heavy momentum, leaving them prey to Senerth''s gravity. However, before they could touch the ground, their heads exploded, only delivering corpses to that brown-red soil.


    Khan reappeared before the new attacking line. Four more monsters had crossed the shining wall but had yet to notice him. Their eyes actually went on their deadpanions, almost considering eating them before moving to the distant army. Yet, their vision went dark before they could make that decision.


    Precise and deep cuts appeared on those four creatures'' heads. Horizontal wounds opened between their two pairs of eyes, cleaving away the upper part of their skulls. Their mangled brains appeared in the open as they crashed dead to the ground.


    Khan had reached the bright wall''s edge by then. He was outnumbered and alone, but nothing could slow him down. He advanced faster than the pack and now stood right before it.


    The frontal sea of beasts noticed Khan''s arrival and opted to eat him, but he simply lifted his hand. His palm pointed at that iing mass of fur, bringing purple-red light to its dark red


    shades.


    The conical version of the Wave spell unfolded forward, burning and destroying anything on its path. Any beast hit by its light saw its fur, skin, and flesh falling apart like disintegrating under a power they couldn''t hope to oppose.


    The creatures directly before Khan disappeared, while those at the spell''s edge lost limbs, heads, or half of their bodies. By the time the purple light retracted, a series of maimed corpses and barely alive monsters divided Khan from the rest of the pack.


    Khan didn''t stop even once. He reappeared on top of a corpse before him while spears materialized above him. Ten spells took form before shooting in different directions, lifting scorching pirs that sent the pack intoplete disarray.


    The spells hit different central parts of the pack, exposing Khan to the monsters directly in front of him. Two creatures jumped at him, one descending from above and another closing to


    his left.


    Yet, Khan didn''t even look at the monsters. He waved his hands, his gesture as casual as humanly possible, before continuing to walk forward. The beasts didn''t slow down but missed him by a few centimeters, crashing into their deadpanions.


    Once the monsters hit the corpses, vertical cuts opened on their faces, stretching past their necks and almost halfway through their long bodies. Their heads opened, unleashing a torrent of blood and gore to the ground.


    Khan kept walking forward, asionally throwing spells or waving his hands. From the outside, he looked as if he were casually strolling through a park. However, each of his gestures inflicted death on some monsters.


    After less than a minute, Khan found himself at the pack''s center. Monsters surrounded him,


    but few had actually noticed his arrival. His steps were too graceful, and his gestures too faint to attract any attention. He barely looked as if he were attacking, but death unfolded anyway.


    Nevertheless, one unusually big figure had spotted Khan. A chunkier and seemingly healthier version of those monsters calmly stood at the pack''s center, studying that foreign creature. Traces of intelligence sparkled in its dark eyes, preventing him from jumping into a reckless


    charge.


    ''The alpha,'' Khan thought, stopping a few meters from the bigger creature. The two seemed to exchange looks, but the situation only made the monster crazy. It couldn''t bear the reality of that foreign presence, leading it into a mad charge.


    The alpha''s attack attracted the surrounding monsters'' attention. They didn''t join the assault but watched curiously, seemingly ready to exploit any weakness their leader revealed. Yet, those opportunities never arrived.


    The chunkier monster leaped at Khan, fangs and wed paws ready to close on him. However, he stepped forward, dodging the creature''s legs while lifting his hand. The beast mmed headfirst into his palm, stopping mid-air. Khan had dispersed its momentum through sheer


    physical strength.

 Chapter 936: Demon

    Chapter 936: Demon


    ?


    The army couldn''t see much once the wall of bright mana appeared. The Scalqa also quickly lost track of Khan, only knowing he had dived into the pack.


    asional explosions and painful cries acted as clues for the army, but the scene remained tense. The Scalqa had also stopped stomping their feet, waiting to see what the result of that crazy battle would be.


    Lieutenant Dyester cried orders every once in a while, making sure the Scalqa didn''t get too distracted. Still, the same curiosity and tension afflicted him. He hadplete faith in Khan, especially after facing him himself. Yet, two hundred against one didn''t have the greatest odds.


    Tense minutes passed. Gradually, the bright pirs acting as a barrier started to disappear, exhausting their violent energy. The wall began to shrink and darken, revealing the spectacle past it.


    Nevertheless, a single creature jumped past the wall before it could entirely disappear. The lingering violent mana burned its fur, but the monster disregarded the damage to charge at the army. It didn''t care about the impossible odds. It only wanted to eat.


    However, a purple-red bulled suddenly shed through the air, hitting the monster''s back and exploding in its insides. The creature didn''t die immediately. It let out a painful roar while struggling to take another step, but its body eventually crashed lifelessly to the ground. Meanwhile, the wall finished disappearing, finally revealing the battle''s oue. Gasps resounded throughout the army as aliens and humans squinted their eyes, trying to capture every detail of the distant scenery.


    Trails of dark smoke rose into the sky,ing from piles of scorched corpses. Many more mangled and burned bodies encircled those small hills, and weak cries asionally resounded among them. Some monsters were still alive, but nothing moved.


    A blue light shone in the middle of that destruction. A figure stood on top of one of the tallest piles of bodies, casually studying the scene. His hands moved from time to time, silencing the asional cries. Death kept spreading until life was extinguished.


    The sight rekindled the Scalqa''s excitement. Battle cries enveloped the army, and some aliens even kneeled, lifting their palms to the sky. Their leader had won, achieving the impossible in mere minutes.


    Lieutenant Dyester''s worries finally dispersed, but a serious expression filled his face as he looked at the distant light source. He shared some of Khan''s destructive capabilities. He could bring death to a vast area. He had even done so already. Yet, the Lieutenant didn''t believe he could replicate Khan''s feat, especially in such a short amount of time.


    The Lieutenant inevitably nced at Bruno. Lieutenant Dyester had known Khan since he was a kid, but Bruno existed in the same realm. The evolved warrior''s reaction could provide unique insights, but nothing appeared on the man''s face. Bruno was as calm as always.


    After checking that everything was dead, Khan turned, stepping off the pile of bodies to return to the army. He didn''t waste time now, hurrying back to the Scalqa. He didn''t sprint but still reunited with hispanions in less than half a minute.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan''s return added fuel to the Scalqa''s excitement. More aliens went to their knees, lifting their palms at the sky. Yet, some remained on their feet, too captivated by the scene before them.


    Such a terrifying battle would have brought the best warriors in the world to their limits. However, Khan looked calm, unaffected by the destruction he had delivered. His breath was regr, and not a single drop of sweat afflicted his face. Still, blood, dirt, and fur had covered him, adding monstrous and feral touches to his appearance.


    Khan had tricked the Scalqa into believing he was a superior existence. He needed his figure to appear divine before that primitive species. However, the time spent among more intelligent people had developed those aliens'' brains, allowing more intricate and deep thoughts.


    Still, Khan''s appearance had nothing divine. He actually embodied the exact opposite figure. He was a demon unaffected by death. He was the monster that gave meaning to the word destruction.


    That stark difference didn''t diminish the Scalqa''s faith in Khan. It actually increased it. They were a primitive species, holding strength as its highest value. Khan could wipe out hundreds of hungry monsters on his own. He was the strongest, so the Scalqa would follow him.


    Eventually, the entire alien army was on its knees, waiting for its leader''s acknowledgment. Khan didn''t let the Scalqa wait and calmly walked among them, asionally running his fingers on their lifted palms.


    The Scalqa stood up every time Khan caressed their palms, shouting his name in their peculiar ent. Soon, a whole line of aliens was on their feet, chanting Khan''s glory. In the end, the entire army had risen, crying [Ka-Han] in a rhythmical fashion.


    Bruno and Lieutenant Dyester had followed Khan''s advance through the army, but the three young warriors didn''t. They simply couldn''t. Khan''s presence was too stunning, intense, and incredible. They didn''t have the strength to walk with him, let alone cross the sea of Scalqa. The trio could only stare at that impossible existence, confused about what to feel.


    Khan reached the warehouse and tapped his dirty fingers on its surface. Menus lit up, revealing information even his senses couldn''t touch. Theoretically, the dispatched pack was supposed to be the only threat in the area, but the battle could have changed that. Luckily, the scanners showed only clear ins, so Khan sent additional directives to the Leviathan above. He had secured a safe zone so the conquest could begin.


    Azure lights fell from the sky, creating pirs that illuminated areas at the warehouse''s sides. Thosesers expanded, highlighting the perimeter the following structures were bound to upy. Part of the army was in the way, so Lieutenant Dyester resumed shouting orders.


    The Scalqa went silent and immediatelyplied, but no one stopped looking at Khan. They didn''t even care about the falling structures, and theirnding didn''t attract any curiosity. The area gained three more buildings, but their arrival went unnoticed.


    Khan confirmed that everything went well from the warehouse''s menus before finally turning. A wave of excitement washed over him, and a sea of waiting eyes filled his vision. The Scalqa wanted to hear their leader speak, but Khan didn''t need words.


    A single fist on Khan''s chest rekindled the army''s cries. The Scalqa shouted his name, their loud voices making the ground tremble. Pure craze filled the aliens'' faces, and Khan calmly ran his eyes over them, unaffected by that feverish faith.


    Only Bruno noticed something in Khan''s calm expression. The Prince looked powerful, seemingly refreshed by the gory battle. Yet, his aura carried a trace of boredom. ughtering powerless beasts couldn''t satisfy his battle drive. He had months of annoying politics to vent, and two hundred beasts weren''t enough.


    Of course, the chosennding zone didn''t feature powerful monsters. Its barren state matched those creature''s strength. The more well-fed they were, the stronger they would be. Also, theck of mana-enhanced food prevented significant mutations, leaving only weak


    specimens.


    Other, richer areas were bound to have stronger monsters, and some might have even developed spell-like abilities during their growth. Most of their features were still unknown, too. As far as Khan knew, that hungry species could have power limits. Yet, the abundance of mana in the air and terrain could easily remove them, especially after decades of mutating


    influence.


    Khan couldn''t help but look at the sky. White light filled the sky, hinting at the rise of Senerth''s star. The scene brought him back to Nitis, making him wonder whether that illumination could trigger mutations.


    Khan quickly discarded the idea. Nitis'' environment was unique. Senerth''s bathed in its star every day for at least nine hours. Every mutation it could have caused had already happened in the past. Still, he would leave thest word to the scientists who had justnded on the. A group of scientists left one of the new structures wearing masks and wielding additional equipment. Senerth''s study could finally begin, hopefully creating something to quicken the conquest. Khan had promised the Empire he would face the monsters in battle, but being smart about it was part of his army''s edge.


    The scientists didn''t immediately start their job. They had watched the battle from the


    Leviathan, obtaining far clearer images thanks to its scanners. They had actually seen what had unfolded past the bright wall, so shocked nces fell on the Scalqa army, trying to spot Khan in the middle of that sea of tall, burly figures.


    The task was impossible, so the scientists moved to their actual job, retrieving pieces of ground or running scanners through the air. Soon, they discovered the same mineral Khan had seen after thending and summoned excavators to recover some.


    The other structures also got to work. Human soldiers exited them to deploy tents and other military equipment, reinforcing the perimeter and nning to excavate trenches. The first step toward Senerth''s conquest was almost over, and the was next.

 Chapter 937: Regression

    Chapter 937: Regression


    ?


    A fuming corpsey before Lieutenant Dyester. Its fur had burned, turning into foul smoke, and its charred skin still released sizzling noises. He had long since gotten used to that stench, but his grim expression never failed to appear.


    Lieutenant Dyester ignored the corpse and looked to his left. Some Scalqa were still dealing with the dog-like monsters, wielding weapons, chaos-enhanced spears, or using their bare hands. A few injuries crossed his vision, but nothing serious. Also, the pack was basically wiped out. Only a few creatures separated the army from another victory.


    Then, Lieutenant Dyester nced to his right. More Scalqa appeared in his vision, but he focused on the smaller human figures. The kids were doing alright, without a single wound on their bodies. They looked exhausted but fine, mainly due to the calm, evolved warrior behind them.


    The Lieutenant''s grim expression darkened when he looked at the depths of the battlefield. Some Scalqa lingered there, but the figure at its bottom, sitting on a pile of corpses, imed his attention. Khan was casually resting among a hill of blood and gore, his gaze lost on the horizon.


    A whole month had passed since the army''s arrival on the, and much had already changed, especially the people. The battlefield''s struggles were famous for forging soldiers, and Senerth was no different. The battles didn''t happen every day but were frequent enough to show their results.


    The Scalqa were mostly fine. They had never experienced suchrge-scale battles but were no strangers to life-and-death situations. Lieutenant Dyester''s training and massive frame also gave them an advantage over the smaller monsters, making them excel on the battlefield.


    After a few initial casualties, the Scalqa adapted to those new battles, improving their performance every day. They had long since started to act like a proper army, too, maximizing their training and innate strengths.


    The kids had also changed. Moses had heavy responsibilities weighing on his shoulders and fought as if trying to be worthy of them. His victory in the tournament didn''te from luck, and Senerth''s monsters paid a steep price to learn that. In that month, he had be the leader of the young warriors, and even the entitled Prince seemed to listen to him.


    As for Prince Richard, Lieutenant Dyester had initially thought he would have to be his nanny. Yet, Khan''s trauma had worked wonders, and the battlefield''s cruelty evolved that aspect, transforming it into something valuable.


    The humbling experiences had shed away Prince Richard''s past arrogance, making room for a tinge of wisdom. He theoretically was the strongest and most educated of the trio, and that incredible foundation was finally starting to show.


    Meanwhile, Roger was still slightly behind his two brothers-in-arms, albeit his strange element took part of the me. The young warrior had yet to figure out how to wield the scarlet sparks, but the battlefield forced him to rely on them more often. Among the three kids, he had the potential to benefit the most from the war.


    Of course, the trio didn''t face the same danger as the rest of the army. Their inexperience wed their superior techniques and education, and the same went for their overall level. They would die on the frontline, so Lieutenant Dyester ced them in rtively safer positions.


    Also, Bruno was always with the three kids. He only cared about Prince Richard, but his presence did save them more than once. He had orders to act only when the situation demanded it, and the chaos of the battlefield never made him wait too long.


    Lieutenant Dyester had to admit the battlefield had changed him, too. His experience differed from hispanions since he was no stranger to those environments. He had basically slipped back into his old skin, abandoning his loud reprimands and acting as a proper leader. Surprisingly, he even drank far less.


    Nevertheless, Lieutenant Dyester knew who experienced the greatest change, and he was looking at him. Khan seemed to have regressed, distancing himself from hispanions and the world altogether. He rarely spoke, often relying on simple looks to conveyplicated orders.


    Lieutenant Dyester couldn''t possibly know that version of Khan had already existed. Actually, it felt strangely familiar to the Scalqa. That was what he had be while being stranded on Baoway before the duties of civilization brought him back.


    Lieutenant Dyester didn''t like that change and hated knowing the reason behind it even more. The mission''s nature was grim, but he had believed Khan would benefit from it. After all, it was a decent break from his convoluted political environment and the scarlet eyes'' looming threat.


    However, that was a miscalction on Lieutenant Dyester''s side. He had failed to recognize the issue''s core, which had a proper name and often sat on Khan''sp.


    Monica was a blessing in disguise. Lieutenant Dyester didn''t like those needy women but knew how vital Monica was in Khan''s life. Khan couldn''t handle his crown without her. He would fall apart without her acting as the voice of reason.


    Yet, Monica was also Khan''s unshakable connection with politics, so Lieutenant Dyester thought her absence could give him room to breathe. The battlefield wasn''t exactly an entertainment facility, but Khan belonged there, just like he did.


    Nevertheless, Khan''s transformation finally revealed what Monica was for him. She was his anchor to humankind, the only reason he even bothered ying human. Now, looking at Khan, Lieutenant Dyester couldn''t help but regret leaving her on Baoway.


    Of course, the Lieutenant didn''t make that decision. Khan did. It was also reasonable. Baoway needed Monica in Khan''s absence, and the battlefield wasn''t her ce. She could handle her own in a fight but remained a princess.


    Still, given the chance, Lieutenant Dyester wouldn''t hesitate to summon Monica here and lock her in a room with Khan for an entire week. Hearing them fornicate was better than whatever that was.


    Khan gazed at the horizon, aware of everything happening on the now-silent battlefield. He felt Lieutenant Dyester''s piercing, concerned gaze but didn''t bother with it. Khan knew the reason behind his worry but didn''t care enough to address it.


    ''Still thirty-two,'' Khan thought, a dark feeling dwelling in his heart.


    That number wouldn''t mean much to jaded Generals and experienced leaders, but Khan found


    it unforgivable. Thirty-two were the Scalqa perished during the month of battles. All things considered, that was an excellent result, but Khan hated it. Anything above zero was uneptable to him.


    ''Thirty-three with Zu-Gru,'' Khan counted, the dark feeling inside him bing more intense.


    Khan lowered his gaze to the mass of maimed, burned, and destroyed corpses he was using as a resting spot. His eyes grew colder as he stabbed his hands into it, retrieving it covered in dark blood. Its dirty fingers quickly went to his face and chest, drawing new warpaint. During the month of battles, Khan had ditched the crown and bone armor. The first was annoying, and the second was useless, leaving his blue scar in the open. His hair also clearly needed a shower, but he couldn''t bother with that, either.


    Khan only cared about destroying. He wanted to let loose, and the more he did, the more people survived the battlefield''s chaos. Each death was one less maw pointed at his army, and he was more than happy to deliver it.


    The battlefield eventually lost itsst trace of enemy life, prompting Khan to stand up. In the distance, past the army, a barely visible set of buildings disrupted the otherwise natural environment, and taking a step toward it made his figure disappear.


    Only Bruno managed to follow Khan''s movements, but the evolved warrior quickly lost interest in them. That sight had bemon during the month, and Bruno knew he couldn''t learn from it. He wouldn''t as long as Khan wished that.


    Khan rushed through the sky, quickly returning to the row of four buildings. The outpost''s perimeter had greatly expanded in the past month, and thest battle was bound to increase its width. However, each advance met monster resistance.


    The zone had initially featured a single pack, but wiping it out had alerted the nearby monsters. Those creatures existed to eat, and their senses had evolved ordingly. As soon as they caught the scent of new food, they converged toward the outpost, submerging it into


    battles.


    Luckily, the whole quadrant was barren, only featuring weak packs. Khan had chosen it for that purpose, so each battle had been rtively easy. Soon, the outpost could expand to the entire quadrant, but the idea had its share of issues.


    Arger area was harder to defend, especially with limited troops. It was also bound to attract more distant threats, mainly since corpses kept umting. Each battle made the outpost more appealing for those hungry beasts, and real solutions simply didn''t exist.


    The Leviathan had no shortage of turrets and other defensive equipment, and more could arrive from Baoway. Yet, Khan needed real security before moving to a different quadrant, and only the scientists could help him there.


    Khannded before the scientific warehouse, diving into it. Garret was in charge of the ce, followed by a team of scientists coordinating with the Leviathan above. The area had all kinds of equipment, and multiple monstersy dead on its many interactive desks. Still, Khan ignored the scientists and gore, heading for arger interactive desk featuring a holographic picture of Senerth. A small red dot shone among the blue light, too small to be of


    any relevance to the whole.


    ''This is too slow,'' Khan cursed.


    "Prince Khan!" Garret called when he spotted Khan. "Congrattions on another victory.


    Your performance was spectacr, as always."


    Khan nced at the scientist but quickly refocused on the. He wanted to elerate the expansion but didn''t know how without sacrificing his troops'' safety.


    ''I should start hunting alone at night,'' Khan considered, but the scientist didn''t leave him


    alone with his thoughts.


    "Prince," Garret called again, approaching the interactive desk with the hologram and


    lowering his voice. "Wepleted that side project I told you about."


    "The pheromone?" Khan asked, finally speaking.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Indeed, Prince Khan," Garret confirmed. "These creatures are formidable but simple. We are


    ready to attract every remaining pack in the quadrant at yourmand."

 Chapter 938: Simulations

    Chapter 938: Simtions


    ?


    The scientists didn''t stay idle during the month of battles. Some monsters were processed to retrieve food and valuable materials, but the rest went to the interactive desks, falling under the scrutiny of those specialists to uncover eventual weaknesses.


    Much had been discovered in that period. It turned out that Senerth''s monsters could theoretically grow infinitely. They were hunting machines, only held back by their diet. The richer it was, the bigger and stronger those creatures would be.


    The monsters'' hungry nature and their ability to reproduce quickly worked against that incredible factor. Even in Senerth''s richer areas, food was scarce, probably vanquished after decades of famished raids.


    Cannibalism was still an option but had clear limits. A single alpha often couldn''t deal with a rebellious pack, and the monsters'' hunger facilitated instances of bloody revolts. Even if the leader survived, its injuries would prevent it from creating a new pack or winning another battle for leadership.


    Hence, Senerth''s packs lived in a frail bnce, rarely abandoning their secure domains and relying on enemy attacks to bolster their food source. They would migrate and go on the offensive only when their hunger got the best of them, leading to conflicts that left their poption weakened.


    That constant state of disorderly bnce worked in Khan''s favor. The overpoption limited the monsters'' power, making his army more than capable of subduing them. Yet, his arrival and expansion were bound to break that brittle equilibrium, opening the path for unforeseen variables.


    Killing many packs in a single battle would give Khan time to secure the entire quadrant and move to the next. However, lowering the number of mouths to feed would allow the other packs to grow stronger.


    A swift conquest would solve the problem. As fearsome as the monsters were, they still needed time to adapt and grow. However, both humans and Scalqa had limits, and sending them into continuous, harsher battles could make them reach the breaking point. Even if they didn''t, exhaustion and umted injuries were bound to increase the number of casualties. Khan watched the holograms, unsure of how to proceed. On the one hand, finally securing the quadrant would give the army time to breathe. It would also create a proper headquarters, expand the outpost, and retrieve additional buildings.


    The toxic pool was one of those buildings. Khan had dyed that debilitating training since the battlefield needed him, but a moment of peace would allow him to resume it. His army also needed a break, but that came at a cost.


    ''Stopping means giving the other packs time to adapt and grow,'' Khan summarized. ''Continuous advance means more casualties.''


    The limited number of Scalqa and Khan''s reticence in letting them die pushed Khan toward the first option. The army would have to face stronger enemies in the future, especially during the conquest''s final phases. Still, he believed he couldpensate for the additional danger if The went all-out.


    "Simtions?" Khan eventually asked, and Garret promptly tinkered with the interactive desk, altering the holograms.


    The images zoomed in on the red dot, limiting the view to the areas right outside it. A series of red triangles joined the holograms, converging toward the conquered zone. They marked the predicted attracted packs, and Khan counted four of them.


    ''I can deal with one,'' Khan thought, ''Maybe two packs before they reach the outpost. The turrets will also weaken the others, and there are still a bunch of my spears.''


    Khan crossed his arms, watching the holograms deep in thought. In the past month, he had always jumped headfirst into the enemy pack, attracting as much attention as possible to diminish the pressure on his army. Still, those battles had only involved one front, while the simtion predicted there would be three.


    ''Splitting the army isn''t ideal,'' Khan considered. ''The same goes for wasting spears so early in the campaign. Problems, problems...''


    The giantb didn''t stay still during Khan''s pondering. Scalqa reached the building, carrying dead monsters for the scientists to study or turn into food. Lieutenant Dyester also arrived, reaching Khan''s side to inspect the holograms.


    "Is the pheromone ready?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. He was Khan''s second inmand on Senerth, so he was aware of theb''s ns.


    Khan nodded but didn''t add anything. He tinkered a bit with the interactive desk, giving birth to different simtions. He could alter some factors, but the result didn''t change.


    "Can the army handle this?" Khan eventually asked. The simtions now featured two fighting fronts, implying splitting the army to upy them.


    "What about the other packs?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned, and Khan''s empty nce revealed what he had in mind.


    Lieutenant Dyester snorted, almost nning to berate Khan there. Yet, the strategy of throwing Khan in the middle of the packs was working, and that public environment wasn''t the ce forints.


    "It can," Lieutenant Dyester revealed. "Two lines of rifles, one of spears, and the Scalqa will only deal with injured survivors."


    Lieutenant Dyester approached the holograms, moving some red marks. The two fighting fronts ended up closer to the turrets with his arrangement, and an exnation quickly followed.


    "The turrets can nk without you in the middle of the packs," Lieutenant Dyester exined. "That should still be in line with what the Empire wants, right?"


    The Thilku pride didn''t have an exact definition. It wasn''t vague, but it wasn''t precise, either. Theoretically, Khan''s army had to prove itself superior to the beasts before gaining ess to the wonders of technology, but that had already happened multiple times in the past month. Besides, the spears were an extension of Khan''s power, and the rifles were no different than other ranged weapons. The turrets bordered that blurry line, but Khan didn''t have to answer to anyone anymore. If he decided they were fine, they were fine.


    "When will the next natural attack ur?" Khan asked.


    "In two days, Prince Khan," Garret responded. "Three if we are lucky."


    "Study these simtions," Khan ordered, nodding. "You have one day to perfect them. We''ll


    use the pheromone once the first pack is almost upon us."


    Khan was about to leave, but Lieutenant Dyester cleared his throat, iming his attention and interrupting his departure.


    "We would obtain better results if we knew all the details," Lieutenant Dyester stated. "Mainly, those involving your role in the imminent battle."


    Khan exchanged a long look with Lieutenant Dyester before reapproaching the holograms. He expanded on the simtions, zooming out to show the packs projected to fall prey to the


    pheromone.


    "The closest and most distant pack can be isted from the main conflict," Khan exined. "I''ll dispatch the first and deal with thest, leaving the remaining two to the army."


    "Your initial battle will attract the other packs, Prince Khan," Garret pointed out, highlighting two red triangles. "These two will converge on you as soon as you spill blood."


    "Keep track of their movements," Khan ordered, "And activate the pheromone once they get


    too close."


    "The pheromone''s efficiency is purely theoretical, Prince Khan," Garret exined. "We


    haven''t tested it thoroughly enough to know whether it will distract these creatures from


    food in their immediate vicinity."


    "This battle will be the test," Khan dered. "Besides, I trust you wouldn''t have mentioned it without being certain of its validity."


    Some pressure fell on Garret. Khan wasn''t even looking at him, but he knew that his reputation was on the line there. A more inexperienced and gutless scientist would have demanded a dy, but Garret was no ordinary figure. He was his family''s genius, so he had long since gotten used to the weight of expectations.


    "The pheromone will work, Prince Khan," Garret promised. "Chances are it will distract the creatures fighting against you."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "We are set then," Khan concluded, but Lieutenant Dyester had more to say.


    "Wait," Lieutenant Dyester called. "It''s my job to arrange the army and ount for every


    variable. Khan, you are part of the army."


    "Your point?" Khan wondered, looking at the Lieutenant.


    "I can''t agree to a n with so many holes," Lieutenant Dyester exined. "At best, everything will go well. At worst, you''ll be submerged by four packs."


    "How is that a variable?" Khan questioned.


    "That''s more than a thousand monsters," Lieutenant Dyester pointed out. "It''s a big fucking


    variable."


    "There is no variable there," Khan dered. "If everything goes ording to n, I''ll kill five hundred monsters. If it doesn''t, I''ll kill a thousand."

 Chapter 939: Blind

    Chapter 939: Blind


    ?


    Lieutenant Dyester felt the urge to punch Khan in the face but remained still, locked in that staring contest.


    Khan''s deration didn''t carry any arrogance. He wasn''t boasting or overestimating himself. He stated a simple truth, and the Lieutenant struggled to refuse it.


    Khan was nothing short of a menace. He was far faster than the monsters and could fly, making him untouchable even in the middle of a pack.


    Moreover, Khan had a vast array of wide-range abilities the monsters couldn''t hope to oppose, especially those in that weak quadrant. Even if, by a miracle, a beast managed to reach Khan, he would simply pulverize it.


    With the right conditions and enough time, Khan could probably clear the entire by himself. He was the best against multiple weak enemies and unbeatable in one-versus-one situations. He was the deadliest de and the most violent storm and could freely alternate between them, even deploying them simultaneously.


    After watching some of the scanners'' recordings, Lieutenant Dyester struggled to believe he and Khan were at the same level. The power difference wasn''t only immense. Khan also wielded uncanny flexibility, making him the ideal choice in any situation.


    It was actually eerie. Khan evaded attacks before they could even start. Heunched spells as if predicting the enemy''s movements. His eyes seemed tock focus, but nothing escaped them. Khan was something mere beasts or humans couldn''t hope to match. They could only feel blessed to be in his presence.


    Of course, Lieutenant Dyester knew more than most people. Khan had vaguely exined the range of his unbelievable abilities, but his performance still exceeded the Lieutenant''s expectations. Moreover, Lieutenant Dyester was sure Khan was holding back, and the cursed knife still stored in his pelts was only the first of many clues.


    Truth be told, Lieutenant Dyester wished he could at least consult Bruno. The stupidly calm and smiling evolved warrior had to know more about Khan''s power and current psychology. Yet, the man was unapproachable and barely present. The Lieutenant felt he wasn''t even on Senerth at times.


    Khan didn''t linger too long in that staring contest. After making his point, he departed, disappearing somewhere outside. Meanwhile, Garret looked at Lieutenant Dyester, hoping to get a hint of a more human conversation, but thetter was in no mood for that. He had another role to fulfill.


    "Just do what he said," Lieutenant Dyester sighed. "I''ll report back in a few hours. Hopefully."


    With that, Lieutenant Dyester left the giantb, immersing himself in the sea of Scalqa gathering near the outpost. Some aliens showed respect and even reverence at his passage since he had proven himself in the past battles, but he ignored that attention, heading for a different building.


    The outpost''s fourth building was a massive warehouse that fulfilled that exact purpose. Weapons, food, and more were stored there, managed by a small team of human soldiers. Of course, Lieutenant Dyester coulde and go as he pleased there, retrieving whatever he deemed necessary.


    Lieutenant Dyester seized a couple of bottles of booze and left without giving any exnation. He also did his best to escape the sea of Scalqa quickly, following his nose and instincts to search for a specific presence. Khan couldn''t exactly hide himself, especially from those who had learned to recognize his intense aura, and the Lieutenant soon found him.


    Khan hovered somewhere near the perimeter''s edge. He wasn''t actually visible. He was no more than a dot high in the sky, but Lieutenant Dyester didn''t need eyes to find him. His gut feeling was enough when it came to someone as intense as Khan.


    Lieutenant Dyester got to the perimeter''s edge and sat on the barren ground,ying one bottle while opening the other. The silent message didn''t seem to reach the man in the sky, so he eventually used loud words.


    "Get down, brat!" Lieutenant Dyester shouted, and a figure soon materialized at his side. Khannded without lifting any soil, and ncing at the booze eventually made him sit down.


    Lieutenant Dyester took a long sip from the bottle before handing it to Khan. He imitated him, and the two fell silent, watching the white star slowly approaching the horizon.


    "You can''t do a wholeary campaign like this," Lieutenant Dyester eventuallymented, showing his hand to request the bottle.


    "That''s exactly the point," Khan casually said. "I can."


    "Do you recall our little conversation about soldiers and generals?" Lieutenant Dyester asked.


    "I never promised I''d be an ordinary general," Khan stated, reaching for the bottle on the ground, knowing the two would deal with the booze in no time.


    Lieutenant Dyester sighed. He wanted to fulfill his role as Khan''s moralpass, but he wasn''t doing anything evil. Khan''s efforts on the battlefield had saved many lives, but there was a limit to how much he could push himself. Lieutenant Dyester believed that, at least.


    "How do you do that?" Lieutenant Dyester decided to ask. "Even the best warriors make mistakes, but you went a full month untouched while iming all the attention on you." Khan kept staring at the horizon. Senerth''s star seemed to elerate in its rush toward the darkness, projecting grey shades into that almostpletely white sky.


    "Flow," Khan summarized.


    "In humannguage," Lieutenant Dyestermented.


    Khan took a long sip from his bottle before gracefully waving his hand before him. His palm touched nothing but air, but Lieutenant Dyester almost felt able to see tiny waves flowing through his fingers.


    "Intent implies energy," Khan exined. "Energy affects the mana. I react to the mana."


    "Is that another alien thing?" Lieutenant Dyester wondered.


    "Maybe," Khan replied, seizing a strand of his blue hair. "I could do that before this. It''s my mana''s nature."


    Lieutenant Dyester wanted to sigh again but found no reason to do that. Khan spoke anguage he couldn''t understand. Yet, his words made sense in some mystical way. Besides, the Lieutenant couldn''tpare his understanding of the world to Khan''s, so he could only believe him.


    "I feel you are losing yourself," Lieutenant Dyester said,ing clean with his worries.


    Khan nced at the Lieutenant before refocusing on the horizon. Those worries had long since grown annoying, especially since they highlighted his spiritual loneliness. However, Khan felt Lieutenant Dyester deserved an exnation.


    "You are all so wrong," Khan sighed. "Maybe you only want to see what puts you at ease."


    "And what would that be?" Lieutenant Dyester questioned.


    "Humankind''s best," Khan responded. "The best warrior, talent, and leader. Someone who will lead you into a future you can''t even begin to imagine."


    "I think you are a brat," Lieutenant Dyester snorted before getting serious. "Still, isn''t that


    who you are?"


    "If my eyes go beyond anything humankind can imagine," Khan eximed, "Am I even


    human?"


    "I''m not good with this philosophical stuff," Lieutenant Dyester cursed.


    "My eyes see a different world, Carl," Khan dered. "I breathe, fight, and live differently from all of you. You should all start to ept that there''s nothing human in me."


    "Your Fianc¨¦e is human," Lieutenant Dyester pointed out.


    "And I can only hope she''ll be able to follow me," Khan revealed. "I think that was one of our


    first real conversations."


    "How can you be happy leaving it at that?" Lieutenant Dyester wondered. "Shouldn''t you be


    able to choose?"


    "Some people don''t have that freedom," Khan announced. "Also, why would I limit myself? From where I stand, it''s all of you who are blind."


    "Why do you have to make this soplicated?" Lieutenant Dyester cursed. "I''m just worried


    about you."


    "I know," Khan uttered, "But you just can''t see it."


    "Do I need to be an evolved warrior to see it?" Lieutenant Dyester asked.


    "That would be a good first step," Khan chuckled. "Don''t worry about me. I''m exactly where In/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    want to be, and each of my selfless acts has some selfishness. I''m more worried about the army, so I need you at the top of your game."


    "Now you are the one underestimating me," Lieutenant Dyester scoffed. "Should I remind


    you how old I am?"


    Khan chuckled again, a tinge of humanity appearing on his face. Still, coldness soon invaded


    his expression, vanquishing that peaceful moment.


    "Keep my soldiers alive, Carl," Khan ordered. "I''ll handle everything else."


    "How?" Lieutenant Dyester asked. "By throwing yourself into more crazy battles?"


    "You truly can''t see it," Khan sighed. "Your definition of crazy will change by the time we


    head back home."

 Chapter 940: Terror

    Chapter 940: Terror


    ?


    As tiresome as those constant worries were, Khan couldn''t feel angry at Lieutenant Dyester. The old soldier''s concern felt warm in Khan''s chest, but he couldn''t lie to himself. Khan had long since crossed the point where he could lie to anyone.


    Still, talking was pointless. Khan had tried to exin himself. He had done his best to share his unique perspective, but to no avail. Khan was simply different. He had always been.


    Even the fearsome Bruno couldn''t fully get it. His perspective was deeper but not broader. His understanding was technical, burdened by his narrow human mindset.


    Of course, Khan couldn''t expect humans to treat the mana with the same mystical reverence as the Niqols and Nele did. He didn''t even feel it fair to divide those approaches between right and wrong. They were simply different, reflecting the species that had originated them.


    That was the issue or at least part of it. The human evolved warriors could already see the world Khan was in, so maybe those born in his organization would eventually understand his perspective. Khan only had to wait, and someone would definitely appear.


    ''Maybe,'' Khan thought, his eyes falling toward his chest. The scar and dried blood tainted his defined muscles, but Khan looked past them, almost feeling his beating heart.


    Khan instinctively ced his hand at the center of his chest, recalling old memories, a simpler time when all he had were pain and peace. Those days would nevere back, and he was to me for that.


    ''Adding the Nele to the will finally bring a different way of thinking,'' Khan sighed internally, putting those thoughts aside. ''Who knows? Maybe even the Niqols will join one day.''


    The reflective moment ended on that thought. Khan left the empty bottle on the ground before disappearing, leaving Lieutenant Dyester alone in that perimeter corner. The soldier watched the now-empty spot, and a heavy sigh escaped his mouth.


    ''What am I even doing?'' Lieutenant Dyester cursed in his mind.


    Khan was doing exactly what the Lieutenant had told him to do. His ways were unusual, but his leadership was wless. Truth be told, Lieutenant Dyester would have killed to have such a powerful and active General during his solder days.


    Nevertheless, Khan wasn''t a simple leader for Lieutenant Dyester. Thetter had known him since co''s training camp and still recalled his struggles after Istrone. That yful, two- faced, and shameless kid was no more, reced by a cold and alien being.


    ''Seven years, huh,'' Lieutenant Dyester sighed again. ''That''s enough to wipe out any trace of innocence.''


    Lieutenant Dyester''splicated feelings didn''t lead anywhere. No one could win against time or its effect, and Khan had survived far more than he should have. His changes were understandable and necessary. Lieutenant Dyester simply felt a bit bitter about them.


    ''That rascal,'' Lieutenant Dyester thought. ''Who would ever believe he was one headache of a kid?''


    A faint smile appeared on Lieutenant Dyester''s face as old memories yed in his vision. Yet, his expression quickly froze when he realized what was happening.


    ''Am I some kind of grieving grandfather?!'' Lieutenant Dyester cursed. ''He''d better not get hurt with those crazy ns of his. I''ll smack him good otherwise!''


    Eventually, two days passed. Lieutenant Dyester and Garret improved the simtions as much as possible, creating a battle n that limited their potential losses. They also coordinated with Khan, and everything began to move.


    A pack counting almost two hundred monsters rushed through a barren in, led by the scent of blood and fresh meat that had reached their location. The smell of food intensified as their quick march left deep marks on the ground, lifting a small dusty cloud, but something appeared in their vision before they could spot their real target.


    A tiny figure walked in the pack''s direction. Its small frame was difficult to spot among the monsters'' hungry advance and the dust surrounding them. Yet, the empty horizon gave a clear view of the path ahead, and the creatures'' sharp senses did the rest.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    As hungry as the beasts were, that tiny figure couldn''t possibly satisfy the entire pack. Even a single monster would struggle to fill its stomach with it. Meanwhile, the distant blood scent promised far greater rewards, making the creatures unwilling to stop to take a bite at that small snack.


    Of course, Senerth''s monsterscked any kind of deep intelligence. Their hunger mostly drove their reasonings. Fighting for such a tiny snack wasn''t worth it, and the creatures directly before it would deal with it in no time anyway.


    Nevertheless, the earlier-than-expected appearance of food added more fuel to the pack''s charge. Their renewed hunger made the monsters elerate, hoping to get to the blood scent faster.


    Suddenly, all the monsters experienced a sense of dread. Their hunger often clouded their survival instincts, turning them into reckless and almost suicidal killing machines. However, something primordial had awakened in their muddled and simple minds. A terroring straight from their genes surged, invading their bodies.


    The monsters were straightforward animals. Their reaction to fear was to grow even more reckless. Retreat wasn''t an option for their species, and only charging forward could save them from that danger.


    Yet, a blinding radiance soon filled the sky, threatening to interrupt the pack''s mad charge. The monsters only saw a purple-red color fill their vision before a stronger smell reced the distant blood scent. The stench of burned flesh and gore invaded the area, quickly followed by painful cries.


    The pack''s alpha stood in the middle of the mighty group and could only watch as a wave of blinding purple-red light transformed the frontline into a hellish spectacle. A wall of bright fire had also appeared, blocking the creatures'' advance.


    That wasn''t the end of the mess. Something moved inside the pack, unaffected by the chaos. The stench of blood grew more intense with each passing second, hinting at the iing


    danger.


    The alpha didn''t get where it was out of simple physical prowess. The creature was smaller than its fellow leaders but wielded a trace of wit. Its senses were also sharper, and relying on its primordial terror allowed it to pinpoint the threat''s location.


    Dark-red mes gathered in the alpha''s mouth as members of its pack kept dying. The monster could feel that the threat was getting closer. Its very bones were shaking in fear, but when that feeling reached the critical point, it spat its rudimentary spell toward its right.


    The alpha''s right side was almost empty, but its fiery attack hit something. The dark-red mes expanded in the air, seemingly trying to envelop the source of that primordial terror. However, the beast''s best attack turned out to be ineffective since a tiny figure calmly crossed


    it.


    "Some of you did develop abilities," Khanmented, spiderwebs of dark blood vessels covering his mostly exposed body. "I can look forward to meeting the others."


    The monsters didn''t have the time to experience anything else. Its four eyes lingered on the tiny figure for a second before going dark.

 Chapter 941: Inspiration

    Chapter 941: Inspiration


    ?


    After a month of almost continuous battles, the battlefield''s chaos no longer affected Moses. Fighting against monsters three times his size and in an environment unsuitable for his martial art would usually put him at a significant disadvantage. Still, he had developed a nice rhythm to it.


    Explosions, firing rifles, battle cries, and roars filled the fighting front, creating a deafening spectacle that pressured the senses, making Moses unable to focus on anything past his immediate surroundings.


    A sea of fur and giant muscles expanded wherever his eyes fell. The army and the monsters were engaged in a tight battle, and the two sides had long since mixed. The frontline still had it worse, but many creatures had crossed it, forcing the other soldiers to act.


    Moses was one of such soldiers. Lieutenant Dyester had ced him near the center of the army, close to the turret''s side. The defensive machine fired non-stop, and lines of Scalqa fought valiantly to keep the enemies at bay, but monsters slipped through anyway.


    A huge figure lunged past the line of Scalqa directly before Moses. The aliens lifted their massive arms to stop it, but the creature''s leap was taller than their giant frames, allowing it to dive deeper into the army.


    Moses was ready. As soon as the monsternded, he was already on it, his arms closing on its dog-like head. Mana filled his stretched fingers, turning them into steeled ws capable of tearing flesh and bone, but nothing gruesome unfolded.


    Moses'' fingers hit the sides of the monster''s skull, unloading their power on specific spots. The creature froze, seemingly paralyzed by lightning bolts that ran throughout its body. Its entire being went dull, allowing Moses to pressure it.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Multiple swift attacksnded at the top of the monster''s head. Moses'' fingers repeatedly mmed on the same spot, digging away fur and skin to expose the skull. Cracks eventually appeared on that bone, and Moses'' following blow pierced it, diving into the brain below.


    The monster convulsed, but Moses'' following attack ended its life. His hand almost disappeared inside the creature''s head before it crashed lifelessly to its side. The fall freed Moses'' fingers, revealing the blood and brain matter tainting them.


    Moses watched his dirty hand with a somber expression. The scene didn''t disgust him anymore, but deep thoughts filled his mind nheless. The monster''s power wasparable to a second-level warrior, so his quick victory could give birth to some pride, but he didn''t experience anything simr.


    ''Prince Khan would have killed it with a look,'' Moses sighed.


    Moses knew thatparing himself to Prince Khan wouldn''t do him any good. Besides, he was only a second-level warrior. His power was still in its infancy, but those thoughts remained unstoppable.


    Moses was different from his two humanpanions. Roger had simply happened to be born with something that caught Prince Khan''s interest, leading him into the current war. He was out of his depths, but his element''s misfortune had forced him onto that dangerous path.


    Meanwhile, Prince Richard was simply a failure. Moses almost couldn''t believe a third-level warrior with all the resources in the world could be so weak. Moses didn''t dare to im to know about the noble families'' intricacies, but Prince Richard''s presence on Senerth was clear. That war was a tool to beat some sense into him.


    Instead, Moses came from a rtively ordinary family. His status had forced him to work hard, harder than his peers, to achieve a modicum of leverage inside a world that didn''t even look at him. The tournament had blessed him with an opportunity, and he had poured his whole being into it.


    Because of that, Moses felt a sense of kinship with Prince Khan. Thetter''s story was more exceptional but simr. Prince Khan''s starting point had been far lower than Moses'', but that didn''t prevent him from reaching unfathomable heights.


    The tournament had also paved the path for a simr journey. Moses didn''t only achieve fame by winning it. The Montares family had even promised him one of their Princesses. He could achieve nobility just like Prince Khan did, so his brain inevitably tried to drawparisons. Moses truly believed he had a shot at mimicking Prince Khan''s achievements, especially since he had earned his direct teachings. However, a single month on Senerth had shattered that idea. Actually, the first battle had been enough to show Moses the depths of his delusion. There was a clear exnation for Prince Khan''s feats. There was a reason why no one had evere close to being as sessful as he was and watching him fight made it evident. Prince Khan was no man. He wasn''t a monster, either. He was destruction incarnate, or maybe that word had gained meaning after his birth.


    Roger and Prince Richard couldn''t possibly see that. Even the fearsome alien army didn''t. Heck, Master Carl himself looked stunned whenever Prince Khan jumped into action. Only the silent, powerful guard seemed to know something, and Moses felt to have gotten close to the truth, too.


    Prince Khan existed in a world of his own, unreachable and untouchable, outside the scope of mere mortals like Moses. That understanding made Moses reevaluate the silent guard near him. His ability to tten monsters without moving a finger had hinted at something, but Moses'' realization led to a clearer conclusion. The middle-aged man had to be one of the legendary evolved warriors.


    Which, in turn, connected Prince Khan to that realm. The sole idea that a fourth-level warrior could be as strong as such legendary figures went against Moses'' entire education. Yet, Prince Khan was no ordinary figure. He had many extraordinary feats under his belt, so adding another didn''t feel outside the realm of reason.


    As for how or why, Moses could only hope the answer was in Prince Khan''s teachings. He didn''t dare to believe he could ever be the Prince''s equal, but getting close to him would already be a spectacr achievement. Moreover, Moses felt he needed to achieve something simr to deserve the Montares princesses. He would only be a pawn of those noble environments otherwise.


    Following that reasoning, Moses stopped focusing on the scene before him. He half-closed his eyes, recalling Prince Khan''s teachings. The heightened senses were a core part and the first step toward that alien approach, and Moses believed he could gain a glimpse into that strange world.


    Generally speaking, every mana-enhanced soldier had superior senses. They naturally improved alongside the body, but Prince Khan''s teachings were deeper, focusing on the mana itself.


    That was akin to asking to perceive the air, but Moses knew there was more to it. The asional conditioning Prince Khan had put him through had revealed clues, and focusing on his messy surroundings highlighted them.


    The battlefield had no shortage of intense mana waves. Both Scalqa and monsters affected the symphony with each of their moves. That chaotic picture was too much for Moses'' senses, but his immediate surroundings were a different story.


    As Moses'' mind grew nker, strange sensations reached his brain. They were mere whispers at first but became louder as his concentration deepened. He could almost begin to feel the powerful masses of energy in his surroundings, but the mass of fur that filled his hazy vision forced him to snap out of that strange state.


    Moses'' eyes widened, bringing him back to the real world and updating him on the battle''s development. Another monster had jumped past the lines of Scalqa, but this creature was falling right on Moses. He had even noticed the event toote, making any attempt to escape


    the sh pointless.


    The monster''s sharp maw seemed ready to close on Moses'' head when its body abruptly descended, mming on the ground. Its bones cracked as its figure ttened, transforming into a gory carpet that leaked blood from every new wound.


    Cold sweat dampened Moses'' back. He hadmitted the gravest mistake a warrior could do on the battlefield. He had lost focus on the enemies, almost dying in the process. Moses slowly turned, eyeing the calm warrior behind him. Bruno wasn''t even looking at him, but he knew. The middle-aged man had just saved his life, so he nodded in gratitude before refocusing on the battlefield. Moses even promised himself never to make such stupid


    mistakes again.


    The turrets fired non-stop, and the Scalqa kept fighting. The army''s superior technology and might eventually overwhelmed the raging pack, killing each of its specimens. A series of victory cries started to resound, but something eventually touched everyone''s instincts, making the soldiers turn toward the outpost.


    A figure had appeared above the four giant buildings. Khan''s cape fluttered in the wind as he


    floated toward the ground with two huge monsters hanging from his hands. The army''s leader had returned from his lone battle without a single injury to show for his incredible


    victory.

 Chapter 942: Expansion

    Chapter 942: Expansion


    ?


    Khan descended toward the scientific building before unceremoniously dropping the two corpses on the ground. People were already exiting the structure, and Khan''s voice resounded before anyone could ask questions.


    "These two specimens had developed spell-like abilities," Khan exined,nding and advancing toward the building. "Study them well."


    The scientists had gotten used to that routine by now, so they quickly shouted orders and prepared to retrieve and study the corpses. More workers exited the building while Khan walked among its many interactive desks, and a figure eventually ran toward him.


    "Prince Khan," Garret called, stopping before Khan. "The pheromone has worked as intended."


    The scientist wasn''t using that chance to brag. Khan had been busy with his battles, so he wasn''t aware of everything that had unfolded that day. Garret was simply making a general summary.


    "Better even," Khan nodded. "I had to chase after the second pack. Nothing I did stopped those creatures."


    The original n saw dealing with two packs to iste them from the main battlefield. However, the army had activated the pheromone in the meantime, preventing Khan from distracting the second wave of monsters.


    Luckily, that distraction had also worked in Khan''s favor. The pheromone had deepened the mindlessness of the monsters. Even the barrage of chaos spears couldn''t stop their charge. Still, Khan was faster than them, so he rained fire on them while flying alongside the pack.


    That was one of the reasons why Khan returned as soon as the main battle had ended. The chase had already brought him near the outpost''s perimeter.


    "We''ll review the scanners'' recordings, Prince Khan," Garret eximed, his eyes darting left and right as calctions happened inside his mind. "With this new weapon, we can improve our control of the battlefield."


    Khan didn''t bother to nod. Garret''s conclusion was irrefutable. The pheromone would allow the army to decide when and where to fight the next packs, creating the chance for traps and all kinds of useful ploys.


    "Do we have enough time now?" Khan asked, switching to a different topic.


    "Yes, Prince Khan," Garret confirmed. "We alreadypleted the calctions, too. We await your orders."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Do it," Khan ordered. "Secure the quadrant."


    The n was already in ce. The simtions were ready, and the same went for the Leviathan in orbit. At Khan''s order, the obelisk-like turrets started to move, expanding the perimeter. Meanwhile, more structures fell through the sky, adding defenses and buildings to the secured area.


    The packs'' almost constant assault had prevented meaningful expansions, but thest battle had cleared enough space to provide that necessary breathing room. It took a few days, but the quadrant was finally secured, transforming itsyout.


    The number of turrets had multiplied. They had gone from four to thirty-two, standing at the quadrant''s edges and upying eight spots. Their range left no blind spot in the perimeter, easily defending the army from the few random attacks of the following days.


    The outpost itself changed, too. The four giant buildings had be the center of a vast settlement spanning a few kilometers in every direction. The Leviathan had discharged most of its military structures, creating proper headquarters for the army.


    One of those new buildings had a toxic pool, which Khan didn''t hesitate to use after confirming the quadrant''s security. The army was taking a break anyway, so Khan used that chance toplete another round of his unorthodox and debilitating training.


    By the following week, Khan had recovered, and the experiences with the pool had also forced him to address his awful attire. He finally took a shower and changed into more human clothes. He still skipped on covering his torso, but proper trousers hung from his perfectly V- shaped waist while the red cape hid his muscr back.


    The presence of human clothes didn''t diminish Khan''s feral vibe. One shower couldn''t remove whatever the battlefield had done to him. He looked distant, surrounded by a strange intensity that put fear into anyone who tried to understand it.


    That feeling was even more intense for the three young warriors. The temporary break had created the opportunity for lessons, which Khan handled in one of the many vast and empty expanses of the conquered quadrant.


    "You said you started to sense the mana," Khan announced, his words more of a question than a statement.


    Moses shrunk under Khan''s bright gaze, lowering his head. The memory of his almost fatal mistake during the pheromone battle still haunted him and revealing it could diminish his worth in Khan''s mind. Also, Moses wasn''t sure he had seeded in what Khan was teaching him, but lying wasn''t an option.


    "I think, Prince Khan," Moses eventually nodded. "It was in the middle of the battle, so I got distracted, but I think I started to sense masses of energy around me."


    Khan kept looking at Moses, and the other two warriors soon followed suit. Roger was surprised, while Prince Richard struggled to understand what Moses was talking about.


    For some reason, Prince Richard had joined that gathering. Khan didn''t know whether the directive came from Prince Thomas, but kicking him away didn''t sound right. Khan wouldn''t restart the lessons from the beginning just for him, but providing a broad summary was doable.


    Nevertheless, Moses had the priority now. A breakthrough in the perception side of the Niqols arts was great news, but Khan had doubts.


    Moses being the first to achieve something wasn''t surprising. He wasn''t only far more driven than Roger. He was a more capable warrior, and his young mindcked the old restraints that people like Professor Parver had.


    Yet, Khan had barely taught Moses for three months, and most of the lessons had been purely theoretical. He had gradually included practical training, but those sessions mainly featured offhand methods he had invented on the spot.


    Baoway''s ssroomscked [The Pure Trees] unique, specific, and tested training tools to develop and study the Niqols arts. Khan knew those fields well, but teaching them to others had always been borderline impossible.


    As deep as Khan''s understanding was, he was mostly self-taught, building on the superficial foundation seized from his time on Nitis and Milia 222. His abilities had evolved out of necessity rather than proper study, and his strange body had yed a significant role there. Also, Khan''s development had been purely personal. His growth provided tinges of general knowledge, but his understanding was mainly limited to his element and power. The Thilku saw Khan as a Shaman, but he felt that title came from the uniqueness of his abilities rather than actual wisdom.


    On the other hand, Moses was already a second-level warrior. His empowered senses could have allowed a quicker growth. Also, Khan had the habit of selling himself short, so his offhand training methods could be more effective than he gave himself credit for.


    Khan reached for Moses'' chest, startling the young warrior. He ignored that reaction and ced his palm over Moses'' sternum, focusing on his beating heart.


    The flow of Moses'' mana filled Khan''s mind. He could easily manipte it, but his attention was on something else now. Khan tried to sense whether the environment could affect it, showing whether Moses truly experienced that superior perception.


    "Concentrate," Khan ordered, and Moses steeled his mind to ignore the strange situation and dive into the mental state experienced during the battle.


    Meanwhile, Khan summoned mana into his free hand, altering its shape and color while moving his arm around the focused warrior. He avoided creating intense effects and limited himself to features that wouldn''t usually affect Moses'' energy. Still, faint changes happened


    nheless.


    Moses had closed his eyes by then, and faint ripples disturbed his regr mana flow. Those barely noticeable tremors could appear irrelevant, but Khan knew they were a reaction to external inputs. Khan wasn''t doing anything to his body, so the event''s source had to be external,ing from something he perceived.


    Khan eventually dismissed his mana and retracted his hand, a pensive mood almost disrupting his cold expression. Moses opened his eyes and looked at him, followed by his twopanions. The trio shared a profound curiosity, but Khan''s thoughts had already moved


    past it.


    "It might be unrted," Khan announced. "Still, if it isn''t, it means the conditioning is


    working."


    Moses and Roger''s faces became pale, recalling what the conditioning entailed. Prince Richard couldn''t help but tremble, looking at hispanions'' reactions. A sense of dread also


    filled his heart.


    "Let''s ramp it up and see how it goes," Khan dered. "Turn around and close your eyes. You might faint, but I''ll stop before doing any damage."


    Moses took a deep breath and turned, sitting on his knees and closing his eyes. Roger gulped


    before imitating his friend. Lastly, Prince Richard studied the two young warriors before following suit, clearly the most scared of the trio.


    As soon as the three closed their eyes, a storm of heavy mana surrounded them, threatening to tear their skin apart and cut them off from the outside world.

 Chapter 943 Conditioning

    943 Conditioning


    Khan didn''t have [The Pure Trees]''s azure symbols to bolster the trio''s perception. He didn''t even know how they worked. Things might have been different if he had studied them with his current senses, but Nitis was outside his reach.


    Khan wasn''t even sure how to teach that field. His perception had always been naturally good, and the transformation had pushed it to a superior level. He was a natural, and Nitis'' perfect environment and his mindset had only highlighted that talent.


    The Global Army had techniques and training regimens that could improve the soldiers'' perception, but everything felt artificial and unnatural when Khan looked at them. So, he decided to develop something better suited to his knowledge and style.


    Initially, Khan had considered manipting the trio''s energy through his influence. He had already seeded with Roger, and that process would also improve his journey toward the mysterious evolution past mana.


    However, Khan''s energy grew more unruly by the day, especially as he dived deeper into the nature of his element. He could hold back and achieve decent results, but the process would be mind-numbingly slow.


    Hence, Khan had opted for something more extreme, a shock therapy of sorts. His aura was already intense beyond reason, and fueling it with mana basically turned it into an attack. Exposing the three young warriors to it could theoretically force their bodies to develop a specific sensitivity, and Moses'' apparent progress finally showed some hope.


    From the outside, the scene didn''t feature anything outside the ordinary. Khan was simply standing behind the three kneeled young warriors, enveloping them in his eyes'' radiance.


    The asional ripples that ran through the air were the only strange detail afflicting the event. The scene twisted at times as if submerged in an unbearable heat. Yet, nothing burned.


    Things were very different for the three warriors. The trio felt submerged in raging waves that threatened to destroy their skin. The pressure was almost unbearable and intensified with each passing second.


    Nevertheless, being exposed to that ethereal but intense pressure awakened something in the three warriors. They couldn''t feel that invisible attack through their ears, skin, eyes, tongues, or noses, not properly, at least. So, their minds gradually shifted their focus, reaching for something they still didn''t understand.


    Meanwhile, Khan watched those gradual changes with his bare eyes. He saw the trio''s perception expanding toward something new, something foreign. The change was minute and temporary, but Khan hoped enough sessions would imprint the feeling in the three warriors'' minds.


    The theory was also sound. Some people developed their noses by exposing themselves to various smells, eventually learning to discern the faintest ones. Others could train their ears to be sensitive to the slightest noise. The processes were different, but a path existed nheless.


    The Niqols'' perception required an awakening rather than gradual tempering, initially at least. The three warriors needed to be aware of that sixth sense before working on improving it. Submerging them into Khan''s extremely noticeable aura was bound to do the trick, even if the process was quite forceful.


    ''What would they say about this method?'' Khan wondered. ''It doesn''t exactly match their long time spent understanding and acknowledging the mana.''


    Khan only had to focus on keeping his aura harmless, leaving him with much room for thoughts. His mind inevitablypared his approach to what he had learned during his travels. His training method was undeniably human due to its forceful nature, but he preferred to see it as an expression of his extreme personality.


    ''Maybe the old ways were like this,'' Khan considered. ''I''m hoping to trigger a quasi-mutation in the end.''


    As harmless as Khan tried to be, his aura was too intense. Also, its destructive nature inevitably affected the environment after prolonged exposure, and those signs soon appeared.


    Tiny cracks opened on the barren but resilient ground, gradually expanding and deepening. The air became electric, seemingly on the verge of lighting up or exploding. The warriors'' uniforms also started straining as if on the verge of tearing apart. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan wanted the session tost longer but eventually retracted his aura. The young warriors fell forward after being freed from that oppressive presence, lying exhausted on the ground. Heavy sweat fell from their foreheads and drenched their uniforms, creating darker patches that highlighted their fatigue.


    Prince Richard and Roger fainted on the spot while Moses struggled to remain awake. Khan held back a sigh, drawing his phone to summon medical teams to his location. As effective and quick as his training method seemed to be, the strain on the warriors'' bodies was evident. The trio would be out ofmission for an entire day, which wasn''t ideal on an active battlefield.


    Khan waited until medical teams appeared in the distance before flying away. He felt an invisible presence following his movements, but a second eleration left it behind him. His figure eventually disappeared past the headquarters'' perimeter, hovering over the barrenndscape of the nearby quadrant.


    ''I would havested twice as long,'' Khan thought, flying toward a distant hill. ''And that as a first-level warrior.''


    Comparing the three warriors to Khan was unfair. He was aware of that. His talent and desperation had always made him push himself past his limits. That feature was the bane of his girlfriends and anyone who loved him and his greatest advantage.


    Still, Khan felt disappointed nheless. The three warriors''ckluster resilience was another reminder of his difference. Moreover, that gap was bound to widen. Khan actually wanted to deepen it, too.


    ''Humans are so fragile,'' Khan sighed,nding on the small hill before inspecting his surroundings. The area didn''t have a single trace of life. The resilient ground prevented it from turning into a desert, but Khan''s attention barely lingered on it before moving on to something else.


    The symphony reflected in Khan''s eyes was bright but ordinary. He had gotten used to Senerth''s peculiarities, so spotting unusual features didn''t take him long. Luckily, it seemed he had flown far enough to escape Bruno''s curious gaze.


    ''Maybe he just wants to give me some privacy,'' Khan considered. ''I can probably order him to leave me alone.''


    Dismissing those thoughts, Khan looked at his feet. His gaze grew colder as he immersed himself in his training mindset. The ground cracked in response, and Khan stomped his foot before his aura did too much damage.


    Soon, the hill was no more.

 Chapter 944 Next step

    944 Next step


    Khan sat at the edge of a deep gorge surrounded by boulders of various sizes. One leg was curled to his chest, acting as a resting spot for his arm. The other hung on the hole''s verge, swaying at hismand.


    A faint smile stood on Khan''s face as he yed with his leg protruding toward the gorge''s depths. Most people would experience a certain thrill or simple vertigo while sitting in the same position. Yet, he could fly, so falling had lost any meaning to him. That dangerous edge was no different than afortable couch to him.


    Eventually, Khan''s attention moved to the opposite edge. A chunk of strangely solid soil rested on the vertical surface, desperately clinging to the wall to avoid falling. Some cracks had weakened its grasp, highlighting its edges, but nothing crumbled yet.


    "[It''s okay]," Khan said, his voice no more than a whisper. "[You can break]."


    As if listening to Khan''s alien words, the cracks around the chunk of soil erged, severing the connection with the wall. The desperate, inanimate figure crumbled into a waterfall of rubble, disappearing into the gorge''s depths.


    Some would have found the soil''s desperate attachment to the wall poetic, but Khan knew the truth. Entropy was unavoidable. Everything wanted and would eventually fall apart, be it rocks or living beings. He could almost hear that desire in the world around him, and his mana could exploit it.


    Khan heaved a sigh. He didn''t know why he had used the Niqolsnguage, but it didn''t feel right to use the human one when summoning his influence. Also, he noticed how his ent was still perfect. His tongue didn''t get rusty at all.


    ''It almost seems I keep getting better,'' Khan realized.


    Learning the Niqolsnguage took a while, but the others didn''t pose that much of a challenge. He had even mastered theplicated Thilku runes in record time. Khan almost felt he was made for mastering alien cultures.


    ''Is this the definition of talent?'' Khan wondered. ''Is it just the umtion of previous sesses? Do my alien genes have something to do with it?''


    As always, those questions didn''t lead anywhere. Khan had no answers. Truth be told, he didn''t need them since he already wielded the results.


    ''Monica would know,'' Khan thought, suddenly missing his Fianc¨¦e more than usual. ''She must be pissed she couldn''t get pregnant.''


    Khan heaved another sigh, focusing on the destruction of his own creation. The many boulders around him and the gorge had once been a hill, which his short training session had shattered. He had be good at summoning his mana''s true nature, and the action had felt uniquely effortless that day.


    ''It''s always easier after training with the pool,'' Khan considered, inspecting the arm resting on his knee. ''I wonder how many sessions I have left.''


    Khan could feel the toxic liquid''s effects waning with each training session. He didn''t suffer as much as before, and his recovery time was also shortening. His body was building tolerance to that strange substance while fulfilling the intended growth.


    ''Five?'' Khan calcted. ''Ten more sessions? I should be able to get it done before the campaign is over.''


    Abusing such a debilitating training regimen in the middle of an active warzone wasn''t ideal, but Khan''s mind was set. He didn''t need as much rest as his soldiers anyway, and the improvements the pool provided were bound to help during the battles.


    Nevertheless, the side effects went beyond the short debilitation. Khan knew each training session put him closer to the evolved warriors, physically, at least, and that change was far from negligible.


    Khan nced at his side. The brown-red soil shimmered under the glow of Senerth''s white star. Bright sparks and minerals littered that seemingly barren environment, adding a unique resilience to its texture.


    Those lights only existed in Khan''s eyes, but he didn''t focus on them now. He pressed a finger to the ground, summoning the intent he had mastered in the recent period. Something happened to the symphony without the need for mana waves, and its effects soon became evident.


    A spiderweb of cracks opened around Khan''s finger, stretching into the distance alongside the gorge''s edge. The many tiny imperfections in that seemingly resilient ground became massive ws, triggering a chain reaction that created a dark avnche.


    Khan watched as part of the edge to his right crumbled, transforming into a soil waterfall that dived toward the gorge''s depths. He had barely needed a thought to cause that reaction, but no satisfaction appeared on his face.


    ''Living beings are no different,'' Khan pondered. ''Their bonds are stronger and possess wills, but I can affect them. That''s the next step.'' n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The idea of applying the spell learned from the Nak''s hand to living beings gave birth to a strange feeling. Destroying inanimate objects was fine, but monsters and people required a different mindset. Khan would have to see them as nothing more than walking blood bags, and to his dismay, the hurdle was easy to ovee.


    Khan had be too powerful. He could ughter tens of monsters with but a thought and some mana. His existence had risen far above those weaker than him, making him struggle to acknowledge their value. They breathed because Khan allowed it, but that right could be easily taken away.


    ''Don''t lose it,'' Khan ordered to himself, sighing. ''Learn to do it without losing sight of life''s value.''


    That was easier said than done, but Khan wouldn''tpromise. His mana''s nature actually worked in his favor there. His unreasonable sides made him want to seize everything on his own terms without sacrificing anything.


    ''It''s almost time,'' Khan realized, sensing something in the symphony. He stood up, ignoring the dirt on his butt and throwing onest nce at the gorge. The vast fissure acted as a reminder of his growth, and Monica''s face inevitably popped into his vision again.


    ''I can give her a child,'' Khan reminded himself. ''It''s just more difficult.''


    Khan had discussed the topic with his scientists, but the reports didn''t indicate any sterility. If anything, the pool had increased Khan''s virility. The issue Khan and Monica were facing had to do with their different species and her recent interruption of birth control. Those difficulties wouldn''t go away, but Abraham reassured him that life always found a way.


    ''If anything,'' Khan smirked, amused, ''I can add sex to the list of my duties. Maybe being a Prince isn''t too bad.''


    The arrival of a series of figures forced Khan to dismiss those thoughts. He peeked past his shoulders, inspecting the dozen or so monsters slowly converging to his position. Those creatures looked stronger than the average Senerth''s beast, and their wary approach betrayed a hint of intelligence.


    "Took you long enough," Khan announced, his voice sending debilitating tremors into the monsters'' bodies. "I''m sorry, but this won''t be quick. I need to run some tests."

 Chapter 945: Genius

    Chapter 945: Genius


    ?


    Garret held back a sigh while his eyes scanned the intricate report scrolling on his console. Data belonging to dozens of features flowed through his vision each second, but nothing escaped his attention.


    The gasps and loudments inside theb tried to distract Garret, but his concentration never faltered. He didn''t get the title of prodigy randomly. His work ethic, focus, and knowledge were spectacr. Also, Garret didn''t share his fellow scientists'' worries or excitement.


    The other scientists in the massiveb were glued to various screens, attracted by the bloody images they showed. The headquarters'' scanners were pointed at the new battlefield, coordinating with the Leviathan''s equipment to enhance their resolution. A chaotic and violent battle unfolded before the crew, creating a moment of tense entertainment.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Garret didn''t give the screens a single nce. The scientist knew the battle was important. That was the most numerous pack the army had faced in their six months on Senerth. However, Garret couldn''t share his colleagues'' excitement. A set-in-stone result couldn''t stir that emotion.


    Of course, the battlefield was unpredictable, and Garret was no military genius. That field had been part of his family education, but his talentsy elsewhere, epassing vast and specialized scientific subjects.


    Still, that precisely was the reason behind Garret''s confidence. His console was showing the results of Prince Khan''stest tests. The numbers pointed to a clear conclusion, and they never lied, even when it came to an existence as unique as Prince Khan''s.


    The test results were self-exnatory. Prince Khan had long since bordered numbers simr to evolved warriors, and thest training session with the toxic pool seemed to havepleted the final step. Garret couldn''t see anything human on the console data. He only witnessed the wonders of those legendary existences.


    So, Garret couldn''t feel any interest in the battle. The monsters in that region were as strong as third-level warriors, with some bordering the fourth level. The alpha also was a fearsome creature, but the opposite side had Prince Khan, and nothing survived his passage. It wasn''t even a matter of alien arts, really. The numbers alone pointed to that conclusion.


    Garret leaned back on his chair, rubbing the corners of his eyes before refocusing on the console. He spotted the w in that data, and his entire education told him something was wrong. Yet, his experiences in Baoway had forced him to discard those biases.


    ''What a headache,'' Garret cursed. ''I wonder if fourth-level warrior can even experience those.''


    Of course, Garret knew the answer to that question, but everything around Prince Khan followed different rules. His existence seemed to spite the entire scientific field, so Garret wouldn''t feel surprised to experience something as mundane as a headache from overwork.


    It didn''t help that the console reinforced Garret''s belief. Prince Khan''s data belonged to the evolved realm, but his attunement with mana barely ced him at the fourth level. It had recently climbed back to eighty-one points, but the number didn''t have any corrtion with Prince Khan''s power.


    ''Physical evolutionplete?'' Garret typed on the console, taking mental notes. ''Higher attunement with mana required forpletion? Further investigation is required.''


    Garret finally allowed himself to sigh as he leaned even deeper into the chair and removed his hands from the console. Those stretches of work after Prince Khan''s training sessions were always long, leaving Garret slightly exhausted.


    ''Bringing so much of that substance was a mistake,'' Garret realized after thinking about the training sessions. ''The unforeseen reactions have gotten milder by the day. I should have ounted for that.''


    Being better safe than sorry wasn''t exactly a mistake. Prince Khan preferred it that way since it involved his training. However, Garret was a perfectionist, and his position demanded an incredible level ofpetence. He was slightly above a guest on Baoway, so he had to prove himself through his work.


    ''ounting for the additional weight of the spare substance,'' Garret calcted, ''Adding the space freed in their absence ... I lost the Nognes family a lot of Credits.''


    No one would me Garret for the issue. No one would mention it, either. Yet, Garret had noticed it so he would know, meaning he had to do better for himself and his family.


    Garret pushed his exhaustion away and refocused on the console. After a fewmands, the list of data disappeared and was reced by a picture of Senerth. A quarter of that image was red, highlighting the territory controlled by Prince Khan''s army.


    The picture could be deceiving. Theoretically, the army could have achieved far more in six months, but Senerth''s peculiar fauna had gotten in its way.


    The wider the conquered area was, the more creatures it would attract. The disturbance created by the army also didn''t go unnoticed, bringing distant packs to the horizon. The current battle was one of the many caused by the expansion.


    That development had both positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, the increased number of battles was bound to put a strain on the army. Also, attracting distant packs would widen the other monsters'' hunting grounds, strengthening their future power and promising harsher battlefields.


    On the other, Senerth''s fauna was rapidly dwindling, flushing out many packs hiding in undergroundirs. The conquest''s following steps would feature fewer battles, and their increased harshness hardly mattered with Prince Khan at the forefront.


    ''Bombing the would have still been better,'' Garret thought before a round of cheers brought his attention to one of the distant screens.


    The screen showcased a lifeless sea of fur interrupted by asional masses of muscles. The battle had ended, and the scanners zoomed in on a distant figure standing atop a fuming hill of corpses. The grey smoke seemed to avoid Prince Khan''s body, revealing him in all his gory, wild splendor.


    Comments andpliments immediately reached Garret''s ears, almost making him snort. He had grown used to that gossip but still found it distasteful and ignorant. His colleagues addressed Prince Khan as some kind of unfathomable genius, but he knew the true meaning of that word. Garret knew it better than most.


    Garret knew what being a genius entailed as a fellow carrier of the title. Most people used that word as an excuse for ipetence orck of effort. Sure, talent could y a role, but it was merely a tiny step in a sea of harsher requirements.


    Garret''s gaze grew distant, recalling all the effort it had taken him to get where he was. Those thoughts weren''t limited to himself, either. Unlike the other scientists, Garret knew exactly what Prince Khan was putting himself through to obtain that kind of power.


    The toxic pool was pure torture, but Prince Khan didn''t stop there. He spent most of his free time outside the army''s perimeter, dealing with packs on his own or training alone in the wilderness. Prince Khan even made that insane routine look easy, outperforming everyone on the battlefield. Being relentless was his talent, and bing a genius was nothing more than


    a numerical result, and the numbers never lied.


    ''I should break the good news to him,'' Garret recalled. ''The next training session will


    probably be thest.''

 Chapter 946: Ants

    Chapter 946: Ants


    ?


    A wave of cries reached Bruno''s ears. The battle had ended, but the area had only grown louder due to the Scalqa army chanting Prince Khan''s name. He was nothing short of a deity in those war-driven, primitive minds, and Bruno couldn''t me them. As much as Prince Khan tried to walk that narrow line, he was indeed a superior existence.


    Bruno knew that more than most. He understood the immense gap between Prince Khan and his soldiers better than anyone else. After all, Bruno was an old evolved warrior. He had seen much throughout his long life, granting him unique insights into Prince Khan''s situation.


    ''How sad,'' Bruno thought, gazing at a random spot on the battlefield but keeping his attention on Prince Khan. He didn''t need to look in his direction to see him. He didn''t even require questions to understand his mental state.


    Prince Khan gazed at the empty horizon from atop his mountain of corpses. His bright, alien eyes looked lost in the environment, but Bruno knew they pierced those material aspects, delving into deeper topics.


    The army''s chants couldn''t distract the young Prince from his thoughts. He appeared unfazed by the noise, only focused on the next battle. Of course, that impression was wrong, too, but Bruno didn''t need to go around correcting it.


    ''Ah, youth,'' Bruno sighed internally. ''The Prince should realize it''s already toote.''


    Prince Khan had tried to hide it, but Bruno wasn''t easily tricked. Bruno knew the Prince had achieved some breakthroughs since his arrival to Baoway. The young Prince''s steps alone confirmed that. Many would ignore that small detail, but Bruno saw a hidden world behind it. ''That''s good,'' Bruno concluded. ''The Nognes family''s future will be bright with the addition of the Prince.''


    Prince Khan eventually jumped off the pile of charred corpses, walking through the fervent army. The Scalqa followed his steady march with their eyes, seemingly revitalized by his mere presence. Some even fell to their knees, announcing their worship.


    Prince Khan paid the Scalqa no heed, marching through the mass of muscles and corpses as if it were no different than a peaceful park. His bright eyes never wavered, either, unfazed by the gory spectacle.


    Bruno felt sad once again. He saw past Prince Khan''s stern face, noticing his internal conflict. His army had nothing but cheers and reverence for him, but he couldn''t address it. Mere ants couldn''t reach his ears.


    Because that was what the Scalqa were. Bruno wasn''t trying to sound arrogant with that remark. His thought didn''t even ount for the political difference between the Prince and his army. Those aliens simply were flies before Prince Khan''s power.


    That issue didn''t stop at the Scalqa. Bruno had seen it happen many times. Soon, even Prince Khan''s dear people would look no different than ants in his eyes. That beautiful Fianc¨¦e of his mightst longer than the others, but her fate was sealed, too.


    It was a sad but unavoidable development, which Bruno knew very well. Power granted many benefits, but its price was steep. Transforming into something that existed beyond


    humankind would make Prince Khan unbeatable but would also erect a barrier between those he left behind.


    Of course, people could try to follow Prince Khan into that superior realm, but few would seed. Also, the young Prince was a unique existence even among evolved warriors. Bruno had seen that in their first sparring session. That result boded well for the Nognes family but would surely curse Prince Khan''s personal life.


    ''You see that, don''t you?'' Bruno wondered, finally eyeing the departing Prince Khan. ''Young Prince, you have already crossed the threshold, and there''s no turning back now.''


    A trace of anger seeped through the Prince''s aura. He seemed to have sensed Bruno''s gaze and its meaning, making the evolved warrior smile. That reaction only confirmed Bruno''s idea, adding fuel to the sad situation.


    ''You''ll be fine, young Prince,'' Bruno thought. ''The Nognes family will give you what the world can''t.''


    Prince Khan''s figure eventually disappeared. Everyone lost track of him, but Bruno followed his movements, almost leading to a sigh. The Prince wasn''t returning to the headquarters. He was flying past the perimeter, probably nning to kill time alone in the wilderness.


    ''To be young,'' Brunomented as his figure also disappeared. He strolled through the battlefield and wilderness past it unnoticed, the world in his eyes almost frozen. Eventually, he found himself atop a distant hill, standing next to the sitting Prince.


    "Another extraordinary victory, Prince Khan," Brunomented. "My congrattions."


    The Prince didn''t turn, and Bruno knew he had noticed his arrival. He almost thought hisment would lead to a sparring session, but Prince Khan simply ignored it. Something weighed on his mind. Also, Bruno knew he was holding back on showing the result of his training.


    "The campaign should be almost over," Bruno continued, gazing at the white horizon. "I believe you''ll end it in no longer than three months."


    Prince Khan reacted to those words, picking up his phone to check something. He quickly stored it back in his dirty trousers, nodding as calctions happened in his mind.


    "Three months should be good," Khan uttered. "We''d return in time for my Fianc¨¦e''s birthday."


    "You also failed to celebrate your birthday, Prince Khan," Bruno pointed out. "You turn twenty-four only once."


    "It''s already in the past," Khanmented. "I don''t care much about it in the first ce."


    "You should, Prince Khan," Bruno said, almost scolding Khan. "You won''t get these years back. People should enjoy their youth."


    The Prince finally nced at Bruno, a hint of mockery conveyed in his bright eyes. Enjoyment had never been in Prince Khan''s cards. His whole life had been a series of seemingly never- ending battles with the sole purpose of reaffirming and defending his existence.


    "I missed our anniversary," Prince Khan revealed, bringing his gaze back to the horizon. "Right, the marriage will happen once we return. You''ll have to inform the other Excellencies."


    "It''s happening, then," Bruno announced. "I''ll dly ry the happy news, Prince Khan. Allow me to congratte you on your choice of partner. She''ll make an excellent bride."


    "She chose me," Prince Khan corrected, standing up, "Back when I was nothing more than a


    soldier."


    "She made an excellent choice, too, Prince Khan," Bruno praised.


    "Even if she didn''t," Prince Khan voiced, "I''ll make it excellent."


    "I''m sure you will, Prince Khan," Bruno stated.


    "Leave now," Khan ordered. "I have an appointment with that pack."


    The Prince didn''t nod in any specific direction, but Bruno didn''t need that gesture to sense the iing threat. A small pack was converging in their position and would be upon them in a matter of minutes.


    "Do you want a hand, Prince Khan?" Bruno wondered. "This old man needs to stretch his joints."


    "I won''t show you my power," Prince Khan dered. "I might have to kill you one day."


    "I''m merely a servant of the Nognes family, Prince Khan," Bruno tried to reassure, but the Prince didn''t bother with words anymore. He stepped forward, disappearing in the distance toward the iing pack.


    Soon, explosions resounded in the distance, and Bruno politely retracted his senses, leaving the Prince to his privacy. Still, an honest smile appeared on his face as he turned to leave.


    ''I wonder if you''ll change your mind after your reunion, young Prince,'' Bruno thought. ''No matter how beautiful, creatures like us don''t marry ants. Ah, to be young.''N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ****


    Author''s notes: Merry Christmas!

 Chapter 947: Loneliness

    Chapter 947: Loneliness


    ?


    A series of sharp ice shards flew in Khan''s direction, threatening to dig holes into his body. The attack had the same power as a fourth-level mage''s spell, which would usually force him to dodge. However, Khan kept advancing, mming headfirst into those dangerous spikes.


    A noise of shattering ss resounded, trying to expand in the chaos of the battlefield. Tiny ice shards flew everywhere, creating a cloud of shimmering reflections, but a dark figure quickly crossed it, and the spell''s leftovers evaporated under its pressure.


    Khan stepped forward, his body covered in an intricate of clotted blood vessels. Shallow holes had littered his skin, but those injuries were already closing. Meanwhile, his bright gaze fell on the huge creature before him.


    The spell''s source was a three-meter-tall monster. The creature was simr to its fellow specimens, but its paler fur and ss-like spikes revealed a unique mutation. It was also far stronger than anything the army had faced in the past eight months, but Khan barely felt anything approaching it.


    The monster growled, crouching forward to point its spikes at Khan. Those ss-like items started to glow as mana flowed inside them. Soon, another wave of ice shards would shoot forward, but Khan was faster.


    Khan waved the cursed knife, sending a red sh forward. A humming sound apanied it, and a fuming line soon appeared on the monster''s head and back. Its body split in half in the following second, crashing to the ground to reveal its disgusting insides.


    Khan shed the knife into the air, sending attacks that shot upward before flying back into the battlefield. Each move earned him a kill, but that speed still didn''t satisfy him.


    The cursed knife was mighty. Nothing could block its attacks, making each sh a confirmed kill. Yet, that weaponcked the vast area of effect of Khan''s spears and other spells.


    Sadly, the battle had developed in a way that prevented Khan from unleashing his barrage of spears. The high number of monsters had stopped Khan from iming a piece of the battlefield for himself, leaving him in the middle of the mess with his army.


    Of course, Khan had imed many lives before the immense pack shed with the army, but the oue didn''t change. The monsters had blended with the lines of Scalqa, disrupting battle formations and any resemnce of order. Countless individual fights unfolded simultaneously, leaving no safe target for Khan''s highly destructive spells.


    A monster jumped at Khan from his right. His left arm was still in the air, sending deadly shes everywhere on the battlefield, theoretically leaving him exposed to the sudden assault. He could dodge and deal with the creature afterward, but the wasted second would slow down his killing pace.


    One second was nothing, but the countless simultaneous individual battles made it meaningful. Many could die in that short time, and Khan''s attacks could save some soldiers from that bitter end.


    So, Khan kept his knife in the air and lifted his right hand. He stretched two fingers, pointing them at the iing monster. A sharp energy wave shot forward, digging a hole in the creature''s forehead and killing it on the spot. Still, its falling momentum didn''t disperse, making the corpse crash on Khan.


    Senerth''s monsters were rtively light for their sizes, but the impact of such a big creature was bound to push human soldiers aside and even break some bones. However, Khan didn''t move at all when the beast crashed on him. He also kept sending red shes to the sky, retaining his killing pace.


    Khan shrugged the corpse off and shot forward, mming on a nearby creature. His foot pierced the monster''s head, chaining his leg to its skull. He could free himself in no time but didn''t bother to. Instead, Khan kept advancing, delivering more kicks and shes to anything that dared to breathe without his permission.


    The symphony sang the army''s deeds, echoing noises of death and destruction that resonated with Khan''s mind. He lost himself in the simple act of extinguishing any enemy trace of life, be it with his knife or his kicks. Nothing ever survived him, and eventually, he found himself with nothing else to kill.


    Khan was almost surprised when the symphony failed to provide him with new targets. He looked around, finding nothing but furred corpses and tired Scalqa. His army shared his hesitation, but everything ended when the first "Ka-Han!" disrupted the silence.


    The single victory cry quickly transformed into a deafening sea of shouts. Every Scalqa in the vast battlefield turned in Khan''s direction, mming their chests while chanting their bottomless reverence. Their faith in Khan had reached new heights after eight months of conquest. They truly believed to be in the presence of a divine existence, and Khan didn''t know how to respond to that.


    Khan inspected himself. A mangled corpse was still stuck to his right leg, and a severed head had somehow ended up on his left shoulder, its fangs clinging to his skin but unable to pierce it. Patches of the creatures'' blood covered him from head to toe, turning his long hair into a greasy mess that attached itself to his forehead and cheeks. Khan even spotted traces of gore on his dirty cape and torn trousers.


    As for how Khan had ended up in that condition, he didn''t remember. In his mind, he had simply advanced, rushing where the battlefield needed him. Killing those monsters was as easy as breathing for him, and his brain barely recorded the one-sided ughter. His breath was also steady, confirming theck of exhaustion.


    ''When did this even happen?'' Khan wondered, his gaze falling on the white sky. ''When did I get this strong?''


    Khan obviously knew how he had gotten there. The toxic pool had long since be useless, limiting his training to the improved [Blood Vortex] and the study of his element. Still, the realization remained shocking, pushing his mind toward topics he loathed.


    Sensing the symphony gave Khan a vague summary of the battle. The victory had been overwhelming, but casualties had been unavoidable. A decent number of Scalqa had died, and that waste of valuable life turned his thoughts sour.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ''Why did I even bring them here?'' Khan questioned. ''I alone would have been enough. It would have been safer, too.''


    Khan couldn''t help but ponder the value of an army far weaker than him. He felt he was wasting the Scalqa''s lives by throwing them into battles he could handle himself. The aliens quickened the''s conquest, but Khan hated the price they had to pay.


    ''Life sure feels thin these days,'' Khan sighed internally. ''They might weigh me down one day.'' Khan suddenly shook his head, noticing the dangerous thoughts. He had always been far stronger than the Scalqa. Taking them under his wing was part of his debt toward Zu-Gru. He had given his life to protect Khan, so Khan would take care of the Scalqa.


    ''They are my people,'' Khan thought. ''Their individual value doesn''t matter. Battle prowess is only one aspect of it.''


    Khan lifted his knife, earning himself another wave of victory cries. His gaze ran over his army, refueling the Scalqa''s battle drive. Loyal subjects surrounded him, but his brain updated him on a sad truth. Khan had never felt lonelier.

 Chapter 948: Universe

    Chapter 948: Universe


    ?


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan''s mood didn''t improve as he stored the cursed knife and walked through the army, surrounded by fervent gazes and cries. The scene could oppress anyone, making them feel like powerless ants in the middle of a raging sea, but Khan knew the truth. He was the sea, while the Scalqa were nothing more than fish he had taken under his protective waves.


    Those waves could also be the Scalqa''s doom. It would be as easy as breathing for Khan, creating a wall that good intentions couldn''t ovee. He wanted the best for his army, but the difference was clear. Khan had once lived among the tribes but now existed in a superior realm.


    The toxic pool had be useless. Khan''s body had built aplete tolerance to the dark green liquid. A prolonged exposure could still hurt him, but the transformation wasplete. He had physically evolved, achieving the legendary status countless fifth-level warriors failed to reach.


    Of course, Khan wasn''t a fully-fledged evolved warrior. His transformation wasplete, but his attunement with mana was stillcking. The process would be genuinely finalized when the entirety of his flesh enjoyed the enhancement of that magical energy.


    In a way, Khan had approached the evolution backward. Humans prioritizedpleting their attunement with mana before forcing their bodies to evolve through different methods.


    Meanwhile, Khan''s mastery over his element and unique state allowed him to focus on his body before fulfilling the attunement requirement. Garret described it as a middle ground between natural and extreme induction, and only reaching the peak of the fifth level would show where Khan actually stood.


    Of course, Khan had his ideas about the process. He was no scientist, but the time spent learning about the evolution had allowed him to apply his alien knowledge to the topic and his situation.


    The natural induction, the extreme induction, and the aided metamorphosis had no meaning for Khan. He had fused aspects from those three approaches to walk a unique path, earning him benefits and disadvantages.


    Khan''s body hadpletely evolved, but its growth now had higher requirements. Increasing its attunement required far more mana. He was a superior existence, so his needs went beyond mortal standards.


    The improved [Blood Vortex] could solve that issue, but the process was bound to be slow, slower than what most humans experienced. That was theoretically fine since Khan''s attunement didn''t trante into actual power, but he found the matter annoying nheless.


    As for the benefits, the most immediate involved Khan''s physical prowess. He was stronger, tougher, and faster than anyone at his level. Even strength-focused fifth-level warriors would probably fail to match him in that field. Khan''s stats were off the charts, but the real advantagesy elsewhere.


    Unlike other human evolved warriors, Khan''s theoretical understanding of the mana was already somewhatplete. He didn''t need years of training to acknowledge and master the benefits his new state provided. He had fulfilled those requirements long ago, allowing him to notice and recognize the main benefit behind his evolved body.


    Khan felt as if an invisible barrier between the symphony and his mind had been lifted. His senses had always been otherworldly sharp, but that aspect had undergone a qualitative change. He wasn''t a mereponent of the surrounding energy now. Khan was immersed inside it as if he had transformed into a simr substance.


    The feeling was hard to describe, but its effects were evident. Khan felt connected to the symphony on a deeper level, diminishing the effort required to interact with it. His thoughts were orders that the surrounding mana recognized and heard, stretching his senses and abilities'' range farther than ever.


    The increased range was only a superficial consequence. The true benefit was in how deeply Khan could interact with the symphony. In the past, the spears created out of thin air had always been weaker than those built with his mana. However, the gap had significantly shrunk now. The surrounding energy was no different than his own as long as he willed that, and the fusion between the two could lead to superior results.


    Sadly, that deeper control and connection highlighted the gap between Khan and his army. The Scalqa were a burden he had chosen to bear. He felt genuine affection and attachment toward them, but his eyes also saw a different truth. Those mighty, muscr aliens were nothing more than walking bloodbags Khan could break with a thought.


    The issue didn''t stop at the Scalqa. Khan saw the same fervent looks when he crossed Moses, Roger, and Prince Richard. The former especially looked utterly in awe of Khan''s power and authority, and his mana conveyed the desire to follow him into the darkest reaches of the universe.


    Conciliating that deep faith with the truth in Khan''s eyes felt impossible. His affection was genuine, but the same went for his vision. There was a limit to how much he could care for beings that every inch of his sensesbeled as inferior.


    The Niqols'' way of dealing with feelings helped in that regard. Khan''s more intense and deeper emotional spectrum saved him from severing those bonds. If anything, he wanted to protect them more than ever now, which didn''t necessarily mean keeping them at his side. ''Why is it always like this?'' Khan cursed in his mind, doing his best to avoid leaking his anger into his surroundings. His thoughts were dangerous for his people now, so he had to contain them.


    ''Damned universe,'' Khan sighed internally, hurrying past the army''s range to emptier areas. ''You force me to be strong, but that same strength pushes me away from those I live for.''


    Power brought freedom but loneliness, and the same went for crowns. The mountain peak was breathtaking but solitary. That was a fundamental rule of the universe, and nothing in Khan''s immense power could fix it. It simply didn''t depend on him.


    ''Universe, you are ying a dangerous game,'' Khan thought, cracks opening wherever he stepped. ''At this pace, I might really decide to burn you to the ground.''

 Chapter 949: Final phase

    Chapter 949: Final phase


    ?


    That heavy mindset apanied Khan throughout his return to the Headquarters, which didn''t leave even after entering the vastb. Usually, he would have used that chance to fly away and face packs on his own, but the expansion had reached a critical point, forcing him to stick to orthodox ns.


    Praises tried to escape the scientists'' mouths but remained stuck in their throats before Khan''s aura. Some screens and consoles also flickered, disturbed by his mindset. Even his target suffered from his influence, but everything stabilized after a few seconds.


    Khan stopped before a tall hologram depicting Senerth. Three-quarters of the was red now, highlighting the area under Khan''s control. The army only had a few battles ahead left, but they were bound to be problematic.


    The many battles had dealt with most packs, even those outside the perimeter. However, they had also cleared hunting areas for the monsters that had stayed behind.


    The remaining packs had enjoyed a short period of abundance of resources and space, increasing their numbers. Those unconquered areas also featuredrge deposits of Senerth''s strange mineral, asionally creating proper hills and caverns that could facilitate the monsters'' growth.


    "There''s movement in the remaining quadrants, Prince Khan," Garret announced, approaching the holograms to stand at Khan''s side. "These creatures are fighting for territory."


    "Is it good or bad?" Khan questioned.


    "Both," Garret revealed. "They are killing each other, so their final number won''t be as high as we predicted. However, the survivors will be stronger than anything we have faced."


    Garret held back from giving his opinion. Khan and Lieutenant Dyester were in charge of the mission''s military aspects, so Garret only added his insights when explicitly requested. Also, he knew Khan was already exploring his options.


    The monsters'' behavior had long since been studied and mastered. Khan knew those creatures better than some of his soldiers. He could predict what could happen in the following period, opening many possibilities.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The packs'' infighting would make higher-quality food avable. As abundant as those remaining quadrants were, they couldn''tpare to actual mana-enhanced flesh. The survivors would have ess to their fellow specimens'' nourishing meat, potentially triggering short-term power-ups.


    The monsters'' growth wasn''t all bad. The packs required alphas to enforce order, and the arrival of multiple stronger specimens could disrupt it, leading to more infighting. Chances were Senerth could take a while to restore its natural bnce.


    Sadly, that was the best-case scenario. The opposite could happen and was also more likely. The alphas had priority over high-quality food, and bolstering their strength could theoretically produce a single, massive pack. One strong, unbeaten leader would be enough to create that oue.


    The army could deal with either consequence, but Khan had a choice now. He didn''t need to be a passive bystander. The pheromone, machines, Scalqa, and his personal power could change the natural course of Senerth''s fauna, creating the ideal conditions for the mission''s final phase. Khan only had to decide which one would benefit him.


    On the one hand, facilitating the creation of a single pack would remove variables, shorten the mission''s final phase, and limit the conquest to ast, massive battle.


    That option would preserve most of Senerth''s surface resources and allow Khan to leave as early as possible. The rtively quick sess would add fuel to his fame, improving his position inside the Thilku Empire. He could also use the salvaged mines of the''s minerals as leverage against his family, showcasing his goodwill and improving future deals. Moreover, leaving early could save Khan from his current regression. He was no stranger to his mental stage and knew that some things had changed forever. Yet, reuniting with Monica could help in ways even he wasn''t aware of.


    Instead, pushing Senerth''s new bnce toward the coexistence of multiple smaller packs would lead to easier battles. The campaign wouldst longer, but the army would save manpower, and Khan was all for preserving his underlings'' lives.


    Nevertheless, the second option opened the mission to many variables. The monsters'' incredible reproduction and growth rate could lead to a one-pack scenario again. Also, each battle would have to be surgical and be wary of the infighting, inevitably slowing down the campaign''s progress.


    ''There has to be a middle ground,'' Khan thought. ''What''s the point of this power if I can''t pull off a few miracles?''


    Khan would never hasten his return to Monica''s loving embrace through his underlings'' blood. As much as he wanted and needed her, that was a line he couldn''t cross.


    However, Khan also wanted to excel, creating the best possible oue through his power and skill. The situation''s theoretical restraints meant nothing to his mana, and abiding by them would go against its very nature.


    "Run a few simtions," Khan ordered, "And coordinate with Master Carl. I willunch surgical strikes on my own. I just need the right targets."


    Garret didn''t expect anything less from Khan. Truth be told, he had already taken simr orders into ount,ying the ground for the requested simtions. Khan''s unclear abilities left gaps in the software, but they could be discussedter. Resting was paramount now since the remaining quadrants had to stabilize, and Khan also had something else to address.


    "It will be done, Prince Khan," Garret announced. "I must also inform you that themunication array has been improved. Miss Solodrey has already tested it, and its quality should be eptable."


    Khan diverted his gaze from the holograms, his bright eyes gaining a trace of humanity. Senerth''s unstable situation and Monica''s duties had prevented the two from interacting too often. Even when they did, they limited themselves to short calls disrupted by the''s barebone technology. Flying to the Leviathan could solve the issue, but Khan simply couldn''t leave.


    "Is she avable?" Khan asked.


    "Miss Solodrey did provide a window, Prince Khan," Garret nodded. "You are still in time."


    Khan immediately turned to leave. He knew themunication array and where to hold a private call. Yet, the hesitation in Garret''s mana made him shoot a questioning look at the


    scientist.


    "Forgive my boldness, Prince Khan," Garret said. "I know time is short, but your appearance might need attention."


    Khan looked down at himself, recalling his state. He was more blood than skin, with gore littered over his cape and trousers. The corpse stuck on his foot was gone, but the severed head on his shoulder had somehow survived his return to the Headquarters. If anything, Khan was surprised the scientists could recognize him, but they had probably gotten used to that sight in those months.

 Chapter 950: Call

    Chapter 950: Call


    ?


    Khan hurried, rushing in and out of the Headquarters'' simple showers without bothering to dry himself up. Drops of water still fell from his wet hair when he reached the private room, and damp patches expanded on his messy trousers while he dealt with the call''s security


    measures.


    Menus lit up on the room''s wall, asionally flickering while Khan went through the manymands. Soon, a holographic screen appeared at its center, and a ringing noise came from the speakers.


    Khan couldn''t help but feel eager. The short, often unclear calls couldn''t satisfy his longing. He wanted and needed to see Monica, as well as being seen by her.


    The ringing noise eventually stopped, reced by high-pitched robotic sounds. That annoying disturbance could easily cause headaches, but Khan barely heard it. Its arrival meant that themunication array was trying to stabilize the call, and nothing else mattered. The holographic screen also changed. Its flickering blue light darkened and brightened to create an unclear shape, growing more detailed by the second. Soon, Khan could almost make out Monica''s facial features, and a tired smile made its way to his face.


    It took a few minutes, but Monica''s face eventually became clear. The holographic screens didn''t distinguish among colors, but Khan''s imagination filled those gaps. He clearly saw her long ck curls, smooth dark skin, and icy blue eyes. He even recognized the brown pullover hanging from her shoulders. After all, it was one of the clothes Khan had left behind.


    Monica appeared unable to see Khan. Her eyes darted left and right, probably dealing with different menus while conveying a simr eagerness. She was clearly excited, and the arrival of a bright smile told Khan that she had seeded.


    The speakers still emitted the annoying high-pitched noises, but neither Khan nor Monica minded them. The two stared at their respective screens, enjoying that partial reunion. Khan lost himself in the scene, while Monica couldn''t help but notice a few differences.


    Monica''s gaze immediately fell on Khan''s exposed torso, carrying a hint of worry. Her eyes rxed when she failed to spot a single injury, quickly moving to his hair. It had gotten long in those months, almost reaching Khan''s shoulders, and its wetness failed to attach strands to his cheeks. Khan had even pulled it back, making it resemble a mane.


    A trace of interest shed in Monica''s gaze while she evaluated Khan''s new look. Still, noticing his teasing expression turned it into a re, which quickly melted to make room for someplicity. Monica wouldn''t mind adding more material to Khan''s secret album, but the call''s quality wasn''t ideal. It wasn''t even safe enough for that sort of thing.


    Nevertheless, theplicit moment was short-lived. Monica saw past Khan''s teasing expression, noticing a familiar exhaustion. Khan''s current stamina probably made him unable to show tiredness, but Monica didn''t need signs to spot it.


    The high-pitched noise suddenly retreated. asional disturbances happened, but the speakers remained mostly silent. Monica experienced the same development from her end, and her questioning voice finally reached Khan''s ears.


    "Khan?" Monica asked. "Can you hear me?"


    "I can," Khan said, hoping everything worked on his end, too. "Can you?"


    "Yes!" Monica almost shouted, clear happiness in her tone. Still, concern quickly reced that emotion, leading to a sad question. "What is that doing to you?"


    "It''s an ordinary battlefield," Khan reassured. "Nothing I haven''t seen before." "Khan," Monica called, almost pleading.


    A flicker ran through the holographic screen, disturbing the enchanting sight. Khan closed his eyes, calming himself down, but it took a while for the call to stabilize again. That issue acted as a reminder of his changes, almost hinting at something deeper.


    "Khan?" Monica''s voice resounded again. "Can you hear me?"


    Khan reopened his eyes, nodding while searching for the right words. Yet, he quickly gave up on the matter. Khan didn''t need to do that with Monica.


    "It''s strange," Khan said. "The stronger I get, the more I realize how weak the others are. I''m questioning why I brought the Scalqa here in the first ce."


    Monica remained silent. Her education couldn''tpare to actual real-life experiences, and she didn''t want to summon it to talk with Khan. That issue went beyond the simple burden of leadership.


    "Because they are your people, dear," Monica responded.


    "Why am I wasting their lives then?" Khan asked.


    "Their lives aren''t yours to waste," Monica stated. "They chose to give them to you, just like I did with mine."


    "And is this the best I can do?" Khan wondered. "Throwing them at hungry beasts or using them to deal with paperwork."


    "This is so annoying," Monica sighed. "I can''t beat you up when we are so far away."


    "We''d do something else if we weren''t so far away," Khan pointed out.


    "Obviously," Monicamented, peeking past her shoulder to look at something the call didn''t record. "I might have prepared too many surprises for your return, but that''s beside the point."


    "What''s the point?" Khan questioned, refraining from making jokes.


    "Why do you work so hard?" Monica answered with a question. "Why do you keep trying to be stronger?"


    "The scarlet eyes," Khan replied. "To protect and keep what I love, be it you, George, the others, the Scalqa, and whatnot."


    "Aren''t you doing it?" Monica wondered.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "But what if I grow so strong I can''t rte to you all anymore?" Khan asked.


    "Then they weren''t worthy of being with you in the first ce," Monica calmly said, earning herself a frown.


    "Khan," Monica sighed. "I know how that stupid brain of yours works. No matter how many amazing things you do and how many people you save, you still think of yourself as


    different."


    Monica fell silent. She wished she could throw all the emotions in her brain toward Khan, but words weren''t the right channel.


    "And you are different," Monica continued, "But that doesn''t mean wrong. A human couldn''t have achieved as much. A human couldn''t have survived everything you have survived."


    "What''s the solution?" Khan asked.


    "There''s no solution because this isn''t a problem," Monica said. "You are the future. You are the hope of the future. Are you afraid of losing soldiers? Grow so strong people won''t even dare to fight you. Are you afraid of losing me? Love me even harder."


    Monica fell silent again before adding something else. "Rules have never applied to you, so stop pretending they exist to pass as one of us."


    Monica sighed, throwing back her head but still peeking at the screen. "And hurry up out


    there. I''m missing you in ways I didn''t think possible. This is an official request from your


    soon-to-be wife."

 Chapter 951: War council

    Chapter 951: War council


    ?


    The conversation grew more light-hearted, even bordering on topics and jokes those unsafe channels should prevent. Nevertheless, the two eventually had to close the call and attend to their duties.


    Khan felt slightly conflicted when he left the private room and exited the building. The''s white star had almost disappeared behind the horizon, creating a marvelous but alien spectacle with its surviving light shining on the brown-red soil. Usually, Khan would admire the scene while lost in thoughts, but his mood didn''t let him rx.


    Seeing Monica after so long had been great, fantastic even. Her existence reminded Khan of a life outside the battlefield, a life of unending passion and love.


    Monica''s calm approach to Khan''s doubts had also reassured him. Khan had always been honest with her, and she knew exactly what their rtionship would entail. Monica had evene to terms with Khan''s alien nature over the years, so she never failed to add a perspective Khan was blind to.


    However, that reassurance wasn''tplete. A strange feeling nagged the back of Khan''s mind. He almost felt Monica had underestimated the current issue, failing to see its ramifications and possible consequences.


    ''It''s not like I know what this issue exactly is,'' Khan thought. ''Or how to exin it.''


    Of course, Khan knew. He couldn''t trante the idea into words, but his heart knew. Khan was growing distant from everyone else, delving deeper into the world only he could see. His superior power was erecting a tall wall, and he feared all his loved ones would end up on its other side.


    ''I must have spent too long on this,'' Khan considered, pushing those worries aside. ''One day with Monica will make this feeling disappear.''


    That conclusion didn''te from confidence. Khan simply hoped it would be true, especially since he couldn''t see alternatives. That was his path to power, and he couldn''t stop treading it. The entire universe was at stake, and Khan had promised his father he would save it.


    Pushing that bitter feeling aside made room for a single-minded goal. Monica had expressed a clear wish, and Khan was ready to set seas ame to fulfill it. Thanks to it, he found it easier to concentrate and dismiss useless worries.


    Khan nced at the building behind him before disappearing. The Headquarters was still dealing with the vast battle''s conclusion, retrieving corpses and more with the help of jeeps and other armored vehicles. The process would probablyst until tomorrow, but Khan knew something had already ended.


    Theb area was busy and crowded. Scalqa delivered corpses to interactive desks, hoovering metal carts, or specific warehouses while scientists dealt with them. Simr scenes unfolded in the buildings focused on studying Senerth''s unique ground. The army would leave the to the Nognes Excellencies, but seizing resources during the conquest was within its rights.


    In the meantime, a smaller group had gathered inside a rtively central building. The ce looked small and unassuming, featuring only a short square structure. Still, its elevator led to an underground area that hosted Khan''s war council.


    Truthfully, the army didn''t initially n to have a specific building for those topics. Saving space was paramount forary conquests, so the army''s leaders relied on theb for most strategy meetings.


    However, as Khan''s fame grew, his presence started to disturb the scientists'' work. His aura also messed up with theb''s tech, so Lieutenant Dyester summoned the new building from the Leviathan to handle the most important war meetings.


    The war council had already started when Khan descended into the underground area. A huge hologram of the shone above a circr metal table with people either sitting, standing, or roaming around it. The mood felt heavy, but only silence existed when the elevator revealed Khan.


    Lieutenant Dyester nced at Khan and snorted, blowing the smoke from his cigarette while pacing around the table. Garret stood from his seat and rubbed his tired eyes before lowering his head to wee Khan.


    Moses, Prince Richard, and Bruno were also there. The former had to be worthy of the Montares Princesses, so he needed that military experience. He sat on his chair, wearing the politest stance he could muster, while his fervent gaze fell on Khan.


    Prince Richard was Khan''s Cousin, so he had the right to attend those meetings. Also, his education would only benefit from witnessing how wars actually unfolded. Showing him the battlefield and the strategy sides would fulfill Prince Thomas'' request, so Khan didn''t mind his presence.


    As for Bruno, he acted as a simple bystander, ensuring that Khan didn''t try to go back on his deal with the other Nognes factions. His presence could be overbearing, but the evolved warrior did his best to appear invisible.


    "What''s the disagreement?" Khan asked, reading the mood.


    "Master Carl doesn''t like the idea ofunching solo surgical strikes, Prince Khan," Garret politely exined.


    "We have an army," Lieutenant Dyester eximed, "The pheromone, and an enemy busy killing itself. There''s no reason to send you alone out there."


    "What do you suggest?" Khan questioned.


    Lieutenant Dyester approached the table, putting out his cigarette while tinkering with the menus. The holograms changed, showing a series of simtions that reflected his strategy.


    "We use the infighting," Lieutenant Dyester exined. "Unleash the pheromone as soon as the battles end to catch the creatures hungry and injured. Oppressing them from four fronts will also shrink their hunting grounds, cutting out additional food sources."


    The holograms showed the red area closing down on a blue zone, encircling it, and gradually devouring it. Lieutenant Dyester nned to split the army into four battalions, focusing on securing vast stretches of territory in a short period.


    The timing had to be perfect to exploit the pack''s chaotic situation, but the idea was good. Securing territory wasn''t an issue with the turrets, and the Scalqa were more than capable of handling injured monsters. Limiting the creatures'' hunting grounds would also remove variables, projecting a clean victory.


    Still, the idea was bound to be messy, especially in its initial stages. The pheromone was valuable, but its control wasn''t perfect. One front might expect to face a small pack only to see a whole horde of injured monsters rushing toward it. Moreover, Khan might not be there, leaving the Scalqa to fend for themselves.


    The Scalqa would probably win, and a loss wouldn''t ruin the campaign anyway. Yet, the casualties could be far higher than anything experienced in the past months.


    Also, Lieutenant Dyester had failed to consider one point, probably on purpose. That strategy was perfect for an ordinary army withmon means, but Khan was on Senerth, and there was nothing ordinary about him.


    "What''s the current death toll?" Khan asked.


    A grim expression appeared on Lieutenant Dyester''s face. He knew where Khan was going with his question and the consequences his answer would create.


    "We lost three hundred and sixty-seven soldiers," Garret promptly replied. "With the Prince and Master Carl on opposite fronts, we can pour more forces on the remaining two


    battalions."


    Garret''s suggestion worked in favor of Lieutenant Dyester''s idea, but Khan didn''t hear it. His brain still lingered on that number. The campaign had almost killed a quarter of his army.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    All things considered, those losses were extraordinarily low. After all, the army was dealing with an entire upied by a savage enemy. That result was incredible and could be seen as an excellent military aplishment.


    Yet, Khan couldn''t see his army as a weapon. He didn''t like to wield the Scalqa as a blunt tool of war. He very much preferred to turn himself into that than dealing with the death of his


    soldiers.


    "That''s the reason," Khan dered. "Expand and reinforce the perimeter as much as possible. Keep the scanners pointed at the remaining quadrants. Rest and regroup in the meantime. We''ll have another meeting in two weeks."


    "What do you n on doing?" Lieutenant Dyester asked, his grim expression darkening.


    "I''m going out," Khan casually said, approaching the elevator. The war council had more questions, but Khan didn''t give anyone the time to speak.


    ****


    Author''s notes: Happy New Year!

 Chapter 952: Rules

    Chapter 952: Rules


    ?


    Garret and Lieutenant Dyester were both smarter than Khan in their specific fields. Their reputation was well-earned and proven in many instances. Their strategies and ideas reeked of pure wisdom born from experience, but Khan couldn''t stick to their methods.


    As always, Monica was right. Khan had never yed by the rules, and they had never applied to him, either. He had often pretended to abide by them to retain a degree of connection with the rest of the world, but that time was long behind him.


    Lieutenant Dyester''s strategies were perfect. Garret''s suggestions were brilliant, but Khan saw a different path. Strength was everything on the battlefield, and he wielded enough of it to enforce his own rules. An entire was too much for Khan, but the remaining quadrants were within the range of his abilities.


    Khan made a short stop to seize some provisions before setting off. His phone was connected to the Headquarters''work, so he could summon Senerth''s map anytime. Receiving updates on the situation would require him to return inside the perimeter, but he had given a precise timeline and nned to make the most of it.


    The Headquarters moved before and after each battle to remain rtively close to the next fighting front, so Khan didn''t take long to cross the defensive perimeter. He flew past the tall turrets, diving into the unconquered territory.


    Khan relied on the map on the phone and symphony to navigate those quadrants. At times, he would spot roaming packs, with a few engaged in battles. Still, he ignored them and focused on reaching his destination.


    The remaining quadrants weren''t exactly uncharted territory. The Leviathan had mapped them, providing a precise scan of theiryout. He knew where the best resources were, and conquering them was bound to bring the monsters'' attention to him.


    It took a while, and the symphony eventually had to step in to add details to the phone''s map, but Khan eventually spotted his destination. A short, smooth hill grew from a barren in, creating a stark contrast with the ground. The night had descended, covering the area in darkness, but light existed in Khan''s eyes.


    The smooth hill was murky, reflecting the absence of illumination, but Khan saw it as blinding dark blue. The mineral was nothing short of a mass of mana, albeit its energy wasn''t entirely pure.


    The mineral wasn''t alone. Khan saw simr lights around it, shining from under the barren ground. Also, hundreds of smaller auras encircled it, making it theirir. A powerful, numerous pack had settled on the hill, ready to defend it against attackers.


    Khan was flying high enough to avoid the monsters'' sharp senses, and the huge mineral also provided interference. The pack remained oblivious to Khan''s arrival, allowing him to study it without rming the creatures.


    The location was extremely valuable. The hill and the underground mine could probably supply the pack for years, and their benefits didn''t end there. Their appeal would attract other hungry beasts, providing a stable food source as long as the monsters in charge kept winning. The area''s priceless nature justified the presence of a powerful alpha. Khan didn''t have scanners, but his senses were sharper than machines. The huge creaturezily resting on top of the hill was as strong as a fifth-level warrior, and its physical features confirmed the existence of mutations.


    The alpha was far bigger than any specimens encountered in the previous months. It looked almost four meters tall with ck skin instead of fur. It resembled a boulder while crouched, and its long ws released metallic noises when they scraped the mineral underneath them.


    Wisdom said Khan had to submerge the ce in spears, raining fire until each monster turned into charred fur and gore. His ability to fly was his greatest advantage against those monsters, and ruining the hill wouldn''t affect him. Those goods would go to the other Excellencies anyway.


    However, a different drive took over Khan. He began to descend, unleashing the full might of his aura. The dark sky seemed on the verge of turning purple-red under his influence, and the power he radiatedpletely overwhelmed the mineral''s interference.


    Only part of the pack patrolled the mineral''s perimeter. The other monsters were either sleeping or resting around the hill, but the arrival of Khan''s aura alerted everyone. Hundreds of hungry heads rose toward the sky, and growls and howls weed the arrival of two blue lights.


    The alpha also jumped to its feet, firmly nting its paws on the mineral. It was ready to defend it with its life, but its hunger was boundless. After confirming that Khan was alone, the creature released a low growl that suppressed the nearby noise. The other monsters looked angry but still lowered their heads, epting their leader''s im over that food.


    Khan didn''t bother checking the pack''s behavior. He didn''t need to, either. The symphony told him everything he needed to know. The other monsters wouldn''t interfere with the imminent battle.


    Khan didn''t elerate and kept his descent''s speed low. Meanwhile, the alpha followed him with its four eyes, waiting for the right moment to strike. Eventually, Khan entered its leap range, but the monster remained still.


    The alpha moved only after Khan''s feet touched the mineral. The creature lunged forward, its massive front ws closing on Khan. A loud cry apanied the assault, but Khan''s sudden eleration cut it short.


    Khan advanced, dodging the closing ws to m his right hand on the monster''s head. His fingers wed onto it, immobilizing the beast while trying to push it back. However, the strength of a single arm couldn''t suppress a creature as strong as a fifth-level warrior.


    The monster lowered its head and pushed Khan back, bringing its sharp paws on him again. He would typically need to escape in the air, but that confrontation was happening under the rules he had decided.


    Khan suddenly released the monster''s head, mming his arms to his sides. He caught the alpha''s paws before they could touch him, and his fingers squeezed them, unleashing all the strength they could carry.


    The monster''s skin resembled a tough alloy under Khan''s touch. The best his body had to offer couldn''t break it, but the creature didn''t have it any better. Khan was locking down its front legs, keeping himself outside its maw''s range. The alpha couldn''t overpower him, entering a contest of pure physical strength.


    Khan kept the monster still while thetter tried to put power into its rear legs to push him away. The alpha didn''t seed, and the pressure from Khan''s fingers gradually increased. His body innately radiated an invasive energy, weakening the creature''s skin until cracks openedn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    under his fingertips.


    The alpha immediately abandoned its pride, howling to prompt the pack to move. The monsters heard the order and rushed toward the hill, climbing it to deal with the formidable opponent. Khan sensed everything but remained unfazed. Actually, a strange smile formed on


    his face.


    "Toote," Khan whispered. "You are already broken."


    The alpha obviously couldn''t understand Khan''s words, but its body began to feel odd. Something was amiss, and consequences quickly arrived. Cracks spread through its front legs, reaching its body and head. Its skin turned into gory shards that began falling apart, creating a bloody waterfall that tainted the smooth mineral.

 Chapter 953: Apex predator

    Chapter 953: Apex predator


    ?


    After unlocking the Nak''s hand''s spell through Baoway''s toxic substance, Khan continued to master and study it. At its core, the attack expressed the chaos element''s true nature, so Khan believed enhancing its effects would push him closer to the realm of evolved warriors.


    Destroying inanimate objects was the first step, which Khan had mastered with rtive ease. The universe strived toward entropy, and the training with the toxic pool had made his body better suited to sense it. He felt that intrinsic and unstoppable force everywhere, and eventually, a single thought became enough to push it toward the critical point.


    Instead, the second step had been far more challenging. The living beings were the next target, and Khan couldn''t simply will them out of existence. Their bodies still strived toward entropy on a cellr level, but the me of their lives opposed any attempt to push them toward the breaking point.


    The mana-enhanced living beings were especially tough to deal with. The energy circting through their bodies improved all kinds of physical functions, raising the requirements for their breaking point.


    Relying on additional steps or proper techniques could fill that gap but would also defeat the purpose. Khan already had spells that could aplish those feats in the end. The whole point of those attempts was to summon and improve his element''s true nature, which meant seeding through its most basic form.


    Khan ended up finding the solution in his element''s nature. The greatest clue at his disposal was the unreasonable, overbearing energy flowing through his body and affecting his personality. His mere thoughts could destroy inanimate objects, so his wildest desires could affect living beings.


    If Khan''s desire to destroy surpassed a living being''s attempt at self-preservation, thetter would crumble. It was a straightforward but profound challenge that involved the very concept of life and whether Khan''s urgers were enough to squash it. Seeding elevated the wall between him and the world but also brought satisfaction. It boosted his ego and appeased his unreasonable energy.


    That bitter satisfaction seemed to reflect Khan''s entire life. Everything he had obtained had alwayse with a steep price tag, reminding him of an old line he used to tell himself.


    ''My advantagese from traumas,'' Khan thought, watching the powerful alpha crumbling apart as if it were no different than a boulder. ''My happinesses from the blood on my hands.''


    Khan once hoped that getting stronger would have created a path outside that predicament, but the universe kept proving him wrong. Paul had been right all along back on Nitis. Blood was the most valuable currency in the world. It was only a matter of being willing to use it. Khan''s fingers soon closed, catching nothing but bloodied bone shards and torn muscles. Under his watchful eyes, the alpha transformed into gory dust, tainting the mineral with its disgusting insides. He had just willed something as strong as a fifth-level warrior out of existence, and his spiritual loneliness had never felt deeper.


    ''Monsters are indeed easier to affect,'' Khan concluded, mentally addressing the puddle of gore. ''You lost when you abandoned your pride.''


    The alpha''s death emboldened the monsters rushing toward Khan''s position. Killing the invader didn''t only promise additional food. A gap in leadership had appeared, and most creatures wanted to fill it to seize its many benefits.


    The monsters jumped on the short hill, crowding it. Some slipped on its smooth surface, turning the charge more chaotic. Creatures fell left and right, but no one stopped rushing toward the prey, submerging the mineral in a closing sea of fur.


    Khan sighed, ignoring the iing pack to look at the dark sky. The distant stars seemed to call him, telling him Senerth was too small for his existence. The vast universe promised endless adventures and possibilities, but his duties chained him to a mission that risked taking everything away from him.


    A monster eventually broke through the messy cluster of fur, leaping toward Khan. Its open maw revealed its sharp teeth, which reflected the light radiated by Khan''s eyes. The creature was almost upon him, but a purple-red color suddenly filled its vision.


    The spherical version of the Wave spell expanded from Khan''s body, devouring anything in its path. The monster crumbled, the mineral shattered, and even the air seemed to fall apart. The attack created a death zone that kept reaping lives, only allowing Khan''s existence.


    The spell eventually dispersed, leaving Khan at the center of a half-spherical cavity. Only fur and blood surrounded him, but more monsters stood past that gory swamp. The pack looked immense, but Khan didn''t feel any danger.


    ''What did Lieutenant Colonel say back on Ecoruta?'' Khan wondered. ''Evolved soldiers are dragons among ants? Or was it rats? Anyway, I guess he was right.''


    The monsters charged again, sshing through the gory swamp, but Khan still looked at the sky. He casually lifted his arms to his sides, aiming his palms at the nearest enemy groups, but his mind kept wandering in memories.


    ''When was thest time I even ate a rat?'' Khan frowned, trying his best to remember. Meanwhile, two conical versions of the Wave spell shot from his palms, erasing the iing monsters from existence.


    The return of the deadly purple-red light stopped the assault once again. Monsters died without getting the chance to utter ast cry, while those outside the spells'' range simply watched, dreadinging any closer to the new death zone.


    ''I can''t remember,'' Khan thought, giving up. His spells lost power and disappeared in the air, clearing the path for the remaining monsters. Still, he finally lowered his bright eyes, enforcing a primordial motionlessness.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The monsters trembled in fear under Khan''s bright gaze. They couldn''t recognize him as one of their own, butbeling him as food didn''t work anymore, either. The creatures'' weak survival instincts grew stronger in Khan''s presence, temporarily suppressing their boundless hunger to remind them of a long-lost concept.


    Senerth''s monsters were the''s overlords. They were its sole species, and their dominion hadsted for decades. They had wiped out everything else long ago, leaving only themselves as potential enemies.


    However, Khan had awakened an idea deep into the monsters'' genes. The forgotten concept of the food chain gained new life, updating the creatures on a terrifying truth. A new apex predator had descended upon Senerth''s fauna.

 Chapter 954: Runes

    Chapter 954: Runes


    ?


    Khan sat cross-legged at the top of the hill. The battle had ruined its smooth surface, adding cracks, digging holes, and covering it with maimed corpses and gory puddles. The pack was no more, but Khan''s night was still long.


    A purple-red light disrupted the dark environment. A bright, intricate rune hovered before Khan''s chest, siphoning mana into his body. His flesh greedily epted that energy, storing it under his skin to prepare it for the following absorption.


    After the toxic poolpleted Khan''s physical transformation, he only had his attunement with mana to address. Bringing that stat to one hundred points would finalize the process, turning him into an official evolved warrior.


    Increasing the attunement with mana had never been a big problem for Khan. The [Blood Vortex] had always made his growth extraordinary, fueling his fame and more thanpensating for his inability to rely on infusions.


    However, Khan''s body had already achieved the evolution, so strengthening it required far more energy. He had improved on the [Blood Vortex]''s design, but the technique appeared unable to scratch his new limits. His flesh resembled a bottomless pit, epting all the energy he gathered without showing signs of satisfaction.


    On the one hand, that trend was promising. Being able to store so much energy spoke for the power of Khan''s body. He could only imagine how strong he would be after reaching one hundred points. Chances were Khan would outss the evolved warriors who had relied on the extreme induction as soon as hepleted his attunement.


    On the other, the process was bound to be extremely slow. Khan''s superior training technique wouldn''t stop his peers from surpassing his attunement level. That stat didn''t speak for his actual power, but humans still relied on it to evaluate warriors. The new hurdle risked affecting his fame and weing new challengers to his rule.


    Sadly, it was toote to do anything about it. Moreover, the solution didn''t change. Khan would simply have to rely on an overwhelming show of force the second someone tried to defy him. He would have to make an example out of that enemy to deter future challenges and reinforce his fame.


    ''Blood always is the solution,'' Khan internally cursed while focusing on weing that natural energy. The process could be faster, but the rune hovering before his chest wasn''t the sole item in need of mana.


    Eight additional runes encircled Khan, hovering farther away from him. Their lines differed from the symbol before his chest, but their power was far greater and kept rising. Their structure grew unstable as more mana poured into their fabric, but they held for now.


    The hill was one of Senerth''s best locations, so the pack that had previously upied it was one of the''s strongest. Even the Thilku would confirm that Khan had already proven his superiority, so they wouldn''tin about those unorthodox methods.


    Moreover, Khan had grown bored of killing hordes of monsters with his kicks and shes. The process was no different than squashing ants, and he had even run out of tests toplete. Khan only wanted to get the conquest done now, so he didn''t mind relying on his best attack.


    The damaged hill and the gory marsh acted as the perfect bait. The area reeked of avable food, so nearby monsters didn''t take long to catch its scent and converge in its location. The ground started to tremble as a numerous pack appeared on the dark horizon, and a sigh escaped Khan''s mouth when he calcted its route.


    ''It would have been too perfect,'' Khan cursed. ''Whatever.''


    The pack grew bigger in Khan''s vision as it closed the distance with the hill. A tide of fur covered the ground on Khan''s right, nning to overwhelm the mineral. The terrifying scene could make anyone abandon their position, but Khan only mentallyined about the monsters'' arrangements.


    Only two of the three runes pointed in the pack''s rtive direction could hit it. Moreover, neither would aim at the tide''s center, forcing Khan to waste two of the prepared spells.


    Khan let the pack reach the hill''s base before throwing a punch toward the chosen runes. His gesture released a wave of mana that triggered something inside those unstable lines, activating their functions.


    The lines achieved a deeper fusion before losing their rtively orderly structure. All the umted mana burst out of two runes, turning them into massive waves of energy that submerged the entire pack.


    A few monsters had just started climbing the hill when everything disappeared. A blinding radiance deprived them of their vision, and their fellow specimens shared that predicament. A small purple-red star had lit up in the area, and the damaged hill reflected its color, enhancing its brilliance.


    The blinding scenery onlysted for a few seconds. Darkness soon descended on the area again, leaving Khan''s training technique and the remaining six runes as sole sources of light. As for the pack, even experts would struggle to confirm its past existence.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Two massive grooves had opened on the hill''s side, stretching through the terrain past its base. The emission of that raw, violent energy had destroyed everything on its path. asional hair, charred bones, and fuming pieces of insides lingered in those holes, but nothing breathed down there.


    The only survivor stood at the very edge of the grooves. The monster had been in the back of the pack and had turned after sensing the impending danger. Yet, its reaction had been too slow, and the spell had almost eaten half its body.


    The creature had lost two legs and its left side, leaving its damaged organs in the open. It had crashed on the ground, and a painful cry tried to escape its mouth, but to no avail. Its lungs didn''t work anymore, and its breathing soon stopped. After that, the pack was no more.


    ''If only I could summon so much energy at will,'' Khan thought. ''It''s a pity this spell requires so long to set up.''


    That was Khan''s best attack in terms of raw power. Even a Thilku as strong as Izraz, the soldier on the military, had failed to defend against it, and Khan''s evolution had only improved it. It stood to reason that the pack had no hope of surviving it, but its shorings were apparent. Khan probably wouldn''t have the chance to use that spell against someone like


    Bruno.


    ''I should be able to move it around freely if I stabilize its structure,'' Khan considered. ''I guess I found something to do in these two weeks.''

 Chapter 955: Envoy

    Chapter 955: Envoy


    ?


    The hill was the perfect bait, and the spreading gory marsh increased its range, attracting more distant packs that fell under Khan''s ws.


    The additional corpses erged the marsh, its scent reaching packs even further away, attracting more battles and starting a new killing cycle. Khan could continue the conquest without moving from the mineral, but the task barely upied a fraction of his mind.


    As fearsome and relentless as the monsters were, Khan simply couldn''t consider them a threat. He kept training, focusing on increasing his attunement with mana in that natural environment while his runes dealt with most iing enemies. asionally, Khan had to stand up and finish off a few survivors, but the process never took longer than a minute.


    The full immersion in the training was beneficial. Khan''s body had changed too quickly for him to uncover all its secrets, and that prolonged time alone increased his confidence in his abilities and deepened his understanding of his new limits.


    It was worth mentioning that Khan wasn''t an evolved human. The mutations had transformed him into something different, superior, so the Global Army''s records couldn''t help him. Even Khan didn''t know his full potential and could only uncover it through tests and training.


    The fruitful training session continued for slightly over a week when a disturbance arrived. Khan caught the scent of the synthetic mana, so he sent an order toward his surroundings to hide his abilities. The Leviathan''s scanners had always pointed at him, but their recordings were bound to be superficial, and he wanted to have a few secrets.


    The eight runes hovering around Khan destabilized, softly releasing their energy. Trails of purple-red gas shot upward, but Khan quickly added a line to the symbol before his chest, enhancing its suction force.


    The dispersing mana made a U-turn in the air, converging toward the [Blood Vortex]''s rune. A tide of energy surged in Khan''s body, threatening to burn his skin. Slowing down the process would save him some injuries, but he ignored the pain to get the best out of that sudden interruption.


    A small ship eventually appeared on the bright horizon, flying close to the ground and toward Khan''s position. He recognized it as one of his own but focused onpleting the mana absorption.


    By the time the ship reached its destination, all the runes had disappeared. The vehicle didn''tnd but kept hovering a few meters from Khan, turning sideways to show its doors.


    The side doors opened, revealing two young figures. Prince Richard and Moses stood at the cargo area''s edge, their stances conveying their different mindset. Moses showed nothing but reverence during his bow, while Prince Richard couldn''t help but inspect Khan''s surroundings.


    The hill wasn''t a hill anymore. Khan''s spells didn''t distinguish between ground and monsters, and the grooves they dug had umted until the mineral had transformed into an uneven tower covered in cracks. Only its top, where Khan sat, was somehow intact.


    The destruction had spread on the ground below. Deep grooves filled with blood, fur, and gore encircled the tower. The marsh was shallower in some areas, allowing the mineral below to reflect Senerth''s white star. Corpses also littered the soil past that darkke, creating a terrifying scene.


    Nevertheless, as terrifying as the area was, Khan remained scarier. The forceful absorption of the previously umted mana had tried to scorch Khan''s skin. Injuries and burns had failed to appear, but smoke still rose from his sitting figure.


    Adding Khan''s wild look to the smoke put him closer to a monster rather than a human leader. Moreover, the runes left a lingering violent vibe in the air, making Prince Richard wonder whether Khan recognized him at all.


    As for Khan, he mostly focused on Moses. The young man''s reverence had only intensified in that short period. He looked utterly devoted to Khan and ready to follow his every order. Doubts didn''t exist inside his mana. Moses had probably be one of Khan''s most loyal subjects during the war.


    Moses'' fervent reverence told Khan that the Headquarters had studied his recent aplishments. However, the two-week period wasn''t over, so the arrival of an envoy hinted at problems.


    Lieutenant Dyester obviously couldn''t leave the army due to his leadership position, so the role of messenger had fallen on Moses. As for Prince Richard, his family name had probably tasked him to confirm that themunication had reached its target.


    "Speak," Khan announced.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Reporting to Prince Khan," Moses responded, straightening his back to perform a military salute. "Master Carl is requesting your return to the Headquarters. Senerth''s situation has changed, requiring your presence."


    "Changed how?" Khan asked.


    "Most packs have been dealt with, Prince Khan," Moses exined, "Either by you, the perimeter defenses, or the monsters themselves. Only onerge group remains, and Master Carl feels these are the perfect conditions for a final attack."


    Khan''s face didn''t show it, but he felt surprised. In theory, Senerth''s situation shouldn''t have developed and reached that point so quickly. The simtions put it at least one month away. Still, Khan knew what had changed. He had joined the fray, iming the hill for himself. Khan also had to admit he had lost count of how many packs he had ughtered so that development could be reasonable.


    "Is the army ready?" Khan questioned.


    "Master Carl spent thest few days expanding the perimeter and getting the Scalqa ready, Prince Khan," Moses confirmed. "We only need your order tounch the attack."


    "Very well," Khan eximed, standing up and walking toward the ship. He crossed the intact foothold, but his steps kept pushing him forward. The air acted as his new surface until he


    reached the cargo area.


    Prince Richard and Moses moved aside, making way for Khan. Thetter ignored the young warriors and headed for the cabin, where a human pilot had already stood up to perform a military salute. Khan only needed to nce at him, and the soldier stepped away to leave the pilot''s seat to him.

 Chapter 956: Variable

    Chapter 956: Variable


    ?


    The Headquarters had changed once again while Khan was away. The cluster of central buildings had moved, getting closer to the defensive perimeter. Long-range turrets had also joined them, nning to help in the iing battle.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The defensive perimeter itself had changed. Many turrets had gathered there, separated by a series of deep trenches. That arrangement said a lot about the imminent battle strategy, but Khan kept his thoughts to himself.


    The Scalqa inside the trenches and defensive perimeter noticed the ship and cheered at its arrival. Some even followed it to itsnding area, crowding the ce.


    The cheers grew louder when Khan''s figure appeared on the ship''s side doors. General excitement invaded the army at the return of its true leader, and Khan let that feeling wash over himself before setting off, flying toward the war council''s building.


    Khan''s trip could have been immediate, but he decided to remain visible, slowly approaching his destination. Countless gazes followed his flying figure before he disappeared underground.


    The underground meeting room was empty, but Khan calmly seized one of the avable bottles and sat down, waiting for the war council to assemble. He ced his feet on the circr table, ignoring the holograms to focus on drinking. Meanwhile, the elevator opened and closed, allowing figures inside.


    Prince Richard and Moses were the first to arrive, followed by Bruno. Garret didn''t take long to descend into the underground room, either, while Lieutenant Dyester camest.


    Each new addition to the underground room conveyed different reactions. Both young warriors now had nothing but respect and reverence. Bruno looked indifferent, while Garret''s calm face hid some amazement. As for Lieutenant Dyester, a trace of sad exhaustion tainted his mana, having Khan as its target.


    Those reactions mostly ignored Khan''s appearance. His stay on the mineral had been far from clean. Dirt and sweat covered him. His body and clothes needed a bath, and his aura seemed to yearn for a prolonged break. Still, no one addressed it, especially since Khan cut the inspection short with a question.


    "Brief me," Khan ordered, sipping from his cup while raising his gaze to the holograms.


    "Yes, Prince Khan," Garret stated, standing up to tinker with the desk''s menus. The holograms changed, reying the events from the previous week.


    Khan could finally see the effects of his actions. Indeed, the mineral was a valuable location, and the corpses that gradually littered its surroundings enhanced its appeal. Many packs had tried to assault it, only to fall from Khan''s hands.


    The recording wasn''t detailed. A few screens asionally popped out, trying to add videos to the simplistic holograms, but the scanners had only captured unclear pictures of the packs and the quadrant. No one actually saw how Khan had dealt with the iing enemies. Their red marks simply disappeared once they reached their destination.


    Khan had expected as much. That scene matched his guess, too. The holograms justified Moses'' reverence and the general excitement about Khan''s return. The army had basically seen Khan single-handedly dealing with multiple packs, and the mystery behind his methods only intensified his fame.


    Nevertheless, the interesting part came after the summary of the previous week. Some packs had ignored the mineral''s appeal, focusing on their fellow monsters and other valuable locations. Large-scale battles had unfolded in the nearby quadrants, involving the entirety of Senerth''s remaining fauna.


    The battle''s oue saw a single pack emerging victorious. Three slightly bigger red marks stood among a sea of smaller triangles, highlighting the group''s size. It seemed the unusual situation had brought an evolution to the monsters'' type of leadership, giving birth to a triumvirate.


    Of course, the monsters'' intelligence was limited, and that short period wasn''t enough to bring a drastic improvement. The massive pack had to have a single leader at its core, with the two other creatures acting as generals. That development was unexpected, but Khan could spot both benefits and problems.


    The pack''s size was troublesome. More than a thousand beasts filled its ranks, almost matching the Scalqa army. Khan couldn''t rely on the numerical advantage anymore, inevitably leading to a bloody battle.


    However, the next battle was bound to be thest. Winning it would end the Empire''s mission, finalizing Senerth''s conquest. The long months of struggles had finally reached their critical point, perfectly matching Khan''s ideal timeline.


    Also, the pack''s size would give Khan all the room he needed to freely unleash his wide-range spells without worrying about hurting his soldiers. He would be able to dive into the backlines, raining death upon the monsters that had yet to reach the frontline.


    The turrets would share Khan''s advantage, firing at will until the army and pack merged into a chaotic battlefield. The pheromone would also allow Khan to choose the fighting ground, allowing him to exploit humankind''s superior military intelligence.


    The idea of a bloody battle annoyed Khan, but it was toote to do anything about it. Senerth''s fauna was giving its everything in ast attempt to resist that powerful invader, and Khan had to respect its effort by meeting it on the battlefield. That was what the Thilku had taught him.


    Still, one detail remained unclear, gnawing at Khan''s brain. The army had spent months studying the monsters'' bodies and behavior, so Khan couldn''t help but spot something odd. "Do we know what''s special about this leader?" Khan questioned.


    Generals weremon among humans, but the monsters had hunger at their core. They didn''t fight for leadership positions out of ambition and pride. Leading a pack simply secured them more food.


    Thest pack clearly had three alphas, so there had to be a reason behind their cooperation or subservience. Strength was the most obvious exnation, but mana-enhanced creatures weren''t as simple as they looked. Khan knew that far too well after experiencing Nitis'' outburst.


    "We spotted the same incongruence, Prince Khan," Garret revealed. "The pack''s structure and movements have been odd, but we couldn''t find anything specific. The leader probably underwent some strange mutation that awarded it new powers."


    ''The power to control two alphas,'' Khan thought. ''It can''t be simple. However, does it


    matter?''


    As if reading Khan''s thoughts, Lieutenant Dyester finally spoke. "Variables can be scary, but overwhelming strength can deal with all of them."


    "What do you suggest?" Khan asked.


    "Meeting the pack on the battlefield," Lieutenant Dyester snorted, "And dropping the two of us in its middle to deal with the leaders. A dead variable is no variable at all."

 Chapter 957: Affection

    Chapter 957: Affection


    ?


    Khan looked at Lieutenant Dyester, but thetter remained unaffected by the blue light illuminating his figure. He kept inspecting the holograms, seemingly unaware of Khan''s attention.


    Theoretically, Lieutenant Dyester was Khan''s most capable soldier. He also had a wide range of abilities, and his fire almost matched Khan''s chaos. The two also were at the same level, but that had little meaning when Khan was involved.


    Khan didn''t doubt Lieutenant Dyester''s ability to survive the battlefield. The old soldier could probably deal with monsters as strong as fifth-level warriors. Khan simply didn''t like to put his life in danger when he could handle everything alone, but clearly, the decision had deeper reasons.


    "Leave," Khan ordered, and everyone understood his hidden meaning. Moses, Prince Richard, Garret, and Bruno entered the elevator, returning to the surface to give Khan and Lieutenant Dyester privacy.


    "What are you doing?" Khan asked once he felt the elevator reaching the surface.


    "Learning through imitation," Lieutenant Dyester responded, his eyes still on the holograms.


    "No one should learn from me," Khan dered.


    "Then you shouldn''t do it, either," Lieutenant Dyester eximed, finally meeting Khan''s bright gaze.


    That challenge to Khan''s authority was nothing new for him. Lieutenant Dyester was actually the only one in the entire army who could question Khan''s decisions. Still, the matter had long since grown annoying, and Khan only allowed it due to the deep concern at its foundation.


    "Why do you keep doing this?" Khan asked. "It''s safer for everyone if I''m the only one out there."


    "This alpha has unknown abilities," Lieutenant Dyester pointed out. "The safer strategy would be to draw it out, but I knew you would have jumped into the fray."


    "It doesn''t exin why you would join me," Khan pointed out.


    "I felt like getting a piece of the action," Lieutenant Dyester groaned. "I''ll get rusty if I keep fighting on the frontline."


    "How does that make any sense?" Khan chuckled, waiting for Lieutenant Dyester to drop the jokes. Luckily, the Lieutenant understood Khan''s intention and didn''t make him wait too long.


    "I once told you to figure out how Generals think," Lieutenant Dyester exined. "Your method is unusual, but it works. I figured I should imitate it since I''m covering the same role."


    "You know I can do what I do because I''m me," Khan stated.


    "And I''m supposed to lead your troops," Lieutenant Dyester announced. "I should at least be able to follow part of your example."


    The staringpetition grew more intense, but Lieutenant Dyester eventually diverted his gaze, heaving a helpless sigh. His hands went to the interactive table, messing with the menus to inspect the holograms from different angles, but his mind barely recorded those images.


    "Are you worried about this old soldier?" Lieutenant Dyester asked.


    "Of course," Khan confirmed.


    "Good," Lieutenant Dyester uttered. "At least you''ll know how we feel."


    Khan couldn''t help but smile and lower his gaze. He knew what Lieutenant Dyester was doing. Khan had tasked him with that job when he recruited him. Sadly, those good intentions were bound to work against the Lieutenant.


    Master Carl wanted to keep Khan grounded, using himself as the perfect mirror for everyone''s emotions. Khan couldn''t cut himself off when someone made him experience what his loved ones felt toward him. Khan''s moralpass couldn''t go astray before that deep affection. That plot was heartwarming for Khan. He was truly loved, and that feeling wasn''t one-sided. However, that only bolstered his determination. Those few affections were what made him decide to save the universe, and doing so required power far beyond what humans could achieve.


    "Just don''t die on me, old man," Khan scoffed.


    "I n on living forever," Lieutenant Dyester joked, making a beckoning gesture toward the bottle in Khan''s hands.


    Khan handed the bottle over while remaining silent. Lieutenant Dyester took theck of rebukes as agreement, which was partially true. Yet, he failed to read Khan''s real thoughts.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''You must stay alive, old man,'' Khan thought. ''I need you to be there if I ever were to leave.''


    .


    .


    ?


    The rtive understanding reached between Lieutenant Dyester and Khan allowed the war council to finalize the battle strategy and prepare ordingly.


    New trenches appeared behind the old ones, and turrets joined their ranks, reinforcing those defensive perimeters.


    toons of Scalqa upied the trenches, aiming their rifles and chaos-enhanced spears forward. The army nned to funnel the pack through those grooves, using the turrets to protect their sides. The monsters were bound to suffer heavy losses in the initial assault, but no one believed simple weapons would be enough.


    Bruno was somewhere behind the trenches with the rest of the army, Prince Richard, Moses, and Roger. Further behind, the scientists were ready to unleash the strongest version yet of the pheromone. The pack would go crazy after catching its scent, which worked perfectly for


    Khan.


    As for Khan, he sat at the edge of the first trench, with Lieutenant Dyester peeking at the horizon from the hole behind him. The two would jump into the middle of the pack after sizing the situation, and their presence alone bolstered theirpanions'' morale. The Scalqa at their sides would charge forward if it weren''t for Khan''s direct orders.


    "Don''t fly off by yourself," Lieutenant Dyester reminded. "Remember, we must flush out the leaders first."


    "I''ll see them as soon as the pack arrives," Khan reassured. "Be ready to be thrown off into the battlefield."


    "I can''t wait," Lieutenant Dyester snorted.


    "Don''t tell me you like flying with me now?" Khan teased. "I''m afraid you are not my type."


    "Brat," Lieutenant Dyester cursed. "I''m just happy we can finally leave this."


    "Yes," Khan agreed. "It''s about time."


    Khan drew his phone from his trousers and sent a message. A confirmation reached his device almost immediately, and something changed in the symphony. A smell humans couldn''t perceive invaded the quadrant and spread into its surroundings, attracting specific


    specimens.


    For a while, everything remained silent, but Khan kept his eyes on the white horizon, seeing far past the scanners'' range. Still, he remained silent. He didn''t need to give warnings since the ground soon began to shake.

 Chapter 958: Groups

    Chapter 958: Groups


    ?


    Soon, everyone became able to see what Khan had already sensed.


    An earthquake raged through the area, growing more violent with each passing second. The white horizon also dimmed, covered by a rising cloud of dust and soil that expanded as far as eyes could see.


    The cloud threatened to hide its insides, but the enemy was too numerous for simple smoke to cover its presence. A vast tide of four-legged furred bodies appeared at its base, promising to stretch far deeper into the distance.


    More details became evident as the pack grew closer. The soldiers couldn''t differentiate between levels without scanners, but something instinctive spoke to them. The experience amassed in the past months also helped evaluate that final enemy, bringing a fearsome realization.


    The pack had no weaklings. Its weakest specimens were in the third level, and its strongest at the fifth. Moreover, thetter weren''t Generals. The alphas were using such strong monsters as cannon fodder, with some in the frontline to deal a heavy blow to the army''s defensive perimeter.


    People unaware of the monsters'' characteristics wouldn''t think much about that arrangement. After all, those creatures were driven by hunger and retained a certain individuality even while serving an alpha.


    It stood to reason that the strongest monsters would rush toward the battlefield, relying on their superior physical abilities to im the first food sources. However, the army knew better. The packs'' best specimens rarely engaged in the initial shes, so the current arrangement had to be intentional.


    The fearsome sight and those unknown intentions could demoralize the army, but a living deterrent sat before the first trench. Khan''s calm presence reassured the Scalqa, dispersing any dark feelings and recing them with confidence. He would fight with them, so defeat wasn''t possible.


    Khan''s seemingly emotionless gaze also scoured the iing pack. Its size was imposing, but mere monsters couldn''t make his heart skip a beat. They were inferior to him in every conceivable way, so his attention shifted elsewhere.


    The presence of so many monsters as strong as fifth-level warriors hindered Khan''s inspection. He could spot and iste the pack''s strongest specimens, but even his incredible senses couldn''t instantly highlight the alphas.


    However, the pack''syout gave hints about the alphas'' possible locations. The symphony granted Khan a bird''s eye view, updating him on the assault''s strategy. He could clearly spot two different groups, but the third escaped his senses, or rather, he failed to give it a specific purpose.


    The pack''s frontline was the first group, which stretched for multiple rows of monsters. A taller, stronger creature stood at their center, leading the charge of hungry beasts. The first leadermanded the cannon fodder, and its mana, size, and role probably hinted at mutations that enhanced its physical prowess.


    The second group upied the pack''s right side, running behind the first and seemingly controlling its speed. The monsters there were smaller and leaner but no less powerful. A simrly shaped creature stood at their center, radiating an umonly sharp aura.


    ''A nking formation?'' Khan wondered. That wasn''t the first time the army had faced a pack with a simr battle strategy, but the current enemy could pour far more bodies into it. Both groups were manageable and nothing the army hadn''t faced before. However, Khan''s interest was in the third, seemingly unassuming group.


    The central and bottom-left areas of the pack had a rtively random assortment of monsters. Creatures from the third to the fifth level lingered there, rushing forward without creating any notable disturbance in the symphony.


    Theoretically, the third alpha had to be near the center of that area, but Khan failed to spot anything noteworthy. Even the fifth-level creatures in the group were nothing special. They actually resembled cannon fodder more than those in the frontline.


    However, something strange happened during Khan''s inspection. A whirlpool formed in the symphony among the third group, gathering energy toward its central areas. That zone became blinding in Khan''s senses, hindering deeper inspections before shooting upward.


    Khan didn''t need to rely on his heightened senses to study the scene. A pitch-ck mass of energy shot from the pack''s center, piercing the cloud and flying through the sky. Its momentum was great, and its trajectory revealed only one possible target.


    ''What is that?'' Khan wondered while restlessness invaded the trench behind him. Many understood that the spell wouldnd there, but Khan only focused on its structure.


    The pitch-ck mass was far from stable or solid. Its surface simultaneously bulged and shrunk, and its color was simply a result of the partial fusion of different energy. The spell could trick ordinary eyes, but Khan saw the many strands of mana clustered inside the attack.


    Thatcking stability didn''t imply low destructive power. Stronger soldiers could probably endure the spell''s explosion, but its destruction range was bound to be massive. The attack would probably blow up the first two trenches, opening a path for the first monster group.


    Khan''s inspection went beyond the spell''s texture andposition. The pack was still outside the turrets'' range, but the monsters hadunched something beyond that. The feat was incredible and impossible, forcing Khan to find unorthodox exnations.


    ''That vortex,'' Khan thought before slowly standing up, making sure that all the Scalqa in the first trenches could see his movement.


    Needless to say, Khan''s action dispersed the panic that had invaded the trenches. As fearsome as the strange spell was, the Scalqa''s faith in Khan was unfathomable. As long as he stepped forward, every problem would disappear.


    Lieutenant Dyester tried to say something, but Khan disappeared before he could utter a single word. Khan reappeared in the sky, standing in the ck spell''s trajectory before lifting his right arm. His influence spread, diving into the attack''s structure, and an explosion unfolded before the two forces'' direct sh.


    The ck mass detonated into a dark cloud that spread through the sky, separating the battlefield from the white light above. Khan''s body temporarily blocked that gas'' advance, but darkness eventually submerged him, hiding his blue light.


    The army grew still, staring motionlessly at the ck cloud. Some soldiers held their breath, amazed by that breathtaking scene and frozen in worry. Khan had literally faced something that could cover the sky head-on, and the sh''s unclear resolution tried to make the Scalqa''s faith waver.


    Nevertheless, gales soon blew through the cloud, dispersing part of its energy while amassing the rest toward a specific point. A ck vortex appeared in the sky, quickly receding to reveal the white light above. Khan''s perfectly intact figure also became visible, and wild cheers invaded the battlefield.


    Khan ignored the army''s excitement and focused on his open palm. A cluster of ck energy had gathered there, creating a hoovering sphere. Its total mana was iparable to the previous spell, but its structure was far stabler and denser.


    ''Quite rudimentary,'' Khan thought, waving his hand to let that ck energy disperse, ''But


    effective.''


    At that point, Khan''s bright gaze fell to the pack, targeting the unassuming third group. The monsters were focusing on the charge, but one specimen with odd white shades looked back at him, almost conveying human emotions.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''Found you,'' Khan eximed in his mind, his right hand creating a mana sling while his left gave birth to a spear.

 Chapter 959: Fire!

    Chapter 959: Fire!


    ?


    Khan nocked the spear into the mana string between his thumb and forefinger, pulling it to his left ear while following the unique white monster.


    The spell copied from Amox had the longest range in Khan''s arsenal, but the iing pack was still too far away. However, Khan''s understanding of the mana and his element had skyrocketed, allowing him to make adjustments on the spot.


    The mana string pinched between Khan''s fingers absorbed more mana, growing denser and applying more resistance to his pull. His left arm''s muscles tensed, and his veins bulged under that additional strain. Khan found the limits of his immense physical strength before releasing the spell.


    The chaos spear shot downward at unfathomable speed, faster than what Khan could hope to achieve with his empowered martial art. The spell basically teleported, taking less than a second to reach its target.


    Nevertheless, the strange white monsters seemed able to notice the attack. It couldn''t follow it but could sense the iing danger, forcing it to resort to defensive measures.


    The white alpha growled, suddenly making a right turn to dive toward its nearbypanions. The formation changed under its order, and monsters gathered around it. That still put the leader into the falling spear''s destructive range, but a wall of bodies separated it from the ground zero now.


    The spear detonated before hitting the ground, expanding into a scorching purple-red pir. Dozens of monsters died in the explosion, and the wild mana scorched and maimed double that number. However, Khan saw the white alpha safely slipping away from under one of itspanions'' fuming corpses, rushing into crowded areas to attempt to hide its presence.


    Khan couldn''t help but feel amazed. The white alpha''s reaction had been incredible, and simr praises went to its ruthless defensive strategy. The creature had probably relied solely on its survival instincts to avoid the attack, but that had been enough to make Khan''s arrow fail.


    Of course, the alpha''s attempts to hide among the pack were pointless. Khan had memorized its aura now, so there was no escaping his senses. Yet, he didn''t dive toward the ground. The army had a clear battle strategy, and it was about time to implement it.


    Calctions happened in Khan''s mind, studying the distance between the pack and the trenches. The monsters had never stopped advancing and were about to enter the turrets'' range. Some rifles could also cover that distance, and the same went for the most muscr Scalqa wielding chaos-enhanced spears.


    Khan waited a few seconds before bringing his palm to his mouth. He whispered something before blowing on that lingering intention, and a simple order quickly spread throughout the battlefield.


    "Fire!" Khan ordered, and the white scenery turned blue.


    The turrets before the first and second trenches started firing at the pack''s frontline, and the Scalqa soon followed suit. Some chaos-enhanced spears flew across the battlefield, exploding among the monsters, but their light couldn''t fight off the sea of mana bullets.


    Almost a hundred monsters died the second Khan gave the order, and many more got injured or crippled by the barrage unleashed from the trenches. Humankind''s technological superiority immediately showed its value, widening the army''s slight numerical advantage. Khan calcted that the army could fire three more barrages before the pack reached the trenches. The turret would probably get to five before having to stop to avoid causing a friendly fire. That wasn''t a significant margin, but Khan had different things to worry about. Lieutenant Dyester had shouted orders as soon as Khan''s voice reached the trenches, giving a specific rhythm to the barrages. Firing at will would only waste bullets on dead or injured monsters, so the Lieutenant waited until the enemy frontlines were full again before clearing the Scalqa for another round.


    However, Lieutenant Dyester refrained from joining that battle. He didn''t even hold rifles since he knew Khan could pick him up anytime. The wait wasn''t long, and Lieutenant Dyester''s vision spun before focusing on the sky above the battlefield.


    "They have an alpha in charge of a nking team," Khan exined shortly, carrying Lieutenant Dyester from his uniform''s cor. "It looks nimble, so I''ll try to throw you on top of it."


    Lieutenant Dyester didn''t have much time to adjust himself to his new location and absorb Khan''s exnation. Still, Khan unleashed a somewhat bearable speed during his descent, allowing the Lieutenant to be ready for battle once he threw him into the sea of fur. Khan changed direction as soon as he threw the Lieutenant. A heat wave rushed toward his back, and the symphony updated him on the hellish fire unfolding behind him, but he didn''t look back. His target was on the other side of the pack, and that creature had dared to survive one of his attacks.


    Unclear and fragmented images flowed in Khan''s vision. The wind transformed into daggers threatening to stab his bright eyes, but he didn''t close them. Khan didn''t rely on them, either. His attention was on a specific aura among that chaotic symphony, and his figure quickly crashnded in its position.


    The ground shattered under the violent impact. Khan''s foot shattered the brown-red surface, digging into it and creating gorges that expanded everywhere. Tiles of soil rose and tilted before crumbling apart, trapping countless monsters in their destruction.


    Khan didn''t need to ignore that destruction. He thrived in the battlefield''s chaos, so he already knew what had happened and where to look. A big white figure was on his left, using an intact rising tile to push itself away from him. The alpha had dodged his attack once again, but its luck was over.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Thews of physics didn''t seem to apply to Khan as he shot to his left. The momentum umted during his violentnding had yet to disperse, but he had flown again, swiftly changing direction as if no pressure tried to weigh him down.


    Khan materialized on top of the white alpha, his descending kick already pressing on its neck. The creature had growled something, but Khan had been faster, and his attack dug through the white fur, bending the skin underneath. However, nothing broke. Khan couldn''t even hear the familiar crunch of shattered bones.


    The kick mmed the alpha into the tilted ground, which finally shattered, sending the creature into a deep hole. Meanwhile, multiple nearby monsters saw their heads explode into a gory spectacle. More than twenty beasts died, but their leader was still alive, and its two pairs of eyes stared warily at the caped figure above.

 Chapter 960: Luck

    Chapter 960: Luck


    ?


    Khan didn''t really believe in luck. If anything, he was partial to bad luck. After all, his life and Wayne''s element sort of proved its existence.


    Nevertheless, even if luck did exist, it wouldn''t have been enough to save the white alpha from Khan''s attacks.


    The alpha probably had sharp instincts, allowing it to sense the danger before it arrived. The first two dodges were theoretically possible as long as the monster had started preparing for them before Khan unleashed his attacks, but thest kick''s oue made no sense.


    The white monster was as strong as a fifth-level warrior. Khan was even ready to ce its attunement near one hundred points. Yet, he had the body of an evolved mutated soldier and had relied on powerful techniques. Surviving a direct kick wasn''t only improbable. It was straight-up impossible.


    Most soldiers would be frozen in shock at that oue, but Khan was a fellow impossible existence. His surprise was short-lived, allowing him to study the situation from different perspectives. His offensive had been too quick for proper inspections, but information flooded his mind during that break.


    The white alpha didn''t only rely on survival instincts. It didn''t even bear the full force of Khan''s kick with its mere body. It simply couldn''t. Yet, the symphony had moved during each assault, and Khan finally stopped to study it.


    The energy in the air didn''t feature anything odd, but mana had moved anyway. More than twenty nearby monsters had died for no apparent reason, which Khan connected to the white alpha. Actually, it was those creatures who were connected to their leader.


    The connection was invisible and ethereal. Khan wouldn''t have even sensed it if he didn''t look for it. It was a feeling more than an actual ability, and its range seemed to reach every corner of the pack.


    Tiny strands of energy constantly blended with the symphony and converged toward the white alpha, strengthening its aura. Its mana had the same color as the previous ck mass, containing a convoluted mess of different natures forcefully condensed into a single form.


    After noticing those strands, Khan became unable to unsee them. The battlefield changed in his eyes, gaining a different nature. That wasn''t only a random cluster of countless auras. Each monster also served as the white alpha''s energy reserve, making it able to unleash an unknown number of miraculous abilities.


    Of course, Khan was still in the hypotheses phase, but testing his ideas wasn''t hard. He acted again, descending into the hole to deliver a roundhouse kick on the white alpha''s side. The creature flew away, mming on the cavity''s walls, but no sound of broken bones reached Khan''s ears.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan didn''t expect anything less and focused on the symphony. The white alpha had reacted to his sudden assault once again, but he noticed the intricate details behind its defense now.


    The kick had hit the alpha and had unleashed its real power, but the creature had resorted to a forceful method, too. Thicker strands of mana had abruptly abandoned the nearby creatures, almost teleporting inside the leader''s body to enhance its defensive abilities.


    As for the nearby monsters, they suffered from abrupt energy loss, mimicking what the alpha was supposed to suffer. Almost fifteen creatures saw their sides cave in and their organs explode as if Khan had attacked them instead of the leader.


    At that point, Khan confirmed all his ideas. The white alpha truly could harness the pack''s energy to aplish wonders and the how was obviously connected to its element.


    Stealing someone else''s mana was hard. Even affecting it required an incredible level of control and intensity. Khan had spent thest months mastering the specifics behind simr abilities, so he considered himself knowledgeable enough to draw conclusions.


    The alpha didn''t have Khan''s overbearing element and alien abilities. It couldn''t force the other monsters to give up their mana and lives, so the process had to be willing. Still, Khan''s attacks never gave the leader the time to ask for permission, meaning the creature had already received it.


    Senerth''s monsters weren''t too bright, and their behavior was rtively simple. Khan could only find one instance that matched his ideas. The white alpha had gained that permission when it subjugated its pack, turning it into its energy source.


    The mana truly was a magical force that could assume many shapes. Its elements could be extremely simple or mind-numbinglyplicated. They could go from physical topletely ethereal, but Khan felt he knew what the white alpha wielded. He actually sensed some kinship with the beast.


    "It''s authority, isn''t it?" Khan asked, ignoring the fact that the alpha couldn''t understand him.


    The white alpha exited the crashing zone and shrugged the soil off its fur before staring at Khan. Its intelligence was umon among Senerth''s monsters, but that only updated it on a sad reality. The leader was no match for Khan.


    "You had to be a leader to increase your power," Khan continued, unaffected by that wary, hateful stare. "You had to because weakness meant death here."


    The alpha''s circumstances seemed to reflect Khan''s. He also had no other choice but to umte power, eventually putting him into a leadership position. That was an unavoidable consequence of his desire to live and pursue his goals, forcing him to ept countlesspromises.


    "Is there really no escaping this system?" Khan wondered, ncing at the white sky. "Are we all cursed to be something decided by our mana? Is death the only alternative?"


    The alpha obviously didn''t answer but didn''t move, either. The creature knew the current break came from Khan, and he could stop it whenever he wanted to.


    "I''m sorry," Khan eventually said, lowering his bright gaze to the alpha. "I would have spared you, but I really need this. Maybe one day, my organization will have a ce for you, too."


    Khan finally stepped forward, and the white alpha tensed, focusing on its connection with its pack. The creature had energy to spare, but that probably wasn''t enough against the two- legged, caped monster.


    "Though," Khan continued, "I''ll show you some respect. No one has seen this yet."


    As Khan took another step, the hole''s bottom shattered, deepening by several meters.

 Chapter 961: Kick

    Chapter 961: Kick


    ?


    Revealing new moves in Bruno''s presence was unwise. Admittedly, the evolved warrior was on the other side of the battlefield, so his senses might not reach Khan''s position. However, ying it safe had often worked in Khan''s favor in the past. Actually, exposing himself had only brought problems.


    Nevertheless, Khan couldn''t care about those limits anymore. It wasn''t only a matter of his element''s nature, either. He was simply tired ofpromises and ignoring what his heart wanted.


    Besides, Khan had undergone torturous toxic pool training to achieve his current strength. He had paid a steep price to seize some political stability and enough power to fend off potential challenges. If that didn''t give Khan the freedom to act as he wanted, he wouldn''t see any purpose in getting stronger.


    The hole''s bottom crumbled, sending tremors and cracks toward its walls. The white alpha lost its footing as boulders fell everywhere. Some even threatened to crash on the monster, but thetter swiftly jumped away, stabbing its ws into a nearby sturdy surface.


    The alpha lost sight of Khan for a mere instant but quickly lifted its gaze again. Its four eyes reflected pure fear as it hung from that almost-vertical surface, and that feeling didn''t disappear after spotting Khan. He didn''t exploit that chance to attack, but the monster couldn''t see any positive aspect in that behavior.


    The white alpha was factually trapped. It couldn''t match Khan''s speed or power. It was utterly outssed in that battle, having no chance to escape or defeat its opponent. Its energy reserves were outstanding, but its opponent didn''t look like something that could be worn out.


    Khan had simr thoughts, albeit without the monster''s worry and fear. It seemed the alpha could theoretically endure his attacks as long as it had underlings to sacrifice. That practically put Khan against the entire pack.


    Some would despair at that realization, but Khan only found excitement. Finding an opponent who could survive his attacks was a rare experience, and the battle would also give him a chance to eradicate the pack, lowering the pressure on his army. He would be killing two birds with one stone, so he didn''t hesitate anymore.


    Khan shot forward, basically teleporting on the alpha''s back. His right leg was already stretched, and his foot only needed to linger above the white fur to unleash its power.


    The world seemed to freeze for a second before Khan''s attack showed its nature. The alpha''s back caved in, the hole gradually expanding and stretching its effects toward its surroundings. A simr,rger cavity appeared on the surface under the alpha before a bigger one enveloped the new hole. The process continued until several circr, concentric grooves covered the wall, but no dust or debris fell. Everything remained frozen until Khan''s attack exhausted its power.


    Then, time started to flow again. The circr holes exploded forward, submerging the alpha and Khan into a waterfall of dust and debris. Meanwhile, the monster shot through the tide of soil, its body struggling to endure the umted power that had unleashed such destruction.


    Thest kick had conveyed a superior power level. It wasn''t evenparable to Khan''s previous attacks. Thetter had merely relied on his speed, specific techniques, and physical prowess, but the former wielded something more profound.


    The white alphacked the time and intelligence to study the kick, but its body had experienced it, providing some superficial understanding. The creature felt like an invisible wall had mmed on its back, condensing an unfathomable amount of energy in a single spot. The remaining destruction was a consequence of the immense pressure the attack carried.


    Of course, the kick had more than condensed energy. Khan didn''t limit himself to pushing the symphony forward. He had also let his mana affect it, turning it into an incredibly dense cluster of destructive power. Its target was only a single spot, but the world broke anyway, unable to withstand its weight.


    As for the kick''s effects, even children could acknowledge its superior might.


    The white alpha summoned its connection with the pack to absorb as much mana as possible while its body flew through the flowing debris. Tens of high-level monsters died everywhere to fend off the force pressing on the leader''s back, and more exploded as the process continued. The kick''s power seemed endless, but its pressure eventually relented.


    The leader managed to check its surroundings only after dispersing that unfathomable force. The creature found itself on the surface covered in soil and dirt. A trace of dark blood also tainted the white fur on its back, highlighting how its best efforts couldn''t prevent injuries. Nevertheless, the white alpha barely had the chance to study its condition. Something far more breathtaking expanded in its vision, conveying what it had actually survived.


    A conical canyon stretched from the alpha''s position, expanding for tens of meters and connecting it to the original hole. Soil fell everywhere, reaching deep into the vast groove and trapping corpses and monsters. Thest kick had forever changed the battlefield''syout, and its culprit slowly rose from it.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Khan merely floated upward, uncaring of the dirt falling on his figure. Nothing reached him anyway. The soil shattered before it could touch him, turning into faint clouds that quickly dispersed.


    In the white alpha''s eyes, Khan became an unfathomable existence. Spells, ws, and even dirt couldn''t hope to touch him, and a single one of his real attacks could deeply scar the world. That wasn''t something that could be defeated. Inferior beings could only kneel or


    perish.


    Of course, the white alpha couldn''t have such profound thoughts. Its primitive mind mainly focused on a superficial evaluation of Khan''s power, using the canyon and the perished monsters to calcte. The leader had to use over fifty underlings to survive the previous attack. That loss wasn''t sustainable, especially since the unique creature would only grow weaker after each exchange.


    Still, the alpha had limited options. Actually, it almost had none. It couldn''t run away from Khan, and surviving wasn''t doable, either. As crazy as it sounded, the leader could only hope to overpower Khan.

 Chapter 962: Black river

    Chapter 962: ck river


    ?


    The white alpha was far smarter than its peers. It had to since its unique element required it. Its authority had been useless when it didn''t have underlings, so its initial leadership stages had been built on brawns and wits.


    That life of struggles gave the white alpha plenty of battle experience. The creature had learned to deal with various opponents and situations. The beast held the upper hand a few times but still rose to the''s peak. It was Senerth''sst overlord, but Khan had arrived to undermine its dominion.


    Humans would experience a vast range of emotions at that unlucky event. Getting so close toary domination only to face an unfathomable final adversary could fill anyone with bitterness and unwillingness. Yet, the white alpha''s limited intelligence worked in its favor, allowing the creature to assess the situation calmly.


    Running away wouldn''t work. The trail of blood on the alpha''s back stated that survival was impossible. The leader had to overpower Khan to ovee thatst tribtion, and the best chance was now.


    The white alpha''s power came from the pack. Enduring more of Khan''s attacks would only waste the underlings'' lives, reducing the leader''s energy reserves. The alpha couldn''t let that happen. Its entire battle experience told it to make the best out of its advantage at that exact moment.


    Khan couldn''t read the white alpha''s thoughts but didn''t need to, either. The symphony soon revealed the leader''s intentions. Countless strands of energy ran through the pack, quickly converging inside the alpha and fusing with the ck mass of mana inside it.


    The white alpha''s mana had almost depleted after the previous exchange, but its reserves immediately returned to full capacity. The process didn''t stop there since more energy fused inside the leader, vastly surpassing its physical limits.


    Khan knew the procedure''s dangers very well. His own training technique implemented a simr strategy, and removing some of its ring ws took him years. The alpha didn''t have such profound abilities, so it could only endure the drawbacks under Khan''s watchful gaze.


    Patches of the alpha''s fur burned, and the skin underneath soon suffered from a simr fate. The absorption process had been seamless earlier, but its drawbacks appeared after the leader''s body reached full capacity.


    The surplus energy strands couldn''t teleport inside the alpha''s body anymore. They had to pierce its skin to stuff themselves into its already cramped reserves, inevitably generating friction. That process scorched the leader all over, but the creature didn''t mind it.


    The drawbacks didn''t stop at the burns. The white alpha couldn''tprehend the full extent of Khan''s power but knew it had to go overboard to hope to defeat him. Bumps soon appeared on its body, inting as if they were balloons. Its skin cracked in many spots, and blood spurted out, but the umted energy remained safe underneath.


    The leader slowly transformed. Its dog-like, lean figure became a bulging mess of inted flesh. The bumps never fused into an even surface, either. Each stretched in different directions, turning the beast into a mess of monstrous protuberances that often ended in blood bursts.


    Needless to say, the damage the alpha suffered was immense. The procedure could easily kill it, and its survival afterward wasn''t certain, either. However, another party had to endure even greater losses.


    The energy currently inside the alpha came from the pack, and that forceful absorption wasn''t harmless. Killing the underlings seemed to provide more mana, and the leader didn''t hold back on that front.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Tens of monsters all over the pack randomly fell lifelessly on the ground. Some were even engaged in battles, but their eyes went dark before falling prey to an enemy attack. The death count increased with each passing second, eventually confusing the Scalqa army.


    Khan ignored his army''s confusion and focused on the number of seemingly random deaths. Truth be told, that development would greatly benefit his soldiers, so he weed it. Still, the alpha''s element managed to surprise him once again. More than two hundred monsters had died, and the process had yet to end.


    ''So ruthless and resolute,'' Khan praised. ''Would I have resorted to the same method if I had its element?''


    Khan couldn''t find the answer to his question. Truthfully, he didn''t need to. Elements were deeply connected to the users'' characters, so Khan would have had a different mentality if he were in the white alpha''s shoes.


    The process continued, and the same went for the alpha''s transformation. Its body had started to break long ago, but it didn''t relent. Monsters died everywhere, giving their energy for that final assault, and Khan let it happen.


    The alpha clearly couldn''t move in its current condition. Khan could have interrupted the absorption immediately, but the many deaths lifted the pressure on his army. Also, he wanted to let the leader show its best weapon out of respect, so he stood still, floating in the air while waiting for the attack.


    Eventually, one of the taller bumps on the alpha''s back broke even further, releasing a re of ck energy. A pir shot through the white sky, but the leader forcefully suppressed it, doing its best to replenish the lost mana. However, afterward, it didn''t try to absorb anything else. The previous injury told the beast it had reached its limits.


    The alpha didn''t hesitate anymore. Its maw opened, and all the umted energy shot forward. A ck river engulfed the area, darkening the sky and ground, filling the entirety of the gorge, and threatening to submerge Khan.


    The attack was fast, powerful, and unending. It was born from the umtion of hundreds of lives, turning that energy into a pure destructive force. The Scalqa and turrets wouldn''t stand a chance against it, but its opponent was something else now.


    ''A pity,'' Khan thought, watching the river closing on him and filling his vision. ''If only you could have made it denser. I guess that''s your limit as a monster.''


    Khan didn''t try to escape. His face showed no emotions as he lifted his left leg, pointing his foot at the iing ck river. Then, he stomped forward, and nothing ever reached him.

 Chapter 963: Apex

    Chapter 963: Apex


    ?


    In the world only Khan could see, a purple-red color invaded the symphony before him, tainting it with unreasonable violence.


    The process was simr to when Khan created his array of spears, but there were also clear differences. It was more forceful, leading to a denseryer of chaos-adjacent energy that echoed the nature of Khan''s element. That mass alone could unleash untold destruction, but it was only the beginning of Khan''s attack.


    From the outside, the stomp was nothing special. It almost looked as if Khan was simply stretching his leg toward the iing ck river. However, Bruno had already noticed something odd about Khan''s casual moves, and for good reason.


    The theory behind the Transcendent Step style fully unfolded. Many strands of mana shed inside Khan''s leg, unleashing enough energy to threaten the very texture of his tissues. His evolved body had increased what he could withstand, and he didn''t refrain from abusing his new limits.


    The martial art would usually give birth to an instantaneous, unstoppable attack, but Khan''s leg moved slowly, or it looked like it did, at least. Truthfully, everything was happening in a fraction of a second, and that impression came from thest part of Khan''s attack.


    Theplete mastery over the Lightning-Demon style had taught Khan how to step on the air. He could freely interact with the symphony, using its invisible strands as footholds. The world only Khan could see was his yground, and he could do much more than simply walk on it.


    The Transcendent Step style''s might fused with that peculiar ability, granting Khan the strength and grace to push the symphony forward. The invisible mass of chaos-infected energy froze under that pressure, giving the impression that the world had grown still. Of course, Khan''s attack didn''t stop at merely pushing forward a wall of destructive mana. The symphony condensed under Khan''s stomp, creating a mass of energy that carried his element''s properties. Strangely enough, that mana didn''t turn into one of Khan''s bright purple-red spheres. It only focused on amassing the violence in the area and the world bent under its weight.


    Just like Bruno and his attacks could materialize out of nowhere as if they had always existed, Khan could tap into the unreasonable violence he unleashed. That went beyond the simple energy umtion of his array of spears. Khan''s attack condensed his element''s true destructive nature, giving birth to something ethereal but unmistakably real.


    Khan would almost describe the process as harnessing the world''s entropy after enhancing it, but that thought was too philosophical for his brain. He merely saw it as spreading destruction, condensing it, and pushing it forward. Still, even Khan''s habit of


    underestimating himself stayed silent there. He knew he had achieved the apex of what a physical body was capable of.


    ''For now, at least,'' Khan casually thought while the sh between the two mighty attacks finally unfolded.


    The condensed destruction mmed on the ck river, halting its advance. Its mass wasn''t even a tenth of the vast attack''s surface, but the weight it carried acted as an unbreakable wall. Just like the light couldn''t pierce ck holes, the alpha''s inferior energy couldn''t get past what Khan unleashed. Actually, the opposite happened.


    The condensed destruction advanced undisturbed, piercing the river. The ck energy caved in during its enemy''s effortless flight, and even the air past it eventually suffered from a simr fate.


    The condensed energy crossed a certain distance, and a circr cavity appeared behind it. The invisible mass of destruction advanced again, leaving another hole behind. The first crater also expanded as if making room for the new one.


    A cone of concentric circles expanded and deepened in Khan''s bright eyes. The river remained frozen as his attack advanced and affected its structure. By the time the white alpha''s head became visible, the air before Khan had caved in, too, stretching past the ck energy''s edges.


    Then, time started flowing again. The air shattered, and the ck river exploded outward, sending res everywhere. Those bursts threatened to cover the battlefield but were short- lived. Their structure had already fallen apart, quickly exploding into clouds that dispersed in the sky.


    The ground failed to withstand that ethereal pressure, too. The canyon created by Khan''s previous kick exploded upward alongside the soil past its edges. A cloud of dust and dirt rose into the sky, engulfing Khan and the white alpha in its raging gales.


    A deafening noise also spread through the battlefield, sending pure terror into the souls of monsters and Scalqa alike. Everyone could instinctively understand that something unnatural had happened. A piece of the world had shattered, and its dying cry threatened to make hundreds of ears bleed.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The scene''s fury didn''tst long. The cloud itself quickly dispersed, revealing a spectacle of destruction. The ground''s upperyer had evaporated, with asional holes and boulders surviving. The canyon had also crumbled, leaving only a shallow hole to remind everyone of its former glory.


    As for the white alpha, the creature had returned to its previous size, but the process had been far from harmless. Its skin was in pieces, exposing a mess of tattered flesh and muscles. Blood covered the creature and the cracked ground underneath, hiding the white luster of its remaining fur.


    The beast was crouched, unable to stand on its legs. Its skull had also caved in, but the creature was still alive, absorbing more energy from its underlings to heal itself.


    A vague sense of destruction lingered on and inside the alpha, hindering its recovery. Energy entered its body but quickly dispersed, seemingly unable to negate the effects of Khan''s attack. Clearly, Khan had exerted more power now, intending to face the leader''s final struggle with all his might. That was the extent of Khan''s respect.


    The white alpha kept struggling, unwilling to give up, but a figure suddenly materialized before it. A hand also went on its head, and its four eyes rose to face the opponent.


    "You fought well," Khan muttered, meeting the leader''s gaze. "Don''t worry. I''ll save the universe for you, too."

 Chapter 964: Sudden death

    Chapter 964: Sudden death


    ?


    The first two trenches were a mess of muscr soldiers, furred figures, and bullets. The pack''s frontline had broken through the firing barrage, and the chaotic scene forced the turrets to target different areas.


    The Scalqa fought valiantly, emboldened by their faith in their godlike leader. The past months of battles had also weeded out the frailest soldiers, only leaving war-hardened aliens behind, so the monsters suffered heavy losses even after breaching the army''s defenses.


    The monsters'' size provided no advantage against the Scalqa. Thetter were actually taller and bigger, and their physique was often enough to deal with the beasts. Those creatures'' fangs, ws, and ferocity were concerning, but the aliens had learned to deal with them. Mainly, they had stopped fearing them.


    Moreover, the monsters had invaded the trenches in waves, so the Scalqa held the numerical advantage. They also had proper battle strategies and support from the backlines. Seizing victory could take a while, but that result looked set in stone, with a single exception.


    The alpha leading the frontline was a terrifying beast. It towered above the Scalqa, and its skin looked immune to punches, mana bullets, and other weapons. Only martial arts and spells seemed to slow it down, but nothing ever came close to stopping it.


    The frontline''s leader was a perfect battering ram, shrugging off anything thatnded on its imposing body while continuing to pierce the enemy''s defenses. Teams of Scalqa had tried to encircle the creature multiple times only to see it advance undisturbed, leaving a trail of corpses and maimed bodies behind.


    The alpha looked virtually unstoppable, forcing the Scalqa to switch to a different battle formation. The aliens focused on restraining the damage the monster could cause, isting it from its underlings and leading it into emptier areas. Even if its stamina were endless,


    someone would eventually arrive to extinguish its life.


    Nevertheless, to everyone''s surprise, the alpha''s eyes suddenly lost any trace of life. The mighty creature cried in anger before falling limp on the ground. Many monsters between the trenches suffered from a simr fate, eventually bringing the Scalqa''s attention to the depths of the battlefield.


    On another part of the battlefield, Lieutenant Dyester was sweating profusely. Burning corpses surrounded him, raising the area''s temperature to an almost unbearable degree. Still, he barely felt any difort. The Lieutenant had long since gotten used to that environment. In a way, it was his reign.


    Lieutenant Dyester''s wary eyes swept his surroundings, going over fuming corpses and charred ground. Drops of sweat fell into them, but he didn''t blink. Blinking could very well mean death against such a formidable adversary.


    Suddenly, a dark spot appeared among one trail of smoke, and the Lieutenant jumped to his right. Something flew past him, and mes formed above his left shoulder, only to be split in half. A sharp item also cut through his uniform, tearing the skin underneath. As for its source, it was nowhere to be seen.


    The event didn''t shock the Lieutenant. That exchange was only thest of many, and his body could prove it. His tattered military uniform failed to hide the many cuts on his arms and torso, and the blood oozing from them spoke for the seriousness of the situation.


    However, Lieutenant Dyester didn''t panic. He didn''t even cry in pain. He was an old warrior with tons of battle experience, and that wasn''t his first time facing an opponent far faster than himself. Besides, his leader had once shown him what actual speed was, and the alpha didn''te close to it.


    Still, Lieutenant Dyester''s disadvantage was undeniable. He could barely follow the alpha''s movements, and burning everything around him didn''t work, either. Luckily, the soldier was patient enough to wait for the right opportunity. He only needed one to turn the monster into a charred corpse.


    ''I should have learned that damned senses he always talks about,'' Lieutenant Dyester cursed in his mind, but his concentration didn''t waver.


    The dark spot reappeared inside a trail of smoke behind Lieutenant Dyester, and he felt its movement through the surrounding heat. He hurriedly jumped to the ground, waiting for the pain to arrive before unleashing an upward, fiery torrent. A long injury widened on his back, but a knowing smile broadened on his face.


    ''Got you,'' Lieutenant Dyester thought. He couldn''t exactly feel through his mes, but the stench that reached his nostrils performed the same task. He knew the smell of burned flesh and fur better than his own, and its arrival confirmed that his attack hadnded.


    Lieutenant Dyester quickly jumped to his feet, chasing after the direction of hisst injury. He rushed forward, jumping through a pile of smoke released by a burning corpse while mes formed on his open palms.


    The sight that weed the Lieutenant broadened his smile. He finally saw his opponent. The smaller, lean alpha stood in a rtively empty area, limping while struggling to stand. mes still flickered on one of its rear legs, making the limb useless and preventing its sudden elerations.


    The alpha growled at Lieutenant Dyester''s arrival. Its main weapon was gone, but it didn''t give up. Meanwhile, the Lieutenant ignored the creature''s stance and joined his fiery palms, intending to seize that hard-earned opportunity to finish his opponent in one blow.


    However, the alpha''s eyes suddenly lost their light, and the creature fell lifelessly on the ground. The Lieutenant frowned, remaining wary of the beast, but the scene was undeniable. Also, the soldier spotted monsters randomly dying all around him before a deafening noise reached his ears and forced him to close his eyes.


    Lieutenant Dyester knew the dangers of getting distracted on the battlefield, so he endured the noise and forced his eyes open. Finding the source of the painful sound wasn''t hard, and a curse escaped his mouth when he witnessed the incredible scene.


    In the distance, somewhere close to the pack''s center, an invisible force had pierced a massive ck river, turning it into a cone of raging energy res. The scene was blurry, as if pieces of the world were lost during the mighty exchange, and Lieutenant Dyester didn''t even need to think to find who had caused that mess.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "What did that brat even do now?" Lieutenant Dyester cursed.

 Chapter 965: Mood

    Chapter 965: Mood


    ?


    Khan heaved a helpless sigh. At his feet, a gory puddle expanded, dragging mangled organs and chunks of flesh with it. asionally, strands of white fur would pop out, only to immerse themselves into the spreading blood.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The white alpha obviously didn''t surrender. It couldn''t understand that simple concept, let alone Khan''s words. The creature had kept trying to absorb the pack''s energy to heal itself, but the damage had been too great, and the lingering sense of destruction that had invaded it eventually made it fall apart.


    The mighty, unique specimen had crumbled into a disgusting puddle of blood, organs, flesh, and bones. Senerth''s strongest son had such an unsightly end, and Khan knew it didn''t deserve it. Its ce was on the''s throne, striving to surpass its species'' limits. Sadly, the alpha was on Khan''s path.


    ''How much more blood?'' Khan wondered, recalling alien words. ''How many more rivers?'' Khan didn''t want to think about the answer. He had it already but was too tired to delve into the same problems. Khan simply stood still, letting the pool submerge his bare feet while some positive aspects made their way into his mind.


    The white alpha''s attempts to survive had spread death faster than Khan could. Countless monsters had died during the leader''sst breaths, and only a shadow of the mighty pack remained.


    The Scalqa and turrets would have no problem finishing off the remaining specimens and clearing the battlefield. Some monsters were bound to escape, but the war was virtually over. The army would spend a few weeks extirpating Senerth''s remaining life, but the process would be swift and harmless. Khan even had the vague intention of letting the military equipment handle that part.


    That meant finally going home and returning to the reason why Khan fought so hard. The mission was over so he could reunite with Monica and the type of life her existence created. The nobles and Nognes Excellencies were also taken care of so Khan could rest, enjoying the stability he had enforced.


    Dark thoughts tried to taint those positive aspects, but Khan pushed them to the back of his mind. It was over, and he would even make it in time for Monica''s birthday. That timing was perfect. As for everything else, Khan could only hope that his return would show how overrated his paranoia was.


    Things unfolded exactly as Khan had predicted. It took some time, but the battlefield eventually went silent. The pack was no more, and the Leviathan had already marked the few escaping monsters. Tracking them down would take no effort and would be risk-free.


    The silence was short-lived. Almost everyone had witnessed the majestic sh between the ck river and the invisible force, and the distance, unclear scenes, and battles didn''t stop the Scalqa from jumping to the correct conclusion. They knew only Khan could have aplished something so grand, so the battlefield quickly exploded into cheers, with the aliens chanting his name.


    Khan did his best, summoning his remaining emotional energy to host a massive feast with the army. Meanwhile, the scientists and their equipment cleared the battlefield while turrets and ships searched for the remaining monsters. The event was joyous, but Khan couldn''t help but desire to depart immediately and leave that deste behind.


    Of course, that wasn''t possible yet. Senerth''s dominant species was no more in a few days, but the army still had to seize samples and resources. Khan couldn''t pige the''s minerals since they legally belonged to the Nognes Excellencies, but taking some for his organization was almost mandatory.


    The army spent a week processing all the new corpses, another collecting as much mineral as legally possible, and a third retrieving the Headquarters'' buildings, sending them to the Leviathan.


    The massive mobilization of troops, military equipment, and structures that had conquered an entire left in no time and almost silently, as if it had never been there in the first ce. The army left behind a barren filled with blood, rocks, and a new owner.


    After dealing with everything that needed to be dealt with, the Leviathan finally departed, with Baoway as its sole destination. The trip would take a week, but the problems from the previous one didn''t appear.


    A total of two trips couldn''t make the Scalqa used to those flying metal prisons, but their tribal structure provided much entertainment. The soldiers had countless war stories to share, and the abundant supplies kept them busy and appeased, almost making them forget that they were in space.


    Garret and his scientists barely had any room to breathe. The quick departure left them with countless samples to process, study, and experiment with. The Leviathan didn''tck high- tier equipment, so Garret decided to keep working to have fewer tasks by the time he returned to Baoway.


    Moses, Roger, and Prince Richard had spent most of those months fighting with the Scalqa army, so they often joined the aliens in their seemingly endless banquets. Prince Richard obviously had reservations about that loud, messy, and dirty environment. Still, Senerth seemed to have softened his noble arrogance, allowing him to enjoy those celebrations with his newfoundpanions.


    Bruno was obviously with them, mainly toply with his duties as the Nognes family''s servant. Prince Richard had Nognes blood, so Bruno couldn''t leave him alone among those muscr brutes.


    Lieutenant Dyester also made asional appearances among the army during his duties on the Leviathan''s bridge. The gigantic ship could fly itself, but handling the crew was part of his duties, and he didn''t shy away from them.


    Basically, everyone managed to keep themselves busy. Everyone but Khan. The Leviathan''s peaceful, happy environment didn''t match the feral vibes Senerth had given him. His mood was also strange, switching from excited and eager to lonely and hesitant.


    Things would have been easier for Khan if he could train, but the Leviathan''s artificial symphony couldn''t work with his [Blood Vortex]. Also, he had reached the point where he risked smashing the reinforced halls and the ship with them, so venting on target dummies was unwise and risky.


    That left Khan with nothing to do. He could find some things but didn''t. He mostly remained in his vast quarters, waiting for the Leviathan to reach his destination with only booze and the secret folder on his phone to keep himpany.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 966: Who?

    Chapter 966: Who?


    ?


    A familiar appeared on the Leviathan''s scanners by the end of the week. The gigantic ship slowly approached Baoway''s orbit while the army prepared for the disembark. The vehicle had far more than troops to unload, but the scientists could handle that in the


    following days.


    The atmosphere became lively once the announcement ran through the Leviathan. The Scalqa couldn''t wait to get back to actual soil, and Khan''s exit from his long istion inevitably intensified that feeling. The army felt ready to explode, but everyone behaved in Khan''s presence. Excessive mayhem wasn''t safe on the ship anyway, so the aliens temporarily held back.


    Under Lieutenant Dyester''s directives, the army split into multiple toons, each filling a cargo ship. The Leviathan had many of those, and the casualties on Senerth left many spares, so the Scalqa had no problem finding seats.


    Garret remained behind to coordinate with the scientists, while Khan, Lieutenant Dyester, Bruno, Moses, Roger, and Prince Richard upied a smaller ship. Its departure kicked off the massive disembarkation, and a sea of vehicles soon pierced Baoway''s orbit, heading for a prearrangednding area.


    Needless to say, the news of the army''s return had spread throughout Baoway. The prearrangednding area was in the main quadrant, and a crowd had formed outside its perimeter. Scalqa, humans, Thilku, and Ef''i stood on the barren ground, ready to wee friends, loved ones, and political allies.


    Khan''s ship was the first tond, but its doors remained closed, waiting for the others to join it. More vehicles followed, creating a quasi-encampment in the previously empty in. Silence spread when thest ride arrived, but that peace was short-lived.


    Metallic and thudding noises filled the barren in as doors opened and ramps stretched to the ground. The Scalqa''s heavy steps soon joined the ruckus, giving birth to a rhythmic march. The aliens'' orderly march was imposing but remained iparable to the person leading them.


    Actually, the audience felt the person in the lead was part of the reason behind that orderly march. Even the strongest among them couldn''t help but feel some pressure when studying the bright-eyed leader. His oppressive aura almost threatened them to behave properly.


    Of course, not all the gazes falling on Khan showed fear toward his aura. Respect, concern, eagerness, and more filled the symphony, but a universal emotion existed. Everyone experienced different shades of surprise, especially those who couldpare Khan''s current appearance to that before Senerth''s mission.


    Khan now had long blue hair that reached his shoulders, but its strands weren''t flowy and straight. They were messy, often standing against gravity. They seemed part of a monster''s mane rather than belonging to a human.


    No crown rested on Khan''s head, not that he needed it. Anyone would understand who was in charge with a single look at the army. Even without the sea of Scalqa, people would still view Khan as a leader. His presence alone was enough for that.


    The thick red cape on Khan''s shoulders was the only piece of clothing on his upper body. His chiseled torso was in the open, exposing the eye-catching blue scar. Meanwhile, a simple military trouser hung from his waist, but no shoes kept his feet safe from the dusty ground.


    Khan browsed the audience with his bright eyes. His rtives, Tlexipalli, and the Thilku tried to im his attention, but he inevitably focused on the charming figure before the crowd. Monica had donned a simple military uniform, but the suppressed excitement on her expression was worth more than a thousand skirts.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Most of the audience studied Khan, but his figure suddenly vanished. Confusion spread, but Monica only smiled. Her eyes couldn''t follow her Fianc¨¦''s movements, but she knew where he would end up.


    As Monica had predicted, a familiar hand reached her cheek, and she closed her eyes, letting it pull her forward. The feeling her lips had longed for during those months finally returned, and her arms instinctively rose, wrapping themselves around a neck she had memorized long ago.


    Khan didn''t indulge in anything passionate. He didn''t care about the audience or the public situation but kept his kiss simple anyway. His focus wasn''t on the umted lust. Khan only wanted to immerse himself in the familiar moment and the intense emotions it generated.


    The couple separated only to rest on each other''s foreheads. Khan and Monica studied each other, smiling as their eyes darted across their respective faces. It had been so long since they had been together, and both sides inevitably spotted differences.


    Monica didn''t care about Khan''s wild appearance. If anything, she found it arousing. However, the strange feeling hidden behind Khan''s intense eyes tickled her concern. At once, Monica knew something had happened in Senerth, and guilty worry filled her brain.


    Khan felt Monica''s exhaustion. Those months hadn''t been easy on her. She always struggled when Khan wasn''t with her, and the countless political tasks had only worsened her mental condition. However, the guilt that followed hinted at bigger problems.


    Monica said nothing but nced to her right, seemingly pointing at a figure behind her. Prince Thomas was among the audience''s first row, and a feeling of urgency tainted his mana. Princess Reba and Khan''s Cousins shared that emotion, confirming that hunch.


    "What happened?" Khan asked Monica. She looked unwilling to reveal the issue, but Prince Thomas heard him and stepped forward.


    "It''s best if we head to the city first, My Prince," Prince Thomas announced.


    Khan briefly matched Prince Thomas'' gaze to confirm the seriousness of the situation before disappearing. The strange event didn''t only apply to him, either. Monica and Prince Thomas also suddenly vanished, leaving a concerned Princess Reba in charge of weing the army back to Baoway.


    Khan crossed an incredible distance in no time, quicklynding on one of the city''s buildings'' terraces. Prince Thomas and Monica were at his sides, but their bodies needed a few seconds to restore their bnce. Khan''s speed wasn''t something most people could endure. Luckily for the two, Khan supported them while their bodies adjusted to their new position. He had also used his aura to deal with any friction force that could scorch their skin. Slight dizziness aside, Prince Thomas and Monica werepletely fine.


    Of course, Monica had received a preferential treatment. Her dizziness was barely noticeable, and it only took her a few seconds to be as good as new.


    Yet, that didn''t ease Khan''s concerns. The serious expressions that returned on hispanions'' faces once they recovered actually intensified them.


    "What happened?" Khan repeated when he saw that Monica and Prince Thomas were well enough to reply.


    "We should go to the meeting room, Nephew," Prince Thomas said, the different title adding fuel to the fire. The nce Monica shot at Khan worsened the situation, but he remained silent, following the two inside the building.


    The trio quickly reached a meeting room where soldiers were already gathered. Khan''s arrival made them perform a series of military salutes, but he ignored the gesture, focusing on their status. Those troops came from the Nognes family, stating how ssified the matter was.


    Prince Thomas simply nodded, and the soldiers tinkered with the interactive desk to summon holograms. The blue lights yed a recording of a ship''s insides and the crew that inhabited it. Its scanners were also in in view, showing a space station in the distance.


    Khan gained a clear idea of the environment from those few details. He recognized the crew, ship, and space station in the distance. Those were his troops and vehicles flying through an established trade route.


    The scene went on peacefully for a few seconds, but the screen suddenly brightened. The video flickered, asionally conveying partial screams and sizzling noises.


    The recording eventually stabilized to a deste picture. The ship was in pieces, and soldiers floated through the darkness of space. They had already be corpses, and ayer of ice umted on their shocked, terrified faces.


    Khan expressionlessly studied the holograms. The scene didn''t seem to arouse any emotion inside him, but the room''s illumination suddenly started to flicker. Different surfaces also exploded, leaving long tears on their reinforced alloy. Even Monica gasped at that development, but Khan''s chilling voice suppressed her reaction.


    "Who?" Khan questioned.

 Chapter 967: Exposed

    Chapter 967: Exposed


    ?


    Sizzling noises disturbed the tense silence inside the meeting room. Exposed and torn wires inside the broken surfaces released asional sparks that joined the flickering artificial illumination. Even the holograms became blurry, unable to stabilize under Khan''s oppressive


    stare.


    Monica dispelled the initial shock and took Khan''s hand. She had expected a simr reaction, but its intensity had surprised her. As much as she was aware of Khan''s growth, that destruction had been too sudden and widespread. Still, even in that unforeseen circumstance, Monica didn''t forget to show emotional support.


    Knowledge often was a curse, and Monica suffered from its weight at that moment. She knew Khan better than anyone else, so she could read his thoughts without asking questions. Khan''s reaction also conveyed his understanding, so wasting time on exnations was pointless.


    Khan had recognized the space station. The structure was one of the many checkpoints in the established trade routes. He wasn''t sure whether the ship came from Baoway or Neuria, but that made little difference. In both cases, the crew belonged to him. Those human soldiers were his underlings.


    The ship probably carried valuable goods, but the financial loss never crossed Khan''s mind. He didn''t care about things. He couldn''t when his soldiers had died. Most leaders wouldn''t take the matter emotionally, but Khan was different. Those underlings belonged to him, so, in his view, someone had dared to spill his blood.


    To add insult to injury, the attack had happened inside the human domain. Rogue alien ships could have been the culprit, but Khan''s interspecies rtionships were good, great even, and that trade route was safe from pirates and criminals. The most likely offender was apparent, and the idea enraged him to no end.


    Khan didn''t divert his gaze nor retract his oppressive presence. He felt Monica''s hand tightening on his fingers but ignored it. Khan had asked a question, and he wouldn''t repeat himself.


    "Someone released a video after the attack, My Prince," Prince Thomas revealed, switching to politer titles before the soldiers. "He sent it directly to thework, but we quickly caught it. However, ..."


    "The video," Khan said, temporally ignoring the implications behind his Uncle''s words.


    Prince Thomas held back a gulp, eyeing the cracks on the walls, floor, and ceiling before focusing on the flickering holograms. He didn''t know how to tell Khan to calm down to make the equipment work again, but everything eventually stabilized. Even the room''s illumination started functioning correctly.


    The soldiers in the room weren''t dumb. As terrified as they were, one look from Prince Thomas made them get back to work. After a fewmands on the interactive desk, the holograms changed, shaping into a screen with a middle-aged man at its center.


    The holograms'' blue light couldn''t highlight different colors, but the screen still showed many details. The man''s torso was visible, and his military uniform failed to hide the muscr body underneath. The soldier had a stern face, a square jaw, a military haircut, and broad shoulders, and five stars rested on both.


    "This is Brigadier General Gregory Meadrey," The middle-aged man on the screen spoke. "What I''m about to show is ssified, but it''s my job and moral duty to warn the good people of the Global Army."


    The scene changed, showing zoomed-out recordings of a. The perspective was too distant to see the surface clearly, but some details became visible anyway. Soon, the scanners highlighted heavy military weaponry and what it believed to be multiple brigades.


    "These recordings are about a inside the Thilku Empire''s domain," The General exined as the screen switched back to him, "A bordering the Global Army''s domain, a military."


    Prince Thomas didn''t show it, but his expression tried to be grim. He didn''t know many details about the ploy coordinated with Raymond Cobsend, but connecting the dots was easy, even on his first video review. He had known where the General was going back then, too. "Our intel says that such a massive military mobilization is enough for a preemptive strike to our defensive perimeter," The General continued. "It can be the vanguard in a full-scale invasion. Its sole existence is a threat to the Global Army and a breach of the interspecies treaties."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Brigadier General Meadrey''s straightforward words reeked of genuine honesty, but only a political mind could have arranged them in that precise way. The middle-aged man described the situation in a few lines, highlighting the enemy threat while arousing panic. Only the finishing blow was left, but Khan knew it wasing.


    "What''s even more disturbing," Brigadier General Meadrey added. "Our intel says that Prince Khan Nognes visited the and kept it secret from the Global Army, earning the Thilku Empire''splete support in exchange."


    Khan had to suppress the urge to blow the desk into pieces. He had never publicly epted his family name. He was no Prince Nognes. Khan was simply Khan.


    "This is a clear act of treason!" The General shouted. "As such, every resource, ship, or soldier that interacts with Prince Khan Nognes can be considered a threat to our safety, and I''ll use the full extent of my authority to prevent them from touching our homes."


    The video stopped after that final announcement. The General''s figure disappeared, leaving behind an empty, holographic screen. The man had thrown a bomb into thework, and Khan had to admit he was right. Of course, that didn''t matter before his soldiers'' death.


    "I take full responsibility, My Prince," Prince Thomas dered as soon as the video ended. "I''ve already sent messengers to probe Brigadier General Meadrey''s intentions. I''ve also summoned my connections to his superiors and am negotiating a solution."


    "How old is this news?" Khan couldn''t help but ask, ncing at his Uncle.


    "Less than a week old, My Prince," Prince Thomas revealed. "We didn''t inform you


    immediately since you were already flying to Baoway."


    "The negotiations are going well," Monica added, iming Khan''s attention. "While we are at fault, Brigadier General Meadrey''s preemptive attack was unsanctioned. Besides, the nobles are on our side, so the Global Army is cornered."


    Khan noticed the hidden emotion in Monica''s expression. She knew how Khan felt but still had to suggest the politically correct decision. As much as Monica disliked doing that, it was her role. Khan might have even agreed to her before Senerth, but things were different now. "Negotiations?" Khan asked. "Someone spilled my blood. There''s only war."

 Chapter 968: Because

    Chapter 968: Because


    Monica tightened her grasp on Khan''s hand, but he ignored her to address his Uncle. "Announce it. We are officially at war with Brigadier General Meadrey. He can pick the."


    Wars were chaotic, but the more advanced species had developed standard arrangements to handle them. Khan could bring a fleet to siege the guilty space station, but a victory wouldn''t solve the issue. It would only extinguish many innocent lives and destroy part of the Global Army''s equipment.


    Khan had resorted to such methods in the past, but repeating them would only implicate the entire Global Army now. He would have to wage war against his whole species, bringing countless losses to both sides and unleashing consequences he preferred to avoid.


    Instead, dering war against the guilty Brigadier General and his loyal troops would address the culprit and limit the casualties to a single faction. The Global Army would have to stay away from the battle, too, treating it as simple infighting.


    Of course, the Global Army had to agree to the deration, but Khan was ying by the rules now. He had studied those regtions in the Harbor, and his status and situation would force the other Generals to acknowledge the validity of his announcement.


    Khan slipped out of Monica''s grasp and left. He had much to n and no time to waste. He also had many details to review. Prince Thomas had focused on the main issue, but its ramifications extended past that single destroyed delivery.


    Prince Thomas couldn''t argue. Khan had given an order, and he waspletely to me for that mess. However, Prince Thomas still hoped to avoid that catastrophic development, so he eyed Monica, conveying a silent message she immediately understood.


    Monica stormed out of the meeting room, chasing after Khan. Luckily, he didn''t rely on his speed. He was still in the corridor, seemingly knowing that Monica would run after him.


    "Khan!" Monica called, and Khan stopped, turning to show her the emotionless, intense face he had worn on Senerth.


    Many would freeze in fear before that expression, but Monica knew better. She saw the exhaustion hidden behind that war face. Khan didn''t want to jump into another battle, so Monica hoped the situation could be solved peacefully.


    Monica reached Khan, took his hand, and dragged it into a nearby room. Soldiers were there, dealing with their daily tasks, but one re from Monica made them leave. The couple soon remained alone, and Monica wrapped her arms around Khan''s neck, pulling him on her shoulder to squeeze him into a hug.


    The two barely reunited, only for problems to crash on them. Truth be told, Monica didn''t want to deal with any of that. She would happily ignore the political mess and spend a month in a bedroom with Khan. However, their positions didn''t allow such breaks, and Monica had to limit herself to that hug to convey her unwillingness.


    Khan calmed down, running his hands on Monica''s back. He knew what she was about to say, but that short break didn''t change his mind. He was done ying politics and could only hope Monica would understand him.


    "Dear," Monica whispered, slightly pulling herself back to look at Khan''s face. "I know, but this can work to our advantage. The Global Army can''t deal with the pressure from all noble families. We can force it to coborate with our investigation and even swear loyalty."


    Khan reached for Monica''s cheek, warmly caressing it. She was right. Khan was to me for keeping the military hidden, but the Global Army had struck first. Since the other side had the Thilku Empire, the noble families, and Khan, the Global Army would probably turn Brigadier General Meadrey into a scapegoat.


    Khan''s faction would have to make some concessions, but he had the Empire''s support, so the losses would be almost null. Meanwhile, the Global Army would have to snap out of its neutral state, hopefully putting more pressure on the slippery Raymond.


    Yet, Khan kept seeing Zu-Gru''s mangled corpse, and all the love he felt for Monica couldn''t disperse that picture.


    The problems didn''t end there, either. Many human soldiers had and were trying to join Khan''s organization due to various reasons. He had be the hope for a change in the Global Army''s rotten system but was only bringing death to those who followed him.


    Khan''s glowing gaze lingered on Monica''s stunning but worried face before closing his eyes. His type of leadership would finalize its shape in his next decision, and he already knew what it was.


    "No," Khan said, reopening his eyes to show his firm intentions.


    Monica''s eyes widened, but she didn''t give up. "Khan, you have already achieved what you nned to achieve, and you just came back from a war. These mistakes happen. Let the politicians deal with politics while you handle matters more befitting of your status."


    As for what Monica meant, Khan had a clear idea. Senerth''s mission had dyed the tournament, which had to start in those weeks. Moreover, Khan had promised to marry Monica after his return, and that minor scuffle with a Brigadier General shouldn''t get in the way. After all, only a few soldiers had died.


    "No," Khan repeated, shaking his head. "I promised you. Death to our enemies, even humankind."


    Khan let go of Monica, heading for the room''s exit, but she grabbed his arm before he could leave.


    "Khan, it''s another ploy," Monica almost begged. "You know it''s a trap, but we have ways to handle it now. Why do you have to go?"


    It broke Khan''s heart having to go against Monica''s wishes. She even made him hesitate, but the answer was clear in his mind. It had been clear for too long. He wasn''t human. Khan wasn''t even sure what he was now. He only knew that Monica''s reasoning couldn''t apply to him.


    "Because it never ends," Khan responded, and Monica''s hands couldn''t help but tremble.


    "Because I fell in love, and they kicked me out," Khan continued. "Because I sought answers, and they made an asteroid explode. Because I found you, and they made me aplish miracles just to hold your hand in public."


    Monica wanted to say something but couldn''t. She desired to jump on Khan and give away the entirety of herself to reassure him, but her legs didn''t move. Even her grasp on Khan''s arm weakened.


    "Because I became great, and they put you in danger," Khan added. "Because I had to be a monster to survive. Because they still don''t realize what they are against." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "But Khan," Monica finally spoke, tears umting in her eyes. "They will never ept you if you do this."


    "I don''t need them to ept me," Khan scoffed. "I just need to save them."


    Having said that, Khan slipped out of Monica''s grasp and left the room.

 Chapter 969: Expectations

    Chapter 969: Expectations


    ?


    Monica watched the door close and fell, her legs unable to make her stand anymore. Her reunion with Khan wasn''t supposed to be like that. Theoretically, the two should have enjoyed a moment of peace, focusing on getting married and babymaking. Sadly, the reality had been entirely different.


    Brigadier General Meadrey was a serious matter, but Khan didn''t need to get involved. Its potential connection with Raymond Cobsend would add reason to his absence.


    Yet, Khan couldn''t care. He had reached the breaking point long ago, and the toxic pool had only worsened the extreme aspects of his personality. His mood wasn''t great after Senerth, either, so that development wasn''t exactly a surprise.


    Monica could rationalize everything. She knew Khan better than anyone, so his war deration didn''t surprise her. If anything, that was another selfless act meant to protect his loved ones'' lives. No one would dare to do anything against Khan''s organization and troops after publicly defeating the General.


    However, Monica had hoped she could change Khan''s mind. She believed it was her job to do so since the other option could bring greater benefits. Handling the mess through politics could also spare Khan from another war, which Monica more than weed.


    Still, things had never been close to Monica''s hopes. Khan almost showed no hesitation in rejecting her suggestion. He didn''t even try to discuss his decision with her. Khan had also been able to leave her easily, as if she were no different than any other advisor.


    ''When did you learn to escape my hands?'' Monica wondered, looking at her shaking fingers. ''Or was my grasp different?''


    Monica would be lying if she imed to be okay with Khan''s approach. She didn''t want to see Khanpromising himself even further to protect her, and the war was against humanity now. Monica could agree with the ughter after the assassination attempt since Khan had been the target, but Brigadier General Meadrey had attacked random soldiers now, probably on purpose.


    The situation was entirely different, but Khan was, too. He didn''t distinguish between humans and aliens or his blood and those from his underlings. Khan only saw enemies and allies, and the former could expect the same treatment every time.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Monica truly didn''t wish for Khan to be at war with humankind. She hated the Global Army for making things difficult for him but also wanted to abide by her role as his human anchor. In her mind, Khan''s rightful ce was at the Global Army''s peak, sitting on a throne surrounded by loyal subjects. Sadly, the iing war would probably create an unmendable rift.


    ''Did I fail as his anchor?'' Monica wondered. ''Could I have done more?''


    Monica allowed herself a short break on the floor before standing up. Doubts aside, her Fianc¨¦ had given an order, and she had to help with the preparations. She couldn''t be Khan''s Queen if one disagreement were enough to break her down.


    In the meantime, Khan hurried through the corridor, barging into another meeting room and sending away the soldiers inside. His mental state was simr to Monica''s, albeit with some differences.


    Khan also wanted his return to put an end to the battles. He even looked forward to spending some quality time with Monica and focusing on the project of building a family. He truly wished that, but a random General had to shatter that hope.


    Moreover, Monica had tried to go against Khan, hoping for a peaceful resolution. He understood her, but that couldn''t matter before Brigadier General Meadrey''s insult. Spilling his blood couldn''t be so easy and without harsh retributions.


    ''She is still human in the end,'' Khan thought, seizing the first bottle in sight before tinkering with the room''s interactive desk. ''No one would be happy fighting their own species. No one should.''


    In a way, that had always been one of the couple''s greatest fears. It had started small, with the difference in status between Monica and Khan. However, Khan''s political climb had expanded the issue, putting the entirety of humankind at stake with him on the other side. Everything else was up to Monica and whether she could continue following him.


    Khan did his best to put aside his worries, focusing on the matter at hand. Luckily, his anger toward the unsanctioned attack was a great distraction, and he had only learned a small part of the whole matter.


    Prince Thomas had hinted at the issue, and a few directives from Khan listed it on the interactive desk. No one had more authority than him on Baoway, so everything became avable as soon as his gic signature went through.


    Brigadier General Meadrey had released his video on thework. The Nognes family had promptly caught it and removed it from the public eye, but the news was already out, and no amount of suppression could wipe out people''s memories.


    Also, parties with equal status with the Nognes family had gotten their hands on the video, keeping it as leverage for future threats or secret meetings. It was almost a given that those powerful forces were already discussing it and that their eyes pointed at Khan.


    The initial estimate included the other noble families, some higher-ups in the Global Army, and a few criminal organizations, but Khan believed the number to be higher. He had long since learned about thework''s intricacies, so he knew that rumor would stick to him for a while, even without important people mentioning it. The masses would do that for them. Khan didn''t care about the Global Army or the criminals, but the nobles were a problem. His recently acquired political security depended on them, and giving it up would also hurt his closest allies. The array of benefits was inescapable, and Khan had to defend it somehow. Of course, winning the war against Brigadier General Meadrey would be a good first step, but reputation was hard to restore. Due to apparent political unreliability, Khan would have the lower hand in every future meeting, so he had to make the best out of the imminent battle.


    ''And there is something else, too,'' Khan sighed, watching a red symbol appear on the interactive desk. As troublesome as the issue was inside humankind, nothing could match the pressure the Thilku Empire was capable of.

 Chapter 970 Acceptance

    Chapter 970 eptance


    Khan''s political safety came from different parties. As strong as he was, he couldn''t contend against entire organizations that had ruled for centuries, or rather, Baoway couldn''t.


    Giving Senerth, Hililles, and Vuter away had secured the nobles and Nognes'' Exellencies'' support. That array of benefits had also eased the pressure on Luke and the others, reinforcing the alliance around Khan''s figure. However, that political environment had another bigger party that outssed all of the above.


    Undoubtedly, the Thilku Empire was the main reason for Khan''s political safety. The Global Army couldn''t touch him as long as that war-thirsty species protected him. Even the nobles had to respect him due to his unique position among the Thilku.


    Thest mission had been no different. Khan could establish and reinforce rtionships with powerful parties thanks to the Empire''s needs and resources. The Empire would also benefit from the exchange, but Brigadier General Meadrey''s actions threatened to ruin everything.


    Hence, Khan felt no surprise at seeing the Thilku rune on the interactive desk. With the embassy in Baoway, the Thilku learned about the problem, and Khan''s return made that call mandatory.


    Due to Khan''s connection to the Empire, the interactive desk could use Thilku technology, so he traced the rune''s lines in a specific pattern to ept the call. The blue light suddenly disappeared, reced by red holograms that took the shape of a screen.


    "[Lord Exr]," Khan called, recognizing the alien on the screen. "[I expected your call]."


    "[Blue Shaman]," Lord Exr responded. "[We received preliminary reports from Senerth''s campaign. I''m told your performance was exemry]."


    "[It still took too long for my tastes]," Khan stated, "[But the campaign was indeed a sess]."


    "[Humility doesn''t suit the Empire''s soldiers]," Lord Exr joked, "[Or Lords]."


    "[I wasn''t being humble, My Lord]," Khan said, ignoring the hidden meaning behind Lord Exr''s words. "[Some circumstances slowed down the conquest]."


    Khan wasn''t lying. Between his training and Bruno''s presence, he had avoided going all-out during most of the campaign. He also needed his army to gain proper battle experience and familiarize itself with advanced military tactics, inevitably slowing down the expansion.


    Lord Exr smirked, showing his sharp canines. His personality matched Khan''s, and the two''s rtionship had significantly improved during the tournament. In a way, Lord Exr saw Khan as a fellow Lord, and the mission''s sess reinforced that good impression.


    Nevertheless, Lord Exr remained silent. With the pleasantries gone, the two would have to discuss the matter at hand, which promised to be troublesome.


    Khan understood Lord Exr''splicated situation. In different circumstances, the Empire''s Lords would have traveled to Baoway to celebrate Khan''s victory, but their absence revealed its troublesome internal state of affairs. The caller''s identity was another hint. It basically stated that Lord Rsi was too busy to deal with Khan directly.


    As powerful as the Empire was, the Global Army was no weakling, either. Its military prowess was one of the main reasons behind the two species'' peaceful rtionship. Yet, exposing the secret could lead to battles or all-out wars, so the Empire was busy preparing for that eventuality.


    "[I have discussed the issue with My Lord]," Lord Exr eventually revealed. "[The Empire is ready to support the Blue Shaman]."


    Khan had to hide his surprise. The Empire had already supported Khan in the past, but the current issue involved more than a single. A potential war was at stake, so siding with its own species and cutting connections with the human variable would be wise.


    However, Lord Exr''s words reminded Khan about how different the Empire was from the Global Army. The Thilku didn''t only ept Khan. They also respected him, and their pride prevented them from sacrificing one of their own to solve a political issue.


    It was almost ironic. After everything Khan had done, achieved, and sacrificed, the alien species still treated him better than humankind, going as far as offering their support against their best interests.


    Khan experienced a tinge of sadness at that realization but quickly stuffed that feeling in the back of his mind. He didn''t have time to waste in his internal conflict. He had a war to fight, and the Empire was only one of the parties that needed his reassurance. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "[I''m honored, My Lord]," Khan admitted, "[But this problem came from my side. It''s only natural for me to handle it with my forces]."


    "[The Empire is responsible for this problem]," Lord Exr pointed out. "[The Thilku must pay back this debt]."


    "[The Empire already repaid it]," Khan argued. Baoway''s safety and his monopoly over the Thilku Empire''s connections were part of that agreement.


    "[But we didn''t ount for this]," Lord Exr continued. "[Its repercussions are still creating problems]."


    "[These problems are inside the Global Army, My Lord]," Khan dered. "[Inviting alien forces to deal with them will only create a rift between the Empire and humankind]."


    Lord Exr was more of a soldier than a politician but had already discussed those points with his superiors. The Empire''s interference would quickly solve Khan''s problem and reaffirm his safe position inside the Global Army, but humankind wouldn''t take that action well.


    Using the Empire would add fuel to Brigadier General Meadrey''s worries. The Global Army might ept the oue, but Khan''s position would change forever. Currently, Khan could still juggle between the two species evenly, but humankind would see him as an enemy force if he resorted to the Thilku''s help. As angry as Khan was, he still had to consider the bigger picture.


    "[Besides]," Khan added, "[I''m more than capable of handling this myself. Actually, I want to]."


    This time, it was Lord Exr who felt surprised. Khan didn''t explicitly say it, but his words sounded like a request. He wanted the Empire to trust him and leave that problem in his hands.


    Needless to say, Lord Exr couldn''t help but approve of that behavior. That was how a Thilku Lord should act, and refusing Khan would insult his pride.


    "[Very well]," Lord Exr said without wasting more time attempting to change Khan''s mind. "[We''ll leave this problem to you and expect great results]."


    "[You won''t be disappointed, My Lord]," Khan dered.


    "[I''ll inform my superiors]," Lord Exr nodded before adding apliment. "[Truly good job on Senerth]."


    The call suddenly ended, and Khan closed his eyes, instinctively reaching for the half-empty bottle at his side. He knew what he had to do. More meetings and discussions were waiting for him, almost making him want to jump directly into the war against the Brigadier General.


    However, the meeting room''s door suddenly opened, and Khan couldn''t help but peek past his shoulder. He didn''t need eyes to recognize the neer, but that was exactly why he had turned. For some reason, Princess Rachel Montares had visited him.

 Chapter 971: Simple

    Chapter 971: Simple


    ?


    Khan had guessed that noble representatives were on the. He didn''t see them in thending area, but his return and the recent mess made their presence more than reasonable. After her mishap during the tournament''s auction, the Montares family reced Princess Rachel with Prince Andrew to deal with Khan. Still, the deal probably pleased it enough to reinstate her position. Khan could take that as an act of goodwill and trust, and the n indeed worked.


    Nevertheless, that political maneuver didn''t exin why Princess Rachel had appeared inside the room at that exact moment. Khan would eventually have to deal with the noble representatives, but those meetings required preparations and agreements.


    Also, Princess Rachel''s military uniform hinted at informal purposes. She probably wasn''t there on official business, and someone had even told her where Khan was.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    ''Did she and Monica get this close already?'' Khan wondered, turning to address the Princess. "Rachel, what are you doing here?"


    Princess Rachel couldn''t hear the door closing behind her. Khan was still in his military outfit, and her eyes inevitably darted up and down his exposed torso, making her forget about the outside world. That wasn''t her first time ncing at Khan''s abs, but the absence of the bone armor granted a clearer view of his perfect build, and she lingered in her inspection.


    "I could ask you the same question, Prince Khan," Princess Rachel said, snapping out of her daze and pretending it had never happened. "I thought you''d be with your Fianc¨¦e, unavable for a while."


    "Prince Khan?" Khan questioned, crossing his arms before sighing and diverting his gaze. "I thought so, too."


    Khan didn''t like those formalities among friends, but Princess Rachel couldn''t ignore her noble education on the spot. Besides, the two didn''t share many moments after the auction''s mess, so she still felt shy before that newfound intimacy.


    Still, noticing Khan''s strange expression made Princess Rachel forget about her coyness and approach the interactive table. She reached Khan''s side and nced at the empty bottle in his hands before lifting her eyes, only to find a blue light pointed at her.


    "Did Monica ask you to change my mind?" Khan questioned.


    Khan''s gaze was strangely cold, and Princess Rachel shrunk under its light. Yet, she quickly recalled a certain experience inside a closet and steeled her resolve.


    "Don''t look at me like that," Princess Rachel said. Her tone had tried to remain neutral, but the pleading under it didn''t escape Khan''s ears.


    "Sorry," Khan uttered, covering his face with a hand while turning toward the interactive table. He lifted the bottle, and a quiet curse escaped his mouth when he noticed it was empty.


    Princess Rachel had never seen Khan so troubled. He had always been imposing, powerful, and firm in their past interactions, but something clearly troubled him now. However, she didn''t feel disappointed. If anything, Princess Rachel wanted to find ways to support him. "By the way," Princess Rachel announced, cing a hand on Khan''s elbow to lean toward the empty bottle. "Monica only told me about your decision and that you left right away."


    Khan watched as Princess Rachel seized the bottle from his hand and ced it away from him on her side of the desk. Her eyes were lowered, but she felt that Khan was studying her every move. Luckily, the previous coldness was no more.


    "So," Khan eximed. "Why are you here?"


    "I represent one of your main business partners," Princess Rachel imed before timidly meeting Khan''s gaze, "And I was worried."


    Khan sighed but quickly revealed a slight smile and patted Princess Montares'' head. Rachel promptly escaped his grasp, stepping back and ring at him. Her annoyance even intensified when she noticed traces of a smirk on his face.


    "Prince Khan!" Princess Rachel scolded. "I came as a friend to check on your well-being, not to be teased!"


    Khan chuckled, uttering his firstugh since his return to Baoway. Usually, he would tease Princess Rachel more, but the troublesome situation and his previous interaction with Monica prevented that mood.


    "I''m fine," Khan reassured. "Though, since you are here, do you think I''m making a mistake?"


    Princess Rachel''s re disappeared. The question surprised her, but she didn''t hesitate to consider it. However, two forces fought inside her to develop an answer. One was from her noble status perspective, while the other ignored politics to act as Khan''s friend.


    The internal conflict wasn''t easy to resolve. On the one hand, Khan was a liability, and the discovery of the military threatened all the previously established businesses with him. On the other, Khan was an umon leader who had seized leadership through umon methods, so his war deration yed into his character and strong points. Of course, Princess Rachel didn''t ignore the target of Khan''s war deration, but her perspective was broader than Monica''s. She was a proper noble-born and had always experienced a certain distance from the Global Army. Considering Khan''s status, wiping out an opposing army or two was perfectly fine.


    "I don''t even have a fraction of your military and political achievements," Princess Rachel admitted. "If that''s the path you have chosen, I can only trust you will seed."


    Khan nced at the empty wall, a strange feeling invading his gaze. He wouldn''t have changed his mind, but the answer deepened his spiritual solitude. It seemed even nobles couldn''t advise him anymore.


    "But," Princess Rachel continued, "I can understand your anger. It must be disappointing having people creating problems for you after your efforts."


    "It is," Khan confirmed, deep thoughts churning in his brain. His mind was already projected toward the iing war, and more details fell into ce as he studied them.


    "I won''t bring Mister Parket there," Khan revealed. "He''d do fine, but I don''t want him getting used to killing humans."


    Princess Rachel studied Khan''s seemingly emotionless expression before asking something. "Are you?"


    "It makes no difference to me," Khan said, scratching the side of his head. "Still, I probably killed more humans than aliens. I lost count long ago."


    A sense of helpless destion enveloped Khan, thick enough for Princess Rachel to sense it. The urge to hug him invaded her, but the room''s door suddenly opened, distracting her from


    those thoughts.


    Monica appeared at the room''s entrance, and she and Khan exchanged a silent look before she nodded at Princess Rachel. Thetter understood the message and stole a nce at Khan before departing. She only caressed Monica''s arm before leaving through the door.


    Khan waited for the door to close to ask a question, but Monica hurriedly reached him, hugging his neck and sealing his mouth with her lips. A passionate kiss unfolded, but Khan


    couldn''t lose himself in it when the two had yet to talk.


    "Monica," Khan called when he could escape the kiss, but she put a thumb on his lips,


    stopping him from adding anything else.


    "Don''t think," Monica stated, repeating words she had said when their rtionship had yet to


    begin. "Keep it simple."


    Khan warmly smiled and removed all the useless thoughts, focusing on the figure before him.


    Before he knew it, he had ced Monica on the interactive desk, and the two immersed themselves in their passion, hoping to ignore the lingering sadness in the air.

 Chapter 972 Bitterness

    Chapter 972 Bitterness


    Khan opened his eyes at the sound of soft snores and crackling noises. The room''s illumination flickered in his view, and a warm body rested on his chest.


    The couple''s passionate outburst didn''t bode well for the meeting room. Eight months of separation and Khan''s new strength made simple technology and brittle equipment unable to survive. The two''s strange desperation also intensified those aspects, leaving scars on that expensive area.


    Somehow, a crack had opened on the interactive desk, almost splitting it into two. Exposed wires and mana conduits rose from the injury, releasing sparks and synthetic energy into the air.


    The artificial illumination had also suffered permanent damage. Khan didn''t know how or why, but the room''s light seemed unable to stabilize.


    Unknowingly, Khan had be too heavy for those artificial environments. The situation was unusual, and Khan could have held back, but the room''s state still spoke to some of his newfound worries.


    Khan didn''t care about the room''s damage. He would have taken some pride in it in the past, but the harm didn''t stop at the equipment.


    Monica sleptfortably on Khan while the two were on the floor, using the thick cape as a makeshift bed. The unreliable artificial illumination didn''t prevent him from studying his Fianc¨¦e, quickly spotting traces of his touch that she had yet to recover from.


    Monica''s thighs had slight bruises where Khan''s fingers had squeezed them too tightly. The same went for her forearms from when he had pinned her down to indulge in kinkier positions. Khan could also sense that Monica was sore all over, exhausted from the recent performance.


    Of course, Monica didn''t mind those bruises. She was more than willing to pay that price due to the pleasure that preceded them. Still, Khan had always hated hurting her, and his experiences on Senerth put those superficial injuries in a different perspective.


    Khan had learned how to feel the world''s entropy. He had mastered harnessing that invisible universal desire and had even applied it to living beings.


    In Khan''s eyes, Monica wasn''t just blood, flesh, and love. He saw the ws in her tissues. He almost heard her cells desire to fall apart. Breaking her would take him a bit more than a thought, highlighting the vast gap in their existence.


    Monica imed she didn''t mind being broken by Khan, but he had never agreed. Khan would rather suffer untold torture than hurt the woman he loved so deeply. However, he couldn''t help but see how frail she was, and that feeling had tainted the previous frenzied passion.


    The synthetic mana leaking from the broken interactive table didn''t sweep away that feeling. A faint but deep bitterness lingered in the air, and Khan wasn''t its only source. Monica had also noticed his mental state and her sadness joined it in affecting the symphony.


    Khan didn''t want to disturb Monica''s rest but still straightened his back, lifting her. He sat on the cape, adjusting Monica on hisp while hugging her tightly. Khan clung to her desperately, fearing that letting her go could change their rtionship forever. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Monica woke up during that change of position and was almost about to say something when she felt something odd in Khan''s hug. ncing at his face told her everything she needed to know, so she clung to his torso, silently trying to reassure him.


    Sadly, that didn''t work. Monica was also in a simr state, so her hug was no different from Khan''s. The two clung to each other, silently hoping that whatever was happening would disappear. They had gone through so much, but a wall seemed to have appeared between them, and even their passion failed to pierce it.


    ''When did this distance appear?'' Khan wondered. ''Did I go too deep into my training?''


    ''Why can''t I reach him?'' Monica worried. ''Have I be unfit to be at his side?''


    Both sides med themselves for the problem, but neither spoke. That wasn''t the time for words. Too much was happening, and the couple wasn''t sure how long they had stayed in the room. The outside world was calling, and the two needed to return to it.


    Monica mustered her courage and decided to abide by her role, breaking the silence. "Khan, check your phone."


    Luckily, the device was nearby, buzzing at the cape''s side. Khan could reach it without breaking the hug and unlocked its screen before Monica. Countless notifications had arrived, and thework was ame.


    The attempt to peacefully solve Brigadier General Meadrey''s attack was gone after Khan''s announcement. As unwilling as Prince Thomas and Monica were, Khan had thest word in the matter, so they ryed his war deration.


    That simple order had unleashed an unfathomable mess that almost involved every important party inside humankind. The Global Army''s Generals, the nobles, the families in the alliance, and the Nognes Excellencies wanted to have a word with Khan, pursuing different interests. Still, he had disappeared for almost a day.


    Khan showed no emotions at the various messages and invitations. He knew what each party wanted but couldn''t be bothered with politics just yet, especially now that he had the lower hand.


    Brigadier General Meadrey''s actions had affected all of Khan''s business partners. The trade routes were unsafe or closed now, so the nobles and the Nognes Excellencies wondered how and whether Khan would fulfill the previous agreements. Even the three Thilkus lost value when those parties couldn''t export their resources.


    Luke and the others had milder approaches but still requested a proper meeting. That was the norm in those environments, and Khan knew his allies would trust his words. He only had to speak to them.


    Also, the news was out now, so the Global Army would want proper exnations. Knowing about the Thilku military would put Khan on the spot, allowing Generals and soldiers to establish new arrangements. They couldn''t punish or imprison Khan, but increasing the trade tariffs was a goal within their reach.


    No matter how Khan handled it, his rtionship with humankind was scarred, and its consequences would affect all his businesses. He was in a lose-lose situation, with his new strength as his only leverage.

 Chapter 973: Generals

    Chapter 973: Generals


    ?


    The war deration had already leaked into thework, but the Global Army was working overtime to suppress the news. However, the rumor was out there now, giving birth to countless gossip and leading to inescapable consequences.


    A day had passed since the war deration, and much had happened in that period. Many Generals expressed their disappointment, even exploding into public condemnations of Khan''s actions. Those actions aimed to change Khan''s mind, but his absence had forced them to proceed with the preparations.


    The Global Army always tried to limit the in-fighting, and Khan''s war deration was no exception. A battle looked unavoidable, but the various Generals still wanted to contain the damage and casualties as much as possible.


    Fighting in space was too expensive, and the losses on both sides would be unbearable, but Khan had already addressed the issue. Brigadier General Meadrey could pick the where the war would happen, but the other details were still uncertain.


    Prince Thomas and Lieutenant Dyester were handling the negotiations, but Khan''s absence prevented them from finalizing the agreements. For now, they mostly bought time, waiting for his return and hoping the break with Monica paved the way for more clear-headed decisions.


    Khan didn''t address the many inquiries from his phone. It was pointless to do that anyway. Ideally, he would also avoid the countless meeting requests, summoning them only after dealing with the Brigadier General''s actions.


    Still, Prince Thomas and Lieutenant Dyester needed Khan at this very moment, and dying the war arrangements would only reflect poorly on thetter. Both Monica and Khan understood that, but he didn''t let her stand up so easily.


    As bitter and sad as the situation felt, Khan followed the Niqols'' ways. Some emotions had no solutions, so suppressing them with stronger feelings was perfectly fine.


    Monica lifted her head when she failed to escape the hug, but Khan''s mouth was already there, kissing her forehead. She let that sensation wash over her, immersing herself in Khan''s protective affection, and a giggle escaped her mouth when he abruptly jumped to his feet, lifting her in the process.


    Monicaughed, hiding her face in Khan''s neck and enjoying those remaining seconds together. She clung to him a little longer, even after he ced her on an intact piece of the interactive desk, but the kiss thatnded on her lips seeded in breaking the hug.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "I''ll deal with everything," Khan whispered. "You can rest easy."


    With Khan on the and the current crisis, Monica didn''t have to do much. Everything was on halt until the General was dealt with anyway. Yet, she couldn''t let Khan go without her usual warnings.


    "Dear," Monica called, clinging to Khan''s arm to restrain him. "Don''t get hurt."


    Khan lifted the trapped arm, caressing Monica''s cheek. She finally released her grasp, but Khan still added something to reassure her.


    "How?" Khan asked. "He''s only a fifth-level warrior."


    Monica''s worries went deeper than Khan''s physical state, but she didn''t mention them. She simply smiled, letting Khan leave to handle the current mess.


    Khan wasn''t wearing much in the first ce, so he only had to pick up his trousers and cape to leave the room. He also knew where he had left Prince Thomas and nned to join him, but he found a familiar figure in the corridor waiting for him.


    Baoway had teleports on both the and space station above now, so anyone could get there while Khan was with Monica. Finding Brigadier General Seb in the corridor wasn''t surprising, but Khan didn''t know what to tell him.


    "Prince Khan," Brigadier General Seb called, evident distress in his voice. "A word?"


    Khan didn''t reply nor nod, but the General took his silence for acknowledgment. He followed Khan through the corridor, walking at his side while exining his issues.


    "First, I''d like to apologize for Brigadier General Meadrey''s actions," Brigadier General Seb announced. "He acted on his own without receiving orders or clearance. The Global Army isn''t to me for these events."


    Khan remained silent. Brigadier General Seb''s words were probably true but didn''t cover for unofficial channels. Even if the Global Army gave no order, someone might have secretly pushed Brigadier General Meadrey to act.


    "However," Brigadier General Seb continued. "The Empire''s military is no small matter. We deserved to be informed, at the very least. We could have kept the information private instead of letting it blow up like this."


    Brigadier General Seb''s strategy was obvious. epting his share of the me first allowed him to mention Khan''s. Hiding an alien military also had far greater relevance, but the General decided not to highlight that.


    "The Global Army understands your position," Brigadier General Seb eximed, "But an open war is too much. It will lead to civic unrest and create stark factions, and many won''t be on your side."


    "So," Khan finally spoke, "You can spill my blood, but I can''t spill yours."


    Brigadier General Seb gulped. Talking with Khan had never been an easy task, mainly due to his odd values. In Khan''s perspective, starting a war over a single destroyed cargo ship was perfectly reasonable.


    "I apologize," Brigadier General Seb said. "I never meant that, but the situation is quite serious."


    "I know it''s serious," Khan responded, intentionally misunderstanding the General''s words. "Someone blew up my ship and killed my soldiers."


    "Then," Brigadier General Seb yed along, "Let us repay you and deal with Brigadier General Meadrey. Everything can be discussed afterward."


    "No," Khan directly refused.


    "Why?" Brigadier General Seb asked.


    "Because someone thought it was fine to give the order to take down my ship," Khan exined. "Because someone else epted pulling the trigger, knowing my crew''s g. If I had known my previous retribution wasn''t enough, I would have done more earlier." "Prince Khan," Brigadier General Seb called, "As amazing as you are, you aren''t exempt from our rules."


    The General barelypleted his sentence when his feet left the floor. Khan had suddenly stopped walking, grabbing the man''s cor and lifting him with an arm.


    "I am," Khan dered, pointing his bright eyes at the General. "Do you think your rules can protect you now?"


    That wasn''t Khan''s first time threatening Brigadier General Seb, but thetter could clearly tell the difference. His first meeting with Khan had left him uncertain about the oue of a potential battle, but that feeling had disappeared now. The General instinctively knew he was powerless against Khan. He could have killed him on the spot instead of lifting


    him.


    "I did warn you," Khan added. "I told you those events could happen again. This wasn''t even a criminal organization. It came from your Generals."


    Khan let go of Brigadier General Seb''s cor, who quickly restored his bnce but failed to resume walking with him. Something told him the discussion was over, so he could only watch as Khan dived deeper into the corridor.


    "Feel grateful my Fianc¨¦e is a human," Khan stated without turning back nor stopping. "I''ll limit the war to Brigadier General Meadrey''s loyal troops. If the other Generals have a problem with that, they can die with him."

 Chapter 974: Optics

    Chapter 974: Optics


    ?


    Khan returned to the first meeting room and found a heavy atmosphere waiting for him. Most soldiers had left, and only individuals with high-level clearance remained at the various consoles. Meanwhile, the main interactive desk had Prince Thomas and Lieutenant Dyester dealing with countless messages.


    Khan''s return changed the chain ofmand, and the heavy atmosphere also intensified. The remaining soldiers interrupted their tasks to perform military salutes while Prince Thomas and Lieutenant Dyester ignored the interactive desk to shoot curious nces at him. Their looks told entire stories of their own, but Khan temporarily ignored them.


    "Report," Khan ordered, reaching the interactive table and browsing the various messages.


    The interactive table reflected the state of Khan''s phone on arger scale. The same important parties had approached that more official channel, requesting meetings and answers, but things didn''t stop there. Many Generals, average families, and reporters had also reached out to Khan''s organization, hoping to get in contact with him.


    The numerous requests vouched for the tournament''s sess. A single instance of that massive event had put Khan at the center of a giant socialwork, which many parties didn''t want to lose. The small to average families, in particr, hoped that incredible opportunity wouldn''t disappear after a mere year.


    Truthfully, that scene was reassuring. Even if some parties felt forced to publicly condemn Khan, the interactive table showed their real faces. The tournament was too beneficial for most of the Global Army''s families, earning Khan politer messages on that more private channel.


    Of course, that behavior was mostly possible due to the Thilku Empire''sck of attacks. The military was a threat, but the many average families couldn''t care about it as long as it remained silent. They didn''t have the power or authority to oppose it anyway, so they focused on reaping benefits.


    "We received several offers, My Prince," Prince Thomas revealed. "The meeting requests vastly outnumber them, but Princess Reba is buying us time. Your Grandfather is also shielding us from the Global Army and Excellencies'' pressure."


    "What are the offers?" Khan asked, nodding.


    Prince Thomas yed with the interactive desk until a series of holograms flew before Khan. Detailed lists of conditions, regtions, and locations expanded in his view, waiting to be epted or discussed.


    As much as the Global Army wanted to avoid in-fighting, Khan had already dered war, so the Generals had to proceed with their preparations. The initial offers significantly favored Brigadier General Meadrey, but that simply was amon initial strategy during


    negotiations.


    Actually, Khan believed Lieutenant Dyester had already dealt with a few rounds of more overbearing offers, leading to the current situation. The lists were still bad, but that word was rtive in Khan''s eyes.


    If anything, Khan found Lieutenant Dyester''sck ofints more interesting. The man was supposed to be Khan''s moralpass, so his silent agreement to the war deration tried to reassure him.


    The truth slightly differed from that. Witnessing Khan''s prowess on the battlefield had indeed changed Lieutenant Dyester''s perspective. The soldier felt unable to applymon sense to Khan''s actions anymore, and in a way, he even justified them.


    Lieutenant Dyester wasn''t alone in that mindset. He was actually one of the most moderate parties among those who witnessed Khan''s prowess. The Scalqa and Moses would probably blindly follow his every decision now since his performance had shattered their previous idea of strength.


    Still, the current issue mostly involved Khan''s approach to leadership, and seeing his sorrow toward the army''s casualties told Lieutenant Dyester everything he needed to know. Khan''s war deration wasn''t an act of anger or arrogance. It was his way of keeping his people safe. It didn''t matter whether the universe saw him as a monster afterward.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "They are just probing us in the hope we opt for peaceful resolutions," Lieutenant Dyester snorted. "The Global Army doesn''t want this war to happen, but Brigadier General Meadrey isn''t exactly on its side."


    "What do you mean?" Khan questioned, curious.


    "The General is ignoring his superiors, My Prince," Prince Thomas exined, "At least from what we can see. It seems this Gregory Meadrey is quite the fanatic."


    Khan couldn''t help butpare Brigadier General Meadrey to Izraz. The two were simr, albeit on opposite sides.


    ''Raymond sure knows how to select his pawns,'' Khan internally cursed.


    "See?" Khan wondered. It stood to reason that the Global Army would keep its internal discussions hidden, but Prince Thomas had still been able to learn something, and Khan wanted to know how.


    "Brigadier General Meadrey made more attempts to go public, My Prince," Prince Thomas revealed. "He wants the whole Global Army to be aware of this conflict and its resolution." "Does he think killing my soldiers is some sort of spectacle?" Khan asked. He had been ready to give humankind some leeway due to Monica, but the idea was losing ground in his mind. "It''s an ideological deration," Lieutenant Dyester understood. "It''s an attempt to destroy your image. He wants the Global Army to see you using aliens to suppress humans." Lieutenant Dyester''s experience shone in that military-rted instance. He saw through the ploy, understanding its hidden goals. As for why, even Khan didn''t know. He thought he grasped Raymond''s intentions, but the slippery man had a strange way of pursuing them.


    "His fanatism works in our favor," Lieutenant Dyester continued. "Publicly fighting him with a human army will speak louder than a thousand words, and I don''t see ourselves losing."


    "I won''t bring any human to fight him," Khan dered, surprising both Lieutenant Dyester


    and Prince Thomas. "I won''t use humans to kill humans."


    "My Prince," Prince Thomas called. "You must realize the optics won''t be great."


    "They can''t be great," Khan stated. "After all, I''m fighting."


    Lieutenant Dyester could only divert his gaze as images from Senerth flowed through his vision. There was nothing human in Khan''s fighting style. His power was unfathomable and mystical. Hiding it under a human army wouldn''t change those features.


    "The decision is final," Khan said before anyone could object. He even pointed at one of the holographic lists toment on it. "This one looks fine enough."

 Chapter 976: Possibilities

    Chapter 976: Possibilities


    ?


    Prince Thomas stared at Khan, but he didn''t look back. Khan didn''t need eyes to check his Uncle''s response anyway and didn''t feel like dealing with his worries now.


    Lieutenant Dyester had a simr reaction. That was the first time he heard about Khan''s will. In retrospect, it made sense, but the Lieutenant still didn''t like how it sounded.


    "Of course, My Prince," Prince Thomas quickly promised, earning himself a re from Lieutenant Dyester.


    Prince Thomas didn''t address the re, and Khan also ignored it when it fell on him. The arrangements were finally done. It was only a matter of implementing them now.


    "Get to work," Khan ordered. "Call me when it''s time for the conference."


    Khan departed without saluting Prince Thomas and Lieutenant Dyester. He reappeared in the corridor and randomly picked a direction. Theoretically, he had nothing else to do, but spending time among people didn''t feel right.


    Usually, Khan would seize that chance to spend every avable minute with Monica, but his mind was a mess, and seeing her was bound to worsen his state.


    Moreover, Khan wasn''t sure he could express how he felt with words, not yet, at least. He had also seen what the other option involved. As much as he craved the pleasure of Monica''spany, he wasn''t sure she could withstand his passion again so soon.


    Unknowingly, Khan found himself in the sky above the quadrant. A bottle had somehow appeared in his hands, and he casually sipped from it while strolling through the air. He couldn''t just disappear when important matters still required his presence, but he wanted to remain alone for now.


    ''What is even happening?'' Khan cursed, closing his eyes and letting the symphony guide his steps through the sky.


    Senerth''s mission was supposed to end Khan''s political problems. He had secured the nobles, the Excellencies, and the descendants from multiple wealthy families. His position couldn''t be safer, but someone had still messed with him.


    Khan couldn''t put into words how disappointed and exhausted he felt. His life truly resembled a never-ending struggle, and his main adversary had yet to appear, too. Each step he took only brought more enemies, and reaching the peak of his political career didn''t stop that trend.


    ''Why now?'' Khan wondered. ''What is Raymond even trying to achieve?''


    Raymond''s goal was to push humankind''s evolution to the next step, and Khan probably was the key to the process. His Father had also confirmed that point and his current strength turned it into certainty. Khan''s stable mutations could uplift his species. As for how, that was a question for scientists.


    Nevertheless, that goal would require Khan to be close to humankind. It would also need him to be a willing participant in the project of enhancing the human species, so plotting to create grudges between the Global Army and him didn''t make sense.


    ''Maybe Raymond hoped I would have dropped the Empire,'' Khan guessed. ''Without the Thilku, I would have been forced to find stabler political footing inside the Global Army.''


    That was a possibility, but Khan didn''t trust it. As much as he hated to admit it, Raymond had constantly outwitted him, so he couldn''t imagine him making such a ring mistake. Khan had consistently sided with alien forces throughout his life, and that pattern could have predicted his decision to dere war.


    ''Unless he hoped my new responsibilities would have changed my mind,'' Khan wondered. That didn''t sound right, either. Khan didn''tck wits but was an emotional character. His actions had always been extreme, unorthodox, and driven by deep feelings. The Global Army was at fault there, so Raymond had to know Khan would have retaliated against it.


    ''There is another possibility,'' Khan realized. ''This war will inevitably create a rift between me and the Global Army, but I won''t just abandon it. Raymond might n to use this to be my only connection to humankind.''


    Khan''s organization was atypical but still featured many humans. He didn''t have the best opinion about humankind, but most of his close allies belonged to that species. His emotional character prevented him from cutting ties with the Global Army since he didn''t want his loved ones to have to decide between him and their birthce.


    Noble families usually were exempt from that risk, but Khan''s faction was unique among them. He had appeased the Excellencies with Senerth, but the rift was still there, and the Global Army could exploit it. Humankind could turn a deaf ear to any party connected to Khan and still have ess to the Nognes, nobles, and other wealthy families.


    Actually, some wealthy families in Khan''s alliance would jump at the chance of ostracizing the descendants who had monopolized his support. It would be the perfect opportunity to reim political power and influence and would lead to isting Khan''s organization.


    ''Fucking Raymond Cobsend,'' Khan thought, his eyes opening and unleashing an umonly cold light. ''There''s no I won''t destroy to kill you.''


    Khan''s current mental state only worsened the new issues. He was still getting ustomed to his changes and the transformations they brought to his mindset. Even his rtionship with Monica was suffering, so Raymond couldn''t have had a worse time.


    Thinking about Monica calmed down Khan''s darkest impulses, making room for some sadness. He honestly didn''t know what was happening. His love was still there and was stronger than ever, but looking at her inevitably updated him on aspects he couldn''t unsee.


    It was strange. Khan had never ced battle prowess and love in the same category but couldn''t help but see Monica as frail and weak. He also knew it wasn''t her fault. Khan had stepped on a superior level of existence, but the problem remained and went beyond living in a world only he could perceive. It seemed that issue had evolved with him, making him more aware of the increasingly vast gap with Monica.


    ''Love isn''t en-,'' Khan absentmindedly recalled before forcefully interrupting his thoughts. ''No. Stop it. Trust her. Deal with this and go back to her.''n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Khan closed his eyes again, pushing away the unsolvable noise. A bitter smile eventually broadened on his face. He felt d he had solved the issue of his will. Whatever happened, things would be fine for everyone who had chosen to follow him.

 Chapter 979: Arrogance

    Chapter 979: Arrogance


    ?


    The arrogance in Khan''s statement surpassed all his past ims.


    The Thilku Empire wasn''t simply another alien species. It was a society turned into a war machine, and its mere mention could strike fear in any kind of military organization.


    The Ef''i''s presence in Baoway confirmed that point. The former was a species of battle maniacs, but even they respected the Empire''s prowess for multiple concerning reasons. The Thilku themselves were physically impressive. They were almost the Scalqa''s match when it came to raw strength but also had martial arts and spells to enhance their innate gifts. Moreover, the Empire''s constant expansion had filled its armories with libraries of alien knowledge. The Thilku had countless techniques and spells at their disposal, and their war- driven society had processed that sea of information toward a single purpose: Strengthening the Thilku.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The same went for the Empire''s technology. Its endless wars had filled its warehouses with precious resources, turning them into fuel for more numerous, better weapons. The Thilku often held back during their conquests out of pride, but their actual battle prowess was unfathomable.


    However, Khan had calmly imed that he would take the Empire down. That unreasonably bold statement had actuallye out of his mouth, and the audience didn''t know how to take it. History told them Khan was serious about it, but that sounded too much even for him.


    Nevertheless, the issue at hand didn''t change. If anything, Khan''s statement sent a clear message to the faction loyal to the Global Army.


    Khan was ready to face the Empire only in the instance of betrayal. Meanwhile, Brigadier General Meadrey had been the one to attack him. It stood to reason Khan would reserve the General the same treatment.


    Hence, the reason behind Khan''s "merciful" actions. He had chosen to settle for the Brigadier General and his troops instead of going against the entirety of humankind. Thetter had a different society, but Khan still saw it as holding back.


    The news of Khan''s stance and his previous revtion silenced the audience. Admittedly, the Global Army had to have a contingency n against a potential invasion. Khan''s resolve was also admirable. He looked ready to bear his share of responsibilities if his decisions ended up hurting humankind.


    The two didn''t solve the issue but eased Khan''s guilt. Truthfully, the Global Army probably wouldn''t have used or exposed the information about the military anyway. It only wanted Khan to update it to prepare countermeasures and eventually turn the news into leverage.


    That was the nature of the chain ofmand and the intricacies of politics. That was how a proper Ambassador had to behave. That was how someone in Khan''s position should think, but mere rules couldn''t control him.


    That was a reurring issue with Khan, something many parties had tried to fix through different ploys. However, nothing had worked against him, eventually forcing everyone to settle for mutual benefits. Only the Nognes Excellencies had gained something without giving anything away, but that was a unique situation in and of itself.


    The bluff sessfully split Mister Cirvags and Brigadier General Seb''s united front. The two didn''t show it, but Khan saw their mana''s stances. Distrust had begun to build between the two, and Khan couldn''t let either try to salvage it.


    "I''ve been clear about my every step," Khan dered. "What I have, I''ve fought for. I never attacked and only reacted while continuing to do my job. This situation is no different."


    "Is this what humankind has to ept now?" Mister Cirvags questioned. "Should the Global Army be at the mercy of the [Blue Shaman]?"


    "When ites to the Thilku Empire," Khan responded. "It already is."


    "Preposterous!" Brigadier General Seb finally spoke, standing up. "Is the Global Army a joke to you, Prince Khan? Should I remind you who negotiated an alliance with the Thilku Empire in the first ce?"


    "The Global Army may have initiated it," Khan said, "But it''s the [Blue Shaman] who evolved it."


    "You are just one Major," Brigadier General Seb pointed out. "The Global Army didn''t authorize you for this level of authority."


    "I don''t remember asking for it," Khan stated. "And, let''s not kid ourselves. You would have happily enjoyed my benefits without this news. You are making such a fuss simply because you want more."


    As always, Brigadier General Seb felt that dealing with Khan was a headache. He had spoken the truth, but those words shouldn''t appear in such public environments. Everyone knew about them, but they belonged in private negotiations.


    Still, Khan didn''t know or didn''t care about those rules. Actually, the messier and more unorthodox the situation was, the more he would benefit. The Global Army held the advantage whenever it had the home field, but outside was Khan''s yground, and he didn''t forget to remind the world.


    "Unless you are unhappy with the current resolution," Khan added. "Am I being too merciful? Should I increase the scope of my attack?"


    Both Brigadier General Seb and Mister Cirvags wanted to argue, but neither spoke. One General and five hundred soldiers were nothingpared to Khan''s monopoly over the Thilku Empire. Sure, they wanted more out of that mess, but Khan was leaving no openings. Of course, most negotiations would have to wait for Khan to deal with Brigadier General Meadrey. The Global Army would also have to wait its turn since the nobles and Nognes Excellencies obviously came before it.


    Mister Cirvags'' issue was more personal, but he also had to wait his turn. Moreover, he was a Global Army servant, so his feelings couldn''t interfere with his superiors'' decisions. At most, he could contact the Thilku Empire directly, but even that would require authorizations from


    above.


    The conference seemed to have reached a stalemate, but one thing became clear. Unknowingly to the audience, everyone had silently epted the imminent battle''s oue. Somehow, no one expected Khan to lose.


    "If that''ll be all," Khan announced, "I''ll prepare my troops for battle. We''ll postpone the individual meetings until after my return."


    Khan left the central desk, heading toward one of the exits, when a thought halted his steps.


    "Right," Khan muttered, eyeing the audience again. "I hope my admission won''t stir your greed. I''m not in the mood to renegotiate existing deals."

 Chapter 981: Wordless

    Chapter 981: Wordless


    ?


    The announcement forced Khan to remain in the encampment for a while.


    Lieutenant Dyester interrupted his task as the celebrations resumed. Food, drinks, stories, and cheers flowed throughout the night and nned to continue until dawn. They could very wellst for the entire week, but Khan left before Baoway''s star rose.


    As promised, Khan forced himself to eat something. He didn''t feel hungry but still stuffed his stomach with all kinds of food and drinks. Part of him hoped that would improve his mood, but the celebrations had only worsened them.


    Khan couldn''t feel good leading the Scalqa into another battle, especially against a human force, and the cheers during the celebrations only worsened his internal conflict. War almost sounded like a happy event in those environments, but Khan knew its true nature and couldn''t see its point.


    The true enemy was out there, somewhere in the depths of the universe, and that in-fighting only served to lower the world''s overall battle prowess. It was a waste of precious lives over something Khan considered trivial. Sure, the interspecies treaties and the border security were serious topics, but Khan couldn''t ept that level of esction.


    Of course, that mindset was unique to Khan. He had never seen differences among species and domains. His broader perspective prevented him from rting to everyone''s concerns, but his position forced him to act anyway.


    That was the weight of leadership and the political environment, which belonged to a game ofpromises, hidden rules, secret deals, and inborn values. Khan could understand the former but was alien to thetter, which affected his overall eptance.


    Khan returned to one of his bedrooms with a heavy mind, with his crown adding an invisible pressure. He was angry, bitter, and exhausted, and noticing the moving figure on the mattress reminded him of more problems, worsening that mood.


    Monica looked at Khan''s blue light through her sleepy eyes. She would typically ask questions, but Khan''s face had already answered them. He didn''t need more words now. Khan only required support to go through that annoying period.


    Khan hesitated when his eyes met Monica''s, but she simply smiled and pushed her nket away, exposing her appealing nightgown. She also spread her arms, inviting Khan.


    The couple didn''t speak. Khan soon found himself on top of Monica, trapped between her arms and legs and immersed in a passionate kiss. Words couldn''t work, so the two would rely on what they did best.


    Like that, a week went by.


    Khan mostly delegated everything to his underlings, refusing to appear in public and alternating between long, wordless nights with Monica and solitary flights.


    Many people tried to contact Khan, especially on the Global Army''s side, but he remained unavable. It didn''t matter whether those parties sent messages or representatives to the. He would address everything only after showing the world what it meant to attack him.


    On that note, the Global Army was almost panicking. Many Generals wanted to dy the battle and negotiate agreements, but Prince Thomas was a wall. He didn''t ept anything and refused any attempt to oppose Khan''s orders.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The Generals could only ept the helplessness of the situation, eventually agreeing to the war deration and making the news public. Thework went into turmoil, but nothing got in the way of the battle''s preparations.


    Everything was set by the end of the week. Khan and five hundred chosen Scalqa gathered in the appointednding area to board a series of ships. Those rides could easily reach their destination, but Khan had opted to use the Leviathan for security reasons.


    The teams on the Leviathan had to work overtime to unload everything from Senerth and load the equipment for the imminent battle, but Garret managed things perfectly. Khan could depart immediately. He only had to take care of the usual goodbyes.


    A rtively small audience had gathered before thending area. The nobles, the Nognes representatives, Monica, Prince Reba, Lieutenant Dyester, and many Scalqa stood before the battalion. The soldiers had also begun boarding the ships, leaving only Khan behind.


    "I''lle back in time for your birthday," Khan promised Monica. "Just keep your eyes on thework."


    "Come back in one piece," Monica requested. "And give them a good show. I''m tired of watching you leave."


    "It will be thest time," Khan swore, hoping he wouldn''t need to break that promise.


    "It won''t," Monica shook her head, "But that''s okay. It''s who you are."


    "I told you we should have be space pirates," Khan teased, leaning forward to kiss Monica.


    Monica giggled and let Khan go. Watching his departing figure added bitterness to her smile, but she kept it up for appearances. No one had to know the two were going through some mysterious and unspoken struggle.


    "Yes," Monica whispered when Khan was too far away to hear her. "We should have."


    Some understanding dawned upon Monica, but she pushed it away. Her knowledge became her worst enemy, but she silenced it. That wasn''t the time for pointless worries. Monica could only hope and trust in her man.


    The boarding process ended swiftly and without causing problems. Soon, the Scalqa battalion filled the familiar makeshift encampment on the Leviathan''s cargo area, which feltrger due to the fewer troops.


    Khan let the Scalqa settle in peace before reaching the bridge. Human soldiers were already handling all the necessary procedures, leaving him with little to do. At that time, the area didn''t have Lieutenant Dyester, Garret, or other figures with simr authorities, so Khan''s job mainly consisted of giving the final orders.


    Needless to say, the atmosphere wasn''t great. War was always terrifying, but those workers wereunching an attack inside the Global Army''s territory now. Their loyalty became conflicted, but no one dared to speak those concerns in Khan''s presence.


    As for Khan, he simply stared at the screens at the bridge''s end. The scanners reflected the universe inside them, allowing him to ignore the human team''s distress. That dark scenery almost had a maic pull toward Khan, but the time to freely explore it hadn''te yet. Only war existed now.

 Chapter 984: Shatter

    Chapter 984: Shatter


    ?


    Those ominous final words didn''t affect Khan at all. Brigadier General Meadrey wanted to reveal the deeper intention in his actions, but Khan couldn''t care one bit. In his mind, that battle was a simple retribution for his dead crew.


    ''Saving humankind,'' Khan internally scoffed, storing his phone. ''If only he knew.''


    The call had made one point clear. Brigadier General Meadrey didn''t care that he was being used. If anything, he sounded d to have the opportunity to enforce his vision to the Global Army''s political environment.


    Truthfully, Khan couldn''t me the General. He could see things from his perspective. Khan''s power and actions had caused quite the mayhem inside humankind. The tournament had improved his reputation, but the Global Army''s higher-ups weren''t so easily tricked.


    Still, that didn''t matter. Khan hade to peace with his actions long ago. He understood the world''s perspective but also had his own to keep in mind.


    Khan could have avoided strife with the Global Army. He could have also saved himself from the many troubles that had afflicted his life. He just had to ept his curse and give up on pursuing any kind of happiness, and his problems would have disappeared.


    However, how could a clueless kid from the slums ept that oue? How could Khan give in to his desperation and stop searching for a solution to his nightmares?


    Even old and wise sages, let alone Khan, would struggle to ept such a pitiful life. Moreover, his initial intentions had been pure. He only wanted to get rid of the nightmares and escape his bottomless desperation. Khan didn''t even dare to dream of happiness back then. He only craved silent nights.


    Of course, things quickly becameplicated, and Khan''s mindset and goal had also changed. Uncovering the nightmares'' secrets and having a taste of happiness had turned Khan''s simple approach into a mature and more profound journey. It wasn''t about removing the curse anymore. He now had to save the universe.


    Khan could have still contained himself after discovering the scarlet eyes'' threats, but his affections had made that impossible. Loving and being loved had erged the scope of his journey. Khan couldn''t just save the universe anymore. He also had to pursue his own happiness.


    Desire was the root of many problems. Obtaining something meant depriving others of that very thing. A world where everyone was happy was a utopian idea. Khan had to step on others to seize what he wanted, especially when it came to emotions as intense as love.


    Khan had first gone against the Global Army for Liiza, and their rtionship had forever changed his mindset. Jenna had taught him to ept that pursuing happiness wasn''t a mistake, even for him. If anything, his cursed life made him worthier than anyone else.


    Monica had been the final blow. Herplicated position had forced Khan into a mess of politics, status, andpromises, chaining him to an immense array of rules, expectations, and intricate rtionships.


    An ordinary soldier would have failed at that step, but Khan had emerged victorious, obtaining what he wanted. The crown on his head had been the price and honor of that aplishment, setting his new status in stone.


    Nevertheless, asplicated as things had gotten, Khan only saw an innocent driving force behind his actions. He only wanted to keep the things he had begun to love close and safe. They were his happiness, so he would defend them with his life, which led to shes.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    A single man''s happiness was nothingpared to an entire species'' safety, but Khan needed to feel that right to exist, so he would keep fighting for what he wanted. After all, everyone did that. Khan simply wielded enough power to spread greater repercussions.


    ''Existing isn''t a sin,'' Khan thought. ''You are right. I don''t belong, but that doesn''t mean I should quietly step aside. I breathe, so I have a right to exist.''


    The night turned into morning during Khan''s pondering. The Scalqa woke up and exited their quarters without needing orders, gathering behind Khan while Gadus R''s star appeared on the horizon. The camp''s artificial lights went dark as natural illumination invaded the area, marking the arrival of the appointed time.


    Khan stood up and nced past his shoulders. The Scalqa had already arranged themselves into the nned battle formation. Multiple lines of shielded soldiers alternated themselves with aliens wielding rifles. All of them had worn their armor, only waiting for their leader tounch themselves into battle.


    A buzzing noise reached Khan''s ears during the inspection. His phone confirmed that the war clock had started to tick. The siege could begin, so he didn''t waste more time.


    Khan stepped forward, and the Scalqa followed. The imposing battalion advanced through the street until barren, sandy ground reced the metal floor. The distant fort also grew closer, quickly revealing its walls'' height.


    A six-story tall barrier became visible, its shadow stretching several meters on the fort''s side. The incredible sight could make the primitive aliens stop in shock, but Khan kept advancing, so the Scalqa did, too.


    More details became apparent as the distance shortened. Long barrels peeked out from the wall''s top and surface, aiming at the iing battalion. The army had yet to enter the appointed battlefield, but those turrets were ready to submerge it in bullets.


    Khan paid the turrets no heed. He even ignored the many soldiers on the fort''s walls. He kept marching forward, but his steps gradually brought him into the air. Khan walked diagonally through the sky, leading his battalion from above.


    The sandy ground didn''t have clear markers for the appointed battlefield, but a loud siren eventually resounded inside the fort, announcing that the battalion had stepped into the war


    zone.


    The Scalqa had received specific orders and training, so they lifted their rectangr, metal shields while continuing their march toward the fort. As for the tall structure, it waited a few seconds before an azure rain hid its true form.


    The battalion and fort still were a few hundred meters apart, but that distance was nothing for the turrets. Those long-range weapons fired multiple rounds in a row, filling the sky with a barrage of bullets. Most aimed at the Scalqa, but many also flew toward Khan. The bullets were fast, but the Scalqa were ready. They lifted their shields, preparing themselves for the impact. The sky turned azure as its blinding radiance grew closer, but Khan saw everything in slow motion, and the fearsome sight only earned itself a single word from him: "[Shatter]."